76-Machelangelo(2)混缩

76-Michelangelo - Artist and Man (2)

Despite his artistic success in Rome, the ever-restless Michelangelo soon returned to his home in Florence, where he received the greatest challenge of his early career—he was commissioned by the Florentine Office of Works to carve a statue out of a huge block of marble that had been badly damaged by an earlier artist 35 years before.

Michelangelo had an almost mystical belief that the figures he carved already existed fully formed within the blocks of stone he worked. By studying the raw marble, examining its patterns of fissures and veins, he could sense where the figure slept. Then, layer by layer, blow by blow, he would liberate his creation from its rocky prison. Isolating himself with the enormous piece of marble, Michelangelo chipped and hammered away, letting no one but his few assistants observe his progress. After four years of back-breaking labor, he finally unveiled his giant sculpture. Standing over 14 feet tall, the Magnificent David was a towering achievement both literally and figuratively. From the moment that David was revealed, Michelangelo was hailed as one of the greatest sculptors who ever lived.

米开朗基罗：艺术家和凡人（二）

尽管他在罗马取得了艺术上的成功，但永不停歇的米开朗基罗很快就回到了他在佛罗伦萨的家中，在那里他收到了早期职业生涯中最大的挑战——他受佛罗伦萨工程办公室的委托，用一块巨大的大理石雕刻一尊雕像，而这块大理石已经在35年前被之前的一位艺术家严重损坏了。

米开朗基罗有一种近乎神秘的信念，即他所雕刻的人物已经完全形成于他进行创作的石块内。通过研究未加工的大理石，检查其裂缝和纹理的模式，他可以感知到所雕人物沉睡的地点。然后，一层一层，一击一击，他将他的创作从岩石监狱中解放出来。米开朗基罗凿开石块并用锤子敲掉多余的部分，用这块巨大的大理石把自己与外界隔离起来，除了他的少数助手之外，不让任何人观察他的工作进度。经过四年艰苦繁重的劳动，他终于揭开了他的巨型雕塑。这尊身高超过14英尺的壮观的大卫像，无论从其真实样貌或象征意义上来说，都是一项辉煌的成就。从大卫像被揭露的那一刻起，米开朗基罗就被誉为了有史以来最伟大的雕塑家之一。