人教版英语选修第三册 unit 1 Reading and Thinking

A SHORT HISTORY OF WESTERN PAINTING

西方绘画艺术简史

What is Western art?

什么是西方艺术？

It is hard to give a precise definition.

很难给出一个精确的定义。

As there have been so many different styles of Western art, it is impossible to describe them all in a short text.

由于西方的艺术风格多种多样，在短短的一篇课文里不可能进行全面的描述。

Perhaps the best way to understand Western art is to look at the development of Western painting over the centuries.

也许了解西方艺术的最好方法就是看看几个世纪以来西方绘画的发展。

The Middle Ages (from the 5th to the 15th century)

中世纪（5世纪到15世纪）

During the Middle Ages, the purpose of Western art was to teach people about Christianity.

在中世纪，西方艺术的目的是向人们传授基督教。

Thus, artists were not interested in painting realistic scenes.

因此，艺术家对写实场景不感兴趣。

Their works were often primitive and two-dimensional, and the main characters were often made much larger than everyone else to show their importance.

他们的作品通常较为粗糙且二维化，主体人物通常比其他人物大得多，以彰显其重要地位。

This began to change in the 13th century with Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337).

这种情况在13世纪时因乔托·迪·邦多纳（1267-1337）而开始改变。

While his paintings still had religious themes, they showed real people in a real environment.

尽管他的画作仍然带有宗教主题，却展现出真实环境中的真实人物。

In particular, his paintings are set apart from other paintings by their realistic human faces and deep emotional impact.

尤其是他的画作，因其逼真的人物面容与强烈的情感感染力，从其他作品中脱颖而出。

The Renaissance (from the 14th to the 17th century)

文艺复兴时期（14世纪到17世纪）

New ideas and values gradually replaced old ones from the Middle Ages.

新的思想与价值观逐渐取代了中世纪陈旧的思想观念。

As a result, painters concentrated less on religious themes.

因此，画家不再过多聚焦宗教主题。

They began to adopt a more humanistic attitude to life.

他们开始以更人文主义的视角看待生活。

An important breakthrough during this period was the use of perspective by Masaccio (1401-1428).

这一时期一项重要突破，是马萨乔（1401-1428）对透视法的运用。

Influential painters such as Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and Raphael (1483-1520) built upon Giotto and Masaccio’s innovations to produce some of the greatest art that Europe had ever seen.

莱昂纳多·达·芬奇、米开朗琪罗、拉斐尔等极具影响力的画家，在乔托与马萨乔创新的基础上，创作出欧洲前所未有的一批伟大艺术作品。

Another innovation was the use of oil paints.

另一项创新是油画颜料的使用。

With their deep colours and realism, some of the best oil paintings look like photographs.

油画色彩厚重、富有写实感，不少上乘油画看上去如同照片一般。

While painters as early as Da Vinci had used oil, this technique reached its height with Rembrandt (1606-1669), who gained a reputation as a master of shadow and light.

早在达芬奇时期就已有画家使用油彩绘画，但伦勃朗将这项技艺推向顶峰，他被誉为“光影大师”。

In subject matter, the emphasis increasingly shifted from religious themes to people and the world around us.

在题材方面，创作重心逐渐从宗教主题转向人物与周遭世界。

Kings, nobles, and people of high rank wanted to purchase accurate pictures of themselves and the people they loved.

国王、贵族以及上流阶层人士想要购买自己与至亲的写实肖像。

Others wanted paintings showing important historical events or stories from mythology.

还有人想要描绘重大历史事件或是神话故事的画作。

Finally, most clients wanted paintings that were beautiful and interesting to look at.

最后，大多数主顾都想要赏心悦目、富有情趣的画作。

Impressionism (late 19th to early 20th century)

印象派时期（19世纪后期到20世纪初期）

The development of Western art slowed until the invention of photography in the mid-19th century.

19世纪中叶摄影术发明之前，西方艺术的发展十分缓慢。

After that, paintings were no longer needed to preserve what people and the world looked like.

在那之后，人们不再需要依靠绘画来留存人与世间万物的样貌。

Hence, painters had to find a new way of looking at their art.

因此，画家们不得不寻找一种全新的艺术创作视角。

From this, Impressionism emerged in France.

印象派就此在法国应运而生。

The name of this new movement came from the painting by Claude Monet (1840-1926) called Impression, Sunrise.

这场新艺术运动的名称源自克劳德·莫奈（1840-1926）的画作《印象·日出》。

In this work, Monet’s aim was to convey the light and movement in the scene—the subjective impression the scene gave him—but not a detailed record of the scene itself.

在这幅作品中，莫奈旨在传达场景中的光线与动态，也就是景色带给他的主观感受，而非对景物本身进行细致描摹。

While many Impressionists painted scenes of nature or daily life, others, such as Renoir (1841-1919), focused on people.

虽然许多印象派画家描绘自然风光或是日常生活场景，但雷诺阿（1841-1919）等另一些画家则专注刻画人物。

Unlike the cold, black-and-white photographs of that time period, Renoir’s paintings are full of light, shadow, colour, and life.

和那个时代冰冷的黑白照片不同，雷诺阿的画作充满光影、色彩与生机。

He sought to show not just the outer image of his subjects, but their inner warmth and humanity as well.

他力求不仅展现人物的外在形象，同时刻画出人物内心的温情与人性。

Modern Art (from the 20th century to today)

现代艺术（20世纪至今）

After Impressionism, subsequent artists began to ask, “What do we do next?”

印象派之后，后来的艺术家开始发问：“下一步我们该做什么？”

Painters such as Picasso (1881-1973) tried to analyse the shapes which existed in the natural world but in a new way, with Cubism.

毕加索（1881-1973）等画家借助立体主义，尝试用一种全新的方式剖析自然界中存在的形体。

Others gave their paintings a realistic but dream-like quality.

另一些画家赋予画作写实却如梦似幻的特质。

Still others turned to abstract art.

还有一部分艺术家转向抽象艺术。

What they attempted to do was no longer show reality, but instead to ask the question, “What is art?”

他们尝试做的不再是展现现实，而是提出这样一个问题：“什么是艺术？”

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