In financial trouble, Isobel Sadler considers selling a painting that’s been in her family for generations. She can’t imagine it’s worth much . . . until someone tries to steal it.
Mystified, Isobel turns to art dealer Michael Whiting for advice. He identifies the painting as a sixteenth-century treasure map pointing the way to a series of lost religious artifacts hidden by monks when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. If he and Isobel can decipher the clues in the painting, Michael reasons, her money troubles will disappear.
But if they can’t decode the painting quickly, Michael and Isobel could be history themselves. As they struggle to translate the arcane instructions—laced with references to everything from the Bible to Botticelli—they are stalked by a rival who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the treasure.
以思想史為中文讀者所熟悉的Peter Watson，以時尚藝術世界驚悚片的手法，將動作與“持續的文學素養，精緻和優美”完美地融合在一起的這一本“小説”；話雖說是小說，却也道出了藝術品市場的一些潛藏規則。。。。
作者在1992年曾出版了一本
“From Manet to Manhattan : the rise of the modern art market” https://archive.org/details/frommanettomanha00wats
就探尋了世界藝術品市場：從中可以看到藝術鑑賞者、收藏家、藝術家、以及經銷商和拍賣行。。。如何將藝術品塑造出獨特的品味，甚至“創造”了藝術品破紀錄的銷售歷史。。。
Mystified, Isobel turns to art dealer Michael Whiting for advice. He identifies the painting as a sixteenth-century treasure map pointing the way to a series of lost religious artifacts hidden by monks when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. If he and Isobel can decipher the clues in the painting, Michael reasons, her money troubles will disappear.
But if they can’t decode the painting quickly, Michael and Isobel could be history themselves. As they struggle to translate the arcane instructions—laced with references to everything from the Bible to Botticelli—they are stalked by a rival who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the treasure.
以思想史為中文讀者所熟悉的Peter Watson，以時尚藝術世界驚悚片的手法，將動作與“持續的文學素養，精緻和優美”完美地融合在一起的這一本“小説”；話雖說是小說，却也道出了藝術品市場的一些潛藏規則。。。。
作者在1992年曾出版了一本
“From Manet to Manhattan : the rise of the modern art market” https://archive.org/details/frommanettomanha00wats
就探尋了世界藝術品市場：從中可以看到藝術鑑賞者、收藏家、藝術家、以及經銷商和拍賣行。。。如何將藝術品塑造出獨特的品味，甚至“創造”了藝術品破紀錄的銷售歷史。。。