Unit 17
His bio reads like a rock star’s. A precocious talent, he never married because, he said, it would have hurt his career. But he moved his girlfriend in with him while he worked his last gig—then died at the age of 37 from a fever brought on, some said, by carnal excess. The great painter Raphael （1483-1520） was one of the big three of Italy’s high Renaissance, along with Leonardo da Vinci （whose work he admired and studied closely） and Michelangelo （with whom he carried on a vigorous, if all too brief, competition to be the Vatican’s favorite artist）. He didn’t seem, however, to have a superstar’s attitude. The pope was his patron, and acquaintances described him as “sensible,” “well mannered,” “genial ” and “sweet.” On his deathbed, he bequeathed his mistress enough money to live “honorably” for the rest of her life. And he painted her portrait—one of the great paintings of all time, right up there with the “Mona Lisa”—as a final, loving tribute.
At least that’s how the legend goes. That portrait—which is touring the United States for the first time—constitutes a one-picture exhibition at the Frick Collection in New York through Jan. 30 （it will travel to Houston and Indianapolis）. Certainly, “La Fornarina”（“Baker’s Daughter”）comes from the hand of the incomparable Raphael. ① The gently tilting composition is perfect, the color finely balanced and the lady’s skin alabaster and flawless. （Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as sprezzatura, meaning, roughly, to hide with technical facility exactly how anything is done.）② In the classic Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes （including a belly button under gauze）, she glances coyly to the side at, one presumes, a lover. “La Fornarina,” the renowned art historian and MacArthur fellow Leo Steinberg explains, “is the closest thing to soft porn in the high Renaissance.” But whether the seminude lady depicted is actually the baker’s daughter who was Raphael’s love remains a mystery.
Is Raphael himself the object of her gaze? Most people—including several British critics reviewing the big Raphael exhibition currently at the National Gallery in London—like to think so. Since live women models weren’t generally available five centuries ago, the reasoning goes, the lady’s posing undressed for Raphael must have been an intimate act. Besides, what else can the artist’s proprietary name on her armband mean? But the experts remain divided. With a fine disregard for attendance-boosting hype, Rome museums commissioner Claudio Strinati （“La Fornarina” usually resides at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome）lays out a less titillating hypothesis in a booklet accompanying the Frick display.
A recent cleaning of the painting reveals a wedding ring on the lady’s left hand; Raphael’s final and most prominent patron, the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, had just been married to one Francesca Ardeasca. Raphael’s name on the armband, Strinati says, is a tribute to Chigi. He concludes that “La Fornarina” is Ardeasca. Unfortunately, no other portraits of Chigi’s bride exist to confirm the ID. As Steinberg says, “It’s all an attractive myth, and like all myths it depends for interpretation on levels of reliable gossip.” Whatever one believes, “La Fornarina” is still a sweetheart of a painting.
注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2002年真题Text 3。
1. The mystery of the woman lies in her ______.
A) beauty
B) unknown identity
C) seminude body
D) intimate relationship with Raphael
2. It can be inferred from the text that ______.
A) Raphael behaved like a superstar
B) Raphael died young because of overwork
C) Raphael enjoyed greater popularity than Michelangelo
D) one of Raphael’s paintings achieves as great fame as “Mona Lisa”
3. The vivid descriptions of the painting “La Fornarina” show that ______.
A) Raphael is good at soft porn
B) Raphael develops a special feeling towards the baker’s daughter
C) oil paint was not popular then
D) Raphael’s painting technique has reached maturity
4. We can draw a conclusion from the third paragraph that ______.
A) there is sound evidence to believe there exists an intimacy between Raphael and the woman in the painting
B) live women models were nowhere to find in Raphael’s time
C) nude models were easily available in Italy in Renaissance
D) it is generally agreed among experts that the woman is Raphael’s mistress
5. From the text, we can see that the writer ______.
A) shows curiosity towards the identity of the woman in the painting
B) is a Renaissance art historian
C) strongly supports the idea that “La Fornarina” is one of Raphael’s mistress
D) thinks low of Raphael’s technique in the painting
篇章剖析
本文以对画坛巨匠拉斐尔的简介开始，重点讨论了他的画作《福尔娜瑞娜》中神秘女郎的身份问题。第一段简单介绍了拉斐尔及其在画坛上的地位，并引出油画《福尔娜瑞娜》。第二段对这幅画进行了细腻描写。第三段列出人们对画中女郎身份的不同看法。第四段指出无论画中女郎是谁，这幅画都是一幅精品。
词汇注释
precocious /prɪˈkəʊʃəs/ adj. 早熟的
gig /ɡɪɡ/ n. 为生计而做的工作
carnal /ˈkɑːnl/ adj. 肉体的；性的
genial /ˈdʒiːniəl/ adj. 和蔼可亲的
bequeath /bɪˈkwiːð/ vt. 遗赠
alabaster /ˈæləbɑːstə/ adj. （皮肤）光滑细腻的
erotic /ɪˈrɒtɪk/ adj. 挑逗的；性感的
gauze /ɡɔːz/ n. 薄纱
proprietary /prəˈpraɪətəri/ adj. 专有的；所属的
titillate /ˈtɪtɪleɪt/ v. （使）觉得痒；挑逗，使人兴奋
难句突破
① The gently tilting composition is perfect, the color finely balanced and the lady’s skin alabaster and flawless.
主体句式：The composition is perfect, the color balanced and skin alabaster and flawless.
结构分析：这句后半句是独立主格结构，分别在color和skin后省略了is。
句子译文：那微微倾斜的布局堪称完美，用色协调，女士的肌肤洁白无瑕。
② In the classic Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes（including a belly button under gauze）, she glances coyly to the side at, one presumes, a lover.
主体句式：She glances to the side at a lover.
结构分析：这句话中，cover up和showcase并列，它们的宾语是erotic attributes；one presumes是插入语。
句子译文：画中女郎面带羞意，侧头凝望，有人猜测是在注视她的情人，她的体态呈经典的维纳斯式姿势，性感之意欲遮弥彰（薄纱下面有若隐若现的肚脐）。
题目分析
1. B 细节题。从最后两段可以清楚知道对画中女郎的身份有各种不同的猜测。
2. D 推理题。从第一段对Raphael的细节介绍中可得出答案。
3. D 细节题。对这幅油画精品的细致描写只有一个目的，就是展示的天才般的绘画技巧。从第二段“Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as...”一句中可以判断出。
4. A 推理题。从第三段可知，500年前，女模特还不普遍，画中半裸的女郎很容易被认为和画家有亲密关系。
5. A 推理题。全文一直在探讨画中女郎的身份，列出两种不同的观点，但并没有结论。文章最后一句中whatever one believes更能帮助理解。
参考译文
他的传记读起来像摇滚歌星的传记。一个早熟的天才，终生未娶。因为据他说，那可能会影响他的事业。但他在创作最后一幅油画时，还是请来了女友和他同住。然后在37岁时因为发烧不幸辞世。有人说，他发烧是由纵欲过度引起的。伟大的画家拉斐尔（1483-1520）是意大利文艺复兴全盛时期三大画家之一，和达·芬奇、米开朗琪罗齐名。他欣赏达·芬奇的作品并对之仔细研究过。在谁是梵蒂冈最受欢迎的画家这个问题上，他和米开朗琪罗争得不相上下，只可惜他去世太早。不过，看上去他没有明星的高傲派头。教皇是他的赞助人。认识他的人都说他“明智”、“有教养”、“和蔼”、“令人愉快”。在弥留之际，他给情妇留下足够钱财，让她“体面地”度过余生。他还为她画了肖像，作为最后的爱的信物。这张肖像一直被认为是一幅伟大的杰作，和《蒙娜·丽莎》齐名。
至少故事是这么说的。那张肖像现在第一次来到美国巡展。为此纽约弗瑞克收藏店专为这一张油画举办了展览，展览持续到1月30日（之后再去休斯敦和印第安纳波里）。《福尔娜瑞娜》（又名《面包师的女儿》）确实出自无与伦比的拉斐尔之手。那微微倾斜的布局堪称完美，用色协调，女士的肌肤洁白无瑕。（当时油画还属新兴事物，但拉斐尔对绘画掌握已十分纯熟，以至于他的技巧被称为sprezzatura，大意是作画技巧精湛，下笔过程不露痕迹。）画中女郎面带羞意，侧头凝望，有人猜测是在注视她的情人，她的体态呈经典的维纳斯式姿势，性感之意欲遮弥彰（薄纱下面有若隐若现的肚脐）。“《福尔娜瑞娜》是文艺复兴全盛时期最接近软性色情的作品。”著名的艺术史学家，麦克阿瑟研究会会员里奥·斯坦伯格说道。但画中这位半裸的女子是不是拉斐尔所爱的面包师的女儿，仍然是个谜。
拉斐尔是不是她凝视的对象？大部分人都乐于这样想，包括几名正在伦敦国家美术馆评论拉斐尔作品展的批评家们。理由是，500年前，女模特还不常见，画中女子为拉斐尔摆出半裸的姿态肯定与其关系亲密。而且，画家的名字出现在她的袖带上还能有别的意思吗？但有些专家对此持有不同意见。罗马博物馆主管克劳第奥·斯提纳地（《福尔娜瑞娜》平时就收藏在罗马的Palazzo Barberini美术馆）就完全不认同这种旨在大大提高参观人数的不实之称，他在弗瑞克展览会上发放的一本小册子中提出了一个不那么令人浮想联翩的假设。
最近一次清理这幅油画时有人发现画中女郎的左手戴着婚戒；拉斐尔最后一位也是最重要的一位赞助人塞尼思银行家阿果思提诺·齐格，那时刚与一个叫弗朗西斯卡·阿迪斯卡的女士结婚。斯提纳地说，袖带上拉斐尔的名字是向齐格表示敬意。他的结论是，油画《福尔娜瑞娜》中的女郎就是阿迪斯卡。不幸的是，没有其他肖像来证明画中女郎就是齐格的新娘。正如斯坦伯格所说，“画中女郎是谁是人人都想破解的谜，就像其他谜一样，它的解释取决于传言的可信度。”不管人们相信哪种说法，《福尔娜瑞娜》仍是油画中的上品。
