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Audio Stop 211

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This square portrait shows the head and shoulders of a young woman in front of a spiky bush that fills much of the background except for a landscape view that extends into the deep distance to our right. The woman's body is angled to our right but her face turns to us. She has chalk-white, smooth skin with heavily lidded, light brown eyes, and her pale pink lips are closed. Pale blush highlights her cheeks, and she looks either at us or very slightly away from our eyes. Her brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back, but tight, lively curls frame her face. Her hair turns gold where the light shines on it. She wears a brown dress, trimmed along the square neckline with gold. The front of the bodice is tied with a blue ribbon, and the lacing holes are also edged with gold. A sheer white veil covers her chest and is pinned at the center with a small gold ball. The bush fills the space around her head with copper-brown, spiky leaves. A river winds between trees and rolling hills in the distance to our right. Trees and a town along the horizon, which comes about halfway up the painting, is pale blue under an ice-blue sky.

Leonardo da Vinci

Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 6

策展人兼意大利和西班牙绘画负责人Eve Straussman-Pflanzer探讨Da Vinci肖像画中主题呈现的女性的生活和爱情。

Read full audio transcript

伊芙·施特劳斯曼-普夫兰策尔:
我叫伊芙·施特劳斯曼-普夫兰策尔,在美国国家美术馆的意大利与西班牙绘画部担任策展人兼负责人。

讲解员:
这幅平静而富于细节的肖像画描绘的是吉内薇拉·班琪。她生活在文艺复兴时期的佛罗伦萨,是一名富有的银行家的女儿。1474年,大约在她与路易吉·尼科利尼成婚的那段时间里,年轻的莱昂纳多·达芬奇绘制了她的肖像。

伊芙·施特劳斯曼-普夫兰策尔:
达芬奇所画的女子肖像现存仅有三幅,此为其一。  

讲解员:
从前的肖像通常呈现侧面。

伊芙·施特劳斯曼-普夫兰策尔:
达芬奇做出调整,让吉内薇拉轻轻地转过来一点,使她的正面与画面形成45度角,从而让她的脸部、身体以及她背后的风景都显得更加开阔。我们看到达芬奇非常仔细地叠加颜料,精雕细琢地塑造出吉内薇拉脸部的轮廓与阴影。  

讲解员:
达芬奇还借助深色的刺柏叶背景,衬托出女子光滑白皙的肌肤。“吉内薇拉”这个名字是意大利文词汇“ginepro”的变体,后者指的就是刺柏。达芬奇利用画中女子的名字玩了一个视觉游戏。吉内薇拉爱写诗,她很重视词语的精准与美丽,所以在她身后安插刺柏再合适不过。

委托达芬奇作画的可能是另一位诗人,吉内薇拉的仰慕者,贝尔纳多·本博。他当时是威尼斯驻佛罗伦萨大使。

伊芙·施特劳斯曼-普夫兰策尔:
这在文艺复兴时期很常见。已婚的女士还能同时拥有一个柏拉图式恋人,互相交换信件,或者交换诗歌。  

在我看来,非常有趣的一点是人们会把画中人的表情分析解读为严厉、冷漠或疏远。但我们也能将这表情了解为自信、直率、镇静自若。微妙复杂的形象引发多样化的观者反馈,我觉得这正是达芬奇用这幅吉内薇拉·班琪肖像画送给大家的礼物。  
 

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