Arthur Cola

Il Divino Michelangelo Arthur Cola

Making icons of history seem real and quite human may be the most challenging aspect of writing a tale of Michelangelo, who is probably the most well-known artist of his time and ours. However, after two self-published books (The Stone Cutter Genius and The Brooch) which have a sub-theme revolving around this genius, controversial and beloved sculptor (for he is not a painter, so he claimed) I have created his story through his own words and imagined reflections of his life.
"Il Divino Michelangelo" begins during the artist's final days of life. In a series of reflections shared with his most dear friends and colleagues, he takes them on a journey from his first days of being discovered through the loves of his life Francesco Granacci, Tommaso Cavalieri and Vittoria Colonna, to his triumphs and disasters in his work. The challenge was to present Michelangelo as a human who struggled to find love, share love and present beauty as a way to the ultimate love which is Divine Love. His own words best describe this life long struggle...
"Already at sixteen, my mind was a battlefield: my love of pagan beauty, the male nude, at war with my religious faith. A polarity of themes and forms: one spiritual, the other earthly."
My book is the first book that tries to connect those dots in his life filled with rumors, controversy, triumphs, depression, love sought as a human bound to earth while striving for fullness at a celestial level.