Paulo Coelho
Two Fables about Paintings
Purifying the World
In 1476, two men were talking inside a church. They
stopped for a few minutes in front of a painting portraying
two angels descending toward a city, hand in hand.
“We are living the terror of the bubonic plague,”
said one of them, “people are dying; I don’t want to see
images of angels.”
“This painting is about the plague,” answered the
other, “it is a representation of the Golden Legend. The
angel in red is Lucifer, the Evil One. Observe that he has a
small bag attached to his belt; inside it there is the
epidemic that has devastated our lives and the lives of our
families.”
The man looks the painting carefully. In fact,
Lucifer does bear a small bag; however, the angel that
conducts him has a serene, pacific and illuminated
appearance.
“If Lucifer bears the plague, who is this other one
leading him by the hand?”
“This is the Lord’s Angel, the Messenger of
Goodness. Without his permission, Evil could never manifest
itself.”
“What is he doing then?”
“Showing him the place in which mankind shall be
purified through a tragedy.”
Da Vinci Seeks His Models
Legend says that as he was panting his famous
fresco "The Last Supper", Leonardo da Vinci faced a great
challenge: he needed to portray Goodness, in the image of
Jesus, and Evil, in the picture of Judas. One day, as he
listened to a choir, he saw the ideal image of Christ in one
of the young men in the group. He invited the young man to
his atelier and reproduced his features into outlines and
sketches. Before the young man left, the artist showed him
the idea of the fresco and praised him for representing the
face of Christ.
Three years went by. The “Last Supper” that
adorned one of the city’s most known churches was almost
done, but da Vinci hadn’t found the ideal model for Judas
yet.
The cardinal responsible for the church began to
pressure da Vinci, demanding him to finish his work soon.
After many days of searching, the painter found a
prematurely aged young man, ragged and drunk, thrown in the
Paulo Coelho
gutter. Bewildered, he asked his assistants to take him to
the church, as he no longer had time to sketch.
The beggar was carried to the church without
understanding what was happening: the assistants kept him
standing, while da Vinci copied the lines of mercilessness,
sin and egoism, so well outlined on that face.
When the work was done, the beggar, somewhat cured
from his hangover, opened his eyes and noticed the fresco in
front of him.
And in a mixture of amazement and sadness he said,
“I’ve seen this painting before!”
“When?” da Vinci asked, surprised.
“Three years ago, before I lost everything I had.
In a time in which I sang in a choir and the artist invited
me to pose as a model for the face of Jesus.”