Customer Reviews

The Miracles of Prato: A Novel

5 star:		(16)
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3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Based on history, The Miracles of Prato tells the tale of Lucrezia Buti, who is unexpectedly forced to join the Convent Santa Margherita in 1456 after her silkmaker father's sudden death and the loss of their family fortune. Both Lucrezia and her sister Spinetta are cloistered, but for Lucrezia it comes as a bit of a shock, since she was already betrothed (her pious younger sister had been raised for convent life all along). She chafes against its renouncement of all worldly pleasures and relentless hard work from dawn til dusk, punctuated by prayer. The Chaplain of Santa Margherita, Fra Filippo Lippi, is one of the foremost religious painters in Italy, and when he sees Lucrezia for the first time, he knows that it is her divine face that he will use for the face of the Madonna in a commissioned work. Lucrezia is warned to avoid Fra Filippo and his love of earthly passions. He convinces the Prioress to allow Lucrezia (with her sister Spinetta as chaperone) to model for him, even as he falls madly in love with her. It is her face that superstitious locals associate with the Madonna, and it's rumored that she has mystical healing powers.

The novel is based on fact; Fra Filippo did indeed have a relationship with Lucrezia Buti, who proved to be his muse, lover, and mother of his son Filippino, who would also become a famed painter. The authors paint a vivid, richly painted Renaissance Tuscany and the claustrophobic world of the cloister, with its narrow cells, aged nuns, and lack of comforts. Lucrezia's sole escape is tending to the convent gardens, which are the source of medicinal herbs used in the infirmary (there are many fascinating sidenotes on Renaissance herbal cures and their preparations) and also the source of some of the colors used by Fra Filippo; as Lucrezia is a silkmaker's daughter, she is intimately familiar with the natural sources of pigments, and is eager to impress Fra Filippo with her knowledge. The authors also include several detailed discussions on Renaissance methods of grinding and mixing pigments and on painting schools and techniques, along with the rich fabrics and clothing styles of the nobility.

The story is at heart a historical romance decorated with the delicate, elegant trappings of Renaissance religious art and a portrait of the vast power and wealth (and its abuse) by Italy's Catholic clerics. The novel begins with a crucial event, then tells the remainder of the story in flashback before returning to the fateful moment referenced. The climax was a delightful twist that gave several vile characters their "divine" comeuppance, and the final chapter brought the story full circle. Richly detailed and lushly drawn, The Miracles of Prato will appeal to fans of historical art fiction and Renaissance Italy.

Having lived in Florence for several years and been a student of Renaissance art, I was initially concerned that The Miracles of Prato might travel the melodramatic route of several other recent "art historical fictions" (which shall remain nameless, but you know the ones I'm talking about!). I was relieved that it largely does not succumb to the formulaic sappiness that has marred other stories based on the lives of painters. While the story does have its dime-novel moments, it is for the most past respectful of history.

Set in the heart of the Italian Renaissance in a town on the outskirts of Florence, the story focuses on the trials and tribulations of Carmelite monk and famed painter Fra Filippo Lippi, and his scandalous relationship with the daughter of a prosperous Florentine silk merchant who has been consigned to a convent that is under Lippi's ministry. Authors Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz had a wonderful base to work with, for the real story of Fra Filippo and his two famous loves - painting and Lucrezia Buti - is so fascinating that it doesn't need much embellishment. While the actual details of Fra Filippo and Lucrezia's alleged relationship are hazy at best, the authors have done a lovely job imagining and recreating what might have been. The authors naturally have had to fabricate characters and situations to round out the story, but overall they remain true to the historical facts that are known about the amorous couple. It helps that author Laura Morowitz is a Professor of Art History who received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU - I believe it is her influence that kept the story from veering off course. I appreciated that the authors didn't take unjust liberties with the fascinating history upon which their story is based.

The Miracles of Prato is an engrossing, interesting read that contains all of the elements of good fiction while still maintaining a healthy reverence for historical fact and detail.

A monk and a novitiate--in love. It was scandalous, romantic, dangerous, and desperate. This story, reminiscent of a Shakespearean tragedy-romance, is based on fact, full of breathtaking description and heart wrenching sorrow. The Miracles of Prato is a study of parallels: parallels between love and hate, despair and ecstasy, truth and appearances, life inside and outside the church, the differences between men and women, the physical and the divine, and even the parallel talents of the authors themselves.

With an historian's eye for factual detail, Laura Morowitz situates this true story of two forbidden lovers within the historical details of 15th century Italy, while Laurie Lico Albanese uses her gift for story-telling to weave a cohesive story that captures the beauty, hope and desperation of illicit love.

Lucrezia Buti finds her life disrupted and her plans for a husband and family destroyed by the death of her father. When her father's silk-making business is taken to settle his debts, the only alternative is for Lucrezia and her sister Spinetta to seek shelter with the sisters of Santa Margherita. As a novitiate, Lucretzia meets and falls in love with Fra Filippo Lippi, the convent's chaplain and an acclaimed artist. A monk driven to the cloth for similar reasons as Lucretzia, Lippi spends his days trying to reconcile the parallels between the divine and the physical that he sees around him.

Taking solace in her work tending herbs in the convent's garden, Lucrezia quickly recognizes the parallels between her knowledge of mixing dyes for her father's silk's and mixing paints for Lippi's legendary paintings. When she voices her concern to the chaplain that she is too attached to beautiful things, Lippi responds by pointing out that physical beauty on earth is merely a reflection, a parallel of the divine beauty in heaven, and that appreciation of beauty is a kind of worship. For Lippi, "painting is prayer," and he prays by painting Lucrezia as his Madonna, the face of his Mother of God.

As their mutual desire for beauty--Lippi's for Lucrezia, and Lucrezia's for Lippi's paintings--draws them together, the ugliness of their impossible situation and gossiping tongues threatens their safety and happiness as their infant son is taken from them in an act of retribution. The Miracles of Prato ends before the factual story does, leaving the reader curious to know more about this unlikely coupling, and reluctant to put down this elegant and literary work of historical fiction.

In this historical romance novel we are transported to 15th century Italy where we are privy to a "behind the scenes look" at the authors' vision of the forbidden love between a monk/artist Fra Filippo Lippi and his inspirational muse, a nun named Lucrezia Buti.

Fra Lippi becomes captivated by the beautiful Lucrezia and uses her visage as his inspiration in creating the many magnificent Madonna's he produces for the de' Medici family and the Catholic Church. Lippi approaches his religious art from its human side rather than its spiritual aspect and many of his remarkable creations have survived to this day.

The artists' obsession with his "Madonna" bears some similarity to other artist/muse tales such as "The Girl With a Pearl Earring". In both instances the artists were "married"......one to a woman and the other to a religious doctrine ......and in both instances the artists tempted fate in order to fulfill their creative and emotional needs.

As for the Miracles of Prato, there are many to choose from. The miraculous birth and survival of a son to a woman whose husband has gifted her with a picture of the Madonna that bears the face of Lucrezia Buti, the mysterious disappearance and return of a sacred relic said to belong to the Virgin, as well as the abduction and ultimate return of Lucrezia's first child. Keeping in mind that this is a tale of HISTORICAL FICTION, the reader can still marvel at not only the "miracles" but also the talent of the two authors who have deftly interwoven the threads of truth and fantasy into this story of faith, love and devotion. Three and a half stars

Drawn from the world of Renaissance Italy, this historical fiction captures the lives and romance of painter Fra Filippo Lippi and his muse, Lucrezia Buti. This is no ordinary relationship, however, Fra Lippi is a Carmelite monk and Lucrezia is a noviate living in the Convent of Santa Margherita in Prato, Italy, where Fra Filippo serves as chaplain when he can tear himself away from his paints.

Perfectly captured by authors Albanese and Morowitz (an art historian) are the struggles of the times: the domination of the Catholic Church, the sponsorship of artists by rich merchants from Florence and Venice, the inability of women to assert control over their lives--all forces that exact a price from the lives of individuals living in this time. The story is even more poignant because neither Lippi nor Buti had an alternative to taking on their roles in the religious community.

Buti and her sister come to convent upon the death of their father, and it is there that Fra Filippo Lippi first realizes his ideal model for the Madonna, the beautiful Lucrezia. Her role as model is heightened by the importance of Lippi's commissioned altar piece, a gift to be used by Cosimo de Medici in negotiations between powerful Italian states. This highly irregular practice of modeling by a nun is facilitated by powerful forces within the Church, but everyone has a price to exact, from the head of the Convent on up.

Things begin to go terribly wrong when Fra Lippi's reputation with women begins to rub off on Lucrezia, and she is ultimately compromised by the Prior General who wrongly assumes she has given herself to the monk. Lippi pledges to protect Lucrezia, but this means disengagement from the Church, which requires a decree from Rome amidst the circumstances of a dying Pope.

Based on true events, this novel is most engaging in helping readers understand what life in Renaissance Italy was like and in detailing the overwhelming control of daily events by the Catholic Church, even for those who did not serve in a religious capacity. Interesting too is the political milieu of the times and the way in which the Church and the merchant class intertwined to join forces to make the most of available power and status. Indeed, it takes a miracle to cement the relationship between Fra Lippi and Lucrezia Buti, but the results are still apparent today in works that hang in museums and churches around the world.

The Miracles of Prato is a well-written and well-researched collaboration that is a page-turner. I read some background on the main characters: Fra Lippi and Lucrezia Buti and I found that the book stayed true to the known facts about the love affair of the monk/painter and the nun/muse. The story is very touching because it shows the desperation of forbidden love. It illuminated the anguish of such a relationship and the consequences that followed after they decided to forge on with their affair. As expected, the Catholic priests and nuns were portrayed in a negative light, which in this case, I didn't find too offensive since it was somewhat pivotal to the story. The descriptions of scenes and settings were vivid without bogging the reader down with too many details. The authors did an excellent job. I don't see how else they can improve on their work.

This was one of those books that draws you in and keeps you focused on it until the last page. The descriptions are vivid and rich, the mix of history and fiction compelling. I was fascinated by the story of Fra Filippo and Lucrezia Buti. This novel is a beautiful fiction, born out of the seeds of truth. I definitely enjoyed it.

The Miracles of Prato is based upon the once notorious love affair of Fra Filippo Lippi and the much younger Lucrezia Buti, who served as his model for several of his most glorious works of art. Lucrezia became the mother of Filippino Lippi, who inherited his father's great talent.

While the authors have nicely conveyed a sense of time and place, the genre into which their book most readily fits is historical romance. The characters tend to be two dimensional, and the villain of the piece, Prior General Saviano, is of the teeth gnashing, "curses, foiled again" sort found in silent movies. Most of the simple plot focuses solely upon the plight of a monk and a novice nun who fall in love. In spite of these factors, however, Miracles provides the reader with glimpses into the circumstances of artists, monks and nuns, and women who lived during in Quattrocento Italy, one of the most colorful and fascinating eras in that country's long history. The authors refrain from using the florid prose associated with "bodice rippers", and machinations that take place at the climax are nothing short of delightful. Well written and enjoyable.

Art historians Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz have combined forces to create an entertaining and gripping look into the world of the Italian Renaissance through the story of Fra Fillippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti. The former was a famous artist and the latter was the Carmelite novitiate who became his muse.

Lippi and Buti are historic persons, as are many of the characters who pepper the pages of this novel -- from nuns to nobility. The authors present a world in which the church controls the state as well as the artistic community, and the challenges wrought when the two institutions collide. In this case, the monk Lippi falls in love with and seeks permission to marry his muse, but by the time it is granted she has become a nun (despite having borne two children to the artist).

Those with an interest in art or Italian history are sure to enjoy this portrait of 15th Century Tuscany as seen through the eyes of people from all walks of life.

(Review based on advance reader's edition.)

Bring one to your knees? Well, if you have been in the presence of great art, music, or literature that has not only stood the test of time but also has affected you so deeply that a whispered prayer of thanks is the result, then this is your book. Of course, if you are like me, and have been looking for a novel in the class of the Nobel Prize winning trilogy by Sigrid Undset ("Kristin Lavransdatter") - Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz have penned a masterful work that will bring you to your knees. First, the authors are precise in disclosing to the reader at the outset that the novel is based upon a mix of fact and fiction. Second, the primary male and female religious characters are complex - no cookie cutter personas here. Sister Lucrezia embodies the qualities of women whose range of historical, religious and cultural limitations have rendered many of them victims of circumstances beyond their control; while at the same time displaying characteristics of courageous warriors blazing away at society's stone walls. Fra Filippo - the genius of a painter struggling (as geniuses will do...) to perfect his art is also afflicted with the need to perfect his life as well. In this endeavor, his humanity as a man of successes and failures personally, professionally, emotionally, and spiritually is heartrending. Third, the supporting cast of characters, which include a fascinating array of the good, the bad, and the horrific - are drawn with care and complexity as well. In fact, the wonder of this book is that as evil as some may be - miracles can render their wicked designs worthy of pity; and this is a far from easy task for any author to accomplish. Last, I cannot emphasize more strongly the beauty of the English Language as presented by these brilliant authors. The prose is a gorgeous combination of boldly graphic and poignantly poetic, that will move you to both tears, laughter, as well as wistful sighs. A truly great novel!