It was an art movement that came from conflict.

這是一場源於衝突的藝術運動。

Europe had experienced the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the wars of religion and Inquisitions.

歐洲經歷了宗教改革和反宗教改革、宗教戰爭和宗教裁判所。

The art being produced in Catholic countries had become a powerful tool of propaganda.

天主教國家生產的藝術品已成為強有力的宣傳工具。

It was characterised by a heightened sense of drama, movement and theatricality that had never been seen before.

它的特點是戲劇性、運動性和舞臺感的增強，這是前所未有的。

But in the Netherlands, a new wave of realism was sweeping across the country.

但在荷蘭，一股新的現實主義浪潮正席捲全國。

Johannes Vermeer was producing simple domestic interiors of middle-class life.

約翰內斯-維米爾（Johannes Vermeer）創作的是中產階級生活的簡單家庭室內裝飾。

His paintings were quiet, private and unassuming, secular works that contained stories of real human relationships.

他的畫作安靜、私密、不張揚，是蘊含著真實人際關係故事的世俗作品。

Vermeer's art would be totally forgotten about right up until the mid-19th century, the age of the camera.

維米爾的藝術直到 19 世紀中葉，即照相機時代才被人們徹底遺忘。

His incredible mastery of hyper-realism would lead some people to question the authenticity of Vermeer, to question whether he used mechanical means to achieve such perfect illusions.

他令人難以置信的超寫實技巧會讓一些人質疑維米爾的真實性，懷疑他是否使用了機械手段來實現如此完美的幻覺。

For some people, as we shall see, Johannes Vermeer is considered a cheat.

對某些人來說，約翰內斯-維梅爾是個金光黨，我們會看到這一點。

In 1556, the Habsburgs took over the Low Countries.

1556 年，哈布斯堡王朝接管了低地國家。

What today is the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and ruled it as a Spanish province.

今天的荷蘭、比利時和盧森堡，並將其作為西班牙的一個省進行統治。

It was a clash of two dramatically different cultures.

這是兩種截然不同的文化的碰撞。

The Northern territories were Protestant, the Southern Catholic.

北部地區信奉新教，南部地區信奉天主教。

The Eighty Years' War ended in independence for the North in 1648.

八十年戰爭於 1648 年結束，北方獲得獨立。

While the Southern Netherlands remained Catholic and a part of Spain, in the North the strict

荷蘭南部仍然是天主教國家，是西班牙的一部分，而在荷蘭北部，嚴格的

Protestant sect of Calvinism became the nation's official religion.

新教的加爾文教派成為國家的官方宗教。

Vermeer's imagery was banned and an emphasis was placed on simplicity in both worship and decorative style.

維米爾的影像被禁止使用，崇拜和裝飾風格都強調簡潔。

The sharp break with the old monarchist and Catholic cultural traditions would mean that

與舊的君主制和天主教文化傳統的徹底決裂意味著

Dutch art had to reinvent itself almost entirely.

荷蘭藝術幾乎不得不重新塑造自己。

We know Vermeer was born in Delft in 1632.

我們知道維梅爾 1632 年出生於代爾夫特。

Then next to nothing is known about him, until he married Katerina Bolnes in 1653.

之後，人們對他幾乎一無所知，直到 1653 年他與卡捷琳娜-博爾內斯（Katerina Bolnes）結婚。

He was Catholic, and Vermeer almost certainly converted to Catholicism secretly before they married, probably at the insistence of his wealthy mother-in-law, who at first opposed the marriage.

他是天主教徒，維梅爾幾乎可以肯定在他們結婚前祕密皈依了天主教，這可能是在他富有的岳母的堅持下，她起初反對這樁婚事。

Although Catholic mass was banned, freedom of religion in the Dutch Republic was official, and converting to Catholicism didn't bring Vermeer any personal or professional disadvantages.

雖然天主教彌撒被禁止，但宗教自由在荷蘭共和國是正式的，皈依天主教並沒有給維米爾帶來任何個人或職業上的不利。

The couple moved in with Katerina's mother, and Vermeer spent the rest of his life in the same town, the same house, slowly producing paintings in the same room, on the second floor, at a rate of 2 or 3 a year.

這對夫婦搬到了卡捷琳娜的母親家，維米爾在同一個小鎮、同一棟房子裡度過了餘生，在二樓的同一個房間裡慢慢創作，每年創作兩三幅畫。

It is thought Vermeer produced 60 or so paintings, of which only 36 survive today.

據說維米爾創作了 60 多幅畫作，其中只有 36 幅留存至今。

Vermeer and Katerina had 15 children, of which 11 survived.

維米爾和卡特琳娜共育有 15 個孩子，其中 11 個倖存下來。

We know at least 5 other adults lived in the same house, as well as Vermeer's own 11 children.

我們知道，至少還有 5 個成年人和維梅爾自己的 11 個孩子住在同一所房子裡。

And yet, he never shows us any suggestion of family, or the chaos that naturally comes with a household that big.

然而，他從來沒有向我們展示過任何家庭的影子，也沒有展示過那麼大的一個家庭自然會出現的混亂。

It is safe to say that the peace and quiet Vermeer depicts in his paintings was not what he experienced in real life.

可以肯定地說，維米爾在畫中描繪的和平與寧靜並不是他在現實生活中體驗到的。

Maybe that is the point.

也許這才是關鍵所在。

Genre paintings were scenes of everyday life, ordinary people engaged in common activities, that both reflected and helped define ideals about the family, love, morals, courtship, and duty.

類型畫描繪的是日常生活場景，是普通人從事的普通活動，既反映了家庭、愛情、道德、求愛和責任等方面的理想，也有助於這些理想的確定。

In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic dominated global trade and was the wealthiest country in the world.

17 世紀，荷蘭共和國主導著全球貿易，是世界上最富有的國家。

But the Dutch Calvinists were a frugal and austere group, naturally inhibited and embarrassed by wealth.

但荷蘭的加爾文教派是一個節儉樸素的群體，他們天生對財富感到拘束和窘迫。

Smaller, quiet secular paintings became hugely popular, and no longer the preserve of the church or aristocracy, or even the very wealthy.

小型、安靜的世俗繪畫大受歡迎，不再是教堂或貴族，甚至是富人的專利。

Paintings could be found in shops, taverns, and houses.

在商店、酒館和住宅中都能找到繪畫作品。

It was a boom time for artists.

對藝術家來說，這是一個繁榮的時代。

Along with paintings, maps started to appear in homes, appealing to the Dutch desire for order.

除了繪畫，地圖也開始出現在家庭中，這迎合了荷蘭人對秩序的追求。

Cityscapes were an emblem of self-determination and a sense of pride in the young Dutch Republic.

城市景觀是年輕的荷蘭共和國自決和自豪感的象徵。

While Dutch Calvinists denounced devotional artwork in churches, they explicitly encouraged devotees to turn their attention to the visible world around them.

雖然荷蘭加爾文主義者譴責教堂中的虔誠藝術品，但他們明確鼓勵信徒將注意力轉向周圍的可見世界。

One of the most successful sub-categories of genre painting was the kitchen scene.

最成功的風俗畫子類別之一是廚房場景。

The Dutch saw hard work as spiritual, and household economy as a holy virtue, moderation in all things.

荷蘭人將勤勞視為一種精神，將節約視為一種神聖的美德，凡事都要有節制。

There were so many Dutch artists producing genre paintings, but if we look at these two paintings on the same theme, we see there were none quite like Vermeer.

荷蘭有很多藝術家創作風俗畫，但如果我們看一下這兩幅相同主題的畫作，就會發現沒有一幅能與維米爾相媲美。

Whose quiet settings, serene lighting, cropping, and ambiguousness made his scenes more universal than most genre paintings.

其寧靜的環境、寧靜的光線、剪裁和模糊性使他的場景比大多數風俗畫更具普遍性。

Artists borrowed themes and compositions from each other readily.

藝術家們隨時相互借用主題和作品。

There was no shame in copying.

抄襲並不可恥。

Once a theme took off in sales, artists would produce their own variations.

一旦某個主題在銷售中脫穎而出，藝術家們就會製作出自己的變體。

Vermeer's paintings are all small, but the milkmaid is very small.

維米爾的畫都很小，但《擠奶女工》卻非常小。

It is oil on canvas.

這是布面油畫。

According to conservators, it took two months to paint.

據保護人員稱，這幅油畫用了兩個月的時間。

The first thing to note is that she is not a milkmaid, but a domestic kitchen maid.

首先要注意的是，她不是擠奶女工，而是家庭廚房女傭。

She is a young woman of a strong build, wearing a crisp linen cap, a blue apron, and work sleeves pushed up from thick forearms.

她是一位身材健壯的年輕女性，頭戴一頂清爽的亞麻帽，繫著藍色圍裙，工作袖子從粗壯的前臂上捋起。

The unassuming maid is poised between action and introspection.

這位不起眼的女僕在行動與反思之間遊刃有餘。

She is slowly pouring milk into a squat earthenware vessel, commonly known as a Dutch oven.

她正慢慢地將牛奶倒入一個蹲式陶器（俗稱 "荷蘭烤箱"）中。

Her concentration and careful pouring suggest she is following a precise recipe.

她全神貫注，小心翼翼地倒水，這表明她是在按照精確的配方進行操作。

The Dutch oven has a deep rim, so a lid can be put on top for cooking.

荷蘭烤箱的邊緣很深，可以蓋上蓋子進行烹飪。

In front of the pot are broken pieces of stale bread.

鍋的前面是破碎的陳麵包片。

It is thought she is making some kind of bread pudding.

人們認為她在做某種麵包布丁。

Her transformation of stale, unusable bread into something edible, and her careful use of ingredients, would have been picked up by the 17th century Dutch as an illustration of domestic virtue, a greatly admired value.

她將陳舊、無法使用的麵包變為可食用的東西，並精心使用各種配料，這在 17 世紀的荷蘭人看來，是家庭美德的體現，是一種非常值得推崇的價值觀。

We don't know who the model is, but Vermeer couldn't afford to pay models, so used his family and servants.

我們不知道模特是誰，但維米爾付不起模特費，所以用了他的家人和僕人。

It could be Tanika Everpol, a maid in Vermeer's house, but if it is, it is not meant to be a portrait.

這可能是維米爾家的女僕塔尼卡-埃弗波爾，但如果是的話，也不應該是一幅肖像畫。

Vermeer is really showing his astounding ability to suggest a vast range of textures.

維米爾真正展現出了他令人驚歎的表現各種質感的能力。

The rough, inexpensive material is a sharp contrast to his later paintings of middle-class women.

粗糙、廉價的材料與他後來描繪中產階級女性的畫作形成鮮明對比。

After the milkmaid, Vermeer never again painted a working-class theme.

在《擠奶女工》之後，維米爾再也沒有畫過工人階級題材的作品。

The maid is wearing a starched cap.

女僕戴著一頂星光熠熠的帽子。

He has painted wet-on-wet here, as well as on other areas such as her sleeves.

他在這裡以及她的袖子等其他地方進行了溼對溼的繪畫。

Then he adds texture with layers of thick paint or impasto.

然後，他用一層層厚厚的顏料或浮雕來增加質感。

The arm is a masterclass in wet-on-wet technique, the rolled-up sleeves revealing a perfectly rendered tan line.

手臂上的溼透技術堪稱一絕，捲起的袖子露出了完美的棕褐色線條。

The edges of her forearms are soft, suggesting movement.

她前臂的邊緣很柔軟，暗示著運動。

We can feel the tension she has to maintain to let the milk pour out so slowly, and we can also sense the liquid falling.

我們可以感受到她為了讓牛奶慢慢倒出而必須保持的緊張感，我們也可以感受到液體的下落。

It really is as if her arms are moving.

她的手臂彷彿真的在動。

He would do something similar with the guitar strings in this painting, covered in my video

在這幅畫中，他也用吉他弦做了類似的處理，我的視頻中也有介紹

Great Art Cities London.

倫敦偉大的藝術城市

The maid is wearing a yellow chamois leather top, painted with lead-tin yellow, the brightest yellow pigment available in Vermeer's time, and one of his preferred colours.

女僕身穿一件黃色麂皮上衣，上衣是用鉛錫黃繪製的，鉛錫黃是維米爾時代最明亮的黃色顏料，也是他最喜歡的顏色之一。

He would use the same yellow pigment in later representations of the famous fur-trimmed morning jackets adorned by elegant women.

後來，他又用同樣的黃色顏料表現了著名的皮草鑲邊晨衣，這些晨衣都是優雅女性的裝飾。

The rough reddish stitching is not meant to be decorative, and tells us it is a purely practical garment.

粗糙的紅色縫線並非裝飾之用，它告訴我們這是一件純粹的實用服裝。

She wears a heavy blue apron over a red wool skirt, which suggests that the picture was painted in winter.

她身著紅色羊毛裙，外面圍著厚厚的藍色圍裙，這表明這幅畫是在冬天繪製的。

In Vermeer's day, there were a limited number of pigments, and he only used about twenty of them.

在維梅爾的時代，顏料的數量有限，他只用了大約 20 種顏料。

But along with lead-tin yellow, he did use expensive ultramarine a lot.

但除了鉛錫黃，他還經常使用昂貴的群青。

It was made from crushed lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone imported from present-day Afghanistan.

它是用碎青金石製成的，這種半寶石是從今天的阿富汗進口的。

We know Vermeer struggled financially most of his life, and we think it was his patron,

我們知道維米爾一生中大部分時間都在為經濟問題掙扎，我們認為這是他的贊助人、

Pieter van Rookven, who supplied the artist with such costly pigment.

Pieter van Rookven，他為畫家提供瞭如此昂貴的顏料。

The strange green sleeves are called moosmoorven, or mess-sleeves.

這種奇怪的綠色袖子被稱為 moosmoorven 或 mess-sleeves。

They are not part of the yellow bodies, but are worn separately to protect against staining.

它們並不是黃體的一部分，而是單獨佩戴以防染色。

We can see them in other works.

我們可以在其他作品中看到它們。

Rather than underdrawing, Vermeer used a monochromatic layer, where he would identify tone, lighting and composition.

維米爾使用的不是底稿，而是單色圖層，他將在此確定色調、光線和構圖。

He uses different blocks of colour for different areas of the painting, which adds to the luminosity.

他在畫作的不同區域使用了不同的色塊，這增加了畫作的亮度。

Vermeer famously uses a sort of pointillism in the bread and basket, which suggests light as it flickers off the broken surface of the stale bread.

維米爾在《麵包和籃子》中使用了一種著名的點彩畫法，暗示光線從陳舊麵包的破損表面上閃爍而過。

He uses dabs of ochre to show us the rough edges of the dry bread, giving us a texture which suggests staleness.

他用點點赭石向我們展示了乾麵包的粗糙邊緣，給我們一種暗示著陳舊的質感。

We first see his use of pointillé in this painting, and the technique appears in about half of Vermeer's works.

在這幅畫中，我們第一次看到他使用點彩，這種技法出現在維梅爾大約一半的作品中。

The entire still life on the table is a masterpiece, that uses a combination of thin glazes, impasto, colour and a perfect depiction of light refraction on every single crumb.

桌上的整個靜物是一件傑作，它綜合運用了薄釉、浮雕、色彩以及對每一塊麵包屑上光線折射的完美描繪。

Unusually for the time, Vermeer uses impressionistic dabs of blue here, which act as reflective highlights and intensifies the brick colour of the stoneware.

與當時不同的是，維米爾在這幅畫中使用了印象派的點狀藍色，作為反光的亮點，強化了石器的磚色。

Kitchen maids were often portrayed in Dutch paintings and literature as discrete objects of desire and sexually threatening to the home.

在荷蘭繪畫和文學作品中，廚房女僕往往被描繪成離散的慾望對象，對家庭構成性威脅。

Vermeer possibly acknowledged the tradition of the maid as a sexual being by placing one of the delft tiles behind her depicting Cupid.

維米爾在女僕身後放置了一塊描繪丘比特的德爾福瓷磚，這可能是對女僕作為性存在的傳統的認可。

It is thought that she is in a cold kitchen, because here we can see a foot warmer.

人們認為她是在一個寒冷的廚房裡，因為在這裡我們可以看到一個暖腳器。

These were wooden perforated boxes with hot coals inside.

這些都是木製穿孔箱，裡面裝有熱炭。

There is a possibility Vermeer was using the foot warmer symbolically, as in popular literature they were often associated with the heat of sex.

維米爾有可能是在象徵性地使用暖腳器，因為在通俗文學中，暖腳器往往與性愛的熱度聯繫在一起。

More likely he is referring to her inner warmth.

更有可能的是，他指的是她內心的溫暖。

The 17th century male viewer would have noticed the contrast of the rough leather sleeves with the fleshy nudity of her exposed forearm, which they would have found titillating.

17 世紀的男性觀眾會注意到粗糙的皮袖與她裸露的前臂肉感的對比，他們會覺得很刺激。

While we can't dismiss this erotic subtext, I do believe that Vermeer, though not from the servant class, did marry above his station and treats the subjects of a lower class woman with dignity and empathy.

雖然我們不能否定這種色情的潛臺詞，但我相信維米爾雖然不是僕人出身，但他的婚姻確實高於他的地位，他以尊嚴和同情的態度對待下層婦女的題材。

Vermeer's focus is on the maid as an ideal woman, a paragon of homely virtue.

維米爾將重點放在女僕身上，將其視為理想的女性，家庭美德的典範。

She might be seen, even today, as the essence of the Dutch character – strong, simple and direct.

即使在今天，她仍可被視為荷蘭人性格的精髓--堅強、簡單而直接。

The painting is built up along two diagonal lines that draw our attention to the pouring milk, the focal point for both us and the maid.

畫作沿著兩條對角線展開，將我們的注意力吸引到倒牛奶的地方，這是我們和女僕的焦點。

On the wall are a frame, a bread basket and a pail.

牆上掛著一個相框、一個麵包籃和一個水桶。

They each retain their own distinct form and texture, but they also cascade down towards the stream of milk.

它們各自保留了自己獨特的形狀和質地，但也向著牛奶流的方向層層疊加。

The painting is from a low angle, which gives her monumentality.

這幅畫的視角較低，這賦予了她磅礴的氣勢。

Vermeer uses the classic pyramid shape as stability, which I have discussed before.

維米爾使用了經典的金字塔造型作為穩定性，這一點我之前已經討論過。

He not only used the same props again and again in his paintings, but he also recycled the same poses.

他不僅在畫中反覆使用相同的道具，還重複使用相同的姿勢。

This is a pose we have seen before in this painting.

這個姿勢我們在這幅畫中見過。

But although the upper class woman is surrounded by expensive furnishings, and the kitchen maid has nothing but her clothes, both women command our respect.

雖然上流社會的女人身邊擺滿了昂貴的傢俱，而廚房女傭除了衣服什麼都沒有，但這兩個女人都讓我們肅然起敬。

This x-ray shows us that originally Vermeer had an overflowing clothes basket here, but painted over it.

這張 X 光片告訴我們，維米爾原本在這裡畫了一個溢出來的衣籃，但卻畫過了。

He also had a map on the wall behind the maid.

他還在女僕身後的牆上貼了一張地圖。

By taking these away and leaving the white washed wall, it not only isolates the figures, but also reflects light and cleanliness.

去掉這些，只留下白色的牆壁，不僅能隔離人物，還能體現出光線和潔淨。

If we look again at this painting, we can see there are dirty dishes waiting to be cleaned, suggesting the servant is lazy and disorganised.

如果我們再看看這幅畫，就會發現有一些髒盤子等待清洗，這表明僕人懶惰而無序。

If Vermeer had left a full laundry basket, he would be telling a different story, and by removing this and the map, he creates an uncluttered backdrop, both physically and psychologically.

如果維米爾留下的是一個裝滿衣物的籃子，他講述的將是另一個故事，而通過移除這個籃子和地圖，他創造出了一個在物理和心理上都不凌亂的背景。

Vermeer often placed a chair or table or curtain in the foreground of his paintings to create a theatrical barrier and reinforce the sense of privacy between the figures and the viewer.

維米爾經常在畫作的前景放置椅子、桌子或窗簾，以營造一種戲劇性的屏障，加強人物與觀眾之間的私密感。

It also adds depth and three-dimensionality.

它還增加了深度和立體感。

We can see the type of window if we look at this painting Vermeer created of his aunt's house.

如果我們看看維米爾為他姨媽家創作的這幅畫，就會發現窗戶的類型。

Windows in the 17th century had small uneven panes.

17 世紀的窗戶都是凹凸不平的小窗格。

Top left lighting is an artistic convention that goes back to ancient Rome, and as we've seen, the windows in Vermeer's works are almost always to the left.

左上方照明是一種藝術慣例，可以追溯到古羅馬時期，正如我們所看到的，維米爾作品中的窗戶幾乎總是在左邊。

In this painting, he shows them as full of imperfections, and they are not clear, leading to a more diffused, softer light.

在這幅畫中，他將它們表現得充滿瑕疵，而且並不清晰，從而使光線更加散漫、柔和。

My favourite detail is this cracked pane, which lets in a little beam of unfiltered light.

我最喜歡的細節是這塊裂開的窗格，它可以透進一束未經過濾的光線。

Light is of course what Vermeer is famous for, and the flow of light from left to right and its intensity activates the canvas.

光線當然是維米爾的拿手好戲，光線從左到右的流動及其強度激活了畫布。

The light gradually and perfectly diminishes as it flows from light to dark.

光線從亮到暗，逐漸完美地減弱。

And every nail, hole, crack and crevice is treated with the same attention to detail as the pouring milk.

每一顆釘子、每一個孔洞、每一條裂縫都像倒牛奶一樣細緻入微。

Vermeer takes a white wall and elevates it to a picture within a picture, a stage setting for the artist's quiet little drama.

維米爾將一面白牆昇華為畫中畫，成為藝術家靜謐小劇場的舞臺佈景。

The amount of work Vermeer produced was pretty meagre, and when he died his work was owned by just one or two collectors in the small town of Delft.

維米爾的作品數量非常少，他去世後，他的作品只被代爾夫特小鎮的一兩個收藏家擁有。

The lack of exposure ensured that his name just disappears from art history, completely, until 1866, when a French art critic wrote about him.

由於缺乏曝光率，他的名字在藝術史上徹底消失了，直到 1866 年，一位法國藝術評論家寫了一篇關於他的文章。

Photography was just becoming popular at this time, and people couldn't help but connect

此時，攝影剛剛流行起來，人們情不自禁地將其聯繫在一起。

Vermeer's hyper-realistic work with the new technology.

維米爾利用新技術創作的超寫實作品。

Almost immediately the suggestion arose that Vermeer used a camera obscura, the forerunner of the modern photographic camera, as a way of copying.

幾乎立刻就有人認為維米爾使用了現代照相機的前身--暗箱照相機來臨摹。

A darkened room has a pinhole on one side, and through this hole an inverted image is projected via a lens into a darkened space, onto a canvas inside.

黑暗的房間一側有一個針孔，通過這個針孔，倒立的影像通過鏡頭投射到黑暗的空間中，再投射到裡面的畫布上。

Now the question is, did Vermeer use one to create his work?

現在的問題是，維米爾在創作時是否使用了這種工具？

The pro-camera argument is the lack of underdrawings in his work, the perfect perspective and the portrayal of objects out of focus.

支持相機的論點是，他的作品中沒有底稿，透視完美，描繪的物體也不對焦。

Like every theory, there are endless variations.

就像每一種理論一樣，有無窮無盡的變化。

The artist David Hockney famously made his case on the matter, and in the 2013 film Tim's

藝術家大衛-霍克尼（David Hockney）曾就此事發表過著名的觀點，並在 2013 年的電影《蒂姆的

Vermeer, they claimed to reproduce a Vermeer.

維米爾，他們聲稱要複製一幅維米爾的作品。

You can find links to these and counter-theories in my video description.

您可以在我的視頻描述中找到這些理論和反理論的鏈接。

As we know, plenty of great artists didn't rely on underdrawing, and if Vermeer did rely on a camera obscura to trace an image, then there would be an underdrawing.

我們知道，很多偉大的藝術家並不依靠底稿，如果維米爾真的依靠暗箱照相機來描繪影像，那麼就會有底稿。

The strongest argument for his use of mechanical help is his extremely accurate perspective.

他使用機械幫助的最有力論據是他極其準確的視角。

Along with the hyper-realism, people asked, how is this possible?

隨著超現實主義的出現，人們不禁要問：這怎麼可能？

Recent evidence shows that he used a more rudimentary method to obtain accurate perspective.

最近的證據顯示，他使用了一種更原始的方法來獲得準確的透視。

So far, pinpricks have been found in 13 Vermeer paintings, including the milkmaid just above her right hand.

迄今為止，已經在 13 幅維米爾的畫作中發現了針刺，其中包括擠奶女工右手上方的針刺。

In fact, it is visible to the naked eye, as we can see.

事實上，它是肉眼可見的，我們可以看到。

A string with chalk on it was attached to the pin, which the painter would have snapped to get perspective lines.

圖釘上拴著一根寫有粉筆字的繩子，畫師將繩子折斷以獲得透視線。

A common method among Dutch artists.

這是荷蘭藝術家常用的方法。

My question is, why would Vermeer use this method to work out perspective, if he was simply tracing the image with a camera obscura?

我的問題是，如果維米爾只是用暗箱照相機描畫影像，為什麼要用這種方法來計算透視？

Of course, there is a possibility he used optical aids of some kind, but I am not convinced, and there is no solid evidence.

當然，他也有可能使用了某種光學輔助工具，但我並不相信，也沒有確鑿的證據。

To be frank, I don't think it's that important.

老實說，我覺得這並不重要。

If it is true, it is just one process of making a painting, and doesn't detract from Vermeer's unique genius.

如果這是真的，那也只是作畫的一個過程，並不影響維梅爾獨特的天才。

The introduction of quiet everyday scenes of life, unfolding in private households, was among the most striking innovations of the Dutch Golden Age.

荷蘭黃金時代最引人注目的創新之一，就是引入了私人家庭中寧靜的日常生活場景。

Vermeer infused his scenes of daily life with layer upon layer of meaning.

維米爾在他的日常生活場景中注入了一層又一層的含義。

We come out with more questions than answers, and that's exciting.

我們提出的問題比答案多，這令人興奮。