Speaking of Saint Denis, he may be the second most prominent figure in France to the Son of God, and his icons are found in many churches in Paris, with very distinctive characteristics. Louis never quite understood why people in this era and before had to let the saints carry their torture instruments and their bodies when they died, such as Jesus always carried the cross and the crown of thorns, and Saint Agatha always held the pliers (the Roman emperor's orders are the orders of Asking the soldier to hurt her chest with pliers), Saint Bardoromai held a dagger (he was stripped of his skin)... But even Saint Bardoromai was complete, at least not revealing the tragic situation after being stripped of her skin. But only Saint Deni, the saint had no head. Above his statue and above his neck was a round holy light. His head was held in his hand, depending on the situation, and sometimes he looked quite leisurely.

Saint Denis was the Lord of France, but how did he be worshipped by the French? This dates back to the third century AD. France was still Gaul under Roman rule. People's beliefs still belong to the gods of Olympus. Christianity is just a heresy. And as the number of Christians gradually increased, the attitudes of Roman priests and officials also changed from ignoring indifference to being harsh and fierce. Anyone who believes in God will be caught and punished or even executed unless they are willing to admit their mistakes and convert to the god of Olympus.

Saint Denis was originally a judge in Athens. Since he converted to Christianity, he has become the most loyal believer. In order to spread his faith, he and three other followers came to Paris, where he had many believers, and he became the first bishop of Paris. The Roman chief executive arrested them. Saint Denis was thrown into a lion cage and crucified, but he never surrendered and betrayed God. In 261 AD, Saint Denis and his followers were beheaded.

The place where they were executed was now called Montmartre Heights, which was called the Hill of Martyrs in this era, but they were not buried there. Because the day after the execution, when people wanted to collect their bodies for them, they were shocked to find that the three headless bodies slowly stood up, picked up their heads, walked to the stream not far away, washed their heads, then raised it high, walked towards the north, and walked to a small village about two miles away, before they fell down and died.

People buried them there, and many years later, huge churches were built on the spot. This church was the Church of St. Denis, and one of the most familiar churches in the French royal family, because all the royal members were finally buried there. Starting from Clove I, Louis had been there twice, once escorting his father Louis XIII, and once to make a complete conclusion with Gaston, the former Duke of Orleans. The royal tomb was not gloomy, with sunshine during the day and night There were candles and torches in the evening, and there were no heavy sarcophagus here, only cold marble statues. They were neatly dressed, wearing crowns, and lying calmly above the tomb, with their hands folded together, as if they were making the final prayer. Queen Mother Anne told Louis that she would be here in the future, and so was Louis, and Philip would be no exception. They would wait for the end of the world here, and then, under the guidance of the angels, ascend to heaven and sit with God and the saints.

"Maybe it was Saint Deni." Queen Mother Anne smiled and longed for her.

Louis endured for a while before he could not say it. Perhaps Saint Deni did not intend to sit with the descendants of those who torture and kill him, and what was going on to make a saint who was martyred in Paris the Lord-Saint of France? Shouldn’t he curse these guys who do not believe in God and complain for ten thousand years? Anyway, he probably did that. It can only be said that the reason why the saints can become saints is because they are willing to repay their grievances with virtue. In addition, the reason why a saint can only be enthroned after death is not that it is not that bullying the dead and unable to speak?

In short, Louis's various slanderings are really hard to make public, but this is exactly what makes the former Bishop Mazaran feel relieved. If anyone in a country should be the least devout, it is probably the king. If anyone wants to object, go and see Louis VII, Philip II, and Louis IX (St. Louis) who have done countless white laborers in the Crusades... Although some people may say that at least Philip II was still robbing in the chaos (no no, no, not for the pagans, but for the Lionheart Richard), these benefits will definitely not make up for France's losses.

Although it was written in length, the real prayer was only a few minutes. Louis stood up and drew a cross on his chest, praying sincerely that the war would be so smooth afterwards. Before leaving surrounded by ministers and generals, Louis once again stared at the icon of Saint Denis. This time, the saint of France's main castle, perhaps because of being moved to the sun, looked no longer so gloomy and even a little kind.

———

Jeronimis Boss raised the charcoal pen with a smile. Triads can usually be connected or separated, but the theme must be consistent in the painting style. Since he said St. Deni, it means that St. Deni is the theme of this triptych. Rubens sat behind the teacher and watched the old wizard depict the outlines of three people on the left-most drawing board. They were wearing plain robes, but all had a halo on their heads belonging to the saint. In other words, what Boss wanted to depict was the scene when St. Deni left Athens. The other two were his followers. St. Deni made a prayer gesture, pointing one hand to the sky, indicating that he had heard the call and command of God. The two men bowed their heads, crossed their arms, and made a gesture of obedience.

This subject is not right according to the habit of triptych paintings, because generally speaking, the middle of the triptych is the gaochao of the whole picture, which is the most important scene - let other painters plan it, the left side should be Saint Deni preaching, the middle is Saint Deni holding his head, and the right side is the saint ascends to heaven and erects the church on the ground - according to Boss' current plan, the main painting board in the middle may be used to depict the scene of the saint preaching, and the final is the scene where the saint shows the holy traces...

Then Rubens laughed. He was really stupid. Jeronimis Boss' paintings were cursed and led to hell. In this case, how could his paintings make people calm and comforted?

After thinking about this, Rubens's expression became much more indifferent. Next, Jeronimis Boss made an unexpected move. He did not finish all the sketches in one go. "Go and adjust the paint, Rubens," he said, changing a charcoal pen and starting to draw the draft, using more detailed techniques.

Although eggs are used for pigment configurations in tempera paintings, there are three methods: whole eggs, egg yolks and beaten egg whites, each with its own advantages. However, Rubens does not need to make a choice, because the pigment used in Boss' paintings is always made of toad eggs, that is, the eggs it carries on. These eggs must be alive before grinding.

He grabbed a toad that was big enough for a baby's face from the cauldron on the side. This was a skill, because it could not be broken into the eggs hidden in the skin of the toad's back. He held the toad with one hand, raised a very small blunt silver fork with the other hand, and began to pick the eggs off the toad's skin one by one. This was a job that was very eye-catching and skillful. The toad wriggled uneasyly and struggled. Perhaps it also realized that its children's fate was miserable - those eggs and white venom secreted from the toad's skin fell on the stone mortar, which was also common elsewhere, and people used it to mash pepper and garlic - Rubens used to mash the toad eggs, and it felt bad to crush the round and smooth things. Fortunately, he was used to it, and it might only take a few minutes or even less.

Next is to pour the toner into the "egg liquid".

To mention color powder, it is also different from those used by mortals. For example, yellow. Most of the people use realgar powder, but in the hands of wizards, it is the guts of cows. In Bosch, it is the guts of women who died of waterblock. What’s ridiculous is that many of them are from the hands of priests. They hold witch trials for people without authorization. Those women, whether innocent or not, were sunk into rivers or lakes, floated up to indicate that she was tempted and protected by the devil. If she sinks, she is innocent and innocent. They may have given birth to too many children, because the devil will give them the

The witch's strong fertility; maybe it's not giving birth, because she is the devil's lover; maybe it's ugly, because God mainly uses this to warn everyone to stay away from her, maybe it's beautiful, because they have to rely on their charming faces to lure others into depravity; maybe it's aging, because it's because of losing youth that they will turn their backs on God and make vows to the devil, maybe it's young, because it's ignorance that they are easily led to hell by the devil - the only thing they are the same is that they have a bitter gall soaked in hatred and fear, which is brown on the surface and yellow on the inside.

Blue-blue, this dazzling color is often used by mortals to depict the sky and the robe of the Virgin Mary. It should come from the powder of lapis lazuli, but here in Bosch, the shriveled eyes poured out of the bottle. When the owner was alive, the pairs of daisy blue, the sky blue, and the lake blue eyes were so beautiful. Now they are like wrinkled dried apricots, but after grinding, the charm revealed by the blue color is like a huge vortex that makes people unable to extricate themselves.

Dark purple, this pigment is so precious to mortals. Two hundred and fifty thousand conchs as big as a needle tip can extract half an ounce of dye, which is only enough to dye a robe. In the past, only Roman emperors were qualified to wear it. However, for wizards, especially dark wizards like Boss, it is not difficult to get them. Just go to someone who is poisoned by mandala, aconite or aconitum, and extract his bone marrow and get this gorgeous purple.

The bright red is either cinnabar or the cochine bug that has only been found in recent years. However, wizards only need to look for mothers who have lost their children, girls who have lost their lovers, or young people who have lost their close friends. Their painful tears mixed into the alum is the most gorgeous red, which is the color of their hard work.

There is only one color shared by wizards and mortals, that is mummy brown.

Maybe someone would ask, how much effort and time it takes to raise these toners. Hmm, a wizard like Boss doesn't have the patience to wait - no matter which color it is, he can get it at any time.

If someone looked at the sketch of Jeronimis, it would be difficult to see anything. Only the most careful and knowledgeable person could see that Saint Deni's face was sad, his prayer fingers curled unnaturally, and his hands towards the sky were more like blocking punishment from above. Two followers looked at Saint Deni's shadow, and one looked at a dove that fell on the branch. A snake stretched out from the tail feathers of the dove, and the snake made a devouring gesture.

By the time the draft was completed, there were more details that could be found. St. Deni was walking on the road to death. His feet were covered with weeds like shackles, and his robe cast shadows with horns. The sky was not bright blue or white, but a red like dusk. One of his followers smiled, and his smile was full of strange malice. He and the other were close to St. Deni's body, with only one hand exposed, and the other hand was hidden on St. Deni's back, as if urging, or preparing for the crime.

"You will complete the next work," said Jeronimis. Rubens hesitated for a moment, "I am not good at cursing." This is the truth. Although Rubens studied under Boss and was a wizard, he could pour out emotions and bet on magic in the picture, but his paintings rarely make people crazy or confused - except for those sensitive people, they may be frightened or confused by the emotions that Rubens remain in the picture.

"This is what I want." Jerominis said. Listening to the unquestionable tone of the teacher, Rubens had to sit in front of the drawing board. The tempera was layered with many light paints. The styles of Jerominis and Rubens were different. Moreover, thinking that this triptych might be unfavorable to the French king, Rubens was even hesitant. Although it might make the teacher dissatisfied, he tried his best to reveal some warm, kind thoughts and feelings through the tip of the pen. Saint Deni's original bitter face became sad but firm, as if he realized his ending but was not afraid. His fingers became richer and softer, so that it did not look like a claw, but a saint's hand. The expression of his follower was no longer so sinister, and only seemed a little stupid and innocent.
Chapter completed!