This is a paint I made from a Venetian mask. It's painted with Artist Paints on Arches 140 lbs cotton Watercolor paper. It represents a Sultan and his Great Wazir giving him suggestions. Most of the stories in the “1001 Nights” talk about Great Wazir following with their presence Kings, Califs, Sultans and Sheiks; this according to the place where the tale is set. In the Arabian tales the Wazir is usually seen as a honest person that gives good advice to his King, but it’s not a rule, sometimes we find envious Wazirs that tries to have owns benefits not caring about others and passing over anything is on their way. I read presonally all the "1001 Nights tales", that happened years ago, but it instilled in me a sort of fashination for the ancient Arabian Kingdom and its architectures. The story I’m referring here in this show is “The Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban”. It talks of Yunan, a good Sovereign that had the misfortune to be afflicted with a leprosy. All the doctors and medicines of his reign tried to cure him, but nobody succeeded. One day, a Sage called Duban arrived in this town and knowing about the misfortune of the Sultan, wanted to help him with a miraculous cure. The sultan was so happy to be again healthy and beautiful that rewarded the Sage Duban with gold and glory and admitted him to his court as the best of his friends. The Wazir that was a sordid, ungenerous, full of envy and evil will man, plotted a dishonest plan to gain again the Sultan’s favours. With his means manners he instilled in the Sovereign the idea that the Sage Duban wanted to kill him and that with his knowledge he could kill him in any moment. The Sultan Yunan didn’t wanted to believe in the bad words, but he ended with the decision that the Sage Duban had to die decapitated before he could kill him. The Sage Duban was horrified by the notice that the Sultan wanted to kill him and asked as last wish to go home for 1 day and say goodbye to his beloved family, in exchange for that, he told the Sultan that he would have made a miracle and that after his death his cut head would have answered to any question he would have made with having cure that he put the cut head on a magical book he had at his home. This is exactly what happened and the cut head started talking when put on the magical book. The Sultan asked a question and the Sage Duban’s head answered open the book. The Sultan opened the book, and found the leaves stuck together; so he put his finger to his mouth and, by moistening it, he easily turned over the first leaf, and in like way the second, and the third, each leaf opening with much trouble. When he had un stuck six leaves he looked over them and, finding nothing written thereon, said, that there was no writing there. Now the book was poisoned; and before long the venom penetrated his system, and he fell into strong convulsions and the Sultan Yunam died.