登陆注册
15706500000002

第2章 CHAPTER I(2)

Porbus bowed respectfully, and made way for his guest, allowing the youth to pass in at the same time, under the impression that he came with the old man, and taking no further notice of him; all the less perhaps because the neophyte stood still beneath the spell which holds a heaven-born painter as he sees for the first time an atelier filled with the materials and instruments of his art. Daylight came from a casement in the roof and fell, focussed as it were, upon a canvas which rested on an easel in the middle of the room, and which bore, as yet, only three or four chalk lines. The light thus concentrated did not reach the dark angles of the vast atelier; but a few wandering reflections gleamed through the russet shadows on the silvered breastplate of a horseman's cuirass of the fourteenth century as it hung from the wall, or sent sharp lines of light upon the carved and polished cornice of a dresser which held specimens of rare pottery and porcelains, or touched with sparkling points the rough-grained texture of ancient gold-brocaded curtains, flung in broad folds about the room to serve the painter as models for his drapery. Anatomical casts in plaster, fragments and torsos of antique goddesses amorously polished by the kisses of centuries, jostled each other upon shelves and brackets. Innumerable sketches, studies in the three crayons, in ink, and in red chalk covered the walls from floor to ceiling; color-boxes, bottles of oil and turpentine, easels and stools upset or standing at right angles, left but a narrow pathway to the circle of light thrown from the window in the roof, which fell full on the pale face of Porbus and on the ivory skull of his singular visitor.

The attention of the young man was taken exclusively by a picture destined to become famous after those days of tumult and revolution, and which even then was precious in the sight of certain opinionated individuals to whom we owe the preservation of the divine afflatus through the dark days when the life of art was in jeopardy. This noble picture represents the Mary of Egypt as she prepares to pay for her passage by the ship. It is a masterpiece, painted for Marie de Medicis, and afterwards sold by her in the days of her distress.

"I like your saint," said the old man to Porbus, "and I will give you ten golden crowns over and above the queen's offer; but as to entering into competition with her--the devil!""You do like her, then?"

"As for that," said the old man, "yes, and no. The good woman is well set-up, but--she is not living. You young men think you have done all when you have drawn the form correctly, and put everything in place according to the laws of anatomy. You color the features with flesh-tones, mixed beforehand on your palette,--taking very good care to shade one side of the face darker than the other; and because you draw now and then from a nude woman standing on a table, you think you can copy nature; you fancy yourselves painters, and imagine that you have got at the secret of God's creations! Pr-r-r-r!--To be a great poet it is not enough to know the rules of syntax and write faultless grammar.

Look at your saint, Porbus. At first sight she is admirable; but at the very next glance we perceive that she is glued to the canvas, and that we cannot walk round her. She is a silhouette with only one side, a semblance cut in outline, an image that can't turn nor change her position. I feel no air between this arm and the background of the picture; space and depth are wanting. All is in good perspective; the atmospheric gradations are carefully observed, and yet in spite of your conscientious labor I cannot believe that this beautiful body has the warm breath of life. If I put my hand on that firm, round throat Ishall find it cold as marble. No, no, my friend, blood does not run beneath that ivory skin; the purple tide of life does not swell those veins, nor stir those fibres which interlace like net-work below the translucent amber of the brow and breast. This part palpitates with life, but that other part is not living; life and death jostle each other in every detail. Here, you have a woman; there, a statue; here again, a dead body. Your creation is incomplete. You have breathed only a part of your soul into the well-beloved work. The torch of Prometheus went out in your hands over and over again; there are several parts of your painting on which the celestial flame never shone.""But why is it so, my dear master?" said Porbus humbly, while the young man could hardly restrain a strong desire to strike the critic.

"Ah! that is the question," said the little old man. "You are floating between two systems,--between drawing and color, between the patient phlegm and honest stiffness of the old Dutch masters and the dazzling warmth and abounding joy of the Italians. You have tried to follow, at one and the same time, Hans Holbein and Titian; Albrecht Durier and Paul Veronese. Well, well! it was a glorious ambition, but what is the result? You have neither the stern attraction of severity nor the deceptive magic of the chiaroscuro. See! at this place the rich, clear color of Titian has forced out the skeleton outline of Albrecht Durier, as molten bronze might burst and overflow a slender mould.

Here and there the outline has resisted the flood, and holds back the magnificent torrent of Venetian color. Your figure is neither perfectly well painted nor perfectly well drawn; it bears throughout the signs of this unfortunate indecision. If you did not feel that the fire of your genius was hot enough to weld into one the rival methods, you ought to have chosen honestly the one or the other, and thus attained the unity which conveys one aspect, at least, of life. As it is, you are true only on your middle plane. Your outlines are false;they do not round upon themselves; they suggest nothing behind them.

同类推荐
  • 融堂四书管见

    融堂四书管见

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 古本难经阐注

    古本难经阐注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 行营杂录

    行营杂录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 太上灵宝净明道元正印经

    太上灵宝净明道元正印经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 海上花魅影

    海上花魅影

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 将爱进行到底:BOSS太恶毒

    将爱进行到底:BOSS太恶毒

    若彤和杨峥的感情进入第十年的时候,高干子弟突然闯入,海归精英迷雾重重,情事起波澜,恩爱再三移,将爱情进行到底,是若彤永远无法到达的彼岸,还是她本就被人深爱至深?
  • 封魔仙经

    封魔仙经

    '祭品'少年神魂被锁,无法修仙,却因一场意外修行《封魔仙经》,踏上古今无人成功的修炼之途,以自身魔念为根基,净化九世,成就无上尊位,只手灭仙!
  • 永远的未成年少年

    永远的未成年少年

    是时候开始女主人公的真正竞猜了,请在不要看作品名字的前提下确定女主人公究竟是谁,猜对的人也没有奖
  • 恶魔契约:天使樱之恋

    恶魔契约:天使樱之恋

    她,因曾经的好伙伴的背叛,与恶魔签订契约她,在十年之后心碎归来,只为为那十年前为就她而死的妈妈,看冰山萝莉如何复仇
  • 绝色炼丹师:娘子,亲一个!

    绝色炼丹师:娘子,亲一个!

    她是21世纪的鬼门医主,天赋极高,穿越到了星陆的地方。成了君家的小废物。说姐是废物,姐先废了你。你有灵器很牛吗?姐喂鸟的盘子都是圣器。你有灵兽很牛么?姐手一挥青龙,白虎,玄武,朱雀,分分钟前来护主。她叱咤风云,成为星陆的第一强者。他是六界的的主宰,传言他的宫殿一之母蚊子都没,相貌风华无双。他爱慕她,把一切都给她,宠她入骨。有人问过他“在爱情面前你能卑微到什么程度?”"她给了我一巴掌,我问她的手为什么这么凉!”⊙▽⊙~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • 洪荒密钥

    洪荒密钥

    风皓辉是一名普普通通的大学生,因关乎自己身世的神奇玉佩上的图案而起,引发了风皓辉极其死党姜羽的好奇探索,探索中误穿梭到地球次元面的一个隐士小村庄,此村庄有着关乎地球远古文明消失的秘密,探索中,几人意外开启了村庄第50个未知房间,被分散传送到了一个未知位面,开始了神奇修行的道路,地球究竟有什么神奇的秘密,洪荒时代到底隐藏着一个怎样的惊天大密,一切尽在洪荒密钥。
  • 穿越之腹黑孤女

    穿越之腹黑孤女

    前生21世纪的她是一名孤儿,然夺回一切却也落个身亡火场。意外?怎么可能!异世大陆再次重生。再次睁眼,我,死了吗?火,还在烧着,死里逃生,我却不是之前的那个无牵无挂可以去拿性命做赌注的姬雪歌。三年在地下的修习,我——姬雪歌将改变这大陆的局面!若单单是这倾城姿色就成了自己的负担,没关系,“妞,给爷笑一个!”可以女扮男装!契约兽无限,阵容不断壮大。“爱财?毕竟自己有一大家要来养呢!”学院天才?不,本小姐是天才金字塔中的顶端。无尽美男围着转,运气好到老天都嫉妒!“雪儿,人家要亲亲啦~”
  • 尊武道

    尊武道

    崇尚武道的世界,因一场机遇而身体发生异变的小镇少年。至接触武学开始,一路高歌,灭强敌,踩天才,搅风云,登巅峰!
  • 海贼王之撒旦在世

    海贼王之撒旦在世

    一个高三狗在地震中穿越到了海贼王的世界并附身在了一个在冬岛刚刚冻死的人身上,正巧那个人身上还携带着两件东西——恶魔果实和魔刀·焱,故事就此展开……
  • 玄天手机

    玄天手机

    一场阴谋之下,落魄公子古月得到穿越者改装的超级手机,一条前人已定好的修炼之路,让古月开始一场精彩旅程,带领家族逐渐崛起。