第14章　尋寶者和秘密

你們有沒有得過春困癥？有沒有兩種春困癥都得過呢？沒錯，春困癥的確有兩種。

你們還記不記得，在暖和的春日里，有時你們會覺得非常慵懶、昏昏欲睡、累得很，不想學習、不想工作、不想玩兒，甚至也不想吃東西呢？那就是春困癥的一種。

還有，你們記不記得，自己在春天有時會覺得精力充沛、身強力壯并且煩躁不安呢？還記不記得，在這種時候，你們只想跑啊、叫啊、翻上幾個跟斗呢？還記不記得，在這個時候，你們會覺得安靜地坐上片刻都受不了呢？還記不記得，在這個時候，你們會覺得自己做得到任何難事，能夠在任何方面打敗任何人呢？這就是第二種春困癥。

好吧，中世紀過后，整個世界都得上了春困癥。不過，它得的可是第二種，即精力過旺的春困癥；并且，這種癥狀并非只是在春季持續了一天兩天，而是持續了多年哩。

公元1400年左右，意大利率先得上了這種春困癥。就像陰暗的冬天過后，春天萬物再次復蘇，到處都是生機勃勃的綠葉和鮮花一樣，黑暗的中世紀過后，藝術、文學、建筑、探索和貿易等領域也都再次迸發出了新的生機。這個再次迸發生機的時期，被稱為“文藝復興”時期；而所謂的“復興”，就是重生的意思。

注意，使得世界陷入“文藝復興”熱潮的根源之一，便在于人們開始對古代的

buildings that had been buried in the ground since Roman times were dug up.Old Roman and Greek writings were brought to light and read again.By learning what the ancients had done in art, the Renaissance people were able to do great things in art too.

One of the first sculptors to make a thorough study of the Roman statues was named Donatello. He lived in Florence, but as a young man, he went to Rome with his friend Brunelleschi, an artist we have already met.In Rome the two friends spent their time hunting through the old ruins for any beautiful Roman artwork they could find.Brunelleschi was more interested in architecture and he measured the old Roman buildings while Donatello looked for sculpture.Soon people called them the Treasure Hunters because they always seemed to be looking for buried treasure.

When the two Treasure Hunters came back to Florence, Donatello made a beautiful marble cantoria, or singing gallery, for a choir on the wall at one end of a cathedral. He decorated the outside of the gallery with sculpture of little children who look like cupids dancing and singing.It is a wonderful piece of work, full of life and action.

Donatello's next famous statue was placed outside a church in Florence. It is of Saint George.Saint George was a Christian in the Roman army at a time when it was very unsafe to be a Christian.To show he was not afraid of being a Christian, he carried a shield that had a bright red cross on a white background on it.This symbol has ever since been called the cross of Saint George and is part of the flag of England because the English adopted Saint George as their favorite saint.Saint George was a brave man, and when the

技藝和知識產生了興趣。那些自古羅馬時期以來一直深埋于地下的雕塑作品和建筑，被人們發掘出來了。古羅馬人和古希臘人的一些著作被公開發表出來，再次被人們閱讀。通過了解古人在藝術方面的成就，“文藝復興”時期的人也能夠在藝術方面取得偉大的成就了。

率先對古羅馬雕塑進行全面研究的一位雕塑家，名叫多納泰羅。他住在佛羅倫薩，但年輕的時候就與朋友布魯內萊斯基去過羅馬；后者是一位藝術家，我們在前面已經提及過了。在羅馬，這兩位朋友將那些古老的廢墟翻了個遍，搜尋能夠找到的，所有精美的古羅馬藝術品。布魯內萊斯基對建筑藝術更感興趣，因此他對古羅馬的建筑一一進行了測量，而多納泰羅則尋找著雕塑作品。不久之后，人們便稱他們是“尋寶者”了，因為他們似乎始終都在尋找埋藏在地下的寶物。

這兩位“尋寶者”回到佛羅倫薩之后，多納泰羅便為一個唱詩班制作了一面非常精美的大理石廊臺，名叫《唱詩班》，安放在一座大教堂一端的墻上。在這座廊臺的外部，他還雕刻了許多載歌載舞的小朋友作為裝飾，他們看上去就像是一群丘比特似的。這是一件精美絕倫的作品，既栩栩如生，又充滿動感。

多納泰羅下一件著名的雕塑作品，被安放在佛羅倫薩一座教堂之外。那是一尊圣喬治的塑像。圣喬治是古羅馬軍中的一名基督徒；而在當時，皈依基督教還是一件很不安全、很可能帶來生命危險的事情呢。為了表明自己不懼怕皈依成基督徒，他手持一面盾牌，盾牌上面標有一個鮮艷的白底紅色十字架。此后，這個標志便被稱為“圣喬治十字架”，并且成了英國國旗的一部分，因為圣喬治是英國人最喜歡的一位圣徒。圣喬治是一個勇敢無畏的人，在古羅馬皇帝開始迫害基督徒之后，他

Roman emperor began to persecute the Christians, he went to him and asked him to stop.For this, and because Saint George was a Christian, the emperor had him killed.

Of course Donatello didn't know what the real Saint George looked like because the man who became the saint had lived so long before, so this statue is not a portrait statue. Instead it is what Donatello thought a brave young Christian officer in the Roman army ought to look like.And because so many other people thought this was what Saint George ought to look like, too, the statue became very famous.It is very lifelike.

“There is only one problem with it，”someone told Donatello.

“What is that?”asked the sculptor, who was afraid the man had found some fault in the statue.

“The trouble is, it can't speak，”said the man.

Donatello's most famous work was of a man on horseback. I'll tell you about that in the next chapter, for in this chapter I still have to tell you about a secret.Can you keep a secret?

A sculptor who was a friend of Donatello's had a secret. It was a very good secret and he didn't tell anyone except his adopted son.The adopted son had five sons of his own, and when they grew up they were let in on the

曾跑到皇帝面前，要求皇帝停止迫害呢。正是由于這個，由于圣喬治是一名基督徒，羅馬皇帝便命人將他殺害了。

當然，多納泰羅并不知道圣喬治真正的長相，因為那位圣徒生活在很久很久以前，所以，這尊雕像并不是一座肖像雕塑。相反，雕像的樣子是多納泰羅想象出來的，因為他覺得，古羅馬軍隊中一位勇敢的基督教軍官應該就是那個樣子。由于許多人也都認為圣喬治應當是那個樣子，因此這尊雕像便變得聞名遐邇了。這座塑像，雕刻得也非常逼真。

“只有一個問題。”有人曾經對多納泰羅說。

“什么問題呢？”這位雕塑家問道。他擔心的是，那個人是不是在這座雕塑上找出了什么瑕疵。

“問題就是，他不會說話。”那人回答道。

多納泰羅最著名的一件作品，是一尊騎馬者的雕像。我會到下一章再跟你們來介紹這件作品，因為在這一章，我還得告訴你們一個秘密。你們能夠保守秘密嗎？

多納泰羅的一位朋友也是雕塑家，他有一個秘密。那是一個絕妙的秘密，除了

secret too.It was a family secret.

The sculptor with the secret was Luca della Robbia. Like Donatello, he lived in Florence.He was a little younger than Donatello, and so we call him the second great sculptor of the Renaissance.Luca della Robbia made statues in marble and bronze.One of his marble works was a singing gallery for an end wall in the same cathedral as Donatello's marble gallery.

Luca della Robbia carved singing boys on this gallery as Donatello had on his. The two galleries are called the Singing Galleries.Luca della Robbia's looks better than Donatello's when you are close to it because it is smoother and more finished.But when you are looking at the galleries from the floor of the cathedral, Donatello's figures stand out better because they are rougher, so it's about even between them.They are both so valuable that they are now in a museum instead of in the cathedral.

But we've almost forgotten about the secret.

自己的養子，他可沒跟任何人說過哩。他的養子生了五個兒子，而待這五個兒子長大成人后，他們也獲準得知了這個秘密。所以，這算是一個家族秘密呢。

擁有這個秘密的那位雕塑家，名叫盧卡·德拉·羅比亞。跟多納泰羅一樣，他也住在佛羅倫薩。他的年紀比多納泰羅小一點兒，因此我們稱他是“文藝復興”時期第二位偉大的雕塑家。盧卡·德拉·羅比亞制作了許多大理石雕塑和青銅雕塑。他有一件大理石雕塑作品，也是一座唱詩班的廊臺，并且安放在多納泰羅那座大理石廊臺所在的同一座大教堂的另一端。

與多納泰羅一樣，盧卡·德拉·羅比亞也在這座廊臺上雕刻了許多唱著贊美詩的小男孩。這兩座廊臺，合稱為《唱詩班廊臺》。假如靠近去細看的話，盧卡·德拉·羅比亞的作品似乎還要優于多納泰羅的作品，因為他雕刻的廊臺，要比多納泰羅的那座廊臺更加光滑，打磨得也更加精巧。不過，倘若站在大教堂的地上來看這兩座廊臺的話，那么多納泰羅雕刻的人物則更加明顯，因為它們都比較粗糙。所以，這兩座廊臺其實是勢均力敵，各有千秋。它們都極其珍貴，因此如今被藏進了博物館，不再放在大教堂里了。

可我們差點兒都記不起還有秘密這回事了。盧卡·德拉·羅比亞發現，用大理石來雕刻很費工夫，并且大理石購買起來也很昂貴。每次完成作品并獲得報酬之

Luca della Robbia found it took a great deal of time to carve in marble, and marble was very expensive to buy.When he finished and was paid for his work, he often found that he hadn’t made much money.Bronze had the same drawbacks.He decided to try to find another material that was inexpensive and could be used quickly.He found it.What do you think it was?Not wood or stone, and of course not marble or bronze.It was clay.

“Well，”you say，“even the Greeks used clay. I remember the terra-cotta figurines of Tanagra.”

True, but wait. Luca della Robbia used terra cotta, but here comes his secret.After he finished a clay statue, he put over it a coating of porcelain, which, when hardened, is something like glass.Then he baked the figure in an oven for just the right length of time.His secret was in mixing the porcelain, or glaze as it was called.When it was finished, the porcelain glaze would resist the rain and bad weather almost as well as marble, whereas the terra cotta without the glaze would soon crumble away.Other sculptors tried it but none did as fine of work in glazed terra cotta as Luca della Robbia.His secret glazing process was very successful.

Most of the sculpture Luca della Robbia did in glazed terra cotta was in relief. The relief part was generally white like marble but the background was a beautiful shade of blue.

Luca della Robbia taught his nephew, whom he had adopted as a son, the secret of the glazed terra cotta. The nephew's name was Andrea della Robbia and he became almost as famous as Luca.Andrea did most of his work in glazed terra cotta and he added many

后，他常常發現自己賺不到什么錢。青銅也存在著同樣的問題。于是，他決心找到另一種價格不貴，又能迅速利用的雕刻材料。后來，他的確找到了這樣一種材料。你們猜猜，是什么材料呢？它既不是木材，也不是石料，當然更不是大理石和青銅了。這種材料，便是陶土。

“哦，”你們會說，“連古希臘人也用過陶土。我還記得塔納格拉的小陶俑呢。”

的確如此；不過，你們還是先等一等，聽我解釋吧。盧卡·德拉·羅比亞用的，的確是陶土；可他的秘密，也正是在這里。雕完一尊陶土雕塑后，他會在雕塑上面涂一層瓷釉；這層瓷釉硬化之后，有點兒像是玻璃。然后，他會將雕像放進一座爐子里，燒制適當的一段時間。他的秘密，便在于調制瓷釉的過程，也就是人們所稱的“上釉”。完工之后，這層瓷釉便既能防雨，又不怕日曬風吹，幾乎可與大理石媲美了；而沒有上釉的陶土制品，卻會很快破損。雖說其他一些雕塑家也曾嘗試過這種方法，但沒有一個人像盧卡·德拉·羅比亞那樣制作出了精美的上釉陶土雕塑品。他的這種上釉過程的秘訣，的確獲得了巨大的成就哩。

盧卡·德拉·羅比亞制作的絕大部分上釉陶土雕塑品，都是浮雕。通常來說，浮雕部分都是白色的，就像大理石一樣；而作品的背景，卻是一層美麗的藍色。

盧卡·德拉·羅比亞把給陶土雕塑上釉的秘訣教給了自己的侄子，也就是他的養子。這位侄子名叫安德里亞·德拉·羅比亞，后來還變得幾乎與盧卡一樣有名了。安德里亞的絕大部分作品，都是上釉的陶土雕塑；并且，他還給自己制作的

more colors to his reliefs, although he generally left the flesh part of his statues white.His best examples were reliefs of the Madonna and Child.

Andrea did a series of terra-cotta high reliefs of babies in swaddling clothes for the outside of a children's hospital and orphanage in Florence. Swaddling clothes are strips of cloth wrapped around and around the body of a newborn baby to keep it still and quiet.Each baby is on a separate round background.You may have seen plaster casts of these babies, but the plaster casts are white and do not show the colors that Andrea della Robbia put on the originals.Each figure is called a bambino, which means baby in Italian.

Luca Della Robbia is also famous for extending the relief by adding to it a frame that looks like a wreath of greens decorated with fruit. Today many wreaths of greens decorated with fruit are called Della Robbia for his famous relief frames.

浮雕作品增添了多種顏色，但雕塑的主體部分通常仍是白色的。他的代表作，就是《圣母與圣子》系列浮雕。

安德里亞還為佛羅倫薩一家兒童醫院兼孤兒院的外墻創作了一系列陶土高浮雕，其中的形象都是襁褓中的嬰兒。所謂的“襁褓”，就是嬰兒出生后，為了讓嬰兒安安靜靜、不哭不鬧而一層層地纏在嬰兒身上的那種布條。每座嬰兒浮雕，都雕刻在一個單獨的圓形基底之上。你們可能已經見過這些嬰兒浮雕的石膏復制品了；不過，石膏復制品是白色的，顯示不出安德里亞·德拉·羅比亞在原件上創作的各種顏色來。每一座嬰兒雕像，都被稱為“班比諾”（bambino）；在意大利語中，班比諾就是嬰兒的意思。

盧卡·德拉·羅比亞還因為給浮雕作品加上了一個看上去就像是一圈點綴著水果的綠葉外框而變得非常有名。如今，許多點綴著水果的綠葉花環，都因為他那種著名的浮雕邊框而被稱為“德拉·羅比亞環”呢。