[Masterpiece Les Miserables] Paris Sparks

During this month Corona spent more time with Valentine than with Cosette.

She almost seemed to be living in Villefort's house.After completing Valentine's painting, she sat down in Madame de Villefort's room, took a place beside her bed that would not disturb the doctor and maids, and sketched her.Madame de Villefort slept most of the time, and when she awoke, she would call mother and daughter into the room for a conversation, and sometimes fell asleep again while talking.Valentine was not in a hurry to leave after she fell asleep again, but leaned close to Coronne and looked at her paintings—a whole book of sketches, carefully drawing Madame de Villefort's front face and profile , different angles, and even a variety of different expressions.

"Draw so many?" asked Valentine in surprise.

"Yes, because Madame de Villefort cannot sit and be my model, and in this way I can paint her more like her."

"No wonder so many painters don't agree to paint mom." Valentine murmured softly, "It's too troublesome."

Corona smiled, but didn't answer.

But in fact, it's not.Many painters are not willing to paint like this because they are too troublesome, but because they don't know how to paint without a model.

Optical instruments have been widely used in painting since the Renaissance.Painters use lenses or flat mirrors to reflect real images onto the canvas, some only as an aid to see details, and others use almost the entire work just to copy the mirrored image on the canvas.This technique can bring accuracy and reality that are far beyond the reach of human eyes, but equally, once you leave the model and optical equipment, this method of drawing is naturally useless.

Of course, drawing is not an easy task; moreover, not all painters support this way of painting.Basil Howard was one of the naysayers.When he taught Corona to paint, he spent a lot of time repeatedly polishing her basic skills, explaining to her the relationship between human bones and muscles, various features of facial features, light and shadow, perspective, focal length, long-range and close-up.

Despite all the hard work, this method of painting is still difficult: after all, it is the human eye against technology, and many details presented under the lens are indeed difficult to capture with the painter's eyes alone.But this is also more challenging and freer——as a painter, Corona really felt a kind of challenge and excitement from this commission.

Only a draft was made of this painting, and Madame de Villefort died.Naturally, Villefort's house was in a lot of hustle and bustle, and Coronne never came to paint since then.But this does not mean that her painting has been put on hold: a maid or housekeeper from the Villefort family will come to the door at a fixed time, and she will be with Corona. Mrs. Fu's appearance before her death and the details of her dress and jewelry.

On the one hand, out of sympathy for the relatives and friends of Little Valentine and Madame Renee, and on the other hand, out of her own enthusiasm and sense of responsibility as a painter, although Madame Saint-Méran did not urge her more, Corona still devoted herself to created this portrait.It can even be said that she fell into the obsession of creation.Moreover, now that Basil is back in England, her father is not around, and the only person who can restrain her is herself—and the self-control of an artist is often not so reliable when he is full of creative passion.

By the time she finished the painting, winter in Paris was quietly approaching.The satisfaction of completion finally pulled Corona out of the creation.

She somewhat reluctantly sent the paintings to the Villefort House. To her surprise, the proud Mrs. Saint-Meran walked from the living room to the porch to meet her.Dressed in a black dress, with a pale complexion and serious expression, the Marchioness looked like a zombie.Valentine followed behind her, her face was also pale and she lost a lot of weight. "Have you finished Renee's painting?" she asked almost impatiently.

"Yes, ma'am." Corona turned her head and gestured to the picture frame carried by the two servants behind her.Madame Saint-Méran moved her lips, as if she couldn't bear to open it to look at the painting at this moment, but she restrained herself in the end and ordered two servants to move the frame to the living room.The housekeeper had already commanded another servant to bring the easel, and they placed the painting on the easel and lifted the white cloth covering it.

Madame de Saint-Meran took a breath, unabashedly and clearly.

"Renee," she whispered, and quickly approached the half-human portrait.The late Madame de Villefort was wearing a gorgeous long dress, sitting on a chair and looking at the garden outside the window, her face was as plump and lovely as when she was a girl.

Since the Renaissance, oil paintings have pursued a complete restoration of reality, and Corona is no exception.The painting was given plenty of time to create, every detail was brought to life, and every length of lace on the dress was carefully sketched.But what is more real is that young and healthy smiling face, the relaxed posture of a new wife who is just a new wife.Her left hand rests on the armrest, her little finger and ring finger naturally hang down from the edge of the armrest, and her right hand carelessly plays with a strand of hair curling around her cheek.Everything is very similar to her lovely daughter, and Mrs. Saint-Meran can almost see Renee sitting so comfortably beside her when she is not married.In a corner of the garden, you can see the back of a small child squatting in the flowers, and Renee looks at that back with love, the mother's love in her eyes is moving.

Valentine was already sobbing softly.Madame Saint-Meran's eyes were also slightly moist.Even though she was a reserved and stubborn person, this moment was overwhelmed by a tsunami of thoughts and memories.No one said a word in the living room for a while, and after a long silence, she finally managed to control herself and turned to Corona.

"When Madame de Morcerf recommended you to me, I doubted you because of your age, but now you have proved yourself," she said, still trembling in her voice. "You are How did you do it? Did you ever see her when she was young, otherwise how could you draw her so vividly? My Renee, I have even forgotten what she looked like when she was healthy and happy."

"I haven't seen her when she was young, Madame. This is just based on the description of Madame de Villefort's servants—thank you for your compliment."

It is undeniable that seeing Mrs. Saint-Méran was shocked to this point, Corona felt very satisfied in her heart, and even had a hint of revenge: Of course she could feel that the Marquise of Saint-Méran was proud of her status and had never No matter how much he likes her, his attitude towards her is quite arrogant.Moreover, the Marquis was a loyal royalist, and she was deeply hostile to Napoleon and the revolutionary people who resisted at the bottom, and Corona didn't think much of her.Due to her noble status, Corona certainly couldn't reveal her true thoughts, so surprising her like this was considered a small revenge.

She exchanged polite words with Mrs. Saint-Meran, accepted a generous reward, and then added one-third of the salary to the scholarships of the female workers.Winter is always the harshest season for the poor. Half of the female workers in the literacy class can still live a decent life, and there are also some young female workers who are able to have fun after work.But there are also many female workers who are not fully clothed in spring and summer, and it is impossible to imagine how they spend their winter days.After discussing with Annie, Corona added two assessments in the middle of the reading class, and tripled the amount of the bonus, which was just enough for them to add two sweaters.

She was preoccupied with these things, and with the possibility of going to the Collins again this Saturday.In addition, there are many things in the family: the property of the whole family is managed by her, and the management and lease of the real estate, securities, annuities, and the manor under her name are all in her hands.To make up what had been left behind, she completely forgot about Madame de Villefort's portrait.

To her surprise, only a week later, the Countess of Morcerf took the initiative to visit.

"I thought I was going to see a much more lively scene than this," she said. "Dear Corona, don't you know how famous you are?"

"...I don't quite understand, ma'am," Corona said, genuinely puzzled.She is quite famous, that's right; but her current status is after all a commoner, and it seems unlikely that the Countess would be able to visit her in person.

"Why, you really don't know." The Countess of Morcerf laughed, "The portrait that the Marquise Saint-Méran raved about you, you know, except for the emperor himself, very few people can get her portrait." Appreciated. Haven't you been to a single party these days? Half Paris is talking about you, and the descriptions are getting more and more exaggerated. Last night I even heard someone say with certainty that God must have given you some miracle It is only because of your talent that you can draw the face of the dead so vividly."

Corona laughed. "This is too exaggerated, ma'am. Where do I have such skills? As far as I know, there are at least ten painters in Paris alone who can paint directly without facing a model."

"But none of them are as famous as you are—if I don't offend you by saying so, the artist's reputation is, in my humble opinion, more important than real skill. Am I right?"

"You saw through the essence of the art salon at a glance." Corona smiled wryly.

"But you know, it's human nature to be famous, and to be honest, I'm no exception. May I have the honor of knowing exactly how you made that painting?"

Corona explained it to her carefully.Madame de Morcerf listened attentively, and seemed quite moved. "Then, dear Corona, I'd like to invite you to do a portrait of me." She said with a slight smile, "I'm not in a hurry—I think you'll have a busy time ahead."

indeed so.

She became famous far beyond her own imagination.Only a little later than Madame de Morcerf, she was overwhelmed with invitations and invitations.Only then did Corona realize Madame Morcerf's intentions: she ordered a portrait in advance, which was actually a protection, a thoughtful excuse, which Corona could use to evade most invitations and perfunctory those who asked for a painting crowd.However, even if she only accepted less than one-tenth of the invitations, the people who invited her for portraits were still lined up until the early spring of the second year.

The rarity of the painting only made her more famous.For a moment, it seemed that the tabloid reporter's comments about her many years ago came true, and she really reproduced the status of Mrs. Le Brun back then.But status, money, fame, after these things reach a critical point, they will only make people bored.In particular, Corona had to be busy with these entertainments, and the little time she tried to squeeze out was allocated to the literacy class for the female workers.Half a month later, the next wave of hot spots and fashion trends finally took away her attention, and she hadn't shown up at Collins for a long time.

This time, the friends seemed to have gotten used to her absence, but it was a pity that Enjolras was not present because he had to take an exam. "You are really getting more and more unpredictable, Cole." Combeferre said jokingly, "Now you and I are in Paris, but it seems that it is more difficult to find you than when we contacted by letter—I follow your I searched for the address several times, but you are not at home."

That's natural. Coronne did not leave her real address when she corresponded with her friends. What she left was the address on Rue Plumet, and that house had never been lived in. "That's really sorry, I have troubled you to run several times in vain." She said with a smile.

"It seems to me that if you disappear a few more times, Combeferre will be making friends with Anne," said Feuilly.

"Who the hell made friends with Anne, Feuilly?" Grantaire teased.

Under the light, Feuilly's face seemed to be a little red, but the topics among the young people kept jumping up, and the matter was quickly distracted.A few rounds later they talked about workers' education, and Anne's name was brought up again. "Speaking of which, how on earth did you know her?" Feuilly asked, "Among the workers, people in the same factory or the same neighborhood are the easiest to get acquainted with each other, but Anne said that you live far away."

"Anne saved me once." Corona said, briefly telling what happened when they first met, only hiding her identity.

"Why, are the robbers now to the point where they even rob poor students?" Grantaire asked.

"I think you broke a robbery they were planning," said Combeferre thoughtfully. "However, it is very dangerous to go out in the middle of the night. Don't you have any weapons for self-defense?"

"My father left me a pistol/gun, but unfortunately I don't know how to use it." Corona shrugged, "So I can only hope that I can run faster."

"Let Enjolras teach you!" suggested Combeferre, unexpectedly.

"He's a good marksman." Even Feuilly nodded in agreement. "He did it once—it was impressive."

Corona opened her eyes wide.There was still hesitation on her face, but her heart was already beating expectantly: "Will he be willing?"

"Of course he will," said Combeferre.

The author has something to say: The part about painters using optical instruments to assist creation comes from the documentary "Tim's Vermeer".

Of course, there are still controversies about the content of the article; and even if optical instruments are used to assist in the creation, the artistic value of the painting will not be lost.Here, please don’t think too deeply about art history and art theory. If you don’t agree with the content of these articles, just take it as the author’s own unofficial history...