Tracing the last 30 years of Michelangelo's career, this book examines how the great master used art and faith to explore the common human experience of ageing in a rapidly changing world.

"This fascinating and beautifully illustrated catalogue demonstrates the creativity of Michelangelo's later years in a way that is both accessible and scholarly." Jill Burke, author ofHow to be a Renaissance WomanandThe Italian Renaissance Nude

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was one of the great artists of the Renaissance. He was not the isolated, tortured genius of artistic myth, but a man who maintained a close circle of friends and associates until his old age. He developed collaborative working relationships with younger artists, maintaining his fame and reputation even as he aged, delegating the hardest physical work to others. His late drawings offer a powerful insight into his psychology, reflecting his Catholic faith, his intense intellectual engagement and his hope in eternal life.

Michelangelo reinvented the iconography of religious art to create hugely influential compositions of key moments in the Christian faith, such as the Crucifixion, the Last Judgement and the Pieta (or Lamentation). He was involved in the design of several significant sites in Rome at this time, including his key architectural project, the immensely challenging reconstruction of St Peter's, at the very heart of Christianity. His role as an architect is explored through beautiful drawings, highlighting his breadth as a designer. Alongside his large commissions, he created deeply personal drawings, revisiting earlier compositions to explore intensely moving Crucifixions that served as spiritual meditations on the death of Christ and offered the hope of salvation for an elderly man facing the end of his own long life.

Publisher: British Museum