Ye Tianmei continued to speak, introducing the dilapidated statue of Athena in front of him, as well as the creator of this statue, the god of classical carving, Phidias.

“...... One of Phidias' representative works, the Parthenon Athena, is recognized as a model of the glorious period of ancient Greece and represents the highest peak of ancient Greek sculpture art.

The mutilated statue of Athena in front of me, although it is not the "Athena of the Parthenon", is in the same vein as the statue, and its artistic value is almost the same, and it is a truly priceless treasure.

All information about this statue of Athena must be kept strictly secret, and if the Italians knew that it was the work of Phidias, the greedy ones would instantly go into madness.

At that time, we don't even want to leave Rome, Italy, or even the Vatican with this statue of Athena, and the Italian gendarmerie will surround the Vatican.

In addition to the Italians, we must also be careful of the Vatican, especially those guys in the Vatican Museums, we must not let them know the relevant news, so that there will be unexpected situations if they are not guaranteed.

Compared with this statue of Athena, the treasures of the Vatican Museums, such as the statue of Laocoon and his sons, "The Body", and "Apollo on the Watchtower", are not worth mentioning at all!

Beware of the Greeks, Athena, the patron saint of Athens in Greece and the statue of Athena carved by Phidias, the most outstanding and famous of all the statues of Athena throughout the ages.

It is entirely conceivable that once the Greeks know that I have found a statue of Athena of Phideas, the whole of Greece will be a sensation, and all the Greeks will be crazy about it, and they will have to be careful!"

Speaking of this, Ye Tian's expression suddenly became much more solemn, and his tone became extremely serious.

Hearing his words, David and Anderson both nodded slightly.

"Understood, Steven, we know what to do, although rest assured, we will never divulge any information about this statue of Athena!"

Betty also nodded at Ye Tian and held his right hand, but didn't say anything.

Immediately afterward, David asked curiously:

"Steven, since this statue of Athena is so important, what are you going to do with it? Obviously, it can't be placed in the Vatican or Rome anymore, and it would be dangerous to stay here for a second longer!"

Ye Tian nodded lightly, then said with a smile:

"I plan to collect this statue of Athena for myself, and in the future I will set up my own private museum, and when my private museum is established, this statue of Athena will become the treasure of the sculpture museum!

In terms of sculpture alone, with this statue of Athena by Phideas, my private museum is no slouch for the Vatican Museums, the British Museum, or the Louvre in France.

Anderson, you should go back and get ready, take a few security personnel to escort this statue of Athena and those Chinese antique artworks purchased today to Beijing, and leave early tomorrow morning, so as not to have too many dreams at night.

Later, I will contact Air China, charter a large passenger plane to transport these treasures, fly directly to Beijing, and when you arrive at Beijing airport, someone will meet you at the airport and receive these treasures!"

When the words fell, Anderson immediately nodded in response:

"Okay, Steven, I'll be ready to go at any time"

"Steven, why Beijing, and not New York? This statue of Athena is a Western art after all, so it seems more appropriate to ship it to New York for collection and exhibition, right?"

David asked in surprise, a little bit not quite understanding Ye Tian's decision.

Except for Betty, the rest of the people were the same, and everyone was a little confused.

Ye Tian smiled softly, and then gave an answer.

"The reason is simple: my private museum will be located in the heart of Beijing, and it will be a comprehensive museum that will cover Eastern and Western art and have countless top-notch antiques.

As we all know, compared with the major famous museums in the West, China's museum collections of antique artworks are relatively simple, and the collections are basically Chinese antique artworks, including the Forbidden City.

There is a big gap in the collection of Western antiques and art in Chinese museums, and I intend to fill this gap and make my own museum a bridge between East and West art and culture.

More importantly, China's economy continues to develop rapidly, the people are becoming richer and richer, and while the living conditions are getting better, people's pursuit of spiritual life is also becoming more and more colorful!

Moreover, China has a population of 1.4 billion, and Beijing is the political, economic and cultural center of China, and countless people flock to Beijing every year, which is an extremely huge market that I don't want to miss.

New York is different, if my private museum is opened in New York, even if there is a statue of Athena, because of the serious homogenization, it will inevitably divert a lot of audiences from museums such as the Met, MOMA, etc."

"Wow, your ambition is so great, this is to build a world-class private museum!"

"It's an amazing idea, and I have to say, Steven, you're so shrewd!

There was an exclamation in the living room, and David and the others were all frightened by Ye Tian's earth-shattering plan.

After chatting for a few words, Ye Tian returned to the topic.

"When Anderson and the others leave Rome with this statue of Athena and arrive safely in Beijing, I will collect the remaining fragments of this statue in Italy, Greece, and the world.

I believe that once this bounty is hung out, it will definitely receive very good results, and it will definitely be able to recover some of the statue fragments, of course, the more the better.

Depending on the size, location, and importance of the fragments recovered, I will pay you a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars.

I'm going to make a list of the places where the statue of Athena has passed, and I'm going to make it public, and I'm going to mobilize all the people in these places to find the fragments of the statue for me.

As for whether the fragments of the statue that people have recovered are from this statue of Athena, I have my own way of making an accurate judgment, and no one will try to hide my eyes and fish in troubled waters!"

"That's right, Steven, there will be a brave man under the heavy reward, once this bounty is announced, it will definitely cause a sensation, and there will be many people who will take the initiative to help you find the statue fragments, this is a very good way!"

David nodded in agreement, and several others nodded their heads as well.

Next, the group chatted as they admired the dilapidated statue of Athena and the many fragments of the statue, and whispered about where the pieces should be stitched together.

Unfortunately, no progress has been made, and the scattered fragments of the statue cannot be spliced onto the statue.

After about ten minutes of appreciation, everyone was still unsatisfied.

Then, Ye Tian wrapped those statue fragments with prepared cotton cloth and sponge, carefully packed them into those solid wood crates, and sealed those boxes.

After doing this, he took out his mobile phone and began to contact Air China, preparing to charter a large passenger plane to fly directly to Beijing.

Air China naturally attaches great importance to a large customer like him, who charters flights at every turn, and they quickly identified a large passenger plane to be responsible for the delivery mission and began to prepare flight plans.

Next, Ye Tian walked into the bedroom again and called his sister-in-law who was far away in Beijing and several old gentlemen in the Forbidden City one by one, asking them to send someone to the airport to pick up the goods.

When talking to my sister-in-law on the phone, he didn't hide it, and directly explained the importance of this statue of Athena, and asked her to protect this broken sculpture no matter what, which is a priceless treasure!

After listening to his introduction, my sister-in-law screamed directly on the phone, almost crazy!

My sister-in-law also knows the god of classical sculpture, Phidios, and also knows how precious the statue of Athena he carved, the only one in the world, a priceless treasure!

As for the old gentlemen in the Forbidden City, they didn't know the existence of this priceless treasure.

Ye Tian only told them that a batch of outgoing Chinese antique artworks had been collected by him and were ready to be transported back to China, and asked them to arrange a pick-up to ensure the safety of those antique artworks.

Hearing his words, those old gentlemen were very excited, and they praised Ye Tian like a flower on the phone one by one, and he was a little embarrassed to hear it!

Then he chatted with these people for a while, and after blowing a bull, Ye Tian hung up the phone and came out of the bedroom.

Coming to the living room again, before he could sit down on the couch, Cole knocked on the door and walked in.

"Steven, those guys who live next door to the Paul VI Hotel have come over with two paintings and a sculpture, and I hope you can help them identify them.

I put those guys in the conference room, and I searched each of them thoroughly, and they didn't have weapons or bugging equipment!"

Hearing this, Ye Tian immediately laughed softly.

"Obviously, those guys can't wait, they really want to know how much the antique artwork in their hands is worth, okay, let's go meet those guys and give them a reassurance!"