372 The Evolution of Painting. 



the gymnasium, which was one of the sacred institutions of 

 the country, both men and women appeared nearly if not 

 quite naked. As a result, the ideas of modesty were trans- 

 formed. Nakedness was associated with dignity rather 

 than with shame. The gods, it was said, were naked, and 

 they were so represented in art. To represent a king naked 

 was deemed the highest form of flattery, because it was to 

 represent his apotheosis. 



Under these circumstances the human body reached a 

 perfection of form which has never been attained in any 

 other country or age, and artists were constantly furnished 

 with the most perfect and beautiful of models. The human 

 form was glorified and idealized, and every effort was made 

 to secure perfection in its representation in sculpture and 

 painting. The statues and paintings thus produced have 

 served as models during all subsequent time, and have exer- 

 cised a lasting influence upon the art of the world. 



There is one unfortunate circumstance to be noticed in 

 this connection. The Greek idea of modesty is not in har- 

 mony with that of the Christian world. The students of 

 Greek art have had a constant struggle with our modern 

 civilization. The Christian world has always been opposed 

 to nude figures, especially in painting. Italian morals in 

 the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were so lax, and the 

 influence of the painters was so great, that the feeling of 

 the Church was to a certain extent overcome. But even 

 Michel Angelo's influence was not great enough to prevent 

 his figures from being draped by order of the Pope. It is 

 probable that if our ideas of modesty had prevailed among 

 the Greeks they could never have boasted of a Phidias or an 

 Apelles, and perhaps Italy would never have had a Michel 

 Angelo or a Titian. But be that as it may, it must be ad- 

 mitted that the three hundred good mothers in Philadel- 

 phia who protested the other day against the pictures of 

 naked figures which were on exhibition in that city are 

 more in harmony with our civilization than the committee 

 which denied their petition ; and undoubtedly they repre- 

 sent the judgment of a large majority of the people of our 

 country. 



The discouraging influence of the second commandment 

 upon art was not confined to early Jewish times, but was 

 extended with the spread of Christianity and was felt as 

 late as the seventeenth century. 



Although the early Christian painters were pagans by 



