The Medusa Amulet

Chapter 5

David had barely hung his coat on the back of his office door before his phone rang with a call from Dr. Armbruster.

“Guess what we received by courier this morning?”

She was not normally this playful, and it took David a second to say he had no clue.

“A generous check for our library restoration fund from Ambassador Schillinger and his wife. It seems he was very impressed by your lecture last week.”

“That’s great,” David said, wondering how this might affect his chances of clinching that spot as the new Director of Acquisitions.

“And I have some other good news, too.”

At last.

“Another of the audience members would like to come in today and meet with you in person.”

As quickly as his hopes had been raised, they plummeted again. He prayed it wasn’t just some frustrated academic who wanted to debate Dante’s indebtedness to Ovid.

“Who is it?”

“Her name is Kathryn Van Owen.”

Anyone who lived in Chicago knew the Van Owen name. At one point, the family had owned much of the Loop. And Kathryn, the recently widowed wife of Randolph, was a prominent, if rather reticent, figure in local society.

“Up until now,” Dr. Armbruster continued, “she had asked to remain anonymous, but as you may have figured out already, she was the donor of the Florentine Dante.”

For some reason, David instantly knew that she was also the Lady in Black-the one who had come in late, wearing the veil.

“She’s arriving here this afternoon, with her lawyer. Apparently, she’s bringing along something else for your opinion. I don’t need to tell you that it, too, could wind up in our collections.”

“Do you want me to prepare anything in advance?”

“I can’t think what it would be. Are you wearing a decent shirt?”

“Yes,” he said, quickly looking down to check. “Do you have any idea what she’s planning to give us this time?”

David could almost hear her shrug. “Her late husband’s family is as rich as Croesus-though you probably know that already-but frankly, he never showed much interest in culture or the arts. He built that car museum in Elk Grove, but I think it’s really Mrs. Van Owen herself who’s donating these things, from her own collection. And she’s what you would call,” she said, plainly pausing to find a neutral term, “an unusual woman. You’ll see what I mean when you meet her. Be in the conference room at a quarter of three.”

Hanging up, David ran a hand around his jawline-he should have put a new blade in his razor that morning-and reopened the Dante files on his computer, checking online for any other libraries or archives that might have something that shed some further light on it. He thought it would be cool, when meeting Mrs. Van Owen for the first time, if he had something new to share with her about the book, something he hadn’t already discovered and mentioned at the public unveiling. But he also hoped that she could tell him something more about its origins than he already knew. The text, by and large, was the standard, written in the Italian vulgate. Up until the early 1300s, when the Comedy was composed, Latin was the only choice for such an epic work, but Dante had changed all that. By writing his poem in the spoken language of his day, and in his inimitable terza rima stanzas, he had thrown down the gauntlet, making a clear break with the verse of the ancient Greeks and Romans and conferring a legitimacy upon the demotic tongue used by his own contemporaries.

But what really intrigued David about this edition, of which he could find no other record, were its illustrations. There was a life and a vigor to them that was unparalleled. They were unlike any other illustrations he had seen, in countless other printings, in a dozen different languages.

At two thirty-and having turned up nothing new and earthshaking-he took his emergency tie and sport jacket off the back of his office door and went down to the men’s room to put them on. As he adjusted the knot of his tie, he noticed that his hair, thick and brown and starting to curl up over his collar, could definitely have used a trim. He did his best to get it under control, then headed off to the conference room for his meeting with the mysterious Mrs. Van Owen.

Dr. Armbruster was supervising the setting out of a tea service. The room was wainscoted and warmly lighted, the back wall dominated by an oil portrait of Mr. Walter Loomis Newberry, its founder, in a black suit coat and hanging silver watch fob. Dr. Armbruster glanced at David-he felt like he was being inspected for flaws-and said, “Be appreciative, by all means, but don’t enter into any negotiations or comment in any way on the terms of her gift. We leave that to our own lawyers.”

“Got it.”

At three o’clock on the button, Mrs. Van Owen and a man she introduced as her attorney, Eugene Hudgins, were ushered into the room by the receptionist. The lawyer, a stolid guy with a red complexion, took a seat at the head of the table, as if so accustomed to it that no one would challenge him, and Mrs. Van Owen sat to his right. Dr. Armbruster took a seat on the other side, next to David. The receptionist took care of pouring out the tea, and David took those few minutes to study their benefactor.

Today, she had no veil on, and her face was the most captivating David had ever seen. Her skin was a creamy white, so flawless and unlined it was almost impossible to assign any particular age to it. Was she younger than he’d been led to believe, or was this the miracle of that Botox stuff he had heard about? He knew she had recently lost a husband-the news of his crash had been carried in all the papers-but David could see no sign of grief. Her hair was jet-black, and sleekly gathered into a tight chignon. She had a regal and vaguely foreign look about her… but not so much foreign to this place as to this era. A look that was further accentuated by her most striking feature of all-her eyes.

They were a violet blue. David had never seen eyes of such a color. Maybe that was why she’d worn the veil the day before. Maybe she took advantage of every occasion she could, even if it was to wear mourning attire, that allowed her to keep people from staring. When David found that he was doing just that, he took off his wire rims and pretended to be cleaning them.

Hudgins had opened a bulging valise and taken out a bulky sealed envelope, along with a legal-sized binder imprinted in big block letters with the name of his law firm, HUDGINS amp; DUNBAR, LLC.

“That was a very interesting talk you gave,” Mrs. Van Owen said, and when David looked up, she seemed to be amused by something. “I learned a great deal about Dante.” There was a slight smile on her lips, but her words, like her features, carried a distant air. She had a faint trace of an accent, but even David, who was very good at placing them, wasn’t sure where this one came from. Definitely European, that much he knew, but it could have been French, or Italian, or even Spanish in origin.

“Thanks very much,” he replied. “Coming from the donor of such a beautiful book, it means a lot. And now that you’re here, I can’t resist asking where the book came from.”

“Florence. But you know that.”

“I meant, how did it come to be yours?”

“Oh, it had been in my family for many years, and I thought it was time the world was able to enjoy-and study-it.”

“But the illustrations,” he persisted. “Do you know anything about who executed them? I’ve consulted dozens of sources so far, and checked archives online all over the world, but I still can’t find a match to any known edition.”

“No, I shouldn’t think you would.”

“Really? Why not?”

“Because it is one of a kind.”

“You know that? You know that it’s the only extant copy?” David could hardly keep the excitement out of his voice. “How?”

But instead of answering, she resorted to an airy dismissal. “That’s what I’ve always been told.”

David visibly deflated. All sorts of myths and legends clung to family heirlooms. This copy of the Divine Comedy was undoubtedly rare and valuable, but it was possible, even likely, that somewhere in the world, perhaps buried in the bowels of the Vatican library, another copy existed.

But it was unlikely to be a more intact one than this.

“Now that that’s been settled,” Mr. Hudgins interrupted, as if uncomfortable with this unmediated conversation, “we should really get on with the business at hand. We have some additional material to be transferred,” he said, nodding at the bulky envelope on the table and making it plain that David should open it.

As David drew it close, Hudgins continued. “Mrs. Van Owen has graciously decided to leave these manuscripts and drawings in the care of the Newberry Library, for further examination and study. She wishes to know as much about them as the curatorial staff is able to discover and is prepared to underwrite the costs of all such work.”

Although David was happy to hear that she would bear the expenses, he was already concerned that something very old and valuable had been transported in such a casual manner as this. He grew even more concerned when, after unsealing the envelope, the unmistakable scent of smoke emanated from inside.

“Their final disposition, however, remains an open question,” Hudgins said. “Much will depend on how the completion of the work goes and whether it yields success. If it goes as well as we hope, the Newberry can expect to receive these materials on a permanent basis, along with a very generous and unrestricted gift to support the library. If not…” He trailed off. “Other arrangements may be made.”

David had just removed the packet of papers, as deftly as he could, from the padded envelope, and already he was astonished at what he saw. Just from the feel of the paper and the ink, he could tell that these papers were hundreds of years old. Fifteenth or sixteenth century, if he had to guess. They reminded him of the many ricordanze he had studied over the years-the memoirs and diaries of Italian businessmen, documents that provided a fascinating glimpse into everyday life during the Renaissance.

This handwriting was in Italian, too, and though faded by time, still more than legible. The edges of the papers were singed here and there, accounting for the smell of smoke, and there were dots of mold and decay, like age spots on an elderly hand, sprinkled throughout. But as he turned one page over and glanced at the next, and the next, he could see that they were a virtual treasure trove. These weren’t mundane records of grain purchases or wool deliveries. This was a rough draft, with many crossouts and markings, of something called La Chiave alla Vita Eterna. The Key to Life Eternal. And in its margins, and in some cases on the backs of the pages, there were drawings and schematics, and references to smelting processes and glassblowing. There was a sketch on one sheet that could only have been the plans for a kiln-a large kiln, big enough to cast a mighty statue. David’s heart was hammering in his chest, and he distractedly removed his glasses and wiped them clean on his tie before exploring an underlying page, a page that had been folded over. His fingers paused above it, until Mrs. Van Owen herself said, “Unfold it.”

Still, he paused, afraid of doing it some damage-normally he’d be doing this on a lab bench, with some cotton and tweezers, under a dim and indirect light-but Dr. Armbruster, her own curiosity piqued, said, “Go ahead, David. Somebody has to.”

Standing up, he unfolded the sheet of paper, maybe two feet square, then simply stood there, stunned.

It was an elaborate drawing, in red and black ink, of the Medusa-the mythological Gorgon whose gaze could turn an onlooker to stone. It was circular, and a reverse view-largely blank, or unfinished-was drawn at its lower right. Although he could not tell what artist had done it, David could see that it was the work of a master-a Raphael, a Verrocchio, or a Michelangelo. And because of its shape, it must have been the design for a medallion, a coin, or the cope on a cloak.

“It was a looking glass,” Mrs. Van Owen said, answering his un-spoken question. “ La Medusa, as you can see it was called.”

Indeed, the words were written on the page. And of course-that made perfect sense. The back was simply a mirror. “But do you know whose design it is?” He scanned the page for a signature, but there was nothing. Nor had there been one on any of the previous pages.

“I do.”

He waited.

“Like all of this, including the copy of Dante, it is from the hand of the greatest and most versatile artisan who ever lived,” she said, her violet eyes holding firmly on his. “Benvenuto Cellini.”

He sat down quickly, the sketch still spread before him on the table. He could hardly believe his ears. Cellini? One of his heroes ever since Amherst, when he had read every word of his celebrated autobiography in a Renaissance art course? The rebel spirit who had created some of the greatest sculptures of his day, works that had played a role in David’s very choice of career? For several moments, he was dumbfounded, before asking, “And what do you want me to do?” Already he was itching to start in on his research. “Verify the drawing somehow?”

She frowned at the very suggestion. “There is no question of its authenticity.”

David could see that she was not someone who brooked argument easily, and he was sorry he’d crossed her already. Even Dr. Armbruster looked cowed.

“Then what would you like me to do?”

With one long, lacquered nail tapping the sketch, and her foot tapping the floor impatiently, she said, “I want you to find it.”

“The actual mirror?” he asked uncertainly. What did she take him for, Indiana Jones? Dr. Armbruster, too, looked surprised at the nature of the request, though she was not about to start raising any objections. “Wouldn’t a gemologist, or a specialist in antique jewelry, be your best bet?” he said, but she grimaced in disgust.

“I have tried that route. They found nothing. It needs a scholar to find it; I am sure of that now.”

“Is it possible,” he said, almost afraid to complete the thought, “that they didn’t find it because it does not exist?”

“ La Medusa,” she said, in a tone that brooked no dissent, “exists.”

Looking into those violet eyes, boring into his like a pair of icicles, he didn’t doubt it. Nor would he have dared.

“And I need you,” she concluded, “to get it for me.”