450 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



in this kingdom, who have been 

 examined, rates these IMarbles in 

 the very first class of ancient art, 

 some placing them a little above, 

 and others but very little below 

 the Apollo Belvidere, the Lao- 

 codn, and the Torso of the Bel- 

 videre. They speak of them with 

 admiration and enthusiasm : and 

 notwithstanding the manifold in- 

 juries of time and weather, and 

 those mutilations which they have 

 sustained from the fortuitous, or 

 designed injuries of neglect, or 

 mischief, they consider them as 

 among the finest models, and the 

 most exquisite monuments of 

 antiquity. The general current 

 of this portion of the evidence 

 makes no doubt of referring the 

 date of these works to the oii- 

 ginal building of the Parthenon, 

 and to the designs of Phidias, the 

 dawn of every thing which adorned 

 and ennobled Greece. With this 

 estimation of the excellence of 

 these works it is natural to con- 

 clude, that they are recommended 

 by the same authorities as liighly 

 fit, and admirably adapted to form 

 a school for study, to improve our 

 national taste for the fine arts, 

 and to dltfuse a more perfect 

 knowledge of them throughout 

 this kingdom. 



Much indeed may be reasonably 

 hoped and expected, from the 

 general observation and admira- 

 tion of such distinguished exam- 

 ples. The end of the fifteen'.h 

 and beginning of the sixteenth 

 centuries enlightened by the dis- 

 coveiy of several of the noblest 

 remains of antiquity, produced 

 in Italy an abundant harvest of 

 the most eminent men, who made 

 gigantic advances in the path of 

 art, as painters, sculptors^ and 



architects . C aught by the novelty, 

 attracted by the beauty, and ena- 

 moured of the perfection of those 

 newly disclosed treasures, they 

 imbibed the genuine spirit of an- 

 cient excellence, and transfused it 

 into their own compositions. 



It is surprising to observe in 

 the best of these Marbles in how 

 great a degree the close imitation 

 of nature is combined with gran- 

 deur of style, Avhile the exact de- 

 tails of the former in no degree 

 detract from the effect and pre- 

 dominance of the latter. 



The two finest single figures 

 of this collection differ materially 

 in this respect from the Apollo 

 Belvidere, which may be selected 

 as the highest and most sublime 

 representation of ideal form and 

 beauty, which sculpture has ever 

 embodied, and turned into shape. 



The evidence upon this part of 

 the inquiry will be read with sa- 

 tisfaction and interest, both wiiere 

 it is immediately connected with 

 these IMarbles, and where it 

 branches out into extraneous ob- 

 scr\ations, but all of them relat- 

 ing to the study of the Antique. 

 A reference is made by one of tlie 

 witnesses to a scul]itor, eminent 

 throughout Europe for liis works, 

 who lately left this metropolis 

 liighly gratified by the view of 

 these treasures of that branch of 

 art, which he has cultivated with 

 so much success. His own letter' 

 to the Earl of Elgin upon this 

 subject is inbcrted in the Ap- 

 pendix. 



In the judgment of Mr. Payne 

 Knight, whose valuation will be 

 referred to in a subsequent page, 

 the first class is not assigned to 

 the two principal statues of this 

 coUecticn ; but he rates the Me- 

 topes 



