An Inside Job

Gabriel Allon is a world-class art restoration specialist. He lives in Venice with his wife, Chiara Zolli, and their twin children, Raphael and Irene. Chiara manages the Tiepolo Restoration Company that employs her husband. As the story opens, the couple has just been called in for a meeting with the school principal. Their daughter has been organizing a one-day student boycott to protest the government’s inaction on climate change.

Gabriel negotiates a solution with the principal. The protest will be held as a march over the weekend rather than on a school day, and Gabriel will allow a group of students to observe him at work and receive a lecture on art restoration techniques.

The following morning, Gabriel goes to work on his current commission—the restoration of a Titian painting entitled The Descent of the Holy Spirit in the Santa Maria della Salute basilica. By 10:30, he takes a break and wanders outside for some fresh air. While casually observing the canal, he notices a dark mass floating in the water. He hires a water taxi to investigate and discovers a decomposed human corpse.