Janus Platisson

**Janus Platisson** was a halfling painter, sculptor and ceramicist who is known as the first lesser god of the visual arts.

Platisson's works can be categorized into two distinct periods: the Realism Period and the Chaos Period. Most of Platisson's later work before his ascension was focused on commisioned sculptures and architecture design.

Even before his ascension, Platisson was one of the most famous and influential artists in Esterra. After he became the god of the visual arts, a great number of art collectives, studios, and even art cults have been created in his reverence, the most infamous being the art collective/ cult The Horses of Madness.

## Early Life

Platisson was born on the 15th of the Eighth Block in 300AE, in Bullion City. He was the only child of Donalas Platisson, who was the vice chairman of the Esterra National Mint, and raised in the luxurious, upper-class Gillion District in Bullion City. Platisson displayed a passion and skill for painting from an early age, being selected to paint the main mural on display at the National Mint at the age of 16.

Platisson studied painting under the private instruction of famed New Cresdale artist Edvard Steinlen until 321AE, when he enrolled in the Jonurian Point Academy of the Arts. He remained the star student of the Academy until his senior year in 324AE, when he felt that formal education was limiting his artistic expression and dropped out.

## Career

### Before 338AE

Upon returning home to Bullion City, Platisson was commisioned by his father to create a sculpture to use as the centerpiece for a new fountain to be built in front of the National Mint. The resulting scultpure, titled *The Blessings of Derwin*, was unveiled in 373AE to critical and public acclaim, instantly boosting Platisson as one of the most popular visual artists in Bullion City. During this period, Platisson was known for his intensely realistic sculptures, which were so life-like that people would fall madly in love to the point of legally marrying them.

### Torrid Terror

When the First Calamity occurred in 338AE, Platisson and his family were able to escape the unprotected Bullion City and settled in New Cresdale through the Derwin-Cresdale teleportation portal. During the next 50 years as a resident of New Cresdale, Platisson worked as a hired artist, with the famous Portner family acting as his patron. The head matron of the Portner family during this time period, Darla Portner, was a big fan of Platisson's realistic sculptures in Bullion City, and generously funded his sculptures as well as murals, paintings, and street art installations throughout New Cresdale.

### Realism Period

Platisson's Realism Period (392-405AE), characterized by hyper-realistic portrayals of life in New Cresdale, began after the Torrid Terror with the establishment of the Platisson Art Studio in New Cresdale. His commisioned pieces, typically by wealthy patrons, depicted the luxurious lifestyle of the new upper class elite that emerged post-Torrid Terror. His personal artwork, however, portrayed sombre and realistic scenarios of the common and poor folk. His most famous and most expensive painting, *The Street Performer*, is one of these personal pieces, depicting an unidentified street performer perfoming tricks with his pet pony at the Stig Marketplace.

### Chaos Period

Platisson's Chaos Period (405-750AE), characterized by wild and bold brush strokes focused on spontaneous or subconscious creations, began after his divorce from the New Cresdale bard Ibram Dehner. By this point, Platisson's relationship with the Portner family had also soured from personal conflict, and Platisson abandoned his trademark hyper-realism style to mark his break from the Portner patronage. His most famous painting during this period is the *Ever-Broken*, depicting a raw and unsettling image of a horse being put down.

### Madness

After his divorce with Dehner, Platisson grew increasingly irrate and isolated, spending more time holed up alone in his art studio. When he was spotted outside in public, many people noted "his bloodshot eyes, intense with emotion but dead at the same... He walked as if he was stepping on glass with each step, grumbling in unintelligible world salad". During the unveiling of the *Ever-Broken* at the New Cresdale Art Museum in 438AE, Platisson was overcome by the influence of the Chaos and attacked a museum guard, causing severe injuries and damage to the museum. Platisson was committed to the Mother Stig Home for the Chaos-Influenced in 439AE.

While committed to the Mother Stig Home, Platisson continued to paint in increasingly grotesque and disturbing imagery. However, the artistic merit of these paintings were still very much present, and the Mother Stig Home sold these paintings to rich collectors to raise funds for their caretakers.

## Ascension

In 749AE, Mother Stig caretakers went to investigate a strange noise coming from Platisson's room, only to discover Platisson floating above their heads, finishing up a mural he painted on the ceiling. Once he put the finishing touches on the mural, depicting a pegasus luring a herd of wild horses down a cliff, Platisson reportedly told the caretakers, "The method is the madness", before ascending to the celestial planes.

### Aftermath

After Platisson's ascension into godhood, many artists and musicians tried to imitate his madness, believing that his final words meant that true transcendent artistry only comes from a place of insanity. The art produced during this time period (749AE-814AE) is characterized by brash, spontaneous, and almost violent expressions.