In the Acadamia, the David stands at the end of a long corridor under a translucent dome that emits natural light. But Ricardo was careful to start us slowly at the opposite end, using a bust of Michelangelo to tell us about his character and life. Michelangelo was a lonely driven genius who would not delegate even the simplest jobs, would not keep a schedule, but would work in spurts as he was inspired, days at a time without sleeping, hardly eating, who only did painting and architecture at Pope Julius' command, always restless to get back to sculpting, which he considered his true calling and which he defended in a famous written exchange with Leonardo, who was thirty years older.
Michelangelo's unyielding intensity over his 89 years on earth caused him to leave us without a friend in the world. He carved the magnificent Pieta' now in St. Peter's at by the time he was 24. He painted the Ceiling at the Sistine Chapel at age 33. He completed the Last Judgement at the Sistine Chapel's north wall at age 66. He was still carving when nearly blind and feeble at age 88. what a guy.
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