Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

Although in other countries, especially those outside Europe, the "Order of the Garter" is often introduced in a very lofty manner: for example, this order of knights "originated in the Middle Ages"; today it is "the oldest knightly order" in the world. ; is "Britain's highest and oldest medal", but this is not true.

First, the Order of the Garter was not founded until the mid-fourteenth century (generally considered 1348); as such, it never had the opportunity to participate in the Crusades.

From a certain point of view, this knighthood is not so much a knighthood established by the British following medieval traditions, but rather a knighthood improvised by this group of British people in order to keep up with European fashion.

As for the choice of garters as the name of the knighthood, it is probably because knights in the Middle Ages often used garters to tie their weapons tightly to their bodies, so it was a symbol of bravery and prowess.

The highest-status British medal is the Victoria Cross, followed by the George Cross. Although the Garter has the longest history among these three medals, it can only be ranked third.

What’s more interesting is that although Edward III initially hoped to establish a knighthood that could be associated with the legendary King Arthur, the knighthood now has nothing to do with King Arthur and is instead dedicated to St. George.

This knightly order of only 26 people has been a symbol of the top British nobility from the beginning. As the British national power continues to rise, this kind of medal has also been awarded to foreign monarchs.

Even in modern times, the medal began to be awarded to some British people who did not have royal blood but made outstanding contributions, such as former British Prime Ministers Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Major who belonged to the Conservative Party.

As for why this knighthood has become famous today, it is purely because after the once earth-shattering knighthoods in history have disappeared, the Knights of the Garter are still running as usual, so longevity is also beneficial.

In theory, the costumes of the Knights of the Garter are recycled. After the death of the knight, they will be returned to Windsor Castle and then used by his successor. Theory and practice are often not the same thing, so in hundreds of years of history, some badges will always be lost to the outside world, including the one in Liang En's hands.

As for why it appeared in Southeast Asia, it may have something to do with the British king who was once the regent of the Netherlands. Because of its existence, the possibility that some cultural relics were lost to the Netherlands and brought to Asia is not small.

And just after Liang En appreciated the pair of extremely gorgeous badges and collected them, Nelson also found a way to open another box. However, unlike the dazzling jewelry before, there was only a book with yellowed paper in the box. That’s all.

"These seem to be some notes and sketches. What are they?" After opening the book and looking at it for a few times, Nelson, who found that he could not identify the text, gave the book to Liang En.

"Let me see -" Liang En curiously took the book and flipped through it, only to find that it was written in Dutch and recorded some slightly messy things.

The reason why I say it is slightly messy is that part of it is a diary, and the other part is related to painting. However, from the appearance, the person who recorded it is obviously in a state of excitement, so that the recorded content is scattered. .

However, from the records, the two people were able to restore the mental journey of a high-level oil painting master, and they also determined that the other person should be a relatively well-known Post-Impressionist painter.

After flipping through the records in the front, Liang En began to flip through the sketches bound together at the back. After seeing the first sketch, the name of a painter immediately appeared in his mind.

To confirm this, he continued to turn the book back, and what appeared in front of him was a sketch of a vase with 15 sunflowers.

"It's actually him -" Liang En reacted immediately after seeing this sketch, and when he continued to look back, he found that the remaining paintings looked very familiar.

"Why does this painting look so familiar?" Just when Liang En turned to a still life painting of a wheat field, Jeanne suddenly came over and said. "I seem to have seen it somewhere -"

"Because this is Van Gogh's work." Nelson said while looking at the notebook in Liang En's hand. At this time, Liang En happened to turn the notebook to the last page, which showed a wheat field and a crow flying on the wheat field. .

"This looks very much like Van Gogh's last work "Crows in the Wheat Field."" After carefully taking the notebook from Liang En's hand, Nelson held the notebook in a pilgrim-like posture and said, then turned his head. Looked at Liang En.

"The question now is what this thing is, whether it is an imitation by an enthusiast, a copy by a painter, or whether it is the work of the great painter himself."

"I'm not sure yet, but I can confirm that the author of these sketches is definitely not an ordinary author, but an art master." Liang En gave a not-so-certain answer.

"But from an artistic point of view, at least these words are most likely written by Van Gogh, because there have not been many artists who can reach this level from ancient times to the present, and such artists are rarely willing to compete with artists of the same level. The style is consistent.”

For art masters like Van Gogh, except for a few individuals, even if they imitate the works of other artists, they will try their best to bring their own style instead of pure imitation.

After mastering a large number of art cards, Liang En specifically studied the stories and famous works of famous painters in history, and naturally he would not ignore the famous painter Van Gogh.

In particular, he once went to a museum to have close contact with Van Gogh's works, so when he came into contact with the actual object, he was basically able to determine which artist it was from.

Of course, the most important point is that he has already performed a divination, and the divination results told him that his previous guess was correct. The words in this notebook were indeed written by the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh.

Vincent Willem van Gogh (March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. Representative works include "Starry Night", self-portrait series, sunflower series, etc.

Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in a Protestant pastoral family in Zundert, a rural village in the Netherlands. In his early years, he worked as a clerk and business agent, and as a missionary in the mining area. Finally, he devoted himself to painting.

His early painting style was realistic, influenced by traditional Dutch painting and French realism. In 1886, he came to Paris, got acquainted with Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painters, and came into contact with Japanese Ukiyo-e works. The expansion of his vision changed his painting style drastically.

In 1888, he came to Arles, a small town in southern France, and created "The Suspension Bridge of Arles"; in the same year, he dated the painter Paul Gauguin, but due to the conflict of their personalities and differences in concepts, the cooperation soon failed.

After that, Van Gogh suffered from frequent mental illness, but he continued to paint when he was conscious. In 1889, he created "Starry Night". Van Gogh shot himself in July 1890 at the age of 37.