Konrad and Alexandra (PDF) - Rolf Gross

She kissed him."Maybe you dream of Florence, this is my city.""I have never been to a great art gallery. Could we go to the Accademia together?" She asked one morning.Konrad stalled. He, the Northern German Protestant, had still not come to terms with the soft, sensuous colors and theoverbearing Baroque of the Florentine churches. He was not ready to explore the paintings of the Accademia.Remembering their promise to give each other freedom, they agreed to spend the morning separately and meet for a latelunch at a restaurant across the bridge from the museum.All during this morning Konrad wandered, forlorn, through the quarters around the Campo di San Rocco. He discovered aworkshop where they made masks for the Commedia dell’Arte, black leather half-masks with noses like beaks. Hesmiled, thinking of Irakli’s joke about the long noses of the Dadiani, while watching the artisans push the soaked leatherpieces into wooden dies and then dry them into shape. In the end he bought a long-nosed Pierrot mask for himself and alarge, gilded half-moon for Alexandra.He found Alexandra waiting in the restaurant. She was flushed and excited."I discovered my painting. It is a Giorgione: The Tempest. For over an hour I searched for the reason why I was in thatmuseum, for the painting that touched me. There are many beautiful pictures in the gallery, but the Giorgione is mine."Konrad had not heard of this painting."I had not either, it was a true surprise, a real discovery."She described the painting to him: In the foreground a soldier who must have just arrived home from a war stands facinga young woman who nurses a child in a sunny landscape, a bridge, the houses of a town, a castle. The last lightning in adark storm cloud drifting away into the background."The woman—she must be the soldier’s wife—and the child are completely nude. The beauty of the painting lies in thecontrast of the dark thundercloud and the light color of the woman’s body. Maybe the soldier has never seen his childbefore."Alexandra sat across from Konrad and smiled. "Konrad, I want a child. A child conceived over the waters of Venice."Konrad arched his eyebrows in surprise and smiled. "That happens when I let you go alone to the Accademia. You comeback with all kinds of revolutionary ideas! You will have to take me to see your Giorgione, maybe I can identify with thesoldier in the painting. But I thought you wanted to dance at the balls of St. Petersburg this winter, not walk aroundhugely pregnant? And what about the Italian silk dress, you will not be able to squeeze into it when we get home!""I have thought of that." She smiled. "I am tall and slender. I have much room for a child, it might not be visible for awhile. ""Forever the practical Dadiani! So you think you can have both, a child and half a winter of fun!"He took her hand and kissed it tenderly."Let’s go home. I like to make love to you in the afternoon, when I can see your eyes. But first I have to show you mytreasures. I found something for my lunar goddess."Konrad took the moon mask out of the bag."You see, the moon is waxing, it has just passed your First Quarter! And for myself I finally bought a Dadiani nose!"He pulled out the Pierrot mask.She laughed as hard as only her father would have laughed.Wearing only the masks, in the slanting afternoon light, they clowned around in front of the mirrors until he pulled hislunar goddess down onto their bed.It was not to be a Venetian child. A week later it became suddenly very hot. Bubbles rose from the waters, and the canalsbegan to reek. Overnight, bevor their eyes Alexandra’s Venice turned into a nightmare.They bought train tickets to Florence and fled.An older couple who spoke a mixture of German and English shared their first class compartment. Their name wasWolfson, "Walter and Sally," corrected Sally. "I am American, Walter comes from Frankfurt, and we live in Florence.Where are you from?"When Alexandra told them that she came from Georgia Walter excitedly explained that he had long wanted to visitGeorgia to look for Byzantine icons. He was an art dealer. "Oh, I am the expert and Sally provides the clientele! We buyart in Europe for rich American collectors. It is a challenging and not unprofitable profession for an art historian."Walter and Sally owned a villa in Fiesole high above Florence. Sally, in her American expansiveness, invited Konrad andAlexandra to their house on the spot. They would be much more comfortable in Fiesole at this time of the year than in hotand noisy Florence.Alexandra indicated that this was her first visit to Western Europe, they were on their honeymoon! Sentimental Sallyobliged Alexandra to describe the details of their Old Georgian wedding .Sally sighed, "Ah, you Europeans are so romantic and know so well how to do things right! I would have liked such aroyal wedding."Walter frowned and with an accusing tone admonished her. "We had a sumptuous wedding in Boston, what are youcomplaining about? And I am not sure who is more romantic, you or the Europeans."47