The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961) is a biographical novel about Michelangelo Buonarroti written by Irving Stone. The basis for his novel was Michelangelo's correspondence, all 495 letters of which Stone had translated from Italian by Dr. Charles Speroni, a professor of Italian at California University. He also learned to carve marble in Florence. The novel painted an unlikely portrait of a heterosexual Michelangelo.
The book was made into a 1965 film of the same name directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. It is centred around Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling for Julius. In that respect it differs from the book, which covered the grand scope of Michelangelo's life.