The Agony and the Ecstasy Chapter Summary & Analysis - Book Six Summary

Book Six Summary

Michelangelo has no money or any prospect of earning any money, so he returns to his father's home to live. He wanders the streets without work, struck by the fact that the city seems to have forgotten him in the five years he has been gone. He learns that the Wool Guild owns the large block of marble and is considering asking Leonardo da Vinci to carve it. Leonardo refuses the offer on the grounds that he believes sculpture to be an inferior art form.

Michelangelo is of two minds. He is, on one hand, furious with an artist he has never met because he demeans sculpture. On the other hand, Michelangelo now has a chance to be able to win a commission to carve the marble block. He has an idea to carve a David, just as he is preparing to face Goliath, but the Wool Guild does nothing...
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