Disclaimer: I do not own Stravaganza nor will I ever do.

Drawing

Giuditta had been sketching quite some time now. On the paper before her a picture of two men had appeared. Both were tall and dark, but they differed much in age. The one being not much more than a boy and the other being just past middle-age.

The elder man she knew very well and was a trusted friend. The boy was new to her, but already she was noticing the similarities between the two.

Because of her work Giuditta had learned to make a fairly correct picture of the personality of persons. Her work demanded that she got to know the person that she sculptured well and she had learned to see their true colours pretty quickly.

To be honest most were not that complicated and a lot of them were the same.

It had been a refreshing to portray Arianna, the young Duchessa of Belleza. Contrary to other young women with a high status she was neither vain nor arrogant. So instead of having to picture her as beautiful, stately and unrealistic as the other women desired to be pictured she could show her as she really was. A young girl restricted by etiquette and rules, but who was still young, wild and whose greatest desire was to be free.

Drawing her attention back to the drawing she finished some trees in the background. She had the habit of switching between the people in the picture and the background. Experience had taught her that focussing to long on the same thing made you overlook faults.
People were always tricky and showing their character in their eyes and posture took time and patience. Luckily she had both.

Rodolfo was almost finished, being the easiest of the two. Luciano on the other hand needed a lot more work, especially his face. There were large blacks on the spots were his eyes should come and his features still had to be perfected.

From the start when she had met the two she saw the things that they shared. Although Luciano was officially the son of Dethridge in her eyes he was a lot more like Rodolfo.

The first thing you noticed was the resemblance in appearance. Both had large dark eyes which on first examination appeared warm and open. But when you got to know them better you realised that those eyes hid more then they revealed. They were also both tall, slim and black-haired (at least Rodolfo used to be).

Their personalities were harder to judge. She knew Rodolfo to be intelligent and cunning. The boy on the other hand had a very innocent looking face and had a slightly naïve air. But her apprentice Franco, who looked like an angel but had the habits of a tomcat, had taught her that looks could be very deceiving. The longer she knew Luciano the more she realised that he was not as innocent as he looked. According to some of the stories she had heard from Rodolfo he was quite good in devising schemes and when he was caught he always managed to win Dethridge over with his innocent-looking puppy-dog eyes.

They also shared a lot of points of views. Both had the same disdain for religion (though both went to the church) and were quickly prepared to abandon certain morals if it was beneficial to them. While Dethridge lived with the motto "Live by the sword", Rodolfo and Luciano knew that "those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't". When Dethridge accused them of being unethical, they just claimed to be realistic.

Luckily for them their shared traits made the story of Luciano being Rodolfo's nephew a quite credible one.

The bond that they shared fascinated Giuditta. It was clear that Luciano almost worshipped Rodolfo and that Rodolfo cared more for his apprentice as he would have cared for a son.

"All in all they make quite an interesting pair, the two of them", Giuditta thought. She sighed, taking a last look at the drawing. There was no way she would be able to finish it today. The apprentices were back from their break and had to be put to work.

She herself still had to start on the statue she was making for Caterina di Chimici. Fabrizio di Chimici, her husband, was dedicating a statue to her in celebration of the birth of his heir.

Well there would be plenty time to finish her drawing later. She rose from her seat at the window and got to work.

English is not my first language and I appreciate every kind of feedback. Please review and remember: reviews make the world go round.