George Herman

Ten years ago I found this book at a used book sale in St. Michael's and All Angels church. It appealed to me because it was a historical mystery featuring Leonardo da Vinci as one of the investigators. And then it languished on my bookshelf until it became the book I had owned for the longest period of time without reading. This week I picked it up and I was immediatealy drawn into the time of the Italian Renaissance. When I checked to see what I could find about the author I found he was a published playwright, a theatre director, a set and lighting designer, and a journalist and drama critic. He turned to writing novels when he was 65. Talk about your Renaissance man!

The year is 1499; Italy is not a cohesive country; the French are invading from the north. Nevertheless, commerce and life must go on. A Venetian courier sets out from Padua with a valuable package that is to be conveyed to bankers in Venice. As an experienced courier he knows he has been followed and when a tall, well-dressed man walks into the inn where he has stopped for refreshment he is immediately suspicious. He decides to stay the night in the inn's only room figuring that his follower will leave to find accommodations in another town. He hopes to leave early enough to evade him the next day. Unfortunately the assassin returns in the middle of the night, kills the courier and retrieves the package he is carrying. It is some time before the reader discovers what the package contains but the inside front cover spills the beans so I might as well. It was a diamond necklace with 21 individual tear-shaped gems and it is called the Tears of the Madonna. The Marquesa of Padua had pledged the necklace as security for a loan from the Viennese bankers and when she defaulted they claimed the necklace.

Meanwhile Leonardo da Vinci has had to steal away from Milan because the French have invaded the city. He has to leave all his models and artwork behind and he needs to have some new commissions to support himself. He has also been separated from his friend, the dwarf Niccolo, who was teaching him Latin. When the Marquesa of Padua asks him to paint her portrait and to bring Niccolo as well Leonardo is happy to do so. Niccolo has his own reason for wanting to join Leonardo as he has been asked by the bankers' association from Venice to find out what happened to their courier and the package he was carrying. Niccolo is not supposed to tell Leonardo about this commission but da Vinci draws conclusions from Niccolo's activities at the palace.

There are many familiar sounding characters who are interested in the necklace including the Borgias, Macchiavelli, and the Sforza family of Milan. The fledgling theatrical movement of Commedia dell'Arte also has a minor role in the book. So, in addition to being an interesting historical mystery it is quite the education in the period of the Renaissance.… (more)