DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13852#0073
CREATION OF A WORLD-CENTRE.
was conceived and carried out. Monuments that defy time stand like
solemn human mountains before us. One marvels at the mighty work of
the human hand, and at the colossal conceptions executed with power and
grandeur.
Realism in the art of portraiture was at times marvellous in Egypt.
The Pharaons and their Gods have a superhuman realism, often full of
poetry and pathos and always imposing and rich with idealism. Here again
the divine creative spirit of man is found feeling its way through confused
ideas, pressing strongly onward and upward, infused with the desire to
animate and elevate the surroundings to a sense of the presence of a divine
power. The human energy, strength, courage and endurance which must
have been required still remain a marvel. As we stand before these solemn
symbols, their immensity and grandeur are almost overpowering, and it
seems impossible to realise that they were conceived by the human brain and
executed by the hand of man. Here we find a technical perfection that has
never been surpassed. Although Egyptian sculpture did not depend entirely
upon close study of the human body, it nevertheless indicates refinement and
dignity in large harmonious lines. The absence, however, of any sculptured
frieze illustrating physical culture and athletics, is everywhere felt. If
practised, these were never made a science or considered essential to life and
progress. The character of Egyptian work is energy — that energy that
raised from the earth solid masses of stone and formed them into temples,
statues and pyramids which yet defy time.
Passing from Egypt to the classic Greek period, we, for the first time in
the history of art, come in contact with the human form so wonderfully
conceived and proportioned that the masterpieces handed down to us will always
serve to elevate the conception of humanity. Nowithstanding the great
influence of Assyrian and Egyptian art, the Greeks soon found the sculptured
gods of these nations less and less inspiring to their own natures. Instead of
combining man and beast, they found in the human form, pure and simple,
all that their conceptions of religious symbolism required.
In Greece, physical culture was not only found to be essential to the
public health and to the morals of the State, but such a deep interest was
taken in all out-of-door sports and games that the human body was brought
to so healthy and well developed a condition that it served as model for the
conception of gods. The highly developed human body served the sculptor
and painter for the expression of their most beautiful and noblest religious
ideals. It was used as a holy symbol and worshipped and praised by all.
A divine meaning was found in its simple, harmonious development. They
dealt with its symphonic, musical forms, and these, at the artist's touch,
became sacred. Man, made after the image of God, was here given every
opportunity to develop himself physically and mentally.
This great beauty which the Greeks found and worshipped in the human
was conceived and carried out. Monuments that defy time stand like
solemn human mountains before us. One marvels at the mighty work of
the human hand, and at the colossal conceptions executed with power and
grandeur.
Realism in the art of portraiture was at times marvellous in Egypt.
The Pharaons and their Gods have a superhuman realism, often full of
poetry and pathos and always imposing and rich with idealism. Here again
the divine creative spirit of man is found feeling its way through confused
ideas, pressing strongly onward and upward, infused with the desire to
animate and elevate the surroundings to a sense of the presence of a divine
power. The human energy, strength, courage and endurance which must
have been required still remain a marvel. As we stand before these solemn
symbols, their immensity and grandeur are almost overpowering, and it
seems impossible to realise that they were conceived by the human brain and
executed by the hand of man. Here we find a technical perfection that has
never been surpassed. Although Egyptian sculpture did not depend entirely
upon close study of the human body, it nevertheless indicates refinement and
dignity in large harmonious lines. The absence, however, of any sculptured
frieze illustrating physical culture and athletics, is everywhere felt. If
practised, these were never made a science or considered essential to life and
progress. The character of Egyptian work is energy — that energy that
raised from the earth solid masses of stone and formed them into temples,
statues and pyramids which yet defy time.
Passing from Egypt to the classic Greek period, we, for the first time in
the history of art, come in contact with the human form so wonderfully
conceived and proportioned that the masterpieces handed down to us will always
serve to elevate the conception of humanity. Nowithstanding the great
influence of Assyrian and Egyptian art, the Greeks soon found the sculptured
gods of these nations less and less inspiring to their own natures. Instead of
combining man and beast, they found in the human form, pure and simple,
all that their conceptions of religious symbolism required.
In Greece, physical culture was not only found to be essential to the
public health and to the morals of the State, but such a deep interest was
taken in all out-of-door sports and games that the human body was brought
to so healthy and well developed a condition that it served as model for the
conception of gods. The highly developed human body served the sculptor
and painter for the expression of their most beautiful and noblest religious
ideals. It was used as a holy symbol and worshipped and praised by all.
A divine meaning was found in its simple, harmonious development. They
dealt with its symphonic, musical forms, and these, at the artist's touch,
became sacred. Man, made after the image of God, was here given every
opportunity to develop himself physically and mentally.
This great beauty which the Greeks found and worshipped in the human