问答题 WHO was the first modern artist.9 How about Giorgione? (46)A far-fetched notion, perhaps, but this Renaissance Venetian revolutionized painting--and his work, focusing on subjects such as bodies, landscapes and female beauty, was titled "modern" by the leading art commentator of the day, Vasari.
Giorgione was not alone, as illustrated by the excellent catalogue accompanying the exhibition "Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting" now showing at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (47)What made him, and the generation of artists he inspired, so special was his ability to absorb the new currents of culture then flowing through Venice. A catalyst was Leonardo da Vinci, who briefly visited Venice in 1500. In Leonardo's drawings, Giorgione, as well as the younger artist, Titian, and their master, Giovanni Bellini, glimpsed a new conception of the human form, based on observation and expressed in smoky contours and subtle shades of light and dark.
Over the subsequent 30 years, one of the most exciting periods in the history of art unfolded. In readable, engaging essays, David Brown and Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, the exhibition's curators, together with a team of top scholars, tell its story. We learn how this triumvirate of Venetian painters devoured not only Leonardo's ideas, but also those of Albrecht Darer, the German artist whose realistic rendering of nature was known in Venice through prints, even before his sojourn there in 1506-7. (48)Darer's work taught Venetian artists that landscape could be an independent element of a painting, rather than just a symbolic backdrop for religious subjects.
The result was a new style full of natural movement, sensuality and poetic atmosphere. (49) Venetian painting had long been characterized by its jewel-like color--obtained by grinding colored glass and minerals--but now it was applied in a way that gave art the kiss of life.
Giorgione blazed the trail. A top student of Bellini, he later forged his own style, inspired by the current vogue for pastoral love poetry based on recently discovered ancient texts, then the bestsellers of Venice's flourishing printing industry. (50) He excelled at what was known among the educated elite as the model a competition between painting and poetry in which painters sought to prove that they could rival poets in conveying beauty by appealing to the eyes, as well as to the mind. This was revolutionary because it implied that painting originated in the imagination of the artist, rather than being a simple recording of the great and the good, history and religion. It proved painters were creators and not just craftsmen.

【正确答案】或许回答有些牵强，但这个文艺复兴时代的威尼斯人给绘画带来了革命，他的作品关注人体、风景和女性美等题材，这些都被当时著名的评论家Vasari授予“现代”的称号。

【答案解析】[直击题眼] work的正确理解；far-fetched，notion，revolutionize，leading的意译；被动语态的正确翻译。
[句子剖析]句子由三部分组成，分别由but和and连接。难点在破折号后的部分：focusing on subjects such as bodies，landscapes and female beauty是一句定语从句修饰work，省略了which is。此句话的主干为A far-fetched notion was titled“modern” by sb.。
[译法剖析]notion原意为“概念、想法”，但前面两句是问句，此处很明显是要给出答案，所以译成“回答”；farfetched从字面意思来看，是去太远的地方取来，从本段来看，这个回答是不尽如人意的，故译成“牵强”；work有很多意思，这里是指艺术家的work，自然要译成“作品”；revolutionize是动词，译成“给…带来了革命”；修饰work的定语从句的翻译处理方法有两种：第一是直接译为被修饰语的定语，第二是译成分句。这里定语部分太长，因此选择第二种方法译成分句，以免句子臃肿；leading原意为“最重要的，主要的”，这里意译成“著名的”。

【正确答案】他和被他所启发的那一代画家们是如此与众不同，这体现在他捕捉当时威尼斯流行文化的能力上。

【答案解析】[直击题眼] flowing的意译；what引导的主语从句的翻译；整句意译。
[句子剖析]what引导的是主语从句；有同学误以为special是修饰ability，这样理解的话翻译就会出问题，应该是修饰he and the generation of artists he inspired。此句话的主干为what made sb．special was his ability。
[译法剖析]inspired译成“启发的”flowing原意为“流动的”，文中译成“流行的”；was的译法也很有讲究，不应简单译成“是”，句中应译成“体现”，“这些人的与众不同应该体现在能力上”。

【正确答案】Darer的作品让威尼斯的艺术家们知道风景可以独立成为绘画题材，而不仅是作为宗教故事的象征性的背景。

【答案解析】[直击题眼] rather than，symbolic backdrop的正确理解；element，subject的意译。
[句子剖析]句子结构不复杂，两部分由rather than连接；前半部分有一个that引导的宾语从句。此句话的主干为 work taught sb．sth.。
[译法剖析]element原意为“元素、基础”，从整体把握句子，把element译成“题材”较恰当；rather than在翻译中常常出现，但很多同学很难把握，一般可译成“而不是”或“不仅仅是”；backdrop原意为“背景幕布”，这里译成“背景”；symbolic译成“象征性的”；宾语从句按照正常语序翻译。

【正确答案】威尼斯的绘画长期以来以其珠光宝气的色彩为特色，这些色彩的颜料中添加了碾碎的玻璃和矿石，但现在它们被以全新的方式所运用，给了艺术一个生命之吻。

【答案解析】[直击题眼] jewel-like，characterize，applied in a way的正确理解；过去分词短语的翻译。
[句子剖析]句子结构不复杂，过去分词短语obtained by grinding colored glass and minerals修饰色彩，it was applied in a way被动语态的翻译。此句话的主干为painting was applied in a way。
[译法剖析]jewel-like原意“像珠宝的”，文中译成“珠光宝气的”更加贴切；characterize译成“以…为特色”；obtained by grinding colored glass and minerals过去分词短语修饰色彩，所以翻译中也应该体现出来；it was applied in a way 译成“被以全新方式所运用”，a变成了new，因为从整个句子来看，绘画所用的色彩是一种创新。

【正确答案】他的卓越之处在于一项闻名于知识精英中的对比：就是诗歌与绘画的竞争，画家们致力于证明他们可以在表现美感上与诗人媲美，既可悦目亦能赏心。

【答案解析】[直击题眼] model的意译，as well as的正确理解，从句的翻译。
[句子剖析]what was known among the educated elite as the model是what引导的宾语从句；a competition between painting and poetry in which painters sought to prove that they could rival poets in conveying beauty by appealing to the eyes，as well as to the mind 是 which引导的定语从句修饰competition，定语从句中又有 that引导的宾语从句。此句话的主干为he excelled at sth.
[译法剖析]model原意为“模范、典型”，由冒号后面的句子我们得以推出是画家和诗人的对比，故泽成“对比”；as well as译成“既…也…”；定语从句的翻译采用分译成分句的方法，宾语从句的翻译按语序即可。