The Boston Raphael:
A Mysterious Painting, an Embattled Museum
in an Age of Change, and a Daughter’s Search for the Truth

by Belinda Rathbone
David R. Godine, Publisher

A real-life detective story set in the rarefied world of curators, museums, and art dealers, The Boston Raphael is an engrossing tale. Biographer and historian Belinda Rathbone retraces her father’s efforts to obtain a portrait believed to be from the hand of Raphael for Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, a once-in-a-career acquisition intended to cap the museum’s centennial celebration. Along the way, the transaction becomes a little shady, U.S. Customs becomes involved, and the Italian government puts the kibosh on the whole deal. This narrative needed something classical but not too reverent: an ideal opportunity to set a book in StormType Walbaum.

Hardcover with jacket, 7 × 10"