An Inside Job Chapter 32 Summary: 30: San Tomà
Spoiler Notice: This page contains detailed analysis of Chapter 32 of An Inside Job by Daniel Silva. It reveals major plot developments and character revelations. Proceed only if you have read through this chapter.
Summary
Gabriel purchases an Old Masters devotional panel in Milan for ten thousand euros, correcting the dealer on its dimensions before returning to Venice. He scrapes away the original work, then has woodworker Marco Amato shave the walnut panel to precise measurements and commissions an identical oak duplicate. Gabriel spends days preparing the panel with historical methods, transferring a sketch based on Leonardo’s Head of a Woman by piercing holes and dusting with wood ash, then begins a monochromatic underpainting.
Ingrid rents a flat overlooking the Rio de la Frescada and expands cyber-surveillance to a Swiss bank, a Dutch art dealer, and a Dassault Falcon jet. She collects the Allon children from school daily and briefs Gabriel on targets, including a rejected one-hundred-million-dollar offer from a sheikh in Abu Dhabi. As Gabriel layers thin glazes with his left hand, he explains the “sfumato stratagem” to Ingrid: they will steal the real painting by vanishing it like smoke.
During a walk, Raphael confronts Gabriel, revealing he knows the painting is a Leonardo forgery. Gabriel learns Raphael has been using his studio, drawing remarkably advanced still lifes and a near-photographic copy of the Leonardo sketch from memory. When asked to join Gabriel’s Wednesday class, Raphael refuses and leaves.
Key Events
- Gabriel buys a 16th-century panel in Milan, then deliberately damages the original painting in his studio.
- Marco Amato alters the walnut panel to 78 by 56 centimeters and is commissioned to create an exact oak duplicate.
- Gabriel pierces a preparatory sketch, applies ash to transfer the design, and completes a monochromatic base.
- Ingrid expands surveillance to multiple entities while maintaining daily childcare duties.
- Franco Tedeschi and Peter van de Velde travel to Abu Dhabi, where a sheikh’s hundred-million offer is rejected.
- Raphael deduces his father is copying a Leonardo, demonstrates exceptional drawing talent, and declines to join the art class.
Character Development
Gabriel Allon: His dual identity as restorer and forger takes center stage. He methodically acquires, alters, and prepares a panel with deep historical knowledge. Using only his left hand to replicate a master’s hand shows his obsessive dedication. He displays uncharacteristic warmth and pride when confronted with Raphael’s hidden artistic talent.
Raphael Allon: Emerges as a significant secondary character. His advanced mathematical mind is matched by a prodigious visual memory and drawing ability. The chapter reveals he has secretly created a portfolio of dated still lifes, arranged by Chiara. His blunt refusal to join the art class signals a strong independent streak.
Ingrid: Functions as operational support and defacto family member. Her surveillance duties sit alongside domestic routines like gelateria visits, humanizing her role. She becomes the audience for Gabriel’s explanation of the sfumato metaphor.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Sfumato as Strategy: Leonardo’s technique of blurring lines without sharp edges serves as the operational metaphor. Gabriel explicitly connects the painting style to the theft plan—making the artwork disappear like smoke on the air. The chapter embeds the concept in the very process of creation.
Destruction Preceding Creation: Gabriel pays ten thousand euros only to scrape away an authentic historical work, then orders a panel shaved and cut. Burning the three unused sketches reinforces the motif: necessary loss before the final product emerges.
Concealed Identities and Hidden Gifts: Raphael has been secretly drawing, Chiara has been arranging still lifes for him, and Gabriel has been unaware. The revelation mirrors the central plot—a hidden masterpiece and a concealed operation run beneath daily Venetian life.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 32 bridges the planning stage and the execution stage of the central heist. It transforms an abstract plan into a physical, week-by-week process of forgery, grounding the thriller in tangible artistic labor. Raphael’s discovery raises the domestic stakes—the operation is no longer hidden from Gabriel’s most perceptive child. The rejected hundred-million offer in Abu Dhabi confirms the painting’s immense value and the sellers’ resolve, making the coming theft both more dangerous and more lucrative.
Study Questions and Answers
1. What is the “sfumato stratagem,” and how does Gabriel literally and figuratively apply it? The stratagem uses Leonardo’s sfumato technique—creating images with scarcely perceptible transitions rather than lines—as a metaphor for the theft plan. Literally, Gabriel paints the copy with no discernible lines, just as Leonardo taught. Figuratively, the plan is to vanish the real painting into thin air during the operation, leaving the copy in its place and making the substitution invisible.
2. How does Raphael’s revelation about his own drawings change the dynamic between father and son? Raphael confronts Gabriel about painting a Leonardo, showing he cannot be deceived by a simple cover story. When Gabriel discovers Raphael’s portfolio of advanced still lifes and a near-perfect copy of the Leonardo sketch drawn from memory, he realizes his son has inherited artistic talent. Gabriel’s invitation to the art class and Raphael’s flat “No” establishes a respectful tension—the child is gifted but will pursue art on his own terms.
3. Why does Gabriel purchase and destroy a genuine Old Masters panel instead of using a blank one? Gabriel needs a period-appropriate wooden panel that would pass scientific scrutiny. The original walnut panel has authentic age, warping, and structural characteristics impossible to replicate artificially. By scraping away the surface and having the dimensions precisely adjusted, he obtains a convincing physical base for the forgery. The destruction of the sixteenth-century artwork is a necessary sacrifice for the operation’s believability.
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