The Sign of the Weeping Virgin (Five Star Mystery Series) (43 page)

Guid'Antonio was one of the most powerful men in the Florentine Republic, both as a lawyer and as a politician. At the same time, Lorenzo de' Medici, poet and patron of the arts and known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, was the acknowledged “prince of the city,” ruling the government behind the scenes. How might life have been different for Guid'Antonio if he were not a Medici man? Do you think he had a choice in backing the Medici family, and how strongly do you think he actually agreed with their guiding principles?

Guid'Antonio and Lorenzo make much of their friendship. Do you consider them friends? What do you make of their rapport?

When Guid'Antonio visits Lorenzo at the Medici Palace for the first time since coming home from France, Lorenzo reveals to him his dead brother Giuliano's illegitimate young son. How does Guid'Antonio respond to the child? Do you think Lorenzo is manipulating Guid'Antonio? If so, how and why?

Lorenzo de' Medici is considered by some the light of the Italian Renaissance, by others a hard-boiled politico who kept his family's death grip on Florence. One of his near contemporaries said, “If Florence had to have a dictator, she couldn't have had a better one.” What do you think of him?

A young boy has witnessed the painting of the
Virgin Mary of Santa Maria Impruneta
weeping in Guid'Antonio's family church. Why have Mary's tears caused such fear in the city? Do you think Guid'Antonio is justified in investigating them? Do you think this means he is a nonbeliever?

Guid'Antonio observes that Florence is “married” to miracles. What leads him to think this?

Although Giuliano de' Medici died two years ago, Guid'Antonio sees him now on several occasions. Why do you think this is, and how do you feel about it? What other possible interpretation is there for Guid'Antonio's visions? What do you think about his final exchange with Giuliano in the Cathedral?

Guid'Antonio and his wife, Maria, have a stormy relationship. He says he loves her. Do you believe him? Does she? Why did he marry her in the first place?

Several times Guid'Antonio thinks about Maestra Francesca Vernacci, the doctor at the hospital Guid'Antonio and his family built and own. What do you think about the reason Francesca gives Guid'Antonio for not marrying him? Were you surprised at the passion his feelings for her arouse in him? What does this reveal about him?

Discuss the role of women in the society of Renaissance Florence. For example, women did not generally attend funerals.

Florence at this time has a small-town air. Within these gated, stone walls, everyone knows everyone, or, at least, knows who they are, from Guid'Antonio and Amerigo Vespucci to Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Lorenzo the Magnificent to the people in the street. Do you believe that this time and place are rightly considered the heart of the Italian Renaissance? How is Florence different from Rome and Naples?

Regarding his decision to assume the role of leadership in the city when he was only twenty, Lorenzo de' Medici later wrote in his journal that he agreed to do so reluctantly, since it fared ill in Florence with anyone who was rich but who did not have any share in government. Why do you think Lorenzo believed this?

What is the role in the story of the
popolo minuto
, the “little” people in the street, who toil from sunup to sundown to eke out a living? How does the stray, starving dog, Peritas, represent the populace? Discuss the irony of Peritas's presence in Guid'Antonio's life at the close of the story.

Lorenzo wrote, “Too much knowing is misery.” What do you think he meant? Do you agree with him?

Alana White
's passion for Renaissance Italy has taken her to Florence for research on the Vespucci and Medici families on numerous occasions. There along cobbled streets unchanged over the centuries, she traces their footsteps, listening to their imagined voices: Guid'Antonio Vespucci, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Lorenzo de' Medici. Alana's first short story featuring real-life fifteenth-century lawyer Guid'Antonio Vespucci and his favorite nephew, Amerigo, was a Macavity Award finalist. She is a member of the Authors Guild, Sisters in Crime, the Women's National Book Association, and the Historical Novel Society. Alana loves hearing from readers, and you can contact her at
www.alanawhite.com
. There, you will find Guid'Antonio's likeness as Domenico Ghirlandaio depicted him in the Sistine Chapel, along with other images and tales of 1400s Italy.