The Search

"The name Quinton Pendant is likely unknown to you. It is the name of the greatest artist that ever lived.

"I have never seen any painting by him, neither has any living man, to my knowledge. For he only made on work, one masterpiece. It is apparently not overstating it to say that it is the masterpiece of the human race.

"The work was described by the (very) late Leonardo DaVinci in one of his many notebooks. The legend that DaVinci's teacher once, upon seeing DaVinci's latest effort, throwing down his brush and never painting again is an evolution of the tale of Quinton Pendant. The main essence of the story is apparently accurate, a great artist did throw down his brush never to paint again. But this artist was not DaVinci's teacher, it was DaVinci himself. And the painting, was the greatest work of man, Quinton Pendant's life work.

"Very little is known about Quinton Pendant. His name suggests an English background, and he is referenced by several alleged contemporaries. But the name may be assumed, and the references are vague. There is the air of the supernatural about this man and his work.

"Apparently Mister,  Monsieur, or perhaps Senor Pendant was a simple man. No direct references are made to his lineage, but it is hinted to be of a low nature. A son of a shepherd, or of a trader who sailed the seas.

"But how did he create such a masterpiece? That which geniuses and super geniuses had spent so long striving for, and failed to reach? Leonardo DaVinci, when death was upon him was heard to say 'I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have.' Pendant's work was all it should have been, all that it could be.

"But his work, alas, was lost. Stolen? Destroyed? Lost in some mass of confusion? I don't know. But I know this, gentlemen.

"It must be found. And it is worth all the effort, all the toil, all the destruction and cost that it is possible to spend on it."