The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961) is a biographical novel of Michelangelo Buonarroti written by American author Irving Stone. Stone lived in Italy for years visiting many of the locations in Rome and Florence, worked in marble quarries, and apprenticed himself to a marble sculptor. A primary source for the novel is Michelangelo's correspondence, all 495 letters of which Stone had translated from Italian by Charles Speroni and published in 1962 as I, Michelangelo, Sculptor. Stone also collaborated with Canadian sculptor Stanley Lewis, who researched Michelangelo's carving technique and tools. The Italian government lauded Stone with several honorary awards for his cultural achievements highlighting Italian history. Stone wrote a dozen biographical novels, but this one and Lust for Life (1934) are best known, in large part because both had major Hollywood film adaptations. Part of the 1961 novel was adapted to film in The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. Plot Sections The book is divided into eleven sections, each detailing a distinct period of Michelangelo's life. The Studio: Michelangelo studies under Ghirlandaio at his studio The Sculpture Garden: Michelangelo studies under Bertoldo in the sculpture garden of Lorenzo de' Medici, culminating in his first sculpture, Head of a Faun The Palace: Michelangelo lives in the palace of Lorenzo de' Medici, where he befriends Lorenzo's daughter Contessina, learns from Bertoldo and the Platonic scholars, and produces his first two reliefs, Madonna of the Steps and Battle of the Centaurs. Savonarola turns Florence against the Medici family, and ultimately Lorenzo passes away from illness. The Flight: Michelangelo returns to his parents' home. He begins dissecting bodies at Santo Spirito to further his understanding of the human form while starting work on a sculpture of Hercules in memory of Lorenzo, as well as a Crucifix for the church. He is invited to live at the Medici palace once more by Piero de' Medici, but when the people of Florence become disenchanted by the lavishness of Contessina's wedding celebrations Savonarola turns the city against the Medici family and the palace is attacked. Michelangelo flees to Bologna, where he stays with Aldovrandi, becomes romantically involved with a woman named Clarissa, and creates the sculptures St. Proclus and St. Petronius. He returns to Florence once the political situation has calmed and is commissioned to create a sculpture of a young St. John the Baptist