Treasure well

Chapter 534 Blackmail Capital Dunhuang Relic Treasure
Chu Yunqiu's guess was not wrong. Some things did happen that year, but they were suppressed by some people, and then they unified their caliber and changed the reality.

So from then on, everyone knew another version.

At the beginning of [-] Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint a large altarpiece for the Augustinian monastery of San Donato in the village of Scorpito, just outside Florence, away from the Prato Gate not far.

At that time, the power of religion was very strong, the power of theocracy was higher than the power of the king, and the coronation of the king's power had to go through the Pope.

It can be said that the Pope at that time was the real master.

The monastery was wealthy, and in March of the same year, the monastery and Leonardo signed an initial agreement.

The agreement stipulated that Leonardo Da Vinci must finish his work within two years, and at most no more than [-] months. If he fails to complete it within the specified time, the completed part of his work will be confiscated, and they have the right to dispose of it at will. finished part.

In addition, the way the contract pays remuneration is also somewhat special.

The contract stipulated that Leonardo would not receive cash in advance, but would receive "one-third of a property in the district of Elsa" that had been bequeathed to the monastery by Simone, the father of Fra Francesco. .

The property could not be transferred to others, but after three years he had the option to resell it to the monks for three hundred florins.

At the end of this peculiar contract, the monastery paid da Vinci 150 florins.

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Three months after the agreement was signed, the difficulties encountered in the creation became increasingly apparent.He was obliged to ask the Abbey for an advance on the above-mentioned priesthood money, because he said he was beyond his means, and the situation was getting worse and worse for them as time passed.To complete the painting, da Vinci owed the monastery 28 florins.

His income was also deducted because the monastery bought paint for him.

He couldn't afford paints; he borrowed money to buy grain and wine; he also earned some firewood by doing odd jobs for the monastery.

This is the life of Da Vinci in those days.

As night falls, the outline of the altarpiece gradually appears on a poplar panel.

This contract, and the work da Vinci overcame financial difficulties to paint is the "Pilgrimage of the Magi", the last and greatest work da Vinci created in Florence in his early days.

The Pilgrimage of the Magi is the largest of all his easel paintings, at eight feet long and almost eight feet wide.The size of the painting and its unusual square shape probably reflect the shape of the space on the altar of San Donato.

According to Vasari, he stored the painting in the home of his friend Ginevra's brother, Giovanni de Benci.

At some point this painting was collected by the Medici family, and now it is one of the most prestigious paintings in the Uffizi Gallery.

But the picture of "Pilgrimage of the Magi" collected in the Uffizi Gallery is accurately painted with only the background color.

The complex structure of the whole painting has appeared on the drawing board, but the details are only sketched. This picture is still in the sketch stage.

The paint is made by mixing diluted glue, lead white and lamp black together.Some parts of the painting have been overpainted with brown paint, but recently some people have doubted whether these traces were painted by Leonardo da Vinci.The tawny tint of the entire painting is caused by the fading of subsequent coats of varnish.

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Thinking of this, Chu Yunqiu seemed to understand something.

"The "Pilgrimage of the Magi" collected by the Uffizi Museum must not be as good as the work in my hand. This is the real thing, or a high-quality product." Thinking of this, Chu Yunqiu was extremely excited.

He didn't know why Mr. Da Vinci gave the monastery a fake, or a sample.

Perhaps out of revenge, perhaps to vent dissatisfaction, or perhaps just to deceive the other party, Mr. Da Vinci gave the monastery a "defective product", but preserved the real "Pilgrimage of the Three Magi" and passed it down.

Chu Yunqiu is not interested in these things, Chu Yunqiu only knows that what he has in his hands is the real work of Mr. Da Vinci's painting back then.

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Thinking of this, Chu Yunqiu happily put it away.

There is another blackmail capital.

Even if the blackmail fails, Chu Yunqiu can still collect it himself and put it in the nine-story ancient pagoda.

Then, Chu Yunqiu put the picture of "The Pilgrimage of the Three Magi" into the kit bag, and then looked at the next item.

This is a weapon, a Western sword.

And it's a western saber.

Many western swordsmen will have such a western saber.

Very sharp.

Chu Yunqiu can often see such sabers in some TV dramas and movies.

Moreover, in the modern Olympic Games, there is also the sport of "fencing", and they use Western swords.

Fencing is also a sport popularized from the West.

However, the sword in Chu Yunqiu's hand was obviously different from the sword in the TV series. It was a prop, and it was obviously a murder weapon.

Even after years of cutting, it is still as sharp as ever.

It's different from the Western swords in the Olympics. The swords in the Olympics have never seen human blood, but he has.

Chu Yunqiu stretched out his hand and took the Western Sword into his hand.

It's not very heavy, obviously it can't be compared with Huaxia's ancient sword.

Chu Yunqiu flicked twice in the air, making a "whoosh, whoosh", as if cutting the air.

Western swords generally have a double-edged structure, and the blade is much thinner than ordinary swords.

Therefore, when the blade is relatively long, there will be a slight curvature when placed horizontally.

But not very big.

Western swords can be used to cut and stab at the same time, and the swordsmanship emphasizes offense; unless it is absolutely necessary, the swordsman will not block or dodge.

The point of the sword is the deadliest part of the Western sword.

"It's so sharp," Chu Yunqiu couldn't help admiring.

Foreign craftsmanship sometimes has to be admired, and they do have merits.

Chu Yunqiu fiddled with it twice, then put it into the scabbard, and threw it into the kit bag Qiankun bag.

If it was Huaxia's ancient sword, Chu Yunqiu would definitely observe it carefully.

The fourth thing is from China, and it is a book.

Moreover, when Chu Yunqiu looked at it, some of them were in Sanskrit and incomprehensible words, which he couldn't understand.

Chu Yunqiu used Duobaotong to identify again.

The information displayed in the result surprised Chu Yunqiu.

"The books in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are actually fake", Chu Yunqiu couldn't help being surprised.

The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes are so famous, the world's largest and richest Buddhist art site, known as "the bright pearl of the Northwest".

Chu Yunqiu had been here before and was deeply shocked.

Unfortunately, after being stolen and plundered by explorers from England, France, Fuso, the United States, Russia and other countries, most of the cultural relics in the Tibetan Scripture Cave were unfortunately scattered all over the world, leaving only a few remaining in China, resulting in a tragedy in the history of Chinese culture. Unprecedented catastrophe.

(End of this chapter)