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of shadow liy inconsiderable relief, they rent I" lie apparent 

 at all when the work is seen (rum it proper puint of view, 

 that it, at a sufficient distance ; having no distinctness 

 whatever in the absence of colour, but by means of light and 

 shade. In short, the art, thus practised, has no longer an 

 independent style, and only betray* its inferiority by pre- 

 senting defects which another mode of imitation can supply. 

 A passage in Yimivius proves that the antienu were not 

 unacquainted with perspective ; and the same author states 

 that perspective scenic decorations were first employed by 

 Aiiatharcus at Athens, in the time of /Eschylus. How- 

 ever greatly the science may have been advanced by the 

 moderns, this may be sufficient to prove that the absence of 

 perspective in Greek bassi-rilievi was not from an absolute 

 ignorance of its principles, but from a conviction that they 

 would be misapplied in sculpture. 



In carefully keeping within the limits, however narrow, 

 whieh denned the style of nlievo, the great artists of anti- 

 quity failed not to condense into that style the utmost per- 

 n compatible with it, while the various applications of 



the works suggested abundant variety in their treatment and 

 execution. Tin- 1'ntish Museum contains unquestionably 

 the finest existing specimens of this liranch of sculpture in 

 tin' rilievi which decorated the Parthenon, or Temple of 

 Minerva, at Athens. We have here to i-.m-nler the judi- 

 cious adaptation uf their vtvles for the situations they occu- 

 pied ; but in regard to their general excellence as works 

 of imitation, it may also be well to remember that these 

 sculptures were the admiration of the undents themselves. 

 Seven hundred years after they were produced Plutarch 

 spoke of them as ' inimitable works.' 



The figures whii-li adonu-d the pediment are separate 

 statues, although in their original situation, casting their 

 shadows on the tympanum, they must have had 

 of bold alti-rihe\i: the circumstance of their being thus 

 completely detached must have given the greatest distincl- 

 ne~s to their forms, and as they occupied the highest part 

 of the building, their gigantic sire and complete relic: ; 

 them fully efl'cctivc at a considerable distance. The s< ulp- 

 tures which adorned the metopes, or spaces between the 



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triglyphs, are in alto-rilievo. Those in the British Museum, 

 representing combats with Centaurs, were taken from the 

 south side of the building : the subjects were varied on the 

 other sides, but they mostly related to the warlike exploits 

 nf the Athenians. It has been well observed that the subjects 

 of combats, usually chosen for the metopes in Doric temples, 

 afforded opportunities of composing the figures so as to pro- 

 duce diagonal lines, which effectually distinguished the 

 groups from the architecture, and at the same time had the 

 effect of reconciling the vertical forms of the triglyphs with 

 the horizontal lines of the epistylium and cornice. The 

 compositions in question all fully occupy the space destined 

 for them, and are calculated, from their treatment and relief, 

 to produce the utmost possible effect. Those works which 

 received the open light were thus boldly relieved from their 

 ground to insure the masses of shadow which make them 

 conspicuous: the principle, applicable to external architec- 

 ture, that projection commands shade, was thus extended to 

 external decorations; and care seems to have been taken 

 to keep the light on the figures as unbroken as possible, 

 especially as the whole series of metopes occupying the 

 external frieze was more or less crossed by the shadow 

 of the cornice. This precaution necessarily limits the atti- 

 tudes, for many actions equally natural with those adopted 



would have projected shadows on the figure itself, thus 

 tending to confuse the forms. A statue which can be seen 

 from various points, and sometimes in various lights, might 

 thus be unfit as to its composition for that intelligible 

 display in one view and under a constant light which 

 nlievo require*. On the principle that high relief is fittest 

 for the open light, the rilievi of the temple of Phigalcia, 

 which lire also preserved in the British Museum, arc bold 

 in their projections. These works adorned the interior of 

 the cello, but as the temple was hypccthral, or lighted from 

 the open sky, the principles of external decoration were 

 applicable. Had the temple been imperfectly Lighted, a 

 (latter kind of relief would have been preferable, and this 

 leads us to consider the stylo of basso-rilievo, properly so 

 called, the must perfect existing specimen of which is also 

 in the British Museum. It adorned the external wall of the 

 celln of the Parthenon, within the peristyle or colonnade, 

 and was consequently always in shade : the strongest light 

 it could ever receive would probably be the reflection from 

 the pavement below when the sun was highest ; but as re- 

 '. lights are uncertain, and may proceed from various 

 points, the sculptures in question were calculated to be 

 equally distinct in whatever direction the light was thrown. 

 Their great elevation, and the peculiar angle at which they 



