32 Mr Wilson on the Propriety of Forming 



evinced in the productions of the Roman and Florentine mas- 

 ters; their art addresses the intellect. The Venetian school 

 has been mentioned as deficient in the higher qualities of art, 

 from the taste of its masters not being purified by the study of 

 classic models ; and Rubens has been prominently noticed as a 

 strong instance of the errors genius may commit when unfet- 

 tered by, or ignorant of, those rules which guided the taste of 

 the Greeks in their immortal productions. 



We may be allowed to glance at the influence of classic taste 

 on all the arts of Italy, and at the results of the absence of this 

 influence, especially in our own country. A traditionary taste 

 existed in Italy, even in the darkest ages ; it is evinced in all 

 the productions over which art exercises control, in the paint- 

 ings, in illuminated MSS., in the ornaments on coats of mail, 

 in the utensils of common life, whether in metal or in other ma- 

 terials ; and this traditionary taste derived from happier times, 

 prevented in Italy the perfection of the universally spread 

 Gothic architecture. When the discovery and study of an- 

 cient works led to the restoration of the arts, the Italian mind 

 reverted with facility to the only true path in painting, sculp- 

 ture, and architecture ; classic taste re-asserted its sovereignty. 

 After a time, art declined in Italy ; an unhappy craving for 

 novelty, and an insane desire of originality, corrupted it and 

 utterly perverted taste. The example of the great masters was 

 forgotten, and the precepts manifested in the works of the an- 

 cients neglected. 



The success with which the arts were cultivated in Italy, 

 exciting the admiration of foreigners, Italian art spread over 

 Europe, and Italian artists were induced by prospects of high 

 reward to visit foreign countries. These artists brought a 

 style founded on the classic, to countries where all the existing 

 examples of art were Gothic. It was quite impossible that the 

 new style could eradicate ideas, associated with every monument 

 of national importance, and accordingly the result was a mix- 

 ture of styles utterly opposed in principle, which it is to be re- 

 gretted has now many admirers, and still more unfortunately 

 many imitators. 



The absence of those pure examples, which in Italy pointed 

 out the true path, and as long as they were studied kept art 



