Milan, 1492: When a sixteen-year old beauty becomes the mistress of the Duke of Milan, she must fight for her place in the palace, and against those who want her out. Soon, she finds herself sitting before Leonardo da Vinci, who wants to ensure his own place in the ducal palace by painting his most ambitious portrait to date. Munich, World War II: After a modest conservator unwittingly places a priceless Italian Renaissance portrait into the hands...

"The glorious and infamous history of the Borgia family--a world of saints, corrupt popes, and depraved princes and poisoners--set against the golden age of the Italian Renaissance."--Amazon.com

Scope and content: Heavily illustrated scrapbook, with frequent annotations, compiled by Mary Weber Farrar. The bulk of the scrapbook dates from 1892 to 1899. A few individual items date from 1905, ca. 1920, and ca. 1942; their source is not known. Pages are numbered with one page number referencing a two-page spread. In ink, inside the front cover, an inscription reads, "Musical Notes, Mrs. F.E. Farrar, Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 27, 1895. Further on...