Page 1014 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

Chapter 9

The old neglected palazzo, with its lofty carved ceilings
and frescoes on the walls, with its floors of mosaic, with its
heavy yellow stuff curtains on the windows, with its vases
on pedestals, and its open fireplaces, its carved doors and
gloomy reception rooms, hung with pictures—this palazzo
did much, by its very appearance after they had moved
into it, to confirm in Vronsky the agreeable illusion that
he was not so much a Russian country gentleman, a
retired army officer, as an enlightened amateur and patron
of the arts, himself a modest artist who had renounced the
world, his connections, and his ambition for the sake of
the woman he loved.
The pose chosen by Vronsky with their removal into
the palazzo was completely successful, and having, through
Golenishtchev, made acquaintance with a few interesting
people, for a time he was satisfied. He painted studies from
nature under the guidance of an Italian professor of
painting, and studied medieval Italian life. Medieval Italian
life so fascinated Vronsky that he even wore a hat and
flung a cloak over his shoulder in the medieval style,
which, indeed, was extremely becoming to him.

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