"An extraordinary place..."
Xu Chuxiang murmured softly.
She had never heard of anything about extraordinary places before.
Professor Holt turned his head at this time and said to his young and handsome assistant:
"James, open the box."
Next to James Potter's feet, there was a brown leather suitcase, locked tightly with a brass clasp.
When Professor Holt and James Potter came in just now, Xu Chuxiang had already noticed the brown leather suitcase.
Generally speaking, when participating in this kind of afternoon tea reception, guests can leave their belongings to the servants for temporary storage, and there is no need to bring them in.
But they brought it in, which shows that they attach great importance to the contents of this suitcase, so much that they don't trust giving it to anyone for a while.
Then I saw the young man who had the title of Baron of the Injili Empire as introduced by Professor Holt. He took out a key from his arms, opened the brass lock on the box, and pulled up the lid.
Xu Chuxiang took a quick look and saw that there were no valuable-looking items in the box, only a pile of papers, photos and the like.
Professor Holt took out a photo from his suitcase and placed it in front of Xu Chuxiang.
Xu Chuxiang looked down and saw several footprints.
"It seems that Professor Holt is really here to find the savages!"
Xu Chuxiang sighed in his heart, but said with a smile on his face.
But now that he has persuaded him, if the Yinlun scholar still insists on his own choice, Xu Chuxiang has no choice. Anyway, if Professor Holt needs any help at that time, he can just provide it to him as much as possible. It can be regarded as a gift to the teacher. explain.
Unexpectedly, Professor Holt shook his head and said:
"No, Miss Xu, this time I came to your country of Great China. My goal is not to find any savages. Of course, if I can find the best, I hope to find something else."
"what?"
"Ms. Xu, please take a closer look at that photo."
When Xu Chuxiang heard this, she couldn't help but look down at the photo again, and then she let out a soft "Ah" in surprise.
I just saw a few footprints in the photo, and thought it was an archival photo of the footprints of the Shennongjia savages that Professor Holt found somewhere.
Now that I looked more closely, I realized that what was in the photo was actually a painting.
A painting of footprints.
Just because the photo was in black and white, it was difficult to distinguish the edges and background of the painting clearly, so Xu Chuxiang didn't see it clearly just now.
She saw clearly now and let out another exclamation.
The footprints seemed to be on a rock and were painted very realistically.
This was the reason why Xu Chuxiang exclaimed for the second time. What surprised her was the brushwork and techniques used in that painting.
Although Xu Chuxiang's warlord father was just a vulgar and uncivilized warrior, he was very interested in training his daughter to become a lady who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
So when Xu Chuxiang was three years old, her father had already begun to invite famous teachers to cultivate Xu Chuxiang's talents in this area.
In fact, Xu Chuxiang didn't have much interest in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but in any case, Xu Pingxi's ardent hope of raising a lady of the family laid a solid foundation since childhood.
While studying abroad in Fog City, Xu Chuxiang came into contact with different art schools such as painting, music, etc. in the Western Continent. Therefore, although she has a master's degree in science and engineering, in terms of art appreciation, she is indeed a lady among the ladies, or those who have been well-educated in Fog City since childhood. The level of education expected of an aristocratic woman was even exceeded.
Therefore, Xu Chuxiang could tell at a glance that the extremely lifelike footprints in the photo were not drawn using the realistic sketch painting method of the Western Continent, but the meticulous painting method of the Great China Kingdom.
Although gongbi painting is more realistic than the completely freehand ink painting, it still adheres to the concept of form first, and is fundamentally different from the Western Continent's painting style that pursues the ultimate "likeness".
Therefore, the paintings of many famous meticulous painters in Great China are often inferior to those apprentices from the Western Continent who have just come into contact with sketching techniques, if only in terms of the shape and degree of the objects they paint.
But the painting in the photo in front of me is different. Although this painting uses the brushwork technique of gongbi painting, it is as realistic as a photo. This is why Xu Chuxiang identified it at first.
Therefore, the painting in the photo alone is a priceless work of art. In Xu Chuxiang’s memory, there seems to be no painter in the history of Dahua, or in modern times, who can combine the brushwork and techniques of gongbi painting. It was used to such a wonderful level, otherwise she would have never heard of it.
Xu Chuxiang looked up at Professor Holt in surprise. He wondered where this scholar from the Injili Empire had taken a photo of such a painting.
Holt seemed to understand what she was surprised about, and smiled slightly:
"Miss Xu, do you know Shi Zibin?"
Xu Chuxiang frowned and thought for about seven or eight seconds, and then he said "ah" for the third time today, nodded to Professor Holt and said:
"I know him."
There was still some doubt in her tone.
Because the name Shi Zibin, spoken from a white man's mouth, does give people a strange feeling.
Shi Zibin was a painter during the Xingning period of the Great China Dynasty more than five hundred years ago, specializing in meticulous painting.
What should I say about this man? In the history of Great China, he was definitely not a very famous painter. Otherwise, Xu Chuxiang would not have spent seven or eight seconds remembering him.
Since ancient times, Dahua has always admired the freehand brushwork painters, but has always looked down upon the meticulous painting. It believed that such painters were too skilled in craftsmanship and could not be refined. Therefore, in the history of Dahua, painters famous for their meticulous paintings were originally Very few.
As for Shi Zibin, he is not considered a leading figure among the painters of the meticulous painting school in the history of Dahua, so not many people know his name.
This person was from Jingcheng, Chuzhou. When he was young, it was said that his painting skills were poor. He made a living by painting some door gods and New Year paintings on the street. However, when he reached middle age, his painting skills suddenly improved and he was hired by the then Chuzhou County. The king appreciated it and summoned him to the prince's palace to become a special painter for the prince's palace.
Most of the ancient gongbi painters worked in royal palaces or the residences of dignitaries, painting their portraits and various pictures of banquets and entertainments. This was almost the best way out for gongbi painters.
As for why Xu Chuxiang knew Shi Zibin, a not-so-famous painter more than five hundred years ago, it was because Shi Zibin was from Jingcheng like her, and this figure was also mentioned in some documents such as local chronicles.
In addition, one of the famous teachers invited by her father was a descendant of Shi Zibin and told Xu Chuxiang some things about his ancestors, so Xu Chuxiang had some impression of Shi Zibin.
But if you ask other people, you may not know the unknown painter from five hundred years ago.
But now a Yinjili person who came from the Western Continent thousands of miles away said this name, which really surprised Xu Chuxiang.
"The painting in the photo was left by the painter in your country hundreds of years ago."
Then, I just heard Professor Holt continue to say this.
"impossible!"
Xu Chuxiang blurted out almost without thinking.
Because this is really impossible.
Because of the painting in the photo, the brushwork techniques have completely broken the shackles of gongbi painting and reached a new realm of painting art. It has both form and meaning, and it implies the integration of two different painting methods from the East and the West. .
The person who painted this painting can definitely be called a master who can establish a sect.
If Shi Zibin had this level back then, his fame and status in the history of Dahua painting would never be what it is now. Instead, he should be one of the greatest Chinese painters in the history of Dahua.
What exactly is going on?
But when Xu Chuxiang blurted out the word "impossible", he suddenly remembered something.
She remembered that her former painting teacher, a descendant of Shi Zibin, once accidentally mentioned an unusual incident of his ancestor.
That is, in his later years, Shi Zibin seemed to have suffered from some kind of hysteria. He became a little crazy and always said strange things that others could not understand.
Once he went crazy and actually set fire to his studio. Almost all his paintings in his life were burned, which made his family deeply regretful.
Thinking about it more carefully, although Shi Zibin is known as a painter, he really doesn't seem to have any paintings left in the world. This is why his reputation is not obvious today.
However, if Shi Zibin's paintings have been burned by himself, then where did the paintings in Professor Holt's photo come from?
