美国国家公共电台 NPR Correction: What Is The Shell In The 'Birth Of Venus' Painting?

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Now, a correction. On Tuesday, we ran a story about the famous Renaissance¹ painting the "Birth Of Venus" by Sandro Boticelli.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

You know the image - a nude² Venus, head tilted³, red hair flowing and, strategically placed, stands inside a giant shell - a shell we repeatedly described as a clam⁴ shell.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

ANDREA SHEA, BYLINE⁵: Venus on a giant clamshell...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

SHAPIRO: The image of the nude goddess on a clamshell has been...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SIMPSONS")

HANK AZARIA: (As Carl Carlson) Ain't you ever seen a naked chick riding a clam before?

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

DAVID MIRKIN: Of her riding on a clam.

SHAPIRO: Well, many of you wrote in to say, hey, I know my bivalves. That's no clam.

CORNISH: So what is it? Well, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence where the painting usually hangs expertly dodges⁶ the question. Its guide to the artwork says Venus is portrayed⁷ naked on a shell on the seashore. On her left, the winds blow gently, caressing⁸ her hair with a shower of roses.

SHAPIRO: OK, no help there, so we called an expert.

ELLEN STRONG: I know this painting very well, yes, of course. It's a classic. My name is Ellen Strong, and I study snails⁹, which is not really a great way to introduce yourself at a cocktail¹⁰ party.

SHAPIRO: OK. Strong is being modest. She doesn't just study snails. She is a mollusk¹¹ expert at the National Museum of Natural History here in Washington, D.C. We pulled up an image of the "Birth Of Venus" on the computer and told her to go take a look. Name that shell.

STRONG: So the scientific word would be pecten. Considering that Boticelli lived in Italy, this may have been a species called Pecten jacobaeus.

SHAPIRO: Pecten jacobaeus, of course.

CORNISH: In layman's terms...

STRONG: It is definitively¹² a scallop shell. No question.

SHAPIRO: Not a clam.

STRONG: The most prominent feature are those radiating features of the shell. That is very characteristic of a scallop shell.

CORNISH: OK, but Botticelli was painting hundreds of years ago - the 15th century, in fact. Is it possible that shells have changed since then?

STRONG: No (laughter).

CORNISH: All right, all right, fine. Definitely a scallop, right?

ANTHONY COLANTUONO: Well, it's not a clam shell (laughter) but does it really matter in this day and age of ours what kind of shell it is?

SHAPIRO: That's Anthony Colantuono, specialist in Renaissance and Baroque art history at the University of Maryland, College Park.

COLANTUONO: Even I, who am the most persnickety of art historical iconographers, wouldn't think of that as an offense¹³ to all, you know, kind of crustaceans¹⁴ and gastropods.

CORNISH: Colantuono says what may have added to our cockle confusion is that even in the art world, the "Birth Of Venus" lends itself to a certain shorthand.

COLANTUONO: A lot of our historians have called it "Venus On The half Shell" from the podium in the lecture hall. You know, it's just a colloquial¹⁵ thing. So I find it, you know, somewhat amusing. Of course, being the persnickety iconographer I am, if I was writing a formal art historical article, I would find out what kind of a shell it was and, you know, put that in there.

SHAPIRO: Well, professor, problem solved. It's a scallop. You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF BIXIGA 70'S "KALIMBA")

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 nude   

adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品

参考例句：

• It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude.这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
• She doesn't like nude swimming.她不喜欢裸泳。

3 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

4 clam   

n.蛤，蛤肉

参考例句：

• Yup!I also like clam soup and sea cucumbers.对呀！我还喜欢蛤仔汤和海参。
• The barnacle and the clam are two examples of filter feeders.藤壶和蛤类是滤过觅食者的两种例子。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 dodges   

n.闪躲( dodge的名词复数 )；躲避；伎俩；妙计v.闪躲( dodge的第三人称单数 )；回避

参考例句：

• He tried all sorts of dodges to avoid being called up. 他挖空心思，耍弄各种花招以逃避被征召入伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Those were the dodges he used to escape taxation. 那些是他用以逃税的诡计。 来自辞典例句

7 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》

8 caressing   

爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的

参考例句：

• The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
• He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里，不断抚摸着鞑靼，它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。

9 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

11 mollusk   

n.软体动物

参考例句：

• I swear I have never seen such a mollusk with thorns all over its body.我敢发誓我从来没有见过这种全身长满棘刺的软体动物。
• The colour varies with the mollusk and its environment.颜色因母体及其环境的不同而异。

12 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

13 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

14 crustaceans   

n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句

15 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。