This review on Art Contains spoilers. If you have not seen the chapter, we recommend you do it and then go back to read the review.
Chapter 7: The Venetian Noble
The Venetian nobleman meets Veronica, sees a portrait of her and tells her that she was made by a friend. Yuri searches for the girl and finds her, it is Art. The nobleman converses with Leo so that he can take Art to Venice, for the main reason that he wants her to tutor his niece. The decision rests with Arte, who walking through the city meets a pregnant lady looking for Leo, her name is Ruthanna and she is the daughter of Leo's teacher. They talk and then Arte finds out through Daria that Ruthanna is a widow who is looking to recover the dowry that her father gave her dead husband, but his family refuses to return it to him. A series of events causes Arte to play to help Ruthanna, accepting Yuri's work in exchange for Yuri helping the widow. In this way she recovers the dowry and returns to the land where she lived with her husband.
Chapter opinion
Although it did not seem like a terrible or bad chapter, nor boring (compared to chapter 5, which personally was the one I liked the least), it was nevertheless the chapter in which I have seen the most errors (although some have already I forgot them) and not visual, but as to the continuity of the story. First, Daria, who is she? Why does she get together with Arte? Art teaches her to read, but why, since when have they known each other? Is she a noble friend of Art? They are doubts that can jump at the beginning, then they clarify that she is a seamstress. Despite the fact that they say that, he is a character that in the previous 6 chapters has not had weight, he was not even mentioned from what I remember (his presence would have noticed because he is one of my favorite characters in the manga) and now they give him a big load. They had to introduce it because that's how it is in the manga, although I would have preferred that another idea be invented so that Art finds out about Ruthanna's situation. The other is the series of very opportune coincidences: that just Daria knows about Ruthanna because of the work, that Art meets Ruthanna, that Yuri has found Art so quickly, that Art just appears when the mother of the deceased talks about Ruthanna. That a couple pass, because after all and although it does not seem, the world is small, more in those times, but that everything is established according to a series of opportune coincidences removes coherence and realism from history.
Brief mention of manga
I hesitated to put this section, after all I am of the idea that a work that is based on a previous material is independent of the original material. But I see that the anime is animating the story of the manga as faithfully as possible, so I wanted to comment on the following: although in the manga some errors remain, others are corrected. In the anime I see that everything revolves around Art and the weight of the secondary is little, only two have a greater role and one only because he is the teacher and the other because it is the one that gives Art feminine wisdom. In the manga, the secondary ones, like Daria, have their own story and delve deeper. The story continues to revolve around Art, but the secondary characters earn their role and the influence they have on Art is noted, making it grow as characters. And if I'm not wrong, I think that in this chapter they have animated like 4 chapters of the manga. The anime was going well, but in this chapter they went too far, there were so many subplots and themes, that in the end they only left it on the air and noted plot conveniences. The manga is not perfect, but it has more coherence, at least in this chapter.
Would give
Continuing with the manga, to understand the weight that Daria has, I would like to tell you something about it (if you want to read the manga I recommend skipping this part and going to read the manga. Daria is a seamstress, working in a seamstress workshop, which was a normal job for women at the time. She works with older ladies, who whisper a lot about various things that happen in little Florence, rumor that circulates rumor that reaches her ears and rumor that is discussed. In personality she was unfriendly with the from her workshop and she was working because of certain words that her father told her about her condition, the woman is a burden and does not generate much money, Daria wanted to demonstrate the opposite. he meets her his true personality comes out, which is a shyness that he tries to cover, his sense of inferiority as well. In the end he becomes friends with Art because he recognizes in her an ideal to follow, someone who made a real effort mind.
Offers, hard work and opportunities
After those brief explanations, let's move on to the chapter. Yuri goes to Leo's house, after passing through Veronica's house and meeting Arte, to request that Arte go to Venice to work for the Falier family as a portraitist and tutor for her niece. Then and at dinner, Arte and Leo talk, she doubts the situation and he tells her that his conception is that hard work and skills gained are what create job opportunities for artisans. With this conviction of her teacher, Arte herself is filled with this idea and as the days go by she gives her answer to Yuri: she cannot work for him at the moment. The issue of skill and opportunities are a theme that in the same chapter will have its turn in the same people as Leo and Yuri, since they are both experienced men and they know what life is like.
Ruthanna
Then we are introduced to another character (something I forgot to mention, this chapter recharges us with new and interesting characters), who meets Art. This lady is looking for a workshop and coincidentally it is Leo's. After a series of conversations, she introduces herself to Arte as Ruthanna, Leo's childhood friend. She comes for a reason, that she does not reveal it to Leo, but what she does find out is the death of her husband. Then the rumors reach Arte and he finds out that she is there looking for her dowry, which by law and by law must be returned to her person. While walking, Arte notices that Ruthanna is arguing at the door of a house, which is that of her late husband's family, but the lady pushes her and falls to the ground. Art helps her and then they have a conversation.
Marriage and dowry
There were various types of unions at that time, but the legally and civilly accepted one was marriage by mutual agreement and acceptance of families. The children were the property of the father, and the woman would continue to be even older, so they tried to marry them to someone of a good social scale, so they had to have a dowry (property, money, etc.) that was given to the husband for the support of the wife. The ladies used to be married between the ages of 13 and 16, marriages were generally arranged by the parents, so Ruthnna says that she did not know her husband. The dowry was part of the legal agreement between the parties and depending on the type of marriage the dowry could be returned, because that was the money that the father gave to the husband to support the father's daughter. But of course, if you do not have money you can not report because you cannot afford an attorney, in that case what was left was to beg the return as Ruthanna.
Business skill is knowing how to manipulate people's minds
Yuri doesn't stop at Arte's refusal, but instead converses with Leo, now mentioning subtleties that Leo knows and knows. Recall that in the previous chapter a crisis with artisans was discussed. With this situation in mind, what Yuri says makes a lot of sense, getting sponsored by someone or having job opportunities are things that are not so easily achieved. This Leo knows and penetrates his mind, it will not leave him alone later, because he does not want Art, which at this point he wants like a daughter, to pass these hardships. As a final act of defiance, Yuri swallows all the wine Leo served him saying it was delicious. The damage was already done, Leo stays thinking, Art arrives and she finds him gone. But, Leo does not have to say much because the resolution of Art would be seen soon.
Moving the threads to do one's will
After talking to Veronica, Arte knows what she has to do to help Ruthanna, but first ... Arte talks to the teacher Leo to comment on his decision, he is somewhat relieved. student, Leo accepts in a long way and thanks Arte for what he does for his friend. Then he goes to talk to Yuri to propose: she accepts if he helps Ruthanna. This is easy for him, who accepts without further ado. In a matter of days (although this is not mentioned in the anime, because they do it more immediately and almost without a set time) the family of the deceased begins to run out of business partners, so Yuri intervenes offering them "help". And in the end we see how Ruthanna managed to recover her dowry and return to the land where she was happy with her husband, but not before entrusting Arte with the care of Leo.
Searching for the review, I remembered that each chapter of the manga exceeds 30 pages, Daria appears in chapter 9. And by the way, I will only add that Art ended up helping the workshop where Daria was. With this clarification I think it is easier to understand why the story feels rushed. But well, it is what it is, I hope that in these remaining chapters they have taken their time and we see better results.
