1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



267 



no remedy against the company. He has boDght a nothinET. He may probably resort to 

 his immediate predecessor, einienvour to compel him to lefuml on the ground of fuiluie 

 of consideration ; but where )3 he? 



These arc the rcspe.live conditions of the first and the last holdem, betwcin the inccp- 

 tioD and completion of a railway company. Are the public aware of this utate of things ? 

 But what ore '* scrip," what are " shares ?" 



A"Bhnie" is a certain part, or delinite amount of interest in a particular company. 

 That company must he established before any share can be said to exist. Where, there- 

 fore, " scrip" are issued be-tw^^en the time of its announcement, and that of obtainirR the 

 act of Poriiampnt, they are uot "shares," because they cannot legally be transferred; 

 they are merely instruments which ulll entitle the persona who may have subscribed the 

 deeds beforementioned at the time of obtaining them to have " shares" given to them by 

 thecompany after the act of Parllamtnt has been procurred— in other words, when the 

 company have been establishod. Hut they convoy no property by assignment. The act 

 alone cunstitntes " shares," and makes tliem transferable. The cvrtifivates are evidence 

 merely of the right of the first holders to obtiiin " shares," nod aomettmes, to distingnisli 

 them from the real title to shares, or shares, iire called " scrip ccriificates." If the public 

 doubt whc'thci this is so, let them consult the judgmsnt of Lord Langdale In •' Jackson v. 

 Cocker" (a name quite ' apropos*) In the 4th vol. of * Beavan'a Reports,' p. li'J. 



I&cer Temple, June 2. C* ^"' 



ON TIIK HISTORY AND PRACTICE OF SCULPTURE. 



J series o/Lectures delivered at the Royal Instilutc, by Mr. Wesimacottj A.R.J. 



Lecture III. — (From the Athenseum.) 



Mr. Weslmacott's third lecture, delivered on the :'2d ult , concluded the H i s t o r y o f 

 Sculpture in Greece, and reviewed the condition of the art in Home, to its 

 decline there In the seventh century. 



It was ubserved that the schools of Phidias, Praxiteles, and Lysippus had carried 

 Sculpture to Its perfection. And it was the opinion of Winclcelmann that, iifler that no- 

 thing was left in Sculpture but what was produced by a class of mere imitators. Mr. 

 Wealmncott admitted this might be true to a certain extent, but the names of many 

 eminent men are handed down to us who continued to produce works (piite in spirit of 

 the great masters. If artists, originating ideas, and givuig form to their own fancies, 

 adopt the most approved principles of Art for ulfecting this object, they surely merii high 

 praise for carrj-lng on the establishud excellence ofaschooL They may justly be reflected 

 upon as mere copy'sis, who, not drawing upon their own feelings for subjects, servilely 

 steal the Ideas of others, and then produce cold, passionless resemblances, which only 

 serve to remind the spectator how unsatisfactory the best copy of form may be, if it be 

 wanting in th^ life and interest of invention. 



At the dismemberment of the Macedonian empire, the Selencidse, who reigned in Syria, 

 endeavoured for a time to uphold the arts ; and Hi/rmocles, a sculptor, is especially men- 

 tioned as having been extensively employed, Pergamus recsived Attains for its ruler, and 

 several sculptors of eminence are recorded who were employed to illustrate his and his 

 80n*s victories over the Gauls. Ptolemy, and his immediate successors in Egypt, also 

 showed a disposition to encourage Sculptuie. The assertion, therefore, of Pliny, that 

 from the lliOth to the IWth Olympiad Art was almost extinct. Is not quite borne out by 

 faces. 



The mtntion of Chares as the author of the celebrated Colossus of Rhodes, suggested 

 the propriety of referring to the sculptors of that island. Some very fine specimens of 

 the art were produced in its school. The authors of the celebrated group of the Laocoon, 

 Agesander, Polydoius and Athenodorus, were Rhodians; as wereAppollonius andTauris- 

 CU9, the sculptors of the enormous marbis group of 2ethus and Amphion tying Dirce to 

 the horns of anild bull. It is at N.iple8,and is known as the ToroFarnese. It is almost 

 incredible, that from this small island the Romans brought away as many as three thou- 

 sand statuea. 



In speaking of the Sculpture of Sicily, the lecturer observed, the art never 

 was practised there in a way that gives it a claim to be considered as a school. He purti* 

 cularly recommended an esaminfttion of some of the coins of Syracuse to the attention of 

 those who desired to see examples of a rich and free style of form, united with exquisite 

 execution. Some of the medals are among the finest specimens of art. It was observed 

 that some of the most admired productions in Sculpture have been attributed to artists 

 who lived as late as 150 B.C. Among these are the fine fragments called the Torso of the 

 Selvcdere, at Rome ; the Farnese Hercules; the statue of the Fighting Gladiator; or, 

 more properly, of a warrior. These works have the sculptors* names on them. The 

 statue of the Herraaphrcdite, at Paris, is also attrilmted to this age ; and some antiquaries 

 have added the above-mentioned group of the Toro Farnese, and even that of Laocoon 

 and his Sons. 



The fatal blow to the Arts in Greece wag given by the conquest of the Romans. In PC 

 B.C. Athens fell, never to rise again. The history of Greek Sculpture may be consid;jred 

 to close at this time. 



Style, Manner, Ideal Beauty. 



STYLE, it was said, had been applied, first, comprehensively— to the whole or pervad- 

 ing character of Art— as in the production of a school or class. It involves completeness; 

 or an entircness of conception and expression Thus, the Etruscan school is whole, and 

 entire as a class, and has its s t y 1 e. The Elgin Marbles equally are examples of style, as 

 marking a school of Art. Secondly, it is applied to a quality exhibited in individual works, 

 ivhich do not necessarily belong to a particular time or school. To illustrate this by re- 

 ference to the works of the great masters spoken of in a former lecture, Mr. Westmacott 

 said, the schools of Phidias and Praxiteles are tliought to have combined all the great 

 qualities of imitative art. They discovered and represented the finest combinations of 

 forms ; uniting the parts, in themselves perfect, so harmoniously in a whole, that i t, also, 

 ivas perfect and complete. As every part was fitted to advance the end, each having its 

 due place, proportion, and importance, the result has been a sum, or total, which all the 

 best judges of all periods have agreed to consider a canon of Art. Ani^ thus a work is 

 said to have stylo, or to be deficient in style, as it comprises more or less of the qualities 

 which these schools more than any others exhibit. In a work in which there is a fine 

 style, nothing small, or meschino, as the Italian critics call it, will occupy the atten- 

 tion. Largeness and breadth of effect are essential to style. Where small details would 

 disturb these qualities of largeness and breadth of effect, they are skilfully absorbed and 

 generalized, and are thus represented in masses. 



MANNER was said to be applicable to the partJcuInr and individual. It is indicated 

 by the attention that is paid to parts. Peculiarities that can be defined mark or exhibit 

 manner, while style is stamped upon a work iu which the particular and individual 

 are absorbed into the w hole. The force of both terms was then exemplified by a refe- 

 rence to Etruscan art. The ancient Etruscan sculpture is marked by its style; but it 

 also is eminently remarkable for m a n n e r ; as in the peculiarity of lengthened turned. up 

 fingers, and the stiff, straight, zigzag-ism of the draperies. In the worlts of individual 

 artists, that peculiarity by which the work of one hand is always and immediately recog- 

 nized ooDstitutes that artist's manner. 



Ideal Beauty. 

 "With respect to another difficult subject fur definition. Ideal Beauty, it was ob- 

 served thtit scarcely any object In nature, howwver generally pleasing, is found so perfect 

 ia aU its parts that some one or other of those parts may not be discovered in greater per- 

 fection In some other object, £v«ry object that nature presents to us has what are termed 



accidents. These Accidents are varieties of, or, more correctly spraktng, departures from 

 the perfect canon or atuudurd of form of that object. Ideal beauty consists In the selec- 

 tion and combination of ull the most perfect parts in one complete whole. No portion of 

 this can be invented or originated by the urtUt ; for nature boing his only model, any In- 

 dependent conception of Ida own respecting form could only result in absurdity and de- 

 formity. The supposition, therefore, th»t ideal beauty is ever intended to mean 

 imagined beauty, ond not beauty that does exist and may be found, is based on a mis- 

 taken apprehension of the term, it ts the piovluce of the artist to reject the accident, 

 and to restore the absent perfection. Hy doing this hkllfnlly throughout his work, he 

 produces perfect beauty, or what In technical language has been called " Ideid Reauty.** 

 It Is obvious that ideal beauty cannot be comprehended at once ond intuitively. It must 

 be the result of great observation, study, and considerable knowledge of form } and, ap- 

 plied to the human figure, requires an intimate acquaintance with Its capability of action, 

 and th« character forms assume under particular ciicumslunces. The ideal beauty of one 

 clusi is not the beauty of all classes. Thus, beuuty vxhls in the Apollo ; in the Theseus 

 and the Ilyssus ; in the Venus of Melos, and the Venus de Medlcis ; but in all these, and 

 other well knoxvn examples, it la only Ideal beauty as it Illustrates in perfection the class 

 of subject to which It Is applied. Mr. Westmacott then examined the question of fitness 

 and propriety, In their relations to beauty. In conclusion, he said that the best school In 

 which true beanty of form could be learnt, and its principles studied, was fine Greek 

 sc'ilpture— not because Art Is superior to Nature, but because the Greek sculptors have 

 selected, copied, and applied all the best forms in nature; and therefore their works illus. 

 trale, and so far facUitate our becoming acquainted wirh, the l.iws of beauty. They have, 

 as it were, provided the best books for our learning a difficult language. 



HoTiian Sculpture. 

 It was not till after the conquest of Greece, and the arrival of tlie enormous collection 

 of work3 of Art brought as plunder and spoil to grace the triumph of the conquerors on 

 their return to Rome, that Sculpture began to attract any marked attention there. Syra- 

 cuse yielded up its treasures ot art after the conquests of Marcellus ; Corinth had been 

 strlnped of its wealth in art byAIummius; and Athens also had largely contributed her 

 share of exquisite works in sculpture, to enrich the Roman capital. It became a fashion 

 to form collections ; end to this caprice modern times are indebted for the preservation 

 of some of the finest productionslof Greek art. Verres luis been handed down to posterity 

 as one of the most ardent, and, it must be added, least scrupulous of collectors; but his 

 anxiety to obtain possession of the most exquisite works of the great masters, doubtless 

 occasioned many to be carefully preserved which othenvise would have been neglected or 

 destroyed. In the century preceding the birth of Christ, several sculptors of eminence, 

 ull having Greek names, were practising in Rome. Both Julius Ceesar and Augustus ap- 

 pear to have made efforts to preserve fine ancient works, and so far gave opportunity to 

 the Romans to acquire a taste for Art. Augustus, especially, Ibrmed collections of statues 

 and other objects of taste, and set an example in this respect that was followed by many 

 of the rich and influential. Durhig the reign of this Empeior are found the names of 

 some of the most eminent artists of antiquity; Posidonius, the architect Vif.uvius, and 

 Dioscorides. The gems of the latter are among the finest specimens of the art. Nero 

 had statues imported from Greece, and it is astonisiiing that, notwithstanding the extent 

 to which the country had already been plundered, it is recorded that no fewer than 50O 

 bronze statues were procured from the Temple of ApoUo at Delphi. 



/Jpolh Belvedere. 



The celebrated statue of the Apollo of the Belvedere was discovered among the ruins ot" 

 a palace of Nero, at Antium. It has been conjectured tliat it may have formed one of the 

 statues from the temple of the god. It is the opinion of some of the best practical judges 

 of sculpture that this statue is a copy from a bronze ; and the fact of its being in a marble 

 resembling in all respects that of Luna, has led to the supposition that it is in what we 

 call Carrara marble. This, of course, would give it a comparatively late date ; these quar- 

 ries not having been discovered till the time of Caesar. Some have attributed the statue 

 to the Augustan period. Th« question is still undetermined; but even supposing the 

 marble statue of the Belvedere to be a copy, the original may possibly have been, as 

 Winckelmanu conjectures, one of the Delphian statues. Mr. Westmacott explained some 

 of the reasons for this work being considered a repetition of a bronze, referring particu- 

 larly to the treatment of the hair and drapery, as indicative of a style more ajipropriate to 

 metal than marble. 



Roman taste in Sculpture. 



In his remarks on the condition of Sculpture, ot this time, the lecturer said that gene- 

 rally speaking, in Rome it was a pseudo taste— got up as a fashion or caprice ; and, 

 consequently, there was no fixed principle which was calculated to establish a pood school, 

 or even to preserve a continuity of style. Sculpture, after this temporary revival, rapidly 

 declined, although occasionally exception may be made in the case of busts. 



The establishment of the seat of empire at Constantinople was a fatal blow to the gran- 

 deur of Rome ; but Constantine endeavoured to restore the Arts in his Eastern dominions. 

 He collected statues, instituted schools, rewarded students, built galleries — but all in valu. 

 The spirit was lost ; and all these inducements offered by the Emperor from his indivi- 

 dual hope to re-establish Art, were powerless to effect his object. Many of ttie finest pro- 

 ductions of ancient Sculpture existed in Constantinople till near ly the end of the fifth cen- 

 tury of our era ; when a fire, iu 479 A.D., consumed the palace of the Lausi, and destroyed 

 an immense collection of statues that had been accumulated there. 



Mr. Westmacott said that the history of ancient Sculpture might be considered to end 

 at this time. He obseived that the monuments of the Romans are very numerous, and 

 have been exceedingly useful in ilbistrating the manners and customs of that people ; hut 

 Roman sculpture has not the same claims upon our attention as that of the Greeks. The 

 best works they had were of the Greek school, and usually were by Greek artists. Their 

 own original attempts are characterized,— if it can be called character— by poverty of in- 

 dention, meanness of design, and, usually, most vmskilful execution. The art was some- 

 times patronized; but it does not appear that the patrons at any time understood, 

 felt, or appreciated Sculpture, further than as a means to lurnish their palaces, or to flat- 

 ter their personal vanity. Consequently it never rose— and never could rise— to that ex- 

 cellence which it attained in Greece, where it was made the means of embodying grand 

 conceptions, by the union of exiiression and sentiment with the most beautiful forms. 



TnR Ltgipthouse on tme Goodwin.— We undi^rst^^rd lliat this exfraonli- 

 nary underlaking remains still without the promised light, in consequence of Mr. Bush, 

 the spirited projector, having been unable, up to the present time, to come to any under- 

 standing with the Trinity Board, which has the exclusive privilege of managing the light- 

 houses on the Eus'Ush coast. Permission having been granted, however, by the Govern- 

 nient for the erection of the building to contain the *' Light for all Nations," it is the in- 

 tention of Mr. Bush to take up his residence, with his wife and family, in the lighthouse, 

 and to have the highest chamber illuminated with a pale blue light for his own use. Of 

 course this, however, will at the same time have the effect of warning ships, and a tele- 

 graph is erected to signalize vessels at the back of the Goodwin. As the lighthouse stands 

 Sf) teet above hign water mark. It is Mr. Bush's intention, in order to protect his new re- 

 sidence, to discharge rockets in dark nights, or sound a gong in foggy weather. It is sin- 

 cerely to be hoped that something will be done to accommodate matters between Mr. 

 Bush and the Trinity Board, as the undertaking is of national importance, and the inven- 

 tor has incurred both personal and pecuniary risk. On landing at Deal, alter sleeping 

 three nights in the lighthouse, flir. Bush was warmly congratulated on his " safe arrival.'* 

 — ' Observer" 



