提起长指甲，可能很多人第一个想到的是舞者杨丽萍，但在苏州博物馆正在举办的《见贤思齐——明清肖像画特展》中，却有一位老者，拥有着与前者相比毫不逊色的长指甲。
清华察（鸿山）像轴
上面这幅肖像画中身着绯色官服、须发如雪的老者名为华察（1497年—1574年），号鸿山，明朝嘉靖年间进士，后官至翰林院掌院学士，并曾于1539年作为明廷正使出使朝鲜。而他被大众所熟知，还是源于出品于1993年的香港喜剧电影《唐伯虎点秋香》，剧中江南才子唐伯虎对华太师（华察）府上的丫鬟秋香一见钟情，多番曲折后终于抱得美人归。
This old man donning red robe with cloudy white beard was Hua Cha, a noted scholar-official living in Ming-dynasty China in 16th century . Acting at one point as the head of a diplomatic mission to Korea, Hua became known to average modern-day Chinese thanks to a 1993 Hong Kong big-screen production, whose comical, tongue-in-cheek portrayal of him bears little resemble to the real man.
在这幅由华察的十世侄孙绘于清中期的画作中，华氏正襟危坐，颇为庄严肃穆，而这也往往让观者更容易忽略一个细节，就是他的长指甲。
The painting itself, done by a descendant of Hua around two centuries later, is currently on view at the Suzhou Museum in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, during an exhibition focusing on Chinese portraiture from the Ming and Qing dynasties between the mid-14th and early 20th century.
据策展人杨泽文说，画像极有可能是高度写实的，而蓄甲在当时应该是一种标榜高贵身份的风尚，参照晚晴名臣张之洞的照片，此种说法似乎可信。
“There’s nothing special about the painting until you look at it really closely,” says Yang Zewen, the exhibition's curator, pointing to the man’s exceptionally-long fingernails. “I have reason to believe that this is a highly realistic rendition - a powerful Qing-dynasty official who appeared in a black-and-white picture taken of him around the early 20th century was sporting similarly long nails.”
蓄甲的晚清名臣张之洞
展览集中展出了百余幅明清时期的肖像画，至于为什么将时间段定在明清之际，策展人解释说，因为在那几个世纪中，中国深受儒家思想和传统美学影响的肖像画艺术在风格上经历了比较大的变化，而这些变化的诱因之一是西洋画的引入。
"Why Ming and Qing? Because in between those centuries, Chinese portraiture, steeped in the thoughts and aesthetics of Confucianism, underwent big changes, thanks in part to the introduction of Western paintings," Yang continues.
苏博的明清肖像画特展海报
1582年，耶稣会传教士利玛窦从他的故乡意大利来到澳门，并在那里学习中文和各种中国习俗。13年后的1595年，利玛窦抵达明朝故都南京，这里距离苏州仅有200公里。在南京停留几年后，他继续北上并最终抵达当时的明朝都城北京。1601年，他在北京得到了万历皇帝的接见。
In 1582, Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit priest, arrived in Macao, where he studied the Chinese language and customs. It eventually took him 13 years to arrive in Nanjing, about 200 kilometers from Suzhou, where he stayed for a couple more years before making his way further north to Beijing. There he was given an audience by Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty in 1601.
利玛窦（Matteo Ricci）
利玛窦献给中国皇帝的礼物中。除了一件被后世津津乐道的自鸣钟外，还有三幅宗教题材的油画肖像画。据说当万历帝见到天主圣母像时，惊奇不已，大声说：“这是活着的天主！”在接下来的两个世纪里，更多的耶稣会传教士追随着利玛窦的脚步来到中国，他们中的很多人具有扎实的绘画功底，也因此完全了解艺术所具备的感染力。
Among the gifts he presented to the Chinese ruler were three oil portraits. The emperor was believed to have been astounded by how lifelike the images were. In the following two centuries, more Jesuit missionaries followed Ricci's footsteps, among whom were many painter-portraitists with an innate understanding of the power of art.
“就这样，两个此前在不同轨道上运行的艺术传统相交了：它们中的一个在长达千年的时间里被中国画肖像画家所推崇，而另外一个，则被接受过诸如光影和透视技法训练的西方肖像画家所遵循，”杨泽文说道。
"Two artistic traditions intersected — one embraced by traditional Chinese portraitists; the other, by Western artists who had previously been trained, among other things, to carve a vivid image with light and shadow, " says Yang Zewen.
北京故宫博物院的中国古代绘画专家杨丹霞注意到，光影这个在包括肖像画在内的西方绘画中起到重要作用的因素，在古代中国肖像画中是鲜有体现的。“与其说是古代中国人避讳面部阴影，不如说他们对光影这个问题几乎完全不看重，而这一现象是有深层次的哲学原因的。”她说。
Light and shadow — prominent factors in Western painting including portraiture — had largely been ignored by ancient Chinese portraitists "for a deeper, philosophical reason", said Yang Danxia, an ancient Chinese painting expert from Beijing’s Palace Museum.
杨丹霞认为，中国古代哲学家和艺术家把表层意义上的“真实”看作是下一等的东西，换句话说，他们描摹自然或是人物的目的，是“以形写神”，即通过画家的主观感受去解读和传达他所看到的客观事物的本质。“对他们来说，最重要不是外观相似。因此，他们不追求以强烈光影的运用去传达所绘本体某一时刻的状态和存在感，而是希望表现出事物更加恒定的特性。”杨丹霞说。
"For them, it was the perceived truth about an individual rather than physical likeness that mattered. So, instead of going after a heightened sense of existence and momentariness often conveyed by the employment of intense light and shadow, they went for something more constant, more indispensable of the man, as seen through their mind's eye," she says.
清潘振镛绘墨井道人（吴历）像轴
然而，这并不意味着接触到西方肖像画的中国画家们对自己的艺术创作是没有反思的。实际上，他们中的很多人都这样做了，这其中就包括明代最著名的肖像画家曾鲸（1564-1647）。在利玛窦抵达中国前18年，曾鲸出生于福建莆田，而他一生中的创作高峰是在南京度过的。在那里，他不可避免地接触到西方传教士画家和西方绘画。
However, that doesn't mean that the Chinese portraitists who had contact with the missionaries and their art weren't tempted to reflect on their own way of painting. In fact, some of them did, including Ming Dynasty’s most celebrated portraitist Zeng Jing (1564-1647). Born 18 years before Ricci’s arrival in China, Zeng, who spent his most productive years in Nanjing, came up with what's known today as the mogu fa, or the technique of structuring with ink.
曾鲸、胡宗信合画吴允兆像图轴
今天谈到曾鲸，就不能不提到他的“墨骨法”，所谓“墨骨法”，用杨丹霞老师的话说，就是“以墨为骨”。在曾鲸之前，中国的肖像画主要有两种表现方式，一是白描，二是江南地区所流行的粉彩渲染，两者呈现的效果都是趋于平面化的。而曾鲸的做法是：先用墨笔勾线(此处借鉴的是从唐代壁画粉本发展到北宋李公麟的白描画法），定下面部轮廓结构，再用淡墨轻轻晕染面部骨骼肌肉的凸凹和细微变化。这两步完成后，最后加彩，用淡彩层层敷染（这里借鉴的即是江南画家传统的色彩晕染法）。
He first used light ink both to outline the subject's facial features and to shade certain areas of his face. This was before colored ink, sometimes of a rosy-beige or dusky tone, was applied on the face, one ultra thin layer after another. The goal was not to cover the black ink-shaded areas but to slightly subdue and soften them. Still visible under the translucent colored paint, these inky parts would add dimension to a face that would otherwise look much flatter, emphasizing details from the brow ridge and cheekbones to wrinkles and eye bags.
“墨骨法就是以墨线为结构，如同建房子的七梁八柱，然后用淡彩填充肌肉。”杨丹霞说。
李公麟白描人物（局部）
粉彩渲染法绘制的元代皇帝像
无锡博物院藏 清人 华氏祖先像卷(局部）
以上三图分别为李公麟的白描人物，粉彩渲染法绘制的元代皇帝像以及清代肖像画家用“墨骨法”绘画的华氏祖先像卷，并置来看，“墨骨法” 对面部结构立体感的强化作用，是一目了然的。而曾鲸结合白描与粉彩的背后，是他对西方肖像画明暗处理和立体感的体味和吸收。
“如镜取影，俨然如生”是当时人对其人物画的评价。据说当时从学者甚众，遂形成“波臣派”。（注：曾鲸，字波臣。）
By doing so, Zeng had merged the two main methods in traditional Chinese portraiture, one using pure lines without any color or wash, the other, more popular in Nanjing and the surrounding regions, relied on the smooth application of colored ink for facial depiction.
曾鲸的成功，在于他的创新，同时也在于他对传统的保留，在“写实”和"写意”的取舍之间，兼顾生动真实与文人士大夫的审美，消解西画过于真实的视觉感受。具体的表现之一，就是其对除面部之外的其他部分（包括衣饰）的描绘，都是简练且较为平面化的。
To walk that fine line, Zeng had to adhere to a muted color palette, and had limited his experiments only to the faces of his subjects. The rest of the figure, clothing included, are rendered with highly suggestive lines.
明曾鲸 《顾梦游像》
明曾鲸《沛然像》（局部）
特别要说明的是，在中国传统花鸟画法中，还有一种“没骨法”，指的是不用墨笔勾出轮廓线（所谓的“骨”指的就是墨线）,而是完全用墨或色渲染而成，当与人物画中的“墨古法”区分开来。
清恽寿平（南田）没骨花
清恽寿平（南田）没骨花
杨丹霞说：“明朝末年，南京所在的江南地区经历了社会的高度繁荣，人们对新事物普遍保有极大的热情。曾鲸凭借着自己的创新，成为了他那个时代炙手可热的肖像画家，是名流雅士达官贵人的座上宾，从这点上来说，我们或许可以称呼他为‘明朝的照相机’。”
Reflecting on Zeng’s phenomenal success, Yang Danxia from the Palace Museum says, "Toward the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Yangtze River Delta region, where Nanjing was located, experienced great prosperity, which in turn led to a general enthusiasm toward anything new. Zeng, with his latest adaptations, became the portraitist of his time. In fact, I’m tempted to call him the Camera of Ming China.”
明曾鲸 《王时敏像》
1647年，曾鲸去世，此时明朝已经灭亡三年了，取而代之的是延续了267年的中国末代王朝——清。王朝的更替似乎并没有阻止西方传教士艺术家来到中国，来到北京。他们中的一部分人成为皇室御用画家，在紫禁城内为帝后和嫔御绘制肖像，这其中就包括意大利耶稣会传教士画家郎世宁（Giuseppe Castiglione，1688-1766）。
In 1644, three years before Zeng's death, the Ming Dynasty met its own end, succeeded by Qing, which lasted for another 267 years. The dynastic transition did almost nothing to stop Western artists from coming to China, and Beijing in particular. In their attempt to please the Qing rulers, these artists, among them Italian Jesuit missionary painter Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), had created royal portraits as if they had been painted in open light, which readily deleted all darkness.
郎世宁绘《平安春信图》（局部），画中为雍正皇帝胤稹（左）和当时尚为皇子的宝亲王弘历的形象
下图这副藏于北京故宫、正在苏州博物馆展出的雍正朝服像，被认为极有可能是郎世宁的作品。在这幅用传统中国彩墨在丝帛上绘制的画中，雍正帝显得平和有力。他的面部特征被细腻地描绘出来，鼻翼和两颊后部的轻微的暗部大大增加了脸部的立体感。
Flanked by two portraits of his royal consorts — one of them the mother of his successor Emperor Qianlong, Yongzheng appears in the painting, done with traditional Chinese colored ink on silk, as a rather benign-looking character with a sense of aplomb. His facial features are delicately rendered, with light shading on the nasal wings and toward the back of his face.
胤禛朝服像轴，绘者可能为郎世宁
许多西方肖像画家经常使用单一光源，这使得他们的创作充满光影之间的戏剧性。而清宫的传教士画家们在试图调和两种艺术传统时，普遍让他们的作品看起来好像是在开放光源下绘制的，因为这样就可以完全避免大面积面部阴影。
While many Western portraitists indicated strongly at a single light source through the dramatic interplay between light and shadow, the missionary artists, in their attempt to reconcile two artistic traditions, had made their works appear as if they had been painted in open light, which readily deleted all darkness.
有趣的是，对于面部阴影，西方也有一位君主有着类似的想法，她就是英国女王伊丽莎白一世。在其御用肖像画家Nicholas Hilliard的作品中，女王的面部雪白且明显平面化。有些学者认为，这种处理是女王经过深思熟虑的，目的是通过非自然主义的表现方式，拉开自己与观者的距离，体现统治者的权威和象征意味。
Interestingly, one Western ruler who also insisted that no shadow came across her face is Elizabeth I, the powerful, long-reigning Queen of England from the 16th century. Elizabeth oversaw the creation of many of her likenesses by artist Nicholas Hilliard that look a bit flat, a deliberate decision for the monarch who probably thought naturalistic representation was not entirely helpful in the projection of power and symbolism.
Nicholas Hilliard绘制的英国女王伊丽莎白一世
1729年，《视学》出版，这是第一本深入研究几何透视的中文书籍，作者年希尧是雍正重臣年羹尧的哥哥，曾跟随清代著名传教士画家郎世宁学习透视学。
In 1729, Shi Xue, or The Science of Perspectives, a richly illustrated book and the first Chinese one to have dealt with the topic, was published. The author, Nian Xiyao, elder brother of Nian Gengyao, the right-hand man of Emperor Yongzheng before his deadly fall from grace, had studied perspective with Castiglione.
年希尧《视学》中的插图
“艺术的交流与影响是相互的，这些影响有时候导致了有意识的决定——比如保持面部无阴影，而其他时候则在不知不觉中以更为微妙的形式展现出来。”策展人杨泽文说。
"It's a two-way street whereby the Chinese and Western artists came under the influences of each other," says Yang Zewen. "While some of the influences had led to conscious decisions — like the one to keep shadows off the face, others were felt more subtly, sometimes without one's knowledge."
1711年，意大利耶稣会神父马国贤(Matteo Ripa) 被康熙皇帝任命为宫廷画师，而胜任这一职务的首要条件，就是其能够兼顾中西 - 无论是从风格，还是从绘画工具上。
In 1711, Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ripa was appointed court painter by Emperor Kangxi. According to his own memoir, to get that position, Ripa was asked to prove his own worth, with painting tools drawn from both Chinese and Western traditions.
根据他自己的回忆录，马国贤“被领到油画工的房间......在对我表示了有礼貌的欢迎之后，这些先生们递给我毛笔、颜料和一块油画画布。”
"These included a Chinese brush, some paint and an oil painting canvass," he wrote.
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