The Evolution of Painting. 371 



making all innovations a crime, and by making the profes- 

 sion of the artist hereditary and compulsory. Dissection 

 was prohibited, and therefore a knowledge of anatomy was 

 rendered impossible. 



In India religion ever soared to the unnatural and the pro- 

 digious, and consequently art was completely turned away 

 from nature. The faculty for accurately copying nature was 

 lost, and the imagination of the artist reveled in the gro- 

 tesque and the terrible. 



The Koran contains the following : " ye faithful, of a 

 truth, wine, gaming, images, and the casting of lots are 

 things to be held in abhorrence." Another declaration of 

 more emphatic character was also attributed to the Prophet : 

 " Woe unto him who paints the likeness of a living thing : 

 on the Day of Judgment those whom he has depicted will 

 rise up out of their graves and ask him for their souls. 

 Then, verily, unable to make the work of his hands live, he 

 will be consumed in everlasting flames." The baneful effects 

 of these prohibitions are seen wherever the religion of Mo- 

 hammed has prevailed. The art of painting has never flour- 

 ished in any Mohammedan country. 



The influence of the Hebrew religion was in the same 

 direction. The commandment, "Thou shalt not make 

 unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing 

 that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 

 that is in the water under the earth," had a repressing in- 

 fluence upon both painting and sculpture. Origen says that 

 artists were forbidden to enter the Jewish state. 



The religion of Greece, on the other hand, was especially 

 favorable to the development of both painting and sculpt- 

 ure. Being nearly a pure nature worship, it led directly to 

 a careful study of nature. Beauty was the highest object 

 of worship. The deities were represented in human form 

 and were models of physical excellence. 



All manual labor being performed by slaves, the free 

 Greek was able to spend his time in the gymnasium and 

 bath, and in training for athletic games. Greater atten- 

 tion was given to the development of the body than to the 

 cultivation of the mind. The athletic games occupied a 

 large place in the life of the people, and physical strength 

 and beauty were held in the highest admiration. The 

 clothing worn on ordinary occasions was of such a loose 

 character as to expose a large portion of the body, and in 

 the games the participants appeared perfectly nude. In 



