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01 S-CULPTURE TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY
From a Medallion mo dels d iy .himself aJt. Rome .
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London. Pnblisliad l;y .1. Murray. Li
LECTURES
ON
SCULPTURE
BY
JOHN FLAXMAN, ESQ. R.A.
PROFESSOR OF SCULPTURE IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY OP GREAT BRITAIN,
MEMBER OF THE ACADEMIES OF ST. LUKE, ROME,
FLORENCE, CARRARA, &C.
AS DELIVERED BY HIM BEFORE THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS
OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
WITH A BRIEF MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.
3
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
MDCCCXXIX.
LONDON :
I'KINII'.I) BY i:. IIOWOKTH, Hl^L VAKL',
TliMl'Lli KAR.
DEDICATED,
WITH THE HIGHEST RESPECT,
TO
SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE,
PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY, &c.
BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT
AND OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT,
THE EDITOR.
PREFACE.
THE indulgence of the Reader is requested to
many inaccuracies and repetitions which may
be found in these Lectures, which are now
offered to the Public just as they were written,
not as examples of style and elegance of com-
position, but the results of many years' unre-
mitting study and application, finally brought
together for the Students of the Royal Aca-
demy. The Editor has been, therefore, parti-
cularly cautious of making any alterations, lest,
in the endeavour to give a smoother turn to a
sentence, the sense and spirit of it should be
injured ; besides which, the Editor has too
sacred a value for every idea and word of the
Author to take any liberties of the kind.
CONTENTS
LECTURE. PAGE.
I. ENGLISH SCULPTURE 3
II. EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE 33
III. GRECIAN SCULPTURE 67
IV. SCIENCE 100
V. BEAUTY 134
VI. COMPOSITION 160
VII. STYLE 196
VIII. DRAPERY 237
IX. ANCIENT ART 260
X. MODERN ART. 293
BRIEF MEMOIR
THE AUTHOR.
THE best history of an Artist is, undoubtedly, to be
found in an account of some of his principal Works ;
for in those are usually displayed the qualities of his
mind, the nature of his studies, and the depth of
his knowledge ; and when the subjects are chosen by
himself, they are fair transcripts of his thoughts and
affections, and present as true a reflex of his heart
and mind, as a clear mirror would of the features of
his face: and never was this more strongly exem-
plified than in the present instance ; for in the works
of Mr. Flaxman wherever are found the representa-
tions of Wisdom, Magnanimity, Piety, or any of the
Christian Virtues and Charities that exalt human
nature, they were his own.
x A BRIEF MEMOIR
This excellent man, and admirable artist, was born
on the 6th of July, 1755, in the city of York, where
his father at that time resided, but which he quitted
while his son was yet an infant. He very early gave
indications of that observation and love for works
of art, for which he was distinguished in maturer life.
One of the first instances was shown on the coro-
nation day of his Majesty George the Third. His
father was going to see the procession, and the child
begged very earnestly that he would bring one of
the medals which were to be thrown to the populace ;
he was not fortunate enough to get one; but, on his
way home, happening to find a plated button bearing
the stamp of a horse and jockey, rather than wholly
disappoint his little boy, who then was in a very de-
licate precarious state of health,* he ventured, though
unwillingly, to deceive him, and gave him the button.
The young virtuoso took it and was thankful, but
remarked, it -was a very odd device for a coronation
medal. He was then five years old; at this age he
was fond of examining the seals of every watch he
saw, whether belonging to friend or stranger, and
kept a bit of soft wax ready to take an impression of
* A very short time previous to this, he had been so ill, that he
was supposed dead, and was laid out under that impression.
OF THE AUTHOR. xi
any which pleased him. These trivial circumstances
are only mentioned to show how early he began the
practice of seizing every opportunity for improve-
ment in his art, or of acquiring any knowledge it was
right for him to possess; indeed, it was a maxim of
his, that " we never are too young or too old to be-
come wiser or better."
While yet a child he made a great number of small
models, both in plaster-of-paris, wax, and clay; some
of which are still preserved, and have considerable
merit, and were certainly promises of that genius and
talent which he faithfully kept in after-years.
When he was about ten years of age, his health
had greatly improved ; and, though not strong, he
had become a lively active boy, with great enthusiasm
of character, which chiefly displayed itself on the
subjects of generosity, courage, and humanity : this
enthusiasm was called forth, in a peculiar and some-
what diverting manner, by reading Don Quixotte.
He was so much delighted with the amiable, though
eccentric hero, and with his account of the duties and
honourable perils of knight-errantry, that he thought
he could not do better than sally forth, to right
wrongs and redress grievances; accordingly, one
morning early, unknown to any one, armed with a
b 2
xii A BRIEF MEMOIR
little French sword, (not better than a toy,) he set
out, without a 'squire, in quest of adventures which
fortunately he did not find.
After wandering about Hyde Park the whole day
without meeting enchanter or distressed damsel, not
even a castle or drawbridge, (he being rather hungry,
and more ashamed of his romantic flight,) returned
home, where his unwonted absence had caused an
agony of alarm to his parents, who had sought and
inquired fruitlessly for him till evening. He never
again emulated the exploits of the Knight, though he
always retained a great admiration of his character.
He now modelled and drew most assiduously, but
never received more than two lessons from a master,
being hurt at having (according to rule) a drawing of
eyes only given him to copy, which having done, he
showed them to Mr. Mortimer, a very clever artist,
who asked if they were flounders ? this jest not
being at all "encouraging, his father allowed him to
choose his examples, and pursue his studies in his
own way, which he did so successfully, that at the
age of eleven years and five months he gained his
first prize from the Society for the Encouragement of
Arts, &c. (which was the silver pallet,) for a model.
At thirteen he had another; and the following year
OF THE AUTHOR. xiii
was admitted a student at the Royal Academy, then
newly established; and the same year received their
silver medal.
About this time he made an acquaintance equally
agreeable and serviceable ; it was with a very worthy
clergyman, whose wife was one of the most highly-
gifted and elegant women of that day; she was the
intimate associate of Mrs. Montague, Mrs. Barbauld,
Mrs. Chapone, Mrs. Brooke, &c. At this house,
where he was for many years a welcome visitor, he
passed frequent evenings in very enlightened and de-
lightful society; here he was encouraged in studying
the dead languages, so necessary to him in his pro-
fession; by acquiring these he learned to think with
the authors, and to embody the ideas of Homer,
Hesiod, and ^Eschylus, in a manner that no modern
artist has exceeded.*
Amongst his other engagements in art, he was
much employed by Mr. Wedgewood, in modelling
for his manufactory ; and from the good taste and
persevering spirit of one, the genius, ability, and in-
* During his intimacy with this excellent family Mr. Flaxman
painted several pictures in oil ; one of which was sold at an auction
a short time since, the subject was " OZdipus and Antigone," but
was ignorantly described in the catalogue as " Belisarius," by Do-
minichino.
xiv A BRIEF MEMOIR
dustry of the other, was produced the great improve-
ment in every description of vase, dish, cup, &c.
whether for use or ornament, and which has been
acknowledged throughout the civilized world. A set
of chessmen were the most beautiful things of the
kind ever produced. A very highly-finished drawing
of all the pieces, by Mr. Flaxman, is in the possession
of the Wedgewood family.
One of his most admired works, previous to his
going to Italy, was a beautiful group of Venus and
Cupid, which was executed for Mr. Knight, of Port-
land Place ; another was a monument in Glocester
Cathedral to the memory of Mrs. Morley, who, with
her infant, died at sea ; the mother and her babe are
rising from the waves, and are received by descend-
ing angels ; it is an exquisite thing, full of that more
than mortal beauty so proper to the subject, and at
the same time quite affecting, from the sentiment
and expression of the whole composition.
In 1782 Mr. Flaxman married Miss Ann Denman,
an amiable and accomplished woman, who accompa-
nied him to Italy in 1787. Fortunately his wife
possessed that intelligence of mind, and love of art,
that her society assisted, rather than impeded, the
progress of the Artist through the studies and diffi-
culties of his profession.
OF THE AUTHOR. xv
It was not known to any but Mr. Flaxman's nearest
connexions, what it was that determined him to visit
Rome. The fact was this : when Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds heard, from himself, that he was married, he
exclaimed, "Oh, then you are ruined for an artist!"
This observation (which was really unworthy of the
great man who uttered it) decided what had hitherto
been with him a question, whether he should quit
England and study for a time in Italy. He was aware
of the advantages attending it, and still more con-
vinced that it was considered by the world as quite
essential. He, therefore, began to contemplate it as
a thing to be done, and set about closing his con-
cerns, that is to say, finishing the works he had in
hand, without undertaking others. At length every
thing was concluded, and knowing that his pecuniary
resources would allow him to go, without impru-
dence, he resolved on ah absence of two years, a period
he thought would be sufficient for his purpose. But
when two years had passed away, he found that the
business he had undertaken* would not, as yet,
permit him to leave Rome; and one engagement
succeeded another, until the intended absence of two
years became seven.
* The large group for Lord Bristol.
xvi A BRIEF MEMOIR
Throughout this interesting journey, as well as
during his residence in Rome, Mr. Flaxman's appli-
cation was incessant; whether he was drawing from
the antique, or making studies from the living groups
and figures abounding in the venerable city and its
environs, each object, animate and inanimate, was
beautiful or noble and all-inspiring ; no day was lost ;
and, except his health and strength failed, no hour of
the day was suffered to pass without some improve-
ment. Here he executed a group, of Colossal size,
consisting of four figures, for the late Lord Bristol,
Bishop of Derry. The subject was, the fury of Atha-
mus, from " Ovid's Metamorphoses." For this great
work he received a sum so small that he was a con-
siderable loser by it ; indeed, the great loss and vex-
ation this commission brought, made the mentioning
the subject disagreeable to him. This group, after
several removals, first from Rome to Leghorn, and
afterwards to Ireland, &c. has found its place in
Ickworth House, Suffolk, the seat of the present
Marquess of Bristol, but, unfortunately, it is but little
seen.
He also finished an exquisitely beautiful group, of
smaller size, of Cephalus and Aurora, for Mr. Thomas
Hope, which remains in that gentleman's, collection.
OF THE AUTHOR. xvii
In Rome he made those designs from Homer,
yEschylus, and Dante, so much known and admired
throughout Europe, more particularly on the Conti-
nent. The " Iliad and Odyssey" were for the late
Mrs. Hare ; the " Tragedies of vEschylus" for the
excellent Dowager Countess Spencer ; and the
" Dante" for Mr. Thomas Hope. These were all
admirably engraved in outline by Thomas Piroli, and
published in Rome in 1793, and subsequently in
London.
In 1794, Mr. Flaxman and his beloved companion
returned to their native land,* where his first work
was the monument of Earl Mansfield, for West-
minster Abbey, the order for which he received pre-
vious to his leaving Rome. The figure of the Earl
is in his judicial robes, sitting, and in the act of
giving judgment ; he is supported on each side by
Wisdom and Justice, as represented by the ancients ;
* It is not generally known in England that Mr. Flaxman, upon
his return from Italy, having paid the duties upon several articles he
had brought for his own study, interested himself so warmly for his
brother-artists, that, through his representations to the proper per-
sons, the duties were taken off from all future importations of that
kind. This disinterested conduct was acknowledged by the gentle-
men then studying in Rome, by a letter of thanks, bearing all their
signatures.
xviii A BRIEF MEMOIR
x
the youth behind the pedestal with the inverted
torch is a classical personification of Death.
About the same time, he erected a monumental
figure of Sir Robert Ladbroke in Spitalfields church.
In Westminster Abbey is a noble monument, with
a statue of Captain James Montague, crowned by
a Victory, which possesses an unusual combination
of aerial grace with dignity. The lions on the base
are admirable portraits of the magnificent animal
from which they were studied, at that time living in
the Tower; the flags behind the statue were added
by Mr. Flaxman at his own cost, as he found they
would greatly improve the composition, the excellence
of the work being always, with him, a prior consi-
deration to the profit. The removal of this monu-
ment from its original situation in the Abbey was
considered by Mr. Flaxman as nearly destructive of
its effect.
In St. Paul's, the monument of Lord Nelson has a
striking portrait of the hero, wrapped in a pelisse,
and leaning on an anchor ; Britannia is pointing out
the glorious example to two young sailors.
In the same Cathedral is a monument to Earl
Howe; above is a sitting figure of Britannia holding
a trident, the Earl stands below her, on her left ; the
OF THE AUTHOR. xix
British lion is watching by him on the other side ;
Fame is recording the achievements of the Admiral,
while Victory, leaning over her, places a crown on
the lap of Britannia.
To the memory of Captain Millar there is a basso-
relievo of Britannia and Victory raising a medallion
of the Captain to a palm-tree.
There is likewise in St. Paul's a fine statue of Sir
Joshua Reynolds.
Perhaps the most striking family monument ever
executed by Mr. Flaxman, was to the family of Sir
Francis Baring, in Micheldever church, Hants; it
consists of three distinct parts, making an extremely
beautiful whole. In the centre is a sitting figure of
" Resignation," inscribed " Thy will be done ;" on
each side is a very fine alto-relievo, also from the
Lord's Prayer ; the subject of one " Thy kingdom
come;" the other " Deliver us from evil." The
tranquil piety of expression in the single figure is
finely contrasted with the terrific struggle on the one
hand, and the extatic joyiulness of the female, who
is assisted in rising by angelic beings, on the other.
There are two very interesting monuments in
Oxford to Sir William Jones, one at University Col-
lege and one in St. Mary's church, both erected by
his lady.
xx A BRIEF MEMOIR
At Christchurch, Hampshire, there is a group, of
the late Lady Fitz-Harris and her three children;
a most lovely representation of maternal tenderness,
which has been much, and deservedly, admired.
This was put up in 1817.
A monument to the Yarborough family, at Street
Thorpe, near York, is an alto-relievo of two females
relieving several poor persons of different ages ; it is
a singularly fine composition, and remarkable for the
natural expression of each individual.
In the same county there is a beautiful monument
to the memory of Edward Balme, Esq. " Instruct
the Ignorant." It is a group, in alto-relievo, of an
aged man holding a book, in which he reads while
a youth and a young female are attentively and affec-
tionately listening.
The memorial in Brington church, Northampton-
shire, put up by Earl Spencer, to his excellent mo-
ther, the late Dowager Countess, is a proof of how
much beauty and real sentiment may be introduced
into a simple composition. The monument consists
of a tablet, having a figure of Faith at one end, and
a group of Charity at the other; this last is one of
the most lovely conceptions of that virtue ever seen
in marble.
OF THE AUTHOR. xxi
A figure of Mrs. Tighe, (the authoress of Psyche,)
merits the same kind of praise, as it possesses the
same character of beauty. This went to Ireland.
In Cookham church, Berks, the monument of Sir
Isaac Pocock is a peculiarly affecting representation
of the death of that Gentleman, which took place
suddenly in a boat on the river Thames.
" The Good Samaritan," in Layton church, Essex,
to the memory of Bosanquet, Esq., and a monu-
mental bas-relief to the late Mrs. Bosanquet, are very
admirable for feeling and execution. Equally ex-
cellent in both is an alto-relievo in St. John's
church, Manchester, and has the peculiarity of being
erected in the life-time of Mr. Clowes, the clergyman
of that church, who having been fifty years their
exemplary pastor, his parishioners wished to express
their love and veneration while he was yet with
them in this way : he is represented instructing,
in their religious duties, Childhood, Maturity, and
Age.
In the Cathedral of Winchester there is a fine
monument for Dr. Wharton.
Salisbury Cathedral has two Gothic monuments,
extremely elegant in design and delicately executed.
In Chichester Cathedral there are many of Mr.
xxii A BRIEF MEMOIR
Flaxman's works ; amongst others, a small but very
interesting monument to the memory of the poet
Collins.
In the city of Glasgow there are two statues, larger
than life, of Mr. Pitt and Sir John Moore, in bronze;
and in Edinburgh the statue of Robert Burns is to
be placed in the Library of the University.
Many statues and other works he executed for the
East Indies. One was a large figure of the Raja of
Tanjore ; a monument to the Missionary Schwartz,
in the Raja's territory; two to Lord Cornwallis; and
many more for private gentlemen as well as for the
Honourable Company. And it is but justice to men-
tion, what Mr. Flaxman frequently declared, that in
all the works he executed for India, he constantly
experienced the most liberal treatment, not only in
pecuniary concerns, but in the handsome manner his
employers expressed their entire approbation of all
he did. The last of his works for that country was
a statue of the Marquis Hastings, upon an embel-
lished pedestal, now on its way to Calcutta. This
was done by private subscription, and was not quite
finished in marble at the time of Mr. Flaxman's
decease, but has been completed under the inspec-
tion and care of Mr. T. Denman, his pupil and
OF THE AUTHOR. xxiii
brother-in-law; who has also erected the statue of
Mr. Kemble in Westminster Abbey, which was one
of the works in hand when the Artist was taken from
this life.
Mr. Flaxman's grandest work in this country, was
the group of the Archangel Michael and Satan, for
the Earl of Egremont, and was one of the last pro-
ductions of the Sculptor. This is a work which, in
after ages, will be a glory to the nation, to the me-
mory of the Artist, and the name of the truly noble
proprietor, who, besides this group, has a Pastoral
Apollo, the size of life, the grace and beauty of which
are admirable.
The Shield of Achilles is a proof of the high clas-
sical knowledge, the perfect acquaintance with the
human figure, and the truly poetic spirit of him who
made the composition. For the variety of its beau-
ties, and its skilful execution, it is unrivalled, and
truly worthy of adorning the palace of a sovereign.
It reflects infinite credit on the taste and spirit of
Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, to have been the means
of producing this magnificent work of art.
The friezes on the front of Co vent Garden Theatre
were designed by Mr. Flaxman ; one of them and
the figure of Comedy were executed by him.
xxiv A BRIEF MEMOIR
It is not possible to give a list of all the works of
Mr. Flaxman; those now presented to the public
were selected as having most interest, though a great
number of admirable things must necessarily be
omitted.*
It will be right to mention in this place, that the
very last work of his hand was making the drawings
for all the principal embellishments on the exterior
of Buckingham Palace, and had his life been longer
spared, he was, at the particular desire of His Ma-
jesty, to have executed as many of them as he could
undertake, and to have directed the remainder. He
took great delight in making the designs, and looked
forward with an anxious pleasure to his task but
Infinite Wisdom ordered it otherwise.
In 1797 Mr. Flaxman was elected an Associate of
the Royal Academy ; in 1800 Academician ; and in
* Among the latter works of Mr. Flaxman are two small, but
beautiful, figures of Cupid and Psyche, done for Mr. Rogers ; and
two others, of equal beauty, though different style, for Sir Thomas
Lawrence, of Michael Angelo and Raffaelle : with these should be
mentioned two exquisite bas-relievos from Milton, the models for
which were finished by Mr. Flaxman, and one of them is in a state
of considerable forwardness in marble.
OF THE AUTHOR. xxv
1810 he was appointed Professor of Sculpture,* in
the Royal Academy, where he gave his Lectures every
season, with but few omissions, until the last year of
his life, 1826, when his health only permitted him to
deliver one. He had, however, written a new one,
" On Modern Sculpture," which it has been judged
right to publish ; it is the tenth, and last in the vo-
lume.
During the Peace of 1802, when Paris was visited
by a great number of English, Mr. Flaxman went also,
for the purpose of seeing again those fine things he
had studied with so much advantage in Italy. Many
of his countrymen were at that time introduced to the
First Consul, but he refused being one of the number,
as he could not submit to pay homage (even for a
few minutes) to the man who was the enemy of his
country and his King! He also declined, while in
* The Professorship of Sculpture was the first in this country,
and instituted expressly for Mr. Flaxman, who dedicated most of his
evenings to writing the Lectures and making the drawings for them.
Few persons can conceive how much time and study he devoted to
this purpose. These drawings remain in the possession of his fa-
mily, as well as a great number of others, studies from nature, and
designs from various authors, some of them beautifully finished.
xxvi A BRIEF MEMOIR
this capital, meeting a celebrated French Artist,
whose talents he admired, but of whose political con-
duct and principles he had an abhorrence ; indeed, it
was an invariable rule with him, abroad and at home,
to shun, with the greatest care, the society of persons,
however brilliant and clever, when he was once con-
vinced that their moral and religious opinions were
inimical to the laws of their country and their God.
By this conduct he preserved a purity of heart and
character rarely to be met with ; it was this purity
of heart which inspired the delightful cheerfulness
and amenity of manner that won the affection of the
young and gay, as well as the respect and friendship
of those of equal years ; the more intimately he was
known, the more he was beloved.*
Well might Sir Thomas Lawrence say, in his most
eloquent and feeling address to the students, that the
death of this exemplary man was " a deep and irre-
parable loss to Art! to his Country ! and to Europe !"
* In 1 820 Mr. Flaxman lost his wife, which was the severest trial
he ever experienced, and called for all his pious and humble sub-
mission to the will of Providence to support as became his cha-
racter.
OF THE AUTHOR. xxvii
But still deeper and more irreparable was this loss
in the little " circle of affection" with whom he lived
and died. He was always prepared for the termina-
tion of his mortal pilgrimage; this (for him) happy
change took place on the 7th of December, 1826,
having entered the seventy-second year of his age.
LECTURE I.
INTRODUCTION.
MR. PRESIDENT,
AND GENTLEMEN,
IT is not unknown to you that, in the institution
of the Royal Academy, the cultivation and
encouragement of Painting, Sculpture, and
Architecture, were proposed to be supported
by means arising from the public exhibition of
original works in those arts. Schools were
formed for their practice, and Lectures ap-
pointed for instruction in their principles ; but
as the study of Sculpture was at that time con-
fined within narrow limits, so the appointment
of a Professorship in that art was not required,
until the increasing taste of the country had
2 INTRODUCTION.
given great popularity to the art itself, and
native achievements had called on the powers
of native Sculpture to celebrate British Heroes
and Patriots.
The Members of the Royal Academy in this,
as in all other public acts, have proved their
liberality and patriotism, and it will be no easy
task for the person, called to this situation, to
prove himself worthy of the confidence he has
been honoured with ; it remains with him,
however, to exert his best endeavours, in a full
reliance for support on the same kindness and
indulgence which raised him to an exercise of
the duty.
ENGLISH SCULPTURE.
THE arts of Design, considered as portions,
extend their relations and use through the
whole circle of knowledge ; they embody ideas,
demonstrate the affections and passions ; they
exhibit the human figure in the highest state of
conceivable perfection, and in all its circum-
stances of variety and gradation. The more
common purposes of these arts are to illustrate
the several branches of science, from the sim-
plest elements to the most complicated forms
and exertions ; but their superior concerns
appeal to the intellect and the reason, by the
representation of superior natures, divine doc-
trines and history, the perpetuation of noble
acts, and assisting in the elevation of our minds
towards that excellence for which they were
originally intended.
Painting is honoured with precedence, be-
cause Design, or Drawing, is more particularly
u 2
4 LECTURE I.
and extensively employed in illustration of his-
tory. Sculpture immediately follows in the
enumeration, because the two arts possess the
same common principles, expressed by Paint-
ing in colour, and by Sculpture in form.
This art, in the early ages of most nations,
has been chiefly employed in the service of
religion, as the symbolical representations of
divine attributes and characteristics abundantly
testify, in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Persia, and
ancient Greece ; even among the Jews, who
were particularly restricted concerning the use
of images, on account of their proneness to
idolatry, two figures of cherubim were placed
by divine command in the " Holy of Holies,"
extending their wings over the ark, which con-
tained the C9venant between God and man.
If any other testimony were requisite con-
cerning the estimation in which Painting and
Sculpture were held among the ancients, it
might be summed up in these observations,
that Plato studied painting, Socrates was a
sculptor by profession, and Aristotle may be
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 5
numbered among the patrons of art, as well as
his pupil Alexander, as we learn from the Phi-
losopher's will, that he ordered various monu-
mental statues to be made of his friends and
relations. This esteem was so general, that
not only the best, but the worst characters of
antiquity, sought reputation from affecting to
encourage, and even to practise them. A fur-
ther consideration of the state and employment
of sculpture among the ancients, particularly
the Greeks and Romans, will be necessarily
connected with its compendious general his-
tory and principles in future discourses, and
which may be introduced in the present Lec-
ture, by a sketch of its progress in our own
country.
Among the ancient Britons, whose dress was
a bonnet, hair cloak, tunic, and long drawers ;
whose dwellings were huts, and whose cities
were woods enclosed by ramparts and ditches,
little progress could be expected in the art of
sculpture ; and indeed no other proofs are come
6 LECTURE I.
down to us that they had any, excepting some
rude coins, apparently imitations of the Tyrian
or Carthaginian, with which countries they
had commercial intercourse.
When the Romans had conquered the island,
the inhabitants, in imitation of their conquerors,
built temples, courts of justice, baths, and all
other structures, both public and private, the
magnificence of which is not only learned from
historians, but proved from immense remains
of foundations and Mosaic pavements found
in various parts of the kingdom, with fragments
of statues, groups, sarcophagi, and sepulchral
stones, of different ages and workmanship ; on
which, however, these remarks may be offered,
that all those works found in Britain, and
which we believe were actually performed
here, are inferior, both as .to principles and
execution, to those done by the Romans in
their own country at the same period, which is
to be accounted for thus ; the inhabitants of
Britain were instructed in the arts of peace by
soldiers, whose knowledge of them was very
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 7
inferior to their military skill, or by such artists
of little estimation as could be well spared
from Rome or other Italian cities.
Two heads of bronze statues, a Minerva and
Diana, found in Bath, are examples of sculp-
ture here during the Roman dominion. The
statues, to which these heads belonged, are
believed to have been the objects of worship in
temples dedicated to those goddesses, formerly
existing in that city ; nor is it impossible that
they were British sculpture, as they are cer-
tainly indifferent copies from fine original
busts.
The Britons continued to practise the art of
casting magnificent works in bronze upwards
of 200 years after the departure of the Romans,
according to Speed, who says, " that King
Cadwollo being buried in St. Martin's Church
near Ludgate, his image great and terrible, tri-
umphantly riding on horseback, artificially cast
in brass, was placed on the western gate of the
city, to the further fear and terror of the
8 LECTURE I.
Saxons !" We must not, however, understand,
from this bold and poetical description of Cad-
wollo's statue, that its expression was the result
of its excellence. If it was terrible as well as
great, that characteristic was the consequence
of its barbarous workmanship ; for in the year
677, when Cadwollo died, the Goths, Franks,
Lombards, and other uncivilized nations, had
nearly exterminated the liberal arts in Europe.
The following general miscellaneous remarks
may be properly offered in this place on Ro-
man-British Antiquities.
Of the Roman altars and sepulchral tablets
found in Britain, carved in native stone, the
workmanship is extremely rude, like that done
in Italy under the Gothic and Lombard kings.
This observation will include the architectural
fragments, as well as human figures in basso-
relievo, found at Bath, and belonging to the
temples of Minerva and Diana in that city;
notwithstanding these temples must have been
raised before the time of Constantine the Great,
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 9
when the Christian religion became the religion
of the empire, after which, it is not likely
Pagan temples of any consequence were erected
under the Roman government, if we except the
short reiffn of Julian.
~
In most of the Roman Mosaics found in
Britain, the principal object of the design is a
Bacchus, or an Orpheus playing on his lyre ;
those Mosaics with the Bacchus are of the best
design and workmanship, for which this reason
may be given, that the Bacchus Musagetes
was frequently introduced, before the time of
Alexander Severus, in sarcophagi and other
works, that divinity being much liked by the
Romans, as Patron of the Drama ; conse-
quently those Mosaics are likely to have been
done in the course of 170 years, between the
reign of Domitian, when the Britons adopted
the buildings and decorations of the Romans,
and the year 240, when the Orphic philosophy
spread its influence in the Roman empire.
From this period, to the year 336, the repre-
sentations of Orpheus may be dated, after
10 LECTURE I.
which time they were succeeded by Christian
characters and symbols.
Fragments of cups and pateras have been
found in Cambridge, Colchester, and other
places, made of fine red clay, baked and glazed,
adorned with basso-relievos, beautifully mo-
delled, of Mercury, Apollo, Venus, and other
heathen deities, from large statues still exist-
ing, with fine scenic masks, boars, dogs, &c.
These were certainly brought from Italy, be-
cause great number of similar fragments, evi-
dently from the same moulds, are found in
Rome and its vicinity.
The Roman coins of Dioclesian, Probus,
Licinius, Constantine, his sons, &c. gave ex-
amples for diadems, helmets, dress, and the
manner of representing busts of their kings,
upon the Saxon pennies.
The Roman dress continued in general use
in England to the reign of Henry III. which
was highly favourable to Painting and Sculp-
ture, in affording a beautiful variety of folds,
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 11
and showing the body and limbs advanta-
geously.
The Saxons destroyed the works of Roman
grandeur in Britain, burnt the cities from sea
to sea, and reduced the country to barbarism
again; but when these invaders were settled
in their new possessions, they erected poor
and clumsy imitations of the Roman buildings
themselves had ruined.*
The Saxon Painting is rather preferable to
their Sculpture, which, whether intended to
represent the human or brutal figure, is fre-
* In the beginning of the sixth century, when the Franks
and Germans began to establish themselves in Gaul, they
buried their sovereigns in plain stone coffins, without any ex-
terior distinction or inscription, the name of the deceased being
written on the inside of the cover. This was done to prevent
the tomb being violated for the sake of jewels and other valua-
bles which accompanied the royal corpse, a common prac-
tice in those unsettled barbarous times. Afterwards, in the
reign of Charlemagne, who was contemporary with our King
Edgar, the French began to decorate the outside of their
tombs with statues of the deceased and other ornaments, bear-
ing some resemblance to Roman manner. These are the ac-
counts of the best French Antiquaries, Montfaucon, Buillant,
and Felibien; and they may be understood as invariable.
12 LECTURE I.
quently both horrible and burlesque. The
buildings erected in England, from the settle-
ment of the Saxons to the reign of Henry I.
continued nearly the same plain, heavy repeti-
tions of columns and arches. So little was
Sculpture employed by them, that no sepul-
chral statue is known in England before the
o
time of William the Conqueror.
Immediately after the Norman Conquest
figures of the deceased were carved, in bas-
o
relief, on their grave-stones ; examples of which
may be seen in the cloisters of Westminster
Abbey, representing two abbots of that church,
and in Worcester Cathedral those of St. Oswald
and Bishop Wulstan.*
The Crusaders returned from the Holy
Wars ; eager to imitate the arts and magnifi-
cence of other countries, they began to deco-
rate the architecture with rich foliage, and to
introduce statues against the columns, as we
find in the west door of Rochester Cathedral,
built in the reign of Henry I.
* Plate I.
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 13
Architecture now improved ; Sculpture also
became popular. The custom of carving a
figure of the deceased in bas-relief on the tomb
seems likely to have been brought from France,
where it was continued in imitation of the Ro-
mans. Figures placed against columns might
also be copied from examples in that country,
of which one remarkable instance was a door
in the Church of St. Germain de Prez in Paris,
containing several statues of the ancient kings
of France, projecting from columns ; a work
of the 10th century, of which there are prints
in Montfaucon's Antiquities.
Sculpture continued to be practised with
such zeal and success, that in the reign of
Henry III. efforts were made deserving our
respect and attention at this day.
Bishop Joceline rebuilt the Cathedral Church
of Wells from the pavement; which having
lived to finish and dedicate, he died, in the
year of our Lord 1242. The west front of this
church equally testifies the piety and compre-
hension of the bishop's mind ; the sculpture
14 LECTURE 1.
presents the noblest, most useful and interest-
ing subjects possible to be chosen. On the
south side, above the west door, are alto-re-
lievos of the Creation,* in its different parts,
the Deluge, and important acts of the Patri-
archs. -f- Companions to these on the north
side, are alto-relievos of the principal circum-
stances in the life of our Saviour. Above
these are two rows of statues larger than na-
ture, in niches, of kings, queens, and nobles,
patrons of the church, saints, bishops, and
other religious, from its first foundation to the
reign of Henry III. Near the pediment is
our Saviour come to Judgment, attended by
angels and his twelve apostles. The upper
arches on each side, along the whole of the
west front, and continued in the north and
south ends, are occupied by figures rising from
their graves, strongly expressing the hope,
^ There are many compositions of the Almighty creating
Eve, by Giotto, Buon Amico, Buffalmaco, Ghiberti, and Mi-
chael Angelo. This is certainly the oldest, and not inferior to
any of the others. Plate II.
t Plates III. and IV.
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 15
fear, astonishment, stupefaction, or despair,
inspired by the presence of the Lord and
Judge of the world, in that awful moment.
In speaking of the execution of such a work,
due regard must be paid to the circumstances
under which it was produced, in comparison
with those of our own times. There were nei-
ther prints, nor printed books, to assist the
Artist ; the Sculptor could not be instructed in
Anatomy, for there were no Anatomists. Some
knowledge of Optics, and a glimmering of
Perspective, were reserved for the researches
of so sublime a genius as Roger Bacon, some
years afterwards. A small knowledge of Geo-
metry and Mechanics was exclusively confined
to two or three learned Monks, in the whole
country ; and the principles of those sciences,
as applied to the figure and motion of man
and inferior animals, were known to none !
Therefore this work is necessarily ill drawn,
and deficient in principle, and much of the
sculpture is rude and severe; yet, in parts,
16 LECTURE I.
there is a beautiful simplicity, an irresistible
sentiment, and sometimes a grace, excelling
more modern productions.
It is very remarkable that Wells Cathedral
was finished in 1242, two years after the birth
of Cimabue, the restorer of Painting in Italy ;
and the work was going on at the same time
that Nicolo Pisano, the Italian restorer of
Sculpture, exercised the art in his own coun-
try : it was also finished forty-six years before
the Cathedral of Amiens, and thirty-six years
before the Cathedral of Orvieto was begun ;
and it seems to be the first specimen of such
magnificent and varied sculpture, united in a
series of sacred history, that is to be found in
Western Europe. It is therefore probable
that the general idea of the work might be
brought from the East, by some of the Crusa-
ders. But there are two arguments strongly
in favour of the execution being English ; the
family name of the Bishop is English, " Joce-
line Troteman -" and the style, both of sculp-
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 17
ture and architecture, is wholly different from
the Tombs of Edward the Confessor and
Henry III., which were by Italian artists.
The reign of Edward I. produced a new
species of monument. When Eleanor, the
beloved wife of that monarch died, who had
been his heroic and affectionate companion in
the Holy War, he raised stone crosses of mag-
nificent architecture, adorned with statues of
his departed queen, wherever her corpse rested
on the way to its interment in Westminster
Abbey. Three of these crosses still remain, at
Northampton, Geddington, and Waltham ;*
the statues have considerable simplicity and
delicacy; they partake of the character and
grace particularly cultivated in the school of
Pisano, and it is not unlikely, as the sepulchral
statue and tomb of Henry III. were executed
by Italians, that these statues of Queen Eleanor
might be done by some of the numerous tra-
velling scholars from Pisano's school.
The long and prosperous reign of Edward III.
* Plate V.
18 LECTURE I.
was as favourable to literature and liberal arts,
as to the political and commercial interests of
the country. So generally were painting,
sculpture, and architecture encouraged and
employed, that, besides the buildings raised in
this reign, few sacred edifices existed which
did not receive additions and decorations. The
richness, novelty, and beauty of architecture
may be seen in York* and Gloucester Cathe-
drals, and many of our other churches ; besides
the extraordinary fancy displayed in various
intricate and diversified figures which form the
mullions of windows, they were occasionally
enriched with a profusion of foliage and histo-
rical sculpture, equally surprising for beauty
and novelty.
In the chancel of Dorcester Church, near
Oxford, are three windows of this kind ; one
of which, besides rich foliage, is adorned with
twenty-eight small statues relating to the ge-
nealogy of our Saviour, and the other two with
alto-relievos from acts of his life.
* Plate VI.
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 19
It would be endless endeavouring to enume-
rate the various examples of the passion for
sculpture which prevailed in this age. In the
Lady Chapel of Norwich Cathedral all the
key-stones, twenty or thirty in number, are
beautiful alto-relievos from the Virgin Mary's
life: three sides of the cloister, belongins: to
7 O o
the same church, have key-stones, (perhaps
one hundred and fifty in number,) represent-
ing principal passages from the Old Testament
as well as the New.
There is a frieze of historical subjects en-
tirely round St. Mary's Church, belonging to
Ely Cathedral.
The monuments of Aylmer de Valence, Earl
of Pembroke, and Edmund Crouchback, in
Westminster Abbey, are specimens of the
magnificence of such works in the age we are
speaking of: the loftiness of the work, the
number of arches and pinnacles, the lightness
of the spires, the richness and profusion of
foliage and crockets, the solemn repose of the
principal statue, representing the deceased in
20 , LECTURE I.
his last prayer for mercy to the Throne of
Grace, the delicacy of thought in the group of
angels bearing the soul, and the tender senti-
ment of concern variously expressed in the re-
lations, ranged in order round the basement,
forcibly arrest the attention, and carry the
thoughts not only to other ages, but other states
of existence.
It is a gratification to know that the prin-
cipal sculptors and painters, employed by
Edw. III. in his Collegiate Church, (St. Ste-
phen's,) now the House of Commons, were
Englishmen. In Mr. J. T. Smith's History of
Westminster Palace, we have many of those
artist's names.*
Besides several other works in the reign of
Henry VI., three deserve to be particularly
mentioned.
Two statues, King Henry on one side, and
Archbishop Chichely on the other, with a
basso-relievo of the Resurrection between
* Michael, the sculptor ; Master Walter, John of Sonning-
ton, John of Carlisle, Roger of Winchester, &c. painters.
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 21
them, over the door of All Soul's College, in
the High Street, Oxford.
The king's statue has great purity of cha-
racter, with a peculiar delicacy and grace in
the hands, both of which hold the sceptre.
The basso-relievo has been carefully defaced,
but seems to have possessed merit.
The second of these works is an arch, in
Westminster Abbey, which passes from the
back of Henry V/s tomb over the steps of
Henry VII. 's chapel. This arch is adorned
with upwards of fifty statues : the centre group,
on the north face, represents the coronation of
Henry V., the lines of figures on each side, his
nobles attending the ceremony. On the south
face of the arch, the central object is the king
on horseback, armed cap-a-pie, riding full
speed, attended by the companions of his ex-
pedition. The sculpture is bold and charac-
teristic, the equestrian group is furious and
warlike, the standing figures have a natural
sentiment in their actions, and simple gran-
22 LECTURE I.
deur in their draperies, such as we admire in
the paintings of Raphael or Massaccio.
The third of these works is the monument of
Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in St.
Mary's Church, Warwick : a gilt bronze figure
of the earl in the act of prayer, lies on a richly
ornamented marble pedestal, round which are
several beautiful small gilt bronze statues,
standing in niches supporting canopies over
them. The figures are so natural and grace-
ful, the architecture so rich and delicate, that
they are excelled by nothing done in Italy of
the same kind at this time, although Donatello
and Ghiberti were living when this tomb was
executed, in the year 1439-*
But the building, of all others most intended
for a receptacle and display of sculpture, which
former ages'have left in England for our admi-
* Monument in St. Mary's Church, Warwick. The mason,
Thomas Essex ; the sculptor and founder was William Austin
of London. Prints, and a description of this monument, in
the 2d vol. of Gough's Sepulchral Monuments.
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 23
ration, is the Lady Chapel of Westminster
Abbey, built by Henry VII. to receive his
tomb. It has been said the number of statues,
within and without this chapel, amounted to
three thousand ! perhaps many of these have
been destroyed, and in that number every half
figure, or animal, may have been reckoned ;
but certainly, even at this day, the number is
very great, and it is another marvellous ex-
ample of the astonishing estimation and em-
ployment of sculpture in this kingdom before
the Reformation. Many interesting particu-
lars concerning this chapel and tomb, from
original documents, are given in Britton's
Architectural Antiquities ; from which, and
the Life of Torrigiano by Vasari, we may con-
clude that artist was employed on the tomb
only, and had no concern with the building or
the statues with which it is embellished. The
structure appears to have been finished or
nearly so, before Torrigiano began the tomb ;
and there is reason to think that he did not
stay in this country more than six years, which
24 LECTURE I.
time would be nearly, if not quite, taken up
in the execution of the tomb and some other
statues about it, now destroyed, together with
the rich pedestal and enclosure. The archi-
tecture of the tomb has a mixture of Roman
arches and decoration, very different from the
arches of the chapel, which are all pointed ;
the figures of the tomb have a better propor-
tion and drawing, in the naked, than those of
the chapel ; but the figures of the chapel are
very superior in natural simplicity and gran-
deur of character and drapery.*
From these differences in style, from the in-
dentures with Torrigiano relating to the tomb
only, and not to the chapel, and from the
names of several English artists, painters,
sculptors, founders, and masons, being men-
tioned in the" documents, who were not con-
cerned in Torrigiano's engagement, we may
presume the chapel and its sculptures were
native productions.
After the observations on this build ins:, we.
O'
* Plates VII. and VIII.
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 25
must take a long farewell of such noble and
o
magnificent efforts of art, in raising which the
intention of our ancestors was to add a solem-
nity to religious worship, to impress on the
mind those virtues which adorn and exalt
humanity.
The greater number of these structures are
already gone !- the remaining few are daily
crumbling into ruins ! and with what are their
places to be supplied ?
The reign of Henry VIII., and those imme-
diately succeeding him, were employed in
settling disputes of faith by public executions ;
as either of the contending religious parties
prevailed, this mutual and undistinguishing
spirit of persecution extended to the equal
destruction of man and his ingenious labours.
In the year 1538, Henry VIII. issued an
injunction, that all images which had been
worshipped, or to which idle pilgrimages had
been made, should be taken down and removed
from the churches. And in the reign of
Edward VI., in the year 1541, his uncle the
26 LECTURE I.
Duke of Somerset, the Protector, and Council,
ordered all images, without distinction, to be
thrown down and destroyed. This was under-
stood, and executed, on pictures as well as
sculpture ; and there is good reason to believe
that we are indebted to the immense number
of these works, which tired the patience of
their enemies before their destruction was
completed, for what remains of them at this
day.
Had the popes of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries been actuated by the same icono-
clastic fury against the remains of Greek and
Roman superstition, we should have been un-
acquainted with the Apollo Belvidere, the
Venus of Praxiteles, the Laocoon, the Niobe
Family, and the other wonders of Grecian art.
Henry VIII. , however, in the beginning of
his reign, ordered Peter Torrigiano to make
for him, and his queen, one of the most magni-
ficent sepulchral monuments ever conceived,
and surpassing every thing of the kind in the
modern world. Although it was not intended
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 27
to be so large as that, designed by Michel
Angelo for Julius II., proposed to occupy the
pavement under the cupola of St. Peter's in
Rome, yet in richness, and the number of
figures, would have much excelled it. The
o
height was to have been twenty-seven feet, the
breadth twenty, and the depth fifteen. Two
steps were to support the whole work, then a
basement of white marble, ornamented with
basso-relievos of the life of our Saviour, then
two pedestals on the basement, supporting sta-
tues of the king and queen as if asleep ; between
them a third pedestal was to rise above them,
supporting the king's statue, completely armed,
on horseback ; over this a decorated triumphal
arch. Over the figures of the king and queen,
on each side, a sort of temple, between the
columns of which were to be statues of the
fourteen Prophets of the Old Testament, with
basso-relievos of their stories, and angels hold-
ing their names, the twelve Apostles, and four
doctors of the church, with their angels and
acts ; at the corners of the tomb, the four car-
28 LECTURE I.
dinal virtues ; a chorus of angels, twenty in
number, on the parapet above ; with other sta-
tues, 133 in all, and 43 basso-relievos of gilt
bronze, with 20 columns in the architecture,
of porphyry, oriental alabaster, and serpentine
marble. The particulars of this magnificent
work are preserved in Speed's History of Eng-
land, taken from the explanation of a drawing
the king had approved.
The commands for destroying sacred paint-
ing and sculpture effectually prevented the
artist from suffering his mind to rise in the
contemplation or execution of any sublime
effort, as he dreaded a prison or the stake, and
reduced him in future to the miserable mimickry
of monstrous fashions, or drudgery in the
lowest mechanism of his profession !
This unfortunate check to our national ability
for liberal art, occurred at a time which offered
the most fortunate and extraordinary assistance
to its progress. The lately discovered art of
printing began to enlighten the European
hemisphere with the beams of knowledge in all
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 29
directions ; copies of the Bible were generally
dispersed ; the philosophy of Plato and Aris-
totle were understood and well illustrated;
mathematics were successfully studied ; so was
anatomy ; linear perspective had been, in a
great measure, perfected by Paul Uccello, the
Florentine, some time before. These advan-
tages did much towards the formation of Man-
o
tegna, Raphael, Michel Angelo, Titian, De
Vinci, and Correggio, in common with the
great scientific and literary luminaries of the
same period, among whom we may boast our
Bacon, Shakespeare, Spenser, and afterwards
John Milton. But the genius of fanaticism
and destruction arrested our progress ; the ico-
noclastic spirit continued, more or less miti-
gated, till its great explosion during the Civil
Wars, when violence and barbarity became so
disgustingly shocking in all respects, that we
shall quit the subject entirely ; let it suffice to
say, after the spirit of liberal art had been ex-
tinguished among the natives, it was found
necessary to engage celebrated artists from
30 LECTURE I.
other countries. Holbein, Rubens, and Van-
dyke, are the greatest names among the
painters ; the sculptors are of less note. Stee-
vens the Hollander, with De Vere and others
from the Netherlands, Caius Gibber, the
sculptor of the kings at the Royal Exchange,
the bas-relief on the London Monument, and
the mad figures on the piers of Bedlam gates ;
Scheemacher, employed on the sculpture of
St. Paul's, and Roubiliac, whose works are
justly admired for life and nature, though their
value is diminished by epigrammatic conceit
and frequent meanness of parts.
Yet during the abasement of native art,
instances were not wanting of men who might
have risen to excellence in more favourable
times. Christmas executed a monument to
Sir William Pitt and his lady, at Stratfieldsay,
Hants, which partakes much of Vandyke's
manner. Stone, who was mason to King
Charles I., made a monument for a Mr. Holies,
of the Newcastle family, near Lady Night-
ingale's in Westminster Abbey, which has a
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 31
grandeur of conception by no means common
at that time.
Our purpose has been, in this Lecture, to
show that ability has not been wanting to excel
in Sculpture, whenever it has not been pre-
vented by outward circumstances. This has
been proved by monuments still in existence,
the wrecks only of those prodigious destruc-
tions which succeeded each other, without
intermission, from the reign of Henry VIII. to
that of Charles II. From these wrecks we
prove, that from the time Nicolo and John
Pisano restored sculpture in Italy, soon after
the year 1200, and before the birth of Cimabue,
the Italian restorer of painting, to the reign of
Henry VII., we have works of sculpture done
in England, in some cases possibly by English
artists, in other, and most important instances,
certainly by Englishmen, whose names are on
record, and whose works may be compared
with those of the best Italian artists of the
same times. We have likewise seen, since the
32 LECTURE I.
establishment of the Royal Academy has af-
forded an advantageous school for study, under
the auspices of our gracious sovereign George
III., that we have had a sculptor in the late
Mr. Banks, whose works have eclipsed the
most, if not all, of his continental contempora-
ries. Further testimony might be added of
works by living artists, which have been
admired by foreigners, and have raised the
British School of Sculpture to distinguished
eminence in Europe.
We may, therefore, fairly conclude, that
whatever attention and encouragement this
Institution has bestowed on the Art of Sculp-
ture, has not only been honourable to the
Academy, but advantageous to the Country.
LECTURE II.
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE.
IN tracing man's early progress and improve-
ment, the most authentic knowledge is obtained
from the Bible, not only in religion, but in
civilization and arts. In this sacred volume is
also a register of patriarchal history, contain-
ing accounts of the neighbouring nations long
before any other written information that has
come down to us. In the Book of Exodus, we
are told of Laban's teraphim or images, and the
golden calf, made by Aaron and the Israelites,
which they worshipped during the absence of
Moses on the mount. This violent tendency
to idolatry accounts for the strict injunctions,
under which they were bound, by divine com-
mand, not to worship any image : whilst the
same authority commanded statues of cherubim
D
34 LECTURE II.
to extend their wings over the Ark of the
Covenant, and that the .veil of the tabernacle
should be adorned with cherubim. This proves
the command was not against the images them-
selves, but the abuse of them to impious and
idolatrous purposes, and, on the contrary, is a
testimony of approbation of such works, when
representing the ministers of God's providence,
or the guardians of his holy laws ; and indeed
it is a most gratifying reflection to a practi-
tioner of the sister arts, that the Almighty con-
descended to employ them as the handmaids
of religion, and that he particularly inspired
Aholiab and Bezaliel to produce the most
admirable and lively decorations of angelic
forms for his tabernacle. Of these nothing
remains but description ; all the glories of
Solomon's Temple, and that raised after the
captivity, with all their beauty and splendour,
are swept away by the same appointment which
decreed the Jews should no longer be a nation.
Were we to search with the most scrutinizing
diligence for some specimens of ancient Jewish
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 35
art, only three could be produced, the piece
of money called a shekel, bearing a cup on one
side, and an almond branch on the other ; the
candlestick with seven branches ; and the table
of shew-bread, on a bas-relief under the arch
of Titus. The porticos of tombs in Palestine,
which have been published, bear a strong
appearance of Greek restoration.
The magnificent sitting golden Jupiter in the
Temple of Jupiter Belus in Babylon, the statue
of the Tyrian Hercules, and other Divinities of
Sidon and the neighbouring cities, are only to
be found at present in the ancient writers, and
what they were it is impossible for us to judge,
unless we may form some conjecture from ana-
logy with Egyptian art, concerning which infor-
mation is copious and examples abundant.
Herodotus, an author of the most respectable
integrity and diligence, informs us, " the
Egyptians erected the first altars and temples
to the gods, and carved the figures of animals
on stone," and the great number and variety
of Egyptian sculptures remaining, from the
36 LECTURE II.
most rude to the most perfect, give us reason
to believe we have specimens from the earliest
to the latest of their productions.
The amazing power of this country,* which,
in the time of their king Amasis, contained
20,000 populous cities ; their reputation of
being the wisest nation of antiquity, and on
that account visited by Orpheus, Homer,
Thales, Pythagoras, Plato, and others distin-
guished for wisdom ; the Pyramids, the Lake
Moeris, and other stupendous works and build-
ings, of which five immense palaces, and thirty-
four temples, still remain to astonish posterity j-f-
the universal and profuse employment of
sculpture in colossal and minute dimensions,
for public and domestic purposes, for the ser-
vice of the living and the dead ; all induce us
to inquire into the principles and quality of
their productions. We have not only the
written accounts by ancient authors, but the
demonstrative evidence of remaining works,
O '
* Herodotus, Euterpe.
t Citizen Ripand's Report, p. 9-
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 37
that almost the whole of their sculpture was
sacred ; that is, representations of divine qua-
lities, attributes, and personifications ; with the
exception of the historical series in their tombs
and palaces.
Herodotus mentions two statues, one placed
before the Temple of Vulcan at Memphis, the
other in the City of Sais, by King Amasis,
each of which was seventy-five feet long.
The colossal Sphinx,* near the great Pyramid,
rises twenty-five feet, although it is nearly
buried up to the gullet in sand.
The sitting statues of Memnon, the mother
and son of Osmandue, at Thebes, are each
fifty-eight feet high. To these we might add a
catalogue of similar works, known by remain-
ing fragments, or described by authors. There
is a clenched hand in red granite in the British
Museum, which belonged to a statue sixty-five
feet high.
The Egyptian statues stand equally poised
on both legs, having one foot advanced, the
arms either hanging straight down on each side,
* Plate XI.
38 LECTURE II.
or, if one is raised, it is at a right angle across
the body. Some of the statues sit on seats,
some on the ground, and some are kneeling ;
but the position of the hands seldom varies from
the above description ; their attitudes are of
course simple, rectilinear, and without lateral
movement ; the faces are rather flat, the brows,
eyelids, and mouths, formed of simple curves,
slightly, but sharply marked, and with little
expression ; the general proportions are some-
thing more than seven heads high, the form of
the body and limbs rather round and effemi-
nate, with only the most evident projections
and hollows.
Their tunics, or rather draperies, are in
many instances without folds.
Winckelman has remarked, that the Egyp-
tians executed quadrupeds better- than human
figures ; for which he gives the two following
reasons, first, that as professions in that country
were hereditary, genius must be wanting to
represent the human form in perfection ; se-
condly, that superstitious reverence for the
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. S9
works of their ancestors prevented improve-
ment. This is an amusing, but needless,
hypothesis ; for there are statues in the Capi-
toline Museum with as great a breadth, and
choice of grand parts proper to the human
form, as ever they represented in their lions,
or other inferior animals. In addition to these
observations on Egyptian statues, we may re-
mark, the forms of their hands and feet are
gross ; they have no anatomical detail of parts,
and are totally deficient in the grace of motion.
This last defect, in all probability, was not the
consequence of a superstitious determination
to persist in the practice of their ancestors, it
is accounted for in another and better way.
Pythagoras, after he had studied several
years in Egypt, sacrificed a hundred oxen in
consequence of having discovered, that a
square of the longest side of a right-angled
triangle is equal to the two squares of the
lesser sides of the same triangle ; and thence it
follows, that the knowledge of the Egyptians
could not have been very great at that time in
40 LECTURE II.
geometry. This will naturally account for
that want of motion in their statues and re-
lievos, which can only be obtained by a care-
ful observation of nature, assisted by geo-
metry.
The state of Egyptian science in the time
of Pythagoras being noticed, leads to another
consideration respecting the date of their
architecture and sculpture. Most of their
great works are mentioned by the ancient wri-
ters as being done in the reign of Sesostris,
and afterwards. Sesostris lived in the reign of
Rehoboam, King of Israel, about the time of
the Trojan war, or 1000 years before the
Christian era, which shows that the arts of
Egypt and of Greece were in a progressive
state of improvement at the same time, and
from the Greeks residing with them to study
theology, philosophy and science, from the
great intercourse, political and commercial,
between the two countries from the heroic
times, from the Greeks being long settled in
the city of Naucratis and other parts of Egypt,
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 41
we may fairly conclude their communication
in arts was just as free as in other concerns,
which seems the more likely, as there is a con-
siderable resemblance in the features and con-
tour of the early Greek and Egyptian statues.
The Egyptian basso-relievos are generally
(but not always) sunk into the ground, which
is left level with the highest part of the relief ;
for which practice two reasons may be assigned,
first, 'that as many of these basso-relievos were
cut in very hard stones, basaltes or granite, as
much time would have been required to clear
away the ground about the figure as had been
employed in cutting the figure itself; and be-
sides the economy of time, when some hun-
dreds or thousands of these figures were en-
graven on the sides of a lofty obelisk, or the
walls of a temple, the far greater number of
them were at a great distance from the eye,
fifty, sixty feet or more : in this case, the ground
being left perpendicular to the figure, the
whole circuit of its outline, gave it a greater
42 LECTURE II.
breadth of shadow and distinctness to the
spectator.
These basso-relievos, which we comprehend
in the general term of hieroglyphics, or sacred
gravings, represent different subjects, accord-
ing to the place and purpose for which they
were employed : in the walls of tombs, they re-
present the profession, actions, and funeral of
the deceased ; in palaces, wars, negociations,
triumphs, processions, trophies, with the civil,
military, and domestic employments of kings.
In temples they were symbolical registers of
theology, and sacred science; on obelisks,
they express hymns to the gods, or praises of
their kings. Ammianus Marcellinus has pre-
served part of a translation by Hesmaneon of
the Egyptian hieroglyphics on the obelisk
which formerly stood in the centre of the
Circus Maximus, and, at present, before the
church of St. John de Lateran in Rome. It
imports that the sun, the lord of the universe,
gives to Ramesis the kingdom of Egypt and
the dominion of all the earth, in the city of
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 43
Heliopolis. This translation appears suffici-
ently justified in the upper lines of the hiero-
glyphics, where a divinity is sitting in the act
of bestowing on a man who kneels before
him, stretching out his hands to receive. In
the following line the same man is seen again,
taking possession of an altar, on the side of
which is the ox Apis, and on the top, the
mitred hawk, symbol of Osiris. Thus of the
sacred emblems of Egypt.
Our time and purpose will not permit us to
dwell on the stupendous architecture, or la-
borious wonders, the labyrinths, tombs, tem-
ples, pyramids and palaces on either side of
the Nile, from Upper Egypt till its discharge
through various channels into the Mediterra-
nean ; but we may understand to what extent
sculpture was employed among this people, by
a brief description of the palace of Carnac,* a
portion of Egyptian Thebes. The front of
this palace was 420 feet long, its depth nearly
three-quarters of a mile ; it consisted of four
* Plate IX.
44 LECTURE II.
great courts of nearly equal dimensions, com-
prehended within a long square. The first
court was occupied by four rows of columns,
the second contained 130, the largest eleven
feet in diameter, the smaller seven feet ; the
third court was adorned with six obelisks,
ninety feet high, and colossal statues, and sur-
rounded by various royal apartments. On
each side the entrance of the fourth court was
a saloon of granite ; the rest of the space was
occupied by porticos, colonnades, and nume-
rous chambers for officers and attendants.
This palace, with four dependant structures of
similar magnificence, but inferior proportions,
was approached by four paved roads, bordered
on each side with figures of animals, fifteen
feet long : in one avenue, ninety lions ; in
another, sphinxes ; in another, rams ; and in
the fourth, lions with hawks' heads. From the
ruined state of these avenues we cannot now
have any computation of the number of ani-
mals by which they were bordered, though it
is almost certain they were not fewer than
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 45
300, yet it is possible they might be many
more.
In this palace twenty-two colossal statues
still remain, and a great number of granite
statues and fragments the size of nature : be-
sides which, the walls were nearly covered with
basso-relievos and pictures. The lesser struc-
tures in this group of buildings were adorned
in the same manner, and communicated with
the magnificent tomb of Ismandes or Memnon,
before which stood the statue of Memnon,
sixty-five feet high, already mentioned, with
the statues of his mother and son, fifty-eight
high. The largest of these was thrown down
and destroyed by Cambyses, the Persian con-
queror of Egypt ; its fragments still remain,
an ear of which is three feet three inches long,
and a foot four feet across.
The enormous works of Egypt have struck
every foreign visitor with wonder and awe,
from Herodotus down to the members of the
French Institute. Herodotus says " one of
46 LECTURE II.
their buildings is equal to many of the most
considerable Greek buildings taken together,"
and M. Ripand observes " those works are so
prodigious, they make every thing we do look
little ;" and indeed if we consider the execu-
tion of a statue sixty-five feet high in so hard
a material as granite, the boldest heart would
be appalled at the incalculable labor and diffi-
culties of the work !
In the Egyptian sculpture, we shall find
some excellent first principles of the art.
Their best statues are divided into seven
heads and a half, the whole height of the figure
is divided into two equal parts at the os pubis ;
the rest of the proportions are natural, and not
disagreeable. The principal forms of the
body and limbs, as the breasts, belly, shoulders,
biceps of the arm, knees, shin-bones, and feet,
are expressed with a fleshy roundness, although
without anatomical knowledge of detail ; and
in the female figures these parts often possess
considerable elegance and beauty. The forms
of the female face have much the same outline
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 47
and progression towards beauty in the features,
as we see in some of the early Greek statues,
and, like them, without variety of character ;
for little difference can be traced in the faces
of Isis, in her representations of Diana, Venus,*
or Terra, or indeed in Osiris, although some-
times understood to be Jupiter himself, ex-
cepting that in some instances he has a very
small beard, in form resembling a peg. The
hands and feet, like the rest of the figure, have
general forms only, without particular detail ;
the fingers and toes are flat, of equal thickness,
little separated, and without distinction of the
knuckles ; yet, altogether, their simplicity of
idea, breadth of parts, and occasional beauty
of form, strike the skilful beholder, and have
been highly praised by the best judges, ancient
and modern.
In their basso-relievos and paintings which
require variety of action and situation, are de-
monstrated their want of anatomical, mechani-
cal and geometrical science relating to the
arts of painting and sculpture.
* Plate X.
48 LECTURE II.
The king or hero* is three times larger than
the other figures ; whatever is the action, whe-
ther a siege, a battle, or taking a town by storm,
there is not the smallest idea of perspective in
the place, or magnitude of figures or buildings.
Figures intended to be in violent action are
equally destitute of joints, and other anatomi-
cal form, as they are of the balance and spring
of motion, the force of a blow, or the just
variety of line in the turning figure. In a
word, their historical art was informing the
beholder in the best manner they could, ac-
cording to the rude characters they were able
to make.
From such a description it is easy to under-
stand how much their attempts at historical
representation were inferior to their single
statues.
What has been hitherto said of Egyptian
sculpture, describes the ancient native sculp-
ture of that people. After the Ptolomies, suc-
cessors of Alexander the Great, were kings of
Egypt, their sculpture was enlivened by
* Plate XII.
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 49
Grecian animation, and refined by the standard
of Grecian beauty in proportions, attitude, cha-
racter, and dress.
Osiris, Isis, and Orus, their three great di-
vinities, put on the Macedonian costume, and
new divinities appeared among them in Grecian
forms, whose characteristics were compounded
from materials of Egyptian, Eastern, and
Grecian theology and philosophy.
In the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian,
a number of statues, in imitation of the ancient
Egyptian were made to decorate the canopus
in his magnificent villa at Tivoli, several of
which have been dug up, and placed in the
Capitoline Museum : but Winckelman has re-
marked of these, that they may be known from
the ancient Egyptian sculpture, having no
hieroglyphics on them ; but besides this dis-
tinction, they are entirely unlike the genuine
Egyptian, as the drawing and character are
Roman, in Egyptian attitudes and dresses.
The ancient authors who give the most sa-
E
50 LECTURE II.
tisfactory accounts of Egyptian antiquities
are Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Josephus,
Strabo, Clemens of Alexandria, lamblicus,
and Orus Apollo.
The best modern books on this subject are
" Pocock's Voyages/' " Savary's Travels in
Egypt," " Norden's Egypt" and " Denon ;"
to which may be added the most magnificent
work of ancient and modern Egypt publishing
in Paris, to be in twelve volumes folio, con-
taining 840 plates, from the observations, re-
searches, accounts and drawings of the learned
men and artists of the French nation who
formed the Egyptian Institute.
We must not omit some notice of the sculp-
ture of Persepolis,* palace of the Persian kings,
heads of one of the four great monarchies of
the ancient world.
This stately ruin, at a small distance from
the capital of ancient Persia, was such when
visited by Le Bruyn, the Dutch traveller, and
* See Plate XII.
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 51
our countryman, Sir John Chardin, that no'
certain plan of it could be ascertained ; but
from the extent of its site, and the epithet
given by the Persian writers, who called it the
palace of a thousand columns, it seems to have
been a wonder of ancient Asia, as its ruins are
of this day. Le Bruyn says forty columns re-
mained on an extensive basement of masonry,
ascended by magnificent flights of steps, ap-
proached by gateways and remains of walls,
which formerly surrounded the structure, co-
vered with basso-relievos representing the mili-
tary power, pomp, triumphs and sacrifices of
the Persian monarchs. These sculptures have
some resemblance to the style of the Egyptian
basso-relievos in the palaces of Thebes, allow-
ing for the difference of dress ; but as they
contain nothing in science, or imitation, parti-
cularly favourable to our pursuit of excellence,
we shall content ourselves with respecting it as
a most venerable monument of ancient history
and learning, whilst we follow our course by
some observations on Hindu sculpture.
E 2
52 LECTURE II.
The stupendous excavated temples of Ellora,
Elephantis, and other parts of India, are known
in England by representations which do honor
to our country. They are of high antiquity,
and adorned throughout with mythological
sculpture, the subjects of which are symbols,
allegorical personages, and groups of figures
expressing various attributes and energies of
divine power, providence, and manifestation,
according to the Bramin .system, concerning
which valuable and extensive information may
be obtained from " Moore's Hindu Pantheon/'
in which there are upwards of 1500 outlines
of Hindu painting and sculpture,* faithfully
copied from the originals. We may remark
on the sculpture, that, although it bears some
resemblance to the Egyptian, it is inferior
both in science and likeness to nature.
After this summary view of sculpture among
the early nations of the east, we shall proceed
to the principles and practice of the art with
* See Plate XIII.
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 53
the Greeks, where, if it was not born, it was
advanced to a high degree of perfection : but,
as all effects depend on their causes, and ends
cannot be produced without adequate means,
we shall do well to inquire what branches of
science were employed by this distinguished
people, to aid them in the representation of
form and character ; and here, although we
must pause a moment to regret the loss of in-
valuable treatises by the greatest painters,
sculptors, and architects of antiquity, enume-
rated by Vitruvius and the elder Pliny, yet
some short paragraphs those authors have pre-
served, with the assistance of other ancient
writers, and a comparison of these with the
numerous and precious remains of ancient
works, will compensate for the loss, and give
the requisite information.
We find upon these authorities that geometry
and numbers were employed to ascertain the
powers of motion and proportions, optics and
perspective, (as known to the ancients,) to
regulate projections, hollows, keeping, diminu-
54 LECTURE II.
tion, curvatures, and general effects, m figures,
groups, insulated or in relief, with their ac-
companiments ; and anatomy, to represent the
bones, muscles, tendons, and veins, as they
appear on the surface of the human body, and
inferior animals.
In this enlightened age, when the circle of
science is so generally and well understood,
when the connection and relation of one branch
with another is demonstrated, and their prin-
ciples applied from necessity and conviction,
wherever possibility allows, in the liberal and
mechanical arts, as well as all the other con-
cerns of life, no one can be weak or absurd
enough to suppose it is within the ability and
province of human genius, without the princi-
ples of science previously acquired, by slight
observation only, to become possessed of the
forms, characters, and essences of objects in
such a manner as to represent them with truth,
force, and pathos at once ! No : we are con-
vinced by reason and experience, that " Life
is short, and Art is long/' and the perfection
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 55
of all human productions depends on the i
fatigable accumulation of knowledge and labor
through a succession of ages.
The Egyptian arts were in progressive states
of improvement, from before the time of Moses
to the invasion and subjugation of the country
by Cambyses the Persian, a period of about
1000 years, and the arts of Greece, from their
rudest beginnings before the time of Daedalus,
rose to high perfection in about 900 years, or
the reign of Alexander the Great. In the early
times of Greece, Pausanias informs us the
twelve gods were worshipped in Arcadia,
under the forms of rude stones, and before
Daedalus the statues had eyes nearly shut, the
arms attached to their sides, and the legs close
together ; but as geometry, mechanics, arith-
metic and anatomy improved, painting and
sculpture acquired action, proportion, and de-
tailed parts.
Vitruvius, Book III., lays down some rules
used by the most celebrated Grecian artists,
taken from their own writings, for the sym-
56 LECTURE II.
metry or proportions of the human figure, and
also the geometrical figures which circumscribe
its general form and motion.
GEOMETRY.
General Form and Motion.
He says, " if a man lies on his back, his
arms and legs may be so extended, that a
circle may be drawn round, touching the ex-
tremities of his fingers and toes, the centre of
which circle shall be his navel ;" also, " that a
man standing upright, the length of his arms,
when fully extended, is equal to his height ;"
thus, that the circle, and the square, equally
contain the general form and motion of the
human figure.
He also says " the human figure is eight of
its own heads in height, or ten faces, from the
chin to the growing of the hair, each face con-
taining three equal parts, Sec." From these
hints and some others in his work, with some
also given by that philosopher and painter,
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 57
Leonardo Da Vinci, in which he has pursued
the same profound mathematical train of rea-
soning, a complete system of proportions and
motion may be laid down upon the ancient
Greek principles in a future Lecture on that
subject.
Concerning the optics and perspective of the
ancients, he has the following passage : " Aga-
tharchus of Athens made a tragic scene under
the direction of ^Eschylus, and left a com-
mentary upon it ; being instructed by that,
Democritus and Anaxagoras wrote on the
same subject in what manner the extension
of rays to the point of sight, by an appointed
centre, should answer to the lines by natural
reason, so that the certain and uncertain
images of buildings should be rendered in ap-
pearance by painted scenes, which should be
viewed in front on the perspective plane ; so
that some should seem to retire, and others
come forward/'
This passage appears to contain as much of
perspective as was known to the ancients, and
58 LECTURE II.
amounts to this that rays from visible objects
meet in the eye as a centre, and that objects
should be represented prominent, or retiring,
according to their proposed situations. This
is certainly all the knowledge of perspective
shown in the ancient works of art, however
excellent in other respects ; and indeed, from
the imperfect description of the eye given by
Hippocrates, we have no reason to believe that
the nature of vision, or the science of optics,
were much understood when Agatharchus, his
cotemporary, wrote his perspective commen-
tary.
Pliny says, lib. xxxiv. c. 8, " Leontius, the
cotemporary of Phidias, first expressed ten-
dons and veins " primus nervos et venas ex-
pressit" which was immediately after the
anatomical researches and improvements of
Hippocrates, Democritus, and their disciples ;
and we shall find in the same manner all the
improvements in art folio wed improvements in
science.
Diodorus -Siculus was informed by the
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 59
priests, that Daedalus measured the propor-
tions of the Egyptian statues,* and perhaps by
this improved the forms of his own works,
which he also improved by making his statues
walk, that is, setting one foot before the other,
and by detaching the arms from the body ;
yet, notwithstanding, for centuries after, the
statues, whether standing or walking, seem
equally poised on both feet, having their
shoulders, hips, and knees even with each
other ; and that too in violent actions. In
basso-relievos and paintings, when the figure
was forcibly exerted, it was generally repre-
sented in an awkward and impossible manner,
until after the time Pythagoras and Thales had
improved geometry, and thus increasing the
knowledge of circular and triangular powers
and relations, which is indispensable to per-
fectly understanding the curvilinear motion of
animal bodies in different directions, and to
* Denon's Egypt, p. 124. Egyptian statues seven heads
and one-third high.
60 LECTURE II.
ascertain its quantity and direction in the
limbs.
Pursuing the same observations, we shall
find the painters and sculptors did not give the
utmost variety and accuracy to their positions
and actions, until after Euclid the mathema-
tician had formed his collection of problems.
For want of the same progressive improve-
ment in optics, which would have led to per-
spective, we find the best ancient pictures and
basso-relievos, always limited and defective in
their fore-shortenings.
The knowledge of anatomy among the early
Greeks was so small, that it could have af-
forded little assistance to the artist. Homer,
indeed, has described all the wounds men-
tioned in his poems with anatomical correct-
ness, and on this account has been quoted by
Galen, at a time when the science had arisen
to considerable eminence. But Pliny observes
" the art of medicine (which among the an-
cients included anatomy) was in profound
darkness from the time of Homer to the age of
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 61
Hippocrates, and if we examine his treatises on
the bones, we shall find their number reckoned,
but so rude a sketch of the exterior anatomy,
as conveys scarcely any distinct idea of any
one part of the body or limbs ; yet, from his
treatise on the joints, we find that he occasion-
ally dissected parts of the human body. From
this imperfect state of the science, even in the
time of Phidias and Praxiteles, we must agree
' O
in the opinion of your learned professor of
anatomy, " that the ancient artists owed much
more to the study of living than dead bodies/'
Yet different circumstances must sometimes
have given anatomical help to artists from
early times : the researches of physicians, the
observation of bodies left on the field of battle,
the preparations of sacrifice or food, and the
practice of dissecting quadrupeds among the
philosophers : these several sources will ac-
count for all the general and simple anatomical
forms we see in Grecian works of art, before
the time of Phidias.
What has been adduced is sufficient to show
62 LECTURE II.
that science must attain a certain perfection
before the arts of design can be cultivated with
success, and that before the human form can
be well represented, some system of propor-
tions must be collected from the measurement
of man himself, to regulate the thickness,
breadth, and height of the body and limbs, and
their parts in the imitation. The powers and
extent of motion will be settled by geometry
and mechanics; and anatomy will assist the
observation of living nature, by assigning the
particular forms which compose masses, and
distinguish between the accidents of action and
rest.
In considering the assistance afforded by
science towards the perfection of art, we ob-
serve, that as soon as the painter or sculptor
has succeeded in a rude and general resem-
blance of man, he then attempts the natural
differences of sex and age, the civil distinctions
of orders, as the soldier and the priest, the
king and the slave; he proceeds to the expres-
sion of passion and moral qualities, and at last
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 63
rises to supernatural representation. In this
progress he is assisted and directed by the
forms of society in which he lives, the princi-
ples of philosophy, and the dictates of religion ;
these are the natural and regular steps by
which art approaches perfection.
The arts of design (particularly sculpture)
may be said to be consecrated to religion from
the very cradle.
Thus, in the early times, when their figures
were ordinary and barbarous, having only the
rudest character of imitation, without any of
its graces, their gods were distinguished by
their symbols only Jupiter by his thunder-
bolt, Neptune by his trident, and Mercury by
his caduceus ; not unfrequently these, and
other divinities, were represented with wings,
to show they were not mere men.
The symbols, attributes, and personal cha-
racteristics, as the arts improved, were de-
rived from the poets,* and influenced by philo-
sophy.
The early figures of Jupiter and Neptune
* See Plates XIV. and XV.
64 LECTURE II.
have no beards, but when Homer's verses be-
came the canon of public opinion, the father
of gods and men became bearded, and -so also
did his brother Neptune.
After the first Olympiads, when Mercury
was considered a patron of gymnastic exercises,
he obtained a youthful figure. It is likely that
Hercules was not exhibited with extraordinary
muscular strength until the Greek tragedians
had settled his character by their impassioned
and overpowering descriptions of his acts and
labours.
The winged genii on the painted Greek
vases were introduced from the Pythagorean
philosophy : and female divinities became
lovely and gracious in the time of Plato : in
fine, the different systems of philosophy, from
the beginning of the Ionic sect by Thales to
the Alexandrine philosophy, which was preva-
lent at the coming of Christ, all influenced the
arts of design, giving a tone to their excel-
lence, and an indication of their character,
which we shall occasionally notice where it is
found requisite.
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 65
What has here been offered can only be
considered as the transient glance of a most
extensive prospect, ennobled by monuments of
religious institutions, with the symbols and
allegories of philosophy ; it is enlightened by
the wisdom and science of succeeding ages,
and delights with an abundant choice of beauty
in the higher orders of creation, more parti-
cularly expressing mental perfection by bodily
form.
For full satisfaction on such a subject, very
copious illustration and example are needful :
these are to be obtained from the writings of
Winckelman, Mengs, Leonardo Da Vinci,
Reynolds, and Fuseli, with a fuller demon-
stration from -publications of the Pope's Mu-
seum, the Capitoline Museum, Montfaucon,
the Herculaneum collection, and various other
works on ancient art.
But the admirer of sculpture will receive
the most lively satisfaction, and best instruc-
tion, from a contemplation of the admirable
F
66 LECTURE II.
assemblage in the Townley collection, the in-
valuable fragments of the Elgin marbles at the
British Museum, the casts in the Royal Aca-
demy, and elsewhere collected by individuals.
If to these could be added the basso-relievos
of Athenians fighting with the Amazons and
Centaurs, found at Phigalia in the Argolis, we
should indeed possess a most respectable school
of sculpture, which, by its assistance in ancient
learning, and advancement of the arts, with
the consequently profitable improvement in
general knowledge, (so indispensable to the
arts of design,) would amply repay any trouble
or expense arising in the course of its attain-
ment.
LECTURE III.
WHEN we consider the gradual ravages of
time, and the more compendious destruction
of war, in the eastern portion of Europe, and
those countries of Asia from whence the re-
mains of ancient knowledge have been ob-
tained that the sites of Babylon and Mem-
phis are scarcely known that Persepolis,
Alexandria, Elis, Eleusis, Delphos and Athens
are discovered by ruins almost unintelligible,
or the remains of their foundations only that
Rome, the eternal city, the mistress of the
world, with all her lofty towers, magnificent
temples, and imperial palaces, has suffered
sevenfold conflagration ! ! !* that eleven thou-
sand exquisite works of Greek and Etruscan
* Vide Pliny.
J? 2
68 LECTURE III.
sculpture, which decorated this metropolis of
the world in her meridian splendor, were so
entirely destroyed or overwhelmed by gothic
ignorance, or iconoclastic fury, that in the
beginning of the fifteenth century, a learned
and intelligent observer, Poggio Bracciolini,
secretary to Eugenius the Fourth and Nicholas
the Fifth, noticed only six statues among the
other remains of former grandeur when we
recollect the destruction of the Capitoline and
Ulpian libraries, the first and second Alexan-
drine libraries, one containing 400,000, the
other 1,100,000 volumes, together with the
general and un distinguishing Turkish and
northern devastations in every branch of learn-
ing and science, throughout better than one
half of the old continent ! from such a train of
reflections, and such a widely extended scene
of ruin, we might be induced to suppose, that
all the nobler monuments of ancient genius
and knowledge were lost for ever.
Upon more accurate inquiry, we shall find
the fact very different from the appearance ;
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 69
and, on the contrary, whatever was most essen-
tial for man's good, or his information, has by
a wonderful providence been preserved! The
Sacred Scriptures the Eastern, the Pytha-
gorean, Platonic, Aristotelian, and Alexan-
drine philosophy copious collections of geo-
metry, mathematics, astronomy, geography,
medicine, and anatomy the best poets the
best historians catalogues of which have been
published in twenty-three volumes by the
learned J. Christopher Wolff and T. Albert
Fabricius, comprehending an immense body
of Eastern, Arabic, Greek, and Roman litera-
tureif we add to these the stupendous and
admirable architectural remains in Egypt,
India, Persia, Greece and Italy the beautiful
and nearly innumerable statues, groups, and
basso-relievos rescued from ancient ruins the
700 Greek and Roman paintings miraculously
recovered from the buried cities of Hercu-
laneum and Pompeii, after being lost 1,700
years exquisite gems and coins discovered,
and discovering every day ; when we consider
70 LECTURE III.
that we actually possess such prodigious trea-
sures of ancient science and art, in every
branch and species, we must acknowledge we
have an overflowing abundance to establish
our principles and stimulate our exertions, and
that more, although they might gratify our re-
verence for antiquity, would rather overwhelm
than assist the progress of modern genius.
From these sources our present subject will
be fully supplied in its progress, its relations
to, and assistance from, the circle of science ;
and, finally, demonstrate that its excellence
must depend on the understanding and senti-
ment which overrules its manual operation.
And thus the course of our inquiries will be
now directed to the origin of sculpture in
Greece.
Some centuries before the Christian era, a
sculptor appeared, whose works exacted the
praise of poets, the speculations of philoso-
phers, the record of historians, and continued
to be preserved with zeal, and spoken of with
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 71
respect, when sculpture had attained its zenith :
this was Daedalus, the countryman and cotem-
porary of Theseus, not inferior perhaps in
fame and variety of adventures to that hero,
born of a royal race, occasionally the friend or
adversary of kings, admired for his works
while living, and honoured with a chapel by
the Egyptians after death.
To him are attributed many mechanical in-
ventions, fabulous and real : a fine portico to
the temple of Vulcan at Memphis the Cretan
labyrinth, which was a copy of a hundredth
part of the Egyptian labyrinth; he made a
figure to move like life, by means of quicksilver
contained in it. Diodorus Siculus speaks of
his works in Sicily ; Pausanias mentions those
remaining in Greece in his time, nine in num-
ber, of which there may be particularly noticed
one, a naked Hercules in wood.
" The works of Daedalus are indeed rude, and
uncomely in aspect, (says Pausanias,) but yet
they have something as of divinity in their ap-
pearance."
72 LECTURE III.
Pausanias, besides the high character here
given of this statue, mentions it twice in his
" Grecian Tour/' from which we must under-
stand that it was held in considerable esteem
and veneration ; this would naturally lead us
to hope we are not without some copy of it, in
gems, coins or small bronzes, by which all the
most famous works of antiquity were mul-
tiplied.
In the British Museum,* as well as in other
collections in Europe, are several small bronzes
of a naked Hercules, whose right arm, holding
a club, is raised to strike, whilst his left is ex-
tended, bearing the lion's skin as a shield.
From the style of extreme antiquity in these
statues the rude attempt at bold action, which
was the peculiarity of Daedalus the general
adoption of this action in the early ages, the
traits of savage nature in the face and figure,
expressed with little knowledge, but strong
feeling by the narrow loins, turgid muscles of
the breast, thighs, and calves of the legs we
* See Plate XVI.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 73
shall find reason to believe they are copied
from the above-mentioned statue.
The same author says the Gnossians had a
chorus in white stone, made by Daedalus for
Ariadne, which is mentioned in the eighteenth
book of the Iliad as youths and damsels
dancing hand in hand. The earliest Greek
bas-relievos and paintings represent choruses
of the graces and hours in this manner.
Endaeus, the disciple of Daedalus, made a
statue of Minerva,* which Pausanias saw in
the acropolis of Athens. The learned author
of the Introduction to the Volume of Sculp-
ture, published by the Dilletanti Society, sup-
poses the heads of Minerva, on the early coins
of Athens, were copied from this very statue,
which seems very reasonable when we compare
the style and costume with other works of the
highest antiquity; but as our limits neither
require, nor allow, of regular history, we shall
condense what is most important on this sub-
ject into a relation of successive improve-
ments ; and here, it should be observed, that
* See Plate XVII.
74 LECTURE III.
in the early times of which we are now treating,
their rude efforts were intended to represent
divinities and heroes only. Jupiter, Neptune,
and several heroic characters have the self-
same face, figure and action as the Hercules of
Daedalus, described above ; the same narrow
eyes, thin lips, with the corners of the mouth
turned upwards, the pointed chin, narrow loins,
turgid muscles, the same advancing position
of the lower limbs, the right hand raised beside
the head, and the left extended. Their only
distinctions were, that Jupiter held the thun-
derbolt, Neptune the trident, and Hercules a
palm branch or bow as may be seen in ancient
small bronzes, on coins of Athens and Paestum,
and on the most ancient painted vases.
The female divinities were clothed in dra-
peries divided into few and perpendicular
folds ; their attitudes advancing like those of
male figures. The hair of both male and
female statues or paintings of this period is
arranged with great care, collected in a club
behind, sometimes entirely curled, in the same
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 75
manner as practised by the native Americans,
and the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands.
Daedalus and Endaeus formed their statues
of wood ; metal was also used for various pur-
poses of sculpture in the most ancient times,
as we learn from Homer, Hesiod, and Plu-
tarch.*
Dipaenis and Scyllis the Cretan were cele-
brated for their marble statues, about 776
years before Christ, still retaining much of the
ancient manner in the advancing position of
the legs, the drawing of the figure, and the
perpendicular folds of drapery disposed in zig-
zag edges.
Elaborate finishing was soon afterwards car-
ried to excess : undulating locks, and spiral
knots of hair like shells, as well as the drapery,
were wrought with the most elaborate care and
exactness; whilst the tasteless and barbarous
character of the face and limbs remained much
the same as in former times. This passion for
* Vide Hesiod, Brazen Age, and Plutarch, Life of The-
seus.
76 LECTURE III.
high finishing of sculpture will reconcile to our
reason a passage in Pliny, lib. xxxv. cap. 8.,
which has frequently been thought to disagree
with the general history of ancient painting.
He says that " the picture of the battle of the
Magnetes, painted by Bularchus, was paid for
by its weight in gold, by Candaules, King of
Lydia, who was the coeval of Romulus, and
lived in the 20th Olympiad, or about 750
years before Christ, thus proving the fame and
perfection of the art." According to the same
author's account, ancient painting did not
arrive at its greatest perfection until after the
time of Phidias, or 250 years later ; and there-
fore it is likely that Bularchus's picture was
valued chiefly for the same high finishing we
see in the earliest marble statues, of which the
following are examples : -Colossal busts of
Hercules and Apollo in the British Museum,
probably done by Dipaenis and Scyllis for the
Sicyonians ; very ancient statues of Minerva
and a priest of Bacchus, lately in the Villa
Albani, published by Winckelman in his
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 77
" Monumenta Inedita" and " Storia dell'
Arte" : to these might be added examples of
extreme finishing in early Greek pateras and
other bronzes.
This observation on Bularchus's picture, and
the sculpture of the same time, will naturally
lead to another of more general comprehen-
sion : that the improvements in sculpture, we
have reason to believe, succeeded those in
painting, according to the dates, as far as
we are able to ascertain them, of remaining
works.
Philocles the Egyptian, or Cleanthes the
Corinthian, are said to have first introduced
outline among the Greeks, in the practice of
which they were followed by Ardices the Co-
rinthian, and Telephanes the Sicyonian, who
used other lines within the outline, to express
the marking of the body and limbs; also,
writing the names of those they painted, which
agrees with the earliest paintings on the Greek
vases, as their attitudes and peculiarities agree
78 LECTURE III.
with early sculpture.* Cimon Cleoneus in-
vented catagraphy, or the oblique representa-
tion of images, to give different views of the
face, looking up, looking down, and looking
backwards. He represented the veins, and the
folds and plaits in garments. This Cimon is
mentioned as living before the time of Phidias,
which offers an additional argument for be-
lieving that improvement in painting preceded
those in sculpture, because oblique views of
objects, and the veins of the body and limbs,
seem not to have been attempted before the
time of Phidias in sculpture.
Fortunately for us, the compendious history
of painting and sculpture left by Pliny was
selected from the writings of the best Grecian
artists, and arranged with attention to the se-
veral improvements in chronological order,
with such perspicuity and comprehension, that
whenever, from the brevity of the work, we do
not find all we wish for yet, by attending to
the information, prior and subsequent, we shall
* Pliny.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 79
easily be enabled to supply the defect from
other writings, or monuments of antiquity. In
this manner we shall satisfy ourselves concern-
ing the progress of sculpture in the 250 years
which elapsed between the age of Dipaenis and
Scyllis, and that of Phidias.
The better drawing of the figure, with a
more careful attention to its parts, more pre-
cision and variety of attitude, a less elaborate
curling and dressing the hair, the form of the
figure better shown through the drapery, are
all certain signs of a nearer approach to the
age of Phidias.
From the few historical remarks now offered,
it is evident that sculpture was 800 years from
Daedalus to the time immediately preceding
Phidias in attaining a tolerable resemblance of
the human form, which proves the slow growth
of art in the infant state of science ; whilst the
means of subsistence are precarious, the rights
of individuals undefined, and the general at-
tention of society is employed on self preser-
80 LECTURE III.
vation and defence, rather than the increase of
comfort or civilization.
Poetry and oratory, the more independent
efforts of mind, appear in the earliest states of
society, and distinguish man as an intellectual
and rational creature, scatter the first seeds of
knowledge, lay down theories for the govern-
ment of future generations, expand the mind,
and direct the powers toward whatever is most
useful and desirable in the more perfect states
of humanity.
The chief occurrences in the early history of
Greece are the Argonautic expedition, the war
of Thebes, and the taking of Troy ; in which par-
ticular heroism, or the united achievements of
petty states, are interwoven with poetic fiction.
Their consequences produced no considerable
change in the manners of the people, or the
character of the country ; but the battles of
Marathon and Salamis, which destroyed the
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 81
Persian army, whose myriads, like locusts,
swarmed over the country, struck the first
deadly blow to the Persian power, and gave a
beginning to the Grecian, or third great mo-
narchy of the world.
An event of so much importance, by chang-
ing fortune and transferring power in so large
a portion of the civilized part of mankind,
raised the character of the Greeks, and parti-
cularly the Athenians, the champions of the
war, whose heroic ardor was increased by suc-
cess, sought additional distinction by every
great and praiseworthy exertion of body and
mind in arts and arms ; the accumulated wis-
dom of ages, and discoveries in science, were
taught by their philosophers ; their temples and
public buildings were raised with a magnifi-
cence unknown before, and decorated with all
the powers of art.
jEschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles enno-
bled the minds of the people by their dramatic
poetry ; the exercises which formed the body
to exertion and beauty, and the mind to forti-
G
82 LECTURE III.
tude and patriotism, were universally practised,
cultivated and honoured. In this general
spirit of enterprize and improvement, sculp-
ture appeared in the school of Phidias with a
beauty and perfection which eclipsed all former
efforts.
About 490 years before the Christian era,
Phidias flourished, at the same time with the
philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Anaxagoras
the statesmen and commanders, Pericles,
Miltiades, Thernistocles, Cimon, and Xeno-
phon, with the tragic poets above mentioned.
This period was as favourable in its moral and
political circumstances, as in the emulation of
rare talents, to produce the display, and en-
courage the growth of genius.
The city and citadel of Athens had been
burnt by the army of Xerxes ; but the Greeks,
being conquerors, raised more stately edifices
in the places of those destroyed. Phidias was
engaged by Pericles in the superintendance
and decoration of the temple of Minerva, and
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 83
other public works. His superior genius, in
addition to his knowledge of painting, which he
practised previous to sculpture, gave a gran-
deur to his compositions, a grace to his groups,
a softness to flesh, and flow to draperies, un-
known to his predecessors, the character of
whose figures were stiff, rather than dignified ;
their forms either maigre or turgid ; the folds
of drapery parallel, poor, and resembling geo-
metrical lines, rather than the simple, but ever
varying, appearances of nature.
The discourses of cotemporary philosophers,
on mental and personal perfection, assisted
him in selecting and combining ideas, which
stamped his works with the sublime and beau-
tiful of Homer's verse.
How this sculptor was esteemed by the an-
cients will be understood by such testimonies
as the following. Quintilian says " his Athe-
nian Minerva, and Olympian Jupiter at Elis,
possessed beauty, which seemed to have added
something to religion, the majesty of the work
was so worthy of the divinity/*
o 2
84 LECTURE III.
After such positive and magnificent praise
as this, there will be still room for our surprise
at the descriptions, fragments, and other au-
thentic memorials of some works only which
he conducted and performed.
The temple of Minerva in the Acropolis of
Athens, erected by Ictinus and Callicrates, was
under the direction of Phidias, and to him we
probably owe the compositions, style and cha-
racter of the sculpture, in addition to much
assistance in drawing, modelling, choice of the
naked, and draperies, as well as occasional
execution of parts in the marble.
f /
The emulators of Phidias were Alcamanes,
Critias, Nestocles, and Hegias ; twenty years
after, Agelades, Gallon, Polycletus, Phragmon,
Gorgias, Lacon, Myron, Scopas, Pythagoras,
and Perelius.
In this list we certainly have the names of
the sculptors employed on the temples of Mi-
nerva and Theseus, and as the styles of dif-
ferent hands are sufficiently evident in the alto
and basso-relievos, so there might perhaps be
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 85
no great difficulty in tracing some of the artists
by resemblance to others of their known works.
The two pediments of the temple of Minerva
were each eighty-eight feet long, filled with
compositions of entire groups and statues, from
eight to nine feet high. The subject of the
western pediment related to the birth of Mi-
nerva, or rather, perhaps, her introduction to
the gods.
The eastern pediment had the contention of
Neptune and Minerva for the patronage of
Athens.
Forty-three metops had combats of the La-
pithae and Centaurs, and a frieze of 380 feet,
round the wall of the temple under the portico,
was decorated with the procession of the Grecian
states in honour of Minerva, in chariots and on
horseback, leading animals for sacrifice, bear-
ing offerings and presenting the sacred veil, in
presence of the gods sitting upon thrones to
witness the solemn ceremony.
The Marquis Nantuel had a drawing made
86 LECTURE III.
of the western pediment of this temple, when
the statues were all, excepting one, in their
places; and, notwithstanding some mutilation
of parts, the whole was sufficiently entire for
the composition to be perfectly understood.
Specimens of the metops and basso-relievos
under the portico, will persuade the beholder,
at once, of their simplicity, grandeur, elegance,
and nature; but, to perfectly judge of their
comprehensive excellence, they must be seen
and studied.
Within the temple stood the statue of Mi-
nerva,* thirty-nine feet high, made by Phidias
of ivory and gold, holding a victory, six feet
high, in her right hand, and a spear in her left,
her tunic reaching to her feet. She had her
helmet on, and the Medusa's head on her a3gis ;
her shield was adorned with the battle of the
gods and giants, the pedestal with the birth of
Pandora. Plato tells us, that the eyes of this
statue were precious stones.
But the great work of this chief of sculptors,
* See Plate XIX.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 87
the astonishment and praise of after ages, was
the Jupiter* at Elis, sitting on his throne, his
left hand holding a sceptre, his right extending
victory to the Olympian conquerors, his head
crowned with olive, and his pallium decorated
with birds, beasts, and flowers. The four
corners of the throne were dancing victories,
each supported by a sphinx, tearing a Theban
youth. At the back of the throne, above his
head, were the three hours or seasons on one
side, and on the other the three graces. On
the bar between the legs of the throne, and the
pannels or spaces between them, were repre-
sented many stories : the destruction of Niobe's
children, the labours of Hercules, the delivery
of Prometheus, the garden of Hesperides, with
the different adventures of the heroic ages.
On the base, the battle of Theseus with the
Amazons ; on the pedestal, an assembly of the
gods, the sun and moon in their cars, and the
birth of Venus. The height of the work was
sixty feet. The statue was ivory, enriched with
* See Plate XX.
88 LECTURE III.
the radiance of golden ornaments and precious
stones, and was justly esteemed one of the
seven wonders of the world.
Several other statues of great excellence, in
marble and in bronze, are mentioned among
o
the works of Phidias, particularly a Venus,
placed by the Romans in the forum of Oc-
tavia two Minervas, one named Callimorphus,
from the beauty of its form; and it is likely
that the fine statue of this goddess in Mr. Hope's
gallery is a repetition in marble of Phidias's
bronze, from its resemblance in attitude, dra-
pery, and helmet, to the reverse of an Athenian
coin. Another statue by him was an Amazon,
called Euknemon, from her beautiful leg :
there is a print of this in the Museum Pium
Clementinum.
Alcamenes was celebrated for his* Venus
Aphrodite, to which Phidias is said to have
given the last touches.
Praxiteles excelled in the highest graces of
* See Plate XXI.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 89
yout 1 ! and beauty. He is said to have excelled
not only other sculptors, but himself, by his
marble statues in the Ceramicus of Athens ;
but his Venus was preferable to all others in
the world, and many sailed to Cnidos for the
purpose of seeing it. This sculptor having
made two statues of Venus,* one with drapery,
the other without, the Coons preferred the
clothed figure, on account of its severe modesty,
the same price being set upon each. The
citizens of Cnidos took the rejected statue, and
afterwards refused it to King Nicomedes, who
would have forgiven them an immense debt in
return ; but they were resolved to suffer any
thing so long as this statue by Praxiteles en-
nobled Cnidos. The temple was entirely open
in which it was placed, because every view
was equally admirable. This figure is known
by the descriptions of Liccian and Cedrenus,
and it is represented on a medal of Caracalla
and Plautilla, in the imperial cabinet of France.
This Venus was still in Cnidos during the reign
* See Plates XXII. and XXIII.
90 LECTURE III.
of the Emperor Arcadius, about 400 years
after Christ. This statue seems to offer the
first idea of the Venus de Medicis, which is
likely to be the repetition of another Venus,
the work of this artist.
Among the known works of Praxiteles are
his Satyr, Cupid, Apollo the lizard -killer, and
Bacchus leaning on a fawn.
Polycletus of Sycion, the scholar of Age-
lades, was particularly celebrated on account
of his Doryphorus, or lance-bearer,* and Dia-
dumenus,-f- or youth binding a fillet round his
head. The Doryphorus was called the " rule"
by artists, from which they studied the forms,
outline or lineaments.
The Discobolus of Myron is ascertained by
an antique gem, and the description given by
Quintilian, who apologizes for its forced atti-
tude. An ancient example of this figure J is in
the British Museum.
* Molliter Juvenem.
f Viriliter Puerum.
t See Plate XXIV.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 91
The Discobolus of Naucides is universally
admired for its form and momentary balance.
The wounded man, in which might be seen
how much of life remained, was the famous
work of Ctesilas, and perhaps is the same as
the statue commonly called the dying gladiator,
but more property a dying herald or hero, ac-
cording to Winckelman.
Ctesilaus is known by his wounded Amazon.
The nine muses by Philiseus of Rhodes are
mentioned by Pliny, and the muses brought
by Fulvius Nobilior to Rome; from one of
these series, must be the greater number of
those in the Pope's Museum, of which the
comedy is remarkable for grace, and the tra-
gedy for grandeur.
The Hermaphrodite of Polycles is one of
the most delicate and graceful productions of
antiquity.
The Apollo Philesius (or in love) by Cana-
chus is seen in many fine repetitions in the dif-
ferent galleries of Europe.
92 LECTURE III.
The Ganymede borne by the eagle, in the
Pope's Museum, is exactly described by Pliny.
The Apollo Belvidere is believed by the
learned Visconti to be Apollo 'AXeiicoatos (the
deliverer from evil) of Calamis, mentioned
both by Pliny and Pausanias. The history of
its removals is given in the " Museum Pium
Clementinum."* Only one small antique re-
petition of this statue has been found.
Admirable and sublime in its beauty as it is,
there is a reason which perhaps might render
it less popular with the ancients than the mo-
derns. Maximus Tyrius describes a statue by
Phidias very similar to this, but more in
motion, either discharging an arrow, or pre-
paring to do so. There are traces of this statue
in some ancient basso-relievos, and it is possible
the stronger expression of Phidias's work, to-
gether with the authority of his name, might
have diminished the public attention to Calamis
in a comparative production.
* Museum Capitolinum,and Museum Clementinum, volume
of Statues, p. 21.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 93
The Venus de Medicis was so much a fa-
vourite of the Greeks and Romans, that a hun-
dred ancient repetitions of this statue have
been noticed by travellers. The individual
figure is said to have been found in the forum
of Octavia. The style of sculpture seems to
have been later than Alexander the Great, and
the idea of this statue appears to have its origin
from the Venus of Cnidos.
We may now notice some statues of great
excellence which Pliny has not mentioned,
and no wonder they are omitted, when, of
more than 11,000 reckoned in his' history, he
professes to give a. catalogue of about 500
only.
The colossal statues on Monte Cavallo in
Rome, we may fairly presume to be the works
of Phidias and Praxiteles, as inscribed on their
pedestals, because the animated character and
style of sculpture seems peculiar to the age in
which those artists lived ; and because in the
94 LECTURE HI.
frieze of the Parthenon there is a young hero*
governing a horse, which bears so strong a re-
semblance to those groups, that it would be
difficult to believe it was not a first idea for
them by one of those artists.
The heroic statue, (by Agasias the Ephe-
sian,) commonly called the fighting gladiator,
is shown by the ingenious and learned Abbate
Fea to be Ajax, the son of Oileus, as his figure
is so represented on the coins of Locrus, his
country.
We should now proceed to those precious
monuments of art, the ancient groups, in which
we see the sentiment, heroism, beauty and
sublimity of Greece existing before us; but
these have been described with such pathos
and justness of character by your excellent
professor of painting,^ that nothing more is ne-
* Bellerophon.
f The late Mr. Fuseli.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 95
cessary at present than to show some represen-
tations of them.
The group of Laocoon, animated with the
hopeless agony of the father and sons, is the
work of Apollodorus, Athenodorus, and Age-
sander of Rhodes. The style of this work, as
well as the manner in which Pliny introduces
it in his history, gives us reason to believe it
was not ancient in his time, as your professor
of painting has already observed.
Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to the
bull's horns, an example of filial vengeance for
a persecuted mother, is as heroic in conception
as vast in execution. The restorations of this
group are so bad, that they only become
tolerable by something like an assimilation of
spirit in their union with the ancient and
venerable fragment. It is the work of Apol-
lonius, and Tauriscus, of Rhodes.
The group of Hercules and Anteus, in the
palace Pitti at Florence, may be a marble copy
96 LECTURE III.
from the bronze, on which the copyist inscribed
the name of the original artist.
The groups of Atreus bearing a dead son of
Thyestes, Orestes and Electra, and Ajax sup-
porting Patrocles, are all examples of fine
form, heroic character, and sentiment. There
seems to be only one reason for their being
omitted by Pliny, that they were, at that time,
too recent to have obtained an equal rank in
public estimation with the fine works of
Phidias, Praxiteles, and their immediate de-
scendants.
The group of Niobe and her youngest
daughter, by Scopas, is an example of heroic
beauty in maturer age. The sentiment is ma-
ternal affection. She exposes her own life to
shield her child from the threatened de-
struction.
The separate statues of the children all par-
take of the same heroic beauty, mixed with
the passions of apprehension and dismay.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 97
To this series belongs that fine example of
anatomical study in difficult but harmonious
composition, the group of wrestlers.
The beautiful and interesting group of Cupid
and Psyche is not mentioned by Pliny, per-
haps for the same reason that several other fine
works were not because it was after the times
of those great masters, who were looked on as
the standards of excellence in his days. It is
more likely to have been produced after the
reign of Augustus, when the Pythagorean phi-,
losophy was revived, from which its subject is
taken.
From what has been said, it will appear that
sculpture did not arrive at maturity until the
age of Phidias, 490 years before the Christian
era ; and Pliny's chronological catalogue of
the most celebrated Greek artists continues
160 years later, or to 330 before Christ : after
which time, however, the Laocoon, and several
of the finest groups and statues, seem to have
been executed. Nor can we believe, from the
admirable busts and statues of the imperial
H
98 LECTURE III.
families still remaining, that sculpture began to
lose its graces until the reign of the Antoninus ;
and, indeed, so strong was the stamina of
Grecian genius in the arts of design, that after
the time of the Iconoclastes, in the fifth and
sixth centuries, when the noblest works were
destroyed, even then, and until Constantinople
was taken by the Turks in the fifteenth century,
the Greeks executed small works of great ele-
gance, as may be seen in the dyptics, or ivory
covers, to consular records, or sa'cred volumes
used in the church service.
The works of sculpture here enumerated
will show, that nearly all the greatest and most
valued productions were of marble, and not
bronze, as some have been led to believe ;
and although several celebrated statues were
bronze, from which we have marble copies,
yet all the groups, with two or three exceptions
only, are marble, and some of the most ad-
mired statues, viz. those of Venus and Cupid
by Praxiteles, with many others.
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 99
Sycion had long been the workshop of me-
tals in early times. .ZEgina was also famous for
bronze sculpture, and continued the Egyptian
style.
Etruscan sculpture must be considered en-
tirely Greek the work of Greek colonists and
their disciples.
The Sicilian sculpture is also Grecian ; some
of their finest medals in particular are of the
Corinthian school.
The principal schools of sculpture were un-
questionably Athens and Rhodes: the sculp-
tors of the Laocoon, the Torso Farnese, and
the Colossus, were Rhodians ; and it is almost
incredible, that, from this little island, only
forty miles long and thirteen broad, the Ro-
man conquerors brought away 3000 statues !
( 100 )
LECTURE IV.
ON SCIENCE.
IN a general view of painting and sculpture,
followed by a careful attention to the princi-
ples of design requisite to the elevated and ex-
tensive practice of those arts, we shall find
they are intimately connected with a consider-
able portion of the circle of knowledge ; so
that, whether we regard them as engaged in
the representation of the human figure singly,
or in the variety of epic and historical compo-
sition, this remark will be equally justified.
The human figure singly cannot be repre-
sented without an accurate acquaintance with
its structure in the bones, muscles, tendons,
veins, and nerves, together with a knowledge
of the several organs which contribute their
functions to the continuation of life, whether
ON SCIENCE. 101
the subject is in action or at rest. This infor-
mation is generally understood to be gained by
the science of anatomy ; but then, it must be
assisted by the geometrical forms of the bones,
the mechanical structure and movement of the
joints, the laws of extension and contraction in
the muscles, with a variety of phenomena re-
lating to the internal economy, and indicated
in the exterior of the human form.
Considering the relations the arts of design
bear to all the numerous branches of human
knowledge, bring down the doctrines of theo-
logy, and the ideas of philosophy, to our com-
prehension by visible figures and symbols
demonstrate geometrical and mathematical
science illustrate the anatomy and economy
of animals connect the series of natural phe-
nomena and productions, even to the lower
strata of the earth, and the depths of the
sea: these arts arrest Time himself in his
course, and deliver from his destructive pro-
gress the heroes of antiquity, the chorus of
Helicon, the synod of Olympus, and theologies
102 LECTURE IV.
of the east ; they make intimates of antiquity
and posterity ; they set before the naturalist
the several orders of creation ; they exhibit to
the geographer men and countries which others
have seen for him ; and they assist the astro-
nomer in figuring the starry heavens !
Such are the powers and offices of these arts,
enlightening an early age with the dawn of
knowledge, pouring a fuller blaze upon suc-
ceeding times, engaging the affections in worthy
contemplations and employment, exalting the
intelligence, and assisting its important, its
most exalted pursuits.
After our conviction of the utility and ex-
cellence of the arts of design, the next inquiry
will be, by what course of study shall we be
most readily led to a successful practice of
them ? This question may be answered nearly
in the words of Socrates, " by the study of the
human form, animated by the human soul;
because the human form is the most perfect of
all forms, and contains in it the principles and
powers of all inferior forms/'
ON SCIENCE. 103
Man was called by the ancients " a little
world/' because the faculties of his mind de-
termined his claim to intellectual being, whilst
his body partook of the common principles of
natural existence. Revelation is satisfactory
and decided on this subject
" God created man in his own image"
and according to this testimony remaining in
the pagan world, they represented divinities,
angels, good genii, and heroes, in the most
beautiful human forms.
We certainly know that, in those countries
where the figure and character of man have
been most diligently studied and analyzed,
there, consequently, he has breathed in marble,
and animated the canvass. The inferior ani-
mals and orders of nature have been also most
exactly represented. If this assertion required
the confirmation of proof, we might appeal to
the hall of animals in the Pope's Museum,
where, among the specimens of ancient sculp-
ture, are seen entire, and in fragments, quadru-
104 LECTURE IV.
peds, from the most noble to the most inconsi-
derable, various orders of birds and reptiles,
many remarkable for elegance, and almost
every one so natural that they seem nature
transformed to stone.
The tetradrachms, or larger silver coins of
Macedon, have horses on them of exquisite
beauty.
But we possess in England the most pre-
cious examples of Grecian power in the sculp-
ture of animals. The horses of the frieze in
the Elgin collection appear to live and move,
to roll their eyes, to gallop, prance, and curvet;
the veins of their faces and legs seem distended
with circulation ; in them are distinguished the
hardness and decision of bony forms, from the
elasticity of tendon, and the softness of flesh.
The beholder is charmed with the deer-like
lightness and elegance of their make, and al-
though the relief is not above an inch from the
back ground, and they are so much smaller
than nature, we can scarcely suffer reason to
persuade us they are not alive.
ON SCIENCE. 105
In those countries where the arts of design
have been more admired for colossal size, and
indefatigable labour, than for intelligence and
sentiment, the figures of animals were most
imperfect in those parts and those expressions
least understood in the human figure.
Thus we have the positive and negative
proofs, that the human form, as it is the first in
the order and dignity of creation, compre-
hending the nobler powers, qualities and forms
of inferior creatures, so, by natural conse-
quence, it is the great and principal object of
study in the arts of design.
The earliest imitations of the human figure,
in all nations, have been rude, disproportioned,
and insipid; and these characteristics remain
in the more advanced attempts of Mexico,
India, and Egypt. The earliest productions
of Greece had no superior claims to preference
over those of other barbarians. The chief em-
ployments in those times were providing food,
conducting an attack against their neighbours,
or securing themselves from invasion on inac-
106 LECTURE IV.
cessible mountains, and within impregnable
fortifications. In such a state of society men
see objects generally, understand them imper-
fectly, and represent them rudely.
The human figure so astonishing in its
structure, combining so many principles and
powers so beautiful and engaging in its con-
tour and colours so varied by sex, age,
motion, and sentiment cannot be represented
from cursory and ignorant observation : it must
be understood before it can be imitated.
Therefore, Greek sculpture did not rise to ex-
cellence until anatomy, geometry and numbers
had enabled the artist to determine his draw-
ing, proportions, and motion ; then, and not
before, a just expression might be infused in
the truth and harmony of parts, and the artist
endowed his statue with life, action, and senti-
ment.
The present Lecture will be a compendium
of this subject, collected from Hippocrates,
Galen, Pliny, Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci,
ON SCIENCE. 107
and Borelli, considered under the heads of
anatomy and outline, proportions and me-
chanical motion.
The writings of Hippocrates and Galen in-
struct us in the science of anatomy among the
Greeks, from the time of Phidias to the age of
Antoninus Pius, when sculpture had sensibly
declined, consequently including those succes-
sive periods in which all the nobler works had
been produced.
Pliny the elder has preserved a chronologi-
cal history of artists and their works, from the
earliest ages to his own time, extracted from
the writings of distinguished painters and
sculptors, and containing many of their scien-
tific rules for professional practice.
Vitruvius has preserved from the writings
of Greek artists the most approved proportions
of the human figure, and the application of
diagrams to include and determine the extent
of its motion.
Leonardo da Vinci's invaluable memoranda
on painting abound in the most useful obser-
108 LECTURE IV.
vations on the mechanical powers and muscu-
lar action of the human frame.
Borelli, a Neapolitan physician, wrote an
ingenious treatise on the motion of animals,
which was published in the year 1685 : to
these authors the present Lecture is chiefly in-
debted, and this general acknowledgement is
intended to supersede the necessity of inter-
rupting the course of our subject by particular
quotations.
A critical comparison of the noblest exam-
ples of ancient sculpture with the cotemporary
state of science, enables us to determine what
they owe to rules, and what to the immediate
and particular study of individual nature : this
will guard against mistaking faults for beau-
ties, and, above all, establish principles for our
own practice.
Our purpose requires that we should leave
to the professed antiquary all attention to those
times when rude stones were called divinities,
or the Ephesian Diana and Samian Juno, little
ON SCIENCE. 109
better than shapeless blocks. We shall there-
fore begin with the earliest attempts at imita-
tion of parts and proportion.
Small bronze statues* exist in different mu-
seums of Europe which stand perpendicularly
upright ; their legs nearly close together, their
arms fixed to their sides, their heads rather
large, the hair strait, the eyes full, the nose
flatfish, the lower part of the face and chin
projecting. A little fulness for each breast,
and a slight indication of the line formed on
each side of the thorax by the terminations of
the ribs, are the only parts distinguished in
front of the body. The shoulders and arms
are meagre, and have little variety in the out-
line ; the thighs are full, so are the calves of
the legs; the joints are scarcely noticed ; their
proportions are rather dwarfish, seldom ex-
ceeding six heads and a half in height.
The next considerable improvements in the
figure are chiefly found on painted vases or
* See Plate XVI.
110 LECTURE IV.
basso-relievos of Bacchanalian subjects, or
processions of divinities ; and, as far as we are
able to judge from coins and the progress of
science, we have reason to believe they were
not more than a hundred years before Phidias.
These improvements consisted of a greater
variety and violence of action, a bolder dis-
tinction of the knees, elbows, edge of the
pelvis, the ribs, and the ankles ; the muscles
turgid and tendonous, proper to continual and
vigorous exertion.
By comparing the monuments of antiquity
with each other, and with cotemporary authors,
we ascertain their history, unravel their philo-
sophy, and determine their science. Thus,
sculpture executed in the time of Phidias, and
his immediate successors, presents the portrait
of the human figure in the full development of
its powers, and perfection of its beauty, by
gymnastic exercises at the same time that its
anatomical forms are decided with the same
ON SCIENCE. Ill
simplicity, elegance, and comprehensive great-
ness, which are equally admired in the work
of the artist, and the writings of Hippocrates.
As a natural and certain consequence of the
sculptor's intelligence being formed on the
physician's instructions, the system was the
simplest and boldest division of parts, and
breadth of masses, that imitation of nature
permits.
The general forms were, the head rounded,
the face oval, the neck like a portion of a co-
lumn, the shoulders one curve from the neck
to the bottom of the deltoides muscle, the mass
of the body bounded at the bottom by the line
of the pelvis (or basin bone,) above which the
oblique " descensens" muscle projects dis-
tinctly. A line divides the front of the body
from the gullet to the navel. This is inter-
sected at right angles by curve lines, above the
pit of the stomach, from the breast-bone to
the arm-pit, produced by the fulness of the
breasts. A line nearly semi-circular indicates
the extremities of the ribs. The abdomen
112 LECTURE IV.
sinks in below the true ribs, and narrows this
part of the body across the loins. The arm
tapers as it descends to its junction with the
hand : it is flattened on the outside below the
deltoides, till the rise in the upper part of the
lower arm, occasioned by the supinator longus.
The inside of the upper arm is also flattened
down to the lower internal projection of the
humerus.
The lower limb, composed of the thigh, leg,
and foot, is rather more than half the whole
length of the figure, divided at, and measured
from, the os pubis. It is longer and stouter
than the arm ; its general form is tapered
downward to the ankle ; the patella is de-
scribed by an oval, the inner side of the shin*
bone is marked by a curve of thirty degrees,
from the upper part of which the calf of the
leg projects. The outside of the leg is also
curved, and the projection of the inner ankle
is rather higher than the projection of the lower
ankle.
Such are the general characteristics of out-
ON SCIENCE. 113
line and marking in the front view of the hu-
man figure, most carefully and rigidly observed
in the statues, basso-relievos, and painted
vases, from the age of Pericles and Phidias, to
the time of Lysippus and Alexander.
The outline of boundary is of necessity the
same in the geometrical front and back views
of the figure, and they differ only in the interior
forms and markings.
The back, from the shoulders to the loins, is
comprehended in two generally rounded masses,
divided by a narrow channel. The blade-
bones, with their muscles, present a rounded
flattened form on the greatest projection of
each mass. The loins are small, hollowed in,
and flat, between the masses above described
and the more compressed projection of nates.
In the side view of the figure, whether in
action or at rest, was well observed that won-
derful counterpoise of parts, on either side of
the centre of gravity, which balances so tall
and complicated a structure as the human
figure on so small a basement as its feet, the
i
114 LECTURE IV.
head leaning forward, counteracted by the
shoulders, these by the abdomen, the abdomen
by the nates, and the bending forward of the
upper mass as far as the knees, counteracted
by the extension of the feet forward, which
confirms the support when standing, accele-
rates progression, and assists a leap with the
powers of the lever.
This detail of parts, demonstrated by the
ancient works, will convince the younger stu-
dent that the human figure can only be repre-
sented in proportion as it is understood.
Thus the Greeks were enabled to represent
the figure with precision, boldness, and cha-
racter, from their general knowledge of its in-
ternal structure and parts, the harmony of its
proportions, and the laws of its mechanical
motion. These principles of science they de-
rived from the instructions of Hippocrates, and
the schools of Pythagoras and Plato.
This mode of proceeding was rational and
true, founded on the order of nature, and ac-
counting for effects by their causes, and show-
ON SCIENCE. 115
ing the causes in their effects ; it was conse-
quently the most successful, and its superiority
is proved by the excellence it has produced.
Naked representations of the human figure
in Gothic sculpture, from the fifth century to
the fourteenth, are destitute of anatomy, pro-
portions and just motion. Those branches of
science were neither studied nor understood in
those ages, consequently they could not infuse
their magic wonders into the labors of painting
and sculpture. The ignorant effort was of ne-
cessity clumsy, mean, insipid, and unintel-
ligible.
The school of Giovanni di Bologna exhibits
defects in the opposite extreme anatomical
pedantry, and licentious affectation of graceful
movement the extravagance of which is no
less distant from the beautiful simplicity of
nature, than the insipid barbarity of Gothic
carving and painting.
These comparative observations are intro-
i 2
116 LECTURE IV.
duced as a further confirmation that the excel-
lence of the Grecian theory was the real foun-
dation of excellent practice.
There is reason to believe that those groups
and statues which are pre-eminent in the dis-
play of anatomical skill were not executed until
after the age of Alexander the Great, when
Hieropholis and Erasistratus had enlarged the
bounds of anatomical science, by numerous
dissections in the school of Alexandria. Of
this there is abundant evidence, historical and
scientific, as well as internal, in the ancient
sculpture itself.
After the age of Alexander the Great, ana-
tomical detail became more defined and par-
ticular, but without destroying the breadth of
masses : for example, the masses in the body
and limbs of the young Hercules in the British
Museum are the same, in their general forms,
as those of the heroes combating with the cen-
taurs in the Parthenon, or in the frieze of the
temple of Theseus. They are, however, bolder
ON SCIENCE. 117
in this statue, in proportion as it is more mus-
cular. The details in front are the mastoidaeus,
on each side of the neck the clavicle, the pec-
toral muscle, the edge of the ribs nearly semi-
circular, the serrati and oblique descendens,
the recti of the abdomen, with its horizontal
divisions ending at the pubes, which, with the
edge of the pelvis, terminates the trunk. The
details of the lower limb differ little from the
former description, excepting that the knee-
pan and the ankle-bones are more strongly
marked, the membranous insertion of the biceps
is distinct, and the peronaeus muscle is seen on
the side of the leg.
In the back view of this figure, the trapezius
is defined at its insertion in the edge of the
scapula, and continued to its pointed termina-
tion; above the spine of the scapula it unites
in a mass with the supra spinatus, then follows
the spine of the scapula, and the whole mass
of the scapula is completed by the union of the
infra spinatus, the teres minor and the teres
major in one form. The acromion is distinctly
118 LECTURE IV.
seen, and the rounded top of the humerus is
indicated in the deltoides, which is strongly
divided from the muscles of the arm beneath.
The protuberance of the triceps is bold ; the
biceps is bold, broad, and squared towards the
bottom. The bones which form the elbow are
carefully distinguished ; the head of the ulna
in the middle, on the inside of the lower point
of the humerus, and on the outside ; the lower
condyle or swelling of the same bone at its
union with the radius.
In the ages after Phidias, it is true, we ob-
serve a greater particularity of anatomical
finish and detail ; but, at the same time, we
see a choice selection of those simple geome-
trical forms which in bone, muscle and tendon
are strongest, most efficient and elegant, whe-
ther the subject be masculine or feminine,
strong or delicate.
It must not be supposed that those simple
geometrical forms of body and limbs, in the
divinities and heroes of antiquity, depended
upon accidental choice, or blind and ignorant
ON SCIENCE.
arbitration. They are, on the contrary, a con-
sequence of the strict and extensive examina-
tion of nature, of rational inquiry into its most
perfect organization and physical well-being,
expressed in outward appearance; they are
proper to the blossom of youth, and the full
flower of maturity ; they are the signs of a firm,
consistent and harmonious structure, healthful
juices and elastic tendon. Such characteris-
tics assist the mind in rising towards the con-
templation of real perfection, which is simpli-
city and unity itself; such forms are directly
opposite to those of division, infirmity, and
decay.
The group of boxers, and the statue called
a fighting gladiator, but in reality the lesser
Ajax, exhibit the greatest muscular display in
violent action. The forced action of the
boxers renders the muscular configuration of
their shoulders so different in appearance from
moderate action and states of rest, that we may
derive a double advantage from the anatomical
120 LECTURE IV.
consideration of their forms : first, we shall
learn the cause of each particular form, and,
secondly, we shall be convinced how rationally
and justly the ancients copied nature.
In the right shoulder of the upper figure, the
acromion of the scapula is distinctly seen ; the
backward portion of the deltoides arising from
the spine of the scapula ; the head of the hu-
merus bone next to the acromion : the angle
and base of the scapula are bordered by a con-
siderable swelling of the teres major, and the
trapezius in a continued mass.
The left shoulder of the same figure shows
the three divisions of the deltoides distinctly,
with the projection of the humerus's head in the
upper part of the middle portion. The spine
of the scapula is marked by a channel under
the swelling of the trapezius and supra spina-
tus, and above the infra spinatus and teres
major.
The right arm of the lower figure is forcibly
held backwards, which occasions the hindmost
portion of the deltoides to fold towards the
ON SCIENCE. 121
spine of the scapula. The other muscles of
the scapula, and immediately about it, present
only a common appearance, because they are
not particularly exerted.
The whole left shoulder of this figure is ex-
erted to the utmost in assisting the arm to sup-
port the weight of the superincumbent figure.
The whole surface has an opposite appearance
to the right arm, which is forced backwards,
and therefore the scapula lies in a hollow be-
tween the arm and back-bone. The left
shoulder is rounded by its position, and the
muscles of the left scapula are swoln by effort
into one mass, in which the acromion only
makes one very distinct form.
There is the same careful attention to effort,
and inaction, in the back of the gladiator
throughout its parts, and indeed throughout
the figure.
We may now advert [to the causes which
brought about the anatomical] distinction in
the forms of the gods.
Hipparchus, a few years before the birth of
LECTURE IV.
Phidias, had formed a public library for the
Athenians, in which were placed the works
of Homer, which he had collected and ar-
ranged ; as they were more complete than ge-
nerally known before, they became more
popular. Socrates employed their language
in moral discourses, and Plato in images and
reasoning to embody and convey the theologies
of Orpheus and Pythagoras.
The poets formed tragedies from his " Iliad"
and " Thebdis." Homer supplied subjects for
the painter and sculptor ; his descriptions fixed
the persons and attributes of their gods.
Phidias* seems to have been the first in this
reformation. Minerva, who had before ap-
peared harsh and elderly, was by him rendered
beautiful. His Jupiter was awful as when his
nod shook the poles, but benignant as when
he smiled on his daughter Venus, according to
Homer's description. The anatomical forms
selected from powerful nature, presented a
massy breast and shoulders, projecting muscles
* See Plates XIX. and XX.
ON SCIENCE. 123
above the hip-bone, the limb strong, without
heaviness, and the whole figure mighty.
The character of the father of gods and men
being determined, settled a scale of gradation
for his progeny ; they were more sublime near
him, and less perfect by removal.
Of the sons of Jupiter, Bacchus was the
next divinity whose form was sublimated. As
Phidias determined the character of the father
of the gods, so did the graceful Praxiteles that
of Bacchus, who inspires poets, and to whom
tragedy was peculiarly dedicated by the Athe-
nians.
Apollo soon became so like his brother
Bacchus, that it is not always easy to distin-
guish one from the other; yet Bacchus has
more softness, and Apollo greater energy.
Mercury, as patron of gymnastic exercises, is
rather more robust than his brothers.
The masses in the forms of these divinities
are little divided; the lines are simple, flowing
in gentle undulation for balance and motion,
or quicker curves at the joints.
124 LECTURE IV.
Hercules, whose labours in difficulty and
number were increased by succeeding poets,
was more strong and turgid after the time of
Alexander the Great, until he became the
irresistible hero represented by Glycon in his
statue.
Of inferior heroes, Ajax the lesser, and the
male figure in the group of Haemon and Anti-
gone, together with the group of boxers, have
the anatomical forms divided with distinctions
as numerous as could have been made by any
modern.
After the osteology and anatomy of the
human figure, we will consider the balance,
motion, and mechanical powers according to
the ancients.
Pamphilus, the Macedonian painter, under
whom Apelles studied ten years, was learned
in all literature, particularly arithmetic and
geometry, without which, he declared, art
could not be perfected.
ON SCIENCE. 125
How geometry and arithmetic were applied
to the study of the human figure, Vitruvius in-
forms us from the writings of the Greek artists,
perhaps from those of Pamphilus himself.
A man* (says he) may be so placed with his
arms and legs extended, that his navel being-
made the centre, a circle can be drawn round,
touching the extremities of his fingers and toes.
In the like manner, a man standing upright,
with his arms extended, is enclosed in a square,
the extreme extent of his arms being equal to
his height.
Pliny speaks of improvements in the balance
of the figure by some artists, and the neglect
of it, and consequent defects, in the works of
others.
How well the ancients understood the nature
of balance is proved by the two books of
Archimedes on that subject; besides, it is im-
possible to see the numerous figures springing,
jumping, dancing, and falling, in the Hercula-
ne'um paintings, on the painted vases, and the
* Plate XXVI.
126 LECTURE IV.
antique basso-relievos, without being assured
that the painters and sculptors must have em-
ployed geometrical figures to determine the
degrees of curvature in the body, and angular
or rectilinear extent of the limbs, and to fix the
centre of gravity.
We shall, therefore, proceed in this delight-
ful subject, in some general demonstrations,
according to the method of the great Leonardo
da Vinci, and the distinguished Borelli, as laid
down in his work on the motion of animals.
When we speak of the centre of gravity, or
gravitation of the human figure, the principle
is referred to, by which all bodies upon the
earth tend to its centre, as a ray tends to the
centre of a circle.
The centre of gravity in the human figure is
an imaginary straight line, which falls from the
gullet between the ankles to the ground, when
it is perfectly upright, equally poised on both
feet, with the hands hanging down on each
side.
ON SCIENCE. 127
Motion is the change of position.
The first motion * in the standing figure
throws the weight on one leg, in consequence
the centre of gravity, or gravitating line, falls
from the gullet on one leg, the shoulder on the
same side being lowered, the shoulder on the
opposite side raised, the hip and knee sinking
below those on the side which supports the
weight.
Preparing to run is throwing the balance
beyond the standing foot.
Striking.
When the action begins, the figure is thrown
back to give force to the blow, and springs
forward to the lighter line when the fall of the
blow ends the action.
Bearing a Weight.
The centre of gravity is the centre of the
incumbent weight, falling between the feet, if
supported by both, or on the supporting foot.
* See Plates XXVII. XXVIJI. XXIX. XXX. XXXI.
XXXII.
128 LECTURE IV.
Preparing to Leap.
To take the spring, the body and thighs are
drawn together; the muscles of the leg draw
up the heel, so that the figure rests on the ball
of the foot; the arms are thrown back they
assist like wings in the impulse. When the
figure alights, the arms are raised above the
head, and the centre of gravity is near the
heels.
Leaning.
When leaning on more points than one, the
greatest weight is about that point on which it
chiefly rests.
Flying and falling figures rest on no point,
being in motion through the air, but the hea-
viest portion of the figure rising, denotes fly-
ing ; as the heaviest portion sinking, deter-
mines the falling figure. Without a due atten-
tion to these principles, no movement or action
can be well expressed, and with their assist-
ON SCIENCE. 129
ance the finest efforts of ancient and modern
art have been produced, is exemplified in the
most pathetic, energetic, and graceful atti-
tudes of Raphael and Correggio. Excellent
lessons on this subject are given by Leonardo
da Vinci in his " Treatise on Painting."
Every change of position or action in the
human figure will present the diligent student
with some new application of principles, and
some valuable example for his imitation.
It has been observed, that Vitruvius, from
the writings of the most eminent Greek
painters and sculptors, informs us that they
made their figures eight heads high, or ten
faces, and he instances different parts of the
figure measured according to that rule, which
the great Michael Angelo adopted, as we see
by a print from a drawing of his.
We shall make use of this method in giving
the most general proportions of nature and the
antique statues.
130 LECTURE IV.
PROPORTIONS.
Divisions of the Human Figure in Length.
From the os pubis to the top of the head
one half, from the same point to the sole of the
foot the other half.
There are three equal divisions from the
acromion of the scapula to the bottom of the
inner ankle :
First, from the acromion to the point in the
spine of the ilium, from which the rectus and
sartorius muscles begin.
Second, from thence to the top of the patella.
Third, from the top of the patella to the
bottom of the inner ankle.
From the bottom of the pubis to the bottom
of the patella is the same length as from the
bottom of the patella to the sole of the foot,
two heads each ; but, we must observe, the
ancients generally allowed half a nose or more
ON SCIENCE. 131
to the length of the lower limbs, exceeding the
length of the body and head.
Breadth.
Shoulders 2 heads.
Loins 1 head and 1 nose, or 5 noses.
Across the hips or trochanters . . 1 head, 2 noses, or head and a J.
Depth.
Chest 1 head, 4 minutes.
Loins 3 noses and ^.
Glutaei 1 head.
Breadth of the Thigh.
Thigh 3 noses.
Calf of the leg .... 2 noses.
Foot 1 head and % of a nose long.
Length of the Arm.
From the top of the humerus to the bend of the arm . 1 head and J.
From the bend of the arm to the first knuckles .... 1 head and |.
f
Breadth.
Upper arm, front view 1 nose and \.
Side view of do. 2 noses.
Lower arm, thickest part 1 nose and |.
Wrist , . 1 nose.
132 LECTURE IV.
the male ; the shoulders and loins should be
narrower, and the hips broader.
The proportions of the Hercules Farnese,
and the Torso Belvidere, are nearly one-fifth
more in breadth than other statues ; but the
ancients varied the proportions according to
the character and age of the person. There
are examples of the Silenus, and Hercules also,
when he partook of the same character, ex-
ceedingly dwarfish, not exceeding four or five
heads in height, and there are examples on
some of the Greek vases of figures nine or ten
heads high.
PERSPECTIVE.
We have the most satisfactory system of
ancient perspective in the principles laid down
by Vitruvius, and in " Euclid's Book of
Optics/' which contains no description of the
eye, or nature of its vision, but consists of
sixty-one propositions, on the manner in which
rays pass from objects to the eye, the angles
ON SCIENCE. 133
they make, and consequently present them as
nearer, or more distant, greater or less, whe-
ther seen in a parallel or diagonal plane, but
gives no rule for the perspective of circles, or
the intersections of the visual rays. The mo-
dern improvement in perspective which deter-
mines depths, enabled Michael Angelo* to
give bolder fore-shortenings, and more com-
plicated groups, than the ancients did or could
attempt with their imperfect perspective, and
which in design, or low relief, has the magical
effect of " much in a little."
Such general hints concerning science, em-
ployed by the ancients in painting and sculp-
ture, may assist the young artist in forming
principles for the course of his studies, and
precede the investigation of the nature and
qualities of beauty, which will be offered in the
next Lecture.
* See Plates XXXIII. and XXXIV.
( 134 )
LECTURE V.
BEAUTY.
THAT beauty is not merely an imaginary qua-
lity, but a real essence, may be inferred from
the harmony of the universe, and the perfection
of its wondrous parts we may understand
from all surrounding nature ; and in this course
of observation we find that man has more of
beauty bestowed on him as he rises higher in
creation.
In the contemplation of our solar system,
the splendours of the sun and inferior planets,
their magnitude, almost incomprehensible to
us, their gravitation, the vastness of their revo-
lutions, bringing the regular succession and
return of day and night, with the different
seasons, all astonish in their various circum-
stances ; if we proceed in observations to the
BEAUTY. 135
starry heavens, crowded with suns, the centres
of other systems, we are lost in amazement,
and our faculties are overwhelmed.
The objects which surround us on the earth
we inhabit are more commensurate to our
comprehension and intelligence, and in them
i
we trace wonders equally enforcing the con-
viction of power and goodness, by their beauty
and order.
The earth, its history and productions the
sea, its phenomena and contents the vege-
table and mineral kingdoms have employed,
and will continue to employ, the wisest of men
in the most delightful speculations and extra-
ordinary discoveries.
The pursuit of each person must be allotted
by his station, whilst the industry of each con-
tributes to the circle of knowledge.
Our present object will be, after some gene-
ral observations on the animal kingdom, to
inquire into the excellence of man in his real
essence, and its effects on his external appear-
136 LECTURE V.
ance his intelligible alliance with superior
natures, or degeneracy and abasement in re-
semblance to the brutes.
Among the many examples in natural phi-
losophy and history of the gradual and uninter-
rupted connection of being, from the highest
to the lowest, as far as our perceptions will
penetrate, the animal kingdom offers most
striking and stupendous instances.
There is a resemblance in the organization
and bodily form of all animals, which varies by
almost imperceptible gradations, through all
the links of this chain, from man to the worm
or vegetable.
The anatomical form and organization of the
ourang-outang bear a near resemblance to the
anatomy of man : this configuration continues
in squirrels, rats, and mice, until the bat, or
flying mouse, unites the race of quadrupeds
with birds ; in the same manner, the kangaroo
and gerboa, with very short fore legs, and
walking on the hind legs only, unite quadru-
BEAUTY. 137
peds with another class of birds, which do not
fly, the penguin, the cassowary, and the ostrich. ,
The crocodile and alligator unite the race of
o
four-footed beasts with the superior class of
reptiles, such as the lizard and the eft, until
the frog, being a tadpole in its infant state,
belongs to the class of fishes.
The smaller and more imperfect birds ap-
proach to the resemblance of the larger butter-
flies and moths.
The order of flies at length terminates so
exactly in the resemblance of a leaf, that it
might be taken for one, did not experiment
prove, by the heart, lungs, and anatomical
properties, the fly to be perfectly animal ;
whilst a totally different organization proves
the other to be positively vegetable.
Professor Camper, in the most ingenious and
valuable notes to his lectures, shows that the
figure and organization of man contain the
principles on which the structure of all inferior
animals is formed, and from which they are
removed by gradual imperfection.
138 LECTURE V.
Four-footed animals, although their general
forms and anatomy bear strong likeness to the
human figure, differ from it in these respects :
the brain-pan is less, the nose and jaws have
greater projection, their view is downwards,
the body is supported in a horizontal line by
four legs terminated by paws or hoofs: the
interior organization differs in correspondence
with the external figure.
The variation of the bird from the beast is,
that the nose and jaws of one become a beak
in the other, the front legs having lost the
paws, are folded up by the sides, and are
wings.
In fishes, the head is set immediately on
the body; they have no legs, their places are
supplied by fins, which convey them through
the waters. All these various orders are won-
derfully formed in fitness for the elements
they inhabit, and the purposes of their lives.
As their history extends through a large and
very interesting portion of creation, so the
principles of their conformation and powers
BEAUTY. 139
comprehend a considerable share of natural
science.
The forms of the bones and anatomy con-
tain the geometrical forms, as the motions of
o
the body, limbs and interior demonstrate the
mechanical powers.
The preparation, secretion, and fermentation
of the juices are chymical; hydraulics are in
the conveyance and motion of the juices;
Pneumatics in the various modes of breathing ;
electricity in the effects of heat on the body ;
and optics in the organs of sight.
Such general observations relate to the
bodies of man and other animals ; but we must
remember that man, even in the structure of
his body, is the most perfect of all creatures ;
and the above remarks are only offered to call
the attention to the wonderful extent of crea-
tion, and the harmony, order and beauty of
its whole connection and disposition.
But in treating of man in particular, our
subject is the most perfect production of Al-
140 LECTURE V.
mighty Power in the visible world, the facul-
ties of whose soul place him far above other
creatures, and declare the nearer relation he
stands in to his divine Creator.
By the wisdom he is endowed with, all crea-
tures are subjected to his dominion ; by his
affections he is enabled to perform all the
charities of life to prefer the interests of others
to his own to distinguish personal beauty as
the indication of good disposition and health
to trace his Creator in his works, and offer
the homage of his worship : in all which he is
superior to the brute animals, whose exertions
are the consequence of instinct for the preser-
vation of themselves and progeny, and whose
reasoning has never been discovered to go
beyond these purposes, or some particular
attachment.
As the affections of man stimulate and en-
gage him in every act, so his understanding
directs the means and looks to the end in
BEAUTY. 141
every employment through life. These modify
the exterior of the face and figure, according
to constant habit or momentary impulse.
The passionate are known by quick fiery
glances, swollen brows, dilated nostrils, the
mouth a little open, the movements of the
whole figure sudden, the muscles of the body
being disposed to rigidity and contraction.
The melancholy have a general dejection
of look, the exterior corners of the eyes and
eyebrows tending downwards, a universal
slowness of motion and disregard of outward
objects.
Every passion, sentiment, virtue, or vice,
have their corresponding signs in the face,
body, and limbs, which are understood by the
skilful physician and physiognomist, when not
confused by the working of contrary affections
or hidden by dissimulation.
In the formation and appearance of the
142 LECTURE V.
body, we shall always find that its beauty de-
pends on its health, strength, and agility, most
convenient motion and harmony of parts in the
male and female human figure, according to
the purposes for which they were intended ; the
man for greater power and exertion, the woman
for tenderness and grace. If these character-
istics of form are animated by a soul in which
benevolence, temperance, fortitude and the
other moral virtues preside, unclouded by vice,
we shall recognize in such a one perfect beauty,
and remember that " God created man in his
own image."
We know that sickness destroys the com-
plexion and consumes the form, until that
which was once admired for grace and attrac-
tive loveliness becomes a ghastly spectre ; and
is it not equally evident that brutal ferocity,
revenge, hypocrisy, or any other of the malig-
nant passions, still more effectually destroy
the very traces of beauty by reducing man to
a savage beast in his most degraded state ?
The most perfect human beauty is that most
BEAUTY.
free from deformity either of body or mind,
and may be therefore defined
" The most perfect soul, in the most perfect body."
Doubts can scarcely be entertained that
there are principles of beauty, because various
opinions prevail in different countries on the
subject.
Men are in different states of mental and
bodily improvement, from the most savage
to the most civilized countries, and we know
that many successive ages must pass in the
confirmation of moral habits, the right direc-
tion of reason and elevation of intellect, before
man can judge with any tolerable ability, of
mental or natural beauty, their causes, relations
and effects : and that in all states of society
there must be allowance for prejudice and
climate. But we shall certainly find that the
wisest and the best men in all ages and coun-
tries have held nearly the same doctrine on
this subject.
The excellence of intellect and moral beauty
was asserted by Menu, the Indian legislator,
144 LECTURE V.
Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, Zoroaster,
the Persian sage, and the Egyptian priests.
Pythagoras, who had studied their wisdom,
understood the dispositions of the mind by its
influence expressed in the exteriors of the
body ; and accordingly, lamblichus, his bio-
grapher, tells us he would observe the coun-
tenance, figure, looks, movements, manner of
speaking and tone of voice, until he was
accurately acquainted with any one's charac-
ter.
Our present purpose particularly requires
we should consider the sentiments of the most
celebrated Greeks on beauty, the connection
of mental and bodily beauty, and their ex-
pression in the human form.
Homer constantly endows his gods with
personal beauty, accommodated to their mental
perfection and immortal power, and his heroes
with the attributes of gods : thus, as he gives
to Jupiter the epithets of " Counsellor" and
" Provident," he describes his hair as " divine,"
BEAUTY. 145
" ambrosial," and his nod as making the
o
world tremble; Juno, he calls the " ox-eyed/'
and the " white-armed;" Minerva, " the blue-
eyed virgin." Achilles, the hero of the Iliad,
is the handsomest man that went to Troy ; his
epithets are, " divine," " godlike," " swift-
footed ;" Agamemnon is called " the king
of men ;" Nestor and Ulysses are said to be
" in council like the gods ;" all expressing the
union of mental and bodily excellence.
That the same sentiments continued in after-
times, we have the coeval testimonies of the
most illustrious philosophers, tragedians,
orators and artists.
In Plato's Dialogue of Phaedrus concerning
the Beautiful, he shows the power and influence
of mental beauty on corporeal, and in his dia-
logue, entitled " the Greater Hippias," Socra-
tes observes in argument, " that as a beautiful
vase is inferior to a beautiful horse, and as a
beautiful horse is not to be compared to a
beautiful virgin, in the same manner, a beau-
L
146 LECTURE V.
tiful virgin is inferior in beauty to the immortal
gods ;" " for/' says he, " there is a beauty
incorruptible, ever the same/' It is remark-
able that immediately after, he says, " Phidias
is skilful in beauty/'
Aristotle, the scholar of Plato, begins his
" Treatise on Morals" thus " Every art,
every method and institution, every action
and council seems to seek some good; there-
fore, the ancients pronounced the beautiful to
be the good/'
Much, indeed, might be collected from this
philosopher's treatises on morals, poetics, and
physiognomy, of the greatest importance to
our subject; but for the present we shall pro-
duce only two quotations from " Xenophon's
Memorabilia," which contain the immediate
application of these principles to the arts of
design.
In the dialogue between Socrates and the
sculptor Clito, Socrates concludes that " Sta-
tuary must represent the emotions of the soul
by form ;" and in the former part of the same
BEAUTY. 147
dialogue, Parrhasius and Socrates agree that
" the good and evil qualities of the soul may
be represented in the figure of man by paint-
ing."
In the applications from this dialogue to
our subject, we must remember philosophy
demonstrates that rationality and intelligence,
although connected with animal nature, rises
above it, and properly exists in a more exalted
state.
From such contemplations and maxims, the
ancient artists sublimated the sentiments of
their works, expressed in the choicest forms of
nature; thus they produced their divinities,
heroes, patriots, and philosophers, adhering to
the principle of Plato, that " nothing is beau-
tiful which is not good ;" it was this which, in
ages of polytheism and idolatry, still continued
to enforce a popular impression of divine at-
tributes and perfection.
In the highest order of divinities, they repre-
sented, as far as possible, the energy of intel-
148 LECTURE V.
lect above the material accidents of passion
or decay.
Jupiter* was most placid as most mighty,
either extending victory as the reward of for-
titude and patriotic emulation, or holding the
thunder and sceptre, emblems of his sovereignty
in the government of the universe; excepting
when destroying the Titans, he is then in
heroic action.
Observations on the Bust of Jupiter.
A fine remark is made by Winckelman,
(perhaps suggested by Mengs,) that the brows
and hair of this head have some resemblance
to those of the lion ; the beard and hair are
full, the expression is benevolence and wisdom,
the age, maturity of power.
Neptune resembles Jupiter in countenance
and person, his hair is more disturbed by the
winds, or wetted by the element he governs,
he is nearly or entirely unclothed.
* See Plate XX.
BEAUTY. 149
Pluto continues the likeness of the Saturnian
family, observable in Jupiter and Neptune :
he sits in solemn state, the ruler of the lower
world he is covered with drapery his eyes
have a spectre-like stare and the hair falling
over his forehead, adds gloom to his counte-
nance.
Apollo, Bacchus, and Mercury, distinguished
by their youth and beauty, preserve the re-
semblance of their father Jupiter.
The energetic Apollo Alexicacos, or the
driver-away of evil, commonly called Belvidere,
is " severe in youthful beauty;" he supplies
Homer's description to the sight his golden
locks are agitated his countenance is indig-
nant the quiver is hanging on his shoulder
and he steps forward in the discharge of his
arrow.
Apollo in love, or companion of the muses,
is majestic yet graceful, strongly resembling
Bacchus, who, in the height of youthful beauty,
is frequently leaning on a faun, or a muse, or
150 LECTURE V.
reclining on Ariadne ; his grace and softness
approaches to, and sometimes really becomes,
female delicacy.
Mercury is a mediate character between
Apollo and the youthful Hercules ; he unites
the sublime beauty of divinity with corporeal,
heroic strength, as patron of gymnastic exer-
cises, and as messenger of the gods from
heaven to earth, from earth to heaven.
The characteristics of elevated beauty are
continued in the youthful Cupid, Hercules,
when a child, strangling the serpents, and the
young Ganymede. Heroes, whether considered
by the ancients as the immediate progeny of a
divinity and a mortal, or as having traced their
descent from divinity more remotely, are of
muscular forms, in which strength, activity
and beauty blend, but in such a manner that
by bodily exertion and agility they have been
successful combatants and conquerors. Mental
power characterizes the divinity, bodily exer-
BEAUTY. 151
tion the hero. Such is Oileus Ajax, the
Haemon, Zethus and Amphion.
Achilles is the example of masculine beauty
among the heroes, as Hercules is of uncon-
querable force.
In the faces of the dying Achilles and Lao-
coon, pain and death produce nothing like
distortion, the elevation of noble minds is seen
in their sufferings.
The train and ministry of Bacchus afford
more variety than that of any other divinity
the sacred instructors the bearers and dis-
pensers of wine and grapes fauns and satyrs
of different ages dancing and mad Baccha-
nals.
The sacred instructors are bearded: men of
noble characters entirely clothed. Silenus,
bearded, with a pleasant countenance, between
good-fellowship and philosophy a rather spare
and elegant figure with a faun's tail, entirely
naked. Such a one nurses the infant Bacchus
in Perrier's statues.
152 LECTURE V.
Two genii, the frequent attendants of
Bacchus, on either of which he often leans,
are Ampelus and Aerates. Ampelus is a faun,
nervous and sprightly; Aerates dwarfish,
round-bellied, and sometimes hairy.
The fauns are youthful, sprightly and ten-
donous ; their faces round, expressive of merri-
ment, not without an occasional mixture of
mischief.
Satyrs, the lowest order in the train of
Bacchus, are strong resemblances to different
quadrupeds, their faces and figures partake of
the ape, the ram, or the goat, they have some-
times goats' legs, and always either goats' or
horses' tails.
The giants are towers of human strength to
the waist ; but instead of legs their figures ter-
minate in the huge folds of serpents' tails;
their heads resemble the Saturnian family,
but lowering with brutal ferocity ; two small
serpents are on their heads, perhaps to indicate
the torments in the lower regions, according
to Hesiod.
BEAUTY. 153
Ocean, and great rivers, as the Nile,
Euphrates, Tigris, and Tiber, resemble the
Saturnian family in countenance, hair, and
beard; their figures Herculean and full of
flesh.
The Tritons, and ^inferior sea-divinities, are
robust men to the middle, ending with fishes'
tails : their faces are like either the giants' or
fauns' ; finny hair covers their heads, and gills
are on their jaws.
Juno is the first of the goddesses, as sister
and wife of Jupiter : she possesses the highest
degree of beauty; her character is lofty and
imperial.
Minerva is sometimes seen as the patroness of
peaceful arts, in attitude highly dignified, yet
simple, clothed in full drapery, and holding an
olive branch ; but she is most frequently seen
armed, in her four-crested helmet and aegis
bearing the terrors of Medusa's head, holding
her spear and shield, as the virgin-goddess of
war. In both characters she is the represen-
tative of wisdom.
-
154 LECTURE V.
Venus, * the example and patroness of
beauty, appears more frequently in poetic
numbers, and rapturous description, than any
other heathen divinity. She was the delight-
ing and frequent theme of Homer, Hesiod,
Sappho, Apollonius Rhodius, Virgil, and in-
deed most of the ancient poets. Plato distin-
guishes the celestial from the earthly Venus,
and Pliny mentions a statue by Phidias of
Venus Urania, or the heavenly. The Venus
of Cleomenes, and the Venus de Medicis, are
certainly of Plato's latter class ; they perfectly
agree with Hesiod's description ;
" The lovely modest Goddess rising from the sea, accompa-
nied by Love, and followed by Desire."
The Graces are seen in ancient sculpture as
three lovely, youthful sisters, embracing each
other. They were always clothed till after the
time of Socrates. In the earlier ages they
formed a chorus hand in hand, as described
by Pindar.
* See Plates XXL XXII. and XXIII.
BEAUTY. 155
The Greek and Latin names of these god-
desses, Charlies and Gratia, which signify the
exercise of kind affections, or the charities of
life, are well personified by the tender union
of sisters.
The character and actions of these god-
desses have given the epithet graceful, to easy,
undulating motion.
The sea nymphs are graceful in the ex-
treme: their beautiful movements are as va-
rious as the waves on which they are borne ;
each appears a foam-produced Venus.
The whole universe was peopled by conge-
nial beings, substantiated by philosophers, de-
scribed by poets, and represented with the
glow of life by painters and sculptors.
In heaven were good demons, or angelic
spirits, winged victories, winds, and hours.
On earth, the genii of mountains, trees,
rivers and fountains, fauns and satyrs.
In the infernal regions, furies and chimeras.
In an assemblage comprehending such an
156 LECTURE V.
extent of gradation, with its different races of
variety, whatever could be chosen from nature,
or deduced from reasoning, evident or ab-
stracted, was employed, from the most beauti-
ful, through various removals and descents, to
the most gross and terrific. .
It would be endless to enumerate the foreign
divinities of Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Persia,
Africa, Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain,
which during the Roman power received
Greek and Roman forms and personifications ;
and, if this were done, we could learn nothing
novel from it, in relation to our present sub-
ject. We should, however, be more certainly
led to this conclusion that wherever traces of
grandeur or beauty were found, they would
be discovered as pillage, and transfer, from
ancient Greece.
This much being said more particularly in
respect to the countenances and heads of sta-
tues, which have been the chief subjects of
BEAUTY. 157
former Lectures, we will offer a few general
remarks on hands and feet.
The proportion of the hand, (it is well
known,) from its junction with the wrist to the
end of the middle finger, is the length of a
face ; the breadth across the four lower knuckles
does not exceed half the length, or a nose and
a half. With these proportions, the beauty of
the female hand consists in a fulness and
roundness of form, gently dimpled over the
first knuckles ; the fingers long, round, taper-
ing towards the ends, with scarcely any indi-
cation of joints.
The male hand, with nearly the same pro-
portions, has more squareness of form and
joints, and has little indication of bone or ten-
don in the youthful figure.
The foot is about a head and a half-nose
in length; the breadth, in a strait line across
the upper joint of the little toe, being one
third, or a nose and a half.
The beauty of the female foot consists in a
158 LECTURE V.
rounded form, dimpled over the first joints of
the toes, which are very delicate, with exceed-
ingly gentle indications of the joints, and
turned by an almost imperceptible diagonal
from the great toe.
The foot of the male figure in youth shows
no more of its anatomical structure than the
female, but has a greater squareness of form.
In more advanced age, or more muscular cha-
racter, the male foot show^s more of tendon and
bone ; but in form square and broad, the part
of the tibia forming the inner ankle is neatly
defined, as is also the lower part of the fibula,
forming the outer ankle with the tendon of
the peroneus muscle ; the knuckles of the toes
are more strongly marked.
In both male and female the great toe is
large in comparison with the others, and sepa-
rated from them by a distinct space.
The boundaries of personal beauty are the
Apollo and Hercules ; a more slender form
than the Apollo is maigre, and one more
covered with flesh than the Hercules must be
BEAUTY. 159
clumsy ; as one in which the parts are more
forcibly marked than in the Laocoon would be
a dissected figure.
Such are the regulations and forms of beauty
in the human face and figure, which allow of
infinite modification and variety, but not trans-
gression.
By these general remarks on the principles
of beauty, the student will be excited to a
spirit of research, which every one must exert
for himself in the various galleries and mu-
seums already published, to be found in the
library of the Royal Academy, and other pub-
lic and private repositories, and ancient monu-
ments ; but this must be in addition to the most
diligent and continual study of choice nature.
( 160 )
LECTURE VI.
COMPOSITION.
HAVING introduced the Lectures on Sculpture
by an inquiry concerning its relations and con-
nection with the circle of general knowledge
stated some important facts in its ancient his-
tory considered the application of science, the
observation of nature, and the speculation of
mental qualities more particularly evident in
the nobler works of Grecian sculpture we may
now proceed to that great effort in which the
artist sums up all his knowledge, embodies all
his science, and exerts his utmost powers,
under the standard of passion, or sentiment,
in composition.
To avoid repeating that which it is scarcely
possible to think or say better on the present
COMPOSITION. 161
subject, I shall refer the student to the excel-
lent principles and doctrines in the Lecture on
Composition by the professor of painting* to
consider with attention what he has delivered
on invention and design, on dignity of concep-
tion, and pathos of sentiment to imprint on
his memory, with peculiar care, the gradual
elevation to a climax in the example of Rem-
brandt's " Ecce Homo" and the degradation
of subject to the disgusting, in " the blinding
of Sampson," by the same painter.
The maxims to be collected from these pa-
ragraphs of that admirable discourse have
equal force in both arts ; and as they have been
laid down for the regulation of painting, it is
equally important they should be implicitly
followed in sculpture : for as the theories of
painting and sculpture, so far as the study of
colours makes no distinction, are nearly the
same, the lectures on painting impart a share
of instruction to the sculptor, little less than
that which is received by the painter.
Composition, in the arts of design, is the
* Mr. Fuseli.
162 LECTURE VI.
grouping of figures in succession or action, and
immediately follows the intelligible imitation
of the human figure.
The early compositions of Greece in poetry,
painting, and sculpture, celebrate heroic deeds
and sacred mysteries : as the combat of The-
seus and the Minotaur, of Eteocles and Poly-
nices, of Hercules and the Centaurs, Dejanira
carried off by Nessus, processions of divinities,
and the initiations of Bacchus and Ceres on
painted vases, coins, votive basso-relievos, and
ancient wells. Their barbarous violence of
angular action, or simple formality of move-
ment, is expressed in a gross execution.
These were among the first bold attempts of
painting and sculpture : to emerge from the
servility of hieroglyphical writing and symboli-
cal figure ; speaking to the feelings, instead of
the memory; proclaiming to the spectator's
transient view, the delivery of a people, the
fall of a city, or the divine superintendence.
When the power of Asia was transferred to
COMPOSITION. 163
Greece, the sciences, the graces, and the
muses, bestowed on the arts truth, beauty, and
inspiration. Colossal statues of prodigious
size arose in the cities, like guardian genii
overlooking their states. Their attributes and
pedestals were adorned with compositions from
poetry and theology. The porticos were ani-
mated with the heroes of other times. In the
friezes of the temples, the Athenians and Ama-
zons, the Lapithae and Centaurs, the Greeks
and Persians fought again, whilst assemblies
of gods and demi-gods in their pediments rose
to the sky. Such was the state and magnifi-
cence of sculpture in Greece, which is so far
important to us, as it makes us acquainted
with the celebrated compositions of Grecian
artists.
Phidias did not only ennoble Athens and
Elis with colossal statues of Minerva and Ju-
piter of ivory and gold, but he adorned their
insignia and pedestals with compositions from
the grandest subjects in the poems of Homer
and Hesiod. On the outside of Minerva's
M 2
164 LECTURE VI.
shield was the battle of the Athenians and
Amazons ; on the inside the contest of the
gods and giants ; on the pedestal was the birth
of Pandora.
On the throne of Jupiter were the destruc-
tion of Niobe's children, the labours of Her-
cules, the delivery of Prometheus, the garden
of the Hesperides, with other incidents of the
heroic ages.
On the base, the battle of Theseus and the
Amazons ; on the pedestal an assembly of the
gods, the sun and moon in their cars, and the
birth of Venus.
These compositions excelled whatever had
appeared before in beauty, grace, and com-
pass, in the same proportion as Phidias ex-
celled his predecessors ; and their numerous
repetitions testify the esteem of the ancients,
and give us possession of the spirit and cha-
racter of the works themselves, in friezes,
basso-relievos, and painted vases.
Minerva received in the assembly of the
gods, on the pediment of her temple at Athens,
COMPOSITION. 165
we know from the drawing of it preserved by
the Marquis Nanteul.
Of the marriage of Pelops and Hippodamia,
on the temple of Jupiter at Elis, we may per-
haps form some conception from a magnificent
painted vase in the British Museum, on which
are two quadrigas, and various human figures.
The battles of the Athenians with the Ama-
zons and Persians, beheld by assemblies of the
gods, in the temples of Minerva and Theseus,
and the Propyleum of Athens, together with
the frieze lately discovered at Phigaleia, are
admirable examples of simplicity and energy.
When the states of Greece ceased to be free,
they could no longer raise noble temples from
the spoils of their enemies, and blazon their
own struggles for freedom, or proclaim their
divinities on friezes and pediments ; but, with
the same love of their country, they employed
their genius on inferior memorials of their
heroic or deified ancestors, for porticos, libra-
ries, halls, or tombs. The wars of Troy and
Thebes, the stories of their ancient families
166 LECTURE VI.
and kings, expanded by the tragic poets from
the episodes of Homer, have bestowed on us
those invaluable compositions the discovery
of Achilles, his contest with Agamemnon, the
death of Egysthus and Clytemnestra, Orestes
and the Furies, Orpheus and Eurydice, Medea
and Jason, CEdipus Coloneus, and the death
of Meleager.
The principal compositions of Roman sculp-
ture, the best of which, there is reason to
believe, were executed by Greek artists, are
those of the arches raised to Titus, Trajan,
Marcus Aurelius, Severus, and Constantine
the Trajan Antonine, and Theodosian columns.
They breathe the spirit of the people they
commemorate war, conquest, and universal
dominion !
In the Greek compositions, the counte-
nances and figures are of exalted beauty; the
actions display the limbs and body with the
greatest variety, energy, and grace ; the sub-
COMPOSITION. 167
jects are heroic or divine. They have a kin-
dred sublimity with Homer, of patriotism with
Tyrtaeus, the noble flights of Pindar, the ter-
rors of ^Eschylus, and the tenderness of So-
phocles !
The Roman compositions owe no inspiration
to the muses, urge no claim to the epic or
dramatic. They are the mere paragraphs of
military gazettes ! vulgar in conception, fero-
cious in sentiment. On the columns and
arches above mentioned, the principal objects
are mobs of Romans, cased in armour, bearing
down unarmed, scattered Germans, Dacians,
or Sarmatians soldiers felling timber, driving
piles, building walls or bridges, carrying rub-
bish, shouldering battering-rams, killing with-
out mercy, or dragging and binding captives.
The forms of their bodies and limbs are inter-
rupted by mail or plate armour, and most of
the heads so brutal and savage, as to excite
compassion for the barbarians who have fallen
into their hands.
168 LECTURE VI.
From this abasement of sculpture in Italy we
shall willingly turn again to the compositions
of the Greeks, and observe that this people,
who had embodied the false divinities of Olym-
pus, and widely spread their fame by the per-
fection of their representations, the same peo-
ple were the first to declare the sacred oracles
of truth, under the Christian dispensation, by
the mute eloquence of painting and sculpture.
Different subjects of Holy Writ are men-
tioned by the writers of those times, which no
longer exist.
o
Some mosaics, ivory carvings, and illumina-
tions, which have escaped the destruction of
Moslem fanaticism, abundantly indicate the
beauty of those more considerable works we
have lost.
Seven or eight Greek Christian compositions
were mentioned in a former lecture, as having
been standards to the Italian painters, from
which they scarcely ventured to deviate for
ages, viz., The creation of Adam and of
Eve, the Nativity,* the Transfiguration, the
* See Plates II. XXXV. XXXVI. and XXXIX.
COMPOSITION. 169
Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Glorification,
with some others, which amply prove that the
sacred flame remained in Greece which kindled
light and life in the modern arts of Western
Europe.
Grecian composition may be traced in the
biblical basso-relievos of Orvieto by Nicolas
and John Pisani ; in the noble bronzes of the
life of Christ on the pulpits of St. Lorenzo in
Florence, by Donatello ; on the bronze gates
of St. John's Baptistery, in the same city, by
Lorenzo Ghiberti, and in the paintings of
Raphael and Michael Angelo.
The Greek poets conducted their works on
a plan of composition which equally governs
painting and sculpture.
Homer's Iliad is a whole, united in its parts
by connection, and varied by gradation.
The sentiment throughout is wrath, begin-
ning with the dissension of the kings, continued
by the vengeance of the Trojans, and ended
170 LECTURE VI.
by the destruction of Troy's hope and bulwark
in the death of Hector.
Achilles is the hero, who, like the sun,
enlightens and heats all by the blaze of his
presence; his absence is darkness and dis-
may.
There is the same unity in connection and
gradation of characters and circumstances to
be found in the Prometheus of ^Eschylus.
Vulcan, Force and Strength ; Mercury, Ocean,
and the Nymphs are but contingents to the
adamantine spirit of Prometheus, whom the
threats of Jupiter could not move, nor convul-
sions of the universe terrify : the interest is in
him, to which the ministering violence, admo-
nition, consolation or tenderness of the inferior
characters give subordinate relation.
The principles of composition, that the story
should be a perfect whole, and that one cha-
racter should be supreme, to which all the
inferiors should have some relation by connec-
tion or separation, is seen in every action of
COMPOSITION. 171
men. The individual variety of character is
equally in the order of nature.
Aristotle and Horace in their " Arts of
Poetry/' (besides the above mentioned,) pro-
pose various rules, which equally govern the
poet, painter, and sculptor ; and that no doubt
may be entertained concerning the practice of
the ancient artists, Horace tells us that " the
poet and painter are regulated by the same
principles."
For the sake of clearness, the rules of com-
position shall be given under distinct heads.
First, a poet speaks by words.
The painter and sculptor by action.
Action singly, or in series : thus the story of
Laocoon is told by the agony of the father and
sons, inextricably wound about in the folds of
serpents.
The anger of Achilles is shown by drawing
his sword on Agamemnon in the council of
the kings. And every action is more perfect
as it comprehends an indication of the past,
172 LECTURE VI.
with a certainty of the end, in the moment
chosen.
Ananias, falling in the contractions of death
at the feet of Peter, proves a divine authority
in the apostle's rebuke, whilst Sapphira, count-
ing the silver, leads to the nature of his offence.
See Raphael's Cartoon.
In the group of Haemon and Antigone, he
supports the expiring woman, whilst he kills
himself with the same sword which slew her,
proving his death to be a consequence of hers.
Expression distinguishes the species of action
in the whole and in all the parts ; in the faces,
figures, limbs and extremities. Whether the
story be heroic, grave, or tender, it is the very
soul of composition it animates its characters
and gradations, as the human soul doth the
body and limbs it engages the attention, and
excites an interest which compensates for a
multitude of defects whilst the most admirable
execution, without a just and lively expression,
will be disregarded as laborious inanity, or
COMPOSITION. 173
contemned as an illusory endeavour to impose
on the feelings and the understanding.
The general forms of masses in composition
have been enumerated and ably described by
the professor of painting ; but as these particu-
larly concern the sculptor, whose whole study
is form, a repetition will not be useless.
The forms are the pyramid erect, inverted,
or lateral, the circle and the oval ; they may
be radiated, and the whole will have a flame-
like undulation in effect, from the ever-vary-
ing succession of curves in the outline and
action of the human figure.
The parts will be more simple and rectilinear
in repose, more angular in violent action, and
partaking of gentle curves when the subject
is tender, and the persons elegant: when the
limbs are entwined as struggling, or in any
sympathetic act either of force or tenderness,
the joints, the general curves and views of the
limbs should never be exactly and mechani-
cally the same, but partake of the wonderful
variety of nature, in which all faces, all bodies,
174 LECTURE VI.
and all efforts are different. This gives life
and motion.
What has been said above, is equally appli-
cable to the group or basso-relievo, but the
application must be accommodated to the
subject.
The entire group is independent of back-
ground, and that additional contrast or effect
produced by the adjunction of secondary figures
and objects; it is one whole, whose idea is
perfect, and action satisfactory in itself; it is
to be seen in every view, and each view must
exhibit a different group, preserving a succes-
sion of beautiful forms and distinct lines, with-
out impairing the energy of sentiment.
The basso-relievo may be considered in
effect as a picture without colouring, whose
back-ground is light, a little subdued, the
figures thereon being chiefly of the middle
tint, with touches of strong dark in the depths,
and bright lights on the higher projections.
This species of sculpture is not intended to be
seen in many views like the entire group, but
COMPOSITION. 175
it has this advantage, that more groups than
one may be on the same back-ground, and
sometimes a succession of events in the same
story ; a greater force is given to harmony, or
contrast of lines, by the number of groups and
figures, as well as the projection of their
shadows.
The ancients, who considered simplicity as
a characteristic of perfection, represented
stories by a single row of figures in the bas-
relief, by which the whole outline of the figure
or group, the energy of action, the concatena-
tion of limbs, the flight or flow of drapery
were seen with little interruption; but there
are instances of the best times in low relievo,
where many horsemen are advancing before
each other, the nearer horse hiding the hinder
parts of the preceding, and sometimes part of
the rider, without causing the least confusion
of effect, in the frieze from the Temple of
Minerva in Lord's Elgin's collection.
There are noble examples, also, of groups
and figures rushing in the same reiterated line
176 LECTURE VI.
through the composition ; but even in basso-
relievo, it must be remembered, the work is
sculpture, which allows no picturesque addi-
tion or effect of back-ground ; the story must
be told, and the field occupied by the figure
and acts of man.
All art, as the imitation of nature, must be
allied by the same relations, and submit to the
same laws which govern nature itself: thus, a
certain view of the human figure is most fit to
express its spring and motion in running or
striking, and consequently the quantity of the
figure seen in that view ; another quantity will
more properly belong to a different exertion or
repose.
The story may require that the upper part
of one figure should be principal, whilst, per-
haps, the lower parts are concealed by an in-
tervening object; some figures may be running
in different directions, more crowded, or sepa-
rate. To regulate these spaces and quantities
harmoniously, concerns the sculptor in his
COMPOSITION. 177
composition, equally with the poet or musician
in theirs. This is to be done by the same
means, according to different modes of mani-
festation, and the 3ds, 5ths, and 8ths, with
their subdivisions, taken by gross calculation
in the arts of design, not exact measurement,
will produce the same agreeable effect in lines,
light and shadow, space and the arrangement
of colours, as is produced by similar quantities
in music.
One simple instance only shall be given of
opposition, and another of harmony, in lines
and quantities: two equal curves, set with
either their convex or concave faces to each
other, produce opposition ; but unite two
curves of different size and segment, they will
produce that harmonious line, termed graceful,
in the human figure.
Concerning the quantity of light and shadow
in a group, if the light be one-third, and
shadow two-thirds, the effect will be bold. If
the light be one part, and the shade four, it
will be still bolder, and accord with a tragic
N
178 LECTURE VI.
or terrific action ; but the more general effect
of sculpture is two-thirds of light on the middle
of the group, with a small proportion of very
dark shadow in the deeper hollows.
An attention to the materials of sculpture
will naturally lead us to the description of its
legitimate subjects. The grey solemn tints
of stone, the beautiful semi-transparent purity
of marble, the golden splendor, or corroding
darkened green of bronze, reject as incongru-
ous all subjects and characters which have not
some dignity and elevation.
The awful simplicity of those forms whose
eyes have neither colour nor brilliancy, and
whose limbs have not the glow of circulation,
strikes the first view of the beholder as beings
of a different order from himself.
Angels, spiritual ministers, embodied virtues,
departed worthies, the patriot or general bene-
factor, shining in the splendor of his deeds,
or gloomy and consuming memorials of the
great in former ages such subjects distinguish
temples, churches, palaces, courts of justice,
COMPOSITION. 179
and the open squares of cities. At the same
time that they symbolize their several purposes,
they may be comprehended in the three classes
of sublime, heroic, and tender.
The sublime represents all supernatural acts
and appearances, such as assemblies of the
gods, or falls of the giants, &c. In the higher
class of Christian subjects are the different
Acts of Creation, the Angels appearing to the
Shepherds, the Transfiguration, the Ascension,
and the Judgment.
In this class can be nothing common in idea,
person, or action ; the idea, whether simple or
complex, must be such as cannot be seen in
nature ; the beauty and dignity of the persons
should be more than human, and the action,
whether forcible or pathetic, should be action
in its essence.
Of the heroic class of composition, we may
account the battles of the Athenians and
Amazons and of the Athenians and Persians, in
the Temples of Minerva and Theseus in Athens,
N 2
180 LECTURE VI.
*
and the Temple of Apollo at Pbigaleia, with
such subjects as the story of Orestes, and the
death of Egysthus, in the ancient basso-re-
lievos.
Of the tender or pathetic, are the Death of
Meleager, Antiope comforted by Zethus and
Amphion ; to which may be added, such Chris-
tian subjects as Michael Angelo's Holy Family
and Charity ; for although these two last are
paintings, their compositions are so perfectly
scriptural, that they may without impropriety
be admitted into the present arrangement.
Another class of subjects are to be observed
among the ancient basso-relievos, which may
be termed the graceful, from the prevalence
of elegant female figures in the pageants of
marine divinities, or in the festive choruses.
The characteristics of Grecian composition
in the best ages, are simplicity and distinct-
ness, in all the examples of painting and sculp-
ture which have come down to us. Where
the story does not require much action, it is
told by gentle movements, and the figures,
COMPOSITION. 181
whether grouped or single, have a sufficient
portion of plain back-ground left about them,
to show the general lines with the forms of the
limbs and draperies perfectly intelligible.
Where complication and force of action
may be required, it is done with a grace of
concatenation which adds continuity to the
act, without causing it to be less distinct. And
in such acts as are all agitation and violence,
the force of striking, the rush of flight, the
agony of dying, and the prostration of the
dead, in which union of action is enforced by
repetition, and difference of situation by con-
trast, still the same distinctness is preserved.
In the great compositions of modern times,
the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo, and the
Fall of the Angels by Rubens, there are multi-
tudes and legions in comparison with the
separate figures and single groups in the most
considerable of the ancient works. The be-
holder is thunderstruck by angels falling in
groups and forked masses, amalgamating in
the vivid flashes, and darkening in the sulphu-
182 LECTURE VI.
rous smoke, in the various dismay, horror,
terror, and torpor of deadened intellect in
their lost condition. In this picture the un-
dulation of figures and groups, the entwining
of limbs, the breadth and quantities of light
and shade may be studied by the painter and
sculptor with equal advantage.
The Last Judgment, by Michael Angelo, is,
however, a more consummate work, and the
parent from which Rubens's Fall of the An-
gels has derived its being.
If the Judgment is inferior to the Falling
Angels in general effect in the breadth of
light and shade the strength of approaching
parts and gradual distance of those which
retreat, by diffusion of middle tint and the
vivid variegations of reflex, it is superior in
the sublimity and extent of character and
action in the gradations of sentiment and
passion, from exalted beatitude to the abyss
of hopeless destruction in the kinds and
species of these degrees, in relations to the
COMPOSITION. 183
theological and cardinal virtues, opposed to
the seven deadly sins, in uncommon, original,
distinct and fit appropriation in the groups or
separate figures. The sentiment of particular
figures and groups is in the whole, and all the
parts penetrating, sympathetic, and true.
Despair plunges headlong downwards, the
fall of the contentious is aided by strife and
blows, the malignant drawn downwards by
the fiends, is tormented in his way by the
biting serpent ; for some there is a terrific con-
test between angels and infernals.*
Among the happy, brotherly love is evident
in three figures which shoot upwards together,
whose faces, seen a little beyond each other,
appear to be reflections of the same self ; seve-
ral rise to the heavenly region by the attrac-
tions of purity, piety, and charity.
In this stupendous work, in addition to the
genius of the mighty master, the mechanical
powers and movements of the figure, its ana-
tomical energy and forms, are shown by such
* See Plate XXXVII.
184 LECTURE VI.
perspective of the most difficult positions, as
surpass any examples left by the ancients on a
flat surface or low relief, and are only to be
equalled in kind, but not in the proportion of
complication, in the front and diagonal views
of the Laocoon, and all the views of the Boxers,
which are both entire groups.
By such observations on these works, so far
as composition and design are common to the
sister arts, the sculptor perceives the scope
and power of his own art.
It is true, that sublime and extensive works
are seldom required in the slow and difficult
process of sculpture ; but he who loves the
honourable exercise of his art, and the intel-
lectual delight of worthy exertion, will endea-
vour to prepare himself for all difficulties : be-
sides, the combinations and particular groups
will be more or less concerned in the studies
of every day ; and as the electric fluid pervades
all matter, so the same spirit and principles
which inform these works, penetrate the whole
study of the human figure.
COMPOSITION. 185
The lines of Grecian composition enchant
the beholder by their harmony and perfection,
and this portion of study seems to have been
highly improved by Pamphilus, the learned
Macedonian painter, who denied that any one
could succeed in the study of painting, without
arithmetic and geometry. The application of
these two sciences is very evident in the arts of
design : by arithmetic, the proportions of the
human figure and other animals are reckoned,
and the quantities of bodies, superficies, or
light and shade ascertained; geometry gives
lines and diagrams for the motion, outline,
and drapery of the figure, regulated by the
harmony of agreeable proportions, or the op-
position of contrast. The effect is evident in
the groups of Laocoon and the Boxers, the
bas-relief of the Niobe family, and that of the
rape of Proserpine ; but this magic bond of
arrangement was utterly lost when the other
perfections of Grecian genius were over-
whelmed in barbarism, nor in any degree re-
covered until late in the resurrection of the
186 LECTURE VI.
arts, and then they were reproduced by the
same means which had discovered, them.
The study of geometry became more gene-
ral, and had been applied with more success
to the improvement of science and art, after
the learned Greeks, who fled from Constan-
tinople, settled in Italy.
Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo
were greedy partakers in this abundant harvest
of knowledge. Michael Angelo* showed his
sensibility to the play of lines in his picture of
the Holy Family, in which the Virgin, sitting
on the ground, receives the infant Jesus, whom
Joseph, stooping behind, presents over her
right shoulder.
Leonardo da Vinci, who had devoted much
time to mechanical and geometrical studies,
composed the Contest for the Standard, intended
to be painted in the great hall of the old palace
of Florence. This was indeed a prodigy in
modern advancement, and the first great ex-
* See Plate XXXVIII.
COMPOSITION. 187
ample of complicated grouping since the arts
flourished in ancient Greece.
Michael Angelo's mind seems at this time to
have been employed on the powers, forms,
and views of the human figure singly, and per-
haps the admirable groups in the ceiling and
Last Judgment of the Sistine Chapel were the
consequence of Leonardo da Vinci's example.
We are sure, the several hunts of the lions,
hippopotamus, and crocodile, were painted by
Rubens in emulation, if not imitation, of
Leonardo's Battle of the Standard ; and such
is their merit, that in them you see the men
strike, the horses kick, the wild animals roar-
ing, turn and rend their hunters, with a gran-
deur of lines equal to the vivacity of action
and passion. In comparing these with similar
subjects in ancient basso-relievos, particularly
with those on the arch of Constantine, in which
Trajan hunts the lion and boar, modern genius
shines with uncommon brilliancy, and Trajan
with his followers, and the animals they attack,
are tame, insipid, and unnatural.
188 LECTURE VI.
In comparing ancient and modern composi-
tions, we shall find the excellence of each was
derived from the systems and moral habits of
the times and countries. The Greeks admired,
encouraged and cultivated personal beauty by
gymnastic exercises and public rewards in the
Olympian meeting of the states ; consequently,
what they admired, they represented. The
most choice selections of countenance and
form, the most elegant display in the folds of
drapery, was seen in their councils of divini-
ties ; in combats and heroic adventures, grace,
elasticity of action and personal courage were
conspicuous.
The modern arts have been more zealously
employed to commemorate the acts and events
of that dispensation which governs their con-
duct, and determines their future condition ;
and even in their celebrations and memorials
of political occurrences, or private characters,
they are always combinations of the moral
virtues, or the influences of providential direc-
COMPOSITION. 189
tion. What has been done, and what may be'
done from such subjects, is proved by Michael
Angelo's Old Testament* and Judgment, in the
Sistine Chapel the Calling of Paul, and the
Martyrdom of Peter, in the Pauline Chapel
the Plagues in the last days of the Church, by
Signorelli, in the Cathedral of Orvieto the
Cartoons of Raphael the scriptural basso-
relievos by John and Nicholas Pisani, Dona-
tello, and Lorenzo Ghiberti. These subjects
are more than sufficient to employ the greatest
human powers, comprehending whatever is
most sublime or beautiful in energy or repose
most tender, most affectionate, most forcible,
or most terrific.
An additional distinction between the sub-
jects of ancient and modern composition is oc-
casioned by parental affection, and domestic
charities, being cherished in the Christian dis-
pensation much more powerfully than in the
Grecian codes : to these graces of benevolence
* See Plate XXXIII.
190 LECTURE VI.
we owe those lovely groups the Holy Families
of Raphael and Gorreggio, and the Charity*
of Michael Angelo, unequalled by any ancient
composition of a mother and children, and one
of the finest groups in existence.
In a discourse on the composition of sculp-
ture, some observations may be expected on
sepulchral monuments and equestrian statues ;
but little need be said concerning them at pre-
sent, because the sculptor capable of pro-
ducing a fine group, or alto-relievo of three or
more figures, need only limit the compass of
his powers, or submit them to architectural
arrangements, and he will execute either one
or the other without difficulty; but let him
always remember, that the entire group, and
the alto or basso-relievo, are the only legiti-
mate sculpture.
All those monuments of the later Italian
school in which entire figures are mingled with
* See Plate XXXIV.
COMPOSITION. 191
those of low relief on pyramidal back-grounds,
are mean attempts to unite the effects and per-
spective of painting, with the force and severity
of sculpture, as ineffectual as injudicious, and
as they partake in the qualities of both arts,
cannot properly be ranked in either.
The sculptor must not forget that his art is
limited in comparison with painting; colours
and their effects are beyond his bound ; whether
the act he represents was performed in the
bright mid-day sunshine or the darkness of
midnight concerns him not, his forms must be
equally perfect, and his expression equally de-
cided. Even basso-relief, a tree or two, some
rude stone, a flat column, or a wall, slightly
marked in the back-ground, must indicate a
forest, a mountain, or a palace, without detail-
ing a portrait of their component parts.
Such are the limits which circumscribe the
sculptor ; but it is a limitation by which he is
in a measure delivered from the restraints of
time and space, which strengthens his powers
by concentration, and by which he is privi-
192 LECTURE VI.
leged to disregard inferior objects for the
human figure, the most perfect of all forms,
with all the gradations of intelligence, affec-
tion, sentiment, action or passion, capable of
being expressed in the human figure, individu-
ally or in numbers, and in the different orders
of being, from the exalted supernatural agent
to the lower degradations which terminate in
brutal nature.
What has been delivered comprises some of
the rules for composing, and observations on
composition, the most obvious, and perhaps
not the least useful. They have been collected
from the best works and the best writings,
examined and compared with their principles
in nature. Such a comprehensive view may
be serviceable to the younger student, in point-
ing his way, preventing error, and showing the
needful materials ; but after all, he must per-
form the work himself! All rules, all critical
discourses, can but awaken the intelligence,
and stimulate the will, with advice and direc-
tions for a beginning of that which is to be
COMPOSITION. 193
done. They may be compared to the scaffold-
ing for raising a magnificent palace ; it is nei-
ther the building nor the decoration, but it is
the workman's indispensable help in erecting
the walls which enclose the apartments, and
which may afterwards be enriched with the
most splendid ornaments.
Every painter and sculptor feels conviction
that a considerable portion of science is requi-
site to the productions of liberal art; but he
will be equally convinced that whatever is pro-
duced from principles and rules only, added to
the most exquisite manual labour, is no more
than a mechanical work ! Sentiment is the life
and soul of fine art ! without, it is all a dead
letter! Sentiment gives a sterling value, an
irresistible charm, to the rudest imagery or
most unpractised scrawl. By this quality a
firm alliance is formed with the affections in all
works of art. With an earnest watchfulness
for their preservation, we are made to perceive
and feel the most sublime and terrific subjects,
o
194 LECTURE VI.
following the course of sentiment through the
current and mazes of intelligence and passion
to the most delicate and tender ties and sym-
pathies of affection ; the benign exertions of
spiritual natures ; the tremendous fall of rebel
angels or Titans ; the immoveable fortitude or
contending energy of patriotism ; the sincerity
of friendship, and the irresistible harmony of
connubial, maternal, fraternal and filial love.
Such effects are produced by the communi-
cation of the artist's own choicest feelings and
faculties, embodied and enforced by the unin-
terrupted and constant observation and imita-
tion of whatever is most strikingly excellent in
nature.
In these discourses on subjects extensive
and various in their relations will be found
many defects, both of matter and example,
and some of these the author is not ashamed to
acknowledge may exist beyond the limits of his
intelligence to perceive, or his power to cor-
rect ; yet he cherishes a hope of removing some
COMPOSITION. 195
of the errors, and adding such improvements as
his abilities permit, with a desire that the lec-
tures on sculpture may in time become a por-
tion not unworthy of the noble theory and plan
of education for the sister Arts, as pursued in
the Royal Academy.
( 196 )
LECTURE VII.
STYLE.
THE introduction to a theory, whether of sci-
ence or art, practical or abstracted, should
contain such a compendious view of the sub-
ject, as will connect all the branches or mem-
bers with the principle on which they depend
for their essential quality, and peculiar charac-
teristic distinction ; so that our view of the
whole should comprehend the parts of which it
is composed, and our inquiries concerning the
parts should be guided and regulated by that
common principle in which they are all united.
This universal and indispensable maxim,
applied to a course of Lectures on Sculpture,
will naturally lead us to some well-known qua-
lity which originates in the birth of the art
itself increases in its growth strengthens in
STYLE. 197
its vigour attains the full measure of beauty
in the perfection of its parent cause and, in
its decay, withers and expires ! Such a qua-
lity will define the stages of its progress, and
will mark the degrees of its debasement ; it
will point out how, and when, proportions
were obtained by measure and calculation
when geometrical figures more simple, or com-
plicated, decided form how the harmony of
lines in composition produce energy by con-
trast, and sympathy by assimilation. Such a
quality immediately determines to our eyes
and understanding, the barbarous attempt of
the ignorant savage the humble labour of the
mere workman the miracle of art conducted
by science, ennobled by philosophy, and per-
fected by the zealous and extensive study of
nature.
This distinguishing quality is understood by
the term Style, in the arts of design. This
term, at first, was applied to poetry, and the
style of Homer and Pindar must have been
familiar long before Phidias or Zeuxis were
198 LECTURE VII.
known ; but, in process of time, as the poet
wrote with his style or pen, and the designer
sketched with his style or pencil, the name of
the instrument was familiarly used to express
the genius and productions of the writer and
the artist ; and this symbolical mode of speak-
ing has continued from the earliest times
through the classical ages, the revival of arts
and letters, down to the present moment,
equally intelligible, and is now strengthened
by the uninterrupted use and authority of
ancients and moderns.
And here we may remark, that as by the
term style we designate the several stages of
progression, improvement, or decline of the
art, so by the same term, and at the same time,
we more indirectly relate to the progress of
the human mind, and states of society; for
such as the habits of the mind are, such will
be the works, and such objects as the under-
standing and the affections dwell most upon, will
be most readily executed by the hands. Thus
the savage depends on clubs, spears and axes
STYLE. 199
for safety and defence against his enemies,
and on his oars or paddles for the guidance of
his canoe through the waters : these, therefore,
engage a suitable portion of his attention, and,
with incredible labour, he makes them the
most convenient possible for his purpose ; and,
as a certain consequence, because usefulness
is a property of beauty, he frequently produces
such an elegance of form, as to astonish the
more civilized and cultivated of his species.
He will even superadd to the elegance of form
an additional decoration in relief on the sur-
face of the instrument, a wave line, a zig-zag,
or the tie of a band, imitating such simple ob-
jects as his wants and occupations render fami-
liar to his observation such as the first twi-
light of science in his mind enables him to com-
prehend. Thus far his endeavours are crowned
with a certain portion of success ; but if he
extend his attempt to the human form, or the
attributes of divinity, his rude conceptions
and untaught mind produce only images of
lifeless deformity, or of horror and disgust.
200- LECTURE VII.
When we consider these weak and inefficient
attempts for a moment, with what astonish-
ment shall we turn to the almost breathing-
statue, whose mimic flesh seems yielding to
the touch ! whose balance alarms with the ex-
pectation of movement ! whose countenance
beams with the sweetest charities of humanity !
In these opposite descriptions we contemplate
the productions of man just emerging from
gross and savage nature, and civilized man,
formed to moral habits, intellectual enjoy-
ments, and delighting to trace the Creator in
his works.
Such is the difference between the beginning
and the perfection of art. To mark this pro-
gress and its gradations is the object of our
present inquiry ; nor will our time be unprofit-
ably employed ; for if, by the characteristics
of style, we can secure land-marks on the road
to excellence, we may avoid the danger of de-
viating into the paths of error.
The characters of style may be properly
arranged under two heads, the Natural and
the Ideal.
STYLE. 201
The Natural Style may be defined thus : a
representation of the human form, according
to the distinctions of sex and age, in action or
repose, expressing the affections of the soul.
The same words may be used to define the
Ideal Style, but they must be followed by this
addition " selected from such perfect exam-
ples as may excite in our minds a conception
of the supernatural/'
By these definitions will be understood, that
the natural style is peculiar to humanity, and
the ideal to spirituality and divinity.
In our pursuit of this subject we are aware
of the propensity to imitation common in all,
by which our knowledge of surrounding ob-
jects is increased, and our intellectual facul-
ties are elevated ; and we consequently find in
most countries attempts to copy the human
figure, in early times, equally barbarous, whe-
ther they were the production of India, Baby-
lon, Germany, Mexico, or Otaheite. They
equally partake in the common deformities of
great heads, monstrous faces, diminutive and
202 LECTURE VII.
mis-shapen bodies and limbs. We shall, how-
ever, say no more of these abortions, as they
really have no nearer connection with style,
than the child's first attempts to write the al-
phabet can claim with the poet's inspiration, or
the argument and description of the orator.
We shall now proceed to mark the charac-
ter, and trace the progress of style, not from
the earliest dawn, but rather from the sun-rise
of human intelligence, when the imitative
faculty is assisted by rule, and corrected by
reflection when the representation partakes,
in some degree, of man's dignity in counte-
nance and figure. In this state we find paint-
ing and sculpture among the Egyptians, whose
application to geometry, and inquiries con-
cerning the animal structure, enabled them to
give a general, though imperfect, proportion
and outline to their figures, whose forms, how-
ever, were more determined by simple geome-
trical lines, than a scrupulous attention to
nature.
Professions in Egypt (as before observed)
STYLE. 203
being hereditary, the son was obliged to follow
the father's occupation, and as the same parti-
cular talent could not be expected through a
series of generations, the painting or sculpture
would have little concern with genius or study :
their productions would be determined by the
family receipt, and the works must be me-
chanical labour, not liberal art.
The proportions of Egyptian figures are
about seven heads in height, in slighter works
of painting and relievo frequently more, the
breadth of the figure agreeing with the height.
The face is generally youthful, even when a
beard, in the form of a peg, is added to the
chin we may suppose intended to signify ad-
vancement in years. The nose, eyes, eye-
brows, mouth, and extended line of the cheeks,
are formed of simpler curves than are usually
seen in nature. The countenances greatly re-
semble each other, and are placid, with a mix-
ture of cunning.
The attitudes of Egyptian statues have little
variety ; if standing, one leg is a little ad-
204 LECTURE VII.
vanced, the arms hang down close to the sides;
sometimes one arm is laid across the breast.
Figures sitting on seats have the legs and
thighs forming right angles in the side view,
and in front the legs are parallel to each other.
Sometimes the figure sits on the ground, with
the legs drawn near the body in parallel lines ;
sometimes the figure is kneeling.
In the historical or allegorical bas-relievos
of the Egyptians, their subjects are composed
in the most evident and common manner, cer-
tainly without artifice or system, on the one
hand, as, on the other, they are devoid of ele-
gance or choice.
The drapery of the Egyptian statues is close,
and seldom interrupted by folds.
The Egyptian animals are superior works of
art to their human statues, and a reason for
this is, that inferior animals are more easily re-
presented.
The style of Egyptian sculpture is simplicity
in the extreme, and the magnitude of their
colossal works is awful ; but the simplicity is
STYLE. 205
so excessive, that one face, and one set of
forms, have extended an universal monotony
of resemblance, as far as possible, through the
differences of age and sex. The surface of the
body and limbs betrays a great ignorance in
the knowledge of the bones, muscles, and ten-
dons, which produce the forms in the surface ;
and, although this people have been celebrated
for their skill in geometry, their basso-relievos
and painted compositions demonstrate that
they had not advanced sufficiently to determine
the balance and motion of the human figure by
the rules of that science.
The Egyptian sculptors astonish us by their
indefatigable labour, but, considered as artists,
they are but beginners ; their works little more
than bodies without souls, the dead letter of
the art, whose purpose was, symbolically, to
deliver an historical fact, a philosophical pre-
cept, or a divine mystery; but never to charm
by life, sentiment, heroic power, or spiritual
beauty.
The Hindu sculpture has been thought to
206 LECTURE VII.
resemble the Egyptian, but the latter nation
has given greater beauty to the countenance,
with a better proportion to the figure, although
some smaller Hindu works of bronze and ivory
have the detail of parts finished with great de-
licacy, and the events of Hindu mythology
have furnished various extraordinary and poet-
ical compositions, more singular and elegant
than has been hitherto seen in the published
antiquities of Egypt.
The arts of design in China have been also
supposed to bear some resemblance to those of
Egypt; but the architecture is wholly different
in character and principle. The sculpture of
the two nations seems to have little in com-
mon ; and whatever painting they practised in
ancient times might be native, or foreign re-
ceived from Greece, but, for centuries past,
we know too much of their intercourse with
Europe not to be sure that their best works
have been matured by foreign instruction.
Having incidentally mentioned the arts of
these two countries in relation to those of
STYLE. 207
Egypt, we will proceed in our inquiries con-
cerning style, by an examination of early works
in Greece.
Fortunately for us, we have a mass of un-
doubted evidence existing, so extensive in its
nature, and yet so perfect in coincidence, as
will excite surprise when we consider the suc-
ceeding tides of destruction it has escaped, and
the long series of ages it has endured.
Homer and Hesiod have introduced us to
so accurate a knowledge of the military, rural
and domestic habits of the heroic ages, and
have distinguished the persons with such pecu-
liar character and life, that we seem to our-
selves acquainted and intimate with the kings,
warriors, judges, elders, husbandmen, and
shepherds ; we are present in their councils,
their encounters for fame and victory ; we
partake in the culture of their fields, and the
abundance of their harvests, and the still, clear
evening: with them we watch the sky, the
Hyades, the Pleiades, Orion's strength, the
Bear, and all the glittering stars which crown
the heavens !
208 LECTURE VII.
We are now familiar with the plans and
military architecture of Mycenae,* Argos, the
Cyclopian works, the dominion and residence
of Agamemnon and his ancestors, as published
by Sir William Gell, but previously discovered
and drawn by M. Fauvel, the French consul
in Athens.
Another source of information concerning
Greek style and design will be found in the
painted vases, and early coins of the country :
the numerous collections of vases published by
Sir William Hamilton, Millin, Millingen, Sec.
form an endless treasure to the artist and the
antiquary, supplying every species of example
and illustration.
Coincident and satisfactory information con-
cerning early Greece expands in proportion
with the progress of that people towards the
high rank they occupied among the nations of
antiquity. Their theologists, philosophers,
poets, statesmen, mathematicians, anatomists,
and artists, have left unerring guides in their
* See Plate XIV.
STYLE. 209
writings and monuments, for us to trace the
steps by which they reached excellence, and
by that means to determine the different styles
and characters of their works.
We may in this place repeat a popular ob-
servation, that the institutions and climate of
Greece were equally favourable to personal
beauty, and consequently to the study of paint-
ing and sculpture ; for as the genial sunshine
and mild breezes rendered light clothing re-
quisite, and in some cases rejected the incum-
brance wholly, the body and limbs being com-
monly seen, naturally led to the contempla-
tion of form in the human figure, and compari-
son of beauty in the parts between one subject
and another.
The Pentathlon, or five Olympic games, of
wrestling, boxing, throwing the quoit, running,
and riding one or more horses at full speed,
engaged all the noble youth of Greece in the
honourable contest, and improved the powers
of the body and limbs by the force of exertion.
Of what importance this power and beauty of
210 LECTURE VII.
person, accompanied by such dexterity and agi-
lity, was to the possessor, we are informed by
the consequences : a conqueror in one of the
games was honoured as if he returned from
the conquest of foreign enemies crowned with
olive drawn to the city in a chariot by four
horses and a breach was made in the wall for
his entrance ; his statue was erected in the
sacred wood, and the most celebrated poet
sang his praises. He that obtained the prize
three times, was complimented with a statue,
the portrait of his face, and the particular
lineaments of his figure. Among the celebra-
tions of this kind were verses which hail the
conqueror by name, with the epithet of KaXof,
the Beautiful ; and, indeed, the sublimest of
their philosophers do not fail in their dis-
courses, with a pious reverence, to refer this
beauty to a correspondent spiritual beauty in
the divine source of all perfection. So was
the beauty of the human form esteemed in
Greece, and such the motives from which it
was cultivated !
STYLE. 211
We may observe in this place, that Grecian
art began where Egyptian art ended.
The Egyptian statuaries were laborious
mechanics ; their works were lifeless forms,
menial vehicles of an idea, or the fixed slaves
of uniformity in a temple or a palace.
In Greece, painting and sculpture were
liberal arts : they were studied by the noblest
and best-educated persons ; they were im-
proved by the accumulation of science ; they
were employed to excite and celebrate virtue
and excellence ; and, finally, to exalt the mind
of the beholder to the contemplation of divine
qualities and attributes.
Neither our present limits nor the intention
of this Academy, permits us to extend our in-
quiries beyond a rational theory to regulate
the study of design ; but strictly within these
limits we may observe, that in whatever in-
stances the institutions of Greece cultivated
and rendered more powerful the virtuous ex-
ertions of mind and body, the arts of design
also were animated by their beneficial effects,
p 1 2
212 LECTURE VII.
to a degree which surpassed the other nations
of antiquity, and has laid a foundation of prin-
ciples and practice for all succeeding ages.
We shall now endeavour to trace the cha-
racters of style which marked the distinct
periods of Grecian art.
The early statues strongly resemble the
Egyptian in attitude, in form, in want of out-
line and anatomical distinction ; they have
also nearly the same expression of counte-
nance.
The compositions on painted vases immedi-
ately succeeding this period offer little variety
of subject : the encounter of Theseus and
the Minotaur, the duel of Eteocles and Poly-
nices, Hercules strangling the lion, and to
these may be added Bacchanalian dances.
The drawing of the figure, as well as the
choice of subjects, indicates the state of society ;
the compressed abdomen and spare limbs
prove habits of activity in war and the race ;
the Bacchanalian dances show the introduction
of mysteries and pageants in an increasing
STYLE. 213
polytheism, and both seem perfectly consistent
with the manners of the early inhabitants of
fortified cities.
The early arts of Greece were interrupted
in their progress by a succession of political
commotions and destructive wars, and we
scarcely perceive any improvement in them
until the time of the Seven Sages, of Pytha-
goras and Esop, who were all contemporaries,
about 130 years before Phidias. They in-
creased the intellectual light of their country
by foreign travel and laborious study, they re-
formed the laws and morals, improved science
and the useful arts of astronomy, geometry,
numbers, harmony, and medicine, including
the animal structure and economy. Their
philosophy taught a purer system of divinity
and providence, and the works of the poets
were made known in public libraries.
The benign influence of such advantages
was felt in the arts of design, and prepared
them for that beauty and perfection with
which they were subsequently graced in the
214 LECTURE VII.
times of Pericles, Alexander and his succes-
sors.
The works of the age we are now speaking
of embraced a greater variety of subjects, in
composition more copious ; the Bacchanalian
dances were in greater number, the labours of
Hercules, Nessus and Dejanira, processions
of the gods, and acts in the Theban war.
Pausanias describes the chest; of Cypselus,
Tyrant of Corinth, covered with a great num-
ber of heroic stories in relief.
Although the Grecian sculpture was con-
siderably advanced after the age of the seven
wise men, some of the old barbarism still re-
mained. Much of the ancient face and figure
continued. In painting and bas-relief the
faces were profiles, whatever might be the
position of the figure. The limbs were dis-
torted, because the artist was unacquainted
with the structure of the joint, and the lines of
its perspective. The breasts, general curves
of the ribs on each side of the thorax, the
bend of the arms, and a small projection for
STYLE. 215
the knee-pan, were the chief, and almost the
only indications of bone and muscle. That
infinite variety of compounded lines requisite
to draw or carve the features of the face, in
any even the most common views, were
beyond the skill of these times. They, there-
fore, substituted the easier method of making
the eyes, nose, and mouth, of nearly simple
curves, whose extremities turned upwards in
the same direction. Simple geometrical forms
were equally employed in the folds of drapery
parallel curves across the body or limbs
perpendicular parallels in falling drapery, and
zig-zags, like reversed steps, for the edges of
the drapery. Thus in the early efforts of
design, geometrical formality supplied the
place of the ever- vary ing forms in nature.
In compositions which required an increased
number of figures, two were seldom grouped;
and when this was done, the group was fre-
quently awkward, and sometimes impractica-
ble. In the course of this period, however,
the figure was better drawn, the parts were
216 LECTURE VII.
more defined ; and on a nearer approach to the
age of Phidias, there were some attempts to
distinguish between divinity and mortality.
The early arts above described, represented
the persons and habits of a race chiefly occu-
pied in the exercises of war and hunting, agri-
culture and the care of flocks and herds, living
in the open air, and defending themselves from
their enemies by impregnable fortifications on
rocks ; their arts consisting in the fabrication
of instruments for agriculture and war, the
architectural construction of walls and citadels,
to which may be added potter's vessels for
domestic use and sacred offices, on which they
indulged the more intellectual powers, by
tracing heroic traditions and religious proces-
sions.
The Doric simplicity in this style of art, is
imposing from its determined expression, and
awful by an uncommon and barbarous cha-
racter. The processions consist of uniform
repetitions, their actions are violent, stiff and
angular oppositions : but these being faithfully
STYLE. 217
transcribed from the grosser appearances of
human character, expression and action, laid
a sure, though rude, foundation of principles,
for the superstructure of excellence afterwards
raised on them by succeeding improvements.
From the age of Pericles, to the death of
Alexander the Great, Greece was the focus
of admiration to the world. Greece destroyed
the Persian power, the terror of all nations !
Nor was the mental progression of this people
less admirable than their military achieve-
ments their science was extended and en-
larged by the succession of their wise men
their philosophers taught more distinctly and
publicly the doctrine of a Deity, and the sub-
ordinate agencies of his providence throughout
the visible and invisible universe. Their poets
harmonized their minds by numbers, and en-
riched their imaginations by presenting the
range of whatever is sublime and beautiful in
visible nature or mental abstraction.
Such was the spirit of patriotism, that the
richest citizens did not endeavour to exceed
218
LECTURE VII.
others in the magnificence of their houses or
tables, but employed their wealth for the secu-
rity and defence of their country, and in raising
noble public buildings and works for the ser-
vice of religion, and in honour of public and
private virtue.
We shall not be surprized, that in a period
of such combinations, two works of sculpture
were produced, which are numbered among
the seven wonders of the world,* the Olympian
Jupiter, by Phidias, and the Colossus of
Rhodes. These were equal in size to the most
enormous Egyptian statues, but they resembled
them only in bulk and prodigious height.
The Olympian Jupiter and the Colossus of
the Sun, appeared to be animated and intelli-
gent, not with the life and intelligence of man,
but of supernatural existence, whose finished
beauty and wondrous majesty seemed immortal.
The magnificence of this period-f furnished
two other works likewise enumerated among
the seven wonders, to which the great sculp-
* See Plate XX.
t The great Pyramid and Sphinx of Memphis.
STYLE. 219
tors added the most admired decorations ; but
as these works were architectural, we shall
return to our subject, the style of sculpture.
Quintilian's " Twelfth Book of Institutions"
presents a compendious view of the progres 1 -
sive improvements of style in painting and
sculpture in the following passage.
" The first of those whose works attracted
notice, not for the sake of antiquity only, were
Polygnotus and Aglaaphon. famous painters,
so studious of the simple colour, that they could
be considered only as rude beginners, and the
first that made essays towards the production
of future art, especially compared with Zeuxis
and Parrhasius, who followed soon after. The
first of these discovered the rules for light and
shadow, and the latter is said to have been
more accurate in the examination of his lines.
For Zeuxis enlarged the body and limbs ; fol-
lowing Homer, who was pleased with power-
ful forms, even in women ; but Parrhasius so
circumscribed all, that he was called the Legis-
lator, because the figures of the gods and
220 LECTURE VII.
heroes, as delivered by him, were followed by
others as if from necessity/'
Painting flourished particularly from the
time of Philip to the successors of Alexander,
but in divers qualities by the care of Proto-
genes by the rules of Pamphilus and Melan-
thius by the facility of Antiphilus by the
imagination of Theon the Samian, and from
the genius and grace with which he was en-
dowed, Apelles was the most excellent.
Euphranor caused himself to be admired,
being among the most distinguished for the
best studies, and at the same time a wonderful
painter and sculptor.
There was a like difference in the statues :
the more hard, approaching the Tuscan style,
were by Galon and Egesius; the less rigid by
Calamis; the more soft than those already
mentioned (that is to say, more resembling
flesh) were by Miron. Polycletus excelled
the others in diligence and decorum, and al-
though the palm was given to him by many,
yet something was to be deducted because he
STYLE.
was deficient in gravity; for as he added a
grace to the human form beyond the truth, so
he seemed not to have fulfilled the authority of
the gods, and as he was said to have avoided
the more important age, he presumed only to
engage in lighter subjects. But the qualities
wanting in Polycletus were given to Phidias
and Alcamenes. The works of Phidias are
unrivalled, even if he had done nothing but the
Athenian Minerva,* or the Olympian Jove in
Elis. In this, the Homeric divinity was per-
sonified with a beauty of majesty, beyond which
human intellect did not extend. Minerva, the
type of divine wisdom and power, both to the
philosopher and common votary, manifested
the charms of celestial youth with the expres-
sion of severe virtue. These determined the
acknowledged apparent forms of these divini-
ties, from which no painter or sculptor after-
wards presumed greatty to deviate. The coun-
tenances, figures and attributes of all the other
7 O
divinities in Homer, were soon after de-
* See Plates XIX. XX. and XXI.
LECTURE VII.
cided by Phidias and his successors, whose
laws became immutable, and were submitted
to with willingness, until the darkness of poly-
theism was dispersed by the sacred light of
the Gospel.
Yet with this pious reflection in our hearts,
we cannot avoid pausing to dwell on the ex-
quisite beauty of the ancient sculpture. The
choice of the most perfect forms countenances
expressive of the most elevated dispositions of
mind and innocence of character the limbs
and bodies, examples of manly grace and
strength, or female elegance youth and beauty,
in all their varieties and combinations in per-
fection : indeed, we must believe, when we look
on those forms, so purified from grossness and
imperfection, that if we could see angels and
divine natures, they would resemble these.
The improvements of this and the following
ages, were not confined to determination of
character, selection of form, harmony of pro-
portion, or whatever else most perfect may be
conceived in the individual divinity or hero ;
STYLE. 223
they were extended through the various
branches of association, and the noble com-
position of Mycon, a sculptor and painter
rather anterior to Phidias, of the fight between
the Lapithae and Centaurs in the Temple of
Theseus, with compositions by Phidias on the
shield of Minerva, and on the throne of the
Olympian Jupiter, embodied the Homeric
theology and heroism, by examples which have
generated or afforded principles for the subse-
quent efforts of painting and sculpture.
This will be the proper place to notice a
subject which has caused much discussion, and
generally been decided against the ancients,
although a living author, M. Quatremere de
Quinci, has defended the ancients with much
learning and ingenuity, in an elaborate work.
The practice here alluded to, is colouring
statues, and thus uniting painting and sculp-
ture.
Without regarding the arguments that have
been used on either side of this question, let
224- LECTURE VII.
us try the merits ourselves with unprejudiced
minds, and decide from the conviction of
natural evidence only.
We certainly know that the arts of painting
and sculpture are different in their essential
properties. Painting exists by colours only,
and form is the peculiarity of sculpture ; but
there is a principle common to both, in which
both are united, and without which neither
can exist and this is drawing; and in the
union of light, shadow, and colour, sculpture
may be seen more advantageously by the chill
light of a winter's day, or the warmer tints of
a midsummer sun, according to the solemnity
or cheerfulness of the subject. These positions
will be generally agreed to, but the question
before us is, " How far was Phidias successful
in adding colours to the sculpture of the Athe-
nian Minerva and the Olympian Jove?" which
examples were followed by succeeding artists.
We have all been struck by the resemblance
of figures in coloured wax-work to persons in
fits, and therefore such a representation is par-
STYLE. 225
ticularly proper for the similitude of persons
in fits, or the deceased: but the Olympian
Jupiter and Athenian Minerva were intended
to represent those who were superior to death
and disease. They were believed immortal,
and therefore the stillness of these statues hav-
ing the colouring of life during the time the
spectator viewed them, would appear divinity
in awful abstraction or repose. Their stupen-
dous size, alone, was supernatural ; and the
colours of life without motion, increased the
sublimity of the statue, and the terror of the
pious beholder. The effect of the materials
which composed these statues has also been
questioned. The statues themselves (accord-
ing to the information of Aristotle, in his book
concerning the world) were made of stone,
covered with plates of ivory, so fitted together
that, at the distance requisite for seeing them,
they appeared one mass of ivory, which has
much the tint of delicate flesh. The ornaments
and garments were enriched with gold, coloured
metals, and precious stones.
Q
226 LECTURE VII.
Gold ornaments on ivory are equally splen-
did and harmonious, and in such colossal forms
must have added a dazzling glory, like electric
fluid running over the surface, the figure, cha-
racter, and splendor, must have had the ap-
pearance of an immortal vision in the eyes of
the votary.
But let us attend to the judgment passed
on these works by the ancients : we have
already quoted Quintilian, who says, " they
appear to have added something to religion,
the work was so worthy of the divinity/'
Plato says, " the eyes of Minerva were of
precious stones," and immediately adds, " Phi-
dias was skilful in beauty." Aristotle calls
him " the wise sculptor." An opinion pre-
vailed that Jupiter had revealed himself to
Phidias, and the statue was said to have been
touched with lightning in approbation of the
work. After these testimonies, there seems
no doubt remaining of the effect produced by
these coloured statues ; but the very reasons
which prove that colours in sculpture may
STYLE. 227
have the effect of supernatural vision, fits, or
death, prove at the same time that such prac-
tice is utterly improper for general representa-
tion of the human figure : because, as the tints
of carnation in nature are consequences of cir-
culation, wherever the colour of flesh is seen
without motion, it resembles only death, or
suspension of the vital powers.
Let not this application of colours, however,
in the instances of the Jupiter and Minerva,
be considered as a mere arbitrary decision of
choice or taste in the sculptor, to render his work
agreeable in the eyes of the beholder. It was
produced by a much higher motive. It was
the desire of rendering these stupendous forms
living and intelligent, to the astonished gaze
of the votary, and to confound the sceptical
by a flash of conviction, that something of
divinity resided in the statues themselves.
The practice of painting sculpture seems to
have been common to most countries, particu-
larly in the early and barbarous states of so-
ciety. But whether we look on the idols of the
228 LECTURE VII.
South Seas, the Etruscan painted sculpture
and terra cotta monuments, or the recumbent
coloured statues on tombs of the middle ages,
we shall generally find the practice has been
employed to enforce superstition, or preserve
an exact similitude of the deceased.
These, however, are in themselves perverted
purposes. The real ends of painting, sculp-
ture, and all the other arts, are to elevate the
mind to the contemplation of truth, to give the
judgment a rational determination, and to
represent such of our fellow men as have been
benefactors to society, not in the deplorable
and fallen state of a lifeless and mouldering
corpse, but in the full vigour of their faculties
when living, or in something correspondent to
the state of the good received among the just
made perfect.
As the consideration of painted sculpture
cannot really be entitled to any place in the
progress of style, we will return to our legiti-
mate subject.
The British Museum contains such noble
STYLE. 229
relics of the Temple of Minerva, as enables
us to understand the sublime conception of
composition which filled the pediment, the
heroic contest of the Lapithae and Centaurs in
the Metops, and the animated men and horses
in the Panathenaic procession of the frieze.
It is the peculiar character and praise of
Phidias's style, that he represented gods better
than men. As this sculptor determined the
visible idea of Jupiter, his successors employed
a hundred years on the forms of the inferior
divinities. This must, therefore, be denomi-
nated the sublime era of sculpture.
Numerous were the painters and sculptors
of renown, and numerous were their celebrated
works between the time of Pericles and Phi-
dias, and the death of Alexander the Great.
During this time, the individual characters of
the different divinities, were not only repre-
sented in the supposed period of adult perfec-
tion, but also in infancy and youth, with all
the varieties of countenance and form be-
coming their various offices and ministries.
230 LECTURE VII.
The different Bacchuses from early infancy,
when he was delivered by Mercury to the
nymphs, when a beautiful youth of almost
feminine delicacy, supported by a muse, and
leader of their chorus. He is also represented
with a more masculine person, as a conqueror,
or the giver of poetical inspiration, until he
becomes the venerable and bearded philosopher
in the sacred mysteries, teaching the immor-
tality of the soul, transmigration, with the
ascent and descent to Hades, or the lower
world. The same establishment of character
under all circumstances prevailed in Apollo,
Mercury, and the other deities, male and
female.
During this era the Venus of Praxiteles* ap-
peared, the most admired female statue of all
antiquity, whose beauty is as perfect as it is
elevated, and as innocent as perfect; from
which the Medicean Venus seems but a dete-
riorated variety.
* See Plato XXII.
STYLE. 231
Whoever desires a more detailed account of
the works of these ages, will be gratified by
consulting Pliny, Pausanias, and the published
galleries and museums of ancient sculpture
and painting.
In the times we speak of, every possible
perfection was added to the sister arts that
rival and accumulated talent could reach. In
the characters of countenance, every gradation
from simple beauty to sublime dignity the
same gradation in form, from the most slender
and elegant, to the most powerful and massy
the attitudes the most choice, and the flesh
seemingly yielding to the touch. The drapery
in form and folds showed or indicated the
body and limbs most advantageously, by play-
ing round the outline in harmony or contrast,
or giving additional effect by the projection of
strong shades.
The earlier productions of this era were dis-
tinguished by a Doric severity of style, which
raised the subject above the level of general
nature, and beyond its bounds. The geome-
232 LECTURE VII.
trical simplicity of form was ideal ; the cha-
racter was decided, and the sentiment was
single ; of this class is the group of Niobe and
her youngest daughter. A less severity of style
is in the Apollo Belvidere. The most easy
sway of motion, and the most delicate ap-
proaches to nature are observable in the statues
of Venus, the Cupid, Faun, and Bacchus, of
Praxiteles.
Busts and statues (portraits of individual
persons) were not generally permitted, until
near the time of the death of Socrates ; and as
this practice, once introduced, became popular
and extensive under the successors of Alex-
ander the Great, it was an additional stimulus
to the study of the human figure in detail,
and thus as the art departed from ideal sub-
limity, it partook in the peculiarities of nature.
It descended to the intelligible, and became a
stronger resemblance of the human race.
When Greece became provincial to the
Romans, they indeed suffered a political sub-
jection to their conquerors: but in return, the
STYLE. 233
Romans were mental colonists to the Greeks,
and received from them philosoplry, science,
" literature and arts. Grecian genius continued
its admirable productions under the Roman
emperors. The fine groups of Menelaus and
Patrocles, Haemon and Antigone, Pretus and
Arria, Orestes and Electra, the Toro Far-
nese, or Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to
the bull's horns, and the Laocoon, were between
the later years of the Roman republic, and the
time of the last Caesars. To these may be
added the beautiful examples of composition
in basso-relievo, from Homeric mythology and
ancient tragedy, among the latest productions
of genuine Grecian sculpture. We shall not
dwell on the pediments, arches, imperial
statues, consular portraits, gems, and coins,
executed by the ingenious Greek, to swell the
impious pride, and gratify the ignorant vanity
of his rapacious master in the latter ages of
the empire.
Then, sublimity and beauty, the essence of
the ancient Grecian works, had, like justice
234 LECTURE VII.
and modesty, quitted the earth, and returned
to the family of the immortals in heaven, to
avoid the horrors of an iron age.
The Roman lust of dominion, avarice, and
cruelty, had long provoked the remoter objects
of their tyranny, the Goths, Vandals, Panno-
nians, Dacians, and Scythians, who at last
poured the torrent of destruction back on the
oppressors, levelling cities and their hosts in
one fearful ruin, leaving only desolation and
barbarism behind them. The schools of phi-
losophy and literature in Athens ceased ; those
of Alexandria were destroyed and abandoned.
The age of lead succeeded.
Painting and sculpture, under the Goths
and Lombards, instead of exalting the intellect
by the contemplation of beauty, heroic and
divine, burlesqued the human figure by such
clumsy and absurd forms, as could scarcely be
supposed to be intended for man. Such was
the state of art from the seventh to the eleventh
century in Europe. The arts, however, were
not to be wholly obliterated ; for there is that
STYLE, 235
inherent connection between the mind of man
and progressive knowledge, that to deprive
him entirely of the means of becoming wiser,
and exercising his ingenuity, would be to take
from him his rationality, and brutalize him at
once ! Besides, information and true science
are given us as the means of rising from the
ruins of fallen nature to higher intelligence
and greater happiness : the preservation of
arts and letters was therefore provided for in
a wonderful manner, as appendages to religion,
and handmaids in the dispensation of the Gos-
pel. When Constantine the Great transferred
the seat of empire from Rome to Constan-
tinople, the arts had much declined in the
former city, although they still preserved a
great portion of their vigour in Greece. The
emperor employed the arts of painting and
sculpture in an abundance of magnificent
Christian decorations for his new capital, and
the churches he built in it. This was the
foundation for a stock of Christian art, which
supplied the different countries of Europe after
236 LECTURE VII.
the barbarous inundations from the north had
subsided, and assisted in raising the fallen arts
of Italy, until the mighty genius of Michael
Angelo shone forth in the unrivalled Sistine
Chapel, whose interests and terrors, sublimity,
beauty, and power of grouping, combined in
the comprehension of sacred subjects, excels
all we know, as a whole, in ancient or modern
art.
( 237 )
LECTURE VIII.
DRAPERY.
AFTER considering the powers, character, and
sentiment of the human figure, as expressed in
its forms, we may next proceed to its clothing,
more especially with a view to those plaits and
folds whose lines contrast or vary the lines of
the body they cover twine round the limbs-
hang in downward curves from one projecting
point to another increase boldness of effect
by additional projection or vary the undula-
tions of the figure by the fall of zig-zag edges,
which is understood by the term Drapery in
the arts of design.
Drapery, as a medium through which the
human figure is intelligible, may be compared
with speech, by which the idea of thought is
238 LECTURE VIII.
perceived. Dignity is expressed by simplicity,
grandeur, and quantity ; action by exertion
'and succession; grace by those gentle and
harmonious undulations peculiar to all the
efforts of this quality, and which are inspired
by the most grateful and soothing dispositions
of the soul. This consistency of the original
image with its outward appearance, is proper
and decorous, and cannot be violated without
inflicting the shock of absurdity and folly ; for
as the noblest thought would be degraded by
low and unbecoming speech, so would the
person of a legislator or a prophet by the dress
of a buffoon or a bacchanal !
This introduction of our subject is intended
to inform the younger student that drapery
will form an important branch of his future
study : it will add to the character of his figures,
and give additional interest to sentiment and
situation ; it will not bear neglect, or slight, like
articles of furniture or back-ground, which, as
they are utterly separated from the pathos of
DRAPERY. 239
sublime composition, can scarcely deserve any
share of his attention.
We will begin with an inquiry into the prin-
ciples upon which the folds of drapery are
formed ; we will consider the difference of the
finer and the heavier draperies offer some
critical observations on the clothing of different
countries, as useful or advantageous to the
human form and produce examples to illus-
trate the discourse.
Drapery, like all other natural bodies, is
subject to the laws of gravity and motion, by
which it is affected according to its lightness
or weight, strength or weakness, the repose or
action of the wearer, and the force of wind :
it is affected by these causes simply or com-
plexly, as it may be acted on by their sepa-
rate or united force.
The most simple forms of drapery are pro-
duced by the weight of the cloth itself, hanging
from the most projecting points of the figure,
240 LECTURE VIII.
and forms a pointed arch reversed. A succes-
sion of such folds, broken into various lengths,
and opposed in their diagonal forms, are among
the boldest and most beautiful effects of dra-
pery. These folds again become more com-
plicated by twisting, and by which they will be
partly suspended by the body or limbs over
which they are drawn. The varieties produced
in the folds, from suspension, are multiplied
and altered according to the portion of the
figure they pass over, and according to the
fineness and thickness of the cloth.
A full cloak, fastened round the neck, tied
in front, and falling without interruption from
the arms, will present nearly plain surfaces in
every view a little flattened sometimes on the
bend of the back, and distinguished in front
by the meeting of the strait edges.
The same garment, still fuller in its quality,
under the same circumstances, falls into a
number of perpendicular folds. The same
cloak, raised by one arm, will be divided by
diagonal folds, inverted in their arches, op-
DRAPERY. 241
posed in direction, and connected by joints.
The folds of this simplest of garments will be
further varied and complicated, by throwing
one side of the cloak over the opposite arm, by
various positions of the hands, and by every
other circumstance of interruption and rest,
opposed to the natural weight of the folds.
We will now consider the mechanical struc-
ture of the drapery by the simple lines of the
folds as their principles.
1st. The perpendicular fold,* hanging from
one point.
2d. The succession of diagonal folds, fall-
ing from each other, hanging from two points,
and which may be varied to a beautiful in-
finity : for example, falling from the two points
of the shoulders in the hollow of the back
from the two shoulders over the projection of
the breast and abdomen falling from one
shoulder and from the lower arm, making the
* See Plates XLII. and XLIII.
II
242 LECTURE VIII.
principal folds below the elbow and each of
these again by every change of position and
motion.
3d. The cascade of diagonal forms produced
by the edges when diagonally folded towards
the extremity.
These three classes, although exemplified in
the cloak, contain the principles of all folds,
however produced, in all garments and drape-
ries modified by twisting enlarging the di-
rection to more circular forms, bv the force of
7 /
wind or the succession of waving projections
in the lower extremities of a garment, agitated
by the motion of the feet in running.
We will now pursue the subject in an in-
quiry concerning the modification of folds, in
such garments as are closed, or fitted to the
form of the body.
Those garments called tunics by the Romans,
nearly resemble the country or waggoners'
frocks in their form. Some are longer, reach-
DRAPERY. 243
ing to the ankles some fuller, having an
abundance of folds others scanty, discovering
a more uninterrupted outline of the figure,
with more breadth of light and shade, and
fewer intersections of their own folds. These
have sometimes larger, sometimes smaller
sleeves sometimes reaching the elbow, some-
times the wrist and sometimes they are with-
out sleeves. When the tunic is made of thin
woollen or calico, its folds take their rise
from the breast, and fall directly to the feet,
and there will be diverted into different playful
forms, as it rests on them, or is altered by their
motion.
If this garment is confined round the smaller
part of the figure by a girdle, the folds will be
of the inverted-arch kind, arising from the
shoulders, and, below the girdle, they will fall
in perpendicular masses of folds over the lower
limbs, when the figure is not in action, or pre-
paring for action.
The sleeves, if full, will begin with folds
falling from the shoulders before and behind,
244 LECTURE VIII.
but these folds will be widened and changed
into cross folds at the bend of the arm, and
continue crossing the lower arm, more or less
diagonally, to its termination at the wrist.
The folds become more or less diagonally
spiral from the body if the arm is turned out-
ward, and toward the body if the arm is turned
inward. The folds on the back of the lower
arm owe the upper portion of their direction
to union with, or separation from, a projecting
knobbed fold at the elbow. The same princi-
ples of folding on the arms will govern all co-
verings, from the fullest and most redundant, to
the straitest and most exactly fitted to the
limb and, therefore, will preclude the neces-
sity of saying more on this part of the subject.
Concerning the finer and more transparent
draperies used by the ancients, their texture,
and consequently their folds, strongly resem-
bled our calico muslin, and are peculiar to the
more elegant and delicate female characters
of Grecian sculpture the nymphs, terrestrial,
DRAPERY. 245
marine, and bacchanalian victories, seasons
or hours, and celestial female messengers.*
The more transparent of these draperies
leave the forms and outline of the person as
perfectly intelligible as if no covering were in-
terposed between the eye and the object, and
the existence of the veil is only understood by
groups of small folds collected in the hollows
between the body and limbs, or playing in
curves and undulations on the bolder parts,
adding the magic of diversity to the charm of
beauty.
We will next consider the effect of motion
upon drapery: such motion is here intended
as the garment partakes in, or is propelled
from the wearer's movement only.
As soon as a limb is moved from a perpen-
dicular towards a horizontal direction, the dra-
pery hanging on it changes the forms of its
* See Plates XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIV. XLV.
XLVI. and XLVII.
246 LECTURE VIII.
folds. The perpendicular folds bend by their
weight into a curve, from the impulse of mo-
tion, or change from perpendicular to the in-
verted arch, the strongest portion of the fold
depending from the stronger of the two sup-
porters, whether it be that part of the person
which is in rest, or that in motion. This is
more particularly seen in the cloak or loose
upper garment, but the principle is evident in
all drapery worn by the human figure : as, for
example, the lower portion of a tunic falls in
perpendicular folds from the greatest projec-
tion in front of the figure, becomes curved,
clinging in the lower extremities to the un-
moved leg, until that limb is set forward, when
the same change is produced on the other side ;
and this effect is still more evident in running,
when the curved folds, at last, become hori-
zontal, at right angles with the limbs.
* o o
Motion of the figure affects the whole mass
of drapery about the body ; the folds are most
interrupted and broken on the side moved in
shortest space, as the curves are most lengthened
DRAPERY. 247
on the side moved in a greater extent, and
they are twisted most diagonally where there
is the greatest power of motion.
Upon the legs, the folds change from down-
right to long curves, in walking or running,
alternately as one leg or the other is set for-
ward. The greater quantity of folds naturally
falls in the hollow spaces, and in quick mo-
tion the heavier portion of folds are left behind
the figure by their own weight, in a diagonal
curve, from the point on which they are sup-
ported.
We will now consider a cause of motion in
drapery entirely independent of the figure by
which it is worn : this is, wind, whose effects
are more seen in those parts of the garment
extended beyond the outline of the figure ; and
to obtain the more accurate idea of the man-
ner in which it acts on drapery, we should ob-
serve its effects on flexible and fluent bodies in
general.
The wind blowing on water, by pressure on
a small portion of the fluid nearest, forces it
248 LECTURE VIII.
into a wave, from resistance of a body of water,
not affected by the wind, on the other side of
it: or thus, the wind blowing obliquely on
water, is resisted by the mass beneath, until
the surface is raised into a wave, which, bend-
ing over the wave before it, falls by the laws of
gravitation into the surface again. There is a
propensity to the same forms and successions
in clouds of the sky, and dust of the ground
driven before the wind ; and from the same
causes.
The pendant, or streamer, hanging from the
top of a mast, is driven by the wind in the
same direction, and may be represented by the
same section as a succession of waves on the
water.
Progressive movement of the figure changes
the perpendicular of falling folds into undula-
tions. This is more evident as the motion is
quicker : but the wind undulates all draperies ;
when moderate, the undulation is diagonal,
and when violent, it is horizontal.
DRAPERY. 249
Examples might be easily produced far ex-
ceeding our present purpose, which is to lay
down the principles of study, not to circumvent
the composer, or tempt the unwary, by daring
and far-sought examples, into a devious attach-
ment to the preposterous and incredible. Sim-
plicity, beauty, dignity, affection, and passion,
employ the general contemplations and efforts
of the sister arts with most success. We must
remember, as in the Bacchic processions of
antiquity, " Many carry the thyrsus, but few
are inspired by the gods."
If any one, however, determines to go be-
yond his competitors in the extraordinary, the
wonderful, or the sublime, let him first be as-
sured he possesses powers equal to the under-
taking, or the certain consequences will be
vapour and extravagance only.
These Lectures have continually referred to
examples of Grecian painting and sculpture
for illustration, as to the most perfect pro-
ductions of imitative art, and have never en-
250 LECTURE VIII.
gaged in classical inquiry, or criticism, further
than was absolutely requisite to understand our
subject as painters and sculptors : the reason
for which is plain our studies and our em-
ployments are directed to the form and senti-
ment of the human figure ; for this reason,
therefore, we shall at present leave all inquiry
concerning the names and forms of particular
ancient garments, to Montfaucon, Winckel-
man, the Notes on the Herculaneum Museum,
and other professed writers of antiquity ; whilst
we only notice such garments as exhibit the
human figure most advantageously give dig-
nity to its character enrich its particular
forms by flowing lines or harmonize in its
sentiment and actions.
Of all garments, the cloak is the simplest,
being only a large square cloth laid on the
person, or thrown round the figure, according
to the wearer's convenience. It belongs to the
most grave and dignified characters, philoso-
phers, apostles, and prophets. Its simple form
DRAPERY. ;>51
is well suited to such as give small attention to
worldly objects, and whose thoughts are wholly
engrossed by the cultivation of virtue and
truth ! The boldness of its folds adds an im-
posing grandeur to the venerable wearer ; they
agree with the profound research of the philo-
sopher, or the irresistible mission of the evan-
gelist or prophet. Of this class is the Greek
pallium, worn by philosophers : the women
also had a garment of this kind, made of a
lighter cloth.
The military cloak of the Greeks and Ro-
mans was fastened with a button on the right
shoulder ; it reached little below the knees,
and was not so full as the pallium,.
The tunic of the Romans was called chiton
by the Greeks : its form (as before observed)
was like a waggoner's frock, and reached the
ankles; but when the wearer prepared for
labour, or a journey, he tied on his girdle,
drew the upper part of his tunic over it,
shortening it to the knee, and thus allowed
free motion to the legs.
252 LECTURE VIII.
The tunic of the female reached the feet,
whether girded or not, the material of which
it was made being more delicate than that
worn by men. It produced a display of folds
diagonally arched downward below the throat,
and a variety of flowing forms, of varied direc-
tions, above the zone, according to the quan-
tity of material, the bend of the body, or the
manner of adjusting the vestment. A prodi-
gious and beautiful variety in this part of the
drapery may be seen on the painted vases.
Sometimes we find small garments laid over
the tunic, not reaching to the zone, in female
figures, which add folds of a different direction
to those in the tunic. Sometimes the tunic is
doubled over at the top, and open at the side.
This, however, is not simply a tunic ; it was
called diplos by the Greeks, or a doubled
tunic.
The peplos, or veil, was an outward female
garment, like the cloak or pallium, but of a
finer texture, worn by Homer's female divini-
ties and heroines, and frequently seen on the
DRAPERY. 253
statues. It is this garment, of a transparent
material, in which the nymphs are clothed, as
before observed.
This brief enumeration contains all those
garments which afford the most beautiful spe-
cimens in ancient art. We will conclude with
such general observations on clothing as seem
most conducive to the painter's and sculptor's
views and researches.
Clothing, like other conveniences and requi-
sites, must be accommodated to the local situa-
tion and habits of man. In hot climates little
clothing is required, and in cold countries the
warmest skins and furs of animals are scarcely
sufficient to enliven the body with a genial
warmth.
In the more barbarous states of society,
plumes, necklaces, and bracelets of bone and
teeth, are displayed by chiefs and leaders in
the pride of distinction. Their war dresses
and cloaks are formed of such stubborn ma-
terials, as serve the double purpose of cover-
ing and defensive armour.
254 LECTURE VIII.
As regular habits of industry succeed, the
short tunic is adopted as a dress convenient
for the labours of agriculture and manufacture.
The cloak or pallium, in this state of society,
becomes a habit of dignity to the priest or
magistrate, which will be found generally pre-
valent, except in those warm countries like
India and Egypt, where a narrow shawl or
handkerchief supplies its place; and in the
colder regions, pantaloons were worn on the
lower limbs, sometimes made of skins. This
system of clothing seems to have been nearly
universal before the Roman empire, and con-
tinued with little alteration for twelve or thir-
teen centuries afterwards, if we except the
vagaries of fashion in Rome, Constantinople
and a few other metropolitan cities. In Rome,
fashion was indeed active among the ladies
very early ; for a short passage in one of the
comedies of Plautus complains that a fashion
does not last a year, and enumerates about
twenty- three articles of female attire, all of
which might perhaps be comprehended under
the heads of cloaks, handkerchiefs and gowns :
DRAPERY. 255
but their names and etymologies have puzzled
the commentators beyond the possibility of
explanation. But notwithstanding an occa-
sional instance of this kind occurs in courts
and vortexes of dissipation in the eighth cen-
tury, the western provinces universally wore
the Roman military cloak, and the eastern pro-
vinces generally the pallium and tunic.
Charlemagne and his successors, down to
St. Louis, are represented in the same dress in
all the mosaics, monumental statues, and illu-
minations of those times.
The first deluge of various fashions came
into Europe with the Crusaders, the princes of
the West, seem to have vied with each other
in motley importations from Constantinople,
Antioch and Damascus.
In France and England before this time,
the only covering for the head worn by men,
was a cap like that of Paris, and the Italian
sailors; but after the Crusades, turbans, hats
and hoods of different patterns became gene-
ral.
256 LECTURE VIII.
The cloak and tunic were cut into different
forms, and ornamented with different baubles
of tassels, scallops and toys, until no trace
remained of the original garments. To sum
up the childish passion for novel absurdity, the
common playing cards represent the court
dresses of France and England, between the
reigns of our Edward IV., Henry VIII. and
Elizabeth. The kings, queens and knaves,
have actually the state dresses of sovereigns
and courtiers at that time.
Perhaps this part of our subject may now
be supposed to have attained its climax, and
that every purpose of extravagance and absur-
dity was answered, when the courtier's taste
for elegance was exemplified by a waistcoat
half black and half yellow, a red stocking on
one leg, and a green one on the other; when
a great Prince's hall of audience was filled
with the figures of mountebanks, harlequins,
and playhouse imps! but the tale is not yet
told, nor is the measure full. To what was
monstrous and disgusting to look on, was
DRAPERY. 257
added, studied inconvenience. Ruffs so
large the head could scarcely turn in them,
the middle of the figure rendered so bulky as
to be contained by no arm chair, and the waist-
coats so stiff, pointed, and narrow, that they
must have impeded digestion, and restrained
the functions of life.
Shall we not be induced to inquire, to what
causes could be attributed such an accumula-
tion of absurdities? we may perhaps account
for them in the spirit of Ihe times, the wars,
and their military distinctions the alternate
dissipations, and particularly masquerades
and above all, those military and party dissen-
sions those extensive and violent theological
and political contests which ferment the gene-
ral mass beyond the controul of reason, hu-
manity and common sense.
These instances of useless variety and ab-
surdity in dress, will naturally lead to the
reflection that there is a reasonable propriety
in dress, as in all other concerns, and that this
propriety will be governed by climate and
LECTURE VIII.
character ; light draperies being agreeable in
summer, warmer and thicker in winter ; grace-
ful and gay attire becomes the youthful, more
grave is proper for the aged. The magistrate
bears such distinctions as denote his rank and
dignity in society. But in these and all other
cases, the drapery will be more becoming and
expressive, as it harmonizes with the propor-
tions, sympathizes with the character, and is
consistent with the requisites of the wearer.
Any offences against these rules will naturally
produce dissatisfaction and contempt; for
mere dress cannot make the old young, the
ugly handsome, or the mean dignified.
The only difference must be confined to a
transient glance, for real qualities are inherent
in the man, and depend not upon outward
accidents.
We may conceive the effect of dress and ap-
pearance, on the judicious spectator's mind,
from a comparison of the following characters.
The lower emperors of the East retained
their inordinate love of magnificence after their
DRAPERY. 259
power was broken, and their state dress was
apparently covered with jewels, even when
their poverty obliged them to eke out the
splendid mass with false pearls and paste ;
these were attached to a scanty ungraceful
mantle, which, being closed round the figure,
presented the insipid resemblance of an Egyp-
tian mummy encrusted with gems. How dif-
ferent from the Prophets of Michael Angelo,*
the Apostles of Raphael and Albert Durer, or
those of Henry the Seventh's Chapel. Their
countenances are determined by their divine
commission, and the patriarchal simplicity and
grandeur of their persons bear testimony to
their sacred character.
Michael Angelo's Patriarch sleeps! but
when he wakes, we are assured he will declare
a prophecy or holy vision, received from his
attendant angel.
* See Plates IV. VII. and XLI.
S 2
( 260 )
LECTURE IX.
ANCIENT ART.
WHEN we look at any portion of the natural
landscape, if the objects are few, a rock, a
plain, or a tower, they are understood at once,
and without effort : but if they are numerous
and complicated, they must be considered
attentively, to distinguish woods from moun-
tains, the form and extent of buildings or cities,
the winding of rivers, and the expanse of the
sea or sky, in order that we may understand
the several parts of the view ; and it is thus we
must conduct our inquiries in art and science,
beginning by a search for their natural prin-
ciples, we must make ourselves acquainted
with their relations to, and dependence upon,
other branches of knowledge, and we should
ANCIENT ART.
assure ourselves of their purposes and ends.
To render our present inquiries the more effec-
tual, and to obtain all the advantages experi-
ence can afford, we must avail ourselves of the
studies and practice of the most celebrated
artists, in such a compendious view of ancient
and modern sculpture as may be expected in
the compass of these Lectures.
Time would be lost for the purposes of our
institution, were we to seek out an accurate
history of the early steps by which the march
of art was directed in its first and most barba-
rous efforts. Those who desire information on
this subject, will be abundantly supplied by
" Pliny's Natural History//" Pausanias's Tour
of Greece/' and " Winckelman's History of Art/'
But the great object of every student must be,
to copy nature most perfectly, and for this pur-
pose to possess himself of unerring rules for
the government of his practice. The most
likely way to obtain these advantages, will not
be to consider sculpture by attention to dates
and trifling incidents, but rather to divide its
262 LECTURE IX.
history into ages or periods, each characterized
by styles of art expressive of its advancement.
We may distinguish the ancient art of
Greece as three ages: the heroic age, the
philosophic age, and the age of maturity or
perfection.
By the heroic age, we understand the state
of society described in the poems of Homer
and Hesiod, in which the land was cultivated,
and cattle fed to supply the wants of life ; but
whose most important business was predatory
war. To this age we may refer the earliest
productions of Grecian art of this age are
two lions* over the gate of Mycene of this
age, from a similarity of style, we may also
believe many small bronze and stone statues
to have been the production. Perhaps, though
rude and ill-formed, they were domestic divi-
nities : early in the progress of idolatry, so far
as we may venture an opinion upon this class
of art, the endeavour was limited to the single
* See Plates XIV. and XVI.
ANCIENT ART. 263
figure, naked, and in few and simple attitudes.
It is nevertheless likely, before this age passed
away, the artists became more bold, and
adorned their earthen vases with subjects of
three or four figures, such as frequently occurred
in their habits of life, a conversation, a battle
or a procession, the designs of these composi-
tions appear like profiles of their statues, and
unconnected with each other.
The second " Age of Art," which we shall
denominate the philosophic, commenced when
the seven sages or wise men flourished in
Greece, about 700 years before the Christian
era ; when the mental faculties were expanded,
and when, by contemplation and science, man
was elevated from savage life to the dignity of
a rational creature. In this period Solon and
Lycurgus reformed the laws of preceding legis-
lators, and rendered the system more salutary
in the correction of crime, and the security of
justice to their fellow-citizens.
The seven sages, by the example of their
own heroism and virtue, enforced the moral
264 LECTURE IX.
and political order which their wisdom and
prudence taught.
In the school of Pythagoras, mathematics,
astronomy, geometry, arithmetic and music,
were diligently cultivated ; the structure of
animals was studied, and the contemplations
of philosophy elevated the mind above the
grosser allurements of sense ; the improvement
of civil and political security afforded addi-
tional leisure for all ingenious and liberal pur-
suits, while the advancement of science sup-
plied m eans f r nearer approaches towards
perfection.
, In the institutions of Greece, the five gym-
nastic exercises exhibited all the various beauty
of the human figure, diversified by all the dif-
ference of motion the several exertions could
produce, with the multiplicity of anatomical
changes in action and remission occasioned by
each exertion of body and limbs.
It cannot be denied that the religion of
ancient Greece was gross polytheism ; but this
was the religion of the multitude, that of the
ANCIENT ART. 265
philosopher was much more pure. It allowed,
indeed, the ministry of subordinate divinities,
angels, and heroic souls, but all directed by
the unerring wisdom and providence of the
one Omnipotent. The graces and perfections
of these ecclesiastical intelligences and minis-
ters are so described in the " Dialogues of
Plato/' and by the Pythagoreans, as to lead
the artist to the choice of supreme natural
beauty, for the object of his imitation through-
out the numerous ideal orders of the Grecian
theology, and elevated the real persons by the
noblest traits of limb, feature and character.
The first essays of Grecian art, in the heroic
age, prove they were neither stronger nor
swifter in the race than other nations : but the
improved imitation of nature, founded on the
sure principles of science, left their competitors
at a distance not to be recovered; and the
ability and zeal with which they pursued their
advantage, gave them possession of the palm
beyond dispute.
The Greeks, in this age, added the cultiva-
266 LECTURE IX.
tion of letters to their discoveries in science
and improvement of philosophy. Hipparchus
is said to have first made the Athenians ac-
quainted with Homer's Rhapsodies, (and from
which that people received their system of
theology,) these were recited in the Panthenaic
solemnities, and became so popular that they
were continually quoted in the Dialogues of
Plato, and succeeding writers.
The poems of Hesiod, Sappho, Anacreon,
and Simonides, are also believed to have been
collected in a public library at Athens in this
time.
Thus was infant art inspired by the spirit of
poetry, and the effects of this inspiration are
seen in the councils of the gods in the friezes
of the Parthenon, and the Temple of Theseus,
besides innumerable Homeric subjects on the
painted vases and Greek basso-relievos of
after ages.
Geometry enabled the artist scientifically to
ascertain forms for the configuration of bodies
to determine the motion of the figure, in
ANCIENT ART. 267
leaping, running, striking, or falling by curves
and angles, whilst arithmetic gave the multi-
plication of measures in proportions. The
anatomical observations of Thales, Pythagoras
and Alcmeon, prepared the way for the more
connected inquiries of Hippocrates. Thus by
the gradual advancement and connection of
art and science, painting and sculpture ob-
tained sound principles to ensure a certain and
felicitous practice, which introduced the age
of perfection or consummation in the time of
Pericles and Phidias.
This third age of art may be said to' have
been more called into practice by the destruc-
tion of those enormous fleets and armies pre-
pared by the Persians to annihilate Grecian
freedom.
This illustrious achievement, performed by
a comparatively small band of patriots, in-
creased in the estimation of Greece, and espe-
cially Athens, in proportion to the terrific
power of the vanquished and the glory of
delivering their country from a foreign yoke.
268 LECTURE IX.
These successes in war, stimulated their exer-
tions in peace they rebuilt the temples de-
stroyed in the war, with increased magnificence
their pediments and friezes were decorated
with synods of gods and heroes, from their
history, both real and mythological. They
raised sacred statues, which for their colossal
size, richness of materials and embellishment,
future ages ranked as wonders of the world.
Nor were the statues of smaller dimensions
less deserving attention for exquisite beauty of
form, proportions, character, dignity, simpli-
city and elegance. Their groups possess the
united interests of action and passion, senti-
ment elevated and heroic, consistent with the
persons engaged.
The basso-relievos are epic and dramatic
compositions, containing great variety in the
subjects, combination and diversity of lines,
with whatever, in the distribution and opposi-
tion of light and shadow, produces the most
powerful and agreeable effect in the relief of
figures from a back-ground, or that depart-
ANCIENT ART. 269
ment of sculpture the most nearly allied to
painting.
But as our subject becomes more extensive
in its progress, it will be rendered more simple
by considering each class of sculpture sepa-
rately, under the following heads :
1. Colossal statues. 2. Smaller statues.
3. Groups. 4. Basso-relievos, and the Grecian
schools of sculpture.
The largest colossal statues of the Egyptians
were seventy-five feet in height, and therefore
the Greeks excelled them in the magnitude as
well as the beauty of those enormous monu-
ments.
Many colossal statues are enumerated by
the classical authors, (particularly Pliny and
Pausanias,) which have long since ceased to
exist, and of which any memorial beyond their
names are unknown at present. It is, not-
withstanding, not only possible, but even pro-
bable, that antiquarian industry might still
recover recollections of them from gems, the
reverses of coins, and small bronze statues, in
270 LECTURE IX.
which the celebrated works of antiquity were
so frequently copied. But as the mere repe-
tition of names and measurement would afford
information of little use to the painter or sculp-
tor, to avoid the misapplication of time in un-
certain conjecture, we will direct our attention
to three the most celebrated of these works, the
most copiously described by authors, and illus-
trated by ancient copies of smaller size.
The statue of Olympian Jupiter,* sixty feet in
height, was the most renowned work of ancient
art: but having described this in a former
lecture, to repeat it would be unnecessary;
but only mention what Pausanias says of the
pictures (by Panaeneus, brother of Phidias)
which were on the sides of the seat. Among
these were the " Atlas supporting heaven and
earth, Hercules near him, about to relieve him
from his burthen; Theseus and Pirithous;
figures representing Greece and Salamis, the
latter bearing the rostra of a ship in her hands ;
* See Plate XX.
ANCIENT ART. 271
the Combat of Hercules with the Nemaean
lion ; Ajax and Cassandra ; Hippodamia, the
daughter of CEnomaus, with her mother ; Pro-
metheus chained, and Hercules preparing to
kill the eagle which preyed on him. The last
of the pictures are Penthesilea dying, supported
by Achilles, and Hesperian nymphs bearing
fruit/' On the sub-plinth, which supports the
whole, are emblems in gold. The Sun, Jupiter
and Juno ascend in a car. Near them is
Chares, whom Mercury embraces, and Vesta,
Mercury, and Love, receive Venus rising
from the sea, to whom Persuasion brings a
crown. Apollo, Diana, Minerva and Hercules
are present. On the lowest part are Neptune
and Amphitrite, with the Moon exciting her
horses to the race. This great work, which
raised the fame of Phidias above all the sculp-
tors of antiquity, has numerous imitations still
existing in marble and bronze, and on coins of
Alexander the Great and his successors, also
on the Emperor Domitian's medals in large
brass.
272 LECTURE IX.
In the Acropolis of Athens,* was a Minerva
by the same sculptor, twenty-six cubits high,
also formed of ivory and gold. In the right
hand was a Victory, four cubits high, the left
hand rested on her shield. The goddess was
clothed in a tunic reaching to her feet, her
helmet was adorned with horses and gryphons,
on the round side of the shield was the fight
with the Amazons, on the concave side, the
battle of the Gods and Giants, on her sandals,
the contest of the Lapithae and Centaurs, on
the base was the birth of Pandora in the pre-
sence of thirty divinities. Memorials of this
statue are preserved on Athenian coins, of
which there are engravings in the vignettes of
Stuart's Athens.
The Colossus of the Sun-f- in the Island of
Rhodes, is allowed by Pliny the elder, to have
excited more astonishment than all the other
colossal statues he has mentioned, on account
of its height, which was 105 feet, it was made
* See Plate XIX. f See Plate XLVIII.
ANCIENT ART. 273
by Chares a Lyndian, the disciple of Lycippus.
This statue was thrown down by an earthquake,
after standing fifty-six years. When lying on
the ground this work appeared miraculous.
Few were able to embrace the thumb, and the
fingers were larger than many statues. Vast
caverns yawned in the broken limbs, and within
were seen great masses of stone, by whose weight
it was supported. Twelve years were em-
ployed in the execution of it, and the cost 300
talents, about ^60,000 English. The same
author observes, there were an hundred lesser
colossal figures, each of which did honour to
the place where it stood: besides five colossal
statues of divinities by the sculptor Bryaxis.
Heads of the celebrated Colossus are re-
peatedly seen on the bronze coins of Rhodes,
and small figures, with radiated heads, are
sometimes found on the coins of this island,
which possibly were intended to represent the
whole figure.
The most numerous class of ancient statues
was about the height of nature, or approaching
T
274 LECTURE IX.
to seven feet, which has been distinguished as
the heroic size.
Statues were anciently appropriated to divi-
nity. Portraits of men were not executed
unless for some illustrious cause which deserved
perpetuity.
First, were the contests in the sacred games,
chiefly those of Olympia, where the custom
was for all the conquerors to dedicate their
statues, and those who were thrice victors had
exact portraits of their persons. It was thought
the Athenians first placed statues to Harmodius
and Aristogiton, the Tyrannicides, the same
year the kings were expelled from Rome.
" This/' says Pliny, " was afterwards universal,
and now the forum of every municipal town
begins to be ornamented with statues to pro-
long the memory of men, and to have the ho-
nours of the age inscribed on their bases, lest
they should be read only on their sepulchres.
In the course of time this has been done abroad,
in public courts and private houses. Thus
clients have determined to celebrate their
patrons."
ANCIENT ART. 275
After the custom was adopted of bestowing
this honour on distinguished merit, every battle
increased heroic memorials ; the porticos, libra-
ries, museums, and walks were filled with the
statues of legislators, poets, philosophers, and
all whose public spirit, or rare qualities, had
raised them to general notice and esteem.
The practice so universal in Greece passed
with the conquerors into their colonies, and
the successors of Alexander the Great added to
the sacred sculpture of Egypt and Syria the
memorials of Grecian valour and wisdom.
The same practice was followed in Sicily,
Magna Graecia, Naples, the principal cities on
the coast of Italy, the Etruscan states, and
wherever their colonies or commerce gave them
intercourse. The remains of sculpture found
in all these countries frequently bear this in-
disputable testimony of Grecian origin that
they are stamped with the beauty, grace,
purity and perfection which are to be found in
the works of that country alone, of all nations
in the ancient world.
T 2
276 LECTURE IX.
This increase of sculpture, extending over so
considerable a portion of the globe known to
the ancients, will account for the number of
statues brought to Rome after the conquest of
Greece.
Marcus Scaurus, when aedile, decorated his
temporary theatre with three thousand statues.
Two thousand w r ere taken from the Volscians.
Mummius, after the conquest of Achaia, is
said to have filled the city. Lucullus brought
many. Three thousand came from Rhodes
not fewer from Athens or Olympia more are
believed to have come from Delphi ; " but,
says our author, " what mortal can follow
them? or what is the use of knowing?"
It will be sufficient for our present purpose,
to comprehend what remains of this part of our
subject in two sentences : after the terrific re-
petition of those conflagrations destroyed the
noblest monuments in Rome, it was said that
city contained more gods than men !
The equestrian and pedestrian statues, tro-
phies and triumphal arches, which adorned the
ANCIENT ART. 277
Roman forum, and the forum of Trajan the
innumerable sculptures in the imperial palace .
in the baths of Dioclesian and Caracalla the
Mausoleum of Augustus, and that of Hadrian
the files of patriots and heroes which lined the
Flaminian way were objects to fill the ima-
gination, and occupy the mind. But neither
the multitude of them, nor their magnificence,
will produce any great impression on the
painter or sculptor. He will keenly search
out the rare specimens of excellence among
the hundreds of ordinary beauty ; upon these
he will fix his attention, and from these he will
deduce his principles.
We shall now return to our more immediate
object, the pursuit and study of excellence, by
noticing some of the noblest examples which
the ravages of time and the destructive hand of
barbarism have spared.
Besides the works of Phidias already men-
tioned, duplicates of smaller statues by him
have come down to us : the Amazon called
278 LECTURE IX.
" Euknemon," from her fine leg, of which
there is a print in the " Museum Pium Cle-
mentinum," in the library of our Royal Aca-
demy. Two Minervas are mentioned by Pliny,
one of which had the surname of Callimorphus,
expressive of her fine form. Perhaps this
might be similar to the statue of the goddess
in Mr. Hope's Gallery, as it strongly resembles
a Minerva on an Athenian coin among the
vignettes in " Stuart's Athens."
Perhaps, in this place, a remark may be
offered, without impropriety, concerning the
group of a hero governing a horse, which
stands opposite the papal palace, on Monte
Cavallo, in Rome. This group is said to stand
nearly on the same spot it occupied (with its
companion) when they guarded the entrance
to the baths of Constantine. " The work of
Phidias" was inscribed on the pedestal, as we
may see at the present time. In illustration of
this group, three Roman coins may be adduced,
one struck in the reign of Nero, another under
ANCIENT ART. 279
Hadrian, and a third by Commodus, all bear-
ing this group on the reverse, representing
Bellerophon about to mount Pegasus, for the
purpose of destroying the Chimaera. These
coins were struck in the city of Corinth, where
Bellerophon was much honoured. The atti-
tude of the hero, as well as that of the horse,
resembles a bas-relief on the Parthenon, and
for that reason, in addition to the style and
spirit of the work, is likely to have been exe-
cuted under the direction of Phidias.
Alcamenes,* the scholar of Phidias, was
celebrated for his Venus Aphrodite. Many
small statues of bronze and marble represent
the goddess pressing the water from her hair,
and by their elegance are probably copies
from that statue.
Praxiteles-f excelled in the highest graces of
youth and ideal beauty. His Venus of Cnidos,
which is said to be more perfect than any other,
is known from the descriptions of Lucian and
* See Plate XXI. f See Plate XXII.
280 LECTURE IX.
Cedrenus. It is on the reverse of a bronze
medal of Caracalla and Plautilla, in the king
of France's cabinet.
The drawing introduced in this Lecture was
from a statue said to have been found in a
vineyard, about thirty years since, in Rome,
and was the property of Duke Braschi, ne-
phew of Pius the Sixth. Sketches from it were
made at that time.
Among the celebrated statues by Praxiteles ?
of which copies have come down to us, are his
Satyr, his Cupid bending his bow, and Apollo
the lizard-killer. Casts are in this academy,
for w T hich we are indebted to the munificence
of his present majesty George the Fourth; to
which may be added Bacchus leaning on a
faun, although this latter properly belongs to
the class of groups.
Polycletus of Sycion, the scholar of Age-
lades, was admired for his statue of Diadu-
menus, a youth binding a fillet round his head,
of which copies are seen occasionally on bas-
reliefs. It was valued by the ancients at 100
ANCIENT ART. 281
talents, rather move than c l 8,000 English
money. His Doryphorus, or spear-bearer,
from which sculptors copied the rules of art,
is known to us only from Pliny's description.
The Discobolus by Naucides is universally
admired for the heroic form and retreating
motion preparatory to the force of person re-
quisite to the projection of his disk.
The Discobolus* by Myron is ascertained by
an antique gem, and the description of Quin-
tilian, who apologizes for its forced attitude,
(perhaps that of some particular man distin-
guished in this game.) There is an ancient
example of this statue in the British Museum.
A wounded man, the famous work of Ctesilas,
is perhaps the same as that called the " D}dng
Gladiator/' but more properly a herald or
hero.
Prints of the wounded Amazon of Ctesilaus
are not uncommon in the volumes of antique
statues.
Pliny mentions the Nine Muses of Philiscus
* See Plate XXIV.
282 LECTURE IX.
of Rhodes, and the Muses brought by Fulvius
Nobilior to Rome. From one or both of these
series, the Muses in the Vatican were probably
obtained, as they appear to be the work of
different hands. Casts from them are in the
council room. The Comedy is remarkable for
juvenile grace of person, and elegance of dra-
pery.
The Apollo Philesius by Canachus has many
repetitions.
Ganymede borne in the eagle's talons is ex-
actly described by Pliny. A print of it may
be seen in the " Museum Pium Clementinum."
The Apollo Belvidere is believed by the
learned Visconti to be the Deliverer from Evil,
the work of Calamis, set up in Athens in me-
mory of a plague which raged in that city.
Sublime in his beauty, and terrible in his
anger, it has been considered as the Phoebus
Apollo of Homer, destroying the Greeks. It
has also been looked upon as a variation from
a statue by Phidias.
The Hercules Farnese was evidently one of
ANCIENT ART. 283
the first favourites of antiquity, from its fre-
quent repetition in bronze and marble, on
gems and coins. It is worthy of remark, that
some statues of Hercules, in the same attitude
of repose with that surnamed Farnese, but of
much earlier date, have the proportions of
common men, and that a series of them may
be found in the various collections, gradually
increasing to the terrific strength of Glycon's
statue. The head of this formidable hero
bears a noble resemblance to his father Jupi-
ter. The anatomical detail in the body and
limbs is more distinct than in any other work
of antiquity.
The ancient groups next claim attention.
Laocoon and his son is composed in a very
noble concatenation of lines, in the three prin-
cipal views. The childrens' appeal to the
father, and the father's to the Gods, is highly
pathetic. The convulsed rise of the youngest
from the ground, is the most electric circum-
stance in the whole sentiment. It was the
284 LECTURE IX.
work of Apollodorus, Athenadorus, and Age-
sander, of Rhodes.
Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to the
bull's horns an example of filial vengeance in
behalf of a persecuted mother. The concep-
tion is heroic, and the execution vast. The
marble is at Naples, but, like many other
noble works, it has been miserably restored.
Hercules raising Anteus in his arms is in
the Pitti Palace, Florence.
The group of Atreus bearing a dead son of
Thyestes, Orestes and Electra, Ajax support-
ing the dead Patroclus, and that of Haemon
and Antigone, are all examples of fine form,
heroic character, and sentiment.
Niobe and her youngest daughter, by Sco-
pas, is an example of heroic beauty in mature
age. The sentiment is maternal affection.
She exposes her own life to shield her child
from the threatened destruction. The statues
of the several children all possess the same
heroic beauty, mixed with astonishment, terror,
ANCIENT ART. 285
dismay, and death. That fine example of
anatomical study, of a difficult but harmonious
composition, the Group of Wrestlers, was found
in the same excavation with, and has been
supposed to belong to, the family of Niobe.
The group of Cupid and Psyche, interesting
from the beauty of youthful male and female
forms and harmony of lines, is an allegory of
the Pythagorean philosophy, representing the
union of desire and the soul.
We may now take some notice of the antique
bas-relievos, particularly those in the British
Museum. The metops which formerly adorned
the Parthenon of Athens, which contain the
combats of the Lapithae and Centaurs, are dis-
tinguished by simplicity and heroic exertion.
Some casts from them are placed in the model
academy. The procession of chariots, horse-
men, maidens bearing sacred baskets and can-
delabrae, animals for sacrifice, and sacred in-
structors in the Celebration of Minerva, and
the Assembly of the Gods, are admired by all,
286 LECTURE IX.
for simplicity of composition, breadth of gene-
ral effect, the elegance and delicacy of the
heads and draperies, the life and spirit of the
horses.
The casts (in the same collection) from the
temple of Theseus. The metops represent his
heroic deeds, and the frieze within the temple
councils of the gods. The style of these is
more like the metops on the Parthenon than
the broad masses in the procession within that
temple.
The whole of the sculpture in the temple of
Theseus is bold, varied, and full of action.
The fragments of statues and groups in the
pediment of the Parthenon are executed with
great effect ; but, as all the Athenian marbles
in the Museum have been universally seen and
admired, additional description would be use-
less.
The contention for the body of Patroclus,
in the pediment of the temple of Jupiter Pan-
hellenius at Egina, is a fine composition, of
which there is a beautiful etching by Mr.
ANCIENT ART. 287
Cockrell, who assisted in restoring this speci-
men of ancient art to the world.
The battle of the Amazons and Athenians,
from the Temple of Apollo Epicouros, is also
in the British Museum.
Those already named are among the ancient
works of chief excellence, and most worthy of
the student's contemplation and imitation in
basso-relievo.
Others, however, may be mentioned of great
beauty, the study of which will be highly im-
portant in the progress of the student. Of this
number are the beautiful compositions of Per-
seus and Andromeda, and the Endymion, both
of which are on the staircase of the Royal
Academy : to these may be added the basso-
relievos on the Trajan column on the arches
of Constantine and Marcus Aurelius and,
above all, the ancient Sarcophagi, which pre-
sent a magnificent collection of compositions
from the great poets of antiquity, Homer,
Hesiod, JEschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles
the systems of ancient philosophy, with Greek
288 LECTURE IX.
mysteries, initiations, and mythology. The
study of these will give the young artist the
true principles of composition, with effect, and
without confusion, to produce the chief interest
of his subject by grand lines of figures, without
the intrusion of useless, impertinent, or trivial
objects; by carefully observing them he will
accustom himself to a noble habit of thinking,
and consequently choose whatever is beautiful,
elegant, and grand, rejecting all that is mean
and vulgar ; by thus imbibing an electric spark
of the poetic fire, he will attain the power of
employing the beauty and grace of ancient
poetry and genius in the service of the establish-
ment and morals of our own time and country.
In the comparatively few antique statues,
groups and basso-relievos here mentioned, the
attention has been called only to such as have
been esteemed the most, by the united consent
of ancients and moderns ; the rest, which are
very numerous, must be sought for in the
various collections of antiquities, Montfaucon,
the " Museum Pium Clementinum," " Museum
ANCIENT ART. 289
Romanum," " Florentinum," " Giustiniani,"
" Borghese," and many other works of the
same kind, most of which are in the library of
our academy.
The principal schools of sculpture appear to
have been Athens and Rhodes : in the first,
the school of Phidias was established ; and we
learn from Pliny that his emulators were Alca-
menes, Critias, and Nestocles, and, twenty
years after, Agelades, Gallon, Polycletus,
Phragmon, Gorgias, Lacon, Myron, Pytha-
goras, Scopas, and Perelius. This catalogue,
we may reasonably believe, contains the sculp-
tors whose labours adorned the Temple of
Theseus and the Parthenon ; and from them
also the successive pupils descended, whose
works embellished the Roman empire, until
the northern irruptions spread universal de-
struction in the west, and the Saracens and
Turks conquered and wasted the eastern pro-
vinces.
The other school of sculpture, namely,
Rhodes, is likely to have sprung from that of
u
290 LECTURE IX.
Athens. We have already observed that the
Roman conquerors took 3,000 statues from
thence. To this school of Rhodes we owe the
two noble groups, the Laocoon, and Zethus
and Amphion, both mentioned by Pliny with
extraordinary praise.
The sculptors of S icy on and ^Egina appear
to have been chiefly employed in works of
bronze, although Corinth, Delos, and other
cities, have a just claim to reputation on the
same account.
To this general view of ancient sculpture,
a few remarks may be added concerning the
practical advantage it may afford by guard-
ing against error and false systems, so fre-
quently ruinous impediments in the path of
talent and industry, by which the inexperienced
mind is first entangled in doubt, and ultimately
turned from the course it had taken, without
any sure guide to the desired object.
It is a sound maxim, that " the same cause
will always produce the same effect;" there-
fore, if we would attain excellence in art, we
ANCIENT ART. 291
cannot proceed by a more certain course than
that by which it has been attained before.
The arts of Greece astonished and delighted
the world in their own times, and they have
continued to do so through the lapse of many
ages ; and now, in their fragments and mutila-
tions, demand the same just homage from the
beholder, and afford the same example of ex-
citement, admiration and instruction to the
artist : and in this Lecture has been shown,
not according to chimerical notions, or mere
supposition, but according to the testimony of
cotemporary authors, supported by the ancient
works of art, the progress of sculpture in
Greece, from the first rude beginning common
to all countries, by the various gradations of
improvement, until arrived at that perfection
which has not been equalled in modern times,
except perhaps in some very few instances, but
never excelled !
In the former part of this discourse, we have
seen that the Greeks, in their uncivilized state,
did not excel their barbarous neighbours in the
292 LECTURE IX.
arts ; that religion gave the first impulse to
sculpture ; that philosophic improvement fur-
nished the artist with rules ; that legislation,
by determination of moral and civil right, re-
duced society to a more settled state, and
thereby afforded a more tranquil leisure for the
cultivation of liberal studies ; that the institu-
tion of gymnastic exercises exhibited the naked
figure in all views, actions and motions for the
study of the artist; the anatomical school of
Hippocrates, and the more extended know-
ledge of that science in the school of Alex-
andria, gave more exact details of the parts of
the human figure ; and, lastly, the dialogues of
Plato on beauty, its origin, cause, and effect,
from the mind upon the body, completed the
general principles of information for the ancient
sculptor; and as it was a summary of the gra-
dual progress by which the excellence of Gre-
cian art was accumulated, so in its perfection
it became the course of study by which every
individual artist rose to eminence.
( 293 )
LECTURE X.
MODERN SCULPTURE.
THE preceding Lecture contained a very gene-
ral and summary sketch of Ancient Sculpture,
as introductory to a similar review of Modern
Sculpture. In that Lecture it was observed,
that no attempt would be made to give a regu-
lar history of the art in its commencement by
the Egyptians, in all the particulars of its pro-
gress and perfection by the Greeks at what
point its course had been arrested among the
Syrians, Persians, and Babylonians what por-
tion of the colonial arts of Greece found in
Sicily and Italy, might be considered the un-
doubted property of the mother country, and
in what respects they could be claimed by the
people to whom they were originally exotics :
all these topics are doubtless necessary to a
294 LECTURE X.
complete history of the arts of design, and all
of consequence to the antiquary. But in the
number of those topics, we must, as artists,
distinguish between such as are requisite to
history, and those passages most important to
us, of the ancient authors which supply pro-
found maxims and principles indispensable to
a sound theory and successful practice of the
arts.
Whenever a more extensive knowledge is
required, application must be made to the
various writers on the subject, ancient and
modern.
The first objects in this institution are the
principles of art, as must be evident in every
branch of the establishment ; as a valuable
library has been formed, and lectures appointed
for the communication of whatever in science
and literature the artist may find most useful ;
and he may try the rules he acquires by com-
paring his own studies with the finest speci-
mens of ancient sculpture, and the works of
the most esteemed painters of the fifteenth
MODERN SCULPTURE. 295
century, or the great criterion of all art, Nature,
in the schools of this institution.
It is subservient to this wise and liberal plan
of education, that these Lectures have been
conceived, in which I have endeavoured to
present a comprehensive view of the means
by which ancient art obtained its unrivalled ex-
cellence, and that by the same means, and by
application to the same studies, modern art
rose again to excellence in the fifteenth century.
Thus the student of the present day has the
most satisfactory assurance that the ancient
arts of Greece were carried to perfection, and
the modern arts of Italy restored, by the same
system of education established in this institu-
tion ; and we may with certainty predict, that
a race of painters and sculptors will be pro-
duced by our Royal Academy, whose merits
will secure the admiration of their own time,
and of future ages, as effectually as their great
predecessors have done ; with this proviso, that
on their parts they bring with them to the arts
they intend to practise, minds truly liberal,
296 LECTURE X.
debased by no sordid or unworthy motives, a
disposition so devoted that any other employ-
ment would render life miserable, a ready
inclination to overcome all difficulties by inde-
fatigable labour, and above all, a comprehen-
sion of mind, an acuteness of perception, and
a soundness of judgment capable of attaining
the various acquirements of science, literature,
and the study of nature, required in the pro-
fession. We shall now proceed with the sub-
ject of modern art.
It is a fact known to all, that the successive
irruptions of barbarians into the provinces of the
Roman empire, both East and West, from the
fifth to the tenth century of the Christian era,
spread universal devastation, even to the ren-
dering great tracts of country desert, where
abundant population had flourished in mag-
nificent towns and cities.
In these dismal times, when the violence of
fanaticism increased the horrors of barbarous
invasion when the works of ancient genius in
painting and sculpture were buried under the.
MODERN SCULPTURE. 297
ruins of temples, forums, and palaces, which
they had adorned to the fifth century there
were accounts of the Olympian Jupiter, and
the Venus of Cnidos ; but at that time their
history ends in the common destruction and
darkness of the times. This spirit of violence
and warfare did not cease, but was continued
by the feudal successors to the Roman pro-
vinces long after the tenth century, with the
same baneful influence, unabated, upon arts,
learning and civilization. In the city of Rome,
the architectural monuments of antiquity were
converted into fortresses by the contending
barons ; and in the beginning of the fifteenth
century, the city was so encumbered with
ruined buildings and lesser forts, that two
horsemen could scarcely pass abreast in any
principal street or open place. Wherever ex-
cavations have been made in later times, to
clear the basements of columns, arches, or
buildings, in the Roman Forum, the Forum
of Trajan, and other distinguished parts of the
city, the ancient pavement has , been, always
298 LECTURE X.
found from ten to sixteen feet lower than the
present ; and the whole of the mass between,
formed from the rubbish of ruined structures,
mixed with fragments of statues, basso-relievos,
capitals, columns, &c. We need but one
instance more, which is within the compass of
our own knowledge or inquiry, to demonstrate
the general ruin which accompanied the destruc-
tion of the works of art during; the barbarous
O
irruptions in the great cities of the Roman
empire the instance related to was in our own
country. In London, several magnificent
mosaic or tesselated pavements and fragments
of ancient art have been found, covered by a
mass of burnt rubbish, from ten to twelve feet
deep below the present pavement. Similar
instances have occurred in most of the cities
of England, proving the destructive progress
of the Saxons and Danes in our country not
to have been less furious than those of the
Goths, Vandals, Huns, and Lombards in Italy,
or of the Saracens and Turks in the East.
But from the vengeance of barbarians, sti-
MODERN SCULPTURE. 299
mulated by prey, and provoked by oppression,
we shall willingly turn our view to the re-esta-
blishment of social order, and the restoration
of arts and letters.
After the entire destruction of the Roman
power in the West of Europe, Italy was di-
vided into republics and principalities, the chief
of which, Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, possessing
the advantage of extensive sea coasts, were the
first to enrich their countries by commerce,
and improve their knowledge by voyages.
The Venetians, situated in the neighbourhood
of Greece, were induced to emulate the Church
of St. Sophia at Constantinople, in the build-
ing and decoration of St. Mark's in their own
city. The plan of this church is a Greek cross,
and the mosaic pictures, from sacred history,
which adorn the interior, are from Greek
paintings of the same age. The present church
was consecrated, A.D. 1085.
The republic of Pisa had a naval force so
considerable previous to this period, that they
had beaten the Saracens in Africa, Sardinia,
300 LECTURE X.
Majorca, Minorca, and Sicily, besides taking
from them immense treasure, with which they
built the Cathedral of Pisa, begun in 1063,
finished 1092.
The building of these cathedrals was followed
by those of Verona, Modena, Pistoia, and
several others in Italy.
Schools of painting and sculpture, as well
as architecture, were formed and established
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries ; and the
distinguished talents produced in them were
cherished and employed in the cause of reli-
gion.
It will be found on a careful inquiry, that
the elements, as well as the perfection of the
arts, have always been received, either imme-
diately or intermediately, from the Greeks, by
Western Europe, although this has been denied
by Vasari ; and, as far as concerns the Greek
Christian paintings, does not seem to have
been even suspected by Winckelmann. To
this part of our subject, therefore, a short but
satisfactory illustration is required.
MODERN SCULPTURE. 301
The germ, or first beginning of modern art,
is not to be so absolutely reckoned from the
commencement of the eleventh century, when
society began to be settled in Europe, as from
the reign of Constantine, seven centuries ear-
lier, when Christianity became the established
religion of the empire; then it was that paint-
ing and sculpture ceased to be employed on
the pagan gods, and their powers were engaged
to adorn the churches built by Christian em-
perors, with the persons and events of sacred
history.* The portrait of our Saviour, with
those of some of the Apostles, particularly
Peter and Paul, appear to have been known
in Galilee either during their lives, or shortly
after their deaths.
The Emperor Tiberius was desirous of hav-
ing the Messiah admitted among the gods of
the empire, but was refused by the Senate.
Alexander Severus had the statue of Jesus
Christ among his household gods.
* Vide Arringhi's Roma Subterranea, plate XLIX.
302 LECTURE X.
Even during the reigns of those emperors,
by whom the Christians were cruelly perse-
cuted, when they were obliged to perform their
sacred worship in subterrains and sepulchral
chambers, they ornamented those retreats with
sacred portraits and subjects from Scripture.
But when the churches of St. Sophia and the
Apostles were built in Constantinople by Con-
stantine and his successors, they were em-
bellished with mosaics and statues.
Bosius, in his " Roma Subterranea," exhibits
many Christian sarcophagi sculptured with
scriptural subjects from the Old and New Tes-
tament in basso-relievo.
Monier,* in his History of Painting, Sculp-
ture and Architecture, gives large quotations
from the Christian Fathers concerning the ex-
cellent paintings of sacred subjects in the
Eastern churches, from the fourth to the eighth
century, and the powerful effects produced by
them on the beholders. Indeed, there are
* Monier, page 60.
MODERN SCULPTURE. 303
still remaining in the libraries of the Emperor
of Austria and King of France, Greek paint-
ings executed in the middle ages, of great
beauty ; but above all the Greek painting and
sculpture now existing, those particularly de-
serve notice of the Nativity,* the Transfigu-
ration, the Resurrection, and the Glorification,
because they were the examples universally
followed by the Italian artists, until after
Raphael and Michael Angelo.
Andrea Tafi, a Florentine, cotemporary
with Cimabue, studied under the Grecian
artists in St. Mark's Church, Venice, while
they were employed in decorating the interior
with the principal subjects recorded in the Old
and New Testaments.
Apollonius, a Grecian painter, returned from
Venice with Tafi, and assisted him in the mo-
saics afterwards executed in St. John's Bap-
tistery at Florence. Cimabue was also in-
structed by Greek artists. These facts being
* Plates XXXV. and XXXVI.
304 LECTURE X.
acknowledged by the Italian writers, there
remains no cause for surprize that the Greek
Christian compositions should assist the resto-
ration of painting, more than that their paint-
ings and basso-relievos should have supplied
the principles of ancient art.
The Cathedral of Pisa, built by Buskettus
an architect from Dulichium, was the second
sacred edifice (St. Marks in Venice being the
first) raised after the destruction of the Roman
power in Italy. It has received the honour of
being allowed by posterity to have taken the
lead in restoring art : and, indeed, the travel-
ler, on entering the city gates, is astonished
by a scene of architectural magnificence and
singularity not to be equalled in the world.
Four stupendous structures of fine marble in
one group the solemn cathedral, in the general
parallelogram of its form resembling an an-
cient temple, which unites and simplifies the
arched divisions of its exterior the Baptistery,
a circular building, surrounded with arches
and columns, crowned with niches, statues
MODERN SCULPTURE. 305
and pinnacles, rising to an apex in the centre,
terminated by a statue of the Baptist; the
Falling Tower, (which is thirteen feet out of
the perpendicular,) a most elegant cylinder,
raised by eight rows of columns surmounting
each other, and surrounding a staircase ;
the Cemetery, a long square corridor, 400 by
200 feet, containing the ingenious works of
the improvers of painting, down to the six-
teenth century. This extraordinary scene in the
evening of a summer's day, with a splendid red
sun setting in the dark blue sky, the full moon
rising on the opposite side over a city nearly
deserted, affects the beholder's mind with such
a sensation of magnificence, solitude and
wonder, that he scarcely knows whether he is
in this world or not.
To describe the numerous works of painting
and sculpture with which the restorers of art
laboured to adorn these magnificent edifices
during 500 years, would require time equal to
that allowed for the Lectures on Sculpture
during one season . Fortunately for the student,
306 LECTURE X.
fine prints from the paintings in the Campo
Santo, with outlines of the sarcophagi in the
same corridor, may be seen in the library of
the Royal Academy.
The general effect of this group of buildings
deserves to be dwelt on, for these reasons in
particular, first, because noble ideas, finely
executed, cannot fail of producing an irresist-
ible effect on the mind ; secondly, this assem-
blage of buildings contains a more regular
series of those labours by which the restoration
of art was effected, than is to be found within
the same compass in any other place.
We shall now proceed to notice the restorers
of sculpture in Italy, with the same brevity as
the first improvers in Greece.
It is not unlikely that Buskettus the Greek,
who built the Cathedral of Pisa in the eleventh
century, established the schools of architecture
and sculpture at the same time in that city,
(although we have no historical proof of
the fact,) because we know it was not un-
usual with thpse early artists to practise
MODERN SCULPTURE. 307
painting, sculpture, and architecture, at the
same time, and because there are rude
statues on the cathedral coeval with the build-
ing ; and it is acknowledged by the Pisan
writers, that there were sculptors in that city
before Nicolas and his son John, whose works
became famous throughout Italy in the middle
of the thirteenth century. These sculptors
executed most magnificent marble pulpits, en-
riched with basso-relievos and statues, in the
cathedrals of Pisa, Pistoia and Sienna, also
in the Baptistery of Pisa : a series of sacred
subjects from the Old and New Testament, by
them and their scholars, are seen on the west
front of Orvieto Cathedral. There are also by
John Pisano some elegant statues of the
Virgin and Child. Nicolas and John improved
sculpture, by study of the antique basso-relievos
in the Campo Santo ; in their own works the
compositions are simple and intelligible; the
female figures are frequently elegant in their
movements and their drapery. In them are oc-
casionally seen an originality of idea and a
x2
308 LECTURE X.
force of thought seldom met with when schools
of art are in the habit of copying from each
other.
Andrea Ugolino Pisano, from the school of
those sculptors, designed and executed in
bronze the oldest gate of the Baptistery in
Florence, the compartments of which represent
the life of St. John. The compositions have a
Gothic and simple grandeur. He also exe-
cuted some statues in marble, but they were
rather inferior to the productions of Nicolas
and John.
The next distinguished restorer of sculpture
was Donatello the Florentine. Some of his
works, both in bronze and marble, might be
placed beside the best productions of ancient
Greece without discredit. In the " Opera del
Duomo" of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cathe-
dral of Florence, there is an alto-relievo of two
singing-boys of extraordinary beauty in senti-
ment, character, drawing and drapery. In
the gallery of Florence there is a bronze statue
of a lad, (perhaps a Mercury,) so delicately
MODERN SCULPTURE. 309
proportioned, and so perfectly natural, that it
is excelled only by the best works of antiquity,
in certain exquisite graces peculiar to the
finest monuments in Greece, but not to be at-
tained or expected from the endeavours of
lately resurgent genius. His marble statue of
St. George is a simple and forcible example
of sentiment; he stands upright, equally poized
on both legs, his hands resting on his shield
before him. Michael Angelo, after admiring
this statue some time in silence, suddenly ex-
claimed, " March/' His basso-relievos of the
life of Christ, on the pulpit of Saint Lorenzo's
Church, abound in noble conceptions, but
they were the works of advanced age, and
terminated by his scholars. He was a man of
modesty and principle : whatever work he en-
gaged in, his chief concern was to make it the
most perfect possible. The contemporaries of
this artist are not to be forgotten, although
perhaps, on the whole, inferior sculptors to
him. Brunelleschi executed a crucifixion in
wood, now in the Church of Santa Maria No-
310 LECTURE X.
vella, which represents the suffering Saviour,
in a manner not to be looked on with indiffer-
ence. He afterwards engaged in architecture,
and built the much admired Church of Santa
Maria del Fiore.
Lorenzo Ghiberti, the other illustrious co-
temporary of Donatello, has immortalized his
memory by the bronze gates of St. John's
Baptistery, called " the Gates of Paradise,"
from Michael Angelo's compliment. But
the criticism of Sir Joshua Reynolds was
one indisputable proof of that great man's
judgment in the sister arts. His observation
amounted to this, that Ghiberti's " landscape
and buildings occupied so large a portion of
the compartments, that the figures remained
but secondary objects, entirely contrary to the
principle of the ancients/' Ghiberti, likewise,
made a large statue in bronze of St. Matthew,
on the exterior of San Michele ; but his talents
were better suited to the elegance and delicate
finishing of smaller works. His St. Matthew
wants the severe chastity of the apostolic cha-
racter, and the head is inferior to those in the
MODERN SCULPTURE. 311
spandells of his gates, the attitude also is
affected and the drapery unnatural.
We may, without neglecting our great pur-
pose, (the principles of art,) pass over the in-
termediate names between Donatello, and
Michael Angelo, as having added little to the
value of modern sculpture.
We now arrive at a great and venerable
name, without an equal in the three sister arts.
Michael Angelo, according to the testimony
of Vasari, (his biographer and kinsman,) was
descended from the Counts of Canossa, a Lom-
bard family, possessed by conquest, and im-
perial gift, of Lombardy, Tuscany and Lucca,
and allied by marriages to the blood of Char-
lemagne.
Certainly, if superior genius, enlightened by
poetic inspiration, regulated and purified by
philosophy and religion, can attest an illus-
trious descent, few names are recorded in his-
tory whose pretensions are better founded than
his, of whom we are speaking. But it is also
possible that a noble mind may be compatible
312 LECTURE X.
with an humbler descent, and we know that
the cultivation of the mental powers, moral
virtues and knowledge are the result of forti-
tude and perseverance ; and these were the
qualities by which Michael Angelo became
the wonder and example of his own and suc-
ceeding ages. His early attachment to the
arts at last overcame his father's prejudice
against a profession which he fancied disgraced
the nobility of his family, and he was placed
under Dominico Ghirlandaio, the best painter
of his time. He afterwards studied in the
Museum of Ancient Sculpture, formed by
Lorenzo di Medici in the garden of St. Mark,
where Bertoldo the sculptor, a disciple of
Donatello, was employed by the magnificent
founder of the school to instruct the pupils.
Here Michael Angelo's diligence and ability
distinguished him above the other students, as
they had previously in Ghirlandaio's school of
painting. As Michael Angelo was patronized
by Lorenzo, and eat at his table, he became
acquainted with Politian and Marsilius Ficinus,
MODERN SCULPTURE. 313
and with such of the learned Greeks as had
sought refuge in Italy previous to the taking
Constantinople by the Turks. From the society
and conversation of these distinguished philo-
sophers and scholars, he could not fail to obtain
a general clue to the connection between an-
cient literature and the arts, and a knowledge
of the passages in Vitruvius relating to pro-
portions, geometry, and perspective, together
with portions from those ancient physicians
who had revived the study of anatomy. Be-
cause conversations of these kinds only were
usual at the table of Lorenzo, and as one of
his darling endeavours was to raise a great
school of art in Florence, his friends and visi-
tors would naturally pay their court to him, by
communications of whatever was likely to for-
ward his patriotic wishes on this subject.
Michael Angelo commenced his career by
various works of sculpture, a sleeping Cupid,
a Bacchus and young Faun, the colossal David,
and a group of a sitting Madonna bearing the
dead Christ on her knees, which raised his
314 LECTURE X.
fame above all his modern predecessors in the
art. Fortunately, however, this success did
not wholly overcome his love for painting, of
which there is a most beautiful example in the
Florentine gallery of a Holy Family, with a
number of small figures in the back-ground
representing St. John baptizing the multitude
in the River Jordan.
Thus had the ceaseless study and unwearied
labours of Buonarotti raised him so high in
public estimation, that he was appointed to
paint a portion of the great hall in Florence,
on which Leonardi da Vinci was already em-
ployed; and it is to a competition of such
talent as but rarely occurs in the history of the
world, that we are indebted for that surprising
composition, the Battle of the Standard, which
Rubens imitated in four admirable hunting
scenes ; and it is most likely that it is to the
lesson Michael Angelo received from this de-
sign, that he was more particularly led to that
study of complicated grouping, in which his
Last Judgment is unrivalled.
MODERN SCULPTURE. 315
Though this great man was afterwards em-
ployed on works of sculpture, imposing and
admirable from their originality and power,
yet his noblest productions are in colours.
The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the
Last Judgment, taken together as two por-
tions of one whole, are unparalleled in the
history of art, ancient or modern, in the vast-
ness of the idea the grandeur of the subject,
comprehending the entire scheme of divine
revelation the dignity of the characters, among
which, our reason is convinced, are those which
cannot be represented. Nevertheless, if the
whole is considered with the great elevation of
mind which accompanies the observation of
visible objects, each part is so harmoniously
sublime and extraordinary, that the beholder
believes he is admitted to a vision of " Light
separated from Darkness/' " the Benediction
of the Waters/' and " the Creation of the Hu-
man Race I"
The groups of patriarchal families, which
border the composition of the ceiling, are
316 LECTURE X.
choice selections of piety and love, in senti-
ment and form unknown to the ancients, and
unattempted by the moderns before his time ;
the naked figures are new and admirable
the prophets, sybils, and the four corners of
the ceiling taken separately, will afford matter
for contemplation and study, not to be found
in whole galleries by other masters.
" The Last Judgment" is indeed a consum-
mate work ; as sublime and terrific to all be-
holders in relation to the most important in-
terests of humanity, as it was novel and asto-
nishing to cotemporary painters when first
exposed to the public, and has been since to
all admirers of the noblest productions of
genius. This work has been so powerfully
described, and so admirably commented on by
the great professor of painting in this Aca-
demy, that little more need be said at present.
Perhaps, in justice to the originality of concep-
tion, it may not be impertinent to observe, that
Lucas Signorelli, a painter of great merit,
some years before Michael Angelo became
MODERN SCULPTURE. 317
eminent, painted a Last Judgment in the ca-
thedral of Orvieto represented by a multi-
tude of figures standing upright on the fore-
ground, awaiting conveyance to their final
destinations by angels or demons in the air
above them. Michael Angelo's composition
is the actual accomplishment of the Judgment.
The Divine Son, in the midst of saints and
apostles, has the books opened by the angels
before him, from which every one is judged
according to his works. The Christian chari-
ties and the deadly sins, with the struggles of
good and evil, are most strikingly expressed*
in characteristic groups immediately below the
angels, whilst the dead are rising from their
graves in the earth : thus confining the ultimate
horror of the scene to a smaller space in the
lower part of the altar-piece.
Michael Angelo's two great compositions in
the Pauline Chapel must not be forgotten :
they were, it is true, the productions of his age,
* See Plate XXXVII.
318 LECTURE X.
but they are the works of a mighty veteran.
In the " Conversion of Saul/' the groups of
angels surrounding the descending Saviour,
whilst calling his apostle, are luxuriantly ex-
tatic, and offer an internal testimony that
Correggio's ideas of the celestial ministry, in
his celebrated " Nativity," were probably
awakened by the sight of some sketches from
this picture. The terror and flight of the
horses from the fallen Saul bear evidence to
the miracle.
The Martyrdom of St. Peter is a scene of
solemn gloom congenial with the occasion,
where his Christian brethren descend with
slow and sorrowing steps into the excavation,
in which the cross is fixed, to receive the dying
apostle's benediction.
The character of Michael Angelo's sculpture
is too lofty and original to be dismissed with-
out farther notice, although we must acknow-
ledge it has been criticised with severity, be-
cause it rarely possesses the chaste simplicity
of Grecian art. True ; but, although Michael
MODERN SCULPTURE. 319
Angelo lived long, he did not live long enough
to give absolute perfection to all his works:
yet the .pensive sitting figure of Lorenzo di
Medicis, in the Medici Chapel, is not without
this charm ; and the Madonna and Child on
the north side of the same chapel is simple,
and has a sentiment of maternal affection never
found in the Greek sculpture, but frequently
in the works of this artist, particularly in his
paintings, and that of the most tender kind.
The recumbent statues in the monument of
Julian di Medicis in the same chapel, of Day-
break or Dawn, and Night, are grand and
mysterious : the characters and forms bespeak
the same mighty mind and hand evident
throughout the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,
and Last Judgment.
The monument of Julius the Second, ac-
cording to Michael Angelo's sketch, was mag-
nificently conceived, and characteristic of this
haughty pontiff; but the composition was re-
duced to one quarter of the first intention by
succeeding popes, and the statues were exe-
320 LECTURE X.
cuted by inferior sculptors, excepting the
Moses. Two slaves, in the original design,
were done in marble ; these are now in the
Louvre, admired for disposition and anatomi-
cal perfection.
The character and works of Michael Angelo
have been dwelt on at greater length, because,
as his mental and bodily powers continued far
beyond the usual date of human life, his dili-
gence attained to so much greater perfection
in the principles of art. Anatomy the motion
and perspective of the figure the complica-
tion, grandeur and harmony of his grouping,
with the advantages and facility of execution
in painting and sculpture, besides his mathe-
matical and mechanical attainments in archi-
tecture and building, which, together with the
many and prodigious works he accomplished,
demonstrate how greatly he contributed to the
restoration of art.
After the works of the great man just men-
tioned, John of Bologna's " Venus coming from
the Bath/' both standing and kneeling, are re-
MODERN SCULPTURE. 321
markable for delicacy and grace. His Mer-
cury rising to fly is energetic and original ;
his groups are harmoniously incatenated.
Benvenuto Cellini deserves praise for his
group of Perseus and Medusa, but the suc-
ceeding sculptors in the seventeenth century
must be looked on as having debased, rather
than contributed to the restoration of art.
Even Bernini, whose reputation was so great
in his time, can be praised only for his Apollo
and Daphne, and for the ease and nature of
his portraits. His larger works are remarka-
ble for presuming airs, affected grace, and un-
meaning flutter.
Towards the close of the seventeenth cen-
tury, however, better knowledge of principles
and science, more attention to ideal beauty,
and more careful and profound study of nature,
raised the productions of this art again to a
promise of future success, unknown since the
times of ancient Greece.
By this sketch it will be seen, that the arts
rose to the highest elevation in the free states
y
LECTURE X.
of Greece that they were destroyed and
buried by the inroads of barbarism and igno-
ranceand that they were restored in the free
states of Italy by the same means which gave
them birth, and reared them to maturity in
their native land.
Painting and sculpture had been practised
and generally admired in Italy from the ele-
venth century; but at that time they were
without determined proportions for the human
figure ; without anatomy, perspective, or the
principles of motion.
In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the
increasing power of the Turks had reduced the
eastern empire to little more than the city of
Constantinople, when such of the learned
Greeks as dreaded the dominion of this bar-
barous people sought shelter in Italy, and
brought with them copies of the ancient clas-
sics in science and polite literature, of which,
as they were perfect masters themselves in
their own language, they communicated to the
Italians, in Venice, Rome, and Florence.
MODERN SCULPTURE. 323
Leonardo da Vinci at this time made studies
of anatomy from the horse, and afterwards
a complete series of anatomical designs from
the human subject, assisted in the dissections
by the celebrated anatomist Marc Antonio
della Torre. Rather before this time, Michael
Angelo engaged in a most diligent course of
this study. Both these great men were most
likely encouraged to undertake a careful ap-
plication to this science, by the publication of
John Guinter of Anderon, one of the masters
of Vesalius, in the year 1536, " who is the
only anatomist before Vesalius, who gives an
accurate and full description of the muscles/'
Leon Baptista Alberti had, some years be-
fore, found the necessity of geometrical know-
ledge in painting, which Paolo Uccello pur-
sued until he brought perspective to a perfec-
tion that bewitched several of his cotempo-
raries. In justice to the ancients, however, it
must be acknowledged an improvement only
(though an exceeding valuable one) on Euclid's
optics.
Y2
324 LECTURE X.
The use of perspective in fore-shortening
the human figure has given a marvellous gran-
deur and truth to the groups of Michael An-
gelo. A drawing by this great master is extant
of a figure measured in the same manner as
Vitruvius informs us was practised by the
Greeks, and which has since been generally
used.
Of all the advantages which the sister arts
derived from the restoration of Greek litera-
ture, nothing seems more extraordinary than
the following coincidence, and few circum-
stances relating to the subject deserve a more
serious attention.
Previous to the time of Phidias, the Grecian
sculpture, both gods and men, had the same
ordinary outline of body, limbs and counte-
nance usually found in common nature ; and
it has been remarked, the ancient statue of
Minerva in the Villa Albani was characterized
as the goddess of wisdom, by an aged counte-
nance.
Phidias, however, began the reformation.
MODERN SCULPTURE. 325
He gave dignity to Jupiter from Homer's de-
scription. Succeeding artists continued to
refine and elevate the different orders of di-
vinity, until each personage of the mythology
received the appointed portion of ideal beauty
from selected nature and abstracted reasoning.
o
We must remember that Phidias and Plato
were nearly cotemporaries ; and considering
the astonishing influence of this philosopher's
discourses and writings, particularly concern-
ing the power of the soul's energies in the
configuration of the countenance and person,
according to established habits of virtue or
vice his distinction of the spiritual orders
his accurate investigation of the good, the per-
fect, and the beautiful itself when we consi-
der the high and extensive veneration in which
these discourses were held, little doubt can be
entertained of their influence in directing the
artist's mind in his choice of subjects, and the
expression of qualities for the perfection of
beauty.
The coincidence, then, alluded to above, was
326 . LECTURE X.
that, in the very zenith of the restoration of the
art, in the time of Michael Angelo, Leonardo da
Vinci, and Raphael, the magnificent Lorenzo
di Medici formed a society of Platonic philo-
sophers, consisting of the most celebrated
scholars of his time and country, and caused
the Philosopher's dialogues to be translated
and commented on by Marsilius Ficinus ; and
as this work was highly esteemed by the Me-
dici family, the pontiffs Leo the Tenth, Cle-
ment the Seventh, and Julius the Third, as
well as by the learned and ingenious generally,
there can be as little doubt that Plato's reason-
ing on the beautiful and its characteristics,
supplied as happy assistance in the determina-
tion of sublime and spiritual characters to the
restorers of art in Italy, as it had done to the
ancient Greek artists.
As a brief sketch has been offered of the
restoration of art, and some of the circum-
stances noticed which contributed to this end,
the following question naturally presents itself:
from what complication of causes did litera-
MODERN SCULPTURE. 327
ture and the arts remain in such a state of
concealment and darkness for the long period
of a thousand years, from the fifth to the fif-
teenth century?
Though the answer to this question is suffi-
ciently given in the general history of the times,
it is so much interwoven with the nature of
our subject, that it may not appear impertinent
to introduce an illustrative paragraph, to pre-
serve the connection of argument.
Whilst the northern people over-ran Europe
in the seventh century, the Saracens invaded
the east, and established themselves in Egypt,
Persia, and a portion of Greece, where they
soon became sensible of the advantages that
Christians derived from science and letters,
particularly in commerce and medicine.
Two successive Saracen princes, Haroun Al
Raschid and Al Mammon, to obtain the same
benefits for themselves and their subjects, em-
ployed Syrian Christians to translate the Greek
authors of highest reputation into the Arabic
language, after which they caused the original
328 LECTURE X.
MSS. to be burnt; thus endeavouring to
secure all the philosophy, mathematics, medi-
cine, anatomy, geography, history, and poetry
they found among the conquered people, and
by the destruction of the MSS. to reduce the
Greeks to the same state of ignorance in which
they were themselves previously involved. This
conduct of the Saracens, as they intended, de-
prived the Christians of a considerable portion
of the remaining light which former calamity
and destruction had spared. Greek authors
translated by Syrians into Arabic, that is to
say, from one language foreign to the transla-
tors, into another equally foreign, produced
copies abounding in mistakes, and, wherever
the subject was abstruse, misconception or ig-
norance frequently rendered the passage unin-
telligible. In this state of things, the conquests
of the Saracens had enabled them to found
universities in Europe and Asia, in which they
alone assumed the privilege of instruction.
The confusion and perversion the ancient
authors had suffered bv translation, rendered
MODERN SCULPTURE. 329
philosophy the instrument of the Koran, and
infected Christianity with its poison far and
wide. Whilst science remained torpid, paint-
ing and sculpture ceased to be practised, as
the representation of the human figure was for-
bidden by the Mohammedan law ; and archi-
tecture by the Arabians and Saracens became
an imitation, in the larger masses and columns,
of the declining architecture of the lower em-
pire, with capitals formed of unmeaning flou-
rishes, or dug into numerous small cavities,
because that was more easily effected by un-
skilful workmen than a decoration of foliage,
from which that style improperly called Gothic-
is believed to have originated in Europe.
Thus were the arts and their principles lost
for so long a period, in addition to the other
miseries of a darkened and afflicted world,
until providentially restored in the fifteenth
century by men especially endowed, to whose
genius and indefatigable labours we must
always look with respect and gratitude.
330 LECTURE X.
In considering the impediments that pre-
vented an earlier manifestation of the progress
of modern art, and which were (by some)
believed to be insurmountable, the following
opinion, prevalent among the classical admirers
of art previous to the time of Winckleman and
afterwards, deserves particular notice, which
was, that the Christian religion afforded sub-
jects less favourable to the painter or sculptor
than the Pagan mythology ; and although we
hope this prejudice is diminished, yet it is not
so entirely passed away as to render an inquiry
into its merits wholly useless. We will first,
therefore, consider the question in respect to
beauty ; next, in respect to the moral systems ;
and, lastly, we will consider what has been
done, in relation to what is possible to be
done.
In the first place, the ancient theory of per-
sonal beauty is, that it consists in a body and
limbs accommodated to perform the various
functions and offices of life, under the govern-
MODERN SCULPTURE. 331
ment of the best principles of intelligence and
will ; in this definition the generality of moderns
agree with the ancients. Here, then, we see
that the artist is equally bound by the modern,
as by the ancient practice, to make himself
acquainted by physiological inquiry and phi-
losophical reasoning, with the most perfect
union of forms and sentiment for his studies.
Beauty is to be considered as pertaining to
two orders of creation the supernatural and
the natural. In the Pagan mythology, the
supernatural order consists of superior and
inferior divinities, beatified heroes, and purified
spirits. These have been represented by the
ancients with a grandeur, perfection, and dis-
tinctness of character, by which we as imme-
diately recognize Jupiter from Hercules or
Mercury, as we distinguish Cicero from De-
mosthenes, or Socrates from Zeno. The most
elevated orders are more dignified in their cha-
racters, forms and attitudes, whilst the younger
deities are more remarkable for beauty in the
bloom of youth, and a corresponding lightness
LECTURE X.
of figure and sprightliness of action ; to these
might be added an enumeration of distinctions
both celestial and terrestrial.
But the arts of design may exert' their utmost
efforts, could they even call the genius of Phi-
dias and the grace of Praxiteles to employ
their most exalted conceptions in the most
lively execution, without the reasonable expec-
tation of being perfectly satisfied with their
own productions, if employed on the person-
ages and events of divine revelation.
The gradations of celestial power and beauty
in the orders of angels and archangels, the
grandeur and inspiration of prophets, accord-
ing to the difference of mission, and the sanc-
tity of apostles, have produced examples of
grace, beauty, and grandeur of character, ori-
ginal in themselves, and not to be found in
such variety among the remains of antiquity,
as in works by the restorers of art in the fif-
teenth century.
If we compare the moral systems of Paganism
and Christianity, we cannot fail to wonder that
MODERN SCULPTURE. 333
society was not exterminated in an empire
which sacrificed 20,000 gladiators every year,
on the amphitheatres for public diversion.
This is but one instance of the public character
of the Romans. Even the Athenians, so justly
admired for arts and letters, in their moral
habits tolerated the most frightful offences.
Besides that contradiction to the love of liberty
in which they defended their country against
foreign invaders, that at the time Athens con-
tained 12,000 free citizens, it contained also
120,000 slaves, or ten slaves to each free
citizen.
But enough of this. We will console our-
selves with the cheering reflection, that some
sense of piety and mutual duty was kept alive
by the spirit of philosophy, under Pagan sys-
tems, and felicitate ourselves upon the enjoy-
ment of that Perfect Dispensation which en-
joins a moral practice to secure the happiness
of all allowing an extent of political freedom
beneficial to all, at the same time that it guards
the just rights of every one which protects
334 LECTURE X.
knowledge and science, and bestows on the
arts a moral purity and a perfection of senti-
ment, arising from the various duties and chari-
ties of Christianity, not to be found under any
other code. These advantages were well un-
derstood by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and
Michael Angelo. The Holy Families only, by
these great masters, would form a gallery of
the greatest beauty the most tender and
interesting sentiment, totally unlike any ancient
work, and entirely novel in subject, composi-
tion and character. The same may be said of
those noble compositions by Raphael, the Car-
toons, which for expression of divine and ex-
alted character, grand and extraordinary group-
ing, may be compared with the noblest remains
of ancient art.
Michael Angelo's merits have been fre-
quently and ably insisted on by your excellent
professor of painting : but we may be still per-
mitted to observe, that in the Cappella Sistini,
the sublimity of subjects and characters, the
several patriarchal groups of incomparable
MODERN SCULPTURE. 335
interest and beauty, all original, and unlike any
production of antiquity, with that wonderful
altar-piece of the Last Judgment, form toge-
ther a labour that seems scarcely the work of
man, and stands without a rival in ancient or
modern art.
When we consider what was done by the
restorers of art in the fifteenth century, what
incredible improvements in a comparatively
few years, and remember that these works are
still before us for our instruction, and that we
besides possess the invaluable principles and
rules used by those distinguished persons for
conducting their works and in addition to
these advantages, great numbers of the finest
examples of ancient art in the Herculaneum
collection of paintings and the Greek painted
vases, hidden in the earth when Raphael and
Michael Angelo lived, have since been ex-
tracted from the oblivion in which they lay,
and have shed additional light on the arts of
design, with these assistances from ancient
art and ancient wisdom, in addition to the
336 LECTURE X.
beautiful and novel works of the fifteenth cen-
tury, and the continual improvements in every
branch of science, which give much more
facility to labour, shall we not say with Dr.
Young, in his " Essay on Composition/' that
considering all these advantages of principles
from so many preceding ages, with the innu-
merable works of genius by which they are
illustrated and we are instructed, that we
are properly the ancients, because these our
mental riches are more abundant than have
ever been enjoyed before, and possess us with
advantages the ancients had not? We can
employ our imaginations in the sister arts, on
the sublime, the heroic, the severely beautiful
personages and events of the venerable Homer
and Hesiod's poems ; we may venture on the
terrific or afflicting scenes of the Greek trage-
dians ; or we may relax our fancy with the
innocent simplicity of the pastoral poets ; but
we have subjects also, which, although un-
known to the Greeks and Romans, will em-
ploy the greatest powers with the greatest ad-
MODERN SCULPTURE. 337
vantage to the best faculties and dispositions
of man, to his happiness present and future.
It will be at once understood that the book
which supplies these subjects is the Holy Bible.
Some have thought, that so many composi-
tions have been already made, that nothing
new can now be found in it for painting or
sculpture : but it should be remembered that
the compositions have been little more than
selections from the common historical subjects,
with few or none from the Prophecies and
Psalms, which offer an abundance of the most
sublime and splendid, as well as most simple
and affecting subjects for design. Besides,
when we consider that every subject may be
represented in three striking points of time,
the commencement of an action, the heat of
the action, and the conclusion and also that
every action may be represented in four or five
different manners, especially if it comprehends
several figures under all these circumstances,
we may then safely affirm, without danger of
exaggeration, that many hundred subjects are
z
338 LECTURE X.
to be found in the sacred writings, which,
being ably designed, would be new to the be-
holder.
In the number of original subjects, of the
noblest class, derived from revelation, we must
remember the immortal poem of " Paradise
Lost/' by our countryman John Milton;
concerning which Dryden wrote familiarly to
the Earl of Dorset: " This man has out-cut
us all, and the ancients too/' A learned Italian
(the Marquis Manto) said of the author, in a
Latin distich, that " Greece boasted her
Meonides, Rome her Virgil, and England her
Milton, equal to both." Dr. Johnson, to
whom we are indebted for the inimitable Pre-
face to Shakspeare. has also done justice to
the genius of Milton, and, though his adver-
sary in religious and political opinions, has
honestly and magnanimously pronounced an
encomium on the Paradise Lost, not cursorily
and generally, but particularly ; accompanied
by reasons on each occasion, which flash con-
viction on the mind of the reader, and which,
MODERN SCULPTURE. 339
by sagacity of observation and power of ex-
pression, is rendered the most extraordinary
discrimination of excellence, as it is of prefer-
ence, ever offered to the epic muse.
And yet, is it to be believed, that this Poet,
abounding in subjects and characters of the
most extraordinary kind, has been almost en-
tirely neglected in the Arts of his own country,
whilst his merits have been vindicated and
illustrated by the liberal mind and genius of a
foreigner !
In future, let us, conscious of the means we
possess, not be negligent in exerting ourselves
for posterity in the same proportion as we feel
our own obligations to former ages.
THE END.
LIST OF PLATES,
LITHOGRAPHED BY VARIOUS ARTISTS FROM DRAWINGS
BY MR. FLAXMAN.
1. Bishop Wulstan, in Worcester Cathedral.
2. Creation of Eve, from Wells Cathedral.
3. Death of Isaac, do.
4. An Angel, do.
5. Queen Eleanor, from Waltham Cross.
6. Virgin and Angels, a Key Stone in York Cathedral.
7. St. John, from Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Westmin-
ster Abbey.
8. Statues in the Architecture of do.
9. Plan of the Palace of Carnac.
10. Figure of Bubaste or Isis, who is also Cybele or Earth ;
and, like the Diana of Ephesus, crowned with Towers.
11. Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Memphis.
12. Sculpture at Persepolis, from Le Bruyn's Travels.
13. Vishnu, Creating Agent of Brahma, Attitude, the Em-
blem of Eternity, from Moore's " Hindu Pantheon."
14. Lions over the Gate of Mycenae, mentioned by Pausa-
nias as being done by the Cyclops.
15. A Bronze Figure of Minerva, found in the Barrow of
Achilles, described by M. Chevalier.
16. Daedalian Figures from Bronzes.
17. Minerva, from a Bronze by Daedalus.
242 LIST OF PLATES.
18. Tydeus, see Winckelman.
19. Minerva", by Phidias, thirty-nine feet high.
20. Jupiter Olympius, at Elis, by do.
21. Venus Aphrodite, by Alcamanes.
22. Venus of Cnidos, by Praxiteles, drawn from an Antique
Statue found near Rome.
23. Venus of Cos, by Praxiteles. Medals of the Empress
Lucilla, perhaps, from this Statue.
24. Discobulus, by Myron, from a Gem, an Example in the
British Museum.
25. Statue on the Pediment over the West Front of a
Temple at Egina.
26. Circle and Square of the Human Figure.
27. Extent of Motion, one Figure.
28. Do. shown in two Figures.
29. Do. front and side view equipoised, supported on one
Leg.
30. Preparing to run; running; striking.
31. Bearing a weight; preparing to jump, and alighting.
32. Leaning, flying and falling.
33. Brazen Serpent, from Michael Angelo.
34. Charity, from do.
35. The Nativity, ^ from Greek Paintings in the
36. The Transfiguration, $ Libraries of Austria and France.
37. Part of the Last Judgment, from Michael Angelo.
38. Holy Family, from do.
39. Last Judgment, Lincoln Cathedral.
40. Figure from Peterborough Cathedral.
41. An Apostle, from Albert Durer.
42. Drapery.
43. Drapery on the Bosom and Legs.
44. Drapery, three Figures, a Bacchante and two from
Nature.
45. Callirhoe, from a Gem.
LIST OF PLATES. 243
46. Iris.
47. Juno Lucina.
48. Head of the Colossus of Rhodes.
49. Head of our Saviour, from Arringhi's " Roma Subter-
ranea."
50. Specimens of Heads from the Cathedral of York.
51. Monument of Sir Francis Vere, in Westminster Abbey.
52. Tomb of Madame Langhahn.
The anecdote concerning this monument is this : M. Verschoffel, a
Prussian Sculptor, was on a visit to the Rev. M. Langhahn in Switzerland,
when Madame Langhahn died on Easter eve. M. Verschoffel, to console
his afflicted friend, immediately carved the lady and her new-born infant,
bursting the tomb in the resurrection of the just. It has been introduced
on account of the pious and affectionate sentiment it contains.
FRONTISPIECE. A Portrait of the Author, from a Model,
by himself.
ERRATA.
Plate 39, by mistake, has been referred to, in one of the Lectures, as " The
Glorification ;" whereas it is " The Last Judgment," a bas-relief on the south
entrance of Lincoln Cathedral, executed about the year 1400.
LONDON t
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// /
\ TT SEP 15 1945
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