DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5596#0252
220
MODERN AET.
as Greek or Soman are omitted, and it becomes an
idealization of that style : if modern costume, it is
so concealed and idealized, that the formalities are
scarcely if at all observable.1 It is after the former
of these manners that Falconet endeavoured to
compose the drapery of his statue of Peter the
Great, which he thus describes :—" His habit is
that of all nations, that of every age; in a word it
is an heroic habit."
We have then to consider what is to be the object
of sculpture. Is it to represent a portrait of the
deceased, or person honoured with a statue, or is
it to produce a work of art ? In ancient times,
no doubt, art was primarily considered. But this
cannot be the case when the figure of the individual
to be immortalized in sculpture has no character-
istics of beauty, and where the artist is himself con-
vinced of the unsatisfactory nature of the costume.
This being so, what object can we have in repre-
senting the entire figure, what object do Ave gain
in representing the lower part of the body, even in
the most celebrated men of modern times ? There
is nothing which enables us either to form an
estimate of the character of the man, or which we
can admire work of art. Even if classical
1 It was thus that Sir Joshua Reynolds prescribed (and prac-
tised) the kind of drapery to be used by painters. " It is neither
woollen, nor linen, nor silk, satin nor velvet: it is drapery ; it is
nothing more."—Disc. 5.
MODERN AET.
as Greek or Soman are omitted, and it becomes an
idealization of that style : if modern costume, it is
so concealed and idealized, that the formalities are
scarcely if at all observable.1 It is after the former
of these manners that Falconet endeavoured to
compose the drapery of his statue of Peter the
Great, which he thus describes :—" His habit is
that of all nations, that of every age; in a word it
is an heroic habit."
We have then to consider what is to be the object
of sculpture. Is it to represent a portrait of the
deceased, or person honoured with a statue, or is
it to produce a work of art ? In ancient times,
no doubt, art was primarily considered. But this
cannot be the case when the figure of the individual
to be immortalized in sculpture has no character-
istics of beauty, and where the artist is himself con-
vinced of the unsatisfactory nature of the costume.
This being so, what object can we have in repre-
senting the entire figure, what object do Ave gain
in representing the lower part of the body, even in
the most celebrated men of modern times ? There
is nothing which enables us either to form an
estimate of the character of the man, or which we
can admire work of art. Even if classical
1 It was thus that Sir Joshua Reynolds prescribed (and prac-
tised) the kind of drapery to be used by painters. " It is neither
woollen, nor linen, nor silk, satin nor velvet: it is drapery ; it is
nothing more."—Disc. 5.