Browse our Categories! Arms and Armor Celtic Lore Historical Fiction Historical Non-Fiction (A-H) Historical Non-Fiction (I-R) Historical Non-Fiction (S-Z) King Arthur Legends Miscellaneous Fiction Miscellaneous Non-Fiction

Miscellaneous The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant $13.95 / Random House / 2004 When Sister Lucrezia dies of cancer in a Tuscan convent, an outbreak of the plague in the nearby village forces her sister nuns to undress her rather than bury her in the clothes in which she has died. The discovery of a seductive serpent tattooed on her torso prepares the reader for what comes next-a personal narrative of Sister Lucrezia, born in Florence as Alessandra Cecchi. The bulk of Alessandra's story takes place during the brief reign of Girolamo Savonarola (1494-1498), a Dominican priest who was known for religious reformation and for his book-burning and destruction of art, which he believed to be vanities that only diverted attention away from God. At the beginning of her personal narrative, Alessandra's father, a wealthy cloth merchant, returns from a business trip with a painter from northern Europe, whom he has commissioned to glorify his family's chapel by painting frescos of biblical scenes. Although Alessandra falls in love with the painter, she ultimately is forced to marry Cristoforo Langella, a closet homosexual who marries Alessandra to cover his sexual proclivities, a sin that Savonarola has recently made a capital offense. The unraveling of Savonarola's despotic rule has a grave impact on the fates of Alessandra, Cristoforo, and the painter, culminating in Savonarola's famous "bonfire of the vanities," in which precious artworks and books are destroyed in a huge fire. Moreover, a grisly murder mystery involving a serial killer is tied up with the fanaticism of the Dominicans. The Birth of Venus, which takes its title from Botticelli's famous painting, is a romantic story of clandestine love during a time of glorious art and political turmoil. Dunant truly brings the era to life through her descriptive writing and well-rounded and interesting characters —Charles Rammelkamp

Click here to order:The Birth of Venus             To order Renaissance Magazine, click here. To order medieval tapestries and other period products, click here.