430 On the Beautiful in the Grecian Statues. 
Venus de Medici answers not to our expectation, 
that it appears to be not so beautiful as the whole 
and every other part of the form. But the 
artist has given to the whole attitude the ex- 
pression of apprehensive modesty, and of the 
will to move, you expect the statue to step from 
the pedestal. In the Apollo Belvidere is pre- 
sented every thing that elegance and grace with 
a chastened severity and dignity can require in 
a perfect masculine form, The beauty of An- 
tinous, the Catamite of Hadrian, is feminine, 
but the form of Apollo is such as mind giving 
its character to form and countenance would 
prepare you to expect. He is not Jupiter, nor 
Mars, nor Bacchus; there is. blended in his 
figure the excelience of each, but with no ex- 
treme; he is such as you would look for in 
the ruler of the day, the president of the muses, 
in the handsomest and the wisest of the gods. 
This delight, which the Grecian antiques ex- 
cite, and as a matter of feeling, without any 
philosophical enquiry, has been witnessed by all, 
in various ages and nations. The Greeks copied 
from nature, her most perfect forms were their 
standard ; succeeding artists have received their 
productions as a standard, and looked for re- 
putation as they approximated to the perfection 
of their works. The antient Romans in the 
highest pride of their empire deemed nothing 
