Unknown Artist Jasper Johns three flags painting

Unknown Artist Jasper Johns three flags paintingWilliam Blake The Resurrection paintingWilliam Blake Nebuchadnezzar painting
perhapsThe Amateur, I could not decide. . .
"Certainly." The pleasure with which he stroked his beard was plainly not at the excellence of my titles. "Aseeker; anamateur: one who is a lover, so to speak, but not a knower; passionate naïf -- am I right?"
Well, he was. Do you know, the great mistake we make in these encounters comes not at their end but here, at the very outset. The moment our mysterious caller comes to the door, or we recognize we've made a wrong turn somewhere and are in alien realms --then is when we should take instant, vigorous action: protest at once against the queerness of it, shut the door, close eyes and ears, and not for one second admit him. Another step down his road and there'll be no returning -- let us stop where we are! Alas: Curiosity whispers to Better Judgment, "It's too late anyway," and we always go on.
"He's about thirty," my visitor supposed.
"Thirty-three, I guess."
"Thirty-three and four months? And I'm sure he has some affliction -- something physical, that he was probably born with -- is he a cripple?"
I hadn't thought of making my man a cripple, though it was true that he seldom left his quarters (in the top of a certain tower), preferring the company of his books and