霍尔拜因发现他的绘画事业在瑞士干得并不好，于是他做了个大胆的决定，前往英国，看看在那里能有什么发展。他拿着伊拉斯谟给他写的一封推荐信动身去了英国。结果证明，英国人喜欢他的画。他给当时大多数重量级的英国人画过肖像画，包括英王亨利八世。
一般来说，或许除了弗兰斯·哈尔斯，相比于其他任何画家的肖像画，孩子们更喜欢小汉斯·霍尔拜因的肖像画。而事实上，他的画也受到许多大人们的青睐。所以，我确信你也会喜欢这位肖像画大师的作品，如果你见到他的肖像画画册，一定会特别开心。
但是不要忘了丢勒，你肯定也会喜欢他的画。
阿尔布雷希特·丢勒小汉斯·霍尔拜因
不知道你会更喜欢谁。
FORGOTTEN AND DISCOVERED
遗忘与发现
ALL any one knows about the life of one of the very great painters of the world can be written in a few sentences.Most great painters have had whole books written about their lives，but there isn’t enough really known about the life of the Dutchman Jan Vermeer （Ver-mair’）of Delft to make even a few pages.Here is almost all we know about him：
Jan Vermeer was born in Delft in 1632and died there in 1675，leaving a widow and eight children.There it is in one sentence—the life of Vermeer of Delft.Nobody even knows how many pictures there are that he painted，for some pictures we think he painted may have been painted by some one else.
But the pictures that we are sure were painted by him are considered very wonderful.Most of these are of indoor scenes.Only one，as far as we know，is a landscape Most of these paintings show a woman doing some very usual thing，like reading a letter or sewing or playing the clavichord or sometimes just looking out of the window.Perhaps his wife or one of his daughters posed for Vermeer’s pictures.In some pictures there are two women and in a few there are men.In most cases the person in the picture is shown near a window.
The wonderful way Vermeer could paint light coming into a room through a window is one of the first things people notice about these paintings.Next，one notices how well Vermeer could show what material a thing is made of—its texture.The lace cuff，the silk dress，the wooden chair，the silver pitcher，the ripe fruit，the shiny drinking glass，the pearl necklace，the blue china plate，are done so well that no one could doubt what each is made of.One could almost tell how each object feels to the touch.And over all streams the daylight from the window，binding the parts of the picture together.Some people say it is the finest daylight that any painter has ever put into an indoor scene.Certainly Vermeer was able to paint as few men could.
Here is one of Vermeer’s pictures.It is called “The Letter.”It is merely a woman reading a letter by a window，but it is painted so well that it has become famous.
No.19THE LETTER（《信》）VERMEER（维米尔作）Courtesy of The University Prints
Vermeer did not seem to have any imagination.He painted only what he saw.He never，for instance，made his women prettier than they really were.I don’t believe he could have painted a dragon，or Saint George either，without looking at a real dragon （as if there were such a thing！）or at Saint George himself.
Why is so little known about so fine a painter？It seems mysterious，doesn’t it？Vermeer’s pictures were liked at the time they were painted，but then for some reason they were almost forgotten for about two hundred years.No one took the trouble to write down anything about the artist.Then his pictures were “discovered”again and became so valuable that it took a great deal of money to buy one.Most of Vermeer’s paintings are now kept very carefully in museums.
This chapter is far too short for so important a painter.But there aren’t any stories to tell about him unless I just make them up.Vermeer didn’t use his imagination in painting his pictures，and I’m not going to use mine in telling you made-up stories.We’ll just have to let Vermeer’s pictures speak for him.
【中文阅读】
我们可以用寥寥数语来概括众所周知的某位世界级大画家的生平。大部分大画家的人生故事都可以写出几本书来，但我们对于荷兰画家杨·维米尔的一生知之甚少，加起来还不到几页纸。我们了解的差不多就这些了：
杨·维米尔1632年出生在代尔夫特，1675年在那里去世，留下一位遗孀和八个孩子。这样简短的一句话便概括了维米尔的一生。甚至都没人知道他到底画过多少画，因为有些画我们认为是他画的，事实上却可能出自他人之手。
但是，那些我们确信是他的作品都画得很棒。他画的大多都是室内场景。据我们所知，他所有的画作中只有一幅是风景画。而且大部分画作描绘的都是一个正在做一些日常生活琐事的妇女，像是读一封信、做针线活、弹翼琴，或偶尔只是眺望窗外。维米尔画画时，可能让妻子或某个女儿做模特。有些画里有两个女人，还有几幅画中有一些男人。不过大部分情况下，画面上的人物都挨着窗户。
人们看维米尔的画，首先会注意到的是他能如此出色地画出日光透过窗户照进房间的情景；接着，还会发现，维米尔能把每件物品的材质都表现得如此完美。花边袖口、丝质裙、木椅、银质水壶、熟透的水果、闪闪发亮的玻璃水杯、珍珠项链以及蓝色瓷盘，所有东西都画得非常逼真，让人一看就知道每件东西是由什么材料做成的，甚至都能道出每件东西的触感。从窗户照进的像流水般的阳光将整个画面都紧密地连在了一起。有人说他画中的阳光是世界上画得最好的室内阳光。毋庸置疑，很少有人能够达到维米尔的水平。
为维米尔的一幅画作，叫做《信》。画中只有一个女人站在窗边读信，但是这幅画画得非常好，所以就出了名。
不过，维米尔的想象力并不怎么丰富。他只描绘自己看到的东西。比如，他从不把他画中的女人画得比真人漂亮。所以，我想他肯定没有画过龙或圣乔治，除非他亲眼见过一条真龙（世界上肯定没有龙），或圣乔治本人。
为什么人们对这么一个出色的画家了解得如此之少呢？这似乎有些神秘，不是吗？事实上，维米尔的画在他那个时代是很受人们喜爱的，但后来不知什么原因，它们被遗忘了两百多年。没有人想为这个画家写点什么。而他的画被再次“发现”时就变得非常值钱，购买他的一幅画要花很多钱。如今，维米尔的大部分绘画作品都被小心翼翼地保存在博物馆里。
对于一位如此重要画家来说，用这么短短的一章来介绍他是远远不够的。但是，除非我自己编造一些关于他的故事来，否则我真是没有他的故事好讲了。维米尔在绘画时不愿发挥想象力，那么我也不想绞尽脑汁地来编撰故事了。我们就让维米尔的画来为他说话吧。
SPEAKING OF SPANIARDS
话说西班牙画家
THIS chapter is about Spain.But I’m going to begin by telling you about Crete，which hasn’t anything at all to do with Spain.
Crete is an island south of Greece.It belongs to Greece and the people of Crete speak the Greek language.Sometime about the middle of the fifteen hundreds （nobody knows just when）there was born in Crete a baby who was to become a celebrated painter.You have never heard of his name and couldn’t pronounce it if you had.I’ll tell it to you just to show you，but don’t try to remember it，for this painter is never spoken of except by his nickname.Here is his real name—Domenico Theotocopuli.