The Portrait and the Wish

Arwy Official

Basil Hallward's studio was full of roses, sunlight, and the quiet disorder of serious work. Canvases leaned against the walls; brushes stood in jars; the scent of paint mingled with flowers from the garden. On an easel, nearly finished, was the portrait that Basil knew to be the best thing he had ever done. It showed a young man of extraordinary beauty, not merely handsome in the ordinary social sense, but radiant w…