The Day Laid On The Altar (Middlebury/Bread Loaf Book)

From Booklistthis Exquisitely Crafted Novel Was The 1999 Winner Of The Wakeless Literary Publication Prize For Fiction. Bernardi Seamlessly Interweaves Three Stories Into A Superb Evocation Of Sixteenthcentury Italy. Born A Peasant, Bartolomeo De Bartolai, A Talented Artist Laboring As A Shepherd, Yearns For Artistic Glory But Fears Leaving The Security Of His Mountain Village. Bartolomeo'S Friend, Ambitious Martin De Martinelli, Confidently Sets Out To Make His Mark And His Fortune As A Journeyman Artisan In Florence. Master Painter Titian Vecellio Divides His Time Between Fashioning Great Works Of Art And Running An Often Querulous Household. Although They Hail From Different Worlds And Choose Different Paths, All Three Wrestle With The Difficulties Of Creative Genius And The Minutiae Of Daily Life. A Reflective Tale Of Art And Spiritual Survival. Margaret Flanagancopyright American Library Association. All Rights Reservedproduct Descriptionthe Interconnecting Journeys Of Adria Bernardi'S Characters Begin In A Remote Sixteenthcentury Apennine Village, Continuing Through Terrains Of Both Privilege And Privation To The Tuscan Plains, And On To The Household Of The Artist Titian. Their Stories Explore A Range Of Responses By Several Classes Of Citizens Dealing With Similar Lifeanddeath Issues. Bernardi'S Attention To Detail, Such As The Exact Method Of Preparing Ultramarine Pigment, Is Seductive And Lovely One Believes In The Characters And In Their Stories.From Publishers Weeklydespite Nearflawless Prose, This Closely Observed Foray Into The 16Thcentury Art World Offers Little Emotional Ballast In Its Enveloping, Ambitious Range. Bernardi, Best Known As A Translator Of Italian Authors, Won The Bakeless Prize For First Fiction With This Novel, Which Juxtaposes The Experiences Of Both Famous And Obscure Painters In An Italy Gripped By Religious Fervor, Racked By Plague And On The Verge Of Developing New Techniques That Will Transform The Powers Of Art. Loosely Intersecting Characters Drift In And Out Of The Narrative, With Little Plot To Structure Their Movement. Bartolomeo De Bartolai, An Isolated Shepherd In The Apennines, Creates Elaborate Drawings And Mosaics With Nearreligious Devotion On The Threshing Floor Of His Barn; Indeed, The Peasants Call His Painting Surface An Altar. While Bartolomeo Toils In Obscurity, His Irreverent Schoolboy Friend, Martin De Martinelli, Heads To Florence And Then Venice To Make His Fortune As A Fresco Painter. Martin Meets With Luck As An Artist, But Ends Up Imprisoned By The Church For His Radical Religious Views. His Life Intersects With Members Of The Household Of The Legendary Titian, Depicted Here As A Charismatic But Demanding Old Man. Titian'S Childrenafailed Pompiono, Loyal Orazio And Beloved Laviniaaalso Figure In The Narrative. Bernardi Delves Into The Consciousnesses Of Half A Dozen Characters, But Her Book Would Have Benefited From A Tighter Focus And Less Sweeping Scope. (Aug.) Fyi: Bernardi'S Collection Of Short Stories, In The Gathering Woods, Won The 2000 Drue Heinz Literature Prize And Will Be Published By The University Of Pittsburgh Press This Fall.Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.From Library Journalbernardi Recently Had The Unusual Fortune Of Receiving Two Literary Prizes, Each Of Which Culminated In The Publication Of A Work Of Fiction. The First, A Day Laid On The Altar (Winner Of The 1999 Bakeless Literary Publication Prize For Fiction), Is A Slim, Beautifully Written Novel Set In 16Thcentury Italy, A Time Of Backlash Against Lutheranism And, In Venice, The Plague. Bernardi Follows The Lives Of Bartolomeo De Bartolai And Martin De Martinelli, Two Young Artists From An Apennine Mountain Village. Their Stories, As They Break Away From Their Villages And Realize Their Talent As Artists, Form End Pieces For The Longer Tale Of Titian, Who Struggles To Ensure That His Family Is Provided For Long After He Is Gone. Martin Flees His Vil