His bio reads like a rock star's. A precocious talent, he never married because, he said, it would have hurt his career. But he moved his girlfriend in with him while he worked his last gig--then died at the age of 37 from a fever brought on, some said, by carnal excess. The great painter Raphael (1483-1520) was one of the big three of Italy's high Renaissance, along with Leonardo da Vinci (whose work he admired and studied closely) and Michelangelo (with whom he carried on a vigorous, if all too brief, competition to be the Vatican's favorite artist). He didn't seem, however, to have a superstar's attitude. The pope was his patron, and acquaintances described him as "sensible," "well mannered," "genial" and "sweet." On his deathbed, he bequeathed his mistress enough money to live "honorably" for the rest of her life. And he painted her portrait--one of the great paintings of all time, right up there with the "Mona Lisa"--as a final, loving tribute.

　　At least that's how the legend goes. That portrait--which is touring the United States for the first time--constitutes a one-picture exhibition at the Frick Collection in New York through Jan. 30 (it will travel to Houston and Indianapolis). Certainly, "La Fornarina" ("baker's daughter") comes from the hand of the incomparable Raphael. The gently tilting composition is perfect, the color finely balanced and the lady's skin alabaster and flawless. (Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as sprezzatura, meaning, roughly, to hide with technical facility exactly how anything is done.) In the classic Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes (including a belly button under gauze), she glances coyly to the side at, one presumes, a lover. "La Fornarina," the renowned art historian and MacArthur fellow Leo Steinberg explains, "is the closest thing to soft porn in the high Renaissance." But whether the seminude lady depicted is actually the baker's daughter who was Raphael's love remains a mystery.

　　Is Raphael himself the object of her gaze? Most people--including several British critics reviewing the big Raphael exhibition currently at the National Gallery in London--like to think so. Since live women models weren't generally available five centuries ago, the reasoning goes, the lady's posing undressed for Raphael must have been an intimate act. Besides, what else can the artist's proprietary name on her armband mean? But the experts remain divided. With a fine disregard for attendance-boosting hype, Rome museums commissioner Claudio Strinati ("La Fornarina" usually resides at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome) lays out a less titillating hypothesis in a booklet accompanying the Frick display.

　　A recent cleaning of the painting reveals a wedding ring on the lady's left hand; Raphael's final and most prominent patron, the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, had just been married to one Francesca Ardeasca. Raphael's name on the armband, Strinati says, is a tribute to Chigi. He concludes that "La Fornarina" is Ardeasca. Unfortunately, no other portraits of Chigi's bride exist to confirm the ID. As Steinberg says, "It's all an attractive myth, and like all myths it depends for interpretation on levels of reliable gossip." Whatever one believes, "La Fornarina" is still a sweetheart of a painting.

1.The mystery of the woman lies in her ______.
　　[A] beauty
　　[B] unknown identity
　　[C] seminude body
　　[D] intimate relationship with Raphael

2.It can be inferred from the text that ______.
　　[A] Raphael behaved like a superstar
　　[B] Raphael died young because of overwork
　　[C] Raphael enjoyed greater popularity than Michelangelo
　　[D] one of his paintings achieves as great fame as “Mona Lisa”.

3.The vivid descriptions of the painting “La Fornarina” show that _____.
　　[A] Raphael is good at soft porn
　　[B] Raphael develops a special feeling towards the baker’s daughter.
　　[C] oil paint was not popular then
　　[D] Raphael’s painting technique has reached maturity in the painting

4.We can draw a conclusion from the third paragraph that______.
　　[A] there is sound evidence to believe there exists an intimacy between Raphael and the woman in the painting
　　[B] live women models were nowhere to find in Raphael’s time
　　[C] nude models were easily available in Italy in Renaissance
　　[D] it is generally agreed between experts that the woman is Raphael’s mistress

5.From the text, we can see that the writer _____.
　　[A] shows curiosity towards the identity of the woman in the painting
　　[B] is a Renaissance art historian
　　[C] strongly support the idea that “La Fornarina” is one of Raphael’s mistress
　　[D] thinks low of Raphael’s technique in the painting

　　篇章剖析

　　本文以对画坛巨匠拉斐尔的简介开始，重点讨论了他的画作《福尔娜瑞娜》中神秘女郎的身份问题。第一段简单介绍了拉斐尔及其在画坛上的地位，并引出油画《福尔娜瑞娜》。第二段对这幅画进行了细腻描写。第三段列出人们对画中女郎身份的不同看法。第四段指出无论画中女郎是谁，这幅画都是一幅精品。

　　词汇注释

　　precocious: [pri5kEuFEs] adj. 早熟的

　　gig: [^i^] n. 为生计而做的工作

　　carnal: [5kB:nl] adj. 肉体的；性的

　　genial: [dVi5naiEl] adj. 和蔼可亲的

　　bequeath:[bi5kwi:T] v. 遗赠

　　alabaster: [5AlEbB:stE] adj. （皮肤）光滑细腻的

　　erotic: [i5rCtik] adj. 挑逗的；性感的

　　gauze:[^C:z] n. 薄纱

　　proprietary: [prE5praiEtEri] adj. 专有的；所属的

　　titillate: [5titileit] v. 挑逗，使人兴奋

　　难句突破 1.The gently tilting composition is perfect, the color finely balanced and the lady’s skin

　　alabaster and flawless.

　　主体句式：the …composition is perfect, the color … balanced and … skin alabaster and flawless.

　　结构分析：这句后半句是独立主格结构。分别在“finely”和 “skin”后省略了“is”。

　　句子译文：那微微倾斜的身体，那明暗协调的色彩，那光滑细嫩、白玉无暇的肌肤，一切都那么完美。 2.In the Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes (including a belly button under gauze), she glances coyly to the side at, one presumes, a lover.

　　主体句式：she glances … to the side at … a lover.

　　结构分析：这句话中，“cover up” 和“showcase”并列，它们的宾语是“erotic attributes”；主句中“one presume”是插入语。

　　句子译文：画中女郎经典的维纳斯式手势既试图遮掩又意欲表现自己的性感一面。（还有薄纱下面若隐若现的肚脐。）她害羞地朝一侧望去。有人猜测是看她的情人。

　　题目分析

　　1．答案是B，属推理判断题。从最后两段可以清楚知道对画中女郎的身份有各种不同的猜测。

　　2．答案是D，属推理判断题。从第一段对Raphael的细节介绍中可得出答案。

　　3．答案是D，属推理判断题。对这幅油画精品的细致描写只有一个目的，就是展示的天才般的绘画技巧。从第二段“Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as….”一句中可以读出。

　　4．答案是A，属事实细节题。从第三段可以知道，500年前，女模特还不普遍，画中半裸的女郎很容易被认为和画家有亲密关系。

　　5．答案是A，属推理判断题。全文一直在探讨画中女郎的身份，列出两种不同的观点，但并没有结论。文章最后一句更能帮助理解。

　　参考译文

　　他的传记读起来像摇滚歌星的传记。一个早熟的天才，他终生未娶。据他说，这会影响事业的发展。但他还是在创作最后一幅油画时，请女友过来和他同住。然后在37岁时因为发烧不幸辞世。有人说，他发烧是由纵欲过度引起的。伟大的画家拉斐尔（1483—1520）是意大利文艺复兴繁荣时期三大画家之一，和达芬奇、米开朗基罗齐名。他欣赏达芬奇的作品并仔细研究。在谁是梵蒂冈最受欢迎的画家这个问题上，他和米开朗基罗争得不相上下，只可惜他去世太早。不过，看上去他可没有明星的高傲派头。教皇是他的赞助人。认识他的人都说他“明智”、“有教养”、“和蔼”、“令人愉快”。在弥留之际，他给情妇留下足够钱财，让她“体面地”度过余生。他还为她画了肖像，作为最后的爱的信物。这张肖像一直被认为是一幅伟大的杰作，和蒙娜·丽莎齐名。

　　至少故事是这么说的。那张肖像正在美国巡展。为此纽约弗瑞克收藏店专为这一张油画举办了展览，展览持续到１月31日（之后再去休斯顿和印地安纳波里）。《福尔娜瑞娜》（“面包师的女儿”）确实出自无与伦比的拉斐尔之手。那微微倾斜的身体，那明暗协调的色彩，那光滑细嫩、白玉无暇的肌肤，一切都那么完美。（当时油画还属新兴事物，但拉斐尔对绘画掌握已十分纯熟，以至于他的技巧被称为sprezzatura，大意是作画过程被技巧准确地掩盖。）画中女郎经典的维纳斯式手势既试图遮掩又意欲表现自己性感的一面。（还有薄纱下面若隐若现的肚脐。）她害羞地朝一侧望去。有人猜测是看她的情人。“《福尔娜瑞娜》是文艺复兴繁荣时期最接近色情的作品，”著名的艺术史学家麦克阿瑟研究会会员里奥·斯坦伯格说道。但画中这位半裸的女子是不是拉斐尔所爱的面包师的女儿，仍然是个谜。

　　拉斐尔是不是她凝视的对象？大部分人都乐于这样想，包括几名正在伦敦国家美术馆研究拉斐尔作品的批评家们。理由是，五百年前，女模特还不普遍。从画中女子半裸的姿态可以推断出她和拉斐尔关系非常亲密。而且，画家的名字出现在她的袖带上还有别的意思吗：但有些专家对此持有不同意见。罗马博物馆主管克劳第奥·斯提纳地（《福尔娜瑞娜》平时收藏在罗马的Palazzo Barberini美术馆）就不理会媒体大肆报导的观众蜂拥而入的盛况，他在弗瑞克展览会上发放的一本小册子提出了一个不那么令人浮想联翩的假设。

　　最近在清理这幅油画时，发现画中女郎的左手戴着婚戒；拉斐尔最后一位也是最重要的一位赞助人，塞尼思银行家阿果思提诺·齐格，那时刚与弗朗西斯卡·阿迪斯卡结婚。斯提纳地说，袖带上拉斐尔的名字是向齐格表示敬意。他的结论是，油画《福尔娜瑞娜》中的女郎就是阿迪斯卡。不幸的是，齐格的新娘没有其他肖像来证明自己就是画中女郎。正如斯坦伯格所说，“画中女郎是谁是人人都想破解的谜，就像其他谜一样，它的解释取决于传言的可信度。”不管人们相信那种说法，油画《福尔娜瑞娜》仍是人们的至爱。