SCULPTURE. 



with its weight in gold, by Candaules, king of Lydia, who 

 was coeval with Romulus, and lived in the 20th Olym- 

 piad, or about 750 years before Chrift : thus," continues 

 Pliny, " proving the fame and perfeftion of the art." Now, 

 according to the fame author's account, the ancient painting 

 did not arrive at its greateft perfcftion until after the time 

 of Phidias, or two hundred and fifty years later ; and there- 

 fore it is likely that Bularchus's piftiire was chiefly valued 

 for the fame high finifhing we iee in the earliefl marble fta- 

 tues, of which the foUowmg are examples : — colofTal bulls of 

 Herculei and Apollo, in the Britiih Mufeum, moft likely 

 thofe donebyDipcenusand ScyUis for the Sicyonians: — very 

 ancient ftatucs of Minerva, and a priell of Bacchus, lately 

 in tlie Villa Albani, publilhed by Winckelman in his Monu- 

 mcnta Inedita, and Storia dell Arte. To thefe might be 

 added examples of extreme finifhing in early Greek pateras 

 and other bronzes. This obfervation on Bularchus's pic- 

 ture, and the fculpture of the fame time, will naturally lead 

 to another of more general comprehenfion, that the im- 

 provements in fculpture we have realon to believe followed 

 thofe in painting accordnig. to the dates, as far as we are 

 able to afcertain them in remaining works. Soon after this 

 time may be reckoned the A my clean Apollo, defcribed by 

 Paufanias as very ancient. The throne, with the image fit- 

 ting upon it, Paufanias conjeftured at not lefs than thirty 

 cubits ; he enumerates the fubjetts fculptured upon it ; they 

 comprehend the hiitory of the fabulous ages underneath. 

 The bafe is the fepulchre of Hyacinthus, which is entered 

 by a brazen door. In the fepulchre are many works of (culp- 

 ture. The figure of Apollo, Paufanias defcribes as of very 

 rude art. Paufanias aUo mentions a brazen Hercules of 

 ten cubits, as the work of a difciple of Dsedalus. 



Philocles the Egyptian, or Cleanthes the Corinthian, is 

 faid firft to have introduced outlines among the Greeks, in 

 the praftice of which they were followed by Ardices the 

 Corinthian, and Tclephaiies the Sicyonian, who ufed other 

 lines within the outline, to exprefs the marking of the body 

 and limbs, alfo writing the names of thofe they painted, 

 which agree with the earlieft paintings on Greek vafes, as 

 their attitudes and peculiarities agree with early Iculpture. 

 Cimon Cleonius invented catagraphy, or the oblique repre- 

 fentation of images, to give different views of the face, look- 

 ing up, looking down, and looking backwards : he reprc- 

 fented the veins, and the folds and plaits or wrinkles in gar- 

 ments. This Cimon is mentioned as living before the time 

 of Phidias, which affords an additional argument for bcliev- 

 ing improvements in painting to have preceded thofe in 

 fculpture ; bccaufe oblique views of objeCls, and the veins 

 of the limbs and body, feem not to have been attempted in 

 fculpture before the time of Phidias. 



Fortunately for us, the compendious hiflory of painting 

 and fculpture, left by Pliny, was felefled from the writings 

 of the bed Grecian artifts, and arranged, with attention to 

 the feveral improvements, in chronological order, with fuch 

 perfpicuity and comprehenfion, that whenever, from the bre- 

 vity of the work, we do not find all we wi(h for, yet by 

 attending to the information before and after, we fiiall be 

 eafily enabled to fupply the defefts from other writings or 

 monuments of antiquity. In this manner we (hall latisfy 

 ourfelves concerning the progrefs of fculpture, in the two 

 hundred and fifty years which elapftd between the age of 

 Dipcenus and Scyllis a. d that of Pliidias. The better draw- 

 ing of the figure, with a more careful attention to its parts, 

 more precifion and variety of attitude, a Icfs elaborate curl- 

 ing of the hair, the forms of tiie figure better (hewn through 

 the drapcricf?, are all certain figns of a nearer approach to 

 the age of Phidias. If we add to thefe obfervations the 



Vol, XXXIl. 



different ages of writing on works of fculpture, what let- 

 ters are wanting, and whether the infcription is in the Bouf- 

 trophedon or ploughing manner, we (hall not err much from 

 the date of the work. 



From the few hittorical obfervatiojis now offered, it is 

 evident that fculpture was eight hundred years from the age 

 of Dxdalus, to the time immediately preceding Phidias, in 

 attaining a tolerable reprefentation of the human form, 

 which proves the flow growth of art perfected by manual 

 labour in the infant Hate of fcieacc ; whilll the means of 

 fubfiflence are precarious, the rights of individuals unde- 

 fined, and the general attention of fociety employed on felf- 

 prefervation and defence, rather than on the increafc of com- 

 fort or civilization of manners. Poetry and oratory, the 

 more independent efforts of mind, appear in the earlieft. 

 ftates of fociety, diltinguifh man as an intelleftual and ra- 

 tional creature, fcatter the firll feeds of knowledge, lay 

 down theories for the government of future generations, ex- 

 pand the mind, and diretl the powers towards whatever is 

 moft ufeful and moft defirable in the more perfeA ttates of 

 humanity. 



The chief occurrences in the early hiftory of Greece are, 

 the Argonautic expedition ; the war of Thebes ; and the tak- 

 ing of Troy ; in which particular heroifm, or the united 

 achievements of petty ilates, are interwoven with poetic fio- 

 tion. Their confequences produced no confiderable change 

 in the manners of the people or the character of the coun- 

 try ; but the battles of Marathon and Salamis, which 

 deftroyed the Perfian army, whofe myriads, like locufts, 

 fwarmed over the country, ftruck the firft deadly blow to 

 the Perfian power, and gave a beginning to the Grecian or 

 third great monarchy of the world. An event of fo much 

 importance, by changing fortune and transferring power in 

 fo large a portion of the civilized part of mankind, raifed 

 the charafter of Greece, in proportion to the abafement 

 of Perfia. The Greeks, particularly the Athenians, tiie 

 champions of the war, whofe heroic ardour was increafcd by 

 fuccels, fought additional diftindlion by every great and 

 praife-worthy exertion of body and mind in arts and arms. 

 The accumulated wildom of ages, and difcoveries in fcience, 

 were taught by their philofophers ; their temples and public 

 buildings were raifed with a magnificence unknown before, 

 and decorated with all the powers of art. .lElchylus, 

 Euripides, and Sophocles, ennobled the minds of the 

 people by their dramatic poetry. The five exercifes which 

 formed the body to exertion and beauty, and the mind to 

 fortitude and patriotifm, were univerfally pra6liicd, culti- 

 vated, and honoured. In this general fpirit of enterprize 

 and improvement, Iculpture appeared in the fchool of Phi- 

 dias, with a beauty and perfection which cclipfed all former 

 efforts. 



About 490 years before the Chriftian era, Phidiafi flou- 

 rifticd at the fame time with the philolophers Socrates, Plato, 

 and Anaxagoras ; the ftatefmon and commanders Pericles, 

 Miltiades, Themiftocles, Cimon, and Xenaplion, with the 

 tragic poets above-mentioned. This period was as favour- 

 able in its moral and political circumftances, as in the emula- 

 tion of rare talents, to produce the difplay and encourage 

 the growth of genius. 



The city and citadel of Alliens had been burnt by the 

 army of Xerxes ; but the Greeks, being conquerors, raifed 

 more ftately buildings in the room of thofe deftroyed. 

 Phidias was engaged by P.-ricles in the fuperintend.ince and 

 decorations of the temple of Minerva, and other public 

 works. 



Superior genius, in addition to hi« knowledg'- of paint- 

 ing, which he pradifed before fculpture, gave a grandeur 



K to 



