"Often whimsical, yet deeply erudite, Barolsky's treatment of Michelangelo's nose as the center of his autobiography, self-creation, and iconography is a stimulating and suggestive book"-Lectura Dantis

"What gives such sparkle to Barolsky's account is its constant movement to very diverse themes, which all are connected, still, with his central concern, Michelangelo's self-image and his art. So, when he discusses Hegel and Pater on art as self-expression, Montaigne's visit to Italy and his view of Socrates, Michelangelo's gift giving, and the relation of Michelangelo and Machiavelli to Pope Julius II-all these seemingly various themes take us back . . . to the Renaissance notion of the creation of an artistic persona and Barolsky's account of why that culture placed great value on this achievement."-The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

"Barolsky's book has given us a compelling view of Michelangelo as a kind of proto-Romantic 'Ubermensch' participating in the often terrifying epic of his own creation."-Italica