SCULPTURE. 



acknowledged to be those of ancient Greece, and 

 the period of highest perfection was during the 

 administration of Pericles, about 440 years before 

 the Christian era. In this age, Phidias flourished, 

 the greatest sculptor of ancient or modern times, 

 who raised his art to the highest standard of per- 

 fection. With him properly commenced the ideal 

 style in sculpture, which embraces all that is noble 

 and beautiful, and rejects all that is vulgar and 

 degrading. The religion of the Greeks, which 

 was idolising of deified heroes and heroines, offered 

 the utmost scope for lofty conceptions. His 

 master-pieces were the figures of Jupiter Olympius 

 and Minerva. The only works of Phidias that 

 have come down to our times are the sculptures 

 which, under the title of the Elgin Marbles, are 

 preserved in the British Museum. There is no 

 doubt that these are the productions of this great 

 artist many of them, probably, from his own hand, 

 and all executed immediately under his direct 

 superintendence. These sculptures were brought 

 from the Parthenon of Athens, and consist of the 

 statues and groups which were placed on the pedi- 

 ments of the temple, of several metopes in alto- 

 rilievo, and of a considerable portion of the 

 frieze of the cella in basso-rilievo. Fig. 29 

 represents a statue of Theseus from the eastern 



Fig. 29. 



pediment. This figure, which is in good 

 preservation, is of the highest excellence, and 

 finished to the very perfection of art : the back, 



Fig. 30. 



especially, is allowed to be a master-piece. 

 Fig. 30 represents one of the slabs from the 



Panathenaic frieze. ' The horses,' says Flaxman, 

 ' appear to live and move, to roll their eyes, to 

 gallop, prance, and curvet ; the veins of their 

 : faces and legs seem distended with circulation ; 

 in them are distinguished the hardness and deci- 

 j sion of bony forms, from the elasticity of tendon 

 ; and the softness of flesh. The beholder is charmed 

 j with the deer-like lightness and elegance of their 

 make ; and though the relief is not above an inch 

 from the background, and they are so much 

 smaller than nature, we can scarcely suffer reason 

 to persuade us that they are not alive.' On this 

 frieze, a number of artists must have been em- 

 ployed, and, accordingly, differences of style and 

 skill may be discovered. 



Phidias taught a number of others, among whom 

 Alcamenes of Attica, and Agoracritus of Paros, 

 were his favourite pupils. Both these sculptors 

 executed several works which attained a high 

 reputation. A contemporary was the famed 

 Myron of Eleutherae in Bceotia, who represented 

 highly finished athletic forms. His Runner, his 

 Quoit-player, and his Pancratiasts are celebrated. 

 His ideal of Hercules completed this class of 

 forms. His Cow and his Sea-monster are famous 

 among his animal forms. But one thing was 

 wanting to this great sculptor grace of expres- 

 sion ; in this he was surpassed by a rival sculptor, 

 who adopted the undulating line of beauty, and 

 first expressed the sinews and veins with accuracy. 

 He created the ideal of Apollo in the position of 

 an archer, who has just shot the serpent Python 

 the figure indicating in its expression a placid 

 satisfaction and assurance of victory. 



After the ideal style of Phidias and his disciples, 

 succeeded the period in Grecian art distinguished 

 for the beautiful. Praxiteles and Scopas were the 

 great leaders of this improved style, in which 

 beauty was united with grace. The most cele- 

 brated works of Scopas are his furious Bacchante 

 the head bending backwards, uniting the highest 

 beauty with Bacchanalian frenzy ; his Cupid ; and 

 his Achilles, who is placed in a mournful attitude, 

 contemplating, as if lamenting the loss of his friend 

 Patroclus. The Venus of 

 Dione (fig. 31) is also 

 ascribed to this sculptor, 

 the execution of which is 

 very fine, and was pro- 

 nounced by Canova to be 

 the finest female statue 

 he had seen in England 

 the only restorations are 

 the left arm, the right 

 hand, and the tip of the 

 nose. Praxiteles, the most 

 feeling of all sculptors, 

 created the perfect ideals 

 of Diana and of Bacchus ; 

 the latter being designed 

 by him as a contrast to 

 the Satyrs and Fauns, 

 whose figures express 

 rudeness and licentious- 

 ness. The figure of 

 Bacchus was soft and 

 tender, without being 



Fig- 31- 



effeminate, and expressed perpetual gaiety and 

 sport He effected also the admired statue of a 

 Satyr, and the ideal of Eros, or Cupid, which 

 was that of a playful boy. Praxiteles was the 



655 



