The way that Dante brushed off the death of one of the people under his employ like some mundane occurrence troubled Jon. He too nearly lost his life to the sharks if not for the quickness of Captain Salazar. Or is Dante intentionally evading discussion of the incident? Could he be hiding something?
Questions flooded Jon's head, but he decided not to talk about the incident any further with his client. Dante seemed to be no different from the captain of the Golden Cowrie as to his apathy and coldness towards people under his employ. If not for the difference in physical appearance and state of health, Jon would have thought of Dante and the captain as the same person.
Dante seemed more alive than when Jon saw him at the entrance hall earlier. His movements were faster, his speech clearer, and his face, though still pale, seemed more relaxed and youthful. Perhaps, there was some truth when he likened himself to nocturnal creatures who become fully awake at night as they search for their prey.
Based on the number of paintings and tasteful decorations, Jon could tell that Dante was clearly obsessed with art, but Dante's tastes tend to be unusual, even macabre. After Dante talked briefly about the importance of Dali's paintings in the development of surrealism and how the artist came to paint his most important work - The Persistence of Memory, he talked to Jon at length about the images of death as they appeared in the history of art.
"Have you noticed how humans have depicted death and suffering more and more as time goes on?" Dante asked. After getting tired of painting religion, artists created secular paintings. Then came the still-lifes showing beauty and excess, but later on they painted vanitas - skulls crept into still-lifes to show the transcience of life, how death ultimately triumphs over life."
"How about portraits and landscapes? Do they also depict death." asked Jon, trying to disprove Dante's theory.
"Sometimes, paintings are much more subtle. You would recall Jan Van Eyck's Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife. Or you can search for it."
"Yes." Jon nodded as he remembered seeing a picture of it and did a quick search online. "It's considered one of the best paintings in European art. I haven't seen it personally, but I am familiar with Van Eyck's works, especially the Ghent Altarpiece."
"So, you've been to Ghent?" Dante eyed Jon curiously.
Jon chuckled. "No, unfortunately. Seeing the actual works of the Dutch masters, however, is on my bucket list."
Dante did not seem to mind and continued, "Well, the Arnolfini portrait differs from that other work you mentioned . Aside from being a secular painting, one of the subjects in the portrait is not alive."
Jon looked at the pale face of Giovanni Arnolfini under his black hat.
"It's not Giovanni, if you're thinking that it's him." Dante commented to Jon's surprise. "It was his wife."
Jon was surprised with the information and thought of reading more about the painting when he got the time.
"As for landscapes, let me mention one of Vincent Van Gogh's last paintings - Wheatfield with Crows."
Jon did a quick search and found the painting. It was one of Van Gogh's greatest works and also one of his last. While many of Van Gogh's landscapes did evoke a feeling of sadness, this one stood out with its symbolism of crows and three diverging paths. Jon knew the painting well from prints and the art documentaries he liked to watch. He knew that it was at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam which he would also very much wanted to visit.
"Surely, you've seen the actual painting in Amsterdam," said Dante, closely watching Jon's facial expressions and body movements.
"Unfortunately, no. Although some say that seeing it in person could be overwhelming, but instead of death and suffering, I see Van Gogh's paintings as inspiring, knowing how they changed how we see the world."
Dante frowned, seemingly disappointed. "Are you familiar with the works of John Nash? Search for his painting – We Are Making a New World."
Jon did as he was told and saw the painting of a sunrise over a landscape of muddy terrain and barren tree trunks.
"Sunrise. Always seen as a symbol of hope, but that sunrise revealed the death and destruction brought by war. So, what kind of a new world are we making?" asked Dante rhetorically.
Jon was still looking at the painting and wondered about the artist's intention in creating the work. Perhaps, he could take another look at it in his spare time.
"That brings us to modern art. I will just mention Damien Hirst's sculpture 'For the Love of God'.
Dante paused. Jon tried to remember the sculpture by the modern artist. It was controversial due to its cost and for allegedly failing to get a buyer, suggesting the possibility of a contemporary art bubble.
"I remember that sculpture - a memento mori. It was a diamond-studded skull."
"You are correct," said Dante, obviously pleased. He then went on talking enthusiastically about other paintings.
"Artworks tend to be the reflection of the artists' inner thoughts and artists tend to represent their people and their times. This renewed interest in depicting death and human suffering is simply indicative of the society that we live in, don't you think?" Dante asked.
Jon merely nodded as images of death and violence inundated his mind. The images were not just in painting it seemed, but in all forms of art – film and sculpture, among others. He also could not recall watching the evening news without seeing reports of violence and murder.
"All my most valuable paintings are in this room together with my books. Aside from the added security, you'd notice that there are no windows. I had very few windows installed in the mansion to protect my precious art from the harsh sunlight. The temperature and humidity are carefully controlled in this room in order to preserve the paintings." He confided to Jon that only two people were allowed to stay in the library at any one time in order to keep the ambient air at the best possible condition for preserving the paintings.
"Let me show you some of my priced paintings which I have acquired over the years," Dante said, holding the armrests of his chair to stand up. Jon immediately rose from his chair to help his client, but Dante simply refused with a wave of his hand.
"I can stand up. Don't fuss." From under his desk, Dante took out a cane of carved hardwood. It was reddish in color and was polished until it obtained an almost natural sheen. The carvings on the cane itself were ornate and geometric without any recognizable pattern or design, but the gold handle was of a grotesque figure that seemed to be a mix between a bat and a snake.
Dante proceeded to walk towards one of the paintings near the door and flicked a switch. Immediately, light beamed down from the top of the frame to show the painting with greater clarity.
"What do you think of this?" Dante turned to his side where Jon was already standing.
The painting showed an emaciated man with all his limbs seemingly cut off from his body. There were cuts and bruises as well as discolorations on his skin. He appeared to be sitting on the floor although his background was just a white void. His head was turned to the side and was bowed in dejection. The man in the painting did not appear to be in pain, but his physical state, the expression on his face, and the artist's use of color made Jon feel overwhelming hopelessness and sadness.
"Schiele?" asked Jon, not quite sure.
"You're right to hesitate. It's not by Schiele." Dante smiled. "This was painted by a Polish artist after the Holocaust. His pregnant wife was killed by Nazis in front of him before he was sent to the concentration camps. This was his last painting after the war when he returned to his apartment in Silesia where he eventually hanged himself."
Jon did not speak at first, but looked at the painting closely. The painter's style was similar to that of Egon Schiele, but by looking closely at the brush strokes and choice of color, he could tell that it belonged to another era. Dante's clues about the painter's life and manner of death helped Jon identify who the painter was.
"Kowalczyk. He considered this his self-portrait before he committed suicide. This painting broke records for a Kowalczyk painting when it was auctioned off last year. It was sold to an undisclosed buyer." Jon mumbled.
"And that undisclosed buyer is me," said Dante smiling widely, his sharp teeth glistening in the dim room. "Let's see if you can guess who painted the next one."
Dante walked eagerly to the next painting, his cane tapping on the wooden floor like a one-legged giant insect. He likewise turned on the pin lights and the painting exploded in colors of bright red and burnt sienna.
"This painting is something I really like. Tell me what you think?"
The second painting showed a half-naked man with eyes opened wide as if in a crazed state. In his hand was something that looked like a severed human arm while blood was seen dripping from his mouth. He appeared to be in a desert and faint smoke was rising in the distance.
"The painting reminds me of Goya's painting of the titan Saturn devouring his son as well as Gericault's Raft of the Medusa, but this had the realism of Caravaggio without any religious symbolism that I can see."
"Very good! And the artist?"
"I'm not sure." Jon pressed his hand against his chin as he tried to guess.
"This is what happens to man if you leave him stranded in the desert without food," Dante said with a short laugh. "The artist was a survivor of a plane crash in the desert. True to the meaning of the word, he was a predator rising above his prey. He was able to survive by killing his fellow passengers. When he was rescued, he had a short period of lucidity and was able to paint this. It was supposed to be cathartic according to those who were close to him, but eventually, the artist lost his mind."
"And he was placed in a lunatic asylum where he died!" Jon exclaimed, his eyes growing wild. "Is this the missing Gonzalez? It was mentioned in letters and memoirs, but no one had actual proof that it exists. People were saying that it has been lost forever!"
"No. Not lost. It eventually came into my possession," said Dante, glowing with pride. "The next one is something that you'll also find quite interesting. It is the oldest painting in my possession," said Dante.
The third painting showed a black figure that was hardly discernible in the darkness. He appeared to be coming out of a tunnel or a well. Dante flicked on the pin lights and Jon's attention was quickly drawn by the eyes that glowed red like embers.
Jon looked at the painting and was immediately transfixed by the glowing eyes of a dark creature that appeared to be coming out of an abyss. The red eyes seemed to glow even brighter the more Jon looked at them and he felt paralyzed under the creature's hypnotic stare. He felt as if he were floating and being led through a tunnel of concentric circles of smoky grays and coal black, down a spiraling path into what chasm the creature seemed to have come from. Jon felt himself falling into that unknown world which seemed devoid of light and color as screams of agony filled his ears.Jon blinked and suddenly found himself back in the library looking at the strange picture. He felt his feet touching the floor and heard the soft hum of the library's air conditioning. Still looking at the painting, he gazed at the creature again and recognized the combined features of the bat and snake.Dante watched with a self-satisfied air as Jon stood transfixed in front of the painting.
Jon was taken aback by the strange vision, but he was able to quickly shut his windows and draw the curtains before sitting down on his bed. He was motionless for a few minutes, his brain trying to process what he just saw. Several minutes had elapsed before he ventured another look outside, but the mansion's walls were dark and he realized that the library lights had been turned off. He could still see the manicured lawns because of the few lights that were scattered across the grounds, but there was little else that he could discern outside.When the moon came clear of the clouds, he saw the shadows casted by the nearby trees on the walls. A light breeze blew and moved the shadows, creating dark figures that in Jon's imagination could easily become howling wolves and flying bats... and giant lizards climbing down walls. Why not? Jon thought. There may also be fireflies around that created the illusion of glowing eyes. Why were they glowing red, like embers? His imagination,
Jon felt a wave of panic as he looked at the wide expanse of the island and realized how difficult it would be to get back to the mainland should he choose. The first hurdle would be how to get to the shoreline. The mansion was built on the edge of a precipice with its back to an almost vertical wall of the mountain. He knew that to get to the shore, he would need to use the cable car which could only be operated by one of Dante’s staff. Without the cable car, he would have to manage climbing down the steep incline and then hike through a forest, probably without any path to guide him to the beach. Then, he would have to make it to the water before anyone realized that he was missing.Upon reaching the beach, Jon would still need a boat if he were to cross the sea to the nearest inhabited island. From his vantage point, Jon could see the edge of the island where its rocky shores met the sea. He could see the dock where the Golden Cowrie was moored the day before, but the yacht was nowh
Jon stopped eating and listened to the maid's story. He drank the water she poured him and wiped his lips with the tablecloth.The maid continued. "According to my mother who also heard it from her grandmother, the island used to be uninhabited because of the lack of good soil to farm. However, the presence of fresh water made it known to the fishermen who would sometimes replenish their water supply by coming here. She said there are caves not far from the dock where the fishermen used to stay during bad weather as well as a network of springs and waterfalls that were probably the same sources where the fishermen get their water from."The maid stopped speaking and looked at the door which remained closed."Go on." Jon glanced at the closed door and then urged the maid to continue. "Tell me how Dante came to be in possession of this island.""My grandmother told me that a dinghy was washed ashore here many years ago carrying a man who turned out to be Dante's ancestor. No one knew whe
Jon was taken by surprise at what he had just witnessed. He remembered seeing Dante frail and weakened by some physical malady just the night before. Could it be possible that Dante had completely recovered within just twenty-four hours? Was he just acting the night before? What would Dante gain from feigning illness in front of Jon?Jon withdrew and took a few deep breaths outside the library. He waited a few seconds before finally raising a fist and knocked gently on the library door. Immediately, he heard Dante's voice from within telling him to come in. Jon held his breath before fully opening the library door. When he looked inside, he was surprised that Dante was already seated at his desk and busily working at his laptop. Jon tried to hide his surprise, but in his mind, he was thinking how Dante was able to cross the room and take his seat within a span of a few seconds. Jon also noticed that Dante’s cane was placed on top of the table."Come in, my friend," said Dante with a sm
"Now it's my turn to apologize for saying such things," said Dante with a laugh. "I am happy to have this island because it has nourished me for so long. It has made me stronger to be able to do my work. Its very soil sustains me that I could not bear to stay away from it too long, but I know that I cannot stay here forever and there are some things that I need to do back in the mainland. And that, I can only do if I conquer my fears and travel across the sea." There was a pause and Dante tapped his desk with his long fingers before saying to Jon, "Now, tell me of the other properties that you have found for me."Jon took his cue and turned to his laptop to open the documents that he had prepared earlier. “Balete Park was a great find,” remarked Dante as Jon finished opening his documents and turning his laptop to face Dante.“Yes, I didn’t expect it to be the one that you’re likely to buy, but it did pass all of your requirements,” said Jon.Dante made a soft laugh and said, “You’re
The dark bottle of wine sat inside a metal bucket that was filled with ice. Jon did not know when the cart was rolled into the library, not having seen it when he came in. Pablo or another staff probably opened the door quietly and placed the cart there without disturbing them.Jon held the bottle neck and at once felt the chilled glass on his palm. He uncorked it and poured the red liquid onto a long-stemmed glass. The dark liquid sparkled in the dim light of the library and Jon wetted his lips as he filled his glass, a bit more than what he actually intended.Jon drank the wine slowly, savoring its many distinct yet unknown flavors and let himself get lost in the swirl of strange and pleasurable sensations. As he did so, he lost track of everything else around him until he realized that he had emptied his glass."No need to lick that last drop off your glass. You still have an almost full bottle in your hand," Dante smiled as he sat comfortably in his chair.Jon realized that he had
The maid looked as surprised as he was and she shifted her eyes nervously from side to side. Then, with a more composed face, she lifted her chin and spoke. "I-I'm sorry, Sir. I just forgot something when I was cleaning here earlier," came the apology from the maid, still avoiding Jon’s eyes. She was holding her hands behind her and Jon was sure that she managed to slip something into her pocket."It's alright. I was just surprised to see you here. I thought all of the staff have gone for the night. I hope you found what you were looking for," said Jon.The maid seemed at a loss for words and with her head still bowed, she proceeded slowly towards the door. However, she paused on her way out and decided to turn around to face Jon."I was just wondering if you could help me, Sir.” The maid began, not quite knowing whether she should continue with what she was about to say or to leave the room at once.“What is it?” asked Jon. “Just tell me and I promise to help if I can.” Jon tried to s