322 ON TASTE IN OENAMENTAL DESIGN. Past II. 



is religion the necessary cause of the perfection of art. So 

 too the downfall of art must be attributed to other effects 

 than a peculiar state of religion, or a particular creed. There 

 are periods when arts flourish, owing to various causes ; and 

 there are periods when they decline. The feelings of affection 

 may be touched by poetry ; the religious and martial enthu- 

 siasm may be roused by music ; and some think that devotion 

 is aided by a particular kind of architecture ; but real love, 

 religion, and valour, exist without such a stimulus ; and 

 sincere enthusiasm has no need of artificial excitement. It is 

 the true feeling of the heart and earnestness that the artist 

 requires for his work, and without these he can never hope for 

 success. 



One great encourager of art has always been patronage, 

 and this affects the quality as well as the quantity of its pro- 

 ductions. And as the demand for good works depends so 

 much on the judgment of its patrons, it is of the highest im- 

 portance that the general taste should be capable of selectiug 

 such as are deserving of encouragement. 



88. Great injury was done to painting by the false taste of 

 covering a large expanse of canvas with many and enormous 

 figures ; but more still by the rage for portraits, which came 

 into greater favour in the decline of art ; of which they were 

 a sign ; as Eoman busts were of a deficiency of taste for sculp- 

 ture. For though, as Pliny says (xxxv. 2), every one appre- 

 ciates these records of his ancestors, and is curious about the 

 appearance of great men, as Homer and others; such por- 

 traits, whether in stone or in painting, have their merits 

 chiefly as mementoes ; which is the excuse for very indifferent 

 pictures of "ancestors" holding a place in our modern 

 houses. It is true that portraits of individuals were intro- 

 duced even into sacred subjects by early and first-rate masters, 

 but in subordinate positions ; and there were many of a patron 

 or a friend. They were not, however, the staple of art; nor 



