by Laura Morelli
This story takes place in world war II. It involves two different time periods and three different primary characters. One part of the story takes place during the time of Leonardo Da Vinci. It is about a young woman who becomes the mistress of the Duke of Milan who commissions Leonardo to paint her picture.
The other part of the story takes place in WWII and involves a German art restorer who is recruited to identify valuable art objects from all the art the Germans are stealing from the Jews in Poland. She finds many valuable pieces but one of special appeal to her is the Da Vinci painting of the girl with an ermine. The girl is told that the art will be "saved" for the world but she is shocked and appalled when she finds high ranking gestapo officers taking some of the art to decorate their homes. She is particularly upset when the Da Vinci is claimed by a vicious German who is responsible for the death of many Poles. The girl doesn't like what is going on. Her only recourse as she sees it is to make her own personal inventory of what is taken, from whom and where it is taken.
The other part of the story is about a young American soldier who becomes an MP aiding the Monuments men. He is sad to leave his wife and child behind but is glad to be working to retrieve the art as he likes to draw,
The German Art Restorer's list eventually gets to the Allies an many art objects are retrieved.
It was an interesting read.
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