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
  • 南宋元明禅林僧宝传

    南宋元明禅林僧宝传

    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。
  • 绘宗十二忌

    绘宗十二忌

    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。
  • 词苑萃编

    词苑萃编

    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。
  • 佛说阿鸠留经

    佛说阿鸠留经

    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。
  • 原要论

    原要论

    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
  • 快穿之配角逆袭

    快穿之配角逆袭

    被男友与好友背叛,不小心出车祸而死。遇上个一言不和就要她坠入无间地狱的系统,从此走上为无罪的女配制造有罪的证剧。
  • 暗香

    暗香

    这是一部长篇小说,讲述了四十年代出生的铁路技术高级工程师周桂欣的一生。小说从他考上江南理工大学讲起,以他与失散多年的初恋情人夏丹的重逢作为结尾,讲到了他与孙教授的师生情、与夏丹的恋情、与家人的亲情,以及与童养媳即后来的妻子张翠翠的情感纠葛。
  • 夫人太绝情

    夫人太绝情

    她是隐士宗门的圣女,愿以生命为代价只为情留,她冷媚却又多情。她是武神大陆蓝家嫡女,拥一身绝学叱咤风云,高冷无情却成为别人手中的亡命棋子。当她降临在他的身上,昔日的脑残天才将要闪瞎多少狗贼的眼?当她遇上他,一句誓言她成他的妻。当她遇上他,一块裹胸布她成他的妾。你当老娘是死的啊,你说嫁就嫁。拿着二十一世纪新女性的姿态挑战武神大陆的骚年。呐?还是且行且珍惜吧!【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 独夫

    独夫

    独王独夫来相聚,天下皆醉我独醒,故独夫不独,一届少年的心酸成长史。
  • 当冷情总裁遇上女上校

    当冷情总裁遇上女上校

    薄情爱上黎笙是七年前,黎笙爱上薄情是七年后,薄情为了黎笙选择了改变,选择了隐忍,选择了放手;黎笙因为薄情选择了相信,选择面对,面对亲生父母和养父母的感情,面对着一场场的阴谋。这是一个场灰姑娘变公主的故事,一个冷情总裁遇上女上校的故事。后来,他们有这样的对话,“老婆,你都不看我,看看我嘛。”“一边待着去,谁是你老婆,还没结婚呢。”人生不言放弃,生活不过选择。
  • 陌生暖男王俊凯

    陌生暖男王俊凯

    和“陌生”暖男王俊凯一起上学发现他是自己一直等待的那个人,失忆后一个“陌生人”在照顾自己
  • 君临天下之轮回若梦

    君临天下之轮回若梦

    连天大陆的最早的一批超脱者为损落?每个时代的盖世奇才为何都消失不见?天下英才为何不断的被势力刺杀?百年年前为何天下势力纷乱相争战,幸存的强者逼而不提?“天意·哈哈”君若梦癫狂大笑道;“少拿天意糊弄我,我知道每一次所谓的天意都是人为的按排与推动,都是别有用心之人精心设计。休说天意不由人,我命由我不由天。”看平凡少年君若梦在所谓的天意中,君临天下。
  • 阳天帝国

    阳天帝国

    巨月的卫星中一颗蓝绿相间的星球上一个少年苏醒了
  • 如果只是梦一场

    如果只是梦一场

    如果只是梦一场,醒来何必多思量;眼边清泪两三行,哪里只是梦一场。一个关于世俗观念的故事,讲述三家因为生男孩女孩不遂人愿的问题,而相互换孩子,让别人代养,最终三家酿成大错,害的三家家破人亡,造成终生的遗憾。由于一时冲动而把孩子交换了,待到心中渐渐开化时,才感到自己的所作所为是多么的可怜,可恨,可悲,可气,可叹。这时便想到“如果”。哎,如果当初我不做这件蠢事,哪有现在这样悲惨的结局呢?是的,如果早早的就看到后面的结果,即便是傻子也不会去做。可是事情已成定局,只顾着悔恨是毫无意义的,只有用泪水和痛苦去洗刷生活中的每一天。正所谓:头白眼花才回头,事物成败已定头。待到回心转意时,阎王那边斩断头。
  • 蒙养诗教

    蒙养诗教

    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。