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Portraits, true feelings, intellectualism, Veronica the courtesan, and the library room in “Arte”

Veronica ponders Leo’s request in the version of the 37th chapter available on Comikey, the official English translation.

Last month I wrote about the role of the library as a possible show-piece and place of power, in the Arte manga and its anime adaptation (which aired in 2020), especially for the Florentine cortigiana onestà Veronica, [1] who has a library/study room in the place she rents. This study reappears at the beginning of the 37th chapter, with Veronica requesting Leo to use expensive colors on the portrait, saying she is willing to pay extra money for it. At one point she asks about Arte, with Leo noting she hasn’t written back yet, while she says she can’t wait until Arte comes back, rushing through the doors, out of breath. He later finds Dacia looking for Arte, tells her he hasn’t heard from her, and goes back to his work in his workshop. He thinks back to Arte, continues his work diligently, receives a letter, then Arte returns, to his surprise (the letter came at the same time as her). Following her return, she receives portrait work thanks to Veronica, mostly for women in the noble and merchant class. The library continues to have an important role as the manga continues.

In the 39th chapter, Arte is given a book by Veronica. It is by Erasmus (otherwise known as Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamu or Erasmus of Rotterdam), and written in Latin, and is named Stultitiae Laus or Moriae Encomium. The book, published in 1511, is entitled In Praise of Folly (or The Praise of Folly depending on the translation), and is said to be an attack of all parts of human life through satire, with those parts including religious corruption and superstition, with a pivot into “orthodox religious purpose.” Additionally, others stated that the book paved the way for the Protestant Reformation, which began in 1517 with Martin Luther’s publication of his 95 theses, also known as Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.

Arte’s summation is that with the book (which Veronica has read “many times”) she can then engage big patrons in conversation. She asks Arte how work is going, she says it is going fine, with Veronica says she is proud of her, as she is getting a lot of work. However, she admits that she wants to find a patron even bigger than the Faliers and wonders whether it is right for her to only do portraits. Veronica understands and shows Arte the painting that she gifted her, saying she looks at every day, and believes that Arte’s reputation/renown as a painter will grow. She wonders whether Arte should leave Leo and join a bigger workshop instead, so she can move up in the art world. She replies that she had never thought of leaving. Veronica tells her she can reach out to her clients about workshops willing to accept her, and says Leo is likely thinking about the same thing (he is!).

Later, in the 49th chapter, she brings up this book by Erasmus and is able to strike up a conversation with Lady “Irene” (not her real name) in the process. So, the book Veronica gave her is useful after all. In the next chapter, she reveals that her real name is Catalina, the daughter of Juana of Castille, making Arte realize that she (Catalina) is actually a royal princess. Of course, in the chapter after that, chapter 51, she visits Veronica again, meeting her the study/library room, where she asks for books about Castille, Spain (especially the last 20-30 years). She even lets Arte use the room to read a book she picked out on the subject, as she is getting her brown hair bleached. She is dedicated to learning more so her portrait can be a success. She even gets wine delivered to her by one of Veronica’s servants! However, she can’t find any information on Catalina, but only on her mother, Juana, who has been in prison for over a decade. She puts away the books and Veronica says Arte will have to reveal he true feelings to get Catalina to do the same.

Arte in the 51st chapter, says she has to know everything about Catalina so she can do an accurate portrait. Of course, it turns out that she can’t find anything

Of course, Arte forgets to put a book away and Veronica sees the page that’s open and puts it all together, saying that Catalina is a “big fish” but not too big that Arte can’t handle her. Arte later tells Catalina what Veronica once said about her love for Leo: to push it down and move on with her work. She also says she came across a courtigana onestà, with Catalina saying falling in love is not bad. The latter they come across in the next chapter, with Catalina getting this courtesan to explain that the man she loved betrayed her! Also, Veronica’s name is mentioned by Arte. The 54th chapter has the biggest reveal: Catalina was in prison with her mother for 15 years!

While the study/library room does not appear again, in the 65th chapter, Veronica does agree to go with Leo to see Arte off when she leaves Florence as the court painter of Catalina. The latter was a cover to save her from a false accusation of defrauding the count. A few chapters later, in chapter 67, in which Dacia learns from Veronica, in confidence, about what happened to Arte. She may even tell her the full story: that Catalina’s servant/advisor freed Arte from a prison in Florence, the Palazzo, where she was being kept on false charges. Eight years later, as shown in chapter 76, she returns to Florence, after serving as a court painter for Catalina for five years, and got a handsome pension as a result. It is also revealed, in chapter 83, that Veronica became a teacher for Darcia, allowing her to gain enough assets so she could comfortably marry Angelo, offering her expertise rather than a dowry. The following chapter it is also noted that Veronica appears to have fled Florence like many others, and that Leo is still there because he doesn’t know where else to go.

I am reminded at Rebecca Silverman’s review of the anime adaptation’s fourth episode, noting that Veronica might be “one of, if not the, first people to talk to her about sex” and saying that Arte doesn’t need to “know what the former courtesan Veronica takes her to see in the slums to understand that it’s not a life she wants for herself.” That interpretation is incorrect as the “former courtesan” was still a courtesan! Anyway, in another review, she notes that the term courtesan suggested higher class standards and Ubertino believed she was acting “too forward a manner for a properly raised woman, and that very aggressiveness…suggests to him an improper source” and notes the value Arte places on Veronica’s advice. The latter is valuable, since Veronica helps her gets the job in Venice, as Yuri knows her, as a nobleman in Venice after all.

I would say that Veronica is more than a “high-class prostitute,” or “luxury sex worker”, but is someone who takes a liking to Arte. TV Tropes says she embodies the “cruel to be kind”, “high-class call girl”, “hooker with a heart of gold” and “the vamp” tropes. She is likely named after Veronica Franco, a well-known Venetian courtesan, since the latter is known to have gained “access to intellectual circles and made connections with prominent figures in the Venetian court.” The Veronica in this story does the same. As Vedanti Hindurao wrote in regards to The Apothecary Diaries (but also applies here), there is a subtle but undeniable power held by “elite courtesans” with their “public visibility and societal recognition” giving them a voice in social affairs. And the library serves as Veronica’s stage, her way to show off to others, and serves a place of power, of dominance, to show off her knowledge to others. That makes this series unique.

Notes

[1] On the Wikipedia page for the manga she is described as: “rich, beautiful and a pragmatic courtesan, she is the most desired woman in Florence, with an endless crowd of admirers and clients. She takes a liking to Arte from their first meeting, to the point of commissioning her portrait, which then becomes the debut work of the young painter.” In the anime she is voiced by Sayaka Ohara in the Japanese original and Erica Schroeder in the English dub. Ohara is known for voice roles in Cowboy Bebop, Azumanga Daioh (Mrs. Kimura), Kaleido Star (Layla Hamilton), Yamibou, Maria Watches Over Us, Sketchbook ~Full Color’s~, Mnemosyne, Wandering Son (Satomi Nitori), Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (Ridget), Nisekoi, Knights of Sidonia, Tari Tari, Kin-iro Mosaic (Alice’s mother), The Rolling Girls, The Demon Girl Next Door (Seiko Yoshida), and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (Neo Alraune), among other roles. Schroeder did dubs of series like Akebi’s Sailor Uniform and various Western animation.

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