A Death in Cornwall

Content Warning: This section mentions murder and the Holocaust.

“The first indication of trouble was the light burning in the kitchen window of Wexford Cottage.”

This is the opening line of the novel. Charlotte’s illuminated cottage, as seen by Vera, signals that she has been murdered. Her cottage foreshadows Gabriel’s purchase of a different cottage in Cornwall at the end of the novel.

“Gabriel’s enormous body of work included paintings by Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Caravaggio, Canaletto, Rembrandt, Rubens, and Anthony van Dyck.”

Giovanni Bellini, Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Tintoretto (Jacobo Robusti), Paolo Veronese, and Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) were members of the Venetian school in the 16th century, connecting the paintings that Gabriel restores with the city where he lives—Venice. Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck were Flemish painters, and Rembrandt van Rijn was Dutch. All of these artists are considered “old masters,” or European artists working between the Renaissance and 1800. Their work is famous for its technical mastery, making it a supreme challenge for a forger like Gabriel.

“Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, oil on canvas, 60 by 49 centimeters, by Vincent van Gogh stood atop a baize-covered pedestal in the center of the Courtauld’s luminous Great Hall, veiled in white cloth and surrounded by a quartet of security guards.”

In this quote, Silva alludes to the real-life collection of the Courtauld Gallery, which includes this painting. Famously, Van Gogh cut off part of his own ear before creating this self-portrait in France in 1889.