Characters
Main Characters (Age in 1503)
LEONARDO (di ser Piero da Vinci) (51)
Leonardo is the illegitimate son of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant girl, who may have been a slave from the Middle East. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense, "da Vinci" simply meaning "of Vinci”.
Leonardo was educated
in the studio of the prominent Florentine painter, Verrocchio. By
the end of the 15th century he had become a renowned and
successful artist - and engineer. In the final decade he had been in
Milan, working for Ludovico Sforza, for whom he painted ‘The Last
Supper’, and Cesare Borgia. With Niccolo
Machiavelli, he was working as military architect and engineer for Borgia, who sought their help with his plans to take control
of Bologna.
In 1500, disillusioned with Borgia (and unpaid), he returns with his household to Florence and takes lodgings with the Servite monks at the monastery of Santissima Annunziata. The terms are vague and the prior may have been satisfied to be rewarded with Leonardo paintings.
He is accompanied, as
always, by his young, handsome ‘apprentice’, SALAI. Leonardo had
been accused of sodomy – a crime punishable by death - in 1476.
Although acquitted, doubts about his sexuality always
remained, and his relationship with Salai is, on his part at least,
less than wholesome.
However these days Leonardo is more interested in his research and his inventions, and even though he is rapidly using up his savings he is reluctant to paint just to pay the bills. Although much in demand he refuses many commissions, but in 1503 he agrees to paint the wife of an old friend of his fathers - Lisa del Giacondo, the Mona Lisa - La Giaconda!
SALAI (Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno) (23)
Salai (meaning ‘Little Devil’) was the nickname given him by Leonardo when he
entered his household at the age of ten in 1490. After only a year,
Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a
liar, stubborn, and a glutton", after he had made off with money and
valuables on at least five occasions, and spent a fortune on
clothes.
Nevertheless,
Leonardo's notebooks during their early years contain many drawings
of the student, who was used as a model for many characters both
male and female in Leonardo’s paintings. As Leonardo's favoured
apprentice Salai develops into an accomplished artist in his own
right.
Salai liked the good life and, much
to Leonardo's dismay, had numerous amorous adventures.
He remained within Leonardo's household for the next thirty years. Always an object of Leonardo’s affection, they eventually became lovers, and Salai inherited many of his works, along with money and property, on Leonardo’s death in 1519.
In 1515 Salai revealed the existence of a nude version of the Mona Lisa that he had painted, known as Monna Vanna. Salai was bequeathed the Mona Lisa in Leonardo’s will and owned it at the time of his death in 1524. In his will it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait, and a fortune by today's terms.
LISA (Lisa del Giacondo. born, and also known as, Lisa Gherardini) (24)
Lisa
- La Giaconda,
the Mona Lisa -
comes from a
family that was old and aristocratic, but had, over time, lost its
influence. They were comfortable but not wealthy, and lived on farm
income. Lisa's family eventually moved to the city, where they lived
close to Leonardo's father, near Santa Croce.
In the spring of 1495, at age 15, she was married to a much older man, Francesco del Giacondo – his third wife. Lisa's marriage undoubtedly increased her social status because her husband's family may have been richer than her own. However, Francesco is thought to have benefited because Gherardini is an "old name", well respected in society
FRANCESCO (Di Bartolomeo Di Zanobi DEL GIACONDO) (44)
At the time of the
painting Lisa’s husband is a modestly successful cloth
and silk merchant, and a client of Leonardo’s father.
In 1499 Francesco had become an elected official in Florence, and was rising up in Florentine society. Neither poor, nor among the most well-to-do in Florence, the couple live a middle-class life. Like other Florentines of their financial means, Francesco's family are art lovers and patrons.
ARAGONA (Orsini, born Aragona Farnese) ( Fictional) (46)
Herself coming from a respected dynasty, Aragona married into one of Italy’s best connected families. Her husband, Ludovicio Orsini, is an influential and wealthy Florentine merchant. Bored and neglected, she has become infatuated with Salai, and, on the pretext of being his patron and sponsor, takes him as a lover. Salai is not as enthusiastic, but despite the considerable age difference, he allows the relationship to continue purely for mercenary reasons.
BASTIANO (Fictional) (50)
Bastiano, the self
styled ‘Grand Inquisitor’, was a Florentine state spy at a time when
political intrigue and betrayal was the accepted way of life in
Florence society. Despised and mistrusted for his ruthlessness, he
thought he was above the law.
However, in 1473, where the story begins, his attempts to seduce Aragona lead to him being imprisoned and forgotten. On his release he is forced to leave Florence, but in 1503 secretly returns to seek his revenge.
TOTTO (Machiavelli) (28)
Totto is the brother
of the infamous Niccolò Machiavelli.
Niccolò had entered
public life in 1498. He became Chief of the Second Chancery, and
Secretary to the Ten, the commission which oversees military matters
and foreign affairs. He is entrusted with keeping them informed of
military and political problems so they can make appropriate
decisions. He has a web of trusted ‘informants’, keeping a close
watch on the city, not least of which is his brother Totto.
Supporting Characters
FATHER PIETRO
Monk at Santissima Annunziata, where Leonardo has his household's 'lodgings'
ISEPPO
Innkeeper at 'Il Punto Nero' , a riverside inn popular with sailors
MARCO
Iseppo's not-too-bright assistant. Big and strong
CAPTAIN - Bernardo Donati
Captain of the ship 'Livia', and old friend of Aragona's family
LAZZARO
First Mate on the Livia. One of Totto's informants
LUDOVICO ORSINI
Aragona's husband
CHORUS
Monks, senators, sailors, shipwrights, ladies, gentlemen populace, masquers, guards
Characters - Act One Prologue only - 1573
GIOVANNA (Farnese - nee Caetani)
Aragona's almost blind old mother
LUCREZIA del CACCIA (Gherardini m.1479)
Lisa's mother
LORENZO Di MEDICI
Ruler of Florence
CLARICE Di MEDICI
Lorenzo's wife
ZUANE
Florence's Champion Boatman