The Evolution of Painting. 365 



eyes seem to detect something of a sensual and self-compla- 

 cent smile." 



The Egyptians made little or no progress in either sculpt- 

 ure or painting during a period comprising thousands of 

 years. Artists were regulated in their work by rigid rules 

 prescribed by the priesthood, and all innovations were ex- 

 pressly prohibited. Plato says in his Laws : " The art we 

 have proposed for the education of youth was known long 

 ago to the Egyptians. This people having fixed by stat- 

 ute what forms and what music should be licensed, they had 

 them represented in their temples. Nor was it lawful for 

 painters or other inventive artists to make the least devia- 

 tion from the authorized standard. Upon careful examina- 

 tion, indeed, it will be found that the pictures and the stat- 

 ues made by this people ten thousand years ago are neither 

 an advance upon nor inferior to those they now execute." 



The Greeks borrowed their art from Egypt ; but in bor- 

 rowing the art, they left behind the religion. The Egyp- 

 tian seed was planted in a fertile soil, and in a congenial 

 climate like that of Greece it soon produced a flower of 

 great beauty. Unfortunately, no remains of masterpieces 

 among Greek paintings have been preserved. In judging 

 of the merits of these works we are obliged to rely largely 

 on the descriptions of contemporary historians. The re- 

 mains found at Pompeii and in the Catacombs belong to 

 a period of decline, and, although some of these are copies 

 of earlier Greek paintings of note, they are mostly the works 

 of inferior artists. 



As might have been expected, the Greeks were several 

 centuries in acquiring their knowledge of painting. They 

 were pioneers, and their advance was slow. The gradual 

 growth of their knowledge has been summed up in an ad- 

 mirable manner by Barry. In one of his lectures he says : 

 " Here we find them beginning with an outline. They 

 write down the names of their objects for fear of mistake. 

 A Corinthian and his followers first attempt to fill up this 

 outline with one color. An Athenian makes his men dif- 

 ferent one from another. A Cleonian acquires the ability 

 to draw his figures in different postures, distinguishing the 

 joints and parts of the body, and making folds in the 

 drapery. Others come to have an idea of light and shadow ; 

 they no longer use simple colors, but mix and compound 

 them one with another. Apollodorus is distinguished for 

 a judicious choice of nature; Zeuxis, for good coloring. 



