ORIGIN OF ART. 439 



remain always in the imitative stage. With respect 

 to individuals it is the same, Paradoxical as it may 

 appear, it is only the imitative mind which can attain 

 originality ; the artist must learn to copy before he can 

 create. Mozart began by imitating Bach ; Beethoven 

 began by copying Mozart. Molie're mimicked the 

 Greek dramatists before he learnt to draw from the 

 world. The many-sided character of Goethe's mind, 

 which has made him a marvel among men, was based 

 upon his imitative instincts ; it has been said that he 

 was like a chameleon, taking the hue of the ground on 

 which he fed. What, in fact, is emulation but a noble 

 form of imitativeness ? Michael Angelo saw a man 

 modelling in clay in the garden of Lorenzo, and was 

 seized with the desire to become a sculptor ; and most 

 men who have chosen their own vocation could trace 

 its origin in the same way to some imitative impulse. 



Among the primeval men this instinct, together with 

 wonder and the taste for beauty, explains the origin of 

 art. The tendency to reproduce with the hand what- 

 ever pleases and astonishes the mind, undoubtedly 

 begins at an early period in the history of man ; 

 pictures were drawn in the period of the mammoth ; I 

 once saw a boy from a wild bush tribe look at a ship 

 with astonishment and then draw it on the sand with 

 a stick. It frequently happens in savage life that 

 a man is seized with a passion for representing objects 

 and such a Giotto is always invited, and perhaps paid, 

 to decorate walls and doors. With this wall-painting 

 the fine arts began. Next the outlines were engraved 

 with a knife, making a figure in relief. Next came 

 a statue with the back adhering to the wall, and 

 lastly the sculptured figure was entirely detached. In 

 the same manner painting was also separated from 



