Because it was at that moment when I realized that context mattered. That I would be the one to ask and answer. I was standing in an indoor parking garage in NYC at 5 am with $1800 burning a hole in my pocket. The day before I had flipped a pair of frames and made that tidy profit.

Rather than pay my rent, I asked myself WHAT IF. I was staring at a painting. A painting of a figure in armor. The flea market vendor told me that he had just bought this painting the day prior in Massachusetts. Fresh to the market. Literally.

Now the proud owner of something completely out of my wheel house, the research began. WHAT IF questions would fuel my curiosity. When I bought the painting, it was filthy and the details were obscured. Only after a cleaning, did the painting begin to reveal itself.

What was a portrait of a figure in armor, was now a portrait of St. Michael. But was there more? So I asked... WHAT IF this mid 16th Century Florentine painting was actually a portrait of Ugolino Martelli presented as Saint Michael.

And WHAT IF he did actually commission it after Catherine de Medici made him Bishop of Glandeves. And WHAT IF the bejeweled armor was an actual suit somewhere in a collection today.

And WHAT IF I could prove that this painting which sold through the 19th Century Old Master gallery W. Scott and Sons in Montreal actually left a paper trail of ownership.

As of today, 12 years later, I still have WHAT IF questions. I still have the same curiosity. I still have the confidence and strength. And you know what I also have? The painting. So, WHAT IF I pour myself another glass of wine, settle in on my sofa and dig yet a little deeper into this mystery.

Because WHAT IF I’m the one who will figure it all out. ;-) hkv