jankp's Full Review: Irving Stone - Agony and the Ecstasy: The Biograph...
What an exquisite mammoth of inspiration for the tired, lonely artist (and Epinions' writer) this is! At 648 pages, each one a veritable gem in the fictionalized, but well-researched biography of Michelangelo, it is one of my biggest challenges and also one of the most spiritually- fulfilling because he dared to show the beauty of man as God created him. Since this review is in honor of Epinions’ resident priest, Kurt_Messick, on the convergence of his 500th review, almost 500 in his Web of Trust and his 500th day here, as well as his happy first anniversary of his priesthood, I think a review of Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy is highly appropriate.
Stone actually moved his family to Italy for a number of years in order to make his work as authentic in its detail as possible, going so far as to even labor in marble quarries and become a marble sculptor’s apprentice. It is definitely not some dry museum piece cataloging the famous sculptor’s accomplishments, though. Michelangelo is only thirteen when the novel opens, a shy, grave boy who is beaten by his uncultured, domineering father, and immediately you fall in love with him.
The Agony
When is Michelangelo’s life not agony? But that is for the next section. Stone takes us through the boy’s apprenticeship with a fresco painter in his hometown of Florence, which lasts for a year only because he is handed the opportunity to learn sculpting at a school in the de Medici sculpture garden. Now you would think he’d be in ecstasy, but for nine months he is not allowed to sculpt, but only work with charcoal, paint, ink and clay. When he does then start using hammer and chisel, he is left out of contests and commissions that the rest of the sculptors enjoy. Yet still he is expected to support his family of six. He is friends with the Ruler of the Republic Lorenzo de Medici’s youngest daughter, but she must marry for political reasons. Agony.
One hundred pages haven’t yet been covered, I’m afraid, but once he has been tested for endurance in his passion, he is commissioned by Lorenzo himself to sculpt in the Medici palace. From now on he sculpts magnificent statues in the nude or barely covered for about five succession of Popes, supports his lazy family out of love, goes to different Italian cities, turns to architecture in desperation for work at one point, becomes militant for Florence’s defense, paints the glory of Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and wins the job of master architect of St. Peter’s in his seventies or eighties. He presses on in agony, starving himself, watching friends and family die, chipping away in near blindness until a few days before his ninetieth birthday.
The Ecstasy
Michelangelo loved God. To worship God through his art, in particular marble, was pure ecstasy for him. Here are a couple of passages from the book that describe why.
White marble was the heart of the universe, the purest substance created by God, not merely a symbol of God but a portrait, God’s way of manifesting Himself. Only a divine hand could create such noble beauty. He felt himself a part of the white purity before him, felt its integrity as though it were his own. Pp 102
For Michelangelo the marbles cried out, “People are good!” while Savonarola was thundering, “Humanity is evil!”
…Though the city was shaking in a religious upheaval, Michelangelo kept working calmly. Unlike Savonarola, he could not persuade himself that God was speaking through him, but he did feel that if God saw He would approve the work…And what was wrong with God speaking to His children?…Could He not create a prophet…or a sculptor? Pp 152
Not only did he sculpt and paint, but he wrote beautiful, spiritual poetry that is strewn throughout the novel. Plato and Dante were two of his favorite writers when he wasn’t reflecting on the Bible and the sermons by Savonarola sent by the church reform-seeking woman he adored. As he died his many works of art paraded through his mind and paused on St. Peter’s, where suddenly he entered in shining glory and his spirit leapt in ecstasy at becoming one with God.
Final Thoughts
I don’t know how anyone could get bored reading this, but the average rating of three reviewers is just average. Perhaps they expected a sensationalist tale of homosexuality and maniacal mayhem instead, I don't know! Honestly he portrayed nudes because of their beauty and not for lust. But even if you haven’t the desire to be an artist and create, even if you haven’t laid eyes on a sculpture by Michelangelo, I promise you will understand the agony and its sister ecstasy of trying to release the images within an artist when you settle down with Stone’s loving tribute to the Florentine.
Especially memorable for its grisliness was the description of Michelangelo’s descent into the ‘dead room’ where he dissected corpses to discover how a human being breathes and moves. This wasn’t just one night, but several that he endured in all its horror. Well, you can experience it as he does, believe me! The Renaissance comes to life on every page of religious wars and personal struggles; it is fascinating. It’s not just a pretty novel for artists, but a story of indomitable passion and inner strength. You will be rendered speechless in admiration like I was for those who have been so gifted by God as Michelangelo was.
Please read all the reviews of a spiritual nature or about anniversaries from these wonderful writers! conradd, eplovejoy, frazzledspice, jankp, jcvsmom, jenninca, KateTPZ, kurt_messick, Lisa_J, naphtalia, nicholmere, prettyinpink, Psychovant, Redlass, telefrog
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