A few weeks ago Lorraine (from life class) asked me if I had a copy of the old book " The Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irving Stone. You may have read it – as I did – about a thousand years ago, it was published in 1961. I looked on my bookshelves and failed to find it. On checking Nunawading Library I found they had a copy – so I borrowed it, and also found a copy in my local second-hand book shop. I started reading the library copy and will give Lorraine the other one.

Once started I couldn’t stop. I found it really good reading and very interesting, much more so than the first time I read it when I wasn’t an artist myself. By good fortune I have a very comprehensive picture book on Michelangelo ( Michelangelo: Painter, Sculptor, Architect by Howard Hibbard). It was really good to be able to refer to the illustration of whatever work was in progress as I was reading the Agony and Ecstasy. I plan to read the Hibbard properly soon – i.e. reading all the words, not just looking at the pictures!

What a life Michelangelo led! He was born into a noble but impoverished family in Florence in 1475. His first apprenticeship was with the painter Dominico Ghirlandaio. This lasted only a year or so, after which he was part of the Medici sculpture garden. There he was treated as a member of the Medici family and always retained relationships with various members of the family Totally driven by his desire to create art – in particular by his need to carve marble – he kept going until he was nearly 90. But what troubles he had, and how they hindered him in his work. Being an unmarried son he remained financially responsible for his father and siblings, frequently sending them much more from his commission payments than he could afford. I would need to read the book again to understand and remember all the political details, but the succession of popes with their demands for his services caused a lot of the trouble. Just as well they did though, or we may not have the legacy of his art as we do.

The book goes into a lot of detail about his friends and associates, the background of the renaissance period in Florence and Rome, and how he created the sculptures and paintings, not to mention his skills in architecture.