Saturday, October 1, 2011

Renascimiento Research

I've been watching a series on Netflix about the Medici family in Renaissance Florence.  Episode 2 stars Lorenzo Il Magnifico and how he became the Godfather of the Renaissance, Il Maestro de la Bottega.  Playing Assassin's Creed II has given me such a fresh heartfelt interest in the Renaissance era, mainly the art and new ideas giving it the name.

Actually, that word Renaissance is French.  Funny how the word we are most familiar with is the French, rather than the Italian Renascimiento, as Italy was where it all began.

When I was studying abroad in Italy, I saw many palazzos, museums, frescos, cathedrals, scupltures, you name it.  I was practically drowned in art every field trip.  But I only ever mildly appreciated it.  I paid more attention to the splendid architecture (which was, after all, one of the focuses of my study abroad, along with landscape).  I think I did not care overly much for the art partially because it was simply an overload.  But now, playing Assassin's Creed, watching shows, researching online, I get a little at a time, enough to digest and retain.

Another great thing is that I get more ideas for fleshing out the book I'm writing.  It is a historical romance based in Renaissance Italy, loosely based on an old Irish folk song, with a slightly different, happier, ending.  Since the song actually has several variations across Europe (not just Irish), I am taking the artistic leave to change it myself.  Wiki has an informative entry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twa_Sisters.  I tried writing my story with the traditional ending, and while it was easy, it did not feel right, felt like the "quick and easy choice is usually not the right one" kind of thing.  After writing the alternate ending, it felt much better, like that is where the story really wants to go.

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