y of California rn Regional ry Facility wit i T VVV/Vvy ^m^. 't^^'^V ?^.mVvy^^VV^Vv; •^^v^v> 'iiil THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES m$B m^yy^ VyvOu'^' yv V:: '^WUU^w'Wl^^' ■dxjSJ^^'^x! K^iVWA iSS9Ss^^!^^8S^v3*' ^vvv i^iJ^i^MMM^^ii^^^Mi^i^- .mN\ VvWv- ;3V'^'^* MM? ,L->Mtf.ffi?Ji!*#'' ^m^mmk iiS®5v35^v£: I iL,(>il^ ,^ ri, .^^'v. ^ -^ j^.^^. v^. l^WWW^UWWWv^w^ -^yj^^.^'. iiiii^giiilig^^^ ,_ i-A-r'r3.i!-'i\ 'vwOWVW ffiiiPllSi^iw!) ..y^.yy.^s'i. liS^isJWWrrrr' *22i«*'^^uw^wyvv^-ag«.,^«^a9gf y\JZt'^^'^\j,^^i^: i^^i^i«Sii^^t«dd^^^ '^^i^^U^^ -..5^ '•■^'M.'m ]FJLAXMAM. ES X m.A. 3 3 OR or S-CULPTUBF. '^ " ^ ^ '■"■ i- - v a t ai-'Nuv From, d MeJAilmn iroi'^e.. LECTURES ON SCULPTURE BY JOHN FLAXMAN, Esq. R.A. PROFESSOR OF SCULPTURE IN THE BOYAI. ACADE3IY OF CHEAT BRITAIN, MEMBER OF THE ACADEMIES OF ST. LUKE, ROME, FLORENCE, CARRARA, &iC. AS DELIVERED BY HIM BEFORE THE PRESIDENT AiiD MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY. WITH A BRIEF MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. MDCCCXXIX. LONDON : I'HJMUU KV C. UUWUIirH, ULLL VABU, TEMl'Lli KAll. Art Library 1/40 DEDICATED, WITH THE HIGHEST RESPECT, TO SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY, &c. BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT AND OBLIGED HUMBLE SERVANT, THE EDITOR. P R E F A C E The indulgence of the Reader is requested to many inaccuracies and repetitions which may be found in these Lectures, which are now offered to the PubUc just as they were written, not as examples of style and elegance of com- position, but the results of many years' unre- mitting study and application, finally brought together for the Students of the Royal Aca- demy. The Editor has been, therefore, parti- cularly cautious of making any alterations, lest, in the endeavour to give a smoother turn to a sentence, the sense and spirit of it should be injured ; besides which, the Editor has too sacred a value for every idea and word of the Author to take any liberties of the kind. 1308Sy^G CONTENTS LECTunE. Page. I. English Sculpture 3 II. Egyptian Sculpture 33 III. Grecian Sculpture 67 IV. Science 100 V. Beauty 134 VI. Composition 160 VII. Style 196 VIII. Drapery 237 IX. Ancient Art 260 X. Modern Art 293 BRIEF MEMOIR THE AUTHOR. The best history of an Ailist is, undoubtedly, to be found in an account of some of his principal Works; for in those are usually displayed the qualities of his mind, the nature of his studies, and the depth of his knowledge ; and when tlie subjects are chosen by himself, they are fair transcripts of his thoughts and affections, and present as true a reflex of his heart and mind, as a clear mirror would of the featm-es of his face: and never was this more strongly exem- pUfied than in the present instance ; for in the works of Mr. Flaxman wherever are found the representa- tions of Wisdom, Magnanimity, Piety, or any of the Christian Virtues and Charities that exalt human nature, they were his own. b X A BRIEF MEMOIR This excellent man, and admirable artist, was born on the 6th of July, 1755, in the city of York, where his father at that time resided, but which he quitted while his son was yet an infant. He very early gave indications of that observation and love for works of art, for which he was distinguished in maturer life. One of the first instances was shown on the coro- nation day of his Majesty George the Third. His father was going to see the procession, and the child begged very earnestly that he would bring one of the medals which were to be thrown to the populace ; he was not fortunate enough to get one; but, on his way home, happening to find a plated button bearing the stamp of a horse and jockey, rather than wholly disappoint his little boy, who then was in a very de- licate precarious state of health,* he ventured, though unwillingly, to deceive him, and gave him the button. The yovmg 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 fi'iend or stranger, and kept a bit of soft wax ready to take an impression of * A very short time previous to this, he had been so ill, that he was supposed dead, and was laid out under that impression. OF THE AUTHOH. xi any which pleased him. These trivial circumstances are only mentioned to show liow early he began the practice of seizing every opportunity for improve- ment in his art, or of acquiring any knowledge it was right for him to possess ; indeed, it was a maxim of his, that " we never are too young or too old to be- come wiser or better." While yet a child he made a great number of small models, both in plaster-of-paris, wax, and clay ; some of which are still preserved, and have considerable merit, and were certainly promises of that genius and talent which he faithfully kept in after-years. When he was about ten years of age, his health had greatly improved ; and, though not strong, he had become a lively active boy, with great enthusiasm of character, which chiefly displayed itself on the subjects of generosity, courage, and humanity : this enthusiasm was called forth, in a peculiar and some- what diverting manner, by reading Don Quixotte. He was so much delighted with the amiable, though eccentric hero, and with his account of the duties and honourable perils of knight-errantry, that he thought he could not do better than sally forth, to right wrongs and redress grievances; accordingly, one morning early, unknown to any one, armed with a h 2 xii A BRIEF MEMOIR little French sword, (not better than a toy,) he set out, without a 'squire, in quest of adventures which fortunately he did not find. After wandering about Hyde Park the whole day without meeting enchanter or distressed damsel, not even a castle or drawbridge, (he being rather hungry, and more ashamed of his romantic flight,) returned home, where his unwonted absence had caused an agony of alarm to his parents, who had sought and inquired fruitlessly for him till evening. He never again emulated the exploits of the Knight, though he always retained a great admiration of his character. He now modelled and drew most assiduously, but never received more than two lessons from a master, being hvu-t at ha\'ing (according to rule) a drawing of eyes only given him to copy, which having done, he showed them to Mr. Mortimer, a very clever artist, who asked if they were flounders ? — this jest not being at all encouraging, his father allowed him to choose his examples, and pursue his studies in his own way, which he did so successfully, that at the age of eleven years and five months he gained his first prize from the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. (which was the silver pallet,) for a model. At thirteen he had another; and the following year OF THE AUTHOR. xiii was admitted a student at the Royal Academy, then newly established; and the same year received their silver medal. About this time he made an acquaintance equally agreeable and serviceable ; it was with a very worthy clergyman, whose wife was one of the most highly- gifted and elegant women of that day; she was the intimate associate of Mrs. Montague, Mrs. Barbauld, Mrs. Chapone, Mrs. Brooke, &c. At this house, where he was for many years a welcome visitor, he passed frequent evenings in very enhghtened and de- lightful society; here he was encouraged in studying the dead languages, so necessary to him in his pro- fession ; by acquiring these he learned to think with the authors, and to embody the ideas of Homer, Hesiod, and iEschylus, in a manner that no modern artist has exceeded.* Amongst his other engagements in art, he was much employed by Mr. Wedgewood, in modelling for his manufactory ; and from the good taste and persevering spirit of one, the genius, ability, and in- * During his intimacy with this excellent family Mr. Flaxman painted several pictures in oil ; one of which was sold at an auction a short time since, the subject was " Oedipus and Antigone,'' but was ignorantly described in the catalogue as " Belisarius," by Do- minichir.o. xiv A BRIEF MEMOIR dustry of the other, was produced the great improve- ment in every description of vase, dish, cup, &c. whether for use or ornament, and which has been acknowledged throughout the civilized world. A set of chessmen were the most beautifid 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 beautifid 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, cUed at sea ; the mother and her babe are rising from the waves, and are received by descend- ing angels ; it is an exquisite thing, full of that more than mortal beauty so proper to the svibject, and at the same time quite affecting, from the sentiment and expression of the whole composition. In 1782 Mr. Flaxman married Miss Ann Denman, an amiable and accomplished woman, who accompa- nied him to Italy in 1787. Fortunately his wife possessed that intelligence of mind, and love of art, that her society assisted, rather than impeded, the progress of the Artist through the studies and diffi- culties of liis profession. OF THE AUTHOR. x» It was not known to any but Mr. Flaxman's nearest connexions, what it was that determined him to visit Rome. The fact was this : when Sir Joshua Rey- nolds heard, from himself, that he was married, he exclaimed, "Oh, then you are ruined for an artist!" This observation (which was really unworthy of the great man who uttered it) decided what had hitherto been with him a question, whether he should quit England and study for a time in Italy. He was aware of the advantages attending it, and still more con- vinced that it was considered by the world as quite essential. He, therefore, began to contemplate it as a thing to be done, and set about closing his con- cerns, that is to say, finishing the works he had in hand, without undertaking others. At length every thing was concluded, and knowing that his pecuniary resources would allow him to go, without impiii- dence,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 undertaken* would not, as yet, permit him to leave Rome; and one engagement succeeded another, until the intended absence of two years became seven. * The large group for Lord Bristol. xvi A BRIEF MEMOIR Throughout this mteresting journey, as well as during his residence in Rome, Mr. Flaxman's appli- cation was incessant; whether he was drawing from the antique, or making studies from the living groups and figures abounding in the venerable city and its environs, each object, animate and inanimate, was beautiful or noble and all-inspiring ; no day was lost ; and, except his health and strength failed, no hour of the day was suffered to pass without some improve- , ment. Here he executed a group, of Colossal size, consisting of four figures, for the late Lord Bristol, Bishop of Derry. The subject was, the fury of Atha- mus, from " Ovid's Metamoiphoses." For this great work he received a sum so small that he was a con- siderable loser by it ; indeed, the great loss and vex- ation this commission brought, made the mentioning the subject disagreeable to him. This group, after several removals, first from Rome to Leghorn, and afterwards to Ireland, &c. has found its place in Ickworth House, Suffolk, the seat of the present Marquess of Bristol, but, unfortunately, it is but little seen. He also finished an exquisitely beautiful group, of smaller size, of Cephalus and Aurora, for Mr. Thomas Hope, which remains in that gentleman's collection. OF THE AUTHOR. xvii 111 Rome ho made tliose desispis from Homer, i^lschylus, and Dante, so imicli known and admired throughout Europe, more particularly on the Conti- nent. The " Iliad and Odyssey" were for the late Mrs. Hare ; the " Tragedies of yEschylus" for the excellent Dowager Countess Spencer; and the " Dante" for Mr. Thomas Hope. These were all admirably engraved in outline by Thomas Piroli, and published in Rome in 1793, and subsequently in London. In 1794, Mr. Flaxman and his beloved companion returned to their native land,* where his first work was the monmnent of Earl Mansfield, for West- minster Abbey, the order for which he received pre- vious to his leaving Rome. The figure of the Earl is in his judicial robes, sitting, and in the act of giving judgment ; he is supported on each side by Wisdom and Justice, as represented by the ancients; * It is not generally known in England that Mr. Flaxman, upon his return from Italy, having paid the duties upon several articles he had brought for his own study, interested himself so warmly for his brother-artists, that, through his representations to the proper per- sons, the duties were taken off from all future importations of that kind. This disinterested conduct was acknowledged by the gentle- men then studying in Rome, by a letter of thanks, bearing all their signatures. xviii A BRIEF MEMOIR the youth behind the pedestal with the inverted torch is a classical personification of Death. About the same time, he erected a monumental figiu-e of Sir Robert Ladbroke in Spitalfields church. In Westminster Abbey is a noble momunent, with a statue of Captain James Montague, crowned by a Victory, which possesses an unusual combination of aerial grace with dignity. The lions on the base are admirable portraits of the magnificent animal from which they were studied, at that time living in the Tower; the flags behind the statue were added by Mr. Flaxman at his own cost, as he found they would greatly improve the composition, the excellence of the work being always, with him, a prior consi- deration to the profit. The removal of this monu- ment from its original situation in the Abbey was considered by Mr. Flaxman as nearly destructive of its effect. In St. Paul's, the monument of Lord Nelson has a striking portrait of the hero, wrapped in a pelisse, and leaning on an anchor ; Britannia is pointing out the glorious example to two young sailors. In the same Cathedral is a monument to Earl Howe; above is a sitting figure of Britannia holding a trident, the Earl stands below her, on her left ; the OF THE AUTHOR. xix British lion is watchinj^ by him on the other side ; Fame is recording the achievements of the Admiral, while Victory, leaning over her, places a crown on the lap of Britannia. To the memory of Captain Millar there is a basso- rehevo of Britannia and Victory raising a medallion of the Captain to a palm-tree. There is likewise in St. Paul's a fine statue of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Perhaps the most striking family monument ever executed by Mr. Flaxman, was to the family of Sir Francis Baring, in Micheldever church, Hants; it consists of three distinct parts, making an extremely beautiful whole. In the centre is a sitting figiu"e 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 — " DeUver 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. There are two very interesting monuments in Oxford to Sir William Jones, one at University Col- lege and one in St. Mary's church, both erected by his lady. XX A BRIEF MEMOIR At Christchurch, Hampshire, there is a gi'oup, of the late Lady Fitz-Harris and her three children; a most lovely representation of maternal tenderness, which has heen much, and deservedly, admired. This was put up in 1817. A monument to the Yarborough family, at Street Thorpe, near York, is an alto-relievo of two females relieving several poor persons of different ages ; it is a singularly fine composition, and remarkable for the natural expression of each individual. In the same county there is a beautiful monument to the memory of Edward Balme, Esq. — " Instruct the Ignorant." It is a group, in alto-relievo, of an aged man holding a book, in which he reads while a youth and a young female are attentively and affec- tionately listening. The memorial in Brington chvirch, 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 mommient consists of a tablet, having a figure of Faith at one end, and a group of Charity at the other; this last is one of the most lovely conceptions of that virtue ever seen in marble. OF THE AUTHOR. xxi A figure of Mrs. Tighe, (the authoress of Psyche,) merits tlie same kind of praise, as it possesses the same character of beauty. This went to Ireland. In Cookham church, Berks, the monument of Sir Isaac Pocock is a pecuharly affecting representation of the death of that Gentleman, which took place suddenly in a boat on the river Thames. " The Good Samaritan," in Layton church, Essex, to the memory of — Bosanquet, Esq., and a monu- mental bas-relief to the late Mrs. Bosanquet, are very admirable for feeling and execution. Equally ex- cellent in both is an alto-relievo in St. John's church, Manchester, and has the peculiarity of being erected in the hfe-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 rehgious duties. Childhood, Maturity, and A masses in the body and limbs of the young Hercules in the British Museum are the same, in their general forms, as those of the heroes combating with the cen- taurs in the Parthenon, or in the frieze of the temple of Theseus. They are, however, bolder ON SCIENCE. 117 in this statue, in proportion as it is more mus- cular. The details in front are the mastoida?us, on each side of the neck the clavicle, the pec- toral muscle, the edge of the ribs nearly semi- circular, the serrati and oblique descendens, the recti of the abdomen, with its horizontal divisions ending at the pubes, which, with the edge of the pelvis, terminates the trunk. The details of the lower limb differ little from the former description, excepting that the knee- pan and the ankle-bones are more strongly marked, the membranous insertion of the biceps is distinct, and the peroniieus muscle is seen on the side of the leg. In the back view of this figure, the trapezius is defined at its insertion in the edge of the scapula, and continued to its pointed termina- tion: above the spine of the scapula it unites in a mass with the supra spinatus, then follows the spine of the scapula, and the whole mass of the scapula is completed by the union of the infra spinatus, the teres minor and the teres major in one form. The acromion is distinctly 118 LECTURE IV. seen, and the rounded top of the humerus is indicated in the deltoides, which is strongly divided from the muscles of the arm beneath. The protuberance of the triceps is bold ; the biceps is bold, broad, and squared towards the bottom. The bones which form the elbow are carefully distinguished ; the head of the ulna in the middle, on the inside of the lower point of the humerus, and on the outside; the lower condyle or swelling of the same bone at its union with the radius. In the ages after Phidias, it is true, we ob- serve a greater particularity of anatomical finish and detail ; but, at the same time, we see a choice selection of those simple geome- trical forms which in bone, muscle and tendon are strongest, most efhcient and elegant, whe- ther the subject be masculine or feminine, strong or delicate. It must not be supposed that those simple geometrical forms of body and limbs, in the divinities and heroes of antiquity, depended upon accidental choice, or blind and ignorant ON SCIENCE. 119 arbitration. They are, on the contrary, a con- sequence of the strict and extensive examina- tion of nature, of rational inquiry into its most perfect organization and physical well-being, expressed in outward appearance; they are proper to the blossom of youth, and the full tlower of maturity : they are the signs of a firm, consistent and harmonious structure, healthful juices and elastic tendon. Such characteris- tics assist the mind in rising towards the con- templation of real perfection, which is simpli- city and unity itself; such forms are directly opposite to those of division, infirmity, and decay. The group of boxers, and the statue called a fighting gladiator, but in reality the lesser Ajax, exhibit the greatest muscular display in violent action. The forced action of the boxers renders the muscular confiouration of their shoulders so different in appearance from moderate action and states of rest, that we may derive a double advantasre from the anatomical 120 LECTURE IV. consideration of their forms : first, we shall learn the cause of each particular form, and, secondly, we shall be convinced how rationally and justly the ancients copied nature. In the right shoulder of the upper figure, the acromion of the scapula is distinctly seen ; the backward portion of the deltoides arising from the spine of the scapula ; the head of the hu- merus bone next to the acromion : — the angle and base of the scapula are bordered by a con- siderable swelling of the teres major, and the trapezius in a continued mass. The left shoulder of the same figure shows the three divisions of the deltoides distinctly, with the projection of the humerus's head in the upper part of the middle portion. The spine of the scapula is marked by a channel under the swelling of the trapezius and supra spina- tus, and above the infra spinatus and teres major. The right arm of the lower figure is forcibly held backwards, which occasions the hindmost portion of the deltoides to fold towards the ON SCIENCE. 121 spine of the scapula. The other muscles of the scapula, and immediately about it, present only a common appearance, because they are not particularly exerted. The whole left shoulder of this figure is ex- erted to the utmost in assisting the arm to sup- port the weight of the superincumbent figure. The whole surface has an opposite appearance to the right arm, which is forced backwards, and therefore the scapula lies in a hollow be- tween the arm and back-bone. The left shoulder is rounded by its position, and the muscles of the left scapula are swoln by effort into one mass, in which the acromion only makes one very distinct form. There is .the same careful attention to effort, and inaction, "■ in the back of the gladiator throughout its "parts, and indeed throughout the fio;ure. We may now advert [to the causes which brouoht about the anatomical : distinction in the^forms of the gods. Hipparchus, a few years before the birth of 122 LECTURE IV. Phidias, had formed a public library for the Athenians, in which were placed the works of Homer, which he had collected and ar- ranged ; as they were more complete than ge- nerally known before, they became more popular. Socrates employed their language in moral discourses, and Plato in images and reasoning to embody and convey the theologies of Orpheus and Pythagoras. The poets formed tragedies from his " Iliad" and " 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 reformation. Minerva, who had before ap- peared harsh and elderly, was by him rendered beautiful. His Jupiter was awful as when his nod shook the poles, but benignant as when he smiled on his daughter Venus, according to Homer's description. The anatomical forms selected from powerful nature, presented a massy breast and shoulders, projecting muscles * See Plates XIX. and XX. ON SCIENCE. 123 above the hip-bone, the hmb strong, without heaviness, and the whole figure mighty. The character of the father of gods and men being determined, settled a scale of gradation for his progeny; they were more sublime near him, and less perfect by removal. Of the sons of Jupiter, Bacchus was the next divinity whose form was sublimated. As Phidias determined the character of the father of the gods, so did the graceful Praxiteles that of Bacchus, who inspires poets, and to whom tragedy was peculiarly dedicated by the Athe- nians. Apollo soon became so like his brother Bacchus, that it is not always easy to distin- guish one from the other ; yet Bacchus has more softness, and Apollo greater energy. Mercur}'^, as patron of gymnastic exercises, is rather more robust than his brothers. The masses in the forms of these divinities are little divided; the lines are simple, flowing in gentle undulation for balance and motion, or quicker curves at the joints. 124 LECTURE IV. Hercules, whose labours in difficulty and number were increased by succeeding poets, was more strong and turgid after the time of Alexander the Great, until he became the irresistible hero represented by Glycon in his statue. Of inferior heroes, Ajax the lesser, and the male figure in the group of Harmon and Anti- gone, together with the group of boxers, have the anatomical forms divided with distinctions as numerous as could have been made by any modern. After the osteology and anatomy of the human figure, we will consider the balance, motion, and mechanical powers according to the ancients. Pamphilus, the Macedonian painter, under whom Apelles studied ten years, was learned in all literature, particularly arithmetic and geometry, without which, he declared, art could not be perfected. ON SCIENCE. 125 How geometry and arithmetic were applied to the study of the human figure, Vitruvius in- forms us from the wTitings of the Greek artists, perhaps from those of Pamphilus himself. A man* (says he) may be so placed with his arms and legs extended, that his navel being- made the centre, a circle can be drawn round, touchino; the extremities of his nnoers and toes. In the like manner, a man standing upright, with his arms extended, is enclosed in a square, the extreme extent of his arms being equal to his height. Pliny speaks of improvements in the balance of the figure by some artists, and the neglect of it, and consequent defects, in the works of others. How well the ancients understood the nature of balance is proved by the two books of Archimedes on that subject; besides, it is im- possible to see the numerous figures springing, jumping, dancing, and falling, in the Hercula- neum paintings, on the painted vases, and the * Plate XXVI. 126 LECTURE IV. antique basso-relievos, without being assured that the painters and sculptors must have em- ployed geometrical figures to determine the degrees of curvature in the body, and angular or rectilinear extent of the limbs, and to fix the centre of gravity. We shall, therefore, proceed in this delight- ful subject, in some general demonstrations, according to the method of the great Leonardo da Vinci, and the distinguished Borelli, as laid down in his work on the motion of animals. When we speak of the centre of gravity, or gravitation of the human figure, the principle is referred to, by which all bodies upon the earth tend to its centre, as a ray tends to the centre of a circle. The centre of gravity in the human figure is an imaginary straight line, which falls from the gullet between the ankles to the ground, when it is perfectly upright, equally poised on both feet, with the hands hanging down on each side. ON SCIENCE. 127 Motion is the change of position. The first motion * in the standing figure throws the weight on one leg, in consequence the centre of gravity, or gravitating line, falls from the gullet on one leg, the shoulder on the same side being lowered, the shoulder on the opposite side raised, the hip and knee sinking below those on the side which supports the weioht. Preparing to run is throwing the balance beyond the standing foot. Striking. When the action begins, the figure is thrown back to give force to the blow, and springs forward to the liohter line when the fall of the blow ends the action. Bearing a Weight. The centre of gravity is the centre of the incumbent weight, falling between the feet, if supported by both, or on the supporting foot. * See Plates XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. 128 LECTURE IV. Preparing to Leap. To take the spring, the body and thighs are drawn together; the muscles of the leg draw up the heel, so that the figure rests on the ball of the foot; the arms are thrown back — they assist like wings in the impulse. When the figure alights, the arms are raised above the head, and the centre of gravity is near the heels. Leaning. When leaning on more points than one, the greatest weight is about that point on which it chiefly rests. Flying and falling figures rest on no point, being in motion through the air, but the hea- viest portion of the figure rising, denotes fly- ing ; as the heaviest portion sinking, deter- mines the falling figure. Without a due atten- tion to these principles, no movement or action can be well expressed, and with their assist- ON SCIENCE. 129 ance the finest eft'orts of" ancient and modern art have been produced, is exemplified in the most pathetic, energetic, and graceful atti- tudes of Raphael and Correggio. Excellent lessons on this subject are given by Leonardo da Vinci in his " Treatise on Painting," Every change of position or action in the human figure will present the diligent student with some new application of principles, and some valuable example for his imitation. It has been observed, that Vitruvius, from the writings of the most eminent Greek painters and sculptors, informs us that they made their figures eioht heads hiwh, 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. K 130 LECTURE IV. PROPORTIONS. Divisions of the Human Figure in Length. From the os pubis to the top of the head one half, from the same point to the sole of the foot the other half. There are three equal divisions from the acromion of the scapula to the bottom of the inner ankle : — First, from the acromion to the point in the spine of the ilium, from which the rectus and sartorius muscles begin. Second, from thence to the top of the patella. Third, from the top of the patella to the bottom of the inner ankle. From the bottom of the pubis to the bottom of the patella is the same length as from the bottom of the patella to the sole of the foot, two heads each ; but, we must observe, the ancients generally allowed half a nose or more ON SCIENCE. 131 to the length of the lower limbs, exceeding the length of the body and head. Breadth. Shoulders 2 beads. Loins 1 bead and 1 nose, or 5 noses. Across the hips or trochanters . . 1 bead, 2 noses, or head and a \. Depth. Chest 1 head, 4 minutes. Loins 3 noses and ^. Glutaei 1 head. Breadth of the Thigh. Thigh 3 noses. Calf of the leg .... 2 noses. Foot 1 head and ^ of a nose long. Length of the Arm. From the top of the humerus to the bend of the arm . 1 head and J. From the bend of the arm to the first knuckles .... 1 head and J. Breadth. Upper arm, front view 1 nose and .J. Side view of do 2 noses. Lower arm, thickest part 1 nose and j. Wrist 1 nose. The female figure should not be so tall as k2 13g LECTURE IV. the male ; the shoulders and loins should be narrower, and the hips broader. The proportions of the Hercules Farnese, and the Torso Belvidere, are nearly one-fifth more in breadth than other statues; but the ancients varied the proportions according to the character and age of the person. There are examples of the Silenus, and Hercules also, when he partook of the same character, ex- ceedingly dwarfish, not exceeding four or five heads in height, and there are examples on some of the Greek vases of figures nine or ten heads hi^h. "» PERSPECTIVE. We have the most satisfactory system of ancient perspective in the principles laid down by Vitruvius, and in " Euclid's Book of Optics," which contains no description of the eye, or nature of its vision, but consists of sixty-one propositions, on the manner in which rays pass from objects to the eye, the angles ON SCIENCE. 133 they make, and consequently present them as nearer, or more distant, greater or less, whe- ther seen in a parallel or diagonal plane, but gives no rule for the perspective of circles, or the intersections of the visual rays. The mo- dern improvement in perspective which deter- mines depths, enabled Michael Angelo* to give bolder fore-shortenings, and more com- plicated groups, than the ancients did or could attempt with their imperfect perspective, and which in design, or low relief, has the magical effect of " much in a little." Such general hints concerning science, em- ployed by the ancients in painting and sculp- ture, may assist the young artist in forming principles for the course of his studies, and precede the investigation of the nature and qualities of beauty, which will be offered in the next Lecture. * See Plates XXXIII. and XXXIV. ( 134 ) LECTURE V. BEAUTY. That beauty is not merely an imaginary qua- lity, but a real essence, may be inferred from the harmony of the universe, and the perfection of its wondrous parts we may understand from all surrounding nature ; and in this course of observation we find that man has more of beauty bestowed on him as he rises higher in creation. In the contemplation of our solar system, the splendours of the sun and inferior planets, their magnitude, almost incomprehensible to us, their gravitation, the vastness of their revo- lutions, bringing the regular succession and return of day and night, with the difterent seasons, all astonish in their various circum- stances ; if we proceed in observations to the BEAUTY. 135 starry heavens, crowded with suns, the centres of other systems, we are lost in amazement, and our faculties are overwhelmed. The objects which surround us on the earth we inhabit are more commensurate to our comprehension and intelligence, and in them we trace wonders equally enforcing the con- viction of power and goodness, by their beauty and order. The earth, its history and productions — the sea, its phenomena and contents — the vege- table and mineral kingdoms — have employed, and will continue to employ, the wisest of men in the most delightful speculations and extra- ordinary discoveries. The pursuit of each person must be allotted by his station, whilst the industry of each con- tributes to the circle of knowledge. Our present object will be, after some gene- ral observations on the animal kingdom, to inquire into the excellence of man in his real essence, iind its effects on his external appear- 136 LECTURE V. ance — his intelligible alliance with superior natures, or degeneracy and abasement in re- semblance to the brutes. Among the many examples in natural phi- losophy and history of the gradual and uninter- rupted connection of being, from the highest to the lowest, as far as our perceptions will penetrate, the animal kingdom offers most striking and stupendous instances. There is a resemblance in the organization and bodily form of all animals, which varies by almost imperceptible gradations, through all the links of this chain, from man to the worm or vegetable. The anatomical form and oroanization of the ourana-outano; bear a near resemblance to the anatomy of man : this contiguration continues in squirrels, rats, and mice, until the bat, or flying mouse, unites the race of quadrupeds with birds ; in the same manner, the kangaroo and gerboa, with very short fore legs, and walking on the hind legs only, unite quadru- BEAUTY. 137 peds with another class of birds, which do not fly, the penguin, the cassowary, and the ostrich. The crocodile and allioator 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 fishes. The smaller and more imperfect birds ap- proach to the resemblance of the larger butter- flies and moths. The order of flies at length terminates so exactly in the resemblance of a leaf, that it might be taken for one, did not experiment prove, by the heart, lungs, and anatomical properties, the fly to be perfectly animal ; whilst a totally different organization proves the other to be positively vegetable. Professor Camper, in the most ingenious and valuable notes to his lectures, shows that the figure and organization of man contain the principles on which the structure of all inferior animals is formed, and from which they are removed by gradual imperfection. 138 LECTURE V. Four-footed animals, although their general forms and anatomy bear strong likeness to the human figure, differ from it in these respects : the brain-pan is less, the nose and jaws have greater projection, their view is downwards, the body is supported in a horizontal line by four legs terminated by paws or hoofs: the interior organization differs in correspondence with the external figure. The variation of the bird from the beast is, that the nose and jaws of one become a beak in the other, the front legs having lost the paws, are folded up by the sides, and are wings. In fishes, the head is set immediately on the body ; they have no legs, their places are supplied by fins, which convey them through the waters. All these various orders are won- derfully formed in fitness for the elements they inhabit, and the purposes of their lives. As their history extends through a large and very interesting portion of creation, so the principles of their conformation and powers BEAUTY. 139 comprehend a considerable share of natural science. The forms of the bones and anatomy con- tain the geometrical forms, as the motions of the body, limbs and interior demonstrate the mechanical powers. The preparation, secretion, and fermentation of the juices are chymical; hydraulics are in the conveyance and motion of the juices; Pneumatics in the various modes of breathing; electricity in the effects of heat on the body ; and optics in the organs of sight. Such general observations relate to the bodies of man and other animals ; but we must remember that man, even in the structure of his body, is the most perfect of all creatures ; and the above remarks are only otl'ered to call the attention to the wonderful extent of crea- tion, and the harmony, order and beauty of its whole connection and disposition. But in treating of man in particular, our subject is the most perfect production of Al- 140 LECTURE V. mighty Power in the visible world, the facul- ties of whose soul place him far above other creatures, and declare the nearer relation he stands in to his divine Creator. By the wisdom he is endowed with, all crea- tures are subjected to his dominion ; by his affections he is enabled to perform all the charities of life — to prefer the interests of others to his own — to distinguish personal beauty as the indication of good disposition and health — to trace his Creator in his works, and offer the homage of his worship : in all which he is superior to the brute animals, whose exertions are the consequence of instinct for the preser- vation of themselves and progeny, and whose reasoning has never been discovered to go beyond these purposes, or some particular attachment. As the affections of man stimulate and en- gage him in every act, so his understanding- directs the means and looks to the end in BEAUTY. 141 every employment through life. These modify the exterior of the face and figure, according to constant habit or momentary impulse. The passionate are known by quick fiery glances, swollen brows, dilated nostrils, the mouth a little open, the movements of the whole figure sudden, the muscles of the body being disposed to rigidity and contraction. The melancholy have a general dejection of look, the exterior corners of the eyes and eyebrows tending downwards, a universal slowness of motion and disregard of outward objects. Every passion, sentiment, virtue, or vice, have their corresponding signs in the face, body, and limbs, which are understood by the skilful physician and physiognomist, when not confused by the working of contrary affections or hidden by dissimulation. In the formation and appearance of the 142 LECTURE V. body, we shall always find that its beauty de- pends on its health, strength, and agility, most convenient motion and harmony of parts in the male and female human fioure, accordino- to the purposes for which they were intended ; the man for greater power and exertion, the woman for tenderness and grace. If these character- istics of form are animated by a soul in which benevolence, temperance, fortitude and the other moral virtues preside, unclouded by vice, we shall recognize in such a one perfect beauty, and remember that "God created man in his own image." We know that sickness destroys the com- plexion and consumes the form, until that which was once admired for grace and attrac- tive loveliness becomes a ghastly spectre : and is it not equally evident that brutal ferocity, revenge, hypocrisy, or any other of the malig- nant passions, still more effectually destroy the very traces of beauty by reducing man to a savage beast in his most degraded state ? The most perfect human beauty is that most BEAUTY. 143 free from deformity either of body, or mind, and may be therefore defined — " The most perfect soul, in the most perfect body." Doubts can scarcely be entertained that there are principles of beauty, because various opinions prevail in difi^erent countries on the subject. Men are in different states of mental and bodily improvement, from the most savage to the most civilized countries, and we know that many successive ages must pass in the confirmation of moral habits, the right direc- tion of reason and elevation of intellect, before man can judge with any tolerable ability, of mental or natural beauty, their causes, relations and eft'ects : and that in all states of society there must be allowance for prejudice and climate. But we shall certainly find that the wisest and the best men in all ages and coun- tries have held nearly the same doctrine on this subject. The excellence of intellect and moral beauty was asserted by Menu, the Indian legislator, 144 LECTURE V. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, Zoroaster, the Persian sage, and the Egyptian priests. Pythagoras, who had studied their wisdom, understood the dispositions of the mind by its influence expressed in the exteriors of the body ; and accordingly, lamblichus, his bio- grapher, tells us he would observe the coun- tenance, figure, looks, movements, manner of speaking and tone of voice, until he was accurately acquainted with any one's charac- ter. Our present purpose particularly requires we should consider the sentiments of the most celebrated Greeks on beauty, the connection of mental and bodily beauty, and their ex- pression in the human form. Homer constantly endows his gods with personal beauty, accommodated to their mental perfection and immortal power, and his heroes with the attributes of gods : thus, as he gives to Jupiter the epithets of " Counsellor" and " Provident," he describes his hair as " divine," BEAUTY. 145 " ambrosial, " and his nod as making the world tremble; Juno, he calls the " ox-eyed," and the " white-armed;" Minerva, " the blue- eyed virgin." Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, is the handsomest man that went to Troy ; his epithets are, " divine," " godlike," " swift- footed ;" Agamemnon is called " the king of men ;" Nestor and Ulysses are said to be " in council like the gods;" — all expressing the union of mental and bodily excellence. That the same sentiments continued in after- times, we have the coeval testimonies of the most illustrious philosophers, tragedians, orators and artists. In Plato's Dialogue of Phtcdrus concerning the Beautiful, he shows the power and influence of mental beauty on corporeal, and in his dia- logue, entitled " the Greater Hippias," Socra- tes observes in argument, " that as a beautiful vase is inferior to a beautiful horse, and as a beautiful horse is not to be compared to a beautiful virgin, in the same manner, a beau- L 146 LECTURE V. tiful virgin is inferior in beauty to the immortal gods ;" " for," says he, " there is a beauty incorruptible, ever the same." It is remark- able that immediately after, he says, " Phidias is skilful in beauty." Aristotle, the scholar of Plato, begins his " Treatise on Morals" thus — " Everjr art, every method and institution, every action and council seems to seek some good; there- fore, the ancients pronounced the beautiful to be the good." Much, indeed, might be collected from this philosopher's treatises on morals, poetics, and physiognomy, of the greatest importance to our subject; but for the present we shall pro- duce only two quotations from " Xenophon's Memorabilia," which contain the immediate application of these principles to the arts of design. In the dialosrue between Socrates and the sculptor Clito, Socrates concludes that " Sta- tuary must represent the emotions of the soul by form ;" and in the former part of the same BEAUTY. 117 dialogue, Parrhasius and Socrates agree that " the good and evil qualities of the soul may be represented in the figure of man by paint- ing." In the applications from this dialogue to our subject, we must remember philosophy demonstrates that rationality and intelligence, although connected with animal nature, rises above it, and properly exists in a more exalted state. From such contemplations and maxims, the ancient artists sublimated the sentiments of their works, expressed in the choicest forms of nature; thus they produced their divinities, heroes, patriots, and philosophers, adhering to the principle of Plato, that " nothing is beau- tiful which is not good ;" it was this which, in ages of polytheism and idolatry, still continued to enforce a popular impression of divine at- tributes and perfection. In the highest order of divinities, they repre- sented, as far as possible, the energy of intel- l2 148 LECTURE V. lect above the material accidents of passion or decay. Jupiter* was most placid as most mighty, either extending victory as the reward of for- titude and patriotic emulation, or holding the thunder and sceptre, emblems of his sovereignty in the government of the universe ; excepting when destroying the Titans, — he is then in heroic action. Observations on the Bust of Jupiter. A fine remark is made by Winckelman, (perhaps suggested by Mengs,) that the brows and hair of this head have some resemblance to those of the lion ; the beard and hair are full, the expression is benevolence and wisdom, the age, maturity of power. Neptune resembles Jupiter in countenance and person, his hair is more disturbed by the winds, or wetted by the element he governs, he is nearly or entirely unclothed. * See Plate XX. BEAUTY. 149 Pluto continues the likeness of the Saturnian family, observable in Jupiter and Neptune: he sits in solemn state, the ruler of the lower world — he is covered with drapery — his eyes have a spectre-like stare — and the hair falling- over his forehead, adds gloom to his counte- nance. Apollo, Bacchus, and Mercury, distinguished by their youth and beauty, preserve the re- semblance of their father Jupiter. The energetic Apollo Alexicacos, or the driver-away of evil, commonly called Belvidere, is " severe in youthful beauty;" he supplies Homer's description to the sight — his golden locks are agitated — his countenance is indio- nant — the quiver is hanging on his shoulder — and he steps forward in the discharge of his arrow. Apollo in love, or companion of the muses, is majestic yet graceful, strongly resembling r>acchus, who, in the height of youthful beauty, is frequently leaning on a faun, or a muse, or 150 . LECTURE V. reclining on Ariadne ; his grace and softness approaches to, and sometimes really becomes, female delicacy. Mercury is a mediate character between Apollo and the youthful Hercules ; he unites the sublime beauty of divinity with corporeal, heroic strength, as patron of gymnastic exer- cises, and as messenger of the gods from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven. The characteristics of elevated beauty are continued in the youthful Cupid, Hercules, when a child, strangling the serpents, and the young Ganymede. Heroes, whether considered by the ancients as the immediate progeny of a divinity and a mortal, or as having traced their descent from divinity more remotely, are of muscular forms, in which strength, activity and beauty blend, but in such a manner that by bodily exertion and agility they have been successful combatants and conquerors. Mental power characterizes the divinity, bodily exer- BEAUTY. 151 tion the hero. Such is Oileus Ajax, the Hcemon, Zethiis and Amphion. Achilles is the example of masculine beauty among the heroes, as Hercules is of uncon- querable force. In the faces of the dying Achilles and Lao- coon, pain and death produce nothing like distortion, the elevation of noble minds is seen in their sufferings. The train and ministry of Bacchus aftbrd more variety than that of any other divinity — the sacred instructors — the bearers and dis- pensers of wine and grapes — fauns and satyrs of different ages — dancing and mad Baccha- nals. The sacred instructors are bearded : men of noble characters entirely clothed. Silenus, bearded, with a pleasant countenance, between good-fellowship and philosophy — a rather spare and elegant figure with a faun's tail, entirely naked. Such a one nurses the infant Bacchus in Perrier's statues. 152 LECTURE V. Two genii, the frequent attendants of Bacchus, on either of which he often leans, are Ampelus and Aerates. Ampelus is a faun, nervous and sprightly; Aerates dwarfish, round-bellied, and sometimes hairy. The fauns are youthful, sprightly and ten- donous ; their faces round, expressive of merri- ment, not without an occasional mixture of mischief. Satjns, the lowest order in the train of Bacchus, are strong resemblances to different quadrupeds, their faces and figures partake of the ape, the ram, or the goat, they have some- times goats' legs, and always either goats' or horses' tails. The giants are towers of human strenoth to the waist; but instead of legs their figures ter- minate in the huge folds of serpents' tails ; their heads resemble the Saturnian family, but lowering with brutal ferocity ; two small serpents are on their heads, perhaps to indicate the torments in the lower regions, according to Ilesiod. BEAUTY. \oS Ocean, and great rivers, as the Nile, Euphrates, Tigris, and Tiber, resemble the Saturnian family in countenance, hair, and beard ; — their figures Herculean and full of flesh. The Tritons, and inferior sea-divinities, are robust men to the middle, ending with fishes' tails : their faces are like either the giants' or fauns' ; finny hair covers their heads, and gills are on their jaws. Juno is the first of the goddesses, as sister and wife of Jupiter : she possesses the highest degree of beauty ; her character is lofty and imperial. Minerva is sometimes seen as the patroness of peaceful arts, in attitude highly dignified, yet simple, clothed in full draperjs and holding an olive branch ; but she is most frequently seen armed, in her four-crested helmet and fegis bearing the terrors of IVIedusa's head, holding her spear and shield, as the virgin-goddess of war. In both characters she is the represen- tative of wisdom. 151 LECTURE V. Venus, * the example and patroness of beauty, appears more frequently in poetic numbers, and rapturous description, than any other heathen divinity. She was the delight- ing and frequent theme of Homer, Hesiod, Sappho, Apollonius Rhodius, Virgil, and in- deed most of the ancient poets. Plato distin- guishes the celestial from the earthly Venus, and Pliny mentions a statue by Phidias of Venus Urania, or the heavenly. The Venus of Cleomenes, and the Venus de Medicis, are certainly of Plato's latter class ; they perfectly agree with Hesiod's description ; — ■ " The lovely modest Goddess rising from the sea, accompa- nied by Love, and followed by Desire." The Graces are seen in ancient sculpture as three lovely, youthful sisters, embracing each other. They were always clothed till after the time of Socrates. In the earlier ages they formed a chorus hand in hand, as described by Pindar. * See Plates XXL XXIl. and XXUL BEAUTY. 155 The Greek and Latin names of these god- desses, Charites and Gratia, which signify the exercise of kind afiections, or the charities of life, are well personified by the tender union of sisters. The character and actions of these god- desses have given the epithet graceful, to easy, undulating motion. The sea nymphs are graceful in the ex- treme: their beautiful movements are as va- rious as the waves on which they are borne ; each appears a foam-produced Venus. The whole universe was peopled by conge- nial beings, substantiated by philosophers, de- scribed by poets, and represented with the glow of life by painters and sculptors. In heaven were good demons, or angelic spirits, winged victories, winds, and hours. On earth, the genii of mountains, trees, rivers and fountains, fauns and satyrs. In the infernal regions, furies and chinurras. In an assemblage comprehending such an 156 LECTURE V. extent of gradation, with its different races of variety, whatever could be chosen from nature, or deduced from reasoning, evident or ab- stracted, was employed, from the most beauti- ful, through various removals and descents, to the most gross and terrific. It would be endless to enumerate the foreign divinities of Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain, which during the Roman power received Greek and Roman forms and personifications ; and, if this were done, we could learn nothing novel from it, in relation to our present sub- ject. We should, however, be more certainly led to this conclusion — that wherever traces of grandeur or beauty were found, they would be discovered as pillage, and transfer, from ancient Greece. This much being said more particularly in respect to the countenances and heads of sta- tues, which have been the chief subjects of BEAUTY. 157 former Lectures, we will otter a few general remarks on hands and feet. The proportion of the hand, (it is well knowai,) from its junction with the wrist to the end of the middle finger, is the length of a face ; the breadth across the four lower knuckles does not exceed half the length, or a nose and a half. With these proportions, the beauty of the female hand consists in a fulness and roundness of form, gently dimpled over the first knuckles ; the fingers long, round, taper- ing towards the ends, with scarcely any indi- cation of joints. The male hand, with nearly the same pro- portions, has more squareness of form and joints, and has little indication of bone or ten- don in the youthful figure. The foot is about a head and a half-nose in length ; the breadth, in a strait line across the upper joint of the little toe, being one third, or a nose and a half. The beauty of the female foot consists in a 158 LECTURE V. rounded form, dimpled over the first joints of the toes, which are very delicate, with exceed- ingly gentle indications of the joints, and turned by an almost imperceptible diagonal from the great toe. The foot of the male figure in youth shows no more of its anatomical structure than the female, but has a greater squareness of form. In more advanced age, or more muscular cha- racter, the male foot 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 sepa- rated from them by a distinct space. The boundaries of personal beauty are the Apollo and Hercules ; a more slender form than the Apollo is maigre, and one more covered with tlesh than the Hercules must be BEAUTY. 1.7J clumsy ; as one in which the parts are more forcibly marked than in the Laocoon would be a dissected figure. Such are the regulations and forms of beauty in the human face and figure, which allow of infinite modification and variety, but not trans- gression. By these general remarks on the principles of beauty, the student will be excited to a spirit of research, which every one must exert for himself in the various galleries and mu- seums already published, to be found in the library of the Royal Academy, and other pub- lic and private repositories, and ancient monu- ments ; but this must be in addition to the most diligent and continual study of choice nature. ( 160 ) LECTURE VI. COMPOSITION. Having introduced the Lectui-es on Sculpture by an inquiry concerning its relations and con- nection with the circle of general knowledge — stated some important facts in its ancient his- tory — considered the application of science, the observation of nature, and the speculation of mental qualities more particularly evident in the nobler works of Grecian sculpture— we may now proceed to that great effort in which the artist sums up all his knowledge, embodies all his science, and exerts his utmost powers, under the standard of passion, or sentiment, in composition. To avoid repeating that which it is scarcely possible to think or say better on the present COMPOSITION. 161 subject, I shall refer the student to the excel- lent principles and doctrines in the Lecture on Composition by the professor of painting* — to consider with attention what he has delivered on invention and design, on dignity of concep- tion, and pathos of sentiment — to imprint on his memory, with peculiar care, the gradual elevation to a climax in the example of Rem- brandt's " Ecce Homo" — and the degradation of subject to the disgusting, in " the blinding of Sampson," by the same painter. The maxims to be collected from these pa- ragraphs of that admirable discourse have equal force in both arts ; and as they have been laid down for the regulation of painting, it is equally important they should be implicitly followed in sculpture : for as the theories of painting and sculpture, so far as the study of colours makes no distinction, are nearly the same, the lectures on painting impart a share of instruction to the sculptor, little less than that which is received by the painter. Composition, in the arts of design, is the * Mr. Fuscli. M 162 LECTURE VI. grouping of figures in succession or action, and immediately follows the intelligible imitation of the human figure. The early compositions of Greece in poetry, painting, and sculpture, celebrate heroic deeds and sacred mysteries : as the combat of The- seus and the Minotaur, of Eteocles and Poly- nices, of Hercules and the Centaurs, Dejanira carried ofi^" by Nessus, processions of divinities, and the initiations of Bacchus and Ceres on painted vases, coins, votive basso-relievos, and ancient wells. Their barbarous violence of angular action, or simple formality of move- ment, is expressed in a gross execution. These were among the first bold attempts of painting and sculpture: — to emerge from the servility of hieroglyphical writing and symboli- cal figure ; speaking to the feelings, instead of the memory; proclaiming to the spectator's transient view, the delivery of a people, the fall of a city, or the divine superintendence. AVhen the power of Asia was transferred to COMPOSITION. 163 Greece, the sciences, the graces, and the muses, bestowed on the arts truth, beauty, and inspiration. Colossal statues of prodigious size arose in the cities, like guardian genii overlooking their states. Their attributes and pedestals were adorned with compositions from poetry and theology. The porticos were ani- mated with the heroes of other times. In the friezes of the temples, the Athenians and Ama- zons, the LapithtTe and Centaurs, the Greeks and Persians fought again, whilst assemblies of gods and demi-gods in their pediments rose to the sk^^ Such was the state and magnifi- cence of sculpture in Greece, which is so far important to us, as it makes us acquainted with the celebrated compositions of Grecian artists. Phidias did not only ennoble Athens and Elis with colossal statues of Minerva and Ju- piter of ivory and gold, but he adorned their insignia and pedestals with compositions from the grandest subjects in the poems of Homer and Hesiod. On the outside of Minerva's M 2 164 LECTURE VI. shield was the battle of the Athenians and Amazons ; on the inside the contest of the gods and giants ; on the pedestal was the birth of Pandora. On the throne of Jupiter were the destruc- tion of Niobe's children, the labours of Her- cules, the delivery of Prometheus, the garden of the Hesperides, with other incidents of the heroic ag-es. On the base, the battle of Theseus and the Amazons ; on the pedestal an assembly of the gods, the sun and moon in their cars, and the birth of Venus. These compositions excelled whatever had appeared before in beauty, grace, and com- pass, in the same proportion as Phidias ex- celled his predecessors ; and their numerous repetitions testify the esteem of the ancients, and give us possession of the spirit and cha- racter of the works themselves, in friezes, basso-relievos, and painted vases. Minerva received in the assembly of the gods, on the pediment of her temple at Athens, COMPOSITION. 165 we know from the drawing of it preserved by the Marquis Nanteul. Of the marriage of Pelops and Hippodamia, on the temple of Jupiter at Elis, we may per- haps form some conception from a magnificent painted vase in the British Museum, on which are two quadrigas, and various human figures. The battles of the Athenians with the Ama- zons and Persians, beheld by assemblies of the gods, in the temples of Minerva and Theseus, and the Propyleum of Athens, together with the frieze lately discovered at Phigaleia, are admirable examples of simplicity and energy. When the states of Greece ceased to be free, they could no longer raise noble temples from the spoils of their enemies, and blazon their own struggles for freedom, or proclaim their divinities on friezes and pediments ;— but, with the same love of their country, they employed their senius on inferior memorials of their heroic or deified ancestors, for porticos, libra- ries, halls, or tombs. The wars of Troy and Thebes, the stories of their ancient families 166 LECTURE VI. and kings, expanded by the tragic poets from the episodes of Homer, have bestowed on us those invaluable compositions — the discovery of Achilles, his contest with Agamemnon, the death of Egysthus and Clytemnestra, Orestes and the Furies, Orpheus and Eurydice, Medea and Jason, CEdipus Coloneus, and the death of Meleager. The principal compositions of Roman sculp- ture, the best of which, there is reason to believe, were executed by Greek artists, are those of the arches raised to Titus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Severus, and Constantine — the Trajan Antonine, and Theodosian columns. They breathe the spirit of the people they commemorate — war, conquest, and universal dominion ! In the Greek compositions, the counte- nances and figures are of exalted beauty ; the actions display the limbs and body with the greatest variety, energy, and grace ; the sub- COMPOSITION. 167 jects are heroic or divine. They have a kin- dred sublimity with Homer, of patriotism with Tjrrtffius, the noble tlights of Pindar, the ter- rors of iEschylus, and the tenderness of So- phocles ! The Roman compositions owe no inspiration to the muses, urge no claim to the epic or dramatic. They are the mere paragraphs of military gazettes ! vulgar in conception, fero- cious in sentiment. On the columns and arches above mentioned, the principal objects are mobs of Romans, cased in armour, bearing- down unarmed, scattered Germans, Dacians, or Sarmatians — soldiers felling timber, driving- piles, building walls or bridges, carrying rub- bish, shouldering battering-rams, killing with- out mercy, or dragging and binding captives. The forms of their bodies and limbs are inter- rupted by mail or plate armour, and most of the heads so brutal and savage, as to excite compassion for the barbarians who have fallen into their hands. 168 LECTURE VI. Fi"om this abasement of sculpture in Italy we shall willingly turn again to the compositions of the Greeks, and observe that this people, who had embodied the false divinities of Olym- pus, and widely spread their fame by the per- fection of their representations, the same peo- ple were the first to declare the sacred oracles of truth, under the Christian dispensation, by the mute eloquence of painting and sculpture. Different subjects of Holy Writ are men- tioned by the writers of those times, which no longer exist. Some mosaics, ivory carvings, and illumina- tions, which have escaped the destruction of Moslem fanaticism, abundantly indicate the beauty of those more considerable works we have lost. Seven or eight Greek Christian compositions were mentioned in a former lecture, as having been standards to the Italian painters, from which they scarcely ventured to deviate for ages, viz., The creation of Adam and of Eve, the Nativity,* the Transfiguration, the * See Plates II. XXXV. \XXVI. and XXXIX. COMPOSITION. 169 Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Glorification, with some others, which amplj^ prove that the sacred tlame remained in Greece which kindled light and life in the modern arts of Western Europe. Grecian composition may be traced in the biblical basso-relievos of Orvieto by Nicolas and John Pisani ; in the noble bronzes of the life of Christ on the pulpits of St. Lorenzo in Florence, by Donatello ; on the bronze gates of St. John's Baptisteiy, in the same city, by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and in the paintings of Raphael and Michael Angelo. The Greek poets conducted their works on a plan of composition which equally governs painting and sculpture. Homer's Iliad is a whole, united in its parts by connection, and varied by gradation. The sentiment throughout is wrath, begin- ning with the dissension of the kings, continued by the vengeance of the Trojans, and ended 170 LECTURE VI. by the destruction of Troy's hope and bulwark in the death of Hector. Achilles is the hero, who, like the sun, enlightens and heats all by the blaze of his presence; his absence is darkness and dis- may. There is the same unity in connection and gradation of characters and circumstances to be found in the Prometheus of iEschylus. Vulcan, Force and Strength; Mercury, Ocean, and the Nymphs are but contingents to the adamantine spirit of Prometheus, whom the threats of Jupiter could not move, nor convul- sions of the universe terrify : the interest is in him, to which the ministering violence, admo- nition, consolation or tenderness of the inferior characters give subordinate relation. The principles of composition, that the story should be a perfect whole, and that one cha- racter should be supreme, to which all the inferiors should have some relation by connec- tion or separation, is seen in every action of COMPOSITION. 171 men. The individual variety of character is equally in the order of nature. Aristotle and Horace in their " Arts of Poetry," (besides the above mentioned,) pro- pose various rules, which equally govern the poet, painter, and sculptor ; and that no doubt may be entertained concerning the practice of the ancient artists, Horace tells us that " the poet and painter are regulated by the same principles." For the sake of clearness, the rules of com- position shall be given under distinct heads. First, a poet speaks by words. The painter and sculptor by action. Action singly, or in series : — thus the story of Laocoon is told by the agony of the father and sons, inextricably wound about in the folds of serpents. The anger of Achilles is shown by drawing his sword on Agamemnon in the council of the kings. And every action is more perfect as it comprehends an indication of the past. 172 LECTURE VI. with a certainty of the end, in the moment chosen. Ananias, falling in the contractions of death at the feet of Peter, proves a divine authority in the apostle's rebuke, whilst Sapphira, count- ing the silver, leads to the nature of his offence. See Raphael's Cartoon. In the group of Harmon and Antigone, he supports the expiring woman, whilst he kills himself with the same sword which slew her, proving his death to be a consequence of hers. Expression distinguishes the species of action in the whole and in all the parts ; in the faces, figures, limbs and extremities. Whether the story be heroic, grave, or tender, it is the very soul of composition — it animates its characters and gradations, as the human soul doth the body and limbs — it engages the attention, and excites an interest which compensates for a multitude of defects — whilst the most admirable execution, without a just and lively expression, will be disregarded as laborious inanity, or COMPOSITION. 173 contemned as an illusory endeavour to impose on the feelings and the understanding. The general forms of masses in composition have been enumerated and ably described by the professor of painting ; but as these particu- larly concern the sculptor, whose whole study is form, a repetition will not be useless. The forms are the pyramid erect, inverted, or lateral, the circle and the oval ; they may be radiated, and the whole will have a flame- like undulation in effect, from the ever-vary- ing succession of curves in the outline and action of the human figure. The parts will be more simple and rectilinear in repose, more angular in violent action, and partaking of gentle curves when the subject is tender, and the persons elegant : when the limbs are entwined as struggling, or in any sympathetic act either of force or tenderness, the joints, the general curves and views of the limbs should never be exactly and mechani- cally the same, but partake of the wonderful variety of nature, in which all faces, all bodies. 174 LECTURE VI. and all efforts are different. This gives life and motion. What has been said above, is equally appli- cable to the group or basso-relievo, but the application must be accommodated to the subject. The entire group is independent of back- ground, and that additional contrast or effect produced by the adjunction of secondary figures and objects; it is one whole, whose idea is perfect, and action satisfactory in itself; it is to be seen in every view, and each view must exhibit a different group, preserving a succes- sion of beautiful forms and distinct lines, with- out impairing the energy of sentiment. The basso-relievo may be considered in effect as a picture without colouring, whose back-ground is light, a little subdued, the figures thereon being chietiy of the middle tint, with touches of strong dark in the depths, and bright lights on the higher projections. This species of sculpture is not intended to be seen in many views like the entire group, but COMPOSITION. 175 it has this advantage, that more groups than one may be on the same back-ground, and sometimes a succession of events in the same story ; a greater force is given to harmony, or contrast of lines, by the number of groups and figures, as well as the projection of their shadows. The ancients, who considered simplicity as a characteristic of perfection, represented stories by a single row of figures in the bas- relief, by which the whole outline of the figure or group, the energy of action, the concatena- tion of limbs, the tlight or flow of drapery were seen with little interruption; but there are instances of the best times in low relievo, where many horsemen are advancing before each other, the nearer horse hiding the hinder parts of the preceding, and sometimes part of the rider, without causing the least confusion of effect, in the frieze from the Temple of Minerva in Lord's Elgin's collection. There are noble examples, also, of groups and figures rushing in the same reiterated line 176 LECTURE VI. through the composition ; but even in basso- relievo, it must be remembered, the work is sculpture, which allows no picturesque addi- tion or effect of back-ground ; the story must be told, and the field occupied by the figure and acts of man. All art, as the imitation of nature, must be allied by the same relations, and submit to the same laws which govern nature itself: thus, a certain view of the human figure is most fit to express its spring and motion in running or striking, and consequently the quantity of the figure seen in that view ; another quantity will more properly belong to a different exertion or repose. The story may require that the upper part of one figure should be principal, whilst, per- haps, the lower parts are concealed by an in- tervening object; some figures may be running in different directions, more crowded, or sepa- rate. To regulate these spaces and quantities harmoniously, concerns the sculptor iu his COMPOSITION. 177 composition, equally with the poet or musician in theirs. This is to be clone by the same means, according to dift'erent modes of mani- festation, and the 3ds, oths, and 8ths, with their subdivisions, taken by gross calculation in the arts of design, not exact measurement, will produce the same agreeable etiect in lines, light and shadow, space and the arrangement of colours, as is produced by similar quantities in music. One simple instance only shall be given of opposition, and another of harmony, in lines and quantities: two equal curves, set with either their convex or concave faces to each other, produce opposition ; but unite two curves of dliferent size and segment, they will produce that harmonious line, termed graceful, in the human figure. Concerning the quantity of light and shadow in a group, if the light be one-third, and shadow two-thirds, the effect will be bold. If the light be one part, and the shade four, it will be still bolder, and accord with a tragic N 178 LECTURE VI. or terrific action ; but the more general effect of sculpture is two-thirds of light on the middle of the group, with a small proportion of very dark shadow in the deeper hollows. An attention to the materials of sculpture will naturally lead us to the description of its legitimate subjects. The grey solemn tints of stone, the beautiful semi-transparent purity of marble, the golden splendor, or corroding darkened green of bronze, reject as incongru- ous all subjects and characters which have not some dignity and elevation. The awful simplicity of those forms whose eyes have neither colour nor brilliancy, and whose limbs have not the glow of circulation, strikes the first view of the beholder as beings of a ditlerent order from himself. Angels, spiritual ministers, embodied virtues, departed worthies, the patriot or general bene- factor, shining in the splendor of his deeds, or gloomy and consuming memorials of the great in former ages — such subjects distinguish temples, churches, palaces, courts of justice. COxAIPOSITION. 179 and the open squares of cities. At the same time that they symbolize their several purposes, they may be comprehended in the three classes of sublime, heroic, and tender. The sublime represents all supernatural acts and appearances, such as assemblies of the gods, or falls of the giants, &c. In the higher class of Christian subjects are the different Acts of Creation, the Angels appearing to the Shepherds, the Transfiguration, the Ascension, and the Judgment. In this class can be nothing common in idea, person, or action; the idea, whether simple or complex, must be such as cannot be seen in nature : the beauty "and dignity of the persons should be more than human, and the action, whether forcible or pathetic, should be action in its essence. Of the heroic class of composition, we may account the battles of the Athenians and Amazons and of the Athenians and Persians, in the Temples of Minerva and Theseus in Athens, N 3 180 LECTURE VI. and the Temple of Apollo at Phigaleia, with such subjects as the story of Orestes, and the death of Egysthus, in the ancient basso-re- lievos. Of the tender or pathetic, are the Death of Meleager, Antiope comforted by Zethus and Amphion ; to which may be added, such Chris- tian subjects as Michael iingelo's Holy Family and Charity ; for althou2;h these two last are paintings, their compositions are so perfectly scriptural, that they may without impropriety be admitted into the present arrangement. Another class of subjects are to be observed among the ancient basso-relievos, which may be termed the graceful, from the prevalence of elegant female figures in the pageants of marine divinities, or in the festive choruses. The characteristics of Grecian composition in the best ages, are simplicity and distinct- ness, in all the examples of painting and sculp- ture which have come down to us. Where the story does not require much action, it is told by gentle movements, and the figures, COMPOSITION. 181 whether grouped or single, have a sufficient portion of plain back-ground left about them, to show the o-eneral lines with the forms of the limbs and draperies perfectly intelligible. Where complication and force of action may be required, it is done with a grace of concatenation which adds continuity to the act, without causing it to be less distinct. And in such acts as are all agitation and violence, the force of striking, the rush of tlight, the agony of dying, and the prostration of the dead, in which union of action is enforced by repetition, and ditierence of situation by con- trast, — still the same distinctness is preserved. In the great compositions of modern times, the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo, and the Fall of the Angels by Rubens, there are multi- tudes and legions in comparison with the separate figures and single groups in the most considerable of the ancient works. The be- holder is thunderstruck by angels falling in groups and forked masses, amalgamating in the vivid Hashes, and darkening in the sulphu- 182 LECTURE VI. rous smoke, in the various dismay, horror, terror, and torpor of deadened intellect in their lost condition. In this picture the un- dulation of figures and groups, the entwining of limbs, the breadth and quantities of light and shade may be studied by the painter and sculptor with equal advantage. The Last Judgment, by Michael Angelo, is, however, a more consummate work, and the parent from which Rubens's Fall of the An- gels has derived its being. If the Judgment is inferior to the Falling Angels in general effect — in the breadth of light and shade — the strength of approaching parts — and gradual distance of those which retreat, by diffusion of middle tint and the vivid variegations of reflex, it is superior in the sublimity and extent of character and action — in the gradations of sentiment and passion, from exalted beatitude to the abyss of hopeless destruction — in the kinds and species of these degrees, — in relations to the COiMPOSlTION. 183 theologiciil and cardinal virtues, opposed to the seven deadly sins, — in uncommon, original, distinct and fit appropriation in the groups or separate figures. The sentiment of particular figures and groups is in the whole, and all the parts penetrating, sympathetic, and true. Despair plunges headlong downwards, the fall of the contentious is aided by strife and blows, the malignant drawn downwards by the fiends, is tormented in his way by the biting serpent ; for some there is a terrific con- test between angels and infernals.* Among the happy, brotherly love is evident in three figures which shoot upwards together, whose faces, seen a little beyond each other, appear to be reflections of the same self ; seve- ral rise to the heavenly region by the attrac- tions of purity, piety, and charity. In this stupendous work, in addition to the genius of the mighty master, the mechanical powers and movements of the figure, its ana- tomical energy and forms, are shown by such * Sec Plate XXXVll. 184 LECTURE VI. perspective of the most ditiicult positions, as surpass any examples left by the ancients on a flat surface or low relief, and are only to be equalled in kind, but not in the proportion of complication, in the front and diagonal views of the Laocoon, and all the views of the Boxers, which are both entire groups. By such observations on these works, so far as composition and design are common to the sister arts, the sculptor perceives the scope and power of his own art. It is true, that sublime and extensive works are seldom required in the slow and difficult process of sculpture ; but he who loves the honourable exercise of his art, and the intel- lectual delight of worthy exertion, will endea- vour to prepare himself for all difficulties : be- sides, the combinations and particular groups will be more or less concerned in the studies of every day ; and as the electric fluid pervades all matter, so the same spirit and principles which inform these works, penetrate the whole study of the human figure. COMPOSITION. 185 The lines of Grecian composition enchant the beholder by their harmony and perfection, and this portion of study seems to have been highly improved by Pamphilus, the learned Macedonian painter, who denied that any one could succeed in the study of painting, without arithmetic and geometry. The application of these two sciences is very evident in the arts of design : by arithmetic, the proportions of the human figure and other animals are reckoned, and the quantities of bodies, superficies, or light and shade ascertained; geometr}^ gives lines and diagrams for the motion, outline, and drapery of the figure, regulated by the harmony of agreeable proportions, or the op- position of contrast. The effect is evident in the groups of Laocoon and the Boxers, the bas-relief of the Niobe family, and that of the rape of Proserpine ; but this magic bond of arrangement was utterly lost when the other perfections of Grecian genius were over- whelmed in barbarism, nor in any degree re- covered until late in the resurrection of the 18(5 LECTURE VI. arts, and then they were reproduced by the same means which had discovered them. The study of geometry became more gene- ral, and had been applied with more success to the improvement of science and art, after the learned Greeks, who tied from Constan- tinople, settled in Italy. Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo were greedy partakers in this abundant harvest of knowledge. Michael Angelo* showed his sensibility to the play of lines in his picture of the Holy Family, in which the Virgin, sitting on the ground, receives the infant Jesus, whom Joseph, stooping behind, presents over her rio'ht shoulder. Leonardo da Vinci, who had devoted much time to mechanical and geometrical studies, composed the Contest for the Standard, intended to be painted in the great hall of the old palace of Florence. This was indeed a prodigy in modern advancement, and the first great ex- * See Plate XXXVIll. COMPOSITION. 187 ample of complicated grouping since the arts flourished in ancient Greece. Michael Angelo's mind seems at this time to have been employed on the powers, forms, and views of the human figure singly, and per- haps the admirable groups in the ceiling and Last Judgment of the Sistine Chapel were the consequence of Leonardo da Vinci's example. We are sure, the several hunts of the lions, hippopotamus, and crocodile, were painted by Rubens in emulation, if not imitation, of Leonardo's Battle of the Standard ; and such is their merit, that in them you see the men strike, the horses kick, the wild animals roar- ing, turn and rend their hunters, with a gran- deur of lines equal to the vivacity of action and passion. In comparing these with similar subjects in ancient bassorrelievos, particularly with those on the arch of Constantine, in which Trajan hunts the lion and boar, modern genius shines with uncommon brilliancy, and Trajan with his followers, and the animals they attack, are tame, insipid, and unnatural. 1S8 LECTURE VI. In comparing ancient and modern composi- tions, we shall find the excellence of each was derived from the systems and moral habits of the times and countries. The Greeks admired, encouraged and cultivated personal beauty by gymnastic exercises and public rewards in the Olympian meeting of the states ; consequently, what they admired, they represented. The most choice selections of countenance and form, the most elegant display in the folds of drapery, was seen in their councils of divini- ties; in combats and heroic adv^entures, grace, elasticity of action and personal courage were conspicuous. The modern arts have been more zealously employed to commemorate the acts and events of that dispensation which governs their con- duct, and determines their future condition ; and even in their celebrations and memorials of political occurrences, or private characters, they are always combinations of the moral virtues, or the influences of providential direc- COMPOSITION. 1S9 tion. What has been done, and what may be done from such subjects, is proved by Michael Angelo's Old Testament* and Judgment, in the Sistine Chapel — the Calling of Paul, and the IMartj^rdom of Peter, in the Pauline Chapel — the Plagues in the last days of the Church, by Signorelli, in the Cathedral of Orvieto — the Cartoons of Raphael — the scriptural basso- relievos by John and Nicholas Pisani, Dona- tello, and Lorenzo Ghiberti. These subjects are more than sufficient to employ the greatest human powers, comprehending whatever is most sublime or beautiful in energy or repose — most tender, most affectionate, most forcible, or most terrific. An additional distinction between the sub- jects of ancient and modern composition is oc- casioned by parental affection, and domestic charities, being cherished in the Christian dis- pensation much more powerfully than in the Grecian codes : to these graces of benevolence * See Plate XXXIII. 190 LECTURE VI. we owe those lovely groups — the Holy Families of Raphael and Correggio, and the Charity* of Michael Angelo, unequalled by any ancient composition of a mother and children, and one of the finest groups in existence. In a discourse on the composition of sculp- ture, some observations may be expected on sepulchral monuments and equestrian statues ; but little need be said concerning them at pre- sent, because the sculptor capable of pro- ducing a fine group, or alto-relievo of three or more figures, need only limit the compass of his powers, or submit them to architectural arrangements, and he will execute either one or the other without difficulty; but let him always remember, that the entire group, and the alto or basso-relievo, are the only legiti- mate sculpture. All those monuments of the later Italian school in which entire fioures are mino-led with * See Plate XXXIV. COMPOSITION. 191 those of low relief on pyramidal back-grounds, are mean attempts to unite the effects and per- spective of painting, with the force and severity of sculpture, as ineffectual as injudicious, and as they partake in the qualities of both arts, cannot properly be ranked in either. The sculptor must not forget that his art is limited in comparison with painting; colours and their effects are beyond his bound ; whether the act he represents was performed in the bright mid-day sunshine or the darkness of midnight concerns him not, his forms must be equally perfect, and his expression equally de- cided. Even basso-relief, a tree or two, some rude stone, a flat column, or a wall, slightly marked in the back-ground, must indicate a forest, a mountain, or a palace, without detail- ing a portrait of their component parts. Such are the limits which circumscribe the sculptor ; but it is a limitation by which he is in a measure delivered from the restraints of time and space, which strengthens his powers by concentration, and by which he is privi- 193 LECTURE VI. leged to disregard inferior objects for the human figure, the most perfect of all forms, with all the gradations of intelligence, affec- tion, sentiment, action or passion, capable of being expressed in the human figure, individu- ally or in numbers, and in the different orders of being, from the exalted supernatural agent to the lower degradations which terminate in brutal nature. What has been delivered comprises some of the rules for composing, and observations on composition, the most obvious, and perhaps not the least useful. They have been collected from the best works and the best writings, examined and compared with their principles in nature. Such a comprehensive view may be serviceable to the younger student, in point- ing his way, preventing error, and showing the needful materials; but after all, he must per- form the work himself! All rules, all critical discourses, can but awaken the intelligence, and stimulate the will, with advice and direc- tions for a beginning of that which is to be COMPOSITION. 193 done. They may be compared to the scaftbld- ing for raising a magnificent palace ; it is nei- ther the building nor the decoration, but it is the workman's indispensable help in erecting the walls which enclose the apartments, and which may afterwards be enriched with the most splendid ornaments. Every painter and sculptor feels conviction that a considerable portion of science is requi- site to the productions of liberal art; but he will be equally convinced that whatever is pro- duced from principles and rules only, added to the most exquisite manual labour, is no more than a mechanical work ! Sentiment is the life and soul of fine art ! without, it is all a dead letter! Sentiment gives a sterling value, an irresistible charm, to the rudest imagery or most unpractised scrawl. By this quality a firm alliance is formed with the affections in all works of art. With an earnest watchfulness for their preservation, we are made to perceive and feel the most sublime and terri^c subjects, o 19i LECTURE VI. following the course of sentiment through the current and mazes of intelligence and passion to the most delicate and tender ties and sym- pathies of affection ; — the benign exertions of spiritual natures ; the tremendous fall of rebel angels or Titans : the immoveable fortitude or contending energy of patriotism ; the sincerity of friendship, and the irresistible harmony of connubial, maternal, fraternal and filial love. Such efl'ects are produced by the communi- cation of the artist's own choicest feelings and faculties, embodied and enforced by the unin- terrupted and constant observation and imita- tion of whatever is most strikingly excellent in nature. In these discourses on subjects extensive and various in their relations will be found many defects, both of matter and example, and some of these the author is not ashamed to acknowledge may exist beyond the limits of his intelligence to perceive, or his power to cor- rect; yet he cherishes a hope of removing some COMPOSITION. 195 of the errors, and adding such improvements as his abilities permit, with a desire that the lec- tures on sculpture may in time become a por- tion not unworthy of the noble theory and plan of education for the sister Arts, as pursued in the Royal Academy. o 2 ( 196 ) LECTURE VII. STYLE. The introduction to a theory, whether of sci- ence or art, practical or abstracted, should contain such a compendious view of the sub- ject, as will connect all the branches or mem- bers with the principle on which they depend for their essential quality, and peculiar charac- teristic distinction ; so that our view of the whole should comprehend the parts of which it is composed, and our inquiries concerning the parts should be guided and regulated by that common principle in which they are all united. This universal and indispensable maxim, applied to a course of Lectures on Sculpture, will naturally lead us to some well-known qua- lity which originates in the birth of the art itself — increases in its growth — strengthens in STYLE. 197 its vigour^ — attains the full measure of beauty in the perfection of its parent cause — and, in its decay, withers and expires ! — Such a qua- lity will define the stages of its progress, and will mark the degrees of its debasement ; — it will point out how, and when, proportions were obtained by measure and calculation — when geometrical figures more simple, or com- plicated, decided form — how the harmony of lines in composition produce energy by con- trast, and sympathy by assimilation. — Such a quality immediately determines to our eyes and understanding, the barbarous attempt of the ignorant savage — the humble labour of the mere workman — the miracle of art conducted by science, ennobled by philosophy, and per- fected by the zealous and extensive study of nature. This distinguishing quality is understood by the term Style, in the arts of design. This term, at first, was applied to poetry, and the style of Homer and. Pindar must have been familiar long before Phidias or Zeuxis were 198 LECTURE VII. known ; but, in process of time, as the poet wrote with his style or pen, and the designer sketched with his style or pencil, the name of the instrument was familiarly used to express the genius and productions of the writer and the artist ; and this symbolical mode of speak- ing has continued from the earliest times through the classical ages, the revival of arts and letters, down to the present moment, equally intelligible, and is now strengthened by the uninterrupted use and authority of ancients and moderns. And here we may remark, that as by the term style we designate the several stages of progression, improvement, or decline of the art, so by the same term, and at the same time, we more indirectly relate to the progress of the human mind, and states of society; for such as the habits of the myid are, such will be the works, and such objects as the under- standing and the aft'ections dwell mostupon, will be most readily executed by the hands. Thus the savage depends on clubs, spears and axes STYLE. 199 for safety and defence against his enemies, and on his oars or paddles for the guidance of his canoe through the waters : these, therefore, engage a suitable portion of his attention, and, with incredible labour, he makes them the most convenient possible for his purpose ; and, as a certain consequence, because usefulness is a property of beauty, he frequently produces such an elegance of form, as to astonish the more civilized and cultivated of his species. He will even superadd to the elegance of form an additional decoration in relief on the sur- face of the instrument, a wave line, a zig-zag, or the tie of a band, imitating such simple ob- jects as his wants and occupations render fami- liar to his observation — such as the first twi- light of science in his mind enables him to com- prehend. Thus far his endeavours are crowned with a certain portion of success ; but if he extend his attempt to the human form, or the attributes of divinity, his rude conceptions and untaught mind produce only images of lifeless deformity, or of horror and disgust. 200 LECTURE VII. When we consider these weak and inefficient attempts for a moment, with what astonish- ment shall we turn to the almost breathing statue, whose mimic tlesh seems yielding to the touch ! whose balance alarms with the ex- pectation of movemeni ! whose countenance beams with the sweetest charities of humanity ! In these opposite descriptions we contemplate the productions of man just emerging from gross and savage nature, and civilized man, formed to moral habits, intellectual enjoy- ments, and delighting to trace the Creator in his works. Such is the difference between the beginning and the perfection of art. To mark this pro- gress and its gradations is the object of our present inquiry ; nor will our time be unprofit- ably employed ; for if, by the characteristics of style, we can secure land-marks on the road to excellence, we may avoid the danger of de- viating into the paths of error. The characters of style may be properly arranged under two heads, the Natural and the Ideal. STYLE. 20r The Natural Style may be defined thus : a representation of the human form, according to the distinctions of sex and age, in action or repose, expressing the affections of the soul. The same words may be used to define the Ideal Style, but they must be followed by this addition — " selected from such perfect exam- ples as may excite in our minds a conception of the supernatural." By these definitions will be understood, that the natural style is peculiar to humanity, and the ideal to spirituality and divinity. In our pursuit of this subject we are aware of the propensity to imitation common in all, by which our knowledge of surrounding ob- jects is increased, and our intellectual facul- ties are elevated ; and we consequently find in most countries attempts to copy the human figure, in early times, equally barbarous, whe- ther they were the production of India, Baby- lon, Germany, Mexico, or Otaheite. They equally partake in the common deformities of great heads, monstrous faces, diminutive and 202 LECTURE VII. mis-shapen bodies and limbs. We shall, how- ever, say no more of these abortions, as they really have no nearer connection with style, than the child's first attempts to write the al- phabet can claim with the poet's inspiration, or the argument and description of the orator. We shall now proceed to mark the charac- ter, and trace the progress of style, not from the earliest dawn, but rather from the sun-rise of human intelligence, when the imitative faculty is assisted by rule, and corrected by reflection — when the representation partakes, in some degree, of man's dignity in counte- nance and figure. In this state we find paint- ing and sculpture among the Egyptians, whose application to geometry, and inquiries con- cerning the animal structure, enabled them to give a general, though imperfect, proportion and outline to their figures, whose forms, how- ever, were more determined by simple geome- trical lines, than a scrupulous attention to nature. Professions in Egypt (as before observed) STYLE. 203 being hereditary, the son was obliged to follow the father's occupation, and as the same parti- cular talent could not be expected through a series of generations, the painting or sculpture would have little concern with genius or study : their productions would be determined by the family receipt, and the works must be me- chanical labour, not liberal art. The proportions of Egyptian figures are about seven heads in height, in slighter works of painting and relievo frequently more, the breadth of the figure agreeing with the height. The face is generally youthful, even when a beard, in the form of a peg, is added to the chin — we may suppose intended to signify ad- vancement in years. The nose, eyes, eye- brows, mouth, and extended line of the cheeks, are formed of simpler curves than are usually seen in nature. The countenances greatly re- semble each other, and are placid, with a mix- ture of cunning. The attitudes of Egyptian statues have little variety ; if standing, one leg is a little ad- 204 LECTURE VII. vanced, the arms hang down close to the sides; sometimes one arm is laid across the breast. Figures sitting on seats have the legs and thighs forming right angles in the side view, and in front the legs are parallel to each other. Sometimes the figure sits on the ground, with the legs drawn near the body in parallel lines ; sometimes the figure is kneeling. In the historical or allegorical bas-relievos of the Egyptians, their subjects are composed in the most evident and common manner, cer- tainly without artifice or system, on the one hand, as, on the other, they are devoid of ele- gance or choice. The drapery of the Egyptian statues is close, and seldom interrupted by folds. The Egyptian animals are superior works of art to their human statues, and a reason for this is, that inferior animals are more easily re- presented. The style of Egyptian sculpture is simplicity in the extreme, and the magnitude of their colossal works is awful ; but the simplicity is STYLE. 205: SO excessive, that one face, and one set of forms, have extended an universal monotony of resemblance, as far as possible, through the differences of age and sex. The surface of the body and limbs betrays a great ignorance in the knowledge of the bones, muscles, and ten^ dons, which produce the forms in the surface ; and, although this people have been celebrated for their skill in geometry, their basso-relievos and painted compositions demonstrate that they had not advanced suthciently to determine the balance and motion of the human figure by the rules of that science. The Egyptian sculptors astonish us by their indefatigable labour, but, considered as artists, they are but beginners ; their works little more than bodies without souls, the dead letter of the art, whose purpose was, symbolically, to deliver an historical fact, a philosophical pre- cept, or a divine mysteiy ; but never to charm by life, sentiment, heroic power, or spiritual beauty. The Hindu sculpture has been thought to 206 LECTURE VII. resemble the Egyptian, but the latter nation has given greater beauty to the countenance, with a better proportion to the figure, although some smaller Hindu works of bronze and ivory have the detail of parts finished with great de- licacy, and the events of Hindu mythology have furnished various extraordinary and poet- ical compositions, more singular and elegant than has been hitherto seen in the published antiquities of Egypt. The arts of design in China have been also supposed to bear some resemblance to those of Egypt; but the architecture is wholly different in character and principle. The sculpture of the two nations seems to have little in com- mon ; and whatever painting they practised in ancient times might be native, or foreign re- ceived from Greece, but, for centuries past, we know too much of their intercourse with Europe not to be sure that their best works have been matured by foreign instruction. Having incidentally mentioned the arts of these two countries in relation to those of STYLE. 207 Egypt, we will proceed in our inquiries con- cerning style, by an examination of early works in Greece. Fortunately for us, we have a mass of un- doubted evidence existing, so extensive in its nature, and yet so perfect in coincidence, as will excite surprise when we consider the suc- ceeding tides of destruction it has escaped, and the long series of ages it has endured. Homer and Hesiod have introduced us to so accurate a knowledge of the military, rural and domestic habits of the heroic ages, and have distinguished the persons with such pecu- liar character and life, that we seem to our- selves acquainted and intimate with the kings, warriors, judges, elders, husbandmen, and shepherds ; we are present in their councils, their encounters for fame and victory ; we partake in the culture of their fields, and the abundance of their harvests, and the still, clear evening: with them we watch the sky, the Hyades, the Pleiades, Orion's strength, the Bear, and all the glittering stars which crown the heavens ! 208 LECTURE VII. We are now familiar with the plans and military architecture of Mycenee,* Argos, the Cyclopian works, the dominion and residence of Agamemnon and his ancestors, as published by Sir William Gell, but previously discovered and drawn by M. Fauvel, the French consul in Athens. Another source of information concerning Greek style and design will be found in the painted vases, and early coins of the country : the numerous collections of vases published by Sir William Hamilton, Millin, Millingen, &c. form an endless treasure to the artist and the antiquary, supplying every species of example and illustration. Coincident and satisfactory information con- cerning early Greece expands in proportion with the progress of that people towards the high rank they occupied among the nations of antiquity. Their theologists, philosophers, poets, statesmen, mathematicians, anatomists, and artists, have left unerrino; ouides in their * See Plate XIV. STYLE. 209; writings and monuments, for us to trace the steps by which they reached excellence, and by that means to determine the different styles and characters of their works. We may in this place repeat a popular ob- servation, that the institutions and climate of Greece were equally favourable to personal beauty, and consequently to the study of paint- ing and sculpture ; for as the genial sunshine and mild breezes rendered light clothing re- quisite, and in some cases rejected the incum- brance wholly, the body and limbs being com- monly seen, naturally led to the contempla- tion of form in the human figure, and compari- son of beauty in the parts between one subject and another. The Pentathlon, or five Olympic games, of wrestling, boxing, throwing the quoit, running, and riding one or more horses at full speed, engaged all the noble youth of Greece in the honourable contest, and improved the powers of the body and limbs by the force of exertion. Of what importance this power and beauty of 210 LECTURE VII. person, accompanied by such dexterity and agi- lity, was to the possessor, we are informed by the consequences : a conqueror in one of the games was honoured as if he returned from the conquest of foreign enemies — crowned with olive— drawn to the city in a chariot by four horses — and a breach was made in the wall for his entrance ; his statue was erected in the sacred wood, and the most celebrated poet sang his praises. He that obtained the prize three times, was complimented with a statue, the portrait of his face, and the particular lineaments of his figure. Among the celebra- tions of this kind were verses which hail the conqueror by name, with the epithet of KuXog, the Beautiful ; and, indeed, the sublimest of their philosophers do not fail in their dis- courses, with a pious reverence, to refer this beauty to a correspondent spiritual beauty in the divine source of all perfection. So was the beauty of the human form esteemed in Greece, and such the motives from which it was cultivated ! STYLE. 211 We may observe in this place, that Grecian art began where Egyptian art ended. The Egyptian statuaries were laborious mechanics ; their works were lifeless forms, menial vehicles of an idea, or the fixed slaves of uniformity in a temple or a palace. In Greece, painting and sculpture were liberal arts : they were studied by the noblest and best-educated persons : they were im- proved by the accumulation of science ; they were employed to excite and celebrate virtue and excellence : and, finally, to exalt the mind of the beholder to the contemplation of divine qualities and attributes. Neither our present limits nor the intention of this Academy, permits us to extend our in- quiries beyond a rational theory to regulate the study of design ; but strictly within these limits we may observe, that in whatever in- stances the institutions of Greece cultivated and rendered more powerful the virtuous ex- ertions of mind and body, the arts of design also were animated by their beneficial effects, I' 2 212 LECTURE VII. to a degree which surpassed the other nations of antiquity, and has laid a foundation of prin- ciples and practice for all succeeding ages. We shall now endeavour to trace the cha- racters of style which marked the distinct periods of Grecian art. The early statues strongly resemble the Egyptian in attitude, in form, in want of out- line and anatomical distinction ; they have also nearly the same expression of counte- nance. The compositions on painted vases immedi- ately succeeding this period offer little variety of subject : — the encounter of Theseus and the Minotaur, the duel of Eteocles and Poly- nices, Hercules strangling the lion, and to these may be added Bacchanalian dances. The drawing of the figure, as well as the choice of subjects, indicates the state of society ; the compressed abdomen and spare limbs prove habits of activity in war and the race ; the Bacchanalian dances show the introduction of mysteries and pageants in an increasing STYLE. 2\3 polj^theism, and both seem perfectly consistent with the manners of the early inhabitants of fortified cities. The early arts of Greece were interrupted in their progress by a succession of political commotions and destructive wars, and we scarcely perceive any improvement in them until the time of the Seven Sages, of Pytha- goras and Esop, who were all contemporaries, about 130 years before Phidias. They in- creased the intellectual light of their country by foreign travel and laborious study, they re- formed the laws and morals, improved science and the useful arts of astronomy, geometry, numbers, harmony, and . medicine, including the animal structure and economy. Their philosophy taught a purer system of divinity and providence, and the works of the poets were made known in public libraries. The benim influence of such advantages was felt in the arts of design, and prepared them for that beauty and perfection with which they were subsequently graced in the 214 LECTURE VII. times of Pericles, Alexander and his succes- sors. The works of the age we are now speaking of embraced a greater variety of subjects, in composition more copious ; the Bacchanalian dances were in greater number, — the labours of Hercules, Nessus and Dejanira, processions of the gods, and acts in the Theban war. Pausanias describes the chest of Cypselus, Tyrant of Corinth, covered with a great num- ber of heroic stories in relief. Although the Grecian sculpture was con- siderably advanced after the age of the seven wise men, some of the old barbarism still re- mained. Much of the ancient face and fioure continued. In painting and bas-relief the faces were profiles, whatever might be the position of the figure. The limbs were dis- torted, because the artist was unacquainted with the structure of the joint, and the lines of its perspective. The breasts, general curves of the ribs on each side of the thorax, the bend of the arms, and a small projection for STYLE. 215 the knee-pan, were the chief, and almost the only indications of bone and muscle. That infinite variety of compounded lines requisite to draw or carve the features of the face, in any even the most common views, were beyond the skill of these times. They, there- fore, substituted the easier method of making the eyes, nose, and mouth, of nearly simple curves, whose extremities turned upwards in the same direction. Simple geometrical forms were equally employed in the folds of drapery — parallel curves across the body or limbs- perpendicular parallels in falling drapery, and zig-zags, like reversed steps, for the edges of the drapery. Thus in the early efforts of design, geometrical formality supplied the place of the ever-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 fre- quently awkward, and sometimes impractica- ble. In the course of this period, however, the figure was better drawn, the parts were V 216 LECTURE VII. more defined ; and on a nearer approach to the age of Phidias, there were some attempts to distinguish between divinity and mortality. The early arts above described, represented the persons and habits of a race chietl}'- occu- pied in the exercises of war and hunting, agri- culture and the care of tlocks and herds, living in the open air, and defending themselves from their enemies by impregnable fortifications on rocks ; their arts consisting in the fabrication of instruments for agriculture and war, the architectural construction of walls and citadels, to which may be added potter's vessels for domestic use and sacred ofhces, on which they indulged the more intellectual powers, by tracing heroic traditions and religious proces- sions. The Doric simplicity in this style of art, is imposing from its determined expression, and awful by an uncommon and barbarous cha- racter. The processions consist of uniform repetitions, their actions are violent, stiff and angular oppositions : but these being faithfully STYLE. 217 transcribed from the grosser appearances of human character, expression and action, laid a sure, though rude, foundation of principles, for the superstructure of excellence afterwards raised on them by succeeding improvements. From the age of Pericles, to the death of Alexander the Great, Greece was the focus of admiration to the world. Greece destroyed the Persian power, the terror of all nations ! Nor was the mental progression of this people less admirable than their militar}^ achieve- ments — their science was extended and en- larged by the succession of their wise men — their philosophers taught more distinctly and publicly the doctrine of a Deity, and the sub- ordinate agencies of his providence throughout the visible and invisible universe. Their poets harmonized their minds by numbers, and en- riched their imaginations by presenting the range of whatever is sublime and beautiful in visible nature or mental abstraction. Such was the spirit of patriotism, that the richest citizens did not endeavour to exceed 218 LECTURE VII. others in the mati;nificence of their houses or tables, but employed their wealth for the secu- rity and defence of their country, and in raising noble public buildings and works for the ser- vice of religion, and in honour of public and private virtue. We shall not be surprized, that in a period of such combinations, two works of sculpture were produced, which are numbered among the seven wonders of the world,* the Olympian Jupiter, by Phidias, and the Colossus of Rhodes. These were equal in size to the most enormous Egyptian statues, but they resembled them only in bulk and prodigious height. The Olympian Jupiter and the Colossus of the Sun, appeared to be animated and intelli- gent, — not with the life and intelligence of man, but of supernatural existence, whose finished beauty and wondrous majesty seemed immortal. The magnificence of this periodf furnished two other works likewise enumerated among the seven wonders, to which the great sculp- * See Plate XX. t The great Pyramid and Sphinx of Memphis. STYLE. i.'19 tors added the most admired decorations ; but as these works were architectural, we shall return to our subject, the style of sculpture. Quintilian's " Twelfth ]iook of Institutions" pi-esents a compendious view of the progres- sive improvements of style in painting and sculpture in the following passage. " The tirst of those whose works attracted notice, not for the sake of antiquity only, were Polygnotus and Aglaaphon, famous painters, so studious of the simple colour, that they could be considered only as rude beginners, and the first that made essays towards the production of future art, especially compared w ith Zeuxis and Parrhasius, who followed soon after. The first of these discovered the rules for light and shadow, and the latter is said to have been more accurate in the examination of his lines. For Zeuxis enlarged the body and limbs ; fol- lowing Homer, who was pleased with power- ful forms, even in women ; but Parrhasius so circumscribed all, that he was called the Legis- lator, because the figures of the gods and 2^0 LECTURE VII. heroes, as delivered by him, were followed by- others as if from necessity." Painting flourished particularly from the time of Philip to the successors of Alexander, but in divers qualities^ — ^by the care of Proto- genes — by the rules of Pamphilus and Melan- thius — by the facility of Antiphilus^ — by the imagination of Theon the Samian, and from the genius and grace with which he was en- dowed, Apelles was the most excellent. Euphranor caused himself to be admired, being among the most distinguished for the best studies, and at the same time a wonderful painter and sculptor. There was a like difference in the statues : the more hard, approaching the Tuscan style, were by 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. Polycletus excelled the others in diligence and decorum, and al- though the palm was given to him by many, yet something was to be deducted because he STYLE. 221 was deficient in gravity; for as he added a grace to the human form beyond the truth, so he seemed not to have fulfilled the authority of the gods, and as he was said to have avoided the more important age, he presumed only to engage in lighter subjects. But the qualities wanting in Polycletus were given to Phidias and Alcamenes. The works of Phidias are unrivalled, even if he had done nothing- but the Athenian Minerva,* or the Olympian Jove in Elis. In this, the Homeric divinity was per- sonified with a beauty of majesty, beyond which human intellect did not extend. Minerva, the type of divine wisdom and power, both to the philosopher and common votary, manifested the charms of celestial youth with the expres- sion of severe virtue. These determined the acknowledged apparent forms of these divini- ties, from which no painter or sculptor after- wards presumed greatly to deviate. The coun- tenances, figures and attributes of all the other divinities in Homer, were soon after de- * See Plates XIX. XX. and XXI. 222 LECTURE VII. cided by Phidias and his successors, whose laws became immutable, and were submitted to with willingness, until the darkness of poly- theism was dispersed by the sacred light of the Gospel. Yet with this pious reflection in our hearts, we cannot avoid pausing to dwell on the ex- quisite beauty of the ancient sculpture. The choice of the most perfect forms — countenances expressive of the most elevated dispositions of mind and innocence of character — the limbs and bodies, examples of manly grace and strength, or female elegance^ — youth and beauty, in all their varieties and combinations in per- fection : indeed, we must believe, when we look on those forms, so purified from grossness and imperfection, that if we could see angels and divine natures, they would resemble these. The improvements of this and the following- ages, were not confined to determination of character, selection of form, harmony of pro- portion, or whatever else most perfect may be conceived in the individual divinity or hero ; STYLE. ii2S they wei'e extended through the various branches of association, and the noble com- position of M3rcon, a sculptor and painter rather anterior to Phidias, of the fioht between the Lapitha^ and Centaurs in the Temple of Theseus, with compositions by Phidias on the shield of Minerva, and on the throne of the Olympian Jupiter, embodied the Homeric theology and heroism, by examples which have generated or afforded principles for the subse- quent efforts of painting and sculpture. This will be the proper place to notice a subject which has caused much discussion, and generally been decided against the ancients, although a living author, M. Quatremere de Quinci, has defended the ancients with much learning and ingenuity, in an elaborate work. The practice here alluded to, is colouring statues, and thus uniting painting and sculp- ture. Without regarding the arguments that have been used on either side of this question, let 224 LECTURE VII. US try the merits ourselves with unprejudiced minds, and decide from the conviction of natural evidence only. We certainly know that the arts of painting and sculpture are difterent in their essential properties. Painting exists by colours only, and form is the peculiarity of sculpture ; but there is a principle common to both, in which both are united, and without which neither can exist — and this is drawing; and in the union of light, shadow, and colour, sculpture may be seen more advantageously by the chill light of a winter's day, or the warmer tints of a midsummer sun, according to the solemnity or cheerfulness of the subject. These positions will be generally agreed to, but the question before us is, " How far was Phidias successful in adding colours to the sculpture of the Athe- nian Minerva and the Olympian Jove?" which examples were followed by succeeding artists. We have all been struck by the resemblance of figures in coloured wax-work to persons in fits, and therefore such a representation is par- STYLE. 225 ticularly proper for the similitude of persons in fits, or the deceased: but the Olympian Jupiter and Athenian Minerva were intended to represent those who were superior to death and disease. They were believed immortal, and therefore the stillness of these statues hav- ing the colouring of life durino; the time the spectator viewed them, would appear divinity in awful abstraction or repose. Their stupen- dous size, alone, was supernatural ; and the colours of life without motion, increased the sublimity of the statue, and the terror of the pious beholder. The effect of the materials which composed these statues has also been questioned. The statues themselves (accord- ing to the information of Aristotle, in his book concerning the world) were made of stone, covered with plates of ivory, so fitted together that, at the distance requisite for seeing them, they appeared one mass of ivory, which has much the tint of delicate flesh. The ornaments and garments were enriched with gold, coloured metals, and precious stones. 226 LECTURE VII. Gold ornaments on ivory are equally splen- did and harmonious, and in such colossal forms must have added a dazzling glory, like electric fluid running over the surface, the figure, cha- racter, and splendor, must have had the ap- pearance of an immortal vision in the eyes of the votary. But let us attend to the judgment passed on these works by the ancients : we have already quoted Quintilian, who says, " they appear to have added something to religion, the work was so worthy of the divinity." Plato says, " the eyes of Minerva were of precious stones," and immediately adds, " Phi- dias was skilful in beauty." Aristotle calls him " the wise sculptor." An opinion pre- vailed that Jupiter had revealed himself to Phidias, and the statue was said to have been touched with lightning in approbation of the work. After these testimonies, there seems no doubt remaining of the effect produced by these coloured statues ; but the very reasons which prove that colours in sculpture may STYLE. 227 have the effect of supernatural vision, fits, or death, prove at the same time that such prac- tice is utterly improper for general representa- tion of the human figure : because, as the tints of carnation in nature are consequences of cir- culation, wherever the colour of flesh is seen without motion, it resembles only death, or suspension of the vital powers. Let not this application of colours, however, in the instances of the Jupiter and Minerva, be considered as a mere arbitrary decision of choice or taste in the sculptor, to render his work agreeable in the eyes of the beholder. It was produced by a much higher motive. It was the desire of rendering these stupendous forms living and intelligent, to the astonished gaze of the votary, and to confound the sceptical by a flash of conviction, that something of divinity resided in the statues themselves. The practice of painting sculpture seems to have been common to most countries, particu- larly in the early and barbarous states of so- ciety. But whether we look on the idols of the q2 228 LECTURE VII. South Seas, the Etruscan painted sculpture and terra cotta monuments, or the recumbent coloured statues on tombs of the middle ages, we shall generally find the practice has been employed to enforce superstition, or preserve an exact similitude of the deceased. These, however, are in themselves perverted purposes. The real ends of painting, sculp- ' ture, and all the other arts, are to elevate the mind to the contemplation of truth, to give the judgment a rational determiijation, and to represent such of our fellow men as have been benefactors to society, not in the deplorable and fallen state of a lifeless and mouldering corpse, but in the full vigour of their faculties when living, or in something correspondent to the state of the good received among the just made perfect. As the consideration of painted sculpture cannot really be entitled to any place in the progress of style, we will return to our legiti- mate subject. The British Museum contains such noble STYLE. 229 relics of the Temple of Minerva, as enables us to understand the sublime conception of composition which filled the pediment, the heroic contest of the Lapitha.' and Centaurs in the Metops, and the animated men and horses in the Panathenaic pi'ocession of the frieze. It is the peculiar character and praise of Phidias's style, that he represented gods better than men. As this sculptor determined the visible idea of Jupiter, his successors employed a hundred years on the forms of the inferior divinities. This must, therefore, be denomi- nated the sublime era of sculpture. Numerous were the painters and sculptors of renown, and numerous were their celebrated works between the time of Pericles and Phi- dias, and the death of Alexander the Great. During this time, the individual characters of the different divinities, were not only repre- sented in the supposed period of adult perfec- tion, but also in infancy and youth, with all the varieties of countenance and form be- coming their various oflices and ministries. 230 LECTURE VII. The different Bacchuses from early infancy, when he was delivered by Mercury to the nymphs, when a beautiful youth of almost feminine delicacy, supported by a muse, and leader of their chorus. He is also represented with a more masculine person, as a conqueror, or the giver of poetical inspiration, until he becomes the venerable and bearded philosopher in the sacred mysteries, teaching the immor- tality of the soul, transmigration, with the ascent and descent to Hades, or the lower world. The same establishment of character under all circumstances prevailed in Apollo, Mercury, and the other deities, male and female. During this era the Venus of Praxiteles* ap- peared, the most admired female statue of all antiquity, whose beauty is as perfect as it is elevated, and as innocent as perfect; from which the Medicean Venus seems but a dete- riorated variety. * See Platf XXII. STYLE. 231 Whoever desires a more detailed account of the works of these ages, will be gratified by consulting Pliny, Pausanias, and the published galleries and museums of ancient sculpture and painting. In the times we speak of, every possible perfection was added to the sister arts that rival and accumulated talent could reach. In the characters of countenance, every gradation from simple beauty to sublime dignity — the same gradation in form, from the most slender and elegant, to the most powerful and massy — the attitudes the most choice, and the flesh seemingly yielding to the touch. The drapery in form and folds showed or indicated the body and limbs most advantageously, by play- ing round the outline in harmony or contrast, or giving additional efi'ect by the projection of strong shades. The earlier productions of this era were dis- tinguished by a Doric severity of style, which raised the subject above the level of general nature, and beyond its bounds. The geome- 232 LECTURE VII. trical simplicity of form was ideal; the cha- racter was decided, and the sentiment was single ; of this class is the group of Niobe and her youngest daughter. A less severity of style is in the Apollo Belvidere. The most easy sway of motion, and the most delicate ap- proaches to nature are observable in the statues of Venus, the Cupid, Faun, and Bacchus, of Praxiteles. Busts and statues (portraits of individual persons) were not generally permitted, until near the time of the death of Socrates ; and as this practice, once introduced, became popular and extensive under the successors of Alex- ander the Great, it was an additional stimulus to the study of the human figure in detail, and thus as the art departed from ideal sub- limity, it partook in the peculiarities of nature. It descended to the intelligible, and became a stronger resemblance of the human race. AVhen Greece became provincial to the Romans, they indeed suffered a political sub- jection to their conquerors: but in return, the STYLE. 233 Romans were mental colonists to the Greeks, and received from them philosophy, science, literature and arts. Grecian oenius continued its admirable productions under the Roman emperors. The fine groups of Menelaus and Patrocles, Hivmon and Antigone, Paetus and Arria, Orestes and Electra, the Toro Far- nese, or Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to the bull's horns, and the Laocoon, were between the later years of the Roman republic, and the time of the last Cuesars, To these may be added the beautiful examples of composition in basso-relievo, from Homeric mythology and ancient tragedy, among the latest productions of genuine Grecian sculpture. AVe shall not dwell on the pediments, arches, imperial statues, consular portraits, gems, and coins, executed by the ingenious Greek, to swell the impious pride, and gratify the ignorant vanity of his rapacious master in the latter ages of the empire. Then, sublimity and beauty, the essence of the ancient Grecian works, had, like justice 234 LECTURE VII. and modesty, quitted the earth, and returned to the family of the immortals in heaven, to avoid the horrors of an iron age. The Roman lust of dominion, avarice, and cruelty, had long provoked the remoter objects of their tyranny, the Goths, Vandals, Panno- nians, Dacians, and Scythians, who at last poured the torrent of destruction back on the oppressors, levelling cities and their hosts in one fearful ruin, leaving only desolation and barbarism behind them. The schools of phi- losophy and literature in Athens ceased ; those of Alexandria were destroyed and abandoned. The age of lead succeeded. Painting and sculpture, under the Goths and Lombards, instead of exalting the intellect by the contemplation of beauty, heroic and divine, burlesqued the human figure by such clumsy and absurd forms, as could scarcely be supposed to be intended for man. Such was the state of art from the seventh to the eleventh century in Europe. The arts, however, were not to be wholly obliterated ; for there is that STYLE. 235 inherent connection between the mind of man and progressive knowledge, that to deprive him entirely of the means of becoming wiser, and exercising his ingenuity, would be to take from him his rationality, and brutalize him at once ! Besides, information and true science are given us as the means of rising from the ruins of fallen nature to higher intelligence and greater happiness : the preservation of arts and letters was therefore provided for in a wonderful manner, as appendages to religion, and handmaids in the dispensation of the Gos- pel. When Constantine the Great transferred the seat of empire from Rome to Constan- tinople, the arts had much declined in the former city, although they still preserved a great portion of their vigour in Greece. The emperor employed the arts of painting and sculpture in an abundance of magnificent Christian decorations for his new capital, and the churches he built in it. This was the foundation for a stock of Christian art, which supplied the different countries of Europe after 236 LECTURE VII. the barbarous inundations from the north had subsided, and assisted in raising the fallen arts of Italy, until the mighty genius of Michael Angelo shone forth in the unrivalled Sistine Chapel, whose interests and terrors, sublimity, beauty, and power of grouping, combined in the comprehension of sacred subjects, excels all we know, as a whole, in ancient or modern art. ( 237 ) LECTURE VIII. DRAPERY. Apter considering the powers, character, and sentiment of the human figure, as expressed in its forms, we may next proceed to its clothing, more especially with a view to those plaits and folds whose lines contrast or vary the lines of the body they cover — twine round the limbs — hang in downward curves from one projecting point to another — increase boldness of effect by additional projection — or vary the undula- tions of the figure by the fall of zig-zag edges, which is understood by the term Drapery in the arts of design. Drapery, as a medium through which the human figure is intelligible, may be compared with speech, by which the idea of thought is 238 LECTURE VIII. perceived. Dignity is expressed by simplicity, grandeur, and quantity ; action by exertion and succession ; grace by those gentle and harmonious undulations peculiar to all the efforts of this quality, and which are inspired bj'' the most grateful and soothing dispositions of the soul. This consistency of the original image with its outward appearance, is proper and decorous, and cannot be violated without inflicting the shock of absurdity and folly ; for as the noblest thought would be degraded by low and unbecoming speech, so would the person of a legislator or a prophet by the dress of a buffoon or a bacchanal ! This introduction of our subject is intended to inform the younger student that drapery will form an important branch of his future study : it will add to the character of his figures, and give additional interest to sentiment and situation ; it will not bear neglect, or slight, like articles of furniture or back-ground, which, as they are utterly separated from the pathos of DRAPERY. 239 sublime composition, can scarcely deserve any share of his attention. We will begin with an inquiry into the prin- ciples upon which the folds of drapery are formed ; we will consider the difi'erence of the finer and the heavier draperies — offer some critical observations on the clothing of different countries, as useful or advantageous to the human form — and produce examples to illus- trate the discourse. Drapery, like all other natural bodies, is subject to the laws of gravity and motion, by which it is affected according to its lightness or weight, strength or weakness, the repose or action of the wearer, and the force of wind : it is affected by these causes simply or com- plexly, as it may be acted on by their sepa- rate or united force. The most simple forms of drapery are pro- duced by the weight of the cloth itself, hanging from the most projecting points of the figure, 240 LECTURE VIII. and forms a pointed arch reversed, A succes- sion of such folds, broken into various lengths, and opposed in their diagonal forms, are among the boldest and most beautiful effects of dra- pery. These folds again become more com- plicated by twisting, and by which they will be partly suspended by the body or limbs over which they are drawn. The varieties produced in the folds, from suspension, are multiplied and altered according to the portion of the figure they pass over, and according to the fineness and thickness of the cloth. A full cloak, fastened round the neck, tied in front, and falling without interruption from the arms, will present nearly plain surfaces in every view — a little flattened sometimes on the bend of the back, and distinguished in front by the meeting of the strait edges. The same garment, still fuller in its quality, under the same circumstances, falls into a number of perpendicular folds. The same cloak, raised by one arm, will be divided by diagonal folds, inverted in their arches, op- DRAPERY. 241 posed in direction, and connected by joints. The folds of this simplest of garments will be further varied and complicated, by throwing one side of the cloak over the opposite arm, by various positions of the hands, and by every other circumstance of interruption and rest, opposed to the natural weight of the folds. We will now consider the mechanical struc- ture of the drapery by the simple lines of the folds as their principles. 1st. The perpendicular fold,* hanging from one point. 2d. The succession of diagonal folds, fall- ing from each other, hanging from two points, and which may be varied to a beautiful in- finity : for example, falling from the two points of the shoulders in the hollow of the back — from the two shoulders over the projection of the breast and abdomen — falling from one shoulder — and from the lower arm, making the * See Plates XLIl. and XL[11. R 242 LECTURE VIII. principal folds below the elbow — and each of these again by every change of position and motion. 3d. The cascade of diagonal forms produced by the edges when diagonally folded towards the extremity. These three classes, although exemplified in the cloak, contain the principles of all folds, however produced, in all garments and drape- ries — -modified by twisting — enlarging the di- rection to more circular forms, 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 in- quiry concerning the modification of folds, in such garments as are closed, or fitted to the form of the body. Those garments called tunics by the Romans, nearly resemble the country or waggoners' frocks in their form. Some are longer, reach- DRAPERY. 243 ino- to the ankles — some fuller, having an abundance of folds — others scanty, discovering a more uninterrupted outline of the figure, with more breadth of light and shade, and fewer intersections of their own folds. These have sometimes larger, sometimes smaller sleeves— sometimes reaching the elbow, some- times the wrist — and sometimes they are with- out sleeves. AVhen the tunic is made of thin woollen or calico, its folds take their rise from the breast, and fall directly to the feet, and there will be diverted into different playful forms, as it rests on them, or is altered by their motion. If this garment is confined round the smaller part of the figure by a girdle, the folds will be of the inverted-arch kind, arising from the shoulders, and, below the girdle, they will fall in perpendicular masses of folds over the lower limbs, when the figure is not in action, or pre- paring for action. The sleeves, if full, will begin with folds falling from the shoulders before and behind, 244 LECTURE VIII. but these folds will be widened and changed into cross folds at the bend of the arm, and continue crossing the lower arm, more or less diagonally, to its termination at the wrist. The folds become more or less diagonally spiral from the body if the arm is turned out- ward, and toward the body if the arm is turned inward. The folds on the back of the lower arm owe the upper portion of their direction to union with, or separation from, a projecting knobbed fold at the elbow. The same princi- ples of folding on the arms will govern all co- verings, from the fullest and most redundant, to the straitest and most exactly fitted to the limb — and, therefore, will preclude the neces- sity of saying more on this part of the subject. Concerning the finer and more transparent draperies used by the ancients, their texture, and consequently their folds, strongly resem- bled our calico muslin, and are peculiar to the more elegant and delicate female characters of Grecian sculpture — the nymphs, terrestrial. DRAPERY. 24f5 marine, and bacchanalian — victories, seasons or hours, and celestial female messengers.* The more transparent of these draperies leave the forms and outline of the person as perfectly intelligible as if no covering were in- terposed between the eye and the object, and the existence of the veil is only understood by groups of small folds collected in the hollows between the body and limbs, or playing in curves and undulations on the bolder parts, adding the magic of diversity to the charm of beauty. We will next consider the effect of motion upon drapery: such motion is here intended as the gtrrment partakes in, or is propelled from the wearer's movement only. As soon as a limb is moved from a perpen- dicular towards a horizontal direction, the dra- pery hanging on it changes the forms of its * See Plates XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIV. XLV. XLVl. a.ul XLVII. 246 LECTURE VIII. folds. The perpendicular folds bend by their weight into a curve, from the impulse of mo- tion, or change from perpendicular to the in- verted arch, the strongest portion of the fold depending from the stronger of the two sup- porters, whether it be that part of the person which is in rest, or that in motion. This is more particularly seen in the cloak or loose upper garment, but the principle is evident in all drapery worn by the human figure : as, for example, the lower portion of a tunic falls in perpendicular folds from the greatest projec- tion in front of the figure, becomes curved, clingino- in the lower extremities to the un- moved leg, until that limb is set forward, when the same change is produced on the other side ; and this effect is still more evident in running, when the curved folds, at last, become hori- zontal, at right angles with the limbs. Motion of the fioure aftects the whole mass of drapery about the body ; the folds are most interrupted and broken on the side moved in shortest space, as the curves are most lengthened DRAPERY. 247 on the side moved in a greater extent, and they are twisted most diagonally where there is the greatest power of motion. Upon the legs, the folds change from down- right to long curves, in walking or running, alternately as one leg or the other is set for- ward. The greater quantity of folds naturally falls in the hollow spaces, and in quick mo- tion the heavier portion of folds are left behind the figure by their own weight, in a diagonal curve, from the point on which they are sup- ported. We will now consider a cause of motion in drapery entirely independent of the figure by which it is worn : this is, wind, whose effects are more seen in those parts of the garment extended beyond the outline of the figure ; and to obtain the more accurate idea of the man- ner in which it acts on drapery, we should ob- serve its effects on flexible and fluent bodies in oeneral. The wind blovving on water, by pressure on a small portion of the fluid nearest, forces it 248 LECTURE VIII. into a wave, from resistance of a body of water, not affected by the wind, on the other side of it : or thus, the wind blowing obliquely on water, is resisted by the mass beneath, until the surface is raised into a wave, which, bend- ing over the wave before it, falls by the laws of gravitation into the surface again. There is a propensity to the same forms and successions in clouds of the sky, and dust of the ground driven before the wind ; and from the same causes. The pendant, or streamer, hanging from the top of a mast, is driven by the wind in the same direction, and may be represented by the same section as a succession of waves on the water. Progressive movement of the figure changes the perpendicular of falling folds into undula- tions. This is more evident as the motion is quicker: but the wind undulates all draperies ; when moderate, the undulation is diagonal, and when violent, it is horizontal. DRAPERY. 249 Examples might be easily produced far ex- ceeding our present purpose, which is to lay down the principles of study, not to circumvent the composer, or tempt the unwary, by daring and far-sought examples, into a devious attach- ment to the preposterous and incredible. Sim- plicity, beauty, dignity, affection, and passion, employ the general contemplations and efforts of the sister arts with most success. We must remember, as in the Bacchic processions of antiquity, " Many carry the thyrsus, but few are inspired by the gods." If any one, however, determines to go be- yond his competitors in the extraordinary, the wonderful, or the sublime, let him first be as- sured he possesses powers equal to the under- taking, or the certain consequences will be vapour and extravagance only. These Lectures have continually referred to examples of Grecian painting and sculpture for illustration, as to the most perfect pro- ductions of imitative art, and have never en- 250 LECTURE VIII. gaged in classical inquiry, or criticism, further than was absolutely requisite to understand our subject as painters and sculptors : the reason for which is plain^ — our studies and our em- ployments are directed to the form and senti- ment of the human figure ; for this reason, therefore, we shall at present leave all inquiry concerning the names and forms of particular ancient garments, to Montfaucon, Winckel- man, the Notes on the Herculaneum Museum, and other professed writers of antiquity ; whilst we only notice such garments as exhibit the human figure most advantageously — give dig- nity to its character — enrich its particular forms by flowing lines — or harmonize in its sentiment and actions. Of all garments, the cloak is the simplest, being only a large square cloth laid on the person, or thrown round the figure, according to the wearer's convenience. It belongs to the most grave and dignified characters, philoso- phers, apostles, and prophets. Its simple form DRAPERY. 251 is well suited to such as give small attention to worldly objects, and whose thoughts are wholly engrossed by the cultivation of virtue and truth ! The boldness of its folds adds an im- posing grandeur to the venerable wearer ; they agree with the profound research of the philo- sopher, or the irresistible mission of the evan- gelist or prophet. Of this class is the Greek pallium, worn by philosophers : the women also had a garment of this kind, made of a lighter cloth. The militarjr cloak of the Greeks and Ro- mans was fastened with a button on the right shoulder ; it reached little below the knees, and was not so full as the pallium. The tunic of the Romans was called chiton by the Greeks: its form (as before observed) was like a wao'soner's frock, and reached the ankles; but when the wearer prepared for labour, or a journey, he tied on his girdle, drew the upper part of his tunic over it, shortening it to the knee, and thus allowed free motion to the legs. 252 LECTURE VIII. The tunic of the female reached the feet, whether girded or not, the material of which it was made being more delicate than that worn by men. It produced a display of folds diagonally arched downward below the throat, and a variety of flowing forms, of varied direc- tions, above the zone, according to the quan- tity of material, the bend of the body, or the manner of adjusting the vestment. A prodi- gious and beautiful variety in this part of the drapery may be seen on the painted vases. Sometimes we find small garments laid over the tunic, not reaching to the zone, in female figures, which add folds of a different direction to those in the tunic. Sometimes the tunic is doubled over at the top, and open at the side. This, however, is not simply a tunic; it was called diplos by the Greeks, or a doubled tunic. The peplos, or veil, was an outward female garment, like the cloak or pallium, but of a finer texture, worn by Homer's female divini- ties and heroines, and frequently seen on the DRAPERY. 253 statues. It is this garment, of a transparent material, in which the nymphs are clothed, as before observed. This brief enumeration contains all those garments which afford the most beautiful spe- cimens in ancient art. We will conclude with such general observations on clothing as seem most conducive to the painter's and sculptor's views and researches. Clothing, like other conveniences and requi- sites, must be accommodated to the local situa- tion and habits of man. In hot climates little clothing is required, and in cold countries the warmest skins and furs of animals are scarcely sufficient to enliven the body with a genial warmth. In the more barbarous states of society, plumes, necklaces, and bracelets of bone and teeth, are displayed by chiefs and leaders in the pride of distinction. Their war dresses and cloaks are formed of such stubborn ma- terials, as serve the double purpose of cover- ing and defensive armour. 254. LECTURE VIII. As regular habits of industry succeed, the short tunic is adopted as a dress convenient for the labours of agriculture and manufacture. The cloak or pallium, in this state of society, becomes a habit of dignity to the priest or magistrate, which will be found generally pre- valent, except in those warm countries like India and Egypt, where a narrow shawl or handkerchief supplies its place: and in the colder regions, pantaloons were worn on the lower limbs, sometimes made of skins. This system of clothing seems to have been nearly universal before the Roman empire, and con- tinued with little alteration for twelve or thir- teen centuries afterwards, if we except the vagaries of fashion in Rome, Constantinople and a few other metropolitan cities. In Rome, fashion was indeed active among the ladies very early ; for a short passage in one of the comedies of Plautus complains that a fashion does not last a year, and enumerates about twenty-three articles of female attire, all of which might perhaps be comprehended under the heads of cloaks, handkerchiefs and gowns: DRAPERY. g-W but their names and etymologies have puzzled the commentators beyond the possibilit}^ of explanation. But notwithstanding an occa- sional instance of this kind occurs in courts and voi'texes of dissipation in the eighth cen- turj^, the western provinces universally wore the Roman military cloak, and the eastern pro- vinces generally the pallium and tunic. Charlemagne and his successors, down to St. Louis, are represented in the same dress in all the mosaics, monumental statues, and illu- minations of those times. The first deluoe of various fashions came into Europe with the Crusaders, the princes of the West, seem to have vied with each other in motley importations from Constantinople, Antioch and Damascus. In France and England before this time, the only covering for the head worn by men, was a cap like that of Paris, and the Italian sailors; but after the Crusades, turbans, hats and hoods of different patterns became gene- ral. 256 LECTURE VIII. The cloak and tunic were cut into different forms, and ornamented with different baubles of tassels, scallops and toys, until no trace remained of the orioinal garments. To sum up the childish passion for novel absurdity, the common playing cards represent the court dresses of France and England, between the reigns of our Edward IV., Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. The kings, queens and knaves, have actually the state dresses of sovereigns and courtiers at that time. Perhaps this part of our subject may now be supposed to have attained its climax, and that every purpose of extravagance and absur- dity was answered, when the courtier's taste for elegance was exemplified by a waistcoat half black and half yellow, a red stocking on one leg, and a green one on the other ; — when a great Prince's hall of audience was filled with the figures of mountebanks, harlequins, and playhouse imps! but the tale is not yet told, nor is the measure full. To what was monstrous and disgusting to look on, was DRAPERY. 257 added, studied inconvenience. Ruft's so large the liead could scarcely turn in them, the middle of the figure rendered so bulky as to be contained by no arm chair, and the waist- coats so stiff, pointed, and narrow, that thej'^ must have impeded digestion, and restrained the functions of life. Shall we not be induced to inquire, to what causes could be attributed such an accumula- tion of absurdities? we may perhaps account for them in the spirit of the times, — the wars, and their military distinctions — the alternate dissipations, and particularly masquerades— and above all, those military and party dissen- sions — -those extensive and violent theological and political contests which ferment the gene- ral mass bej^ond the controul of reason, hu- manity and common sense. These instances of useless variety and ab- surdity in dress, will naturally lead to the rellection that there is a reasonable propriety in dress, as in all other concerns, and that this propriety will be governed by climate and 258 LECTURE VIII. character ; light draperies being agreeable in summer, warmer and thicker in winter ; grace- ful and gay attire becomes the youthful, more grave is proper for the aged. The magistrate bears such distinctions as denote his rank and dignity in society. But in these and all other cases, the drapery will be more becoming and expressive, as it harmonizes with the propor- tions, sympathizes with the character, and is consistent with the requisites of the wearer. Any otfences against these rules will naturally produce dissatisfaction and contempt; for mere dress cannot make the old young, the ugly handsome, or the mean dignitied. The only difference must be confined to a transient glance, for real qualities are inherent in the man, and depend not upon outward accidents. We may conceive the effect of dress and ap- pearance, on the judicious spectator's mind, from a comparison of the following characters. The lower emperors of the East retained their inordinate love of magnificence after their DUAPERY. 259 power was broken, and their state dress was apparently covered with jewels, even when their poverty obliged them to eke out the splendid mass with false pearls and paste ; these were attached to a scanty ungraceful mantle, which, being closed round the figure, presented the insipid resemblance of an Egyp- tian mummy encrusted with gems. How dif- ferent from the Prophets of IVIichael Angelo,* the Apostles of Raphael and Albert Durer, or those of Henry the Seventh's Chapel. Their countenances are determined by their divine commission, and the patriarchal simplicity and grandeur of their persons bear testimony to their sacred character. Michael Angelo's Patriarch sleeps!— but when he wakes, we are assured he will declare a prophecy or holy vision, received from his attendant angel. * See Plates IV. VII. and XLI. ( 260 ) LECTURE IX. ANCIENT ART. When we look at any portion of the natural landscape, if the objects are few, a rock, a plain, or a tower, they are understood at once, and without effort : but if they are numerous and complicated, they must be considered attentively, to distinguish woods from moun- tains, the form and extent of buildings or cities, the winding of rivers, and the expanse of the sea or sky, in order that we may understand the several parts of the view ; and it is thus we must conduct our inquiries in art and science, beginning by a search for their natural prin- ciples, we must make ourselves acquainted with their relations to, and dependence upon, other branches of knowledge, and we should ANCIENT ART. 261 assure ourselves of their purposes and ends. To render our present inquiries the more effec- tual, and to obtain all the advantages experi- ence can afford, we must avail ourselves of the studies and practice of the most celebrated artists, in such a compendious view of ancient and modern sculpture as may be expected in the compass of these Lectures. Time would be lost for the purposes of our institution, were we to seek out an accurate history of the early steps by which the march of art was directed in its first and most barba- rous efforts. Those who desire information on this subject, will be abundantly supplied by " Pliny's Natural History," " Pausanias's Tour of Greece," and " Winckelman's History of Art." But the great object of every student must be, to copy nature most perfectly, and for this pur- pose to possess himself of unerring rules for the government of his practice. The most likely way to obtain these advantages, will not be to consider sculpture by attention to dates and trifling incidents, but rather to divide its 262 LECTURE IX. history into ages or periods, each characterized by styles of art expressive of its advancement. We may distinguish the ancient art of Greece as three ages: — the heroic age, the philosophic age, and the age of maturity or perfection. By the heroic age, we understand the state of society described in the poems of Homer and Hesiod, in which the land was cultivated, and cattle fed to supply the wants of life ; but whose most important business was predatory war. To this age we may refer the earliest productions of Grecian art — of this age are two lions* over the gate of Mycene — of this age, from a similarity of style, we may also believe many small bronze and stone statues to have been the production. Perhaps, though rude and ill-formed, they were domestic divi- nities : early in the progress of idolatry, so far as we may venture an opinion upon this class of art, the endeavour was limited to the single * See Plates XIV. and XVI. ANCIENT ART. 263 figure, naked, and in few and simple attitudes. It is nevertheless likely, before this age passed away, the artists became more bold, and adorned their earthen vases with subjects of three or four figures, such as frequently occurred in their habits of life, a conversation, a battle or a procession, the designs of these composi- tions appear like profiles of their statues, and unconnected with each other. The second " Age of Art," which we shall denominate the philosophic, commenced when the seven sases or wise men flourished in Greece, about 700 j^ears before the Christian era ; when the mental faculties were expanded, and when, by contemplation and science, man was elevated from savage life to the dignity of a rational creature. In this period Solon and Lycurgus reformed the laws of preceding legis- lators, and rendered the system more salutary in the correction of crime, and the security of justice to their fellow-citizens. The seven sages, by the example of their own heroism and virtue, enforced the moral 2G1 LECTURE IX. and political order which their wisdom and prudence taught. In the school of Pythagoras, mathematics, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic and music, were diligently cultivated ; the structure of animals was studied, and the contemplations of philosophy elevated the mind above the grosser allurements of sense ; the improvement of civil and political security aftbrded addi- tional leisure for all ingenious and liberal pur- suits, while the advancement of science sup- plied m^^ns for nearer approaches towards perfection. In the institutions of Greece, the five gym- nastic exercises exhibited all the various beauty of the human figure, diversified by all the dif- ference of motion the several exertions could produce, with the multiplicity of anatomical changes in action and remission occasioned by each exertion of body and limbs. It cannot be denied that the religion of ancient Greece was gross polytheism ; but this was the religion of the multitude, that of the ANCIENT ART. 265 philosopher was much more pure. It allowed, indeed, the ministry of subordinate divinities, angels, and heroic souls, but all directed by the unerring wisdom and providence of the one Omnipotent. The graces and perfections of these ecclesiastical intelligences and minis- ters are so described in the " Dialogues of Plato," and by the Pythagoreans, as to lead the artist to the choice of supreme natural beauty, for the object of his imitation through- out the numerous ideal orders of the Grecian theology, and elevated the real persons by the noblest traits of limb, feature and character. The lirst essays of Grecian art, in the heroic age, prove they were neither stronger nor swifter in the race than other nations : but the improved imitation of nature, founded on the sure principles of science, left their competitors at a distance not to be recovered; and the ability and zeal with which they pursued their advantage, gave them possession of the palm beyond dispute. The Greeks, in this age, added the cultiva- 266 LECTURE IX. tion of letters to their discoveries in science and improvement of philosophy. Hipparchus is said to have first made the Athenians ac- quainted with Homer's Rhapsodies, (and from which that people received their system of theology,) these were recited in the Panthenaic solemnities, and became so popular that they were continually quoted in the Dialogues of Plato, and succeeding writers. The poems of Hesiod, Sappho, Anacreon, and Simonides, are also believed to have been collected in a public library at Athens in this time. Thus wds infant art inspired by the spirit of poetry, and the effects of this inspiration are seen in the councils of the o-ods in the friezes of the Parthenon, and the Temple of Theseus, besides innumerable Homeric subjects on the painted vases and Greek basso-relievos of after ages. Geometry enabled the artist scientifically to ascertain forms for the configuration of bodies — to determine the motion of the figure, in ANCIENT ART. 267 leaping, running, striking, or falling — by curves and angles, whilst arithmetic gave the multi- plication of measures in proportions. The anatomical observations of Thales, Pythagoras and Alcmeon, prepared the way for the more connected inquiries of Hippocrates. Thus b}'^ the gradual advancement and connection of art and science, painting and sculpture ob- tained sound principles to ensure a certain and felicitous practice, which introduced the age of perfection or consummation in the time of Pericles and Phidias. This third age of art may be said to have been more called into practice by the destruc- tion of those enormous fleets and armies pre- pared by the Persians to annihilate Grecian freedom. This illustrious achievement, performed by a comparatively small band of patriots, in- creased in the estimation of Greece, and espe- cially Athens, in proportion to the terrific power of the vanquished and the glory of delivering their country from a foreign yoke. 268 LECTURE IX. These successes in war, stimulated their exer- tions in peace — they rebuilt the temples de- stroyed in the war, with increased magnificence — their pediments and friezes were decorated with synods of gods and heroes, from their history, both real and mythological. They raised sacred statues, which for their colossal size, richness of materials and embellishment, future ages ranked as wonders of the world. Nor were the statues of smaller dimensions less deserving attention for exquisite beauty of form, proportions, character, dignity, simpli- city and elegance. Their groups possess the imited interests of action and passion, senti- ment elevated and heroic, consistent with the persons engaged. The basso-relievos are epic and dramatic compositions, containing great variety in the subjects, combination and diversity of lines, with whatever, in the distribution and opposi- tion of light and shadow, produces the most powerful and agreeable effect in the relief of figures from a back-ground, or that depart- ANCIENT ART. 269 ment of sculpture the most nearly allied to painting. But as our subject becomes more extensive in its progress, it will be rendered more simple by considering each class of sculpture sepa- rately, under the following heads : — 1. Colossal statues. 2. Smaller statues. 3. Groups. 4. Basso-relievos, and the Grecian schools of sculpture. The largest colossal statues of the Egyptians were seventy-five feet in height, and therefore the Greeks excelled them in the magnitude as well as the beauty of those enormous monu- ments. Many colossal statues are enumerated by the classical authors, (particularly Pliny and Pausanias,) which have long since ceased to exist, and of which any memorial beyond their names are unknown at present. It is, not- withstanding, not only possible, but even pro- bable, that antiquarian industry might still recover recollections of them from gems, the reverses of coins, and small bronze statues, in 270 LECTURE IX. which the celebrated works of antiquity were so frequently copied. But as the mere repe- tition of names and measurement would atlbrd information of little use to the painter or sculp- tor, to avoid the misapplication of time in un- certain conjecture, we will direct our attention to three the most celebrated of these works, the most copiously described by authors, and illus- trated by ancient copies of smaller size. The statue of Olympian Jupiter,* sixty feet in height, was the most renowned work of ancient art: but having described this in a former lecture, to repeat it would be unnecessary; but only mention what Pausanias says of the pictures (by Panajneus, brother of Phidias) which were on the sides of the seat. Among these were the " Atlas supporting heaven and earth, Hercules near him, about to relieve him from his burthen; Theseus and Pirithous; figures representing Greece and Salamis, the latter bearing the rostra of a ship in her hands ; * See Plate XX. ANCIENT ART. 271 the Combat of Hercules with the Nemfean lion ; Ajax and Cassandra ; Hippodamia, the daughter of Qi,nomaus, with her mother; Pro- metheus chained, and Hercules preparing to kill the eagle which preyed on him. The last of the pictures are Penthesilea dying, supported by Achilles, and Hesperian nymphs bearing fruit." On the sub-plinth, which supports the whole, are emblems in gold. The Sun, Jupiter and Juno ascend in a car. Near them is Chares, whom Mercury embraces, and Vesta, Mercury, and Love, receive Venus rising from the sea, to whom Persuasion brings a crown. Apollo, Diana, Minerva and Hercules are present. On the lowest part are Neptune and Amphitrite, with the Moon exciting her horses to the race. This great work, which raised the fame of Phidias above all the sculp- tors of antiquity, has numerous imitations still existing in marble and bronze, and on coins of Alexander the Great and his successors, also on the Emperor Domitian's medals in large brass. 272 LECTURE IX. In the Acropolis of Athens,* was a Minerva by the same sculptor, twenty-six cubits high, also formed of ivory and gold. In the right hand was a Victory, four cubits high, the left hand rested on her shield. The goddess was clothed in a tunic reaching to her feet, her helmet was adorned with horses and gryphons, on the round side of the shield was the fight with the Amazons, on the concave side, the battle of the Gods and Giants, on her sandals, the contest of the Lapithfe 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 Sunj- in the Island of Rhodes, is allowed by Pliny the elder, to have excited more astonishment than all the other colossal statues he has mentioned, on account of its height, which was 105 feet, it was made * See Plate XIX. f See Plate XLVIII. ANCIENT ART. 273 by Chares a Lyndian, the disciple of Lycippus. This statue was thrown down by an earthquake, after standing fifty-six years. When lying on the ground this work appeared miraculous. Few were able to embrace the thumb, and the fingers were larger than many statues. Vast caverns yawned in the broken limbs, and within were seen great masses of stone, by whose weight it was supported. Twelve years were em- ployed in the execution of it, and the cost ^^0 talents, about ^60,000 English. The same author observes, there were an lumdred lesser colossal figures, each of which did honour to the place where it stood : besides five colossal statues of divinities by the sculptor Bryaxis. Heads of the celebrated Colossus are re- peatedly seen on the bronze coins of Rhodes, and small figures, with radiated heads, are sometimes found on the coins of this island, which possibly were intended to represent the whole figure. The most numerous class of ancient statues was about the height' of nature, or approaching T 274 LECTURE IX. to seven feet, which has been distinguished as the heroic size. Statues were anciently appropriated to divi- nity. Portraits of men were not executed unless for some illustrious cause which deserved perpetuity. First, were the contests in the sacred games, chiefly those of Olympia, where the custom was for all the conquerors to dedicate their statues, and those who were thrice victors had exact portraits of their persons. It was thought the Athenians first placed statues to Harmodius and Aristogiton, the Tyrannicides, the same year the kings were expelled from Rome. " This," says Pliny, " was afterwards universal, and now the forum of every municipal town begins to be ornamented with statues to pro- long the memory of men, and to have the ho- nours of the age inscribed on their bases, lest they should be read only on their sepulchres. In the course of time this has been done abroad, in public courts and private houses. Thus clients have determined to celebrate their patrons." ANCIENT ART. 275 After the custom was adopted of bestowing this honour on distinguished merit, every battle increased heroic memorials ; the porticos, libra- ries, museums, and walks were filled with the statues of legislators, poets, philosophers, and all whose public spirit, or rare qualities, had raised them to general notice and esteem. The practice so universal in Greece passed with the conquerors into their colonies, and the successors of Alexander the Great added to the sacred sculpture of Egypt and Syria the memorials of Grecian valour and wisdom. The same practice was followed in Sicily, Magna Graecia, Naples, the principal cities on the coast of Italy, the Etruscan states, and wherever their colonies or commerce gave them intercourse. The remains of sculpture found in all these countries frequently bear this in- disputable testimony of Grecian origin — that they are stamped with the beauty, grace, purity and perfection which are to be found in the works of that country alone, of all nations in the ancient world. T 2 27G LECTURE IX. This increase of sculpture, extending over so considerable a portion of the globe known to the ancients, will account for the number of statues brought to Rome after the conquest of Greece. Marcus Scaurus, when sedile, decorated his temporary theatre with three thousand statues. Two thousand were taken from the Volscians. Mummius, after the conquest of Achaia, is said to have filled the city. Lucullus brought many. Three thousand came from Rhodes — not fewer from Athens or Olympia — more are believed to have come from Delphi ; " but, says our author, " what mortal can follow them? or what is the use of knowing?" It will be suthcient for our present purpose, to comprehend what remains of this part of our subject in two sentences : after the territic re- petition of those conflagrations destroyed the noblest monuments in Rome, it was said that city contained more gods than men ! The equestrian and pedestrian statues, tro- phies and triumphal arches, which adorned the ANCIENT ART. 277 Roman forum, and the forum of Trajan — the innumerable sculptures in the imperial palace — in the baths of Dioclesian and Caracalla — the Mausoleum of Augustus, and that of Hadrian— the files of patriots and heroes which lined the Flaminian way — were objects to fill the ima- gination, and occupy the mind. But neither the multitude of them, nor their magnificence, will produce any great impression on the painter or sculptor. He will keenly search out the rare specimens of excellence among the hundreds of ordinary beauty ; upon these he will fix his attention, and from these he will deduce his principles. We shall now return to our more immediate object, the pursuit and study of excellence, by noticing some of the noblest examples which the ravages of time and the destructive hand of barbarism have spared. Besides the works of Phidias already men- tioned, duplicates of smaller statues by him have come down to us : the Amazon called 278 LECTURE IX. " Euknemon/' from her fine leg, of which there is a print in the " Museum Pium Cle- mentinum," in the library of our Royal Aca- demy. Two Minervas are mentioned by Pliny, one of which had the surname of Callimorphus, expressive of her tine form. Perhaps this might be similar to the statue of the goddess in Mr. Hope's Gallery, as it strongly resembles a Minerva on an Athenian coin among the vignettes in " Stuart's Athens." Perhaps, in this place, a remark may be offered, without impropriety, concerning the group of a hero governing a horse, which stands opposite the papal palace, on Monte Cavallo, in Rome. This group is said to stand nearly on the same spot it occupied (with its companion) when they guarded the entrance to the baths of Constantine. " The work of Phidias" was inscribed on the pedestal, as we may see at the present time. In illustration of this group, three Roman coins may be adduced, one struck in the reign of Nero, another under ANCIENT ART. 279 Hadrian, and a third by Commodus, all bear- ing this group on the reverse, representing Bellerophon about to mount Pegasus, for the purpose of destroying the Chima^ra. These coins were struck in the city of Corinth, where Bellerophon was much honoured. The atti- tude of the hero, as well as that of the horse, resembles a bas-relief on the Parthenon, and for that reason, in addition to the style and spirit of the work, is likely to have been exe- cuted under the direction of Phidias. Alcamenes,* the scholar of Phidias, was celebrated for his Venus Aphrodite. Many small statues of bronze and marble represent the goddess pressing the water from her hair, and by their elegance are probably copies from that statue. Praxiteles-f- excelled in the highest graces of youth and ideal beauty. His Venus of Cnidos, which is said to be more perfect than any other, is known from the descriptions of Lucian and * See Plate XXI. f See Plate XXII. 280 LECTURE IX. Cedrenus. It is on the reverse of a bronze medal of Caracalla and Plautilla, in the king of France's cabinet. The drawing introduced in this Lecture was from a statue said to have been found in a vineyard, about thirty years since, in Rome, and was the property of Duke Braschi, ne- phew of Pius the Sixth. Sketches from it were made at that time. Among the celebrated statues by Praxiteles, of which copies have come down to us, are his Satyr, his Cupid bending his bow, and Apollo the lizard-killer. Casts are in this academy, for which we are indebted to the munificence of his present majesty George the Fourth; to which may be added Bacchus leaning on a faun, although this latter properly belongs to the class of groups. Polycletus of Sycion, the scholar of Age- lades, was admired for his statue of Diadu- menus, a youth binding a fillet round his head, of which copies are seen occasionally on bas- reliefs. It was valued by the ancients at 100 ANCIENT ART. 281 talents, rather 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 admired for the heroic form and retreating motion preparatory to the force of person re- quisite to the projection of his disk. The Discobolus* by Myron is ascertained by an antique gem, and the description of Quin- tilian, who apologizes for its forced attitude, (perhaps that of some particular man distin- guished in this game.) There is an ancient example of this statue in the British Museum. A wounded man, the famous work of Ctesilas, is perhaps the same as that called the " D5dng Gladiator," but more properly a herald or hero. Prints of the wounded Amazon of Ctesilaus are not uncommon in the volumes of antique statues. Pliny mentions the Nine Muses of Philiscus * See Plate XXIV. 282 LECTURE IX. of Rhodes, and the Muses brought by Fulvius Nobilior to Rome. From one or both of these series, the Muses in the Vatican were probably obtained, as they appear to be the work of different hands. Casts from them are in the council room. The Comedy is remarkable for juvenile grace of person, and elegance of dra- pery. The Apollo Philesius by Canachus has many repetitions. Ganymede borne in the eagle's talons is ex- actly described by Pliny. A print of it may be seen in the " Museum Pium Clementinum." The Apollo Belvidere is believed by the learned Visconti to be the Deliverer from Evil, the work of Calamis, set up in Athens in me- mory of a plague which raged in that city. Sublime in his beauty, and terrible in his anger, it has been considered as the Pha?bus Apollo of Homer, destroying the Greeks. It has also been looked upon as a variation from a statue by Phidias. The Hercules Farnese was evidently one of ANCIENT ART. 283 the first favourites of antiquity, from its fre- quent repetition in bronze and marble, on gems and coins. It is worthy of remark, that some statues of Hercules, in the same attitude of repose with that surnamed Farnese, but of much earlier date, have the proportions of common men, and that a series of them may be found in the various collections, gradually increasing to the terrific strength of Gly con's statue. The head of this formidable hero bears a noble resemblance to his father Jupi- ter. The anatomical detail in the body and limbs is more distinct than in any other work of antiquity. The ancient groups next claim attention. Laocoon and his son is composed in a very noble concatenation of lines, in the three prin- cipal views. The childrens' appeal to the father, and the father's to the Gods, is highly pathetic. The convulsed rise of the youngest from the ground, is the most electric circum- stance in the whole sentiment. It was the 284 LECTURE IX. work of Apollodorus, Athenadorus, and Age- sander, of Rhodes. Zethus and Amphion tying Dirce to the bull's horns — an example of filial vengeance in behalf of a persecuted mother. The concep- tion is heroic, and the execution vast. The marble is at Naples, but, like many other noble works, it has been miserably restored. Hercules raising Anteus in his arms is in the Pitti Palace, Florence. The group of Atreus bearing a dead son of Thyestes, Orestes and Electra, Ajax support- ing the dead Patroclus, and that of Harmon and Antigone, are all examples of fine form, heroic character, and sentiment. Niobe and her youngest daughter, by Sco- pas, is an example of heroic beauty in mature age. The sentiment is maternal aft'ection. She exposes her own life to shield her child from the threatened destruction. The statues of the several children all possess the same heroic beauty, mixed with astonishment, terror. ANCIENT ART. 285 dismay, and death. That fine example of anatomical study, of a difficult but harmonious composition, the Group of Wrestlers, was found in the same excavation with, and has been supposed to belong to, the family of Niobe. The group of Cupid and Psyche, interesting from the beauty of youthful male and female forms and harmony of lines, is an allegory of the Pythagorean philosophy, representing the union of desire and the soul. We may now- take some notice of the antique bas-relievos, particularly those in the British Museum. The metops which formerly adorned the Parthenon of Athens, which contain the combats of the Lapitha; and Centaurs, are dis- tinguished by simplicity and heroic exertion. Some casts from them are placed in the model academy. The procession of chariots, horse- men, maidens bearing sacred baskets and can- delabraj, animals for sacrifice, and sacred in- structors in the Celebration of Minerva, and the Assembly of the Gods, are admired by all. 286 LECTURE IX. for simplicity of composition, breadth of gene- ral effect, the elegance and delicacy of the heads and draperies, the life and spirit of the horses. The casts (in the same collection) from the temple of Theseus. The metops represent his heroic deeds, and the frieze within the temple councils of the gods. The style of these is more like the metops on the Parthenon than the broad masses in the procession within that temple. The whole of the sculpture in the temple of Theseus is bold, varied, and full of action. The fragments of statues and groups in the pediment of the Parthenon are executed with great effect ; but, as all the Athenian marbles in the Museum have been universally seen and admired, additional description would be use- less. The contention for the body of Patroclus, in the pediment of the temple of Jupiter Pan- hellenius at Egina, is a fine composition, of which there is a beautiful etching by Mr. ANCIENT ART. 287 Cockrell, who assisted in restoring this speci- men of ancient art to the world. The battle of the Amazons and Athenians, from the Temple of Apollo Epicouros, is also in the British INIuseum. Those already named are among the ancient works of chief excellence, and most worthy of the student's contemplation and imitation in basso-relievo. Others, however, may be mentioned of great beauty, the study of which will be highly im- portant in the progress of the student. Of this number are the beautiful compositions of Per- seus and Andromeda, and the Endymion, both of which are on the staircase of the Royal Academy : to these may be added the basso- relievos on the Trajan column — on the arches of Constantine and Marcus Aurelius — and, above all, the ancient Sarcophagi, which pre- sent a magnificent collection of compositions from the great poets of antiquity. Homer, Hesiod, iEschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles — the systems of ancient philosophy, with Greek LECTURE IX. mysteries, initiations, and m3'thology. The study of these will give the young artist the true principles of composition, with effect, and without confusion, to produce the chief interest of his subject by grand lines of figures, without the intrusion of useless, impertinent, or trivial objects; by carefully observing them he will accustom himself to a noble habit of thinkino-, and consequently choose whatever is beautiful, elegant, and grand, rejecting all that is mean and vulgar ; by thus imbibing an electric spark of the poetic fire, he will attain the power of employing the beauty and grace of ancient poetry and genius in the service of the establish- ment and morals of our own time and country. In the comparatively few antique statues, groups and basso-relievos here mentioned, the attention has been called only to such as have been esteemed the most, by the united consent of ancients and moderns ; the rest, which are_ very numerous, must be sought for in the various collections of antiquities, Montfaucon, the " INIuseum Pium Clementinum," " IMuseum ANCIENT ART, 289 Romanum," " Florentinum," " Giustiniani," " r>ovghese," and many other works of the same kind, most of which are in the library of our academy. The principal schools of sculpture appear to have been Athens and Rhodes : in the first, the school of Phidias was established ; and we learn from Pliny that his emulators were Alca- menes, Critias, and Nestocles, and, twenty years after, Agelades, Gallon, Polycletus, Phragmon, Gorgias, Lacon, Myron, Pytha- goras, Scopas, and Perelius. This catalogue, we may reasonably believe, contains the sculp- tors whose labours adorned the Temple of Theseus and the Parthenon ; and from them also the successive pupils descended, whose works embellished the Roman empire, until the northern irruptions spread universal de- struction in the west, and the Saracens and Turks conquered and wasted the eastern pro- vinces. The other school of sculpture, namely, Rhodes, is likely to have sprung from that of u 290 LECTURE IX. Athens. We have already observed that the Roman conquerors took 3,000 statues from thence. To this school of Rhodes we owe the two noble groups, the Laocoon, and Zethus and Amphion, both mentioned by Pliny with extraordinary praise. The sculptors of Sicyon and /Egina appear to have been chiefly employed in works of bronze, although Corinth, Delos, and other cities, have a just claim to reputation on the same account. To this general view of ancient sculpture, a few remarks may be added concerning the practical advantage it may aftbrd — by guard- ing against error and false systems, so fre- quently ruinovis impediments in the path of talent and industry, by which the inexperienced mind is first entangled in doubt, and ultimately turned from the course it had taken, without any sure guide to the desired object. It is a sound maxim, that " the same cause will always produce the same effect;" there- fore, if we would attain excellence in art, we ANCIENT ART. 291 cannot proceed bj^ a more certain course than that by which it has been attained before. The arts of Greece astonished and delighted the world in their own times, and they have continued to do so through the lapse of many ages ; and now, in their fragments and mutila- tions, demand the same just homage from the beholder, and attbrd the same example of ex- citement, admiration and instruction to the artist : and in this Lecture has been shown, not according to chimerical notions, or mere supposition, but according to the testimony of cotemporary authors, supported by the ancient works of art, the progress of sculpture in Greece, from the first rude beginning common to all countries, by the various gradations of improvement, until arrived at that perfection which has not been equalled in modern times, except perhaps in some very few instances, but never excelled ! In the former part of this discourse, we have seen that the Greeks, in their uncivilized state, did not excel their barbarous neighbours in the u 2 292 LECTURE IX. arts ; that religion gave the first impulse to sculpture; that philosophic improvement fur- nished the artist with rules ; that legislation, by determination of moral and civil right, re- duced society to a more settled state, and thereby afforded a more tranquil leisure for the cultivation of liberal studies ; that the institu- tion of gymnastic exercises exhibited the naked figure in all views, actions and motions for the study of the artist ; the anatomical school of Hippocrates, and the more extended know- ledge of that science in the school of Alex- andria, gave more exact details of the parts of the human figure ; and, lastly, the dialogues of Plato on beauty, its origin, cause, and effect, from the mind upon the body, completed the general principles of information for the ancient sculptor; and as it was a summary of the gra- dual progress by which the excellence of Gre- cian art was accumulated, so in its perfection it became the course of study by which every individual artist rose to eminence. ( 29;3 ) LECTURE X. MODERN SCULPTURE. The preceding Lecture contained a very gene- ral and summary sketch of Ancient Sculpture, as introductory to a similar review of Modern Sculpture. In that Lecture it was observed, that no attempt would be made to give a regu- lar history of the art in its commencement by the Egyptians, in all the particulars of its pro- gress and perfection by the Greeks— at what point its course had been arrested among the Syrians, Persians, and Babylonians — what por- tion of the colonial arts of Greece found in Sicil}^ and Italy, might be considered the un- doubted property of the mother countr}^, and in what respects they could be claimed by the people to whom they were originally exotics : all these topics are doubtless necessary to a 294 LECTURE X. complete history of the arts of design, and all of consequence to the antiquary. But in the number of those topics, we must, as artists, distinguish between such as are requisite to histoiy, and those passages most important to us, of the ancient authors which supply pro- found maxims and principles indispensable to a sound theory and successful practice of the arts. Whenever a more extensive knowledge is required, application must be made to the various writers on the subject, ancient and modern. The first objects in this institution are the principles of art, as must be evident in every branch of the establishment ; as a valuable library has been formed, and lectures appointed for the communication of whatever in science and literature the artist may find most useful ; and he may try the rules he acquires by com- paring his own studies with the finest speci- mens of ancient sculpture, and the works of the most esteemed painters of the fifteenth MODERN SCULPTURE. 295 century, or the great criterion of all art, Nature, in the schools of this institution. It is subservient to this wise and liberal plan of education, that these Lectures have been conceived, in which I have endeavoured to present a comprehensive view of the means by which ancient art obtained its unrivalled ex- cellence, and that by the same means, and by application to the same studies, modern art rose again to excellence in the fifteenth century. Thus the student of the present day has the most satisfactory assurance that the ancient arts of Greece were carried to perfection, and the modern arts of Italy restored, by the same system of education established in this institu- tion ; and we may with certainty predict, that a race of painters and sculptors will be pro- duced by our Royal Academy, whose merits will secure the admiration of their own time, and of future ages, as effectually as their great predecessors have done ; with this proviso, that on their parts they bring with them to the arts they intend to practise, minds truly liberal. 296 LECTURE X. debased by no sordid or unworthy motives, — a disposition so devoted that any other employ- ment would render life miserable, — a ready inclination to overcome all difficulties by inde- fatigable labour, — and above all, a comprehen- sion of mind, an acuteness of perception, and a soundness of judgment capable of attaining the various acquirements of science, literature, and the study of nature, required in the pro- fession. We shall now proceed with the sub- ject of modern art. It is a fact known to all, that the successive irruptions of barbarians into the provinces of the Roman empire, both East and West, from the fifth to the tenth century of the Christian era, spread universal devastation, even to the ren- dering great tracts of country desert, where abundant population had flourished in mag- nificent towns and cities. In these dismal times, when the violence of fanaticism increased the horrors of barbarous invasion — when the works of ancient genius in painting and sculpture were buried under the MODERN SCULPTURE. 297 ruins of temples, forums, and palaces, which they had adorned to the fifth century — there were accounts of the Olympian Jupiter, and the Venus of Cnidos ; but at that time their history ends in the common destruction and darkness of the times. This spirit of violence and warfare did not cease, but was continued by the feudal successors to the Roman pro- vinces long after the tenth century, with the same baneful influence, unabated, upon arts, learning and civilization. In the city of Rome, the architectural monuments of antiquity were converted into fortresses by the contending barons ; and in the beginning of the fifteenth century, the city was so encumbered with ruined buildings and lesser forts, that two horsemen could scarcely pass abreast in any principal street or open place. Wherever ex- cavations have been made in later times, to clear the basements of columns, arches, or buildings, in the Roman Forum, the Forum of Trajan, and other distinguished parts of the city, the ancient pavement has been always 298 LECTURE X. found from ten to sixteen feet lower than the present ; and the whole of the mass between, formed from the rubbish of ruined structures, mixed with fragments of statues, basso-relievos, capitals, columns, &c. We need but one instance more, which is within the compass of our own knowledge or inquiry, to demonstrate the general ruin which accompanied the destruc- tion of the works of art durins; the barbarous irruptions in the great cities of the Roman empire — the instance related to was in our own country. In London, several magniticent mosaic or tesselated pavements and fragments of ancient ai't have been found, covered by a mass of burnt rubbish, from ten to twelve feet deep below the present pavement. Similar instances have occurred in most of the cities of England, proving the destructive progress of the Saxons and Danes in our country not to have been less furious than those of the Goths, Vandals, Huns, and Lombards in Italy, or of the Saracens and Turks in the East. But from the vengeance of barbarians, sti- MODERN SCULPTURE. 299 mulated by prey, and provoked by oppression, we shall willingly turn our view to the re-esta- blishment of social order, and the restoration of arts and letters. After the entire destruction of the Roman power in the West of Europe, Italy was di- vided into republics and principalities, the chief of which, Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, possessing the advantage of extensive sea coasts, were the tirst to enrich their countries by commerce, and improve their knowledge by voyages. The Venetians, situated in the neighbourhood of Greece, were induced to emulate the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, in the build- ing and decoration of St. Mark's in their own city. The plan of this church is a Greek cross, and the mosaic pictures, from sacred history, which adorn the interior, are from Greek paintings of the same age. The present church was consecrated, A.D. 1085. The republic of Pisa had a naval force so considerable previous to this period, that they had beaten the Saracens in Africa, Sardinia, 300 LECTURE X. Majorca, Minorca, and Sicily, besides taking from them immense treasure, with which they built the Cathedral of Pisa, begun in 1063, finished 1092. The building of these cathedrals was followed by those of Verona, Modena, Pistoia, and several others in Italy. Schools of painting and sculpture, as well as architecture, were formed and established in the eleventh and twelfth centuries ; and the distinguished talents produced in them were cherished and employed in the cause of reli- gion. It will be found on a careful inquirj^, that the elements, as well as the perfection of the arts, have always been received, either imme- diately or intermediately, from the Greeks, by Western Europe, although this has been denied by Vasari ; and, as far as concerns the Greek Christian paintings, does not seem to have been even suspected by Winckelmann. To this part of our subject, therefore, a short but satisfactory illustration is required. MODERN SCULPTURE. 301 The germ, or first beginning of modern art, is not to be so absolutely reckoned from the commencement of the eleventh century, when society began to be settled in Europe, as from the reign of Constantine, seven centuries ear- lier, when Christianity became the established religion of the empire ; then it was that paint- ing and sculpture ceased to be employed on the pagan gods, and their powers were engaged to adorn the churches built by Christian em- perors, with the persons and events of sacred history.* The portrait of our Saviour, with those of some of the Apostles, particularly Peter and Paul, appear to have been known in Galilee either during their lives, or shortly after their deaths. The Emperor Tiberius was desirous of hav- ing the Messiah admitted among the gods of the empire, but was refused by the Senate. Alexander Severus had the statue of Jesus Christ among his household gods. * Vide Airinghi's Roma Subteiraiiea, plate XLIX. m^ LECTURE X. Even during the reigns of those emperors, by whom the Christians were cruelly perse- cuted, when they were obliged to perform their sacred worship in subterrains and sepulchral chambers, they ornamented those retreats with sacred portraits and subjects from Scripture. But when the churches of St. Sophia and the Apostles were built in Constantinople by Con- stantine and his successors, they were em- bellished with mosaics and statues. Bosius, in his " Roma Subterranea," exhibits many Christian sarcophagi sculptured with scriptural subjects from the Old and New Tes- tament in basso-relievo. Monier,* in his History of Painting, Sculp- ture and Architecture, gives large quotations from the Christian Fathers concernins; the ex- cellent paintings of sacred subjects in the Eastern churches, from the fourth to the eighth century, and the powerful effects produced by them on the beholders. Indeed, there are * Monier, page 60. MODERN SCULPTURE. 303 still remaining in the libraries of the Emperor of Austria and King of France, Greek paint- ings executed in the middle ages, of great beauty ; but above all the Greek painting and sculpture now existing, those particularly de- serve notice of the Nativity,* the Transfigu- ration, the Resurrection, and the Glorification, because they were the examples universally followed by the Italian artists, until after Raphael and Michael Angelo. Andrea Tafi, a Florentine, coteraporary with Cimabue, studied under the Grecian artists in St. Mark's Church, Venice, while they were employed in decorating the interior with the principal subjects recorded in the Old and New Testaments. Apollonius, a Grecian painter, returned from Venice with Tafi, and assisted him in the mo- saics afterwards executed in St. John's Bap- tistery at Florence. Cimabue was also in- structed by Greek artists. These facts being * Plates XXXV. and XXXVI. 304 LECTURE X. acknowledged by the Italian writers, there remains no cause for surprize that the Greek Christian compositions should assist the resto- ration of painting, more than that their paint- ings and basso-relievos should have supplied the principles of ancient art. The Cathedral of Pisa, built by Buskettus an architect from Dulichium, was the second sacred edifice (St. Marks in Venice being the first) raised after the destruction of the Roman power in Italy. It has received the honour of being allowed by posterity to have taken the lead in restoring art : and, indeed, the travel- ler, on entering the city gates, is astonished by a scene of architectural magnificence and singularity not to be equalled in the world. Four stupendous structures of fine marble in one group — the solemn cathedral, in the general parallelogram of its form resembling an an- cient temple, which unites and simplifies the arched divisions of its exterior — the Baptistery, a circular building, surrounded with arches and columns, crowned with niches, statues MODERN SCULPTURE. 305 and pinnacles, rising to an apex in the centre, terminated by a statue of the Baptist; — the Falling Tower, (which is thirteen feet out of the perpendicular,) a most elegant cylinder, raised by eight rows of columns surmounting each other, and suiTounding a staircase ; — the Cemetery, a long square corridor, 400 by 200 feet, containing the ingenious works of the improvers of painting, down to the six- teenth century. This extraordinary scene in the evening of a summer's day, with a splendid red sun setting in the dark blue sky, the full moon rising on the opposite side over a city nearly deserted, aft'ects the beholder's mind with such a sensation of magnilicence, solitude and wonder, that he scarcely knows whether he is in this world or not. To describe the numerous works of painting and sculpture with which the restorers of art laboured to adorn these magnificent edifices during 500 years, would require time equal to that allowed for the Lectures on Sculpture during one season . Fortunately for the student, X 306 LECTURE X. fine prints from the paintings in the Campo Santo, with outlines of the sarcophagi in the same corridor, may be seen in the library of the Royal Academy. The general eifect of this group of buildings deserves to be dwelt on, for these reasons in particular, first, because noble ideas, finely executed, cannot fail of producing an irresist- ible effect on the mind ; secondly, this assem- blage of buildings contains a more regular series of those labours by which the restoration of art was effected, than is to be found within the same compass in any other place. We shall now proceed to notice the restorers of sculpture in Italy, with the same brevity as the first improvers in Greece. It is not unlikely that Buskettus the Greek, who built the Cathedral of Pisa in the eleventh century, established the schools of architecture and sculpture at the same time in that city, (although we have no historical proof of the fact,) because we know it was not un- usual with those early artists to practise MODERN SCULPTURE. 307 painting, sculpture, and architecture, at the same time, and because there are rude statues on the cathedral coeval with the build- ing ; and it is acknowledged by the Pisan writers, that there were sculptors in that city before Nicolas and his son John, whose works became famous throughout Italy in the middle of the thirteenth century. These sculptors executed most magnificent marble pulpits, en- riched with basso-relievos and statues, in the cathedrals of Pisa, Pistoia and Sienna, also in the Baptistery of Pisa : a series of sacred subjects from the Old and New Testament, by them and their scholars, are seen on the west front of Orvieto Cathedral. There are also by John Pisano some elegant statues of the Virgin and Child. Nicolas and John improved sculpture, by study of the antique basso-relievos in the Campo Santo ; in their own works the compositions are simple and intelligible; the female figures are frequently elegant in their movements and their drapery. In them are oc- casionally seen an originality of idea and a X 2 308 LECTURE X. force of thought seldom met with when schools of art are in the habit of copying from each other. Andrea Ugolino Pisano, from the school of those sculptors, designed and executed in bronze the oldest gate of the Baptistery in Florence, the compartments of which represent the life of St, John. The compositions have a Gothic and simple grandeur. He also exe- cuted some statues in marble, but they were rather inferior to the productions of Nicolas and John. The next distinguished restorer of sculpture was Donatello the Florentine. Some of his works, both in bronze and marble, might be placed beside the best productions of ancient Greece without discredit. In the " Opera del Duomo" of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cathe- dral of Florence, there is an alto-relievo of two singing-boys of extraordinary beauty in senti- ment, character, drawing and drapery. In the gallery of Florence there is a bronze statue of a lad, (perhaps a Mercury,) so delicately MODERN SCULPTURE. 309 proportioned, tind so perfectly natural, that it is excelled only by the best works of antiquity, in certain exquisite graces peculiar to the finest monuments in Greece, but not to be at- tained or expected from the endeavours of lately resurgent genius. His marble statue of St. George is a simple and forcible example of sentiment; he stands upright, equally poized on both legs, his hands restino; on his shield before him. Michael Angelo, after admiring this statue some time in silence, suddenly ex- claimed, " March." His basso-relievos of the life of Christ, on the pulpit of Saint Lorenzo's Church, abound in noble conceptions, but they were the works of advanced age, and terminated by his scholars. He was a man of modesty and principle : whatever work he en- gaged in, his chief concern was to make it the most perfect possible. The contemporaries of this artist are not to be forgotten, although perhaps, on the whole, inferior sculptors to him. Brunelleschi executed a crucifixion in wood, now in the Church of Santa Maria No- 310 LECTURE X. vella, which represents the suffering Saviour, in a manner not to be looked on with indiffer- ence. He afterwards engaged in architecture, and built the much admired Church of Santa Maria del Fiore. Lorenzo Ghiberti, the other illustrious co- temporary of Donatello, has immortalized his memory by the bronze gates of St. John's Baptistery, called " the Gates of Paradise," from Michael Angelo's compliment. But the criticism of Sir Joshua Reynolds was one indisputable proof of that great man's judgment in the sister arts. His observation amounted to this, that Ghiberti's " landscape and buildings occupied so large a portion of the compartments, that the figures remained but secondary objects, entirely contrary to the principle of the ancients." Ghiberti, likewise, made a large statue in bronze of St. Matthew, on the exterior of San Michele ; but his talents were better suited to the elegance and delicate finishing of smaller works. His St. Matthew wants the severe chastity of the apostolic cha- racter, and the head is inferior to those in the MODERN SCULPTURE. 311 spandells of his gates, the attitude also is ati'ected and the drapery unnatural. We may, without neglecting our great pur- pose, (the principles of art,) pass over the in- termediate names between Donatello, and Michael Angelo, as having added little to the value of modern sculpture. We now arrive at a great and venerable name, without an equal in the three sister arts. Michael Angelo, according to the testimony of Vasari, (his biographer and kinsman,) was descended from the Counts of Canossa, a Lom- bard family, possessed by conquest, and im- perial gift, of Lombardy, Tuscany and Lucca, and allied by marriages to the blood of Char- lemagne. Certainly, if superior genius, enlightened by poetic inspiration, regulated and purified by philosophy and religion, can attest an illus- trious descent, few names are recorded in his- tory whose pretensions are better founded than his, of whom we are speaking. But it is also possible that a noble mind may be compatible 312 LECTURE X. with an humbler descent, and we know that the cultivation of the mental powers, moral virtues and knowledge are the result of forti- tude and perseverance ; and these were the qualities by which Michael Angelo became the wonder and example of his own and suc- ceeding ages. His early attachment to the arts at last overcame his father's prejudice against a profession which he fancied disgraced the nobility of his family, and he was placed under Dominico Ghirlandaio, the best painter of his time. He afterwards studied in the Museum of Ancient Sculpture, formed by Lorenzo di Medici in the garden of St. Mark, where Bertoldo the sculptor, a disciple of Donatello, was employed by the magnificent founder of the school to instruct the pupils. Here Michael Angelo's diligence and ability distinguished him above the other students, as they had previously in Ghirlandaio's school of painting. As Michael Angelo was patronized by Lorenzo, and eat at his table, he became acquainted with Politian and Marsilius Ficinus, iMODERN SCULPTURE. 313 and with such of the learned Greeks as had sought refuge in Italy previous to the taking- Constantinople by the Turks. From the society and conversation of these distinguished philo- sophers and scholars, he could not fail to obtain a general clue to the connection between an- cient literature and the arts, and a knowledge of the passages in Vitruvius relating to pro- portions, geometry, and perspective, together with portions from those ancient physicians who had revived the study of anatomy. Be- cause conversations of these kinds only were usual at the table of Lorenzo, and as one of his darling endeavours was to raise a great school of art in Florence, his friends and visi- tors would naturally pay their court to him, by communications of whatever was likely to for- ward his patriotic wishes on this subject. Michael Angelo commenced his career by various works of sculpture, a sleeping Cupid, a Bacchus and young Faun, the colossal David, and a group of a sitting Madonna bearing the dead Christ on her knees, which raised his 314 LECTURE X. fame above all his modern predecessors in the art. Fortunately, however, this success did not wholly overcome his love for painting, of which there is a most beautiful example in the Florentine gallery of a Holy Family, with a number of small figures in the back-ground representing St. John baptizing the multitude in the River Jordan. Thus had the ceaseless study and unwearied labours of Buonarotti raised him so high in public estimation, that he was appointed to paint a portion of the great hall in Florence, on which Leonardi da Vinci was already em- ployed; and it is to a competition of such talent as but rarely occurs in the history of the world, that we are indebted for that surprising composition, the Battle of the Standard, which Rubens imitated in four admirable hunting scenes ; and it is most likely that it is to the lesson Michael Angelo received from this de- sign, that he was more particularly led to that study of complicated grouping, in which his Last Judgment is unrivalled. MODERN SCULPTURE. 315 Though this great man was afterwards em- ployed on works of sculpture, imposing and admirable from their originality and power, yet his noblest productions are in colours. The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the Last Judgment, taken together as two por- tions of one whole, are unparalleled in the history of art, ancient or modern, in the vast- ness of the idea— the grandeur of the subject, comprehending the entire scheme of divine revelation — the dignity of the characters, among which, our reason is convinced, are those which cannot be represented. Nevertheless, if the whole is considered with the great elevation of mind which accompanies the observation of visible objects, each part is so harmoniously sublime and extraordinarj^ that the beholder believes he is admitted to a vision of " Light separated from Darkness," " the Benediction of the Waters," and " the Creation of the Hu- man Race !" The groups of patriarchal families, which border the composition of the ceiling, are 316 LECTURE X. choice selections of piety and love, in senti- ment and form unknown to the ancients, and unattempted by the moderns before his time ; the naked figures are new and admirable — the prophets, sybils, and the four corners of the ceiling taken separately, will afford matter for contemplation and study, not to be found in whole galleries by other masters. " The Last Judgment" is indeed a consum- mate work ; as sublime and terrific to all be- holders in relation to the most important in- terests of humanity, as it was novel and asto- nishing to cotemporary painters when first exposed to the public, and has been since to all admirers of the noblest productions of genius. This work has been so powerfully described, and so admirably commented on by the great professor of painting in this Aca- demy, that little more need be said at present. Perhaps, in justice to the originality of concep- tion, it may not be impertinent to observe, that Lucas Signorelli, a painter of great merit, some years before Michael Angelo became MODERN SCULPTURE. 317 eminent, painted a Last Judgment in the ca- thedral of Orvieto — represented by a multi- tude of figures standing upright on the fore- ground, awaiting conveyance to their final destinations by angels or demons in the air above them. Michael Angelo's composition is the actual accomplishment of the Judgment. The Divine Son, in the midst of saints and apostles, has the books opened by the angels before him, from which every one is judged according to his works. The Christian chari- ties and the deadly sins, with the struggles of good and evil, are most strikingly expressed* in characteristic groups immediately below the angels, whilst the dead are rising from their graves in the earth : thus confining the ultimate horror of the scene to a smaller space in the lower part of the altar-piece. Michael Angelo's two great compositions in the Pauline Chapel must not be forgotten : they were, it is true, the productions of his age, * See Plate XXXVII. 318 LECTURE X. but they are the works of a mighty veteran. In the " Conversion of Saul," the groups of angels surrounding the descending Saviour, whilst calling his apostle, are luxuriantly ex- tatic, and offer an internal testimony that Correggio's ideas of the celestial ministry, in his celebrated " Nativity," were probably awakened by the sight of some sketches from this picture. The terror and flight of the horses from the fallen Saul bear evidence to the miracle. The Martyrdom of St. Peter is a scene of solemn gloom congenial with the occasion, where his Christian brethren descend with slow and sorrowing steps into the excavation, in which the cross is fixed, to receive the dying apostle's benediction. The character of Michael Angelo's sculpture is too lofty and original to be dismissed with- out farther notice, although we must acknow- ledge it has been criticised with severity, be- cause it rarely possesses the chaste simplicity of Grecian art. True ; but, although Michael MODERN SCULPTURE. 319 Angelo lived long, he did not live long enough to give absolute perfection to all his works: yet the pensive sitting iigure of Lorenzo di Medicis, in the Medici Chapel, is not without this charm ; and the Madonna and Child on the north side of the same chapel is simple, and has a sentiment of maternal affection never found in the Greek sculpture, but frequently in the works of this artist, particularly in his paintings, and that of the most tender kind. The recumbent statues in the monument of Julian di Medicis in the same chapel, of Day- break or Dawn, and Night, are grand and mysterious : the characters and forms bespeak the same mighty mind and hand evident throughout the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and Last Judgment. The monument of Julius the Second, ac- cording to Michael Angelo's sketch, was mag- nificently conceived, and characteristic of this haughty pontiff; but the composition was re- duced to one quarter of the first intention by succeeding popes, and the statues were exe- 320 LECTURE X. cuted by inferior sculptors, excepting the Moses. Two slaves, in the original design, were done in marble ; these are now in the Louvre, admired for disposition and anatomi- cal perfection. The character and works of Michael Angelo have been dwelt on at greater length, because, as his mental and bodily powers continued far beyond the usual date of human life, his dili- gence attained to so much greater perfection in the principles of art. Anatomy — the motion and perspective of the figure — the complica- tion, grandeur and harmony of his grouping, with the advantages and facility of execution in painting and sculpture, besides his mathe- matical and mechanical attainments in archi- tecture and building, which, together with the many and prodigious works he accomplished, demonstrate how greatly he contributed to the restoration of art. After the works of the great man just men- tioned, John of Bologna's "Venus coming from the Bath," both standing and kneeling, are re- MODERN SCULPTURE. 321 markable for delicacy and grace. His Mer- cury rising to Hy is energetic and original ; his groups are harmoniously incatenated. Benvenuto Cellini deserves praise for his group of Perseus and Medusa, but the suc- ceeding sculptors in the seventeenth century must be looked on as having debased, rather than contributed to the restoration of art. Even Bernini, whose reputation was so great in his time, can be praised only for his Apollo and Daphne, and for the ease and nature of his portraits. His larger works are remarka- ble for presuming airs, aifected grace, and un- meaning flutter. Towards the close of the seventeenth cen- tury, however, better knowledge of principles and science, more attention to ideal beauty, and more careful and profound study of nature, raised the productions of this art again to a promise of future success, unknown since the times of ancient Greece. By this sketch it will be seen, that the arts rose to the highest elevation in the free states Y 322 LECTURE X. of Greece — that they were destroyed and buried by the inroads of barbarism and igno- rance — and that they were restored in the free states of Italy by the same means which gave them birth, and reared them to maturity in their native land. Painting and sculpture had been practised and generally admired in Italy from the ele- venth century; but at that time they were without determined proportions for the human figure ; without anatomy, perspective, or the principles of motion. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the increasing power of the Turks had reduced the eastern empire to little more than the city of Constantinople, when such of the learned Greeks as dreaded the dominion of this bar- barous people sought shelter in Italy, and brought with them copies of the ancient clas- sics in science and polite literature, of which, as they were perfect masters themselves in their own language, they communicated to the Italians, in Venice, Rome, and Florence. MODERN SCULPTURE. 323 Leonardo da Vinci at this time made studies of anatomy from the horse, and afterwards a complete series of anatomical designs from the human subject, assisted in the dissections by the celebrated anatomist Marc Antonio della Torre. Rather before this time, Michael Angelo engaged in a most diligent course of this study. Both these great men were most likely encouraged to undertake a careful ap- plication to this science, by the publication of John Guinter of Anderon, one of the masters of Vesalius, in the year 1536, " who is the only anatomist before Vesalius, who gives an accurate and full description of the muscles." Leon Baptista Alberti had, some years be- fore, found the necessity of geometrical know- ledge in painting, which Paolo Uccello pur- sued until he brought perspective to a perfec- tion that bewitched several of his cotempo- raries. In justice to the ancients, however, it must be acknowledged an improvement only (though an exceeding valuable one) on Euclid's optics. y2 324 LECTURE X. The use of perspective in fore-shortening the human figure has given a marvellous gran- deur and truth to the groups of Michael An- gelo, A drawing by this great master is extant of a figure measured in the same manner as Vitruvius informs us was practised by the Greeks, and which has since been generally used. 0/ all the advantages which the sister arts derived from the restoration of Greek litera- ture, nothing seems more extraordinary than the following coincidence, and few circum- stances relating to the subject deserve a more serious attention. Previous to the time of Phidias, the Grecian sculpture, both gods and men, had the same ordinary outline of body, limbs and counte- nance usually found in common nature ; and it has been remarked, the ancient statue of Minerva in the Villa Albani was characterized as the goddess of wisdom, by an aged counte- nance. Phidias, however, began the reformation. MODERN SCULPTURE. 325 He gave dignity to Jupiter from Homer's de- scription. Succeeding artists continued to refine and elevate the different orders of di- vinity, until each personage of the mythology received the appointed portion of ideal beauty from selected nature and abstracted reasoning. We must remember that Phidias and Plato were nearly cotemporaries ; and considering the astonishing influence of this philosopher's discourses and writings, particularly concern- ing the power of the soul's energies in the configuration of the countenance and person, according to established habits of virtue or vice — his distinction of the spiritual orders — his accurate investigation of the good, the per- fect, and the beautiful itself — when we consi- der the high and extensive veneration in which these discourses were held, little doubt can be entertained of their influence in directing the artist's mind in his choice of subjects, and the expression of qualities for the perfection of beauty. The coincidence, then, alluded to above, was 326 LECTURE X. that, in the very zenith of the restoration of the art, in the time of Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael, the magnificent Lorenzo di Medici formed a society of Platonic philo- sophers, consisting of the most celebrated scholars of his time and country, and caused the Philosopher's dialogues to be translated and commented on by Marsilius Ficinus ; and as this -work was highly esteemed by the Me- dici fariiily, the pontiffs Leo the Tenth, Cle- ment the Seventh, and Julius the Third, as well as by the learned and ingenious generally, there can be as little doubt that Plato's reason- ing on the beautiful and its characteristics, supplied as happy assistance in the determina- tion of sublime and spiritual characters to the restorers of art in Italy, as it had clone to the ancient Greek artists. As a brief sketch has been offered of the restoration of art, and some of the circum- stances noticed which contributed to this end, the following question naturally presents itself: from what complication of causes did litera- MODERN SCULPTURE. 327 ture and the arts remain in such a state of concealment and darkness for the long period of a thousand years, from the fifth to the fif- teenth centuiy? Though the answer to this question is suffi- ciently given in the general history of the times, it is so much interwoven with the nature of our subject, that it may not appear impertinent to introduce an illustrative paragraph, to pre- serve the connection of argument. Whilst the northern people over-ran Europe in the seventh century, the Saracens invaded the east, and established themselves in Egypt, Persia, and a portion of Greece, where they soon became sensible of the advantages that Christians derived from science and letters, particularly in commerce and medicine. Two successive Saracen princes, Haroun Al Raschid and Al Mammon, to obtain the same benefits for themselves and their subjects, em- ployed Syrian Christians to translate the Greek authors of highest reputation into the Arabic lang,uage, after which they caused the original 328 LECTURE X. MSS. to be burnt; thus endeavouring to secure all the philosophy, mathematics, medi- cine, anatomy, geography, histoiy, and poetry they found among the conquered people, and by the destruction of the MSS. to reduce the Greeks to the same state of ignorance in which they were themselves previously involved. This conduct of the Saracens, as they intended, de- prived the Christians of a considerable portion of the remaining light which former calamity and destruction had spared. Greek authors translated by Syrians into Arabic, that is to say, from one language foreign to the transla- tors, into another equally foreign, produced copies abounding in mistakes, and, wherever the subject was abstruse, misconception or ig- norance frequently rendered the passage unin- telligible. In this state of things, the conquests of the Saracens had enabled them to found universities in Europe and Asia, in which they alone assumed the privilege of instruction. The confusion and perversion the ancient authors had suftered by translation, rendered MODERN SCULPTURE. 329 philosophy the instrument of the Koran, and infected Christianity with its poison far and wide. Whilst science remained torpid, paint- ing and sculpture ceased to be practised, as the representation of the human figure was for- bidden by the Mohammedan law ; and archi- tecture by the Arabians and Saracens became an imitation, in the larger masses and columns, of the declining architecture of the lower em- pire, with capitals formed of unmeaning flou- rishes, or dug into numerous small cavities, because that was more easily effected by un- skilful workmen than a decoration of foliage, from which that style improperly called Gothic is believed to have originated in Europe. Thus were the arts and their principles lost for so long a period, in addition to the other miseries of a darkened and afflicted world, until providentially restored in the fifteenth century by men especially endow^ed, to whose genius and indefatigable labours we must always look with respect and gratitude. 330 LECTURE X. In considering the impediments that pre- vented an earlier manifestation of the progress of modern art, and which were (by some) believed to be insurmountable, the following opinion, prevalent among the classical admirers of art previous to the time of Winckleman and afterwards, deserves particular notice, which was, that the Christian religion afforded sub- jects less favourable to the painter or sculptor than the Pagan mythology ; and although we hope this prejudice is diminished, yet it is not so entirely passed away as to render an inquiry into its merits wholly useless. We will first, therefore, consider the question in respect to beauty ; next, in respect to the moral systems ; and, lastly, we will consider what has been done, in relation to what is possible to be done. In the first place, the ancient theory of per- sonal beauty is, that it consists in a body and limbs accommodated to perform the various functions and offices of life, under the govern- MODERN SCULPTURE. 331 ment of the best principles of intelligence and will ; in this definition the generality of moderns agree with the ancients. Here, then, we see that the artist is equally bound by the modern, as by the ancient practice, to make himself acquainted by physiological inquiry and phi- losophical reasoning, with the most perfect union of forms and sentiment for his studies. Beauty is to be considered as pertaining to two orders of creation — the supernatural and the natural. In the Pagan mythology, the supernatural order consists of superior and inferior divinities, beatified heroes, and purified spirits. These have been represented by the ancients with a grandeur, perfection, and dis- tinctness of character, by which we as imme- diately recognize Jupiter from Hercules or Mercury, as we distinguish Cicero from De- mosthenes, or Socrates from Zeno. The most elevated orders are more dignified in their cha- racters, forms and attitudes, whilst the younger deities are more remarkable for beauty in the bloom of youth, and a corresponding lightness 332 LECTURE X. of figure and sprightliness of action ; to these might be added an enumeration of distinctions both celestial and terrestrial. But the arts of design may exert their utmost efforts, could they even call the genius of Phi- dias and the grace of Praxiteles to employ their most exalted conceptions in the most lively execution, without the reasonable expec- tation of being perfectly satisfied with their own productions, if employed on the person- ages and events of divine revelation. The gradations of celestial power and beauty in the orders of anoels and archang-els, the grandeur and inspiration of prophets, accord- ing to the difference of mission, and the sanc- tity of apostles, have produced examples of grace, beauty, and grandeur of character, ori- ginal in themselves, and not to be found in such variety among the remains of antiquity, as in works by the restorers of art in the fif- teenth century. If we compare the moral systems of Paganism and Christianity, we cannot fail to wonder that MODERN SCULPTURE. 333 society was not exterminated in an empire which sacrificed 20,000 gladiators every year, on the amphitheatres for public diversion. This is but one instance of the public character of the Romans. Even the Athenians, so justly admired for arts and letters, in their moral habits tolerated the most frightful offences. Besides that contradiction to the love of liberty in which they defended their country against foreign invaders, that at the time Athens con- tained 12,000 free citizens, it contained also 120,000 slaves, or ten slaves to each free citizen. But enouoh of this. We will console our- selves with the cheering reflection, that some sense of piety and mutual duty was kept alive by the spirit of philosophy, under Pagan sys- tems, and felicitate ourselves upon the enjoy- ment of that Perfect Dispensation which en- joins a moral practice to secure the happiness of all — allowing an extent of political freedom beneficial to all, at the same time that it guards the just rights of every one — which protects 334. LECTURE X. knowledge and science, and bestows on the arts a moral purity and a perfection of senti- ment, arising from the various duties and chari- ties of Christianity, not to be found under any other code. These advantages were well un- derstood by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michael Angelo. The Holy Families only, by these great masters, would form a gallery of the greatest beauty — the most tender and interesting sentiment, totally unlike any ancient work, and entirely novel in subject, composi- tion and character. The same may be said of those noble compositions by Raphael, the Car- toons, which for expression of divine and ex- alted character, grand and extraordinary group- ing, may be compared with the noblest remains of ancient art. Michael Angelo's merits have been fre- quently and ably insisted on by your excellent professor of painting : but we may be still per- mitted to observe, that in the Cappella Sistini, the sublimity of subjects and characters, the several patriarchal groups of incomparable MODERN SCULPTURE. 335 interest and beauty, all original, and unlike any production of anticjuity, with that wonderful altar-piece of the Last Judgment, form toge- ther a labour that seems scarcely the work of man, and stands without a rival in ancient or modern art. When we consider what was done by the restorers of art in the fifteenth century, what incredible improvements in a comparatively few years, and remember that these works are still before us for our instruction, and that we besides possess the invaluable principles and rules used by those distinguished persons for conducting their works — and in addition to these advantages, great numbers of the finest examples of ancient art in the lierculaneum collection of paintings and the Greek painted vases, hidden in the earth when Raphael and Michael Angelo lived, have since been ex- tracted from the oblivion in which they lay, and have shed additional lisjht on the arts of design, — with these assistances from ancient art and ancient wisdom, in addition to the 336 LECTURE X. beautiful and novel works of the fifteenth cen- tury, and the continual improvements in every branch of science, which give much more facility to labour, shall we not say with Dr, Young, in his " Essay on Composition," that considering all these advantages of principles from so many preceding ages, with the innu- merable works of genius by which they are illustrated and we are instructed,— that we are properly the ancients, because these our mental riches are more abundant than have ever been enjoyed before, and possess us with advantages the ancients had not? We can employ our imaginations in the sister arts, on the sublime, the heroic, the severely beautiful personages and events of the venerable Homer and Hesiod's poems ; we may venture on the terrific or afflicting scenes of the Greek trage- dians ; or we may relax our fancy with the innocent simplicity of the pastoral poets ; but we have subjects also, which, although un- known to the Greeks and Romans, will em- ploy the greatest powers with the greatest ad- MODERN SCULPTURE. 337 vantage to the best faculties and dispositions of man, to his happiness present and future. It will be at once understood that the book which supplies these subjects is the Holy Bible. Some have thought, that so many composi- tions have been already made, that nothing new can now be found in it for painting or sculpture : but it should be remembered that the compositions have been little more than selections from the common historical subjects, with few or none from the Prophecies and Psalms, w^hich offer an abundance of the most sublime and splendid, as well as most simple and aftecting subjects for design. Besides, when we consider that every subject may be represented in three striking points of time, the commencement of an action, the heat of the action, and the conclusion — and also that every action may be represented in four or five different manners, especially if it comprehends several figures — under all these circumstances, we may then safely affirm, without danger of exaggeration, that many hundred subjects are z 3S8 LECTURE X. to be found in the sacred writings, which, being ably designed, would be new to the be- holder. In the number of original subjects, of the noblest class, derived from revelation, we must remember the immortal poem of " Paradise Lost," by our countr3rman John IMilton ; 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 Pre- face to Shakspeare, has also done justice to the genius of Milton, and, though his adver- sary in religious and political opinions, has honestly and magnanimously pronounced an encomium on the Paradise Lost, not cursorily and generally, but particularly ; accompanied by reasons on each occasion, which Hash con- viction on the mind of the reader, and which. MODERN SCULPTURE. 339 by sagacity of observation and power of ex- pression, is rendered the most extraordinary discrimination of excellence, as it is of prefer- ence, ever otlered to the epic muse. And yet, is it to be believed, that this Poet, abounding in subjects and characters of the most extraordinary kind, has been almost en- tirely neglected in the Arts of his own country, whilst his merits have been vindicated and illustrated by the liberal mind and genius of a foreigner ! In future, let us, conscious of the means we possess, not be negligent in exerting ourselves for posterity in the same proportion as we feel our own obligations to former aoes. THE END. Z 2 LIST OF PLATES, LITHOGRAPHED BY VARIOUS ARTISTS FROM DRAWINGS BY MR. FLAXMAN. 1. Bishop Wulstan, in Worcester Cathedral. 2. Creation of Eve, from Wells Cathedral. 3. Death of Isaac, do. 4. An Angel, do. 5. Queen Eleanor, from Waltham Cross. 6. Virgin and Angels, a Key Stone in York Cathedral. 7. St. John, from Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Westmin- ster Abbey. 8. Statues in the Architecture of do. 9. Plan of the Palace of Carnac. 10. Figure of Bubaste or Isis, who is also Cybele or Earth ; and, like the Diana of Ephesus, crowned with Towers. 1 1 . Sphinx and Great Pyramid of Memphis. 12. Sculpture at Persepolis, from Le Bruyn's Tiavels. 13. Vishnu, Creating Agent of Brahma, Attitude, the Em- blem of Eternity, from Moore's " Hindu Pantheon." 14. Lions over the Gate of MyceniE, mentioned by Pausa- nias as being done by the Cyclops. 15. A Bronze Figure of Minerva, found in the Barrow of Achilles, described by M. Chevalier. 1(>. Daedalian Figures from Bronzes. 17. Minerva, from a Bronze by Daedalus. 242 LIST OF PLATES. 18. Tydeus, see Winckelman. 19. Minerva, by Phidias, thirty-nine feet high. 20. Jupiter Olympius, at Elis, by do. 21. Venus Aphrodite, by Alcamanes. 22. Venus of Cnidos, by Praxiteles, drawn from an Antique Statue found near Rome. 23. Venus of Cos, by Praxiteles. Medals of the Empress Luciila, perhaps, from this Statue. 24. Discobulus, by Myron, from a Gem, an Example in the British Museum. 25. Statue on the Pediment over the West Front of a Temple at Egina. 26. Circle and Square of the Human Figure. 27. Extent of Motion, one Figure. 28. Do. shown in two Figures. 29. Do. front and side view equipoised, supported on one Leg. 30. Preparing to run; running; striking. 31. Bearing a weight; preparing to jump, and ahghting. 32. Leaning, flying and faUing. 33. Brazen Serpent, from Michael Angelo. 34. Charity, from do. 35. The Nativity, ~^ from Greek Paintings in the 36. The Transfiguration, S Libraries of Austria and France. 37. Part of the Last Judgment, from Michael Angelo. 38. Holy Family, from do. 39. Last Judgment, Lincoln Cathedral. 40. Figure from Peterborough Cathedral. 41. An Apostle, from Albert Durer. 42. Drapery. 43. Drapery on the Bosom and Legs. 44. Di'apery, three Figures, a Bacchante and two from Nature. 45. Callirhoe, from a Gem. LIST OF PLATES. 243 4G. Iris. 47. Juno Lucina. 48. Head of the Colossus of Rhodes. 49. Head of our Saviour, from Arringhi's " Iloma Subter- ranea." 50. Specimens of Heads from the Cathedral of York. 51. Monument of Sir Francis Vere, in Westminster Abbey. 52. Tomb of Madame Lanahahn. The anecdote concerning this monument is this : — M. Verschoffel, a Prussian Sculptor, was on a visit to the Rev. M. Langhahn in Switzerland, when Jladame Langhahn died on Easter eve. M. Verschoffel, to console his afflicted friend, immediately carved the lady and her new-bora infant, bursting the tomb in the resurrection of the just. It has been introduced on account of the pious and affectionate sentiment it contains. Frontispiece. — A Portrait of the Author, from a Model, by himself. ERRATA. Plate 39, by mistake, has been referred to, in one of the Lectures, as " The Glorification ;" whereas it is " The Last Judgment," a bas-relief on the south entrance of Lincoln Cathedral, executed about the year 1400. LONDON: I'niNTED nv C. ROWORTH, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. ri / C^ J^ Z't'tt/m/O/n/ Cvn'j^'^ -?Vwt/?Kd., Jf (/ Sf/UmbK^Ml/^ . Bisliop "W-alstan . Worcester Cat"h.ecLTal . ?l 2 M ■ Dvmn/ot^n.TV. J^iKUd i^C.Sfi^M^a^^^. Creation of fire A^fells CatheaTal. Ilou-t^.3. M.Dv. Deat"h of Isaac Wells Cathedral .4.- '■: ■^ •oc i^ Di/rvm/ouK'. Pnn ttZ^}C. KUmanivi UnKcn Ktleauor , WaltVia.tn C i-o-t's *JC . DvruiYi/oun l^gmand Angels York CatKeclxal, JHnitfiib. iuy CSb^CttvA^eCtZ ^, , .,:ie of tJieTSIich.es in Heni-y the 7 Cka-pel . Westminster Aitf.)' ri.s ^*^^l i,iJ:S ^mm^ ■ ■ -m: f/' ; ■\ =. -I RnfTfff Statues m the AroTiiteoture of Henry 7^ Oiapel We stmm st er Ait ey . ^19 ■•••••••••I V J t ! tr"" y| Jj;uJi;ii|[Bn:il:::::;::::!y| _uu. = ='<'/, H.st.e or Isis . 1.^ ^; i s i s. K •oO C ni.KiiM-i.i- A BioriLe Statu' of Minerva. o o M a m O V iJ Pi O 6 to o '">/? -a W.Weritm, \M. Minerva of Dipcems & Seylles I N IS 1^ .:& Plate 18— Tydens, see Winckelman, was never engraved. A A''. 'Kx> ?h Jl/U ^tTvnta/nri/ Minerva 39 Feet Mgh Phidia-s . ^ jf (»?Kinn«rtZ, ,•'/ 12 ■^A ■' Cj CA/vil/'£ ■ PrvTvlvi,, ly CSObMim^t^ . Ynw, oK '"nirLos Praxiteles. n tj 5v >. ^^"^ ^ t/" Xo/jvt/ . A £ . r I f 1 Veuus of Cos Praxiteles !PnHrl't^il/ iy C S)J'im>a'n-iK'ti -naniii,i.! Freparmg to L e ap AK^tiling . !> alauc e Tlymg /hnVuC. ly CSnTlm^mdU & Soh/oorft . LeaTim^ TaUmg ^ ^ -N^i^^^ r i^ ^ ^jfi^J^^^K^^- ..-^,. ■— :'i. •^^w. ,^'' ■00 I 1c o s ^ n:i4' ^ 1"^.. n W Shourpv. Ji-itbtt-eC ijCMifUmt^tuitC Gliaxity MicK^An^elo. Vi "^ ^ n- V- -;*-■ ' f t If 4 U o ■OC s ^ O >-o o m o i H'' V ' •'*«' '2 /'/ ie --•■ v-;;,--;;4M&;^iiS»JS»i--' •':aniU/Z Transfi guT aU on riM] .■'■^ -*>:. ■\ W.imrl7 K .i-!r,'t.g.' 0v . /m-i-man-a^ri Group fbom the Last Judgment _- 1/rich An^elo .~^<%. * /•*, Wi M- '^^s. -***^, •'«^.. H o ly iami [y Mi ch. ^ Angela n.^. -m' ii^^i^-. n^ t!S' <<; -Y // -ri- VI I I ,1^^' y}hrhj i Aa Axiostle Alb'^ Darer fiiiiiiily/! HMtifniitl Drapery n 4-2 Perp en iTcular The Effect of WmioTi Drapery or Water D? Complica-tei. M IltjTvm^'n/ fmHtiib, JyCMlmoMbtl Drapery Pi 4-3 .Drapery, accoTunioiialcd l.o t.hi- busoi A c vJ #^ A M \ n Drapery of the legs waling 3 4-$ J PnnitA ijC hUrn^"^ OTieoFtlae Me-nades n 4-6. yt. S\9'rpi- rnniJH, i\\,MMmai7M(i Tpis Hescfriding W.Fxainmiel/ JWtlii^ ly ^ SlUhn-ami^l JuzLO LTxoina. n. 4-8 %■. ^ •-"-^v,; *« VH ^i W^' r- W^h. r^-^^. *■ '••IKI^ \i4^-- % --"/' ^^.;,- -- X. M. 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