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第98章

my name is red-我的名字叫红-第98章

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brass  serving  tray  in  the  illustration  of  Red  in  Enishte’s  book:  doubtless  the 
work of Olive。 
4。 As the cooks’ guild pushed past Our Sultan; they were cooking stuffed 
cabbage with meat and onions in a cauldron resting on a stove in their cart。 
The  master  cooks  acpanying  the  cart  stood  on  pink  earth  resting  their 
stew pots on blue stones; these stones were rendered by the same artist who 
made  the  red  ones  on  dark…blue  earth  above  which  floated  the  half…ghostly 
creature in the illustration that Enishte called Death: the unmistakable work of 
Butterfly。 
5。 Mounted Tatar messengers brought word that the Persian Shah’s armies 
had  begun  to  mobilize  for  another  campaign  against  the  Ottomans;  who 
thereupon razed to the ground the exquisite observation kiosk of the Persian 
ambassador who’d repeatedly affirmed to Our Sultan; Refuge of the World; in 
a cascade of pleasantries; that the Shah was His friend and harbored nothing 
but brotherly affection for Him。 During this episode of wrath and destruction; 
water bearers ran out to settle the dust raised in the Hippodrome; and a group 
of  men  appeared  shouldering  leather  sacks  full  of  linseed  oil  to  pour  over  a 
mob ready to attack the ambassador; in hopes of pacifying it。 The raised feet of 
the water bearers and of the men carrying sacks of linseed oil were made by 
278 
 
the  same  artist  who  painted  the  raised  feet  of  charging  soldiers  in  the 
depiction of Red: also the work of Butterfly。 
 
I wasn’t the one who made this last discovery as I directed our search for 
clues; moving the magnifying lens right and left; to that picture then this one; 
rather it was Black; who opened his eyes wide and scarcely blinked gripped by 
the fear of torture and the hope of returning to his wife who awaited him at 
home。 Using the “courtesan method;” it took an entire afternoon to sort out 
which of our miniaturists worked on each of the nine pictures left by the late 
Enishte; and later; to interpret that information。 
Black’s late Enishte didn’t limit any single page to the artistic talent of just 
one  miniaturist;  all  three  of  my  master  miniaturists  worked  on  most  of  the 
illustrations。  This  meant  that  the  pictures  were  moved  from  house  to  house 
with  great  frequency。  In  addition  to  the  work  I  recognized;  I  noticed  the 
amateurish strokes of a fifth artist; but as I grew angry at the dearth of talent 
shown by this disgraceful murderer; Black determined from the cautious brush 
strokes  that  it  was  indeed  the  work  of  his  Enishte—thereby  saving  us  from 
following  a  false  lead。  If  we  discounted  poor  Elegant  Effendi;  who’d  done 
almost the same gilding for Enishte’s book and our Book of Festivities (yes; this 
of course broke my heart) and who; I gathered; had occasionally lowered his 
brush  to  execute  a  few  walls;  leaves  and  clouds;  it  was  evident  that  only  my 
three most brilliant master miniaturists had contributed to these illustrations。 
They  were  the  darlings  I’d  lovingly  trained  since  their  apprenticeships;  my 
three beloved talents: Olive; Butterfly and Stork。 
Discussing their talents; mastery and temperaments to the end of finding 
the clue we were looking for inevitably led to a discussion of my own life as 
well: 
 
The Attributes of Olive 
 
His  given  name  was  Velijan。  If  he  had  a  nickname  besides  the  one  I’d  given 
him; I don’t know it; because I never saw him sign any of his work。 When he 
was an apprentice; he’d e get me from my home on Tuesday mornings。 He 
was very proud; and so if he ever lowered himself to sign his work; he’d want 
this  signature  to  be  plain  and  recognizable;  he  wouldn’t  try  to  conceal  it 
anywhere。  Allah  had  quite  generously  endowed  him  with  excess  ability。  He 
could readily and easily do anything from gilding to ruling and his work was 
279 
 
superb。 He was the workshop’s most brilliant creator of trees; animals and the 
human  face。  Velijan’s  father;  who  brought  him  to  Istanbul  when  he  was;  I 
believe;  ten  years  old;  was  trained  by  Siyavush;  the  famous  illustrator 
specializing  in  faces  in  the  Persian  Shah’s  Tabriz  workshop。  He  hails  from  a 
long line of masters whose genealogy goes back to the Mongols; and just like 
the  elderly  masters  who  bore  a  Mongol…Chinese  influence  and  settled  in 
Samarkand; Bukhara and Herat 150 years ago; he rendered moon…faced young 
lovers  as  if  they  were  Chinese。  Neither  during  his  apprenticeship  nor  during 
his time as a master was I able to lead this stubborn artist to other styles。 How 
I  would’ve  liked  him  to  transcend  the  styles  and  models  of  the  Mongol; 
Chinese and Herat masters billeted deep in his soul; or even for him to forget 
about  them  entirely。  When  I  told  him  this;  he  replied  that  like  many 
miniaturists  who’d  moved  from  workshop  to  workshop  and  country  to 
country;  he’d  forgotten  these  old  styles;  if  he’d  ever  actually  learned  them。 
Though the value of many miniaturists resides precisely in the splendid models 
of form they’ve mitted to memory; had Velijan truly forgotten them; he’d 
have bee an even greater illustrator。 Still; there were two benefits; of which 
he wasn’t even aware; to harboring the teachings of his mentors in the depths 
of  his  soul  like  a  pair  of  unconfessed  sins:  1。  For  such  a  gifted  miniaturist; 
clinging  to  old  forms  inevitably  stirred  feelings  of  guilt  and  alienation  that 
would  spur  his  talent  to  maturity。  2。  In  a  moment  of  difficulty;  he  could 
always   recall   what   he   claimed   to   have   forgotten;   and   thus;   he   could 
successfully plete any new subject; history or scene by recourse to one of 
the  old  Herat  models。  With  his  keen  eye;  he  knew  how  to  harmonize  what 
he’d  learned  from  the  old  forms  and  Shah  Tahmasp’s  old  masters  in  new 
pictures。 Herat painting and Istanbul ornamentation happily merged in Olive。 
As  with  all  of  my  miniaturists;  I  once  paid  an  unannounced  visit  to  his 
home。 Unlike my work area and that of many other master miniaturists; his 
was  a  filthy  confusion  of  paints;  brushes;  burnishing  shells;  his  folding 
worktable  and  other  objects。  It  was  a  mystery  to  me;  but  he  wasn’t  even 
embarrassed  by  it。  He  took  no  outside  jobs  to  earn  a  few  extra  silver  coins。 
After  I  related  these  facts;  Black  said  it  was  Olive  who  showed  the  most 
enthusiasm  for  and  the  most  ease  with  the  styles  of  the  Frankish  masters 
admired by his late Enishte。 I understood this to be praise from the deceased 
fool’s  point  of  view;  mistaken  though  it  was。  I  can’t  say  whether  Olive  was 
more deeply and secretly bound to the Herat styles—which went back to his 
father’s mentor Siyavush and Siyavush’s mentor Muzaffer; back to the era of 
Bihzad and the old masters—than he appeared to be; but it always made me 
wonder whet

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