Marzio's Crucifix and Zoroaster is a collection of two novellas by F. Marion Crawford. The first novella, Marzio's Crucifix, tells the story of a sculptor who is commissioned to create a crucifix for a church. The sculptor, Marzio Pandolfi, is a talented artist, but he is also a complex and troubled man. He is haunted by the memory of his father, who was also a sculptor, and who died when Marzio was a child. Marzio is also struggling with his own personal demons, including his jealousy of his apprentice, Gianbattista Bordogni. As Marzio works on the crucifix, he begins to see the figure of Christ as a symbol of his own inner turmoil. The second novella, Zoroaster, tells the story of a young Persian priest who is sent to Rome to study philosophy. Zoroaster is a brilliant and idealistic young man, but he is also naive and inexperienced. In Rome, he is exposed to a world of luxury and decadence, and he begins to question his faith. Zoroaster eventually finds himself drawn to a beautiful young woman named Ione, and he begins to doubt the teachings of his religion. The two novellas are linked by their exploration of the themes of faith, doubt, and the human condition.
F. Marion Crawford was an American author who lived from August 2, 1854, to April 9, 1909, and is remembered for his numerous books, particularly those set in Italy, as well as his well-known odd and fantastic tales. On August 2, 1854, Crawford was born in Bagni di Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He was the lone child of Louisa Cutler Ward and American sculptor Thomas Crawford. He was the nephew of the American poet Julia Ward Howe, and his sister was the author Mary Crawford Fraser (also known as Mrs. Hugh Fraser). After his father passed away in 1857, Crawford's mother remarried Luther Terry, with whom she had Margaret Ward Terry, Crawford's half-sister who later married Winthrop Astor Chanler. He spent the majority of this time in Boston, mostly with his uncle Sam Ward and at the home of his aunt Julia Ward Howe. His future financial prospects worried his family. Based on his private performances of Schubert lieder, his mother had hoped he could enroll in Boston's operatic baritone training program and pursue a career in opera.
