top of page
A Splendid Sin
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarrotti has risen into Rome's artistic elite, and the ailing Pope Clement commissions him to paint The Last Judgement. When the artist apprentices Tomasso, a young nobleman, to be his muse and inspiration, Michelangelo must contend with the conflict between his growing love and his fear of eternal damnation. Rumours of their relationship lead the paranoid Cardinal de Cesena to bribe members of Michelangelo's household to discover the truth behind the whispers.
Can Michelangelo hide his feelings from both the churchand himself, or will The Last Judgement destroy him?
Media & Reviews
"Readers cannot but come away from this book feeling that they have experienced the texture of the time and the nature of the artist."
Peter Guilderdale / Associate Head, School of Art and Design, AUT
"A Splendid Sin evokes the artistic rivalries and hypocrisies that haunted Michelangelo from his earliest days. For lovers of art, it is a pleasure to gain insights into his creative process, drawn (if you'll excuse the pun) against the backdrop of Renaissance Rome and Florence and the internecine workings of the Vatican. Moving and sensitively written, A Splendid Sin is rewarding and entrancing read."
J.A. Grierson / Author of Rivers Ran Red!
"Part of the pleasure of reading this novel was the stimulus to find the paintings referenced in it, in the books I have at home."
Lisa Hill, ANZ Lit Lovers Blog
bottom of page