49 MAN IN NATURE 



The following of nature must also form the basis of those 

 fine arts which are not necessarily connected with any utility, 

 and in man's pursuit of art of this kind we see one of the most 

 recondite and at first sight inexplicable of his correspondences 

 with the other parts of nature ; for there is no other creature 

 that pursues art for its own sake. Modern archaeological dis- 

 covery has shown that the art of sculpture began with the 

 oldest known races of man, and that they succeeded in produc- 

 ing very accurate imitations of natural objects. But from this 

 primitive starting-point two ways diverge. One leads to the 

 conventional and the grotesque, and this course has been 

 followed by many semi-civilized nations. Another leads to 

 accurate imitation of nature, along with new combinations 

 arising from the play of intellect and imagination. Let us look 

 for a moment at the actual result of the development of these 

 diverse styles of art, and at their effect on the culture of hu- 

 manity as existing in nature. We may imagine a people who 

 have wholly discarded nature in their art, and have devoted 

 themselves to the monstrous and the grotesque. Such a 

 people, so far as art is concerned, separates itself widely from 

 nature and from the mind of the Creator, and its taste and 

 possibly its morals sink to the level of the monsters it pro- 

 duces. Again, we may imagine a people in all respects 

 following nature in a literal and servile manner. Such a people 

 would probably attain to but a very moderate amount of cul- 

 ture, but having a good foundation, it might ultimately build 

 up higher things. Lastly, we may fancy a people who, like 

 the old Greeks, strove to add to the copying of nature a higher 

 and ideal beauty by combining in one the best features of 

 many natural objects, or devising new combinations not found 

 in nature itself. In the first of these conditions of art we have 

 a falling away from or caricaturing of the beauty of nature. In 

 the second we have merely a pupilage to nature. In the third 

 we find man aiming to be himself a creator, but basing his 



