The Lantern, a Renaissance Mystery

by Joanne Lewis

  The Lantern, a Renaissance Mystery

  by

  Joanne Lewis

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The Lantern, a Renaissance Mystery

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you’re reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  Copyright © 2012 Joanne Lewis. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Images by Debi Duckett

  http://www.dduckett.com

  Published by Telemachus Press, LLC

  http://www.telemachuspress.com

  Visit the author website: www.joannelewiswrites.com.

  ISBN: 978-1-937698-41-6 (eBook)

  ISBN: 978-1-937698-42-3 (Paperback)

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2012934687

  Version 2013.09.04

  Table of Contents

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  CHARACTERS OF THE LANTERN, A RENAISSANCE MYSTERY

  MODERN VIEW

  THE GADDI FAMILY TREE

  PART ONE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  PART TWO

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  PART THREE

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  PART FOUR

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  PART FIVE

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  PART SIX

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  PART SEVEN

  Chapter 80

  PART EIGHT

  Chapter 81

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  QUESTIONS FOR BOOK GROUPS

  Dedicated to my father, Roger Dean Lewis, the original Dr. Rajah

  The Lantern, a Renaissance Mystery

  “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set her free.”

  Michelangelo Buonarroti

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  In the heart of Florence, Italy, there exists a configuration of buildings that transcend time. They include the Church of St. John the Baptist, commonly known as the Baptistery, Giotto’s bell tower and the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore topped by its red-tiled dome and white marble lantern.

  Construction of the Baptistery was completed in the 1100’s.

  The plans for the cathedral were approved in 1294. By decree of the Opera del Duomo, the architect Arnolfo di Cambio was ordered to:

  “…raise the loftiest, most sumptuous, and most magnificent pile that human invention could devise, or human labour execute…”

  Construction of the cathedral began in 1296 and continued until Cambio’s death in 1302. Work stopped for thirty-two years when the architect Giotto di Bondone was named his successor. Giotto continued to oversee the construction of the cathedral and, along with Taddeo Gaddi, began work on the Campanile, a freestanding bell tower. Located adjacent to the cathedral and the Baptistery, the first stone was laid in July 1334.

  With only the lower floor of the bell tower complete, Giotto died in 1337. Andrea Pisano took over construction of the cathedral and the bell tower. Construction stopped again in 1348 when the Black Death caused the population in Florence to diminish from 100,000 to half that amount.

  In 1349, work resumed with the architect Francesco Talenti at the helm. Talenti continued constructing the cathedral. He also completed the top three levels of the bell tower in 1359. Just under three hundred feet high, the crown of Giotto’s bell tower could be reached by climbing 414 winding steps. The reward was a breathtaking panoramic vista of Florence.

  After a series of additional architects, the majority of the cathedral was finished in 1418. What remained was the architectural mystery: how to fill the big hole on top with a dome?

  To answer the question, the Opera del Duomo began a competition to build a dome atop the cathedral. Filippo Brunelleschi entered the competition, along with his main competitor and rival Lorenzo Ghiberti. Previously, Ghiberti and Brunelleschi had competed to win the commission to design a set of doors for the Baptistery. Brunelleschi was angered when Ghiberti won this competition. However, in 1419 Brunelleschi was chosen to design the dome. The rivalry between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti continued throughout their lives and perhaps propelled them to create some of the most magnificent architectural designs ever.

  While building the dome, Brunelleschi was forced to enter many competitions, including designing a hoist. He won them all. In 1436, his dome was complete.

  Next, the Opera del Duomo announced a competition to build a lantern on top of the dome. Perhaps you can imagine Brunelleschi’s outrage when he wasn’t handed this commission but was required to enter yet another competition.

  The lantern was completed in 1461, fifteen years after Brunelleschi’s death.

  I first learned about the competition to build
the lantern while reading Brunelleschi’s Dome, How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture, by Ross King. At the time, I was looking for the topic of my next book. I knew I wanted to write a historical novel that would allow me to explore the Italian Renaissance. When I read in King’s book that a girl had dared to enter the competition to build the lantern, the germ of my story was born.

  Paul Robert Walker’s The Feud That Sparked The Renaissance, How Brunelleschi and Ghiberti Changed the Art World, was also instrumental to me both for inspiration and for research.

  The Renaissance, typically defined as a period of cultural rebirth, is generally considered to encompass a period of time across Europe that bridged the medieval world to the modern world. It was a time of great discovery in the areas of architecture, painting, sculpture, music and language. The Renaissance was also a period of great disease, wars, destitution and desperation. While the dates when the Renaissance began and ended are in dispute, it is generally believed the early Renaissance began in the early 1300’s when Dante completed Il Commedia and ended around 1600. Where the Renaissance began is rarely disputed. It began in Florence, Italy.

  While I am a student of the Italian Renaissance, I am far from an expert. I have labored to make everything in The Lantern, a Renaissance mystery, as accurate as possible. But, this is historical fiction. Whenever a person is mentioned who actually lived, I endeavored to make his or her character as close to real as possible. In both the fifteenth and twenty-first centuries of The Lantern, a Renaissance mystery, I have tried to recreate the people (real and imagined) and the times as they were and are socially, politically, environmentally, structurally and medically. However, I did take editorial license for purposes of forwarding the plot, continuity and entertainment.

  As The Lantern, a Renaissance mystery, generally takes place in Florence, Italy and in Miami, Florida, I have placed drawings by the artist Debi Duckett at the start of each chapter to designate the locale.

  Italy

  Florida

  I hope you enjoy reading The Lantern as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Please feel free to contact me at: jtawnylewis@gmail.com and to visit my website at: www.joannelewiswrites.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

  –Joanne

  CHARACTERS OF THE LANTERN, A RENAISSANCE MYSTERY

  FIFTEENTH CENTURY

  DOLCE GADDI—young girl who strives to emulate her idol, Filippo Brunelleschi

  FIRENZE—FLORENCE

  CAMPANILE—BELL TOWER

  IL PODERINO—the Gaddi farm, located outside the gates of Florence

  LA CITTA DI DOLCE—the city Dolce hopes to create

  IL GIGANTE—twenty-foot tower of marble brought to Il Poderino on the same day Dolce was left there by Novella

  NOVELLA—Nursemaid who breastfed Dolce until she was four years old then returned her to Il Poderino

  FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI “PIPPO”—architect/inventor/genius, designed dome on top of Florence cathedral, Dolce’s idol

  ANDREA DI LAZZARO DE CAVALCANTI “IL BUGGIANO”—adopted by Brunelleschi, a sculptor and a poet

  MINUSCOLO—Andrea’s miniature horse

  BANDINO GADDI—Dolce’s Father

  AMBROSINA DELLA PECORINI DI FIRENZE—Dolce’s mother, a nun, died same day Dolce was born

  TESSA GADDI—Dolce’s stepmother, died from the plague

  NICCOLO GADDI “NIC”—Dolce’s half brother, shares same father as Dolce, six years older than Dolce

  IACOPO GADDI “PO”—Dolce’s half brother, twin to Piero, shares same father as Dolce, four years older than Dolce

  PIERO GADDI—Dolce’s half brother, twin to Po, shares same father as Dolce, four years older than Dolce

  BARTOLOMMEO—Head Servant on Il Poderino

  MEA—Housemaid on Il Poderino, married to Bartolommeo

  GADDO GADDI—Dolce’s great great grandfather, pre-Renaissance genius, studied with Cimabue and Giotto

  TADDEO GADDI—Dolce’s great grandfather, designed Ponte Vecchio in Florence

  AGNOLO GADDI—Dolce’s great uncle, frescoist and artist

  GIOVANNI GADDI—Dolce’s grandfather, unknown accomplishments

  MATTINA CAVALCANTI—Dolce’s daughter

  BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—the cathedral church of Florence, Italy; English translation: Our Lady Of The Flower, also known as Florence’s cathedral and Il Duomo

  GIOTTO DI BONDONE—created the bell tower adjacent to the Florence cathedral

  ABRAMO DA SAN MINIATO—Jewish banker

  SAMUELE DA SAN MINIATO—Abramo’s son

  MATILDA—gypsy woman, runs brothel

  COSIMO de’ MEDICI—ruler of Florence

  OFFICER FRANCO—member of Cosimo’s guard

  THE SKINNER, GINO & VINCENZIO—brothers/parchment makers

  EVANKO “PURGATORY”—miscreant

  GIULIANO de’ MEDICI “HELL”—miscreant, Cosimo’s nephew

  DONATO DI NICCOLò DI BETTO BARDI “DONATELLO”—Brunelleschi’s best friend, a sculptor and a hothead

  ZACCHERI DI PIETRO “ZAC”—Brunelleschi’s apprentice

  MANETTO DI JACOPO “THE FAT CARPENTER”—Brunelleschi played joke on him

  LORENZO GHIBERTI—Renaissance artist, Brunelleschi’s rival

  MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI—greatest artist of all time

  KING DAVID—as a boy he slayed Goliath, great sculpture by Michelangelo

  DANTE ALIGHIERI—Renaissance poet, author of The Divine Comedy

  BEATRICE—Dante’s muse

  SER ZANOBI AMBROSINI—Il Notaio, the notary

  MESSER NANNI DELLA PORTA DI NOVARA—Il Podesta, the presiding judge

  MESSER STEFANO DI FRANCESCO DI PRATO—Il Procurator, the lawyer

  TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

  FILIPPA GEORGE—woman who strives to survive

  FILIPPA VILLAGE—the village Filippa hopes to create

  CAROLINE GEORGE—Filippa’s mother, died same day Filippa was born

  UNKNOWN—Filippa’s father

  ROGER DEAN GEORGE “GRANDPA RAJ”—raised Filippa

  JULIO MENDEZ—Filippa’s boyfriend

  BUDDY MENDEZ—Julio’s son who Filippa raised

  ROMAN—young boy who died in car crash

  CARLA MOSKOWITZ—Expatriate from New York who lives in Florence

  MARCELLO ANNUNZIATA—Born in Florence, works at State Archives

  OFFICER FRANCO—Florence police officer

  ILEANA—Franco’s sister

  DR. MANUEL LOPEZ—pediatric oncologist at Jackson Memorial Hospital

  BOB DYLAN—musical icon

  FRANK SINATRA—musical icon

  BEATRICE—Carla’s Vespa (scooter)

  TIMELESS

  DR. RAJAH—heroic explorer and leader

  ELLIE THE ELEPHANT

  MOUSEY MOUSE

  MR. TIGER

  LINDA THE LIONESS AND HER CUBS

  THE SILLY MONKEYS

  TINY

  MODERN VIEW

  From Left to Right

  Giotto’s Bell Tower, Florence’s Cathedral with Brunelleschi’s Dome. On top of the dome is the lantern. Behind the cathedral and on the other side of the gates that surrounded Florence during the Renaissance was Il Poderino

  THE GADDI FAMILY TREE

  (real and imagined)

  PART ONE

  Chapter One

  The year was 1426 and four-and-a-half feet tall, seven-year-old Dolce Gaddi circled a twenty-foot tower of graying marble known as Il Gigante that rose into the twilight air. Dolce was barefoot, saving her one pair of shoes for when she was permitted to accompany Mea, the housemaid, to market.

  Thick red hair curled down Dolce’s back. Dirt smudged on her nose and cheeks. Her heart shaped lips were pushed into a pout. Il Gigante was weathered and beaten from three years of wind and rain on Il Poderino, the small farm tucked into the Apennine Mountains outside the gates of Firenze.

  She looked toward the one story house where she occupied a small roo
m—a poorly insulated cupboard where olives and flax tilled from the fields were stored. She lived with her father and half brothers who enjoyed the luxury of the entire home. The servants’ quarters were larger and warmer than Dolce’s.

  No one was in sight except for a few workers who were milking goats and getting cows ready for market. She heard Iacopo and Piero, born three minutes apart and four years before her, laughing. She smelled Mea’s fresh breakfast bread. She considered joining the twins or peeking her head through the open window of the home and waiting for Mea’s wide smile to warm her heart and a piece of hot bread to soothe her belly. But Bandino, her father, or Niccolo, the oldest of her three half brothers, might see her.

  With the back of her hand, Dolce wiped sweat from her upper lip leaving behind a line of dirt. Her heart pounded out of her chest, into her ears. She picked up a scratched and dented chisel and a worn mallet and struck the giant. White powder scattered then dissipated like the first flakes of falling snow. She hit it again and again, loving the sound of metal on marble and feeling empowered by the dimple that slowly formed. Aside from the few times she had actually held a book or got to draw on parchment or vellum, she had never felt stronger and never experienced such joy.

  It was in her blood. Even though Bandino heaved and bucked whenever he acknowledged Dolce as his daughter, she was still a Gaddi. A descendant of the architects of the pre and early Renaissance, Dolce resembled her great great grandfather Gaddo Gaddi who studied with Cimabue and Giotto. She also had the dexterity of her great grandfather Taddeo Gaddi who designed Ponte Vecchio. The proof was not only in her blood but also in her green eyes that were dulled by hardship yet still glowed with wonder. The proof was also in her strong hands and long fingers connected by wide, flexible webs. Unfortunately for Bandino—and for Dolce too—the Gaddi talent had evaded him and had landed with a wallop in the heart, soul and fingertips of little Dolce.

  Dolce examined the dimple in the marble and smiled. Yes, she could do something with the monster but wouldn’t dare try. Not after years of Bandino’s failure to tame the beast. There surely would be serious repercussions if she were to demonstrate her artistic superiority to his. She had experienced it before. Nic being ordered to destroy all of her architectural drawings in the dirt. Bandino roughly snatching paper and ink from Dolce on the few occasions she had managed to find some, then making her stand in the hot sun barefoot on small stones for hours.