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The VaTican Library— The 1)aTTic of WesTern ciViLizaTion
We’re about to visit a place few people have seen first-hand, the Vatican Library, a vast collection of historic treasures beyond compare, founded over five centuries ago, when Europe was coming out of the Dark Ages, a period of so-called Humanism, when the Catholic Church was open to new ideas in philosophy, science and the human spirit. It’s the Pope’s library, but it contains much more than just church documents. There are manuscripts going back nearly 2,000 years of music and math, warfare and exploration, even cook books and love letters. The library is closed to the public, a place for scholars only.
Timothy Janz (Curator): There’s about two million printed books.
Reporter: Two million printed books.
And inside the library the past surrounded us as we were shown the magnificent building and its riches.
Timothy: This is the 2)Urbino Bible.
For instance, this spectacular Bible, 3)commissioned in 1476, by the Duke of Urbino.
Timothy: He wanted to have a very fancy Bible…
Reporter: And he got one.
Timothy: …and this is what he got.
Library 4)curator Timothy Janz tells us the Bible took years to make by hand, letter by letter, picture by picture.
Timothy: …decorated with real gold…
It’s just one of the library’s 80,000 handwritten manuscripts from the ages before the printing press. Add to that those two million or so printed books, Christian and 5)pagan, sacred and 6)profane, in virtually every language known to man.
There are thousands of prints and drawings, windows on the past, and a huge collection of ancient coins. This was the money of Palestine 2,000 years ago, including the kind of silver coins Judas was said to have been paid to betray Christ.
Here is a map of the world, drawn 50 years before Columbus, at its edge the towers of paradise. And an immediate best-seller, Columbus’description of his voyage to the New World, published in 1493.
Reporter: In a certain way the library is kind of the attic of Western civilization.
Michael Collins (Irish Priest): That’s so true, and it’s like many attics. You know, you put things up all the time; you keep on pushing over boxes to make space for more things. Reporter: Is there anyone, any single person, who really knows what the library holds?
Michael: Nobody knows exactly what’s there, because it will be impossible for the human brain to understand, to remember the titles, who wrote it, when they were written.
Its Great Hall, essentially unchanged over the centuries, is a picture 7)gallery of 8)antiquity, saints, philosophers, and 9)depictions of the great libraries of the pre-Christian world, Babylon, Athens, Alexandria, a shrine to learning, and to books.
Here, some 10)devotional music commissioned by Pope Leo X, and the text of the Christmas Mass used at the altar by Alexander VI; both manuscripts five centuries old, written on 11)parchment, treated animal skin.
You might find drawings of a German 12)jousting tournament in 1481. Or an old cookbook telling us that Roman “foodies” in the 4th century dined on chicken, veal, seafood, pancakes in milk, and whipped pear cake. Or, from an 11th century 13)treatise on the art of war, a 14)Byzantine soldier 15)brandishing a flame-thrower, something the Greeks invented 1,500 years earlier. Or Henry VIII’s lover letters to 16)Anne Boleyn.
The library’s most valued documents go back almost 2,000 years, nearly to the time of Saint Peter, the first Pope, whose tomb lies beneath the 17)basilica that bears his name.
With our tour nearly over, it seemed as if the library’s collection had come to life in the streets of “18)the eternal city.” Leaving the library, we thought there’s something…something almost magical to be 19)immersed in this place, to breathe the air, and touch the hand of history.
我们将要参观一个很少人有机会亲眼看过的地方——梵蒂冈图书馆,其无与伦比的丰富馆藏都是历史瑰宝。梵蒂冈图书馆创建于五个多世纪前,当时,欧洲刚刚走出它的“黑暗时代”,处于所谓的人文主义运动时期;那个时期的天主教会乐于接纳哲学、科学,以及人文精神等领域的新思想。这里是教皇的图书馆,但里面收藏的并不仅仅是教会文献。这里有近两千年前的音乐、数学、战争、探险等方面的手抄本,甚至还有烹饪书和情书。这个图书馆不对公众开放,只供学者使用。
蒂莫西·詹慈(管理员):这里有大概两百万本印刷书籍。
记者:两百万本。
我们身在图书馆,参观这座富丽堂皇的建筑和里面的丰富藏品,感受着浓厚的历史氛围。
蒂莫西:这本是乌尔比诺《圣经》。
比如说,这本令人惊叹的《圣经》是1476年由乌尔比诺公爵委托制作的。
蒂莫西:他当时想要一本超级漂亮的《圣经》……
记者:于是他得到了一本漂亮的《圣经》。
蒂莫西:……这就是他得到的成品。
图书馆管理员蒂莫西·詹慈告诉我们,这本《圣经》是纯手工制作,一个字母一个字母地抄写,一张插图一张插图地绘制,花费了数年时间。
蒂莫西:……用真金装饰……
这座图书馆里拥有印刷机出现以前完成的八万本手抄本,这本《圣经》只不过是其中之一。此外,这里还有大约两百万本印刷书籍,既有关于基督教的内容,也有非基督教的内容,既有宣扬宗教神圣不可侵犯的书籍,也有亵渎神灵的内容,基本上涵盖了人类已知的所有语种。 图书馆里有数千幅绘画的复制品及绘画原作,我们可以从中窥探历史;这里还有庞大的古币收藏。这是两千年前巴勒斯坦人使用的货币,其中包括部分银币,据说犹大背叛耶稣时收取的正是这种银币。
这是一张世界地图,绘制的年代比哥伦布发现新大陆还要早50年,地图边上画的是天堂里的塔楼。这本书则是哥伦布对他新大陆发现之旅的叙述,1493年出版,在当时一炮而红。
记者:从某种意义上说,这座图书馆就像是西方文明的储存阁楼。
迈克尔·科林斯(爱尔兰神父):没错,像许多阁楼一样,你也知道,你会不停地把东西往上送,不断地把盒子往里推,想要腾出空间放更多的东西。
记者:有没有谁,有没有某个人确切知道这个图书馆里有些什么?
迈克尔:没有人能把这里面的馆藏弄清楚,因为人的脑子不可能了解这么多东西,记住这些馆藏的名称,记住这些书是谁写的,什么时候写的。
图书馆的大厅几个世纪以来基本上没什么变化,它是古代绘画的陈列长廊,里面有圣徒和先哲的画像,也有基督教创立以前世界上各大图书馆的景象,如古巴比伦、雅典、埃及的亚历山大等地的图书馆。这里是学习的殿堂,是书的殿堂。
这些是教皇利奥十世下令谱写的祷告音乐乐谱,这是亚历山大六世在圣坛作圣诞弥撒用的祷词。这两份手稿的历史都长达五个世纪,抄写用的是羊皮纸——被处理过的兽皮。
你还可以找到描绘1481年德国马上比武情景的绘画;这里有古老的烹饪书,书上告诉我们,在公元4世纪,古罗马的吃货们吃的是鸡肉、牛肉、海鲜、泡在牛奶里的烙饼和梨子蛋糕;在一本11世纪的兵法专著里,可以看到有一名拜占庭士兵挥舞着古希腊人在1500年前发明的喷火器的场景;还有亨利八世写给安妮·博林的情书。
图书馆里最有价值的文献可追溯到近两千年前,差不多就是第一位教皇——圣彼得——在任的时代。他就长眠于梵蒂冈那座以他的名字命名的教堂地下。
我们的参观就要结束了,在罗马这座“永恒之城”的大街上,梵蒂冈图书馆的馆藏似乎就是现实的一部分。离开图书馆时,我们觉得身处此地,呼吸着历史的气息,并触摸历史,这给人某种……某种神奇的感觉。
文化交流站
Dark Ages 欧洲中世纪前期
欧洲中世纪前期,又称中世纪早期、中古早期(Early Middle Ages),指在西欧历史上从罗马帝国衰亡(约公元500年)至公元10世纪之间的一段时期。在这段时期内,从罗马帝国后期开始的衰落趋势在整个欧洲一直持续:人口(尤其是城市人口)减少、贸易萎缩、外族迁徙规模扩大与持续入侵。当年罗马统治过的辽阔大地最终分成了三种后续文明:西欧文明、拜占庭文明和伊斯兰文明。在西欧历史上,中世纪前期被称为“黑暗时代”,突显了当时社会动荡、传世文学文化作品甚少的特点。
We’re about to visit a place few people have seen first-hand, the Vatican Library, a vast collection of historic treasures beyond compare, founded over five centuries ago, when Europe was coming out of the Dark Ages, a period of so-called Humanism, when the Catholic Church was open to new ideas in philosophy, science and the human spirit. It’s the Pope’s library, but it contains much more than just church documents. There are manuscripts going back nearly 2,000 years of music and math, warfare and exploration, even cook books and love letters. The library is closed to the public, a place for scholars only.
Timothy Janz (Curator): There’s about two million printed books.
Reporter: Two million printed books.
And inside the library the past surrounded us as we were shown the magnificent building and its riches.
Timothy: This is the 2)Urbino Bible.
For instance, this spectacular Bible, 3)commissioned in 1476, by the Duke of Urbino.
Timothy: He wanted to have a very fancy Bible…
Reporter: And he got one.
Timothy: …and this is what he got.
Library 4)curator Timothy Janz tells us the Bible took years to make by hand, letter by letter, picture by picture.
Timothy: …decorated with real gold…
It’s just one of the library’s 80,000 handwritten manuscripts from the ages before the printing press. Add to that those two million or so printed books, Christian and 5)pagan, sacred and 6)profane, in virtually every language known to man.
There are thousands of prints and drawings, windows on the past, and a huge collection of ancient coins. This was the money of Palestine 2,000 years ago, including the kind of silver coins Judas was said to have been paid to betray Christ.
Here is a map of the world, drawn 50 years before Columbus, at its edge the towers of paradise. And an immediate best-seller, Columbus’description of his voyage to the New World, published in 1493.
Reporter: In a certain way the library is kind of the attic of Western civilization.
Michael Collins (Irish Priest): That’s so true, and it’s like many attics. You know, you put things up all the time; you keep on pushing over boxes to make space for more things. Reporter: Is there anyone, any single person, who really knows what the library holds?
Michael: Nobody knows exactly what’s there, because it will be impossible for the human brain to understand, to remember the titles, who wrote it, when they were written.
Its Great Hall, essentially unchanged over the centuries, is a picture 7)gallery of 8)antiquity, saints, philosophers, and 9)depictions of the great libraries of the pre-Christian world, Babylon, Athens, Alexandria, a shrine to learning, and to books.
Here, some 10)devotional music commissioned by Pope Leo X, and the text of the Christmas Mass used at the altar by Alexander VI; both manuscripts five centuries old, written on 11)parchment, treated animal skin.
You might find drawings of a German 12)jousting tournament in 1481. Or an old cookbook telling us that Roman “foodies” in the 4th century dined on chicken, veal, seafood, pancakes in milk, and whipped pear cake. Or, from an 11th century 13)treatise on the art of war, a 14)Byzantine soldier 15)brandishing a flame-thrower, something the Greeks invented 1,500 years earlier. Or Henry VIII’s lover letters to 16)Anne Boleyn.
The library’s most valued documents go back almost 2,000 years, nearly to the time of Saint Peter, the first Pope, whose tomb lies beneath the 17)basilica that bears his name.
With our tour nearly over, it seemed as if the library’s collection had come to life in the streets of “18)the eternal city.” Leaving the library, we thought there’s something…something almost magical to be 19)immersed in this place, to breathe the air, and touch the hand of history.
我们将要参观一个很少人有机会亲眼看过的地方——梵蒂冈图书馆,其无与伦比的丰富馆藏都是历史瑰宝。梵蒂冈图书馆创建于五个多世纪前,当时,欧洲刚刚走出它的“黑暗时代”,处于所谓的人文主义运动时期;那个时期的天主教会乐于接纳哲学、科学,以及人文精神等领域的新思想。这里是教皇的图书馆,但里面收藏的并不仅仅是教会文献。这里有近两千年前的音乐、数学、战争、探险等方面的手抄本,甚至还有烹饪书和情书。这个图书馆不对公众开放,只供学者使用。
蒂莫西·詹慈(管理员):这里有大概两百万本印刷书籍。
记者:两百万本。
我们身在图书馆,参观这座富丽堂皇的建筑和里面的丰富藏品,感受着浓厚的历史氛围。
蒂莫西:这本是乌尔比诺《圣经》。
比如说,这本令人惊叹的《圣经》是1476年由乌尔比诺公爵委托制作的。
蒂莫西:他当时想要一本超级漂亮的《圣经》……
记者:于是他得到了一本漂亮的《圣经》。
蒂莫西:……这就是他得到的成品。
图书馆管理员蒂莫西·詹慈告诉我们,这本《圣经》是纯手工制作,一个字母一个字母地抄写,一张插图一张插图地绘制,花费了数年时间。
蒂莫西:……用真金装饰……
这座图书馆里拥有印刷机出现以前完成的八万本手抄本,这本《圣经》只不过是其中之一。此外,这里还有大约两百万本印刷书籍,既有关于基督教的内容,也有非基督教的内容,既有宣扬宗教神圣不可侵犯的书籍,也有亵渎神灵的内容,基本上涵盖了人类已知的所有语种。 图书馆里有数千幅绘画的复制品及绘画原作,我们可以从中窥探历史;这里还有庞大的古币收藏。这是两千年前巴勒斯坦人使用的货币,其中包括部分银币,据说犹大背叛耶稣时收取的正是这种银币。
这是一张世界地图,绘制的年代比哥伦布发现新大陆还要早50年,地图边上画的是天堂里的塔楼。这本书则是哥伦布对他新大陆发现之旅的叙述,1493年出版,在当时一炮而红。
记者:从某种意义上说,这座图书馆就像是西方文明的储存阁楼。
迈克尔·科林斯(爱尔兰神父):没错,像许多阁楼一样,你也知道,你会不停地把东西往上送,不断地把盒子往里推,想要腾出空间放更多的东西。
记者:有没有谁,有没有某个人确切知道这个图书馆里有些什么?
迈克尔:没有人能把这里面的馆藏弄清楚,因为人的脑子不可能了解这么多东西,记住这些馆藏的名称,记住这些书是谁写的,什么时候写的。
图书馆的大厅几个世纪以来基本上没什么变化,它是古代绘画的陈列长廊,里面有圣徒和先哲的画像,也有基督教创立以前世界上各大图书馆的景象,如古巴比伦、雅典、埃及的亚历山大等地的图书馆。这里是学习的殿堂,是书的殿堂。
这些是教皇利奥十世下令谱写的祷告音乐乐谱,这是亚历山大六世在圣坛作圣诞弥撒用的祷词。这两份手稿的历史都长达五个世纪,抄写用的是羊皮纸——被处理过的兽皮。
你还可以找到描绘1481年德国马上比武情景的绘画;这里有古老的烹饪书,书上告诉我们,在公元4世纪,古罗马的吃货们吃的是鸡肉、牛肉、海鲜、泡在牛奶里的烙饼和梨子蛋糕;在一本11世纪的兵法专著里,可以看到有一名拜占庭士兵挥舞着古希腊人在1500年前发明的喷火器的场景;还有亨利八世写给安妮·博林的情书。
图书馆里最有价值的文献可追溯到近两千年前,差不多就是第一位教皇——圣彼得——在任的时代。他就长眠于梵蒂冈那座以他的名字命名的教堂地下。
我们的参观就要结束了,在罗马这座“永恒之城”的大街上,梵蒂冈图书馆的馆藏似乎就是现实的一部分。离开图书馆时,我们觉得身处此地,呼吸着历史的气息,并触摸历史,这给人某种……某种神奇的感觉。
文化交流站
Dark Ages 欧洲中世纪前期
欧洲中世纪前期,又称中世纪早期、中古早期(Early Middle Ages),指在西欧历史上从罗马帝国衰亡(约公元500年)至公元10世纪之间的一段时期。在这段时期内,从罗马帝国后期开始的衰落趋势在整个欧洲一直持续:人口(尤其是城市人口)减少、贸易萎缩、外族迁徙规模扩大与持续入侵。当年罗马统治过的辽阔大地最终分成了三种后续文明:西欧文明、拜占庭文明和伊斯兰文明。在西欧历史上,中世纪前期被称为“黑暗时代”,突显了当时社会动荡、传世文学文化作品甚少的特点。