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... his function as an artist was to create beauty. "Even the best of artists can conceive no idea that a single block of marble will not contain in its excess, and such a goal is achieved only by the hand that obeys the intellect" (p.377). In this Sonnet, it appears as though Michelangelo is likening himself to God. The sculpture, he writes, can only achieve perfect beauty only by one who obeys the intellect, or is in touch with the divine. Just as God creates beauty in matter, so too must the artist create beautiful art. In addition to beauty, Platonic love is another widespread Neoplatonic idea found in Michelangelo's poetry. The Neoplatonists of Michelangelo's time believed that love was the active force binding everything together. Platonic love was the spiritual and intellectual bond formed between two individuals. Michelangelo expresses this form of love in one of his Sonnets ...