DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27180#0086
PYRAMID AND TEMPLE
the most becoming dress imaginable for the matchless
body.
One never tires of their beauty. Their charm is not con-
fined to their natural inheritance of unmistakable breeding,
nor to their perfect bodily condition. It is not these peculiar-
ities, striking as they are, that captivate us. It is the family,
the company of four people, not their merely formal harmony.
At the first glance we felt it, if only as a premonition. We
did not fail, of course, to notice the unusual diminution of
the wife’s proportions, but no one interpreted that as a slight
upon her, not only because there were plenty of groups all
round without this difference, which would have dispelled
our suspicion that this might be a cryptic allusion, but also
because just this diminution of scale enhanced the attraction
of this woman and the whole group, and even the irresistible
charm of the attitude it implied. The diminution of scale
increased the specifically feminine effect and emphasized the
tender womanly gesture. Even if this gesture, the only one
in the whole group, was made by agreement, none the less
we detect in it a peculiar gentleness; and in the smile with
which the man responds we cannot mistake his appreciation
of her devotion. If it is purely conventional we infer that not
only the people of this group but all the rest of their circle
were equally devoted to each other. The position of the
children as supporters to the parents gives us a very fair
insight into the relation between the two generations. Elere
we have a family.
It occurs to me that in Europe no such sculptured family
group exists. Sculpture did not exist for that purpose; and
if occasionally it served such ends it usually beat a hasty
retreat. In our palmy days groups were made solely for
churches: scenes from the Passion, a Pieta, the Women at
the Cross. Families were confined to painting. Such orders
inspired the artist to representations which are often enough
masterpieces. Painting very seldom got beyond an indication
74
the most becoming dress imaginable for the matchless
body.
One never tires of their beauty. Their charm is not con-
fined to their natural inheritance of unmistakable breeding,
nor to their perfect bodily condition. It is not these peculiar-
ities, striking as they are, that captivate us. It is the family,
the company of four people, not their merely formal harmony.
At the first glance we felt it, if only as a premonition. We
did not fail, of course, to notice the unusual diminution of
the wife’s proportions, but no one interpreted that as a slight
upon her, not only because there were plenty of groups all
round without this difference, which would have dispelled
our suspicion that this might be a cryptic allusion, but also
because just this diminution of scale enhanced the attraction
of this woman and the whole group, and even the irresistible
charm of the attitude it implied. The diminution of scale
increased the specifically feminine effect and emphasized the
tender womanly gesture. Even if this gesture, the only one
in the whole group, was made by agreement, none the less
we detect in it a peculiar gentleness; and in the smile with
which the man responds we cannot mistake his appreciation
of her devotion. If it is purely conventional we infer that not
only the people of this group but all the rest of their circle
were equally devoted to each other. The position of the
children as supporters to the parents gives us a very fair
insight into the relation between the two generations. Elere
we have a family.
It occurs to me that in Europe no such sculptured family
group exists. Sculpture did not exist for that purpose; and
if occasionally it served such ends it usually beat a hasty
retreat. In our palmy days groups were made solely for
churches: scenes from the Passion, a Pieta, the Women at
the Cross. Families were confined to painting. Such orders
inspired the artist to representations which are often enough
masterpieces. Painting very seldom got beyond an indication
74