Previously, during the renovation of the church, the bishop hired two painters to repaint the frescoes of the church as he wished, one of them was a Neustrian from the diocese of Soggeny, but he studied painting at the Abbey of Alban, and was half Tourneste; The other was a native of St. Aomeer, and the merchants of St. Amier in the city of Tournest, having heard the news that the church was to be rebuilt, invited him from St. Amer to please the bishop.

After receiving the two painters, the bishop asked each of them to make a fresco of the saints, one for St. Sina and one for St. Alban, according to his instructions, and agreed that the quality of the two paintings would determine the ownership of the frescoes of the church dome and the decoration of other paintings.

Both artists agreed to the contest and drew lots to decide which one to draw.

If they were working under someone else, the first step was to polish the paint, and there was no place to sell the paints used by the painters these days, and each painter prepared his own paints for his own use.

Their pigment recipes are different, and the preparation of new varieties of pigments is also one of the daily studies of painters, some of which are kept secret and eventually lost, and some of which are well known but not every artist can afford to use. In order to save money, Chinese painters in the twentieth century would use domestic oil paints as the base and imported paints to depict the details. In the Middle Ages, wealthy painters would use the precious gem - lapis lazuli - to paint the sky, while poor painters could not afford to use the jewelry of the goddess Ishtar and had to substitute ground blue glass.

However, the bishop instructed them not to be busy with painting just yet.

He was not a man of impatience, and the bishop said that he wanted the frescoes dedicated to the renovated new church to be as perfect as possible, even if it took a little longer, to be prepared for pilgrims to see and inspire their devotion, not to be driven out to dress the girls for tomorrow night's dance.

He asked them to observe the models assigned to them by the bishop before painting, one to observe the nurses in the hospital, and one to observe the busy workers at the church site.

The two got the order, so they each carried their sketchpads and set off with their apprentices.

Subsequently, the arrival of the Laccades caused the bishop to put the matter of the two painters behind him.

After days of fighting, and at the end of the aftermath, the bishop was no less busy than anyone else in the city, and he could scarcely remember the contest he had ordered two painters, and he only remembered when he heard this appointment.

When the two painters had met him, they told him that they had finished painting what he had commanded.

"Well, then I happen to be free, so I can go and see it now." "It's just ......," the bishop said.

After such a catastrophe, the work of rebuilding the cathedral is likely to be slowed down, and the failure of the two painters, not to mention the winner, will probably have to wait for his work.

However, two painters asked him that, in the name of the bishop, the abbot and other senior clergy in charge of the church and the chapel, the heads of all walks of life in the city, the wealthy merchants, and the great benefactors of the church should come and see and appreciate the two paintings.

"Do you think it's unfair for me to judge alone?" The bishop asked playfully, that the quality of art was indeed a matter of idealism, that this man's masterpiece was worthless in the eyes of that man, but that it was the bishop who hired them to paint, and as an employer, he was qualified to judge alone, and the request of the two painters was a bit excessive.

But it was precisely because of this that he became curious about them, these two men were not just unafraid of the world, they were facing the bishop of the city, one of whom was highly recommended by the merchants of St. Omere, who was in the city to do business with the bishop's permission and protection, what made them so bold as to risk offending the bishop to ask for such a judgment?

He therefore questioned him verbally, but in a very gentle tone, which encouraged the two painters to state their intentions to the bishop.

"No, that's not what the little people think."

Seeing that the bishop was not angry, the two painters had the audacity to explain to the bishop that they were both people who lived painting far from home, and that there were assistants and apprentices to support, and that it was to be expected that the renovation of the cathedral would slow down, and that the painter who had been favored by the bishop would be in trouble, but the other painter would probably be in trouble.

Therefore, they asked the bishop, to invite the high-ranking people of the Church and the wealthy people of the city to see their paintings, so that the work of the painter, who was a little less skilled, could also be seen by potential patrons.

The bishop appreciated their love and care for their peers and acceded to their request.

Two days later, the bishop invited the presidents of all walks of life in the city, the wealthy merchants of the city, the great benefactors of the church, the head of the troupe, the abbot and others to see the new works of the two painters.

In the midst of the sorrow brought by the Lackadians, it was a novelty to be entertained, so many people came that day, even old Jacob, who had heard that the frescoes were different from the past, and felt that there was a way to make a fortune, and was ready to see if he could make some imitations and sell them under the guise of the new frescoes of the Cathedral of St. Tourneste.

The painters' work was obscured by several curtains, and no one could see their paintings, not even the decorators who came and went in the church.

On that day, they watched and talked with curiosity.

Because these two painters started painting after the Lackadian army was discharged, they painted in a very ingenious way - they didn't hang the curtain after painting, they hung the curtain at the beginning!

They worked behind the curtain, and no one could see what they were drawing.

This secrecy aroused the curiosity of the workers, and some approached the curtain to peek twice, but were reprimanded by the painter's apprentices.

"The people of St. Omier have strange rules for painting." One worker pouted and said, "It's as if if one look at the painting will have wings and fly!" ”

"The people of St. Omer are inherently weird!" Another worker agreed with him, saying that the worker had come from another parish and had never been with St. Omers before, "They bought and sold in the merchant house, and they did not go to the market area, and it was rare for them to go to the market area once, and they hugged each other, and I thought that some noble lord had come, and they were a group of wool traders for a long time!" ”

"Fortunately, you don't sell salted fish, otherwise you will bow to salted fish!" A clever young man seized the opportunity to interject a witty remark, which caused the other workers to laugh rudely.

But the third worker, a native of Turnest, refuted the first two: "But the other of our painters did the same, and it seems to me that painting the holy cathedral is different from the rules for painting the chapel. ”

The rebuttal is strong, for the Cathedral of Turnest has not been renovated for many years since the previous bishop took over, and the once bright paintings have faded over the years, making the faces of the saints more and more lifeless. None of these workers, who belong to the working class in their twenties, have never seen the last painting of the cathedral, and none of them can determine whether the use of curtains to cover them is a special rule for the painting of the cathedral.

Now, seeing the bishop and many of the high priests coming, the third worker that day was even more confident: "As I say, they must have come to consecrate the frescoes of this cathedral!" ”

The other workers were impressed by his words, and they all craned their necks and waited for this rare light-opening scene.

Tomorrow's double watch, the day after tomorrow on the shelves.