The weather in New York is a little colder in October, with daytime temperatures in the mid-teens. Xu Yiwen got off the plane and went straight to the auction house in Rockefeller Square, because he had contacted the auction house before coming, so Lao Xu stood in front of the main desk of the auction house and explained his intention to a little girl at the main desk. The little girl made a phone call, and after a while, a white girl with chestnut hair came out, asked Xu Yiwen a few words lightly, and then took Lao Xu upstairs.

Xu Yiwen is the first time to enter the auction house, both at home and abroad, and it is inevitable that he is a little curious, and he looks around while following the girl.

The decoration of the whole auction house is dark from the outside, inheriting the European classical decoration, the atmosphere is very quiet, walking in the corridor on both sides of the closed office area, not a single sound can be heard, the lounge area is open, there are vending machines, coffee machines and lounge chairs.

Walking through the winding corridor and coming to a door, the white girl gently pushed the door open, smiled and made a gesture of please, and when Lao Xu entered, the black girl did not follow in, but gently closed the door outside.

"Welcome to our auction house, I'm Anderson from the Painting Department. As soon as Xu Yiwen entered the door, he found a white man in his forties, in a suit and leather shoes, got up from the sofa, walked over to Lao Xu enthusiastically, stretched out his hand, and next to the white man were three old men.

"Hello, my name is Xu Yiwen, you can call me even. Xu Yiwen hurriedly stretched out his hand and shook Anderson. This time when he went abroad, Lao Xu specially found a homophonic English word for himself, so as not to call his name strangely in the foreigner.

"Hello, these are Professor Chapman, Professor Edmund, and Mr. Boswell, and the three of them will be appraising the painting for you. Anderson hurriedly introduced several experts behind him to Xu Yiwen. "I think you're in the bag behind you, and you're going to have to examine the painting, right? Caravaggio's masterpiece, and it's exciting to think that I'm going to see it with my own eyes. ”

Xu Yiwen nodded, took off the slender bag from behind him, and put it on the desk in the office. In the center of the office is a wooden platform with an inclined plane, presumably used to identify paintings.

The three professors put on their gloves, gently took out the wooden box from the bag, and inhaled in unison.

"This is the three irises of the French royal family. Professor Edmund gently stroked the golden pattern on the wooden box.

"This is yew wood, and the patterns are all inlaid with pure gold. Professor Chapman used a magnifying glass to examine the texture of the wooden box.

Mr. Boswell sighed as he pointed to the empty lock on the wooden box, "It's a pity the lock is gone." ”

Opening the wooden box and taking out the long leather bag, Professor Chapman said, "Gold wire rope, ordinary cowhide material." Continuing to take out the round leather cylinder in the leather pouch, Professor Chapman whispered, "Medici family!

Professor Edmund looked at the fire paint and nodded, "Yes, the Medici coat of arms." ”

This time, the three experts were more cautious, gently took out the scroll, and gently spread it on the wooden table, and this bloody oil painting reappeared in front of the experts.

"Caravaggio was a great painter who painted several paintings of Judith cutting off the head of Horofoni, the only one found now in Italy. Caravaggio's plot choice is also unique: he freezes the scene in the bloodiest and most visually striking moment of the beheading. Because he considered himself a sinner, the painting of Horofoni was himself. Professor Edmund said slowly.

Mr. Boswell went on to say, "In the Middle Ages, although there were similar attempts to choose scenes as Caravaggio, due to the lack of realistic techniques, such works could only be used for storytelling purposes, lacking visual stimulation. By the Renaissance, Botticelli, Andrea Mantegna, and Giorgione had all created works on this subject, but they all chose the scene after Judith returned from cutting off the head of Horofoni. This treatment focuses on Judith's triumphant return, and the visual effect is classical and solemn. ”

In other words, Caravaggio created a new style for the subject, reflecting both his personal aesthetic orientation and the power of the Baroque Roman Catholic appeal to the 'Counter-Reformation'. In order to cope with the Protestant forces from the north, Catholicism wanted to express its strength and legitimacy through grand and broad art, so Baroque art came into being, which focused on the expression of magnificent scenes and emphasized tension. Caravaggio himself was one of the advocates of Baroque art. Professor Edmund then added.

"This one is a typical Caravaggio painting, bloody and sacred. Professor Chapman said with a hint of reverence.

The three experts began to carefully admire the painting, and Anderson invited Xu Yiwen to the couch to the side.

"Please don't pay attention to these three, they only have that picture in their eyes at this time. Anderson shrugged helplessly.

Xu Yiwen said, "This is the reason why I asked you to identify, artists are professional and temperamental." ”

"What do you drink? Tea, coffee, and juice, or some wine?" Anderson asked.

"Just coffee, thank you. Xu Yiwen knew that the Huaxia tea that Americans learned here was similar to the kung fu tea in southern China, and he was busy for half a day, just one or two small sips, which was not enough to stuff his teeth.

Xu Yiwen likes to drink Kuding tea the most, and it is the cheap kind, brew a large cup of thick tea in a large tea jar, and put it in the refrigerator to cool. When you are tired and thirsty from playing, you take a big sip, it is really cold to the heart, first bitter and then sweet, and the whole body is comfortable.

Anderson chatted with Xu Yiwen, and found that Lao Xu had just returned from a trip to Europe, so he talked to Xu Yiwen about a lot of interesting things about Europe. After chatting for about half an hour, I suddenly heard three experts arguing over there.

Professor Edmund said, "I think it's the work of Caravaggio's followers. Compared with the Italian one, the three figures in the picture do not echo in either their movements or expressions, which is completely different from Caravaggio's usual method of expressing concentrated picture tension. ”

"You see, Judith's eyes are facing us directly, and she is not concentrating on slashing, and her servant looks at her more abruptly, and if there are several people between them, the servant's gaze will appear more natural." The eyes of the slain Horofoni were turned to the servant, and the gazes of all three were scattered, which did not correspond to the order and unity emphasized by Baroque art. This unnatural feeling does not exist in the Italian painting. And in the Italian painting, Judith is undoubtedly the protagonist of the painting with a furrowed brow and murderous spirit, and in this work the arrangement of the servants and the over-emphasis on the wrinkles of the face and the depiction of the neck are suspicious of dominance. ”