DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10813#0012
2
PREFACE.
changed. Experience has been referred to rational principles, and, in every department of
industry, rude empiricism has been forced to yield to scientific intelligence.
It must be confessed, however, that in fine art we are not so far advanced. Still, it
may be said, that even this sphere of creative power has become, to a certain degree, subject
to a philosophical mode of treatment. Instead of mere prescriptive rules, there is a desire
for well-understood principles. Skill and talent are no longer crushed and paralyzed by
the mere dictum of authority, transmitted from century to century. There may now be
observed an eager wish to attain, by culture, those incomparable qualities which, in times of
a more highly wrought sensibility, men were endowed with, as it were, by instinct, and
unconsciously. We have arrived gradually at the conviction, that a profound and scientific
knowledge is by no means in conflict with poetical inspiration. We learn to feel more and
more, that science may clear the way even for genius itself.
A certain degree of instruction, not limited merely to the perception of beauty, but
including an intimate knowledge of its causes and principles, is much more essential to the
public, that protects and takes pleasure in art, than to artists themselves ; since what is
called beauty in art does not arise from an accidental coincidence of fortunate circum-
stances, but depends entirely upon eternal laws, the accurate knowledge of which not only
extends, but in many respects heightens, the enjoyment of it.
A just comprehension of art, as applied to the practical purposes of common life, cannot
be attained by the exclusive study of ancient monuments. A power of universal sympathy
is required for its development in the present day. It is not enough to direct our attention
solely to the manner in which art may be brought to bear upon the wants and refinements
of every-day existence ; we must learn fully to understand the great social conditions, upon
which the direction taken by fine art, in particular branches, and in matters of individual
and private taste, always depends. To study these influencing conditions has hitherto been
possible only at Paris, and to a certain degree at Rome. In the latter place, the higher art
has had its full development, Rome being the point of reunion for the artistic talents of all
nations ; while, at Paris, not only practical but even high art has been cultivated in reference
to its application to the refinements of daily life.
During the last twenty years, however, art has powerfully unfolded itself at Munich and
Berlin, and in such a manner as to exercise a very great influence upon ornamental design.
The late King of Bavaria called into existence, at Munich, a wonderful activity of all
modes and branches of art. Still, as no instruction was afforded for the purpose of aiding
the public in the just comprehension of the treasures placed before it, fine art was almost
necessarily prevented from having free access to the different spheres of social existence,
and was debarred from entering into the minds and hearts of the nation at large. The
jeu cVesprit, that, to those coming from Paris to Munich, it appeared as if " the Greeks had
settled in Siberia," was scarcely less true than witty. The King imagined that he had done
enough in having thus given a splendid and kingly utterance to the poetry of his own
thoughts, and neglected, almost intentionally, the cultivation of those sciences which stand
in especial relation to art.
On the other hand, the Prussian government, which, since the re-establishment of the
PREFACE.
changed. Experience has been referred to rational principles, and, in every department of
industry, rude empiricism has been forced to yield to scientific intelligence.
It must be confessed, however, that in fine art we are not so far advanced. Still, it
may be said, that even this sphere of creative power has become, to a certain degree, subject
to a philosophical mode of treatment. Instead of mere prescriptive rules, there is a desire
for well-understood principles. Skill and talent are no longer crushed and paralyzed by
the mere dictum of authority, transmitted from century to century. There may now be
observed an eager wish to attain, by culture, those incomparable qualities which, in times of
a more highly wrought sensibility, men were endowed with, as it were, by instinct, and
unconsciously. We have arrived gradually at the conviction, that a profound and scientific
knowledge is by no means in conflict with poetical inspiration. We learn to feel more and
more, that science may clear the way even for genius itself.
A certain degree of instruction, not limited merely to the perception of beauty, but
including an intimate knowledge of its causes and principles, is much more essential to the
public, that protects and takes pleasure in art, than to artists themselves ; since what is
called beauty in art does not arise from an accidental coincidence of fortunate circum-
stances, but depends entirely upon eternal laws, the accurate knowledge of which not only
extends, but in many respects heightens, the enjoyment of it.
A just comprehension of art, as applied to the practical purposes of common life, cannot
be attained by the exclusive study of ancient monuments. A power of universal sympathy
is required for its development in the present day. It is not enough to direct our attention
solely to the manner in which art may be brought to bear upon the wants and refinements
of every-day existence ; we must learn fully to understand the great social conditions, upon
which the direction taken by fine art, in particular branches, and in matters of individual
and private taste, always depends. To study these influencing conditions has hitherto been
possible only at Paris, and to a certain degree at Rome. In the latter place, the higher art
has had its full development, Rome being the point of reunion for the artistic talents of all
nations ; while, at Paris, not only practical but even high art has been cultivated in reference
to its application to the refinements of daily life.
During the last twenty years, however, art has powerfully unfolded itself at Munich and
Berlin, and in such a manner as to exercise a very great influence upon ornamental design.
The late King of Bavaria called into existence, at Munich, a wonderful activity of all
modes and branches of art. Still, as no instruction was afforded for the purpose of aiding
the public in the just comprehension of the treasures placed before it, fine art was almost
necessarily prevented from having free access to the different spheres of social existence,
and was debarred from entering into the minds and hearts of the nation at large. The
jeu cVesprit, that, to those coming from Paris to Munich, it appeared as if " the Greeks had
settled in Siberia," was scarcely less true than witty. The King imagined that he had done
enough in having thus given a splendid and kingly utterance to the poetry of his own
thoughts, and neglected, almost intentionally, the cultivation of those sciences which stand
in especial relation to art.
On the other hand, the Prussian government, which, since the re-establishment of the