ALTO-RILIEVO. 



ALTO-RILIEVO. 



of iu style, a* practised by the Greek*, bj supposing it to be derived 

 tram the partial I mat ton of a statue in a perpendicular plane. Alto- 

 riliero ia often literally nothing more than thin. Applied however to a 

 Bat lurfaoe, the disposition of the limb* and the action* of the figure 

 become oecesMrily more or lea* parallel with that surface, in order 

 sufficiently to adhere to it The attitude in thus, in a certain degree, 

 adapted or selected. In inserting or embedding a figure in a flat 

 ground, it in obrioua, that although it may be buried lea thiui half itH 

 thicknew, at in alto-riliero, it cannot be bnried mure, nor indeed (the 

 structure of the figure strictly considered) quite no much, without 

 nming to present the real boundary or profile of the form. In the 

 ktw prominent kind* of rilievo it is theret'. m- till required that the 

 outline should prewiit the real form, and thin priiK-iple in it.- imtln-r 

 application exclude*, in a great measure, the unreal forma of perspective 

 and formhorteniiiK, which would suppose that the object* are no 

 longer parallel with the surface on which they are displayed. Attempt* 

 at foreahortening must in uiort cane* fail to satisfy the eye. The work 

 can only be wen in front, and the appearance it presents is therefore 

 required to be at once intelligible, for no uncertainty can be removed 

 by an inspection from another point of view, as in walking round a 

 statue. The bulk, or thickness, need not however be real, provided it 

 appear so. The compression of the bulk, which constitutes the various 

 degrees of mezzo- and bawo-rilievo, thus follows the compression or 

 flattening of the action, the characteristic of alto-riliero. Lastly, the 

 modifications of which this branch of sculpture was susceptible, were 

 adopted, as we shall see, according to the varieties of light, situation, 

 dimensions, and use. 



The Greek", as a general principle, considered the ground of figures 

 in relief to be the real wall, or whatever the solid plane might be, and 

 not to represent air as if it was a picture. The art with them was thus 

 rather the union of sculpture with architecture than a union of sculp- 

 ture with the conditions of painting. That this was founded on the 

 moat rational principles will be evident from a few simple considerations. 

 The shadows thrown by figure* on the surface from whioh they project 



at once betray the solidity of that surface. In the attempt to represent, 

 together with actual projection, the apparent depth of a picture, or to 

 imitate space, figures which are supposed to be remote are reduced in 

 SUM; but although thus diminished in form, they cannot have the 

 strength of their light and shade diminished, and if deprive,! ,>i shadow 

 by inconsiderable relief, they cease to be apirent at all when the work 

 is wen from its proper point of view that is, at a sufficient dintanoe ; 

 having no distinctness whatever in the absence of colour, but by means 

 of light and shade. In short, the art, thus practised, has no longer an 

 independent style, and only betrays its inferiority by presenting defect* 

 which another mode of imitation can supply. A passage in Vitniviiu. 

 proves that the ancient* were not unacquainted with perspective ; and 

 the same author states that perspective scenic decorations were first 

 employed by Agatharcus at Athens, in the time of ^Gschylus. How- 

 ever greatly the science may hare been advanced by the moderns, thin 

 may be sufficient to prove that the absence of perspective in Greek 

 bassi-rilievi was not from an absolute ignorance of its principles, but 

 from a conviction that they would be misapplied in sculpture. 



In carefully keeping within the limits, however narrow, which defined 

 the style of rilievo, the great artists of antiquity failed not to condeiwe 

 into that style the utmost ]>erfection compatible with it, while the 

 various applications of the works suggested abundant variety b 

 treatment and execution. The British Museum contains unquestion- 

 ably the finest existing specimens of this branch of sculpture in the 

 rilievi which decorated the Parthenon, or Temple of Minerva, at Athena. 

 We have here to consider the judicious adaptation of their style* for 

 the situations they occupied ; but in regard to their general excellence 

 as works of imitation, it may also be well to remember that these 

 sculptures were the admiration of the ancients themselves. Seven 

 hundred years after they were produced, Plutarch spoke of them as 

 " inimitable works." 



The figures which adorned the pediment are separate statues, although 

 in their original situation, casting their shadows on the tympanum, they 

 must have had the effect of bold alti-rilievi ; the circumstance of their 



being thus completely detached must have given the greatest distinct- 

 new to their forms, and as they occupied the highest part of the build- 

 ing, their gigantic size and complete relief made them fully effective at 

 a considerable distance. The sculptures which adorned the metope*, or 

 paces between the triglyphs, are in alto rilievo. Those in the British 

 Museum, representing combats with Centaurs, were taken from, the 

 south aide of the building : the subjects were varied on the other sides, 

 tut they mostly related to the warlike exploit* of the Athenians. It 

 ha* been well observed, that the subjects of combats, usually chosen 

 fur ths metope* in Doric temples, afforded opportunities of cm; 

 the figure* so a* to produce diagonal" Unes, which effectually distin- 



guished [the groups from the architecture, and at the same time had 

 the effect of reconciling the vertical forms of the triglyphs with the 

 horizontal lines of the epistyliilm and cornice. The compositions in 

 question all fully occupy the space destined for them, and are calcu- 

 lated, from their treatment and relief, to produce the utmost possible 

 effect. Those works which received the open light were thus boldly 

 relieved from their ground to insure the masses of shadow which make 

 them conspicuous : the principle, applicable to external architecture, 

 that projection commands shade, was thus extended to external deco- 

 rations ; and care seems to li ;ken to keep the light on the 

 figure* an unbroken as possible, especially as the whole scries of metopes 



