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move like nature than that in the Egyptian hieroglyphics 

 and other bas-reliefs, but this may be the conftqucnce of 

 what the artifts had more frequently to imitate, initead of a 

 proof that the arts were more advanced in Perfia than in 

 Effypt, which fecms flill lefs probable when we confidcr, the 

 different pofitions of the human figure, the variety and ex- 

 tent of the hiiloiical compofitions in the palace ot Karnac, 

 the Thcban tombs, &c. and the exquifitely neat and pevfeft 

 execution of the hicroglypiiics on the obclifk of Sefollris, 

 lately ereded on Monte Citorio by Pius the Vlth, far ex- 

 ceeding the workmanfliip of any figure at Perfepolis. See 

 Denon's Egypt. Le Bruyn's Travels, vol. 2. 



The earliell Greeit fculpture e.\tant is lliil more like the 

 Egyptian in the principles of defign, than that of any other 

 nation. The face of the human figure has the fame oval, the 

 features defcribcd by the fame fimple curves, the eye kept 

 full as the eafied to execute, being more dilliiiguidied by the 

 lines of which it is formed, than by its appearance in profile; 

 and nearly the fame general parts reprefented the body and 

 limbs. That there Ihould be this fimilarity in different nations 

 in the imitative arts, is llriftly agreeable to reafon ; becaufe 

 conformably to their limited progrefs in fcience, they will re- 

 prefent in a fimple and grofs manner thofeobjefts, the detail of 

 Avhich their minds have neither comprehended nor underftood, 

 and which in that ftage of progrefs the hand would be as little 

 likely to perform with the requifite accuracy. It is equally 

 reafonable to expeft fuch imitations (hould rcfcmble each 

 other; being made from examples of general likenefs,and done 

 without the influence of manner, which is the confcquence 

 of imitating art indead of nature. 



It is raofl likely that fome imitations in fculpture of the 

 human figure were made in Greece, previoiifly to the intro- 

 duction of letters by Cadmus, becaufe modern travellers have 

 found fuch imitations among many barbarous people unac- 

 quainted with letter-writ'ug, and becaufe the Greeks appear 

 to have ufed figure-writing before they were acquainted with 

 letters : fee Wolf's Prolegomena to Homer, page 81 ; who 

 believes that figure-writing only was known in the time of 

 Homer. But it is equally certain that fma'l bronze figures 

 exift with infcriptions of Cadmean letters on them, which 

 are very poor and barbarous imitations of the human form ; 

 fo that we may fairly infer, that tlie fculpture previous to 

 this period could not have been veiy fupcrior to the produc- 

 tions of Mexico, Otahcite, or the Sandwich Iflands. In the 

 popular flory of the Maid of Corinth, related by Pliny, lib. 

 35. cap. 12. he fays, Dibutades the Sicyonian potter, her 

 father, firft invented a method of taking likeneffes, the pro- 

 cefs of which is defcribcd as follows : " Plis daughter beinn- 

 in love with a young man who was going to a foreign coun- 

 try, fhe circumfcribed the fhadow of his face with lines upon 

 the wall by lamplight ; her father took the impreffion in clay, 

 and baked it in the fire with his vafes." It feems, therefore, 

 that as this was the firft invention of portraits in clay, and as 

 this portrait was only the relief imprefTed from a line Icratched 

 on the wall, that it muft have been the very firft ftage of bafTo- 

 relievo. Pliny proceeding fays, that Dibutades made another 

 addition to ba.To-relievo, by ornam.enting the loweft row of 

 rounded tiles ufed to terminate roofs, with mafic faces. Thefe 

 may be confidered as two inventions, which diftjnguifhed the 

 Sicyonian fchool. Pliny does not fay at what time Dibuta- 

 des lived, but he mentions him before Demaiatus the father 

 of Tarquinius Prifcus, v.'ho muft have been 6?o vears before 

 Chrift. ^ ■ 



_ Independently of wliat may be deduced from thefe quota- 

 tions, concerni:ig the progrefs of baffo-rtlievo in Greece, ex- 

 amples in this branch of fculpture exift in marble and bronze, 

 which, with the aid of coins and gems, if properly arranged, 



would form a complete chronological ferics from the r'ntro- 

 duftion of letters in Greece. As the luoft ancient fubjefts to 

 be chiefly feledcJ are thofe which bear infcriptions, this ar- 

 rangement vv'ould nccefi'arily follow : the infcriptions of Cad- 

 mean letters firft, the Bouftrophcdon manner of writing 

 next, and the more modern as circumftances point out their 

 propriety. This method would be found perfeftly agi-etable 

 to the progrefs of fcience difcernible in the works themfclves, 

 as well as the perfection of execution ; and thus the anti- 

 quarian or tlie artift having iufured an accumulation of tefti- 

 mony, would be in little danger of miftake. A pafTage ia 

 Paufanias, the firft EHiics, or 5th book, (hews the propriety 

 of this method : he fays, the cedar cheft in which Cypfelus 

 was preferved by his mother (about 669 years befoi-e Chrift), 

 was dedicated by his pofterity in Olympia. This cheft is 

 defcribcd as being covered with bafTo-relievo of allegorical 

 and hei-oical fubjetts, explained by Boufti'ophedon writing, 

 which the author defcribes as very old and difficult to 

 read. 



The earlieft Greek fculpture which has come down to 

 us is equal in the proportion of the tigui-es to the Egyp- 

 tian, and fuperior in the drawing of the body and limbs. 

 Vitruvius informs us, that as the height of the human figure 

 was fix times the length of the foot, that was made the 

 rule for the Doric column. (Book iv.) Thus we fee the 

 Greeks had been in the habit of meafuiing the human 

 figure by its own parts, pi-evious to the cftablilhment of ar- 

 chiteftural proportions : and we find very tolerable general 

 forms of the mufcles and bones moft commonly feen in the 

 living body, which thofe early Greeks copied by clofc atten- 

 tion to the naked figures they conftantly faw before them, 

 without the aid of anatomical fyftem ; for Pliny (lib. xxix. 

 c. I.) fays, the art of medicine remained in the darkeft night 

 from the fiege of Troy to the time of Hippocrates. A few 

 examples from the many exiftiug will ihew the pi-ogrefs of 

 fculptiii-e in baflb I'dievo, from the introduftion of letters in 

 Greece to the time of Phidias : thefe fliall be fet down ac- 

 coi-ding to their apparent antiquity, and followed bygenei'al 

 obfervations. 



In Winkelmann's " Monument! inediti," plate 3. is a 

 print from a fcaraba;us of Jupiter in his car-, holding the thun- 

 der with one hand, and trident with the other. This has the 

 appeai-ance of great antiquity in defign and charafter, and 

 perhaps is the oldeft woi-k cited in this article. The next is 

 a patera of bi-onze in the Bi-iti/h Mufeum, on which is 

 carved Minerva fubduing Hei-cules, or wifdom prevailing 

 over ftrength. The next is an engraving of five of the Icven 

 chiefs who befieged Thebes. The laft'is Plerculcs beai-ing 

 away the tr-ipod from Apollo, which, by the improved ftyle 

 of drawing, feems to appi-oach the time of Phidias. The 

 firft obfervation that occurs in this part of t!ie fubjed is, 

 that antiquarians have fallen into a confidei-able miftake in 

 pronouncing many early works to be Etrufcan, which later 

 difcoveries have almoft certified to be Greek. The Greciaa 

 fubjefts cut on gems, the backs of whic'r were formed 

 into fcarabaei like the Egyptian feals, have been pofitively 

 called Etrufcan by Winkelmann; notwithftanding that the 

 flyle of the figures is early Greek, the fubjefts are Greek, 

 and the letters upon them are Greek : befides which, Mr. 

 Hawkins, a late accurate and highly-qualified traveller, has 

 bi-ought a Cornchan fcarabaeus found'in that countr-y to Eng- 

 land, which has a Mercury engraved on it in that early ftyle 

 called Etrufcan. How many more of thefe might ti-aveller-s, 

 if they fought for them, find in that country > And is it 

 not likely that the Roman lords of the world would bring 

 into their own country as many curious Greek gems as fta- 

 tues, when a dozen of the former may be conveyed in the 



palm 



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