DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7897#0012
ii. INTRODUCTION.
probably see Acbilles, Hector and the heroes of Troy, as they appeared to
the imagination of the divine poet. Of the warriors who fell so gloriously at
Thermopylae, we can form a just image from these contemporary productions
of art; which shew us the victorious bands of Marathon and Salamis as they ap-
peared to their-fellow citizens, when returning triumphant and crowned with
laurel, they were hailed as the deliverers of their country. We view them clad
in their splendid armour, breathing forth valour (i), with an expression of
grandeur and a noble simplicity, characteristic of heroic virtue (2). From the
connection naturally existing between poetry and painting, it seems indeed
strange, that the admiration excited by the rapturous strains of Homer and
Pindar, should not awaken a kindred feeling for the productions of art in
which such glowing images are embodied under a sensible form. The pre-
valence of a Gothic taste, can alone account for the indifference with which
ancient monuments are commonly viewed.
The designs which embellish Fictile Vases, are often taken from sculpture,
but that pictures have furnished many (3), is evident from the manner in which
the figures are disposed in different plans, from the grouping, and other cir-
cumstances unsuited to sculpture. Hence, in the deficiency of more ample
means of information, Vases give the greatest insight into the state of paint-
ing, when it flourished in the schools of Athens and Sicyon. They display all
the essential qualities of the art, and prove that the admiration entertained
by the ancients for many of its productions, was not undeserved. The inven-
tion and composition are always happy and elegant, the expression suited to
the characters, the attitudes peculiarly graceful, and the drapery skilfully dis-
posed. It may certainly be regretted, that they do not equally present the
colouring, scenery, perspective, and other accessories, but these the imagi-
tion may, in great measure, supply from analogy.
It could not be expected that artists of the first order should have been
employed in such designs; which accordingly, are for the most part, defi-
cient in correctness, and carelessly executed. Still, however, they exhibit a
spirit and freedom denoting considerable talent; and always have a certain
grandeur which is inseparable from ancient productions, even of the lowest
order. Considered therefore, as prints of indifferent execution from pictures
(1) Mevea TtvetovTs; Ayaioi, Homer.
(2) Me-ya'Oupt kyawi, Homer.
(3) See Plates x, xvi, xvu, xx;, xxn,
XXVII.
probably see Acbilles, Hector and the heroes of Troy, as they appeared to
the imagination of the divine poet. Of the warriors who fell so gloriously at
Thermopylae, we can form a just image from these contemporary productions
of art; which shew us the victorious bands of Marathon and Salamis as they ap-
peared to their-fellow citizens, when returning triumphant and crowned with
laurel, they were hailed as the deliverers of their country. We view them clad
in their splendid armour, breathing forth valour (i), with an expression of
grandeur and a noble simplicity, characteristic of heroic virtue (2). From the
connection naturally existing between poetry and painting, it seems indeed
strange, that the admiration excited by the rapturous strains of Homer and
Pindar, should not awaken a kindred feeling for the productions of art in
which such glowing images are embodied under a sensible form. The pre-
valence of a Gothic taste, can alone account for the indifference with which
ancient monuments are commonly viewed.
The designs which embellish Fictile Vases, are often taken from sculpture,
but that pictures have furnished many (3), is evident from the manner in which
the figures are disposed in different plans, from the grouping, and other cir-
cumstances unsuited to sculpture. Hence, in the deficiency of more ample
means of information, Vases give the greatest insight into the state of paint-
ing, when it flourished in the schools of Athens and Sicyon. They display all
the essential qualities of the art, and prove that the admiration entertained
by the ancients for many of its productions, was not undeserved. The inven-
tion and composition are always happy and elegant, the expression suited to
the characters, the attitudes peculiarly graceful, and the drapery skilfully dis-
posed. It may certainly be regretted, that they do not equally present the
colouring, scenery, perspective, and other accessories, but these the imagi-
tion may, in great measure, supply from analogy.
It could not be expected that artists of the first order should have been
employed in such designs; which accordingly, are for the most part, defi-
cient in correctness, and carelessly executed. Still, however, they exhibit a
spirit and freedom denoting considerable talent; and always have a certain
grandeur which is inseparable from ancient productions, even of the lowest
order. Considered therefore, as prints of indifferent execution from pictures
(1) Mevea TtvetovTs; Ayaioi, Homer.
(2) Me-ya'Oupt kyawi, Homer.
(3) See Plates x, xvi, xvu, xx;, xxn,
XXVII.