These paintings are in peril. All three have been defaced, some in ways that are almost impossible to see with the naked eye. Can you guess how they've been altered? You might be surprised.
這些畫作岌岌可危。 這三幅名畫都曾遭到污損, 有些污損的地方 是肉眼看不見的, 你能猜到它們怎樣被修改嗎? 你可能會大為震驚。
When a museum curator inspected this portrait, attributed to the 16th century Italian painter Bronzino, they suspected it was a modern fake. However, closely examining the cracks on its surface, an art conservator discovered that it was from that era— It had just undergone drastic changes in recent centuries. Using x-ray technology, they peered under the outer surface of paint and saw the countenance of a completely different woman. Essential parts of the painting had been modified during a 19th century restoration.
當一位博物館策展人 檢視這幅 相信是 16 世紀意大利畫家 布龍齊諾的肖像畫時, 他們懷疑是現代膺品, 可是,仔細查看畫面上的裂縫過後, 一位藝術作品修復員發現 畫作的確源自 16 世紀, 但在之後幾個世紀中 卻慘遭塗改。 透過 X 光技術,他們窺探畫底, 並發現另一個完全不同的女人的面容。 在 19 世紀一次對畫作的修復中, 畫作主要的部份遭到塗改。
Prior to the mid-20th century, art restorers took a more heavy-handed approach, often believing they were improving art. Nowadays, they focus on keeping the original work intact with minimal intervention. When they need to fix something up, they usually make their markings visually and chemically distinct from the original, so they can be harmlessly removed. But the work of past restorers is a threat they regularly contend with— as was the case with this portrait.
在 20 世紀中葉前, 藝術作品修復員都抱著專橫的 態度來「修復」藝術作品, 並且認為這是在「改善」作品。 可是,現今的藝術作品修復員 卻著重保留原作的面貌, 而極少干預創作手段。 若需要修補畫作,他們會 以化學方式把修補的地方 與原作在視覺上區分出來, 這樣能把修補的地方抹走 也不影響原作。 以前的修復員互相競爭, 對畫作都帶來嚴重的影響, 這幅肖像畫就是例子。
To recover the original, the conservator began removing the outer varnish coat. Varnish is commonly used to protect paintings from debris and make their colors pop. But the natural varnishes past restorers applied eventually darkened, which is what gives older paintings that aged, yellowy look. Slowly dissolving the varnish, the conservator uncovered crisp colors below. Taking small samples from the added and original paint layers, they analyzed the compositions of each. Then, they decided which solvents could dissolve the overpainting while minimally affecting the original. Carefully dabbing the canvas with them, they removed the overpainting’s dainty hands and idealized face. The true painting underneath revealed Isabella of the Italian Medici dynasty. The portrait isn’t Bronzino’s, but it is from around 1570, and may have been painted by one of his students. Its Victorian makeover was likely done to boost sales because the original subject wasn’t considered attractive. But now, Isabella is back, meeting her viewer’s gaze directly.
為了還原畫作, 修復員刮掉畫面表層的上光油。 上光油一般是用來保護畫作免遭損害, 並使得顏色更亮麗; 但過往修復員使用的上光油 最終變得暗啞, 導致流傳下來的畫作看來發黃陳舊。 修復員慢慢溶解 畫面的上光油, 再現底下光亮的色彩。 透過拿出少量原作以及 塗改之處的顏料作樣品, 他們研究出各顏料層所屬的構圖。 然後,他們便能決定使用哪種溶解劑 來溶解塗改之處的顏料。 從而對原作帶來最小的影響。 經過仔細輕擦畫面, 修復員抹去畫面上 矯小的手和理想化的面容, 揭示了美第奇家族 伊沙貝拉的肖像。 這幅肖像畫並非出自 布龍齊諾之手, 但的確創作於 1570 年間, 可能是他的門生畫的。 畫作於維多利亞時期經修改, 很可能是為了促進銷售, 因為人們都覺得 原作上的人物不太好看, 但現在,伊沙貝拉重現人間, 可以跟觀眾見面。
This painting, “An Allegory with Venus and Cupid,” is actually Bronzino’s, and it was completed around 1545. It centers on a kiss between Venus and her son Cupid– but it’s been subtly altered. When London’s National Gallery acquired it in 1860, the Gallery’s director deemed it too risqué for Victorian England. So, he commissioned a restorer to obscure Venus’s tongue and nipple. A century after this modification, art conservators analyzed and removed the overpainting with select solvents. In the process, they also realized that the veil covering Venus’s crotch and the branch hiding Cupid’s posterior were other add-ons. Removing two layers of censorship from the painting, it was finally free to boast its provocative original details.
這幅名畫《維納斯,丘比特,放蕩與時間》 的確出自布龍齊諾之手, 約在 1545 年間完成。 畫中的維納斯親吻兒子丘比特, 但畫作被細微地塗改過。 當倫敦國家畫廊 於 1860 年購得畫作時, 畫廊主管認為畫作題材對 維多利亞時期的英國來說太有傷風化, 因此聘請修復員掩蓋 畫中維納斯的舌頭和乳頭, 塗改後的一百年, 修復員分析後,再使用精選的溶解劑 抹去當年蓋上去的塗層。 過程中,他們發現遮蓋 維納斯胯部的薄紗, 及遮掩丘比特臀部的樹技 都是後期加上去的。 抹去這兩層以內容審查 為名的塗改之後, 這幅作品終於能以原作中 「有傷風化」的細節而自矜。
This massive painting called “The Night Watch” was completed by Rembrandt in 1642. Since then, it’s endured one dramatic amputation, two stabbings, an acid attack, and centuries of grime. A museum guard immediately neutralized the acid with water. Restorers lifted the grime, revealing that the painting was not set at night, and healed the slashes using adhesive and extra canvas backing. But they faced an even trickier problem. In 1715, strips were removed from all sides of the canvas, including two whole feet from the left, to fit it inside Amsterdam’s Town Hall. They've been lost ever since. But a multi-year conservation project that began in 2019 replaced the missing pieces. They managed this by training an artificial intelligence to digitally paint in Rembrandt’s style. Then, using another artist’s rendering of the original, the program recreated and printed the painting’s lost sections. Finally, the team returned “The Night Watch” to its full size, with AI-generated best guesses to fill in the blanks.
這幅巨大的名作《夜巡》, 是林布蘭於 1642 年完成。 自此,它經過一次 駭人的裁切、兩次戳刺, 一次硫酸破壞及 幾個世紀以來的污垢。 博物館守衛馬上用水稀釋硫酸, 修復員把污垢清洗, 使人們得知原來畫中的場景 不是設於夜間, 並使用粘合劑和新的畫布 來修補戳刺的地方。 但畫作面對著一個更大的難題。 1715 年,為了符合阿姆斯特丹市政廳的畫框, 畫作的四邊均被裁切, 甚至原作左邊被裁掉了足足 60 公分。 被裁掉的部分從此便永遠消失。 2019 年開始的一個橫跨多年的 藝術作品修復項目 卻把缺失的部份補上了。 他們訓練一個 AI, 透過數碼方法模仿林布蘭的畫風, 然後,再使用另一位藝術家對原作的描繪, AI 程式便能重新創造這幅畫作缺失的部份。 最後,《夜巡》完整地重現人間, 就是透過 AI 推算出這些缺失的部份。
All of these paintings had been altered, but none of them were irrevocably ruined. With painstaking scientific analysis and technical skill, art conservators immortalize priceless artifacts. They counteract sudden damage and creeping threats— and sometimes, they perform near miracles.
這些畫作曾被修改,但遭受的損壞 都不是無法補救的。 透過一絲不苟的科學分析和技術, 藝術修復員讓這些 無價之藝術作品能夠永垂不朽。 他們對抗突如其來的損壞 和潛在的威脅—— 有時,他們更創造奇蹟。
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