253 



ALTO-RILIEVO. 



ALTO-RILIEVO. 



J64 



occupying the external frieze was more or less crossed by the shadow 

 of the cornice. This precaution necessarily limits the attitudes, for 

 mauy actions equally natural with those adopted would have projected 

 shadows on the figure itself, thus tending to confuse the forms. A 

 statue which can be seen from various points, and sometimes in various 

 lights, might thus be unfit as to its composition for that intelligible 

 display in one view and under a constant light which rilievo requires. 

 On the principle that high relief is fittest for the open light, the rilievi 

 of the temple of Phigaleia, which are also preserved in the British 

 Museum, are bold in their projections. These works adorned the 

 interior of the cella, but as the temple was hyprethral, or lighted from 

 the open sky, the principles of external decoration were applicable. 

 Had the temple been imi>erfectly lighted, a flatter kind of relief would 

 have been preferable, and this leads us to consider the style of basso- 

 rilievo, properly so called, the most perfect existing specimen of which 

 is also in the British Museum. It adorned the external wall of the 

 cella of the Parthenon, within the peristyle or colonnade, and was 

 consequently always in shade : the strongest light it could ever receive 

 would probably be the reflection from the pavement below when the 

 Mm wan highest ; but as reflected lights are uncertain, and may pro- 

 ceed from various points, the sculptures in question were calculated 

 to be equally distinct in whatever direction the light was thrown. 

 Their great elevation, and the peculiar angle at which they were seen, 

 owing to the narrowness of the space between the exterior columns and 

 the cella, may also be mentioned in considering the reasons which ren- 

 dered projection unadvisable. That this confined view was not how- 

 ever the sole reason, may appear from the bold relief of the Phigaleian 

 marbles, which, in the interior of the narrow cella of the temple they 

 adorned, must have been seen on the side walls at a very inconsiderable 

 distance compared with their height. The Phigaleian temple was 

 Imilt, according to Pausanias, by Ictinus, the chief architect of the 

 Parthenon ; and although the sculptures are inferior as works of art to 

 the generality of Greek specimens, their style of relief is precisely the 

 point where the architect may be supposed to have influenced their 

 execution. 



As projection commands shade, so flatness commands light, and the 

 flattest relief is hence fittest for an invariably dark situation. The 

 stme principle is observable in .architecture in the treatment of mould- 

 ings in interiors, the form and projection of which differ materially 

 from the corresponding members in the open light, and which are 

 intended to be seen at a distance. The flatness which insures light 

 would, however, be altogether indistinct and formless unless the out- 

 lines were clear and conspicuous at the first glance. The contrivance 

 by which this is effected is by abruptly sinking the edges of the forms 

 to the plane on which they are raised, instead of gradually rounding 

 and losing them. The mass of the relieved figure being sometimes 

 very little raised in its general surface, its section would thus almost 

 present a rectangular projection. In many instances the side of this 

 projection is even less than rectangular; it is undercut, like some 

 mouldings in architecture which require to be particularly distinct, 

 and thus presents a deeper line of shade. But if the figure can thus 

 command distinctness of outline, notwithstanding the inconsiderable 

 light it may receive, it is obvious that its lowness or flatness of relief 

 will in such a light greatly aid its distinctness : above all, this con- 

 trivance gives the work thus seen in an obscure situation the effect of 

 rotundity. Indeed, it is a great mistake to suppose that the flat style 

 of relief was intended to appear flat, and it is a great mistake to apply 

 it in situations, as hi the open air, where it must appear so, and be 

 indistinct besides. The conventions of the arts are remedies, adopted 

 in certain situations and under particular circumstances, and are sup- 

 poeed to be concealed in their results : then- ultimate resemblance to 

 nature, and their successful effect in those circumstances, are the test 

 of their propriety and necessity. The absence of all convention in 

 alto-rilievo (as opposed to the flat style), thus fits it for near situations, 

 if not too near to expose it to accidents. The excellent sculptures 

 which decorate the pronaos and posticum of the Temple of Theseus, 



Lateral portico of the 

 Parthenon. 



End portico of the Temple 

 of Theseus. 



although under the portico, are in bold relief. They were not only 

 nearer the eye, and seen at a more convenient angle than the flat 

 rilievi of the cella of the Parthenon, but the reflected light which dis- 

 played them would necessarily be much stronger. 



It is also to be remembered that only the end porticoes, where the 

 sculpture could be more conveniently seen and was better lighted, 



were decorated with rilievi ; the side walls of the cella were un- 

 ornamented, and undoubtedly bold relief would have been less adapted 

 for them. The Temple of Theseus was built about thirty years before 

 the Parthenon ; and it i not impossible that the satisfactory effect of 

 the flat rilievi on the cella of the latter might have suggested a similar 

 treatment, or some modification of it, in the Temple of Theseus, had it 

 been erected later. It may be observed in general, that alto-rilievo 

 can seldom be fit for interiors, not only from its liability to accident, 

 but from the difficulty of displaying it by the full light which it 

 requires. A superficial light, especially if in a lateral direction, neces- 

 sarily throws the shadows of one figure on another. Instances of 

 this occur in some of the palaces in Rome where works of sculpture 

 have been injudiciously placed. A room, for example, lighted in the 

 ordinary way, will have its walls (at right angles with that occupied by 

 the windows) adorned with a frieze in considerable relief ; the figures 

 nearest the light consequently project their shadows so as to half 

 conceal the next in order. 



The conditions of proximity and distance, as well as the quantity 

 and direction of light, were carefully attended to by the Greek sculp- 

 tors, and suggested new varieties of relief. The end of the art, as far 

 as relates to execution, is accomplished when the work is distinct and 

 intelligible at the distance whence it is intended to be viewed. Hence 

 the conventions which are intended to correct the defects of distance, 

 of material, want of light, &c., are evidently unnecessary where the 

 work admits of close inspection. The style of mezzo-rilievo, which in 

 its boldest examples presents about half the thickness of the figure, is, 

 on many accounts, least fit for a distant effect : the figure is nowhere 

 detached from its ground ; at a very little distance its shadowed side is 

 lost in its cast shade, and its light side in the light of its ground ; the 

 outline, in short, soon becomes indistinct, but the semi-roundness of 

 the forms is directly imitative, and thus again the absence of all con- 

 ventional treatment fits the work for near situations. The style was 

 preferred to alto-rilievo in such cases, as the latter would have been 

 more liable to accidents, and would besides in some measure deform 

 the outline or profile of any object which is circular in its plan. The 

 figures which adorn sculptured vases are thus in mezzo-rilievo : these 

 works probably ornamented interiors where any indistinctness in their 

 distant effect or in an unfavourable light might be obviated by closer 

 inspection. Two specimens may be seen in the second room of the 

 Gallery of Antiquities in the British Museum. The celebrated Medi- 

 cean and Borghesan vases, the finest known examples, are in like manner 

 ornamented with mezzo-rilievo. The same consideration applies to all 

 works, however unfit for a distant effect, which can, or in their original 

 situation could, only be seen near. Even the mixed style of relief in 

 the sculptures which occupy the internal sides of the Arch of Titus at 

 Rome, would hardly be objected to, since the objects represented are 

 distinctly seen, and can only be seen, at the distance of a few feet. 

 The style of semi-relief (much purer than that of the Arch of Titus) 

 adopted by Flaxman in front of Covent Garden Theatre, may be de- 

 fended on the same principle, since the utmost width of the street is 

 hardly a more distant point than a spectator would naturally retire to 

 in order to see them conveniently. The still flatter style which has 

 been introduced on the exterior of several buildings in London cannot, 

 however, be defended on any grounds, and there can be no doubt, from 

 the reasons adduced, that bold relief is generally fittest for the open 

 light. The mezzi-rilievi on the miniature choragic monument of Lysi- 

 crates (casts from them are in the British Museum) may be admitted 

 to have been fitly calculated for their situation because they must have 

 been seen near ; but there was in this case an additional consideration 

 to be attended to ; the building is circular, and alto-rilievo was avoided 

 in order to preserve the architectural profile : on the other hand, the 

 frieze of the small Temple of Victory, which was rectangular, was adorned 

 with alti-rilievi ; and in this case it appears that they did not even extend 

 to the angles. The objections to sculpture on monumental columns 

 will be obvious from these considerations ; it has been observed, that 

 in attempting to preserve the architectural profile, as in the Trajan 

 column, and its modern rival in the Place Vendome at Paris, the 

 sculpture thus slightly relieved soon becomes indistinct, nor indeed 

 would this indistinctness be obviated at a considerable height even by 

 alto-rilievo, the figures being necessarily small, while the evil is only 

 increased by substituting the dark material of bronze for marble. 



We proceed to consider the varieties of style in this art as affecting 

 composition. In rilievo, and in sculpture generally (a colourless 

 material, or a material of only one colour being always supposed), it is 

 evident that shadow is the essential and only source of meaning and 

 efl'ect. In works placed in the open air, and visible in one point only, 

 as in the case of alto-rilievo, a certain open display of the figure is 

 generally adopted; the shadows, or rather the forms which project 

 them, are so disposed as to present at the first glance an intelligible 

 and easily recognised appearance, and the impossibility of changing the 

 point of view, or changing the light, as before observed, limits the 

 attitudes more than in a statue, and, as will also appear, more than in 

 a basso-rilievo. For in the latter, however distinct the outline is in 

 which the chief impression and meaning of the figure reside, the 

 shadows within the extreme outlines are in a great measure suppressed ; 

 it is, in fact, by their being so suppressed that the general form be- 

 comes so distinct. This is also the case when one form is relieved on 

 another ; it will be seen that the nearest object is very much reduced 



