Retrato de Rapaz

Exasperated by Giacomo's waywardness, his father brings him, scrubbed but still in rags and full of lice, to the studio of the artist who digs up corpses and designs flying machines, hoping he will set the boy straight as his servant. Leonardo, taken with his beauty, pictures him as one of the heavenly host, then decides a pair of little horns would fit him better and names him Salai. It is the boy's small sins that win his master's favour: a pupil with no talent but plenty of cheek, he offers opinions, smears paintings, sells pigments and steals drawings. Trading small betrayals, the two grow as close as father and son, until three wicked Graces bring jealousy and quarrels.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novella

Length

139 pages in the original

Genres

Historical (assigned by AI)

Set in

Italy

First published

2014 by Dom Quixote

Author's age

73 when first published

ISBN

9789722054386 (original)