Pick up bargains in Chinatown and make 10,000 times the profit at the beginning

Chapter 102 Nude Sculpture
Looking past the crystal skull, Lin Yuan continued to look back.

"The value of this exchange meeting is very low!" Lin Yuan couldn't help but say.

Paul asked secretly, "Nothing valuable? Are they all fake?"

Lin Yuan shook his head: "Not really. Look over there, the holy icon in the bearded man's hand is very valuable."

Icons refer to images of the Holy Spirit, the Father, and the Son of God that were painted in chapels and other places by the church after the birth of Christianity in order to express faith or help believers pray and meditate.

It is the most important type of painting in the West and also the earliest concentrated subject of painting.

"Moreover, it is a mosaic, probably from the Byzantine period," Lin Yuan added.

As far as Lin Yuan knows, since the 4th century AD, most Western painting art has begun to shift towards the Byzantine style. The most famous painting form in the Byzantine period was mainly in the art of mosaics. Mosaics during this period became the mainstream of church decoration, and the themes were mostly Christian worship works.

The so-called mosaics are small blocks of colored stones, pottery, glass, etc., which are collaged into various figures and patterns. Due to the influence of the painting materials, especially glass, the picture will emit a dazzling light under the refraction of sunlight, adding a sense of mystery to the church.

Most of the paintings in the Byzantine period were religious themes, which occupy an important position in the history of art development both in terms of artistic form and creative subject matter.

The icons of this period have some common features in the portrayal of characters. The artists have re-mastered the classical elements in the facial modeling and clothing of the characters, and these classical elements have already possessed the power of Byzantine art.

They pursue a flat painting technique and do not pay attention to the sense of space in the picture. The body proportions of the characters in the picture are obviously elongated, which is not a true portrayal of the characters.

"How much is it worth?" Paul's eyes lit up.

"More than 10 US dollars!" Lin Yuan said after thinking for a moment.

Paul struck immediately.

He walked towards the man, intending to buy the painting for a price less than $10.

Lin Yuan discovered that almost all the items here were Western "collections".

Western antiques generally refer to Western artworks from the 18th to 19th centuries, including sculptures, clocks, table lamps, porcelain, oil paintings, handicrafts, etc.

These Western antiques are not only diverse in categories and highly artistic, but also have strong decorative and practical value.

Soon, Lin Yuan discovered another valuable item.

I saw that it was a mural.

Lin Yuan glanced at David beside him and said to him in English: "That mural is a Romanesque mural and also one of the holy paintings. If you can get it for less than 5 US dollars, it should be profitable."

Romanesque art developed in the 11th century. It originated in Western European countries and spread outward with the expansion of the Roman Church.

It is an indispensable art form in the development of European medieval painting and a comprehensive art that integrates multiple painting arts.

In Lin Yuan's opinion, Romanesque murals are inferior to sculptures and architecture, but Romanesque icon art is mostly expressed through murals.

To be honest, not many Romanesque murals have been preserved, and due to the influence of Byzantine civilization, the shape of Romanesque icon paintings has certain abstract and conceptual characteristics.

In medieval paintings, religious themes are more common, which also reflects the social status of the time, and the works are often dominated by icons.

David smiled bitterly: "I don't have that much money, do I?"

What's the point of telling him?

He also wanted to make this money. Since he knew his boss was an antique dealer, he also wanted to get a piece of the action, but his pockets were cleaner than his face. Henry said, "Go and ask! What if it's only a few thousand or even a few hundred dollars!"

My uncle also said: "If you don't have enough money, I will advance you a few months' salary!"

The uncle is quite generous to those who protect the safety of himself and his nephew.

Well! If you still hesitate after hearing what my uncle said, you deserve to be poor for the rest of your life.

David immediately walked toward the man to discuss the price of the mural.

Soon, Paul came back cursing.

No need to ask, I must have hit a wall.

Paul told Lin Yuan and others that the guy insisted on $15 and there was no room for bargaining.

What else would he buy it for $15?
Can't you really just collect it?
"That's fine!"

Lin Yuan continued to scan the area, and soon found something valuable. It was a nude sculpture, the kind with genitals visible, half a meter tall. It had no head or legs, only the part from the neck to the thighs.

"That sculpture is also good, worth forty to fifty thousand dollars," Lin Yuan continued.

Western sculpture is centered in Europe, and its representative works include ancient Greek sculptures, ancient Roman sculptures, medieval sculptures, and Renaissance sculptures.

Generally speaking, there are four most glorious peak periods in the history of Western sculpture, namely the ancient Greek and Roman periods, the European Renaissance, 19th century French sculpture and 20th century Western sculpture.

Its styles include classicism, romanticism, realism, symbolism, etc.

This time, Henry still didn't move, and said to Tony humbly: "Tony, go ask."

He was in no hurry.

They can do whatever Lin Yuan says publicly, and this is considered a tacit understanding.

Tony's face lit up with joy and he nodded immediately.

My uncle looked down on that kind of stuff and complained: "Western artworks, whether sculptures or paintings, all like people without clothes. If such works were put in China, wouldn't they be criticized to death?"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Many people who were influenced by ancient Greek civilization are like this."

Many European works of art are based on ancient Greek mythology, and the ancient Greek gods themselves were naked or half-naked. There are also quite a few works of art from the Renaissance, some of which are based on ancient Greek mythology and are naturally naked.

Of course, there are also some that focus on expressing "human power and beauty" and are deeply influenced by ancient Greek culture.

The reason for this is, on the one hand, that the local climate is warm and humid, and the climate along the Mediterranean coast affected people's clothing at that time.

On the other hand, it is due to the love of the beauty of nudity in ancient Greece. Greece has always advocated strength and beauty since ancient times, and what can better embody strength and beauty than the body.

In fact, from the paintings on the pottery bottles that came out at that time, we can see that most of them wore half-robes or were completely naked when they worked. In addition, they were also completely naked when running competitions.

During the Renaissance, the Greek and Roman styles were inherited, and the love for the beauty of the human body was also inherited. The most famous of these works is Michelangelo's.

(End of this chapter)