Sax s 
 
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 ilirlm ^^inTaft. 
 
 Ulrich Middeldorf 
 
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 ■\ i \ :\ 
 
 
 
LECTUKES 
 
 ON 
 
 SCULPTFEB, 
 
 AS DELIVERED BEFORE THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE 
 ROYAL ACADEMY. 
 
 BV 
 
 JOHIS FLAXMAN, Esq. R.A. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF SCULPTURE IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF GREAT BRITAIN, 
 MEMBER OF THE ACADEMIES OF ST. LUKE, ROME, 
 
 FLORENCE, CARRARA, &C. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE NOW FIRST ADDED, 
 
 AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE, AND TWO ADDRESSES TO THE 
 ROYAL ACADEMY, ON THE DEATH OF TPIOMAS BANKS, 
 
 IN 1805, AND OF ANTONIO CANOVA, IN 1822, 
 
 AND AN 
 
 ADDRESS ON THE DEATH OF FLAXMAN, 
 
 By sir RICHARD WESTMACOTT, R.A. 
 
 WITH FIFTY-TWO PLATES. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 MDCCCXXXVIII. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The former edition of Mr. Flaxman’s Lectures 
 having become very scarce, and the demand for it 
 continually increasing, the publisher has been in- 
 duced to undertake a new edition, which he is now 
 enabled to present with considerable additions, and 
 with the advantage of first impressions of the plates. 
 
 The plates are earlier impressions than those 
 before used, owing to the following circumstance. 
 After the letter-press of the first edition had been 
 printed oflF in royal octavo, it was discovered that 
 the lithographer had, by mistake, printed the plates 
 in demy octavo, which being a size too small, it 
 was deemed necessary to reprint them on paper of 
 the required dimensions. The first impressions 
 having been left on the hands of the printer, were 
 lately purchased from him on favourable terms, and 
 the public now partake of the benefit, in receiving 
 an improved edition at half the former price. 
 
 The additions are printed from the original 
 manuscripts, for the use of which the publisher is 
 indebted to the kindness of Miss Maria Denman, 
 the sister-in-law and executrix of Mr. Flaxman. 
 They are. 
 
 Introductory Lecture. 
 
 Oration on the Death of Thomas Banks. 
 
 Oration on the Death of Antonio Canova. 
 
iv 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The publisher has also the pleasure of publicly 
 rendering his thanks to Sir Richard Westmacott, 
 who, with the liberality commonly associated with 
 genius, has kindly permitted the following extracts 
 to be taken from his unpublished Oration on the 
 Death of Flaxman. 
 
 Extracts from Sir Richard Westmacotfs first 
 lecture, delivered at the Royal Academy, on his 
 succession to the Chair of Professor of Sculpture, 
 after the death of Flaxman : — 
 
 “ But, Gentlemen, I feel that I should be justly 
 accused of want of duty, and of inattention to the 
 Royal Academy, to you, and indeed to our national 
 glory, if I were to suffer this introduction to pass 
 without offering publicly that tribute to the memory 
 of your late lamented Professor which his great 
 talents so eminently call for. His works are before 
 the world ; and his excellencies and defects now 
 await that public decree which is to assign him his 
 just place in the Republic of Art. 
 
 “If to have procured esteem whilst living, and 
 to have rendered himself useful to his fellow- 
 labourers, both by his practice and the examples 
 he has left us, demand applause, few men have died 
 with stronger claims on posterity. 
 
 “ The chief qualities which distinguished him as 
 an artist were feeling and purity of style ; he was 
 skilled in the intellectual part of his art, and never 
 suffered unnecessary display to weaken the effect 
 of his conceptions ; emulous of fame, he sought it 
 
westmacott’s lecture. 
 
 V 
 
 on the unerring principles of the hest models of 
 antiquity, the only legitimate road hy which it could 
 he attained. His whole life was devoted to his pro- 
 fession ; he early habituated himself to the study 
 of nature, and few applied that study more suc- 
 cessfully, or directed his art more happily to 
 those appeals for which it is more particularly 
 suited ; none excelled him in the learning of 
 his art ; and from his study of the hest authors 
 of antiquity, his mind became stored with their 
 images, and imbued with their sentiment. During 
 his studies at Rome he produced those masterly 
 illustrations of Homer, Hesiod, and j^schylus, which 
 place him as the first Designer since the revival of 
 Sculpture ; these works evince a thorough know- 
 ledge of the principles of his art, and whether 
 considered for composition, and the laws which go- 
 vern it, for their acquaintance with the usages and 
 customs of the ancients, or for their erudition, 
 afibrd most valuable examples, and must always be 
 consulted with advantage. 
 
 “In a very short period classical sculpture has 
 been deprived of two of its brightest supports, and 
 you. Gentlemen, have lost a most able instructor; 
 hut neither Italy nor England, in deploring the 
 loss of Canova or Flaxman, can consider them 
 exclusive privations. All Europe justly claims the 
 kindred, and acknowledges the loss. 
 
 “ To Canova Italy owes her emancipation from 
 those false perceptions which had, from the influence 
 of the Bernini school, so long diverted the current 
 
T1 
 
 WESTMACOTT S LECTURE. 
 
 of pure taste. The evil was felt, but the genius 
 was wanting to establish the true style ; the works 
 which followed the Bernini school were powerless 
 imitations, without either character or decision, and 
 from their sameness were equally intolerable with 
 the fantastic conceits and exaggerations of the 
 former. 
 
 “ Canova’s Daedalus, though a youthful produc- 
 tion, shewed the value of attention to nature ; but 
 his statue of Theseus re-established sculpture on 
 its true basis, and he was hailed as the restorer of 
 legitimate art. 
 
 “ To riaxman the art owes equal obligation. 
 Banks had corrected the grosser impurities, and 
 successfully stemmed the torrent of false taste ; hut 
 Flaxman not only supported the purity of Sculpture, 
 but carried us within the dominion of Poetry, and 
 taught us its value in art ; he boldly passed the 
 harrier which had so long encircled sculpture, and 
 walked freely into the regions of invention. His 
 admiration of simplicity made him regard it in 
 whatever age or examples he discovered it, and 
 gave a general character of originality to his own 
 works, but which it must not he denied sometimes 
 carried him into too close a resemblance of the pro- 
 ductions of the earlier revivers of the art. 
 
 “ But the faults which may be imputed to him 
 are indeed no others than the excess of great and 
 acknowledged beauties ; such as a poetical imagi- 
 nation, a devoted admiration of purity, and a warm 
 and enthusiastic genius inspire. 
 
westmacott’s lecture. vii 
 
 “ In comparing and estimating artists who have 
 made the higher department of the profession their 
 study, we ought not to oppose them by forming a 
 judgment of the whole from any particular passages 
 in their works, but to consider their distinguish- 
 ing characters, and weigh the aggregate of their 
 respective qualities. 
 
 “No modern Sculptor has entered so deeply into 
 the recesses of ancient art as Flaxman ; his style was 
 founded upon their principles, combined with the 
 simplicity of the Pisani, and others of the fourteenth 
 century. ¥/hilst that of Canova was an union of 
 the ideal with Nature. The one attracts us by the 
 originality and sweetness of his invention, the other 
 delights us with a delicacy and beauty peculiar to 
 himself. Execution was with Flaxman subservient 
 to invention, whilst Canova suffered invention to be 
 subordinate, and seduces us by the luxuriance of 
 execution. Each equally felt what belonged to the 
 dignity of Art ; simple in their arrangements, spa- 
 ring in ornament, so that the eye should not be dis- 
 tracted by the pomp of extraneous or unnecessary 
 matter. 
 
 “We have two eminently successful examples in 
 Sepulchral Monuments by these Sculptors ; the one 
 to a Pope the other to a Judge, in which this prin- 
 ciple of feeling is obvious. The class of composi- 
 tion is the same ; both are pyramidal, the subject or 
 principal figure occupying the upper region or apex 
 of the triangle, the accessories forming the base : 
 here no more is done than is intended to convey to 
 
Vlll 
 
 WESTMACOTT S LECTURE. 
 
 the spectator the qualities which distinguished the 
 great men whose characters were proposed to be 
 recorded, and if we are arrested by the power and 
 freedom of execution in the principal statue, or by 
 the grace of the accessories in Ganganelli’s monu- 
 ment, we are not less charmed with the noble sim- 
 plicity and classical forms in that of Lord Mans- 
 field. 
 
 “ The most distinguished proof of Flaxman’s 
 powers in Heroical Composition, and the strongest 
 mark of his genius, may be discovered in the 
 colossal group of “St. Michael subduing Satan,” 
 now in the gallery of the Earl of Egremont at Pet- 
 worth, an attempt as successful as daring in colum- 
 nar grouping, and which afibrds an example of the 
 difficulties imposed not only by material, but by the 
 nature of the subject, being overcome without a 
 recourse to adventitious aid, by which the eye or 
 mind might be diverted from the impression pro- 
 posed, and is strictly within the limits enjoined by 
 Sculpture. I consider it indeed a work not less 
 skilful in the arrangement of its composition than 
 great in its conception. The Archangel is pro- 
 duced in the spirit of the art itself, his countenance 
 denotes a generous indignation tempered by angelic 
 nature ; there is an ardour and energy revolving 
 around him which might be supposed to influence 
 him in the execution of his Divine mission j we 
 want no type or wings, but at once admit his pre- 
 sence. The character of the whole is finely marked, 
 and possesses in the choice and structure of form, 
 
WESTMACOTT S LECTURE. 
 
 IX 
 
 and in the unity of expression and action, all the 
 ideal qualities appropriate to the exalted subject. 
 
 “ In the personification of Satan he has been not 
 less successful. Half monster and half man, with 
 all the characteristics of mighty stature and Titanic 
 strength, in the malignant subtlety and inflexibility 
 of purpose, in expression, and in the writhing action 
 of the demon, we see him evidently withheld by the 
 presence of a Divine power, in which he is no 
 longer able to sustain himself. 
 
 “ In alto, or basso-relievo, Flaxman, since the 
 revival of the art, stood pre-eminent. The illus- 
 trations from the Lord’s Prayer are fine examples 
 of his talents in the simply natural, and in the 
 heroic style in the former; whilst the latter is 
 powerfully displayed in the unrivalled Composition 
 of the Shield of Achilles. If examined as compo- 
 sitions by the test of analysis or separation, they 
 will bear the strictest scrutiny ; if contemplated for 
 the character each bears to the subject, we would 
 not desire more perfect harmony ; if regarded for 
 form, grace, and the taste which pervade the whole, 
 we may pronounce it a work worthy to be ranked 
 with the distinguished discoveries at Dodona.” 
 
 In a subsequent Lecture delivered by Sir Richard 
 Westmacott, at the Royal Academy, occurs the fol- 
 lowing passage relating to Flaxman. 
 
 “ But the greatest of modern sculptors was our 
 illustrious countryman, John Flaxman, who not 
 only had all the fine feeling of the ancient Greeks, 
 
X 
 
 westmacott’s lecture. 
 
 (which Canova in a degree possessed) but united to it 
 a readiness of invention, and a simplicity of design, 
 truly astonishing. Though Canova was his superior 
 in the manual part, high finishing, yet in the higher 
 qualities, poetical feeling and invention, Flaxman 
 was as superior to Canova, as Shakspeare to the 
 dramatists of his day.’^ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Memoir of the Author . Page 1 
 
 Address .... 17 
 
 Introduction ... 19 
 
 Lecture I. English Sculpture . . 31 
 
 ,, II. Egyptian Sculpture , . 52 
 
 ,, III. Grecian Sculpture . . 76 
 
 ,, IV. Science ... 99 
 
 ,, V. Beauty . . . 123 
 
 ,, VI. Composition . . , 140 
 
 „ VII. Style . . 165 
 
 „ VIII. Drapery . . . 195 
 
 „ IX. Ancient Art . . 212 
 
 „ X. Modern Art . . . , 237 
 
 Address on the Death of Thomas Banks . 271 
 
 Address on the Death of Canova . . 295 
 
^ 
 
 J? 
 
 :V 
 
A 
 
 BRIEF MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 The best history of the talents of an Artist is to be 
 found by the study of his principal Works; for in 
 those are usually displayed the qualities of his mind, 
 the nature of his studies, and the depth of his know- 
 ledge; and when the subjects are chosen by himself, 
 they are fair transcripts of his thoughts and affec- 
 tions, and present as true a reflex of his heart and 
 feelings, as a clear mirror would the features of his 
 face. Never was this’ more strongly exemplified 
 than in the present instance. Wherever in the 
 works of Flaxman are found the representations of 
 Wisdom, Magnanimity, Piety, or any of the Chris- 
 tian Virtues and Charities that exalt human nature, 
 they were the personifications of similar qualities in 
 himself. 
 
 This excellent man, and admirable artist, was 
 born on the 6th of July, 1755, in the city of York, 
 where his father at that time resided, but which he 
 quitted while his son was yet an infant. He very 
 early gave indications of that observation and love 
 for works of art, which distinguished him in maturer 
 life. One of the first instances was shown on the 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 coronation day of his Majesty George the Third. 
 His father was going to see the procession, and the 
 child begged very earnestly that he would bring one 
 of the medals which were to be thrown to the popu- 
 lace ; he was not fortunate enough to get one ; hut, 
 on his way home, happening to find a plated button 
 bearing the stamp of a horse and jockey, rather than 
 wholly disappoint his little boy, who then was in a 
 very delicate precarious state of health,* he ventured, 
 though unwillingly, to deceive him, and gave him 
 the button. The young virtuoso took it and was 
 thankful, but remarked, it was a very odd device 
 for a coronation medal. He was then five years 
 old; at this age he was fond of examining the 
 seals of every watch he saw, whether belonging 
 to friend, or stranger, and kept a bit of soft wax 
 ready to take an impression of any which pleased 
 him. These trivial circumstances are only men- 
 tioned to show how early he began the practice of 
 seizing every opportunity of improvement in his art, 
 and of acquiring any knowledge it was right for him 
 to possess ; indeed, it was a maxim of his, that “ we 
 never are too young or too old to become wiser or 
 better.” 
 
 While yet a child he made a great number of 
 small models, both in plaster-of-paris, wax, and clay ; 
 some of which are still preserved, and have consi- 
 derable merit, and were certainly promises of that 
 
 * A very short time previous to this, he had been so ill, that he 
 was supposed to be dead, and was laid out under that impression. 
 
OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 genius and talent which he faithfully kept in after- 
 years. 
 
 When he was about ten years of age, his health 
 had greatly improved ; and, though not strong, he 
 had become a lively active boy, with great enthusi- 
 asm of character, which chiefly displayed itself on 
 subjects of generosity, courage, and humanity : this 
 enthusiasm was called forth, in a peculiar and 
 somewhat diverting manner, by reading Don Quix- 
 ote. He was so much delighted with the amiable, 
 though eccentric hero, and with his account of the 
 duties and honourable perils of knight-errantry, 
 that he thought he could not do better than sally 
 forth, to right wrongs and redress grievances ; ac- 
 cordingly, one morning early, unknown to any one, 
 armed with a little French sword, (not better than a 
 toy) he set out, without a squire, in quest of adven- 
 tures which fortunately he did not find. 
 
 After wandering about Hyde Park the whole day 
 without meeting enchanter or distressed damsel, not 
 even a castle or drawbridge, he (being rather 
 hungry, and more ashamed of his romantic flight,) 
 returned home, where his unwonted absence had 
 caused great alarm to his parents, who had sought 
 and inquired fruitlessly for him till evening. He 
 never again emulated the exploits of the Knight, 
 though he always retained a great admiration of his 
 character. 
 
 He now modelled and drew most assiduously, but 
 never received more than two lessons from a master, 
 being hurt at having (according to rule) a drawing 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 of eyes only given him to copy, which having done, 
 V he showed them to Mr. Mortimer, a very clever 
 artist, who asked if they were flounders? this jest 
 not being at all encouraging, his father allowed him 
 to choose his examples, and pursue his studies in 
 his own way, which he did so successfully, that at 
 the age of eleven years and five months he gained 
 his first prize from the Society for the Encourage- 
 ment of Arts, &c. (which was the silver pallet,) for 
 a model. At thirteen he had another; and the fol- 
 lowing year was admitted a student at the Royal 
 Academy, then newly established ; and the same 
 year received their silver medal. 
 
 About this time he made an acquaintance equally 
 agreeable and serviceable ; it was with a very wor- 
 thy clergyman, whose wife was one of the most 
 highlv-gifted and elegant women of that day ; she 
 was the intimate associate of Mrs. Montague, Mrs. 
 Barbauld, Mrs. Chapone, Mrs. Brooke, &c. At 
 this house, where he was for many years a welcome 
 visitor, he passed frequent evenings in very enlight- 
 ened and delightful society; here he was encouraged 
 in studying the dead languages, so necessary to him 
 in his profession ; by acquiring these he learned to 
 think with the authors, and to embody the ideas of 
 Homer, Hesiod, and jEschylus, in a manner that 
 no modern artist has exceeded.* 
 
 ^ During his intimacy with this excellent family Mr. Flaxman 
 painted several pictures in oil ; one of which was sold at an auction 
 a short time since, the subject was “ CEdipus and Antigone, but 
 was ignorantly described in the catalogue as “ Belisarius by Domi- 
 nichino. 
 
OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 5 
 
 Amongst his other engagements in art, he was 
 much employed by Mr. Wedge wood, in modelling 
 for his manufactory ; and from the good taste and 
 persevering spirit of one, and the genius, ability, and 
 industry of the other, was produced that great im- 
 provement in every description of vase, dish, cup, 
 &c. whether for use or ornament, which has been 
 acknowledged throughout the civilized world. A 
 set of chessmen were the most beautiful things of 
 the kind ever produced. A very highly-finished 
 drawing of all the pieces, by Mr. Flaxman, is in the 
 possession of the Wedgewood family. 
 
 One of his most admired works, previous to his 
 going to Italy, was a beautiful group of Venus and 
 Cupid, which was executed for Mr. Knight, of Port- 
 land place ; another was a monument in Glocester 
 Cathedral to the memory of Mrs. Morley, who, with 
 her infant, died at sea; the mother and her hahe are 
 rising from the waves, and are received by descend- 
 ing angels ; it is an exquisite thing, full of that more 
 than mortal beauty so proper to the subject, and at 
 the same time affecting, from the sentiment and 
 expression of the composition. 
 
 In 1782 Mr. Flaxman married Miss Ann Den- 
 man, an amiable and accomplished woman, who ac- 
 companied him to Italy in I787. Fortunately his 
 wife possessed that intelligence of mind, and love of 
 art, that her society assisted, rather than impeded, 
 the progress of the Artist through the studies and 
 difficulties of his profession. 
 
 It was not known to any but Mr. Flaxman’s nearest 
 
6 
 
 A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 connexions, what circumstance determined him to 
 visit Rome. The fact was this: when Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds heard, from himself, that he was married, 
 he exclaimed, “ Oh, then you are ruined for an 
 artist!” This observation (which was really unwor- 
 thy of the man who uttered it) decided what had 
 hitherto been with him a question, whether he should 
 quit England and study for a time in Italy. He 
 was aware of the advantages attending it, and still 
 more convinced that it was considered by the world 
 as essential. He, therefore began to contemplate it 
 as a thing to he done, and commenced finishing the 
 works he had in hand, without undertaking others. 
 At length every thing was concluded, and knowing 
 that his pecuniary resources would allow him to go, 
 without imprudence, he resolved on an absence of 
 two years, a period he thought would be sufficient 
 for his purpose. But when two years had passed 
 away, he found that the business he had under- 
 taken* would not, as yet, permit him to leave Rome ; 
 and one engagement succeeded another, until the 
 intended absence of two years became seven. 
 
 Throughout this interesting journey, as well as 
 during his residence in Rome, Mr. Flaxman’s appli- 
 cation was incessant ; whether he was drawing from 
 the antique, or making studies from the living groups 
 and figures abounding in the venerable city and its 
 environs, each object, animate and inanimate, was 
 to him beautiful or noble and all-inspiring 5 no day 
 
 The large group for Lord Bristol. 
 
OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 7 
 
 was lost; and, except his health and strength failed, 
 no hour of the day was suffered to pass without some 
 improvement. Here he executed a group, of Colossal 
 size, consisting of four figures, for the late Lord 
 Bristol, Bishop of Derry. The subject was, the fury 
 of Athamus, from “ Ovid’s Metamorphoses.” For 
 this great work he received a sum so small that he 
 was a considerable loser by it; indeed, the great loss 
 and vexation this commission brought, made the 
 mention of the subject disagreeable to him. This 
 group, after several removals, first from Rome to 
 Leghorn, and afterwards to Ireland, has at last found 
 its place in Ickworth House, Suffolk, the seat of 
 the present Marquis of Bristol, hut, unfortunately, 
 it is hut little seen. 
 
 He also finished an exquisitely beautiful group, 
 of smaller size, of Cephalus and Aurora, for Mr. 
 Thomas Hope, which remains in that gentleman’s 
 collection. 
 
 In Rome he made those designs from Homer, 
 ^schylus, and Dante, so much known and admired 
 throughout Europe, more particularly on the Con- 
 tinent. The “ Iliad and Odyssey” were for the 
 late Mrs. Hare; the “Tragedies of .T:schylus” for 
 the excellent Dowager Countess Spencer ; and the 
 “ Dante” for Mr. Thomas Hope. These were all 
 admirably engraved in outline by Thomas Piroli, 
 and published in Rome in 1793, and subsequently 
 in London. 
 
 In 1794, Mr. Flaxman and his beloved companion 
 
8 
 
 A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 returned to their native land,* where his first work 
 was the monument of Earl Mansfield, for West- 
 minster Abbey, the order for whieh he received pre- 
 vious to his leaving Rome. The figure of the Earl 
 is in his judicial robes, sitting, and in the act of 
 giving judgment; he is supported on each side by 
 Wisdom and J ustice, as represented by the ancients ; 
 the youth behind the pedestal with the inverted 
 torch is a classical personification of Death. 
 
 About the same time he erected a monumental 
 figure of Sir Robert Ladbroke in Spitalfields church. 
 
 In Westminster Abbey is a noble monument, with 
 a statue of Captain James Montague, crowned by 
 a Victory, which possesses an unusual combination 
 of aerial grace with dignity. The lions on the base 
 are admirable portraits of the magnificent animal 
 from which they were studied, at that time living in 
 the Tower; the flags behind the statue were added 
 by Mr. Flaxman at his own cost, as he found they 
 would greatly improve the composition, the excel- 
 lence of the work being always, with him, a prior 
 consideration to the profit. The removal of this 
 monument from its original situation in the Abbey 
 
 * It is not generally known in England that Mr. Flaxman, upon his 
 return from Italy, having paid the duties upon several articles he had 
 brought for his own study, interested himself so warmly for his 
 brother artists, that, through his representations to the proper per- 
 sons, the duties were taken off from all future importations of that 
 kind. This disinterested conduct was acknowledged by the gentle- 
 men then studying in Rome, by a letter of thanks, bearing all their 
 signatures. 
 
OF THE AUTHOR. 9 
 
 was considered by Mr. Flaxman as nearly destruc- 
 tive of its effect. 
 
 In St. Paul’s, the monument of Lord Nelson has 
 a striking portrait of the hero, wrapped in a pelisse, 
 and leaning on an anchor; Britannia is pointing 
 out the glorious example to two young sailors. 
 
 In the same Cathedral is a monument to Earl 
 Howe ; above is a sitting figure of Britannia holding 
 a trident, the Earl stands below her, on her left ; the 
 British lion is watching by him on the other side ; 
 Fame is recording the achievements of the Admiral, 
 while Victory, leaning over her, places a crown on 
 the lap of Britannia. 
 
 To the memory of Captain Millar there is a hasso- 
 relievo of Britannia and Victory raising a medallion 
 of the Captain to a palm-tree. 
 
 There is likwise in St. Paul’s a fine statue of Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 Perhaps the most striking family monument ever 
 executed by Mr. Flaxman, was to the family of Sir 
 Francis Baring, in Micheldever church, Hants ; it /- 
 consists of three distinct parts, making an extremely 
 beautiful whole. In the centre is a sitting figure of 
 “Resignation,” inscribed “Thy will be done;” on 
 each side is a very fine alto-relievo, also from the 
 Lord’s Prayer; the subject of one, — “Thy kingdom 
 come;” the other — “Deliver us from evil.” The 
 tranquil piety of expression in the single figure is 
 finely contrasted with the terrific struggle on the one 
 hand, and the extatic joyfulness of the female, who 
 is assisted in rising by angelic beings, on the other. 
 
10 
 
 A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 There are two very interesting monuments in 
 Oxford to Sir William Jones, one at University 
 College and one in St. Mary’s Church, both erected 
 by his lady. 
 
 At Christchurch, Hampshire, there is a group, of 
 the late Lady Fitz-Harris and her three children ; 
 a most lovely representation of maternal tenderness, 
 which has been much, and deservedly, admired. 
 This was put up in 1817* 
 
 A monument to the Yarborough family, at Street 
 Thorpe, near York, is an alto-relievo of two females 
 relieving several poor persons of different ages ; it is 
 a singularly fine composition, and remarkable for the 
 natural expresssion of each individual. 
 
 In the same county there is a beautiful monument 
 to the memory of Edward Balme, Esq. — “Instruct 
 the Ignorant.” It is a group, in alto-relievo, of an 
 aged man holding a book, in which he reads while 
 a youth and a young female are attentively and 
 affectionately listening. 
 
 The memorial in Brighton church, Northampton- 
 shire, put up by Earl Spencer, to his excellent mo- 
 ther, the late Dowager Countess, is a proof of how 
 much beauty and real sentiment may be introduced 
 into a simple composition. The monument consists 
 of a tablet, having a figure of Faith at one end, and 
 a group of Charity at the other ; this last is one of 
 the most lively conceptions of that virtue ever seen 
 in marble. 
 
 A figure of Mrs. Tighe, (the authoress of 
 Psyche,) merits the same kind of praise, as it pos- 
 
OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 11 
 
 sesses the same character of beauty. This went to 
 Ireland. 
 
 In Cookham church, Berks, the monument of Sir 
 Isaac Pocock is a peculiarly affecting representa- 
 tion of the death of that Gentleman, which took 
 place suddenly in a boat on the river Thames. 
 
 “The Good Samaritan,” in Layton church, Essex, 
 to the memory of — Bosanquet, Esq. and a monu- 
 mental bas-relief to the late Mrs. Bosanquet, are 
 very admirable for feeling and execution. Equally 
 excellent in both is an alto-relievo in St. John’s 
 church, Manchester, and has the peculiarity of being 
 erected in the life-time of Mr. Clowes, the clergyman / 
 of that church, who having been fifty years their 
 exemplary pastor, his parishioners wished to express 
 their love and veneration while he was yet with them 
 in this way; — he is represented instructing, in their 
 religious duties. Childhood, Maturity, and Age. 
 
 In the Cathedral at Winchester there is a fine 
 monument for Dr. Wharton. 
 
 Salisbury Cathedral has two Gothic monuments, 
 extremely elegant in design and delicately executed. 
 
 In Chichester Cathedral there are many of Mr. 
 Flaxman’s works : amongst others, a small but very 
 interesting monument to the memory of the poet 
 Collins. 
 
 In the city of Glasgow there are two statues 
 larger than life, of Mr. Pitt and Sir John Moore, in 
 bronze; and in Edinburgh the statue of Robert 
 Burns is to be placed in the Library of the University. 
 
 Many statues and other works he executed for 
 
A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 P2 
 
 the East Indies. One was a large figure of the Raja 
 of Tanjore; a monument to the Missionary Schwartz, 
 in the Raja’s territory; two to Lord Cornwallis ; and 
 many more for private gentlemen as well as for the 
 Honourable Company. And it is but justice to men- 
 tion, what Mr. Flaxman frequently declared, that in 
 all the works he executed for India, he constantly 
 experienced the most liberal treatment, not only in 
 pecuniary concerns, but in the handsome manner his 
 employers expressed their entire approbation of all 
 he did. The last of his works for that country was 
 a statue of the Marquis Hastings, upon an embel- 
 lished pedestal, now on its way to Calcutta. This 
 was done by private subscription, and was not quite 
 finished in marble at the time of Mr. Flaxman’s 
 decease, but has been completed under the inspec- 
 tion and care of Mr. T. Denman, his pupil and 
 brother-in-law ; who has also erected the statue of 
 Mr. Kemble in Westminster Abbey, which was one 
 of the works in hand when the Artist was taken from 
 this life. 
 
 Mr. Flaxman’s grandest work in this country was 
 the group of the Archangel Michael and Satan, for 
 the Earl of Egremont, and was one of the last pro- 
 ductions of the Sculptor. This is a work which, in 
 after ages, will be a glory to the nation, to the me- 
 mory of the Artist, and the name of the truly noble 
 proprietor, who, besides this group, has a Pastoral 
 Apollo, the size of life, the grace and beauty of which 
 are admirable. 
 
 The Shield of Achilles is a proof of the high clas- 
 
OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 13 
 
 sical knowledge, the perfect acquaintance with the 
 human figure, and the truly poetic spirit of him who 
 made the composition. For the variety of its beau- 
 ties, and its skilful execution, it is unrivalled, and 
 truly worthy of adorning the palace of a sovereign. 
 It reflects infinite credit on the taste and spirit of 
 Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, to have been the means 
 of producing this magnificent work of art. 
 
 The friezes on the front of Govent Garden Theatre 
 were designed by Mr. Flaxman ; one of them and 
 the figure of Comedy were executed by him. 
 
 It is not possible to give a list of all the Sculp- 
 ture of Mr. Flaxman; those above enumerated were 
 selected as having most interest, though a great 
 number of admirable works must necessarily he 
 omitted.* 
 
 It will be right to mention in this place, that the 
 verv last work of his hand was making the drawings 
 for all the principal embellishments on the exterior 
 of Buckingham Palace, and had his life been longer 
 spared, he was, at the particular desire of His Ma- 
 jesty, to have executed as many of them as he could 
 undertake, and to have directed the remainder. He 
 took great delight in making the designs, and looked 
 
 * Among the latter works of Mr. Flaxman are two small, but 
 beautiful, figures of Cupid and P ysche, done for Mr. Rogers ; and 
 two others, of equal beauty, though different style, for Sir Thomas 
 Lawrence, of Michael Angelo and Raffaelle ; with these should be 
 mentioned two exquisite bas-relievos from Milton, the models for 
 which were finished by Mr. Flaxman, and one of them is in a state 
 of considerable forwardness in marble. 
 
14 
 
 A BRIEF MEMOIR 
 
 forward with an anxious pleasure to his task — but 
 Infinite Wisdom ordered it otherwise. 
 
 In 1797 Mr. Flaxman was elected an Associate 
 of the Royal Academy; in 1800 Academician; and 
 in 1810 he was appointed Professor of Sculpture,* 
 in the Royal Academy, where he gave his Lectures 
 every season, with but few omissions, until the last 
 year of his life, 1826, when his health only per- 
 mitted him to deliver one. He had, however, written 
 a new one, “On Modern Sculpture,” which it has 
 been judged right to publish; it is the tenth, and 
 last in the volume. 
 
 During the peace of 1802, when Paris was visited 
 by a great number of English, Mr. Flaxman went also, 
 for the purpose of seeing again those fine things, 
 he had studied with so much advantage in Italy. 
 Many of his countrymen were at that time introduced 
 to the First Consul, but he refused being one of the 
 number, as he could not submit to pay homage (even 
 for a few minutes) to the man who was the enemy 
 of his country and his King! He also declined, 
 while in that capital, meeting a celebrated French 
 
 * The Professorship of Sculpture was the first in this country, 
 and instituted expressly for Mr, Flaxman, who dedicated most of his 
 evenings to writing the Lectures and making the drawings for them. 
 Few persons can conceive how much time and study he devoted to 
 that purpose. The drawings remain in the possession of his family, 
 as well as a great number of others, studies from nature, and designs 
 from various authors, some of them beautifully finished. 
 
OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 15 
 
 Artist, whose talents he admired, but of whose poli- 
 tical conduct and principles he had an abhorrence ; 
 indeed, it was an invariable rule with him, abroad 
 and at home, to shun, with the greatest care, the so- 
 ciety of persons, however brilliant and clever, when 
 he was once convinced that their religious and moral 
 opinions were inimical to the laws of their God and 
 their country. By this conduct he preserved a pu- 
 rity of heart and character rarely to be met with ; it 
 was this purity of heart which inspired the delight- 
 ful cheerfulness and amenity of manner that won 
 the affection of the young and gay, as well as the 
 respect and friendship of those of equal years ; the 
 more intimately he was known, the more he was 
 beloved.* 
 
 Well might Sir Thomas Lawrence say, in his 
 most eloquent and feeling address to the students, 
 that the death of this exemplary man was “ a deep 
 and irreparable loss to Art I to his Country! and 
 to Europe I” 
 
 But still deeper and more irreparable was this 
 loss in the little ‘‘ circle of affection” with whom he 
 lived and’died. He was always prepared for the 
 termination of his mortal pilgrimage ; this (for him) 
 happy change took place on the yth of December, 
 1826, having entered the seventy-second year of his 
 age. 
 
 * In 1820 Mr. Flaxmanlost his wife, which was the severest trial 
 he ever experienced, and called for all his pious andhumble submission 
 to the will of Providence to support as became his character. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. President, 
 
 AND Gentlemen, 
 
 It is not unknown to you that, by the institution 
 of the Royal Academy, the cultivation and encou- 
 ragement of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, 
 were proposed to be supported from means derived 
 through the public exhibition of original works in 
 those arts. Schools were formed for their practice, 
 and Lectures appointed for instruction in their 
 principles ; but as the study of Sculpture was at that 
 time confined within narrow limits, so the appoint- 
 ment of a Professorship in that art was not required, 
 until the increasing taste of the country had given 
 great popularity to the art itself, and native achieve- 
 ments had called on the powers of native Sculpture 
 to celebrate British Heroes and Patriots. 
 
 The Members of the Royal Academy in this, as 
 in all other public acts, have proved their liberality 
 and patriotism, and it will be no easy task for the 
 
 c 
 
 I 
 
18 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 person, called to this situation, to prove himselt 
 worthy of the confidence he has been honoured with ; 
 it remains with him, however, to exert his best en- 
 deavours, in a full reliance for support on the same 
 kindness and indulgence which raised him to an 
 exercise of the duty. 
 
INTRODUCTORY LFXTURE. 
 
 Education may be distinguished into theoreti- 
 cal and practical. Theory supplies our minds with 
 the principles of science, from which rules are de- 
 duced for our future practice, and, indeed, the 
 latter must he considered as immediately succeeding 
 the former by natural connexion and certain conse- 
 quence, rather than as distinct and independent 
 of theory. 
 
 In a general view of human knowledge and exer- 
 tion, we shall find they have invariably co-operated 
 in whatever has been done most useful, and most 
 excellent. 
 
 In Universities, and the greater public schools, 
 science and literature are taught upon a scale suffi- 
 ciently extensive to furnish principles and theory for 
 the practice of every useful art and employnent ; 
 for the same reason in colleges and institutions esta- 
 blished for less general purposes, and confined to 
 the cultivation of particular sciences or arts, their 
 systems of education become more valuable and 
 effective as they promote a diligent and successful 
 practice, upon the principles of a sound and rational 
 theory. 
 
 c ‘2 
 

 INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 The Royal Academy established in this palace, 
 hy the munificence of our revered Sovereign, King 
 George III. has continued its exertions, without 
 ceasing, for the improvement of the schools, by 
 supporting its funds, by supplying the best living 
 models, casts from the finest specimens of antiquity, 
 for the student^s imitation and practice, and by re- 
 wards for the encouragement of distinguished merit. 
 
 To these advantages a noble library has oeen 
 added, containing the most approved works on 
 Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, which is 
 opened twice a week to the members and students ; 
 and to render this system as perfect as possible, and 
 unite the most approved principles, with a diligent 
 practice, professors of eminent merit in Painting, 
 Architecture, Perspective, and Anatomy, have been 
 appointed to deliver public instruction : the profes- 
 sorship of Sculpture has been added within these 
 few years, which, in relation to the value and beauty 
 of the art it is intended to illustrate, may be justly 
 considered as a valuable addition. It may be 
 anxiously hoped that whoever may be raised to 
 this ofiice, may he capable of honouring his art by 
 the eloquence and precision of his discourses, and 
 the excellence of his practice. 
 
 As materials for study constitute one of the chief 
 means of improvement, sentiments of gratitude will 
 he renewed towards our Patron, the Prince Regent, 
 for His Royal Highness’s munificent gift of the 
 extensive, magnificent, and invaluable collection of 
 casts from the most sublime works of Greek Sculp- 
 
 ture. 
 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 9,1 
 
 This collection was executed with great skill and 
 precision from the original marbles, to supply their 
 places on the pedestals of their prototypes, when 
 those originals became the prey of barbarous rapa- 
 city. 
 
 The pillage was restored by the interference of 
 British justice, and the Regent’s magnanimous coun- 
 cils. The Sovereign Pontiif, in acknowledgment, 
 presented the casts to the Regent. His Royal 
 Highness, preferring public advantage to individual 
 gratification, bestowed them on the Schools of De- 
 sign, to disseminate taste, and promote knowledge ; 
 thus afibrding gratification to the artist and con- 
 noisseur, and an invaluable subject of contemplation 
 and study to the painter and sculptor. 
 
 Permit me to deviate from the direct scope of my 
 subject a few moments, into short, but important 
 arguments on the equal injustice and impolicy of 
 removing the w^orks of ancient sculpture from Italy : 
 — We will begin with the injustice, as the more 
 atrocious, although the consequences of such acts 
 will generally prove they were counselled by folly. 
 
 The city of Rome, since Constantine removed the 
 seat of Empire to Constantinople, has been burnt 
 seven times, which, in addition to the several cala- 
 mities of famine, pestilence, sieges, tumults, with the 
 natural decay produced by time itself, was reduced 
 to a condition so despoiled and ruinous, that only 
 six statues were enumerated by a diligent observer, 
 Poggi, in the beginning of the 15th century, within 
 the walls ; the rest had long been buried under the 
 
22 INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 mouldering fragments and rubbish of palaces and 
 temples, once decorations of the Imperial City in 
 her splendour. From the latter end of the 15th cen- 
 tury, the pontiffs, Italian princes, and nobility have, 
 with great labour and expense, rescued these won- 
 ders of ancient art from the bowels of the earth, 
 restored their mutilated forms, placed them in gal- 
 leries and museums, and, with a liberality which the 
 real love of knowledge alone inspires, have given 
 the learned traveller and artist, of all conditions and 
 countries, free access to their treasures. Let it be 
 remembered that the ancient Romans, despoilers of 
 Greece, having long since quitted this stage of life, — 
 the despoiled Greeks have also long since been 
 swept away in the lapse of time, so that their suc- 
 cessors, in name and territory, of the present day, 
 (a various mixture of barbarous nations,) neither 
 appreciate the possession, nor remember the suffer- 
 ings of their long past predecessors : the changes 
 and destruction of succeeding years, have enveloped 
 the memory of their descendants in such impene- 
 trable darkness, that we are uncertain whether any 
 race, or even particular family now living, can fairly 
 claim the distinction of being their direct repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 As they cannot now be restored to their original 
 owners, who can justly and reasonably plead so good 
 a claim to their possessions, as those whose intelli- 
 gence, exertions, and benevolence have rescued these 
 precious remains from their graves, and generously 
 given them to the public 
 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 ^23 
 
 These remains were not obtained by the Italian 
 nobles without considerable expense. The Medici 
 family appear to have paid 1800 crowns for the 
 Group of Boxers, when it was first found, one of 
 the figures being headless, which sum is more than 
 equal to £2000 value of our money in England at 
 this day ; and Cardinal Borghese built the front 
 of a church in recompence for the beautiful statue 
 of Hermaphrodite, lately in the Borghese Villa, on 
 the Pincian Hill. We may form some opinion of 
 the sums expended in restoring the works of anti- 
 quity from the following instance. 
 
 A beautiful and extensive Mosaic pavement, con- 
 taining two very large circular friezes of figures, 
 the subject of one, the Battle of the Lapithse and 
 Centaurs, the subject of the other, Tritons and Sea 
 Monsters, — this was brought to Rome by order of 
 Pope Pius VI. laid down and restored in the great 
 hall of the Vatican, at the expense of 60,000 
 crowns, about the value of £30,000 of our present 
 money in England, 
 
 Every person desirous to complete a liberal edu- 
 cation, receives the rudiments in a school, prepara- 
 tory to finishing his studies in an university. A 
 like proceeding is requisite to educate a painter or 
 sculptor, he commences his studies in his native 
 academy, and afterwards goes to Italy to make him- 
 self acquainted with the originals of those casts and 
 prints he has copied in his own country, there he 
 sees such an accumulation of classical works in the 
 sister arts as cannot fail to decide his choice, form 
 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 ■i24< 
 
 his taste, and lay the certain foundation of a ^ood 
 practice. The claims of Italy to he considered an 
 university for the arts of design are indisputable, 
 for the number and character of her gaUeries and 
 collections, for the stupendous works of Michael 
 Angelo, Raphael, Titian, and the restorers of 
 painting : all of which are painted on walls and 
 cannot be removed, the architectural remains, the 
 relations of those with the classical literature of the 
 country, and of Greece, the warm climate favour- 
 able to the study of the human figure, and that 
 general state of tranquillity, and freedom from those 
 dissipations which infect some of the capitals in 
 Europe; all these advantages are peculiarly en- 
 joyed in Rome, Florence, Pisa, and throughout the 
 Pontifical and Tuscan States, and thus possess a 
 union of advantages not possible to be concentrated 
 in any other country in the present state of the 
 world, for completing an education of principles in 
 the arts of design. 
 
 Here we will finish the digression and return to 
 the Royal donation, and speak of its extent, cha- 
 racter, and value. 
 
 The groups, statues, basso-relievos, busts, and 
 fine fragments, were sufficiently numerous to have 
 furnished an extensive range of study, supposing 
 there had been no previous collection in the Royal 
 Schools, the character and value will be best un- 
 derstood by an enumeration of the principal articles, 
 accompanied with such remarks as may imprint on 
 the younger student a strong sense of the excellence 
 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 ^25 
 
 which may he transplanted into his own mind from 
 such examples hy diligence and labour. 
 
 Let us begin with the Laocoon, which in the 
 time of Pliny was accounted the most consummate 
 work of painting and sculpture ; its sentiment is 
 sublime and pathetic, the forms are noble and ex- 
 pressive, the whole is composed into a continued 
 and varied series of undulations, in agreement with 
 the movements of the serpents which assault Lao- 
 coon and his sons, and the writhing agonies their 
 venom has caused. Laborious treatises have been 
 written on this group, but it is one thing to fill a 
 volume, which captivates hy the appearance of en- 
 thusiasm and shew of learning, and a totally differ- 
 ent task to convey sound instruction. Mr. Fuseli in 
 his Lectures has given a description of this group 
 equally worthy of a great poet and a painter. 
 
 The Apollo Belvidere, so called from the garden 
 of the Vatican, but in reality, the Deliverer from 
 Evil, has been both philosophically and popularly 
 considered as a form animated by such a sentiment 
 as might become a supernatural power revealed to 
 mortal sight. Hints are not wanting in ancient 
 monuments and authors, which lead us to believe 
 that the archetype of this statue was by Phidias. 
 
 The Venus of the Capitol, an example of more dig- 
 nified and less insinuating beauty than the Venus de 
 Medicis, — this statue is certainly a copy from one 
 of the three enumerated by Pliny among the works 
 of Praxi tiles.* 
 
 In the Council Room. 
 
^26 
 
 INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 The Apollo Suarvetonon or Lizard Killer, from 
 an antique bronze in the Villa Albani, likewise 
 copied from a work of Praxitiles.* 
 
 The Satyr by the same Sculptor.* 
 
 In the Hall are five of these statues, and one 
 group, which may be described in succession. 
 
 The Colossal Statue of Minerva, placed opposite 
 the fire, was discovered twenty-four years since. A 
 duplicate of the same statue has since been found in 
 the neighbourhood of Rome. A bust of the same 
 figure was in the Albani Villa, and another dupli- 
 cate of the head is in the Marquis of Lansdowne’s 
 collection. The frequent repetitions of this statue, 
 the estimation in which it was held by the ancients, 
 may reasonably lead us to believe they are all copies 
 from one by Phidias, mentioned by Pliny, in the 
 enumeration of that sculptor’s works: the severe 
 and simple beauty of its character, together with 
 the resemblance to a figure on the reverse of an 
 Athenian coin, published by Dr. Coombe, in Hun- 
 ter’s collection, gives additional countenance to this 
 opinion. 
 
 On the left of this statue sits Menander, and on 
 the right Posidyppus, both comic poets. The learned 
 Visconti has offered arguments, which appear to be 
 unanswerable, for believing them to be the portraits 
 of those authors, which were in the Theatre of 
 Athens. 
 
 On the side of the steps next to the window, 
 stands a Roman, whose head is covered by his toga, 
 * In the Council Room. 
 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. - 
 
 which descends to his feet in majestic abundance. 
 His countenance resembles the Scipio family, and 
 answers in dress to a description of Scipio Nasica, 
 quoted by Ferrarius de tre Vistiaria. 
 
 The figure of Juno has an air of sublime dignity, 
 the original is in the Capitol. 
 
 The Achilles, which faces the Minerva is an ex- 
 ample of heroic strength, in grand and decided 
 form. This statue was in the Borghese Villa ; it is 
 now in Paris, with the whole of that collection, 
 which once belonged the Borghese family. 
 
 The group commonly named Papirius and his 
 Mother, but much more likely to be Electra and 
 Orestes, or Penelope and Telemachus, of a pure 
 style and natural sentiment. 
 
 The group generally known as Paetus and Aria, 
 but more likely Macareus, son of GEolus, and Canace 
 his wife, or Flamon and Antigone. The sentiment is 
 despair and union ; the male figure, whilst he inflicts 
 the mortal wound upon himself, supports with des- 
 perate energy his beloved wife, sinking to the ground 
 in death. The lines of this group unite the charms 
 of harmony and force of contrast in the power of 
 expression. 
 
 We shall now notice eleven statues in one para- 
 graph, as being one family ; they are Mnemosyne 
 the mother and her daughters, the nine Muses, and 
 Apollo their leader. Thalia has the beauty of 
 early youth in modesty; Melpomene is known by an 
 heroic attitude, similar to Egeus the father of The- 
 seus or Jason; Euterpe is distinguished by a regal 
 
28 
 
 INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 grace ; Calliope and Clio by Doric simplicity and 
 mental occupation in bodily rest; Apollo, the leader 
 of the Muses in this series, is known for a celebra- 
 ted statue among the ancients hy some reverses of 
 Nero’s coins. 
 
 Besides the purposes of study for which these 
 statues are highly valuable in a school of design, 
 their presence has converted the Council Chamber 
 into an Homeric Olympus, where none approach 
 without the mingled sentiment of delight and awe. 
 
 In the Plaster Academy is the group of Pylades 
 and Orestes, offering sacrifice, the statue of Ger- 
 manicus delivering an oration. 
 
 The Colossal Barberini Faun, remarkable for 
 the terse, elastic forms of muscle and tendon, pro- 
 per to the mountainous and sylvan habits of the race. 
 
 These cursory notices shall be closed with the 
 Diana discharging an arrow, from the original 
 marble in the Gallery of Paris. This beautiful and in- 
 teresting statue has long been the rightful property 
 of the French Monarchs ; it has been considered by 
 some learned men and professional judges, as nearly 
 resembling the Apollo Belvidere in countenance 
 and general character, to a degree that may warrant 
 opinion they are both the production of one sculptor; 
 it is also possible the archetypes of these two Divi- 
 nities were introduced in the destruction of Niobe 
 and her family, on the throne of Jupiter, at Elis ; the 
 sanction of ancient authors and monuments are not 
 wanting to countenance this supposition. 
 
 In this enumeration a beautiful modern statue 
 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 29 
 
 must not be forgotten, it is Paris, by Signor Canova, 
 Marquis of Ischia, and perpetual President, or (in 
 the Italian language) Prince of the Roman Academy; 
 his moral qualities and rank in his art are equally 
 honourable to his country and himself ; gratitude 
 would be wanting not to acknowledge he has mani- 
 fested a passionate desire to serve and respect the 
 Royal Academy of London, and his attention has 
 been prompt and unceasing to the English at Rome. 
 
 By such a donation as that we now contemplate, 
 the donor secures to himself satisfactions increasing 
 in proportion to the accumulated advantages result- 
 ing from the use of the gift, the diffusion of 
 knowledge and taste, the elevation of national cha- 
 racter in noble and useful arts ; disseminating their 
 advantages in a thousand different currents, con- 
 nected by the united interests of letters, science and 
 civilization ; the honest wealth of the country pro- 
 moted ; and by the innocence of such employments, 
 and the beneficence of their nature, a permanent 
 addition will be acquired in the general fund of 
 happiness and contentment ! 
 
 Long may the Regent enjoy the delights of such 
 patriotic reflections! and may the rising talents 
 within these walls satisfy the wishes of their Patron I 
 and fulfil the sanguine expectations, and ardent 
 hope of this institution and our country ! 
 
 The object of these Lectures has been to lead to 
 more extensive views in the arts of design, and es- 
 pecially in Sculpture. 
 
 In the early ages of the world, tents, and the 
 slightest structures were thought sufficient for the 
 
30 
 
 INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
 
 purposes of habitation, but temples for worship were 
 raised, or excavated in stone, and adorned by sculp- 
 ture with the emblems of Theology, and symbols of 
 Divine Wisdom. 
 
 In India the sculptures were mystical attributes 
 and manifestations. In Assyria they had relation 
 to the heavenly bodies, and government of the 
 universe. In Egypt they were hieroglyphical me- 
 morials of Divine and human knowledge ; this was 
 the earliest as it will always continue the most 
 important employment of this art, debased indeed 
 according to the corruptions of systems : — but in 
 that nation which received the law with signs — won- 
 ders to enlighten a darkened world! — the Almighty 
 directed the figures of Cherubim to guard the Ark 
 of the Covenant; but the Ark, the Tabernacle, the 
 first and second Temple, and all their glories have 
 been removed by Divine appointment, and we must 
 look to systems more questionable, and less pure 
 for such perfection as we are acquainted with in 
 this art : yet we must not be led to suppose that any 
 art, dependent on intellectual knowledge, can arise 
 to any height of excellence without the assistance of 
 its efficient cause ; and the arts of design in Greece 
 were improved by the Pythagorean and Platonic 
 philosophers, the most enlightened which the hea- 
 then world possessed. Less will be said of Grecian 
 art in this place, because it supplies so large a por- 
 tion of the following discourses, while we turn our 
 thoughts to the more general application and utility 
 of the arts of design, and more especially of Sculpture. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 The arts of Design, considered as portions, extend 
 their relations and use through the whole circle of 
 knowledge ; they embody ideas, demonstrate the 
 affections and passions ; they exhibit the human 
 figure in the highest state of conceivable perfection, 
 and in all of its varieties and gradations. The 
 more common purposes of these arts are to illustrate 
 the several branches of science, from the simplest 
 elements to the most complicated forms and exer- 
 tions ; but their superior concerns appeal to the 
 intellect and the reason, by the representation of 
 superior natures, divine doctrines and history, the 
 perpetuation of noble acts, and assisting in the ele- 
 vation of our minds towards that excellence for 
 which they were originally intended. 
 
 Painting is honoured with precedence, because 
 Design, or Drawing, is more particularly and ex- 
 tensively employed in illustration of history. Sculp- 
 ture immediately follows in the enumeration, because 
 the two arts possess the same common principles, 
 expressed by Painting in colour, and by Sculpture 
 in form. 
 
 This art, in early ages of most nations, has been 
 
32 
 
 LECTURE r. 
 
 chiefly employed in the service of religion, as the 
 symbolical representations of divine attributes and 
 characteristics abundantly testify, in Egypt, Ethio- 
 pia, India, Persia, and ancient Greece ; even among 
 the Jews, who were particularly restricted concern- 
 ing the use of Images, on account of their proneness 
 to idolatry, two figures of cherubim were placed by 
 divine command in the “ Holy of Holies,” extending 
 their wings over the ark, which contained the cove- 
 nant between God and man. 
 
 If any other testimony were requisite concerning 
 the estimation in which Painting and Sculpture 
 were held among the ancients, it might be summed 
 up in these observations, — that Plato studied paint- 
 ing, Socrates was a sculptor by profession, and 
 Aristotle may be numbered among the patrons of 
 art, as well as his pupil Alexander, as we learn 
 from the Philosopher’s will, that he ordered various 
 monumental statues to be made of his friends and 
 relations. This esteem was so general, that not 
 only the best, hut the worst characters of antiquity, 
 (Nero and Commodus,) sought reputation from af- 
 fecting to encourage, and even to practise them. A 
 further consideration of the state and employment 
 of sculpture among the ancients, particularly the 
 Greeks and Romans, will be necessarily connected 
 with its compendious general history and principles 
 in future discourses, and which may be introduced 
 in the present Lecture, by a sketch of its progress 
 in our own country. 
 
 Among the ancient Britons, whose dress was a 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE, 
 
 33 
 
 bonnet, hair cloak, tunic, and long drawers ; whose 
 dwellings were huts, and whose cities were woods 
 enclosed by ramparts and ditches, little progress 
 could be expected in the art of sculpture ; and in- 
 deed no other proofs are come down to us that they 
 had any, excepting some rude coins, apparently 
 imitations of the Tyrian or Carthaginian, with 
 which countries they had commercial intercourse. 
 
 When the Romans had conquered the island, the 
 inhabitants in imitation of their conquerors, built 
 temples, courts of justice, baths, and all other struc- 
 tures, both public and private, the magnificence of 
 which is not only learned from historians, but 
 proved from immense remains of foundations and 
 Mosaic pavements found in various parts of the 
 kingdom, with fragments of statues, groups, sarco- 
 phagi, and sepulchral stones, of different ages and 
 workmanship ; on which, however, these remarks 
 may be offered, — that all those works found in Bri- 
 tain, and which we believe were actually performed 
 here, are inferior, both as to principles and execu- 
 tion, to those done by the Romans in their own 
 country at the same period, which is to be accounted 
 for thus ; the inhabitants of Britain were instructed 
 in the arts of peace by soldiers, whose knowledge of 
 them was very inferior to their military skill, or by 
 such artists of little estimation as could be well 
 spared from Rome or other Italian cities. 
 
 Two heads of bronze statues, a Minerva and 
 Diana,* found in Bath, are examples of sculpture 
 
 * A cast, of this head is in Sir John Soane’s Museum. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 here during the Roman dominion. The statues, to 
 which these heads belonged, are believed to have 
 been the objects of worship in temples dedicated to 
 those goddesses, formerly existing in that city ; nor 
 is it impossible that they were British sculpture, as 
 they are certainly indifferent copies from fine ori- 
 ginal busts. 
 
 The Britons continued to practise the art of 
 casting magnificent works in bronze upwards of 200 
 years after the departure of the Romans, according 
 to Speed, who says, “that King Cadwollo being 
 buried in St. Martin’s Church near Ludgate, his 
 image great and terrible, triumphantly riding on 
 horseback, artificially cast in brass, was placed on 
 the western gate of the city, to the further fear and 
 terror of the Saxons !” We must not, however, un- 
 derstand, from this bold and poetical description of 
 Cadwollo’s statue, that its expression was the result 
 of its excellence. If it was terrible as well as great, 
 that characteristic was the consequence of its bar- 
 barous workmanship : for in the year 677 » when 
 Cadwollo died, the Goths, Franks, Lombards, and 
 other uncivilized nations, had nearly exterminated 
 the liberal arts in Europe. 
 
 The following general miscellaneous remarks on 
 Roman-British Antiquities, may be properly offered 
 in this place. 
 
 Of the Roman altars and sepulchral tablets, found 
 in Britain, carved in native stone, the workmanship 
 is extremely rude, like that done in Italy under the 
 Gothic and Lombard kings. This observation will 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 35 
 
 include the architectural fragments, as well as 
 human figures in basso-relievo, found at Bath, and 
 belonging to the temples of Minerva and Diana in 
 that city ; notwithstanding these temples must have 
 been raised before the time of Constantine the 
 Great, when the Christian religion became the reli- 
 gion of the empire, after which, it is not likely 
 Pagan temples of any consequence were erected 
 under the Roman government, if we except the 
 short reign of Julian. 
 
 In most of the Roman Mosaics found in Britain, 
 the principal object of the design is a Bacchus, or 
 an Orpheus playing on his lyre ; those Mosaics with 
 the Bacchus are of the best design and workman- 
 ship, for which this reason may be given, — that the 
 Bacchus Musagetes was frequently introduced, 
 before the time of Alexander Severus, in sarcophagi 
 and other works, that divinity being much liked by 
 the Romans, as Patron of the Drama ; consequently 
 those Mosaics are likely to have been done in the 
 course of I70 years, between the reign of Domitian, 
 when the Britons adopted the buildings and deco- 
 rations of the Romans, and the year 240, when 
 the Orphic philosophy spread its influence in the 
 Roman empire. From this period, to the year 336, 
 the representations of Orpheus may be dated, after 
 which time they were succeeded by Christian cha- 
 racters and symbols. 
 
 Fragments of cups and pateras have been found 
 in Cambridge, Colchester, and other places, made 
 of fine red clay, baked and glazed, adorned with 
 
 D 2 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 36 
 
 basso-relievos, beautifully modelled, of Mercury, 
 Apollo, Venus, and other heathen deities, from 
 large statues still existing, with fine scenic masks, 
 boars, dogs, &c. These were certainly brought 
 from Italy, because great numbers of similar frag- 
 ments, evidently from the same moulds, are found 
 in Rome and its vicinity. 
 
 The Roman coins of Dioclesian, Probus, Licinius, 
 Constantine, his sons, &c. gave examples for dia- 
 dems, helmets, dress, and the manner of represent- 
 ing busts of their kings, upon the Saxon pennies. 
 
 The Roman dress continued in general use in 
 England to the reign of Henry III. which was 
 highly favourable to Painting and Sculpture, in 
 affording a beautiful variety of folds, and shewing 
 the body and limbs advantageously. 
 
 The Saxons destroyed the works of Roman 
 grandeur in Britain, burnt the cities from sea to 
 sea, and reduced the country to barbarism again ; 
 but when these invaders were settled in their new 
 possessions, they erected poor and clumsy imitations 
 of the Roman buildings themselves had ruined.* 
 
 * In the beginning of the sixth century, when the Franks and 
 Germans began to establish themselves in Gaul, they buried their 
 sovereigns in plain stone coffins, without any exterior distinction or 
 inscription, the name of the deceased being written on the inside of 
 the cover. This was done to prevent the tomb being violated for the 
 sake of jewels and other valuables which accompanied the royal 
 corpse, — a common practice in those unsettled barbarous times. 
 Afterwards, in the reign of Charlemagne, who was cotemporary with 
 our king Edgar, the French began to decorate the outside of their 
 tombs with statues of the deceased and other ornaments, bearing 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 37 
 
 The Saxon Painting is rather preferable to their 
 Sculpture, which, whether intended to represent the 
 human or brutal figure, is frequently both horrible 
 and burlesque. The buildings erected in England, 
 from the settlement of the Saxons to the reign of 
 Henry I. continued nearly the same plain, heavy 
 repetitions of columns and arches. So little was 
 Sculpture employed by them, that no sepulchral 
 statue is known in England before the time of 
 William the Conqueror. Previous to this period 
 their names and titles only were engraved on their 
 tombstones. In Winchester Cathedral — “ Son of 
 Alfred the Great.” In the same church — “ Son of 
 William the Conqueror.” 
 
 Immediately after the Norman Conquest figures 
 of the deceased were carved, in bas-relief, on their 
 grave-stones ; examples of which may be seen in the 
 cloisters of Westminster Abbey, representing two 
 abbots of that church, and in Worcester Cathedral 
 those of St. Oswald and Bishop Wulstan, &c.* 
 These are the earliest statues in low relief, intro- 
 duced about the Conqueror’s time, probably by the 
 Normans. 
 
 The Crusaders returned from the Holy Wars 
 eager to imitate the arts and magnificence of other 
 countries, they began to decorate the architecture 
 with rich foliage, and to introduce statues against 
 
 some resemblance to Roman manner. These are the accounts of 
 the best French Antiquaries, Montfaucon, Buillant, and Felibien; 
 and they may be understood as invariable. 
 
 * Plate 1. 
 
38 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 the columns, as we find in the west door of Roches- 
 ter Cathedral, built in the reign of Henry I.* 
 Architecture now improved ; Sculpture also be- 
 came popular. The custom of carving a figure of 
 the deceased in bas-relief on the tomb seems likely 
 to have been brought from France, where it was 
 continued in imitation of the Romans. Figures 
 placed against columns might also be copied from 
 examples in that country, of which one remarkable 
 instance was a door in the Church of St. Germain 
 de Prez in Paris, containing several statues of the 
 ancient kings of France, projecting from columns ; 
 a work of the 10 th century, of which there are 
 prints in Montfaucon’s Antiquities. 
 
 Sculpture continued to be practised with such 
 zeal and success, that in the reign of Henry III. 
 efforts were made deserving our respect and atten- 
 tion at this day. 
 
 Bishop Joceline rebuilt the Cathedral Church of 
 Wells from the Pavement ; which having lived to 
 finish and dedicate, he died, in the year of our Lord 
 1242 . The west front of this church equally testi- 
 fies the piety and comprehension of the bishop’s 
 mind ; the sculpture presents the noblest, most 
 useful and interesting subjects possible to be chosen. 
 On the south side, above the west door, are alto- 
 relievos of the Creation,! in its different parts, the 
 
 * Henry 1st and his Queen Matilda, 
 t There are many compositions of the Almighty creating Eve, by 
 Giotto, Florence, Buon Amico, BufFalmaco, Pisa, Ghiberti, and 
 Michael Angelo. This is certainly the oldest, and not inferior to 
 any of the others. — Plate II. 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 39 
 
 Deluge, and important acts of the Patriarchs. 
 Companions to these on the north side, are alto- 
 relievos of the principal circumstances in the life of 
 our Saviour. Above these are two rows of statues 
 larger than nature, in niches, of kings, queens, and 
 nohles, patrons of the church, saints, bishops, and 
 other religious, from its first foundation to the reign 
 of Henry III. Near the pediment is our Saviour 
 come to Judgment, attended by angels and his twelve 
 apostles. The upper arches on each side, along 
 the west front, and continued in the north and south 
 ends, are occupied by figures rising from their graves, 
 strongly expressing the hope, fear, astonishment, 
 stupification, or despair, inspired by the presence of 
 the Lord and Judge of the world in that awful 
 moment. 
 
 In speaking of the execution of such a work, due 
 regard must be paid to the circumstances under 
 which it was produced, in comparison with those of 
 our own times. There were neither prints, nor 
 printed books, to assist the Artist; the Sculptor 
 could not be instructed in Anatomy, for there were 
 no Anatomists. Some knowledge of Optics, and a 
 glimmering of Perspective, were reserved for the 
 researches of so sublime a genius as Roger Bacon, 
 some years afterwards. A small knowledge of 
 Geometry and Mechanics was exclusively confined 
 to two or three learned Monks, in the whole country; 
 and the principles of those sciences, as applied to 
 the figure and motion of man and inferior animals. 
 
40 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 were known to none ! Therefore this work is neces- 
 sarily ill drawn, and deficient in principle, and much 
 of the sculpture is rude and severe : yet, in parts, 
 there is a beautiful simplicity, an irresistible sen- 
 timent, and sometimes a grace, excelling more 
 modern productions.* 
 
 It is very remarkable that Wells Cathedral was 
 finished in 1242, two years after the birth of 
 Cimahue, the restorer of Painting in Italy ; and the 
 work was going on at the same time that Nicolo 
 Pisano, the Italian restorer of Sculpture, exercised 
 the art in his own country : it was also finished 
 forty-six years before the Cathedral of Amiens, and 
 thirty-six years before the Cathedral of Orvieto was 
 begun ; and it seems to be the first specimen of such 
 magnificent and varied sculpture, united in a series 
 of sacred nistory, that is to be found in Western 
 Europe. It is therefore probable that the general 
 idea of the work might be brought from the East, 
 by some of the crusaders. But there are two argu- 
 ments strongly in favour of the execution being 
 English ; the family name of the Bishop is English, 
 Joceline Troteman and the style, both of sculp- 
 ture and architecture, is wholly dificrent from the 
 Tombs of Edward the Confessor t and Henry III.,t 
 which were by Italian artists. 
 
 The reign of Edward I. produced a new species 
 of monument. When Eleanor, the beloved wife of 
 
 * Plates II. III. IV. f By Benvenuto. 
 
 Wm, Torrell. 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 41 
 
 that monarch died, who had been his heroic and 
 affectionate companion in the Holy War, he raised 
 stone crosses of magnificent architecture, adorned 
 with statues of his departed queen, wherever her 
 corpse rested on the way to its interment in West- 
 minster Abbey. Three of these crosses still remain, 
 at Northampton, Geddington, and Waltham the 
 statues have considerable simplicity and delicacy ; 
 they partake of the character and grace particu- 
 larly cultivated in the school of Pisano, and it is 
 not unlikely, as the sepulchral statue and tomb of 
 Henry III. were executed by Italians, that these 
 statues of Queen Eleanor might be done by some 
 of the numerous travelling scholars from Pisano’s 
 school. 
 
 The long and prosperous reign of Edward III. 
 was as favourable to literature and liberal arts, as 
 to the political and commercial interests of the 
 country. So generally were painting, sculpture, 
 and architecture encouraged and employed, that, 
 besides the buildings raised in this reign, few sacred 
 edifices existed which did not receive additions and 
 decorations. The richness, novelty, and beauty of 
 architecture may be seen in York f and Gloucester 
 Cathedrals, and many of our other churches ; 
 besides the extraordinary fancy displayed in 
 various intricate and diversified figures which 
 form the mullions of windows, they were occasion- 
 ally enriched with a profusion of foliage and histo- 
 
 * Plate V. t Plate VI. XL. L. and Mr. Carter. 
 
42 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 rical sculpture, equally surprising for beauty and 
 novelty. 
 
 In the chancel of Dorchester Church, near Oxford, 
 are three windows of this kind ; one of which, 
 besides rich foliage, is adorned with twenty-eight 
 small statues relating to the genealogy of our 
 Saviour, and the other two with alto-relievos from 
 acts of his life. 
 
 It would be endless endeavouring to enumerate 
 the various examples of the passion for sculpture 
 which prevailed in this age. In the Lady Chapel 
 of Norwich Cathedral all the key- stones, twenty or 
 thirty in number, are beautiful alto-relievos from 
 the Virgin Mary’s life : three sides of the cloister, 
 belonging to the same church, have key-stones, 
 (perhaps one hundred and fifty in number), repre- 
 senting principal passages from the Old Testament 
 as well as the New. 
 
 There is a frieze of historical subjects entirely 
 round St. Mary’s Church, belonging to Ely Cathe- 
 dral. 
 
 The monuments of Aylmer de Valence, Earl of 
 Pembroke, and Edmund Crouchback, in West- 
 minster Abbey, are specimens of the magnificence 
 of such works in the age we are speaking of: the 
 loftiness of the work, the number of arches and 
 pinnacles, the lightness of the spires, the richness 
 and profusion of foliage and crockets, the solemn 
 repose of the principal statue, representing the 
 deceased in his last prayer for mercy to the Throne 
 of Grace, the delicacy of thought in the group of 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 43 
 
 angels bearing the soul, and the tender sentiment of 
 concern variously expressed in the relations, ranged 
 in order round the basement, forcibly arrest the 
 attention, and carry the thoughts not only to other 
 ages, but other states of existence. 
 
 It is a gratification to know that the principal 
 sculptors and painters, employed by Edw. III. in 
 his Collegiate Church, (St. Stephen’s,) now the 
 House of Commons, were Englishmen. In Mr. 
 J. T. Smith’s History of Westminster Palace, we 
 have many of those artist’s names.* 
 
 Besides several other works in the reign of 
 Henry VI., three deserve to be particularly men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Two statues, King Henry on one side, and Arch- 
 bishop Chicheley on the other, with a basso-relievo 
 of the Resurrection between them, over the door of 
 All Soul’s College, in the High Street, Oxford. 
 
 The king’s statue has great purity of character, 
 with a peculiar delicacy and grace in the hands, 
 both of which hold the sceptre. The basso-re- 
 lievo has been carefully defaced, but seems to have 
 possessed merit. 
 
 The second of these works is an arch, in West- 
 minster Abbey, which passes from the back of 
 Henry V.’s tomb over the steps of Henry VII.’s 
 chapel. This arch is adorned with upwards of 
 fifty statues : the centre group, on the north face, 
 represents the coronation of Henry V., the lines 
 
 * Michael the sculptor ; Master Walter, John of Sonnington, 
 John of Carlisle, Roger of Winchester, &c. painters. 
 
44 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 of figures on each side, his nohles attending the 
 ceremony. On the south face of the arch, the 
 central object is the king on horseback, armed cap- 
 a-pie, riding full speed, attended by the companions 
 of his expedition. The sculpture is hold and cha- 
 racteristic, the equestrian group is furious and 
 warlike, the standing figures have a natural senti- 
 ment in their actions, and simple grandeur in their 
 draperies, such as we admire in the paintings of 
 Raphael or Massaccio. 
 
 The third of these works is the monument of 
 Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in St. 
 Mary’s Church, Warwick : a gilt bronze figure of 
 the earl in the act of prayer, lies on a richly orna- 
 mented marble pedestal, round which are several 
 beautiful small gilt bronze statues, standing in 
 niches supporting canopies over them. The figures 
 are so natural and graceful, the architecture so rich 
 and delicate, that they are not excelled by any 
 sculpture in Italy of the same kind at this time, 
 although Donatello and Ghiberti were living when 
 this tomb was executed, in the year 1439.* 
 
 But the building, of all others most intended 
 for a receptacle and display of sculpture, which 
 former ages have left in England for our admiration, 
 is the Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey, built 
 
 * Monument in St. Mary’s Church, Warwick. The mason, 
 Thomas Essex ; the sculptor and founder was William Austin of 
 London. Prints, and a description of this monument, in the 2nd 
 vol. of Gough’s Sepulchral Monuments, and Stothard’s Monumental 
 Effigies. 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 45 
 
 by Henry VII. to receive his tomb. It has been 
 said the number of statues, within and without this 
 chapel, amounted to three thousand ! — perhaps 
 many of these have heen destroyed, and in that 
 number every half figure, or animal, may have been 
 reckoned ; but certainly, even at this day, the 
 number is very great, and it is another example of 
 the astonishing estimation and employment of sculp- 
 ture in this kingdom before the Reformation. Many 
 interesting particulars concerning this chapel and 
 tomb, from original documents, are given in Britton’s 
 Architectural Antiquities ; from which, and the 
 Life of Torrigiano by Vasari, we may conclude 
 that artist was employed on the tomb only, and had 
 no concern with the building or the statues with 
 which it is embellished. The structure appears 
 to have been finished or nearly so, before Torrigiano 
 began the tomb ; and there is reason to think that 
 he did not stay in this country more than six years, 
 which time would be nearly, if not quite, taken up 
 in the execution of the tomh and some other statues 
 about it, now destroyed, together with the rich 
 pedestal and enclosure. The architecture of the 
 tomh has a mixture of Roman arches and decoration, 
 very different from the arches of the chapel, which 
 are all pointed ; the figures of the tomb have a 
 better proportion and drawing, in the naked, than 
 those of the chapel ; hut the figures of the chapel 
 are very superior in natural simplicity and grandeur 
 of character and drapery.* 
 
 Plates VII. and VIII. 
 
46 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 From these differences in style, from the inden- 
 tures with Torrigiano relating to the tomb only, 
 and not to the chapel, and from the names of several 
 English artists, painters, sculptors, founders, and 
 masons, being mentioned in the documents, who 
 were not concerned in Torrigiano’s engagement, 
 we may presume the chapel and its sculptures were 
 native productions. 
 
 After the observations on this building, we must 
 take a long farewell of such noble and magnificent 
 efforts of art, in raising which the intention of our 
 ancestors was to add a solemnity to religious worship, 
 to impress on the mind those virtues which adorn 
 and exalt humanity. 
 
 The greater number of these structures are 
 already gone ! — the remaining few are daily crumb- 
 ling into ruins ! — and with what are their places to 
 be supplied ? 
 
 The reign of Henry VIII., and those imme- 
 diately succeeding him, were employed in settling 
 disputes of faith by public executions ; as either 
 of the contending religious parties prevailed, this 
 mutual and undistinguishing spirit of persecution 
 extended equally to the destruction of man and his 
 ingenious labours. 
 
 In the year 1538, Henry VIII. issued an in- 
 junction, that all images which had been worshipped, 
 or to which idle pilgrimages had been made, should 
 be taken down and removed from the churches. 
 And in the reign of Edward VI., in the year 1541, 
 his uncle the Duke of Somerset, the Protector, 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 47 
 
 and Council, ordered all images, without distinction, 
 to be thrown down and destroyed. This was under- 
 stood, and executed, on pictures, as well as sculp- 
 ture ; and there is good reason to believe that we 
 are indebted to the immense number of these works, 
 which tired the patience of their enemies before 
 their destruction was completed, for what remains 
 of them at this day. 
 
 Had the popes of the fifteenth and sixteenth 
 centuries been actuated by the same iconoclastic 
 fury against the remains of Greek and Roman 
 superstition, we should have been unacquainted 
 with the Apollo Belvidere, the Venus of Praxi tiles, 
 the Laocoon, the Niobe Family, and the other 
 wonders of Grecian art. 
 
 Henry VIII., however, in the beginning of his 
 reign, ordered Peter Torrigiano to make for him, 
 and his queen, one of the most magnificent sepul- 
 chral monuments ever conceived, and surpassing 
 every thing of the kind in the modern world. 
 Although it was not intended to he so large as that 
 designed by Michel Angelo for Julius II.,* pro- 
 posed to occupy the pavement under the cupola 
 of St. Peter’s in Rome, yet in richness, and the 
 number of figures, would have much excelled it. 
 The height was to have been twenty-seven feet, the 
 breadth twenty, and the depth fifteen. Two steps 
 were to support the whole work, then a basement 
 of white marble, ornamented with basso-relievos 
 of the life of our Saviour, then two pedestals on 
 
 * In Della Valle’s edition of Vasari. 
 
48 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 the basement, supporting statues of the king and 
 queen as if asleep ; between them a third pedestal 
 was to rise above them, supporting the king’s 
 statue, completely armed, on horseback ; over this 
 a decorated triumphal arch. Over the figures of 
 the king and queen, on each side, a sort of temple, 
 between the columns of which were to be statues 
 of the fourteen Prophets of the Old Testament, 
 with basso-relievos of their stories, and angels 
 holding their names, the twelve Apostles, and four 
 doctors of the church, with their angels and acts ; 
 at the corners of the tomb, the four cardinal vir- 
 tues ;* — a chorus of angels, twenty in number, on 
 the parapet above ; with other statues, 133 in all, 
 and 43 basso-relievos of gilt bronze, with 20 columns 
 in the architecture, of porphyry, oriental alabaster, 
 and serpentine marble. The particulars of this 
 magnificent work are preserved in Speed’s History 
 of England, taken from the explanation of a drawing 
 the king had approved. 
 
 The commands for destroying sacred painting 
 
 * A monument to Sir Francis Vere, in the chapel of St. John 
 the Evangelist, Westminster Abbey, representing four knights sup- 
 porting a canopy over the deceased. (PI. 51.) 
 
 In the great church of Brede is the monument of Count Engel- 
 
 o o 
 
 bert and his wife, he died 1505 — the design said to be by Michel 
 Angelo, the upper part similar to that of Sir Francis Vere. Four 
 knights bearing armour on a canopy over the Count and Countess, 
 and at the corners of the base, Caesar, Regulus, Philip, and 
 Alexander. 
 
 The great Lord Burleigh’s monument at Hatfield, Hants, has 
 the four cardinal virtues bearing the canopy. 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 49 
 
 and sculpture, effectually prevented the artist from 
 suffering his mind to rise in the contemplation or 
 execution of any sublime effort, as he dreaded a 
 prison or the stake, and reduced him in future to 
 the miserable mimickry of monstrous fashions, or 
 drudgery in the lowest mechanism of his profession ! 
 
 This unfortunate check to our national ability for 
 liberal art occurred at a time which offered the 
 most fortunate and extraordinary assistance to its 
 progress. The lately discovered art of printing 
 began to enlighten the European hemisphere with 
 the beams of knowledge in all directions ; copies of 
 of the Bible were generally dispersed; the phi- 
 losophy of Plato and Aristotle were understood and 
 well illustrated ; mathematics were successfully 
 studied ; so was anatomy ; linear perspective had 
 been, in a great measure, perfected by Paul Uccello, 
 the Florentine, some time before. These advan- 
 tages did much towards the formation of Mantegna, 
 Raphael, Michel Angelo, Titian, Da Vinci, and 
 Correggio, in common with the great scientific and 
 literary luminaries of the same period, among whom 
 we may boast our Bacon, Shakespeare, Spenser, and 
 afterwards John Milton. But the genius of fanati- 
 cism and destruction arrested our progress ; the 
 iconoclastic spirit continued, more or less mitigated, 
 till its great explosion during the Civil V^ars, when 
 violence and barbarity became so disgustinglv 
 shocking in all respects, that we shall quit the 
 subject entirely ; let it suffice to say, after the spirit 
 of liberal art had been extimguished among the 
 
50 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 natives, it was found necessary to engage celebrated 
 artists from other countries. Holbein, Rubens, 
 and Vandyke, are the greatest names among the 
 painters ; the sculptors are of less note. Steevens 
 the Hollander, with De Vere and others from the 
 Netherlands, Caius Cibber, the sculptor of the 
 kings at the Royal Exchange, the bas-relief on the 
 London Monument, and the mad figures on the 
 piers of Bedlam gates ; Sheemacher, employed on 
 the sculpture of St. Paul’s, and Roubiliac, whose 
 works are justly admired for life and nature, though 
 their value is diminished by epigrammatic conceit 
 and frequent meanness of parts. 
 
 Yet during the abasement of native art, instances 
 were not wanting of men who might have risen to 
 excellence in more favourable times. Christmas 
 executed a monument to Sir William Pitt and his 
 lady, at Stratfieldsay, Hants, which partakes much 
 of Vandyke’s manner. Stone, who was mason to 
 Charles I., made a monument for Mr. Holies of the 
 Newcastle family, near Lady Nightingale’s in West- 
 minster Abbey, which has a grandeur of conception 
 by no means common at that time. 
 
 Our purpose has been, in this Lecture, to show 
 that ability has not been wanting to excel in Sculp- 
 ture, whenever it has not been prevented by outward 
 circumstances. This has been proved by monuments 
 still in existence, the wrecks only of those pro- 
 digious destructions which succeeded each other, 
 without intermission, from the reign of Henry Vlll. 
 to that of Charles II. From these wrecks we prove, 
 
ENGLISH SCULPTURE. 
 
 51 
 
 that from the time Nicolo and John Pisano restored 
 sculpture in Italy, soon after the year 1200, and 
 before the birth of Cimabue the Italian restorer of 
 painting, to the reign of Henry VII., we have works 
 of sculpture in England, in some cases possibly by 
 English artists, in other, and most important in- 
 stances, certainly by Englishmen, whose names are 
 on record, and whose works may be compared with 
 those of the best Italian artists of the same times. 
 We have likewise seen, since the establishment of 
 the Royal Academy has afforded an advantageous 
 school for study, under the auspices of our gracious 
 sovereign George III., that we have had a sculptor 
 in the late Mr. Banks, whose works have eclipsed 
 the most, if not all, of his continental contempo- 
 raries. Further testimony might be added of 
 works by living artists, which have been admired 
 by foreigners, and have raised the British School 
 of Sculpture to distinguished eminence in Europe. 
 
 We may, therefore, fairly conclude, that whatever 
 attention and encouragement this Institution has be- 
 stowed on the Art of Sculpture, has not only been 
 honourable to the Academy, but advantageous to 
 the Country. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 In tracing man’s early progress and improvement, 
 the most authentic knowledge is obtained from the 
 Bible, not only in religion, but in civilization and 
 arts. In this sacred volume is also a register of 
 
 o 
 
 patriarchal history, containing accounts of the 
 neighbouring nations long before any other written 
 information that has come down to us. In the 
 Book of Exodus, we are told of Laban’s teraphim 
 or images, and the golden calf, made by Aaron and 
 the Israelites, which they worshipped during the 
 absence of Moses on the mount. This violent ten- 
 dency to idolatry accounts for the strict injunctions, 
 under which they were bound, by divine command, 
 not to worship any image : whilst the same authority 
 commanded statues of cherubim to extend their 
 wings over the Ark of the Covenant, and that the 
 veil of the tabernacle should be adorned with 
 cherubim. This proves the command was not 
 against the images themselves, but the abuse of 
 them for impious and idolatrous purposes, and, on 
 the contrary, is a testimony of approbation of such 
 works, when representing the ministers of God’s 
 providence, or the guardians of his holy laws ; and 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 53 
 
 indeed it is a most gratifying reflection to a prac- 
 titioner of the sister arts, that the Almighty con- 
 descended to employ them as the handmaids of 
 religion, and that he particularly inspired Aholiab 
 and Bezaleel to produce the most admirable and 
 lively decorations of angelic forms for his tabernacle. 
 Of these nothing remains but description ; all the 
 glories of Solomon’s Temple, and that raised after 
 the captivity, with all their beauty and splendour, 
 are swept away by the same appointment which 
 decreed the Jews should no longer be a nation. 
 Were we to search with the most scrutinizing dili- 
 gence for some specimens of ancient Jewish art, only 
 three could be produced, — the piece of money called 
 a shekel, hearing a cup on one side, and an almond 
 branch on the other ; the candlestick with seven 
 branches ; and the table of show-bread, on a bas- 
 relief under the arch of Titus. The porticos of 
 tombs in Palestine, which have been published, hear 
 a strong appearance of Greek restoration. 
 
 The magnificent sitting golden Jupiter in the 
 Temple of Jupiter Belus in Babylon, the statue of 
 the Tyrian Hercules, and other Divinities of Sidon 
 and the neighbouring cities, are only to he found at 
 present in the ancient writers, and what they were 
 it is impossible for us to judge, unless we may form 
 some conjecture from analogy with Egyptian art, 
 concerning which information is copious and 
 examples abundant. 
 
 Herodotus, an author of the most respectable 
 integrity and intelligence, informs us “the Egyptians 
 
 
54 > 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 erected the first altars and temples to the gods, and 
 carved the figures of animals on stone,” and the 
 great number and variety of Egyptian sculptures 
 remaining, from the most rude to the most perfect, 
 give us reason to believe we have specimens from 
 the earliest to the latest of their productions. 
 
 The amazing power of that country,* which, in 
 the time of their king Amasis, contained 20,000 
 populous cities ; their reputation of being the wisest 
 nation of antiquity, and on that account visited by 
 Orpheus, Homer, Thales, Pythagoras, Plato, and 
 others distinguished for wisdom; the Pyramids, the 
 Lake Moeris, and other stupendous works and 
 buildings, of which five immense palaces and thirty- 
 four temples, still remain to astonish posterity ;t the 
 universal and profuse employment of sculpture in 
 colossal and minute dimensions, for public and 
 domestic purposes, for the service of the living and 
 the dead ; all induce us to inquire into the prin- 
 ciples and quality of their productions. We have 
 not only the written accounts by ancient authors, 
 but the demonstrative evidence of remaining works, 
 that almost the whole of their sculpture was sacred ; 
 that is, representations of divine qualities, attri- 
 butes, and personifications ; with the exception of 
 the historical series in their tombs and palaces. 
 
 Herodotus mentions two statues, one placed before 
 the Temple of Vulcan at Memphis, the other in the 
 
 * Herodotus, Euterpe, 
 t Citizen Hipaud’s Report, p. 9. 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 55 
 
 City of Sais, by King Amasis, each of which was 
 seventy-five feet long. 
 
 The colossal Sphinx,* near the great Pyramid, 
 rises twenty-five feet, although it is nearly buried up 
 to the gullet in sand. 
 
 The sitting statues of Memnon, the mother and 
 son of Osmandue, at Thebes, are each fifty-eight 
 feet high. To these we might add a catalogue of 
 similar works, known by remaining fragments, or 
 described by authors. There is a clenched hand 
 in red granite in the British Museum, which 
 belonged to a statue sixty-five feet high. 
 
 The Egyptian statues stand equally poised on 
 both legs, having one foot advanced, the arms either 
 hanging straight down on each side, or, if one is 
 raised, it is at a right angle across the body. Some 
 of the statues sit on seats, some on the ground, and 
 some are kneeling ; but the position of the hands 
 seldom varies from the above description ; their 
 attitudes are of course simple, rectilinear, and with- 
 out lateral movement ; the faces are rather flat, the 
 brows, eyelids, and mouths, formed of simple curves, 
 slightly, but sharply marked, and with little expres- 
 sion ; the general proportions are something more 
 than seven heads high, the form of the body and 
 limbs rather round and effeminate, with only the 
 most evident projections and hollows. 
 
 Their tunics, or rather draperies, are in many 
 instances without folds 
 
 * Sphinx, in the sacred language of Orpheus, “ the soul com- 
 prehending all.” — Brucker, vol. I. p. 380. — Clemens Alex. 
 
56 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 W inckelman has remarked, that the Egyptians 
 executed quadrupeds better than human figures ; 
 for which he gives the two following reasons, first, 
 that as professions in that country were hereditary, 
 genius must be wanting to represent the human 
 form in perfection ; secondly, that superstitious 
 reverence for the works of their ancestors prevented 
 improvement. This is an amusing, but needless, 
 hypothesis ; for there are statues in the Capitoline 
 Museum with as great a breadth, and choice of 
 grand parts proper to the human form, as ever they 
 represented in their lions, or other inferior animals. 
 In addition to these observations on Egyptian 
 statues, we may remark, the forms of their hands 
 and feet are gross ; they have no anatomical detail 
 of parts, and are totally deficient in the grace of 
 motion. This last defect, in all probability, was 
 not the consequence of a superstitious determina- 
 tion to persist in the practice of their ancestors, it 
 is accounted for in another and better way. 
 
 Pythagoras, after he had studied several years in 
 Egypt, sacrificed a hundred oxen in consequence of 
 having discovered, that a square of the longest side 
 of a right-angled triangle is equal to the two squares 
 of the lesser sides of the same triangle ; and thence 
 it follows, that the knowledge of the Egyptians could 
 not have been very great at that time in geometry. 
 1 his will naturally account for that want of motion 
 in their statues and relievos, which can only be ob- 
 tained by a careful observation of nature, assisted 
 by geometry. 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 57 
 
 The state of Egyptian science in the time of Py- 
 thagoras being noticed, leads to another considera- 
 tion respecting the date of their architecture and 
 sculpture. Most of their great works are mentioned 
 by the ancient writers as being done in the reign of 
 Sesostris, and afterwards. Sesostris liveddn the reign 
 of Rehoboam, King of Israel, about the time of the 
 Trojan war, or 1000 years before the Christian era, 
 which shows that the arts of Egypt and of Greece 
 were in a progressive state of improvement at the 
 same time, and from the Greeks residing with them 
 to study theology, philosophy and science, — from the 
 great intercourse, political and commercial, between 
 the two countries from the heroic times, — from the 
 Greeks being long settled in the city of Naucratis 
 and other parts of Egypt, we may fairly conclude 
 their communication in arts was just as free as in 
 other concerns, which seems the more likely, as 
 there is a considerable resemblance in the features 
 and contour of the early Greek and Egyptian 
 statues. 
 
 The Egyptian basso-relievos are generally (hut 
 not always) sunk into the ground, which is left 
 level with the highest part of the relief ; for which 
 practice two reasons may he assigned, first, that as 
 many of these basso-relievos were cut in very hard 
 stones, basaltes or granite, as much time would 
 have been required to clear away the ground about 
 the figure as had been employed in cutting the 
 figure itself; and besides the economy of time, 
 when some hundreds or thousands of these figures 
 
58 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 were engraven on the sides of a lofty obelisk, or the 
 walls of a temple, the far greater number of them 
 were at a great distance from the eye, fifty, sixty 
 feet or more : in this case, the ground being left 
 perpendicular to the figure, the whole circuit of its 
 outline, gave it a greater breadth of shadow and 
 distinctness to the spectator. 
 
 These basso-relievos, which we comprehend in 
 the general term of hieroglyphics, or sacred engrav- 
 ings, represent difierent subjects, according to the 
 place and purpose for which they were employed : 
 in the walls of tombs they represent the profession, 
 actions, and funeral of the deceased ; in palaces, 
 wars, negociations, triumphs, processions, trophies, 
 with the civil, military, and domestic employments 
 of kings. 
 
 In temples they were symbolical registers of 
 theology, and sacred science ; on obelisks, they 
 express hymns to the gods, or praises of their kings. 
 Ammianus Marcellinus has preserved part of a trans- 
 lation by Hesmaneon of the Egyptian hieroglyphics 
 on the obelisk which formerly stood in the centre of 
 the Circus Maximus, and, at present, before the 
 church of St. John de Lateran in Rome. It im- 
 ports that the sun, the lord of the universe, gives to 
 Ramesis the kingdom of Egypt and the dominion of 
 all the earth, in the city of Heliopolis. This trans- 
 lation appears sufficiently justified in the upper 
 lines of the hieroglyphics, where a divinity is 
 sitting in the act of bestowing on a man who 
 kneels before him, stretching out his hands to 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 59 
 
 receive. In the following line the same man is 
 seen again, taking possession of an altar, on the 
 side of which is the ox Apis, and on the top, the 
 mitred hawk, symbol of Osiris. Thus of the sacred 
 emblems of Egypt. 
 
 Our time and purpose will not permit us to dwell 
 on the stupendous architecture, or laborious won- 
 ders, the labyrinths, tombs, temples, pyramids and 
 palaces on either side of the Nile, from Upper 
 Egypt till its discharge through various channels 
 into the Mediterranean ; but we may understand 
 to what extent sculpture was employed among this 
 people, by a brief description of the palace of Car- 
 nac,* a portion of Egyptian Thebes. The front of 
 this palace was 420 feet long, its depth nearly three- 
 quarters of a mile ; it consisted of four great courts 
 of nearly equal dimensions, comprehended within a 
 long square. The first court was occupied by four 
 rows of columns, the second contained 130, the 
 largest eleven feet in diameter, the smaller seven 
 feet ; the third court was adorned with six obelisks, 
 ninety feet high, and colossal statues, and sur- 
 rounded by various royal apartments. On each 
 side the entrance of the fourth court was a saloon 
 of granite ; the rest of the space was occupied by 
 porticos, colonnades, and numerous chambers for 
 officers and attendants. This palace, with\four 
 dependant structures of similar magnificence, hut 
 inferior proportions, was approached by four paved 
 roads, bordered on each side with figures of animals, 
 * Plate IX. 
 
60 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 fifteen feet long : in one avenue, ninety lions ; in 
 another, sphinxes ; in another, rams : and in the 
 fourth, lions with hawks’ heads. From the ruined 
 state of these avenues we cannot now have any com- 
 putation of the number of animals by which they 
 were bordered, though it is almost certain they were 
 not fewer than 300, yet it is possible they might he 
 many more. 
 
 In this place twenty-two colossal statues still re- 
 main, and a great number of granite statues and 
 fragments the size of nature : besides which, the 
 walls were nearly covered with basso-relievos and 
 pictures. The lesser structures in this group of 
 buildings were adorned in the same manner, and 
 communicated with the magnificent tomb of Is- 
 mandes or Memnon, before which stood the statue 
 of Memnon, sixty-five feet high, already mentioned, 
 with the statues of his mother and son, fifty-eight 
 high. The largest of these was thrown down and 
 destroyed by Cambyses, the Persian conqueror of 
 Egypt ; its fragments still remain, an ear of which 
 is three feet three inches long, and a foot four feet 
 across. 
 
 The enormous works of Egypt have struck every 
 foreign visitor with wonder and awe, from Hero- 
 dotus down to the members of the French Institute. 
 Herodotus says, “ one of their buildings is equal to 
 many of the most considerable Greek buildings 
 taken together,” and M. Ripand observes those 
 works are so prodigious, they make every thing we 
 do look little and indeed if we consider the 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 61 
 
 execution of a statue sixty-five feet high in so hard 
 a material as granite, the boldest heart would be 
 appalled at the incalculable labour and difficulties of 
 the work ! 
 
 In the Egyptian sculpture, we shall find some 
 excellent first principles of the art. 
 
 Their best statues are divided into seven heads 
 and a half, the whole height of the figure is divided 
 into two equal parts at the os pubis ; the rest of 
 the proportions are natural, and not disagreeable. 
 The principal forms of the body and limbs, as the 
 breasts, belly, shoulders, biceps of the arm, knees, 
 shin-bones, and feet, are expressed with a fleshy 
 roundness, although without anatomical knowledge 
 of detail ; and in the female figures these parts 
 often possess considerable elegance and beauty. 
 The forms of the female face have much the same 
 outline and progression towards beauty in the 
 features, as we see in some of the early Greek 
 statues, and, like them, without variety of charac- 
 ter ; for little difference can be traced in the faces 
 of Isis, in her representations of Diana, Venus,* 
 or Terra, or indeed in Osiris, although sometimes 
 understood to be Jupiter himself, excepting that in 
 some instances he has a very small beard, in form 
 resembling a peg. The hands and feet, like the 
 rest of the figure, have general forms only, without 
 particular detail ; the fingers and toes are flat, of 
 equal thickness, little separated, and without dis- 
 tinction of the knuckles ; yet, altogether, their 
 * Plate X. 
 
62 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 simplicity of idea, breadth of parts, and occasional 
 beauty of form, strike the skilful beholder, and 
 have been highly praised by the best judges, ancient 
 and modem. 
 
 In their basso-relievos and paintings which re- 
 quire variety of action and situation, are demon- 
 strated their want of anatomical, mechanical and 
 geometrical science relating to the arts of painting 
 and sculpture. 
 
 The king or hero* is three times larger than the 
 other figures ; whatever is the action, whether a 
 siege, a battle, or taking a town by storm, there is 
 not the smallest idea of perspective in the place, or 
 magnitude of figures or buildings. Figures in- 
 tended to be in violent action are equally destitute 
 of joints, and other anatomical form, as they are of 
 the balance and spring of motion, the force of a 
 blow, or the just variety of line in the turning 
 figure. In a word, their historical art was in- 
 forming the beholder in the best manner they could, 
 according to the rude characters they were able to 
 make. 
 
 From such a description it is easy to understand 
 how much their attempts at historical representa- 
 tion were inferior to their single statues. 
 
 What has been hitherto said of Egyptian sculp- 
 ture, describes the ancient native sculpture of that 
 people. After the Ptolemies, successors of Alexander 
 the Great, were kings of Egypt, their sculpture 
 was enlivened by Grecian animation, and refined 
 * Plate XII. 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 63 
 
 by the standard of Grecian beauty in proportions, 
 attitude, character, and dress. 
 
 Osiris, Isis, and Orus, their three great divini- 
 ties, put on the Macedonian costume, and new 
 divinities appeared among them in Grecian forms, 
 whose characteristics were compounded from mate- 
 rials of Egyptian, Eastern, and Grecian theology 
 and philosophy. 
 
 In the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian, a 
 number of statues, in imitation of the ancient 
 Egyptian were made to decorate the canopus in his 
 magnificent villa at Tivoli, several of which have 
 been dug up, and placed in the Capitoline Museum : 
 but Winckelman has remarked of these, that they 
 may be known from the ancient Egyptian sculpture, 
 having no hieroglyphics on them : but besides this 
 distinction, they are entirely unlike the genuine 
 Egyptian, as the drawing and character are Ro- 
 man, in Egyptian attitudes and dresses. 
 
 The ancient authors who give the most satisfac- 
 tory accounts of Egyptian antiquities are Herodo- 
 tus, Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, Strabo, Clemens 
 of Alexandria, lamblicus, and Orus Apollo. 
 
 The best modern books on this subject are “ Po- 
 cock’s Voyages,” “Savary’s Travels in Egypt,” 
 “Norden’s Egypt,” and “Denon;” to which may 
 be added the most magnificent work of ancient and 
 modern Egypt publishing in Paris, to be in twelve 
 volumes folio, containing 840 plates, from the ob- 
 servations, researches, accounts and drawings of the 
 
64 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 learned men and artists of the French nation who 
 formed the Egyptian Institute. 
 
 We must not omit some notice of the sculpture 
 of Persepolis,* palace of the Persian kings, heads 
 of one of the four great monarchies of the ancient 
 world. 
 
 This stately ruin, at a small distance from the 
 capital of ancient Persia, was such when visited by 
 Le Bruyn, the Dutch traveller, and our countryman. 
 Sir John Chardin, that no certain plan of it could 
 be ascertained ; but from the extent of its site, and 
 the epithet given by the Persian writers, who called 
 it the palace of a thousand columns, it seems to 
 have been a wonder of ancient Asia, as its ruins 
 are of this day. Le Bruyn says forty columns re- 
 mained on an extensive basement of masonry, as- 
 cended by magnificent flights of steps, approached by 
 gateways and remains of walls, which formerly sur- 
 rounded the structure, covered with basso-relievos 
 representing the military power, pomp, triumphs 
 and sacrifices of the Persian monarchs. These 
 sculptures have some resemblance to the style or 
 the Egyptian basso-relievos in the palaces of Thebes, 
 allowing for the difference of dress ; but as they 
 contain nothing in science, or imitation, particularly 
 favourable to our pursuit of excellence, we shall 
 content ourselves with respecting it as a most ve- 
 nerable monument of ancient history and learning, 
 whilst we follow our course by some observations 
 on Hindu sculpture. 
 
 * See Plate XII. 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 65 
 
 The stupendous excavated temples of Ellora, 
 Elephantis, and other parts of India, are known in 
 England by representations which do honour to our 
 country.* They are of high antiquity, and adorned 
 throughout with mythological sculpture, the sub- 
 jects of which are symbols, allegorical personages, 
 and groups of figures expressing various attributes 
 and energies of divine pow^er, providence, and 
 manifestation, according to the Bramin system, con- 
 cerning which valuable and extensive information 
 may he obtained from “ Moore’s Hindu Pantheon,” 
 in which there are upwards of 1500 outlines of 
 Hindu painting and sculpture,f faithfully copied 
 from the originals. We may remark on the sculp- 
 ture, that, although it bears some resemblance to 
 the Egyptian, it is inferior both in science and 
 likeness to nature. $ 
 
 After this summary view of sculpture among the 
 early nations of the east, we shall proceed to the 
 principles and practice of the art with the Greeks, 
 where, if it was not born, it was advanced to a high 
 degree of perfection : hut, as all effects depend on 
 their causes, and ends cannot be produced without 
 adequate means, we shall do well to inquire what 
 branches of science were employed by this distin- 
 
 * Journal of a residence in India, by Maria Graham, 
 t See Plate XIII. 
 
 t Matsya Purana Purana, “ a direction to the artists in the clia- 
 racter, proportions and attributes of Hindu Divinities.’’ Hayasirus 
 on the same subject, not specified from what Parana taken, in the 
 Imperial Library, Paris . — Edinburgh Revieiv, No. 34, Feb. 1811. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 guished people, to aid them in the representation 
 of form and character ; and here, although we must 
 pause a moment to regret the loss of invaluable 
 treatises by the greatest painters, sculptors, and 
 architects of antiquity, enumerated by Vitruvius 
 and the elder Pliny, yet some short paragraphs 
 those authors have preserved, with the assistance 
 of other ancient writers, and a comparison of these 
 with the numerous and precious remains of ancient 
 works, will compensate for the loss, and give the 
 requisite information. 
 
 We find upon these authorities that geometry 
 and numbers were employed to ascertain the powers 
 of motion and proportions, optics and perspective, 
 (as known to the ancients,) — to regulate projec- 
 tions, hollows, keeping, diminution, curvatures, and 
 general efiects, in figures, groups, insulated or in 
 relief, with their accompaniments ; and anatomy, 
 to represent the bones, muscles, tendons, and veins, 
 as they appear on the surface of the human body, 
 and inferior animals. 
 
 In this enlightened age, when the circle of 
 science is so generally and well understood, when 
 the connection and relation of one branch with 
 another is demonstrated, and their principles ap- 
 plied from necessity and conviction, wherever pos- 
 sibility allows, in the liberal and mechanical arts, 
 as well as all the other concerns of life, — no one 
 can be weak or absurd enough to suppose it is 
 within the ability and province of human genius, 
 without the principles of science previously ac- 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 67 
 
 quired, — by slight observation only, — to become 
 possessed of the forms, characters, and essences of 
 objects in such a manner as to represent them with 
 truth, force, and pathos at once ! No : we are 
 convinced by reason and experience, that “ Life is 
 short, and Art is long,” and the perfection of all 
 human productions depends on the indefatigable 
 accumulation of knowledge and labour through a 
 succession of ages. 
 
 The Egyptian arts were in progressive states of 
 improvement, from before the time of Moses to the 
 invasion and subjugation of the country by Cam- 
 byses the Persian, a period of about 1000 years, 
 and the arts of Greece, from their rudest begin- 
 nings before the time of Daedalus, rose to high 
 perfection in about 900 years, or the reign of 
 Alexander the Great. In the early times of Greece, 
 Pausanias informs us the twelve gods were worshipped 
 in Arcadia, under the forms of rude stones, and 
 before Daedalus the statues had eyes nearly shut, 
 the arms attached to their sides, and the legs close 
 together ; but as geometry, mechanics, arithmetic, 
 and anatomy improved, painting and sculpture 
 acquired action, proportion, and detailed parts. 
 
 Vitruvius, Book III., lays down some rules used 
 by the most celebrated Grecian artists, taken from 
 their own writings, for the symmetry or proportions 
 of the human figure, and also the geometrical 
 figures which circumscribe its general form and 
 motion. 
 
68 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 GEOMETRY. 
 
 General Form and Motion. 
 
 He says, “if a man lies on his back, his arms 
 and legs may be so extended, that a circle may he 
 drawn round, touching the extremities of his fingers 
 and toes, the centre of which circle shall he his 
 navel;” also, “that a man standing upright, the 
 length of his arms, when fully extended, is equal 
 to his height thus, that the circle, and the square, 
 equally contain the general form and motion of the 
 human figure. 
 
 He also says “ the human figure is eight of its 
 own heads in height, or ten faces, from the chin to 
 the growing of the hair, each face containing three 
 equal parts, &c.” From these hints and some others 
 in his work, with some also given by that philo- 
 sopher and painter, Leonardo Da Vinci, in which 
 he has pursued the same profound mathematical 
 train of reasoning, a complete system of proportions 
 and motion may be laid down upon the ancient 
 Greek principles, in a future Lecture on that 
 subject. 
 
 Concerning the optics and perspective of the an- 
 cients he has the following passage : “Agatharchus 
 of Athens made a tragic scene under the direction 
 of ^schylus, and left a commentary upon it ; being 
 instructed by that, Democritus and Anaxagoras 
 wrote on the same subject in what manner the 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 69 
 
 extension of rays to the point of sight, by an ap- 
 pointed centre, should answer to the lines by natural 
 reason, so that the certain and uncertain images 
 of buildings should be rendered in appearance by 
 painted scenes, which should be viewed in front 
 on the perspective plane ; so that some should seem 
 to retire, and others come forward.” 
 
 This passage appears to contain as much of per- 
 spective as was known to the ancients, and amounts 
 to this — that rays from visible objects meet in the 
 eye as a centre, and that objects should be repre- 
 sented prominent, or retiring, according to their 
 proposed situations. This is certainly all the 
 knowledge of perspective shown in the ancient 
 works of art, however excellent in other respects ; 
 and indeed, from the imperfect description of the 
 eye given by Hippocrates, we have no reason to 
 believe that the nature of vision, or the science of 
 optics, were much understood when Agatharcus, 
 his cotemporary, wrote his commentary on per- 
 spective. 
 
 Pliny says, lib. xxxiv. c. 8, “ Leontius, the co- 
 temporary of Phidias, first expressed tendons and 
 veins — primus nervos et venas expressit” — which 
 was immediately after the anatomical researches and 
 improvements of Hippocrates, Democritus, and 
 their disciples ; and we shall find in the same 
 manner all the improvements in art followed im- 
 provements in science. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus was informed by the priests, 
 that Daedalus measured the proportions of the 
 
70 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 Egyptian statues,* and perhaps by this improved 
 the forms of his own works, which he also improved 
 by making his statues walk, that is, setting one 
 foot before the other, and by detaching the arms 
 from the body ; yet, notwithstanding, for centuries 
 after, the statues, whether standing or walking, 
 seem equally poised on both feet, having their 
 shoulders, hips, and knees even with each other ; 
 and that too in violent actions. In basso-relievos 
 and paintings, when the figure was forcibly exerted, 
 it was generally represented in an awkward and 
 impossible manner, until after the time Pythagoras 
 and Thales had improved geometry, and thus in- 
 creasing the knowledge of circular and triangular 
 powers and relations, which is indispensable to 
 perfectly understanding the curvilinear motion of 
 animal bodies in different directions, and to ascer- 
 tain its quantity and direction in the limbs. 
 
 Pursuing the same observations, we shall find 
 the painters and sculptors did not give the utmost 
 variety and accuracy to their positions and' actions, 
 until after Euclid the mathematician had formed 
 his collection of problems. 
 
 For want of the same progressive improvement 
 in optics, which would have led to perspective, we 
 find the best ancient pictures and basso-relievos, 
 always limited and defective in their fore-shorten- 
 ings. 
 
 The knowledge of anatomy among the early 
 
 * Deiioii’s Egypt, p. 124. Egyptian statues seven heads and 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 71 
 
 Greeks was so small, that it could have afforded 
 little assistance to the artist. Homer, indeed, has 
 described all the wounds mentioned in his poems 
 with anatomical correctness, and on this account 
 has been quoted by Galen, at a time when the 
 science had arisen to considerable eminence. But 
 Pliny observes “ the art of medicine (which among 
 the ancients included anatomy) was in profound 
 darkness from the time of Homer to the age of 
 Hippocrates,” and if we examine his treatises on 
 the bones, we shall find their number reckoned, 
 but so rude a sketch of the exterior anatomy, as 
 conveys scarcely any distinct idea of any one part 
 of the body or limbs ; yet, from his treatise on 
 the joints, we find that he occasionally dissected 
 parts of the human body. From this imperfect 
 state of the science, even in the time of Phidias 
 and Praxitiles, we must agree in the opinion of your 
 learned professor of anatomy, “ that the ancient 
 artists owed much more to the study of living than 
 dead bodies.” 
 
 Yet different circumstances must sometimes have 
 given anatomical help to artists from early times : 
 the researches of physicians, the observation of 
 bodies left on the field of battle, the preparations of 
 sacrifice or food, and the practice of dissecting 
 quadrupeds among the philosophers these se- 
 veral sources will account for all the general and 
 simple anatomical forms we see in Grecian works 
 of art, before the time of Phidias. 
 
 What has been adduced is sufficient to show that 
 
72 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 science must attain a certain perfection before the 
 arts of design can be cultivated with success, and 
 that before the human form can be well repre- 
 sented, some system of proportions must be collected 
 from the measurement of man himself, to regulate 
 the thickness, breadth, and height of the body and 
 limbs, and their parts in the imitation. The powers 
 and extent of motion will he settled by geometry and 
 mechanics ; and anatomy will assist the observation 
 of living nature, by assigning the particular forms 
 which compose masses, and distinguish between the 
 accidents of action and rest. 
 
 In considering the assistance alforded by science 
 towards the perfection of art, we observe, that as 
 soon as the painter or sculptor has succeeded in a 
 rude and general resemblance of man, he then at- 
 tempts the natural differences of sex and age, the 
 civil distinctions of orders, as the soldier and the 
 priest, the king and the slave ; he proceeds to the 
 expression of passion and moral qualities, and at 
 last rises to supernatural representation. In this 
 progress he is assisted and directed by the forms of 
 society in which he lives, the principles of philo- 
 sophy, and the dictates of religion ; these are the 
 natural and regular steps by which art approaches 
 perfection. 
 
 The arts of design (particularly sculpture) may 
 be said to be consecrated to religion from the very 
 cradle. 
 
 Thus, in the early times, when their figures were 
 ordinary and barbarous, having only the rudest 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE, 
 
 73 
 
 character of imitation, without any of its graces, 
 their gods were distinguished by their symbols only 
 — Jupiter by his thunder-bolt, Neptune by his tri- 
 dent, and Mercury by his caduceus; not unfre- 
 quently these, and other divinities, were represented 
 with wings, to show they were not mere men. 
 
 The symbols, attributes, and personal character- 
 istics, as the arts improved, were derived from the 
 poets,* and influenced by philosophy. 
 
 The early figures of Jupiter and Neptune have no 
 beards, but when Homer’s verses became the canon 
 of public opinion, the father of gods and men be- 
 came bearded, and so also did his brother Nep- 
 tune. 
 
 After the first Olympiads, when Mercury was 
 considered a patron of gymnastic exercises, he ob- 
 tained a youthful figure. It is likely that Hercules 
 was not exhibited with extraordinary muscular 
 strength until the Greek tragedians had settled his 
 character by their irhpassioned and overpowering 
 descriptions of his acts and labours. 
 
 The winged genii on the painted Greek vases 
 were introduced from the Pythagorean philosophy : 
 and female divinities became lovely and gracious in 
 the time of Plato : in fine, the different systems of 
 ^ilosophy, from the beginning of the Ionic sect by 
 Thales to the Alexandrine philosophy, which was 
 prevalent at the coming of Christ, all influenced the 
 arts of design, giving a tone to their excellence, and 
 
 * See Plates XIV. and XV. 
 
74 
 
 LECTURE 11. 
 
 an indication of their character, which we shall 
 occasionally notice where it is found requisite. 
 
 What has here been olfered can only he considered 
 as the transient glance of a most extensive prospect, 
 ennobled by monuments of religious institutions, 
 with the symbols and allegories of philosophy ; it is 
 enlightened by the wisdom and science of succeeding 
 ages, and delights with an abundant choice of 
 beauty in the higher orders of creation, more par- 
 ticularly expressing mental perfection by bodily 
 form. 
 
 For full satisfaction on such a subject, very copious 
 illustration and example are needful : these are to 
 be obtained from the writings of Winckelman, 
 Mengs, Leonardo Da Vinci, Reynolds, and Fuseli, 
 with a fuller demonstration from publications of 
 the Pope’s Museum, the Capitoline Museum, 
 Montfaucon, the Herculaneum collection, and 
 various other works on ancient art. 
 
 But the admirer of sculpture will receive the 
 most lively satisfaction, and best instruction, from 
 a contemplation of the admirable assemblage in 
 the Townley collection, the invaluable fragments 
 of the Elgin marbles at the British Museum, the 
 casts in the Royal Academy, and elsewhere col- 
 lected by individuals. 
 
 If to these could be added the basso-relievos of 
 Athenians fighting with the Amazons and Centaurs, 
 found at Phigalia in the Argolis, we should indeed 
 possess a most respectable school of sculpture, which, 
 by its assistance in ancient learning, and advancement 
 
EGYPTIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 75 
 
 of the arts, with the consequently profitable im- 
 provement in general knowledge, (so indispensable 
 to the arts of design,) would amply repay any 
 trouble or expense arising in the course of its 
 attainment, 
 
 * In 1815 the frieze of the temple of Apollo at Phigalia was 
 purchased for j6l 5,000, the expences of transporting increased the 
 sum to £19,000. There are twenty-three marble tablets; the first 
 eleven numbers represent the combats between the Lapithse and 
 Centaurs ; the remaining the battles of the Greeks and Amazons. 
 They are the finest works of that kind which have been handed 
 down to us. In the former the ferocity of the brute is contrasted 
 with manly courage; in the latter, female heroism and grace resisting 
 manly strength, awakes our sympathy and calls forth our admira- 
 tion. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 When we consider the gradual ravages of time, 
 and the more compendious destruction of war, in 
 the eastern portion of Europe, and those countries 
 of Asia from whence the remains of ancient know- 
 ledge have been obtained — that the sites of Babylon 
 and Memphis are scarcely known — that Persepolis, 
 Alexandria, Elis, Eleusis, Delphos and Athens are 
 discovered by ruins almost unintelligible, or the 
 remains of their foundations only — that Rome, the 
 eternal city, the mistress of the world, with all her 
 lofty towers, magnificent temples, and imperial 
 palaces, has sufiered sevenfold conflagration!!!* — 
 that fourteen thousand exquisite works of Greek and 
 Etruscan sculpture, which decorated this metropolis 
 of the world in her meridian splendour, were so 
 entirely destroyed or overwhelmed by Gothic igno- 
 rance, or iconoclastic fury, that in the beginning of 
 the fifteenth century, a learned and intelligent 
 observer, Poggio Bracciolini, secretary to Eugenius 
 the Fourth and Nicholas the Fifth, noticed only six 
 statues among the other remains of former gran- 
 deur — when we recollect the destruction of the 
 Capitoline and Ulpian libraries, the first and second 
 
 * Vide Pliny. 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 77 
 
 Alexandrine libraries, one containing 400,000, 
 the other 1,100,000 volumes, together with the 
 general and undistinguishing Turkish and northern 
 devastations in every branch of learning and 
 science, throughout better than one half of the 
 old continent! — from such a train of reflections, 
 and such a widely-extended scene of ruin, we might 
 he induced to suppose, that all the nobler monu- 
 ments of ancient genius and knowledge were lost 
 for ever. 
 
 Upon more accurate inquiry, we shall And the 
 fact very difierent from the appearance ; and, on 
 the contrary, whatever was most essential for man’s 
 good, or his information, has by a wonderful provi- 
 dence been preserved I The Sacred Scriptures — 
 the Eastern, the Pythagorean, Platonic, Aristote- 
 lian, and Alexandrine philosophy — copious collec- 
 tions of geometry, mathematics, astronomy, geo- 
 graphy, medicine, and anatomy — the best poets — 
 the best historians — catalogues of which have been 
 published in twenty-three volumes, by the learned 
 J. Christopher Wolff and T. Albert Fabricius, com 
 prehending an immense body of Eastern, Arabic, 
 Greek, and Roman literature — if we add to these 
 the stupendous and admirable architectural remains 
 in Egypt, India, Persia, Greece, and Italy — the 
 beautiful and nearly innumerable statues, groups, 
 and basso-relievos rescued from ancient ruins — 
 the JOO Greek and Roman paintings recovered 
 from the buried cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, 
 after being lost 1,700 years — exquisite gems and 
 
78 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 coins discovered, and discovering every day ; when 
 we consider that we actually possess such prodigious 
 treasures of ancient science and art, in every branch 
 and species, we must acknowledge we have an over- 
 flowing abundance to establish our principles and 
 stimulate our exertions, and that more, although 
 they might gratify our reverence for antiquity, would 
 rather overwhelm than assist the progress of modern 
 genius. 
 
 From these sources our present subject will be 
 fully supplied in its progress, its relations to, and 
 assistance from, the circle of science ; and. Anally, 
 demonstrate that its excellence must depend on the 
 understanding and sentiment which overrules its 
 manual operation. And thus the course of our 
 inquiries will he now directed to the origin of sculp- 
 ture in Greece. 
 
 Some centuries before the Christian era, a 
 sculptor appeared, whose works exacted the praise 
 of poets, the speculations of philosophers, the 
 record of historians, and continued to he pre-^ 
 served with zeal, and spoken of with respect, 
 when sculpture had attained its zenith : this was 
 Daedalus, the countryman and cotemporary of 
 Theseus, not inferior perhaps in fame and variety 
 of adventures to that hero, born of a royal race, 
 occasionally the friend or adversary of kings, 
 admired for his works while living, and honoured 
 with a chapel by the Egyptians after death. 
 
 To him are attributed many mechanical inven- 
 tions, fabulous and real ; — a flne portico to the tern- 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 79 
 
 pie of Vulcan at Memphis — the Cretan labyrinth, 
 which was a copy of a hundredth part of the Egyp- 
 tian labyrinth ; he made a figure to move like life, 
 by means of quicksilver contained in it. Diodorus 
 Siculus speaks of his works in Sicily ; Pausanias 
 mentions those remaining in Greece in his time, 
 nine in number, of which there may be particularly 
 noticed one, a naked Hercules in wood. 
 
 ‘‘ The works of Daedalus are indeed rude, and 
 uncomely in aspect, (says Pausanias,) hut yet they 
 have something as of divinity in their appearance.” 
 
 Pausanias, besides the high character here given 
 of this statue, mentions it twice in his “Grecian 
 Tour,” from which we must understand that it was 
 held in considerable esteem and veneration : this 
 would naturally lead us to hope we are not without 
 some copy of it, in gems, coins, or small bronzes, 
 by which all the most famous works of antiquity 
 were multiplied. 
 
 In the British Museum,* as well as in other col- 
 lections in Europe, are several small bronzes of a 
 naked Hercules, whose right arm, holding a club, 
 is raised to strike, whilst his left is extended, bear- 
 ing the lion’s skin as a shield. From the style 
 of extreme antiquity in these statues— the rude 
 attempt at bold action, which was the peculiarity of 
 Daedalus — the general adoption of this action in 
 the early ages, — the traits of savage nature in the 
 face and figure, expressed with little knowledge, but 
 
 See Plate XVI. 
 
80 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 strong feeling — by the narrow loins, turgid muscles 
 of the breast, thighs, and calves of the legs — we 
 shall find reason to believe they are copied from 
 the above-mentioned statue. 
 
 The same author says the Gnossians had a chorus 
 in white stone, made by Dsedalus for Ariadne, which 
 is mentioned in the eighteenth book of the Iliad as 
 youths and damsels dancing hand in hand. The 
 earliest Greek bas-relievos and paintings represent 
 chorusses of the graces and hours in this manner. 
 
 Endaeus the disciple of Dsedalus, made a statue 
 of Minerva, which Pausanias saw in the acropolis 
 of Athens. The learned author of the Introduction 
 to the Volume of Sculpture, published by the Dil- 
 letanti Society, supposes the heads of Minerva, on 
 the early coins of Athens, were copied from this 
 very statue, which seems very reasonable when we 
 compare the style and costume with other works of 
 the highest antiquity ; but as our limits neither 
 require, nor allow, of regular history, we shall con- 
 dense what is most important on this subject into a 
 relation of successive improvements ; and here, it 
 should be observed, that in the early times of which 
 we are now treating, their rude efibrts were intended 
 to represent divinities and heroes only. Jupiter, 
 Neptune, and several heroic characters have the 
 self-same face, figure and action as the Hercules of 
 Dsedalus, described above ; the same narrow eyes, 
 thin lips, with the corners of the mouth turned 
 upwards, the pointed chin, narrow loins, turgid 
 muscles, the same advancing position of the lower 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 81 
 
 limbs, the right hand raised beside the head, and 
 the left extended. Their only distinctions were, 
 that Jupiter held the thunderbolt, Neptune the 
 trident, and Hercules a palm branch or bow — as 
 may he seen in ancient small bronzes, on coins of 
 Athens and Psestum, and on the most ancient painted 
 vases. 
 
 The female divinities were clothed in draperies 
 divided into few and perpendicular folds ; their 
 attitudes advancing like those of male figures. 
 The hair of both male and female statues or paint- 
 ings of this period is arranged with great care, 
 collected in a club behind, sometimes entirely 
 curled, in the same manner as practised by the 
 native Americans, and the inhabitants of the South 
 Sea Islands, 
 
 Daedalus and Endaeus formed their statues of 
 wood ; metal was also used for various purposes of 
 sculpture in the most ancient times, as we learn 
 from Homer, Hesiod, and Plutarch.* 
 
 Dipaenist and Scyllis the Cretan were celebrated 
 for their marble statues, about 776 years before 
 Christ, still retaining much of the ancient manner 
 in the advancing position of the legs, the drawing 
 of the figure, and the perpendicular folds of drapery 
 disposed in zigzag edges. 
 
 Elaborate finishing was soon afterwards carried 
 to excess : undulating locks, and spiral knots of 
 hair like shells, as well as the drapery, were wrought 
 
 * Vide Hesiod, Brazen Age, and Plutarch, Life of Theseus, 
 t See Plate 17. 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 with the most elaborate care and exactness ; whilst 
 the tasteless and barbarous character of the face 
 and limbs remained much the same as in former 
 times. This passion for high finishing of sculpture 
 will reconcile to our reason a passage in Pliny, lib. 
 XXXV. cap. 8., which has frequently been thought 
 to disagree with the general history of ancient 
 painting. He says that “ the picture of the battle 
 of the Magnetes, painted by Bularchus, was paid 
 for by its weight in gold, by Candaules, King of 
 Lydia, who was the coeval of Romulus, and lived 
 in the 20th Olympiad, or about 750 years before 
 Christ, thus proving the fame and perfection of the 
 art.” According to the same author’s account, 
 ancient painting did not arrive at its greatest per- 
 fection until after the time of Phidias, or 250 years 
 later ; and therefore it is likely that Bularchus’s 
 picture was valued chiefly for the same high finishing 
 we see in the earliest marble statues, of which the 
 following are examples : — Colossal busts of Hercules 
 and Apollo in the British Museum, a very ancient 
 statue of Minerva, probably that done by Dipsenis 
 and Scyllis for the Sicyonians ; and a priest of 
 Bacchus, lately in the Villa Albani, published by 
 Winckelman in his “ Monumenta Inedita” and 
 “ Storia dell’ Arte” : to these might be added ex- 
 amples of extreme finishing in early Greek pateras 
 and other bronzes. 
 
 This observation on Bularchus’s picture, and 
 the sculpture of the same time, will naturally lead 
 to another of more general comprehension: that 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 83 
 
 the improvements in sculpture, we have reason to 
 believe, succeeded those in painting, according to 
 the dates, as far as we are able to ascertain them, 
 of remaining works. 
 
 Philocles the Egyptian, or Cleanthes the Corin- 
 thian, are said to have first introduced outline 
 among the Greeks, in the practice of which they 
 were followed by Ardices the Corinthian, and Tele- 
 phanes the Sicyonian, who used other lines within 
 the outline, to express the marking of the body and 
 limbs ; also, writing the names of those they painted, 
 which agrees with the earliest paintings on the 
 Greek vases, as thdr attitudes and peculiarities 
 agree with early sculpture.* Cimon Cleoneus 
 invented catagraphy, or the oblique representation 
 of images, to give different views of the face, looking 
 up, looking down, and looking backwards. He re- 
 presented the veins, and the folds and plaits in 
 garments. This Cimon is mentioned as living 
 before the time of Phidias, which offers an additional 
 argument for believing that improvements in painting 
 preceded those in sculpture, because oblique views 
 of objects, and the veins of the body and limbs, 
 seem not to have been attempted before the time of 
 Phidias in sculpture. 
 
 Fortunately for us, the compendious history of 
 painting and sculpture left by Pliny was selected 
 from the writings of the best Grecian artists, and 
 arranged with attention to the several improvements 
 
 * Pliny. 
 
 G 2 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 8i 
 
 in chronological order, with such perspicuity and 
 comprehension, that whenever, from the brevity of 
 the work, we do not find all we wish for — yet, by 
 attending to the information, prior and subsequent, 
 we shall easily be enabled to supply the defect from 
 other writings, or monuments of antiquity. In this 
 manner we shall satisfy ourselves concerning the 
 progress of sculpture in the 250 years which elapsed 
 between the age of Dipaenis and Scyllis, and that of 
 Phidias. 
 
 The better drawing of the figure, with a more 
 careful attention to its parts, more precision and 
 variety of attitude, a less elaborate curling and 
 dressing the hair, the form of the figure better 
 shewn through the drapery, are all certain signs of 
 a nearer approach to the age of Phidias. 
 
 From the few historical remarks now oficred, it 
 is evident that sculpture was 800 years from 
 Daedalus to the time immediately preceding Phidias 
 in attaining a tolerable resemblance of the human 
 form, which proves the slow growth of art in the 
 infant state of science ; whilst the means of subsis- 
 tence are precarious, the rights of individuals unde- 
 fined, and the general attention of society is em- 
 ployed on self-preservation and defence, rather than 
 the increase of comfort or civilization. 
 
 Poetry and oratory, the more independent efibrts 
 of mind, appear in the earliest states of society, and 
 distinofuish man as an intellectual and rational crea- 
 
 o 
 
 ture, scatter the first seeds of knowledge, lay down 
 theories for the government of future generations. 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 85 
 
 expand the mind, and direct the powers toward 
 whatever is most useful and desirable in the more 
 perfect states of humanity. 
 
 The chief occurrences in the early history of 
 Greece are the Argonautic expedition, the war of 
 Thebes, and the taking of Troy ; in which parti- 
 cular heroism, or the united achievements of petty 
 states, are interwoven with poetic fiction. Their 
 consequences produced no considerable change in 
 the manners of the people, or the character of the 
 country ; but the battles of Marathon and Salamis, 
 which destroyed the Persian army, whose myriads, 
 like locusts, swarmed over the country, struck the 
 first deadly blow to the Persian power, and gave a 
 beginning to the Grecian, or third great monarchy 
 of the world. 
 
 An event of so much importance, by changing 
 fortune and transferring power in so large a portion 
 of the civilized part of mankind, raised the cha- 
 racter of the Greeks, and particularly the Athenians, 
 the champions of the war, whose heroic ardor was 
 increased by success, sought additional distinction 
 by every great and praiseworthy exertion of body 
 and mind in arts and arms ; the accumulated wis- 
 dom of ages, and discoveries in science, were taught 
 by their philosophers ; their temples and public 
 buildings were raised with a magnificence unknown 
 before, and decorated with all the powers of art. 
 
 ASschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles ennobled the 
 minds of the people by their dramatic poetry ; the 
 exercises which formed the body to exertion and 
 
86 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 beauty, and the mind to fortitude and patriotism, 
 were universally practised, cultivated and honoured. 
 In this general spirit of enterprize and improvement, 
 sculpture appeared in the school of Phidias with a 
 beauty and perfection which eclipsed all former 
 efforts. 
 
 About 490 years before the Christian era, Phidias 
 flourished, at the same time with the philosophers 
 Socrates, Plato, and Anaxagoras — the statesmen and 
 commanders, Pericles, Miltiades, Themistocles, 
 Cimon, and Xenophon, — with the tragic poets 
 above mentioned. This period was as favourable 
 in its moral and political circumstances, as in the 
 emulation of rare talents, to produce the display, 
 and encourage the growth of genius. 
 
 The city and citadel of Athens had been burnt 
 by the army of Xerxes ; but the Greeks, being con- 
 querors, raised more stately edifices in the places of 
 those destroyed. Phidias was engaged by Pericles 
 in the superintendence and decoration of the temple 
 of Minerva, and other public works. His superior 
 genius, in addition to his knowledge of painting, 
 which he practised previous to sculpture, gave a 
 grandeur to his compositions, a grace to his groups, 
 a softness to flesh, and flow to draperies, unknown 
 to his predecessors, — the character of whose figures 
 were stiff, rather than dignified ; their forms either 
 maigre or turgid; the folds of drapery parallel, 
 poor, and resembling geometrical lines, rather than 
 the simple, but ever varying, appearances of nature. 
 
 Ihe discourses of contemporary philosophers, on 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 87 
 
 mental and personal perfection, assisted him in se- 
 lecting and combining ideas, which stamped his 
 works with the sublime and beautiful of Homer’s 
 verse. 
 
 How this sculptor was esteemed by the ancients 
 will he understood by such testimonies as the fol- 
 lowing.* Quintilian says, “ his Athenian Minerva, 
 and Olympian Jupiter at Elis, possessed beauty, 
 which seemed to have added something to religion, 
 the majesty of the work was so worthy of the divi- 
 nity.” 
 
 After such positive and magnificent praise as this, 
 there will be still room for our surprise at the de- 
 scriptions, fragments, and other authentic memorials 
 of some works only which he conducted and per- 
 formed. 
 
 The temple of Minerva in the Acropolis of 
 Athens, erected by Ictinus and Callicrates, was 
 under the direction of Phidias, and to him we pro- 
 bably owe the compositions, style and character of 
 the sculpture, in addition to much assistance in 
 drawing, modelling, choice of the naked, and dra- 
 peries, as well as occasional execution of parts in 
 the marble. 
 
 The emulators of Phidias were Alcamanes, Cri- 
 tias, Nestocles, and Hegias ; twenty years after, 
 Agelades, Gallon, Polycletus, Phragmon, Gorgias, 
 Lacon, Myron, Scopas, Pythagoras, and Pe^lius. 
 
 * Pliny says — “ Phidias was most famous throughout all nations,” 
 and when enumerating the most celebrated sculptors of antiquity — 
 “but before all Phidias the Athenian.” 
 
88 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 In this list we certainly have the names of the 
 sculptors employed on the temples of Minerva and 
 Theseus, and as the styles of different hands are 
 sufficiently evident in the alto and basso-relievos, so 
 there might perhaps be no great difficulty in tracing 
 some of the artists by resemblance to others of their 
 known works. 
 
 The two pediments of the temple of Minerva were 
 each eighty-eight feet long, filled with compositions 
 of entire groups and statues, from eight to nine feet 
 high. The subject of the western pediment relating 
 to the birth of Minerva, or rather, perhaps, her in- 
 troduction to the gods. 
 
 The eastern pediment had the contention of 
 Neptune and Minerva for the patronage of Athens. 
 
 Forty-three metops had combats of the Lapithae 
 and Centaurs, and a frieze of 380 feet, round the 
 wall of the temple under the portico, was decorated 
 with the procession of the Grecian states in honour 
 of Minerva, in chariots and on horseback, leading 
 animals for sacrifice, hearing ofierings and presenting 
 the sacred veil, in presence of the gods sitting upon 
 thrones to witness the solemn ceremony. 
 
 The Marquis Nantuel had a drawing made of 
 the western pediment of this temple, when the sta- 
 tues were all, excepting one, in their places ; and, 
 notwithstanding some mutilation of parts, the whole 
 was sufficiently entire for the composition to he 
 perfectly understood. 
 
 Specimens of the metops and basso-relievos under 
 the portico, will persuade the beholder, at once, of 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 89 
 
 their simplicity, grandeur, elegance, and nature ; 
 but, to perfectly judge of their comprehensive ex- 
 cellence, they must he seen and studied. 
 
 Within the temple stood the statue of Minerva,^' 
 thirty-nine feet high, made by Phidias of ivory and 
 gold, holding a victory, six feet high, in her right 
 hand, and a spear in her left, her tunic reaching to 
 her feet. She had her helmet on, and the Medusa’s 
 head on her segis j her shield was adorned with the 
 battle of the gods and giants, the pedestal with the 
 birth of Pandora. Plato tells us, that the eyes of 
 this statue were precious stones.t 
 
 But the great work of this chief of sculptors, the 
 astonishment and praise of after ages, was the Ju- 
 piter t at Elis, sitting on his throne, his left hand 
 holding a sceptre, his right extending victory to the 
 Olympian conquerors, his head crowned with olive, 
 and his pallium decorated with birds, beasts, and 
 flowers. The four corners of the throne were danc- 
 ing victories, each supported by a sphinx, tearing a 
 Theban youth. At the back of the throne, above 
 his head, were the three hours or seasons on one 
 side, and on the other the three graces. On the 
 bar between the legs of the throne, and the pannels 
 or spaces between them, were represented many 
 stories:— the destruction of Niohe’s children, the 
 labours of Hercules, the delivery of Prometheus, the 
 garden of Hesperides, with the diflerent adventures 
 
 * See Plate XIX. t Greater Hippias. 
 
 I See Plate XX. 
 
90 
 
 LECTURE m. 
 
 of the heroic ages. On the base, the battle of 
 Theseus with the Amazons ; on the pedestal, an 
 assembly of the gods, the sun and moon in their cars, 
 and the birth of Venus. The height of the work 
 was sixty feet. The statue was ivory, enriched with 
 the radiance of golden ornaments and precious 
 stones, and was justly esteemed one of the seven 
 wonders of the world. 
 
 Several other statues of great excellence, in 
 marble and in bronze, are mentioned among the 
 works of Phidias, particularly a Venus, placed by 
 the Romans, in the forum of Octavia — two Mi- 
 nervas, one named Callimorphus, from the beauty 
 of its form ; and it is likely that the fine statue of 
 this goddess in Mr. Hope’s gallery is a repetition in 
 marble of Phidias’s bronze, from its resemblance in 
 attitude, drapery, and helmet, to the reverse of an 
 Athenian silver coin. Another statue by him was 
 an Amazon, called Euknemon, from her beautiful 
 leg ; there is a print of this in the Museum Pium 
 Clementinum. 
 
 Alcamenes was celebrated for his * Venus Aphro- 
 dite, to which Phidias is said to have given the last 
 touches. 
 
 Praxi tiles excelled in the highest graces of youth 
 and beauty. He is said to have excelled not only 
 other sculptors, but himself, by his marble statues 
 in the Ceramicus of Athens ; hut his Venus was 
 preferable to all others in the world, and many 
 
 * See Plate XXI. 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 91 
 
 Sailed to Cnidos for the purpose of seeing it. This 
 sculptor having made two statues of Venus,* one 
 with drapery, the other without, the Coons preferred 
 the clothed figure, on account of its severe modesty, 
 the same price being set upon each. The citizens 
 of Cnidos took the rejected statue, and afterwards 
 refused it to King Nicomedes, who would have for- 
 given them an immense debt in return ; but thev 
 were resolved to suffer any thing so long as this 
 statue by Praxitiles ennobled Cnidos. The temple 
 was entirely open in which it was placed, because 
 every view was equally admirable. This figure is 
 known by the descriptions of Liccian and Cedrenus, 
 and it is represented on a medal of Caracalla and 
 Plautilla, in the imperial cabinet of France. This 
 Venus was still in Cnidos during the reign of the 
 Emperor Arcadius, about 400 years after Christ. 
 This statue seems to ofier the first idea of the Venus 
 de Medicis, which is likely to be the repetition of 
 another Venus, also the work of this artist men- 
 tioned by Pliny. 
 
 On the reverse of the Empress Lucilla’s medals 
 is a clothed Venus with an apple in her right hand, 
 which from the grace of its attitude and its resem- 
 blance to several antique marble statues, is likely to 
 be the clothed Venus chosen by the Coons. 
 
 Among the known works of Praxitiles are his 
 Satyr, Cupid, Apollo the lizard-killer, and Bacchus 
 leaning on a fawn. 
 
 
 See Plates XXII. and XXIII. 
 
92 
 
 LECTURE III, 
 
 Polycletus of Sycion, the scholar of Agelades, was 
 particularly celebrated on account of his Dcry- 
 phorus, or lance-bearer,'^ and Diadumenus,t or 
 youth binding a fillet round his head. The Dory- 
 phorus was called the “ rule” by artists, from which 
 they studied the forms, outline or lineaments. 
 
 The Discobolus of Myron is ascertained by an 
 antique gem, and the description given by Quintilian, 
 who apologizes for its forced attitude. An ancient 
 example of this figure t is in the British Museum. 
 
 The Discobolus of Naucides is universally ad- 
 mired for its form and momentary balance. 
 
 The wounded man, in which might be seen how 
 much of life remained, was the famous work of 
 Ctesilaus, and perhaps is the same as the statue 
 commonly called the dying gladiator, but more 
 properly a dying herald or hero, according to 
 Winckelman. 
 
 Ctesilaus is known by his wounded Amazon. 
 
 The nine muses by Philiseus of Rhodes are 
 mentioned by Pliny, and the muses brought by 
 Fulvius Nobilior to Rome; from one of these series, 
 must he the greater number of those in the Pope’s 
 Museum, of which the comedy is remarkable for 
 grace, and the tragedy for grandeur. § 
 
 The Hermaphrodite of Polycles is one of the 
 most delicate and graceful productions of antiquity. 
 
 * Molliter Juvenem. 
 
 1 Viriliter Puerum. This statue was valued at an hundred talents. 
 
 I See Plate XXIV. 
 
 Casts of the Muses in the Royal Academy. 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 93 
 
 The Apollo Philesius (or in love) by Canachus 
 is seen in many fine repetitions in the diflferent gal- 
 leries of Europe. 
 
 The Ganymede borne by the eagle, in the Pope’s 
 Museum, is exactly described by Pliny. 
 
 The Apollo Belvidere is believed by the learned 
 Visconti to be Apollo ’AAe^//ca/coy (the deliverer 
 from evil) of Calamis, mentioned both by Pliny and 
 Pausanias. The history of its removals is given 
 in the “ Museum Pium Clementinum.”* Only 
 one small antique repetition of this statue has been 
 found. 
 
 Admirable and sublime in its beauty as it is, 
 there is a reason which perhaps might render it 
 less popular with the ancients than the moderns. 
 Maximus Tyrius describes a statue by Phidias very 
 similar to this, but more in motion, either discharg- 
 ing an arrow, or preparing to do so. There are 
 traces of this statue in some ancient basso-relievos, 
 and it is possible the stronger expression of Phidias’s 
 work, together with the authority of his name, might 
 have diminished the public attention to Calamis in 
 a comparative production. 
 
 The Venus de Medicis was so much a favourite 
 of the Greeks and Romans, that a hundred ancient 
 repetitions of this statue have been noticed by tra- 
 vellers. The individual figure is said to have been 
 found in the forum of Octavia. The style of sculp- 
 ture seems to have been later than Alexander the 
 
 ^ Museum Capitolinum, and Museum Clementinum, volume of 
 Statues, p. 21. 
 
94 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 Great, and the idea of this statue appears to have 
 its origin from the Venus of Cnidos. 
 
 We may now notice some statues of great excel- 
 lence which Pliny has not mentioned, and no wonder 
 they are omitted, when, of more than 11,000 reck- 
 oned in his history, he professes to give a catalogue 
 of about five hundred only. 
 
 The colossal statues on Monte Cavallo in Rome, 
 we may fairly presume to he the works of Phidias 
 and Praxitiles, as inscribed on their pedestals, be- 
 cause the animated character and style of sculpture 
 seems peculiar to the age in which those artists 
 lived ; and because in the frieze of the Parthenon 
 there is a young hero* governing a horse, which 
 bears so strong a resemblance to those groups, that 
 it would be difiicult to believe it was not a first idea 
 for them by one of those artists. 
 
 The heroic statue, (by Agasias the Ephesian,) 
 commonly called the fighting gladiator, is shewn by 
 the ingenious and learned Abhate Fea to be Ajax, 
 the son of Oileus, as his figure is so represented on 
 the coins of Locrus, his country. 
 
 The Hercules Farnese, the style is later than the 
 time of Alexander. 
 
 We should now proceed to those precious monu- 
 ments of art, the ancient groups, in which we see 
 the sentiment, heroism, beauty and sublimity of 
 Greece existing before us ; but these have been de- 
 scribed with such pathos and justness of character 
 by your excellent professor of painting,t that nothing 
 
 * Bellerophon. 
 
 t The late Mr. Fuseli. 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 95 
 
 more is necessary at present than to show some re- 
 presentations of them. 
 
 The group of Laocoon, animated with the hopeless 
 agony of the father and sons, is the work of Apollo- 
 dorus, Athenodorus, and Agesander of Rhodes. 
 The style of this work, as well as the manner in 
 which Pliny introduces it in his history, gives us 
 reason to believe it was not ancient in his time, as 
 your professor of painting has already observed. 
 
 Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to the hull’s 
 horns, an example of filial vengeance for a perse- 
 cuted mother, is as heroic in conception as vast 
 in execution. The restorations of this group are 
 so bad, that they only become tolerable by some- 
 thing like an assimilation of spirit in their union 
 with the ancient and venerable fragment. It is 
 the work of Apollonius, and Tauriscus, of Rhodes. 
 
 The group of Hercules and Anteus, in the palace 
 Pitti at Florence, may be a marble copy from the 
 bronze, on which the copyist inscribed the name of 
 the original artist. 
 
 The groups of Atreus bearing a dead son of Thy- 
 estes, Orestes and Electra, and Ajax supporting 
 Patroclus, are all examples of fine form, heroic 
 character, and sentiment. There seems to he only 
 one reason for their being omitted by Pliny, that 
 they were, at that time, too recent to have obtained 
 an equal rank in public estimation with the fine works 
 of Phidias, Praxitiles, and their immediate descen- 
 dants. 
 
 The group of Niobe and her youngest daughter. 
 
90 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 by Scopas, is an example of heroic beauty in ma- 
 turer age. The sentiment is maternal affection. 
 She exposes her own life to shield her child from 
 the threatened destruction. 
 
 The separate statues of the children all partake 
 of the same heroic beauty, mixed with the passions 
 of apprehension, dismay, or death. 
 
 To this series belongs that fine example of ana- 
 tomical study in difficult but harmonious composi- 
 tion, the group of wrestlers. 
 
 The beautiful and interesting group of Cupid 
 and Psyche is not mentioned by Pliny, perhaps for 
 the same reason, that several other fine works were 
 not — because it was after the times of those great 
 masters, who were looked on as the standards of 
 excellence in his days. It is more likely to have 
 been produced after the reign of Augustus, when 
 the Pythagorean philosophy was revived, from which 
 its subject is taken. 
 
 From what has been said, it will appear that 
 sculpture did not arrive at maturity until the age 
 of Phidias, 490 years before the Christian era ; and 
 Pliny’s chronological catalogue of the most cele- 
 brated Greek artists continues 160 years later or 
 to 330 before Christ : after which time, however, 
 the Laocoon, and several of the finest groups and 
 statues, seem to have been executed. Nor can we 
 believe, from the admirable busts and statues of the 
 imperial families still remaining, that sculpture began 
 to lose its graces until the reign of the Antonines ; 
 and, indeed, so strong were the stamina of Grecian 
 
GRECIAN SCULPTURE. 
 
 97 
 
 genius in the arts of design, that after the time of 
 the Iconoclastes, in the fifth and sixth centuries, 
 when the noblest works were destroyed, even then, 
 and until Constantinople was taken hy the Turks in 
 the fifteenth century, the Greeks executed small 
 works of great elegance, as may be seen in the 
 dyptics, or ivory covers, to consular records, or 
 sacred volumes used in the church service. 
 
 The works of sculpture here enumerated will 
 show, that nearly all the greatest and most valued 
 productions were of marble, and not bronze, as 
 some have been led to believe : and although several 
 celebrated statues mentioned by Pliny were bronze, 
 from which we have marble copies, yet all the groups, 
 with two or three exceptions only, are marble, and 
 some of the most admired statues, viz. those of the 
 Venus’s and Cupid by Praxi tiles, with many others. 
 
 Sycion had long been the workshop of metals 
 in early times, ^gina was also famous for bronze 
 sculpture, and according to the same author, con- 
 tinued the Egyptian style. 
 
 Etruscan sculpture must he considered entirely 
 Greek — the work of Greek colonists and their 
 disciples. 
 
 The Sicilian sculpture is also Grecian ; some of 
 their finest medals in particular are of the Corin- 
 thian school. 
 
 The principal schools of sculpture were unques- 
 tionably Athens and Rhodes : the sculptors of 
 the Laocoon, the Torso Farnese, and the Colossus, 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 were Rhodians ; and it is almost incredible, that, 
 from this little island, only forty miles long and 
 thirteen broad, the Roman conquerors brought away 
 3000 statues ! 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 ON SCIENCE. 
 
 In a general view of painting and sculpture, 
 followed by a careful attention to the principles of 
 design requisite to the elevated and extensive prac- 
 tice of those arts, we shall find that they are inti- 
 mately connected with a considerable portion of the 
 circle of knowledge, whether we regard them as 
 engaged in the representation of the human figure 
 singly, or in the variety of epic and historical com- 
 position. 
 
 The human figure cannot be represented without 
 an accurate acquaintance with the structure of the 
 bones, muscles, tendons, veins, and nerves, together 
 with a knowledge of the several organs which con- 
 tribute their functions to the continuation of life, 
 whether the subject is in action or at rest. This 
 information is generally understood to be gained by 
 the science of anatomy ; but then, it must be as- 
 sisted by the geometrical forms of the bones, the 
 mechanical structure and movement of the joints, 
 the laws of extension and contraction in the muscles, 
 with a variety of phenomena relating to the internal 
 economy, and indicated in the exterior of the human 
 form. 
 
 M 2 
 
100 
 
 LTSCTURE IV. 
 
 The arts of design are connected with all the nu- 
 merous branches of human knowledge. The doc- 
 trines of theology, and the ideas of philosophy, are 
 manifested to our comprehension by visible figures 
 and symbols. They demonstrate geometrical and 
 mathematical science — illustrate the anatomy and 
 economy of animals — connect the series of naturaj 
 phenomena and productions, even to the lower strata 
 of the earth, and the depths of the sea. Those arts 
 arrest Time himself in his course, and deliver from 
 his destructive progress the heroes of antiquity, the 
 chorus of Helicon, the synod of Olympus, and theo- 
 logies of the east ; they make intimates of antiquity 
 and posterity; they set before the naturalist the 
 several orders of creation ; they exhibit to the geo- 
 grapher men and countries which others have seen 
 for him ; and they assist the astronomer in figuring 
 the starry heavens ! 
 
 Such are the powers and offices of these arts, 
 enlightening an early age with the dawn of know- 
 ledge, pouring a fuller blaze upon succeeding times, 
 engaging the affections in worthy contemplations 
 and employment, exalting the intelligence, and 
 assisting its important, its most exalted pursuits. 
 
 After our conviction of the utility and excellence 
 of the arts of design, the next inquiry will be, by 
 what course of study shall we he most readily led to 
 a successful practice of them? This question may 
 be answered nearly in the words of Socrates, “ by 
 the study of the human form, animated by the hu- 
 man soul ; because the human form is the most 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 101 
 
 perfect of all forms, and contains in it the prin- 
 ciples and powers of all inferior forms.” 
 
 Man was called by the ancients “ a little world,” 
 because the faculties of his mind determined his 
 claim to intellectual being, whilst his body partook 
 of the common principles of natural existence. 
 Revelation is satisfactory and decided on this sub- 
 ject— 
 
 “ God created man in his own ima£re” — 
 
 and according to this testimony remaining in the 
 pagan world, they represented divinities, angels, good 
 genii, and heroes, in the most beautiful human 
 forms. 
 
 We certainly know that, in those countries where 
 the figure and character of man have been most 
 diligently studied and analyzed, there, consequently, 
 he has breathed in marble, and animated the can- 
 vass. The inferior animals and orders of nature 
 have been also most exactly represented. If this 
 assertion required the confirmation of proof, we 
 might appeal to the hall of animals in the Pope’s 
 Museum, where, among the specimens of ancient 
 sculpture, are seen entire, and in fragments, quad- 
 rupeds, from the most noble to the most inconsider- 
 able, — various orders of birds and reptiles, many 
 remarkable for elegance, and almost every one so 
 natural that they seem nature transformed to stone. 
 
 The tetradrachms, or larger silver coins of Mace- 
 don, have horses on them of exquisite beauty. 
 
 Rut we possess in England the most precious ex- 
 amples of G recian power in the sculpture of animnls. 
 
102 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 The horses of the frieze in the Elgin collection 
 appear to live and move, to roll their eyes, to gallop, 
 prance, and curvet; the veins of their faces and 
 legs seem distended with circulation; in them are 
 distinguished the hardness and decision of bony 
 forms, from the elasticity of tendon, and the softness 
 of flesh. The beholder is charmed with the deer- 
 like lightness and elegance of their make, and al- 
 though the relief is not above an inch from the back 
 ground, and they are so much smaller than nature, 
 we can scarcely suffer reason to persuade us they 
 are not alive. 
 
 In those countries where the arts of design have 
 been more admired for colossal size, and indefati- 
 gable labour, than for intelligence and sentiment, 
 the figures of animals were most imperfect in those 
 parts and those expressions least understood in the 
 human figure. 
 
 Thus we have the positive and negative proofs, 
 that the human form, as it is the first in the order 
 and dignity of creation, comprehending the nobler 
 powers, qualities and forms of inferior creatures, so, 
 by natural consequence, it is the great and principal 
 object of study in the arts of design. 
 
 The earliest imitations of the human figure, in 
 all nations, have been rude, disproportioned, and 
 insipid ; and these characteristics remain in the 
 more advanced attempts of Mexico, India, and 
 Egypt. The earliest productions of Greece had no 
 superior claims to preference over those of other 
 barbarians. The chief employments in those times 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 103 
 
 were providing food, conducting an attack against 
 their neighbours, or securing themselves from in- 
 vasion on inaccessible mountains, and within im- 
 pregnable fortifications. In such a state of society 
 men see objects generally, understand them imper- 
 fectly, and represent them rudely. 
 
 The human figure — so astonishing in its struc- 
 ture, combining so many principles and powers — 
 so beautiful and engaging in its contour and colours 
 — so varied by sex, age, motion, and sentiment — 
 cannot be represented from cursory and ignorant 
 observation : it must be understood before it can be 
 imitated. Therefore, Greek sculpture did not rise 
 to excellence until anatomy, geometry and numbers 
 bad enabled the artist to determine his drawing, 
 proportions, and motion; then, and not before, a 
 just expression might be infused in the truth and 
 harmony of parts, and the artist endowed his statue 
 with life, action, and sentiment. 
 
 The present Lecture will be a compendium of 
 this subject, collected from Hippocrates, Galen, 
 Pliny, Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci, and Borelli, 
 considered under the beads of anatomy and outline, 
 proportions and mechanical motion. 
 
 The writings of Hippocrates and Galen instruct 
 us in the science of anatomy among the Greeks, 
 from the time of Phidias to the age of Antoninus 
 Pius, when sculpture had sensibly declined, conse- 
 quently including those successive periods in which 
 all the nobler works had been produced. 
 
 Pliny the elder has preserved a chronological 
 
101< 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 history of artists and their works, from the earliest 
 ages to his own time, extracted from the writings 
 of distinguished painters and sculptors, and contain- 
 ing many of their scientific rules for professional 
 practice. 
 
 Vitruvius has preserved from the writings of 
 Greek artists the most approved proportions of 
 the human figure, and the application of diagrams 
 to include and determine the extent of its motion. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci’s invaluable memoranda on 
 painting abound in the most useful observations on 
 the mechanical powers and muscular action of the 
 human frame. 
 
 Borelli, a Neapolitan physician, wrote an inge- 
 nious treatise on the motion of animals, which was 
 published in the year 1685 ; to these authors the 
 present Leeture is chiefly indebted, and this general 
 acknowledgment is intended to supersede the neces- 
 sity of interrupting the course of our subject by par- 
 ticular quotations. 
 
 A critical comparison of the noblest examples of 
 ancient sculpture with the cotemporary state of 
 science, enables us to determine what they owe to 
 rules, and what to the immediate and partieular 
 study of individual nature ; this will guard against 
 mistaking faults for beauties, and, above all, esta- 
 blish principles for our own practice. 
 
 Our purpose requires that we should leave to 
 the professed antiquary all attention to those times 
 when rude stones were called divinities, or the 
 Ephesian Diana and Samian Juno, little better than 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 105 
 
 shapeless blocks. We shall therefore begin with 
 the earliest attempts at imitation of parts and pro- 
 portion. 
 
 Small bronze statues * exist in different museums 
 of Europe which stand perpendicularly upright ; 
 their legs nearly close together, their arms fixed to 
 their sides, their heads rather large, the hair straight, 
 the eyes full, the nose fiattish, the lower part of the 
 face and chin projecting. A little fulness for each 
 breast, and a slight indication of the line formed on 
 each side of the thorax by the terminations of the 
 ribs, are the only parts distinguished in front of the 
 body. The shoulders and arms are meagre, and 
 have little variety in the outline ; the thighs are 
 full, so are the calves of the legs ; the joints are 
 scarcely noticed ; their proportions are rather 
 dwarfish, seldom exceeding six heads and a half in 
 height. 
 
 The next considerable improvement in the figures 
 are chiefly found on painted vases or basso-relievos 
 of Bacchanalian subjects, or processions of divini- 
 ties;! and, as far as we are able to judge from 
 coins,! and the progress of science, we have reason 
 to believe they were not more than a hundred years 
 before Phidias. These improvements consisted of 
 a greater variety and violence of action, a bolder 
 distinction of the knees, elbows, edge of the pelvis, 
 
 * See Plate XVI. 
 t Mercury, Venus, Juno, Minerva. 
 
 t Tydeus. Museo Pio Clementino, vol I . of Statues, No. 7 — 
 Plate A. 
 
106 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 the ribs, and the ankles ; the muscles turgid and 
 tendonous, proper to continual and vigorous exer- 
 tion. 
 
 By comparing the monuments of antiquity with 
 each other, and with cotemporary authors, we ascer- 
 tain their history, unravel their philosophy, and 
 determine their science. Thus, sculpture executed 
 in the time of Phidias, and his immediate successors, 
 presents the portrait of the human figure in the 
 full developement of its powers, and perfection of its 
 beauty, by gymnastic exercises — at the same time 
 that its anatomical forms are decided with the same 
 simplicity, elegance, and comprehensive greatness, 
 which are equally admired in the work of the artist, 
 and the writings of Hippocrates. As a natural and 
 certain consequence of the sculptor’s intelligence 
 being formed on the physician’s instructions, the 
 system was the simplest and boldest division of parts, 
 and breadth of masses, that imitation of nature 
 permits.* 
 
 The general forms were, the head rounded, the 
 face oval, the neck like a portion of a column, the 
 shoulders one curve from the neck to the bottom of 
 the deltoides muscle, the mass of the body hounded 
 at the bottom by the line of the pelvis (or basin 
 bone,) above which the oblique “ descensens” muscle 
 projects distinctly. A line divides the front of the 
 body to the gullet of the navel. This is intersected 
 at right angles by curve lines, above the pit of the 
 
 * Frieze in the Temple of Theseus. 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 107 
 
 stomach, from the hreast-hone to the arm-pit, pro- 
 duced by the fulness of the breasts. A line nearly 
 semi-circular indicates the extremities of the ribs. 
 The abdomen sinks in below the true ribs, and 
 narrows this part of the body across the loins. The 
 arm tapers as it descends to its junction with the 
 hand : it is flattened on the outside below the del- 
 toides, till the rise in the upper part of the lower 
 arm, occasioned by the supinator longus. The in- 
 side of the upper arm is also flattened down to the 
 lower internal projection of the humerus. 
 
 The lower limb, composed of the thigh, leg, and 
 foot, is rather more than half the whole length of the 
 figure, divided at, and measured from the os pubis. 
 It is longer and stouter than the arm ; its general 
 form is tapered down to the ankle ; the patella is 
 described by an oval, the inner side of the shin- 
 bone is marked by a curve of thirty degrees, from 
 the upper part of which the calf of the leg projects. 
 The outside of the leg is also curved, and the pro- 
 jection of the inner ankle is rather higher than the 
 projection of the lower ankle. 
 
 Such are the general characteristics of outline 
 and marking in the front view of the human figure, 
 most carefully and rigidly observed in the statues,* 
 basso-relievos, and painted vases, from the age of 
 Pericles and Phidias, to the time of Lysippus and 
 Alexander. 
 
 The outline of boundary is of necessity the same 
 
 * Apollo Belvidere. 
 
108 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 in the geometrical front and back views of the 
 figure, and they differ only in the interior forms and 
 markings. 
 
 The back, from the shoulders to the loins, is 
 comprehended in two generally rounded masses, 
 divided by a narrow channel. The blade-bones, 
 with their muscles, present a rounded flattened form 
 on the greatest projection of each mass. The loins ' 
 are small, hollowed in, and flat, between the masses 
 above described and the more compressed projec- 
 tion of the nates. 
 
 In the side view of the figure, whether in action 
 or at rest, was well observed that wonderful coun- 
 terpoise of parts, on either side of the centre of 
 gravity, which balances so tall and complicated a 
 structure as the human figure on so small a base- 
 ment as its feet, the head leaning forward counter- 
 acted by the shoulders, these by the abdomen, the 
 abdomen by the nates, and the bending forw^ard of 
 the upper mass as far as the knees, counteracted by 
 the extension of the feet forward, which confirms 
 the support when standing, accelerates progression, 
 and assists a leap with the powers of the lever. 
 
 This detail of parts, demonstrated by the ancient 
 works, will convince the younger student that the 
 human figure can only be represented in proportion 
 as it is understood. 
 
 Thus the Greeks were enabled to represent the 
 figure with precision, boldness, and character, from 
 their general knowledge of its internal structure 
 and parts, the harmony of its proportions, and the 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 109 
 
 laws of its mechanical motion. These principles of 
 science they derived from the instructions of Hippo- 
 crates, and the schools of Pythagoras and Plato. 
 
 This mode of proceeding was rational and true, 
 founded on the order of nature, and accounting for 
 effects by their causes, and showing the causes in 
 their effects ; it was consequently the most success- 
 ful, and its superiority is proved by the excellence 
 it has produced. 
 
 Naked representations of the human figure in 
 Gothic sculpture, from the fifth century to the four- 
 teenth, are destitute of anatomy, proportions and 
 just motion. Those branches of science were neither 
 studied nor understood in those ages, consequently 
 they could not infuse their magic wonders into the 
 labours of painting and sculpture. The ignorant 
 effort was of necessity clumsy, mean, insipid, and 
 unintelligible. 
 
 The school of Giovanni di Bologna exhibits de- 
 fects in the opposite extreme — anatomical pedantry, 
 aud licentious affectation of graceful movement — 
 the extravagance of which is no less distant from 
 the beautiful simplicity of nature, than the insipid 
 barbarity of Gothic carving and painting. 
 
 These comparative observations are introduced 
 as a further confirmation that the excellence of the 
 Grecian theory was the real foundation of excellent 
 practice. 
 
 There is reason to believe that those groups and 
 statues which are pre-eminent in the display of 
 anatomical skill were not executed until after the 
 
110 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 age of Alexander the Great, when Hierophiliis and 
 Erasistratus had enlarged the bounds of anatomical 
 science, by numerous dissections in the school of 
 Alexandria. Of this there is abundant evidence, 
 historical and scientific, as well as internal, in the 
 ancient sculpture itself. 
 
 After the age of Alexander the Great, anatomical 
 detail became more defined and particular, but with- 
 out destroying the breadth of masses ; for example, 
 the masses in the body and limbs of the young Her- 
 cules* in the British Museum are the same, in their 
 general forms, as those of the heroes combating with 
 the centaurs in the Parthenon, or in the frieze of 
 the temple of Theseus. They are, however, holder 
 in this statue, in proportion as it is more muscular. 
 The details in front are the mastoidmus, on each 
 side of the neck the clavicle, the pectoral muscle, 
 the edge of the ribs nearly semi-circular, the serrati 
 and oblique descendens, the recti of the abdomen, 
 with its horizontal divisions ending at the pubes, 
 which, with the edge of the pelvis, terminates the 
 trunk. The details of the lower limb differ little 
 from the former description, excepting that the 
 knee-pan and the ankle-bones are more strongly 
 marked, the membranous insertion of the biceps 
 is distinct, and the peronmus muscle is seen on the 
 side of the leg. 
 
 In the back view of this figure, the trapezius is 
 defined at its insertion in the edge of the scapula, 
 
 By Lysippus. 
 
OxNf SCIENCE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 and continued to its pointed termination : above the 
 spine of the scapula it unites in a mass with the 
 supra spinatus, then follows the spine of the sca- 
 pula, and the whole mass of the scapula is completed 
 by the union of the infra spinatus, the teres minor 
 and the teres major in one form. The acromion is 
 distinctly seen, and the rounded top of the humerus 
 is indicated in the deltoides, which is strongly di- 
 vided from the muscles of the arm beneath. The 
 protuberance of the triceps is bold ; the biceps is 
 bold, broad, and squared towards the bottom. The 
 bones which form the elbow are carefully distin- 
 guished ; the head of the ulna in the middle, on the 
 inside of the lower point of the humerus, and on the 
 outside ; the lower condyle or swelling of the same 
 bone at its union with the radius. 
 
 In the ages after Phidias, it is true, we observe a 
 greater particularity of anatomical finish and detail ; 
 but, at the same time, we see a choice selection of 
 those simple geometrical forms which in bone, mus- 
 cle and tendon are strongest, most efficient and ele- 
 gant, whether the subject be masculine or feminine, 
 strong or delicate. 
 
 It must not be supposed that those simple geo- 
 metrical forms of body and limbs, in the divinities 
 and heroes of antiquity, depended upon accidental 
 choice, or blind and ignorant arbitration. They are, 
 on the contrary, a consequence of the strict and 
 extensive examination of nature, of rational enquiry 
 into its most perfect organization and physical well- 
 being, expressed in outward appearance ; they are 
 
112 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 proper to the blossom of* youth, and the full flower 
 of maturity ‘ they are the signs of a firm, consistent 
 and harmonious structure, healthful juices and 
 elastic tendon. Such characteristics assist the 
 mind in rising towards the contemplation of real 
 perfection, which is simplicity and unity itself ; such 
 forms are directly opposite to those of division, infir- 
 mity, and decay. 
 
 The group of boxers, and the statue called a 
 fighting gladiator, but in reality the lesser Ajax, 
 exhibit the greatest muscular display in violent 
 action. The forced action of the boxers renders 
 the muscular configuration of their shoulders so dif- 
 ferent in appearance from moderate action and 
 states of rest, that we may derive a double advan- 
 tage from the anatomical consideration of their 
 forms ; first, we shall learn the cause of each par- 
 ticular form, and, secondly, we shall be convinced 
 how rationally and justly the ancients copied na- 
 ture. 
 
 In the right shoulder of the upper figure, the 
 acromion of the scapula is distinctly seen ; the 
 backward portion of the deltoides arising from the 
 spine of the scapula ; the head of the humerus bone 
 next to the acromion : — the angle and base of the 
 scapula are bordered by a considerable swelling of 
 the teres major, and the trapezius in a continued 
 mass. 
 
 The left shoulder of the same figure, shews the 
 three divisions of the deltoides distinctly, with the pro- 
 jection of the head of the humerus in the upper part 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 113 
 
 of the middle portion. The spine of the scapula is 
 marked by a channel under the swelling of the tra- 
 pezius and supra spinatus, and above the infra 
 spinatus and teres major. 
 
 The right arm of the lower figure is forcibly held 
 backwards, which occasions the hindmost portion of 
 the deltoides to fold towards the spine of the scapula. 
 The other muscles of the scapula, and immediately 
 about it, present only a common appearance, because 
 they are not particularly exerted. 
 
 The whole left shoulder of this figure is exerted 
 to the utmost in assisting the arm to support the 
 weight of the superincumbent figure. The whole 
 surface has an opposite appearance to the right 
 arm, which is forced backwards, and therefore the 
 scapula lies in a hollow between the arm and back- 
 bone. The left shoulder is rounded by its position, 
 and the muscles of the left scapula are swoln by 
 effort into one mass, in which the acromion only 
 makes one very distinct form. 
 
 There is the same careful attention to effort, and 
 inaction, in the back of the gladiator throughout 
 its parts, and indeed throughout the figure. 
 
 We may now advert to the causes which brought 
 about the anatomical distinction in the forms of the 
 gods. 
 
 Hipparchus,* a few years before the birth of 
 Phidias, had formed a public library for the Athe- 
 nians, in which were placed the works of Homer, 
 
 * Plato’s Hipparchus. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 which he had collected and arranged; as they 
 were more complete than generally known before, 
 they became more popular. Socrates employed 
 their language in moral discourses, and Plato in 
 images and reasoning to embody and convey the 
 theologies of Orpheus and Pythagoras. 
 
 The poets formed tragedies from the “Iliad” 
 and “ Thebais.” Homer supplied subjects for the 
 painter and sculptor ; his descriptions fixed the 
 persons and attributes of their gods. 
 
 Phidias * seems to have been the first in this re- 
 formation. Minerva, who had before appeared 
 harsh and elderly, was by him rendered beautiful. 
 His Jupiter was awful as when his nod shook the 
 poles, but benignant as when he smiled on his 
 daughter Venus, according to Homer’s description. 
 The anatomical forms selected from powerful nature, 
 presented a massy breast and shoulders, projecting 
 muscles above the hip-bone, the limb strong, without 
 heaviness, and the whole figure mighty. 
 
 The character of the father of gods and men 
 being determined, settled a scale of gradation for 
 his progeny ; they were more sublime near him, 
 and less perfect by removal. 
 
 Of the sons of Jupiter, Bacchus was the next 
 divinity whose form was sublimated. As Phidias 
 determined the character of the father of the gods, 
 so did the graceful Praxitiles that of Bacchus, who 
 inspires poets, and to whom tragedy was peculiarly 
 dedicated by the Athenians. 
 
 * See Plates XIX. and XX. 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 115 
 
 Apollo soon became so like his brother Bacchus, 
 that it is not always easy to distinguish one from 
 the other ; yet Bacchus has more softness, and 
 Apollo greater energy. 
 
 Mercury, as patron of gymnastic exercises, is 
 rather more robust than his brothers. 
 
 The masses in the forms of these divinities are 
 little divided ; the lines are simple, flowing in 
 gentle undulation for balance and motion, or quicker 
 curves at the joints. 
 
 Hercules, whose labours in difficulty and number 
 were increased by succeeding poets, was more 
 strong and turgid after the time of Alexander the 
 Great, until he became the irresistible hero repre- 
 sented by Glycon in his statue. 
 
 Of inferior heroes, Ajax the lesser, and the male 
 figure in the group of Hsemon and Antigone, to- 
 gether with the group of boxers, have the anatomical 
 forms divided with distinctions as numerous as 
 could have been made by any modern. 
 
 After the osteology and anatomy of the human 
 figure, we will consider the balance, motion, and 
 mechanical powers according to the ancients. 
 
 Pamphilus, the Macedonian painter, under whom 
 Apelles studied ten years, was learned in all science, 
 particularly arithmetic and geometry, without which, 
 he declared, art could not be perfected. 
 
 How geometry and arithmetic were applied to 
 the study of the human figure, Vitruvius informs 
 us from the writings of the Greek artists, perhaps 
 from those of Pamphilus himself 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 A man* (says he) may be so placed with his 
 arms and legs extended, that his navel being made 
 the centre, a circle can he drawn round, touching 
 the extremities of his fingers and toes. 
 
 In the like manner, a man* standing upright, 
 with his arms extended, is enclosed in a square, 
 the extreme extent of his arms being equal to his 
 height. 
 
 Pliny speaks of improvements in the balance 
 of the figure by some artists, and the neglect of it, 
 and consequent defects, in the works of others. 
 
 How well the ancients understood the nature of 
 balance is proved by the two books of Archimedes 
 on that subject; besides, it is impossible to see 
 the numerous figures springing, jumping, dancing, 
 and falling, in the Herculaneum paintings, on the 
 painted vases and the antique basso-relievos, without 
 being assured that the painters and sculptors must 
 have employed geometrical figures to determine the 
 degrees of curvature in the body and angular or 
 rectilinear extent of the limbs, and to fix the 
 centre of gravity. 
 
 We shall, therefore, proceed in this delightful 
 subject, in some general demonstrations, according 
 to the method of the great Leonardo da Vinci, 
 and the distinguished Borelli, as laid down in his 
 work on the motion of animals. 
 
 Extent of motion in the skeleton.t 
 
 Front. A, body. B, the head. C, arm. D, thigh 
 and leg. 
 
 * Plate XXVI. t Plates XXVII. XXVIII. 
 
ON SCIENCE. 117 
 
 Side. A, arm. B, leg. C, leg and thigh bent 
 under the figure. 
 
 From the top of the head the balance or equi- 
 librium of the figure is caused by equality of its 
 parts about the centre of gravity. 
 
 When we speak of the centre of gravity, or 
 gravitation of the human figure, the principle is 
 referred to by which all bodies upon the earth 
 tend to its centre, as a ray tends to the centre of a 
 circle. 
 
 The centre of gravity in the human figure is an 
 imaginary straight line, which falls from the gullet 
 between the ancles to the ground, when it is per- 
 fectly upright, equally poised on both feet, with the 
 hands hanging down on each side.* 
 
 * Motion is the change of position, caused by 
 inequality of parts about the centre of gravity. 
 
 The first motion in the standing figure throws 
 the weight on one leg, in consequence the centre 
 of gravity, or gravitating line, falls from the gullet 
 on one leg, the shoulder on the same side being 
 lowered, the shoulder on the opposite side raised, 
 the hip and knee sinking below those on the side 
 which supports the weight. 
 
 Preparing to run.^ 
 
 Preparing to run is throwing the balance beyond 
 the standing foot. 
 
 Plate XXIX. 
 
 t Plate XXX. 
 
118 
 
 I.ECTURE IV. 
 
 Striking * 
 
 When the action begins, the figure is thrown 
 back to give force to the blow, and springs forward 
 to the lighter line when the fall of the blow ends 
 the action. 
 
 Bearing a Weight. i 
 
 The centre of gravity is the centre of the incum- 
 bent weight, falling between the feet, if supported 
 by both, or on the supporting foot. 
 
 Preparing to Leap.\ 
 
 To take the spring, the body and thighs are 
 drawn together; the muscles of the leg draw up 
 the heel, so that the figure rests on the hall of the 
 foot ; the arms are thrown back — they assist like 
 wings in the impulse. When the figure alights, 
 the arms are raised above the head, and the centre 
 of gravity is near the heels. 
 
 Leaning.X 
 
 When leaning on more points than one, the 
 greatest weight is about that point on which it 
 chiefly rests. 
 
 Flying and Falling.X 
 
 Flying and falling figures rest on no point, being 
 in motion through the air, but the heaviest portion 
 of the figures rising, denotes flying ; as the heaviest 
 
 * Plate XXX. t Plate XXXI. j; Plate XXXII. 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 119 
 
 portion sinking, determines the falling figure. 
 Without a due attention to these principles, no 
 movement or action can he well expressed, and 
 with their assistance, the finest efforts of ancient 
 and modern art have been produced ; the most 
 pathetic, energetic, and graceful attitudes of Ra- 
 phael and Correggio are exemplifications. Excellent 
 lessons on this subject are given by Leonardo da 
 Vinci in his “ Treatise on Painting.” 
 
 Every change of position or action in the human 
 figure will present the diligent student with some 
 new application of principles, and some valuable 
 example for his imitation. 
 
 It has been observed, that Vitruvius, from the 
 writings of the most eminent Greek painters and 
 sculptors, informs us, that they made their figures 
 eight heads high, or ten faces, and he instances, 
 different parts of the figure measured according 
 to that rule, which the great Michael Angelo 
 adopted, as we see by a print from a drawing of his. 
 
 We shall make use of this method in giving the 
 most general proportions of nature and the antique 
 statues. 
 
 PROPORTIONS.* 
 
 Divisions of the Human Figure in Length. 
 
 From the os pubis to the top of the head one 
 half, from the same point to the sole of the foot, 
 the other half. 
 
 * Plate XXIX. 
 
120 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 There are three equal divisions from the acr o- 
 mion of the scapula to the bottom of the inner 
 ankle : — 
 
 First, from the acromion to the point in the spine 
 of the ilium, from which the rectus and sartorius 
 muscles begin. 
 
 Second, from thence to the top of the patella. 
 
 Third, from the top of the patella to the bottom 
 of the inner ankle. 
 
 From the bottom of the pubis to the bottom of 
 the patella is the same length as from the bottom 
 of the patella to the sole of the foot, two heads each ; 
 but, we must observe, the ancients generally allowed 
 half a nose or more to the length of the low'er 
 limbs, exceeding the length of the body and head. 
 
 Breadth. 
 
 Shoulders 2 heads. 
 
 Loins 1 head and 1 nose, or 5 noses. 
 
 Across the hips or trochanters . 1 head, 2 noses, or head and a 5 . 
 
 Depth. 
 
 Chest 1 head, 4 minutes. 
 
 Loins 3 noses and 
 
 Glutaei 1 head. 
 
 Breadth of the Thigh. 
 
 Thigh .... 3 noses. . 
 
 Calf of the leg . 2 noses. 
 
 Ankle .... 1 nose. 
 
 Foot .... 1 head and 3 of a nose long. 
 
 Length of the Arm. 
 
 From the top of the humerus to the bend of the arm . I head and 
 From the bend of the arm to the first knuckles . . I head and \ . 
 
ON SCIENCE. 
 
 121 
 
 Breadth. 
 
 Upper arm, front view ... 1 nose and | . 
 
 Side view of do 2 noses. 
 
 Lower arm, thickest part . . 1 nose and 
 
 Wrist 1 nose. 
 
 The female figure should not be so tall as the 
 male ; the shoulders and loins should be narrower, 
 and the hips broader. 
 
 The proportions of the Hercules Farnese, and 
 the Torso Belvidere, are nearly one-fifth more in 
 breadth than other statues ; but the ancients varied 
 the proportions according to the character and age 
 of the person. There are examples of the Silenus, 
 and Hercules also, when he partook of the same 
 character, exceedingly dwarfish, not exceeding four 
 or five heads in height, and there are examples on 
 some of the Greek vases of figures nine or ten 
 heads high. 
 
 PERSPECTIVE. 
 
 We have the most satisfactory system of ancient 
 perspective in the principles laid down by Vitruvius, 
 and in “ Euclid’s Book of Optics,” which contains 
 no description of the eye, or nature of its vision, 
 but consists of sixty- one propositions, on the manner 
 in which rays pass from objects to the eye, the angles 
 they make, and consequently present them as nearer, 
 or more distant, greater or less, whether seen in a 
 parallel or diagonal plane, but gives no rule for the 
 perspective of circles, or the intersections of the 
 
122 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 visual rays. The modern improvement in perspective 
 which determines depths, enabled Michael Angelo* 
 to give bolder fore-shortenings, and more compli- 
 cated groups, than the ancients did or could attempt 
 with their imperfect perspective, and which in 
 design, or low relief, has the magical elfect of 
 “ much in a little.” 
 
 Such general hints concerning science, employed 
 by the ancients in painting and sculpture, may 
 assist the young artist in forming principles for the 
 course of his studies, and precede the investigation 
 of the nature and qualities of beauty, which will 
 be offered in the next Lecture. 
 
 See Plates XXXIII. and XXXIV. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 BEAUTY. 
 
 That beauty is not merely an imaginary quality, 
 but a real essence, may be inferred from the harmony 
 of the universe, and the perfection of its wondrous 
 parts we may understand from all surrounding 
 nature ; and in this course of observation we find 
 that man has more of beauty bestowed on him as he 
 rises higher in creation. 
 
 In the contemplation of our solar system, the 
 splendours of the sun and inferior planets, their 
 magnitude, almost incomprehensible to us, their 
 gravitation, the vastness of their revolutions, bring- 
 ing the regular succession and return of day and 
 night, with the different seasons, all astonish in 
 their various circumstances ; if we proceed in ob- 
 servations to the starry heavens, crowded with suns, 
 the centres of other systems, we are lost in amaze- 
 ment, and our faculties are overwhelmed. 
 
 The objects which surround us on the earth we 
 inhabit are more commensurate to our comprehen- 
 sion and intelligence, and in them we trace wonders 
 equally enforcing the conviction of power and good- 
 ness, by their beauty and order. 
 
124 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 The earth, its history and productions — the sea, its 
 phenomena and contents — the vegetable and mineral 
 kingdoms, — have employed, and will continue to 
 employ, the wisest of men in the most delightful 
 speculations and extraordinary discoveries. 
 
 The pursuit of each person must be allotted by 
 his station, whilst the industry of each contributes 
 to the circle of knowledge. 
 
 Our present object will he, after some general 
 observations on the animal kingdom, to enquire 
 into the excellence of man in his real essence, and 
 its effects on his external appearance — his intelli- 
 gible alliance with superior natures, or degeneracy 
 and abasement in resemblance to the brutes. 
 
 Among the many examples in natural philosophy 
 and history of the gradual and uninterrupted con- 
 nection of being, from the highest to the lowest, as 
 far as our perceptions will penetrate, the animal 
 kingdom offers most striking and stupendous in- 
 stances. 
 
 There is a resemblance in the organization and 
 bodily form of all animals, which varies by almost 
 imperceptible gradations, through all the links of 
 this chain, from man to the worm or vegetable. 
 
 The anatomical form and organization of the 
 ourang-outang bears a near resemblance to the ana- 
 tomy of man : this configuration continues in squir- 
 rels, rats, and mice, until the bat, or flying mouse, 
 unites the race of quadrupeds with birds ; in the 
 same manner, the kangaroo and jerboa, with very 
 short fore legs, and walking on the hind legs only. 
 
BEAUTY. 
 
 125 
 
 unite quadrupeds with another class of birds, which 
 do not fly, the penguin, the cassowary, and the 
 ostrich. 
 
 The crocodile and alligator unite the race of four- 
 footed beasts with the superior class of reptiles, 
 such as the lizard and the eft, until the frog, being 
 a tadpole in its infant state, belongs to the class of 
 Ashes. 
 
 The smaller and more imperfect birds approach 
 to the resemblance of the larger butterflies and 
 moths. 
 
 The order of flies at length terminates so exactly 
 in the resemblance of a leaf, that it might be 
 taken for one, did not experiment prove, by the 
 heart, lungs, and anatomical properties, the fly 
 to be perfectly animal ; whilst a totally difierent 
 organization proves the other to be positively ve- 
 getable. 
 
 Professor Camper, in the most ingenious and 
 valuable notes to his lectures, shows that the flgure 
 and organization of man contain the principles on 
 which the structure of all inferior animals is formed, 
 and from which they are removed by gradual imper- 
 fections. 
 
 Four-footed animals, although their general forms 
 and anatomy bear strong likeness to the human 
 flgure, differ from it in these respects ; the brain- 
 pan is less, the nose and jaws have greater projec- 
 tion, their view is downwards, the body is supported 
 in a horizontal line by four legs terminated by paws 
 or hoofs : the interior organization differs in cor- 
 respondence with the external figure. 
 
1S6 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 The variation of the bird from the beast is, that 
 the nose and jaws of one become a beak in the other, 
 the front legs having lost the paws, are folded up 
 by the sides, and are wings. 
 
 In fishes, the head is set immediately on the 
 body ; they have no legs, their places are supplied 
 by fins, which guide them through the waters. 
 
 All these various orders are wonderfully formed 
 in fitness for the elements they inhabit, and the 
 purposes of their lives. As their history extends 
 through a large and very interesting portion of cre- 
 ation, so the principles of their conformation and 
 powers comprehend a considerable share of natural 
 science. 
 
 The forms of the bones and anatomy contain the 
 geometrical forms, as the motions of the body, 
 limbs and interior demonstrate the mechanical 
 powers. 
 
 The preparation, secretion, and fermentation of 
 the juices are chemical ; hydraulics are in the con- 
 veyance and motion of the juices ; pneumatics in 
 the various modes of breathing ; electricity in the 
 effects of heat on the body ; and optics in the organs 
 of sight. 
 
 Such general observations relate to the bodies 
 of man and other animals ; but we must remember 
 that man, even in the structure of his body, is 
 V the most perfect of all creatures ; and the above 
 remarks are only offered to call the attention to the 
 wonderful extent of creation, and the harmony, 
 order and beauty of its whole connection and dis- 
 position. 
 
BEAUTY. 
 
 127 
 
 But in treating of man in particular, our subject 
 is the most perfect production of Almighty Power 
 in the visible world, the faculties of whose soul 
 place him far above other creatures, and declare 
 the nearer relation he stands in to his divine 
 Creator. 
 
 By the wisdom he is endowed with, all creatures 
 are subjected to his dominion ; by his affections he 
 is enabled to perform all the charities of life — to 
 prefer the interests of others to his own — to distin- 
 guish personal beauty as the indication of good 
 disposition and health —to trace his Creator in his 
 works, and offer the homage of his worship : in all 
 which he is superior to the brute animals, whose 
 exertions are the consequence of instinct for the 
 preservation of themselves and progeny, and whose 
 reasoning has never been discovered to go beyond 
 these purposes, or some particular attachment. 
 
 As the affections of man stimulate and engage 
 him in every act, so his understanding directs the 
 means and looks to the end in every employment 
 through life. These modify the exterior of the face 
 and figure, according to constant habit or momen- 
 tary impulse. 
 
 The passionate are known by quick fiery glances, 
 swollen brows, dilated nostrils, the mouth a little 
 open, the movements of the whole figure sudden, the 
 muscles of the body being disposed to rigidity and 
 contraction. 
 
 The melancholy have a general dejection of look, 
 the exterior corners of the eyes and eyebrows tend- 
 
128 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 ing downwards, a universal slowness of motion and 
 disregard of outward objects. 
 
 Every passion, sentiment, virtue, or vice, have 
 their corresponding signs in the face, body, and 
 limbs, which are understood by the skilful physician 
 and physiognomist, when not confused by the work- 
 ing of contrary affections or hidden by dissimulation. 
 
 In the formation and appearance of the body, we 
 shall always find that its beauty depends on its 
 health, strength, and agility, most convenient mo- 
 tion and harmony of parts in the male and female 
 human figure, according to the purposes for which 
 they were intended ; the man for greater power and 
 exertion, the woman for tenderness and grace. If 
 these characteristics of form are animated by a soul 
 in which benevolence, temperance, fortitude, and the 
 other moral virtues preside, unclouded by vice, we 
 shall recognize in such a one perfect beauty, and re- 
 member that “God created man in his own imaffe.” 
 We know that sickness destroys the complexion 
 and consumes the form, until that which was once 
 admired for grace and attractive loveliness becomes 
 a ghastly spectre ; and is it not equally evident that 
 brutal ferocity, revenge, hypocrisy, or any other of 
 the malignant passions, still more effectually destroy 
 the very traces of beauty by reducing man to a sa- 
 vage beast in his most degraded state ? 
 
 The most perfect human beauty is that most free 
 from deformity either of body or mind, and may be 
 therefore defined — 
 
 “ The most perfect soul, in tlie most perfect body.” 
 
BEAUTY. 
 
 m 
 
 Doubts can scarcely be entertained that there are 
 principles of beauty, because various opinions pre- 
 vail in different countries on the subject. 
 
 Men are in different states of mental and bodily 
 improvement, from the most savage to the most 
 civilized countries, and we know that many succes- 
 sive ages must pass in the confirmation of moral 
 habits, the right direction of reason and elevation of 
 intellect, before man can judge with any tolerable 
 ability, of mental or natural beauty, their causes, 
 relations and effects : and that in all states of society 
 there must be allowance for prejudice and climate. 
 But we shall certainly find that the wisest and the 
 best men in all ages and countries have held nearly 
 the same doctrine on this subject. 
 
 Ihe excellence of intellect and moral beauty was 
 asserted by Menu, the Indian legislator, Confucius, 
 the Chinese philosopher, Zoroaster, the Persian 
 sage, and the Egyptian priests. 
 
 Pythagoras, who had studied their wisdom, un- 
 derstood the dispositions of the mind by its influ- 
 ence expressed in the exteriors of the body ; and 
 accordingly, lamblichus, his biographer, tells us he 
 would observe the countenance, figure, looks, move- 
 ments, manner of speaking and tone of voice, until 
 he was accurately acquainted with any one’s cha- 
 racter. 
 
 Our present purpose particularly requires we 
 should consider the sentiments of the most celebrated 
 Greeks on beauty, the connection of mental and 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 bodily beauty, and their expression in the human 
 form. 
 
 Homer constantly endows his gods with personal 
 beauty, accommodated to their mental perfection 
 and immortal power, and his heroes with the attri- 
 butes of gods : thus, as he gives to Jupiter the epi- 
 thets of “Counsellor” and “Provident,” he describes 
 his hair as “ divine,” “ ambrosial, ’ and his nod as 
 making the world tremble : Juno, he calls the “ox- 
 eyed,” and the “white-armed;” Minerva, “the 
 blue-eyed virgin.” Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, 
 is the handsomest man that went to Troy ; his 
 epithets are, “divine,” “godlike,” “swift-footed;” 
 Agamemnon is called “ the king of men ;” Nestor 
 and Ulysses are said to be “ in council like the 
 gods;” — all expressing the union of mental and 
 bodily excellence. 
 
 That the same sentiments continued in aftertimes, 
 we have the coeval testimonies of the most illus- 
 trious philosophers, tragedians, orators, and artists. 
 
 In Plato’s Dialogue of Phsedrus concerning the 
 Beautiful, he shows the power and influence of 
 mental beauty on corporeal, and in his dialogue, en- 
 titled “ the Greater Hippias,” Socrates observes in 
 argument, “ that as a beautiful vase is inferior to a 
 beautiful horse, and as a beautiful horse is not to be 
 compared to a beautiful virgin, in the same manner, 
 a beautiful virgin is inferior in beauty to the im- 
 mortal gods ;” “for,” says he, “ there is a beauty* 
 
 * The word in Greek is koXoq — used in the same sense by Plato 
 and Aristotle. 
 
BEAUTY. 
 
 131 
 
 incorruptible, ever the same.” It is remarkable 
 that immediately after, he says, “ Phidias is skilful 
 in beauty.” 
 
 Aristotle, the scholar of Plato, begins his “Trea- 
 tise on Morals ” thus — “ Every art, every method 
 and institution, every action and council seems to 
 seek some good ; therefore, the ancients pronounced 
 the beautiful to be the good.” 
 
 Much, indeed, might be collected from this phi- 
 losopher’s treatises on morals, poetics, and physiog- 
 nomy, of the greatest importance to our subject ; but 
 for the present we shall produce only two quotations 
 from “ Xenophon’s Memorabilia,” which contain the 
 immediate application of these principles to the arts 
 of design. 
 
 In the dialogue between Socrates and the sculp- 
 tor Clito, Socrates concludes that “ Statuary must 
 represent the emotions of the soul by form and 
 in the former part of the same dialogue, Parrhasius 
 and Socrates agree that “the good and evil qualities 
 of the soul may be represented in the figure of man 
 by painting.” 
 
 In the applications from this dialogue to our 
 subject, we must remember philosophy demonstrates 
 that rationality and intelligence, although connected 
 with animal nature, rises above it, and properly 
 exists in a more exalted state. 
 
 From such contemplations and maxims, the an- 
 cient artists sublimated the sentiments of their 
 works, expressed in the choicest forms of nature ; 
 thus they produced their divinities, heroes, patriots, 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 and philosophers, adhering to the principle of Plato, 
 that “ nothing is beautiful which is not good it 
 was this which, in ages of polytheism and idolatry, 
 still continued to enforce a popular impression of 
 divine attributes and perfection. 
 
 In the highest order of divinities, they repre- 
 sented, as far as possible, the energy of intellect 
 above the material accidents of passion or decay. 
 
 Jupiter * was most placid as most mighty, either 
 extending victory as the reward of fortitude and 
 patriotic emulation, or holding the thunder and 
 sceptre, emblems of his sovereignty in the govern- 
 ment of the universe; excepting when destroying 
 the Titans, — he is then in heroic action.f 
 
 Observations on the Bust of Jupiter. 
 
 A fine remark is made by Winckelman, (perhaps 
 suggested by Mengs,) that the brows and hair of 
 this head have some resemblance to those of the 
 lion ; the beard and hair are full, the expression is 
 benevolence and wisdom, the age, maturity of 
 power. 
 
 Neptune resembles Jupiter in countenance and 
 person, his hair is more disturbed by the winds, or 
 wetted by the element he governs, he is nearly or 
 entirely unclothed. 
 
 Pluto continues the likeness of the Saturnian 
 family, observable in Jupiter and Neptune : he sits 
 in solemn state, the ruler of the lower world— he 
 is covered with drapery — his eyes have a spectre- 
 
 * 
 
 See Plate XX. 
 
 t See the Gem of this subject. 
 
BEAUTY. 
 
 1 Oi"> 
 1 0 <- ) 
 
 like stare — and the hair falling over his forehead, 
 adds gloom to his countenance. 
 
 Apollo, Bacchus, and Mercury, distinguished 
 by their youth and beauty, preserve the resem- 
 blance of their father Jupiter. 
 
 The energetic Apollo Alexicacos, or the driver- 
 away of evil, commonly called Belvidere, is “ severe 
 in youthful beauty;” he supplies Homer’s- descrip- 
 tion to the sight — his golden locks are agitated — 
 his countenance is indignant — the quiver is hang- 
 ing on his shoulder — and he steps forw'ard in the 
 discharge of his arrow. 
 
 Apollo in love, or companion of the muses, is 
 majestic yet graceful, strongly resembling Bacchus, 
 who, in the height of youthful beauty, is frequently 
 leaning on a faun, or a muse, or reclining on 
 Ariadne ; his grace and softness approaches to, and 
 sometimes really becomes, female delicacy. 
 
 Mercury is a mediate character between Apollo 
 and the youthful Hercules ; he unites the sublime 
 beauty of divinity with corporeal, heroic strength, 
 as patron of gymnastic exercises, and as messenger 
 of the gods from heaven to earth, from earth to 
 heaven. 
 
 The characteristics of elevated beauty are con- 
 tinued in the youthful Cupid, Hercules, when a 
 child, strangling the serpents, and the young 
 Ganymede. Heroes, whether considered by the 
 ancients as the immediate progeny of a divinity and 
 a mortal, or as having traced their descent from 
 divinity more remotely, are of muscular forms, in 
 
134 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 which strength, activity, and beauty blend, but 
 in such a manner that by bodily exertion and agility 
 they have been successful combatants and con- 
 querors. Mental power characterizes the divinity, 
 bodily exertion the hero. Such is Oileus Ajax, the 
 Hsemon, Zethus and Amphion. 
 
 Achilles is the example of masculine beauty 
 among the heroes, as Hercules is of unconquerable 
 force. 
 
 In the faces of the dying Achilles and Laocoon, 
 pain and death produce nothing like distortion, the 
 elevation of noble minds is seen in their sufferings. 
 
 The train and ministry of Bacchus afford more 
 variety than that of any other divinity — the sacred 
 instructors — the bearers and dispensers of wine and 
 grapes — fauns and satyrs of different ages — dancing 
 and mad Bacchanals. 
 
 The sacred instructors are bearded : men of noble 
 characters entirely clothed. Silenus, bearded, with 
 a pleasant countenance, between good fellowship 
 and philosophy — a rather spare and elegant figure 
 with a faun’s tail, entirely naked. Such a one 
 nurses the infant Bacchus in Perrier’s statues. 
 
 Two genii, the frequent attendants of Bacchus, 
 on either of which he often leans, are Ampelus and 
 Aerates. Ampelus is a faun, nervous and sprightly ; 
 Aerates dwarfish, round-bellied, and sometimes 
 hairy. 
 
 The fauns are youthful, sprightly and tendonous ; 
 their faces round, expressive of merriment, not 
 without an occasional mixture of mischief. 
 
BEAUTY. 
 
 135 
 
 Satyrs, the lowest order in the train of Bacchus, 
 are strong resemblances to different quadrupeds, 
 their faces and figures partake of the ape, the ram, 
 or the goat, they have sometimes goats’ legs, and 
 always either goats’ or horses’ tails. 
 
 The giants are towers of human strength to the 
 waist ; but instead of legs their figures terminate 
 in the huge folds of serpents’ tails ; their heads re- 
 semble the Saturnian family, but lowering with 
 brutal ferocity ; two small serpents are on their 
 heads, perhaps to indicate the torments in the lower 
 regions, according to Hesiod. 
 
 Ocean, and great rivers, as the Nile, Euphrates, 
 Tigris, and Tiber, resemble the Saturnian family 
 in countenance, hair, and beard ; their figures 
 Herculean and full of flesh. 
 
 The Tritons, and inferior sea-divinities, are ro- 
 bust men to the middle, ending with fishes’ tails ; 
 their faces are like either the giants’ or fauns’ ; finny 
 hair covers their heads, and gills are on their jaws. 
 
 Juno is the first of the goddesses, as sister and 
 wife of Jupiter : she possesses the highest degree 
 of beauty : her character is lofty and imperial. 
 
 Minerva is sometimes seen as the patroness of 
 peaceful arts, in attitude highly dignified, yet sim- 
 ple, clothed in full drapery, and holding an olive 
 branch ; but she is most frequently seen armed, in 
 her four-crested helmet and aegis hearing the ter- 
 rors of Medusa’s head, holding her spear and 
 shield, as the virgin-goddess of war. In both cha- 
 racters she is the representative of wisdom. 
 
1813 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 Venus, ^ the example and patroness of beauty, 
 appears more frequently in poetic numbers, and 
 rapturous description, than any other heathen divi- 
 nity. She was the delighting and frequent theme 
 of Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius Rhodius, Virgil, 
 and indeed most of the ancient poets. Plato dis- 
 tinguishes the celestial from the earthly Venus, 
 and Pliny mentions a statue by Phidias of Venus 
 Urania, or the heavenly. The Venus of Alcamenes 
 and the Venus de Medicis, are certainly of Plato’s 
 latter class ; they perfectly agree with Hesiod’s 
 description ; — 
 
 The lovely modest Ooddess rising from the sea, accompanied 
 by Love, and followed by Desire.” 
 
 The Graces are seen in ancient sculpture as three 
 lovely, youthful sisters, embracing each other. 
 They were always clothed till after the time of 
 Socrates. In the earlier ages they formed a chorus 
 hand in hand, as described by Pindar. 
 
 Phe Greek and Latin names of these goddesses, 
 Charlies and Gratice, which signify the exercise of 
 kind affections, or the charities of life, are well per- 
 sonified by the tender union of sisters. 
 
 The character and action of these goddesses have 
 given the epithet graceful^ to easy, undulating mo- 
 tion. 
 
 The sea nymphs are graceful in the extreme : 
 their beautiful movements are as various as the 
 
 * See Plates XXI. XXII, and XXIll. 
 
BEAUTY. 137 
 
 waves on which they are borne ; each appears a 
 foam-produced Venus. 
 
 The whole universe was peopled by congenial 
 beings, substantiated by philosophers, described by 
 poets, represented with the glow of life by painters 
 and sculptors. 
 
 In heaven were good demons, or angelic spirits, 
 winged victories, winds, and hours. 
 
 On earth, the genii of mountains, trees, rivers 
 and fountains, fauns and satyrs. 
 
 In the infernal regions, furies and chimseras. 
 
 In an assemblage comprehending such an extent 
 of gradation, with its different races of variety, 
 whatever could be chosen from nature, or deduced 
 from reasoning, evident or abstracted, was employed, 
 from the most beautiful, through various removals 
 and descents, to the most gross and terrific.* 
 
 It would he endless to enumerate the foreign 
 divinities of Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Africa, 
 Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain, which during 
 the Roman power received Greek and Roman 
 forms and personifications ; and, if this were done, 
 we could learn nothing novel from it, in relation to 
 our present subject. W e should, however, be more 
 certainly led to this conclusion — that whatever traces 
 of grandeur or beauty were found, they would be 
 discovered as pillage, and transfer, from ancient 
 Greece. 
 
 This much being said more particularly in re- 
 
 Teriific — Pan, Medusa. 
 
138 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 spect to the countenances and heads of statues, 
 which have been the chief subjects of former Lec- 
 tures, we will offer a few general remarks on hands 
 and feet. 
 
 The proportion of the hand, (it is well known,) 
 from its junction with the wrist to the end of the 
 middle finger, is the length of a face ; the breadth 
 across the four lower knuckles does not exceed 
 half the length, or a nose and a half. With these 
 proportions, the beauty of the female hand consists 
 in a fulness and roundness of form, gently dimpled 
 over the first knuckles ; the fingers long, round, 
 tapering towards the end, with scarcely any indica- 
 tion of joints. 
 
 The male hand, with nearly the same propor- 
 tions, has more squareness of form and joints, and 
 has little indication of bone or tendon in the youth- 
 ful figure. 
 
 The foot is about a head and a half-nose in 
 length ; the breadth, in a straight line across the 
 upper joint of the little toe, being one- third, or a 
 nose and a half. 
 
 The beauty of the female foot consists in a 
 rounded form, dimpled over the first joints of the 
 toes, which are very delicate, with exceedingly gen- 
 tle indications of the joints, and turned by an almost 
 imperceptible diagonal from the great toe. 
 
 The foot of the male figure of youth shows no 
 more of its anatomical structure than the female, 
 but has a greater squareness of form. In more 
 advanced age, or more muscular character, the 
 
BEAUTY. 
 
 139 
 
 male foot shows more of tendon and bone ; but in 
 form square and broad, the part of the tibia forming 
 the inner ankle is neatly defined, as is also the lower 
 part of the fibula, forming the outer ankle with the 
 tendon of the peroneus muscle ; the knuckles of the 
 toes are more strongly marked. 
 
 In both male and female the great toe is large in 
 comparison with the others, and separated from 
 them by a distinct space. 
 
 The boundaries of personal beauty are the Apollo 
 and Hercules ; a more slender form than the Apollo 
 is maigre, and one more covered with flesh than the 
 Hercules must he clumsy ; as one in which the 
 parts are more forcibly marked than in the Laocoon 
 would he a dissected figure. 
 
 Such are the regulations and forms of beauty in 
 the human face and figure, which allow of infinite 
 modification and variety, but not transgression. 
 
 By these general remarks on the principles of 
 beauty, the student will be excited to a spirit of 
 research, which every one must exert for himself 
 in the various galleries and museums already pub- 
 lished, to he found in the library of the Royal 
 Academy, and other public and private repositories, 
 and ancient monuments ; hut this must be in addi- 
 tion to the most diligent and continual study of 
 choice nature. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 COMPOSITION. 
 
 Having introduced the Lectures on Sculpture 
 by an inquiry concerning its relations and connec- 
 tion with the circle of general knowledge — stated 
 some important facts in its ancient history — consi- 
 dered the application of science, the observation of 
 nature, and the speculation of mental qualities more 
 particularly evident in the nobler works of Grecian 
 sculpture — we may now proceed to that great effort in 
 which the artist sums up all his knowledge, embodies 
 all his science, and exerts his utmost powers, under 
 the standard of passion, or sentiment, in composi- 
 tion. 
 
 To avoid repeating that which it is scarcely pos- 
 sible to think or say better on the present subject, 
 I shall refer the student to the excellent principles 
 and doctrines in the Lecture on Composition by the 
 professor of painting* — to consider with attention 
 what he has delivered on invention and design, on 
 dignity of conception, and pathos of sentiment — to 
 imprint on his memory, with peculiar care, the gra- 
 dual elevation to a climax in the example of Rem- 
 brandt’s “Ecce Homo”— and the degradation of 
 subject to the disgusting, in “the blinding of Samp- 
 son,” by the same painter. 
 
 * Mr. Fuseli. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 141 
 
 The maxims to be collected from these paragraphs 
 of that admirable discourse have equal force in both 
 arts ; and as they have been laid down for the 
 regulation of painting, it is equally important they 
 should be implicitly followed in sculpture : for as 
 the theories of painting and sculpture, so far as the 
 study of colours makes no distinction, are nearly the 
 same, the lectures on painting impart a share of in- 
 struction to the sculptor, little less than that which 
 is received by the painter. 
 
 Composition, in the arts of design, is the grouping 
 of figures in succession or action, and immediately 
 follows the intelligible imitation of the human 
 figure. 
 
 The early compositions of Greece in poetry, 
 painting, and sculpture, celebrate heroic deeds and 
 sacred mysteries ; as the combat of Theseus and 
 the Minotaur, of Eteocles and Polynices, of Her- 
 cules and the Centaurs, Dejanira carried off hv 
 Nessus, processions of divinities, and the initiations 
 of Bacchus and Ceres on painted vases, coins, 
 votive basso-relievos, and ancient wells. Their 
 barbarous violence of angular action, or simple 
 formality of movement, is expressed in a gross 
 execution. 
 
 These were among the first bold attempts of 
 painting and sculpture: — to emerge from the servi- 
 lity of hieroglyphical writing and symbolical figure; 
 speaking to the feelings, instead of the memory ; 
 proclaiming to the spectator’s transient view, the 
 
142 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 delivery of a people, the fall of a city, or the divine 
 superintendence. 
 
 When the power of Asia was transferred to Greece, 
 the sciences, the graces, and the muses, bestowed 
 on the arts truth, beauty, and inspiration. Painting 
 and sculpture became more dignified. Colossal 
 statues of prodigious size arose in the cities, like 
 guardian genii overlooking their states. Their 
 attributes and pedestals were adorned with compo- 
 sitions from poetry and theology. The porticos 
 were animated with the heroes of other times. In 
 the friezes of the temples, the Athenians and Ama- 
 zons, the LapithsB and Centaurs, the Greeks and 
 Persians fought again, whilst assemblies of gods and 
 demi-gods in their pediments rose to the sky. Such 
 was the state and magnificence of sculpture in 
 Greece, which is so far important to us, as it makes 
 us acquainted with the celebrated compositions of 
 Grecian artists. 
 
 Phidias did not only ennoble Athens and Elis 
 with colossal statues of Minerva and Jupiter of 
 ivory and gold, but he adorned their insignia and 
 pedestals with compositions from the grandest sub- 
 jects in the poems of Homer and Hesiod. On the 
 outside of Minerva’s shield was the battle of the 
 Athenians and Amazons ; on the inside the contest 
 of the gods and giants ; on the pedestal was the 
 birth of Pandora. 
 
 On the throne of Jupiter were the destruction of 
 Niobe’s children, the labours of Hercules, the deli- 
 
COMPOSITION. 143 
 
 very of Prometheus, the garden of the Hesperides, 
 with other incidents of the heroic ages. 
 
 On the base, the battle of Theseus and the Ama- 
 zons ; on the pedestal an assembly of the gods, the 
 sun and moon in their cars, and the birth of Venus. 
 
 These compositions excelled whatever had ap- 
 peared before in beauty, grace, and compass, in the 
 same proportion as Phidias excelled his predecessors; 
 and their numerous repetitions testify the esteem of 
 the ancients, and give us possession of the spirit and 
 character of the works themselves, in friezes, basso- 
 relievos, and painted vases. 
 
 Minerva received in the assembly of the gods, on 
 the pediment of her temple at Athens, we know 
 from the drawing of it preserved by the Marquis 
 Nanteul. 
 
 Of the marriage of Pelops and Hippodamia, on 
 the temple of Jupiter at Elis, we may perhaps form 
 some conception from a magnificent painted vase in 
 the British Museum, on which are two quadrigas, 
 and various human figures. 
 
 The battles of the Athenians with the Amazons 
 and Persians, beheld by assemblies of the gods, in 
 the temples of Minerva and Theseus, and the Pro- 
 pyleum of Athens, together with the frieze lately 
 discovered at Phigalia, are admirable examples of 
 simplicity and energy. 
 
 When the states of Greece ceased to be free, 
 they could no longer raise noble temples from the 
 spoils of their enemies, and blazon their own struggles 
 for freedom, or proclaim their divinities on friezes 
 
144 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 and pediments; — but, with the same love of their 
 countr}% they employed their genius on inferior 
 memorials of their heroic or deified ancestors, for 
 porticos, libraries, halls, or tombs. The wars of 
 Troy* and Thebes, the stories of their ancient 
 families and kings, expanded by the tragic poets 
 from the episodes of Homer, have bestowed on us 
 those invaluable compositions — the discovery of 
 Achilles, his contest with Agamemnon, the death 
 Egysthus and Clytemnestra, Orestes and the 
 Furies, Orpheus and Eurydice, Medea and Jason, 
 CEdipus Coloneus, and the death of Meleager. 
 
 The principal compositions of Roman sculpture, 
 the best of which, there is reason to believe, were 
 executed by Greek artists, are those of the arches 
 raised to Titus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Severus, 
 and Constantine — the Trajan, Antonine, and Theo- 
 dosian columns. They breathe the spirit of the 
 people they commemorate — war, conquest, and uni- 
 versal dominion ! 
 
 In the Greek compositions, the countenances 
 and figures are of exalted beauty ; the actions 
 display the limbs and body with the greatest variety, 
 energy, and grace ; the subjects are heroic or divine. 
 They have a kindred sublimity with Homer, of 
 patriotism with Tyrtseus, the noble flights of Pindar, 
 
 * The destruction of Priam’s family — Neoptolemus killing Priam ; 
 Ajax seizing Cassandra at the shrine of Minerva ; i^ineas bearino' 
 Anchises. A Vase in Mr. Thomas Hope’s possession, and A. L, 
 Millin’s Antique Vases, vol i. p. 25, 26. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 145 
 
 the terrors of ^schylus, and the tenderness of 
 Sophocles ! 
 
 The Roman compositions owe no inspiration to 
 the muses, urge no claim to the epic or dramatic. 
 They are the mere paragraphs of military gazettes ! 
 vulgar in conception, ferocious in sentiment. On 
 the columns and arches above mentioned, the prin- 
 cipal objects are mobs of Romans, cased in armour, 
 bearing down unarmed, scattered Germans, Dacians, 
 or Sarmatians — soldiers felling timber, driving 
 piles, building walls or bridges, carrying rubbish, 
 shouldering battering-rams, killing without mercy, 
 or dragging and binding captives. The forms of 
 their bodies and limbs are interrupted by mail or 
 plate armour, and most of the heads so brutal and 
 savage, as to excite compassion for the barbarians 
 who have fallen into their hands. 
 
 From this abasement of sculpture in Italy we 
 shall willingly turn again to the compositions of 
 the Greeks, and observe that this people, who had 
 embodied the false divinities of Olympus, and 
 widely spread their fame by the perfection of their 
 representations, the same people were the first to 
 declare the sacred oracles of truth, under the 
 Christian dispensation, by the mute eloquence of 
 painting and sculpture. 
 
 Different subjects of Holy Writ are mentioned 
 by the writers of those times, which no longer 
 exist. 
 
 Some mosaics, ivory carvings, and illuminations, 
 which have escaped the destruction of Moslem 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 fanaticism, abundantly indicate the beauty of those 
 more considerable works we have lost. 
 
 Seven or eight Greek Christian compositions 
 were mentioned in a former lecture, as having 
 been standards to the Italian painters, from which 
 they scarcely ventured to deviate for ages, viz.. 
 The creation of Adam and of Eve, the Nativity,* 
 the Transfiguration, the Crucifixion, the Resurrec- 
 tion, the Glorification, the Last Judgment,* with some 
 others, which amply prove that the sacred flame 
 remained in Greece which kindled light and life 
 in the modern arts of Western Europe. 
 
 Grecian composition may he traced in the biblical 
 basso-relievos of Orvieto by Nicolas and John 
 Pisani ; in the noble bronzes of the life of Christ 
 on the pulpits of St. Lorenzo in Florence, by Do- 
 natello ; on the bronze gates of St. John’s Bap- 
 tistery, in the same city, by Lorenzo Ghiberti, 
 and in the paintings of Raphael and Michael 
 Angelo. 
 
 The Greek poets conducted their works on a 
 plan of composition which equally governs painting 
 and sculpture. 
 
 Homer’s Iliad is a whole, united in its parts by 
 connection, and varied by gradation. 
 
 The sentiment throughout is wrath, beginning 
 with the dissension of the kings, continued by the 
 
 * See Plates II. XXXV. XXXVI. f Bate XXXIX. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 147 
 
 vengeance of the Trojans, and ended by the de- 
 struction of Troy’s hope and bulwark in the death 
 of Hector. The characters have a varied indivi- 
 duality. 
 
 Achilles is the hero, who, like the sun, enlightens 
 and heats all by the blaze of his presence ; his 
 absence is darkness and dismay. 
 
 There is the same unity in connection and gra- 
 dation of characters and circumstances to he found 
 in the Prometheus of ^schylus. 
 
 Vulcan, Force and Strength ; Mercury, Ocean, 
 and the Nymphs are but contingents to the ada- 
 mantine spirit of Prometheus, whom the threats 
 of Jupiter could not move, nor convulsions of the 
 universe terrify : the interest is in him, to which 
 the ministering violence, admonition, consolation 
 or tenderness of the inferior characters, give sub- 
 ordinate relation. 
 
 The principles of composition require that the 
 story should be a perfect whole, and that one cha- 
 racter should be supreme, to which all the inferiors 
 should have some relation by connection or separa- 
 tion. The individual variety of character is equally 
 in the order of nature. 
 
 Aristotle and Horace in their “ Arts of Poetry,” 
 (besides the above mentioned,) propose various 
 rules, which equally govern the poet, painter, and 
 sculptor ; and that no doubt may be entertained 
 concerning the practice of the ancient artists, 
 Horace tells us that “ the poet and painter are 
 regulated by the same principles.” 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 For the sake of clearness, the rules of composi- 
 tion shall he given under distinct heads. 
 
 First, a poet speaks by words. 
 
 The painter and sculptor by action. 
 
 Action singly, or in series : — the subject of com- 
 position being comprised in the arts of design, thus 
 the story of Laocoon is told by the agony of the father 
 and sons, inextricably wound about in the folds of 
 serpents. 
 
 The anger of Achilles is shewn by drawing his 
 sword on Agamemnon in the council of the kings. 
 And every action is more perfect as it comprehends 
 an indication of the past, with a certainty of the 
 end, in the moment chosen. 
 
 Ananias, falling in the contractions of death at 
 the feet of Peter, proves a divine authority in the 
 apostle’s rebuke, whilst Sapphira, counting the 
 silver, leads to the nature of his otfence. See 
 Raphael’s Cartoon. 
 
 In the group of Hsemon and Antigone, he sup- 
 ports the expiring woman, whilst he kills himself 
 with the same sword which slew her, shewing his 
 death to be a consequence of hers. 
 
 Expression distinguishes the species of action in 
 the whole and in all the parts ; in the faces, figures, 
 limbs and extremities. Whether the story be 
 heroic, grave, or tender, it is the very soul of com- 
 position — it animates its characters and gradations, 
 as the human soul doth the body and limbs — it 
 engages the attention, and excites an interest which 
 compensates for a multitude of defects — whilst the 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 149 
 
 most admirable execution, without a just and lively 
 expression, will be disregarded as laborious inanity, 
 or contemned as an illusory endeavour to impose 
 on the feelings and the understanding. 
 
 The general forms of masses in composition have 
 been enumerated and ably described by the pro- 
 fessor of painting ; but as these particularly concern 
 the sculptor, whose whole study is form, a repetition 
 will not be useless. 
 
 The forms are the pyramid erect, inverted, or 
 lateral, the circle and the oval ; they may be radi- 
 ated, and the whole will have a flame-like undula- 
 tion in effect, from the ever- varying succession of 
 curves in the outline and action of the human 
 figure. 
 
 The parts will be more simple and rectilinear in 
 repose, more angular in violent action,* and par- 
 taking of gentle curves when the subject is tender, 
 and the person elegant : when the limbs are en- 
 twined as struggling, or in any sympathetic act 
 either of force or tenderness, the joints, the general 
 curves and views of the limbs should never be 
 exactly and mechanically the same, but partake of 
 the wonderful variety of nature, in which all faces, 
 all bodies, and all efforts are different. This gives 
 life and motion. 
 
 What has been said above, is equally applicable 
 to the group or basso-relievo, but the application 
 must be accommodated to the subject - 
 
 The entire group is independent of back-ground, 
 
 Athenian and Amazon. 
 
150 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 and that additional contrast or effect produced by 
 the adjunction of secondary figures and objects ; 
 it is one whole, whose idea is perfect, and action 
 satisfactory in itself; it is to he seen in every view, 
 and each view must exhibit a different group, pre- 
 serving a succession of beautiful forms and distinct 
 lines, without impairing the energy of sentiment. 
 
 The basso-relievo may be considered in effect as 
 a picture without colouring, whose back-ground is 
 light, a little subdued, the figures thereon being 
 chiefly of the middle tint, with touches of strong 
 dark in the depths, and bright lights on the higher 
 projections. This species of sculpture is not in- 
 tended to be seen in many views like the entire 
 group, but it has this advantage, that more groups 
 than one may he on the same back-ground, and 
 sometimes a succession of events in the same story ; 
 a greater force is given to harmony, or contrast of 
 lines, by the number of groups and figures, as well 
 as the projection of their shadows. 
 
 The ancients, who considered simplicity as a 
 characteristic of perfection, represented stories by 
 a single row of figures in the bas-relief, by which 
 the whole outline of the figure or group, the energy 
 of action, the concatenation of limbs, the flight or 
 flow of drapery were seen with little interruption ; 
 but there are instances of the best times in low 
 relievo, where many horsemen are advancing before 
 each other, the nearer horse hiding the hinder 
 parts of the preceding, and sometimes part of the 
 rider, without causing the least confusion of effect. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 151 
 
 as in the frieze from the Temple of Minerva in 
 Lord Elgin’s collection. 
 
 There are noble examples, also, of groups and 
 figures rushing in the same reiterated line through 
 the composition ; but even in basso-relievo, it must 
 be remembered, the work is sculpture, which allows 
 no picturesque addition or effect of back-ground ; 
 the story must be told, and the field occupied by 
 the figure and acts of man. 
 
 All art, as the imitation of nature, must be allied 
 by the same relations, and submit to the same laws 
 which govern nature itself: thus, a certain view of 
 the human figure is most fit to express its spring 
 and motion in running or striking, and consequently 
 the quantity of the figure seen in that view ; ano- 
 ther quantity will more properly belong to a diffe- 
 rent exertion or repose. 
 
 The story may require that the upper part of 
 one figure should be principal, whilst, perhaps, the 
 lower parts are concealed by an intervening object ; 
 some figures may be running in different directions, 
 more crowded, or separate. To regulate these 
 spaces and quantities harmoniously, concerns the 
 sculptor in his composition, equally with the poet 
 or musician in theirs. This is to be done by the 
 same means, according to different modes of mani- 
 festation, and the 3ds, 5ths, and 8ths, with their 
 subdivisions, taken by gross calculation in the arts 
 of design, not exact measurement, will produce the 
 same agreeable effect in lines, light and shadow, 
 
152 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 space and the arrangement of colours, as is pro- 
 duced by similar quantities in music. 
 
 One simple instance only shall he given of oppo- 
 sition, and another of harmony, in lines and quan- 
 tities :* two equal curves, set with either their con-' 
 vex or concave faces to each other, produce oppo- 
 sition ; but unite two curves of different size and 
 segment, they will produce that harmonious line, 
 termed graceful, in the human figure. 
 
 Concerning the quantity of light and shadow in 
 a group, if the light be one- third, and shadow two- 
 thirds, the effect will be hold. If the light be one 
 part, and the shade four, it will be still bolder, and 
 accord with a tragic or terrific action ; but the 
 more general effect of sculpture is two-thirds of 
 light on the middle of the group, with a small pro- 
 portion of very dark shadow in the deeper hollows. 
 
 An attention to the materials of sculpture will 
 naturally lead us to the description of its legitimate 
 subjects. The grey solemn tints of stone, the beau- 
 tiful semi-transparent purity of marble, the golden 
 splendour, or corroding darkened green of bronze, 
 reject as incongruous all subjects and characters 
 which have not some dignity and elevation. 
 
 The awful simplicity of those forms whose eyes 
 have neither colour nor brilliancy, and whose limbs 
 have not the glow of circulation, strikes the first 
 
 * Opposition and harmony of lines, 
 
 Opposition ) ( ( ) 
 
 Harmony J\ 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 153 
 
 view of the beholder as beings of a different order 
 from himself. 
 
 Angels, spiritual ministers, embodied virtues, 
 departed worthies, the patriot or general benefactor, 
 shining in the splendour of his deeds, or gloomy 
 and consuming memorials of the great in former 
 ages — such subjects distinguish temples, churches, 
 palaces, courts of justice, and the open squares of 
 cities. At the same time that they symbolize their 
 several purposes, they may he comprehended in the 
 three classes of sublime, heroic, and tender. 
 
 The sublime represents all supernatural acts and 
 appearances, such as assemblies of the gods, or falls 
 of the giants, &c. In (the higher class of Christian 
 subjects are the different Acts of Creation, the 
 Angels appearing to the Shepherds, the Transfigu- 
 ration, the Ascension, and the Judgment. 
 
 In this class can be nothing common in idea, 
 person, or action ; the idea, whether simple or com- 
 plex, must be such as cannot he seen in nature ; 
 the beauty and dignity of the persons should he 
 more than human, and the action, whether forcible 
 or pathetic, should be action in its essence. 
 
 Of the heroic class of compositions, we may ac- 
 count the battles of the Athenians and Amazons, 
 and of the Athenians and Persians, in the Temples 
 of Minerva and Theseus in Athens, and the Tem- 
 ple of Apollo at Phigaleia, with such subjects as 
 the story of Orestes, and the death of Egysthus, in 
 the ancient basso-relievos. 
 
 Of the tender or pathetic, are the Death of 
 
154 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 Meleager, Antiope comforted by Zethus and Am- 
 phion ; to which may be added, such Christian 
 subjects as Michael Angelo’s Holy Family and 
 Charity : for although these two last are paintings, 
 their compositions are so perfectly sculptural, that 
 they may, without impropriety, be admitted into the 
 present arrangement. 
 
 Another class of subjects may be observed among 
 the ancient hasso-relievos, which may he termed 
 the graceful, from the prevalence of elegant female 
 figures in the pageants of marine divinities, or in 
 the festive choruses. 
 
 The characteristics of Grecian composition in the 
 best ages, are simplicity and distinctness, in all the 
 examples of painting and sculpture which have 
 come down to us.* Where the story does not re- 
 quire much action, it is told hy gentle movements, 
 and the figures, whether grouped or single, have a 
 sufiicient portion of plain back-ground left about 
 them, to show the general lines with the forms of 
 the limbs and draperies perfectly intelligible. 
 
 Where complication and force of action may be 
 required, it is done with a grace of concatenation 
 which adds continuity to the act, without causing 
 it to be less distinct. And in such as are all agita- 
 tion and violence, the force of striking, the rush of 
 flight, the agony of dying, and the prostration of 
 the dead, in which union of action is enforced 
 by repetition, and diflPerence of situation by con- 
 trast, — still the same distinctness is preserved.t 
 
 * Hesperides. f Phigaleia, in the Royal Academy. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 155 
 
 In the great compositions of modern times, the 
 Last Judgment of Michael Angelo, and the Fall of 
 the Angels by Rubens, there are multitudes and 
 legions in comparison with the separate figures and 
 single groups in the most considerable of the ancient 
 works. The beholder is thunderstruck by angels 
 falling in groups and forked masses, amalgamating 
 in the vivid flashes, and darkening in the sulphu- 
 rous smoke, in the various dismay, horror, terror, 
 and torpor of deadened intellect in their lost condi- 
 tion. In this picture the undulation of groups, the 
 play of lines, the entwining of limbs, and the 
 breadth and quantities of light and shade may be 
 studied by the painter and sculptor with equal ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 The Last Judgment, by Michael Angelo, is, 
 however, a more consummate work, and the parent 
 from which Rubens’s Fall of the Angels has de- 
 rived its being. 
 
 If the Judgment is inferior to the Falling Angels 
 in general effect — in the breadth of light and shade — 
 the strength of approaching parts — the gradual dis- 
 tance of those which retreat, by diffusion of middle 
 tint and the vivid variegations of reflex, it is supe- 
 rior in the sublimity and extent of character and 
 action — in the gradations of sentiment and passion, 
 from exalted beatitude to the abyss of hopeless de- 
 struction — in the kinds and species of these degrees 
 — in relations to the theological and cardinal virtues, 
 opposed to the seven deadly sins — in force of con- 
 ception — in uncommon, original, distinct and fit 
 
156 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 appropriation in the groups or separate figures. 
 The sentiment of particular figures and groups is 
 in the whole, and all the parts penetrating, sympa- 
 thetic, and true. 
 
 Despair plunges headlong downwards, the fall of 
 the contentious is aided hy strife and blows, the 
 malignant drawn downwards by the fiends, is tor- 
 mented in his way by the biting serpent ; for some 
 there is a terrific contest between angels and in- 
 fernals.* 
 
 Among the happy, brotherly love is evident in 
 three figures which shoot upwards together, whose 
 faces, seen a little beyond each other, appear to he 
 reflections of the same self ; several rise to the hea- 
 venly region by the attractions of purity, piety and 
 charity. 
 
 In this stupendous work, in addition to the genius 
 of the mighty master, the mechanical powers and 
 movements of the figure, its anatomical energy and 
 forms, are shewn by such perspective of the most 
 difiicult positions, as surpass any examples left hy 
 the ancients on a flat surface or low relief, and are 
 only to be equalled in kind, but not in the proportion 
 of application, in the front and diagonal views of 
 the Laocoon, and all the views of the Boxers, which 
 are both entire groups. 
 
 By such observations on these works, so far as 
 composition and design are common to the sister 
 arts, the sculptor perceives the scope and power of 
 his own art. 
 
 See Plate XXXVII. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 157 
 
 It is true, that sublime and extensive works are 
 seldom required in the slow and difficult process of 
 sculpture ; but he who loves the honourable exer- 
 cise of his art, and the intellectual delight of worthy 
 exertion, will endeavour to prepare himself for all 
 difficulties : besides, the combinations and particular 
 groups will be more or less concerned in the studies 
 of every day ; and as the electric fluid pervades all 
 matter, so the same spirit and principles which 
 inform these works, penetrate the whole study of 
 the human flgure. 
 
 The lines of Grecian composition enchant the 
 beholder by their harmony and perfection, and this 
 portion of study seems to have been highly improved 
 by Pamphilus, the learned Macedonian painter, 
 who denied that any one could succeed in the study 
 of painting, without arithmetic and geometry. The 
 application of these two sciences is very evident in 
 the arts of design : by arithmetic, the proportions 
 of the human figure and other animals are reck- 
 oned, and the quantities of bodies, superficies, or 
 light and shade ascertained ; geometry gives lines 
 and diagrams for the motion, outline, and drapery 
 of the figure, regulated by the harmony of agreeable 
 proportions, or the opposition of contrast. The 
 effect is evident in the groups of Laocoon and the 
 Boxers, the bas-relief of the Niobe family, and that 
 of the rape of Proserpine ; but this magic bond of 
 arrangement was utterly lost when the other per- 
 fections of Grecian genius were overwhelmed in 
 barbarism, nor in any degree recovered until late 
 
158 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 in the resurrection of the arts, and then they were 
 reproduced by the same means which had discovered 
 them. 
 
 The study of geometry became more general, 
 and had been applied with more success to the 
 improvement of science and art, after the learned 
 Greeks, who fled from Constantinople, settled in 
 Italy. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo w^ere 
 greedy partakers in this abundant harvest of know- 
 ledge. Michael Angelo* shewed his sensibility to 
 the play of lines in his picture of the Holy Family, 
 in which the Virgin, sitting on the ground, receives 
 the infant Jesus, whom Joseph, stooping behind, 
 presents over her right shoulder. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci, who had devoted much time 
 to mechanical and geometrical studies, composed 
 the Contest for the Standard, intended to be painted 
 in the great hall of the old palace of Florence. 
 This was indeed a prodigy in modern advancement, 
 and the first great example of complicated grouping 
 since the arts flourished in ancient Greece. 
 
 Michael Angelo’s mind seems at this time to have 
 been employed on the powers, forms, and views of 
 the human figure singly, and perhaps the admirable 
 groups in the ceiling and Last Judgment of the 
 Sistine Chapel were the consequence of Leonardo 
 da Vinci’s example. We are sure, the several 
 hunts of the lions, hippopotamus, and crocodile. 
 
 See Plate XXXVIII. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 159 
 
 were painted by Rubens in emulation, if not imita- 
 tion, of Leonardo’s Battle of the Standard ; and 
 such is their merit, that in them you see the men 
 strike, the horses kick, the wild animals roaring, 
 turn and rend their hunters, with a grandeur of 
 lines equal to the vivacity of action and passion. 
 In comparing these with similar subjects in ancient 
 basso-relievos, particularly with those on the arch 
 of Constantine, in which Trajan hunts the lion and 
 boar, modern genius shines with uncommon brilli- 
 ancy, and Trajan with his followers, and the animals 
 they attack, are tame, insipid, and unnatural. 
 
 In comparing ancient and modern compositions, 
 we shall find the excellence of each was derived 
 from the systems and moral habits of the times and 
 countries. The Greeks admired, encouraged and 
 cultivated personal beauty by gymnastic exercises 
 and public rewards in the Olympian meeting of the 
 states ; consequently, what they admired, they repre- 
 sented. The most choice selections of countenance 
 and form, the most elegant display in the folds of 
 drapery, was seen in their councils of divinities ; in 
 combats and heroic adventures, grace, elasticity of 
 action and personal courage were conspicuous. 
 
 The modern arts have been more zealously em- 
 ployed to commemorate the acts and events of that 
 dispensation which governs their conduct, and de- 
 termines their future condition ; and even in their 
 celebrations and memorials of political occurrences, 
 or private characters, they are always combinations 
 of the moral virtues, or the influences of providen- 
 
160 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 tial direction. What has been done, and what may 
 be done from such subjects, is proved by Michael 
 Angelo’s Old Testament* and Judgment, in the 
 Sistine Chapel — the Calling of Paul, and the Mar- 
 tyrdom of Peter, in the Pauline Chapel — the Plagues 
 in the last days of the Church, by Signorelli, in the 
 Cathedral of Orvieto — the Cartoons of Raphael — 
 the scriptural basso-relievos by John and Nicholas 
 Pisani,')' Donatello,1i and Lorenzo Ghiberti.§ These 
 subjects are more than sufficient to employ the 
 greatest human powers, comprehending whatever 
 is most sublime or beautiful in energy or repose — 
 most tender, most affectionate, most forcible, or 
 most terrific. 
 
 An additional distinction between the subjects of 
 ancient and modern composition is occasioned by 
 parental affection, and domestic charities, being 
 cherished in the Christian dispensation much more 
 powerfully than in the Grecian codes : to these 
 graces of benevolence we owe those lovely groups — 
 the Holy Families of Raphael and Correggio, 
 and the Charity 1| of Michael Angelo, unequalled 
 by any ancient composition of a mother and children, 
 and one of the finest groups in existence. 
 
 In a discourse on the composition of sculpture, 
 some observations may be expected on sepulchral 
 monuments and equestrian statues ; but little need 
 be said concerning them at present, because the 
 
 * See Plate XXI II. -f- Adam and Eve. J Entombing. 
 
 § Bronze Gates, Giving the Law. |1 See Plate XXXIV. 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 161 
 
 sculptor capable of producing a fine group, or alto- 
 relievo of three or more figures, need only limit the 
 compass of his powers, or submit them to architec- 
 tural arrangements, and he will execute either one 
 or the other without difficulty. Two or three exam- 
 ples will be sufficient. A monument to Sir Francis 
 Vere, Westminster Abbey* — the Tomb of Madame 
 Langhahn* — and Michael Angelo’s design for 
 Julius 2 nd’s monument — a description of it is given 
 in the Lecture on English Sculpture, (page 27.) 
 But let him always remember, that the entire group, 
 and the alto or basso-relievo, are the only legitimate 
 sculpture. 
 
 All those monuments of the later Italian school, 
 in which entire figures are mingled with those of 
 low relief on pyramidal back-grounds, are mean 
 attempts to unite the effects and perspective of 
 painting, with the force and severity of sculpture, 
 as ineffectual as injudicious, and as they partake in 
 the qualities of both arts, cannot properly be ranked 
 in either. 
 
 The sculptor must not forget that his art is 
 limited in comparison with painting ; colours and 
 their effects are beyond his bound ; whether the 
 act he represents was performed in the bright mid- 
 day sunshine or the darkness of midnight concerns 
 him not, his forms must be equally perfect, and his 
 expression equally decided. Even basso-relief, a 
 tree or two, some rude stone, a flat column, or a 
 
 See Plates LI, LII. 
 
 M 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 I6g 
 
 wall, slightly marked in the hack-ground, must in- 
 dicate a forest, a mountain, or a palace, without . 
 detailing a portrait of their component parts. 
 
 Such are the limits which circumscribe the sculp- 
 tor ; hut it is a limitation hy which he is in a mea- 
 sure delivered from the restraints of time and space, 
 which strengthen his powers hy concentration, and 
 hy which he is privileged to disregard inferior ob- 
 jects for the human figure, the most perfect of all 
 forms, with all the gradations of intelligence, aifec- 
 tion, sentiment, action or passion, capable of being 
 expressed in it, indi\ddually or in numbers, and in 
 the different orders of being, from the exalted su- 
 pernatural agent to the lower gradations which ter- 
 minate in brutal nature. 
 
 What has been delivered comprises some of the 
 rules for composing, and observations on composi- 
 tion, the most obvious, and perhaps not the least 
 useful. They have been collected from the best 
 works and the best writings, examined and com- 
 pared with their principles in nature. Such a com- 
 prehensive view may be useful to the younger stu- 
 dent, in pointing his way, preventing error, and 
 shewing the needful materials ; hut, after all, he 
 must perform the work himself! All rules, all 
 critical discourses, can hut awaken the intelligence, 
 and stimulate the will, with advice and directions 
 for a beginning of that which is to be done. They 
 may he compared to the scaffolding for raising a 
 magnificent palace ; it is neither the building nor 
 the decoration, hut it is the workman’s indispen- 
 
COMPOSITION. 
 
 163 
 
 sable help in erecting the walls which enclose the 
 apartments, and which may afterwards be enriched 
 with the most splendid ornaments. 
 
 Every painter and sculptor feels conviction that 
 a considerable portion of science is requisite to the 
 productions of liberal art ; but he will be equally 
 convinced that whatever is produced from prin- 
 ciples and rules only, added to the most exquisite 
 manual labour, is no more than a mechanical work ! 
 Sentiment is the life and soul of fine art I without, 
 it is all a dead letter ! Sentiment gives a sterling 
 value, an irresistible charm, to the rudest imagery 
 or most unpractised scrawl. By this quality a firm 
 alliance is formed with the affections in all works 
 of art. With an earnest watchfulness for their pre- 
 servation, we are made to perceive and feel the 
 most sublime and terrific subjects, following the 
 course of sentiment through the current and mazes 
 of intelligence and passion to the most delicate and 
 tender ties and sympathies of affection ; — the benign 
 exertions of spiritual natures ; the tremendous fall 
 of rebel angels or Titans ; the immoveable fortitude 
 or contending energy of patriotism ; the sincerity 
 of friendship, and the irresistible harmony of connu- 
 bial, maternal, fraternal and filial love. 
 
 Such effects are produced by the communication 
 of the artist’s own choicest feelings and faculties, 
 embodied and enforced by the uninterrupted and 
 constant observation and imitation of whatever is 
 strikingly excellent in nature. 
 
 In these discourses on subjects extensive and 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 various in their relations will be found many defects, 
 both of matter and example, and some of these the 
 author is not ashamed to acknowledge may exist 
 beyond the limits of his intelligence to perceive, or 
 his power to correct ; yet he cherishes a hope of 
 removing some of the errors, and adding such im- 
 provements as his abilities permit, with a desire 
 that the lectures on sculpture may in time become 
 a portion not unworthy of the noble theory and plan 
 of education for the sister Arts, as pursued in the 
 Royal Academy. 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 STYLE. 
 
 The introduction to a theory, whether of science 
 or art, practical or abstracted, should contain such 
 a compendious view of the subject, as will connect 
 all the branches or members with the principle on 
 which they depend for their essential quality, and 
 peculiar characteristic distinction ; so that our view 
 of the whole should comprehend the parts of which 
 it is composed, and our inquiries concerning the 
 parts should be guided and regulated by that common 
 principle in which they are all united. 
 
 This universal and indispensable maxim, applied 
 to a course of Lectures on Sculpture, will naturally 
 lead us to some well-known quality which originates 
 in the birth of the art itself — increases in its 
 growth — strengthens in its vigour — attains the full 
 measure of beauty in the perfection of its parent 
 cause— and, in its decay, withers and expires ! — 
 Such a quality will define the stages of its progress, 
 and will mark the degrees of its debasement ; — 
 it will point out how, and when, proportions were 
 obtained by measure and calculation — when geo- 
 metrical figures more simple, or complicated, decided 
 form — how the harmony of lines in composition 
 produce energy by contrast, and sympathy by as- 
 
166 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 similation. — Such a quality immediately determines 
 to our eyes and understanding, the barbarous attempt 
 of the ignorant savage — the humble labour of the 
 mere workman — the highest examples of art con- 
 ducted by science, ennobled by philosophy, and 
 perfected by the zealous and extensive study of 
 nature. 
 
 This distinguishing quality is understood by the 
 term Style, in the arts of design. This term, at 
 first, was applied to poetry, and the style of Homer 
 and Pindar must have been familiar long before 
 Phidias or Zeuxis were known ; but, in process of 
 time, as the poet wrote with his style or pen, and 
 the designer sketched with his style or pencil, the 
 name of the instrument was familiarly used to express 
 the genius and productions of the writer and the 
 artist ; and this symbolical mode of speaking has 
 continued from the earliest times through the 
 classical ages, the revival of arts and letters, down 
 to the present moment, equally intelligible, and is 
 now strengthened by the uninterrupted use and 
 authority of ancients and modern. 
 
 And here we may remark, that as by the term 
 style we designate the several stages of progression, 
 improvement, or decline of the art, so by the same 
 term, and at the same time, we more indirectly 
 relate to the progress of the human mind, and 
 states of society ; for such as the habits of the 
 mind are, such will be the works, and such objects 
 as the understanding and the affections dwell most 
 upon, will be most readily executed by the hands. 
 
STYLE. 
 
 167 
 
 Thus the savage depends on clubs, spears and axes 
 for safety and defence against his enemies, and on 
 his oars or paddles for the guidance of his canoe 
 through the waters : these, therefore, engage a 
 suitable portion of his attention, and, with incredi- 
 ble labour, he makes them the most convenient 
 possible for his purpose ; and, as a certain conse- 
 quence, because usefulness is a property of beauty, 
 he frequently produces such an elegance of form, 
 as to astonish the more civilized and cultivated of 
 his species.* He will even superadd to the elegance 
 of form an additional decoration in relief on the 
 surface of the instrument, a wave line, a zig-zag, 
 or the tie of a band, imitating such simple objects 
 as his wants and occupations render familiar to his 
 observation — such as the first twilight of science in 
 his mind enables him to comprehend. Thus far 
 his endeavours are crowned with a certain portion 
 of success ; but if he extend his attempt to the 
 human form, or the attributes of divinity, his rude 
 conceptions and untaught mind produce only 
 images of lifeless deformity, or of horror and 
 disgust. 
 
 When we consider these weak and inefiicient 
 attempts for a moment, with what astonishment 
 shall we turn to the almost breathing statue, whose 
 mimic flesh seems yielding to the touch ! whose 
 balance alarms with the expectation of movement ! 
 whose countenance beams with the sweetest charities 
 
 New Zealand Canoe. 
 
168 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 of humanity ! or like the Jove of Phidias (if it 
 were possible) adds to the interest of religion. In 
 these opposite descriptions we contemplate the 
 productions of man just emerging from gross and 
 savage nature, and civilized man, formed to moral 
 hahits, intellectual enjoyments, and delighting to 
 trace the Creator in his works. 
 
 Such is the difference between the beginning and 
 the perfection of art. To mark this progress and 
 its gradations is the object of our present inquiry ; 
 nor will our time be unprofitably employed ; for if, 
 by the characteristics of style, we can secure land- 
 marks on the road to excellence, we may avoid the 
 danger of deviating into the paths of error. 
 
 The characters of style may he properly arranged 
 under two heads, the Natural and the Ideal. 
 
 The Natural Style may be defined thus : a repre- 
 sentation of the human form, according to the 
 distinctions of sex and age, in action or repose, 
 expressing the affections of the soul. 
 
 The same words may be used to define the 
 Ideal Style, but they must he followed by this 
 addition — “ selected from such perfect examples 
 as may excite in our minds a conception of the 
 supernatural.” 
 
 By these definitions will be understood, that the 
 natural style is peculiar to humanity, and the ideal 
 to spirituality and divinity. 
 
 In our pursuit of this subject we are aware of 
 the propensity to imitation common in all, by which 
 our knowledge of surrounding objects is increased, 
 
STYLE. 
 
 169 
 
 and our intellectual faculties are elevated ; and we 
 consequently find in most countries attempts to 
 copy the human figure, in early times, equally 
 barbarous, whether they were the production of 
 India, Babylon, Germany, Mexico, or Otaheite. 
 They equally partake in the common deformities 
 of great heads, monstrous faces, diminutive and 
 mis-shapen bodies and limbs. We shall, however, 
 say no more of these abortions, as they really have 
 no nearer connection with style, than the child’s 
 first attempts to write the alphabet can claim with 
 the poet’s inspiration, or the argument and descrip- 
 tion of the orator. 
 
 We shall now proceed to mark the character, 
 and trace the progress of style, not from the earliest 
 dawn, but rather from the sun-rise of human intel- 
 ligence, when the imitative faculty is assisted by 
 rule, and corrected by refiection — when the repre- 
 sentation partakes, in some degree, of man’s dignity 
 in countenance and figure. In this state we find 
 painting and sculpture among the Egyptians, whose 
 application to geometry, and inquiries concerning 
 the animal structure, enabled them to give a gene- 
 ral, though imperfect, proportion and outline to 
 their figures, whose forms, however, were more de- 
 termined by simple geometrical lines, than a scru- 
 pulous attention to nature. 
 
 Professions in Egypt (as before observed) being 
 hereditary, the son was obliged to follow his father’s 
 occupation, and as the same particular talent could 
 not be expected through a series of generations, the 
 
170 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 painting or sculpture would have little concern 
 with genius or study ; their productions would be 
 determined by the family receipt, and the works 
 must be mechanical labour, not liberal art. 
 
 The proportions of Egyptian figures are about 
 seven heads in height, in slighter works of painting 
 and relievo frequently more, the breadth of the 
 figure agreeing with the height. The face is gene- 
 rally youthful, even when a beard, in the form of a 
 peg, is added to the chin — we may suppose intended 
 to signify advancement in years. The nose, eyes, 
 eyebrows, mouth, and extended line of the cheeks, 
 are formed of simpler curves than are usually seen 
 in nature. The countenances greatly resemble each 
 other, and the expression is placid, with a mixture 
 of cunning. The shoulders are high and forward ; 
 the body marked only by the projection of the breast 
 and abdomen, being narrow above the hips. The 
 arms are rounded, gradually tapering from the shoul- 
 der downwards to the elbow ; bend of the arm and 
 wrists without any resemblance to form of bone and 
 tendon in those joints. The thighs and legs formed 
 by a general rounded resemblance to nature, but 
 equally deficient with the arms as to the ignorance 
 and incorrectness of the joints. The calf of the 
 leg, and the form of the tibia in the front view, 
 as well as the hands and feet, are careless and un- 
 decided. The fingers and toes are rounded, parallel 
 to each other, straight, and without distinction of 
 joints. 
 
 The attitudes of Egyptian statues have little 
 
STYLE. 
 
 171 
 
 variety ; if standing, one leg is a little advanced, 
 the arms hang down close to the sides ; sometimes 
 one arm is laid across the hreast. Figures sitting 
 on seats have the legs and thighs forming right 
 angles in the side view, and in front the legs are 
 parallel to each other. Sometimes the figure sits 
 on the ground, with the legs drawn near the body 
 in parallel lines ; sometimes the figure is kneeling. 
 
 In the historical or allegorical bas-relievos of the 
 Egyptians, their subjects are composed in the most 
 evident and common manner, certainly without ar- 
 tifice or system, on the one hand, as, on the other, 
 they are devoid of elegance or choice. 
 
 The drapery of the Egyptian statues is close, and 
 seldom interrupted by folds. 
 
 The Egyptian animals are superior works of art 
 to their human statues, and a reason for this is, 
 that inferior animals are more easily represented. 
 
 The style of Egyptian sculpture is simplicity in 
 the extreme, and the magnitude of their colossal 
 works is awful j but the simplicity is so excessive, 
 that one face, and one set of forms, have extended 
 an universal monotony of resemblance, as far as 
 possible, through the difierences of age and sex. 
 The surface of the body and limbs betrays a great 
 ignorance in the knowledge of the bones, muscles, 
 and tendons, which produce the forms in the sur- 
 face ; and, although this people have been cele- 
 brated for their skill in geometry, their basso-relievos 
 and painted compositions demonstrate that they 
 had not advanced sufficiently to determine the ha- 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 17^2 
 
 lance and motion of the human figure by the rules 
 of that science. 
 
 The Egyptian sculptors astonish us by their 
 indefatigable labour, hut, considered as artists, they 
 are but beginners ; their works little more than 
 bodies without souls, the dead letter of the art, 
 whose purpose was, symbolically, to deliver an his- 
 torical fact, a philosophical precept, or a divine 
 mystery ; hut never to charm by life, sentiment, 
 heroic power, or spiritual beauty. 
 
 The Hindu sculpture has been thought to resem- 
 ble the Egyptian, but the latter nation has given 
 greater beauty to the countenance, with a better 
 proportion to the figure, although some smaller 
 Hindu works of bronze and ivory have the detail of 
 parts finished with great delicacy, and the events 
 of Hindu mythology have furnished various extra- 
 ordinary and poetical compositions,* more singular 
 and elegant than has been hitherto seen in the 
 published antiquities of Egypt. 
 
 The arts of design in China have been also sup- 
 posed to hear some resemblance to those of Egypt ; 
 but the architecture is v/holly different in character 
 and principle. The sculpture of the two nations 
 seems to have little in common ; and whatever 
 painting they practised in ancient times might be 
 native, or foreign, received from India or Greece, 
 but, for centuries past, we know too much of their 
 intercourse with Europe not to be sure that their 
 
 * Vishna’s Elephant, Horse and Goose. From Moore's Hindu 
 Pantheon. 
 
STYLE. 173 
 
 best works have been matured by foreign instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Having incidentally mentioned the arts of these 
 two countries in relation to those of Egypt, we will 
 proceed in our inquiries concerning style, by an 
 examination of early works in Greece. 
 
 Fortunately for us, we have a mass of undoubted 
 evidence existing, so extensive in its nature, and 
 yet so perfect in coincidence, as will excite surprise 
 when we consider the succeeding tides of destruction 
 it has escaped, and the long series of ages it has 
 endured. 
 
 Homer and Hesiod have introduced us to so 
 accurate a knowledge of the military, rural and 
 domestic habits of the heroic ages, and have dis- 
 tinguished the persons with such peculiar character 
 and life, that we seem to ourselves acquainted and 
 intimate with the kings, warriors, judges, elders, 
 husbandmen, and shepherds ; we are present in 
 their councils, their encounters for fame and vic- 
 tory ; we partake in the culture of their fields, and 
 the abundance of their harvests, and the still, clear 
 evening : with them we watch the sky, the Hyades, 
 the Pleiades, Orion’s strength, the Bear, and all the 
 glittering stars which crown the heavens ! 
 
 We are now familiar with the plans and mili- 
 tary architecture of Mycenae,* Argos, and Tiryus, 
 Cyclopian works, the dominion and residence of 
 Agamemnon and his ancestors, as published by 
 
 * See Plate XIV. 
 
174 . 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 Sir William Gell, but previously discovered and 
 drawn by M. Fauvel, tbe French consul in Athens. 
 
 Another source of information concerning Greek 
 style and design will be found in the painted vases, 
 and early coins of the country the numerous 
 collections of vases published by Sir William Ha- 
 milton, Tischbein, Millin, Millingen, &c. form an 
 endless treasure to the artist and the antiquary, 
 supplying every species of example and illustration. 
 
 Coincident and satisfactory information concern- 
 ing early Greece expands in proportion with the 
 progress of that people towards the high rank they 
 occupied among the nations of antiquity. Their 
 theologists, philosophers, poets, statesmen, mathe- 
 maticians, anatomists, and artists, have left unerring 
 guides in their writings and monuments, for us to 
 trace the steps by which they reached excellence, 
 and by that means to determine the different styles 
 and characters of their works. 
 
 We may in this place repeat a popular observa- 
 tion, that the institutions and climate of Greece 
 were equally favourable to personal beauty, and 
 consequently to the study of painting and sculp- 
 ture ; for as the genial sunshine and mild breezes 
 rendered light clothing only requisite, and in some 
 cases rejected the incumbrance wholly, the body 
 and limbs being commonly seen, naturally led to 
 the contemplation of form in the human figure, 
 and comparison of beauty in the parts between one 
 subject and another. 
 
 * Macedonia or Thrace. 
 
STYLE. 
 
 175 
 
 The Pentathlon, or five Olympic games, of wrest- 
 ling, boxing, throwing the quoit, running, and 
 riding one or more horses at full speed, engaged all 
 the noble youth of Greece in the honourable con- 
 test, and improved the powers of the body and 
 limbs by the force of exertion, and added grace to 
 beauty by facility of motion. Of what importance 
 this power and beauty of person, accompanied by 
 such dexterity and agility, was to the possessor, we 
 are informed by the consequences : a conqueror in 
 one of the games was honoured as if he returned 
 from the conquest of foreign enemies — crowned with 
 olive — drawn to the city in a chariot by four horses 
 — and a breach was made in the wall for his en- 
 trance ; his statue was erected in the sacred wood, 
 and the most celebrated poet sang his praises. He 
 that obtained the prize three times, was complimented 
 with a statue, the portrait of his face, and the par- 
 ticular lineaments of his figure. Among the cele- 
 brations of this kind were verses which hail the 
 conqueror by name, with the epithet of KaAor, the 
 Beautiful ; and, indeed, the sublimest of their 
 philosophers do not fail in their discourses, with a 
 pious reverence, to refer this beauty to a correspon- 
 dent spiritual beauty in the divine source of all per- 
 fection, So was the beauty of the human form 
 esteemed in Greece, and such the motives from 
 which it was cultivated ! 
 
 We may observe in this place, that Grecian art 
 began where Egyptian art ended. 
 
 The Egyptian statuaries were hereditary labo- 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 176 
 
 rious mechanics ; their works were lifeless forms, 
 menial vehicles of an idea, or the fixed slaves of 
 uniformity in a temple or a palace. 
 
 In Greece, painting and sculpture were liberal 
 arts : they were studied by the noblest and best- 
 educated persons ; they were improved by the accu- 
 mulation of science ; they were employed to excite 
 and celebrate virtue and excellence ; and, finally, to 
 exalt the mind of the beholder to the contemplation 
 of divine qualities and attributes. 
 
 Neither our present limits nor the intention of 
 this Academy, permits us to extend our inquiries 
 beyond a rational theory to regulate the study of 
 design; but strictly within these limits we may 
 observe, that in whatever instances the institutions 
 of Greece cultivated and rendered more powerful 
 the virtuous exertions of mind and body, the arts of 
 design also were animated by their beneficial effects, 
 to a degree which surpassed the other nations of 
 antiquity, and has laid a foundation of principles 
 and practice for all succeeding ages. 
 
 We shall now endeavour to trace the characters 
 of style which marked the distinct periods of 
 Grecian art. 
 
 * The early statues strongly resemble the Egyp- 
 tian in attitude, in form, in want of outline and 
 anatomical distinction ; they have also nearly the 
 same expression of countenance. 
 
 The compositions on painted vases immediately 
 succeeding this period offer little variety of subject : 
 * Pages 16, 17. 
 
STYLE. 
 
 177 
 
 — Acts of the heroic ages, the encounter of Theseus 
 and the Minotaur, the duel of Eteocles and Poly- 
 nices,* Hercules strangling the lion, and to these 
 may be added Bacchanalian dances. 
 
 The drawing of the figure, as well as the choice 
 of subjects, indicates the state of society ; the com- 
 pressed abdomen and spare limbs prove habits of 
 activity in war and in the race ; the Bacchanalian 
 dances shew the introduction of mysteries and pa- 
 geants in an increasing polytheism, and both seem 
 perfectly consistent with the manners of the early 
 inhabitants of fortified cities. 
 
 The early arts of Greece were interrupted in 
 their progress by a succession of political commo- 
 tions and destructive wars, and we scarcely perceive 
 any improvement in them until the time of the 
 Seven Sages, of Pythagoras and Esop, who were 
 all contemporaries, about 130 years before Phidias, 
 They increased the intellectual light of their coun- 
 try by foreign travel and laborious study, they re- 
 formed the laws and morals, improved science and 
 the useful arts of astronomy, geometry, numbers, 
 harmony, and medicine, including the animal struc- 
 ture and economy. Their philosophy taught a 
 purer system of divinity and providence, and the 
 works of the poets were made known in public 
 libraries. 
 
 The benign infiuence of such advantages was 
 felt in the arts of design, and prepared them for 
 
 * Mercury leading Juno, Venus, and Minerva 
 N 
 
LECTURE VIT. 
 
 178 
 
 that beauty and perfection with which they were 
 subsequently graced in the times of Pericles, Alex- 
 ander and his successors. 
 
 The works of the age we are now speaking of 
 embraced a greater variety of subjects, in composi- 
 tion more copious ; the Bacchanalian dances were in 
 greater number, — the labours of Hercules, Nessus 
 and Dejanira, processions of the gods, and acts in 
 the Theban war. Pausanias describes the chest of 
 Cypselus, Tyrant of Corinth, covered with a great 
 number of heroic stories in relief. 
 
 Although the Grecian sculpture was considerably 
 advanced after the age of the seven wise men, some 
 of the old barbarism still remained. Much of the 
 ancient face and figure continued. In painting and 
 bas-relief the faces were profiles, whatever might 
 be the position of the figure.* The limbs were 
 distorted, because the artist was unacquainted with 
 the structure of the joint, and the lines of its per- 
 spective. The breasts, general curves of the ribs 
 on each side of the thorax, the bend of the arms, 
 and a small projection for the knee-pan, were the 
 chief, and almost the only indications of bone and 
 muscle. That infinite variety of compounded lines, 
 requisite to draw or carve the features of the face, 
 in any even the most common views, were beyond 
 the skill of these times. They, therefore, substi- 
 tuted the easier method of making the eyes, nose, 
 and mouth, of nearly simple curves, whose extremi- 
 
 * Hercules seizing the Tripod from Apollo. 
 
STYLE. 
 
 179 
 
 ties turned upwards in the same direction. Simple 
 geometrical forms were equally employed in the 
 folds of drapery — parallel curves across the body 
 or limbs — perpendicular parallels in falling drapery, 
 and zig-zags, like reversed steps, for the edges of 
 the drapery. Thus in the early efforts of design, 
 geometrical formality supplied the place of the ever- 
 varying forms in nature. 
 
 In compositions which required an increased 
 number of figures, two were seldom grouped ; and 
 when this was done, the group was frequently awk- 
 ward, and sometimes impracticable. In the course 
 of this period, however, the figure was better drawn, 
 the parts were more defined ; and on a nearer ap- 
 proach to the age of Phidias, there were some at- 
 tempts to distinguish between divinity and mortality. 
 
 The early arts above described, represented the 
 persons and habits of a race chiefiy occupied in the 
 exercises of war and hunting, agriculture and the 
 care of flocks and herds, living in the open air, and 
 defending themselves from their enemies by im- 
 pregnable fortifications on rocks ; their arts con- 
 sisting in the fabrication of instruments for agricuL 
 ture and war, the architectural construction of walls 
 and citadels, to which may be added potter’s vessels 
 for domestic use and sacred offices, on which they 
 indulged the more intellectual powers, by tracing 
 heroic traditions and religious processions. 
 
 The Doric simplicity in this style of. art, is im- 
 posing from its determined expression, and awful 
 by an uncommon and barbarous character. The 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 processions consist of uniform repetitions, their ac- 
 tions are violent, stiff and angular oppositions : but 
 these being faithfully transcribed from the grosser 
 appearances of human character, expression and 
 action, laid a sure, though rude, foundation of prin- 
 ciples, for the superstructure of excellence after- 
 wards raised on them by succeeding improvements. 
 
 From the age of Pericles, to the death of Alex- 
 ander the Great, Greece was the focus of admira- 
 tion to the world. Greece destroyed the Persian 
 power, the terror of all nations! Nor was the 
 mental progression of this people less admirable 
 than their military achievements — their science was 
 extended and enlarged by the succession of their 
 wise men — their philosophers taught more distinctly 
 and publicly the doctrine of a Deity, and the sub- 
 ordinate agencies of his providence throughout the 
 visible and invisible universe. Their poets harmo- 
 nized their minds by numbers, and enriched their 
 imaginations by presenting the range of whatever is 
 sublime and beautiful in visible nature or mental 
 abstraction. 
 
 Such was the spirit of patriotism, that the richest 
 citizens did not endeavour to exceed others in the 
 magnificence of their houses or tables, but employed 
 
 O 
 
 their wealth for the security and defence of their 
 country, and in raising noble public buildings and 
 works for the service of religion, and in honour of 
 public and private virtue. 
 
 We shall not be surprised, that in a period of 
 such combinations, two works of sculpture were 
 
STYLE. 
 
 181 
 
 produced, which are numbered among the seven 
 wonders of the world,* the Olympian Jupiter, by 
 Phidias, and the Colossus of Rhodes. These were 
 equal in size to the most enormous Egyptian sta- 
 tues, but they resembled them only in bulk and 
 prodigious height. 
 
 The Olympian Jupiter and the Colossus of the 
 Sun, appeared to he animated and intelligent — not 
 with the life and intelligence of man, but of super- 
 natural existence, whose finished beauty and won- 
 drous majesty seemed immortal. 
 
 The magnificence of this period t furnished two 
 other works likewise enumerated among the seven 
 wonders, t to which the great sculptors added the 
 most admired decorations ; but as these works were 
 architectural, we shall return to our subject, the 
 style of sculpture. 
 
 Quintilian’s “ Twelfth Book of Institutions” pre- 
 sents a compendious view of the progressive im- 
 provements of style in painting and sculpture in the 
 following passage. 
 
 “ The first of those whose works attracted notice, 
 not for the sake of antiquity only, were Polygnotus 
 and Aglaophon, called famous painters, so studious 
 of the simple colour, that they could be considered 
 only as rude beginners, and the first that made 
 essays towards the production of future art, espe- 
 cially compared with Zeuxis and Parrhasius, who 
 
 * See Plate XX. 
 
 t The great Pyramid and Sphinx of Memphis, &c X Mausolus. 
 
182 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 followed soon after. The first of these discovered 
 the rules for light and shadow, and the latter is 
 said to have been more accurate in the examination 
 of his lines. For Zeuxis enlarged the body and 
 limbs ; following Homer, who was pleased with 
 powerful forms, even in women ; but Parrhasius so 
 circumscribed all, that he was called the Legislator, 
 because the figures of the gods and heroes, as de- 
 livered by him, were followed by others as if from 
 necessity. 
 
 “ Painting flourished particularly from the time of 
 Philip to the successors of Alexander, hut in divers 
 qualities — by the care of Protogenes — by the rules 
 of Pamphilus and Melanthius — by the facility of 
 Antiphilus — by the imagination of Theon the 
 Samian, and from the genius and grace with which 
 he was endowed, Apelles was the most excellent. 
 
 “ Euphranor caused himself to be admired, being 
 among the most distinguished for the best studies, 
 and at the same time a wonderful painter and 
 sculptor. 
 
 “ There was a like difference in the statues : the 
 more hard, approaching the Tuscan style, were by 
 Calon and Egesius ; the less rigid by Calamis ; the 
 more soft than those already mentioned (that is to 
 say, more resembling flesh) were by Miron. Poly- 
 cletus excelled the others in diligence and decorum, 
 and although the palm was given to him by many, 
 yet something was to be deducted because he was 
 deficient in gravity ; for as he added a grace to the 
 human form beyond the truth, so he seemed not to 
 
STYLE. 
 
 183 
 
 have fulfilled the authority of the gods, and as he 
 was said to have avoided the more important age, 
 he presumed only to engage in lighter subjects. But 
 the qualities wanting in Polycletus were given to 
 Phidias and Alcamenes.* Phidias is said to have 
 made gods better than men, his works in ivory are 
 unrivalled, even if he had done nothing but the 
 Athenian Minerva or the Olympian Jove in Elis, 
 whose beauty seems to have added something to the 
 received religion, so much the majesty of the work 
 appeared to equal the Divinity. 
 
 “ Lysippus and Praxitiles they affirm approached 
 nearest to the truth, for Demetrius is much repre- 
 hended as being a greater lover of exact resemblance 
 than beauty.” 
 
 As this compendious criticism is in perfect agree- 
 ment with the ancient monuments of art still exist- 
 ing, there can be no doubt that it was composed by 
 Quintilian from the writings of the ancient artists, 
 whose MS. works he must have consulted equally 
 with Pliny the naturalist, and there is sufficient 
 reason also to believe, that both these authors con- 
 sulted Greek artists at that time living and employed 
 in Italy. 
 
 Sculpture rose to supreme eminence in the age 
 of Phidias, by the additional attainments of the art, 
 by the greatness of the works, and the sublimity of 
 style, — to establish our assertions a transient view 
 will be sufficient of the more celebrated productions 
 in succession. 
 
 * See Plates XIX. XX. and XXL 
 
184 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 The Athenian Minerva, and the Olympian Jupi- 
 ter by Phidias, both astonishing for greatness, hut 
 more so by the awful impression of Divinity im- 
 posed on their innumerable beholders ! In Jupiter, 
 the Plomeric divinity was personified with a 
 beauty of majesty, beyond which human intellect 
 did not extend. Minerva, the type of divine wis- 
 dom and power, both to the philosopher and 
 common votary, manifested the charms of celestial 
 youth with the expression of severe virtue. These 
 determined the acknowledged apparent forms of 
 these divinities, from which no painter or sculptor 
 afterwards presumed to deviate. The countenances, 
 figures and attributes of all the other divinities in 
 Homer, were soon after decided by Phidias and his 
 successors, whose laws became immutable, and were 
 submitted to with willingness, until the darkness of 
 polytheism was dispersed by the sacred light of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Yet with this pious reflection in our hearts, we 
 cannot avoid pausing to dwell on the exquisite 
 beauty of the ancient sculpture. The choice of the 
 most perfect forms — countenances expressive of the 
 most elevated dispositions of mind and innocence of 
 character — the limbs and bodies, examples of manly 
 grace and strength, or female elegance — youth and 
 beauty, in all their varieties and combinations in 
 perfection : indeed, we must believe, when we look 
 on those forms, so purified from grossness and im- 
 perfection, that if we could see angels and divine 
 natures, they would resemble these. 
 
STYLE. 
 
 185 
 
 The improvements of this and the following ages, 
 were not confined to determination of character, 
 selection of form, harmony of proportion, or what- 
 ever else most perfect may be conceived in the in- 
 dividual divinity or hero ; they were extended 
 through the various branches of association, and 
 the noble composition of Mycon, a sculptor and 
 painter rather anterior to Phidias, of the fight be- 
 tween the Lapithae and Centaurs in the Temple of 
 Theseus,* with compositions by Phidias on the shield 
 of Minerva, and on the throne of the Olympian 
 Jupiter, embodied the Homeric theology and hero- 
 ism, by examples which have generated or afibrded 
 principles for the subsequent efforts of painting and 
 sculpture. 
 
 This will be the proper place to notice a subject 
 which has caused much discussion, and generally 
 been decided against the ancients, although a living 
 author, M. Quatremere de Quinci, has defended the 
 ancients with much learning and ingenuity, in an 
 elaborate work. The practice here alluded to, is 
 colouring statues, and thus uniting painting and 
 sculpture. 
 
 Without regarding the arguments that have been 
 used on either side of this question, let us try the 
 merits ourselves with unprejudiced minds, and 
 decide from the conviction of natural evidence 
 only. 
 
 We certainly know that the arts of painting and 
 
 * British Museum. 
 
186 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 sculpture are different in their essential properties. 
 Painting exists by colours only, and form is the 
 peculiarity of sculpture ; but there is a principle 
 common to both, in which both are united, and 
 without which neither can exist — and this is draw- 
 ing ; and in the union of light, shadow, and colour, 
 sculpture may be seen more advantageously by the 
 chill light of a winter’s day, or the warmer tints of 
 a midsummer sun, according to the solemnity or 
 cheerfulness of the subject. These positions will be 
 generally agreed to, but the question before us is, 
 “ How far was Phidias successful in adding colours 
 to the sculpture of the Athenian Minerva and the 
 Olympian Jove ?” which examples were followed by 
 succeeding artists. 
 
 We have all been struck by the resemblance of 
 figures in coloured wax-work to persons in fits, and 
 therefore such a representation is particularly proper 
 for the similitude of persons in fits, or the deceased ; 
 hut the Olympian Jupiter and Athenian Minerva 
 were intended to represent those who were superior 
 to death and disease. They were believed immor- 
 tal, and therefore the stillness of these statues having 
 the colouring of life during the time the spectator 
 viewed them, would appear divinity in awful ab- 
 straction or repose. Their stupendous size, alone, 
 was supernatural ; and the colours of life, in perfect 
 stillness, increased the sublimity of the statue, and 
 the terror of the pious beholder. The effect of the 
 materials which composed these statues has also 
 been questioned. The statues themselves (according 
 
STYLE. 
 
 187 
 
 to the information of Aristotle, in his book concern- 
 ing the world) were made of stone, covered with 
 plates of ivory, so fitted together that, at the dis- 
 tance requisite for seeing them, they appeared one 
 mass of ivory, which has much the tint of delicate 
 fiesh. The ornaments and garments were enriched 
 with gold, coloured metals, and precious stones. 
 
 Gold ornaments on ivory are equally splendid and 
 harmonious, and in such colossal forms must have 
 added a dazzling glory, like electric fluid running 
 over the surface, the figure, character, and splendor, 
 must have had the appearance of an immortal vision 
 in the eyes of the votary. 
 
 But let us attend to the judgment passed on these 
 works by the ancients : we have already quoted 
 Quintilian, who says, “ they appear to have added 
 something to religion, the work was so worthy of the 
 divinity.” Plato says, “ the eyes of Minerva were 
 of precious stones,’’ and immediately adds, “ Phidias 
 was skilful in beauty.” Aristotle calls him “ the 
 wise sculptor.” An opinion prevailed that Jupiter 
 had revealed himself to Phidias, and the statue was 
 said to have been touched with lightning in appro- 
 bation of the work. After these testimonies, there 
 seems no doubt remaining of the effect produced by 
 these coloured statues; but the very reasons which 
 prove that colours in sculpture may have the efiect 
 of supernatural vision, fits, or death, prove at the 
 same time that such practice is utterly improper for 
 general representation of the human figure : be- 
 cause, as the tints of carnation in nature are conse- 
 
188 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 quences of circulation, wherever the colour of flesh 
 is seen without motion, it resembles only death, or 
 suspension of the vital powers. 
 
 Let not this application of colours, however, in 
 the instances of the Jupiter and Minerva, be con- 
 sidered as a mere arbitrary decision of choice or 
 taste in the sculptor, to render his work agreeable 
 in the eyes of the beholder. It was produced by a 
 much higher motive. It was the desire of rendering 
 these stupendous forms living and intelligent, to the 
 astonished gaze of the votary, and to confound the 
 sceptical by a flash of conviction, that something of 
 divinity resided in the statues themselves. 
 
 The practice of painting sculpture seems to have 
 been common to most countries, particularly in the 
 early and barbarous states of society. But whether 
 we look on the idols of the South Seas, the Etruscan 
 painted sculpture and terra cotta monuments, or the 
 recumbent coloured statues on tombs of the middle 
 ages, we shall generally find the practice has been 
 employed to enforce superstition, or preserve an 
 exact similitude of the deceased. 
 
 These, however, are in themselves perverted 
 purposes. The real ends of painting, sculpture, 
 and all other arts, are to elevate the mind to the 
 contemplation of truth, to give the judgment a 
 rational determination, and to represent such of our 
 fellow men as have been benefactors to society, not 
 in the deplorable and fallen state of a lifeless and 
 mouldering corpse, hut in the full vigour of their 
 faculties when living, or in something correspondent 
 
STYLE. 
 
 189 
 
 to the state of the good received a!mong the just 
 made perfect. 
 
 As the consideration of painted sculpture cannot 
 really be entitled to any place in the progress of 
 style, we will return to our legitimate subject. 
 
 The British Museum contains such noble relics 
 of the Temple of Minerva, as enables us to under- 
 stand the sublime conception of composition which 
 filled the pediment, the heroic contest of the La- 
 pithse and Centaurs in the Metops, and the animated 
 men and horses in the Panathenaic procession of 
 the frieze. 
 
 It is the peculiar character and praise of Phidias’s 
 style, that he represented gods better than men. 
 As this sculptor determined the visible idea of 
 Jupiter, his successors employed a hundred years 
 on the forms of the inferior divinities. This 
 must, therefore, he denominated the sublime era 
 of sculpture. 
 
 Numerous were the painters and sculptors of re- 
 nown, and numerous were their celebrated works 
 between the time of Pericles and Phidias, and the 
 death of Alexander the Great. During this time, 
 the individual characters of the different divinities, 
 were not only represented in the supposed period of 
 adult perfection, but also in infancy and youth, with 
 all the varieties of countenance and form becoming 
 their various offices and ministries. 
 
 The different Bacchuses from early infancy, when 
 he was delivered by Mercury to the nymphs, when 
 a beautiful youth of almost feminine delicacy, sup- 
 
190 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 ported by a muse, and leader of their chorus. He 
 is also represented with a more masculine person, 
 as a conqueror, or the giver of poetical inspiration, 
 until he becomes the venerable and bearded philoso- 
 pher in the sacred mysteries, teaching the immor- 
 tality of the soul, transmigration, with the ascent 
 and descent to Hades, or the lower world. The 
 same establishment of character under all circum- 
 stances prevailed in Apollo, Mercury, and the other 
 deities, male and female. 
 
 During this era the Venus of Praxi tiles * ap- 
 peared, the most admired female statue of all anti- 
 quity, whose beauty is as perfect as it is elevated, 
 and as innocent as perfect ; from which the Medi- 
 cean Venus seems hut a deteriorated variety. 
 
 Whoever desires a more detailed account of the 
 works of these ages, will be gratified by consulting 
 Pliny, Pausanias, and the published galleries and 
 museums of ancient sculpture and painting. 
 
 In the times we speak of, every possible perfec- 
 tion was added to the sister arts that rival and 
 accumulated talent could reach. In the characters 
 of countenance, every gradation from simple beauty 
 to sublime dignity — the same gradation in form, 
 from the most slender and elegant, to the most 
 powerful and massy — the attitudes the most choice, 
 the movements the most easy, and the flesh seem- 
 ingly yielding to the touch. The drapery in form 
 and folds shewed or indicated the body and limbs 
 
 See Plate XXII. 
 
STYLE. 
 
 191 
 
 most advantageously, by playing round the outline 
 in harmony or contrast, or giving additional effect 
 by the projection of strong shades. 
 
 The earlier productions of this era were distin- 
 guished hy a Doric severity of style, which raised 
 the subject above the level of general nature, and 
 beyond its bounds. The geometrical simplicity of 
 form was ideal ; the character was decided, and the 
 sentiment was single ; of this class is the group of 
 Niobe and her youngest daughter. A less severity 
 of style is in the Apollo Belvidere. The most easy 
 sway of motion, and the most delicate approaches to 
 nature are observable in the statues of Venus, the 
 Cupid, Faun, and Bacchus, of Praxitiles. 
 
 Busts and statues (portraits of individual persons) 
 were not generally permitted, until near the time of 
 the death of Socrates ; and as this practice, once 
 introduced, became popular and extensive under the 
 successors of Alexander the Great, it was an addi- 
 tional stimulus to the study of the human figure in 
 detail, and thus as the art departed from ideal sub- 
 limity, it partook in the peculiarities of nature. It 
 descended to the intelligible, and became a stronger 
 resemblance of the human race. 
 
 When Greece became provincial to the Romans, 
 they indeed suffered a political subjection to their 
 conquerors : but in return, the Romans were mental 
 colonists to the Greeks, and received from them 
 philosophy, science, literature and arts. Grecian 
 genius continued its admirable productions under 
 the Roman emperors. The fine groups of Menelaus 
 
192 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 and Patroclus, Hsemon and Antigone, Paetus and 
 Arria, Orestes and Electra, the 1 oro Earnese, or 
 Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to the bull’s 
 horns, and the Laocoon, were between the later 
 years of the Roman republic, and the time of the 
 last Caesars. To these may be added the beautiful 
 examples of composition in basso-relievo, from 
 Homeric mythology and ancient tragedy, among 
 the latest productions of genuine Grecian sculp- 
 ture. We shall not dwell on the pediments, arches, 
 imperial statues, consular portraits, gems, and 
 coins executed by the ingenious Greek, to swell 
 the impious pride, and gratify the ignorant vanity 
 of his rapacious master in the latter ages of the 
 empire. 
 
 Then, sublimity and beauty, the essence of the 
 ancient Grecian works, had, like justice and 
 modesty, quitted the earth, and returned to the 
 family of the immortals in heaven, to avoid the 
 horrors of an iron age. 
 
 The Roman lust of dominion, avarice, and cruelty, 
 had long provoked the remoter objects of their 
 tyranny, the Goths, Vandals, Pannonians, Dacians, 
 and Scythians, who at last poured the torrent of 
 destruction back on the oppressors, levelling cities 
 and their hosts in one fearful ruin, leaving only 
 desolation and barbarism behind them. The schools 
 of philosophy and literature in Athens ceased ; those 
 of Alexandria were destroyed and abandoned. The 
 age of lead succeeded. 
 
 Painting and sculpture, under the Goths and 
 
STYLE. 
 
 19^ 
 
 Lombards, instead of exalting the intellect by the 
 contemplation of beauty, heroic and divine, bur- 
 lesqued the human figure by such clumsy and ab- 
 surd forms, as could scarcely be supposed to be in- 
 tended for man. Such was the state of art from the 
 seventh to the eleventh century in Europe. The 
 arts, however, were not to be wholly obliterated ; 
 for there is that inherent connection between the 
 mind of man and progressive knowledge, that to 
 deprive him entirely of the means of becoming 
 wiser, and exercising his ingenuity, would be to 
 take from him his rationality, and brutalize him at 
 once! Besides, information and true science are 
 given us as the means of rising from the ruins of 
 fallen nature to higher intelligence and greater 
 happiness : the preservation of arts and letters was 
 therefore provided for in a wonderful manner, as 
 appendages to religion, and as handmaids in the 
 dispensation of the Gospel. When Constantine the 
 Great transferred the seat of empire from Rome to 
 Constantinople, the arts had much declined in the 
 former city, although they still preserved a great 
 portion of their vigour in Greece. The emperor 
 employed the arts of painting and sculpture in an 
 abundance of magnificent Christian decorations for 
 his new capital, and the churches he built in it 
 This was the foundation for a stock of Christian 
 art, which supplied the different countries of Europe 
 after the barbarous inundations from the north had 
 subsided, and assisted in raising the fallen arts of 
 Italy, until the mighty genius of Michael Angelo 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 shone forth in the unrivalled Sistine Chapel, whose 
 interests and terrors, sublimity, beauty, and power 
 of grouping, combined in the comprehension of 
 sacred subjects, excels all we know, as a whole, in 
 ancient or modern art. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 DRAPERY. 
 
 After considering the powers, character, and 
 sentiment of the human figure, as expressed in its 
 forms, we may next proceed to its clothing, more 
 especially with a view to those plaits and folds whose 
 lines contrast or vary the lines of the body they 
 cover — twine round the limbs — hang in downward 
 curves from one projecting point to another — in- 
 crease boldness of effect by additional projection — 
 or vary the undulations of the zig-zag edges, which 
 is understood by the term Drapery in the art of 
 design. 
 
 Drapery, as a medium through which the human 
 figure is intelligible, may be compared with speech, 
 by which ideas and thought are perceived. Dignity 
 is expressed by simplicity, grandeur, and quantity ; 
 action by exertion and succession ; grace by those 
 gentle and harmonious undulations peculiar to all 
 the efforts of this quality, and which are inspired 
 by the most grateful and soothing dispositions of 
 the soul. This consistency of the original image 
 with its outward appearance, is proper and decorous, 
 and cannot be violated without inflicting the shock 
 of absurdity and folly ; for as the noblest thought 
 
 o 2 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 196 
 
 would be degraded by low and unbecoming speech, 
 so would the person of a legislator or a prophet by 
 the dress of a buffoon or a bacchanal ! 
 
 This introduction of our subject is intended to 
 inform the younger student that drapery will form 
 an important branch in his future study ; it will add 
 to the character of his figures, and give additional 
 interest to sentiment and situation : it will not bear 
 neglect, or slight, like articles of furniture or back- 
 ground, which, as they are utterly separated from 
 the pathos of sublime composition, can scarcely 
 deserve any share of his attention. 
 
 We will begin with an enquiry into the principles 
 upon which the folds of drapery are formed ; we will 
 consider the difference of the finer and the heavier 
 draperies — offer some critical observations on the 
 clothing of different countries, as useful or advan-, 
 tageous to the human form— and produce examples 
 to illustrate the discourse. 
 
 Drapery, like all other natural bodies, is subject 
 to the laws of gravity and motion, by which it is 
 affected according to its lightness or weight, strength 
 or weakness, the repose or action of the wearer, and 
 the force of wind : it is affected by these causes 
 simply or complexly, as it may be acted on by their 
 separate or united force. 
 
 The most simple forms of drapery are produced 
 by the weight of the cloth itself, hanging from the 
 most projecting points of the figure, in a perpen- 
 dicular fold : the next originates from two projecting 
 points of the figure and forms a pointed arch 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 197 
 
 reversed.* A succession of such folds, broken into 
 various lengths, and opposed in their diagonal forms, 
 are among the boldest and most beautiful effects of 
 [ drapery. These folds again become more compli- 
 ^ cated by twisting, and by which they will be partly 
 suspended from two points, and partly supported by 
 the body or limbs over which they are drawn. 
 The varieties produced in the folds, from suspension, 
 are multiplied and altered according to the portion 
 of the figure they pass over, and according to the 
 fineness and thickness of the cloth. 
 
 A full cloak, fastened round the neck, tied in 
 front, and falling without interruption from the 
 arms, will present nearly plain surfaces in every 
 view — a little flattened sometimes on the bend of the 
 back, and distinguished in front by the meeting of 
 the straight edges.t 
 
 The same garment, still fuller in its quality, under 
 the same circumstances, falls into a number of per- 
 pendicular folds. The same cloak,f raised by one 
 arm, will he divided by diagonal folds, inverted in 
 their arches, opposed in direction, and connected by 
 joints. The folds of this simplest of garments will 
 be further varied and complicated, by throwing one 
 side of the cloak over the opposite arm, by various 
 positions of the hands, and by every other circum- 
 stance of interruption and rest, opposed to the natu- 
 ral weight of the folds. 
 
 * Plate XLII. t Phocion — Muse Guestiniane. 
 
 f St. Philip. Plate XLI. 
 
198 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 We will now consider the mechanical structure of 
 the drapery hy the simple lines of the folds as their 
 principles. 
 
 1st. The perpendicular fold,* hanging from one 
 point. 
 
 2d. The succession of diagonal folds, falling from 
 each other, hanging from two points, and which may 
 he varied to infinity ; for example, falling from the 
 two points of the shoulders in the hollow of the 
 hack — from the two shoulders over the projection 
 of the breast and abdomen — falling from one shoulder 
 — and from the lower arm, making the principal 
 folds below the elbow — and each of these again 
 varied by every change of position and motion. 
 
 3d. The cascade of diagonal forms produced 
 by the edges when diagonally folded towards the 
 extremity. 
 
 These three classes, although exemplified in the 
 cloak, contain the principles of all folds, however 
 produced, in all garments and draperies — ^modified 
 hy twisting — enlarging the direction to more cir- 
 cular forms, by the force of wind — or the succession 
 of waving projections in the lower extremities of a 
 garment, agitated by the motion of the feet in 
 running. 
 
 We will now pursue the subject in an inquiry 
 concerning the modification of folds, in such gar- 
 ments as are closed, or fitted to the form of the 
 body. 
 
 * See Plates XLII. and XLIII. 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 199 
 
 Those garments called tunics by the Romans, 
 nearly resemble the country or waggoner’s frocks 
 in their form. Some are longer, reaching to the 
 ankles — some fuller, having an abundance of folds 
 — others scanty, discovering a more uninterrupted 
 outline of the figure, with more breadth of light and 
 shade, and fewer intersections of their own folds. 
 These have sometimes larger, sometimes smaller 
 sleeves — sometimes reaching the elbow,* sometimes 
 the wrist — and sometimes they are without sleeves. 
 When the tunic is made of thin woollen or calico, 
 its folds take their rise from the breast, and fall 
 directly to the feet, and there will he diverted into 
 different playful forms, as it rests on them, or is 
 altered by their motion. 
 
 If this garment is confined round the smaller 
 part of the figure by a girdle, the folds will he of 
 the inverted-arch kind, arising from the shoulders, 
 and, below the girdle, they will fall in perpendicular 
 masses of folds over the lower limbs, when the 
 figure is not in action, or preparing for action. 
 
 The sleeves, if full, will begin with folds falling 
 from the shoulders before and behind, but these 
 folds will be widened and changed into cross folds 
 at the bend of the arm, and continue crossing the 
 lower arm, more or less diagonally, to its termina- 
 tion at the wrist. 
 
 * Small figures on Aylmer de Valence’s Tomb in Westminster 
 Abbey. Casts from them are in the Sepulchral Chamber of Sir 
 John Soane’s Museum. 
 
€00 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 The folds become more or less diagonally spiral 
 from the body if the arm is turned outward, and 
 toward the body if the arm is turned inward. The 
 folds on the back of the lower arm owe the upper 
 portion of their direction to union with, or separa- 
 tion from, a projecting knobbed fold at the elbow. 
 The same principles of folding on the arms will 
 govern all coverings, from the fullest and most 
 redundant, to the straitest and most exactly fitted 
 to the limb — and, therefore, will preclude the 
 necessity of saying more on this part of the subject. 
 
 Concerning the finer and more transparent dra- 
 peries used by the ancients, their texture, and con- 
 sequently their folds, strongly resembled our calico 
 muslin, and are peculiar to the more elegant and 
 delicate female characters of Grecian sculpture* — 
 to the nymphs, terrestrial, marine, and bacchanalian 
 — victories, seasons or hours, and celestial female 
 messengers.'}' 
 
 The more transparent of these draperies leave 
 the forms and outline of the person as perfectly 
 intelligible as if no covering were interposed between 
 the eye and the object, and the existence of the veil 
 is only understood by groups of small folds col- 
 lected in the hollows between the body and limbs, 
 or playing in curves and undulations on the bolder 
 parts, adding the magic of diversity to the charm 
 of beauty. 
 
 We will next consider the effect of motion upon 
 
 * Herculaneum Tufa. Plate XLIII. 
 
 * See Plates XLIV, XLV. XLVI. and XLVll. 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 201 
 
 drapery : such , motion is here intended as the gar- 
 ment partakes in, or is propelled from the wearer’s 
 movement only. 
 
 As soon as a limb is moved from a perpendicular 
 towards a horizontal direction, the drapery hanging 
 on it changes the forms of its folds. The perpen- 
 dicular folds bend by their weight into a curve, 
 from the impulse of motion, or change from perpen' 
 dicular to the inverted arch, the strongest portion of 
 the fold depending from the stronger of the two 
 supporters, whether it be that part of the person 
 which is in rest, or that in motion. This is more 
 particularly seen in the cloak or loose outer gar- 
 ment, but the principle is evident in all drapery 
 worn by the human figure: as, for example, the 
 lower portion of a tunic falls in perpendicular folds 
 over the legs in a state of rest, hut the instant one 
 leg is advanced beyond the other in walking, the 
 perpendicular folds falling from the greatest pro- 
 jection in front of the figure, become curved, 
 clinging in the lower extremities to the unmoved leg, 
 until that limb is set forward, when the same change 
 is produced on the other side; and this efiect is still 
 more evident in running violently, when the curved 
 folds, at last, become horizontal, at right angles with 
 the limbs. 
 
 Motion of the figure affects the whole mass of 
 drapery about the body ; the folds are most inter- 
 rupted and broken on the side moved in shortest 
 space, as the curves are most lengthened on the 
 side moved in a greater extent, and they are twisted 
 
202 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 most diagonally where there is the greatest power 
 of motion. 
 
 Upon the legs, the folds change from downright 
 to long curves, in walking or running, alternately^ 
 as one leg or the other is set forward.* The 
 greater quantity of folds naturally falls in the hollow 
 spaces, and in quick motion the heavier portion of 
 folds are left behind the figure by their own weight, 
 in a diagonal curve, from the point on which they 
 are supported. 
 
 We will now consider a cause of motion in dra- 
 pery entirely independent of the figure by which it 
 is worn : this is wind, whose effects are more seen 
 in those parts of the garment extended beyond the 
 outline of the figure ; and to obtain the more accu- 
 rate idea of the manner in which it acts on drapery, 
 we should observe its efiects on flexible and fluent 
 bodies in general. 
 
 The wind blowing on water, by pressure on a 
 small portion of the fluid nearest, forces it into a 
 wave, from resistance of a body of water, not 
 affected by the wind, on the other side of it : or 
 thus, the wind blowing obliquely on water, is 
 resisted by the mass beneath, until the surface is 
 raised into a wave, which, bending over the wave 
 before it falls by the laws of gravitation into the 
 surface again.f There is a propensity to the same 
 forms and successions in clouds of the sky, and 
 dust of the ground driven before the wind ; and 
 from the same causes. 
 
 * Plate XLIV. 
 
 t Plate XLIl. 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 203 
 
 The pendant, or streamer, hanging from the top 
 of a mast, is driven by the wind in the same direc- 
 tion,* and may be represented by the same section 
 as a succession of waves on the water. 
 
 Progressive movement of the figure changes the 
 perpendicular of falling folds into undulations. 
 This is more evident as the motion is quicker : but 
 the wind undulates all draperies ; when moderate, 
 the undulation is diagonal, and when violent, it is 
 horizontal.'!' 
 
 Effect of violent wind on cloaks.t 
 
 In the Gem of Callirhoe§ the drapery is shaken 
 and agitated to the utmost with the agonizing 
 whirl of the wearer. 
 
 A statue of Iris]! descending from Ida to Olym- 
 pus; the flow of drapery filled like a sail, while 
 the breeze sports in the successive waving of its 
 edges. 
 
 Examples might be easily produced far exceeding 
 our present purpose, which is to lay down the prin- 
 ciples of study, not to circumvent the composer, or 
 tempt the unwary, by daring and far-sought exam- 
 ples, into a devious attachment to the preposterous 
 and incredible. Simplicity, beauty, dignity, affec- 
 tion, and passion, employ the general contempla- 
 tions and efforts of the sister arts with most success. 
 
 * Plate XLII. 
 
 t Example. Undulating downward folds, horizontal above in 
 profile. Sketch of Bacchanal, Plate XLIV, undulations above the 
 feet. 
 
 t Plate XLIV. ^ Plate XLV. |f Plate XLVI. 
 
204 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 We must remember, as in the Bacchic processions 
 of antiquity, “ Many carry the thyrsus, but few are 
 inspired by the gods.” 
 
 If any one, however, determines to go beyond 
 his competitors in the extraordinary, the wonderful, 
 or the sublime, let him first be assured he possesses 
 powers equal to the undertaking, or the certain 
 consequences will he vapour and extravagance only. 
 
 These Lectures have continually referred to exam- 
 ples of Grecian painting and sculpture for illustra- 
 tion, as to the most perfect productions of imitative 
 art, and have never engaged in classical inquiry, or 
 criticism, further than was absolutely requisite to 
 understand our subject as painters and sculptors : 
 the reason for which is plain — our studies and our 
 employments are directed to the form and sentiment 
 of the human figure j for this reason, therefore, we 
 shall at present leave all inquiry concerning the 
 names and forms of particular ancient garments to 
 Montfaucon, Winckelman, the Notes on the Hercu- 
 laneum Museum, and other professed writers of 
 antiquity ; whilst we only notice such garments as 
 exhibit the human figure most advantageously — 
 give dignity to its character — enrich its particular 
 forms by flowing lines — or harmonize in its senti- 
 ment and actions. 
 
 Of all garments, the cloak is the simplest, being 
 only a large square cloth laid on the person, or 
 thrown round the figure, according to the wearer’s 
 convenience. It belongs to the most grave and 
 dignified characters, philosophers, apostles, and 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 205 
 
 prophets. Its simple form is well suited to such as 
 give small attention to worldly objects, and whose 
 thoughts are wholly engrossed by the cultivation 
 of virtue and truth ! The boldness of its folds adds 
 an imposing grandeur to the venerable wearer ; 
 they agree with the profound research of the philo- 
 sopher, or the irresistible mission of the evangelist 
 or prophet. Of this class is the Greek pallium, 
 worn by philosophers : the women also had a gar- 
 ment of this kind, made of a lighter cloth. 
 
 The military cloak of the Greeks and Romans 
 was fastened with a button on the right shoulder ; 
 it reached little below the knees, and was not so 
 full as the pallium. 
 
 The tunic of the Romans was called chiton by 
 the Greeks : its form (as before observed) was like 
 a waggoner’s frock, and reached the ankles ; but 
 when the wearer prepared for labour, or a journey, 
 he tied on his girdle, drew the upper part of his 
 tunic over it, shortening it to the knee, and thus 
 allowed free motion to the legs. 
 
 The tunic of the female reached the feet,* 
 whether girded or not, the material of which it 
 was made being more delicate than that worn by 
 men. It produced a display of folds diagonally 
 arched downward below the throat, and a variety 
 of flowing forms, of varied directions above the 
 zone, according to the quantity of material, the 
 bend of the body or the manner of adjusting the 
 
 See Plate XLIII. 
 
206 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 vestment. A prodigious and beautiful variety in 
 this part of the drapery may be seen on the painted 
 vases. 
 
 Sometimes we find small garments laid over the 
 tunic, not reaching to the zone, in female figures, 
 which add folds of a difierent direction to those in 
 the tunic. Sometimes the tunic is doubled over at 
 the top, and open at the side.* This, however, 
 is not simply a tunic ; it was called diplos by the 
 Greeks, or a doubled tunic. 
 
 The peplos, or veil,t was an outward female 
 garment, like the cloak or pallium, but of a finer 
 texture, worn by Homer’s female divinities and 
 heroines, and frequently seen on the statues. It is 
 this garment, of a transparent material, in which 
 the nymphs are clothed, as before observed. 
 
 This brief enumeration contains all those garments 
 which afford the most beautiful specimens in ancient 
 art. We will conclude with such general observa- 
 tions on clothing as seem most conducive to the 
 painter’s and sculptor’s views and researches. 
 
 Clothing, like other conveniences and requisites, 
 must be accommodated to the local situation and 
 habits of man. In hot climates little clothinsf is 
 required, and in cold countries the warmest skins 
 and furs of animals are scarcely sufficient to enliven 
 the body with a genial warmth. 
 
 In the more barbarous states of society, plumes, 
 necklaces, and bracelets of bone and teeth, are 
 
 * See Plates XLV. XLVI. 
 
 t Plate XLVII. 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 207 
 
 displayed by chiefs and leaders in the pride of dis- 
 tinction. Their war dresses and cloaks are formed 
 of such stubborn materials, as serve the double 
 purpose of covering and defensive armour. 
 
 As regular habits of industry succeed, the short 
 tunic is adopted as a dress convenient for the labours 
 of agriculture and manufacture. The cloak or 
 pallium, in this state of society, becomes a habit 
 of dignity to the priest* or magistrate, which will 
 be found generally prevalent, except in those warm 
 countries like India and Egypt, where a narrow 
 shawl or handkerchief supplies its place ; and in 
 the colder regions, pantaloons were worn on the 
 lower limbs, sometimes made of skins. This system 
 of clothing seems to have been nearly universal 
 before the Roman empire, and continued with little 
 alteration for twelve or thirteen centuries afterwards, 
 if we except the vagaries of fashion in Rome, Con- 
 stantinople, and a few other metropolitan cities. In 
 Rome, fashion was indeed active among the ladies 
 very early ; for a short passage in one of the comedies 
 of Plautus “ complains that a fashion does not last 
 a year,” and enumerates about twenty- three articles 
 of female attire, all of which might perhaps be 
 comprehended under the heads of cloaks, hand- 
 kerchiefs, and gowns : but their names and etymo- 
 logies have puzzled the commentators beyond the 
 possibility of explanation. But not withstanding an 
 occasional instance of this kind occurs in courts 
 
 * See Plate XL. 
 
208 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 and vortexes of dissipation in the eighth century, 
 the western provinces universally wore the Roman 
 military cloak, and the eastern provinces generally 
 the pallium and tunic.* 
 
 Charlemagne and his successors, down to St. 
 Louis, are represented in the same dress in all the 
 mosaics, monumental statues, and illuminations of 
 those times. 
 
 The first deluge of various fashions came into 
 Europe with the Crusaders, the princes of the 
 West seem to have vied with each other in motley 
 importations from Constantinople, Antioch, and 
 Damascus. 
 
 In France and England before this time, the 
 only covering for the head worn by men, was a cap 
 like that of Paris, and the Italian sailors ; but after 
 the Crusades, turbans, hats, and hoods of different 
 patterns became general. 
 
 The cloak and tunic were cut into different forms, 
 and ornamented with different baubles of tassels, 
 scallops and toys, until no trace remained of the 
 original garments. To sum up the childish passion 
 for novel absurdity, the common playing cards re- 
 present the court dresses of France and England, 
 between the reigns of our Edward IV., Henry VIII. 
 and Elizabeth. The kings, queens, and knaves, 
 have actually the state dresses of sovereigns and 
 courtiers at that time. 
 
 Perhaps this part of our subject may now be 
 
 * See Plate IV. 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 209 
 
 supposed to have attained its climax, and that every 
 purpose of extravagance and absurdity was answered, 
 when the courtier’s taste for elegance was exempli- 
 fied by a waistcoat half black and half yellow, a 
 red stocking on one leg, and a green one on the 
 other ; — when a great Prince’s hall of audience 
 was filled with the figures of mountebanks, harle- 
 quins, and playhouse imps ! but the tale is not yet 
 told, nor is the measure full. To what was monstrous 
 and disgusting to look on, was added, studied incon- 
 venience. Ruffs so large the head could scarcely 
 turn in them, the middle of the figure rendered so 
 bulky as to be contained by no arm chair, and the 
 waistcoats so stiff, pointed, and narrow, that they 
 must have impeded digestion, and restrained the 
 functions of life. 
 
 Shall we not be induced to inquire, to what 
 causes could be attributed such an accumulation 
 of absurdities ? we may perhaps account for them 
 in the spirit of the times, — the wars, and their 
 military distinctions — the alternate dissipations, 
 and particularly masquerades — and above all, those 
 military and party dissensions — those extensive and 
 violent theological and political contests which 
 ferment the general mass beyond the controul of 
 reason, humanity and common sense. 
 
 These instances of useless variety and absurdity 
 in dress, will naturally lead to the reflection that 
 there is a reasonable propriety in dress, as in all 
 other concerns, and that this propriety will be 
 governed by climate and character ; light draperies 
 
 p 
 
^210 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 being agreeable in summer, warmer and thicker in 
 winter ; graceful and gay attire becomes the youthful, 
 more grave is proper for the aged. The magistrate 
 bears such distinctions as denote his rank and 
 dignity in society. But in these and all other cases, 
 the drapery will he more becoming and expressive, 
 as it harmonizes with the proportions, sympathizes 
 with the character, and is consistent with the requi- 
 sites of the wearer. Any offences against these 
 rules will naturally produce dissatisfaction and 
 contempt; for mere dress cannot make the old 
 young, the ugly handsome, or the mean dignified. 
 
 The only difference must he confined to a 
 transient glance, for real qualities are inherent 
 in the man, and depend not upon outward acci- 
 dents. 
 
 We may conceive the effect of dress and appear- 
 ance, on the judicious spectator’s mind, from a 
 comparison of the following characters. 
 
 The lower emperors of the East retained their 
 inordinate love of magnificence after their power 
 was broken, and their state dress was apparently 
 covered with jewels, even when their poverty obliged 
 them to eke out the splendid mass with false pearls 
 and paste ; these were attached to a scanty un- 
 graceful mantle, which, being closed round the 
 figure, presented the insipid resemblance of an 
 Egyptian mummy encrusted with gems. How dif- 
 ferent from the Prophets of Michael Angelo, the 
 Apostles of Raphael and Albert Durer,* or those 
 
 See Plates VII. VIII. 
 
DRAPERY. 
 
 211 
 
 of Henry the Seventh’s Chapel.* Their countenances 
 are determined by their divine commission, and the 
 patriarchal simplicity and grandeur of their persons 
 bear testimony to their sacred character. 
 
 Michael Angelo’s Patriarch sleeps ! — but when 
 he wakes, we are assured he will declare a pro- 
 phecy or holy vision, received from his attendant 
 angel. 
 
 * Plate X LI. 
 
 2 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 ANCIENT ART. 
 
 When we look at any portion of the natural 
 landscape, if the objects are few, a rock, a plain, 
 or a tower, they are understood at once, and without 
 effort : but if they are numerous and complicated, 
 they must be considered attentively, to distinguish 
 woods from mountains, the form and extent of 
 buildings or cities, the winding of rivers, and the 
 expanse of the sea or sky, in order that we may 
 understand the several parts of the view ; and it 
 is thus we must conduct our inquiries in art and 
 science, beginning by a search for their natural 
 principles, we must make ourselves acquainted 
 with their relations to, and dependence upon, 
 other branches of knowledge, and we should assure 
 ourselves of their purposes and ends. To render 
 our present inquiries the more effectual, and to 
 obtain all the advantages experience can afford, 
 we must avail ourselves of the studies and prac- 
 tice of the most celebrated artists, in such a 
 compendious view of ancient and modern sculpture 
 as may he expected in the compass of these 
 Lectures, 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 213 
 
 Time would be lost for the purposes of our insti- 
 tution, were we to seek out an accurate history of 
 the early steps by which the march of art was 
 directed in its first and most barbarous efforts. 
 Those who desire information on this subject, will 
 be abundantly supplied by “ Pliny’s Natural His- 
 tory,” “Pausanias’s Tour of Greece,” and “ Winc- 
 kelman’s History of Art.” But the great object 
 of every student must be, to copy nature most per- 
 fectly, and for this purpose to possess himself of un- 
 erring rules for the government of his practice. The 
 most likely way to obtain these advantages, will not 
 be to consider sculpture by attention to dates and 
 trifling incidents, but rather to divide its history 
 into ages or periods, each characterized by styles of 
 art expressive of its advancement. 
 
 The arts of design have their origin in the dis- 
 position to imitate, which guides us in our earliest 
 attainments, and assists us in the most perfect of our 
 finished works. The attempt to imitate the human 
 figure is found in all countries, even the most bar- 
 barous, and according to the barbarity of the people 
 such is the grossness, the disproportion, and the 
 feebleness of the imitation. Such is the sculpture 
 of the ancient Germans, the Tartars, Mexicans, and 
 the people of the South Seas. 
 
 The Egyptian sculpture was more perfect than 
 that of any other ancient nation before the Greeks, 
 because they were assisted in execution by princi- 
 ples of science * not possessed by any other people 
 
 * Denon’s Egypt. 
 
214 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 until a much later period ; they had made some pro- 
 gress in geometry, proportions, and in the structure 
 of the human figure. 
 
 Some very early remains of Grecian sculpture * 
 resemble the Egyptian so strongly, that we cannot 
 resist the testimony of those writers which inform 
 us they received sculpture from that people. 
 
 This is at least certain, that the sculpture of 
 Greece was equally rude with that of their barbarous 
 neighbours, until they had excelled them in the 
 advancement of knowledge, the improvement of 
 science, and the establishment of political institu- 
 tions. 
 
 We may distinguish the ancient art of Greece 
 as three ages : — the heroic age, the philosophic age,, 
 and the age of maturity or perfection. 
 
 'By the heroic age, we understand the state of 
 society described in the poems of Homer and He- 
 siod, in which the land was cultivated, and cattle 
 fed to supply the wants of life ; but whose most 
 important business was predatory war. To this 
 age we may refer the earliest productions of Grecian 
 art — of this age are two lions * over the gate of 
 Mycene — of this age, from a similarity of style, we 
 may also believe many small bronze and stone sta- 
 tues to have been the production. t Perhaps, though 
 rude and ill-formed, they were domestic divinities : 
 early in the progress of idolatry, so far as we may 
 venture an opinion upon this class of art, the en- 
 
 !See Plate XIV. 
 
 t See Plate XVI. 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 215 
 
 deavour was limited to the single figure, naked, and 
 in few and simple attitudes. It is nevertheless likely, 
 before this age passed away, the artists became more 
 bold, and adorned their earthen vases with subjects 
 of three or four figures, such as frequently occurred 
 in their habits of life, a conversation, a battle, or a 
 procession ; the designs of these compositions appear 
 like profiles of their statues, and unconnected with 
 each other ; scarcely more than the labour of their 
 hands, in which the superintendence of the mind 
 was little concerned, the first rude attempts at imi- 
 tation. 
 
 The second “ Age of Art,” which we shall deno- 
 minate the philosophic, commenced when the seven 
 sages or wise men flourished in Greece, about 7OO 
 years before the Christian era ; when the mental 
 faculties were expanded, and when, by contempla- 
 tion and science, man was elevated from savage life 
 to the dignity of a rational creature. In this period 
 Solon and Lycurgus reformed the laws of preceding 
 legislators, and rendered the system more salutary 
 in the correction of crime, and the security of jus- 
 tice to their fellow-citizens. 
 
 The seven sages, by the example of their own 
 heroism and virtue, enforced the moral and political 
 order which their wisdom and prudence taught. 
 
 In the school of Pythagoras, mathematics, astro- 
 nomy, geometry, arithmetic and music, were dili- 
 gently cultivated; the structure of animals was 
 studied, and the contemplations of philosophy ele- 
 vated the mind above the grosser allurements of 
 
216 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 sense ; the improvement of civil and political secu- 
 rity afforded additional leisure for all ingenious and 
 liberal pursuits, while the advancement of science 
 supplied means for nearer approaches towards per- 
 fection. 
 
 In the institutions of Greece, the five gymnastic 
 exercises of boxing, running, wrestling, leaping, and 
 throwing the spear, at the same time that they in- 
 creased the strength and agility, exhibited all the 
 various beauty of the human figure, diversified by 
 all the difference of motion the several exertions 
 could produce, with the multiplicity of anatomical 
 changes in action and remission occasioned by each 
 exertion of body and limbs. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the religion of ancient 
 Greece was gross polytheism ; but this was the re- 
 ligion of the multitude, that of the philosopher was 
 much more pure. It allowed, indeed, the ministry 
 of subordinate divinities, angels, and heroic souls, 
 but all directed by the unerring wisdom and provi- 
 dence of the one Omnipotent. The graces and per- 
 fections of these celestial intelligences and ministers 
 are so described in the “ Dialogues of Plato,” and 
 by the Pythagoreans, as to lead the artist to the 
 choice of supreme natural beauty for the object of 
 his imitation throughout the numerous ideal orders 
 of the Grecian theology, and elevated the real 
 persons by the noblest traits of limb, feature and 
 character. The first essays of Grecian art, in the 
 heroic age, prove they were neither stronger nor 
 swifter in the race than other nations : but the im- 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 217 
 
 proved imitation of nature, founded on the sure 
 principles of science, left their competitors at a 
 distance not to be recovered ; and the ability and 
 zeal with which they pursued their advantage, gave 
 them possession of the palm beyond dispute. 
 
 The Greeks, in this age, added the cultivation of 
 letters to their discoveries in science and improve- 
 ment of philosophy. Hipparchus is said to have 
 first made the Athenians acquainted with Homer’s 
 Rhapsodies, (and from which that people received 
 their system of theology), these were recited in the 
 Panathenaic solemnities, and became so popular that 
 they were continually quoted in the Dialogues of 
 Plato, and by succeeding writers. 
 
 The poems of Hesiod, Sappho, Anacreon, and 
 Simonides, are also believed to have been collected 
 in a public library at Athens in this time. 
 
 Thus was infant art inspired by the spirit of 
 poetry, and the efiects of this inspiration are seen 
 in the councils of the gods in the friezes of the Par- 
 thenon, and the Temple of Theseus,* besides innu- 
 merable Homeric subjects on the painted vases and 
 Greek basso-relievos of after ages. 
 
 Geometry enabled the artist scientifically to ascer- 
 tain forms for the configuration of bodies — to deter- 
 mine the motion of the figure, in leaping, running, 
 striking, or falling — by curves and angles, whilst 
 arithmetic gave the multiplication of measures in 
 proportions. The anatomical observations of Thales, 
 
 * British Museum. 
 
218 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 Pythagoras and Alcmeon, prepared the way for the 
 more connected inquiries of Hippocrates. Thus by 
 the gradual advancement and connection of art and 
 science, painting and sculpture obtained sound 
 principles to ensure a certain and felicitous prac- 
 tice, which introduced the age of perfection or con- 
 summation in the time of Pericles and Phidias. 
 
 This third age of art may be said to have been 
 more called into practice by the destruction of those 
 enormous fleets and armies prepared by the Per- 
 sians to annihilate Grecian freedom. 
 
 This illustrious achievement, performed by a 
 comparatively small band of patriots, increased the 
 estimation of Greece, and especially Athens, in pro- 
 portion to the terrific power of the vanquished and 
 the glory of delivering their country from a foreign 
 yoke. These successes in war, stimulated their 
 exertions in peace — they rebuilt the temples de- 
 stroyed in the war, with increased magnificence — 
 their pediments and friezes were decorated with 
 synods of gods and heroes, from their history, both 
 real and mythological. They raised sacred statues, 
 which for their colossal size, richness of materials 
 and embellishment, future ages ranked as wonders 
 of the world. Nor were the statues of smaller 
 dimensions less deserving attention for exquisite 
 beauty of feature, form, proportions, character, 
 dignity, simplicity and elegance. Their groups 
 possess the united interests of action and passion, 
 sentiment elevated and heroic, consistent with the 
 persons engaged. 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 219 
 
 The basso-relievos are epic and dramatic com- 
 positions, containing great variety in the subjects, 
 combination and diversity of lines, with whatever, 
 in the distribution and opposition of light and 
 shadow, produces the most powerful and agreeable 
 effect in the relief of figures from a hack-ground, or 
 that department of sculpture the most nearly allied 
 to painting. 
 
 But as our subject becomes more extensive in its 
 progress, it will be rendered more simple by consi- 
 dering each class of sculpture separately, under the 
 following heads : — 
 
 1. Colossal statues. 2. Smaller statues. 3. 
 Groups. 4. Basso-relievos, and the Grecian schools 
 of sculpture. 
 
 The largest colossal statues of the Egyptians were 
 seventy-five feet in height, and therefore the Greeks 
 excelled them in the magnitude as well as the beauty 
 of those enormous monuments. 
 
 Many colossal statues are enumerated by the 
 classical authors, (particularly Pliny and Pausanias,) 
 which have long since ceased to exist, and of which 
 any memorials beyond their names are unknown at 
 present. It is, notwithstanding, not only possible, 
 but even probable, that antiquarian industry might 
 still recover recollections of them from gems, the 
 reverses of coins, and small bronze statues, in which 
 the celebrated works of antiquity were so frequently 
 copied. But as the mere repetition of names and 
 measurement would afford information of little use 
 either to the painter or sculptor, to avoid the misap- 
 
220 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 plication of time in uncertain conjecture, we will 
 direct our attention to the three most celebrated of 
 these works, the most copiously described by authors, 
 and illustrated by ancient copies of smaller size. 
 
 The statue of Olympian Jupiter,* sixty feet in 
 height, was the most renowned work of ancient 
 sculpture, not for stupendous magnitude alone, but 
 more for awful majesty and sublime beauty : it was 
 adorned with all the charms poetic vision could 
 bestow, embodied by labours which have been the 
 wonder, and the school, of all succeeding ages. It 
 is thus described by Pausanias who saw it in meri- 
 dian splendour. 
 
 “ The god sat on a throne of ivory and gold, his 
 head crowned with a branch of olive — his left 
 hand presented a victory of ivory and gold, with a 
 crown and fillet ; his right hand held a sceptre beau- 
 tifully distinguished by all the different metals, on 
 which an eagle sat ; the sandals of the god were 
 gold, so was his drapery, on which were various 
 animals, with flowers of all kinds, especially lilies ; 
 his throne was refulgent with gold and precious 
 stones. There were also statues — four Victories 
 alighting, were annexed to the feet of the throne, 
 those in front rested each on a sphinx that had 
 seized a Theban youth — below the sphinxes the 
 children of Niobe were slain by the arrows of Apollo 
 and Diana.” 
 
 After mentioning some statues of victors in the 
 Olympic exercises, standing on the foot of the 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 ^21 
 
 throne, Pausanias also describes the pictures (by 
 Panseneus, brother of Phidias) which were on the 
 sides of the seat. Among these were the “ Atlas 
 supporting heaven and earth, Hercules near him, 
 about to relieve him from his burthen ; Theseus 
 and Pirithous ; and the figures representing Greece 
 and Salamis, the latter bearing the rostra of a ship 
 in her hands ; the Combat of Hercules with the 
 Nemsean lion ; Ajax and Cassandra ; Hippodamia, 
 the daughter of QEnomaus, with her mother ; Pro- 
 metheus chained, and Hercules preparing to kill 
 the eagle which preyed on him. The last of the 
 pictures are Penthesilea dying, supported by 
 Achilles, and Hesperian nymphs bearing fruit.” 
 On the recess for the throne, above the head of the 
 statue, are the three Graces on one side, and on 
 the other the three Hours, or Seasons. On the 
 base of the statue are golden lions, with the battle 
 of Theseus and the Amazons. On the sub-plinth, 
 which supports the whole, are emblems in gold. 
 The Sun, Jupiter and Juno ascend in a car. Near 
 them is Chares, whom Mercury embraces, and 
 Vesta, Mercury, and Love receive Venus rising 
 from the sea, to whom Persuasion brings a crown. 
 Apollo, Diana, Minerva and Plercules are present. 
 On the lowest part are Neptune and Amphitrite, 
 with the Moon exciting her horses to the race. 
 This great work, which raised the fame of Phidias 
 above all the sculptors of antiquity, has numerous 
 imitations still existing in marble and bronze, and 
 on coins of Alexander the Great and his successors. 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 222 
 
 also on the Emperor Domitian’s medals in large 
 brass. 
 
 In the Acropolis of Athens,* was a Minerva by 
 the same sculptor, twenty-six cubits high, also 
 formed of ivory and gold. In the right hand was 
 a Victory, four cubits high, the left hand rested on 
 her shield. The goddess was clothed in a tunic 
 reaching to her feet, her helmet was adorned with 
 horses and gryphons, on the round side of the 
 shield was the fight with the Amazons, on the con- 
 cave side, the battle of the Gods and Giants, on her 
 sandals, the contest of the Lapithae and Centaurs, 
 on the base was the birth of Pandora in the pre- 
 sence of thirty divinities. Memorials of this statue 
 are preserved on Athenian coins, of which there 
 are engravings in the vignettes of Stuart’s Athens. 
 
 The Colossus of the Sunt in the Island of 
 Rhodes, is allowed by Pliny the elder, to have ex- 
 cited more astonishment than all the other colossal 
 statues he has mentioned, on account of its height, 
 which was 105 feet, it was made by Chares a Lyn- 
 dian, the disciple of Lysippus. The statue was 
 thrown down by an earthquake, after standing fifty- 
 six years. When lying on the ground this work 
 appeared miraculous. Few were able to embrace 
 the thumb, and the fingers were larger than many 
 statues. Vast caverns yawned in the broken limbs, 
 and within were seen great masses of stone, by 
 whose weight it was supported. Twelve years were 
 
 * See Plate XIX. 
 
 t See Plate XLYIH. 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 223 
 
 employed in the execution of it, and the cost 300 
 talents, about £60,000 English. The same author 
 observes, there were, in the same city, an hundred 
 lesser colossal figures, each of which did honour to 
 the place where it stood ; besides five colossal sta- 
 tues of divinity by the sculptor Bryaxis. 
 
 Heads of the celebrated Colossus are repeatedly 
 seen on the bronze coins of Rhodes, and small 
 figures, with radiated heads, are sometimes found 
 on the coins of this island, which possibly were in- 
 tended to represent the whole figure. 
 
 The most numerous class of ancient statues was 
 about the height of nature, or approaching to seven 
 feet, which has been distinguished as the heroic 
 size. 
 
 Statues were anciently appropriated to divinity. 
 Portraits of men w^ere not executed unless for some 
 illustrious cause which deserved perpetuity. 
 
 First, were the victorious contests in the sacred 
 games, chiefly those of Olympia, where the custom 
 was for all the conquerors to dedicate their statues, 
 and those who were thrice victors had exact por- 
 traits of their persons. It was thought the Athe- 
 nians first placed statues to Harmodius and Aris- 
 togiton, the Tyrannicides, the same year the kings 
 were expelled from Rome. “ This,” says Pliny, 
 “ was afterwards universal, and now the forum of 
 every municipal town begins to be ornamented with 
 statues to prolong the memory of men, and to have 
 the honours of the age inscribed on their bases, lest 
 they should be read only on their sepulchres. In 
 
224 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 the course of time this has been done abroad, in 
 public courts and private houses. Thus clients 
 have determined to celebrate their patrons.” 
 
 After the custom was adopted of bestowing this 
 honour on distinguished merit, every battle in- 
 creased heroic memorials; the porticos, libraries, 
 museums, and walks were filled with the statues of 
 legislators, poets, philosophers, and all whose public 
 spirit, or rare qualities, had raised them to general 
 notice and esteem. 
 
 The practice so universal in Greece passed with 
 the conquerors into their colonies, and the succes- 
 sors of Alexander the Great added to the sacred 
 sculpture of Egypt and Syria the memorials of 
 Grecian valour and wisdom. The same practice 
 was followed in Sicily, Magna Grsecia, Naples, the 
 principal cities on the coast of Italy, the Etruscan 
 states, and wherever their colonies or commerce gave 
 them intercourse. The remains of sculpture found 
 in all these countries frequently bear this indis- 
 putable testimony of Grecian origin — that they are 
 stamped with the beauty, grace, purity and perfec- 
 tion which are to be found in the works of that 
 country alone, of all nations in the ancient world. 
 
 This increase of sculpture, extending over so 
 considerable a portion of the globe known to the 
 ancients, will account for the number of statues 
 brought to Rome after the conquest of Greece. 
 
 Marcus Scaurus, when ^dile, decorated his 
 temporary theatre with three thousand statues. 
 Two thousand were taken from the Volscians. 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 225 
 
 Mummius, after the conquest of Achaia, is said to 
 have filled the city. Lucullus brought many. 
 Three thousand came from Rhodes — not fewer 
 from Athens or Olympia — more are believed to 
 have come from Delphi ; “ but,” says our author, 
 “ what mortal can follow them ? or what is the use 
 of knowing ?” 
 
 It will be sufiGicient for our present purpose, to 
 comprehend what remains of this part of our sub- 
 ject in two sentences : after the terrific repetition 
 of those conflagrations which destroyed the noblest 
 monuments in Rome, it was said that the city con- 
 tained more gods than men ! 
 
 The equestrian and pedestrian statues, trophies 
 and triumphal arches, which adorned the Roman 
 forum, and the forum of Trajan — the innumerable 
 sculptures in the imperial palace— in the baths of 
 Dioclesian and Caracalla — the Mausoleum of Au- 
 gustus, and that of Hadrian — the files of patriots 
 and heroes which lined the Flaminian way — were 
 objects to fill the imagination, and occupy the mind. 
 But neither the multitude of them, nor their mag- 
 nificence, will produce any great impression on the 
 painter or sculptor. He will keenly search out the 
 rare specimens of excellence from among the hun- 
 dreds of ordinary beauty ; upon these he will fix 
 his attention, and from these he will deduce his 
 principles. 
 
 We shall now return to our more immediate 
 object, the pursuit and study of excellence, by 
 noticing some of the noblest examples which the 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 ravages of time, and the destructive hand of bar- 
 barism have spared. 
 
 Besides the works of Phidias already mentioned, 
 duplicates of smaller statues by him have come 
 down to us : the Amazon called “ Euknemon,” 
 from her fine leg, of which there is a print in the 
 “ Museum Pium Clementinum,” in the library of 
 our Royal Academy. Two Minervas are mentioned 
 by Pliny, one of which had the surname of Calli- 
 morphus, expressive of her fine form. Perhaps 
 this might be similar to the statue of the goddess in 
 Mr. Hope’s Gallery, as it strongly resembles a 
 Minerva on an Athenian coin among the vignettes 
 in “ Stuart’s Athens.” 
 
 Perhaps, in this place, a remark may be oifered, 
 without impropriety, concerning the group of a 
 hero governing a horse, which stands opposite the 
 papal palace, on Monte Cavallo, in Rome. This 
 group is said to stand nearly on the same spot it 
 occupied (with its companion) when they guarded 
 the entrance to the baths of Constantine. “ The 
 work of Phidias” was inscribed on the pedestal, as 
 we may see at the present time. In illustration of 
 this group, three Roman coins may be adduced, one 
 struck in the reign of Nero, another under Hadrian, 
 and a third by Commodus, all hearing this group 
 on the reverse, representing Bellerophon about to 
 mount Pegasus, for the purpose of destroying the 
 Chimsera. These coins were struck in the city of 
 Corinth, where Bellerophon was much honoured. 
 The attitude of the hero, as well as that of the 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 227 
 
 horse, resembles a bas-relief on the Parthenon, and 
 for that reason, in addition to the style and spirit of 
 the work, is likely to have been executed under the 
 direction of Phidias. 
 
 Alcamenes,* the scholar of Phidias, was cele- 
 brated for his Venus Aphrodite. Many small sta- 
 tues of bronze and marble represent the goddess 
 pressing the water from her hair, and by their ele- 
 gance are probably copies from that statue. 
 
 Praxitilesf excelled in the highest graces of youth 
 and ideal beauty. His Venus of Cnidos, which is 
 said to be more perfect than any other, is known 
 from the descriptions of Lucian and Cedrenus. It 
 is on the reverse of a bronze medal of Caracalla 
 and Plautilla, in the king of France’s cabinet. 
 
 The drawing introduced in this Lecture was from 
 a statue said to have been found in a vineyard, 
 about thirty years since, in Rome, and was the 
 property of Duke Braschi, nephew of Pius the 
 Sixth. Sketches from it were made at that time.;]. 
 
 Among the celebrated statues by Praxitiles, of 
 which copies have come down to us, are his Satyr, 
 his Cupid hending his bow, and Apollo the lizard- 
 killer. Casts are in this academy, for which we are 
 indebted to the munificence of his present majesty 
 George the Fourth ; to which may be added Bac- 
 chus leaning on a faun, although this latter properly 
 belongs to the class of groups. 
 
 * See Plate XXI. f See Plate XXII. 
 
 f A full account of this statue has already been given in the 
 Lecture on Grecian Sculpture. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 Polycletus of Sycion, the scholar of Agelades, 
 was celebrated for his statue of Diadumenus, a 
 youth binding a fillet round his head, of which 
 copies are seen occasionally on bas-reliefs. It was 
 valued by the ancients at 100 talents, rather more 
 than £18,000 English money. His Doryphorus, 
 or spear-bearer, from which sculptors copied the 
 rules of art, is known to us only from Pliny’s 
 description. 
 
 The Discobolus by Naucides is universally ad- 
 mired for the heroic form and retreating motion 
 preparatory to the force and weight of the person 
 requisite to project the disk. 
 
 The Discobolus* by Myron is ascertained by an 
 antique gem, and the description of Quintilian, who 
 apologizes for its forced attitude, (perhaps that of 
 some particular man distinguished in this game.) 
 There is an ancient example of this statue in the 
 British Museum. 
 
 A wounded man, the famous work of Ctesilaus, is 
 perhaps the same as that called the “ Dying Gla- 
 diator,” hut more properly a herald or hero. 
 
 Prints of the wounded Amazon of Ctesilaus are 
 not uncommon in the volumes of antique statues. 
 
 Pliny mentions the Nine Muses of Philiscus of 
 Rhodes, and the Muses brought by Fulvius Nohi- 
 lior to Rome. From one or both of these series, 
 the Muses in the Vatican were probably obtained, 
 as they appear to be the work of different hands. 
 
 See Plate XXIV. 
 
ANCIENT ART. ^29 
 
 Casts from them are in the council room. The 
 Comedy is remarkable for juvenile grace of person, 
 and elegance of drapery. The Tragedy for solem- 
 nity and heroic grandeur. 
 
 The Apollo Philesius by Canachus has many 
 repetitions. 
 
 Ganymede borne in the eagle’s talons is exactly 
 described by Pliny. A print of it may be seen in 
 the “ Museum Pium Clemen tinum.” 
 
 The Apollo Belvidere is believed by the learned 
 Visconti to be the Deliverer from Evil, the work of 
 Calamis, set up in Athens in memory of a plague 
 which raged in that city. 
 
 Sublime in his beauty, and terrible in his anger, 
 it has been considered as the Phoebus Apollo of 
 Homer, destroying the Greeks. It has also been 
 looked upon as a variation from a statue by 
 Phidias. 
 
 The Hercules Farnese was evidently one of the 
 first favourites of antiquity, from its frequent repe- 
 tition in bronze and marble, on gems and coins. It 
 is worthy of remark, that some statues of Hercules, 
 in the same attitude of repose with that surnamed 
 Farnese, but of much earlier date, have the pro- 
 portions of common men, and that a series of them 
 may be found in the various collections, gradually 
 increasing to the terrific strength of Glycon’s statue. 
 The head of this formidable hero hears a noble 
 resemblance to his father Jupiter. The anatomical 
 detail in the body and limbs is more distinct than in 
 any other work of antiquity. 
 
230 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 The ancient groups next claim attention. 
 
 Laocoon and his sons is a. work composed in a 
 noble concatenation of lines, in the three principal 
 views. The children's appeal to the father, and 
 the father’s to the Gods, is highly pathetic. The 
 convulsed rise of the youngest from the ground, is 
 the most electric circumstance in the whole senti- 
 ment. It was the work of Apollodorus, Athenado- 
 rus, and Agesander, of Rhodes. 
 
 Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to the bull’s 
 horns — an example of filial vengeance in behalf of 
 a persecuted mother. The conception is heroic, 
 and the execution vast. The marble is at Naples, 
 but, like many other noble works, it has been mise- 
 rably restored. 
 
 Hercules raising Anteus in his arms is in the Pitti 
 Palace, Florence. 
 
 The group of Atreus bearing a dead son of 
 Thyestes, Orestes and Electra, Ajax supporting 
 the dead Patroclus, and that of Heemon and Anti- 
 gone, are all examples of fine form, heroic character, 
 and sentiment. 
 
 Niobe and her youngest daughter, by Scopas, is 
 an example of heroic beauty in mature age. The 
 sentiment is maternal afiection. She exposes her 
 own life to shield her child from the threatened 
 destruction. The statues of the several children all 
 possess the same heroic beauty, mixed with astonish- 
 ment, terror, dismay, and death. That fine exam- 
 ple of anatomical study, of a difficult but harmonious 
 composition, the Group of Wrestlers, was found in 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 231 
 
 the same excavation with, and has been supposed to 
 belong to, the family of Niohe. 
 
 The group of Cupid and Psyche, interesting 
 from the beauty of youthful male and female forms 
 and harmony of lines, is an allegory of the Pytha- 
 gorean philosophy, representing the union of desire 
 and the soul. 
 
 We may now take some notice of the antique 
 bas-relievos, particularly those in the British Mu- 
 seum. The metops which formerly adorned the 
 Parthenon of Athens, which contain the combats of 
 the Lapithm and Centaurs, are distinguished by 
 simplicity and heroic exertion. Some casts from 
 them are placed in the model academy. The pro- 
 cession of chariots, horsemen, maidens bearing sacred 
 baskets and candelabrae, animals for sacrifice, and 
 sacred instructors in the Celebration of Minerva, 
 and the Assembly of the Gods, are admired by all, 
 for simplicity of composition, breadth of general 
 effect, the elegance and delicacy of the heads and 
 draperies, the life and spirit of the horses. 
 
 The casts (in the same collection) from the tem- 
 ple of Theseus. The metops represent his heroic 
 deeds, and the frieze within the temple councils of 
 the gods. The style of these is more like the 
 metops on the Parthenon than the broad masses in 
 the procession within that temple. 
 
 The whole of the sculpture in the temple of 
 Theseus is bold, varied, and full of action. The 
 fragments of statues and groups which were in the 
 pediment of the Parthenon are executed with great 
 
232 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 effect ; but, as all the Athenian marbles in the 
 Museum have been seen and universally admired, 
 additional description would he useless. 
 
 The contention for the body of Patroclus, in the 
 pediment of the temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at 
 Egina, is a fine composition, of which there is a 
 beautiful etching by Mr. Cockrell, who assisted 
 in restoring this specimen of ancient art to the world. 
 
 The battle of the Amazons and Athenians, from 
 the temple of Apollo Epicouros, is also in the 
 British Museum. 
 
 Those already named are among the ancient 
 works of chief excellence, and most worthy of the 
 student’s contemplation and imitation in basso- 
 relievo. 
 
 Others, however, may be mentioned of great 
 beauty, the study of which will he highly important 
 in the progress of the student. Of this number are 
 the beautiful compositions of Perseus and Andro- 
 meda, and the Endymion, casts of which are in the 
 Royal Academy ; to these may be added the basso- 
 relievos on the Trajan column — on the arches of 
 Constantine and Marcus Aurelius — and, above 
 all, the ancient Sarcophagi, which present a mag- 
 nificent collection of compositions from the great 
 poets of antiquity, Homer, Hesiod, H^schylus, 
 Euripides, and Sophocles — the systems of ancient 
 philosophy, with Greek mysteries, initiations, and 
 mythology. The study of these will give the young 
 artist the true principles of composition, with effect, 
 and without confusion, to produce the chief interest 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 233 
 
 of his subject by grand lines of figures, without the 
 intrusion of useless, impertinent, or trivial objects ; 
 by carefully observing them he will accustom him- 
 self to a noble habit of thinking, and consequently 
 choose whatever is beautiful, elegant, and grand, 
 rejecting all that is mean and vulgar ; by thus im- 
 bibing an electric spark of the poetic fire, he 
 will learn to choose fit subjects for the employment 
 of his talents, and to convert the beauty and grace 
 of ancient poetry and genius to the service of 
 the morals and establishments of our own time and 
 country. 
 
 In the comparatively few antique statues, groups 
 and basso-relievos here mentioned, the attention has 
 been called only to such as have been esteemed the 
 most, by the united consent of ancients and mo- 
 derns j the rest, which are very numerous, must be 
 sought for in the various collections of antiquities, 
 Montfaucon, the “Museum Pium Clementinum,” 
 “Museum Romanum,” “ Florentinum, “ Giusti- 
 niani,” “ Borghese,” and many other works of the 
 same kind, most of which are in the library of our 
 academy. 
 
 The principal schools of sculpture appear to have 
 been Athens and Rhodes : in the first, the school 
 of Phidias was established ; and we learn from 
 Pliny that his emulators were Alcamenes, Critias, 
 and Nestocles, and, twenty years after, Agelades, 
 Gallon, Polycletus, Phragmon, Gorgias, Lacon, 
 Myron, Pythagoras, Scopas, and Perelius. This 
 catalogue, we may reasonably believe, contains the 
 
234 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 sculptors whose labours adorned the Temple of 
 Theseus and the Parthenon ; and from them also 
 the successive pupils descended, whose works em- 
 bellished the Roman empire, until the northern 
 irruptions spread universal destruction in the west, 
 and the Saracens and Turks conquered and wasted 
 the eastern provinces. 
 
 The other school of sculpture, namely, Rhodes, 
 is likely to have sprung from that of Athens. We 
 have already observed that the Roman conquerors 
 took 3000 statues from thence. To this school of 
 Rhodes, we owe the two noble groups, the Laocoon, 
 and Zethus and Amphion, both mentioned by Pliny 
 with extraordinary praise. 
 
 The sculptors of Sicyon and ^gina appear to 
 have been chiefly employed on works of bronze, 
 although Corinth, Delos, and other cities, have a 
 just claim to reputation on the same account. 
 
 To this general view of ancient sculpture, a few 
 remarks may be added concerning the practical 
 advantage it may afford — by guarding against error 
 and false systems, so frequently ruinous impediments 
 in the path of talent and industry, by which the 
 inexperienced mind is first entangled in doubt, and 
 ultimately turned from the course it had taken, 
 without any sure guide to the desired object. 
 
 It is a sound maxim, that “ the same cause will 
 always produce the same eflect therefore, if we 
 would attain excellence in art, we cannot proceed 
 by a more certain course than that by which it has 
 been attained before. 
 
ANCIENT ART. 
 
 235 
 
 The arts of Greece astonished and delighted the 
 world in their own times, and they have continued 
 to do so through the lapse of many ages ; and now, 
 in their fragments and mutilations, demand the 
 same just homage from the beholder, and afford the 
 same example of excitement, admiration, and in- 
 struction to the artist : and in this Lecture has been 
 shewn, not according to chimerical notions, or mere 
 supposition, but according to the testimony of co- 
 temporary authors, supported by the ancient works 
 of art, the progress of sculpture in Greece, from 
 the first rude beginning common to all countries, 
 by the various gradations of improvement, until 
 arrived at that perfection which has not been 
 equalled in modern times, except perhaps in some 
 very few instances, but never excelled ! 
 
 In the former part of this discourse, we have 
 seen that the Greeks, in their uncivilized state, did 
 not excel their barbarous neighbours in the arts ; 
 that religion gave the first impulse to sculpture ; 
 that philosophic improvement furnished the artist 
 with rules ; that legislation, by determination of 
 moral and civil right, reduced society to a more 
 settled state, and thereby afforded a more tranquil 
 leisure for the cultivation of liberal studies ; that 
 the institution of gymnastic exercises exhibited the 
 naked figure in all views, actions and motions for 
 the study of the artist ; the anatomical school of 
 Hippocrates, and the more extended knowledge of 
 that science in the school of Alexandria, gave more 
 exact details of the parts of the human figure ; and. 
 
236 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 lastly, the dialogues of Plato on beauty, its origin, 
 cause, and effect, from the mind upon the body- 
 completed the general principles of information for 
 the ancient sculptor ; and as it was a summary of 
 the gradual progress by which the excellence of 
 Grecian art was accumulated, so in its perfection 
 it became the course of study by which every indi- 
 vidual artist rose to eminence. 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 The preceding Lecture contained a very general 
 and summary sketch of Ancient Sculpture, as in- 
 troductory to a similar review of Modern Sculpture. 
 In that Lecture it was observed, that no attempt 
 would be made to give a regular history of the art 
 in its commencement by the Egyptians, in all the 
 particulars of its progress and perfection by the 
 Greeks — at what point its course had been arrested 
 among the Syrians, Persians, and Babylonians — 
 what portion of the colonial arts of Greece found 
 in Sicily and Italy, might be considered the un- 
 doubted property of the mother country, and in 
 what respects they could be claimed by the people 
 to whom they were originally exotics : all these 
 topics are doubtless necessary to a complete history 
 of the arts of design, and all of consequence to the 
 antiquary. But in the number of those topics, we 
 must, as artists, distinguish between such as are 
 requisite to history, and those passages most import- 
 ant to us, of the ancient authors which supply pro- 
 found maxims and principles indispensable to a sound 
 theory and successful practice of the arts. 
 
^38 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Whenever a more extensive knowledge is required, 
 application must be made to the various writers on 
 the subject, ancient and modern. 
 
 The first objects in this institution, are the prin- 
 ciples of art, as must be evident in every branch of 
 the establishment ; as a valuable library has been 
 formed, and lectures appointed for the communica- 
 tion of whatever in science and literature the artist 
 may find most useful ; and he may try the rules he 
 acquires, by comparing his own studies with the 
 finest specimens of ancient sculpture, and the works 
 of the most esteemed painters of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, or the great criterion of all art, Nature, in 
 the schools of this institution. 
 
 It is subservient to this wise and liberal plan of 
 education, that these Lectures have been conceived 
 in which I have endeavoured to present a compre- 
 hensive view of the means by which ancient art 
 obtained its unrivalled excellence, and that by the 
 same means, and by application to the same studies, 
 modern art rose again to excellence in the fifteenth 
 century. 
 
 Thus the student of the present day has the most 
 satisfactory assurance that the ancient arts of Greece 
 were carried to perfection, and the modern arts of 
 Italy restored, by the same system of education es- 
 tablished in this institution ; and we may with cer- 
 tainty predict, that a race of painters and sculptors 
 will he produced by our Royal Academy, whose 
 merits will secure the admiration of their own time, 
 and of future ages, as effectually as their great 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 239 
 
 predecessors have done; with this proviso, that on 
 their parts they bring with them to the arts they 
 intend to practise, minds truly liberal, debased by 
 no sordid or unworthy motives, — a disposition so 
 devoted that any other employment would render 
 life miserable, — a ready inclination to overcome all 
 difficulties by indefatigable labour, — and above all, 
 a comprehension of mind, an acuteness of percep- 
 tion, and a soundness of judgment capable of attain- 
 ing the various acquirements of science, literature, 
 and the study of nature, required in the profession. 
 We shall now proceed with the subject of modern 
 art. 
 
 It is a fact known to all, that the successive 
 irruptions of barbarians into the provinces of the 
 Roman empire, both East and West, from the fifth 
 to the tenth century of the Christian era, spread 
 universal devastation, even to the rendering great 
 tracts of country desert, where abundant population 
 had flourished in magnificent towns and cities. 
 
 In these dismal times, when the violence of fana- 
 ticism increased the horrors of barbarous invasion 
 — when the works of ancient genius in painting and 
 sculpture were buried under the ruins of temples, 
 forums, and palaces, which they had adorned to the 
 fifth century — there were accounts of the Olympian 
 Jupiter, and the Venus of Cnidos ; but at that time 
 their history ends in the common destruction and 
 darkness of the times. The spirit of violence and 
 warfare did not cease, but was continued by the 
 feudal successors to the Roman provinces long after 
 
240 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 the tenth century, with the same baneful influence, 
 unabated, upon arts, learning and civilization. In 
 the city of Rome, the architectural monuments of 
 antiquity were converted into fortresses by the con- 
 tending barons ; and in the beginning of the fifteenth 
 century, the city was so encumbered with ruined 
 buildings and lesser forts, that two horsemen could 
 scarcely pass abreast in any principal street or open 
 place. Wherever excavations have been made in 
 later times, to clear the basements of columns, 
 arches, or buildings, in the Roman Forum, the 
 Forum of Trajan, and other distinguished parts of 
 the city, the ancient pavement has been always 
 found from ten to sixteen feet lower than the pre- 
 sent ; and the whole of the mass between, formed 
 from the rubbish of ruined structures, mixed with 
 fragments of statues, basso-relievos, capitals, co- 
 lumns, &c. We need but one instance more, 
 which is within the compass of our own knowledge 
 or inquiry, to demonstrate the general ruin which 
 accompanied the destruction of the works of art 
 during the barbarous irruptions in the great cities 
 of the Roman empire — the instance related to was 
 in our own country. In London, several magnifi- 
 cent mosaic or tesselated pavements and fragments 
 of ancient art have been found, covered by a mass 
 of burnt rubbish, from ten to twelve feet deep below 
 the present pavement. Similar instances have oc- 
 curred in most of the cities of England, proving 
 the destructive progress of the Saxons and Danes 
 in our country not to have been less furious than 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 241 
 
 those of the Goths, Vandals, Huns, and Lombards 
 in Italy, or of the Saracens and Turks in the East. 
 
 But from the vengeance of barbarians, stimulated 
 by prey, and provoked by oppression, we shall 
 willingly turn our view to the re-estahlishment of 
 social order, and the restoration of arts and letters. 
 
 After the entire destruction of the Roman power 
 in the West of Europe, Italy was divided into 
 republics and principalities, the chief of which, 
 Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, possessing the advantage 
 of extensive sea coasts, were the first to enrich their 
 countries by commerce, and improve their know- 
 ledge by voyages. The Venetians, situated in the 
 neighbourhood of Greece, were induced to emulate 
 the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, in the 
 building and decoration of St. Mark’s in their own 
 city. The plan of this church is a Greek cross, and 
 the mosaic pictures, from sacred history, which 
 adorn the interior, are from Greek paintings of the 
 same age. The present church was consecrated, 
 A. D. 1085. 
 
 The republic of Pisa had a naval force so con- 
 siderable previous to this period, that they had 
 beaten the Saracens in Africa, Sardinia, Majorca, 
 Minorca, and Sicily, besides taking from them 
 immense treasure, with which they built the Cathe- 
 dral of Pisa, begun in 1063, finished 1092 
 
 The building of these cathedrals was followed by 
 those of Verona, Modena, Pistoia, and several others 
 in Italy. 
 
 Schools of painting and sculpture, as well as ar- 
 
 R 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 242 
 
 chitecture, were formed and established in the 
 eleventh and twelfth centuries ; and the distin- 
 guished talents produced in them were cherished 
 and employed in the cause of religion. 
 
 It will be found on a careful inquiry, that the 
 elements, as well as the perfection of the arts, have 
 always been received, either immediately or inter- 
 mediately, from the Greeks, by Western Europe, 
 although this has been denied by V asari ; and, as 
 far as concerns the Greek Christian paintings, does 
 not seem to have been even suspected by Winckel- 
 mann. To this part of our subject, therefore, a 
 short but satisfactory illustration is required. 
 
 The germ, or first beginning of modern art, is 
 not to be so absolutely reckoned from the commence- 
 ment of the eleventh century, when society began 
 to be settled in Europe, as from the reign of Con- 
 stantine, seven centuries earlier, when Christianity 
 became the established religion of the empire ; then 
 it was that painting and sculpture ceased to be 
 employed on the pagan gods, and their powers 
 were engaged to adorn the churches built by 
 Christian emperors, with the persons and events 
 of sacred history. The portrait of our Saviour,* 
 with those of some of the Apostles, particularly 
 Peter and Paul, appear to have been known in 
 Galilee either during their lives, or shortly after 
 their deaths. 
 
 The Emperor Tiberius was desirous of having 
 
 Vide Arringhi’s Roma Subterfaiiea, Plate XLIX. 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 24S 
 
 the Messiah admitted among the gods of the empire, 
 but was refused by the Senate. Alexander Se^erus 
 had the statue of Jesus Christ among his house- 
 hold gods. 
 
 Even during the reigns of those emperors, by 
 whom the Christians were cruelly persecuted, when 
 they were obliged to perform their sacred worship 
 in subterrains and sepulchral chambers, they orna- 
 mented those retreats with sacred portraits and sub- 
 jects from Scripture. But when the churches of 
 St. Sophia and the Apostles were built in Constan- 
 tinople by Constantine and his successors, they were 
 embellished with mosaics and statues. 
 
 Bosius, in his “ Roma Subterranea,” exhibits 
 many Christian sarcophagi sculptured with scrip- 
 tural subjects from the Old and New Testament in 
 basso-relievo. 
 
 Monier,* in his History of Painting, Sculpture 
 and Architecture, gives large quotations from the 
 Christian Fathers concerning the excellent paintings 
 of sacred subjects in the Eastern churches, from the 
 fourth to the eighth century, and the powerful effects 
 produced by them on the beholders. Indeed, there 
 are still remaining in the libraries of the Emperor 
 of Austria and King of France, Greek paintings 
 executed in the middle ages, of great beauty ; but 
 above all the Greek painting and sculpture now 
 existing, which particularly deserve notice are the 
 Nativity,! the Transfiguration, the Crucifixion, 
 
 t Plate XXXV. and XXXVI. 
 
 R 2 
 
 Monier, page 60. 
 
244 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 the Resurrection, and the Glorification, because 
 they were the examples universally followed by the 
 Italian artists, until after Raphael and Michael 
 Angelo. 
 
 Andrea Tafi, a Florentine, contemporary with 
 Cimabue, studied under the Grecian artists in St. 
 Mark’s Church, Venice, while they were employed 
 in decorating the interior with the principal sub- 
 jects recorded in the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 Apollonius, a Grecian painter, returned from 
 Venice with Tafi, and assisted him in the mosaics 
 afterwards executed in St. John’s Baptistery at Flo- 
 rence. Cimabue was also instructed by Greek 
 artists. These facts being acknowledged by the 
 Italian writers, there remains no cause for surprise 
 that the Greek Christian compositions, should assist 
 the restoration of painting, more than that their 
 paintings and basso-relievo should have supplied 
 the principles of ancient art. 
 
 The Cathedral of Pisa, built by Buskettus an 
 architect from Dulichium, was the second sacred 
 edifice fSt. Mark’s in Venice being the first) raised 
 after the destruction of the Roman power in Italy. 
 It has received the honour of being allowed by pos- 
 terity to have taken the lead in restoring art : and, 
 indeed, the traveller, on entering the city gates, is 
 astonished by a scene of architectural magnificence 
 and singularity not to be equalled in the world. Four 
 stupendous structures of fine marble in one group — 
 the solemn cathedral, in the general parallelogram 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 245 
 
 of its form resembling an ancient temple,* which 
 unites and simplifies the arched divisions of its 
 exterior; the Baptistery, a circular building, sur- 
 rounded with arches and columns, crowned with 
 niches, statues and pinnacles, rising to an apex in 
 the centre, terminated by a statue of the Baptist ; — 
 the Falling Tower, (which is thirteen feet out of 
 the perpendicular,) a most elegant cylinder, raised 
 by eight rows of columns surmounting each other, 
 and surrounding a staircase ; — the Cemetery, along 
 square corridor of elegant pointed architecture, 400 
 by 200 feet, containing the ingenious works of the 
 improvers of painting, down to the sixteenth century. 
 This extraordinary scene in the evening of a sum- 
 mer’s day, with a splendid red sun setting in the 
 dark blue sky, the full moon rising on the opposite 
 side over a city nearly deserted, afiects the beholder’s 
 mind with such a sensation of magnificence, soli- 
 tude and wonder, that he scarcely knows whether 
 he is any longer an inhabitant of this world or not. 
 
 To describe the numerous works of painting and 
 sculpture with which the restorers of art laboured 
 to adorn these magnificent edifices during 500 
 years, would require time equal to that allowed for 
 the Lectures on Sculpture during one season. For- 
 tunately for the student, fine prints from the paint- 
 ings in the Campo Santo, with outlines of the 
 sarcophagi in the same corridor, may be seen in 
 the library of the Royal Academy. 
 
 * A Latin eross. 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 ^^46 
 
 The general effect of this group of buildings de- 
 serves to be dwelt on, for these two reasons in par- 
 ticular, first, because noble ideas, finely executed, can- 
 not fail to produce an irresistible effect on the mind ; 
 and, secondly, this assemblage of buildings contains 
 a more regular series of those labours by which the 
 restoration of art was effected, than is to be found 
 within the same compass in any other place. 
 
 We shall now proceed to notice the restorers of 
 sculpture in Italy, with the same brevity as the first 
 improvers in Greece. 
 
 It is not unlikely that Buskettus the Greek, who 
 built the Cathedral of Pisa in the eleventh century, 
 established the schools of architecture and sculpture 
 at the same time in that city, (although we have no 
 historical proof of the fact,) because we know it was 
 not unusual with those early artists to practise 
 painting, sculpture, and architecture, at the same 
 time, and because there are rude statues on the 
 cathedral coeval with the building ; and it is ac- 
 knowledged by the Pisan writers, that there were 
 sculptors in that city before Nicolas and his son 
 John, whose works became famous throughout Italy 
 in the middle of the thirteenth century. These 
 sculptors executed most magnificent marble pulpits, 
 enriched with basso-relievos and statues, in the 
 cathedrals of Pisa, Pistoia, and Sienna, also in the 
 Baptistery of Pisa : a series of sacred subjects from 
 the Old and New Testament, by them and their 
 scholars, are seen on the west front of Orvieto Ca- 
 thedral. There are also by John Pisano some 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 247 
 
 elegant statues of the Virgin and Child. Nicolas 
 and John improved sculpture, by study of the an- 
 tique basso-relievos in the Campo Santo ; in their 
 own works the compositions are simple and intelli- 
 gible ; the female figures are frequently elegant in 
 their movements and their drapery. In them are 
 occasionally seen an originality of idea and a force 
 of thought seldom met with when schools of art are 
 in the habit of copying from each other. 
 
 Andrea Ugolino Pisano, from the school of those 
 sculptors, designed and executed in bronze the 
 oldest gate of the Baptistery in Florence, the com- 
 partments of which represent the life of St. John. 
 The compositions have a Gothic and simple gran- 
 deur. He also executed some statues in marble, 
 but they were rather inferior to the productions of 
 Nicolas and John. 
 
 The next distinguished restorer of sculpture was 
 Donatello the Florentine. Some of his works, both 
 in bronze and marble, might be placed beside the 
 best productions of ancient Greece without discre- 
 dit. In the “ Opera del Duomo” of Santa Maria 
 del Fiore, the Cathedral of Florence, there is an 
 alto-relievo of two singing-boys of extraordinary 
 beauty in sentiment, character, drawing, and dra- 
 pery. In the gallery of Florence there is a bronze 
 statue of a lad, (perhaps a Mercury,) so delicately 
 proportioned, and so perfectly natural, that it is 
 excelled only by the best works of antiquity, in cer- 
 tain exquisite graces peculiar to the finest monu- 
 ments in Greece, but not to be attained or expected 
 
248 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 from the endeavours of lately resurgent genius. 
 His marble statue of St. George on the exterior 
 of Or San Michel, is an example of sentiment, 
 simple and forcible ; he stands upright, equally 
 poized on both legs, his hands resting on his shield 
 before him. Michael Angelo, after admiring this 
 statue some time in silence, suddenly exclaimed, 
 “ March.” His basso-relievos of the life of Christ, 
 on the pulpit of Saint Lorenzo’s Church, abound 
 in noble conceptions, but they were the works of 
 advanced age, and terminated by his scholars. He 
 was a man of modesty and principle : whatever work 
 he engaged in, his chief concern was to make it the 
 most perfect possible. The contemporaries of this 
 artist are not to be forgotten, although perhaps, on 
 the whole, inferior sculptors to him. Brunelleschi 
 executed a crucifix in wood, now in the Church of 
 Santa Maria Novella, which represents the suffering 
 Saviour, in a manner not to be looked on with indif- 
 ference. He afterwards engaged in architecture, and 
 built the much admired Church of Santa Maria del 
 Fiore. 
 
 Lorenzo Ghiberti, the other illustrious contempo- 
 rary of Donatello, has immortalized his memory by 
 the bronze gates of St. JoLn’s Baptistery, called 
 “the Gates of Paradise,” from Michael Angelo’s 
 compliment. This is a beautiful and laborious work. 
 But the criticism of Sir Joshua Reynolds was one 
 indisputable proof of that great man’s judgment in 
 the sister arts. His observation amounted to this, 
 that “Ghiberti’s landscape and buildings occupied 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 249 
 
 SO large a portion of the compartments, that the 
 figures remained but secondary objects, entirely 
 contrary to the principle of the ancients.” Ghi- 
 berti, likewise, made a statue in bronze of St. 
 Matthew, on the exterior of San Michele ; but his 
 talents were better suited to the elegance and deli- 
 cate finishing of smaller works. His St. Matthew 
 
 O 
 
 wants the severe phastity of the apostolic character, 
 and the head is inferior to those in the spandells of 
 his gates, the attitude also is afiected and the dra- 
 pery unnatural. 
 
 We may, without neglecting our great purpose, 
 (the principles of art), pass over the intermediate 
 names between Donatello and Michael Angelo, 
 as having added little to the value of modern sculp- 
 ture. 
 
 We now arrive at a great and venerable name, 
 without an equal in the three sister arts. 
 
 Michael Angelo, according to the testimony of 
 Vasari, (his biographer and kinsman), was de- 
 scended from the Counts of Canossa, a Lombard 
 family, possessed by conquest, and imperial gift, of 
 Lombardy, Tuscany and Lucca, and allied by mar- 
 riages to the blood of Charlemagne. 
 
 Certainly, if superior genius, enlightened by 
 poetic inspiration, regulated and purified by phi- 
 losophy and religion, can attest an illustrious de- 
 scent, few names are recorded in history whose pre- 
 tensions are better founded than his, of whom we 
 are speaking. But it is also possible that a noble 
 mind may be compatible with an humbler descent. 
 
250 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 and we know that the cultivation of mental powers, 
 moral virtues and knov»dedge are the results of for- 
 titude and perseverance ; and these were the quali- 
 ties by which Michael Angelo became the wonder 
 and example of his own and succeeding ages. His 
 early attachment to the arts at last overcame his 
 father’s prejudice against a profession which he 
 fancied disgraced the nobility of his family, and he 
 was placed under Dominico Ghirlandaio, the best 
 painter of his time. He afterwards studied in the 
 Museum of Ancient Sculpture, formed by Lorenzo di 
 Medici in the garden of St. Mark, where Bertoldo 
 the sculptor, a disciple of Donatello, was employed 
 by the magnificent founder of the school to instruct 
 the pupils. Here Michael Angelo’s diligence and 
 ability distinguished him above the other students, as 
 they had previously in Ghirlandaio’s school of paint- 
 ing. As Michael Angelo was patronized by Lorenzo, 
 and eat at his table, he became acquainted with Poli- 
 tian and Marsilius Ficinus, and with such of the 
 learned Greeks as had sought refuge in Italy previous 
 to the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. From 
 the society and conversation of these distinguished 
 philosophers and scholars, he could not fail to obtain 
 a general clue to the connection between ancient 
 literature and the arts, and a knowledge of the 
 passages in Vitruvius relating to proportions, geo- 
 metry, and perspective, together with portions 
 from those ancient physicians who had revived the 
 study of anatomy. Because conversations of these 
 kinds only were usual at the table of Lorenzo, and 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 251 
 
 as one of his darling endeavours was to raise a 
 great school of art in Florence, his friends and visi- 
 tors would naturally pay their court to him, by 
 communications of whatever was likely to forward 
 his patriotic wishes on this subject. 
 
 Michael Angelo commenced his career by various 
 works of sculpture, a sleeping Cupid, a Bacchus 
 and young Faun, the colossal David, and a group of 
 Pietee, or a sitting Madonna hearing the dead 
 Christ on her knees, which raised his fame above 
 all his modern predecessors in the art. Fortunately, 
 however, this success did not wholly overcome his 
 love for painting, of which there is a most beautiful 
 example in the Florentine gallery of a Holy Family, 
 with a number of small figures in the hack-ground 
 representing St. John baptizing the multitude in 
 the River Jordan. 
 
 Thus had the ceaseless study and unwearied 
 labours of Buonarotti raised him so high in public 
 estimation, that he was appointed to paint a por- 
 tion of the great hall in Florence, on which Leo- 
 nardi da Vinci was already employed ; and it is to a 
 competition of such talent as but rarely occurs in 
 the history of the world, that we are indebted for 
 that surprising composition, the Battle of the Stan- 
 dard, which Rubens imitated in four admirable 
 hunting scenes ; and it is most likely that it is to 
 the lesson Michael Angelo received from this de- 
 sign, that he was more particularly led to that study 
 of complicated grouping, in which his Last Judg- 
 ment is unrivalled. 
 
252 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Though this great man was afterwards employed 
 on works of sculpture, imposing and admirable from 
 their originality and power, yet his noblest produc- 
 tions are in colours. 
 
 The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the Last 
 Judgment, taken together as two portions of one 
 whole, are unparalleled in the history of art, ancient 
 or modern, in the vastness of the idea — the gran- 
 deur of the subject, comprehending the entire 
 scheme of divine revelation — the dignity of the 
 characters, among which, our reason is convinced, 
 are those which cannot be represented. Neverthe- 
 less, if the whole is considered with the great ele- 
 vation of mind which accompanies the observation 
 of visible objects, each part is so harmoniously 
 sublime and extraordinary, that the beholder believes 
 he is admitted to a vision of “ Light separated from 
 Darkness,” “ the Benediction of the Waters,” and 
 “ the Creation of the Human Race !” 
 
 The groups of patriarchal families, which border 
 the composition of the ceiling, are choice selections 
 of piety and love, in sentiments and forms unknown 
 to the ancients, and unattempted by the moderns 
 before his time ; the naked figures are new and 
 admirable — the prophets, sybils, and the four cor- 
 ners of the ceiling taken separately, will afford 
 matter for contemplation and study, not to be found 
 in whole galleries by other masters. 
 
 “ The Last Judgment” is indeed a consummate 
 work ; as sublime and terrific to all beholders in 
 relation to the most important interests of humanity. 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 253 
 
 as it was novel and astonishing to cotemporary 
 painters when first exposed to the public, and has 
 been since to all admirers of the noblest productions 
 of genius. This work has been so powerfully 
 described, and so admirably commented on by the 
 great professor of painting in this Academy, that 
 little more need be said at present. Perhaps, in 
 justice to the originality of conception, it may not 
 be impertinent to observe, that Lucas Signorelli, a 
 painter of great merit, some years before Michael 
 Angelo became eminent, painted a Last Judgment 
 in the cathedral of Orvieto — represented by a mul- 
 titude of figures standing upright on the fore-ground, 
 awaiting conveyance to their final destinations by 
 angels or demons in the air above them. Michael 
 Angelo’s composition is the actual accomplishment 
 of the Judgment. The Divine Son, in the midst 
 of saints and apostles, has the hooks opened by the 
 angels before him, from which every one is judged 
 according to his works. The Christian charities 
 and the deadly sins,* with the struggles of good 
 and evil, are most strikingly expressed! in charac- 
 teristic groups immediately below the angels, whilst 
 the dead are rising from their graves in the earth : 
 thus confining the ultimate horror of the scene to a 
 smaller space in the lower part of the altar-piece. 
 
 Michael Angelo’s two great compositions in the 
 Pauline Chapel must not be forgotten : they were, 
 it is true, the productions of his age, but they are 
 
 * 
 
 Plates XXXIII and XXXIV. 
 
 t See Plate XXXVII. 
 
254 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 the works of a mighty veteran. In the ‘‘ Conver- 
 sion of Saul,” the groups of angels surrounding the 
 descending Saviour, whilst calling his apostle, are 
 luxuriantly extatic, and offer an internal testimony 
 that Correggio’s ideas of the celestial ministry, in 
 his celebrated “ Nativity,*’ were probably awakened 
 by the sight of some sketches from this picture. 
 The terror and flight of the horses from the fallen 
 Saul bear evidence to the miracle. 
 
 The Martyrdom of St. Peter is a scene of solemn 
 gloom congenial with the occasion, where his Chris- 
 tian brethren descend with slow and sorrowing steps 
 into the excavation, in which the cross is fixed, to 
 receive the dying apostle’s benediction. 
 
 The character of Michael Angelo’s sculpture is 
 too lofty and original to be dismissed without farther 
 notice, although we must acknowledge it has been 
 criticised with severity, because it rarely possesses 
 the chaste simplicity of Grecian art. True ; but 
 although Michael Angelo lived long, he did not 
 live long enough to give absolute perfection to all his 
 works ; yet the pensive sitting figure of Lorenzo di 
 Medicis, in the Medici Chapel, is not without this 
 charm ; and the Madonna and Child on the north 
 side of the same chapel is simple, and is endowed 
 with a sentiment of maternal aflfection never found 
 in the Greek sculpture, but frequently in the works 
 of this artist, particularly in his paintings, and that 
 of the most tender kind. 
 
 The recumbent statues in the monument of Julian 
 di Medicis in the same chapel, of Daybreak or 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 ^55 
 
 Dawn, and Night, are grand and mysterious ; the 
 characters and forms bespeak the same mighty mind 
 and hand evident throughout the Ceiling of the 
 Sistine Chapel, and Last Judgment. 
 
 The monument of Julius the Second, according 
 to Michael Angelo’s sketch, was magnificently 
 conceived, and characteristic of this haughty pon- 
 tiff ; hut the composition was reduced to one quarter 
 of the first intention by succeeding popes, and the 
 statues were executed by inferior sculptors, except- 
 ing Moses. Two slaves, in the original design, 
 were done in marble ; these are now in the Louvre, 
 admired for disposition and anatomical perfection. 
 
 The character and works of Michael Angelo 
 have been dwelt on at greater length, because, as 
 his mental and bodily powers continued far beyond 
 the usual date of human life, his diligence attained 
 to so much greater perfection in the principles of 
 art. Anatomy — the motion and perspective of the 
 figure — the complication, gTandeur and harmony of 
 his grouping, with the advantages and facility of 
 execution in painting and sculpture, besides his 
 mathematical and mechanical attainments in archi- 
 tecture and building, which, together with the many 
 and prodigious works he accomplished, demonstrate 
 how greatly he contributed to the restoration of 
 art. 
 
 After the works of the great man just mentioned, 
 John of Bologna’s “ Venus coming from the Bath,” 
 both standing and kneeling, are remarkable for 
 delicacy and grace. His Mercury rising to fly is 
 
256 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 energetic and original ; his groups are harmoniously 
 in catenated. 
 
 Benvenuto Cellini deserves praise for his group 
 of Perseus and Medusa, but the succeeding sculp- 
 tors in the seventeenth century must be looked on 
 as having debased, rather than contributed to the 
 restoration of art. Even Bernini, whose reputation 
 was so great in his time, can be praised only for his 
 Apollo and Daphne, and for the ease and nature of 
 his portraits. His larger works are remarkable 
 for presuming airs, affected grace, and unmeaning 
 flutter. 
 
 Towards the close of the seventeenth century, 
 however, better knowledge of principles and science, 
 more attention to ideal beauty, and more careful 
 and profound study of nature, raised the productions 
 of this art again to a promise of future success, 
 unknown since the times of ancient Greece. 
 
 By this sketch it will be seen, that the arts rose 
 to the highest elevation in the free states of Greece 
 — they were destroyed and buried by the inroads of 
 barbarism and ignorance — and that they were re- 
 stored in the free states of Italy by the same means 
 which gave them birth, and reared them to maturity 
 in their native land. 
 
 Painting and sculpture had been practised and 
 generally admired in Italy from the eleventh cen- 
 tury ; but at that time they were without deter- 
 mined proportions for the human figure ; without 
 anatomy, perspective, or the principles of motion. 
 
 In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 257 
 
 increasing power of ttie Turks had reduced the 
 eastern empire to little more than the city of Con- 
 stantinople, when such of the learned Greeks as 
 dreaded the dominion of this barbarous people 
 sought shelter in Italy, and brought with them 
 copies of the ancient classics in science and polite 
 literature, of which, as they were perfect masters 
 themselves in their own language, they communi- 
 cated to the Italians, in Venice, Rome, and Flo- 
 rence. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci at this time made studies of 
 anatomy from the horse, and afterwards a complete 
 series of anatomical designs from the human subject, 
 assisted in the dissections by the celebrated anato- 
 mist Marc Antonio della Torre. Rather before 
 this time, Michael Angelo engaged in a most dili- 
 gent course of this study. Both those great men 
 were most likely encouraged to undertake a careful 
 application to this science, by the publication of 
 John Guinter of Anderon, one of the masters of 
 Vesalius, in the year 1536, “the only anatomist 
 before Vesalius, who gives an accurate and full 
 description of the muscles.” 
 
 Leon Baptista Alberti had, some years before, 
 found the necessity of geometrical knowledge in 
 painting, which Paolo Uccello pursued until he 
 brought perspective to a perfection that bewitched 
 several of his cotemporaries. In justice to the 
 ancients, however, it must be acknowledged an im- 
 provement only (though an exceedingly valuable 
 one) on Euclid’s optics. 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 The use of perspective in fore-shortening the 
 human figure has given a marvellous grandeur and 
 truth to the groups of Michael Angelo. A drawing 
 by this great master is extant of a figure measured 
 in the same manner as Vitruvius informs us was 
 practised by the Greeks, and which has since been 
 generally used. 
 
 Of all the advantages which the sister arts derived 
 from the restoration of Greek literature, nothing 
 seems more extraordinary than the following coin- 
 cidence, and few circumstances relating to the subject 
 deserve a more serious attention. 
 
 Previous to the time of Phidias, the Grecian 
 sculpture, both gods and men, had the same ordi- 
 nary outline of body, limbs, and countenance usually 
 found in common nature ; and it has been remarked, 
 the ancient statue of Minerva in the Villa Albani 
 was characterized as the goddess of wisdom, by an 
 aged countenance. 
 
 Phidias, however, began the reformation. He 
 gave dignity to Jupiter from Homer’s description. 
 Succeeding artists continued to refine and elevate 
 the different orders of divinity, until each personage 
 of the mythology received the appointed portion 
 of ideal beauty from selected nature and abstracted 
 reasoning. 
 
 We must remember that Phidias and Plato were 
 nearly cotemporaries ; and considering the astonish- 
 ing influence of this philosopher’s discourses and 
 writings, particularly concerning the power of the 
 soul’s energies in the configuration of the countenance 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 ^59 
 
 and person, according to established habits of virtue 
 or vice — his distinction of the spiritual orders — 
 his accurate investigation of the good, the perfect, 
 and the beautiful itself — when we consider the high 
 and extensive veneration in which these discourses 
 were held, little doubt can be entertained of their 
 influence in directing the artist’s mind in his choice 
 of subjects, and the expression of qualities for the 
 perfection of beauty. 
 
 The coincidence, then, alluded to above, was 
 that, in the very zenith of the restoration of the 
 art, in the time of Michael Angelo, Leonardo dsu 
 Vinci, and Raphael, the magnificent Lorenzo di 
 Medici formed a society of Platonic philosophers, 
 consisting of the most celebrated scholars of his 
 time and country, and caused the Philosopher’s 
 dialogues to be translated and commented on by 
 Marsilius Ficinus ; and as this work was highly 
 esteemed by the Medici family, the pontiffs Leo the 
 Tenth, Clement the Seventh, and Julius the Third, 
 as well as by the learned and ingenious generally, 
 there can be as little doubt that Plato’s reasoning 
 on the beautiful and its characteristics, supplied as 
 happy assistance in the determination of sublime 
 and spiritual characters to the restorers of art 
 in Italy, as it had done to the ancient Greek 
 artists. 
 
 As a brief sketch has been offered of the restora- 
 tion of art, and some of the circumstances noticed 
 which contributed to this end, the following question 
 naturally presents itself: from what complication 
 
260 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 of causes did literature and the arts remain in such 
 a state of concealment and darkness for the long 
 period of a thousand years, from the fifth to the 
 fifteenth century ? 
 
 Though the answer to this question is sufficiently 
 given in the general history of the times, it is 
 so much interwoven with the nature of our subject, 
 that it may not appear impertinent to introduce an 
 illustrative paragraph, to preserve the connection 
 of argument. 
 
 Whilst the northern people over-ran Europe in 
 the seventh century, the Saracens invaded the east, 
 and established themselves in Egypt, Persia, and 
 a portion of Greece, where they soon became sen- 
 sible of the advantages that Christians derived 
 from science and letters, particularly in commerce 
 and medicine. 
 
 Two successive Saracen princes, Haroun A1 
 Raschid and A1 Mammon, to obtain the same 
 benefits for themselves and their subjects, employed 
 Syrian Christians to translate the Greek authors of 
 highest reputation into the Arabic language, after 
 which they caused the original MSS. to be burnt ; 
 thus endeavouring to secure all the philosophy, 
 mathematics, medicine, anatomy, geography, history, 
 and poetry they found among the conquered people, 
 and by the destruction of the MSS. to reduce the 
 Greeks to the same state of ignorance in which 
 they were themselves previously involved. This 
 conduct of the Saracens, as they intended, deprived 
 the Christians of a considerable portion of the 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 261 
 
 remaining light, which former calamity and destruc- 
 tion had spared. Greek authors translated by 
 Syrians into Arabic, that is to say, from one lan- 
 guage foreign to the translators, into another equally 
 foreign, produced copies abounding in mistakes, 
 and, wherever the subject was abstruse, misconcep- 
 tion or ignorance frequently rendered the passage 
 unintelligible. In this state of things, the conquests 
 of the Saracens had enabled them to found univer- 
 sities in Europe and Asia, in which they alone 
 assumed the privilege of instruction. The confusion 
 and perversion the ancient authors had suffered by 
 translation, rendered philosophy the instrument of 
 the Koran, and infected Christianity with its poison 
 far and wide. Whilst science remained torpid, 
 painting and sculpture ceased to be practised, as 
 the representation of the human figure was for- 
 bidden by the Mohammedan law ; and architec- 
 ture as practised by the Arabians and Saracens 
 became an imitation, in the larger masses and 
 columns, of the declining architecture of the lower 
 empire, with capitals formed of unmeaning fiourishes, 
 or dug into numerous small cavities, because that 
 was more easily effected by unskilful workmen 
 than a decoration of foliage, from which that style 
 improperly called Gothic is believed to have origi- 
 nated in Europe. 
 
 Thus were the arts and their principles lost for 
 so long a period, in addition to the other miseries 
 of a darkened and afflicted world, until providen- 
 tially restored in the fifteenth century by men es- 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 262 
 
 pecially endowed, to whose genius and indefatigable 
 labours we must always look with respect and grati- 
 tude. 
 
 In considering the impediments that prevented 
 an earlier manifestation of the progress of modern 
 art, and which were (by some) believed to be insur- 
 mountable, the following opinion, prevalent among 
 the classical admirers of art previous to the time of 
 Winckleman and afterwards, deserves particular 
 notice, which was, that the Christian religion 
 afforded subjects less favourable to the painter or 
 sculptor than the Pagan mythology ; and although 
 we hope this prejudice is diminished, yet it is not so 
 entirely passed away as to render an inquiry into 
 its merits wholly useless. We will first, therefore, 
 consider the question in respect to beauty ; next, in 
 respect to the moral systems ; and, lastly, we will 
 consider what has been done, in relation to what is 
 possible to be done. 
 
 In the first place, the ancient theory of personal 
 beauty is, that it consists in a body and limbs ac- 
 commodated to perform the various functions and 
 offices of life, under the government of the best 
 principles of intelligence and will ; in this defini- 
 tion the generality of moderns agree with the an- 
 cients. . Here, then, we see that the artist, is equally 
 bound by the modern, as by the ancient practice, to 
 make himself acquainted by physiological inquiry 
 and philosophical reasoning, with the most perfect 
 union of forms and sentiment for his studies. 
 
 Beauty is to bo considered as pertaining to two 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 263 
 
 orders of creation — the supernatural and the natural. 
 In the Pagan mythology, the supernatural order 
 consists of superior and inferior divinities, beatified 
 heroes, and purified spirits. These have been re- 
 presented by the ancients with a grandeur, perfec- 
 tion, and distinctness of character, by which we as 
 immediately recognize Jupiter from Hercules or 
 Mercury, as we distinguish Cicero from Demos- 
 thenes, or Socrates from Zeno. The most elevated 
 orders are more dignified in their characters, forms 
 and attitudes, whilst the younger deities are more 
 remarkable for beauty in the bloom of youth, and a 
 corresponding lightness of figure and sprightliness 
 of action ; to these might be added an enumeration 
 of distinctions both celestial and terrestrial. 
 
 But the arts of design may exert their utmost 
 efforts, could they even call the genius of Phidias 
 and the grace of Praxitiles to employ their most 
 exalted conceptions in the most lively execution, 
 without the reasonable expectation of being per- 
 fectly satisfied with their own productions, if em- 
 ployed on the personages and events of divine 
 revelation. 
 
 The gradations of celestial power and beauty in 
 the orders of angels and archangels, the grandeur 
 and inspiration of prophets, according to the differ- 
 ence of mission, and the sanctity of apostles, have 
 produced examples of grace, beauty, and grandeur 
 of character, original in themselves, and not to he 
 found in such variety among the remains of anti- 
 
.264 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 quity, as in works by the restorers of art in the fif- 
 teenth century. 
 
 If we compare the moral systems of Paganism and 
 Christianity, we cannot fail to wonder that society 
 was not exterminated in an empire which sacrificed 
 
 20.000 gladiators every year, on the amphitheatres 
 for public diversion. This is but one instance of 
 the public character of the Romans. Even the 
 Athenians, so justly admired for arts and letters, 
 in their moral habits tolerated the most frightful 
 offences. Besides that contradiction to the love of 
 liberty in which they defended their country against 
 foreign invaders, that at the time Athens contained 
 
 12.000 free citizens, it contained also 120,000 
 slaves, or ten slaves to every free citizen. 
 
 But enough of this. We will console ourselves 
 with the cheering reflection, that some sense of 
 piety and mutual duty was kept alive by the spirit 
 of philosophy, under Pagan systems, and felicitate 
 ourselves upon the enjoyment of that Perfect Dis- 
 pensation which enjoins a moral practice to secure 
 the happiness of all — allowing an extent of political 
 freedom beneficial to all, at the same time that it 
 guards the just rights of every one — which protects 
 knowledge and science, and bestows on the arts a 
 moral purity and a perfection of sentiment, arising 
 from the various duties and charities of Christianity, 
 not to be found under any other code. These advan- 
 tages were well understood by Leonardo da Vinci, 
 Raphael and Michael Angelo. The Holy Families 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 265 
 
 only, by these great masters, would form a gallery 
 of the greatest beauty — the most tender and inter- 
 esting sentiment, totally unlike any ancient work, 
 and entirely novel in subject, composition and cha- 
 racter. The same may be said of those noble com- 
 positions by Raphael, the Cartoons, which for ex- 
 pression of divine and exalted character, grand and 
 extraordinary grouping, may be compared with the 
 noblest remains of ancient art. 
 
 Michael Angelo’s merits have been frequently 
 and ably insisted on by your excellent professor of 
 painting : but we may be still permitted to observe, 
 that in the Cappella Sistini, the sublimity of sub- 
 jects and characters, the several patriarchal groups 
 of incomparable interest and beauty, all original, 
 and unlike any production of antiquity, with that 
 wonderful altar-piece of the Last Judgment, form 
 together a labour that seems scarcely the work of 
 man, and stands without a rival in ancient or mo- 
 dern art. 
 
 When we consider what was done by the restorers 
 of art in the fifteenth century, what incredible im- 
 provements in a comparatively few years, and re- 
 member that these works are still before us for our 
 instruction, and that we beside possess the invalu- 
 able principles and rules used by those distinguished 
 persons for conducting their works — and in addi- 
 tion to these advantages, great numbers of the 
 finest examples of ancient art, including the Hercu- 
 laneum collection of paintings and the Greek painted 
 vases, hidden in the earth when Raphael and 
 
266 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 Michael Angelo lived in Italy, have since been ex- 
 tracted from the oblivion in which they lay, and 
 have shed additional light on the arts of design, — 
 with these assistances from ancient art and ancient 
 wisdom, in addition to the beautiful and novel 
 works of the fifteenth century, and the continual 
 improvements in every branch of science, which 
 give much more facility to labour, shall we not say 
 with Dr. Young, in his “ Essay on Composition,” 
 that considering all these advantages of principles 
 from so many preceding ages, with the innumerable 
 works of genius by which they are illustrated and 
 we are instructed, — that we are properly the an- 
 cients, because these our mental riches are more 
 abundant than have ever been enjoyed before, and 
 possess us with advantages the ancients had not ? 
 We can employ our imaginations in the sister arts, 
 on the sublime, the heroic, the severely beautiful 
 personages and events of the venerable Homer and 
 Hesiod’s poems ; we may venture on the terrific or 
 afflicting scenes of the Greek tragedians ; or we 
 may relax our fancy with the innocent simplicity 
 of the pastoral poets ; but we have subjects also, 
 which, although unknown to the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans, will employ the greatest powers with the 
 greatest advantage to the best faculties and disposi- 
 tions of man, to his happiness both present and 
 future. It will be at once understood that the book 
 which supplies these subjects is the Holy Bible. 
 
 Some have thought, that so many compositions 
 have already been made, that nothing new can now 
 
MODERN SCULPTURE. 267 
 
 be found in it for painting or sculpture ; but it 
 should be remembered that the compositions have 
 heen little more than selections from the common 
 historical subjects, with few or none from the Pro- 
 phecies and Psalms, which offer an abundance of 
 the most sublime and splendid, as well as most 
 simple and affecting subjects for design. Besides, 
 when we consider that every subject may be repre- 
 sented in three striking points of time, the com- 
 mencement of an action, the heat of the action, and 
 the conclusion — and also that every action may he 
 represented in four or five different manners, espe- 
 cially if it comprehends several figures — under all 
 these circumstances, we may then safely afiirm, 
 without danger of exaggeration, that many hundred 
 subjects are to be found in the sacred writings, 
 which, being ably designed, would be new to the 
 beholder. 
 
 In the number of original subjects, of the noblest 
 class, derived from revelation, we must remember 
 the immortal poem of “Paradise Lost,” by our 
 countryman John Milton ; concerning which Dry- 
 den wrote familiarly to the Earl of Dorset: — “ This 
 man has out-cut us all, and the ancients too.” A 
 learned Italian (the Marquis Manto) said of the 
 author, in a Latin distich, that “ Greece boasted 
 her Meonides, Rome her Virgil, and England her 
 Milton, equal to both.” Dr. Johnson, to whom we 
 are indebted for the inimitable Preface to Shak- 
 speare, has also done justice to the genius of Milton, 
 and, though his adversary in religious and political 
 
268 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 opinions, has honestly and magnanimously pronounc- 
 ed an encomium on the Paradise Lost, not cursorily 
 and generally, but particularly ; accompanied by 
 reasons on each occasion, which flash conviction on 
 the mind of the reader, and which, by sagacity of 
 observation and power of expression, evince the 
 most extraordinary discrimination of excellence, and 
 of preference, ever oficred to the epic muse. 
 
 And yet, it is to he believed, that this Poet, 
 abounding in subjects and characters of the most 
 extraordinary kind, has been almost entirely neg- 
 lected in the Arts of his own country, whilst his 
 merits have been vindicated and illustrated by the 
 liberal mind and genius of a foreigner ! * 
 
 In future, let us, conscious of the means we pos- 
 sess, not he negligent in exerting ourselves for pos- 
 terity in the same proportion as we feel our own 
 obligations to former ages. 
 
 * Fuseli’s “ Milton Gallery.” Several of the pictures were 
 engraved for Du Roveray’s edition of “ Milton’s Paradise Lost,” 
 1802 . Westall and Martin have, since that period, illustrated the 
 immortal work. 
 
TWO ADDRESSES 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 THE ROYAL ACADEMY 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 THOMAS BANKS, K.A. 1805, 
 
 AND ON 
 
 ANTONIO CANOVA, MAKQUIS OF ISCHIA 
 
 WHO DIED AT VENICE OCTOBER 1822. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN FLAXMAN. 
 
 NOW FIRST PUBLISHED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT. 
 
AN ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS, 
 
 SCULPTOR. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 It is with feelings of deep regret that I address 
 you and the several distinguished Members of the 
 Royal Academy this evening. One whose virtues 
 and talents have been familiar to me for 40 years, has 
 just been separated from this Institution for ever : 
 such is the condition of humanity, whether we are 
 allied by blood or affection, endeared by rare worth 
 or eminent endowments. Time and Death burst the 
 bonds and tear the parties from each other, while 
 this mortal scene of change and fluctuation still 
 continues. A little space shews the father followed 
 by the son and grandson, he again by his children, 
 until all are swallowed in the gulph of eternity ; 
 hence the frequent lamentations on the shortness of 
 life. But let us beware we do not charge on Infinite 
 goodness and wisdom, that which properly belongs to 
 the misapprehension of man : we are assured, on the 
 best authority, that this world is only a state of trial 
 preparatory to a more perfect final existence in hap- 
 
AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 272 
 
 piness or punishment. If then the term of human life 
 is sufficient by mis-application to load ourselves v.dth 
 misery, or by virtue to prepare for everlasting bliss, 
 we ought to he well contented with the dispensations 
 of Providence, and go on cheerfully towards the 
 better prospect before us. Even in the progress of 
 human knowledge the length of life seems better 
 suited to great productions than we are aware of at 
 the first view, for the labours of Aristotle, Bacon, 
 Newton, and other luminaries of science, might in- 
 cline us to believe that each of them had lived some 
 ages, if we did not know how many years old they 
 were at the time of their decease. In the arts of 
 design, the works of Michael Angelo in painting, 
 sculpture and architecture, seem more than could 
 possibly be performed during the lives of two or 
 three men, and some of the Greek sculpture which 
 we admire and imitate at this day, seems the accu- 
 mulated perfection of centuries, rather than the pro- 
 duction of individual men ; thus, although human 
 life may appear short when considered in some 
 points of view, yet the industrious and energetic 
 have left works which evince the excellence and 
 extent of the mind, at the same time that they 
 secure the respect and affection of posterity. 
 
 The worthy man of whom we propose to speak, 
 deserves well to be placed in this class, — ^his best 
 works may be considered as standard in sentiment 
 and execution j his memory, therefore, deserves the 
 respect of this Society, and a share of public grati- 
 tude. But in proceeding, I shall quote the follow- 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 273 
 
 ing passage from Mr. Rollin’s Introduction to the 
 Arts and Sciences, in which he describes the rank 
 and value of this kind of merit, — “ The history of 
 arts and sciences, and of the persons who have most 
 eminently distinguished themselves by them, to 
 speak properly, is the history of the human genius, 
 which in some sense does not give place to that of 
 princes and heroes, whom common opinion places in 
 the highest degree of elevation and glory. I do not 
 intend, by speaking in this manner, to strike at the 
 difference of rank and condition, nor to confound or 
 level the order which God himself has instituted 
 amongst men. He has placed princes, kings, and 
 rulers of states over our heads, with whom he has 
 deposited his authority, and after them generals of 
 armies, ministers, magistrates, and all those with 
 whom the sovereign divides the cares of govern- 
 ment ; the honours paid to them, and the pre- 
 eminence they possess, are no usurpation on their 
 side. Divine Providence itself has assigned them 
 their high stations, and demands submission, obedi- 
 ence and respect for those that sit in his place. 
 
 “ But there is also another order of things, and if 
 I may be permitted to say so, another disposition of 
 the same Providence, which, without regard to the 
 first kinds of greatness I have mentioned, establishes 
 quite a different species of eminence, in which dis- 
 tinction arises neither from birth, riches, authority, 
 nor elevation of place, but from merit and know- 
 ledge alone. It is the same providence that regu- 
 lates rank also of this kind, by the free and entirely 
 
 T 
 
AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 274 
 
 voluntary dispensation of the talents of the mind, 
 which it distributes in what proportion, and to 
 whom it pleases, without any regard to the quality 
 or nobility of the person. It forms, from the as- 
 semblage of learned of all kinds, a new species of 
 empire, infinitely more extensive than all others, 
 which takes in all times and nations, without regard 
 to age, sex, condition or climate ; here the plebeian 
 finds himself on a level with the nobleman, the sub- 
 ject with the prince, nay, often his superior.” 
 
 As the foregoing quotation gives a fair compara- 
 tive view of that class of character to which Mr. 
 Banks belongs, so it affords a just appreciation of 
 the following particulars of his life and works. 
 
 Thomas Banks was born Dec. 29, 1735 ; at the 
 age of 15 he was placed under Mr. Barlow, an 
 ornament carver, who lived near the late Mr. Peter 
 Scheemaker, the sculptor. Young Banks, by means 
 of his acquaintance with Mr. Scheemaker’s pupils, 
 obtained a sight of the studies, and was so struck 
 with the collection of models and casts, that he de- 
 termined to become a sculptor also, and notwith- 
 standing he was constantly employed from 6 o’clock 
 in the morning till 8 at night for Mr. Barlow ; such 
 was his enthusiasm, that having obtained permission, 
 he drew or modelled in Mr. Scheemaker’s study 
 every evening, from 8 till 10 or 11. Having com- 
 pleted his time with Mr. Barlow ; at the age of 23 
 he began his studies from the life at the Academy 
 in St. Martin’s Lane, and his determination to follow 
 sculpture was strengthened by the premiums offered 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 27*5 
 
 in the Society for the encouragement of arts, manu- 
 factures, and commerce ; three of these rewards he 
 obtained — for a basso-relievo of the death of Epa- 
 minondas, in Portland stone ; another, of Hector’s 
 body redeemed, in marble, and a figure of Prome- 
 theus with the vulture, in clay, the size of life ; as 
 far as memory may be depended on, this figure was 
 boldly conceived, the composition was harmonious 
 and compact, the character was natural, and in the 
 whole it was a fair earnest of his future productions. 
 
 In 1770 he received the gold medal of the Royal 
 Academy for a basso relievo of the rape of Proser- 
 pine, and in consequence was sent to Rome, at the 
 Academy’s expense, in 177^* He studied in Italy seven 
 years, three years on the Academy’s account and four 
 years on his own ; during this time he executed a 
 basso-relievo in marble, of the death of Germanicus, 
 now in the possession of Thomas Coke, Esq., of 
 Holkham ; another of Caractacus before Claudius, 
 now at Stowe ; another basso-relievo in plaister, of 
 Thetis rising to comfort Achilles ; and the statue of 
 a Cupid four feet and a half high : upon the three 
 last mentioned works I shall presently trouble you 
 with some further observations. In 1779 he re- 
 turned to England, finished the statue of Cupid, 
 and not being much employed, he embarked for 
 Petershurgh in I78I, and took this statue with him, 
 which was purchased by the Empress Catherine for 
 £380. sterling, and placed in a grotto in the gar- 
 dens of Czarscogelo. 
 
 In 1782 he returned from Russia, his merit now 
 
 T 2 
 
AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 276 
 
 began to be felt and acknowledged, he was immedi- 
 ately engaged in Bishop Newton’s monument for 
 Bow Church in the city, and to the honour of Mr. 
 Dance, the architect, he strongly recommended 
 Mr. Banks to execute the monument of Sir Eyre 
 Coote, for Westminster Abbey, in which he was 
 accordingly employed by the East India Company. 
 About this time he produced his statue of Achilles 
 in the Royal Exhibition, which besides receiving 
 the general approbation of the public, was so much 
 admired by the Academy, that the Artist was elected 
 an Associate. Some years after, when chosen an 
 Academician, he presented to the Institution that 
 fine statue of the Falling Giant which is placed in 
 the Council Room. 
 
 It is not the present intention to relate a complete 
 chronological catalogue of all this industrious man’s 
 labours, such a collection would be as difficult to 
 ascertain, as it would be tedious and unintelligible 
 in the recital, unless we could refer to a repository 
 present, for drawings, or models, of the several works. 
 
 It will be more to the present purpose that we 
 should point out his most celebrated performances 
 and their situations, that the hearer may see and 
 admire them at his own leisure. 
 
 After those already mentioned I shall add the 
 following — 
 
 Shakspeare between Painting and Poetry, a co- 
 lossal alto-relievo, on the Shakspeare Gallery in 
 Pall Mall. The Trophies on the back front of 
 Y' Somerset House. The Monument of Miss Boothby 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 
 
 277 
 
 at Ashburne, in Derbyshire; this is a beautiful 
 statue of a girl reposing on a bed. A Monument 
 to Mrs. Petree, in Lewisham Church, Kent ; it is 
 a large basso-relievo of the lady dying, supported 
 by Faith, and attended by Hope and Charity, her 
 son sits by absorbed in grief; the marble was exhi- 
 bited in the Royal Academy, I788. The statue of 
 Lord Cornwallis, sent to Madras, the model of 
 which is in Mr. Banks* study. The National 
 Monument of Captain Burgess, in St. Paul’s Cathe- 
 dral; the Captain is represented receiving a sword 
 from Victory ; the pedestal is adorned with naval 
 trophies and figures of captives. 
 
 In private life Mr. Banks* moral conduct was 
 exemplary ; he was a good and beneficent son, an 
 excellent husband, a kind and gentle master, faith- 
 ful and just in all his engagements ; he was modest 
 concerning his own merits, and generous in his 
 praise of others, wherever they appeared to deserve 
 commendation ; he freely gave professional advice 
 and instruction to beginners in the arts, and thought 
 on all occasions, that forming and directing the 
 rising generation in the right way, was a duty of 
 too much importance ever to be neglected. As a 
 Member of this Academy he was active and inde- 
 pendent, he obeyed its laws, attended diligently in 
 its offices, and supported its rights, while his emi- 
 nent qualifications made him a perfect judge of its 
 true interests, and his integrity promoted them to 
 the utmost of his power. 
 
 Such was the Academician whom this Institution 
 
278 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 has lost, and when the character of the man, and 
 the merits of the artist are considered, it must ap- 
 pear, that it will be no easy task worthily to fill up 
 the vacancy. 
 
 But in order to form a just estimate of the benefit 
 which sculpture has derived from his talents in 
 England, it will he necessary to take a cursory view 
 of this art in Europe previous to the time when 
 Mr. Banks’ studies commenced, and to observe its 
 progress with a little more accuracy in our own 
 country. 
 
 In Rome, (the centre from which the arts have 
 emanated for centuries past,) about 150 years since, 
 the taste of Bernini, the Neapolitan Sculptor, infected 
 and prevailed over the Florentine and Roman schools. 
 He had studied painting, and seems to have been 
 enamoured with the works of Correggio, who, to 
 avoid the dryness of his master, Andrea Mantegna, 
 gave prodigious flow to the lines of his figures, and 
 redundance to his draperies ; of which Bernini’s sta- 
 tues are only caricatures totally devoid of the painter’s 
 extatic grace and sentiment. Before he was 20 years 
 old, he not only composed but completed a marble 
 group, the size of nature, of Apollo and Daphne, at the 
 moment the nymph is changing into a Laurel tree ; 
 the delicate characters of the figures, the sprightly 
 expression, the smooth finish of the material and 
 the light execution of the foliage, so captivated the 
 public taste, that M. Angelo was forgotten, the 
 antique statues disregarded, and nothing looked on 
 with delight, that was not produced by the new 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 279 
 
 favourite. It is true, Bernini shewed respectable 
 talents in the group above mentioned, and had he 
 continued to select and study nature with diligence, 
 he might have been a most valuable artist ; but sud- 
 den success prevented him, and he never improved ; 
 the immense works, crowded on him made him 
 spurn all example, and consider only how he might 
 send out his models and designs most speedily. 
 The attitudes of his figures are much twisted, the 
 heads turned with a meretricious grace, the counte- 
 nances simper affectedly, or are deformed by low 
 passions ; the poor and vulgar limbs and bodies are 
 loaded with draperies of such protruding or flying 
 folds, as equally expose the unskilfulness of the 
 artist and the solidity of the material on which he 
 worked ; his groups have an unmeaning connection, 
 and his basso-relievos are filled up with buildings 
 in perspective, clouds, water, diminished figures, 
 and attempts to represent such aerial effects, as 
 break down the boundaries of painting and sculp- 
 ture, and confound the two arts. Pope Urban the 
 Eighth was patron of this Artist, and so passion- 
 ately did he admire and promote his works, that not 
 contented with spending immense sums upon them, 
 he took the ancient bronze ornaments from the 
 roof in the portico of the Pantheon, to the amount 
 of 186,000 pounds for Bernini to cast his bizarre and 
 childish baldequin for St. Peter’s, and then published 
 their mutual shame in a boasting Latin inscription, 
 affixed to the building he had robbed so shamefully. 
 Thus the Pope and the Sculptor carried all before 
 
S80 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 them in their time, and sent out a baleful influence, 
 which corrupted public taste for upwards of one 
 ' hundred years afterwards. 
 
 Mocho, Bolgio, Quesnoy, (commonly called 
 Flamingo,) and the inferior Sculptors of the time, 
 adopted the popular taste, which their scholars con- 
 tinued, and its last puny and insipid efforts are to 
 be seen in the Statues at the Fountain of Trevi, and 
 monument of Benedict the Fourteenth, executed by 
 Bracci and Sibylla, in St. Peter’s Church, about 
 fifty years since. 
 
 Nearly the same taste in the arts of design, which 
 prevailed in Italy, prevailed also in France, as the 
 latter country was supplied with art, or artists, from 
 the former ; thus when Louis the Fourteenth 
 invited Bernini to come into France, Bernini an- 
 swered, ‘‘ that he had no need of him, whilst he 
 had such a sculptor as Puget.” PugePs works 
 were somewhat more dry and detailed than Ber- 
 nini’s; Gerardon’s (his contemporary) were more 
 heavy ; but they were all of the same school. The 
 opinion of Bernini confirmed the Monarch, and the 
 same bad taste was cultivated in France with as 
 much zeal as it was fostered in Italy, as we see by 
 the works of Bouchardon, Boucher, &c. who con- 
 tinued it to the same time which extinguished its 
 last feeble efforts in both countries. 
 
 Spain, Germany, and the other nations of Europe 
 receiving their supplies of fine art from the two 
 countries above mentioned, were consequently in- 
 fluenced by the same motives and trammelled in the 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 281 
 
 same taste, which was at this period become so 
 degraded, as to be at the point of utter dissolution, 
 had not some controlling circumstances arisen 
 which assisted in its revival. 
 
 The King of Naples had, in part, cleared the 
 ruins of Herculaneum, and Pompeii which exposed 
 to view streets, dwelling houses, temples, theatres, 
 baths, and public places, nearly in the same state as 
 when they were inhabited I7OO years before 5 these 
 discoveries brought back to the light of day, as it 
 were by miracle, 7OO ancient paintings, and a pro- 
 digious number of bronze statues and busts, of the 
 finest Greek sculpture. 
 
 The success of these discoveries, and the interest 
 they exited, stimulated the Popes, Roman nobility, 
 and Antiquarians, to make excavations wherever 
 there was a probability their labours would be re- 
 warded. These researches fortunately recovered 
 from oblivion innumerable pieces of exquisite sculp- 
 ture ; many of the most precious formed the Cle- 
 mentine Museum : many enriched the Borghese, 
 Albano, and other collections ; several passed into 
 Germany, Holland, Sweden, Russia, France, and 
 Spain. England was not insensible to the oppor- 
 tunity, and several intelligent and spirited indi- 
 viduals profited by this profusion of ancient trea- 
 sure. Such acquisitions roused attention from all 
 quarters ; they were eagerly visited, greedily exa- 
 mined, dissertations and memoirs were written 
 concerning them, and systematic enquiries into 
 their principles, published. 
 
282 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 During all this research and analysis, frequent 
 comparisons were made with the modern works, the 
 remains of the bad taste above mentioned, and 
 which were found so deficient in every excellence, 
 that they were universally abandoned to contempt. 
 The interested antiquarian with sordid cruelty, and 
 to raise the price of his own commodity, whispered, 
 that modern talents were unequal to the meanest of 
 these productions, and sometimes he found a sense- 
 less purchaser, whose only measure of intelligence 
 was the abundance of his wealth ; who would pay 
 dearly enough for any thing that was called ancient, 
 to he received into the number of the conoscenti 
 and join in the outcry against modern ability. 
 
 All this however brought in a new and severer 
 mode of study among the artists, with a more dili- 
 gent attention to nature and the antique, and has 
 enabled some of them to exhibit performances much 
 more on a level with the merit of those works, 
 than the insensible can feel or the interested choose 
 to own. 
 
 Having marked these phenomena in the hemis- 
 phere of art, we should now turn our thoughts more 
 particularly to England, and see in what manner 
 our own country was alfected by their influence. 
 
 Previous to the Reformation, although Italian 
 artists were employed in ornamenting our churches 
 and tombs, yet in the old histories, records, and 
 contracts of public buildings, there are abundant 
 names of English painters and sculptors, who appear 
 to have been considered able masters in their time, ’ 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 283 
 
 perhaps not inferior to their Italian fellow workmen. 
 But after Henry the Eighth’s separation from the 
 Church of Rome, Elizabeth, proceeding in the 
 Reformation, destroyed the pictures and images in 
 the churches ; strictly forbidding any thing of the 
 kind to be admitted in future, under the severest 
 penalties, as being Catholic and idolatrous. This 
 entirely prevented the exercise of historical paint- 
 ing, or sculpture in this country ; at the very time 
 Raphael and Michael Angelo had brought those 
 arts into the highest estimation on the Continent. 
 The rebellion in 1643 completed what the Reforma- 
 tion had begun ; the fanatics defaced whatever they 
 could, that the former inquisition had spared, they 
 broke painted windows and tombs, carried away 
 the monumental brass, and church plate, crying, 
 “ Cursed be he, that doeth the work of the Lord 
 deceitfully.” Thus the artist, terrified by the threats 
 of the Sovereign, the denunciation of death or per- 
 petual imprisonment from the law, and scared by 
 fanatical anathemas, found that his only hope of 
 safety rested upon quitting for ever a profession, 
 which enclosed him on all sides with the prospect of 
 misery and destruction. 
 
 From this time, and from these causes, we scarcely 
 hear of any attempt at historical art by an English- 
 man, until it was again called forth by the benign 
 influence of the present reign. 
 
 When the liberal spirit of Charles the First de- 
 sired to adorn the architecture of Whitehall with the 
 graces of painting, he was obliged to seek the artist 
 
284 . 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 in a foreign land ; he had no subjeet equal to the task. 
 Rubens and Vandyck were employed, and when 
 the King’s bust was to be done, Vandyck painted 
 three views of his face, a front, a side, and a three 
 quarter, which were sent to Bernini in Rome, by 
 whom it was executed in marble. If our kings and 
 nobility had continued to inhabit castles, as in the 
 feudal times, painting and sculpture would have been 
 but little wanted, for if the walls of the buildings 
 were sufficiently strong to resist battery or shot, and 
 contained retreats to secure the inhabitants from 
 the enemy, the end of that kind of dwelling was 
 answered ; but in the times succeeding Charles the 
 First, the improved state of society and knowledge 
 had induced the great to build commodious villas 
 and palaces, in which the architectural distribution 
 made the sister arts absolutely necessary to unifor- 
 mity and completion. Still ingenious foreigners 
 were employed for this purpose, whilst the native 
 was treated with contempt, both at home and abroad, 
 for his inability in those arts which law and religion 
 had forbidden him to practise. 
 
 As this suppression of ability was extremely im- 
 politic and dishonourable to the country, let us 
 enquire for a moment on what scriptural authority 
 the prohibition which occasioned it, was supported. 
 Painting and sculpture were banished from the 
 churches, that they might not be idolatrously wor- 
 shipped ; and this is just ; the divine law orders 
 they shall not be worshipped, but utters no prohi- 
 bition against the arts themselves : on the contrary, 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 285 
 
 divine precept directed images of cherubim to be 
 made, whose wings should extend over the ark of 
 the covenant, and cherubim to be embroidered on 
 the curtains which surrounded it. This decision 
 in favour of the arts being employed for proper 
 purposes in sacred buildings, is so clear and strong, 
 that it could only be overlooked, or opposed by in- 
 fatuated bigotry. 
 
 A succession of foreign artists, as has been ob- 
 served, were employed in almost every work of im- 
 portance, from the time of Charles the First, until 
 within forty years of the present day. The painters, 
 Vandyck, Lely, Verrio, Kneller, and Casali, suc- 
 ceeded to each other ; as did also the sculptors, 
 Cibber, Gibbons, Scheemaker, Rysbrack, Bertocini, 
 Roubiliac. 
 
 This variety of artists (sculptors are more parti- 
 cularly meant) from different countries, French, 
 Flemings, and Italians, sometimes brought the taste 
 of John Goujon or Puget, sometimes a debased imi- 
 tation of John of Bologna, and the Florentine 
 school, and sometimes the taste of Bernini ; but 
 never a pure style and sound principle. 
 
 After the Reformation, the chief employment of 
 sculpture was in sepulchral monuments, which 
 during the reigns of James the First and his son 
 Charles, were chiefly executed by Frenchmen or 
 Flemings, scholars of John Goujon, still regulated 
 by the principles their master had acquired from 
 Primaticcio, the pupil of Raphael. Some of these 
 works have great merit, particularly the tombs of 
 
286 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Vere,* in the same 
 chapel with Roubiliac’s monument of Lady E. 
 Nightingale in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 The rebuilding of London, in the reign of 
 Charles the Second, gave some employment to sculp- 
 ture. Cibber’s works are the most conspicuous of 
 that period ; his mad figures on the Bedlam gates 
 have a natural sentiment, but are ill drawn ; his 
 bas-relief on the pedestal of London Monument is 
 not ill conceived, but stiff and clumsy in the execu- 
 tion ; his clothed figures in the Royal Exchange 
 strut like dancing masters, and have the importance 
 of coxcombs. But with all his faults, what he left 
 is far preferable to the succeeding works. The 
 figures on St. Paul’s Church, and the Conversion of 
 the Saint in the pediment, partake strongly of Ber- 
 nini’s affectation ; and from that time to the esta- 
 blishment of this Academy, we must expect to see 
 every piece of sculpture more or less tinctured with 
 the same bad taste, especially the sepulchral monu- 
 ments, to which, after the statues and basso-relievos 
 last noticed, we must chiefly look for the progress 
 of sculpture amongst us. 
 
 It will be proper here to remark that all the 
 Grecian sculpture was arranged in three classes : 
 the group of figures ; the single statue ; and alto, 
 or basso-relievo. The first two classes were suited 
 to all insulated situations, and the latter to fill 
 pannels in walls. These classes not only serve 
 all architectural purposes, but adorn, harmonize, 
 
 * See plate 5 1 . 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 287 
 
 and finish its forms ; every attempt to make other 
 combinations between sculpture and architecture will 
 he found unreasonable, and degrading to one as well 
 as the other. After the statues and basso-relievos 
 last noticed, we must return again to sepulchral 
 monuments for the progress of Sculpture, and here 
 the taste of Bernini (whose character and works we 
 have already noticed, and who seems to have thought 
 that he had the privilege of equally subverting art and 
 nature in his works,) again obtrudes itself. I shall 
 mention the following instances, although I am afraid 
 their extreme absurdities will prevent such of those 
 from believing the descriptions as have not seen the 
 things themselves. In the area before the church 
 of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, he raised a bronze 
 elephant on a pedestal, and on the elephant’s back 
 placed an Egyptian obelisk : the architecture of the 
 east window in St. Peter’s Church, he has loaded 
 with many tons weight of stucco clouds, out of 
 which issue huge rays, intended for light or glory, 
 of the same materials, but long and thick enough 
 for the beams of a house. 
 
 Extravagances of this kind, and many others 
 that he has committed, have fortunately had little 
 effect upon us, because some have been necessarily 
 connected with Catholic churches, and others in- 
 troduced in fountains, which are frequent in hot 
 countries : we were, however, the dupes of his 
 school, until native genius gained sufficient judg- 
 ment and strength to correct its errors, and supply 
 a better style of art. 
 
 Before the time of Bernini, two kinds of sepul- 
 
288 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 chral monuments prevailed, one from the highest 
 antiquity, which was a sarcophagus, either plain or 
 covered with hasso-relievos, with or without the 
 statue of the deceased on its top. The other kind 
 was introduced by Michael Angelo, in the Mauso- 
 leum of Julius the Second, and those of the Medici 
 family, in the chapel of St. Lorenzo at Florence. 
 In these the sarcophagus, as in the former kind, 
 was suited to the niche or architecture, against 
 which it was placed, and surmounted or surrounded 
 by statues of the deceased and his moral attri- 
 butes. 
 
 Both these practices were rational and proper, 
 the one for plainer, the other for more magnificent 
 tombs. This branch of sculpture was of too much 
 importance to be neglected by Bernini ; he stripped 
 it of its ancient simple grandeur, leaving it neither 
 group, statue, basso-relievo, sarcophagus, or trophy, 
 but an absurd mixture of all, placed against a dark 
 marble pyramid, and thus sacrificing all that is 
 valuable in sculpture to what he conceived a pic- 
 turesque effect. 
 
 The pyramid is from its immense size, solid base, 
 diminishing upwards, a building intended to last 
 thousands of years : how ridiculous, then, to raise 
 a little pyramid of slab marble, an inch thick, on a 
 neat pedestal, to be the background of sculpture 
 belonging to none of the ancient classes, foisted into 
 architecture, with which it has neither connexion 
 or harmony, and in which it appears equally dis- 
 gusting and deformed ! The first monuments he 
 raised of this kind, were two in the Chigi Chapel 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 
 
 289 
 
 in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in Rome : 
 this novelty soon found its way into every country 
 in Europe ; our Westminster Ahhey is an unfortu- 
 nate instance of its prevalence. , Rysbrack and 
 Roubiliac spread the popularity of this taste in 
 England ; but, as the first of these sculptors was a 
 mere workman, too insipid to give pleasure, and too 
 dull to offend greatly, we shall dismiss him without 
 farther notice. The other deserves more attention. 
 Roubiliac was an enthusiast in his art, possessed of 
 considerable talents. He copied vulgar nature with 
 zeal, and some of his figures seem alive ; but their 
 characters are mean, their expressions grimace, and 
 their forms frequently bad : his draperies are work- 
 ed with great diligence and labour, from the most 
 disagreeable examples in nature, the folds being 
 either heavy or meagre, frequently without a deter- 
 mined general form, and hung on his figures with 
 little meaning. He grouped two figures together 
 (for he never attempted more) better than most of 
 his contemporaries j but his thoughts are conceits, 
 and his compositions epigrams. This artist went 
 to Italy, in company with Mr. Pond, an English 
 painter : he was absent from home three months, 
 going and returning, stayed three days in Rome, 
 and laughed at the sublime remains of ancient 
 sculpture I ! The other sculptors of his time were 
 ordinary men : their faults were common, and their 
 works have no beauty to rescue them from oblivion. 
 
 Thus we have seen the nobler efforts of painting 
 and sculpture driven out of the country by reform- \ 
 
 u 
 
^90 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 ing violence, and puritanical fury ; sculpture re- 
 duced to the narrow limits of monument-making, 
 and by these means degraded to a sort of trade ; 
 and this department supplied from the corrupt 
 source of Bernini’s school, and not unfrequently 
 through the worst mediums. 
 
 In this state the art continued until the establish- 
 ment of the Royal Academy settled a course of 
 study both at home and abroad, which developed 
 the powers of English genius, till then unknown 
 to the natives, and denied by foreigners. 
 
 Such was the low state of the Arts when Mr. 
 Banks began his studies, which, although not 
 regular under any sculptor, were attended with 
 some peculiar advantages. He was instructed in the 
 principles of architecture, and practised drawing 
 under his father, who was an architect ; this ena- 
 bled him soon to form a correct taste in that art, 
 and displayed itself in the beauty and propriety of 
 his architectural forms, in the works he has left ; 
 it besides taught him how to introduce and combine 
 sculpture with architecture, advantageously to both. 
 Being placed under an ornament carver gave him a 
 facility in his own ornamental sculpture, which 
 may be observed in some flat foliage on Dr. 
 Watts’ Monument in Westminster Abbey. Another 
 advantage, and perhaps not the least, was that 
 having his opinions unbiassed from the sculptors of 
 that time, he escaped being tinctured with the pre- 
 dominant manners of their work. He studied nature 
 diligently for himself, and copied the antique to 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 2Ql 
 
 form his taste ; his constant attention to the Admi- 
 randa and Stuart’s Athens, had initiated him in the 
 Greek style and composition, to which his academic 
 drawings and models had added an extensive know- 
 ledge of the human figure and its conformation, parts, 
 proportions and perspective, under the different 
 circumstances of position, action, light and shade. 
 During his residence in Rome the ancient groups 
 and statues, the basso-relievos, and the works of 
 Michael Angelo in the Sistine Chapel, roused every 
 faculty of his soul, and urged him on to labour night 
 and day, in a noble emulation of those miracles of 
 art and wonders of the world : what was the conse- 
 quence we shall see in our examination of the two 
 basso-relievos, and the statue of Cupid, before us, 
 which are specimens of his employments in Italy. 
 
 The Cupid catching a butterfly on his wing, is 
 rendered highly interesting to the mind by its phi- 
 losophical allusion to the power of love, divine or 
 natural, on the soul ; nothing can be more graceful 
 than the attitude, the outline is finely varied in the 
 different views; the softness of the form, the cha- 
 racter of the face, and the adjustment of the hair, 
 are classically beautiful. The basso-relievo of Ca- 
 ractacus before Claudius, is composed on the prin- 
 ciple of those on the ancient sarcophagi, of which 
 many are to be seen in Rome, and other parts of 
 Europe ; the subject is historical, but the characters 
 are heroic, and a dramatical gradation of passion is 
 expressed in a few figures ; from the patriot’s un- 
 daunted attitude, you perceive he is saying, “ nor 
 
 u 2 
 
AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 292 
 
 wouldest thou have disdained to receive me with 
 articles of peace, because I am descended of noble 
 progenitors, and I have ruled over many warlike 
 nations,” whilst the emperor listens with atten- 
 tive respect. 
 
 The basso-relievo of Thetis rising to comfort 
 Achilles,* is of the epic class, (to follow our en- 
 lightened professor of painting in the application 
 of Aristotle’s poetics, to the arts of design), the sen- 
 timent and character is beautiful and pathetic, the 
 composition is so unlike any work ancient or mo- 
 dern, that the combination may he considered as the 
 artist’s own. The harmony of composition in the 
 parts, which strengthens the unity of sentiment, is 
 striking in these tv/o, as well as several other works 
 of this artist, and may be reckoned among the ac- 
 quisitions which our sculpture has received from 
 his talents and industry ; nor is this our only obliga- 
 tion, he laboured in every department, and the 
 whole art of sculpture has profited by his means. 
 Before his time only one English sculptor (Mr. 
 Nollekens) had formed his taste on the antique, 
 and introduced a purer style of art; since then, 
 sculpture has been gradually emerging from its 
 state of barbarity, simple emblems have supplied 
 the place of epigrammatical conceits, and imita- 
 tions of the fine heads and beautiful outlines of the 
 antique statues, have succeeded to lifeless blocks, or 
 caricature copies of common nature. 
 
 Another work by Mr. Banks deserves particular 
 
 * 1-359. “ She rose from the dark sea like mist.” 
 
DEATH OF THOMAS BANKS. 
 
 293 
 
 attention from its intrinsic merit, whieh, like the 
 two above mentioned, is unequalled by similar pro- 
 ductions of the present day in France or Italy, and 
 may rank with this class of sculpture among the works 
 of antiquity : I allude to Mrs. Petree’s monument in 
 Lewisham Church. It was exhibited in this Academy 
 in 1795 under the title of “ The death of Eloisa 
 the composition has been described above, and it is 
 to be regretted that an idea can only be given here 
 by a slight sketch which conveys but little of its 
 merit. As the situation represented is the most 
 important to humanity, so the expression is most 
 powerfully penetrating, the dying woman is piously 
 resigned, and the theological virtues which surround 
 the bed, are such as you might expect to see, — ^the 
 departed good, eminent for those qualities in a 
 better state of existence : the son is an admirable 
 human figure absorbed in grief. This basso-relievo 
 is afiixed on one side of the organ, companion to one 
 on the other side, both being so placed as to be pan- 
 nels, and consequently regular architectural decora- 
 tions to the wall ; by which means, together with 
 the excellence of the work, the church becomes a 
 museum of sacred sculpture. 
 
 This example is worthy to be followed, architec- 
 ture and sculpture should always be united in this 
 manner. The monumental encouragement given to 
 sculpture in England, affords noble occasions for 
 the artist to exercise his powers. I should deserve 
 but little credit for saying the subjects of Holy Writ 
 are the finest that can be treated. Michael Angelo 
 
AN ADDRESS, &C. 
 
 and Raphael have long since proved them to be so. 
 The Last Judgment, the Patriarchal Families, the 
 Prophets, the Conversion of St. Paul, and the Cru- 
 cifixion of St. Peter, hy the former, and the Cartoons 
 of the latter, are the first of human productions. 
 These are fit subjects for the sculptor’s employment, 
 which ranges through whatever is great or good in 
 the natural or intelligible worlds, extending be- 
 yond the limits of time and space, and comprehend- 
 ing all orders of created beings. But what man 
 shall be equal to the task ? we may however exert 
 all our faculties in the most delightful and profitable 
 manner by such exercises in our art; we may honor 
 our Creator, and make ourselves and our fellow- 
 creatures happier and better. 
 
AN ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DEATH OF SIGNOR CANOVA, 
 
 MARQUIS OF ISCHIA. 
 
 The arts of design, when considered in an exten- 
 sive view, will be seen in continual fluctuation, like 
 all other human concerns, for as states and empires 
 gradually rise to power by the wisdom of institu- 
 tions, the equity of laws and the union of interests, 
 and are overthrown by the opposite causes ; so by 
 the same process of rise and decay or fluctuation, 
 the history of painting, sculpture and architecture, 
 may he described, and their excellence or depression, 
 progress or extinction, accounted for. The painter 
 or sculptor, however, is little more concerned in the 
 general fluctuations above-mentioned, as connected 
 with political history or the general disposal of hu- 
 man affairs, than any other member of the great 
 family of mankind ; he is much more interested in 
 the productions of particular periods, and such 
 maxims and studies of particular men as may be 
 useful in forming his own ; the diligent will not be 
 slow in seizing the means to advance himself in the 
 
296 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 road he is going, by the maxims and practice of 
 those who have gone before him,— -by those who are 
 gone before him, are meant the venerable dead, 
 from whom our most important instructions have 
 been obtained by the schools they have established, 
 and the rich treasury of accumulated works they 
 have bequeathed to posterity, valuable for the 
 double purpose of instruction and stimulation. 
 Such benefits must be always remembered with 
 grateful acknowledgments, and those from whom 
 they were received looked up to with a pious re- 
 gard. 
 
 Such reflections. Sir, were suggested by the re- 
 cent departure from this life of the celebrated 
 sculptor, Antonio Canova. But, notwithstanding 
 this distinguished man is now removed from us by 
 the course of earthly events, in accordance with the 
 dispensations of Providence, we are consoled by the 
 recollection that his genius added rays to the lustre 
 of his own time, and his virtues equally with his 
 works, will claim the admiration of succeeding ages. 
 
 Signor Canova was so generally celebrated and 
 esteemed throughout Europe, as well as by the 
 Members of this Academy, that it may be presumed 
 not only that no apology need be ofiered for the in- 
 troduction of his name, but on the contrary not to 
 have ofiered some eulogy on the solemn occasion, 
 would have been disrespectful to the feelings of the 
 Royal Academy, and unjust to the memory of the 
 illustrious deceased. 
 
 This sculptor, in addition to his other distin- 
 
DEATH OF SIGNOR CANOVA. ^97 
 
 guished and amiable qualities, has a claim to the 
 affectionate regard of Englishmen in particular, not 
 only hy his strong attachment to the institutions 
 and manners of our country, hut hy his polite and 
 careful attentions to our countrymen in Italy, of 
 whom I believe it may he truly said, that no English 
 traveller ever sought a reasonable service from 
 Signor Canova in vain. 
 
 The members of this Academy, I know, retain a 
 lively remembrance of the zeal, activity, and industry, 
 with which Canova procured and forwarded several 
 scarce groups and statues in the noble collection of 
 casts lately bestowed on the Schools of this Institu- 
 tion, hy the munificence of his Majesty King George 
 the Fourth. 
 
 In consequence of the mutual friendly regard 
 subsisting between the President and Members of 
 the British Academy, and the late President or 
 Prince of the Roman Academy, I shall presume to 
 lay before you a compendious sketch of Signor Ca- 
 nova’s life as a sculptor and a man. 
 
 Antonio Canova was born in the territory of 
 Bassano, in the Venetian State, his family was 
 employed in agriculture, and he was placed under a 
 sculptor in the neighbourhood, from whom he learn- 
 ed the rudiments and manual labour of his profes- 
 sion, this was all that was requisite for a beginning 
 to the career of young Antonio, his own ardent spirit 
 and indefatigable industry supplied every deficiency. 
 After staying a few years with his master he sought 
 improvement in the galleries and museums of Rome. 
 
298 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 A Group of Daedalus and Icarus gave the first in- 
 dication of his talents, and another of Theseus and 
 the Minotaur procured his engagement, first for the 
 Monument of Pope Ganganelli, in the Church of 
 the St. S. Apostoli, and afterwards for that of Pope 
 Rezzonico, in St. Peter’s Church. Whilst engaged 
 in these works he also produced statues of Cupid and 
 Psyche, and a Magdalene, the latter was presented 
 to a church in Bassano ; a group of Cupid and 
 Psyche, in the possession of Lord Gwydir ; a group 
 of Hercules casting Lycus into the sea ; a Theseus 
 and Centaur ; with other works of inferior note. 
 During the time Buonaparte governed France, 
 Signor Canova was called to Paris to model his 
 portrait, as an exemplar for two colossal marble 
 statues, one of which is at Apsley House, in the 
 possession of his Grace the Duke of Wellington. 
 While he remained in Paris, one day he attended 
 Buonaparte in the Museum of Antiques, and they 
 were both admiring a fine Bust of the Emperor 
 Antoninus Pius, when Buonaparte inquired how it 
 happened that there were found so many busts of 
 this Emperor ? Canova replied, he was a good and 
 just prince, therefore everybody loved him, and for 
 this reason his busts are found in all the cities, 
 towns and villages of his dominions. Such was the 
 respect the French ruler entertained for the sculp- 
 tor’s honesty, as well as his talents, that he was 
 permitted to speak with more freedom than the 
 Mareschals of the Imperial Court. 
 
 There will be no need, on the present occasion, to 
 
DEATH OF SIGNOR CANOVA. 299 
 
 detail a correct list of his works, prints of them all 
 may be seen in the collections of the metropolis, yet 
 we must not deny ourselves the gratification of 
 noticing some of the more distinguished. Of this 
 description is the group of the Three Graces in the 
 Duke of Bedford’s possession, and a beautiful re- 
 cumbent statue of a Nymph, executed by order of 
 his present Majesty, King George the Fourth. 
 
 In the number of monuments by this distin- 
 guished sculptor, the most considerable is justly the 
 most esteemed, it was erected at the expense of the 
 present Emperor of Austria to his sister, an arch- 
 duchess. The design is simple, and nohly expres- 
 sive ; a pyramid raised on three steps presents an 
 entrance to the tomb ; the widow, the aged, and the 
 helpless child in tears, are bearing flowers to the 
 shrine of their benefactress, while the Genius of 
 the empire sits on the steps in sorrow. 
 
 We are sanctioned by the high authority of our 
 President’s opinion, for believing this to be one of 
 Canova’s most successful productions. 
 
 In considering the style of this artist’s sculpture, 
 we shall at once acknowledge a poetic fancy which 
 gave a luminous interest to his conversation, equally 
 with his compositions, his figures are graceful, his 
 forms grand, muscle, tendon or bone most naturally 
 distinguished, and the flesh seems yielding to the 
 touch, by an execution as powerful as delicate. 
 
 It has been observed by some that in Canova’s 
 sculpture, we sometimes seek in vain for the severe 
 chastity of Grecian Art j this may indeed not be 
 
300 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 destitute of some foundation in truth, but we must 
 not look for complete perfection in the works of im- 
 perfect man, he is most perfect in whom the fewest 
 faults are discoverable. 
 
 Canova, in early life, must have received a strong 
 bias from the imposing and luxuriant paintings of 
 the Venetian school, hut many and great excellen- 
 cies counterbalance, and as it were annihilate, trivial 
 and venial faults. 
 
 Canova the sculptor is known to all, but the great 
 qualities and moral virtues of Canova are known to 
 comparatively few, yet we cannot fail to dwell on 
 these also, with equal delight and profit ; his inde- 
 fatigable industry, and entire devotion to his art, at 
 the same time that they supplied his most agreeable 
 occupation, and increased his rich legacy of valuable 
 works bequeathed to posterity, afforded him the 
 more ample means of gratifying his benevolence and 
 generosity ; he was provident for his relations, 
 liberal to his friends, and extensively charitable to 
 the poorj his kindness to his family was equally 
 becoming the Christian and the philosopher, he 
 rendered such assistance as increased their comfort, 
 without raising them above the sphere of life in 
 which they were most useful to society. Canova’s 
 mind possessed an acute perception, a vivid imagi- 
 nation, a ready decision, and a strong sense of right, 
 which, together with those mental qualities more 
 immediately engaged in his profession, he cultivated 
 to the utmost of his power, and in order to make 
 the greatest possible advantage of his time, some 
 
DEATH OF SIGNOR CANOVA. 301 
 
 person generally read to him while he was at 
 work, and by this means he became acquainted, 
 not only with all the best Italian literature, but 
 also the best classical authors, philosophers, poets 
 and historians, together with many eminent pro- 
 ductions of modern Europe. Such a stock of know- 
 ledge enlightened his views in general intercourse 
 or private contemplation, matured his studies, and 
 gave an additional charm to his conversation. 
 
 We must not pass over an heroic act of service 
 to his country which deserves to be recorded with 
 the great actions of any age. When it was deter- 
 mined that the magnificent collections of ancient 
 sculpture should he returned to Rome, Signor 
 Canova was despatched to superintend the package 
 and conveyance, and although he was opposed by 
 every artifice and discouragement, and repeatedly 
 threatened with assassination, he persevered with so 
 much spirit and resolution, that he surmounted all 
 opposition and sent them all hack in a week. On 
 this occasion he pathetically blessed the generosity 
 of the English nation, without whose powerful as- 
 sistance and effectual patronage he acknowledged 
 those collections would never have been returned 
 to Italy. Upon Signor Canova’s return to Rome 
 after the redoubled achievement of re-establishing 
 her divinities and heroes in the station they had 
 held so many ages, he was welcomed by the Roman 
 people with universal applause and festivity, the 
 Sovereign Pontiff received him with honour and 
 gratitude ; he created the sculptor Marquis of 
 Ischia, and to enable him to support his new dignity. 
 
302 
 
 AN ADDRESS ON THE 
 
 gave him a pension of three thousand crowns. 
 Canova returned his dutiful thanks for the patent 
 of nobility, but concerning the pension, he declared 
 like a disinterested patriot, “ that he had always 
 maintained himself by his labour, and he trusted 
 with the Almighty support he should continue to 
 do so as long as he lived ; he should therefore apply 
 the whole 3000 crowns per annum to the purposes 
 adopted in the papal academy, for the encourage- 
 ment of painting and sculpture, and for the assist- 
 ance of young men in their studies.” 
 
 As Signor Canova had never married, and con- 
 sequently had no children looking to him for pro- 
 vision, he indulged the pious desire of building a 
 church in his native country, which he intended to 
 decorate with sacred subjects of statues and basso- 
 relievos in his latter years, and thus dedicate his last 
 efforts to Him that gave him being. For this pur- 
 pose he determined the architectural design, and 
 calculated the expense of the building at about 
 £12,000 sterling. In the progress of the work, he 
 took a journey to see the state of its forwardness, 
 in which his expectations were disappointed ; to 
 which was added the cruel mortification that double 
 the money he had calculated to lay out would he 
 required to complete the church — a sum, perhaps, 
 not in his power to command. However that might 
 be, the digestive powers ceased in his system, 
 medicine was tried, hut afibrded no relief ; he pre- 
 pared for his end with resignation and fortitude, 
 and passed in Christian hope to a better life. 
 
 I have thus presumed to produce before you 
 
DEATH or SIGNOR CANOVA. 303 
 
 a compendious sketch of a man distinguished by 
 rare talents, and rare virtues, as little clouded by 
 defect or failure, as is generally to be found among 
 the worthiest of the sons of men. 
 
 Such a character will be contemplated with equal 
 pleasure and profit by the Members of this Academy. 
 Our time will not be lost in the study of talents 
 and qualities which rendered their possessor the 
 delight and pride of his country, and whose example 
 affords valuable materials towards forming distin- 
 guished men in the rising generation. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
LIST OF PLATES, 
 
 LITHOGRAPHED BY VARIOUS ARTISTS FROM DRAWINGS 
 BY MR. FLAXMAN. 
 
 1. Bishop Wulstan, in Worcester Cathedral. 
 
 2. Creation of Eve, from Wells’ Cathedral. 
 
 3. Death of Isaac, do. 
 
 4. An Angel, do. 
 
 5. Queen Eleanor, from Waltham Cross. 
 
 6. Virgin and Angels, a Key Stone, entrance to the choir. York 
 
 Cathedral. 
 
 7. St. John, from Henry the Seventh’s Chapel, Westminster 
 
 Abbey. 
 
 8. Statues in the Architecture of do. 
 
 9. Plan of the Palace of Carnac. 
 
 1 0. Figure of Bubaste or Isis, in the character of the Terrestrial 
 
 Diana, who is also Cybele or Earth ; and, like the Diana 
 of Ephesus, crowned with Towers. 
 
 11. Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Memphis. 
 
 12. Sculpture at Persepolis, most likely Cambyses or Darius Hy- 
 
 staspes from Le Bruyn’s Travels. 
 
 1 3. Vishnu, Creating Agent of Brahma, Attitude, the Emblem of 
 
 Eternity, from Moore’s “ Hindu Pantheon.” 
 
 14. Lions over the Gate of Mycenae, mentioned by Pausanias as 
 
 being done by the Cyclops, a work of the Heroic ages — the 
 meaning is symbolical. Lions support and protect this pillar 
 of the people of Mycenae or of Achaia. 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 15. A bronze figure of Minerva, found in the Bairow of Achilles, 
 
 described by M. Chevalier. Sphinxes besides the astro- 
 nomical symbol of Leo and Virgo, are symbolic of wisdom — 
 Homer’s Heroes called Horse Tamers. 
 
 1 6. Daedalian Figures from Bronzes. 
 
 17. Minerva, from a Bronze by Daedalus. 
 
 18. Tydeus. 
 
 19. Minerva, by Phidias, thirty-nine feet high. 
 
 20. Jupiter Olympius, at Elis, by do. 
 
 21. Venus Aphrodite, by Alcamenes. 
 
 22. Venus of Cnidos, by Praxltiles, drawn from an Antique 
 
 Statue found near Rome. 
 
 23. Venus of Cos, by Praxitiles. Medals of the Empress Lucilla, 
 
 perhaps, from this Statue. 
 
 24. Discobolus, by Myron, from a Gem, an Example in the British 
 
 Museum. 
 
 25. Statue on the Pediment over the West Front of a Temple at 
 
 Egina. 
 
 26. Circle and Square of the Human Figure. 
 
 27. Extent of Motion, one Figure. 
 
 28. Do. shown in two Figures. 
 
 29. Do. front and side view equipoised, supported on one Leg, with 
 
 its proportions. 
 
 30. Preparing to run ; running ; striking. 
 
 31. Bearing a weight ; raising a weight; preparing to jump, and 
 
 alighting. 
 
 32. Leaning, flying and falling. 
 
 33. Brazen Serpent, from Michael Angelo. 
 
 34. Charity, from do. 
 
 35. The Nativity, i from Greek Paintings in the Libra- 
 
 36. The Transfiguration, 5 ries of Austria and France. 
 
 37. Part of the Last Judgment, by Michael Angelo. 
 
 38. Holy Family, from do. 
 
 39. Last Judgment, south entrance to Lincoln Cathedral. 
 
 40. Figure, Gateway of the Bishop’s palace, Peterborough Cathe- 
 
 dral, towards 1400. 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 41. An Apostle, from Albert Durer. 
 
 42. Drapery. 
 
 43. Drapery on the Bosom and Legs. 
 
 44. Drapary, four Figures, a Bacchante and three from Nature, 
 
 45. Callirhoe, from a Gem. 
 
 46. Iris. 
 
 47. Juno Lucina. 
 
 48. Head of the Colossus of Rhodes. 
 
 49. Head of our Saviour, from Arringhi’s “ Roma Subterranea.” 
 
 50. Specimens of two Heads, Chapter House, Cathedral of York, 
 
 time of Edward the Second or Third. 
 
 51. Monument of Sir Francis Vere, in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 52. Tomb of Langhahn. 
 
 The anecdote concerning this monument is this; — M. Verschoffel, 
 a Prussian Sculptor, was on a visit to the Rev. M. Langhahn in 
 Switzerland, when Madame Langhahn died on Easter Eve. M. 
 Verschoffel, to console his afflicted friend, immediately carved the 
 lady and her new-born infant, bursting the tomb in the resurrection of 
 the just. It has been introduced on account of the pious and affec- 
 tionate sentiment it contains. 
 
 Frontispiece. — A Portrait of the Author, from a Model by 
 himself. 
 
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