纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 067正信凯旋圣像（7）

 

It shows us the Empress Theodora and that great restoration of 843. She stands beside the Hodegetria image of the Virgin¹ and Child, and with her is her child, the boy Emperor Michael, both of them wearing elaborate Imperial crowns. Below them, in the bottom of the picture, stand a line of 11 saints and martyrs², crowded together as if they're posing for a group photograph, some of them holding icons³ in their hands like prizes that they've just been awarded. Any viewer around 1400 would have known at once that all these saints had suffered in the great struggle to re-establish the use of icons. All of them are neatly⁴ labelled, with their names written in red paint. My favourite is the one on the far left. She is St Theodosia, the only woman in the group and a feisty nun⁵, who was put to death essentially⁶ for killing⁷ a policeman. She saw an Imperial guard climbing a ladder to remove an image of Christ from the entrance to the Imperial palace, she pushed away the ladder, and he fell to his death. Needless to say, she was promptly⁸ executed.

它呈现了西奥多拉皇后与公元八四三年的伟大复兴。她站在圣母与圣婴的赫得戈利亚圣像旁，身边是儿子米海尔三世。两人都穿着精致的皇家长袍。画面下部是站成一行的圣人与殉道者，他们紧挨在一起，如同在合照，有的手里拿着圣像，仿佛在展示刚被授予的奖章。在一四年前后，任何看到这幅画的人都会立刻知道，这些都是在圣像复兴战中受难的圣徒。每个人头顶都用红笔清楚地标示了姓名。我个人最喜欢的要数站在最左端的那位，圣西奥多西娅，这群人中唯一的女性。她是一位急性子的修女，因杀死一名皇家侍卫而被处死。当时她看到对方爬上梯子，要?移走皇宫入口处的一张基督圣像，于是一把推开了梯子，使他跌下来摔死了。她自然很快被处以死刑。

 

1 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

2 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

5 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。