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Sandra Woods
Art despite pain

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(posted on 19 Jan 2025)

This weekend, I began reading another novel grounded in art history, after finishing "Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo" by Stephanie Storey and the analysis "Leonardo Da Vinci: Under the Skin" by brothers Michael Farthing and Stephen Farthing.
This new book was a Christmas gift from an old friend, and it's absolutely brilliant. It's the original French version of a modern tale by art historian Thomas Schlesser, a professor at the École Polytechnique in Paris who also taught art history for several years at the École du Louvre.
The English version should be released this autumn, so keep an eye out for it if you're an art lover or enjoy art history.


The French title is "Les Yeux de Mona", which roughly translates to 'Mona's Eyes' - although the publisher may select a different title for the English edition.
In addition to a lovely story concept, there's a practical aspect to this novel as well; its dust jacket unfolds to reveal a photo-montage of the artworks discussed in the novel, allowing the reader to view each piece as it's being discussed by the protagonists.
If you're interested in this novel, here's a summary from the publisher: 

"Fifty-two weeks: That's the time Mona has left to discover all the beauty of the world.
This is the time that her grandfather, a learned and whimsical man, took to introduce her, every Wednesday after school, to a work of art, before she lost, perhaps forever, the use of her eyes.
Together, they will travel through the Louvre, Orsay and Beaubourg...
Borrowing the views of Botticelli, Vermeer, Goya, Courbet, Claudel, Kahlo or Basquiat, Mona discovers the power of art...
Les Yeux de Mona has a fabulous destiny: Translated in more than twenty countries even before its publication in France [it] is an international phenomenon."