Love, the painter's wife & the Queen of Sheba

"Love, The Painter's Wife and The Queen of Sheba tells two tales: that of the Italian Renaissance painter, Piero della Francesca, and Silvia, his wife, and that of the Queen of Sheba's journey to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon to try to convince him not to declare war on Sheba." "Silvia knows that her husband Piero, the great master of frescos and sacred colors, has been honored with a papal invitation to Rome. Yet she fears the intrigues and temptations of court will not only corrode his artistic talents, but eventually destroy their love as well. To keep him by her side, like Scheherazade, she starts to tell him a story in daily installments: the tale of the young Queen of Sheba's fabled meeting with King Solomon in Jerusalem. Slowly but surely, her story inspires the images of the Queen of Sheba that Piero will immortalize in his renowned frescos in the chapel of Arezzo. But as the plague spreads, Silvia finds herself fighting for far greater stakes than simply the chance to complete her narrative."--BOOK JACKET.