348 The Evolution of Sculpture. 



that few, if any, very ancient or primitive specimens have 

 come down to us. Molding, scratching, wood-cutting, were 

 the three primitive, we might say preparatory, forms of 

 sculpture. It is not uninteresting to observe that they are 

 all three still used as preparatory to sculpture. The pencil 

 sketch drawn by the artist represents the scratching, while 

 the model composed of wood (or iron) and soft clay recalls 

 the other two processes. 



There can hardly be any doubt that in the art progress of 

 all civilized nations there has been a molding and scratching 

 period, succeeded by a wood-cutting period. By the end of 

 the latter men have begun to conceive the unseen world as 

 in many ways different from the seen its denizens as dif- 

 ferent, especially in the direction of power, swiftness, etc. 

 Hence we find growing up what we may call the monstrous 

 men with numerous arms, legs, and even bodies; men 

 with bodies of horses, lions, oxen, and even serpents. The 

 monstrous in strength is the first element that differentiates 

 the unseen world from the seen. It is at this date that all 

 such things appear as hundred-handed giants, centaurs, 

 minotaurs, priapi, seraphim, cherubim (which is the same 

 word as griffin), and dragons of all sorts. They are all ex- 

 pressions of power, mere brute force, the first form in which 

 the unseen is recognized. The fear of the Lord is the be- 

 ginning of art as well as of wisdom. At this stage art has 

 nothing whatever to do with beauty, for mere brute force is 

 never beautiful. Although we have few or no wooden sculpt- 

 ures from ancient times, we know, from the contemporary 

 myths as well as from the rude sculptures of semi-barbarous 

 peoples still existing, what those early sculptures were like. 

 Moreover, the monstrous is carried over into the next period, 

 to be there gradually contrasted with, and elevated by, the 

 principle of that period. The principle of the period of hu- 

 man history which succeeds that of fear and force may be 

 called that of cunning, which means of reason without love. 

 The beginning of this period coincides, roughly speaking, 

 with that of the employment by art of hard materials stone, 

 bronze, etc. And it is easy enough to see why this should 

 be the case. Until the reign of force and fear is at an end, 

 there is not settled life enough to enable men to manipulate 

 hard materials, or to inspire them with any wish to construct 

 things that shall endure. It is in building walled towns and 

 fortresses that men learn to hew and cut stone, and so pre- 

 pare the means for the more enduring forms of sculpture. 



