3 Chapter 2 The Art Studio

Chapter 2 The Art Studio During the 1400s, Florence was the most important, most exciting city in all the world. It was one of five city-states in what is now Italy. Being a city-state meant Florence had its own government. It was called the Signoria. But for many years the city was really ruled by one very rich, very powerful family called the Medici.

15世纪时，佛罗伦萨是世界上最重要、最令人兴奋的城市。 它是现在意大利的五个城邦之一。 作为一个城邦意味着佛罗伦萨有自己的政府。 它被称为“领主号”。 但多年来，这座城市实际上是由一个非常富有，非常强大的家族统治的，这个家族叫做美第奇家族。

The Medici men were art lovers. They built beautiful homes and churches and libraries in Florence. They wanted works of art to go inside all those buildings. Andrea del Verrocchio was one of the most famous artists working in Florence at the time. He had plenty of jobs. Leonardo was very lucky to study under such a master. Leonardo was an apprentice. He was twelve at the time he went to Verrocchio's studio. All apprentices were boys. No girls were allowed. The apprentices were not paid. But they were given free room and food and a little money. At the studio they learned to become artists. For the first year, they had classes in drawing. After about seven or eight years they knew how to paint

美第奇家族的人是艺术爱好者。 他们在佛罗伦萨建造了美丽的家园、教堂和图书馆。 他们希望所有的建筑里都有艺术品。 Andrea del Verrocchio是当时在佛罗伦萨工作的最著名的艺术家之一。 他有很多工作。李奥纳多很幸运能师从这样一位大师。 列奥纳多是个学徒。 他去韦罗基奥画室的时候才十二岁。 所有的学徒都是男孩。 女生不得入内。学徒们没有得到报酬。 但他们得到了免费的房间、食物和一点钱。 在画室里，他们学会了成为艺术家。 第一年，他们上绘画课。 大约七八年之后，他们就知道怎么画画了

pictures, create frescoes (paintings done directly onto walls), make statues out of marble or bronze, design pottery, silverware, objects of gold, and even design buildings. Apprentices started at the bottom and worked their way up. They swept the studio, ran errands for the older artists, and cleaned up at the end of the day. There were no art supplies stores. So Leonardo and the other apprentices learned to make paintbrushes and paints. For the brushes, hairs from different animals were stuck into wooden handles. Hog bristles, for instance, made good, hard brushes. Squirrel fur was used for

绘画，创作壁画(直接画在墙上)，用大理石或青铜制作雕像，设计陶器，银器，金器，甚至设计建筑物。 学徒从底层做起，一步步往上爬。 他们打扫工作室，为年长的艺术家跑腿，并在一天结束时打扫卫生。 没有美术用品商店。 因此，列奥纳多和其他学徒学会了制作画笔和颜料。 制作刷子时，不同动物的毛发被粘在木柄上。 例如，猪毛可以制成又好又硬的刷子。 松鼠皮毛被用来

softer brushes. The artists painted with a kind of paint called tempera. Its base was egg, not oil. (Painting with oil paints first started in the Netherlands; in Italy, artists did not start using oil paint until the 1470s.) Leonardo was taught to make colors. Blue came from grinding a stone called lapis lazuli into dust. Red came from crushing tiny beetles. Yellow came from the juice of one kind of berry.

柔软的刷子。艺术家们用一种叫做蛋彩画的颜料作画。 它的基础是鸡蛋，不是油。 (用油画颜料作画最早始于荷兰;在意大利，艺术家们直到19世纪70年代才开始使用油画颜料。)列奥纳多被教导制作颜色。 蓝色来自于把一种叫做青金石的石头磨成灰尘。 红色来自于碾碎小甲虫。 黄色来自一种浆果的汁液。

At that time, canvas was not used for paintings. An artist painted on a flat panel of wood instead. But the wood had to be prepared first. Boiling kept it from splitting or cracking later on. Then glue was brushed on. After that, a coat of fine plaster called gesso was put on. This gave the panel a nice, smooth surface for painting. All these steps were jobs for the apprentices. Verrocchio's studio was always busy. RISING UP THE LADDER

当时，帆布还没有被用于绘画。 一位艺术家转而在一块木板上作画。 但必须先准备好木材。 煮沸可以防止它后来分裂或破裂。 然后涂上胶水。然后，涂上一层叫做石膏的细石膏。 这给了面板一个漂亮的，光滑的表面绘画。 所有这些步骤都是学徒的工作。 韦罗基奥的画室总是很忙。 爬上梯子

VERROCCHIO'S STUDIO WAS TYPICAL OF ITS DAY. APPRENTICES WERE AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE LADDER. ABOVE THEM WERE WORKERS CALLED JOURNEYMEN. THEY HAD MANY YEARS' EXPERIENCE AND HELPED TEACH THE APPRENTICES. THEY WERE ABLE WORKERS BUT WERE NOT GOOD ENOUGH YET TO JOIN THE GUILD OF PAINTERS. LIKE A UNION, THE GUILD WAS A GROUP THAT PROTECTED THE INTERESTS OF ITS MEMBERS. THERE WERE GUILDS FOR MANY DIFFERENT PROFESSIONS SUCH AS LEATHER WORKERS, DRUGGISTS, AND WEAVERS. VERROCCHIO'S BEST ASSISTANTS WERE ALREADY MEMBERS OF THE ARTISTS' GUILD AND THUS WERE

韦罗基奥的工作室是当时的典型。 学徒处于梯子的最底层。 在他们之上的是被称为熟练工的工人。 他们有多年的经验，并帮助教导学徒。 他们是有能力的工人，但还不足以加入画家协会。 像工会一样，行会是一个保护其成员利益的团体。 许多不同的行业都有行会，比如皮革工人、药剂师和织工。 韦罗基奥最好的助手已经是艺术家行会的会员了