THE BAS-RELIEFS OF THE PARTHENON. II3 



harmonies of movements, as in automatons, the cacophony 

 will only be swelled." 



It may be said of the horses of the Parthenon that 

 they possess style and truth. No other sculpture has 

 so nearly approached the natural form or the research 

 of the masses which Nature gives under the impulsion 

 of muscles, the rectitude of the shape of the members 

 and the veracity of the lines which form their limitations. 



Phidias sacrificed to the prejudices of his epoch 

 by diminishing the stature of his horses, but he never 

 committed the error of endeavouring to add to their 

 nobility by falsifying the principles of their structure. 



It is, however, a fault not to escape from the routine 

 of a tradition. At our epoch Raphael would be at the 

 head of those who deliberately neglect the study 

 of animals, for the purpose of substituting for the true 

 animated being, an attitude betraying a likeness to the 

 human expression. Leonardo da Vinci himself, who 

 so constantly recommended the study of animals, was 

 not exempt from this error, any more than was Rubens, 

 or so many others, without even excepting Van der 

 Meulen. 



In the bas-reliefs of the Parthenon it is easy to 

 discover the marked predilection of Phidias for all that 

 had reference to the horse, not only because the cavalry 

 was the favourite and most formidable army of the 

 Athenians, but also because this kind of reproduction 

 gratified the taste of the sculptors commissioned to 

 compose the immense work, with the greater part 

 of which we are acquainted. 



Despite some anatomical faults, easy to discern, the 

 sculptures of this statuary offer magnificent instruction, 

 and at times a too severe censure has been measured to 

 this monumental work. 



The absence of bridles has also furnished occasion for 

 various interpretations. I am only desirous of quoting 

 one, extracted from an English book, " The Horse," by 

 William Youatt. With reference to the horses of Phidias, 

 of which the criticisms of the shoulders and the brevity 

 of the neck appears to me very sensible, the learned 

 English hippologist writes : — " These animals remind us 

 of some of the present heavy breeds. They have the 

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