The Miracles of Prato (Hardcover)
Description
Italy, 1456. The Renaissance is in glorious bloom, an age of unbridled creativity, commerce, art, and innovation. One of the most colorful men of this astonishing time is Fra Filippo Lippi, equally revered as a painter and reviled as a rogue. A great artist, he serves Cosimo de' Medici and the Catholic Church, creating masterpieces in celebration of God and His glory. A Carmelite monk, he acts as chaplain to the nuns of the Convent Santa Margherita—and it is here, behind the cloister walls, that he encounters the greatest temptation of his life.
Penniless and beautiful, young Lucrezia Buti has been driven to Santa Margherita more by poverty than piety. Mesmerized by Lucrezia's flawless features, Lippi sees in her face the inspiration for countless Madonnas. With the help of his powerful friends and an unscrupulous prioress, he draws upon favors that will lead to dangerous consequences, and brings the young woman to his studio to serve as his model.
Painter and muse are soon united in an exhilarating whirl of artistic discovery. As weeks and months pass, a passionate love develops between the irascible artist and the young nun, resulting in a scandalous romance that threatens to destroy them even as it fuels some of Lippi's greatest work. Their affair sparks anger, envy, and vengeance . . . and it will take a miracle of undying faith, unsurpassed beauty, and unfathomable love to save all that Lippi and Lucrezia cherish.
A gorgeous novel that brings together real and imagined characters from Italy's rich history, The Miracles of Prato is a moving and unforgettable tale of desire and devotion, both sensual and spiritual, set in an extraordinary time and place when beauty, faith, and art were celebrated above all.
About the Author
Laurie Albanese is the author of the novel Lynelle by the Sea and the memoir Blue Suburbia, which was named a Book Sense Best Book of the Year and was an Entertainment Weekly Editor's Choice selection.
Praise for The Miracles of Prato…
“Richly textured Renaissance romance. …[T]he authors have fashioned an irresistibly passionate novel steeped in art, history, and the miracles wrought by love.”
-Booklist on MIRACLES OF PRATO
“This novel based on the life of Fra Filippo Lippi will be lapped up by fans of historical romance.”
-Publishers Weekly on MIRACLES OF PRATO
“The Miracles of Prato is a time machine, taking the reader back to the height of the Italian Renaissance, revealing a world of childlike innocence and illicit passion, harsh injustice and saintly miracles, and wafting around it all like rare perfume, the creation of art for the glory of God.”
-Eleanor Herman, author of Mistress of the Vatican, on MIRACLES OF PRATO
“A richly detailed and thoroughly engrossing story told with equal measures of ardor, tenderness, and compassion, THE MIRACLES OF PRATO offers a poignant portrayal of the heartbreak of two people caught in the Church’s grip during the Italian Renaissance.”
-Judith Lindbergh, author of The Thrall’s Tale, on MIRACLES OF PRATO
“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
