The Night Portrait by Laura Morelli

 

"I have come to accept that war is inevitable. Beauty is fleeting. Only love and art endure. At least that's what Master da Vinci taught me."

          -Edith Becker, from the novel

Unbeknownst to me, I had read another novel by this author early in the year, The Last Masterpiece, with the same subject---saving valuable works of art from the Nazis in WWII. The story involved two timelines---1490's and 1940's---and four major characters: Leonardo da Vinci, Cecilia Gallerani, Edith Becker, and Dominic Bollini. 

Da Vinci is commissioned by Ludovico il Moro, Regent and later Duke of Milan, to paint his mistress Cecilia's portrait in Milan, Italy in the 15th century. The painting would be called Lady with an Ermine and would become very famous and extremely valuable. 

In the 20th century, Edith Becker is an art conservator in a museum in Munich when she is forced to work for the Reich in its efforts to "relocate" (think steal) the most important art of Poland. Dominic Bollini is an American soldier who becomes involved with a group trying to find and eventually restore the stolen pieces to the original owners and locations, the Monument Men (Monuments, Fine arts and Archives Program or MFAA).

I had never heard of the painting of the Lady with an Ermine, nor did I know of the other two of the Great Three most valuable works in Polish collections: Landscape with the Good Samaritan by Rembrandt and Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man. So naturally, I had to look them up. I also had never heard of Hans Frank who was known as the Butcher of Poland. (Poor Edith ended up having to work with him.) 

I thought this novel was well-researched and well-written. I learned a lot and liked it better than the author's The Last Masterpiece. It seemed less scholarly and more reader-friendly. I have rated it a 5. It has left me wanting to see the film "The Monument Men."