Description
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf follows a dwarf living in Rome at the turn of the sixteenth century who finds himself moving through the world of Renaissance Europe, from the streets of Rome to the Vatican and the court of Pope Leo X. Along the way, David Madsen combines Renaissance history with Gnosticism, religious controversy, sexuality, violence and love, presenting a very different portrait of the period and its powerful figures.
The novel takes an irreverent and often grotesque approach to the Renaissance, particularly to the papacy and the Catholic Church at a time when the Inquisition was targeting heresy. With its picaresque storytelling, dark humour and provocative view of religious and sexual life, it offers a vivid and unconventional journey through one of Europe’s most fascinating periods.
