Distorting Madonna in Medieval art - James Earle

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

Ever see a medieval painting of baby Jesus

Da li ste ikada videli sliku bebe Isusa iz srednjeg veka

sitting or standing on his mother's lap

kako sedi ili stoji na majčinom krilu

and wonder why she's so large?

i zapitali se zašto je ona tako velika?

Paintings like Cimabue's enthroned Madonna with angels

Slike poput Čimabueve Madone na tronu sa anđelima

or Duccio's Maesta

ili Dučove Maeste

also appear out of proportion.

takođe deluju neproporcionalno.

If Mary were to stand up, it seems,

Kada bi Marija ustala, čini se,

the angels in the picture would be as tall as her shin bone,

anđeli na slici bili bi visoki kao njena cevanica,

and her torso would be disproportionately small

a njen torzo bi bio nesrazmerno mali

when compared to her legs.

u poređenju sa njenim nogama.

Možda ste pomislili da umetnik nije bio dovoljno vešt da slika realistično

Maybe you thought the artist simply wasn't skilled enough

to paint realistically

or lacked the mathematical skill of perspective.

ili mu je nedostajalo matematičko poznavanje perspektive.

But that's not the full story.

To understand why, we need to go back

Međutim, to nije cela priča.

Da bismo razumeli zašto, moramo se vratiti u pozni peti vek

to the late fifth century

when the city of Rome was attacked by the Goths.

kada su grad Rim napali Goti.

Rome was built in marble and meant to last forever.

Rim je izgrađen u mermeru i trebalo je da traje večno.

It represented, for many years,

Godinama je predstavljao

the pinnacle of human civilization,

vrhunac ljudske civilizacije,

so its destruction left a huge void.

stoga je njegovo uništenje ostavilo ogromnu prazninu.

Theologians, who preached about a world beyond the physical,

Teolozi, koji su propovedali o svetu izvan fizičkog,

began attracting an audience as Rome crumbled,

počeli su da privlače publiku dok se Rim rušio,

and Christianity started to fill the void left by the Empire.

a hrišćanstvo je počelo da ispunjava prazninu koje je ostavilo carstvo.

As a replacement for the physical beauty of Rome,

Kao zamenu za fizičku lepotu Rima,

Christianity offered a metaphysical beauty of virtue

hrišćanstvo je ponudilo metafizičku lepotu vrline

and an eternal heaven

i večni raj

that could not be destroyed as Rome had.

koji se ne može uništiti kao Rim.

After the fall of Rome,

Nakon pada Rima,

early medieval theologians turned away from physical beauty,

teolozi ranog srednjeg veka udaljili su se od fizičke lepote,

rejecting it in favor of inner-beauty.

odbacujući je zarad unutrašnje lepote.

They maintained that while the physical world was temporary,

Tvrdili su da, dok je fizički svet privremen,

virtue and religion were permanent.

vrlina i vera su večne.

Lepi predmeti mogu dovesti do pogrešnog obožavanja objekta

Beautiful objects could lead to a misguided worship of the object

rather than the worship of goodness.

umesto odavanja počasti Bogu.

Tvrdi se da se početkom šestog veka propovednik Sveti Benedikt,

It is said that the early sixth century preacher, St. Benedict,

upon thinking of a beautiful woman,

nakon što je mislio na lepu ženu,

threw himself into a thorn patch,

bacio u trnoviti žbun

and through his suffering,

i kroz svoju patnju

regained his focus on spiritual beauty.

povratio fokus na duhovnu lepotu.

He feared his desire for the beautiful woman

Bojao se da će mu želja za lepom ženom

would distract him from his desire to love God.

odvući pažnju sa želje da voli Boga.

As European civilization transitioned away from empires

Kako je evropska civilizacija izvršila prelaz od carevina

and towards religion,

prema religiji,

monasteries became the gatekeepers of knowledge,

manastiri su postali čuvari znanja,

which meant that classical books

što je značilo da klasične knjige

that praised physical pleasures

koje su veličale fizička zadovoljstva

were not copied or protected.

nisu bile prepisivane niti zaštićene.

Without protection, they became the victims of natural decay,

Bez zaštite, postale su žrtve prirodnog propadanja,

fire,

požara, poplava ili štetočina,

flooding,

or pests.

And without the help of monks transcribing new copies,

a bez pomoći monaha u prepisivanju novih primeraka,

these texts and the philosophies they carried

ti tekstovi i filozofije koje su prenosili

disappeared in Western Europe

nestali su u zapadnoj Evropi

and were replaced by the works of people like St. Benedict,

i zamenila su ih dela ljudi poput Svetog Benedikta,

which brings us back to these depictions of Jesus and Mary.

što nas vraća na ove prikaze Isusa i Marije.

Because Christianity had so fervently rejected physical beauty,

Budući da je hrišćanstvo tako revnosno odbacivalo fizičku lepotu,

these medieval artists purposefully avoided

ovi srednjovekovni umetnici su sa namerom izbegavali

aesthetically pleasing forms.

estetski prijatne forme.

At first, decorations for churches or palaces

U početku, ukrasi za crkve ili dvorove

were limited to interesting geometric patterns,

bili su ograničeni na zanimljive geometrijske oblike,

which could be pleasing

što može biti prijatno

without inspiring sinful thoughts of physical pleasure.

bez podsticanja grešnih misli o fizičkom zadovoljstvu.

Sa napredovanjem srednjovekovnog perioda,

As the medieval period progressed,

depictions of Jesus and Mary were tolerated,

prikazi Isusa i Marije su tolerisani,

but the artist clearly made an effort to veil Mary

ali se umetnik jasno potrudio da Mariju pokrije velom

and give her disproportionately large legs,

i dao joj je nesrazmerno velike noge

with those enormous shin bones.

sa tim ogromnim cevanicama.

The fear remained that a beautiful illustration of Mary

Ostao je strah da bi lep Marijin crtež

might inspire the viewer to love the painting

mogao podstaći posmatrača da voli sliku

or the physical form of Mary,

ili Marijin fizički oblik,

rather than the virtue she's meant to represent.

umesto vrline koju ona treba da predstavlja.

So even though it may be fun to think we can paint

Dakle, iako može biti zabavno misliti da možemo da slikamo

more realistically than Cimabuey or Duccio,

realističnije od Čimabuea ili Duča,

we need to remember that they had different goals

moramo se prisetiti da su oni imali drugačije ciljeve

when picking up a paintbrush.

kada bi uzeli četkicu za slikanje.