"The Lost Painting" [.]

[fiefoe]

Restoration of old paintings is a rather hairy process:

__ Old school glue recipes call for things like rabbit's skin and ox tongues.
__ It just means a tiny hole on the painting surface, but ''lacunae" sounds much cooler.
__ Variety of cracks that can develop on an old painting includes "garden cracks" and "flame cracks".

The book could use more interesting plot twists like this: the British National Gallery lent to its Irish counterpart a Caravaggio encased in a bullet-proof glass box, unknowingly thwarting the borrower's covert attempt to study the painting closely (for comparison with the lost one). (Don't see a movie adaption in the cards for this book.)

The final vignette, The Taking of the Christ's close encounter with biscuit beetles perfectly illustrates the moral of the story - 'Paintings have their vicissitudes.'

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