630 
A more splendid work upon the 
FINE ARTS 
than the first volume of ‘ Specimens of 
Ancient Sculpture, igyptian, Etruscan, 
Greek, and Roman, selected from dijfer- 
ent Collections in Great Britain, by the 
Society of Diletiantt,” has not often made 
its appearance. Prefixed is a ‘* Disser- 
tation on the Rise, Progress, and Decline 
of Ancient Sculpture ;” coufined to the 
mimetic or technical part of the art. Yo 
go minutely through the contents of this 
dissertation would occupy more space 
than can be here allowed. ~ It opens 
with a few remarks on Imitation in ge- 
neral, and the primitive efiorts of art; 
traces sculpture first among the /Egyp- 
tians, and afterwards among the Hindoos, 
Pheenieians, and Etruscans; and devotes 
a space of letter-press to the Greek and 
Roman periods of its history, adequate 
to the prodigious superiority which those 
nations evinced over every other state, 
in works of real taste and genius. 
<¢ The most ancient monument of 
Grecian. sculpture (it is observed) now 
extant, is unquestionably the broken piece 
of natural relief in the ancient portal to 
the gates of Mycenz, which is probably 
the same that belonged. to the capital of 
Agamemnon, and may therefore. be at 
least as old as the age of Dedalus. It 
represents two lionsrampant, sufficiently 
entire to afford a very tolerable idea of 
the style of the work. The plate of it 
given in the tail-piece to this discourse, 
3s engraved from a sketch made upon 
the spot, and corrected by admeasure- 
ment, by William Gell, esq. and though 
this does not afford any very accurate 
information as to the details of the work, 
the three compositions of the engraved 
gem given with it are perfectly compe- 
tent to supply such information; they 
being in exactly the same style, and 
having been found in the same country, 
by the came intelligent and industrious 
traveller. The head of Minerva on the 
silver tetradrachm of Athens, engraved 
in the tail-piece to this volume, fig. 1. 
is probably copied from the sitting figure 
of Minerva, made by Endzus above- 
mentioned; it being far the most ar- 
chaic of the three variations of the head 
of that goddess observable on the Athe- 
nian coms, previous to those which seem 
to have been copied from the great sta- 
tue of brass made by Phidias, and placed 
in the Acropolis. c 
«‘ Next to these, the most ancient spe- - 
cimens of Grecian art are probably to he 
found on coins; and as the dates of 
Retrospect of Domestic Literature—Fine Aris. 
many of these can be fixed with tolera- 
ble accuracy, they may serve to show 
the style and degree of merit of many 
inore important objects mentioned by 
ancient authors; and to ascertain the 
periods when others now existing were 
produced. Coins are said to have beer 
first struck in Greece by Phido of Argos, 
in the island of /Egina, eight hundred 
and sixty-nine- years before the Chris- 
tian zera ; and we have coins still extant 
of that island, which seem, both by the 
rudeness of the sculpture, and the im- 
perfection of the striking, to be of nearly 
as early a date: but as the device is only 
a tortoise, with an angulated incuse on 
the reverse, they do not throw much 
light upon the general style of art. 
* Coins however of a form and fabric 
equally simple and archaic, bearing the 
devices of other Greek cities both of Eu- 
rope and Asia, are found with the fis 
gures both of men and animals ; but as 
they have no letters, there are no means 
of ascertaiving their respective dates; 
though they exhibit evident proofs of 
the infancy of the art; being shapeless 
masses, generally of native gold, not 
stamped with the die, but radely driven 
into it, first by a blow of a hammer, and 
then by a square punch orrammer, Ac- 
cording to Herodotus, the Lydians were 
the first who struck coins or made use of 
money; but it is. probable that Greek 
artists were employed in sinking the dies, 
as they were afterwards in other works 
of sculpture, by the sovereigns of that 
empirg. Stamped money in brass was 
was not in use till long after; none of the 
Greek being of an early date, and that 
of the Etruscans and early Romans being 
all cast in moulds.” 
The subsequent specimens of Grecian 
sculpture quoted, are arranged in chro- 
nological order. me 
The following observations are on some 
of the supposed works of Phidias. 
“74. Of Phidias’s general style of 
composition, the friezes and metopes 
of the temple of Mmerva_at Athens, 
published by Mr. Stuart, and since 
brought to England, may afford us com- 
petent informations but as these are - 
merely architectatal sculptures executed 
from his designs, and under his direc- 
tiens, probably by workmen ‘scarcely 
ranked among artists, and meant to be 
seen at the height of more than forty 
feet from the eye, they can throw but 
little light ugon the more important de- 
tails of, his art. From the degree and 
mode of relief in the friezes, they appear 
to 
