One of the (many) exciting things about writing a novel set in early 15th Century Italy is the reference material. I don’t just mean all the words written about the period, but the wonderful pictures that one can use to describe contemporary scenes. For example, here’s a battle scene by Piero della Francesca.
Just what I needed when one of my characters, a muscular priest by the name of Don Antonio, visits the camp of the condottiere Carlo Malatesta. I particularly liked the grey-bearded man in the centre of the picture, who appears as Don Antonio rides through Malatesta’s camp: “Don Antonio was struck at first by the noise: the pounding of the hammers of the armourers, the clash of steel as men-at-arms practised their sword-fighting, the barked commands of sergeants and the dull, thunderous thuds of horses’ hooves as mounted lancers rehearsed their manoeuvres.
"The sights were impressive, too: a dozen knights, some in full armour were tilting at a quintain, laughing at the efforts of their comrades. One fine older man, grey-bearded and wearing a wide-brimmed brown leather hat with a splay of white feathers on its crown, was cantering around on a chestnut horse, waving his long spear. I am not sure whether I would be more frightened being on his side than opposing him, thought Don Antonio.
"There were foot soldiers, too, some wearing cuirasses, others simply in skirted tunics and hose of a variety of colours, a stunning mauve, maroon and mustard among them. They fought each other with short swords and varying degrees of enthusiasm, fending off the blows with rounded shields."
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Just what I needed when one of my characters, a muscular priest by the name of Don Antonio, visits the camp of the condottiere Carlo Malatesta. I particularly liked the grey-bearded man in the centre of the picture, who appears as Don Antonio rides through Malatesta’s camp: “Don Antonio was struck at first by the noise: the pounding of the hammers of the armourers, the clash of steel as men-at-arms practised their sword-fighting, the barked commands of sergeants and the dull, thunderous thuds of horses’ hooves as mounted lancers rehearsed their manoeuvres.
"The sights were impressive, too: a dozen knights, some in full armour were tilting at a quintain, laughing at the efforts of their comrades. One fine older man, grey-bearded and wearing a wide-brimmed brown leather hat with a splay of white feathers on its crown, was cantering around on a chestnut horse, waving his long spear. I am not sure whether I would be more frightened being on his side than opposing him, thought Don Antonio.
"There were foot soldiers, too, some wearing cuirasses, others simply in skirted tunics and hose of a variety of colours, a stunning mauve, maroon and mustard among them. They fought each other with short swords and varying degrees of enthusiasm, fending off the blows with rounded shields."
Buy your paperback copy from Amazon by clicking here.
Or order up the Kindle version here.