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family by family, generation by generation,
以家庭为单位 祖祖辈辈流传下来
and today the bronze-casters of Benin, like their predecessors,
现在的贝宁青铜雕刻者就和祖辈一样
are members of an exclusive guild,
是这种独家行业的成员
and they still use the same methods to produce their art -
他们还使用同样的方法创造他们的艺术
the lost wax method - and almost every stage in that process
即失蜡法 几乎现在制作的每一步
is performed today as it was centuries ago.
都与几个世纪前的方法一模一样
Yet despite their ancient heritage,
虽然他们传承自古代
Benin's craftsmen were not the first West Africans
贝宁的匠人并非是西非
to use the technique.
首先使用这一技术的
In the 13th century, the people of Ife cast lifelike heads in metal
伊费人在十三世纪就浇铸出栩栩如生的金属头像
that are thought to represent now long-forgotten rulers.
现在那被认为是遗忘已久的统治者的头像
They achieved such a sophisticated level of realism
他们在写实技术上技艺如此纯熟
that Europeans would later suggest
以致于欧洲人后来觉得这些头像
the heads were evidence of the lost civilisation of Atlantis.
就是亚特兰蒂斯失落文明的证据
This was the indigenous artistic tradition
这是一种土著的艺术传统
inherited by the Benin Empire,
由贝宁帝国传承
who used it to honour their obas.
贝宁人用它以示对国王的尊敬
In the hands of Benin's craftsmen,
在贝宁匠人的手中
the style became more abstract,
雕刻的风格变得更加抽象
imbued with magical, symbolic power.
渗透着魔力 具有象征意义的力量
Benin's art would continue to evolve after the arrival
贝宁艺术在十五世纪下半叶
in the late 1400s of Portuguese traders,
葡萄牙商人到来后不断发展
the first Europeans to reach West Africa.
他们也是首先到达西非的欧洲人
Within Benin's art is evidence
在贝宁艺术中
that the Portuguese were more than just trading partners.
有证据表明葡萄牙人不只是他们的贸易伙伴
This brass statue, made by Africans for Africans,
这尊黄铜雕像由非洲人制作给非洲人
is of a Portuguese soldier.
雕刻的却是一位葡萄牙士兵
He is quite possibly one of the mercenaries
他可能是贝宁国王军队中的
who fought in the Oba's army.
一个雇佣兵
A statue like this could well have adorned the Oba's palace.
这样的雕塑可能就用于装饰国王的宫殿
And one of the greatest of all Benin's art treasures gives us
这是贝宁艺术最了不起的珍品之一
an insight into the way Benin saw the Portuguese.
使我们了解了贝宁人是怎样看待葡萄牙人的
Made not of metal, but carved ivory,
它由象牙而不是金属雕成
it's believed to show the face of
人们认为它雕刻的是一位
a 16th-century queen mother Idia.
十六世纪的皇太后 依迪亚
