Provenance: The Eyes of Christ

An art detective anthology series.
First broadcast 22/09/26 on BBC Radio 4

By Richard Monks
Other works by Richard Monks with Afonica

With over $5 billion of art and antiquities stolen each year, art is the third largest illicit market in the world after drugs and guns. This is big business, and its perpetrators hardened criminals. often hiding behind the respectable façade of museums and galleries. Scratch the surface and beneath the cracked veneer you’ll find them, barely visible, hidden in the darkness.

None understand this better than Ava Bernardi, disgraced former professor at the Courtauld Institute, now turned art detective. But in the murky world of fakers and frauds – where provenance is all – it’s easy to forget who you really are.

When suspicious packages from the Middle East are intercepted at Dover by UK Customs, they are found to contain fragments of broken ceramics, leading Ava on a dangerous mission to Syria.

Ava Bernardi ….. Juliet Aubrey
Joe ….. Josh Bolt
Detective Inspector Okoro ….. Cyril Nri
Ellie ….. Cecilia Appiah
Al-Khatib ….. Khalid Laith
Ibrahim ….. Nabil Elouahabi
Hakim ….. Walles Hammond
Aya ….. Lara Sawalha

Other voices were played by the cast.

Production manager, Eleanor Mein
Script supervisor, Liis Miik
Image, Eva Grange
Executive producer, Sara Davies

Original music, Ioana Selaru
Additional editing, Andreina Gómez and Anastasia Kirillova
Sound design and mix, Steve Bond.

Directed and produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4