雙語+MP3|美國學生藝術(shù)史44 天國之門

 
那些不排水的動物像也刻得奇形怪狀，通稱“怪物雕像”。像滴水獸一樣，它們大多安置在屋頂旁，好像在往下看，嘲笑地面上的人們。這些古教堂的雕刻家們一定很喜歡雕刻怪物和滴水獸吧。 
44 THE GATES OF PARADISE天國之門
 
THIS story begins with a competition. Not a competition to see who could run fastest, not a competition to see who could whistle loudest, but a much harder one. It was such a hard competition that each man in it was given a year in which to try to win. 
It was a competition in sculpture. It began this way: In Florence, Italy, there is a little eight-sided building called the Baptistery. A baptistery is a place where babies, or even grown-ups, are baptized. This building has four doorways in it and one of these doorways at the time of the competition had a very beautiful pair of bronze doors with reliefs on them made by the sculptor Andrea Pisano. Long after Andrea Pisano’s death the men of Florence decided there should be another pair of bronze doors for one of the other doorways. 
There were several good sculptors living then and the men of Florence could not decide who was the best one to make the new doors, and so they had the competition. These were the rules: 
Each sculptor had to make a relief in bronze to go on a door. 
The relief had to be about Abraham and Isaac. 
Each sculptor could have a year for the work and then a group of thirty-four judges would decide the winner and the winner would make the doors. 
All the sculptors set to work. All, except one, very carefully kept every one else from seeing their work until the year was up. This one was named Lorenzo Ghiberti (Geebear’tee), and he worked and worked and then he asked his friends to come in and tell him how he could make his relief better. Then he worked some more until he had a very beautiful relief indeed. 
When the year was up each sculptor brought his relief to the judges. And what do you think? The judges couldn’t decide which was the very best! There was a tie for first place. One of the winners was Ghiberti’s relief. The other was cast by the famous architect Brunelleschi (Brew-nel-less’kee). But Brunelleschi himself thought Ghiberti’s relief was better than his own and so he very generously said he would withdraw and let Ghiberti be the winner. Then the judges said Ghiberti could make the doors. 
Ghiberti set to work. He worked and worked. One year, two years, five years, ten years, and still he worked on the doors. You’ll hardly believe how long it took to make them. I’ll tell you the date when he began and when he finished. He started to work on the reliefs in 1403. He finished the doors in 1424. 
“What!” you say, “twenty-one years to make one pair of doors? That is a long time!” 
 
No.44-1　THE GATES OF PARADISE（《天國之門》） 
GHIBERTI（吉貝爾蒂　制） 
Finally the doors were finished and put in the Baptistery. They opened down the middle and had twenty-eight panels or scenes in relief, chiefly from the life of Christ. Each scene was made separately and then all fitted together. 
Ghiberti’s doors “made a big hit.” Every one liked them so much that the men of Florence asked the sculptor if he wouldn’t make another pair of bronze doors for another doorway to the Baptistery. There was no need for a competition this time. They knew Ghiberti was the man for the job. 
Ghiberti started on the new doors. He worked and worked and worked. One year, two years, five years, ten years, twenty years, and still he worked on the doors. He began on these doors in 1425. He finished them in 1452. What! Twenty-seven years to make one set of doors? That is a long time! 
But this time, when he had finished, the doors were so splendid that many people said they were perfect. A famous sculptor saw them and said, “They are fit to be the gates of Paradise,” and that is what they have been called ever since—the Gates of Paradise. 
The Gates of Paradise have ten scenes from the Old Testament. Here is a “close-up” of the fourth scene showing the story of Abraham 
 
No.44-2　PANEL FROM THE GATES OF PARADISE（鑲板浮雕，取自《天國之門》） 
GHIBERTI（吉貝爾蒂　制）