30 OBJECTS AND DUTIES OF THE ART SECTION. 



Every school of art has commenced with the first qual- 

 ity, but after acquiring the second it has given this the 

 place of both. In every case this has resulted in the en- 

 tire decline of the school itself. 



The school of Phidias represented the grand beauty of 

 Greek art, and Praxiteles added thereto gracefulness 

 and perfection of execution. 



The Romans fully appreciated the latter quality, but 

 did not attain to the intrinsic beaut y of the first school. 

 Hence as they made the execution their aim, art grad- 

 ually declined and finally almost perished under their 

 dominion. 



The early painters of Italy and of the Netherlands rep- 

 resented the various religious subjects in a child-like and 

 naif manner. In contemplating them we are struck by 

 the devotional feeling which prevails in their representa- 

 tions of sacred subjects. Yet we cannot help smiling at 

 the awkward forms through which these sublime subjects 

 are represented. 



The execution, drawing, and coloring, improve gradu- 

 ally until Michael Angelo appears. With his bold and 

 powerful execution he prescribed the style to modern 

 art. This Michael- Angelesque style spread throughout 

 Europe, and influenced all artists. In striving to imitate 

 him, however, these artists copied only his execution, 

 failing to attain the beauty of his selection of subjects. 

 The general decline of art in the eighteenth century was 

 the natural result of this mannerism. In the last half 

 of the sixteenth century, the brothers Carracci founded 

 the eclectic school. In this they tried to unite the 

 beauties of Michael Angelo, of the Venetians and of 

 Correggio, to those of the school of Raphael. They 

 might have succeeded in giving to the world the most 

 perfect works existing, but they failed utterly. The 

 reason of their failure was that they imitated these 

 several masters themselves, instead of studying the beau- 



