DOI Artikel:
Essay II: The spirit of the art of Pheidias, in its relation to his age, life, and character
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11444#0083
II.]
THE SPIRIT OF THE ART OF PHEIDIAS.
63
discovered ruins of Olympia1. When we consider all these cir-
cumstances we cannot hesitate for a moment to reject the fables
concerning the guilt of Pheidias2.
All this surrounding greatness and simplicity of action and
purpose was no doubt favourable to the development and
growth of the artistic imagination of Pheidias, to the con-
ception of and desire for great works, to the fostering of a lofty
imagination modified and kept in health by the continuous
presence of the practically possible. But these desires and pre-
dispositions, which give their tone to the artist's productions,
when once he has mastered the technicalities of his art, are
not enough in themselves actually to produce great works of
art; they can only take effect and bear fruit when the artist
has gained the power to express in the material forms of his
art whatever his eye meets with in nature and considers worthy
of such expression. We have seen before in the general survey
how sculpture in Greece had, previously to Pheidias, gained this
power of technical expression. Pheidias individually had every
opportunity of receiving and acquiring these technical advan-
tages and of advancing upon his predecessors even in this
direction.
The more general circumstances, which were conducive to
an advance in the technical sphere of sculpture were manifold.
In a negative way, the Persian wars and the ensuing revival
and renewal of activity at Athens were conducive to an eman-
cipation from the strict bonds of school tradition. In Myron,
who in time and by nature bore the impress of this very period
immediately succeeding the Persian war, and did not reflect
that softer after-glow of which I have spoken above, this revo-
lutionary spirit is carried into effect. That which was heroic
in the energetic reconstruction of the city and its fortifications
was too restless and positively active for the more moderate and
passive spirit conducive to art-production. With Myron this
earlier time fell in with the period of his chief productiveness;
with Pheidias it coincided with his years of "storm and pressure,"
1 This has now been identified, with the greatest probability, in the remains of a
small building to the north of the temple of Zeus in the recently discovered ruins of
Olympia. See Ausgrabungcn zu Olympia, III. page 29 seq.
2 See note C at the end of this essay.
THE SPIRIT OF THE ART OF PHEIDIAS.
63
discovered ruins of Olympia1. When we consider all these cir-
cumstances we cannot hesitate for a moment to reject the fables
concerning the guilt of Pheidias2.
All this surrounding greatness and simplicity of action and
purpose was no doubt favourable to the development and
growth of the artistic imagination of Pheidias, to the con-
ception of and desire for great works, to the fostering of a lofty
imagination modified and kept in health by the continuous
presence of the practically possible. But these desires and pre-
dispositions, which give their tone to the artist's productions,
when once he has mastered the technicalities of his art, are
not enough in themselves actually to produce great works of
art; they can only take effect and bear fruit when the artist
has gained the power to express in the material forms of his
art whatever his eye meets with in nature and considers worthy
of such expression. We have seen before in the general survey
how sculpture in Greece had, previously to Pheidias, gained this
power of technical expression. Pheidias individually had every
opportunity of receiving and acquiring these technical advan-
tages and of advancing upon his predecessors even in this
direction.
The more general circumstances, which were conducive to
an advance in the technical sphere of sculpture were manifold.
In a negative way, the Persian wars and the ensuing revival
and renewal of activity at Athens were conducive to an eman-
cipation from the strict bonds of school tradition. In Myron,
who in time and by nature bore the impress of this very period
immediately succeeding the Persian war, and did not reflect
that softer after-glow of which I have spoken above, this revo-
lutionary spirit is carried into effect. That which was heroic
in the energetic reconstruction of the city and its fortifications
was too restless and positively active for the more moderate and
passive spirit conducive to art-production. With Myron this
earlier time fell in with the period of his chief productiveness;
with Pheidias it coincided with his years of "storm and pressure,"
1 This has now been identified, with the greatest probability, in the remains of a
small building to the north of the temple of Zeus in the recently discovered ruins of
Olympia. See Ausgrabungcn zu Olympia, III. page 29 seq.
2 See note C at the end of this essay.