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In the 1800s, most paintings looked like this.
19世纪的画大多都是这样的。
Muted colors, complex scenes, and lots of mythological stuff.
柔和的色彩，复杂的场景，还隐射了许多神话故事。
But in 1865 something came along that was so different, it caused shock and horror and outrage.
但1865年画坛发生了一件因过于异常而引起了人们的震惊、恐惧和愤怒的事情。
“the body's putrefying color recalls the horror of the morgue.”
“画中女子那仿佛正在腐烂的肌肤颜色会让人想到恐怖的太平间。”
“...takes on at times the undefinable terror of a painted corpse.”
“…不时地传达出一种无法形容的恐惧感，仿佛画的是一具尸体。”
“...her face is stupid, her skin cadaverous… she does not have a human form.“
“…丑陋的面容，苍白的皮肤……完全没个人样。”
The painting is called Olympia, and it changed the art world forever.
这幅画叫《奥林匹亚》，它永远地改变了世界画坛。
Edouard Manet painted Olympia in 1863 when Paris was the cultural center of the world.
爱德华·马奈于1863年创作了《奥林匹亚》，当时的巴黎堪称是世界文化的中心。
And at the center of this cultural center was the Academy of Fine Arts.
巴黎的美术学院则是这一文化中心的中心。
The Academy was made up of upper-crust art critics that worshipped the Italian Renaissance painters of three hundred years prior.
该学院由上流社会的艺术批评家组成，他们崇拜的是300年前意大利文艺复兴时期的那些画家。
You know - Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Titian…
你懂的，就是米开朗基罗、拉斐尔、波提切利、提香那群人……
And at the Paris Salon — the Academy’s legendary annual art show —
而该学院举办的一个颇有名气的年度艺术展——巴黎沙龙
they only displayed art that mimicked the renaissance style.
只展览模仿文艺复兴风格的画作。
To determine who made the cut, they had a bunch of rules.
他们制定了一系列门槛规则。
First and foremost - great art was supposed to convey a moral or intellectual message.
首先也是最重要的规则就是，伟大的艺术应该传达出某种道德寓意或智慧。
And all acceptable art fell into one of five categories, ranked by their capacity to deliver those messages.
其次，根据传达这些信息的能力，所有可被认可的作品都可被归入以下五类。
Landscapes and still lifes were at the bottom.
等级最低的是风景画和静物画。
And in the middle are portraits and genre paintings, which were mostly quaint scenes of poor or foreign subjects, painted for the rich.
位于中间等级的是肖像画和风俗画——大多是为富人绘制的，描绘贫穷或异域主题的古色古香的场景。
And at the top of the list is History painting, the Academy’s darling.
等级最高的是最受学院青睐的历史画。
These depicted major historical or mythical moments,
这种画描绘的都是重大历史时刻或神话时刻，
they were considered the best at providing an ethical or moral lesson.
他们认为，用这类画作进行伦理或道德说教最为适宜。
Like depictions of the birth of Venus - showing the goddess emerging fully formed from the ocean,
就比如描绘维纳斯诞生的这幅画作——画作展现了象征着完美的女性和神圣的爱的女神
a symbol of womanly perfection and divine love, which brings us to the second set of rules.
完全脱胎于大海时的情形，这就引出了第二套规则。
Equally important to what was painted was how it was painted.
与画什么同样重要的是怎么画。
Take that painting of “The Birth of Venus”.
就拿《维纳斯的诞生》这幅画来说。
It’s the kind of painting the Academy loved.
这幅画就是该学院青睐的那种画。
Its subjects are idealized, prettified visions of the world — smooth and beautiful, with no body hair and flawless skin.
理想化的人物，美化的世界图景——光滑而美丽，连体毛都没有，只有光洁无瑕的肌肤。
The painting follows the rules of depth and perspective — meaning it looks like it could exist in the real world.
这幅画遵循了景深和透视的原则——也就是说它看上去就跟真实的情景一样。
And the scene is complex and layered - there’s a lot going on.
场景复杂而有层次——内容很丰富。
Its colors are ones you’d find in nature.
画中的颜色也是在自然界中就找到的颜色。
They aren’t too saturated or harsh and the brushstrokes are smooth.
既不太饱和，也不太粗糙，笔触也很流畅。
So smooth that they’re nearly invisible on the canvas.
流畅到在画布上几乎完全看不出一丝痕迹。
For a long time, really the only way to become a successful artist was to follow the Academy’s rules.
长久以来，要想成为成功的画家，唯一方法就是遵循该学院的规则。
Which makes Manet’s Olympia all the more an outlier.
这样一来，马奈的《奥林匹亚》就显得更加异类了。
Check out this painting from Renaissance master Titian from 1538.
看看1538年文艺复兴时期的绘画大师提香的这幅画作。
Look familiar? It should.
眼熟吗？眼熟就对了。
Manet painted Olympia as a direct riff on Titian’s “Venus of Urbino.”
《奥林匹亚》就是马奈在受到了提香的《乌尔比诺的维纳斯》启发而创造出的作品。
But there’s a reason Manet’s painting ruffled so many feathers when it hung in the Salon.
不过，马奈的画作之所以一挂入巴黎沙龙的展厅就引起了轩然大波是有原因的。
For starters, the name Olympia was a popular pseudonym for sex workers.
首先，奥林匹亚这个名字在当时风尘女子的通用化名。
Manet took a beloved, instantly recognizable painting and corrupted it -
马奈绘制了一幅备受喜爱、一眼就能认出来的画，却又亲手将其毁掉了——
subbing in a common sex worker for the morally upright goddess of love and fertility.
用一位普通的性工作者替代了道德正直的爱与生育女神。
There’s not much room for a sex worker in the heirarchy of genres.
性工作者在等级森严的绘画流派中原本并没有多少存在空间。
But it was also how Manet painted Olympia was what really changed things.
但真正改变这一切的是马奈绘制这幅画的技法。
Manet used stark and unnatural colors that give Olympia a cold and harsh look.
马奈用了无修饰又不自然的颜色赋予了奥林匹亚一幅冷峻而粗糙的外观。
And look at how rough and textured Manet’s brushstrokes are compared to Titian’s imperceptible ones.
再来看看马奈的笔触与提香那难以察觉的笔触相比是何等的粗犷和有质感。
And, unlike Titians, Manet’s painting doesn’t seem to exist in real space.
此外，与提香的画作不同，马奈的画显得没有那么真实。
It’s much flatter and less complex.
因为它比较平面，也没有那么复杂。
And beyond the rules, the two paintings just feel different.
除了上述规则以外，这两幅画给人的感觉可以说是完全不同。
Venus lounges while Olympia sits at attention.
维纳斯是倚着的姿势，奥林匹亚则是坐姿。
Venus’ maids place furs in a chest, probably a wedding gift.
维纳斯的女仆正在往箱子里放毛皮，那些毛皮可能是她收到的结婚礼物。
Olympia’s maid brings her flowers, likely from one of her regular customers.
奥林匹亚的侍女则给她带来了一束花，很可能是她的某位老主顾送的。
And compare their hands.
再来看她们的手。
People really didn’t like Olympia’s tensed fingers -
观众很不喜欢奥林匹亚手指那紧张的姿态——
one critic claimed she was “mocking the pose” of Venus, with a hand shamelessly flexed”
一位评论家说她是在“戏讽”维纳斯的姿势：一只手不知羞耻地朝大腿内侧弯曲着。
where Venus is warm and inviting, Olympia is tense and stiff.
维纳斯的姿态显得温暖而诱人，相比之下奥林匹亚的姿态则显得既紧张又僵硬。
It’s as if Venus invites you to look at her, while Olympia confronts you— almost like she’s shaming you for intruding.
就好像维纳斯在邀请看她，奥林匹亚则是在与你对抗——就好像她在为你的冒犯羞辱你一样。
It’s not totally clear why the Academy chose to display Manet’s rule-breaking painting,
学院为什么会选择展出马奈这幅打破常规的画作目前还不清楚，
but it probably had something to do with Manet’s growing popularity.
但有可能与当时马奈的人气日渐升高有关。
You can see his influence so clearly in what came next.
我们可以从画坛接下来的画风中清楚地看到他的影响力。
He led the charge toward modernism in the late 1800s.
是他在19世纪末引领了绘画走向现代主义的潮流。
Starting with the impressionists - Monet, Degas - who adopted his penchant for modern themes and loosened brushstrokes.
而最先受到他影响的就是印象派——莫奈、德加——他们都借鉴了他对现代主题的偏爱以及放松的笔触。
But it’s not just the impressionists who owe Manet.
然而，受到马奈影响的不止是印象派。
More than anything, Olympia is proof that no one entity gets to decide what art should look like.
最重要的是，奥林匹亚证明了绘画应该是什么样不是由某一个实体决定的。
And, when we look back on the history of art, we don’t remember the people who were really good at following the rules.
当我们回顾艺术史的时候，我们记住的往往不是那些擅长遵守规则的人，
We remember the people who moved the needle forward.
而是那些勇于打破规则，造就时势的人。
