Sunday, November 21, 2010

ATTENTION HISTORIANS AND BIOGRAPHY LOVERS!

YOUNG MICHELANGELO: The Path To The Sistine

(Published by The Vendome Press)

This book is so fascinating I could hardly put it down! The story reads like a novel, but it is a well-researched biography of one of the most fascinating men in history, Michelangelo Buonarroti. This book shadows the sculptor and painter for the first 33 years of his long life.

I had no idea that Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were competitors and contemporaries. Can you imagine that these two "supermen" lived at the same time? They were as famous as any rock star or celebrity in their day.

We are taken inside the action through Michelangelo's own words in his letters and his autobiography. We see the incredible violence of the time. If you didn't like a political rival, just kill him! The Medici's and the Borgia's are incredibly interesting. The Borgia's hired da Vinci to make war machines for them.

The famous statue of David was actually started by another sculptor and the thin piece of Carrera marble lay in a field until Michelangelo received the commission to finish the statue. He left the top of the head unfinished. Why?

John T. Spike is a fascinating writer and historian. You can see my interview with him on the TIME WARNER CABLE TEXAS CHANNEL on the TIME WARNER TEXAS NETWORK. Just look for CONVERSATIONS CAFE. The show is carried in 10 separate markets across the state of Texas. It is also a VOD (Video On Demand) offering in all of the markets, so you can see us when you want to!


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