"An English art scholar believes he's uncovered evidence that a painting by Raphael was painted over by a second-rate 18th century artist, and that he has located the painting. This, of course, creates quite a stir in the art world, and the Italian art crime squad gets involved.
When the painting is located and uncovered, and a previously unknown Raphael painting revealed, the painting is bought for a huge amount of money at auction by the Italian government, and put on display in a museum in Rome.
At a gala event, the painting is destroyed (by burning), and the head of the Italian art squad has to not only solve the mystery of who burned the painting, but find a way to withstand the political troubles accompanying the loss of the painting.
When someone involved with the painting turns up dead, there is a murder to solve as well. Working together, the art squad and the English art scholar (who is a prime suspect himself) must solve the murders before they themselves become victims."
Wendy S., Resident Scholar
"English graduate student Jonathan Argyll has come to Rome because he believes his subject artist, a minor 18th century Italian painter named Mantini, may have painted over an early 16th century masterpiece by Raphael, so it could be sold and sent out of the country by an English buyer. Then Mantini painted a copy of the original.
When the painting is tracked down and revealed, it sells at auction in Britain to the Italian government, which spends 10 million lire to keep it in its "homeland." But not long after it finds a permanent home in a national Italian museum, somebody vandalizes the painting, burning it beyond salvage. Moreover, Argyll and an art researcher with the Italian National Art Theft Squad named Flavia de Stefano have begun to think the Raphael itself was a fake.
Soon after, one of the midlevel executives of the museum is found stabbed in the back, and Jonathan and Flavia must track down the real story of the painting, as well as the murderer(s), although it doesn't help that Jonathan himself is a prime suspect. This 1990 novel was the first of Pears's series of Italian art mysteries."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of The Raphael Affair
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 15% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 15% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain?
- Moderately Challenging
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 40%
- nearly 100%
Murder of certain profession?
- museum nerd
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
- Big focus on forensic evidence
Kind of investigator
- police procedural, Foreign
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- art/artifacts
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- government investigator
- scholar
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- diplomat
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
The antagonists are:
- government bureaucracy
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- mean, arrogant
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
- Italy
City?
Yes
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 2
Unusual forms of death
- dropped from large heights
Unusual form of death?
Yes
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
