Treasure Hunt all over the World

Due to limited time, Ye Tian and the others speeded up their visit, and quickly walked through the gallery like a horse on a horse, appreciating the many paintings displayed in the gallery.

Afterwards, Ye Tian came to a painting he had just seen before, and stopped to admire it again.

This is an oil painting on canvas, the scale is not large, both the canvas and the frame look quite old, there are many small cracks on it, it seems a bit old, and the state of preservation is relatively poor.

The content on the screen is a noble lady and her daughter in costumes.

This noble lady is sitting on a sofa chair, her posture is elegant, but there is no smile on her face, she is somewhat reserved, even a little rigid, her eyes are looking out of the painting.

The lady's daughter is about seven or eight years old, standing next to the lady, wearing a court dress that does not match her age, also with a straight face and a stiff body, pretending to be an adult and looking out of the painting, completely unable to see the innocence that should be .

Or should I put it this way, the girl's innocence was deliberately covered up.

Behind them, a full cupboard, and a green velvet drapery or drapery for a backdrop, and a sumptuous rug on the floor.

There is no author's signature on this painting, nor any year number, so it is impossible to judge which painter's work was created in that era.

However, it can be seen from the clothing style of the middle-aged lady in the painting that this is a painting created around the middle of the sixteenth century.

Standing in front of this painting and admiring it for a while, Ye Tian turned his head to look not far away, and said loudly with a smile:

"Mr. Julian, can you come over and explain this portrait to us? This painting looks interesting, and I am more interested."

Before the words fell, Julian immediately responded.

"Okay, Mr. Steven, I'll be right over, please wait"

After finishing speaking, Julian greeted the two customers who were receiving him, and then walked over quickly.

The two customers were also very curious, and followed closely behind, ready to see the excitement.

The German guys who followed Ye Tian into this gallery and kept staring at him all looked at the portrait hanging on the display wall with curiosity.

During the talk,

Julian had come close, stopped in his tracks and stood down.

Ye Tian then pointed to the portrait hanging on the wall, and asked with a smile:

"Julian, tell me about this painting. Who did it come from, when was it created, and how did you get this painting? Of course, there is also the quotation for this painting."

Following the direction of Ye Tian's finger, Julian looked at the painting with doubts in his eyes.

He paused for a moment before starting the introduction.

"I collected this oil painting on canvas at the flea market on June 17th Street in Berlin last year. It looked a bit interesting at the time, so I took it and kept it on display here.

After receiving this painting, several friends and I also did some research and carried out corresponding scientific tests, but we never got a definite identification conclusion, and we are still at a loss.

On this oil painting on canvas, we did not find the author's signature, nor the specific year of creation, nor did we find other information and marks related to the artist, or even mysterious characters.

Based on the data obtained by scientific detection methods such as carbon fourteenth and infrared scanning, it is basically certain that this is a portrait of a figure created around the middle of the sixteenth century and has a certain history.”

Hearing this, Ye Tian couldn't help but nodded slightly, and had no disagreement.

The eyes of everyone else in the same gallery suddenly lit up, with excitement flashing in their eyes.

For many people, an antique artwork from the 16th century explains a lot of problems. This long history of four to five hundred years is the value of the corresponding antique artwork.

After a short pause, Julian continued:

"Let's take a look at the painting style shown in this painting. I believe you can see it, Steven. In this portrait of a character from the sixteenth century, we can see a bit of the shadow of Holbein the Younger." "

"Your eyesight is very good, Julian, indeed, in this oil painting on canvas, we can indeed see the shadow of young Holbein"

Ye Tian nodded with a smile and said, a flash of appreciation flashed in his eyes at the right time.

A look of surprise flashed across the faces of the rest of the people present.

In particular, those guys from the German Ministry of Culture and the experts on antique art appraisal from Museum Island in Berlin were even more ecstatic and almost cheered loudly.

Who is Holbein the Younger? How valuable are his works? As professionals in the field of German antique art collection, no one knows better than them!

Not only them, everyone who has a little understanding of Western art history and the Renaissance, it is impossible not to know the name Holbein the Younger, and it is impossible not to understand the weight of this name.

During the Renaissance period, Holbein the Younger was one of the greatest painters in Germany. He was as famous as the top art master of the Renaissance, Dürer, and was the most outstanding artist of the Holbein family. He was called the perfect Holbein. because.

Especially in terms of portraiture, it can be called a peerless achievement!

At this moment, when they heard that this portrait might be the painting of Holbein the Younger, could they not be ecstatic?

After Ye Tian's voice fell, and before the rest of the people had time to interject, Julian immediately went on to say:

"The first half of the sixteenth century was the time when the greatest German portrait painter Hans Holbein the Younger lived during the Renaissance, but compared with other portraits of Holbein the Younger, this painting is different.

As we all know, in terms of realistic portraits, Holbein the Younger kept improving and reached an unprecedented height. The depiction of the characters and the environment in the paintings is so fine that it can be examined under a magnifying glass.

Although this oil painting on canvas is very fine and skillful, it looks a little stiff and rigid, which is different from the bright and elegant style of the portraits of Holbein the Younger.

More importantly, the portraits painted by Holbein Jr. were all custom-made by others. Almost every work has reliable evidence, and the inheritance information of those paintings can be found in relevant documents.

Moreover, almost every one of his portraits has the signature of the artist himself. The portrait in front of him not only does not have the signature of the author, but also cannot find any relevant information, as if it appeared out of thin air.

In this way, we ruled out the possibility that it was the work of Holbein the Younger. Next, we compared it with the works of other famous painters in the mid-16th century, and found no similarities.

We therefore conclude that this portrait of a figure should be the work of an unknown painter in the mid-sixteenth century, who probably knew Holbein the Younger and had imitated the style of Holbein the Younger.

This is the appraisal conclusion we came to, Steven, your vision is extremely sharp, and you must have seen more content than us. I don’t know how you look at this oil painting on canvas? Can you determine its origin?

Although this is a work by an unknown artist, it has a long history and has a little connection with Holbein Jr. In view of this, I offer 120,000 euros for it. I wonder if you can accept it? "

After finishing speaking, Julian stopped talking, fixed his eyes on Ye Tian, ​​and waited for his answer.

"Why--!"

There was a sigh of relief from the people in the gallery.

So it's not a portrait of Holbein the Younger! It made everyone happy for nothing.

If, as Julian said, this is the work of an unknown painter in the mid-sixteenth century, even if it is quite old and difficult to preserve, it is not worth much.

Julian's quotation of 120,000 euros is obviously a bit high!