h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Pietà - A48889741
Author: Trout Montague - U188966

.

Yes, this is very vivid and also manages to convey the reaction of David as he set about painting the assassination of Marat.

Was he actually called in to paint the scene as Marat lay there just after his death?

I wondered about 'rotted' flesh, but I know Marat had a skin condition. And does 'would bathe' suggest a past?

I really don't know how fiercely these judges are going to interpret their rules.

This is really interesting.

The use of the second person makes me resist this description for all I'm worth. As in, "How dare this person assume I'm a Jacobin?'

Then it does something cool at the end, because I step back enough to see the painter himself, and - although I still think he's a self-dramatising idiot - realise I've seen what he's seen, even if I interpret it differently.

The style brings the painting motif to life: At first, I thought the description was just drippingly florid, but then I thought about what it was he painted: something idealised, not real.

Suggestion: You used the word 'putrid' twice. I'd say find a synonym.

Thanks guys, you're very generous.

The day after the assassination, David was sent to make preparation for Marat's funeral and to paint a tribute to the victim. "There is yet one more painting for you to do" and "Return Marat to us whole again" they implored. Being the height of summer, Marat's body was decaying rapidly.

Regarding "And does 'would bathe' suggest a past?", possibly yes. But Marat's death also implies a life lived. Likewise does that allude to a past?

Loved this, Trout. I could picture it all.

Very vivid indeed! My only contact with the painting is through Terry Gilliam's use of it in a couple of Monty Python animations, but I never thought it might have been painted from life. Eeuw...

This is good, though it's not so much a single snapshot as a person seeing a scene for a first time. Phrases such as "as you tear your gaze away" might be questionable - it depends upon how you interpret the challenge. You may well get away with it.

There was a documentary about the painting on the telly ages ago. I'd forgotten it. This refreshed the memory almost like seeing it again.

A second one to put shivers down my spine. And more great writing

I expect I saw the same doco. A big Allan Whicker sort of a gent doing the whole history of art in a few 60 minute sessions. I think I should at least attribute "acoutrements of a saint" to him.