Page 237 - The Grotesque Children's Book

Tozzo: Why do you think she’s not wearing any shoes?
Aurelio:
She’s not ready for the journey she is about to take. She, like Santi, has to leave
Tozzo: quickly, without much food, without much preparation, in order to reach that distant
Aurelio: mountain which is beckoning her. I think Santi’s trying to tell us he’s like the
Tozzo: salamander: he’s started a new life. He’s shed his old life, and is headed for that
Aurelio: mountain.
Tozzo:
Aurelio: Meaning...he’s dead.
Tozzo:
Aurelio: Possibly, yes. Though I don’t think Santi would go to all this trouble writing the
folio and hiding messages in his frescoes just to tell us he’s dead.
Tozzo:
Aurelio: Meaning...he’s alive.
Tozzo:
Aurelio: Possibly, yes. But probably dead.
Tozzo:
Aurelio: Why do you say he’s dead!?

Tozzo: I looked at the last page of the folio to see if he finished it.

So impatient! And...? What did you find there?

I found a little inscription. It says: Sedem collocare pisces. Si finem capitis: et
exivit. I’m not so great with Latin, but I think it means something like “Find the
fish chair. If my head is finished, then I escaped.”

Find the fish chair?

Fish chair. Honestly, Tozzo, for a painter, you really know so little about
symbolism.

I just like the armor and weapons. What do I care about fish?

Fish is Christ.

What do I care about Christ? It’s not as if he’s answered any of my prayers lately,
you know?

Santi’s saying we should look for Christ’s throne. Fish chair, Christ’s throne. And
if Christ’s face is finished, then Santi was able to finish it before he got away. It
would have been the last thing he painted, and then he escaped. If Christ’s face
isn’t complete, then, then they killed Santi before he got away.

Well, that’s awfully dramatic.

237