Balthazar Castiglione wrote the Code of the Courtier. Raphael painted his portrait. Compared to this, the Mona Lisa is the stuff of "Art History for the Easily Impressed"
"Look Mertle, she has a slight smile. Oh, I wonder who she is? I bet she knows some secret that an ill informed writer of fiction can gull us with."
This, on the other hand, is what we of strong opinions call Art. And humanism at its best. This is someone real with a real secret. The secret is of the life and understanding of a gentleman. I can show you where the secret is kept in my library. West wall, top shelf.
The real mysteries in History are easy to get to. The mystery is in how eyes like these can look at us and tell us their name and leave behind a work of some moment which would benefit even a casual reader and not garner the slighest interest.
"Oh, have you read Dan Brown's DaVinci Code?" say the scholars of the suburbs.
It is as if one ignored a map signed by Blackbeard or Morgan in favor of following the maze map on the back of a box of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch.
As Our Lord has said of others that did not seek aright, "They have their reward."
1 comment:
I was with you till you called on Christ for backup.
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