The Marriage Portrait

In Florence in 1544, Eleanora, wife of Cosimo di Medici, “regret[s]” the circumstances in which her fifth child, Lucrezia, was conceived. According to superstition, the mother’s thoughts at the time of conception influence the character of the child. By the time of Lucrezia’s conception, Eleonora, who is of Spanish descent, has produced four healthy children, as well as one child who died before baptism. She is keen to become pregnant again. However, when Cosimo visits her, Eleanora is contemplating maps and town planning. When Cosimo is reaching orgasm, Eleanora’s mind is on ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. She will later regret this when her child Lucrezia turns out to be troublesome and solitary, unlike her sweet-natured siblings.

In the fullness of time, Lucrezia’s rebellion extends to her rejection of the dress Eleonora had commissioned for her late daughter, Maria, who was the first Medici daughter set to marry the Duke of Ferrara. On Lucrezia’s wedding day, Eleonora sees her daughter’s face full of hope that she will save her from a marriage she does not want.

In 1552, Cosimo di Medici is presented with the gift of a painting of a tiger and decides that he wants to keep one of these exotic beasts in his menagerie. His right-hand man, Vitelli, decides to introduce the tiger after midnight to lessen the commotion. However, Lucrezia, who is eight and small for her age, hears the tiger’s roar and determines to find what is causing the noise. The sight of the tiger being managed by her father’s men astonishes her, and she vows to see it up close.

Meanwhile, Lucrezia bonds with Sofia, Eleanora’s Neapolitan nurse, and is haunted that in Greek myth Agamemnon tricked his daughter Iphigenia into sacrifice by telling her she was going to be married to Achilles. She knows that the idea of Iphigenia’s being sacrificed by her father will give her nightmares. Then, Lucrezia has the idea to plant the idea of the tiger in the mind of Isabella, her father’s favorite child, to procure a visit to it.

On the visit to the Sala dei Leoni, while the other children are distracted by the lions, Lucrezia finds the tigress and feels as though she “had never seen anything so beautiful in her life” (44). She strokes the tiger and empathizes with her loss of home. However, the adults wrench Lucrezia away, causing her to feel immense longing.

Back at the dinner in Fortezza in 1561, Lucrezia’s husband chatters on, seemingly unbothered by the knowledge that he will kill her tomorrow. Lucrezia feels something between laughter and rage at his reaction. She recalls Sofia’s advice that Lucrezia should learn to plan instead of losing her temper. Alfonso is trying to get her to eat the venison that he claims will restore her strength after her latest sickness and chatters on about a hunting trip with his father. Lucrezia largely pretends to eat and swallows only a few mouthfuls of the meat. She then begins to talk about the menagerie and recalls that her beloved tiger was killed by the lions. She does not, however, confide that the news of the tiger’s death caused her to be taken ill. She was revived by Eleanora’s promise that if she recovered she could join Giorgio Vasari’s drawing lessons.

During her childhood in the 1550s, Lucrezia loved to ask her parents how they met. Cosimo saw Eleanora when she was just 13, fell instantly in love, and insisted that they marry, even though other girls were more dynastically eligible. When Eleanora came, she brought Sofia and “seven galleys” filled with her dowry.

Lucrezia recalls her first meeting with Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, when he was betrothed to Maria. He immediately noticed Lucrezia with her pet mouse and tried to amuse her by making a mouse face.

At the end of the meal, Alfonso draws Lucrezia onto his lap and seems so concerned for her well-being that she wonders if she let her imagination run away with her when she convinced herself that he wanted to kill her.

When he takes her to her chamber, she asks when her maids will arrive. He tells her it will be tomorrow or the day after. He takes her up a mossy spiral staircase, and she feels disorientated.