108 



D R A W I N G. 



I I. '.TV (,f 



ancient an 



Decline of 

 the in. 



Extinction 

 of the art. 



Revival of 



the irt. 



we shall therefore confine ourselves to a very brief epi- 

 tome of tlu-ir history. 



t'nder the successors of Alexander the (".rent, the 

 rt maintained their respectability and consideration 

 till the destruction of Corinth liy Lucius Munimius 

 when the liberty of Greece was buried in its ruin- 

 all the finest monuments of art were carried to Home 

 to decorate his triumph. This example was followed 

 In Metcllu* in Macedonia, after the defeat of I'erseus: 

 from this country he took an incredible number of sta- 

 tues, with which he embellished the capitol, and the fa- 

 mous portico which bears his name: and Sylla, on the 

 taking of Athens in the war of Mithridates, completed 

 the destruction of Grecian art. The Torso of the I Icr- 

 cules seems to be one of the last masterpieces produced 

 in Greece before the total extinction of its lilx-rty ; for 

 after this country was reduced to the form of a Roman 

 province, history make- no mention of. -my celebrated ar- 

 tist, until the timeof the tri urns-irate at Koine. The bring- 

 ing to Rome so many fine works of art, seems first to 

 have given to the Romans a taste for the arts of design. 

 These conquerors, when they had relaxed from their 

 scM-rity, Ix'gan themselves to cultivate the Creek nrts 

 as well as letters. The Roman people, sensible of the 

 beaut}- of the productions of Greece, took pleasure in 

 contemplating them ; and that before the art was at all 

 praetisi-d at Rome; they even became the protectors of 

 it in its own country, by having statues executed at 

 Athens for their country houses. Before the dictator- 

 ship of Sylla, the nrts, though esteemed, do not seem 

 to nave met with any distinguished success, as during 

 the republic, the Romans affected a simplicity of man- 

 ners, and the enjoyment of a frugal mediocrity ; but as 

 soon as the laws of chril equality began to be subvert- 

 ed by the preponderance of some rich and powerful ci- 

 tizens, w ho, by luxury and magnificence, endeavoured to 

 awe the people, and to stifle the republican spirit, the 

 taste for the arts began rapidly to increase. Sylla was 

 the first of those who governed Rome as a despot. The 

 destroyer of the arts in Greece, he became their pro- 

 tector in Rome and Italy; he surpassed all in the splen- 

 dour and suuiptuousness of his buildings; C'lodius, l,u- 

 cullus, Ix*pidus, PoinjK-y, and others, adorned their pa- 

 laces and gardens with statues ; and ('u'sar, when he 

 came to the empire, besides erecting superb edifices in 

 Italy, Gaul, Spain, and Greece, made magnificent col- 

 lections of engraved stones, and of pictures of the an- 

 cient masters. Augustus decorated the public places, 

 and even the streets, with statues of the gods, and 

 placet! in the portico of his forum those of the most 

 illustrious Romans who had contributed to the glory of 

 their country. The arts of design were now firmly 

 established at Rome, which was filled with artists from 

 Greece, as well as its own natives, who all aspired to 

 honour and emolument under the auspicious influence 

 of imperial patronage. This forms another brilliant 

 epoch of the art. It was now arrived at its climax ; but 

 it seems to be the lot of art not to remain long station- 

 ary. The train of monsters who immediately succeed- 

 ed Augustus, brought on a premature decay ; and, not- 

 withstanding the countenance and encouragement it re- 

 ceived from the Ves-pasians, Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, and 

 theAntonines, the decline was rapid and uninterrupted; 

 and by the time of Charlemagne, it had sunk to the 

 lowe-t -t.ite of barbarism and degradation, and so con- 

 tinued till the time of Cimabue. Although the reno- 

 vation of the arts in Rome has generally been attribut- 

 ed to Citnabue, it is certain that they were cultivated 

 lor nearly two centuries before him, and, it is sup- 



principally by Greeks. The Mosaic pictures at 

 St Mark's at (fain surticiently shew the low state of 

 the art at this time, being without light and shadow, in 

 miserable draw ing and pro|x>rtion, and the figures stand- 

 ing on the points of their toes ( imalme began to find i -. 

 out the di tects of this manner ; and his di-ciple ( iiotto, anJ GiMto. 

 improving on the discoveries of his master, by giving 

 an air to his heads, attitude and motion to I, 

 and even attempting the passions and allcctions of the 

 soul, and more natural folds to his draj>ery, laid the 

 foundation of that vast fabric of excellence, which, af- 

 ter the gradual improvement of two centuries, and the 

 successive labours of Ghiberti, liruneleschi, Masaccio, 

 Andrea Mantcgna, and their followers, was :,i 

 perfected by the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, Michael 

 Angelo Buonarotti, and RafTaellc. 



nardo da Vinci, besides strength and manliness of I,.d Vinci. , 

 design, gave all that subtle detail of the exactness of na- 

 ture; and in the stronger expressions, he seems to have 

 gone farther than any contcni|x>rary or succeeding artist, 

 in marking the emotions uf the soul in the actions and 

 countenance; and his enthusiasm. though great, is alv 

 equalled by the coolness and solidity of his judgment. 

 Although the researches of Leonardo da Vinci were ex- 

 tended to all the ]Kirts of painting, his sagacity was so 

 eU'cctual in each, that it may be truly said that the gi 

 part of the excellencies of some of his most distingr.i 

 successors was owing, in a great measure, to the i: 

 veries of this scientific and philosophical arti.-t. 



Michael Angelo. by the study of anatomy and the an- M.Angela, 

 tique, had | ft -cd himself of such powers in the na- 

 ked, as had never been known In'lbre him: he formed 

 his taste very much from the Torso, and other ideal 

 statues of ant iquity ; yet, notwithstanding the vaslness 

 and sublimity of his conceptions, his noble enthusiasm, 

 and the correctness and greatness of his stile, his works 

 are chargeable with a great want of variety of charac- 

 ter, as that of the Torso is too prevalent in them all. 

 His character, however, as a designer, has always been 

 e.-tccmcd. MS de-ign it-elf was cultivated and understood; 

 and if his reputation has diminished in latter times, it is 

 because tliis part of the art has been less attended to, than 

 those that are more showy and superficial. No man 

 has delineated, with more skill, those actions that re- 

 quire spirit and energy ; and none, since the revival of 

 the art, has ever equalled him in elevation of sentiment, 

 unity of idea, and consummate knowledge of the fi- 

 gure. See RUONAROTTI. 



RalTaelle's design was, in its beginning, like that of his n. :i ffUelle. 

 master, 1'ietro I'erugino, dry, but correct ; he enlarged 

 it much on seeing the drawings of Michael Anprlo. 

 though, in his smaller works, he never entirely got the 

 better of that dryncss of manner. Of too just an e\ e 

 to give entirely into the excesses of his model, he struck 

 out a middle style, which, however, was not so happily 

 blended, nor so original, as quite to throw orl' the in- 

 fluence of the two extremes ; hence, in the great, he is 

 too apt to swell into the charged, in the delicate to 

 drop into the little. His design is, notwithstanding, 

 lieaiitiful, though it never arrived at that perfection 

 which we discover in the Greek statues. He is excel- 

 lent in the characters of :rpo*tlcs. philosophers, and the 

 like ; but the figures of hi< women have none of that 

 elegance which is seen in the Venus de Medici, or the 

 daughters of Niobe; in these, his convex contours have 

 a certain heaviness, which, when he seeks to avoid, he 

 falls into a Hryness still less agreeable. His great ex- 

 cellence in design is more a happy union of all its es- 

 sential parts, than the energy of any one separately 



