A few minutes later, the transaction was completed.
The moment he received the bank text message, Sandel let out a sigh of relief.
In an instant, the sadness on his face and the anxiety in his eyes disappeared.
The frown that had been frowning also relaxed.
It was clear that he was in dire straits and was on the verge of bankruptcy.
For him, the $500,000 that had just arrived was undoubtedly the panacea that brought him back to life.
With this money as a foundation, he had enough confidence to survive this period of depression.
Seeing his appearance, Xiao Ran and the others chuckled.
"Congratulations, Sandel, it seems you made a lot of money on this painting of "Venus Bathing"!"
"Am I being too generous? I should have discussed the price with you just now."
Xiao Ran said jokingly.
Upon hearing this, Sander immediately laughed.
Then, the guy nodded and said:
"Thank you for your generosity, Sean. No need to deny it, I did make a little money!"
"This money doesn't matter to you, but it is so important to me that it allows my antique shop to continue to survive."
"But I believe that the secrets you discover are more important and you get more things!"
"Otherwise I wouldn't have bought this oil painting. Can you explain it to me now? To clear up my doubts."
Not only him, but everyone including Elaine looked over.
Everyone was full of curiosity and wanted to know the secret behind this painting and the undead sculpture.
Especially Elaine and David, they concluded based on past experience.
These two works of art must be worth a lot of money, probably two top-notch works of art!
There must be important secrets hidden behind these two works of art.
Otherwise, Xiao Ran would never buy these two treasures.
Xiao Ran looked at Sandel, then shook his head.
"Don't worry about it in advance. It won't be too late to explain it after I finish visiting your antique store."
“There are still a lot of things in the store that I haven’t looked at yet. Maybe I will buy a few more treasures.”
Hearing this, Sandel could only nod and accept.
"Well, I hope you can still find something, and I also hope to make more money!"
After chatting for a while, Xiao Ran continued to visit the store and admired the various items displayed in the store.
In the blink of an eye, nearly twenty minutes passed.
Xiao Ran finally finished visiting the antique store, and then walked into the reception area holding an Indian mask.
After entering the reception area, he asked about the Indian mask.
This is a Navajo Indian mask made of wood with a human face and beak.
It has a very sharp beak with some mysterious Indian patterns carved on it, which is very distinctive.
Moreover, this mask has a certain history and is considered an antique cultural relic, but it is not worth much.
To Xiao Ran, this is just a prop used to conceal the magic, and its value is not important.
After listening to Sandel's introduction, he spent two thousand dollars to buy this Indian mask.
After completing the transaction, everyone immediately focused their attention on the "Bathing Venus" and the undead sculpture derived from "The Gates of Hell".
Xiao Ran did not answer the question immediately. He first looked at the light conditions in the room, thought for a moment, and then said:
"Sander, please turn on all the lighting equipment in the store and find a strong flashlight. I can use it."
Before he finished speaking, Sandel immediately nodded and responded:
"No problem, Sean"
With that said, the guy got up and turned on the light.
As soon as he left, Xiao Ran turned to look at Sam again.
"Sam, you go to President 1 outside and get my exploration tool box."
"No problem, Sean"
Sam responded and immediately stood up and walked out of the store.
In the blink of an eye, all the lamps in the antique store lit up, illuminating the store as if it were daytime.
Sandel also brought a strong flashlight and a magnifying glass, which are the most indispensable items in antique stores.
Immediately afterwards, Sam walked into the antique store carrying an exquisite Hermès tool box.
After everything was ready, Xiao Ran started to perform.
He got up and came to "Venus Bathing", looked at the painting carefully, and then said with a smile:
"I wonder if you have seen the earliest surviving painting by the master of art Titian, "Field Ensemble""
"If you study that painting carefully, you will find that "Field Ensemble" has many similarities with this oil painting."
""Field Ensemble" was created around 1510 and was considered to be a work by Giorgione for a long time. It was only later proven that it was written by Titian."
"In "Field Ensemble", you can see Giorgione's poetic themes and landscape descriptions, as well as slightly rough and robust characters, but they are Titian's personal characteristics."
"In this painting, these characteristics are vividly reflected. From this perspective, I judge that this "Venus Bathing" is an early work by Titian."
"ah!"
There was a cry of exclamation at the scene, and everyone was shocked by these words.
Especially Sandel, his eyes suddenly widened, and his eyeballs almost flew out of their sockets.
"What? This is an early work by Titian, the sun among the stars and one of the greatest painters in the history of art. Did I hear it correctly?"
Sandor exclaimed in a low voice, his voice trembling.
Elaine, who was standing next to Xiao Ran, had eyes as bright as two searchlights.
"Yes! Why did I forget "Field Ensemble"? The style of this painting is too similar to "Field Ensemble""
"They have so much in common, both Giorgione and Titian"
"To be precise, what this painting reflects is the process of Titian getting rid of the influence of Giorgione and gradually forming his own artistic style."
Hearing this, Xiao Ran immediately smiled and nodded.
"Yes, this painting is a testimony to Titian's growth! Giorgione and Titian often painted together when they studied together in Giovanni's studio."
"In the beginning, Titian regarded Giorgione as his idol, even God, and he imitated Giorgione everywhere, even to the point of fanaticism!"
"Later, Giorgione discovered that Titian had amazing talent and the possibility of surpassing himself, so he began to alienate Titian, became depressed, taciturn, and indulged in drinking and lasciviousness."
"As a result, he was infected with the Black Death by the beautiful woman in the painting, and both died suddenly. He died young when he was just 33 years old."
"Giorgione died young, and Titian began his independent artistic development, eventually becoming the greatest art master of the late Renaissance."
Hearing this, everyone was completely dumbfounded and froze in place.
At the same time, everyone's eyes were shining with excitement.
In the history of Western art, Titian is one of the greatest artists who can stand alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
In terms of painting talent alone, Titian is even more outstanding than Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, and can be said to be unique in the entire history of Western art.
This point is a recognized fact in the history of Western art.
This shows how amazing the value of Titian's paintings is.
If the oil painting in front of you is really an early work by Titian in his artistic career, it would be absolutely priceless!
Looking at Sandel again, after the shock, he suddenly fell into endless pain.
The identification of this painting is actually a layer of window paper!
When Xiao Ran pierced the window paper, everything suddenly became clear.
At this time, Sandel saw that this oil painting was an authentic work by the master of art Titian!
He no longer had any doubts about Xiao Ran's identification conclusion.
It was so painful for Sandel to miss out on such a top-notch work of art worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and he almost died from his heartache!
Xiao Ran looked at this guy sympathetically, and then continued to perform.
"In 1510, Titian was only about twenty years old, and he was a fervent admirer of Giorgione. This painting is the best proof."
"After Giorgione's death, Titian took over the creation of "Sleeping Venus" and completed the immortal painting according to Giorgione's original intention."
"It is estimated that it was also at that time that he created the painting "Venus Bathing", leaving evidence that he gradually got rid of Giorgione and developed independently."
"Titian would occasionally hide his signature when creating. The techniques for hiding signatures are all kinds of strange, but most of them use changes in color."
"This method is very covert. It can still be discovered using some methods. There may be Titian's hidden signature on this painting."
As he spoke, he suddenly opened his exploration tool box and took out a handheld ultraviolet lamp.
He lit the ultraviolet lamp casually, placed it close to the surface of the painting, and began to illuminate the "Bathing Venus" from top to bottom.
When the purple light shone at the feet of Venus, Elaine suddenly cheered excitedly.
"My dear, you really guessed it right. There is indeed Titian's personal signature here."
"These are two lines of Latin cursive writing, 'To dear Giorgio, Titian Vecellio', which is a tribute to Giorgione."
As she spoke, she pointed to the two lines of Latin text at the feet of Venus.
Without her pointing, everyone could already see the two lines of Latin cursive under the ultraviolet light.
Although the two lines of cursive Latin are very light and covered with layers of paint, they can still be seen clearly under the illumination of ultraviolet lamps.
Seeing this scene, Xiao Ran couldn't help but chuckle proudly.
"Obviously, Titian at this time was still a fervent admirer of Giorgione and was willing to crawl at Giorgione's feet."
“The goddess Venus in the painting, in Titian’s eyes, is probably the incarnation of Giorgione!”
Before he finished speaking, a burst of lost murmurs suddenly came from the side.
"Oh my God! This is really a work by Titian. What did I miss?"
No need to ask, this grief-stricken whine comes from Sandor of course!
