英语选修六课文翻译第一单元

英语选修六课文翻译第一单元

Unit

1

Art

第一单元

艺术

Reading

A

SHORT

HISTORY

OF

WESTERN

PAINTING

Art

is

influenced

by

the

customs

and

faith

of

a

people.

Styles

in

Western

art

have

changed

many

times.

As

there

are

so

many

different

styles

of

Western

art,

it

would

be

impossible

to

describe

all

of

them

in

such

a

short

text.

Consequently,

this

text

will

describe

only

the

most

important

ones.

Starting

from

the

sixth

century

AD.

The

Middle

Ages(5th

to

the

15th

century

AD)

During

the

Middle

Ages,

the

main

aim

of

painters

was

to

represent

religious

themes.

A

conventional

artistof

this

period

was

not

interested

in

showing

nature

and

people

as

they

really

were.

A

typical

picture

at

this

time

was

full

of

religious

symbols,

which

created

a

feeling

of

respect

and

love

for

God.

But

it

was

evident

that

ideas

were

changing

in

the

13th

century

when

painters

like

Giotto

di

Bondone

began

to

paint

religious

scenes

in

a

more

realistic

way.

The

Renaissance(15th

to

16th

century)

During

the

Renaissance,

new

ideas

and

values

gradually

replaced

those

held

in

the

Middle

Ages.

People

began

to

concentrate

less

on

religious

themes

and

adopt

a

more

humanistic

attitude

to

the

same

time

painters

returned

to

classical

Roman

and

Greek

ideas

about

art.

They

tried

to

paint

people

and

nature

as

they

really

were.

Rich

people

wanted

to

possess

their

own

paintings,

so

they

coule

decorate

their

superb

palaces

and

great

houses.

They

paid

famous

artists

to

paint

pictures

of

themselves,

their

houses

and

possessions

as

well

as

their

activities

and

achievements.

One

of

the

most

important

discoveries

during

this

period

was

how

to

draw

things

in

perspective.

This

technique

was

first

used

by

Masaccio

in

1428.

When

people

first

saw

his

paintings,

they

were

convinced

that

they

were

looking

through

a

hole

in

a

wall

at

a

real

scene.

If

the

rules

of

perspective

had

not

been

discovered,

no

one

would

have

been

able

to

paint

such

realistic

pictures.

By

coincidence,oil

paints

were

also

developed

at

this

time,

which

made

the

colours

used

in

paintings

look

richer

and

deeper.

Without

the

new

paints

and

the

new

technique,

we

would

not

be

able

to

see

the

many

great

masterpieces

for

which

this

period

is

famous.

Impressionism(late

19h

to

early

20th

century)

In

the

late

19th

century,

Europe

changed

a

great

deal,from

a

mostly

agricultural

society

to

a

mostly

industrial

one.

Many

people

moved

from

the

countryside

to

the

new

cities.

There

were

many

new

inventions

and

social

changes

also

led

to

new

painting

styles.

Among

the

painters

who

broke

away

from

the

traditional

style

of

painting

were

the

Impressionists,

who

lived

and

worke

in

Paris.

The

Impressionists

were

the

first

painters

to

work

outdoors.

They

were

eager

to

show

how

light

and

shadow

fell

on

objects

at

different

times

of

day.

However,

because

natural

light

changes

so

quickly,

the

Impressionists

had

to

paint

quickly.

Their

paintings

were

not

as

detailed

as

those

of

earlier

painters.

At

first,

many

people

disliked

this

style

of

painting

and

became

very

angry

about

it.

They

said

that

the

painters

were

careless

and

their

paintings

were

ridiculous.

Modern

Art(29th

century

to

today)

At

the

time

they

were

created,

the

Impressionist

paintings

were

controversial,

but

today

they

are

accepeted

as

the

beginning

of

what

we

call

art

This

is

because

the

Impressionists

encouraged

artists

to

look

at

their

environment

in

new

ways.

There

are

scores

of

modern

art

styles,but

without

the

Impressionists,

many

of

these

painting

styles

might

not

exsist.

On

the

one

hand,

some

modern

art

is

abstract;

that

is,

the

painter

does

not

attempt

to

paint

objects

as

we

see

them

with

our

eyes,

but

instead

concentrates

n

certain

qualities

of

the

object,

using

colour,

line

and

shape

to

represent

them.

On

the

other

hand,

some

paintings

of

modern

art

are

so

realistic

that

they

look

like

photographs.

These

styles

are

so

different.

Who

can

predict

what

painting

styles

there

will

be

in

the

future?

西方的艺术风格经历了多次变革，

而 中国艺术所经历的变革则比较少。

艺术

受到人民生活方式和信仰 的影响，

而中国，

和欧洲不同，

它的生 活方式在很长时

期里都是相近的。

西方艺术风格多种多样，

在短短的一篇课文里不可能进行全面

的描述。因此，本文只谈从公元

5

世纪以来少数几种主要的艺术风格。

中世纪（公元

5

世纪到

15

世纪）

在中世纪，

画家的主要任务是把宗教的主题表现出来。

艺术家们无意于如实

地展现自然和人物，

却着意体现对上帝的爱戴与敬重，

因此，

这段时期的绘画充

满着宗教的信条。到

13

世纪时，情况已经开始发生变化，像乔托这样的画家们

文艺 复兴时期（

15

世纪到

16

在文艺复兴时期，

新的思想和价值观取代了中世纪的思想和价值观。

人们开

始更 多地关注人而非宗教。

画家们回到了罗马、

希腊的古典艺术理念 上。

他们力

争如实地画出人物和自然。

富人们想为自己的宫殿和豪宅收集艺术品，

他们高价