The Artist's Dog: A Shadow the Black Lab Tale

By JT Therrien

When the great Michelangelo has trouble finishing the Pieta, Shadow the Black lab comes to his rescue!

• Language: English
• Publisher: JT Therrien
• Release date: Nov 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9780921473244

JT Therrien

Fine Form Press is a boutique publisher committed to working with a limited number of authors such as JT Therrien. We publish some of JT's novellas and novels in a variety of genres, including: commercial; YA; paranormal; romances; and, love stories. Along with JT's art-themed and cancer-themed fiction, Fine Form Press also publishes some of his inspirational, Catholic-themed, fiction.

Book preview

FINE FORM PRESS

The Artist's Dog: A Shadow the Black Lab Tale

ISBN: 978-0-921473-24-4

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Copyright (c) 2015 JT Therrien

Cover Art (c) 2015 by Fine Form Press

Smashwords Edition

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

Cover image(s) are from Flickr.com creative commons.

Creative Commons License link:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

"Italy-3239 - The Pietà by Michelangelo" original image copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis Jarvis https://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/5392914258

Meg at Little Whelnetham (c) 2013 by Martin Pettitt

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdpettitt/8709138075/

Original images modified under Creative Commons license terms by Fine Form Press 2015.

* * *

I'm grateful to my wife for her input and helpful suggestions. And a special thank you, once again, to Mollie for her keen eyes and insights when reading earlier versions of this story. Blessings, dear friend.

Author's Note

This story is a work of fiction, a what-might-have-happened, if you will.

To the best of my knowledge, the only factual information contained in the story is the year 1499 when Michelangelo finished the Pietà, after working on it for two years, a commission for French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères' tomb.

Everything else is made up, so I would not recommend relying on any information about Michelangelo, the historical period of the Italian Renaissance or the Pietà from reading this story. Effisio, Maria, Matthew and Shadow are also fictitious characters who may, but probably didn't, interact with Michelangelo.

Table of Contents

The Artist's Dog

Middle

Author's Note/ About the Author

The Artist's Dog:

A Shadow the Black Lab Tale

by

JT Therrien

Anno Domini 1499

Rome, Italy

Two years of work! Why can't I finish this sculpture? Michelangelo shouted. The muscular man with the wispy brown beard took a step back and squinted at the marble sculpture, almost daring it to come to life. The composition was an exact copy of the perfect image he saw with his mind's eye, but two areas still disturbed him.

Why can't I figure out what to do with that blasted hand? he wondered aloud.

Shadow was the only other occupant in the messy studio.