Vatican Experts Restore Masterpieces

Vatican Experts Restore Masterpieces

梵蒂冈专家修复大师级作品

【听力音频】

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　　By Gregory Stachel

　　28 December 2023

　　Alessandra Zarelli works to keep the artwork of the Vatican Museums in good condition. She says, whenever she works on a masterpiece, she must calm her heart so her thinking can center on her work.

　　Vatican City is a small country surrounded by the Italian capital, Rome. It is the headquarters and seat of government of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican Museums contain thousands of artworks hundreds of years old including paintings by Michelangelo.

　　"The emotion of working on something like a Michelangelo is truly indescribable," said Zarelli. She helped repair one of his wall paintings in Vatican City's Pauline Chapel.

　　Michelangelo painted during the Renaissance period of European history during a growth of interest in science, art, and literature.

　　Zarelli is part of a special team at the Vatican Museums' repair laboratory for paintings and wood pieces.

　　The team is responsible for looking after thousands of square meters of wall paintings, including the famous ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel. They also look after some 5,300 oil paintings and wooden statues.

　　A century of restoration

　　The painting and wood lab is one of eight specialized groups in the museums. It permitted several news organizations, including Reuters, the chance to see its inner workings to mark its 100th anniversary.

　　Care and repair methods change often and today's workers often have to repair mistakes from care workers that came before them. They repair work from recent history to many centuries ago.

　　Another problem, usually from the distant past, is that restorers were not technicians but artists in their own right. Francesca Persegati is chief restorer at the Vatican Museums. She said that some of those artists thought they could "improve" the original by adding their own work.

　　"It's important to be humble in this job, to respect the work but also to have a scientific background to understand the materials," she said.

　　Before a painting even reaches the lab, another team carries out tests to see if paint or color has been added since the piece was first made. They also check it for possible other work below the surface.

　　In another part of the lab, Caterina Manisco was working on an 1895 painting called Madonna and Child Between St. Teresa and St. Francis. Italian Emma Richards was the artist. She painted for the rich and powerful, like Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Such work was a rarity for women artists of the time.

　　"Because she was a woman, I somehow feel very close to her," said Manisco, an external restorer at the lab.

　　To mark the 100th anniversary of the paintings and wood lab, the Vatican Museums are using special technology. It permits visitors to use their phones to connect with information about the artwork they are looking at.

　　I'm Gregory Stachel.

　　Philip Pullella reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：Gregory Stachel

　　2023年12月28日

　　Alessandra Zarelli致力于保持梵蒂冈博物馆的艺术品处于良好状态。她说，每当她在修复一件杰作时，她必须让自己的心平静下来，以便她的思维可以集中在工作上。

　　梵蒂冈城是一个被意大利首都罗马包围的小国。它是罗马天主教会的总部和政府所在地。梵蒂冈博物馆收藏了数千件有数百年历史的艺术品，包括米开朗基罗的画作。

　　"在修复像米开朗基罗这样的作品时，那种情感真的无法用言语形容，" Zarelli说。她帮助修复了梵蒂冈城保禄教堂的一幅米开朗基罗的壁画。

　　米开朗基罗在欧洲历史的文艺复兴时期绘画，那时人们对科学、艺术和文学的兴趣正在增长。

　　Zarelli是梵蒂冈博物馆绘画和木制品修复实验室的一个特别团队的一员。

　　这个团队负责照看数千平方米的壁画，包括著名的西斯廷教堂的天花板和墙壁。他们还照看大约5300幅油画和木雕。

　　一个世纪的修复

　　绘画和木制品实验室是博物馆中的八个专业组之一。为了纪念其成立100周年，它允许包括路透社在内的几家新闻机构有机会看到其内部运作。

　　护理和修复方法经常变化，今天的工人们经常需要修复前来的护理工人的错误。他们修复的作品从近代历史到几个世纪前的作品。

　　另一个问题，通常来自遥远的过去，是修复者不是技术人员，而是他们自己的艺术家。弗朗西斯卡·佩尔塞加蒂是梵蒂冈博物馆的首席修复师。她说，一些艺术家认为他们可以通过添加自己的作品来“改进”原作。

　　"在这份工作中，谦逊很重要，尊重作品，但也要有科学背景来理解材料，"她说。

　　在一幅画甚至到达实验室之前，另一个团队会进行测试，看看是否有颜料或颜色被添加到作品首次制作时。他们还会检查它是否可能在表面下有其他的工作。

　　在实验室的另一部分，Caterina Manisco正在修复一幅1895年的画作，名为《圣特蕾莎和圣弗朗西斯之间的麦当娜和孩子》。艾玛·理查兹是这幅画的意大利艺术家。她为像维多利亚女王和阿尔伯特王子这样的富人和权贵绘画。这样的作品对于当时的女性艺术家来说是罕见的。

　　"因为她是女性，我在某种程度上感到非常亲近她，"实验室的外部修复师Manisco说。

　　为了纪念绘画和木制品实验室成立100周年，梵蒂冈博物馆正在使用特殊的技术。它允许游客使用他们的手机连接到他们正在查看的艺术品的信息。

　　我是Gregory Stachel。

　　这个故事是Philip Pullella为路透社报道的。Gregory Stachel为VOA学习英语改编了它。

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　　本文中的词汇

　　museum – n. 一个收集并向公众展示有趣和有价值的东西（如绘画、雕塑或科学或历史物品）的建筑物

　　restore – v. 通过修理或清洁将（某物）恢复到早期或原始状态

　　concentrate – v. 思考某事：将你的注意力集中在你正在做的事情或阅读的事情上

　　paralyze – v. 使（人或动物）无法移动或感觉到身体的全部或部分

　　humble – adj. 不骄傲：不认为自己比其他人更好