“Stephanie Storey paints a warm, witty, mesmerizing portrait of the Renaissance’s most famous painters: the charming Raphael and the irascible Michaelangelo, dueling for the title of greatest artist in Rome... RAPHAEL: PAINTER IN ROME is a feast for the senses, every brushstroke a delight.”
Raphael, Painter in Rome
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.
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:
This new novel tells the story as never before: through the eyes of the brilliant, beautiful, painter of perfection Raphael.
“In Stephanie Storey’s new historical novel, Raphael: Painter in Rome, we experience Raphael not as a towering giant but rather as a lively, engaging friend... You’ll want to have your internet connection ready so that you can look up each and every one of the beautiful works of art described in this engaging tale of ambition, rivalry, and ultimately, the power of art to transcend it all.”