译/爱艺

The Long Engagement (oil on canvas,107cm × 53.3cm, 1859) is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Arthur Hughes. The painting was originally titled “Orlando”.

[2] In an overgrown forest setting,a curate meets his fiancée. The man stands in the shadow of the tree and the woman looks at her name carved into the bark of the tree. Their hands are clasped together and a faithful dog stands at their feet staring up at them.

[3] The title refers to middle class social conventions of the time, in particular the fact that the parents of a girl engaged to a poorly paid curate would typically not allow the marriage until he had secured a more remunerative position—i.e. within the church hierarchy. The girl is depicted looking at her own name (Amy) carved,some while ago, into the trunk of the tree by her fiancé as an expression of his love. The carving, however, is about to be covered by rambling ivy growing up the trunk; ethereal youthful passion is becoming lost to worldly capitalist demands. It can be said that this symbolism reflects the stark realities of late 1850s and 1860s Victorian England,which certainly is the observation made by English historian A. N. Wilson.In his book The Victorians (London:Arrow Books, 2003), Wilson makes the following observation and analysis of the signif i cance of The Long Engagement:

《永久的婚约》（布面油画，107厘米×53.3厘米，1859）是拉斐尔前派画家阿瑟·休斯的作品。该画最初名为“奥兰多”。［图见本期封底］

[2]植被蔓生的丛林一角，一个助理牧师在与未婚妻约会。小伙子站立在树荫下，姑娘则望向刻在树皮上的她的名字。两人的手紧紧相握，脚边站着一只忠实的狗狗，仰头盯着他们。

[3]画名指向当时中产阶级的社会风俗，特别是这样一种现实：虽然女孩与收入微薄的助理牧师订了婚，但小伙子往往需要谋到收入更丰的职位，即进入教会管理层，女孩的父母才会同意他们结婚。画中女孩看着树干上刻着的自己的名字（艾米），那是不久前她的未婚夫为示爱而刻上的。不过，那刻字已快被沿树干攀生的藤蔓覆盖了，而缥缈的青春激情也将逐渐消散在世俗的物质需求中。可以说，这种象征描绘反映了1850年代末和1860年代维多利亚时代英格兰的残酷现实，而这无疑也是英国历史学家A.N.威尔逊所关注的。在《维多利亚时代》（伦敦：阿罗出版社，2003）一书中，威尔逊对画作《永久的婚约》的意义做了如下观察和分析：

It depicts an emotional predicament stemming directly from an economic situation. The prosperity which had created the vast bourgeoisie with its gradations from lower to upper middle class had also created a code. You could not marry, and maintain the position in society to which you aspired, until you had a certain amount of money in the bank.(p. 260)

[4] Hughes had finished an earlier painting, April Love, of a similar theme.The Long Engagement was given to the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in the will of a “Dr Griff i ths” in 1902, and has remained in the collection to present day. ■

该画描绘的是经济境况直接导致的情感困扰。经济繁荣曾造就了广大的资产阶级，使他们从下层中产上升到上层中产，这一繁荣同时也创建了一种规则。必须拥有一定数额的银行存款，你才能结婚成家，并维持住你所追求的社会地位。（第260页）

[4]休斯此前创作过一幅类似主题的画，名为《四月之恋》。1902年，遵从某位“格里菲思博士”的遗愿，《永久的婚约》一画被赠予伯明翰博物馆和美术馆，获藏至今。 □