Why is this painting so captivating? - James Earle and Christina Bozsik

翻译人员: Qi Wang 校对人员: Zhuo Wang

On first glance, this painting might not seem terribly special,

初看上去，这幅油画并没什么特别之处

but it's actually one of the most analyzed paintings in the history of art.

但它却是艺术史上最令人费解的油画之一

这幅画叫做《宫女》，又名《美尼娜》

It's called "Las Meninas," or "The Maids of Honor,"

作者迭戈·委拉斯开兹，创作于1656年

painted by Diego Velázquez in 1656,

它描绘了西班牙皇室的生活情景

and it depicts a scene in the life of the Spanish Royal Court.

A well-dressed child princess refuses a glass of water from a handmaid,

一个穿着华丽的小公主

拒绝了仆人递来的一杯水

同时一个矮人在旁边逗狗

while a dwarf teases a dog.

A second dwarf stands next to them,

另一个矮人站在旁边

while the artist himself pauses at his canvas.

画家自己也在画布上

Two more people whisper in the background,

还有两个人在后面说悄悄话

while a third appears to be exiting the room,

第三个人似乎要走出房间

and why wouldn't he when there seems to be so little going on?

--他何必留在屋里呢 屋里没什么事情

甚至狗也无精打采的

Even the dog looks bored.

仔细看的话

But look more closely.

The two people reflected in the blurry mirror at the back,

就会在后面的镜里看到两个模糊的人影

easily missed at first glance,

一开始很难注意到他们

are none other than King Philip IV and Queen Mariana,

他们就是国王菲利普四世和玛丽雅娜皇后

seemingly changing the scene from a simple depiction of court life

二人似乎将场景从对皇室生活的简单描绘

to that of a royal portrait.

变为了为皇室画肖像

And with this piece of information,

有了这条线索

we can begin to understand far more about the painting

我们就能更理解此画

and why it has captivated viewers for centuries.

从而明白几个世纪以来它何以如此吸引人

First, there's the historical context.

首先是这幅画的历史背景

《宫女》创作于菲利普统治的末期

When "Las Meninas" was painted at the end of Philip's reign,

the Spanish Empire was in a period of decline,

西班牙皇室日趋衰落

having suffered defeat in The Thirty Years War,

遭遇了 “三十年战争” 失败之后

as well as economic and political difficulties.

经济和政治都受到打击

国王自己也遭遇了厄运

The King himself had also suffered misfortune,

losing both his first wife and his only heir to the throne before remarrying.

再婚前 他同时失去了

他的第一任妻子和王位唯一继承人

But the painting obscures their struggle to provide food for their household.

但画里掩盖了他们家庭的拮据

Even the monarch's advanced age is concealed

即使是君主的老态

也通过模糊的镜子掩盖了

through the blurring of the mirror.

What we do see in the geometric center of the canvas,

我们真正从画布的几何中心看到的

是透过窗户的耀眼光线照亮的

brightly illuminated by the light from the window,

in the Infanta Margarita Teresa,

玛格丽塔特蕾莎公主

the King's only living legitimate child at the time.

她是国王唯一在世的继承人

Her glowing and healthy appearance

她耀眼和健康的外表

is an idealized view of the struggling empire's future.

是对这个挣扎中帝国的前途的理想化描述

However, the Infanta is not the only center of the painting.

然而，公主并不是这幅画的唯一中心

通过巧妙的使用透视技巧

Through the clever use of perspective,

as well as painting the work life-sized, on a 10.5 x 9 foot canvas,

将油画画在和真实场景一样大小的10.5 x 9英尺的画作上

Velázquez blurs the boundary between art and reality,

委拉斯开兹模糊了现实与艺术的界限

creating the sense of a three-dimensional picture that we can walk into.

创造出让观众如临其境的三维立体感

The line between the ceiling and the wall converges to the open door,

天花板和墙壁之间的线条汇集到那扇开着的门

further creating the perception of the painting as a physical space

加强了油画带给观众的

立体真实感

seen from the viewer's perspective.

从这一点来说 画中三位人物面向观众

In this sense, the audience and the real world are the focus,

underlined by the three figures looking straight at the viewer.

进一步佐证了观众和真实世界才是真正的焦点

But there is still another focal point.

但是，画中还有另外一个焦点

顶灯形成的线条汇集于后墙正中的镜子上

The line formed by the light fixtures leads to the center of the back wall

to the mirror reflecting the royal couple.

镜中的皇室夫妇

And its positioning relative to the viewer

和镜子相对于观众的位置

has led to radically different interpretations of the entire work.

可以使读者对整幅画的解读产生分歧

The mirror could be reflecting the King and Queen posing for their portrait,

画中的镜子反射出的是国王和皇后正在为肖像画摆姿势

or is it reflecting the canvas?

还是画布中的皇室夫妇肖像

And what do we make of the fact

而委拉斯开兹从未给皇室画过肖像画的事实

that Velázquez never painted the royal portrait implied here?

又在暗示我们什么呢

Could the painting actually be depicting its own creation instead?

这幅油画会不会是画家自己臆想的创作呢

With the incorporation of the mirror into his work,

将镜子加入到他的画作中

Velázquez elevated the art of painting

委拉斯开兹将人们对油画艺术的认知

from its perception as a simple craft

从简单工艺品提升到

to an intellectual endeavor.

智力成果的高度

With its three competing center points,

画中的三个中心点

"Las Meninas" captures the contrast between the ideal,

《宫女》捕捉到了理想

现实

the real,

and the reflected worlds,

和反射中世界的对比

maintaining an unresolved tension between them to tell a more complex story

这三者之间无法调和的冲突凝聚于此

描述了一个任何镜面都无法表述的复杂故事

than any mirror can provide.