第17章　切利尼創作“珀耳修斯”

意大利有一個家喻戶曉的、技術最高超的金匠，名叫本韋努托·切利尼。由于他用黃金、白銀和寶石雕琢而成的作品都極其精美，因此如今我們保存下來的為數不多的那幾件樣品，全都保存在博物館里，被人們認為是無價之寶呢。

雖說切利尼是一位金匠，可他卻覺得，自己也可以創作出優秀的雕塑作品來。盡管他很喜歡吹噓這一點，可他總能兌現每一句大話，因為后來表明，他的青銅雕塑確實像他自夸的那樣優秀哩。

切利尼住在佛羅倫薩。當時的佛羅倫薩公爵要他制作一尊青銅雕塑，描繪珀耳修斯砍掉美杜莎這個丑陋怪物腦袋時的情形。切利尼努力工作了很久的時間，才制作出了一個他認為剛好合適的《珀耳修斯砍下美杜莎頭顱》的陶土模型來。接著，他便開始用青銅來澆鑄這尊塑像。

如今，一位雕塑家倘若想要制作一尊青銅雕塑的話，首先會制作出一個陶土模型，然后再將陶土模型送到青銅鑄造廠，由鑄造廠去澆鑄塑像。這對雕塑家來說較為輕松，因為他可以將所有時間都放到制作雕塑模型上，而不必親自去用青銅澆鑄出雕像來。可在“文藝復興”時期，像切利尼這樣的雕塑家，通常既需制作陶土模型，還得親自去用青銅澆鑄出雕像。雕塑家去干這種事情，通常都是很不容易的。

切利尼的這尊《珀耳修斯砍下美杜莎頭顱》，尺寸原定比真人大；可當時佛羅

casting of such a big statue.Even the Duke of Florence told Cellini he thought it would be unwise for a goldsmith who is used to working with tiny jewels to cast a large bronze statue.

All this discussion, however, made Cellini all the more anxious to do the bronze statue. He began by building a furnace to melt the bronze.Then he dug a pit to put the mold in and connected it with tubes so that the melted bronze could run down into the mold and harden.The mold was just the shape of the statue.To make it easier, Cellini cast the Medusa part of the statue first.Medusa turned out very well indeed.

Then Cellini began casting Perseus. This was much harder to do because of its greater size and peculiar shape.The fire in the furnace melting the bronze got so hot that the roof of Cellini's house caught fire.Cellini himself had to work like a fiend to keep the fire burning in the furnace.He became so exhausted that he suddenly became ill and had to go to bed, telling his helpers what to do.He felt so sick he thought he was going to die.

Before long, one of the helpers came to Cellini's room and told him the statue was ruined, as the bronze was not melting right. Cellini, in spite of his sickness, jumped out of bed and ran to the furnace.He was a very hot-tempered man and now he was so angry with his helpers that he frightened them and they jumped every time he spoke.

During his rage, a storm had moved in and it began to rain. Cellini sent two men out for more wood for the furnace fire and then the fire got so hot that the roof caught fire again.Cellini ordered some of the helpers to put up boards or carpets to help keep off the rain.

倫薩的許多人都說，切利尼這位金匠是不可能澆鑄出這樣一尊大型的青銅雕塑來的。連佛羅倫薩公爵本人也曾對切利尼說，他覺得，讓一位習慣于制作小型珠寶的金匠來澆鑄一尊大型的青銅雕像，可能有點兒失策呢。

然而，這些指指點點，反而使得切利尼更加心切地要制作出這尊青銅雕像了。他首先建造了一座用于熔化青銅的爐子。接著，他又挖了一個大坑來放置模具，并用管道將模具與爐子連接起來，好讓熔化的青銅順著管道下流到模具里，然后冷卻、硬化。模具的外形，就是成品雕塑的樣子。為了省時省力，切利尼首先澆鑄的是雕塑上的美杜莎這一部分。結果表明，美杜莎這一部分的確澆鑄得很不錯。

接下來，切利尼開始澆鑄珀耳修斯這一部分。這一部分要難澆鑄得多，因為它的尺寸比美杜莎大很多，形狀也很特別。由于熔化青銅的爐火燒得過旺，因此切利尼家的屋頂都被點著了。切利尼自己必須像傳說中的惡魔一樣，盡力讓爐火不致熄滅。因為太過勞累，他一下子病倒了，只能臥床休息，吩咐幫工去干。他病得極其厲害，一度以為自己快要死了呢。

不久后，一名幫工跑到切利尼的房間里來，對他說那尊雕像毀了，因為青銅熔化得不合適。盡管生著病，切利尼還是從床上一躍而起，向熔爐跑去。他的脾氣本來就很暴躁，此時更是對著幫工們大發雷霆，把他們都嚇壞了，因此他每說一句話，幫工們都會嚇得跳起來。

就在他大發脾氣的過程中，一場暴風雨降臨，開始下起雨來。切利尼派兩人出去，搬來了更多的木柴，把爐火燒旺；可之后弄得火勢過猛，又一次把房頂點著了。切利尼命令幾名幫工將板子或氈毯搭起來擋雨。然后，他們又用很長的鐵棍攪

Then they stirred the bronze with long iron rods until it began to be the right thickness again.

Suddenly there was a great flash of light and the crash of an explosion. They were all too scared to move.Then Cellini saw that the cap of the furnace had blown off and the bronze was bubbling over the top.So he quickly opened the tubes that would let the metal flow into the mold below.

Still the bronze didn't flow freely. Cellini thought the great heat had eaten up the metal that was mixed with the copper to make it flow.What was he to do?You'll never guess what he did.

He got all the pewter platters, bowls, and dishes in the house and threw them into the melting bronze. Pewter is a soft metal that was often used for dishes.The pewter melted and mixed with the bronze.The bronze flowed and soon the mold was filled.The scheme had worked.Cellini was so pleased he forgot all about his sickness.The next morning the servants had to go out and buy new dishes before they could serve breakfast.

拌爐中的青銅熔液，直到熔液開始再次達到合適的稠度。

突然之間，天空中劃過一道巨大的閃電，然后又是咔嚓一聲炸雷。他們都嚇得不敢動彈。后來，切利尼看到爐頂被大風刮掉了，青銅熔液升到了爐頂，不斷翻滾著。于是，他馬上打開管道的閥門，讓青銅熔液順著管道流向下面的鑄模。

可是，青銅熔液流動得仍然不夠順暢。切利尼認為，是爐中的高溫熔掉了混入銅液之中、用于讓熔液流動起來的那種金屬。他該怎么辦呢？你們永遠都猜不到他采取的辦法呢。

他馬上將家里所有的白镴盤子、碗碟找出來，全都丟進了青銅熔液當中。白镴是一種質地較軟的金屬，通常都用于制作盤子。白镴熔化之后，便與青銅熔液混合起來了。青銅熔液流淌起來，很快便注滿了模具。這種辦法奏效了。切利尼大感欣慰，完全忘掉了自己的病。第二天早上，他的仆人只得出去買來一些新的碗碟，然后大家才有碗碟吃早飯呢。

In the finished statue of Perseus Beheading Medusa-cast in bronze with so much bragging and trouble and excitement by Cellini-Perseus holds up the head of Medusa that he has just cut off. He is not looking at it because that would turn him to stone.The statue was set up in Florence and there it still stands, admired all the more by those who know how hard the artist Cellini worked to cast it.

這尊完工后名叫《珀耳修斯砍下美杜莎頭顱》的雕像，是切利尼在夸下海口之后，既經歷了巨大的困難，又經歷了一個個激動人心的時刻，用青銅澆鑄而成的；作品描繪的是珀耳修斯剛剛砍下美杜莎的腦袋，將其提在手中的情形。作品中的珀耳修斯并沒有看著美杜莎的腦袋，因為只要看上一眼，他就會變成石頭。這尊雕塑坐落在佛羅倫薩，并且如今依然屹立在那里；而人們在得知切利尼這位藝術家經歷了那么多艱辛才澆鑄出這尊塑像之后，對這件作品就更加景仰了。