A serpent originally included in a 16th century portrait of Elizabeth I but painted over shortly afterwards has “reappeared” the National Portrait Gallery in London has said on March 4.
倫敦國家肖像畫廊3月4日表示，16世紀英國女王伊麗莎白一世的肖像畫，畫中原本有一條蛇，不久後就被重畫覆蓋，如今總算又「重見天日」。
Degradation over time has revealed that the monarch was originally painted holding a serpent, the outline of which is now visible again in the work by an unknown artist dating from 1580s or early 1590s.
由於年久褪色，反而洩露畫中秘密。最初這位英國女王入畫時，她手握著蛇，如今這條蛇的輪廓又逐漸浮現。這幅畫出自一位不知名的藝術家之手，時間可以追溯到1580年代或1590年代初。
But at the last minute the emblem was covered, and the queen was depicted holding a small bunch of roses instead. The gallery said it was not sure why the change was made, but suggested that it may have been to do with the ambiguity of meaning the symbol carried. While a serpent was sometimes used to represent wisdom, prudence and reasoned judgment - all fitting attributes for a queen, snakes also symbolized Satan and original sin in the Christian tradition.
但在最後一刻，女王手中的圖騰被油彩覆蓋，代之以手持一小束玫瑰花。畫廊說，不太確定為什麼突然改變，但暗示可能和蛇這個圖騰代表的曖昧象徵意義有關。雖然蛇有時代表智慧、審慎和理性判斷等一切女王應有的特質──但依基督教傳統，蛇也象徵撒旦和原罪。
The portrait, which has not been on display in the gallery for nearly 80 years, is part of a new exhibition titled “Concealed and Revealed: The Changing Faces of Elizabeth I” which runs from March 13 until September 26. It features four portraits which date from the 1560s until just after the queen's death in 1603, all of which have changed in appearance in some way since they were created.
這幅肖像畫已有近80年未在畫廊展出，這次是在題為「隱蔽與揭露：伊麗莎白一世多變的臉孔」這項新畫展中展出，展期自3月13日至9月26日。這次共展出4幅肖像畫，日期從1560年代到女王於1603年去世後不久，所有這些畫看來都和最初創作時有某些改變。
Advanced scientific techniques have helped unlock clues as to how they would have looked originally. The portrait of Elizabeth I holding a serpent, for example, was painted over the unfinished picture of an unknown woman, showing how 16th century panels were sometimes re-used and recycled by artists.
得先進科技之助，得以解開線索，窺探這些畫像原始真面目。以伊麗莎白一世手握蛇這幅肖像為例，原本是畫在一不知名女子未完成的畫像上面，顯示16世紀的藝術家有時會重複使用和回收畫板再畫。
When this painting of Queen Elizabeth I（sometimes called the Virgin Queen） was last displayed to the country in 1921, curators at the National Portrait Gallery noticed spots of discoloration which cast a spiraling shadow across the Tudor posy the monarch held in her right hand. The gallery put the discrepancy down to wear and tear, and removed the work from permanent display.
當女王伊麗莎白一世（後人有時稱她「童貞女王」）這幅肖像畫最後一次在1921年於英國展出時，國家肖像畫廊策展人發現幾處褪色的斑點，在女王右手拿的都鐸王朝時代的花束上，投下迴旋上升的陰影。畫廊把其間的差異歸咎於日久耗損，並把這幅畫從永久展出中移除。
Ironically, it is that very deterioration which has now led specialists to make a startling discovery: the anonymous artist who painted the Virgin Queen had originally depicted her clasping a snake, coiled suggestively around her right hand. However, the artist appeared to have panicked at the last minute about depicting the Queen holding a serpent - associated with evil and original sin in Christian iconography - and hastily replaced it with an anodyne image of Tudor roses.
反諷的是，正因為畫本身耗損，今天專家才會有驚人的發現：這位不知名的藝術家原本畫的童貞女王，手上緊握一條蛇，意有所指地纏繞她的右手。但藝術家似乎在最後一刻，對女王手握蛇的構圖大感驚慌，因為在基督教意象中，蛇代表邪惡與原罪，而匆匆以不會冒犯任何人的都鐸玫瑰圖像取代。
Tarnya Cooper, curator of the National Portrait Gallery's 16th-century collection, said she thought the painter had probably become fearful that the image would prove too shocking to a prudish British public. Dr. Cooper pointed out that the designs for Elizabeth's many portraits in her lifetime were tightly controlled by the spin doctors of her court, and that the artist may have thought his invention would not be to their liking. The snake was painted with some care, with blue and green scales.
國家肖像畫廊16世紀典藏品策展人唐雅．庫波認為，畫家可能心生恐懼，擔心守舊保守的英國民眾，看到蛇這個圖騰會因過分驚嚇而無法接受。庫波博士指出，女王伊麗莎白一世一生諸多畫像的構圖和設計，都由宮廷裡的公關專家嚴格控管，藝術家可能以為他的創意不會被他們接受，小心翼翼地以藍綠色彩繪製這條蛇。
As the centuries wore away the top layer of paint on the canvas, curators became steadily more convinced that something else lay beneath the roses which Elizabeth is holding. It was not until the work was analysed with X-ray and infra-red technology two months ago that the snake's shape was discovered. “What we now believe is that the serpent was completely finished before it was quickly painted over at the very final stages, just before the final varnish was applied,” said Dr. Cooper.
過去數世紀來，這幅肖像畫表層油彩逐漸褪色，策展人更加確信，伊麗莎白女王手握的玫瑰下面潛藏其他東西。直到兩個月前，用Ｘ光和紅外線技術分析這幅畫，蛇的身影才被發現。「我們現在相信，蛇還沒完全畫完，還等著上最後一層油彩前，在最後關頭很快重畫。」庫波博士說。
The Queen was known to have some items of jewellery in a snake-like form, Dr. Cooper added, but an image of the serpent wrapping itself so seductively around the Queen's hand may well have caused outrage. “Maybe the serpent was too difficult and ambiguous a symbol, maybe it was too dangerous an emblem. The fact that it was painted out so quickly suggests it was too difficult a symbol for the public to cope with,” she said.
眾所周知，女王有些蛇形珠寶，庫波博士補充說，但蛇充滿挑逗意味地纏繞著女王的手，這個意象可能引起公憤。「蛇也許是個太棘手、曖昧的象徵，又或許是太危險的圖騰。事實上，這麼快就重畫，足以顯示一般民眾有多難接受蛇這個意象。」她說。
David Starkey, the historian and Tudor specialist, said serpents in the 16th century held many meanings. “There was an enormous range of symbolism in the Elizabethan period and the serpent had a dual symbolism... it was undoubtedly a symbol of wisdom. There is at least one painting that shows Elizabeth I with images of green serpents on an orange taffeta dress.”
鑽研都鐸王朝的專家兼歷史學家史塔基說，蛇在16世紀有多重含義。「在伊麗莎白時代，象徵主義涵蓋範圍很廣，蛇有雙重意義……它無疑是智慧的象徵。至少有一幅畫顯示，伊麗莎白一世身穿橙色的塔夫綢禮服，上面有青蛇的圖像。」
Photos show the painting today （left）and an artist's impression of how the snake may have originally looked （right）. The display will examine why the changes took place and the evidence this tells us about portraits of Elizabeth I and artistic practices in this period.
左圖是今天伊麗莎白一世的肖像畫，右圖則為藝術家想像中原始版本中蛇可能的圖像。這次展覽將檢視為什麼畫要變造，以及這項證據所能告訴我們有關伊麗莎白一世的畫像和這個時期的藝術手法。（路透）