320 ON TASTE IN ORNAMENTAL DESIGN. Paet II. 



elevated treatment with these last, not having the same re- 

 fined sentiment as those connected with religion ; but will 

 any one suppose that the noblest actions of man towards 

 his fellows, the records of glorious deeds, and the events of 

 history, or of private life, offer no grand fields for the talents 

 of a painter? Success depends on the talent of the artist; 

 and where are any sacred compositions of the present day to 

 be compared to the works of Paul De la Eoche, though he has 

 not always the merit of selecting his subjects with good judg- 

 ment ? It was the decay of taste that lowered the condition 

 of art. It deteriorated, not because the religious sentiment 

 was exhausted ; but from many other causes which combine 

 to make it decline, as others have done to make it flourish, 

 at particular periods. Whether it can be altogether revived 

 is a question ; but let it not be pretended, as an apology 

 for inferior works at the present day, that religious feeling is 

 not so strong as of old. It is an excuse, not a reason. A 

 certain kind of religious fervour may not be as strong as in 

 ancient Greek, or in mediaeval, times; but unless super- 

 stition be confounded with religion, there can be no denying 

 that real religion stands now on a far more exalted basis than 

 of old ; and it would be a sad reflection if idolatry, or the 

 enthusiasm of a less civilised age, were absolutely necessary 

 for high art. 



Some indeed have had the folly to maintain that Protest- 

 antism is incompatible with elevated expression in sacred 

 subjects; and the natural conclusion would then be, that the 

 country most remarkable for it — Italy — has been superior to 

 all others in religious feeling. I leave the French, Spaniards, 

 and others, to reconcile this superiority in one compared to 

 other Eoman Catholic countries, while I deny the incom- 

 patibility of Protestantism with high art. Is Paganism 

 necessary for good sculpture ? is the flourishing condition of 

 art dependent on a particular kind of religion ? were the 



