Gradually, hundreds of sculptures and reliefs of the Buddha
久而久之 这里的石头便脱胎成
were carved out of the rock.
无数佛像和浮雕
But what Herringham really wanted to find
但赫林厄姆真正想找的东西
lay inside the caves themselves.
在石窟里面
These are some of the earliest Buddhist paintings in the world.
这些是世上最早的佛教画作之一
By then in a perilous state,
当时它们损毁严重
Herringham set about recording them
而赫林厄姆在画作褪色前
before they finally faded away.
将其临摹了下来
This amazing book is how she preserved the paintings.
这部巨著就是她保护壁画的方式
You've got a preliminary set of essays,
前面有一些原始记叙
talking about how the work was done
讲述了她的工作过程
and what the paintings meant.
以及画作的含义
But then
之后
the most gorgeous colour plates.
就是精彩绝伦的彩色壁画了
But Herringham not only preserved these scenes
但赫林厄姆不仅这些佛陀的生活场景
from the life of the Buddha.
如实地记录了下来
In her mind's eye and on her page,
她从主观上 并在绘制时
she radically and problematically
大胆但偏颇地
reinterpreted them.
曲解了这些画作
When she looks at the colour,
在她的眼中 这些色彩
the perspective,
透视关系
the careful lines and composition,
还有严谨的线条和构图
what she sees is the Indian equivalent
都成为印度版的
of Italian Renaissance art,
意大利文艺复兴艺术
and she actually talks about them as frescoes,
而且她用'湿壁画'来称呼它们
and she talks about the caves as a picture gallery.
将这些洞窟看作画廊
And, in a way, this book is part of that vision.
于是这本书也秉承了这种观点
By giving you small snapshots
书中给出的都是局部图
and giving you them like this
而这样排版意味着
so that you could, if you wanted to,
只要你愿意 你就可以
just put them up on your wall,
将这些画直接挂在墙上
as pictures.
当做装饰画
What this book is doing is it's translating
这本书所做的就是
and Indian Buddhist site...
将印度佛教圣地
into the heritage of world art.
变成了世界艺术遗产
Of course, we now see plenty of religious art
当然 我们已在安全的画廊中
in the safe space of a gallery.
见过许多宗教艺术
But, to understand how these paintings really work,
但要想真正理解这些画作的内涵与功用
we need to look at them in the caves for which they were made.
我们就得在它们所在的洞窟原址观赏它们