Any recommendations for historical fiction related to Art History?
Any recommendations for historical fiction related to Art History?
27 Answers
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Loading Please wait
Any recommendations for historical fiction related to Art History?
Girl with a Pearl Earring is the first thing that comes to mind.
Loved that book!
Love all her books. My favourite is The Last Runaway. I grew up minutes from where the book takes place and have been in some of the buildings in the book.
SARAH DUNANT!!!!! Seriously do yourself a favour and pick up In the Company of the Courtesan — Dunant is a brilliant writer and also an art historian. Also, it’s set in Venice.
Thanks for the recommendation!
@Katie she also has another called the Birth of Venus. About art in Florence just after end of the Medicis
Yep, have read that too and also Sacred Hearts
If you don’t mind mystery, Iain Pears has a series of art mysteries set in Italy. The detectives are an art expert and a police detective who are also a couple. It is very light but full of art history talk!
Tulip Fever, I haven’t read the book so I’m unsure of the author but the movie was really good
The hired girl by Laura Amy schlitz is historic fiction with pictures of paintings as each part of the books introduction.
No but have you read The Goldfinch?
The Goldfinch is amazing!
Added to my TBR. Thanks!
Did not like The Goldfinch. It started off okay, but then turned in a drug addiction tale. And it was way too long and boring. I made myself finish it, but hated it.
Swan thieves
Following
The Lover’s Portrait by Jennifer S Alderson
The Agony and the Ecstasy – Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel.
The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel. I saw the movie and enjoyed it. Haven’t read the book yet. It’s about the American and British men who set out to save as much artwork as possible in WWII before Hitler destroyed most of it.
In a way, The Goldfinch is about art history. It takes place in the now but there is art history in it. It’s also a wonderful read. I could not put it down.
The Vatican smuggling of art pieces confiscated by Nazis to Holocaust victims.
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro was pretty good, can’t remember if it had history, but it still was a great read. Another book by the same author was The Muralist, which does have art historical aspects. Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (Yes, the actor.)
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier is great; I really loved Goya by Lion Feuchtwanger. Then you can try Claude & Camille by Stephanie Cowell or Vincent and Theo by Deborah Heiligman
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan about Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s fictional but she used articles, etc.
Artemisia
The Last Van Gogh by Alyson Richman.