DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68796#0293
chap, ii Summary 273
some modern artists) is the cheapest possible method of
securing a specious air of aesthetic interest to a figure. In
his ‘ Zeus ’ at Olympia, Pheidias avoided the temptation of
emphasising the famous ambrosial locks of the god, and
the head of the statue, as it appears upon a coin of Elis,1
exhibits a quiet treatment of the hair that served but to
throw into stronger relief that immortal brow, on which
sat the present majesty of the king of gods and men.
§ 161. The general artistic result of these Conventions
of Treatment.
The points of treatment that have been now briefly re-
viewed all combine to produce that monumental appearance,
that ‘ indescribable remoteness and dignity ’ (§ 19) which is
the primal effect of these monumental works. As a neces-
sary condition of formal beauty (§§ 11 5 ff.) the masses are
composed with a view to unity, but this bringing together
of the lines is carried so far as to produce a distinct ethical
impression. It results in the suggestion of repose, which
becomes the most significant element in the effect of the
works we are considering. Repose is often carried so far
as to eliminate what the ordinary observer desiderates as
‘ expression.’ One might imagine the Greeks feeling that
any one emotion or desire, if strongly emphasised, would
throw the figure, so to say off its balance, and draw the
interest of the spectator too much in one direction. Hence
it was not emotion itself, but rather the capability for all
noble emotion that was represented in these generalised
but pregnant shapes. We have already noted (§§ 39 ff.)
that a large part of the interest of the great Greek statues
is due to that refined characterisation of the different types,
which produced ‘ normal images ’ of the various divine beings
1 Gardner, The Types of Greek Coins, Cambridge, 1883, Pl. xv. 18.
T
some modern artists) is the cheapest possible method of
securing a specious air of aesthetic interest to a figure. In
his ‘ Zeus ’ at Olympia, Pheidias avoided the temptation of
emphasising the famous ambrosial locks of the god, and
the head of the statue, as it appears upon a coin of Elis,1
exhibits a quiet treatment of the hair that served but to
throw into stronger relief that immortal brow, on which
sat the present majesty of the king of gods and men.
§ 161. The general artistic result of these Conventions
of Treatment.
The points of treatment that have been now briefly re-
viewed all combine to produce that monumental appearance,
that ‘ indescribable remoteness and dignity ’ (§ 19) which is
the primal effect of these monumental works. As a neces-
sary condition of formal beauty (§§ 11 5 ff.) the masses are
composed with a view to unity, but this bringing together
of the lines is carried so far as to produce a distinct ethical
impression. It results in the suggestion of repose, which
becomes the most significant element in the effect of the
works we are considering. Repose is often carried so far
as to eliminate what the ordinary observer desiderates as
‘ expression.’ One might imagine the Greeks feeling that
any one emotion or desire, if strongly emphasised, would
throw the figure, so to say off its balance, and draw the
interest of the spectator too much in one direction. Hence
it was not emotion itself, but rather the capability for all
noble emotion that was represented in these generalised
but pregnant shapes. We have already noted (§§ 39 ff.)
that a large part of the interest of the great Greek statues
is due to that refined characterisation of the different types,
which produced ‘ normal images ’ of the various divine beings
1 Gardner, The Types of Greek Coins, Cambridge, 1883, Pl. xv. 18.
T