Description
Praise
Daly perfectly captures the voice of a street-tough artist and courtier, a sculptor of heavy objects regularly on the lam. He meanwhile delivers an indelible landscape of Renaissance Italy and France—the courts, the palaces and the woodlands where goatish men roam. Benvenuto Cellini, the mannerist genius, the soldier and singer of vibrant motets, moves through these scenes in triumph and despair. Daly gives us the story as he receives it personally from Cellini. —Rick Mullin
Excerpt
Pompeo’s Murder
Under Pope Clement’s protection I thrived,
My enemy, Pompeo, kept at bay.
His Holiness pressed me day after day
To finish his commissions. He contrived
A plan to provide for me a vast wealth
To keep me in his exclusive service.
But he died suddenly. With great brashness
Pompeo plotted my end. No real stealth
Required. Attended by ten soldiers,
He provoked my comrades, threatened battle
With shameful slights and derisive gestures.
I begged my men to hold, curb their angers.
Later I found the culprit. The angle
Of my dagger’s thrust settled all matters.
Author
Dennis Daly lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Joanne. They have four adult children. Daly graduated from Boston College and has an M.A. in English Literature from Northeastern University. He has published seven books of poetry and poetic translations. Among other jobs Daly has worked as a dockworker, a Union Leader of a 9000 member industrial local, a city department head, and a community corrections director. He has travelled widely in central Asia.
