Michael Harrington

  • The City of Man: Inferno by Michael Harrington

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    Book I of a trilogy based on a true story of the Italian Renaissance, structured on Dante’s The Divine Comedy.

    Florence celebrated its Golden Age during the late 15th century under Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Magnificent. This was the age of artists, philosophers and poets like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Machiavelli.But a societal crisis was imminent by the century’s last decade. As chaos loomed, an obscure Dominican friar, Girolamo Savonarola, arose to restore order. A charismatic preacher and prophet who advocated religious and political reform, his mission was to transform his corrupt society into St. Augustine’s mythical City of God. At the height of his reign he orchestrated the infamous Bonfire of the Vanities, fomenting a wave of popular discontent to become the most influential religious and political figure of the age. His theocratic republic left its indelible mark on the face of Florence, Italy, and Western history.The City of Man is the dramatic story of this preacher’s fantastic rise and tragic fall. Young Niccolo Machiavelli provides the counterpoint to Savonarola as he develops his new political philosophy. Their momentous clash illuminates the transition from the Age of Faith to the Age of Reason, heralding the birth of our modern age.

    Formatted especially for the Kindle, the digital version incorporates special features to explore the world of Renaissance Florence, including maps, family trees, art images, dozens of internal and external hyperlinks to biographies and historical events, an extensive glossary and selected scene index.

  • Saving Mona Lisa by Michael Harrington

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    Saving Mona Lisa is a story of art, love, and genius. The story is inspired by the nine versions of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Mona Lisa depicted on the book cover—the original, plus eight copies of dubious provenance. The mystery over who painted these copies still confounds art historians, as does the fact that Leonardo refused to finish the original or deliver it to its rightful owner, right up until his death more than fifteen years later.

    In 2012, conservators at the Prado Museum in Madrid determined that their copy was painted at the same time as the original, but Leonardo did not paint it.

    In 2009, another “nude Mona Lisa” surfaced in France, further fueling the titillating question over who painted the nude versions.

    Five centuries after his death, Leonardo da Vinci, the most renowned personality, artist, and genius in history, continues to reveal his many mysteries…

    Based closely on scholarly research, historical evidence and credible speculation, Saving Mona Lisa weaves a story of art, love, and eccentricity as Leonardo clashes with his two young apprentices over the ultimate fate of a painting that had achieved world renown soon after everyone thought it was finished…everyone, that is, except Leonardo.

    “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” -Leonardo da Vinci. ***The Kindle version of Saving Mona Lisa is programmed for easy reader navigation and includes short bios of the principal characters, maps, historical Afterword, Italian glossary, and over 30 illustrations and photographs of Leonardo’s most important works.