The place is the city of Ferrara in Italy – in itself one of the best kept secrets of renaissance history when it comes to tourism. Ten days ago I found myself walking its streets again towards the convent of Sant 'Antonio in Polesino, with its deeply peaceful exterior coutyard and cherry tree ( famous in the city for those intense blossoms once a year) framing the entrance to the outside chapel and the forbidding green door with its grille which leads to  the enclosed convent itself.   The o...