The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Novel of Michelangelo: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Novel of Michelangelo" delves into the life of the renowned Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, exploring his complex character and the relationships that shaped him. The narrative begins with a young Michelangelo, grappling with feelings of loneliness and a desire for love following the death of his mother. His journey into artistry sees him facing both physical and emotional struggles, driven by an insatiable pursuit of perfection and the agony of creating masterpieces only to witness their destruction.
Key characters include Lodovico, Michelangelo's father, whose harsh expectations and lack of affection contribute significantly to Michelangelo's personal challenges. Lorenzo de' Medici, a significant patron, embodies the Renaissance ideals that inspire Michelangelo, while Contessina de' Medici and Clarissa Saffi represent the romantic entanglements that are ultimately thwarted by social constraints and Michelangelo’s artistic obsessions. Vittoria Colonna, a devoted reformist, captures his admiration later in life, though their relationship remains platonic. Lastly, Tommaso de Cavalieri serves as a devoted companion in his later years, showcasing the importance of friendship amidst Michelangelo's solitary existence. This rich tapestry of relationships illuminates the artist's life, highlighting the balance of agony and ecstasy inherent in his quest for artistic immortality.
The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Novel of Michelangelo: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Irving Stone
First published: 1961
Genre: Novel
Locale: Italy, particularly Florence and Rome
Plot: Biographical
Time: 1487–1564
Michelangelo Buonarroti (mi-kehl-AN-gehl-oh bwon-ah-ROH-tee), a skinny, unsociable thirteen-year-old who, as the action of the novel begins, wishes he could redraft his facial features with a crayon. He reflects on the death of his mother when he was only six years old and his consequent loneliness and hunger for love. First trained as a stonecutter and then sent away to school for three years, young Michelangelo prefers drawing to the study of Latin and Greek. It is not until he becomes a student at the Medici sculpture garden at the age of fourteen, having spent a year at Ghirlandaio's studio, that he comes to know happiness again and forms lasting friendships. Tutored by the Plato Four, he develops a love for ancient culture and a familiarity with classical texts; at the same time, he begins working seriously in marble. A beating permanently disfigures his face, and he never overcomes his insecurity about his own ugliness. He becomes a victim of his own drive for artistic perfection. Carving as long as twenty hours a day, he persists for months without adequate food or sleep. At one time, he sleeps in his clothes for a month; when he finally removes his boots, the skin of his feet comes off with them. Working on the ceiling frescoes for the Sistine Chapel, he becomes racked from the position in which he must work and almost blind from the dripping paint. In addition to experiencing the agony of working and of being treated as a mere laborer by his patron, Pope Julius II, Michelangelo suffers the agony of producing great art only to have it destroyed. Rioting Florentines break an arm off his David, and the Bolognese melt down a bronze statue of Julius that took fifteen months to create, recasting the metal as a cannon. He is stoned by the rock cutters of Carrara because Pope Leo insists that he use marble from Pietrasanta instead of theirs. Because Michelangelo feels an inner compunction to complete a significant body of works, he has no time for social niceties or a love relationship. He shares his father's pride in family, but he believes that as a mendicant artist working for long periods in self-imposed isolation, he cannot have a family of his own. Even as an elderly man, he retains the sense of the artist's responsibility to convey human emotion and the very meaning of life instilled in him long ago by the Medici circle. Although he becomes increasingly subject to multiple infirmities, he experiences little diminishing of his artistic powers. Viewing his works in his mind's eye, he feels the ecstasy of a long lifetime of work well done as his soul soars through the gaping hole that will become the dome of St. Peter's.
Lodovico di Lionardo Buonarroti Simoni (loh-doh-VEEkoh dee leeoh-NAHR-doh bwon-ah-ROH-tee see-MOHnee), Michelangelo's father, a man tottering on the edge of social ruin who invests his hopes for reestablishing the family fortune on Michelangelo, the only one of his five sons ever to earn money. Lodovico, who went into despair after the death of his first wife, never showed any affection or understanding to Michelangelo as a child. From the time of the boy's apprenticeship, he controls his earnings, over the years taking eighty percent of Michelangelo's commissions while his son lives sacrificially and eats little. Never satisfied with Michel-angelo's contracts, he complains and dogs him to earn more money to buy farms for him and to set his brothers up in business. When Lodovico dies on his ninetieth birthday, Michelangelo realizes his love for his father in spite of the hardships he has endured for him. He is satisfied to have been the means to the recovery of the family name.
Lorenzo de' Medici (MEH-dee-chee), called Il Magnifico, the untitled ruler of Michelangelo's Florence, a patron of artists and intellectuals, and a poet. The wealthy, powerful Lorenzo wants to liberate the human mind by fostering a renaissance in learning and the arts. After Lorenzo's untimely death at the age of forty-three, Michelangelo realizes that he owes all that he is to this ideal ruler-scholar whom he knew for only three years.
Contessina de' Medici, the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, whose youthful romance with Michelangelo is stillborn because of their social differences. After her brother Piero makes arrangements for Contessina to marry Ridolfi, she is not permitted to see Michelangelo again. They retain their feelings of affection and loyalty for many years, however, and Michelangelo attempts to intervene with Florentine authorities on her behalf during her family's eight years in exile and poverty. She eventually is restored to favor and assumes a large role in Vatican politics when her brother becomes pope. Michelangelo, greatly shaken by her sudden illness and death, maintains a lifelong relationship with her offspring.
Clarissa Saffi, a cobbler's daughter and the mistress of a Bolognese nobleman. Michelangelo is passionately attracted to her when they are both nineteen years old. Twelve years later, they have a brief affair, but after a few months she leaves him because he is too preoccupied with making wax models to give enough of himself to her.
Vittoria Colonna, the daughter of a powerful Italian family, the Marchesa di Pescara. She is a beautiful, regal, and kind Renaissance woman whom Michelangelo meets when he is sixty-one years old. They exchange his drawings and her poetry, and Michelangelo falls deeply in love with her. She is devoted to convent life and reform within the Roman Catholic church, however, and never offers him romantic love.
Tommaso de Cavalieri (kah-vah-lee-EH-ree), an elegant and handsome Roman. He is Michelangelo's assistant architect for St. Peter's and his inseparable companion during his last seventeen years.