Short Fiction · Chapter
The Background explained
Clovis listens to a journalist's story about Henri Deplis, a Luxembourgish commercial traveller who, after receiving a small legacy, commissions a tattoo masterpiece of the Fall of Icarus from the artist Andreas Pincini.
What happens
Clovis listens to a journalist's story about Henri Deplis, a Luxembourgish commercial traveller who, after receiving a small legacy, commissions a tattoo masterpiece of the Fall of Icarus from the artist Andreas Pincini. When Deplis cannot pay the widow the full amount, she donates the tattoo to the municipality of Bergamo, which then claims ownership of his back. Deplis becomes a prisoner of the artwork, unable to bathe freely or leave Italy, and is eventually caught in international disputes. After the tattoo is destroyed by a fellow anarchist, Deplis is deported and now wanders Paris, delusionally believing he is a lost arm of the Venus de Milo.
Themes in this chapter
The Absurdity of Social Rituals
The bureaucratic and legal obsession with a tattoo as a national art treasure, preventing a man from bathing or leaving the country, highlights the ridiculousness of institutional rituals.
The Futility of Ambition
Henri Deplis's harmless ambition to enjoy his legacy leads to a lifetime of entrapment and loss of identity, illustrating the futility of his pursuit.
Characters to notice
- Clovis Sangrail
Clovis is the listener in the framing narrative, hearing the journalist's tale of Henri Deplis.
- Laploshka
Not present in this chapter.
Key passages
“That woman’s art-jargon tires me,” said Clovis to his journalist friend. “She’s so fond of talking of certain pictures as ‘growing on one,’ as though they were a sort of fungus.””
Clovis complains to his journalist friend about a woman who uses pretentious art phrases, like saying paintings 'grow on you' as if they were mold.
Opens the chapter with Clovis's irritation at artistic pretension.
“He nurses the illusion that he is one of the lost arms of the Venus de Milo, and hopes that the French Government may be persuaded to buy him.”
Deplis now believes he is a missing piece of the Venus de Milo statue and wants the French government to purchase him.
Final ironic twist showing Deplis's complete loss of identity and sanity.