CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



first to represent Venus entirely nude, thus giving 

 to the world a new ideal of the goddess. His 

 most celebrated works are his Venus of Cos and 

 of Cnidos ; the former covered from the hip 

 downwards, the latter entirely naked, holding her 

 garment with her left hand over the bath. The 

 group of Niobe is also ascribed to this master. 



In this latter age appeared Lysippus of Sicyon, 

 Euthycrates, Apollodorus, and others, among 

 whom stand pre-eminent Agesander and Poly- 

 dorus, of Rhodes, to whom have been attributed 

 the celebrated group of Laocoon. A number of 

 great works of this era were executed by Greek 

 sculptors at Rome, to whom we are indebted for 

 many busts of distinguished Romans. 



Among the numerous ancient sculptures which, 

 like those already mentioned, have survived until 

 modern times, and been preserved in museums, 

 may be mentioned the following as useful studies. 

 The Dying Gladiator, a naked manly figure, re- 

 clining on his shield, his weapon broken, and 

 expiring from a mortal wound in the side : the 

 Three Graces, a group of female figures in differ- 

 ent attitudes, calculated to shew the symmetry of 

 the form in various positions : Antinous, the 

 figure of a graceful youth, in a simple attitude, 

 expressive of melancholy, and executed with great 

 correctness of proportion : Adonis, a figure some- 

 what more slender and elegant : Venus Genetrix, 

 a figure draped, and possessing a noble simplicity 

 of expression ; the drapery hanging in the most 

 elegant folds, is in itself a study : Cleopatra medi- 

 tating in a reclining position : Laocoon, a group 

 of figures above referred to, consisting of a father 



656 



and his two sons struggling in the folds of ser- 

 pents, and strongly characteristic of the distrac- 

 tion and suffering which may be conceived to be 

 endured in that dreadful situation : Hercules, a 

 figure expressive of robust muscular strength. 



After a lapse of nearly ten centuries, the art of 

 sculpture was revived in Italy, and thence spread 

 to France and other modern nations. Germany 

 has produced various sculptors of eminence; 

 among these may be mentioned Dannecker of 

 Stuttgart, and Tieck and Rauch of Berlin. Dan- 

 necker executed, in pure white marble, a figure 

 of Ariadne seated on a leopard, in an attitude 

 of inexpressible elegance, and equal to the works 

 of ancient art. It is contained in a private 

 museum at Frankfort-on-the-Main. Thorwaldsen, 

 a Danish sculptor, likewise produced many works 

 of striking grandeur and beauty ; not the least 

 imposing of his designs is the colossal figure of 

 a lion carved in the solid rock at Lucerne, in 

 Switzerland. The animal is supposed to be dying 

 from the effects of a wound from a spear, and 

 reclining over a shield emblazoned with fleurs-de- 

 lis ; it is a monument emblematic of the fidelity 

 of the Swiss guards who perished in defending 

 their master, Louis XVI., on the loth of August 

 1792, from the brutality of the Parisian mob. 



Modern art has almost reached the ancient in 

 the figure of Baily's Eve at the Fountain, which 

 is conceived in a style of pure simplicity and grace, 

 with somewhat more intellectuality in the features 

 than is generally to be found in the Grecian sculp- 

 ture of female figures. Within the last few years, 

 America has produced a few good sculptors. 



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Laocoon. 



