DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0202
134 GREEK PERIOD
in palmette ornaments daintily executed in filigree work, to
which are affixed the filigree rosettes that form the clasp; the
bird suspended from a disc in the center and the pendants are
modeled in the gold. Like the earring (Pl. 44 b) the main design
is kept simple and dignified; but subordinate to this and en-
hancing it, is a wealth of exquisitely wrought detail that adds
a note of delicacy and refinement. With the introduction of
precious stones, through the conquests of Alexander the Great
in the East, the gold was no longer worked for itself, but atten-
tion was concentrated upon the use of gems, and the fine tech-
nique declined.
SUMMARY
In the fourth century we see Pheidian austerity giving way to
ease and grace, and divine majesty and serenity to human senti-
ment. Both these tendencies developed, in the Hellenistic age,
into exaggerations and found expression in a varied subject
matter, often trivial. The artists were inclined to focus upon
technique that often produced superb results, but at the sacrifice
of that equilibrium between subject and material that had made
the fifth-century works so supremely noble.
Hellenic culture was not lost by the Roman conquest. It was
the main stream of subsequent European art. Sometimes the
stream runs low, as in the Middle Ages, only again to rush on
with tremendous power, as in the Renaissance.
When we ask what is the debt of modern art to Greek art, there is no reply.
We cannot point to this idea or that, and say this is Hellenic and that is non-
Hellenic. We can say this is Pheidian, that Scopaic, or this is Pergamene and that
Rhodian, but to say art is Greek is simply to say it is good. For Greek art com-
prises every genuine effort of the artist; every statue, however cunning and in-
genious, which is merely frivolous or hypocritical or untrue, is a crime against
Hellenism and a sin against the light. The Greek bequest to later artists is nothing
tangible; it is the soul and spirit of the artist. True art cannot be attained by rule;
it demands a condition of receptivity of inspiration, in other words, of faith, in
the artist; only thus can the elements of technique be so combined as to make some-
thing far greater than their mere sum total.6
6 Guy Dickins, Hellenistic Sculpture, p. 87.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (See Chapter VI)
in palmette ornaments daintily executed in filigree work, to
which are affixed the filigree rosettes that form the clasp; the
bird suspended from a disc in the center and the pendants are
modeled in the gold. Like the earring (Pl. 44 b) the main design
is kept simple and dignified; but subordinate to this and en-
hancing it, is a wealth of exquisitely wrought detail that adds
a note of delicacy and refinement. With the introduction of
precious stones, through the conquests of Alexander the Great
in the East, the gold was no longer worked for itself, but atten-
tion was concentrated upon the use of gems, and the fine tech-
nique declined.
SUMMARY
In the fourth century we see Pheidian austerity giving way to
ease and grace, and divine majesty and serenity to human senti-
ment. Both these tendencies developed, in the Hellenistic age,
into exaggerations and found expression in a varied subject
matter, often trivial. The artists were inclined to focus upon
technique that often produced superb results, but at the sacrifice
of that equilibrium between subject and material that had made
the fifth-century works so supremely noble.
Hellenic culture was not lost by the Roman conquest. It was
the main stream of subsequent European art. Sometimes the
stream runs low, as in the Middle Ages, only again to rush on
with tremendous power, as in the Renaissance.
When we ask what is the debt of modern art to Greek art, there is no reply.
We cannot point to this idea or that, and say this is Hellenic and that is non-
Hellenic. We can say this is Pheidian, that Scopaic, or this is Pergamene and that
Rhodian, but to say art is Greek is simply to say it is good. For Greek art com-
prises every genuine effort of the artist; every statue, however cunning and in-
genious, which is merely frivolous or hypocritical or untrue, is a crime against
Hellenism and a sin against the light. The Greek bequest to later artists is nothing
tangible; it is the soul and spirit of the artist. True art cannot be attained by rule;
it demands a condition of receptivity of inspiration, in other words, of faith, in
the artist; only thus can the elements of technique be so combined as to make some-
thing far greater than their mere sum total.6
6 Guy Dickins, Hellenistic Sculpture, p. 87.
BIBLIOGRAPHY (See Chapter VI)