【原】(Metro English - 109 - Art - Girl with a Pearl Earring

Art - Girl with a Pearl Earring - By Johannes Vermeer

Girl with a Pearl Earring is an oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer, dated 1665. Going by various names over the centuries, it became known by its present title towards the end of the 20th century after the large pearl earring worn by the girl portrayed there. The work has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1902 and has been the subject of various literary treatments. In 2006, the Dutch public selected it as the most beautiful painting in the Netherlands. 《戴珍珠耳环的少女》是荷兰黄金时期画家维米尔的绘于1665年的一幅油画。几个世纪以来，这幅画一直用着不同的名字，20世纪末，最终以这幅画作中戴着大珍珠耳环的女孩的名字而最终被人们传唱至今。1902年这幅画被收藏在海牙的莫瑞泰斯皇家美术馆，且成为各种文学作品的主题。在2006年，荷兰人民推选它作为荷兰最美丽的画作。

Despite a deceptively simple composition, Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring has captured the imaginations of art fans around the world. While little is certain about the girl behind the mesmerizing gaze, here's what we do know about this now-legendary work.

尽管作品看似简单，但约翰内斯·维米尔的《戴珍珠耳环的少女》在全世界艺术迷的心中扬起了想象的风帆。虽然很少有人确切的知道这迷人的目光背后的女孩究竟是谁，但以下是我们对这部已经成为传奇的作品的了解。

1. No one knows for sure who the girl is. 没有人确切知道那个女孩是谁。

Scholars estimate the painting was completed in 1665. The painting is an example of a type of work called a tronie. Popular in the Dutch Golden Age, tronies were paintings that focused on the face of a subject with an added element of fantasy or an exaggeration of expression that differentiates them from portraits.  研究者们估计这幅画于1665年完成。这幅画是一种叫做tronie的作品，tronie在荷兰的黄金时代很受欢迎，它是一种专注于某个主题的绘画，带有额外的幻想元素或夸张的表情，使其与肖像画有所不同。

2. Speculation on her identity led to a novel, movie, and stage production.  对她身份的猜测，激发了小说、电影和舞台剧的创作。

All titled Girl with a Pearl Earring, these works began with American novelist Tracy Chevalier, whose 1999 historical novel spun a love story between Vermeer and a servant girl turned muse. In 2004, Chevalier's book was adapted into an acclaimed feature film, starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. Then in 2008, a stage adaptation was produced in London.  这些作品的题目都是“戴珍珠耳环的少女”，从美国小说家特雷西·舍瓦利耶开始，她1999年的历史小说的灵感来自于维米尔和一个女仆变身女神的爱情故事。2004年，舍瓦利耶的书被改编成一部备受赞誉的故事片，由斯嘉丽·约翰逊和科林·费斯主演。之后，在2008年，伦敦又将其改编成为了一部舞台剧。

Though the story is compelling, it may not have been grounded in historical fact. Historian J.M. Montias suggested that a household servant modeled for Vermeer’s Milkmaid, but not this particular masterpiece.  尽管故事相当引人入胜，但它并没有什么历史事实根基。历史学家J.M.蒙蒂亚斯认为，一个家仆曾经为维米尔的挤奶女工的画作做模特，但并不是为这幅作品。

3. The girl may be Vermeer's daughter. 这个女孩可能是维米尔的女儿。

Journalists Jean-Louis Vaudoyer and Lawrence Weschler have proposed that the lovely girl who sat for Vermeer was, in fact, the eldest of his 10 children, Maria. She might also be the model in Art of Painting and Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace. 记者让-路易斯·沃多耶和劳伦斯·韦斯切勒提出，为维米尔做模特的可爱女孩实际上是他10个孩子中最年长的，玛丽亚。她很可能也是《绘画艺术》中和《戴珍珠项链的年轻女子》的模特。

Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace

Art of Painting

4. The girl in the painting may be an artist in her own right.  画中的女孩很可能也是个有实力的艺术家。

In 2014, Benjamin Binstock, a specialist on Renaissance and Baroque art, declared that Maria may have been more than just Girl with a Pearl Earring's model—she might also have been the artist who created one-fifth of the works attributed to her father. These "misfit" Vermeers that might be Maria's include Mistress and Maid, Girl With a Red Hat, and Woman with a Lute. Notably, each includes a model wearing a familiar earring.  2014年，文艺复兴和巴洛克艺术专家本杰明·宾斯托克（Benjamin Binstock）宣称，玛丽亚可能不仅仅是一个戴珍珠耳环的女孩，她也可能是艺术家，创作了五分之一属于她父亲的作品。这些可能是玛丽亚的“不合时宜”的维米尔人包括女主人和女仆，戴着红帽子的女孩，还有拿着琵琶的女人。值得注意的是，每个人都有一个戴着耳环的模特。

5. Girl with a Pearl Earring isn't its only name.  戴珍珠耳环的少女并非这幅画的唯一的名字。

The painting has alternately been called Girl In A Turban, Head Of Girl In A Turban, The Young Girl With Turban, and Head of a Young Girl.  戴珍珠耳环的女孩并不是它唯一的名字。这幅画还被称为“戴头巾的女孩”、“戴头巾女孩的头像”、“戴头巾的小女孩”和“年轻女孩的头像”。

6. The painting also has a nickname.  这幅画还有一个绰号。

Often Girl with a Pearl Earring is referred to as the "Mona Lisa of the North." This is partly because of the girl's curious expression, and in part because of the mystery surrounding the piece itself.  通常带珍珠耳环的少女被称为“北方的蒙娜丽莎”。部分原因归结于女孩的令人迷惑不解的表情，部分原因是围绕着这件作品本身的神秘感。

7. The uncertainty of her story is key to its allure. 她故事的不确定性是其吸引力的关键。

When Girl with a Pearl Earring toured the U.S. in 2013, the painting drew a massive turnout at each of its stops. Assistant curator of San Francisco’s de Young museum told The Wall Street Journal, "Sometimes the questions are more intriguing because they can't be answered. Who was she? What was she thinking? What was her relationship with Vermeer? The mystery is part of its popularity."  2013年，戴珍珠耳环的女孩在美国巡回演出时，这幅画在每一站都吸引了大批观众。旧金山笛洋美术馆助理策展人对华尔街日报说：“有时这些问题更有趣，因为他们无法回答。她是谁？她在想什么？她和维米尔有什么关系？神秘是它流行的一部分。”

8. Her earring might have religious overtones.  她的耳环可能带有宗教色彩。

Some scholars have theorized that Girl with a Pearl Earring may be a portrait of chastity, making a connection between the painting and the teachings of early 17th century bishop St. Francis De Sales, who wrote, "Both now and in the past it has been customary for women to hang pearls from their ears; as Pliny observed, they gain pleasure from the sensation of the swinging pearls touching them. But I know that God's friend, Isaac, sent earrings to chaste Rebecca as the first token of his love. This leads me to think that this jewel has a spiritual meaning, namely that the first part of the body that a man wants, and which a woman must loyally protect, is the ear; no word or sound should enter it other than the sweet sound of chaste words, which are the oriental pearls of the gospel."  一些学者认为，戴珍珠耳环的女孩可能是贞节的肖像，这与17世纪早期圣弗朗西斯·德·塞莱斯主教的教诲有着联系，他写道：“无论是现在还是过去，女人都习惯于把珍珠挂在耳朵上。正如普林尼所观察到的，它们从摆动的珍珠触摸它们的感觉中获得乐趣。但我知道上帝的朋友以撒，把耳环送给贞洁的丽贝卡，作为他爱的第一个象征。这使我想到，这宝石有一种精神上的意义，也就是说，男人想要的身体的第一部分，女人必须忠诚地保护它，就是耳朵；除了贞洁的话语的甜美的声音外，任何话语或声音都不能进入它，这是福音中东方的珍珠。”

9. Vermeer likely used the same earring for another of his paintings.  维米尔可能在他的另一幅画上也用了同样的耳环。

A similar teardrop pearl can be spotted in A Woman Writing A Letter With A Maid. Vermeer often reused props, models, and settings in his works.  《和女佣一起写信的妇女》身上也能看到类似的泪珠。维米尔经常在他的作品中重复使用道具、模型和设置。

A Woman Writing A Letter With A Maid

10. It probably wasn’t a real pearl.  它可能不是真正的珍珠。

In December of 2014, Vincent Icke, a professor of Theoretical Astronomy, wrote in New Scientist that the light reflecting off the earring in Girl with a Pearl Earring wouldn't match that of an actual pearl.  2014年12月，理论天文学教授Vincent Icke在《新科学家》杂志上写道，戴珍珠耳环的女孩耳环反射的光线与实际的珍珠不匹配。

The size of the pearl also makes it suspect. Curators Quentin Buvelot and Ariane van Suchtelen explained, "Large pearls were rare and ended up in the hands of the richest people on the planet. In the seventeenth century, cheaper glass pearls, usually from Venice, were also quite common. They were made from glass, which was lacquered to give it a matte finish. Maybe the girl is wearing such a handcrafted 'pearl'."  珍珠的大小也让人怀疑。馆长昆汀·布维洛特和阿里安·范·苏赫特伦解释说：“大珍珠很罕见，最终落入了地球上最富有的人的手中。在17世纪，便宜的玻璃珍珠，通常来自威尼斯，也很常见。它们是由玻璃制成的，涂上了清漆使其表面光滑。也许这个女孩戴的就是一件手工制作的“珍珠”。

11. Its black background was once a glossy green.  它的黑色背景曾经是亮绿色。

Modern restorations of the painting found trace amounts of indigo and weld, a glaze mixture that would have made the dark underpainting glisten. Over the centuries, pigments in the glaze have broken down to change the painting’s color.  这幅画的现代修复工作发现了微量的靛蓝和焊缝，这是一种釉料混合物，可以使深色的底色闪闪发光。几个世纪以来，釉料中的颜料已经分解，这幅画的颜色也有所改变了。

12. The paint used for the turban was incredibly expensive.  用于头巾的颜料非常昂贵。

Made from a crushed deep blue semi-precious stone called lapis lazuli, the ultramarine paint Vermeer used on the turban was one only a few of his contemporaries dared employ. Despite ultramarine's high price tag, Vermeer notably used the color even in times of financial hardship, possibly thanks to funding from his generous patron Pieter van Ruijven.  维米尔用一块被碾碎的深蓝色半宝石制成，叫做天青石（lapis lazuli），他在头巾上使用的群青颜料是他同时代人中少数敢于使用的颜料之一。尽管群青的价格很高，维米尔即便是在经济困难的时候也使用了这种颜色，这可能要归功于他的慷慨的赞助人彼得·范·鲁伊文。

13. Vermeer may have used mechanical means to create this painting and many more.  维米尔可能用机械手段创作了这幅画，可能还更多。

The Dutch master's distinctive style avoids hard lines, relying on shades of light and shadow alone. Art historians have long debated whether mechanical means may have helped Vermeer render light in this way. A camera obscura is the most popular theory, and the 2013 documentary Tim's Vermeer followed an experiment that seemed to prove that Vermeer's method included a careful arrangement of mirrors to guide his hand in painting.  这位荷兰大师独特的风格避免了硬线条，仅依靠阴影和明暗。长期以来，艺术史学家们一直在争论机械手段是否有助于维米尔用这种方式来渲染光。相机暗箱说是当时最流行的一种理论，2013年的纪录片蒂姆的维米尔进行了一项实验，似乎证明了维米尔的方法包括精密地摆放镜子，在绘画时为他做引导。

14. This priceless painting sold for next to nothing.  这幅价值连城的画几乎一文不值。

More than two hundred years passed between the painting's creation and its sale at auction in 1881. There, Dutch Army officer and art collector Arnoldus Andries des Tombe purchased Girl with a Pearl Earring for just 2 guilders with a 30-cent premium. Upon des Tombe's death in the winter of 1902, the work was willed to The Hague's art museum the Mauritshuis, where it can still be seen today.  这幅画作在1881年这幅画被拍卖时，已经距它最初的创作有两百多年的时间了。在那里，荷兰陆军军官和艺术收藏家阿诺尔德斯·安德烈斯·德·汤比以30美分的溢价只花了2个荷兰盾，就买下了这幅《带珍珠耳环的女孩》。1902年冬天，当德汤比去世时，这件作品被送到海牙的莫瑞泰斯皇家美术馆，至今你仍能在那里看到她。

15. Girl with a Pearl Earring will never leave home again.  戴珍珠耳环的女孩再也不会离开家了。

In recent years, The Mauritshuis loaned Girl with a Pearl Earring to Japan, Italy and the United States for exhibitions. But once this tour concluded in July of 2014, the museum announced the painting would stay in their collection within their walls indefinitely. And so Girl with a Pearl Earring joined the ranks of Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Picasso's Guernica, and Les Demoiselles d'Avignon as works sworn to stay safe in their home museums for all time.  近年来，莫瑞泰斯皇家美术馆曾经把《戴珍珠耳环的女孩》借到日本、意大利和美国参加展览。但是，在2014年7月结束这次巡展之后，博物馆宣布这幅画将永远地留在海牙的美术馆墙上。因此，《戴着珍珠耳环的女孩》与波提切利的《维纳斯诞生》、毕加索的《格尔尼卡》和《阿维尼翁的姑娘们》一道，成为发誓要永久保、安全地被留在其所属的本国博物馆里。

Pearl Earring  珍珠耳环

in her own right 凭自己的能力

turban 头巾

indigo  靛蓝色;

ultramarine  群青

auction 拍卖

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