356 The Evolution of Sculpture. 



no rivals among the moderns. Modern art which, when it 

 knows itself, is the art of the holy rises higher in propor- 

 tion as it uses less material. 



We can never dispense with architecture ; but it may well 

 be doubted whether we can ever carry it as an art beyond 

 the perfection reached by the Greeks. Dancing we can well 

 afford to dispense with, both as art and as amusement ; it is 

 the childish art. And even in sculpture we never can excel. 

 We may use it for portraits, for pretty conceits, and for deco- 

 rative purposes ; but it can never be the expression of what 

 is deepest in our life, never an art for us. 



In the Belvedere of the Vatican, along with such works 

 as the Laocoon, the Apollo, and the so-called Antinous, are 

 two statues by one of the greatest of modern sculptors, Ca- 

 nova two boxers. He was a cruel foe to Canova who put 

 them there. When one suddenly comes upon them they 

 cause a revulsion so great that one feels as if the place had 

 been desecrated. This tells the whole s^ory. And I do not 

 believe that the case can ever be otherwise. We may equal 

 the Greeks in technique, we may make beautiful things by 

 slavishly imitating them, as Thorwaldsen and Jerichau did ; 

 but beyond that we can never go. The age of sculpture is 

 past, just as the age of pyramids is. Reason as well as 

 strength must give place to love. Sculpture remains with 

 reason and justice upon the earth ; love carries us to heaven, 

 and requires an art that can go thither with us. 



Can any one imagine a piece of sculpture creating the 

 same profound interest as the tiny Angelus? No ; and why? 

 Because the Angelus expresses the holy, that response of the 

 soul to God an element which no sculptor, be he ever so 

 deft, can embody in his art an element which interests us 

 more than any other, which, above all others, it is important 

 that we should unfold in ourselves. 



