Full of intriguing facts that bring the past to life--Dante and his Beatrice only saw each other on three occasions and never touched. Despite years of lavish Medici patronage, Botticelli died in poverty--Luzzi's book explores the nexus of wealth, genius, and cruelty that was Florence as it lurched toward Renaissance glory. Beginning with the story of Dante Alighieri and his struggles to complete his Commedia while in exile, Luzzi details both the brilliant creativity and the bloody turmoil of the city's divided ruling factions. Michelangelo, da Vinci, Donatello, and Rafael all make appearances and Luzzi chronicles the excitement and danger of their lives, using Botticelli's fifteen-year attempt to illustrate Dante's masterwork as the unifying narrative thread, one that takes us to the 20th century, when a brilliant German art connoisseur rediscovered the Botticelli drawings in a Scottish castle and took them to Berlin, where they faced the risk of being lost again in the chaos of WWII.
