DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5065#0008
ON THE
BRONZES OF SIRIS,
I.
FORM AND MATERIAL OF THE BRONZES.
In attempting to describe these remarkable works, perhaps the most beautiful ancient rilievi
in bronze which have been preserved to us, I am well aware that I am undertaking a task by
no means easy; for the adage of Plato, " ^oXetto. ra Ka\a," the beautiful is difficult, is not
only true in its application to the production of what is beautiful by thought and by act, but
also when applied to the faithful and satisfactory representation of what is beautiful, through
meditation and by words.
That these monuments would have well deserved to occupy the genius which animated
Winckelmann and E. Q. Visconti, is a reflection but ill adapted to inspire with courage one
who is acquainted with the Muses and the Graces much more by the homage he pays them,
than by the favours he receives from them. In truth, the more I have familiarized myself
with this chef-d'oeuvre, the contemplation of which has, for several years, been at my command,
the more time and pains I have taken to appreciate the great beauty which is, as it were, shed
over all its parts, the less have I found myself inclined to be diffuse in speaking of it. I
would willingly prefer to use the words of Sophocles, preserved by Plutarch,1 and applied to
Timoleon:—
--------o) Os.oi, tlq apa VLvirpiQ
t] TLQ IflSpOQ TOvSe, (TVPrjlpClTO J
But every work of art is to be considered not only aesthetically, but also historically; and he
who has carefully examined a fine work of art, and especially one of ancient Greek art, in this
last point of view, can sometimes perform for the elucidation of it, by the simple exposition of
historical facts, more than others are able to do by their reflections on its intrinsic qualities.
It is in this persuasion that I submit to the friends of Grecian art, to those who truly admire
their immortal genius, the following pages upon a production of the most pre-eminent beauty.
Moreover I feel that its just appreciation will not after all depend upon the manner in which I
shall represent it, but upon the taste and penetration of those who devote their attention to it.
These bronzes, originally gilt, and ornamented with figures in very salient relief, may, at
the first view, be recognised as fragments of a magnificent cuirass. We shall afterwards examine
1 Vita Timoleon. p. 253, ed. Paris. 1624, in fol.
B
BRONZES OF SIRIS,
I.
FORM AND MATERIAL OF THE BRONZES.
In attempting to describe these remarkable works, perhaps the most beautiful ancient rilievi
in bronze which have been preserved to us, I am well aware that I am undertaking a task by
no means easy; for the adage of Plato, " ^oXetto. ra Ka\a," the beautiful is difficult, is not
only true in its application to the production of what is beautiful by thought and by act, but
also when applied to the faithful and satisfactory representation of what is beautiful, through
meditation and by words.
That these monuments would have well deserved to occupy the genius which animated
Winckelmann and E. Q. Visconti, is a reflection but ill adapted to inspire with courage one
who is acquainted with the Muses and the Graces much more by the homage he pays them,
than by the favours he receives from them. In truth, the more I have familiarized myself
with this chef-d'oeuvre, the contemplation of which has, for several years, been at my command,
the more time and pains I have taken to appreciate the great beauty which is, as it were, shed
over all its parts, the less have I found myself inclined to be diffuse in speaking of it. I
would willingly prefer to use the words of Sophocles, preserved by Plutarch,1 and applied to
Timoleon:—
--------o) Os.oi, tlq apa VLvirpiQ
t] TLQ IflSpOQ TOvSe, (TVPrjlpClTO J
But every work of art is to be considered not only aesthetically, but also historically; and he
who has carefully examined a fine work of art, and especially one of ancient Greek art, in this
last point of view, can sometimes perform for the elucidation of it, by the simple exposition of
historical facts, more than others are able to do by their reflections on its intrinsic qualities.
It is in this persuasion that I submit to the friends of Grecian art, to those who truly admire
their immortal genius, the following pages upon a production of the most pre-eminent beauty.
Moreover I feel that its just appreciation will not after all depend upon the manner in which I
shall represent it, but upon the taste and penetration of those who devote their attention to it.
These bronzes, originally gilt, and ornamented with figures in very salient relief, may, at
the first view, be recognised as fragments of a magnificent cuirass. We shall afterwards examine
1 Vita Timoleon. p. 253, ed. Paris. 1624, in fol.
B