Chapter 3200 The Flashing Mosaic (8)

Constantinople once had a very magnificent city wall, and people even carved the inscription "Never Fall" on it. In the 5th century AD, when Attila led his army to invade, this wall played a role in blocking the intruders.

There is a golden gate on this magnificent city wall, which was the gate through which the emperor officially entered Constantinople. It was built at the end of the 4th century or the beginning of the 5th century. It is world-famous for its architectural magnificence and is the site where many historical events took place. The place.

 However, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire fell in 1453. A large number of survivors, either voluntarily or driven out, left their hometown and came to Florence, Rome, Venice and other places. At that time, Theodora's reputation was still quite good.

There is a story about a sheep thief who stole a sheep. People branded the word "st" on his forehead because he had done good deeds for many years. When passers-by asked, others said it represented a saint.

Theodora is known as "our most pious lady". She has devoted her life to charity. However, Justinian was criticized for being too fond of amassing money.

 Most of the "extant" books about Theodora appeared after 1683. Many events happened in that year, the most famous of which in the Western world was the Siege of Vienna.

As for why Theodora was stigmatized overnight, Georgiana didn't know. When she wanted to read books about the details of the Byzantine Empire, they all "miraculously disappeared", but she could still learn from those books about life. I saw some clues in the books written by Byzantine survivors in Florence and Venice.

Although Venice and the Byzantine Empire maintained a very special relationship after the Fourth Crusade, when the Byzantine Empire collapsed, Venice suffered the greatest losses. Not only was Venice a creditor of Byzantium, they also established a vast commercial empire across the Aegean Sea in formerly Byzantine territory, thus maintaining hostile ties, and for a quarter of the world after the fall of Constantinople, Venice still attracted more Byzantine refugees than any other city.

The Venetians were more shrewd and pragmatic and had no interest in Byzantine scholars, who were spread almost throughout northern Italy. Many Renaissance humanist schools were established under Byzantine guidance.

At that time, scholasticism had reached its final stage. It was not only dead, but also separated from the real world, arguing over logic, and scholasticism happened to be the main course in the seminary.

Greek is the core of humanism, while Latin is taught in seminaries. Times have changed, and there are always die-hards who are unwilling to change, but there are "other things" to be busy with at that time. About Theodora The documents were shelved, and the queen, "half sinner and half saint," was forgotten.

 After the 17th century, no one in Europe used shrouds for burials. Purple silk was not only expensive, but also a symbol of imperial power. But more importantly, the Palace of Versailles had been built.

 French kings have many generous art patrons, but Louis XIV is rare. Francois I only built the Louvre, and its current size is much smaller than that of the 20th century.

Georgiana was not sure whether what these survivors said was true, because it was not just Louis XIV who loved the Baroque style at that time, the Habsburg royal family also liked the Baroque.

 But the Habsburgs withstood the siege of the pagans. What was Louis XIV doing at that time?

 His queen died, he secretly married the pious Marchioness Maintenon, and revoked the Edict of Nantes.

 Christmas in 1799 was the day when Napoleon promulgated the Constitution. Counting the time, it can also be regarded as a commemoration.

Although a lot has happened in the past few years, he still found time to repair some of the royal palaces in Fontainebleau, Tuileries, and Compiègne. However, the burned-out Flanders Memorial Hall cannot be repaired. No matter how magnificent and glorious it was in the past, there were always many flammable materials, so it could only be built into the crude way it is now.

 Louis XIV said, “I am the State.”

 For example, seats at the Paris Opera House can be sold according to the repertoire, but if someone rents this seat for a long time by paying rent, other people who sit in this seat will be kicked away by the waiter.

The other person is not there, why can’t he sit?

Hegel presupposed the concept of an entity, that is, the subject. Although he is still a tutor now, the spirituality or conceptuality of the entity makes it a subject, and the objectivity or existence of the subject makes it an entity.

If someone raises an objection to the waiter, the people around him will look at him strangely. How can he occupy the seat rented by others?

Since he couldn't sit, he stood up, so the moment Napoleon sat down, all the guests stood up. They lined up neatly at the back. Only Georgiana and the ambassador to France, Count Koblenz, sat beside Napoleon. With. Those who can come to this event are not real commoners, or do not understand the "rules" at all. There will always be an empty room in the noble's house, with a bed inside, specially for the king's visit.

The constitution stipulates that the First Consul cannot lead troops, but it does not stipulate that he cannot "accompany the army." Napoleon was not involved in the Battle of Marengo.

The wizard feels that the king can protect himself by passing laws. It is like wearing a seat belt when driving. How easy it is to have a safety accident if you don't wear a seat belt, but some people still drive without wearing a seat belt.

 The mechanism is only useful if it works. Georgiana's guardians changed one after another. Except for Mr. Jenner who really protected her, the others were useless, otherwise they were busy with their own affairs or political interests.

After Napoleon sat down, Hubert Robert, the director of the Louvre Painting Department, personally took out the painting. This time the painting was obviously much more exquisite than before.

The first is "Saint Joseph the Carpenter" by Georges La Tour. The paintings from the Sun King period are all magnificent, such as the ceiling painting of the king's audience hall, which depicts the gods of Olympus welcoming Heracles. The painting is almost entirely black, illuminated only by a candlelight.

This different style made La Tour forgotten in Fontainebleau, but Georgiana liked it very much. However, this painting was in the collection of the Louvre. She could only look at it before, but now it is owned by Bonaparte. Bought.

 The next one is Antonio da Correggio, a name that most people don’t know. He was just a bit unlucky and did not have "Roman exposure". He had a good reputation among travelers in the 18th and 19th centuries. The second painting Bonaparte took was "The Mysterious Wedding of St. Catherine and Saint Sebastian".

Vermeer's paintings were also a national treasure of the Netherlands in the 20th century, but in the early 19th century, he was an unknown genre painter.

Both paintings were sold at extremely low prices, with no one bidding against him at all.

The third painting was by Lorraine again. Bonaparte asked Edgeworth jokingly if he wanted this painting. Edgeworth smiled and said that he had no money, and then he took the "Cleopatra" painting. Bought the painting "La Landing in the Harbor of Tarsus". If you exchange one of Raphael's Madonna paintings for these three paintings, will you lose or gain?

It is difficult to determine the value of art. When Hubert Robert was about to move the painting, Georgiana reminded him to put on white gloves to avoid staining the painting with the grease on his hands.

When the "fun with the people" was over, Bonaparte left, and it was better that he left, so that everyone could sit down again without feeling uncomfortable.

Imagine this scene, a lion sitting in the auditorium of the Paris Opera House. Who can concentrate on watching the performance?

Theodora was the daughter of a bear trainer. She was indeed from a humble background, but when she saw a bear, she would not immediately turn around and run away, or lie on the ground and pretend to be dead as in the legend.

She is not afraid of bears, and she is not afraid of Justinian. He is still a human being, right?

In the recorded history of the church, a comet appeared in 565, which seemed to herald the death of Justinian.

The return of Halley's Comet in 451 is thought to have announced the death of Attila the Hun, although he died two years later.

 Napoleon called himself "Attila of Venice" in Venice. Pomona even made fun of him at that time because Attila had never been to Venice.

Geneviève, the saint who guarded the city, resisted Attila. She reminded her to "follow the trajectory of the stars," which meant the comet that would appear in 1812 and light up the whole of Europe.

That comet cannot be prevented from appearing with current human power.

Georgiana smiled bitterly. She felt that Bonaparte was becoming less and less human, and he himself did not understand how the church connected his death with the falling star.

If she told him what Father Piazzi told her, she would definitely be regarded as "superstition".

 No one else can stop him, the only one who can stop him is himself. In fact, he didn't have to wait until night at all just now.

 She looked down at her hands. Many of the nobles present were wearing gemstone rings that were much larger than hers. In comparison, this fire opal seemed less expensive.

 Why did Geneviève appear just now? She clearly didn't want to summon anything.

 At this time, a person came to the place where Bonaparte had been sitting. She raised her head and looked at him.

 “How about doing me a favor, Georgiana.” Captain Nightingale said with a smirk.

 “That depends on what you want me to do for you.” Georgiana asked easily.

 “Sell me a painting.” Captain Nightingale said.

 “Selling? Are you sure you’re not buying?” Georgiana asked.

"Sure."

 “Where is the painting?” asked Georgiana.

 “I’ll have someone bring it over,” he said easily.

 “Who painted it?” she asked.

 “Turner, a landscape painter.”

She seems to have heard of this name.

 But Captain Nightingale had already stood up and left at this time, leaving only her and Count Coblenz sitting face to face.

“It is an honor to meet you, Madame Sèvres,” Count Coblenz said in unaccented French.

Georgiana smirked, thinking about how to get rid of this old man.

She looked around for Talleyrand and wondered where the chameleon had gone.

 (End of this chapter)