The Nativity 《耶穌降生》

譯/愛藝

English artist Arthur Hughes (1832—1915)reminds us all of how young Mary was when she gave birth to Jesus. Hughes’ version ofThe Nativity(oil and gold leaf on canvas,612mm × 358mm, 1858) focuses on an extremely young woman learning how to care for her newborn.

[2] With the direct assistance of two angels and with three others looking on, Virgin Mary wraps swaddling1swaddling襁褓用的長布條。around her young son, perhaps for the first time. Mary wears a white robe and her long red hair falls loosely over her shoulders. An angel on the left holds a lamp to aid Mary. The pink wings of the angels frame the bottom of the composition. At the top of the image is a hole in the ceiling through which can be seen the heads of three angels.

[3] The entire scene is quite intimate and reflects the close quarters of the stable. In the background is a manger and the floor is strewn with straw. Mary kneels in front of the manger and her child is being held by one of the purplerobed angels. Jesus is crowned in a nimbus2nimbus（神像頭部的）光輪，光環。, a style of halo3halo（圣像的）光輪，光環。often found in Renaissance paintings. ■

英國畫家阿瑟·休斯（1832—1915）的畫作讓我們想起了年輕的馬利亞生下耶穌時的情景。休斯的這版《耶穌降生》（布面油畫附金葉，612毫米×358毫米，1858年。圖見本期封底）集中描繪的是一個初為人母者，學著如何照顧自己的新生兒。

[2]畫中，圣母馬利亞將襁褓長布條纏裹在初生兒子身上，這也許是她第一次操作，她的身邊有兩個天使幫忙，還有三個天使旁觀。馬利亞身著白袍，紅色的長發散披肩上。左邊，一位天使手持油燈，幫馬利亞照亮。天使的粉色翅膀顯露在畫面底部。畫面頂端的天花板上有一個窗洞，三個天使的腦袋清晰可見。

[3]整個場景寧靜私密，描繪的是逼仄的馬廄。背景中有一個馬槽，地板上散落著稻草。馬利亞跪在馬槽前，一位紫袍天使雙手捧著嬰兒耶穌。耶穌頭頂有一輪光環，就是文藝復興時期畫作中常見的那種。 □