Michelangelo is a virtual unknown when he returns to Florence and wins the commission to carve what will become one of the most famous sculptures of all time: David. Michelangelo was a temperamental sculptor in his mid-twenties, desperate to make a name for himself. Leonardo was a charming, handsome fifty year-old at the peak of his career. From 1501 to 1505, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti both lived and worked in Florence. With extraordinary empathy into the minds and souls of the two great Renaissance artists, Storey offers a stunning art history thriller.

Oil and Marble is the story of their nearly forgotten rivalry.Called “tremendously entertaining” ( The New York Times) Stephanie Storey’s brilliant bestselling debut, brings early 16th-century Florence, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo Buonarroti alive for art lovers and readers of historical fiction. Michelangelo both loathes and worships Leonardo's genius. Leonardo despises Michelangelo for his youth and lack of sophistication. Her name is Lisa, and she becomes his muse. Meanwhile, Leonardo's life is falling apart: he loses the hoped-for David commission he can't seem to finish any project he is obsessed with his ungainly flying machine he almost dies in war his engineering designs disastrously fail and he is haunted by a woman he has seen in the market-a merchant's wife, whom he is finally commissioned to paint. Working against an impossible deadline, he begins his feverish carving. Living at the foot of his misshapen block of marble, Michelangelo struggles until the stone finally begins to speak. Even though his impoverished family shuns him for being an artist, he is desperate to support them.

In her brilliant debut, Storey brings early 16th-century Florence alive, entering with extraordinary empathy into the minds and souls of two Renaissance masters, creating a stunning art history thriller.

Oil and marble by stephanie storey