Christopher Grey (1)

Giaccomo, orphan and servant to Leonardo, is too smart for his own good and quick to defend his Master against all outsiders. Leonardo has delayed work on The Last Supper for two years, harried by growing debt because the Duke of Milan is always slow to pay what is owed to him, so that he can pay his creditors in turn.

Giacomo is the one to come up with an idea which will make them solvent and able to buy food again. Only near the end of the book does Leonardo reveal to his servant while he has delayed his work for so long.… (mais)

It is Renaissance Milan, 1497, and fifteen-year-old Giacomo, servant to Leonardo da Vinci, spends much of his time making excuses to those who have commissioned the artist's work and fending off the creditors trying to collect their debts. Giacomo was taken in by da Vinci after a fever robbed him of his memory. He dreams of finding his parents and becoming a painter himself. Da Vinci is delaying the start of ‘The Last Supper’ to be painted on the wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie, but instead spends his time on other projects. Why he will not work on the painting is a mystery and the Duke of Milan is becoming more impatient by the day. This is an intelligent read peppered with lots of historic detail. It’s good to know the story behind the painter and his great masterpiece and the authors’ sardonic turns of phrase are well done.… (mais)