“If more women realized it,” Lapaccia whispered, “I wonder what might happen?”
Viviana smiled; she felt the joy of it in the very blood pumping through her body.
“I wonder indeed.”
La fine è solo l'inizio
(The End, for now)
What is Historically Factual and What is Not
The truth depicts, the story insists.
The murder of Giuliano de’ Medici as depicted is as it happened. Incidental occurrences such as the mix up of where the Medicis would meet the cardinal and Bandini’s covert search of Giuliano’s person are portrayed accurately to prevailing history. It was indeed two priests who ignited the primary attack on Lorenzo; Francesco de’ Pazzi’s mania was truly so incensed, he stabbed his own thigh as he murdered Giuliano.
Nine-year-old Niccolò Machiavelli was a witness to the murders. What the child saw would be reflected in all his writings and his political career.
The hangings as depicted and of those particular historical characters follow the truth of history. Though all accounts of the incident make mention of Archbishop Salviati’s final bite upon Francesco de’ Pazzi, all these same accounts invalidate their stating it as true by calling it a myth or legend. By the time the scourge of Medici revenge found its end, it is estimated that eighty to one hundred men were executed.
Caterina dei Vigri, or Catherine of Bologna, is considered one of the first notable female artists. She was an author as well, one who kept a journal throughout her lifetime as well as writing many a religious treatise. However, the “quotes” at the beginning of each chapter are of this author’s creation. Many of her manuscripts and art works survive today. Caterina of Bologna died in 1463 at the age of 49. For the eighteen days following her burial, there were many graveside miracles reported. Her body was moved then, found in an incorrupt state, and placed in the chapel of Poor Clares in Bologna where she remains on display, resplendent in her habit, seated upright behind glass. Caterina was canonized in 1712. Her relationship with Viviana is purely fictitious; her impact on women and female artists of the era is not.
The summation of the political wounds inflicted between the Medicis and the Pazzis, those which led up to this heinous murder, is simply stated, but truthfully rendered. For greater details of each offense and counter offense, please see the following bibliography.
The consequences endured by Jacopo de’ Pazzi, including his capture, his arrest, his death, and his multiple interments are all, remarkably and horribly, true. Fact as well, was the fate of all Pazzis; those surviving were banished and any resemblance of the family, whether by name, escutcheon, or building…was erased in all of Florence.
The letter from the Duke of Urbino, with its veiled threats, and the anonymous poem hinting at the greater forces involved in the conspiracy are also of historical record.
It was custom for traitors and debtors to be rendered on the walls of the courthouse and prison walls of Florence, forever condemned upon giant frescoes. Sandro Botticelli did in fact create the fresco of those deemed as the main conspirators on the wall of the Palazzo della Signoria, but it was later removed.
The Compagnia e’ Neri—the Company of the Black Ones—was a religious confraternity found in all Italian cities. In the tradition of Christ’s Cavalry, they held their mission as sacred, to accompany and give comfort to those on their way to their death. The verse they chanted along the path was one written by a Bolognese lawyer who belonged to that city’s confraternity. Gregorio Roverbella (c. 1410–88) intended the prayer, “For those who are on their way to justice.”
The Bull of Excommunication indicted upon Lorenzo de’ Medici and the many members of the Florentine government was indeed enforced by Pope Sixtus IV.
It is true that many of those involved in the assassination of Giuliano de’ Medici and the attempt to assassinate Lorenzo found sanctuary, for a time, in the multitude of convents and monasteries replete within the city of Florence. Lapaccia, a fictitious character, was not one of them. Nor was there a painting, a rendition of the Feast of Herod, created with the conspirators rendered upon it.
There was no Society such as the one depicted here; at least, not any known in the time period covered in this book.
And, lastly, it would be a dishonor not to acknowledge those words of Leonardo da Vinci taken from his own journals, notebooks, and letters. The direct quotes are:
“There are three sorts of people in our world, signorina, those who see, those who see when they are shown, and those who shall never see.”
“Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.”
“The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.”
“All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.”
“As you begin your work, you must study the others, and you must make your decision and learn cohesively from there. You should look at certain walls stained with dampness, or at stones of uneven color. If you have to invent some backgrounds you will be able to see in these the likeness of divine landscapes, adorned with mountains, ruins, rocks, woods, great plains, hills and valleys in great variety; and expressions of faces and clothes and an infinity of things which you will be able to reduce to their complete and proper forms. In such walls the same thing happens as in the sound of bells, in whose stroke you may find every named word which you can imagine.”
“Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.”
Acknowledgments
We are never alone.
A great part of this work was inspired by the power of my female friendships, those that enabled me to survive years of great personal difficulty. It is to such kinship—one seemingly particular to women—that I hope to pay homage with this series. My survival, and this work, would not have been possible without those friends, most specifically Jennifer Way (1973–2012), Hannah Arbuthnot, and Stephanie Estes Saccoccio. To them I send all my love and gratitude.
I send thanks as well to the talented and generous C.W. Gortner, my Leonardo.
I am indebted to Christy English and again to Hannah Arbuthnot for their time and advice.
I am beholden to my agent, Shannon Hassan; her belief in me and this work reignited my passion for my true purpose and gave me back my own belief in myself.
My gratitude extends and expands to my editor, Randall Klein, for his devotion to this book, for helping me turn a good story into a great story. And to the wonderful team at Diversion, Sarah Masterson Hally, Trent Hart, Laura Duane, Beth Brown, and all those whose names I do not know, but whose support and encouragement on my behalf has been so vital to this book, I say, mille grazie.
Writing is a very solitary profession, but it is also a passion, one that needs a particular form of empathy that only other writers can offer. I am forever indebted to those writers who have helped me in my journey, especially Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Heather Webb, Marci Jefferson, Nancy Bilyeau, Anne Easter Smith, Diana Haeger, and all the wonderful members of the Historical Fiction Co-op.
In the bibliography, there is noted the “Online Gazetteer of Sixteenth Century Florence.” This is an amazingly detailed map of early sixteenth-century Florence developed, at that time, by one “Stefano Buonsignori (or Bonsignori) who designed the large axonometric ("birds-eye view") map of Florence displayed in the Gazetteer. He was an Olivetian monk (a local Tuscan order of Benedictines) skilled in map making, and near his monastery (which is shown in the lower left hand corner of the map) was a panoramic view of Florence that may have helped to inspire his creation.”
I can never thank Caroline Castiglione, Ph.D., enough. Dr. Castiglione is an Associate Professor, Italian Studies and History, at Brown University, and availed me of this map. And though my years of research have made Renaissance Florence a very real place for me, this map brought it ever more alive and I am extremely grateful for her assistance and that of R. Burr Litchfield, Professor of History (Emeritus) at Brown University and his students, who digitized the map,
making it, and Renaissance Florence, available to all.
Lastly, there are no words in the English language that can express my gratitude to my partner, Carl James-Cordean…who brought me back to life.
Bibliography
Knowledge is the key to all life.
Books
Alberti, Leon Battista. 1435. On Painting. Trans. Cecil Grayson. 1991. London, England: Penguin Books.
da Vinci, Leonardo. 15th Century. Philosophical Diary. Trans. Wade Baskins. 2004. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books.
Dersin, Denise. Editor. 1999. What Life Was Like at the Rebirth of Genius. Richmond, VA: Time Life Inc.
Earls, Irene. 1987. Renaissance Art: A Topical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Field, D. M. 2002. Leonardo da Vinci. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Inc. By arrangement with Regency House Publishing Ltd.
Fine, Elsa Honig. 1978. Women and Art: A History of Women Painters and Sculptors from the Renaissance to the 20th Century. Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun & Co. Publishers Inc.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy from the Earliest Times to the Death of Lorenzo de’ Medici; with an introduction by Hugo Albert Rennert, Ph.D., from a Universal Classics Library edition, published in 1901. No translator was given. Presented in eight books comprising 55 chapters and an introduction.
Martines, Lauro. 2003. April Blood. Great Britain: Random House.
Mee, Jr., Charles L. 1975. Daily Life in Renaissance Italy. New York, NY: American Heritage Publishing Co.
Rogers, Mary and Tinagli, Paola. 2005. Women in Italy, 1350–1650: Ideals and Realities. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Simonetta, Marcello. 2008. The Montefeltro Conspiracy. New York, NY: Doubleday.
Toman, Rolf. Editor. 2011. The Art of the Italian Renaissance. Postdam, Germany: h.f.ullmann.
Vasari, Giorgio. 1550. The Lives of the Artists. Trans. Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella. 1991. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Internet
R. Burr Litchfield, Online Gazetteer of Sixteenth Century Florence. Florentine Renaissance Resources/STG: Brown University, Providence, R.I., 2006.
“Lorenzo de' Medici.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (September 12, 2012). www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404704367.html
Reading Group Guide
In discussion, other truths may be found.
In the very first chapter, much is revealed about the four women and what they are about in a few short words. Discuss the first impressions derived about each woman; how do they differ and how are they similar? What do their actions expose about them? What expectations were developed and were they met or not?
As Viviana, Fiammetta, and Patrizio are walking to the Duomo, as they see the Medici contingent returning as well, Viviana believes she sees something: “Her pale eyes narrowed against a bright flash of light, a reflection…” What did Viviana see and why was it so shocking for her to see it?
As Giuliano de’ Medici is being murdered and the attack is launched on Lorenzo de’ Medici, the vast majority of the congregants run from the cathedral. Viviana does not. Why doesn’t she? What is it about her that is revealed in her actions? What happens to her by staying and watching the entire massacre take place?
Is Viviana’s expectation of comfort from her husband, as she returns from witnessing the assassination, a reasonable one? Why does she expect it? Did she receive the reaction she should have expected? What does Orfeo’s behavior reveal about him?
What is meant by the line, “She was a woman passionate of her craft, and all the more tortured for it?” Do the same conditions still exist today? How are they the same as and different from the current status of women?
As Viviana reminisces about her cousin Caterina and the genesis of the Secret Society of Saint Caterina, she wonders, “if she would have embraced her newfound purpose with such rigor if her marriage to Orfeo were different. Blessings are so very often disguised as curses.” To what notion does this refer? Discuss the incidents, the existence or nonexistence of it in the context of the story and in general. Discuss agreement or disagreement with the last sentence of this quote.
In Chapter Seven, Viviana puts out the signal for the Society to meet: “Viviana removed the dead flowers from the vase at the saint’s feet, replacing them with eight fresh, brilliantly white lilies, pilfered on their way past a resplendent palazzo garden. Around the saint’s feet she arranged eight small stones from the pile always kept at the base of the niche, all on the eastern side, where the morning light would shine upon them.” Discuss each part of the indicator and what they mean. What would a meeting set for two o’clock in the afternoon look like?
Viviana’s divergent religious philosophies are sparsely revealed. What are they? In what ways do they differ? In what ways do they reflect the philosophies of many of the era? What does such disparity of thought set the stage for in the coming years?
Discuss the meaning of the statement, “A hatred once born can grow and prosper.” Who does it relate to in this story? Does it relate to more than one person? If so, to whom can the words be applied and why?
Having learned the basic motivation for the assassination of Giuliano and the attempted assassination of Lorenzo de’ Medici, is there any justification for such action? Why or why not? What does this action, and the entire conspiracy say about the Pazzi family in general?
How is imagery and metaphor used in the passage where da Vinci discusses time (the final line is a direct quote): “Time comes and goes in fits and starts. Slow times are marked by mundane passages where little changes, little dust rises from the streets of progress. Oh, but when time comes at you, it becomes a rushing battalion armed with catapults of change, fair boulders of it. Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.” Are there examples of history that correlate to these images and metaphors?
In Chapter Twenty-One, Leonardo da Vinci states that, “All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions.” What does he mean by the statement, both in terms of art as well as in life itself?
It is often stated that rank—the nobility or lack thereof—has no place in the Society. Is this true? If not, what role does rank play? How does it affect the interpersonal relationships among the group?
In Chapter Twenty-Seven, Viviana taunts and insults her abusive husband. Could there have been a subconscious motivation for her to do so? How do the acts relate to those that happen later on in the story?
Did Viviana’s decision to put Orfeo in the painting, knowing what would happen to him, come as a shock? Was she justified in the act? Why or why not? How did the act change her, not only in her daily life but in her as a person?
When Viviana is arrested and the Gonfaloniere interrogates her, it is stated, “but he never asked her the proper question.” What was the right question the Gonfaloniere should have asked Viviana? Would she have told the truth?
Was Andreano’s part in the conspiracy justified? Why or why not? Was it understandable? Why or why not?
Discuss the six members of the Secret Society of Saint Caterina. How are they different and how are they similar? How do these similarities and contrasts manifest themselves in their work and in their lives? The future of these characters is left unresolved. Discuss directions their lives may take in the next book.
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