DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.870#0042
fleshy and partial protuberances in a part where it should describe nothing but the straightness
and regularity of the tendons of the flexor muscles.
The surface of the body, especially the shoulders, is covered with unconnected masses of flesh,
destroying that breadth and harmony which are so manifest in the shoulders of the Theseus; and
it is no defence to urge that it was designed for a Hercules, for such a confused and undefined
distribution of protuberant parts, so far from conveying any just idea of muscular power, produces
the opposite effect by giving the surface an appearance of flabbiness and disease.
In the legs of the Theseus, the knee joint is most beautifully and correctly designed, being
perfectly free from that tortuous articulation so conspicuous in all figures of a bad taste. Indeed it is
a peculiar feature in all the works in this collection, and strongly characteristic of the skill and
judgment displayed therein, that the joints are all perfectly defined and understood, yet modulated
sufficiently to prevent them from disturbing the general harmony of the limb by being too marked and
prominent.
In the Apollo, the Antinous, and the Meleager, the different portions of the limbs appear to run
one into the other without preserving sufficiently those divisions and distinctions which are necessary
to give the idea of flexion and extension. This is an affectation of ideal nature, the offspring of
a false taste and vitiated conception, and undoubtedly is the cause of that stiffness which marks
the outlines of those figures, but which, according to the notions of some modern artists, constitutes
what they choose to denominate a square, classical and refined style of composition.
and regularity of the tendons of the flexor muscles.
The surface of the body, especially the shoulders, is covered with unconnected masses of flesh,
destroying that breadth and harmony which are so manifest in the shoulders of the Theseus; and
it is no defence to urge that it was designed for a Hercules, for such a confused and undefined
distribution of protuberant parts, so far from conveying any just idea of muscular power, produces
the opposite effect by giving the surface an appearance of flabbiness and disease.
In the legs of the Theseus, the knee joint is most beautifully and correctly designed, being
perfectly free from that tortuous articulation so conspicuous in all figures of a bad taste. Indeed it is
a peculiar feature in all the works in this collection, and strongly characteristic of the skill and
judgment displayed therein, that the joints are all perfectly defined and understood, yet modulated
sufficiently to prevent them from disturbing the general harmony of the limb by being too marked and
prominent.
In the Apollo, the Antinous, and the Meleager, the different portions of the limbs appear to run
one into the other without preserving sufficiently those divisions and distinctions which are necessary
to give the idea of flexion and extension. This is an affectation of ideal nature, the offspring of
a false taste and vitiated conception, and undoubtedly is the cause of that stiffness which marks
the outlines of those figures, but which, according to the notions of some modern artists, constitutes
what they choose to denominate a square, classical and refined style of composition.