THE MAGNIFICENT MAN is the story of a banker-turned artist, his journey to Italy, his solitary struggle to overcome conventional ideals and life's distractions, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful Venetian who dares him to love her. Yet the novel's most unforgettable character is the protagonist's teacher and friend, a master stone carver, who is awarded a commission to replace the Vatican Obelisk with a marble statue in a sweeping story that illuminates the creative process. It poses one of the most challenging concepts ever presented in a work of fiction: that man's spirit has an inherent certainty for magnificence that is to be discovered and kindled but never betrayed. In this credible novel, Mueller transports the reader to Florence, Italy, and other great historic and cultural centers of the Italian Renaissance, tracing the transformation of a forty-year-old man as he learns about the art of carving white Carrara marble and himself. A magically told novel...profound...many layered. It is a most interesting examination of man's nature and of life's potential, in fact a confirmation of the spirit of youth. THE MAGNIFICENT MAN is an adventure, mystery, romance, and philosophical novel in one. It is a rich and compelling work of fiction. A story of many pleasures. Every page pulses with intellectual and aesthetic excitement. Mueller is a writer of great power. He has a subtle and astute mind and the capacity of writing brilliantly, beautifully, bitterly. He is the author of ROME REVISITED.