DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73713#0014
10 THE WORKS OF
That unhappy maxim brought upon itselfan other,
still worse of making statues ofwood, painted and
gilded, with which they disgraced sculpture;
because in this manner, it ianofthe form of the
statue which gives an idea of their merit, but
the colours, and the richness of it. It was impos-
sible, that a people who had always before
their eyes such objects, could acquire a good taste,
because this is not formed but by means os the
habit which the senses take, in feeing perfect
things, and when they are not such, they are
at least simple, and contain the mere necessity;
because although they appear rustic and poor,
they will always be nearer to beauty than
those replete with unreasonable superssuity;
and the reason and the senses will have less fa^
tigue to distinguisn naked beauty, than when
buried in amass ofinutility. Ifto discover beauty,
one meets this difficulty, much more difficult
will it be to discover the sublime, which is the
mode of giving a clear idea and conception of a
grand object, conjoining rapidly and with sim-
plicity, the extremities of the beginning and
end, and comprehending much, in the least
compass possible.
After having seen the difficulty which nature
and customs oppose to the progress of the polite
arts in Spain, it is necessary to find the remedies;
and for that it will be useful to examine again
the reasons and accidents by means of which
they have ssourished in other nations.
The power and faculty of man as a reasonable
being, are very great, but in general he does
That unhappy maxim brought upon itselfan other,
still worse of making statues ofwood, painted and
gilded, with which they disgraced sculpture;
because in this manner, it ianofthe form of the
statue which gives an idea of their merit, but
the colours, and the richness of it. It was impos-
sible, that a people who had always before
their eyes such objects, could acquire a good taste,
because this is not formed but by means os the
habit which the senses take, in feeing perfect
things, and when they are not such, they are
at least simple, and contain the mere necessity;
because although they appear rustic and poor,
they will always be nearer to beauty than
those replete with unreasonable superssuity;
and the reason and the senses will have less fa^
tigue to distinguisn naked beauty, than when
buried in amass ofinutility. Ifto discover beauty,
one meets this difficulty, much more difficult
will it be to discover the sublime, which is the
mode of giving a clear idea and conception of a
grand object, conjoining rapidly and with sim-
plicity, the extremities of the beginning and
end, and comprehending much, in the least
compass possible.
After having seen the difficulty which nature
and customs oppose to the progress of the polite
arts in Spain, it is necessary to find the remedies;
and for that it will be useful to examine again
the reasons and accidents by means of which
they have ssourished in other nations.
The power and faculty of man as a reasonable
being, are very great, but in general he does