Secrecy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for their guidance and generosity: Dr Raida Ahmad, David Austen, Claudia Bardelloni, Professor Giovanni Cipriani, Rory Farquhar-Thomson, Paolo Giansiracusa, Edward Goldberg, David Mackie and Christine Hellemans, Joanna Mackle, Ruth McVey, Dr Amy Mechowski, Luca Merlini and Nicole D’Alessandro Merlini, Beatrice Monti della Corte, Dr Rosanna Moradei, Peta Motture, Mike Osborn, Rosalind O’Shaughnessy, Dr Luisa Palli, Jan Parker, Renato Pasta and Orsola Gori, and Dr Marta Poggesi. I am also deeply indebted to the following institutions. In London: the British Library, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. In Florence: the Bargello, the Museo Firenze Com’era, the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Pitti Palace, La Specola, and the Villa I Tatti. In Siracusa: the Accademia di Belle Arti. A special thank you goes to Jean Norbury, and to John and Maria Norbury, for their unfailing support over the years. I would also like to thank my agent and friend, Peter Straus, my copy editor, Daphne Tagg, and everyone at Granta, especially Sigrid Rausing, Philip Gwyn Jones, Pru Rowlandson, Michael Salu, Anne Meadows, Iain Chapple, Brigid Macleod, Christine Lo, and, though she has now moved on, Michal Shavit. Finally, thank you to my wife, Kate, and my daughter, Evie, for their love, their understanding and their encouragement. No writer could have better champions.