““Chiara points to the ceiling and my eyes follow the lead. There it is. Right. Up. There. The most famous painting I’ve ever heard of. God giving life to Adam. “ Incredibile , no?” Chiara whispers. I swallow hard and my eyes mist over. There are no adequate words. “ Si. ” My neck struggles with the position of my head but I can’t look away. Michelangelo was in this exact room, way up there on scaffolding, so much higher than I imagined. If he was close enough to the ceiling to paint with a little brush, how did he know it would look this perfect from down here? That’s probably the sort of thing I’d be learning at that summer program.””
