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Ocular Proof
In Italy during the Second World War, as the allied invasion works its way northward from Anzio, art connoisseur Nicholas Kluge writes a novella in Pushkin Sonnets, Ocular Proof, to while away the empty hours. Ocular Proof tells the story, in twenty chapters structured by the phases of the alchemical process, of how two works of art came into a portrait of Maddalena de Medici which served as an early prototype for the Mona Lisa, and da Vinci's creation of "the first photograph," the Shroud of Turin. The coded references within Ocular Proof's Renaissance narrative reveal a plan involving MI6 and the Catholic Church to provide the Nazis with fake masterpieces as they prepared to loot the Vatican of some of its greatest art treasures. Ocular Proof reveals the secrets Nicholas Kluge carried with him to the grave of a life of divided loyalties and lost ideals, and how his time with MI6 altered the course of the war and the course of his life. The novella's meditations on the nature of art and the creation of 'the authentic image' eerily prefigures the obsessions of an era when the term Machiavellian had never seemed more contemporary.
- GenresArt
220 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2014
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 10, 2017
John Delacourt has given us a very complex and ambitious first novel whose structure and format are remarkable. The narrator, Nicholas Kluge, recalls his career dealing in art and especially art forgeries during World War Two. During that time, Kluge wrote a piece of historical fiction set in the Renaissance and featuring such well known figures as Lorenzo di Medici, Nicolo Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci.
What is unusual about this novel is not that Delacourt presents both stories, but that he interweaves and differentiates them in a brilliant way. Kluge's life-story, given in disconnected bits and pieces, is presented as prose, while his fictional work is in verse.
The only other time I have ever seen anything remotely like this was in a course in medieval French literature where we studied among other things, an anonymous work called Aucassin et Nicolette; this is a comic gem, written in alternating prose and verse, which was so original in its time that a special word--possibly coined just for the purpose--was used for it: chantefable, meaning a story which is sung. Moreover, although the form has been reused in later literature, examples are rare, and pale in comparison to Aucassin. Until now, that is.
In view of the fact that the story-within-a-story takes place in fifteenth-century Italy, one would be forgiven for assuming the verse form of choice would be the Petrarchan sonnet. Or alternatively, since the title of the story is a reference to Shakespeare, you might expect to see Shakespearean sonnets. But no. Since Kluge is originally from a family of Russian Jews, he imitates the rhythm and metre used in Eugene Onegin, in homage to Alexander Pushkin, who is considered the greatest of modern Russian poets.
But this is not all. Delacourt shows how Kluge`s story is connected to and reflected in his Renaissance tale. But the process works both ways; the poetry subtly illuminates and supplements Kluge`s autobiography as well. The themes of art and forgery, faith and heresy, politics and corruption, power and passion, appearance and reality can be seen to flow through both narratives.
This is definitely not an easy work. It is best read slowly and carefully, and perhaps even more than once. But it amply repays the diligence of the discerning reader.
What is unusual about this novel is not that Delacourt presents both stories, but that he interweaves and differentiates them in a brilliant way. Kluge's life-story, given in disconnected bits and pieces, is presented as prose, while his fictional work is in verse.
The only other time I have ever seen anything remotely like this was in a course in medieval French literature where we studied among other things, an anonymous work called Aucassin et Nicolette; this is a comic gem, written in alternating prose and verse, which was so original in its time that a special word--possibly coined just for the purpose--was used for it: chantefable, meaning a story which is sung. Moreover, although the form has been reused in later literature, examples are rare, and pale in comparison to Aucassin. Until now, that is.
In view of the fact that the story-within-a-story takes place in fifteenth-century Italy, one would be forgiven for assuming the verse form of choice would be the Petrarchan sonnet. Or alternatively, since the title of the story is a reference to Shakespeare, you might expect to see Shakespearean sonnets. But no. Since Kluge is originally from a family of Russian Jews, he imitates the rhythm and metre used in Eugene Onegin, in homage to Alexander Pushkin, who is considered the greatest of modern Russian poets.
But this is not all. Delacourt shows how Kluge`s story is connected to and reflected in his Renaissance tale. But the process works both ways; the poetry subtly illuminates and supplements Kluge`s autobiography as well. The themes of art and forgery, faith and heresy, politics and corruption, power and passion, appearance and reality can be seen to flow through both narratives.
This is definitely not an easy work. It is best read slowly and carefully, and perhaps even more than once. But it amply repays the diligence of the discerning reader.
April 24, 2025
I'm writing this in 2025 when it was a bit of a slog to find this book. The publisher is defunct, the book out of print, it doesn't appear on any second hand sites and my library doesn't have it. Fortunately ILL came through and I was able to read this strange and wonderful literary marvel.
An incredibly ambitious novel in verse, Ocular Proof tells two stories concurrently. The titular story, which makes up the bulk of the book, is set during the time of Pope Innocent VIII tells the story of politics, art and ambition in which a portrait of Maddalena de' Medici is central. The second, less fulsome story is commentary provided by the fictional writer of Ocular Proof, writing his notes on his work in the present and recalling his time commissioning art forgeries during WWII.
The fact that I struggled so hard to locate this book lends it a certain poignancy: a huge theme throughout the work is forgotten art, misattributed and misunderstood artists and thwarted ambition.
In scope and style I would say it comes closest to Pale Fire though it is very different from that work and the amount of poetry far outweighs the poem Pale Fire.
If you can track it down I highly recommend reading it.
An incredibly ambitious novel in verse, Ocular Proof tells two stories concurrently. The titular story, which makes up the bulk of the book, is set during the time of Pope Innocent VIII tells the story of politics, art and ambition in which a portrait of Maddalena de' Medici is central. The second, less fulsome story is commentary provided by the fictional writer of Ocular Proof, writing his notes on his work in the present and recalling his time commissioning art forgeries during WWII.
The fact that I struggled so hard to locate this book lends it a certain poignancy: a huge theme throughout the work is forgotten art, misattributed and misunderstood artists and thwarted ambition.
In scope and style I would say it comes closest to Pale Fire though it is very different from that work and the amount of poetry far outweighs the poem Pale Fire.
If you can track it down I highly recommend reading it.
December 19, 2014
This is an elaborate onion of a book that invites the reader to peel back its layers of highbrow conspiracy that take in the Vatican, Machiavelli, the Nazis and the production of fake works of art. A great deal of prior knowledge across different fields is needed and I found it hard to get firmly located. Some will wanted to be eased into it a little more slowly. On the other hand, it's the kind of book that I can imagine spawning its own sub-industry of interpretation. If you like deciphering Thomas Pynchon, you may well want to try to unravel this.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews