By V. M. Hillyer ——V. M. 希利爾
V. M. 希利爾(1875—1931),美國著名的兒童教育家、科普作家,創(chuàng)建了卡爾弗特教育體系。他為孩子們編寫了一套趣味盎然的歷史、地理、藝術(shù)讀物,即《寫給孩子看的世界歷史》《寫給孩子看的世界地理》《寫給孩子看的藝術(shù)史》。本文選自《寫給孩子看的藝術(shù)史》。
Have you a bicycle? Where I used to live, most boys had bicycles. We used to ride our bicycles out to a field where we could play baseball. One afternoon one of the boys was late getting there. But when he did come he broke up the baseball game. He had left his bicycle at home and was driving a goat hitched to a little cart. At once all of us other boys wanted a goat too, even though a goat wasnt nearly so good for getting anywhere in a hurry.
And that is just like what happened three hundred years ago in England. An architect named Inigo Jones went to study architecture in Italy. He saw the Italian Renaissance buildings there. He studied the old Roman buildings, and when he got back to England he began designing Renaissance buildings. They were new to Englishmen, just as the goat was new to us boys, and every one wanted a Renaissance building just as all of us wanted a goat.
你有沒有自行車呢?在我小的時候,幾乎每一個小男孩人手一輛自行車。當(dāng)時,我們常常騎車一起去打棒球。一天下午,有個小男孩來晚了。但是他一來就擾亂了棒球比賽,因為大家一見到他就馬上停止了比賽。其中的原因是這個小男孩把自行車扔在家里了,他就在一輛小推車前拴了一只山羊,然后坐在小推車上,趕著山羊就過來了。突然之間,其他小男孩全都想要一只山羊,盡管山羊根本不適合趕路的時候用。
不過這種物以稀為貴的新鮮感不僅出現(xiàn)在這里,在300年前(本書出版于20世紀(jì)二三十年代,相距時間為300多年)的英國也出現(xiàn)了同樣的情況。當(dāng)時一個建筑師名叫伊尼戈·瓊斯,他去意大利學(xué)習(xí)建筑時,看見了很多意大利文藝復(fù)興式建筑,他還學(xué)習(xí)并研究了古羅馬的建筑。等伊尼戈·瓊斯回到英國之后,他就著手開始設(shè)計文藝復(fù)興式建筑了。當(dāng)時的文藝復(fù)興式建筑對于英國人來說非常新鮮,人人都想有一棟文藝復(fù)興式建筑,這就像那只山羊?qū)ξ覀兡侨盒∧泻⒌臎_擊一樣,突然之間每個男孩都想有一只山羊。
Soon a great palace for the king, called the Palace of Whitehall, was designed in the Renaissance style. But the only part of the design that was built was the banqueting hall. This was Inigo Jones best-known piece of architecture. The Banqueting Hall of Whitehall became a famous building. It looks something like the Petit Trianon at Versailles. It was the first of many English buildings based on the Roman and Italian designs.
很快,文藝復(fù)興式的風(fēng)格就用在了為國王修建的王宮上,這座大型的宮殿名叫“懷特霍爾宮(白廳)”。不過,這整個設(shè)計中后來唯一修建的部分只有宴會廳。宴會廳是由伊尼戈·瓊斯設(shè)計的,這也是他所設(shè)計的建筑中最有名的一件作品。懷特霍爾宮的宴會廳后來也成為非常著名的建筑,它看起來有點像凡爾賽宮庭院里的小特里亞農(nóng)宮。懷特霍爾宮的宴會廳是英國第一座基于古羅馬和意大利設(shè)計風(fēng)格修建的建筑。
The Banqueting Hall is a good example of the outside not being the outside of the inside. The outside looks like a building with two stories, but there is only one story inside—just one big room with a balcony around the walls.
The Banqueting Hall is, however, a beautiful building both inside and out. Notice the Roman columns and the rusticated stone-work at the street level, just like the Italian Renaissance buildings. The Banqueting Hall is still called by that name, although it was used as a chapel for many years and finally turned into a museum.
懷特霍爾宮的宴會廳就是那種“建筑外部并不代表建筑內(nèi)部結(jié)構(gòu)”的最佳范例。這是因為懷特霍爾宮宴會廳從外部來看,像是一棟兩層樓的建筑,但事實上,它的內(nèi)部只有一層樓——只是一個在墻的四周有露臺的大房間。
然而,懷特霍爾宮宴會廳的內(nèi)部和外部都非常漂亮。你看看上面的那幅圖片,臨街那一面的羅馬柱式和粗放雕琢的石藝風(fēng)格,是不是有很典型的意大利文藝復(fù)興式建筑的風(fēng)格呢?雖然懷特霍爾宮的宴會廳在后來的許多年中都被用來做禮拜堂,而且最后又被改成了博物館,但是“宴會廳”這個名字卻一直沿用至今。
The next great architect in England after Inigo Jones wasnt an architect at all. At least, not at first. He was an astronomer and a college professor. He was Sir Christopher Wren.
Sir Christopher Wren became famous as an architect because of a fire. It was one of the biggest fires in the history of the world and happened in 1666. A building in London took fire. The fire spread to other buildings and could not be stopped. Soon a large part of London was burning down. “London Bridge Is Burning Down” would have made a good song for 1666. Besides London Bridge and thousands of other buildings, over fifty churches were burned. The biggest of these was old St Pauls Cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren was given the job of making new designs both for St Pauls and for the other churches.
Sir Christopher thought Gothic was a poor kind of architecture. He liked the Renaissance style and so he built the new St Pauls Cathedral as a Renaissance building.
在伊尼戈·瓊斯之后,英國又出現(xiàn)了另一位著名的建筑師,而他根本不是建筑師——至少最開始他不是學(xué)建筑出身。他本來是一名天文學(xué)家,也是一位大學(xué)教授。他就是克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士。
克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士是因為一場大火,才變成了著名的建筑師。1666年,一場大火發(fā)生在倫敦,是有史以來世界上最大的火災(zāi)之一。那時,倫敦突然有一棟大樓起火,并很快蔓延到了周邊建筑,而絲毫沒有要減滅的意思,人們也無法控制火勢。很快,倫敦城內(nèi)的大片建筑都被燒毀了?!秱惗卮髽蚩逑聛怼愤@首歌放在1666年還是很應(yīng)景的。因為倫敦大橋也被燒毀了。不只是倫敦大橋,還有數(shù)以萬計的建筑都在這次火災(zāi)中化為灰燼,這其中也包括了超過五十座的教堂。這些教堂中,最大的一座便是有著悠久歷史的圣保羅大教堂。災(zāi)難過后,克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士被委以重任——對圣保羅大教堂以及其他許多座教堂重新設(shè)計建造。
克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士認(rèn)為哥特式建筑風(fēng)格是一種差勁的建筑風(fēng)格。而他喜歡的是文藝復(fù)興式建筑,因此,他將新的圣保羅大教堂設(shè)計成了文藝復(fù)興式風(fēng)格的教堂。
Word Study
hitch /h?t?/ v. 拴住;套住;鉤住
She hitched the pony to the gate.
Renaissance /r?'ne?sns; 美'ren?sɑ?ns/ n. 文藝復(fù)興(歐洲14、15和16世紀(jì)時,人們以古希臘羅馬的思想文化來繁榮文學(xué)藝術(shù))
rusticated /'r?st?'ke?tid/ adj. 鄉(xiāng)土型;淳樸的
chapel /'t??pl/ n. (基督教某些教派如英國的不從國教派教徒做禮拜的)教堂
Like the Gothic cathedrals, St Pauls is in the form of a cross. Over the crossing Sir Christopher erected a very large dome with a stone lantern on top. Really it is a three-in-one dome—an outside dome, an inside dome for a ceiling, and a brick dome between the other two. This brick dome between the other two was made to hold up the heavy stone lantern.
The outside of St Pauls has two orders of columns, one above the other like the Banqueting Hall. This makes St Pauls look better than St Peters in Rome, because the two orders give a better scale to judge the height by, than the one order of huge columns on St Peters.
舊的圣保羅大教堂與所有其他哥特式大教堂一樣,也是十字形的建筑??死锼苟喾稹だ锥骶羰烤驮谑纸徊娴闹袕d上方,修建了一個非常巨大的圓拱頂,并且在圓拱頂上安放了一盞石制的頂燈。這個圓拱頂事實上有三層:最外面一層是真正從建筑外面可以看見的拱頂;最里面一層是銜接頂燈的天花板;而中間還有一層,這是一個磚砌的夾層,專門用來支撐石制頂燈的重量。
兩排廊柱排列在圣保羅大教堂的外部,跟懷特霍爾宮的宴會廳一樣,也是上下排列。也正是有了這兩排廊柱,使得圣保羅大教堂與羅馬的圣彼得教堂的一排高大廊柱相比更勝一籌。因為圣保羅大教堂主建筑的比例被這兩排廊柱更好地襯托出來,使大教堂看起來也更加漂亮。
可惜,圣保羅大教堂在修建時出了些疏漏。墻壁的建筑材料偷工減料,隨著時間的推移,墻體面臨倒塌的危險,而整座建筑也隨之變得非常危險。近一百年前,圣保羅大教堂關(guān)閉了一段時間,請來工匠加固地基以及鞏固建筑的支撐結(jié)構(gòu)。目前,圣保羅大教堂已經(jīng)重新對公眾開放,而且也已經(jīng)足夠堅固,不會倒塌了。
Unfortunately, St Pauls wasnt very carefully built. The walls were filled with poor materials and the building in time became unsafe. Several years ago it was closed while workmen strengthened the foundations and the supports. Now it is again open and strong enough not to collapse.
Sir Christopher Wren himself is buried in St Pauls. On his tomb, in Latin, is carved, “If you would see my monument, look around you.” St Pauls is indeed his monument, the great landmark of London and the largest cathedral in England.
As for Sir Christopher Wrens other churches, no two, of the more than fifty, are alike. Some are noted for the outside design, many for their beautiful interiors, and many more for their graceful steeples. In fact, Sir Christopher Wren is famous for his Renaissance steeples. People liked them so well that even in the American colonies churches were built with steeples that look like his designs.
克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士去世后就埋葬在圣保羅大教堂里。他的墓碑上刻有一行拉丁文,意思是“如果你想看我的紀(jì)念碑,就往自己的四周看看吧”。圣保羅大教堂的確是克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士的紀(jì)念碑,不僅如此,它也是倫敦最著名的地標(biāo)性建筑,還是英國最大的教堂。
在克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士設(shè)計的其他五十多座教堂中,沒有哪兩座是相似的。這些教堂中有一些因為其外部設(shè)計而聞名,還有許多則由于其內(nèi)部的精美而著稱,而更多的教堂則是因為擁有造型優(yōu)美的尖塔而備受矚目。實際上,克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士最出名的地方,也正是他設(shè)計的文藝復(fù)興式風(fēng)格的尖塔。人們對他設(shè)計的尖塔非常喜愛,甚至在歐洲殖民的美洲土地上,他們的教堂也都建有類似的尖塔。
Books were now published giving the rules and designs for Renaissance architecture and many buildings were put up from designs and descriptions in these books. Palladios book on architecture was translated into English and was used by architects in both England and America.
Renaissance architecture was used after Sir Christopher Wrens death for many years in England. Under the kings George Ⅰ, George Ⅱ and George Ⅲ the English Renaissance architecture had reached a style all its own. This is called the Georgian style. Ill tell you more about the Georgian style when we come to American architecture.
今天,文藝復(fù)興式建筑的規(guī)則和設(shè)計方法被很多書專門介紹,許多建筑也正是按照這些書中的規(guī)則和方法設(shè)計并修建起來的。在這些介紹建筑設(shè)計的書籍中,安德烈亞·帕拉第奧的關(guān)于建筑的書被譯成了英文,許多英國和美國的建筑師都廣泛運用著這本書中的建筑設(shè)計理論。
在英國,文藝復(fù)興式建筑風(fēng)格占據(jù)了主流很多年,在克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士去世之后仍然不衰。在英國喬治一世、二世和三世的統(tǒng)治期間,英國的文藝復(fù)興式建筑逐漸形成了自己特有的風(fēng)格,被后人稱為“喬治式建筑風(fēng)格”。待講到美國建筑時,再給你具體講講喬治式建筑風(fēng)格吧。
Word Study
erect /?'rekt/ v. 建立;建造
dome /d??m/ n. 穹頂;圓屋頂
collapse /k?'l?ps/ v. (突然)倒塌,坍塌
The roof collapsed under the weight of snow.
monument /'m?njum?nt/ n. 紀(jì)念碑(或館、堂、像等)
A monument to him was erected in St Pauls Cathedral.
steeple /'sti?pl/ n. (教堂的)尖塔