Why is Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" considered a masterpiece? - James Earle

譯者: Songzhe Gao 審譯者: 瑞文Eleven 林Lim

Is she turning towards you or away from you?

她是轉向你？還是遠離你?

No one can agree.

沒有人確定

She's the mysterious subject of Dutch master Johannes Vermeer's

荷蘭畫家約翰尼斯·維梅爾 ( Johannes Vermeer) 的神秘畫作

"Girl with the Pearl Earring,"

《戴珍珠耳環的少女》

a painting often referred to as the 'Mona Lisa of the North.'

經常被譽為「北方的蒙娜麗莎」

這種理想化、有時表情 過於誇張的荷蘭風格

Belonging to a Dutch style of idealized, sometimes overly expressive paintings

稱為頭像畫 (tronies)

known as tronies,

the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" has the allure

此作品展露維梅爾作品的

獨特魅力和角色的微妙個性

and subtlety characteristic of Vermeer's work.

But this painting stands apart from the quiet narrative scenes

但這跟維梅爾經常畫的 遠方敘事型態不太一樣

that we observe from afar in many of Vermeer's paintings.

例如《窗邊讀信的少女》

A girl reading a letter.

A piano lesson.

《音樂課》

A portrait artist at work.

《油畫藝術》

These paintings give us a sense of intimacy while retaining their distance,

畫中保持的微妙距離感 讓我們身歷其境

垂下的窗簾強化了距離感

a drawn curtain often emphasizes the separation.

We can witness a milkmaid serenely pouring a bowl of milk,

我們看著侍女徐徐倒出牛奶

但是牛奶不是刻意倒給我們的

but that milk isn't for us.

我們只是旁觀者

We're only onlookers.

維梅爾的畫作結構呈現一種和諧感

The studied composition in Vermeer's paintings

invokes a balanced harmony.

With the checkered floor in many of his works,

他的許多作品都有方格地板

Vermeer demonstrates his command of perspective and foreshortening.

維梅爾藉此展現透視法及前縮透視法

That's a technique that uses distortion

利用距離失真 使我們產生遠距離的錯覺

to give the illusion of an object receding into the distance.

Other elements, like sight lines, mirrors, and light sources

其他元素如視線、鏡子和光源

describe the moment through space and position.

描述了當下的空間和位置

The woman reading a letter by an open window

一位女士在打開的窗前讀信

is precisely placed so the window can reflect her image back to the viewer.

她的位置正好可以 讓我們看到她窗戶上的反射

Vermeer would even hide the leg of an easel for the sake of composition.

維梅爾甚至會為了構圖 而隱藏畫架的腳

The absence of these very elements brings the "Girl with the Pearl Earring" to life.

《戴珍珠耳環的少女》卻因為 沒有使用上述技巧而栩栩如生

維梅爾利用明暗對照法

Vermeer's treatment of light and shadow, or chiaroscuro,

uses a dark, flat background to further spotlight her three-dimensionality.

讓黑暗單調的背景呈現她的立體感

Instead of being like a set piece in a theatrical narrative scene,

因非處在敘事般的場景裡

she becomes a psychological subject.

她的回眸成為心理學的謎題

Her eye contact and slightly parted lips, as if she is about to say something,

她的眼神和微微分開的嘴唇 好像要說些什麼

draw us into her gaze.

她的目光把我們深深吸引

Traditional subjects of portraiture were often nobility or religious figures.

傳統的肖像主題 往往是貴族或宗教人物

So why was Vermeer painting an anonymous girl?

為什麼維梅爾會畫一位 默默無名的女孩呢？

In the 17th century, the city of Delft, like the Netherlands in general,

17 世紀的台夫特市 就像一般的荷蘭領土

had turned against ruling aristocracy and the Catholic church.

早已開始反抗貴族統治和天主教會

After eight decades of rebellion against Spanish power,

在反抗西班牙八十年後

the Dutch came to favor the idea of self-rule and a political republic.

荷蘭人想成立自治共和國

Cities like Delft were unsupervised by kings or bishops,

由於像台夫特市的城邦 不是由國王或主教管轄

so many artists like Vermeer were left without traditional patrons.

許多像維梅爾一樣的藝術家 失去了貴族支持

Fortunately, business innovation

幸運的是，以荷蘭東印度公司 為首的商業革新

spearheaded by the Dutch East India Company

transformed the economic landscape in the Netherlands.

改變了荷蘭的經濟格局

It created a merchant class and new type of patron.

產生了新的階級及投資人：商人

Wishing to be represented in the paintings they financed,

希望被畫在他們贊助的畫裡

these merchants preferred middle class subjects

這些商人喜歡中產階級主題

depicted in spaces that looked like their own homes

讓畫中的空間就像自己的家

surrounded by familiar objects.

環繞著他們熟悉的人事物

The maps that appear in Vermeer's paintings, for example,

例如維梅爾的畫中會出現地圖

were considered fashionable and worldly

商人階級將地圖視為時尚

by the merchant class of what is known as the Dutch Golden Age.

同時也宣告著 荷蘭黃金時代引領著世界潮流

The oriental turban worn by the "Girl with the Pearl Earring"

戴珍珠耳環的少女頭上的東方頭巾

also emphasizes the worldliness of the merchant class,

強調了商人階級的廣大國際視野

and the pearl itself, a symbol of wealth, is actually an exaggeration.

然而代表財富的珍珠 其實只是虛張聲勢

Vermeer couldn't have afforded a real pearl of its size.

維梅爾買不起這麼大顆的珍珠

It was likely just a glass or tin drop varnished to look like a pearl.

它可能只是一顆漆上 珍珠色澤的玻璃球或錫球

This mirage of wealth is mirrored in the painting itself.

本畫中也暗示了這種虛假的財富

In greater context, the pearl appears round and heavy,

畫面中，珍珠耳環看起來又圓又重

but a detailed view shows that it's just a floating smudge of paint.

但是放大來看 它只是一滴顏料污漬而已

Upon close inspection, we are reminded of Vermeer's power as an illusion maker.

我們再度體會到 幻覺大師梅維爾的實力

While we may never know the real identity of the "Girl with the Pearl Earring,"

雖然《戴珍珠耳環的少女》 真正的身份可能永遠不得而知

we can engage with her portrait in a way that is unforgettable.

我們仍可以親身拜訪她 留下難忘的印象

As she hangs in her permanent home in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague,

她永遠的家位在海牙的 莫瑞泰斯皇家博物館

her presence is simultaneously penetrating and subtle.

這位女孩既敏銳又難以捉摸

In her enigmatic way, she represents the birth of a modern perspective

她充滿謎團的存在象徵了 現代經濟觀、政治觀和愛情觀的誕生

on economics, politics, and love.