DOI article:
Essay I: The provice, aim, and methos of the stuy of classical archaeology
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11444#0034
14
ESSAYS ON THE ART OF PHEIDIAS.
[I-
monious whole. This centre, moreover, is not so definite or
definable as in a statue, but may, and in many of the best
pictures does, lie not in the centre of the drawing, but in the
unity of colour, the tone of the picture, the mood which all the
single parts evoke in the spectator1. Even if the statue of a
Venus is introduced into a picture, the centre of life will not
necessarily lie within the statue independent of its surroundings ;
but may, and generally will (if it be really a picture and not
merely a study)2, lie in the relation between the statue and its
surroundings ; how it stands out from the wall which is its
background, how the lines lead up to it from the front and
the side, what shadows it throws or what light is reflected
upon it, how its colour is affected by the surrounding colour,
as a curtain, and how it modifies the adjoining colours, how it
chimes in with the whole tone ; finally, what character it gives
to the place represented, whether a palatial hall or a Greek
temple, solemnity, wealth, refinement, or luxury, how the figure
bows down in adoration before it, or critically balances its
merits, and so on.
Therefore, as with regard to the means of expression used in
the two arts, so also in the choice of subjects, painting differs from
sculpture in that it does not depend upon the simplicity of purely
sensuous observation, but is rather concerned with the relation
between things; it is more abstract and must introduce re-
flexion. Plastic art corresponds rather to .things in themselves ;
painting (and this is still more the case with poetry) corresponds
rather to the relation between things. The plastic mind is simply
1 No doubt painting is able to represent the same objects as sculpture, and has
frequently done so with great effect; but it is essentially painting in what it can do
more than sculpture, in representing that which can be best expressed by its own
peculiar means of expression. An actor in a pantomime no doubt can represent
a spoken dialogue; yet the strength of the pantomime lies in the representation
of action by means of expressive and graceful movements, and not in narrative or
dialogue which is the strong point of the spoken drama.
- Modern artists often forget the difference that exists between a picture and a
study. Many of the pictures by ancient masters in museums were considered by them
merely as studies, as Leonardo's head of Christ. I purposely omit portraits, as
their chief aim is accuracy of reproduction. Were it not destructive of clearness,
however, I could show how in a less manifest way the same rules of composition
apply even to them.
ESSAYS ON THE ART OF PHEIDIAS.
[I-
monious whole. This centre, moreover, is not so definite or
definable as in a statue, but may, and in many of the best
pictures does, lie not in the centre of the drawing, but in the
unity of colour, the tone of the picture, the mood which all the
single parts evoke in the spectator1. Even if the statue of a
Venus is introduced into a picture, the centre of life will not
necessarily lie within the statue independent of its surroundings ;
but may, and generally will (if it be really a picture and not
merely a study)2, lie in the relation between the statue and its
surroundings ; how it stands out from the wall which is its
background, how the lines lead up to it from the front and
the side, what shadows it throws or what light is reflected
upon it, how its colour is affected by the surrounding colour,
as a curtain, and how it modifies the adjoining colours, how it
chimes in with the whole tone ; finally, what character it gives
to the place represented, whether a palatial hall or a Greek
temple, solemnity, wealth, refinement, or luxury, how the figure
bows down in adoration before it, or critically balances its
merits, and so on.
Therefore, as with regard to the means of expression used in
the two arts, so also in the choice of subjects, painting differs from
sculpture in that it does not depend upon the simplicity of purely
sensuous observation, but is rather concerned with the relation
between things; it is more abstract and must introduce re-
flexion. Plastic art corresponds rather to .things in themselves ;
painting (and this is still more the case with poetry) corresponds
rather to the relation between things. The plastic mind is simply
1 No doubt painting is able to represent the same objects as sculpture, and has
frequently done so with great effect; but it is essentially painting in what it can do
more than sculpture, in representing that which can be best expressed by its own
peculiar means of expression. An actor in a pantomime no doubt can represent
a spoken dialogue; yet the strength of the pantomime lies in the representation
of action by means of expressive and graceful movements, and not in narrative or
dialogue which is the strong point of the spoken drama.
- Modern artists often forget the difference that exists between a picture and a
study. Many of the pictures by ancient masters in museums were considered by them
merely as studies, as Leonardo's head of Christ. I purposely omit portraits, as
their chief aim is accuracy of reproduction. Were it not destructive of clearness,
however, I could show how in a less manifest way the same rules of composition
apply even to them.