TPO-11 Reading 1 阅读译文

Ancient EgyptianSculpture古埃及雕塑In order to understandancient Egyptian art,it isvital toknow asmuch aspossible of the eliteEgyptians*view of the worldand thefunctions andcontexts of the artproduced for them.Without thisknowledge wecan appreciateonly theformal contentof Egyptianart,and wewillfail tounderstand whyit wasproduced orthe conceptsthat shapedit andcaused it to adoptitsdistinctive forms.In fact,a lack of understandingconcerning thepurposes of Egyptianarthasoften leditto be comparedunfavorably with the artof othercultures:Why didthe Egyptiansnotdevelop sculpturein whichthe bodyturned andtwisted throughspace likeclassical GreekstatuaryWhy dothe artistsseem toget leftand rightconfused Andwhy didthey notdiscoverthe geometricperspective asEuropean artistsdid in the RenaissanceThe answerto suchquestionshas nothingto dowith alackofskill orimagination onthe partofEgyptianartists andeverythingto dowiththepurposes forwhich theywere producingtheir art.为了能深入理解古埃及艺术，极为重要的一点是要尽可能多地了解其精英阶层的世界观以及当时艺术创造的功能和背景若是没有这些认识，我们只能窥探到古埃及艺术的外在情境而无法理解它们创造出来的目的和所秉持的理念，也无法得知其采用的独特艺术形式的原因事实上，正是因为人们缺乏对这些根本意义的了解，让古埃及文化艺术在与其他艺术进行对比口寸往往遭到质疑为什么古埃及的雕塑作品不像古希腊的经典作品那样，在空间上进行弯曲和旋转？为什么那些艺术家看上去似乎都左右不分？又是为什么，在那些艺术作品里，完全没有体现过文艺复兴时期欧洲艺术里普遍采用的几何透视？然而，这些问题的答案完全不能说明古埃及的艺术家技艺不佳或者缺乏想象力，而恰恰体现了他们创造这些艺术的意义所在The majorityof three-dimensional representations,whether standing,seated,or kneeling,exhibitwhat iscalled frontality:they facestraight ahead,neither twistingnor turning.When suchstatuesare viewedin isolation,out of their originalcontext andwithout knowledgeof theirfunction,it iseasyto criticizethem for their rigidattitudes thatremained unchangedfor threethousand years.Frontality is,however,directly relatedto thefunctions ofEgyptian statuaryand thecontexts inwhichthe statues were setup.Statues werecreated notfortheirdecorative effectbut toplay aprimaryrole inthe cultsofthegods,the king,and thedead.They were designed tobe put inplaces wherethese beingscould manifestthemselves inorder tobe therecipients ofritual actions.Thus itmade senseto showthe statuelooking aheadat whatwas happeningin frontof it,so thattheliving performeroftheritual couldinteract withthe divineor deceasedrecipient.Very oftensuchstatues wereenclosed inrectangular shrinesor wallniches whoseonly openingwas atthefront,making itnatural forthe statueto display frontality.Other statuesweredesignedto beplacedwithin anarchitectural setting,for instance,in frontofthemonumental entrancegatewaysto templesknown aspylons,or inpillared courts,where theywould beplaced againstor betweenpillars:their frontalityworked perfectlywithin thearchitectural context.在大部分立体三维的雕像中，无论是站着，坐着抑或是跪着的，都体现着一种成为“正面描绘”的手法它们往往直面前方，从不弯曲或翻转如果脱离对其原始情境的了解和功能作用的认识这样单独看去，你将会对它们三千年不变的僵硬姿态发出责难然而事实上，这种“正面描绘”的展示手法与古埃及雕塑的功能和创造背景有着密切的联系当时，雕塑被创造出来不仅仅作为装饰，更重要的是应用于对神灵、国王和逝者的祭祀典礼上它们被特地放置着，使那些接受膜拜的神灵和人物得以显现，能够更直接地观看到整个仪式的表演，并能与表演者互通心灵，传达神意这些雕塑通常被放置在只有正面开口的矩形神龛或者壁龛中，这样也使得这些作品必须通过正面展现有些雕塑也被放置在建筑系列中，比如说，塔门（神殿通道入口的纪念碑）的正前方，和支柱结构法庭中的支柱对面或者两柱之间一一正是这种正面展示方式让这些雕塑都与周围的建筑环境相得益彰Statues werenormally madeof stone,wood,or metal.Stone statueswere workedfrom singlerectangularblocks ofmaterial andretained thecompactness ofthe originalshape.The stonebetween the armsand the body andbetweenthelegs instanding figuresorthelegs andthe seatinseated oneswas notnormally cutaway.From apractical aspectthis protectedthe figuresagainstbreakage andpsychologically givesthe imagesa senseof strengthand power,usually enhancedbya supportingback pillar.By contrast,wooden statueswere carvedfrom severalpieces ofwoodthat werepegged togetherto formthe finishedwork,and metalstatueswereeither madebywrapping sheetmetal arounda woodencore orcast bythe lostwax process.The armscouldbe heldaway from thebodyand carryseparate itemsin theirhands;there isno backpillar.Theeffect isaltogether lighterand freerthan thatachieved instone,but becauseboth performthesame function,formal woodenand metalstatues stilldisplayfrontality.这些雕塑通常是由石头，木材和金属做成的石制雕像是用长方形的石料制成，并且保持着原有的形状和比例站姿雕塑的身体与胳膊之间、两腿之间的石料或者是坐姿石像的大腿与座位之间的石料通常不会去掉从实际的外形来看通常石像会在背部增加一个支撑柱已达到保护石像的外形以免出现断裂并且在心理上展现并且增强一种力量与权利的感觉与之相比，木质雕像是把许多块木头钉在一起再进行雕刻而成的,金属雕塑是在木质的内里外涂上一层薄薄的金属，或是再用蜡抛光手臂可以离开身体并且保持拿在手中的东西与手之间相隔离它们也没有背部支柱效果相比于石质雕塑更亮表述也更自如但是因为都是用于相同的用途，木质的和金属的雕塑依旧是正面描绘的表现形式Apart fromstatues representingdeities,kings,and namedmembers ofthe elitethat canbe calledformal,there isanother groupof three-dimensional representationsthat depictsgeneric figures,frequently servants,fromthenonelite population.The functionof theseis quitedifferent.Manyare madetobeputinthe tombsoftheelite inordertoserve thetomb ownersintheafterlife.Unlike formalstatues thatare limitedto staticposes ofstanding,sitting,and kneeling,thesefigures depicta widerange ofactions,such asgrinding grain,baking bread,producing pots,andmaking music,and theyare shownin appropriateposes,bending andsquatting asthey carryouttheir tasks.除去为神灵，国王和有记载的贵族成员所塑的雕像会有特定的外形，其他的非贵族成员中和频繁出现的仆人都是用通用的一般化外表来描绘的很多都被制作出来放进贵族的棺材为的是在来生服侍墓地的主人不像一般的雕塑那样局限在站、坐或者跪儿个静态的姿势里这些图像描绘的行动相当多样，例如研磨谷物，烤焙面包，制作瓦罐或者演奏音乐，同时他们以适当的姿势，或弯腰或蹲下来完成他们的工作。