MARCELLO SIMONETTA, Ph. D., received his doctorate in Renaissance Studies from Yale and has taught at Wesleyan University. He has been featured on The History Channel, and in 2007 he curated an exhibition on Federico da Montefeltro's library at the Morgan Library & Museum. He lives in New York.
Reviews and Praise for The Montefeltro Conspiracy
Booklist - Advanced Review
In Florence, on April 26, 1478, Lorenzo de Medici, soon to be
dubbed "the Magnificent," and his brother, Giuliano, were set upon
by assassins during Sunday mass. Giuliano died, but Lorenzo
survived and became one of the most accomplished of Renaissance
figures as a patron of the arts and a skillful leader of the
Florentine Republic. The assassination attempt, generally called
"the Pazzi conspiracy," was immediately blamed on a rival
Florentine family, the Pazzi. Simonetta, a professor of Italian
history and literature, has uncovered another layer of the plot.
Aided by a recently decoded letter found in an archive in Urbino,
Simonetta indicts Frederico de Montefeltro, the widely admired Duke
of Urbino. Montefeltro, often referred to as "the Light of Italy,"
was a classics scholar, a humanist, and a supposed friend of the
Medici family. He was also a tough, ruthless mercenary quite at
home in the cutthroat milieu of fifteenth-century Italian politics.
This is a tense, absorbing book that works well as a historical
inquiry and a real-life detective story.
Library Journal
The work by Simonetta (Italian & medieval studies, Wesleyan Univ.)
is a bird of another feather, more brightly plumed. In a previously
closed archive, he unearthed a ciphered letter from Federigo de
Montefeltro, the famed humanist and condotierre duke of Urbino, to
Pope Sixtus, written shortly before the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478.
Drawing on a contemporary book on ciphers written by his own
ancestor, Simonetta broke the letter's code. In a stunning act of
historical sleuthing (moving the topic into greater depth and focus
than Lauro Martines's April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against
the Medici), he has unearthed solid evidence linking Montefeltro
and the pope directly to the conspirators in a plot to assassinate
the Medicis and end their rule of Florence. Simonetta concludes
with intriguing speculation on why Botticelli, though a Medici
loyalist, accepted a commission from Sixtus to paint the interior
walls of the Sistine chapel in Rome, and he speculates on the
political significance of Botticelli's most famous paintings, The
Birth of Venus and Primavera. Both books are warmly recommended for
large public libraries, and academic collections will want
Simonetta.
Fredericksburg News
Simonetta's "The Montefeltro Conspiracy" is a concise book,
handsomely produced and clearly written, and it will appeal to
history buffs, visitors to Italy, students of art, and more
adventurous general readers.
Times Literary Supplement
Simonetta inhabits the time and place of his subject and examines
the evidence in its original context. The book is beautifully
structured [...] Vividly written and impressively researched, The
Montefeltro Conspiracy is a real contribution to Italian
history.
Washington Post
Marcello Simonetta's "The Montefeltro Conspiracy," while also
focusing on the conspiracy against Lorenzo, differs not only in
being written by a scholar using original archival sources, but
also in its idiosyncratic perspective. Simonetta claims descent
from Cicco Simonetta, the duke of Milan's right-hand man, who,
following the duke's assassination in 1476, became regent for the
duke's child heir. The book's title refers to Federico da
Montefeltro, who was among the most prominent of the aristocrats
ruling over small domains (in his case in central Italy) but whose
real influence derived from their employment as military leaders by
more powerful patrons. "The Montefeltro Conspiracy" is the result
of the author's discovery in an Italian archive of a coded letter
sent by Federico to Sixtus IV, urging the pope to push ahead in the
conspiracy against Lorenzo. The author was able to decipher the
letter thanks to a guidebook to codemaking written by his ancestor
Cicco. This is a fascinating tale of historical detective work,
although Simonetta's claim that his work has "radically changed the
perception of a turning point in Italian history" is overdrawn.
More interesting are his speculations regarding a different kind of
battle, over the decoration of the Sistine Chapel. Here, as
throughout his short book, Simonetta makes excellent use of
reproductions of the art of the time. Sixtus, who commissioned the
chapel's construction and for whom it is named, "had it obsessively
decorated with the symbol of his family coat of arms." Following
his death, Lorenzo persuaded (one might say bribed) the new pope to
name Lorenzo's son Giovanni a cardinal, although the boy was only
13. By 38, Giovanni had become Pope Leo X and in turn made his
cousin Giulio a cardinal. In 1523, Giulio--whose father had been
murdered in the Duomo--became Pope Clement VII. Although Clement
endured many crises, including the sack of Rome in 1527, he at
least had the satisfaction of replacing Sixtus's designs on the
Sistine Chapel's altar wall with Michelangelo's fresco of the Last
Judgment, which Simonetta calls "a double-edged way of sending a
late pope to hell." Lorenzo finally had his revenge. Advance Praise
for The Montefeltro Conspiracy "Conspiracies, assassinations,
Botticelli frescoes, a coded letter--Marcello Simonetta
encapsulates both the glory and the violence of the Italian
Renaissance in this remarkable book. He has also made a truly
astonishing discovery of the kind that most writers can only dream
about. The history of one of the most thrilling episodes in the
history of the Renaissance will never be seen in the same way
again." --Ross King, author of New York Times bestseller
Brunelleschi's Dome "The Montefeltro Conspiracy is narrative
history at its best. Simonetta tells a terrific story that
illuminates the dark side of the Renaissance. Readers will look at
Piero della Francesco's famous portrait of Federico da Montefeltro
with new eyes." --Robert Hellenga, author of The Sixteen
Pleasures
Reviews and Praise for "The Montefeltro Conspiracy"
Booklist - Advanced Review
In Florence, on April 26, 1478, Lorenzo de Medici, soon to be
dubbed "the Magnificent," and his brother, Giuliano, were set upon
by assassins during Sunday mass. Giuliano died, but Lorenzo
survived and became one of the most accomplished of Renaissance
figures as a patron of the arts and a skillful leader of the
Florentine Republic. The assassination attempt, generally called
"the Pazzi conspiracy," was immediately blamed on a rival
Florentine family, the Pazzi. Simonetta, a professor of Italian
history and literature, has uncovered another layer of the plot.
Aided by a recently decoded letter found in an archive in Urbino,
Simonetta indicts Frederico de Montefeltro, the widely admired Duke
of Urbino. Montefeltro, often referred to as "the Light of Italy,"
was a classics scholar, a humanist, and a supposed friend of the
Medici family. He was also a tough, ruthless mercenary quite at
home in the cutthroat milieu of fifteenth-century Italian politics.
This is a tense, absorbing book that works well as a historical
inquiry and a real-life detective story.
Library Journal
The work by Simonetta (Italian & medieval studies, Wesleyan Univ.)
is a bird of another feather, more brightly plumed. In a previously
closed archive, he unearthed a ciphered letter from Federigo de
Montefeltro, the famed humanist and condotierre duke of Urbino, to
Pope Sixtus, written shortly before the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478.
Drawing on a contemporary book on ciphers written by his own
ancestor, Simonetta broke the letter's code. In a stunning act of
historical sleuthing (moving the topic into greater depth and focus
than Lauro Martines's "April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against
the Medici"), he has unearthed solid evidence linking Montefeltro
and the pope directly to the conspirators in a plot to assassinate
the Medicis and end their rule of Florence. Simonetta concludes
with intriguing speculation on why Botticelli, though a Medici
loyalist, accepted a commission from Sixtus to paint the interior
walls of the Sistine chapel in Rome, and he speculates on the
political significance of Botticelli's most famous paintings, "The
Birth of Venus" and "Primavera." Both books are warmly recommended
for large public libraries, and academic collections will want
Simonetta.
Fredericksburg News
Simonetta's "The Montefeltro Conspiracy" is a concise book,
handsomely produced and clearly written, and it will appeal to
history buffs, visitors to Italy, students of art, and more
adventurous general readers.
Times Literary Supplement
Simonetta inhabits the time and place of his subject and examines
the evidence in its original context. The book is beautifully
structured [...] Vividly written and impressively researched, "The
Montefeltro Conspiracy" is a real contribution to Italian
history.
Washington Post
Marcello Simonetta's "The Montefeltro Conspiracy," while also
focusing on the conspiracy against Lorenzo, differs not only in
being written by a scholar using original archival sources, but
also in its idiosyncratic perspective. Simonetta claims descent
from Cicco Simonetta, the duke of Milan's right-hand man, who,
following the duke's assassination in 1476, became regent for the
duke's child heir. The book's title refers to Federico da
Montefeltro, who was among the most prominent of the aristocrats
ruling over small domains (in his case in central Italy) but whose
real influence derived from their employment as military leaders by
more powerful patrons. "The Montefeltro Conspiracy" is the result
of the author's discovery in an Italian archive of a coded letter
sent by Federico to Sixtus IV, urging the pope to push ahead in the
conspiracy against Lorenzo. The author was able to decipher the
letter thanks to a guidebook to codemaking written by his ancestor
Cicco. This is a fascinating tale of historical detective work,
although Simonetta's claim that his work has "radically changed the
perception of a turning point in Italian history" is overdrawn.
More interesting are his speculations regarding a different kind of
battle, over the decoration of the Sistine Chapel. Here, as
throughout his short book, Simonetta makes excellent use of
reproductions of the art of the time. Sixtus, who commissioned the
chapel's construction and for whom it is named, "had it obsessively
decorated with the symbol of his family coat of arms." Following
his death, Lorenzo persuaded (one might say bribed) the new pope to
name Lorenzo's son Giovanni a cardinal, although the boy was only
13. By 38, Giovanni had become Pope Leo X and in turn made his
cousin Giulio a cardinal. In 1523, Giulio--whose father had been
murdered in the Duomo--became Pope Clement VII. Although Clement
endured many crises, including the sack of Rome in 1527, he at
least had the satisfaction of replacing Sixtus's designs on the
Sistine Chapel's altar wall with Michelangelo's fresco of the Last
Judgment, which Simonetta calls "a double-edged way of sending a
late pope to hell." Lorenzo finally had his revenge. Advance Praise
for "The Montefeltro Conspiracy"
"Conspiracies, assassinations, Botticelli frescoes, a coded
letter--Marcello Simonetta encapsulates both the glory and the
violence of the Italian Renaissance in this remarkable book. He has
also made a truly astonishing discovery of the kind that most
writers can only dream about. The history of one of the most
thrilling episodes in the history of the Renaissance will never be
seen in the same way again."
--Ross King, author of "New York Times" bestseller "Brunelleschi's
Dome"
""The Montefeltro Conspiracy" is narrative history at its best.
Simonetta tells a terrific story that illuminates the dark side of
the Renaissance. Readers will look at Piero della Francesco's
famous portrait of Federico da Montefeltro with new eyes."
--Robert Hellenga, author of "The Sixteen Pleasures"
Advance Praise for "The Montefeltro Conspiracy"
"Conspiracies, assassinations, Botticelli frescoes, a coded
letter--Marcello Simonetta encapsulates both the glory and the
violence of the Italian Renaissance in this remarkable book. He has
also made a truly astonishing discovery of the kind that most
writers can only dream about. The history of one of the most
thrilling episodes in the history of the Renaissance will never be
seen in the same way again."
--Ross King, author of "New York Times" bestseller "Brunelleschi's
Dome"
""The Montefeltro Conspiracy" is narrative history at its best.
Simonetta tells a terrific story that illuminates the dark side of
the Renaissance. Readers will look at Piero della Francesco's
famous portrait of Federico da Montefeltro with new eyes."
--Robert Hellenga, author of "The Sixteen Pleasures"
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