The Miracles of Prato: A Novel

This book opened up my eyes on how fast the rich can become poor in a day through slander. The family is destroyed and have to find a place to live. It showes how beauty is not only beautiful but also a curse. How the early church had crooks and liers pretending to be priests. How convents had greed in their minds instead of being humble.

A monk and a novitiate--in love. It was scandalous, romantic, dangerous, and desperate. This story, reminiscent of a Shakespearean tragedy-romance, is based on fact, full of breathtaking description and heart wrenching sorrow. The Miracles of Prato is a study of parallels: parallels between love and hate, despair and ecstasy, truth and appearances, life inside and outside the church, the differences between men and women, the physical and the divine, and even the parallel talents of the authors themselves. With an historian's eye for factual detail, Laura Morowitz situates this true story of two forbidden lovers within the historical details of 15th century Italy, while Laurie Lico Albanese uses her gift for story-telling to weave a cohesive story that captures the beauty, hope and desperation of illicit love. Lucrezia Buti finds her life disrupted and her plans for a husband and family destroyed by the death of her father. When her father's silk-making business is taken to settle his debts, the only alternative is for Lucrezia and her sister Spinetta to seek shelter with the sisters of Santa Margherita. As a novitiate, Lucretzia meets and falls in love with Fra Filippo Lippi, the convent's chaplain and an acclaimed artist. A monk driven to the cloth for similar reasons as Lucretzia, Lippi spends his days trying to reconcile the parallels between the divine and the physical that he sees around him. Taking solace in her work tending herbs in the convent's garden, Lucrezia quickly recognizes the parallels between her knowledge of mixing dyes for her father's silk's and mixing paints for Lippi's legendary paintings. When she voices her concern to the chaplain that she is too attached to beautiful things, Lippi responds by pointing out that physical beauty on earth is merely a reflection, a parallel of the divine beauty in heaven, and that appreciation of beauty is a kind of worship. For Lippi, "painting is prayer," and he prays by painting Lucrezia as his Madonna, the face of his Mother of God. As their mutual desire for beauty--Lippi's for Lucrezia, and Lucrezia's for Lippi's paintings--draws them together, the ugliness of their impossible situation and gossiping tongues threatens their safety and happiness as their infant son is taken from them in an act of retribution. The Miracles of Prato ends before the factual story does, leaving the reader curious to know more about this unlikely coupling, and reluctant to put down this elegant and literary work of historical fiction.

The Miracles of Prato is a well-written and well-researched collaboration that is a page-turner. I read some background on the main characters: Fra Lippi and Lucrezia Buti and I found that the book stayed true to the known facts about the love affair of the monk/painter and the nun/muse. The story is very touching because it shows the desperation of forbidden love. It illuminated the anguish of such a relationship and the consequences that followed after they decided to forge on with their affair. As expected, the Catholic priests and nuns were portrayed in a negative light, which in this case, I didn't find too offensive since it was somewhat pivotal to the story. The descriptions of scenes and settings were vivid without bogging the reader down with too many details. The authors did an excellent job. I don't see how else they can improve on their work.

This was one of those books that draws you in and keeps you focused on it until the last page. The descriptions are vivid and rich, the mix of history and fiction compelling. I was fascinated by the story of Fra Filippo and Lucrezia Buti. This novel is a beautiful fiction, born out of the seeds of truth. I definitely enjoyed it.

Based on history, The Miracles of Prato tells the tale of Lucrezia Buti, who is unexpectedly forced to join the Convent Santa Margherita in 1456 after her silkmaker father's sudden death and the loss of their family fortune. Both Lucrezia and her sister Spinetta are cloistered, but for Lucrezia it comes as a bit of a shock, since she was already betrothed (her pious younger sister had been raised for convent life all along). She chafes against its renouncement of all worldly pleasures and relentless hard work from dawn til dusk, punctuated by prayer. The Chaplain of Santa Margherita, Fra Filippo Lippi, is one of the foremost religious painters in Italy, and when he sees Lucrezia for the first time, he knows that it is her divine face that he will use for the face of the Madonna in a commissioned work. Lucrezia is warned to avoid Fra Filippo and his love of earthly passions. He convinces the Prioress to allow Lucrezia (with her sister Spinetta as chaperone) to model for him, even as he falls madly in love with her. It is her face that superstitious locals associate with the Madonna, and it's rumored that she has mystical healing powers. The novel is based on fact; Fra Filippo did indeed have a relationship with Lucrezia Buti, who proved to be his muse, lover, and mother of his son Filippino, who would also become a famed painter. The authors paint a vivid, richly painted Renaissance Tuscany and the claustrophobic world of the cloister, with its narrow cells, aged nuns, and lack of comforts. Lucrezia's sole escape is tending to the convent gardens, which are the source of medicinal herbs used in the infirmary (there are many fascinating sidenotes on Renaissance herbal cures and their preparations) and also the source of some of the colors used by Fra Filippo; as Lucrezia is a silkmaker's daughter, she is intimately familiar with the natural sources of pigments, and is eager to impress Fra Filippo with her knowledge. The authors also include several detailed discussions on Renaissance methods of grinding and mixing pigments and on painting schools and techniques, along with the rich fabrics and clothing styles of the nobility. The story is at heart a historical romance decorated with the delicate, elegant trappings of Renaissance religious art and a portrait of the vast power and wealth (and its abuse) by Italy's Catholic clerics. The novel begins with a crucial event, then tells the remainder of the story in flashback before returning to the fateful moment referenced. The climax was a delightful twist that gave several vile characters their "divine" comeuppance, and the final chapter brought the story full circle. Richly detailed and lushly drawn, The Miracles of Prato will appeal to fans of historical art fiction and Renaissance Italy.

Bring one to your knees? Well, if you have been in the presence of great art, music, or literature that has not only stood the test of time but also has affected you so deeply that a whispered prayer of thanks is the result, then this is your book. Of course, if you are like me, and have been looking for a novel in the class of the Nobel Prize winning trilogy by Sigrid Undset ("Kristin Lavransdatter") - Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz have penned a masterful work that will bring you to your knees. First, the authors are precise in disclosing to the reader at the outset that the novel is based upon a mix of fact and fiction. Second, the primary male and female religious characters are complex - no cookie cutter personas here. Sister Lucrezia embodies the qualities of women whose range of historical, religious and cultural limitations have rendered many of them victims of circumstances beyond their control; while at the same time displaying characteristics of courageous warriors blazing away at society's stone walls. Fra Filippo - the genius of a painter struggling (as geniuses will do...) to perfect his art is also afflicted with the need to perfect his life as well. In this endeavor, his humanity as a man of successes and failures personally, professionally, emotionally, and spiritually is heartrending. Third, the supporting cast of characters, which include a fascinating array of the good, the bad, and the horrific - are drawn with care and complexity as well. In fact, the wonder of this book is that as evil as some may be - miracles can render their wicked designs worthy of pity; and this is a far from easy task for any author to accomplish. Last, I cannot emphasize more strongly the beauty of the English Language as presented by these brilliant authors. The prose is a gorgeous combination of boldly graphic and poignantly poetic, that will move you to both tears, laughter, as well as wistful sighs. A truly great novel!