Chapter 1398: Entering the Mediterranean Sea

At this time, Li Cong was standing in front of the famous painting "Mona Lisa's Smile" that is known to more than half of the people in the world. In the past, Li Cong had also learned about this painting from other sources, but he had never thought of this painting.

It will eventually become their own private assets. Of course, even when the family was there, they could not touch these collections. After all, they nominally belong to the people, unless something special happens, such as now.

, the family is gone, do we still want to keep it?

The Mona Lisa is a prestigious portrait masterpiece. It represents Leonardo da Vinci's highest artistic achievement and successfully created the image of an urban proletarian woman during the rise of capitalism. The figure in the painting sits elegantly and has a subtle smile.

The mountains and rivers in the background are deep and vast, giving full play to the artist's unique smoky "air perspective" brushwork. The artist strives to skillfully combine the characters' rich inner emotions with their beautiful appearance, and expresses emotions in the corners of the eyes and lips on the faces of the portraits.

The key parts of the Mona Lisa also focus on mastering the dialectical relationship between precision and implicitness to achieve the state of charm, so that Mona Lisa’s smile has a mysterious and eternal charm. That charming dream-like smile has been praised by many

Art historians call it a "mysterious smile".[

While Li Cong looked at these rich collections, he was thinking about how to negotiate with Europa's handover officials.

Among the rich collections of the Louvre are the "Venus" statue known as the three treasures of the world, the "Mona Lisa" oil painting and the "Goddess of Victory" stone sculpture, as well as a large number of Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Oriental antiques, as well as

Ancient relics from France and Italy. The display area is 55,000 square meters.

The Louvre was built in the 13th century as a castle for the French royal family at that time. It was used as a treasury and archives. However, in 1546, architect Pierre Lescaut was commissioned by the king to renovate the Louvre.

This palace has a Renaissance style. Later, it went through many expansions authorized by the royal family, and also experienced the turmoil of the French Revolution. The overall construction of the Louvre was not completed until Napoleon III.

After the good king Charles built an important library and became famous far and wide, Francois I in the 16th century began to collect various works of art on a large scale. By the time of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, the collection of the Louvre Museum

It has been very enriched. By the time of Louis XIV's death, the Louvre had become a place where various paintings and sculptures were regularly exhibited.

On August 10, 1793, the Louvre Museum of Art officially opened to the public and became a museum. Since then, the collection here has continued to increase, not to mention the artistic tribute that Napoleon requisitioned from those conquered countries. In short, today

The number of artworks recorded in the museum's collection catalog has reached 400,000, which are divided into many categories, ranging from ancient Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman artworks to artworks from Eastern countries; from the Middle Ages to modern times

sculptures; as well as an astonishing number of royal treasures and exquisite paintings. So far, the Louvre has become a world-famous art palace.

The Louvre Museum has a very tortuous and complicated history, which is intricately intertwined with the history of Paris and France. Of course, people come here to see the world-famous art treasures with their own eyes, but they also want to

Look at the Louvre building itself, because it is not only a great artistic masterpiece, but also a witness to the history of France in the past thousand years. 50 French kings and queens once lived here, and many famous artists lived here. Although

Li Cong never felt that the kings he wrote were much different, but in today's democratic society, it is not easy to live like the emperors in the past, especially in this world, how can you

How about owning such a spectacular palace? But today, all this has become a reality.

The Louvre was first built in 1204 as a castle for the royal palace of Philip Auguste II. During the Crusades, in order to protect the Paris area on the north shore, Philip II built a castle here in 1204 leading to the

The castle on the Seine was mainly used to store the royal family's archives and treasures, as well as his dogs and prisoners of war. It was then called the Louvre. During the period of Charles V, the Louvre was used as a royal palace, thus making it a completely different place.

A building. In the next 350 years, as the royal nobles had higher and higher demands for pleasure, they continued to build gorgeous towers and unique rooms. However, in the next 150 years,

During that time, no king lived in the Louvre. In the mid-16th century, after Francis I succeeded to the throne, the palace was demolished. He ordered the architect Pierre Lescaut to rebuild a palace on the basis of the original castle.

Francis also asked famous painters at the time to paint his portrait. He admired the Italian painters and purchased paintings by Faello, the most famous Italian painter at the time, including treasures such as the Mona Lisa. The son of Francis I

After Henry II came to the throne, he rebuilt the parts that his father had destroyed. Henry loved the decoration of French Renaissance architectural art and was not interested in Italian architecture. He inherited his father's hobby, but he was not as good as his father.

aesthetics.

During the reign of Henry IV, he spent 13 years building the most spectacular part of the Louvre - the Grand Gallery. This is a gorgeous corridor 300 meters long. The corridor is very long. Henry planted all kinds of trees here.

Trees, birds and dogs, and even riding horses in the corridors to chase foxes. Louis XIV is a famous king in French history. He is called the Sun King. He was only 5 years old when he came to the throne. He made a speech in the Louvre

King of 72 years - the longest reigning king in French history. Louis XIV built the Louvre into a square courtyard and built a magnificent gallery outside the courtyard. He purchased paintings from various European schools.

Including works by Cashdet, Rembrandt and others. He was obsessed with art and architecture throughout his life, leaving France's coffers empty. During the reign of Louis XVI, the famous Revolution of 1789 broke out, in the "Arena" courtyard of the Louvre.

The first guillotine of the French Revolution was built here. On May 27, 1792, the National Assembly announced that the Louvre would belong to the public and become a public museum. This situation lasted for 6 years until Napoleon I moved into the Louvre.

palace.

Napoleon built more houses around the perimeter of the building, strengthened the palace's wings, and built arches in the Arena courtyard. The first carved horses on the arches were taken from St. Mark's Basilica in Venice.

Down. Napoleon decorated the Louvre in an unprecedented way. He moved the best works of art that other European countries could provide into the Louvre. Napoleon continued to expand outwards and dominated Europe, so thousands of tons of

The works of art were transported to Paris from the palaces, libraries and Catholic churches of all the conquered countries. Napoleon renamed the Louvre Museum Napoleon Museum, and the huge corridors were filled with the works of art he looted. In the Louvre Museum

Here, Napoleon's glory lasted for 12 years, until the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. For Napoleon, every work of genius must belong to France. This view is beyond the reach of the Germans, Italians, Spanish and Dutch.

Accepted. After Napoleon lost power, they went to the Louvre and about 5,000 works of art were returned to their original owners. However, due to the French's diplomacy and French persuasion, many of the works of art he plundered were still left behind.

Louvre. Napoleon III was an ambitious emperor. He was the most invested "builder" ever encountered since the construction of the Louvre. He built more buildings in 5 years than all his predecessors had built in 700 years.

The grand design thought up 3 centuries ago was left to Napoleon III to complete. When it was completed, the Louvre became a place for royal celebrations. Grandeur was the characteristic of everything Napoleon III built. In this way, until Napoleon

The entire Louvre complex was completed during the Third Dynasty, which took nearly 600 years.

It's just that the emperors who paid for the Louvre back then would never have thought that the owner of the place would now be a Chinese, a person they may have never looked up to. This is very important to the newly established Europa.

, is also a very loud slap in the face.

"Sir, come and see, this is the jewel of the Louvre, Venus. Isn't it beautiful?" Karelina said, looking at the statue of Venus. There are at least hundreds of millions of them around the world.

A replica, but you will still be greatly shocked when you see the original. It’s just that Li Cong has never had many artistic talents, so he was not very touched when he saw this thing, and he felt that it was being made out of a molehill.

Venus is the goddess of love and beauty in Roman mythology, and is also the goddess symbolizing fertility. Li Cong feels that it is for this reason that so many people like her, especially those who have not yet found their significant other.

I believe this even more. In ancient Greek mythology, she is called Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. In Roman mythology, she is called Venus. She is in charge of human love, marriage, fertility and everything else.

The growth and reproduction of animals and plants. She was born in the sea and is famous for her beauty. Legend has it that she was born in the foam of the sea. Accompanied by three goddesses of time and three goddesses of grace, she came to Mount Olympus and the gods were attracted by her beauty.

Attracted by her appearance, they all wooed her. After being rejected by Zeus, he married her to the ugly and lame god of fire Hephaestus, but she fell in love with Ares, the god of war, and gave birth to a child.

Eros, the god of love, later helped the Trojan prince Paris to abduct Helen, the wife of King Menelao of Sparta and the most beautiful woman in Greece. This caused the Greeks to expedition to Troy for ten years. Of course, there is no question whether these things exist.

It’s clear, it’s just a myth after all.

"Venus de Milo" has become a well-known statue of the goddess of youth and beauty in the world. It is a marble sculpture, 204 cm high. It is said that it was carved by Alexandros of ancient Greece between 150 BC and 50 BC. The statue was built in 1820

Discovered in February next to the ruins of an ancient tomb on the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea, is a marble sculpture with a mutilated arm. It is a half-naked full-body statue with a handsome face and a well-proportioned figure. The clothes have fallen to the hips, and the right arm is mutilated, still showing the appearance of a woman.

The unique curvaceous beauty looks dignified and charming. After being bought with a lot of money from France, it was displayed in a special exhibition room of the Louvre. It shocked the world with its peerless charm. From then on, the "Venus Broken Arm" became famous all over the world and became

A symbol of love and beauty. Li Cong did not show the same intoxication as Karelina. Instead, he carefully called a waiter and asked in a low voice, "How much can this thing be sold for?"

Money?" The waiter next to him is also very passionate about art. If Li Cong were not his boss, he would probably be over with a punch. This is simply too much. How can he talk like that?

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know the price of this thing, but it costs five euros to visit him once. At least 100,000 people come to visit every day." The waiter left after saying that, but Li never paid attention to this guy.

In terms of attitude, it's half a million euros a day. Of course, it can't be like this every day, but 200,000 euros a day is no problem, and it's tens of millions of euros a year. I really didn't expect this thing to be a real cash cow.

"I said, what is this headless thing?" Li Cong pointed to a statue in the distance and said unceremoniously. His words immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of many of his subordinates. The boss really knew too little about Western art.

In this case, it would be a waste to hand such a treasure trove into Li Cong's hands, because he did not understand their artistic value at all, but Li Cong also felt that these foreign devils' things did not have much value, of course.

Except those beautiful jewelry.

"Sir, this is the statue of the Goddess of Victory. Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand." Although the others were not very satisfied, they still didn't dare to be serious with Li Cong. Only Karelina was not afraid and even treated Li Cong.

After being ridiculed, they were actually very satisfied. After all, if they had not followed the boss, they might not have had the chance to follow him here.

The image of the goddess shows the typical characteristics of classical Greek women: oval face, straight nose bridge, plump forehead, slightly raised corners of the mouth, and smooth chin. Her expression is dignified, demure, dignified, her body is slender, and her left leg is slightly bent, revealing her

The undulating rhythm of curves. She is plump and holy, tender and simple, elegant and noble, full of youth and the interest of life. This is the perfect unity of spirit and flesh, the harmonious integration of love and beauty, and the natural union of God and man.

First, it constitutes the universe of human body beauty and is an ideal symbol of human pursuit of female beauty. The French sculptor Rodin praised: "These are simply real muscles. You can feel the body temperature when you touch her!"

The head and arms of the Goddess of Victory have been lost, but it is still considered a masterpiece of ancient Greek sculpture. No matter from any angle, viewers can see and feel the majestic posture of the Goddess of Victory spreading her wings. Her upper body leans forward slightly,

The strong, plump, graceful body, and the powerful and huge wings flying high, fully reflect the majestic appearance of the winner and the passion of cheering for victory. The sea breeze seemed to be blowing from her front, and the thin clothes were faintly exposed.

The plump and elastic body of the goddess, the texture of the dress and the sculpture of the pleats are breathtaking. The corners of the clothes fluttering backwards and the spread wings form extremely smooth lines, while the wavy lines of the legs and wings form

An obtuse triangle strengthens the forward momentum.

"Sir, you need to change your temper. This is simply disrespectful to these works of art. Now you are the owner here. I hope they will play a better role in the future. They belong to all the people.

, shouldn’t we put them all away?” Karelina has every reason to believe that Li Cong will do that, because this guy is still a bit of a rich man in his heart, let alone Li Cong, he really has everything hidden.

The family's idea has just not been put into practice yet. Now that Karelina points it out to her face, she will inevitably feel a little embarrassed on her face. This woman cannot stand up to her face to face, even if in your heart

That’s what I think but I can’t say it out loud.

"Well, I know this. How could I do this? I think there are only a few pieces of art here, nothing much. I don't think it is as rich as my own collection." Li Cong randomly found a topic to say.

If you open it, let alone one Louvre or two or three, they probably won't be able to keep up with Li Cong's collection. This guy has looted several houses.

"Sir, you are wrong about this. The Louvre Museum is famous all over the world, not only because of the richness and preciousness of its exhibits, but also because the museum itself is an outstanding art building. The east facade of the Louvre Museum is the European

A representative work of architecture in the classical period. According to statistics, the Louvre Museum covers an area of ​​19 hectares including the courtyard. It lies on the right bank of the Seine from east to west, with a length of 690 meters on both sides. The entire building is magnificent.

The hundreds of spacious halls used to display treasures are magnificent. The four walls and tops of the halls are decorated with exquisite murals and fine reliefs. Everywhere is the crystallization of painstaking art, which is breathtaking. It is worth visiting this art palace.

The last unforgettable wonderful experience. During the hundreds of years of historical development of the Louvre, it was initially a relatively scattered group of buildings and did not form a whole like it is today. This situation changed after 1981.

In September 1981, François Mitterrand promised at a press conference after he was elected President of the French Republic: "Restore the Louvre to its original purpose", which meant that the Ministry of Finance should move out of "Lebanon".

Richelieu Wing". The "Richelieu Wing" was built between 1852 and 1857. It is 195 meters long and 80 meters wide. It is an integral part of the Louvre and has been occupied by the Ministry of Finance since 1871. In July 1989, it was

The Finance Minister Edouard Ballardier left this pleasing place only after repeated requests. The recovery and opening of the "Richelieu Wing" suddenly increased the exhibition area of ​​the Louvre by 21,500 square meters and 3 courtyards.

And 165 new exhibition halls, a total of 12,000 pieces of art are on display, 3,000 of which were taken out from the storage room. The exhibits of the Louvre Museum have thus been greatly increased." Li Cong really didn't know so much when he arrived, but

He didn't know how a spy chief who was usually engaged in intelligence could understand so much. However, Li Cong had learned to behave now and stopped talking nonsense.

Li Cong looked around, and it seemed that they were somewhat interesting. He seemed to have underestimated them before.
To be continued...