The Red Lily, vol 2 | Page 7

of art, wished to burn them all.
"There were at Florence, in the time of the superb Manfred, who was
half a Mussulman, men who were said to be of the sect of Epicurus,

and who sought for arguments against the existence of God. Guido
Cavalcanti disdained the ignorant folk who believed in the immortality
of the soul. The following phrase by him was quoted: 'The death of
man is exactly similar to that of brutes.' Later, when antique beauty was
excavated from ruins, the Christian style of art seemed sad. The
painters that worked in the churches and cloisters were neither devout
nor chaste. Perugino was an atheist, and did not conceal it."
"Yes," said Miss Bell; "but it was said that his head was hard, and that
celestial truths, could not penetrate his thick cranium. He was harsh and
avaricious, and quite embedded in material interests. He thought only
of buying houses."
Professor Arrighi defended Pietro Vanucci of Perugia.
"He was," he said, "an honest man. And the prior of the Gesuati of
Florence was wrong to mistrust him. That monk practised the art of
manufacturing ultramarine blue by crushing stones of burned
lapis-lazuli. Ultramarine was then worth its weight in gold; and the
prior, who doubtless had a secret, esteemed it more precious than rubies
or sapphires. He asked Pietro Vanucci to decorate the two cloisters of
his convent, and he expected marvels, less from the skilfulness of the
master than from the beauty of that ultramarine in the skies. During all
the time that the painter worked in the cloisters at the history of Jesus
Christ, the prior kept by his side and presented to him the precious
powder in a bag which he never quitted. Pietro took from it, under the
saintly man's eyes, the quantity he needed, and dipped his brush, loaded
with color, in a cupful of water, before rubbing the wall with it. He
used in that manner a great quantity of the powder. And the good father,
seeing his bag getting thinner, sighed: 'Jesus! How that lime devours
the ultramarine!' When the frescoes were finished, and Perugino had
received from the monk the agreed price, he placed in his hand a
package of blue powder: 'This is for you, father. Your ultramarine
which I took with my brush fell to the bottom of my cup, whence I
gathered it every day. I return it to you. Learn to trust honest people."
"Oh," said Therese, "there is nothing extraordinary in the fact that
Perugino was avaricious yet honest. Interested people are not always

the least scrupulous. There are many misers who are honest."
"Naturally, darling," said Miss Bell. "Misers do not wish to owe
anything, and prodigal people can bear to have debts. They do not think
of the money they have, and they think less of the money they owe. I
did not say that Pietro Vanucci of Perugia was a man without property.
I said that he had a hard business head and that he bought houses. I am
very glad to hear that he returned the ultramarine to the prior of the
Gesuati."
"Since your Pietro was rich," said Choulette, "it was his duty to return
the ultramarine. The rich are morally bound to be honest; the poor are
not."
At this moment, Choulette, to whom the waiter was presenting a silver
bowl, extended his hands for the perfumed water. It came from a vase
which Miss Bell passed to her guests, in accordance with antique usage,
after meals.
"I wash my hands," he said, "of the evil that Madame Martin does or
may do by her speech, or otherwise."
And he rose, awkwardly, after Miss Bell, who took the arm of
Professor Arrighi.
In the drawing-room she said, while serving the coffee:
"Monsieur Choulette, why do you condemn us to the savage sadness of
equality? Why, Daphnis's flute would not be melodious if it were made
of seven equal reeds. You wish to destroy the beautiful harmonies
between masters and servants, aristocrats and artisans. Oh, I fear you
are a sad barbarian, Monsieur Choulette. You are full of pity for those
who are in need, and you have no pity for divine beauty, which you
exile from this world. You expel beauty, Monsieur Choulette; you
repudiate her, nude and in tears. Be certain of this: she will not remain
on earth when the poor little men shall all be weak, delicate, and
ignorant. Believe me, to abolish the ingenious grouping which men of
diverse conditions form in society, the humble with the magnificent, is

to be the enemy of the poor and of the rich, is to be the enemy of the
human race."
"Enemies of the human race!" replied Choulette, while stirring his
coffee. "That is the phrase the harsh