I read this one for my book club and was amazed at the varied responses. I absolutely loved it. The history, the descriptions of Michaelangelo's creative process, the story of his life and struggles. At over 750 pages it wasn't an easy read, but I enjoyed every page. ( )

Since we were planning a trip to Tuscany, it seemed logical to read Irving Stone’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy.” It’s a long book (over 700 pages) and I can’t say it was hard to put down. To be fair, it is an extremely well-researched book. Stone spent years living in Italy studying Michelangelo’s life. He had the artist’s letters, records, and contracts translated into English and reportedly apprenticed himself to a sculptor to try and understand the practical aspects of the art. I don’t know much about history, and the book taught me a lot about Renaissance Italy including the artistic and intellecutal influence of the Medici family in Florence and the indulgent and warring exploits of the political popes of the time. Probably the most enjoyable part of reading the book was looking at color pictures of works like the Sistine chapel frescoes, the statue of David, the Pièta, and Moses in art books while simultaneously reading the sections of Stone’s book that describe in great detail the creation of these works. One minor part of the story I found interesting was the episode in which Michelangelo made a disparaging remark to another apprentice named Torrigiani. Torrigiani punched Michelangelo, shattering his nose and resulting in the permanent disfigurement that is seen in portraits of Michelangelo. As a consequence, Torrigiani fled Florence and spent a good part of his career in Rome. Some other aspects of the book were a little annoying. For example, Stone decided to bring a little romance into Michelangelo’s life by creating a chaste little adolescent romance between the Contessina (Lorenzo de Medici’s youngest daughter) and Michelangelo as well as an on-and-off again sexual relationship between the artist and Clarissa (mistress of a Bolognese nobleman). According to Paul Grendler (“The European Renaissance in American Life”), there is no factual basis for either of these events. In fact, there has been considerable speculation about the sexual orientation of the solitary Michelangelo, especially considering his fascination with the male physical form and his relative lack of interest in female anatomy. Stone does acknowledge the close relationship of Michelangelo with Tommasso Cavalieri in Rome. The bottom line is no one really knows about Michelangelo’s sexual orientation and it doesn’t really matter. Although he refers to Michelangelo’s “terribilitá” (terrifying awesomeness) several times, Stone tends to downplay Michelangelo’s moody, miserly, misanthropic temperament. Ultimately, this is a very enlightening book about the life of one of the greatest art geniuses of all time. ( )

This was a long-overdue read. I had expressed my disappointment with The Birth of Venus (http://francine.livejournal.com/8451....), and this book was suggested as a more dense, historical biography of Michelangelo. I was a bit skeptical - the back of The Agony and the Ecstasy reads "...His loves - the frail and lovely daughter of Lorenzo de'Medici; the ardent mistress of marco..." and so forth. The Birth of Venus focused more on a fictional love affair than the art. I was worried that this book would do the same.

I didn't need to worry. The person that wrote the blurb on the back of the book should be fired. It is an extremely well-crafted, intriguing, and exhilirating read. It had the one important thing I love in a historical novel: it was more historical than novel. The Renaissance was a time of more than just artistic explosion: it was a time of vast political overturnings and philosophical breakthroughs. Michelangelo seemed a man outside of his time, and time slowly caught up with him. His extremely long life (89 years!) provided him with a rare opportunity - to be a legend in his own time and to be producing works up until his deathbed.

The book starts with him going to a studio with his friend at the age of twelve: "This is my friend Michelangelo, Signore. Remember, I told you about him?" and ends with the guarentee that if he does not live to see his greatest work realized - the dome of St. Peters - that it will be carried out posthumously, faithful to his design. His immortality was secured.

What a wonderful book! ( )

Started 8/2/08. This is a big boy. I'm still in the first 100 pages and honestly I'm a little bored. But I'm going to try to stick it out, knowing it has to get better.

Stone spent several years researching this epic novelization of the 90 year life of Michelangelo. He lived in Florence and Rome, had all of Michelangelo's letters and papers translated into English, worked in archives and libraries, and spent time with stonecutters, sculptors, painters and architects. While this probably gave his book more historical accuracy than a less intensively researched effort, he seemed to be compelled to fit every tidbit of his acquired knowledge into this book. This results in long lists of the architectural wonders of Florence, who sculpted them, when they were built, and what they are north, south, east or west of. We also get long lists of names of artists, politicians and other movers and shakers in 15th century Italy, along with who their fathers were and a list of their greatest accomplishments. As you might imagine, this distracts a bit from the main plot of the novel.

The plot itself eventually slides into a pattern of hills and valleys where Michelangelo is either excitedly working on a giant art project (David! The Sistine Chapel!) or unable to work because he has made a nobleman mad with his brusque nature or the pope who was sponsoring him just died. The descriptions of his artistic intentions and the process of creating his master works were worth reading, and generally well-written (although there were several rather forced metaphors comparing sculpting to sex, and one very very limpid sex scene that compared sex to sculpting). Michelangelo, like almost all the characters in this novel, is somewhat of a one trick pony. Once his personality is established at the beginning of the book, it stays unchanged until the very end. Each character that Michelangelo comes into contact with can immediately be labeled as a bad guy or a good guy, and with the amount of heavy-handed foreshadowing in the book there are few surprises as things move forward. By far the most interesting characters in the book are the Medici family -- a dynasty whose fortunes are closely intertwined with the history of Italy and Michelangelo's career, and a historical subject I'd really like to read more about.

So, not a glowing recommendation, but certainly worthwhile if you are a fast reader with an interest in art history or Italian politics.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2008/08...] ( )