DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49928#0010
the market-place. And since no source of facts can be so perfectly trustworthy as the works of contemporary art, those works gain an inteicst arising not merely
from their own beauty, but as the crystallization of the visible life of the people, a mirror of their thought preserved to us like many actual Greek mirrors in the
graves of the dead.
In this matter eyes are far more easily worked upon than intellect, because they are the gates of the readiest path to curiosity and emotion. In instances
which have come under my observation, a childish familiarity with the Bayeux tapestry has brought down the Norman Conquest from the clouds to the earth. Io
most scholars the Dacian campaigns of Trajan have greater reality than other ancient wars in consequence of their record on the Column at Rome. I he same principle
is of wide application. Olympia and Pompeii have to be worked more completely than hitherto into the web of classical learning. Not only have the thoughts of
the ancients to be made familiar to the minds of students, but their life has as far as possible to be made visible to their eyes. At the Renascence in Italy ancient
works of art acted as strongly in the overthrow of the trammels of the Middle Ages as did ancient literature. To the north of the Alps, and especially in
England, this feature of the general revival has been imperfectly appreciated, but France and Germany are now making amends for their imperfect appreciation of
the outward and visible side of ancient civilization. And in England we must follow the example, or suffer for our backwardness.
To those who wish to study the material surroundings of the life of Greeks and Romans, the Atlas of Dr. Schreiber offers an abundance of valuable material.
His task is carried out with a completeness which in our times seems peculiarly German. It would be hard to find any important ancient representation giving us
information in these matters which has escaped his search. His engravings may not do full justice to some of the sculptures or the delicate vase-paintings which
he represents ; but though the taste is not fully satisfied, the intellect finds little wanting. The work accomplishes thoroughly the purpose for which it was undertaken.
Mr. Anderson has not altered the plates of Schreiber, but he has re-written the explanatory text in a very methodical and satisfactory manner. So far as I have
compared the German and the English texts I have found the latter both more complete and more methodical. Thus the part contributed by Mr. Anderson to the
book is by no means despicable ; and in some respects the English version has a decided superiority over the German original.
In a series of representations which arc arranged, not by style or by period, but merely according to the subjects Avhich they portray, it is quite impossible
to avoid some incongruity. In turning the plates one finds the archaic mingled with the developed, and poor and jejune compositions elboxving what is beautiful.
It is likely that young Englishmen, who are full of fancies, and even scholars of experience, may find puzzling juxtapositions and incongruous mixtures. In fact,
before a book like the present can be used to much advantage, the user must take the trouble to learn the rudiments of the language in which it is composed,
the artistic language of the Greeks. As scenes in Aeschylus or Sophocles will often seem stilted and absurd, and odes of Pindar bombastic, to those who do not
understand the genius of Greek poetry, so scenes from Greek vases, in their own way often as admirable as anything in Aeschylus or Pindar, must be considered
in relation not to a modern but to an ancient environment. The simple and noble lines of a Greek temple may disappoint those accustomed to the more mysterious
intricacies of Gothic architecture ; a modern musician finds it hard to understand how the ancients can have rested satisfied with music so immature as that recently
recovered at Delphi; but a comparative study will soon reveal in all the productions of the Greeks and Romans a mirror of what is interesting and valuable in
their civilization. So the representations of ancient art must first be understood before they will convey their meaning, and the understanding comes of patience
and a sympathetic imagination.
Thus an atlas like the present should scarcely be put in the hands of a learner without explanation. Like a difficult classic text it requires notes and
elucidations, and for these all the materials lie in Mr. Anderson’s work. But when the visible facts here collected are brought fairly to bear on the mind of
a student of ancient life they arc likely to have great effect in giving objectivity to his conceptions of what Greeks and Romans really were. It is very hard to
vi
from their own beauty, but as the crystallization of the visible life of the people, a mirror of their thought preserved to us like many actual Greek mirrors in the
graves of the dead.
In this matter eyes are far more easily worked upon than intellect, because they are the gates of the readiest path to curiosity and emotion. In instances
which have come under my observation, a childish familiarity with the Bayeux tapestry has brought down the Norman Conquest from the clouds to the earth. Io
most scholars the Dacian campaigns of Trajan have greater reality than other ancient wars in consequence of their record on the Column at Rome. I he same principle
is of wide application. Olympia and Pompeii have to be worked more completely than hitherto into the web of classical learning. Not only have the thoughts of
the ancients to be made familiar to the minds of students, but their life has as far as possible to be made visible to their eyes. At the Renascence in Italy ancient
works of art acted as strongly in the overthrow of the trammels of the Middle Ages as did ancient literature. To the north of the Alps, and especially in
England, this feature of the general revival has been imperfectly appreciated, but France and Germany are now making amends for their imperfect appreciation of
the outward and visible side of ancient civilization. And in England we must follow the example, or suffer for our backwardness.
To those who wish to study the material surroundings of the life of Greeks and Romans, the Atlas of Dr. Schreiber offers an abundance of valuable material.
His task is carried out with a completeness which in our times seems peculiarly German. It would be hard to find any important ancient representation giving us
information in these matters which has escaped his search. His engravings may not do full justice to some of the sculptures or the delicate vase-paintings which
he represents ; but though the taste is not fully satisfied, the intellect finds little wanting. The work accomplishes thoroughly the purpose for which it was undertaken.
Mr. Anderson has not altered the plates of Schreiber, but he has re-written the explanatory text in a very methodical and satisfactory manner. So far as I have
compared the German and the English texts I have found the latter both more complete and more methodical. Thus the part contributed by Mr. Anderson to the
book is by no means despicable ; and in some respects the English version has a decided superiority over the German original.
In a series of representations which arc arranged, not by style or by period, but merely according to the subjects Avhich they portray, it is quite impossible
to avoid some incongruity. In turning the plates one finds the archaic mingled with the developed, and poor and jejune compositions elboxving what is beautiful.
It is likely that young Englishmen, who are full of fancies, and even scholars of experience, may find puzzling juxtapositions and incongruous mixtures. In fact,
before a book like the present can be used to much advantage, the user must take the trouble to learn the rudiments of the language in which it is composed,
the artistic language of the Greeks. As scenes in Aeschylus or Sophocles will often seem stilted and absurd, and odes of Pindar bombastic, to those who do not
understand the genius of Greek poetry, so scenes from Greek vases, in their own way often as admirable as anything in Aeschylus or Pindar, must be considered
in relation not to a modern but to an ancient environment. The simple and noble lines of a Greek temple may disappoint those accustomed to the more mysterious
intricacies of Gothic architecture ; a modern musician finds it hard to understand how the ancients can have rested satisfied with music so immature as that recently
recovered at Delphi; but a comparative study will soon reveal in all the productions of the Greeks and Romans a mirror of what is interesting and valuable in
their civilization. So the representations of ancient art must first be understood before they will convey their meaning, and the understanding comes of patience
and a sympathetic imagination.
Thus an atlas like the present should scarcely be put in the hands of a learner without explanation. Like a difficult classic text it requires notes and
elucidations, and for these all the materials lie in Mr. Anderson’s work. But when the visible facts here collected are brought fairly to bear on the mind of
a student of ancient life they arc likely to have great effect in giving objectivity to his conceptions of what Greeks and Romans really were. It is very hard to
vi