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Arte
Episode 11

by Rebecca Silverman,

How would you rate episode 11 of
Arte ?
Community score: 4.1

Of all of the things Arte has had to think about since her arrival in Venice, the hardest has been herself. That's not what she had expected – especially after meeting Katarina, Arte (and some of the viewers) thought that the biggest challenge she'd face was getting the little girl into shape, with painting Signora Sofia's portrait as a pleasant distraction from that task. But the more she got to know Katarina, the more Arte began to really think about her own position from an angle she hadn't considered before: that truly, in the context of other women of her social standing, she's been incredibly fortunate.

As I discussed last week, Arte's caring father (and to a lesser degree her worried/frustrated mother) gave her the chance to indulge herself in what she loves and is good at. Yes, she had to give up her more pampered lifestyle as a noblewoman, but the tradeoff was that she got to paint and study fine arts. That's not an opportunity Katarina had and, as Matei pointed out this week, not one that most women, noble or otherwise, ever get. (Insert rant about butchering Darcia's storyline here. It would have made a major difference to how this element of the Venice arc played out.) It was one thing for Arte to learn Katarina's story, because Katarina does have her uncle Yuri; it's entirely another to listen to Matei because what he notices isn't that Arte is lucky “for a woman,” it's that Arte's social status and gender are actually helping her to get work because she stands out as an anomaly in the art world. Matei, who is clearly older than Arte and has likely been an apprentice much longer than she has, remains essentially trapped in his master's workshop because he hasn't stood out sufficiently in his skill or by other means and hasn't caught a patron's eye. Arte, by virtue of her differences, has been hired six months-to-a-year after starting her apprenticeship, and by a major family of Venice to boot. Where all Arte saw were her struggles, Matei sees her good fortune, and that's less of a wakeup call and more of a physical blow to her.

Not that she thinks Matei is being cruel, which is how Katarina interprets his words. Instead Arte takes his statements and uses them as a lens through which to view her Venetian life…and what she sees isn't something that makes her proud as an artist. It's hard to deny that things have been much cushier in the Falier palazzo than they were for quite some time, and given her family's lesser-noble status, it's entirely possible that she's never lived like she is at Chez Falier. Unlike her time at Leo's she doesn't have errands to run or cleaning to do because there are servants for that sort of thing, darling, and her only actual artistic tasks are painting Sofia's and Katarina's portraits. We've seen her sort of wander into the odd church to sketch, but it's obviously been nowhere near the level of artistic practice that she was engaged in at Leo's workshop. Seeing Matei's hard work come to basically nothing – and looking at his battered and calloused hands – forces Arte to wake up and realize what she started to be more aware of last week: her privilege.

To us in the 21st century it doesn't necessarily look like that, but in Renaissance Italy, Arte really is pretty fortunate – she could conceivably be married to someone like Leo's gruff patron back in Florence, only much more abusive. Instead she's able to work at what she loves, and after her talk with Matei, she doubles down on that, racing to finish the portraits of the Falier women. Although she doesn't ever say it, there's a definite feeling that she might be doing this not just because she's moderately ashamed of her good fortune compared to many other apprentices, but because what she truly wants to do is go home – home to Florence, yes, but also home to Leo. Even if we assume that she's largely over her crush (please, please be largely over your crush), he's still her family in that he has become her main support in life, where in Venice she's had to be Katarina's. That Leo, Angelo, and everyone else in Florence miss her too is sweet, and almost certainly a sign that she'll decide with her heart rather than her head to go back next week (the episode title “apprentice” seeming to signal that that's how she sees herself). That feels like it would be a fitting end, and we'll find out if it's true next week.

Rating:

Arte is currently streaming on Funimation.


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