Читать книгу The Girl with Braided Hair - Rasha Adly - Страница 6

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Cairo: Winter 2012

Yasmine arrived at work and headed straight for the Conservation Department. She put on a smock over her clothing, gloves and a mask, and sat down to continue with the painting that she had started work on a few days ago. She reached for it with great care, as it was ancient and all but falling apart. Watching her was Jean Simon, director of conservation at the Louvre, who had been appointed by the ministry especially to oversee and restore the priceless books damaged in the fire that had swept the Egyptian Scientific Institute in 2011. Noticing how nervous and careful she was being, he approached. “A true artist,” he observed. “What a shame that the painting has no identifying information.”

“Yes,” she responded. “There are a lot of portraits out there of Egyptian faces, but there’s something about this one that’s different.”

The director gazed thoughtfully at the painting. “I believe it is the first time I have come across a work by this particular painter. I don’t recognize his style or the characteristics of his brushstrokes.” He took a breath. “When an artist studies under a great master, frequently their brushstrokes will be similar, but this doesn’t resemble anyone else’s, not even any of the contemporary masters.” He smiled. “In any case, don’t worry. When you’re done with the preliminary conservation, we can do an infrared examination, and it may yield something.”

As he left the room, her phone pinged with a message. She picked it up hurriedly. 2, Left Bank. I’ll be there. Smiling, she put the device back in her pocket.