1893. J on Sculpture, considered apart from Archseology. 59 



It was a great advance in Art when it was known that harmony of 

 proportion constituted one of the chief elements of beauty. Canons 

 of proportion were established and sculpture became a dignified and 

 beautiful, although, no doubt, to a large extent a conventional art, as 

 was shown by various examples of Egyptian and Etruscan work. 



The Assyrians and the Greeks made the further discovery that 

 fresh beauty was to be sought for in rhythm of action and in cor- 

 rectness of construction, as is evidenced in the sculptures of the 

 Temple at iEgina, in the bas-reliefs from the Palace of Korsabad, 

 and others; the Assyrians especially excelling in the rendering of 

 movement, their sculptures of animals, such as lions, horses, mules, 

 &c, being of the very highest artistic merit and beauty. 



In all the above works the artist has relied for his effect on pro- 

 portion, on action and correct construction. He has not concerned 

 himself with the beauty that is to be found in texture and in the 

 mobility of flesh. 



Sculpture depends on proportion, construction, action and texture 

 for whatever it may possess of technical excellence. 



Conventionalism, however valuable in sculpture, is apt to become 

 wearisome ; then comes an artist, bolder than the rest, who forsakes 

 in some degree the ancient tradition, and who endeavours, usually 

 with success, to return more closely to individual Nature ; others 

 follow and seek to outstrip him in close imitation of Nature, and for 

 this texture is the quality most in demand. 



An instance of this in the modern Italian school is Magni's 

 " Beading Girl." 



The lecturer then went on to speak of the practice of painting 

 statues, admitting that the Greeks used thus to treat them, but 

 stating that it was not at present possible for us to realise what the 

 effect must have been of a Greek temple with its brilliant colouring 

 and polychrome sculpture ; he spoke next of modern attempts to 

 revive the practice by the late John Gibson and others, which, how- 

 ever, had not been successful ; although it is a common practice with 

 sculptors to give a slight wash to marble if a warmer tone seems 

 desirable ; and, indeed, the warm tints of old marble are often 

 successfully imitated by the Italian dealers in forged antiques, such 

 as are bought by wealthy collectors, and even sometimes find their 

 way into national museums. 



The intention of sculpture should be, of course, to place before us 

 a beautiful thought expressed by beautiful form ; such is, however, 

 not always the sculptor's only desire ; he too often wishes to advertise 

 his own cleverness and to produce work that shall fix the attention of 

 even the most ignorant and careless observer. Thus eccentricity is 

 made to do duty for originality, and the ignorance or neglect of all 

 the rules of harmony of line and composition is supposed to be the 

 triumph of genius over the trammels of conventionality. The result 

 is often very ugly. 



The modern sculptor is under many disadvantages compared with 



