The Knight of the Sun

文/凯西·特里格斯 译/爱艺

The Knight of the Sun

文/凯西·特里格斯 译/爱艺

I n chapter XLII ofThe Seaboard Parish(entitled “The Studio”)George MacDonald features a picture supposedly by the fictional artist Percivale, but actually, as he adds in a footnote, by his friend Arthur Hughes.He is describing from memoryThe Knight of the Sun, an oil painting done by Hughes (oil on canvas, 132cm ×101.6cm, 1859–1860).

A dark hill rose against the evening sky which shone through a few thin pines on its top. Along a road on the hillside, four squires bore a dying knight—a man past the middle age.One behind him carried his helm, and another led his horse, whose fi ne head only appeared in the picture. The head and countenance of the knight were very noble, telling of many a battle, and ever for the right. The last had doubtless been gained, for one might read victory as well as peace in the dying look. The party had just reached the edge of a steep descent, from which you saw thevalley below, with the last of the harvest just being reaped, while the shocks stood all about in the fields, under the peace of the sunset. The sun had been down for some little time. There was no gold left in the sky, only a little saffron;but plenty of that lovely liquid green of the autumn sky, divided with a few streaks of pale rose.

… “You see it is evening. The sun’s work is done, and he has set in glory,leaving his good name behind him in a lovely harmony of colour. The old knight’s work is done too; his day has set in the storm of battle, and he is lying flat in the coming peace. They are bearing him home to his couch and his grave. Look at their faces in the dusky light. They are all mourning for and honouring the life that is ebbing away. But he is gathered to his fathers like a shock of corn fully ripe; and so the harvest stands, golden in the valley beneath. The picture would not be complete, however, if it did not tell us of the deep heaven overhead, the symbol of that heaven whither he who has done his work is bound: what a lovely idea to represent it by means of the water, the heaven embodying itself in the earth, as it were, that we may see it! And observe how that dusky hillside, and those tall,slender, mournful-looking pines, with that sorrowful sky between, lead the eye and point the heart upward towardsthat heaven. It is indeed a grand picture—full of feeling—a picture and a parable.”

[2]You may take particular note of the Knight’s face. It is very similar to MacDonald’s appearance in the late 1850s, as we know from photographs and from the Munro medallion of 1858. Arthur Hughes and MacDonald fi rst met in 1857. We do not know that MacDonald actually “sat” as a model for the Knight; Hughes was probably influenced by MacDonald’s features,whether consciously or unconsciously.He used many of his friends and acquaintances like this in other works.

[3]A quotation inscribed on the frame is from MacDonald’s poem “Better Things” published in 1857: “Better a death when work is done / Than earth’s most favoured birth.” The MacDonald influence is certainly strong, though the circumstances are not known which led Hughes to use these particular lines. Nineteenth-century artists frequently added such quotations as an afterthought, when the work was complete. The story of the picture is not MacDonald’s; it probably came about by a process of amalgamation of romantic stories Hughes had read. ■

乔治·麦克唐纳在其小说《海滨教区》第42章“画室”中提及了一幅画，据称是书中虚构的画家珀西瓦尔所画，但实际上，正如他在脚注中的说明，这幅画是他的朋友阿瑟·休斯的作品。麦克唐纳在书中凭记忆描述了休斯的这幅油画《太阳骑士》（布面油画，132厘米×101.6厘米，1859—1860）。［图见本期封底］

傍晚时分，天空映衬下，一座黑黢黢的小山呈现眼前，余晖透过山顶几棵干瘪的松树照射下来。山腰小道上，四个侍从护着一个奄奄一息的骑士走来，那骑士看相貌已过中年。他身后，一人拿着他的盔甲，另一人牵着他的马，画中只见瘦削的马头。骑士的头面颇显贵气，看得出经历了多场正义之战。显然最终正义得到了伸张，因那垂死的面容显露出的是胜利与和平。一行人刚刚下到陡坡边，从那里可以俯瞰山谷。日落的山谷一片祥和，最后一批庄稼才收割完，地里散布着谷堆。太阳落山已有一会儿。天空已无金色残留，只有些微橙黄，绝大部分是秋日天空那种澄澈悦目的青色，夹杂着几抹淡淡的玫红。

……“看，这是傍晚。太阳完成了使命，光荣谢幕，在一片和谐中留下美名，画面色彩悦目。那位老骑士也完成了使命，他在激烈的战斗中谢幕，静躺着迎接那将临的祥和。他们带他回家，躺上他的榻，安息于他的墓。看他们的脸，昏暗光线下，他们都在哀悼那逐渐逝去的生命，满怀敬意。但他将与先辈们聚首，就像熟透的麦子聚拢成垛；就像那些收割完毕的庄稼堆成麦垛，在下方山谷中闪着金光。不过，这幅画得以完整，是因为呈现了头顶那深邃的天空——天堂的象征，完成使命的他必定归于天堂：用水来表现这一象征真是个绝妙的主意，可以说，天堂在世间无须他物体现，我们都会看到！注意看那昏暗的山腰、那些透着哀伤的瘦长的松树，还有其间悲情满满的天空，如何引领我们仰望天堂，指点我们心向天堂。这幅画情感充溢，真是一幅宏大之作——既是一幅画，也是一则寓言。”

[2]请特别留意那位骑士的面孔。他与1850年代末的麦克唐纳长得很像，那时麦克唐纳的样子从照片和1858年门罗的圆形浮雕都可了解。阿瑟·休斯与麦克唐纳初次见面是在1857年。麦克唐纳是否真的“当了”画中骑士的模特，我们不得而知。很可能，有意无意间，休斯受到了麦克唐纳容貌的影响。在其他作品中，休斯把很多朋友和熟人也像这样变成了画中人。

[3]此画画框上刻有一句引言，出自麦克唐纳1857年发表的诗作“更美好之事”：“万事成就之殒落/胜过万众欢欣之降生。”麦克唐纳的影响显然很深，尽管谁也不清楚休斯为什么会引用这两句诗。19世纪的画家经常在画作完成后又添加类似的引言，作为一种反思。此画所描述的故事并非麦克唐纳构思，而很可能是休斯在创作中融合了自己读过的那些浪漫故事。 □

《太阳骑士》

ByKathy Triggs