Cite the textual evidence the artist did as his work drew to a close.

The portrait is so life-like that everyone who sees it marvels and concludes that it is the combination of his skill and his love for his wife. However, as the portrait nears completion, the painter shuts himself and his wife into the tower away from visitors so that he can place all his concentration on his work, not realizing that his wife grows paler as the portrait grows more life-like. When he finishes the painting, he stares at it and realizes that "this is indeed Life itself!" before turning to his wife and realizing that she died during his last few strokes of the brush.