【精英翻譯】的部落格

Smile, Smirk, or Serious?

古典人物肖像為何總是皮笑肉不笑？

精英翻譯社轉自https://www.ivy.com.tw/newsLetter/analysis_cont/2020111208512573034

It seems that painters’ studios were not happy places. After all, so few classic portraits show people smiling. Clearly, being the subject of a painting is boring, painful, tiring, or some combination of these unpleasant factors. Or could it be something else? Art historians have a lot of theories.

以前畫家的工作室似乎不是個讓人開心的地方。畢竟，古典肖像中的人物很少是微笑的。顯然，成為作畫的對象很無聊、痛苦、累人，或是這些不愉快因素的某種加總。或是有其他原因呢？藝術史學家有很多理論。

One theory is that at the time many old paintings were created, people had bad teeth. It was only natural that people didn’t want to show them in a smile.

一種理論認為，在許多古老畫作被創作的當時，人們留有一口爛牙。人們不想露齒微笑是再自然不過的事。

While this was probably true, since everyone had equally bad teeth, it should not have been something to hide. If there was any reason to hide one’s teeth, it’s because showing them in a smile was seen as unrefined and even impolite.

儘管這可能是對的，但由於每個人的牙齒都一樣糟糕，所以這應該沒什麼好隱藏的。如果有要隱藏自己牙齒的任何理由，那是因為露齒微笑被視為粗俗、甚至是不禮貌的。

It was a sign of a weak character, not of bad dental hygiene. As a person would probably have only one picture of themselves in their entire lifetime, no one wanted to be remembered as silly or foolish. Not smiling therefore became the broad trend in portraits.

它是品德低落的跡象，而非糟糕的牙齒衛生。由於一個人終其一生可能只會擁有一張自己的畫像，所以沒有人想被別人當成傻子或愚蠢的人銘記著。因此不微笑成了畫像的普遍趨勢。

Another possible explanation for the lack of smiles is that smirks or serious expressions were often preferred. It was a sign of a weak character, not of bad dental hygiene.

不微笑的另一種可能解釋是，當時的人們通常比較喜歡假笑或嚴肅的表情。有些歷史學家認為，這是藝術家故意做的選擇，因為假笑的含義比較不清楚。

A smile is an obvious indication of happiness, but that’s about it. Less intense expressions like a smirk allow the observer to interpret different emotions. Mona Lisa is a perfect example.

微笑顯然表示了快樂，但僅此而已。像是假笑這類比較不強烈的表情讓觀賞者可以對情緒有不同的詮釋。《蒙娜麗莎》就是一個完美的例子。

Critics and artists have debated the meaning of her half-smile for centuries, and the conversation continues today.

幾個世紀以來，評論家和藝術家一直在爭論她似笑非笑的含義，而這樣的討論延續至今。

The simplest answer may be the best one, though. It is very possible that the subjects of these portraits really were too tired to keep smiling. Unlike a photo, a painting takes many hours to complete.

不過最簡單的答案也許是最好的。非常有可能是這些畫像的人物真的太累了，所以無法保持微笑。與照片不同的是，繪畫需要花費許多小時才能完成。

It’s exhausting to the point of being painful to maintain a smile for that long. So the answer could just be that a serious face was more comfortable than a happy one.

那麼長時間保持微笑會令人疲憊不堪到痛苦的程度。因此，答案可能就是：擺一張嚴肅的面孔比擺一張快樂的面孔更舒服。