“Once you have set your brush upon the canvas
“Once you have set your brush upon the canvasdo not let fear create false strokes.”
do not let fear create false strokes.”“It’s been announced!” Mattea burst into the studio, rubicund spots tinting her cheeks. “It has been posted!”
Their words burst in the quiet room like fireworks in a black sky. Gone were the days when only one or two of the artists worked in the studiolo when some came only once or twice a week, sometimes less. In the days that had followed Viviana and Isabetta’s visitation to Il Magnifico, since they had received his permission to bid—as dismissive as it was—more of them came and more often, almost all and daily.
studioloIl MagnificoToday only Fiammetta and Mattea had not attended.
“You should have seen them crowding a
