It was she who
sold the last of the jewels and plate that had come down to her from
earlier and more prosperous days, in order to make it possible for
Johannes to go to Dresden and study under a good master.
He was a virtuous youth, with a simple heart, and a disposition so gay
that the unfortunate forgot their sorrow whenever he appeared.
Even as a child--so I have heard my grandmother say--he was so cheerful
and contented despite their bitter poverty, that he made up a little
prayer for himself in which he used to thank God for having created him.
This man, then, grew up to be truehearted and sincere without the elixir,
but he made use of it, none the less, when it came into his possession,
and it proved a great blessing to him. As a light-hearted and modest
youth--so diffident that he was timid in his intercourse with older
persons--he wandered over the Alps, with only fifty thalers in his pocket
and a small knapsack on his back, to Rome where he was received into the
studio of one of the most distinguished painters, as apprentice. This
latter very soon became jealous of the great talent exhibited by my
father and a competition occurring, exerted all his influence to keep the
prizes from the German competitors and have them awarded to Italian
artists of much less merit.
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