The Agony and the Ecstasy - Irving Stone

Advantages: Discriptions of Sculptures and Frescos. Italian Renaissance.
Disadvantages: Subjective interpretation. Lengthy and sometimes difficult to read.

...year old Michelangelo Buonarroti began the carving of the 17ft marble statue the Biblical King David. Now renowned as a masterpiece of Renaissance art, David is regarded as a symbol both of strength and youthful human beauty. To mark the 500th anniversary, New American Library released a special edition of Irving Stone’s biography of the artist- “The Agony and The Ecstasy.” “The Agony and The Ecstasy” has achieved a reputation of a masterpiece in ...
...Michelangelo but THE biography. No-one can criticise Irving Stone’s dedication and commitment to his novel. He worked on the novel for six years researching primary sources in Florence, Rome, Carrara and Bologna. He studied all of Michelangelo’s existing 495 letters as well as a vast amount of other Renaissance documentation. He even learned how to carve marble to be able to portray the act realistically. A lot of time out of anyone’s life!! But ... Read review