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Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and to devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Moderna and Regio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court's eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess's future hangs entirely in the balance.… (altro)
The Marriage Portrait is a historical fiction based on the life of Lucrezia de' Medici, daughter of Cosimo I de’ Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany who was married to Alfonso II d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara, at age 16 and two years later was dead. History records her as having died of tuberculosis but rumours abound that she had been poisoned by her husband. Maggie O’Farrell takes the scant information about Lucrezia’s life and creates a character, a captivating setting and draws us into her tale.
The story begins in 1561 with the teenage Lucrezia fearing for her life, that her husband is about to kill her. It then pans back to the story of how she got to this point. Lucrezia grew up as the third daughter in a wealthy family in Florence. Lucrezia has a passion for animals and for art. She shares a secret bond with a captive tiger her father brings to Florence, an essential element of herself represented in the sad and fierce creature. Her life changes dramatically when her older sister dies and Lucrezia is chosen to replace her in her engagement to the Duke.
Alfonso begins the story as an observant and gentlemanly character but soon his ruthless and controlling side becomes apparent. Lucrezia rapidly becomes a caged creature, her worth measured by her ability to produce an heir for a man hitherto unable to produce one. As the tension increased I found myself rooting for the young and underestimated Lucrezia. Despite the difficult subject matter this was an engrossing read. ( )
Beautiful writing that really brings the setting (place and time) to life. I loved that aspect of it.
I'm a genre reader. This book doesn't do it for me in terms of plot or character. And the ending hit me wrong, and now I'm angry at the whole book. ( )
Lucrezia, third daughter Cosimo de' Medici, finds herself betrothed, then married to Alfonso, heir to the Duke of Ferrara when her older sister, his original choice, dies. The story flits between her early life in Florence and her early married life. Underneath, throughout her marriage, her conviction that she will be killed by her apparently loving husband bubbles away. She's a Duchess now, her father-in-law having died. She's only 15, moe than 10 years younger than her husband. Although she's been brought up privileged, her new status brings with it loneliness and challenges. Virtually her only constant friend is her maid.
O'Farrell paints the pictures of her privileged life in such a way that we can hear, see and smell the scenes that surround her: her father's exotic menagerie; her husband's castrati singers; the sumptuous clothing; the simple bowls of fruit which she examines with her painterly eye - she is a talented artist.
This tale is a mixture of fact, of weaving in allusions learnt from Browning's poem My Last Duchess, from myth and fairytale and from gothic horror to create an engaging and highly pictorial story, which goes a long way towards helping us understand what it might have been to be Lucrezia: child, noblewoman, wife. ( )
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That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive.
ROBERT BROWNING, “MY LAST DUCHESS”
The ladies . . . are forced to follow the whims, fancies and dictates of their fathers, mothers, brothers and husbands, so that they spend most of their time cooped up within the narrow confines of their rooms, where they sit in apparent idleness, wishing one thing and at the same time wishing its opposite, and reflecting on various matters . . .
GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO, THE DECAMERON
Dedica
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For Mary-Anne and Victoria
Incipit
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Lucrezia is taking her seat at the long dining table, which is polished to a watery gleam and spread with dishes, inverted cups, a woven circlet of fir.
Citazioni
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No one, she believes, has ever kissed her in her sleep before. She likes to place a palm over the place, after he has left the room, as if to keep it there, to stop it floating off into the air , like pollen.
She has access suddenly to the private, hidden life of the castello, the wrong side of its embroidery, with all the knots and weave and secrets on display.
The animal was orange, burnished gold, fire made flesh; she was power and anger; she was vicious and exquisite; she carried on her body the marks of a prison, as if she had been branded exactly for this, as if captivity had been her destiny all along. (p. 21)
Liquid was her motion, like honey dripping from a spoon. (p. 43)
Sofia was listening, leaning on, as if every syllable Lucrezia spoke was a fragile airborne filament of gold, to be caught, not permitted to float away. (p. 82)
Light enters at an oblique angle from invisible lofty windows, high above their heads, warming the apex of the arches, alchemising the white plaster to lozenges of gold. (p. 131)
Death has come for her. It is knocking at her door; it is sliding its fingers through the keyhole; it is searching for a way past the lock. (p.141)
She sees the darkness weaken, grapple by degree with the dawn, then cedes its sovereignty to a vitreous grey mist. (p.304)
A maid in a brown dress might be as well a table or a sconce on the wall. She has access suddenly to the private life of the castello, the wrong side of its embroidery, with all the knots and weave and secrets on display. (p. 343)
She leans over and thrusts the edge of the letter into the sconce burning on the wall of the stairwell. For a second or two, it seems the flame cannot believe its luck, refusing to consume the page. Then it comes to its senses, asserting its grasp, turning the edges of the paper black, schrivelling and devouring them. (p. 371)
Ultime parole
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Look. Here is Lucrezia, a small figure in the corner of a landscape with a river, a forest, an imposing stone building. She is moving across open ground, through the dark winter night, running, running, with all her strength, towards the merciful canopy of trees.
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and to devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Moderna and Regio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court's eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess's future hangs entirely in the balance.
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The story begins in 1561 with the teenage Lucrezia fearing for her life, that her husband is about to kill her. It then pans back to the story of how she got to this point. Lucrezia grew up as the third daughter in a wealthy family in Florence. Lucrezia has a passion for animals and for art. She shares a secret bond with a captive tiger her father brings to Florence, an essential element of herself represented in the sad and fierce creature. Her life changes dramatically when her older sister dies and Lucrezia is chosen to replace her in her engagement to the Duke.
Alfonso begins the story as an observant and gentlemanly character but soon his ruthless and controlling side becomes apparent. Lucrezia rapidly becomes a caged creature, her worth measured by her ability to produce an heir for a man hitherto unable to produce one. As the tension increased I found myself rooting for the young and underestimated Lucrezia. Despite the difficult subject matter this was an engrossing read. (