DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5596#0238
INDIVIDUALITY.
207
does not equal, that of the flesh. In like manner, steps, or any
portions of architecture, are irregular and not geometrically true
in their lines and angles ; on a similar principle, probably, the
inscriptions on the finest antique medals are rudely formed : for
it cannot be supposed that the artists who could treat the figures
and heads so exquisitely, could have been at a loss to execute
mechanical details with precision.
" In Canova's monument to the Archduchess Maria Christina
at Vienna, (in many respects a fine work of art,) figures are
represented ascending real steps and entering the open door of a
real tomb, all executed with a builder's precision. It is plain
that, to keep pace with the literal truth of these circumstances,
the figures should at least have colour, life, and motion. The
want of all these is injudiciously made apparent by the comparison
in question, and some pains are taken to convince the spectator
that he is looking at marble statues.
" In the antique, on the contrary, it will generally be found
that the employment of conventional methods (as opposed to the
more direct truth of representation) increases in proportion as
objects are easily imitable, and consequently in danger of inter-
fering with the higher aim.
" The contrivances which are intended to give the impression
of reality to the master object of imitation, as exemplified in the
best works of the ancients, thus point out the course to be pur-
sued in the difficult treatment of statues in modern costume. The
general principle, it is repeated on the authority of such examples,
is never to suffer literal truth in the accessories to remind the
beholder of the unavoidable incompleteness in the more important
object of imitation.......
" In like manner a close resemblance to nature is judiciously
sought by the sculptor where his material seems least to promise
it; while he suppresses literal imitation when the qualities of that
material greatly coincide with those of the object to be repre-
sented. The principle is the same in all the arts ; for whether
directly imitative or not, all set out with restrictions, and all
excite wonder and delight when those restrictions cease to be felt
as such. It is this which wins our admiration in musical compo-
sitions, when the language of imagination and feeling is recog-
207
does not equal, that of the flesh. In like manner, steps, or any
portions of architecture, are irregular and not geometrically true
in their lines and angles ; on a similar principle, probably, the
inscriptions on the finest antique medals are rudely formed : for
it cannot be supposed that the artists who could treat the figures
and heads so exquisitely, could have been at a loss to execute
mechanical details with precision.
" In Canova's monument to the Archduchess Maria Christina
at Vienna, (in many respects a fine work of art,) figures are
represented ascending real steps and entering the open door of a
real tomb, all executed with a builder's precision. It is plain
that, to keep pace with the literal truth of these circumstances,
the figures should at least have colour, life, and motion. The
want of all these is injudiciously made apparent by the comparison
in question, and some pains are taken to convince the spectator
that he is looking at marble statues.
" In the antique, on the contrary, it will generally be found
that the employment of conventional methods (as opposed to the
more direct truth of representation) increases in proportion as
objects are easily imitable, and consequently in danger of inter-
fering with the higher aim.
" The contrivances which are intended to give the impression
of reality to the master object of imitation, as exemplified in the
best works of the ancients, thus point out the course to be pur-
sued in the difficult treatment of statues in modern costume. The
general principle, it is repeated on the authority of such examples,
is never to suffer literal truth in the accessories to remind the
beholder of the unavoidable incompleteness in the more important
object of imitation.......
" In like manner a close resemblance to nature is judiciously
sought by the sculptor where his material seems least to promise
it; while he suppresses literal imitation when the qualities of that
material greatly coincide with those of the object to be repre-
sented. The principle is the same in all the arts ; for whether
directly imitative or not, all set out with restrictions, and all
excite wonder and delight when those restrictions cease to be felt
as such. It is this which wins our admiration in musical compo-
sitions, when the language of imagination and feeling is recog-