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In the centuries following Chartres,
沙特尔之后的几个世纪里
there was one place in Europe where the luminous Gothic
在欧洲还有一座城市
lived on most radiantly.
灿烂的哥特教堂仍辉煌屹立
That was Venice,
那就是威尼斯
floating on the shimmering surface of its lagoon.
这座飘荡在闪耀湖水上的城市
The city had grown rich by facing east.
因与东方的交流频繁而越来越富有
First to the Byzantine Empire, whose glittering mosaics
先是从拜占庭帝国带来了炫目的马赛克
and iridescent silks it had plundered and copied.
掠夺和复制来的彩色丝绸
And then to the Islamic world, whose woven rugs,
然后从伊斯兰世界引进欧洲的是
jewels and precious pigments it had brought to Europe.
羊毛毯 珠宝和珍贵颜料
Here, surrounded by the luxuries of their world,
在这里 遍布世界的奇珍异宝
the Venetians made the case for an art built with blocks
威尼斯人有力地证明了色彩对艺术的重要性
of colour that challenge the more sober ideals
挑战了佛罗伦萨的文艺复兴
of the Renaissance in Florence.
所宣扬的朴素理念
For Renaissance theorists, it was the idea
对于文艺复兴的理论家来说
which made art a lofty, noble practice,
这一理念使艺术更崇高更高贵
and you got the idea from drawing classical models,
它源自临摹古典模型
especially sculpture.
特别是临摹雕塑
That drawn idea then dictated composition
这种理念决定了之后的艺术创作
and it was what distinguished
它将高雅艺术
high art from the low, decorative stuff -
与珠宝 织物 房屋与身体装饰品等
jewellery, textiles, ornaments for the house and body.
低端装饰区分开来
And according to this theory of design,
根据这一设计理论
drawing always came first.
绘画总是第一步
And then you filled in those shapes with colour.
然后再将这些线条填上色彩
Well, the champions of colour said,
当然 善用色彩的人会这样说
they would say that, wouldn't they?
他们当然会这样说了
Because they are all Florentines and Romans
因为他们都是沉迷于古代废墟的
obsessed with antique ruins,
佛罗伦萨人和罗马人
and for them, colour is just cheap and cheerful.
对他们来说 颜料既廉价又振奋人心
It's the gaudy entertainment for the masses.
那是百姓们艳俗的消遣之物
But we are Venetians
但我们是威尼斯人
and we know that colour can model composition
我们知道色彩同素描线条一样
quite as effectively as the drawn line.
能有效地勾勒出作品的形象
They reproach us for being too much in love
他们斥责我们 说我们太过执迷于
with fabric and with jewellery.
织物和珠宝
Not only do we not apologise for that, we embrace it,
对此我们不仅不感到惭愧 反而引以为荣
because perhaps at the heart of what we do
因为或许我们艺术创作的核心要义
is the translation of gem-like radiance
就是将珠宝的溢彩流光
into brilliance on canvas.
转变成画布上的精勾细勒
