With a Gem-Like Flame

Více o knize

Common sense suggests that the "Leopardi Madonna," a masterpiece by Santi Raphael, cannot exist, as all credible sources indicate it was destroyed in 1945 during an Allied bombing of a Nazi art warehouse. However, the painting has mysteriously resurfaced in this gripping thriller that explores greed and betrayal within the art world. Renaissance scholar and art dealer Jordan Brooks is summoned to Venice to examine the painting, returning to a city that captivated him two decades earlier. He grapples with the possibility that a fake was destroyed while the authentic piece has reemerged, or that the original was lost and replaced with an exquisite counterfeit. As he navigates a secret auction offering the chance to bid on the Madonna, the story unfolds against Venice's autumn backdrop, where rain-swollen lagoons threaten the city's treasures. Jordan's journey leads him to his former teacher, Giorgio Sagredo, who has compromised his principles to sell the painting. He encounters a ruthless array of art dealers driven by profit, and fortuitously meets Katie, a perceptive American student who has a knack for uncovering the truth and appears when he needs her most.