第15章　名列前茅

你们有没有见过一尊雕像，描绘的是一位名人坐在汽车里的样子呢？没有？我也没有见过。可是，在人们都是骑着马儿从一个地方跑到另一个地方去的那个时候，许多伟人的雕塑描绘的，却都是他们骑在马背上的情形呢。

之所以如今没有人们开着汽车的雕像，原因就在于，像汽车这样大型的人造物品，并不适合于制成雕塑。事实上，很少有人造的物品适合于制成雕塑。雕塑家试图模仿的，都是自然之物。他们选择的对象，都是自然形成的东西，比如人啦，动物啦，植物啦，花草啦。一名手持锤子、凿子的优秀技工，便可以用大理石雕凿出一辆汽车来；可要想雕刻出一匹马儿，却只有艺术家才做得到。

菲狄亚斯在巴台农神庙的饰带上雕刻出来的那些马匹以及骑马的人，你们都还记得吗？它们都属于浮雕作品。用浮雕手法雕刻出一匹马儿，要比用立体的圆雕手法雕刻出一匹马儿容易得多；因为在浮雕作品里，马儿属于基座的一部分，并不需要依靠四条腿来支撑自身的重量。一尊骑马者的雕塑，称为“骑像”。古罗马人雕制出来的骑像，比古希腊人雕刻出来的更加精美，因为古罗马人更加了解如何支撑塑像的重量。不过，古罗马灭亡之后的一千年里，再也没有出现什么优秀的骑像了。

那么多年过去之后，雕刻出了第一尊优秀骑像的雕塑家，就是多纳泰罗。这座雕像的尺寸比真人要大，并且是用青铜制成的。多纳泰罗花了十年的时间，才将

equestrian statue in the world.You can call it that, too, if you’d like, but what you should really call it is a hard name to pronounce and even harder to spell.The man on the horse was named Gattamelata, and so Donatello’s statue is called Gattamelata.

Look at the following illustration and notice how heavy and strong the horse is. Gattamelata was a soldier and soldiers'horses in the time of the Renaissance were true warhorses.They were strong so they could carry the weight of a man in armor and heavy so they could charge with great force like the heavy fullbacks on a football team.I have never seen a real horse with his foot on a ball and Donatello hadn't either, but he had to put a ball there to steady the heavy statue.See what a well-balanced, easy seat the rider has in the saddle.

If Gattamelata is the second best equestrian statue in the world, what is the best one?Think of all the sculptors who might have made the finest man on horseback. Think of all the hundreds or even thousands of years since sculpture began and you will be astonished to learn that the best and the second best equestrian statues were both made during the Renaissance.They were both made by goldsmiths who lived in

它雕制出来，并安放在意大利的帕多瓦。这座雕塑极其精美，因此许多人都称它是世界上第二座最优秀的骑像作品呢。要是愿意的话，你们也可以这样来称呼这座雕像；不过，你们真正应当称呼的，却是一个说起来很拗口，甚至拼写起来也很复杂的名称。骑着马的那个人叫加塔梅拉塔，因此多纳泰罗的这尊雕塑作品，就叫“加塔梅拉塔骑像”。

看一看下面这幅插图，注意那匹马儿的体型有多庞大，身体有多结实。加塔梅拉塔是一名士兵，而“文艺复兴”时期士兵所骑的马匹可都是真正的战马哩。它们都体格健壮，因而驮得起身穿盔甲的士兵；它们都体型庞大，因而能够全力冲锋陷阵，就像橄榄球比赛中的大块头进攻后卫一样。我从来没有见过哪匹真正的马儿踩着一个球，而多纳泰罗应当也没有见过；可他必须在马蹄下放一个球，才能让这座沉重的雕塑保持平衡。看到了吧，骑马者在马鞍上的坐姿是多么的稳当和轻松呀。

要说“加塔梅拉塔骑像”是世界上第二件最优秀的骑像作品的话，那么最优秀的那件骑像作品又是什么呢？你们不妨想一想所有的雕塑家，看谁有可能制作出最精美的骑士雕像来。你们可以回顾一下自雕塑艺术出现以来的那几百年甚至几千年的时间，就会惊讶地发现，这座最优秀的骑像和位居第二的那尊骑像，都是在“文艺复兴”时期雕刻出来的。它们都是由生活在佛罗伦萨的金匠制作而成的。这两

Florence.They were both statues of soldiers on warhorses.And they were both set up in cities in Italy not very far from Florence.

The best statue was made by a sculptor known as Verrocchio. Verrocchio was not his real name.It was the name of the man who taught him to be a goldsmith.Strangely enough, Verrocchio in Italian means true eye.Certainly he lived up to his name.The statue is of a soldier who was commander-in-chief of the armies of Venice.His name was Colleoni.Donatello's Gattamelata and Verrocchio's Colleoni.

Colleoni was a fine general. He commanded his soldiers and fought well.He was very strong.With his armor on, he could race against the fastest runners in the whole army.He liked to study, he encouraged artists and students at his camp, and he was very courteous.He never ate too much or slept too much, and he was noted for his strict honesty.

When Colleoni died, he left all his fortune to the Republic of Venice on the condition that Venice set up a statue of him in the Square of St. Mark.To put a statue there was against the law of Venice, so the Venetians thought

尊雕塑，描绘的都是骑着战马的士兵。并且，它们都被安放在意大利距佛罗伦萨不远的城市里。

世间最优秀的一座雕塑，是由一个叫作韦罗基奥的雕塑家创作出来的。韦罗基奥并不是他的本名。这是教他成为金匠的那位师傅的名字。奇怪的是，“韦罗基奥”在意大利语中是“真正的眼力”的意思。当然，他完全配得上这个名字。他制作的那尊雕像，是一位指挥过威尼斯军队的勇士。这位统帅，名叫科莱奥尼。因此，世界上最杰出的两座雕像，就是多纳泰罗的《加塔梅拉塔》和韦罗基奥的《科莱奥尼》。

科莱奥尼是一位杰出的将领。他指挥着手下的士兵，并且英勇善战。他的体格非常健壮。即便是身披盔甲，他也可以与整支军队里速度最快的那些士兵赛跑。他不但喜欢学习，鼓励军中的艺术人才和学员，还非常礼贤下士。他在饮食上很有节制，从不大吃大喝，而且作息十分规律，不睡懒觉，还以绝对诚实而著称。

科莱奥尼去世后，将所有的财产全都捐赠给了威尼斯共和国，条件是威尼斯应当在圣马可广场上为他修建一座雕像。在那里立一座雕塑是违反威尼斯律法的，因此威尼斯人当时以为，他们是没法得到科莱奥尼的财产的了。可后来，他们却想出

they wouldn’t get his fortune after all.Then they had a bright idea.They remembered a building called the School of St.Mark, which had a little square in front of it.

“Why can't that be called the Square of St. Mark too?”they said.So they had Verrocchio make the statue and put it there, and in this way they got the money left by Colleoni.

Verrocchio balanced the statue so well that no ball had to be put under the uplifted forefoot of his horse. Because the statue was on a high pedestal, the sculptor exaggerated Colleoni's features so they would look right when seen from the ground.

Verrocchio's Colleoni is one of the most glorious pieces of sculpture in the world-and the best equestrian statue.

了一个绝妙的主意。他们记起，威尼斯有一栋叫作“圣马可学院”的大楼，而这座楼前也有一小块广场。

“为什么不能把那里也叫作圣马可广场呢？”他们说。于是，他们便请韦罗基奥制作了这尊雕像，并将雕像立在这个小广场上；通过这种办法，他们便获得了科莱奥尼的遗产。

韦罗基奥雕刻的这座雕像非常平稳，所以无须在战马抬起的一只蹄子下再放一个球了。因为这尊雕像矗立在一座很高的基座上，因此雕塑家便将科莱奥尼的五官雕刻得非常夸张；这样，当人们站在广场上瞻仰时，科莱奥尼的五官才显得正常。

韦罗基奥的《科莱奥尼》，既是世界上最可称颂的雕塑作品之一，也是世界上最杰出的一尊骑像。