DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0067
introduction.] THE PLASTIC ARTS OF ETRTJRIA. lxvii
Plastic Arts.
Of the plastic and pictorial arts of the Etruscans it is difficult
to treat, both on account of the vast extent of the subject, and
more particularly because it demands an intimate acquaintance
with ancient art in general, such as can be acquired only by
years of study and experience, and by the careful comparison of
numerous works of various ages and countries. It has been
laid down as an axiom, that " He who has seen one work of
ancient art has seen none, he who has seen a thousand has seen
but one."3 I feel, therefore, somewhat reluctant to enter on a
ground to which I cannot pretend to do justice, especially in
the narrow limits to which I am confined. Yet it is incumbent
on me to give the reader a general view of the subject, to enable
him to understand the facts and observations he will meet with
in the course of these volumes.
As the fine arts of a country always bear the reflex of its
political and social condition, so the hierarchical government of
Etruria here finds its most palpable expression. In the most
ancient works the influence of the national religion is most
apparent; deities or religious symbols seem the only subjects
represented, so that some have been led to the conclusion that
both the practice and theory of design were originally in the
hands of the priests alone." These early Etruscan works have
many points in common with those of the infancy of art in other
lands, just as babes are very similar all the world over: yet,
besides the usual shapelessness and want cf expression, they
have native peculiarities, such as disproportionate length of body
and limbs, an unnatural elongation of hands and feet, drapery
adhering to the body, and great rigidity, very like the Egyp-
tian, yet with less parallelism. In truth, in both style and
subjects, the earliest works of Etruria betray the great influence
of Egypt, which continued to be exerted even after Etruscan
art had cast aside its leading-strings.5 By degrees, however,
3 Gerhard, Ann. Inst. 1831, p. 111. respective lands, remarks the analogy
4 Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. II. p. 222. between the art of Egypt, Etruria, and
5 Strabo, who was personally ac- early Greece. XVII. p. 806. Lanzi
quainted with the antiquities of the (Saggio, II. p. 172) maintains that this
«2
Plastic Arts.
Of the plastic and pictorial arts of the Etruscans it is difficult
to treat, both on account of the vast extent of the subject, and
more particularly because it demands an intimate acquaintance
with ancient art in general, such as can be acquired only by
years of study and experience, and by the careful comparison of
numerous works of various ages and countries. It has been
laid down as an axiom, that " He who has seen one work of
ancient art has seen none, he who has seen a thousand has seen
but one."3 I feel, therefore, somewhat reluctant to enter on a
ground to which I cannot pretend to do justice, especially in
the narrow limits to which I am confined. Yet it is incumbent
on me to give the reader a general view of the subject, to enable
him to understand the facts and observations he will meet with
in the course of these volumes.
As the fine arts of a country always bear the reflex of its
political and social condition, so the hierarchical government of
Etruria here finds its most palpable expression. In the most
ancient works the influence of the national religion is most
apparent; deities or religious symbols seem the only subjects
represented, so that some have been led to the conclusion that
both the practice and theory of design were originally in the
hands of the priests alone." These early Etruscan works have
many points in common with those of the infancy of art in other
lands, just as babes are very similar all the world over: yet,
besides the usual shapelessness and want cf expression, they
have native peculiarities, such as disproportionate length of body
and limbs, an unnatural elongation of hands and feet, drapery
adhering to the body, and great rigidity, very like the Egyp-
tian, yet with less parallelism. In truth, in both style and
subjects, the earliest works of Etruria betray the great influence
of Egypt, which continued to be exerted even after Etruscan
art had cast aside its leading-strings.5 By degrees, however,
3 Gerhard, Ann. Inst. 1831, p. 111. respective lands, remarks the analogy
4 Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. II. p. 222. between the art of Egypt, Etruria, and
5 Strabo, who was personally ac- early Greece. XVII. p. 806. Lanzi
quainted with the antiquities of the (Saggio, II. p. 172) maintains that this
«2