Chapter 7 - The Falconer in Our Gallery Was a Replica
Independent experts examined the sculpture.
Nobody told Marco.
The result took nine days.
The Falconer displayed in our family gallery was exceptionally convincing.
Correct age appearance.
Correct patina.
Correct dimensions.
Even old-looking repairs had been recreated.
But metallurgical analysis showed the alloy contained trace elements inconsistent with seventeenth-century casting.
Modern tooling marks appeared beneath artificially aged surfaces.
And the maker’s mark described in Victor’s original appraisal was wrong by less than three millimeters.
To anyone walking through the gallery, it was genuine.
To a specialist who knew exactly where to look, it was a high-end replica.
The original Falconer had vanished.
Its insured historical value at the time it disappeared:
Approximately $4.8 million.
Current estimate:
Potentially more than twice that.
Then we examined the transport date.
Marco had personally removed the sculpture for “restoration” fourteen years earlier.
Three months later, it returned.
Apparently unchanged.
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That was the likely substitution window.
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