Artemisia Gentileschi: The woman behind the paintings - Allison Leigh

譯者: 映竹 陳 審譯者: Yi-Ping Cho (Marssi)

A woman enters an enemy army camp.

一名婦女進入了敵軍營地。

When the watchmen stop her,

當哨兵阻止她時，

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

她說她願意告訴主帥 有關她族人的秘密。

But she isn’t actually a traitor.

但她其實不是叛徒。

On her fourth day under the general’s protection,

在她被將軍安置在軍營的第四天，

she waits for him to get drunk and beheads him,

等將軍喝醉之後， 她斬首了他。

saving her people from his tyranny.

將她的族人從將軍的 暴政中解救出來。

This is the biblical story of how the heroine Judith

這就是聖經中關於女英雄友弟德

slays the brutal Holofernes.

如何殺死殘暴的敖羅斐乃的故事。

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

這故事曾出現在無數藝術作品裡， 此中包括西斯汀禮拜堂。

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

而其中最著名的作品， 是由一位藝術家

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

在她只有 19 歲時 完成這個高難度的場景。

Her name was Artemisia Gentileschi,

這個藝術家的名字叫 阿緹蜜希雅 ‧ 真蒂萊斯基，

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

許多學者喜歡直接叫她阿緹蜜希雅， 就像稱呼其他義大利名畫家一樣。

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

所以阿緹蜜希雅到底是誰？ 又是什麼讓她的作品如此與眾不同？

Artemisia received her artistic training from her father Orazio Gentileschi.

阿緹蜜希雅師從其父 奧拉齊奧 ‧ 真蒂萊斯基，

He tutored her in the dramatic new style of painting pioneered

他將藝術家卡拉瓦喬所開創， 充滿戲劇性的新畫風

傳授給了阿緹蜜希雅。

by the artist Caravaggio.

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

這種被稱為巴洛克的繪畫風格 承繼了稍早的文藝復興畫風。

While Renaissance artists had focused on imitating the classical Greeks,

當文藝復興時期藝術家 專注於模仿古希臘風格，

depicting moments of calmness or poise amidst intensity,

描繪靜止的瞬間 或緊張情形下的鎮定姿態之際，

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

巴洛克藝術家多會藉由描繪 生動的動作來凸顯故事高潮。

Baroque works also dial up the drama through composition

巴洛克作品也透過 構圖及明暗的極端對比

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

來提升畫作的戲劇張力，

即繪畫的明暗對照法 或暗色調主義。

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

總而言之，這樣的效果 對觀眾具有更直接的情感吸引力。

Though Artemisia drew from Caravaggio’s style,

雖然阿緹蜜希雅的畫風 追隨卡拉瓦喬，

by many accounts,

但許多人認為，

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

她對這故事的詮釋勝過 卡拉瓦喬所畫的版本。

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

就像阿緹蜜希雅一樣， 卡拉瓦喬描繪了斬首的瞬間，

dramatically contrasting light and dark and emphasizing the gore.

明暗對比鮮明且特意 畫出斬首時所流的血。

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

但他的畫缺乏阿緹蜜希雅 作品裡的情感衝擊。

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

卡拉瓦喬畫裡的友弟德 對這項血腥行為刻意保持距離，

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

而阿緹蜜希雅畫裡的友弟德 卻挽起袖子把膝蓋壓在床上

to counter Holofernes’ resistance.

以抵抗敖羅斐乃的掙扎。

Her body has a heft that makes the action believable,

她身體的重量賦予 這個動作可信度，

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

那浸溼床單的黏稠 血流也非常寫實。

The blood spraying from the severed artery in Caravaggio’s

相比之下，卡拉瓦喬畫作中 動脈被切斷後的血液噴濺

looks stilted and artificial by comparison.

顯得生硬且不自然。

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

然而這還不是她對 這故事最著名的創作版本。

She finished this painting in 1613,

她在 1613 年完成了這幅畫，

shortly after marrying and moving to Florence,

當時她剛結婚並搬到佛羅倫斯不久，

where she found professional success

在當地得到了事業上的成功，

following a very difficult period in her life.

但此前，她剛經歷一段 人生中非常困難的時期。

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

1611 年，她父親的一位同事，

綽號「 lo Smargiasso 」或「惡霸」的 阿戈斯帝諾 ‧ 塔西強奸了她。

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

When Artemisia told her father,

當阿緹蜜希雅告訴她父親這件事，

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

她父親便對塔西提告 「強制侵犯處女罪」，

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

這項罪名的意思是塔西 損毀奧拉齊奧的財產。

Rape laws centered almost entirely on young women's bodies

當時強姦法的條文幾乎 圍繞著年輕女性的身體，

as commodities owned by their fathers.

就像她們只不過是 父親的商品一樣。

Tassi’s trial lasted for seven months,

對塔西的審判持續了七個月，

during which Artemisia was subjected to interrogation

而在阿緹蜜希雅為塔西的罪行 作證期間，她還遭受了審訊

and torture with thumbscrews as she testified against him.

並被施予拶刑（絞指酷刑）。

Tassi was ultimately found guilty,

塔西最終被判有罪，

but his powerful patrons managed to have his sentence revoked.

但他極具影響力的贊助人 仍成功使他的罪刑被撤銷。

Some scholars have suggested that Artemisia started the painting

有學者提出阿緹蜜希雅 開始創作這幅畫時，

while the trial was still underway.

可能正處於審判進行期間。

Many have debated whether the rape influenced her work.

一直以來許多人不斷討論這起 強姦事件是否影響了她的創作。

Artemisia revisited the subject of Judith repeatedly.

阿緹蜜希雅不斷重複繪製 以友弟德為主題的作品，

One painting shows Judith and her maidservant

像這幅畫呈現的場景， 便是友弟德和她的女僕

trying to leave the enemy encampment.

試圖離開敵人的營地。

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

在這幅畫裡，阿緹蜜希雅 為友弟德畫了一個小髮飾，

possibly referencing David, the protector of Florence,

在這裡她疑似把大衛像融入畫中

with a nod to Michelangelo.

來向米開朗基羅致敬。

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

劍柄上有一個正在慘叫的 蛇髮女妖或美杜莎——

both female archetypes evoking rage and power

兩種女性原型 都喚起憤怒與力量，

which link the work to Caravaggio.

將這個作品與卡拉瓦喬 所畫的梅杜莎聯繫起來。

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

阿緹蜜希雅在 1618 至 1620 年間 完成她最著名的友弟德故事作品。

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

這件作品的構圖類似於 她在 1613 年所畫的第一個版本，

but has meaningful details for those who look closely.

但仔細觀察便能發現 其中有意義的細節差異。

The sword more directly resembles a crucifix,

斬首的劍相較前作， 外型更像一個十字架，

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

強烈暗示友弟德的復仇行動 是上帝下令的神聖行為。

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

阿緹蜜希雅同時加畫了一個手鐲， 上面有著與她同名的女神——

her namesake, Artemis.

狩獵之神阿緹密斯。

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

這個特別的署名方式 證明她的作品始終忠於

她在生命接近尾聲時所說的一句話：

that she expressed near the end of her life:

“The works will speak for themselves.”

「作品會替自己說話。」