the devil's canvas

Strange book! Uncommon method of narration.

The mixture of absurd situations immediately allows you to immerse yourself in the plot that seems to lapse into fantasy, but a moment later brings you back to reality leaving you with doubts where before you had certainties.

An anomalous and enjoyable detective story, unpredictable, refined even in its gory moments.

It ranges from art history to metaphysics with stretches of clever humor and sensual and erotic situations that are never vulgar; indeed, the characters are well delineated in this respect as well, giving them greater human depth.

The female characters are so well delineated that one notices the author's care in not falling into stereotype.

An unfamiliar plot where the twists and turns more than strike the reader, disorienting him, making him less sure of having understood the ending in advance. The setting in Venice is a winning choice.

This time you managed to give a real setting of Venice far from the usual stereotypical postcards.

I had the opportunity to frequent the city years ago for work and, with the reading of this story, I relived the feelings I had then in enjoying the city with my Venetian friends.

If this is your first book, you are off to a good start.

L.A

Documentation

Caravaggio
(Michelangelo Merisi)
Beheading of Holofernes
National Gallery of Ancient Art, Rome

Jacques-Louis David
The Death of Marat.
Tempera on canvas, 1793
Muséès Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels.

Gustave Coubert
The Origin of the World. 1866.
This painting ignited fierce controversy:
outlawed, forced to be viewed hidden behind a drape, for the pleasure and tranquility of the most vicious respecters.

Gustave Courbet
Sleep. 1866
Oil on canvas.
Petit Palais, Musée de Beaux-Arts
de la ville de Paris.

Pyke Koch
Extase. 1967
Oil on canvas, Private collection, Holland.