Elizabeth Lev: The unheard story of the Sistine Chapel
伊丽莎白·列弗: 西斯廷教堂里未知的故事
Elizabeth Lev's experience studying and teaching art has led her to believe that when we encounter something beautiful, we are made vulnerable and opened to the truth. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
to the Vatican Museums.
down long corridors,
lots and lots of stuff.
和好多好多艺术品
a stair and a door.
一段阶梯,和一扇门。
of the Sistine Chapel.
what do we have?
by painted curtains,
你真的是被着色的幕布环绕,
to keep out cold during long masses,
是为了在长时间聚会时防寒,
the great theater of life.
plays a part is a great story,
是一个宏大的故事
in the three stages
绘画西斯廷教堂的三个阶段
as a space for a small group
They elected their pope there.
在那里选举教皇。
ecclesiastical man cave.
that today it attracts and delights
there was a creative explosion,
of new geopolitical frontiers,
missionary tradition of the Church
熊熊燃烧创意的火焰,
works of art in history.
最伟大的艺术作品之一。
as a great evolution,
to audiences of people
to a historical circumstance.
parochial perspective.
worldviews were dramatically altered
被显著地改变之后,
was well under way
reflected a smaller world.
反映的是一个小世界
of Jesus and Moses,
of the Jewish and Christian people.
Pope Sixtus IV,
是教皇席斯特六世,
弗洛伦萨艺术的梦之队,
Michelangelo's future painting teacher,
米开朗基罗绘画老师的人,
with a frieze of pure color,
familiar landscapes,
你能看见熟悉的风景
or a Tuscan landscape
或是托斯卡纳的风光
something much more familiar.
一个遥远的故事更为大家所接受。
of the Pope's friends and family,
for a small court
欧洲大陆里的一个小庭院来说
新大陆被发现了,
microcosm had to expand as well.
小宇宙也必须要扩张。
was Michelangelo Buonarroti,
米开朗基罗·波纳罗蒂,
to decorate 12,000 square feet of ceiling,
米开朗基罗已经33岁了
but had left to pursue sculpture.
because he had left a stack
of a great sculptural project,
雕塑工程吸引到罗马,
to paint 12 apostles
是为西斯廷教堂屋顶的
in the Sistine Chapel ceiling,
every other ceiling in Italy.
to sail across the Atlantic Ocean,
new artistic waters.
开辟了艺术新海域。
of great beginnings,
stories on a ceiling.
这听起来并不是一个好主意
a busy scene from 62 feet below?
62尺高屋顶上的故事呢?
handed on for 200 years
200年绘画技术
for this kind of a narrative.
to filling space with busyness,
and hacked away at a piece of marble
in massive, dynamic bodies.
来讲他的故事。
by the larger-than-life Pope Julius II,
被与众不同的教皇儒略二世支持,
of Michelangelo's brazen genius.
惊世骇俗的才能的人。
for 30 years and he knew its power.
知道艺术的力量。
of the Warrior Pope,
it wasn't fortresses and artillery,
不是堡垒和大炮,
the Sistine Chapel.
拉斐尔厅,西斯廷教堂,
of Greco-Roman sculptures --
that would become the seedbed
the Vatican Museums.
梵蒂冈博物馆的发源。
that would be eternally relevant
梵蒂冈永不过时
Michelangelo and Julius II,
这两个伟人的相遇
to this project,
in three and a half years,
完成了这个工程。
most of the time, hours on end,
他花费大部分时间,
to paint the stories on the ceiling.
to the world around you.
and structure and energy;
which opens onto nine panels,
分别通往九个板块 ,
than painterly color.
by the entrance,
enclosure intended for the clergy
和被围住的只供牧师使用的区域。
looking for a beginning.
or in biblical tradition,
还是在圣经传统里,
of light and dark,
from one side to the next.
从一边疾驰到另一边。
the sun, the moon, vegetation.
on the stuff that was being created,
米开朗基罗并没有
like a caesura in poetry
像诗歌中的停顿,
the universe and his treasures,
欣赏这个宇宙和他的宝藏,
of creation, which is man.
against a dark background.
阴暗的背景中闪过光亮的身影。
by the creator in that finger,
与亚当手指相接处的那一刻,
from the hand of Adam.
from that contact,
will discover his purpose,
at the pinnacle of creation.
找到属于他的位置。
一个划出曲线的球。
She's part of the plan.
她是这计划的一部分。
that her hand curls around his arm.
她的手环绕着他的手臂。
from the 21st century,
美国艺术历史学家的我来说,
that the painting spoke to me.
representation of the human drama
the heart of the ceiling,
而不是亚当。
together in the Garden of Eden,
turns into folded shame.
now in the ceiling.
正是最关键的节点,
where you and I can go
out of the inner sanctum,
much like Adam and Eve.
亚当与夏娃一般被挡在外面。
of the world around us.
and a covenant with God.
他正在献祭,与上帝订立盟约。
who grew grapes, invented wine,
发明了葡萄酒
naked in his barn.
喝醉并晕倒了的人。
blind drunk in a barn.
is making fun of us.
米开朗基罗在取笑我们。
right underneath Noah:
on the prophet Zechariah.
色彩的先知撒迦利亚。
coming from the east,
从东方而来的圣光
to a new destination,
转向了新的目的地
who will lead us on a parade.
who make safe the way,
human engine, driving it forward.
我们人类前行的动力源泉。
of the ceiling,
he's about to fall out of his space
three days in the belly of the whale,
他在鲸的胃里呆了三天
of the renewal of humanity
通过耶稣牺牲
of visitors to that museum
encounters and meets immediate reality.
与当下的现实的相遇与碰撞
archway of the altar wall,
带到了神坛墙壁上的拱廊
米开朗基罗《最后的审判》
had changed again.
世界已经发生了重大的变革。
Islam a household word
伊斯兰教已经家喻户晓
into the Pacific Ocean.
been any further than Venice
也就只到过威尼斯
of the Last Judgment,
strikingly beautiful bodies.
no more portraits
他们大多没有遮盖
每一位都独一无二。
breaking away from the ground,
纷纷脱离地面
reach back to help others,
会回去帮其他人
pulled up together
goes to the winner's circle.
形成胜利者的圈子
completely nude like athletes.
强壮的男人女人赤身裸体
who have overcome adversity,
of people who combat adversity,
那些战胜逆境
flexing and posing
proved in his painting,
在他的画作中表现的
they forge it.
反而历练了卓越。
is indeed a stew of nudes.
only the best artistic language,
只是想用最好的艺术语言
he could think of:
最通用的艺术语言来进行创作
virtue such as fortitude or self-mastery,
来表达美德
wonderful collection of sculptures
借来绝佳的雕塑收藏
as external power.
to not cause controversy.
必然会引起争议
that thanks to the printing press,
因为印刷技术的出现
spread all over the place,
was labeled pornography,
被打上了色情的标签。
two more portraits,
两个画像,
a papal courtier,
as a dried up husk, no athlete,
一点都不强壮却干得像个皮囊
饱经辛酸的殉道者握在手里。
several of these figures covered over,
他画作的一些部分被遮盖,
over his great exhortation to glory.
这也难掩他对于荣光的伟大训告。
of the human experience.
无与伦比的人生阅历。
to look around as if it were a mirror.
让我们不停地探索。
of uplifting beauty,
这振奋人心的美丽港湾
life's biggest questions:
in this great theater of life?
我在这浮浮众生中扮演什么角色?
伊丽莎白·列弗,谢谢。
this whole issue of pornography,
daily life scenes and improper things
有很多裸体和一些
and covering up some of the figures.
destroyed because of that.
of the Last Judgment was enormous.
that everybody saw it.
that happened within a couple of weeks.
over the space of 20 years
how to live our lives.
怎么活我们自己的生活”
pornography in the Pope's chapel?"
有色情的东西么?”
that Michelangelo died
found a compromise,
these extra 30 covers,
the origin of fig-leafing.
that was trying to save a work of art,
去挽救一副伟大的画作
is not the classic tour
when they go to the Sistine Chapel.
可以看到的
这算是广告么?
it is a statement.
is encountering problems.
面临失窃或其他风险。
going through that tiny door
那扇小门
in a completely different way
不一样的方式
nice to be able to pause and look.
走走停停观赏艺术品是美妙的。
even when you're in those days,
即便每天慕名而来的游客
with all those other people,
how amazing it is
你仍然会感叹它的不可思议
from 500 years ago
standing side by side with you,
truly can speak to us all
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elizabeth Lev - Art historianElizabeth Lev's experience studying and teaching art has led her to believe that when we encounter something beautiful, we are made vulnerable and opened to the truth.
Why you should listen
Art historian Elizabeth Lev became captivated by Rome while completing her graduate studies. She writes and lectures on Renaissance art in the Eternal City, but is most at home in the Vatican Museums, founded in the 16th century to house the trove of art amassed by centuries of Popes. She has spent 15 years studying the vast collection, which contain not only Christian-themed works but art from virtually every other culture in the world. She consults with the Vatican Museums and wrote the film Vatican Treasures. She also wrote A Body for Glory, examining how the papal collection of Greco-Roman nudes grew into the Sistine Chapel.
Elizabeth Lev | Speaker | TED.com