'THE VENUS FIXERS' TELLS HOW SOLDIERS SAVED ARTWORKS DURING WORLD WAR II

FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX, RECENTLY PUBLISHED 'THE VENUS FIXERS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ALLIED SOLDIERS WHO SAVED ITALY'S ART DURING WORLD WAR II. IN 1943, WITH THE WORLD CONVULSED BY WAR AND A FASCIST DEFEAT IN EUROPE FAR FROM CERTAIN, A FEW VISIONARIES, CIVILIANS AND SOLDIERS ALIKE, SAW PAST QUESTIONS OF LIFE AND DEATH TO REALIZE THAT VICTORY WASN'T THE ONLY THING AT STAKE. SO WAS THE PRICELESS CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS. IN THE MIDST OF THE CONFLICT, THE ALLIED FORCES APPOINTED THE MONUMENTS OFFICERS, A MOTLEY GROUP OF ART HISTORIANS, CURATORS, ARCHITECTS AND ARTISTS, TO ENSURE THAT THE GREAT MASTERPIECES OF EUROPEAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE WERE NOT LOOTED OR BOMBED INTO OBLIVION. THE JOURNALIST ILARIA DAGNINI BREY FOCUSES HER SPELLBINDING ACCOUNT ON THE MONUMENTS OFFICERS OF ITALY, QUICKLY DUBBED "THE VENUS FIXERS" BY BEMUSE TROOPS. WORKING ON THE FRONT LINES IN CONDITIONS OF GREAT DEPRIVATION AND DANGER, THESE UNLIKELY SOLDIERS STRIPPED THE GREAT GALLERIES OF THEIR INCOMPARABLE HOLDINGS AND SENT THEM INTO SAFETY BY ANY MEANS THEY COULD; WHEN TRUCKS COULD NOT BE REQUISITIONED OR 'BORROWED', A TIEPOLO ALTARPIECE MIGHT MAKE ITS MIDNIGHT JOURNEY ACROSS THE COUNTRYSIDE BALANCED IN THE FRONT BASKET OF A BICYCLE. THEY BLOCKED A NAZI CONVEY OF 200 STOLEN PAINTINGS, INCLUDING DANAE, TITIAN'S VOLUPTUOUS MASTERPIECE, AN INTENDED BIRTHDAY GIFT FOR HERMANN GORING. THEY WORKED WITH SKEPTICAL ARMY STRATEGISTS TO MAKE SURE AIR RAIDS DIDN'T TAKE OUT THE HEART OF AN ANCIENT CITY, AND PATCHED UP RENAISSANCE PALAZZI AND ANCIENT CHURCHES WHOSE LEAD ROOFS WERE SOMETIMES MELTED AWAY BY THE SAVAGERY OF THE ATTACKS, EXPOSING THEIR FRESCOED INTERIORS TO THE HARSH TUSCAN WINTERS AND BLISTERING SUMMERS. SOMETIMES THEY FAILED. BUT TO THE ASTONISHING DEGREE, THEY SUCCEEDED, AND ANYONE WHO MARVELS AT ITALY'S ARTISTIC RICHES TODAY IS WITNESSING THEIR HANDIWORK. IN THE COURSE OF HER RESEARCH, BREY GAINED UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS TO THE PRIVATE ARCHIVES AND PRIMARY SOURCES, AND THE RESULT IS A STUNNING BOOK AT ONCE THOROUGH AND GRANDLY ENTERTAINING, A REVELATORY TAKE ON A LITTLE KNOWN CHAPTER OF WORLD WAR II HISTORY.