Saturday, October 07, 2006

michelangelo biography quotes

from "the Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irving Stone

"Stone works with you. It reveals itself. But you must strike it right. Stone does not resent the chisel. It is not being violated. Its nature is to change. Each stone has its own character. It must be understood. Handle it carefully, or it will shatter. Never let stone destroy itself.
"Stone gives itself to skill and love.
His first lesson had been that the power and the durability lay in the stone, not in the arms or tools. The stone was the master; not the mason. If ever a mason came to think he was master, the stone would oppose and thwart him. And if the mason beat his tone as an ignorant contadino migh beat his beasts, the rich and warm glowing breathing material became dull, colorless, ugly; died under his hand. To kicks and curses, to hurry and dislike, it closed a hard stone veil around its soft inner nature. It could be smashed by violence but never forced to fulfill. To sympathy it yielded: grew ever more luminous and sparkling, achieved fluid forms and symmetry." (page 48)

"time was a yeast, many aspects ... that had eluded him before now seemed clear to him, their form matured, their definition resolved. A work of art meant growth from the particualr to the universal. To a work of art, time brought timelessness." (page 650)

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home