Titian

Titian

The Renaissance¹ artists in 16th century Florence, the shift in creative power moved to Venice and into the hands of a supreme² master of color, light and sensuality who pioneered new techniques in oil painting, his name, Titian.

Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian in the English-speaking world was born in Pieve di Cadore, a small mountain town in northern Italy into a family of lawyers and administrators³.

So to the young Titian arriving here around 1500, it was a wealthy beautiful and sophisticated city offering highly 1)lucrative⁴ possibilities. Titian, clearly something of a 2)prodigy⁵ worked in a few minor⁶ painting workshops in the city before finding a place with the elderly 3)Giovanni Bellini, then the leading artist of Venice.

By the beginning of the 16th century, Venetian painting was beginning to display its own characteristics, different from the central Italian artistic⁷ concern with design and draftsmanship. Venetian art displayed a mastery of color and an obsession⁸ with the effects of light. The light reflected from the canals and 4)lagoons prompted painters to try and capture its qualities. The color 5)emulated the rich and dazzling fabrics¹¹ and jewels imported from far off lands.

Venice's damp climate made 6)fresco¹² painting, a method of painting water-based 7)pigments on freshly 8)plastered walls, rather difficult. They led artists to favor oil painting as a medium. As a result Venetians experimented further with oil paints than other Italian painters and popularized the use of oil on canvas rather than on wooden 9)panel, an innovation that Titian developed more than any other artist of his time.

Still in his teens Titian went to work with 10)Giorgione, the rising star of the Venetian art world, from whom Titian learnt a good deal. This is evident in early works like the Gypsy Madonna, painted around 1510, which shows a considerable mastery of working in oil, harmony of complementary colors and a great emphasis in landscape in composition. Titian had painted a number of commissions in churches but in 1516 he got a big commission, which established his reputation throughout Venice and beyond. It was here in the Ferrara church and it was this work which is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin¹⁴ Mary.

In 1530 Titian went to Bologna to attend the 11)coronation of Charles V and he was introduced to the new Holy Roman Emperor who at that time was the most powerful man in the world. As Holy Roman Emperor he effectively ruled throughout central Europe and as king of Spain he ruled territories in the Spanish Netherlands as well as numerous places in the new world. He commissioned Titian to paint a portrait immediately and that's now lost but three years later Titian began a succession of royal portraits of which this is the most impressive and important. Unusually it's a full-length image of the Emperor who stands before us with a suggestion of calm, strong authority. When you get close up the brush strokes are feathery, move away though and the image crystallizes. Likewise Charles emerges out of the darkness behind into the light. The painting was a great success for Titian, he was immediately invited to become a court painter and join the order of the 12)golden spur which gave him 13)rites as a 14)courtier.

The elderly Titian's final years saw him continue to paint 15)prolifically¹⁶ with works defined by a dramatic 16)intensity¹⁷ in an increasingly loose and liberated¹⁸ style. An acute awareness¹⁹ of impending²⁰ death seems 17)blatant²¹ in the last painting Piata in which Titian was working in 1576, when Venice was 18)ravaged by yet another 19)gruesome plague. Titian died on the 22nd of August of that year although not actually of the plague but it got his some soon afterwards along with nearly 70,000 Venetians. And so Titian was buried in the splendid Ferrara church surrounded by two of his most accomplished²³ masterpieces. Titian was the brightest star in the dazzling firmament²⁴ of 16th century Venice, whose use of color and light transformed European art and whose physical expressiveness²⁵ began a revolution in painting. His work was sought and owned by many of the most powerful people in his world making him perhaps the first truly international artist.

注释:
1) lucrative [5lju:krEtiv] a. 有利可图的
2) prodigy [5prCdidVi] n. 神童
3) Giovanni Bellini 乔凡尼·贝利尼（约1429-1516）是威尼斯15世纪最杰出的画家。威尼斯画派可以说就是由他开始的。
4) lagoon⁹ [lE5^u:n] n. 泻湖
5) emulate¹⁰ [5emju7leit] v. 模仿
6) fresco [5freskEu] n. 湿壁画技法
7) pigment¹³ [5pi^mEnt] n. 颜料
8) plaster [5plB:stE] n. 灰泥，石膏粉
9) panel [5pAnEl] n. 油画板
10) Giorgione 乔尔乔内(1478-1510)是文艺复兴盛期威尼斯第一位大画家，也曾在乔凡尼·贝利尼门下学习过
11) coronation [kR:rE5neiFEn] n. 加冕
12) golden spur 金马刺，这里指代皇室
13) rite¹⁵ [rait] n. 仪式，典礼
14) courtier [5kC:tjE] n. 廷臣
15) prolifically [prEu5lifikli] ad. 多产的
16) intensity [in5tensiti] n. 专心致志
17) blatant [5bleitEnt] a. 极明显的
18) ravage²² [5rAvidV] v. 蹂躏
19) gruesome [5^ru:sEm] a. 可怕的

提香

    他是十六世纪佛罗伦萨文艺复兴时期的艺术家，极富创造力，后移居威尼斯，擅长色彩、光线和感能的描绘，他是油画届的先驱，他的名字就是提香。
    提香本名蒂齐亚诺·维塞利奥，说英语的人都叫他“提香”。他出生于意大利北部一个小山镇皮耶夫·迪·卡多雷，一个律师和教员的家庭。
    年幼的提香大约在1500年来到威尼斯，这个美丽富有、历经沧桑而又商机丛生的城市。天分颇高的提香首先在几个小画坊里打工，后来又成了年老的乔凡尼·贝利尼的学徒，乔凡尼是当时威尼斯首屈一指的艺术家。在16世纪初期，威尼斯的画作开始显示自己独特的个性，与意大利中部设计和工艺的艺术理念有所区别。威尼斯画作展示了画家对色彩和光线效果运用的娴熟手法。从河渠及湖水中反射出来的光促使画家抓住它们的特征。远涉重洋进口而来的珠宝和令人眼花缭乱的华贵的织物则通过色彩来还原其特征。
    威尼斯潮湿的气候使湿壁画--用一种以水为基础的颜料在新刷的墙壁上作画的方法--更难以实现。他们引导艺术家转向油画。结果，威尼斯的艺术家们的油画实验比意大利其他画家的将更进一步，他们用帆布取代木板作画，并将之普及。在那个年代，提香为将这项革新发扬光大所作出的努力是任何其他艺术家都多。
    在提香还是个少年的时候，他曾和威尼斯艺术界的新星乔尔乔内一起工作过，并从他那儿学到了很多。这一点在他早期的作品中可以很明显地看出来，例如这幅《Gypsy Madonna》，大约在1510年完成，显示了画家对油画和补充着色的协调感的技巧已是炉火纯青，并着重突出了风景的描绘。提香受委托为教堂画了许多画，到1516年，他接到了一项重要的任务，并使他名扬四海，就是现在费拉拉教堂里的这幅《圣母升天》。
    1530年，提香来到博洛尼亚参加查尔斯五世的加冕典礼，他被引见给新神圣罗马帝国的皇帝，也是当时世界上最有权力的人。这位神圣罗马帝国的皇帝统治着整个中欧，作为西班牙国王，他不仅统治着西班牙和荷兰，还管辖着新疆域里的许多土地。他命令提香立即为他画一幅肖像画，这幅画现在已遗失，但三年后，提香接任宫廷画师，这是令人印象最深刻的，也是最重要的。与通常的画像不同的是，我们眼前的这幅皇帝画像是站立的全身像，给人一种沉着、威严的感觉。当你走近这幅画的时候，画像的笔触变得柔软如羽毛，走开一些画像会变得更加清晰，好像查尔斯从后面的暗处浮现出来，笼罩在光亮中。这幅画是提香最成功的画作之一，他立即被邀请成为宫廷画师，效命于皇室，并举行了仪式成为一名朝臣。
    提香临终前的最后几年里，他继续用极大的热情和益发自由的风格来作画，创作出了大量作品。1576年，提香在创作《Piata》的时候，他清楚地感受到了死亡迫近时的喧嚣，而此时威尼斯正遭受另一场可怕的瘟疫的蹂躏。同年的8月22日，提香去世了，尽管实际上死因并不是那场瘟疫，但最终瘟疫还是夺走了七万威尼斯人的生命。于是提香被安葬在华美的费拉拉教堂，旁边安放着两幅他最著名的杰作。提香是十六世纪的威尼斯璀璨夜空上最闪亮的那颗星，他使用色彩和光线的手法改写了欧洲艺术史，他的自然表现法引起了绘画界的一场革命。许多最有权势的人都寻求及拥有他的画作，这也许使得他成为世界上第一个国际艺术家。

1 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。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

4 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

5 prodigy   

n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆

参考例句：

• She was a child prodigy on the violin.她是神童小提琴手。
• He was always a Negro prodigy who played barbarously and wonderfully.他始终是一个黑人的奇才，这种奇才弹奏起来粗野而惊人。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

8 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

9 lagoon   

n.泻湖，咸水湖

参考例句：

• The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish.那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
• This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment.将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。

10 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

11 fabrics   

织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地

参考例句：

• cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
• The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。

12 fresco   

n.壁画；vt.作壁画于

参考例句：

• This huge fresco is extremely clear and just like nature itself.It is very harmonious.这一巨幅壁画，清晰有致且又浑然天成，十分和谐。
• So it is quite necessary to study the influence of visual thinking over fresco.因此，研究视觉思维对壁画的影响和作用是十分必要的。

13 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

14 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。

15 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

16 prolifically   

adv.多产地，丰富地

参考例句：

• He wrote prolifically both in Ireland and England, nearly constantly shuttling from one to the other. 他几乎不断穿梭于爱尔兰和英国之间，并在两地写出大量作品。 来自互联网
• He had directed his first film in 1923 and had worked prolifically throughout the silent era. 1923年，沟口健二执导了他的处女作，在之后的整个默片时代里，他创作了大量作品。 来自互联网

17 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

18 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

19 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

20 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

21 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

22 ravage   

vt.使...荒废，破坏...；n.破坏，掠夺，荒废

参考例句：

• Just in time to watch a plague ravage his village.恰好目睹了瘟疫毁灭了他的村庄。
• For two decades the country has been ravaged by civil war and foreign intervention.20年来，这个国家一直被内战外侵所蹂躏。

23 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

24 firmament   

n.苍穹；最高层

参考例句：

• There are no stars in the firmament.天空没有一颗星星。
• He was rich,and a rising star in the political firmament.他十分富有，并且是政治高层一颗冉冉升起的新星。

25 expressiveness   

n.富有表现力

参考例句：

• His painting rose to a fresh expressiveness and revealed a shrewder insight. 他的画富有一种新的表达力，显示出更敏锐的洞察力。
• The audiences are impressed by the expressiveness of the actors. 演员们的丰富表情给观众留下了深刻的印象。