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St Matthew and the Angel
There is no greater obstacle to the enjoyment of great works of art than our unwillingness to discard habits and prejudices. A painting which represents a familiar subject in an unexpected way is often condemned for no better reson than that it does not seem right. The more often we have seen a story represented in art, the more firmly do we become convinced that it must always be represented on similar lines. About biblical subjects, in particular feelings are apt to run high. Though we all know that the Scriptures tell us nothing about the appearance of Jesus, and that God Himself cannot be visualized in human form, and though we know that it was the artists of the past who first created the images we have become used to, some are still inclined to think that to depart from there traditional forms amounts to blasphemy.
在欣賞偉大的藝術作品時，最大的障礙就是不肯摒棄陋習和偏見。用未曾想到的方式去畫熟悉的題材往往遭到責難，然而最振振有辭的指責也不過是“它看起來不太對頭”而已。對于一個故事，我們越是經常看到它用藝術形式表現出來，就越是堅信它必須永遠依樣畫葫蘆地重復下去。特別是涉及到《圣經》中的題材，情緒就更加容易激昂。我們都知道《圣經》中根本沒有告訴我們耶穌的外貌如何，上帝本身也不想被想象為人的形狀，我們也知道那些習以為常的形象是處于往昔藝術家們的創造，雖然明知如此，還是有人以為背離那些傳統的形式就是褻瀆神明。
As a matter of fact, it was usually those artists who read the Scriptures with the greatest devotion and attention who tried to build up in their minds an entirely fresh picture they had seen, and to imagine what it must have been like when the Christ Child lay in the manger and the shepherds came to adore Him, or When a fisherman began to preach the gospel. It has happened time and again that such efforts of a great artist to read the old text with entirely fresh eyes have shocked and outraged thoughtless people.
事實上，往往是那些捧讀《圣經》最虔誠、最專心的藝術家才試圖在腦海中構思神圣事跡的嶄新畫面。他們努力拋開以往看到的一切繪畫作品，開動腦筋想象小救世主躺在牲口槽里、牧羊人前來禮拜他的時候，想象一個漁夫開始宣講福音的時候，場面必定會是什么樣子。一個偉大的藝術家總是竭力用嶄新的眼光來重新解讀古老的經文，而這樣的事，卻一次又一次使那些無知之輩感到震驚與憤怒。
