Hieronymis Bosch, whose name was already famous two hundred years ago, although not a good name, was in the impression that he was a cynical, gloomy and eccentric man— It is also very mysterious, because although he is famous, but few traces of him have been left in relation to him, and the most known is that he had a wealthy wife, and had property and houses in many places, which also meant that he could live freely and richly, and in the eyes of the king's spies, this also meant that those incomes that could not be revealed were also fully explained.

The surname Bosch is not uncommon in Flanders, and it has a long history, and in this era when the son of a blacksmith is a blacksmith and the son of a king is a king, his family has also inherited the profession of painter for six whole generations, and Bose is no exception, but his style is completely different from that of his father and brother. This refers only to the shaping of characters and landscapes, not to technique, because the technique of Ieronimis is obviously learned from his elders, and the Bosnes are very good at layer-by-layer oil painting techniques, that is, first sketch simple and flexible lines with charcoal on a plaster board, then determine a complete and detailed sketch on the lines, and finally apply transparent and light pigment layer by layer on the sketch, and the finished tempera painting is brightly colored and richly layered. The reason why people think he is eccentric is that although Hieronimis Bosch has spent his life in the service of the local "Brotherhood of Notre Dame", that is, a Catholic church, all his works are full of absurd atmosphere, deformed animals and landscapes, as well as ugly human beings, and hideous devils, and many symbols that seem to have countless special meanings. ‘

It is ironic that before Bosch made his status as a wizard public, he was considered a devout believer who turned a blind eye to the evils revealed in his paintings, but perhaps it was precisely because of his repeated appearances that he was sought after in three ways—as the Duke of Gaston did to Louis XIII, that Bosch's paintings were scattered throughout Flanders before they were burned in the name of immorality in the Church. Needless to say, there is always an heir who cannot wait any longer, a husband who is eyeing his wife's dowry, or a jealous girl or a teenager, or just an ordinary quarrel, or a sudden brawl. Everyone knows that if you pray to Jeromenes' paintings, the devil will come down and grant their wishes.

Not to mention, Bosch did have a few regulars in the court and church.

Duke Gaston was Jeromenes' biggest customer, of course, he didn't know that the man who looked to be only thirty years old was Jeromenes, he only thought that the other party was a descendant of Bosch, he bought no more than a million livres of paintings from Bosch, which was twice the dowry of the current queen of France, but Jeromenis must say that it was really a friendship price, Duke Gaston succeeded in cursing Louis XIII, his brother, and caused the king to fall off his horse and end up in agony on the bed***** When he died, he also succeeded in cursing his nephew, that is, Louis XIV, and that time also succeeded, if it was not for Louis XIV's bold previous bold deal with vampires, and almost desperately made a pact with the wizards of Gayora, the Mancini family, then now, sitting on the throne may be the Duke of Gaston.

But with the death of Duke Gaston, those paintings were helplessly reduced to ashes in the fire - Jeromenis deeply regretted that his paintings could not directly summon the devil, but only as a medium and introduction - but it did not matter, he could still create countless paintings, just like mushrooms sowing spores, they will also bring the darkness of the inner world to every corner of the human heart.

Thinking so, Jeromenes stood up, and the visitor finally put away the smile on his lips and bowed to him, though not so reluctantly - it was not for nothing that the Bohemian witches were afraid of the dark wizards of Spain, and even the wizards of Gayola believed that they were a group of formidable enemies, but there was one thing that Louis could not know, and that was the most important reason why the wizards of the inner world were so shy away from the Flemish wizards - the "Key of Solomon" that Jeromenes was said to have.

"Solomon's Key", according to legend, was the angel Roger El, who was expelled from the Garden of Eden by God because of mercy, wrote a book of the knowledge of heaven and gave it to Adam, but before Adam could learn its contents, he was taken away by another jealous angel and thrown into the sea, and many years later, King Solomon occasionally obtained this book from the belly of the sea fish, and in this way obtained the ability to summon seventy-two demon kings - this is not really true, "Solomon's Key" It was a magic book written by wizards in the eighth century, but this magic book did leave a lot of ancient, demon-related knowledge, and almost all of this ancient knowledge was lost in the process of wizards being forced to escape into the inner world, so in the twelfth century, when this magic book reappeared, it caused several bloody wars.

It is unknown how Jerominez Bose obtained this magic book as a wizard of the surface world, the only thing that is known is that this magic book does give great strength and longevity - although wizards are generally stronger and longer than mortals, but for two hundred years, Jeromenes has always maintained a young appearance, a strong body, and wizards can't help but be jealous, the problem is that they can't find "Solomon's Key" from Jeromenes.

Jeromenes also knew that he was hated and envied by many people, but so what, except for the vampires, the wizards who had been with him had changed several times.

"Is that you today?" asked Jeromenis nonchalantly as she walked out.

"It's me. The man replied.

"Then come with me, I still have a lot of work to do today. ”

The person who came was one of Jeromenes' disciples, his name was Peter Paul Rubens, he always thought that his teacher was just a painter specializing in the Bosch style, but he did not expect that he was Bosch himself, of course, these were all known after he became a wizard, in addition to Rubens, there was another Peter, Peter Boroueil, and Van Dyck, they were all disciples of Bosch, and Bosch taught them at different stages in two centuries, not only the art of painting, but also curses, They did receive a good reward in the mortal world for their prayers and potions, and in return they had to work for their teacher Bose before the end of the sorcerer's life.

In addition to Borouegel, Rubens and did not have a very good attitude towards Jeromenes, but Jeromenes never cared about this, he had many students, whether wizards or mortals, but there were only three who could stand out from his demanding requirements, especially Rubens, who probably made his cruel, One of the best hidden in madness and chaos, Boruegel was very loyal to his teacher, but although he had talent, he still could not get rid of the shackles left by Bosch, and many of his paintings were mistaken for Bosch's works, so they were also hunted down and burned by the church.

In another room, three huge drawing boards have been prepared, which are usually seen on the altar, Rubens's most famous triptych, the upper and lower crosses are also of this size, the largest one is level with his forehead, two of them are as wide as his, the plaster is completely dry, the charcoal is ready, the egg agent (egg yolk or egg white) needed to make the pigment, linseed oil, water, peppermint oil, dharma resin, vanli water, alcohol, The vinegar sauce, as well as the various ores and metal powders, have also been neatly arranged, including some of the latest pigments from Lorraine, which are said to be the colors extracted from the coal by the Italian wizards with the support of the King of France, and Bose has tried to do so, but for the time being he can only concoct a vivid fuchsia, and the other colors are always dull or not persistent.

On the canvas, there was already a preliminary sketch, and Rubens took a closer look—Jeromenes had made many famous triptychs before, such as the Last Judgment, the Hayride, and Paradise on Earth, but now this triptych seemed to show less than any of the previous paintings, "That's why I'll summon you, not Borugel or Dyck." Jeromenis said, "My child, I need your strength. ”

Speaking of curses, in fact, it was Borugel who was the best at it, but Louis XIV was not Louis XIII, he was an arrogant young king, he maintained both devotion to God and trust in the inhuman, he was surrounded by many people in the world, and direct curses were like a sharp dagger that could be detected before they even touched the king, and Van Dyck was not good at curses - he was better at praying and making potions.

As for Rubens, Rubens never expresses his emotions and will directly in the brush, but as long as someone stands in front of Rubens' works, they will involuntarily be conquered by the emotions expressed in the picture, and even be pulled and controlled by it over time - it's just that Rubens rarely uses his power to hurt others, and most of his paintings represent blessings, except for a few enemies - After they were expelled and hunted down after their conversion to Protestantism, Rubens made three paintings, one for their enemies and one for their betrayal.

So for the deranged Jeromenes, Rubens succumbed to the strength and talent of the other party, and on the other hand, he could not help but be bored with Bosch's coldness and carelessness, and when he saw the vulture-lily in full bloom on the picture, he knew what kind of person his teacher was dealing with: "Are you sure?" he said: "I have heard that Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and the United Republic of the Netherlands are all trying to ......"

"Well, yes, they found me. Jeromenis said.

Rubens was stuck, he had been a Spanish diplomat for nearly ten years, and his most remarkable achievement was to conclude good relations between Spain and England, in view of this, Charles I also awarded him a knighthood, and he also made a zenith painting for the court Whitehall in London, but now Charles I is dead, and the relationship between England and France is still very stiff - The problem was that Rubens had heard before he left the world that the new King of England had always been friends and in-laws with King Louis XIV of France, and as a lord, he did not hesitate to devote himself to anything unfavorable to the king, as Borouegel did.

He wanted to refuse for a moment, but the shadows under Bosch's robe stopped him from doing so, and Rubens sat down at the drawing board and said, "Tell me, teacher," he said, "the name of the painting." ”

"Saint-Denis. ”

——————

A group of people entered the chapel of Charleroi, and after a short period of noise, St. George (patron saint of England) was moved from the center to the right, and the icon of Saint-Denis was placed in its original place, because the new owner, King Louis XIV of France, was going to come in for Mass of Thanksgiving and prayer - Although God is still one, it would be better to change the patron saint, and although the people here hate the French and prefer the English who provide them with wool, the people are always quite sensible in the face of swords and artillery.

As Dunkirk had been told by the king's clergy, ministers, and soldiers, and that the stay was short, the king hastily prayed to God and Saint-Denis that the offensive would go so smoothly, and then he got up and left.

Although victory without a fight will always make some self-proclaimed brave kings and generals feel regretful, as if the merit is also covered with a layer of dust, Louis would not think so, for him, the best cities can be like this, a tragic victory in a war is as dazzling and blood-soaked as a flower raised by blood, but for a king like Louis, who is more rational than vain, war is more akin to a deal with the devil, in this case, the price to pay is of course as little as possible, especially considering that the Spanish army may have the possibility of shrinking the defenseThat is, it is the most pleasing thing to abandon some of the small border towns and wait for the main ones to be ready for the sake of not having any loss now.

The king closed his eyes and thought about the next line of attack—Mons, Art, and then Tournai, all of which were small towns, and even if there was resistance, it would not be more difficult than Lorraine or Alsace.

In this way, Charleroi, Art, and Tournai were in a line, and Louis was not prepared to advance too hastily, and his army had to keep in line with the armies of Dunkirk and Luxembourg, and then Lille, which was probably the most prosperous city in this line, and the agent reported that there were about six thousand defenders in it, and that Lille had strong and tall walls, and that perhaps they would encounter a real battle here.

Louis looked up, and in the flickering candlelight, Saint-Denis's smile was even a little eerie.