Il ritratto
The story begins with a mystery: a boy is enchanted by a painting, hypnotized by it. We are in the Palazzo Pitti museum in Florence, Italy, and the painting is La Velata by Raffaello Sanzio. It is a fascinating painting, a masterpiece of the Renaissance. The guards are alerted to this odd attention, and they send their youngest, Silvia, to speak to the boy. His name is Doyun, he is from South Korea, and is studying art history in a foundation in Florence specifically so that he can see the works of Raffaello in person. Silvia will be involved in the training needed to use a new app that traces the visitors in the museum to insure the safety of the works of art, an app developed by a young Korean tech wizard called Iseul Park. The app debuts on April 1 and two weeks later, during the Easter holiday, many of the visitors to the museum suddenly fall to the ground in a faint: terrorism is suspected. Police arrive, alarms go off, and there is general chaos … and in the end, Doyun’s favorite painting has disappeared! The last thing that Silvia wants to do is to suspect Doyun but she has to meet with him to understand if he was involved, how he could have been involved … Together, Doyun and Silvia will trace the masterpiece by Raffaello until they come face to face with the actual thief. The two young people are able to bring the painting home and make sure that it reaches the museum safely, back to where it can be enjoyed by all.
Paola Zannoner (Florence, Italy) has a degree in Literature and is one of the most important YA authors in Italy today. She began writing in 1998 and her first novel, published in 2000, has become a classic. In the 20 since she has received the Bancarellino, and the Premio Strega Ragazzi e Ragazze in 2018 with L’ultimo faro. Her novels have been translated all over the world, and The Gang of Girls will soon become a tv series.
