The Stone and the Pain

A novel that belongs at the very pinnacle of Czech historical prose

The book describes the life of the famous Italian sculptor, painter, and architect Michelangelo Buonarroti, as well as the political and religious atmosphere at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. In addition to Italian Renaissance figures, the novel also depicts the contemporary conditions within the Church, which is closely intertwined with the nobility. The author created this famous biography at the beginning of the Second World War. Against the backdrop of a vast fresco of Renaissance life in Italy and its dramatic political events, he captured the ultimate creative and human struggle for freedom and dignity.