SCUMTTIM-:. 



: iTn:r. 



artist who bad an opprobrious nickname In consequence of painting 

 low and commoii-pUoe subjects ; and the Thebans had a law which 



wtuibility to tha charm of beautiful forma was encouraged and assisted 

 by the habit* of the people. The gymnasia, or schools, in which young 

 men were trained to take part in the public games, were frequented by 

 all limn Statesmen, philosophers, poeU, and artists were in the 

 habit of attending them, and were thus accustomed to see the human 

 form in all it* Tarirtin, whether draped or naked, or in repose or in 

 action ; and while the sculptor was filling his mind with the beauty 

 and capabilities of the human figure, the spectator was acquiring the 

 knowledge that enabled him to become a competent judge of imitative 

 art. The importance attached to distinction in these games rendered 

 the education of the young men a subject of great care. Every means 

 were resort**! to in order to increase the elegance, the strength, the 

 suppleness, and the active powers of the body ; and the sculptor especi- 

 ally benefited by having constantly before him the finest forms that 

 exact discipline and judicious training could produce. He was thus 

 taught to seek the causes of the superiority of the victor in the race 

 or the wrestling match ; and by comparing or contrasting the different 

 properties most generally found to exist in the conquerors in the 

 various cliimrci. to adopt those qualities in whatever characters he 

 might be called upon to represent. The deep and spacious chest and 

 broad shoulders of the brawny wrestler gave the type or distinguishing 

 character of Heracles, and the class in which physical strength was to 

 be exhibited : the clean legs, small well-knit joints, and lighf propor- 

 tions of the victor in the foot-race, furnished the character of form of 

 the messenger of the gods ; while the union of strength and agility in 

 the athlete, taught the sculptor how to make those combinations which 

 eventually resulted in what is termed ideal beauty, the statues of 

 gods, demigods, and heroes. Having this access to the best models, 

 and exercising bis art under the eyes of critics who, from habit ami 

 observation, were as well acquainted as him.-clf with his standard, it is 

 not surprising that the sculptor of Greece acquired a facility and a 

 power of representing every class of form unattained by any other 

 people, and which have rendered the terms Greek and perfection, with 

 reference to art, almost synonymous. The high purposes to which 

 sculpture especially was applied, and the general interest that was felt 

 in all works that were produced, account for the success with which 

 the art was practised. The mind of the sculptor was enlarged while he 

 reflected on the appropriation of big work and the great objects of his 

 labours. His was not the ambition of present praise or profit. He 

 felt, and truly felt, that his art, properly practised and rightly under- 

 stood, was capable of producing great moral effects upon those who 

 were to contemplate them ; and consequently, in the best period of 

 Greek art, the appeal was always made to the higher feelings rather 

 than the mere senses. The artist did not produce his works to gratify 

 a patron, but to improve a people ; and whether they were destined to 

 the temple, the grove, the portico, or the place in which the public 

 games were celebrated ; whether, like the Zeus of Olympus, they were 

 intended to excite religious impressions of the majesty of the gods ; or, 

 as in the icontt (or portrait statues) in Altis, to stimulate the energy of 

 the youths of Greece to gain distinction in the public games the 

 sculptor felt, and he acquired power as he was impressed with the 

 ennobling idea, that he was contributing to a great end. This is the 

 principle of the success of the arts hi Greece ; and in the presence or 

 absence of this recognition of the public utility of art. may be discovered 

 the causes of iU comparative success or failure in other nations and in 

 later times. 



In Greece, as in other countries, the earliest attempts at imitative 

 art were extremely rude. Pausanias, who travelled in Greece about 

 A.D. 1*0, mentions that at Phanc in Aclnc.i thirty quadrangular blocks 

 of stone were worshipped, or at least honoured, as the symbols or 

 representations of certain divinities. At Thespiie Hera was thus 

 recognised, and at Sivy on Artemis Patroa was represented by a column, 

 and Zeus Milichius by a pyramid. (I'aus., vii. _' ; ii. :i.) The ancient 

 statue, if it can be so called, of Aphrodite of Paphos, with others that 

 might be referred to, were mere columns or stones set upright. The 

 next step in art was in the attempt to characterise these shapeless symbols 

 by giving them a human form. The upper part was shaped into the 

 likeness of a head, and, by degrees, arms and legs were marked out ; 

 but in these early imitations of the human figure the arms were 

 doubtless represented closely attached to the sides, and the legs, though 

 to a certain extent defined, were still connected or united in a common 

 pillar, as in the statues of the Egyptian school 



The history of Greek sculpture may be divided, generally, into four 

 periods, each of which is illustrated by existing works bearing 

 unequivocal marks of the progressive changes which attended the 

 practice of the art from its rise to its decline. These greater divisions 

 or periods might perhaps easily be subdivided into smaller parts ; but, 

 as the present object is to give only a general and comprehensive view 

 of the history of Greek sculpture, it seems better to confine ourselves 

 to a few great divisions. The student who desires a more oxteu-ivr 

 acquaintance with the subject will find ample information in the 

 numerous valuable works that have appeared of late years, as well as 

 in the opportunities that now exist of examining the remains of Greek 



art of all ages which are preserved in the museums of this aix i 

 countries. The four principal sections int., which ancient 

 sculpture may IMJ divided are the . nt period; 



the Phidian ; the Praxitelian, which includes the period of Lysippus ; 

 and fourthly, the age of its dc 



The I 1 embraces all the uncertain age, of which little U 



known but what can be gleaued from the traditions preset- 

 ancient writers. It may be considered to extend tu th<- Commence- 

 ment of that great change in the style of art which hod its cou- 

 tin iii the school of whi<-li Phidias was the head. The Sec 

 in, K.I,-, tli^ p, ii-,.1 during which sculpture was practised in tin 

 or sublime style, and during which the scholars of Phidias ex. 

 their works on the principles which he taught and illustrated. The 

 Third period is characterised by a more rich and flowing st\l, . .1 

 execution, as well as by the choice of softer and more delicate subjects 

 than hod usually been selected for representation. In this the beau- 

 tiful was sought after, rather than the sublime. Praxiteles may be 

 considered the first sculptor who introduced this more sensual, if it 

 may be so called, style of art ; and Lysippus contributed to adv.- 

 by the peculiar fulness, roundness, and harmonious general effect, l.\ 

 which it appears that his works were characterised. Tin 

 last period in this classification is that of the decline of SCUM 

 when, although the excellence of preceding schools was still admitted 

 and often maintained, not only no advance was made, but 

 frequently led away by the love of novelty of design, or the cl< 

 discover some new road to fame or profit, and neglected the , 

 which ages of progress!'. < tent hod shown to be the 1>< 



safest rules of practice. When this was the case, grandeur 

 will be found to have given place to littleness, and the 

 simplicity of general form and character were lost in individual. 

 minute detail 



The remains of Greek sculpture of the Archaic period are inter 

 to the antiquary, but they offer few attractions to the lover of the 

 beautiful. Higid and stiff in action, and rude and inelegant in form, 

 the statues and rilievi of the infancy of Greek sculpt in 

 little to distinguish them, in these respects, from the earlier attempts of 

 other nations. The first step towards a change was in the attempt to 

 give action ; and this was soon attended by fresh peculiarities of shape 

 or figure in the parte. In this stage it will bo observed that there is 

 great energy or violence in the general design, with a lumpy or knotty 

 character of form. The general proportions of the figures are thick in 

 comparison with the length of parts. The breasts and hi 

 wide and broad, while the hips are narrow. The thighs and e.i i 

 the legs are large and heavy for the knees and ankle?, and the I 

 long and clumsily shaped. The treatment of the head is peculiar in 

 the sculpture of this early period. The eye is usually long and narrow ; 

 and is slightly raised at the outer extremity. The mouth i.- ..pen. and, 

 owing to a slight curve or elevation at the extiviuhi 

 sion of smiling. On the most ancient corns the hair is wiry, the lines 

 being parallel and close together, in the apparent endeavour > 

 the effect of the whole by imitating every hair. This was mot 

 cessfully attempted by executing the hair in masses : 

 works exhibit examples of this, where the effect is partially pi 

 by small knobs or lumps. At a more advanced period the 1 

 executed in a more minute and careful manner, and with a 11101 



langement, combining as it were the particular charaetei 

 earliest treatment with the more general effect attnu-pted in tl> 

 stage of art. In this the hair is brought in n. ai ly .-tr.ii. -lit lin. 

 the head, but it terminates in small round curls which ore arranged 

 with great regularity, and sometimes in two or tlti 

 forehead, extending on each side to the temples and ears. Specimens 

 of these modes of treatment occur in the early tctr.-i.lrarhms ,,f .\ 

 in the heads of the figures in the statues found in the island of .Kgina; 

 and in the sculptures found at Selinunte in Sicily, as well as in 

 remains of small bronzes and early coins ; ami there are many examples 

 of it preserved in the collection of antiquities in the Brit i 

 In mole figures the beard, wh.r.-\ er it. occurs, is wiry, and . 

 elaborate execution. There is a curious specimen of this in th 

 of a warrior in a group in the Sclimtntine marbles above mention, d 

 (and of which there are costs in the British Museum), as we'll ,,~ in the 

 yEginetan marbles. The draperies in the sculpture of thi 

 ore extremely thin, lying close to the figure (or to the gronn,' 1 

 reliefs), excepting at the edges of the folds, which are 

 angular ; these are arranged with the greatest precision, op, 

 corresponding as nearly as possible with each other, with the edges 

 shown, and terminating in a sort of regular zigzag series of lin. 

 these peculiarities are characteristic of the most ancient, or, as we have 

 called it, Archaic art : and whenever imitations of it have been m id.- 

 in later times, these features of action, form, and treatment of di 

 have been observed. Sometimes portions only of the p 

 above pointed out will be remarked in genuine ancient works, but of 

 a later age than that under consideration. The sculptures alluded to 

 as ^Gginetan offer examples of this ; the treatment of the head 

 characteristic of an earlier age of the art than the rest , .,' the ligurcs. 

 This is doubtless to be I to a feeling of veneration for the 



older forms and received traditions of certain personages, such as 

 divinities and heroes; and in this respect obedience to prescription 

 marks the Greek as it did the Egyptian and other schools : with the 



