Chapter 74: Louvre Abu Dhabi (3)

“The prince has high hopes for you.”

Of course, he did. And Mat Vellin probably did too, as much as his prince.

“You are working with me, right?”

“Of course. Without you, I might have fainted from all the overworking.”

Mat seemed to be very happy about getting an unexpected coworker. They were also not alone. In the room, there were dozens of people with iPads in their hands to check something.

“Are they checking the basics?”

“Yes, they are. They are checking the most basic factors like the paint and the age of the canvas.”

“I thought you had already done that.”

“To be honest, the paintings in this room have been through at least twice basic checks. Nevertheless, we keep checking because we cannot damage those historical paintings. Appraisal has its limits as well. We cannot take samples of all the paints. We’ve done all the non-damaging tests like the ultraviolet ray test. The only method left is the human eyes.”

“Oh…”

Haejin started to regret his decision. After all those tests, the most accurate appraisal method would be his magic, but he could use it only twice a day, even with his increased mana.

Even if he used magic on the paintings of the best quality, it would take at least two weeks.

“At first, I didn’t really care about my reward, but with all this, you really have to pay me well. I don’t know if you know this, but I take 1% of the appraised price as my fee. I just got six hundred thousand dollars just for appraising Anthony’s paintings.”

Actually, Haejin wanted to mention this. He was worrying that the prince would not be paying him after this huge workload.

Mat could feel Haejin’s anxiety. He laughed.

“This is about the reputation of the royal family, so he will reward you well. Of course, 1% of all these paintings would be too much, but you won’t be disappointed.”

Haejin was not planning to ask for 1% of the total price of all the paintings in that room. That was absurd.

“Good. I hope you are right. Then, I can start working without worries, right?”

“Of course.”

They finished their conversation and started to appraise. As Eric went far away alone to watch the paintings, Haejin went through the paintings alone.

“Oho… this is here?”

Haejin was so surprised that he talked to himself. It was Edouard Manet’s The Fifer.

The characteristic of this painting is that it is flat with a clear outline, so it didn’t get much attention when Manet brought it to the salon.

It was said to not be three dimensional and it had no background. If you think about it, time is necessary for all the artifacts to be truly appreciated.

Haejin watched it for a long time and moved again to resume his appraising.

One hour, two hours… at first, Haejin was delighted to get the chance to closely see precious paintings with a historical value but, as he had to discern fakes from real, he got tired.

He received a great lunch and dinner, he then kept appraising. He used magic on two of the paintings, but it was in vain.

He spent day after day fighting with the artifacts in the museums. After four days of appraising and using magic twice a day, he could finally stand in front of a historical painting.

“Did a member of the royal family buy this painting?”

The painting in front of it depicted Jesus. Its title was Salvator Mundi, Savior of the World.

“No, not our royal family. Prince bin Parhan al Saud, the aide of the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, bought this painting at 450 million dollars.”

450 million dollars… that would be more than enough to buy a company.

However, this painting was really worth 450 million dollars. It was from Leonardo da Vinci.

Salvator Mundi was sold at the highest price, it was even more expensive than Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger which was sold at 180 million dollars in New York’s Christie’s auction. Haejin didn’t expect it to be in the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The painting was drawn on a walnut wood plate. At first, it was not recognized as da Vinci’s painting.

It had suffered great damage and the paint over it was crude.

Getting rid of them and turning it back to itself again required a large amount of time and effort.

At the time, other Dutch artists also often painted about Salvator Mundi. Louis XII of France then asked da Vinci to paint it.

However, as da Vinci’s apprentices and other artists imitated his style, many imitations of this painting were made. Then, the record about the real painting disappeared.

Later, it appeared again in the list of Charles I of England’s collection. It went from person to person and disappeared again for more than a century.

When Frederick Cook, a collector in England, bought this painting in 1912, he didn’t think it was da Vinci’s painting.

Unfortunately, it was sold at 45 pounds on an auction after he died. It was later recognized as da Vinci’s painting only in 2011.

Frederick Cook must be crying in his afterlife because of regret.

“That’s a huge sum of money.”

“However, it is worth it. What do you think? Isn’t it magnificent?”

Mat was in a daze now, absorbed in the painting’s beauty. As he said, it was magnificent. However, it was also somehow awkward.

It was not overwhelming enough to be worth 450 million dollars. It was great, but… there was something that puzzled Haejin.

“Have you checked the production year of this wood plate?”

“Of course. It was made in the early 16 th century. Although we couldn’t check all the paints, we took a small sample of black from the background to check that the paint was also from that period.”

“Hmm… I see.”

“What is it? Is there something wrong?”

Mat Vellin’s face hardened in an instant. He was getting nervous because of Haejin’s strange reaction.

He was nervous because if there was something wrong with this Salvator Mundi, the price of the painting wasn’t the problem. A dispute could occur between the royal families of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Emirates.

“I need a magnifying glass…”

“Oh, please wait for a moment.”

Haejin asked for magnifying glass that he didn’t even need to make Mat go away. Once he was gone, Haejin looked around and used magic with his saliva.

“Huh…”

The birth of the painting he saw through magic made him moan. That painting was less than three years old…

“Here…”

Mat came back and gave Haejin the magnifying glass he brought. Haejin took it, pretended to examine it, and returned it.

“How is it?”

Mat had a bad feeling because of Haejin’s grave expression. His face was also serious, and his fists were clenched.

“I don’t think this is real.”

“For what reasons?”

Mat’s voice shook very slightly. He was doing his best to stay calm, but it wasn’t easy.

“As you must know, da Vinci was great at describing transparent spheres. However, this painting’s crystal sphere is… what should I say? It is a little crude. Although da Vinci’s unique method of describing blue clothes with an extremely soft texture was used in this painting, if you look closer, there’s this little stain here.”

Haejin pointed at it with his finger. Mat stared at that point and tried to argue.

“That’s… because it was made in the early 16 th century…”

“I think this stain was made on purpose with olive oil.”

“Huh…”

A hollow smile. Mat couldn’t even guess how to solve this case.

“I do not believe what you said 100%, but I get there might be a problem. I will report it to the prince right away.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. If this is really fake, it won’t end with just me getting fired. Clearly, we will have to pay 450 million dollars to the royal family of Saudi Arabia.”

No matter how much the royal family of Arab Emirates spent, it wasn’t Haejin’s business, but the switching process he had seen through magic was not right. He couldn’t just let it go.

“Isn’t it strange? Making imitation with such a perfect texture and touch of the brush is almost impossible, even with photos.”

“Yes. That’s why I didn’t even imagine this might be fake.”

If Haejin hadn’t used magic, he wouldn’t have found out, either.

“I’m saying the artist saw the real painting.”

“What?”

Mat couldn’t understand that for a moment. Haejin asserted again.

“The artist had the real painting when he made this. Without that, this kind of quality cannot be produced. You know what I mean.”

Mat Vellin understood now. His jaw dropped in shock. Of course, he understood. It’s just he couldn’t think straight as the matter was too important.

“You’re saying the royal family of Saudi Arabia might be involved in this?”

“That, I do not know. However, what you must know is that this painting was concluded as Leonardo da Vinci’s only in 2011. So, before that, no one had a reason to make a fake of this quality.”

“Then, this fake was made 7 years ago at most.”

“Whether the royal family of Saudi Arabia had this fake made, I don’t know. However, what is clear is that this quality cannot be made with just photos. Salvator Mundi has never been exhibited in a museum. It only appeared in auctions. If the royal family of Saudi Arabia isn’t behind, then it is possible that this fake was drawn when the real painting’s previous owner still had it.”

Haejin was just saying that. When he saw the past through magic, the forger was painting inside a magnificent palace. With the real painting next to him.

“Hmm… there hasn’t been much dispute between Saudi Arabia and the Arab Emirates. We have been fine till now and we believe that will continue. Why would they do such a thing?”

“I don’t know about politics. I just gave you my most reasonable theory as an appraiser.”

“Although I also agree on that reasonable theory, I find it hard to accept.”

“Then, why don’t we solve this matter without offending Saudi Arabia?”

“How?”

“By finding the real piece.”

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