M6 



SCULPTURE 



e*Unxil liu masterpieces. The bronze colossus 

 Athena PromachoM no longer stands iijwn the 

 Acropoliii to iitrike feiir into the heart of invading 

 Goths. Hut tin- sculptured decorations of the 

 Parthenon hnve been preserved, though ""' unhurt 

 by tiine. for our admiration. In -i\le there is a 

 |in>found dilleienee lx>t\vrrii tin- meio|>cs, which 

 are marked by a dry archaism, ami tin- magnificent 

 works which are Ktill the supreme expression of 

 tli<* art. Maybe the metopes preceded the rent 

 by gome years, anil there is at least a mastery 

 and sureiiess in their handling which separates 

 tin-in by a Ion;; interval from tin- .Kginctau sculp- 

 tares. But the frieze and such groups from the 

 pediments a have mirvived the shocks ami ex- 

 iilo-ioiis of hi-torv are tin- work of a hand and 

 In. i in balanced and complete. Here breadth, 

 simplicity, and finish unite; there is ever an ex- 

 quisite quality of nurface ; plane id related to plane 

 with amazing subtlety; the accidental is rigidly 

 excluded : nature ami the convention of the art 

 are happily blent ; a sense of dignity, beauty, and 

 control is everywhere apparent : not only is each 

 figure perfect in itself, but each is perfectly adapted 

 to the space it fills ; the structure of the pediment 

 compelled the sculptor to set his figures in ex- 

 quisitely varied pose, so that the coin|H>sition of 

 the groups which represented episodes in Athena's 

 career wax at once (lowing and coherent. The 

 march of the frieze a procession in the Pan- 

 athenaic festival is as large ami stately as its 

 details are exquisite (see Vol. IV. p. 293). Phidias 

 (<|.v.) is to-day, as at his advent, incomparably 

 the greatest sculptor of the world ; and his school 

 handed on the torch he hail given into their 

 hands. The restrained elegance of the Caryatides 

 of the Erechtheuin, the graceful Victories, with 

 their beautiful draperies, which adorned the temple 

 of Nike Apteros. the relined grandeur of a dozen 

 ttflo!, the charming movement of the Phigalinn 

 frieze, are the outcome of Phidias' serene example. 

 The sculptured figures of the temple of Zeus at 

 Olynipia, the shrine of the gold and ivory statue, 

 are an interlude in the history of ait. Legend in 

 ascribing the east pediment to I '.eon ins (the author 

 of the famous Nike), the west to Alcamenes, is 

 almost certainly false; and, if judgment may be 

 based upon style, these figures are earlier in 'date 

 than the Parthenon. The so-called Neo-Attic 

 school marks the decadence. Still beautiful in 

 their decay, the works of Scopas (390-330), and 

 of Praxiteles, his contemporary, have already 

 declined from the austere and classic style of 

 Phidias. Their works hiek something of the 

 repose and impartiality which distinguish the 

 masterpieces of the Parthenon. Though both pro- 

 dnced an immense quantity of works, we know 

 little else than copies and the ancient texts can 

 tell us. The one undoubted work of Praxiteles 

 which still remains to us is the Hermes, discovered 

 at Olympia in 1S77 ; while the handiwork of Scopas 

 may IM' seen in the sculptures of the Mausoleum. 

 To the same ix-riod perhaps lielong the incomparable 

 Venus of Milo i see MKI.OS), and the grave Demeter 

 of Cnidos now in the liritish Museum. Lysippus, 

 the court sculptor of Alexander, followed with 

 his new canon of small heads and jimp figures, 

 and then the school of Pergamum, licgin- 

 ning the revolt against Attic revise, indicted an 

 irremediable injury ii|>on the art of sculpture. 

 The school of Khndes, with iU much liepraised 

 Laoconn (q.v.), the school of Tralles. with its inipos. 

 silile r'atncse hull, completed the glory of the nn- 

 -culpt inqiie. The capital of art was then shifted 

 from Athens to Koine, ami the industrious hand of 

 ill fjturienlet fashioned for us the excellent 

 if uninspired copies to which we owe so much of 

 oar knowledge of Greek sculpture. To catalogue 



their names were su|>crn'uous ; they were not wont 

 to sign them themselves. Hut they pie-en cd for 

 future ages such admirable works as the Aiim/on 

 and the l)or\ phoriis ; mid if the Apollo (q.v.) Kel- 

 vedeieaml the Venus dc Medici have since been 

 monstioiisly overrated, their authors are not to 

 blame. Lastly, mention must be made of Pasi- 



teles, who. in the ti >t' P IM-V. mode a deter 



mined effort like the I'M- Kaphaclitcs of Knghind 

 to revive an archaic style, and even succeeded 

 in establishing a school. 



And then the art of sculpture suffered eclipse. 

 In the early centuries of Christianity the attempt 

 ti> model the human form was condemned as idol- 

 atrous, and such poor barbarous ex|ieriments as 

 \\ere made may be passed over in silence. In the 

 (itli century a revival was inaugurated at Hyzan- 

 tinm, and flatterers compared a monument erected 

 by Justinian in 534 A.D., in honour of a victory 

 over the Persians, to the masterpieces of Phidias. 

 Hut the Christian spirit invading, liw.antinc sculp- 

 ture, truly the very lees of classicism, must needs 

 take refuge in an elaborate symliolisin. The use of 

 gems and precious metals gave a certain splendour 

 to the best examples of Hyzantine art, and its 

 influence was universal. No country in Kurope 

 escaped it, and until the 12th century its reign 

 was undisputed. In the Gothic pcrion" sculpture 

 was, as it were, rediscovered. Commonly some- 

 what rude and barbarous, often resigned to a 

 vigorous realism, it was not an art deliberate and 

 complete as was the sculpture of the Greeks. Its 

 conventions grew up with its growth, and save in 

 France it was rarely emancipated from the fetters 

 of experiment. In England such monumental 

 sculpture as belongs to the Gothic period is un- 

 distinguished and maladroit. William Torcll's 

 Queen Eleanor (13th century) will serve as an 

 example as well as another, and the sculptured 

 decoration of Henry VII. "s chapel at Westminster 

 shows the Gothic style as it was before the Renais- 

 sance reached England. In France there i- another 

 tale to tell. The manifold figures which adorn the 

 cathedrals of Chartres and Ithcinis, though Gothic 

 in spirit, were produced under the influence, of 

 classical art. Their freedom and simplicity is a 

 complete contrast to the barbarous production- of 

 the previous century. However, there is no didi- 

 culty in the supposition that the French artists of 

 the 13th century were familiar with Roman art, 

 and to this acquaintance with a good school they 

 owed their superiority l>oth to their predecessors 

 and to their contemporaries in oilier parts of Knrope, 

 The 14th and Ifith centuries were a |>eriod of decline; 

 the northern spirit gained a complete ascendency, 

 and with the exception of the works of Cjaux Sinter, 

 which may lie studied at Dijon, there is little to note 

 liefore the Itenaissiince. Germany escaped from 

 the thraldom of I'.y/antinm in the 12th century, 

 but she produced little work in the Gothic 

 period that is cither beautiful or sculpturesque. 

 Not until the lAtli century, when Syrlin, Purer, and 

 Wohlgemut practised wood c.-u vim.', is there any 

 notable advance. To Adam Kraflt (1430-1507) a 

 feeling of beauty and rhythm was denied. His 

 figures are square and squat, his drapery is arranged 

 after the German method in stiff, hard-cornered 

 folds. The Visscher family Peter Visscher ( 1455- 

 1529) was the greatest made no conspicuous pro- 

 gress. They were still true to the Gothic ideal, 

 and though their best, work, such as Peter Vis- 

 Kcher's portrait of himself, displays a bind' realism, 

 it was based upon an inartistic convention and 

 possessed no vital inspiration. 



In Italy the classical tradition did not die, and 

 such Gothic sculpture as the Italians produced 

 was either of foreign origin ortinctuied strongly 

 with a feeling of classicism. Niccolo Pisano, who 



