Phaëthornis obscura
Phaëthornis obscura
Obscure Hermit
- 合集
- 古尔德蜂鸟图谱
- 绘者
- John Gould（约翰·古尔德）
- 年代
- 1849
- 图版号
- Pl. 38, Vol. I
- 原书页码
- p.38
- 授权
- CC0 1.0 Universal (Public domain)
十观
- 略纵 1.20∶1
第一眼
夫象物必在于形似，形似须全其骨气。
—— 唐·张彦远《历代名画记》
形似只是门槛，骨气才是要害。看一株植物，先看它立不立得住——这就是骨气。这一幅略高于宽，落点在中央偏上那只鸟的头部。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
学名缺席时，画面本身就是唯一的证据。此幅既无通行中文名，学名也不可靠，只能以原书题名相称——图谱里总有几幅这样的图，只能靠画面本身说话。
形与色
翼小而振频极高，能悬停、能倒飞；羽色非颜料所致，是羽枝结构折射的光，随角度而变。此幅未作色相归档，只能就形制论。颜色不是平涂的：最浅处近乎纸色，最深处在花瓣重叠的缝里。把这两处找到，画面的呼吸就出来了。
构图与呼吸
画幅略高于宽，鸟身居中偏上，视线落在头部与喙。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
十九世纪上半叶是铜版、钢版与石版交替的时期。点刻能把明暗过渡做得极细，雷杜德的玫瑰即以此著称；石版则更宜表现柔和的色层。先判断它是“印”的还是“画”的，再谈好不好看——这是看老版画最实用的一条规矩。想动笔临它的人记住一句：临它的骨架、留白与设色次序就好；刀口的排线是铜版与刻刀的语言，铅笔不必硬学，用疏密代替它。
诗境
穿花蛱蝶深深见，点水蜻蜓款款飞。
—— 唐·杜甫《曲江二首》
中土无蜂鸟，然“穿花”之态，杜甫早已写过：贴着花心走，是采蜜者的共同姿态。古人写到这一层，已不只是赏花，是借花说人；画面则只负责把那朵花留住。
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 1849 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。那一代人对这类鸟的知识，多半来自标本与笼养。看这一类图，不妨把产地和季节都当“据说”来读。
书与人
《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》只署了约翰·古尔德一个人的名字。图版今属公有领域，可以自由取用；但纸上那层手工上色，仍是两百年前某一个人的手。
带走一双眼睛
把这三件事带走：先整体后细节；先线后色；先看画再翻书。任何一张老图版，都可以用这三条读。图谱的用意是“以备查考”，看久了却会忘记查考：1849 年的一个人，为一只鸟花了整整一天。
关于本图版
本图选自约翰·古尔德的《古尔德蜂鸟图谱》（Gould's Hummingbirds），原书 1849—1887 年间出版。画面主体为 Phaëthornis obscura，在分类体系中列于蜂鸟科（Trochilidae）。
该合集全编共 421 幅图版，此图为其中之一，图版编号 Pl. 38, Vol. I，对应原书第 38 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）
Brazil
It can scarcely be supposed but that the great country of Brazil will, from time to time, present us with new species of this group of birds; the great and almost interminable forests, particularly those toward the western frontier, having been but partially traversed, and by no means closely investigated. By the way of Rio de Janeiro, several examples of this new Phaëthornis have reached Europe, and at this moment four specimens are before me, two of which belong to my own collection, the other two to that of M. Bourcier of Paris, by whom they have been kindly lent to me for the purposes of the present work: the whole of them were collected in the interior of Brazil.
The Phaëthornis obscura differs from all its congeners in its dark, clouded style of colouring, and in the absence of buff on the rump. It belongs to that division of the Hermits to which the name of Pygmornis has been given, and which, although I have not adopted this generic appellation, appears to me to constitute a very natural section of the group. If we may judge from what we know of some other members of the genus, the males of this species will have shorter and more rounded tails than the females; but this must be verified by actual dissection before it can be positively affirmed.
Head, upper surface and wing-coverts dark bronzy green; stripe behind the eye buff; wings purplish brown; tail dark bronzy brown, each feather narrowly margined externally and slightly tipped with white; throat smoky black, between which and the eye is a stripe of light buff; chest clouded chestnut or coffeecolour, passing into dark grey on the abdomen, and fading into white on the vent; under tail-coverts greyish white; upper mandible and tip of the lower black; basal three-fourths of the latter yellow.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Echites Franciscea.
References
- Phaëthorms obscura, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxv. p. 14.
