Michelangelo Madonna of Bruges Postcard

Michelangelo's Madonna of Bruges Postcard. Colorized by Mark Edward Westerfield 2023. Michelangelo was a total genius, a total workaholic, and he was totally devoted to the Catholic Church ... and he was left-handed and he was gay. His love poems to younger men are well known. For all you who imagine the world would be better without gay people, try to imagine a world without Michelangelo. Every new pope is chosen under Michelangelo's masterpiece Sistine Chapel Ceiling. He lived simply. He ate out of necessity more than enjoyment. He slept in his boots where he worked. He was often unshaven, unkempt, sweaty, dirty. He lived as a poor man; but, in his older age he had money in the bank and was as wealthy as some of the princes who were his patrons. His work was in demand by popes and princes. He was solitary and somewhat unsocial. His face was disfigured from a broken nose. But, the world was blessed that Michelangelo lived and was, who he was, in every aspect. OK, I worked on this several hours a day now for three days to get better colorization, and to remove the most bothersome reflections / distractions in the bullet-proof glass that is there in front of the precious marble sculpture to protect this most precious Michelangelo marble sculpture. There are still very fine edges of the bullet-proof glass running through this image ... but are barely noticeable. So, I left them be thinking it would be too difficult to mess with them. I also left the shadows be as they were ... not knowing what they were from. All in all I think I did pretty good on the colorization. I hope Michelangelo would approve. In case not. then, my apologies to him and those who feel I desecrated his wonderful work. 12-12-2023