Author:
David Cossu
Publishing house:
Newton Compton
Data di pubblicazione:
05-03-2024
Ferrara, autumn 1442. Leon Battista Alberti is invited to court to participate, as a judge, in a competition organised by Marquis Leonello d’Este: the winner will be commissioned a monument in honour of his late father, Niccolò III. In the meantime, taking advantage of the ancient friendship that binds them, the marquis instructs Leon Battista to investigate a thorny fact that is troubling the city: the young Laura Pendaglia, heiress of the richest citizen of Ferrara and betrothed to Folco Bonacossi, has decided to renounce the wedding and take refuge in a convent to become a nun. While Leon Battista tries to navigate his way through power games and plots hatched by the families of the unmarried couple, young Folco dies in circumstances that recall the pages of courtly love novels. With the help of his trusted companions, the learned Parentucelli and the adventurer de’ Conti, and Margherita, a daring and beautiful noblewoman, Alberti, in a merry-go-round of love affairs, betrayals and unexpected revelations, attempts to shed light on the trail of blood that stains the court of Ferrara. A trail that leads to a tragedy confined to the dark past of the Este family, whose shadow threatens Leonello’s power and the very fate of his household.