Michelangelo at San Lorenzo: The Genius as Entrepreneur

This book amends a common misconception about one of the greatest Renaissance masters, who has been characterized since his own day as incapable of effective collaboration. This study focuses on San Lorenzo, a key Florentine monument of the Renaissance, where Michelangelo's contributions to the church are among his greatest achievements as a sculptor and architect. Organised around his three commissions at San Lorenzo - the never-realised facade for the church, the Medici chapel and the Laurentian Library - each chapter examines the organisation and day-to-day operations at the building site, as well as the artist's personal and professional relations with nearly three hundred persons who assisted him in carrying out the designs. From the marble quarries at Seravezza to the building site in Florence, William Wallace relates Michelangelo's struggles and triumphs as he worked on these projects for over two decades.