114 SUPER-ORGANIC EVOLUTION 



external to the internal is rendered possible ; since 

 man, then receiving inspiration from Nature, 

 conceives great systems of philosophy, or realises 

 great works of art. 



But again Taine writes: "The talent and taste 

 of the painter change at the same time and in the 

 same sense as public manners and sentiments." 



And in proportion as the nations enjoy this state 

 of material prosperity, all their members will enjoy 

 also the mental balance which constitutes the 

 psychic medium in all that relates to art. In the 

 physical there is also an intimate relation between 

 the external and internal, all the more important 

 that without this completeness in the physical the 

 other completeness in the psychic is impossible. 



In speaking of the causes that tend to the 

 development and explanation of a work of art, 

 Taine cites the medium that surrounds the artist 

 or the group of artists of the age : " This family of 

 artists is understood in a wider connection than 

 the world that surrounds it, and whose taste is in 

 accordance with its own. The habits and condition 

 of the spirit of the age are the same in the public 

 as in artists ; there are no isolated individuals. 

 It is their voice that we hear now across the distant 

 ages ; but amidst their voices that surprise and 

 come vibrating towards us, we recognise as a 

 murmur and a sweet whisper the infinite and mani- 



