Two years ago, I knew exactly what an icon looked like.

我必須說，兩年前什麼問題也沒有。

It looks like this.

兩年前，我很清楚一幅肖像該長什麼樣子。

Everybody's icon, but also the default position

肖像就該長成這樣。

of a curator of Italian Renaissance paintings, which I was then.

大家都是這麼想，

And in a way, this is also another default selection.

當時我身為義大利 文藝復興博物館館長，亦有同感。

Leonardo da Vinci's exquisitely soulful image

這幅畫大概是另一種公認的肖像。

of the "Lady with an Ermine."

李奧納多·達文西的《抱銀鼠的女子》，

And I use that word, soulful, deliberately.

神態精緻又深情，

Or then there's this, or rather these:

我特地用了"深情"這個詞。

the two versions of Leonardo's "Virgin of the Rocks"

或者還有這幅畫，或者說這些畫：

that were about to come together in London for the very first time.

李奧納多的"在岩洞中的聖母"，

In the exhibition that I was then in the absolute throes of organizing.

當時這兩個版本將要首次在倫敦一併展出。

I was literally up to my eyes in Leonardo,

當時我正處於展覽籌畫的陣痛期，

and I had been for three years.

完全沉浸於李奧納多的作品當中，

So, he was occupying every part of my brain.

而且我已經沉浸了三年。

Leonardo had taught me, during that three years,

李奧納多佔據了我整個大腦。

about what a picture can do.

在那三年間，他教導了我

About taking you from your own material world into a spiritual world.

一幅畫有多大威力。

He said, actually, that he believed the job of the painter

能將你從物質世界帶到心靈的世界。

was to paint everything that was visible and invisible in the universe.

李昂納多曾說過， 他深信一個畫家的職責

That's a huge task. And yet, somehow he achieves it.

是把宇宙中所有能看到的和不能看到的 都畫出來。

He shows us, I think, the human soul.

這是一件艱巨的工作， 但他却又成功做到了。

He shows us the capacity of ourselves

我覺得，他向我們展示了人類的靈魂。

to move into a spiritual realm.

他向我們展示了

To see a vision of the universe that's more perfect than our own.

我們往精神領域邁進的能耐。

To see God's own plan, in some sense.

去看一個我們從未見過的更加完美的宇宙,

So this, in a sense, was really what I believed an icon was.

用另一種目光去看上帝的計劃。

At about that time, I started talking to Tom Campbell,

可以說，這就是當時 我對肖像的想法和定義。

director here of the Metropolitan Museum,

大約在那段時間 我開始和 Tom Campbell 聊天，

about what my next move might be.

他是大都會藝術博物館的主管，

The move, in fact, back to an earlier life,

我們談到我未來的動向。

one I'd begun at the British Museum,

事實上，我計劃回到過去的生活，

back to the world of three dimensions --

我以前在大英博物館裡展開的生活。

of sculpture and of decorative arts --

回到三維的世界，

to take over the department of European sculpture and decorative arts, here at the Met.

雕塑和裝飾藝術的世界，

But it was an incredibly busy time.

接管大都會博物館的歐洲雕塑及裝飾藝術部。

All the conversations were done at very peculiar times of the day --

但那時我非常忙。

over the phone.

所有談話都是在一天之中 極不尋常的時刻進行的--

In the end, I accepted the job

而且是透過電話完成的。

without actually having been here.

最後，我接受了這工作

Again, I'd been there a couple of years before,

儘管我沒有真正去那裡看過。

but on that particular visit.

我幾年前去過那裡，

So, it was just before the time that the Leonardo show was due to open

但也就去過那麼一次。

when I finally made it back to the Met, to New York,

當我終於能夠回到紐約的大都會博物館

to see my new domain.

視察我的新領域，

To see what European sculpture and decorative arts looked like,

那剛好是李奧納多展覽開始的時間。

beyond those Renaissance collections with which I was so already familiar.

為了看歐洲的雕塑和裝飾藝術，

And I thought, on that very first day, I better tour the galleries.

看看我所熟悉的 文藝復興時期之後發生的演變。

Fifty-seven of these galleries --

在那天，我想，我最好去參觀藝術館。

like 57 varieties of baked beans, I believe.

五十七間藝術館，

I walked through and I started in my comfort zone in the Italian Renaissance.

我相信，就像五十七種烤豆子，

And then I moved gradually around,

我從自己的安全區—— 意大利文藝復興館開始參觀，

feeling a little lost sometimes.

然後慢慢四周走動，

My head, also still full of the Leonardo exhibition

不時感到不知所措，

that was about to open, and I came across this.

我的大腦，仍然想著 即將開放的李奧納多展覽，

And I thought to myself: What the hell have I done?

然後我看見了這個東西。

There was absolutely no connection in my mind

我問我自己：我到底幹了什麼？

at all and, in fact, if there was any emotion going on,

我的思維突然掉鏈，

it was a kind of repulsion.

事實上，要是當時我有任何感覺，

This object felt utterly and completely alien.

那感覺就是厭惡之情。

Silly at a level that I hadn't yet understood silliness to be.

這東西完全、十足地莫名其妙，

And then it was made worse --

竟然可以"愚蠢可笑"到這種程度。

there were two of them.

然後，更糟糕的是

(Laughter)

這玩意有兩個。

So, I started thinking about why it was, in fact,

(笑)

that I disliked this object so much.

所以，我開始想，為什麼我

What was the anatomy of my distaste?

會那麼討厭這件東西。

Well, so much gold, so vulgar.

到底我的厭惡是從何而來？

You know, so nouveau riche, frankly.

嗯，太多金，太庸俗了。

Leonardo himself had preached against the use of gold,

你知道，活脫脫的暴發戶。

so it was absolutely anathema at that moment.

李奧纳多反對使用金來做藝術品，

And then there's little pretty sprigs of flowers everywhere. (Laughter)

所以當時我對這個極為反感。

And finally, that pink. That damned pink.

然後它們還遍佈著小花枝 (笑)

It's such an extraordinarily artificial color.

最後，那粉紅。那該死的粉紅。

I mean, it's a color that I can't think of anything that you actually see in nature,

真的是異常人工的顏色。

that looks that shade.

我是說，我想像不到在自然界中 有什麼東西是這種顏色。

The object even has its own tutu. (Laughter)

那模樣、那色調

This little flouncy, spangly, bottomy bit

這物件還有自己的芭蕾舞裙呢！(笑)

that sits at the bottom of the vase.

就好像衣裙上的荷邊裝飾，

It reminded me, in an odd kind of way,

那小小的金光閃爍物就在花瓶的底部。

of my niece's fifth birthday party.

它用一種奇怪的方式

Where all the little girls would come either as a princess or a fairy.

讓我想起姪女的五歲生日派對，

There was one who would come as a fairy princess.

那裡所有的小女孩 不是打扮成公主，就是打扮成仙女。

You should have seen the looks.

有一個更以仙女公主的造型前來呢！

(Laughter)

你實在應該看看那些表情。

And I realize that this object was in my mind,

(笑)

born from the same mind, from the same womb,

然後我意識到我對這玩意有印象，

practically, as Barbie Ballerina. (Laughter)

簡直跟芭比娃娃的芭蕾舞演員

And then there's the elephants. (Laughter)

如出一轍。 (笑)

Those extraordinary elephants

然後就是上面的大象 (笑)

with their little, sort of strange, sinister expressions

那些與眾不同的大象

and Greta Garbo eyelashes, with these golden tusks and so on.

露出牠們微細、有一點奇怪和奸詐的表情，

I realized this was an elephant that had

還有如葛麗泰·嘉寶的睫毛， 這些金黃色的獠牙等等。

absolutely nothing to do with a majestic march across the Serengeti.

我意識到這是一頭 完全和橫跨塞倫蓋提

It was a Dumbo nightmare. (Laughter)

威嚴的步操一點關係也沒有的大象。

But something more profound was happening as well.

這是一場小飛象惡夢。(笑)

These objects, it seemed to me,

但一些更深邃的事情也正在發酵。

were quintessentially the kind that I and my liberal left friends in London

這些物件，似乎正跟

had always seen as summing up

我和我倫敦的自由主義左派朋友

something deplorable about the French aristocracy

常常對十八世紀法國貴族

in the 18th century.

所總結出的悲慘

The label had told me that these pieces were made

有異曲同工之妙。

by the Sèvres Manufactory,

標籤告訴我這些東西

made of porcelain in the late 1750s,

出產於塞弗爾製造廠，

and designed by a designer called Jean-Claude Duplessis,

在 1750 年代末用陶瓷製造而成，

actually somebody of extraordinary distinction

並由一個叫Jean-Claude Duplessis的設計師設計，

as I later learned.

此人，我後來知道

But for me, they summed up a kind of,

是一個特別卓越的人。

that sort of sheer uselessness of the aristocracy

但對我來說，它們可總結成

in the 18th century.

一種十八世紀

I and my colleagues had always thought

貴族十足的無用。

that these objects, in way, summed up the idea of,

我和我的同事都常想

you know -- no wonder there was a revolution.

這些東西某程度總結了一個想法，

Or, indeed, thank God there was a revolution.

你知道的 - 難怪有大革命，

There was a sort of idea really, that,

又或者，感謝主世上曾經有大革命。

if you owned a vase like this,

真的，我們曾這麼想：

then there was really only one fate possible.

就是如果你擁有一個如此的花瓶

(Laughter)

只會有一種可能的命運。

So, there I was -- in a sort of paroxysm of horror.

(笑)

But I took the job and I went on looking at these vases.

所以，我當時杵在那，一陣恐懼發作。

I sort of had to because they're on a through route in the Met.

但我接受這工作並繼續觀察這些花瓶。

So, almost anywhere I went, there they were.

我非看不可，因為它們在博物館的必經之路中。

They had this kind of odd sort of fascination,

所以，無論我去哪，它們都在。

like a car accident.

它們有這種奇怪的吸引力，

Where I couldn't stop looking.

就像一場交通意外，

And as I did so, I started thinking:

讓我難以控制自己不望過去，

Well, what are we actually looking at here?

而當我這樣做的時候，我開始想：

And what I started with was understanding this

我們到底在看什麼？

as really a supreme piece of design.

而我開始了解到

It took me a little time.

這其實是一個很棒的設計。

But, that tutu for example --

這用了我一點時間。

actually, this is a piece that does dance in its own way.

但以那芭蕾舞裙為例，

It has an extraordinary lightness

其實這是一個會以 自己的方式跳舞的作品。

and yet, it is also amazing balanced.

它十分輕，

It has these kinds of sculptural ingredients.

但仍能奇妙地平衡，

And then the play between --

它有著這幾種雕塑的材料，

actually really quite carefully disposed color and gilding, and the sculptural surface,

以及事實上經過 縝密分配的色彩與鍍金，

is really rather remarkable.

巧妙地搭配著雕琢而出的表面--

And then I realized that this piece went into the kiln

這其實是個傑作。

four times, at least four times in order to arrive at this.

且不久後我發現這份作品

How many moments for accident can you think of

至少進了四次燒窯， 才有辦法抵達這樣的境界。

that could have happened to this piece?

在這過程中，

And then remember, not just one, but two.

有多少可能發生的意外啊?

So he's having to arrive at two exactly matched

提醒你一下，這裡還有兩個喔。

vases of this kind.

所以他必須讓兩個相稱的瓷瓶

And then this question of uselessness.

都達到如此境界才行。

Well actually, the end of the trunks were originally candle holders.

現在再來談談"無用"。

So what you would have had were candles on either side.

事實上，它的尾端原本是燭台。

Imagine that effect of candlelight on that surface.

所以你原本應該看到兩邊插上蠟燭。

On the slightly uneven pink, on the beautiful gold.

想像一下燭光在那表面，

It would have glittered in an interior,

那輕微不均的粉紅、那美麗的金箔 所將造成的效果。

a little like a little firework.

它應能在室內空間裡熠熠閃爍，

And at that point, actually, a firework went off in my brain.

像小型的煙火。

Somebody reminded me that, that word 'fancy' --

思及此，一串煙火 也在我腦海中綻放了。

which in a sense for me, encapsulated this object --

有人提醒了我"花俏"這個字眼--

actually comes from the same root as the word 'fantasy.'

它某種程度上精確概括了這項物件--

And that what this object was just as much in a way,

事實上它和"幻想"這詞有相同根源。

in its own way, as a Leonardo da Vinci painting,

而這作品也是用它自己的方式，

is a portal to somewhere else.

如同達文西的畫作，

This is an object of the imagination.

打開了某扇門，通往另一個世界。

If you think about the mad 18th-century operas of the time -- set in the Orient.

它是充滿想像力的作品。

If you think about divans and perhaps even opium-induced visions of pink elephants,

若你想起背景設在東方的 十八世紀瘋狂歌劇，

then at that point, this object starts to make sense.

若你想起華麗沙發椅， 甚至被誘以鴉片的粉紅大象，

This is an object which is all about escapism.

那麼這項物件就開始有點意思了。

It's about an escapism that happens --

一言以蔽之，它代表了逃避主義。

that the aristocracy in France sought

代表著當時法國貴族

very deliberately

刻意追求的逃避現實風格，

to distinguish themselves from ordinary people.

只為了把自己與平凡人

It's not an escapism that

區別開來。

we feel particularly happy with today, however.

然而，這種避世主義

And again, going on thinking about this,

可不是我們現代人所想的那麼歡樂。

I realize that in a way we're all victims

想到這裡

of a certain kind of tyranny

我又發覺，某方面而言

of the triumph of modernism

我們都是

whereby form and function in an object

現代主義大獲全勝之後 暴政的受害者，

have to follow one another, or are deemed to do so.

因為在此主義下

And the extraneous ornament is seen as really,

各項物件的型態 和功能被認為必須相似，

essentially, criminal.

使得外在裝飾

It's a triumph, in a way, of bourgeois values rather than aristocratic ones.

被視為十分罪惡。

And that seems fine.

看起來，這是中產階級的 價值觀打敗了貴族們。

Except for the fact that it becomes a kind of sequestration of imagination.

這樣感覺沒什麼不好。

So just as in the 20th century, so many people

除了它逐漸開始沒收了我們的想像力。

had the idea that their faith

就像二十世紀時，

took place on the Sabbath day,

許多人開始認為，

and the rest of their lives --

自己的信仰屬於安息日那天，

their lives of washing machines and orthodontics --

剩下的生命——

took place on another day.

充滿機械清洗和牙齒矯正的日子——

Then, I think we've started doing the same.

都和信仰無關。

We've allowed ourselves to

我想我們都開始做這樣的事了。

lead our fantasy lives in front of screens.

我們允許自己

In the dark of the cinema, with the television in the corner of the room.

在螢幕前過著夢幻人生。

We've eliminated, in a sense, that constant

無論是在漆黑戲院中， 或在房間角落的電視機前。

of the imagination that these vases represented in people's lives.

我們將這些瓷瓶所代表的 恆常的想像力

So maybe it's time we got this back a little.

從日常生活中徹底移除了。

I think it's beginning to happen.

所以或許是時候我們將它奪回來。

In London, for example,

該是時候行動了。

with these extraordinary buildings

比如說，在倫敦

that have been appearing over the last few years.

近年來出現了

Redolent, in a sense, of science fiction,

這些卓越而特殊的建築。

turning London into a kind of fantasy playground.

令人聯想起科幻小說

It's actually amazing to look out of a high building nowadays there.

將倫敦轉變成一座夢幻遊樂場。

But even then, there's a resistance.

儘管欣賞這些高聳建築 是一件如此驚奇的體驗。

London has called these buildings the Gherkin, the Shard, the Walkie Talkie --

它們依然受到了阻力。

bringing these soaring buildings down to Earth.

倫敦人管它們叫"黃瓜"、"碎片"、"大哥大"，

There's an idea that we don't want these

把這些奇幻飛揚的建築帶回現實的塵土

anxious-making, imaginative journeys to happen in our daily lives.

似乎大家都不希望這些令人興奮、

I feel lucky in a way,

充滿想像的旅程出現在日常生活中似的，

I've encountered this object.

我感到很幸運，

(Laughter)

自己能遇到這個作品:

I found him on the Internet when I was looking up a reference.

(笑聲)

And there he was.

我在網絡上查資料時發現了它。

And unlike the pink elephant vase,

現在呈現在各位眼前。

this was a kind of love at first sight.

不像那個粉紅大象瓷瓶，

In fact, reader, I married him. I bought him.

我一看見這個就愛上它了。

And he now adorns my office.

事實上，我和它結了婚，把它買回家。

He's a Staffordshire figure made in the middle of the 19th century.

現在它裝飾著我的辦公室。

He represents the actor, Edmund Kean, playing Shakespeare's Richard III.

它是十九世紀中期出產的史塔福郡人偶，

And it's based, actually, on a more elevated piece of porcelain.

代表了扮演莎士比亞劇中 理查三世的演員，Edmund Kean。

So I loved, on an art historical level,

它是採用更高級的陶瓷所製成的，

I loved that layered quality that he has.

所以以藝術史的角度而言，

But more than that, I love him.

我熱愛它所具備的層次感和質感。

In a way that I think would have been impossible

但更重要的理由是，我愛"他"。

without the pink Sèvres vase in my Leonardo days.

在我那尚未遇見 粉紅塞弗爾瓷瓶的李奧納多時期，

I love his orange and pink breeches.

這想必是不可能的事吧。

I love the fact that he seems to be going off to war,

我愛他那粉橘色的褲子，

having just finished the washing up. (Laughter)

以及看起來像剛梳洗完畢，

He seems also to have forgotten his sword.

要去打仗的模樣。(笑聲)

I love his pink little cheeks, his munchkin energy.

他看起來好像也忘了帶他的劍。

In a way, he's become my sort of alter ego.

我愛他那粉嫩的雙頰， 像小矮人般的活力。

He's, I hope, a little bit dignified,

就某方面來說，他像是另一個我。

but mostly rather vulgar. (Laughter)

他，我希望是，稍有威嚴的

And energetic, I hope, too.

但大部分是頗庸俗。(笑聲)

I let him into my life because the Sèvres pink elephant vase allowed me to do so.