美国国家公共电台 NPR--'Visualizing the Virgin' shows Mary in the Middle Ages

'Visualizing¹ the Virgin²' shows Mary in the Middle Ages

Transcript³

For religious Christians⁴, Christmas is all about Jesus Christ. But his mother Mary was busy, too, giving birth. Over the centuries, Mary became one of the most popular figures of Christendom. Yet she appears in only a handful of pages in the Gospels. Visualizing the Virgin Mary — an exhibition of illuminated⁵ manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles — shows how she was portrayed⁶ by artists in the Middle Ages, before Renaissance⁷ artists decided⁸ she had golden curls, perfect skin and blue eyes.

Mary doesn't look that cozy⁹ and welcoming in the early manuscripts. The exhibit, curated by Maeve O'Donnell-Morales, shows her as thin and dour¹⁰, a devoted¹¹ mother.

Yet much of Mary's popularity rests on her approachable personality, says Elizabeth Morrison, senior curator of manuscripts at the Getty Center.

"In the early Middle Ages, Jesus was a little bit of a scary figure," she says, explaining that talk about damnation and hellfire was a little distressing¹² for ordinary worshippers. "So they latched¹³ onto the Virgin Mary as someone they thought could really empathize with them. They had someone who was kind of on their side."

Mary was warm, inclusive, understanding. Devout¹⁴ Catholics told her their problems, and she told them to her holy Son.

For centuries there's been debate about Mary. Was she born without original sin? Was Christ her only child? Was she really a virgin? What about after Jesus was born?

In the Gospel of James, a midwife doubted the Virgin was still a virgin. That gynecological observation didn't go well for the midwife. Her hands shriveled up. The midwife went to see Mary, and said: I don't doubt you anymore. You're totally a virgin. The Virgin asked an angel to bring back the doubting midwife's hands. And so it came to pass.

Thousands of years later, the stories continue. Some contemporary artists are changing assumptions about what the Virgin represents.

"All to the good," says Morrison. "They're making us double-think it. They're saying 'OK, she's not the figure you thought you saw.'"

Today's artists see the Virgin as a feminist¹⁵, a West African deity¹⁶, an inspiration for tattoos¹⁷.

Art — like Mary — is eternal.

1 visualizing   

肉眼观察

参考例句：

• Nevertheless, the Bohr model is still useful for visualizing the structure of an atom. 然而，玻尔模型仍有利于使原子结构形象化。
• Try to strengthen this energy field by visualizing the ball growing stronger. 通过想象能量球变得更强壮设法加强这能量场。

2 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

6 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

10 dour   

adj.冷酷的，严厉的；（岩石）嶙峋的；顽强不屈

参考例句：

• They were exposed to dour resistance.他们遭受到顽强的抵抗。
• She always pretends to be dour,in fact,she's not.她总表现的不爱讲话，事实却相反。

11 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

12 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

13 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

15 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

16 deity   

n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物)

参考例句：

• Many animals were seen as the manifestation of a deity.许多动物被看作神的化身。
• The deity was hidden in the deepest recesses of the temple.神藏在庙宇壁龛的最深处。

17 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》