The birth of Venus [a novel] [WorldCat Entities]

"Alessandra is not quite fifteen when her prosperous father brings a young painter back from Holland to adorn the new family chapel. Fascinated by his ability she is lured into closer involvement. On the streets of Florence she observes a terrible evil stalking the city and a fiery priest, who has set out to rid the city of vice, even art itself."@en
"In the declining years of the rule of the Medici over Renaissance Florence, an atmosphere of enlightenment and sophistication prevailed; gorgeous art, relaxed mores, and intellectual freedom were the order of the day. But the puritan ideologue Savonarola began to exert ever more control over the city, and was turning it, bit by bit, into a totalitarian theocratic city-state, burning art and banning books with abandon. It is in this atmosphere that Alessandra, an unusually educated woman, must make the choices of her life: a marriage of convenience to her brother's homosexual lover and a dangerous fascination with the intense, mystical painter who comes to decorate her parents' chapel. As the world becomes increasingly unsafe for her, she must choose her own path and retain her own individuality."
"In the declining years of the rule of the Medici over Renaissance Florence, an atmosphere of enlightenment and sophistication prevailed; gorgeous art, relaxed mores, and intellectual freedom were the order of the day. But the puritan ideologue Savonarola began to exert ever more control over the city, and was turning it, bit by bit, into a totalitarian theocratic city-state, burning art and banning books with abandon. It is in this atmosphere that Alessandra, an unusually educated woman, must make the choices of her life: a marriage of convenience to her brother's homosexual lover and a dangerous fascination with the intense, mystical painter who comes to decorate her parents' chapel. As the world becomes increasingly unsafe for her, she must choose her own path and retain her own individuality."@en
"Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter's abilities. But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra's parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man."
"Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter's abilities. But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra's parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man."@en
"Set in 15th-century Florence, this is a novel of mystery, history,politics and passion. Fourteen-year-old Alessandra's love of art and her lively independence lure her into a world of all sorts of taboos. She must make crucial decisions about her life, as Florence itself must choose its future."
"In the declining years of the rule of the Medici over Renaissance Florence, an atmosphere of enlightenment and sophistication prevailed; gorgeous art, relaxed mores, and intellectual freedom were the order of the day. But the puritan ideologue Savonarola began to exert ever more control over the city, and was turning it, bit by bit, into a totalitarian theocratic city--state, burning art and banning books with abandon. It is in this atmosphere that Alessandra, an unusually educated woman, must make the choices of her life: a marriage of convenience to her brother's homosexual lover and a dangerous fascination with the intense, mystical painter who comes to decorate her parents' chapel. As the world becomes increasingly unsafe for her, she must choose her own path and retain her own individuality."@en
"In the declining years of the rule of the Medici over Renaissance Florence, an atmosphere of enlightenment and sophistication prevailed; gorgeous art, relaxed mores, and intellectual freedom were the order of the day. But the puritan ideologue Savonarola began to exert ever more control over the city, and was turning it, bit by bit, into a totalitarian theocratic city--state, burning art and banning books with abandon. It is in this atmosphere that Alessandra, an unusually educated woman, must make the choices of her life: a marriage of convenience to her brother's homosexual lover and a dangerous fascination with the intense, mystical painter who comes to decorate her parents' chapel. As the world becomes increasingly unsafe for her, she must choose her own path and retain her own individuality."
"Set in 15th-century Florence, this is a novel of mystery, history, politics and passion. Fourteen-year-old Alessandra's love of art and her lively independence lure her into a world of all sorts of taboos. She must make crucial decisions about her life, as Florence itself must choose its future."@en
"Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo.... [This novel] brings alive the history of Florence at is most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city. -Dust jacket."