Wow. This was utterly fascinating. Amazing research and a real page-turner. You want to know what the author will unearth next. If you are fascinated by the Vatican and its Jewish connection, you will be dazzled by the information presented in the book. It is revealed in a thoroughly entertaining manner that really keeps you flipping pages to find out what happens next. If you are planning to visit the Vatican, postpone the visit until you have read this book. ( )

Interesting read. Take what you will from it. Coincidence is not eliminated in any of the explanations. Fact and conjecture become entwined. If your visiting the Sistine then have a read before you go. There is so much to see in such a short time that this book may help you identify the frescos that are of most interest to you. ( )

This reads like a bad Dan Brown novel: no intrigue and even less believable details. Offering no footnotes to back up historical statements and clearly fudging details (shouldn't these two Jewish men know Hebrew better than they do—or are they purposely being misleading?). To the bitter end, it smacks of egotism, the very thing they denounce in their pejorative language against the Catholic Church of the 16th century. ( )

This reads like a bad Dan Brown novel: no intrigue and even less believable details. Offering no footnotes to back up historical statements and clearly fudging details (shouldn't these two Jewish men know Hebrew better than they do—or are they purposely being misleading?). To the bitter end, it smacks of egotism, the very thing they denounce in their pejorative language against the Catholic Church of the 16th century. ( )

Last year I visited the Vatican. It was so crowded and hot that I could not wait to get out. It was enough for me to see Moses in a different place and David (in Florence). After reading this book now, I promised myself to go again and look at all his work. According to this book, Michelangelo's message was universal about love and friendship between the different cultures that influenced Christianity. He was not interested in exalting the Church or the popes. with his work, poked at the corruption and injustice around him. The influence of the Jewish writing on him is very revealing. So many of his painting were from the Old Testament. How sad that people with his ideas lived hundreds of years ago yet the practices of religious persecution continued until very recently. I too wished that there would have been more photos of his work. The references to the Kabbalah are emphasized in this book and one has to learn more about it in order to better understand it. ( )