ARCADIA

阿卡迪亚

Arcadia is a region of ancient Greece, consisting of valleys surrounded by high mountains and therefore difficult to access, whose inhabitants lived isolated from the rest of the world, proverbially living a simple, pastoral life.

阿卡迪亚是古希腊的一个地区，由高山环绕的山谷组成，因此很难进入，那里的居民与世隔绝，过着简单的田园生活。

The term refers to any region offering rural simplicity and contentment. Additionally, the term arcadia is used to refer to an imaginary and paradisal place.

这个词（Arcadia）指的是任何提供乡村简朴和满足的地区。此外，“世外桃源”（Arcadia）一词用来指想象中，像天堂般的地方。

The French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) used this pictorial tradition to paint one of his most famous canvasses, known as The Arcadian Shepherds, or Et in Arcadia Ego(1647). This painting represents four Arcadians, in a meditative and melancholy mood, symmetrically arranged on either side of a tomb. One of the shepherds kneels on the ground and reads the inscription on the tomb, "Et in Arcadia Ego," which can be translated as "I (the person in the tomb) also used to live in Arcadia." The second shepherd seems to discuss the inscription with a woman standing near him. The third shepherd stands pensively aside. In Poussin's painting，Arcadia is tinged by the melancholic contemplation of death itself, by the fact that our happiness in this world is very transitory and evanescent. Even when we feel that we have discovered a place where peace and gentle joy reign we must remember that is will end, and that all will vanish.

法国画家尼古拉斯·普桑(1594-1665)利用这一绘画传统，创作了他最著名的油画之一《田园牧童》。这幅画描绘了四个阿卡迪亚人，在冥想和忧郁的情绪中，对称地排列在坟墓的两侧。其中一个牧羊人跪在地上，读着坟墓上的铭文，“Et in Arcadia Ego”，可以译为“我（坟墓里的人）也曾住在阿卡迪亚。”第二个牧羊人似乎和一个站在他旁边的女人讨论铭文。第三个牧羊人静静地站在一旁沉思。在普桑的画中,世外桃源是带着忧郁的沉思的死亡本身,在这个世界上,我们的幸福短暂而虚无。即使当我们觉得我们已经发现了一个地方，那里充满了和平和温柔的欢乐，我们也必须记住，那将有尽头，一切都将消失。

For a further discussion of Poussin's painting, see Erwin Panofsky's essay in his book Meaning in the Visual Arts.

要进一步讨论普桑的绘画，请参阅Erwin Panofsky在《视觉艺术的意义》一书中的文章。