Hello and welcome to the penultimate episode of Arte, the artist who made best-girl Katarina cry. This week, a child pines for the attention of her newfound friend while the friend pines to see her employer back in Florence as the employer pines to have his apprentice with him again, which all makes for a whole lot of pining as Arte doubles down on its themes and presents a conflict which was yet unexplored to set up an exciting finale for the coming week.
After the emotionally cathartic episode we had last week, things were always going to shift one way or the other. So, while it did come as a surprise that the part of this story chronicling Arte’s (possibly) last days at Venice got shrouded by a somber melancholy, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. It’s kind of how in our lives when things are headed towards completion that we get overcome by memories and feelings which wouldn’t cross our minds on other ordinary days.
Endings just do that to us sometimes.
A chance encounter with a local painter (I cannot recall if he gave his name but ironically, that’s kind of the point) has Arte face up with a new conundrum. Until now, every other artist she had met was shocked at seeing a female apprentice and deemed her unfit for the profession which in turn motivated her to work hard and prove that she is capable enough to make a living as a painter, even though she is a woman. But this time around, a painter looks at her and instantly realizes that she is the new Portrait Painter that the Faliers have employed. And it’s what that look conveys to Arte which makes her doubt her own capabilities. What this painter felt wasn’t hatred or resentment towards her, it was jealousy. He was envious that he wasn’t born a noble. He was envious of the fact that because Arte is a woman, she was able to get such a highly sought after job while he would never have such good fortune. Just because of his bloodline and his gender, he would never stand out. He’d be one of the many others history doesn’t remember and we’d believe that there just never was anything worth remembering. Because people like him, in stories like this, are simply forgotten.
A thought crosses Arte’s mind for the first time: was she never good enough to be a painter as she had it easy for herself because she was a woman? For the coming days, she tries to work extra hard, cutting out on sleep, skipping meals, focusing on her studies even during the barest of moments of respite she got from her work as she thought that she was unfit for her job and the only way to prove her credibility is to be absolutely perfect at what she does or die trying.
All this while, Katarina keeps getting more and more worried as she overheard the talk Arte had with the painter and notices how ever since that day she just hasn’t been herself. She finds the sudden change in her behavior to be disconcerting and worrisome. Katarina inquires with Daphne about how Arte’s been doing lately and she seems to share her concerns. When one day Arte collapses due to overworking herself, all these concerns get realized. Tears fall; the servants panic; a child imagines the worst.
Meanwhile, back in Florence, Leo-san doesn’t seem to be doing too good himself. Before he met Arte, he was accustomed to his own silence and only having to talk when being talked to but after having gotten used to her company, he misses the sound made by a voice other than his own. It’s not very hard to live by yourself. It can even be quite convenient at times. You are not bound by obligations and people nagging at you every other minute. It’s peaceful, has a certain sense of comfort attached to it. It’s only when other people storm into our lives and then exit it just when we’ve gotten comfortable with their presence that makes living by ourselves difficult. Leo-san misses Arte and even though he knows she is just a few hours away, he can’t bring himself to ask her to come back because that would be selfish. It’s so terrible to miss someone when you know that if you ask them to come back, they will, even if it breaks their heart. So you don’t, even if it breaks your own. That’s how people make compromises.
After a few days of resting, Arte is back to her usual cheerful self when Yuri summons her to have a word. He tells her that the moment Katarina saw her collapsed, she got so worried that tears started falling from her eyes. Yuri tells Arte that if she intends to make his niece cry like this, he has no need for her but if she makes sure this doesn’t happen again and wants to work here in Venice as an artist, he would be willing to serve as her full-time employer and make sure that she never needs for anything.
That is the difficult decision Arte is left to make as we head into next week’s finale. To choose between a professional life far from home which would mean that she’d be able to pursue her dreams of being an artist or to return back to Florence to the workshop and its owner who makes her feel at home. What will she finally decide to do? Join me next week to find out!
