Art Out-of-Doors 



them inconspicuous, and thus to disturb as 

 little as possible the rural effect of the out- 

 look from neighboring higher points over 

 the distant country. But the existence of 

 gateways, and their eminently artificial char- 

 acter, cannot be disguised ; and to build 

 them wholly of small bowlders and drape 

 them as thickly as possible with foliage, is 

 to sacrifice art and appropriateness to an 

 unattainable end. A comparison of these 

 gateways with those recently erected at one 

 of the southern entrances to Prospect Park 

 would prove, I think, that the more confess- 

 edly artistic such w^orks of art are made, the 

 better is their effect. 



Under the Propylaea of the Athenians one 

 entered, not a park, but a small enclosure 

 thickly filled with buildings and statues. 

 But through and over it he who stood on 

 the Acropolis saw lovely stretches of open 

 country and a magnificent panorama of sea 

 and island-shores. Would this have looked 

 better, do you think — would it have looked 

 more beautiful or even more rural — had the 

 stately range of chiselled columns been re- 

 placed by a picturesque rustic " construc- 



198 



