THE FIRST TIME I SAW
ALASTAIR SAWDAY
Author ALASTAIR SAWDAY on the cathedral in Orvieto
啟迪
作家Alastair Sawday初次見到奧爾維耶托主教座堂的印象
IN MY EARLY twenties I had a holiday job that took me to the Cathedral of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. There, all my astonishment at the culture of Italy became focused on one building, in one precious moment of time. And there were subtexts, too, such as innocence laid bare and pretensions unveiled.
I escorted some tourists there as sunset cast its glow over the already golden facade of this mighty building – golden because much of it is faced in gold mosaic, bringing a touch of Byzantine to this masterpiece of Italian gothic. I was so transfixed by its beauty that I wandered into the building as if into another world: perhaps exactly what was intended. No choir stalls, no seats; but a polished floor glistening into the distance past giant columns of striped stone, a pattern echoed on the walls and clerestory: simplicity and complexity masterfully mixed. I went into a side chapel to encounter the Apocalypse and Last Judgement frescoes by Luca Signorelli. So deep was my enchantment that I marvelled at the grim visions of unspeakable torment. But for me the crowning revelation was personal.
Signorelli painted the Harlot of the Apocalypse riding through the sky on a devil. I had innocently just sent a postcard of it to a friend, and here it was, a tiny part of something far greater and a reminder of my own place in the universe. I left with a renewed awareness of how much there was to learn.
Alastair Sawday is a guidebook publisher and author of Travelling Light: Journeys Among Special People and Places 我在20歲出頭的時候，因為假期找到一份工作的緣故，來到意大利中部翁布里亞大區，有機會參觀奧爾維耶托主教座堂。我非常驚訝地發現，就在這珍貴的一刻，我藉著一座建築物體會到意大利文化的精萃。這當中還夾雜了個人的體會，例如毫無掩飾的天真與將矯揉造作的心態揭破。
我陪著一些遊客前往那裡時，夕陽的餘暉正照在這座宏偉教堂的正面，看上去金光閃閃。金色的光芒來自金色的馬賽克鑲嵌壁畫，是帶有拜占庭風格的意大利哥德式傑作。眼前的美景令我看得呆住了，我信步走進教堂內，彷彿走進另一個世界，也許這正是教堂的用意。裡面沒有詩班席，沒有座椅，只有打磨得閃閃發亮的地板，一直伸展至遠處，兩旁的巨型石柱、牆壁和高懸牆上的窗戶，都鑲嵌了條紋，以精妙的手法將簡約與繁複混合得恰到好處。然後走進旁邊的小教堂，就可見到Luca Signorelli的濕壁畫《末日與最後審判》。我對這幅畫非常著迷，以至對於畫中那些難以言喻的痛苦景象亦不自禁的讚歎起來。這幅畫亦帶給我一個非常重要的啟示。
Signorelli在壁畫中畫了《末日的大淫婦》，騎在魔鬼的背上，在空中飛過。我之前曾將這畫的明信片寄給朋友，現在看到整幅真跡，才知道這只是巨型壁畫中一個細小的部分，提醒我在宇宙中我的地位是何等渺小。離開之際，我明白還有很多東西有待學習。
AlastairSawday是旅遊指南出版商和《Travelling Light: JourneysAmongSpecialPeopleandPlaces》的作者