A Splendid Sin: Michelangelo: A Renaissance Affair

by Alana Bolton Cooke

'A Splendid Sin' is a love story. It is fiction based on fact.

It describes the love of an older man for a younger man and how this love helps create a great work of art, 'The Last Judgement' which stands on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. It is also the story of genius expressed in artworks breaking boundaries and pushing art into a new form (Mannerism).

The forbidden, intense Renaissance same-sex romance takes place under the noses of a powerful Vatican elite headed by the Pope. One man is an adoring muse of the artist and the other, the artist Michelangelo, can only see the beneficence of God in the beauty of his muse. The concept of active same sex love was condemned by Church teaching, much like today.

The genius is a forward thinker, he expresses his innermost feelings in the art forms he creates, mostly unconsciously, but the artworks reveal his soul. His admiration of the perfect human male form and the expression of his sexuality causes him to be conflicted and tortured, yet it is part of his artistic soul in which he loses himself to create. He is a lone genius tortured by his own piety as he breaks rules concerning art and the society he lives in.

This creates jealousy, disturbance, paranoia, vindictiveness and betrayal by those who wish to bring Michelangelo down. Many of those attached to the Vatican can only see his art as lewd. His relationship with Tommaso de Cavalieri is an expression of all these elements and through the progression of this story he changes until his soul is quietened and he loses himself, not in the love of Tommaso, but in the love for his faith.

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 9, 2019

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

As regular readers of myblog know, I really enjoy books about art so it will come as no surprise that I liked Alana Bolton Cooke's A Splendid Sin. It's a fictionalised foray into the life of Michelangelo: the sculptor of 'David' in Florence and the 'Pieta' in Vatican City; the painter of the ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and 'The Last Judgement' on its altar wall; and a pioneer in architecture who designed beautiful buildings such as the Laurentian Library and St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Seeing Michelangelo's most famous artworks in Florence and Rome was one of the highlights of my trip to Italy in 2005, and even the monstrous crowds in the Sistine Chapel could not dispel my awe. (I was so glad someone had suggested that I take my opera glasses! Binoculars are too heavy in the suitcase, but good opera glasses work nearly as well.)

Part of the pleasure of reading this novel was the stimulus to find the paintings referenced in it, in the books I have at home. I didn't delude myself that I could capture these artworks with my own camera—far better to enjoy the work of professional photographers. So I have Andrew Graham-Dixon's Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel (2008) which tells the human story of its creation; and also The Sistine Chapel, The Art, the History and the Restoration (1986) by Carlo Pietrangeli et al, which has large full-colour reproductions and is really good for seeing the details. (But of course for those who don't have these resources on hand, it is easy enough to find the same images on the internet, one of the luxuries of the digital age we live in).

Much is known about the life of Michelangelo (1475-1564) because of the volume of correspondence and other documentation that has survived. He was, Wikipedia tells me, the first Western artist to be the subject of biography while he was still alive, and I have one of them, in my three-volume set of Lives of the Artists by Georgio Vasari (1511-1574), translated by George Bull. However, I don't need to read that to know that there will be no mention of Michelangelo's relationships with young men. As the author says in her Notes at the back of the novel, there are no records of any such relationships being consummated, and nor would we expect them to be, given the religious sensibilities of the 16th century. Nevertheless, Cooke has crafted a compelling story from the extant records, focussing on Michelangelo's devotion to a young man called Tommaso de Cavalieri. In A Splendid Sin, she—considering the frailty of human nature— has fictionalised the relationship as more than Platonic.

Cooke's novel reveals their mutual and enduring affection through letters, poetry and sketches. This was a love that transcended an age difference of over 30 years, and the gulf between social classes. Michelangelo was an esteemed artist, famous throughout the Renaissance World, but despite his claims to be descended from the nobility, his father was a minor administrator and the family was not wealthy. Tommaso, on the other hand, was a nobleman from a very rich family. And despite Michelangelo's fame, he always remained dependent for his commissions on the system of Renaissance patronage—and given the risk that Michelangelo could fall out of favour for any number of reasons—that patronage was always precarious. The world was fortunate that the succession from one pope to another didn't forestall the completion of the Sistine Chapel altogether, because there were always plenty in the religious fraternity who did not like his work.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/06/28/a...

[Marcus Hobson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a ‘stick with it’ type of person when it comes to book reading and will not give up easily. That stubborn trait was rewarded when reading this novel about Michelangelo. The book is certainly wide ranging, covering the whole of his life from his childhood to his death. During that time the main dilemma Michelangelo faced was the same one, the chance of discovery, that someone might betray his feelings for the young men he surrounded himself with. It was a theme that reoccurred again and again, but in the end this is an enjoyable romp around the art and sex life of the great Renaissance artist.
The premise of the novel is that the great artist was too fond of some of his male apprentices and later in his life fell passionately in love with a young nobleman, Tommaso de Cavaliori. While attempting to espouse the theories of new Platonism about the admiration of beauty bringing a person closer to God, both men ‘fall off the wagon’ a couple of times and give in to their physical needs. At the same time Michelangelo writes letters and poems to his younger lover and uses him repeatedly as a model in his drawings and paintings. It must have been obvious what was going on to those around the great man, so the question just becomes will anyone within the church do anything about it?

Much of the book covers the time when Michelangelo was painting of The Last Judgement behind the alter of the Sistine Chapel, in which a host of naked male figures are represented. The naked art, as well as rumours of amoral behaviour, bring Michelangelo into conflict with a number of cardinals who try to censure his work. Thankfully a series of Popes are more enlightened, and allow the great man to continue to focus on his art. Some of the most enjoyable aspects of the novel were the descriptions of the painting of The Last Judgement, and I was forced into Google to explore some of the great painting. As Michelangelo paints sinners and saints, giving some the features of friends and enemies, the reader is more and more intrigued about how this will look when finished. It is hard to give the sense of scale and perspective on the printed page, let alone how this was all achieved by candlelight.

Another successful aspect of the book was the way it reflects the turmoil of the times. Michelangelo lived into his late 80s and during his lifetime king Henry VIII in England broke away from the Catholic church, causing turmoil across Europe. One gets a sense of this struggle within the church through characters such as Reginald Pole, who was a Catholic cardinal exiled from England and living in Rome.

[Robert Bolton · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, a disclaimer: the author is my cousin and I’m not sure I would have chosen this book if she were not. That said, however, I thought ‘A Splendid Sin’ was a truly ‘splendid’ book. It’s saturated with the atmosphere of renaissance Rome, beautifully blends historic facts – people and events – with entertaining and plausible fiction, and portrays Michaelangelo, from boyhood to death, in a way that dry history and biographies do not. Indeed, I really came to know the man, following him from his troubled childhood into old age, and enjoyed getting to know what it was like to live in Italy at that time, especially in his somewhat chaotic Roman household of apprentices and servants. The emphasis, of course, is on the great man’s homosexuality and the ever-present tension caused by his life-long struggle to reconcile the idea, derived from Plato, that the beauty he saw in handsome young men – especially the much-younger Tommaso de Cavalieri – was in fact his inspiration and that to surrender to the physical would be to debase or even destroy his genius. This sensitive subject is inevitably central to both history and this fiction and it is handled here with extreme delicacy. Michaelangelo lived a long and remarkable life at a remarkable time in European history and the author gives us a real sense of the times – especially the corruption of the church at that time, the varied characters (good and bad) of the popes and cardinals who were his patrons and upon whom he depended, the impact on the church of Martin Luther and Henry VIII’s English ‘reformation’ and the church’s ongoing attempts at its own reform – without labouring it or burdening the reader with unnecessary detail. And her use of Michaelangelo’s masterpiece, ‘The Last Judgement’, as a means of focusing on the many conflicts faced by the artist thoughout his life is both inspired and truly informative. Overall, though, the author’s objective is to give us a sense of Michaelangelo’s life and time rather than a history lesson and in this she succeeds admirably with a book that is simply begging to be a movie. If you like historical fiction, and you’re interested in art history, renaissance history, church history and, of course, Michaelangelo himself, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this splendid book which covers both his life and the sensitive matter of his sexuality with extreme good taste.

[John Crockett · Rating 4 out of 5]

'A Splendid Sin' by Alana Bolton Cooke is a slow-burning novel. It deserves patient, careful reading as it explores the illicit relationship between the mature Michelangelo and Tommaso de Cavalieri, his young lover. Bolton Cooke has embarked on a very ambitious project, making their affair the dominant theme of her historical novel. Authenticity is assured by the very detailed psychological exploration of the relationship, given further support by the interspersing throughout the narrative of Michelangelo and Tommaso's exchange of letters.

The evolution of their mutual attraction but differing psychological responses is finely detailed. Bolton Cooke has drawn on a very wide range of studies of the Late Renaissance and of Michelangelo in particular to invest her depiction of their relationship with plausibility. Platonic male love, endorsed by the School of Marsilio Ficino, wrestles with the lovers' carnal instincts. The Roman Catholic Church's explicit prohibition of homosexual relationships is not iron-clad, in an intellectual climate which supports a Neo-Platonic ideal of the male body's approximation to the divine. Popes who are patrons of Michelangelo are willing to turn a blind eye to gossip and innuendo regarding rumours of Michelangelo's alleged relationship with Tommaso. They also share the classical aesthetic of appreciation of the male body, nudity included.

The Papal Court's atmosphere of plotting and intrigue is conveyed very well by the author. Less convincing at times are some of the physical descriptions of the Roman environment of the period where sharper colourings would have increased the novel's bid for atmosphere and originality. There are also occasional spelling errors which a more careful editing would have eliminated.

We know, historically, that Tommaso was at Michelangelo's deathbed. Bolton Cooke in 'A Splendid Sin' has enabled us to understand how poignant and comforting this final meeting would have been for the two men.

[J A Grierson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I'd studied Renaissance Art, I had no idea about who Michelangelo, the man, really was until I read this book. His homosexuality was both an inspiration and a torment to him, and once the secret is out traces of his obsession with male beauty can be seen everywhere in his great works. A Splendid Sin evokes the artistic rivalries and hypocrisies that haunted Michelangelo from his earliest days. For lovers of art, it is a pleasure to gain insights into his creative process, drawn (if you'll excuse the pun) against the backdrop of Renaissance Rome and Florence and the internecine workings of the Vatican. Moving and sensitively written, A Splendid Sin is rewarding and entrancing read.

[Josie Laird · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author must have done a year's worth of research for this book. Her bibliography is extensive, and she describes the art with a great deal of understanding. I needed to do my own research at times (eg what the term cartoon meant then). She conveys Michelangelo's brilliance well, and his tortured conflict between his attraction to men and his faith.
I felt the book was too long, and explained his conflict too often. Also, because we see the action from multiple points of view (Michelangelo, Tomasso, Bernardino, Febo and Vincenza, as well as various popes and cardinals), I didn't feel emotionally engaged with anyone - perhaps Bernardino was the closest.
However, it did make me want to return to Rome to see the work described. Amazing that it has lasted this long!

[Dione Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating historical novel about Michelangelo and his affair with Tommaso de Cavalieri during the time he was painting the Last Judgement.

Michelangelo was an interesting personality and a devout Catholic and was inspired by the beauty of the human form. This made him somewhat controversial.

The novel is fiction but the author did a lot of research and explains what is factual and what she has assumed or invented. Written well in a style which suits the story.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting fictionalisation about the life of Michelangelo and the relationship he had with the Church, Popes and various people in Florence and Rome.