Long before I arrived in Singapore, months of preparatory work had gone into the clean up and enhancement of each photograph, including many that were unable to fit in the book. Additionally, I was determined to produce the most accurate, true-to-life color reproductions of masterpieces known to visitors worldwide such as Botticelli’s Primavera, Rembrandt’s Nightwatch, and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Lady with an Ermine. The Van Eyck Ghent Altarpiece presented numerous obstacles that required considerable attention from the expert eye of Greg della Stua, my valued advisor on all things concerning printed materials. After more than two weeks in Singapore, most of which was spent “on press”, I had a whole new appreciation for what is involved in printing a book! It is an extraordinary process. This photo shows a test run of several photographs included in the book prior to color adjustment.

“H 11” was the state-of-the-art Heidelberg press used to print the book. This photo shows a test run in process. Greg has removed the first stack of printed material to examine the color tones.

Greg is seen studying the first “signature” of the book. A “signature” is a sheet of paper containing eight pages prior to folding and cutting. Greg was looking for imperfections and adjusting color tones as needed before additional test printing.

In this photo, Greg marked areas on the first signature that needed further work prior to starting the job. To his left is my editor, Joshua Weikersheimer, who also assisted with the printing of the book.

The areas on this signature circled by Greg indicate “spots” or imperfections that he identified on the first test printing run. Adjustments were made to eliminate them.

This photo shows a signature being loaded onto the 4-color Heidelberg press prior to our first print run.

After all necessary adjustments were made, the very first signature was printed which included the magnificent photograph of Da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine. As part of the printing procedure the author was required to “sign-off” on the quality before proceeding further.

The proud (and relieved) author is standing next to the signatures for pages included in Chapter 4 which contain the Nazi swastika and nine of the most important paintings stolen by Hitler and the Nazis.

Printing the jacket cover became an acute challenge given the effect varnishing had on the shade of blue I originally selected and problems we encountered with the paper stretching. It took four changes to the plates and the determined effort of a small group into the early morning hours, but we finally achieved our goal.

This photo was, for me, a shot of the “delivery room”. After more than three years of work on this project, the results were materializing before my eyes.