SCULPTURE. 
seDtation of personal grace. Their limited 
and absurd ideas of religion were a decided 
bar to improvement, and led them to debase 
rather than improve the human form ; hence 
we sometimes find the beads of animals at- 
tached to the bodies of men, and the ridicu- 
lous imputed acts of {heir idols are repre- 
sented in strange unnatural positions, and 
those frequently repeated ; hence the idea 
of grouping their figures was decidedly 
banisl^ed, except in a few cases, when the 
same outline occurs to the depth of four 
and five persons, each performing the same 
act, with the uniformity of a set of recruits, 
under the care of a drilling serjeant. 
Hie errors of the Egyptians on this head 
cannot be more forcibly illustrated than by 
mentioning their manner of expressing a 
general punishment ; a gigantic figure wields 
a weapon with one hand, and with the other 
grasps the hair of a group of kneeling 
figures, placed in a circle, with three ranges 
of heads appearing above each other, the 
hands, knees, bodies, and profiles exactly 
parallel. A second mistake in their sculpture 
was the disproportion of their figures to the 
object decorated with them, as it frequently 
happens that the same building contains hie- 
roglyphics not three inches in length, which 
in another part of the structure are extend- 
ed to several feet ; indeed^ all their produc- 
tions in this art were a compound of little- 
ness and vastness. Thus the temple of A^ol- 
linopolis Magna, atEtfu, has its side covered 
with figures half the height of the building, 
and the front with others not a sixth part 
of their size. 
Very few of the detached figures or sta- 
tues sculptured by the Egyptians deserve 
notice, otherwise than as objects of curio- 
sity ; indeed to examine them critically 
would be mere waste of time, as they are 
too frequently wilfully distorted to suit my- 
thological conceptions : it is therefore im- 
possible to select a subject deserving of 
examination, by which to judge of their 
skill in delineating the swells of the mus- 
cles in various positions. Denon has given 
several valuable specimens of their remains, 
amongst vrhich are a species of caryatides, 
or naked figures, standing erect with their 
arms crossed on their breasts : these, how- 
ever, are very little calculated to raise our 
opinion of the merit of the artists who 
made them j and, indeed, the only instances 
we recollect of correctness and propriety, 
are the sphinx, and the enormous clenched 
hand, now in the British Museum. Of the 
Ibrmer, Denon speaks ^with enthusiasm : 
“ I had only time to view the sphinx, 
which deserves to be drawn with a more 
scrupulous attention than has ever yet been 
bestowed upon it. Though its proportions 
are colossal, the outline is pure and graceful ; 
the expression of the head is mild, gracious, 
and tranquil j the character is African ; but 
the mouth, the lips of which are thick, has 
a softness and delicacy of execution truly 
admirable ; it seems real life and flesh. Art 
must have been at a high pitch when this 
monument was executed ; for, if the head 
wants what is called style, that is to say, 
the straight and bold lines which give ex- 
pression to the figures under which the 
Greeks have designated their deities, yet 
sufficient justice has been rendered to the 
fine simplicity and character of nature 
which is displayed in this figure.” 
These observations corroborate what we 
have already advanced of the capability of 
the Egyptians to executCvhad their concep- 
tions been equally correct ; but as those 
were limited, their genius for excellent 
sculpture can only be collected from de- 
tached objects, where a ray has accidently 
emanated, and meeting with apathy from 
the public, perhaps another has never been 
excited in the mind of the artist ; hence it is 
that we must look for elegance in their re- 
presentations of animals, foliage, and flowers, 
which being admired by all, and not sub- 
ject to the changes and varieties exhibited 
in the human frame and countenance, are 
more readily copied. In this part of our 
pursuit we are again assisted by Denon, 
who has presented us with many traces of 
simplicity in the capitals of their pillars, 
some of which are of about the same degree 
of excellence with the best specimens of 
Saxon sculpture, and in some cases strongly 
remind us of the works of that people ; and 
it may be worthy of observation, that the 
shape of the Egyptian capital differs very 
little from those invented by the Greeks : 
one in particular might be supposed to be 
the work of the latter, as it is surrounded 
by a range of beautiful full-grown leaves of 
the palm, disposed as the acanthus leaf after- 
wards was ; anotherformed of a collection of 
palm stalks, before the branches and leaves 
are fully developed, shows that a very little 
taste, added to the disposition, would have 
raised the reputation of Egyptian sculpture 
to a level with that of their more polished 
imitators, as there can be no doubt that 
they have afforded hints to the Greeks. 
The frieze of the great temple at Tentyra, 
also shows that the ideas of the Egyptians, 
