Florence, New Year’s Day 1557. As dawn breaks, a painter is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart.
Above him, the paintings he laboured over for more than a decade. At his home, a hidden painting scandalously depicting Maria de Medici, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Florence, as a naked Venus. Who is the murderer? Who is behind the painting? As the city erupts in chaos, Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation.
Letters fly back and forth carrying news of political plots and speculation about the killer’s identity – between Maria and her aunt Catherine de’ Medici, the queen of France; between Catherine and her scheming agents in Florence; and between Vasari and his friend Michelangelo. Meanwhile, the Pope is banning books and branding works of art immoral. And the truth, when it comes to light, is as shocking as the bold new artworks that have made Florence the red-hot centre of Europe.
Bursting with characters and colour, Perspectives is a mystery like no other that shows us Renaissance Florence as we’ve never seen it before – a dazzling, hugely entertaining novel of court machinations, murder and art.
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Perspectives 9781787304482 Hardback
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Perspectives
Having never been impressed with the epistolary novels I've read, apart from Lady Susan, I was surprised to find myself intrigued by the weekend Guardian's review of this book . I must admit my fascination with Renaissance Italy however and it's Machiavellian politics but would stress…
Having never been impressed with the epistolary novels I've read, apart from Lady Susan, I was surprised to find myself intrigued by the weekend Guardian's review of this book . I must admit my fascination with Renaissance Italy however and it's Machiavellian politics but would stress that a detailed background known isn't essential to enjoy this surprising and complex political murder mystery. The author supplies a comprehensive explanatory list of the dramatis personae, including the Pope, the Queen of France, the Duke of Florence and many notable artists of the period from Michelangelo down. The author observes the Robert Harris convention of not subverting accepted historical facts and only goes as far as filling in the unknown areas with feasible theories. All credit to the translator. One would not know that the novel hadn't been written in English and there is no clumsiness in the flow of his transition from the original French. It's difficult to believe that anyone who enjoys an historical detective story would be disappointed with this one.
- Authors:
- Binet, Laurent
- Year Published:
- 2025
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Format:
- Hardback
- ISBN:
- 9781787304482
- Number of Pages:
- 272
- Publication Date:
- 20/02/2025
- Publisher:
- Vintage Publishing
- Language:
- English
- Place of Publication:
- London
- SKU:
- 9781787304482