8388 
it, publithed, fometime ago, a very curi- 
ous Hiftory of the Culture of Fruit- 
, Frees, noice fS valuable than that here an- 
nounced to the lovers of hiftorical re- 
fearches relative to the arts and to. civi- 
lization, 
author, endowed as he is.with diverfified 
talents and knowledge, which are very 
feldom combined in fo eminent a de- 
ree. 
The introduftion that M. Sickley has 
placed at the head of his work, contains 
a number of new and interelting obferva- 
tions. Of ‘ail the events of modern hil- 
tory, he obferves, there are none which 
bring to our recollection fimilar traits of 
ancient hiftory, in a more ftriking man- 
ner, than the deportation of we tks of 
_art by the conquerors. In the hiftory of 
modern ‘nations and conqueits, fuch an 
event was extraordinary, and indeed un- 
heard of. It was net fo in the hiftory of 
ancient times. Paufanias confidered events 
of this kind as very common. When he 
is endeavouring to excule Auguttus for 
having carried away an ancient ftatue of 
Minerva, from Alea—a city which, dur- 
ing his war with Antony, had adhered 
to the interefts of the latter—among other 
expreffions, he ufes the foliowing: * Au- 
guitus did no more than had been ufual 
from the moft remote ages; and what has 
ever been confidered as juft and a’ ‘lowable, 
both by the Greeks and by the Barba- 
rians.” To prove what he advances, he 
cites a number of examples, drawn from 
the hiftory of preceding times. Paufani- 
as, in this paffage, could have no inten- 
tion to flatter Auguiius, who bad died 
long before. And, indeed, this author 
was a Grecian by birth, ard not a Ro- 
man: the deportation, therefore, of works 
of art from his country by the Romans, 
muit naturally have fomerhing im it un- 
pieafing to him. But when ‘he after- 
wards mentions the depredations that 
Sylla and Nero committed, in refpect to 
feveral cities of Greece that lived in peace 
with the Romans, he cenfures fuch con- 
uk very feverely. Pauianias’s opinion 
therefore indic cates, that the deportation of 
works of art from the country of the con- 
quered to that of the conquerors, was not 
coniilered in antiquity as a thing unu- 
fuai; and that, i in Certain relpects, it was 
even confidered as warrantable. This 
point is merely hiftorical, and only con- 
ces the fact of analogy, or the manner 
in which the ancients Bes pla them- 
felves in para allel cafes. 
The refearches of M. Sickler cannct 
fail to interet fuch as take a pleafure in 
Hiftory of the Deportation of Works of Art. 
sh 
Both do great honour to their | 
[Dec. 1 
tracing the progres of civilization ; viz. 
the antiquarian, the hiftoriographer, and 
above all, the artift. The author has 
fccefsfully endeavoured to render hig 
equally inftruétive to thefe different 
claffes of readers. ‘ The Hiftcry of the 
Deportation of the principal Works of 
> continues. the author 5 ‘© as like. 
wile that of civilization in general; and 
even of the different hiliories of the pro- 
pagation of certain particular arts rela- 
tive to knowledge and to pragtice—fuch 
as the Hiftory of the Culture of Fruit 
Tr ees—fuggelts to us this very remark- 
able obfervation, that almoft every thing 
comes from the Eaft, and proceeds im is 
direditon towards the Weft.” 
In M, Sickler’s work, the reader will 
further fee the countries cmdieaeece where- 
in the principal works of art in the an- 
cient world were executed ; of which 
fome are loft, while wahers have been 
tranfmitted fafe to our times. Alfo, the 
fate of the different monuments; in what 
countries, and on what cccafions, they 
were at firft expofed; into what countries 
they were fucceflively tranfported : and 
allo, new fketches of the political rela- 
tions that fubffted between the different 
nations of antiquity. 
The above hiftory, however, is princi- 
pally written with a view to be ufeful to 
uch artifts as wifh to combine the requi- 
fite hiXorical knowledge with the prac- 
tice of theirart. In oo is it not’ flat- 
~tering to an artift, and fufficient to kindle 
in him a noble emulation, to learn that 
the remoteft times, the moft diftinguifhed 
nations, efieemed the works of art fo 
highly, as frequently to undertake wars’ 
in order to poffefs them; and that the 
works of art were reckoned among the 
moft valuable fpsils brought away from 
the conguered countries, and the finelt or- 
namencs of their moft magnificent tri- 
umphs ; when-he finds that even in the 
heroic ages, after the taking of Troy, the 
ftatues were divided folemnly by the way 
of lot; when he fees the eagernefs of the 
Romaos’ to enrich their ciry with. the 
works of art, found in the cities of He- 
truria, of the San-nites, of Campania, of 
Magna Gree la, and at Syracufe ; when 
he fees the victorious generals, Flaminius, 
Paulus /Emilivs, Metellus Macedonicusy 
Mummius, ace us, Pompey, Scipio, 
and Aueuftus, return to the coafts of 
Italy with their fleets loaded with works 
of art of every de'cription ; when he fees 
the inhabitants of Italy aracioully repairs 
ing to the ports where thefe mcnuments 
of the talents of Praxitcles, of Myron, of. 
Apellesy 
