Both the world-renowned Discobolus sculpture and the recently discovered Boxer sculpture are considered masterpieces of ancient Greek sculpture. Although they are merely reproductions of bronze originals, they almost perfectly capture the essence of the originals. Such masterpieces often represent extremely high commercial value. For example, plaster models used by art students for study are often reproductions of famous works.
In addition, some people choose reproductions of certain famous art pieces to decorate their gardens or rooms, and these people are all potential customers of Liang En.
After concluding the negotiations, everyone took a glass of champagne from the tray Marie had previously placed on a nearby table, clinked glasses, and each took a sip.
"To our successful cooperation ahead," Liang En said after setting down his glass. "For us, we need to work together closely on this site."
"Of course, I believe our cooperation will be very smooth," President John nodded slightly in agreement. "This choice is indeed very meaningful for all three of us."
"Actually, there's one thing I still don't understand. Why are there two stone statues in this ruin?" Joan of Arc asked Liang En curiously on the way back to the tower after signing the contract.
"If I remember correctly, this place should be considered a gathering place for the Hermetic Order, a mystic group. But the statues have nothing to do with mysticism."
"It might be a trend from the Renaissance," Liang En said with a smile. "Do you remember what style the cave we were in earlier was?"
"Well, it should be a standard ancient Greek style," Joan of Arc squinted her eyes and thought for a few seconds before saying. "Yes, that's it, I wouldn't be wrong about that."
"Yes, you're right. For those who study mysticism, their core ideas mainly come from ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, so naturally, they would have a sense of reverence for things from that era," Liang En nodded and explained.
"For instance, the famous painter Raphael's 'The School of Athens' illustrates this point. The painting uses a grand architectural archway in the background, bringing together famous scholars from different eras, regions, and schools of thought."
"But if you look closely at the background of the painting, you'll find that although it's modeled after the famous St. Peter's Basilica, it actually has a distinct ancient Greek style."
"After all, the core of the so-called Renaissance was to revive the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, so Europeans at that time had an extraordinary fascination with ancient Greece and Rome."
"I understand. You mean these statues are to create an ancient Greek atmosphere," Joan of Arc suddenly realized. "But the problem is, these things don't look that Greek or Roman."
"It's simple. The Renaissance people's understanding of ancient Greece and Rome was even less accurate than ours, so the imaginations about ancient Rome and Greece they created at that time are full of misconceptions to us today," Liang En said, spreading his hands.
"Even though the Renaissance was closer to ancient Rome and Greece in time than we are now, their understanding of ancient Rome was not very accurate due to the limitations of the technology and academic research level of that era."
"To give a simple example, there are many oil paintings from the Renaissance depicting significant events of ancient Rome or Greece, but if you look closely, you'll find many errors."
"Not to mention the robes on those people in the paintings are clearly drawn based on surviving sculptures, differing significantly from what we now know from archaeological evidence. Just the fact that they depicted ancient Greek warriors in full plate armor is quite out of place."
"In the Renaissance, Constantinople had just fallen, and the last glimmers of the Roman Empire had just extinguished. The fleeing Roman scholars brought the initial thoughts of the Renaissance to the West."
"It's essential to note that the idea that the Arabs or Ottoman Turks brought Renaissance ideas to Europe is actually a misconception."
"The true promoters of the Renaissance were the noble and scholarly refugees from the Eastern Roman Empire who fled to Western Europe, bringing with them the preserved cultures of ancient Rome and Greece."
"However, from another perspective, the constant westward invasions by the Ottoman Turks did objectively promote the westward spread of ancient Roman and Greek cultures. After all, without their invasions, those scholars wouldn't have fled west."
"So, for the builders of this cave, the effect they decorated was actually their perception of ancient Greece at that time, not the true ancient Greece."
"Even so, they clearly tried to make their place look more like ancient Greek buildings, like placing these Greek sculptures they somehow found."
"Because this place is indeed a sacred site of the Rosicrucians, the day after we signed the agreement, the Rosicrucians started sending people to prepare for the construction of a new museum."
"Alright, I think it's time for us to leave," Liang En said, listening to the noise from the construction site and feeling it was time to go. Obviously, this place would become unsuitable for living for a while, as living on a construction site is not enjoyable.
"An unexpected gain, isn't it?" Joan of Arc said on the plane back to London. "I remember you were planning to sell this island or trade it for something else."
"That's because I didn't know this relatively small island had such treasures hidden in it," Liang En laughed. "Just like in 'Forrest Gump,' life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get."
This exchange was quite rewarding for Liang En. Besides acquiring a valuable island, he also reached a cooperation agreement with Guerlain in the field of perfumes.
According to them, the new perfume Liang En created had already been added to their list of perfumes to be released and would be marketed in the second half of this year or the first half of next year.
At least in previous communications, Liang En learned that his perfume had already passed Guerlain's series of expert reviews and received high praise.
As Mr. Guerlain mentioned before, amateur perfume creation had existed historically, but as time passed, perfume creation became more professional, making the creators more specialized.
In the past twenty or thirty years, no major perfume company has marketed a perfume created by an amateur. At most, some individual formulas have entered their knowledge reserves, but Liang En broke this trend.
This perfume, converted from ancient Egyptian temple incense, was recognized by most people. According to professional perfumers, this fragrance from the depths of history has a unique scent that fills certain gaps in modern perfumes and is expected to be widely welcomed.
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