Raphael, Painter in Rome
Books | Fiction / Historical / Renaissance
4
Stephanie Storey
Another Fabulous Art History Thriller by the Bestselling Author of Oil and Marble, Featuring the Master of Renaissance Perfection: Raphael! Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling is one of the most iconic masterpieces of the Renaissance. Here, in Raphael, Painter in Rome, Storey tells of its creation as never before: through the eyes of Michelangelo’s fiercest rival—the young, beautiful, brilliant painter of perfection, Raphael. Orphaned at age eleven, Raphael is determined to keep the deathbed promise he made to his father: become the greatest artist in history. But to be the best, he must beat the best, the legendary sculptor of the David, Michelangelo Buonarroti. When Pope Julius II calls both artists down to Rome, they are pitted against each other: Michelangelo painting the Sistine Ceiling, while Raphael decorates the pope's private apartments. As Raphael strives toward perfection in paint, he battles internal demons: his desperate ambition, crippling fear of imperfection, and unshakable loneliness. Along the way, he conspires with cardinals, scrambles through the ruins of ancient Rome, and falls in love with a baker’s-daughter-turned-prostitute who becomes his muse. With its gorgeous writing, rich settings, endearing characters, and riveting plot, Raphael, Painter in Rome brings to vivid life these two Renaissance masters going head to head in the deadly halls of the Vatican.
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More Details:
Author
Stephanie Storey
Pages
320
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2020-04-07
ISBN
1950691314 9781950691319
Community ReviewsSee all
"This was fine, and had some interesting details and fun moments. However the writing style felt very superficial - felt like YA."
Sarah Brown
"This book is fine. Some of the details of historic painting techniques are interesting, there is a colourful cast of real-life characters, and the ebook version I read had links to all of the artworks described, which was really cool.<br/><br/>However, this is not a thriller. If you are coming in off the blurb on here you will be disappointed. It's a standard list of events historical fiction narrated by the protagonist, and while there is occasionally a vague threat of violence it is at a remove from the story. Secondly, I understand the choice to use that flippant YA style of writing to indicate Raphael’s youth but it did not work for me. I understand the sequence of events involved but the character arc for Raphael was boring and I was left feeling kind of unfulfilled."
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