【精英翻譯】的部落格

Why Was Vincent van Gogh’s Life Cut So Short?

剖析梵谷的精神世界

精英翻譯社轉自https://www.ivy.com.tw/newsLetter/analysis_cont/2021052012405313433

Vincent van Gogh’s painting The Starry Night (1889) is likely the most famous painting in Western history after Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (c. 1503). The swirling images of stars and houses under a brilliant night sky have attracted millions, if not billions. This famous painting has been reproduced on countless T-shirts, towels, and posters. Van Gogh’s style, despite belonging to the Impressionists, was unique. Van Gogh’s personal tragedy led to his suicide by gunshot in 1890 at the early age of 37. He left hundreds of paintings, though in his day no one purchased them, except for his brother Theo. As van Gogh is considered among the greatest and most consequential of all Western painters, his strange behavior and lifestyle have come under close examination.

文森．梵谷的畫作《星夜》（1889 年）可能是西方史上名氣僅次於李奧納多．達文西的《蒙娜麗莎》（約 1503 年）的畫作。受畫中星星與美麗夜空下的房子的漩渦狀圖像吸引的人數就算沒有數十億也有數百萬。這幅名畫已被翻印在無數的 T 恤、毛巾和海報上。梵谷儘管屬於印象派畫家，他的風格卻很獨特。梵谷的個人悲劇導致他在 1890 年開槍自殺，當時他年僅三十七歲。他留下數百幅畫，雖然那些畫在他活著的年代除了他弟弟西奧之外並無人購買。現在由於梵谷被奉為最偉大及最重要的西方畫家之一，他的怪異行為和生活方式便被放大檢視。

A group of Dutch doctors has recently re-opened the case of what caused van Gogh’s nearly life-long mental problems that led to his eventual suicide. Experts in neurology and psychiatry at the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands conducted their study in a “bottom-up” approach. They used the abundant number of letters van Gogh had written, especially to his brother Theo, as well as doctors’ written reports in several European locations. This kind of attempt—diagnosing someone long dead—had not been performed before. Their aim was to speculate on the most likely source of the patient’s condition. Over the past century, several theories of what ailed van Gogh had been suggested. The Groningen team thus explored all possible diagnoses in order to exclude unlikely illnesses. This would leave other remaining illnesses as the more likely causes.

有一群荷蘭醫生最近重啟了這個病例，研究是什麼導致了梵谷將近一生都有、還造成他最終自殺的心理問題。荷蘭格羅寧根大學醫學中心的神經學及精神病學專家以「由下而上」（編按：先考慮細節，再考慮整體）的方法進行研究。他們使用梵谷寫的大量信件（尤其是寫給弟弟西奧的）以及歐洲數個地方的醫生的手寫報告。這種診斷去世已久之人的嘗試是前所未有的。他們的目的是要推測這名患者最有可能的病源。過去一百年來，對於梵谷是受何所苦有好幾種猜測。格羅寧根的團隊因此探索了所有可能的診斷，以排除可能性小的疾病。這將使剩下的其他疾病成為較可能的原因。

Previous attempts to diagnose van Gogh’s mental condition offered schizophrenia as the potential cause. The most recent research strongly disputed this idea. Classic epilepsy and bipolar disorder were also refuted as causes of the artist’s condition. Instead, the medical team asserts that van Gogh’s sickness was most likely a combination of several comorbid psychotic, mood, and personality disorders, which resulted in his deep depression and suicide.

先前為了診斷梵谷的精神狀況所做的嘗試提出精神分裂症為可能的病因。最近期的研究與此看法有強烈的分歧。關於這位藝術家的病因，典型的癲癇和躁鬱症也被推翻。相反地，這支醫療團隊斷言梵谷的疾病最有可能是數種共生精神疾病、情感疾病及人格障礙的加總，導致他的嚴重憂鬱及自殺。