Calgary, July 2023
Juan was a young artist, but not a young starving artist. He was the official painter for Don Francisco Fernández de Córdoba, a member of Royal Chancery of Granada, the High Court of Justice of Andalusia. Don Francisco paid him enough for a comfortable living, but sometimes he was worried about his young protégé. Juan was undisciplined, he took nothing seriously and never considered the consequences of his actions.
“Juan, you have to be more careful,” he kept warning him. “Granada is full of spies, and you know how strict the king Philip II is. Especially now with the new troubles with Muslims. You don’t want to end up in the hands of the Inquisition.”
It was all true and Juan knew it, but, like anything else, he didn’t take it seriously. For him the ongoing Muslim rebellion was rather amusing. Will they win? To express his feelings, he drew a picture of the king Phillip II kneeling in front of the rebellion leader Aben Humeya.
“Do you like it?” he asked his patron.
Don Francisco was horrified. “You must be crazy,” he yelled. “You know what would happen if somebody saw it? You, and perhaps me too, would end up in the dungeons of the Inquisition. You must burn it immediately!”
For Juan it all was just a joke, he didn’t want to offend anybody, so he kept the picture.
Unfortunately, Don Francisco’s fears materialized, and few days later Juan was arrested by two armed men. They searched his room and found the drawing. “You know what is the punishment for drawing like this? I tell you. It is burning alive at the stake!” said one of them.
Juan was terrified. Suddenly it wasn’t a joke anymore.
“But” the man continued, “burning you alive wouldn’t do us any good. We have a better plan for you.” They drugged him out of the room and took him to the outskirts of the city, where dark skinned men were waiting.
“Where are you takin me?” asked Juan one of his kidnapers.
“We are selling you to slavery. Those men here are pirates, and they will take you to a slave market in Algiers, Africa. But don’t worry, whoever buys you might appreciate you drawing talent,” said the man and gave Juan’s picture to one of the pirates. “You might get a better price for this guy. He is an artist,” he laughed.
The pirates then took Juan to the cost, where a ship full of kidnapped people from close by villages was waiting. After another arduous, multiday sea journey they arrived at the port of Algiers, a main pirate centre. The slave traders came, and the bargaining started. Every person, man, woman, or child was evaluated, money changed hands and the person became a property of a new owner. When it was Juan’s turn, the pirate showed his picture to the slave traders and one of them was interested.
“Did you draw it?” he asked Juan in pretty good Spanish.
“Yes, I did.”
There was more bargaining, money again changed hands and Juan became a property of the slave trader. Another man, most likely also slave, took Juan to the house of his new owner. “You will call your master Sahib,” the man said and left.
The slaver looked at his new acquisition and asked: “What’s your name?”
“Juan, Sahib.”
“OK, listen carefully, Juan. I buy and sell salves, but I keep some for my personal use. You will live with the other slaves and will help with domestic chores, but I bought you for your drawing skills. You will make me pictures, and I will sell them to the local nobility. But the rules for painting are very strict. No pictures ridiculing our leaders, as you did with your king. Also, Islam prohibits drawing of human figures, especially women. I will punish you severely if you deviate from those rules.”
Juan had no intention of deviating from any rules. He ended up in slavery just because he ridiculed Spanish king. Now he decided to be a helpful and obedient servant of Sahib. He did the domestic chores and was nice and polite to the reminting slaves. There was also one female slave who worked in the kitchen. She lived separately and there was no contact between her and the others.
After some time, Sahib showed Juan a small, empty room. “This will be your studio. You tell me what you need, and I will get it for you. But the room will be locked all the time, and nobody will be allowed to enter. I have the key and to get in, you will ask me. I open the door and will give you the key to lock the door from inside. When you leave, you lock the door and return the key to me. You will wrap the finished picture in a cloth and bring them to me. Nobody is allowed to see them.”
Juan was wandering about all that secrecy but didn’t ask. His duty was to obey, not to ask questions. After getting his supplies, he followed Sahib’s instructions and painted flowers, various ornaments, nature scenes and similar. Those paintings couldn’t offend anybody.
One day Sahib asked Juan to personally deliver a painting to a customer. “His name is Ahmed, and you will call him Sayed Ahmed. He is one of my important customers. You yourself will give him the painting and wait until he unwraps it. Then you greet him for me and leave.”
Juan did as he was told and when he returned, Sahib asked him: “Did you see Ahmed’s face?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Could you paint him?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Ok, I have a task for you. You know I have that young women who works in the kitchen. Her name is Rachel. I want you to paint her, naked, in bed with Ahmed.”
Juan was shocked. “Sahib, you told me that such a painting would be very much against the Islam religion.”
“Yes, it certainly would be and that is the reason for all the secrecy of your studio.”
“But Sahib, there is another problem. I don’t know Rachel. How can I paint her naked?”
“Yes, I realize that. I will let you stay with her for one hour. You can consider it as a down payment for your work.”
Juan was very confused. Why would Sahib want such a painting? But Juan knew he couldn’t ask. The next day Sahib took him to a remote room where Rachel, naked, was lying in bed. There was also paper, pen, and ink.
“You have one hour with her. Make some preliminary drawings and when I return, we will go to your studio, and you could start on the painting.” Sahib left and Rachel looked terrified.
“Don’t worry,” said Juan. “I will not harm you. I am just supposed to paint you.”
“You will paint me naked? Why?” she asked in perfect Spanish. She was also kidnaped in Granada.
“I don’t know. Sahib wants me to do that.”
“Did Ahmed ask for it?”
“That I also don’t know. Why would he want your picture?”
“Sahib is lending me to him for sex. Perhaps Ahmed wants to see me naked while I am not there.”
That made bit of sense, but not much. Why would Ahmed also want himself to be in the picture? At any case, Juan finished the painting and while giving it to Sahib, he asked. “This one hour with Rachel was only for that one time?”
“No. You can have her from time to time, as long as nobody knows.”
Juan took full advantage of that permission. It was a long time since he was with a woman. But it wasn’t only the sex he enjoyed; they also became friends. During one of their encounters Juan asked:
“How are you doing with Ahmed?”
“He doesn’t want me anymore. I am not allowed to show up in his house.”
So, it wasn’t Ahmed who wanted Rachel’s picture, and suddenly Juan understood the whole dirty mystery.
“Sahib is blackmailing Ahmed with my painting,” he told Rachel. “My picture shows you in bed with Ahmed, so Sahib can claim that the painting belongs to him. No wonder Ahmed doesn’t want to see you anymore. But this is bad news. Ahmed doesn’t want you anymore, and Sahib doesn’t need me for more paintings. He can sell us both.”
That was indeed bad news, but there was a solution to it. “You know,” said Juan after some thinking. “There are now three people who knows about Sahib’s blackmail: Ahmed, you, and me. Perhaps that is enough to allow us to blackmail Sahib. I will see what I can do.”
The next time Juan saw his master, he greeted him politely and said:
“Sahib, I need to talk to you. I have discovered something very important.”
“I don’t talk with slaves about anything important.”
“I know, but it concerns you and your wellbeing.”
“OK, what is it?”
“It is bit complicated; we need to sit down somewhere.”
They went to Juan’s studio, and Juan went straight to the point:
“Sahib, I found out you are blackmailing Ahmed with my picture,” and before Sahib could silence him, Juan continued. “There are now three of us who know it: Ahmed, Rachel, and me. Ahmed will not talk, because the picture would cause big trouble for both of you. But if you sell us, which I expect you are planning to do, we might talk. To prevent it you could kill us, but that would make people suspicious: ‘Why is he destroying his own property?’ Also, your slaves would be terrified and will ask questions. For you, the best thing would be if Rachel and I disappear without a trace. Then you can say you sold us, and nobody would be surprised. Also, that would allow you to continue blackmailing Ahmed. But for that you would have to give us freedom. We will then find work on a ship back to Spain. What do you say?”
What Juan said made a lot of sense. Even Sahib had to admit that. “I will think about it,” he replied, and this is how my narrative ends. Now it is up to the reader to decide if such ending is appropriate for my story.