Gogol portrait part 2 short. The main characters and their characteristics

// "Portrait"

The story begins near one of the shops in the Shchukinsky yard, where one young artist Chartkov admired the paintings. Of all the paintings, he liked the portrait of an old man of Asian appearance. It seemed that the picture was not completed. Chartkov decides to buy a portrait of an old man with his last money.

During the artist’s absence from home, the policeman and the owner of the apartment came to him, because it was time to pay the rent. In case of non-payment, Chartkov risked remaining on the street. At that moment, the artist regretted that he had given his last money for the unfinished painting. Chartkov was one of those artists who appreciated art itself; he did not paint false paintings, his works were realistic. In an instant, Charktov felt the piercing eyes of the old man in the picture looking at him. He was overcome with horror. The artist decided to go to bed, covering himself with a screen. It seemed to him that the old man was still looking at him. Chartkov dreamed that the moonlit portrait came to life and the old man got off it. He sat down at the artist’s feet and began to take out some packages. One of the packages fell unnoticed, with the inscription “1000 chervonnies” on it. Chartkov quietly grabbed the package and squeezed it tightly in his palm.

When the artist woke up, he noticed that he was standing in front of the portrait, his hand still felt the weight of the package, and the piercing eyes of the old man were looking at him.

Later, the owner of the apartment and the policeman came to see Chartkov again. Since the artist had no money, he offered to pay with his works. The owner of the apartment liked the portrait of an old man. When the policeman wanted to take it away, the scroll that was in Chartkov’s dream fell out from under the frame. From that moment the life of the young artist changed dramatically. He bought himself new clothes, rented a luxury apartment on Nevsky Prospekt, advertised in the newspaper and began accepting orders.

His first commission was a portrait of a young girl. Charktov tried to portray the girl as naturally as possible. But the customer did not like the work. Having developed a single template, Charktov corrected the portrait. He did all his further work according to the intended template. This brought him great wealth and recognition in society. Once an unrecognizable young artist, he became the most fashionable painter.

One day, Chartkov was asked to evaluate one of the paintings sent from Italy. Looking at the painting, the artist realized how beautiful it was. He reproached himself for writing only to please the customer. He begins to buy up all the world's masterpieces and destroy them. Ultimately, Chartkov goes crazy, having squandered his entire fortune. He dies, leaving behind only tormented paintings.

The next time we meet with the portrait of Stark is at an auction. When the auction was in full swing, and the price had increased several times, one young artist claimed his rights to this painting, telling everyone present the story of the portrait.

The painting depicted a moneylender. He gave money at a small interest rate to both the poor and the rich. But everyone who received money from the moneylender suffered a terrible fate.

The moneylender had no heirs, and then he decided to immortalize his image in the painting. He turned to the artist, who was the father of the narrator. The artist tried to depict the moneylender as accurately as possible. But the more accurate the details of the portrait were, the more alive the old man’s eyes seemed. The portrait exhausted the artist. He quit his job more than once, but always returned to it again. Ultimately, he quit his job. The moneylender did not pay for the unfinished portrait. In the evening the artist was brought news of the death of the moneylender. After this news, anger and hatred filled the artist; he wanted to destroy the portrait, but he was prevented by a friend who took the portrait for himself. Then the artist decided to go to a monastery, and sent his son to study art. When his son returned, the artist told him the story of the portrait and bequeathed to him to destroy it.

As soon as the narrator turned his gaze to the portrait, he was not in his place. Maybe it was stolen.

"Portrait"- story by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

Part 1 "Portrait" summary

With a young man talented artist Andrei Chartkov happened tragic story. He lived very poorly, but once he did not regret paying the last two kopecks for a painting he liked in Shchukin’s yard. It was a portrait of an old man in Asian clothes.

It seemed to Chartkov that the picture was painted famous master, but for some reason it is not finished. The old man's eyes seemed alive.

At home, the artist found out: the owner came and demanded payment for housing. The young man immediately regretted that he had given his last money for the portrait. Chartkov plunged into thoughts about his poverty and life's injustice. He doesn’t even have money for a candle; he has to sit in the dark. And then the artist’s gaze fell on the portrait.

The old man’s “living” eyes looked out from the picture and frightened him. An inexplicable sinister force emanated from the portrait. Before going to bed, Chartkov looked at the portrait again. Once again it seemed to him that the old man’s eyes, illuminated by the moon, were looking intently into his soul. In fear, the artist threw a sheet over the portrait, but this did not help. The matter began to move, and the old man's gaze was everywhere.

Suddenly Chartkov saw that the sheet was lying on the floor, and the old man came out of the frame and sat down on his bed. In the Asian’s hand there was a bag of money with the inscription on it: “1000 chervonets.” Suddenly the bag fell out of the old man’s hands and rolled to the side. Chartkov tried to quietly take the money, but at that moment he woke up. For a long time he felt the pleasant weight of the bag of money in his hand.

In the morning the owner of the apartment came again. Having learned that there was no money, he offered Chartkov to pay with work. The owner was interested in the portrait of the old man. While examining it, he accidentally touched the frame, from which a bag with the inscription “1000 chervonets” fell out. After such luck, Chartkov immediately paid the owner of the apartment and moved out of his place.

For a long time the artist drove away bad thoughts about the old man and convinced himself that he had simply found a treasure. Overcoming a strong desire to buy brushes and paints with all the money, he rented a luxurious apartment on Nevsky that same day. Chartkov began to live in a new way. He began to dress fashionably and advertised in the newspaper for the services of an artist. The lady came first and ordered a portrait of her daughter. In his haste, Chartkov did not have time to remember his daughter’s facial features well and therefore the portrait did not turn out. The customer did not like the yellowness of her face and the circles under her eyes. Then Chartkov gave her his old job entitled “Psyche”, slightly updating the picture. The minor conflict was resolved.

The artist began to receive orders. He paints many portraits, satisfying the desires of rich people. Chartkov is now received in the best aristocratic houses. But along with wealth, the young man himself changes, becoming tough and cynical. He speaks harshly and arrogantly about other masters. Chartkov criticizes everyone, does not recognize a single talent.

Those who knew Chartkov before are amazed at such dramatic changes in him. It is difficult to understand how a talented artist turned into a miser in such a short time. Anger and hatred now become Chartkov’s faithful companions.

One day young man invited to the Academy of Arts to see a painting by an old friend sent from Italy. And then Chartkov realized how low he had fallen, how insignificant his paintings were in comparison with the works of other artists.

Chartkov closes himself in the workshop and tries to rectify the situation. He immerses himself in his work, but is forced to constantly interrupt it due to basic gaps in knowledge that he neglected at the beginning of his artistic career. The master is overwhelmed with envy and anger. Chartkov begins to buy best works from all over the world, but soon dies of consumption. The artist’s death was terrible - he saw the eyes of an old Asian man everywhere. Later it turned out that all the masterpieces on which Chartkov spent a huge fortune were destroyed by him.

Part II "Portrait" summary

Soon another part of the story became known, which happened to the young artist Andrei Chartkov. At an auction in St. Petersburg, among Chinese vases, paintings, old furniture and other things, a portrait of an old Asian man was sold, whose eyes looked like they were alive. When the price quadrupled, a certain artist B. claimed his rights to the painting. In confirmation, he told a story that happened to his father in Kolomna. Once upon a time there lived an Asian moneylender. He was huge and scary, like a demon. His terms seemed very favorable, but when the time came to pay, according to strange arithmetic calculations, the interest turned out to be huge, growing several times.

The fate of those who took money from the Asian was terrible. So, a young and fairly successful nobleman took a loan from a moneylender, after which negative changes occurred in his character. The matter ended in complete madness and the death of the nobleman. There was also a story with a girl whose boyfriend asked an Asian man for help. He had to take this step so that the bride's parents would give the go-ahead for their union. However, disastrous changes also occurred in the character of this person. The man was burned with terrible jealousy, he even attempted the life of his young wife, and then decided to commit suicide. And there were a lot of such stories told.

The artist's father B. painted temples, but for some reason he very often wanted to depict the spirit of darkness on canvas. One day a terrible neighbor, a moneylender, came to see him and asked him to paint a portrait so that he would look “as if alive.” The artist happily took on the job, but the better he got at the old man’s appearance, the more terrible and painful it became in his soul. The artist felt an incomprehensible fear that emanated from the portrait.

The master could not stand such stress and decided to refuse the order. But the old man begged to finish the portrait, saying that he would live in it after death. This frightened the artist even more. He ran away, and the moneylender died the next day.

Soon the artist noticed changes in himself: he began to envy and harm his students, and the eyes of an Asian moneylender began to appear in his paintings. Therefore, the artist’s father B. decided to burn the terrible portrait. But in last moment This painting was begged by a friend who gave the painting to his nephew. He soon also got rid of the portrait.

The author of the ill-fated painting began to understand that in some incomprehensible way an Asian moneylender had possessed the portrait. The death of my relatives finally convinced me of this. The artist went to a monastery, and sent his eldest son to the Academy of Arts.

When the artist’s father B. took up his brush again, he whole year wrote one work - “The Nativity of Jesus”, which was full of holiness and light. He wanted to atone for the fatal portrait.

Artist B. graduated from the Academy of Arts and before traveling to Italy, he went to visit his father. He told his son scary story about a moneylender. He asked the heir to find and destroy the portrait.

It took fifteen years to find the deadly canvas. Artist B. asked to give him the portrait in order to destroy it forever. People after listening to this creepy story, agreed.

When everyone turned to the wall where the portrait hung, they saw with horror that the painting had disappeared. Maybe it was just stolen. But who knows…

I bought a portrait of an old Asian foreigner in an art shop. The image of his face on the canvas was not finished, but unknown author with extraordinary force he painted the eyes, which looked as if they were alive, arousing in the viewer a strange, unpleasant, but at the same time bewitching feeling.

Chartkov spent his last two-kopeck piece on the portrait and returned to his poor, rented St. Petersburg apartment. The servant Nikita reported that in Chartkov’s absence the owner of the house came demanding immediate payment of the debt for housing.

The young artist experienced painful humiliation at the thought of his poverty. He believed that fate was unfair to him: despite his outstanding talent as a painter, Chartkov could not get out of poverty.

He went to bed upset. From behind the bed screens one could see the portrait purchased today, which was already hung on the wall. IN moonlight the portrait's eyes looked piercing and frightening. Suddenly the old man depicted on the canvas moved, rested his hands on the frame, jumped out of it and sat down right next to Chartkov’s bed. From under his oriental attire he took out a bag, and from there - tied up bundles of money, on each of which there was an inscription: “1000 ducats.” The artist looked greedily at this lot of money. The old man counted the packages and put them back into the bag, but one of them rolled to the side. Chartkov quietly grabbed him - and at that moment he woke up. What remained from the dream, however, was an unusually distinct feeling, as if everything had happened in reality. The palm retained a clear feeling of the heaviness of the package.

Chartkov began to dream how happily he could live, having at least a small part of the money he saw in his dream. In the morning, the owner of the house and the policeman came knocking on his door, demanding to pay for his stay immediately. The artist did not know what to answer: there was nothing to pay with. During a conversation, the quarterly, looking at standing paintings, picked up the portrait of an Asian man and carelessly pressed the frame. Chartkov noticed how the frame was pressed inward, and exactly the same package as he had dreamed fell out of it. He hurried to pick it up.

The package actually contained a thousand ducats. This huge amount allowed Chartkov to pay for the apartment, rent another, luxurious one, dress according to latest fashion and submit an article to the newspaper about your extraordinary artistic talent.

Rich customers flocked to him. At first, he painted portraits from them diligently and with soul. But the number of clients grew. Chartkov could no longer perform all the pictures carefully. Little by little he developed special technique writing, which made it possible to speed up the work, but deprived it of all inspiration and relegated it to a rough, artisanal level. Most of those he portrayed knew little about painting. Although less and less talent was noticed in Chartkov’s portraits, the public continued to idolize him. The more money he received, the more his thirst for it grew.

Once Chartkov saw a picture of one of his former acquaintances. Not caring about material wealth, he spent several years in hard work and achieved true artistic perfection. Immediately realizing how much higher this picture of him is own works, Chartkov was imbued with black envy towards its author. He himself tried to portray something similar, but years of continuous pursuit of well-being destroyed the last glimpses of God's gift in him. Burning jealousy for anyone who showed himself to be more talented began to drain Chartkov. He now spent all the accumulated money on buying the best canvases at auctions, bringing them home and cutting them into pieces there. Having reached the point of madness, Chartkov died in terrible agony. The news that scraps of magnificent canvases had been found in his house horrified everyone.

"Portrait". Pre-revolutionary silent film based on the story by N.V. Gogol, 1915

Gogol “Portrait”, part 2 – summary

The same portrait of an Asian man from Chartkov’s house was exhibited at an art auction some time later. The amazing liveliness of the portrait's eyes attracted buyers, and the price quickly rose. However, in the midst of trade, a certain young artist entered and told the story of this painting.

Several decades ago, the father of this artist lived in one of the suburbs of St. Petersburg - Kolomna. An Asian moneylender who came from God knows where also settled there. Very tall, with a terrible, heavy look, he built himself a fortress-like house and began to give money to everyone - from poor old women to noble nobles. The moneylender charged exorbitant interest rates for his loans. Everyone soon began to be amazed by the strange fate of his borrowers. It seemed that the borrowed money was beginning to bring them misfortune. Generous people became money-grubbers, magnanimous people became envious, discord opened up in families, even to the point of bloody murders.

The artist's father painted on religious themes. Having once decided to portray the devil, he thought that the moneylender could serve as the best example for him. Oddly enough, soon after this, the Asian man personally came to him and offered to paint a portrait of himself.

The father agreed. The moneylender began to pose for him. My father put all his talent into the portrait, but only managed to finish the customer’s eyes completely on canvas. He could no longer write: his eyes seemed to come to life and were looking at him, causing a heavy, anxious feeling. The father announced that he was refusing the order and the money. The moneylender suddenly rushed to his feet and asked him to finish the job. He said that in a mysterious way his nature should pass into the portrait, that after the completion of the painting he would not die, but would exist forever in the world. The father flatly refused. The next day he learned that the moneylender had died, bequeathing him an unfinished portrait.

My father installed it at home. The moneylender's eyes retained human liveliness, and the artist who painted them soon felt a demonic influence on himself. The father was suddenly seized with envy of one of his students, whom he began to consider more talented than himself. The eyes of the saints that my father painted for churches somehow took on a devilish expression on their own. Suspecting that the portrait was to blame, the father wanted to cut it up, but restrained himself at the request of one friend, who begged for the painting of the moneylender for himself.

When the portrait was taken out of the house, the father began to calm down. But its new owner began to feel the pernicious power of the painting. He hurried to quickly sell the portrait off his hands. The face of the moneylender also brought misfortune to all subsequent owners. Many have seen an Asian man emerging from the frame of a painting at night.

Dying, the author of the portrait bequeathed to his artist son to remember: in creative inspiration there is some kind of dark side that must be avoided in every possible way. Under the influence of this dark passion and the eyes of an Asian were once painted. Now, before his death, the father conjured his son to find this portrait, wherever it was, and destroy it.

The young artist’s story so amazed the auction participants that everyone forgot about the portrait itself. When at the end the audience turned to look at the painting, it was no longer there. The portrait was either stolen or magically disappeared.

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In a shop in Shchukin's yard, the young artist Chartkov admired the paintings. He had no money, but, not wanting to leave empty-handed, he began to look for unsought rubbish in the pile inexpensive painting. There he found an unfinished portrait of an Asian man, painted by the hand of a skilled craftsman, and bargained for it for two kopecks.

Returning home, he learns that the owner of the apartment came to him with a policeman, with the intention of expelling the artist for non-payment. The professor considered Chartkov a talented artist and advised him not to “paint” for money. But in a moment of despair, Chartkov scolded himself for not choosing the easy way - to write to please the customer for a fee. At that moment, he was pierced by the gaze of the Asian man from the portrait. Chartkov became scared. Even when he went to bed behind the screen, this gaze pierced him through the crack of the screen through the sheet with which the portrait was wrapped. In the moonlight, the artist dreamed that the old man had stepped out of the portrait. The Asian sat down almost at the very feet of the stunned artist, took out a bag with parcels, on each of which was written “1000 red rubles.” One package rolled to the side and the artist, unnoticed by the old man, took it away.

Chartkov woke up standing in front of the portrait and not understanding how he got there. It was a dream, but his hand felt the weight of gold, and the old man looked at him with a terrible look. The artist screamed and woke up.

The next day the payment deadline arrived. The owner drew attention to the portrait of an Asian man, the policeman took it and a scroll with the inscription “1000 ducats” fell out from under the frame. From that time on, the life of the young artist went differently: he bought himself good clothes and rented an apartment on Nevsky. He wanted fame. He placed an ad in the newspaper that spoke of his genius. Soon the artist received an order for a portrait of a young lady. The work fascinated him, but the customer did not like the truthfulness of the portrait. Chartkov had to correct what he had written. The resemblance disappeared, but the artist was rewarded with money and secular honors. A little time passed, and Chartkov was recognized as a fashionable painter.

At a time when Chartkov became rich and popular, he was invited to evaluate a painting sent from Italy. The depth of the artist’s talent so amazed Chartkov that he realized how insignificant he was when painting fashionable portraits. Envy arose in his soul, which forced him to buy and destroy talented paintings. He fell into madness and died, leaving behind only tormented works of art.

A portrait of an Asian man was being sold at auction. The price has risen to incredible heights. The artist stopped the debate by telling those present the story of the portrait. The Asian was a moneylender who gave money to both the poorest and the richest. A strange fate awaited everyone who took money from him. The most beautiful intentions of the souls of the borrowers took on ugly, ugly forms. The moneylender began to inspire fear and horror.

One day an Asian man came to the studio of a talented artist - the narrator's father. The artist was self-taught, and his soul burned with Christian virtue. He worked hard for the church. In one of his works he had to portray the spirit of darkness. The image of a moneylender popped into his head at this thought. And so, the Asian himself came to his studio and ordered a portrait, saying that he had no heirs, but he wanted to live after death. They agreed on a price and began painting the portrait.

The artist was passionate about his work and tried to reflect every detail. He was overcome by a painful feeling, but he did not retreat. The Asian man's eyes struck him greatly, and he decided to paint them as realistically as possible. Throughout his work, he was haunted by disgust. He quit his job and took it up again. The portrait was never completed. The moneylender returned it without paying anything. In the evening, the artist learned that the Asian man had died. From that time on, envy appeared in the artist’s heart. He began to weave intrigues. The artist decided to burn the portrait, but his friend prevented him from doing this, taking the painting for himself. Everyone who received the portrait suffered misfortune. The artist went to a monastery, sending his son to study painting. When he completed the course and came to his father for a blessing, the artist told him the history of the portrait and bequeathed to destroy the painting if his son ever found it.

The young artist did not have time to finish. Turning their gaze to the place where the portrait was, everyone saw that it had disappeared.

Part one

The young artist Chartkov enters an art shop in Shchukin’s yard. Among the mediocre popular prints he discovers old portrait. “He was an old man with a bronze-colored face, high cheekbones, and stunted; the features of the face seemed to be captured in a moment of convulsive movement and responded not with northern strength. The fiery afternoon was captured in them. He was draped in a loose Asian suit. No matter how damaged and dusty the portrait was, when he managed to clean the dust from it, he saw traces of work high artist. The portrait, it seemed, was not finished, but the power of the brush was striking. Most extraordinary of all were the eyes... They simply looked, looked even from the portrait itself, as if destroying its harmony with their strange liveliness.” Chartkov buys a portrait for two kopecks.

Chartkov, how a real artist, lives in poverty, experiences financial difficulties, but does not succumb to the temptation to become a fashionable painter, preferring to develop his talent. Chartkov always owes rent for his apartment.

At home, Chartkov approaches the portrait more than once, trying to understand the secret it contains. “It was no longer a copy from life, it was that strange liveliness that would illuminate the face of a dead man rising from the grave.” Chartkov is scared to walk around the room, he falls asleep, in a dream he sees the old man crawling out of his portrait, taking packages out of a bag, and money in the packages. Chartkov grabs one of the packages with the inscription “1000 chervonets”, trying his best so that the old man does not notice his movement. The artist wakes up several times, but cannot return to his reality. In reality it turns out that there really is a bundle of money in his room.

The owner of the apartment and a policeman knock on the door, they demand immediate payment of the debt. Chartkov pays everything in full, hires a new one luxury apartment, moves and decides to paint fashionable portraits (in which there is not a drop of resemblance to the original, but only a custom-made mask). Chartkov dresses beautifully, orders a commendable article about himself in the newspaper and soon receives his first customers - rich lady and her daughter, whose portrait he must paint. The artist paints the girl’s face quite vividly, but the mother does not like some yellowness of the skin, or some other “defect” that so enlivens her daughter’s sweet face. Finally, the customers are satisfied; Chartkov receives money and flattering reviews. He has more and more clients, he draws what is required of him, embellishes faces, removes “flaws,” and gives them an expression that is unusual for them. Money flows like a river. Chartkov himself is surprised how he could previously spend so much time working on one portrait. Now a day is enough for him to finish the painting. He is a fashionable painter; he is accepted everywhere, he is a welcome guest, he allows himself to judge other artists in society (including Raphael), they write about him in newspapers, his savings are increasing.

The Academy of Arts invites Chartkov to express his opinion on the works of a young artist who trained in Italy. He was already preparing to casually criticize, slightly praise, and casually express his own vision of the depicted object, but the work of the young painter shocks him with its magnificent execution. Chartkov thinks about his ruined talent, about the fact that he exchanged his true purpose in life for gold. He goes home, tries to portray a fallen angel, but his brush does not obey him, because his hand is already accustomed to depicting something hardened. The artist falls into despair and meets his eyes with the eyes of the old man in the portrait. He decides that the portrait was the reason his life changed dramatically, and orders the portrait to be taken away.

Chartkov is overcome by envy of all talented painters. He buys everything best paintings, brings them home and cuts them into pieces. Attacks of rage and madness are repeated more and more often; the artist constantly imagines the eyes of the old man in the portrait. Chartkov dies in terrible agony. After him there is no fortune left: he spent everything on beautiful paintings by other masters, which he destroyed.

Part two

The portrait is being sold at auction. They give a very high price for it. Two rich art connoisseurs refuse to give in to each other amazing picture. Suddenly, a man of about thirty-five interrupts the auction, explaining that he has been looking for this portrait for many years, and that the portrait should go to him. He tells incredible story painting a picture.

Many years ago, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Kolomna, there lived a strange moneylender, “an extraordinary creature in all respects... He walked in a wide Asian outfit; dark paint his face indicated his southern origin, but what exactly was his nationality: Indian, Greek, Persian, no one could say for sure... This moneylender differed from other moneylenders in that he could provide any amount of money to everyone, starting with the beggar an old woman to a wasteful court nobleman... But what is strangest of all and what could not help but amaze many was the strange fate of all those who received money from him: they all ended their lives in an unhappy way.”

A young man of aristocratic origin patronized people of art and went bankrupt. He turned to a Kolomna moneylender for a loan and suddenly changed: he became a persecutor talented people, saw signs of an impending revolution everywhere, suspected everyone, and composed unfair denunciations. Rumors about his behavior reach the empress. He is punished and sent into retirement. Everyone despises him. He dies in a fit of madness and rage.

Prince R. is in love with the first beauty of St. Petersburg, she reciprocates his feelings. But the prince’s affairs are upset, and the girl’s relatives do not accept his proposal.

The prince leaves the capital and after a short time returns as a fabulously rich man (apparently, he turned to the Kolomna money lender). A magnificent wedding is taking place. But the prince becomes painfully jealous, intolerant, capricious, beats his young wife, torments her with his suspicions. A woman starts talking about divorce. The husband rushes at her with a knife, they try to restrain him, and he stabs himself.

The father of the young man present at the auction was a talented artist. On one of the canvases he intended to depict the spirit of darkness and imagined it in no other way than in the image of a Kolomna usurer. Suddenly, the moneylender himself comes to the artist’s studio and asks to draw his portrait. The lighting is favorable to begin work, and the painter takes up the brush. The similarity is striking, but the better the details are drawn out, the greater the artist’s disgust for the work. He refuses to continue the portrait. The moneylender throws himself on his knees in front of him, begs him to finish the painting, explaining that he will live in the portrait even after death. The artist throws down his brushes and palette and runs away.

In the evening the moneylender dies. The artist feels that unpleasant changes are taking place in him: he envies his talented student, deprives him of that lucrative order, tries to present his own painting instead of the student’s work, but the choice of the commission still falls on the student. The artist sees that in his own painting all the figures have the eyes of a moneylender. He returns home furiously, intending to burn the portrait. Luckily, one of his friends comes to him at that moment and takes the portrait for himself. The artist immediately feels how peace of mind returns to him. He asks his student for forgiveness.

Having met his friend one day, he learns that the portrait brought misfortune to him too, and he gave it to his nephew. He also sold the portrait from his hands, and so the painting ended up in an art shop.

The artist thinks deeply about how much evil he brought to people with his work. When his son turns nine years old, he enrolls him in the Academy of Arts, and he himself takes monastic vows and voluntarily increases the severity of monastic life for himself. He has not painted for many years, atonement for his sin. Finally, the artist dares to paint the Nativity of Jesus. This is a miracle of the brush; all the monks agree that divine power guided the artist’s hand. He meets with his son, blesses him and tells the story of the creation of the painting, warning against temptations similar to those that this portrait causes in people. “Save the purity of your soul. He who has talent within himself must have the purest soul of all. Much will be forgiven to another, but it will not be forgiven to him.” The artist bequeaths his son to find the portrait and destroy it.

Everyone present at the auction turns to the portrait, but it is no longer on the wall. Perhaps someone managed to steal it.