Page 22 - SUMMARIES OF GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO’S DECAMEON : A Visionary Journey In 100 Stories And 100 Etchings By Petru Russu

Abraham and Jehannot de Chevigny

Jehannot de Chevigny, a Christian merchant in Paris, is deeply fond of
his friend Abraham, a wealthy and upright Jew. Jehannot, convinced
of the truth and grace of Christianity, worries for Abraham’s soul
and urges him to convert. Abraham, wise and contemplative, listens

patiently but remains unmoved by persuasion alone. Instead, he
proposes a test: he will travel to Rome, the seat of Christian authority,
and observe the lives of its highest clergy. If their conduct reflects the
holiness of the faith, he will convert.

Jehannot is horrified. He knows all too well the corruption that festers in the
Church’s upper ranks, greed, lust, hypocrisy, and political scheming. He fears
Abraham will be repulsed. But Abraham insists, and sets off for Rome.

What he finds confirms Jehannot’s worst fears. The Pope, cardinals,
and bishops live in luxury, indulge in vice, and seem more concerned
with worldly power than spiritual virtue. Abraham is appalled—but not

in the way Jehannot expects. Upon returning to Paris, he declares his
intention to convert.

His reasoning is startling: if Christianity can survive and flourish despite

such moral decay among its leaders, it must be sustained by divine will.
WITH LAYERED, LABYRINTHINE No human institution, so riddled with sin, could endure without God’s
LINES AND SATIRICAL DISTORTION, grace. Abraham’s logic is paradoxical, yet profound. He sees not the
THE ETCHING EVOKES THE
SURREAL COMPLEXITY OF failure of the faith, but its miraculous resilience.
ABRAHAM’S SPIRITUAL INQUIRY,
MERGING BYZANTINE ECHOES Jehannot is astonished and overjoyed. He becomes Abraham’s
WITH SUBVERSIVE GROTESQUERIE godfather, and the two men celebrate a conversion born not of
TO UNDERSCORE THE ABSURDITY
AND ENDURANCE OF FAITH AMID persuasion, but of paradox. Abraham’s conversion is not a victory of
CLERICAL DECAY. doctrine, but of divine endurance.
DECAMERON 20 21