Michael Angelo by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In Rome, the aging Michael Angelo paints the Last Judgment, debates art with fellow artists, and defends his plans for St. Peter’s against hostile cardinals. Vittoria Colonna inspires his art, while her friend Julia Gonzaga wrestles with religious doubts and mourns Cardinal Ippolito; Vittoria’s death leaves Michael Angelo grieving. He refuses Duke Cosimo’s invitation to Florence and persists in his work, but ends sculpting a Dead Christ for his own tomb, despairing that he remains far from God.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Drama, Dramatic Poetry, Historical Fiction · 20 chapters · 36,934 words
First lines
Michel, piu che mortal, Angel divino. -- ARIOSTO.
Similamente operando all' artista / ch' a l'abito dell' arte e man che trema. -- DANTE, Par. xiii., st. 77.
Genres
- Drama — Named speakers enact conversations, confrontations, and Vittoria’s death, with directions marking entrances, gestures, and changes of setting.
- Dramatic Poetry — Verse dialogue and extended soliloquies carry Michael Angelo’s disputes over art, attachment to Vittoria, and reflections on approaching death.
- Historical Fiction — Dramatized exchanges place Michael Angelo’s artistic commissions alongside papal authority, religious controversy, and the suppression of Florentine liberty.
Tags
painting · sculpture · architecture · artistic labor · religious doubt · bereavement · old age · Florentine liberty
What this Textopian page supports
Michael Angelo is listed on Textopian as a play by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Play
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Drama, Dramatic Poetry, Historical Fiction
- Length: 36,934 words
- Structure: 20 chapters, 680 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Michael Angelo by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Contents
- Part First, I. Prologue at Ischia
- Part First, Monologue: the Last Judgment
- Part First, II. San Silvestro
- Part First, III. Cardinal Ippolito
- Part First, IV. Borgo Delle Vergine at Naples
- Part First, V. Vittoria Colonna
- Part Second, I. Monologue
- Part Second, II. Viterbo
- Part Second, III. Michael Angelo and Benvenuto Cellini
- Part Second, IV. Fra Sebastiano Del Piombo
- Part Second, V. Palazzo Belvedere
- Part Second, VI. Palazzo Cesarini
- Part Third, I. Monologue
- Part Third, II. Vigna DI Papa Giulio
- Part Third, III. Bindo Altoviti
- Part Third, IV. in the Coliseum
- Part Third, V. Macello De' Corvi
- Part Third, VI. Michael Angelo's Studio
- Part Third, VII. the Oaks of Monte Luca
- Part Third, VIII. the Dead Christ