Reborn as a great painter, with a system, you can be willful

Jiang Zhe and Francesca came to the outside of the Uffizi Gallery.

They were not allowed to enter and visit now, so the two could only look from outside.

Jiang Zhe felt that this building perfectly embodied the architectural concept of the Florentines. One of its important features was that the gate was inconspicuous. According to Francesca's explanation, it was for defense purposes.

There are many statues of masters embedded in the walls of the gallery.

The two of them identified them one by one with great interest.

“This is Cellini!”

"This...I don't know."

"I know this one, Leonardo da Vinci. He always liked to wear a hat and tuck his hair into it."

"This is Dante."

"Let's visit first tomorrow, and then go to the Mercenary Corridor." Jiang Zhe planned silently before leaving the museum.

For the rest of the journey, they walked along the river and saw the Ponte Vecchio that spans the Arno River.

This is another landmark in Florence, so many people come here to visit.

While admiring the Vasari Corridor, Francesca was explaining to Jiang Zhe the origin of the corridor and how it led to the palace of the Medici family.

Her explanations are often disturbed by external factors.

Some couples who came here to play would show off their love from time to time, causing Francesca to be distracted.

Jiang Zhe and Francesca are not in a relationship, nor do they have any intention of developing that relationship, so in such occasions, they feel a little embarrassed watching others show their affection, and they have to stay away from the crowd, or even turn back in advance.

"More than 500 years ago, this corridor was used to save lives. Members of the Medici family had been assassinated and kidnapped many times. Florence during the Renaissance was not just a country of art. Many artists had to master good swordsmanship, such as Cellini who sculpted Perseus."

When they were returning, they passed by the closed shops on the bridge. Francesca mentioned that the shops here were mostly gold and jewelry shops, so she mentioned Cellini again.

"He was not only a sculptor, but also the best jeweler in Europe at that time. Therefore, the gold shop owners erected a statue for him here and worshipped him as their ancestor. Cellini himself was also a musician. The Pope invited him to the Vatican not because of his jewelry skills, but because of his musical talent. Later, he found out that he could make jewelry by chance."

Jiang Zhe listened to Francesca's explanation and unknowingly walked back to where he got off the bus.

"Thank you for accompanying me on this night tour. I gained a lot from it." When he returned to the hotel to rest, he thanked Francesca again.

The two agreed to visit the Uffizi Gallery tomorrow.

Jiang Zhe returned to his room, washed up, and took out his painting supplies.

Today's formation was very fulfilling, coming from Rome to Florence, almost resting. He did not feel tired, but had the urge to paint.

The daytime visits and night tours gave him a lot of material to look at. The city streets, residents, tourists, teachers and students in the college, flower girls in the market, shops and many other images were all presented on the screen.

……

The next morning, Jiang Zhe and Francesca lined up in front of the Uffizi Gallery.

The two arrived early and were the first to enter the art gallery.

"The museum was built in 1560. It was originally the office of the Medici family, the richest family in the Renaissance. It has more than 10 collections, including works by masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli..." Francesca continued to explain to Jiang Zhe. Jiang Zhe absorbed the nutrients in the treasure house of art like a sponge.

A religious painting from the Renaissance…Giotto’s tempera on wood…The Uffizi’s most famous work, Botticelli’s…

There were so many works of art that it was hard to take it all in. By the end, Jiang Zhe found himself becoming numb to some of the collections, and the visit lasted two hours longer than expected.

Even so, there are many collections that cannot be seen.

After a simple lunch, Jiang Zhe went to the mercenary gallery for the second time.

This time, he was finally able to view many sculptures up close.

After carefully looking at all the works, I seriously appreciated the beauty of the sculptures.

However, the system prompts that it is waiting for the calculation results.

He had no choice but to continue his visit.

Because this was my second visit to the Loggia dei Mercenarii and it was a last-minute arrangement, the original plan for the visit had to be changed.

Francesca took Jiang Zhe to visit a production workshop.

One of her friends brought the two of them into the workshop.

In the workshop, some people use wire saws to cut stones, some people make drafts, and some people are responsible for inlaying...

The friend who showed them around told Jiang Zhe that the ancient hard stone inlay technique was preserved here.

The history of mosaic art can be traced back to the ancient Roman period, spanning the classical period and the Middle Ages. In 1588, Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, announced the establishment of a hard stone mosaic workshop, specializing in the use of semi-precious stones to create shadow stone mosaic artworks, large works to decorate buildings and rooms, and small decorations to be inlaid on furniture.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, hard stone inlays, in addition to being used for decoration, also took on a painting look and were even called stone paintings. The visual light and shadow and layering in the paintings were expressed with different pigments and brushstrokes.

The craftsmen used the natural texture of a certain area of ​​the stone to replace the role of the brush. Paintings are not easy to preserve, but they can still be as vivid as they were centuries later. This may be the resistance to time and disappearance under the bright pictures composed of hard stone.

This friend introduced a craftsman to Jiang Zhe and his friend.

The craftsman heard about Jiang Zhe's identity and saw that he was interested in this technology, so he explained some of the techniques to him in detail.

To create a hard stone mosaic work, the first step is to decompose the complete pattern and separate the irregular areas. Secondly, select a small piece of stone with a texture that just fits the required part. This is the most mysterious part of the hard mosaic process. Natural stones have unique textures. How to select the small piece that just fits from the subtle differences requires a keen artistic eye and intuition.

Next, cutting is an essential step in creating stone mosaics. Although stone cutting is generally done mechanically nowadays, each small piece of stone required to create a piece of hard mosaic art is still slowly separated using traditional techniques.

"Stone is hard but also brittle. Only through the inheritance of ancient technology and experience and wisdom can we overcome the challenges brought by nature. The angle of cutting and the strength used require careful consideration." The craftsman invited Jiang Zhe and others to the side of the production table to watch the stone cutting process.

"Watering is to cool it down, and piling soil on the cut is to increase resistance to prevent slight cracks during cutting, which will cause the edge surface to be lost. It takes nearly ten minutes just to cut and separate such a small piece of stone. After cutting, the small piece of stone needs to be carefully polished to fit perfectly with other cut parts. A medium-sized work takes three to four months to complete."

When Jiang Zhe visited Rome, he became curious about this technology, so he watched it very carefully.

After the tour, Jiang Zhe returned to the hotel and finally listened to the system's prompts.

You have gained some insights during your visit, and the task has been completed.

Rewards: Bronze Sculpture Casting Techniques, Hard Stone Inlay Techniques. (End of this chapter)