The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Unknown Masterpiece, by Honore De Balzac

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Title: The Unknown Masterpiece
1845

Author: Honore De Balzac

Release Date: October 17, 2007 [EBook #23060]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNKNOWN MASTERPIECE ***

Produced by David Widger

THE UNKNOWN MASTERPIECE

By Honore De Balzac

TO A LORD

1845

I--GILLETTE

On a cold December morning in the year 1612, a young man, whose clothing
was somewhat of the thinnest, was walking to and fro before a gateway
in the Rue des Grands-Augustins in Paris. He went up and down the street
before this house with the irresolution of a gallant who dares not
venture into the presence of the mistress whom he loves for the first
time, easy of access though she may be; but after a sufficiently long
interval of hesitation, he at last crossed the threshold and inquired
of an old woman, who was sweeping out a large room on the ground floor,
whether Master Porbus was within. Receiving a reply in the affirmative,
the young man went slowly up the staircase, like a gentleman but newly
come to court, and doubtful as to his reception by the king. He came to
a stand once more on the landing at the head of the stairs, and again he
hesitated before raising his hand to the grotesque knocker on the door
of the studio, where doubtless the painter was at work--Master Porbus,
sometime painter in ordinary to Henri IV till Mary de' Medici took
Rubens into favor.

The young man felt deeply stirred by an emotion that must thrill the
hearts of all great artists when, in the pride of their youth and their
first love of art, they come into the presence of a master or stand
before a masterpiece. For all human sentiments there is a time of early
blossoming, a day of generous enthusiasm that gradually fades until
nothing is left of happiness but a memory, and glory is known for
a delusion. Of all these delicate and short-lived emotions, none so
resemble love as the passion of a young artist for his art, as he is
about to enter on the blissful martyrdom of his career of glory and
disaster, of vague expectations and real disappoint