DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9188#0045
The Lamps of Greek Art
3i
Few more charming representations of young womanhood
in Greece exist than the Artemis from Gabii already cited
(Fig. 5). One must confess that the divine element in it is
but slight. But what could be fresher, simpler, more exquisitely
natural ?
No doubt as in the case of men, so in the case of women,
we must make allowance for race and climate. A full and
rotund development of physique is far rarer in northern than
in southern Europe. The English race is taller, less solidly built,
slighter than the ancient Greek. Among us hard tendons usually,
take the place of solid muscles. And the practise of athletic
games by women undoubtedly tends to make them in some
respects conform more to the male type. In moderation
physical exercises may improve health and strength without
tending to deprive the vital organs of nourishment. But
the overtrained woman is farther from the healthy life of
nature than the overtrained man. And whether the over-
exertion be of the body or of the intelligence, it tends to destroy
true womanliness.
It is a pity that some sculptor does not do for the ideal of
womanhood what Dr. Tait McKenzie has done for the ideal
of athletic manhood. Of course the process would not be the
same. No one wants an ideal type of the female athlete,
unless we wish to restore the race of Amazons, but we do
sorely need to have before our eyes types which embody the
physical ideal of efficient womanhood. At present while nude
womanhood in art conforms in a great measure to the Greek
tradition, clothed womanhood follows the types of the street,
modified by the baseless caprices of fashion. The two stand
in unreconciled contrast. The Greeks when painting women
on a vase often drew their figures in outline before they added
clothes. But any one who tries to draw the outline of the
female figure beneath the clothes on a fashion-plate will stand
aghast at what he has produced.
3i
Few more charming representations of young womanhood
in Greece exist than the Artemis from Gabii already cited
(Fig. 5). One must confess that the divine element in it is
but slight. But what could be fresher, simpler, more exquisitely
natural ?
No doubt as in the case of men, so in the case of women,
we must make allowance for race and climate. A full and
rotund development of physique is far rarer in northern than
in southern Europe. The English race is taller, less solidly built,
slighter than the ancient Greek. Among us hard tendons usually,
take the place of solid muscles. And the practise of athletic
games by women undoubtedly tends to make them in some
respects conform more to the male type. In moderation
physical exercises may improve health and strength without
tending to deprive the vital organs of nourishment. But
the overtrained woman is farther from the healthy life of
nature than the overtrained man. And whether the over-
exertion be of the body or of the intelligence, it tends to destroy
true womanliness.
It is a pity that some sculptor does not do for the ideal of
womanhood what Dr. Tait McKenzie has done for the ideal
of athletic manhood. Of course the process would not be the
same. No one wants an ideal type of the female athlete,
unless we wish to restore the race of Amazons, but we do
sorely need to have before our eyes types which embody the
physical ideal of efficient womanhood. At present while nude
womanhood in art conforms in a great measure to the Greek
tradition, clothed womanhood follows the types of the street,
modified by the baseless caprices of fashion. The two stand
in unreconciled contrast. The Greeks when painting women
on a vase often drew their figures in outline before they added
clothes. But any one who tries to draw the outline of the
female figure beneath the clothes on a fashion-plate will stand
aghast at what he has produced.