"The White Dove of Cordoba" by Dina Rubina, summary Automatic translate

This book is the story of the brilliant forger Zakhar Kordovin. He leads a double life, masterfully forging paintings by famous artists. The novel was published in 2009. The author skillfully combines a tense detective plot with a profound exploration of human destiny and true art. The book touches on ancestral memories rooted in the exiled Spanish Jews. The work is full of passion, humor, and tragedy.

The Double Life of an Expert

Zakhar Kordovin lives in Jerusalem. He works as a university professor and a recognized international expert in painting. His latest success comes with the sale of a counterfeit Robert Falk painting. The buyer is a wealthy collector named Vladimir Igorevich. Disguised as an authentic painting found in Ramat Gan belonging to an elderly widow, Zakhar successfully sells the canvas. After the sale, he goes on a business trip to Spain. This outwardly successful intellectual conceals a profound trauma from his past. In his youth, he lost his best friend, Andryusha Mityanin. Since then, he has been searching for the killer to exact his well-deserved retribution.

Vinnytsia childhood and Leningrad youth

Memory often takes Zakhar back to his roots. The boy, known to his family as Zyunya, grew up in Vinnytsia. His mother, Rita, was a champion fencing champion. She died of an abortion when her son was thirteen. His Uncle Syoma, a former front-line soldier and hairdresser, took charge of his upbringing. It was he who noticed his nephew’s talent for drawing. Soon, the teenager was sent to an art school in Leningrad. In Leningrad, Zakhar moved in with his quirky aunt, Fanny Zakharovna. Everyone called her Zhuka. This woman taught Spanish literature and did morning exercises by the open window. Zakhar’s inseparable friend, Andryusha, lived in the apartment with him.

While studying, Zakhar discovers a unique heirloom in the attic of his grandfather’s office. It turns out that Zakhar’s grandfather was a senior major in the NKVD Foreign Ministry. Before his suicide in 1939, he hid a vast collection of genuine masterpieces. Among the canvases are watercolors by Raoul Dufy, works by Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, and Robert Falk. The young men transport the gray folder containing the treasures to Leningrad. The friends set up a studio on the Obvodny Canal. There, Andryusha demonstrates his exceptional talent as a restorer. Zakhar, meanwhile, discovers an ability to replicate the style of any great artist with phenomenal precision. Together, they immerse themselves in the city’s bohemian life.

A fatal meeting

At the Hermitage, the young couple meet Arkady Viktorovich Bosota. This intelligent sexologist turns out to be a passionate collector and connoisseur of art. He is a regular fixture in the homes of Leningrad’s bohemian elite and quickly wins the trust of young artists. Upon learning of his friends’ plight, Bosota suggests that Zakhar paint a copy of Rubens’s "Sleeping Venus." Bosota claims to have the original. However, taking the canvas abroad is impossible. The collector plans to secretly emigrate to Australia. He wants to keep a duplicate of his favorite work so he can admire it while in exile.

Zakhar successfully completes the commission. He recreates "Venus" according to all the rules of the old Flemish masters, using glazes — thin, transparent layers of paint. However, Bosota proves to be a cunning predator. Taking advantage of his friend’s trust, the criminal steals the genuine Rubens. Along with the painting, his grandfather’s collection of masterpieces disappears. During the robbery, Andryusha accidentally happens to be in the workshop. To leave no witnesses, Bosota’s mercenaries torture and kill the young man. Upon discovering his friend’s mutilated body, Zakhar vows to find who ordered the murder. From that day on, his entire life is dedicated to finding Arkady Viktorovich.

The Toledo Find and a Trip to Miami

After many years of searching, private detective Luke discovers traces of Bosota in Miami, USA. Zakhar decides to fly to Florida. Before leaving, he arrives at a scientific conference in Toledo. While strolling through the old streets, he accidentally spots an antique canvas in the dimly lit hallway of a café. The owner, Juan, assures him that the painting has been gathering dust in a barn for over half a century. Zakhar buys the dilapidated work for 1,500 euros. He immediately determines that beneath the layers of dirt lies the hand of El Greco himself.

Arriving in Italy, the expert meets with Basso’s old friend and Vatican Museums specialist Luca Anzzani. An X-ray reveals an underpainting. The artist originally depicted a youth with a pirate dagger at his belt. He then repainted the figure, dressing the character in the cassock of Saint Benedict. Vatican officials are preparing for the papal transition and are showing great interest in acquiring the work. Cordovin offers an incredible price — twelve million euros. The Catholic hierarchy agrees to the deal.

Leaving the painting to await official paperwork, Zakhar flies to the United States. He plans to kill Bosota at his villa in Golden Beach. Contacting an old acquaintance from Vinnytsia, Dzyuba, Kordovin obtains the contact information of an arms dealer. He buys a pistol. At night, he sneaks up to the house under cover of darkness. Zakhar hides in the shade of the palm trees, listening to the sound of the ocean surf. Peering through the half-open window, he sees a horrific scene. Arkady Viktorovich Bosota sits dead in a chair. He was brutally tortured by unknown killers. The body of his bodyguard lies shot nearby.

The hero realizes that the collector has been caught by the gangster Gnatyuk. It was to Gnatyuk that Bosota sold the counterfeit "Sleeping Venus" many years ago, passing it off as the original. Upon discovering the fake, the defrauded buyer ordered his men to track down the swindler. He wanted his money back. Zakhar disposes of the pistol, throwing it into the ocean. He then returns to Europe. The shock of what he saw is mixed with relief. The hero didn’t have to become a killer himself.

The return of the name and the denouement

Upon arriving in Madrid, Zakhar learns that Gnatyuk’s men have beaten up his Spanish girlfriend, Margot. The bandits demand Cordovin’s cooperation. He is offered the chance to restore the authenticity of Gnatyuk’s collection, which must be done with false expert reports. Escaping surveillance, Cordovin rents a car and drives to the ancient city of Cordoba. Walking near the great Mezquita Mosque, he sketches a young Spanish woman in a black blouse and orange skirt sitting on a bench.

The next day, they meet. The girl’s name is Manuela. She bears an uncanny resemblance to Zakhar’s deceased mother. A mutual attraction develops. Manuela shows her new acquaintance her house in the old Judería quarter. In one of the rooms, Cordovin is amazed to notice an antique silver goblet. An identical goblet once stood in his aunt’s apartment in Leningrad. Zakhar deciphers the curly letters around its rim and deciphers the ancient Hebrew inscription.

The inscription states that two identical cups were cast from a sacred temple chalice on the day of the galleon’s departure for the twin brothers Zaccaria and Emmanuel Cordover. The hero realizes that Manuela is his blood relative, a descendant of an ancient Sephardic family. Their ancestors were once exiled by the Spanish Inquisition. Moreover, the worn canvas was a self-portrait of one of those same Cordover brothers. Zachar found it in Toledo and remade it to look like an El Greco painting. The pirate artist depicted himself holding a dagger and then disguised the image with a cassock.

Zakhar realizes that for the sake of money, he erased his own ancestor’s name from a historical canvas. This thought causes him physical pain. He calls Jerusalem and gives orders. He refuses the deal with the Vatican. In a fit of remorse, Zakhar returns to his easel and signs a fresh portrait of Manuela with the artist’s true signature: "Zacarias Cordovera." He hands her a Vatican check for twelve million euros and asks her to leave for Israel to destroy the underground workshop. He recalls his old uncle’s words: "Zyunya, flee from this plague in your blood."

Zakhar realizes that Gnatyuk’s bandits are already on his trail. To save Manuela, he stages a risky chase. The car winds through thick fog along mountain roads. After confirming that she is safe, he instructs her on her next steps. Then Zakhar descends the cobbled streets of old Cordoba on foot, drawing their pursuers’ attention to himself. Zakhar accepts his fate calmly, knowing that his family line is saved. The artist’s true name is restored on the canvas.

Manuela turns around at the threshold of her house. She sees Zakhar in the distance. At that moment, a motorcycle bursts around the corner. Shots ring out. Zakhar is fatally wounded in the back. He slowly sinks to the cobblestones. In the last moment before his consciousness fades, he sees a falling feather. A weightless, downy white dove feather gently descends next to him.