Audio Stop 214

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A woman and two children, all with pale skin and flushed cheeks, sit together in a landscape in this round painting. The woman takes up most of the composition as she sits with her right leg, to our left, tucked under her body. Her other leg, on our right, is bent so the foot rests on the ground, and that knee angles up and out to the side. She wears a rose-pink dress under a topaz-blue robe, and a finger between the pages of a closed book holds her place. Her brown hair is twisted away from her face. She has delicate features and her pink lips are closed. She looks and leans to our left around a nude young boy who half-sits and half-stands against her bent leg. The boy has blond hair and pudgy, toddler-like cheeks and body. The boy reaches his right hand, on our left, to grasp the tall, thin cross held by the second young boy, who sits on the ground next to the pair. This second boy has darker brown hair and wears a garment resembling animal fur. The boy kneels facing the woman and looks up at her and the blond boy. The trio sits on a flat, grassy area in front of a body of water painted light turquoise. Mountains in the deep distance are pale azure blue beneath a nearly clear blue sky.

Raphael

The Alba Madonna, c. 1510

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 20

意大利和西班牙绘画策展人Gretchen Hirschauer审视这幅不朽的Raphael画作中对圣经人物的朴素描绘。

Read full audio transcript

1510年前后拉斐尔描绘了这幅温柔宁静的场景。画中展现了基督教的主要人物：圣母玛利亚呈现坐姿，腿上是婴儿状态的耶稣。旁边是耶稣的表哥施洗约翰，可以从他身上裹着的动物皮毛进行辨认。

格蕾琴·希尔施霍伊泽：
他们目光严肃而专注，似乎已经知道未来会发生什么。童年耶稣接过施洗约翰递来的苇杆十字架，暗示着他接受将在十字架上受难的未来。

我是格蕾琴·希尔施霍伊泽。我在意大利与西班牙绘画部担任策展人。

讲解员：
整幅画是圆形的，这种形状借鉴了通常在佛罗伦萨贵妇生产后送给她们作为礼物的装饰性圆盘。在圆形框架内，拉斐尔巧妙地引导我们的目光环视整个场景。

格蕾琴·希尔施霍伊泽：
这幅画里的各种角度全都很耐人寻味。先从下方的圣母的凉鞋看起，然后视线逐渐上移，看到圣母搭在树干上的手肘。然后再看向圣母的头部，接着视线下移，注意到圣母正在直视施洗约翰，而施洗约翰正在直视童年耶稣。拉斐尔设法将这些人物连结起来，无论是从外观上还是从情感上。在这个非常奇特的圆形格式里，他们彼此相连。

在我看来，最耐人寻味的一点在于这里呈现了谦卑的圣母像。人们不一定能意识到其实圣母存在多种类型，不尽相同……这里的圣母不是天堂女王，而是席地而坐的谦卑妇人。

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