英語視頻暢談歐美人文風情56：大衛(wèi)畫作《馬拉之死》

　　Welcome to Art History in a Hurry. I'm your host, Monica Hon.

　　歡迎收看《速解藝術(shù)史》。我是你們的主持人，Monica Hon。

　　On July 13, 1793, Jean-Paul Marat—a radical journalist and political leader of the French Revolution—was working in his makeshift office.

　　在1793年七月十三日，馬拉--一名激進的記者兼法國大革命的政治領袖--在他的臨時辦公室里上班。

　　He had an unfortunate skin disease he'd contracted while hiding from the Royal Police in the Paris sewers before the revolution. This disease required constant soaking in the bathtub to alleviate the uncomfortable symptoms. He worked there with a board and sheets over the tub for a semblance of privacy, and a rough wooden packing box he used as a desk.

　　他患有不幸的皮膚病，那是他在革命前潛進巴黎下水道躲避皇家警察時染上的。此病需要持續(xù)浸泡在浴缸里來紓緩不適的癥狀。他在那兒工作，用一塊板子和床單蓋過浴缸作為一種表面上的隱私，還有一個他用來當做書桌的粗糙木箱。

　　On this day, an enemy of the revolution—Charlotte Corday—gained entrance to his office with a false letter of introduction. She plunged the knife into his chest, and Marat bled to death.

　　在這一天，一名革命的敵人--夏綠蒂科黛--帶著一封偽造的介紹信成功進入他的辦公室。她把刀插進他的胸口，馬拉流血至死。

　　Jacques-Louis David—a prominent artist and a friend of Marat—was called in immediately to draw the corpse while it's still in the tub. He later made this painting from his drawings.

　　賈克路易大衛(wèi)--一名杰出的藝術(shù)家及馬拉的朋友--隨即被叫去趁它還在浴缸里時畫下尸體。他之后從他的素描作出這幅畫。

　　David shows us the slain revolutionary bathed in light, already dead, but still holding Corday's letter. The bloody knife lies on the floor, but Marat still grasps his own powerful weapon in his right hand.

　　大衛(wèi)向我們展示這個遭殺害的革命份子沐浴在光線之下，已經(jīng)死亡、但仍然握著柯黛的信。那把血淋淋的刀躺在地板上，但馬拉仍在他的右手握著他自己強大的武器。

　　Despite the graphic depiction of the dead body, the bloody water, and the bloodstained sheets, the painting conveys a contrast in mood of calm with emphasis on horizontal lines and its cool, greenish pallor. More than half the painting is given over to the cold, dark space above the figure, giving the painting a further chilling and claustrophobic feeling.

　　不論那尸體、血水、以及染上血漬床單的逼真描繪，這幅畫利用強調(diào)水平線條及其冷調(diào)、發(fā)綠的慘白，傳達一種冷靜情緒的對比。這幅畫超過一半交付給人物上方的寒冷、黑暗的空間，給了這幅畫一個更加寒心及導致幽閉恐懼癥的感覺。

　　At the same time, the painting has an iconic quality. The figure of Marat reminds the viewer of earlier depictions of the dead Christ such as Michelangelo's Pieta, which David would have known from his visit to Rome.

　　同時，這幅畫有種肖像的特質(zhì)。馬拉的人像使觀眾回想起較早期死去耶穌的繪畫，像是米開朗基羅的《圣殤》， 這也許是大衛(wèi)從他的羅馬之旅中認識的。

　　In fact, Marat's wooden box, a bloody towel, and the bathtub itself were venerated by those sympathetic with a revolutionary cause, as though they were holy relics.

　　事實上，馬拉的木箱、一條血淋淋的毛巾、以及浴缸本身都因為一種革命的動機被那些支持者所崇敬，好似它們是圣跡。

　　David executed this painting with linear crisp brushwork that characterizes the late 18th and early 19th century Neoclassical style. Everywhere at the end of 18th century, the styles of ancient Rome were becoming popular. Several important books had recently been published on ancient art, and it was at this time that the Roman cities—Pompeii and Herculaneum—were being excavated. A Roman craze followed before long in art and in popular culture.

　　大衛(wèi)利用描繪出18世紀晚期與19世紀早期的新古典主義的線性硬筆畫法來做出這幅畫。18世紀時的各個地方，古羅馬的風格變得流行。好幾本關(guān)于古藝術(shù)的重要書籍都在最近發(fā)行，也是在這時，羅馬古城--龐貝和赫庫蘭尼姆--被挖掘出來。一陣藝術(shù)和流行文化的羅馬風潮不久后跟著出現(xiàn)。

　　David was influenced by all these, as well as by the art and architecture he saw himself while he studied in Rome. But the style of ancient art was important to David not only for its current popularity. He painted in the style of Roman art also to emphasize his political affiliation with the French Revolution.

　　大衛(wèi)受所有這些、還有他在羅馬求學時自己所見到的藝術(shù)及建筑所影響。但古藝術(shù)的風格對大衛(wèi)來說很重要，不僅是因為其當時的流行程度。他以羅馬藝術(shù)風格作畫同樣也強調(diào)了他在法國大革命的政治立場。

　　Through the sculptural quality of the figure and the linear approach in his work—a style similar to ancient Roman sculpture—David evoked the very political ideals of the Roman Republic that the revolutionaries advocated.

　　透過那人物雕刻般的特質(zhì)以及他作品中的線條手法--一種與古羅馬雕像相似的風格--大衛(wèi)喚起了革命份子所鼓吹的真正羅馬共和的政治理念。

　　Thanks for joining me. This has been Art History in a Hurry. See you next time.

　　感謝收看。這是《速解藝術(shù)史》。我們下次見。