Contemporary fantasy novel based on a real portrait of a man reading

[Mir]

I think I read this around 2000. Don't recall when it was published.

There is a portrait in National Gallery in London, showing a man with a book. The book has no words. I'm pretty sure it is this one by Andrea del Sarto:


The concept of the novel is that the guy in the portrait was an evil wizard and he is trapped in the painting. I think the book was supposed to have magic words in it but the artist didn't add them, or something like that. Other than that my recollection is pretty vague. I think the wizard was trying to trick the main character, who might be a student, into helping him escape. I think the main character was pretty ordinary, just a regular youngish person from around the time the book was published (probably set 1980s or 90s). It may have been YA. Probably on the short side, definitely not an epic.

[Kris]

Miriam, is the image above on the book's cover?

Can we eliminate Growing Disenchantments by K.D. Berry? It was published in 2012.

[Mir]

I don't remember if that was the book's cover. It was definitely long before 2012 and was a traditionally published paper book, not an ebook or self-pub.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Perhaps _The Golden Key_?

[Mir]

No, it was set in the real world, where the painting is actually in the National Gallery, not alternate history. It was relatively contemporary (like, post-WWII) -- I'd be inclined to say 1980s or 90s.

[Kris]

Justanotherbiblophile, who is the author of "The Golden Key"?

[Mir]

Melanie Rawn. The Golden Key

[Michele]

I second The Golden Key. Sounds like a good match.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

OP says it is not _The Golden Key_.

I'm unclear as to whether the setting is post-WWII (perhaps 1980-1990), or if the novel was written in that time period.

Whatever makes _The Golden Key_ unacceptable/the wrong answer, should be editted into the first post - so they quit getting that novel as a suggestion :D

Remember, it's the differences that define something - but we've got to know what those are.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Try these lists:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

[Mir]

Justanotherbiblophile wrote: "Whatever makes _The Golden Key_ unacceptable/the wrong answer, should be editted into the first post - so they quit getting that novel as a suggestion :D."

Note the significant word REAL.

A REAL painting. A painting that actually exists in the REAL world in which we all live. Which is not the setting of The Golden Key.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

No idea, but it made me think of Arturo Pérez-Reverte. I don't know if he uses fantasy in any of his novels.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

The artist's real self-portrait is not hanging in the national gallery (AFAIK).

[Mir]

Justanotherbiblophile wrote: "The artist's real self-portrait is not hanging in the national gallery (AFAIK)."

I'm not sure what this sentence means.

Many art historians think this was in fact a self-portrait of del Sarto, but it is not in the context of the novel supposed to be del Sarto, but some fictional person.

[Mir]

Lobstergirl wrote: "No idea, but it made me think of Arturo Pérez-Reverte. I don't know if he uses fantasy in any of his novels."

Thanks. None of those sound right. I don't recall any swashbuckling type adventures, although I can't entirely rule it out. I think the main character's life was fairly ordinary until he or she encountered the painting.

[Mir]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Try these lists:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

https://www.goodr..."

Thanks, Lobstergirl. I've finished looking at those lists and don't think it is any of those.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Miriam wrote: "Justanotherbiblophile wrote: "The artist's real self-portrait is not hanging in the national gallery (AFAIK)."

I'm not sure what this sentence means.

The artist of the painting on The Golden Key, did a semi-self-portrait; ie: A REAL painting. A painting that actually exists in the REAL world in which we all live.

[Mir]

Do you mean Michael Whelan, the cover artist? Yes, of course he has painted real paintings that actually exist. I assume most cover artists do, unless they just doing the art on computers. I think a couple of Whelan's pieces are even in museums, although not ones on par with the National Gallery.

I'm sorry, though, I'm still not following what you're trying to say or how it relates to my query.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

I see. Have you forgotten what you've written prior to this?

[Mir]

Justanotherbiblophile wrote: "I see. Have you forgotten what you've written prior to this?"

I think I pretty clearly stated that I'm not looking for The Golden Key. I'm glad you enjoyed that book so much.

[Ayshe]

Maybe Across the Flame?

[Mir]

Ayshe wrote: "Maybe Across the Flame?"

It might be, thanks! I haven't gotten a copy of the book to check, and the blurb is short, but that sounds closest of anything suggested so far. And I had read a couple books by Wylie so I might have picked it up for that reason.

[Kris]

Goodreads description of Across the Flame by Jonathan Wylie - Ayshe's suggestion:

"A powerful magician emerges from the painting in which he has been trapped for centuries. Anya realizes he intends to use and destroy her, but hope lies in her own powers and the uncanny strengths of her estranged twin sister, Meredith."