This is something that I wouldn’t normally read but I am glad that I did I really enjoyed it.
The storyline was really good and the characters were great. I feel like I’ve learnt a bit more about paintings and life in the war.

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Quite possibly the best historical novel I've read this year! Amazing in every way!
A split time level taking place in Italy in the 1490's and Germany,Poland and a slight bit of Greensburg, Pennsylvania in the 1940's.
The connection between the time periods is Leonardo Da Vichy's painting Lady with an Ermine, featuring Cecilia Gallerani, and was probably painted at a time when she was the mistress of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan.
For the ermine, purity is more precious than life.
Ermine, as it turns out, became linked with Western European courts due to a symbolic legend stating that an ermine would “rather die than be defiled/soiled”, as translated from the Latin, “potius mori quam foedari”. Hence its representation of royal “moral purity.”
The Night Portrait follows the life of Cecilia Gallerani, the beautiful mistress of the Duke of Milan as she grows and matures from a naive teen to a grown woman with Lodovico Sforza's child and she will do anything to protect and nurture this child.
Art conservator Edith Becker is tasked with the dangerous job of finding this painting and handing it over to Hans Frank – the Butcher of Poland.
"Between 1939 and 1943, the Nazis stole every known painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, imprisoning the original owners or worse. This is the story of the most infamous of these thefts…"

Taking place during world war 2 this is different than any type of war book I've read. Truly an original master piece .
A must read for lovers of history. You will learn a lot from this book.
I am truly impressed with the research the author has put into this book and her Ph.D. in art history from Yale University is apparent in her writing!
I also found the further reading information at the back of the book highly informative!

Pub Date 25 Sep 2020
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

A compelling historical fiction, The Night Portrait as the title suggests is set into historical timelines; Da Vinci's Italy( 1490's) and World War II and surrounds the creation of the artist's painting Portrait of a Lady with Ermine. In the former, we have the young Cecilia who rises up to the height of a nobleman's mistress and still desires to climb higher. But Cecilia's family, servants, and the famous artist himself( who also has chapters from his p.o.v.) all warn her to be careful where she treads. In the latter, we have a German art expert on the Italian Renaissance, Edith and American Soldier Dominic who witness the Nazi confiscation of art and a group called the Monument Men who fight to get it all back.

Juggling four different perspectives and two historical timelines cannot have been easy, but Laura Morelli makes it look easy as she weaves historical records and art history into a fascinating tale. I enjoyed all the characters and in this novel, it was hard to pick a favourite. I also enjoyed the author's insights which are located at the end of the novel and educate the reader on both the history and the process of bringing this novel to light. Whether you are an art enthusiast or a historical fiction fan, this is one novel that you will want to put on your TBR.



Goodreads review 01/11/20
Publication 25/09/20

Thanks netgalley and Laura Morelli for this wonderful book, I thoroughly enjoyed it while in isolation at home could not put it down.
The painting Lady with the Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci was so beautifully described I imagined the girl Cecilia Gallerani posing for the portrait with her dog on her lap.
The story was told around two art restorers both trying to save all the art the nazis tried to steal for themselves, and the monument men who were sent to find a lot of art work and return it all to their owners.

The Night Portrait is the story of a Da Vinci painting, Lady with an Ermine, and two points in it history. The story is told in two time periods by four POV characters. The story starting in the 1940s where Edith discovers it in Austria and it is coveted by Hans Frank. Edith's mission is to save this painting, and all other art that the Nazi's are looting. We then go back in time to the 1400s where Cecilia and Da Vinci tell us about the "Lady" and the creation of the painting.

The story is a great blend of the two stories. You have the story of the artist who sees something special in a mistress that he has been commissioned to paint and the mistress who wants to remain in the household of the man she loves. Then there is the story of the art conservationist who has to navigate Nazi Poland and help the resistance keep track of all of the art they steal and an American GI, Dominic, who helps find this art and get it back to the rightful owners.

This was a compelling way to tell these two stories. I love historical fiction and this one did a great job of portraying strong women in difficult times and arts who find their passions again.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the arc of this book.

4 stars- well written beautifully, such a great read, about Leonardo DA Vinci's painting and a woman who tries to stop it from being destroyed by the Nazi's. this is set between two timelines therefore two POV'S. 1490's Milan and 1940's Poland.

I loved this book definitely recommend.

I love WWII-era novels, and this one had a different focus (art theft) that what I'm used to reading. I was excited to check it out. Sadly, it missed the mark.

I had a hard time connecting with the characters, and I'd expected more character development. I liked the fact that it was dual timeline. Sadly, neither one was as well plotted and crafted as I'm used to reading. Also, the switches were jarring, and it was often hard to tell which POV character it was in.

This was an exciting, interesting historical fiction book with a WWII view from multiple perspectives. The synopsis led me to believe this would be from only two POVs, but really it was more than that. There are two views from male characters as well. I really liked the different storylines and perspectives. I thought it created this whole world within the story.

The research done for this book was wonderful. All the details supported the story, and I felt like I learned so much! I loved the story of the Monument Men specifically. I didn't know much about them, and it was great to read about!

Overall, I thought this was a great story, and I recommend it for historical fiction fans!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

As much as I wanted to love this, I couldn't get invested in the parts of the story set in the 1400's and found myself skim reading - a shame as the WWII story was brill!

I've read many books about the theft of art by the Nazis but they were all very broad overviews of the breadth of theft and the hopelessness of many of the people trying to reclaim their possessions through the decades since the war has ended. The Night Portrait is very different from my prior reading experiences.

The story is set in dual timelines.
The period when Leonardo da Vinci was becoming famous with focus on a very unhappy woman who sits for one of his paintings that will immortalize her.
The story then leaps to the period when the Nazis were active invaders/ occupiers of embattled countries. A young woman is tasked with identifying works of art that will be confiscated by the Nazis. She will join forces with a young man in the resistance to keep da Vinci's painting away from Nazi hands. Laura Moretti has written a fictional recounting that you'd swear was non fiction. The detail and build up of characters and communities will make you feel as if you walk the streets with them. The tension rises and tightens as our rescuers must risk their lives and the lives of others to save historically relevant art. An excellent written story that kept me engrossed throughout the entire adventure.

When I first heard about The Night Portrait I was excited and intrigued. I had never read a World War 2 focused book that talked about the art theft that ran rampant through the members of the Reich; this was new historical fiction territory, and it sounded like it could be a great story.
I still think that this could be a great story, but the characters need some work. I could not connect with the characters. There was no ability to discern which of the characters I really needed to care about the most as all of the main characters were written like a sidekick to something else going on. Nobody stood out as important, even the main players who should have stood out.
I pushed myself to read about 60% of the book before I finally conceded and set it aside. Normally if I make it that far I will just finish it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that this time. My attention wouldn’t hold for what should have been a great story. I am not saying that I won’t pick this up again to try to finish it, but odds are low on that.

I was looking forward to reading The Night Portrait. It is a dual timeline novel told through the eyes of four narrators. Cecelia is a young girl who becomes the mistress of the Duke of Milan in the 1490’s. The Duke commissions Leonardo da Vinci to paint Cecelia’s portrait. I enjoyed learning about this time period.

The second time period takes place in WWII. At the beginning of the war Edith is an art conservator whose father has dementia. She is drafted to go to Poland to assist in documenting art stolen by the Nazi’s. The last narrator is Dominic who is an American soldier and one of the monument men who looks for the art the German’s stole.

While I loved learning about these two time periods, I felt the author took on too much in creating this story. I had a difficult time staying focused. I received an ARC from Harper Collins UK in exchange for an honest review.

This historical novel combines the stories of Leonardo da Vinci painting the portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, or Lady with an Ermine, in 1490s Milan with the Nazi looting of art across Europe, specifically Poland, during World War Two, and the efforts of the Monuments Men to recover it.

Morelli beautifully weaves in the stories of four different people, two real and two fictional: Cecilia herself, and her painter, Leonardo, alongside Edith Becker, a German painting conservator and specialist in Italian Renaissance art, and Dominic Bonelli, an American soldier liberating Europe, who is assigned to protect the Monuments Men, but is also an artist himself.

I found that I couldn’t put the book down as I desperately wanted to know what happened to Lady with an Ermine, which Hans Frank, the Nazi Governor General of Poland (more commonly known as the “Butcher of Poland”) during World War Two, coveted for himself. It was found in his country home at the end of the war. Becker, a fictional character who, though employed by the Nazis as a curator, works hard to preserve the legacies of all the stolen art, secretly completing ledgers so that they might be returned to their former owners after the war, was such a compelling character to follow. The stories of she and Bonelli become increasingly intertwined, showing the horrors of the Second World War from different perspectives, as well as the extraordinary stories of the art looted and hidden during the war.

Not only this, but the story of Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, also shone through the exploration of Gallerani’s desire to be recognised at the Milan court in her own right, as a well-educated woman with a stable place. Though in completely different situations at different times in history, both Gallerani and Becker show resistance to the pressures of the world around them, fighting expectations and succeeding in their own missions.

I would definitely pick up other books by Morelli – I love the way she wrote, it was immersive and thought-provoking, and this is a great book, both sad and full of hope, to spend an evening gripped by not only a story, but fictionalisations of true events that happened in history.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for gifting me a free copy of this novel in exchange for review.

This is a fantastic historical fiction starting in the 1490's to WWII. This story is likish to The Girl with the Pearl Earring.

It is the story of Leonardo Da Vinci’s 1490 painting of Lady with an Ermine and how Edith, a German art restorer and curator works with the American Monument Men during WWII.

It is told in alternating timelines. I loved it and I loved the way each timeline was represented.

My thanks to Netgalley and One More Chapter for this advanced readers copy. This book released on September 25, 2020.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this wonderful book. set in two eras absolutely brilliant WW2 and Art

This is a beautifully written dual timeline story with several points of view, that depicts the frailty of life and love with the beauty of art. The connections between Cecelia and Edith kept the story moving at a good pace and I was fully invested in the end to see how each storyline would merge.
It's a well researched story and provided a fascinating insight into the art world and the impacts of the German occupation of Europe.

While I enjoyed this extremely well written book, and feel I learned quite a bit about how the priceless treasures of art were handled during WWII, and the origins of the painting The Lady with an Ermine, it is not written in a style I enjoy. The multiple time lines and points of view, break my concentration and develop frustration to me while reading. I do understand why the book is written in such a manner. It definitely makes the story more meaningful. I personally prefer a story with one time line. I was reading, very interested in what was unfolding, and then the story abruptly stops, to then continue with different time line.

The author does a great job of the character development, scenery description, research and plotting. I believe it is rather difficult to keep the story flowing with several time lines being told. The multiple time lines shows that things are the same, yet years apart.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I would like to read her books in the future, but not if they have the same style of multiple time lines.

I received the advance reader copy of this book from the publisher, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter through NetGalley. My review is my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

Combining two of my favourite topics - WWII and art - I needed no persuasion to read this book. 

It centres on Leonardo da Vinci's Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine, from the moment he is called upon to paint it in the 15th Century until its many journeys during WWII between Poland and Germany when the portrait was "saved" by the Nazis - read "stolen" - destined for Hitler's project to have the best art collection in the world. 

Told through four viewpoints, the story spans the centuries connecting the past with the present.  Leonardo and Cecilia (the subject of the portrait and mistress of the Duke of Milan) are the 15th Century perspectives, while the modern day characters are Edith (the art conservator whose role it is - against her will - to list the art on behalf of the Nazi government) and Dominic (one of The Monuments Men tasked with tracking down the stolen art as the war comes to an end).

Their stories weave effortlessly across the timelines, and I particularly enjoyed how she ended a chapter with a certain line, only for the next chapter to start with that line. Though the characters were centuries apart, they shared a vocabulary and a mindset. 

The scenes in Renaissance Italy between Leonardo and Cecilia showed two people, both wanting to make their mark. Leonardo yearned for his ideas on flying and weapon-building to be taken up by the Duke, and agreed to paint the portrait to keep in the Duke's favour. Cecilia wanted to be more than a nun, after her brothers ruined her chance of marriage in her home village. Once she met the Duke, she had high hopes of being his wife. Needless to say, both Leonardo and Cecilia had unfulfilled dreams, yet their lives were nothing if not extraordinary even after their first encounter. 

Edith objected to being sent to Poland, away from her ailing father who suffered dementia. She objected to the work she was forced to do. It was a moment of clarity that made her realise she had a duty to preserve the art she found, and some day return it to its rightful owners. Dominic, a talented artist himself, wanted at first to have a more proactive role in the war. He felt he had a cushy number, until he too had that moment of clarity and understood that saving the artwork was an important role not just to return it to its owners, but to secure it for future generations.

This is quite a different take on a WWII novel; refreshingly so. It doesn't gloss over the atrocities at all, but nor are these events at the core of the story. Clearly a lot of research went into this book; its detail is sublime. Fans of historical fiction will be sure to enjoy this book. Highly recommended. 

My thanks go to the publishers - One More Chapter - and Netgalley for the e-copy I received. To the author, Laura Morelli, my congratulations on a great idea, beautifully told.

The story is set in two eras, Munich Germany during the second world war, where Edith works at the museum restoring paintings, with an ill father and a new fiancé, she's told to go to Poland to help collect paintings for the new museum.

"The museum in Linz, once it is complete, will be a repository for the safekeeping of all important works of art in the world.”

In Florence, Italy 1476, Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine is being painted.

The book is a fusion of fiction and true life and the author brings the two worlds together beautifully. Well researched, Laura Morelli brought Da Vinci to life. It was also interesting to read about the paintings being taken by Hitler, something I wasn't aware happened. Very well written. I enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down!

A beautifully written and very well researched book. I loved the way the story is told over 2 timelines. History seems to come alive in the most wonderful way.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.