The Artist is an Arcana card in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse that carries the Masterpiece spell. Brauner gives it to you after you break the stone sculpture in the middle of Brauner’s Atelier. You can find the room early, but you cannot claim the card until Rose has a way to break the sculpture.
Quick answer: Get Smash by beating Talos in the Clock Tower. Then go to Brauner’s Atelier in the Main Hall, grapple above the gold-cracked sculpture, and press Down + Cross to slam it.
Brauner’s Atelier location in the Main Hall
Brauner’s Atelier is a hall in the Main Hall area of Dracula’s castle. On the map, the room appears as “MAIN HALL / BRAUNER’S ATELIER”, and the banner “BRAUNER’S ATELIER” shows when you walk in.
- Start in the Grand Hall and take the corridor that leads into the Atelier.
- From the Grand Hall floor, you can grapple a hanging hook and swing over to the upper-left doorway.
- A broad gear is fixed to the wall along the lower corridor with red carpeting. Strike it to rotate the gear and reveal a passage.
- Once you have reached the Main Hall, the Ferryman’s boat lists it as a destination. You can board at piers such as Clock Tower and Paris Streets.
If the gear will not move, see how to open the gate in Brauner’s Atelier.
The Artist clue on your first visit
You first pass through the Atelier on the way to the Library and Clock Tower. A large stone sculpture stands in the middle of the hall, covered in glowing gold cracks. Walk up to it and press INTERACT [R1]. A note titled BRAUNER’S “MASTERPIECE” opens, and the screen shows “NEW CLUE ABOUT THE ARTIST”.
You cannot break the sculpture at this point. Leave it and come back after you unlock Smash.
How to break Brauner’s sculpture with Smash
Smash is a downward slam. You get it right after the Talos fight in the Clock Tower, and its tutorial reads: “Break the DESTRUCTIBLE BLOCKS by pressing Down + Cross when Rose is in the air.” The same slam breaks the other gold-cracked blocks around the castle; see how to break yellow blocks with Smash.
The Artist card and the Masterpiece spell
When the scene ends, the card screen for The Artist opens. This is your confirmation that the Arcana is yours. The spell is MASTERPIECE, and the card describes it like this:
“Summons a gargoyle from a large slab of rock. The gargoyle floats near Rose and shoots fireballs at nearby enemies. Recasting this spell while the gargoyle is still alive, makes it slam vertically upon a nearby enemy and explode, dealing extra damage.”
From this screen, hold the button shown on the card to equip The Artist right away, or pick Continue to keep your current setup. You can switch later by opening the Equipment menu and selecting your currently equipped Arcana to replace it.
Using The Artist to open the painting of Notre-Dame
The Artist is needed for more than combat. The painting of Notre-Dame in the Gallery of Eternal Night, west of the Main Hall past the West Hall, is an Arcanic Resonance. The game explains the system this way: “Arcanic Resonances are hidden interactions that activate when the appropriate Arcana is equipped. Rose’s Tarot will react when it is near an Arcanic Resonance.”
Equip The Artist, walk up to the painting, and press INTERACT [R1]. The painting takes Rose to the doors of Notre-Dame. The cathedral route from there is in our Notre-Dame walkthrough, and every other card is in the Arcana list.
