PAINTER. 313 



viving classic influence, in those earliest days before art was 

 extinguished by the barbarians) was that of the donor of a 

 sacred picture to a church or other ecclesiastical edifice, who 

 was allowed to have himself represented in a corner of the 

 picture on his knees with hands joined in supplication. 



Something similar happened with another form of art. 

 Landscapes made their first appearance as small and modest 

 backgrounds to representations of sacred personages and in 

 cidents backgrounds the composition of which displays an 

 artificiality congruous with that of the figure-composition. 

 In course of time this background assumed a greater impor 

 tance, but still it long remained quite subordinate. After it 

 had ceased to be a mere accompaniment, landscape-painting 

 in its secularized form was but partially emancipated from 

 figure-painting. When it grew into a recognized branch of 

 art, the title &quot; Landscape with figures,&quot; was still generally 

 applicable; and down to our own day it has been thought 

 needful to put in some living creatures. Only of late has 

 landscape pure and simple, absolutely divorced from human 

 life, become common. 



Of course various classes and sub-classes of artists, broadly 

 if not definitely marked off, are implied by these and other 

 specialized kinds of paintings: some determined by the na 

 tures of the subjects treated and others by the natures of 

 the materials used. 



720. For form s sake it is requisite to say that here as 

 always those units of a society who make themselves distinct 

 by performing functions of a certain kind, presently, along 

 with separation from the rest, begin to unite with one an 

 other. The specialized individuals form a specialized aggre 

 gate. 



When in the Middle Ages the artists employed as assist 

 ants to priests for ecclesiastical decoration became a class, 

 they grew into something like guilds. Levasseur, quoting 

 Laborde, says they were hardly distinguished from artisans: 



