The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

published	September 7th 2004 by NAL Trade
first published	1981
binding	Paperback
isbn	0451213238 (isbn13: 9780451213235)
ebook
pages	784
description	Celebrating the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's David, New American Library releases a special edition of Irving Stone's classic biographical nove...more [close] Celebrating the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's David, New American Library releases a special edition of Irving Stone's classic biographical novel-in which both the artist and the man are brought to life in full. A masterpiece in its own right, this novel offers a compelling portrait of Michelangelo's dangerous, impassioned loves, and the God-driven fury from which he wrested the greatest art the world has ever known. [close]
date added	01-21-07 edit book

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Mary rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

06/07/07

recommends it for: one who would want a deluded view of history

In the wake of The Da Vinci Code, the field of art history has had a curious relationship with pop culture, especially mainstream literature. These books remain infinitely more accessible to readers than scholarly writings, and are marketed as if they carry the same amount of factual evidence, but with an enticing story so no one gets bored (overlooking the fact that the subjects were real people, and even as geniuses, were inherently bo...more In the wake of The Da Vinci Code, the field of art history has had a curious relationship with pop culture, especially mainstream literature. These books remain infinitely more accessible to readers than scholarly writings, and are marketed as if they carry the same amount of factual evidence, but with an enticing story so no one gets bored (overlooking the fact that the subjects were real people, and even as geniuses, were inherently boring).

The result is a public that feels informed, but in fact has a sensationalized understanding of artists as heroes and their work as divine manifestations, which serves no purpose except to sell books.

The Agony and the Ecstasy is no different, except that it predates The Da Vinci Code by about forty years. It discusses the life of Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, and its depiction of Michelangelo as a divine figure among us, like Giorgio Vasari's, is largely responsible for Michelangelo's popularity today.

So why did I pick up this book in the first place? Simply to make an abstract moral point on a literature-based networking site made up of people with relatively the same intellectual and financial status as myself?

No. I can postulate about the publishing industry's negative effects on our culture's self-perception until the cows come home, but the reason I picked this book up is because I cannot remove myself from pop culture. I read it on the reccomendation of art history professors who told me it was upwards towards fabulous. I read it based on comments from family members and friends who talked about the enjoyable experience of artist biography.

What a mistake. The book was published in 1961, a time when our understanding of Michelangelo was completely different. Part of this was a result of scholars' refusal to accept the homosexual undertones of his work and life due to contemporary morality. Even so, Stone's bibliography is primarily made up of books published in the nineteenth century, which seems to me to be a direct refusal of any real understanding of Michelangelo, ignoring important biographical information revealed about Michelangelo during the first half of the twentieth century (such as the location of his childhood home) and instead selecting certain outdated facts which create a more easily understood narrative.

Yet the purposeful ignorance behind this book is more of a disservice to Michelangelo than other contemporary pop-art history books. A deeper understanding of Michelangelo is neither boring nor confusing but instead gives a more precise explanation for his interest in the human body, muscle and flesh, passion, death, intense joy, melancholy, stone, resurrection, and other ideas left untouched by his contemporaries. This picture of Michelangelo is more human, more relatable than that portrayed by Stone's novel, which inherently blocks the reader from truly understanding Michelangelo and instead forces them on their knees at the altar of a cultural genius.

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Debbie rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

10/18/07

bookshelves: booksihaveenjoyed

recommends it for: people who enjoy historical novels

Goodreads crashed on me - I didn't realize the five stars were posted but not my review. You may be wondering why I rated this book so highly.

The book made Michelangelo and his times really come alive for me. I feel like I personally know, like and respect Michelangelo as a person. He was so recognizably human with family issues, rivalries, loyal friends, treacherous friends and, above all this fierce driving passion for his art, especially sculpture. He was born with a gift and a geniu...more Goodreads crashed on me - I didn't realize the five stars were posted but not my review. You may be wondering why I rated this book so highly.

The book made Michelangelo and his times really come alive for me. I feel like I personally know, like and respect Michelangelo as a person. He was so recognizably human with family issues, rivalries, loyal friends, treacherous friends and, above all this fierce driving passion for his art, especially sculpture. He was born with a gift and a genius that he acted on. He was passionate, cranky, demanding, willful, opinionated, determined, driven, and unwilling to accept anything short of perfection. Yet he did what he needed to do to pay the bills - sometimes setting his pet projects aside for years. For the first time in my life I am interested in visiting the Sistine Chapel to see his painstakingly and brilliantly executed ceiling frescoe and to view his famous marble sculpture of David (with the broken arm).

Plus on occasion I'm a sucker for epic historical novels. Michelangelo lived from 1475 - 1565 which was a fascinating period of history - Christopher Columbus gets mentioned in passing (some guy who recently set sail in three tiny ships westbound to find India), Raphael and so many other famous names from the Renaissance. Michelangelo had no use for Leonardo da Vinci whom he considered to be a society-seeking dandy and snob. I think most of this information is probably true as the book was extremely well researched with lots of primary sources, such as Michelangelo's 400+ letters.

The book also gets inside his head as an artist as he designs and executes all of his work, especially his most beloved marble sculptures. I had no idea there are so many grades of marble and never thought about how arduous it was to extract the right marble out of the Roman hills. Or to move the finished sculptures to their designated locations.

The dense writing and length (760 pages) made it a slog for me to get through - but an exciting slog and I find myself thinking a lot about it. That's why I gave it five stars....less

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Emeraldil rated it:

(review of isbn 0099416271)

11/13/07

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: Those who don't have to be 'entertained' to find value in a book; those who love historical fiction.

This book was excellent, but only for serious readers who like details and don't have to be completely entertained while reading. Stone did his research and it's obvious. It's filled with detail that makes you appreciate the works of art and and the genius behind the art. I finally have an understanding of art and appreciate it. A great subject and a great author-right up there with the likes of Michener! The makings of a classic.

I wanted to read something about art and an artist(s) befor...more

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Betsy rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

03/27/08

Read in March, 2008

Wonderful, intriguing look at the life of Michelangelo. What a tortured, passionate, imaginative genius he was. The discriptions of how sculpture evolves is fascinating - in his eye, the sculptor simply frees a soul trapped in stone. The David or Pieta is already in the stone, just waiting for someone to set it free. The reliance on the church and ruling Medici family for work and patronship is pretty interesting too as Michelangelo was not one to bend over for anyone and nearly lost his hea...more

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Kristen rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

03/14/08

bookshelves: own, reread

Read in March, 2008

First read in 1990

While I can't say I really did love every single page (all the history of popes and wars did get a little long for me), I did enjoy the insights into the creative process and was fascinated by the idea of someone totally obssessed by their art. Are there really people like this? I was also interested by the themes of art and politics (which is still a hot topic today - supporting the arts, or not) and art and religion (are some things too sacred to be portrayed in art? n...more

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Jennifer rated it:

03/14/08

Has a copy to sell/swap

recommended to Jennifer by: Jamie & Kristen

I've been longing for this day for three weeks now. When I started this book I couldn't wait for it to end. Not to find out the ending, but to be finished with the book. I really don't understand why so many people love this book. I feel that the information could have been condensed into a much smaller and more interesting book. The first 100 pages I was so totally bored I really wanted to stop reading it, but it was my book club's selection so I decided to power through. I felt like I was read...more

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Rebecca rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

08/13/07

Let us now praise fearless and scrupulous Editors. The unsung women and men who take an unintelligible tome and turn it into a taut, gripping novel. Let us wonder why they were not unleashed on this book.

Being a fan of art and having nearly fainted over seeing the Sistine Chapel in person, I was already interested in the life of Michelangelo. But, seriously, this book could be about 200 pages shorter. After the commencement of every masterpiece, Stone imagines Michelangelo wrestling with...more

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Candi rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

06/11/08

Read in May, 2008

recommended to Candi by: Chris Hawkshaw

I found this book to be fascinating. I was skeptical of the "fictional" part that the author would place in the book, so I checked out a couple more books from the library on the life of Michelangelo. That proved to be very helpful, as to look up what each artwork looked like, and to also read another person's perspective on his life and relationships.

I thought that this book was inspiring. Especially the amount of work Michelangelo had to put into having copies of artwork, se...more

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Emily rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

09/04/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: people who really, REALLY like Art History

When I came across this book on the Classics shelf at the Waikiki library, I was surprised. I had never heard of it before. But hey, it was marked as a classic and a fiction biography of Michaelangelo, so it is probably pretty interesting and a good read. Over 750 pages later, I can only say I am disappointed.

This book was nearly painful to read, and the only reason I didn't abandon it halfway through was because I was hoping for a saving grace in the form of a well crafted ending (a less...more

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angelle rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

06/27/08

Read in January, 1969

recommended to angelle by: my mom
recommends it for: anyone

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961) is a biographical novel of Michelangelo Buonarroti written by one of my favorite American authors -- Irving Stone. I am always amazed at how he does his research. For this book he lived in Italy for years visiting many of the locations in Rome and Florence, worked in marble quarries, and apprenticed himself to a marble sculptor. I read that a "primary source for the novel is Michelangelo's correspondence, all 495 letters of which Stone had translated from I...more

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Brooke rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

07/29/08

I LOVED it. I am beginning to realize that I really enjoy books about peoples lives, historical and contempory. I really liked Manhunt and a couple others that I had read before I started reviewing, like The Glass Castle and Issac's Storm.
This book had great character development, and flowed well. I felt the author devoted enough time to each event in Michelangelo's life to give it meaning and purpose, but was sure to move on when it was time--it wasn't boring. There was so much to learn abou...more

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Shannon rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

07/24/08

Read in July, 2008

This book was beautiful, a work of art worthy of the artist it portrays. Probably will become one of my favorites. I can't even imagine the effort that went into creating this book, including the research and the actual writing (and marble sculpting, see author's note), and I found myself having to find pictures of the works of art Michelangelo created so I could see how well the author captured the sculpture, painting, architecture, etc. in words. He did it fabulously.

Also, I must abashed...more

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Ellen rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

08/20/08

bookshelves: preparing-for-my-trip-to-italy

Read in August, 2008

776 Pages...I'm in real trouble! I better get started right away. My sister said I have to read this before I see the David. She says it makes you appreciate it that much more.

So, off I go to read...

Udate...

Wow, such a long book. I actually cheated a little bit because I was having a hard time getting through it. Just so little time lately to read. So, I skipped through some of the last parts. I wanted to make sure I read about the Sistine Chapel, as well as the parts about cr...more

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4 comments

Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0099416271)

05/04/08

bookshelves: theclassics

Absolutely a page-turner. Irving Stone not only brings Michelangelo to life, but also Rome and the stones themselves. He explores the great artist's life, his struggles and triumphs, but also how Michelangelo's gifted understand of form and light and line changed art. I was fascinated to read how Rome at that time was actually an ugly, rundown city, and how Michelangelo tried to encourage even the most menial stone-cutters to make each block beautiful, to try and lift the city up out of the s...more

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Jen rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

02/28/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in February, 2008

Hooray! I am so glad I finished this book. It was a beast. I have to say that I did not enjoy this book until the last 200 or so pages. I did not like the repetition and the host of characters with names that were all alike. I did enjoy the descriptions of the cities and some of the politics. It could be my pregnancy brain but I was confused at a few points and have some questions that I'll have to google. What is the deal with his fascination with the male body? The chisel by chisel description...more

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2 comments

Laurie rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

08/02/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

I am currently half way through the novel and cannot put it down. Having just seen a handful of Michelangelo's works this summer, I admit I have needed to force myself to slow it down since I began it on my flight home. The descriptions are sublime in their passionate detail. It is hard to say whether Stone better conveys the furious genius of the artist or his own love of this artist's work. Even if Stone whitewashes some more modern queries into Buonarroti's psyche, the author's handling of Fl...more

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Mister Jones rated it:

(review of isbn 0451146921)

06/06/08

Read in January, 2000

recommended to Mister Jones by: no one, library roulette
recommends it for: anyone

I was thinking about this book a few days ago, and how much I enjoyed reading it years ago.

In fact, I like this book so much I went on to read other works of historical fiction by Stone, but I think Agony and the Ecstasy was his best.

I came away with a deep appreciation of Michaelangelo, his suffering and vision, his world, and the Medici, and it led me to look up his artistic creations in various art books.

I need to read it again. I need to go to Florence one day too, maybe before I...more

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Arhia rated it:

03/20/07

Read in December, 2006

This book was really fun to read, but also gave a fairly good account of Michelangelo's life and the amazing times in which he lived. I really enjoyed the descriptions of different Italian cities during the Renaissance, and all the references to other important people of that era. It is an especially engaging read if you have ever been to Florence or Rome, where most of the novel takes place. The writing is best when the author sticks to historical information and doesn't try to create too much ...more

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Brittany rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

06/18/08

bookshelves: biography-memoir, fiction, homeschool-reading, re-read

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 1997

I really enjoyed this book, especially since I love art (particularly Michelangelo's) and Italy. Florence is one of my favorite places (possibly my very favorite place) in Italy, so I appreciated Michelangelo's love of the city. In the novel he says something about always wanting to live in sight of the cathedral dome (Brunelleschi's Dome). That image has always stuck with me.

Mom read this aloud in homeschool, and I liked it so much I decided to read it on my own. Little did I know that she ...more

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Liz rated it:

(review of isbn 0451171357)

03/01/08

Read in August, 2005

All the European history and details of the artistic process (painting, fresco, sculpture) make for a heavy read at times that is somewhat like a textbook on your brain. BUT, the story is so interesting. I started it in high school for an art history class, actually. We all know we didn't actually READ all the books we were given in high school, and this was no exception at almost 800 pages. But I got about halfway through it then, and went back a few years later to read it again and finish it. ...more

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