Artemisia Gentileschi: The woman behind the paintings - Allison Leigh

翻译人员: J Zhong 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

A woman enters an enemy army camp.

一名妇女进入了敌营。

When the watchmen stop her,

当守卫拦住她时，

she says she’s willing to tell her people’s secrets to the ranking general.

她说她愿意 将她人民的机密告诉上将。

But she isn’t actually a traitor.

但她并不是真正的叛徒。

On her fourth day under the general’s protection,

在将军保护下的第四天，

she waits for him to get drunk and beheads him,

她等他喝醉后将他斩首，

saving her people from his tyranny.

将她的人民 从他的暴政中拯救出来。

This is the biblical story of how the heroine Judith

这是关于女英雄 茱蒂丝（Judith）

slays the brutal Holofernes.

杀死残忍的霍洛弗尼 （Holofernes）的圣经故事。

It features in countless works of art, including the Sistine Chapel.

它出现在无数的艺术作品中， 包括西斯廷教堂壁画。

But the most iconic depiction of all was painted by an artist

但有一位艺术家在她仅仅 19 岁时 就完成了这一极具挑战性的场景，

who tackled this ambitious scene when she was just 19 years old.

造就了这个主题中 最具代表性的一幅绘画。

Her name was Artemisia Gentileschi,

她的名字叫 阿尔泰米西娅 · 真蒂莱斯基

（Artemisia Gentileschi），

though many scholars refer to her simply as Artemisia, like other Italian masters.

许多学者简称她为阿尔泰米西娅， 就像称呼其他意大利大师一样。

So who was Artemisia, and what sets her depiction apart from the rest?

那么阿尔泰米西娅是谁， 是什么让她的描绘与众不同？

Artemisia received her artistic training from her father Orazio Gentileschi.

阿尔泰米西娅从 父亲奥拉齐奥 · 真蒂莱斯基

（Orazio Gentileschi） 那里接受了艺术训练。

He tutored her in the dramatic new style of painting pioneered

他教给她由艺术家 卡拉瓦乔（Caravaggio）开创的

by the artist Caravaggio.

戏剧性绘画风格。

This style, called the Baroque, built upon earlier Renaissance traditions.

这种风格被称为巴洛克风格，

建立在早期 文艺复兴时期的传统之上。

While Renaissance artists had focused on imitating the classical Greeks,

文艺复兴时期的艺术家 专注于模仿古典希腊人，

depicting moments of calmness or poise amidst intensity,

描绘紧张气氛之中的平静一刻，

Baroque artists emphasized the climactic moment of a story with dynamic action.

而巴洛克艺术家则专注于 一个动态故事里的高潮时刻。

Baroque works also dial up the drama through composition

巴洛克作品还会使用 构图和极端的明暗对比

and extreme contrasts of light and dark, called chiaroscuro or tenebrism.

来表现戏剧性，这种手法被称为 明暗对照法或暗色调主义。

Taken together, the effect is a more direct emotional appeal to viewers.

总体来说，这种手法会给 观众带来更直接的情绪感染力。

Though Artemisia drew from Caravaggio’s style,

虽然阿尔泰米西娅 出师于卡拉瓦乔风格，

by many accounts,

但许多人认为，

her rendering outmatched the older master’s depiction of the same story.

同一个故事，她绘制的版本远比 前辈大师的要优秀。

Like Artemisia, Caravaggio focused on the moment of the beheading,

和阿尔泰米西娅一样， 卡拉瓦乔绘制的也是砍头的瞬间，

dramatically contrasting light and dark and emphasizing the gore.

使用了强烈的明暗对比， 强调了断裂的肢体。

But his painting lacks the visceral impact of Artemisia’s.

但他的画并未像阿尔泰米西娅的那样 给人带来真切的冲击力。

Where Caravaggio’s heroine keeps her distance from the bloody act,

在他的画中，女英雄在砍头时 与目标保持了一段距离。

Artemisia’s Judith pushed up her sleeves and wedged her knee on the bed

而阿尔泰米西娅的茱蒂丝 撸起了袖子，膝盖抵在床边，

to counter Holofernes’ resistance.

压制着霍洛弗尼的反抗。

Her body has a heft that makes the action believable,

她的身体体现出一种 让这动作看起来更逼真的重量感，

and the viscous streams of blood soaking the sheets are highly naturalistic.

浸湿床单的浓稠血流 则使画面看起来更加自然。

The blood spraying from the severed artery in Caravaggio’s

在卡拉瓦乔的画中， 从被切开的动脉里喷出血液的画面

looks stilted and artificial by comparison.

在对比之下显得 生硬而做作。

And yet this isn't even her most celebrated painting of the scene.

然而，这还不是她描绘这个场景 最著名的一幅画。

She finished this painting in 1613,

她在 1613 年完成了这幅画，

shortly after marrying and moving to Florence,

就在她结婚并搬去 佛罗伦萨的不久之后，

where she found professional success

她获得了事业上的成功，

following a very difficult period in her life.

接下来却迎来了 她人生中的一段艰难时期。

In 1611, a colleague of her father’s, Agostino Tassi,

1611 年，她父亲的一个同事 强奸了她，

nicknamed “lo Smargiasso,” or “the bully,” raped her.

这人叫阿戈斯蒂诺· 塔西 （Agostino Tassi），又名“恶霸”。

When Artemisia told her father,

阿尔泰米西娅把这件事 告诉她父亲的时候，

he filed charges for the crime of “forcible violation of a virgin”—

他指控强奸犯 “强暴处女” ——

a designation that meant Tassi had damaged Orazio’s property.

这项指控意味着塔西 破坏了奥拉齐奥的财产。

Rape laws centered almost entirely on young women's bodies

强奸法几乎完全 着重于将年轻女性的身体

as commodities owned by their fathers.

当做她们父辈拥有的财物。

Tassi’s trial lasted for seven months,

塔西的审判持续了七个月，

during which Artemisia was subjected to interrogation

在这期间，阿尔泰米西娅 遭受了审讯，

and torture with thumbscrews as she testified against him.

在指证塔西的过程中还 受到了拇指夹的折磨。

Tassi was ultimately found guilty,

塔西最终被判有罪，

but his powerful patrons managed to have his sentence revoked.

但他有钱有势的赞助人 想办法撤回了对他的判决。

Some scholars have suggested that Artemisia started the painting

一些学者认为 阿尔泰米西娅在审判的过程中

while the trial was still underway.

就开始了这幅画的创作。

Many have debated whether the rape influenced her work.

许多人就强奸一事 是否影响了她的创作而辩论不休。

Artemisia revisited the subject of Judith repeatedly.

阿尔泰米西娅不止一次地 就茱蒂丝题材进行创作。

One painting shows Judith and her maidservant

其中一幅画画的是 茱蒂丝和她的侍女

trying to leave the enemy encampment.

尝试逃脱敌营。

Here, Artemisia added a tiny ornament in Judith’s hair,

阿尔泰米西娅在茱蒂丝的头发上 添加了一个小小的装饰品，

possibly referencing David, the protector of Florence,

有可能参考了《大卫》， 即佛罗伦萨的守护者，

with a nod to Michelangelo.

是向米开朗基罗致敬。

On the sword’s hilt there’s a screaming Gorgon or Medusa—

剑柄上有一个尖叫的蛇发女妖， 或是美杜莎——

both female archetypes evoking rage and power

她们都是代表愤怒和力量的 女性原型，

which link the work to Caravaggio.

这与卡拉瓦乔的作品联系了起来。

Artemisia painted her most famous portrayal of Judith between 1618 and 1620.

阿尔泰米西娅 在 1618 至 1620 年间

完成了她最著名的茱蒂丝画像。

The composition is similar to that of her first painting from 1613,

这幅画的构图 与她 1613 年的作品相似，

but has meaningful details for those who look closely.

但如果仔细观察 就能发现许多有意思的细节。

The sword more directly resembles a crucifix,

斩首的剑的外形 更直接地象征了十字架，

heightening the sense that Judith's vengeance was a holy act ordained by God.

强调了茱蒂丝的复仇是 由上帝指引的神圣之举。

Artemisia also added a bracelet featuring the goddess of the hunt—

阿尔泰米西娅还添加了一个 象征着狩猎女神的手链——

her namesake, Artemis.

即与她同名的 阿尔忒弥斯（Artemis）。

This signature is one of the many ways her art holds true to a sentiment

添加这种标志是她 保持风格的方式之一，

that she expressed near the end of her life:

她在晚年描述她的想法时说：

“The works will speak for themselves.”

“作品本身便会发声。”