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“Like Fra Filippo’s paintings, this love story, set in one of the most intriguing historical periods, is suffused with clear, warm color and fine attention to detail.”
—Debra Dean, author of The Madonnas of Leningrad
A vibrant and enthralling historical novel about art and passion, The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz brings Italy in the era of the Medici to glorious life—as it tells the story of an illicit love affair between the renowned painter Fra Filippo Lippi and his muse, a beautiful convent novitiate. A magnificent blend of fact, historical color, emotion, and invention, The Miracles of Prato is a novel that will delight the many fans of Tracy Chavalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Susan Vreeland’s Girl in Hyacinth Blue.
Italy, 1456. The Renaissance is in glorious bloom. A Carmelite monk, the great artist Fra Filippo Lippi acts as chaplain to the nuns of the Convent Santa Margherita. It is here that he encounters the greatest temptation of his life, beautiful Lucrezia Buti, who has been driven to holy orders more by poverty than piety. In Lucrezia's flawless face Lippi sees the inspiration for countless Madonnas and he brings the young woman to his studio to serve as his model. But as painter and muse are united in an exhilarating whirl of artistic discovery, a passionate love develops, one that threatens to destroy them both even as it fuels some of Lippi's greatest work.
A formulaic foray into the world of Renaissance Italy, this novel based on the life of painter Fra Filippo Lippi will be lapped up by fans of historical romance. In the year 1457, Lippi, a Carmelite monk in Prato, spots the lovely Lucrezia Buti and wants to use her as a model for his paintings and frescoes. Lucrezia's visits to the painter's bottega are misinterpreted by the convent's corrupt and powerful prior general, with irreparable consequences for the girl. But Lippi and Lucrezia fall in love, and through a series of intrigues involving the disappearance of a relic revered as miraculous by the people of Prato, the painter and his lover are vindicated and can live happily ever after-at least until the hasty last chapter. Albanese (Blue Suburbia) and art historian Morowitz have taken a historical rumor and fashioned it into a saccharine, tidy and satisfying romance. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Interesting story, though could have been more strongly written. Enjoyed details of period life. Did want to make me go see the artist's work.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 13, 2010
Touching, also informative, romantic but not cliche
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In 1457 in Prato, Italy, artist Carmelite Order Monk Fra Filippo Lippi, commissioned to paint a picture for the convent chapel of Santa Margherita, sees the beautiful novitiate Lucrezia Buti and decides immediately he needs to paint her. He asks her to become his model for his paintings and frescoes. Excited she agrees.
However, her visits to his studio are unacceptable behavior for an unaccompanied woman although both act with proper deportment. Still her spending time alone with Lippi, a known womanizer, is a breach of faith. As the artist and his subject fall in love, she poses for his masterpiece The Holy Mother at a time when the sacred Sacra Cinola belt of the Madonna vanishes. Some in the city blame Lucrezia and want her punished even as she proclaims she remains chaste; others believe her sincerity that she remains a virgin.
Using historical references, Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz provide an intriguing biographical fiction tale of the renowned artist-monk and his most inspirational model with a deep look at the fifteenth century Italian culture that threatened to destroy them. Although in some ways the well written story line appears to be a bittersweet romance, the insight into the limitations of a poor monk vs. that of a Pope or other Medici make for an engaging tale with some intrigue as authors¿ note points out their son Filippo Lippi lived with and was trained by his father Fra Lippi and was as renowned if not more so than his father. This is an engaging look at a forbidden love whose work for the Santa Margherita nuns is on display in Florence and highlighted by Robert Browning in his Victorian poem Fra Filippo Lippi.
Harriet Klausner
grapes
Posted November 24, 2008
Fra Filippo, a Carmelite monk, and Lucrezia, a novititate, are two of the most unforgettable characters in "The Miracles of Prato" by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz. This is Historical Fiction at it's best. The story takes place during the Fifteenth Century. During this time Fra Filippo Lippi is a monk as well as a very talented artist. One of his famous patrons is Cosimo De Medici. Lucrezia, a novititate, from the Santa Margherita convent becomes the woman who will pose as The Holy Mother for one of his paintings.
While he paints Lucrezia, Fra Lippi falls in love with this beautiful woman. Sadly, in Prato it is well known that Fra Lippi is weak when it comes to fleshly desires. Amazingly, he does not succumb to the beauty of Lucrezia. He respects her as he would the Virgin Mary. Nothing unsavory happens between he and Lucrezia during their time together in the monk's bottega.
Although these two people hold themselves above reproach, scandal takes over their lives. The monk and novititate meet all sorts of obstacles. I cried while reading the novel. I thought about the power held by men in high religious establishments. I pondered the fact that beauty can become a curse rather than a blessing to women. I wondered about marriage vows. Is there more than one way for a couple to become legally married? The novel constantly awakened thoughts and made me question age old philosophies.
"The Miracles of Prato" is also suspenseful. Fra Lippi sees a flash of red walking quickly past him more than once as he travels about the city. Who is it? There is a missing child. Where is the baby? Who took the child? Then, there is the Sacra Cinola, the belt of the Madonna. It is a Holy relic. If it does not remain in the right hands, what will happen? Is their a curse attached to the Sacra Cinola? Do miracles flow from the green and gold belt belonging to the Virgin Mary? Saint Thomas was the one who gave the Sacra Cinola to the Holy Mother.
Teresa de' Valenti is one of the people who believes she has witnessed a miracle from The Gift of Heaven. With the miraculous birth of her son, Ascanio, Teresa de' Valenti chooses to always believe in the truth and virtue of Lucrezia. More than once, she will show her appreciation to Lucrezia.
Laura Albanese and Laura Morowitz have written an extraordinary novel.It is a portrait of long lasting love. I anxiously await their next book.
Anonymous
Posted February 23, 2011
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Posted December 30, 2010
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Posted January 10, 2010
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Posted February 1, 2010
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Posted December 8, 2008
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Overview
“Like Fra Filippo’s paintings, this love story, set in one of the most intriguing historical periods, is suffused with clear, warm color and fine attention to detail.”
—Debra Dean, author of The Madonnas of Leningrad
A vibrant and enthralling historical novel about art and passion, The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz brings Italy in the era of the Medici to glorious life—as it tells the story of an illicit love affair between the renowned painter Fra Filippo Lippi and his muse, a beautiful convent novitiate. A magnificent blend of fact, historical color, emotion, and invention, The Miracles of Prato is a novel that will delight ...