The master Tao looked to be in his forties, with a graying beard. He wore a yellowish white cardigan with a button-down collar and a string of Buddhist beads on his arm. He looked like a Taoist immortal, well-read and talented. Standing next to him was an old man, about 50 or 60 years old, wearing a black Zhongshan suit, with a Hero pen in his chest pocket, looking like a role model. He should be Professor Tan from Kyoto University.
"This Master Tao is a legendary figure. It is said that he came to the capital alone at the age of fifteen. At that time, the People's Republic of China had just been founded, and he became an apprentice in a calligraphy and painting mounting shop on Liuli Street. Gradually, he became a famous mounting and restoration master on Liuli Street. He had previously restored cultural relics for the country. Later, he was transferred to the cultural relics restoration department of the Palace Museum, specializing in the mounting and restoration of ancient calligraphy and paintings. Over the past few decades, Master Tao has restored many national treasures of ancient calligraphy and paintings, and his reputation is resounding throughout the cultural and museum circles!" At this moment, a man sitting next to Yi Anan was whispering to the person next to him.
"I've heard of him too. He's a very capable person. It's said that the 'Dwelling in the Mountain' was restored within one day a while ago. That kind of work might take others half a month, but he created a miracle in one day! It is said that the 'Dwelling in the Mountain' is now in the Capital Museum!" The person next to him echoed.
Yi Anan silently wrote it down on the paper.
"Everyone, please be quiet. The cultural relics restoration meeting is now officially beginning!" At this moment, the host was speaking, and Yi Anan looked up at the stage.
At this moment, Master Tao stretched out his hand and motioned Professor Tan and the experts to come forward and walk to the scroll on the table.
"This 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains' is one of the ten most famous paintings handed down in China. It is so precious that I don't need to introduce it in detail here! Previously, because the azurite and malachite on the scroll are mineral materials, the colors are very thick and too fragile due to age. Once unfolded, the colors are easy to peel off, damaging the original appearance of the painting. This is the main reason why 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains' has not been repaired for such a long time. This time, the Palace Museum took the lead and invited various experts. In fact, they had no choice!" The host said in a deep voice, his tone was extremely sad.
"Because A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains was severely damaged in an accident, it has reached the point where it cannot be exhibited again without repair. So now it is an urgent issue to restore the glory of this ancient painting."
The host spoke passionately, and the experts looked solemn, which made the atmosphere in the audience more tense.
Yi Anan also stared at the painting very seriously, waiting for the expert to open it.
At this moment, the host waved his hand and the security guard lowered the curtain at the door.
This ancient painting is afraid of wind, or more precisely, afraid of any disturbance, so it must be isolated from all factors that may cause stability.
"A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is 11.91 meters long and 51.5 centimeters wide. It is a whole painting on silk. The two experts, Master Tao and Professor Tan, carefully opened it and spread it on the long table.
"What happened? Why is it so badly stained?" Master Tao suddenly asked in a deep voice.
As soon as Master Tao spoke, all eyes in the room fell on the water tank with the open scroll.
Yi Anan was sitting at the side, quite far away. There were more than a dozen experts and staff from the Palace Museum gathered in front of two huge long tables. She couldn't see anything, but it was obvious that the situation was quite serious because everyone around was completely silent. She couldn't tell whether they were shocked or dared to speak.
"What is going on? The last time we appraised the damage of the painting, the color of 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains' was only slightly dim, while the core of the painting and the paper on the back were all in good condition. How come it became like this in the blink of an eye?" Professor Tan's voice rang out from inside.
At this moment, the two people sitting next to Yi Anan began to whisper again: "Oh no, it seems that there is a big problem!"
"Yes, even these two experts are so surprised. It seems that the damage to the A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains is more serious than imagined."
"Will it be repaired?"
…
Yi Anan saw the situation of the painting and could only hear the two people next to her whispering, and she felt more and more nervous.
At this moment, everyone dispersed and returned to their respective positions, but everyone's face was very heavy.
Taking this opportunity, Yi Anan also saw the extent of the damage to the famous painting.
The damage was indeed more serious than Yi Anan had imagined.
In her previous life, Yi An'an had seen a photo of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" on TV. The main colors were yellow, green, and blue, with delicate green and layers of mountains. But now this painting has lost its main color, and there are cracks on it, which is obviously caused by the silk cloth being too fragile. What is even more heartbreaking is that half of the scroll of pictures is covered with blue-black bacteria and mold spots, which should be caused by improper storage.
Professor Tan was furious. He looked at a junior leader of the museum and asked in a deep voice, "Can anyone give us an explanation? It was like this when we checked it last time!"
A leader of the museum quickly stood up and said, "Professor Tao, you also know that this kind of silk cloth is too fragile and will break, and the paint will also break and fall off. This is definitely the reason why we preserve it! After all, this "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is very old. Even if it is left untouched, it will slowly age and be damaged over time!"
"Professor Tao, you are an expert in the restoration of ancient cultural relics. You must know that this "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" is large in size and is the pinnacle of green landscape painting. In the past few decades, no restorer has dared to take it on. We can only try our best to preserve it!"
Facing the leader's explanation, Professor Tan looked very unhappy.
That mold stain says it all.
Master Tao reached out and gently patted Professor Tan on the shoulder: "Professor Tan, we can only do our best!"
Professor Tan said in a deep voice: "It's difficult, too difficult!"
Master Tao naturally knew that this painting was too valuable and of extraordinary significance. If it was restored well, it would be fine. If it was repaired badly, it would damage the reputation of the artist, but it would be a sin to destroy the national treasure.
But now that this painting has been restored, it is completely destroyed!
Professor Tan turned to look at Master Tao: "Are you sure?"
The initial cleaning of dirt was done by Master Tao, and Professor Tan was in charge of the restoration.
If Master Tao does this first step well, even if Master Tan has superb restoration skills, he will be able to restore this famous painting.
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