In this masterpiece of the painting of Light， we have the happiest qualities of a bright summer day in Paris. How wonderfully Renoir has caught the vibrant many-sidedness of the city！ In a most extraordinary way we are made to sense the large and simple compositional structure of the canvas， while at the same time we see the multitude of little details and contrasts of color and shape. The world is made of spots： buildings， windows， chimneys， flags， vehicles， statues， people; it is made of sky and clouds， light and air， of stone and water and foliage.
　　 Despite the illusion of dazzling light， the picture is cool in tonality， even in the glare of the street. Yet within this larger simplicity， the whole palette is engaged： the yellows， reds， blues， violets， greens， blacks， and whites. There is an incredible richness of hue in every section： a good example is the varied blues of the bridge structure in the lower right.
　　 The picture is divided into three big regions， each with its distinctive color， silhouette， and type of variation. The sky—a light zone—is spotted with irregular clouds， finely graded as to size， shape， and luminosity. The architectural mid-zone is the darkest： on the left a complicated grid of beautifully varied horizontal and vertical lines; to the right the broader elements of bridge and water， with strong diagonals leading to the extreme lower right corner. The lowest zone， the street， is the lightest of all， and here the promenaders and their shadows， scattered and free， repeat the verticals and diagonals of the mid-zone. If the reader will turn the picture upside down， many of these relationships will appear more clearly.
　　 Renoir daringly makes the ground much whiter than the sun-drenched sky; he deliberately accepts the glare in his eyes to paint what is perhaps one of the first realistically back-lighted landscapes in the history of art. He creates heat through coolness， the chaos of a busy street through order， and under his brush the grimy commonplaces of the city sparkle like jewels.
　　在這幅描绘“光”的杰作中，我们感受到巴黎明媚夏日最幸福的时光。雷诺阿如此精妙地捕捉到了这座活力城市的多面性！画作以一种非常特别的方式让我们感知画面宏大而简单的构图，与此同时，我们看到大量微小的细节及色与形的对比。世界由斑点组成：建筑物、窗户、烟囱、旗帜、车辆、雕像、人。世界也由天空和云彩，光线和空气，石料、河水和植被组成。
　　尽管耀眼的日光会让人产生热的错觉，但整幅画的色调是冷色，即使光照眩目的大街也是如此。然而，这种大幅的简单呈现却也色彩缤纷：黄红蓝紫绿黑白，同一种颜色深浅不一。每个局部的色彩都极其丰富：右下角不同蓝色的桥身就是很好的例子。
　　画面分为三大区域，每个区域各具特色，颜色、轮廓和变化各不相同。明亮的天空区点缀着精细描绘的不规则云朵，大小不同、形状各异、明暗不一。中间的建筑区最暗：左边，长长短短的横线和竖线协调搭配，构成复杂的网格状建筑群;右边，桥和水占据略宽的画幅，陡直的斜线直抵右下角。最下的街道区最亮，行人和他们的影子四下散布，毫无规则，依然由中间区域的竖线和斜线构成。如果观画者将此画倒置，这些元素的很多关系会显现得更清楚。
　　雷诺阿将大地描绘得比阳光明媚的晴朗天空更白，此举可谓大胆。他有意顶着耀眼的阳光创作，此画或许是美术史上最早的写实主义背光风景画之一。他通过冷色营造热的氛围，通过有序的线条表现繁乱的街道，在他的画笔下，巴黎尘垢之下的凡尘俗世竟如宝石般熠熠生辉。     □