'All Visible Things' by Brian McPhee is one of the best works of historical fiction I have ever read.
'All Visible Things' by Brian McPhee is one of the best works of historical fiction I have ever read. It is extensively researched, well-written and the illustrations are superb. It tells the story of Lauren Patterson, an American student, who is researching her PhD about the wool trade between England and Florence in the 16th century at the family home of William Chance, the 18th Earl of Blythswood in Oxfordshire. Amongst the family papers she discovers pages of a diary in Italian, which, because of her own Italian heritage, she is able to read. They are penned by the fictional character, Paolo del Rosso, who, at the age of 14, becomes assistant and housekeeper to Leonardo da Vinci. Through his eyes, we gain a fascinating insight into the life and times of the great man and many of his contemporaries, such as Raphael and Michaelangelo. A lot of the events and, of course, all of the dialogues are fictitious but have been given such detail that Renaissance Europe, especially Florence, come alive. The author also imagines interesting parallels between the past and the present. Lauren's struggle for recognition in the male-dominated academic world mirrors the position of women in society in the 1500s. The horrors of WW2, which led to the Holocaust and the systematic plundering of artwork from Jewish families and others by the Nazis, necessitating deception whenever possible, was not so far removed from the tyranny of the Medici, which in the diary cause Paolo to secrete some of Leonardo's works for his beloved Chiara, Leonardo's goddaughter, and her son in exile in France. This tale is very readable, plausible, exciting and sad and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Renaissance art and human interaction.
An incredibly good read.
I just loved this book from start to finish, it has a Dan Brown feel to it. Through diaries written by Leonardo Da Vinci's assistant - we learn about the assistant Paolo and about the man himself Leonardo. I have always been fascinated by him since I visited the Louvre in the 70s when it was much easier to view the Mona Lisa than it is today. In All Visible Things, we discover how she was painted. The story introduces the reader to Lauren Patterson, an American PhD student who comes across the diaries, thus beginning a quest to find a drawing lost in the past. With the help of an English art dealer, the quest begins, taking them through Florence and back to the atrocities of World War 2. An incredibly good read.