Masterpiece in French woman's kitchen

难词探意

1. icon /'aɪkɒn/ n. 圣像

2. attribute /ə'trɪbjuːt/ v. 认为是……所为（或说、写、作）

3. diptych /'dɪptɪk/ n. 对折画

4. panel /'pænl/ n. 嵌板

5. ripple /'rɪpl/ n. 涟漪

6. incorporate /ɪn'kɔːpəreɪt/ v. 包含；吸收

An old painting found in the kitchen of an elderly French woman, who considered it aniconof little importance, has made her a multimillionaire. The work, a masterpieceattributedto the 13th century Italian painter Cimabue that was discovered earlier this year, sold for 26.6 million. Dominique Le Coent of Acteon Auction House, who sold the masterpiece to an anonymous buyer near Chantilly, north of Paris,said the sale represented a “world record for a primitive work”. “It's a painting that was unique, splendid and monumental. Cimabue was the father of the Renaissance. But this sale goes beyond all our dreams,” Le Coent said.

An auctioneer spotted the painting whileinspecting a woman's house in northern France and suggested that she bring it to experts for an evaluation. It hung on a wall between the kitchen and dining room. The woman will now receive “the majority” of the sale money, the auction house said. The expected sale price had been 4.4 million to 6.6 million.

Le Coent said experts were off the mark because it was the first time Cimabue's painting had ever gone under the hammer. “There's never been Cimabue's painting on sale so there was no reference previously on how much it could make,” he explained. Titled “Christ Mocked”,the painting measures about 24 by 20 centimeters. Art experts say it is likely part of a largerdiptychthat Cimabue painted around 1280, of which two otherpanelsare displayed at the Frick Collection in New York and the National Gallery in London. The painting's discovery has sentripplesof excitement through the art world.

Cimabue, who taught Italian master Giotto,is widely considered the forefather of the Italian Renaissance. He broke from the Byzantine style popular in the Middle Ages and began toincorporateelements of movement and perspective that came to characterize Western painting.

Specialists at the Turquin gallery in Paris initially examined the painting and concluded with “certitude” that it bore the hallmarks of Cimabue. Stephane Pinta, an art specialist with the Turquin, pointed to likenesses in facial expressions and buildings, as well as the painter's techniques for conveying light and distance.

Reading

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1. Who created the old painting?

A. Cimabue.

B. Le Coent.

C. Stephane Pinta.

D. An elderly French woman.

2. What can we know about the old painting?

A. It can date back to the 15th century.

B. It sold for 6.6 million finally.

C. It measures about 24 by 20 centimeters.

D. It is in the possession of an elderly woman now.

3. What's the last paragraph mainly about?

A. Galleries in Paris.

B. Opinions of specialists.

C. Techniques of painting.

D. Facial expressions of painters.

Language

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Sentence for writing

An auctioneer spotted the painting while inspecting a woman's house in northern France and suggested that she bring it to experts for an evaluation. 一位拍卖商在检查一名法国妇人的房子时发现了这幅画，并建议她拿去给专家鉴定。

【信息提取】suggest (that) sb (should) do sth意为“建议某人做某事”。

【句式仿写】我建议你给商店打电话。