DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18825#0020
10 JHSTORY of ART. [lECT. i.
To return from this digression ; if popular preju-
dice, or religious regulation, had not restrained the
exertions of their genius, the Egyptians not only
might have nurtured the Arts, but perhaps might
have advanced them to maturity ; in subjects which
permitted the Artists to follow their natural taste,
they have proved themselves little inferior to the
most admired masters ; but, as their elegant produc-
tions are extremely rare, we are to look elsewhere for
the perfection of Art.
The intercourse between EgvDt and Greece
communicated to the latter the Science and Art of
the former. Whether Greece was the country of in-
vention or not, certainly the patronage it gave to the
Arts promoted their improvement and perfection.
As we usually look to Greece for the purest ex-
amples of taste, and as the merit of its Artists, even
to this day, maintains a distinguished place, and, in
some instances, is admitted to the very first place of
honour in the Arts, it may not be amiss to hint at
the chief causes of this excellence ; w7hich, I appre-
hend were, principally, the following.
Whatever mishit be the encouragement bestowed
by private individuals on an Artist in compensation
for his labours, it could not equal the advantage of
public patronage ; therefore, when communities
where the Arts flourished, treated them, not only
as private excellencies, but as public benefits, an
artist was impelled, by the additional and powerful
principle of love to his country, to exert himself,
and even to surpass himself, that the honour of his
native city, or district, might not only be main-
tained
To return from this digression ; if popular preju-
dice, or religious regulation, had not restrained the
exertions of their genius, the Egyptians not only
might have nurtured the Arts, but perhaps might
have advanced them to maturity ; in subjects which
permitted the Artists to follow their natural taste,
they have proved themselves little inferior to the
most admired masters ; but, as their elegant produc-
tions are extremely rare, we are to look elsewhere for
the perfection of Art.
The intercourse between EgvDt and Greece
communicated to the latter the Science and Art of
the former. Whether Greece was the country of in-
vention or not, certainly the patronage it gave to the
Arts promoted their improvement and perfection.
As we usually look to Greece for the purest ex-
amples of taste, and as the merit of its Artists, even
to this day, maintains a distinguished place, and, in
some instances, is admitted to the very first place of
honour in the Arts, it may not be amiss to hint at
the chief causes of this excellence ; w7hich, I appre-
hend were, principally, the following.
Whatever mishit be the encouragement bestowed
by private individuals on an Artist in compensation
for his labours, it could not equal the advantage of
public patronage ; therefore, when communities
where the Arts flourished, treated them, not only
as private excellencies, but as public benefits, an
artist was impelled, by the additional and powerful
principle of love to his country, to exert himself,
and even to surpass himself, that the honour of his
native city, or district, might not only be main-
tained