DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0135
viii SCULPTURE: MATERIAL, SPACE, COLOURING 115
Greek art which have come down to us, nearly the whole is deco-
rative. The greatest statues of Greece have wholly perished,
and of the lesser works of great masters only a few survive;
nearly all are represented in our museums, if at all, only by
Roman copies. On the other hand, the decorative sculpture
of temples and tombs has survived in considerable quantities.
Thus it is that our knowledge of Greek decorative art is
far greater than our knowledge of Greek substantive art.
Decorative art is necessarily far less close to nature and less
under the dominion of the ideal than substantive art. The
relations between the two are like those between garlands of
flowers woven to adorn an arbour and the trees which bore the
flowers in their entirety. In the case of decorative art, the
relations of the representation to the space which it has to
occupy are primary; in it we expect beauty of line and balance
of composition perhaps more than meaning and idea. In all
technical aspects Greek decoration is admirable; and yet per-
haps its overwhelming prominence makes us think less than
we should of the thought and purpose involved in Greek art.
Relations to Space. — These are of course more fundamental
in the case of decorative than in the case of substantive art:
most important of all in the case of relief work. It is usual to
distinguish three kinds of relief, high, middle and low. High
relief is deeply undercut and in some places usually quite
detached from the background ; the metopes of the Parthenon
are an example. Middle relief rises considerably from the back-
ground, with considerable light and shade; the frieze of the
Parthenon is a good instance. Low relief rises little out of the
background; example, the choragic monument of Lysicrates
at Athens; its affinities for painting are closer than those for
sculpture, and it greatly depends on the use of colour. These
distinctions are convenient, especially because, the higher the
relief, the more the play of light and shade comes in, especially
in so sunny a climate as that of Greece. But they are not fun-
Greek art which have come down to us, nearly the whole is deco-
rative. The greatest statues of Greece have wholly perished,
and of the lesser works of great masters only a few survive;
nearly all are represented in our museums, if at all, only by
Roman copies. On the other hand, the decorative sculpture
of temples and tombs has survived in considerable quantities.
Thus it is that our knowledge of Greek decorative art is
far greater than our knowledge of Greek substantive art.
Decorative art is necessarily far less close to nature and less
under the dominion of the ideal than substantive art. The
relations between the two are like those between garlands of
flowers woven to adorn an arbour and the trees which bore the
flowers in their entirety. In the case of decorative art, the
relations of the representation to the space which it has to
occupy are primary; in it we expect beauty of line and balance
of composition perhaps more than meaning and idea. In all
technical aspects Greek decoration is admirable; and yet per-
haps its overwhelming prominence makes us think less than
we should of the thought and purpose involved in Greek art.
Relations to Space. — These are of course more fundamental
in the case of decorative than in the case of substantive art:
most important of all in the case of relief work. It is usual to
distinguish three kinds of relief, high, middle and low. High
relief is deeply undercut and in some places usually quite
detached from the background ; the metopes of the Parthenon
are an example. Middle relief rises considerably from the back-
ground, with considerable light and shade; the frieze of the
Parthenon is a good instance. Low relief rises little out of the
background; example, the choragic monument of Lysicrates
at Athens; its affinities for painting are closer than those for
sculpture, and it greatly depends on the use of colour. These
distinctions are convenient, especially because, the higher the
relief, the more the play of light and shade comes in, especially
in so sunny a climate as that of Greece. But they are not fun-