Imaginative Michelangelo- Agony and the Ecstacy
Irvine Stone's novel "The Agony and the Ecstasy" captures the life and work of Michelangelo the artist. Within the biographical novel are themes that signify the artist's talent and expression by form of his masterpieces as well as his life experience. Such themes as Transcendence/Permanence, Communication/Commentary, Self Expression/Self Exaltation, and Patronage/Functionality, intervene throughout the novel and serve us a way to recognize credible attributes of the artist. A few astounding creations that expose the four themes include the famous Pieta, Sistine chapel, and Hercules. A tremendous amount of detail and care is evident in numerous works of Michelangelo, yet the Pieta is one that stands apart for such recognition. The amount of time put towards the piece emphasizes the sincerity of the artist's passion. By observing the Pieta's emotion driven subject, Mary and Jesus, a moment of transcendence is breeched. Taking a year and half to complete, Michelangelo was able to portray Mary as young and filled with compassion as she was in his conception. "He could not conceive of her as a woman in her mid 50's, old, wrinkled, broken in body and face by labor of worry. His image of the Virgin had always been that of a young w
oman, even as the memory of his mother. Another desire of the artist is to express that which is inside them and to work on that which they truly find to be profoundly pleasurable. "He must find a way to represent Hercules so that he became Lorenzo as well; not solely the physical giant of the Greek legend, but as a poet, statesman, world merchant, patron, revolutionist. Similar to the emotion driven portrayal of Mary, Michelangelo dealt with the sorrowful subject entwined with Christ's crucifixion. Lorenzo reminds and encourages the artist in saying "you came in here as one of the family. All that the artist does is in attempt to express, communicate, and inevitably transcend as Michelangelo did a number of times. In a most basic sense we see that Michelangelo was unable to work in the marble he had an honest passion for because again and again he found himself having to paint instead of sculpt. "He portrayed Adam and Eve not as tiny, timid, delicate creatures, but powerfully built, alert, handsome. Piero's vain and self righteous talk clearly upset Michelangelo and resulted in his honest disinterest. This theme throughout the novel is known as Self-Expression/Self Exaltation.
Common topics in this essay:
Exaltation Patronage/Functionality,
Furthermore Irving,
Hercules Lorenzo,
Adam Eve,
Petronio Bologna,
Mary Jesus,
Mary Michelangelo,
Self-Expression/Self Exaltation,
Communication/Commentary Michelangelo,
Michelangelo's Sistine,
self-expression/self exaltation,
sistine chapel,
adam eve,
human happiness,
biblical stories,
michelangelo able,
able transcend,
greek legend,
express inside,
express true,
|
Acceptance Essays
