I 
 
 
^ N . 
 
 E S S A T 
 
 ^ " ' UPON 
 
 PoETRr and Painting, 
 
 '* 
 
 With Relation to the Sacred and Profane 
 
 HISTORY- 
 
 W I T H A N 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Concerning OBSCENITY in 
 
 Writing and Painting. 
 
 Ui ViSlura Voefis. 
 
 , Dabiturque Licentia fumpta pudenter, 
 
 Di/ce, docenim adhuc quid cenfet amiculus: Ut fi 
 ' Cacus iter monftrare velit, Hor. 
 
 By Charles Lamotte, D.D. F. R.S, 
 Member of the Society of Antiquaries, 
 and Chaplain to his Grace the Duke 
 of Montague, 
 
 1 ‘ Z O N 2) O N: 
 
 : Printed for F. Fayram, at the South Entrance 
 of the Royal Exchange ; and J. L e A k e, 
 Bookfeller at Eath, M.dcc.xxx. 
 
A N 
 
 essay 
 
 UPON 
 
 Poetry and Painting. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 HE Pleafure I enjoyed fbmc 
 time lince with you, in the 
 
 Gallery at where my 
 
 Eyes and Ears were both lo 
 agreeably entertain’d ; the 
 hat noble Colledkion of Pic- 
 pires, and the Laft with the judicious Ob- 
 fervations you there made of the exceffivc 
 Licence of Painters in their Works ; has 
 tempted me to confidcr that Subjed: fur- 
 ther j and^ in compliance with your Dc- 
 fires, to which I can deny nothing, to 
 B . mak« 
 
'2 'Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 make fome Refle<5tions upon the Licences' 
 of Poets and Painters, which I have here 
 euclofed. I muft confefs "tis not without 
 pear and Concern, I fend thefe Remarks 
 to a Perfon that has fuch an elegant Tafte, 
 and fo compleat a Knowledge of the two 
 JSifter-Arts. But as I know your Good- 
 nefs and Candour are equal to your Skill, 
 
 I flatter my felf, that when your Judge- 
 ment fhall hold the Ballance, your Kind— 
 nefs and Favour will turn the Scale on 
 the favourable Side.-— But to proceed 
 with fome Order, and to avoid Contu- 
 fion, the Mother of Obfeurity, I fliall in 
 the firft Place confider, 
 
 The Licence both of Poets and rain-; 
 ters in general, together with their due i 
 Bounds and Extent : And, Secondly, j 
 
 point out fome of the boldeft and moft j 
 inexcufable Liberties they have taken. I 
 call them inexcufable, becaufe they are 
 either in Oppofition to the Holy^Scrip- 
 ture, or at leaft have no manner ot War- 
 rant and Authority from it. 
 
 A.nd Firft, It is certain the Arts ot 
 Painting and Poetry, by their very Na- 
 ture, are entituled to fome* Degree ot Li- 
 cence. Horace, who is thought to be mott 
 fevourable on their Side, and who never 
 fails to be quoted in the Cafe, gives them, 
 I muft own, a great deal of Indulgence. 
 
 'PiSforihm 
 
Po E TRY Painting. ^ 
 
 TlBorihus atque Toeils 
 
 ^UIDLIBET AUDENDl femper fait Aqua VoteflAs] 
 
 Art. Ppet« i;er. i®." 
 
 But then he confines it within certain ’• 
 Limits : 
 
 Sed nm ut piacldis coeant immitiay mn ut 
 
 Berpentes aviius geminentur^ Tigribm agnu iz* 
 
 It does not extend fo far as to join Thing* 
 together that are repugnant and contra- 
 diCTory to each other, that are entirely 
 inconfiftent and incompatible.— Such a* 
 coupling wild and tame Creatures toge- 
 ther, joining Birds with Serpents, and 
 Lambs with Tigers. To which, I think, 
 he might juftly have added, Such Li- 
 berties as break in upon the Age or Time, 
 when Perfons are introduced in the fame 
 Scene which never exifted together : Or, 
 id/y. Such as trelpals againft what the 
 Italians call the Cojiume^ when the Man- 
 ners, Faihions or Practices of different 
 Ages and Nations, are jumbled and con- 
 founded together. 
 
 And Firft, Such Licences are viciou* 
 and blameable, as break in upon the Age 
 or Time : As if a Painter or a Poet Ihould 
 bring Alexander and Cdcfar in the fame 
 Scene of Action, and Hannibal and 1?om- 
 pey fighting againft each other. For this 
 Reafon I muft confefs to you, Sir, that 
 B 2 though 
 
^Jn ESSAY 
 
 though I am a very great Admirer of 
 VinriL I never could digeft that Anachro- 
 nifm, which by learned Men has-been laid 
 to his Charge, of bringing Mneas ^d 
 together, who lived at no lef^ Al- 
 liance than * three or four hundred Years. 
 I cannot deny but that part of his Poem 
 is exquifitely fine ; that the Epifodeis 
 worked up with a very mafterly Hand 
 teems with Abundance of Beauties and 
 Graces, and wonderfully afFeAs and ftrikes 
 upon the Paffions. But I cannot help 
 thinking, that this Irregularity, in pomt 
 of Time, is a Stain that fullies the other 
 Beauties, and palls the Pleafee of the 
 Reader. So that I cannot help faying 
 
 ■with 
 
 ^iodcunq\ -opiidis miUjiC incredtilus odi, 
 
 Thefe are Faults and Blemilhes which 
 fome of the befl Writers in Poetry have 
 
 — I 
 
 * If the new Svftem of Chronology of the late Sn, 
 Kmc Hands upon a folid Foundation, that grra 
 
 £ has done Juftice to Virgil in this Particular 5 hc^' 
 fl',ewn that and DiVfl, were realty Contemporaries 
 
 But as his Opinion has been attackt by fome very 
 fidevable Writers, & 
 
 not here pafs my Judgment, ‘ ^ nifficu^^^^ 
 
 but leave it wholly to time to clear up the DifficultJ 
 
 This Anachronilm if it be one. has < 
 
 late Mr. Boi/e. who likewifc ccnlured divers Faults < 
 
 this kind in TtUmachus. J 
 
Poetry and Painting. 5 
 
 been guilty o£ The great Sophocles him.- 
 felf^ the Prince of the 'T!ragick Poets, has 
 thought fit to take a Liberty of this kind 
 in his Tragedy of EleBra^ where he fixes 
 the Death of Orejies his Hero, at the Ce- 
 lebration of the * Pythian Games. But 
 fare he muft have fuppoled his Audience 
 either very ignorant not to fee, or very in- 
 dulgent not to cenfure fuch a palpable 
 Fault in Chronology ; fince it is certain 
 thofe Games were not inftituted 'till about 
 fix hundred Years after the Death of that 
 unhappy Prince. He thought perhaps to 
 make amends for this by the Finenefs and 
 Elegancy of the Defcription : But, as 
 
 Horace upon another Occafion faith, 
 
 Non erat his Locus. 
 
 Thefe Beauties are not rightly timed 
 and placed. A judicious Writer Ihould 
 have referved them for fome other Piece, 
 where they might more properly and na- 
 turally have come in. The Joint-Authors 
 of the EngUJh OEdipuSy Mr, Dryden and 
 Mr. Lee , have not only copied the 
 Greek Poet in his Excellencies, but alft> 
 followed him in a Fault of this very kind, 
 Inwards the Conclufion of their Tragedy ; 
 
 * Ele^ra A(\ 2. Scene 2 . 
 
 B3 
 
 where 
 
6 E S S A Y upon 
 
 •where they make their Hero fay, 
 
 ’ • '■ Jls oft I hm)e at Athens fetn 
 The Stage arife, and the big Clouds defcend. 
 
 The Fault I mean here, is not the put- 
 ting a Simile^'SXiA. a quaint T urn of Thought, 
 in the Mouth of a dying Man, and dy- 
 ing under fuch a Load of Calamity and 
 Afflid:ion, which afevereCritick will hardly 
 allow to be juft and exad:. What I mean 
 is a Blunder in point of Time, in relation 
 to the Athenian Stage. I will not pre- 
 tend to fay how often OEdipus had feen 
 it : But if he ever did, fure it muft have 
 been in a Dream or Vifion, by way of 
 Pfolepfis or Anticipation ; lince *tis cer- 
 tain there was no Stage at Athens^ ^till 
 Ibme hundred Years after that King reign- 
 ed at Thebes. I will not fay to which of 
 thele Authors this Anachroniira is to be 
 laid. If Mr. Dry den was living, I be- 
 lieve he would not fail to impute it to 
 Mr. Leey for I think he took Care to 
 afcribe all the Cant and Bombaft to that 
 Player, and to alTumc all the Graces and 
 Beauties to himfelf But lince he was 
 the Publilher of that Piece, and ulhered 
 it into the World with a Preface of his 
 own ; he feems in fome Meafure account- 
 able for that Licence, Miftake, or what 
 clfe you are pleafed to call it, Befidea 
 
 wha< 
 
Poetry Painting. 7 
 
 what might be born and excnled in a Per- 
 fon of Mr. Le/s Ghara6ler, who was no 
 more than a Plajer, cannot be fo calily be 
 pardoned in fo learned a Man, and ju- 
 dicious Critick as Mr. Drydea. 
 
 But none have indulged themfelves more 
 in this kind of Liberty, than Painters, 
 from whom fome .learned Men and very 
 great Judges, have required a greater Ex- 
 aCtnefs and Conformity with Truth. *Lon- 
 ginusy whofe Authority will be thought 
 unexceptionable, Ipeaking of Painting and 
 Poetry, faith, that in the Poets many 
 things may be found, which exceed all 
 Faith and .Belief; but that the Excellency 
 of a Painter confifts in reprefenting what 
 is agreeable toTruth. ’\>P^itruvius’s opinion 
 is, that no Painting ought to be approved 
 of that doth not agree with it. Some have 
 carried the Matter fb far as to aflert that 
 even Beauty, which is fb ellential a Part 
 in a Picture, ought to give place to Pro- 
 bability and Truth. This § Philojiratus 
 
 * Ket-i to7< 'TS’Otnretjf f4v9/xoTipay 
 
 7»P VWpiK-zf\a)tTIV Kcti 'ja/ln TO T/ror wVjprt/- 
 f tso^cu', TMj P K(Lk\I7ov to tfJL'nr^AySjov 
 
 %«Li TO Long. T«p/ C. i g . 
 
 •f Neque Piiiurae probari dcbent quse non funt fimiles 
 veri,tati. 
 
 § Alet^poyjU Ti lJt.lv C'TSO iJ'pSr©- ijl, TVip'uilrfjAt 
 Kovif, ntjoy piiv KctAsf visotpaivtsCcL ri{ 
 AXllS^eS-spas Xi. 
 
 B3 
 
 il- 
 
:S E S S A Y upon 
 
 illuftrates by the Horfes of jimphiarausy 
 which appeared covered over with Dull 
 and Sweat, ^hey would hanoe been much 
 JineTy faith he, without this Duji and Sweaty 
 but not fo agreeable to Truth. And yet this 
 Truth is what Limners have not been 
 fcrupulous to oblerve, but have taken lar- 
 ger freedom, and gone greater lengths than 
 the Poets themlelves j and that in Pieces de- 
 ligned for Churches where it might have 
 been expedled, they Ihould have Ihewn 
 piore Decorum, and oblerved a greater re- 
 gard and conformity to Truth. Thus one 
 lhall often fee St, Jerom attending our Sa- 
 viour at the Inftitution of the *Laft Supper, 
 and St. Francis prelent at the Crucifixion, 
 though both lived many hundred years al- 
 ter him. And this has not only been done by 
 common Daubers and Country Painters, but 
 by fome of the moll eminent of the Profofli- 
 on, as the F^moxxsT^aulVerone/e in oneof his 
 finell Pieces, the '{'Changing Water into 
 Wine at the Marriage of Canay which is 
 to be fcen in the Convent of St. George at 
 Venice. In this Piece, by an unpardonable 
 Licence and a ridiculous Compliment, he 
 has placed among the other Guefls Ibme 
 BenediSHn Monks, for whole Convent he 
 wrought that Piece ; an Order that was 
 
 ^ Reflex, fur la Peinture, VoL i, p, jSx, 
 
 •j- Idem ibid. p. 
 
 not ; 
 
Poetry ^//^Painting. p 
 
 not known ’till above five hundred years 
 after the working of this Miracle. The 
 great R<?p^^f/himlelf, in the celebrated Pic- 
 ture of* St. Cecilia at Eologne^ has brought 
 that Lady into better company than, I 
 dare fay, Ihe ever dreamt to be in; I mean 
 St. Maty Magdalen and St. Jujiiny though 
 the firft lived fome Centuries before, and 
 the laft fome Centuries after the ftimc 
 afligned by the Legend for the Life of this 
 Saint. This his Brother-Painters have 
 been aware of, and endeavoured to palliate 
 and excufe. ¥rancefco Jlbani thinks *twas 
 done by Raphael in pure compliance with 
 the pofitive Directions of thofe, for whom 
 the Picture was made, which, by the way, 
 (faith J Mr. Richardfon') is not feldom the 
 occafion of real Faults in Pictures, and 
 which therefore ought not to be imputed 
 to the Painter. But, with fubmillion to 
 that excellent Painter and judiciousWri ter, ' 
 I deny this to be a lawful Excufe. A 
 
 * This is the famous Pidlure which when Raphael 
 had finifhed he fent to Francia, a great Painter at that 
 time, defiring him to fet it up at Bologna 5 and' even to* 
 correct the Faults that he might find in it. But Francha 
 was fo furprifed and ftruck with the fight of it, that 
 finding it impoflible for him to equal fuch an admirable 
 Work, he fell fick and died with Griefs jin. if 18, 
 Fehb. Entretiens. in vita Fraud a ^ 
 
 f ’Tis Paid the fufFered Martyrdonj in the ninth, yeay 
 of the Empire of Alexander Severus, A. D«. ijo« 
 
 % Eflay on Painting, Part i. p. 10^ 
 
 Bs 
 
 great 
 
lo 'An ESSAY upon 
 
 great Artift and a noble Genius iliould fet 
 himfelf above fuch mean Confiderations, 
 and fuch low Compliances, as will deface 
 and deftroy the Truth of all Hiftor^f. 
 He Ihould not debafe or proftitute hiU 
 Pencil, nor Ikcrifiec his Glory and Repu- 
 tation to the wrong Tafte and Vanity of 
 others : He Ihould put on the lame Spirit 
 and Courage, and the fame Love of Truth 
 as an impartial Hiftorian. 
 
 ^ quid falji pingere audeaty m quid vtri 
 
 mn audeat. 
 
 The other vicious and blameable Licen- 
 ces I mentioned are fuch as treffmls againft 
 what the Italians call the Cojiam^ when 
 the Manners, Falhions, and Practices of 
 different Ages are jumbled and confounded 
 together. To begin with the Poets; 
 Mr. Otway was certainly to blame for 
 introducing a 'Tomh or Burying-^lace in his 
 Tragedy of C a i u s M a a i u s. A Scene 
 of this nature might be fuitable to the 
 Play of Romeo and yuUo of Shakefpear^ 
 from whence Mr. Otivay took his Plan : 
 But it never can agree with that Age of 
 the Romans. My learned and worthy 
 Friend Gapt. Breval falls pretty hard upon 
 that Poet, and accufes him of downright 
 Ignorance. I cannot pafs fuch a Genfure 
 upon fo fine a Writer as Mr. Otway, nor 
 imagine he could be ignorant of what is 
 
 known 
 
Po ETRy Pa I NTING. II 
 
 IjnoAyn tp almoft every Boy at School, 
 that ia the later Gpnfulary times the prac- 
 tice the Komatis was not to bury, but 
 tp bum the Bodies of the dead. I rather 
 think that he knowingly and willingly 
 ventured upon this Licence, and chofe 
 to fling in the Scjcne of a Tomb, to add 
 Awfulnefs, Solemnity, and Difmalnefs to 
 his Tragedy ; though I am of opinion, 
 this Plea is not fufficient to excufe him, 
 for fo manifeftly impoling upon his Au- 
 dience. But this is not quite fo bad as 
 the ridiculous Jnftance which is mentioned 
 by Mpnf JD. B. in his late ingenious Per- 
 formance called ^Reflexions upon Poetry 
 and Painting, of a Dutch Tragick Writer, 
 who reprefents the gre^t Stipio very grave- 
 hy Imoaking aPipe of T obacco and drinking 
 a Pot of Beer upon the Stage, w hilft he is 
 muling and meditating on the IlTue of the 
 great Battle of ^ama againll HannihaJy 
 which, you know. Sir, decided the Fate 
 of Curtha^e, I could produce many In- 
 flances of this kind of Licence among the 
 Painters, efpecially thofe of the Lombard 
 School, who have taken vafl Liberties of 
 this kind, have chiefly applied themlelves 
 to the colouring, and have wholly neg- 
 lected the decorum in the Manners and 
 Cuftoms ; which muft needs puzzle the 
 
 ♦ Reflexions fur la Poefie & la Peinture, VoL i . p, 
 
 6 B SpeCta- 
 
12 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Spectators, and bring Darknels and Con- 
 fufion into their Pieces. For if the Cojtume 
 be not obferved, how lhall we diftinguifh 
 a “Turk from a Perjian^ a P.erjian from an 
 Indian^ or a Greek from a Roma»f if they 
 are all drefled and habited alike, or if they 
 appear with Whiskers, z&jilbert Durer has 
 reprefented all his Figures, which makes 
 them look like fb many Sivi/s * Soldiers, 
 for which he has been blamed and cen- 
 fured by the World ? How lhall I know 
 St. James the Apoftle with a Bourdon or 
 Pilgrims Staff, and 'f'fet out with Shells 
 and Trinkets as going on a Pilgrimage, 
 when I’m very fure there were no Pil- 
 grims in his days ; and yet he is drawn in 
 this ridiculous Equipage, becaule, fbrfooth, 
 there is daily a great relbrt of Pilgrims to 
 his pretended Shrine ? Whether this be a 
 juft Reafon for thus difguifing the Saint, 
 I will leave you. Sir, to judge. How 
 lhall I again find out St. Jerom in the 
 Habit or a Cardinal, when I know that 
 neither the Dignity nor Drefs were heard 
 of ’till fome hundred years after this 
 Father ? But of this I lhall have occafion 
 to fay more hereafter : And how lhall I 
 
 * Thus I haye feen at one of the Statuaries at the 
 Corner of Hide Park the Figure of a Soldier in a Roman 
 Hsibit with a Fufce, or Firelock ppon his Shoulder, 
 f Refieftions fur la Poe&c,, * 
 
 dilccm 
 
Poetry Painting. 13 
 
 difcern the two Difciples, who fit at tabic 
 with Gur Saviour at Emaus after his Re- 
 furreftion, when one of them is drawn 
 with a broad brim’d Hat flapping over 
 his Shoulders, and a great bundle of Beads 
 hanging at his Girdle ; the other with a 
 large Scarf or broad Belt acrofs his Veit, 
 and for Attendants a Fellow with a 
 Handkerchief about his Head, and his 
 Arms bare to his Elbows like a Pallrj 
 Cook, and to compleat the whole a little 
 finart Page or Lacquey drell alia Vemta 
 with a fmall Hat and Feather. I fancy 
 you will think this done by feme Country 
 Dawber : But I’ll allure you the Hand is 
 no left than that of the great and 
 
 is in the French King’s Colledtion. The 
 lall Inltance of this nature I lhall produce 
 is a very extraordinary one. ’Tis a Pic- 
 ture of the Lord’s Supper, where the Ar- 
 tifl: has thought fit to give Our Saviour 
 and his Difciples the Elegancy and Po- 
 litenefet)f a Tafte. He has fet a 
 
 Pafchal Lamb, very handfomcly larded, 
 before them. The Painter could not dreft 
 his Dilh in a more unlucky and ridiculous 
 manner ; fince Swine’s Flelh was what 
 was forbidden to the yews., and what 
 they looked upon wi't:! Horror and De- 
 teftation. This curious Piece is to be 
 
 feeji 
 
 * fur ia PoeGe* 
 
^4 Idn "B S SAY upQU 
 
 feen in the Chamber where the King nf 
 France nlhally receives the KmbaffadQrs 
 of * Foreign trinqes. This I fuppofe wiH 
 fiifEce to give a Notion of the vicious and 
 blameable Licences I meant, and will 
 allb ierve to Ihew, that as thele two 
 Sifter- Arts partake of the fame Beauties 
 and Excellencies, fo they partake alfo of 
 the like Faults and Defers. I fliall not 
 here offer to give you a juft and exa^ 
 Parallel of Painting and Poetry : This has 
 been already done by fucb mafterly hands 
 as yuniuSy Felihien^ Monlieur De 'Ftles^ 
 Mr. J)ryde}7y and the Ingenious Mr. T>. if, 
 that it would be a Prefumption in me to 
 attempt it after them. I fhall therefore 
 only make fome few Obfervations which 
 may perhaps have efcaped thofe Writers, 
 or which have not been fo fully infifted 
 upon by them. And that I may do this 
 more clearly, I fhall firft confider the Parts 
 in which thofe two Arts moft refemble.j 
 and Secondly examine the peculiar Ad- 
 vantages of each, and wherein they may 
 feem to excell or fall fhort of each other. 
 As I do not profefs either of thofe Arts 
 myfelf, I hope I fixall hold a fair and 
 even Scale, and keep a very fteddy and 
 impartial -hand. N^w as the fame Quali- 
 
 ♦ This I have from a Peribn of Quality, 
 himfelf in the King of France's Palace, 
 
 who faw it 
 
 fications 
 
Poetry and Pa i n ti n g. 15 
 
 fications are required in the Poet and the 
 Painter, the fame Life and Spirit, the 
 fame Elevation and Sublimity of Genius, 
 the Spiritus acer, S wens divlmor of 
 * Horae the fame univerfal Knowledge 
 of Nature; fb thefe, when they meet 
 together, muft of neceffity produce the 
 fame EfFedts. Now the Defign and In- 
 tention of both thefe Arts, according to 
 the Learned P’. Junius^ is to move and 
 affedi: the Paflions, to teach and inftmif, 
 and laftly to pleafe and divert Mankind. 
 As to the nrft of thefe. Moving the 
 Paflions, I dare fay, that every one that 
 has read a lively and affecting Poem, or 
 beheld a moving and beautiful Pidfure, 
 muft be convinced of this. I could liere 
 produce many Inftances of both, but that 
 would at prefent carry me too far, and 
 take up too much of your time. As to 
 the lafl of thefe, the power of Painting 
 over the Paflions, I cb^ife ^o refer you to 
 that wonderful and Entertaining Perform- 
 ance of Juntas de.Qiaara n^eterum, who 
 has almolt drained, <and exhaufled the Sub- 
 ject. I lhall dnly take notice of one 
 Inftance, which by that learned Man and 
 other Advocates of Painting, hath often 
 been brought to Ihew the Power of Paint 
 beyond that of Words, becaufe I con- 
 
 * Sat. 4. V, 4,-, 47. 
 
 ceive 
 
t 6 ESSAY upon 
 
 ceive it comes not up to the Point, but 
 leaves the Matter juft on the lame Foot 
 as it was. 'Tis the Story related by 
 * Gregory Nyjfenusoi a Curtezan, who was 
 engaged in a Criminal Affair with a young 
 Man, as fhe was going to meet her Lover 
 happened to light on the Picture of 
 
 t ^olemoj who had run great Lengths in 
 ice, but in the midft of a Debauch was 
 fo wrought upon by the Speech of Xeno- 
 crateSy that he forfook his loofe and ex- 
 travagant Life and became afterwards a 
 great Philofopher. The fight of this Pic- 
 ture, faith the Father, lb affected the 
 Woman, that Ihe renounced her wicked 
 Life, and became a Convert and a fincere 
 Penitent. But I cannot think. Sir, that 
 this comes up at all to the Point, or gives 
 any manner of Preference to Painting. 
 Here are two Perfons made Converts in 
 an extraordinary manner: For the Piece 
 which workt -upOiJ the Curtefan was the 
 Picture of one that had been converted 
 by the Speech of a Philofopher ^ fo far 
 
 * \i(TtKciKei Ti^ 
 
 itASs, 'TrKmiov 
 
 'TTrgKV^COV jLloXipiCOV Iv ^KQVt 
 T^VTTiu Tip 
 
 ’AtmaSsp cajQv^ K) 
 
 \'7T ct}^vp9(S(rct 7GP 
 
 •j- See Horat. Sat. L, 2, Sat. 3. VfiJor^Maxi^ 
 
 tms^ L.9. c. 9. Ext. I. 
 
 thefe 
 
Poetry Painting, li 
 
 thefe two Arts are upon the Par, and on 
 an equal Level. Now this proves no 
 more in behalf of Painting, than what 
 * Arijtoth has long lince laid down, that 
 Pidlures are as able to bring Men to 
 Thought, ReflecStion, and Repentance, as 
 the moll grave and ferious Precepts of 
 Philofophy. I don't remember ever to 
 have feen a Drawing of the miraculous 
 Converfion of St. who from being 
 
 a very loofe and dilbrderly Liver became 
 one of the greateft Lights, and one of the 
 moll excellent Fathers of the Church. 
 Yet I believe a lively Repr^entation of 
 this might have a good effedl upon Sin- 
 ners and very much tend to reform them 
 and 'I' reclaim them. I lhall here fet it 
 down as he himfelf relates it in his Con- 
 fellions • an admirable Book, which hath 
 undergone as many Editions as there are 
 Months lince it was written. He faith 
 that as he was alone in a Garden refleeSling 
 upon his Courfe of Life, he felt a terrible 
 Struggle within his Heart between Challity 
 and Virtue on the one fide, and his old 
 Sins and Temptations on the other, which 
 appeared in their deluding Colours before 
 him. Whim he was in thefe Pangs -he 
 
 * Ariftot. Rhetor. 
 
 f Since the writing of this Fm informed, that this 
 Subje6t has been finely executed by Boulogn in the 
 Church of the Invalids at P^r/V, and has been engraven. 
 
 heard 
 
‘is '^Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 heard a Yoke that cried to him (everal 
 times, Take up the Book and read. This 
 he looked upon as a Call from Heaven ; 
 fo taking up the Book he happened to 
 pitch upon Rom. xiii. 13. Not in rioting 
 and Drimkennefsy not in Cbamhering and 
 Wdntonnefsy See. which Words, he faith, 
 fo ftruck and affedted him, that from that 
 Moment, he refblved to forfake his vicious 
 Life, and to give himfelf up entirely to 
 the Service of God. Now, Sir, I cannot 
 but think that fuch a Paflage as this, 
 workt up by the Pencil of a Raphael or 
 any other i^^erly Hand, t^ fhould ex- 
 prefs the Coh^d: he,..^Ken felt by the 
 Allegorical * Figj^eSof Virtue and Vice, 
 that could Jj>efvmSsWords fpoken from 
 above, tJj^ringer ot the Saint placed 
 upon tlie moving and affedling Paffage, 
 the Eyes lifted up to Heaven, the Com- 
 punction of the Heart, and Convi^ion of 
 Confcience, through which might be feen 
 Gleams of Light, Joy, Love, and Thank- 
 fulnefs to God, I cannot, I fay, but think 
 that fuch a lilent Piece of Eloquence 
 would mightily awaken the Confcience, 
 and produce ferious Reflexions ( if not a 
 
 * As they are repreftnted in the beautiful Allegory of 
 the Piflure of Pae/t di M^^that c;fpreffes the Confliff 
 of Hercuks between Virtue and Pieafiice. There is a 
 curious Print Cf this done by Critelin. 
 
 full 
 
Poetry Pa IN TING, ip 
 
 full and entire Repentance ) in a Sinner. 
 
 The ad Duty of Painters and Ports was 
 to inftrud. As to Poetry the Cafe is too 
 plain to infiH: upon it. And the like with 
 JufUce may be faid of Painting. The un- 
 learned (faith Gregory the Great) may be 
 admirably well inftrudlied by Painting. 
 Pictures are the Books of the ignorant, 
 where they may learn what they ought to 
 pradtile and follow. If fb, then Painters 
 ought to have the utmofl regard toTruth j 
 they Ihould take fpecial care not to cor- 
 rupt thole Books, which may miflead and 
 deceive Men in the moft Sacred and Holy 
 things. Thefe Words of St. Gregory^ the 
 "Writers of the Church of Kome never fail 
 to quote againft us in defence of the 
 Worfhip of Images and Paintings. But, 
 with their ufual Sincerity, they Hop here, 
 and take care to conceal the reft of the 
 Paflage, becaufe it makes diredfcly againft 
 them. As I have not the Original now 
 by me, I lhall fet it down from the 
 Tranflation of M. Du one of their 
 own Writers, which is the moft fair and 
 candid way of proceeding. The Place 
 occurs in one of Gre^oj^’s ^Epiftles' to 
 Serenus Bilhop of MarfeHIes^ who per- 
 ceiving that his People worlhiped Images, 
 had broken and demolilhed them. He 
 
 ♦ Epift. Greg.L. 9. Ep. 9. 
 
 com- 
 
20 'Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 commended the Zeal he had fliewn againffc 
 adoring Images. ‘‘We commend you, 
 “ Brother, laith he, for hindering your 
 “ People from worfliiping Images ; but 
 we blame you for breaking them. You 
 “ ought therefore to call your People 
 “ together, and declare to them that 
 “ Images are not to be worihiped, that 
 “ you only broke them becaufe Adora- 
 “ tion was paid to them, that you will 
 “ permit them in the Church for the future, 
 “ provided the only ufe of them be to 
 “ inftrud:. Do not hinder them from having 
 “ Images, but prevent their being adored 
 “ in any manner •whatfoe’ver. Admonifli 
 “ your People to exhort each other to 
 “ Compunftion, and the AdorationofGod 
 “ in the Trinity, in beholding Pictures 
 “ that reprefont Sacred things.” Thus far 
 Pope Gregory. Some learned Men have 
 thought Pictures in Churches, madjC with 
 judgement might have a very good effect 
 upon the vulgar, and prove efficacious 
 means of Improvement and Edification 
 (provided due care was taken to prevent 
 the abufe of them) and that lively Repre- 
 fentations of the facred Hiftory might be 
 of admirable ufe to inftruCt the Ignorant ; 
 and to enliven the Devotion, and give 
 Wings and Fervency to the Prayers of the 
 Faithful. I hope I ffiall not be thought 
 here inclined to Popery, and to preach 
 
 up 
 
Poetry Painting; 21 
 
 up the Worfliip of Images. This was the 
 Opinion of a Writer, who, I dare fa^. 
 Will not fall under any Sufpicion of this 
 Nature ; I mean Baxter himfelf, in his 
 Chrijiian DireBory^ as I find him quoted 
 by a fair and impartial Writer : For I 
 have never read the Book through my 
 felf. 
 
 “ A Crudfix (faith Baxter') well befits 
 ^ the Imagination of a Reliever. ^Tis 
 ** lawful to make an Image of a Crucifix 
 “ to be an Object or Medium of our Con- 
 ‘‘ fideration, exciting Chriftians to wor- 
 “ fhip God The laft Part and Duty 
 I mentioned of the Painter and Poet, was 
 to pleafe and delight ; this I name you 
 laft, becaufe it is fo placed by Junius and 
 by Horace himfelf. 
 
 Et prodeJJ'e noolunt S deleBare *Boetee. 
 
 Of this there can be no Difpute. A 
 Man muft have neither Eyes, nor Ears, 
 nor Common Senfe and Reafon, that is 
 not pleafed and delighted with a fine Poem, 
 or a beautiful Pidure. There is, how- 
 ever, one Branch of Poetry, which moft 
 diredly tends that way, and whofe chief 
 Aim and Province is to amufe, divert, and 
 to raife Mirth and Laughter, that is, Co- 
 medy. But, has not Painting alfb fome 
 Pretenfion to this kind of Wit and Hu- 
 mour ? No doubt it has, and a very juft 
 
 one 
 
'22 ESSAY upon 
 
 one too. Since the Advocates of that 
 Art, have not thought fit to infill upon 
 this, ‘I hope I may be allowed to put in 
 a Claim for it, and to aflert that Painting 
 has Wit, Humour, and Comedy, as well 
 as Poetry. I don^t know. Sir, whether* 
 you will think it a wrong Tafte in me or 
 no, when I aflure you that I have been 
 as well pleafed with a Piece of Teniers^ 
 who deals in the low way of Life, as I 
 have been at play ; that I have been as 
 well diverted at feme Drolls of Brewer 
 said Hemskirk that I have feen in Hollandy 
 as I could have been atthofe in Bartho^ 
 lomew Fair ; and that I have been as well 
 entertained with a Kermefs Dutch Fair, 
 and Country Feaft of Bruehelsy who e?c- 
 cels in that Way, as I have been at feeing 
 the Country Wake adled, or at reading the 
 Defeription of one, though drawn up by 
 the elegant Pen of Mr. Add-on himfelfl 
 I cannot lay the fame of a kind of Wit 
 in Painting, which the Italians call Cari- 
 cature. This is a reprefenting the molt 
 beautiful and regular Face in the moll de- 
 formed, frightful and ridiculous manner, 
 yet fo as to keep the lame Features, and 
 to preferve fuch a Likenels, that the Per- 
 fon you mean lhall immediately be known; 
 fo that one would wonder to. fee how lit- 
 tle a Difference there is between the two 
 Oppolites, Beauty and Deformity. This 
 
Poetry and Painting. 23 ' 
 
 I t^e to be falfe Wit and Humour, that 
 dcbafes the Pencil to mean and low Satyr, 
 and relembles a kind of falfe Wit and ill 
 'I'afte in Poetry, which prevailed in the 
 kll: Century : When Sc anon in France^ 
 and Mr. Cotton here, took it into their 
 Heads to traveftir and burlefque Virgil 
 himfelf, and made it their Bulinels to turn 
 the noMeft Thoughts and fublimeft Ex- 
 jaeffions into meer ^ Farce, and down-< 
 right Bufibonry ; which I mull own I 
 
 ♦ This wrong Wit and falfe Tafte in the laft Century, 
 pafled from Italy into France, and like an Infeftioh, 
 over-fpread the whole Kingdom. It began with the 
 Comtnonweakh of Letters^ where nothing was thought 
 witty and elegant, but what was in this ridiculous 
 Strain. By Degrees it fpread to the Palace, where 
 Courtiers made their Addrefles, and the Ladies their 
 Replies in the burlefque Stile. It extended to the very 
 Servants, with whom nothing would go down, but 
 what was fet off in that Drefs. The Folly rofe to that 
 Height, that Bookfellers could not vend their Wares, 
 Without fomething oi this to recommend it, in the Ti- 
 tle or the Book, At laft it €ven reached to Sacred 
 Things, and a Poem appeared with this ftrange Title at 
 'Paris ; Ihe Bijlory of our blejfed Saviour*s PetJJhrty in 
 burlefque Verfe, Though this was really a grave and 
 lerious Piece, yet the Author or Printer thought fit to 
 prefix this Title, that the Book might have a quicker 
 [Sale. But as Epidemical Difeafes, after they have raged 
 for feme Time, infenfibly aKate and decrcafe ; fo when 
 this Infe£fion had had its vogue for a while, Men of 
 1 Senfe began to be aftiamed of it, and by Degrees it ceafed 
 and dwindled away to nothing. Hif. de TAcadem.. 
 jF^ancoife, far Af. Peliflbn. 
 
 could 
 
34 E S S A Y 
 
 could never read without the utmoft Un- 
 cafinefs and Indignation. Nothing Ihould 
 be made the Subjea: of Raillery and 
 Banter, but what is foolifti, vicious, and 
 ridiculous in it felf. Mr. Butkr indeed 
 hath Ihown the Excellency of his Judge- 
 ment, and gained immortal Honour by 
 the Subjed he has chofen to difplay his 
 Wit and Banter upon ; I mean the Cant 
 and Hypocrify, and the wicked and re- 
 bellious Principles of the Age he deligned 
 to expofe ; And you may depend upon 
 it, that when Scdf Ton’s and Cotton s fuuian 
 Stuff and Travefties are negleded, and 
 rotting in the Duft, the inimitable H»- 
 dihras will live and flourilh in the Opinion 
 of all good Judges. 
 
 Ilium agetf ^enna metuente fohi, 
 
 Fuma fupefjlcs^ Hor. Od. A. 2. 0 d» 2. 
 
 Having examined the leveral Parts in 
 which thefe two noble Arts chiefly re- 
 fcmble ; I hope to confider, with the 
 fame Impartiality, the peculiar Advantages 
 of each, and wherein they feem to furpafe 
 and excel one another. I ftiall begin with 
 Poets, and diftinguifh their Advantages 
 into fuch as fpring from the Nature of 
 the Profeffion, and fuch as are cafual and 
 accidental. Firft, The Poet has a larger 
 Field to range and expatiate in ; He is 
 not lb crampt ajid tied up as the O^er. 
 
Poetry and P^ainting. 25 
 
 The Painter is generally confined within 
 the narrow Bounds of a Angle Action, 
 which, in its utmoft Extent, can only an- 
 Iwer an Epifode in a Poem. So that the 
 utmoft that Raphael himfelf could do in 
 the fineft of his Pieces, was to reprefent 
 one fingle Hiftory, or particular Inci- 
 dent : "Whereas Virgil ^ in the Gompafs of 
 his Poem, can fct almoft a thoufana diffe- 
 rent Aftions before you, which you will 
 own, Sir, muft give a great Advantage 
 to Poets, to Ihew the Livelinefs of their 
 "Wit, the Fertility of their Invention, and 
 the Luxuriancy of their Fancy. But, Se- 
 condly, the Poet in another Relpc<51: is 
 fuperiour to the Painter ; he cannot fhife 
 his Scene from one Place to another, can- 
 not exprefr Change of Place, nor of the 
 Pofturc and Attitude of his Bodies, which 
 often gives great Pleafure and Surprize. 
 Whereas the Poet can ftill ftart fomething 
 new, ftill can Ihift the Scene from one 
 Place to another ; and, as Horace has it, 
 Modo me Thebis, modo ponit Athenis : And 
 in the twinkling of an Eye, can vary the 
 Scene, and diverfify the Motion and At- 
 titude of his Adtors. This, as I have 
 obferved, cannot be done by Painting, 
 which alv^ays continuing the fame, with- 
 out Variety and Novelty, muft render the 
 Pleafure by Degrees faint and languid, 
 and at laft tire and furfeit the Beholder. 
 
 G Thirdly, 
 
i6 Jn 'ESS hY upon 
 
 Thirdly, A Pidture can Ihew but one 
 Paflion in a iingle Figure at a Time, whe- 
 ther it be Anger, Joy, or Grief. But 
 the Poet can, in an Inftant, dcfcribe the 
 Temper, and all the different Motions, 
 and Paflions of the Soul. ’Tis the Ob- 
 lervation of an ingenious * Writer, whom-! 
 I have already quoted, that a great deal , 
 of a Perfon’s true Charadler may be tra- 
 ced from his Pidlure ; and that a Man, : 
 after reading one of my Lord Clarendon'^ 
 Charadlers, who is excellent in this kind 
 of Painting, will find his Notions vaftly' 
 improved from a Portrait of the fame Per- 
 fon done by Vandyke. I will not take 
 upon me to judge how far this Remark 
 may hold true ; but I dare venture to af- 
 firm, that, in point of Charadters, there 
 is a vaft Difference between the Pencil and 
 the Pen, and that the Writer has greatly 
 the Advantage^ over the Painter, If the 
 Poets Maxim holds good, 
 
 Fronti nulla Fides ; 
 
 that there is no making a true Judgements 
 of a Man by his Countenance ; it will be 
 ftill of greater Force, in regard to a Por- 
 trait. It is not required of the Painter to 
 draw the different Paflions of the Soul : 
 
 His' 
 
 * Mr, Kichardfon, 
 
Po E TRY Painting. 27 
 
 His Bulinefs is to give a Refemblanco of 
 the Features, and even a favourable one 
 too, and to fliow what they call a hand- 
 fome Likenefs. For this Reafon he takes 
 care, that he who fits be in the moll gay 
 and cheerful Humour, or if he is not, 
 he endeavours to * make him fo, that he 
 may bellow that Gaiety and Chearfulnefs, 
 which, like Titian's Sun-lhine, gives a 
 great Livelinels and Beauty to the Piece. 
 He mull avoid every thing that is dilmal 
 and gloomy in the Countenance ; in Ihort, 
 he mull fet off all the Beauties, and as 
 much as is poffible conceal the Defe<5ls. 
 The Work therefore of the Face-Painter 
 is cramped within very narrow Bounds : 
 He cannot, nay, he muft not reprefent 
 the fevcral vicious Pallions of Fury, Envy, 
 Anger, and Revenge, which make the 
 great Beauty and Elegancy of the Cha- 
 radlers of the Hiftorian. For the Writer 
 mull go to the very bottom, he mull 
 probe and examine the Heart, and learch 
 into the moll hidden RecelTes of the Mind. 
 He mull not only Ihow the moll glaring 
 Aftec^ions and Inclinations, but alfo di^ 
 play all the Faults and Vices, all the 
 
 ♦ The famous Mr. Le Brun, when he drew the Pic- 
 ture of Lm/j XIV, ufed to pick up as many pleafsmt 
 Stories as he could to divert that Prince, and keep him in 
 a.gay, chcarful, and pleafint Humour. 
 
 G 2 Frailties, 
 
iS Jn E S S A Y upon 
 
 Friultles, Frothinefs, and Levities of the 
 J^erlbn he defcribes j ’ which cannot, and 
 muft not ( as I have faid before ) be 
 done by the Portrait-Painter. To con- 
 vince you of the Difference between the 
 two Arts in this Particular, it is only ta- 
 king one of thofo Charadlers that Salujie 
 has fo finely drawn up, either Catc^ Cafar^ 
 or any other Great Man of his Time, and 
 comparing it with one of their Statues, or 
 Buftoes, done by the very bcft Hand, I 
 dare fay, you will quickly find that the 
 Notions and Ideas which the Sculptor 
 gives, foil infinitely ihort of thofo which 
 the Hifiorian pours into your Mind. 
 
 To come nearer to Mr. Richardfon’s 
 Obfervation, take any of my Lord Claren- 
 don*s Chara<ffors, take thofo of my Lord 
 Falkland^ or Mr. Hampden, which are al- 
 lowed to be Maftcr-Pieccs in their Kind, 
 and compare them with the Pidures ot 
 Vandyke, I believe you will ealily perceive 
 that there is a great Deal of Difference be- 
 tween the Writer and the Limner ; and, 
 that the Firft has vaftly the Advantage of 
 the Laft. 
 
 I come now to examine the laft Effen- 
 tial Quality peculiar to both thefc Arts, 
 that of moving the Paffions t And this I ' 
 rnuft own, I think clearly on the fide of 
 Poetry. In this I forefce I lhall have a 
 whole Body of Vkrtuojt and learned Men 
 
 againft 
 
P O E T R Y P A I NT 1 NG, 29- 
 
 againft me, as yunius^ Felihien ; and the in- 
 genious Refle<Stiohift, whom I have al- 
 ready quoted, who pronounces in Favour 
 of Painting, declares diredtiy againft me, 
 and brings feveral ftrong Proofs to fup- 
 port his Opinion ; which I lhall not in- 
 lert here at large, left I Ihould ipin out 
 this EfTay into too great a Length ; fo I 
 chule to refer you to the * Author himfelf 
 But granting his Arguments to ftand in 
 full Force ; nay, granting him farther, 
 that the Painter does the work more ex- 
 peditioufly ; that in a Picture we difcover 
 It a Glance, and in the twinkling of an 
 Ejre, all the feveral Beauties of it, which 
 lying in a final 1 Compafs, and ftrikiug all 
 together upon the Mind, muft have a 
 mighty Force, and make a very great Im- 
 preflion upon it. Whereas Poetry does 
 jot fuch quick Execution, the Progrefe of 
 it is more gradual, faint, and flow ; you 
 nuft often read Abundance of Verfes in a 
 Poem, and travel through many Scenes of 
 i Tragedy, before you can arrive to the 
 PathoSy the touching and moving Part; be- 
 fore you can difcover the feveral Beauties, 
 :he different Charadfers, and the Force of 
 the Paffions ; which by skilful Painters are 
 prefently reflcifted to the Eye, and as im- 
 
 *Vol, L 374, 
 
 C3. 
 
 mediately 
 
30 An ESSAY upon 
 
 mediately conveyed to the Heart. Not- 
 ■vvithftandrng all this, I cannot find Ground 
 enough to recede from my Opinion, and 
 that tor a Reafon, which I think carries 
 the greateft Strength along with it. I mean 
 Experience : I mean that Power which 
 every Day we lee that a moving Poem or 
 a Tragedy have of drawing Tears from 
 the Eyes ; which we do not, or at leaft 
 very rarely fee done, by the Sight of the 
 fineft Painting. We are plealed and mo- 
 ved, it is true, with a beautifiil Piece, ^but 
 then our Admiration goes no further ; it 
 does not, like Poetry, melt a Spectator 
 into Tears. I will venture to lay farther, 
 that Men will be more apt to weep at a 
 Poem well workt up, though they are fure 
 before-hand it is all fabulous and fidtitious, 
 than at the Sight of a Picture whole Adtion 
 they know to have been real and undoubt- 
 ed Matter of Fadt ; which I conceive 
 Ihews the Power and Influence of the one 
 Art over the other, in the Point of work- 
 ing upon the Imagination, and moving 
 and ane<fling the Paflions. This Objedti- 
 on that learned Man is aware of : He 
 brings it againft his own Hypothefis, and 
 endeavours to anfwer it. But in my 0-;l 
 pinion he leems to have flatted a Dimcul-»i| 
 ty which he cannot Iblve, and raifed a1 
 S^pirit that he does not well lay. I an- . 
 fwer, faith he, that a Tragedy includes an 
 
 infinite ■ 
 
! Poetry Painting. 31 
 
 infinite Number of Pictures. The Painter 
 that, for Inftance, draws the Sacrifice of 
 Iphigenia^ can reprefcnt but that one fingle 
 Adlion ; whereas Mr. Racine^ in his Play, 
 gives you a gr*at many more, which tend 
 to fet off each other, and render the whole 
 more moving and pathetick. He fets be- 
 fore your Eyes, as it were, fifty different 
 Pi<Slurcs, all which lead you by Degrees 
 to that fenfible Emotion which draws 
 Tears from the Plyes, and' therefore thofc 
 fifty tragick Scenes muft of Neceffity have 
 a greater Efie<5l upon us, than that fingle 
 one reprefented in the Pidfure. To which 
 I anfwer, that fuppofing an Artiff Ihould 
 prepare the Mind by as many Pictures, as 
 the Poet does by Scenes; Ihould draw fifty 
 lively Pieces that condudl the Spedtator to 
 the very ndSa and Cataftrophe of the 
 Story : This, I dare fay, would not have 
 the fame Effedl as one fingle moving Scene 
 in a Play has to draw Tears from the Eyes. 
 
 Having now confidered the Advantages 
 of Poetry that refult from the Nature of the 
 Art, I fhall fay fomething of thofe that I 
 call cafual and accidental. And Firlt, The 
 Poet is fure to have more true Admirers : By 
 true Admirers, I mean fuch as are proper 
 and competent Judges ; fuch as the French 
 call ConnoilJeiirs .* And this from the Courfe 
 and Manner of educating our Youth ; for, 
 I believe it will be allowed, that for one 
 C 4 young 
 
3 2 E S S A y upon 
 
 young Man that is trained up to have a 
 Tafte ancTRelifh or Knowledge of Paint- 
 ing, there are Hundreds that arc brought 
 up to judge of the Beauties and Excel- 
 lencies of a Poem. Painting, I muft own, 
 will ftill have a greater Number of Ad- 
 mirers, becaufe it fpeaks a Language 
 that is underftood by all Men ; But 
 thefe Admirers are not the knowing 
 and judicious Ones : Thefe will often be 
 as much affected with a Picture, whole 
 Colours are gay, bright, and glaring, 
 though there be no Delign, Symmetry, 
 Perfpeeftive, nor Proportion in it, as they 
 will be with the moft finilhed and regu- 
 lar Piece in the World. Now, Sir, you 
 will grant me, that where there is no Skill 
 nor Judgement, there can be no true and 
 real Efteem. Secondly, The Glory of 
 the Poet is more durable and lafting, and 
 bids fairer for Eternity. The Original 
 of the greateft Matter is but one and Angle, 
 all the Copies of it are generally feint and 
 languid Imitations ; and if the nrtt be lott, 
 there is an end of the Piece. But it is 
 not fo in Poetry : There, all the MSS. 
 and all the printed Copies are in fome 
 Meafure Originals, retain all the Beauties 
 and Excellencies of the and 
 
 are not liable to the many Accidents of 
 Fire and Water, the Weather, or the 
 Dampnefe of a Wall, which Pictures are 
 
 but 
 
Foe tk y i nti n cr. 5 j 
 
 but too fubjedk to. This the Grecian Ar- 
 tiils were aware ofl Their great Mallera 
 had fuch a Regard for their Works, fuch 
 a Value for their Paintings, that they 
 would not fo far gratify the Vanity of 
 thofe they workt for, as to paint on thcic 
 Walls and Cielings, which in Cafe of Fire, 
 or any other Accident, could not be rc- 
 
 . A- 
 
 what were portable and removeable : And 
 ^ ^Uny faith, that ^rotogenes ufed to work 
 in a little Cell in his Garden, at a Diftance 
 from his Houfe, that his Works might 
 be exempt from fuch Calamities. It mull 
 be confefled, the Moderns have not had 
 fuch a Regard to their Pieces, of which 
 Vaft Numbers are perifhed for want of that 
 Precaution. There is at this Day at Mi- 
 lan a Picture of the great Leonardo da, 
 Vinci^ reprefenting the Laft Supper of 
 Chrift with his Difciples, which is fo 'f' de» 
 faced and abufed by Time and the Wea- 
 ther, that hardly any thing of it can be 
 now difeerned. Prodigious Pity ! For 
 Kuhens faith it was the Mafter-piece of 
 that excellent Artift, and one of the fineft 
 
 • Hift, Natur. L/ 6 . jf. Cap 10, 
 
 Mr. Felibien faith, the Colouring of that TtBurt 
 was fpoilcd by the Dampnefs of the Wall. Vol, III. 
 
 but 
 
 C5 
 
 Pidurea 
 
34 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Pidlures in the World. Since therefore i 
 Poetry is not liable to thofe Cafualties and 
 Accidents, it muft be more durable, and 
 bid fairer for Eternity. 3^^, Poets have ■ 
 another very great Ad vantage over the Pain- 
 ter, as they polfels the valuable Remains 
 of the Ancients, thofe excellent Models to 
 improve and perfe(5b themfelves imon. 
 But thefe have nothing remaining of the 
 noble Works of Jpelles^ Zeuxis^ ‘Tarrha- 
 JiuSy and others which arc fo extolled and 
 magnified in Hiftory ; all which hav# ei- 
 ther perilhed by Time, or Accidents, or 
 perhaps have been deltrwed by the Mo- 
 derns themfelves. Mr. Velibkn tells us in 
 his * Dialogues of the Lives and Works 
 of Painters ; a Book vaftly Entertaining, 
 and written with great Senfe, Spirit, and 
 Judgment ; “ That about two hundred 
 ‘‘ Years ago, were to be feen not only at 
 “ Komcy but in the Ruins of the City of 
 “ Adriana near T'ivoU, at ^ouzzoU in the 
 “ Kingdom of Naples^ and in many other 
 “ Places, abundance of Antiques both of 
 “ Painting and Sculpture, of an exceeding 
 “ Beauty, which are now no where to be 
 “ found”. Thefe, as I have obferved 
 above, may have perifiied by Time, or 
 been deftroyed by the Modems, that rc- 
 
 * Vol. I. pig. 135?. 
 
 vived 
 
Po ETR Y Pa I NTING. 35 
 
 vived the Art of Painting in Ttaly^ left 
 ‘thole antient Pieces Ihould furpafs and e- 
 cliple their own. Thus yujiin and fomc 
 other Writers have been accufed of fup- 
 prelling the original Authors they had 
 abridged, left they Ihould dilparage their 
 own Performances, and fink the Glory of 
 their Epitomes. It is certain, that I'ome 
 of the greateft Mafters among the Mo- 
 derns, have been fo fenfible of the Supe- 
 riority of the Ancients, that they have 
 been unwilling to have their Works leen 
 at the fame time with theirs. I remember 
 to have read fomewhere (though I cannot 
 now recollect the Place) that when Mi- 
 chael Angelo prefented a Cupid of his in 
 Marble to a certain Princefs in Italy, ■v/ho 
 had an Antique Original of the fame, he 
 defired her not to Ihew them both toge- 
 ther, left hers Ihould depretiate and dif- 
 parage his own. If that Painter had fudi 
 a Jealoufy of this antient Piece, I dare fay , 
 he would foon have funk and fupprefled 
 it, if it had been in his Power. I am very 
 apt to believe, that Michael Angelo, Ra- 
 phael, and other Reftorers of Painting in 
 Italy, made bold not only with the BaJ/d 
 Relievo’s, but even with thi Fre/co Paint- 
 ings, that were left of the antient Mafters. 
 And this I find is the Opinion of my 
 learned and worthy Friend, the Reverend 
 
 C 6, Mr. 
 
$6 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Mr. Darandf F.R.S. whole * Hiftory of 
 Painting, and excellent Performances up- 
 on Natural Hiftory, I have read 
 
 with exceeding Pleafure ; tor which I take 
 this publick Opportunity of returning 
 him my Thanks. I believe. Sir, you be- 
 pin to think that I have faid a great deal 
 in behalf of Poetry, and that I am, per- 
 haps, partial on that fide j but I hope, be- 
 fore I have done, you will be of another 
 Opinion, and agree, that I have done 
 Juftice to the two Sifter-Arts. To come 
 then to the Painters : I have already ob- 
 fervcd, ' that Painting is quicker in its 
 Operation, docs its Bufinels with greater 
 Expedition, difcloles the whole Scene in 
 the Glance of an Eye, and difplays all 
 its Beauties and Excellencies at once 5 
 whereas the Progrefe of Poetry is more 
 gradual and flow. This is the Remark 
 of Mr. Richardfony who has lately given 
 the World an Eflay upon Painting, writ- 
 ten with fuch Spirit, Judgement, and right 
 way^ Thinking, that though he be an 
 Painter, it is hard to lay whe- 
 ther he be a greater Matter of the Pencil or 
 the Pen. “ Painting (faith he) f has ano- 
 “ ther Advantage over Words, that it 
 
 * Hift. dc la PeSnt. ifoi 
 t Part I. 4. 
 
 “ poura 
 
Po ETRY Pa INTING. 37 
 
 “ pours Ideas into the Mind, but Words 
 only drop them. In this the Scene 
 “ opens itfelf at one View, whereas the 
 “ other draws the Curtain by little and 
 “ little The Truth is, we lee that in 
 a Minute in a Picture, which would re- 
 quire a long time to come at in a Poem. 
 A Storm, (for inftance) a Battle, a fine 
 Garden, and a beautiful Landskip, which 
 we take in at one View, and in the 
 Twinkling of an Eye, will require many 
 Pages, and abundance of Verfes to de- 
 fcribe. But, Secondly, as Painting is 
 quicker in its Operation, lb it is far more 
 extenlive : Its Empire ( if I may fo fay) 
 is more difFulive and univerlal. It has 
 been the Thoughts and Endeavour of 
 many learned Men, to find out an univer- 
 fal Language and Charadfer, which might 
 be underftood by all the World ; but thcur 
 Labours have been hitherto without Suc- 
 cefs. Painting alone can be faid to be in 
 Polfeflion of the Secret. All Nations in 
 the World, though never fo diftant, 
 though never lb different in their Colour 
 and Complexion, in their Hrmours and 
 Fancies, in their Tongue^:, Coftoms, and 
 Manners, canunderfland t.^^S univerfal Lan- 
 guage, can all be moved and ^edfed with 
 It. I mull own, I was once pleafed with 
 the Thought and Expreffion of a young 
 Artill, who would have made great Ad- 
 vances 
 
^8 E S S A T upon 
 
 Vances in the Profeflion, had not fomc 
 Reafbns called him off, and turned his 
 Studies into another Channel. As we 
 were difcourfing of the Beauties that arc 
 to be found in the Poets, and in Virgil in 
 particular, he drew out a Transfiguration 
 of Raphael^ and asked me what I thought 
 of that Piece ? As he obferved that I 
 was ftruck with the Beauty of it. What 
 would you think ( faid he ) if you 
 beheld the Original it felf ? Seeing it 
 thus in Black and White, without the 
 additional Graces of Paint and Colouring, 
 is like reading Vtrgil^ or any other Poet, 
 in Profe. And yet what Life and Spi- 
 rit is here ! what Sublimity of Genius, 
 . and Elevation of Thought ! what Force 
 and Softnels admirably mingled and blend- 
 ed together ! I had rather, continued he, 
 be the Author of this Piece of Raphael, 
 than of the finefl Epifode. in To 
 
 have a true Relifti for Virgil, one muft 
 have Language, Grammar, Learning, and 
 a true T^fte for Poetry ; whereas it is 
 only having Eyes, and Common Senfe, to 
 be ravilheM and tranfported at this. I 
 can’t fay, b it I thougnt there was a good 
 deal in what he faid. If then fhe is to be 
 reckoned the greateft Beauty that has the 
 greateft Number of Admirers, the Ad- 
 vantage in this Particular feems to be 
 clearly on the Side of Painting. But, 
 
 Thirdly, 
 
Poetry 4 !/;^ Painting. 39 
 
 Thirdly, The great Advantage this Art 
 has over Poetry is, that there are Abun- 
 dance of ufeful Notions, that lerve to en- 
 rich and improve the Mind, which can 
 never be expreffed by Words, and can 
 only be conveyed by Painting and Draw- 
 ing. If this be clearly made out, no 
 doubt it will fling a heavy Weight into 
 the Balance, and go a great way to deter- 
 mine the prefeht Controverfy. There is 
 certainly a great part of ufeful Know- 
 ledge, for the Attaining of which the 
 Imagination mull be helpt and affeded by 
 fenfible Images, that can only be done by 
 Painting or Delign, which is a Part of 
 Painting. A Part, did I lay ? It is the 
 very Soul and Foundation of the Art : 
 For, as without true Delign no Pidure 
 can be good, fo a Piece that is well de- 
 figned mull of N'lceffity be fo. It is a 
 juft Remark and Saying of the Italians^ 
 Un ^oco di •^^fegm fa tutto chiaro,^ A 
 little of Deiiyji makes every Thing clear. 
 There are Aoundance of curious Things 
 in Arts and Sciences, in which all the 
 Oratory of l^ullyy and the Poetry of Vir- 
 gil can afford no Manner of Help; 
 pay, which Words would only ferve to 
 puizle and darken, that are made plain 
 and clear by a few Strokes of the Pencil. 
 In Geography, for inftance, which is fo 
 ufeful a Knowledge, and one of the Eyes 
 
 of 
 
40 E SS A Y upon 
 
 of Hiftory, what Notion can the moft 
 eloquent Delcription give of a Country^ 
 its Situation, Figure, Bounds, and Extent, 
 which ft all be equal to a good Chart or 
 Map, that reprefents all clearly and di- 
 ftindBy to the Eye, The fame may be 
 laid of Mathematicks. Though you were 
 to read a Propolition of Euclid a thouland 
 times over to a Scholar, he will be as much 
 at a lofe as he was before : But ftow him. 
 a Figure, and delineate a Plan, then all 
 Difficulties vanift, and every thing is 
 clear and plain. Thus again in Gardening 
 and Archite<fture ; take the moft elegant 
 Defeription you can find in Yerfe or Profe, 
 nay, take the Account that ^liny the 
 Younger gives of his own Gardens, which is 
 reckoned a Mafter-piece in its Kind, and 
 is fb minute and exa6f, that fbme have 
 thought the Writer m^ade it with a Defi^n 
 to part with them ^ yet, how vaftly ftort will 
 this fall of the Ideas which a fine Drai^ht 
 or Pidure ftall convey to Mind ? The 
 lame holds good in Meci^’iiicks, a Sci- 
 ence fo ufeful for human Life. It is not 
 to be conceived, what immenle Pains and 
 Labour Ibme learned Men have under- 
 gone to illuftrate Vitnmusy and to fup- 
 ply the Want of his Figures which arc 
 loft. That one fingle Article of the Ca- 
 tapulta^ or military Machines of the Rc- 
 mansy fo puzzled and gravelled the great 
 
 Scaliger 
 
Poetry Painting. 41 
 
 ScaUger^ the boldeft and molt indefatiga- 
 ble Critick that ever lived, that he owned 
 himfelf baffled, and gave up the Caufe. 
 But the Monks, it leems, and firft, Tran- 
 feribers of MSS. were not fb good at 
 Drawing as at Writing, and fb left us 
 the Texts of the Authors, without their 
 Figures to explain them, that is, trans- 
 mitted to us a Body without a Soul. If 
 then this be Matter of Fa6f, that Paint- 
 ing and Drawing do fb much conduce to 
 advance Arts and Sciences, if (as‘P/i»jy 
 * faith) the Utilitas juvandi is to be pre- 
 ferred to the Gratia placendi ; If the Ex- 
 cellency of an Art is not to be deter- 
 mined by the Pleafurc, but by the Bene- 
 fit and Ufefulnefs it brings along with it, 
 I dare pronounce in behalf of Painting, 
 and afiert that it is as mucb fuperiour to 
 Poetry, as the Vtih is preferable to the 
 Dukcy and the enriching and inyjroving 
 the Mind to the moving and afiebting the 
 Paffions. But, as I have obfcrved, as thefe 
 two noble Arts have a near Affinity and 
 Alliance between them, require the fame 
 Spirit and Genius, and the fame univerfal 
 Knowledge of Nature ; fo they n^ay. 
 
 ^ Equldem ita fintio peculiarem in StuJijs eaufam to- 
 rum ejfty difficult atihus utilitatem juvandi 
 
 prAtukrunt gratiA plaeendi, Piin. Prsef. Hift, Naturalis 
 f* 6, Edit, Delphin. 
 
 without 
 
42 E S S A Y upon 
 
 without doubt, very much help and aflift\ 
 each other, either for the Improvement of 
 Beauties and Graces, or for the Ihunninck: 
 the Faults, and avoiding the Defeats. 
 
 Alterius Jic 
 
 AJtera pfdt opem res, conjurat amich 
 
 Art. Poet. V, 41 1. 
 
 That the Painter may be much obliged to 
 the Poet, may borrow fine Thoughts, no- 
 ble Hints, and bright and fublime Images 
 from him, is what I believe every one will 
 allow, that has any Tafte and Notion of 
 thele two Sifter-Arts. This is what is 
 attefted by many good Writers, and what 
 has been confefled by the very greateft 
 Mafters. * EuJiathiuSf in his learned Gont- 
 
 * Iroeta, or/ ’Evp^'ivp ’A6Mi'>i<r/ 
 
 T«f J'eiJ'iKA dixf, ATTofav otov eify^IvTor y^~ 
 Tov Afct, kv )y dici'TA^ rSy 
 
 TKTftJP yjslTCUy TA 
 
 or/ TOV h^’xjcTV'TTOV ATTlfOV^ 
 
 Which laft Word has led a very learned Man into a fingular 
 Miftake, not to lay a very great Blunder. The Perfon I 
 mean, is the great Critick F. Rapin, who, quoting this 
 Paffige of Eufiathiusy miftakes’A'Triwj' the Participle, for 
 Apion the Grammarian, and very wifely makes him the 
 Author of this Tradition. Whereas a very little Atten- 
 tion would hare plainly (hewn him that the Word is 
 not a proper Name, but the Participle of the Verb 
 and fignifies no more, than that the Painter going a- 
 way, drew from Homer the Image of his God. But 
 you know, Sir, Horace allows even Homer himfelf fbme- 
 times to take a Nap. 
 
 hientary 
 
Poetry Painting. 43 
 
 mentary upon Homer relates, that when 
 Euphramr the celebrated Painter was a- 
 bout to draw the Picture of Jupiter OJym-" 
 plus, and could not find in his Thoughts 
 any Idea noble enough to repreftnt the 
 Majefiy of that God, he went to a Gram- 
 marian at Athens^ who was reading Lec- 
 tures to his Scholars upon that Poet : and 
 from a noble and fublime Paflage of Ho- 
 mer^ drew his Idea of the Sovereign of 
 the Gods. The Verfes are, Book I. p. 52^. 
 
 Kc« O^pvcT/ V&V<Ti K^Viav 
 
 •XJSAICU Im^paXTAV^O AVAKTO^y 
 
 AT* aQavatoio yfiyAv cT ^OKvijltqy. 
 
 Which Mr. ^ope ^ tranflates, as you will 
 
 fee 
 
 * I (hould have laid Paraphrafts, for his Tranllation 
 here can deferve no better Name. 
 
 He Ipoke, and awful bends his fable Brows, 
 
 Shakes his Ambrofial Curls, and gives the Nod, 
 
 The Stamp of Fate, and Sandfion of the God. 
 
 High Heaven, with trembling, the great Signal took. 
 And all Olympus to the Center Biook. 
 
 Mr. Pope finds Fault with Virgil, for only laying in his 
 Defeription Jupiter ^ 
 
 Annuity ^ totum mtu iremefeclt Olympum. 
 Here,(faith he) mention is made of theNod, and itsftu- 
 pendous EfFedfs, but nothing of the Eye brows and the 
 Hair. But Mt.Pope has Omitted the at cc9AmTo/o» 
 
 which offers a noble Image to the Mind. Horace has 
 fuccceded better in his Imitation of Homer, and, CunBa 
 fupercilio moventis, is more fublime, comes nearer to the 
 Defeription of the divine Poet, and takes in not the 
 
 Heavea 
 
44 ESSAY upon 
 
 fee jn the Margin. * * * * § aflures us, that 
 j^elles took his Image of the Picture of 
 Diana from that Paflage of the fame Poetj 
 vrbere flie is ib elegantly defcribed. The 
 learned Fr, Junius thinks, that the Painter 
 Timanthes took the f Hint of putting aVeil 
 over the P'ace of Agamemnon^ at the Sa- 
 crifice of his Daughter Iphigenia^ from k 
 place in Euripides y where that Prince is 
 defcribed in that very Pofture. This De- 
 vice of the Painters has been magnified 
 and extoll’d by many great § Men, and even 
 
 by. 
 
 Heaven itfclf, but the Earth and the whole Creation. — * 
 It is obfcrvable, that Homer makes do that with 
 the Motion of the whole Body, which Jupiter does 
 with a Angle Nod. El(rct\o \v\ cTi 
 
 [di^Keiv ^OhviJi^oy : So exaft Ims he been in obferving 
 the due Decorum, and icttKhg the trucHDi^^ 
 bis Gods, as Mr. lyuder obierveS) Bw. Od, Lib. |.. 
 Od. i. ver. 8. 
 
 ♦ Nat. Hift. L. jf, cap, lo. 
 
 + cT* AyttfjiiiJLvor^Avct^ 
 
 Eif Koptir, 
 
 *AVig-ivct^e KAl/.'^TAKlf 
 
 £^cLkpva ir^tiytVi opcfActrSy ^ttWxqv 
 
 Eurip. Tphigen ; inAuKde v. iffo. 
 
 § TiSior tile viJit cum de immolandd TphigeniA triftis 
 ejfet Chalcas, trifiior Utyjjes, mocreret lienelam* oSvolven* 
 dum caput Agamemnonis ejfe ^ quoniam fummum ilium 
 luxum pemcilio non pojfet tmitari, Cicero de Oratorc, 
 
 Cum mocjlos pinxiffet omnes, pracipue patrum, cum trU 
 ftitU omnem imagtnem confumpfijfet^ patris tjus velavie 
 •vultum^ quern digne non poteratofiendere^ Plin. Nat. Hift. 
 Idb, Cap, IQ. 
 
 Cf4m 
 
Poetry and P a i n tt n g. 45 
 
 by Tally himfelf^ as a moft happy Thought, 
 and ingenious Invention. But I muft own, 
 I cannot find that the Painter delervcd 
 fuch Elogics, fuch an Excels of Praile, 
 fince ( if there was any thing fo very in- 
 genious in it) it was not pr^erl^ his own, 
 but borrowed from the Tragick Poet; 
 which I wonder thole Writers take no 
 manner of notice of Neither do I think 
 the Honour of it is to be aferibed either 
 to the Poet or the Painter ; fince it was no- 
 thing but what was ufiial and common, 
 for Mourners to have their Heads cover- 
 ed, that they might the better indulge 
 their Pallion, give a Loole to their Griel; 
 and weep and lament with greater Free- 
 dom and Decency ; which Cyfiom I be- 
 lieve the Poet alluded to in his Tragedy. 
 
 There is a fine Figure in Michael Jn- 
 gelo's Pidure of the Laft Judgement, (tho* 
 very ill placed there), of md Charon the 
 Ferryman of Hell : There he appears 
 with the fullen and angry Look that is 
 given him in "^ Virgil ; 
 
 Navita fed trijiis nunc hosy nunc acciftt illos. 
 
 Cum in IphigentA Immolatione pmxijfet trijlem Caichan^ 
 tern, triftionm Ulyfjemy addidijfet Minelao quern fummum 
 poterat effieere ars confumptis omnibus affiBibut 
 
 caput Agamemnonis velaiit^ Juo cuiqut animo dcMt afli^ 
 mandum. Ladlant : Inftit: c, ii. c.i^. 
 
 Virgil : iEncid ; L. 6. v. jif* 
 
 From 
 
4^ E S S A Y ttpvn 
 
 From which Place I have often thought 
 that a Painter had taken his Idea of Charon : 
 But Mr. Richard/on has fet me right in this 
 point, who faith, That Vafari^ who was 
 acquainted with Af. Angelo^ affirmed that 
 he took this Image from thefe ftrong Lines 
 of Dante ; 
 
 Caron Demonio con occhi di Bragia 
 
 Loro accenando tutte le raccoglie^ 
 
 Batto con remore qualm que s* adagia. 
 
 The fame * Poet, was of great help to his 
 Friend 'f' Giotto, who confulted him on all 
 Occalions, inferred his Thoughts in all 
 his Works, and made fo good a Ufe of 
 his Advice, that thofe celebrated Pieces 
 of the Revelations at Naples, by which he 
 gained fb much Reputation, are faid to 
 be the Thought and Invention of that 
 excellent Writer. I do not find, that 
 any of the antient Poets have owned their 
 Obligations of this kind to the Painters, 
 which I very much wonder at : For, I 
 make no doubt but they have reaped 
 vaft Advantages from their Labours. In 
 this I am entirely of Mr. D«r^«^s Opi- 
 nion, that Virgil himfelf made great Ufe 
 of thefe Antiques and Monuments, #hich 
 were extant in his time, and were io^nch. 
 
 ♦ Daiitt. 4= FeliBita cntrctiens fur la vie, &c. 
 
 cftcemed 
 
Poetry and Painting. 47^ 
 
 cftecmed at Kome^ that he took his fine 
 Defcription of the Rape of Cajfavdra in 
 the Temple of Minervay from the famous 
 Pidure of Theodorus, that was in the 
 Temple of Concord^ where fhe was re- 
 prefented by the Workman in the lame 
 * Attitude as fhe is drawn by the Poet, 
 with her Hands tied, and Eyes railed up 
 to Heaven ; that the lame Poet had in 
 his Eye the celebrated Figure of the 
 f Laocoony which is now in the Belvedere 
 
 at 
 
 I * Ecce trahebaiuT' pajjts Vriameia Virgo, &c. 
 
 ^ Ad c Alum undms at dent ia lumina fruftra, 
 
 ^tuminAf num teneras Arcehant vincuU pAlmAs. 
 
 \ And I make no doubt but Virgil in this noble Dc- 
 Ifcription, L. i. v. 298, 
 
 — - Furor impius intus 
 
 ]$AVA fede%s fuper Arm a centum vinclus ahenis 
 
 \vo^ ter gum nodis, fremet horridus ore cruento. 
 
 I had in his Eye the celebrated Pifture of Apelles, where 
 the God of War was reprefented with his Arms tied 
 behind him, and Alexander fitting on his triumphal 
 Chariot, which was to be feen then at Rome, in the 
 Forum of Auguflus. Vid. Pirn, L. 35*. C. 36, 
 f See the beautiful Defcription of this in Virgil JEn, 
 L.2. V. 203. Ecce autem, &c. This is efteemed to be one 
 of the fineft Statues of the Antients : It is the Figure 
 that Agoft'mo Caracci fhewed to his Brother ; and as hp 
 (eemed not to mind or take any notice of it, HannibAl 
 idrew the Figure of it with a piece of Charcoal, on the 
 Wall, which made every one own, that he had taken the 
 effcdfual way of (hewing the Beauties of the Art. Then 
 he added, Git Voeti depengone con le parole, gli Pit tori psr^ 
 \Iako con le opere. This famous Statue (faith Mr. Frefnoy) 
 
 ought 
 
48 Jn 'ESS hY upon 
 
 at Rome^ when he drew up that moving 
 Epifode of the Death of that Prieft oi 
 j 4 pollo ; and that, through his whole 
 Poem, he confulted thofe Pictures of the 
 Yrojan War of the iame TheodoruSy whicli 
 were to be Icen in the Portieus of ^hu 
 iippus in the time of ^liny ; who faith 
 of this Painter, * Bellum Iliac urn plurtbtn 
 tahuUsy &c. And I don*t at all queHion, 
 but a Writer that would make 41 Poem 
 upon the Transfiguration of Chrifi, or a 
 noble Delcription of the Exploits and 
 Battles of Alexander the Great f would find 
 
 ought not to have been naked ; but clothed. For what 
 Likelihood is there, (faith he) that the Soa of a King 
 and a Pried of Apollo (hould appear naked in the a£tuai 
 Ceremony of a Sacrifice. Mr. de Files^s Reafon is, that 
 the Workmen thought the Piece would have appeared 
 like a Heap of Stones, and fo avoided the lefs Inconvenien- 
 cy. See Frefnoyh Art of Painting, p. 148. But I think 1 
 the Sculptors had done better not to have made it at all, 
 than to have committed fo great and palpable an Abfiu'- 
 
 dity. Fliny faith of this Statue, that it was pre* 
 
 ferable to any Piece of Painting and Sculpture in the 
 World. It was the Work of three famous Statuaries 
 AgefarJer, Toly (lore, and Athenodoms^ Rhodians, who, out 
 of one Stone cut Laocoon, his Children, and the Serpentsj 
 It was in his time, in the Palace of Titus the Emperor, 
 Flin. Nat. Hift. L, c. f. 
 
 But Fliny was miflaken in the particular of its being 
 cut out of one fingle Stone. For curious Travellers, that 
 have examined it with greater ExaAnefs and Nicety, 
 have difeovered, that this Statue confifted of twb Blocki 
 of Marble, admirably well joined and cemented together. 
 
 ♦ Plin. L. #. 10. 
 
 great 
 
Po E T RY Painting. 49 
 
 igreat Hdp and Affiftancc, many noMc 
 iHirits, and bright Gleamings of Light 
 from the divine Pi(5ture of Raphael^ and 
 the noble Performances of Le Bran : I 
 |beiieve any one that will take the Pains, 
 [I Ihould nave faid the Pleafure, of com- 
 Iparing Mr. Addifon's, Poem upon the Re- 
 jfurrcOTon, with the Picture at Magdalen 
 College that gave Occafion to it, will be 
 iof my Mind ; and clearly fee, that the 
 jlmagination of the Poet may be vaftly 
 ;helped, and heightened by the Fancy of 
 the Painter. This Experiment I have 
 made myfelf with very great pleafure at 
 'Oxford. 
 
 i But, Secondly, As thefo two Siften- 
 (Arts can be fo ufeful and helpful to each 
 jother, for the improving the Beauties and 
 Graces, fo they rriay have the fame Effe6t 
 [for the avoiding of Faults. Whenfoever, 
 therefore, a Poet is about taking a Liber- 
 ty, venturing i^on fome bold Stroke, and 
 indulging his Fancy in fome Licence that 
 [he has any Scruple about, he fhould con- 
 fider what a Figure this would make in a 
 jPidure, and regulate his Ideas according 
 to that Model. A Painter likewife, that 
 jis in the fame Circumftances, and labours 
 lunder the like Doubts, ihould examine, 
 [what an Effedt would fuch a Thought 
 have in Verfo, and how it would fuit and 
 become the Majefty of an Heroick Poem, 
 f D Foji 
 
joh, Jn ESSAY tipi>n 
 For they may depend upon it, that what 
 is not Senfe and Reafon in Poetry, will 
 never be fo in Painting, though iet off 
 and adorned with all the Graces and Beau- 
 ties of Colouring j and, versa, what 
 is abfurd, inconfiftent, and unnatural on the 
 Canvals, muft of Neceffity have the very 
 fame Effedk upon the Paper. Thus far 
 the two Arts ieera to be at Par. But 
 of the two, I think the Painter ought to 
 ufe greater Caution, and to be more 
 ftridUy upon his Guard, than the Poet, 
 and that for the fake of the Spectator, 
 as well as for his own. I lay for the lake 
 of the Spectator, that he may not leave 
 him in the Dark, but make every thing 
 as clear and plain as is poffible. The 
 Painter cannot Ipeak fo dillincSUy, and in- 
 telligibly to the Eye, as the Poet can to 
 the Ear. This laft can deforibe in a few 
 Lines the Country that is the Scene of 
 his Aftion : He can plainly tell you the 
 Nations he fpeaks of, whether ^erjtans, 
 Indians, or Turks, which are not fo clear- 
 ly exprefled by the lilent Pencil, and can 
 only be done by a llridl and fcrupulous 
 Adherence to the Cojiume, He muft, there- 
 fore, above all things endeavour, 
 
 Keddere Terfona fua convenientia cuique, 
 
 Art. Poet. /». 3 1 5. 
 
 and 
 
Poetry and Painting, jt 
 
 and in every particular obferve the juft 
 and true Decorum. To come at this, 
 he muft neglect nothing, but call in all 
 the helps and afliftances which Hiftory, 
 Tradition, or Travels can afford him, to 
 i diftinguifh the Manners, Habits and Dreft 
 of his Perlbns. He muft defcend to the 
 minuteft Particulars, as a Cap, or a Hel- 
 met, a Shoe or a Slipper, if they can 
 ! ferve to fix any particular DiftindUon of a 
 ! People. He muft carefully obferve every 
 1 thing that is proper and peculiar to a 
 i Country, the Trees, Plants, Animals, 
 
 ! and even the Fifties of it, as that judicious 
 * Painter, who drawing a Battle fought 
 ! near the River to mark the Scene of 
 the Adfion, took care to place upon the 
 Banks a Crocodile, which was an Animal 
 peculiar to that Water. Miftakes in the 
 I minuteft Things in Nature have drawn 
 Cenfurcs upon the moll famous Artifts. 
 \JpelJes himfelf was blamed for drawing 
 
 I ♦ This Painter, Tliny faith, was Nealces, who being 
 i to reprefent a Sea-Fight between the Perjlans and Egyp^ 
 tians by the River N/ 7 e, to (hew the Scene of the Adfion, 
 drew an Afs drinking upon the Banks, and a Crocodile 
 watching his opportunity to devour him. Fim, Nat. 
 HfJI. L gf. c, 10. The Famous Ant. Coypel, in his 
 celebrated Pi6fure of Mofes in the Ru(hes, has not for- 
 gotten the Circumftance of the Crocodile, though he 
 has omitted that of the Afs. 
 
 f Elian Var, Hift. 1 # 4. c. fo. 
 
S t ESSAY upon 
 
 his Horfes with f Eye-Iaflies upon the 
 lower Eye -lid, whereas a little Obfer- 
 vation might have faved him that Miftake, 
 and ftiewn him, that there was no fuch 
 thing in Nature- The famous Monlieur 
 Le Brim was fo nice and fcrupulous in this, 
 that, when he was going to paint thofe 
 fine Pieces, the Battles of Jkxander^ 
 which are lb noble an Ornament to the 
 Royal Palace in France^ he fent as far as 
 *j4leppo^ to have an cxadf draught of the 
 Make, Shape, and Size of the ^llorles of 
 that Country. Though I cannot think 
 that there could be much in this, be- 
 caufe, in fo many hundred Years, the 
 Cafta or Breed of Horfes may be con- 
 fiderably alte|;ed ; yet it doubtlels delerved. 
 Commendation, as it Ihewed how careful 
 he was to keep to the Cojitme^ and to ob- 
 ferve the Decorum in things of the fmallell 
 Weight, and Confequence. But as the 
 
 t Some iay this Cenfiire was pafled upon h^con the 
 Painter by Simen Tz.etz.es ChiL p. 427. But perhaps 
 both thefe Artifis fell into the fame Miftake. 
 
 * Refledf. fur la Po^'fie, 
 
 § Monfieur le was ft) exadb in his Paintings, that 
 *tis ftid, that before he .made his noble Piece of the Laft: 
 Supper, he ftudied for two years together the Cere- 
 monies of the Jews in their own Writings, that is, 
 that .part of the Talmud that was already tranflated, 
 which has made fo good Judges fay, that Painting was 
 the leaft of the Learning and Excellency of that great 
 Jdaftcr, 
 
 Painter 
 
Poetry and Pa i nt tn g. 5/ 
 
 Painter Ihould be fb careful and exa< 5 b for 
 the fake of his Spectator, fo he ought to 
 take no lefs Care out of regard to himfelf 
 ^Tis certain there is no Art whatfoever 
 brought to lb great a Degree of Perfedion, 
 as to be entirely without Fault. But there 
 are fome whofe Blemiflies and Defeats Ihall 
 fooner appear than others, and that from 
 the Nature of the Art itfelf : And this I 
 take to be the very cafe of Painting. The 
 Faults of a Picture as well as the Beauties, 
 (as a judicious * Writer juftly remarks)' lie 
 in a fmall compals, within the narrow 
 Limits and Extent of the Canvaft, and by 
 confequence are more obvious and more 
 calily difeerned. So that if there be any 
 of the Miftakes and Errors I have men- 
 tioned, in point of Decorum, againft the 
 Cuftoms, 'Manners, and Habits of any 
 People, if there be any remarkable Dif* 
 proportion in the whole or in its parts, 
 any Figure that is lame, diflocated, or 
 disjointed, thefe are immediately dilcerned 
 with the Glance of an Eye. But in a 
 Poem the Gale is altogether different : 
 The Faults there are fpread and dif- 
 fufed through" the whole Body of the 
 Work, and by confequence cannot be fo 
 calily perceived. Belidcs it requires fome 
 
 ^ Reflex. Critiques fur la Poefie, p* 
 
 D 3 Pains,, 
 
54 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Pains, Judgement, and Attention to judge 
 whether there is nothing that is incohe- 
 rent, and inconfiftent with itfelf; whether 
 every Thing agrees and tallies juftly to- 
 gether ; whether every Charafter be, as 
 the French call it, Men foutenu^ well fup- 
 ported and maintained to the end, and as 
 an excellent Judge exprefles it, 
 
 . .Jn fervetur ad imum 
 
 ^alis ah incepto procejferit^ ^ Jihi conJieU 
 
 Hor. Art. Poet. 117. 
 
 This is what all Readers are not capable 
 of doing, and what thofe, that are, will 
 not often give themfelves the trouble to 
 do. Thole elpecially that only read for 
 pleafure and entertainment (who are the 
 far greateft part of the Readers) will not 
 be at the pains to trace all the falfc 
 Steps, and critically to watch every Slip 
 of an Author. But in a Picture there is 
 no need of all this Pains and Labour; 
 none of this Reflexion, Judgement and 
 Attention : There the Faults and Ble- 
 milhesftrike upon your Eye at once, prefent 
 themfelves to your fight, and thruft them- 
 felves upon you, whether you will or no, 
 and ( as that * Learned Man oblerves ) 
 
 ♦ Monfieur Du Boj. 
 
 carry 
 
Poetry and Painting. 55 
 
 carry this ill coniequence along with them, 
 that they lelien, darken, and depreciate 
 the real Beauties of a Piece. To which 
 I beg leave to add, that this Contraft of 
 the oppofite Graces fets the Faults and 
 Blemifhes in far clearer and greater Light, 
 increales their Deformity, and makes them 
 appear more Ihocking and olfenlive than 
 they would otherwifo have done, had they 
 ftood fingle and alone. 
 
 4r 
 
 LET- 
 

 55 Jn 'ES S kY upon 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Aving already treated of the 
 Licences of Poets and Painters 
 in gene^’al, and at the fame time 
 confidered the great Union and 
 Affinity there is between thofe -two noble 
 Arts, together with the particular Privi- 
 ledges and Advantages they feem to have 
 over each other, I lhall now proceed, ac- 
 cording to the Plan I at firfl: laid down, . 
 to point out and difplay fome of their f 
 boldeft and inexcufable Liberties. 
 
 I lhall begin with the firft. But per- 
 haps, Sir, you will ask me. Cut bom ? 
 what Advantage the World will reap 
 from fuch Difcoveries ? I anlwer. Every 
 way very much : For they may lerve to 
 correct and amend the Boldnefs and Ralh-' 
 ncfs of Painters in mif-reprefenting the ■ 
 Sacred Hiftory. And, if (as a great 
 Father of the Church obferves) Pictures \ 
 and Images are the Books of the Igno- 
 rant, they may be of farther ufe to cau- 
 tion unwary and unlearned People againfl 
 them who dare corrupt thofe Books, and 
 
 hereby 
 
Poetry Pa i ntijng. 57 
 
 hereb}T deceive and mifguide them in the 
 moft bacred Things. One might have 
 thought indeed that in thele they Ihould 
 have fhewed more Decorum, and obferved 
 a greater Regard and Conformity to 
 Truth. But quite contrary to this, it is 
 in thofe very Sacred Subjects the Gentle- 
 men of the Pencil have indulged them- 
 felves in the moft unwarrantable Liberties. 
 The Proof of this lhall be the Subject 
 of this Letter, in which I ihall proceed 
 in the fame manner as the Fads^ I ess^r 
 amine are laid down in Scripture. 
 
 ; Of the Pidure of the Death o^JbeJ, 
 
 \ 
 
 This is the firft Crime that fince the 
 Fall of Man was committed in the World, 
 and is related with fo much Plainnefs and 
 Simplicity in Genejis^ one would hardly 
 think it poffible that any Mlftake Ihould 
 |be made about it. And yet in this Piece 
 pf Sacred Hiftbry the Painters have made 
 ilhift to commit a double Fault; One 
 >n regard to the Weapon with which the 
 Faa was done, the Other to the Motive 
 vhich tempted Cain to perpetrate fuch 
 in abominable Parricide. And Firft, as 
 o the Weapon ; ’Tis generally repre- 
 ented to have been the Jaw^-bone of an 
 Afs, or another Animal, and That with- 
 tut any manner of Ground or Warrant 
 D 5 from 
 
58 'Jn BS SAY 
 
 from the Holy Scripture, and dir^ly 
 againfl the Current and Authority of Tr^ 
 ditlon. Mofes indeed tells us, Gen. iv. 38. 
 ** And Cain talked with jibel his Brother, 
 « and it came to pafs, when they were 
 “ together in the Field, Cain role^ u^ 
 againft Abel his Brother, and flew him. 
 But as to the Manner and W^eapon in 
 which this cruel Fa<St was done, the Holy 
 Scripture is entirely lilent. The Antient 
 "Writers have endeavoured in fome mcafure 
 to fupply this Silence, and offered to clear 
 up the Particular of the Weapon j though 
 they vary pretty much in their Opinions 
 about it. St. ''^eTOtn fays it was done with 
 a Sword. Iren^fus affirms it was a Scythe. 
 (Prudentius makes Cain to kill his Brother 
 with a Rake, one of the Tools that he 
 employed in the managing of his Ground. 
 Thefe are the Opinions of the Antient 
 Writers. I will not prefume to determine 
 which of them is mon agreeable to Truth, 
 ibr perhaps every one of them may ^ 
 wrong. But I believe. Sir, you will 
 allow that thofe Artiffs had taken a fafer 
 jgfg liable to Cenfure, had 
 they embraced either of thefe Traditions, 
 which had been fufffeient Ground for them 
 eo upon, and not have trumped up and 
 S^S^liuppofed the Conceit of the Jaw-bone, 
 S^liS^hich hath not the leaft Foundation m 
 Scripture, or Tradition. The other Ex- 
 
 ception 
 
P'o E TRY and'TKw. ri n g. ^9 
 
 ception I niade^ was to the Motive that 
 tempted Cai» to commit that abominable. 
 Action. In this indeed the Scripture 
 vs expreft, and leaves no Room for 
 doubting : For Mo/es tells us,. “ That ia 
 “ Procefe of Time it came to pafs, that 
 Cain brought of the Fruit of the Ground 
 “ an Olfering unto the Lord : And 
 ^ he alfo brought of the firft Fruits of his 
 “ Flocks, and of the Fat thereof; and 
 the Lord had refpedfc unto Jhl, and to- 
 ‘‘ his Sacrifice ; but unto Cain and to his 
 “ Sacrifice he had not refpeft ; and Cam 
 ; “ was very wroth and hisCbuntenance fell.” 
 
 ' Gen. iv. 3, 4,5. This is all the Scripture 
 has told us. But how the Approbation of 
 I the Offering of the one, and the Diflikc 
 ! of the other was fhown, is what the Holy 
 I Writer hath not thought fit to reveal, 
 i Some Learned Men have fencied, that God. 
 
 I manifefied his Acceptance oi jibel’s De- 
 I . votion, by fending a Fire from Heaven 
 j to confumc the Sacrifice. I cannot deny 
 ! but we meet fometimes with that * Mark 
 ! D 6 of 
 
 ♦ Thus we read in the i ft Book of Kings j xviiir j8. 
 that the Fire of the Lord fell and conlumed the burnt- 
 Sacrifice of Elijah, and the Wood, and the Stones, and 
 the Duft, andf licked up the Water that was in the 
 Trench. The Heathen had fome notion of this Appro- 
 bation of God : Thus Plutarch relates that the Celeftial 
 Fire defeended upon the Altar of Amphifolis and con- 
 fiimed the Sacrifice. Horace in the 4th Satyr of the 
 ift Book, ftuth that the People of Egmtia laid claim to 
 
€o E S S A y upon 
 
 of (jO|d*s Approbation. But as *tis not 
 likely j that Mofes^ who is fo exa6k a 
 Writer, would have wholly palTed over 
 in SiU nee fuch a remarkable Particular, 
 fuch 4 lignal Token of God’s Favour and 
 Apf^robation, we ought not to be too 
 :%e with our Guefles, and Conjectures, 
 (^thers have thought that God might 
 have teftified this by fome miraculous To- 
 kemoj^his elpecial Prefence, fome Glory, 
 Radiancy, or Illumination, as we may 
 luppofe he manifelled himlelf to Jldam 
 and Eve in Paradife, and as he did to 
 Mofes in the Bulh. But as the lame Ob- 
 jedion, I mean the Silence of the Sacred 
 Writer, lies as much againft this as the 
 former Opinion, and this is all guels-work 
 and Conjecture : it is more fafe, as well 
 as more realbnable, to fuppofe, that God 
 manifelled his Approbation of Ahel-'s Of* 
 fering by bleffing his Labours, prolpering 
 his Handyworks, increafing his Stock, and 
 multiplying his Flocks ; and that on the 
 other lide he Ihewed his Dillike of Cain's \ 
 
 — i 
 
 the fime Miracle, and averred, that the Fire from . 
 Heaven defeended upon the Incenfe, that was on the j 
 Threfhold of the Temple, which he faith none but 
 credulous Je-n can believe. 
 
 Credat JudAUs Apella^ &c. 
 
 A learned Commentator concludes fr)>m tl^Paflage of 
 Horace^ that he had in his eye the Mb^e of Elijah^ 
 which he had read or heard of, and winc^ boked^^ 
 upon as falfc and fabulous, Vid. Daehr A 
 
 ^cri- 
 
‘ Poetry Painting. 6 i 
 
 Sacrifice by refufing to blcfs his Labours, 
 to profper his Husbandry, and denying 
 him fruitful Seafbns, and plentiful Har- 
 vefts. And this feems to be confirmed 
 by the very Words of the Curfe, which 
 God pronounced againft the Murderer. 
 “ Now art thou curfed from the Earth : 
 ‘‘ When thou tilleft the Ground, it lhall 
 “ not henceforth yield unto thee her 
 Strength, v. ii, la. But though 
 there is fo little Ground and Warrant for 
 I this Conceit of the Fire lent from Heaven, 
 
 I I have leen fome Pieces of the Murder 
 I of where, in perlpecSfive and on a 
 i diftant Ground, are to be leen two Altars, 
 I and the Ftre from Heaven defcending 
 upon one of them, and confuming the 
 Sacrifice. 
 
 Of the Figure of Jhrahanis offering 
 his Son Ifaac, 
 
 The Learned Dr. BrowNy in his Book 
 of Vulgar Errours, has palled a Genfure 
 upon Painters for reprelenting Ifaac in 
 the Shape and Stature of a Boy. This 
 he aflerts is againlt the Authority of the 
 bell Commentators, and the very Circum- 
 ftances of the Holy Text; For there we 
 read that Jfaac carried the W ood for the 
 Burnt Offering, which he conceives was 
 too great a Load and Burthen for a Boy 
 
 to 
 
€i An ESSAY upon 
 
 to carry. To fupport bis Criticifrn, he 
 adds the Authority of Jofephusy who is 
 exprefs that Ifaac was then full twenty 
 five years of Age, HTis true indeed he is. 
 called Pu&r in the vulgar Tranflation ; 
 but this he thinks Ihould not be ftri6tly 
 taken of the Age of Puberty, but to be 
 underftood in relation to his Father, who i 
 was then no left than an hundred and : 
 twenty years old. I Ihould rather incline 
 to think that the Word in the Hebrew 
 Language, had a greater Latitude, and a 
 more exteniive Senft, than to be confined 
 to the Age of fourteen years. I am fure 
 in the beft Latin Authors the Word Paer 
 is taken fo much at large, as to extend 
 even to Manhood itlelf. Thus * * * § Horace' 
 calls ^auUus Maximus, ^uer, though he 
 was then at Man’s Eftate, eminent for his 
 Eloquence, and Pleadings for the mife- 
 rable. \ Virgil alfo gives this Name to 
 errand ^ompey, whom every one will al- ' 
 low to be then grown Men. And hMy^Ovid^' 
 
 * Et pro follicitis non tacitus reis, 
 
 Et centum Puer Artium. IJor.OJ.L^,oJ. i. v, 14, ij-. 
 + Ne,pueri,netintaanimisafruefcite Bella. Virg,L6;v,8j. 
 But this may be underftood of Ar.chtfes calling them his 
 
 Children, which he yJ./ properly might do as de- 
 feended from him. 
 
 § Parce puer fedi Decus admirabilc noftri. Ovid. 
 
 Cicero calls Oftavius C^far when he was near twenty 
 years old| iornttivacs ^uvenis and £>metim€8 
 
 gives 
 
Poetry ^»/Painting. 
 
 j gives this very Title to Jagujius^ when it 
 is well known he was full fifty years old. 
 I know but one OWe<5lion can be made 
 againfb the Dodlor’s Hypothefis, which is, 
 that we read that jibraham tied Ifaac and 
 put him upon the Wood, which does not 
 feem well to fuit with fo old a Man as he 
 then was. But to this it may be anfwered^ 
 that tKeWords, laid him upon the Altar ^ &c. 
 do not of necefGty imply that he took him 
 up in his Arms, and laid him upon the 
 Altar, but only that he might help and 
 aflill him to mount upon it. Befidcs, ^tis 
 reafonable to fuppofe that in the time of 
 the Patriarchs, who lived feveral hundred 
 years, a Man of an hundred and twenty, 
 which is fuppoled to be the Age of Ahra- 
 ham^ might be as ftrong, adive, and vi- 
 gorous as the prefent Race of Men are at 
 thirty or forty. There are two Circum- 
 ftances more in Relation to this Picture, in 
 which the Matters of the Pencil have 
 taken the Liberty .o deviate from the 
 Sacred Hittorjv. ^irtt as to the Pott ure 
 of Ifaac^ who is drawn on his Knees be- 
 fore the Altar, whereas the Holy Writer 
 is exprefs, that Abraham laid him on 
 the Altar upon the Wood, Gen. xxK. 9 . 
 Nor have they been more exadl in ex- 
 wefling the Potture and Attitude of the 
 Father, who, in all the Pidlures I have 
 foen of this Sacrifice, ttands behind Ifaae 
 
 with 
 
^4 ESSAY upon 
 
 with a Sword lifted up to llrike and to 
 kill him. Whereas Painters fliould con- 
 lider, that the Sacrifice in queftion was an 
 Holocaull or Burnt Offering, which was 
 not performed with a Swordj or fepa- 
 rating the Head from the Bodj, but by 
 thrufting a Knife into the Breafl of the 
 Vidtim, and keeping it there *f ill it was 
 adtually expired. After which the Head 
 was fevered from the Body, and the 
 fevcral Parts difledted and difmembered, 
 in order to be conlumed with *Fire. 
 
 Of the Pidture of Joh. 
 
 The next Inftance I lhall bring is in 
 relation to poor Job^ whom the Painters 
 (as if he had not been enough miferable) 
 have drawn like a Beggar lying upon a 
 Dunghill. I make no doubt. Sir, but 
 You have often feen him thus pictured, 
 and as often heard it infifted upon, as an 
 Aggravation ot hi>l Mifery, by the Orator* 
 from the Pulpit, , 
 
 Idqu&illu commenf^^ pjfacet. Ter. 
 
 ^ CoypeJ has committed a capital Fault in his Piece of 
 the Sacrifice of IfaaCy in reprefenting Sorrow,, Grief* 
 and Affliction in the Face of Ahrahum. This is de- 
 preciating and undervaluing the Faith of that good Man, 
 who having received his Son from God by one Miracle, 
 did not doubt but he would reftore him to him by 
 another. This has been judicioufly obfcrved by Monficur 
 J)Hrdtl4 in his H'lftory of Vaintin^% 
 
Po E T R Y and Pa I N T 1 N G. 
 
 ' For I can give k no better Name ; fince 
 I kis all Errour and Miftake, the Flight of 
 I the Orators, and the Whim and Fancy of 
 1 the Limner; who, willing to give into 
 the Marvellous, thought they could not 
 better exprefe the Calamities of 'Job^ than 
 by expofing him upon a common Dung- 
 hill, and that without the leak Ground 
 or Shadow of Reafon. For the Scripture 
 is wholly lilent in the Point, and makes 
 no mention of a Dunghill, but of Alhes 
 only, in which Penitents and Men under 
 Affli 6 lion ufed to lye and wallow^ That 
 this was a common Practice,, e^cially in 
 the Eaft, will not, I fuppolc, be denied 
 by any that have the leaft Knowledge of 
 the Cuftoms of the Ancients. In times 
 of Affli<5tion the Mourners uled to po^ar 
 Alhes on their Heads, and roll themlelves 
 in the Dull; and this they did, either to 
 put them in remembrance, that they were 
 but Daft and to Dull they muft return ; 
 or to imply, that like Dull they were 
 only fit to be trod and trampled upon by 
 their Enemies. Thus we read David 
 fpeaks of himfelf in the time of Affli<5tion : 
 “For I have eaten Alhes like Bread, 
 “ and mingled my Drink with Weeping.” 
 ^faL cii. ver. 9 . Upon which Words 
 the Learned *Heinffus makes this Remark ; 
 
 This, 
 
 f HeLraif^Hs a rUu lUgmtnm faeco tndtiti inhere 
 ^ . /« 
 
66 E S S A Y upon 
 
 “ This, faith he, is a Hehraifm from the 
 “ Cuftom that Mourners had of vvallow- 
 ** ing in Afhes : and then the meaning 
 will be, that Duft was to him like 
 Bread ; ©r that he eat his Bread 
 ^ mingled with Duft.** But the very 
 Words of Jeh might have let them right, 
 and prevented the Miftake. “ My Flefli is 
 clothed with Worms, and Clods of 
 Duft.” Joh vii. 5. and accordingly we 
 lee yoFs Friends, when they came to 
 mourn andi condole with him, fprinkle 
 Duft upon their Heads, and fit down with 
 him upon the Ground feven Days and 
 feven Nights, yoh ii. 1 2, 13. In this as 
 in many other Pra<5kices the yews were 
 followed by the Heathen. Thus we fee 
 Laertes do in Homer. The fame may 
 be obfervcd in Euripides Supph Thus 
 Yirgit has alfo reprefented Mezentius at 
 the fight of the dead Body of his Son 
 Dallas. This I hope will ferve to clear 
 up the Matter, to remove this imagbary 
 Dunghill, and to fhew that this excellent 
 Man, this Emblem of Patience, ought to 
 
 cmfpergehmt : q.d; In terra pronus jaedi pr^ luBu^ 
 ^ in puhere me volutaviy adeo utiPulvis injlar Fanis mihi 
 fuefit, vel panem fulvere cenfperfum comederim. 
 
 f yjpe'tr Kovtv A)Bct\oi(^(rAp 
 
 XgttfitT# KAik* Kffukn^ ToA/S? 
 
 Horn. Odyff. cJ 
 
 b# 
 
Poetry Painting. '^1 
 
 !)be reprelented in the Attitude of a Mourner 
 fand a Penitent, and not in the Pofture of ' 
 fa Beggar lying upon a Dunghill. But as 
 tMcn that have once loft their way feldom 
 jftop there, but commonly proceed farther 
 |in their Errour, 'tis pleafant to fee what 
 ‘curious Enquiries fome Learned Men have 
 imade about this Dunghil ; Ibme affirming 
 it was at his own Door, others in the 
 ICity, and others out of the Walls of 
 [the Town. either are the Conjectures 
 llefs curious about the Wife of that good 
 Man. Some have afferted that Ihe was 
 Ditia^ yacob's Daughter ; others that Ihc: 
 =was infti gated by the Devil in perfon;: 
 'and others laftly that it was the Devit 
 himfelf in the Shape of a Woman. I 
 iwill not enquire which of thefe is the 
 right, for I believe they are equally fo* 
 
 Of the Pidure of ISufanna,. 
 
 The laft Obfervation I make is out of 
 the Jpocryphay and therefore I fhall lay 
 no very great Strefs upon it. *Tis upon 
 Safanna and the Two Elders : Thefe are 
 generally drawn like decrepid old Fellows, 
 with grey Heads and Beards, and to give 
 them a graver and more venerable Air,, 
 with Spedacles on their Nofes ; and this 
 grounded upon the Word Tipsir^uTfp& in 
 the Text. W^hereas they fhould have 
 
 con» 
 
(5S ^Jn ESSAY ttpon 
 
 confidered, that the Word in the Gre^ 
 does not always relate to the Age, buti 
 often to the Rank or Dignity of the Per-1 
 fon, and implies not of neceffity an old 
 Man, but one that is a Magiftrate and a 
 Judge. Thus the ^atres and Semores^ 
 among the Romans were not lb lliled on! 
 the account of their Seniority, but of the 
 Order and Dignity they enjoyed. Thus 
 in England the Word Ealdorman or Alders 
 man was ufed only to denote the Rank 
 and Dignity of the Perlbn. Now that 
 theft Elders- that tempted Sufanna were 
 Judges and Magiftrates, the Writer of 
 the Hiftory is exprels ; and that they wer-e 
 not Judges of a very long flanding, may 
 be gathered from the fame Writer, who 
 ftith, that the fame Year were two of the 
 Antients of the People to be. Judges^, 
 It would be therefore more decent, and 
 rational, and more agreeable to the Text, 
 to reprefent them as Magiftrates, and 
 Men of a middle Age, and to fling away 
 the ridiculous Circumftance of the Sjpebta- 
 cles, an Invention that certainly was not 
 known in Theft early Ages of the 
 World. 
 
 I fhall now proceed to the New Tefta- 
 ment, and begin with the moft remarkable 
 
 • Sufinna, L r* 
 
 PalTage, 
 
PoETTiY/3'^^ Painting. 
 
 j?aflagc, the moft fignal Inftance of God's 
 iL(Ove and Mercy to Mankind, that 
 
 Of Nativity Christ. 
 
 In this one would have thought Pain- 
 :ers Ihould have been more upon their 
 juard, obferved the greateft Care and 
 Precaution, and allowed themlelves as lit- 
 ,le Licence as poflible. But on the con- 
 ;:rary, it is in this very Piece they have 
 I’ommitted the greateft and moft palpable 
 Miftakes, and taken the moft unwarrant- 
 iible Liberties. For, Firft, nothing is 
 ;nore common than to lee the Blefled V ir- 
 gin at Bethlehem^ arrayed like a glorious 
 i^ucen, fet off with Royal Robes, and a 
 ;3rown upon her Head ^ and on the other 
 ,ide, the Infant Jefus lying in a Manger 
 )y her ; than which, nothing can be more 
 ibfurd and prepofterous. For, to what 
 Purpofe is all this Glory and Magnificence ? 
 What has a Queen to do with a common 
 itable ? What Analogy is there between 
 ji Manger and a Crown ? This is done, I 
 uppole, to let off the Glory of the Vir- 
 pn Mary^ or to add Beauty and Embel- 
 ilhment to the Pid:ure : However it bCj 
 t is certainly a diredi Fault againft the 
 a downright Solecifm in Paint- 
 ng, and is as abfurd and unreafonable, as 
 t would be to draw an Emperor or a 
 ! King 
 
 i 
 
70 
 
 Jn E S S A Y upon 
 
 King in the Drefs and Habit of a Car- 
 penter. This Defire of adorning and em- 
 bellifhing their Pieces, has led fome of 
 the greateft Mailers into notorious Ab- 
 furdities. Thus in that fine Piece of ^aul 
 Veronefe^ where our Saviour fits at Meat 
 in the Houfe of Simon and * Lm, the 
 Room is adorned with the greateft Pomp 
 and richeft Furniture, with Plate, Vafa’sj 
 and a fumptuous and magnificent Buffet ; 
 which by no means agree with the Sub- 
 jedl he treats of Thefe might, indeed, 
 become the Table of a ^erjian Monarch, 
 or ofte of thole Entertainments, which 
 Ckopatra gave to Marc Anthony^ but can 
 never be fuitable to the Houfes of 'yew~ 
 ip Publicans, fuch as Simon and Levi, 
 Thefe Officers among the Romans were 
 of a higher Rank, and made a greater 
 Figure fince they were taken out of the 
 Order of Knighthood. But it is plain 
 from the lacred Text, that the Publicani 
 among the yews^ were but very mean and 
 inconliderable Men. 
 
 * VMe Lucum, cap. f. vet, ap. 
 
PoETRY^;;^ Painting. 71 
 
 Of the Coming of the to 
 
 \ BethleheMj afid qff'ering their 
 , Gifts to Christ. 
 
 i 
 
 i In the Reprefcntation of this Paflage 
 of the Gofpel, there are two things, which 
 [ think are juftly liable to Exception. 
 Firft, The Scene of the A<9:ion. Second- 
 ■y, The Rank and Condition of the Per- 
 ons concerned. Firll, As to the Scene 
 )f the Action : This, without any juft 
 rR.eafon, is reprcfented to be a Stable, 
 vhere Oxen and Afles are feen tied to 
 he Manger. To clear up this Gircum- 
 lance, it is neceflary to enquire at what 
 ime the Wife-men or Magi came to pay 
 iheir Worfhip and Adoration to our Sa- 
 dour ? About this, learned Men are di- 
 >ided in their Opinions. Some have pla- 
 ced it forty Days after the Nativity of 
 thrift. But befides that, it is not pro- 
 )able, that all that is recorded about it 
 ! n St. Matthew^ could have been tranf* 
 s ided in lb fmall a Space of Time : It 
 ibannot be fuppoled to be done after their 
 ; ;oing into Egypt ^ nor between the De- 
 parture of the Magiy and their goin» 
 (hither j for that had been to expofc 
 i;hemlelves and the new-born Child to 
 he Rage and Cruelty of Herod* But as 
 
 Ibme 
 
7i E S S A Y up^n 
 
 fome ftraiten the Time, fb others leem 
 to enlarge it too much, and place this 
 Circumftance two Years after the Birth of 
 Chrift. But befides, that this does not 
 feem to agree with the Courfe of the Sa- 
 cred Hiftory, it can by no means confifl: 
 with the common ^ra, or vulgar Com- 
 putation. The moft probable Opinion 
 therefore is, that Jofeph and Mary went 
 firll to yerufalenty and that at their Re- 
 turn, the Wife-men came and made their 
 Offerings to Chrift. This is the Senti- 
 ment of the learned * Dr. Hammondy who 
 faith, they went to yerufalenty and from 
 thence returned to hethlehemy and there 
 dwelt in an hired Houfe, ’till after the 
 Coming and Departure of the Magi: So 
 that if the Word muft be appli- 
 
 ed to the Coming of thofe Wife-men, it 
 muft be underftood of the Day-twelve- 
 month after. Now taking which of thefc 
 Hypothefes you pleafe, nay, taking that 
 which feems the moft favourable, that ol 
 forty Days after, yet even then the No- 
 tion of the Stable will not ftand its 
 Ground. For it cannot be imagined,, that 
 the Blefled Virgin, after her Delivery, 
 remained in the mean and homely Place, 
 which Ihe had been obliged to take up with 
 
 • vide Uummoni in locum. 
 
 becaufc 
 
Poetry and Painting. 73 
 
 becaufe there was no Lodging for her ia 
 the Inn. It is more reafonable to fup- 
 pofe, that when the Croud was diminim- 
 ed, and there was room in the Houfe, 
 Ihe retired to a more fuitable and conve- 
 nient Place. And this perfedly agrees 
 with the Sacred Hiftorp. St. Luke^ in- 
 deed, when he fpeaks of the Shepherds, 
 faith exprefsly, they found the Child lying 
 in a * Manger : But St. Matthezv^ when 
 he relates this Fadt, has not a Word about 
 a Manger or a Stable, but faith, they en- 
 tered f oiKiar, into the Houfe ; from which 
 I think we may fairly conclude, that the 
 Virgin, after her Delivery, removed to 
 ifome more proper and convenient Place, 
 where the Wife-men afterwards came to 
 make their Offerings. And if this No- 
 [bon of the Stable will not bear even upon 
 jthe firft Hypothefis ; much lefs will it up- 
 bn the Laft, which is the moft probable and 
 jreafonable one of the three. The next 
 Particular I obferved in thisPidlure, li- 
 able to Exception, was in Relation to 
 |:he Rank and Dignity of the Perfbns who 
 ;ame to pay their Adoration to Chrift. 
 They are always reprefented as Kings 
 livith Crowns on their Heads, and Scepters 
 in their Hands, with all the Splendour 
 
 * Luke ii. ver. 1 6, -j- Maff, ii. 1 1. 
 
74 E S S A Y upon 
 
 and Attire of Royal Majefty and Gran- 
 deur ' and this without the leaft Warrant 
 or Authority from Scripture and Antiqui- 
 ty. The Holy Scripture calls them Magi^ 
 Wife-men, and antient Writers tell us that 
 they were Philofophers, that applied 
 themfelves to Arts and Sciences, but e- 
 Ipecially to the Study of Aflronomy, 
 which led them to the Obfervation of the 
 new Star, which they followed as their 
 Guide • but without the leaft Hint or In- 
 timation of their Regal Dignity. Whe- 
 ther Painters have added this Circumftancc 
 to give greater Beauty, Ornament, and 
 Magnificence, to their Piece, or to fet off 
 the Glory of the Infant-Saviour, by ihew- 
 ing Kings and Monarchs lying proftrate 
 at his Feet, I will not take upon me to de- 
 termine. If it was for the laft of theft 
 Reafons, they fhould have confidered that, 
 
 Non tali auxilio^ nec defenforihus ijits 
 
 Ckrijius eget. 
 
 The Chriftian Religion difclaims fuch falft 
 and deceitful Props, and fuch imaginar)’ 
 Helps as thefe. A judicious Painter 
 therefore, in Matters fo facred and fo- 
 lemn, fliould be more prudent and cau-' 
 tious, fhould ftridlly confine himfelf to 
 Truth, fhould have Recourfe to thc| 
 Scriptures, thofe divine Springs, or con-! 
 
 fult' 
 
P O E T R Y PaI N T IN G. 75 
 
 fult the moll precious and venerable Re- 
 mains of Antiquity, the Fathers, and not 
 build upon fuch weak and fandy Foun- 
 dations as forged and fidlitious Legends, 
 and fabulous Accounts of late and mo- 
 dern Writers ; Among whom none has 
 given more Scope to his Fancy, and in- 
 dulged his Imagination in the Defoription 
 of thefe fuppofed Princes, than venerable 
 Bedcy who lived above feven hundred 
 Years after them : For he not only gives 
 us their Names, the Countries where they 
 dwelt, and the Offerings which each of 
 them made, but he deforibes their Age, 
 Complexion, and their very Habits and 
 Drefs. Melchior^ * he faith, who was a 
 grey and venerable old Man, offered 
 Gold ^ Gafpar^ a frefh and ruddy young 
 Man, gave Chrift Frankincenfe ; Balt afar y 
 who was a Blackmoor, prefonted Myrrh ; 
 and in his whole Narrative, he is fo exprcls 
 and particular, that one would think he 
 had feen them himfelf : If fo, it mufl have 
 been in a Vifion or “Dream, as ^arrhajius 
 faw his Hercules^ or he mufl have had it 
 by fome divine Revelation ; For there is 
 not the leaft Warrant from Scripture or 
 Antiquity to vouch and fupport it. It is 
 probable the good Man had feen them thus 
 
 * Vide Cbevr^ana, Vol. 2. p. 308. 
 
 E 2. portrayed 
 
7<5 4^/ E S S A Y upon 
 
 portrayed in fome Pidture, and took the 
 Fancy of the Painter for Truth ; If fo, 
 it is not, I believe, the firft time that 
 Writers have been mi fled and deceived by 
 Limners, as I fliall have Occafion to fliew 
 by an Inftance or two in the Courfe of 
 this Eflay. But though there is fo little 
 Ground for this imaginary Regal Digni- 
 ty, yet they are w'orfliiped as luch, and 
 their Rclicks are held in very great Ve- 
 neration at Cologn in Germany. And as 
 they travelled far, and took a long Jour- 
 ney to vifit and worfliip our Saviour, they 
 are efteemed the Patrons and Protedlors of 
 Travellers: So that thofe that vifit their 
 Shrine, or carry any thing about them 
 that hath touched their Sacred Bones, 
 imagine that they fliall have a happy 
 Voyage, and efcape ^11 Dangers both by 
 Sea and Land. But they afforded no help 
 to a poor Irijb Soldier, who was killed in 
 the late War, and in whofe Pocket was 
 found a Charm with this Infcription ; Tres 
 Reges SanBi Melchior, Gafpar, S Bal- 
 tafar, orate pro nobis nunc ^ in hora mortis 
 mjirae. Then followed in French, what 
 I fliall here fet down in Englifi ; “ Thefe 
 u ^ Tickets have touched the three Heads 
 
 “ of 
 
 ^ Ces Billets ont touche aux trots Tetes des Saints Rots 
 is Cologne, lls fmt four Us Voiageurs tontre tous Us 
 
 Mdheurs 
 
Poetry PAiNTfN G. 77 
 
 of the Holy Kings at Cologn ; They are 
 for Travellers, againfl; Misfortunes in 
 ‘‘ their Travels, againft the Headach, 
 Falling-Sicknels, Fevers, Witchcraft, 
 “ and all other Misfortunes, and fudden 
 « Death”. 
 
 Sed qui ’vuJt deci-pi declpiatur. 
 
 But it is not always want of Knowledge, 
 or a due Information, that has led the 
 Painters into Miftakes ; they have often, 
 knowingly and wilfully departed from the 
 Truth, to conform tbemfelves to the 
 Pradfice of their own Times ^ and to 
 comply with the Cullom of the Age they 
 lived in. Of which I fhall bring fome In- 
 I fiances. The Firft I fhall give here i« 
 
 ! that 
 
 I (5//i&<?BAPTisM ^?/Jesus Christj 
 
 where Le '^oujjin has drawn our Savi- 
 our ftanding up to the Knees in the Ri- 
 iver Jordan^ and St. yohn the Baptijt 
 [forinkling Water upon his Head. Now, 
 !^r, is not this plainly leading ignorant 
 i Men into Errors and Miftakes ? For what 
 
 Malheurs des Chemms^ Manx de They Mai caduqHBySor-^ 
 cekricy tOHte Sorte de Malefice ^ Mort fublte. 
 
 Thoresby^j Antiquities of Leedsy p. 45^5*. 
 
 E 3 Perfon 
 
78 jfn B S S AY upon 
 
 Pcrfon is there, who is not otherwifc in- 
 formed, but would readily conclude from 
 this, that the Primitive and Original Bap- 
 tifm was done by AfFulion or Sprinkling of 
 the Water on the Head ? Whereas no- 
 thing is more clear and evident, than that 
 the Baptifm of Chrift was actually per- 
 formed by Dipping, or Immerfion. There 
 are feveral * Texts in Scripture which 
 point fo diredlly to that antient Cbftom, 
 that they cannot be underftood without 
 fuppoling and allowing of it : I do not 
 deny, but that in fome Cafes of Neceflity 
 and Emergencies, fprinkling was 'f'ufed, as 
 in the Baptifm of tne Jailor, who received 
 it in the Prifon ; of in the Cafe of the 
 ClinickSy who were admitted to it on a 
 lick Bed. But the regular and original 
 Way was by Tmmerlion. Neither is Sprink- 
 ling mentioned by any Writer, I know of^ 
 of greater Antiquity than Cyprian^ who 
 lived in the third Century. But before I 
 take my Leave of this Picture, I lhall take 
 notice of a conftant Cullom of Painters, 
 
 * Cohjf, ii. ver. ii. and iii. ver. i. 
 
 f The Rite of AfFufion took the Place of Immerfion 
 in the Weftern Church, but not all at once ; for therx! 
 was a time when both thole Ceremonies were pra<Sfiled 
 together, as it is plain by the Figures in Mabd.ons Mu- 
 jAum Italicum, where there appear People (landing in ' 
 a kind of Tub, whilft Water is poured on their Heads. 
 
 which 
 
Poetry Painting. yp 
 
 j which has been cenfured by fome very 
 great Men, of drawing 
 
 7’-&^>Holy-Gh o s T in the Shape of 
 a Dove. 
 
 The learned Men I mean, are no lefs 
 than Grotius and Hammond^ who take the 
 Words of the Gcfpel, * 'dShe Spirit of God 
 defending like a Dove^ and lighting upon 
 him ; not to mean, that the Holy Spirit 
 appeared in the Shape and Figure of a 
 Dove, but only refembled that Bird in the 
 Manner of its hovering, defcending, and 
 lighting upon Chrift. St. huke indeed is 
 more exprels, for he faith, the Spirit ap- 
 peared, t a-a/xetjiKet iitu. But thofe Cri- 
 ticks underftand theft Words of fome vi- 
 fible Flame, or glorious Brightnefs, in 
 which the Holy Ghoft deftended, as a 
 Dove deftends and lights on any Place. 
 And this ftems to be the natural Senft 
 and Meaning of the Words • finceit can- 
 not be fuppoftd, that a fiery Bird could 
 be ft) exaaly like a Dove, as to be § di- 
 ftinguilhed from any Bird of the fame Size 
 or Bignefs ; whereas it might reftmble it 
 in the Motion, hovering or lighting, which 
 
 * Man, ii. ver. i 6 , f Luke iii. ver. 12- 
 § Mr. Le Clerc. 
 
 E 4 is 
 
So 'Jn E S vS A Y upon 
 
 is peculiar to the Dove, which is pro- 
 perly the Senfe and Force of the Greek 
 Word It is more reafonable there- 
 
 fore (as a very learned * Man obferves) to 
 ftick by this Interpretation, . than to au- 
 thorize the ill Cuftom of Painters, in Draw- 
 ing the Holy Ghoft in the exa6I Shape 
 and Figure of a Dove, 'f' Dr. Hammond 
 thinks the fame of thofe clomn Tongues^ 
 in the fccond Chapter of the and 
 the third Verfe, Like as of Fire that fat 
 upon each of them. This Exprellion of the 
 Holy Writer he conceives does not im- 
 ply thefe Tongues to be of Fire, or to 
 have the Power and Effe<St of Fire, but 
 that there appeared feveral Flaflies and 
 Beams of Light in the Shape of Tongues, 
 cleft and divided, according to the na- 
 tural Motion of Flames, which part as 
 they extend themfel ves in Longitude, grow 
 more lharp and Pyramidical, and farther 
 feparate from the other Parts next to 
 them ; and one of thefe he conceives, like 
 a lambent Flame, defeended and refled 
 upon the Heads of the Apoflles. And 
 this perfe<5lly agrees with the Idiom of 
 the Hebrew Language, where Flames are 
 called the Tongues of Fire. This ju- 
 dicious Remark of that learned Gritick 
 
 ^ Mr. Le Clerc, 
 
 j- Vide Hammond in locum. 
 
 fhould. 
 
. Poetry Painting. Si 
 
 fhould, methinks, be a Caution to Pain- 
 ters not to reprefent thofe divine Flames^ 
 in thofe odd Shapes,- like fo many Neats 
 Tongues defcending upon the Heads of 
 the Apollles. But as if one Miftake was 
 not enough in one Piece, Raphael^ that 
 great Matter of the Pencil, has made a 
 Shift to fling in both thefe into one Angle 
 Pidbure ; and, in the Reprelentation of 
 this Scripture-Hittory, he has, without 
 any jutt Reafon, drawn the Holy Spirit in 
 the Shape of a Dove, fluttering and ho- 
 vering over the cloven Tongues : I fay, 
 without any jutt Reafon ; for it may fome- 
 times happen, where the Hittorical Part 
 is not fo clear and plain, that a F igure, 
 that does not diredbly belong to the Piece, 
 may be brought in by way of Explana- 
 tion. And this, when done with Caution 
 and Prudence, may be juttly allowed when 
 Neceflity requires. Butfure this Plea will 
 not hold here. The Cafe is fo plain, and 
 the divine Writer fo exprefe, that the 
 Holy Ghoft defccnded in thefe Flames, 
 as to need no manner of farther Illuttra- 
 tion. This is confelled and allowed by 
 the judicious Mr. Richardfon in his Ef* 
 fay* ^ “ In a Drawing of Raphael'^ (feith 
 he) “ of the Defeent of the Holy Ghoft, 
 
 ♦ Part I* fstg , ^ 6 , 
 
 Ei 
 
 « the 
 
I 
 
 82 E S S A Y upon 
 
 “ the Tongues of Fire falling upon the 
 “ Heads of the Apoftles, would have 
 “ been enough to inform us of the Story, ' 
 “ and of the Share the Holy Spirit had : 
 “ in that Affair, and is all that the Sacred ! 
 
 Hiftory relates. But he has added the 
 “ Dove hovering^ over all, and cafting forth 
 “ his Beams of Glory, through all the void 
 “ Space of the Pidure, over the Figures, 
 
 “ which gives wonderful Beauty, and 
 
 Majelly to the whole All this may 
 be ; but flill it is taking a bold and dan- 
 gerous Licence, meerly for the fake of 
 Ornament and Embellilhment of his Piece, 
 a Licence that plainly mifrcprefents Mat- 
 ter of Fadl, and may millead and de- 
 ceive ignorant Men in Popifh Countries ; 
 efpecially where they cannot have Re- 
 courfe to the Holy Writings, (which was 
 the very Cafe here ) and may induce them 
 to believe that this Miracle did adually 
 happen in the very manner it is defcribcd, 
 and reprefented by the Painter. The 
 fame great Artift, in another of his Pieces, 
 has ftruck two very bold Strokes at once, 
 and affumed two Licences full as unjufti- 
 fiable as thefe. 'T he Pid:ure I mean, is 
 that where God appears to Mofes in the 
 Bufh ; for, there the Lord is feen attend- 
 ed with Cherubims, that have Flames a- 
 bout them in%ad of Wings : Whereas 
 there is not the leaft Ground in Scripture 
 
 for 
 
Po E TR Y rNTlI^G. 
 
 for this glorious Attendance ; much left 
 for theft Fiery Wings, which are the 
 Fancy and Imagination of the Painter. 
 That which gave him the Hint was, I 
 believe, that famous Paflage in the 104th 
 Pfalm ; “ Who maketh his Angels Spirits, 
 “ and his Minifters a Flame of Fire”j 
 Words mifunderftood and miftpplied by 
 him. The laft Inftance I lhall give of a 
 Licence taken by Painters, in compliance 
 with the Cuftom and Practice of the Age 
 they lived in, is of the Pofture or table 
 Gefture in 
 
 The Pidure of the Laft Supper. 
 
 There are but three Poftures that have 
 been generally uftd in eating. Standing, 
 Sitting, and Lying on Beds. But fome of 
 the greateft Artifts in Painting, as Leonardo 
 4 s Vinci ^ Kaphaely and L^aul Veronefe^ have 
 choftn juft the wrong one in this Pidure, 
 I mean the Gefture of Sitting, and that in 
 dired Oppolition both to the Old and 
 New Teftament. 'Tis certain from the 
 pririiitive Inftitution of the Paifover in the 
 lath of Exodus^ that the ^ews eat that 
 Supper in a ftanding Pofture, with their 
 Shoes on, with a StalF in their hands, and 
 their Loins girt, in the Equipage of Tra- 
 vellers, to put them in mind of the mi- 
 raculous Efcape out of j^gypt : And yet 
 E 6 ’ds 
 
S'4 Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 'tis as 'Certain that Chrift and his Difciples 
 did then nfe a lying or difcumbing Pofture • 
 for ’tis exprefsiy faid, that there was 
 leaning on je/us’s Bofom one of his Dif- 
 ciples, whom he loved, yobn xiii. 2.3, 
 So that there is not the leall Ground or 
 Reafon for the fitting Pofture. To re- 
 concile the Old and New Teftament, and 
 to account for this Deviation of Our Sa- 
 viour from the original Inftitution, fome 
 learned Men have thought Chrift firft cele- 
 brated the yewijh Paflbver ftanding,, and 
 after That was over, inftituted the Sacra- 
 ment in a dilcumbent Pofture. This 
 (faith *StuckiHs) is the Opinion of ^heo^ 
 ^hylaSt^ of Beza^ and Camerarius., But 
 others think there is no need to have 
 recourfe to this Solution,^and that, though 
 it be true that the Paflbver was fo cele- 
 brated at firft, the better to reprefent 
 their travelling out of Egypt j yet the 
 yews believed not themlelves obliged, 
 and confined to thefe Particulars of the 
 primitive Inftitution. Moft of their Dodlors 
 are of opinion, that the Pofture of ftanding 
 at the Feaft, girding their Loins, and 
 fprinkling the Lintels of their Doors, did 
 not extend to future Generations ; and ac- 
 cordingly they have obferved, that when 
 God repeated this command in Deuterono- 
 
 myy 
 
 • Stukius Anti^. Convivial. 
 
Poetry Painting. S5 
 
 %ny^ he enjoined not thele Particulars. He 
 only commanded the eating unleavened 
 Bread, and directed them as to the Place, 
 where they Ihould eat the Paffover. Nay 
 fome of their Rabbins have not fcrupled 
 to fay, that the Pofture of lying upon 
 Beds was more fuitable and agreeable to 
 their prefent State and Condition, as re- 
 prefenting better the Reft and Quiet which 
 they at that time enjoyed. Be it as it 
 will^ I cannot help thinking that it is an 
 unjuftifiable Licence in Painters, to chule 
 that Pofture which is diredlty oppolite to 
 both the Old and New Teftament. This 
 may give Scruples to unlearned Men, who 
 feeing Chrift and his Difciples in this 
 fitting Pofture, will not know what to 
 make of the Place in St. where the 
 
 beloved Difciple is faid to lean on the 
 Bofom of his Mafter, and will be apt to 
 imagine, that the Apoftle muft have fat in 
 a very odd and ind a it Pofture. The 
 mention I have made ol Sc. John puts me 
 in mind of fbme Licences taken, or rather 
 Miftakes committed by Limners in relation 
 to that Apoftle. 
 
 Of the Pidures of St. John, 
 
 I have already obferved that he is fbme- 
 times drawn leaning, in a very unbecoming 
 manner, on the Bofom of Chrift in the 
 
 Holy 
 
S6 Jn E S S AY upon 
 
 Holy Supper. He is alfo reprelented in 
 another Attitude full as improper and in- 
 decent, with a Bowl or Cup in his hand, 
 more like an Heathen Bacchus, than a 
 Difciple of Chrift. Some have pretended 
 to account for this odd Polture of the 
 Apoftle, by faying that he was the Bride- 
 groom at the Marriage of Cana^ and 
 firft tafted the Water, which was turned 
 into Wine. To which they add out of 
 their own heads, that Chrift wrought this 
 Miracle on purpofe to dilluade him from 
 his intended Marriage, and to induce him 
 fo be one of his Followers and Difciples. 
 I fay out of their own heads, fince there 
 is not the leaft Shadow of Ground and 
 Foundation for this Tradition : For 
 
 neither the holy Scripture, nor any antient 
 Writers for four hundred Years, make 
 the leaft mention of it. If there had been 
 any thing in this Story, St. yerom^ who 
 fo warmly maintains againft yovwian that 
 St. John died a Virgin, would never have 
 omitted fuch an Argument to fupport his 
 Opinion ; apd no doubt but the Manichees 
 who exalted the ,\^irgin Life, and cried 
 down the State, would have 
 
 made ufe of a f'roof fb favourable to 
 their Caule. Some affign another Reafon 
 for drawing St. John in this manner, and 
 that from an old Legend, which faith, 
 that a Prince called Ariftodemus prefented 
 
Poetry md Pa i n t i n g. 87 
 
 him with a Bowl of Poifon, which he 
 readily drank off, and received no manner 
 of Hurt from it. But lince there is no 
 better Evidence for this Story than for 
 the laft ; fince ’tis not mentioned by any 
 Writer of Credit, but b,uilt on the weak 
 and fandy Foundation of a Legend; a ju- 
 dieious Painter would avoid a Circum- 
 ftance, for which there is fo little Reafon, 
 and which can only ferve to expofe that 
 Apoftle to the Sneers and Raillery of 
 Rakes andUnbelievers. TheSecondThing 
 I obferve in relation to the Pidiures of 
 St. 'John^ is not indeed of the fame Con- 
 fequence, but is, I think, juftly liable to 
 Exception ; 'Tis the Cuflom that Painters 
 have^of drawing him like a * Young Man 
 when he is writing the Gofpel and the 
 Revelations : Whereas ^tis moft certain 
 he was far from being fuch, when he com- 
 pofed thofe two excellent Books. As to 
 the Gofpel, it is allowed on all hands that 
 he wrote it aftei ' thofe of the other Evan- 
 gelifts; and as to the Revelations, Ep/~ 
 ■phanius affirms that he was ninety years 
 of Age when he finifhed that Book. I 
 will not anfwer for the Exadnefs of this 
 
 * This Fault has been judicioufly avoided by Tnurt 
 in his Frontifpiece of this Evangelift before Monfleur 
 V Enfanfs New Teftament i for he has drawn that 
 Apoftle like a very Old Man, 
 
 Pate, 
 
88 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Date, which I know has been queftioned 
 by Ibme learned Men. But I think I 
 may venture to fay, after a great Man, 
 that he compofed it Extrema SeneSfutCy in 
 a very Old Age. A little reading or con- 
 fulting Divines might have faved them 
 thip Miftake, which is as abfurd and pre- 
 pollerous, as it would be to draw ^latOy 
 j4riJiotky or any of the old Philofophers, 
 like handfome Young Fellows in the 
 Flower of their Age. The laft Particular 
 I fliall take notice’ of in the Pidures of 
 St. Johtiy is the Caldron of boiling Oyl, 
 in which 'tis faid he was caft at Ephefus 
 by the Order of Domitian. But this (if it 
 be fabulous, as I prefume it is) I do not 
 lay to the Charge of the Limners, fince 
 they have on their fide two fuch Autho- 
 rities as Terttillian and St. yerom. But 
 however great thefe Names may found, I 
 think they are not* fufficient to ballance 
 the Silence of the Greek Writers, who had 
 much better Opportun?iies of enquiring 
 into the Circumftances of the Life of that 
 Saint. For can it be fuppofed that £»- 
 fehiusy who is lb exadt and particular in 
 his Account of him ; who mentions bis 
 being banilhed by the Emperor to Path» 
 mosy and in the *fame Breath relates the 
 Cruelties which Domitian exercifed againft 
 
 ? Eufcb. Hift. Ecdeliaft. /. 3. f. 1 8. 
 
 the 
 
Po ETRY Painting. 8p 
 
 the Chriftians, could have entirely omitted 
 fo fingular and remarkable a Fa6t ? And 
 laftly, can it be imagined that ^olycrateSy 
 who was Bilhop of Epkefus after him, 
 who *fpcaks with fo great Encomium of 
 his Perfon, and of the Sufferings and La- 
 bours he underwent for the lake of the 
 Church, and who is fo particular as to 
 defcribe a Part of his Habit, fhould not 
 have mentioned a Circumftance that did 
 fo much honour to the Mesnory of his 
 Predecellbr in that See? HTis therefore 
 more reafonable to fuppole that TertuUian^ 
 a Man of a lively Fancy and a warm Ima- 
 gination, took this Story upon trull:, 
 without much enquiring into the Truth of 
 It ; which St. yerotn^ according to his 
 Cuftom, copied lirom him. But this (as I 
 Paid before) I do not lay to the Charge 
 of the Gentlemen of the Profeffion, be- 
 caufc they have the Authority of thele 
 Two antient and venerable Fathers, which 
 is Ground enough for them to build upon, 
 and fulHcient to skreen and lecure them 
 from Genfure. But to return to Our 
 Saviour. 
 
 * Eufeb.Hift. Ecclefiaft. /. j*. f.24. 
 
 Of 
 
po 
 
 Jn E S S A Y upon 
 
 Of Christ with the Doctors in the 
 Temple. 
 
 St. Luke in his^Gofpel relates, that the 
 Mother of Chrift and his Relations, in 
 their Return from Jerufalem^ miffing him 
 in the Company, went back to that City 
 in fearch of him, and found him fitting 
 in the Temple in the midll of the Dodors, 
 both hearing them and asking them 
 Queftions. Luke ii. 46. Now Chrift in this 
 Pidure is commonly reprefented in a Desk, 
 Pulpit, or Chair raifed and exalted above 
 the reft, as a Rabbi, Dodor, or Matter of 
 a Synagogue. But as it cannot be ima- 
 gined, that a Child of twelve years of age 
 fhould have been a Matter and Teacher 
 in the Temple; it is more agreeable to 
 Reafon, as alfo to Scripture, to draw hint 
 on a Bench or Seat as Difciples ufed »to 
 fit, and from thence, like other Scholars, 
 propofing his Doubts to the Dodors, and 
 refolving their Queftions, which I conceive 
 is all that can be iairly gathered from the 
 Words of St. Luke, And yet this Fault 
 (as plain and obvious as it is) has been 
 committed by very great Matters, and 
 even (as I am told) by Raphael himfelfi 
 This excellent Artift has a little indul- 
 
 ♦ Luke ii. 4.5, 
 
 ged 
 
Poe TRY ^^J^Painting. 91 
 
 eed the Luxuriancy of his -Fancy in the 
 Cartoon 
 
 Of the Lam^ Man cured at the Beautiful 
 Gate of the Temple by St. 7eter and 
 St. yohn after the Refurreition of 
 Christ. 
 
 This was one of the Gates at the Eaft 
 End of Solomon's Porch. The Scripture 
 calls it the Beautiful Gate : fofephus names 
 it the Corinthian^ becaufe he faith it was 
 made of the fneft Corinthian Brafs. A 
 learned Man in Germany has in a late Dif* 
 fertation maintained, that it was the Gate 
 Sufan^ oppofite to the City of Sufa^ which 
 Word, he faith, in the ^erjtan fignifies 
 Pleafant, Florid, and Beautiful, and that 
 it was from thence this Jewip Gate had 
 its Name. But this Etymology feems 
 not to be fo natural as that oiyofephusy 
 who faith it was lb called, becaule, though 
 made only of Corinthian Brals, that it 
 furpalTed in Workmanlhip, Value, and 
 Beauty the other Gates that were covered 
 with Gold and Silver. I am afraid. Sir, 
 you will think me here guilty of a Miftake, 
 when I fpeak of Corinthian Brals em- 
 ployed at the Gates of the Temple of 
 fenifalem^ which was built long before 
 there was any of that Brafs in the World. 
 
 But 
 
P 2 An ESSAY upon 
 
 But I hope you will not think my Miftakc 
 quite fo great, as that which * Ipdorus has 
 committed in Relation to that Metal, lince 
 this is to be underftood of the Temple 
 which was built by Herod a long time after 
 Corinth was taken by the Romans. 'Tis 
 likely Raphael had not feen that Paffage 
 of Jofephtis^ elle inftead of Marble or 
 Stone, as the Gates appear to be of in the 
 Cartoon, he would no doubt have drawn 
 it of fine fhining and polilhcd Brafs, which 
 as it would have been more agreeable to 
 the Truth of Hiftory, fo would it alfo 
 have added to the Beauty, Brightnels, 
 and Magnificence, of the Piece. But to 
 
 That Learned Man laithy that when Hannibal took 
 Corinthy he melted down the Golden, Silver, and Brazen 
 Statues together, which Mixture made that beautiful 
 Metal, which was afterwards called Corinthian Brafs. 
 Whereas a Man muft be a very great Novice in the !?(?- 
 man Hiflory, not to know that that City was not taken 
 and deftroyed by Hannibaly but by Lucius Muwmius 
 Achaicusy in the 607th Year of Rome, What led ijidoms 
 into the Miftake was a Paffige in fetroniusy who puts 
 thefe Words into the Mouth of Trimalchio: When 
 
 “ Corinth v;as taken by Hannihaly he took all the Golden, 
 Silver, and Brazen Statues, and melted them down to- 
 gcther”. But nothing is more plain than that this 
 was done by Retronius to (hew the Ignorance and Stu- 
 pidity of Trimalcbioy whom he makes it his Bulinefs to 
 •xpofe in that Satyr. 
 
 Ijidor, Origin 1 . 16. c, to 
 Vide Barman, in petron. Vol. r. p. 249. 
 
P O E T R Y P A I NT I N G. Pg 
 
 pafs this over, as a Imall Miftake, it mull 
 be confefled (as Mr. Ktchardfon has truly 
 oblerved) that in this Picture Raphael 
 did not keep ftridly to the Truth of 
 Hiftory. For, there never was fuch an 
 Order of Pillars either among the yews^ 
 Greeks^ or Romans^ as he has reprcfented 
 there, which is purely the Invention of 
 the Painter ; and belides, he has adorn- 
 ed his Gates with many Figures and 
 [mages, contrary to the Pradlice of the 
 JewSf who allowed no fuch thing in 
 their Houfes, much lefs about their iL'em- 
 plesj and who, elpecially under the Second 
 Temple, had fuch an utter Avcrlion for 
 [mages, that when a Roman General 
 palled through their Country with his 
 Eagles, and other Enllgns dilplayed, 
 they intreated him to take another Route, 
 left the Images of thole Knligns Ihould 
 pollute and defile their Land. But as 
 this Licence is not very confiderable, and 
 belides gives great * Beauty to the Piece, 
 
 * The Piece, faith Mr. Ktchardfon, is fo wonderfully 
 Sne, that it would have been a Pity for him not to 
 have indulged his Fancy, and taken a Licence which he 
 knew to be luch. If fo, we may then fay with the Poet^ 
 St non errajfet fecerat tile minus* 
 
 Befides, it muft be confidered, that when Raphael worked 
 It the Cartoons he was very young, and had not yet at- 
 :ained that great Skill and Knowledge of Antiquity, 
 which he afterwards djfplayed in the Vatican, 
 
 and 
 
94 ESSAY upon j 
 
 and fo may deferve fome Excufe, I fhalli 
 infill no longer upon it. I cannot fay 
 the fame, nor fpeak fo favourably ol 
 another Fault, which has often been com-j 
 mitted by the Brothers of the Pencil, bc- 
 caufe I think it is a very grievous one. 
 and fuch as will not admit of any manner 
 of Apology : ’Tis in j 
 
 I'he Picture of the Refurredion oij 
 
 ChRI6T. . 
 
 I 
 
 There the Soldiers that were let as si 
 Guard, appear all in a profound Sleep 
 about the Sepulcher. This has been the 
 conllant Pradice of the Italian Mafters. 
 and what you may fee in St. George'i 
 Chappel done by Verrio himfelf^ though ici 
 dired oppolition to the Matter of fad. 
 and againft the exprefs Teftimony of the 
 Holy* Writer, who faith, this Sleep ol 
 the Soldiers Vas an Invention of the 
 Chief Priells of the yews, a Falfe-hood. 
 and Forgery which they put into the 
 Mouths of the Soldiers, to elude and 
 Hide the Truth of Chrill’s Refurredion: 
 “ When the Chief Priefts (faith St. Mat- 
 thew) had taken counfel with the Elders, 
 they gave l^rge Money to the Soldiers, 
 faying, Say ye hisDifciples came by night 
 
 * Matt, xxviii. ij. 
 
 and 
 
P O E T R Y P A I N T IN G. 95 
 
 and ftole him away whilft we llept: 
 
 And if this come to the Governour’s 
 “ Ears, we will perfuade him and lecure 
 
 you”. I cannot imagine what could 
 dead Painters into fuch a palpable and 
 notorious Fault. It could not be Igno- 
 i ranee, lince the Text is fb plain and clear, 
 that it is impolTible to miftake the Senfe 
 [of it. It could not be for the fake of 
 f Ornament and Embellifhment of the Piece, 
 [which has fometimes (as I have already 
 obferved) tempted great Mailers into 
 blameable and inexcufable Licences ; lince 
 •there is no Beauty in feeing a Parcel of 
 Fellows lying aueep about a Tomb. 
 [Whereas by adhering to the Scripture, 
 and doing juftice to the Fa6l, a Painter 
 would find a large Field for his Fancy to 
 work in, many fine Images, and great 
 Variety of Pallions to dilplay. A ju- 
 dicious Pencil might in a lively manner 
 reprefent fome of the Soldiers llruck with 
 Terrour to the Ground, fome feized with 
 Surprize and Amazement, fome dazzled 
 with the Brightnels of the Light which 
 we may fuppofe appeared at the Rifing of 
 Chrill, fome with a Senfe of Guilt and 
 Con vision in their Faces, and laftly Ibme 
 in a Pollure of Joy and Adoration of 
 Chrill. But the Method the Italian Artills 
 •have taken, the Pollure and Attitude they 
 have drawn the Soldiers in, has nothing 
 
 beautiful 
 
E S S A Y upon 
 
 beautiful and elegant, nothing but what 
 is mean, low and grovelling. One would 
 almoft think they had the fame Defign as 
 thofe yewip Priefts, or were bribed and 
 corrupted by the Modern ones, to expofe 
 and ridicule the Refufre6lion of Our 
 Saviour, which I take to be the Gale 
 of a late prophane and blalphemous 
 Writer, who has endeavoured to banter 
 and explode this important Article of 
 our Religion, whole Arrows I make no 
 doubt, were drawn from the Jewifi Qui- 
 ver. And this Abfurdity (not to give 
 it a harder Name) has crept into the 
 very Prints and Cuts of our Common 
 Prayers, and Manuals of Devotion ; which 
 being in the Hands of Ignorants and Chil- 
 dren, inftead of being (as they are delign- 
 ed ) the Means to teach and inllrud:, can 
 only ferve to deceive and pervert them. 
 
 Another Sort of Licence, no lefs blame- ; 
 able and unjuftifiable than thole I have 
 already mentioned, which the Delire of 
 adding Beauty and Ornament to their 
 Works has drawn Ibme of the greatell 
 Mailers into, is the profane and injudi- 
 cious mixing and blending together Hca- 
 thenifm and Chriftianity, introducing Per- 
 fons and Things facred and profane ini 
 the fame Scene of Action. This the fa- ' 
 mous Rubens hath been very guilty of, in 
 his celebrated Performances in the Gallery i 
 
Poetry and Painting. py 
 
 of Luxemburg at PariSj which make one 
 of the chief Ornaments of that great Me- 
 tropolis. It mull be confefled, thefe Pieces 
 teem in every Part with wonderful Gra- 
 ces and Beauties, and feem to fliew the 
 utmoft Strength and Effort of a mafterly 
 Pencil : But then he has given fuch a 
 Scope to his Fancy, and made fuch a 
 Jumble of the Sacred and Profane, that 
 you hardly know where you are ; you can 
 fcarce tell whether you are in a Heathen 
 or a Chriflian Country, whether you have 
 before your Eyes an old Pagan Temple, 
 or a Modern Church. To make this out, 
 I lhall confine myfelf to that Part of Ru- 
 bens's Works * which relates to the Mar- 
 riage of Henry the Fourth of France^ and 
 Mary of Medicis. Firfl then you fee the 
 Parc<£^ the Goddefles of Fate, and Death 
 carefully fpinning the Thread of that 
 Princefs’s Life*, and that in the Prefence 
 of Jupiter and JunOj who fit with their 
 ufual Pomp, and Attributes upon the 
 Clouds in Heaven. In another Piece you 
 view Cupid and Hymenaus the God of Mar- 
 riage fufpended in the Air, and prefent- 
 ing the Picture of that Lady to the Mo- 
 narch. Here you have Jupiter and Jano 
 again looking down upon that Prince, 
 
 F 
 
 ★ Mr. leMien. 
 
 who 
 
p8 Jn E S S A Y npon 
 
 who is attended with two Cupids^ the one 
 bearing his Helmet, the other his Shield. 
 In another Place, thefe two Princes appear 
 in the very Form and Figure of Jupiter 
 and JunOy fitting like Gods upon the 
 Clouds, and attended with the Mar- 
 
 riage God, and with many little Cupids 
 with the Nuptial Torches lighted in their 
 Hands. But what need is there of all 
 this Pomp and Machinery ? What have 
 all thefe Heathen Deities to do in the 
 Marriage of two Chriftian Princes ? 
 lens proceeds further, takes Hill a bolder 
 Step, and carries his Licence ufque ad aras^ 
 to the very Church and the Altar itlelf, in 
 the Pidture that reprefents the Marriage- 
 Ceremony, celebrated in the great Church 
 at Florence^ by Cardinal AldohrandinOy then 
 Legate and Nephew to the Pope. There 
 the Prelate appears in his Robes, in all 
 the Splendour of his Pontificalia. The 
 Queen is clothed in a Gown of white Silk, 
 adorned with Flowers of Gold, and with 
 a Veil upon her Head ; The Grand Duke 
 her Uncle performs the Efpoufals, and 
 puts the Nuptial Ring on the Princels's 
 Finger. So far all is well and decent, 
 and if the Painter had ftopt there, he might 
 have been free from Genfure : But in the 
 fame Piece, you have alfb Hymen drawn 
 like a beautiful Youth, with a Chaplet 
 of Flowers on Kis Head, and a lighted 
 
 Flam- 
 
Po E T RY Painting, 
 
 Flambeau in his Hand, who waits on the 
 Queen, and follows her to the very Altar. 
 But in the Name of Senfe and Reafon, 
 ivhat has Hymen to do at the Altar of 
 Sod ? What has a Heathen God to do 
 :n a Chriftian Marriage ? May we not aslc 
 ivith St. % What Communion hath 
 Light with Harknefs ? What Concord hath 
 Chriji with Belial ? What Agreement 
 hath the 'Temple of God with Idols ? 
 What Relation and Agreement has this 
 God and his Torch with a Cardinal in his 
 Tontificalihus ? I appeal to you, Sir^ 
 whether this be not diredtly 
 
 — Pugnantia fecum 
 
 Frontibus adverjis coniponere ? 
 
 Such a Scene might well become the Mar- 
 riage of Augujius and Livia, or of An-^ 
 thony and Cleopatra^ who believed thofe 
 Gods to exift, and adored and worlhiped 
 them as fuch. 
 
 But this fure can never fuit with Chri- 
 ftian Princes, who, by the utmoft Stretch 
 of Fancy, cannot be fuppofed to fee thofe 
 Gods in the Air, or to believe one 
 Word of them. Since then the Matter 
 is now altered, lince the Heathen Sy- 
 ftem is quite out of Doors and exploded. 
 
 * 2 C«r, vi. If. 
 
 F a 
 
 lince 
 
loo Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 fince Qupid and Hymen are now allowed to 
 be mere Entia Kationis not exifting in rerum 
 Naturdy but with other febulous Deities, 
 are long fince baniftied to the Land of 
 Fairies ; thefe can never be brought, with 
 a good Grace, to adorn a modern Adtion, 
 much lefs fo facred a Ceremony as that of 
 a Chriftian Marriage. It will be laid, per- 
 haps, that denying Painters and Poets thofc 
 Fidlions and Licences, is fettering their 
 Fancies, cramping their Imaginations, and 
 abridging them of a Privilege, which Ho- 
 racey and other great and judicious Cri- 
 ticks, have freely allowed them : To which 
 I lhall anfwer in the Words of that Poet. 
 
 HBa vohptatis causd Jint prox'ma Veris. 
 
 That which jars with Probability, that 
 which Ihocks Senfe and Reafbn, Decency 
 and Religion, can never be exculed in 
 Poetry or Painting ; Such a Croud of 
 Heathen Deities waiting on the Nuptials 
 of Chriftian Princes, is as abfurd and ri- 
 diculous, as it would be to draw Bacchus 
 or Hercules yin their Triumphs, furround- 
 ed with Cherubims and Seraphims, and 
 attended with all the glorious Hoft of 
 Heaven. But the boldeft Stroke of this 
 Kind, the moft glaring Tnftance of this 
 falfe Wit and profane Licence, is 
 
 Tbe 
 
101 
 
 P O E T RY P A 1 N T I N G. 
 
 I *Xbe TiBiire oj the Last Judgement, 
 
 ; hy Michael Angelo, 
 
 I which is flill to be feen in Pope Sixtuses 
 Chapel, in the Vatican at Rome : In which, 
 for Flight of Fancy, Strength of Imagina- 
 tion, and ( if I may fo fay ) Fury of Defign, 
 that great A r till, who ufed to furpafs all 
 others, has furpafled and exceeded himfelC 
 This is juftly reckoned one of the fineft 
 in the World. However, it mufl; be con- 
 fefled, he has Ihewn vail Want of Judge- 
 ment, and committed a palpable and un- 
 pardonable Fault, in joining ( as he has 
 done) Ideas as inconliftent as Light and 
 Darknefs, as incompatible as Truth and 
 Falfehood, in crouding together, in the 
 fame Scene, the moft abfurd Fi<ftions of 
 the Heathen, and the moft facred Truths 
 of our holy Religion. Toward the Top 
 of the Piece appears the great Lord and 
 Judge of the World, with all the Light 
 and Brightnefs, the Glory and Radiancy, 
 and the divine Attendance of Angels and 
 Archangels, Seraphims and Cherubims, 
 with all the Pomp and Magnificence, with 
 which his Coming to Judgement is de- 
 fcribed by the Holy Writer In the 
 
 * Matt. XXV. 
 
 F3 
 
 lower 
 
102 ^Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 lower Part of the Pidure, you fee the i 
 Hell of the Heathen, Minos^ JE.acus^ ^ 
 and Khadamanthus^ the Wheel of Ixion^ j 
 the Rock of Sijiphus^ and the Furies of ; 
 Hell; 
 
 Et qtiicquid Gracia mendax Aujit : 
 
 All the Fables and Fancies of the Heathen 
 Mythologifts. Nay, even old fiirly Charon 
 is upon Duty there, performs his Office of 
 Ferryman, and wafts the Souls of the Dead 
 over Cocytus in his Boat. If fuch a Piece 
 indeed had been made for a Heathen 
 Prince, or to be the Ornament of a Pagan 
 Temple, the Cafe had been different : 
 But to draw fuch a Pidure for a Chriftian 
 Bilhop, the Head of fo confiderable a 
 Church, and for a Place of divine Wor- 
 Ihip, is, I think, a Licence of fo bold a 
 Kind, as can never be excufed. It is hard 
 to fay, indeed, which deferved greater 
 Cenfure, the Artift that drew the Pidure 
 in this Manner, or the Pope, who ad- 
 mitted it in his Chapel, and fuffcred it 
 to adorn a Place coniecrated to the Ser- 
 vice of God. Mr. Frefnoy tells us, in his 
 Art of Painting, that when M> Angelo was 
 employed about this Work, he took no 
 other Suftenance but Bread and Wine, 
 left high Feeding, and the Fumes of 
 Meat, might cloud his Fancy, and damp 
 
Poetry Painting. 103 
 
 , the Fire of his * Imagination. If he con- 
 fined himfelf entirely to this Diet, I am 
 apt to think he took too large a Dofe of 
 the laft, elfe he would never have ven- 
 tured on fuch a Dilparate, as juftly has 
 entailed the Genfure of all Pofterity upon 
 him. His Friends fay in his Defence, 
 
 * Fliny relates fomething like this of Frotogerm the 
 Painter, that when he was drawing the Pidure of 
 llfus, he lived upon Lupins and Water only, and took 
 juft enough to allay Hunger and Thirft, left higher 
 Feeding flioald blunt the Edge of his Fancy. Flm. L. 
 jy. C. 10. 
 
 This was the famous Piece that faved the City of 
 Rhodes y for when Demetrius found he could not take 
 the Place, without attacking on that Side where it was, 
 he chofe to raife the Siege, rather than deftroy the 
 Pi( 9 -ure. Thus we read the Philofopher Carneades, be- 
 fore he wrote againft Zeno to confute his Opinions, he 
 purged his Stomach with Hellebore^ left the Vapours of 
 it ftiould affe<ff his Head, weaken the Vigour of his Fan- 
 cy, and darken his Conceptions. Flm. L. ay. C. lo. 
 
 This aifo was the Pradfice of Poet Bayes in the Re- 
 hearfal, who tells his Friends, that if he was to write 
 familiar Things, as Sonnets, he made ufe of ftewed 
 Prunes only 5 but that when he had a grand Deftgn in 
 Hand, he ever took Phyftck and let Blood j for when 
 you would (faith hej have pure Swifrnefs of Thought, 
 and fiery Flights of Fancy, you muft have a care of the 
 penfive Part 5 in fine, you muft purge the Belly . Rehearf. 
 KBl 2. Scene i. 
 
 I once thought that this was pure Waggery, and 
 Banter of the Author of that diverting Play. But I have 
 been told fince by a Perfon of good Credit, and who was 
 acquainted with Mr. Dryden,' that it was adfually true ; 
 and that when he was about any confiderable Work, he 
 ufed to purge his Body, and clear his Head, by a Dofc 
 of Phyfick. 
 
 F4 
 
 That 
 
104 Jn “ESS kY upon 
 
 That he did this in Imitation of the fa- 
 mous Dante^ who, in his Book De Infer- j 
 noy has given juft fuch a Poetical Dcfcrip- j 
 tion of Hell. But I muft own, I cannot I 
 fee the Force of fuch a Pica, nor why | 
 the Faults and Follies of others Ihould be i 
 any Excufe and Apology for our own, 
 lince his good Senfe, and Judgement (and 
 No-body had more than he, when he was 
 pleafed to ftiew it ) and the Cenlures that 
 had been paft upon that Poet for this very 
 Fault and Liberty, might have rendered 
 him careful and cautious, and hindered 
 him from fplitting upon the lame Rock. 
 'Tis true, (as I have already oblerved) 
 the whole Piece is wonderfully wrought, 
 difplays a dreadful Scene of Horrour to 
 the Eye, and even in this Poetical Man- 
 ner gives fuch a lively Defcription of Hell, 
 as is almoft enough to make the Blood chill 
 in the Veins. But then, as Horace faith, 
 
 Non erat his Locus y Sec. 
 
 Thefe Beauties are entirely out of their 
 Place, and become even Faults and Ble- 
 milhes here. Such a Proceeding in the 
 Painter was enough to make the World 
 think, he did as little believe the real Part 
 of the Picture, as the fabulous and fi6titious 
 one. Cedrenus relates in his Hiftory, that 
 the Sight of a Pidure, reprelenting the 
 Laft Judgement, made fuch an Impreffion 
 
 upon 
 
Poetry Painting, ioj 
 
 upon a Barbarian King, as caufed him to 
 renounce his Errours, and to embrace 
 Chriftianity. The Story is fo remark- 
 able, that I cannot forbear inlerting it in 
 the Margin 
 
 In what Manner this Piece was drawn> 
 I cannot tell ; but I dare be bold to fay, 
 
 ♦ Under the Empire of Michael and his Mother Theo^ 
 Joray the Country of Bulgaria was vifitei with a 
 Plague, that raged with fuch Violence, that all the Skill 
 and Art of Phylick could afford no help. The Prince ha-*- 
 ving in vain applied himfelf to his Gods, for the Removal 
 of it, bethought himfelf of having Recourfe to the God 
 of the Chriftians, and ordered his Subjects affectionately 
 to do the fame 5 which had fo good an EffeCt, that the 
 Diftemper immediately ceafed. This gave Bogoris and 
 his Subjects a great Inclination to embrace Chriftianity, 
 which was effected by this Accident. The Prince, a- 
 mong other things, delighted in fine Buildings, and ha- 
 ving erected a ftately Palace or VrMrium, fent for one 
 Methodius a Roman Monk, who had fomc Skill in Paint- 
 ing, and deftred him to adorn his Eating Rooms with 
 Pictures. But as the divine Providence ordered it, he fet 
 him no SubjeCt to work upon, but leaving it entirely to 
 his Choice, wiihed that it might be a Piece, that by its 
 Variety and furprizing Figures, ftiould ftrike a Dread and 
 Terrour into the Beholders. The Monk therefore chofe 
 to reprefent the Coming of Chrift to Judgement, and the 
 ^oulsre-affuming their Bodies, fome to fliare Eternal Hap- 
 pinefs, others to depart into Everlafting Mifery. Bogoris 
 being informed of the SubjeCf of the Pidure, of the Joys 
 the Blefted were to enjoy, and the Torments the Damned 
 were to (uffer, grew chill at the Sight, and being thunder^ . 
 flruck and almoft dead with Fear, felt fuch an Impref» 
 fion upon his Mind, that he renounced his Errours, and 
 was baptized with all his People. Cedren^ Ed. Rcg> 
 
io6 'An ESSAY upon 
 
 it was not like that which I am now 
 Ipeaking of : Since fuch a Sight as that 
 would rather have lerved to harden the 
 Barbarian in his Errours, and to root 
 and confirm him in his Idolatry. I can- 
 not fuppofe that Michael Angelo took this 
 Licence purely in Compliance to, and I- 
 mitation of, his Friend Dante. I am apt 
 to think he had fomc other Views, and 
 did it with a Defign to add Ornament and 
 Variety to his Work. Mr. Voltaire^ one 
 of the heft Poets, and fineft Genius's of 
 the prefent Age, faith, “ It is ftrange 
 “ none of the modern Poets are free from 
 that Fault of mingling Pagan Ideas 
 ** with the Chrillian Mythology What 
 he means by Chrillian * Mythology, I 
 cannot apprehend, unlels he would frera 
 to hint, that Chriftianity itfrlf was no bet- 
 ter than MJSsf a Fable. Then he adds, 
 “ It frems our Devils, and our Chriftian 
 Hell have fomething in them low and 
 “ mean, and muft be railed by the Hell 
 “ of the Pagans. Certain it is (continues 
 he) that the Hell of the Golpel is not 
 
 * I am favourably inclined to impute this Expreffioa 
 to the want of Skill in Bnglifh of the Author, who (as 
 he tells us himfelf) publiihed thefe Remarks when he 
 had been but eighteen Months in England: An Attempt, 
 which I dare fay, no Man ever made before : How he 
 has fiiccecded, the Public k is to be judge. 
 
 fa 
 
Poetry and Pa rNTiiTG. ro7 
 
 fa fitted for Poetry, as that of Homer 
 ^ and Virgil : The Name of 'Tiji'phone 
 “ founds better than that of Beehebuby 
 “ &c ”, I have not fo nice an Ear as to 
 diftinguiih the Difference, neither can I 
 think that the Poets he fpeaks of, preferred 
 the Heathen Hell purely for the fake of 
 Names, and Sound of Words ; I rather 
 believe they thought the Defcriptions the 
 Scriptures give of Hell, the Darknefs and 
 Blacknefs forever, the never-dying Worm, 
 and the unquenchable Fire, were too plain 
 and uniform, notdillind: and circumftanti- 
 al enough ; and that the Hell of the Poets, 
 which exprefled all the different Tor- 
 ments, and the feveral Punifliments of the 
 Damned, prefonted more diftin(St and fen- 
 fible Obje<5ls, and offered a greater Va- 
 riety of Images to exercife the Pencil and 
 the Pen ; and it was upon this Account, I 
 conceive, that preferred the Poetical 
 Defeription to the ocriptural ^ and for 
 the fame Reafon, Michael j4ngelo cho^c to 
 imitate and copy him in his Pidure ; But 
 I am furprized to fee a Perfon of Mr. 
 Voltaire’s Judgement and SagacityAeclare, 
 that it is certain the Hell of the Gofoel 
 is not fo fitted for Poetry, as that of Ho- 
 mer and Virgil ; he that has not only read 
 Miltotiy but publilhed Remarks and Gri- 
 ticifms upon him. Miltoriy I fay, who 
 Ihows, through the Courfe of his divine 
 F 6 Poem, 
 
I 
 
 108 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Poem, that the Account the Scripture 
 gives of Hell, is capable of as much true 
 fublime, as many Poetical Beauties, and 
 abounds with as great a Variety of fine 
 Images, as all the Dreams and Fancies of 
 the antient Poets and Mythologills. 
 
 I believe. Sir, you begin to think, by 
 this time, that I have loft Sight of the 
 Poets, or have taken a long Leave of them. 
 
 I defign now to come to them again, and 
 to take them in the lame Point of View 
 I have already taken the Painters in ; I 
 mean in Relation of mixing and blending 
 together Things Sacred and Profane. 
 
 To begin with Tajfo the Prince of the 
 Italian Poets : He is full of the wild Ma- 
 chinery of thefe falfe injudicious Beau- 
 ties. He, like Michael Angelo^ gives a 
 Poetical Delcription of Hell, and Ipeaks 
 oi’TlutOy and of the Furies, as of real and 
 exiftent Beings. He goes a Step further, 
 and makes ftill freer with Religion ; for 
 to fight the Devil with his own Weapons, 
 and to turn his own Artillery upon him, 
 he has grafted Magick and Sorcery upon i 
 Chriftianity itlclf. He brings in an old ' 
 Chriftian Magician, leading the Meflen- 
 gers a long Voyage under Ground, from 
 the Gamp of the Believers to an old 
 Chriftian Witch at Afcalon, who condudls 
 them to the Illand where Kinaldo was 
 bound, and enchanted by Amiday where, 
 
 by 
 
Poetry iNTiNG. iop 
 
 by the Power of the magick Wands gi- 
 ven them by the Conjurer, they break 
 the Charm, and fet the Heroe free ; and 
 all for the fake of God and Religion, and 
 to refcue the holy Place and Sepulchre 
 from the Hands of the Infidels. A wild 
 Thought and Concetto^ which fure could 
 never come into the Head of any one, 
 but an Italian Writer. Camoenus^ the 
 Homer and Virgil of the ^ortuguefe^ has 
 alfo given into this Faux-brillant, this 
 injudicious Mixture of the Sacred and 
 Pro&ne in his hujiade^ wherein he ce- 
 lebrates the Difcovery and Conqueft of 
 the Indies^ by the ^ortuguefe. It muft be 
 confefled, that Poem Ihews a great deal 
 of able Fire, and fine Imagination, and 
 has now and then feme beautiful Strokes 
 and noble Deferiptions, worthy of an Ho- 
 mer or a Virgilf the JPatterns which he 
 propofed for his Imitation : But it muft 
 alfo be confefled, that he is 
 
 Infelia operis Summa^quia poneretotum Nefcit. 
 
 If the Defign and Drift of his Poem had 
 only been to fing the Conquefts of * the 
 King of ^ortugal^ t^'? Ext ent of Trade, 
 and the immenfe which that Dit* 
 
 covery and Expedition brought into that 
 
 f Mr* Voltmrt* 
 
 Kingdomj 
 
no Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 Kingdom, he might then have been Intra 
 fpem Veni^y and that Croud of Heathen 
 Deities, he has introduced into his Poem, 
 •would not have been liable to any juft 
 Exception. But when he profeflcs, that 
 the Delign of this Voyage was alfo to 
 fpread and propagate the Chriftian Faith, 
 with what Grace and Decorum can he 
 bring in as he does yupitery Bacchusy and 
 Venus to carry on the good and pious 
 Work ? Thefe Sir, you will own, are 
 very improper Inftruments, very unfit 
 Miflionarics to propagate the Chriftian 
 Faith. But to come nearer home, even 
 Milton himfelf^ who has obferved the 
 
 g reateft Decorum, and Ihewn the utmoft 
 ..egard for Religion, is not wholly free 
 from this kind of Licence. The very 
 Opening of his Scene, and the Beginning 
 of his Poem, (where he invocates the Mufe 
 in this Manner ; 
 
 Sing Heavenly Mu/ey that on the fecret 'Top 
 0/Horeb or of Sinai didji^ infpire 
 That Shepherdy &c.) 
 
 has fomethmg of this AL‘'and Turn with 
 it. It will no^ fcrve to excufe and bring 
 him off, to fa/ that by the Mufe, he 
 meant no more than the Holy Spirit, 
 which aflifted Mofes in his Defcription of 
 the Creation, fince in the fame Page he 
 calls upon that Holy Spirit : 
 
 And 
 
Po E TR Y 4!;;^ Painting, in 
 
 Jlnd chiefly thou, O Spirit, that do(i prefer, 
 Sefore alt 'Temples, th' upright Heart and pure, 
 InftruSl me, for thou knowfi, &c. 
 
 So that either his Mufe was an Ens ra- 
 tionisy a Poetical Goddels, or he muft have 
 committed a plain Tautology in this Place. 
 In other Parts of his Poem, he mentions 
 the Marriage of Jupiter and JunOy and 
 likewife the Rape of Proferpincy as real 
 Fads that had adually happened ; though 
 (as a judicious ^ Writer well oblerves) he 
 had declared in the Beginning of hisWork, 
 that thele Deities were but Devils wor- 
 Ihiped under different Names. In the 
 Courfe of his Work, he brings many Al- 
 lulions and Siroilies, that have a Relation 
 to the Gods of the Heathen. Thus 
 Ibeaking of the different Faces of the 
 Cherubims, he compares them to thofc 
 of Janusy 
 
 Hady like the doulle Ja.«us, all their Shape 
 Spangled with 
 
 It muft be contefled, the Dcfcent of 
 Kaphael into Hell, has fbmething in it 
 that is inconceivably furprizing and fine : 
 
 Like Maias*/ Son he flood 
 
 And fhook his Thmes, thas Heavenly Ilagrance fil?d 
 The Circuit Toide. 
 
 m 
 
 * Mr. Voltmrt, 
 
1 I I Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 Mr. Addifon very juftly commends this 
 Place, and faith, he does not remember 
 to have met with any Delcriptipn fo fine- 
 ly drawn, and fo conformable to the No- 
 tion which is given us of Angels in Scrip- 
 ture : But I cannot think this fine Paflagc 
 would have loft any thing of its Beauty, 
 if the Simile of Mercury had been entirely 
 omitted : Nor do I fee that the Idea of 
 a Heathen God there, does at all fet off 
 the Brightnefe of the Arch- Angel, or in 
 the leaft heighten the Graces of the De- 
 fcription. But none are fo fond of thefe 
 Poetical Allufions as the Italians^ who 
 have written in Latin. They bring them 
 in on all Occafions, though in, never fo 
 abfurd and ridiculous a Manner. What, 
 for Inftance, can be more truly fo, than 
 the Compliment Sanazarius makes to 
 Cc^andra^ the Lady he fo much celebrates 
 in his Latin and Italian Poems, whom he 
 takes care to place in good Company^ 
 and brings in with*' *2)ian^ Dryad 
 
 Nymphs. Thus K \ ' his Gondoleance 
 to Vittoria Colonnay tne Widow of the 
 famous Davalos Marquelsof 'J^e/caray,onc 
 of the Generals of the Emperor Charles 
 V, and one of the Heroes celebrated by 
 
 Seu Vryndnin C^artis coetu^ue Immixta Diana 
 Haud m'trwr medis, £clog. j, 
 
 Gukciardine^ 
 
' Poetry Painting. 113 
 
 Guicciardwcy tells her, that * Venus her- 
 felf will not dil 3 ain weeping over her A- 
 donis^ (meaning that General) and to join 
 and unite her Moans and Tears with 
 hers ? Can any thing in Nature be more 
 injudicious ana extravagant ? Is not this, 
 -Sir, 
 
 Delphinum Silvis applngen^ FluSHhus Jprum, 
 Hor. Art. Poet. v. 30. 
 
 But fuch Liberties as thefe may, perhaps, 
 be born with, as they are in fome Mea- 
 fure according to the Poetical Syftem, 
 and may be rather the Objedt of Banter 
 and Ridicule, than of a grave and fevere 
 Cenfure. But the fame cannot be faid of 
 thofe Poets, who indulge their Fancies in 
 facred Matters, and thus allow themfelves, 
 ludere cum Sacris^ to play loofely and 
 profanely with the moft ferious and Ib- 
 lemn Things. Who can fee, without In- 
 dignation, Vida treat our Saviour like 
 Hercules^ 'Thefeus^ or any other Demi-God 
 of the Heathen, and affedl to call him a 
 Heroe almoll in every Page ? In one 
 
 • Alm^i funm hie tecum non dedignetur Adonim 
 Flere Venus, tecumque fuois fociare Querelas, 
 
 Edog. j. 
 
 Place 
 
114 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Place he gravely tells us, that ^ying-f Fame 
 had fpread abroad to the neighbouring 
 Cities, that the Heroe was killed by the 
 Fraud and Treachery of his People. "What 
 Reader in the World, who mould light 
 on this extraordinary Paflage, ( without 
 feeing his Title Page, or knowing the 
 Subject of his Poem) would dream or 
 imagine that the Heroe he meant was Je- 
 fus Chrift. Not to mention the many 
 profane Imitations of Virgil \ as his Ap- 
 plying this Verle to the Father and the 
 (Son \ 
 
 Ofcula lihavit Nato, dein talia fatur. 
 
 And his (peaking of the ^ Prayers put up 
 to God in this Manner, 
 
 OrantespaJJim fupros^fupenmque ^arentem\ 
 
 which Purely cannot admit any Manner of 
 Excufe. Sanazarius is not in thcleaft be- 
 hind him, in treating facred Subjects after 
 this profane and Poetical Manner ; when 
 he deferibes, for inftance, the River ’JordaUy 
 in his Poem De ‘Fartu ViginiSj or the Na- 
 
 -j- Fama volans jam finitimas impleverat Urbes 
 Exceftum injidijs Heroa^ dolifque fuorum* * 
 
 Chriftiad. L. ji. 
 
 * This may be underftood of God, and the Saints 
 that are prayed to in the Church of Rome j but even in 
 this Senfe, the Expreflion feems to be too bold. 
 
 tivity 
 
Poe TRY Painting. 
 
 , tmty of Chriji^ yon would really think 
 you fee Ti^er tne River God, with all his 
 * Nereids and Water-Nymphs about him. 
 In another Place, he reprefents the fame 
 River like a Heathen Deity, and makes 
 him recolledt a Prophecy of old Proteus, 
 the Sea- God, concerning the Birth of 
 Chrift ; 'j' Proteus, (faith he) who was as 
 true in this, as he was felfe in his other 
 Predictions. A later Writer has trifled 
 more, and taken a more extravagant 
 Flight, and that upon the fame Subject: ; 
 I mean Barlaus a Flemijh Poet, who, a- 
 mong other things, ferioufly tells his 
 Readers, that, upon the happy News, 
 there was a ftrange Turn and Revolution 
 in the Courfe of Nature. The Winter on 
 a fudden grew mild and warm ; none of 
 the Conftellations and Stars appeared, but 
 what were benign, propitious, and fa- 
 vourable ; and, that the others, as Ca^ 
 
 * Pulcherrima Glauce 8cc, L. 3 . PartuVirginh, where 
 
 you have a Catalogue of thofe Nymphs, more like the 
 Luxuriancy of Ovid, than the chafte way of writing of 
 Virgil, whom yet Sanazarius had fo juftly made his ge- 
 neral Pattern and Standard of Writing, In another 
 
 Place he faith, the Nereids attended on the Birth of 
 Chrift. 
 
 Ad Partum blmdA Nereides, &c. 
 
 f CAruleus Proteus, mendax fi CAtera, Proteus 
 Non tafnen hoc vanas effudit Carmine Voces* 
 
 Ib.'y. 335*. 
 fricorn^ 
 
Jn "ESS AY upon 
 
 pricorny CepheuSy iiv“ Pleiades y ^erfeaSy 
 nay even Hercules himfelf^ and all thole of 
 a malignant and noxious Influence, fled 
 and forfook the Heavens. I have inlert- 
 ed this wonderful * Paflage at the bottom 
 of the Page, where it is hard to fay, whe- 
 ther there is more Fuftian and Bombaft, 
 or a greater Mixture of the Sacred and 
 Profane. The old Koman Poets were 
 more relerved and tender in this Parti- 
 cular. They had a jufter Regard for 
 their Religion, a greater Refped: and Ve- 
 neration for their Gods, than to mix and 
 jumble them with thole of other Nations, 
 and to adopt Foreign Deities into their 
 Syflem of Divinity. If they chance to 
 Ipeak of IJiSy AnuhiSy or the other Hgyp^ 
 tian Gods, they treat them with the ut- 
 moft Scorn and Derifion, as weak and im- 
 potent Beings, not able to cope with, nor 
 ftand before their own Deities. Virgil in- 
 
 StelUtaque Machine Mundi 
 
 Trojcripfit Uthii^le ^ubar, mien ere fecunde 
 Omnia Siderea faces ^ dum pignora C^lum 
 Tmta fibi fromijfa put at y fua frigora fulgent 
 j^goceros media voluit mitefeere Bruma , 
 
 Et tepuit glacialis Hiems. DeceJ/it Olympo 
 ArbiophylaXi fugit focia cum conjuge Cepheus^ 
 Et Chiron^ Veyfeufque furens» ^ Bleias^ ^ ipfe 
 Amphytrionkdes ^ 
 
 Barlseus Hymn, de Chrift. 
 
 deed 
 
P O E t R Y P A I NT I N G. II7 
 
 deed introduces theft in the Defcription 
 of his Shield, where he has inftrted the 
 famous Battle of j4Biumy in which the 
 Egyptians were chiefly concerned : But 
 then he ufts them in a more contemptible 
 Manner, than the Chriftian Poets do the 
 Heathen Gods they introduce in their 
 Works. Thus, (peaking of Cleopatra, he 
 faith, 
 
 Her Country-Gods, the Monflers of the Sky, 
 Great Neptune, Pallas, and Loves ^ueen defy : 
 L’he Dog Anubis harks, hut harks in vain, 
 
 2dor longer dares oppofe tV JEtherial Train. 
 
 D R Y r E N. 
 
 Propertius fpeaking of the lame Adion, 
 has imitated Virgil, in the mean and low 
 Opinion he Ihews of the Egyptian Gods : 
 For (peaking of Cleopatra he laith, 
 
 «!' I ' ■ That haughty Princefs Jlrove 
 
 T* oppofe her harking God to mighty Jove. 
 
 But to return to the Italians, it will not 
 feem wonderful that thofe Writers (hould 
 
 * Omnigenumque Deum Monjlra, ^ latrator Anubis 
 Contra Neptunum, ^ Veneremy contraque Dianam 
 Tela tenent, Virg. Mn. L, 8. v, 698. 
 
 •f* Aufa J-Qvi magno latrmtem opponere Arntbim. 
 
 Propert. L. 3. Edog. ii. V.41. 
 
 adume 
 
ii8 ESSAY upon 
 
 aflume Freedoms and Liberties of this 
 Kind, if we conlider the Time and Age- 
 they lived in, the Sixteenth Century, under 
 Pope Leo X. when the Romans feem to i 
 have forgot that they were Chriftians, or 
 rather that they were not Heathens. 
 When Cardinals, Bilhops, and other Ec- 
 clefiaflicks led them the vfi^y, and gave 
 them Examples of this wrong Turn of 
 thinking and prophane way of expreffing 
 their Ideas ; and that, not only in their 
 Poems, but even in their moll grave and 
 ferious Works ; as their Hiftories, and 
 publick Letters, written for States and 
 Princes. I lhall fingle out but one of 
 thele, by which you may make a Judge- 
 ment of the Reft, 
 
 Et ermine ah uno Difce omnes. 
 
 The Perfon I mean is Cardinal Bemho^ 
 one of the fineft Wits, and pureft Latin 
 Pens of that Age. This Writer has a 
 Heathenilh Air and Pagan Strain running 
 through his Works. He affeds to avoid 
 all thole Words and Terms that Cuftom 
 has let apart, and conlecrated to a Re- 
 ligious Ufe, and employs only thofe that 
 were in Ufe among the Heathen, and 
 were more agreeable to the Purity and 
 Elegancy of the Latin Tongue. For 
 *FideSy for Inftance, he ufes the Word 
 
 <Per-^ 
 
 ♦ Vide Lipfii Efiji, Centur, z Ep.^-S. 
 
Poetry and Painting, u p 
 
 ^erfuajio ; He calls Excommunication. 
 InterdiSHo aqua et ipie j The Remiflion of 
 Sins he exprefles in this prophane man- 
 ner, Deos Superos Manefque placan. He 
 makes a kind of Heathen Deity of the 
 Virgin Mary^ and in a * Letter to the 
 inhabitants of Recanati tells them, that if 
 they would not^ake care to furnifh better 
 Wood for Repairs of the Santa Cafa^ her 
 Holy Houfo at Lorretto, the World would 
 think they make a Jeft of them and the 
 Soddels too. He alfo makes very free 
 with God Almighty himfelf, whom he 
 7cry rarely calls DeuSy but in the Plural 
 Slumber Dij Immortales. Who can help 
 seing moved and Ihocked at the odd 
 Compliment he makes to Pope "Julius II. 
 apon his Exaltation to the Pontifical Dig- 
 lity, to which he faith he was railed, by 
 ;hc Blelling and Mercies of the '{'Immortal 
 aods. To carry his Folly and Extrava- 
 gancy ftill forther, in a Letter he writes 
 irom the State of Venice to the Pope, he 
 nakes that wife Republick call him the 
 ^Vicegerent on Earth of the Immortal 
 
 ♦ Ne turn KQs, turn Deam ipfam imni lignorum /»«- 
 tIliumDonathne lufiffe videamim. Bemb. Epift . 1.8. Ep. 1 7 • 
 This Letter is written in the Name of Pope Leo, 
 ivhoft Secretary Bemh wsls, 
 f Deorum Immortalium Benefioijs. 
 
 § Ut (Tont'tfex) Dijs Immortuliius quorum vicem 
 \erit in Terris. 
 
 Gods. 
 
120 E S S A Y upon 
 
 Gods. Lipjiusy who juftly blames and 
 cenfures him for this his AfFedlation of 
 Heathenifin^, afligns it to a fcrupulous and 
 ridiculous Nicety, which the Writers of 
 that Age were much infected with, of ad- 
 hering ftridtly to the Stile of 1‘ully : For 
 they looked upon him as the trueft and 
 beft Pattern for Writing, . and thought it 
 a kind of Herefy to depart from him in 
 their Expreflions. I cannot help thinking, 
 but that great Critick has been too fa- 
 vourable and indulgent in his Judgement 
 of thofe Writers. But this was the way 
 of Writing at that time at Rome^ when 
 the Face of Religion was hardly to be 
 feen amongft them. When Pope Leo 
 (who in fome refoedts was a very great 
 rrinye, a very kind Mecanas and Fa- 
 vourer of Learned Men) behaved himlclf 
 rather like a Roman Pontifes Maximasy 
 than like a pretended Vicar of Jefus Chrift, 
 whole Kingdom is not of this World. 
 He is reprefented by one of his own 
 Religion, a Bilhop too, and who in other 
 Places bellows very great Encomiums upon 
 him, as, “ Sunk into all manner of Luxury 
 
 * Magnos viros enJEtas fub magmnimo Leone tulity ^ 
 ojuofdam qui in puerili ilia HArefi ejfent, ut ijs Religio ejfet 
 (ertbere aut dicere aliudy quam quod u Cicerone feriptumy 
 mt diBum. Lipfius Ep. 
 
 ‘‘ and 
 
I 2 I 
 
 Poetry and Painting. 
 
 and Debauchery*, and even fufpedted of 
 “ the Sin againft Nature as (pending 
 “ his Time and Wealth with Poets, Sy- 
 “ cophants, and Buffoons”. 'Tis well 
 known what wicked and unjuftifiable Shifts 
 he was put to, to raife Money to fupport 
 his extravagant Expences : not by Em- 
 baling the Coin or railing new and heavy 
 Taxes, but by Embafing the Chriftian 
 Religion, proftituting the Pardon of Sins 
 by the foul ^ Trade of Indulgences, 
 making a (hameful Traffick of the Souls 
 of Men, and fetting Heaven itfelf at Sale. 
 So that one might juftly fay in his Time, 
 
 Caltm ejl venaky Deufque, 
 
 * Has frdcUras animi liieraJis exceljique virtutes^ cum 
 nimia fzpe vita, luxuria^ turn Libidines obfcura^ 
 
 bant, Paul Jovius vic. Leonis X. p. i88. 
 
 f Non caruit lEama ^uod parum honefie nomuHos e cu^ 
 bictilarijs (erant enim e totu Italia nob'dtjjimi) adamaret^ 
 cum illis tenerius atque liber e jocari videretur. Id. ib. 
 
 § Guicciardine faith, that the ColleiSIors of rhefe In- 
 dulgences bought them of the Pope to diftribute, and 
 extorted Sums oi Money to difpenfe them to the People, 
 and obferved fb little Decency, they plaid at Cards and 
 Dice in Taverns, for the Power of redeeming Souls out 
 of Purgatory. His Words are, Nella Germania a molts 
 minifir i 'er ana veduti vender fi ^ giocarji fu le Tu.vernel^ 
 Facolta di liber are C anime de morti dal Furgatorio. 
 
 Guiceh. 1 . 23. V. 325'. 
 
 The , 
 
 G 
 
122 Ju E S S A Y upon 
 
 The Charadler that * Francis ^aolo a ver} 
 impartial Writer, and one of his owt 
 Communion, gives of him, is, that h< 
 would have made an excellent Pope, if tc 
 his other good Qualities he had joinec 
 fome Knowledge of the Chriftian Re- 
 ligion, and a little more Piety and De- 
 votion, for both which he plainly ihewed 
 he had no manner of Regard. Now then 
 if this Maxim be true, that 
 
 R.egis adB^etnplum totus componitur Orhs: 
 
 That Subje<5b, and Courtiers elpecially, 
 are ready to conform to the Guftoms and 
 Examples of their Princes, it cannot be 
 wondered, that Bembo living under foch 
 a Pope, and in fuch a Court, Ihould in- 
 dulge this Spirit of Heathenifm ; Bemho^ 
 who was befides prompted to it by his 
 own Inclination, who had lb contemptible 
 an Opinion of the Scriptures, that he ex- 
 
 ♦ Sarehh% ftato m perfetto Tonteficet fe con quefle 
 (e congiunto qualche cogmtione delle cofe della Reiigione, ^ 
 alquanto piu d' inclmatione a la Vieta^ deW me ^ delTaltra 
 delle quail ne mofirava haver gran Cura, 
 
 Paolo Hift. di Conc.Trid, 1 . 1 . p. f. 
 
 And indeed had he been lefs fcandalous for his Impietji 
 and Atheifm, of which neither he nor his Court were 
 much afhamed, he had been one of the moft celebrated 
 Perfons of the Age. Burnetii Travels. Lett. 4* p. 241. 
 
 horted 
 
Po E T RY Painting. 125’ 
 
 ihorted one of his Acquaintance in a^Letter 
 by no means to read them, if he valued 
 Kloquence, and Elegancy in Writing 5 
 and who when he heard his Friend and 
 Brother Cardinal Sadolet was about to 
 write Commentaries upon St. haul's E- 
 piftles, advifed him by all means to lay 
 afide thofe 'j^Trifles, which did not become 
 a Man of his Gravity and Wifdom. For 
 which and other Reafpns, he has been ac- 
 cufed by fome Writers, as disbelieving the 
 Refurre<Stion and the Immortality of the 
 Soul. If then a Man of the Cardinal's Fi- 
 gure and Character, if fuch a one as Vida^ 
 who was himfelf a Bifliop, took the lin- 
 ful Liberties of inferting^ Heathen Deities, 
 and fcattering Pagan Notions through their 
 Works, it cannot be lurprizing that San- 
 nazariiiSy who was a Neapolitan Gentle- 
 man, and other Writers that lived in the 
 lame Age, Ihould fo readily copy after 
 and imitate thefe Great Men. But to 
 return to the Painters, 
 
 ♦ Cum amico author effet ne illas (foil. Taul! Epiflolas) 
 ne iUas att'mgeret, vel fi cxpijfet legtre 4e manibus ejiteret 
 fi elegantiam feribenJi & eJoquentiam adamaret. 
 
 Lanzius orat. contra Italiam. p. 7S3. 
 
 f Omhte has nugas j non enim decent gravem Virum 
 tales Ineptu. Gregor. Michael Not. in Curiolit, Gafa- 
 felli. p* III. Sc Baile’s DidUonary paiTiin. 
 
 G 2 
 
 1 have 
 
124 E S S A Y upon . 
 
 I have already gone through the Faults 
 and Licences of Painters that relate tot 
 the Holy Scriptures. If I were to pals! 
 to the Ecclefiaftical Hiitory, I could find: 
 a large Field to range in, . Abundance of 
 Matter to work upon. I -could prove 
 that many of the Pictures that are drawn, 
 nay that are with great Devotion wor- 
 fliipped in Popilh Countries, are meer 
 Ideas, fuch as never exifted in the World. 
 
 I could fliew that St. Chrijiopher with his 
 Club, carrying Jefus Chrilt over a River, 
 is only an Emblem of Labour, Conftancy, 
 <nd Perleverance in Religion ; that . St. 1 
 Longinus is no more than the the 
 Lance or Spear with which our Saviour’s 
 Side was * pierced j and that -fSt. Veronica 
 is nothing elfe but the Impreflion of the 
 Pi(fture of Chrift, which he printed, as 
 the Legend faith, on a Handkerchief as 
 
 ^ This Piercing of Our Saviour's Side with a Lance, 
 is generally reprefented by Painters as done by a Soldier 
 on Horlcback : Whereas it was certainly done by a Foot 
 Soldier. For ift the Man is called a Name 
 
 peculiar to the Foot, adly. It was done with a Lance, 
 which the Horfe did not ule. Hafta dtcitur quid (Isms 
 filet ferri. Varro de L.L. Lap. And yet thus F. Xavier 
 has reprefented it in the Life of Chrift, which he pub- 
 lidied in the Verfian Language. Biblioth. German.Tom . i . 
 
 + Vera Icon, the true Image or Portraiture of Chrift, 
 which the Forgers of Saints, with a fmall Alteration, 
 have transformed into Veronica^ 
 
 he 
 
Poetry and Painting. 125 
 
 she was going to be crucified. I could 
 spafs the fame Genfure upon St. Q.eorge 
 killing the Dragon, upon the filly and 
 ridiculous Figure of St. Demis carrying 
 his Head in his hands, after it had been 
 cut off by the Heathen ; and alfb upon 
 the Pi(5ture of St. Cathenncy who is neld 
 in lb much Veneration in the Church of 
 Rome. The Account which the Legend 
 gives of this imaginary Saint is, that fhe 
 was Daughter to Cojius King oi Alexan~ 
 dria ; that at the Age of eighteen years 
 fhe difputed againll fifty Philolbphers, and 
 confuted them all j and that at laft, cou- 
 ragioufly refufing to renounce her Faith 
 and abjure her Religion, Ihe was cruelly 
 torn to pieces by a Wheel armed with 
 Knives and Razors, which afterwards 
 flew out of its place, and deflroyed her 
 Perfecutors^. ’Tis a great pity that fuch 
 an extraordinary Piece of Ecclefiaflical 
 Hiflory, and that does fo great an Honour 
 to the Female Sex, ihould be built on fo 
 weak and fandy a Foundationw But in- 
 deed the Materials it is made up with are 
 fo lame and defective, that they will not 
 bear any Weight or Strefs to be laid upon 
 them. For befides that this King 
 
 of Alexandriay is a Monarch in Nubibusy 
 that never was heard of in Hiflory, the 
 
 Amo Dam, 308 . 
 
 G3 
 
 Romans 
 
ii6 'Jn BSS AY upon ] 
 
 Romans having been long, before the Time 
 of Maximine^ Mailers of j^gypt^ which 
 was become a Province of the Empire ; 
 the profound Silence of all the eccleliallical 
 Writers, who would never have omitted 
 fo remarkable an Adlion, is enough to 
 Hide and qualh the Credit of the Story, 
 and to fend it back to the Land of Legends 
 from whence it came. Yet upon fuch a 
 weak and precarious Foundation as this, 
 Ihe is efteemed in the Church of Rome as 
 the Saint and Patronels of the Spinllers, 
 and her Holiday is oblerved, not in Popilh 
 Countries only, but even in many Places 
 in this Nation, young Women meeting or« * 
 the ajth of November , and making merry ') 
 together, which they call Catheming. But 
 as moll of thefe Stories and Fidlions are 
 grounded upon fome old Legends, which 
 are held in Veneration by a great part of 
 the World ; and as a Legend may be per- 
 haps thought a fufficient Foundation for 
 a Poet or Limner to build upon, I lhall 
 infill no farther upon them here ; nor lhall • 
 I lay this to the Charge of the Gentlemen 
 of the Profollion. I only beg leave. Sir, 
 before I conclude this Letter, to fix upon 
 one Pidlure which comes within the Com- 
 pals of Eccleliallical Hillory, and in which 
 Painters have made a Ihift to commit two 
 or three palpable Millakes, and that with- 
 out the lean Authority from Hillory, or 
 
 An- 
 
Poetry Paint IN G. 127 
 
 [Antiquity to countenance and fupport it. 
 The Piece is the Portrait of St. yerom» 
 *The Death of this Father by Dominic ain 
 is, I think, efteemed the fineft next to the 
 Transfiguration of Raphael^ that is, the 
 ad * Pifture in the World. But the Piece 
 I am now conlidering is the ufual and 
 [ common one, where that Saint is drawn 
 fitting in his Study with a Book in his 
 Hand. On one fide of the Room hangs 
 a Clock ; St. yerom appears in the Drefs 
 and Habit of a Cardinal, and a Lion is 
 fcen couching at his Feet. And ift the 
 Clock that hangs by him is certainly 
 wrong. This is not my own Oblervation, 
 but that of the ingenious Author of the 
 Enquiries into vulgar Errours, whole 
 Words arc thefe : “ The Pidkure of St, 
 Jerome^ ufually delcribed at his Study 
 “ with a Clock, hanging by him is not to 
 “ be omitted. For though the Meaning 
 
 * The fix fineft Pieces of Painting that arc extant are 
 fiid to be, I. The Transfiguration, by Raphael, i. The 
 Death of St. Jerome by Domenichino, The Nativity 
 of Chrift, by Corregio. 4. St. Veter Martyr, by Titian. 
 f . The Defcent from the Crofs, by Daniel Volterre, 
 6. The Holy Supper, by Vaul Veronefe, To which I 
 think may be juftly added, 7. The laft Judgement, by 
 Michael Angelo ^ which I have already mentioned. 8- The 
 Crucifix at the Capuchin Convent at Ruremonde, by 
 Vtmdike : and 9. The Corpo or dead Chrift, by Holhen^ 
 Bajily which Do6lor Burnet faith in his Travels, is' 
 certainly one of the beft Piftures in the World, 
 
 G 4 
 
 may 
 
128 E S S A Y upon 
 
 may be allowable, and probable it is, 
 
 ‘‘ that that induftrious Father did not let : 
 “ flip his Time without Account, yet i 
 
 muft not perhaps that Clock be fet i 
 “ down to have been his Meafure thereof.” | 
 Thus far Sir Thomas Brown. It is cer- i 
 tain that the Art and Manners of meafu- i 
 ring of Time are of very great Antiquity, j 
 'Tis probable that the moll Ancient way ! 
 was the Scioterical, or conveying the ’ 
 Shade of the Sun or Moon by the help 
 of a Gnomon, or Hand, from one Figure 
 to another. T>olydore Virgil., and ^Vanci- 
 rollus aflign the Invention of this to Anaxi- 
 mander., the Philofopher, who is fuppoled 
 to have lived about five hundred ancf fifty 
 years before Chrill. But this ufeful Inven- 
 tion may be traced much higher, and that 
 from the bell Authority in the World, 
 the Holy * Scripture, which makes exprefe 
 Mention of the Dial of Ahaz., on wWch 
 God was plealed to work the Miracle of 
 bringing the Shadow ten Degrees back- 
 wards, by which it had gone down before, 
 to certify good King Ezekias of the Re- 
 covery of his Health. Now the Reign 
 of Ahaz is allowed by the bell Chrono- 
 logers to have been about 740 years be- 
 fore the Nativity of our Saviour, which 
 carries the Account of the Dials near two 
 
 ♦ 2 Kings, XX, 7. 
 
 hun- 
 
Poetry ^^;^Painting. 129 
 
 hundred years higher ; and there it is not 
 fpoken of as a late Invention, but as a 
 Thing then in common ufe. *Tis llrange, 
 that fo ufeful and neceflary an Invention 
 ihould not have been fooner known among 
 the Romans, a People of much Ingenuity 
 and Contrivance. For the firft Dial, ac- 
 cording to was not fet up before 
 
 the firft <Rmiiek War. And this Account 
 of the natural Hiftorian is abundantly 
 confirmed hy* Plautus, who brings, in one 
 of his Scenes, an hungry Parafite, curling 
 Dials and the Inventors of them, which 
 confined the Hours of eating to certain 
 Times of the Day, “ Whereas, faith he. 
 
 * Ut ilium Dij perdutnt mi primus Horas repperst; 
 ^^uiciH£ udso primus ^utuit Jbltsrium^ ^ ^ 
 
 ^^uod mihi comminuit mifero articulatim Dsemi 
 
 Ham me puero uterus erat filarium 
 
 Multo omnium ijlorum optimum verijjimum. 
 
 Ubi ifie monebat ejfe, niji cum nil erat. 
 
 Hunc etiam quod eft, id non eft, niJi fpls lubet,. 
 
 Itaque jam oppletum eft Oppidum fohrtis. 
 
 Major pars Fopuli aridi replant Fame. 
 
 E Fragm. Comcedise Bceoti*’ Plauti. 
 
 N B. One might be apt to think from this PalTage of 
 ' Plautus, that the Invention of Dials was of an earlier 
 Date, and as old as Antiphanes an antient Pi^t that 
 wrote this Comedv originally in Greek ; But I rather 
 believe the Latin Poet fpoke this rnore patm, and 
 adapted himfelf to the Age he lived m: Efpecially 
 fince this fo exaftly agrees with the Date that Phny 
 gives of the Time in which thole Machines were firft 
 in ufe at Borne. ^ u 
 
 Q j ** when 
 
53® E S S A Y upon 
 
 “ when I was a Boy, my Stomach wasi 
 “ my only Dial, and I could take my 
 “ Dinner whenever I pleafed". Now 
 Plautus 5 is certain wrote about the Be- 
 ginning of the fecond ^unicJC^-xc. So that 
 the were about 536 years without 
 
 the Mcafures of Time, and the Diftindion 
 of Hours. But their Dials could be of 
 no ufe when they enjoyed not the Light 
 of the Sun or Moon ; and for that reafon 
 they had recourfe to other Jdethods, to 
 fupply this Defed : And this they did by 
 Water or Sand, which they contrived to 
 run through a Glafs juft fo long as to 
 make up an Hour; and this was called 
 Cleplydra and Qeplamnia*. Thefc Glafles 
 were of very great Antiquity, iot Batto 
 the Comick Poet, who, according to\Sal^ 
 majius^ lived but forty years Ar^othy 
 fpeaks of a Man, tnat carried an Horo- 
 logium about him like a Bottle, unlels 
 you are plealed to underftand it of a Pocket 
 Dial. Thefe Glafles were ufed in Greece 
 in their publick Pleadings, where the 
 Orators were confined by thefo Inftru- 
 
 From xA4t 7« and tlJ'ap', snd a[/.viov, from 
 
 the Sand or Water ftealing into the lower Glafs. The 
 'EngUjh Word Hour-Glafs anfwers both thefe. But the 
 Trench very improperly call Clepfydre the Sand-Glafs, for 
 the Word can only be applied to the Water one. 
 
 f ritf/a'yeif wpoKiyiof »rt Tep/^ipety AnxySov 
 
 ments 
 
' Poetry ^;;^/pAlNTiN<3lrf f$i 
 
 I mcnts, as Sermons in the laft Age were 
 [ meafured in this Country. For as the 
 i Speakers were very prolix and diffufc, 
 
 . it was thought neceflary to confine them 
 I to fbme certain Time. The Plaintiff or 
 Accufer had one or two of thefe Glafles 
 affigned him, according to the Weight 
 and Confequence of the Caufe. The De- 
 fendant was allowed double the Number 
 to anfwer and repell the Accufation ; And 
 when thefe were expired the Pleadings 
 were at an end, and the Sentence was 
 given. To this purpofe there is a re- . 
 markable Paflage of ^ Plutarch in the Life 
 of Jlc'thtades^ who faith, that lus Enemies 
 infinuated that it could not be expe(^ed 
 that fo great a Commander as he was 
 ihould leave the Care of the Fleet, and 
 the Publick Matter at a ftand, *till his 
 Judges Ihould think fit to meafure out 
 the Water for his Trial. This Cuftom 
 of pleading by the Hour-glafs paffed to 
 the Romatts. But not without great In- 
 convenience. For Pliny the Younger 
 complains that it hindered Bufinefs, 
 
 •* yU)rSvTa.i /I dvrov dvtTa(A.mi \v 
 fiiyeiu aromu erh dvraKgUroft ^-partiyS tbA/- 
 Ttlf d'ToJ'iJ'HyU’^y^ S’pttTICtf 
 
 iA.eTA^t) J'ixct^-npioy, 
 
 Koi J'/auiTpuyTAf^ d'^ra^KvvAt rhy KAiph. 
 
 Plutarch, in Alcibiade. 
 
 G 6 cramped 
 
13 2 ESSAY tipon 
 
 cramped and confined the Orators, and 
 obliged them often to dilpatch, in ^tw6 
 or three Glafles, Affairs of fuch Weight 
 and Gonfequence as required a Day or two 
 to finilh. For which Realbn ’tis poffible 
 they fell into Difufe. But there were 
 other great Inconveniencies that attended 
 thefe Machines, and hindered them from 
 being exadt and regularMeafurers of Time : 
 For the Water in f hot Weather being 
 attenuated and exhaled, the Days could 
 not be of equal length, but were Ihorter 
 in warm Weather than in Gold j and fb 
 the Hours were longer in Winter than in 
 Summer. Befides, the Orifice, by degrees, 
 and by the continual Running of the Sand 
 or Water, growing larger, and caufing a 
 quicker Precipitation into the lower Glafs, 
 in procefs of time muff make a confiderablc 
 Difference. This put Mens Wits and 
 Fancies upon the ftretch, to find out a 
 more exaA and regular Meafure of Time, 
 which ended at laft in the ufeful and in- 
 genious Gontrivance of Glocks, When 
 
 ^ Nofne apertius didniHs^ cdertus \ntdligimusy religiofius 
 judicamusy qtii paucionhus elepfydris pracipitamus canfas 
 quas Majorca diehus explicare folekant, Plin. 1 . 6 , Ep. 2. 
 
 •[ Vid. Mem, de VAcadem, des Infcript* Vol. 7 . p. 208 . 
 
 § Clep/ydra menutur verijpmay namque Foramen 
 Semper fit majus^femper mda minor. Menagiana, 
 
 firft 
 
Poetry ^«^Painting. 135 
 
 firft they were thought of and invented ia 
 not ealy to determine, fince the Antiqua- 
 ries are pretty much divided in their 
 Opinions about it. Mr. Derham is the 
 Peribn that carries the Invention the 
 higheft : For he reckons in that number 
 the Sphere of Archimedes^ and that of 
 Pqfidonius that Tally ipeaks of, which 
 Ihewed the Motion of the Earth and the 
 Celeftial Bodies. Not that he thinks they 
 were of the fame Form or Shape, but that 
 they moved by Springs and Weights, by 
 Wheels, Pullies, or luch Kind of Clock- 
 work : Which is in effedt owning that 
 they were not Clocks. If any Invention 
 of the Antients could juftly deferve that 
 Name, I Ihould think none has a fairer 
 Claim to it, than the Machine of 
 which was applied to the Wheels of a 
 Coach or Chariot, and by Weights and 
 told the Length of the 
 
 This Machine (if it was not properly a 
 Clock) at leaft gave, I believe, a fair 
 Hint for the Inventiomof that Inftr ument. 
 I was once inclined to think, that the Ule 
 of Clocks might be trac’d as far as the 
 Age of Tully^ and that from a Paflage in 
 the Hiftory the learned Fabricias has 
 written of that Orator. He faith, that, 
 before the Death of Tally a great Number 
 of Birds hovered about his Houfc, and 
 
 Number of the Miles, 
 
 that 
 
134 Jn^SSPiYupon 
 
 that one of them got into his Room, and 
 *ftruck back the Iron of the Horologium 
 with his Bill. But as this may be under- 
 ftood of the Gnomon of a Dial, or of 
 the Iron that fupported it, I will here lay 
 no greater Strels upon it than it will bear. 
 Some learned Men have afcribed the In- 
 vention of Clocks to one ^acificusj who 
 lived in the Reign of Lotkaire the Em- 
 peror, Son to Lewis the Dehonnaire^ that 
 IS in the 'f'Year 730, and this they ground 
 on a certain Epitaph quoted by JgelU 
 from ^anvinus. But Mr. Menage carries 
 the Invention above an hundred years 
 higher to the Time of Charles the Create 
 who, he faith, was prefented by the King 
 of Perjia with a curious Clock, that' 
 marked the Hours of the Day by twelve 
 Balls which fell upon fo many Brafs Cups 
 or Bells, and at the fame time opened a 
 V 7 indow, through which a little Man on 
 horfeback fallied out, and immediately 
 Ihut it again. For ^is Piece of Hillory 
 he quote? G^n>inus^ who lived in the Age 
 of Lewis y. . . elf had trranferibed 
 
 it, from • Charles the Great y 
 
 written by ^ - ?- 'a Monk oijngou- 
 
 lefme. T * t e two earlieft Monu- 
 ments and Memorials that I can find of 
 
 ♦ Hfoloyi ferrtm roffro difcujjit. Fabric, in Vita Cic. 
 
 }• See Chmbtn'i Di^onar/. 
 
 this 
 
Poetry Paikting. 135 
 
 this noble Invention, which is fo ulefiil 
 I and neceflary, and withal ieems to be fb 
 plain and obvious, that I never can think 
 I It fo late and modern as two hundred 
 i years, which is the Opinion of Mr. Charn^ 
 
 I! hers: For in that very Age the Art was 
 brought to lb great a Perfedion, that as 
 *^anciroUus relates, a certain Cremonefe 
 prefented the Emperor Charles V, with a 
 Clock, that not only told the Hour of 
 the Day, but allb diftindtly Ihewed the 
 Machinery of Heaven, the Signs of the 
 Zodiac, and the Motion of all the Stars \ 
 lb th^ Heaven (as he laith) leemed to 
 have defcended upon Earth, f T['hat Em- 
 peror himfelf had fo good a Talle for 
 Mechanicks, and Clock-work particularly; 
 that in th latter Part of his Life, in nis 
 Retir- nciic v - the Monallery of St. yufiusy 
 he emv - yed niofi of his leifurc time in 
 that Kii. i of Wor And when he could 
 not b -ing n Clocks to ftrike in the 
 fame Minur ;, he ufed to fay, he faw the 
 Folly of endeavouring to bring all Men 
 
 * Audio Carolo V. Horologium a CremomnR aliquo d<H 
 natum fuiffe^ quod unher/am Cdi Machinain cum omni^ 
 bus Tlrmammtl Jlcllis comfledteretur^ itemque cum Signis 
 quA non aliter atque in CaIo circumagtrentur y it a ut 
 Cdlum quafi in terram delatum videretur. Nee veto 
 neguri potefi Inventionem spfam igregmm mtMU dig^ 
 nttm ip. Pancirollus dc Novis rcpcrtis Tit. x. 
 
 + Charles the Vthy 
 
 to 
 
1 
 
 11$ An ESSAY ufon 
 
 to be of the fame Mind in Religion, fince 
 he could not bring Machmes exaftly to 
 agree. , 
 
 But to return to Painting. Since the ; 
 earlieft Notice of Clocks is fo much later, ; 
 four hundred years at leaft than St.jerowy - 
 Imce ^olydor Virgil^ and PanciroUus both 
 reckon it among the Inventions and Con- 
 trivances of the Moderns, if the Defign of 
 Painters in drawing the Clock near that 
 Saint, was to Ihew that he made the belt 
 Ule and Improvement of his Time, it ^ 
 would have anfwered their Purpofe full as 
 well, and had been more agreeable to the 
 CMumcy to have drawn a Dial upon the . 
 Wall, or have placed an Hour-glals on 
 the Table by him. But this Licence or 
 miltake is ftill more pardonable and ex- 
 culable, than that which P-ainters have 
 taken of drawing him in the Habit and 
 Drels of a Cardinal. V; This Miftake of 
 St. Jerom’s having been ' a *:dinal is not 
 Modern, for ’tis antienter » xan the Age 
 of ErafmuSy who, in his Preface to the 
 Works of that Saint, Ipeaking of thol^ 
 that had written about St. yeroniy faith 
 they add, *that he was created a Car- 
 dinal y 
 
 ^ CAterum quod »ddnnt Treshyterum Cardinalem eum 
 orimtum haptd fcio m ifih umpribus Cufd'tmhs 
 
 Timlus 
 
 
Poetry Painting. 137 
 
 dinal ; whereas in feveral Places of his 
 Writings he calls himfelf no more than 
 Presbyter, and never takes the Stile of a 
 Cardinal upon him : And. indeed I don’t 
 know how he Ihould, fince that Title and 
 Dignity is a great deal later than the Age 
 of that Father ; the earliefl account and 
 mention of it being no higher than 
 Xhe Great^ as the Academy of Prague de- 
 clared in a Letter written to the LFniver- 
 fity of Oxford, in which they tell them 
 that Bilhops then began to make Cardinal 
 Priefts, and the Pope to make Cardinal 
 Bilhops. But the Habit is Hill of a later 
 Date than the Dignity, and was never 
 heard of ’till the Year 1245, in the Coun- 
 cil of Uons, where the Bilhops by a 
 Canon enjoined, that Cardinals Ihould be 
 diftinguilhed by Icarlet Hats and Gowns, 
 
 Titulus fuerit refer las, Ipfe Hieronymus Vresbytert cogruh 
 men multis locis agncfcif, Cardinalh nufquum. 
 
 Erafmus in Proleg. oper. Hieronymi. 
 
 The Writers of the Church of Rome give us a very 
 mean and low Notion of the firft Original of this Dig- 
 nity. Mr. Clemangis^ an Author of the fifteenth Cen- 
 tury, faith the Office at ift was to carry out the Dead, 
 and to take care of their »Sepulture. The Famous 
 affirms the fame — Curdinales erant Roma, Trefbyteri 
 ordinati ad fepeliendos Mortuos^ ^ baptizandos qui noviter 
 •ventebant ad Ridem. And yet thefe Gentlemen have 
 now the Modefiy to ftilc thcmfelves JEquaJes Regibus 
 Supetiores frincipibus. See Hift. du Cone* de Con- 
 fiance, p, 6^24. and 620, 
 
 Which 
 
138 Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 Which Decree did not pals, *till about 
 five hundred years after St. yerom. I was 
 once of Opinion, that the Painters had 
 indulged tnemfelves in this Licence, to 
 fet off and beautify the Pidure of that 
 Saint, or to do Honour to a Man, that 
 had done lb much Service to Religion, 
 and made fo great a Figure in the 
 ChrilHan Vv^orld ^ which they might think 
 they could not more effectually do, than 
 by invefting him with a Dignity, which, 
 next to the Pope, is the greateft in the 
 Church of Kome^ and efteemed equal to 
 Kings, and fuperiour to Princes. But, 
 upon lecond Ti^ughts, I rather believe it 
 was done on the account of the Poll 
 St. Jerom enjoyed at Rome^ as Secretary 
 to Pope Damafus. For, as in the pre- 
 lent Age all the Pope’s Secretaries are 
 Cardinals of courle, they thought they 
 could not in Juftice deny him a Dignity 
 which is now looked upon as annexed to, 
 and mleparable from the Place. But this 
 Circumftance of the Habit is not lb ftrange 
 and extraordinary as that of the Lion, 
 that is drawn at the Feet of this Father. 
 I fancied once, this might have been 
 done upon the Account of his fierce, vio- 
 lent, and Lyon like Temper, towards thole 
 that dilagreed in Opinion from him, which 
 made him utterly unfit to engage in, and 
 to carry on a Dii^ute ^ and yet none had 
 
 more 
 
Poetry Painting. 139 
 
 more and warmer ones to manage. For 
 though it mull be owned, that St. yerom 
 was a Perfon of vaft Learning and Eru- 
 dition, the greateft Matter of Languages 
 of all the P'athers, of prodigious Dili- 
 gence, and indefatigable Induftry ; yet it 
 mull: alfo be coofclsy, that he was not 
 without his Failings, and had this among 
 the reft, that he could not keep any Tem- 
 per and Moderation in his Dilputes ; 
 as may be feen by the Railings, hard 
 Names, and Invectives, which are fcattered 
 throughout his Writings againfl Joviniany 
 KuffinuSy and Vigilantius j whom he has 
 treated with fuch vile and opprobrious 
 Language , that forae ■ of the fobereft 
 Writers of the Church of Kcmcy who 
 have often quoted him on their fide, are 
 not a little out of Countenance at his 
 Heat and Fiercenefs : ^ One of them has 
 not fcrupled to fay, that as the Pen of 
 Draco the Lawgiver was faid to have been 
 dipped in Blood, that of St. yerom may 
 truly be faid to have been dipped in the 
 rankeft Gall. Were I to chufc a Motto 
 for this Father, it fliould be. 
 
 Nemo me immune lacejjtt. 
 
 For the truth is he was a terrible Man to 
 encounter with, and this I thought might 
 
 ♦ Mr. Chevreau. 
 
 have 
 
140 Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 have been the Rea(bn of placing a Lion 
 fo near him, as a Figure and Emblem of 
 the Fiercenels of his Temper. But as it 
 is not likely the Roman Catholicks, who 
 have fo great a Veneration for him, would 
 have expofed and reflected upon him in 
 this manner \ I rather accede to the 
 Opinion of a Learned Man, who thinks 
 it to have been done by a Miftakc of the 
 Name ^erom for Gerafom ; a Slip that 
 might ealily be made by the Likenefs of 
 the "Words. This Gerafom was an Abbot, 
 of whom the Legend faith, that as he 
 was upon a Journey, a Lion rulhed out 
 of a Wood, fell upon the Afs that carried 
 his Baggage and tore him to pieces, with- 
 out doing any manner of Harm or Injury 
 to the Saint, who without the leaft Fear 
 and Concern commanded the Lion to take 
 up the Afs’s Load, to carry his Equi- 
 page, and to do him the lame Service 
 which that Animal did before ; that the 
 Lion readily complied, from that time 
 • followed and attended him in all his 
 Journeys, lived a Holy and irreproach- 
 able Life, and punctually obeyed the 
 Orders of the Abbot. For which Reafon 
 St. Gerafom is always painted with a Lion 
 by his Side. 
 
 1 am. Sky &c... 
 
 LET- 
 
P O E T R Y P A I NT I NG. I41 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 R Thomas Brown, in his in- 
 genious and entertaining Book 
 of Enquiries into vulgar Errors, 
 has pafled a Cenfure upon Paint- 
 ers ibr their Manner of reprelenting the 
 nine Worthies of the World. The firll 
 Licence or Miilake he takes notice of, is 
 their drawing Alexander the Great fitting 
 upon an Elephant, againft the Truth and 
 Authority of Hiftory : In which that 
 learned Man is certainly in the Right. 
 For it appears from the beft and antienteft 
 Writers, that the Greeks did not antiently 
 make ufe of Elephants in their Armies, 
 and that Alexander himfelf always mount- 
 ed Bucephalus, a Horfe whole Beauty 
 and Excellency has been abundantly cele- 
 brated by Hiftorians. Neither is there 
 any Mention made of Elephants in any 
 of the Battles, which he fought, except 
 in that againft Porus the Indian King. 
 So far was he from ufing Elephants, 
 or mounting one himfelf^ that he had 
 
 never 
 
142 ESS AY upon 
 
 never feen any before his Indian Ex- 
 pedition. This is the Opinion of <^au- 
 fanias a judicious Writer, who faith ex- 
 prefsly, that Elephants were entirely un- 
 known to the Greeks before that Prince's 
 Conquefl of ^orusy and the Indies. And 
 therefore ^i^Curtius relates, that when 
 he faw this Prince advance in that * Equi- 
 laid, he had now found a Danger 
 worthy of Himfelf^ lince he was now to en- 
 counter both Men and Beafts at once. The 
 Greeks indeed were acquainted with Ivory, 
 and employed it in feveral Ufes for the Or- 
 nament of their Furniture, and Goods; but 
 were utter Strangers to the Animal that 
 produces it : And this that great f Anti- 
 quary thinks may be gathered from Homer. 
 who often fpeaks of Ivory, and of the 
 Ufe they made of it jn adorning their 
 Houles, Beds, and Arms ; but never 
 mentions the Elephant himfelf, which he 
 
 ♦ Curt, /. 8. ^.47. 
 
 f E 6 ur Hominum arte ^ opere prtfets temporibus ex- 
 foliri baud dubie norunt multi. Bejlias autem ip fas, priuf- 
 quam Macedones in Afiam trajicerent^ prater Indes ^ 
 finitimos nulli videranty quod ex Homero facile 
 conjiciat^ qui cum Leclos^ ^ opulentorum Demos Ebore 
 tjeornatosieferipferit^ Belbsa tamen nufquam mentionem 
 fectu ^Hod fi Elephantem vldijfet, aut de iUo quicquam 
 audsvijfet^ antiquius op'mor duxijfet hoc^ quam gruum 
 & Bygmeorum pugnas commemorare, 
 
 Paufin. in Att, Verf, Amafasi, /. 14.' 
 
 had 
 
Poetry and Painting. 143 
 
 had never omitted, as being a nobler 
 Subjed, than the Battles of Cranes and 
 Pygmies, and capable of a finer De- 
 fcription, had he ever feen one himfclf; 
 or had any Account from thofe that had 
 feen that Beaft. So that the Painter, 
 •who firft drew Jkxander beftriding an 
 Elephant, might with as much Reafon 
 have placed him on a Camel or a Mule, 
 lince there is equal Ground and Autho- 
 rity for both. 
 
 Of the Picture of 'Bucephalus. 
 
 The Mention I have made^ of this 
 Horie, puts me in mind of a Licence or 
 Miftake of Painters in relation to him ; I 
 mean the drawing him with a large mon^ 
 ilrous Head, like that of an Ox or Bull, 
 for which there is no manner of Ground, 
 or Reafon. It cannot be to add Beauty 
 or Gracefulnefs, fince fuch a Head is 
 rather a Blemifh and Deformity, and fuch a 
 Fault as we cannot reafonably fuppofe B«- 
 cephalus to have had, which was efteemcd 
 one of the beautifulleft Creatures of his 
 kind \ and, as ^liny tells us, was bought 
 at the exceffive Price of thirteen Talents, 
 which in our way of Computation amounts 
 to near two thouland Pounds. Heither^ is 
 this Notion fupported by the Authority 
 
144 E S S A Y upon 
 
 of any good Hiftorian, but is purely 
 grounded upon a vulgar Errour, which t 
 was occafioned by a Miftake of his Name,S 
 and has ftrangely gained and prevailed in 
 the World. The Author of the * Chevre-^ 
 ana faith, ’Tis a wonder that ^lutarch^ 
 Curtiusy and ^liny flbould have been 
 fo miliaken, as to believe this of Bucepha- 
 lus, I think it a greater Wonder, that 
 this learned Man Ihould fo miftake hint- 
 felf, and quote, nay blame and cenfurc 
 three Authors, for a Thing of which 
 not one of them has faid a Angle Word. 
 Plutarch indeed Ipcaks in Praife of this 
 Horfe, and relates, that Jlexander when 
 be was but a Youth tamed and maftered 
 him, which the beft Ecuyers and Horfe- 
 men in Greece had attempted in vain. 
 But he faith not one word of this Head 
 of a Bull. Curtius indeed mentions 
 the Horfe : But as that part of his Hiftory, 
 that relates to the Tammg and Maftering 
 of him, is entirely loft ; it is not pollible 
 to form any Judgement from him in this 
 Particular, ^liny the laft Author cenfured 
 by Mr. Chevreau is as filent in the Point as 
 the other two. All he faith is, that he 
 was fo named either from the J' Fierce- 
 
 Chevreana, i . />. 2 7 j . 
 
 + Bucephalum eum vacant, five ab afpeSlu torvo, five ab 
 injignitaurini capitis ar mo imprejji. 
 
 nefs 
 
Poetry ar.d Painting, 14J 
 
 nels of his Looks, or becaule he was 
 branded with the Mark of an Ox’s Head. 
 So that, the Notion of Bucephalus's Head, 
 I take to be one of thofe vulgar Errors, 
 which infenlibly Ipread and prevail in the 
 World, ’till Men begin to believe that 
 there is fome antient Vouchers of Au- 
 thority to fupport them. I was always 
 inclined to think with ’■'Pliny, that he was 
 fo called upon the Account of fomo 
 Brand, or Mark imprefled upon him, 
 a Praftice ufual and common in Greece, 
 where, the Horfes marked with a K were 
 called Coppatice, and thofe branded with 
 a 2, were named Samphor^e •, and in this 
 I was confirmed by the Authority of 
 '^Hefychkts, who exprefely faith, that thofe 
 Horfes were called Bucephali, which were 
 branded in the Thigh with an Ox’s Head ; 
 and fuch was Menander's Horle, from 
 which ’tis faid a Town was built in the 
 Indies called Bucephalia. The fame is 
 affirmed by the Scholiafl of Mijiophanes, 
 whole Words are^ thefe : 'f' “ We do 
 “ not call Horfes Bucephali, becaule they 
 H “ have 
 
 * BatclipctXof "i'o-wof Tolu^ioif 
 
 BHKpa.vov> Ktti 0 j'S-aroj dip’ S’ UoA/y ti> Jy- 
 
 Xo/f hiyilett Kj'i<reu BuKitpdneicty. Hcfych. in voce 
 
 BvicipetKof. 
 
 t ’Ot/ yd^ BuxitpaKvi i'sr®-Kf KetKHiJi.iy //a to 
 fny ratdvlnv Avrif to Srfof ’iyya- 
 
 XApAX^Ai 
 
1^6 An E $ S A Y upon 
 
 ‘‘ have that Form and Make, but becaufe 
 “ they are branded with the Figure of an 
 “ Ox’s Head, as was Bucephalus^ the 
 “ Horfe oi Alexander^ in Honour of which 
 he* built the City oi Alexandria^ and 
 gave him, out of Gratitude, no left 
 “ than a City for a Tomb”. Michael 
 Pic anus ^ a learned Man of Franconia, has 
 ftarted another Opinion concerning the 
 Origin of the Name of Bucephalus, namely 
 that he was not fb called becaufe he had 
 the Head or Horns of a Bull, but becaufe 
 he was branded with the Figure of the 
 Plant called ^ovKfJimv, or Bulls Head, which 
 was the Mark of the beft, moll noble, and 
 vigorous Yhejfalian Horfes. And this he 
 fetches from the great Greek Ffyrmlogicon 
 
 af ydf) tS MetKilei'Of iTwaf 
 
 ny of TifXivTtKretvrof BisKipaLxv 
 iVTcitfioy dvrS thj Apsrnt yttpii^i^Aivof ToA/f. 
 
 f N. B. The Scholiaft here is plainly miftaken, .as to 
 the Name of the City built in Honour of this Horfe; 
 for it was not called Alexandria but Bucephalia, as ap- 
 pears from Curtius, who faith, Alexander built Buct- 
 fhalia in Honour of his Horfe, in the Indies and the 
 Country of Form, where he dirf : Whereas Alexandria 
 was built in Honour of himfelf, and lituated in Africa. 
 But this is a fma)l Midake, which that Writer was led 
 into by the Mention he made of Alexander. There is 
 a celebrated Statue at of Alexander's taming and 
 
 breaking Bucephalus, which Cmftantine brought from 
 Alexandria, iad ftt up on Mops ^/tir 'malis, which ^rom 
 thence has been fii^c called Mtmte Cavalh, 
 
 tt 
 
Po E T R Y Painting. 147 
 
 at the Article Bucephalus. I will not 
 here take any Side, but can hardly think 
 that the Authority of the Etymologicon 
 can outweigh the joint Teftimonies of 
 fuch A uthors, as ^liny^ Hefychius^ and the 
 Scholiaft of Arijtophanes. However Mr. 
 Chevreau embraces this Opinion amhabus 
 ulnis^ and faith it is confirmed by the 
 Authority of the Scholiaft, IVe juft now 
 mentioned*. But here again that Learned 
 Man is miftaken. For IVe plainly Ihewn, 
 that That Writer faith not a Word of the 
 Plant iSnKpeimy, but only that thofe Horfes 
 were marked with the Figure of an Ox’s 
 Head. He faith that he Ihewed this Plant 
 in the 'TuiUeries at ^aris to fbme learned 
 and curious Men, to whom he had com- 
 municated the Paflage of Picartus^ who 
 were pleafed with the Sight of it. He 
 adds farther that the Plant is called by 
 the Botanifts Gueule de VeaUy Calves Mouth, 
 and by the Country People, Cat's Eye. 
 But, Peues Au6lorem Jit Fides. For I 
 muft own, I cannot depend, nor lay any 
 ftrefs upon a Writer that in the compafs 
 of a Page can be guilty of fo many plain 
 and palpable Miftakes. Mr. I^e Brun^ in 
 his fine Pidfures of the Battles of Alex- 
 ander the Great, has avoided this Fault I 
 am fpeaking of, but committed another 
 
 ♦ Chevraeana, vol. i. ^.175. 
 
 Ha 
 
 in 
 
148 An ESSAY ufon ' 
 
 in relation to the * Head of that Prince. , 
 In fome of his firft Pieces he had repre- • 
 lented Jletiander with a young Beautiful | 
 Head, like that of an handfonie Woman, 
 which he found upon a Medal having on 
 the Reverfe AlexandroSy which he con- 
 cluded mull be the Head of this Prince. 
 But when his Friends had convinced him 
 it was the Head of Dallas that was • 
 llamped upon that Medal, he corrected 
 his Millake, and in the following Pidlures, 
 The Paflage of the Granicusy and Alex- 
 ander’s Entrance into Bahyion, he has 
 given the true Head of that King, which 
 he took from a Bullo, which ftands upon 
 a Pillar in the Gardens at VerfaiUes : That 
 Bufto has been dilguifed by a modern 
 Sculpture, and reprefented like Mars 
 Gallicus with a Cock over his Head. 
 The Figure as well as the Pillar it Hands 
 upon is made of Oriental Marble, and 
 both were brought to France from Alex- 
 andria. 
 
 Of the Pidure of HeUor. 
 
 The fame Learned Author of Enquiries 
 into Vulgar Errors, has juftly cenfured 
 Painters for reprefenting HeBor on a flately 
 Courier, compleatly armed and thus ready 
 
 * Refleft. fur la Poefie 8c Peinturc. 
 
 to 
 
PoETRY/^;^^ Painting. 149 
 
 to engage the Enemy. Whereas (as he 
 obferves) the trojan Heroes did not ride 
 on Horfes, but in Chariots in their Battles. 
 Homer is fo full and exprefs in the Point, 
 as to fet the Matter beyond all Difpute. 
 Sir ’Thomas adds, that this was alfo the 
 antient way of Fighting of the Britains \ 
 and that fome Writers, from thence, have 
 drawn an Argument of the Britains Ori- 
 ginal from the Trojans. Whoever were 
 thus fond of a Trojan Pedigree, have built 
 their Claim and Pretenlion upon a very 
 weak and flender Foundation. They 
 might with equal Rcafon have derived 
 themfelves from the Greeks^ who ufed that 
 way of Fighting as well as their Ene- 
 mies. For though Homer, it is true, makes 
 often mention of the good Boots of the 
 Greeks, and conllantly gives them the 
 Epithet of well -booted 
 
 Grecians, yet it is certain thefe Boots were 
 not defigned for the Ufe of Riding, but 
 to defend the Legs and Thighs from 
 Wounds, Contulions, or Bruiles. But 
 it may be queftioned, whether the antient 
 Britons did actually fight in Chariots like 
 the Trojans. Cafar, -who had often en- 
 countered them hinifelf, and who knew 
 their Way of Fighting as well as any 
 Body could, does not feem to favour this 
 H 3 Notion^ 
 
'i 50 Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 Notion'. He faith * indeed that they ad- 
 vanced into the Ranks in their Chariots, 
 but then they lighted and fought on foot ; 
 and their Voitures withdrew at fome di- 
 ftance, in Cafe they were worfted, to fa- 
 vour their Retreat, Tacitus fcems in his 
 Account to differ from Cafar^ faying that 
 the Strength of the Britons was in their 
 Infantry ; but that at the fame Time fome 
 fought alfo in Chariots, and that the moft 
 conliderable Man was the Driver of the 
 Car. I know no Way of reconciling this 
 Difference between the two Hiftorians, 
 but by fuppofing, that the Way of Fighting 
 among the Britons might have been altered 
 from the Time oiCafar to that of Tacitus ; 
 or that one Part of the Britons, viz. the 
 North, whom Tacitus Ipeaks of, might 
 differ in their Manner of Fighting from 
 thofe of the Southern Parts, which Cafar 
 had to do with in his Britijh Expedition. 
 Mrs. Dacier, who has done almoft as much 
 Honour to her Nation by her Writings 
 upon Homer, as that Poet has to his Coun- 
 try by his Works, has fet the Matter in a 
 
 * Uritanm in Currihus non pugnanty fed turn fe inter 
 Iquitnm Turmas in/iKuavere, ex EJfedis exiliunt Pedi- 
 bus pr&liantury it a tamen Currus coiocantt ut (fi necejfe fit) 
 Md eos fefe reciphnt, Caefar de Bello Gall. /. 
 
 f Britanni in carribus prdiantHr : boneftior AurigAlor 
 Clientes proptigmt. Tacit, in vira Agricola:. 
 
 clear 
 
Poetry is;;/^PAiNTiNG. 151 
 
 ; clear Light concerning the Way of Fight- * 
 I ing of the Trojans and Greeks, She more- 
 I over ^obferves, that the Antient J-ews 
 [!made no ufe of Horfes in their Armies, 
 that their Soldiers were inured to Labour 
 and Fatigue , that they equalled the 
 Horfe in the Swiftnefs of running, and 
 that even in David's Time there was no 
 fuch Thing as an Horie in his Army ; 
 and that Jbfalom himfelf, when he was 
 killed in trying to efcape, was mounted 
 on a, Mule. And this I find confirmed by 
 the great St. Bajil 'f' who writing on thefe 
 Words in the Pfalms, A Horfe is counted 
 hut a vain T“hipg to fave a Man^ obferves 
 that the yews had not only no Horfes in 
 their Armies, but did not keep them even 
 for their own private Ufes. But to return 
 to the Trojans \ this Way of Fighting in 
 Chariots feems to have been very wrong in 
 the Practice, and withall attended with 
 great Inconveniencies, fince they could 
 not be managed, and governed with fb 
 much Eafc and Dexterity as Horfes, had 
 not the fame Conveniency of Swiftnefs for 
 a Flight or a Retreat, and rendered one 
 
 Dacier upon Homer’s Iliad. 
 
 f Kfii/ iw<sr/itrl 'Tori 
 
 (painrAt ^I(rpan\, «Tg r/? dyicoit 
 
 rrjy lyirZv 
 
 W'ttZv "ZivvA\t\p)yL i'Tnp^pavh^ -rep/- 
 
 ¥CTict rSv t'TTrZy 
 
 H4 half 
 
1 5 2 [Aji "ESS hY upon 
 
 Half of their Army entirely ufelefs, I 
 mean the Men that guided the Chariot. 
 Such an Error as this the European Princes 
 feem to have been guilty of in the laft 
 Century, in that Company of Men, in 
 every Regiment of Foot, that were armed 
 with long Pikes to cover the Infantry, and 
 to hinder the Horfe from breaking in 
 upon it. By which Means the Pikemen, 
 who were generally the talleft and the 
 fineft Men in the Corps, were put entirely 
 upon the Defenlive, and rendered wholly 
 ufelefs for A«5tion. The Dutch (if I ini^ 
 take not) have thefe Pikes among them to 
 this Day in their Guards. But the late 
 Duke of Marlborough^ who had a more 
 juft Notion, and was a perfedf Mafter of 
 the Art of War, faw this Inconveniency 
 and removed it from his Troops ; and by 
 the Chevaux de Prize, and the Firelock 
 and Bayonet, anfwered the End of Keep- 
 ing oft the Horfe, and thus rendered 
 every Man in the Regiment fit and ufeful 
 for Action. This laft, I mean the Fufee 
 and Bayonet, is one of the moft terrible 
 Weapons that ever was invented; for it 
 carries, as it were, a double Death, and 
 enables the Soldier to fhoot and ftab in an 
 Inftant, and, if the One fails, to do exe- 
 cution with the Other. 
 
 Another 
 
Poetry and Painting, i 5 j 
 
 Another remarkable Licence which 
 Painters have aflnmed, without any juft 
 Ground or Reafon, is in relation to 
 
 The Pi(fture of Cleopatra, 
 
 Who in all the Pieces, I have leen, that 
 reprelent her Death, appears with her 
 Body half naked, and a * Viper fattened 
 to her Breaft, diredly againft the Matter 
 of Fa6t, and the Truth of Hiftory ; For 
 Plutarch faith, that though the Manner 
 of her Death was differently reported, 
 yet the general Opinion was, that fhe 
 expofed her naked Arm to the Sting of 
 a -f Viper, which was fecretly brought to 
 her in a Basket of Fruit ; and adds that 
 two little Marks were feen upon her 
 Arms, which were thought to be the Bite 
 
 * She chofe the mofl: eafy Death pofiTible. For the 
 Viper, v/hich flie applied, was called Hyfnsdit, or Somm* 
 fera^ which killed by lulling the Perlon aflcep. For 
 which Reafon Flo^us fpeaking of that Princefs /aith, 
 Morte qaaji fomno foluta eft, Lucan ipeaks to the fame 
 Purpofe : 
 
 At ub 'i Uve Mifer fixus VrACordla prefttt 
 Kiliaca ferpente Cruor, nuUoque Dolore^ 
 
 . Teftatus Morfus fubifa Caligine Mortem 
 Acciplsy ftygias fomno defcendis ad umbras, 
 
 Lucan. Pharfal, 
 
 f T>'to faith it was done with a poifoned Needle, but 
 the moft common Account is that it was a Viper. 
 
 h.5 
 
 of 
 
1 54 Jn BBS AY upon 
 
 of that Animal. For this Reafbn Au- • 
 gufius^ in the Effigy that he had made of j 
 her to adorn his T riumph, had her drawn ' 
 with thole two Spots upon that very Arm. . 
 And this ^ ^roprtius^ who lived at that 
 Time, averts that he had feen with his 
 own Eyes, and Horace feems to allude to 
 it, when he faith, that Princefs had the 
 Courage to handle the cruel Serpent-j'. I 
 know but one Writer that has advanced 
 the Contrary, and affirmed that Ihe ap- 
 plied the deadly Viper to her Breaft : I 
 mean Eutychius^ the Patriarch of Aleman-' 
 dria. But either he had not read, or 
 not examined the Paflages of Plutarch 
 and Propertius, that I have quoted above ♦ 
 or, which is moll probable, was led into 
 this Errour by the Painters of his Time, 
 who, to embellilh the Pidure and to dis- 
 play the Beauties of that Princels, aflumed 
 a Liberty againll the Truth of Hiftory. 
 But as Eutychius is but a ^ modern Author, 
 and befides not a very exad: Writer, but 
 full of Errours and Miftakes in Chronology 
 
 ♦ — 'Brachh fpeBmt facris /tdmorfa Colnbris^ 
 
 I.t trabere ounltum Membra foperis Iter^ 
 
 Propt, /. 3 . Eleg. II. 
 
 ^ — — - * Tertis afperas 
 Tradiare ferpentesa ut at rum 
 
 Corpore combiberet venenum. Hor,/.i, 0 /j 7 .'i;. 26 , 27 . 
 
 % He was no antienur than the I^inth Century. 
 
 and* 
 
Po E TRY Pa I NTING. IJJ 
 
 and Hillory, a Fault very common with 
 the Arahian Writers, His Tellimony 
 cannot, I think, be of any Weight againlt 
 the Evidence of the antient Writers I 
 have mentioned j one of which was an 
 Eye- witnefs of thefe Spots and Marks 
 upon the Arms of that unhappy Queen. 
 
 Of the Rape of Ganymede. 
 
 The laft Inftance I lhall give you of the 
 Errours and Miftakes of Painters, is that 
 of the Rape of Ganymede j who in all 
 the Figures I have feen, that reprefent 
 this Story, is drawn fitting at his Eafc 
 upon the Back of the Eagle ; which At- 
 titude and Pofture is direaly contrary to 
 the Accounts and Traditions of the an- 
 tient Writers, who all affirm, that the 
 Eagle took him up in his Pounces by the 
 Hair, and fo carried him to f uftter in 
 Heaven. This is what the learned <&/- 
 majius has made out beyond Dilpute, in 
 his Commentary upon Achilles Statius. 
 The antient Artifts and Mailers were 
 more careful and exadl, and had a greater 
 Regard to the old Traditions. * Ptiny 
 H 6 faith. 
 
 ^ Leochares fecit Ac[HtUm fentUntem quid rapiat s» 
 Ganymede, cui ferae, parcentem rnguibrn etlam per 
 
 vefiern. Ria. L. 34. 
 
. j$6 'Jn ES S AY upon 
 
 faith, that Leo<r^drmreprefented the Eagle 
 carrying away Ganymede^ and that the 
 Bird (as if he was fenfible of his Charge, 
 and for whom it was deligned) feemed to 
 take the utmoft Care not to hurt him with 
 his Pounces \ which Martial has elegantly 
 exprefled in this Diliich : 
 
 Mtherias Aquila ‘Ptierum fortante per Auras^ 
 liyfum timidis Ungtiihm hcejit Onm. 
 
 L. I. Ep. 7. 
 
 Now this Beauty, I mean the Care of 
 the Eagle not to hurt the Child, which 
 was fo finely reprefented by that great 
 Artift, is entirely loft, if you reprefent 
 him fitting on the Back of the Bird, 
 You will lay. Sir, perhaps, that this is a 
 fmall Miftake. I own it. An ingenious 
 Writer of this Nation, in the'laft Cen- 
 tury, has been guilty of if in a very en- 
 tertaining Piece, called The World in the 
 Moon ; “ If what Paulas Venetus relates”, 
 faith he, “ be true, that there are mon- 
 “ ftrous Birds in the Ifland of Madagafcary 
 
 It appears from Tatlan, that this very Figure of 
 nymede thus carried away by the Eagle, was worftiped 
 by the Heathens, 
 
 Tlvo^ Tetvv(JLY\h] rlv 
 
 Q7i tI 77T\i<S^CU0V Kj^fJLA T^llldLcbCcQsif. 
 
 Tatian, Orat. Mverfus G/aecos* 
 whole 
 
P o E T RY and Painting, i 57 
 
 ‘‘ whofe Wings are la Feet in Length, 
 
 “ and who can carry up a Horle and his 
 Rider, with as much Eafe as a Kite can 
 take up a little Moufe ; it were only 
 “ teaching one of thefe Birds to carry a *■ 
 “ Man, and he might take a Flight to 
 “ the Moon on the Back of that Fowl, 
 
 “ as Ganymede did on that of the Eagle 
 I 'do not in the leall doubt, but that Dr. 
 Wilkins was led into this Miftake, by 
 the Sight of fome Picture where the Youth 
 was drawn in the Manner he defcribes. 
 What Truth may have been wrapt up in 
 this Fable of Ganymede^ is not eafy to de- 
 termine. Thofe who are fond of finding 
 Allegories in every Part of the antient 
 Mythology, have imagined, that this re- 
 prefented the Elevation of the Soul foar- 
 ing on the Wings of Contemplation to 
 Heaven. But it is ealy with a warm Fan- 
 cy, and a lively Imagination, to graft fuch 
 allegorical Senles upon all the Fables of 
 the Antients. I am- fure, if we believe 
 the Accounts which the , Poets .have given 
 us of Ganymede^ whatUle puthim 
 
 to, and .what * Office he employed him in, 
 we lhall hardly believe that the Elevation 
 of the Soul had any Share and Concern 
 
 ★ Servius interprets the Rapti GanymeJis of Vir^ih 
 L. I. V. 28. by fiuprafi and mrupti. 
 
1 5 8 Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 in the Rape of that beautiful Boy. It is 
 more reafonable to think that there was 
 fome Truth and Reality couched undei 
 this Fable. There is no Difpute about 
 the Perlbn of Ganymede, He is generally 
 agreed to be the Son of Troj, one of the 
 firft Kings of 'Troy : The only Difficulty 
 is about the Prince who was faid to be 
 the Ravifher. Orojius, from an antient 
 Writer called ^hanoclesy faith, that it was 
 Tantalus the King of Lydia^ who carried 
 the Child away, upon which a bloody 
 War cnfued, in which Ganymede was kil- 
 led ; and that as his Body could not be 
 found, it was given out, he was taken up 
 by Jupiter into Heaven. Suidas affirms, 
 that it was Mitios the Kmg of Crete that 
 conveyed away the Child, and particular- 
 ly defcribes all the Circumftances of the 
 Rape, hud, Fives aflerts, that it was 
 Tantalus that Hole the Son of TroSy and 
 carrying him to CretCy made a Prefent of 
 him to Jupitery who was King of that 
 Country. But, if I may prefume to put 
 in my Ojf>inion, I rather think that Ju- 
 
 To the fame Purpofe is this Epigram of Martial, 
 X. II. Bp, 44. 
 
 Depren/um in puero utricis me vocihus XJxor 
 Corripit, ^ — '^te qnoque habere refers^ 
 
 J)ixit idem quoties la/civo fun$ Tonmtt^ 
 
 Jlle tamen gracih cum Ganymede jaaf, 
 
 pitefy 
 
Poetry md Pa i n t i n g. 159 
 
 ^itefy who b faid by the Antients to have 
 reigned in Crete^ carried off the Youth in 
 a Ship, which, from its Enfigns and 
 Arms, was called the Eagle. This I 
 conceive may naturally enough account 
 for the Fable of Ganymede's, being carried 
 away by that Bird, It is in this Manner 
 that fome Mythologifts explain the Fable 
 of the Rape of Europa by yupiter in the 
 Shape of a Bull, by fuppoling that Prince 
 Hole her away in a Ship that had the Arms, 
 Name, and Enfigns or a Bull. I hope, Sir, 
 you’ll not think I deviate too far from my 
 Subjedl, if I take Notice of a Slip or Mi- 
 ftake,in relation to Ganymede^ committed by 
 no lefs a Man than the great Cicero himfeli^ 
 who, in the full: Book' of his 'Tufculan 
 Quefjons, ca!is ,ag * Prince the 
 
 Son LAomed''-:^ , of 'Troy *, though 
 the anti'-m; v V ■ ; / > general, and Bo- 
 
 wer in particular, who is the great Father 
 
 * I remember to have read a Story that has fbme A- 
 nalcgy with this 5 1 think it is in Bifliop Goodwin ^ of 
 four Sons of an Earl of Kildare, who, for a, Rebellion 
 raifed by their Father, were brought over into EngJandy 
 and had fome hopes of kind Treatment, and having 
 their Lives fpared. But when they heard that the Ship 
 they were in was called the Cow, they gave themfelves 
 up for loft, upon the Account of an old Irijh Prophecy j 
 That when four Sons of an Earl of Kildare went into 
 England in the Belly of a Cow, they fhould never re- 
 turn alive to their native Land again : Which the Writer 
 faith did pundiualiy happen 5 for they were all four put 
 to Death in the Tower, Goodwin's Annals. 
 
 Of 
 
i6o Jn "E^S hY upon 
 
 of the Mythologifts and Poets, afSrm, that 
 he was the Son of Tros. Yanaquil Fahry 
 a famous Critick in the laft Century, out 
 of Concern for the Honour of TuUjy has 
 endeavoured to make an Apology for 
 him : And that he does, by producing a 
 Paffage of an antient Author from the 
 Scholiaft of EuripideSy who faith the lame 
 of Ganymede as Yuliy has done, and then 
 concludes by faying, that fince it is plain, 
 there were two different Traditions of the 
 Original and Pedigree of that young 
 Prince, he does not lee, why Yuliy might 
 not have had the Liberty of chuling which 
 of thele two Opinions he liked beft. This, 
 he thinks, is enough to Ihew with how 
 little Realon and |uftice Cicero has been 
 blamed and cem'o^* ' learned Men, for 
 this fuppoled M This Apology, 
 
 though it appears very fpecious at firft, 
 and feems to carry a great Air of Probabi- 
 lity, has nothing real and folid in it, (as a 
 judicious * Critick obferves) but leaves the 
 Orator under the fame Millakes, where 
 it at firft found him. For, allowing as 
 many Writers as you pleafc, to have de- 
 livered down the fame Tradition, and to 
 have Laome don the Father of Gany- 
 
 medey this will do no Manner of Service 
 to Yuliy. For in this very Place in Que- 
 
 Mr. Di6l. Art. Ganymede, to whom I am be- 
 holden for his judicious Remarks. 
 
 ftion, 
 
Poetry Painting. i5i 
 
 ftion, that Orator brings Homer for hi» 
 Voucher, and allows him to be the Father 
 and Author of the Fable. Now it is cer- 
 tain that Poet, in the Paflage where He 
 fpeaks of that young Prince, and which Taf- 
 Ijy no doubt, had in his Eye, is dire6Hy 
 againfthim: For he, totide7n verbis, ^ffcvts 
 the contrary, and tells his Readers, as plain- 
 ly as is pouible, that, that beautiful i outh 
 was the Son of Tros^ and Uncle to Lao- 
 medon, who was the Son of one of his 
 Brothers, as you may fee in the Place I 
 have inferred in the Margin It is there- 
 fore more ingenuous to confels the Miftakc 
 of Lully, and to look upon it as one of 
 thofe Slips and Faults, 
 
 §luas aut incuria fudit, 
 
 Aut humana parum cavit Natura .*■ 
 
 Faults that are ufual and common to the 
 greateft Writers, whofe Minds, tired with 
 the Fatigue of Study and Attention, or ta- 
 ken up, perhaps, with Matters of greater 
 
 ♦ AU Viov 
 
 rU{jo Tpcoiircnv 
 
 Tp&)0^ AV TlAecTe^ A'fxv/uoi'e^ 
 
 'l\o^ r\ A(T(rA^.}to^ ts , a/IiS^®' TAyu/xijJ^}i^, 
 cTw kaKki^o; yiv{\o Qvi(ja^y AvSpd'Trsov, 
 
 HcL?.KZ 0^ ihiKA tlo, W A^AVetioKTt fx{\un^ 
 
 Hamer II L. zo. V. 230. 
 
 Weight 
 
j 62 An E S S A y upon ■ 
 
 Weight and Confequence, are not always fo| 
 fcrupulous and exa<5t in their Quotations,! 
 as might be expected from them. I cannotf 
 Ipeak in fo foft and fevourable a Manner 
 of the late Mr. who may be faid,] 
 
 like yupiteTy literally to have ftolen GaJi 
 fiymede ; and who, in the laft Edition of, 
 his Works, has given the World a very 
 ingenious Copy of Verfes, called Cupid 
 and Ganymede playing at Chefsy and pub- 
 lilhed that as his own, which is almoft a 
 literal Tranflation of a Piece of an old 
 French Poet, and that without the leaft 
 Hint of its being a Tranflation, Imita- 
 tion, or Allufion to the French Writer. 
 You may fee more of thefe Thefts of 
 Mr. Prior in the Odavo Edition of his 
 Poems, printed in Hollandy where the 
 Dutch Bookfcllers have taken care to fling 
 Thefe at the End, by way of Appendix 
 to his Work. I could point out, in thefe 
 Poems, feme Pieces that were by him en- 
 tirely taken out of the * Anthology, and 
 that without the leaft Mention made, or 
 Notice taken of the Greek Original. I 
 wonder that Gentleman, who had fo fine 
 a Genius, and fuch a fruitful Fancy, could 
 allow himfelf lb openly to pilfer and to pi- 
 rate upon the French Poets ; for whom, on 
 
 See the Lady who offers her Looking Glafs to 
 Ven/fs, in Mr. Frtor. 
 
 feme 
 
Poetry Painting, 
 
 (bme other Occafions, he has fhewn the 
 greateft Scorn and Contempt. But he is 
 not the only EngUJh Writer that has been 
 guilty of this unfair and ungenerous Pro- 
 ceeding. This was the conftant Pradlicc 
 of Mr. Dry den ^ who, whenfoever in any 
 of his Prefaces or Dedications he makes 
 it his Bufinels to expofe and ridicule the 
 French Writers, you may depend upon 
 it, Sir, always robs and plunders the moft. 
 But Poets, perhaps, may plead a Privilege,., 
 and think themfelves entituled to this kind 
 of Piracy, by Virtue of the antient Syftem 
 of the Heathen Mythology, in which 
 Mercury was the God both of Eloquence, 
 and of Theft, and equally prelided over 
 learned Men and Thieves. But to return 
 to my Subject ; though Writers, as I 
 have Ihewn, may be fometimes drawn into 
 Errours by the Painters, yet Painters are 
 much oftener mifled and deceived by the 
 Writers. This, I confefs, may ferve to 
 leflen and extenuate, but cannot wholly 
 remove and excufc the Fault : For a 
 great Attift that will rift above the V ul- 
 gar, and be eminent in his Profeflion, 
 muft not only have a fublime Genius, a 
 lively Fancy, and a fruitful Imagination, 
 a per fed! Inlight into, and an extenlive 
 and univerftl Knowledge of Nature ; but 
 he muft alfo be perftdtly well acquainted 
 with Books j he muft be Mafter of the 
 
 Poets, 
 
1^4 Jn ESSAY upm 
 
 Poets, efpedaHy the Tragedians, from 
 whom he may borrow the brighteft and 
 fublimeft Thoughts, the nobleft Images, 
 and the moll moving and affedling Paflions. 
 Laftly, he muft alfo be perfedtly skilled 
 in Hillory, both Sacred and Profane, which 
 will enable him to difcern Truth from 
 Falfehood, to dillinguifli the Hillory from 
 the Fable, and fecure him from numbers 
 left Millakes, which otherwile it is im- 
 poffible for him to avoid. He mull, in his 
 Hillorical Performances, rile above even 
 common Errours, delpife vulgar and 
 groundleft Traditions, and make Truth 
 and Veracity the very Rule and Standard 
 of his judicious Pencil. I could here pro- 
 duce many Examples of Painters, that 
 have been impoled upon, and milled by 
 Hillorians. But to avoid being tedious 
 and prolix, I lliall confine inyfelfto two 
 or three oi the moll Remarkable, which 
 may fervc to redify and corredl fome con- 
 fiderable Millakes m profane Hillory. 
 
 The Firft I lhall give you, is that of the 
 great Belifarius^ who, after many Battles 
 fought, Vidlories obtained, and fignaf 
 Services done to his Prince and Country, 
 fell at lall into Disfavour of his Mailer, 
 was deprived of both his Eyes, and, ( if 
 we may give Credit to the Latin Hmo- 
 rians), by a llrange Turn and Reverfe of 
 Fortune, was reduced to fuch Neccffity, 
 
 that 
 
, Poe TRY A IN TING. I 
 
 (that he fat at the Gate of Confiantimple^ 
 and there, like a Common Beggar, asked 
 * Alms of the Paffengers for a Subliftance, 
 And in this Attitude he is always drawn 
 by the Painters, who have been led into 
 this, purely by the hatin Writers ; for 
 the Greeks are wholly blent, and take no 
 ;inanner of Notice of thefe Particulars ; I 
 mean of that General’s Blindnefs and Beg- 
 ging Alms. And this Silence of the 
 Greek Hiftorians is enough to render the 
 Matter very fufpicious, ifnot to lhake and 
 overthrow the whole Credit of the Tra- 
 dition. For, can it fairly be fuppofed, 
 that the Greek Writers, who lived in the 
 fame Age, and in the fame Country, and 
 tvho by Confequence mull have been bet- 
 ter informed of the Adventures of that 
 Treat Man, Ihould entirely omit and pals 
 lover fuch a ftrange Turn of Fortune, and 
 I'o remarkable a Piece of Hiftory ? Suidas 
 s wholly blent in the Point. Cedrenus 
 iind Zonaras, who are reckoned very 
 oundlual and exad: Authors, Ipeak indeed 
 of his Difgrace, but fay not a Word of 
 lis Begging and Blindnels. j4gathius is 
 txprefs, that Belifarius was at lall rello- 
 ;ed to his Eftate. I am enclined there- 
 Ixore to believe, with the judicious Author 
 
 * Dftte obohim Belifario. 
 
 of 
 
i66 An ESSAY upon 
 
 of the Enquiries into vulgar Errours, that 
 either the Roman Writers invented thefc 
 Circumftances to llain and blacken the 
 Memory of that great Man, whom they 
 perlbnally hated, and could not forgive 
 the taking of their City, and the expel- 
 ling and banifhing their Bifhop ; or, (which 
 is the moft favourable Conftrudfion that 
 can be put upon it ) that they by fomc, 
 Miftake might attribute to BeUfarius the 
 Fate and Catallrophe of Johannes Cappa- 
 don^ who lived at the fame time, and wasi 
 like him in the Favour of JuJiinian ^ but, as 
 Procopius obferves, wasbanilhed afterwards 
 into £0/)?, and obliged, for a Subfiftance, to 
 beg Alms on the Highway. And this Ac- 
 count that Writer has left us of the Dif* 
 graces of Johannes^ leems to me a con- 
 vincing Proof of the Falfehood of thofe 
 Particulars that are attributed to Belifa^ 
 rius. For can it be imagined, that (Pro- 
 copitiSy who was an Enemy both to ya- 
 Jitnian and his General, and who nad 
 written a fevere Libel and Satyr againft 
 them, when he related the Fall and Dif- 
 grace of yohannes^ Ihould not at the fame 
 time have mentioned the Difafter of the 
 fame kind of BeUfarius^ had he known it 
 to be true .? For it offered itfelffb fairly 
 to him, came fb naturally in his way, 
 and was withal fo proper to blaft and 
 defame that great Man, that one would 
 
 think 
 
Poetry and Painting. \6f 
 
 think he could not poflibly have over- 
 looked it. Some learned Men among the 
 Moderns have long lince fufpeded the 
 Truth of this Story : Among others, 
 hrfas Gifanius has declared, that it has 
 not the leafl: Monument, or Scrap of An- 
 tiquity to favour it ^ and the judicious 
 Father Pagi^ in his Obfervations upon the 
 Annals of Baronius^ has undeniably pro- 
 i^ed, that the Tellimonies of John Tzetzes, 
 md other later Writers, are all Legends 
 md Stories ; that there is not the leaft 
 Foundation in Antiquity to fupport it, 
 ind that^ it ought to be looked upon all 
 IS a Fidtion and a Fable. So fer we may 
 lepend upon for true, that this General 
 ell into Difgrace with his Prince ; the Oc- 
 :alion of which, by fome Writers of good 
 i^redit, is related in this Manner. When 
 ^elifarius had conquered and fubdued the 
 xoths^ and they offered to fct him upon 
 he Throne, he generoufly refufed it j 
 .nd anfwered, that whilft JuJiman lived, 
 le never would accept of a Grown. 
 i¥hich Words of his were fb mifconftrued 
 ►y his Enemies at Court, that the Em- 
 >eror began to fear, that after his Demile 
 e would accept this Offer of the Gotbsy 
 nd fet up a Kingdom there, which in 
 ime might prove formidable to the Pio- 
 tan Empire ; for which Reafon he was 
 ilgraccd at Court, and, by the Emperor’s 
 
 Command, 
 
5 ' 
 
 * 
 
 i6% Jn E S S A Y upon 
 
 ■Command, confined tc 5 a Tower in G?;;- 
 Jlantinople^ which to this T>a.y is called the 
 Tower of Eelifarius. If this was all that 
 could be alledged againft him, (aawe have 
 Reafon enough to believe) itmulibecon- 
 fefled he met with hard Meafure, and a 
 fad Return from ytijiinian^ for as great 
 Services as a Subje^ could do for a Prince, 
 by which he enlarged the Bounds of' the 
 Dominions of Romcy retrieved the Honour 
 of the Roman ArmSy which was dwindleji 
 and decayed under former Princes, ac- 
 quired immortal Glory, and obtained the 
 Honour of a Triumph, which I think 
 was the laft that was feen in the Roman 
 Empire. But fuch Treatments of Mi- 
 nillers, are not uncommon with Princes, 
 who will fometimes forget the greateft 
 Services, and refent and punilh the llight- 
 efl: Faults, and finallefl: indiferetions. So 
 juft is the Obfervation which ‘Philip de 
 Commines puts into the Mouth of Lewis 
 XI, of Franccy a King who knew the 
 Heart of Man, at leaft the Deceitfulnefs 
 of it, better than any Prince that ever fat 
 upon a Throne : His Majefty (faith that 
 Hiftorian) told me further, that he thought 
 that Perion more * happy in his Preter- 
 
 ments 
 
 ■* Iv Principe rarum ^ 7 f obligatum, twt fi 
 puUt amt. gKin. Epift. Elz. Edit.p. 376. 
 
 To 
 
Po E T R Y Painting, j 6 ^ 
 
 ments at Court, whom his Prince had 
 advanced beyond his Delerts, whereby 
 he remained a Debtor to his Sovereign, 
 
 • than he who by any fignal Services had 
 obliged him. For he himfelf loved thofe 
 Perfons with a greater Affedtion, who 
 were obliged to him, than thole, who- 
 ever they were, to whom he was him- 
 felf obliged. But to return to Belifarius^ 
 I cannot deny but the fuppofed Cala- 
 mities of that great Man dilplay a fine 
 Scene to the Eye, and make a very beau- 
 tiful Figure upon the Canvafs : But when 
 
 • you come to refledt, that it is all falfc 
 ' and fabulous, it mull take olF the Edge 
 
 of the Pleafure, deaden the Attention, 
 defeat the very End and Delign of the 
 Artift, which was to excite Pity and 
 Compaffion, and make no greater Im- 
 ■ prellion upon your Mind, than any of 
 the Adventures of Grand Cyras or Caf- 
 fandra^ 
 
 There is a fine Pidlure of the Difgracc 
 of that General in Efjgiandf done by the 
 Hand of Vandyke^ where, among the other 
 Faces that exprels the leveral Paffions of 
 
 To the fame Purpofe is this Paflage of Tacitus, 
 Beneficia eo ufque Utafmt, dumvidentur abfolvipojfe ^ 
 Sed uii mHltum antevenere, pro gratia odium redditur. 
 
 Tacit. Annal. Ek. Edit. />. 170. 
 
 I Surprize, 
 
1 70 Jn 'ESS KY upon 
 
 Surprize, Amazement, Indignaticwi, Pity, 
 and Compaffion, you fee the particular 
 Figure of a Soldier leaning upon his 
 Pike, i.n a thoughtful and penlive Manner, 
 and in a dejected and melancholy Pofture, 
 who (as a Learned Man, and a great Cri- 
 tick of Painting and Poetry * obferves) 
 feems to fay to himfelf, Jlnd is this to be 
 my Fate after forty Campaigns ? An ingeni- 
 ous and lucky Thought ! A fine Stroke 
 'and noble Flight in the Painter ! He adds, 
 that fome years ago this Piece was carried 
 to Rome by an EngUJh Nobleman, and 
 (hewn to Carlo Maratti, the greateft Painter 
 in Italy at that Time ; who (out of a 
 Piece of Jealoufy infeparable from that 
 Nation, where Mufick or Painting arc 
 any way concerned) faid, It was Pity, 
 that fuch a Thought Ihould have efcaped 
 the Italians^ and have dropped from the 
 Pencil of an Oltramontane ; a Name they 
 give to Foreigners. But ftill, as I have 
 obferved before, the Notion of the Story’s 
 being falfe and fabulous takes away the 
 Pleafure, and damps and deadens the 
 Compaffion which it was defigned to ex- 
 cite. I ffiould take more Pleafure, and 
 be more moved and affedled with the Sight 
 of a lively Reprefentation of the fad Ca- 
 
 * Reflex, fur la Poefie & la Peinture, vol, i. p. J7f. 
 
 taftrophe 
 
Poetry and Painting. 171 
 
 taftrojjhe of 'Henry Holland Duke of Exeter 
 and iLarl of Huntington^ of whom we read 
 in the Hiftory of England, This Noble- 
 man was of the Royal Family, Son to 
 the Lady Elizabeth fecond Daughter to 
 John of Gaunt y and Husband to the Sifter 
 of King Edward the 4th. But in the 
 Civil Wars between the two Houfes of 
 York and Lancajicr, he was forced to fly 
 his Country, and was reduced abroad to 
 that Extremity and Want, that '^‘hilip de 
 Commines^^'^ vittv of unqueftionableCredit, 
 relates he once faw him without Shoes 
 and Stockings running after the Duke of 
 Burgundy's Coach, begging Alms for the 
 fake of God. But what made his Cafe 
 ftill more deplorable, and was a fad Ag- 
 gravation to his Calamity, was, that it 
 proceeded from his Wife’s Unkindnds 
 and Cruelty. She was of a contrary Par- 
 ty, bore him a true Conjugal Hatred, en- 
 joyed his Eftate that had been forfeited to 
 the Crown, and fuffcred him to live a 
 Wanderer and a Beggar abroad. Thb 
 Corps of that unhappy Prince was after- 
 wards found naked upon Tdo’ver Shore, 
 but it was never known how he came by 
 his Death : 
 
 — En quo Difcordia Gives 
 
 ^erduxit miferos / 
 
 The Grant or Donation of the Duke’s 
 Eftate to his Wife by Edward the 4th, is 
 I a ftill 
 
17 i E S S A Y upon 
 
 Hill extant in Mr. Kymer’s Collection of 
 ForJera^ 
 
 But no Part of Hiftory has been more 
 llrangely mifreprefented and falfified by 
 Writers, than that which relates to 'Tamer- 
 lane^ the greateft Heroe, and nioft famous 
 Conqueror, in the Eaftern Parts of the 
 World. yuJUnian has not been half fb 
 abufed by the Roman, as this Prince has 
 been traduced by the Furkip Hiftorians. 
 They have ftuck at no Calumny to blacken 
 and defame his Memory. They have 
 traduced and mifreprefented him in every 
 Point poflible ; as to his Original and Pedi- 
 gree, as to his Perfon and Shape, and 
 lalily as to his Temper and Character ; 
 and have made the mofl mild, gracious, 
 and affable Prince appear like a Monfter 
 of Cruelty, Infolence, and Barbarity. The 
 Reafon of this is plain. He had defeated 
 their Troops, made their Emperor Pri- 
 foner, and conquered and fubdued their 
 Country. Thefe fpiteful Writers have 
 made him the Son of a Shepherd, who, 
 with a Troop of Banditti, Mifcreants, 
 and Vagabonds like himfelf, overran a 
 great part of the World with his victori- 
 ous Arms. Sir Fhomas Brown is inclined 
 to think, this Notion of his being the Son 
 of a Shepherd might proceed from the 
 Cuftom of the Eaftern Princes, who, def^ 
 piling Gold and Silver, made their Wealth 
 
Po ETRY_f?Z?^ Pain T I N G. 175 
 
 and Riches to confift in Herds and Cattle, 
 of which we find many Inftances in the 
 Holy Scriptures. To mention but one ; 
 We read that Mejha King of Moab paid, 
 as a yearly Tribute to the King of jerii’- 
 fdlem^ an hundred thoufand Lambs, and 
 as many Rams : And as Demcjlheves was 
 called the Son of a Blackimith, * bccaufc 
 his Father employed many Slaves in his 
 Iron Forges, though Plutarch faith he 
 was nobly defcended, and fprung from 
 an honourable Family: that learned Man 
 thinks the Father of ^ametlane^ from the 
 great number of Herds that he pofTcfied, 
 might have been reprcfented as a Shep- 
 herd. I father believe it all Spight and 
 Malice of the Writers, who, for 
 
 the Reafons I have given, had a perfonal 
 Averfion for him. Be it as it will, 'tis 
 certain that fome Authors of the belt 
 Credit, and the moll impartial and difi- 
 paflipnate Hiftorians, Alhazer^ Conde- 
 miTy and Cherefeddin^ a Perjian Writer 
 (lately publifhed in French nt ^ art f by 
 Moniieur ^etis de la Cmx)^ gives us a 
 different Notion of the Pedigree of Tamer- 
 lane. They agree that he was defcended, 
 
 ♦ ^uem Fater, ardenth Majfsr fuUgine Ifppus^ 
 
 Carbone, ^ Torciplbus^ Gladiofque par ante 
 Incude^ Uitee Vulcano ad Fhetora mtfit, 
 
 JuYcnat Sat. 10. V. ijol 
 
 1 3 hy 
 
174 ESSAY upon 
 
 by his Mother’s fide, from the great Gen* I' 
 rican Emperor of T'artary^ and lived in 
 the fifth Generation after him ; that his 
 Father was a Prince of the Country of 
 Sagathai^ which comprehended a vafl 
 Tradf of Land, as BaBriana^ Sogdianay 
 Margianay and the Country of the Majfa* 
 get a whole Capital was Samar cand^ It is 
 moreover affirmed by thofe Writers, that 
 he was a Prince of excellent Learning, 
 perfedtly skilled in all the Knowledge of 
 the ArahianSy that is in Phyfick, Natural 
 Hiltory, Mathematicks, and Aftronomy ^ fi 
 which Sciences, upon the linking and De- fl 
 . cay of Learning in Earopey took Shelter M 
 and Refuge in Arahiay and there pro- || 
 duced Men greatly eminent in Arts and f| 
 Sciences ; which Kind of Education can I); 
 never conlill with the Notion of his being 
 the Son of a Shepherd. The fame partial :|; 
 Writers, not content to debafe and vilify 
 his Pedigree, have allb mifteprefented his ' 
 Perfbn, and have given out that he was 
 deformed, and difabled by Lamenels, r 
 which they fay he got by the Wounds he 
 received in an Attempt he made to Heal ' 
 his Neighbour’s Herds, and to give this 
 Fable a greater Air of Probability, they ^ 
 have changed and fallified his Name, and *1 
 inltead of Timur Begy that is Prince Timur y 
 which was his true and real Name, they / ' 
 have called him Timur laney that is Timur i ' 
 
 th& I 
 
P O E T RY P AIN TIN G. 
 
 the Lame, But the greateft and moft in- 
 cxcufable Injuries they offered to the 
 Memory of this great Prince, are the Af- 
 perlions they have call upon his Temper, 
 Manners, and Charadler. For, if we 
 may give Credit to the Turk^ Accounts, 
 he was a Monller of Cruelty and Bar- 
 barity, and ufed Baja.zet with all Info- 
 lence and Inhumanity. The Sultana too, 
 a Princefs of the greateft Modelly and 
 Virtue, felt the Kftedls of his Cruelty, 
 whofe Cloaths, they fay, he ordered to 
 be cut off above her Knees, that he might 
 expole her in the moll lliameful Manner, 
 and put her Chaftity and Modelly to the 
 utmoll Trial. To his Cruelty he added 
 Scorn, Infolence, and Contempt; made 
 the conquered Prince his * Footllool, 
 when he mounted his Horfe, and at lall 
 Ihut him up in an Iron Cage, to be a 
 Gazing-ftoclc to Paflengers ; where that 
 unhappy Man, through Anguilh and De- 
 fpair, dalhed out his Brains againll the 
 Bars. In all which Particulars the Painters 
 
 ♦ This Particular of Tamerlane's making Bajazet his 
 Footftool, feems to have been taken from the Roman 
 Hiftory, where we read that Sapores, the King of Perfia, 
 ufed the Emperor Valerianus his Prifbner in that infolent 
 and inhuman manner, and at laft flead him alive. Though 
 others fay his Skin was not taken off ’till after his 
 Death i and that the haughty Prince hung it up, as a 
 Terrour to the Romans his Enemies, 
 
 I4 
 
 have 
 
17 ^ "ES S A y upon j 
 
 have taken Care to follow thefe Hiftorians* 
 Perhaps you will be furprized, Sir, when 
 I tell you, that, in this whole Account, 
 there is not fb much as one Syllable ot 
 Truth. For other Writers that were not , 
 under any Bials of National Glory, had 
 no private Ends to ferve^ no Anger or . 
 Revenge to latisfy, give us a very dif- 
 ferent Account of 'Tamerlane^ and of his 
 Ufage of the Royal Prifoner. They af- 
 firm, that he treated him with all Courtefy 
 and Kindnels, fliewed the fame Humanity 
 and Civility to his Wife and Children, as . • 
 Alexander (whom he had cholen for his 
 Pattern in all the AdHons of his Life) did |.' 
 to the Family of Darius \ went often to 
 vifit Bajazet himfelf, and comforted him 
 in his Afflidion : And though the haughty 
 Spirit, and the perverfe and implacable 
 Temper of that vanquilhed Prince, the 
 Scorn and Contempt he Ihewed to Tamer- 
 lane^ and the Threats and Menaces which, 
 even in that low and dejeded State, he 
 uttered againft him, might have provoked ; 
 another to make ufe of his Right of Con- i 
 queft, and to treat him like a wild and 
 favage Beaft, as he was : he generoufly de- 
 dined taking the Advantage of trampling 1 
 upon a conquered Foe, but uled him with 
 all Humanity and Clemency, gave him f 
 a handfome Allowance, as a fit Mainte- 
 tenance for fuch a Prince; and though « 
 
 he % 
 
Po ETRY I NTING, I77 
 
 he did not think it prudent to reftore him 
 to his^ Liberty, he allowed him a Palace 
 for his Prifon, where fome time after he 
 died of a natural Death ; fet his Son upon 
 the Throne, and invefted him in the Do- 
 mmions of his Father. I have not brought 
 this Inftance to cenfure and reflect upon 
 the Painters, who were obliged to con- 
 form to the received Tradition, and who, 
 'till of late, could have no other Guides 
 but the Turkj(h Writers to follow ; but 
 to Ihew how they may be milled by 
 Hiftorians, and likewife how Truth may 
 be mifreprelented and difguifed by Malice, 
 Revenge, and Party Zeal, and the fineft 
 and moll glorious Characters llained and 
 fullied by Ipiteful and malicious Pens* 
 
 I fhall add but one Particular more, in 
 which the Gentlemen of the Pencil have 
 been impofed upon -by Hiftory : 'Tis in 
 Relation to poor whom they al- 
 
 ways take care to draw as ugly and de- 
 formed as Fancy can conceive, and the 
 Pencil can poflibly e3q)rels ; So that if a 
 Painter Ihould reprelent him as an hand- 
 fome, llraight, and proper Man, not (as 
 he is generally drawn) as ugly as his Mon- 
 keys, and as deformed as the Monfters that 
 are placed about him, he would be thought 
 either a very ignorant Perfon, or a very 
 bold one, to fet himfelf againft the common 
 1 5 and 
 
ijZ An ESSAY upon 
 
 and received Tradition. But neverthelefs 
 he would be very much in the Rights 
 'Tis furprizing how this Notion of 
 Uglinefs has prevailed, and gained ground 
 in the World ; and upon what Founda- 
 tion ? Wlw, upon the Credit of ^lanudesy 
 ■whole Life of this Mythologift (as Dr. 
 Bentley has juftly obferved) is a Book that 
 cannot perhaps be matched in any Lan- 
 guage for Ignorance and Nonfenfe ;■ upon 
 the Report of a flupid Greek Monk, a 
 Writer of no manner of Faith and Credit, 
 who for two or three real Fadts that he 
 gives, flings in at leaft ten Falfehoods and 
 Abfurdities of his own, and who muft 
 have had this Account of ^fop's Uglinefs 
 by a Dream, Vifion, or Revelation, lihce 
 there is not one Writer for the Space of 
 two thoufand Years (which is the Time 
 between him and Blanudes) diat hath faid 
 one Angle Word or Syllable about it. 
 The very Learned Man I have juft now 
 quoted, has brought fufficient Objedtions 
 to bafflle and overthrow the Credit of this 
 fabulous Writer j as his giving the Title 
 of Philolbpher to Xanthus^ a Name which 
 was not known ’till long after in the Time 
 of ^ythagorasy and his making this ima-. 
 ginary Philofopher attended, like ^lato and 
 Arijiothy with Scholars whom he calls 
 a Word not ufed in that Senfe 
 even in the days of Arijlotk himfelf I 
 
w 
 
 Poetry Painting. 179 
 
 beg leave to add one Circumftance more^ 
 which I wonder was overlooked by Dr. 
 Bentley^ becaufe it fo diredly belongs to 
 this Place, and fo nearly concerns the 
 Point in C^eftion, the Uglinels of 
 ^lanudes faith, that when Xanthus^ who 
 had purchafed j^fop as his Slave, brought 
 him home to his Wife, Ihe fell into a 
 violent Paflion at the feeing fo frightful 
 and monftrous a Creature. Then he puts 
 this fine Speech in the Mouth of the 
 Slave. You* only wifli that the Philo- 
 fbpher had bought you a young Man 
 handfbme, vigorous, and finely dreffed,, 
 to fee you naked in your Bath, to divert 
 himfelf with you, and to difhonour your 
 Husband ; Oh Euripides^ thine was &. 
 Golden Mouth that could utter fb true 
 a Saying. Then he makes him quote a 
 Paffage out of one of Euripidesh Plays,, 
 where he inveighs and declaims againfl 
 the Sex. Whereas he muft needs know f , 
 or (if he did not) muft be very ignorant, 
 that this Tragick Poet did not live ’till 
 about an hundred Years after, and fo could 
 
 c? J^icr'TT.QivdL tSp (pthoo’QZov ci!yiurAcrSa.f 
 
 CQi vkovy oi 
 
 yv^uvriv <ri rS ^ctAccyeii^ ait (roi 
 
 rrcti^eiv rd ct)‘xyvv.y t? ptAococis. H EJp/T;J'w,. 
 
 ri ^oua T<na.VTct Atycoy. 
 
 Plauucies in vita iEfopk 
 
 •f Vid. Bail, Art, 
 
 id 
 
 act 
 
iSo ^Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 not poffibly have been quoted hy JEfop. 
 Now, Sir, a Man that hath Ignorance or 
 Impudence enough to invent fuch a 
 Speech, and put it boldly into the Mouth 
 oi his Heroe, will not I believe flick at 
 any other Forgeries, and cannot defer ve 
 any Manner of Credit. Be pleafed to add 
 to this the Silence of all the antient Writers 
 as to this Particular. Can it be imagined 
 that Plutanhy P ha dr us ^ Jgathias ^ nay 
 ^ Philojiratus himfelf, who, in his Gallery 
 of Pictures, introduces j^fopy with all his 
 Animals about him, fmiling, and looking 
 towards the Ground in a Poflure of 
 Thought ^ can it, I fay, be imagined that 
 none of thefe Writers fhould take any 
 Manner of Notice of this very remark- 
 able Deformity, upon which fo many Fa6ls 
 \x\Planudes\Kcco\xvA do entirely depend ? 
 Thefe Authors give us a very different 
 Notion of him. They reprefent him as 
 a Courtier, Favourite, and Counfellor to 
 Crocfus who employed him in feveral Mel- 
 fages and EmbalHes abroad. \(Pbadrus 
 
 ^ Dr. Bentley, 
 
 f iEfopo ingentcm ftatuam pofuere Attiet, 
 
 ServHtnque collo cArunt &terna in 
 Tatere Honoris fcirent ut cmctis viam, 
 liec generi trihui^fed virtuti, gloriam, 
 
 Phsedri /. 2 . EpJt^ 
 
 Mr. Spmiheim and D. Bentley corredi the Paflagethus: 
 AEfopi Ingenio y which feems to be the true Reading, and 
 to agree better with the Senfe of the Poet. 
 
 relates, 
 
Poetry and Pa i n t i n g. i 8 i 
 
 relates, that after his Death Athenians 
 erected a Statue to his Honour, which 
 (as another * * Writer informs us) was done 
 by no lels a Hand than that of LyJjppuSy 
 the only Artift that Alexander would per- 
 mit to reprefent his Perfon. Thb Statue 
 of Mfop the Athenians placed before thofe 
 of the fevenWifeMen, as preferring his eafy 
 and natural Way, of conveying Virtue and 
 Morality, to all the dryRules and Precepts 
 of thofe Philofbphers. And this Particular 
 of the Statue feems of itfelf fufficient to 
 confute the Tradition. For had AB.fop 
 been that Monfter of Deformity, as ^la- 
 nudes hath deferibed him, a Statue at full 
 Length would rather have been a Satyr 
 or a Lampoon, than an Honour and Com- 
 pliment to him. T'is reported of CatOy 
 that when he was offered a Statue to be 
 railed to his Memory, he modellly declined 
 and refufed it, faying, that he had rather 
 have the World ask why Cato had no 
 Statue, than why there had been one 
 ereded to his MeP^ory. If the Cafe of 
 ^fop had been as this fabulous Writer has 
 reprefented it, the lafl of thefe Queftions 
 
 ^ Statu A ejus auEhrem fuijfe nohllijjimum ilium flatu- 
 nrmm Lyfippum ( a quo folo fe fingi njeUe dixit Alexander 
 Magnus) difetmus ex Epigram, Agathia Scholafiici, qui 
 
 *vixit Avo Imperatoris Jullinians, V.’AnthoIog. Lib. 4. 
 Tit. Ritterhufius in Ph^dium. 
 
 would 
 
1^2 Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 would have certainly been asked. What 
 Necellity (would they have laid) was there 
 for this Statue ? What need was there 
 to dilplay lb much Deformity, in a Perfon 
 they lb much relpebled and efteemed ? 
 Was there no other Way for the Jthe- 
 mans to exprels their Love and Gratitude 
 to a^fopy and to perpetuate his Memory ? 
 No doubt there was. This might have 
 been done by fome Monument, Pillar^ or 
 Pyramid, or Infcription, or by ereding 
 a publick Building to his Memory, as the 
 People of Smyrna did their Komeraum to 
 the Honour of their Countryman Homer: 
 Whereas fuch a Statue as this would only 
 have lerved to raife Scorn and Contempt, 
 and to expofe him to the Jell and Ridicule 
 of Pofterity. This I hope. Sir, will fuf* 
 
 - lice to Ihew that the Account of ^Parm^ 
 des is all Fidion and Forgery. But this 
 has been fo plainly made out by the great 
 Dr. Bentley^ who never fails to fet in the 
 truefl: and clearpfl' Light whatfoever he 
 takes in Hand, that I Ihall fay no more 
 of it here, but -fOr Satisfadlon refer you 
 to the Diflertation itfelf I lhall only add ' 
 here, that it were to be wilhed that fome 
 great Artift would delpife this grbundlels 
 vulgar Notion, oppofc fuch a fenfelefi and 
 ridiculous Tradition, do Juftice to this 
 great Man, and reprefent him in a more 
 fuitable and becoming Manner, and as he 
 
! 
 
 I 
 
 Po E TRY Painting. 185 
 
 ife defcribed by the beft Hiftorians; I 
 mean like a Philofopher, a Courtier, a 
 a Counfellor, and like a Favourite to a 
 great and mighty Prince. Thefe Remarks 
 and Reflections I could not refufe 
 in Jufticc and Gratitude to who,. 
 
 I own, was my firft Mailer of Mo- 
 rality, whom I have often read with 
 great Pleafure and Delight ; who is lb 
 wonderfully happy in his Images and Ex- 
 amples, and has lb judicioufly joined the 
 Utile with the Duke^ that few Books in 
 the World are more fit to inllill Virtue,, 
 and Morality, and to expofe and dif- 
 courage Vice ; more proper to divert and 
 inftrud: the Young, and alfo to pleafe-and 
 entertain the Old. 
 
 (A N 
 
A N 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 CONCERNING. 
 
 OBSCENITY 
 
 I N 
 
 Poetry and Painting. 
 
 Have taken no Notice, in 
 the Courfe of this Eflay, of an- 
 other Kind of Liberty which 
 Painters and Poets have too 
 often taken, and which may 
 be called Licentious in the highdl Senfe 
 of the Word ; I mean that of Sullying 
 their Pieces with Lewdnefs and Obfcenity. 
 That fuch Licences as thefe are highly 
 
 vicious 
 
Poetry Painting. 185 
 
 vicious and blameable, will not, I believe, 
 be denied by any that have the leaft Senfe 
 and Regard for Virtue and Morality. 
 Sure none but profligate and abandoned 
 Wretches, that have loll all Senfc of 
 Shame and Modelly, can patronize and 
 jullify fuch linful Liberties. Thofe Ar- 
 tifts, whether Painters or Poets, that go 
 about thus to corrupt and to debauch 
 Mankind, and (as if Men’s Paflions were 
 not loofe and vicious enough of them- 
 felves) endeavour to heighten and inflame 
 them, and, by their loofe Performances, 
 thus add Fuel to the Fire, cannot be 
 looked upon otherwife than as Agents of 
 Darknefs, and Pelts and Nufances of Man- 
 kind ; and, as fuch, ought to fall under 
 the Lalh and Prolecution of the Ma- 
 giftrate, as the Corrupters of Publicfc 
 Honelly, and open and declared Enemies 
 to Virtue and Religion. Yet it mull 
 be confelled, that Poets and Painters have 
 gone very great Lengths in thefe linful 
 Liberties ; and that thole two Noble Arts, 
 that were defigned and intended to adorn 
 Religion, to beautify the Temples, and to 
 celebrate the Memories of great and illuftri- 
 ous Men, have often been proftituted to the 
 vilell and the moll Ihameful Ends. 
 
 The firft Inllance we meet with of this 
 Kind among the Painters is that of ^ar- 
 rhajjusy who lived in the Age of Socrates. 
 
 So 
 
1^6 An ESSAY upon 
 
 So early did thefe vicious Liberties infe6l: 
 and fully this noble Art. Parrhajius was 
 one of the greateft Painters of his Time, 
 and is mentioned by Horace as very emi- 
 nent in his Profeffion. He applied him- 
 felf carefully to the Delign, which is the 
 Life and Soul of Painting ; and, by an ex- 
 n6t Obfervation of the Symmetry and Pro- 
 portion of Bodies, brought the Art to a 
 greater Perfection than it had attained be- 
 fore him. As he had an elevated Genius 
 and a fublime Fancy, his Excellency con- 
 iifted in painting Kings and Heroes, and 
 in drawing great and noble Subjects. By 
 thefe he gained immortal Honour and Re- 
 putation, which had been much greater, 
 if he had not fometimes debafed and de- 
 graded his noble Pencil with loofe and 
 lafeivious Pieces, 'f' Pliny faith, he ufed 
 to draw thefe by way of Paflime and Di- 
 verlion, when his more ferious Works 
 were over. A fad Paflime and wretched 
 Diverfion, which could only proceed from 
 
 * 'Divite me fcllicet artiumy 
 
 aut Parrhafius protulit, autScopas. L.4.0d.8.v,f. 
 f Fmxh ^ mtnoribm Tabell'ts libidines, eo genere petu* 
 Ittm’is Jcci fe reficiens. Plin. /. 
 
 Farrha/iique quoque TabuUm^ in quA Meleagro Ata^ 
 Imta ore morigeratur^ legmtam jibi fuh conditioner utfi ar* 
 gumento offenderetury decies pro ea HS acciperetr non tnodo 
 pr^tnlitf/ed in Cubiculo dedicavit (Tiberius), 
 
 Sucton. in Tiberio, c. 44. 
 
 a vicious 
 
Poetry and Painting. 187 
 
 a vicious and defiled * Imagination, and 
 which end in the corrupting and de- 
 bauching Mankind. This is juft the Di- 
 verfion of the Madman in the ^raverhs^ 
 who cafteth Firebrands, Arrows, and 
 Death, and faith, jlm I not in fprt ? Prov. 
 xxvi. ver. 18. This is actually calling 
 Firebrands about the World, to fire the 
 Hearts, to kindle the Lufts, and to raife 
 and inflame the Paflions. This, I dare 
 fay, ^arrhajtus had not learnt of his Ma- 
 iler Socrates^ who not only gave him Ad- 
 vices and Inftru6Hons for Painting, but 
 alfo Dire( 5 lions how to improve the Art, 
 to the encreafing of Virtue and Morality, 
 and to the Bettering and Reforming of 
 Mankind. 
 
 As Painting, like the other Arts, tra- 
 velled from Greece to Italy ^ fo did the A- 
 bules and Corruptions alfo. And thele 
 vicious Licences the Italian Painters car- 
 ried to fuch a Heighth, that they out-did 
 the Greeks their Matters j and that the 
 
 ♦ Mr. 'Berchet, an excellent Proteftant Painter, was of 
 a very different Principle. He had impofed a Law upon 
 himfelf, i. Never to reprefent the Godhead in a Pic- 
 ture. 2. Never to copy the Thoughts of another 
 Painter : And laftly, not to paint any thing that was 
 immodeft and obfcene. I am aiTured, by one that had 
 it from hjs own Mouth, that he refufed two hundred 
 Guineas, that were offered him, by a certain Lord 
 Imd, to draw Adi^m^s firft Enjoyment of Eve, 
 
 Poets 
 
1 88 E S S A Y upon f 
 
 Poets themfelves, (who are not generally ' 
 very fevere and fcrupiilous) blamed and^ ' 
 cenlured them for it, ^roperttusy fpeaking"^ 
 of the chafte and modeft Lives of the an-§ 
 tient PjomanSy faith, their * * * § Houfes were J 
 not fet out and adorned with lafcivious 
 Pieces, and that no .Crimes and Debauch- 
 eries were feen drawn and reprefented up-, 
 o;i their Walls. 
 
 in the time of j' yuvenalj this Spirit of 
 Loofenefs and Obfcenity was carried lb 
 far, that they drank in Cups and Glalles ^ 
 made in lewd Figures : Nay, their very^fi 
 Bread and Loaves were moulded in the | 
 lan)e filthy Shapes, as appears from ^ /k/br- p 
 tiah The Natural Hiflorian, whom I|| 
 have lb often quoted, gives a frightfur| 
 Chara6ler of the Corruption of the iio-T 
 mans in this Particular. “ ||, As if Men 1 
 « were not”, (faith he) “ naturally, prone |! 
 “ and enclinea enough to fiich lewd and | 
 “ vicious Fancies, we have found out a | 
 
 * Non ijlts otim variabmt TeHa Tigurh ; . 
 
 Turn Paries nullo Crimine ft^us erat. }, 
 
 L.2. Eleg.f. I 
 
 f Vitreo bibit tlU Priapo. Juv. Sat. z. V, 92 . ^ 
 
 § Si vis ejfe fatur, noftrum potes ejfe Priapum ; a 
 
 Jpfa licet todas Inguina, purus eris. . S 
 
 Mart. L. 14. v. 6^. Ti 
 11 Didicit Homo naturam provocare, auxere ^ artesVi- j 
 tioYum irrit ament ay in pocuUs libidines edare juvity ac per -i 
 obfimitates iibere. L. 33. fub Init. 
 
 a Way i 
 
Poetry and Painting. 189 
 
 way to inflame Nature, and to render 
 “ the Arts ^ themfelves Provocatives to 
 Luft. It is now become a Pleafure to 
 have lewd Figures wrought upon our 
 “ Gups, and to drink through Oblceni- 
 “ ties themfelves”. The fame Writer, in 
 another Place, inveighs againft the Lewd- 
 nefs and Wantonnefs of his Time, in this 
 Manner ; * How many are' they ”, (faith 
 
 he) “ who in their Feafts ufe no other 
 “ Cups, but what are made in loofe and 
 oblcene Shapes, as if Drunkennefs was 
 “ not a fufficient Provocative, and did 
 not incite Men enough to Lewdnels and 
 << Debauchery ? ” When Painting had, 
 for fome Ages, been loll and buried in 
 the World, as it Iprang up again in J- 
 taly^ lb the Abufes of it, like vicious 
 Weeds, Ihot up \ and, to the eternal Shame 
 of that Age be it Ipoken, towards the 
 Beginning of the fixteenth Century, there 
 was a Kind of Con tell, and a Trial of 
 Skill between the two Siller- Arts, which 
 Ihould exceed each other in Oblcenity 
 and Lewdnels. ‘‘ It was ”, (faith a very 
 judicious Writer) “ about the Year 15a j, 
 that Giulio Romano^ the moll celebrated 
 Painter of his Time, inlligated by the 
 “ Enemy of Mankind, invented twenty 
 
 Vafa Adukertjs cdata, tanquam per fe parum doceat 
 hbidines TemnleuM, Idem L. 14. C. 22. 
 
 “ Deligns, 
 
ipo Jn ESSAY upon 
 
 “ Defigns, whofe Subjects were fb fcan- 
 ‘‘ daloufly lewd, that they cannot be mo- 
 deftly named : And Peter Aretine^ in- 
 ‘‘ famous for his Impiety and Infidelity, 
 compofed as many Sonnets, to be placed 
 under them, to illuftrate and explain 
 “ them George Vafari, who relates this 
 in his Lives of the Painters, * faith, “ It 
 was hard to telt which was moft lewd 
 and filthy, the Seeing the Pidures of the 
 “ Painter, or Reading the Verfes of the 
 “ Poet”. Giiiiio Romatjo had certainly 
 been put to Death by the Pope, if he had 
 not fled from Rome, and Iheltered himfelf 
 in Mantua. But that the Poifon might 
 not flop there, Marc Antonio of Bologna, 
 a famous Engraver, had the Impudence 
 to take off Prints of thele obfcene Po- 
 ftures ; for which he was caft into Prifon 
 by Pope Clement VII ; and though he was 
 releafed at the Intercelfion of Cardinal 
 Medicis, yet when Charles V. plundered 
 P.ome, he loft all he had in the World, 
 and died a miferable Vagrant. But as 
 this ftiameful Abufe of Painting, upon the 
 Revival of that Art, firft began and fpread 
 in Italy, fo, God be thanked, it has been 
 pretty much confined there ; and, in a great 
 
 * lo non fo qualche fojfe piu brutto, o lo Spettp.colo de i 
 defegnl di G'tulw aV Occhio^ o le Parole delV Aretmo alle 
 Orecchie, Vitc di Pittori di Vafari, Part. 3. p. 302. 
 
 Meafure, 
 
Poetry and Painting, i gi 
 
 Meafure kept within the Confines of the 
 Jlpsy as being moft agreeable to the Ge- 
 nius and * Temper ot that People : For 
 it is chiefly from thofe Parts, and par- 
 ticularly from Venice y that thole loofe and 
 immodeft Pieces are conveyed to the other 
 Parts of the World. But what Chaftity 
 and Modefty can be expedled from the 
 People, when Popes and Cardinals, Pre- 
 lates and Ecclefiafticks, that call them- 
 felves Princes of the Church, and Suc- 
 ceflbrs of Chrift and his ApofUes, in- 
 dulge themfelves in thele, and give lb 
 fcandalous an Example to the Laity. 
 There is hardly a Cardinal’s Palace at 
 Rome but what is an Inllance of this. The 
 Palazzo Farneze in particular, which is 
 adorned with all the Obfcenities of the 
 Heathen Gods, the Loves of yupiter-y 
 MarSy VenuSy and Ganymedey and other 
 
 * An Italian feeing, in F. Montfaucords Antiquities, 
 the Figure of PrJapus with a Leaf upon his Nakednefs, 
 was very angry at the Sight j and, in this Manner, ex- 
 preffed his Indignation : Mi maraviglio chi* anno cajlrato 
 in quefio Liiro, anche quel Dio the no -do^eva ejferlo, 
 perche jquefta parte, -che non ci vedUy e la piu Caratterif- 
 tica di Priapo. Ora fi puo dire che avenuto quelche to^ 
 meva in Briapo dell* Antichit a quando parlava cvji. 
 
 Credere quis pofTit, 
 
 ^uejli Priapi Prancefi no Jono piu di mio Gu/lo, ch*un 
 Marti fenz^a Spada. 
 
 Bibi. Anc. 8c Mod. Tom. 15. p. 38. 
 
 Ihameful 
 
t gi Jn "ES S h.Y upon 
 
 fliameful Nudities, done by the famous 
 Caracciy are a convincing Proof of what 
 I here aflert. 
 
 ^lid PopuU fact ant, audet cum talia Praful ? 
 
 It cannot indeed be denied, but Ibme 
 Oltramontane Artills, and Painters of other 
 Nations, have ventured into theft vicious 
 Liberties. Nay, fome of them have 
 grafted the Profane upon the Licentious, 
 and repreftnted even Scripture Hiftories, 
 after the moft immodeft and ftandalous 
 Manner. Nothing can be more Ihocking 
 and obftene, than the Figure of ^oti- 
 pharos Wife, when fhe attempts the Cha- 
 ftity of fofeph, done by Kymhrands. I 
 have ften a Pi(^ure of Lot's Inceft with 
 his Daughters, by a Pkmijh Painter, where 
 the Figures are fo lewd and laftivious, 
 that, as the Poet faith, 
 
 ■ His accendi jam frigtdus avo 
 
 Laomedontiades pojjtt. 
 
 Juv. Sat. 6. V. 323. 
 
 But what is Hill of a worft Conftquence 
 is, that this Spirit of Lewdnefs has crept 
 into the very Cuts and * Prints of the Bi- 
 ble, which are chiefly defigned for the 
 
 * Of this Kind are the Figures of Romain de Hogue^ 
 for the Hiftory of the Bible of Mr, Bajhage, in Folio. 
 
 Inftruition 
 
Poetry and Painting. 193 
 
 Inftrudion of Children and of Youth. 
 What Licence can be more pernicious ? 
 What can be more dangerous, than to 
 cxpofe fuch Indecencies to the Eyes of 
 young People, which may rather fcrve to 
 corrupt and debauch, than to inftrudt and 
 improve them ? Is riot this beginning 
 their Corruption betimes ? Is not this in- 
 fufing Poifon into their very Milk, and, 
 inftead of wholelbme Food, giving a 
 Child a Scorpion ? The Greeks indeed 
 (as * ^liny obferves) never clothed any 
 of their Figures ; and this is plain from 
 the Antiques that now remain. But 
 lhall this be made a Pattern for the pre- 
 fent Age, for an Age of Chriftianity ? 
 Is it not the Height of Immodefty, to 
 treat the facred Hiftories in the fame loole 
 and indecent Manner, as the Greeks did 
 the Heathen ones, about two thoufand 
 Years ago? 
 
 But the Poets, as I have already ob- 
 ferved, have not in the leaft been behind- 
 hand with the Painters in thefe loofe and 
 vicious Licences. In thefe, it mull be con- 
 feffed, they have had, like the others, the 
 Antients for their Models. It cannot be 
 denied, but that the Greek and Roman 
 
 * Grua Res eft nihil ueUre. Plin. Nat. Hift, 
 
 K 
 
 Writers 
 
Tp4 ESSAY upon 
 
 Writers have been exceflively guilty of 
 this, have taken very large Liberties of 
 this kind, and * fcattered Abundance of 
 Loofenefsand obfcene Thoughts and^x- 
 preflions in their Works. But fure this 
 can be no Excufe and Apology for the 
 Writers of the prefent Age. That be- 
 comes highly Criminal in them, which 
 might, in fome Meafure, be tolerated 
 and excufed in the Heathen Authors. 
 They wanted that Light and Knowledge 
 which the prefent Age enjoys, and they 
 were fo far from being under any Re- 
 flraint in this Particular, that Obfcenities 
 were, in fome meafure, Part of their Re- 
 ligion, interwoven with their Theology, 
 and, as it were, infeparable from their 
 moft facred ^ Myfteries. What elfe in- 
 deed could be expeded from the Wor- 
 
 ♦ But the late Editors of the Delphin Cla(Scks have 
 found a way to remedy this Inconveniency. For, under 
 the Notion of Caftrating thofe Authors, they have heaped 
 all the Rubifh together, and by flinging all the Filth at 
 the End of the Volume, have faved the Readers, who de- 
 light in luch fulfome Stuff, the Trouble of looking for 
 the Obfcenities, which they find all together readily col- 
 lefted to their Hands. 
 
 -f The Reader may find a Proof of this, in Clem, 
 jilex. of Potter's Edition, Oxon pag. 17, and 53; and in 
 the AthenAHs Ediiion^ Lugd. 1612, pag. 647 i which 
 Quotations are fo very fulfome, that I will not fhock 
 his Eyes, nor fully my Paper with them. 
 
 Ihipers 
 
P O E T RY P A I N T I N G. ip5 
 
 fhipers of * Jupiter^ who is every where 
 reprefented in their Mythology, as aloofe, 
 adulterous, and inceftous Being? What 
 Purity and Chaftity could be required 
 from the Votaries of a Floraj or a Venus ? 
 If the Obfervation of f Seneca holds true, 
 ^hat he •worjbips the Gods heji^ that imi- 
 tates them the mcji^ then fure the loofeil: 
 and moft debauched Perlbns, the moft no- 
 torious Adulterers and Fornicators, were 
 the moft zealous Votaries, and the moft 
 pleafing and acceptable Worlhipers of 
 their Deities. But for Chriftians, that en- 
 joy fb great and fo divine a Light, that 
 call themfelves the Followers and Difci- 
 ples of the moft pure and moft innocent 
 Mafter, that profcfs a Religion that re- 
 quires the ftridteft Chaftity, that not only 
 forbids and abhorrs fuch Impurities, but 
 
 * Thus the young Man in Terence^ who was tempted 
 to ravifli a Virgin committed to his Care, felt at firft 
 fbme Scruples, ifome Check and Reftraint upon himfelf; 
 But when he faw a Picture in the Room, vrhtrt Jupiter 
 was drawn defeending in a golden Showier to Danae, he 
 baniihed all his Scruples ; faying to himfelf, Shall!, who 
 am but a poor inronfiderable Creature, fcriiplc to do that 
 which Jupiter^ the Sovereign God, who ihakes the Hea* 
 vens with his Thunder, has himfelr pra6!i{ed before 
 me ? This Tnftance, by the way, may alio ferve to fliew 
 what a bad Influence lafeivious Pidfures of the Heathen 
 Gods had upon the Morali ‘of the Antients> 
 
 f Optime Decs coluit qui/quis Imitatus efi. Sencc. 
 
 % detefts 
 
ip5 Jn ESSAY upon I 
 
 detefts the very Thoughts and Conccp- | 
 tions of them ; for fuch as thcfe, I fay, | 
 to indulge themfelves in thofc vicious i 
 Licences, and thus boldly to fet up for I 
 Debauchers and Corrupters of Mankind, 
 is a Crime of fo high a Nature as wants 
 a Name to exprefs it, and which no Plea 
 in the World can juftify and cxcufe. 
 This is an Offence againft God and Re- 
 ligion, againfl: Virtue and Morality, a- 
 gainft Decency and good Manners, and 
 even againft the very End and Defign of 
 Poetry ; which, if they will believe * f/o- 
 race the great Mafter of the Art, was 
 defigned to take off youthful Minds from i 
 loofo and obfcene Diicourfes. But whilft , 
 lam fpeaking of obfcene Writers, I would .1 
 not be thought to mean only fuch as have 4 
 dealt in the very loweft way, in down- 
 right Filth and barefaced Ribaldry, that 
 have expreffed themfelves in the Lan- 
 guage of a Porter’s Ward, or the Dialedt 
 of the Stews ; which will rather make one 
 blulh, turn the Stomach, and raife the In- 
 dignation of thofe that have the leaft Share 
 of Modefty left : I beg leave to go fur- 
 
 ^ Os tenetHtn Tueri bMumque Poet a figurat : 
 
 Torquet ab obfcoenis j^m nunc fermombus Aurem^ 
 
 Mox etiam pe^us precept is for mat a Am'scis* 
 
 Hor. Ep. L. ii. Ep. i, V. l^6. 
 
 ther, 
 
Poetry and' a i n t i n g. rpx 
 
 ther, and to include, in the Cenfure, even 
 thofe Poets that have been nioft wary and 
 cautious, that have conveyed their Ob- 
 fcenities in the moft cunning and artful 
 Manner, and have clothed their lafcivious 
 Thoughts, in the moft clean and decent 
 Drefs. Such palliating and difguifing, is 
 fo tar from mending the Matter, that it 
 may fometimes do more Hurt than down- 
 right Obfcenities. A Poitbn is not the 
 lels hurtful and pernicious for being fubtle 
 and almoft imperceptible- The Tweeter 
 and pleaianter the Draught and Vehicle 
 is, the more readily does the Poifon go 
 down. A witty Allulion, an ingenious 
 double Entendre,, a Tale gracefully and 
 pleafantly told, may fully the Imagination, 
 and more effe<Stually convey the Poifon 
 than the moft barefaced and fullbme 
 T erms. People are on their Guard againft, 
 that which lo openly fhocks their Mo- 
 deft}^ : But thcfe fofter Conveyances in- 
 fenfibly fteal in, and by Degrees, make 
 their Way to the Heart. The Pieces I 
 mean, and which I bring under this Cen- 
 fure, arc Mr. La Fontaines Talcs, fomc 
 of Mr. Prior% and the Entertainments of' 
 a loofe and corrupted Stage. I will nor {^yy 
 with a late warm * Writer,, that the Stage 
 
 K 5. b- 
 
 ^ Mt, Law* 
 
I 
 
 ip8 ESSAY upon ' 
 
 is abfolutely unlawful, that the Play-houfe ■ 
 is the Temple of the Devil, the peculiar 
 Pleafure of the Devil, where all Laughter | 
 is among Devils ; becaufe I am convinced f 
 the Matter is not fo frightful and criminal 
 as this Gentleman has been pleafed to make 
 it : That, on the contrary, the Stage, un- 
 der due and proper Regulations, may be 
 made fubfervient to Advancing of Virtue, 
 and the Infpiring the nobleft Sentiments, 
 and may be rendered * conducive to the . 
 moll excellent Ends. But under the pre- 
 fent Management and Diredlion, when i 
 Farquhar's loofe Gompolitions, loofe in- 
 deed in every RelpeCT, and which have ^ 
 nothing but the lowell Humour, and 
 Lewdnels and Oblcenities f;o recommend • 
 
 * If the Theatre was (hut up, and the Stage wholly : 
 filenced and fupprclTed, (which I take to be the Scheme " 
 of this angry Writerj, I believe the World, as bad as it 
 is now, would be ten times more wicked and debauched. 
 This was once the very Cafe at Milan i when Charles . 
 £orromA$ took PofleflTion of that Archbiihoprick, He 
 out of Abundance of JZeal and Severity, (hut up the Play- 
 houfe, and expelled the Players, Strollers, and Minftrels, 
 as Debauchefs and Corrupters of Maidcind. But he foon I 
 had reafon to alter his Opinion j for he found that the | 
 People, for Want of that Amufement and Diverlion, 1 
 ran into all Manner of Excefs, and committed horrid I 
 Crimes, to pafs away the Time, that lay fo heavy upon f 
 their Hands. So he repealed his Edift, recalled the ba- i 
 nilhed Players, and granted a free Ufe and Liberty of * 
 the Stage. - , 
 
 . them ; • 
 
Po ETRY P A INT I NG. igg 
 
 them ; where fuch Performances as theft, 
 and other of the fame Nature, are every 
 Day a6tcd and received with univerfal Ap- 
 plauft. I believe Sir, you will agree with 
 me, that the Theatre is not now the beft 
 School of Virtue and Morality in the 
 VV^orld. The great Approbation and pro- 
 digious Run which fome late Entertain- 
 fnents have met with from the Town, are 
 fufficient to fliow at what an Ebb the Na- 
 tion is at prefent for Morality and Wit. 
 How vaftly different from theft Writers 
 was the late excellent Mr. Addifon^ who 
 employed his fine Talents, and nis elegant 
 Way of Writing, to the beft and nobleft 
 Ufe, to the Support and Encouragement 
 of Religion, and to the Defence of Vir- 
 tue and Morality. As long, therefore, as 
 theft flourifh and profper in the World, 
 the Memory of this Writer will be pre- 
 cious in the Eyes of all good and vir- 
 tuous Men, and his Name will be had in 
 cverlafting Remembrance. I cannot part 
 with this Subject, without taking Notice 
 of a very extraordinary Phsenoraenon of 
 this Kind ; I mean of obfeene Poetry, 
 which has lately appeared upon.Pi^m^ 
 fus^ I mean the famous Monlieur Kouf- 
 feau^ whoft Works are, I think, intituled 
 Oeuvres MeUes^ Or, Mifcellatiies : If they 
 are not fo called, I am- fare they ought to 
 
200 Jn ESSAY upon | 
 
 be fo ; for never was fuch an odd Medley ^ 
 or Milcellany feen before -in the World. 5 
 Such a Mixture and Contraft of Virtue 
 and Vice, of Piety and Lewdnefs, of De- / 
 votion and Obfcenities, was, I dare fay, 
 never feen before under the Cover of one 
 fingle Book. It is hard to conceive how 
 Thoughts, Ideas, and Expreffions as re- 
 and inconfiftent as Light and 
 
 fame Head, and dropt from the fame Pen.. 
 In one Page you read a divine Hymn to 
 the Almighty, which tranfports and ra- 
 ^ viflies the Soul ; in the next, you find a 
 loofe obfoene Epigram, which mull Ihock 
 the Imagination, and raifo the Indigna- 
 tion of every Reader that has not loft all 
 Modefty and Shame. Here you have a 
 Paraphrafe of one of David's Pfalms, e- 
 qual, if not fuperiour to fome oiBuchanafiy 
 the greateft Genius,, and fineft Poet fincethe 
 jiugufl^ean Age. There you meet with an 
 impious and profane Jeft upon the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptifm,. lewd and obfoene enough 
 to draw Blulhes from a common Profti- 
 tute. Thus the Thoughts of ' a Reader, 
 in the Twinkling of an Eye, are carried 
 up to Heaven, and down again to the 
 Deep. For thefe his loofe and fcandalons 
 Writings, and for the Satyrs he had writ- 
 ten againft fome great Men, the Author 
 
 fiiould have fprung from the 
 
 was 
 
Po ETRY Painting. 201 
 
 was obliged to fly his Country, where 
 his Poems were cenfured and fupprefled. 
 But as we have a better Tafte, and a 
 more refined and elegant Fancy, he was 
 received with great Applaufe in this Na- 
 tion, and his Works, with large Subferip- 
 tions, were committed to Prels. The 
 bell Advice I conceive (next to a thorough 
 Reformation ) can be given to this Gen- 
 tleman is, That for the future he would 
 be more Uniform, and of a Piece ^ that he 
 would no more handle lacred Things with 
 his defiled and polluted Hands, and lea- 
 ving off all holy Subjedls, would entirely 
 confine himfelf to his loofo and obfeene 
 Writings j fince, by adling otherwile, he 
 certainly contrails a double Guilt, and to 
 his Filthinefs and Lewdnefs, adds a vi- 
 lible Scorn and Contempt of Religion. 
 But as he is Hill alive, it is rather to be 
 hoped he may foe his Errours and Fol- 
 lies, and^ correil and amend them ; that 
 as he has followed * Arettne in his Guilt, 
 
 * This Writer at laft changed his Life and his very 
 Name,^|nd applied himfelf to Works of Devotion with 
 fuch SdCcefs, in the Writings of Parfenio Etlro, the 
 Name he took, that it is not poffible (faith Mr. BaiUet) 
 to difeern any Footfteps of the old Man, that are fo deep- 
 ly printed in the Works of Pietro Aretino, 
 
 Bailletjug. fur les Poetes, Tom. i.p- 133* 
 
 he 
 
202 jin ESSAY, &c. 
 
 he may alfo imitate him in his Repen- 
 tance, and not find at laft by a fad Ex- 
 perience, 
 
 Dapo hreve Canto Lacrime eterne. 
 After Ihort finging, everlafting Tears, 
 
■ \ 
 

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