﻿•±18 
  MR 
  ANDREW 
  COVENTRY'S 
  NOTICE 
  OF 
  

  

  rest 
  of 
  a 
  statue 
  ; 
  such 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  Niobe 
  and 
  her 
  children. 
  Fre- 
  

   quently, 
  also, 
  the 
  original 
  head 
  was 
  displaced 
  for 
  another 
  to 
  save 
  expense.* 
  

   " 
  Pliny 
  tells 
  us, 
  that 
  in 
  his 
  time 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  common 
  custom 
  to 
  change 
  the 
  heads 
  of 
  

   illustrious 
  persons 
  and 
  fit 
  on 
  new 
  ones 
  ; 
  and 
  Chrysostom 
  reproaches 
  the 
  Rho- 
  

   dians 
  with 
  their 
  economy 
  in 
  dedicating 
  the 
  same 
  statues 
  to 
  different 
  persons, 
  de- 
  

   facing 
  the 
  original 
  inscriptions." 
  But 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  instance 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  probable 
  

   that 
  the 
  circumstance 
  of 
  the 
  bust 
  being 
  in 
  two 
  pieces 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  owing 
  to 
  a 
  

   fall, 
  as 
  the 
  junction 
  is 
  clumsily 
  executed, 
  and 
  advantage 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  taken 
  of 
  

   the 
  drapery 
  to 
  conceal 
  it. 
  Still 
  the 
  drapery 
  cannot 
  be 
  referred 
  to 
  any 
  recent 
  

   period. 
  It 
  is 
  too 
  simple, 
  and 
  has 
  suffered 
  too 
  much 
  from 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  weather 
  

   to 
  be 
  modern. 
  I 
  think 
  the 
  bust 
  must 
  have 
  lain 
  for 
  ages 
  with 
  the 
  face 
  down, 
  and 
  

   the 
  shoulders, 
  which 
  have 
  chiefly 
  suffered, 
  exposed 
  ; 
  and, 
  when 
  it 
  came 
  into 
  my 
  

   possession, 
  the 
  folds 
  of 
  the 
  drapery 
  were 
  full 
  of 
  what 
  seemed 
  garden 
  mould. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  resist 
  the 
  impression 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  here 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  high 
  

   Greek 
  art. 
  There 
  is 
  the 
  wonderful 
  repose 
  which 
  baffles 
  modern 
  skill, 
  the 
  fine 
  

   short 
  upper 
  lip, 
  the 
  flat 
  pupil 
  of 
  the 
  eye, 
  and 
  the 
  delicate 
  line 
  of 
  junction 
  of 
  the 
  

   lips 
  admirably 
  given. 
  

  

  My 
  belief, 
  too, 
  is 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  portrait. 
  It 
  has 
  an 
  air 
  of 
  individuality 
  about 
  it 
  ; 
  

   and 
  it 
  has 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  emblems 
  of 
  mythology, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  diadem 
  or 
  the 
  ivy 
  

   chaplet. 
  Further, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  dimple 
  on 
  the 
  chin, 
  which 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  de- 
  

   cisive. 
  For 
  Winckelmannf 
  informs 
  us, 
  that 
  there 
  exist 
  only 
  three 
  fine 
  statues 
  of 
  

   an 
  ideal 
  character 
  (the 
  Venus 
  de 
  Medici, 
  a 
  bronze 
  Apollo, 
  and 
  a 
  Bathyllus 
  at 
  Samos) 
  

   with 
  a 
  dimpled 
  chin, 
  it 
  not 
  being 
  a 
  feature 
  which 
  the 
  Greeks 
  admired. 
  I 
  may 
  

   mention 
  that 
  the 
  ears 
  are 
  pierced, 
  as 
  was 
  not 
  unusual. 
  The 
  ears 
  of 
  the 
  Venus 
  

   de 
  Medici 
  are 
  also 
  pierced. 
  

  

  Of 
  whom, 
  then, 
  have 
  we 
  here 
  the 
  portrait 
  ? 
  At 
  first 
  sight 
  this 
  would 
  seem 
  a 
  

   hopeless 
  inquiry 
  ; 
  and 
  if 
  the 
  Greeks 
  had 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  habit, 
  as 
  we 
  are, 
  of 
  decorating 
  

   their 
  mansions 
  with 
  the 
  images 
  of 
  their 
  friends, 
  it 
  certainly 
  would 
  be 
  hopeless 
  

   now, 
  among 
  the 
  ruins 
  and 
  remains 
  of 
  so 
  many 
  families, 
  to 
  trace 
  the 
  likeness 
  of 
  a 
  

   bust. 
  But 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  so 
  in 
  Greece. 
  There 
  sculpture 
  had 
  high 
  and 
  public 
  aims. 
  

   There 
  were, 
  as 
  Heeren 
  f 
  tells 
  us, 
  no 
  private 
  galleries 
  and 
  no 
  private 
  collections. 
  

   Sometimes, 
  indeed, 
  an 
  Athenian, 
  out 
  of 
  piety 
  or 
  patriotism, 
  commissioned 
  a 
  

   statue 
  ; 
  but, 
  in 
  all 
  cases, 
  it 
  was 
  to 
  adorn 
  a 
  temple 
  or 
  a 
  portico, 
  or 
  some 
  place 
  of 
  

   public 
  resort 
  : 
  and 
  we 
  read 
  § 
  of 
  a 
  person 
  who 
  had 
  spent 
  between 
  £600 
  and 
  £700 
  

   in 
  certain 
  votive 
  statues, 
  whose 
  heir 
  was 
  reproached 
  with 
  having 
  let 
  them 
  lie 
  in 
  

   the 
  sculptor's 
  hands 
  unconsecrated. 
  In 
  this 
  way 
  it 
  came 
  that 
  persons 
  only 
  of 
  

   some 
  public 
  mark 
  were 
  honoured 
  with 
  statues 
  ; 
  and 
  we 
  now 
  have 
  not 
  so 
  bound- 
  

   less 
  and 
  discouraging 
  a 
  field 
  as 
  it 
  might 
  have 
  been. 
  

  

  * 
  Burton's 
  Rome, 
  2. 
  307 
  ; 
  Pliny, 
  35. 
  2. 
  f 
  Wincklemann 
  on 
  Greek 
  Art, 
  p. 
  220. 
  

  

  J 
  Heeren's 
  Greece, 
  pp. 
  284-9. 
  § 
  Muller's 
  Ancient 
  Art, 
  p. 
  65. 
  

  

  