畫家把自己藏在了畫中

繪畫的樂趣，除了可以表現所有細節(這點照片目前做不到)，還有就是可以畫出想像的東西。以下三幅西斯廷禮拜堂的繪畫中，藏有米開朗基羅本人。

1. Judith and Holofernes

朱迪斯和赫羅弗尼斯

「And she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and she took away his head from him.「 (Judith 13:8) This is the dramatic account in the Bible of the story of Judith and Holofernes.

* smite: an old word meaning to hit someone or something very hard.

「她用盡全身力氣敲了兩下他的脖子，然後拿走了他的頭顱。」（猶大書13：8）這是聖經故事中一個引人注目的情節：朱迪斯和赫羅弗尼斯。

The tale recounts how Nebuchadnezzar II, King of the Kingdom of Mesopotamia, sent his general Holofernes to conquer areas of the Middle East. He also sought to take the city of Betulia with his army. The inhabitants were on the verge of surrendering when the beautiful widow Judith, from the people of Israel, managed to save them. She and her maid visited the enemy』s camp, where they sought out the tent of the general Holofernes. Holofernes, struck by her beauty, attempted to seduce Judith. But she got him drunk on wine and killed him as described above.

這個故事講述了美索不達米亞王國的尼布甲尼撒二世如何派遣他的將軍赫羅弗尼斯征服中東地區。 他還想讓他的軍隊佔領彼都利亞城。居民即將投降，此時，美麗的以色列寡婦朱迪斯準備去解救他們。她和她的女僕巡視了敵軍營地，在那裡找到了赫羅弗尼斯將軍的帳篷。赫羅弗尼斯被朱迪斯的美貌所誘惑，企圖勾引朱迪斯。朱迪斯把他灌醉並殺死他。

If we consider the severed head of Holofernes, we can see similarities with the physiognomy of Michelangelo himself. It is indeed a portrait of the artist. Michelangelo』s aim was to convey the immense sacrifice that painting the Sistine Chapel represented for him. He repeatedly stylized the task as martyrdom. He wrote in a letter to his father in 1509: 「I am greatly afflicted and living in heavy physical privation, have no friends and want none.」 The difficult conditions, the poor lighting and the impatience of his patron made the already labor-intensive work harder still.

* physiognomy: the way that somones face looks

* martyrdom: suffering or dying for your beliefs

* privation: the state of being deprived; especially lack of what is needed for existence

* patron: someone who supports the work of writers, artists, musicians etc,esp. by giving them money

如果我們觀察一下赫羅弗尼斯的頭顱，能發現他與米開朗基羅的外貌有諸多相似之處。這確實就是這位藝術家的肖像。米開朗基羅的目的是表達出繪製西斯廷禮拜堂的壁畫使他付出了巨大的犧牲。他反覆多次地把這個任務稱為殉難。他在1509年給父親的信中寫道：「我受到很大的折磨，生活條件非常艱苦，我沒有朋友也不想有朋友」。艱巨的生活條件，照明狀況不良和對贊助人的不耐煩使得本就十分辛勞的工作變得更加艱辛。

2. The Prophet Jeremiah

先知耶利米

The final image in the Prophet cycle is the portrait of Jeremiah. He is the only prophet to be shown completely buried in his thoughts. Whereas the others are moved by the divine message or are concentrating on the written word, the figure of Jeremiah seems resigned, almost exhausted. For years, Jeremiah, also referred to as the 「Weeping prophet」, preached to the sinful Jewish people, suffered due to their failings, and prophesized the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. When the temple was in fact destroyed by the army of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BC and the Israelite people were sent into exile to Babylon, his gloomy predictions appeared to come true.

在先知系列的繪畫中，最後一幅作品是先知耶利米的畫像。他是唯一一位呈現出完全沉浸在思考中的先知。其他的先知是隨著上帝的旨意而動，或者全神貫注於書面文字中，與他們不同，耶利米這個人物看上去是順從的，幾乎已經筋疲力盡。多年來，耶利米被稱為「流淚的先知」，他向有罪的猶太人佈道，因為他們的失敗而遭受痛苦，他預言了耶路撒冷的陷落以及聖殿的被毀。公元前586年巴比倫國王尼布甲尼撒二世的軍隊確實摧毀了聖殿，以色列人被流放到巴比倫地區。他對未來悲觀的預言變成了現實。

「Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed,」 states the Book of Jeremiah, going on to say 「Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?」 (Jeremiah 20:14-18) On the left outer edge of the picture, we can see a piece of paper bearing the letters 「ALEF」 – this is a subtle reference to the beginning of the Hebrew version of each Lamentation.

「願我生的那日受咒詛，願我母親產我的那日不蒙福！」，《耶利米書》中這樣說道。他又繼續說「我為何出胎見勞碌愁苦，使我的年日因羞愧消滅呢？」（耶利米 20:14-18）在這幅畫的左側外緣，我們可以看到一張寫著字母「ALEF」的紙——這微妙地暗示著每一首希伯來語哀歌的開頭。

In the picture of Jeremiah, the accompanying figures echo the psychological impression, illustrating the sorrow and pain of the prophet. The unusually expressive and detailed presentation of these assisting figures may also be attributed to the fact that Michelangelo identified strongly with Jeremiah as a person. The Biblical prophet himself is rumored to be an artist』s portrait of Michelangelo.

在這幅畫中，耶利米在身邊的人物都是他心理的投影，闡釋先知耶利米的悲傷和痛苦。這種對輔助人物不同尋常的表現力及細節的刻畫，可能也反映出一個事實，就是米開朗基羅有強烈的念頭想把耶利米視為一個人。傳說這位聖經先知是米開朗基羅的自畫像。

3. The Last Judgment

最後的審判

Michelangelo』s 「Last Judgment」 is without doubt the most visually striking and impressive of all realizations of this motif. The figures alone are overwhelming: The painting measures 180 m2 and contains 390 separate characters.

* motif: an idea, subject, or pattern that is frequently repeated in a piece of literature, art etc.

米開朗基羅的《最後的審判》無疑是同主題作品中最具視覺吸引力，也是令人印象最為深刻的作品。這幅壁畫面積達180平方米，包括390個不同的人物，這些數字非常驚人。

In the center we can see the appearance of Jesus at the Latter Day, on which the promise of salvation set out in the New Testament is fulfilled. He is surrounded by heavenly hosts of saints and angels waiting spellbound on his verdict. The chosen ones on the left-hand side are already striving towards heavenly bliss, whereas the sinners on the right are descending despairingly and plaintively towards damnation.

* spellbound: so impressed by something that you do not pay attention to anything else

* damnation: the state of being condemned to eternal punishment in Hell

在這幅壁畫的中間，我們可以看到基督在末日降臨，那一天是《新約》中實現救贖承諾的日子。基督身邊圍繞著天堂中的聖徒和天使，他們都聚精會神地等待著他的裁決。基督的左手邊是被選中的人，他們已經在向著天堂的極樂而奮鬥，而右手邊則是罪人，他們在絕望和痛苦中墮入地獄。

One striking figure underneath Christ and to the right has always puzzled scholars. It is a portrait of Saint Bartholomew. He was put to death by being flayed alive. On various occasions, the figure of Bartholomew has been alleged to be a portrait of Pope Paul III. This interpretation is admittedly disputed, but there can be no dispute that the face on the skin removed from Bartholomew is a self-portrait of Michelangelo – this was Michelangelo』s way of drawing attention to his own 『martyrdom』 of having to create this fresco when he was over sixty years of age.

在基督右下方有一個引人注目的人物一直令學者們感到困惑。這是聖巴多羅買的畫像，他被活生生地剝皮處死。在很多場合下，巴多羅買這個人物被認為是教皇保羅三世的畫像。這種解釋備受爭議，但是有一點公認的是從巴多羅買身上剝下來的皮，其面部是米開朗基羅的自畫像——這是米開朗基羅用來引起人們注意他「殉道」的手法，因為年過六旬的他不得不創作這幅壁畫。

I am the best of my work.

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