Matar a Leonardo da Vinci (Crónicas del Renacimiento 1)

“Everyone admires the genius, few know the man”

Fifteen-century Europe is in the midst of conflicts in which the Papacy, the Italian States and the neighboring kingdoms are involved, whilst a movement known as the Renaissance begins to stand out in all artistic disciplines. One of the most outstanding nucleus of this cultural explosion is the Republic of Florence, governed by the Medeci. There, a young Leonardo da Vinci ends up in a dungeon as a result of a false accusation of sodomy. After two months of interrogations and cruel tortures, the promising artist regains his freedom thanks to Lorenzo de Medici’s --known as the Magnificent-- direct intervention.

Wounded in his flesh and soul, Leonardo tries to recover the heartbeat of his artistic career. However, his phenomenal talent and the growing recognition towards his work are not enough to placate the longing for vengeance for the received torments. From then on, the search for the identity of the anonymous denouncer and the indelible memory of his jailers intermingle with his artistic achievements which will end up dazzling the world. Till a new menace looms over him, this time summed in a categorical sentence: “Death to Leonardo da Vinci”.

As a consequence of several years of documentary and ground research, the first novel by Christian Gálvez makes for a literary revelation in every sense of the word. Between a historical thriller and a biographical sketch, “To Kill Leonardo da Vinci” is a pure work of goldsmithing in which each piece fits into the other as the narration advances, till its final climax.

“Based on historical facts, Gálvez writes a fiction in which elements of the historical novel, the thriller and the biographical novel—all intermingle.” La Voz de Almería