The Sculptor Of People

Part 1: The Poor Painter

Domizio was a painter in Rome during the Renaissance period. He wasn’t exactly famous, but he gets by. Most of the time, he would be commissioned by some wealthy merchant to do their portrait.

He doesn’t particularly like painting old fat men who can’t stand to stay still even for just a few minutes. Most of the time, he would spend almost hours waiting until his rich patron is ready to pose for him again.

What he loved to paint were beautiful women. But most of the beautiful women in the city are simply unaffordable as models for his meager money. After all, during renaissance times, women who posed in the nude for painters and sculptors commanded a high price.

So, he simply painted clothed people especially men who can be paid to model for him at a low price. But who buys paintings of clothed men? Almost no one does. Thus, his painting career was a vicious procession of low paying jobs.

Part 2: The Great Sculptor, Vincenzo

But painting was not his favorite art medium. His favorite art medium was sculpting. He liked making sculptures out of pieces of stone or clay, but his favorite was chipping away at a big stone block and creating a beautiful sculpture out of it.

His idol was Vincenzo. Vincenzo was the best and most celebrated sculptor in the city. All the important people in the city come to him when they want a piece of sculpture to be made. In fact, almost all of the statues on display in the city was made by him.

Everywhere he goes, he is celebrated and congratulated by the people. Women openly declare their affection for him. Parents tell their children to be like Vincenzo who is a genius at making sculptures.

Domizio wishes that he could be Vincenzo’s assistant. But Vincenzo does not have assistants, nor does he need them. It seems he can finish a sculpting job in no time at all. A statue that would take several months for a sculptor to finish would be completed by him in less than a month’s time.

And these were not just simple statues. His statues rival those of ancient Rome and most of the time even bested them. You could make the mistake that his sculptures are made out of real people that have been turned to stone.

Part 3: The Beautiful Model, Gianna

One day, while Domizio was walking, he saw a beautiful girl. He was one of the most beautiful girl he has seen, but her clothes were tattered and they were wet. She was working as a water girl. She delivered drinking water for households that needed them.

He became determined when he saw her. He wanted to paint a picture of her face not to be sold, but for his personal collection. He followed her until she was finished delivering water. She was counting the coins in her purse when he approached her.

He smiled, “How are you fair maiden?”
She frowned, “It is not wise for a woman to talk to strangers, especially if they are men.”
“Do not worry, I have no malicious intent on you.”
“And why do you approach me?”
“Let me be direct. I am a painter. I want to paint your face.”
“A painter huh? And you only want to paint my face and not paint me in the nude?”
He laughed, “That is right. Even if I have wanted to paint you in the nude, I’m afraid I can’t afford you.”
She smiled, “How much will you pay me to model my face for you?”
“I could pay you a week’s worth of bread if you model for me for one day.”
Her eyes gleamed with excitement, “You have a deal honorable sir! And my name is Gianna.”

Then they both went to his studio where he painted her face. He painted non-stop. In fact, both of them did not eat or rest. As agreed, when the day was over, he paid her money equivalent to a week’s worth of bread. She thanked him and left.

Part 4: The Meeting

Weeks passed in the city without Domizio having any clients. He busied himself with painting mundane things so he can sell them cheaply at the city bazaar in exchange for food. It was a sunny day outside his studio and he can hear people talking as they pass by.

Then he heard knocks on his door. He opened the door and to his utter joy he saw the face of his idol. Vincenzo, the great and famous sculptor of the city was right at his doorstep looking at him.

“Do you know who I am young man? My name is Vincenzo…”
“No need to introduce yourself, esteemed sir. I know you, you are the greatest sculptor in all the land.”
“I’m glad you know me. I believe I may have business with you.”
“I’m just a humble painter sir, but I would do my best to assist you.”
“Excellent, shall we proceed with business? You made a portrait of a colleague of mine. I would want you to make a portrait of me as well.”
“I’m honored sir. When do we start?”
“In a weeks time…”

Then Vincenzo stopped. He saw one of Domizio’s paintings hanging from the wall.
He pointed at the painting of Gianna’s face, “How beautiful, who is this woman?”
Domizio smiled, “She is a water girl with the face of an angel.”
“A water girl?”
“Yes, she just arrived in the city by herself seeking her fortune. She currently works as a water girl. As far as I know, she lives by herself.”
“Oh I see!”
“Could you tell me how to find her, just in case I decide to make her one of my models.”

Domizio gave Vincenzo the water delivery route of Gianna. After thanking him, Vincenzo said his goodbye and left. Domizio can’t believe his luck. He was also happy that possibly, Gianna would be hired by Vincenzo.

Part 5: Vincenzo’s Latest Sculpture

Domizio can’t wait to start painting Vincenzo’s portrait. In the meantime, he busied himself with painting other things. He remembered Gianna. He thinks about the money that would be paid by Vincenzo to him.

“With the money Vincenzo will pay me, I could afford to hire Gianna again. I could hire her not only for one day, but for several days. I would be able to make a full body portrait of her.” Then he remembers that Gianna has a scar in one of her hands.

It was again a sunny day and he heard a knock on his door again. It was one of his neighbors. They informed him that they saw Vincenzo come in a few days ago to his studio. They congratulated him.

His neighbor also informed him that Vincenzo was about to display his newest statue. It was being unveiled in front of a local government building. His neighbor asked if he was interested in joining him for the statue unveiling event. His neighbor told him he might find his next clients there.

When they arrived at the statue unveiling, it was still too early. The crowds were still gathering and the statue is still covered with cloth. Nevertheless, he decided to observe the parts of the statue which was not covered with cloth.

Part 6: A Familiar Face

He noticed that the statue also has a scar in its hands just like Gianna. He laughed. “Maybe he used Gianna as a model and included all her imperfections in his statue. Vincenzo is a strange man but brilliant.”

As if his guess was correct, when Vincenzo finally removed the cloth covering the statue, the face of the statue looked very much like Gianna. The statue was much bigger than an ordinary human. To Domizio, the large head of the woman was unmistakably Gianna’s.

He was very sure that the statue was Gianna, but it was so large that it was impossible for him to conclude that the statue was her. He smiled, “My mind must be playing tricks on me. I’m beginning to suspect that statues were once human.”

Part 7: Could It Be Gianna?

He was sure that Vincenzo hired Gianna based on the sculpture he has seen. He decided to congratulate her. He also wanted her to model for him. He then went along the water route of Gianna. It was strange, her customers said she suddenly stopped delivering water. It’s like she disappeared all of a sudden.

Then he began to think. It has only been about two weeks since Vincenzo saw the painting of Gianna in his studio. Vincenzo, then all of a sudden just unveiled a near giant statue of Gianna. Something to him doesn’t feel right.

Whatever the answer was, he was sure he would find it in Vincenzo’s house, and most probably in Vincenzo’s studio. When night came, he headed to Vincenzo’s house. He was determined to answer the question that was troubling him.

Part 8: Who Is Vincenzo?

He climbed the tall walls of Vincenzo’s estate and landed in his garden. But he did not have to search for Vincenzo or his studio. Vincenzo was waiting for him already. He held a gun towards him. The gun looked strange. Domizio has never seen a gun like it before.

Then suddenly, Vincenzo fired a warning shot. The gun shot a beam of light instead of a bullet, but it was more devastating than an ordinary gun. The plant which the gun shot at, completely disintegrated.

Vincenzo, then forced him to enter his studio. His studio was strange. On one side was a metallic box that resembled a square gun. At the center of his studio was a metallic floor where a sheep was silently sleeping.

Part 9: The Transformation

Vincenzo smiled, “When I saw you during the unveiling of my latest statue, I know you would be curious with what happened to lovely Gianna. Watch!”

He pulled a lever on the metallic box that resembled a square gun.
The lights that came out from the gun hit the sleeping sheep. It immediately turned to stone.
He grinned, “Perhaps you want me to make the sheep smaller?”
Then he pressed a button on the metallic box and the sheep which was now made of stone became smaller.
He laughed, “Perhaps you now know what happened to Gianna.”
Then he pressed another button on the metallic box and the stone sheep became bigger than a human.
Domizio became angry, “Turn back Gianna into a human! Have mercy on her.”
He grinned, “It’s too late, after two weeks, the effect of my machine is permanent. It’s almost two weeks now. In a few hours she would be permanently turned to stone. It’s your turn now. Please step in the metallic floor.”

Part 10: A Race Against Time

But Domizio had other ideas. He quickly grabbed Vincenzo’s gun and they wrestled for it. Domizio was a very young man as compared to Vincenzo who was old. He managed to wrestle the gun away from the old man in no time at all.

He made a menacing look, “Now turn Gianna back into a human!”
“No, you can’t make me.”
Then he noticed that a part of Vincenzo’s clothes were torn. He can clearly see that Vincenzo has a dark green skin beneath his clothes.
He became angry, “You’re not human yourself. What are you?”
Instead of answering, Vincenzo tried to escape. Domizio had no choice but to shoot him with the gun. Vincenzo was vaporized.

Then without missing a beat, he carried the metallic box which looked liked a square gun. After about a few hours, he reached the statue of Gianna. He knows which button to press to turn big statues to normal human size. It worked. The statue of Gianna was now human sized.

Now comes the big problem. How can he turn Gianna back into a human? He looked at the controls of the metallic box. Luckily, there was only one button that he saw Vincenzo not touch. He pressed it.

The light rays once again came out of the metallic box, but this time it glowed not like light but of a red color. Then slowly, he saw the statue of Gianna change color. It was the color white before, but now it changed to red. Then it changed to pink. Then the statue started moving.

Part 11: The New Greatest Sculptor

Gianna was once again human. They embraced. It was obvious that he liked Gianna. And for his reward for saving her, she married him. It was perhaps lucky for Domizio that no one saw Gianna turn from stone and back again into a human.

Everyone missed Vincenzo when he disappeared. But he was quickly forgotten. Domizio became known as the new greatest sculptor in the city. He makes statues but unlike Vincenzo, he does not use the machine to turn people into stone.

He makes statues the normal way. He sculpts them from a big piece of stone block. But how does he afford to buy big and expensive pieces of stone blocks when he takes several months to finish a statue and does not get paid much? He also makes sculptures of flowers and trees and other inanimate objects.

Many say that they are his best work. Many say that no one can duplicate his skill of sculpting bouquet of flowers. They say it is simply impossible. They say that it seemed he has the power to turn flowers to beautiful stone sculptures. Many also notice that it seems it just takes him a day to finish sculpting these stone flowers.