This is the story of a secret painting, hidden by accident or by design, beneath another. For centuries the painting has formed the central panel in the treasured altarpiece of a convent. Only with the arrival of a restorer and the stripping of old layers of paint and varnish its true nature is revealed. Behind the aged figure of the founding saint lies another picture - an odd composition comprising a tower, a nun, a monk and a child. Who are they and why are they together? Perhaps they depict an old tale, its sense now lost to memory, or a legend. Or perhaps in reality they represent the principle components of a story that is infinitely darker than legend, a story that had to be concealed. By fusion of past and present the story is told but the mystery is not resolved. This is a novel that treads lightly on dangerous ground, confronting issues that have concerned men - and women - since they first considered the origin of life.
- ISBN10 0224027964
- ISBN13 9780224027960
- Publish Date 7 June 1990
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 10 April 2014
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Vintage Publishing
- Imprint Jonathan Cape Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 289
- Language English