S6 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



hidden idea embodied in the statues of the Venus di Medici, the 

 Venus di Milo, ( to properly introduce which, Baron Grimm has 

 written so many aesthetic and metaphysical essays,) the Apollo Bel- 

 vedere, Michael Angelo's " Bacchus," the Farnese Hercules, the 

 Minerva of Phidias, or the writhing agony of Laocoon? It can only 

 be done by placing ourselves as nearly as possible at the Greek 

 standpoint. To accomplish this, one method alone remains to us,-^ 

 a careful study of Greek Literature. The spirit of the age, it seems 

 to me, is making a great mistake in throwing this element of culture 

 out of its practical education ; however this may be, to one who 

 aspires to high Art such culture is of inestimable value. 



We have now completed the curriculum of an ordinary college, 

 and found ev^ery department bearing directly toward the end we have 

 in view for our young friend, Rubens Rembrandt. Not that he 

 should complete all these studies before venturing upon the prac- 

 tical ; let him cultivate his hand at the same time with his intellec, 

 and taste. Only let him learn through the crayon and brush, facile 

 and ready expression of the ideas these studies have been develop- 

 ing, and he ca7inot help being an Artist. But with all the heir-ship of 

 genius Nature has bestowed as a birth-right, and all the mechanical 

 dexterity attained by patient practice, without these mental acquisi- 

 tions he will never become an artist, but will forever remain a mere 

 Artisan. 



Further, Mr. Stockstill's adviser said that having completed a 

 collegiate course it would be of advantage to Rubens Rembrandt to 

 study Divinity. Doctrinal Theology, perhaps not ; (it is a question 

 whether it is an advantage to our clergymen;) but a close study of 

 the life and teachings of Christ, emphatically, yes. Nearly all of the 

 great Artists have modeled their lives after His. What more lovely 

 than the sweet, calm enthusiasm of the cloistered life of Fra Angelico. 

 a saint as truly inspired as the Apostle John; for each in his cloistered 

 life saw the heavens opened, and left behind him records of his bea- 

 tific visions. What more grandly sublime than the unapproachably 

 heroic, and self-sacrificing life of Michael Angelo ? Steadfast, un- 

 movable, strong to endure, mighty in power, misunderstood and 

 solitary save when "an angel was sent to strengthen him." An 

 Artist's sympathy with his race must be broad, out-reaching like 

 that of his Master's. If he could catch the most delicate expres- 

 sions of feeling, and transfer them to canvas accurately, he must be 

 "a partaker of the Divine Nature,"an aptscholar of the Great Teacher. 

 True there have been Artists of dissolute lives ; their works show it; 

 but all these " died young, or painted ill when old." 



