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Audio Stop 201

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A woman and winged angel, both with pale, peach skin, are situated in a church interior in this tall, narrow painting. To our left, the angel has long, blond, curly hair, smooth skin, and is smiling. The wings are outlined in royal blue, and they blend from blue to green to yellow to crimson. The angel holds one hand, closer to us, up at chest height with the index finger subtly pointing upward. Holding a long scepter in the other hand, the angel angles their body toward the woman to our right. The angel wears a gold jewel and pearl-encrusted crown and a jeweled long, voluminous robe in scarlet-red and shimmering gold brocade. The neck and along the opening down the front are lined with pearls and jewels. The angel looks toward the woman, who wears a royal-blue dress tied with a red belt at the high waist. Her long brown hair is tied back but one tendril falls over her left shoulder, to our right. She kneels facing us with her raised hands facing outward. Her head is tipped a bit to our left, and she looks up and into the distance to our right with lips slightly parted. She kneels behind a book lying open on a low table. A vase of white lilies and a red cushion lies on the floor in front of the table, close to us. The floor is decorated with people and scenes outlined in black and set into square panels, as if inlaid with wood. The church behind and above the people has a row of tall, narrow arches with bull’s-eye glass windows. A walkway lined with columns runs above the arches, and sunlight comes in through arched windows under the flat wood ceiling. A white dove flies toward the woman on gold lines from a window at the upper left of the painting. Latin words painted in gold capital letters are exchanged between the people. The angel says, “AVE GRA PLENA.” The letters of the woman’s response are painted upside down and backward: “ECCE ANCILLA DNI.”

Jan van Eyck

The Annunciation, c. 1434/1436

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 39

百老汇布景设计师Anna Louizos探讨Van Eyck画作的戏剧性和背景。

Read full audio transcript

讲解员:
这幅画创作于15世纪30年代,展现了基督教的标志性场景,天使加百列前来传达神意,告知圣母玛利亚,她将诞下神之子耶稣。荷兰画家扬·范艾克的叙事方法在很多方面与戏剧设计相近。首先不妨看下他对画中人物的安置方式。

安娜·路易佐斯:
从某种角度讲他们几乎是在面对观众。

我叫安娜·路易佐斯我是一名布景设计师。我参与过的百老汇名剧包括《身在高地》、《Q大道》和《摇滚校园》。

扬·范艾克 在这幅画里用到的技法与布景设计师的做法非常相似:通过增加层次来拉出深度,用富于实感的空间作为背景,让人物更加立得住。

讲解员:
加百列和玛利亚所处的教堂环境勾勒得很细致,戏剧化的光线透过窗户倾泻而下。

安娜·路易佐斯:
人物身旁摆满了各种很适合放上舞台的物件,或者说道具。  

讲解员:
其中鸽子代表圣灵,洁白的百合花象征玛利亚的纯洁。玛利亚的天蓝色长袍也是一个象征性元素,与加百列织锦繁复的华服及彩虹翅膀形成了绝美的对比。

安娜·路易佐斯:
在暗淡的土褐色背景之上,二人鲜艳的服装色彩非常抢眼,人物立刻得到了突显。  

他简直身兼数职:既是布景设计师,又是服装设计师,还是灯光设计师。他整合了这一切,透过这幅美丽的画操纵着我们的目光,让我们注视他希望我们看的地方。看得越久,就能看到越多的东西——这简直难以置信。  
 

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