Painting Mona Lisa. Jeanne Kalogridis

and his family – an affront to God, the only rightful wielder of temporal power. For those reasons, Fra Girolamo broke with the custom followed by all of San Marco’s new priors: He refused to pay his respects to the convent’s benefactor, Lorenzo.

      Such behaviour appealed to the enemies of the Medici and to the envious poor. But my father was entranced by Savonarola’s prophesies of the soon-to-come Apocalypse.

      Like many in Florence, my father was a sincere man who strove to understand and appease God. Being educated, he was also aware of an important astrological event that had occurred several years earlier – the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. All agreed this marked a monumental event. Some said it augured the arrival of the Antichrist (widely believed to be the Turkish sultan Mehmet, who had stolen Constantinople and now threatened all Christendom), others that it predicted a spiritual cleansing within the Church.

      Savonarola believed it foretold both. My father returned one morning breathless after Mass; Fra Girolamo had admitted during the sermon that God had spoken directly to him. ‘He said that the Church would first be scourged, then purified and revived,’ my father said, his face aglow with a peculiar light. ‘We are living at the end of time.’

      He was determined to take me with him the following Sunday to hear the friar speak. And he begged my mother to accompany us. ‘He is touched by God, Lucrezia. I swear to you, if only you would listen with your own ears, your life would be forever changed. He is a holy man, and if we convinced him to pray for you …’

      Normally my mother would never have refused her husband, but in this case, she held firm. It was too cold for her to venture out, and crowds tended to excite her overmuch. If she went to Mass, it would be at our own church of Santo Spirito, only a short walk away – where God would hear her prayers just as surely as he heard Fra Girolamo’s. ‘Besides,’ she pointed out, ‘you can always listen to him, then come and tell me directly what he has said.’

      My father was disappointed and, I think, irritated, though he kept it from my mother. And he remained convinced that, if my mother would only go and listen to Fra Girolamo, her condition would improve magically.

      The day after my parents’ disagreement on this subject, a visitor came to our palazzo: Count Giovanni Pico of Mirandolo, the very man who had convinced Lorenzo de’ Medici to bring Savonarola to Florence.

      Count Pico was an intelligent, sensitive man, a scholar of the classics and the Hebrew Cabala. He was handsome as well, with golden hair and clear grey eyes. My parents received him cordially – he was, after all, part of the Medici’s inner circle … and knew Savonarola. I was allowed to sit in on the adults’ conversation while Zalumma hovered, directing other servants and making sure Count Pico’s goblet was full of our best wine. We gathered in the great chamber where my mother had met with the astrologer; Pico sat beside my father, directly across from my mother and me. Outside, the sky was obscured by lead-coloured clouds that threatened rain; the air was cold and bone-achingly damp – a typical Florentine winter’s day. But the fire in the hearth filled the room with heat and an orange light that painted my mother’s face with a becoming glow, and glinted off the shining gold of Pico’s hair.

      What struck me most about Ser Giovanni, as he wished to be called, was his warmth and utter lack of pretension. He spoke to my parents – and most strikingly, to me – as if we were his equals, as if he was beholden to us for our kindness in welcoming him.

      I assumed he had come for purely social reasons. As an intimate of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Ser Giovanni had encountered my father several times when he had come to sell his wools. Fittingly, the conversation began in earnest with a discussion of il Magnifico‘s health. It had been poor of late; like his father, Piero il Gottoso, Lorenzo suffered terribly from gout. His pain had recently become so extreme that he had been unable to leave his bed or receive visitors.

      ‘I pray for him.’ Ser Giovanni sighed. ‘It is hard to witness his agony. But I believe he will rally. He takes strength from his three sons, especially the youngest, Giuliano, who spends what time he can spare away from his studies at his father’s side. It is inspiring to see such devotion in one so young.’

      ‘I hear Lorenzo is still determined to win a cardinal’s hat for his second boy,’ my father said, with the faintest hint of disapproval. He kept stroking his bearded chin with the pad of his thumb and his knuckle, a habit he usually indulged only when nervous.

      ‘Giovanni, yes.’ Pico flashed a brief, wan smile. ‘My namesake.’

      I had seen both boys. Giuliano was fair of face and form, but Giovanni looked like an overstuffed sausage with spindly legs. The eldest brother, Piero, took after his mother, and was being groomed as Lorenzo’s successor – though rumour said he was a dullard, entirely unfit.

      Pico hesitated before continuing; his mien was that of a man being pulled in two directions. ‘Yes, Lorenzo is quite attached to the idea … though, of course, Giovanni is far too young to be considered. It would require a … bending of canon law.’

      ‘Lorenzo is quite talented at bending things,’ my father said off-handedly. Even I had overheard enough of this particular topic to know of the outrage it had incited in most Florentines; Lorenzo had lobbied to raise taxes in order to pay for Giovanni’s cardinalship. My father’s mood grew abruptly jocular. ‘Tell Madonna Lucrezia what he said about his boys.’

      ‘Ah.’ Pico lowered his face slightly as his lips curved gently upwards. ‘You must understand that he does not say it to them directly, of course. He dotes on them too much to show them any unkindness.’ At last, he gazed straight into my mother’s eyes. ‘Just as you so obviously do on your daughter, Madonna.’

      I did not understand why my mother flushed. She had been uncharacteristically quiet up to this point, though she was clearly taken, as we all were, with the charming Count.

      Pico appeared to take no note of her discomfort. ‘Lorenzo always says: “My eldest is foolish, the next clever, and the youngest, good.’”

      My mother’s smile was taut; she gave a nod, then said, ‘I am glad young Giuliano is a comfort to his father. I am sorry to hear of Ser Lorenzo’s illness.’

      Pico sighed again, this time in mild frustration. ‘It is hard to witness, Madonna. Especially since – I am sure your husband has spoken of this – I am a follower of the teachings of Fra Girolamo.’

      ‘Savonarola,’ my mother said softly, her posture stiffening at the mention of the name. Suddenly, I understood her reticence.

      Messer Giovanni continued speaking as if he had not heard. ‘I have begged Lorenzo several times to send for Fra Girolamo – but il Magnifico still rankles at having been rebuffed by San Marco’s new prior. I truly believe, Madonna Lucrezia, that, were Fra Girolamo permitted to lay hands upon Lorenzo and pray for him, he would be healed at once.’

      My mother averted her face; Pico’s tone grew more impassioned.

      ‘Oh, sweet Madonna, do not turn from the truth. I have seen Fra Girolamo work miracles. In my life, I have met no man more devoted to God or more sincere. Forgive me for being so blunt in your presence, but we have all seen priests who consort with women, who over-indulge in food and wine and all manner of worldly corruption. Fra Girolamo’s prayers are powerful because his ways are pure. He lives in poverty; he fasts; he expiates his sin with the whip. When he is not preaching or ministering to the poor, he is on his knees in prayer. And God speaks to him, Madonna. God gives him visions.’

      As he spoke, Ser Giovanni’s countenance grew incandescent; his eyes seemed brighter than the fire. He leaned forwards and took my mother’s hand in his with great tenderness and a concern that held no trace of impropriety. My father moved towards her as well, until he was balanced precariously on the edge of his chair. Clearly, he had brought Pico here expressly for this purpose.

      ‘Forgive my boldness, but your husband has told me of your suffering, Madonna Lucrezia. I cannot bear to think of one so young and fair being denied a normal life – especially when I know, with infinite certainty, that Fra Girolamo’s prayers can cure you.’