A Portrait of the Witcher as an Old Man is a secondary quest in the Blood and Wine expansion. The quest is available after completing The Warble of a Smitten Knight.
Walkthrough
Head to the market square south of The Gran'place signpost. In the south part of the market you'll see several paintings and easels set up with a painter making a remark on Geralt's appearance. Talk to him to learn he wants to use Geralt as a model in a painting. Agree to it and he'll then direct you to meet him around noon near the Beauclair Palace signpost.
He'll only talk to you when the light is right, so talk to him between 10AM to 2PM. He'll suggest riding out to the area, so follow him on Roach while he talks about his cat who paints before eventually dismounting and walking to the spot. However, it appears his paints have disappeared so you'll need to help him find them. There's a clue near the bush (just past the fire) and more going down the path. Follow the scent which will lead you down the hill and into a cave. Kill the nekkers and pick up the paints, then head back to the painter. Mount up again and follow him out to the new spot. You can choose 3 different poses (on horseback, standing with a sword, or lying down). Once you pick a pose, he'll start to paint and a few hours will pass.
As he mentions perhaps putting a griffin in the painting, he suddenly spots an actual griffin flying towards you. Defeat it and he'll talk some more before asking if you want to include the griffin in the painting. You can say yes or no (it'll only change how the painting comes out) then he'll pay you and ask you to check in on him back in the market square in a day to see the finished piece.
After a full day has passed, head to his spot in the square to see a bit of a crowd around the easel. As they part, you'll see that the painter took some artistic liberty with the painting. You can then choose whether to buy it from him or not (if you do, it'll count as generosity towards the quest There Can Be Only One) then the quest will complete.
Journal entry
- One day Geralt got an unusual proposition. A portrait artist, inspired and delighted by the witcher's singular appearance, asked if he would pose for a painting. Largely open to the varied experiences life offers, the witcher agreed to model for the painter. Though he later claimed he was driven primarily by a desire to support the arts (an impulse laudable in and of itself!), I suspect plain old vanity might also have come into play. The witcher and the artist set off together for the countryside, where the beautiful landscape was to serve as the backdrop for the portrait.
- Once they arrived at their destination, it turned out that some picnickers had occupied the vista the artist had chosen. To make matters worse, the artist's painting tools had disappeared, and the witcher had to find them. In the end he could finally get down to posing and was pained to learn that a portrait takes much longer to produce than he had supposed. He did not manage to grow thoroughly bored, however, thanks to a griffin that swooped in unannounced. Geralt had to defeat the beast to save both the painter and his emerging work. He received payment for posing and learned he would be able to view the finished portrait the next day in the main town square.
- Geralt finally saw the work that generated quite a lot of interest from the inhabitants of Beauclair. As it turned out, in the portrait the painter had rendered the witcher in the nude. Though explicit, the representation was flattering. To this day I remember the sheepish grin on Geralt's face as he related the tale to yours truly!
Objectives
- Meet the painter around noon by the western gate of the palace.
- Find the painter's paints. 100
- Give the painter the paints.
- Follow the painter.
- Kill the griffin. 250 + 150
- Wait one day to see your painting.
- Go see your painting at the market. (If you buy your painting 100).
Trivia
- The painting appears in The Belles of Beauclair, no matter if you buy it or not.
- The title of the quest is a reference to James Joyce' novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
- There are 8 different outcomes for the painting: 3 different poses, each of which can have the griffin or not, then, if the player chose the sword pose, one for each crest used during the tournament.
- The poses of the picnickers found on the hill where the paints were left is likely a visual reference to Edouard Manet's painting, Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe.