Chapter 762 The Lion in the Cage

Winter in Venice is actually quite cold, but unlike the UK, every household has a fireplace, and civilian apartments are heated by single-family central boilers.

Aristocrats and rich people have fireplaces, but they basically don’t use them, because they are afraid that the ash produced by the fireplace will stain the plaster sculptures and paintings, so the fireplaces have become decorations, and the palace also uses boilers for heating.

By the 19th century, most of Venice's once-great families had fallen so low that they couldn't even afford to heat their huge mansions, so they sold them off.

Some were sold to hotels and restaurants, and some were sold to the city government. The sale of these palaces to collectors does not mean that the person can dispose of them at will, but to keep them as they are. The daily water, electricity and heating bills are a terrible expense. .

At the same time, the buyer has to bear the cost of daily wear and repair. If the mural fades, it needs to be repaired, the gold leaf is lost, it needs to be replaced, and the arm of the plaster sculpture needs to be restored. It is a real bottomless pit, and it is not rich enough to buy materials. It’s fine, we need to find a professional painter and sculptor, and ask the master to do it once. The labor cost alone is terrible. When Paolo Veronese first came to Venice, he was not well-known. He finished painting the wedding in Ghana and earned a lot of money. 324 Venetian gold coins, which was already a considerable income at the time.

The shrewdness of the Venetian merchants still exists. If one is not careful, he will fall into the trap set by them. Ordinary people can buy a mask from the Yiwu Small Commodity Market at the price of luxury goods at most, and the rich will be eaten alive by them.

Francois bought the palace to build a museum. He donated a weather vane in exchange for the privilege that he could expand the use area of ​​the palace and display his exhibits.

Baroque pays attention to extremely complicated carvings, and he likes the minimalist art of the United States, which creates a contradiction—simple saving money, complicated spending, does he come to Venice for construction or demolition?

Venetians like guests like the Marquise, and everything is done according to their rules. They don’t like people like Pino very much. The Marquise who held the banquet in the Renaissance style was controlled by an invisible hand, but François did not. Therefore, Napoleon wrote in his code: the husband has the right to manage his wife's real and movable property, so Have the right to receive the movable property brought by the wife and the movable property acquired by the wife in the marriage relationship, but this property item needs to be returned after the marriage relationship is dissolved or the court judges.

Who wants to be controlled when spending money? That’s too unfree, but the rococo style of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI periods was created by women. In fact, it’s even more terrifying for men to squander. Luxury cars, good wine, clothes, shoes, watches, the problem is that women can control them Is it your own husband?

In Tiepolo's "Venice Accepting the Gift of the Sea God", Venice is painted as a blonde girl who is casually leaning on a lion.

In the ancient Greek and Roman era, there were not many blonde beauties in Europe, and there were more brown-haired beauties. As the Vikings in Northern Europe went south to plunder, blonde beauties gradually went to the world, and people's aesthetic concepts became more and more inclined. Yu thinks that beauties with blond hair are the prettiest.

The same is the goddess Venus. In the medieval paintings, her hair is between brown and golden, but in the 19th century painting authors, her hair is more golden.

With the development of hair dyeing technology, the hair of many actresses is not originally blond, but can also be dyed blond. For example, Monroe's hair was dyed platinum blond.

"Why can't Venice be represented by a black-haired Italian girl, it must be a blonde!" Pomona asked angrily looking at the oil painting.

"Men always like blonde beauties. This kind of bad habit has already penetrated into their genes and bone marrow, just like dogs can't get rid of eating shit, cats can't get rid of stealth, they can't get rid of it at all!" The woman in the blue mask looked at that The picture is as angry as saying.

Except for the lady wearing the black velvet mask, she and Dama were kicked out, and accompanied Pomona to continue looking at the oil paintings in the Governor's Palace.

"Pig," said the woman in the blue mask.

"Obviously Poseidon seduced Medusa, why did Athena punish her priestess?" Dama said matter-of-factly.

"Because Poseidon is her younger brother." Pomona said helplessly.

"Since Adam and Eve are responsible for the crime of expulsion from the Garden of Eden together, then men and women should be equal." The woman in the blue mask said "Sometimes I just hate their attitude."

"Lazy and arrogant," Pomona said, imitating Severus.

"Don't ever expect them to help with the housework," said the blue-masked woman. "Just go home and lie on the sofa, just waiting for me to deliver the food to his mouth."

"Maybe it's because he's too tired from work." Dama said softly.

"Which end are you from?" Blue Mask said angrily.

"I'm not from anywhere, I'm just talking about the facts." Dama said rationally.

Women's friendships are often based on people they hate in common, and Pomona looks at the blond beauty in the painting, who is the public enemy in the eyes of all non-blonde women.

At the same time, in order to attract men's attention, women quietly dyed their hair blond. There are more black-haired girls in Italy, but blond hair is relatively rare, so blond girls have become a symbol of Venice.

The Queen of the Adriatic Sea in Pomona's heart has long black hair like waves, wears a gray-blue crown, and smiles heartily. She is not a gift from the sea god like this blonde girl.

"I want to burn the painting," whispered Pomona.

"That's an authentic painting by Tiepolo, don't do that." The blue-masked woman said, implying that she didn't like this painting either, but she didn't burn it because it was an authentic painting.

"Why do they like blondes?" Pomona complained.

"You're blonde too." Dama said.

"No! I'm gray."

"Looks golden in the light," said the blue-masked woman.

"I want to see Titian, where are his paintings?" Pomona quickly changed the subject.

"Although your husband is not handsome, he is like a beast." The blue-masked woman said enthusiastically.

"I think what she was trying to convey was that Mr. Smith seemed alive," Dama explained.

"He's in great shape and I wish my husband had that physique."

Pomona thought of his inverted triangle figure, and tried to get the image out of her mind.

"Straight lines belong to humans, curves belong to gods." Dama said "What do you think of Antoni Gaudi?"

"I'm not interested in abstraction," Pomona said.

"He's not abstract...you're classic?" Dama asked.

"I'm not much interested in the arts," she said wryly. "I have a school of people to support."

"You sound like an old lady," said the blue-masked woman.

"Who said it wasn't?"

"How did you meet?" Dama asked.

"Colleague." Pomona said casually, and then realized that it was a cliché.

"Office romance?" Dama asked.

"No, he's from outside the school. We met through work," Pomona said.

"We thought you were Masons if you didn't prove you were wizards," Dama said. "It's not a good sign to go after the Templars."

"I believe Venice sheltered them, and so did Napoleon," Pomona said.

"You know, in the days of the Republic, if you were reported to be involved with the Freemasonry, you would be punished by death," Dama said.

"But we are not in the Republic of Venice. Venice belongs to Italy. Thanks to Mussolini's bridge, you can live a modern life." Pomona said, if it weren't for the bridge and the water pipes under the bridge, Venice would People will continue to drink well water like in the Middle Ages. This is how cholera broke out during the siege.

At this moment, the bell tower of San Marco rang. The clock was different from ordinary clocks. The dark blue clock face was divided into 24 divisions, and the 24 hours were represented by Roman numerals. There were signs of the zodiac signs on it, seven The point is between Sagittarius and Capricornus, and its 0 o'clock is not the center of the dial, but the direction of 4 o'clock on the ordinary dial.

The order of the zodiac signs is also counterclockwise, representing the lion of Venice from 1:30 am to 2:30 am.

The lion is often associated with the sun, so why should it be the patron saint of midnight?

"Are there any other activities in Venice at night besides the opera?" Pomona asked suddenly.

"It depends on what kind of activity you're talking about," said the blue-masked woman.

"I don't know, I'm a tourist!" Pomona said angrily.

"If it is a little more sacred, the Church of Notre Dame will hold a night mass on the night of carnival, and the church will play in the original pipe style." Dama said.

"You don't think that the dome can only be appreciated." The blue-masked woman said, "It not only looks magnificent, but also has a sound-focusing effect, and the black spot standing in the center of the vortex also has a healing effect."

"What?"

"She's talking about the marble floor that's laid on the ground, and it forms a vortex," Dama explained.

Pomona remembered another thing. When she first arrived at the Church of Our Lady of the Angels, there was a handsome Italian man standing in the center of the "vortex". He was dressed in gorgeous clothes, like the golden threads of Venice cushions.

The beauties in those paintings were often leaning on the cushions, and Pomona suddenly wanted to buy some back.

"I want to buy some gold silk cushions, where can I buy them?" Pomona directly asked the locals, "I want real ones, and the price is not a problem."

Of course, it costs money to come to Venice. Even the Sultan princess can't resist the temptation of Venice, let alone an ordinary woman.

Material desire makes people degenerate, roaring like a lion wanting to break out of the cage of reason and morality.

The monster doesn't have to be ferocious and terrifying, but it can also be very beautiful. Who knows whether the man is an angel or a devil.