164 United
The fresco was not part of the bishop's agreement with the painter, but the bishop and the crowd knew at a glance what they were depicting.
Because the content of the two painters' paintings is nothing else, it is the battle of Turnest that they have just experienced.
The subject depicted by the painters is "Turnest under Siege", a group portrait of a war scene.
At the foreground, a petite young woman, dressed in a nurse's uniform at Tournest Hospital, is half-kneeling on the ground, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she is seriously examining a wounded person in front of her.
Some of the audience recognized that the woman's model was the Bishop's original and until current protector, the founder and instructor of the Tournest Hospital, Baroness Brad. During the siege, many people saw that she was not afraid of danger, just like an ordinary ambulance crew, climbing up and down the city wall with flying stone bullets and arrows. It was also noted that she had a quivering feather arrow stuck in her nurse's hat, and that her face and hands had the abrasions that a pampered lady of the back house would not have.
Behind the woman, and in the center of the painting, it is immediately recognizable to everyone that the young Bishop Tournest, who has always given the impression of humility and gentleness, but in this picture, the painter paints him with a heroic and angry face.
He held the splendid staff in one hand, pointing forward, with a slight glance that seemed to threaten and aim, and the bishop's staff was held by him like a spear ready to pierce the enemy.
In his other hand, he held a white cobblestone, like sterling silver.
"The bishop slew the pagan stones." The crowd was talking about the fact that the Catholic Church had taken the lead in throwing stones at the Lakkad messenger who had persuaded him to surrender - and then the pagan messenger had been stoned to death - and everyone thought that the bishop had stoned him to death - and now they had taken the pagan messenger for the devil incarnate, didn't they? Is there a better symbol of the devil who seduces mortals to fall than the pagan messenger? And who else can smash the devil incarnate but their great bishop?
Behind the bishop, stood his knight Francis. His heroic actions in the front line of the battle against the Lackadians, and his disregard for personal merit after the battle, were in stark contrast to the so-called reinforcements who were first late and later plundered the place.
The knight was already tall and handsome, and in order to attract the audience, the painters tried their best to beautify him with armor and horses, and now he did not look like a knight on earth, but like a gold-armored angel who descended into the mortal world, and he held a gold-inlaid treasure in one hand, which was no less gorgeous than the bishop's staff. Cover the bishop with a shield like a guardian angel.
On the left side of the picture, a man stands, holding a densely written notebook in one hand and beckoning the stretcher team behind him to carry the wounded with the other. Those familiar with the municipal government recognized that the prototype of this man was Tim, who was in charge of the municipal government. During the siege, many people had seen Tim and his notebook, which they knew was written about the emergency personnel and supplies he had assigned to various places.
Above the stretcher team, on the left side of the knight, there is a little girl drawn, she combs cute braids, wears a flower skirt, her face is innocent, lively and lovely, and becomes a bright spot among the adults who are waiting for the battle. Carrying a skirt in one hand and a bread basket in the other, she looked like one of the logistics staff of the day.
On the left side of the picture, four armed men are drawn from top to bottom, and at the top is an archer dressed as a city guard, firing rockets. Below him were two stone-throwing men in leather skirts, and their attire showed that they were the craftsmen of the city, one a blacksmith and the other a butcher, each with what they were tools and weapons stuck in their waists: the butcher with a knife to kill pigs at his waist, and the blacksmith with a hammer at his waist. At the bottom, a peasant with a hoe in his hand, looking warily ahead, as if ready to strike at the invading enemy.
Behind the group portraits, there are many small people, representing people from all walks of life in the city, some of them are directing firefighting, some are working overtime to bake bread, some are carrying stone bullets, and some are sewing wool bags. Blacksmiths pull bellows to make weapons, and women cut off their hair to make bowstrings. Even nuns and monks were watching over the sick and making ointments. A few fat men representing wealthy merchants (two of whom were clearly dressed as St. Omeers) threw gold coins into the donation box held by "One More Bucket" (the tax collector was indeed impressive and easily recognizable).
Surrounded by the ochre-red walls of Tournest, outside the walls were the flames of hell, and among the flames of hell were corpses with feet on their feet, teeth biting hearts, heads hanging from their waists, blood-spilled knives, flames and skeletons, and the people who viewed the paintings that day had experienced sieges, and they agreed that there was nothing more like the devil on earth.
Above the flames of hell is a darkness that cannot be dissolved, and there is a faint ominous crow hovering. Above the statue, however, is the silver dome of Tournest Cathedral, the glittering silver dome that is the source of the whole picture, and above the dome of the church, a snow-white dove of peace flies, with a string of verdant olive branches in its beak, which adds a little peace and hope to the tense scene.
People rushed forward to identify the figures in the painting, and after a moment of confusion, suddenly burst into applause.
The bishop was also in the midst of the applause.
Apparently, the two painters were also involved in the defense of Turnest and observed the inspiration they had to draw during the war.
They said that the painting was not ordered to be painted by the bishop or someone else, but that their hearts called them out after experiencing this qiē.
They dedicated the painting to the Bishop of Tournest, to the Cathedral of Tournest, to the city of Tournest and to all the inhabitants of the city who participated in the defense of Tournest, to the diocese of Tournest and to all the people of the diocese who lived in the defense of Tournest.
The applause lasted for a long time, and many people shed tears, but unlike the tears of mournful weeping in the previous days, this time, they wept because of pride.
They are proud of this great city and her indomitable people.
They were proud because they had overcome such a terrible and powerful enemy, and they were not intimidated by the intimidation of the other party.
They were proud because they did not give in, they did not surrender, they did not betray, they panicked when they were in battle, they fled when the projectiles and rockets fell, but they finally found their jobs under the leadership of the bishop and others - combatants, logisticians, municipal personnel, maintenance of production and post-war reconstruction......
They are proud, because they have experienced hardship, but they have not been knocked down by suffering, they are usually weak, but this time they have survived strongly, and yesterday's suffering will eventually turn into the glory of the coming day!
The war has made them lose a lot, and the war has made them gain a lot.
They have lost their relatives, they have lost their neighbours, they have lost their friends, they have lost their mentors, they have lost their apprentices, their possessions have been taken away from them, their houses have been destroyed.
Yet they are sharpened and tempered, like a sword sharpened with a glittering edge.
If such a fierce and formidable enemy cannot bring them to their knees, what are they afraid of?
Their experiences in this war, in their hearts and in the history of their families, condensed into an immortal monument, which is an unyielding memorial.
This "Turnest in Siege" later became a masterpiece, inspiring many later generations of painters, and became the source of many works of similar themes, and gave it another name, "United as One".