«30 
Sought at that litne in Egypt the encourage- 
ment afforded them by Ptolemy Soter, who 
exhibited a munificence worthy of Alexander, 
his predecessor in that kingdom. But when 
the Roman consul, Quintus Flaminius, pro- 
claimed, at Corinth, universal liberty to 
Greece (about a hundred and ninety-four 
years before Christ), the public tranquillity, 
consequent on that event, renewed the spirit 
cd the arts, and introduced another of their 
most memorable tents. 
Callistratus, Athenaeus, and Policies, were 
immediately at this period the most renowned 
masters of sculpture. Policies distinguished 
himself by the statue of the Hermaphrodite, so 
long admired in the Borghese Villa at Rome. 
To Apollonius the Athenian, at the same 
period, is attributed the wonderful Torso 
of the Hercules, preferred by the judg- 
ment of Michael Angelo beyond the most 
perfect statues of Rome. 
Causes of the excellence of sculpture among 
the Greeks. 
The great superiority of the Greeks in the 
art of sculpture, may be ascribed to a variety 
•f causes. Their love of beauty was so 
great, that the Lacedemonian women kept in 
their chambers the statues of Nereus, of 
Narcissus, of Hyacinthus, and of Castor and 
Pollux ; hoping that by often contemplating 
them, they might have beautiful children. 
The noble and virtuous freedom of the 
Grecian manners likewise contributed in a 
more peculiar degree to the cultivation of the 
fine arts. There were no laws, as among the 
Egyptians, to check their progress. The 
artist had the best opportunities to study 
them in the public places, where the youth, 
who needed no other veil than chastity and 
purity of maimers, performed their various 
exercises quite naked. 
The strongest motives were also held forth 
Mr the cultivation of sculpture, for a statue 
was the highest honour which public merit 
oould attain. It was an honour ambitiously 
sought, and granted only to those who had 
distinguished themselves in the eyes of their 
fellow-citizens. As statues were often raised 
to those who excelled in the public exercises, 
the most eminent men of Greece, in their 
■youth, sought renown in the gymnasia. Here 
C'hrvsippus and Cleanthes distinguished them- 
selves before they were known as philosophers. 
Plato appeared as a wrestler botii at the 
Isthmian and Pythian games ; and Pythagoras 
carried off the prize at Elis. The number of 
statues erected on different occasions was 
hum ease ; of course, the number of artists 
must have been great, their emulation ardent, 
and their progress rapid. Moreover, at these 
public games, the artists could not fail of 
seeing the most excellent models; for those 
who surpassed in running, boxing, and w rest- 
ling, must not only, in general,- have been 
well formed, but would exhibit different kinds 
of beauty. 
The high estimation in which sculptors 
were held, was also very favourable to their 
art. An artist could be a legislator, a com- 
mander of armies, and might hope to have 
his statue placed at the side of those of Mil- 
tiades and Themistocles, or those of the gods 
themselves, l ive productions of art were 
estimated and rewarded by the general as- 
sembly of Greece ; and the sculptor who had 
SCULPTURE. 
executed his work with ability, was confident 
of obtaining immortality. 
Character of Grecian sculpture. 
Winckelmann has assigned four different 
styles to this art among the Greeks. The 
antient style, which continued until the time 
of Phidias ; the grand style, formed by that 
celebrated statuary ; the beautiful, introduced 
by Praxiteles, Apelles, and Lysippus ; and 
the imitative style practised by those artists 
w ho copied the works of the antient masters. 
The most authentic monuments of the an- 
tient style have been already described. The 
statues formed in this style were neither dis- 
tinguished hv beauty of shape, nor by pro- 
portion, but bore a close resemblance to those 
of the Egyptians and Etrurians. The eyes 
were long and flat ; the section of the mouth 
not horizontal; the chin was pointed; the 
curls of the hair were ranged in little rings, 
and it was impossible by inspecting the head 
to distinguish the sex. 
The character of the antient style was ener- 
getic, but harsh ; it was animated, but with- 
out gracefulness ; and the violence of the ex- 
pression deprived the whole figure of beauty. 
The grand style was brought to perfection 
by Phidias, Polycletus, Scopas, Alcamanes, 
Myron, and other illustrious artists. It is 
probable, from some passages of antient 
writers, that in this style were preserved some 
characters of the antient manner, such as the 
straight lines, the squares, and angles. The 
antient masters, such as Polycletus, being the 
legislators of proportion, says Winckelmann, 
and of consequence thinking they had a right 
to distribute the measures and dimensions of 
the parts of the human body, have undoubt- 
edly sacrificed some degree of the form of 
beauty to a grandeur w hich is harsh, in com- 
parison of the flowing lines and graceful 
forms of their successors. The most con- 
siderable monuments of the grand style, are 
the statues of Niobe and her daughters ; and 
a figure of Pallas, to be seen in Villa Albani ; 
which, however, must, not he confounded 
with another statue, modelled according to 
the first style, and also found in the same 
place ; the head of which possesses all the 
characters of dignified beauty, at the same 
time exhibiting the rigidness of the antient 
style. The figures of Niobe and her daugh- 
ters have not, in the opinion of Winckelmann, 
that austerity of appearance which marks the 
age. of the last-mentioned statue of Pallas. 
They are particularly characterised by grand- 
ness and simplicity. 
'The third style was the graceful or 
beautiful. Lysippus was, perhaps, the artist 
who introduced this style. Being more con- 
versant than his predecessors with the flowing 
and beautiful lines of nature, he avoided the 
square forms w hich the masters of the second 
style had too frequently admitted. He was 
of opinion that the art ought rather to please 
than to astonish, and that the aim of the artist 
should he to raise admiration by giving de- 
light. The artists who cultivaYed this style, 
did not, however, neglect to study the sub- 
lime works of their predecessors. They 
knew' that grace is consistent with the most 
dignified beauty; and that, while it possesses 
charms which must ever please, those charms 
are enhanced by dignity. Grace is inspired 
into all the movements and attitudes ot their 
statues. It appears in the delicate turn of 
the hair, and even in the adjusting of the 
drapery. 
The last, or imitative style, is of an inferior 
degree of excellence to that which has just 
been mentioned. The great reputation of 
Praxiteles and Apelles raised an ardent emu- 
lation in their successors, who, despairing to 
surpass such illustrious masters, were satisfied 
with imitating their works. 
Every species of beauty of form appears to 
have been well known to the antients; and 
great as the ravages of time have been amongst 
the works of art, specimens are still preserved 
in which can be distinguished dignified beau- 
ty, attractive beauty, and a beauty peculiar 
to tender age. A specimen of dignified 
beauty may be seen in the statue of one of 
the muses in the palace Barberini at Rome, 
and in the garden of the pope. On the 
Quirinal is a statue of another muse, which 
affords a fine instance of attractive beauty. 
Winckelmann says that the most excellent 
model of infant beauty which antiquity has 
transmitted to us, is a satyr of a year old, 
which is preservejl, though a little mutilated, 
in the Villa Albani. 
Nor were the sculptors who represented 
with such success the most perfect beauty of 
the human form, regardless of the drapery of 
their statues. They clothed their figures in 
the most proper stuff, which they wrought 
into that shape which was best calculated to 
give effect to their design. 
The vestments of women in Greece gene- 
rally' consisted of linen cloth, or some other 
light stuff, and in latter times of silk, and 
sometimes of w oollen doth. They had also 
garments embroidered with gold. In the 
works of sculpture, as well as in those of paint- 
ing, one may distinguish the linen by its 
transparency and small folds. The other light 
stuffs which were worn by the women, were , 
generally of cotton, sometimes striped, and 
sometimes embellished with a profusion of 
flowers. Silk was also employed ; but w he- j 
ther it w'as known in Greece before the time 
of the Roman emperors, cannot easily be de- 
termined. 
The vestments of the G reeks, which deserve 
particular attention, are the tunic, the robe, 
and the mantle. 
The tunic was that part of the dress which 
was next to the body. It may be seen in the 
Flora Farnese, and in the statues of the 
Amazons in the capitol. The youngest of 
the daughters of Niobe, who throws herself 
into her mother’s arms, is clothed only with a 
tunic. It was of linen, or some other light 
st utf, without sleeves, fixed to the shoulders 
by a button, so as to cover the whole breast. 
None but the tunics of the goddess Ceres, 
and of comedians, have long straight sleeves.. 
The robes of women commonly consisted 
of two long pieces of woollen cloth, without 
any particular form, attached to the shoulders, 
by’ a great many buttons, and sometimes by 
a clasp. They had straight sleeves, whic h 
came down to the w'rists. The young girls, 
as well as the women, fastened their robe to 
their side by a cincture, fastened on the side ' 
in a knot, as it is still done in many parts of 
Greece ; a knot of ribbons sometimes resem- 
bling a rose in shape, which has been particu- 
larly remarked in the two beautiful daughters, 
of Niobe- In the younger of these, the 
cincture is seen passing over the shoulders- 
