The Lion of Venice

Nora D.S. Robins is co-ordinator of Internal Collections at the
University of Calgary Libraries.

Most of us have some familiarity with the story of Marco Polo, the
greatest of the medieval travelers. He, his father, and his uncle (the
first Europeans to visit the court of the great Kublai Khan), journeying
to the East in 1271. Traveling through regions that were not described
again until the 18th century, they reached the Khan in 1275. Kublai Khan
received them with great courtesy and became quite fond of Marco Polo,
eventually employing him in the Mongol public service. Marco undertook
diplomatic missions for the Khan, traveling from China to Tibet, Burma,
and as far as the southern states of India before returning to Venice in
1295.

Longstanding jealousy between Venice and Genoa led to war. Marco was
captured during a naval battle with Genoa and spent nearly a year in
prison. During his imprisonment, he dictated his story to a fellow
prisoner, Rusticello. It is at this point that Frutkin begins his
fictional biography of Marco Polo. The imprisoned Marco reluctantly
tells his story, interweaving between past and present. Throughout the
story looms the figure of the great winged lion of San Marco.

Frutkin is a poet and novelist; his novel Atmosphere Appolinaire was
shortlisted for the 1988 Governor General’s Award. In this absorbing,
lushly written, and well-researched novel, he admirably succeeds in
bringing to life both the Venice of the 13th century and the figure of
Marco Polo.