DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0098
7S
PRINCIPLES OF GREEK ART
CHAP.
Very different is the procedure of a modern sculptor, who
has usually to seek his model among men of a low class, ill-fed,
ill-trained, and debauched by bad habits, and is usually content
to copy what he sees. We may find many deplorable examples
in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy. On the other hand,
we may find modern instances of the search for a type, especially
in the works of Dr. Tait Mackenzie, who has used his knowl-
edge gained from a long study of American athletes, to pro-
duce typical figures which may vie in beauty with those of
Greek Hellenistic art. Such instances show us that athletic
sports may in modern as in ancient days form the foundation
for schools of sculpture. Dr. Mackenzie works by means of
detailed measurements, and the proportions of his figures are
reached by calculation of averages. The Greek artist may in
some cases have so proceeded, but more usually, beyond doubt,
he worked by the eye only, unconsciously taking the same line
which the modern artist takes consciously.
While it was from the practice of athletic sports that the
Greek sculptor took his start, the faculty of working for the
ideal thus acquired was exercised in other fields. The repre-
sentation of the female form in Greek sculpture is not so varied
and masterly as is that of the male form; nor does it so early
reach perfection; it is not until the fourth century that female
types of supreme loveliness are produced. Though the mas-
sive beauty of the draped figures of the Parthenon Pediments
is most impressive, the impression they produce is due at least
as much to their drapery as to the figures which the drapery
partly conceals and partly reveals. There are obvious reasons
why the study of fine female models should be less easy. This
is illustrated by the story that when the painter Zeuxis under-
took to paint a picture of Helen for the people of Croton, he
made it a condition that he should have an opportunity of
studying the forms of the most beautiful girls of the city. He
selected for detailed study five, whose names were handed
down in honour to future generations.
PRINCIPLES OF GREEK ART
CHAP.
Very different is the procedure of a modern sculptor, who
has usually to seek his model among men of a low class, ill-fed,
ill-trained, and debauched by bad habits, and is usually content
to copy what he sees. We may find many deplorable examples
in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy. On the other hand,
we may find modern instances of the search for a type, especially
in the works of Dr. Tait Mackenzie, who has used his knowl-
edge gained from a long study of American athletes, to pro-
duce typical figures which may vie in beauty with those of
Greek Hellenistic art. Such instances show us that athletic
sports may in modern as in ancient days form the foundation
for schools of sculpture. Dr. Mackenzie works by means of
detailed measurements, and the proportions of his figures are
reached by calculation of averages. The Greek artist may in
some cases have so proceeded, but more usually, beyond doubt,
he worked by the eye only, unconsciously taking the same line
which the modern artist takes consciously.
While it was from the practice of athletic sports that the
Greek sculptor took his start, the faculty of working for the
ideal thus acquired was exercised in other fields. The repre-
sentation of the female form in Greek sculpture is not so varied
and masterly as is that of the male form; nor does it so early
reach perfection; it is not until the fourth century that female
types of supreme loveliness are produced. Though the mas-
sive beauty of the draped figures of the Parthenon Pediments
is most impressive, the impression they produce is due at least
as much to their drapery as to the figures which the drapery
partly conceals and partly reveals. There are obvious reasons
why the study of fine female models should be less easy. This
is illustrated by the story that when the painter Zeuxis under-
took to paint a picture of Helen for the people of Croton, he
made it a condition that he should have an opportunity of
studying the forms of the most beautiful girls of the city. He
selected for detailed study five, whose names were handed
down in honour to future generations.