Let the secrets sink into the sea of ignorance. Every time Sonia sees this globe, she will think of this sentence. She brings the globe to the office to remind herself at all times:
The more knowledge you have about Australians, the closer you are to something terrifying.
She was somewhat uneasy. She might as well stop being in the office and go to the specimen room to finish all the work at hand.
Sonia was about to leave the office when someone knocked on the office door.
"Please come in!"
She thought her two "apprentices" were back, but she didn't expect that it was her "colleague" who came in: Valentina Marino.
Valentina was also one of the female slaves sold by Quark. She was an Italian woman—to be precise, a subject of the Papal State. North African pirates looted the village where she lived, kidnapped her, and then sold her to Basra.
Arrived in Lingao again.
Compared with Sonia, Valentina Marino is a newcomer. She has been in high school for less than two years.
Shortly after arriving in Lingao, she was bought by Dong Yizhi, a veteran of the education department. Without exception, Dong Yizhi's maids were all teachers in Fangcaodi. So his training plan for Valentina was also the same at the beginning. However,
He immediately realized that it would be too difficult to train a girl who could only speak 17th-century Italian to become a qualified teacher - the language training alone would take at least two or three years. Even if she could speak Chinese after a few years, it would still be difficult for her to become a qualified teacher.
It is difficult for liberal arts or science teachers to teach. After all, Valentina Marino was only semi-literate in Italy and could only read and write in Italian. Let alone change another language.
After thinking about it, Dong Yizhi suddenly got inspiration from her national attributes: Isn't she Italian? There are many Italian artists. The royal artist of the Senate is also an Italian. In this case, it is better to train her to be an artist.
.
So Valentina was sent to the studio of her compatriot Trini, and began her journey to become an artist as his student.
Trini naturally welcomed this compatriot from Italy. He had not seen an Italian-speaking compatriot in the Far East for many years. Of course, he was also very careful - after all, this girl from the Papal State was now a senator.
maid.
In more than a year, Miss Valentina has roughly mastered basic sketching and color techniques, and is able to draw still life and simple watercolor landscape paintings. According to the teaching process, after the basic painting course is completed, she will start to consider professional directions.
Quite different from what Dong Yizhi thought, Valentina did not show much talent in painting. Although she was technically capable of participating in the National Art Entrance Examination in the 21st century and reaching the provincial-controlled undergraduate score, Trini was very impressed with her.
The evaluation of the work is: "Accurate perspective, attention to details, poor control of light and shadow. The overall work is dull and unvivid."
Obviously it was impossible to train her into an all-round artist in the 17th century. Dong Yizhi couldn't figure out why, so he asked Trini to continue teaching painting - in the future, she could be an art teacher in Fangcao Cao.
At that time, the Natural History Museum, which was under preparation, extended an olive branch to her.
The Natural History Museum needs a professional painter, to be precise, a "natural history painter".
In an era when photography had not yet been invented, the only way to visually record something, a person or something was to draw. For natural history, even in the 19th century, photography technology was already available.
However, due to the limited level of photography and printing at the time, the photos still lacked sufficient details to express the actual objects.
At that time, almost every naturalist or enthusiast who went on field trips in person, in addition to bringing back physical objects to make specimens, record and describe them in words, often also worked part-time as a painter to make special depictions with a high degree of restoration.
For a long time before human technology invented sophisticated high-resolution imaging technology, they used paintings to record photos.
Although naturalists can preserve the forms and bodies of animals and plants by collecting specimens, no matter whether they are soaked or dried (taxidermy), the specimens that have lost their life will soon dry up and deform, losing their freshness. This is true in
This is especially obvious in plant specimens. Moreover, the collection of plant specimens is affected by the seasons, so it is difficult to express its entire life cycle at one time.
In contrast, fine paintings can display the forms of animals and plants very completely and comprehensively. It can depict the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, etc. of a certain species in detail on the same piece of paper.
For details, corresponding partial close-ups can be presented completely in accordance with scientific needs, and a scale bar can be attached.
The special painting situation of natural history painting came into being. The origin of this special painting technique is very ancient. At least in the Renaissance, similar painting techniques were already in the manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci and others. If we want to trace it back
Even more anciently, in the classical natural history works of various civilizations around the world, authors have begun to try to use simple paintings to depict the forms of various animals and plants.
Museum painting gradually developed from early line drawings and sketches, and developed corresponding unique painting techniques. It flourished until the 20th century. Even in the 21st century of old time and space, this painting technique is still used in a few fields. Typical
The representative is the medical anatomy atlas. Anyone who has studied medicine is familiar with this kind of atlas. And most geological exploration personnel also master a special kind of natural history painting: geological topographic sketch.
Even in the old time and space when high-definition photography technology has become cheap and popular, the choices for various professional atlases are still various museum paintings instead of photos. This shows its practical value.
The veterans of the remote exploration team, except for a few veterans with geological background who could draw geological sketches, actually did not have the ability to draw natural history paintings. This ability was very important for the exploration and investigation in the 17th century, so the exploration team
As soon as it was established, we started cultivating ourselves.
However, there are actually no professionals in the Senate who can draw museum paintings. So this matter is basically self-study based on the materials provided by the big library.
Although painting requires talent, under the guidance of experienced teachers, even those with zero foundation and three years of high school entrance exams who were admitted to the eight major art academies can do it. The problem is that the Senate did not have "experienced teachers" at the time, so
Without a major at home, it is obviously quite difficult to master natural history painting skills through self-study. After a lot of hard work, except for a few veterans who came from the geological survey field and had a foundation in sketching, the results of everyone else are hard to describe.
The arrival of Trini brought them hope. Although this Italian painter was only an unknown person in the history of art, it was undeniable that his painting skills were one dollar higher than those of the five hundred elders. Dr. Zhong compiled the relevant information in a big book
Various reference materials such as the techniques of natural history painting were given to him along with several picture albums for him to learn and copy. At the same time, Bai Guoshi and Zhao Xue were specially assigned to study with him. Because Trini's observation was still an artist's observation,
He must be taught to observe with a scientist's eye.
Professionals are indeed professionals. Trini lived up to expectations and mastered the relevant skills of museum painting in half a year. The couple Bai and Zhao also achieved pretty good results.
Dr. Zhong's confidence greatly increased, and he immediately wrote to the Planning Institute in the name of "technology as the primary productive force", suggesting that all painting and decoration work in Trini be suspended and that he instead specialize in historical painting training. The training targets were in Trini
In the training class, naturalized students have mastered basic painting skills such as sketching and coloring.
As soon as the news spread, it received an enthusiastic response. Only then did Dr. Zhong realize that all departments had a demand for museum paintings. In particular, the demand for health and agricultural products was particularly strong.
Because of the strong demand, the Planning Institute not only approved Dr. Zhong’s suggestion, but also specially coordinated and decided that the first batch of trainees would not be assigned for the time being, but would instead be extended the training period as “Museum Painting Normal Students.” After graduation, these students will be
Teacher "Seed" teaches in the "Natural History Painting Training Class".
Valentina Marino then became a member of the "Natural History Painting Training Class", that is, the disciples of this group of "seeds" - but because of her special status and the bonus of her compatriots, she was particularly
Rini took special care of her and often gave her personal guidance. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she was "personally taught".
After the six-month natural history painting training class, Valentina officially arrived at the Natural History Museum and became a full-time natural history painter.
Of course Sonia is no stranger to natural history painting, but to be honest, her painting skills are very limited. Coupled with her pregnancy and childbirth, she has not been able to receive professional natural history painting training, so she has to rely on Valentina Mali for many jobs.
He is a professional naturalist painter like Nuo.
"Miss Sharpe! All the paintings of the expedition team have been painted. Please take a look." Valentina is actually younger than Sonia, but her personality is quiet and calm. Although they are both veterans
She is a maid, but Valentina, who was born into a peasant family, naturally has a sense of class respect for Sonia, who was born into a noble family.
Sonia does not speak Italian, and Valentina used to only speak Italian. So the communication between them was carried out through a kind of "Newspeak" of the Senate. This is also the usual communication among foreign maids.
Way.
"That's great." Sonia's spirits lifted. These museum paintings are based on living plants and specimens brought by the recently returned eastern Taiwan expedition team. Sonia has already visited many areas in Tainan and western Tainan.
However, little is known about the Taitung area, which has always been known as the "isolated island on land".
She was not selected for the expedition team to the Hualien area of Taitung that started half a year ago because she had just given birth, so she was a little regretful. Now that she can see the results with her own eyes, it is a comfort.