'As full of epic characters as the Sistine Chapel ceiling . . . Sinfully fun to read.' --Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker ' A] thorough success . . . A dazzling romp.' --Steven Poole, The Guardian 'Historical fiction doesn't get much better than this.' --George Cochrane, The Telegraph (5/5 stars) One of Vulture's Best Books of 2025 (So Far) A pulse-quickening murder mystery set in Renaissance Florence by the renowned author of HHhH. As dawn breaks over the city of Florence on New Year's Day 1557, Jacopo da Pontormo is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him are the frescoes he labored over for more than a decade--masterpieces all, rivaling the works of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. When guards search his quarters, they find an obscene painting of Venus and Cupid--with the face of Venus replaced by that of Maria de' Medici, the Duke of Florence's oldest daughter. The city erupts in chaos. Who could have committed these crimes: murder and l
