Characters likened to paintings

[+mdross81]

Ever since Dawnshard, I've been paying a lot closer attention to any mentions of paintings, murals, and other in-world depictions. This led me to notice that many of the major SA characters have, at some point, been described as resembling a kind of painting, either by others who are observing them or by themselves. There are only two times this happens before RoW, but then it seemed like it became a recurring motif (along with blindness/sight and references to standing on the edge/precipice) in RoW.

Here's a rundown of the times that various characters have been likened to a painting.

Shallan

An obvious place to start, Shallan is the first character ever described as a painting. In WoK 42, Kadash put his pickup lines to work for the Ghostbloods, comparing Shallan's isolated childhood to a painting hung facing the wall. A little while later, Shallan notes that Lin Davar was exactly the kind of person who would hang a painting like that:

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He smiled, though his eyes held concern. “It seems a shame that one such as you would lack for attention. That’s like hanging a beautiful painting facing the wall.”

She leaned back on her safehand, finishing off her bread. “I wouldn’t say I lacked for attention, not quantitatively, for certain. My father paid me plenty of attention.

“I’ve heard of him. A stern man, by reputation.”

…

“He’s a hurtful man, I gather?”

“Yes, though never to me. I’m too precious. His ideal, perfect daughter. You see, my father is precisely the type of man to hang a picture facing the wrong way. That way, it can’t be soiled by unworthy eyes or touched by unworthy fingers.”

In RoW 26, Shallan also gets in a reference to herself as a painting. Specifically she likens having all of her lies and flaws exposed to hanging an unfinished painting:

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Storms. Shallan settled down and put her freehand on Ishnah’s shoulder, ashamed at having caused such pain in her friend.

That is a silly emotion, Veil thought. If Ishnah wants out, we’ve done her a favor by exposing this.

And how would we feel? Shallan asked. If someone forced us to expose all our flaws, all our lies, and hung them in the open like an unfinished painting?

Navani and Dalinar

In OB 4, Dalinar worries that he's a little underdressed for his wedding, and compares he and Navani as follows:

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Should Dalinar have found something more traditional to wear himself? He suddenly felt like a dusty, empty frame hung beside the gorgeous painting that was Navani in her wedding regalia.

Gavilar

Speaking of Navani, here she is in the RoW Prologue likening Gavilar to a painting of old Alethkar come to life (which is more than a little ironic considering that his imminent death would usher in a new era for Alethkar):

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Gavilar Kholin had a presence big enough to fill a room all by himself. He wore a beard, but instead of being unfashionable on him, it was … classic. Like a painting come to life, a representation of old Alethkar. Some had thought he might start a trend, but few were able to pull off the look.

Kaladin

Kaladin gets two painting references. First, in RoW 2, he likens himself to a painting hanging on the wall watching life pass by:

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He’d felt a disconnect these last months. These last years … it was as if life for everyone continued, but Kaladin was separate from them, incapable of interacting. Like he was a painting hanging in a hallway, watching life stream past.

Then in RoW 80, when Wit pulls Kal into a small protective oasis during the nightmare Odium has sent, Wit manages to get in both a dig at how crappy Kal looks and at Odium's artistry:

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“You’re asleep. The enemy is sending you a vision, similar to those the Stormfather sent Dalinar. I’m not certain how Odium isolated you though. It’s hard for Shards to invade minds like this except in a specific set of circumstances.”

He shook his head, hands on his hips, as if he were regarding a sloppy painting.

Zahel

In RoW 15, Kal comments on Zahel's seemingly intentional appearance of disarray with a painting metaphor:
 

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In the face of that, the way Zahel kept himself seemed deliberate. The swordmaster was among the best duelists Kaladin had ever seen, and possessed a wisdom distinct from any other ardent’s or scholar’s. The only explanation was the Zahel dressed this way on purpose to give a misleading air. Zahel was a masterpiece painting intentionally hung in a splintered frame.

A "splintered" frame. I see what you did there, Brandon. Cheeky.

Taravangian

In RoW 19, Navani envisions Taravangian as a guru in a shrine contemplating storms and the souls of men (perhaps more accurate than she thought, he will certainly have plenty of time to pontificate now):

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The kindly-looking old man had regrown his wispy beard and mustache – of a style that was reminiscent of old scholars from ancient paintings. One might easily imagine this robed figure as some guru sitting in a shrine, pontificating about the nature of storms and the souls of men.

Maya

Adolin gets in on the painting metaphor action in RoW 22, describing Maya's Cognitive Realm appearance:

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Her most unnerving feature was her scratched-out eyes. It seemed as if someone had taken a knife to her face, except she hadn’t bled or been scarred by the cuts. She’d been erased. Ripped apart. Removed from existence. When she looked at Adolin, she seemed like a painting that had been vandalized.

Modern-Day Humans

In RoW 66, Taravangian bums out Dalinar by not only promising that they will lose, but by saying that they are merely copies of copies of something great:

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He sagged in his seat, turning toward the corner and this glowing sphere. “Such a poor imitation of our comfortable sitting room in Urithiru. Even that was a poor imitation of a real hearth, crackling with true flames, alive and beautiful. An imitation of an imitation.

“That’s what we are, Dalinar. A painting made from another painting of something great. Perhaps the ancient Radiants could have won this fight, when Honor lived. They didn’t. They barely survived. Now we face a god. Alone. There is no victory awaiting us.”

Vaiu

Ok, so not really a main character, but for the sake of completeness I thought I should mention him. In RoW 75, Adolin likens his honorspren jailor to an ancient depiction of a Herald:

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Vaiu was Adolin’s primary jailer for excursions like this. He was a shorter honorspren and wore a full beard, squared like that of an ardent. Unlike many others, Vaiu preferred to go about bare-chested, wearing only an old-style skirt a little like an Alethi takama. With his winged spear, he seemed like a depiction of a Herald from some ancient painting.

***

Those are all of the ones I found. But I thought it might also be fun to imagine how other characters not included above would be described as paintings.

I'll kick things off with Lift:

Lift stood out among the assembled Radiants. Seeing her there was like seeing a painting by a drunken chull in an exhibit of Oilsworn masterpieces.

Edited March 18, 2021 by mdross81

[Kingsdaughter613]

Thaidakar prefers statues. Wit thinks himself best described as a surrealist abstraction created by throwing rotten fruit and... censored... matter at a silk canvas.

[apepi]

Also remember the paintings in Warbreaker.

I dont remember there being any in Mistborn.

[AonEne]

Oooh this is fun! Yay metaphors. You can do delightful things with these.

Adolin was honest; a sketch you knew every line of. But new ones kept being drawn, and those lines showing themselves to you didn't make them any less complex or beautiful. - Shallan probably

She missed Gavilar like you'd miss an old, hated painting that used to hang on your wall. You hadn't liked how it looked, but you were used to it being there, and it was certainly still a work of art. - Jasnah or maaaybe Navani

Kaladin was a painter's masterpiece scored over with scratches. The lighteyes had ruined what could have been great...and now Vyre was going to fix it. You couldn't always redo a piece of art good as new.
Sometimes you just had to scrap it and start over. - why no I haven't been reading Moash posts lately why do you ask