Laura Morelli is the author of the new novel The Night Portrait. Her other books include The Giant and The Painter's Apprentice. An art historian, she lives in Georgia.
Q:
Why did you decide to focus on Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine in your
new novel?
A:
What would it be like to be tasked with the job of stealing a priceless
painting?
That
was the original question that opened the world of The Night Portrait to me.
Leonardo
da Vinci’s portrait of Cecilia Gallerani--The Lady with the Ermine—is
interesting on many levels, but particularly because it was an object of desire
both in the 15th and the 20th centuries.
The
earlier story revolves around the court of Milan and Ludovico Sforza, who
commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint his teenaged mistress in the late
1400s. Ludovico practically had a revolving door for his mistresses; Cecilia
was just the latest in a string of amorous pursuits, if we are to believe the
historical record.
But
there must have been something special about Cecilia for Ludovico to ask
Leonardo da Vinci to paint her. I wondered what it was.
At
the time, the portrait was groundbreaking; up until then, most Italian
Renaissance portraits depicted the female sitter in profile, with no sense of
engagement with the viewer. But Leonardo captured Cecilia’s liveliness in this
remarkable image.
Nearly
500 years later, another powerful man was enraptured with Cecilia’s image. The
portrait was at the top of a list of masterpieces that senior Nazi leaders
wanted to confiscate for Adolf Hitler’s planned art museum.
Hans
Frank, Hitler’s governor in Krakow, was obsessed with this portrait, had it
wrenched from a personal family collection, and did everything possible to keep
it in his personal possession.
The
so-called “Butcher of Poland” was held responsible for the lives of millions of
innocent Polish people, and yet he claimed after his capture that he had only
wanted to “safeguard” masterpieces like this one. The portrait was one of the
last treasures in Frank’s personal possession when the Allies arrested him in
1944.
Curiosity
about this picture’s incredible history led me down rabbit hole after rabbit
hole, until a story told in two timelines emerged clearly in my head. Edith and
Cecilia suddenly seemed as real to me as my next-door neighbors. After that,
the book seemed to write itself.
Q:
How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that especially
surprised you?
A:
I always start with primary sources—documents written during the time period
I’m researching. What did people choose to focus on? What did they choose to
ignore? How did they write about events? What language did they use and what
telltale details stand out?
I
also rely heavily on my training as an art history scholar, because there are
so many rich pieces of information to be gleaned even from footnotes. I read
widely about da Vinci and scoured the scholarship about this portrait and the
known facts of Cecilia Gallerani’s life before I began formulating her story.
For
the 1940s, obviously there are a ton of primary sources—official records like
the Nuremberg transcripts, German and American newspapers, and of course,
personal testimonies.
Reading
the eyewitness accounts of the Monuments Men and diaries of art professionals
helped shape the fictionalized character of Edith, a German conservator who
finds herself embroiled in an impossible situation.
Of
all the amazing things I researched, I think what still stops me in my tracks
is realizing the massive, almost incomprehensible scale of Nazi art
confiscation during World War II. It’s even more incredible that the majority
of those works made it back to their original owners. Nothing short of a
miracle!
Q:
The book includes historical figures as well as fictional characters. What did
you see as the right blend between the fictional and historical as you wrote
the novel?
A:
I think art history is the most fascinating topic in the world and it’s why I
pursued a Ph.D. in the subject. But in the end, art history is really just about
stories and people. Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. Those can’t-make-it-up
stories are some of the best!
Historical
fiction has a certain duty to pin itself to the facts and readers come to the
historical fiction genre for authenticity; they want historical novelists to
bring the past to life on the page. When writing about real figures, I feel
especially that historical novelists bear the burden of making sure that their
readers understand what’s made up and what’s not.
But
the nature of studying history is to realize that many details are lost, even
from the recent historical record. For me, that’s where imagination takes over,
and the fun of fiction begins! I think the best characters for historical
novels are those with only a tantalizing handful of known facts.
At
a certain point, however, I’ve only done my job if all this research
“disappears” for the reader. If a reader picks up a historical novel rather
than a history book, they want to embark on an immersive journey to the past. A
historical novel has to deliver a great story above all.
Q:
What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A:
I hope The Night Portrait sparks some great book club discussions about
individual choices in the context of big, scary world events.
It’s
incredible to realize that by 1944, the Nazis had either stolen or tried to
steal every known painting by Leonardo da Vinci—in addition to thousands of
other priceless masterpieces.
Many
German art experts who were conscripted to the Nazi effort to collect works of
art—functionaries like the fictional Edith Becker in The Night Portrait—quietly
returned to their lives and their jobs after the war.
A
few of them later spoke about their attempts to assist the Resistance, either
by documenting stolen works, saving convoys from bombing, or returning works to
their original owners. Others undoubtedly took these secret activities to the
grave.
Living
through our own tumultuous year, it seems a good time to reflect on challenging
historical events. “What would you do in this situation?” is always such a
great question!
Q:
What are you working on now?
A:
In 2021, look for a second dual-timeline story about another one of Leonardo da
Vinci’s famous portraits and its fate during World War II.
In
the meantime, I’ve released a historical novel based on the creation of
Michelangelo’s David. It’s a story that I worked on little by little over two
decades, one that features one of those tantalizing protagonists and a work of
art that wouldn’t let me go! More about The Giant at https://lauramorelli.com/giant/.
Q:
Anything else we should know?
A:
Readers can join my free online course about the portraits of Leonardo da
Vinci, and access much more historical background, videos, images, research,
and further resources related to World War II art theft and The Night Portrait,
at lauramorelli.com/NightPortrait.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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