When Yang Jing opened a large wooden box, as many as eight well-preserved oil paintings were revealed. The first oil painting gave Yang Jing a big surprise that was no less than the three sculptures just now.
The most attractive thing in this oil painting is the naked and gentle woman hugging a white swan that reaches her shoulder height. The white swan's raised neck presents a beautiful arc, which contrasts with the graceful figure of the naked woman, making the painting look extremely warm.
On the right side of the woman, there are two naked little boys playing there, with the forest and mountains by the lake in the background.
Yang Jing recognized the painting almost at first sight.
"Could this be the original painting of 'Lida and the Swan', which was Leonardo da Vinci's favorite?" Yang Jing said to himself in surprise.
"Lida and the Swan" is an oil painting created by Leonardo da Vinci in 1503. After the painting was created, Leonardo da Vinci loved it very much and always kept it with him. Even when Leonardo da Vinci settled in Paris in his later years, he still kept the painting with him, which shows how much Leonardo da Vinci loved this painting.
It is a pity that after Leonardo da Vinci passed away, the original "Lida and the Swan" was lost. The "Lida and the Swan" now treasured in the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy, is just a later imitation.
But even if it is an imitation, it is still a priceless treasure.
And here there is another painting. Could this be the original one? Considering the wealth of Nicholas II, it seems not surprising that he collected the original works of Leonardo da Vinci.
Yang Jing used his identification skills, and sure enough, the answer given by the Holy Ring made Yang Jing overjoyed—"Lida and the Swan, Leonardo di Piero da Vinci, 1503."
"It is indeed the original painting of 'Lida and the Swan' by Leonardo da Vinci!" Yang Jing waved his fist excitedly.
The value of this original painting is definitely not inferior to Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa Smile". After all, from the author's own perspective, Leonardo da Vinci prefers "Rida and the Swan". And from an artistic perspective, "Rida and the Swan" is definitely not worse than "Mona Lisa Smile".
This is another indisputable priceless treasure.
The consecutive appearance of four priceless treasures made Yang Jing's originally excited mood begin to become a little numb.
How many treasures did Nicholas II plunder back then!
Yang Jing didn't even dare to imagine what other precious things might be among the next treasures. As a result, the facts almost made Yang Jing numb.
In addition to "Lida and the Swan", there is also an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the box. This painting is rarely seen in historical records, but it is definitely from Leonardo da Vinci's hand.
Among Leonardo da Vinci's famous works, there is an oil painting called "Portrait of a Musician", which is now collected in the Ambrosiana Gallery in Milan, Italy. It is also a priceless oil painting.
But some rare historical records have mentioned that when Leonardo da Vinci created the "Portrait of a Musician", he did not create this work alone. He also created two paintings called "Portrait of a Sculptor" and "Portrait of an Artist". Unfortunately, these two paintings were lost long ago.
The oil painting found in this box is "Portrait of the Sculptor" by Leonardo da Vinci.
This is another unexpected surprise.
In addition to these two works of Leonardo da Vinci, Yang Jing also found an oil painting by Raphael titled "Madonna Under the Trees" and an oil painting titled "Smile of the Madonna" in the box.
As one of the three great masters of the Renaissance, along with Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, Raphael Sanzio's status in the Western art world is unquestionable. This master, who lived only 37 years, created nearly 300 works in his lifetime, but only half of them have been handed down to the present day.
As we all know, Raphael is famous for his skill in painting the Madonna. Among all the painters who painted the Madonna, no one could surpass him, and the Madonna painting has become synonymous with Raphael.
Both of these works are paintings of the Virgin Mary and have appeared in some historical records, but no one has ever seen the originals, and later generations believed that they had long been lost or destroyed.
Unexpectedly, these two works were collected by Nicholas II.
In addition to four paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, Yang Jing also found two works by Ingres in this box.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was the most famous neoclassical painter, aesthetic theorist and educator in France in the 19th century. In the ranking of the top ten painters in the world in the Western art world, Ingres ranked fifth, even ahead of Paul Cézanne, Picasso and Van Gogh.
In his early years, Ingres studied under Napoleon's chief painter David. After David went into exile in Belgium, Ingres became the standard-bearer of French neoclassicism and the most famous painter in French history.
As for the remaining two paintings in the box, Yang Jing was not surprised that they were also works by a French painting master, Paul Cézanne.
Eight oil paintings were found in a box, and all of them were authentic works from masters or even grandmasters. Yang Jing could not find a better adjective to describe it except incredible.
In the following boxes, Yang Jing discovered dozens of oil paintings by European painters, including works by Rubens, Monet, Repin and other painters, and of course, more were works by Russian painters.
For example, paintings by famous artists such as Alexey Savrasov, Ivan Shishkin, Mikhail Vrubel, and Ivan Aivazovsky.
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