B A S 



B A S 



palm of a man's hand, whereas vail operations are neceflary earth and fea are faid to be his ; in this refpeft agreeable 



to tranfport only one marble or bronze ftatue ? Thcfe argu- to the moft ancient religion, and an argument of the hi^h 



ments alone are fufficient to account for the gems of this antiquity of the workmanfhip. *' 



defcription which have been found in Italy; befides fome Concerning the manner of drawing the figure, it has been 



which may have been wrought in that country by Greek judicioufly obfer\-ed by the authors of the French Encyclo- 



colonifts, or the fcholars of Greeks. A crowd of evidence pedie, " that the Greeks began where the Egyptians left 



might be adduced in this place to (hew, that the vafes for- off;" and fome of the bettermoft (not perhaps the very 



merly called Etrufcan have been found in great abundance bell) of the Egyptian figures, are nearly fac-fimiles of the 



in Greece. Mr. Stuart and Mr. Parrs brought many frag- beginnings of Grecian art. However, improvements were 



ments of them from Athens, which are lodged in the Bri- foon made ; they began to diftinguilh between mufcle and 



tifh Mufeum ; Mr. Graves brought feveral entire and beau- bone, and the furface of the body and limbs were carefully 



tiful painted vafes from Greece, fome of which were after- marked with their greater fubdivifions ; the raaftoid mufcles 



wards in the poffeffion of Sir William Hamilton : and to and gullet marked the neck, the collar-bones were marked 



thefe might be added many other teftimonies and colleftions by nearly ftraight ridges, the edges of the ribs by an high 



on this part of tlie fubjeft. arch, the abdomen by a double row of three nearly-fquare 



One error more (hould be refuted before we proceed : mufcles on each fide of the linea alba, and the divifion of the 



trunk from the lim.bs is ftrongly indicated by the edge of the 

 pelvis; the (houlder is rounded, the biceps of the arm defined, 

 the elbow expreffed ; a gentle indenture dovj-n the back of 

 the lower arm fliewed the fituation of the ulna, the arm 

 tapered downwards with a graceful fwell for the mufcles, 

 and flatnefs for the part compofed of bones and tendons ; 



Winkelmann (vol. i. lib. 3. c.4. ), in his liiftory of the art, 

 aflerts, that " the Etrufcans gave their Fauns horfes' tails ; 

 whereas the Greeks reprefented Fauns and Satyrs wiih fliort 

 tails like goats." The head-piece (p. 23. chap. 3. vol. ii.) 

 of " Stuart's Athens," is a fufficient anfwer : it is a bas- 

 relief of a Bacchanalian dance, in which two Satyrs have 



horfes' tails. It was found in the ruins of the theatre of the iniides of the thighs were' flattened in the progrefs of 

 Bacchus, is of-thc flyle commonly called Etrufcan ; but, in the fartorius mufcles, the lower tubercle of the thigh-bone 

 fact, according to the time when this theatre was built was fhewn immediately above the knee, which was expreffed 

 (nearly 500 years before Chrift), it is of the ftyle of fculp- by the form of the patella ; the infide of the ihin was ftrongly 

 ture which prevailed in Greece immediately prior to the time expreffed, as were the calves of the legs ; the ancles were 

 of Phidias. neat and fmall, rounded at the bottom ; the feet and hands 



The general remarks on thefe works, during the period of partook more of the forms of nature than the Egyptian, and 

 about 550 years from the time of Cadmus to the time of the fingers and toes were made more neat, diflinft, and various 

 Phidias, fhall be confined to the three following : the manner in the outline ; on the back, the blade bones were marked 



of reprefenting the gods ; the manner of drawing the human 

 figure and its aftions ; and, laftly, fome obfervations on the 

 draperies and utenfils. 



From the two proofs adduced that Grecian fculpture has 

 been called Etrufcan from the want of fufficient knowledge 

 of the fubjeft, and to which other proofs equally certain 



as being httle difguifed by flelh, and the glutasi as fmall 

 and firm. Upon the whole, they are men in an early ftate 

 of fociety, whofe hard and conftant exercife in leaping, run- 

 ning, feats of dexterity in war and hunting, has made the 

 covering of their bones tendinous and elaftic, tapered their 

 limbs, and whofe quick and ilrong digeltion has kept the 



might be added (for inftance, that all the early Greek coins loins narrow and the abdomen flat, whilft a free and power. 

 '' "^ ' '"" ''"' -" ' TT. r ^ !. 11 r £^j ,-efpjration expanded and raifed the cheft. The firft 



effays of fculpture in the round figure, required that the 

 arms fliould be attached to the body, and the legs joined 

 together, for fupport, and to prevent the unfliilful artift 

 from breaking his work : but this reilraint did not extend 

 to bas-relief, in the fame early compofitions of this kind ; 



are of the fame ftyle with that called Etrufcan), it will feera 

 to be a fafe conclullon, that all ancient fculpture reprefent- 

 ing Greek fubjefts, fiiould be confidered as the work of 

 Greeks, their colonifts, or fcholars, excepting in fuch cafes 

 as there is fufficient reafon to believe the contrary. — 

 Conforma'oly to this regulation, the foOowing obfervations 



may be offered on Greek fculpture preceding the time of in which you fee fuch fimple pofitions as approach to forma 



Phidias. As the ancients reprefented their divinities in hu 

 man form.s, in the early times thofe forms were grofs aud 

 imperfeft, th.eir aim being only to copy human nature ; 

 thus, in the gem above cited, of Jupiter with the thunder 

 and trident, in Winkelniann's " Monumenti inediti," pi. 3. 

 his body and limbs are formed of few parts, grofs and inele- 

 gant, his face is beardlefs, and his hair is thick and matted. 

 N'^arly the fame may be faid of the Hercules on the bronze 

 pactra in the BritiOi rilufeum, above mentioned ; a figure of 

 Neptune on the oldeft coins of Poeftum; and the other monu- 

 ments of the fame ages, v/hich reprefent Jupiter, Neptune, 

 Mercury, and Hercules, by fuch figures as they employed to 

 reprefent common men, equally devoid of beauty and cha- 

 rafter. The face of Minerva is not more delicate than that of 

 Hercules, nor do his limbs appear more robuft than thofe of 

 Apollo. The gods were only known by thtir fymbols : Jupi- 

 ter by his thunder, Neptune by his trident. Mercury by his 

 caduceus, Minerva by her helmet and segis, &c. The gem 

 of Jupiter with the thu.ider and trident above mentioned, 

 which has alfo a four-fojted anim.al under his car, perhaps a 



lity. There are alfo figures in violent aftions ; as dancing 

 fatyrs, groups contending, and fuch exertions as (hew the 

 figure with fprawhng, angular, and extravagant appearances: 

 for hitherto the indications of grace were as fmall as thofe 

 of beauty. 



The draperies in the early bas-reliefs are thin, fhswing the 

 forms of the body and limbs ; the folds regular, fm.all, and 

 diftinft, confifting cliiefiy of perpendiculars and zig-zags. 

 Some of the head-dreffes confift of fmall curls, vei"v hke the 

 fafliions of barbarous nations dcfcribed and drawn by mo- 

 dern travellers ; and in the bronze patera in the Britifh Mu- 

 feum above meuioned, the club of Hercifles is ornamented 

 with fpiral flutes, like one brought by captain Cook from 

 the Sandwich iftands. 



The bas-relief of Hercules bearing the tripod from 

 Apollo, mentioned above, feems to be nearer the time of 

 Phidias than any of the other examples ; not only from the 

 fuperior elegance of the defign, but iikewile from its being 

 in ftyle very limilar to the Bacchanalian dance found in the 

 ti • :.;re of Bacchus at Athens. This fubjct^ of Hercules 



horfe, agrees with Orphcus's hymn to that god, in which b .;.;;:-.g the tripod from Apollo, is dtfcribed by Paufaiiias 



