MAGNIFICAT

For the first time in over 500 years the harrowing tale of the "Pazzi Conspiracy" is brought to brilliant life. 1478: Lorenzo de Medici, "Il Magnifico", rules Florence and the explosion of creativity that will become the re-birth of Western Civilization. The Pazzi family, rivals to the Medici in business and equal to them in ambition, join forces Pope Sixtus IV to murder Lorenzo and take Florence for themselves. The plot goes terribly wrong and plunges the peninsula into war. In a narrative that moves like a modern mystery novel "Magnificat" takes us from gorgeous palaces to horrible dungeons, from whispered threats to breathtaking acts of vengeance. All set against the glorious backdrop of the High Italian Renaissance.