The Tigress

That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.

from My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.

The Duchess of Browning's poem is Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara, and the poem inspired author Maggie O'Farrell to write The Marriage Portrait (2022). This wonderful novel is a fictional imaging of the brief life of the Duchess of Ferrara.    

Born in Florence in 1545, Lucrezia was the third daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. When she was thirteen years old she was married to Alfonso d'Este, the future Duke of Ferrara. Her time in Ferrara was short-lived as she died at the age of 16 from a mysterious illness, amid rumours she had been poisoned by her husband for failing to produce an heir. A portrait attributed to Bronzino is the only known contemporarneous image of this young woman.

As in her previous novel Hamnet (2020), O'Farrell has taken the few threads of information known about this young woman and woven an intricately detailed portrait of her life. In the opening paragraph 'Lucré' sits at a dining table opposite her husband and comes to the realisation that he intends to kill her.  Despite the forewarning of how this tragic tale will likely end, over the course of the novel, O'Farrell creates an intriguing, gripping and surprising story.

Lucrezia de' Medici c1560
(attributed to Bronzino or Alessandro Allori)

From her birth and childhood in Florence, Lucré is a bright, inquisitive girl - quite dissimilar to her older sisters Maria and Isabella. All the girls were destined to be married off at a young age to noble houses to solidify alliances and build the influence of their family. Unlike her sisters, Lucré was interested to nature and would spend countless hours drawing or painting the flora and fauna around her. Inexperienced and naive, Lucré is suddenly married to a stranger, whisked away from her family and all that she knows. While Lucre's parents had a loving relationship, and her mother was her father's confidant and friend, she has no hopes for this in her marriage. It is made abundantly clear that the Duke sees her only as a beautiful vessel for his future heirs. 

O'Farrell is a highly skilled writer, able to portray the richness of the palazzos and royal courts, the fashions and customs, and the landscapes and scenery of the Renaissance. She captures Lucrezia's loneliness, desire and resilience in the face of danger and isolation. Despite knowing what happens to her, the ending remains surprising and satisfying. 

I have always been an O'Farrell fan, and have read all of her work since her debut novel After You'd Gone (2000). Her previous novel Hamnet (2020) was my favourite novel that year, and one that I regularly recommend to readers. While I did not love The Marriage Portrait as much as Hamnet, it is a close second and I can't wait to see where O'Farrell takes us next.