,transcriber's note3  ,transliteration  
of ,greek words appears between  signs4 
,library ,edition    ,,the ,,complete   
,,works ,,of ,,john ,,ruskin            
,,crown ,,of ,,wild ,,olive             
,,time ,,and ,,tide            ,,queen  
,,of ,,the ,,air      ,,lectures ,,on   
,,art ,,and ,,landscape                 
,,aratra ,,pentelici                    
,,national ,,library ,,association      
,,new ,,york ,,chicago                  
999999              ,,lectures ,,on     
,,art4                ,,delivered       
,,before ,,the            ,,university  
,,of ,,oxford            ,,in ,,hilary  
,,term1 #ahgj4                   999999 
,,contents4                   ,,lecture 
,i4    ,,inaugural                      
#a                 ,,lecture ,,ii4      
,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,art ,,to        
,,religion      #bd                     
,,lecture ,,iii4    ,,the ,,relation    
,,of ,,art ,,to ,,morals        #df     
,,lecture ,,iv4    ,,the ,,relation ,,of
 ,,art ,,to ,,use           #ff         

,,lecture ,v4    ,,line                 
#hf                 ,,lecture ,,vi4     
,,light                                 
#ajb                 ,,lecture ,,vii4   
,,colour                                
#abc          ,,preface ,,to ,,the      
,,edition ,,of #ahhg4      ,the         
following lectures were the most        
important piece of my literary work     
done with unabated power1 best motive1  
and happiest concurrence of             
circumstance4 ,they were written and    
delivered while my mother yet lived1    
and had vividest sympathy in all ,i was 
attempting2--while also my  friends put 
unbroken trust in me1 and the course of 
study ,i had followed  seemed to fit me 
for the acceptance of noble tasks and   
graver  responsibilities than those only
 of a curious traveler1 or casual       
teacher4    ,men of the present world   
may smile at the sanguine utterances of 
the  first four lectures3 but it has not
 been wholly my own fault that they     
have remained unfulfilled2 nor do ,i    

retract one word of hope for the        
success of other masters1 nor a single  
promise made to the sincerity of  the   
student's labor1 on the lines here      
indicated4 ,it would have been          
necessary to my success1 that ,i should 
have accepted permanent residence  in   
,oxford1 and scattered none of my energy
 in other tasks4 ,but ,i chose  to spend
 half my time at ,coniston ,waterhead2  
and to use half my force in  attempts to
 form a new social organization1--the   
,st4 ,george's  ,guild1--which made all 
my ,oxford colleagues distrustful of me1
 and many  of my ,oxford hearers        
contemptuous4 ,my mother's death in     
#ahga1 and that  of a dear friend in    
#ahge1 took away the personal joy ,i had
 in anything ,i  wrote or designed3 and 
in #ahgf1 feeling unable for ,oxford    
duty1 ,i  obtained a year's leave of    
rest1 and1 by the kind and wise counsel 
of  ,prince ,leopold1 went to ,venice1  
to reconsider the form into which ,i had
  cast her history in the abstract of it

 given in the ,stones of ,venice4       
,the more true and close view of that   
history1 begun in ,st4 ,mark's  ,rest1  
and the fresh architectural drawings    
made under the stimulus of  it1 led me  
forward into new fields of thought1     
inconsistent with the  daily attendance 
needed by my ,oxford classes2 and in my 
discontent with  the state ,i saw them  
in1 and my inability to return to their 
guidance  without abandonment of all my 
designs of ,venetian and ,italian       
history1  began the series of vexations 
which ended in the very nearly mortal   
illness of #ahgh4    ,since1 therefore1 
the period of my effective action in    
,oxford was only  from #ahgj to #ahge1  
it can scarcely be matter of surprise or
 reproof that  ,i could not in that time
 obtain general trust in a system of    
teaching  which1 though founded on that 
of ,da ,vinci and ,reynolds1 was at     
variance  with the practice of all      
recent ,european academy schools2 nor   
establish--on the unassisted resources  

of the ,slade ,professorship--the       
schools of ,sculpture1 ,architecture1   
,metal-work1 and manuscript             
,illumination1 of which the design is   
confidently traced in the four          
inaugural lectures4    ,in revising the 
book1 ,i have indicated as in the last  
edition of the  ,seven ,lamps1 passages 
which the student will find generally   
applicable1 and in all their bearings   
useful1 as distinguished from  those    
regarding only their immediate subject4 
,the relative importance of  these      
broader statements1 ,i again indicate by
 the use of capitals or  italics2 and if
 the reader will index the sentences he 
finds useful for  his own work1 in the  
blank pages left for that purpose at the
 close of  the volume1 he will certainly
 get more good of them than if they had 
been grouped for him according to the   
author's notion of their contents4      
,,sandgate1 #ajth ,january1 #ahhh4      
,,lectures ,,on ,,art          ,,lecture
 ,i    ,,inaugural      #a4 ,the duty   

which is to-day laid on me1 of          
introducing1 among the  elements of     
education appointed in this great       
,university1 one not only  new1 but such
 as to involve in its possible results  
some modification of  the rest1 is1 as  
you well feel1 so grave1 that no man    
could undertake it  without laying      
himself open to the imputation of a kind
 of insolence2  and no man could        
undertake it rightly1 without being in  
danger of having  his hands shortened by
 dread of his task1 and mistrust of     
himself4    ,and it has chanced to me1  
of late1 to be so little acquainted     
either  with pride or hope1 that ,i can 
scarcely recover so much as ,i now need1
  of the one for strength1 and of the   
other for foresight1 except by          
remembering that noble persons1 and     
friends of the high temper that  judges 
most clearly where it loves best1 have  
desired that this trust  should be given
 me3 and by resting also in the         
conviction that the  goodly tree whose  

roots1 by ,god's help1 we set in earth  
to-day1 will not  fail of its height    
because the planting of it is under poor
 auspices1 or  the first shoots of it   
enfeebled by ill gardening4      #b4    
,the munificence of the ,english        
gentleman to whom we owe the founding   
of this ,professorship at once in our   
three great ,universities1 has          
accomplished the first great group of a 
series of changes now taking  gradual   
effect in our system of public          
education1 which1 as you well  know1 are
 the sign of a vital change in the      
national mind1 respecting  both the     
principles on which that education      
should be conducted1 and the  ranks of  
society to which it should extend4 ,for1
 whereas it was formerly  thought that  
the discipline necessary to form the    
character of youth was  best given in   
the study of abstract branches of       
literature and  philosophy1 it is now   
thought that the same1 or a better1     
discipline may  be given by informing   

men in early years of the things it will
 be of  chief practical advantage to    
them afterwards to know2 and by         
permitting  to them the choice of any   
field of study which they may feel to be
 best  adapted to their personal        
dispositions4 ,i have always used what  
poor  influence ,i possessed in         
advancing this change2 nor can any one  
rejoice  more than ,i in its practical  
results4 ,but the completion--,i will   
not  venture to say1 correction--of a   
system established by the highest       
wisdom of noble ancestors1 cannot be too
 reverently undertaken3 and it  is      
necessary for the ,english people1 who  
are sometimes violent in change  in     
proportion to the reluctance with which 
they admit its necessity1 to  be now1   
oftener than at other times1 reminded   
that the object of  instruction here is 
not primarily attainment1 but           
discipline2 and that a  youth is sent to
 our ,universities1 not 7hitherto at    
least7 to be  apprenticed to a trade1   

nor even always to be advanced in a     
profession2  but1 always1 to be made a  
gentleman and a scholar4      #c4 ,to be
 made these1--if there is in him the    
making of either4 ,the  populaces of    
civilised countries have lately been    
under a feverish  impression that it is 
possible for all men to be both2 and    
that having  once become1 by passing    
through certain mechanical processes of 
instruction1 gentle and learned1 they   
are sure to attain in the sequel  the   
consummate beatitude of being rich4     
,rich1 in the way and measure in which  
it is well for them to be so1 they  may1
 without doubt1 all become4 ,there is   
indeed a land of ,havilah open  to them1
 of which the wonderful sentence is     
literally true--,the gold of  that land 
is good4 ,but they must first           
understand1 that education1 in  its     
deepest sense1 is not the equaliser1 but
 the discerner1 of men2#a  and that1 so 
far from being instruments for the      
collection of riches1  the first lesson 

of wisdom is to disdain them1 and of    
gentleness1 to  diffuse4    ,footnote   
#a3 ,the full meaning of this sentence1 
and of that which closes  the paragraph1
 can only be understood by reference to 
my more developed  statements on the    
subject of ,education in ,modern        
,painters and in ,time  and ,tide4 ,the 
following fourth paragraph is the most  
pregnant summary  of my political and   
social principles ,i have ever been able
 to give4    ,it is not therefore1 as   
far as we can judge1 yet possible for   
all men to  be gentlemen and scholars4  
,even under the best training some will 
remain  too selfish to refuse wealth1   
and some too dull to desire leisure4    
,but  many more might be so than are    
now2 nay1 perhaps all men in ,england   
might one day be so1 if ,england truly  
desired her supremacy among the  nations
 to be in kindness and in learning4 ,to 
which good end1 it will  indeed         
contribute that we add some practice of 
the lower arts to our  scheme of        

,university education2 but the thing    
which is vitally necessary  is1 that we 
should extend the spirit of ,university 
education to the  practice of the lower 
arts4      #d4 ,and1 above all1 it is   
needful that we do this by redeeming    
them from  their present pain of        
self-contempt1 and by giving them rest4 
,it has  been too long boasted as the   
pride of ,england1 that out of a vast   
multitude of men1 confessed to be in    
evil case1 it was possible for          
individuals1 by strenuous effort1 and   
rare good fortune1 occasionally to      
emerge into the light1 and look back    
with self-gratulatory scorn upon  the   
occupations of their parents1 and the   
circumstances of their  infancy4 ,ought 
we not rather to aim at an ideal of     
national life1 when1  of the employments
 of ,englishmen1 though each shall be   
distinct1 none  shall be unhappy or     
ignoble2 when mechanical operations1    
acknowledged to  be debasing in their   
tendency1#b shall be deputed to less    

fortunate and  more covetous races2 when
 advance from rank to rank1 though      
possible to  all men1 may be rather     
shunned than desired by the best2 and   
the chief  object in the mind of every  
citizen may not be extrication from a   
condition admitted to be disgraceful1   
but fulfilment of a duty which  shall be
 also a birthright8    ,footnote #b3    
technai epirrtoi1 compare page #ha4     
#e4 ,and then1 the training of all these
 distinct classes will not be by        
,universities of general knowledge1 but 
by distinct schools of such  knowledge  
as shall be most useful for every class3
 in which1 first the  principles of     
their special business may be perfectly 
taught1 and  whatever higher learning1  
and cultivation of the faculties for    
receiving  and giving pleasure1 may be  
properly joined with that labour1 taught
 in  connection with it4 ,thus1 ,i do   
not despair of seeing a ,school of      
,agriculture1 with its fully-endowed    
institutes of zoology1 botany1 and      

chemistry2 and a ,school of ,mercantile 
,seamanship1 with its institutes of     
astronomy1 meteorology1 and natural     
history of the sea3 and1 to name  only  
one of the finer1 ,i do not say higher1 
arts1 we shall1 ,i hope1 in a  little   
time1 have a perfect school of          
,metal-work1 at the head of which  will 
be1 not the ironmasters1 but the        
goldsmiths3 and therein1 ,i  believe1   
that artists1 being taught how to deal  
wisely with the most  precious of       
metals1 will take into due government   
the uses of all  others4    ,but ,i must
 not permit myself to fail in the       
estimate of my immediate  duty1 while ,i
 debate what that duty may hereafter    
become in the hands of  others2 and ,i  
will therefore now1 so far as ,i am     
able1 lay before you a  brief general   
view of the existing state of the arts  
in ,england1 and of  the influence which
 her ,universities1 through these       
newly-founded  lectureships1 may1 ,i    
hope1 bring to bear upon it for good4   

#f4 ,we have first to consider the      
impulse which has been given to the     
practice of all the arts by the         
extension of our commerce1 and enlarged 
means of intercourse with foreign       
nations1 by which we now become more    
familiarly acquainted with their works  
in past and in present times4 ,the      
immediate result of these new           
opportunities1 ,i regret to say1 has    
been  to make us more jealous of the    
genius of others1 than conscious of the 
limitations of our own2 and to make us  
rather desire to enlarge our  wealth by 
the sale of art1 than to elevate our    
enjoyments by its  acquisition4    ,now1
 whatever efforts we make1 with a true  
desire to produce1 and  possess1 things 
that are intrinsically beautiful1 have  
in them at least  one of the essential  
elements of success4 ,but efforts having
 origin only  in the hope of enriching  
ourselves by the sale of our            
productions1 are  assuredly condemned to
 dishonourable failure2 not because1    

ultimately1  a well-trained nation is   
forbidden to profit by the exercise of  
its  peculiar art-skill2 but because    
that peculiar art-skill can never be    
developed with a view to profit4 ,the   
right fulfilment of national  power in  
art depends always on ,,the ,,direction 
,,of ,,its ,,aim ,,by ,,the             
,,experience ,,of ,,ages4               
,self-knowledge is not less difficult1  
nor less  necessary for the direction of
 its genius1 to a people than to an     
individual2 and it is neither to be     
acquired by the eagerness of            
unpractised pride1 nor during the       
anxieties of improvident distress4 ,no  
nation ever had1 or will have1 the power
 of suddenly developing1 under  the     
pressure of necessity1 faculties it had 
neglected when it was at  ease2 nor of  
teaching itself in poverty1 the skill to
 produce1 what it  has never1 in        
opulence1 had the sense to admire4      
#g4 ,connected also with some of the    
worst parts of our social system1 but   

capable of being directed to better     
result than this commercial  endeavour1 
we see lately a most powerful impulse   
given to the production  of costly works
 of art1 by the various causes which    
promote the sudden  accumulation of     
wealth in the hands of private persons4 
,we have thus a  vast and new patronage1
 which1 in its present agency1 is       
injurious to  our schools2 but which is 
nevertheless in a great degree earnest  
and  conscientious1 and far from being  
influenced chiefly by motives of        
ostentation4 ,most of our rich men would
 be glad to promote the true  interests 
of art in this country3 and even those  
who buy for vanity1  found their vanity 
on the possession of what they suppose  
to be best4    ,it is therefore in a    
great measure the fault of artists      
themselves if  they suffer from this    
partly unintelligent1 but thoroughly    
well-intended1 patronage4 ,if they seek 
to attract it by eccentricity1 to       
deceive it by superficial qualities1 or 

take advantage of it by  thoughtless and
 facile production1 they necessarily    
degrade themselves  and it together1 and
 have no right to complain afterwards   
that it will  not acknowledge           
better-grounded claims4 ,but if every   
painter of real  power would do only    
what he knew to be worthy of himself1   
and refuse to  be involved in the       
contention for undeserved or accidental 
success1  there is indeed1 whatever may 
have been thought or said to the        
contrary1  true instinct enough in the  
public mind to follow such firm         
guidance4 ,it  is one of the facts which
 the experience of thirty years enables 
me to  assert without qualification1    
that a really good picture is ultimately
  always approved and bought1 unless it 
is wilfully rendered offensive to  the  
public by faults which the artist has   
been either too proud to  abandon or too
 weak to correct4      #h4 ,the         
development of whatever is healthful and
 serviceable in the two  modes of       

impulse which we have been considering1 
depends however1  ultimately1 on the    
direction taken by the true interest in 
art which has  lately been aroused by   
the great and active genius of many of  
our  living1 or but lately lost1        
painters1 sculptors1 and architects4 ,it
 may  perhaps surprise1 but ,i think it 
will please you to hear me1 or 7if you  
will forgive me1 in my own ,oxford1 the 
presumption of fancying that some  may  
recognise me by an old name7 to hear the
 author of ,modern ,painters  say1 that 
his chief error in earlier days was not 
in over estimating1  but in too slightly
 acknowledging the merit of living men4 
,the great  painter whose power1 while  
he was yet among us1 ,i was able to     
perceive1  was the first to reprove me  
for my disregard of the skill of his    
fellow-artists2 and1 with this          
inauguration of the study of the art of 
all time1--a study which can only by    
true modesty end in wise                
admiration1--it is surely well that ,i  

connect the record of these words  of   
his1 spoken then too truly to myself1   
and true always more or less  for all   
who are untrained in that toil1--,you   
don't know how difficult  it is4    ,you
 will not expect me1 within the compass 
of this lecture1 to give you  any       
analysis of the many kinds of excellent 
art 7in all the three great  divisions7 
which the complex demands of modern     
life1 and yet more varied  instincts of 
modern genius1 have developed for       
pleasure or service4 ,it  must be my    
endeavour1 in conjunction with my       
colleagues in the other  ,universities1 
hereafter to enable you to appreciate   
these worthily2 in  the hope that also  
the members of the ,royal ,academy1 and 
those of the  ,institute of ,british    
,architects1 may be induced to assist1  
and guide1  the efforts of the          
,universities1 by organising such a     
system of  art-education for their own  
students1 as shall in future prevent the
  waste of genius in any mistaken       

endeavours2 especially removing doubt as
  to the proper substance and use of    
materials2 and requiring compliance     
with certain elementary principles of   
right1 in every picture and design      
exhibited with their sanction4 ,it is   
not indeed possible for talent so       
varied as that of ,english artists to be
 compelled into the formalities  of a   
determined school2 but it must certainly
 be the function of every  academical   
body to see that their younger students 
are guarded from what  must in every    
school be error2 and that they are      
practised in the best  methods of work  
hitherto known1 before their ingenuity  
is directed to  the invention of others4
      #i4 ,i need scarcely refer1 except
 for the sake of completeness in my     
statement1 to one form of demand for art
 which is wholly unenlightened1  and    
powerful only for evil2--namely1 the    
demand of the classes occupied  solely  
in the pursuit of pleasure1 for objects 
and modes of art that can  amuse        

indolence or excite passion4 ,there is  
no need for any discussion  of these    
requirements1 or of their forms of      
influence1 though they are  very deadly 
at present in their operation on        
sculpture1 and on  jewellers' work4     
,they cannot be checked by blame1 nor   
guided by  instruction2 they are merely 
the necessary result of whatever defects
  exist in the temper and principles of 
a luxurious society2 and it is  only by 
moral changes1 not by art-criticism1    
that their action can be  modified4     
#aj4 ,lastly1 there is a continually    
increasing demand for popular art1      
multipliable by the printing-press1     
illustrative of daily events1 of        
general literature1 and of natural      
science4 ,admirable skill1 and some of  
the best talent of modern times1 are    
occupied in supplying this want2  and   
there is no limit to the good which may 
be effected by rightly  taking advantage
 of the powers we now possess of placing
 good and lovely  art within the reach  

of the poorest classes4 ,much has been  
already  accomplished2 but great harm   
has been done also1--first1 by forms of 
art  definitely addressed to depraved   
tastes2 and1 secondly1 in a more subtle 
way1 by really beautiful and useful     
engravings which are yet not good       
enough to retain their influence on the 
public mind2--which weary it by         
redundant quantity of monotonous average
 excellence1 and diminish or  destroy   
its power of accurate attention to work 
of a higher order4    ,especially this  
is to be regretted in the effect        
produced on the schools  of line        
engraving1 which had reached in ,england
 an executive skill of a  kind before   
unexampled1 and which of late have lost 
much of their more  sterling and        
legitimate methods4 ,still1 ,i have seen
 plates produced  quite recently1 more  
beautiful1 ,i think1 in some qualities  
than anything  ever before attained by  
the burin3 and ,i have not the slightest
 fear  that photography1 or any other   

adverse or competitive operation1 will  
in  the least ultimately diminish1--,i  
believe they will1 on the contrary1     
stimulate and exalt--the grand old      
powers of the wood and the steel4       
#aa4 ,such are1 ,i think1 briefly the   
present conditions of art with which  we
 have to deal2 and ,i conceive it to be 
the function of this  ,professorship1   
with respect to them1 to establish both 
a practical and  critical school of fine
 art for ,english gentlemen3 practical1 
so that if  they draw at all1 they may  
draw rightly2 and critical1 so that     
being  first directed to such works of  
existing art as will best reward their  
study1 they may afterwards make their   
patronage of living artists  delightful 
to themselves in their consciousness of 
its justice1 and1 to  the utmost1       
beneficial to their country1 by being   
given to the men who  deserve it2 in the
 early period of their lives1 when they 
both need it  most1 and can be          
influenced by it to the best advantage4 

#ab4 ,and especially with reference to  
this function of patronage1 ,i  believe 
myself justified in taking into account 
future probabilities as  to the         
character and range of art in ,england3 
and ,i shall endeavour at  once to      
organise with you a system of study     
calculated to develop  chiefly the      
knowledge of those branches in which the
 ,english schools  have shown1 and are  
likely to show1 peculiar excellence4    
,now1 in asking your sanction both for  
the nature of the general plans ,i  wish
 to adopt1 and for what ,i conceive to  
be necessary limitations of  them1 ,i   
wish you to be fully aware of my reasons
 for both3 and ,i will  therefore risk  
the burdening of your patience while ,i 
state the  directions of effort in which
 ,i think ,english artists are liable to
  failure1 and those also in which past 
experience has shown they are  secure of
 success4      #ac4 ,i referred1 but    
now1 to the effort we are making to     
improve the  designs of our             

manufactures4 ,within certain limits ,i 
believe this  improvement may indeed    
take effect3 so that we may no more     
humour  momentary fashions by ugly      
results of chance instead of design2 and
 may  produce both good tissues1 of     
harmonious colours1 and good forms and  
substance of pottery and glass4 ,but we 
shall never excel in decorative  design4
 ,such design is usually produced by    
people of great natural  powers of mind1
 who have no variety of subjects to     
employ themselves on1  no oppressive    
anxieties1 and are in circumstances     
either of natural  scenery or of daily  
life1 which cause pleasurable           
excitement4 ,we  cannot design1 because 
we have too much to think of1 and we    
think of it  too anxiously4 ,it has long
 been observed how little real anxiety  
exists  in the minds of the partly      
savage races which excel in decorative  
art2  and we must not suppose that the  
temper of the ,middle ,ages was a       
troubled one1 because every day brought 

its danger or its change4 ,the  very    
eventfulness of the life rendered it    
careless1 as generally is  still the    
case with soldiers and sailors4 ,now1   
when there are great  powers of thought1
 and little to think of1 all the waste  
energy and  fancy are thrown into the   
manual work1 and you have so much       
intellect as  would direct the affairs  
of a large mercantile concern for a day1
 spent  all at once1 quite              
unconsciously1 in drawing an ingenious  
spiral4    ,also1 powers of doing fine  
ornamental work are only to be reached  
by a  perpetual discipline of the hand  
as well as of the fancy2 discipline as  
attentive and painful as that which a   
juggler has to put himself  through1 to 
overcome the more palpable difficulties 
of his profession4  ,the execution of   
the best artists is always a splendid   
tour-de-force2  and much that in        
painting is supposed to be dependent on 
material is  indeed only a lovely and   
quite inimitable legerdemain4 ,now1 when

 powers  of fancy1 stimulated by this   
triumphant precision of manual          
dexterity1  descend uninterruptedly from
 generation to generation1 you have at  
last1  what is not so much a trained    
artist1 as a new species of animal1 with
  whose instinctive gifts you have no   
chance of contending4 ,and thus all  our
 imitations of other people's work are  
futile4 ,we must learn first to  make   
honest ,english wares1 and afterwards to
 decorate them as may please  the then  
approving ,graces4      #ad4            
,secondly--and this is an incapacity of 
a graver kind1 yet having its  own good 
in it also--we shall never be successful
 in the highest fields  of ideal or     
theological art4    ,for there is one   
strange1 but quite essential1 character 
in us3 ever  since the ,conquest1 if not
 earlier3--a delight in the forms of    
burlesque  which are connected in some  
degree with the foulness of evil4 ,i    
think  the most perfect type of a true  
,english mind in its best possible      

temper1 is that of ,chaucer2 and you    
will find that1 while it is for the     
most part full of thoughts of beauty1   
pure and wild like that of an  ,april   
morning1 there are even in the midst of 
this1 sometimes  momentarily jesting    
passages which stoop to play with       
evil--while the  power of listening to  
and enjoying the jesting of entirely    
gross  persons1 whatever the feeling may
 be which permits it1 afterwards        
degenerates into forms of humour which  
render some of quite the  greatest1     
wisest1 and most moral of ,english      
writers now almost useless  for our     
youth4 ,and yet you will find that      
whenever ,englishmen are wholly  without
 this instinct1 their genius is         
comparatively weak and  restricted4     
#ae4 ,now1 the first necessity for the  
doing of any great work in ideal  art1  
is the looking upon all foulness with   
horror1 as a contemptible  though       
dreadful enemy4 ,you may easily         
understand what ,i mean1 by  comparing  

the feelings with which ,dante regards  
any form of obscenity or  of base jest1 
with the temper in which the same things
 are regarded by  ,shakespeare4 ,and    
this strange earthly instinct of ours1  
coupled as it  is1 in our good men1 with
 great simplicity and common sense1     
renders  them shrewd and perfect        
observers and delineators of actual     
nature1 low  or high2 but precludes them
 from that specialty of art which is    
properly  called sublime4 ,if ever we   
try anything in the manner of ,michael  
,angelo  or of ,dante1 we catch a fall1 
even in literature1 as ,milton in the   
battle of the angels1 spoiled from      
,hesiod2 while in art1 every attempt  in
 this style has hitherto been the sign  
either of the presumptuous  egotism of  
persons who had never really learned to 
be workmen1 or it has  been connected   
with very tragic forms of the           
contemplation of death1--it  has always 
been partly insane1 and never once      
wholly successful4    ,but we need not  

feel any discomfort in these limitations
 of our  capacity4 ,we can do much that 
others cannot1 and more than we have    
ever  yet ourselves completely done4    
,our first great gift is in the         
portraiture of living people--a power   
already so accomplished in both         
,reynolds and ,gainsborough that nothing
 is left for future masters but to  add 
the calm of perfect workmanship to their
 vigour and felicity of  perception4    
,and of what value a true school of     
portraiture may become in  the future1  
when worthy men will desire only to be  
known1 and others  will not fear to know
 them1 for what they truly were1 we     
cannot from  any past records of art    
influence yet conceive4 ,but in my next 
address  it will be partly my endeavour 
to show you how much more useful1       
because  more humble1 the labour of     
great masters might have been1 had they 
been  content to bear record of the     
souls that were dwelling with them on   
earth1 instead of striving to give a    

deceptive glory to those they  dreamed  
of in heaven4      #af4 ,secondly1 we   
have an intense power of invention and  
expression in  domestic drama2 7,king   
,lear and ,hamlet being essentially     
domestic in  their strongest motives of 
interest74 ,there is a tendency at this 
moment  towards a noble development of  
our art in this direction1 checked by   
many adverse conditions1 which may be   
summed in one1--the insufficiency  of   
generous civic or patriotic passion in  
the heart of the ,english  people2 a    
fault which makes its domestic affection
 selfish1 contracted1  and1 therefore1  
frivolous4      #ag4 ,thirdly1 in       
connection with our simplicity and      
good-humour1 and  partly with that very 
love of the grotesque which debases our 
ideal1 we  have a sympathy with the     
lower animals which is peculiarly our   
own2 and  which1 though it has already  
found some exquisite expression in the  
works of ,bewick and ,landseer1 is yet  
quite undeveloped4 ,this sympathy1  with

 the aid of our now authoritative       
science of physiology1 and in           
association with our ,british love of   
adventure1 will1 ,i hope1 enable us  to 
give to the future inhabitants of the   
globe an almost perfect record  of the  
present forms of animal life upon it1 of
 which many are on the  point of being  
extinguished4    ,lastly1 but not as the
 least important of our special powers1 
,i have to  note our skill in landscape1
 of which ,i will presently speak more  
particularly4      #ah4 ,such ,i        
conceive to be the directions in which1 
principally1 we have  the power to      
excel2 and you must at once see how the 
consideration of  them must modify the  
advisable methods of our art study4 ,for
 if our  professional painters were     
likely to produce pieces of art loftily 
ideal  in their character1 it would be  
desirable to form the taste of the      
students here by setting before them    
only the purest examples of ,greek1  and
 the mightiest of ,italian1 art4 ,but ,i

 do not think you will yet find  a      
single instance of a school directed    
exclusively to these higher  branches of
 study in ,england1 which has strongly1 
or even definitely1  made impression on 
its younger scholars4 ,while1 therefore1
 ,i shall  endeavour to point out       
clearly the characters to be looked for 
and  admired in the great masters of    
imaginative design1 ,i shall make no    
special effort to stimulate the         
imitation of them2 and above all things1
  ,i shall try to probe in you1 and to  
prevent1 the affectation into which  it 
is easy to fall1 even through           
modesty1--of either endeavouring to     
admire a grandeur with which we have no 
natural sympathy1 or losing the         
pleasure we might take in the study of  
familiar things1 by considering  it a   
sign of refinement to look for what is  
of higher class1 or rarer  occurrence4  
#ai4 ,again1 if our artisans were likely
 to attain any distinguished skill  in  
ornamental design1 it would be incumbent

 upon me to make my class  here         
accurately acquainted with the          
principles of earth and metal work1  and
 to accustom them to take pleasure in   
conventional arrangements of  colour and
 form4 ,i hope1 indeed1 to do this1 so  
far as to enable them to  discern the   
real merit of many styles of art which  
are at present  neglected2 and1 above   
all1 to read the minds of semi-barbaric 
nations in  the only language by which  
their feelings were capable of          
expression2  and those members of my    
class whose temper inclines them to take
  pleasure in the interpretation of     
mythic symbols1 will not probably be    
induced to quit the profound fields of  
investigation which early art1  examined
 carefully1 will open to them1 and which
 belong to it alone3 for  this is a     
general law1 that supposing the         
intellect of the workman the  same1 the 
more imitatively complete his art1 the  
less he will mean by  it2 and the ruder 
the symbol1 the deeper is its intention4

 ,nevertheless1  when ,i have once      
sufficiently pointed out the nature and 
value of this  conventional work1 and   
vindicated it from the contempt with    
which it is  too generally regarded1 ,i 
shall leave the student to his own      
pleasure in  its pursuit2 and even1 so  
far as ,i may1 discourage all admiration
  founded on quaintness or peculiarity  
of style2 and repress any other  modes  
of feeling which are likely to lead     
rather to fastidious  collection of     
curiosities1 than to the intelligent    
appreciation of work  which1 being      
executed in compliance with constant    
laws of right1 cannot  be singular1 and 
must be distinguished only by excellence
 in what is  always desirable4      #bj4
 ,while1 therefore1 in these and such   
other directions1 ,i shall  endeavour to
 put every adequate means of advance    
within reach of the  members of my      
class1 ,i shall use my own best energy  
to show them what is  consummately      
beautiful and well done1 by men who have

 passed through the  symbolic or        
suggestive stage of design1 and have    
enabled themselves to  comply1 by truth 
of representation1 with the strictest or
 most eager  demands of accurate        
science1 and of disciplined passion4 ,i 
shall  therefore direct your            
observation1 during the greater part of 
the time  you may spare to me1 to what  
is indisputably best1 both in painting  
and  sculpture2 trusting that you will  
afterwards recognise the nascent and    
partial skill of former days both with  
greater interest and greater  respect1  
when you know the full difficulty of    
what it attempted1 and the  complete    
range of what it foretold4      #ba4    
,and with this view1 ,i shall at once   
endeavour to do what has for  many years
 been in my thoughts1 and now1 with the 
advice and assistance  of the curators  
of the ,university ,galleries1 ,i do not
 doubt may be  accomplished here in     
,oxford1 just where it will be          
preminently  useful--namely1 to arrange 

an educational series of examples of    
excellent art1 standards to which you   
may at once refer on any  questionable  
point1 and by the study of which you may
 gradually attain  an instinctive sense 
of right1 which will afterwards be      
liable to no  serious error4 ,such a    
collection may be formed1 both more     
perfectly1 and  more easily1 than would 
commonly be supposed4 ,for the real     
utility of  the series will depend on   
its restricted extent1--on the severe   
exclusion of all second-rate1           
superfluous1 or even attractively varied
  examples1--and ,on the confining the  
students' attention to a few types  of  
what is insuperably good4 ,more progress
 in power of judgment may be  made in a 
limited time by the examination of one  
work1 than by the  review of many2 and a
 certain degree of vitality is given to 
the  impressiveness of every            
characteristic1 by its being exhibited  
in clear  contrast1 and without         
repetition4    ,the greater number of   

the examples ,i shall choose will be    
only  engravings or photographs3 they   
shall be arranged so as to be easily    
accessible1 and ,i will prepare a       
catalogue1 pointing out my purpose in   
the selection of each4 ,but in process  
of time1 ,i have good hope that         
assistance will be given me by the      
,english public in making the series    
here no less splendid than serviceable2 
and in placing minor  collections1      
arranged on a similar principle1 at the 
command also of the  students in our    
public schools4      #bb4 ,in the second
 place1 ,i shall endeavour to prevail   
upon all the  younger members of the    
,university who wish to attend the art  
lectures1  to give at least so much time
 to manual practice as may enable them  
to  understand the nature and difficulty
 of executive skill4 ,the time so  spent
 will not be lost1 even as regards their
 other studies at the  ,university1 for 
,i will prepare the practical exercises 
in a double  series1 one illustrative of

 history1 the other of natural science4 
,and  whether you are drawing a piece of
 ,greek armour1 or a hawk's beak1 or a  
lion's paw1 you will find that the mere 
necessity of using the hand  compels    
attention to circumstances which would  
otherwise have escaped  notice1 and     
fastens them in the memory without      
farther effort4 ,but were  it even      
otherwise1 and this practical training  
did really involve some  sacrifice of   
your time1 ,i do not fear but that it   
will be justified to  you by its felt   
results3 and ,i think that general      
public feeling is also  tending to the  
admission that accomplished education   
must include1 not  only full command of 
expression by language1 but command of  
true musical  sound by the voice1 and of
 true form by the hand4      #bc4 ,while
 ,i myself hold this professorship1 ,i  
shall direct you in these  exercises    
very definitely to natural history1 and 
to landscape2 not only  because in these
 two branches ,i am probably able to    

show you truths  which might be despised
 by my successors3 but because ,i think 
the vital  and joyful study of natural  
history quite the principal element     
requiring introduction1 not only into   
,university1 but into national1         
education1 from highest to lowest2 and  
,i even will risk incurring your        
ridicule by confessing one of my fondest
 dreams1 that ,i may succeed in  making 
some of you ,english youths like better 
to look at a bird than to  shoot it2 and
 even desire to make wild creatures     
tame1 instead of tame  creatures wild4  
,and for the study of landscape1 it is1 
,i think1 now  calculated to be of use  
in deeper1 if not more important modes1 
than  that of natural science1 for      
reasons which ,i will ask you to let me 
state at some length4      #bd4 ,observe
 first2--no race of men which is        
entirely bred in wild  country1 far from
 cities1 ever enjoys landscape4 ,they   
may enjoy the  beauty of animals1 but   
scarcely even that3 a true peasant      

cannot see the  beauty of cattle2 but   
only qualities expressive of their      
serviceableness4 ,i waive discussion of 
this to-day2 permit my assertion  of it1
 under my confident guarantee of future 
proof4 ,landscape can only  be enjoyed  
by cultivated persons2 and it is only by
 music1 literature1  and painting1 that 
cultivation can be given4 ,also1 the    
faculties which  are thus received are  
hereditary2 so that the child of an     
educated race  has an innate instinct   
for beauty1 derived from arts practised 
hundreds  of years before its birth4    
,now farther note this1 one of the      
loveliest  things in human nature4 ,in  
the children of noble races1 trained by 
surrounding art1 and at the same time in
 the practice of great deeds1  there is 
an intense delight in the landscape of  
their country as  memorial2 a sense not 
taught to them1 nor teachable to any    
others2  but1 in them1 innate2 and the  
seal and reward of persistence in great 
national life2--the obedience and the   

peace of ages having extended  gradually
 the glory of the revered ancestors also
 to the ancestral  land2 until the      
,motherhood of the dust1 the mystery of 
the ,demeter from  whose bosom we came1 
and to whose bosom we return1 surrounds 
and  inspires1 everywhere1 the local awe
 of field and fountain2 the  sacredness 
of landmark that none may remove1 and of
 wave that none may  pollute2 while     
records of proud days1 and of dear      
persons1 make every  rock monumental    
with ghostly inscription1 and every path
 lovely with  noble desolateness4       
#be4 ,now1 however checked by lightness 
of temperament1 the instinctive  love of
 landscape in us has this deep root1    
which1 in your minds1 ,i will  pray you 
to disencumber from whatever may oppress
 or mortify it1 and to  strive to feel  
with all the strength of your youth that
 a nation is only  worthy of the soil   
and the scenes that it has inherited1   
when1 by all  its acts and arts1 it is  
making them more lovely for its         

children4    ,and now1 ,i trust1 you    
will feel that it is not in mere        
yielding to my  own fancies that ,i have
 chosen1 for the first three subjects in
 your  educational series1 landscape    
scenes2--two in ,england1 and one in    
,france1--the association of these being
 not without purpose3--and for  the     
fourth ,albert ,drer's dream of the     
,spirit of ,labour4 ,and of the         
landscape subjects1 ,i must tell you    
this much4 ,the first is an engraving   
only2 the original drawing by ,turner   
was destroyed by fire twenty years  ago4
 ,for which loss ,i wish you to be      
sorry1 and to remember1 in  connection  
with this first example1 that whatever  
remains to us of  possession in the arts
 is1 compared to what we might have had 
if we had  cared for them1 just what    
that engraving is to the lost drawing4  
,you  will find also that its subject   
has meaning in it which will not be     
harmful to you4 ,the second example is a
 real drawing by ,turner1 in the  same  

series1 and very nearly of the same     
place2 the two scenes are  within a     
quarter of a mile of each other4 ,it    
will show you the character  of the work
 that was destroyed4 ,it will show you1 
in process of time1  much more2 but     
chiefly1 and this is my main reason for 
choosing both1 it  will be a permanent  
expression to you of what ,english      
landscape was  once2--and must1 if we   
are to remain a nation1 be again4    ,i 
think it farther right to tell you1 for 
otherwise you might hardly pay  regard  
enough to work apparently so simple1    
that by a chance which is  not          
altogether displeasing to me1 this      
drawing1 which it has become1 for  these
 reasons1 necessary for me to give you1 
is--not indeed the best ,i  have1 7,i   
have several as good1 though none       
better7--but1 of all ,i have1  the one  
,i had least mind to part with4    ,the 
third example is also a ,turner         
drawing--a scene on the ,loire--never   
engraved4 ,it is an introduction to the 

series of the ,loire1 which you  have   
already2 it has in its present place a  
due concurrence with the  expressional  
purpose of its companions2 and though   
small1 it is very  precious1 being a    
faultless1 and1 ,i believe1             
unsurpassable example of  water-colour  
painting4    ,chiefly1 however1 remember
 the object of these three first        
examples is  to give you an index to    
your truest feelings about ,european1   
and  especially about your native       
landscape1 as it is pensive and         
historical2  and so far as you          
yourselves make any effort at its       
representation1 to  give you a motive   
for fidelity in handwork more animating 
than any  connected with mere success in
 the art itself4      #bf4 ,with respect
 to actual methods of practice1 ,i will 
not incur the  responsibility of        
determining them for you4 ,we will take 
,lionardo's  treatise on painting for   
our first text-book2 and ,i think you   
need not  fear being misled by me if ,i 

ask you to do only what ,lionardo bids1 
or  what will be necessary to enable you
 to do his bidding4 ,but you need not   
possess the book1 nor read it through4  
,i will translate the pieces to  the    
authority of which ,i shall appeal2 and1
 in process of time1 by  analysis of    
this fragmentary treatise1 show you some
 characters not  usually understood of  
the simplicity as well as subtlety      
common to most  great workmen of that   
age4 ,afterwards we will collect the    
instructions  of other undisputed       
masters1 till we have obtained a code of
 laws  clearly resting on the consent of
 antiquity4    ,while1 however1 ,i thus 
in some measure limit for the present   
the methods  of your practice1 ,i shall 
endeavour to make the courses of my     
,university  lectures as wide in their  
range as my knowledge will permit4 ,the 
range  so conceded will be narrow       
enough2 but ,i believe that my proper   
function  is not to acquaint you with   
the general history1 but with the       

essential  principles of art2 and with  
its history only when it has been both  
great  and good1 or where some special  
excellence of it requires examination of
  the causes to which it must be        
ascribed4      #bg4 ,but if either our  
work1 or our enquiries1 are to be indeed
  successful in their own field1 they   
must be connected with others of a      
sterner character4 ,now listen to me1 if
 ,i have in these past details  lost or 
burdened your attention2 for this is    
what ,i have chiefly to say  to you4    
,the art of any country is the exponent 
of its social and  political virtues4 ,i
 will show you that it is so in some    
detail1 in the  second of my subsequent 
course of lectures2 meantime accept this
 as one  of the things1 and the most    
important of all things1 ,i can         
positively  declare to you4 ,the art1 or
 general productive and formative       
energy1 of  any country1 is an exact    
exponent of its ethical life4 ,you can  
have  noble art only from noble persons1

 associated under laws fitted to their  
time and circumstances4 ,and the best   
skill that any teacher of art could     
spend here in your help1 would not end  
in enabling you even so much as  rightly
 to draw the water-lilies in the        
,cherwell 7and though it did1 the  work 
when done would not be worth the lilies 
themselves7 unless both he  and you were
 seeking1 as ,i trust we shall together 
seek1 in the laws  which regulate the   
finest industries1 the clue to the laws 
which  regulate all industries1 and in  
better obedience to which we shall      
actually have henceforward to live3 not 
merely in compliance with our  own sense
 of what is right1 but under the weight 
of quite literal  necessity4 ,for the   
trades by which the ,british people has 
believed it to  be the highest of       
destinies to maintain itself1 cannot now
 long remain  undisputed in its hands2  
its unemployed poor are daily becoming  
more  violently criminal2 and a certain 
distress in the middle classes1         

arising1 partly from their vanity in    
living always up to their incomes1  and 
partly from their folly in imagining    
that they can subsist in  idleness upon 
usury1 will at last compel the sons and 
daughters of  ,english families to      
acquaint themselves with the principles 
of  providential economy2 and to learn  
that food can only be got out of the    
ground1 and competence only secured by  
frugality2 and that although it  is not 
possible for all to be occupied in the  
highest arts1 nor for any1  guiltlessly1
 to pass their days in a succession of  
pleasures1 the most  perfect mental     
culture possible to men is founded on   
their useful  energies1 and their best  
arts and brightest happiness are        
consistent1  and consistent only1 with  
their virtue4      #bh4 ,this1 ,i       
repeat1 gentlemen1 will soon become     
manifest to those among  us1 and there  
are yet many1 who are honest-hearted4   
,and the future fate  of ,england       
depends upon the position they then     

take1 and on their  courage in          
maintaining it4    ,there is a destiny  
now possible to us--the highest ever set
 before a  nation to be accepted or     
refused4 ,we are still undegenerate in  
race2 a  race mingled of the best       
northern blood4 ,we are not yet         
dissolute in  temper1 but still have the
 firmness to govern1 and the grace to   
obey4 ,we  have been taught a religion  
of pure mercy1 which we must either now 
betray1 or learn to defend by           
fulfilling4 ,and we are rich in an      
inheritance of honour1 bequeathed to us 
through a thousand years of  noble      
history1 which it should be our daily   
thirst to increase with  splendid       
avarice1 so that ,englishmen1 if it be a
 sin to covet honour1  should be the    
most offending souls alive4 ,within the 
last few years we  have had the laws of 
natural science opened to us with a     
rapidity which  has been blinding by its
 brightness2 and means of transit and   
communication given to us1 which have   

made but one kingdom of the  habitable  
globe4 ,one kingdom2--but who is to be  
its king8 ,is there to be  no king in   
it1 think you1 and every man to do that 
which is right in his  own eyes8 ,or    
only kings of terror1 and the obscene   
empires of ,mammon  and ,belial8 ,or    
will you1 youths of ,england1 make your 
country again a  royal throne of kings2 
a sceptred isle1 for all the world a    
source of  light1 a centre of peace2    
mistress of ,learning and of the        
,arts2--faithful guardian of great      
memories in the midst of irreverent  and
 ephemeral visions2--faithful servant of
 time-tried principles1 under           
temptation from fond experiments and    
licentious desires2 and amidst the      
cruel and clamorous jealousies of the   
nations1 worshipped in her strange      
valour of goodwill towards men8         
#bi4 ,vexilla regis prodeunt4 ,yes1 but 
of which king8 ,there are the two       
oriflammes2 which shall we plant on the 
farthest islands1--the one that  floats 

in heavenly fire1 or that hangs heavy   
with foul tissue of  terrestrial gold8  
,there is indeed a course of beneficent 
glory open to  us1 such as never was yet
 offered to any poor group of mortal    
souls4 ,but  it must be--it is with us1 
now1 ,reign or ,die4 ,and if it shall be
  said of this country1 ,fece per       
viltate1 il gran rifiuto2 that refusal  
of the crown will be1 of all yet        
recorded in history1 the shamefullest   
and most untimely4    ,and this is what 
she must either do1 or perish3 she must 
found colonies  as fast and as far as   
she is able1 formed of her most         
energetic and  worthiest men2--seizing  
every piece of fruitful waste ground she
 can set  her foot on1 and there        
teaching these her colonists that their 
chief  virtue is to be fidelity to their
 country1 and that their first aim is   
to be to advance the power of ,england  
by land and sea3 and that1 though  they 
live on a distant plot of ground1 they  
are no more to consider  themselves     

therefore disfranchised from their      
native land1 than the  sailors of her   
fleets do1 because they float on distant
 waves4 ,so that  literally1 these      
colonies must be fastened fleets2 and   
every man of them  must be under        
authority of captains and officers1     
whose better command  is to be over     
fields and streets instead of ships of  
the line2 and  ,england1 in these her   
motionless navies 7or1 in the true and  
mightiest  sense1 motionless churches1  
ruled by pilots on the ,galilean lake of
  all the world71 is to expect every man
 to do his duty2 recognising  that duty 
is indeed possible no less in peace than
 war2 and that if we  can get men1 for  
little pay1 to cast themselves against  
cannon-mouths  for love of ,england1 we 
may find men also who will plough and   
sow for  her1 who will behave kindly and
 righteously for her1 who will bring up 
their children to love her1 and who will
 gladden themselves in the  brightness  
of her glory1 more than in all the light

 of tropic skies4    ,but that they may 
be able to do this1 she must make her   
own majesty  stainless2 she must give   
them thoughts of their home of which    
they can  be proud4 ,the ,england who is
 to be mistress of half the earth1      
cannot  remain herself a heap of        
cinders1 trampled by contending and     
miserable  crowds2 she must yet again   
become the ,england she was once1 and in
 all  beautiful ways1--more3 so happy1  
so secluded1 and so pure1 that in her   
sky--polluted by no unholy clouds--she  
may be able to spell rightly of  every  
star that heaven doth show2 and in her  
fields1 ordered and wide  and fair1 of  
every herb that sips the dew2 and under 
the green avenues  of her enchanted     
garden1 a sacred ,circe1 true ,daughter 
of the ,sun1 she  must guide the human  
arts1 and gather the divine knowledge1  
of distant  nations1 transformed from   
savageness to manhood1 and redeemed from
  despairing into peace4      #cj4 ,you 
think that an impossible ideal4 ,be it  

so2 refuse to accept it if  you will2   
but see that you form your own in its   
stead4 ,all that ,i ask of  you is to   
have a fixed purpose of some kind for   
your country and  yourselves2 no matter 
how restricted1 so that it be fixed and 
unselfish4  ,i know what stout hearts   
are in you1 to answer acknowledged need3
 but it  is the fatallest form of error 
in ,english youths to hide their        
hardihood  till it fades for lack of    
sunshine1 and to act in disdain of      
purpose1  till all purpose is vain4 ,it 
is not by deliberate1 but by careless   
selfishness2 not by compromise with     
evil1 but by dull following of good1    
that the weight of national evil        
increases upon us daily4 ,break through 
at least this pretence of existence2    
determine what you will be1 and  what   
you would win4 ,you will not decide     
wrongly if you will resolve to  decide  
at all4 ,were even the choice between   
lawless pleasure and loyal  suffering1  
you would not1 ,i believe1 choose       

basely4 ,but your trial is  not so      
sharp4 ,it is between drifting in       
confused wreck among the  castaways of  
,fortune1 who condemns to assured ruin  
those who know not  either how to resist
 her1 or obey2 between this1 ,i say1 and
 the taking  of your appointed part in  
the heroism of ,rest2 the resolving to  
share in  the victory which is to the   
weak rather than the strong2 and the    
binding  yourselves by that law1 which1 
thought on through lingering night and  
labouring day1 makes a man's life to be 
as a tree planted by the  water-side1   
that bringeth forth his fruit in his    
season2--         ,,et ,,folium ,,ejus  
,,non ,,defluet1        ,,et ,,omnia1   
,,qu,,cunque ,,faciet1 ,,prosperabuntur4
          ,,lecture ,,ii    ,,the       
,,relation ,,of ,,art ,,to ,,religion   
#ca4 ,it was stated1 and ,i trust partly
 with your acceptance1 in my  opening   
lecture1 that the study on which we are 
about to enter cannot be  rightly       
undertaken except in furtherance of the 

grave purposes of life  with respect to 
which the rest of the scheme of your    
education here is  designed4 ,but you   
can scarcely have at once felt all that 
,i intended in  saying so2--you cannot  
but be still partly under the impression
 that the  so-called fine arts are      
merely modes of graceful recreation1 and
 a new  resource for your times of rest4
 ,let me ask you1 forthwith1 so far as  
you can trust me1 to change your        
thoughts in this matter4 ,all the great 
arts have for their object either the   
support or exaltation of human          
life1--usually both2 and their dignity1 
and ultimately their very  existence1   
depend on their being   1 that is  to   
say1 apprehending1 with right reason1   
the nature of the materials  they work  
with1 of the things they relate or      
represent1 and of the  faculties to     
which they are addressed4 ,and farther1 
they form one united  system from which 
it is impossible to remove any part     
without harm to  the rest4 ,they are    

founded first in mastery1 by strength of
 arm1 of  the earth and sea1 in         
agriculture and seamanship2 then their  
inventive  power begins1 with the clay  
in the hand of the potter1 whose art is 
the  humblest but truest type of the    
forming of the human body and spirit2   
and in the carpenter's work1 which      
probably was the early employment of    
the ,founder of our religion4 ,and until
 men have perfectly learned the  laws of
 art in clay and wood1 they can         
consummately know no others4 ,nor  is it
 without the strange significance which 
you will find in what at  first seems   
chance1 in all noble histories1 as soon 
as you can read  them rightly1--that the
 statue of ,athena ,polias was of       
olive-wood1 and  that the ,greek temple 
and ,gothic spire are both merely the   
permanent  representations of useful    
wooden structures4 ,on these two first  
arts  follow building in                
stone1--sculpture1--metal work1--and    
painting2 every  art being properly     

called fine which demands the exercise  
of the full  faculties of heart and     
intellect4 ,for though the fine arts are
 not  necessarily imitative or          
representative1 for their essence is in 
being  peri genesin--occupied in the    
actual production of beautiful  form or 
colour1--still1 the highest of them are 
appointed also to relate  to us the     
utmost ascertainable truth respecting   
visible things and moral  feelings3 and 
this pursuit of fact is the vital       
element of the art  power2--that in     
which alone it can develop itself to its
 utmost4 ,and ,i  will anticipate by an 
assertion which you will at present     
think too  bold1 but which ,i am willing
 that you should think so1 in order that
 you  may well remember it1--,,the      
,,highest ,,thing ,,that ,,art ,,can    
,,do ,,is ,,to ,,set  ,,before ,,you    
,,the ,,true ,,image ,,of ,,the         
,,presence ,,of ,a ,,noble ,,human      
,,being4 ,,it ,,has  ,,never ,,done     
,,more ,,than ,,this1 ,,and ,,it ,,ought

 ,,not ,,to ,,do ,,less4      #cb4 ,the 
great arts--forming thus one perfect    
scheme of human skill1 of  which it is  
not right to call one division more     
honourable1 though it  may be more      
subtle1 than another--have had1 and can 
have1 but three  principal directions of
 purpose3--first1 that of enforcing the 
religion  of men2 secondly1 that of     
perfecting their ethical state2 thirdly1
 that  of doing them material service4  
#cc4 ,i do not doubt but that you are   
surprised at my saying the arts can  in 
their second function only be directed  
to the perfecting of ethical  state1 it 
being our usual impression that they are
 often destructive of  morality4 ,but it
 is impossible to direct fine art to an 
immoral end1  except by giving it       
characters unconnected with its         
fineness1 or by  addressing it to       
persons who cannot perceive it to be    
fine4 ,whosoever  recognises it is      
exalted by it4 ,on the other hand1 it   
has been commonly  thought that art was 

a most fitting means for the enforcement
 of  religious doctrines and emotions2  
whereas there is1 as ,i must presently  
try to show you1 room for grave doubt   
whether it has not in this  function    
hitherto done evil rather than good4    
#cd4 ,in this and the two next following
 lectures1 ,i shall endeavour  therefore
 to show you the grave relations of     
human art1 in these three  functions1 to
 human life4 ,i can do this but roughly1
 as you may well  suppose--since each of
 these subjects would require for its   
right  treatment years instead of hours4
 ,only1 remember1 ,i have already given 
years1 not a few1 to each of them2 and  
what ,i try to tell you now will  be    
only so much as is absolutely necessary 
to set our work on a clear  foundation4 
,you may not1 at present1 see the       
necessity for any  foundation1 and may  
think that ,i ought to put pencil and   
paper in your  hands at once4 ,on that  
point ,i must simply answer1 ,trust me a
 little  while1 asking you however also 

to remember1 that--irrespectively of any
  consideration of last or first--my    
true function here is not that of  your 
master in painting1 or sculpture1 or    
pottery2 but to show you what  it is    
that makes any of these arts fine1 or   
the contrary of fine3  essentially good1
 or essentially base4 ,you need not fear
 my not  being practical enough for you2
 all the industry you choose to give me1
  ,i will take2 but far the better part 
of what you may gain by such  industry  
would be lost1 if ,i did not first lead 
you to see what every  form of          
art-industry intends1 and why some of it
 is justly called right1  and some      
wrong4      #ce4 ,it would be well if   
you were to look over1 with respect to  
this  matter1 the end of the second1 and
 what interests you of the third1 book  
of ,plato's ,republic2 noting therein   
these two principal things1 of which  ,i
 have to speak in this and my next      
lecture3 first1 the power which  ,plato 
so frankly1 and quite justly1 attributes

 to art1 of falsifying  our conceptions 
of ,deity3 which power he by fatal error
 partly implies  may be used wisely for 
good1 and that the feigning is only     
wrong when it  is of evil1 ean tis m    
kals pseudtai2 and you may trace        
through all that follows the beginning  
of the change of ,greek ideal art  into 
a beautiful expediency1 instead of what 
it was in the days of  ,pindar1 the     
statement of what could not be otherwise
 than so4 ,but1 in  the second place1   
you will find in those books of the     
,polity1 stated  with far greater       
accuracy of expression than our ,english
 language  admits1 the essential        
relations of art to morality2 the sum of
 these  being given in one lovely       
sentence1 which1 considering that we    
have  to-day grace done us by fair      
companionship1#c you will pardon me for 
translating4 ,must it be then only with 
our poets that we insist they  shall    
either create for us the image of a     
noble morality1 or among us  create     

none8 or shall we not also keep guard   
over all other workers for  the people1 
and forbid them to make what is         
ill-customed1 and  unrestrained1 and    
ungentle1 and without order or shape1   
either in  likeness of living things1 or
 in buildings1 or in any other thing    
whatsoever that is made for the people8 
and shall we not rather seek for        
workers who ,,can ,,track ,,the ,,inner 
,,nature ,,of ,,all ,,that ,,may ,,be   
,,sweetly  ,,schemed2 so that the young 
men1 as living in a wholesome place1 may
 be  profited by everything that1 in    
work fairly wrought1 may touch them     
through hearing or sight--as if it were 
a breeze bringing health to them  from  
places strong for life8    ,footnote #c3
 ,there were1 in fact1 a great many more
 girls than  ,university men at the     
lectures4      #cf4 ,and now--but one   
word1 before we enter on our task1 as to
 the way  you must understand what ,i   
may endeavour to tell you4    ,let me   
beg you--now and always--not to think   

that ,i mean more than ,i  say4 ,in all 
probability1 ,i mean just what ,i say1  
and only that4 ,at all  events ,i do    
fully mean that2 and if there is        
anything reserved in my  mind1 it will  
be probably different from what you     
would guess4 ,you are  perfectly welcome
 to know all that ,i think1 as soon as  
,i have put before  you all my grounds  
for thinking it2 but by the time ,i have
 done so1 you  will be able to form an  
opinion of your own2 and mine will then 
be of no  consequence to you4      #cg4 
,i use then to-day1 as ,i shall in      
future use1 the word ,religion as       
signifying the feelings of love1        
reverence1 or dread with which the      
human mind is affected by its           
conceptions of spiritual being2 and you 
know well how necessary it is1 both to  
the rightness of our own life1  and to  
the understanding the lives of others1  
that we should always keep  clearly     
distinguished our ideas of ,religion1 as
 thus defined1 and of  ,morality1 as the

 law of rightness in human conduct4 ,for
 there are many  religions1 but there is
 only one morality4 ,there are moral and
 immoral  religions1 which differ as    
much in precept as in emotion2 but there
 is  only one morality1 ,,which ,,has   
,,been1 ,,is1 ,,and ,,must ,,be ,,for   
,,ever1 ,,an ,,instinct  ,,in ,,the     
,,hearts ,,of ,,all ,,civilised ,,men1  
,,as ,,certain ,,and ,,unalterable ,,as 
,,their  ,,outward ,,bodily ,,form1     
,,and ,,which ,,receives ,,from         
,,religion ,,neither ,,law1 ,,nor       
,,place2 ,,but ,,only ,,hope1 ,,and     
,,felicity4      #ch4 ,the pure forms or
 states of religion hitherto known1 are 
those in  which a healthy humanity1     
finding in itself many foibles and sins1
 has  imagined1 or been made conscious  
of1 the existence of higher spiritual   
personality1 liable to no such fault or 
stain2 and has been assisted in  effort1
 and consoled in pain1 by reference to  
the will or sympathy of  such purer     
spirits1 whether imagined or real4 ,i am

 compelled to use  these painful        
latitudes of expression1 because no     
analysis has hitherto  sufficed to      
distinguish accurately1 in historical   
narrative1 the  difference between      
impressions resulting from the          
imagination of the  worshipper1 and     
those made1 if any1 by the actually     
local and temporary  presence of another
 spirit4 ,for instance1 take the vision1
 which of all  others has been since    
made most frequently the subject of     
physical  representation--the appearance
 to ,ezekiel and ,st4 ,john of the four 
living creatures1 which throughout      
,christendom have been used to          
symbolise the ,evangelists4#d ,supposing
 such interpretation just1 one of  those
 figures was either the mere symbol to  
,st4 ,john of himself1 or it  was the   
power which inspired him1 manifesting   
itself in an independent  form4 ,which  
of these it was1 or whether neither of  
these1 but a vision  of other powers1 or
 a dream1 of which neither the prophet  

himself knew1  nor can any other person 
yet know1 the interpretation1--,i       
suppose no  modestly-minded and accurate
 thinker would now take upon himself to 
decide4 ,nor is it therefore anywise    
necessary for you to decide on that1  or
 any other such question2 but it is     
necessary that you should be bold       
enough to look every opposing question  
steadily in its face2 and modest        
enough1 having done so1 to know when it 
is too hard for you4 ,but above  all    
things1 see that you be modest in your  
thoughts1 for of this one  thing we may 
be absolutely sure1 that all our        
thoughts are but degrees  of darkness4  
,and in these days you have to guard    
against the fatallest  darkness of the  
two opposite ,prides2--the ,pride of    
,faith1 which imagines  that the nature 
of the ,deity can be defined by its     
convictions2 and the  ,pride of         
,science1 which imagines that the energy
 of ,deity can be  explained by its     
analysis4    ,footnote #d3 ,only the    

,gospels1 ,,iv ,evangelia1 according to 
,st4 ,jerome4      #ci4 ,of these1 the  
first1 the ,pride of ,faith1 is now1 as 
it has been  always1 the most deadly1   
because the most complacent and         
subtle2--because it invests every evil  
passion of our nature with the  aspect  
of an angel of light1 and enables the   
self-love1 which might  otherwise have  
been put to wholesome shame1 and the    
cruel carelessness  of the ruin of our  
fellow-men1 which might otherwise have  
been warmed  into human love1 or at     
least checked by human intelligence1 to 
congeal  themselves into the mortal     
intellectual disease of imagining that  
myriads of the inhabitants of the world 
for four thousand years have  been left 
to wander and perish1 many of them      
everlastingly1 in order  that1 in       
fulness of time1 divine truth might be  
preached sufficiently to  ourselves3    
with this farther ineffable mischief for
 direct result1 that  multitudes of     
kindly-disposed1 gentle1 and submissive 

persons1 who might  else by their true  
patience have alloyed the hardness of   
the common  crowd1 and by their activity
 for good balanced its misdoing1 are    
withdrawn from all such true services of
 man1 that they may pass the  best part 
of their lives in what they are told is 
the service of ,god2  namely1 desiring  
what they cannot obtain1 lamenting what 
they cannot  avoid1 and reflecting on   
what they cannot understand4#e          
,footnote #e3 ,this concentrated        
definition of monastic life is of course
  to be understood only of its more     
enthusiastic forms4      #dj4 ,this1 ,i 
repeat1 is the deadliest1 but for you1  
under existing  circumstances1 it is    
becoming daily1 almost hourly1 the least
 probable  form of ,pride4 ,that which  
you have chiefly to guard against       
consists in  the overvaluing of minute  
though correct discovery2 the groundless
  denial of all that seems to you to    
have been groundlessly affirmed2 and    
the interesting yourselves too curiously

 in the progress of some  scientific    
minds1 which in their judgment of the   
universe can be  compared to nothing so 
accurately as to the woodworms in the   
panel of a  picture by some great       
painter1 if we may conceive them as     
tasting with  discrimination of the     
wood1 and with repugnance of the colour1
 and  declaring that even this          
unlooked-for and undesirable combination
 is a  normal result of the action of   
molecular ,forces4      #da4 ,now1 ,i   
must very earnestly warn you1 in the    
beginning of my work  with you here1    
against allowing either of these forms  
of egotism to  interfere with your      
judgment or practice of art4 ,on the one
 hand1 you  must not allow the          
expression of your own favourite        
religious feelings  by any particular   
form of art to modify your judgment of  
its absolute  merit2 nor allow the art  
itself to become an illegitimate means  
of  deepening and confirming your       
convictions1 by realising to your eyes  

what you dimly conceive with the brain2 
as if the greater clearness of  the     
image were a stronger proof of its      
truth4 ,on the other hand1 you  must not
 allow your scientific habit of trusting
 nothing but what you  have ascertained1
 to prevent you from appreciating1 or at
 least  endeavouring to qualify         
yourselves to appreciate1 the work of   
the  highest faculty of the human       
mind1--its imagination1--when it is     
toiling  in the presence of things that 
cannot be dealt with by any other power4
      #db4 ,these are both vital        
conditions of your healthy progress4 ,on
 the one  hand1 observe that you do not 
wilfully use the realistic power of art 
to convince yourselves of historical or 
theological statements which you  cannot
 otherwise prove2 and which you wish to 
prove3--on the other hand1  that you do 
not check your imagination and          
conscience while seizing the  truths of 
which they alone are cognizant1 because 
you value too highly  the scientific    

interest which attaches to the          
investigation of second  causes4    ,for
 instance1 it may be quite possible to  
show the conditions in water  and       
electricity which necessarily produce   
the craggy outline1 the  apparently     
self-contained silvery light1 and the   
sulphurous blue shadow  of a            
thunder-cloud1 and which separate these 
from the depth of the  golden peace in  
the dawn of a summer morning4           
,similarly1 it may be  possible to show 
the necessities of structure which      
groove the fangs and  depress the brow  
of the asp1 and which distinguish the   
character of its  head from that of the 
face of a young girl4 ,but it is the    
function of  the rightly-trained        
imagination to recognise1 in these1 and 
such other  relative aspects1 the unity 
of teaching which impresses1 alike on   
our  senses and our conscience1 the     
eternal difference between good and     
evil3  and the rule1 over the clouds of 
heaven and over the creatures in the    

earth1 of the same ,spirit which teaches
 to our own hearts the bitterness  of   
death1 and strength of love4      #dc4  
,now1 therefore1 approaching our subject
 in this balanced temper1  which will   
neither resolve to see only what it     
would desire1 nor expect  to see only   
what it can explain1 we shall find our  
enquiry into the  relation of ,art to   
,religion is distinctly threefold3      
first1 we have to  ask how far art may  
have been literally directed by         
spiritual powers2  secondly1 how far1 if
 not inspired1 it may have been exalted 
by them2  lastly1 how far1 in any of its
 agencies1 it has advanced the cause of 
the creeds it has been used to          
recommend4      #dd4 ,first3 ,what      
ground have we for thinking that art has
 ever been  inspired as a message or    
revelation8 ,what internal evidence is  
there in  the work of great artists of  
their having been under the             
authoritative  guidance of supernatural 
powers8    ,it is true that the answer  

to so mysterious a question cannot rest 
alone  upon internal evidence2 but it is
 well that you should know what might1  
from that evidence alone1 be concluded4 
,and the more impartially you  examine  
the phenomena of imagination1 the more  
firmly you will be led to  conclude that
 they are the result of the influence of
 the common and  vital1 but not1        
therefore1 less ,divine1 spirit1 of     
which some portion is  given to all     
living creatures in such manner as may  
be adapted to their  rank in creation2  
and that everything which men rightly   
accomplish is  indeed done by ,divine   
help1 but under a consistent law which  
is never  departed from4    ,the        
strength of this spiritual life within  
us may be increased or  lessened by our 
own conduct2 it varies from time to     
time1 as physical  strength varies2 it  
is summoned on different occasions by   
our will1 and  dejected by our distress1
 or our sin2 but it is always equally   
human1  and equally ,divine4 ,we are    

men1 and not mere animals1 because a    
special form of it is with us always2 we
 are nobler and baser men1 as it  is    
with us more or less2 but it is never   
given to us in any degree which  can    
make us more than men4      #de4        
,observe3--,i give you this general     
statement doubtfully1 and only as  that 
towards which an impartial reasoner     
will1 ,i think1 be inclined by  existing
 data4 ,but ,i shall be able to show    
you1 without any doubt1 in  the course  
of our studies1 that the achievements of
 art which have been  usually looked    
upon as the results of peculiar         
inspiration have been  arrived at only  
through long courses of wisely directed 
labour1 and  under the influence of     
feelings which are common to all        
humanity4    ,but of these feelings and 
powers which in different degrees are   
common  to humanity1 you are to note    
that there are three principal          
divisions3  first1 the instincts of     
construction or melody1 which we share  

with  lower animals1 and which are in us
 as native as the instinct of the bee   
or nightingale2 secondly1 the faculty of
 vision1 or of dreaming1 whether  in    
sleep or in conscious trance1 or by     
voluntarily exerted fancy2 and  lastly1 
the power of rational inference and     
collection1 of both the laws  and forms 
of beauty4      #df4 ,now the faculty of
 vision1 being closely associated with  
the  innermost spiritual nature1 is the 
one which has by most reasoners been    
held for the peculiar channel of ,divine
 teaching3 and it is a fact that  great 
part of purely didactic art has been the
 record1 whether in  language1 or by    
linear representation1 of actual vision 
involuntarily  received at the moment1  
though cast on a mental retina blanched 
by the past course of faithful life4    
,but it is also true that  these        
visions1 where most distinctly received1
 are always--,i speak                   
deliberately--always1 the sign of some  
mental limitation or  derangement2 and  

that the persons who most clearly       
recognise their  value1 exaggeratedly   
estimate it1 choosing what they find to 
be useful1  and calling that inspired1  
and disregarding what they perceive to  
be  useless1 though presented to the    
visionary by an equal authority4        
#dg4 ,thus it is probable that no work  
of art has been more widely  didactic   
than ,albert ,drer's engraving1 known as
 the ,knight and  ,death4#f ,but that is
 only one of a series of works          
representing  similarly vivid dreams1 of
 which some are uninteresting1 except   
for the  manner of their representation1
 as the ,st4 ,hubert1 and others are    
unintelligible2 some1 frightful1 and    
wholly unprofitable2 so that we  find   
the visionary faculty in that great     
painter1 when accurately  examined1 to  
be a morbid influence1 abasing his skill
 more frequently  than encouraging it1  
and sacrificing the greater part of his 
energies  upon vain subjects1 two only  
being produced1 in the course of a long 

life1 which are of high didactic value1 
and both of these capable only  of      
giving sad courage4#g ,whatever the     
value of these two1 it bears more  the  
aspect of a treasure obtained at great  
cost of suffering1 than of a  directly  
granted gift from heaven4    ,footnote  
#f3 ,standard ,series1 ,no4 #i4         
,footnote #g3 ,the meaning of the       
,knight and ,death1 even in this        
respect1 has lately been questioned on  
good grounds4      #dh4 ,on the         
contrary1 not only the highest1 but the 
most consistent  results have been      
attained in art by men in whom the      
faculty of vision1  however strong1 was 
subordinate to that of deliberative     
design1 and  tranquillised by a         
measured1 continual1 not feverish1 but  
affectionate1  observance of the quite  
unvisionary facts of the surrounding    
world4    ,and so far as we can trace   
the connection of their powers with the 
moral  character of their lives1 we     
shall find that the best art is the work

 of  good1 but of not distinctively     
religious men1 who1 at least1 are       
conscious of no inspiration1 and often  
so unconscious of their  superiority to 
others1 that one of the greatest of     
them1 ,reynolds1  deceived by his       
modesty1 has asserted that all things   
are possible to  well-directed labour4  
#di4 ,the second question1 namely1 how  
far art1 if not inspired1 has yet  been 
ennobled by religion1 ,i shall not touch
 upon to-day2 for it both  requires     
technical criticism1 and would divert   
you too long from the  main question of 
all1--,how far religion has been helped 
by art8    ,you will find that the      
operation of formative art--7,i will not
 speak  to-day of music7--the operation 
of formative art on religious creed is  
essentially twofold2 the realisation1 to
 the eyes1 of imagined spiritual        
persons2 and the limitation of their    
imagined presence to certain  places4   
,we will examine these two functions of 
it successively4      #ej4 ,and first1  

consider accurately what the agency of  
art is1 in  realising1 to the sight1 our
 conceptions of spiritual persons4      
,for instance4 ,assume that we believe  
that the ,madonna is always present  to 
hear and answer our prayers4 ,assume    
also that this is true4 ,i think  that  
persons in a perfectly honest1 faithful1
 and humble temper1 would  in that case 
desire only to feel so much of the      
,divine presence as the  spiritual      
,power herself chose to make felt2 and1 
above all things1 not  to think they    
saw1 or knew1 anything except what might
 be truly  perceived or known4    ,but a
 mind imperfectly faithful1 and         
impatient in its distress1 or  craving  
in its dulness for a more distinct and  
convincing sense of the  ,divinity1     
would endeavour to complete1 or perhaps 
we should rather say  to contract1 its  
conception1 into the definite figure of 
a woman wearing  a blue or crimson      
dress1 and having fair features1 dark   
eyes1 and  gracefully arranged hair4    

,suppose1 after forming such a          
conception1 that we have the power to   
realise and preserve it1 this image of a
 beautiful figure with a  pleasant      
expression cannot but have the tendency 
of afterwards leading  us to think of   
the ,virgin as present1 when she is not 
actually present2  or as pleased with   
us1 when she is not actually pleased2 or
 if we  resolutely prevent ourselves    
from such imagination1 nevertheless the 
existence of the image beside us will   
often turn our thoughts towards         
subjects of religion1 when otherwise    
they would have been differently        
occupied2 and1 in the midst of other    
occupations1 will familiarise more  or  
less1 and even mechanically associate   
with common or faultful states  of mind1
 the appearance of the supposed ,divine 
person4      #ea4 ,there are thus two   
distinct operations upon our mind3      
first1 the art  makes us believe what we
 would not otherwise have believed2 and 
secondly1 it makes us think of subjects 

we should not otherwise have  thought   
of1 intruding them amidst our ordinary  
thoughts in a confusing  and familiar   
manner4 ,we cannot with any certainty   
affirm the advantage  or the harm of    
such accidental pieties1 for their      
effect will be very  different on       
different characters3 but1 without any  
question1 the art1  which makes us      
believe what we would not have otherwise
 believed1 is  misapplied1 and in most  
instances very dangerously so4 ,our duty
 is to  believe in the existence of     
,divine1 or any other1 persons1 only    
upon  rational proofs of their          
existence2 and not because we have seen 
pictures of them4#h    ,footnote #h3 ,i 
have expunged a sentence insisting      
farther on this point1  having come to  
reverence more1 as ,i grew older1 every 
simple means of  stimulating all        
religious belief and affection4 ,it is  
the lower and  realistic world which is 
fullest of false beliefs and vain loves4
      #eb4 ,but now observe1 it is here 

necessary to draw a distinction1 so     
subtle that in dealing with facts it is 
continually impossible to mark  it with 
precision1 yet so vital1 that not only  
your understanding of the  power of art1
 but the working of your minds in       
matters of primal moment  to you1       
depends on the effort you make to affirm
 this distinction  strongly4 ,the art   
which realises a creature of the        
imagination is only  mischievous when   
that realisation is conceived to imply1 
or does  practically induce a belief in1
 the real existence of the imagined     
personage1 contrary to1 or unjustified  
by the other evidence of its  existence4
 ,but if the art only represents the    
personage on the  understanding that its
 form is imaginary1 then the effort at  
realisation  is healthful and           
beneficial4    ,for instance1 the ,greek
 design of ,apollo crossing the sea to  
,delphi1  which is one of the most      
interesting of ,le ,normant's series1 so
 far as  it is only an expression1 under

 the symbol of a human form1 of what may
  be rightly imagined respecting the    
solar power1 is right and ennobling2    
but so far as it conveyed to the ,greek 
the idea of there being a real  ,apollo1
 it was mischievous1 whether there be1  
or be not1 a real ,apollo4  ,if there is
 no real ,apollo1 then the art was      
mischievous because it  deceived2 but if
 there is a real ,apollo1 then it was   
still more  mischievous1#i for it not   
only began the degradation of the image 
of  that true god into a decoration for 
niches1 and a device for seals2 but     
prevented any true witness being borne  
to his existence4 ,for if the  ,greeks1 
instead of multiplying representations  
of what they imagined to  be the figure 
of the god1 had given us accurate       
drawings of the heroes  and battles of  
,marathon and ,salamis1 and had simply  
told us in plain  ,greek what evidence  
they had of the power of ,apollo1 either
 through his  oracles1 his help or      
chastisement1 or by immediate vision1   

they would  have served their religion  
more truly than by all the              
vase-paintings and  fine statues that   
ever were buried or adored4      #ec4   
,now in this particular instance1 and in
 many other examples of fine  ,greek    
art1 the two conditions of thought1     
symbolic and realistic1 are  mingled2   
and the art is helpful1 as ,i will      
hereafter show you1 in one  function1   
and in the other so deadly1 that ,i     
think no degradation of  conception of  
,deity has ever been quite so base as   
that implied by the  designs of ,greek  
vases in the period of decline1 say     
about #bej ,b4 ,c4    ,footnote #i3 ,i  
am again doubtful1 here4 ,the most      
important part of the  chapter is from  
#fj to end4    ,but though among the    
,greeks it is thus nearly always        
difficult to say  what is symbolic and  
what realistic1 in the range of         
,christian art the  distinction is      
clear4 ,in that1 a vast division of     
imaginative work is  occupied in the    

symbolism of virtues1 vices1 or natural 
powers or  passions2 and in the         
representation of personages who1 though
 nominally  real1 become in conception  
symbolic4 ,in the greater part of this  
work  there is no intention of implying 
the existence of the represented        
creature2 ,drer's ,melencolia and       
,giotto's ,justice are accurately       
characteristic examples4 ,now all such  
art is wholly good and useful when  it  
is the work of good men4      #ed4      
,again1 there is another division of    
,christian work in which the  persons   
represented1 though nominally real1 are 
treated as  dramatis-person of a poem1  
and so presented confessedly as subjects
 of  imagination4 ,all this poetic art  
is also good when it is the work of     
good men4      #ee4 ,there remains only 
therefore to be considered1 as truly    
religious1  the work which definitely   
implies and modifies the conception of  
the  existence of a real person4 ,there 
is hardly any great art which entirely  

belongs to this class2 but ,raphael's   
,madonna della ,seggiola is as  accurate
 a type of it as ,i can give you2       
,holbein's ,madonna at ,dresden1  the   
,madonna di ,san ,sisto1 and the        
,madonna of ,titian's ,assumption1 all  
belong mainly to this class1 but are    
removed somewhat from it 7as1 ,i        
repeat1 nearly all great art is7 into   
the poetical one4 ,it is only the       
bloody crucifixes and gilded virgins and
 other such lower forms of  imagery 7by 
which1 to the honour of the ,english    
,church1 it has been  truly claimed for 
her1 that she has never appealed to the 
madness or  dulness of her people17     
which belong to the realistic class in  
strict  limitation1 and which properly  
constitute the type of it4    ,there is 
indeed an important school of sculpture 
in ,spain1 directed to  the same        
objects1 but not demanding at present   
any special attention4  ,and finally1   
there is the vigorous and most          
interesting realistic school  of our    

own1 in modern times1 mainly known to   
the public by ,holman ,hunt's  picture  
of the ,light of the ,world1 though1 ,i 
believe1 deriving its first  origin from
 the genius of the painter to whom you  
owe also the revival  of interest1 first
 here in ,oxford1 and then universally1 
in the cycle of  early ,english         
legend1--,dante ,rossetti4      #ef4    
,the effect of this realistic art on the
 religious mind of ,europe  varies in   
scope more than any other art power2 for
 in its higher  branches it touches the 
most sincere religious minds1 affecting 
an  earnest class of persons who cannot 
be reached by merely poetical  design2  
while1 in its lowest1 it addresses      
itself not only to the most  vulgar     
desires for religious excitement1 but to
 the mere thirst for  sensation of      
horror which characterises the          
uneducated orders of  partially         
civilised countries2 nor merely to the  
thirst for horror1 but  to the strange  
love of death1 as such1 which has       

sometimes in ,catholic  countries showed
 itself peculiarly by the endeavour to  
paint the images  in the chapels of the 
,sepulchre so as to look deceptively    
like corpses4  ,the same morbid instinct
 has also affected the minds of many    
among the  more imaginative and powerful
 artists with a feverish gloom which    
distorts their finest work2 and         
lastly--and this is the worst of all its
  effects--it has occupied the          
sensibility of ,christian women1        
universally1 in lamenting the sufferings
 of ,christ1 instead of  preventing     
those of ,his people4      #eg4 ,when   
any of you next go abroad1 observe1 and 
consider the meaning  of1 the sculptures
 and paintings1 which of every rank in  
art1 and in  every chapel and cathedral1
 and by every mountain path1 recall the 
hours1 and represent the agonies1 of the
 ,passion of ,christ3 and try to  form  
some estimate of the efforts that have  
been made by the four arts  of          
eloquence1 music1 painting1 and         

sculpture1 since the twelfth century1   
to wring out of the hearts of women the 
last drops of pity that could be        
excited for this merely physical agony3 
for the art nearly always dwells  on the
 physical wounds or exhaustion chiefly1 
and degrades1 far more  than it         
animates1 the conception of pain4       
,then try to conceive the quantity of   
time1 and of excited and thrilling      
emotion1 which have been wasted by the  
tender and delicate women of            
,christendom during these last six      
hundred years1 in thus picturing to     
themselves1 under the influence of such 
imagery1 the bodily pain1 long  since   
passed1 of ,one ,person3--which1 so far 
as they indeed conceived it  to be      
sustained by a ,divine ,nature1 could   
not for that reason have been  less     
endurable than the agonies of any simple
 human death by torture3  and then try  
to estimate what might have been the    
better result1 for the  righteousness   
and felicity of mankind1 if these same  

women had been  taught the deep meaning 
of the last words that were ever spoken 
by their  ,master to those who had      
ministered to ,him of their substance3  
,daughters  of ,jerusalem1 weep not for 
me1 but weep for yourselves1 and for    
your  children4 ,if they had but been   
taught to measure with their pitiful    
thoughts the tortures of                
battle-fields--the slowly consuming     
plagues of  death in the starving       
children1 and wasted age1 of the        
innumerable  desolate those battles     
left2--nay1 in our own life of peace1   
the agony  of unnurtured1 untaught1     
unhelped creatures1 awaking at the      
grave's edge  to know how they should   
have lived2 and the worse pain of those 
whose  existence1 not the ceasing of it1
 is death2 those to whom the cradle was 
a curse1 and for whom the words they    
cannot hear1 ashes to ashes1 are  all   
that they have ever received of         
benediction4 ,these1--you who would     
fain have wept at ,his feet1 or stood by

 ,his cross1--these you have  always    
with you6 ,him1 you have not always4    
#eh4 ,the wretched in death you have    
always with you4 ,yes1 and the brave    
and good in life you have always2--these
 also needing help1 though you  supposed
 they had only to help others2 these    
also claiming to be thought  for1 and   
remembered4 ,and you will find1 if you  
look into history with  this clue1 that 
one of quite the chief reasons for the  
continual misery  of mankind is that    
they are always divided in their worship
 between  angels or saints1 who are out 
of their sight1 and need no help1 and   
proud and evil-minded men1 who are too  
definitely in their sight1 and  ought   
not to have their help4 ,and consider   
how the arts have thus  followed the    
worship of the crowd4 ,you have         
paintings of saints and  angels1        
innumerable2--of petty courtiers1 and   
contemptible or cruel  kings1           
innumerable4 ,few1 how few you have1    
7but these1 observe1 almost  always by  

great painters7 of the best men1 or of  
their actions4 ,but  think for          
yourselves1--,i have no time now to     
enter upon the mighty  field1 nor       
imagination enough to guide me beyond   
the threshold of  it1--think1 what      
history might have been to us now2--nay1
 what a  different history that of all  
,europe might have become1 if it had but
  been the object both of the people to 
discern1 and of their arts to  honour   
and bear record of1 the great deeds of  
their worthiest men4 ,and  if1 instead  
of living1 as they have always hitherto 
done1 in a hellish  cloud of contention 
and revenge1 lighted by fantastic dreams
 of cloudy  sanctities1 they had sought 
to reward and punish justly1 wherever   
reward  and punishment were due1 but    
chiefly to reward2 and at least rather  
to  bear testimony to the human acts    
which deserved ,god's anger or ,his     
blessing1 than only1 in presumptuous    
imagination1 to display the secrets  of 
,judgment1 or the beatitudes of         

,eternity4      #ei4 ,such ,i conceive  
generally1 though indeed with good      
arising out of  it1 for every great evil
 brings some good in its backward       
eddies--such ,i  conceive to have been  
the deadly function of art in its       
ministry to  what1 whether in heathen or
 ,christian lands1 and whether in the   
pageantry of words1 or colours1 or fair 
forms1 is truly1 and in the deep  sense1
 to be called 7idolatry7--the serving   
with the best of our hearts  and minds1 
some dear or sad fantasy which we have  
made for ourselves1  while we disobey   
the present call of the ,master1 who is 
not dead1 and  who is not now fainting  
under ,his cross1 but requiring us to   
take up  ours4      #fj4 ,i pass to the 
second great function of religious art1 
the limitation  of the idea of ,divine  
presence to particular localities4 ,it  
is of course  impossible within my      
present limits to touch upon this power 
of art1 as  employed on the temples of  
the gods of various religions2 we will  

examine that on future occasions4       
,to-day1 ,i want only to map out main   
ideas1 and ,i can do this best by       
speaking exclusively of this localising 
influence as it affects our own faith4  
,observe first1 that the localisation is
 almost entirely dependent upon  human  
art4 ,you must at least take a stone and
 set it up for a pillar1 if  you are to 
mark the place1 so as to know it again1 
where a vision  appeared4 ,a persecuted 
people1 needing to conceal their places 
of  worship1 may perform every religious
 ceremony first under one crag of  the  
hill-side1 and then under another1      
without invalidating the  sacredness of 
the rites or sacraments thus            
administered4 ,it is1  therefore1 we all
 acknowledge1 inessential1 that a       
particular spot  should be surrounded   
with a ring of stones1 or enclosed      
within walls of  a certain style of     
architecture1 and so set apart as the   
only place  where such ceremonies may be
 properly performed2 and it is thus less

 by  any direct appeal to experience or 
to reason1 but in consequence of the    
effect upon our senses produced by the  
architecture1 that we receive the  first
 strong impressions of what we          
afterwards contend for as absolute      
truth4 ,i particularly wish you to      
notice how it is always by help of      
human art that such a result is         
attained1 because1 remember always1 ,i  
am  neither disputing nor asserting the 
truth of any theological                
doctrine2--that is not my province2--,i 
am only questioning the  expediency of  
enforcing that doctrine by the help of  
architecture4 ,put a  rough stone for an
 altar under the hawthorn on a village  
green2--separate a portion of the green 
itself with an ordinary paling  from the
 rest2--then consecrate1 with whatever  
form you choose1 the  space of grass you
 have enclosed1 and meet within the     
wooden fence as  often as you desire to 
pray or preach2 yet you will not easily 
fasten an  impression in the minds of   

the villagers1 that ,god inhabits the   
space of  grass inside the fence1 and   
does not extend ,his presence to the    
common  beyond it3 and that the daisies 
and violets on one side of the railing  
are holy1--on the other1 profane4 ,but1 
instead of a wooden fence1 build  a     
wall1 pave the interior space2 roof it  
over1 so as to make it  comparatively   
dark2--and you may persuade the         
villagers with ease that  you have built
 a house which ,deity inhabits1 or that 
you have become1 in  the old ,french    
phrase1 a logeur du ,bon ,dieu4         
#fa4 ,and farther1 though ,i have no    
desire to introduce any question as to  
the truth of what we thus               
architecturally teach1 ,i would desire  
you most  strictly to determine what is 
intended to be taught4    ,do not think 
,i underrate--,i am among the last men  
living who would  underrate1--the       
importance of the sentiments connected  
with their church  to the population of 
a pastoral village4 ,i admit1 in its    

fullest extent1  the moral value of the 
scene1 which is almost always one of    
perfect  purity and peace2 and of the   
sense of supernatural love and          
protection1  which fills and surrounds  
the low aisles and homely porch4 ,but   
the  question ,i desire earnestly to    
leave with you is1 whether all the earth
  ought not to be peaceful and pure1 and
 the acknowledgment of the ,divine      
protection1 as universal as its reality8
 ,that in a mysterious way the  presence
 of ,deity is vouchsafed where it is    
sought1 and withdrawn where  it is      
forgotten1 must of course be granted as 
the first postulate in the  enquiry3 but
 the point for our decision is just     
this1 whether it ought  always to be    
sought in one place only1 and forgotten 
in every other4    ,it may be replied1  
that since it is impossible to          
consecrate the entire  space of the     
earth1 it is better thus to secure a    
portion of it than  none3 but surely1 if
 so1 we ought to make some effort to    

enlarge the  favoured ground1 and even  
look forward to a time when in ,english 
villages there may be a ,god's acre     
tenanted by the living1 not the  dead2  
and when we shall rather look with      
aversion and fear to the  remnant of    
ground that is set apart as profane1    
than with reverence to a  narrow portion
 of it enclosed as holy4      #fb4 ,but 
now1 farther4 ,suppose it be admitted   
that by enclosing ground  with walls1   
and performing certain ceremonies there 
habitually1 some  kind of sanctity is   
indeed secured within that space1--still
 the  question remains open whether it  
be advisable for religious purposes to  
decorate the enclosure4 ,for separation 
the mere walls would be enough4  ,what  
is the purpose of your decoration8      
,let us take an instance--the most noble
 with which ,i am acquainted1 the       
,cathedral of ,chartres4 ,you have there
 the most splendid coloured glass1  and 
the richest sculpture1 and the grandest 
proportions of building1  united to     

produce a sensation of pleasure and awe4
 ,we profess that this  is to honour the
 ,deity2 or1 in other words1 that it is 
pleasing to ,him  that we should delight
 our eyes with blue and golden colours1 
and  solemnise our spirits by the sight 
of large stones laid one on another1    
and ingeniously carved4      #fc4 ,i do 
not think it can be doubted that it is  
pleasing to ,him when  we do this2 for  
,he has ,himself prepared for us1 nearly
 every morning and  evening1 windows    
painted with ,divine art1 in blue and   
gold and  vermilion3 windows lighted    
from within by the lustre of that heaven
  which we may assume1 at least with    
more certainty than any consecrated     
ground1 to be one of ,his               
dwelling-places4 ,again1 in every       
mountain side1  and cliff of rude sea   
shore1 ,he has heaped stones one upon   
another of  greater magnitude than those
 of ,chartres ,cathedral1 and sculptured
 them  with floral ornament1--surely not
 less sacred because living8      #fd4  

,must it not then be only because we    
love our own work better than  ,his1    
that we respect the lucent glass1 but   
not the lucent clouds2 that  we weave   
embroidered robes with ingenious        
fingers1 and make bright the  gilded    
vaults we have beautifully              
ordained--while yet we have not         
considered the heavens1 the work of ,his
 fingers1 nor the stars of the  strange 
vault which ,he has ordained8 ,and do we
 dream that by carving  fonts and       
lifting pillars in ,his honour1 who cuts
 the way of the rivers  among the rocks1
 and at whose reproof the pillars of the
 earth are  astonished1 we shall obtain 
pardon for the dishonour done to the    
hills  and streams by which ,he has     
appointed our dwelling-place2--for the  
infection of their sweet air with       
poison2--for the burning up of their    
tender grass and flowers with fire1 and 
for spreading such a shame of  mixed    
luxury and misery over our native land1 
as if we laboured only  that1 at least  

here in ,england1 we might be able to   
give the lie to the  song1 whether of   
the ,cherubim above1 or ,church         
beneath--,holy1 holy1  ,lord ,god of all
 creatures2 ,heaven--and ,earth--are    
full of ,thy glory8      #fe4 ,and how  
much more there is that ,i long to say  
to you2 and how much1  ,i hope1 that you
 would like to answer to me1 or to      
question me of6 ,but ,i  can say no more
 to-day4 ,we are not1 ,i trust1 at the  
end of our talks or  thoughts together2 
but1 if it were so1 and ,i never spoke  
to you more1  this that ,i have said to 
you ,i should have been glad to have    
been  permitted to say2 and this1       
farther1 which is the sum of it1--,that 
we  may have splendour of art again1 and
 with that1 we may truly praise and     
honour our ,maker1 and with that set    
forth the beauty and holiness of all    
that ,he has made3 but only after we    
have striven with our whole hearts      
first to sanctify the temple of the body
 and spirit of every child that  has no 

roof to cover its head from the cold1   
and no walls to guard its  soul from    
corruption1 in this our ,english land4  
,one word more4    ,what ,i have        
suggested hitherto1 respecting the      
relations of ,art to  ,religion1 you    
must receive throughout as merely motive
 of thought2  though you must have well 
seen that my own convictions were       
established  finally on some of the     
points in question4 ,but ,i must1 in    
conclusion1  tell you something that ,i 
know2--which1 if you truly labour1 you  
will  one day know also2 and which ,i   
trust some of you will believe1 now4    
,during the minutes in which you have   
been listening to me1 ,i suppose  that  
almost at every other sentence those    
whose habit of mind has been  one of    
veneration for established forms and    
faiths1 must have been in  dread that ,i
 was about to say1 or in pang of regret 
at my having said1  what seemed to them 
an irreverent or reckless word touching 
vitally  important things4    ,so far   

from this being the fact1 it is just    
because the feelings that ,i  most      
desire to cultivate in your minds are   
those of reverence and  admiration1 that
 ,i am so earnest to prevent you from   
being moved to  either by trivial or    
false semblances4 ,this is the thing    
which ,i  ,,know--and which1 if you     
labour faithfully1 you shall know       
also1--that in  ,reverence is the chief 
joy and power of life2--,reverence1 for 
what is  pure and bright in your own    
youth2 for what is true and tried in the
 age  of others2 for all that is        
gracious among the living1--great among 
the  dead1--and marvellous1 in the      
,powers that cannot die4                
,,lecture ,,iii    ,,the ,,relation ,,of
 ,,art ,,to ,,morals      #ff4 ,you     
probably recollect that1 in the         
beginning of my last lecture1 it  was   
stated that fine art had1 and could     
have1 but three functions3 the          
enforcing of the religious sentiments of
 men1 the perfecting their  ethical     

state1 and the doing them material      
service4 ,we have to-day to  examine1   
the mode of its action in the second    
power--that of perfecting  the morality1
 or ethical state1 of men4              
,perfecting1 observe--not producing4    
,you must have the right moral state    
first1 or you cannot have the art4  ,but
 when the art is once obtained1 its     
reflected action enhances and  completes
 the moral state out of which it arose1 
and1 above all1  communicates the       
exultation to other minds which are     
already morally  capable of the like4   
#fg4 ,for instance1 take the art of     
singing1 and the simplest perfect       
master of it 7up to the limits of his   
nature7 whom you can find2--a  skylark4 
,from him you may learn what it is to   
sing for joy4 ,you must  get the moral  
state first1 the pure gladness1 then    
give it finished  expression2 and it is 
perfected in itself1 and made           
communicable to  other creatures capable
 of such joy4 ,but it is incommunicable 

to those  who are not prepared to       
receive it4    ,now1 all right human    
song is1 similarly1 the finished        
expression1 by  art1 of the joy or grief
 of noble persons1 for right causes4    
,and  accurately in proportion to the   
rightness of the cause1 and purity of   
the emotion1 is the possibility of the  
fine art4 ,a maiden may sing of  her    
lost love1 but a miser cannot sing of   
his lost money4 ,and with  absolute     
precision1 from highest to lowest1 the  
fineness of the  possible art is an     
index of the moral purity and majesty of
 the emotion  it expresses4 ,you may    
test it practically at any instant4     
,question with  yourselves respecting   
any feeling that has taken strong       
possession of  your mind1 ,could this be
 sung by a master1 and sung nobly1 with 
a true  melody and art8 ,then it is a   
right feeling4 ,could it not be sung at 
all1 or only sung ludicrously8 ,it is a 
base one4 ,and that is so in all  the   
arts2 so that with mathematical         

precision1 subject to no error or       
exception1 the art of a nation1 so far  
as it exists1 is an exponent of  its    
ethical state4      #fh4 ,an exponent1  
observe1 and exalting influence2 but not
 the root or  cause4 ,you cannot paint  
or sing yourselves into being good men2 
you must  be good men before you can    
either paint or sing1 and then the      
colour and  sound will complete in you  
all that is best4    ,and this it was   
that ,i called upon you to hear1 saying1
 listen to me at  least now1 in the     
first lecture1 namely1 that no          
art-teaching could be  of use to you1   
but would rather be harmful1 unless it  
was grafted on  something deeper than   
all art4 ,for indeed not only with this1
 of which  it is my function to show you
 the laws1 but much more with the art of
  all men1 which you came here chiefly  
to learn1 that of language1 the  chief  
vices of education have arisen from the 
one great fallacy of  supposing that    
noble language is a communicable trick  

of grammar and  accent1 instead of      
simply the careful expression of right  
thought4 ,all  the virtues of language  
are1 in their roots1 moral2 it becomes  
accurate  if the speaker desires to be  
true2 clear1 if he speaks with sympathy 
and  a desire to be intelligible2       
powerful1 if he has earnestness2        
pleasant1  if he has sense of rhythm and
 order4 ,there are no other virtues of  
language producible by art than these3  
but let me mark more deeply for  an     
instant the significance of one of them4
 ,language1 ,i said1 is only  clear when
 it is sympathetic4 ,you can1 in truth1 
understand a man's word  only by        
understanding his temper4 ,your own word
 is also as of an unknown  tongue to him
 unless he understands yours4 ,and it is
 this which makes  the art of language1 
if any one is to be chosen separately   
from the  rest1 that which is fittest   
for the instrument of a gentleman's     
education4 ,to teach the meaning of a   
word thoroughly1 is to teach the  nature

 of the spirit that coined it2 the      
secret of language is the  secret of    
sympathy1 and its full charm is possible
 only to the gentle4  ,and thus the     
principles of beautiful speech have all 
been fixed by  sincere and kindly       
speech4 ,on the laws which have been    
determined by  sincerity1 false speech1 
apparently beautiful1 may afterwards be 
constructed2 but all such utterance1    
whether in oration or poetry1 is  not   
only without permanent power1 but it is 
destructive of the  principles it has   
usurped4 ,so long as no words are       
uttered but in  faithfulness1 so long   
the art of language goes on exalting    
itself2 but  the moment it is shaped and
 chiselled on external principles1 it   
falls  into frivolity1 and perishes4    
,and this truth would have been long ago
  manifest1 had it not been that in     
periods of advanced academical science  
there is always a tendency to deny the  
sincerity of the first masters of       
language4 ,once learn to write          

gracefully in the manner of an ancient  
author1 and we are apt to think that he 
also wrote in the manner of some  one   
else4 ,but no noble nor right style was 
ever yet founded but out of a  sincere  
heart4    ,no man is worth reading to   
form your style1 who does not mean what 
he  says2 nor was any great style ever  
invented but by some man who meant  what
 he said4 ,find out the beginner of a   
great manner of writing1 and  you have  
also found the declarer of some true    
facts or sincere passions3  and your    
whole method of reading will thus be    
quickened1 for1 being sure  that your   
author really meant what he said1 you   
will be much more  careful to ascertain 
what it is that he means4      #fi4 ,and
 of yet greater importance is it deeply 
to know that every beauty  possessed by 
the language of a nation is significant 
of the innermost  laws of its being4    
,keep the temper of the people stern and
 manly2 make  their associations grave1 
courteous1 and for worthy objects2      

occupy them  in just deeds2 and their   
tongue must needs be a grand one4 ,nor  
is it  possible1 therefore--observe the 
necessary reflected action--that any    
tongue should be a noble one1 of which  
the words are not so many  trumpet-calls
 to action4 ,all great languages        
invariably utter great  things1 and     
command them2 they cannot be mimicked   
but by obedience2 the  breath of them is
 inspiration because it is not only     
vocal1 but vital2  and you can only     
learn to speak as these men spoke1 by   
becoming what  these men were4      #gj4
 ,now for direct confirmation of this1  
,i want you to think over the  relation 
of expression to character in two great 
masters of the absolute  art of         
language1 ,virgil and ,pope4 ,you are   
perhaps surprised at the last  name2 and
 indeed you have in ,english much higher
 grasp and melody of  language from more
 passionate minds1 but you have nothing 
else1 in its  range1 so perfect4 ,i     
name1 therefore1 these two men1 because 

they are  the two most accomplished     
,artists1 merely as such1 whom ,i know  
in  literature2 and because ,i think you
 will be afterwards interested in       
investigating how the infinite grace in 
the words of the one1 and the  severity 
in those of the other1 and the precision
 in those of both1  arise wholly out of 
the moral elements of their minds3--out 
of the deep  tenderness in ,virgil which
 enabled him to write the stories of    
,nisus and  ,lausus2 and the serene and 
just benevolence which placed ,pope1 in 
his  theology1 two centuries in advance 
of his time1 and enabled him to sum  the
 law of noble life in two lines which1  
so far as ,i know1 are the most         
complete1 the most concise1 and the most
 lofty expression of moral  temper      
existing in ,english words3--           
,never elated1 while one man's          
oppress'd2      ,never dejected1 while  
another's bless'd4    ,i wish you also  
to remember these lines of ,pope1 and to
 make yourselves  entirely masters of   

his system of ethics2 because1 putting  
,shakespeare  aside as rather the       
world's than ours1 ,i hold ,pope to be  
the most  perfect representative we     
have1 since ,chaucer1 of the true       
,english mind2  and ,i think the        
,dunciad is the most absolutely         
chiselled and monumental  work exacted  
in our country4 ,you will find1 as you  
study ,pope1 that  he has expressed for 
you1 in the strictest language and      
within the  briefest limits1 every law  
of art1 of criticism1 of economy1 of    
policy1  and1 finally1 of a benevolence1
 humble1 rational1 and resigned1        
contented with its allotted share of    
life1 and trusting the problem of  its  
salvation to ,him in whose hand lies    
that of the universe4      #ga4 ,and now
 ,i pass to the arts with which ,i have 
special concern1 in  which1 though the  
facts are exactly the same1 ,i shall    
have more  difficulty in proving my     
assertion1 because very few of us are as
  cognizant of the merit of painting as 

we are of that of language2 and ,i  can 
only show you whence that merit springs1
 after having thoroughly  shown you in  
what it consists4 ,but1 in the meantime1
 ,i have simply to  tell you1 that the  
manual arts are as accurate exponents of
 ethical  state1 as other modes of      
expression2 first1 with absolute        
precision1 of  that of the workman2 and 
then with precision1 disguised by many  
distorting influences1 of that of the   
nation to which it belongs4    ,and1    
first1 they are a perfect exponent of   
the mind of the workman3 but1  being so1
 remember1 if the mind be great or      
complex1 the art is not an  easy book to
 read2 for we must ourselves possess all
 the mental  characters of which we are 
to read the signs4 ,no man can read the 
evidence of labour who is not himself   
laborious1 for he does not know  what   
the work cost3 nor can he read the      
evidence of true passion if he  is not  
passionate2 nor of gentleness if he is  
not gentle3 and the most  subtle signs  

of fault and weakness of character he   
can only judge by  having had the same  
faults to fight with4 ,i myself1 for    
instance1 know  impatient work1 and     
tired work1 better than most critics1   
because ,i am  myself always impatient1 
and often tired3--so also1 the patient  
and  indefatigable touch of a mighty    
master becomes more wonderful to me than
  to others4 ,yet1 wonderful in no mean 
measure it will be to you all1 when  ,i 
make it manifest1--and as soon as we    
begin our real work1 and you have       
learned what it is to draw a true line1 
,i shall be able to make manifest  to   
you1--and indisputably so1--that the    
day's work of a man like  ,mantegna or  
,paul ,veronese consists of an          
unfaltering1 uninterrupted  succession  
of movements of the hand more precise   
than those of the  finest fencer3 the   
pencil leaving one point and arriving at
 another1 not  only with unerring       
precision at the extremity of the line1 
but with an  unerring and yet varied    

course--sometimes over spaces a foot or 
more in  extent--yet a course so        
determined everywhere1 that either of   
these men  could1 and ,veronese often   
does1 draw a finished profile1 or any   
other  portion of the contour of the    
face1 with one line1 not afterwards     
changed4 ,try1 first1 to realise to     
yourselves the muscular precision of    
that action1 and the intellectual strain
 of it2 for the movement of a  fencer is
 perfect in practised monotony2 but the 
movement of the hand of  a great painter
 is at every instant governed by a      
direct and new  intention4 ,then imagine
 that muscular firmness and subtlety1   
and the  instantaneously selective and  
ordinant energy of the brain1 sustained 
all day long1 not only without fatigue1 
but with a visible joy in the  exertion1
 like that which an eagle seems to take 
in the wave of his  wings2 and this all 
life long1 and through long life1 not   
only without  failure of power1 but with
 visible increase of it1 until the      

actually  organic changes of old age4   
,and then consider1 so far as you know  
anything of physiology1 what sort of an 
ethical state of body and mind  that    
means6 ethic through ages past6 what    
fineness of race there must be  to get  
it1 what exquisite balance and symmetry 
of the vital powers6 ,and  then1        
finally1 determine for yourselves       
whether a manhood like that is          
consistent with any viciousness of soul1
 with any mean anxiety1 any  gnawing    
lust1 any wretchedness of spite or      
remorse1 any consciousness of  rebellion
 against law of ,god or man1 or any     
actual1 though unconscious  violation of
 even the least law to which obedience  
is essential for the  glory of life and 
the pleasing of its ,giver4      #gb4   
,it is1 of course1 true that many of the
 strong masters had deep  faults of     
character1 but their faults always show 
in their work4 ,it is  true that some   
could not govern their passions2 if so1 
they died young1  or they painted ill   

when old4 ,but the greater part of our  
misapprehension in the whole matter is  
from our not having well known  who the 
great painters were1 and taking delight 
in the petty skill that  was bred in the
 fumes of the taverns of the ,north1    
instead of theirs who  breathed empyreal
 air1 sons of the morning1 under the    
woods of ,assisi  and the crags of      
,cadore4      #gc4 ,it is true however  
also1 as ,i have pointed out long ago1  
that the  strong masters fall into two  
great divisions1 one leading simple and 
natural lives1 the other restrained in a
 ,puritanism of the worship of  beauty2 
and these two manners of life you may   
recognise in a moment by  their work4   
,generally the naturalists are the      
strongest2 but there are  two of the    
,puritans1 whose work if ,i can succeed 
in making clearly  understandable to you
 during my three years here1 it is all  
,i need care  to do4 ,but of these two  
,puritans one ,i cannot name to you1 and
 the other  ,i at present will not4 ,one

 ,i cannot1 for no one knows his name1  
except  the baptismal one1 ,bernard1 or 
dear little ,bernard--,bernardino1      
called  from his birthplace1 7,luino1 on
 the ,lago ,maggiore17 ,bernard of      
,luino4  ,the other is a ,venetian1 of  
whom many of you probably have never    
heard1  and of whom1 through me1 you    
shall not hear1 until ,i have tried to  
get  some picture by him over to        
,england4      #gd4 ,observe then1 this 
,puritanism in the worship of beauty1   
though  sometimes weak1 is always       
honourable and amiable1 and the exact   
reverse  of the false ,puritanism1 which
 consists in the dread or disdain of    
beauty4 ,and in order to treat my       
subject rightly1 ,i ought to proceed    
from the skill of art to the choice of  
its subject1 and show you how the  moral
 temper of the workman is shown by his  
seeking lovely forms and  thoughts to   
express1 as well as by the force of his 
hand in expression4  ,but ,i need not   
now urge this part of the proof on you1 

because you are  already1 ,i believe1   
sufficiently conscious of the truth in  
this matter1  and also ,i have already  
said enough of it in my writings2       
whereas ,i have  not at all said enough 
of the infallibleness of fine technical 
work as a  proof of every other good    
power4 ,and indeed it was long before ,i
 myself  understood the true meaning of 
the pride of the greatest men in their  
mere execution1 shown for a permanent   
lesson to us1 in the stories  which1    
whether true or not1 indicate with      
absolute accuracy the general           
conviction of great artists2--the       
stories of the contest of ,apelles and  
,protogenes in a line only1 7of which ,i
 can promise you1 you shall know  the   
meaning to some purpose in a little     
while71--the story of the circle  of    
,giotto1 and especially1 which you may  
perhaps not have observed1 the          
expression of ,drer in his inscription  
on the drawings sent him by  ,raphael4  
,these figures1 he says1 ,raphael drew  

and sent to ,albert ,drer  in ,nrnberg1 
to show him--,what8 ,not his invention1 
nor his beauty of  expression1 but sein 
,hand zu weisen1 ,to show him his hand4 
,and you  will find1 as you examine     
farther1 that all inferior artists are  
continually trying to escape from the   
necessity of sound work1 and  either    
indulging themselves in their delights  
in subject1 or pluming  themselves on   
their noble motives for attempting what 
they cannot  perform2 7and observe1 by  
the way1 that a great deal of what is   
mistaken  for conscientious motive is   
nothing but a very pestilent1 because   
very  subtle1 condition of vanity72     
whereas the great men always understand 
at  once that the first morality of a   
painter1 as of everybody else1 is to    
know his business2 and so earnest are   
they in this1 that many1 whose  lives   
you would think1 by the results of their
 work1 had been passed in  strong       
emotion1 have in reality subdued        
themselves1 though capable of  the very 

strongest passions1 into a calm as      
absolute as that of a deeply  sheltered 
mountain lake1 which reflects every     
agitation of the clouds in  the sky1 and
 every change of the shadows on the     
hills1 but is itself  motionless4       
#ge4 ,finally1 you must remember that   
great obscurity has been brought  upon  
the truth in this matter by the want of 
integrity and simplicity in  our modern 
life4 ,i mean integrity in the ,latin   
sense1 wholeness4  ,everything is broken
 up1 and mingled in confusion1 both in  
our habits  and thoughts2 besides being 
in great part imitative3 so that you not
  only cannot tell what a man is1 but   
sometimes you cannot tell whether  he   
is1 at all6--whether you have indeed to 
do with a spirit1 or only  with an echo4
 ,and thus the same inconsistencies     
appear now1 between the  work of artists
 of merit and their personal characters1
 as those which  you find continually   
disappointing expectation in the lives  
of men of  modern literary power2 the   

same conditions of society having       
obscured or  misdirected the best       
qualities of the imagination1 both in   
our  literature and art4 ,thus there is 
no serious question with any of us as   
to the personal character of ,dante and 
,giotto1 of ,shakespeare and  ,holbein2 
but we pause timidly in the attempt to  
analyse the moral laws  of the art skill
 in recent poets1 novelists1 and        
painters4      #gf4 ,let me assure you  
once for all1 that as you grow older1 if
 you  enable yourselves to distinguish1 
by the truth of your own lives1 what  is
 true in those of other men1 you will   
gradually perceive that all good  has   
its origin in good1 never in evil2 that 
the fact of either  literature or       
painting being truly fine of their kind1
 whatever their  mistaken aim1 or       
partial error1 is proof of their noble  
origin3 and  that1 if there is indeed   
sterling value in the thing done1 it has
 come  of a sterling worth in the soul  
that did it1 however alloyed or defiled 

by conditions of sin which are sometimes
 more appalling or more strange  than   
those which all may detect in their own 
hearts1 because they are  part of a     
personality altogether larger than ours1
 and as far beyond our  judgment in its 
darkness as beyond our following in its 
light4 ,and it is  sufficient warning   
against what some might dread as the    
probable effect  of such a conviction on
 your own minds1 namely1 that you might 
permit  yourselves in the weaknesses    
which you imagined to be allied to      
genius1  when they took the form of     
personal temptations2--it is surely1 ,i 
say1  sufficient warning against so mean
 a folly1 to discern1 as you may with   
little pains1 that1 of all human        
existences1 the lives of men of that    
distorted and tainted nobility of       
intellect are probably the most         
miserable4      #gg4 ,i pass to the     
second1 and for us the more practically 
important  question1 ,what is the effect
 of noble art upon other men2 what has  

it  done for national morality in time  
past3 and what effect is the extended   
knowledge or possession of it likely to 
have upon us now8 ,and here we  are at  
once met by the facts1 which are as     
gloomy as indisputable1 that1  while    
many peasant populations1 among whom    
scarcely the rudest practice  of art has
 ever been attempted1 have lived in     
comparative innocence1  honour and      
happiness1 the worst foulness and       
cruelty of savage tribes  have been     
frequently associated with fine         
ingenuities of decorative  design2 also1
 that no people has ever attained the   
higher stages of art  skill1 except at a
 period of its civilisation which was   
sullied by  frequent1 violent and even  
monstrous crime2 and1 lastly1 that the  
attaining of perfection in art power has
 been hitherto1 in every nation1  the   
accurate signal of the beginning of its 
ruin4      #gh4 ,respecting which       
phenomena1 observe first1 that although 
good never  springs out of evil1 it is  

developed to its highest by contention  
with  evil4 ,there are some groups of   
peasantry1 in far-away nooks of         
,christian  countries1 who are nearly as
 innocent as lambs2 but the morality    
which  gives power to art is the        
morality of men1 not of cattle4         
,secondly1 the virtues of the           
inhabitants of many country districts   
are  apparent1 not real2 their lives are
 indeed artless1 but not innocent2  and 
it is only the monotony of              
circumstances1 and the absence of       
temptation1 which prevent the exhibition
 of evil passions not less real  because
 often dormant1 nor less foul because   
shown only in petty faults1  or inactive
 malignities4      #gi4 ,but you will   
observe also that absolute artlessness1 
to men in any  kind of moral health1 is 
impossible2 they have always1 at least1 
the art  by which they live--agriculture
 or seamanship2 and in these industries1
  skilfully practised1 you will find the
 law of their moral training2  while1   

whatever the adversity of circumstances1
 every rightly-minded  peasantry1 such  
as that of ,sweden1 ,denmark1 ,bavaria1 
or ,switzerland1 has  associated with   
its needful industry a quite studied    
school of  pleasurable art in dress2 and
 generally also in song1 and simple     
domestic architecture4      #hj4 ,again1
 ,i need not repeat to you here what ,i 
endeavoured to explain  in the first    
lecture in the book ,i called ,the ,two 
,paths1 respecting  the arts of savage  
races3 but ,i may now note briefly that 
such arts are  the result of an         
intellectual activity which has found no
 room to  expand1 and which the tyranny 
of nature or of man has condemned to    
disease through arrested growth4 ,and   
where neither ,christianity1 nor any    
other religion conveying some moral     
help1 has reached1 the animal energy  of
 such races necessarily flames into     
ghastly conditions of evil1 and  the    
grotesque or frightful forms assumed by 
their art are precisely  indicative of  

their distorted moral nature4      #ha4 
,but the truly great nations nearly     
always begin from a race  possessing    
this imaginative power2 and for some    
time their progress is  very slow1 and  
their state not one of innocence1 but of
 feverish and  faultful animal energy4  
,this is gradually subdued and exalted  
into  bright human life2 the art        
instinct purifying itself with the rest 
of  the nature1 until social perfectness
 is nearly reached2 and then comes  the 
period when conscience and intellect are
 so highly developed1 that  new forms of
 error begin in the inability to fulfil 
the demands of the  one1 or to answer   
the doubts of the other4 ,then the      
wholeness of the  people is lost2 all   
kinds of hypocrisies and oppositions of 
science  develop themselves2 their faith
 is questioned on one side1 and         
compromised with on the other2 wealth   
commonly increases at the same  period  
to a destructive extent2 luxury follows2
 and the ruin of the  nation is then    

certain3 while the arts1 all this time1 
are simply1 as ,i  said at first1 the   
exponents of each phase of its moral    
state1 and no  more control it in its   
political career than the gleam of the  
firefly  guides its oscillation4 ,it is 
true that their most splendid results   
are  usually obtained in the swiftness  
of the power which is hurrying to the   
precipice2 but to lay the charge of the 
catastrophe to the art by which  it is  
illumined1 is to find a cause for the   
cataract in the hues of its  iris4 ,it  
is true that the colossal vices         
belonging to periods of great  national 
wealth 7for wealth1 you will find1 is   
the real root of all  evil7 can turn    
every good gift and skill of nature or  
of man to evil  purpose4 ,if1 in such   
times1 fair pictures have been misused1 
how much  more fair realities8 ,and if  
,miranda is immoral to ,caliban1 is that
  ,miranda's fault8      #hb4 ,and ,i   
could easily go on to trace for you what
 at the moment ,i  speak1 is signified1 

in our own national character1 by the   
forms of art1  and unhappily also by the
 forms of what is not art1 but ,greek3  
atechnia1 that exist among us4 ,but the 
more important question is1 ,what  will 
be signified by them2 what is there in  
us now of worth and  strength1 which    
under our new and partly accidental     
impulse towards  formative labour1 may  
be by that expressed1 and by that       
fortified8    ,would it not be well to  
know this8 ,nay1 irrespective of all    
future work1  is it not the first thing 
we should want to know1 what stuff we   
are made  of--how far we are agathoi or 
kakoi--good1 or good for  nothing8 ,we  
may all know that1 each of ourselves1   
easily enough1 if we  like to put one   
grave question well home4      #hc4     
,supposing it were told any of you by a 
physician whose word you  could not but 
trust1 that you had not more than seven 
days to live4 ,and  suppose also that1  
by the manner of your education it had  
happened to  you1 as it has happened to 

many1 never to have heard of any future 
state1 or not to have credited what you 
heard2 and therefore that you  had to   
face this fact of the approach of death 
in its simplicity3  fearing no          
punishment for any sin that you might   
have before committed1  or in the coming
 days might determine to commit2 and    
having similarly no  hope of reward for 
past1 or yet possible1 virtue2 nor even 
of any  consciousness whatever to be    
left to you1 after the seventh day had  
ended1 either of the results of your    
acts to those whom you loved1 or of  the
 feelings of any survivors towards you4 
,then the manner in which you  would    
spend the seven days is an exact measure
 of the morality of your  nature4       
#hd4 ,i know that some of you1 and ,i   
believe the greater number of you1      
would1 in such a case1 spend the granted
 days entirely as you ought4  ,neither  
in numbering the errors1 or deploring   
the pleasures of the  past2 nor in      
grasping at vile good in the present1   

nor vainly lamenting  the darkness of   
the future2 but in an instant and       
earnest execution of  whatever it might 
be possible for you to accomplish in the
 time1 in  setting your affairs in      
order1 and in providing for the future  
comfort1  and--so far as you might by   
any message or record of yourself1--for 
the  consolation1 of those whom you     
loved1 and by whom you desired to be    
remembered1 not for your good1 but for  
theirs4 ,how far you might fail  through
 human weakness1 in shame for the past1 
despair at the little  that could in the
 remnant of life be accomplished1 or the
 intolerable  pain of broken affection1 
would depend wholly on the degree in    
which  your nature had been depressed or
 fortified by the manner of your past   
life4 ,but ,i think there are few of you
 who would not spend those last  days   
better than all that had preceded them4 
#he4 ,if you look accurately through the
 records of the lives that have  been   
most useful to humanity1 you will find  

that all that has been done  best1 has  
been done so2--that to the clearest     
intellects and highest  souls1--to the  
true children of the ,father1 with whom 
a thousand years  are as one day1 their 
poor seventy years are but as seven     
days4 ,the  removal of the shadow of    
death from them to an uncertain1 but    
always  narrow1 distance1 never takes   
away from them their intuition of its   
approach2 the extending to them of a few
 hours more or less of light  abates not
 their acknowledgment of the infinitude 
that must remain to be  known beyond    
their knowledge1--done beyond their     
deeds3 the  unprofitableness of their   
momentary service is wrought in a       
magnificent  despair1 and their very    
honour is bequeathed by them for the joy
 of  others1 as they lie down to their  
rest1 regarding for themselves the      
voice of men no more4      #hf4 ,the    
best things1 ,i repeat to you1 have been
 done thus1 and  therefore1 sorrowfully4
 ,but the greatest part of the good work

 of the  world is done either in pure   
and unvexed instinct of duty1 ,i have   
stubbed ,thornaby waste1 or else1 and   
better1 it is cheerful and helpful      
doing of what the hand finds to do1 in  
surety that at evening time1  whatsoever
 is right the ,master will give4 ,and   
that it be worthily done1  depends      
wholly on that ultimate quantity of     
worth which you can measure1  each in   
himself1 by the test ,i have just given 
you4 ,for that test1  observe1 will mark
 to you the precise force1 first of your
 absolute  courage1 and then of the     
energy in you for the right ordering of 
things1  and the kindly dealing with    
persons4 ,you have cut away from these  
two  instincts every selfish or common  
motive1 and left nothing but the        
energies of ,order and of ,love4        
#hg4 ,now1 where those two roots are    
set1 all the other powers and desires   
find right nourishment1 and become to   
their own utmost1 helpful to  others and
 pleasurable to ourselves4 ,and so far  

as those two springs of  action are not 
in us1 all other powers become corrupt  
or dead2 even the  love of truth1 apart 
from these1 hardens into an insolent and
 cold  avarice of knowledge1 which      
unused1 is more vain than unused gold4  
#hh4 ,these1 then1 are the two essential
 instincts of humanity3 the love  of    
,order and the love of ,kindness4 ,by   
the love of order the moral energy  is  
to deal with the earth1 and to dress it1
 and keep it2 and with all  rebellious  
and dissolute forces in lower creatures1
 or in ourselves4 ,by  the love of doing
 kindness it is to deal rightly with all
 surrounding  life4 ,and then1 grafted  
on these1 we are to make every other    
passion  perfect2 so that they may every
 one have full strength and yet be      
absolutely under control4      #hi4     
,every one must be strong1 every one    
perfect1 every one obedient as a  war   
horse4 ,and it is among the most        
beautiful pieces of mysticism to  which 
eternal truth is attached1 that the     

chariot race1 which ,plato uses  as an  
image of moral government1 and which is 
indeed the most perfect  type of it in  
any visible skill of men1 should have   
been made by the  ,greeks the continual 
subject of their best poetry and best   
art4  ,nevertheless ,plato's use of it  
is not altogether true4 ,there is no    
black  horse in the chariot of the soul4
 ,one of the driver's worst faults is in
  starving his horses2 another1 in not  
breaking them early enough2 but  they   
are all good4 ,take1 for example1 one   
usually thought of as wholly  evil--that
 of ,anger1 leading to vengeance4 ,i    
believe it to be quite one  of the      
crowning wickednesses of this age that  
we have starved and  chilled our faculty
 of indignation1 and neither desire nor 
dare to  punish crimes justly4 ,we have 
taken up the benevolent idea1 forsooth1 
that justice is to be preventive instead
 of vindictive2 and we imagine  that we 
are to punish1 not in anger1 but in     
expediency2 not that we may  give       

deserved pain to the person in fault1   
but that we may frighten  other people  
from committing the same fault4 ,the    
beautiful theory of  this non-vindictive
 justice is1 that having convicted a man
 of a crime  worthy of death1 we        
entirely pardon the criminal1 restore   
him to his  place in our affection and  
esteem1 and then hang him1 not as a     
malefactor1 but as a scarecrow4 ,that is
 the theory4 ,and the practice is1  that
 we send a child to prison for a month  
for stealing a handful of  walnuts1 for 
fear that other children should come to 
steal more of our  walnuts4 ,and we do  
not punish a swindler for ruining a     
thousand  families1 because we think    
swindling is a wholesome excitement to  
trade4      #ij4 ,but all true justice  
is vindictive to vice1 as it is         
rewarding to  virtue4 ,only--and herein 
it is distinguished from personal       
revenge--it  is vindictive of the wrong 
done2--not of the wrong done to us4 ,it 
is  the national expression of          

deliberate anger1 as of deliberate      
gratitude2  it is not exemplary1 or even
 corrective1 but essentially            
retributive2 it  is the absolute art of 
measured recompense1 giving honour where
 honour  is due1 and shame where shame  
is due1 and joy where joy is due1 and   
pain  where pain is due4 ,it is neither 
educational1 for men are to be educated 
by wholesome habit1 not by rewards and  
punishments2 nor is it  preventive1 for 
it is to be executed without regard to  
any consequences2  but only for         
righteousness' sake1 a righteous nation 
does judgment and  justice4 ,but in     
this1 as in all other instances1 the    
rightness of the  secondary passion     
depends on its being grafted on those   
two primary  instincts1 the love of     
order and of kindness1 so that          
indignation  itself is against the      
wounding of love4 ,do you think the mnis
  ,achilos came of a hard heart in      
,achilles1 or the ,pallas te hoc        
vulnere1 ,pallas1 of a hard heart in    

,anchises' son8      #ia4 ,and now1 if  
with this clue through the labyrinth of 
them1 you  remember the course of the   
arts of great nations1 you will perceive
 that  whatever has prospered1 and      
become lovely1 had its beginning--for no
  other was possible--in the love of    
order in material things associated     
with true dikaiosun3 and the desire of  
beauty in material  things1 which is    
associated with true affection1         
charitas1 and with  the innumerable     
conditions of gentleness expressed by   
the different uses  of the words charis 
and gratia4 ,you will find that this    
love  of beauty is an essential part of 
all healthy human nature1 and though  it
 can long co-exist with states of life  
in many other respects  unvirtuous1 it  
is itself wholly good2--the direct      
adversary of envy1  avarice1 mean       
worldly care1 and especially of cruelty4
 ,it entirely  perishes when these are  
wilfully indulged2 and the men in whom  
it has  been most strong have always    

been compassionate1 and lovers of       
justice1  and the earliest discerners   
and declarers of things conducive to the
  happiness of mankind4      #ib4       
,nearly every important truth respecting
 the love of beauty in its  familiar    
relations to human life was mythically  
expressed by the ,greeks  in their      
various accounts of the parentage and   
offices of the ,graces4  ,but one fact1 
the most vital of all1 they could not in
 its fulness  perceive1 namely1 that the
 intensity of other perceptions of      
beauty is  exactly commensurate with the
 imaginative purity of the passion of   
love1  and with the singleness of its   
devotion4 ,they were not fully conscious
  of1 and could not therefore either    
mythically or philosophically  express1 
the deep relation within themselves     
between their power of  perceiving      
beauty1 and the honour of domestic      
affection which found  their sternest   
themes of tragedy in the infringement of
 its laws2--which  made the rape of     

,helen the chief subject of their epic  
poetry1 and which  fastened their       
clearest symbolism of resurrection on   
the story of  ,alcestis4 ,unhappily1 the
 subordinate position of their most     
revered  women1 and the partial         
corruption of feeling towards them by   
the  presence of certain other singular 
states of inferior passion which it  is 
as difficult as grievous to analyse1    
arrested the ethical as well as  the    
formative progress of the ,greek mind2  
and it was not until after an  interval 
of nearly two thousand years of various 
error and pain1 that1  partly as the    
true reward of ,christian warfare nobly 
sustained through  centuries of trial1  
and partly as the visionary culmination 
of the faith  which saw in a maiden's   
purity the link between ,god and her    
race1 the  highest and holiest strength 
of mortal love was reached2 and1        
together  with it1 in the song of       
,dante1 and the painting of ,bernard of 
,luino and  his fellows1 the perception1

 and embodiment for ever of whatsoever  
things are pure1 whatsoever things are  
lovely1 whatsoever things are of  good  
report2--that1 if there be any virtue1  
and if there be any praise1  men might  
think on those things4      #ic4 ,you   
probably observed the expression ,i used
 a moment ago1 the  imaginative purity  
of the passion of love4 ,i have not yet 
spoken1 nor  is it possible for me      
to-day1 to speak adequately1 of the     
moral power of  the imagination3 but you
 may for yourselves enough discern its  
nature  merely by comparing the dignity 
of the relations between the sexes1 from
  their lowest level in moths or        
mollusca1 through the higher creatures  
in  whom they become a domestic         
influence and law1 up to the love of    
pure  men and women2 and1 finally1 to   
the ideal love which animated chivalry4 
,throughout this vast ascent it is the  
gradual increase of the  imaginative    
faculty which exalts and enlarges the   
authority of the  passion1 until1 at its

 height1 it is the bulwark of patience1 
the tutor  of honour1 and the           
perfectness of praise4      #id4 ,you   
will find farther1 that as of love1 so  
of all the other  passions1 the right   
government and exaltation begins in that
 of the  ,imagination1 which is lord    
over them4 ,for to subdue the passions1 
which is thought so often to be the sum 
of duty respecting them1 is  possible   
enough to a proud dulness2 but to excite
 them rightly1 and  make them strong for
 good1 is the work of the unselfish     
imagination4 ,it  is constantly said    
that human nature is heartless4 ,do not 
believe it4  ,human nature is kind and  
generous2 but it is narrow and blind2   
and can  only with difficulty conceive  
anything but what it immediately sees   
and  feels4 ,people would instantly care
 for others as well as themselves if    
only they could imagine others as well  
as themselves4 ,let a child fall  into  
the river before the roughest man's     
eyes2--he will usually do what  he can  

to get it out1 even at some risk to     
himself2 and all the town  will triumph 
in the saving of one little life4 ,let  
the same man be shown  that hundreds of 
children are dying of fever for want of 
some sanitary  measure which it will    
cost him trouble to urge1 and he will   
make no  effort2 and probably all the   
town would resist him if he did4 ,so1   
also1  the lives of many deserving women
 are passed in a succession of petty    
anxieties about themselves1 and gleaning
 of minute interests and mean  pleasures
 in their immediate circle1 because they
 are never taught to  make any effort to
 look beyond it2 or to know anything    
about the mighty  world in which their  
lives are fading1 like blades of bitter 
grass in  fruitless fields4      #ie4 ,i
 had intended to enlarge on this--and   
yet more on the kingdom which  every man
 holds in his conceptive faculty1 to be 
peopled with active  thoughts and lovely
 presences1 or left waste for the       
springing up of  those dark desires and 

dreams of which it is written that every
  imagination of the thoughts of man's  
heart is evil continually4 ,true1  and a
 thousand times true it is1 that1 here  
at least1 greater is he  that ruleth his
 spirit1 than he that taketh a city4    
,but this you can  partly follow out for
 yourselves without help1 partly we must
 leave it  for future enquiry4 ,i press 
to the conclusion which ,i wish to leave
 with  you1 that all you can rightly do1
 or honourably become1 depends on the   
government of these two instincts of    
order and kindness1 by this great       
,imaginative faculty1 which gives you   
inheritance of the past1 grasp of  the  
present1 authority over the future4 ,map
 out the spaces of your  possible lives 
by its help2 measure the range of their 
possible agency6  ,on the walls and     
towers of this your fair city1 there is 
not an ornament  of which the first     
origin may not be traced back to the    
thoughts of men  who died two thousand  
years ago4 ,whom will you be governing  

by your  thoughts1 two thousand years   
hence8 ,think of it1 and you will find  
that  so far from art being immoral1    
little else except art is moral2 that   
life without industry is guilt1 and     
industry without art is brutality3  and 
for the words good and wicked1 used of  
men1 you may almost  substitute the     
words ,makers and ,destroyers4 ,far the 
greater part of  the seeming prosperity 
of the world is1 so far as our present  
knowledge  extends1 vain3 wholly useless
 for any kind of good1 but having       
assigned  to it a certain inevitable    
sequence of destruction and of sorrow4  
,its  stress is only the stress of      
wandering storm2 its beauty the hectic  
of  plague3 and what is called the      
history of mankind is too often the     
record of the whirlwind1 and the map of 
the spreading of the leprosy4  ,but     
underneath all that1 or in narrow spaces
 of dominion in the midst of  it1 the   
work of every man1 qui non accepit in   
vanitatem animam suam1  endures and     

prospers2 a small remnant or green bud  
of it prevailing at  last over evil4    
,and though faint with sickness1 and    
encumbered in ruin1  the true workers   
redeem inch by inch the wilderness into 
garden ground2  by the help of their    
joined hands the order of all things is 
surely  sustained and vitally expanded1 
and although with strange vacillation1  
in the eyes of the watcher1 the morning 
cometh1 and also the night1  there is no
 hour of human existence that does not  
draw on towards the  perfect day4       
#if4 ,and perfect the day shall be1 when
 it is of all men understood that  the  
beauty of ,holiness must be in labour as
 well as in rest4 ,nay6  more1 if it may
 be1 in labour2 in our strength1 rather 
than in our  weakness2 and in the choice
 of what we shall work for through the  
six  days1 and may know to be good at   
their evening time1 than in the choice  
of what we pray for on the seventh1 of  
reward or repose4 ,with the  multitude  
that keep holiday1 we may perhaps       

sometimes vainly have gone  up to the   
house of the ,lord1 and vainly there    
asked for what we fancied  would be     
mercy2 but for the few who labour as    
their ,lord would have  them1 the mercy 
needs no seeking1 and their wide home no
 hallowing4  ,surely goodness and mercy 
shall follow them1 all the days of their
  life2 and they shall dwell in the     
house of the ,lord--,,for ,,ever4       
,,lecture ,,iv    ,,the ,,relation ,,of 
,,art ,,to ,,use      #ig4 ,our subject 
of enquiry to-day1 you will remember1 is
 the mode in  which fine art is founded 
upon1 or may contribute to1 the         
practical  requirements of human life4  
,its offices in this respect are mainly 
twofold3 it gives ,form to  knowledge1  
and ,grace to utility2 that is to say1  
it makes permanently  visible to us     
things which otherwise could neither be 
described by our  science1 nor retained 
by our memory2 and it gives             
delightfulness and  worth to the        
implements of daily use1 and materials  

of dress1 furniture  and lodging4 ,in   
the first of these offices it gives     
precision and charm  to truth2 in the   
second it gives precision and charm to  
service4 ,for1  the moment we make      
anything useful thoroughly1 it is a law 
of nature  that we shall be pleased with
 ourselves1 and with the thing we have  
made2 and become desirous therefore to  
adorn or complete it1 in some  dainty   
way1 with finer art expressive of our   
pleasure4    ,and the point ,i wish     
chiefly to bring before you to-day is   
this close  and healthy connection of   
the fine arts with material use2 but ,i 
must  first try briefly to put in clear 
light the function of art in giving     
,form to truth4      #ih4 ,much that ,i 
have hitherto tried to teach has been   
disputed on the  ground that ,i have    
attached too much importance to art as  
representing  natural facts1 and too    
little to it as a source of pleasure4   
,and ,i wish1  in the close of these    
four prefatory lectures1 strongly to    

assert to  you1 and1 so far as ,i can in
 the time1 convince you1 that the entire
  vitality of art depends upon its being
 either full of truth1 or full of  use2 
and that1 however pleasant1 wonderful or
 impressive it may be in  itself1 it    
must yet be of inferior kind1 and tend  
to deeper  inferiority1 unless it has   
clearly one of these main               
objects1--either  to state a true thing1
 or to adorn a serviceable one4 ,it must
 never  exist alone--never for itself2  
it exists rightly only when it is the   
means of knowledge1 or the grace of     
agency for life4      #ii4 ,now1 ,i pray
 you to observe--for though ,i have said
 this often  before1 ,i have never yet  
said it clearly enough--every good piece
 of  art1 to whichever of these ends it 
may be directed1 involves first         
essentially the evidence of human skill 
and the formation of an actually        
beautiful thing by it4    ,skill1 and   
beauty1 always then2 and1 beyond these1 
the formative arts  have always one or  

other of the two objects which ,i have  
just defined to  you--truth1 or         
serviceableness2 and without these aims 
neither the skill  nor their beauty will
 avail2 only by these can either        
legitimately  reign4 ,all the graphic   
arts begin in keeping the outline of    
shadow that  we have loved1 and they end
 in giving to it the aspect of life2 and
 all  the architectural arts begin in   
the shaping of the cup and the platter1 
and they end in a glorified roof4       
,therefore1 you see1 in the graphic arts
 you have ,skill1 ,beauty1 and          
,likeness2 and in the architectural     
arts1 ,skill1 ,beauty1 and ,use2 and you
  must have the three in each group1    
balanced and co-ordinate2 and all  the  
chief errors of art consist in losing or
 exaggerating one of these  elements4   
#ajj4 ,for instance1 almost the whole   
system and hope of modern life are      
founded on the notion that you may      
substitute mechanism for skill1         
photograph for picture1 cast-iron for   

sculpture4 ,that is your main           
nineteenth-century faith1 or infidelity4
 ,you think you can get  everything by  
grinding--music1 literature1 and        
painting4 ,you will find  it grievously 
not so2 you can get nothing but dust by 
mere grinding4  ,even to have the       
barley-meal out of it1 you must have the
 barley first2  and that comes by       
growth1 not grinding4 ,but essentially1 
we have lost  our delight in ,skill2 in 
that majesty of it which ,i was trying  
to make  clear to you in my last        
address1 and which long ago ,i tried to 
express1  under the head of ideas of    
power4 ,the entire sense of that1 we    
have  lost1 because we ourselves do not 
take pains enough to do right1 and  have
 no conception of what the right costs2 
so that all the joy and  reverence we   
ought to feel in looking at a strong    
man's work have ceased  in us4 ,we keep 
them yet a little in looking at a       
honeycomb or a  bird's-nest2 we         
understand that these differ1 by        

divinity of skill1 from  a lump of wax  
or a cluster of sticks4 ,but a picture1 
which is a much  more wonderful thing   
than a honeycomb or a bird's-nest1--have
 we not  known people1 and sensible     
people too1 who expected to be taught to
  produce that1 in six lessons8         
#aja4 ,well1 you must have the skill1   
you must have the beauty1 which is  the 
highest moral element2 and then1 lastly1
 you must have the verity or  utility1  
which is not the moral1 but the vital   
element2 and this desire  for verity and
 use is the one aim of the three that   
always leads in  great schools1 and in  
the minds of great masters1 without any 
exception4  ,they will permit themselves
 in awkwardness1 they will permit       
themselves  in ugliness2 but they will  
never permit themselves in uselessness  
or in  unveracity4      #ajb4 ,and      
farther1 as their skill increases1 and  
as their grace1 so much  more1 their    
desire for truth4 ,it is impossible to  
find the three motives  in fairer       

balance and harmony than in our own     
,reynolds4 ,he rejoices in  showing you 
his skill2 and those of you who succeed 
in learning what  painter's work really 
is1 will one day rejoice also1 even to  
laughter--that highest laughter which   
springs of pure delight1 in  watching   
the fortitude and the fire of a hand    
which strikes forth its  will upon the  
canvas as easily as the wind strikes it 
on the sea4 ,he  rejoices in all        
abstract beauty and rhythm and melody of
 design2 he will  never give you a      
colour that is not lovely1 nor a shade  
that is  unnecessary1 nor a line that is
 ungraceful4 ,but all his power and all 
his invention are held by him           
subordinate1--and the more obediently   
because of their nobleness1--to his true
 leading purpose of setting  before you 
such likeness of the living presence of 
an ,english gentleman  or an ,english   
lady1 as shall be worthy of being looked
 upon for ever4      #ajc4 ,but farther1
 you remember1 ,i hope--for ,i said it  

in a way that ,i  thought would shock   
you a little1 that you might remember   
it--my  statement1 that art had never   
done more than this1 never more than    
given  the likeness of a noble human    
being4 ,not only so1 but it very seldom 
does so much as this2 and the best      
pictures that exist of the great        
schools are all portraits1 or groups of 
portraits1 often of very simple  and no 
wise noble persons4 ,you may have much  
more brilliant and  impressive qualities
 in imaginative pictures2 you may have  
figures  scattered like clouds1 or      
garlanded like flowers2 you may have    
light and  shade1 as of a tempest1 and  
colour1 as of the rainbow2 but all that 
is  child's play to the great men1      
though it is astonishment to us4 ,their 
real strength is tried to the utmost1   
and as far as ,i know1 it is never      
elsewhere brought out so thoroughly1 as 
in painting one man or woman1  and the  
soul that was in them2 nor that always  
the highest soul1 but  often only a     

thwarted one that was capable of height2
 or perhaps not  even that1 but faultful
 and poor1 yet seen through1 to the poor
 best of  it1 by the masterful sight4   
,so that in order to put before you in  
your  ,standard series1 the best art    
possible1 ,i am obliged1 even from the  
very  strongest men1 to take portraits1 
before ,i take the idealism4 ,nay1      
whatever is best in the great           
compositions themselves has depended on 
portraiture2 and the study necessary to 
enable you to understand  invention will
 also convince you that the mind of man 
never invented a  greater thing than the
 form of man1 animated by faithful life4
 ,every  attempt to refine or exalt such
 healthy humanity has weakened or       
caricatured it2 or else consists only in
 giving it1 to please our fancy1  the   
wings of birds1 or the eyes of          
antelopes4 ,whatever is truly great in  
either ,greek or ,christian art1 is also
 restrictedly human2 and even the       
raptures of the redeemed souls who      

enter1 celestemente ballando1 the  gate 
of ,angelico's ,paradise1 were seen     
first in the terrestrial1 yet  most     
pure1 mirth of ,florentine maidens4     
#ajd4 ,i am aware that this cannot but  
at present appear gravely  questionable 
to those of my audience who are strictly
 cognisant of the  phases of ,greek art2
 for they know that the moment of its   
decline is  accurately marked1 by its   
turning from abstract form to           
portraiture4 ,but  the reason of this is
 simple4 ,the progressive course of     
,greek art was in  subduing monstrous   
conceptions to natural ones2 it did this
 by general  laws2 it reached absolute  
truth of generic human form1 and if this
  ethical force had remained1 would have
 advanced into healthy  portraiture4    
,but at the moment of change the        
national life ended in  ,greece2 and    
portraiture1 there1 meant insult to her 
religion1 and  flattery to her tyrants4 
,and her skill perished1 not because she
 became  true in sight1 but because she 

became vile at heart4      #aje4 ,and   
now let us think of our own work1 and   
ask how that may become1  in its own    
poor measure1 active in some verity of  
representation4 ,we  certainly cannot   
begin by drawing kings or queens2 but we
 must try1 even  in our earliest work1  
if it is to prosper1 to draw something  
that will  convey true knowledge both to
 ourselves and others4 ,and ,i think you
 will  find greatest advantage in the   
endeavour to give more life and         
educational power to the simpler        
branches of natural science3 for the    
great scientific men are all so eager in
 advance that they have no time  to     
popularise their discoveries1 and if we 
can glean after them a  little1 and make
 pictures of the things which science   
describes1 we  shall find the service a 
worthy one4 ,not only so1 but we may    
even be  helpful to science herself2 for
 she has suffered by her proud severance
  from the arts2 and having made too    
little effort to realise her            

discoveries to vulgar eyes1 has herself 
lost true measure of what was  chiefly  
precious in them4      #ajf4 ,take      
,botany1 for instance4 ,our scientific  
botanists are1 ,i think1  chiefly at    
present occupied in distinguishing      
species1 which perfect  methods of      
distinction will probably in the future 
show to be  indistinct2--in inventing   
descriptive names of which a more       
advanced  science and more fastidious   
scholarship will show some to be        
unnecessary1 and others                 
inadmissible2--and in microscopic       
investigations  of structure1 which     
through many alternate links of         
triumphant  discovery that tissue is    
composed of vessels1 and that vessels   
are  composed of tissue1 have not       
hitherto completely explained to us     
either  the origin1 the energy1 or the  
course of the sap2 and which however    
subtle or successful1 bear to the real  
natural history of plants only  the     
relation that anatomy and organic       

chemistry bear to the history of  men4  
,in the meantime1 our artists are so    
generally convinced of the  truth of the
 ,darwinian theory that they do not     
always think it necessary  to show any  
difference between the foliage of an elm
 and an oak2 and the  gift-books of     
,christmas have every page surrounded   
with laboriously  engraved garlands of  
rose1 shamrock1 thistle1 and            
forget-me-not1 without  its being       
thought proper by the draughtsman1 or   
desirable by the public1  even in the   
case of those uncommon flowers1 to      
observe the real shape of  the petals of
 any one of them4      #ajg4 ,now what  
we especially need at present for       
educational purposes is  to know1 not   
the anatomy of plants1 but their        
biography--how and where  they live and 
die1 their tempers1 benevolences1       
malignities1 distresses1  and virtues4  
,we want them drawn from their youth to 
their age1 from bud  to fruit4 ,we ought
 to see the various forms of their      

diminished but  hardy growth in cold    
climates1 or poor soils2 and their rank 
or wild  luxuriance1 when full-fed1 and 
warmly nursed4 ,and all this we ought to
  have drawn so accurately1 that we     
might at once compare any given part  of
 a plant with the same part of any      
other1 drawn on the like  conditions4   
,now1 is not this a work which we may   
set about here in  ,oxford1 with good   
hope and much pleasure8 ,i think it is  
so important1  that the first exercise  
in drawing ,i shall put before you will 
be an  outline of a laurel leaf4 ,you   
will find in the opening sentence of    
,lionardo's treatise1 our present       
text-book1 that you must not at first   
draw from nature1 but from a good       
master's work1 per assuefarsi a buone   
membra1 to accustom yourselves1 that is1
 to entirely good  representative       
organic forms4 ,so your first exercise  
shall be the top of  the laurel sceptre 
of ,apollo1 drawn by an ,italian        
engraver of ,lionardo's  own time2 then 

we will draw a laurel leaf itself2 and  
little by little1  ,i think we may both 
learn ourselves1 and teach to many      
besides1 somewhat  more than we know    
yet1 of the wild olives of ,greece1 and 
the wild roses  of ,england4      #ajh4 
,next1 in ,geology1 which ,i will take  
leave to consider as an  entirely       
separate science from the zoology of the
 past1 which has lately  usurped its    
name and interest4 ,in geology itself we
 find the strength of  many able men    
occupied in debating questions of which 
there are yet no  data even for the     
clear statement2 and in seizing advanced
 theoretical  positions on the mere     
contingency of their being afterwards   
tenable2  while1 in the meantime1 no    
simple person1 taking a holiday in      
,cumberland1 can get an intelligible    
section of ,skiddaw1 or a clear  account
 of the origin of the ,skiddaw slates2  
and while1 though half the  educated    
society of ,london travel every summer  
over the great plain of  ,switzerland1  

none know1 or care to know1 why that is 
a plain1 and the  ,alps to the south of 
it are ,alps2 and whether or not the    
gravel of the  one has anything to do   
with the rocks of the other4 ,and though
 every  palace in ,europe owes part of  
its decoration to variegated marbles1   
and  nearly every woman in ,europe part 
of her decoration to pieces of jasper   
or chalcedony1 ,i do not think any      
geologist could at this moment with     
authority tell us either how a piece of 
marble is stained1 or what  causes the  
streaks in a ,scotch pebble4      #aji4 
,now1 as soon as you have obtained the  
power of drawing1 ,i do not  say a      
mountain1 but even a stone1 accurately1 
every question of this  kind will become
 to you at once attractive and definite2
 you will find  that in the grain1 the  
lustre1 and the cleavage-lines of the   
smallest  fragment of rock1 there are   
recorded forces of every order and      
magnitude1 from those which raise a     
continent by one volcanic effort1 to    

those which at every instant are        
polishing the apparently complete       
crystal in its nest1 and conducting the 
apparently motionless metal in  its     
vein2 and that only by the art of your  
own hand1 and fidelity of  sight which  
it develops1 you can obtain true        
perception of these  invincible and     
inimitable arts of the earth herself2   
while the  comparatively slight effort  
necessary to obtain so much skill as may
  serviceably draw mountains in distant 
effect will be instantly rewarded  by   
what is almost equivalent to a new sense
 of the conditions of their  structure4 
#aaj4 ,and1 because it is well at once  
to know some direction in which our     
work may be definite1 let me suggest to 
those of you who may intend  passing    
their vacation in ,switzerland1 and who 
care about mountains1  that if they will
 first qualify themselves to take angles
 of position  and elevation with        
correctness1 and to draw outlines with  
approximate  fidelity1 there are a      

series of problems of the highest       
interest to be  worked out on the       
southern edge of the ,swiss plain1 in   
the study of the  relations of its      
molasse beds to the rocks which are     
characteristically  developed in the    
chain of the ,stockhorn1 ,beatenberg1   
,pilate1 ,mythen  above ,schwytz1 and   
,high ,sentis of ,appenzell1 the pursuit
 of which may  lead them into many      
pleasant1 as well as creditably         
dangerous1 walks1  and curious          
discoveries2 and will be good for the   
discipline of their  fingers in the     
pencilling of crag form4      #aaa4 ,i  
wish ,i could ask you to draw1 instead  
of the ,alps1 the crests of  ,parnassus 
and ,olympus1 and the ravines of ,delphi
 and of ,tempe4 ,i have  not loved the  
arts of ,greece as others have2 yet ,i  
love them1 and her1  so much1 that it is
 to me simply a standing marvel how     
scholars can  endure for all these      
centuries1 during which their chief     
education has  been in the language and 

policy of ,greece1 to have only the     
names of her  hills and rivers upon     
their lips1 and never one line of       
conception of  them in their mind's     
sight4 ,which of us knows what the      
valley of ,sparta  is like1 or the great
 mountain vase of ,arcadia8 which of us1
 except in  mere airy syllabling of     
names1 knows aught of sandy ,ladon's    
lilied  banks1 or old ,lycus1 or        
,cyllene hoar8 ,you cannot travel in    
,greece8--,i know it2 nor in ,magna     
,grcia4 ,but1 gentlemen of ,england1 you
  had better find out why you cannot1   
and put an end to that horror of        
,european shame1 before you hope to     
learn ,greek art4      #aab4 ,i scarcely
 know whether to place among the things 
useful to art1  or to science1 the      
systematic record1 by drawing1 of       
phenomena of the  sky4 ,but ,i am quite 
sure that your work cannot in any       
direction be more  useful to yourselves1
 than in enabling you to perceive the   
quite  unparalleled subtilties of colour

 and inorganic form1 which occur on any 
ordinarily fine morning or evening      
horizon2 and ,i will even confess to    
you another of my perhaps too sanguine  
expectations1 that in some far  distant 
time it may come to pass1 that young    
,englishmen and ,englishwomen  may think
 the breath of the morning sky          
pleasanter than that of  midnight1 and  
its light prettier than that of candles4
      #aac4 ,lastly1 in ,zoology4 ,what 
the ,greeks did for the horse1 and what1
 as  far as regards domestic and        
expressional character1 ,landseer has   
done  for the dog and the deer1 remains 
to be done by art for nearly all other  
animals of high organisation4 ,there are
 few birds or beasts that have  not a   
range of character which1 if not equal  
to that of the horse or  dog1 is yet as 
interesting within narrower limits1 and 
often in  grotesqueness1 intensity1 or  
wild and timid pathos1 more singular and
  mysterious4 ,whatever love of humour  
you have1--whatever sympathy with       

imperfect1 but most subtle1             
feeling1--whatever perception of        
sublimity  in conditions of fatal power1
 may here find fullest occupation3 all  
these being joined1 in the strong animal
 races1 to a variable and  fantastic    
beauty far beyond anything that merely  
formative art has yet  conceived4 ,i    
have placed in your ,educational series 
a wing by ,albert  ,drer1 which goes as 
far as art yet has reached in           
delineation of  plumage2 while for the  
simple action of the pinion it is       
impossible to  go beyond what has been  
done already by ,titian and ,tintoret2  
but you  cannot so much as once look at 
the rufflings of the plumes of a pelican
  pluming itself after it has been in   
the water1 or carefully draw the        
contours of the wing either of a vulture
 or a common swift1 or paint the  rose  
and vermilion on that of a flamingo1    
without receiving almost a new          
conception of the meaning of form and   
colour in creation4      #aad4 ,lastly4 

,your work1 in all directions ,i have   
hitherto indicated1  may be as          
deliberate as you choose2 there is no   
immediate fear of the  extinction of    
many species of flowers or animals2 and 
the ,alps1 and  valley of ,sparta1 will 
wait your leisure1 ,i fear too long4    
,but the  feudal and monastic buildings 
of ,europe1 and still more the streets  
of  her ancient cities1 are vanishing   
like dreams3 and it is difficult to     
imagine the mingled envy and contempt   
with which future generations will  look
 back to us1 who still possessed such   
things1 yet made no effort to  preserve1
 and scarcely any to delineate them3 for
 when used as material  of landscape by 
the modern artist1 they are nearly      
always superficially  or flatteringly   
represented1 without zeal enough to     
penetrate their  character1 or patience 
enough to render it in modest harmony4  
,as for  places of traditional interest1
 ,i do not know an entirely faithful    
drawing of any historical site1 except  

one or two studies made by  enthusiastic
 young painters in ,palestine and       
,egypt3 for which1 thanks to  them      
always3 but we want work nearer home4   
#aae4 ,now it is quite probable that    
some of you1 who will not care to go    
through the labour necessary to draw    
flowers or animals1 may yet have        
pleasure in attaining some moderately   
accurate skill of sketching             
architecture1 and greater pleasure still
 in directing it usefully4  ,suppose1   
for instance1 we were to take up the    
historical scenery in  ,carlyle's       
,frederick4 ,too justly the historian   
accuses the genius of  past art1 in     
that1 types of too many such elsewhere1 
the galleries of  ,berlin--are made up1 
like other galleries1 of goat-footed    
,pan1 ,europa's  ,bull1 ,romulus's      
,she-,wolf1 and the ,correggiosity of   
,correggio1 and  contain1 for instance1 
no portrait of ,friedrich the           
,great1--no likeness  at all1 or next to
 none at all1 of the noble series of    

,human ,realities1  or any part of them1
 who have sprung1 not from the idle     
brains of  dreaming dilettanti1 but from
 the head of ,god ,almighty1 to make    
this  poor authentic earth a little     
memorable for us1 and to do a little    
work  that may be eternal there4 ,so    
,carlyle tells us--too truly6 ,we cannot
  now draw ,friedrich for him1 but we   
can draw some of the old castles and    
cities that were the cradles of ,german 
life--,hohenzollern1 ,hapsburg1         
,marburg1 and such others2--we may keep 
some authentic likeness of these  for   
the future4 ,suppose we were to take up 
that first volume of  ,friedrich1 and   
put outlines to it3 shall we begin by   
looking for ,henry  the ,fowler's       
tomb--,carlyle himself asks if he has   
any--at ,quedlinburgh1  and so          
downwards1 rescuing what we can8 ,that  
would certainly be making  our work of  
some true use4      #aaf4 ,but ,i have  
told you enough1 it seems to me1 at     
least to-day1 of  this function of art  

in recording fact2 let me now finally1  
and with all  distinctness possible to  
me1 state to you its main business of   
all2--its  service in the actual uses of
 daily life4    ,you are surprised1     
perhaps1 to hear me call this its main  
business4 ,that  is indeed so1 however4 
,the giving brightness to picture is    
much1 but the  giving brightness to life
 more4 ,and remember1 were it as        
patterns only1  you cannot1 without the 
realities1 have the pictures4 ,you      
cannot have a  landscape by ,turner1    
without a country for him to paint2 you 
cannot have  a portrait by ,titian1     
without a man to be portrayed4 ,i need  
not prove  that to you1 ,i suppose1 in  
these short terms2 but in the outcome ,i
 can  get no soul to believe that the   
beginning of art is in getting our      
country clean1 and our people beautiful4
 ,i have been ten years trying  to get  
this very plain certainty--,i do not say
 believed--but even  thought of1 as     
anything but a monstrous proposition4   

,to get your country  clean1 and your   
people lovely2--,i assure you that is a 
necessary work of  art to begin with6   
,there has indeed been art in countries 
where people  lived in dirt to serve    
,god1 but never in countries where they 
lived in  dirt to serve the devil4      
,there has indeed been art where the    
people were  not all lovely--where even 
their lips were thick--and their skins  
black1  because the sun had looked upon 
them2 but never in a country where the  
people were pale with miserable toil and
 deadly shade1 and where the  lips of   
youth1 instead of being full with blood1
 were pinched by famine1  or warped with
 poison4 ,and now1 therefore1 note this 
well1 the gist of  all these long       
prefatory talks4 ,i said that the two   
great moral  instincts were those of    
,order and ,kindness4 ,now1 all the arts
 are  founded on agriculture by the     
hand1 and on the graces1 and kindness of
  feeding1 and dressing1 and lodging    
your people4 ,greek art begins in the   

gardens of ,alcinous--perfect order1    
leeks in beds1 and fountains in  pipes4 
,and ,christian art1 as it arose out of 
chivalry1 was only possible  so far as  
chivalry compelled both kings and       
knights to care for the  right personal 
training of their people2 it perished   
utterly when those  kings and knights   
became dmoboroi1 devourers of the       
people4  ,and it will become possible   
again only1 when1 literally1 the sword  
is  beaten into the ploughshare1 when   
your ,st4 ,george of ,england shall     
justify his name1 and ,christian art    
shall be known as its ,master was1 in   
breaking of bread4      #aag4 ,now look 
at the working out of this broad        
principle in minor  detail2 observe how1
 from highest to lowest1 health of art  
has first  depended on reference to     
industrial use4 ,there is first the need
 of cup  and platter1 especially of cup2
 for you can put your meat on the       
,harpies'1#aj or on any other1 tables2  
but you must have your cup to  drink    

from4 ,and to hold it conveniently1 you 
must put a handle to it2  and to fill it
 when it is empty you must have a large 
pitcher of some  sort2 and to carry the 
pitcher you may most advisably have two 
handles4  ,modify the forms of these    
needful possessions according to the    
various  requirements of drinking       
largely and drinking delicately2 of     
pouring  easily out1 or of keeping for  
years the perfume in2 of storing in     
cellars1 or bearing from fountains2 of  
sacrificial libation1 of  ,panathenaic  
treasure of oil1 and sepulchral treasure
 of ashes1--and you  have a resultant   
series of beautiful form and decoration1
 from the rude  amphora of red earth up 
to ,cellini's vases of gems and crystal1
 in which  series1 but especially in the
 more simple conditions of it1 are      
developed the most beautiful lines and  
most perfect types of severe            
composition which have yet been attained
 by art4    ,footnote #aj3 ,virg41 n41  
iii4 #bji seqq4      #aah4 ,but again1  

that you may fill your cup with pure    
water1 you must go  to the well or      
spring2 you need a fence round the well2
 you need some  tube or trough1 or other
 means of confining the stream at the   
spring4  ,for the conveyance of the     
current to any distance you must build  
either  enclosed or open aqueduct2 and  
in the hot square of the city where you 
set it free1 you find it good for health
 and pleasantness to let it leap  into a
 fountain4 ,on these several needs you  
have a school of sculpture  founded2 in 
the decoration of the walls of wells in 
level countries1 and  of the sources of 
springs in mountainous ones1 and chiefly
 of all1 where  the women of household  
or market meet at the city fountain4    
,there is1 however1 a farther reason for
 the use of art here than in any  other 
material service1 so far as we may1 by  
art1 express our reverence  or          
thankfulness4 ,whenever a nation is in  
its right mind1 it always has a  deep   
sense of divinity in the gift of rain   

from heaven1 filling its  heart with    
food and gladness2 and all the more when
 that gift becomes  gentle and perennial
 in the flowing of springs4 ,it         
literally is not  possible that any     
fruitful power of the ,muses should be  
put forth upon a  people which disdains 
their ,helicon2 still less is it        
possible that any  ,christian nation    
should grow up tanquam lignum quod      
plantatum est secus  decursus aquarum1  
which cannot recognise the lesson meant 
in their  being told of the places where
 ,rebekah was met2--where               
,rachel1--where  ,zipporah1--and she who
 was asked for water under ,mount       
,grerizim by a  ,stranger1 weary1 who   
had nothing to draw with4      #aai4    
,and truly1 when our mountain springs   
are set apart in vale or  craggy glen1  
or glade of wood green through the      
drought of summer1 far  from cities1    
then it is best to let them stay in     
their own happy peace2  but if near     
towns1 and liable therefore to be       

defiled by common usage1  we could not  
use the loveliest art more worthily than
 by sheltering the  spring and its first
 pools with precious marbles3 nor ought 
anything to  be esteemed more important1
 as a means of healthy education1 than  
the  care to keep the streams of it     
afterwards1 to as great a distance as   
possible1 pure1 full of fish1 and easily
 accessible to children4 ,there  used to
 be1 thirty years ago1 a little rivulet 
of the ,wandel1 about an  inch deep1    
which ran over the carriage-road and    
under a foot-bridge just  under the last
 chalk hill near ,croydon4 ,alas6 men   
came and went2 and it  did not go on for
 ever4 ,it has long since been bricked  
over by the  parish authorities2 but    
there was more education in that stream 
with its  minnows than you could get out
 of a thousand pounds spent yearly in   
the  parish schools1 even though you    
were to spend every farthing of it in   
teaching the nature of oxygen and       
hydrogen1 and the names1 and rate per   

minute1 of all the rivers in ,asia and  
,america4      #abj4 ,well1 the gist of 
this matter lies here then4 ,suppose we 
want a  school of pottery again in      
,england1 all we poor artists are ready 
to do  the best we can1 to show you how 
pretty a line may be that is twisted    
first to one side1 and then to the      
other2 and how a plain household-blue   
will make a pattern on white2 and how   
ideal art may be got out of the         
spaniel's colours of black and tan4 ,but
 ,i tell you beforehand1 all that  we   
can do will be utterly useless1 unless  
you teach your peasant to say  grace1   
not only before meat1 but before drink2 
and having provided him  with ,greek    
cups and platters1 provide him also with
 something that is  not poisoned to put 
into them4      #aba4 ,there cannot be  
any need that ,i should trace for you   
the conditions  of art that are directly
 founded on serviceableness of dress1   
and of  armour2 but it is my duty to    
affirm to you1 in the most positive     

manner1  that after recovering1 for the 
poor1 wholesomeness of food1 your next  
step towards founding schools of art in 
,england must be in recovering1  for the
 poor1 decency and wholesomeness of     
dress2 thoroughly good in  substance1   
fitted for their daily work1 becoming to
 their rank in life1  and worn with     
order and dignity4 ,and this order and  
dignity must be  taught them by the     
women of the upper and middle classes1  
whose minds  can be in nothing right1 as
 long as they are so wrong in this      
matter as  to endure the squalor of the 
poor1 while they themselves dress gaily4
  ,and on the proper pride and comfort  
of both poor and rich in dress1 must  be
 founded the true arts of dress2 carried
 on by masters of manufacture  no less  
careful of the perfectness and beauty of
 their tissues1 and of  all that in     
substance and design can be bestowed    
upon them1 than ever  the armourers of  
,milan and ,damascus were careful of    
their steel4      #abb4 ,then1 in the   

third place1 having recovered some      
wholesome habits of  life as to food and
 dress1 we must recover them as to      
lodging4 ,i said  just now that the best
 architecture was but a glorified roof4 
,think of  it4 ,the dome of the         
,vatican1 the porches of ,rheims or     
,chartres1 the  vaults and arches of    
their aisles1 the canopy of the tomb1   
and the spire  of the belfry1 are all   
forms resulting from the mere           
requirement that a  certain space shall 
be strongly covered from heat and rain4 
,more than  that--as ,i have tried all  
through ,the ,stories of ,venice to     
show1--the  lovely forms of these were  
every one of them developed in civil and
  domestic building1 and only after     
their invention1 employed               
ecclesiastically on the grandest scale4 
,i think you cannot but have  noticed   
here in ,oxford1 as elsewhere1 that our 
modern architects never  seem to know   
what to do with their roofs4 ,be        
assured1 until the roofs  are right1    

nothing else will be2 and there are just
 two ways of keeping  them right4 ,never
 build them of iron1 but only of wood or
 stone2 and  secondly1 take care that in
 every town the little roofs are built  
before  the large ones1 and that        
everybody who wants one has got one4    
,and we  must try also to make everybody
 want one4 ,that is to say1 at some not 
very advanced period of life1 men should
 desire to have a home1 which  they do  
not wish to quit any more1 suited to    
their habits of life1 and  likely to be 
more and more suitable to them until    
their death4 ,and men  must desire to   
have these their dwelling-places built  
as strongly as  possible1 and furnished 
and decorated daintily1 and set in      
pleasant  places1 in bright light1 and  
good air1 being able to choose for      
themselves that at least as well as     
swallows4 ,and when the houses are      
grouped together in cities1 men must    
have so much civic fellowship as to     
subject their architecture to a common  

law1 and so much civic pride as  to     
desire that the whole gathered group of 
human dwellings should be a  lovely     
thing1 not a frightful one1 on the face 
of the earth4 ,not many  weeks ago an   
,english clergyman1#aa a master of this 
,university1 a man  not given to        
sentiment1 but of middle age1 and great 
practical sense1  told me1 by accident1 
and wholly without reference to the     
subject now  before us1 that he never   
could enter ,london from his country    
parsonage  but with closed eyes1 lest   
the sight of the blocks of houses which 
the  railroad intersected in the suburbs
 should unfit him1 by the horror of  it1
 for his day's work4    ,footnote #aa3  
,osborne ,gordon4      #abc4 ,now1 it is
 not possible--and ,i repeat to you1    
only in more  deliberate assertion1 what
 ,i wrote just twenty-two years ago in  
the last  chapter of the ,seven ,lamps  
of ,architecture--it is not possible to 
have  any right morality1 happiness1 or 
art1 in any country where the cities    

are thus built1 or thus1 let me rather  
say1 clotted and coagulated2  spots of a
 dreadful mildew1 spreading by patches  
and blotches over the  country they     
consume4 ,you must have lovely cities1  
crystallised1 not  coagulated1 into     
form2 limited in size1 and not casting  
out the scum and  scurf of them into an 
encircling eruption of shame1 but girded
 each with  its sacred pomoerium1 and   
with garlands of gardens full of        
blossoming  trees and softly guided     
streams4    ,that is impossible1 you    
say6 it may be so4 ,i have nothing to do
 with its  possibility1 but only with   
its indispensability4 ,more than that   
must be  possible1 however1 before you  
can have a school of art2 namely1 that  
you  find places elsewhere than in      
,england1 or at least in otherwise      
unserviceable parts of ,england1 for the
 establishment of manufactories  needing
 the help of fire1 that is to say1 of   
all the technai  banausikai and         
epirrtoi1 of which it was long ago known

 to be  the constant nature that        
ascholias malista echousi kai philn  kai
 poles sunepimeleisthai1 and to reduce  
such manufactures to their  lowest      
limit1 so that nothing may ever be made 
of iron that can as  effectually be made
 of wood or stone2 and nothing moved by 
steam that  can be as effectually moved 
by natural forces4 ,and observe1 that   
for all  mechanical effort required in  
social life and in cities1 water power  
is  infinitely more than enough2 for    
anchored mills on the large rivers1 and 
mills moved by sluices from reservoirs  
filled by the tide1 will give you       
command of any quantity of constant     
motive power you need4    ,agriculture  
by the hand1 then1 and absolute refusal 
or banishment of  unnecessary igneous   
force1 are the first conditions of a    
school of art  in any country4 ,and     
until you do this1 be it soon or late1  
things will  continue in that triumphant
 state to which1 for want of finer art1 
your  mechanism has brought them2--that1

 though ,england is deafened with       
spinning wheels1 her people have not    
clothes--though she is black with       
digging of fuel1 they die of cold--and  
though she has sold her soul for  gain1 
they die of hunger4 ,stay in that       
triumph1 if you choose2 but be  assured 
of this1 it is not one which the fine   
arts will ever share with  you4         
#abd4 ,now1 ,i have given you my        
message1 containing1 as ,i know1 offence
  enough1 and itself1 it may seem to    
many1 unnecessary enough4 ,but just in  
proportion to its apparent              
non-necessity1 and to its certain       
offence1  was its real need1 and my real
 duty to speak it4 ,the study of the    
fine  arts could not be rightly         
associated with the grave work of       
,english  ,universities1 without due and
 clear protest against the misdirection 
of  national energy1 which for the      
present renders all good results of such
  study on a great scale1 impossible4 ,i
 can easily teach you1 as any other     

moderately good draughtsman could1 how  
to hold your pencils1 and how to  lay   
your colours2 but it is little use my   
doing that1 while the nation  is        
spending millions of money in the       
destruction of all that pencil or       
colour has to represent1 and in the     
promotion of false forms of art1  which 
are only the costliest and the least    
enjoyable of follies4 ,and  therefore   
these are the things that ,i have first 
and last to tell you in  this           
place2--that the fine arts are not to be
 learned by ,locomotion1 but  by making 
the homes we live in lovely1 and by     
staying in them2--that  the fine arts   
are not to be learned by ,competition1  
but by doing our  quiet best in our own 
way2--that the fine arts are not to be  
learned by  ,exhibition1 but by doing   
what is right1 and making what is       
honest1  whether it be exhibited or     
not2--and1 for the sum of all1 that men 
must  paint and build neither for pride 
nor for money1 but for love2 for love   

of their art1 for love of their         
neighbour1 and whatever better love may 
be than these1 founded on these4 ,i know
 that ,i gave some pain1 which ,i  was  
most unwilling to give1 in speaking of  
the possible abuses of  religious art2  
but there can be no danger of any1 so   
long as we remember  that ,god inhabits 
cottages as well as churches1 and ought 
to be well  lodged there also4 ,begin   
with wooden floors2 the tessellated ones
 will  take care of themselves2 begin   
with thatching roofs1 and you shall end 
by splendidly vaulting them2 begin by   
taking care that no old eyes fail  over 
their ,bibles1 nor young ones over their
 needles1 for want of  rushlight1 and   
then you may have whatever true good is 
to be got out of  coloured glass or wax 
candles4 ,and in thus putting the arts  
to universal  use1 you will find also   
their universal inspiration1 their      
universal  benediction4 ,i told you     
there was no evidence of a special      
,divineness  in any application of them2

 that they were always equally human and
  equally ,divine2 and in closing this  
inaugural series of lectures1 into      
which ,i have endeavoured to compress   
the principles that are to be the       
foundations of your future work1 it is  
my last duty to say some positive  words
 as to the ,divinity of all art1 when it
 is truly fair1 or truly  serviceable4  
#abe4 ,every seventh day1 if not        
oftener1 the greater number of          
well-meaning persons in ,england        
thankfully receive from their teachers a
  benediction1 couched in those         
terms3--,the grace of our ,lord ,jesus  
,christ1 and the ,love of ,god1 and the 
,fellowship of the ,holy ,ghost1 be     
with you4 ,now ,i do not know precisely 
what sense is attached in the  ,english 
public mind to those expressions4 ,but  
what ,i have to tell you  positively is 
that the three things do actually exist1
 and can be known  if you care to know  
them1 and possessed if you care to      
possess them2  and that another thing   

exists1 besides these1 of which we      
already know  too much4    ,first1 by   
simply obeying the orders of the        
,founder of your religion1 all  grace1  
graciousness1 or beauty and favour of   
gentle life1 will be given  to you in   
mind and body1 in work and in rest4 ,the
 ,grace of ,christ  exists1 and can be  
had if you will4 ,secondly1 as you know 
more and more  of the created world1 you
 will find that the true will of its    
,maker is  that its creatures should be 
happy2--that ,he has made everything    
beautiful in its time and its place1 and
 that it is chiefly by the fault  of    
men1 when they are allowed the liberty  
of thwarting ,his laws1 that  ,creation 
groans or travails in pain4 ,the ,love  
of ,god exists1 and you may  see it1 and
 live in it if you will4 ,lastly1 a     
,spirit does actually exist  which      
teaches the ant her path1 the bird her  
building1 and men1 in an  instinctive   
and marvellous way1 whatever lovely arts
 and noble deeds are  possible to them4 

,without it you can do no good thing4   
,to the grief of  it you can do many bad
 ones4 ,in the possession of it is your 
peace and  your power4    ,and there is 
a fourth thing1 of which we already know
 too much4 ,there is  an evil spirit    
whose dominion is in blindness and in   
cowardice1 as the  dominion of the      
,spirit of wisdom is in clear sight and 
in courage4    ,and this blind and      
cowardly spirit is for ever telling you 
that evil  things are pardonable1 and   
you shall not die for them1 and that    
good  things are impossible1 and you    
need not live for them2 and that gospel 
of his is now the loudest that is       
preached in your ,saxon tongue4 ,you    
will find some day1 to your cost1 if you
 believe the first part of it1  that it 
is not true2 but you may never1 if you  
believe the second part  of it1 find1 to
 your gain1 that also1 untrue2 and      
therefore ,i pray you  with all         
earnestness to prove1 and know within   
your hearts1 that all  things lovely and

 righteous are possible for those who   
believe in their  possibility1 and who  
determine that1 for their part1 they    
will make  every day's work contribute  
to them4 ,let every dawn of morning be  
to you  as the beginning of life1 and   
every setting sun be to you as its      
close3--then let every one of these     
short lives leave its sure record of    
some kindly thing done for others--some 
goodly strength or knowledge  gained for
 yourselves2 so1 from day to day1 and   
strength to strength1  you shall build  
up indeed1 by ,art1 by ,thought1 and by 
,just ,will1 an  ,ecclesia of ,england1 
of which it shall not be said1 ,see what
 manner of  stones are here1 but1 ,see  
what manner of men4          ,,lecture  
,v    ,,line      #abf4 ,you will1 ,i   
doubt not1 willingly permit me to begin 
your lessons in  real practice of art in
 the words of the greatest of ,english  
painters3  one also1 than whom there is 
indeed no greater1 among those of any   
nation1 or any time1--our own gentle    

,reynolds4    ,he says in his first     
discourse3--,the ,directors 7of the     
,academy7 ought  more particularly to   
watch over the genius of those students1
 who being  more advanced1 are arrived  
at that critical period of study1 on the
 nice  management of which their future 
turn of taste depends4 ,at that age it  
is natural for them to be more          
captivated with what is brilliant1 than 
with what is solid1 and to prefer       
splendid negligence to painful and      
humiliating exactness4    ,a facility in
 composing1 a lively and1 what is       
called1 a 'masterly'  handling of the   
chalk or pencil1 are1 it must be        
confessed1 captivating  qualities to    
young minds1 and become of course the   
objects of their  ambition4 ,they       
endeavour to imitate these dazzling     
excellences1 which  they will find no   
great labour in attaining4 ,after much  
time spent in  these frivolous pursuits1
 the difficulty will be to retreat2 but 
it will  then be too late2 and there is 

scarce an instance of return to         
scrupulous labour1 after the mind has   
been debauched and deceived by  this    
fallacious mastery4      #abg4 ,i read  
you these words1 chiefly that ,sir      
,joshua1 who founded1 as  first         
,president1 the ,academical schools of  
,english painting1 in these  well-known 
discourses1 may also begin1 as he has   
truest right to do1 our  system of      
instruction in this ,university4 ,but   
secondly1 ,i read them that  ,i may     
press on your attention these singular  
words1 painful and  humiliating         
exactness4 ,singular1 as expressing the 
first conditions of  the study required 
from his pupils by the master1 who1 of  
all men except  ,velasquez1 seems to    
have painted with the greatest ease4 ,it
 is true that  he asks this pain1 this  
humiliation1 only from youths who intend
 to  follow the profession of artists4  
,but if you wish yourselves to know     
anything of the practice of art1 you    
must not suppose that because your      

study will be more desultory than that  
of ,academy students1 it may  therefore 
be less accurate4 ,the shorter the time 
you have to give1 the  more careful you 
should be to spend it profitably2 and ,i
 would not wish  you to devote one hour 
to the practice of drawing1 unless you  
are  resolved to be informed in it of   
all that in an hour can be taught4      
#abh4 ,i speak of the practice of       
drawing only2 though elementary study   
of modelling may perhaps some day be    
advisably connected with it2 but ,i  do 
not wish to disturb1 or amuse1 you with 
a formal statement of the  manifold     
expectations ,i have formed respecting  
your future work4 ,you  will not1 ,i am 
sure1 imagine that ,i have begun without
 a plan1 nor blame  my reticence as to  
the parts of it which cannot yet be put 
into  execution1 and which there may    
occur reason afterwards to modify4 ,my  
first task must unquestionably be to lay
 before you right and simple  methods of
 drawing and colouring4    ,i use the   

word colouring without reference to any 
particular vehicle  of colour1 for the  
laws of good painting are the same1     
whatever liquid  is employed to dissolve
 the pigments4 ,but the technical       
management of  oil is more difficult    
than that of water-colour1 and the      
impossibility  of using it with safety  
among books or prints1 and its          
unavailableness  for note-book sketches 
and memoranda1 are sufficient reasons   
for not  introducing it in a course of  
practice intended chiefly for students  
of  literature4 ,on the contrary1 in the
 exercises of artists1 oil should be    
the vehicle of colour employed from the 
first4 ,the extended practice of        
water-colour painting1 as a separate    
skill1 is in every way harmful to  the  
arts3 its pleasant slightness and       
plausible dexterity divert the  genius  
of the painter from its proper aims1 and
 withdraw the attention  of the public  
from excellence of higher claim2 nor    
ought any man1 who  has the             

consciousness of ability for good work1 
to be ignorant of1 or  indolent in      
employing1 the methods of making its    
results permanent as  long as the laws  
of ,nature allow4 ,it is surely a severe
 lesson to us in  this matter1 that the 
best works of ,turner could not be shown
 to the  public for six months without  
being destroyed1--and that his most     
ambitious ones for the most part        
perished1 even before they could be     
shown4 ,i will break through my law of  
reticence1 however1 so far as to  tell  
you that ,i have hope of one day        
interesting you greatly 7with the  help 
of the ,florentine masters71 in the     
study of the arts of moulding  and      
painting porcelain2 and to induce some  
of you to use your future  power of     
patronage in encouraging the various    
branches of this art1 and  turning the  
attention of the workmen of ,italy from 
the vulgar tricks of  minute and        
perishable mosaic to the exquisite      
subtilties of form and  colour possible 

in the perfectly ductile1 afterwards    
unalterable clay4  ,and one of the      
ultimate results of such craftsmanship  
might be the  production of pictures as 
brilliant as painted glass1--as delicate
 as  the most subtle water-colours1 and 
more permanent than the ,pyramids4      
#abi4 ,and now to begin our own work4   
,in order that we may know how  rightly 
to learn to draw and to paint1 it will  
be necessary1 will it  not1 that we know
 first what we are to aim at            
doing2--what kind of  representation of 
nature is best8    ,i will tell you in  
the words of ,lionardo4 ,that is the    
most praiseworthy  painting which has   
most conformity with the thing          
represented1 quella  pittura e piu      
laudabile1 la quale ha piu conformita   
con la cosa mitata1  7ch4 #bgf74 ,in    
plain terms1 the painting which is      
likest nature is the  best4 ,and you    
will find by referring to the preceding 
chapter1 come lo  specchio e maestro de'
 pittori1 how absolutely ,lionardo means

 what he  says4 ,let the living thing1  
7he tells us17 be reflected in a mirror1
  then put your picture beside the      
reflection1 and match the one with the  
other4 ,and indeed1 the very best       
painting is unquestionably so like the  
mirrored truth1 that all the world      
admits its excellence4 ,entirely        
first-rate work is so quiet and natural 
that there can be no dispute  over it2  
you may not particularly admire it1 but 
you will find no fault  with it4        
,second-rate painting pleases one person
 much1 and displeases  another2 but     
first-rate painting pleases all a       
little1 and intensely  pleases those who
 can recognise its unostentatious skill4
      #acj4 ,this1 then1 is what we have
 first got to do--to make our drawing   
look as like the thing we have to draw  
as we can4    ,now1 all objects are seen
 by the eye as patches of colour of a   
certain  shape1 with gradations of      
colour within them4 ,and1 unless their  
colours  be actually luminous1 as those 

of the sun1 or of fire1 these patches of
  different hues are sufficiently       
imitable1 except so far as they are seen
  stereoscopically4 ,you will find      
,lionardo again and again insisting on  
the stereoscopic power of the double    
sight3 but do not let that trouble  you2
 you can only paint what you can see    
from one point of sight1 but  that is   
quite enough4 ,so seen1 then1 all       
objects appear to the human eye  simply 
as masses of colour of variable depth1  
texture1 and outline4 ,the  outline of  
any object is the limit of its mass1 as 
relieved against  another mass4 ,take a 
crocus1 and lay it on a green cloth4    
,you will see  it detach itself as a    
mere space of yellow from the green     
behind it1 as  it does from the grass4  
,hold it up against the window--you will
 see it  detach itself as a dark space  
against the white or blue behind it4 ,in
  either case its outline is the limit  
of the space of light or dark  colour by
 which it expresses itself to your      

sight4 ,that outline is  therefore      
infinitely subtle--not even a line1 but 
the place of a line1  and that1 also1   
made soft by texture4 ,in the finest    
painting it is  therefore slightly      
softened2 but it is necessary to be able
 to draw it  with absolute sharpness and
 precision4 ,the art of doing this is to
 be  obtained by drawing it as an actual
 line1 which art is to be the subject   
of our immediate enquiry2 but ,i must   
first lay the divisions of the  entire  
subject completely before you4          
#aca4 ,i have said that all objects     
detach themselves as masses of  colour4 
,usually1 light and shade are thought of
 as separate from colour2  but the fact 
is that all nature is seen as a mosaic  
composed of gradated  portions of       
different colours1 dark or light4 ,there
 is no difference in  the quality of    
these colours1 except as affected by    
texture4 ,you will  constantly hear     
lights and shades spoken of as if these 
were different  in their nature1 and to 

be painted in different ways4 ,but every
 light is  a shadow compared to higher  
lights1 till we reach the brightness of 
the  sun2 and every shadow is a light   
compared to lower shadows1 till we      
reach the darkness of night4    ,every  
colour used in painting1 except pure    
white and black1 is therefore  a light  
and shade at the same time4 ,it is a    
light with reference to all  below it1  
and a shade with reference to all above 
it4      #acb4 ,the solid forms of an   
object1 that is to say1 the projections 
or  recessions of its surface within the
 outline1 are1 for the most part1       
rendered visible by variations in the   
intensity or quantity of light  falling 
on them4 ,the study of the relations    
between the quantities of  this light1  
irrespectively of its colour1 is the    
second division of the  regulated       
science of painting4      #acc4         
,finally1 the qualities and relations of
 natural colours1 the means  of         
imitating them1 and the laws by which   

they become separately  beautiful1 and  
in association harmonious1 are the      
subjects of the third  and final        
division of the painter's study4 ,i     
shall endeavour at once to  state to you
 what is most immediately desirable for 
you to know on each  of these topics1 in
 this and the two following lectures4   
#acd4 ,what we have to do1 then1 from   
beginning to end1 is1 ,i repeat once    
more1 simply to draw spaces of their    
true shape1 and to fill them with       
colours which shall match their colours2
 quite a simple thing in the  definition
 of it1 not quite so easy in the doing  
of it4    ,but it is something to get   
this simple definition2 and ,i wish you 
to  notice that the terms of it are     
complete1 though ,i do not introduce the
  term light1 or shadow4 ,painters who  
have no eye for colour have  greatly    
confused and falsified the practice of  
art by the theory that  shadow is an    
absence of colour4 ,shadow is1 on the   
contrary1 necessary to  the full        

presence of colour2 for every colour is 
a diminished quantity  or energy of     
light2 and1 practically1 it follows from
 what ,i have just  told you--7that     
every light in painting is a shadow to  
higher lights1  and every shadow a light
 to lower shadows7--that also every     
colour in  painting must be a shadow to 
some brighter colour1 and a light to    
some  darker one--all the while being a 
positive colour itself4 ,and the great  
splendour of the ,venetian school arises
 from their having seen and held  from  
the beginning this great fact--that     
shadow is as much colour as  light1     
often much more4 ,in ,titian's fullest  
red the lights are pale  rose-colour1   
passing into white--the shadows warm    
deep crimson4 ,in  ,veronese's most     
splendid orange1 the lights are pale1   
the shadows crocus  colour2 and so on4  
,in nature1 dark sides if seen by       
reflected lights1  are almost always    
fuller or warmer in colour than the     
lights2 and the  practice of the        

,bolognese and ,roman schools1 in       
drawing their shadows  always dark and  
cold1 is false from the beginning1 and  
renders perfect  painting for ever      
impossible in those schools1 and to all 
who follow  them4      #ace4 ,every     
visible space1 then1 be it dark or      
light1 is a space of  colour of some    
kind1 or of black or white4 ,and you    
have to enclose it  with a true outline1
 and to paint it with its true colour4  
,but before considering how we are to   
draw this enclosing line1 ,i must  state
 to you something about the use of lines
 in general1 by different  schools4     
,i said just now that there was no      
difference between the masses of  colour
 of which all visible nature is         
composed1 except in texture4 ,now       
textures are principally of three       
kinds3--         7#a7 ,lustrous1 as of  
water and glass4       7#b7 ,bloomy1 or 
velvety1 as of a rose-leaf or peach4    
7#c7 ,linear1 produced by filaments or  
threads as in feathers1 fur1            

hair1 and woven or reticulated tissues4 
,all these three sources of pleasure to 
the eye in texture are united in  the   
best ornamental work4 ,a fine picture by
 ,fra ,angelico1 or a fine  illuminated 
page of missal1 has large spaces of     
gold1 partly burnished  and lustrous1   
partly dead2--some of it chased and     
enriched with linear  texture1 and      
mingled with imposed or inlaid colours1 
soft in bloom like  that of the         
rose-leaf4 ,but many schools of art     
affect for the most part  one kind of   
texture only1 and a vast quantity of the
 art of all ages  depends for great part
 of its power on texture produced by    
multitudinous  lines4 ,thus1 wood       
engraving1 line engraving properly so   
called1 and  countless varieties of     
sculpture1 metal work1 and textile      
fabric1 depend  for great part of the   
effect1 for the mystery1 softness1 and  
clearness  of their colours1 or shades1 
on modification of the surfaces by lines
 or  threads4 ,even in advanced oil     

painting1 the work often depends for    
some  part of its effect on the texture 
of the canvas4      #acf4 ,again1 the   
arts of etching and mezzotint engraving 
depend  principally for their effect on 
the velvety1 or bloomy texture of their 
darkness1 and the best of all painting  
is the fresco work of great  colourists1
 in which the colours are what is       
usually called dead2 but  they are      
anything but dead1 they glow with the   
luminous bloom of life4  ,the frescoes  
of ,correggio1 when not repainted1 are  
supreme in this  quality4      #acg4    
,while1 however1 in all periods of art  
these different textures are  thus used 
in various styles1 and for various      
purposes1 you will find  that there is a
 broad historical division of schools1  
which will  materially assist you in    
understanding them4 ,the earliest art in
 most  countries is linear1 consisting  
of interwoven1 or richly spiral and     
otherwise involved arrangements of      
sculptured or painted lines1 on  stone1 

wood1 metal or clay4 ,it is generally   
characteristic of savage  life1 and of  
feverish energy of imagination4 ,i shall
 examine these  schools with you        
hereafter1 under the general head of the
 ,schools of  ,line4#ab    ,footnote    
#ab3 ,see ,ariadne ,florentina1  #e4    
,secondly1 even in the earliest periods1
 among powerful nations1 this  linear   
decoration is more or less filled with  
chequered or barred shade1  and begins  
at once to represent animal or floral   
form1 by filling its  outlines with flat
 shadow1 or with flat colour4 ,and here 
we instantly  find two great divisions  
of temper and thought4 ,the ,greeks look
 upon all  colour first as light2 they  
are1 as compared with other races1      
insensitive to hue1 exquisitely         
sensitive to phenomena of light4 ,and   
their linear school passes into one of  
flat masses of light and  darkness1     
represented in the main by four         
tints1--white1 black1 and two  reds1 one
 brick colour1 more or less vivid1 the  

other dark purple2 these  two standing  
mentally their favourite porphyreos     
colour1 in its  light and dark powers4  
,on the other hand1 many of the         
,northern nations  are at first entirely
 insensible to light and shade1 but     
exquisitely  sensitive to colour1 and   
their linear decoration is filled with  
flat  tints1 infinitely varied1 but with
 no expression of light and shade4      
,both these schools have a limited but  
absolute perfection of their own1  and  
their peculiar successes can in no wise 
be imitated1 except by the  strictest   
observance of the same limitations4     
#ach4 ,you have then1 ,line for the     
earliest art1 branching into--          
7#a7 ,greek1 ,line with ,light4         
7#b7 ,gothic1 ,line with ,colour4       
,now1 as art completes itself1 each of  
these schools retain their  separate    
characters1 but they cease to depend on 
lines1 and learn to  represent masses   
instead1 becoming more refined at the   
same time in all  modes of perception   

and execution4    ,and thus there arise 
the two vast medival schools2 one of    
flat and  infinitely varied colour1 with
 exquisite character and sentiment      
added1  in the forms represented2 but   
little perception of shadow4 ,the other1
 of  light and shade1 with exquisite    
drawing of solid form1 and little       
perception of colour3 sometimes as      
little of sentiment4 ,of these1 the     
school of flat colour is the more vital 
one2 it is always natural and  simple1  
if not great2--and when it is great1 it 
is very great4    ,the school of light  
and shade associates itself with that of
 engraving2  it is essentially an       
academical school1 broadly dividing     
light from  darkness1 and begins by     
assuming that the light side of all     
objects  shall be represented by white1 
and the extreme shadow by black4 ,on    
this  conventional principle it reaches 
a limited excellence of its own1 in     
which the best existing types of        
engraving are executed1 and ultimately1 

the most regular expressions of organic 
form in painting4    ,then1 lastly1--the
 schools of colour advance steadily1    
till they adopt  from those of light and
 shade whatever is compatible with their
 own  power1--and then you have perfect 
art1 represented centrally by that of   
the great ,venetians4    ,the schools of
 light and shade1 on the other hand1 are
 partly1 in their  academical formulas1 
too haughty1 and partly1 in their       
narrowness of  imagination1 too weak1 to
 learn much from the schools of colour2 
and  pass into a state of decadence1    
consisting partly in proud endeavours to
  give painting the qualities of        
sculpture1 and partly in the pursuit of 
effects of light and shade1 carried at  
last to extreme sensational  subtlety by
 the ,dutch school4 ,in their fall1 they
 drag the schools of  colour down with  
them2 and the recent history of art is  
one of confused  effort to find lost    
roads1 and resume allegiance to violated
 principles4      #aci4 ,that1 briefly1 

is the map of the great schools1 easily 
remembered  in this hexagonal form3--   
#a4                                     
,,line                                  
,early schools4               #b4       
#c4       ,,line ,,and ,,light4         
,,line ,,and ,,colour4         ,greek   
clay4                                   
,gothic glass4               #d4        
#e4       ,,mass ,,and ,,light4         
,,mass ,,and ,,colour4   7,represented  
by ,lionardo1             7,represented 
by ,giorgione1      and his schools47   
and his schools47                       
#f4                           ,,mass1   
,,light1 ,,and ,,colour4                
7,represented by ,titian1               
and his schools47    ,and ,i wish you   
with your own eyes and fingers to trace1
 and in your own  progress follow1 the  
method of advance exemplified by these  
great  schools4 ,i wish you to begin by 
getting command of line1 that is to say1
  by learning to draw a steady line1    
limiting with absolute correctness  the 

form or space you intend it to limit2 to
 proceed by getting command  over flat  
tints1 so that you may be able to fill  
the spaces you have  enclosed1 evenly1  
either with shade or colour according to
 the school  you adopt2 and finally to  
obtain the power of adding such fineness
 of  gradation within the masses1 as    
shall express their roundings1 and their
  characters of texture4      #adj4     
,those who are familiar with the methods
 of existing schools must be  aware that
 ,i thus nearly invert their practice of
 teaching4 ,students at  present learn  
to draw details first1 and to colour and
 mass them  afterwards4 ,i shall        
endeavour to teach you to arrange broad 
masses and  colours first2 and you shall
 put the details into them afterwards4  
,i  have several reasons for this       
audacity1 of which you may justly       
require  me to state the principal ones4
 ,the first is that1 as ,i have shown   
you1  this method ,i wish you to follow1
 is the natural one4 ,all great artist  

nations have actually learned to work in
 this way1 and ,i believe it  therefore 
the right1 as the hitherto successful   
one4 ,secondly1 you will  find it less  
irksome than the reverse method1 and    
more definite4 ,when a  beginner is set 
at once to draw details1 and make       
finished studies in  light and shade1 no
 master can correct his innumerable     
errors1 or rescue  him out of his       
endless difficulties4 ,but in the       
natural method1 he can  correct1 if he  
will1 his own errors4 ,you will have    
positive lines to  draw1 presenting no  
more difficulty1 except in requiring    
greater  steadiness of hand1 than the   
outlines of a map4 ,they will be        
generally  sweeping and simple1 instead 
of being jagged into promontories and   
bays2  but assuredly1 they may be drawn 
rightly 7with patience71 and their      
rightness tested with mathematical      
accuracy4 ,you have only to follow  your
 own line with tracing paper1 and apply 
it to your own copy4 ,if they  do not   

correspond1 you are wrong1 and you need 
no master to show you  where4 ,again2 in
 washing in a flat tone of colour or    
shade1 you can  always see yourself if  
it is flat1 and kept well within the    
edges2 and  you can set a piece of your 
colour side by side with that of the    
copy2  if it does not match1 you are    
wrong2 and1 again1 you need no one to   
tell  you so1 if your eye for colour is 
true4 ,it happens1 indeed1 more         
frequently than would be supposed1 that 
there is real want of power in  the eye 
to distinguish colours2 and this ,i even
 suspect to be a  condition which has   
been sometimes attendant on high degrees
 of cerebral  sensitiveness in other    
directions2 but such want of faculty    
would be  detected in your first two or 
three exercises by this simple method1  
while1 otherwise1 you might go on for   
years endeavouring to colour from       
nature in vain4 ,lastly1 and this is a  
very weighty collateral reason1  such a 
method enables me to show you many      

things1 besides the art of  drawing4    
,every exercise that ,i prepare for you 
will be either a portion  of some       
important example of ancient art1 or of 
some natural object4  ,however rudely or
 unsuccessfully you may draw it1 7though
 ,i anticipate  from you neither want of
 care nor success17 you will            
nevertheless have  learned what no words
 could have so forcibly or completely   
taught you1  either respecting early art
 or organic structure2 and ,i am thus   
certain  that not a moment you spend    
attentively will be altogether wasted1  
and  that1 generally1 you will be twice 
gainers by every effort4      #ada4     
,there is1 however1 yet another point in
 which ,i think a change of  existing   
methods will be advisable4 ,you have    
here in ,oxford one of the  finest      
collections in ,europe of drawings in   
pen1 and chalk1 by ,michael  ,angelo and
 ,raphael4 ,of the whole number1 you    
cannot but have noticed  that not one is
 weak or student-like--all are evidently

 master's work4    ,you may look the    
galleries of ,europe through1 and so far
 as ,i know1 or  as it is possible to   
make with safety any so wide            
generalization1 you  will not find in   
them a childish or feeble drawing1 by   
these1 or by any  other great master4   
,and farther3--by the greatest men--by  
,titian1 ,velasquez1 or  ,veronese--you 
will hardly find an authentic drawing1  
at all4 ,for the  fact is1 that while we
 moderns have always learned1 or tried  
to learn1  to paint by drawing1 the     
ancients learned to draw by painting--or
 by  engraving1 more difficult still4   
,the brush was put into their hands when
  they were children1 and they were     
forced to draw with that1 until1 if     
they used the pen or crayon1 they used  
it either with the lightness of a  brush
 or the decision of a graver4 ,michael  
,angelo uses his pen like a  chisel2 but
 all of them seem to use it only when   
they are in the height  of their power1 
and then for rapid notation of thought  

or for study of  models2 but never as a 
practice helping them to paint4         
,probably  exercises of the severest    
kind were gone through in minute drawing
 by  the apprentices of the goldsmiths1 
of which we hear and know little1 and   
which were entirely matters of course4  
,to these1 and to the  exquisiteness of 
care and touch developed in working     
precious metals1  may probably be       
attributed the final triumph of ,italian
 sculpture4  ,michael ,angelo1 when a   
boy1 is said to have copied engravings  
by  ,schngauer and others1 with his pen1
 in facsimile so true that he could     
pass his drawings as the originals4 ,but
 ,i should only discourage you  from all
 farther attempts in art1 if ,i asked   
you to imitate any of these             
accomplished drawings of the            
gem-artificers4 ,you have1 fortunately1 
a  most interesting collection of them  
already in your galleries1 and may  try 
your hands on them if you will4 ,but ,i 
desire rather that you should  attempt  

nothing except what can by determination
 be absolutely  accomplished1 and be    
known and felt by you to be accomplished
 when it is  so4 ,now1 therefore1 ,i am 
going at once to comply with that       
popular  instinct which1 ,i hope1 so far
 as you care for drawing at all1 you are
  still boys enough to feel1 the desire 
to paint4 ,paint you shall2 but         
remember1 ,i understand by painting what
 you will not find easy4 ,paint  you    
shall2 but daub or blot you shall not3  
and there will be even more  care       
required1 though care of a pleasanter   
kind1 to follow the lines  traced for   
you with the point of the brush than if 
they had been drawn  with that of a     
crayon4 ,but from the very beginning    
7though carrying on  at the same time an
 incidental practice with crayon and    
lead pencil71  you shall try to draw a  
line of absolute correctness with the   
point1 not  of pen or crayon1 but of the
 brush1 as ,apelles did1 and as all     
coloured  lines are drawn on ,greek     

vases4 ,a line of absolute correctness1 
observe4  ,i do not care how slowly you 
do it1 or with how many alterations1    
junctions1 or re-touchings2 the one     
thing ,i ask of you is1 that the line   
shall be right1 and right by            
measurement1 to the same minuteness     
which  you would have to give in a      
,government chart to the map of a       
dangerous  shoal4      #adb4 ,this      
question of measurement is1 as you are  
probably aware1 one  much vexed in art  
schools2 but it is determined           
indisputably by the very  first words   
written by ,lionardo3 ,il giovane deve  
prima imparare  prospettiva1 per le     
misure d'ogni cosa4    ,without absolute
 precision of measurement1 it is        
certainly impossible  for you to learn  
perspective rightly2 and1 as far as ,i  
can judge1  impossible to learn anything
 else rightly4 ,and in my past          
experience of  teaching1 ,i have found  
that such precision is of all things the
 most  difficult to enforce on the      

pupils4 ,it is easy to persuade to      
diligence1  or provoke to enthusiasm2   
but ,i have found it hitherto impossible
 to  humiliate one clever student into  
perfect accuracy4    ,it is1 therefore1 
necessary1 in beginning a system of     
drawing for the  ,university1 that no   
opening should be left for failure in   
this essential  matter4 ,i hope you will
 trust the words of the most            
accomplished  draughtsman of ,italy1 and
 the painter of the great sacred picture
 which1  perhaps beyond all others1 has 
influenced the mind of ,europe1 when he 
tells you that your first duty is to    
learn perspective by the  measures of   
everything4 ,for perspective1 ,i will   
undertake that it  shall be made1       
practically1 quite easy to you2 if you  
care to master the  mathematics of it1  
they are carried as far as is necessary 
for you in my  treatise written in      
#ahei1 of which copies shall be placed  
at your  disposal in your working room4 
,but the habit and dexterity of         

measurement you must acquire at once1   
and that with engineer's  accuracy4 ,i  
hope that in our now gradually          
developing system of  education1        
elementary architectural or military    
drawing will be required  at all public 
schools2 so that when youths come to the
 ,university1 it  may be no more        
necessary for them to pass through the  
preliminary  exercises of perspective   
than of grammar3 for the present1 ,i    
will place  in your series examples     
simple and severe enough for all        
necessary  practice4      #adc4 ,and    
while you are learning to measure1 and  
to draw1 and lay flat  tints1 with the  
brush1 you must also get easy command of
 the pen2 for  that is not only the     
great instrument for the first          
sketching1 but its  right use is the    
foundation of the art of illumination4  
,in nothing is  fine art more directly  
founded on utility than in the close    
dependence  of decorative illumination  
on good writing4 ,perfect illumination  

is only  writing made lovely2 the moment
 it passes into picture-making it has   
lost its dignity and function4 ,for     
pictures1 small or great1 if  beautiful1
 ought not to be painted on leaves of   
books1 to be worn with  service2 and    
pictures1 small or great1 not beautiful1
 should be painted  nowhere4 ,but to    
make writing itself beautiful1--to make 
the sweep of  the pen lovely1--is the   
true art of illumination2 and ,i        
particularly  wish you to note this1    
because it happens continually that     
young girls  who are incapable of       
tracing a single curve with steadiness1 
much more  of delineating any ornamental
 or organic form with correctness1 think
  that work1 which would be intolerable 
in ordinary drawing1 becomes  tolerable 
when it is employed for the decoration  
of texts2 and thus they  render all     
healthy progress impossible1 by         
protecting themselves in  inefficiency  
under the shield of good motive4        
,whereas the right way of  setting to   

work is to make themselves first        
mistresses of the art of  writing       
beautifully2 and then to apply that art 
in its proper degrees of  development to
 whatever they desire permanently to    
write4 ,and it is  indeed a much more   
truly religious duty for girls to       
acquire a habit of  deliberate1 legible1
 and lovely penmanship in their daily   
use of the  pen1 than to illuminate any 
quantity of texts4 ,having done so1 they
 may  next discipline their hands into  
the control of lines of any length1     
and1 finally1 add the beauty of colour  
and form to the flowing of these        
perfect lines4 ,but it is only after    
years of practice that they will be     
able to illuminate noble words rightly  
for the eyes1 as it is only after  years
 of practice that they can make them    
melodious rightly1 with the  voice4     
#add4 ,i shall not attempt1 in this     
lecture1 to give you any account of  the
 use of the pen as a drawing instrument4
 ,that use is connected in  many ways   

with principles both of shading and of  
engraving1 hereafter to  be examined at 
length4 ,but ,i may generally state to  
you that its best  employment is in     
giving determination to the forms in    
drawings washed  with neutral tint2 and 
that1 in this use of it1 ,holbein is    
quite without  a rival4 ,i have         
therefore placed many examples of his   
work among your  copies4 ,it is employed
 for rapid study by ,raphael and other  
masters of  delineation1 who1 in such   
cases1 give with it also partial        
indications  of shadow2 but it is not a 
proper instrument for shading1 when     
drawings  are intended to be deliberate 
and complete1 nor do the great masters  
so  employ it4 ,its virtue is the power 
of producing a perfectly delicate1      
equal1 and decisive line with great     
rapidity2 and the temptation allied     
with that virtue is the licentious      
haste1 and chance-swept1 instead of     
strictly-commanded1 curvature4 ,in the  
hands of very great painters it         

obtains1 like the etching needle1       
qualities of exquisite charm in this    
free use2 but all attempts at imitation 
of these confused and suggestive        
sketches must be absolutely denied to   
yourselves while students4 ,you may     
fancy you have produced something like  
them with little trouble2 but1 be       
assured1 it is in reality as unlike them
 as nonsense is unlike sense2  and that1
 if you persist in such work1 you will  
not only prevent your  own executive    
progress1 but you will never understand 
in all your lives  what good painting   
means4 ,whenever you take a pen in your 
hand1 if you  cannot count every line   
you lay with it1 and say why you make it
 so long  and no longer1 and why you    
drew it in that direction and no other1 
your  work is bad4 ,the only man who can
 put his pen to full speed1 and yet     
retain command over every separate line 
of it1 is ,drer4 ,he has done  this in  
the illustrations of a missal preserved 
at ,munich1 which have  been fairly     

facsimiled2 and of these ,i have placed 
several in your  copying series1 with   
some of ,turner's landscape etchings1   
and other  examples of deliberate pen   
work1 such as will advantage you in     
early  study4 ,the proper use of them   
you will find explained in the          
catalogue4      #ade4 ,and1 now1 but one
 word more to-day4 ,do not impute to me 
the  impertinence of setting before you 
what is new in this system of  practice 
as being certainly the best method4 ,no 
,english artists are yet  agreed        
entirely on early methods2 and even     
,reynolds expresses with some           
hesitation his conviction of the        
expediency of learning to draw with the 
brush4 ,but this method that ,i show you
 rests in all essential points on  his  
authority1 on ,lionardo's1 or on the    
evident as well as recorded  practice of
 the most splendid ,greek and ,italian  
draughtsmen2 and you may  be assured it 
will lead you1 however slowly1 to great 
and certain skill4  ,to what degree of  

skill1 must depend greatly on           
yourselves2 but ,i know  that in        
practice of this kind you cannot spend  
an hour without  definitely gaining1    
both in true knowledge of art1 and in   
useful power  of hand2 and for what may 
appear in it too difficult1 ,i must     
shelter or  support myself1 as in       
beginning1 so in closing this first     
lecture on  practice1 by the words of   
,reynolds3 ,the impetuosity of youth is 
disgusted at the slow approaches of a   
regular siege1 and desires1 from  mere  
impatience of labour1 to take the       
citadel by storm4 ,they must  therefore 
be told again and again that labour is  
the only price of solid  fame2 and that1
 whatever their force of genius may be1 
there is no easy  method of becoming a  
good painter4          ,,lecture ,,vi   
,,light      #adf4 ,the plan of the     
divisions of art-schools which ,i gave  
you in the  last lecture is of course   
only a first germ of classification1 on 
which  we are to found farther and more 

defined statement2 but for this very    
reason it is necessary that every term  
of it should be very clear in  your     
minds4    ,and especially ,i must       
explain1 and ask you to note the sense  
in which ,i  use the word mass4 ,artists
 usually employ that word to express the
  spaces of light and darkness1 or of   
colour1 into which a picture is         
divided4 ,but this habit of theirs      
arises partly from their always         
speaking of pictures in which the lights
 represent solid form4 ,if they  had    
instead been speaking of flat tints1 as1
 for instance1 of the gold  and blue in 
this missal page1 they would not have   
called them masses1  but spaces of      
colour4 ,now both for accuracy and      
convenience' sake1 you  will find it    
well to observe this distinction1 and to
 call a simple flat  tint a space of    
colour2 and only the representation of  
solid or  projecting form a mass4    ,i 
use1 however1 the word line rather than 
space in the second and  third heads of 

our general scheme1 at p4 #id1 because  
you cannot limit a  flat tint but by a  
line1 or the locus of a line3 whereas a 
gradated  tint1 expressive of mass1 may 
be lost at its edges in another1 without
  any fixed limit2 and practically is   
so1 in the works of the greatest        
masters4      #adg4 ,you have thus1 in  
your hexagonal scheme1 the expression of
 the  universal manner of advance in    
painting3 ,line first2 then line        
enclosing  flat spaces coloured or      
shaded2 then the lines vanish1 and the  
solid  forms are seen within the spaces4
 ,that is the universal law of          
advance3--#a1 line2 #b1 flat space2 #c1 
massed or solid space4 ,but as you  see1
 this advance may be made1 and has been 
made1 by two different  roads2 one      
advancing always through colour1 the    
other through light and  shade4 ,and    
these two roads are taken by two        
entirely different kinds of  men4 ,the  
way by colour is taken by men of        
cheerful1 natural1 and  entirely sane   

disposition in body and mind1 much      
resembling1 even at its  strongest1 the 
temper of well-brought-up children3--too
 happy to think  deeply1 yet with powers
 of imagination by which they can live  
other  lives than their actual ones3    
make-believe lives1 while yet they      
remain  conscious all the while that    
they are making believe--therefore      
entirely sane4 ,they are also absolutely
 contented2 they ask for no more  light 
than is immediately around them1 and    
cannot see anything like  darkness1 but 
only green and blue1 in the earth and   
sea4      #adh4 ,the way by light and   
shade is1 on the contrary1 taken by men 
of the  highest powers of thought1 and  
most earnest desire for truth2 they long
  for light1 and for knowledge of all   
that light can show4 ,but seeking for   
light1 they perceive also darkness2     
seeking for truth and substance1  they  
find vanity4 ,they look for form in the 
earth1--for dawn in the sky2  and       
seeking these1 they find formlessness in

 the earth1 and night in the  sky4      
,now remember1 in these introductory    
lectures ,i am putting before you the   
roots of things1 which are strange1 and 
dark1 and often1 it may seem1           
unconnected with the branches4 ,you may 
not at present think these  metaphysical
 statements necessary2 but as you go on1
 you will find that  having hold of the 
clue to methods of work through their   
springs in  human character1 you may    
perceive unerringly where they lead1 and
 what  constitutes their wrongness and  
rightness2 and when we have the main    
principles laid down1 all others will   
develop themselves in due  succession1  
and everything will become more clearly 
intelligible to you  in the end1 for    
having been apparently vague in the     
beginning4 ,you know  when one is laying
 the foundation of a house1 it does not 
show directly  where the rooms are to   
be4      #adi4 ,you have then these two 
great divisions of human mind3 one1     
content  with the colours of things1    

whether they are dark or light2 the     
other  seeking light pure1 as such1 and 
dreading darkness as such4 ,one1 also1  
content with the coloured aspects and   
visionary shapes of things2 the  other  
seeking their form and substance4 ,and1 
as ,i said1 the school of  knowledge1   
seeking light1 perceives1 and has to    
accept and deal with  obscurity3 and    
seeking form1 it has to accept and deal 
with  formlessness1 or death4           
,farther1 the school of colour in       
,europe1 using the word ,gothic in its  
broadest sense1 is essentially ,gothic  
,christian2 and full of comfort  and    
peace4 ,again1 the school of light is   
essentially ,greek1 and full of  sorrow4
 ,i cannot tell you which is right1 or  
least wrong4 ,i tell you  only what ,i  
know--this vital distinction between    
them3 the ,gothic or  colour school is  
always cheerful1 the ,greek always      
oppressed by the  shadow of death2 and  
the stronger its masters are1 the closer
 that body  of death grips them4 ,the   

strongest whose work ,i can show you in 
recent  periods is ,holbein2 next to him
 is ,lionardo2 and then ,drer3 but of   
the  three ,holbein is the strongest1   
and with his help ,i will put the two   
schools in their full character before  
you in a moment4      #aej4 ,here is1   
first1 the photograph of an entirely    
characteristic piece  of the great      
colour school4 ,it is by ,cima of       
,conegliano1 a mountaineer1  like       
,luini1 born under the ,alps of ,friuli4
 ,his ,christian name was ,john         
,baptist3 he is here painting his       
name-,saint2 the whole picture full of  
peace1 and intense faith and hope1 and  
deep joy in light of sky1 and  fruit and
 flower and weed of earth4 ,it was      
painted for the church of ,our  ,lady of
 the ,garden at ,venice1 ,la ,madonna   
dell' ,orto 7properly ,madonna of  the  
,kitchen ,garden71 and it is full of    
simple flowers1 and has the  wild       
strawberry of ,cima's native mountains  
gleaming through the grass4    ,beside  

it ,i will put a piece of the strongest 
work of the school of  light and        
shade--strongest because ,holbein was a 
colourist also2 but he  belongs1        
nevertheless1 essentially to the        
chiaroscuro school4 ,you know  that his 
name is connected1 in ideal work1       
chiefly with his ,dance of  ,death4 ,i  
will not show you any of the terror of  
that2 only a photograph  of his         
well-known ,dead ,christ4 ,it will at   
once show you how completely  the       
,christian art of this school is        
oppressed by its veracity1 and  forced  
to see what is fearful1 even in what it 
most trusts4    ,you may think ,i am    
showing you contrasts merely to fit my  
theories4 ,but  there is ,drer's ,knight
 and ,death1 his greatest plate2 and if 
,i had  ,lionardo's ,medusa here1 which 
he painted when only a boy1 you would   
have seen how he was held by the same   
chain4 ,and you cannot but wonder  why1 
this being the melancholy temper of the 
great ,greek or naturalistic  school1 ,i

 should have called it the school of    
light4 ,i call it so  because it is     
through its intense love of light that  
the darkness  becomes apparent to it1   
and through its intense love of truth   
and form  that all mystery becomes      
attractive to it4 ,and when1 having     
learned  these things1 it is joined to  
the school of colour1 you have the      
perfect1 though always1 as ,i will show 
you1 pensive1 art of ,titian and  his   
followers4      #aea4 ,but remember1 its
 first development1 and all its final   
power1  depend on ,greek sorrow1 and    
,greek religion4    ,the school of light
 is founded in the ,doric worship of    
,apollo1 and the  ,ionic worship of     
,athena1 as the spirits of life in the  
light1 and of  life in the air1 opposed 
each to their own contrary deity of     
death--,apollo to the ,python1 ,athena  
to the ,gorgon--,apollo as life in      
light1 to the earth spirit of corruption
 in darkness2--,athena1 as life  by     
motion1 to the ,gorgon spirit of death  

by pause1 freezing or turning  to stone3
 both of the great divinities taking    
their glory from the evil  they have    
conquered2 both of them1 when angry1    
taking to men the form of  the evil     
which is their opposite--,apollo slaying
 by poisoned arrow1 by  pestilence2     
,athena by cold1 the black gis on her   
breast4    ,these are the definite and  
direct expressions of the ,greek        
thoughts  respecting death and life4    
,but underlying both these1 and far more
  mysterious1 dreadful1 and yet         
beautiful1 there is the ,greek          
conception  of spiritual darkness2 of   
the anger of fate1 whether foredoomed or
  avenging2 the root and theme of all   
,greek tragedy2 the anger of the        
,erinnyes1 and ,demeter ,erinnys1       
compared to which the anger either of   
,apollo or ,athena is temporary and     
partial3--and also1 while ,apollo or    
,athena only slay1 the power of ,demeter
 and the ,eumenides is over the  whole  
life2 so that in the stories of         

,bellerophon1 of ,hippolytus1 of        
,orestes1 of ,oedipus1 you have an      
incomparably deeper shadow than any     
that was possible to the thought of     
later ages1 when the hope of the        
,resurrection had become definite4 ,and 
if you keep this in mind1 you will  find
 every name and legend of the oldest    
history become full of meaning  to you4 
,all the mythic accounts of ,greek      
sculpture begin in the legends  of the  
family of ,tantalus4 ,the main one is   
the making of the ivory  shoulder of    
,pelops after ,demeter has eaten the    
shoulder of flesh4 ,with  that you have 
,broteas1 the brother of ,pelops1       
carving the first statue  of the mother 
of the gods2 and you have his sister1   
,niobe1 weeping  herself to stone under 
the anger of the deities of light4 ,then
 ,pelops  himself1 the dark-faced1 gives
 name to the ,peloponnesus1 which you   
may  therefore read as the isle of      
darkness2 but its central city1 ,sparta1
  the sown city1 is connected with all  

the ideas of the earth as  life-giving4 
,and from her you have ,helen1 the      
representative of light in  beauty1 and 
the ,fratres ,helen--lucida sidera2 and1
 on the other side  of the hills1 the   
brightness of ,argos1 with its          
correlative darkness  over the ,atreid1 
marked to you by ,helios turning away   
his face from the  feast of ,thyestes4  
#aeb4 ,then join with these the         
,northern legends connected with the    
air4  ,it does not matter whether you   
take ,dorus as the son of ,apollo or the
  son of ,helen2 he equally symbolises  
the power of light3 while his  brother1 
olus1 through all his descendants1      
chiefly in ,sisyphus1 is  confused or   
associated with the real god of the     
winds1 and represents to  you the power 
of the air4 ,and then1 as this          
conception enters into art1  you have   
the myths of ,ddalus1 the flight of     
,icarus1 and the story of  ,phrixus and 
,helle1 giving you continual            
associations of the physical air  and   

light1 ending in the power of ,athena   
over ,corinth as well as over  ,athens4 
,now1 once having the clue1 you can work
 out the sequels for yourselves  better 
than ,i can for you2 and you will soon  
find even the earliest or  slightest    
grotesques of ,greek art become full of 
interest4 ,for nothing  is more         
wonderful than the depth of meaning     
which nations in their first  days of   
thought1 like children1 can attach to   
the rudest symbols2 and  what to us is  
grotesque or ugly1 like a little child's
 doll1 can speak  to them the loveliest 
things4 ,i have brought you to-day a few
 more  examples of early ,greek vase    
painting1 respecting which remember     
generally that its finest development is
 for the most part sepulchral4  ,you    
have1 in the first period1 always energy
 in the figures1 light in  the sky or   
upon the figures2#ac in the second      
period1 while the  conception of the    
divine power remains the same1 it is    
thought of as in  repose1 and the light 

is in the god1 not in the sky2 in the   
time of  decline1 the divine power is   
gradually disbelieved1 and all form and 
light are lost together4 ,with that     
period ,i wish you to have nothing to   
do4 ,you shall not have a single example
 of it set before you1 but shall  rather
 learn to recognise afterwards what is  
base by its strangeness4  ,these1 which 
are to come early in the third group of 
your ,standard  series1 will enough     
represent to you the elements of early  
and late  conception in the ,greek mind 
of the deities of light4    ,footnote   
#ac3 ,see ,note in the ,catalogue on    
,no4 #bja4      #aec4 ,first 7,s4 #bjd71
 you have ,apollo ascending from the    
sea2 thought of  as the physical        
sunrise3 only a circle of light for his 
head2 his  chariot horses1 seen         
foreshortened1 black against the        
day-break1 their  feet not yet risen    
above the horizon4 ,underneath is the   
painting from  the opposite side of the 
same vase3 ,athena as the morning       

breeze1 and  ,hermes as the morning     
cloud1 flying across the waves before   
the sunrise4  ,at the distance ,i now   
hold them from you1 it is scarcely      
possible for  you to see that they are  
figures at all1 so like are they to     
broken  fragments of flying mist2 and   
when you look close1 you will see that  
as  ,apollo's face is invisible in the  
circle of light1 ,mercury's is          
invisible in the broken form of cloud3  
but ,i can tell you that it is          
conceived as reverted1 looking back to  
,athena2 the grotesque appearance  of   
feature in the front is the outline of  
his hair4    ,these two paintings are   
excessively rude1 and of the archaic    
period2 the  deities being yet thought  
of chiefly as physical powers in violent
  agency4    ,underneath these two are  
,athena and ,hermes1 in the types       
attained about  the time of ,phidias2   
but1 of course1 rudely drawn on the     
vase1 and still  more rudely in this    
print from ,le ,normant and ,de ,witte4 

,for it is  impossible 7as you will soon
 find if you try for yourself7 to give  
on a  plane surface the grace of figures
 drawn on one of solid curvature1 and   
adapted to all its curves3 and among    
other minor differences1 ,athena's      
lance is in the original nearly twice as
 tall as herself1 and has to be  cut    
short to come into the print at all4    
,still1 there is enough here to  show   
you what ,i want you to see--the repose1
 and entirely realised  personality1 of 
the deities as conceived in the ,phidian
 period4 ,the  relation of the two      
deities is1 ,i believe1 the same as in  
the painting  above1 though probably    
there is another added of more definite 
kind4 ,but  the physical meaning still  
remains--,athena unhelmeted1 as the     
gentle  morning wind1 commanding the    
cloud ,hermes to slow flight4 ,his      
petasus is  slung at his back1 meaning  
that the clouds are not yet opened or   
expanded in the sky4      #aed4 ,next   
7,s4 #bje71 you have ,athena1 again     

unhelmeted and crowned with  leaves1    
walking between two nymphs1 who are     
crowned also with leaves2  and all the  
three hold flowers in their hands1 and  
there is a fawn  walking at ,athena's   
feet4    ,this is still ,athena as the  
morning air1 but upon the earth instead 
of  in the sky1 with the nymphs of the  
dew beside her2 the flowers and  leaves 
opening as they breathe upon them4 ,note
 the white gleam of light  on the fawn's
 breast2 and compare it with the next   
following  examples3--7underneath this  
one is the contest of ,athena and       
,poseidon1  which does not bear on our  
present subject74    ,next 7,s4 #bjf71  
,artemis as the moon of morning1 walking
 low on the hills1  and singing to her  
lyre2 the fawn beside her1 with the     
gleam of light  and sunrise on its ear  
and breast4 ,those of you who are often 
out in the  dawntime know that there is 
no moon so glorious as that gleaming    
crescent1 though in its wane1 ascending 
before the sun4    ,underneath1         

,artemis1 and ,apollo1 of ,phidian time4
    ,next 7,s4 #bjg71 ,apollo walking on
 the earth1 god of the morning1 singing 
to his lyre2 the fawn beside him1 again 
with the gleam of light on its  breast4 
,and underneath1 ,apollo1 crossing the  
sea to ,delphi1 of the  ,phidian time4  
#aee4 ,now you cannot but be struck in  
these three examples with the           
similarity of action in ,athena1        
,apollo1 and ,artemis1 drawn as deities 
of  the morning2 and with the           
association in every case of the fawn   
with  them4 ,it has been said 7,i will  
not interrupt you with authorities7 that
  the fawn belongs to ,apollo and ,diana
 because stags are sensitive to  music2 
7are they874 ,but you see the fawn is   
here with ,athena of the dew1  though   
she has no lyre2 and ,i have myself no  
doubt that in this  particular relation 
to the gods of morning it always stands 
as the  symbol of wavering and glancing 
motion on the ground1 as well as of the 
light and shadow through the leaves1    

chequering the ground as the fawn  is   
dappled4 ,similarly the spots on the    
nebris of ,dionysus1 thought of         
sometimes as stars 7apo ts tn astrn     
poikilias1 ,diodorus1 ,i4  #aa71 as well
 as those of his panthers1 and the      
cloudings of the  tortoise-shell of     
,hermes1 are all significant of this    
light of the sky  broken by             
cloud-shadow4      #aef4 ,you observe   
also that in all the three examples the 
fawn has light  on its ears1 and face1  
as well as its breast4 ,in the earliest 
,greek  drawings of animals1 bars of    
white are used as one means of detaching
  the figures from the ground2          
ordinarily on the under side of them1   
marking the lighter colour of the hair  
in wild animals4 ,but the placing  of   
this bar of white1 or the direction of  
the face in deities of light1  7the     
faces and flesh of women being always   
represented as white17 may  become      
expressive of the direction of the      
light1 when that direction is           

important4 ,thus we are enabled at once 
to read the intention of this  ,greek   
symbol of the course of a day 7in the   
centre-piece of ,s4 #bjh1  which gives  
you the types of ,hermes74 ,at the top  
you have an archaic  representation of  
,hermes stealing ,io from ,argus4 ,argus
 is here the  ,night2 his grotesque     
features monstrous2 his hair            
overshadowing his  shoulders2 ,hermes on
 tip-toe1 stealing upon him and taking  
the cord  which is fastened to the horn 
of ,io out of his hand without his      
feeling  it4 ,then1 underneath1 you have
 the course of an entire day4 ,apollo   
first1 on the left1 dark1 entering his  
chariot1 the sun not yet risen4  ,in    
front of him ,artemis1 as the moon1     
ascending before him1 playing on  her   
lyre1 and looking back to the sun4 ,in  
the centre1 behind the horses1  ,hermes1
 as the cumulus cloud at mid-day1       
wearing his petasus heightened  to a    
cone1 and holding a flower in his right 
hand2 indicating the  nourishment of the

 flowers by the rain from the heat      
cloud4 ,finally1 on  the right1 ,latona1
 going down as the evening1 lighted from
 the right by  the sun1 now sunk2 and   
with her feet reverted1 signifying the  
reluctance  of the departing day4       
,finally1 underneath1 you have ,hermes  
of the ,phidian period1 as the  floating
 cumulus cloud1 almost shapeless 7as you
 see him at this  distance72 with the   
tortoise-shell lyre in his hand1 barred 
with black1  and a fleece of white      
cloud1 not level but oblique1 under his 
feet4  7,compare the dia tn             
koiln--plagiai1 and the relations of    
the aigidos niochos ,athana1 with the   
clouds as the moon's  messengers1 in    
,aristophanes2 and note of ,hermes      
generally1 that you  never find him     
flying as a ,victory flies1 but always1 
if moving fast at  all1 clambering      
along1 as it were1 as a cloud gathers   
and heaps  itself3 the ,gorgons stretch 
and stride in their flight1 half        
kneeling1  for the same reason1 running 

or gliding shapelessly along in this    
stealthy way47      #aeg4 ,and now take 
this last illustration1 of a very       
different kind4 ,here  is an effect of  
morning light by ,turner 7,s4 #cja71 on 
the rocks of  ,otley-hill1 near ,leeds1 
drawn long ago1 when ,apollo1 and       
,artemis1 and  ,athena1 still sometimes 
were seen1 and felt1 even near ,leeds4  
,the  original drawing is one of the    
great ,farnley series1 and entirely     
beautiful4 ,i have shown1 in the last   
volume of ,modern ,painters1 how  well  
,turner knew the meaning of ,greek      
legends3--he was not thinking of  them1 
however1 when he made this design2 but1 
unintentionally1 has given  us the very 
effect of morning light we want3 the    
glittering of the  sunshine on dewy     
grass1 half dark2 and the narrow gleam  
of it on the  sides and head of the stag
 and hind4      #aeh4 ,these few        
instances will be enough to show you how
 we may read in  the early art of the   
,greeks their strong impressions of the 

power of  light4 ,you will find the     
subject entered into at somewhat greater
 length  in my ,queen of the ,air2 and  
if you will look at the beginning of the
  #gth book of ,plato's ,polity1 and    
read carefully the passages in the      
context respecting the sun and          
intellectual sight1 you will see how    
intimately this physical love of light  
was connected with their  philosophy1 in
 its search1 as blind and captive1 for  
better knowledge4 ,i  shall not attempt 
to define for you to-day the more       
complex but much  shallower forms which 
this love of light1 and the philosophy  
that  accompanies it1 take in the       
medival mind2 only remember that in     
future1  when ,i briefly speak of the   
,greek school of art with reference to  
questions of delineation1 ,i mean the   
entire range of the schools1 from       
,homer's days to our own1 which concern 
themselves with the  representation of  
light1 and the effects it produces on   
material  form--beginning practically   

for us with these ,greek vase paintings1
 and  closing practically for us with   
,turner's sunset on the ,temeraire2     
being  throughout a school of captivity 
and sadness1 but of intense power2 and  
which in its technical method of shadow 
on material form1 as well as in  its    
essential temper1 is centrally          
represented to you by ,drer's two  great
 engravings of the ,melencolia and the  
,knight and ,death4 ,on the  other hand1
 when ,i briefly speak to you of the    
,gothic school1 with  reference to      
delineation1 ,i mean the entire and much
 more extensive  range of schools       
extending from the earliest art in      
,central ,asia and  ,egypt down to our  
own day in ,india and ,china3--schools  
which have been  content to obtain      
beautiful harmonies of colour without   
any  representation of light2 and which 
have1 many of them1 rested in such      
imperfect expressions of form as could  
be so obtained2 schools usually  in some
 measure childish1 or restricted in     

intellect1 and similarly  childish or   
restricted in their philosophies or     
faiths3 but contented in  the           
restriction2 and in the more powerful   
races1 capable of advance to  nobler    
development than the ,greek schools1    
though the consummate art of  ,europe   
has only been accomplished by the union 
of both4 ,how that union  was effected1 
,i will endeavour to show you in my next
 lecture2 to-day ,i  shall take note    
only of the points bearing on our       
immediate practice4      #aei4 ,a       
certain number of you1 by faculty and   
natural disposition1--and  all1 so far  
as you are interested in modern         
art1--will necessarily have  to put     
yourselves under the discipline of the  
,greek or chiaroscuro  school1 which is 
directed primarily to the attainment of 
the power of  representing form by pure 
contrast of light and shade4 ,i say1 the
  discipline of the ,greek school1 both 
because1 followed faithfully1 it  is    
indeed a severe one1 and because to     

follow it at all is1 for persons  fond  
of colour1 often a course of painful    
self-denial1 from which young  students 
are eager to escape4 ,and yet1 when the 
laws of both schools are  rightly       
obeyed1 the most perfect discipline is  
that of the colourists2  for they see   
and draw everything1 while the          
chiaroscurists must leave  much         
indeterminate in mystery1 or invisible  
in gloom3 and there are  therefore many 
licentious and vulgar forms of art      
connected with the  chiaroscuro school1 
both in painting and etching1 which have
 no parallel  among the colourists4 ,but
 both schools1 rightly followed1 require
 first  of all absolute accuracy of     
delineation4 ,this you need not hope to 
escape4 ,whether you fill your spaces   
with colours1 or with shadows1 they     
must equally be of the true outline and 
in true gradations4 ,i have been  thirty
 years telling modern students of art   
this in vain4 ,i mean to say  it to you 
only once1 for the statement is too     

important to be weakened  by repetition4
    ,,without ,,perfect ,,delineation   
,,of ,,form ,,and ,,perfect ,,gradation 
,,of ,,space1  ,,neither ,,noble        
,,colour ,,is ,,possible1 ,,nor ,,noble 
,,light4      #afj4 ,it may make this   
more believable to you if ,i put beside 
each other  a piece of detail from each 
school4 ,i gave you the ,st4 ,john of   
,cima da  ,conegliano for a type of the 
colour school4 ,here is my own study of 
the  sprays of oak which rise against   
the sky of it in the distance1 enlarged 
to about its real size 7,edu4 #ab74 ,i  
hope to draw it better for you at       
,venice2 but this will show you with    
what perfect care the colourist has     
followed the outline of every leaf in   
the sky4 ,beside1 ,i put a              
chiaroscurist drawing 7at least1 a      
photograph of one71 ,drer's from        
nature1 of the common wild wall-cabbage 
7,edu4 #cb74 ,it is the most  perfect   
piece of delineation by flat tint ,i    
have ever seen1 in its  mastery of the  

perspective of every leaf1 and its      
attainment almost of  the bloom of      
texture1 merely by its exquisitely      
tender and decisive  laying of the      
colour4 ,these two examples ought1 ,i   
think1 to satisfy you  as to the        
precision of outline of both schools1   
and the power of  expression which may  
be obtained by flat tints laid within   
such outline4      #afa4 ,next1 here are
 two examples of the gradated shading   
expressive of  the forms within the     
outline1 by two masters of the          
chiaroscuro school4  ,the first 7,s4    
#ab7 shows you ,lionardo's method of    
work1 both with chalk  and the silver   
point4 ,the second 7,s4 #cjb71 ,turner's
 work in mezzotint2  both masters doing 
their best4 ,observe that this plate of 
,turner's1  which he worked on so long  
that it was never published1 is of a    
subject  peculiarly depending on effects
 of mystery and concealment1 the fall of
  the ,reuss under the ,devil's ,bridge 
on the ,st4 ,gothard2 7the old  bridge2 

you may still see it under the existing 
one1 which was built  since ,turner's   
drawing was made74 ,if ever outline     
could be dispensed  with1 you would     
think it might be so in this confusion  
of cloud1 foam1  and darkness4 ,but here
 is ,turner's own etching on the plate  
7,edu4 #ce ,f71  made under the         
mezzotint2 and of all the studies of    
rock outline made by  his hand1 it is   
the most decisive and quietly complete4 
#afb4 ,again2 in the ,lionardo sketches1
 many parts are lost in obscurity1  or  
are left intentionally uncertain and    
mysterious1 even in the light1  and you 
might at first imagine some permission  
of escape had been here  given you from 
the terrible law of delineation4 ,but   
the slightest  attempts to copy them    
will show you that the terminal lines   
are  inimitably subtle1 unaccusably     
true1 and filled by gradations of shade 
so determined and measured that the     
addition of a grain of the lead or      
chalk as large as the filament of a     

moth's wing1 would make an  appreciable 
difference in them4    ,this is         
grievous1 you think1 and hopeless8 ,no1 
it is delightful and full  of hope3     
delightful1 to see what marvellous      
things can be done by men2  and full of 
hope1 if your hope is the right one1 of 
being one day able  to rejoice more in  
what others have done1 than in what you 
can yourself  do1 and more in the       
strength that is for ever above you1    
than in that  you can never attain4     
#afc4 ,but you can attain much1 if you  
will work reverently and patiently1  and
 hope for no success through            
ill-regulated effort4 ,it is1 however1  
most assuredly at this point of your    
study that the full strain on your      
patience will begin4 ,the exercises in  
line-drawing and flat laying of  colour 
are irksome2 but they are definite1 and 
within certain limits1  sure to be      
successful if practised with moderate   
care4 ,but the  expression of form by   
shadow requires more subtle patience1   

and involves  the necessity of frequent 
and mortifying failure1 not to speak of 
the  self-denial which ,i said was      
needful in persons fond of colour1 to   
draw  in mere light and shade4 ,if1     
indeed1 you were going to be artists1 or
  could give any great length of time to
 study1 it might be possible for  you to
 learn wholly in the ,venetian school1  
and to reach form through  colour4 ,but 
without the most intense application    
this is not possible2  and practically1 
it will be necessary for you1 as soon as
 you have  gained the power of outlining
 accurately1 and of laying flat colour1 
to  learn to express solid form as shown
 by light and shade only4 ,and there  is
 this great advantage in doing so1 that 
many forms are more or less  disguised  
by colour1 and that we can only         
represent them completely to  others1 or
 rapidly and easily record them for     
ourselves1 by the use of  shade alone4  
,a single instance will show you what ,i
 mean4 ,perhaps there  are few flowers  

of which the impression on the eye is   
more definitely of  flat colour1 than   
the scarlet geranium4 ,but you would    
find1 if you were  to try to paint      
it1--first1 that no pigment could       
approach the beauty of  its scarlet2 and
 secondly1 that the brightness of the   
hue dazzled the  eye1 and prevented its 
following the real arrangement of the   
cluster of  flowers4 ,i have drawn for  
you here 7at least this is a mezzotint  
from my  drawing71 a single cluster of  
the scarlet geranium1 in mere light and 
shade 7,edu4 #cb ,b471 and ,i think you 
will feel that its domed form1 and  the 
flat lying of the petals one over the   
other1 in the vaulted roof of  it1 can  
be seen better thus than if they had    
been painted scarlet4      #afd4 ,also  
this study will be useful to you1 in    
showing how entirely  effects of light  
depend on delineation1 and gradation of 
spaces1 and not  on methods of shading4 
,and this is the second great practical 
matter ,i  want you to remember to-day4 

,all effects of light and shade depend  
not  on the method or execution of      
shadows1 but on their rightness of      
place1  form1 and depth4 ,there is      
indeed a loveliness of execution added  
to  the rightness1 by the great masters1
 but you cannot obtain that unless  you 
become one of them4 ,shadow cannot be   
laid thoroughly well1 any more  than    
lines can be drawn steadily1 but by a   
long-practised hand1 and the  attempts  
to imitate the shading of fine          
draughtsmen1 by dotting and  hatching1  
are just as ridiculous as it would be to
 endeavour to imitate  their            
instantaneous lines by a series of      
re-touchings4 ,you will often  indeed   
see in ,lionardo's work1 and in ,michael
 ,angelo's1 shadow wrought  laboriously 
to an extreme of fineness2 but when you 
look into it1 you  will find that they  
have always been drawing more and more  
form within  the space1 and never       
finishing for the sake of added texture1
 but of  added fact4 ,and all those     

effects of transparency and reflected   
light1  aimed at in common chalk        
drawings1 are wholly spurious4 ,for     
since1 as ,i  told you1 all lights are  
shades compared to higher lights1 and   
lights  only as compared to lower ones1 
it follows that there can be no         
difference in their quality as such2 but
 that light is opaque when it  expresses
 substance1 and transparent when it     
expresses space2 and shade  is also     
opaque when it expresses substance1 and 
transparent when it  expresses space4   
,but it is not1 even then1 transparent  
in the common  sense of that word2 nor  
is its appearance to be obtained by     
dotting or  cross hatching1 but by      
touches so tender as to look like mist4 
,and now  we find the use of having     
,lionardo for our guide4 ,he is supreme 
in all  questions of execution1 and in  
his #bhth chapter1 you will find that   
shadows are to be dolce e sfumose1 to be
 tender1 and look as if they  were      
exhaled1 or breathed on the paper4      

,then1 look at any of ,michael          
,angelo's finished drawings1 or of      
,correggio's sketches1 and you will see 
that the true nurse of light is in art1 
as in nature1 the cloud2 a misty  and   
tender darkness1 made lovely by         
gradation4      #afe4 ,and how          
absolutely independent it is of material
 or method of  production1 how          
absolutely dependent on rightness of    
place and  depth1--there are now before 
you instances enough to prove4 ,here is 
,drer's work in flat colour1 represented
 by the photograph in its smoky  brown2 
,turner's1 in washed sepia1 and in      
mezzotint2 ,lionardo's1 in  pencil and  
in chalk2 on the screen in front of you 
a large study in  charcoal4 ,in every   
one of these drawings1 the material of  
shadow is  absolutely opaque4 ,but      
photograph-stain1 chalk1 lead1 ink1 or  
charcoal1--every one of them1 laid by   
the master's hand1 becomes full of      
light by gradation only4 ,here is a     
moonlight 7,edu4 #ca ,b471 in which you 

would think the moon shone through every
 cloud2 yet the clouds are mere  single 
dashes of sepia1 imitated by the brown  
stain of a photograph2  similarly1 in   
these plates from the ,liber ,studiorum 
the white paper  becomes transparent or 
opaque1 exactly as the master chooses4  
,here1 on  the granite rock of the ,st4 
,gothard 7,s4 #cjb71 in white paper made
  opaque1 every light represents solid  
bosses of rock1 or balls of foam4  ,but 
in this study of twilight 7,s4 #cjc71   
the same white paper 7coarse old  stuff 
it is1 too67 is made as transparent as  
crystal1 and every fragment  of it      
represents clear and far away light in  
the sky of evening in  ,italy4    ,from 
all which the practical conclusion for  
you is1 that you are never  to trouble  
yourselves with any questions as to the 
means of shade or  light1 but only with 
the right government of the means at    
your disposal4  ,and it is a most grave 
error in the system of many of our      
public  drawing-schools1 that the       

students are permitted to spend weeks of
  labour in giving attractive           
appearance1 by delicacy of texture1 to  
chiaroscuro drawings in which every form
 is false1 and every relation of  depth1
 untrue4 ,a most unhappy form of error2 
for it not only delays1 and  often      
wholly arrests1 their advance in their  
own art2 but it prevents  what ought to 
take place correlatively with their     
executive practice1  the formation of   
their taste by the accurate study of the
 models from  which they draw4 ,and ,i  
must so far anticipate what we shall    
discover  when we come to the subject of
 sculpture1 as to tell you the two main 
principles of good sculpture2 first1    
that its masters think before all  other
 matters of the right placing of masses2
 secondly1 that they give  life by      
flexure of surface1 not by quantity of  
detail2 for sculpture is  indeed only   
light and shade drawing in stone4       
#aff4 ,much that ,i have endeavoured to 
teach on this subject has been  gravely 

misunderstood1 by both young painters   
and sculptors1 especially  by the       
latter4 ,because ,i am always urging    
them to imitate organic forms1  they    
think if they carve quantities of       
flowers and leaves1 and copy them  from 
the life1 they have done all that is    
needed4 ,but the difficulty is  not to  
carve quantities of leaves4 ,anybody can
 do that4 ,the difficulty  is1 never    
anywhere to have an unnecessary leaf4   
,over the arch on the  right1 you see   
there is a cluster of seven1 with their 
short stalks  springing from a thick    
stem4 ,now1 you could not turn one of   
those leaves  a hair's-breadth out of   
its place1 nor thicken one of their     
stems1 nor  alter the angle at which    
each slips over the next one1 without   
spoiling  the whole as much as you would
 a piece of melody by missing a note4   
,that  is disposition of masses4 ,again1
 in the group on the left1 while the    
placing of every leaf is just as        
skilful1 they are made more interesting 

yet by the lovely undulation of their   
surfaces1 so that not one of them  is in
 equal light with another4 ,and that is 
so in all good sculpture1  without      
exception4 ,from the ,elgin marbles down
 to the lightest tendril  that curls    
round a capital in the thirteenth       
century1 every piece of  stone that has 
been touched by the hand of a master1   
becomes soft with  under-life1 not      
resembling nature merely in             
skin-texture1 nor in fibres  of leaf1 or
 veins of flesh2 but in the broad1      
tender1 unspeakably subtle  undulation  
of its organic form4      #afg4         
,returning then to the question of our  
own practice1 ,i believe that  all      
difficulties in method will vanish1 if  
only you cultivate with care  enough the
 habit of accurate observation1 and if  
you think only of  making your light and
 shade true1 whether it be delicate or  
not4 ,but  there are three divisions or 
degrees of truth to be sought for1 in   
light  and shade1 by three several modes

 of study1 which ,i must ask you to     
distinguish carefully4    ,i4 ,when     
objects are lighted by the direct rays  
of the sun1 or by direct  light entering
 from a window1 one side of them is of  
course in light1  the other in shade1   
and the forms in the mass are exhibited 
systematically by the force of the rays 
falling on it2 7those having  most power
 of illumination which strike most      
vertically27 and note that  there is1   
therefore1 to every solid curvature of  
surface1 a necessarily  proportioned    
gradation of light1 the gradation on a  
parabolic solid  being different from   
the gradation on an elliptical or       
spherical one4  ,now1 when your purpose 
is to represent and learn the anatomy1  
or  otherwise characteristic forms1 of  
any object1 it is best to place it in   
this kind of direct light1 and to draw  
it as it is seen when we look at  it in 
a direction at right angles to that of  
the ray4 ,this is the  ordinary         
academical way of studying form4        

,lionardo seldom practises any  other in
 his real work1 though he directs many  
others in his treatise4      #afh4 ,the 
great importance of anatomical knowledge
 to the painters of the  sixteenth      
century rendered this method of study   
very frequent with them2  it almost     
wholly regulated their schools of       
engraving1 and has been the  most       
frequent system of drawing in           
art-schools since 7to the very          
inexpedient exclusion of others74 ,when 
you study objects in this  way1--and it 
will indeed be well to do so often1     
though not  exclusively1--observe always
 one main principle4 ,divide the light  
from  the darkness frankly at first3 all
 over the subject let there be no  doubt
 which is which4 ,separate them one from
 the other as they are  separated in the
 moon1 or on the world itself1 in day   
and night4 ,then  gradate your lights   
with the utmost subtilty possible to    
you2 but let  your shadows alone1 until 
near the termination of the drawing3    

then put  quickly into them what farther
 energy they need1 thus gaining the     
reflected lights out of their original  
flat gloom2 but generally not  looking  
much for reflected lights4 ,nearly all  
young students 7and too  many advanced  
masters7 exaggerate them4 ,it is good to
 see a drawing come  out of its ground  
like a vision of light only2 the shadows
 lost1 or  disregarded in the vague of  
space4 ,in vulgar chiaroscuro the shades
 are  so full of reflection that they   
look as if some one had been walking    
round the object with a candle1 and the 
student1 by that help1 peering  into its
 crannies4      #afi4 ,,ii4 ,but1 in the
 reality of nature1 very few objects are
 seen in  this accurately lateral       
manner1 or lighted by unconfused direct 
rays4  ,some are all in shadow1 some all
 in light1 some near1 and vigorously    
defined2 others dim and faint in aerial 
distance4 ,the study of these  various  
effects and forces of light1 which we   
may call aerial  chiaroscuro1 is a far  

more subtle one than that of the rays   
exhibiting  organic form 7which for     
distinction's sake we may call formal   
chiaroscuro71 since the degrees of light
 from the sun itself to the  blackness  
of night1 are far beyond any literal    
imitation4 ,in order to  produce a      
mental impression of the facts1 two     
distinct methods may be  followed3--the 
first1 to shade downwards from the      
lights1 making  everything darker in due
 proportion1 until the scale of our     
power being  ended1 the mass of the     
picture is lost in shade4 ,the second1  
to assume  the points of extreme        
darkness for a basis1 and to light      
everything  above these in due          
proportion1 till the mass of the picture
 is lost in  light4      #agj4 ,thus1 in
 ,turner's sepia drawing ,isis 7,edu4   
#ca71 he begins with  the extreme light 
in the sky1 and shades down from that   
till he is  forced to represent the near
 trees and pool as one mass of          
blackness4 ,in  his drawing of the      

,greta 7,s4 #b71 he begins with the dark
 brown shadow of  the bank on the left1 
and illuminates up from that1 till1 in  
his  distance1 trees1 hills1 sky1 and   
clouds1 are all lost in broad light1 so 
that you can hardly see the distinction 
between hills and sky4 ,the  second of  
these methods is in general the best for
 colour1 though great  painters unite   
both in their practice1 according to the
 character of  their subject4 ,the first
 method is never pursued in colour but  
by  inferior painters4 ,it is1          
nevertheless1 of great importance to    
make  studies of chiaroscuro in this    
first manner for some time1 as a        
preparation for colouring2 and this for 
many reasons1 which it would  take too  
long to state now4 ,i shall expect you  
to have confidence in me  when ,i assure
 you of the necessity of this study1 and
 ask you to make  good use of the       
examples from the ,liber ,studiorum     
which ,i have placed in  your           
,educational series4      #aga4 ,,iii4  

,whether in formal or aerial            
chiaroscuro1 it is optional with  the   
student to make the local colour of     
objects a part of his shadow1 or  to    
consider the high lights of every colour
 as white4 ,for instance1 a             
chiaroscurist of ,lionardo's school1    
drawing a leopard1 would take no  notice
 whatever of the spots1 but only give   
the shadows which expressed  the        
anatomy4 ,and it is indeed necessary to 
be able to do this1 and to  make        
drawings of the forms of things as if   
they were sculptured1 and had  no       
colour4 ,but in general1 and more       
especially in the practice which is  to 
guide you to colour1 it is better to    
regard the local colour as part  of the 
general dark and light to be imitated2  
and1 as ,i told you at  first1 to       
consider all nature merely as a mosaic  
of different colours1  to be imitated   
one by one in simplicity4 ,but good     
artists vary their  methods according to
 their subject and material4 ,in        

general1 ,drer takes  little account of 
local colour2 but in woodcuts of        
armorial bearings  7one with peacock's  
feathers ,i shall get for you some day7 
takes great  delight in it2 while one of
 the chief merits of ,bewick is the ease
 and  vigour with which he uses his     
black and white for the colours of      
plumes4  ,also1 every great artist looks
 for1 and expresses1 that character of  
his  subject which is best to be        
rendered by the instrument in his hand1 
and  the material he works on4 ,give    
,velasquez or ,veronese a leopard to    
paint1  the first thing they think of   
will be its spots2 give it to ,drer to  
engrave1 and he will set himself at the 
fur and whiskers2 give it a  ,greek to  
carve1 and he will only think of its    
jaws and limbs2 each doing  what is     
absolutely best with the means at his   
disposal4      #agb4 ,the details of    
practice in these various methods ,i    
will endeavour  to explain to you by    
distinct examples in your ,educational  

series1 as we  proceed in our work2 for 
the present1 let me1 in closing1        
recommend to  you once more with great  
earnestness the patient endeavour to    
render the  chiaroscuro of landscape in 
the manner of the ,liber ,studiorum2 and
 this  the rather1 because you might    
easily suppose that the facility of     
obtaining photographs which render such 
effects1 as it seems1 with  absolute    
truth and with unapproachable subtilty1 
superseded the  necessity of study1 and 
the use of sketching4 ,let me assure    
you1 once  for all1 that photographs    
supersede no single quality nor use of  
fine  art1 and have so much in common   
with ,nature1 that they even share her  
temper of parsimony1 and will themselves
 give you nothing valuable that  you do 
not work for4 ,they supersede no good   
art1 for the definition of  art is human
 labour regulated by human design1 and  
this design1 or  evidence of active     
intellect in choice and arrangement1 is 
the  essential part of the work2 which  

so long as you cannot perceive1 you     
perceive no art whatsoever2 which when  
once you do perceive1 you will  perceive
 also to be replaceable by no mechanism4
 ,but1 farther1  photographs will give  
you nothing you do not work for4 ,they  
are  invaluable for record of some kinds
 of facts1 and for giving transcripts   
of drawings by great masters2 but       
neither in the photographed scene1 nor  
photographed drawing1 will you see any  
true good1 more than in the  things     
themselves1 until you have given the    
appointed price in your own  attention  
and toil4 ,and when once you have paid  
this price1 you will not  care for      
photographs of landscape4 ,they are not 
true1 though they seem  so4 ,they are   
merely spoiled nature4 ,if it is not    
human design you are  looking for1 there
 is more beauty in the next wayside bank
 than in all  the sun-blackened paper   
you could collect in a lifetime4 ,go and
 look at  the real landscape1 and take  
care of it2 do not think you can get the

  good of it in a black stain portable  
in a folio4 ,but if you care for  human 
thought and passion1 then learn         
yourselves to watch the course and  fall
 of the light by whose influence you    
live1 and to share in the joy  of human 
spirits in the heavenly gifts of sunbeam
 and shade4 ,for ,i tell  you truly1    
that to a quiet heart1 and healthy      
brain1 and industrious  hand1 there is  
more delight1 and use1 in the dappling  
of one wood-glade  with flowers and     
sunshine1 than to the restless1         
heartless1 and idle  could be brought by
 a panorama of a belt of the world1     
photographed  round the equator4        
,,lecture ,,vii    ,,colour      #agc4  
,to-day ,i must try to complete our     
elementary sketch of schools of  art1 by
 tracing the course of those which were 
distinguished by faculty  of colour1 and
 afterwards to deduce from the entire   
scheme advisable  methods of immediate  
practice4    ,you remember that1 for the
 type of the early schools of colour1 ,i

 chose  their work in glass2 as for that
 of the early schools of chiaroscuro1 ,i
  chose their work in clay4    ,i had   
two reasons for this4 ,first1 that the  
peculiar skill of colourists  is seen   
most intelligibly in their work in glass
 or in enamel2 secondly1  that ,nature  
herself produces all her loveliest      
colours in some kind of  solid or liquid
 glass or crystal4 ,the rainbow is      
painted on a shower of  melted glass1   
and the colours of the opal are produced
 in vitreous flint  mixed with water2   
the green and blue1 and golden or amber 
brown of  flowing water is in surface   
glassy1 and in motion splendidior vitro4
  ,and the loveliest colours ever       
granted to human sight--those of morning
  and evening clouds before or after    
rain--are produced on minute  particles 
of finely-divided water1 or perhaps     
sometimes ice4 ,but more  than this4 ,if
 you examine with a lens some of the    
richest colours of  flowers1 as1 for    
instance1 those of the gentian and      

dianthus1 you will  find their texture  
is produced by a crystalline or sugary  
frost-work  upon them4 ,in the lychnis  
of the high ,alps1 the red and white    
have a  kind of sugary bloom1 as rich as
 it is delicate4 ,it is indescribable2  
but if you can fancy very powdery and   
crystalline snow mixed with the  softest
 cream1 and then dashed with carmine1 it
 may give you some idea  of the look of 
it4 ,there are no colours1 either in the
 nacre of shells1  or the plumes of     
birds and insects1 which are so pure as 
those of  clouds1 opal1 or flowers2 but 
the force of purple and blue in some    
butterflies1 and the methods of         
clouding1 and strength of burnished     
lustre1 in plumage like the peacock's1  
give them more universal  interest2 in  
some birds1 also1 as in our own         
kingfisher1 the colour  nearly reaches a
 floral preciousness4 ,the lustre in    
most1 however1 is  metallic rather than 
vitreous2 and the vitreous always gives 
the purest  hue4 ,entirely common and   

vulgar compared with these1 yet to be   
noticed  as completing the crystalline  
or vitreous system1 we have the colours 
of  gems4 ,the green of the emerald is  
the best of these2 but at its best is   
as vulgar as house-painting beside the  
green of bird's plumage or of  clear    
water4 ,no diamond shows colour so pure 
as a dewdrop2 the ruby is  like the pink
 of an ill-dyed and half-washed-out     
print1 compared to the  dianthus2 and   
the carbuncle is usually quite dead     
unless set with a  foil1 and even then  
is not prettier than the seed of a      
pomegranate4 ,the  opal is1 however1 an 
exception4 ,when pure and uncut in its  
native rock1  it presents the most      
lovely colours that can be seen in the  
world1  except those of clouds4    ,we  
have thus in nature1 chiefly obtained by
 crystalline conditions1 a  series of   
groups of entirely delicious hues2 and  
it is one of the best  signs that the   
bodily system is in a healthy state when
 we can see these  clearly in their most

 delicate tints1 and enjoy them fully   
and simply1  with the kind of enjoyment 
that children have in eating sweet      
things4      #agd4 ,now1 the course of  
our main colour schools is briefly      
this3--,first  we have1 returning to our
 hexagonal scheme1 line2 then spaces    
filled  with pure colour2 and then      
masses expressed or rounded with pure   
colour4 ,and during these two stages the
 masters of colour delight in the       
purest tints1 and endeavour as far as   
possible to rival those of opals  and   
flowers4 ,in saying the purest tints1 ,i
 do not mean the simplest  types of red1
 blue1 and yellow1 but the most pure    
tints obtainable by  their combinations4
      #age4 ,you remember ,i told you1  
when the colourists painted masses or   
projecting spaces1 they1 aiming always  
at colour1 perceived from the  first and
 held to the last the fact that shadows1
 though of course  darker than the      
lights with reference to which they are 
shadows1 are  not therefore necessarily 

less vigorous colours1 but perhaps more 
vigorous4 ,some of the most beautiful   
blues and purples in nature1 for        
instance1 are those of mountains in     
shadow against amber sky2 and the       
darkness of the hollow in the centre of 
a wild rose is one glow of  orange fire1
 owing to the quantity of its yellow    
stamens4 ,well1 the  ,venetians always  
saw this1 and all great colourists see  
it1 and are thus  separated from the    
non-colourists or schools of mere       
chiaroscuro1 not by  difference in style
 merely1 but by being right while the   
others are  wrong4 ,it is an absolute   
fact that shadows are as much colours as
 lights  are2 and whoever represents    
them by merely the subdued or darkened  
tint  of the light1 represents them     
falsely4 ,i particularly want you to    
observe that this is no matter of taste1
 but fact4 ,if you are especially       
sober-minded1 you may indeed choose     
sober colours where ,venetians would    
have chosen gay ones2 that is a matter  

of taste2 you may think it proper  for a
 hero to wear a dress without patterns  
on it1 rather than an  embroidered one2 
that is similarly a matter of taste3    
but1 though you  may also think it would
 be dignified for a hero's limbs to be  
all black1  or brown1 on the shaded side
 of them1 yet1 if you are using colour  
at  all1 you cannot so have him to your 
mind1 except by falsehood2 he never1    
under any circumstances1 could be       
entirely black or brown on one side of  
him4      #agf4 ,in this1 then1 the     
,venetians are separate from other      
schools by  rightness1 and they are so  
to their last days4 ,venetian painting  
is in  this matter always right4 ,but   
also1 in their early days1 the          
colourists  are separated from other    
schools by their contentment with       
tranquil  cheerfulness of light3 by     
their never wanting to be dazzled4 ,none
 of  their lights are flashing or       
blinding2 they are soft1 winning1       
precious2  lights of pearl1 not of lime3

 only1 you know1 on this condition they 
cannot have sunshine3 their day is the  
day of ,paradise2 they need no  candle1 
neither light of the sun1 in their      
cities2 and everything is  seen clear1  
as through crystal1 far or near4        
,this holds to the end of the fifteenth 
century4 ,then they begin to see  that  
this1 beautiful as it may be1 is still a
 make-believe light2 that  we do not    
live in the inside of a pearl2 but in an
 atmosphere through  which a burning sun
 shines thwartedly1 and over which a    
sorrowful night  must far prevail4 ,and 
then the chiaroscurists succeed in      
persuading them  of the fact that there 
is a mystery in the day as in the night1
 and show  them how constantly to see   
truly1 is to see dimly4 ,and also they  
teach  them the brilliancy of light1 and
 the degree in which it is raised from  
the darkness2 and instead of their sweet
 and pearly peace1 tempt them to  look  
for the strength of flame and           
coruscation of lightning1 and flash  of 

sunshine on armour and on points of     
spears4      #agg4 ,the noble painters  
take the lesson nobly1 alike for gloom  
or flame4  ,titian with deliberate      
strength1 ,tintoret with stormy passion1
 read it1  side by side4 ,titian deepens
 the hues of his ,assumption1 as of his 
,entombment1 into a solemn twilight2    
,tintoret involves his earth in coils   
of volcanic cloud1 and withdraws1       
through circle flaming above circle1    
the distant light of ,paradise4 ,both of
 them1 becoming naturalist and  human1  
add the veracity of ,holbein's intense  
portraiture to the glow and  dignity    
they had themselves inherited from the  
,masters of ,peace3 at the  same moment 
another1 as strong as they1 and in pure 
felicity of  art-faculty1 even greater  
than they1 but trained in a lower       
school1--,velasquez1--produced the      
miracles of colour and  shadow-painting1
 which made ,reynolds say of him1 ,what 
we all do with  labour1 he does with    
ease2 and one more1 ,correggio1 uniting 

the sensual  element of the ,greek      
schools with their gloom1 and their     
light with  their beauty1 and all these 
with the ,lombardic colour1 became1 as  
since  ,i think it has been admitted    
without question1 the captain of the    
painter's art as such4 ,other men have  
nobler or more numerous gifts1 but  as a
 painter1 master of the art of laying   
colour so as to be lovely1  ,correggio  
is alone4      #agh4 ,i said the noble  
men learned their lesson nobly4 ,the    
base men also1  and necessarily1 learn  
it basely4 ,the great men rise from     
colour to  sunlight4 ,the base ones fall
 from colour to candlelight4 ,to-day1   
non  ragioniam di lor1 but let us see   
what this great change which perfects   
the art of painting mainly consists in1 
and means4 ,for though we are  only at  
present speaking of technical matters1  
every one of them1 ,i can  scarcely too 
often repeat1 is the outcome and sign of
 a mental  character1 and you can only  
understand the folds of the veil1 by    

those  of the form it veils4      #agi4 
,the complete painters1 we find1 have   
brought dimness and mystery  into their 
method of colouring4 ,that means that   
the world all round them  has resolved  
to dream1 or to believe1 no more2 but to
 know1 and to see4  ,and instantly all  
knowledge and sight are given1 no more  
as in the  ,gothic times1 through a     
window of glass1 brightly1 but as       
through a  telescope-glass1 darkly4     
,your cathedral window shut you from the
 true  sky1 and illumined you with a    
vision2 your telescope leads you to the 
sky1 but darkens its light1 and reveals 
nebula beyond nebula1 far and  farther1 
and to no conceivable                   
farthest--unresolvable4 ,that is what   
the  mystery means4      #ahj4 ,next1   
what does that ,greek opposition of     
black and white mean8    ,in the sweet  
crystalline time of colour1 the         
painters1 whether on glass  or canvas1  
employed intricate patterns1 in order to
 mingle hues  beautifully with each     

other1 and make one perfect melody of   
them all4  ,but in the great naturalist 
school1 they like their patterns to come
 in  the ,greek way1 dashed dark on     
light1--gleaming light out of dark4     
,that  means also that the world round  
them has again returned to the ,greek   
conviction1 that all nature1 especially 
human nature1 is not entirely  melodious
 nor luminous2 but a barred and broken  
thing3 that saints have  their foibles1 
sinners their forces2 that the most     
luminous virtue is  often only a flash1 
and the blackest-looking fault is       
sometimes only a  stain3 and1 without   
confusing in the least black with white1
 they can  forgive1 or even take delight
 in things that are like the ,greek3    
nebris1 dappled4      #aha4 ,you have   
then--first1 mystery4 ,secondly1        
opposition of dark and  light4 ,then1   
lastly1 whatever truth of form the dark 
and light can show4    ,that is to say1 
truth altogether1 and resignation to it1
 and quiet  resolve to make the best of 

it4 ,and therefore portraiture of living
 men1  women1 and children1--no more of 
saints1 cherubs1 or demons4 ,so here ,i 
have brought for your standards of      
perfect art1 a little maiden of the     
,strozzi family1 with her dog1 by       
,titian2 and a little princess of the   
house of ,savoy1 by ,vandyke2 and       
,charles the ,fifth1 by ,titian2 and a  
queen1 by ,velasquez2 and an ,english   
girl in a brocaded gown1 by  ,reynolds2 
and an ,english physician in his plain  
coat1 and wig1 by  ,reynolds3 and if you
 do not like them1 ,i cannot help       
myself1 for ,i can  find nothing better 
for you4      #ahb4 ,better8--,i must   
pause at the word4 ,nothing stronger1   
certainly1 nor  so strong4 ,nothing so  
wonderful1 so inimitable1 so keen in    
unprejudiced  and unbiassed sight4      
,yet better1 perhaps1 the sight that was
 guided by a sacred will2 the  power    
that could be taught to weaker hands2   
the work that was faultless1  though not
 inimitable1 bright with felicity of    

heart1 and consummate in  a disciplined 
and companionable skill4 ,you will find1
 when ,i can place  in your hands the   
notes on ,verona1 which ,i read at the  
,royal  ,institution1 that ,i have      
ventured to call the ra of painting     
represented by ,john ,bellini1 the time 
of the ,masters4 ,truly they  deserved  
the name1 who did nothing but what was  
lovely1 and taught only  what was right4
 ,these mightier1 who succeeded them1   
crowned1 but closed1  the dynasties of  
art1 and since their day1 painting has  
never flourished  more4      #ahc4      
,there were many reasons for this1      
without fault of theirs4 ,they  were    
exponents1 in the first place1 of the   
change in all men's minds  from civil   
and religious to merely domestic        
passion2 the love of their  gods and    
their country had contracted itself now 
into that of their  domestic circle1    
which was little more than the halo of  
themselves4 ,you  will see the          
reflection of this change in painting at

 once by comparing  the two ,madonnas   
7,s4 #cg1 ,john ,bellini's1 and         
,raphael's1 called della  ,seggiola74   
,bellini's ,madonna cares for all       
creatures through her child2            
,raphael's1 for her child only4         
,again1 the world round these painters  
had become sad and proud1 instead  of   
happy and humble2--its domestic peace   
was darkened by irreligion1 its         
national action fevered by pride4 ,and  
for sign of its ,love1 the ,hymen1      
whose statue this fair ,english girl1   
according to ,reynolds' thought1 has  to
 decorate 7,s4 #dc71 is blind1 and holds
 a coronet4    ,again1 in the splendid  
power of realisation1 which these       
greatest of  artists had reached1 there 
was the latent possibility of amusement 
by  deception1 and of excitement by     
sensualism4 ,and ,dutch trickeries of   
base  resemblance1 and ,french fancies  
of insidious beauty1 soon occupied the  
eyes of the populace of ,europe1 too    
restless and wretched now to care  for  

the sweet earth-berries and ,madonna's  
ivy of ,cima1 and too ignoble  to       
perceive ,titian's colour1 or           
,correggio's shade4      #ahd4 ,enough  
sources of evil were here1 in the temper
 and power of the  consummate art4 ,in  
its practical methods there was another1
 the  fatallest of all4 ,these great    
artists brought with them mystery1      
despondency1 domesticity1 sensuality3 of
 all these1 good came1 as well  as evil4
 ,one thing more they brought1 of which 
nothing but evil ever  comes1 or can    
come--,,liberty4    ,by the discipline  
of five hundred years they had learned  
and inherited  such power1 that whereas 
all former painters could be right only 
by  effort1 they could be right with    
ease2 and whereas all former painters   
could be right only under restraint1    
they could be right1 free4  ,tintoret's 
touch1 ,luini's1 ,correggio's1          
,reynolds'1 and ,velasquez's1 are  all  
as free as the air1 and yet right4 ,how 
very fine6 said everybody4              

,unquestionably1 very fine4 ,next1 said 
everybody1 ,what a grand  discovery6    
,here is the finest work ever done1 and 
it is quite free4 ,let  us all be free  
then1 and what fine things shall we not 
do also6 ,with  what results we too well
 know4    ,nevertheless1 remember you   
are to delight in the freedom won by    
these  mighty men through obedience1    
though you are not to covet it4 ,obey1  
and  you also shall be free in time2 but
 in these minor things1 as well as in   
great1 it is only right service which is
 perfect freedom4      #ahe4 ,this1     
broadly1 is the history of the early and
 late colour-schools4  ,the first of    
these ,i shall call generally1          
henceforward1 the school of  crystal2   
the other that of clay3 potter's clay1  
or human1 are too  sorrowfully the same1
 as far as art is concerned4 ,but       
remember1 in  practice1 you cannot      
follow both these schools2 you must     
distinctly  adopt the principles of one 
or the other4 ,i will put the means of  

following either within your reach2 and 
according to your dispositions  you will
 choose one or the other3 all ,i have to
 guard you against is the  mistake of   
thinking you can unite the two4 ,if you 
want to paint 7even in  the most distant
 and feeble way7 in the ,greek ,school1 
the school of  ,lionardo1 ,correggio1   
and ,turner1 you cannot design coloured 
windows1 nor  ,angelican paradises4 ,if1
 on the other hand1 you choose to live  
in the  peace of paradise1 you cannot   
share in the gloomy triumphs of the     
earth4      #ahf4 ,and1 incidentally    
note1 as a practical matter of immediate
  importance1 that painted windows have 
nothing to do with  chiaroscuro4#ad ,the
 virtue of glass is to be transparent   
everywhere4 ,if  you care to build a    
palace of jewels1 painted glass is      
richer than all  the treasures of       
,aladdin's lamp2 but if you like        
pictures better than  jewels1 you must  
come into broad daylight to paint them4 
,a picture in  coloured glass is one of 

the most vulgar of barbarisms1 and only 
fit to  be ranked with the gauze        
transparencies and chemical             
illuminations of  the sensational stage4
    ,footnote #ad3 ,there is noble      
chiaroscuro in the variations of their  
colour1 but not as representative of    
solid form4    ,also1 put out of your   
minds at once all question about        
difficulty of  getting colour2 in glass 
we have all the colours that are wanted1
 only  we do not know either how to     
choose1 or how to connect them2 and we  
are  always trying to get them bright1  
when their real virtues are to be  deep1
 mysterious1 and subdued4 ,we will have 
a thorough study of painted  glass soon3
 mean while ,i merely give you a type of
 its perfect style1 in  two windows from
 ,chalons-sur-,marne 7,s4 #ada74        
#ahg4 ,but for my own part1 with what   
poor gift and skill is in me1 ,i  belong
 wholly to the chiaroscurist school2 and
 shall teach you therefore  chiefly that
 which ,i am best able to teach3 and the

 rather1 that it is  only in this school
 that you can follow out the study      
either of natural  history or landscape4
 ,the form of a wild animal1 or the     
wrath of a  mountain torrent1 would both
 be revolting 7or in a certain sense    
invisible7 to the calm fantasy of a     
painter in the schools of crystal4  ,he 
must lay his lion asleep in ,st4        
,jerome's study beside his tame         
partridge and easy slippers2 lead the   
appeased river by alternate azure       
promontories1 and restrain its courtly  
little streamlets with margins of       
marble4 ,but1 on the other hand1 your   
studies of mythology and literature  may
 best be connected with these schools of
 purest and calmest  imagination2 and   
their discipline will be useful to you  
in yet another  direction1 and that a   
very important one4 ,it will teach you  
to take  delight in little things1 and  
develop in you the joy which all men    
should feel in purity and order1 not    
only in pictures but in reality4  ,for1 

indeed1 the best art of this school of  
fantasy may at last be in  reality1 and 
the chiaroscurists1 true in ideal1 may  
be less helpful in  act4 ,we cannot     
arrest sunsets nor carve mountains1 but 
we may turn every  ,english homestead1  
if we choose1 into a picture by ,cima or
 ,john ,bellini1  which shall be no     
counterfeit1 but the true and perfect   
image of life  indeed4      #ahh4 ,for  
the present1 however1 and yet for some  
little time during your  progress1 you  
will not have to choose your school4    
,for both1 as we have  seen1 begin in   
delineation1 and both proceed by filling
 flat spaces  with an even tint4 ,and   
therefore this following will be the    
course of  work for you1 founded on all 
that we have seen4    ,having learned to
 measure1 and draw a pen line with some 
steadiness 7the  geometrical exercises  
for this purpose being properly school1 
not  ,university work71 you shall have a
 series of studies from the plants      
which are of chief importance in the    

history of art2 first from their  real  
forms1 and then from the conventional   
and heraldic expressions of  them2 then 
we will take examples of the filling of 
ornamental forms with  flat colour in   
,egyptian1 ,greek1 and ,gothic design2  
and then we will  advance to animal     
forms treated in the same severe way1   
and so to the  patterns and colour      
designs on animals themselves4 ,and when
 we are sure  of our firmness of hand   
and accuracy of eye1 we will go on into 
light  and shade4      #ahi4 ,in process
 of time1 this series of exercises will1
 ,i hope1 be  sufficiently complete and 
systematic to show its purpose at a     
glance4  ,but during the present year1  
,i shall content myself with placing a  
few  examples of these different kinds  
of practice in your rooms for work1     
explaining in the catalogue the position
 they will ultimately occupy1  and the  
technical points of process into which  
it is useless to enter in  a general    
lecture4 ,after a little time spent in  

copying these1 your own  predilections  
must determine your future course of    
study2 only remember1  whatever school  
you follow1 it must be only to learn    
method1 not to  imitate result1 and to  
acquaint yourself with the minds of     
other men1  but not to adopt them as    
your own4 ,be assured that no good can  
come of  our work but as it arises      
simply out of our own true natures1 and 
the  necessities of the time around us1 
though in many respects an evil one4    
,we live in an age of base conceit and  
baser servility--an age whose  intellect
 is chiefly formed by pillage1 and      
occupied in desecration2 one  day       
mimicking1 the next destroying1 the     
works of all the noble persons  who made
 its intellectual or art life possible  
to it3--an age without  honest          
confidence enough in itself to carve a  
cherry-stone with an  original fancy1   
but with insolence enough to abolish the
 solar system1  if it were allowed to   
meddle with it4#ae ,in the midst of all 

this1 you  have to become lowly and     
strong2 to recognise the powers of      
others and  to fulfil your own4 ,i shall
 try to bring before you every form of  
ancient art1 that you may read and      
profit by it1 not imitate it4 ,you      
shall draw ,egyptian kings dressed in   
colours like the rainbow1 and ,doric    
gods1 and ,runic monsters1 and ,gothic  
monks--not that you may draw like       
,egyptians or ,norsemen1 nor yield      
yourselves passively to be bound by the 
devotion1 or inspired by the passion of 
the past1 but that you may know  truly  
what other men have felt during their   
poor span of life2 and open  your own   
hearts to what the heavens and earth may
 have to tell you in  yours4            
,footnote #ae3 ,every day these bitter  
words become more sorrowfully true      
7,september1 #ahhg74      #aij4 ,in     
closing this first course of lectures1  
,i have one word more to  say respecting
 the possible consequence of the        
introduction of art among  the studies  

of the ,university4 ,what art may do for
 scholarship1 ,i have  no right to      
conjecture2 but what scholarship may do 
for art1 ,i may in  all modesty tell    
you4 ,hitherto1 great artists1 though   
always gentlemen1  have yet been too    
exclusively craftsmen4 ,art has been    
less thoughtful  than we suppose2 it has
 taught much1 but erred much1 also4     
,many of the  greatest pictures are     
enigmas2 others1 beautiful toys2 others1
 harmful  and corrupting enchantments4  
,in the loveliest1 there is something   
weak2  in the greatest1 there is        
something guilty4 ,and this1 gentlemen1 
if you  will1 is the new thing that may 
come to pass1--that the scholars of     
,england may resolve to teach also with 
the silent power of the arts2 and  that 
some among you may so learn and use     
them1 that pictures may be  painted     
which shall not be enigmas any more1 but
 open teachings of what  can no         
otherwise be so well shown2--which shall
 not be fevered or broken  visions any  

more1 but filled with the indwelling    
light of self-possessed                 
imagination2--which shall not be stained
 or enfeebled any more by evil  passion1
 but glorious with the strength and     
chastity of noble human  love2--and     
which shall no more degrade or disguise 
the work of ,god in  heaven1 but testify
 of ,him as here dwelling with men1 and 
walking with  them1 not angry1 in the   
garden of the earth4