The reason for this becomes profoundly, sadly clear at the end of the novel where all is revealed, not simply the back-story of the painting. All information and details about art pale in comparison to the stunning revelation provided by Cesar that Julia's beloved old guardian was actually bubbling and seething with resentment against Alvaro's reinsertion into Julia's life. The man had ruined, Cesar said, two years of Julia's life, and Alvaro had characterized Cesar's presence in Julia's life as "unhealthy and obsessive" (273). Although the reader is unlikely to admire Alvaro with the same intensity that Julia once did, Cesar's feelings about his old ward seem equally intense, unhealthy, and obsessive as the feelings she once harbored for her old flame.
Soon it becomes clear that the old truth about many mystery novels holds true in the Flanders Panel -- one of the more sympathetic and unlikely killers is in fact the source of all of the turmoil depicted in the novel. Art-obsessed (and Julia-obsessed) Cesar explains that he platonically fantasized that Julia and he "would share in the research and solve the enigma together...and it would mean fame for you" as well as increase the value of the painting. Cesar, he reveals, has been diagnosed with a tumor, and only has two months to live, and intends to kill himself with Prussic acid (279). Thus Cesar is the man whom Julia has...
Watson in her Sherlockian struggle for the truth.
The end revelation is sad for both the reader as well as Julia, as what is already a dark and knotty mystery will end with another death, the death of one of the more compellingly drawn characters in the novel. There also seems to be a certain latent homophobia in the effete depiction of Cesar, as well as the author's characterization of the man as a kind of death-driven individual only interested in art, not humanity. In terms of its atmospherics, the novel is primarily compelling for its portrait of the European art community, although it occasionally digresses into long-winded discussions of history, art criticism, and the positioning of the chess board in the painting. Julia herself is almost as enigmatic as the mystery she is attempting to solve, more of a conduit for the story than a real, fully-fledged and fully developed character. Cesar's illness does not seem to strike her with as much force as one might imagine, given their close relationship. The Flanders Panel is a potboiler, a dark but ultimately escapist read, and no masterpiece, although it attempts to deal with the implications of masterworks of art in history.
Works Cited
Perez-Reverte, Arturo. The Flanders Panel. Harcourt Reprint, 2004.
