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February 2013:

The Agony and the Ecstasy

The Agony and the Ecstasy
by Irving Stone.

First Published: 1961

Wikipedia entries:


The Agony and the Ecstasy
by Irving Stone.

Not everybody managed to wade through this weighty tome. Some had scarcely dipped a toe in the water.

Those of us who had risen to Pete’s challenge were rewarded with a thoroughly researched picture of the troubled times of Renaissance Italy and the dedicated, obsessive life of one of its greatest creative artists. Stone painstakingly describes the creative processes involved in the production of all of Michelangelo’s greatest works.

Although some of us got bogged down in the historical detail involving Savonarola, the Medicis, a whole succession of Popes, politics, chaos and change most of us enjoyed this aspect of the book.

There are undoubtedly some questions about what is history and what is the author’s invention with some incidents and verbal exchanges seeming rather unlikely although most events seem authentic and certainly do not push the bounds of a historical novel too far.

For several of the group the book recalled fond memories of visits to Florence and Rome. For others it provided some insights into the background of some of the artist’s sublime and celebratory works.

NS

Awards:

AA Book Club
Four stars

Adaptation:

  • 1965: Film with Charles Heston and Rex Harrison.