Bird Flies

For those who like a good story

Premise

Leonardo da Vinci painted less than twenty paintings in his lifetime. Only one is available in the Western Hemisphere. Brought to life as a thrilling historical novel, Bird Flies is the incredible true account of how his portrait of Ginevra de' Benci came to hang in Gallery Six of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Set between 1966 and 1967, the high-stakes transaction is complicated by secret plots and intense rivalry that turn simple commerce into a race for the prize. Anchored by months of foundational research into expense reports and newspaper clippings, the author weaves an imaginative dramatic story around all the real key players and locations. Prepare for intrigue and suspense on the journey of a lifetime in Bird Flies.

Art

Bird Flies is richly populated by other famous and pivotal artworks from this period that define the historical settings of the novel. Explore the visual collection of masterpieces that serve as important landmarks in this journey.

• Gallery

Music

Step back into the high-glamour atmosphere of the National Gallery of Art's 25th Anniversary Gala. Two Spotify playlists compile the orchestrations played that evening, identified directly from the official program.

• Playlists

Extract

Every curve into the Alps, every straightaway along the lakeshore became a test of the little Beetle's limits. The bug-shaped car with its distinctive round headlights seemed too small, too vulnerable against the mountain shadows lengthening across the asphalt. Perry's knuckles pressed white against the thin steering wheel whenever the Volkswagen 1300's struggling suspension hit a patch of bumpiness. But his grip wasn't born of fear, it was the fierce concentration he brought to everything, that need to achieve perfect harmony with the car's joyful energy.

As the speedometer's needle swept past a hundred and twenty, Carter raised his voice to be heard over the flat-four's full throttle wail. "Would you take it for four million, Perry?""Yes." The answer came without hesitation, the single word sharp and clear.Carter settled back against the cold glass, smiling to himself. "Three, maybe four million. That strikes me as perfectly reasonable.""You're crunching numbers based solely on what we just saw, Carter." Perry kept his eyes on the road, but his voice carried a conviction that the quiet man rarely revealed. "Don't forget the extrinsic values. Our acquisition of the Liechtenstein Leonardo will go down as the most significant purchase yet. Not just bragging rights, but a massive surge of free publicity."He shifted gears as they climbed. "The art world values her between six and ten million because of what she represents. The Renaissance, that return of light, was the greatest period in the Christian era. They weren't merely painting masterpieces. That spirit of discovery touched every corner of life. Anatomy to hydraulics, from botany to engines of war, and dreams of flight. Leonardo had a hand in all of

that. With this one small portrait of a Florentine girl, we get the whole ball of wax."Carter spotted the stuttering amber and red lights first. Taillights, brake lights, emergency flashers. A line of them stretched across both lanes. His stomach tightened. Perry's hand shot from the steering wheel to the gear shift, downshifting hard. The Beetle's whine dropped to a strained thrum.Both men leaned forward, squinting, instinctively trying to see past the wall of stopped vehicles. The brake lights pulsed like a heartbeat. Too many cars. Too still."Accident," Perry said quietly.But something felt wrong.Past the stalled queue, an ambulance reversed onto the shoulder, its backup alarm piercing the cold air. His focus fixed on the road beyond the rounded windshield, Carter felt the first prickle of alarm. The cars of the Kantonspolizei stood starkly against the dark pines. On their roofs, single blue emergency lights rotated slowly, casting pulsating cobalt across the scene. He imagined he could hear the loud, insistent mechanical whirr as the light swept toward them.

Publisher
TBAPublished
TBAGenre
Historical fictionPeriod
1966-1967Century
TwentiethPage Count
319