Juan de Pareja, The Calling of St. Matthew From smart history

中英双语 | 帕雷哈 | 圣马太的召唤 | Juan de Pareja

大家好，英文原文以及重点名词注释我们放在这里了，对大家可能不认识的单词进行了加粗，文末有单词表可供大家查询。

1. We ' re at a special exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of the work of Juan de Pareja , a 17th century painter , finally being given the attention that he deserves.

l Metropolitan： 一词可以用作名词或形容词。作为名词，它可以指一个大都市的居民，或者一个省级主教，特别是在大主教之上，宗主教之下的主教。作为形容词，它可以指与大都市相关的，通常包括其周边地区，或与殖民地或附属国的母国相关的。

l Juan de Pareja：Juan de Pareja (约1608年-1670年) 是一位17世纪的西班牙画家，他出生于安特克拉（Antequera），西班牙。他主要以作为迭戈·韦拉斯奎兹（Diego Velázquez）的画像而闻名，这幅画像现在收藏在大都会艺术博物馆。Pareja曾在韦拉斯奎兹的工作室里被奴役了20多年，后来成为一名画家。

2. Ironically , this artist is known mostly through a portrait of him by the great Spanish painter , Diego Velazquez.

l Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599年6月6日洗礼 - 1660年8月6日) 是一位西班牙画家，是西班牙国王腓力四世的宫廷画家，也是西班牙黄金时代的领军人物。他是巴洛克时期（约1600-1750年）的个人主义艺术家。他最初以精确的夜光画风开始绘画，后来发展出一种自由的风格，以大胆的笔触为特征。除了许多历史和文化意义重大的场景外，他还绘制了大量西班牙皇室和平民的肖像，最终创作出他的杰作《宫女》（1656年）

3. And we ' ve always known that in that famous painting by Velazquez that ' s been so long admired.

4. The man featured in the painting , Juan de Pareja , was enslaved and his enslaver was Diego Velazquez.

5. But Pareja was also an artist and we ' re standing in front of a very large canvas , what we think was a significant commission.

6. This painting is 10 feet across.

7. And the subject is the calling of Saint Matthew and it ' s the story of a moment of conversion , the moment of a life - changing event when Matthew is approached by Christ and called to become one of his apostles and who at first questions that calling.

l Saint Matthew 圣马太（Saint Matthew）在新约圣经中被称为耶稣的十二使徒之一。根据基督教传统，他也是四位福音书作者之一，撰写了《马太福音》（Gospel of Matthew），因此也被称为马太福音书作者（Matthew the Evangelist）。

8. All of that takes place in the right half of the canvas.

9. Christ is standing in blue and red.

10. He looks slightly down and looking up to him is a man dressed in the most extravagant costume.

11. This is Matthew before riches.

12. We see pearls , we see gold and silver coins.

13. On top of this gloriously painted West Asian carpet.

14. And those coins spilling out of the bag signal the life that Matthew is turning away from , this life of worldly power and influence and on the cusp of accepting this spiritual calling.

15. And so we can think about the figures and the space on the right side of that column behind Matthew as this spiritual space which is spare , where we see a view to nature , where we don ' t see any of those expensive household goods that are so over the top in the left - hand side of the painting.

16. Matthew is at this moment of indecision.

17. Is he going to give up this wealth ?

18. Is he going to follow Christ and take a spiritual journey ?

19. He seems to be gesturing almost as if he ' s saying , you mean me ?

20. Questioning how could he possibly be asked to follow Christ ?

21. Matthew is certainly the most extravagantly dressed of the figures that we see on the left - hand side of the painting.

22. Some of the figures are looking up at Christ.

23. Some of them don ' t seem to notice him.

24. But as our eye scans the figures from right to left , from Christ through this room of figures , the golden urns glimmering in the light below the window , the painting on the back wall , the books , all of these signs of wealth and prosperity.

25. At the far left , we see a self - portrait of the artist himself.

26. We see Juan de Pareja.

27. And in his hand , he holds a piece of paper which contains his signature.

28. Juan de Pareja made this and the date of the painting.

29. This is the only figure that looks out directly at us.

30. He stands nobly.

31. We can see almost his entire body.

32. In fact , that ' s the only case beyond Christ in this painting where that happens.

33. And importantly , he is dressed as a member of the aristocracy , as a nobleman.

34. Specifically , the sword that he carries is a clear indicator of status.

35. And I think it ' s important for us to remember how clear a sense of social hierarchy there was at this time , particularly in Spain.

36. Jews , Muslims , people of color , people of African descent like Pareja , had significant restrictions placed on their lives.

37. The artist was born in Spain , but he is of African descent and one of two figures in this painting that are black.

38. We see the other black figure behind the column , although mostly obscured by that point of light above Matthew ' s head.

39. It ' s not unusual to see a black figure in a painting , but it is unusual to see a black figure portrayed in such an ennobled way.

40. We know that in Spain at this time , there was a significant enslaved population.

41. Pareja does get manumitted by Velazquez before this painting is painted.

42. And I think it ' s important for us to keep in mind not only Velazquez ' s portrait of Pareja himself , but also Velazquez ' s self - portrait where he portrays himself within the court of King Philip IV of Spain as a way of showing , of proving his noble status , his status above the level of a normal artist by his presence within the court.

King Philip IV of Spain 菲利普四世（Philip IV，1605年4月8日 - 1665年9月17日），也被称为行星国王（Rey Planeta），是西班牙国王（1621年至逝世）和葡萄牙国王（1621年至1640年）。他在西班牙作为一个伟大的世界强国衰落期间统治。

43. So we know that Velazquez had this concern for his own status.

44. And clearly , Pareja is concerned with his status in this painting.

45. And Velazquez ' s own striving for social status was augmented by being a slave owner.

46. Interestingly , we see this moment where Matthew gives that up in favor of a spiritual life.