The artist sat on her balcony in a mire of despondence. Her latest painting was coming along nicely, but it just wasn't working for her. It was lacking something somehow - some crucial yet unidentifiable element was missing, and she just couldn't figure out what she needed to add to bring things together. She reached for her wine glass, only to find it empty, and trying to pour a fresh glass produced nothing but a couple of drops. Deprived of drink, her misery was thrown into relief.
The baron had commissioned her to paint a landscape depicting his city in all its glory and beauty. That in itself wasn't terribly difficult for her - her penthouse home afforded her a wonderful view of the city's skyline, and the weather had blessed her with an unbroken streak of clear weather, ideal for her work. But somehow, no matter how well she had rendered the spectacle of the city's many finely-crafted spires and minarets, no matter how much of the intricate detail of city life she had captured, it just wasn't satisfying her critical eye. The canvas seemed flat, lifeless. Whatever mysterious factor transformed a simple painting into a masterpiece just wasn't happening, and it was maddening.
She gazed up at the night sky, hoping that perhaps the stars might choose to serve as her muse. It was another cool, clear night, and many stars were easily visible to the naked eye, gently glimmering in the black sweep of the firmament. Even if it wasn't an immediately inspiring sight, it was at least a soothing one. She sank into a comfortable position in her chair and simply gazed up.
Suddenly, there was a streak of light. A shooting star crossed the sky before her eyes... and then another one! And then another, and then another. She sat up, enchanted by the sight as more bright lines cut through the night. As she watched, more and more tongues of brilliant flame erupted in the west, flared across the sky, and guttered into darkness in the east. Before long the sky was filled with them, new lights flashing into being to replace the ones that died.
This was it. Her eyes filled with tears as the sight filled her mind. This celestial spectacle was what her painting had been missing. She hardly dared take her eyes off the sky as she hurried into her studio, lest the image vanish like a mirage. She rushed her easel, her paints, and her brushes out onto the balcony, and she began to paint...

"Status report."
"The charges detonated as projected, Captain. The asteroid is breaking up."
"What's the condition of the debris?"
"Mostly dust and minor fragments - nothing bigger than a football."
"Computer, extrapolate debris trajectory."
"Simulating... course of main debris field has been altered as expected. 92% of material will not be captured by Planet GS-FGR-67958-3's orbit and fall into local star's gravity well."
"And the remaining 8%?"
"Indicated material will be captured by planetary gravity well and burn up in atmosphere within next few hours. No damage to planetary conditions anticipated."
"Just a fireworks show, then. Excellent. And what are the chances that our operation will be detected by the locals?"
"Scans of the planet reveal no artificial energy sources of any significance, and industrial pollutants are negligible. Looks like local technology is at a Renaissance-equivalent level of advancement - telescopes at best. No-one could have seen what we were doing."
"Very good. Plot a course out of the system and back to civilised space - I'll enter this into the ship's log."

"... and here is the prize of our collection: "The Night of Star's Rain", by the legendary artist Ameula di Selaecelia. Undoubtedly the most famous work of art of our history, this painting has inspired and enchanted our people for centuries. Indeed, even today its influence remains strong - many of the people behind our space programme have credited this very painting as the inspiration for their dreams of faster-than-light travel. One can only imagine how proud Ameula would have felt to know that her work will very soon convey her descendants into the very heavens that so inspired her..."