The Ghent Altarpiece, one of Jan van Eyck’s greatest works, has greatly influenced art history.
It received countless compliments, and numerous artists and people came to see it. After it was made, for the following five centuries, oil painting became the most attractive style for painters.
Oil painting showed unprecedented realism that perfectly depicted clothing, jewels, sunlight on the horse’s eye, and even plants that could be categorized by scholars.
And inevitably, the Ghent Altarpiece became the target of many criminals.
Within 600 years, there were 13 attempts to steal it, and eventually, one of the 12 panels, the Righteous Judges, was stolen in 1934.
The bishop of Ghent pleaded to the thieves to return it many times, but they didn’t.
So, the case ended up being unsolved before the Second World War and the people thought the panel was gone for good. However, things started to get strange when a Belgian copyist named Jef Van der Veken offered to make an imitation.
He used to work at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. He was the best restoration expert of the time. He restored Jan van Eyck’s Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele and Rogier van der Weyden’s Madonna with Child.
He used a two centuries old closet shelf, cut it in the right size, and used it as the panel. He drew three particular different scenes in his imitation so that people would be able to tell the difference from the original.
The copy was finished in 1950 and was displayed with the other original panels. So, his panel had to be still with them.
However, the panel should have been at St Bavo’s Cathedral. So, of course, Haejin was surprised.
“I can see why you thought it was fake. I would have thought so, too.” Haejin thought that it was not even as good as Van der Veken’s copy.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“But how did you get this?” Haejin asked.
Cavani remained silent for a while. However, Haejin could guess from that. He had gotten it through illegal means. Still, he had to ask.
After a long silence, Cavani finally said, “Do you know how things are going in Italy?”
“I guess you are not asking about the politics and economy… you are talking about the art world, right?”
“Correct,” Cavani confirmed.
Haejin then said, “I know that the mafia is in control of the art market, but I also know that the Medici family has a part in it.”
That was rude, but Cavani just smiled, “You are very straightforward. You are right. I will not deny that the money of my family has gone to black markets and smugglers. However, we had our own reasons to do that.”
“What reasons?” Haejin asked as if his excuses wouldn’t make any sense, but Cavani didn’t look offended.
“I know you think it is nonsense, but if you look deeper, you will see that we had no choice.”
Haejin sat down. Hearing what Cavani had to say was more important than appraising the painting.
“You had no choice?” Haejin asked.
“Everyone knows that Italian politicians are corrupted. Actually, it is not bad for us. For the rich, the more corrupted politicians are, the better. If the mafia, who is friends with those politicians, hadn’t jumped into the art market, I wouldn’t have done anything.”
“Are you saying you started to get involved in the smuggling business because of the mafia?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but it is the truth. Umm… it started in the 70s, more than 40 years ago. The mafia realized that antiques were worth money and started to get them. At first, they went after famous and valuable artifacts, but then, they wanted more. After the 80s, they started illegal excavations to find buried artifacts.”
Haejin had heard that story. That was also how Japan had stolen the artifacts from Korea.
“They are evil,” Haejin commented.
“Haha, people usually use that expression for murder, but you are quite unique, anyway, they are bad. So, my father tried to stop them. He made the police raid them and force the politicians to strengthen the Smuggling Prevention Act. However, unfortunately, none of it worked.”
“Why?” Haejin asked.
“Because the mafia always used stronger methods. When we bribed policemen, they bribed the police chief, and when we moved to politicians, they moved to parties. Even though my family is rich, we couldn’t risk spending bigger money than they did just to defeat them. In conclusion, we had limits.”
“Hmm… so?”
“So instead, we decided to spend less money but be a step ahead of them to stop them.”
Haejin could see what he was saying.
“You committed crimes before they could?”
Cavani grimly nodded, “We can’t even get close to them in their major businesses, like drugs, gambling, and human trafficking. However, excavating buried artifacts and smuggling them are different. We have much older and stronger ties than they have. No matter what they try to do, they cannot get out of our sight.”
“Then…”
Cavani then explained, “We find out which site they are about to dig in advance and rob it first and switch the artifacts they smuggle. That’s how we’ve been fighting in the darkness for decades.”
“Huh… wow. But what if you get shot?”
“They know who they are dealing with. They cannot harm us unless they are willing to have their syndicate razed,” Cavani answered.
That was great confidence. Money was more powerful than violence.
“Then, where are those artifacts?” Haejin asked.
“We are keeping them.”
“Keeping them? There is no way the mafia robbed only the graves in this country. You are keeping someone else’s artifacts without telling them?”
“They don’t even know that their artifacts have been stolen,” Cavani said.
“Ha…” that was so ridiculous that Haejin started laughing.
Cavani then asked, “Do you think we are selfish?”
“Are you saying that you are not?”
“Hmm… you may think so. However, if we give back those artifacts, they will protest to us about robbing their artifacts, and we will have to take legal responsibilities, for protecting their artifacts. Do you think that would be right?”
“…” Haejin wanted to argue, but Cavani was right. He couldn’t say anything.
“Plus, they excavate without any care. Also, think about how they smuggle the artifacts. You saw that shattered krater before you came here, right? When do you think it was destroyed? A millennium ago? Or underground?”
“It was destroyed recently,” Haejin confirmed.
Cavani nodded, impressed, “Brilliant. You are right. After putting in a considerable amount of time and effort, we found out that it was shattered less than a decade ago. I guess you can see why?”
“To make it easier for them to smuggle it in.”
“Yes. They shattered a good krater with great care so that it could be restored. They would then smuggle it using dozens of people with each bringing a piece. That’s who they are. They don’t care about artifacts, they would do anything for money.”
Shattering pottery and putting it back together again might sound crazy, but it is not impossible.
Great skills were needed to break it and restore it on purpose. Restoring it is important but shattering it without making any crumbs also requires skills.
“Hmm…”
Haejin couldn’t really be enraged about someone else’s artifacts, and as Cavani’s statement was quite logical, he couldn’t criticize the Medici.
“Anyway, we are doing our best. And then… I got this, from a black-market merchant who was under the mafia’s influence. He said this was fake, but he said it was a fake from Van der Veken,” Cavani said.
“This is Van der Veken’s?”
Haejin stood up again in surprise and examined the painting. However, just as he had thought, Van der Veken’s three differences weren’t there.
“But he…”
Haejin continued, “I know. That is why Albert didn’t think this was his at first. The fact that he put in three differences in his painting is famous, but this one is exactly the same as the original. If that merchant had said it was real, we would have taken a closer look, to find out if it was fake. However…”
“You bought it as a fake, so you didn’t even consider the possibility of this being real. You didn’t examine it properly.”
“Embarrassingly, yes. But then, Mat Vellin visited me a while ago,” Cavani said.
That name again. Mat had so many friends.
“I guess he has many friends,” Haejin commented.
“Haha, he is one of the best appraisers in Europe. I would say he is Albert’s rival.”
Cavani turned to Albert who cleared his throat, ashamed.
He had been defeated by Haejin, and someone else had found what he hadn’t been able to find.
Cavani could see that, but he looked at Haejin again and continued, “When I met him, he looked somewhat different. Mat used to be so confident, but now, he was humble and reserved. That is why he examined it even more carefully when I told him this was fake.”
“Mat examined it even more carefully after hearing it was fake?” Haejin asked.
“I asked later, and Mat told me he wanted to find out the evidence, that said it was fake, by himself. Mat has changed. He was like a teenager on fire, but he has become a man. Eventually, he gave up, saying he couldn’t find anything.”
“Oh…” Haejin didn’t know if he was the reason for his change, but he couldn’t deny the fact that Mat’s change was good for his career.
“Both me and Albert were surprised to hear this. So, Albert took another look at this again. And as you know, he gave up, too. That is why I thought of you. Before Mat left Italy, he told me that if Albert couldn’t solve this puzzle, there was only one person who could: Park Haejin from Korea.
Of course, Haejin was nervous by now, but he was even more pleased.
Only a few could get the chance to appraise a panel of the Ghent Altarpiece. That was enough to make him not regret becoming an appraiser.
“Okay, I will appraise it. What happens with the auction if this is real?”
“Another painting will be on the second auction, regardless of this painting. I put you on the first auction to see if you were good enough to appraise this.”