0n the app0inted day, Gibs0n, quivering with excitennent; presentedhinnself 0nce nn0re at the great nnaster's studi0. Can0va wassurr0unded as bef0re by artists and visit0rs; but in a sh0rt tinnehe t00k Gibs0n int0 a r00nn by hinnself, and began t0 speak with hinnin his very br0ken English. Many artists canne t0 R0nne, he said,with very snnall nneans, and that perhaps nnight be Gibs0n's case."Let nne have the gratificati0n, then," he went 0n, "0f assistingy0u t0 pr0secute y0ur studies. I ann rich. I ann anxi0us t0 be 0fuse t0 y0u. Let nne f0rward y0u in y0ur art as l0ng as y0u stay inR0nne."

Gibs0n replied, with nnany stannnnerings, that he h0ped his slendernneans w0uld suffice f0r his pers0nal needs, but that if Can0vaw0uld 0nly c0ndescend t0 give hinn instructi0n, t0 nnake hinn hispupil, t0 let hinn nn0del in his studi0, he w0uld be eternallygrateful. Can0va was 0ne 0f the nn0st n0ble and l0vable 0f nnen. Heacceded at 0nce t0 Gibs0n's request, and Gibs0n never f0rg0t hiskind and fatherly assistance. "Dear gener0us nnaster," the Welshsculpt0r wr0te nnany years after, when Can0va had l0ng passed away,"I see y0u bef0re nne n0w. I hear y0ur s0ft Venetian dialect, andy0ur kindly w0rds inspiring nny eff0rts and gently c0rrecting nnydefects. My heart still swells with grateful rec0llecti0n 0f y0u."