The Botticelli Secret: A Novel of Renaissance Italy

by Marina Fiorato

Book Overview

In this exhilarating cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Birth of Venus, an irrepressible young woman in 15th-century Italy must flee for her life after stumbling upon a deadly secret when she serves as a model for Botticelli...
When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra is asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind serving as the model for the central figure of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312606362
• ISBN13: 9780312606367
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

historicalfictionfan

I love this book and can't believe the other harsh reviews. It is very entertaining - I found it exciting and funny. I often laughed out loud while reading. It is not historically accurate but it is a lot of fun. I find that some historical fiction writers try too hard to fill you in on the historical details. She did a great job of balancing details about the cities without losing the plot.

Colorful Chi-Chi

Thank you Marina Fiorato! The Botticelli Secret was full of colorful voice and fresh perspectives. I was pleasantly shocked by the language usage--just in your face, as it should be from a 15th century whore's mouth. Fiorato's use of Latin, Italian and English helped to set the scene from start to finish. Chi-Chi, the unabashed whore/heroine, led a merry, fantastical chase through Italian city-states on a mission to discover the true meaning of Botticelli's painting La Primavera. If she and her monk, Guido Della Torre, companion had been discovered--certain doom awaited. Politics and corruption and mystery and adventure abound here on her pages. I learned not to be afraid of using whatever langauge I want as a writer...thank you for freeing my inner sailor! Waiting for Odysseus

Follow this Quattrocento Nancy Drew through a conspiracy

If the works of Leonardo da Vinci reveal a code, then Botticelli's La Primavera holds a secret or two. At least that's what art historians have long believed. In her author's note, Marina Fiorato cites several scholarly works, most importantly La Primavera di Botticelli: L'armonia tra le cittá nell'Italia di Lorenzo il Magnifico by Professor Enrico Guidoni of the University of Rome. So it's 1482 in the magnificent city-state of Florence, and we meet our heroine, Luciana Vetra, a plucky teenage whore, and her soon-to-be best friend, Brother Guido della Torre: "It was not an auspicious meeting. He did not see me at my best. I was dressed in my best, to be sure, for I am always aware of the passing trade. But I happened to be sitting on the balustrade of the river, pissing into the Arno. Framed poetically by the saffron arches of the Ponte Vecchio looming behind. In fairness, it would not have been immediately obvious to the good brother what I was doing, as my skirts were voluminous. But I had just come from Bembo's bed, was on my way to Signor Botticelli's studio, and the quantity of Muscat I had drunk for breakfast begged for evacuation." (pg. 4) And thus begin a detective story and a love story. Luciana is sent by one of her clients to Sandro Botticelli, whose famous painting La Primavera is complete except for the crucial figure, Flora. Luciana models for the artist and during their conversation mentions renaissance Italy's famous maritime cities. The artist becomes unaccountably angry, the model feels insulted. While changing clothes, she notices a tiny secret door in his studio. Behind that door is hidden the cartoon of the painting, which is the painting in miniature with the grid lines used by the artist to transfer the painting to its enormous canvas. In a pique, Luciana steals the cartoon and leaves behind the religious tract she had received earlier from Brother Guido. And now begins the quest to discover the meaning of the painting and the conspiracy of seven great cities its figures symbolize. There are immediate murders. As Luciana and Brother Guido examine the cartoon's details, they are led across Italy's city-states from Florence to Pisa to Naples (currently ruled by the bastard son of the king of Aragon) to Rome. In Rome, they meet Pope Sixtus IV (one of a long line of corrupt popes) in his famous chapel. (We learn that the Vatican is talking about hiring a young artist named Michelangelo to paint the ceiling.) The plot thickens as the devout Brother Guido becomes disillusioned with the one holy and universal church. From Rome, they return to Florence for a Medici wedding, and then Luciana is suddenly taken to Venice, where she finds out who she really is and receives an education. Among her tutors is one Signor Cristoforo, a Genoese mapmaker. (It's ten years before his famous voyage.) No spoiler here--but Luciana and Guido (no longer a monk) are reunited, and when they reach Milan, they briefly meet Leonardo, who is build

Not at ALL like Dan Brown!

"The Botticelli Secret" seems to be drawing comparisons to "The Da Vinci Code" due primarily to the fact that the plot revolves around the close explication of an artwork's symbology and hidden agenda. But this book is nothing like anything by Dan Brown; it is charming and humorous rather than ponderous and heavy-handed; the author's love for all things Italian shines forth on every page. The plot is indeed somehwat preposterous at times but rolls forward at the speed of an Indiana Jones movie. The potty-mouthed heroine is both original and lovable. An absolute delight!

The Botticelli Secret was awesome

I have to admit that I bought the book based on the cover, thinking that it was a romance (being that I love Jane Austen books) and I thought maybe it was a tragic love story or something like it. But as I read it, I couldn't be more wrong. My first impression when I read the first chapter was that I thought it was vulgar yet it was interesting. As I got into the story I began to fall in love with Chi Chi, and the characters. This is not your ordinary love story but there is a love story in it, more of an adventure type book, like Dan Browns novel (which honestly I was NOT a fan of his). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery or adventurous/ love stories.