The Vanishing Man - In Pursuit of Velazquez

In 1845, a Reading bookseller came across the portrait of a prince at a country house auction. Suspecting that it might be a long-lost Velazquez, he bought the picture and set out to discover its strange history - a quest that led from fame to ruin and exile. This book shows how and why great works of art can affect us, even to the point of mania.