A so-called early version of the Mona Lisa has gone on public display for the first time in 400 years - as experts revealed they have established a link between it and one of England's finest country homes.
人們稱之為《蒙娜麗莎》年輕版本的畫作在四百年前首次公開展覽之后就消失了,專家透露這幅畫和英國一戶有名的鄉(xiāng)村住所有所關(guān)聯(lián)。
A group of historians claim Leonardo da Vinci painted the work, dubbed the 'Early Mona Lisa', more than a decade before his masterpiece portrait and depicted the same Italian merchant's wife.
一個歷史家團隊認為列奧納多·達·芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)所畫的取名為《年輕的蒙娜麗莎》(Early Mona Lisa)的創(chuàng)作時間先于著名肖像畫《蒙娜麗莎》超過十年,但描繪的是同一位女士,她是一位意大利商人的妻子。
It was unearthed before the First World War but lay hidden in a Swiss bank vault for 40 years, while a consortium carried out secret tests before unveiling it in 2012 - though many experts still insist it was one of a litany of inferior copies.
這幅畫在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)之前出土,此后藏在瑞士銀行的金庫40年。在這幅畫在2012年公之于眾前一個財團對其進行多項秘密檢測,用科學(xué)方式證明其真?zhèn)?,但很多專家仍舊堅信它是眾多仿冒品之一。
Today, as the painting's first public exhibition was unveiled in Singapore, the Swiss-based Mona Lisa Foundation claimed it has discovered new details about the painting's past which strengthen the view it is by Da Vinci.
現(xiàn)在這幅畫在新加坡第一次正式亮相??偛课挥谌鹗康拿赡塞惿饡硎?,有很多歷史細節(jié)的發(fā)現(xiàn)可以證明這是出自于達·芬奇之手。
It was already known that it was bought from a Somerset aristocrat in 1913 by English art dealer Hugh Blaker, who kept it in his studio in Isleworth, south west London, before selling it to American Henry Pulitzer in the 1960s. Before that, however, the painting's journey was a murky one.
人們已知的就是1913年一位英國販畫商人休·布萊克(Hugh Blaker)從一位薩摩賽特郡(Somerset)的貴族手中買到了它,將其放在他位于倫敦西南部的艾爾沃思(Isleworth)的畫室里,在20世紀60年代又將其賣給美國人亨利·普利策(Henry Pulitzer),但在這段歷史之前這幅畫的流通便不為人知。
Now the Foundation claims it has identified strong evidence that the Somerset home where the painting was bought in 1913 could be Montacute House - one of England's finest Elizabethan mansions now run by the National Trust.
目前,蒙娜麗莎基金會表示有確鑿的證據(jù)表明1913年布萊克在薩摩賽特購買畫作的具體位置是現(xiàn)在的蒙塔庫故居(Montacute House),這是其中一間全英國最好的伊麗莎白一世時期的宅邸,現(xiàn)在由英國國民信托組織管理(the National Trust)。
The claim, seen by the Reuters news agency, would fit if true. The Phelips family which owned Montacute fell on hard times and secretly sold their possessions just before the First World War, leaving the manor in 1911.
路透社認為這個推斷是有歷史根據(jù)的:蒙塔庫宅邸當時的主人菲利普斯一家(the Phelips)陷入困境,在第一次世界大戰(zhàn)之前秘密地變賣了他們的財產(chǎn),在1911年離開了這個莊園。
In 1915 the house was taken over by future Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon, and it was later put up for sale in 1929. By 1931 it was so dilapidated that it was being valued ‘for scrap’ at £5,882.
1915年,這一間房子轉(zhuǎn)交給了洛德·柯曾(Lord Curzon),即后來的外交大臣。1929年柯曾又將這間房子出售,兩年后才以5882英鎊的低廉價格將這戶破舊不堪的房子“賤賣”掉。
Diaries kept by Blaker - who tried several times unsuccessfully to have the painting authenticated - were lost, but the researchers say the brief references which remain to the house indicate it was Montacute.
布萊克保管了一些試圖證明這幅畫是真跡的日記,這些日記已經(jīng)遺失,但研究人員在蒙塔庫官邸里保留下來的一些簡短的相關(guān)信息顯示當時買畫的地方就是這里。
Now that the house has been restored, it was used as a filming location for the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant, and its Long Gallery houses more than 60 Tudor and Elizabethan portraits on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in London.
現(xiàn)在這間房子已經(jīng)重新整修,成為由埃瑪·湯普森(Emma Thompson)和休·格朗(Hugh Grant)領(lǐng)銜主演的1995年版《理智與情感》(Sense and Sensibility)的拍攝地點,屋子里長長的走廊掛著向英國國家肖像畫廊(National Portrait Gallery)借的六十多幅都鐸王朝時代和伊麗莎白一世時代的肖像畫。
The Mona Lisa researchers also say they have traced the portrait's history before its possible arrival at Montacute.
研究《蒙娜麗莎》的學(xué)者也表示他們已經(jīng)追蹤到這幅畫在可能到達蒙塔庫之前的歷史。
In a communication passed to Reuters, they said they had found references to a painting called La Joconde - the French name for the Mona Lisa - in an art exhibition in Yeovil, Somerset, in 1856.
他們告訴路透社記者,已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)與此相關(guān)的一幅叫La Joconde的畫,這是為蒙娜麗莎命名的法語名,這幅畫在1856年薩蒙賽特的約維爾(Yeovil)一次藝術(shù)展覽中展出。
The painting, which was sold to a silver dealer two years later, also featured in a document declaring that young Somerset noble James Marwood owned a work by Da Vinci called La Joconde, which he probably bought on a visit to Italy around the 1780s.
這幅兩年后賣給一位銀幣商人的畫同樣在一部文件中有所記載,該文件提到薩蒙賽特的年輕貴族詹姆斯·馬伍德(James Marwood)擁有一幅達·芬奇名為La Joconde的畫,他可能是在18世紀80年代左右前往意大利購買的。
Geneva-based auctioneer David Feldman, the Foundation's vice president, said: 'We feel these latest discoveries and new scientific analysis just carried out leave little doubt that it is Da Vinci's work.
瑞士日內(nèi)瓦拍賣商大衛(wèi)·費爾德曼(David Feldman)是蒙娜麗莎基金會的副主席。他說:“我們認為這些最新的發(fā)現(xiàn)和最新的科學(xué)分析幾乎可以斷定這就是達·芬奇的作品。
'The vast majority of experts now either agree with us or accept that there is a strong case for our thesis'.
“目前絕大多數(shù)的科學(xué)家如果不是認同我們的觀點,就是認同這是支撐我們研究論題的有力依據(jù)。”
The painting is claimed to show a younger Lisa del Giacondo, the Florentine merchant's wife who is the subject of the slightly smaller Mona Lisa painting which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.
這幅畫據(jù)推測畫的應(yīng)該是佛羅倫薩一位商人的妻子,名叫麗莎·戴爾·喬孔達(Lisa del Giacondo),與現(xiàn)在懸掛于巴黎盧浮宮的蒙娜麗莎畫像是同一個人,但是比其更苗條更小巧。
The Mona Lisa Foundation says it was probably left unfinished by Da Vinci in 1505, before being completed and handed to Lisa's husband the following year.
蒙娜麗莎基金會認為這可能是達芬奇在1505年的時候沒完成的作品,第二年就交給了麗莎的丈夫。
That would make it more than a decade older than the better-known Mona Lisa, which was unveiled in 1517 before passing into the hands of the French royal family and, later, international legend.
這比更廣受人知的《蒙娜麗莎》畫像的創(chuàng)作早了至少十年。在交到法國皇家手里以及成為世界名作之前,《蒙娜麗莎》在1517年便公之于眾。
The alleged earlier painting has been subject to X-rays and ultraviolet light scans to establish its age, and has been compared to Da Vinci's techniques - including his use of geometry in his famous Vitruvian Man sketch of 1490.
這副存在爭議的畫像經(jīng)過了x光掃描以及紫外線掃描后確定了其創(chuàng)作時間,再加以對比達·芬奇的技藝,包括他在1490年速寫的著名畫作《維特魯威人》(Vitruvian Man)的幾何學(xué)應(yīng)用。
They say it lacked a specific glazing technique which Da Vinci developed in 1508, and which was used in most of his paintings after that date.
他們認為這幅畫缺少了達·芬奇在1508年改良的特殊上釉技藝,而這項技藝在此之后的絕大多數(shù)畫作中都能看到。
It has earned the seal of approval, at least partially, from modern experts including Renaissance historian Giorgio Vasari, art historian John Eyre, research physicist Professor John Asmus and Professor Alessandro Vezzosi, one of the most influential living experts on Da Vinci.
但它已經(jīng)得到了至少一部分人的認可?,F(xiàn)代專家包括文藝復(fù)興時期的歷史學(xué)家喬治·瓦沙里(Giorgio Vasari),藝術(shù)歷史學(xué)家約翰·艾爾(John Eyre),研究型物理學(xué)家約翰·阿斯米(John Asmus)教授和亞歷山德羅·韋佐西(Alessandro Vezzosi)教授,韋佐西教授是目前還在世的研究達·芬奇最有影響力的專家。
Not everyone is convinced the painting is a real work by the Italian master. There were several contemporary copies of the Mona Lisa, and historians have often suggested the so-called early version is just another one.
但不是所有人都相信這幅畫是這位意大利大師的真跡,因為與其同時代的蒙娜麗莎的仿造品就有幾副,所以有些歷史學(xué)家多次提出這所謂的早期版本可能僅僅是出自另外一位畫家之手。
And although the Swiss-based Mona Lisa Foundation is described as being not for profit, its entire aim is to study the painting - which is now owned by an anonymous 'consortium', so it is difficult to establish who would benefit financially if it was declared a genuine Da Vinci.
即使瑞士的蒙娜麗莎基金會聲稱自己是非營利性組織,只致力于研究這幅畫作,但這幅畫現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)歸入一個匿名的財團所有。如果這幅畫被斷定是達芬奇的真跡,很難說是否有人會因此而大賺一筆。
One of the leading doubters of the painting's authenticity in 2012 was Oxford University art history professor Martin Kemp, who was instrumental in identifying a major work by Leonardo Da Vinci in 2010.
在2012年的其中一位對這幅畫的主要質(zhì)疑者是來自牛津大學(xué)的藝術(shù)歷史教授馬丁·肯普(Martin Kemp),他在2010年協(xié)助了達·芬奇畫作的分析工作。
Although he had not personally seen the painting - also known as the Isleworth Mona Lisa after Blaker's studio - he said two years ago: 'The Isleworth Mona Lisa mistranslates subtle details of the original, including the sitter's veil, her hair, the translucent layer of her dress, the structure of the hands.
即使他沒有親眼見到這幅年輕版本的作品,但對布萊克畫室的艾爾沃思版《蒙娜麗莎》有所聽聞。他在2012年說過:“艾爾沃思版的《蒙娜麗莎》誤解了原作中一些微妙的細節(jié),包括女士的面紗,頭發(fā),一層半透明的衣服,以及手的擺姿。
'The landscape is devoid of atmospheric subtlety. The head, like all other copies, does not capture the profound elusiveness of the original.'
“畫作的環(huán)境部分缺乏精致,而頭部像其他仿冒品一樣沒有原畫渾然天成的特性。”
He also said the Isleworth version was painted on canvas, and Da Vinci's preferred choice was wood.
他還認為艾爾沃思版本的《蒙娜麗莎》是在帆布上創(chuàng)作的,而達·芬奇偏好在木板上作畫。