DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73712#0240
148
THE works or
He knew not Ideal Beauty, and for that feasori
was more excellent in Apofiles and Phi-
losophers, than in the divine figures; that is
to say, his Design compreherided all the con-
tours which one finds in Nature, and which
he imitated in every thing he did. He
studied the Antique pricipally in Bas-reliefs;
and acquired a taste more Roman than Grecian.
In his works one sees the most minute tracks of
the Arch ofTitus and ofConstantius, with the bas-
reliess ofthat of Trajan. From thence he took the
system of marking principally the joints and bones,
and of maintaining the contour of the sselh more
simple and easy. The aforesaid Bas-reliess are
not of the best taste of antiquity ; yet they are
beautiful for the symmetry, and the relation of
one member with another. By this study Ra-
phael understood the propriety of characters, and
the relation os the members better than any
other painter. He made the figures of the pro-
portion of six heads only, and they appear as
beautiful as if they were of eight; which de-
pends solely upon the just maxims of proportion;
although in general his are not so elegant as
those of the Grecian Statues; nor are his joints
so delicate as those of the Laocoon, Apollo, or
the Gladiator.
One perceives also how much Raphael studied
antiquity; and when this failed him, he soon failed
also in the imitation; as one sees in his hands, which
he made hot beautiful, because he had not an-
cient models; very seldomfinding statues which
preserved it. He was also hill less happy in the
THE works or
He knew not Ideal Beauty, and for that feasori
was more excellent in Apofiles and Phi-
losophers, than in the divine figures; that is
to say, his Design compreherided all the con-
tours which one finds in Nature, and which
he imitated in every thing he did. He
studied the Antique pricipally in Bas-reliefs;
and acquired a taste more Roman than Grecian.
In his works one sees the most minute tracks of
the Arch ofTitus and ofConstantius, with the bas-
reliess ofthat of Trajan. From thence he took the
system of marking principally the joints and bones,
and of maintaining the contour of the sselh more
simple and easy. The aforesaid Bas-reliess are
not of the best taste of antiquity ; yet they are
beautiful for the symmetry, and the relation of
one member with another. By this study Ra-
phael understood the propriety of characters, and
the relation os the members better than any
other painter. He made the figures of the pro-
portion of six heads only, and they appear as
beautiful as if they were of eight; which de-
pends solely upon the just maxims of proportion;
although in general his are not so elegant as
those of the Grecian Statues; nor are his joints
so delicate as those of the Laocoon, Apollo, or
the Gladiator.
One perceives also how much Raphael studied
antiquity; and when this failed him, he soon failed
also in the imitation; as one sees in his hands, which
he made hot beautiful, because he had not an-
cient models; very seldomfinding statues which
preserved it. He was also hill less happy in the