His bio reads like a rock star's. A precocious talent, he never married because, he said, it would have hurt his career. But he moved his girlfriend in with him while he worked his last gig--then died at the age of 37 from a fever brought on, some said, by carnal excess. The great painter Raphael (1483-1520) was one of the big three of Italy's high Renaissance, along with Leonardo da Vinci (whose work he admired and studied closely) and Michelangelo (with whom he carried on a vigorous, if all too brief, competition to be the Vatican's favorite artist). He didn't seem, however, to have a superstar's attitude. The pope was his patron, and acquaintances described him as "sensible," "well mannered," "genial" and "sweet." On his deathbed, he bequeathed his mistress enough money to live "honorably" for the rest of her life. And he painted her portrait--one of the great paintings of all time, right up there with the "Mona Lisa"--as a final, loving tribute.

 

At least that's how the legend goes. That portrait--which is touring the United States for the first time--constitutes a one-picture exhibition at the Frick Collection in New York through Jan. 30 (it will travel to Houston and Indianapolis). Certainly, "La Fornarina" ("baker's daughter") comes from the hand of the incomparable Raphael. The gently tilting composition is perfect, the color finely balanced and the lady's skin alabaster and flawless. (Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as sprezzatura, meaning, roughly, to hide with technical facility exactly how anything is done.) In the classic Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes (including a belly button under gauze), she glances coyly to the side at, one presumes, a lover. "La Fornarina," the renowned art historian and MacArthur fellow Leo Steinberg explains, "is the closest thing to soft porn in the high Renaissance." But whether the seminude lady depicted is actually the baker's daughter who was Raphael's love remains a mystery.

 

Is Raphael himself the object of her gaze? Most people--including several British critics reviewing the big Raphael exhibition currently at the National Gallery in London--like to think so. Since live women models weren't generally available five centuries ago, the reasoning goes, the lady's posing undressed for Raphael must have been an intimate act. Besides, what else can the artist's proprietary name on her armband mean? But the experts remain divided. With a fine disregard for attendance-boosting hype, Rome museums commissioner Claudio Strinati ("La Fornarina" usually resides at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome) lays out a less titillating hypothesis in a booklet accompanying the Frick display.

 

A recent cleaning of the painting reveals a wedding ring on the lady's left hand; Raphael's final and most prominent patron, the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, had just been married to one Francesca Ardeasca. Raphael's name on the armband, Strinati says, is a tribute to Chigi. He concludes that "La Fornarina" is Ardeasca. Unfortunately, no other portraits of Chigi's bride exist to confirm the ID. As Steinberg says, "It's all an attractive myth, and like all myths it depends for interpretation on levels of reliable gossip." Whatever one believes, "La Fornarina" is still a sweetheart of a painting.

 

注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；12/13/2004, p68-68；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象2002年真题text 3；

 

 

[A] beauty

[B] unknown identity

[C] seminude body

[D] intimate relationship with Raphael

 

 

[A] Raphael behaved like a superstar

[B] Raphael died young because of overwork

[C] Raphael enjoyed greater popularity than Michelangelo

[D] one of his paintings achieves as great fame as “Mona Lisa”.

 

 

[A] Raphael is good at soft porn

[B] Raphael develops a special feeling towards the baker’s daughter.

[C] oil paint was not popular then

[D] Raphael’s painting technique has reached maturity in the painting

 

 

[A] there is sound evidence to believe there exists an intimacy between Raphael and the woman in the painting

[B] live women models were nowhere to find in Raphael’s time

[C] nude models were easily available in Italy in Renaissance

[D] it is generally agreed between experts that the woman is Raphael’s mistress

 

 

[A] shows curiosity towards the identity of the woman in the painting

[B] is a Renaissance art historian

[C] strongly support the idea that “La Fornarina” is one of Raphael’s mistress

[D] thinks low of Raphael’s technique in the painting

 

本文以对画坛巨匠拉斐尔的简介开始，重点讨论了他的画作《福尔娜瑞娜》中神秘女郎的身份问题。第一段简单介绍了拉斐尔及其在画坛上的地位，并引出油画《福尔娜瑞娜》。第二段对这幅画进行了细腻描写。第三段列出人们对画中女郎身份的不同看法。第四段指出无论画中女郎是谁，这幅画都是一幅精品。

 

precocious: [pri5kEuFEs] adj. 早熟的

gig: [^i^] n. 为生计而做的工作

carnal: [5kB:nl] adj. 肉体的；性的

genial: [dVi5naiEl] adj. 和蔼可亲的

bequeath:[bi5kwi:T] v. 遗赠

alabaster: [5AlEbB:stE] adj. （皮肤）光滑细腻的

erotic: [i5rCtik] adj.  挑逗的；性感的

gauze:[^C:z] n. 薄纱

proprietary: [prE5praiEtEri] adj. 专有的；所属的

titillate: [5titileit] v. 挑逗，使人兴奋

 

主体句式：the …composition is perfect, the color … balanced and … skin alabaster and flawless.

结构分析：这句后半句是独立主格结构。分别在“finely”和 “skin”后省略了“is”。

句子译文：那微微倾斜的身体，那明暗协调的色彩，那光滑细嫩、白玉无暇的肌肤，一切都那么完美。

主体句式：she glances … to the side at … a lover.

结构分析：这句话中，“cover up” 和“showcase”并列，它们的宾语是“erotic attributes”；主句中“one presume”是插入语。  

句子译文：画中女郎经典的维纳斯式手势既试图遮掩又意欲表现自己的性感一面。（还有薄纱下面若隐若现的肚脐。）她害羞地朝一侧望去。有人猜测是看她的情人。