'An immensely enjoyable read, richly textured and wonderfully atmospheric.'—Sarah GravesConstantinople, May 1453. In the dying days of the Byzantine Empire, Isaak Metochites and his family are entrusted with a silver reliquary carve...

The Ottoman Empire is plagued by thefts of antiquities from mosques and churches. Within days, the lost objects appear for sale in Europe. Among them is a reliquary presumed lost for four hundred years and around which an elaborate an...