Michelangelo studied and wrote poetry throughout his life, and his finest literary efforts are allied with the masterwoks of his visual art, and this translation captures the pathos, complexity, and ardor of both Michelangelo's language and his poetic temperament. The text gives a glimpse into one of the most fascinating minds in the history of art, as Michelangelo laboured in the Sistine Chapel he composed a series of passionate love sonnets and while struggling, near the end of his life, to complete his final "Pieta" he worked at religious poems anguished in their fervour.

Translated by: John Frederick Nims