This book is divided into four parts: an introduction, in which the author outlines his æsthetic and psychological approach, a synopsis of Michelangelo's life, a study of his visual works, and finally, a consideration of his poems.

Stokes's psychology is based on the concepts of Melanie Klein. He maintains that the artist in relation to his works strives to 'have his cake and eat it too', that is, to feel at one with the object and at the same time to experience pleasure in its separate and special qualities. This striving, according to Stokes, resembles that of the lover to his loved object. In Kleinian terms, the artist seeks to have the 'good object' inside and outside at the same time. Stokes also emphasizes that the artist, through his work, makes reparation for his destructive incorporative fantasies, thereby freeing himself from depression and anxiety.

Stokes describes Michelangelo as struggling against depression