'The Collector' follows a fictional spy's quest to track down a real stolen painting

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2023

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Johannes Vermeer's 1664 masterpiece "The Concert" was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. That real - still unsolved - case is at the heart of Daniel Silva's new thriller, The Collector. Despite his initial reluctance, art restorer and former Israeli intelligence officer Gabriel Allon is enlisted to hunt down the painting, along with an unexpected collaborator. In today's episode, Silva speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about his distaste for art theft and his reasons for turning villains into protagonists.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, this is NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Glenn Weldon.
0:05.2	Author Daniel Silva writes novels starring Gabriel Alon, a globe-hopping art restore and former Israeli secret agent.
0:11.7	Silver released the first book in the series back in 2000, and since 2002, he's never missed a deadline, publishing one a year like clockwork.
0:20.1	In the collector, the 23rd in the the Gabriel Allen series, his fictional hero investigates a real-life mystery of the art world, which leads him to Russia and the all-too-real threat of global extinction.
0:31.7	Silva talk to Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday.
0:34.8	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:39.6	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors. On our new show, Sources and Methods.
0:46.2	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
0:53.8	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:59.3	Vermears the concert painted in 1664 shows a young woman at a harpsichord, a man playing, a lute, and a woman singing.
1:07.3	It may be the most valuable stolen object in the world.
1:11.8	It was cut from its frame in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 and stolen,
1:17.0	along with 12 other works.
1:19.1	There have been boasts about the whereabouts of the painting and leads over the years,
1:23.7	and they've led nowhere.
1:25.6	But when a South African shipping tycoon murdered in Amalfi
1:28.5	turns out to have a secret vault holding an empty frame
1:32.0	that matches the dimensions of the Perlouin masterpiece,
1:36.0	Who you're going to call?
1:37.7	The Italian Art Police call Gabriel Alon,
1:41.0	noted art conservator, artist, former Israeli intelligence official, and hero of more than
1:46.5	a score of bestselling novels by Daniel Silva. The collector is his latest, and Daniel Silva joins us
	...

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