Michelangelo at Midlife

A traveler’s quest for Michelangelo’s most troubled work of art—the notorious Tomb of Julius II. His artistic ambitions crumbling as fast as his marriage, Sam careens through Europe seeking inspiration in the great Michelangelo who, for all his success, struggled to complete what was to be his magnum opus. Sam teams up with an intriguing Italian woman who opens his eyes to the deeper meaning of the Tomb: how Michelangelo’s grand ambitions got continually derailed. The result? A profound “midlife crisis.” Incredibly, Michelangelo at Midlife is the only non-academic book about the Tomb. Sam travels from Florence, where Michelangelo began the project, to Carrara where he quarried the marble and envisioned a colossal 50-foot pyramid studded with David­-sized statues. From Paris to Venice, the Sistine to Amsterdam, Sam chases the tangled 40-year tale of the Tomb. The enigmatic Tomb takes on new life thanks to full-color illustrations in the bonus PDF that comes with this audiobook. The auth