SCULPTURE. 



3t on his heart, that he may teach, both he and Ahohab, 

 the fon of Ahifamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them hath 

 lie filled with wildom of heart, to work all manner of work 

 of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the 

 embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in fcarlet, and in 

 fine linen ; and of the weaver, even of them tliat do any 

 work, and of thofe that devife cunning work." 



Such infpircd works being ordained, and Mofes coming 

 down from the Mount to caufc all to be performed accord- 

 ing to tliL- divine will ; he finds that the people have made 

 a golden calf, crying out, " Thefe are thy gods, O Ifrael, 

 who brought thee out of the land of Egypt." The golden 

 calf is evidently the Egyptian Orus or Apis. 



The manner of making the golden calf is thus dcfcribed 

 by Aaron : " I faid unto them, whofoever hath any gold 

 let them break it off; fo they gave it me; then I call it 

 into the fire, and out came this calf." It is alfo faid, «' He 

 received the earrings and gold at their hand, and fa(hioned 

 it with a graving tool after he had made a molten calf." 



This dreadful attempt to annihilate infpircd art at its 

 birth, is vifited by a grievous judgment, but no more grievous 

 than is neceflary to its fecurity : for this deliverance from 

 Egypt was the deliverance of man, both as to his bodily 

 and mental faculties, from (lavery. 



When the tables of (tone are renewed, that they may 

 be depofited in the ark, Mofes, Bezaleel, and Aholiab, and 

 every wife-hearted man, in whom the Lord had put wif- 

 dom and underttanding, fet about their infpircd work. 



The tabernacle and its curtains and cherubim ; the 

 veil and its cherubim ; the ark and mercy-feat and their 

 cherubim ; the table of (how-bread and the golden candle- 

 ftick ; the altar of burnt-offerings, and the altar of incenfe ; 

 the laver ; the garments of Aaron, and his brealt-plate 

 and mitre and holy crown, and the garments of the fons of 

 Aaron. 



Whether the cherubims which were woven in the curtains 

 and the veil are to be confidered fimply as mentioned in 

 Exodus ; or, according to the more expanded and poetical 

 reprefentations in Ezckicl, accompanied by their dreadfvil 

 wheels, containing Orion and Pleiades, Mazzaroth and his 

 fons, ArAurus and the chambers of the fouth, as men- 

 tioned in Job, Ifaiah, and Amos; like the reprefentations 

 on our celellial globe ; the difference will be only in their 

 more or lefs fplendid defign and embroidery. But the 

 defcription is more pofitive concerning thofe fculptured 

 cherubims which covered the ark of the teftimony. 



" And he made the mercy-feat of pure gold. Two cubits 

 and a half was the lengtli thereof, and one cubit and a 

 half the breadth thereof. And he made two cherubims of 

 gold ; beaten o'jt of one piece, made he them on the two 

 ends of the mcrcy-fcat. One cherub on the end on this 

 fide ; and anotlier cherub on the otlier end on that fide : out 

 cf the nurcy-feat made h-e the cherubims on the two ends 

 thereof. And the cherubims fpread out their wings on 

 high, and covered with their wings over the mercy-feat ; 

 with their faces one to another ; even to the mercy-feat- 

 ward were the faces of the cherubims." 



Th'fe figures, as alfo the candleftick and table, and all 

 other works of fculpture contained in the tabernacle ; to- 

 gether witii Aaron's brealt-plate, a fpan each way, four- 

 fquare ; containing twelve precious (tones, each engraved 

 with the engraving of a fignet, with the names of the chil- 

 dren of Ifrael ; mull have been worthy of their divine 

 author. 



And the ncccfTity of fuch infpircd fculptures and other 

 infpircd works of art is explained fulficienfly in the deliver- 

 ance of Iffael from the idolatry of Egypt ; where no one 



J 



dared to praftife any art or fcieiice, but that of his fathers j 

 who, like him, were kept from every indication of individual 

 character. And the Hebrew being born a (lave, continued 

 fo while under the Egyptian yoke : let his infpiration be 

 what it would, he was compelled to work in making bricks, 

 and in iron-furnaces. Such then was the dehveraiice of 

 art and fcience from dedruftioii, and the earth from return- 

 ing to its primeval chaos. 



All idolatrous fublUtutes for fine art, wood and ftone de- 

 formities, God, by the mouth of Mofes, repeatedly com- 

 mands the children of Ifrael to dellroy, in thefe and the 

 like words. " And dellroy all their pidlures and deftroy all 

 their molten images." 



After the eltablifhment of Ifrael in Canaan, there are 

 continual indications of fine art. So early as the fong of 

 Deborah, we hear of thofe who delineate with the pen or 

 pencil of the writer. Gideon deitroys the altar of Baal, but 

 afterwards himlelf makes an idol. Micah's mother dedicates 

 gold and filver to the Lord, to make a graven image and a 

 molten image ; but Micah makes them a houfe of gods, 

 which he worfhips and caufes others to worihip, not ufing 

 them as works of art, but as idols. 



We next hear of the image of Dagon, when the ark of 

 God is taken by the Philillines ; and of the golden emerods 

 and golden mice, which were put into a coffer by the fide of 

 the ark, for a trefpafs-offering. 



The image which Michal placed in David's bed, to de- 

 ceive Saul's meffengers, fome fuppofe to have been a llatue 

 of David ; it is called a teraphim. 



But the moft magnificent produdlion of Hebrew art was 

 the temple of Solomon. It contained the fame cherubim 

 that Mofes had feen on the Mount ; and they adorned and 

 covered the whole temple within and without. Two in par- 

 ticular were placed in the holy of holies, of coloflal dimen- 

 fions : they covered the place of the ark with their wings ; 

 the height of each was ten cubits, and the breadth each 

 fpread his wings was ten cubits. A figure five yards high 

 is capable of the greatelt efforts at perfeAion in art, and 

 this no doubt they had, bemg done by divine command, for 

 purpofes whofe importance reaches to the end of time. 



The brazen fea of Solomon's temple, and its twelve oxen ; 

 the two pillars, Jachin and Boaz ; the candltllicks of pure 

 gold, twelve in number; the ten lavers, and their bafes and 

 wheels, and ornaments of hons and oxen, and cherubim, 

 works infpired by God and wrought by his holy Spirit, with 

 the other fublime ornaments of Solomon's temple, as alfo 

 Solomon's throne and its twelve lions. The excellence of 

 the work mud be confidered as equal to the ]Uirpofe of con- 

 taining the covenant between God and man, and other dif- 

 penfations relating thereto. 



Thus, the art of fculpture was not only allowed, but en- 

 couraged and employed in the fervice of religion, in the re- 

 prelentation of divine attributes or the fymbols of divine 

 Providence ; and the abufe only of this art was forbidden 

 when perverted to idolatrous and impious purpofes. 



But Solomon became an idolater : and it is laid, " then did 

 Solomon build a high place for Cliemofli, the abomination of 

 Moab, in the hill that lb before JenifaKm ; and for Moloch, 

 the abomination of the children of Amnion." l-'rom this time 

 fine art and iiilpiration were lucceflively removed. 



It has been thought nccellary to be particular in giving 

 quotations from the bible coiicerhiiig the Iculpture of the 

 Hebrews, as it is the earliell of which we have any authentic 

 account. ^ 



There are found in Syria, in the prefent time, ruins of 

 monuiiunts called the fepulchres of the prophets. Th'fj-' "■'• 

 mains have nothing like the Egyptian or the Perfiaii ityle ot 



conllrudion. 



