德文·范霍滕·馬爾多納多

Truly vibrant red was elusive for many years： until a mysterious dye was discovered in Mexico.濃艷的紅色許多年都難以獲得，直到在墨西哥發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種神秘的染料。

Although scarlet is the colour of sin in the Old Testament， the ancient worlds elite was thirsty for red， a symbol of wealth and status. They spent fantastic sums searching for ever more vibrant hues， until Hernán Cortés and the conquistadors discovered an intoxicatingly saturated pigment in the great markets of Tenochtitlan， modern-day Mexico City. Made from the crushed-up cochineal insect， the mysterious dye launched Spain toward its eventual role as an economic superpower and became one of the New Worlds primary exports， as a red craze descended on Europe. An exhibition at Mexico Citys Palacio de Bellas Artes museum reveals the far-reaching impact of the pigment through art history， from the renaissance to modernism.

In medieval and classical Europe， artisans and traders tripped over each other in search of durable saturated colors and—in turn—wealth， amid swathes of weak and watery fabrics. Dyers guilds guarded their secrets closely and performed seemingly magical feats of alchemy to fix colours to wool， silk and cotton. They used roots and resins to create satisfactory yellows， greens and blues. The murex snail was crushed into a dye to create imperial purple cloth worth more than its weight in gold. But truly vibrant red remained elusive.

For many years， the most common red in Europe came from the Ottoman Empire， where the ‘Turkey red process used the root of the rubia plant. European dyers tried desperately to reproduce the results from the East， but succeeded only partially， as the Ottoman process took months and involved a pestilent mix of cow dung， rancid olive oil and bullocks blood， according to Amy Butler Greenfield in her book， A Perfect Red.

Dyers also used Brazilwood， lac and lichens， but the resulting colours were usually underwhelming， and the processes often resulted in brownish or orange reds that faded quickly. For royalty and elite， St Johns Blood and Armenian red （dating back as far as the 8th Century BCE， according to Butler Greenfield）， created the most vibrant saturated reds available in Europe until the 16th Century. But， made from different varieties of Porphyrophora root parasites， their production was laborious and availability was scarce， even at the highest prices.

Mesoamerican peoples in southern Mexico had started using the cochineal bug as early as 2000 BCE， long before the arrival of the conquistadors， according to Mexican textile expert Quetzalina Sanchez. Indigenous people in Puebla， Tlaxcala and Oaxaca had systems for breeding and engineering the cochineal bugs for ideal traits and the pigment was used to create paints for codices and murals， to dye cloth and feathers， and even as medicine.

Cochineal in the New World

When the conquistadors arrived in Mexico City， the headquarters of the Aztec empire， the red colour was everywhere. Outlying villages paid dues to their Aztec rulers in kilos of cochineal and rolls of blood-red cloth. “Scarlet is the colour of blood and the grana from cochineal achieved that [...] the colour always had a meaning， sometimes magic other times religious，” Sanchez told the BBC.

Cortés immediately recognized the riches of Mexico， which he related in several letters to King Charles V. About the great marketplace of Tenochtitlan， which was “twice as large as that of Salamanca，” he wrote， “They also sell skeins of different kinds of spun cotton in all colours， so that it seems quite like one of the silk markets of Granada， although it is on a greater scale; also as many different colours for painters as can be found in Spain and of as excellent hues.”

First-hand accounts indicate that Cortés wasnt overly smitten with cochineal， more concerned instead with plundering gold and silver. Back in Spain， the king was pressed to make ends meet and hold together his enormous dominion in relative peace， so， although he was at first unconvinced by the promise of America， he became fascinated by the exotic tales and saw in cochineal an opportunity to prop up the crowns coffers. By 1523， cochineal pigment made its way back to Spain and caught the attention of the king who wrote to Cortés about exporting the dyestuff back to Europe， writes Butler.

“Through absurd laws and decrees [the Spanish] monopolised the grana trade，” says Sanchez. “They obligated the Indians to produce as much as possible.” The native Mesoamericans were paid pennies on the dollar—while the Spaniards “profited enormously as intermediaries.”

Red in art history

Dye from the cochineal bug was ten times as potent as St Johns Blood and produced 30 times more dye per ounce than Armenian red， according to Butler. So when European dyers began to experiment with the pigment， they were delighted by its potential. Most importantly， it was the brightest and most saturated red they had ever seen. By the middle of the 16th Century it was being used across Europe.

In the Mexican Red exhibition at the Palacio de Bellas Artes， the introduction of cochineal red to the European palette is illustrated in baroque paintings from the beginning of the 17th Century， after the pigment was already a booming industry across Europe and the world.

López de Arteagas undated work The Incredulity of Saint Thomas pales in comparison to Caravaggios version of the same work， where St Thomass consternation and amazement is palpable in the skin of his furrowed forehead. But the red smock worn by Christ in López de Arteagas painting， denoting his holiness， absolutely pops off the canvas. Both artists employed cochineal， the introduction of which helped to establish the dramatic contrast that characterised the baroque style.

A few steps away， a portrait of Isabella Brandt （1610） by Rubens shows the versatility of paint made from cochineal. The wall behind the woman is depicted in a deep， glowing red， from which she emerges within a slight aura of light. The bible in her hand was also rendered in exquisite detail from cochineal red in Rubens unmistakable mastery of his brush， which makes his subjects feel as alive as if they were in front of you.

Moving forward toward modernism—it wasnt until the middle of the 19th Century that cochineal was replaced by synthetic alternatives as the pre-eminent red dyestuff in the world—impressionist painters continued to make use of the heavenly red hues imported from Mexico. At the Palacio de Bellas Artes， works by Paul Gauguin， Auguste Renoir and Vincent van Gogh have all been analysed and tested positive for cochineal. Like Rubens， Renoirs subjects seem to be alive on the canvas， but as an impressionist his portraits dissolved into energetic abstractions. Gauguin also used colour， especially red， to create playful accents， but neither compared to the saturation achieved by Van Gogh. His piece， The Bedroom （1888）， on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago， puts a full stop on the exhibition with a single burning-hot spot of bright red.

After synthetic pigments became popular， outside of Mexico， the red dye was mass-produced as industrial food colouring—its main use today.

盡管猩紅色是《圣經(jīng)·舊約》中代表罪惡的顏色，但古代世界的精英仍渴求紅色，因為紅色象征財富和地位。他們耗費數(shù)目驚人的錢財不斷搜尋更加鮮艷的紅色，直到以埃爾南·科爾特斯為首的西班牙征服者在特諾奇提特蘭（今天的墨西哥城）的大市場上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種飽和度高得迷人的顏料。這種神秘染料由碾碎的胭脂蟲制成，推動西班牙最終成為經(jīng)濟超級大國，染料本身則成為新世界主要的出口產(chǎn)品之一，當時一股紅色熱潮席卷歐洲。墨西哥城美術宮博物館的一場展覽揭示了這一染料對從文藝復興至現(xiàn)代主義的藝術史產(chǎn)生的深遠影響。

在中世紀和古典時期的歐洲，工匠和商人爭先恐后，試圖從大量松軟而濕潤的紡織面料中尋找持久的飽和色，進而尋求財富。染工行會嚴守秘密，施展煉金術般看似神奇的手法，給羊毛、絲綢和棉花染上顏色。他們利用樹根和樹脂制造出令人滿意的黃色、綠色和藍色。由骨螺蝸牛研磨而成的染料專用于生產(chǎn)帝紫色（皇室紫）布匹，其價值超過等重的金子。但真正鮮艷的紅色仍無法獲得。

多年間，歐洲最常見的紅色來自奧斯曼帝國，這種“土耳其紅”由茜草植物的根加工而來。艾米·巴特勒·格林菲爾德在她的著作《完美紅色》中提到，歐洲染工竭力還原產(chǎn)自東方的成果，卻只取得了部分成功，因為奧斯曼的這種染料加工過程耗時數(shù)月，還需要混合牛糞、腐臭的橄欖油和小公牛的血，這種混合物具有危害性。

染工也試過用巴西木、蟲漆和地衣，但提取的顏色總是不令人滿意，加工之后得到的經(jīng)常是褐紅或橘紅色，很快就褪色了。對皇室和精英而言，“圣約翰之血”和“亞美尼亞紅”（據(jù)巴特勒·格林菲爾德說，最遠可追溯到公元前8世紀）是16世紀之前在歐洲能得到的最鮮艷飽滿的紅色。但是，因為原料是不同種類的蚧屬根部寄生蟲，生產(chǎn)過程極為艱難，產(chǎn)量極其有限，即便以最高價收購仍十分難求。

據(jù)墨西哥紡織專家奎扎利娜·桑切斯介紹，墨西哥南部的中美洲諸民族早在公元前2000年，也就是西班牙征服者到來很久以前，就已開始使用胭脂蟲了。普埃布拉、特拉斯卡拉和瓦哈卡的原住民有成套的養(yǎng)殖和培育體系，可以讓胭脂蟲具備某些理想特征。由此制成的顏料可用來給古抄本和壁畫上色，染布料和羽毛，甚至當作藥物。

新世界的胭脂蟲紅

當西班牙征服者到達阿茲特克帝國的首府墨西哥城時，這種紅色無處不在。邊遠的村莊以數(shù)公斤的胭脂蟲和成捆的血紅色布料向他們的阿茲特克統(tǒng)治者納稅?！靶杉t色是血的顏色，從胭脂蟲提取的紅色就是這樣的……這種顏色總有個寓意，有時是魔法的，有時是宗教的?！鄙Ｇ兴垢嬖VBBC。

科爾特斯立即意識到了墨西哥蘊藏的財富，并在給國王查理五世的幾封信中表明了這一點。關于特諾奇提特蘭“相當于薩拉曼卡兩倍大”的大市場，他寫道：“那里也銷售顏色各異、種類繁多的棉紗，因此看起來很像格拉納達的某個絲綢市場，只是規(guī)模更大。那里還有和西班牙一樣多的各色繪畫顏料，并且和西班牙的一樣好?！?/p>

一手資料顯示，科爾特斯對胭脂蟲并未過多關注，而更關心如何掠奪金銀。當時在西班牙國內，國王不得不量入為出，使他的廣大疆域保持相對和平。因此，雖然起初他對美洲的前景持懷疑態(tài)度，但還是對異國傳聞產(chǎn)生了興趣，意識到可以用胭脂蟲紅來充實皇家金庫。巴特勒寫道，到1523年，胭脂蟲紅顏料被帶回西班牙，引起了國王的注意，國王寫信給科爾特斯，要他把這種染料出口到歐洲。

桑切斯說：“（西班牙人）用荒唐的法律和法令壟斷了這項紅顏料貿易，他們強迫印第安人開足馬力生產(chǎn)?！蹦切┍就林忻乐奕藞蟪晡⒈?，而西班牙人卻“以中間商的身份獲利巨大”。

藝術史中的紅色

據(jù)巴特勒記載，從胭脂蟲中提取的染料效力是“圣約翰之血”的10倍，每盎司的染料產(chǎn)出是“亞美尼亞紅”的30倍。因此，當歐洲染工開始嘗試使用這種顏料時，他們因其巨大的潛力欣喜不已。最重要的是，這是他們見過的最鮮艷和最飽滿的紅色。到16世紀中期，這一染料已經(jīng)在歐洲廣泛使用。

在美術宮博物館的“墨西哥紅”展區(qū)，追溯至17世紀初的巴洛克式繪畫展示了胭脂蟲紅引入歐洲調色板的整個過程，而胭脂蟲紅貿易此前業(yè)已在全歐及全球范圍內蓬勃發(fā)展。

洛佩茲·德阿爾特加未標日期的作品《圣托馬斯的懷疑》在與卡拉瓦喬同名畫作比較之下相形見絀?？ɡ邌坦P下的圣托馬斯，惶恐與驚訝通過皺起的前額表露無疑。但在洛佩茲·德阿爾特加的畫作中，基督身著的紅罩衫（意謂神圣性）與畫作整體完全不搭。兩位藝術家都使用了胭脂蟲紅，這種顏料的引入有助于營造巴洛克風格中特有的戲劇性反差。

距該畫幾步之遙的是魯本斯的《伊莎貝拉·勃蘭特的肖像》（1610），這幅畫顯示了由胭脂蟲制成的染料所具備的廣泛用途。女子背后的墻壁被涂成濃艷的紅色，于是她便浮現(xiàn)在微妙的光暈之中。魯本斯還以嫻熟的技法用胭脂蟲紅一絲不茍地渲染了她手中的圣經(jīng)，這讓畫中的人和物都栩栩如生，仿佛現(xiàn)身在你面前。

接著進入現(xiàn)代主義。直到19世紀中葉，胭脂蟲紅作為世界上最卓越紅色染料的地位才被合成顏料取代，而印象派畫家則繼續(xù)使用這種從墨西哥進口的無與倫比的紅色顏料。美術宮里展出的保羅·高更、奧古斯特·雷諾阿和文森特·梵高的畫作都被分析檢測出胭脂蟲紅的成分。像魯本斯一樣，雷諾阿筆下的人物似乎在畫布中呼之欲出，但作為印象派，他的肖像畫分解成多個活力四射的抽象元素。高更也用色彩尤其是紅色來突出俏皮的氛圍。但與梵高畫作的飽和度相比，他們兩人均稍遜一籌。從芝加哥藝術學院借展的梵高作品《臥室》（1888），以一個鮮艷灼人的紅點為整場展出畫上了句號。

合成顏料流行開來之后，在墨西哥以外的地區(qū)，這種紅色染料作為工業(yè)食用色素被大規(guī)模生產(chǎn)——這是它今天的主要用途。

（譯者是“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）