International Writers Inspiring Change feature book: The Weight of Beauty: The Life of Donatello

Florence, 1415. In a smoky tavern, three young artists—Donatello, Brunelleschi, and Masaccio—argue late into the night, unknowingly inventing the visual language of the Renaissance.

Donatello carves bodies that breathe, saints that doubt, and heroes stripped of idealisation, challenging both church and society.

Circled by rivals and patrons demanding obedience, Donatello's only refuge is the belief that truth in art matters more than approval, safety or wealth.

John Broughton's THE WEIGHT OF BEAUTY is a historical novel of obsession and conviction that captures the essence of art, and the cost of seeing the world as it truly is.

Reviews...

"Yet another superb book from John Broughton’s Fascinating Lives series." - Charles

The Weight of Beauty: The Life of Donatello, by historical novelist, John Broughton, is another masterpiece by this incredibly prolific author. The author recreates the life of Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, known as Donatello, who was a pioneering Italian Renaissance sculptor during the 15th century, and celebrated for his mastery of marble and bronze works. Donatello is renowned for many famous works and for his pioneering techniques which evolved and changed the art of sculpting. The author takes us back to the turn of the 15th century, when a young aspiring apprentice learns from the masters, and eventually, becomes one himself. It is beautifully written, with tangible and detailed descriptions of the artist at work, such that one can smell the sweat and odor of rock and bronze as he magically shapes blocks into incomparably magnificent works of art. One experiences how Donatello thought, how he transformed mere images into some of the most splendid works to ever come out during the Renaissance. One gets an inside view into a world rarely spoken about in such detail in literature, detailing a life dedicated to the creation of art which has withstood the test of time and has inspired and awed millions of people throughout generations. This is not a fast read - it is one where you soak it up, word by word, like fine wine. A five-star work and recommended reading.

Review by International Writers Inspiring Change

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I was born in Cleethorpes Lincolnshire in 1948: one of the post-war baby boom. After attending grammar school and studying to the sound of Bob Dylan I went to Nottingham University and studied Medieval and Modern History (Archaeology subsidiary).

My two kids are grown up now, but I wrote books for them when they were little. Hamish Hamilton and then Thomas Nelson published 6 of these in England in the 1980s. I’m a granddad now and happily his parents named my grandson Dylan. I decided to take up writing again late in my career. You know when you are teaching and working as a translator you don’t really have time for writing.

I retired in January 2014 and began researching the period that has always fascinated me: Anglo-Saxon England. My research homed in on a Pope from Calabria, Italy, where I live, Pope Zachary and from there I chanced upon a letter from a certain Denehard and the idea for my first historical novel 'The Purple Thread' was born. Endeavour Media published it in the summer of 2017 along with my second, set 50 years or so earlier in Southern England with the title Wyrd of the Wolf. Since Endeavour ceased its activities, I've had another 40 novels published by Next Chapter Publishing.

A while back, after writing a sequel to Wyrd of the Wolf, entitled In the Name of the Mother, I took a decision to develop my writing in two directions. There would still be the content of my beloved Anglo-Saxon era but in parallel to my 'pure' historical novels like Perfecta Saxonia and Ulf’s Tale there would also be a line involving the element of involving the past with the present as in my ‘time travel novel’ Angenga and a series of seven books, beginning with a tale of the paranormal entitled Elfrid's Hole (Jake Conley Book 1). Later still, I decided to write a Murder Mystery and with its success, another series was born. There are now 10 Vance & Shepherd Metropolitan Murders novels.

Visit author page HERE