Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow Books for the gifted book!
by: Laura Morelli
rating: really liked
I love historical fiction books set in the 1700s and later, but generally don't have an interest in those set before. Morelli expertly managed to capture my interest equally for the timelines beginning in 1479 and 1939. 1479: Bellina is a servant whose life is tied to serving her mistress Lisa even as she marries and moves into the home of her prosperous silk merchant husband. Bellina finds herself caught between a bewitching monk who is against the excess of extravagance and her mistress for whom Master Leonardo da Vinci has been commissioned to paint a portrait. Leonardo wrestles with his desire to make art while he still has to make money to sustain his lavish taste. He has become notorious for leaving works unfinished as he becomes disinterested in them. He sees painting the portrait of a rich man's wife beneath his skills. 1939: Anne is a novice archivist employed at the Louvre at the dawn of the German occupation of France. In the chaos she finds her beloved brother is missing and herself recruited to help move the Louvre's most precious artworks including the masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, out of the reach of the Germans. Bellina, Leonardo, and Anne all have to wrestle with their priorities and their identities as we read how this simple commissioned portrait transformed to shape each of their lives in drastic ways. Morelli has a Ph.D. in art history from Yale and is able to craft a story about this iconic artwork that brings it to life. She highlights how it has come to prominence even through its unconventional origins. Through this story she gives readers an education on the role this painting plays in the culture changing movements in which it was created and saved from destruction.
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