A thorough and revealing study of one of Michelangelo's most beautiful, dramatic, and debated works of art: the Florence Pieta. The artist designed the monumental statue late in life for his own tomb, but after a decade of intermittent labour he badly damaged the work, which was later repaired by an assistant. Jack Wasserman, the book's editor and main author, enlists the expertise of scholars Timothy Verdon and Franca Trinchieri Camiz, sculptor Peter Rockwell, and three teams of scientists to understand a work of extraordinary emotional power. By examining all aspects of the statue's depiction of Christ and of his physical relationship to the other figures, especially the Virgin, this book brings to life Michelangelo's great struggle to give conclusive form to his own relationship to God - a relationship unmistakably reflected in the artist's representation of himself as the bearded man supporting Christ. Wasserman reaches a striking conclusion about why Michelangelo mutilated the statue, a conclusion sure to inspire lively debate. He seeks to resolve a host of other questions such as: What religious message did Michelangelo seek to convey? Is the Pieta a pieta at all? As all lo