Portrait of a Man Known as Il Condottiere

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Portrait of a Man [Il Condottiere] dates from 1957-1960 and is the first novel Perec ever completed: it was rejected by Gallimard and Seuil back when Perec was "nobody, " so it is ironic that Seuil has brought it out now. Back in 1960, Perec put it away, as he wrote to a friend: "Will leave it where it is, for the moment at least. Will take it up again in ten years, and it will either become a masterwork or [I] will wait in my grave for a faithful exegete to find it in an old trunk." The novel was subsequently found by David Bellos, and it is a thriller, combining art forgery and murder. The protagonist (Winkler) devotes months on end to making a fake for a client of the famous painting Il Condottiere by Renaissance artist Antonella da Messina, which is in the Louvre. As classic mysteries begin, this one starts with a murder on the first page: but it is Winkler who murders his client. The novel investigates the motive for the crime: one of its reasons will center on the forger's frustration over his inability to produce a work rivaling the original. The theme of forgery in painting crosses much of Perec's work. And the character Winckler also appears in Life: A User's Manual and in W, or the Remembrance of Childhood. Our version also includes a brief introduction by Bellos.