The Marriage Portrait is historical fiction based on the true story of Lucrezia Di Cosimo de’ Medici who in 1560 left Florence as a fifteen year old to live with her new husband, Alfonso Il d’Este, Duke of Ferrara. As a duchess, Lucrezia was dressed in the finest clothes and lived in luxurious surroundings; however, be they aristocrat or peasant, women in Lucrezia’s world were all subservient to men; chattels whose very existence depended on the whims of their masters. Of course, men of low standing were inferior beings as well.
People are people, though, and in the 1500s the human spirit wasn’t any easier doused than it is today. Only one thing was expected of poor little Lucrezia, and that was to bear a child, hopefully a son, before one of Alfonso’s sisters did. Her feelings for Alfonso were of absolutely no consideration, but she got her emotional support from her maidservant, Emilia, and her self confidence from her art as she honed her skills as a painter. She loved nature and admired and respected animals, and although she is just a fictional character, wouldn’t it be good if the real Lucrezia felt that way as well, centuries before animal rights were to be recognised out here in the real world?
I fully expected to love this book after reading Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell’s other brilliant historical novel, and I did. It has drama, beauty and ugliness, happiness and sadness, and love and hope. It was published in 2023 and I’m sorry I didn’t find it sooner than I did at the lovely Collins bookstore in Orange.
Published by Tinder Press.
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