A story of deception in the world of international fine art. Restorer and spy Gabriel Allon embarks on a dangerous hunt across Europe for the secret behind the forgery of a 17th-century masterpiece that has fooled experts and exchanged hands for millions.Gabriel Allon undertakes a high-stakes search for the greatest art forger who ever lived. Legendary spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon has at long last severed ties with Israeli intelligence and settled quietly in Venice, the only place where he has ever truly known peace. His wife has taken over the day-to-day management of the Tiepolo Restoration Company. But then an eccentric London art dealer asks Gabriel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery and sale of a centuries-old painting. Gabriel soon discovers that the work in question, a portrait of an unidentified woman attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck, is almost certainly a fake. To find the mysterious figure who painted it--and uncover a multibillion-dollar fraud at the pinnacle of the art world--Gabriel conceives one of the most elaborate deceptions of his career. If it is to succeed, he must become the very mirror image of the man he seeks: the greatest art forger the world has ever known.