Sara's Reviews > The Birth of Venus

With Savonarola, the Bonfires of the Vanities, and the religious fervor that swept Florence in the 1490s as its historical reference, Dunant has chosen to tell the story of Alessandra Cecchi, a strong-willed girl who influences a young painter. Coming from an upper-class family and schooled beyond the normal level for girls of her time, Alessandra has a love of art and an understanding of classics that drive her to live an unusual life, and give her a platform from which to bear witness to both the wonders of, and dissolution of, the great city of Florence.

I enjoyed the details about the city, the history and the culture of 1490s Florence. It was interesting to see how the death of Lorenzo de Medici affected the entire future of the city-state he ruled and how easily it slipped from enlightened to fanatic. I had been unaware that Florence had its own version of the Spanish Inquisition, but then I suppose most places suffered from such excesses during this age. I believe it would have been very difficult to be a woman at this time, let alone a woman who wanted to be more than just a wife and a mother.

The story was well-written and flowed well, the characters were realistic and interesting. Alessandra Cecchi is painted as vividly as the Renaissance art she so admires, and the Florence of her time comes alive.