THE PROVINCES OF THE SEVERAL ARTS 83 



it is as wrong to suppose that art exists for artists and 

 art-students, as to talk of art for art's sake. Art exists for 

 humanity. Art transmutes thought and feeling into terms 

 of beautiful form. Art is great and lasting in proportion as 

 it appeals to the human consciousness at large, presenting 

 to it portions of itself in adequate and lovely form. 



Ill 



It was necessary in the first place firmly to apprehend 

 the truth that the final end of all art is the presentation 

 of a spiritual content; it is necessary in the next place to 

 remove confusions by considering the special circumstances 

 of the several arts. 



Each art has its own vehicle of expression. What it 

 can present and how it can present it, depends upon the 

 nature of this vehicle. Thus, though architecture, sculpture, 

 painting, music, poetry, meet upon the common ground of 

 spiritualised experience though the works of art produced 

 by the architect, sculptor, painter, musician, poet, emanate 

 from the spiritual nature of the race, are coloured by the 

 spiritual nature of the men who make them, and express 

 what is spiritual in humanity under concrete forms invented 

 for them by the artist yet it is certain that all of these arts 

 do not deal exactly with the same portions of this common 

 material in the same way or with the same results. Each 

 has its own department. Each exhibits qualities of strength 

 and weakness special to itself. To define these several 

 departments, to explain the relation of these several vehicles 

 of presentation to the common subject-matter, is the next 

 step in criticism. 



IV 



Of the fine arts, architecture alone subserves utility. We 

 build for use. But the geometrical proportions which the 

 architect observes contain the element of beauty and power- 

 fully influence the soul. Into the language of arch and aisle 



