宝石蜂鸟属·Lampornis Veraguensis
Lampornis Veraguensis
Lampornis Veraguensis
Veraguan Mango
- 中文名
- 宝石蜂鸟属·Lampornis Veraguensis
- 学名
- Lampornis Veraguensis
- 合集
- 古尔德蜂鸟图谱
- 绘者
- John Gould(约翰·古尔德)
- 年代
- 1850
- 图版号
- Pl. 76, Vol. II
- 原书页码
- p.76
- 授权
- CC0 1.0 Universal (Public domain)
十观
- 纵幅 1.59∶1
第一眼
竖划三寸,当千仞之高;横墨数尺,体百里之迥。
—— 南朝宋·宗炳《画山水序》
三寸的竖线可当千仞高山,几尺横墨能容百里之远。尺幅从来不是障碍,取舍才是本事。这一幅是竖的:眼睛从下往上走,落点在中段那只鸟身上。先别急着看羽毛,让姿态先立起来。第二步凑近一寸:看线与色的交界,色有没有压住线,线有没有断。第三步,把视线放到最深的那一小块:整幅的用色秩序,都是从那里排开的。
名与实
学名 Lampornis veraguensis:前一词是属,管它归在哪一类;后一词是种加词,管它在这一类里凭什么与众不同。双名制的好处是唯一:全世界叫这个名字的,只能是这一种。此幅尚无通行中文名,姑以学名相称;在没有本地名字的地方,学名就是它唯一的身份证。
形与色
蜂鸟为美洲最小之鸟,喙细长如针,舌分叉成管,可伸入花心吸蜜;翼小而振频极高,能悬停、能倒飞。此幅未作色相归档,只能就形制论。别只看花:叶脉的走向、萼片的长短、甚至茎上的毛,都是画家用来区分物种的证据。
构图与呼吸
画幅高而窄,鸟栖在枝的中段,上下留白多——十九世纪鸟谱的标准版式,留给它飞走的余地。全幅只画一只,不作解剖附图——这类图更近于“观赏”,而非“鉴定”。空白不是没画完,是给眼睛留的落脚处:一张图若四边都塞满,花反而会闷。
一刀一色
十九世纪后半叶,石版与彩色石印渐成主流:颜色可以直接印出,不再依赖手工,线条反倒退居其次。图像的“准确”提高了,手性却淡了。工艺留下的破绽比题跋更诚实:刻工不会撒谎,上色的人赶时间的时候会。想动笔临它的人记住一句:先铺大块的形与色,干后再收细部;石印的柔和层次来自薄涂与网点,水彩分两三遍淡铺即可逼近。
诗境
夫列子御风而行,泠然善也,旬有五日而后反。
—— 《庄子·逍遥游》
蜂鸟悬停于空,不落不飞,最近于“御风”。庄子说的是一种自由的姿态,蜂鸟把它做成了生理事实。把这一句放回画面:画面就是诗句的落点——诗先写气,画后写形,两者在此处接上了。
花语
阿兹特克以蜂鸟为战神与太阳的化身;欧洲维多利亚时代则以蜂鸟为收藏与装饰的极致,百万只羽毛被做成胸饰。中国旧籍无此鸟,故无象征——这空白本身,就是一部博物学交流史。花语是给人与人的关系用的;植物自己只关心有没有传粉的虫。这两套语言,可以并行不悖。
时与地
温带种类的蜂鸟则随花北迁,一年往返数千公里。仅产美洲,自阿拉斯加南部至火地岛,以安第斯山最为繁盛。中土无蜂鸟,汉籍不载,晚清海外游记始见其名。图上所记的 1850 年是刊行之年,不是采到那只鸟的年份;真正的观察记录通常比出版早一两年。图上的产地常是“据说来自”,图上的花期常是“盛开那十日”——两处都要打个折扣读。
书与人
《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》只署了约翰·古尔德一个人的名字。从画稿到成图要过好几双手:转刻的人求准,上色的人求快——快与准之间,就是各幅之间深浅不一的来历。
带走一双眼睛
如果只能记一句,就记郭熙那八个字:远望取其势,近看取其质。看图、看花、看人,都一样。1850 年的那只鸟早已化作尘土,它留在纸上的样子,却比任何一只活着的同类都长寿。
关于本图版
此图原刊于《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》(Gould's Hummingbirds),绘者为约翰·古尔德,成书于 1849—1887 年间。画面主体是宝石蜂鸟,归入蜂鸟科(Trochilidae)。
全编共收录 421 幅图版,本图是其中一幅,原书将其列为 Pl. 76, Vol. II,见第 76 页,版式为纵幅。扫描件取自公有领域原件,经高分辨率修复与色彩校正,可按原大放大查看线条与设色。
原书文字(英文 / 法文)
Veragua and Costa Rica
Several years have now elapsed since I received both drawings and specimens of this new Humming-bird from M. Warszewicz, the celebrated South American traveller and botanist. The specimens referred to were collected near the voleano of Chiriqui in Veragua; subsequently I received examples from Costa Rica, and more recently still from the vicinity of David, transmitted by Mr. Bridges: nothing can be more certain, therefore, than that the countries immediately to the northward of the Isthmus of Panama are the native habitat of this bird. As a species, the Lampornis Veraguensis is as well marked as any member of the genus; it possesses a combination of characters which ally it to the L. gramineus and L. Prevost; it differs, however, from the former in its much smaller size, and in the brilliant green of the throat being continued over the chest to the abdomen; and from the L. Prevosti, which it about equals in size, by the total absence of black on the throat. I am so fortunate as to possess males, females and young males of this fine species, which may be thus described.
The male has all the upper surface, wing-coverts and flanks golden green; throat glittering green, inclined to blue in the centre, and becoming of a deeper blue on the chest and centre of the abdomen; wings purplish brown; tail purple, each feather narrowly edged and tipped with darker purple, the two centre feathers tinged with bronze; tuft on each flank white.
The young male is similar on the upper surface; has the throat-mark less brilliant and bordered with white; the centre tail-feathers bronzy green; the lateral feathers purple at the base, crossed near the tip with steel-blue and tipped with white.
The female is of a more golden hue above and on the flanks; has a mark of blackish green bordered with white down the throat and the lateral tail-feathers as in the young male.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Pitcairnia macrocalyx.
References
- Lamporns Veraguensis, Gould, MSS.
- Lampornis veraguensis, Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 250.
- Sericotes veraguensis, Reichenb. Aufz. der Colibris, p. 11.