Treasure hunt begins in England

Chapter 354 Mucha's Puzzle

Alphonse Maria Mucha, if the name is translated in Chinese, it is Alphonse Mucha, a famous painter in Czechoslovakia.

He has made important achievements in posters, decorative group paintings, advertisements and commodity packaging paintings, jewelry design, architectural design and oil paintings, and is considered a brilliant standard-bearer of the Art Nouveau movement.

Mucha's works have absorbed the elegant depiction of shape and outline of Japanese woodcuts, the gorgeous colors and geometric decorative effects of Byzantine art, and the detailed and sensual depictions of Baroque and Rococo art.

He used sensual decorative lines, simple outlines and bright watercolor effects to create figures known as "Mucha style".

After his processing, all the female images appear sweet and elegant, with exquisite figure, full of youthful vitality, and sometimes have a head of flowing and soft hair.

His pictures are often composed of young and beautiful women and decorative curvy flowers and plants.Unlike most painters of that era, he also worked as a part-time photographer and used photographic works to assist his creation. For example, many of his poster materials came from photographs.

And this special way of creation is mainly related to his poverty in the past, because the painting models are paid according to time, and the poor and tinkling Mucha couldn't afford it at all, so he simply used photos to assist painting in order to save money.

In this way, he also adapted to this way of artistic creation, and used photography as an equally important creative auxiliary tool as sketching in his later career.

Like China's Qi Baishi, Mucha was also a successful commercial painter.But apart from his commercial success and artistic breakthrough, he is most commendable for his love for his motherland.

In [-], Mucha gave up the reputation and comfortable life brought to him by the success of commercial painting, and returned to his hometown with his family after his long-term sojourn in France and the United States.

During this period, he used paintbrush as a weapon to fight against the Habsburg dynasty of Austria-Hungary, the ruler of the Czech Republic at that time, and created important works: a set of [-] huge oil paintings of Slavic epics.

And when Czechoslovakia finally became independent in 1918, he designed the first set of stamps and the first set of banknotes for this new motherland, contributing his strength to the motherland.

It's just that when he actually completed the creation of the Slavic epic and donated it to the city of Prague in 1928, he didn't get an enthusiastic response.

Because at this time, the trend of Art Nouveau has passed, and the supporters of the popular modern art slandered the so-called "nineteenth century" style.

In the changing tastes of the art world, Mucha has become a "left behind" of the times.Although Mucha's works are still very popular among the public, art critics have not paid much attention to his painstaking works because his art is not "new" enough.

When the Germans invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938, Mucha was one of the first to be detained by the Germans, and although he was allowed to return home after interrogation, his health had suffered.On July [-], [-], he died in Prague of pneumonia.

Although it has been many years since this great artist and patriot passed away, the artistic style created by him is popular in an era because of its popularity and popularity.

Especially in Japan, through the recommendation of female poets and Akiko Yosano, Mucha was associated with women's literature at the beginning of its introduction to Japan.

This style was referenced again in the girl comics that emerged in the 70s after the war, and then deeply influenced the visual expression of female images in Japanese comics.

For example, "Fire! ", "Tianzi of the Sunrise", Akemi Matsunae's "Hot Girl Teacher", "Yu Liu Tang Mengyu"), "Sailor Moon", "Cardcaptor Sakura", "Rod Island Wars", "Final Fantasy" series All of them vaguely have Mucha's artistic style.

Considering that the other party had been arrested by the Germans, it was understandable that such a piece of jewelry appeared in the Gestapo office, but the strange thing was that Liang Enka was not given this locket.

There is only one possibility for this to happen.That is Liang En did not understand the story behind this locket, so he immediately used a [Appraisal (N)]

[As a great painter and a staunch patriot, Mucha was already aware of the tension of the situation when the Sudeten region was occupied, and hid many of his important things.

And this locket is a clue left by Mucha just in case, to help those who will be favored by the gods in his eyes in the future find these things he left behind. 】

After reading the information that the card got from the locket ring, Liang En immediately understood that the locket was actually a mystery, which could guide people to find something hidden by Mucha.

To be honest, this kind of approach is indeed like what Mucha would do, because he has always been a very devout Catholic, so at this time he will believe in fate and the guidance of the gods.

After learning that the locket was a key, Liang En immediately checked the locket, and found that there was no additional text on the locket except Mucha's name, which also showed that those secrets were obtained through the locket. transmitted by itself.

This is a gold locket studded with precious stones. The back of the locket is inlaid with fine gemstones, while the surface of the locket is inlaid with large-grained gemstones, which are put together to form a locket with a keyhole. Heart pattern.

As for the inside of the hanging box, it is empty, but judging from the structure, it should have contained small portraits or photos.

According to a simple identification, the ring of gems inlaid on the front of the locket is arranged clockwise from 12 o'clock, and the words are red zircon, emerald, turquoise, amethyst, diamond, opal, ruby, emerald.

There are 12 kinds of gemstones on the back, namely jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, silk agate, ruby ​​peridot, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, red zircon and amethyst.

The overall quality of these gemstones does not seem to be top-notch, and the price is also very different, but all the gemstones have been exquisitely polished, which shows the intentions of the creators back then.

"It's really a clever puzzle—" After carefully observing the arrangement and combination of the few gemstones on the ring for a few minutes, Liang En understood the meaning of the locket.

Just in the 19th century, it was popular to use various jewelry to convey some simple language, for example, the shape of this locket is a heart with a keyhole, which means that you have the key to my heart.

As for the gem inlay on the top, it can also convey information. According to the tradition, the first letter of the old French name of each gem is connected together in the order of gem arrangement.

For example, the initials of the gemstones on the front of this locket are JE T'ADORE, which means I love you.

As for the pendant and the gemstones on the back, although the words cannot be spelled, these 12 kinds of gemstones are the cornerstones of the heavenly city mentioned in the Christian "Apocalypse", which naturally also has a religious meaning.

Combining these, we can know that this thing should be related to Mucha's wife and some religious places, and this can also provide a more reliable direction for the next step.

(End of this chapter)