Artifact Reading Inspector

The sightseeing in Florence was just as Haejin had expected. He had seen everything before, but the artifacts were still touching and moved his soul.

He and Eunhae spent the night at the hotel, had breakfast and were waiting for the car at the lobby to go to Venice when Giorgio called.

There was one missed call from him, so he had called when Haejin was having breakfast.

“Hello?”

“Oh, you took the call.”

“I didn’t know you called, I was having breakfast,” Haejin replied.

“Haha, I see. I was worried that you might have given up on appraising. Are you still in Firenze now?”

“Yes, I was just about to go to Venice.”

Although Venice doesn’t have a gallery as good as Florence’s Uffizi, the Gallerie dell’Accademia, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are always worth your time.

“Then, could you meet me in front of the Gallerie dell’Accademia? I think I can be there in three hours.”

“Okay. We will probably get there first, so please call me when you arrive.”

“And before that… if a stranger talks to you or something, you’d better say no, no matter how good his or her terms are.”

Haejin could see what he was worried about.

“You don’t have to worry. Then…”

He hung up, and Eunhae asked, “He doesn’t have to worry about what?”

“Oh… we are going to meet at the Gallerie dell’Accademia, and he thinks I might be contacted by others on our way there.”

“Get contacted?”

“Yes, I think the local mafia might try to…”

Haejin stopped talking. There was a beautiful woman standing in front of him who was in her early 20s.

Her face was very pretty, and the tight black mini dress she was wearing was enough to catch any man’s attention.

She was extremely beautiful, probably one of the top three beautiful women in Italy, and she spoke to Haejin.

“Mr. Park Haejin from Korea?” The woman asked, but her English was not that good.

“Yes?”

“Nice to meet you, I am Estila, from the artifacts appraisal agency called Cantieri.”

She offered her hand, but Haejin just stared at it.

“Cantieri? I’ve never heard of it before.”

Estila smiled, slightly impressed.

“I see you know a lot about Italy, for an appraiser from Korea. Cantieri was founded two years ago and it is now the best appraisal agency in Italy. Its CEO is the president of the Italian appraisal committee. Is that enough for you?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, why have you come here? No, how did you find I was here? Explain that first.”

Haejin was being cautious, and Estila could see that. She smiled and pointed at the sofa that was in the lobby.

“I will explain. Why don’t we sit down first? As you can see, I’m wearing heels, so I cannot stand for long.”

She was trying to show off the beauty of her leg lines. Of course, Eunhae noticed that and asked, “You must be a lot weaker than you look. How are you going to convince your clients?”

Estila’s eyes quickly scanned Eunhae. Then, she realized Eunhae was more than just Haejin’s secretary. She switched to a different strategy.

“I’m sorry. Then, let’s sit and talk.”

She realized her beauty wasn’t going to work on Haejin and started to talk formally. She sat on the sofa first. Haejin couldn’t ignore her and leave now, so he sat down with Eunhae.

Estila took out an iPad out of her huge briefcase and showed it to Haejin.

“This painting, do you know who drew this?”

The iPad showed a painting. There was a man in armor with a black beard and a naked woman with her arms around his shoulders.

It was very sensual, but there were two baby angels with wings.

Paintings with religious tinges like this one often appeared after the Renaissance, so concluding a specific artist had made it based on only its content was hard.

“Hmm… why do you want to have this appraised?”

Haejin asked back instead of answering Estila’s question. She straightened her back and said, “This painting was revealed in 1957, and it soon disappeared again. Then, a rich person in Sicily showed it to us in secret. He cannot put it on auction for some reasons, so he wants to sell this quietly, and then, my superiors heard you were coming here a while ago.”

“About me? How?”

She just smiled, but Haejin didn’t know what that smile meant.

“I don’t know. I just know that they are very interested in you. Anyway, they trust your capability and want you to accept our offer.”

“Hmm…”

Haejin crossed his arms and looked at the iPad. She continued to speak.

“We know your fee is very expensive. You’ve announced that it is 1% of the appraised price, right? I don’t know what others say about it, but my superiors are rather impressed by your confidence. They think 1% of the appraised price is not at all a high fee for an appraiser who can see the truth.”

She was talkative. Haejin hadn’t answered her question, but she kept complimenting him as if he had already given her the answer…

She had no reason to flatter an appraiser if her purpose was to have an artifact appraised by him. She looked more like she wanted to make him sign a deal with her.

“Even if I appraise for you, I cannot do it now. I am about to leave.”

“Leave? Where are you going?”

Estila’s eyes shook as if they were a pond where someone had just thrown a rock at it. She clearly didn’t know Haejin was about to go to Venice.

“I’m done here, so I should go back to Korea.”

“Oh… really?”

She was suspicious, not disappointed. Haejin could find out what she was really after with that.

“Of course. Why would I lie to you? I’ve never met you before.”

“Maybe that can be the reason why you would lie to me,” The woman replied.

“Then just think so…”

Haejin stood up, and Eunhae stood up with him. Estila quickly followed them and asked, “Then you must be going to the airport now.”

“I am planning to visit another gallery before that as I am in Italy. We are done, right?”

Haejin was about to walk away, but then he looked at Estila again.

“Oh, and… that painting, it’s Veronese’s. The subtle foreshortening that makes the characters look like they are floating over the seer’s head, brilliant colors, and the overall brightness that uses the colors to depict both the light and shade… I cannot think of anyone else.”

Veronese’s real name was Paolo Caliari, but he was called Veronese after his hometown Verona.

He mainly worked in Venice. The painter thought the application and use of color were very important; in fact, almost all of his paintings have sunlight. He valued the pictorial beauty and decorative color more than anything.

He was considered as the best decorative painting (painting made to decorate buildings, furniture, bowls, etc). He drew huge biblical paintings full of energy, paintings with optical illusions, and he is also famous for paintings of altars, portraits, and mythical paintings.

“Ha…”

Estila stared at Haejin. She was impressed. Then, she smiled and offered her hand again.

“Excellent. Although we won’t be working together… if you come here again later, call me. We are always waiting for capable people like you.”

“Okay. Then…”

Haejin and Eunhae went out and took a cab. Eunhae had waited for long to ask a question, “Were they really trying to have that painting appraised? I’ve never heard of such a painting from Veronese…”

“I haven’t heard of it, either. I didn’t show it, but I was surprised to see it. I thought it was Veronese’s, but I had never seen that painting before, so I wanted to see the real thing instead of a photo. She probably wanted me to think like that. When an appraiser gets to see such a painting, they can’t help themselves but feel like seeing the real painting.”

“Then, she was trying to meet you in private?”

“She was thinking of that too, I guess. If I hadn’t been sure she was working for the mafia, I would have followed her immediately and see the painting.”

“Oh… then the painting itself tempted you more than Estila.”

That was weird. Haejin looked at Eunhae, and her eyes said that she was joking.

“I never felt anything from Estila. Really. And… what should I say… she is way too sexy. That’s not my style.”

“Oh, but I am, you know, that kind of style.”

She smiled, but to Haejin, she really didn’t look…

“Really? Khmm…”

“Why aren’t you saying the rest of the sentence?” Eunhae asked.

“Huh? It’s nothing. To think about it, you are great, too.”

“Hmm… you speak as if you’ve checked me out.”

Haejin felt like he was being pushed to a corner, so he hastily changed the topic.

“But I don’t have to check you out to have this feeling. Khmm… anyway, it was a little dangerous. Although she openly doubted me, it showed what she wanted.”

They spoke like that on the way, and a few hours passed in a flash.

They checked into a hotel in Venice and went to the Gallerie dell’Accademia. Haejin then called Giorgio.

He had been waiting for Haejin’s call and answered immediately. Giorgio replied that he would be right there.

There was a café on the opposite side of the gallery. It was beautiful enough to be in photos and paintings. Sitting in there with Eunhae made Haejin feel like a man in a movie.

Eunhae was also feeling good. She kept smiling while sipping her coffee. Soon, the small and fat Giorgio appeared with his big 007 suitcase.

“Venezia is a beautiful place, as long as you can get used to the unique smell of its water. Have you enjoyed a tour of Firenze?”

He casually sat next to Haejin who poured some water in his cup.

“Oh, hello. An appraisal agency called Cantieri contacted me before we came here,” Haejin said.

Giorgio’s face turned dark at hearing this and said, “Cantieri? That’s bad… anyway, you came here right away. I guess you didn’t make a deal with them?”

“I’m with a lady much more beautiful than the one they sent me.”

Haejin was talking about Eunhae who shyly looked away.

“Haha, I see. They couldn’t have expected that such a beautiful woman was with you. Anyway, I thank you in the name of the Italian Cultural Administration.”

He stood up, bowed, and stretched out his hand as if guiding them.

“Then, let’s go.”

“The artifact is in the Gallerie dell’Accademia?” Haejin asked.

“Actually, it was being moved to the Uffizi, but then we moved it to Venezia. Where it will go depends on what you say after you appraise it.”

“Hmm… I wonder what it is… is it one of the paintings that the criminal organization stole?”

Haejin thought it had to be, but Giorgio seemed troubled. He stroked his chin and said, “Well, let’s talk on the way.”

Haejin and Eunhae followed him to a corner of the second floor of the museum. Surprisingly, Haejin recognized the painting when he saw it.

“Do you know who made it?”

Giorgio asked the same question which Estila asked.

“It’s Veronese’s.”

Giorgio was shocked and stammered, “How, how did you know at first sight?”

Even though Haejin was a great appraiser, even he couldn’t find out the artist the moment he looked at the painting. It had been only possible because he had seen and thought about it for a long time already.