DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0046
26
PRINCIPLES OP GREEK ART
chap.
not seem to have occurred to any one to write on the subject.
It was only with the rise of Alexandria that writers began to be
commentators, to give an account of those who had produced
great works of literature and art, and to describe their activi-
ties. It is true that some of the great sculptors wrote works
on the ideal proportions of the human frame, notably Poly-
cleitus and Euphranor. But such works were neither historical
nor critical, but a statement of the principles which were
adopted by the writers. Some of the Peripatetic followers of
Aristotle seem to have, as a relief to their severer studies, col-
lected anecdotes about noteworthy men. But in the Hellen-
istic age more learning was in vogue. Xenocrates, a sculptor of
the School of Lysippus, and Antigonus of Carystus in Euboea,
seem to have written complete histories of painting and sculp-
ture. And in the last century is.c. Pasiteles, a sculptor of the
Neo-Attic School which flourished in the time of Caesar, was
as noted for his historic writings as for his adaptations to later
taste of early schemes in art.
The learned Roman authors, Varro and Pliny, did little
more than make abstracts, and put together the statements of
such Greek writers as Xenocrates and Pasiteles. The only ex-
tensive account of the history of Greek art which has come
down to us is contained in two or three books of the Natural
History of Pliny.1 Pliny was a laborious writer, contemporary
with the Caesars of the first century a.d., who spent most of his
life in reading learned Greek works, or having them read to
him by a secretary, and making notes of their contents. These
notes are not very critical, and contain misunderstandings, but
in the absence of the Greek originals they become of value to
us. It may be asked what the history of art has to do with
that of nature. Fortunately for us, Pliny chose to consider
chapters on the working of bronze as a necessary supplement
1 The Elder Pliny's Chapters on the History of Art, K. Jex-Blake and E.
Sellers, 1896.
PRINCIPLES OP GREEK ART
chap.
not seem to have occurred to any one to write on the subject.
It was only with the rise of Alexandria that writers began to be
commentators, to give an account of those who had produced
great works of literature and art, and to describe their activi-
ties. It is true that some of the great sculptors wrote works
on the ideal proportions of the human frame, notably Poly-
cleitus and Euphranor. But such works were neither historical
nor critical, but a statement of the principles which were
adopted by the writers. Some of the Peripatetic followers of
Aristotle seem to have, as a relief to their severer studies, col-
lected anecdotes about noteworthy men. But in the Hellen-
istic age more learning was in vogue. Xenocrates, a sculptor of
the School of Lysippus, and Antigonus of Carystus in Euboea,
seem to have written complete histories of painting and sculp-
ture. And in the last century is.c. Pasiteles, a sculptor of the
Neo-Attic School which flourished in the time of Caesar, was
as noted for his historic writings as for his adaptations to later
taste of early schemes in art.
The learned Roman authors, Varro and Pliny, did little
more than make abstracts, and put together the statements of
such Greek writers as Xenocrates and Pasiteles. The only ex-
tensive account of the history of Greek art which has come
down to us is contained in two or three books of the Natural
History of Pliny.1 Pliny was a laborious writer, contemporary
with the Caesars of the first century a.d., who spent most of his
life in reading learned Greek works, or having them read to
him by a secretary, and making notes of their contents. These
notes are not very critical, and contain misunderstandings, but
in the absence of the Greek originals they become of value to
us. It may be asked what the history of art has to do with
that of nature. Fortunately for us, Pliny chose to consider
chapters on the working of bronze as a necessary supplement
1 The Elder Pliny's Chapters on the History of Art, K. Jex-Blake and E.
Sellers, 1896.