The Background

by H.H. Munro (SAKI)

　　

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"That woman's art-jargon tires me," said Clovis to his journalist friend. "She'sso fond of talking of certain pictures as 'growing on one,' as though they werea sort of fungus.""That reminds me," said the journalist, "of the story of Henri Deplis. Have Iever told it you?"Clovis shook his head."Henri Deplis was by birth a native of the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. On maturerreflection he became a commercial traveller. His business activities frequentlytook him beyond the limits of the Grand Duchy, and he was stopping in a smalltown of Northern Italy when news reached him from home that a legacy from adistant and deceased relative had fallen to his share."It was not a large legacy, even from the modest standpoint of Henri Deplis, butit impelled him towards some seemingly harmless extravagances. In particular itled him to patronize local art as represented by the tattoo-needles of SignorAndreas Pincini. Signor Pincini was, perhaps, the most brilliant master oftattoo craft that Italy had ever known, but his circumstances were decidedlyimpoverished, and for the sum of six hundred francs he gladly undertook to coverhis client's back, from the collar-bone down to the waist-line, with a glowingrepresentation of the Fall of Icarus. The design, when finally developed, was aslight disappointment to Monsieur Deplis, who had suspected Icarus of being afortress taken by Wallenstein in the Thirty Years' War, but he was more thansatisfied with the execution of the work, which was acclaimed by all who had theprivilege of seeing it as Pincini's masterpiece."It was his greatest effort, and his last. Without even waiting to be paid, theillustrious craftsman departed this life, and was buried under an ornatetombstone, whose winged cherubs would have afforded singularly little scope forthe exercise of his favourite art. There remained, however, the widow Pincini,to whom the six hundred francs were due. And thereupon arose the great crisis inthe life of Henri Deplis, traveller of commerce. The legacy, under the stress ofnumerous little calls on its substance, had dwindled to very insignificantproportions, and when a pressing wine bill and sundry other current accounts hadbeen paid, there remained little more than 430 francs to offer to the widow. Thelady was properly indignant, not wholly, as she volubly explained, on account ofthe suggested writing-off of 170 francs, but also at the attempt to depreciatethe value of her late husband's acknowledged masterpiece. In a week's timeDeplis was obliged to reduce his offer to 405 francs, which circumstance fannedthe widow's indignation into a fury. She cancelled the sale of the work of art,and a few days later Deplis learned with a sense of consternation that she hadpresented it to the municipality of Bergamo, which had gratefully accepted it.He left the neighbourhood as unobtrusively as possible, and was genuinelyrelieved when his business commands took him to Rome, where he hoped hisidentity and that of the famous picture might be lost sight of."But he bore on his back the burden of the dead man's genius. On presentinghimself one day in the steaming corridor of a vapour bath, he was at oncehustled back into his clothes by the proprietor, who was a North Italian, andwho emphatically refused to allow the celebrated Fall of Icarus to be publiclyon view without the permission of the municipality of Bergamo. Public interestand official vigilance increased as the matter became more widely known, andDeplis was unable to take a simple dip in the sea or river on the hottestafternoon unless clothed up to the collar-bone in a substantial bathing garment.Later on the authorities of Bergamo conceived the idea that salt water might beinjurious to the masterpiece, and a perpetual injunction was obtained whichdebarred the muchly harassed commercial traveller from sea bathing under anycircumstances. Altogether, he was fervently thankful when his firm of employersfound him a new range of activities in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux. Histhankfulness, however, ceased abruptly at the Franco-Italian frontier. Animposing array of official force barred his departure, and he was sternlyreminded of the stringent law which forbids the exportation of Italian works ofart.A diplomatic parley ensued between the Luxemburgian and Italian Governments, andat one time the European situation became overcast with the possibilities oftrouble. But the Italian Government stood firm; it declined to concern itself inthe least with the fortunes or even the existence of Henri Deplis, commercialtraveller, but was immovable in its decision that the Fall of Icarus (by thelate Pincini, Andreas) at present the property of the municipality of Bergamo,should not leave the country."The excitement died down in time, but the unfortunate Deplis, who was of aconstitutionally retiring disposition, found himself a few months later oncemore the storm-centre of a furious controversy. A certain German art expert, whohad obtained from the municipality of Bergamo permission to inspect the famousmasterpiece, declared it to be a spurious Pincini, probably the work of somepupil whom he had employed in his declining years. The evidence of Deplis on thesubject was obviously worthless, as he had been under the influence of thecustomary narcotics during the long process of pricking in the design. Theeditor of an Italian art journal refuted the contentions of the German expertand undertook to prove that his private life did not conform to any modernstandard of decency. The whole of Italy and Germany were drawn into the dispute,and the rest of Europe was soon involved in the quarrel. There were stormyscenes in the Spanish Parliament, and the University of Copenhagen bestowed agold medal on the German expert (afterwards sending a commission to examine hisproofs on the spot), while two Polish schoolboys in Paris committed suicide toshow what they thought of the matter."Meanwhile, the unhappy human background fared no better than before, and it wasnot surprising that he drifted into the ranks of Italian anarchists. Four timesat least he was escorted to the frontier as a dangerous and undesirableforeigner, but he was always brought back as the Fall of Icarus (attributed toPincini, Andreas, early Twentieth Century). And then one day, at an anarchistcongress at Genoa, a fellow-worker, in the heat of debate, broke a phial full ofcorrosive liquid over his back. The red shirt that he was wearing mitigated theeffects, but the Icarus was ruined beyond recognition. His assailant wasseverely reprimanded for assaulting a fellow-anarchist and received seven yearsimprisonment for defacing a national art treasure. As soon as he was able toleave the hospital Henri Deplis was put across the frontier as an undesirablealien."In the quieter streets of Paris, especially in the neighbourhood of theMinistry of Fine Arts, you may sometimes meet a depressed, anxious-looking man,who, if you pass him the time of day, will answer you with a slight Luxemburgianaccent. He nurses the illusion that he is one of the lost arms of the Venus deMilo, and hopes that the French Government may be persuaded to buy him. On allother subjects I believe he is tolerably sane."

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The Background was featured as TheShort Story of the Day on Sun, Jan 01, 2012

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