DOI article:
Essay VIII: The Athene Parthenos and gold and ivory statues
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11444#0307
VIII.] ATHENE PARTHENOS; GOLD AND IVORY STATUES. 273
actual and tangible work bringing before our eyes the shape
of the helmet, the position of the shield, &c., is an advantage
which no amount of literary tradition could afford us. And
from this point of view, when the recognition of true facts inde-
pendent of artistic value is the proposed aim, nothing can appear
small or unimportant. Thus Athenian coins and the Aspasios
gem in the Vienna cabinet are valuable in completing our notion
of the helmet as shown by the new statuette by the addition of
a row of horses running as a border in the front.
But here the value of the new discovery ends. Of the actual
spirit and artistic character of the Athene Parthenos these works
can give us nothing. They are but weak and, in part, vulgar
reminders which may call forth a somewhat adequate picture in
our imagination if, through other channels, we have been able to
form some conception of the spirit of the art of Pheidias. If the
Sistine Madonna of Raphael were destroyed, a reminder of this
work, corresponding somewhat to the statuettes in question, would
be the figure of this virgin and child painted on a common china
cup in some Saxon village. Or the relation between the original
Athene Parthenos and these statuettes would be like that between
the Choral Symphony .of Beethoven performed by a perfect
orchestra and chorus, and the great work rendered in part by
unskilled hands on a pianoforte out of tune. Both these vul-
garised reminders would be of use if, through other channels, we
had been able to form some idea of what the art of the great
painter and musician was like. So if we knew some of the
drawings or other paintings of Raphael and had copious notes
written by people who had seen the Sistine Madonna, the
common cup would form a good frame-work of fact which our
reproductive imagination might somewhat adequately complete
if otherwise it was well saturated with the spirit of the art of
Raphael. So too if we are musical to start with, and have
heard other symphonies of Beethoven, or (and this is a closer
analogy to our case) merely some short piano sonata well
rendered, the unskilled rendering of the great-orchestral work
on the pianoforte might help us to reconstruct in our minds
something of the effect of the Choral Symphony.
In our case these statuettes furnish us with a solid basis of
fact; yet an idea of the spirit of the great work itself will only
w. 18
actual and tangible work bringing before our eyes the shape
of the helmet, the position of the shield, &c., is an advantage
which no amount of literary tradition could afford us. And
from this point of view, when the recognition of true facts inde-
pendent of artistic value is the proposed aim, nothing can appear
small or unimportant. Thus Athenian coins and the Aspasios
gem in the Vienna cabinet are valuable in completing our notion
of the helmet as shown by the new statuette by the addition of
a row of horses running as a border in the front.
But here the value of the new discovery ends. Of the actual
spirit and artistic character of the Athene Parthenos these works
can give us nothing. They are but weak and, in part, vulgar
reminders which may call forth a somewhat adequate picture in
our imagination if, through other channels, we have been able to
form some conception of the spirit of the art of Pheidias. If the
Sistine Madonna of Raphael were destroyed, a reminder of this
work, corresponding somewhat to the statuettes in question, would
be the figure of this virgin and child painted on a common china
cup in some Saxon village. Or the relation between the original
Athene Parthenos and these statuettes would be like that between
the Choral Symphony .of Beethoven performed by a perfect
orchestra and chorus, and the great work rendered in part by
unskilled hands on a pianoforte out of tune. Both these vul-
garised reminders would be of use if, through other channels, we
had been able to form some idea of what the art of the great
painter and musician was like. So if we knew some of the
drawings or other paintings of Raphael and had copious notes
written by people who had seen the Sistine Madonna, the
common cup would form a good frame-work of fact which our
reproductive imagination might somewhat adequately complete
if otherwise it was well saturated with the spirit of the art of
Raphael. So too if we are musical to start with, and have
heard other symphonies of Beethoven, or (and this is a closer
analogy to our case) merely some short piano sonata well
rendered, the unskilled rendering of the great-orchestral work
on the pianoforte might help us to reconstruct in our minds
something of the effect of the Choral Symphony.
In our case these statuettes furnish us with a solid basis of
fact; yet an idea of the spirit of the great work itself will only
w. 18