Man is a very selfish animal and tends to gloat when he sees others suffer. If you don't like the other party again, you will do something like falling into the well and going to the house to dismantle the ladder.

If you take advantage of yourself and happen to have a little holiday with yourself, then it's over...... The tip of my heart hurts.

Lin Ziliang is like this now, the more he looks at that painting, the more uncomfortable he becomes, and he can't wait to snatch it and tear it up.

"Curator Sun, this painting ...... Quirky? ”

Your stuff you ask me?

"Mr. Lin, I was about to ask you, where did you buy this painting?"

"Ancestral!"

What?

Sun Mingfang's eyes widened: An antique dealer also plays this, if you want to say that, the sellers are all your father?

"I'm sorry, I often say that I'm used to it......" Lin Zixian straightened his face, "It's really something at home, and it's a ...... left by relatives."

Got it, relics?

"Where did that come from?"

"I just bought it casually, it didn't cost much, maybe a few thousand yuan...... It's been a long time since I bought it, at least in the early ten years, and I've been putting it in the garage to eat dust, and I only tossed it out the year before last......"

"Identified?"

"Of course, and I appraised it twice, and I was looking for foreign cultural relics appraisers from Christie and Su Fubi......"

"Didn't look for a domestic appraiser, such as an expert specializing in Chinese painting?"

"For a foreign oil painting, what's the matter with finding an expert in Chinese painting?"

"What about before entering the exhibition, who identified it during the audition?"

"Of course, it's a domestic expert, but I heard that it's a professor of oil painting at Gome......"

Sun Mingfang's face twisted, as if he had eaten Huang Lian's expression.

Let's just say, how can such a thing be sent to foreign exhibition areas: Chinese paintings that can see chicken feathers if you study oil painting?

If Lin Zixian is more careful, find an expert who specializes in Chinese painting, or a professor who specializes in Chinese painting in major art academies, he will definitely be able to see something.

At that time, not to mention 80,000 and 400,000, 400,000 times 8 will be rushed to ask for it.

However, the ability to appreciate has been obtained to a certain extent, at least at the level of him or Ding Licheng. Of course, such a person is not easy to invite, and it is not something that can be invited by spending money at all. For example, today: If it weren't for Xiang Zhiqing's words, who would he know Lin Zixian?

The investment is disproportionate to the return, Lin Zixian thinks that his head is not swollen, what is the point of staring at a painting that costs only a few thousand yuan?

Including myself, if I encounter this thing, the first thought is definitely this: oil painting? Who buys and who is stupid...... And then at most glance and go, instead of looking at it carefully and carefully several times like now.

Therefore, Li Dingan deserves to pick up the leak.

With envious throat and dry eyes, Sun Mingfang stared at Li Ding'an, his eyes were like looking at an ATM that would go.

"Curator Sun?"

"Oh...... Mr. Lin ...... finally came back to his senses, Sun Mingfang sighed, "I won't hide it from you, this painting is indeed a bit weird." But what we said before, let's only look at one thing today: do you look at this painting, or do you look at what you said earlier? ”

No...... Is there such a big difference: Li Ding'an didn't invite you, you just rushed to see it, and when it was my turn, it became "only this one?" ”

Muttering in his heart, Lin Zixian instinctively turned his gaze, then reacted again, and glared at Li Ding'an fiercely.

Let him see? Unless he kowtows......

"Look at another ......"

"Well, it's not too early......

Sun Mingfang raised his foot and fell down again, "Teacher Li, my level is limited, and I really can't tell who painted it." If it's convenient, do you ask the teacher to take another look? ”

It's not impossible.

He also called two days ago, and Xiang Zhiqing joked on the phone: Ask who came up with the bad idea to let him become an expert at the exhibition? It's just a matter of tethering tigers and catching mice, wasting talents.

"I'll contact you when I'm done and see if Professor Xiang has time!"

"There must be...... During this time, there was nothing to do in the department, and the Chinese Painting Research Center only went to the center once in three or two days, and it was almost idle...... Oh, this is what the old man said himself......"

"Haha......" Li Dingan laughed and nodded again, "Okay!" ”

Lin Zixian was stunned for a moment, then opened his eyes and looked at Sun Mingfang and Li Ding'an back and forth.

Who is Sun Mingfang's teacher? Xiang Zhiqing, a master of Chinese painting, a top expert in calligraphy and painting, a senior consultant of ministries and commissions, enjoys the allowance of the State Council...... He didn't even think about asking for such a character identification. It took a lot of effort to invite Sun Mingfang over, and he owed a lot of favors.

But Li Dingan was good, he didn't need to open his mouth, so Sun Mingfang took the initiative to help him see it, but he couldn't see it accurately, and offered to ask Professor Xiang to take another look, and promised to have time...... When did a top scholar like Xiang Zhiqing become so casual?

After going back that day, he also made a special inquiry, knowing that Li Ding'an's appreciation ability is very high, and his ability to pick up leaks is not bad, and he is still a graduate student at Beijing University, but he is also a consultant of the National Museum...... Well, it's pretty awesome anyway.

But I really didn't expect his interpersonal relationships to be so extensive and so hard?

The key is this age...... No, are you the second generation of the ancient?

Lin Zixian rolled his eyes, Li Dingan and Sun Mingfang glanced at each other and smiled at the same time.

Interlaced like a mountain, no matter what kind of object, Lin Zixian will only use money to measure, and he can't understand what it is to see the joy of hunting.

If a real player encounters a favorite object, he can't wait to sleep in the bed, and if he encounters something he likes but doesn't understand too much, it's over: before he studies it, he definitely doesn't know the taste of food, and he can't sleep at night.

Half a lifetime of master and apprentice, can Sun Mingfang still not know Xiang Zhiqing's hobbies? It's not an exaggeration, seeing this painting must be more curious and interested than him.

Sun Mingfang is the same, if he doesn't understand, he doesn't want to sleep well for at least half a month.

So it has nothing to do with the relationship, and it doesn't matter if you are diligent or not, this is called like-mindedness......

"Then you're busy, I'll go first......"

Sun Mingfang said goodbye with a smile, while Lin Zixian looked at the oil painting reluctantly, and then looked at Li Dingan. His expression changed suddenly, his eyes were like machine guns, and he couldn't wait to look at the face in front of him.

But the money is paid, what can I do?

Before the exhibition, he had signed a contract in black and white, and if he repented, it was not Li Ding'an who would talk to him, but the district government and the Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics.

It's exciting to think about......

The two turned around one after another, Li Ding'an was ready to put on the picture frame, and then slowly studied it after going back, and Chen Jingshu also came to help.

Just as he was about to get started, Lei Ming really went up to the second floor leisurely. There were still seven or eight steps away, he subconsciously stopped, and took a closer look: "Director Sun?" ”

Just this body type, and this temperament that is more like a street slicker than a street slicker, I can't forget it once I see it. Sun Mingfang immediately remembered: When the auction was held in Shanghai, the big man who followed Li Ding'an. I heard that it was a classmate, and the family was quite rich......

"Mr. Lei, is it so coincidental?"

"I'm bored, come and play with Li Ding'an......"

Pretty fast?

Li Ding'an smiled approvingly, and couldn't help squinting when he saw that he seemed to be holding a book in his hand.

Well, it's not a book, it seems to be...... Folded together newspapers?

Traditional Chinese characters, which should be from the Republic of China period, are printed with colorful paintings, and there is more than one, and all of them are women.

The question is, what about clothes?

Ah Zhen, Ah Zhen, you are really hopeless......

Feeling that Li Ding'an's eyes were wrong, Lei Mingzhen lowered his head and his expression froze: I was so engrossed that I forgot to put it away?

"What's your expression? Look clearly, the Republic of China Pictorial, the antique ......"

You know it's an antique, and you still take it like this, it looks convenient, right?

"How much did it cost?"

"Eight thousand eight...... Isn't it lucky? ”

Oh, auspicious yarn?

It's you...... Eight hundred and eight is too much!

Lei Mingzhen purely took his words as a deaf ear......

There are also men and women hugging each other...... Chen Jingshu is here, it is indeed undecent, Lei Mingzhen pouted and put the pictorial into his trouser pocket, and then probed his neck: "Oil painting...... This is the painting you were talking about earlier? ”

The things have arrived, there is nothing that cannot be admitted, Li Dingan nodded.

"It's old enough, or did a Catholic missionary paint it?"

With a muttering mouth, Lei Mingzhen leaned forward again, "It's almost two hundred years, right?" ”

What the hell are you talking about?

Li Dingan's eyes burst out, and he felt that his eyeballs were about to fall out.

You know how to paint a yarn...... Well, it's a bit disrespectful to say this, if you make an analogy: Lei Ming really buys a hundred antiques, no matter which dynasty or country it is, as long as there is a genuine one, you have to praise him for his good luck.

If you want to ask why, just look at the pictorial in his trouser pocket: Ya's shopping is all based on the edge of the eye, first see whether it is pleasing to the eye, and then see whether it is old or not.

But what in the antique market doesn't look old?

The fake ones are older than the real ones, and they are impatient, Li Dingan teaches him hand-in-hand and is unwilling to learn, who will be fooled if he is not fooled?

But now just by glancing, he dared to say that this thing was two hundred years old. Calculate it again, from the Qianlong period to the present, is it two hundred years?

And how long did Li Dingan watch it?

Yesterday and today, more than an hour...... Isn't this scientific?

Sun Mingfang also stopped and turned around.

I was even more curious than Li Ding'an: the two of them watched it for a long time, and they weren't even sure whether the author was Chinese or foreign.

Of course, he didn't know how many missionaries there were in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, but he could count the famous painters who could draw and integrate Chinese and Western cultures, and he could count them with a piece of fingers on his hands and feet.

Stunned, he walked back with a look of surprise on his face...... Oh no, magical.

Li Dingan also came back to his senses, and wondered: "How did you deduce it?" ”

"Have you forgotten what your buddy does? Translator, proficient in seven Chinese languages, so you don't need to speculate, just look with your eyes......"

He stretched out his hand to draw a little, "Look at this name, whether the font is particularly large, whether the font is particularly round, you look at the "P", it is almost like a ball...... This method of writing is derived from the Bible stele unearthed in Rome at the end of the 17th century.

In addition to the Bible, it is also engraved with the agreement signed by Pope Stephen II and King Pepin of the Franks in the eighth century to establish the Vatican Papal States, so it is called the King's Tablet or the Papal Tablet, and this font is also named after it......

However, it was not widely used, and was used within the Catholic Church to copy or print the Bible. Around the 19th century, when the Vatican was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, the font disappeared completely, and the time is only 200 years from now.

And the Bible is not something that anyone can copy if they want to...... Look at this again, the four bronze pillars and the red copper dome, this is called the bronze canopy, the exclusive throne of the pope, which was built in the Vatican City State, and they are still there...... Coincidentally, buddy has been, but who can see ordinary people at that time, what is he not a missionary? ”

I'm going, increasing knowledge?

really touched Li Ding'an's knowledge blind spot: when he was in college, he often helped Lei Mingzhen do his homework in order to earn extra money, so in addition to English, he knew a little about French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Arabic, but it was only in modern times.

Two or three hundred years ago, I really didn't have any contact with it.

As for the papal throne...... I'd love to see it, but he's only been rich for a few months?

Not to mention Sun Mingfang, he only learned English, but he forgot about it for a long time...... Give him a map in English, and he'll have to think for a moment where the Vatican is......

"Ah Zhen, are you sure?"

"Nonsense, if I hadn't paid you a picture!"

Good guy, if Lei Mingzhen is not mistaken, basically overturned his and Sun Mingfang's judgment: the author is not a Chinese, but a serious foreigner.

One is the font.

I used a brush for half a lifetime, wrote square words for half a lifetime, and suddenly I had to write letters with a hard pen, and it would be good to be able to write them, how could I take care of what font is not a font?

Of course, if you have to be more realistic, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can't write it, and you can describe it all according to the description.

But the papal throne can't be explained: I've never seen it, even if the gods come, they can't draw it.

At the same time, the difficulty of determining the identity of the author has also been reduced countless times: if it was looking for a needle in a haystack before, it is now a chicken among ducks: first of all, the time can be determined: the Qianlong period, the earliest is no more than Kangxi.

The second is a foreigner, and the third is a missionary, and he can paint oil, and he is more proficient in Chinese painting. In the end, he was able to come into contact with the court Gongpo, which shows that he was not a court painter and was definitely an official of the Qing court, and he could not be a small official...... In this way, the number comes and goes, so ten or twenty.

Wang Zhicheng, Ai Qimeng, He Qingtai, Lang Shining, An Deyi, Qian Deming, Liu Songling...... and earlier, Tang Ruowang, Dai Jinxian, and Nan Huairen, who served as the chief of the Qin Heavenly Prison and the Ministry of Rites, could all paint.

Li Ding'an has only a general understanding of these people, but he has no impression of what his brushwork and painting style are. But it just so happens that the Forbidden City has a collection of these people's works, and all Chinese paintings and oil paintings are available. Even if you use the stupidest way to find out and compare them one by one, it is estimated that you will not be able to use it for a day to have results.

At the same time, it also means that this painting is by no means more than four million: the lowest of them, just like Liu Songling, has the same price as Leng Mei: more than 10 million......

Suddenly, Sun Mingfang's eyes opened into two circles, and he wanted to set them on the canvas, but he looked at it for a long time, but he still couldn't see why.

It's not that the level is not enough, but that there are too few parts of the painting that involve Chinese painting, not to mention personal style, Sun Mingfang can't even distinguish the general genre.

"Mr. Li, who drew it?"

Li Dingan couldn't see it, so he simply raised his head: "I want to think about it...... John Tang and Dai Jinxian are Germans, Nan Huairen is Belgian, Qian Deming, Wang Zhicheng and He Qingtai are French, Ai Qimeng is Czech, and Lang Shining and An Deyi are Italians...... Well, not a single one, all of them are Catholic missionaries......"

Halfway through, he lowered his head again, his eyes fixed on the painting.

"Are you trying to deduce from the bronze canopy? It's useless......" Lei Mingzhen shook his head, "You have to find out where this thing is first: the Vatican, similar to the Catholic Zuting, these people you just said are the missionaries carefully selected by the Holy See, and they are all China who came to China after the Pope personally received them, how can they not see the bronze canopy?" ”

"I'm not talking about canopy...... Look at the name and spell it! ”

“Joseph…… Joseph ......" Lei Mingzhen was stunned for a moment, "Among those people just now, there is someone named this?" ”

"Wang Zhicheng's name is Jean, He Qingtai's name is Louis, Ai Qimeng's name is Jack, Andeyi's name is Mickler, Lang Shining's name is Giuseppe, and Liu Songling's name is Ferdinand...... Well, no one called Joseph ......"

Now it's the other people's turn to be shocked: you know this?

Lei Mingzhen opened his mouth and was stunned for a long time before he said, "Then what do you say?" ”

"Don't panic...... First of all, help me think, which countries are using this name? ”

"It's too much...... American, British, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc., etc.: Anyone who professes Catholicism...... Oh no, countries that are supposed to be Christian will have this name...... Want to know why? ”

Lei Mingzhen gritted his teeth and smiled proudly, "Because the father of Jesus ...... Well, it should be that the adoptive father is called Joseph, which is what it is called in the Old Testament: Joseph, so there are many thieves in European countries who call this name, which is similar to our old king! ”

"Has there been any evolution, such as now, are there any other spellings and pronunciations?"

"Of course, there are many different pronunciations and ways of writing in different countries. However, although the pronunciation is different, most missionaries in various countries still write it this way...... Well? Lei Mingzhen's eyes widened, "What the hell am I?" ”

"You it...... Dare to brag that you know seven Chinese? Don't you know that the names of the same letters and the same order have different pronunciations in different countries, and even after slowly evolving, other spelling methods will be derived? When it reaches China again, it will be plausible for a long time, not to mention that it has gone through another 200 years? Spell me again, spell Chinese transliteration ......"

I was so proud that I forgot about it......

Lei Mingzhen smiled wryly, saw Li Ding'an glaring at him, and straightened his expression again: "It's called Joseph in English, and it's called that in the United States and the United Kingdom, it's called Joe or Joey...... In German and Turkish, it is called Yusufu, and we XJ Uyghurs also call it that...... In Spanish and Portuguese, it is called José, and in Italian it is called Duseppe, also called Giuseppe, and it is called Pepe...... The latter two are both stars......"

"You give me a serious point, I don't care if it's a star or not...... Well, I'll be ...... What to wear? ”

"Dyusepe!"

"The latter one!"

"Giuseppe?"

Did I wipe it?

In an instant, Li Ding'an's eyes widened like cannons, "Teacher Sun, what nationality is Lang Shining from, and what is his original name?" ”

How do I know what Lang Shining's original name was, I only know that he is Italian...... Well, isn't that right?

Li Ding'an just said it, it seems to be called Pei......

Sun Mingfang was a spirit, his head was like a spindle, and he almost knocked on the painting: "Sigh...... Grieve...... Man...... Man...... Lang Shining? ”

(End of chapter)