At age 71, Michelangelo Buonarroti, carver of the Pietà, David, Moses, and painter of the Sistine Chapel -- was suddenly busier than ever. In 1546, Pope Paul III handed Michelangelo control of the beleaguered St. Peter’s project -- a study in architectural mismanagement, plagued by flawed design and faulty engineering. Assessing the situation with his uncompromising eye and razor-sharp intellect, Michelangelo overcame the furious resistance of Church officials to persuade the Pope that it was time to start over. For the remaining 18 years of his life, Michelangelo devoted himself to constructing the largest building in the world, and the artist’s greatest masterpiece. This is the story of a person who never retired, yet gained strength and vitality by devoting himself to his most important creation.

William Wallace is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to being an extremely popular classroom teacher, he is an internationally recognized authority on the Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect, Michelangelo Buonarroti. He was one of a select group of scholars, curators, and conservators from around the world invited to confer with the Vatican about the conservation of Michelangelo’s frescos in the Sistine Chapel.
Professor Wallace has published extensively on Renaissance art: in addition to more than 90 articles and essays (including two short works of fiction), he is the author and editor of eight different books on Michelangelo, including the award winning, Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting and Architecture (1998), Discovering Michelangelo (2012), and a biography of the artist, Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and his Times (2010/11), which is available in paperback. His most recent book, Michelangelo, God’s Architect (2019) focuses on the artist’s late life and his greatest creation: the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.