Portrait of a Man Known as Il Condottiere

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.