ANTIQUARIES ANTIQUE. 



195 



lessened much the belief in the pope's sanctity and 

 Infallibility, shook the whole fabric of the church, 

 and contributed much to prepare the way for the 

 great reformation ; but it would be unjust to throw 

 on the popes alone the blame of these unhappy con- 

 flicts. They were natural consequences of the dimi- 

 nution of the dependence of the different governments 

 on the papal see, resulting, in a great measure, from 

 the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Another 

 cause of these schisms was the diminished authority 

 of the clergy, whose corruption and profligacy, in 

 many countries, had given the greatest offence 

 throughout Christendom. Of this the most melan- 

 choly proof may be found in almost any work of the 

 ' 4th and 15th centuries, as well as in the proceed- 

 ings of the councils. Those, for instance, of the 

 rouncils of Constance and Basle, and some of the 

 writings of Petrarca, who lived at Avignon when it 

 was the seat of the papal court, are full of such facts 

 :md complaints of them. Only one antipope is re- 

 corded to have existed at an earlier period Nova- 

 tianus, a Roman priest and heretic, the rival of Cor- 

 nelius, in 251. Amadeus VIII. duke of Savoy, was 

 the last antipope. He was elected by the council of 

 Basle, in 1439, in opposition to Eugene IV. and 

 Nicholas V. But he renounced his title in favour of 

 the latter, in 1449. Similar scenes had taken place 

 in the latter ages of the Roman empire. When that 

 gigantic structure was fast verging to ruin, emperors 

 rose against emperors, elected and supported by their 

 :-okliers in different quarters of the world. In fact, 

 such divisions must always take place whenever a 

 vast empire, spiritual or temporal, declines, and loses 

 that energy which had 'conducted it . to greatness. 

 Thus we find in the Mohammedan history, at one 

 period, many anticaliphs. 



ANTIQUARIES; men who employ themselves in the 

 study or collection of antiquities. In Italy, the cice- 

 roni are often antiquaries. In England, and particu- 

 larly in Scotland, there are important associations of 

 iinticiiiaries. In Germany, those booksellers who deal 

 exclusively in old books, are called by this name, 

 ;ind the custom has extended beyond this country. 

 I n France, these dealers are ironically called bouqui- 

 in'sts, from louquin, a book of little value. In Lon- 

 don, the most valuable collections may be found at 

 Txnigman's and Bohn's; in Paris, at Renouard's; 

 in Madrid, at Sancha's ; in Rome, at de Romani's ; 

 in Florence, at Molini's ; in Utrecht, at Wild's and 

 Altheer's; and in Leyden, at Luchtmans's. In Ger- 

 many, Weigel in Leipsic, Meusel in Coburg, Hasssler 

 und Nestler in Hamburg, and Sommerbroa in Berlin, 

 :ire among the best known, and often have very va- 

 luable editions. 



ANTIQUE. After the convulsions which attended 

 the settlement of the tribes of the North and the 

 East, on the ruins of the Roman empire, had, in 

 some degree, subsided, and the nations of Europe 

 began to enjoy, to a certain degree, the blessings of 

 peace, a regard for science and the arts grew up 

 among the rude conquerors, and revived in the minds 

 of the vanquished. In the midst of barbarism, the 

 p emains of Grecian and Roman civilization, literature, 

 and art, appeared like the productions of a better 

 :m:l nobler world ; and the word antiquus, applied 

 to literature, science, or art, became almost synony- 

 mous with excellent. By degrees, the relics of ancient 

 literature were collected in libraries, and those of art 

 in museums. It was not, however, till the 14th and 

 1 3th centuries, that the effects of the admiration and 

 study of the numerous and continually increasing 

 col lections of antiques began to be perceptible, and 

 first of all in Italy. What is termed modern ar(, in 

 contradistinction to ancient, then had its origin. This 

 was based, indeed, on different principles from the 



ancient., inasmuch as it was influenced by the spirit 

 of Christianity, of chivalry, and the prevailing cha- 

 racter of the Teutonic nations. Still the noble im- 

 pulse, which it received at this time, was derived 

 almost entirely from the study of the remains of an- 

 tiquity, to which the greatest masters of modem 

 times devoted themselves most intensely ; though 

 their own works bear distinctly the stamp of their 

 own characters, and of the age in which they lived. 

 The great question then arises, In what does the 

 difference between ancient and modern art consist ? 

 To explain this, it would be necessary to go deeply 

 into the nature of the fine arts ; and, moreover, it can 

 never be correctly understood without personal ac- 

 quaintance with the great works of both. Some of 

 the most striking diversities are, that the ancient art 

 attaches more importance to the form ; ancient art, 

 also, aims particularly to express general ideas, and 

 to give something of a general character even to in- 

 dividual representations ; while the modern confines 

 itself more to individual characteristics. To explain 

 the reasons of the existing differences, would require 

 a closer investigation of the religion and government, 

 the science and social life of the ancients, as distin- 

 guished from those of the moderns. One of the 

 principal causes is to be found in the different light 

 in which man and outward nature are regarded, in 

 the popular belief of antiquity, from that in which 

 Christianity considers them. The ancient creeds gave 

 a divine character to f the outward creation, and re- 

 presented the gods in'the figures rf men ; while the 

 Christian religion has been generally understood as 

 inculcating contempt for all things earthly, and the 

 scriptures themselves continually connect the idea of 

 sin with that of the world. We shall pursue these 

 ideas farther, under the articles Classical and Ro- 

 mantic, also in the article Philosophy. When we 

 consider the remains of Greek and Roman art, we 

 find the former far superior; in fact, the Roman 

 might be considered an after-blossom of the Greek, 

 sprung from the immensely rich collections of an- 

 tiques in Rome. Greek art was so pure and chaste, 

 so truly based on nature, and yet strove ,so zeal- 

 ously after ideal beauty, that the study of its re- 

 mains is, and must continue, indispensable to the artist 

 and the connoisseur. Among the circumstances 

 which contributed to produce its excellence, we may 

 mention, in addition to the influence of the prevailing 

 religion (which saw in the gods ideal men, raised 

 men to the rank of gods, and personified every 

 quality in its multitude of gods and demigods), the 

 number of small states, and also the joint celebration 

 of the Olympic games by all of them, the inventive 

 and finely-tempered spirit of the people, their happy 

 views of life, the mildness and beauty of the climate, 

 and the fine marble which the country afforded in 

 abundance. In painting, as we have already said, 

 the moderns are superior, although the ancients had 

 many excellent artists in this branch of art. In 

 poetry, we cannot attribute to either the superiority. 

 In architecture, both have reached a high degree ot 

 excellence. The Gothic architecture is esteemed, 

 by many persons, as perfect as the ancient, though 

 resting on very different principles ; others, however, 

 regard it as decidedly inferior. However much the 

 remains of ancient art and literature deserve our 

 admiration and study, there was a time when they 

 were overrated, at the expense of the best produc- 

 tions of modern times. This was particularly the 

 case when the real spirit of art had fled, and the 

 power of invention was lost. It was reserved to the 

 present age to value both according to their merits, 

 which can never be impartially estimated, while one 

 is made the standard of the other. Each must be 

 studied and judged on its own principles. 

 2 BC 2 



