DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.870#0038
The universal consent of action throughout every part of the trunk is such that the flexion is
no where interrupted, and the perfectly quiescent state of all the muscles of the abdomen gives it
that appearance of repose which it so well expresses. Nor would it be proper to omit noticing
the skill and reflection of the ancient Greek artists, manifested by their close attention to such
minutiae as contributed to the general force and effect of their subjects. Thus the wrinkle shewn
above the navel of this figure clearly demonstrates that the descending action of the skin is arrested
at that point of the surface which is fixed and stationary, and tends, in a principal degree, to give
that wonderful semblance of pliability which beguiles the mind of the spectator from the recollection
that the surface is, in reality, but a hard and inflexible material. Such a circumstance would,
perhaps, be thought unworthy of attention in modern art, but it speaks volumes in support of
Athenian judgment and fidelity.
The left arm, upon which the figure rests, is thrown backwards, and the triceps muscle, by
being shortened, becomes thicker in substance; but this thickening is so skilfully performed as to
have no appearance of hardness or contraction, but rather that of being perfectly flaccid and
moveable. The beautiful accuracy with which the processes of the elbow joint are described is
also worthy of observation. The receding of the head of the thigh bpne into the hip, in consequence
of the knees being expanded, bespeaks their anatomical knowledge; and the delicate undulations
and inflexions of the muscles of the thighs, combined with the accurate and regular form of the
tendons at their insertion into the leg, so clearly define each distinct part as not only to distinguish
muscle from bone, but in fact to substitute the character of flesh for marble. The knee joints, also,
are remarkably beautiful, and display most perfectly the mechanism of nature in that particular part.
no where interrupted, and the perfectly quiescent state of all the muscles of the abdomen gives it
that appearance of repose which it so well expresses. Nor would it be proper to omit noticing
the skill and reflection of the ancient Greek artists, manifested by their close attention to such
minutiae as contributed to the general force and effect of their subjects. Thus the wrinkle shewn
above the navel of this figure clearly demonstrates that the descending action of the skin is arrested
at that point of the surface which is fixed and stationary, and tends, in a principal degree, to give
that wonderful semblance of pliability which beguiles the mind of the spectator from the recollection
that the surface is, in reality, but a hard and inflexible material. Such a circumstance would,
perhaps, be thought unworthy of attention in modern art, but it speaks volumes in support of
Athenian judgment and fidelity.
The left arm, upon which the figure rests, is thrown backwards, and the triceps muscle, by
being shortened, becomes thicker in substance; but this thickening is so skilfully performed as to
have no appearance of hardness or contraction, but rather that of being perfectly flaccid and
moveable. The beautiful accuracy with which the processes of the elbow joint are described is
also worthy of observation. The receding of the head of the thigh bpne into the hip, in consequence
of the knees being expanded, bespeaks their anatomical knowledge; and the delicate undulations
and inflexions of the muscles of the thighs, combined with the accurate and regular form of the
tendons at their insertion into the leg, so clearly define each distinct part as not only to distinguish
muscle from bone, but in fact to substitute the character of flesh for marble. The knee joints, also,
are remarkably beautiful, and display most perfectly the mechanism of nature in that particular part.