How did a Caravaggio, painted between 1605 and 1609, end up at a Madrid auction in 2021? Un Genio y un Canalla meticulously reconstructs the Ecce Homo's mysterious journey, a painting initially attributed to José de Ribera, now recognized as the work of the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Spanning the Italian Baroque, the post-war era, and the 21st century, María Luisa Martínez Haces's novel explores the creation, hidden trajectory, and astonishing rediscovery of this lost masterpiece, guiding us through interconnected lives caught in a web of artistic ambition, human passions, and moral compromises. From its genesis to its clandestine passage to Spain, to the detective work that unearthed its true origins – revealing it in the hands of a Spanish family before its acquisition by a British collector – the novel weaves historical fact with fictional characters, culminating in its current display at the Museo del Prado, a testament to the enduring power of hidden truths. Like Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring, Un Genio y un Canalla ignites the imagination, but unlike its predecessor, this novel dares to expose the high price of artistic genius, blurring the line between what we believe and what we know to be true.