,illustration3 ,,ruskin',s ,,monument ,,from ,a ,,photograph ,,the ,,complete ,,works ,,of ,,john ,,ruskin ,,on ,,the ,,old ,,road ,,volumes ,i-,,ii ,,national ,,library ,,association ,,new ,,york ,,chicago 99 99 99 99 99 ,,on ,,the ,,old ,,road4 ,a ,,collection ,,of ,,miscellaneous ,,essays ,,and ,,articles ,,on ,,art ,,and ,,literature4 ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,published #ahcd-ahhe4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents ,,of ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,introductory4 ,,page ,,my ,,first ,,editor4 #ahgh #c ,,art4 ,i4 ,,history ,,and ,,criticism4 ,,lord ,,lindsay',s ,,christian ,,art4 #ahdg #ag ,,eastlake',s ,,history ,,of ,,oil ,,painting4 #ahdh #ig ,,samuel ,,prout4 #ahdi #adh ,,sir ,,joshua ,,and ,,holbein4 #ahfj #aeh ,,ii4 ,,pre-,,raphaelitism4 ,,its ,,principles1 ,,and ,,turner4 #ahea #aga ,,its ,,three ,,colors4 #ahgh #bah ,,iii4 ,,architecture4 ,,the ,,opening ,,of ,,the ,,crystal ,,palace4 #ahed #bde ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,architecture ,,in ,,our ,,schools4 #ahfe #bei ,,iv4 ,,inaugural ,,address1 ,,cambridge ,,school ,,of ,,art4 #aheh #bgi ,v4 ,,the ,,cestus ,,of ,,aglaia4 #ahfe-ff #cje 99 99 99 99 99 ,,introductory3 ,,my ,,first ,,editor4 ,,art4 ,i4 ,,history ,,and ,,criticism4 ,,ii4 ,,pre-,,raphaelitism4 ,,iii4 ,,architecture4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,introductory4 ,,my ,,first ,,editor4 ,,an ,,autobiographical ,,reminiscence4 7,university ,magazine1 ,april #ahgh47 99 99 99 99 99 ,,my ,,first ,,editor4#a ,,an ,,autobiographical ,,reminiscence4 #ast ,february1 #ahgh4 #a4 ,in seven days more ,i shall be fifty-nine2--which 7practically7 is all the same as sixty2 but1 being asked by the wife of my dear old friend1 ,w4 ,h4 ,harrison1 to say a few words of our old relations together1 ,i find myself1 in spite of all these years1 a boy again1--partly in the mere thought of1 and renewed sympathy with1 the cheerful heart of my old literary master1 and partly in instinctive terror lest1 wherever he is in celestial circles1 he should catch me writing bad grammar1 or putting wrong stops1 and should set the table turning1 or the like4 ,for he was inexorable in such matters1 and many a sentence in ,modern ,painters1 which ,i had thought quite beautifully turned out after a forenoon's work on it1 had to be turned outside-in1 after all1 and cut into the smallest pieces and sewn up again1 because he had found out there wasn't a nominative in it1 or a genitive1 or a conjunction1 or something else indispensable to a sentence's decent existence and position in life4 ,not a book of mine1 for good thirty years1 but went1 every word of it1 under his careful eyes twice over--often also the last revises left to his tender mercy altogether on condition he wouldn't bother me any more4 #b4 ,for good thirty years3 that is to say1 from my first verse-writing in ,friendship's ,offering at fifteen1 to my last orthodox and conservative compositions at forty-five4#b ,but when ,i began to utter radical sentiments1 and say things derogatory to the clergy1 my old friend got quite restive--absolutely refused sometimes to pass even my most grammatical and punctuated paragraphs1 if their contents savored of heresy or revolution2 and at last ,i was obliged to print all my philanthropy and political economy on the sly4 #c4 ,the heaven of the literary world through which ,mr4 ,harrison moved in a widely cometary fashion1 circling now round one luminary and now submitting to the attraction of another1 not without a serenely erubescent luster of his own1 differed toto coelo from the celestial state of authorship by whose courses we have now the felicity of being dazzled and directed4 ,then1 the publications of the months being very nearly concluded in the modest browns of ,blackwood and ,fraser1 and the majesty of the quarterlies being above the range of the properly so-called public mind1 the simple family circle looked forward with chief complacency to their ,new ,year's gift of the ,annual--a delicately printed1 lustrously bound1 and elaborately illustrated small octavo volume1 representing1 after its manner1 the poetical and artistic inspiration of the age4 ,it is not a little wonderful to me1 looking back to those pleasant years and their bestowings1 to measure the difficultly imaginable distance between the periodical literature of that day and ours4 ,in a few words1 it may be summed by saying that the ancient ,annual was written by meekly-minded persons1 who felt that they knew nothing about anything1 and did not want to know more4 ,faith in the usually accepted principles of propriety1 and confidence in the ,funds1 the ,queen1 the ,english ,church1 the ,british ,army and the perennial continuance of ,england1 of her ,annuals1 and of the creation in general1 were necessary then for the eligibility1 and important elements in the success1 of the winter-blowing author4 ,whereas ,i suppose that the popularity of our present candidates for praise1 at the successive changes of the moon1 may be considered as almost proportionate to their confidence in the abstract principles of dissolution1 the immediate necessity of change1 and the inconvenience1 no less than the iniquity1 of attributing any authority to the ,church1 the ,queen1 the ,almighty1 or anything else but the ,british ,press4 ,such constitutional differences in the tone of the literary contents imply still greater contrasts in the lives of the editors of these several periodicals4 ,it was enough for the editor of the ,friendship's ,offering if he could gather for his ,christmas bouquet a little pastoral story1 suppose1 by ,miss ,mitford1 a dramatic sketch by the ,rev4 ,george ,croly1 a few sonnets or impromptu stanzas to music by the gentlest lovers and maidens of his acquaintance1 and a legend of the ,apennines or romance of the ,pyrenees by some adventurous traveler who had penetrated into the recesses of their mountains1 and would modify the traditions of the country to introduce a plate by ,clarkson ,stanfield or ,j4 ,d4 ,harding4 ,whereas nowadays the editor of a leading monthly is responsible to his readers for exhaustive views of the politics of ,europe during the last fortnight2 and would think himself distanced in the race with his lunarian rivals1 if his numbers did not contain three distinct and entirely new theories of the system of the universe1 and at least one hitherto unobserved piece of evidence of the nonentity of ,god4 #d4 ,in one respect1 however1 the humilities of that departed time were loftier than the prides of to-day--that even the most retiring of its authors expected to be admired1 not for what he had discovered1 but for what he was4 ,it did not matter in our dynasties of determined noblesse how many things an industrious blockhead knew1 or how curious things a lucky booby had discovered4 ,we claimed1 and gave no honor but for real rank of human sense and wit2 and although this manner of estimate led to many various collateral mischiefs--to much toleration of misconduct in persons who were amusing1 and of uselessness in those of proved ability1 there was yet the essential and constant good in it1 that no one hoped to snap up for himself a reputation which his friend was on the point of achieving1 and that even the meanest envy of merit was not embittered by a gambler's grudge at his neighbor's fortune4 #e4 ,into this incorruptible court of literature ,i was early brought1 whether by good or evil hap1 ,i know not2 certainly by no very deliberate wisdom in my friends or myself4 ,a certain capacity for rhythmic cadence 7visible enough in all my later writings7 and the cheerfulness of a much protected1 but not foolishly indulged childhood1 made me early a rhymester2 and a shelf of the little cabinet by which ,i am now writing is loaded with poetical effusions which were the delight of my father and mother1 and ,i have not yet the heart to burn4 ,a worthy ,scottish friend of my father's1 ,thomas ,pringle1 preceded ,mr4 ,harrison in the editorship of ,friendship's ,offering1 and doubtfully1 but with benignant sympathy1 admitted the dazzling hope that one day rhymes of mine might be seen in real print1 on those amiable and shining pages4 #f4 ,my introduction by ,mr4 ,pringle to the poet ,rogers1 on the ground of my admiration of the recently published ,italy1 proved1 as far as ,i remember1 slightly disappointing to the poet1 because it appeared on ,mr4 ,pringle's unadvised cross-examination of me in the presence that ,i knew more of the vignettes than the verses2 and also slightly discouraging to me because1 this contretemps necessitating an immediate change of subject1 ,i thenceforward understood none of the conversation1 and when we came away was rebuked by ,mr4 ,pringle for not attending to it4 ,had his grave authority been maintained over me1 my literary bloom would probably have been early nipped2 but he passed away into the ,african deserts2 and the ,favonian breezes of ,mr4 ,harrison's praise revived my drooping ambition4 #g4 ,i know not whether most in that ambition1 or to please my father1 ,i now began seriously to cultivate my skill in expression4 ,i had always an instinct of possessing considerable word-power2 and the series of essays written about this time for the ,architectural ,magazine1 under the signature of ,kata ,phusin1 contain sentences nearly as well put together as any ,i have done since4 ,but without ,mr4 ,harrison's ready praise1 and severe punctuation1 ,i should have either tired of my labor1 or lost it2 as it was1 though ,i shall always think those early years might have been better spent1 they had their reward4 ,as soon as ,i had anything really to say1 ,i was able sufficiently to say it2 and under ,mr4 ,harrison's cheerful auspices1 and balmy consolations of my father under adverse criticism1 the first volume of ,modern ,painters established itself in public opinion1 and determined the tenor of my future life4 #h4 ,thus began a friendship1 and in no unreal sense1 even a family relationship1 between ,mr4 ,harrison1 my father and mother1 and me1 in which there was no alloy whatsoever of distrust or displeasure on either side1 but which remained faithful and loving1 more and more conducive to every sort of happiness among us1 to the day of my father's death4 ,but the joyfulest days of it for us1 and chiefly for me1 cheered with concurrent sympathy from other friends--of whom only one now is left--were in the triumphal ,olympiad of years which followed the publication of the second volume of ,modern ,painters1 when ,turner himself had given to me his thanks1 to my father and mother his true friendship1 and came always for their honor1 to keep my birthday with them2 the constant dinner party of the day remaining in its perfect chaplet from #ahdd to #ahej1--,turner1 ,mr4 ,thomas ,richmond1 ,mr4 ,george ,richmond1 ,samuel ,prout1 and ,mr4 ,harrison4 #i4 ,mr4 ,harrison1 as my literary godfather1 who had held me at the ,font of the ,muses1 and was answerable to the company for my moral principles and my syntax1 always made the speech2 my father used most often to answer for me in few words1 but with wet eyes3 7there was a general understanding that any good or sorrow that might come to me in literary life were infinitely more his7 and the two ,mr4 ,richmonds held themselves responsible to him for my at least moderately decent orthodoxy in art1 taking in that matter a tenderly inquisitorial function1 and warning my father solemnly of two dangerous heresies in the bud1 and of things really passing the possibilities of the indulgence of the ,church1 said against ,claude or ,michael ,angelo4 ,the death of ,turner and other things1 far more sad than death1 clouded those early days1 but the memory of them returned again after ,i had well won my second victory with the ,stones of ,venice2 and the two ,mr4 ,richmonds1 and ,mr4 ,harrison1 and my father1 were again happy on my birthday1 and so to the end4 #aj4 ,in a far deeper sense than he himself knew1 ,mr4 ,harrison was all this time influencing my thoughts and opinions1 by the entire consistency1 contentment1 and practical sense of his modest life4 ,my father and he were both flawless types of the true ,london citizen of olden days3 incorruptible1 proud with sacred and simple pride1 happy in their function and position2 putting daily their total energy into the detail of their business duties1 and finding daily a refined and perfect pleasure in the hearth-side poetry of domestic life4 ,both of them1 in their hearts1 as romantic as girls2 both of them inflexible as soldier recruits in any matter of probity and honor1 in business or out of it2 both of them utterly hating radical newspapers1 and devoted to the ,house of ,lords2 my father only1 it seemed to me1 slightly failing in his loyalty to the ,worshipful the ,mayor and ,corporation of ,london4 ,this disrespect for civic dignity was connected in my father with some little gnawing of discomfort--deep down in his heart--in his own position as a merchant1 and with timidly indulged hope that his son might one day move in higher spheres2 whereas ,mr4 ,harrison was entirely placid and resigned to the will of ,providence which had appointed him his desk in the ,crown ,life ,office1 never in his most romantic visions projected a marriage for any of his daughters with a ,british baronet or a ,german count1 and pinned his little vanities prettily and openly on his breast1 like a nosegay1 when he went out to dinner4 ,most especially he shone at the ,literary ,fund1 where he was ,registrar and had proper official relations1 therefore1 always with the ,chairman1 ,lord ,mahon1 or ,lord ,houghton1 or the ,bishop of ,winchester1 or some other magnificent person of that sort1 with whom it was ,mr4 ,harrison's supremest felicity to exchange a not unfrequent little joke--like a pinch of snuff--and to indicate for them the shoals to be avoided and the channels to be followed with flowing sail in the speech of the year2 after which1 if perchance there were any malignant in the company who took objection1 suppose1 to the claims of the author last relieved1 to the charity of the ,society1 or to any claim founded on the production of a tale for ,blackwood's ,magazine1 and of two sonnets for ,friendship's ,offering2 or if perchance there were any festering sharp thorn in ,mr4 ,harrison's side in the shape of some distinguished radical1 ,sir ,charles ,dilke1 or ,mr4 ,dickens1 or anybody who had ever said anything against taxation1 or the ,post ,office1 or the ,court of ,chancery1 or the ,bench of ,bishops1--then would ,mr4 ,harrison1 if he had full faith in his ,chairman1 cunningly arrange with him some delicate little extinctive operation to be performed on that malignant or that radical in the course of the evening1 and would relate to us exultingly the next day all the incidents of the power of arms1 and vindictively 7for him7 dwell on the barbed points and double edge of the beautiful episcopalian repartee with which it was terminated4 #aa4 ,very seriously1 in all such public duties1 ,mr4 ,harrison was a person of rarest quality and worth2 absolutely disinterested in his zeal1 unwearied in exertion1 always ready1 never tiresome1 never absurd2 bringing practical sense1 kindly discretion1 and a most wholesome element of good-humored1 but incorruptible honesty1 into everything his hand found to do4 ,everybody respected1 and the best men sincerely regarded him1 and ,i think those who knew most of the world were always the first to acknowledge his fine faculty of doing exactly the right thing to exactly the right point--and so pleasantly4 ,in private life1 he was to me an object of quite special admiration1 in the quantity of pleasure he could take in little things2 and he very materially modified many of my gravest conclusions1 as to the advantages or mischiefs of modern suburban life4 ,to myself scarcely any dwelling-place and duty in this world would have appeared 7until1 perhaps1 ,i had tried them7 less eligible for a man of sensitive and fanciful mind than the ,new ,road1 ,camberwell ,green1 and the monotonous office work in ,bridge ,street4 ,and to a certain extent1 ,i am still of the same mind as to these matters1 and do altogether1 and without doubt or hesitation1 repudiate the existence of ,new ,road and ,camberwell ,green in general1 no less than the condemnation of intelligent persons to a routine of clerk's work broken only by a three weeks' holiday in the decline of the year4 ,on less lively1 fanciful1 and amiable persons than my old friend1 the ,new ,road and the daily desk do verily exercise a degrading and much to be regretted influence4 ,but ,mr4 ,harrison brought the freshness of pastoral simplicity into the most faded corners of the ,green1 lightened with his cheerful heart the most leaden hours of the office1 and gathered during his three weeks' holiday in the neighborhood1 suppose1 of ,guildford1 ,gravesend1 ,broadstairs1 or ,rustington1 more vital recreation and speculative philosophy than another man would have got on the grand tour4 #ab4 ,on the other hand1 ,i1 who had nothing to do all day but what ,i liked1 and could wander at will among all the best beauties of the globe--nor that without sufficient power to see and to feel them1 was habitually a discontented person1 and frequently a weary one2 and the reproachful thought which always rose in my mind when in that unconquerable listlessness of surfeit from excitement ,i found myself unable to win even a momentary pleasure from the fairest scene1 was always3 ,if but ,mr4 ,harrison were here instead of me6 #ac4 ,many and many a time ,i planned very seriously the beguiling of him over the water4 ,but there was always something to be done in a hurry--something to be worked out--something to be seen1 as ,i thought1 only in my own quiet way4 ,i believe if ,i had but had the sense to take my old friend with me1 he would have shown me ever so much more than ,i found out by myself4 ,but it was not to be2 and year after year ,i went to grumble and mope at ,venice1 or ,lago ,maggiore2 and ,mr4 ,harrison to enjoy himself from morning to night at ,broadstairs or ,box ,hill4 ,let me not speak with disdain of either4 ,no blue languor of tideless wave is worth the spray and sparkle of a ,south-,eastern ,english beach1 and no one will ever rightly enjoy the pines of the ,wengern ,alp who despises the boxes of ,box ,hill4 ,nay1 ,i remember me of a little rapture of ,george ,richmond himself on those fair slopes of sunny sward1 ending in a vision of ,tobit and his dog--no less--led up there by the helpful angel4 7,i have always wondered1 by the way1 whether that blessed dog minded what the angel said to him47 #ad4 ,but ,mr4 ,harrison was independent of these mere ethereal visions1 and surrounded himself only with a halo of sublunary beatitude4 ,welcome always he1 as on his side frankly coming to be well1 with the farmer1 the squire1 the rector1 the--,i had like to have said1 dissenting minister1 but ,i think ,mr4 ,harrison usually evaded villages for summer domicile which were in any wise open to suspicion of ,dissent in the air1--but with hunting rector1 and the ,high ,church curate1 and the rector's daughters1 and the curate's mother--and the landlord of the ,red ,lion1 and the hostler of the ,red ,lion stables1 and the tapster of the ,pig and ,whistle1 and all the pigs in the backyard1 and all the whistlers in the street--whether for want of thought or for gayety of it1 and all the geese on the common1 ducks in the horse-pond1 and daws in the steeple1 ,mr4 ,harrison was known and beloved by every bird and body of them before half his holiday was over1 and the rest of it was mere exuberance of festivity about him1 and applauding coronation of his head and heart4 ,above all1 he delighted in the ways of animals and children4 ,he wrote a birthday ode--or at least a tumble-out-of-the-nest-day ode--to our pet rook1 ,grip1 which encouraged that bird in taking such liberties with the cook1 and in addressing so many impertinences to the other servants1 that he became the mere plague1 or as the ,french would express it1 the ,black-beast1 of the kitchen at ,denmark ,hill for the rest of his life4 ,there was almost always a diary kept1 usually1 ,i think1 in rhyme1 of those summer hours of indolence2 and when at last it was recognized1 in due and reverent way1 at the ,crown ,life ,office1 that indeed the time had drawn near when its constant and faithful servant should be allowed to rest1 it was perhaps not the least of my friend's praiseworthy and gentle gifts to be truly capable of rest2 withdrawing himself into the memories of his useful and benevolent life1 and making it truly a holiday in its honored evening4 ,the idea then occurred to him 7and it was now my turn to press with hearty sympathy the sometimes intermitted task7 of writing these ,reminiscences3 valuable--valuable to whom1 and for what1 ,i begin to wonder4 #ae4 ,for indeed these memories are of people who are passed away like the snow in harvest2 and now1 with the sharp-sickle reapers of full shocks of the fattening wheat of metaphysics1 and fair novelists ,ruth-like in the fields of barley1 or more mischievously coming through the rye1--what will the public1 so vigorously sustained by these1 care to hear of the lovely writers of old days1 quaint creatures that they were8--,merry ,miss ,mitford1 actually living in the country1 actually walking in it1 loving it1 and finding history enough in the life of the butcher's boy1 and romance enough in the story of the miller's daughter1 to occupy all her mind with1 innocent of troubles concerning the ,turkish question2 steady-going old ,barham1 confessing nobody but the ,jackdaw of ,rheims1 and fearless alike of ,ritualism1 ,darwinism1 or disestablishment2 iridescent clearness of ,thomas ,hood--the wildest1 deepest infinity of marvelously jestful men2 manly and rational ,sydney1 inevitable1 infallible1 inoffensively wise of wit2#c--they are gone their way1 and ours is far diverse2 and they and all the less-known1 yet pleasantly and brightly endowed spirits of that time1 are suddenly as unintelligible to us as the ,etruscans--not a feeling they had that we can share in2 and these pictures of them will be to us valuable only as the sculpture under the niches far in the shade there of the old parish church1 dimly vital images of inconceivable creatures whom we shall never see the like of more4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,this paper was written as a preface to a series of ,reminiscences from the pen of the late ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,harrison1 commenced in the ,university ,magazine of ,may #ahgh4 ,it was separately printed in that magazine in the preceding month1 but owing to ,mr4 ,ruskin's illness at the time1 he was unable to see it through the press4 ,a letter from ,mr4 ,ruskin to ,mr4 ,harrison1 printed in ,arrows of the ,chace1 may be found of interest in connection with the opening statements of this paper4--,,ed4 #b ,friendship's ,offering of #ahce included two poems1 signed ,j4 ,r41 and entitled ,saltzburg and ,fragments from a ,metrical ,journal2 ,andernacht and ,st4 ,goar4--,,ed4 #c ,in the ,life and ,times of ,sydney ,smith1 by ,stuart ,j4 ,reid 7,london1 #ahhd1 p4 #cgd71 appears a letter addressed to the author by ,mr4 ,ruskin1 to whom the book is dedicated3-- ,,oxford1 ,nov4 #aeth1 #ahhc4 ,,my ,,dear ,,sir1--,i wanted to tell you what deep respect ,i had for ,sydney ,smith2 but my time has been cut to pieces ever since your note reached me4 ,he was the first in the literary circles of ,london to assert the value of ',modern ,painters1' and he has always seemed to me equally keen-sighted and generous in his estimate of literary efforts4 ,his ',moral ,philosophy' is the only book on the subject which ,i care that my pupils should read1 and there is no man 7whom ,i have not personally known7 whose image is so vivid in my constant affection4--,ever your faithful servant1 ,,john ,,ruskin4--,,ed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,art4 ,i4 ,,history ,,and ,,criticism4 ,,lord ,,lindsay',s ,,christian ,,art4 7,quarterly ,review1 ,june #ahdg47 ,,eastlake',s ,,history ,,of ,,oil ,,painting4 7,quarterly ,review1 ,march #ahdh47 ,,samuel ,,prout4 7,art ,journal1 ,march #ahdi47 ,,sir ,,joshua ,,and ,,holbein4 7,cornhill ,magazine1 ,march #ahfj47 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,christian ,,art4#d ,,by ,,lord ,,lindsay4 #af4 ,there is1 perhaps1 no phenomenon connected with the history of the first half of the nineteenth century1 which will become a subject of more curious investigation in after ages1 than the coincident development of the ,critical faculty1 and extinction of the ,arts of ,design4 ,our mechanical energies1 vast though they be1 are not singular nor characteristic2 such1 and so great1 have before been manifested--and it may perhaps be recorded of us with wonder rather than respect1 that we pierced mountains and excavated valleys1 only to emulate the activity of the gnat and the swiftness of the swallow4 ,our discoveries in science1 however accelerated or comprehensive1 are but the necessary development of the more wonderful reachings into vacancy of past centuries2 and they who struck the piles of the bridge of ,chaos will arrest the eyes of ,futurity rather than we builders of its towers and gates--theirs the authority of ,light1 ours but the ordering of courses to the ,sun and ,moon4 #ag4 ,but the ,negative character of the age is distinctive4 ,there has not before appeared a race like that of civilized ,europe at this day1 thoughtfully unproductive of all art--ambitious--industrious--investigati ve--reflective1 and incapable4 ,disdained by the savage1 or scattered by the soldier1 dishonored by the voluptuary1 or forbidden by the fanatic1 the arts have not1 till now1 been extinguished by analysis and paralyzed by protection4 ,our lecturers1 learned in history1 exhibit the descents of excellence from school to school1 and clear from doubt the pedigrees of powers which they cannot re-establish1 and of virtues no more to be revived3 the scholar is early acquainted with every department of the ,impossible1 and expresses in proper terms his sense of the deficiencies of ,titian and the errors of ,michael ,angelo3 the metaphysician weaves from field to field his analogies of gossamer1 which shake and glitter fairly in the sun1 but must be torn asunder by the first plow that passes3 geometry measures out1 by line and rule1 the light which is to illustrate heroism1 and the shadow which should veil distress2 and anatomy counts muscles1 and systematizes motion1 in the wrestling of ,genius with its angel4 ,nor is ingenuity wanting--nor patience2 apprehension was never more ready1 nor execution more exact--yet nothing is of us1 or in us1 accomplished2--the treasures of our wealth and will are spent in vain--our cares are as clouds without water--our creations fruitless and perishable2 the succeeding ,age will trample sopra lor vanita che par persona1 and point wonderingly back to the strange colorless tessera in the mosaic of human mind4 #ah4 ,no previous example can be shown1 in the career of nations not altogether nomad or barbarous1 of so total an absence of invention1--of any material representation of the mind's inward yearning and desire1 seen1 as soon as shaped1 to be1 though imperfect1 in its essence good1 and worthy to be rested in with contentment1 and consisting self-approval--the ,sabbath of contemplation which confesses and confirms the majesty of a style4 ,all but ourselves have had this in measure2 the ,imagination has stirred herself in proportion to the requirements1 capacity1 and energy of each race3 reckless or pensive1 soaring or frivolous1 still she has had life and influence2 sometimes aiming at ,heaven with brick for stone and slime for mortar--anon bound down to painting of porcelain1 and carving of ivory1 but always with an inward consciousness of power which might indeed be palsied or imprisoned1 but not in operation vain4 ,altars have been rent1 many--ashes poured out1--hands withered--but we alone have worshiped1 and received no answer--the pieces left in order upon the wood1 and our names writ in the water that runs roundabout the trench4 #ai4 ,it is easier to conceive than to enumerate the many circumstances which are herein against us1 necessarily1 and exclusive of all that wisdom might avoid1 or resolution vanquish4 ,first1 the weight of mere numbers1 among whom ease of communication rather renders opposition of judgment fatal1 than agreement probable2 looking from ,england to ,attica1 or from ,germany to ,tuscany1 we may remember to what good purpose it was said that the magnetism of iron was found not in bars1 but in needles4 ,together with this adversity of number comes the likelihood of many among the more available intellects being held back and belated in the crowd1 or else prematurely outwearied2 for it now needs both curious fortune and vigorous effort to give to any1 even the greatest1 such early positions of eminence and audience as may feed their force with advantage2 so that men spend their strength in opening circles1 and crying for place1 and only come to speech of us with broken voices and shortened time4 ,then follows the diminution of importance in peculiar places and public edifices1 as they engage national affection or vanity2 no single city can now take such queenly lead as that the pride of the whole body of the people shall be involved in adorning her2 the buildings of ,london or ,munich are not charged with the fullness of the national heart as were the domes of ,pisa and ,florence3--their credit or shame is metropolitan1 not acropolitan2 central at the best1 not dominant2 and this is one of the chief modes in which the cessation of superstition1 so far as it has taken place1 has been of evil consequence to art1 that the observance of local sanctities being abolished1 meanness and mistake are anywhere allowed of1 and the thoughts and wealth which were devoted and expended to good purpose in one place1 are now distracted and scattered to utter unavailableness4 #bj4 ,in proportion to the increasing spirituality of religion1 the conception of worthiness in material offering ceases1 and with it the sense of beauty in the evidence of votive labor2 machine-work is substituted for handwork1 as if the value of ornament consisted in the mere multiplication of agreeable forms1 instead of in the evidence of human care and thought and love about the separate stones2 and--machine-work once tolerated--the eye itself soon loses its sense of this very evidence1 and no more perceives the difference between the blind accuracy of the engine1 and the bright1 strange play of the living stroke--a difference as great as between the form of a stone pillar and a springing fountain4 ,and on this blindness follow all errors and abuses--hollowness and slightness of framework1 speciousness of surface ornament1 concealed structure1 imitated materials1 and types of form borrowed from things noble for things base2 and all these abuses must be resisted with the more caution1 and less success1 because in many ways they are signs or consequences of improvement1 and are associated both with purer forms of religious feeling and with more general diffusion of refinements and comforts2 and especially because we are critically aware of all our deficiencies1 too cognizant of all that is greatest to pass willingly and humbly through the stages that rise to it1 and oppressed in every honest effort by the bitter sense of inferiority4 ,in every previous development the power has been in advance of the consciousness1 the resources more abundant than the knowledge--the energy irresistible1 the discipline imperfect4 ,the light that led was narrow and dim--streakings of dawn--but it fell with kindly gentleness on eyes newly awakened out of sleep4 ,but we are now aroused suddenly in the light of an intolerable day--our limbs fail under the sunstroke--we are walled in by the great buildings of elder times1 and their fierce reverberation falls upon us without pause1 in our feverish and oppressive consciousness of captivity2 we are laid bedridden at the ,beautiful ,gate1 and all our hope must rest in acceptance of the such as ,i have1 of the passers by4 #ba4 ,the frequent and firm1 yet modest expression of this hope1 gives peculiar value to ,lord ,lindsay's book on ,christian ,art2 for it is seldom that a grasp of antiquity so comprehensive1 and a regard for it so affectionate1 have consisted with aught but gloomy foreboding with respect to our own times4 ,as a contribution to the ,history of ,art1 his work is unquestionably the most valuable which has yet appeared in ,england4 ,his research has been unwearied2 he has availed himself of the best results of ,german investigation--his own acuteness of discernment in cases of approximating or derivative style is considerable--and he has set before the ,english reader an outline of the relations of the primitive schools of ,sacred art which we think so thoroughly verified in all its more important ramifications1 that1 with whatever richness of detail the labor of succeeding writers may illustrate them1 the leading lines of ,lord ,lindsay's chart will always henceforth be followed4 ,the feeling which pervades the whole book is chastened1 serious1 and full of reverence for the strength ordained out of the lips of infant ,art--accepting on its own terms its simplest teaching1 sympathizing with all kindness in its unreasoning faith2 the writer evidently looking back with most joy and thankfulness to hours passed in gazing upon the faded and faint touches of feeble hands1 and listening through the stillness of uninvaded cloisters for fall of voices now almost spent2 yet he is never contracted into the bigot1 nor inflamed into the enthusiast2 he never loses his memory of the outside world1 never quits nor compromises his severe and reflective ,protestantism1 never gives ground of offense by despite or forgetfulness of any order of merit or period of effort4 ,and the tone of his address to our present schools is therefore neither scornful nor peremptory2 his hope1 consisting with full apprehension of all that we have lost1 is based on a strict and stern estimate of our power1 position1 and resource1 compelling the assent even of the least sanguine to his expectancy of the revelation of a new world of ,spiritual ,beauty1 of which whosoever 99 99 99 will dedicate his talents1 as the bondsman of love1 to his ,redeemer's glory and the good of mankind1 may become the priest and interpreter1 by adopting in the first instance1 and re-issuing with that outward investiture which the assiduous study of all that is beautiful1 either in ,grecian sculpture1 or the later but less spiritual schools of painting1 has enabled him to supply1 such of its bright ideas as he finds imprisoned in the early and imperfect efforts of art--and secondly1 by exploring further on his own account in the untrodden realms of feeling that lie before him1 and calling into palpable existence visions as bright1 as pure1 and as immortal as those that have already1 in the golden days of ,raphael and ,perugino1 obeyed their creative mandate1 ,live6 7,vol4 iii41 p4 #dbb74e 99 99 99 #bb4 ,but while we thus defer to the discrimination1 respect the feeling1 and join in the hope of the author1 we earnestly deprecate the frequent assertion1 as we entirely deny the accuracy or propriety1 of the metaphysical analogies1 in accordance with which his work has unhappily been arranged4 ,though these had been as carefully1 as they are crudely1 considered1 it had still been no light error of judgment to thrust them with dogmatism so abrupt into the forefront of a work whose purpose is assuredly as much to win to the truth as to demonstrate it4 ,the writer has apparently forgotten that of the men to whom he must primarily look for the working out of his anticipations1 the most part are of limited knowledge and inveterate habit1 men dexterous in practice1 idle in thought2 many of them compelled by ill-ordered patronage into directions of exertion at variance with their own best impulses1 and regarding their art only as a means of life2 all of them conscious of practical difficulties which the critic is too apt to under-estimate1 and probably remembering disappointments of early effort rude enough to chill the most earnest heart4 ,the shallow amateurship of the circle of their patrons early disgusts them with theories2 they shrink back to the hard teaching of their own industry1 and would rather read the book which facilitated their methods than the one that rationalized their aims4 ,noble exceptions there are1 and more than might be deemed2 but the labor spent in contest with executive difficulties renders even these better men unapt receivers of a system which looks with little respect on such achievement1 and shrewd discerners of the parts of such system which have been feebly rooted1 or fancifully reared4 ,their attention should have been attracted both by clearness and kindness of promise2 their impatience prevented by close reasoning and severe proof of every statement which might seem transcendental4 ,altogether void of such consideration or care1 ,lord ,lindsay never even so much as states the meaning or purpose of his appeal1 but1 clasping his hands desperately over his head1 disappears on the instant in an abyss of curious and unsupported assertions of the philosophy of human nature3 reappearing only1 like a breathless diver1 in the third page1 to deprecate the surprise of the reader whom he has never addressed1 at a conviction which he has never stated2 and again vanishing ere we can well look him in the face1 among the frankincensed clouds of ,christian mythology3 filling the greater part of his first volume with a resume of its symbols and traditions1 yet never vouchsafing the slightest hint of the objects for which they are assembled1 or the amount of credence with which he would have them regarded2 and so proceeds to the historical portion of the book1 leaving the whole theory which is its key to be painfully gathered from scattered passages1 and in great part from the mere form of enumeration adopted in the preliminary chart of the schools2 and giving as yet account only of that period to which the mere artist looks with least interest--while the work1 even when completed1 will be nothing more than a single pinnacle of the historical edifice whose ground-plan is laid in the preceding essay1 ,progression by ,antagonism3--a plan1 by the author's confession1 too extensive for his own1 or any single hand to execute1 yet without the understanding of whose main relations it is impossible to receive the intended teaching of the completed portion4 #bc4 ,it is generally easier to plan what is beyond the reach of others than to execute what is within our own2 and it had been well if the range of this introductory essay had been something less extensive1 and its reasoning more careful4 ,its search after truth is honest and impetuous1 and its results would have appeared as interesting as they are indeed valuable1 had they but been arranged with ordinary perspicuity1 and represented in simple terms4 ,but the writer's evil genius pursues him2 the demand for exertion of thought is remorseless1 and continuous throughout1 and the statements of theoretical principle as short1 scattered1 and obscure1 as they are bold4 ,we question whether many readers may not be utterly appalled by the aspect of an ,analysis of ,human ,nature--the first task proposed to them by our intellectual ,eurystheus--to be accomplished in the space of six semi-pages1 followed in the seventh by the ,development of the ,individual ,man1 and applied in the eighth to a ,general ,classification of ,individuals3 and we infinitely marvel that our author should have thought it unnecessary to support or explain a division of the mental attributes on which the treatment of his entire subject afterwards depends1 and whose terms are repeated in every following page to the very dazzling of eye and deadening of ear 7a division1 we regret to say1 as illogical as it is purposeless71 otherwise than by a laconic reference to the assumptions of ,phrenology4 ,the ,individual ,man1 or ,man considered by himself as an unit in creation1 is compounded of three distinct primary elements4 #a4 ,sense1 or the animal frame1 with its passions or affections2 #b4 ,mind or ,intellect2--of which the distinguishing faculties--rarely1 if ever1 equally balanced1 and by their respective predominance determinative of his whole character1 conduct1 and views of life--are1 i4 ,imagination1 the discerner of ,beauty1-- ii4 ,reason1 the discerner of ,truth1-- the former animating and informing the world of ,sense or ,matter1 the latter finding her proper home in the world of abstract or immaterial existences --the former receiving the impress of things ,objectively1 or ab externo1 the latter impressing its own ideas on them ,subjectively1 or ab interno--the former a feminine or passive1 the latter a masculine or active principle2 and iii4 ,spirit--the ,moral or ,immortal principle1 ruling through the ,will1 and breathed into ,man by the ,breath of ,god4--,progression by ,antagonism1 pp4 #b1 #c4 #bd4 ,on what authority does the writer assume that the moral is alone the ,immortal principle--or the only part of the human nature bestowed by the breath of ,god8 ,are imagination1 then1 and reason perishable8 ,is the ,body itself8 ,are not all alike immortal2 and when distinction is to be made among them1 is not the first great division between their active and passive immortality1 between the supported body and supporting spirit2 that spirit itself afterwards rather conveniently to be considered as either exercising intellectual function1 or receiving moral influence1 and1 both in power and passiveness1 deriving its energy and sensibility alike from the sustaining breath of ,god--than actually divided into intellectual and moral parts8 ,for if the distinction between us and the brute be the test of the nature of the living soul by that breath conferred1 it is assuredly to be found as much in the imagination as in the moral principle4 ,there is but one of the moral sentiments enumerated by ,lord ,lindsay1 the sign of which is absent in the animal creation3--the enumeration is a bald one1 but let it serve the turn--,self-esteem and love of ,approbation1 eminent in horse and dog2 ,firmness1 not wanting either to ant or elephant2 ,veneration1 distinct as far as the superiority of man can by brutal intellect be comprehended2 ,hope1 developed as far as its objects can be made visible2 and ,benevolence1 or ,love1 the highest of all1 the most assured of all--together with all the modifications of opposite feeling1 rage1 jealousy1 habitual malice1 even love of mischief and comprehension of jest3--the one only moral sentiment wanting being that of responsibility to an ,invisible being1 or conscientiousness4 ,but where1 among brutes1 shall we find the slightest trace of the ,imaginative faculty1 or of that discernment of beauty which our author most inaccurately confounds with it1 or of the discipline of memory1 grasping this or that circumstance at will1 or of the still nobler foresight of1 and respect towards1 things future1 except only instinctive and compelled8 #be4 ,the fact is1 that it is not in intellect added to the bodily sense1 nor in moral sentiment superadded to the intellect1 that the essential difference between brute and man consists3 but in the elevation of all three to that point at which each becomes capable of communion with the ,deity1 and worthy therefore of eternal life2--the body more universal as an instrument--more exquisite in its sense--this last character carried out in the eye and ear to the perception of ,beauty1 in form1 sound1 and color--and herein distinctively raised above the brutal sense2 intellect1 as we have said1 peculiarly separating and vast2 the moral sentiments like in essence1 but boundlessly expanded1 as attached to an infinite object1 and laboring in an infinite field3 each part mortal in its shortcoming1 immortal in the accomplishment of its perfection and purpose2 the opposition which we at first broadly expressed as between body and spirit1 being more strictly between the natural and spiritual condition of the entire creature--body natural1 sown in death1 body spiritual1 raised in incorruption3 ,intellect natural1 leading to skepticism2 intellect spiritual1 expanding into faith3 ,passion natural1 suffered from things spiritual2 passion spiritual1 centered on things unseen3 and the strife or antagonism which is throughout the subject of ,lord ,lindsay's proof1 is not1 as he has stated it1 between the moral1 intellectual1 and sensual elements1 but between the upward and downward tendencies of all three--between the spirit of ,man which goeth upward1 and the spirit of the ,beast which goeth downward4 #bf4 ,we should not have been thus strict in our examination of these preliminary statements1 if the question had been one of terms merely1 or if the inaccuracy of thought had been confined to the ,essay on ,antagonism4 ,if upon receiving a writer's terms of argument in the sense--however unusual or mistaken--which he chooses they should bear1 we may without further error follow his course of thought1 it is as unkind as unprofitable to lose the use of his result in quarrel with its algebraic expression2 and if the reader will understand by ,lord ,lindsay's general term ,spirit the susceptibility of right moral emotion1 and the entire subjection of the ,will to ,reason2 and receive his term ,sense as not including the perception of ,beauty either in sight or sound1 but expressive of animal sensation only1 he may follow without embarrassment to its close1 his magnificently comprehensive statement of the forms of probation which the heart and faculties of man have undergone from the beginning of time4 ,but it is far otherwise when the theory is to be applied1 in all its pseudo-organization1 to the separate departments of a particular art1 and analogies the most subtle and speculative traced between the mental character and artistical choice or attainment of different races of men4 ,such analogies are always treacherous1 for the amount of expression of individual mind which ,art can convey is dependent on so many collateral circumstances1 that it even militates against the truth of any particular system of interpretation that it should seem at first generally applicable1 or its results consistent4 ,the passages in which such interpretation has been attempted in the work before us1 are too graceful to be regretted1 nor is their brilliant suggestiveness otherwise than pleasing and profitable too1 so long as it is received on its own grounds merely1 and affects not with its uncertainty the very matter of its foundation4 ,but all oscillation is communicable1 and ,lord ,lindsay is much to be blamed for leaving it entirely to the reader to distinguish between the determination of his research and the activity of his fancy--between the authority of his interpretation and the aptness of his metaphor4 ,he who would assert the true meaning of a symbolical art1 in an age of strict inquiry and tardy imagination1 ought rather to surrender something of the fullness which his own faith perceives1 than expose the fabric of his vision1 too finely woven1 to the hard handling of the materialist2 and we sincerely regret that discredit is likely to accrue to portions of our author's well-grounded statement of real significances1 once of all men understood1 because these are rashly blended with his own accidental perceptions of disputable analogy4 ,he perpetually associates the present imaginative influence of ,art with its ancient hieroglyphical teaching1 and mingles fancies fit only for the framework of a sonnet1 with the deciphered evidence which is to establish a serious point of history2 and this the more frequently and grossly1 in the endeavor to force every branch of his subject into illustration of the false division of the mental attributes which we have pointed out4 #bg4 ,his theory is first clearly stated in the following passage3-- 99 99 99 ,man is1 in the strictest sense of the word1 a progressive being1 and with many periods of inaction and retrogression1 has still held1 upon the whole1 a steady course towards the great end of his existence1 the re-union and re-harmonizing of the three elements of his being1 dislocated by the ,fall1 in the service of his ,god4 ,each of these three elements1 ,sense1 ,intellect1 and ,spirit1 has had its distinct development at three distant intervals1 and in the personality of the three great branches of the human family4 ,the race of ,ham1 giants in prowess if not in stature1 cleared the earth of primeval forests and monsters1 built cities1 established vast empires1 invented the mechanical arts1 and gave the fullest expansion to the animal energies4 ,after them1 the ,greeks1 the elder line of ,japhet1 developed the intellectual faculties1 ,imagination and ,reason1 more especially the former1 always the earlier to bud and blossom2 poetry and fiction1 history1 philosophy1 and science1 alike look back to ,greece as their birthplace2 on the one hand they put a soul into ,sense1 peopling the world with their gay mythology--on the other they bequeathed to us1 in ,plato and ,aristotle1 the mighty patriarchs of human wisdom1 the ,darius and the ,alexander of the two grand armies of thinking men whose antagonism has ever since divided the battlefield of the human intellect3--,while1 lastly1 the race of ,shem1 the ,jews1 and the nations of ,christendom1 their locum tenentes as the ,spiritual ,israel1 have1 by ,god's blessing1 been elevated in ,spirit to as near and intimate communion with ,deity as is possible in this stage of being4 ,now the peculiar interest and dignity of ,art consists in her exact correspondence in her three departments with these three periods of development1 and in the illustration she thus affords--more closely and markedly even than literature--to the all-important truth that men stand or fall according as they look up to the ,ideal or not4 ,for example1 the ,architecture of ,egypt1 her pyramids and temples1 cumbrous and inelegant1 but imposing from their vastness and their gloom1 express the ideal of ,sense or ,matter--elevated and purified indeed1 and nearly approaching the ,intellectual1 but ,material still2 we think of them as of natural scenery1 in association with caves or mountains1 or vast periods of time2 their voice is as the voice of the sea1 or as that of 'many peoples1' shouting in unison3--,but the ,sculpture of ,greece is the voice of ,intellect and ,thought1 communing with itself in solitude1 feeding on beauty and yearning after truth3--,while the ,painting of ,christendom--7and we must remember that the glories of ,christianity1 in the full extent of the term1 are yet to come7--is that of an immortal ,spirit1 conversing with its ,god4 ,and as if to mark more forcibly the fact of continuous progress towards perfection1 it is observable that although each of the three arts peculiarly reflects and characterizes one of the three epochs1 each art of later growth has been preceded in its rise1 progress1 and decline1 by an antecedent correspondent development of its elder sister or sisters--,sculpture1 in ,greece1 by that of ,architecture--,painting1 in ,europe1 by that of ,architecture and ,sculpture4 ,if ,sculpture and ,painting stand by the side of ,architecture in ,egypt1 if ,painting by that of ,architecture and ,sculpture in ,greece1 it is as younger sisters1 girlish and unformed4 ,in ,europe alone are the three found linked together1 in equal stature and perfection4--,vol4 i1 pp4 xii4--xiv4 99 99 99 #bh4 ,the reader must1 we think1 at once perceive the bold fallacy of this forced analogy--the comparison of the architecture of one nation with the sculpture of another1 and the painting of a third1 and the assumption as a proof of difference in moral character1 of changes necessarily wrought1 always in the same order1 by the advance of mere mechanical experience4 ,architecture must precede sculpture1 not because sense precedes intellect1 but because men must build houses before they adorn chambers1 and raise shrines before they inaugurate idols2 and sculpture must precede painting1 because men must learn forms in the solid before they can project them on a flat surface1 and must learn to conceive designs in light and shade before they can conceive them in color1 and must learn to treat subjects under positive color and in narrow groups1 before they can treat them under atmospheric effect and in receding masses1 and all these are mere necessities of practice1 and have no more connection with any divisions of the human mind than the equally paramount necessities that men must gather stones before they build walls1 or grind corn before they bake bread4 ,and that each following nation should take up either the same art at an advanced stage1 or an art altogether more difficult1 is nothing but the necessary consequence of its subsequent elevation and civilization4 ,whatever nation had succeeded ,egypt in power and knowledge1 after having had communication with her1 must necessarily have taken up art at the point where ,egypt left it--in its turn delivering the gathered globe of heavenly snow to the youthful energy of the nation next at hand1 with an exhausted a vous le de6 ,in order to arrive at any useful or true estimate of the respective rank of each people in the scale of mind1 the architecture of each must be compared with the architecture of the other--sculpture with sculpture--line with line2 and to have done this broadly and with a surface glance1 would have set our author's theory on firmer foundation1 to outward aspect1 than it now rests upon4 ,had he compared the accumulation of the pyramid with the proportion of the peristyle1 and then with the aspiration of the spire2 had he set the colossal horror of the ,sphinx beside the ,phidian ,minerva1 and this beside the ,pieta of ,m4 ,angelo2 had he led us from beneath the iridescent capitals of ,denderah1 by the contested line of ,apelles1 to the hues and the heaven of ,perugino or ,bellini1 we might have been tempted to assoilzie from all staying of question or stroke of partisan the invulnerable aspect of his ghostly theory2 but1 if1 with even partial regard to some of the circumstances which physically limited the attainments of each race1 we follow their individual career1 we shall find the points of superiority less salient and the connection between heart and hand more embarrassed4 #bi4 ,yet let us not be misunderstood3--the great gulf between ,christian and ,pagan art we cannot bridge--nor do we wish to weaken one single sentence wherein its breadth or depth is asserted by our author4 ,the separation is not gradual1 but instant and final--the difference not of degree1 but of condition2 it is the difference between the dead vapors rising from a stagnant pool1 and the same vapors touched by a torch4 ,but we would brace the weakness which ,lord ,lindsay has admitted in his own assertion of this great inflaming instant by confusing its fire with the mere phosphorescence of the marsh1 and explaining as a successive development of the several human faculties1 what was indeed the bearing of them all at once1 over a threshold strewed with the fragments of their idols1 into the temple of the ,one ,god4 ,we shall therefore1 as fully as our space admits1 examine the application of our author's theory to ,architecture1 ,sculpture1 and ,painting1 successively1 setting before the reader some of the more interesting passages which respect each art1 while we at the same time mark with what degree of caution their conclusions are1 in our judgment1 to be received4 #cj4 ,accepting ,lord ,lindsay's first reference to ,egypt1 let us glance at a few of the physical accidents which influenced its types of architecture4 ,the first of these is evidently the capability of carriage of large blocks of stone over perfectly level land4 ,it was possible to roll to their destination along that uninterrupted plain1 blocks which could neither by the ,greek have been shipped in seaworthy vessels1 nor carried over mountain-passes1 nor raised except by extraordinary effort to the height of the rock-built fortress or seaward promontory4 ,a small undulation of surface1 or embarrassment of road1 makes large difference in the portability of masses1 and of consequence1 in the breadth of the possible intercolumniation1 the solidity of the column1 and the whole scale of the building4 ,again1 in a hill-country1 architecture can be important only by position1 in a level country only by bulk4 ,under the overwhelming mass of mountain-form it is vain to attempt the expression of majesty by size of edifice--the humblest architecture may become important by availing itself of the power of nature1 but the mightiest must be crushed in emulating it3 the watch-towers of ,amalfi are more majestic than the ,superga of ,piedmont2 ,st4 ,peter's would look like a toy if built beneath the ,alpine cliffs1 which yet vouchsafe some communication of their own solemnity to the smallest chalet that glitters among their glades of pine4 ,on the other hand1 a small building is in a level country lost1 and the impressiveness of bulk proportionably increased2 hence the instinct of nations has always led them to the loftiest efforts where the masses of their labor might be seen looming at incalculable distance above the open line of the horizon--hence rose her four square mountains above the flat of ,memphis1 while the ,greek pierced the recesses of ,phigaleia with ranges of columns1 or crowned the sea-cliffs of ,sunium with a single pediment1 bright1 but not colossal4 #ca4 ,the derivation of the ,greek types of form from the forest-hut is too direct to escape observation2 but sufficient attention has not been paid to the similar petrifaction1 by other nations1 of the rude forms and materials adopted in the haste of early settlement1 or consecrated by the purity of rural life4 ,the whole system of ,swiss and ,german ,gothic has thus been most characteristically affected by the structure of the intersecting timbers at the angles of the chalet4 ,this was in some cases directly and without variation imitated in stone1 as in the piers of the old bridge at ,aarburg2 and the practice obtained--partially in the ,german after-,gothic--universally1 or nearly so1 in ,switzerland--of causing moldings which met at an angle to appear to interpenetrate each other1 both being truncated immediately beyond the point of intersection4 ,the painfulness of this ill-judged adaptation was conquered by association--the eye became familiarized to uncouth forms of tracery--and a stiffness and meagerness1 as of cast-iron1 resulted in the moldings of much of the ecclesiastical1 and all the domestic ,gothic of central ,europe2 the moldings of casements intersecting so as to form a small hollow square at the angles1 and the practice being further carried out into all modes of decoration--pinnacles interpenetrating crockets1 as in a peculiarly bold design of archway at ,besancon4 ,the influence at ,venice has been less immediate and more fortunate2 it is with peculiar grace that the majestic form of the ducal palace reminds us of the years of fear and endurance when the exiles of the ,prima ,venetia settled like home-less birds on the sea-sand1 and that its quadrangular range of marble wall and painted chamber1 raised upon multiplied columns of confused arcade1#f presents but the exalted image of the first pile-supported hut that rose above the rippling of the lagoons4 #cb4 ,in the chapter on the ,influence of ,habit and ,religion1 of ,mr4 ,hope's ,historical ,essay1#g the reader will find further instances of the same feeling1 and1 bearing immediately on our present purpose1 a clear account of the derivation of the ,egyptian temple from the excavated cavern2 but the point to which in all these cases we would direct especial attention1 is1 that the first perception of the great laws of architectural proportion is dependent for its acuteness less on the aesthetic instinct of each nation than on the mechanical conditions of stability and natural limitations of size in the primary type1 whether hut1 chalet1 or tent4 ,as by the constant reminiscence of the natural proportions of his first forest-dwelling1 the ,greek would be restrained from all inordinate exaggeration of size--the ,egyptian was from the first left without hint of any system of proportion1 whether constructive1 or of visible parts4 ,the cavern--its level roof supported by amorphous piers--might be extended indefinitely into the interior of the hills1 and its outer facade continued almost without term along their flanks--the solid mass of cliff above forming one gigantic entablature1 poised upon props instead of columns4 ,hence the predisposition to attempt in the built temple the expression of infinite extent1 and to heap the ponderous architrave above the proportionless pier4 #cc4 ,the less direct influences of external nature in the two countries were still more opposed4 ,the sense of beauty1 which among the ,greek peninsulas was fostered by beating of sea and rush of river1 by waving of forest and passing of cloud1 by undulation of hill and poise of precipice1 lay dormant beneath the shadowless sky and on the objectless plain of the ,egyptians2 no singing winds nor shaking leaves nor gliding shadows gave life to the line of their barren mountains--no ,goddess of ,beauty rose from the pacing of their silent and foamless ,nile4 ,one continual perception of stability1 or changeless revolution1 weighed upon their hearts--their life depended on no casual alternation of cold and heat--of drought and shower2 their gift-,gods were the risen ,river and the eternal ,sun1 and the types of these were forever consecrated in the lotus decoration of the temple and the wedge of the enduring ,pyramid4 ,add to these influences1 purely physical1 those dependent on the superstitions and political constitution2 of the overflowing multitude of populous ,no2 on their condition of prolonged peace--their simple habits of life--their respect for the dead--their separation by incommunicable privilege and inherited occupation--and it will be evident to the reader that ,lord ,lindsay's broad assertion of the expression of the ,ideal of ,sense or ,matter by their universal style1 must be received with severe modification1 and is indeed thus far only true1 that the mass of ,life supported upon that fruitful plain could1 when swayed by a despotic ruler in any given direction1 accomplish by mere weight and number what to other nations had been impossible1 and bestow a pre-eminence1 owed to mere bulk and evidence of labor1 upon public works which among the ,greek republics could be rendered admirable only by the intelligence of their design4 #cd4 ,let us1 for the present omitting consideration of the debasement of the ,greek types which took place when their cycle of achievement had been fulfilled1 pass to the germination of ,christian architecture1 out of one of the least important elements of those fallen forms--one which1 less than the least of all seeds1 has risen into the fair branching stature under whose shadow we still dwell4 ,the principal characteristics of the new architecture1 as exhibited in the ,lombard cathedral1 are well sketched by ,lord ,lindsay3-- 99 99 99 ,the three most prominent features1 the eastern aspect of the sanctuary1 the cruciform plan1 and the soaring octagonal cupola1 are borrowed from ,byzantium--the latter in an improved form--the cross with a difference--the nave1 or arm opposite the sanctuary1 being lengthened so as to resemble the supposed shape of the actual instrument of suffering1 and form what is now distinctively called the ,latin ,cross4 ,the crypt and absis1 or tribune1 are retained from the ,romish basilica1 but the absis is generally pierced with windows1 and the crypt is much loftier and more spacious1 assuming almost the appearance of a subterranean church4 ,the columns of the nave1 no longer isolated1 are clustered so as to form compound piers1 massive and heavy--their capitals either a rude imitation of the ,corinthian1 or1 especially in the earlier structures1 sculptured with grotesque imagery4 ,triforia1 or galleries for women1 frequently line the nave and transepts4 ,the roof is of stone1 and vaulted4 ,the narthex1 or portico1 for excluded penitents1 common alike to the ,greek and ,roman churches1 and in them continued along the whole facade of entrance1 is dispensed with altogether in the oldest ,lombard ones1 and when afterwards resumed1 in the eleventh century1 was restricted to what we should now call ,porches1 over each door1 consisting generally of little more than a canopy open at the sides1 and supported by slender pillars1 resting on sculptured monsters4 ,three doors admit from the western front2 these are generally covered with sculpture1 which frequently extends in belts across the facade1 and even along the sides of the building4 ,above the central door is usually seen1 in the later ,lombard churches1 a ,s4 ,catherine's-wheel window4 ,the roof slants at the sides1 and ends in front sometimes in a single pediment1 sometimes in three gables answering to three doors2 while1 in ,lombardy at least1 hundreds of slender pillars1 of every form and device--those immediately adjacent to each other frequently interlaced in the true lover's knot1 and all supporting round or trefoliate arches--run along1 in continuous galleries1 under the eaves1 as if for the purpose of supporting the roof--run up the pediment in front1 are continued along the side-walls and round the eastern absis1 and finally engirdle the cupola4 ,sometimes the western front is absolutely covered with these galleries1 rising tier above tier4 ,though introduced merely for ornament1 and therefore on a vicious principle1 these fairy-like colonnades win very much on one's affections4 ,i may add to these general features the occasional and rare one1 seen to peculiar advantage in the cathedral of ,cremona1 of numerous slender towers1 rising1 like minarets1 in every direction1 in front and behind1 and giving the east end1 specially1 a marked resemblance to the mosques of the ,mahometans4 ,the ,baptistery and the ,campanile1 or bell-tower1 are in theory invariable adjuncts to the ,lombard cathedral1 although detached from it4 ,the ,lombards seem to have built them with peculiar zest1 and to have had a keen eye for the picturesque in grouping them with the churches they belong to4 ,i need scarcely add that the round arch is exclusively employed in pure ,lombard architecture4 ,to translate this new style into its symbolical language is a pleasurable task4 ,the three doors and three gable ends signify the ,trinity1 the ,catherine-wheel window 7if ,i mistake not7 the ,unity1 as concentrated in ,christ1 the ,light of the ,church1 from whose ,greek monogram its shape was probably adopted4 ,the monsters that support the pillars of the porch stand there as talismans to frighten away evil spirits4 ,the crypt 7as in older buildings7 signifies the moral death of man1 the cross1 the atonement1 the cupola heaven2 and these three1 taken in conjunction with the lengthened nave1 express1 reconcile1 and give their due and balanced prominence to the leading ideas of the ,militant and ,triumphant ,church1 respectively embodied in the architecture of ,rome and ,byzantium4 ,add to this1 the symbolism of the ,baptistery1 and the ,christian pilgrimage1 from the ,font to the ,door of ,heaven1 is complete1--,vol4 ii41 p4 #h-aa4 99 99 99 #ce4 ,we have by-and-bye an equally comprehensive sketch of the essential characters of the ,gothic cathedral2 but this we need not quote1 as it probably contains little that would be new to the reader4 ,it is succeeded by the following interpretation of the spirit of the two styles3-- 99 99 99 ,comparing1 apart from enthusiasm1 the two styles of ,lombard and ,pointed ,architecture1 they will strike you1 ,i think1 as the expression1 respectively1 of that alternate repose and activity which characterize the ,christian life1 exhibited in perfect harmony in ,christ alone1 who1 on earth1 spent ,his night in prayer to ,god1 ,his day in doing good to man--in heaven1 as we know by ,his own testimony1 'worketh hitherto1' conjointly with the ,father--forever1 at the same time1 reposing on the infinity of ,his wisdom and of ,his power4 ,each1 then1 of these styles has its peculiar significance1 each is perfect in its way4 ,the ,lombard ,architecture1 with its horizontal lines1 its circular arches and expanding cupola1 soothes and calms one2 the ,gothic1 with its pointed arches1 aspiring vaults and intricate tracery1 rouses and excites--and why8 ,because the one symbolizes an infinity of ,rest1 the other of ,action1 in the adoration and service of ,god4 ,and this consideration will enable us to advance a step farther3--,the aim of the one style is definite1 of the other indefinite2 we look up to the dome of heaven and calmly acquiesce in the abstract idea of infinity2 but we only realize the impossibility of conceiving it by the flight of imagination from star to star1 from firmament to firmament4 ,even so ,lombard ,architecture attained perfection1 expressed its idea1 accomplished its purpose--but ,gothic never2 the ,ideal is unapproachable4--,vol4 ii41 p4 #bc4 99 99 99 #cf4 ,this idea occurs not only in this passage3--it is carried out through the following chapters2--at page #ch1 the pointed arch associated with the cupola is spoken of as a fop interrupting the meditations of a philosopher2 at page #fe1 the earlier contemplative style of the ,lombards is spoken of2 at page #aad1 ,giottesque art is the expression of that ,activity of the ,imagination which produced ,gothic ,architecture2 and1 throughout1 the analogy is prettily expressed1 and ably supported2 yet it is one of those against which we must warn the reader3 it is altogether superficial1 and extends not to the minds of those whose works it accidentally1 and we think disputably1 characterizes4 ,the transition from ,romanesque 7we prefer using the generic term7 to ,gothic is natural and straightforward1 in many points traceable to mechanical and local necessities 7of which one1 the dangerous weight of snow on flat roofs1 has been candidly acknowledged by our author71 and directed by the tendency1 common to humanity in all ages1 to push every newly-discovered means of delight to its most fantastic extreme1 to exhibit every newly-felt power in its most admirable achievement1 and to load with intrinsic decoration forms whose essential varieties have been exhausted4 ,the arch1 carelessly struck out by the ,etruscan1 forced by mechanical expediencies on the unwilling1 uninventive ,roman1 remained unfelt by either4 ,the noble form of the apparent ,vault of ,heaven--the line which every star follows in its journeying1 extricated by the ,christian architect from the fosse1 the aqueduct1 and the sudarium--grew into long succession of proportioned colonnade1 and swelled into the white domes that glitter above the plain of ,pisa1 and fretted channels of ,venice1 like foam globes at rest4 #cg4 ,but the spirit that was in these ,aphrodites of the earth was not then1 nor in them1 to be restrained4 ,colonnade rose over colonnade2 the pediment of the western front was lifted into a detached and scenic wall2 story above story sprang the multiplied arches of the ,campanile1 and the eastern pyramidal fire-type1 lifted from its foundation1 was placed upon the summit4 ,with the superimposed arcades of the principal front arose the necessity1 instantly felt by their subtle architects1 of a new proportion in the column2 the lower wall inclosure1 necessarily for the purposes of ,christian worship continuous1 and needing no peristyle1 rendered the lower columns a mere facial decoration1 whose proportions were evidently no more to be regulated by the laws hitherto observed in detached colonnades4 ,the column expanded into the shaft1 or into the huge pilaster rising unbanded from tier to tier2 shaft and pilaster were associated in ordered groups1 and the ideas of singleness and limited elevation once attached to them1 swept away for ever2 the stilted and variously centered arch existed already3 the pure ogive followed--where first exhibited we stay not to inquire2--finally1 and chief of all1 the great mechanical discovery of the resistance of lateral pressure by the weight of the superimposed flanking pinnacle4 ,daring concentrations of pressure upon narrow piers were the immediate consequence1 and the recognition of the buttress as a feature in itself agreeable and susceptible of decoration4 ,the glorious art of painting on glass added its temptations2 the darkness of northern climes both rendering the typical character of ,light more deeply felt than in ,italy1 and necessitating its admission in larger masses2 the ,italian1 even at the period of his most exquisite art in glass1 retaining the small ,lombard window1 whose expediency will hardly be doubted by anyone who has experienced the transition from the scorching reverberation of the white-hot marble front1 to the cool depth of shade within1 and whose beauty will not be soon forgotten by those who have seen the narrow lights of the ,pisan duomo announce by their redder burning1 not like transparent casements1 but like characters of fire searing the western wall1 the decline of day upon ,capraja4 #ch4 ,here1 then1 arose one great distinction between ,northern and ,transalpine ,gothic1 based1 be it still observed1 on mere necessities of climate4 ,while the architect of ,santa ,maria ,novella admitted to the frescoes of ,ghirlandajo scarcely more of purple lancet light than had been shed by the morning sun through the veined alabasters of ,san ,miniato2 and looked to the rich blue of the quinquipartite vault above1 as to the mosaic of the older concha1 for conspicuous aid in the color decoration of the whole2 the northern builder burst through the walls of his apse1 poured over the eastern altar one unbroken blaze1 and lifting his shafts like pines1 and his walls like precipices1 ministered to their miraculous stability by an infinite phalanx of sloped buttress and glittering pinnacle4 ,the spire was the natural consummation4 ,internally1 the sublimity of space in the cupola had been superseded by another kind of infinity in the prolongation of the nave2 externally1 the spherical surface had been proved1 by the futility of ,arabian efforts1 incapable of decoration2 its majesty depended on its simplicity1 and its simplicity and leading forms were alike discordant with the rich rigidity of the body of the building4 ,the campanile became1 therefore1 principal and central2 its pyramidal termination was surrounded at the base by a group of pinnacles1 and the spire itself1 banded1 or pierced into aerial tracery1 crowned with its last enthusiastic effort the flamelike ascent of the perfect pile4 #ci4 ,the process of change was thus consistent throughout1 though at intervals accelerated by the sudden discovery of resource1 or invention of design2 nor1 had the steps been less traceable1 do we think the suggestiveness of ,repose1 in the earlier style1 or of ,imaginative ,activity in the latter1 definite or trustworthy4 ,we much question whether the ,duomo of ,verona1 with its advanced guard of haughty gryphons--the mailed peers of ,charlemagne frowning from its vaulted gate1--that vault itself ribbed with variegated marbles1 and peopled by a crowd of monsters---the ,evangelical types not the least stern or strange2 its stringcourses replaced by flat cut friezes1 combats between gryphons and chain-clad paladins1 stooping behind their triangular shields and fetching sweeping blows with two-handled swords2 or that of ,lucca--its fantastic columns clasped by writhing snakes and winged dragons1 their marble scales spotted with inlaid serpentine1 every available space alive with troops of dwarfish riders1 with spur on heel and hawk in hood1 sounding huge trumpets of chase1 like those of the ,swiss ,urus-horn1 and cheering herds of gaping dogs upon harts and hares1 boars and wolves1 every stone signed with its grisly beast--be one whit more soothing to the contemplative1 or less exciting to the imaginative faculties1 than the successive arch8 and visionary shaft1 and dreamy vault1 and crisped foliage1 and colorless stone1 of our own fair abbeys1 checkered with sunshine through the depth of ancient branches1 or seen far off1 like clouds in the valley1 risen out of the pause of its river4 #dj4 ,and with respect to the more fitful and fantastic expression of the ,italian ,gothic1 our author is again to be blamed for his loose assumption1 from the least reflecting of preceding writers1 of this general term1 as if the pointed buildings of ,italy could in any wise be arranged in one class1 or criticised in general terms4 ,it is true that so far as the church interiors are concerned1 the system is nearly universal1 and always bad2 its characteristic features being arches of enormous span1 and banded foliage capitals divided into three fillets1 rude in design1 unsuggestive of any structural connection with the column1 and looking consequently as if they might be slipped up or down1 and had been only fastened in their places for the temporary purposes of a festa4 ,but the exteriors of ,italian pointed buildings display variations of principle and transitions of type quite as bold as either the advance from the ,romanesque to the earliest of their forms1 or the recoil from their latest to the cinque-cento4 #da4 ,the first and grandest style resulted merely from the application of the pointed arch to the frequent ,romanesque window1 the large semicircular arch divided by three small ones4 ,pointing both the superior and inferior arches1 and adding to the grace of the larger one by striking another arch above it with a more removed center1 and placing the voussoirs at an acute angle to the curve1 we have the truly noble form of domestic ,gothic1 which--more or less enriched by moldings and adorned by penetration1 more or less open of the space between the including and inferior arches--was immediately adopted in almost all the proudest palaces of ,north ,italy--in the ,brolettos of ,como1 ,bergamo1 ,modena1 and ,siena---in the palace of the ,scaligers at ,verona--of the ,gambacorti at ,pisa--of ,paolo ,guinigi at ,lucca--besides inferior buildings innumerable3--nor is there any form of civil ,gothic except the ,venetian1 which can be for a moment compared with it in simplicity or power4 ,the latest is that most vicious and barbarous style of which the richest types are the lateral porches and upper pinnacles of the ,cathedral of ,como1 and the whole of the ,certosa of ,pavia3--characterized by the imitative sculpture of large buildings on a small scale by way of pinnacles and niches2 the substitution of candelabra for columns2 and the covering of the surfaces with sculpture1 often of classical subject1 in high relief and daring perspective1 and finished with delicacy which rather would demand preservation in a cabinet1 and exhibition under a lens1 than admit of exposure to the weather and removal from the eye1 and which1 therefore1 architecturally considered1 is worse than valueless1 telling merely as unseemly roughness and rustication4 ,but between these two extremes are varieties nearly countless--some of them both strange and bold1 owing to the brilliant color and firm texture of the accessible materials1 and the desire of the builders to crowd the greatest expression of value into the smallest space4 #db4 ,thus it is in the promontories of serpentine which meet with their polished and gloomy green the sweep of the ,gulf of ,genoa1 that we find the first cause of the peculiar spirit of the ,tuscan and ,ligurian ,gothic--carried out in the ,florentine duomo to the highest pitch of colored finish--adorned in the upper story of the ,campanile by a transformation1 peculiarly rich and exquisite1 of the narrowly-pierced heading of window already described1 into a veil of tracery--and aided throughout by an accomplished precision of design in its moldings which we believe to be unique4 ,in ,st4 ,petronio of ,bologna1 another and a barbarous type occurs2 the hollow niche of ,northern ,gothic wrought out with diamond-shaped penetrations inclosed in squares2 at ,bergamo another1 remarkable for the same square penetrations of its rich and daring foliation2--while at ,monza and ,carrara the square is adopted as the leading form of decoration on the west fronts1 and a grotesque expression results--barbarous still2--which1 however1 in the latter duomo is associated with the arcade of slender niches--the translation of the ,romanesque arcade into pointed work1 which forms the second perfect order of ,italian ,gothic1 entirely ecclesiastical1 and well developed in the churches of ,santa ,caterina and ,santa ,maria della ,spina at ,pisa4 ,the ,veronese ,gothic1 distinguished by the extreme purity and severity of its ruling lines1 owing to the distance of the centers of circles from which its cusps are struck1 forms another1 and yet a more noble school--and passes through the richer decoration of ,padua and ,vicenza to the full magnificence of the ,venetian--distinguished by the introduction of the ogee curve without pruriency or effeminacy1 and by the breadth and decision of moldings as severely determined in all examples of the style as those of any one of the ,greek orders4 #dc4 ,all these groups are separated by distinctions clear and bold--and many of them by that broadest of all distinctions which lies between disorganization and consistency--accumulation and adaptation1 experiment and design2--yet to all one or two principles are common1 which again divide the whole series from that of the ,transalpine ,gothic--and whose importance ,lord ,lindsay too lightly passes over in the general description1 couched in somewhat ungraceful terms1 the vertical principle snubbed1 as it were1 by the horizontal4 ,we have already alluded to the great school of color which arose in the immediate neighborhood of the ,genoa serpentine4 ,the accessibility of marble throughout ,north ,italy similarly modified the aim of all design1 by the admission of undecorated surfaces4 ,a blank space of freestone wall is always uninteresting1 and sometimes offensive2 there is no suggestion of preciousness in its dull color1 and the stains and rents of time upon it are dark1 coarse1 and gloomy4 ,but a marble surface receives in its age hues of continually increasing glow and grandeur2 its stains are never foul nor dim2 its undecomposing surface preserves a soft1 fruit-like polish forever1 slowly flushed by the maturing suns of centuries4 ,hence1 while in the ,northern ,gothic the effort of the architect was always so to diffuse his ornament as to prevent the eye from permanently resting on the blank material1 the ,italian fearlessly left fallow large fields of uncarved surface1 and concentrated the labor of the chisel on detached portions1 in which the eye1 being rather directed to them by their isolation than attracted by their salience1 required perfect finish and pure design rather than force of shade or breadth of parts2 and further1 the intensity of ,italian sunshine articulated by perfect gradations1 and defined by sharp shadows at the edge1 such inner anatomy and minuteness of outline as would have been utterly vain and valueless under the gloom of a northern sky2 while again the fineness of material both admitted of1 and allured to1 the precision of execution which the climate was calculated to exhibit4 #dd4 ,all these influences working together1 and with them that of classical example and tradition1 induced a delicacy of expression1 a slightness of salience1 a carefulness of touch1 and refinement of invention1 in all1 even the rudest1 ,italian decorations1 utterly unrecognized in those of ,northern ,gothic3 which1 however picturesquely adapted to their place and purpose1 depend for most of their effect upon bold undercutting1 accomplish little beyond graceful embarrassment of the eye1 and cannot for an instant be separately regarded as works of accomplished art4 ,even the later and more imitative examples profess little more than picturesque vigor or ingenious intricacy4 ,the oak leaves and acorns of the ,beauvais moldings are superbly wreathed1 but rigidly repeated in a constant pattern2 the stems are without character1 and the acorns huge1 straight1 blunt1 and unsightly4 ,round the southern door of the ,florentine duomo runs a border of fig-leaves1 each leaf modulated as if dew had just dried from off it--yet each alike1 so as to secure the ordered symmetry of classical enrichment4 ,but the ,gothic fullness of thought is not therefore left without expression2 at the edge of each leaf is an animal1 first a cicala1 then a lizard1 then a bird1 moth1 serpent1 snail--all different1 and each wrought to the very life--panting--plumy--writhing--glitteri ng--full of breath and power4 ,this harmony of classical restraint with exhaustless fancy1 and of architectural propriety with imitative finish1 is found throughout all the fine periods of the ,italian ,gothic1 opposed to the wildness without invention1 and exuberance without completion1 of the ,north4 #de4 ,one other distinction we must notice1 in the treatment of the ,niche and its accessories4 ,in ,northern ,gothic the niche frequently consists only of a bracket and canopy--the latter attached to the wall1 independent of columnar support1 pierced into openwork profusely rich1 and often prolonged upwards into a crocketed pinnacle of indefinite height4 ,but in the niche of pure ,italian ,gothic the classic principle of columnar support is never lost sight of4 ,even when its canopy is actually supported by the wall behind1 it is apparently supported by two columns in front1 perfectly formed with bases and capitals3--7the support of the ,northern niche--if it have any--commonly takes the form of a buttress73--when it appears as a detached pinnacle1 it is supported on four columns1 the canopy trefoliated with very obtuse cusps1 richly charged with foliage in the foliating space1 but undecorated at the cusp points1 and terminating above in a smooth pyramid1 void of all ornament1 and never very acute4 ,this form1 modified only by various grouping1 is that of the noble sepulchral monuments of ,verona1 ,lucca1 ,pisa1 and ,bologna2 on a small scale it is at ,venice associated with the cupola1 in ,st4 ,mark's1 as well as in ,santa ,fosca1 and other minor churches4 ,at ,pisa1 in the ,spina chapel it occurs in its most exquisite form1 the columns there being chased with checker patterns of great elegance4 ,the windows of the ,florence cathedral are all placed under a flat canopy of the same form1 the columns being elongated1 twisted1 and enriched with mosaic patterns4 ,the reader must at once perceive how vast is the importance of the difference in system with respect to this member2 the whole of the rich1 cavernous chiaroscuro of ,northern ,gothic being dependent on the accumulation of its niches4 #df4 ,in passing to the examination of our ,author's theory as tested by the progress of ,sculpture1 we are still struck by his utter want of attention to physical advantages or difficulties4 ,he seems to have forgotten from the first1 that the mountains of ,syene are not the rocks of ,paros4 ,neither the social habits nor intellectual powers of the ,greek had so much share in inducing his advance in ,sculpture beyond the ,egyptian1 as the difference between marble and syenite1 porphyry or alabaster4 ,marble not only gave the power1 it actually introduced the thought of representation or realization of form1 as opposed to the mere suggestive abstraction3 its translucency1 tenderness of surface1 and equality of tint tempting by utmost reward to the finish which of all substances it alone admits3--even ivory receiving not so delicately1 as alabaster endures not so firmly1 the lightest1 latest touches of the completing chisel4 ,the finer feeling of the hand cannot be put upon a hard rock like syenite--the blow must be firm and fearless--the traceless1 tremulous difference between common and immortal sculpture cannot be set upon it--it cannot receive the enchanted strokes which1 like ,aaron's incense1 separate the ,living and the ,dead4 ,were it otherwise1 were finish possible1 the variegated and lustrous surface would not exhibit it to the eye4 ,the imagination itself is blunted by the resistance of the material1 and by the necessity of absolute predetermination of all it would achieve4 ,retraction of all thought into determined and simple forms1 such as might be fearlessly wrought1 necessarily remained the characteristic of the school4 ,the size of the edifice induced by other causes above stated1 further limited the efforts of the sculptor4 ,no colossal figure can be minutely finished2 nor can it easily be conceived except under an imperfect form4 ,it is a representation of ,impossibility1 and every effort at completion adds to the monstrous sense of ,impossibility4 ,space would altogether fail us were we even to name one-half of the circumstances which influence the treatment of light and shade to be seen at vast distances upon surfaces of variegated or dusky color2 or of the necessities by which1 in masses of huge proportion1 the mere laws of gravity1 and the difficulty of clearing the substance out of vast hollows neither to be reached nor entered1 bind the realization of absolute form4 ,yet all these ,lord ,lindsay ought rigidly to have examined1 before venturing to determine anything respecting the mental relations of the ,greek and ,egyptian4 ,but the fact of his overlooking these inevitablenesses of material is intimately connected with the worst flaw of his theory--his idea of a ,perfection resultant from a balance of elements2 a perfection which all experience has shown to be neither desirable nor possible4 #dg4 ,his account of ,niccola ,pisano1 the founder of the first great school of middle age sculpture1 is thus introduced3-- 99 99 99 ,niccola's peculiar praise is this1--that1 in practice at least1 if not in theory1 he first established the principle that the study of nature1 corrected by the ideal of the antique1 and animated by the spirit of ,christianity1 personal and social1 can alone lead to excellence in art3--each of the three elements of human nature--,matter1 ,mind1 and ,spirit--being thus brought into union and co-operation in the service of ,god1 in due relative harmony and subordination4 ,i cannot over-estimate the importance of this principle2 it was on this that1 consciously or unconsciously1 ,niccola himself worked--it has been by following it that ,donatello and ,ghiberti1 ,leonardo1 ,raphael1 and ,michael ,angelo have risen to glory4 ,the ,sienese school and the ,florentine1 minds contemplative and dramatic1 are alike beholden to it for whatever success has attended their efforts4 ,like a treble-stranded rope1 it drags after it the triumphal car of ,christian ,art4 ,but if either of the strands be broken1 if either of the three elements be pursued disjointedly from the other two1 the result is1 in each respective case1 grossness1 pedantry1 or weakness3--the exclusive imitation of ,nature produces a ,caravaggio1 a ,rubens1 a ,rembrandt--that of the ,antique1 a ,pellegrino di ,tibaldo and a ,david2 and though there be a native chastity and taste in religion1 which restrains those who worship it too abstractedly from ,intellect and ,sense1 from running into such extremes1 it cannot at least supply that mechanical apparatus which will enable them to soar3--such devotees must be content to gaze up into heaven1 like angels cropt of their wings4--,vol4 ii41 p4 #ajb-c4 99 99 99 #dh4 ,this is mere ,bolognese eclecticism in other terms1 and those terms incorrect4 ,we are amazed to find a writer usually thoughtful1 if not accurate1 thus indolently adopting the worn-out falsities of our weakest writers on ,taste4 ,does he--can he for an instant suppose that the ruffian ,caravaggio1 distinguished only by his preference of candlelight and black shadows for the illustration and re-enforcement of villainy1 painted nature--mere nature--exclusive nature1 more painfully or heartily than ,john ,bellini or ,raphael8 ,does he not see that whatever men imitate must be nature of some kind1 material nature or spiritual1 lovely or foul1 brutal or human1 but nature still8 ,does he himself see in mere1 external1 copyable nature1 no more than ,caravaggio saw1 or in the ,antique no more than has been comprehended by ,david8 ,the fact is1 that all artists are primarily divided into the two great groups of ,imitators and ,suggesters--their falling into one or other being dependent partly on disposition1 and partly on the matter they have to subdue--7thus ,perugino imitates line by line with penciled gold1 the hair which ,nino ,pisano can only suggest by a gilded marble mass1 both having the will of representation alike74 ,and each of these classes is again divided into the faithful and unfaithful imitators and suggesters2 and that is a broad question of blind eye and hard heart1 or seeing eye and serious heart1 always co-existent2 and then the faithful imitators and suggesters--artists proper1 are appointed1 each with his peculiar gift and affection1 over the several orders and classes of things natural1 to be by them illumined and set forth4 #di4 ,and that is ,god's doing and distributing2 and none is rashly to be thought inferior to another1 as if by his own fault2 nor any of them stimulated to emulation1 and changing places with others1 although their allotted tasks be of different dignities1 and their granted instruments of different keenness2 for in none of them can there be a perfection or balance of all human attributes2--the great colorist becomes gradually insensible to the refinements of form which he at first intentionally omitted2 the master of line is inevitably dead to many of the delights of color2 the study of the true or ideal human form is inconsistent with the love of its most spiritual expressions4 ,to one it is intrusted to record the historical realities of his age2 in him the perception of character is subtle1 and that of abstract beauty in measure diminished2 to another1 removed to the desert1 or inclosed in the cloister1 is given1 not the noting of things transient1 but the revealing of things eternal4 ,ghirlandajo and ,titian painted men1 but could not angels2 ,duccio and ,angelico painted ,saints1 but could not senators4 ,one is ordered to copy material form lovingly and slowly--his the fine finger and patient will3 to another are sent visions and dreams upon the bed--his the hand fearful and swift1 and impulse of passion irregular and wild4 ,we may have occasion further to insist upon this great principle of the incommunicableness and singleness of all the highest powers2 but we assert it here especially1 in opposition to the idea1 already so fatal to art1 that either the aim of the antique may take place together with the purposes1 or its traditions become elevatory of the power1 of ,christian art2 or that the glories of ,giotto and the ,sienese are in any wise traceable through ,niccola ,pisano to the venerable relics of the ,campo ,santo4 #ej4 ,lord ,lindsay's statement1 as far as it regards ,niccola himself1 is true4 99 99 99 ,his improvement in ,sculpture is attributable1 in the first instance1 to the study of an ancient sarcophagus1 brought from ,greece by the ships of ,pisa in the eleventh century1 and which1 after having stood beside the door of the ,duomo for many centuries as the tomb of the ,countess ,beatrice1 mother of the celebrated ,matilda1 has been recently removed to the ,campo ,santo4 ,the front is sculptured in bas-relief1 in two compartments1 the one representing ,hippolytus rejecting the suit of ,phaedra1 the other his departure for the chase3--such at least is the most plausible interpretation4 ,the sculpture1 if not super-excellent1 is substantially good1 and the benefit derived from it by ,niccola is perceptible on the slightest examination of his works4 ,other remains of antiquity are preserved at ,pisa1 which he may have also studied1 but this was the classic well from which he drew those waters which became wine when poured into the hallowing chalice of ,christianity4 ,i need scarcely add that the mere presence of such models would have availed little1 had not nature endowed him with the quick eye and the intuitive apprehension of genius1 together with a purity of taste which taught him how to select1 how to modify and how to reinspire the germs of excellence thus presented to him4--,vol4 ii41 pp4 #ajd1 #aje4 99 99 99 #ea4 ,but whatever characters peculiarly classical were impressed upon ,niccola by this study1 died out gradually among his scholars2 and in ,orcagna the ,byzantine manner finally triumphed1 leading the way to the purely ,christian sculpture of the school of ,fiesole1 in its turn swept away by the returning wave of classicalism4 ,the sculpture of ,orcagna1 ,giotto1 and ,mino da ,fiesole1 would have been what it was1 if ,niccola had been buried in his sarcophagus2 and this is sufficiently proved by ,giotto's remaining entirely uninfluenced by the educated excellence of ,andrea ,pisano1 while he gradually bent the ,pisan down to his own uncompromising simplicity4 ,if1 as ,lord ,lindsay asserts1 ,giotto had learned from the works of ,niccola the grand principle of ,christian art1 the sculptures of the ,campanile of ,florence would not now have stood forth in contrasted awfulness of simplicity1 beside those of the south door of the ,baptistery4 99 99 99 #eb4 ,andrea's merit was indeed very great2 his works1 compared with those of ,giovanni and ,niccola ,pisano1 exhibit a progress in design1 grace1 composition and mechanical execution1 at first sight unaccountable--a chasm yawns between them1 deep and broad1 over which the younger artist seems to have leapt at a bound1--the stream that sank into the earth at ,pisa emerges a river at ,florence4 ,the solution of the mystery lies in the peculiar plasticity of ,andrea's genius1 and the ascendency acquired over it by ,giotto1 although a younger man1 from the first moment they came into contact4 ,giotto had learnt from the works of ,niccola the grand principle of ,christian art1 imperfectly apprehended by ,giovanni and his other pupils1 and by following up which he had in the natural course of things improved upon his prototype4 ,he now repaid to ,sculpture1 in the person of ,andrea1 the sum of improvement in which he stood her debtor in that of ,niccola3--so far1 that is to say1 as the treasury of ,andrea's mind was capable of taking it in1 for it would be an error to suppose that ,andrea profited by ,giotto in the same independent manner or degree that ,giotto profited by ,niccola4 ,andrea's was not a mind of strong individuality2 he became completely ,giottesque in thought and style1 and as ,giotto and he continued intimate friends through life1 the impression never wore off3--most fortunate1 indeed1 that it was so1 for the welfare of ,sculpture in general1 and for that of the buildings in decorating which the friends worked in concert4 ,happily1 ,andrea's most important work1 the bronze door of the ,baptistery1 still exists1 and with every prospect of preservation4 ,it is adorned with bas-reliefs from the history of ,s4 ,john1 with allegorical figures of virtues and heads of prophets1 all most beautiful1--the historical compositions distinguished by simplicity and purity of feeling and design1 the allegorical virtues perhaps still more expressive1 and full of poetry in their symbols and attitudes2 the whole series is executed with a delicacy of workmanship till then unknown in bronze1 a precision yet softness of touch resembling that of a skillful performer on the pianoforte4 ,andrea was occupied upon it for nine years1 from #accj to #acci1 and when finished1 fixed in its place1 and exposed to view1 the public enthusiasm exceeded all bounds2 the ,signoria1 with unexampled condescension1 visited it in state1 accompanied by the ambassadors of ,naples and ,sicily1 and bestowed on the fortunate artist the honor and privilege of citizenship1 seldom accorded to foreigners unless of lofty rank or exalted merit4 ,the door remained in its original position--facing the ,cathedral--till superseded in that post of honor by the ',gate of ,paradise1' cast by ,ghiberti4 ,it was then transferred to the ,southern entrance of the ,baptistery1 facing the ,misericordia4--,vol4 ii41 pp4 #abe-abh4 99 99 99 #ec4 ,a few pages farther on1 the question of ,giotto's claim to the authorship of the designs for this door is discussed at length1 and1 to the annihilation of the honor here attributed to ,andrea1 determined affirmatively1 partly on the testimony of ,vasari1 partly on internal evidence--these designs being asserted by our author to be thoroughly ,giottesque4 ,but1 not to dwell on ,lord ,lindsay's inconsistency1 in the ultimate decision his discrimination seems to us utterly at fault4 ,giotto has1 we conceive1 suffered quite enough in the abduction of the work in the ,campo ,santo1 which was worthy of him1 without being made answerable for these designs of ,andrea4 ,that he gave a rough draft of many of them1 is conceivable2 but if even he did this1 ,andrea has added cadenzas of drapery1 and other scholarly commonplace1 as a bad singer puts ornament into an air4 ,it was not of such teaching that came the ,jabal of ,giotto4 ,sitting at his tent door1 he withdraws its rude drapery with one hand3 three sheep only are feeding before him1 the watchdog sitting beside them2 but he looks forth like a ,destiny1 beholding the ruined cities of the earth become places1 like the valley of ,achor1 for herds to lie down in4 #ed4 ,we have not space to follow our author through his very interesting investigation of the comparatively unknown schools of ,teutonic sculpture4 ,with one beautiful anecdote1 breathing the whole spirit of the time--the mingling of deep piety with the modest1 manly pride of art--our readers must be indulged3-- 99 99 99 ,the ,florentine ,ghiberti gives a most interesting account of a sculptor of ,cologne in the employment of ,charles of ,anjou1 ,king of ,naples1 whose skill he parallels with that of the statuaries of ancient ,greece2 his heads1 he says1 and his design of the naked1 were 'maravigliosamente bene1' his style full of grace1 his sole defect the somewhat curtailed stature of his figures4 ,he was no less excellent in minuter works as a goldsmith1 and in that capacity had worked for his patron a 'tavola d'oro1' a tablet or screen 7apparently7 of gold1 with his utmost care and skill2 it was a work of exceeding beauty--but in some political exigency his patron wanted money1 and it was broken up before his eyes4 ,seeing his labor vain and the pride of his heart rebuked1 he threw himself on the ground1 and uplifting his eyes and hands to heaven1 prayed in contrition1 ',lord ,god ,almighty1 ,governor and disposer of heaven and earth6 ,thou hast opened mine eyes that ,i follow from henceforth none other than ,thee--,have mercy upon me6'--,he forthwith gave all he had to the poor for the love of ,god1 and went up into a mountain where there was a great hermitage1 and dwelt there the rest of his days in penitence and sanctity1 surviving down to the days of ,pope ,martin1 who reigned from #abha to #abhd4 ',certain youths1' adds ,ghiberti1 'who sought to be skilled in statuary1 told me how he was versed both in painting and sculpture1 and how he had painted in the ,romitorio where he lived2 he was an excellent draughtsman and very courteous4 ,when the youths who wished to improve visited him1 he received them with much humility1 giving them learned instructions1 showing them various proportions1 and drawing for them many examples1 for he was most accomplished in his art4 ,and thus1' he concludes1 'with great humility1 he ended his days in that hermitage4'--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #beg-bei4 99 99 99 #ee4 ,we could have wished that ,lord ,lindsay had further insisted on what will be found to be a characteristic of all the truly ,christian or spiritual1 as opposed to classical1 schools of sculpture--the scenic or painter-like management of effect4 ,the marble is not cut into the actual form of the thing imaged1 but oftener into a perspective suggestion of it--the bas-reliefs sometimes almost entirely under cut1 and sharpedged1 so as to come clear off a dark ground of shadow2 even heads the size of life being in this way rather shadowed out than carved out1 as the ,madonna of ,benedetto de ,majano in ,santa ,maria ,novella1 one of the cheeks being advanced half an inch out of its proper place--and often the most audacious violations of proportion admitted1 as in the limbs of ,michael ,angelo's sitting ,madonna in the ,uffizii2 all artifices1 also1 of deep and sharp cutting being allowed1 to gain the shadowy and spectral expressions about the brow and lip which the mere actualities of form could not have conveyed2--the sculptor never following a material model1 but feeling after the most momentary and subtle aspects of the countenance--striking these out sometimes suddenly1 by rude chiseling1 and stopping the instant they are attained--never risking the loss of thought by the finishing of flesh surface4 ,the heads of the ,medici sacristy we believe to have been thus left unfinished1 as having already the utmost expression which the marble could receive1 and incapable of anything but loss from further touches4 ,so with ,mino da ,fiesole and ,jacopo della ,quercia1 the workmanship is often hard1 sketchy1 and angular1 having its full effect only at a little distance2 but at that distance the statue becomes ineffably alive1 even to startling1 bearing an aspect of change and uncertainty1 as if it were about to vanish1 and withal having a light1 and sweetness1 and incense of passion upon it that silences the looker-on1 half in delight1 half in expectation4 ,this daring stroke--this transfiguring tenderness--may be shown to characterize all truly ,christian sculpture1 as compared with the antique1 or the pseudo-classical of subsequent periods4 ,we agree with ,lord ,lindsay in thinking the ,psyche of ,naples the nearest approach to the ,christian ideal of all ancient efforts2 but even in this the approximation is more accidental than real--a fair type of feature1 further exalted by the mode in which the imagination supplies the lost upper folds of the hair4 ,the fountain of life and emotion remains sealed2 nor was the opening of that fountain due to any study of the far less pure examples accessible by the ,pisan sculptors4 ,the sound of its waters had been heard long before in the aisles of the ,lombard2 nor was it by ,ghiberti1 still less by ,donatello1 that the bed of that ,jordan was dug deepest1 but by ,michael ,angelo 7the last heir of the ,byzantine traditions descending through ,orcagna71 opening thenceforward through thickets darker and more dark1 and with waves ever more soundless and slow1 into the ,dead ,sea wherein its waters have been stayed4 #ef4 ,it is time for us to pass to the subject which occupies the largest portion of the work---the ,history 99 99 99 of ,painting1 as developed contemporaneously with her sister1 ,sculpture1 and 7like her7 under the shadow of the ,gothic ,architecture1 by ,giotto and his successors throughout ,italy1 by ,mino1 ,duccio1 and their scholars at ,siena1 by ,orcagna and ,fra ,angelico da ,fiesole at ,florence1 and by the obscure but interesting primitive school of ,bologna1 during the fourteenth and the early years of the fifteenth century4 ,the period is one1 comparatively speaking1 of repose and tranquillity1--the storm sleeps and the winds are still1 the currents set in one direction1 and we may sail from isle to isle over a sunny sea1 dallying with the time1 secure of a cloudless sky and of the greetings of innocence and love wheresoever the breeze may waft us4 ,there is in truth a holy purity1 an innocent naivete1 a childlike grace and simplicity1 a freshness1 a fearlessness1 an utter freedom from affectation1 a yearning after all things truthful1 lovely and of good report1 in the productions of this early time1 which invest them with a charm peculiar in its kind1 and which few even of the most perfect works of the maturer era can boast of1--and hence the risk and danger of becoming too passionately attached to them1 of losing the power of discrimination1 of admiring and imitating their defects as well as their beauties1 of running into affectation in seeking after simplicity and into exaggeration in our efforts to be in earnest1--in a word1 of forgetting that in art as in human nature1 it is the balance1 harmony1 and co-equal development of ,sense1 ,intellect1 and ,spirit1 which constitute perfection4--,vol4 ii41 pp4 #afa-afc4 99 99 99 #eg4 ,to the thousand islands1 or how many soever they may be1 we shall allow ourselves to be wafted with all willingness1 but not in ,lord ,lindsay's three-masted vessel1 with its balancing topmasts of ,sense1 ,intellect1 and ,spirit4 ,we are utterly tired of the triplicity2 and we are mistaken if its application here be not as inconsistent as it is arbitrary4 ,turning back to the introduction1 which we have quoted1 the reader will find that while ,architecture is there taken for the exponent of ,sense1 ,painting is chosen as the peculiar expression of ,spirit4 ,the painting of ,christendom is that of an immortal spirit conversing with its ,god4 ,but in a note to the first chapter of the second volume1 he will be surprised to find painting become a twin of intellect1 and architecture suddenly advanced from a type of sense to a type of spirit3-- 99 99 99 ,sculpture and ,painting1 twins of ,intellect1 rejoice and breathe freest in the pure ether of ,architecture1 or ,spirit1 like ,castor or ,pollux under the breezy heaven of their father ,jupiter4--,vol4 ii41 p4 #ad4 99 99 99 #eh4 ,prepared by this passage to consider painting either as spiritual or intellectual1 his patience may pardonably give way on finding in the sixth letter--7what he might1 however1 have conjectured from the heading of the third period in the chart of the schools7--that the peculiar prerogative of painting--color1 is to be considered as a sensual element1 and the exponent of sense1 in accordance with a new analogy1 here for the first time proposed1 between spirit1 intellect1 and sense1 and expression1 form1 and color4 ,lord ,lindsay is peculiarly unfortunate in his adoptions from previous writers4 ,he has taken this division of art from ,fuseli and ,reynolds1 without perceiving that in those writers it is one of convenience merely1 and1 even so considered1 is as injudicious as illogical4 ,in what does expression consist but in form and color8 ,it is one of the ends which these accomplish1 and may be itself an attribute of both4 ,color may be expressive or inexpressive1 like music2 form expressive or inexpressive1 like words2 but expression by itself cannot exist2 so that to divide painting into color1 form1 and expression1 is precisely as rational as to divide music into notes1 words1 and expression4 ,color may be pensive1 severe1 exciting1 appalling1 gay1 glowing1 or sensual2 in all these modes it is expressive3 form may be tender or abrupt1 mean or majestic1 attractive or overwhelming1 discomfortable or delightsome2 in all these modes1 and many more1 it is expressive2 and if ,lord ,lindsay's analogy be in anywise applicable to either form or color1 we should have color sensual 7,correggio71 color intellectual 7,tintoret71 color spiritual 7,angelico7--form sensual 7,french sculpture71 form intellectual 7,phidias71 form spiritual 7,michael ,angelo74 ,above all1 our author should have been careful how he attached the epithet sensual to the element of color--not only on account of the glaring inconsistency with his own previous assertion of the spirituality of painting--7since it is certainly not merely by being flat instead of solid1 representative instead of actual1 that painting is--if it be--more spiritual than sculpture72 but also1 because this idea of sensuality in color has had much share in rendering abortive the efforts of the modern ,german religious painters1 inducing their abandonment of its consecrating1 kindling1 purifying power4 #ei4 ,lord ,lindsay says1 in a passage which we shall presently quote1 that the most sensual as well as the most religious painters have always loved the brightest colors4 ,not so2 no painters ever were more sensual than the modern ,french1 who are alike insensible to1 and incapable of color--depending altogether on morbid gradation1 waxy smoothness of surface1 and lusciousness of line1 the real elements of sensuality wherever it eminently exists4 ,so far from good color being sensual1 it saves1 glorifies1 and guards from all evil3 it is with ,titian1 as with all great masters of flesh-painting1 the redeeming and protecting element2 and with the religious painters1 it is a baptism with fire1 an under-song of holy ,litanies4 ,is it in sensuality that the fair flush opens upon the cheek of ,francia's chanting angel1#h until we think it comes1 and fades1 and returns1 as his voice and his harping are louder or lower--or that the silver light rises upon wave after wave of his lifted hair2 or that the burning of the blood is seen on the unclouded brows of the three angels of the ,campo ,santo1 and of folded fire within their wings2 or that the hollow blue of the highest heaven mantles the ,madonna with its depth1 and falls around her like raiment1 as she sits beneath the throne of the ,sistine ,judgment8 ,is it in sensuality that the visible world about us is girded with an eternal iris8--is there pollution in the rose and the gentian more than in the rocks that are trusted to their robing8--is the sea-blue a stain upon its water1 or the scarlet spring of day upon the mountains less holy than their snow8 ,as well call the sun itself1 or the firmament1 sensual1 as the color which flows from the one1 and fills the other4 #fj4 ,we deprecate this rash assumption1 however1 with more regard to the forthcoming portion of the history1 in which we fear it may seriously diminish the value of the author's account of the school of ,venice1 than to the part at present executed4 ,this is written in a spirit rather sympathetic than critical1 and rightly illustrates the feeling of early art1 even where it mistakes1 or leaves unanalyzed1 the technical modes of its expression4 ,it will be better1 perhaps1 that we confine our attention to the accounts of the three men who may be considered as sufficient representatives not only of the art of their time1 but of all subsequent2 ,giotto1 the first of the great line of dramatists1 terminating in ,raffaelle2 ,orcagna1 the head of that branch of the contemplative school which leans towards sadness or terror1 terminating in ,michael ,angelo2 and ,angelico1 the head of the contemplatives concerned with the heavenly ideal1 around whom may be grouped first ,duccio1 and the ,sienese1 who preceded him1 and afterwards ,pinturiccio1 ,perugino1 and ,leonardo da ,vinci4 #fa4 ,the fourth letter opens in the fields of ,vespignano4 ,the circumstances of the finding of ,giotto by ,cimabue are well known4 ,vasari's anecdote of the fly painted upon the nose of one of ,cimabue's figures might1 we think1 have been spared1 or at least not instanced as proof of study from nature nobly rewarded4 ,giotto certainly never either attempted or accomplished any small imitation of this kind2 the story has all the look of one of the common inventions of the ignorant for the ignorant2 nor1 if true1 would ,cimabue's careless mistake of a black spot in the shape of a fly for one of the living annoyances of which there might probably be some dozen or more upon his panel at any moment1 have been a matter of much credit to his young pupil4 ,the first point of any real interest is ,lord ,lindsay's confirmation of ,foerster's attribution of the ,campo ,santo ,life of ,job1 till lately esteemed ,giotto's1 to ,francesco da ,volterra4 ,foerster's evidence appears incontrovertible2 yet there is curious internal evidence1 we think1 in favor of the designs being ,giotto's1 if not the execution4 ,the landscape is especially ,giottesque1 the trees being all boldly massed first with dark brown1 within which the leaves are painted separately in light3 this very archaic treatment had been much softened and modified by the ,giotteschi before the date assigned to these frescoes by ,foerster4 ,but1 what is more singular1 the figure of ,eliphaz1 or the foremost of the three friends1 occurs in a tempera picture of ,giotto's in the ,academy of ,florence1 the ,ascension1 among the apostles on the left2 while the face of another of the three friends is again repeated in the ,christ disputing with the ,doctors of the small tempera series1 also in the ,academy2 the figure of ,satan shows much analogy to that of the ,envy of the ,arena chapel2 and many other portions of the design are evidently either sketches of this very subject by ,giotto himself1 or dexterous compilations from his works by a loving pupil4 ,lord ,lindsay has not done justice to the upper division--the ,satan before ,god3 it is one of the very finest thoughts ever realized by the ,giotteschi4 ,the serenity of power in the principal figure is very noble2 no expression of wrath1 or even of scorn1 in the look which commands the evil spirit4 ,the position of the latter1 and countenance1 are less grotesque and more demoniacal than is usual in paintings of the time2 the triple wings expanded--the arms crossed over the breast1 and holding each other above the elbow1 the claws fixing in the flesh2 a serpent buries its head in a cleft in the bosom1 and the right hoof is lifted1 as if to stamp4 #fb4 ,we should have been glad if ,lord ,lindsay had given us some clearer idea of the internal evidence on which he founds his determination of the order or date of the works of ,giotto4 ,when no trustworthy records exist1 we conceive this task to be of singular difficulty1 owing to the differences of execution universally existing between the large and small works of the painter4 ,the portrait of ,dante in the chapel of the ,podesta is proved by ,dante's exile1 in #acjb1 to have been painted before ,giotto was six and twenty2 yet we remember no head in any of his works which can be compared with it for carefulness of finish and truth of drawing2 the crudeness of the material vanquished by dexterous hatching2 the color not only pure1 but deep--a rare virtue with ,giotto2 the eye soft and thoughtful1 the brow nobly modeled4 ,in the fresco of the ,death of the ,baptist1 in ,santa ,croce1 which we agree with ,lord ,lindsay in attributing to the same early period1 the face of the musician is drawn with great refinement1 and considerable power of rounding surfaces--7though in the drapery may be remarked a very singular piece of archaic treatment3 it is warm white1 with yellow stripes2 the dress itself falls in deep folds1 but the striped pattern does not follow the foldings--it is drawn across1 as if with a straight ruler74 #fc4 ,but passing from these frescoes1 which are nearly the size of life1 to those of the ,arena chapel at ,padua1 erected in #acjc1 decorated in #acjf1 which are much smaller1 we find the execution proportionably less dexterous4 ,of this famous chapel ,lord ,lindsay says-- 99 99 99 nowhere 7save in the ,duomo of ,orvieto7 is the legendary history of the ,virgin told with such minuteness4 ,the heart must indeed be cold to the charms of youthful art that can enter this little sanctuary without a glow of delight4 ,from the roof1 with its sky of ultramarine1 powdered with stars and interspersed with medallions containing the heads of our ,saviour1 the ,virgin and the ,apostles1 to the mock paneling of the nave1 below the windows1 the whole is completely covered with frescoes1 in excellent preservation1 and all more or less painted by ,giotto's own hand1 except six in the tribune1 which however have apparently been executed from his cartoons4444 ,these frescoes form a most important document in the history of ,giotto's mind1 exhibiting all his peculiar merits1 although in a state as yet of immature development4 ,they are full of fancy and invention2 the composition is almost always admirable1 although sometimes too studiously symmetrical2 the figures are few and characteristic1 each speaking for itself1 the impersonation of a distinct idea1 and most dramatically grouped and contrasted2 the attitudes are appropriate1 easy1 and natural2 the action and gesticulation singularly vivid2 the expression is excellent1 except when impassioned grief induces caricature3--devoted to the study of ,nature as he is1 ,giotto had not yet learnt that it is suppressed feeling which affects one most4 ,the head of our ,saviour is beautiful throughout--that of the ,virgin not so good--she is modest1 but not very graceful or celestial3--it was long before he succeeded in his ,virgins--they are much too matronly3 among the accessory figures1 graceful female forms occasionally appear1 foreshadowing those of his later works at ,florence and ,naples1 yet they are always clumsy about the waist and bust1 and most of them are under-jawed1 which certainly detracts from the sweetness of the female countenance4 ,his delineation of the naked is excellent1 as compared with the works of his predecessors1 but far unequal to what he attained in his later years1--the drapery1 on the contrary1 is noble1 majestic1 and statuesque2 the coloring is still pale and weak1--it was long ere he improved in this point2 the landscape displays little or no amendment upon the ,byzantine2 the architecture1 that of the fourteenth century1 is to the figures that people it in the proportion of dolls' houses to the children that play with them1--an absurdity long unthinkingly acquiesced in1 from its occurrence in the classic bas-reliefs from which it had been traditionally derived2--and1 finally1 the lineal perspective is very fair1 and in three of the compositions an excellent effect is produced by the introduction of the same background with varied dramatis personae1 reminding one of ,retszch's illustrations of ,faust4 ,the animals too are always excellent1 full of spirit and character4--,vol4 ii41 pp4 #ahc-aii4 #fd4 ,this last characteristic is especially to be noticed4 ,it is a touching proof of the influence of early years4 ,giotto was only ten years old when he was taken from following the sheep4 ,for the rest1 as we have above stated1 the manipulation of these frescoes is just as far inferior to that of the ,podesta chapel as their dimensions are less2 and we think it will be found generally that the smaller the work the more rude is ,giotto's hand4 ,in this respect he seems to differ from all other masters4 99 99 99 ,it is not difficult1 gazing on these silent but eloquent walls1 to repeople them with the group once1 as we know-five hundred years ago--assembled within them1--,giotto intent upon his work1 his wife ,ciuta admiring his progress1 and ,dante1 with abstracted eye1 alternately conversing with his friend and watching the gambols of the children playing on the grass before the door4 ,it is generally affirmed that ,dante1 during this visit1 inspired ,giotto with his taste for allegory1 and that the ,virtues and ,vices of the ,arena were the first fruits of their intercourse2 it is possible1 certainly1 but ,i doubt it1--allegory was the universal language of the time1 as we have seen in the history of the ,pisan school4--,vol4 ii41 pp4 #aii1 #bjj4 99 99 99 ,it ought to have been further mentioned1 that the representation of the ,virtues and ,vices under these ,giottesque figures continued long afterwards4 ,we find them copied1 for instance1 on the capitals of the ,ducal ,palace at ,venice1 with an amusing variation on the ,stultitia1 who has neither ,indian dress nor club1 as with ,giotto1 but is to the ,venetians sufficiently distinguished by riding a horse4 #fe4 ,the notice of the frescoes at ,assisi consists of little more than an enumeration of the subjects1 accompanied by agreeable translations of the traditions respecting ,st4 ,francis1 embodied by ,st4 ,buonaventura4 ,nor have we space to follow the author through his examination of ,giotto's works at ,naples and ,avignon4 ,the following account of the erection of the ,campanile of ,florence is too interesting to be omitted3--- 99 99 99 ,giotto was chosen to erect it1 on the ground avowedly of the universality of his talents1 with the appointment of ,capomaestro1 or chief architect of the ,cathedral and its dependencies1 a yearly salary of one hundred gold florins1 and the privilege of citizenship1 and under the special understanding that he was not to quit ,florence4 ,his designs being approved of1 the republic passed a decree in the spring of #accd1 that 'the ,campanile should be built so as to exceed in magnificence1 height and excellence of workmanship whatever in that kind had been achieved of old by the ,greeks and ,romans in the time of their utmost power and greatness--della loro piu florida potenza4' ,the first stone was laid accordingly1 with great pomp1 on the #ahth of ,july following1 and the work prosecuted with such vigor and with such costliness and utter disregard of expense1 that a citizen of ,verona1 looking on1 exclaimed that the republic was taxing her strength too far1--that the united resources of two great monarchs would be insufficient to complete it2 a criticism which the ,signoria resented by confining him for two months in prison1 and afterwards conducting him through the public treasury1 to teach him that the ,florentines could build their whole city of marble1 and not one poor steeple only1 were they so inclined4 ,giotto made a model of his proposed structure1 on which every stone was marked1 and the successive courses painted red and white1 according to his design1 so as to match with the ,cathedral and ,baptistery2 this model was of course adhered to strictly during the short remnant of his life1 and the work was completed in strict conformity to it after his death1 with the exception of the spire1 which1 the taste having changed1 was never added4 ,he had intended it to be one hundred braccia1 or one hundred and fifty feet high4--,vol4 ii41 pp4 #bdg-bdi4 ,the deficiency of the spire ,lord ,lindsay does not regret3-- 99 99 99 ,let the reader stand before the ,campanile1 and ask himself whether1 with ,michael ,scott at his elbow1 or ,aladdin's lamp in his hand1 he would supply the deficiency8 ,i think not4--p4 #ch4 99 99 99 ,we have more faith in ,giotto than our author--and we will reply to his question by two others--whether1 looking down upon ,florence from the hill of ,san ,miniato1 his eye rested oftener and more affectionately on the ,campanile of ,giotto1 or on the simple tower and spire of ,santa ,maria ,novella8--and whether1 in the backgrounds of ,perugino1 he would willingly substitute for the church spires invariably introduced1 flat-topped campaniles like the unfinished tower of ,florence8 #ff4 ,giotto sculptured with his own hand two of the bas-reliefs of this campanile1 and probably might have executed them all4 ,but the purposes of his life had been accomplished2 he died at ,florence on the #hth of ,january1 #accg4 ,the concluding notice of his character and achievement is highly valuable4 99 99 99 #fg4 ,painting indeed stands indebted to ,giotto beyond any of her children4 ,his history is a most instructive one4 ,endowed with the liveliest fancy1 and with that facility which so often betrays genius1 and achieving in youth a reputation which the age of ,methuselah could not have added to1 he had yet the discernment to perceive how much still remained to be done1 and the resolution to bind himself 7as it were7 to ,nature's chariot wheel1 confident that she would erelong emancipate and own him as her son4 ,calm and unimpassioned1 he seems to have commenced his career with a deliberate survey of the difficulties he had to encounter and of his resources for the conflict1 and then to have worked upon a system steadily and perseveringly1 prophetically sure of victory4 ,his life was indeed one continued triumph1--and no conqueror ever mounted to the ,capitol with a step more equal and sedate4 ,we find him1 at first1 slowly and cautiously endeavoring to infuse new life into the traditional compositions1 by substituting the heads1 attitudes1 and drapery of the actual world for the spectral forms and conventional types of the mosaics and the ,byzantine painters1--idealizing them when the personages represented were of higher mark and dignity1 but in none ever outstepping truth4 ,advancing in his career1 we find year by year the fruits of continuous unwearied study in a consistent and equable contemporary improvement in all the various minuter though most important departments of his art1 in his design1 his drapery1 his coloring1 in the dignity and expression of his men and in the grace of his women--asperities softened down1 little graces unexpectedly born and playing about his path1 as if to make amends for the deformity of his actual offspring--touches1 daily more numerous1 of that nature which makes the world akin--and ever and always a keen yet cheerful sympathy with life1 a playful humor mingling with his graver lessons1 which affects us the more as coming from one who1 knowing himself an object personally of disgust and ridicule1 could yet satirize with a smile4 ,finally1 throughout his works1 we are conscious of an earnest1 a lofty1 a religious aim and purpose1 as of one who felt himself a pioneer of civilization in a newly-discovered world1 the ,adam of a new ,eden freshly planted in the earth's wilderness1 a mouthpiece of ,god and a preacher of righteousness to mankind4--,and here we must establish a distinction very necessary to be recognized before we can duly appreciate the relative merits of the elder painters in this1 the most important point in which we can view their character4 ,giotto's genius1 however universal1 was still 7as ,i have repeatedly observed7 ,dramatic rather than ,contemplative1--a tendency in which his scholars and successors almost to a man resembled him4 ,now1 just as in actual life--where1 with a few rare exceptions1 all men rank under two great categories according as ,imagination or ,reason predominates in their intellectual character--two individuals may be equally impressed with the truths of ,christianity and yet differ essentially in its outward manifestation1 the one dwelling in action1 the other in contemplation1 the one in strife1 the other in peace1 the one 7so to speak7 in hate1 the other in love1 the one struggling with devils1 the other communing with angels1 yet each serving as a channel of ,god's mercies to man1 each 7we may believe7 offering ,him service equally acceptable in ,his sight--even so shall we find it in art and with artists2 few in whom the ,dramatic power predominates will be found to excel in the expression of religious emotions of the more abstract and enthusiastic cast1 even although men of indisputably pure and holy character themselves2 and vice versa1 few of the more ,contemplative but will feel bewildered and at fault1 if they descend from their starry region of light into the grosser atmosphere that girdles in this world of action4 ,the works of artists are their minds' mirror2 they cannot express what they do not feel2 each class dwells apart and seeks its ideal in a distinct sphere of emotion1--their object is different1 and their success proportioned to the exclusiveness with which they pursue that object4 ,a few indeed there have been in all ages1 monarchs of the mind and types of our ,saviour1 who have lived a twofold existence of action and contemplation in art1 in song1 in politics1 and in daily life2 of these have been ,abraham1 ,moses1 ,david1 and ,cyrus in the elder world--,alfred1 ,charlemagne1 ,dante1 and perhaps ,shakespeare1 in the new1--and in art1 ,niccola ,pisano1 ,leonardo da ,vinci and ,michael ,angelo4 ,but ,giotto1 however great as the patriarch of his peculiar tribe1 was not of these few1 and we ought not therefore to misapprehend him1 or be disappointed at finding his ,madonnas 7for instance7 less exquisitely spiritual than the ,sienese1 or those of ,fra ,angelico and some later painters1 who seem to have dipped their pencils in the rainbow that circles the throne of ,god1--they are pure and modest1 but that is all2 on the other hand1 where his ,contemplative rivals lack utterance1 he speaks most feelingly to the heart in his own peculiar language of ,dramatic composition--he glances over creation with the eye of love1 all the charities of life follow in his steps1 and his thoughts are as the breath of the morning4 ,a man of the world1 living in it and loving it1 yet with a heart that it could not spoil nor wean from its allegiance to ,god--'non meno buon ,cristiano che eccellente pittore1' as ,vasari emphatically describes him--his religion breathes of the free air of heaven rather than the cloister1 neither enthusiastic nor superstitious1 but practical1 manly and healthy--and this1 although the picturesque biographer of ,s4 ,francis6--,vol4 ii41 pp4 #bfj-bfd4 99 99 99 #fh4 ,this is all as admirably felt as expressed1 and to those acquainted with and accustomed to love the works of the painter1 it leaves nothing to be asked for2 but we must again remind ,lord ,lindsay1 that he has throughout left the artistical orbit of ,giotto undefined1 and the offense of his manner unremoved1 as far as regards the uninitiated spectator4 ,we question whether from all that he has written1 the untraveled reader could form any distinct idea of the painter's peculiar merits or methods1 or that the estimate1 if formed1 might not afterwards expose him to severe disappointment4 ,it ought especially to have been stated1 that the ,giottesque system of chiaroscuro is one of pure1 quiet1 pervading daylight4 ,no cast shadows ever occur1 and this remains a marked characteristic of all the works of the ,giotteschi4 ,of course1 all subtleties of reflected light or raised color are unthought of4 ,shade is only given as far as it is necessary to the articulation of simple forms1 nor even then is it rightly adapted to the color of the light2 the folds of the draperies are well drawn1 but the entire rounding of them always missed--the general forms appearing flat1 and terminated by equal and severe outlines1 while the masses of ungradated color often seem to divide the figure into fragments4 ,thus1 the ,madonna in the small tempera series of the ,academy of ,florence1 is usually divided exactly in half by the dark mass of her blue robe1 falling in a vertical line4 ,in consequence of this defect1 the grace of ,giotto's composition can hardly be felt until it is put into outline4 ,the colors themselves are of good quality1 never glaring1 always gladdening1 the reds inclining to orange more than purple1 yellow frequent1 the prevalent tone of the color groups warm2 the sky always blue1 the whole effect somewhat resembling that of the ,northern painted glass of the same century--and chastened in the same manner by noble neutral tints or greens2 yet all somewhat unconsidered and unsystematic1 painful discords not unfrequent4 ,the material and ornaments of dress are never particularized1 no imitations of texture or jewelry1 yet shot stuffs of two colors frequent4 ,the drawing often powerful1 though of course uninformed2 the mastery of mental expression by bodily motion1 and of bodily motion1 past and future1 by a single gesture1 altogether unrivaled even by ,raffaelle2--it is obtained chiefly by throwing the emphasis always on the right line1 admitting straight lines of great severity1 and never dividing the main drift of the drapery by inferior folds2 neither are accidents allowed to interfere--the garments fall heavily and in marked angles--nor are they affected by the wind1 except under circumstances of very rapid motion4 ,the ideal of the face is often solemn--seldom beautiful2 occasionally ludicrous failures occur3 in the smallest designs the face is very often a dead letter1 or worse3 and in all1 ,giotto's handling is generally to be distinguished from that of any of his followers by its bluntness4 ,in the school work we find sweeter types of feature1 greater finish1 stricter care1 more delicate outline1 fewer errors1 but on the whole less life4 #fi4 ,finally1 and on this we would especially insist1 ,giotto's genius is not to be considered as struggling with difficulty and repressed by ignorance1 but as appointed1 for the good of men1 to come into the world exactly at the time when its rapidity of invention was not likely to be hampered by demands for imitative dexterity or neatness of finish2 and when1 owing to the very ignorance which has been unwisely regretted1 the simplicity of his thoughts might be uttered with a childlike and innocent sweetness1 never to be recovered in times of prouder knowledge4 ,the dramatic power of his works1 rightly understood1 could receive no addition from artificial arrangement of shade1 or scientific exhibition of anatomy1 and we have reason to be deeply grateful when afterwards inland far with ,buonaroti and ,titian1 that we can look back to the ,giotteschi--to see those children ,sport upon the shore ,and hear the mighty waters rolling evermore4 ,we believe ,giotto himself felt this--unquestionably he could have carried many of his works much farther in finish1 had he so willed it2 but he chose rather to multiply motives than to complete details4 ,thus we recur to our great principle of ,separate gift4 ,the man who spends his life in toning colors must leave the treasures of his invention untold--let each have his perfect work2 and while we thank ,bellini and ,leonardo for their deeply wrought dyes1 and life-labored utterance of passionate thought2 let us remember also what cause1 but for the remorseless destruction of myriads of his works1 we should have had to thank ,giotto1 in that1 abandoning all proud effort1 he chose rather to make the stones of ,italy cry out with one voice of pauseless praise1 and to fill with perpetual remembrance of the ,saints he loved1 and perpetual honor of the ,god he worshiped1 palace chamber and convent cloister1 lifted tower and lengthened wall1 from the utmost blue of the plain of ,padua to the ,southern wildernesses of the hermit-haunted ,apennine4 #gj4 ,from the head of the ,dramatic branch of ,art1 we turn to the first of the great ,contemplative ,triad1 associated1 as it most singularly happens in name as well as in heart2 ,orcagna--,arcagnuolo2 ,fra ,giovanni--detto ,angelico2 and ,michael ,angelo3--the first two names being bestowed by contemporary admiration4 99 99 99 ,orcagna was born apparently about the middle of the 7#adth7 century1 and was christened ,andrea1 by which name1 with the addition of that of his father1 ,cione1 he always designated himself2 that1 however1 of ,orcagna1 a corruption of ,arcagnuolo1 or ',the ,archangel1' was given him by his contemporaries1 and by this he has become known to posterity4 ,the earliest works of ,orcagna will be found in that sanctuary of ,semi-,byzantine art1 the ,campo ,santo of ,pisa4 ,he there painted three of the four ',novissima1' ,death1 ,judgment1 ,hell1 and ,paradise--the two former entirely himself1 the third with the assistance of his brother ,bernardo1 who is said to have colored it after his designs4 ,the first of the series1 a most singular performance1 had for centuries been popularly known as the ',trionfo della ,morte4' ,it is divided by an immense rock into two irregular portions4 ,in that to the right1 ,death1 personified as a female phantom1 batwinged1 claw-footed1 her robe of linked mail 8 and her long hair streaming on the wind1 swings back her scythe in order to cut down a company of the rich ones of the earth1 ,castruccio ,castracani and his gay companions1 seated under an orange-grove1 and listening to the music of a troubadour and a female minstrel2 little genii or ,cupids1 with reversed torches1 float in the air above them2 one young gallant caresses his hawk1 a lady her lapdog1--,castruccio alone looks abstractedly away1 as if his thoughts were elsewhere4 ,but all are alike heedless and unconscious1 though the sand is run out1 the scythe falling and their doom sealed4 ,meanwhile the lame and the halt1 the withered and the blind1 to whom the heavens are brass and life a burthen1 cry on ,death with impassioned gestures1 to release them from their misery1--but in vain2 she sweeps past1 and will not hear them4 ,between these two groups lie a heap of corpses1 mown down already in her flight--kings1 queens1 bishops1 cardinals1 young men and maidens1 secular and ecclesiastical--ensigned by their crowns1 coronets1 necklaces1 miters and helmets--huddled together in hideous confusion2 some are dead1 others dying1--angels and devils draw the souls out of their mouths2 that of a nun 7in whose hand a purse1 firmly clenched1 betokens her besetting sin7 shrinks back aghast at the unlooked-for sight of the demon who receives it--an idea either inherited or adopted from ,andrea ,tafi4 ,the whole upper half of the fresco1 on this side1 is filled with angels and devils carrying souls to heaven or to hell2 sometimes a struggle takes place1 and a soul is rescued from a demon who has unwarrantably appropriated it2 the angels are very graceful1 and their intercourse with their spiritual charge is full of tenderness and endearment2 on the other hand1 the wicked are hurried off by the devils and thrown headlong into the mouths of hell1 represented as the crater of a volcano1 belching out flames nearly in the center of the composition4 ,these devils exhibit every variety of horror in form and feature4--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #acj-acd4 99 99 99 #ga4 ,we wish our author had been more specific in his account of this wonderful fresco4 ,the portrait of ,castruccio ought to have been signalized as a severe disappointment to the admirers of the heroic ,lucchese3 the face is flat1 lifeless1 and sensual1 though fine in feature4 ,the group of mendicants occupying the center are especially interesting1 as being among the first existing examples of hard study from the model3 all are evidently portraits--and the effect of deformity on the lines of the countenance rendered with appalling truth2 the retractile muscles of the mouth wrinkled and fixed--the jaws projecting--the eyes hungry and glaring--the eyebrows grisly and stiff1 the painter having drawn each hair separately3 the two stroppiati with stumps instead of arms are especially characteristic1 as the observer may at once determine by comparing them with the descendants of the originals1 of whom he will at any time find two1 or more1 waiting to accompany his return across the meadow in front of the ,duomo3 the old woman also1 nearest of the group1 with gray disheveled hair and gray coat1 with a brown girdle and gourd flask1 is magnificent1 and the archetype of all modern conceptions of witch4 ,but the crowning stroke of feeling is dependent on a circumstance seldom observed4 ,as ,castruccio and his companions are seated under the shade of an orange grove1 so the mendicants are surrounded by a thicket of teasels1 and a branch of ragged thorn is twisted like a crown about their sickly temples and weedy hair4 #gb4 ,we do not altogether agree with our author in thinking that the devils exhibit every variety of horror2 we rather fear that the spectator might at first be reminded by them of what is commonly known as the ,dragon pattern of ,wedgwood ware4 ,there is invention in them however--and energy2 the eyes are always terrible1 though simply drawn--a black ball set forward1 and two-thirds surrounded by a narrow crescent of white1 under a shaggy brow2 the mouths are frequently magnificent2 that of a demon accompanying a thrust of a spear with a growl1 on the right of the picture1 is interesting as an example of the development of the canine teeth noticed by ,sir ,charles ,bell 7,essay on ,expression1 p4 #ach7--;its capacity of laceration is unlimited3 another1 snarling like a tiger at an angel who has pulled a soul out of his claws1 is equally well conceived2 we know nothing like its ferocity except ,rembrandt's sketches of wounded wild beasts4 ,the angels we think generally disappointing2 they are for the most part diminutive in size1 and the crossing of the extremities of the two wings that cover the feet1 gives them a coleopterous1 cockchafer look1 which is not a little undignified2 the colors of their plumes are somewhat coarse and dark--one is covered with silky hair1 instead of feathers4 ,the souls they contend for are indeed of sweet expression2 but exceedingly earthly in contour1 the painter being unable to deal with the nude form4 ,on the whole1 he seems to have reserved his highest powers for the fresco which follows next in order1 the scene of ,resurrection and ,judgment4 99 99 99 ,it is1 in the main1 the traditional ,byzantine composition1 even more rigidly symmetrical than usual1 singularly contrasting in this respect with the rush and movement of the preceding compartment4 ,our ,saviour and the ,virgin1 seated side by side1 each on a rainbow and within a vesica piscis1 appear in the sky--,our ,saviour uttering the words of malediction with uplifted arm1 showing the wound in his side1 and nearly in the attitude of ,michael ,angelo1 but in wrath1 not in fury--the ,virgin timidly drawing back and gazing down in pity and sorrow4 ,i never saw this co-equal juxtaposition in any other representation of the ,last ,judgment4--,vol4 iii41 p4 #acf4 99 99 99 #gc4 ,the positions of our ,saviour and of the ,virgin are not strictly co-equal2 the glory in which the ,madonna is seated is both lower and less2 but the equality is more complete in the painting of the same subject in ,santa ,m4 ,novella4 ,we believe ,lord ,lindsay is correct in thinking ,orcagna the only artist who has dared it4 ,we question whether even wrath be intended in the countenance of the principal figure2 on the contrary1 we think it likely to disappoint at first1 and appear lifeless in its exceeding tranquillity2 the brow is indeed slightly knit1 but the eyes have no local direction4 ,they comprehend all things--are set upon all spirits alike1 as in that word-fresco of our own1 not unworthy to be set side by side with this1 the ,vision of the ,trembling ,man in the ,house of the ,interpreter4 ,the action is as majestic as the countenance--the right hand seems raised rather to show its wound 7as the left points at the same instant to the wound in the side71 than in condemnation1 though its gesture has been adopted as one of threatening--first 7and very nobly7 by ,benozzo ,gozzoli1 in the figure of the ,angel departing1 looking towards ,sodom--and afterwards1 with unfortunate exaggeration1 by ,michael ,angelo4 ,orcagna's ,madonna we think a failure1 but his strength has been more happily displayed in the ,apostolic circle4 ,the head of ,st4 ,john is peculiarly beautiful4 ,the other ,apostles look forward or down as in judgment--some in indignation1 some in pity1 some serene--but the eyes of ,st4 ,john are fixed upon the ,judge ,himself with the stability of love--intercession and sorrow struggling for utterance with awe--and through both is seen a tremor of submissive astonishment1 that the lips which had once forbidden his to call down fire from heaven should now themselves burn with irrevocable condemnation4 99 99 99 #gd4 ,one feeling for the most part pervades this side of the composition1--there is far more variety in the other2 agony is depicted with fearful intensity and in every degree and character2 some clasp their hands1 some hide their faces1 some look up in despair1 but none towards ,christ2 others seem to have grown idiots with horror3--a few gaze1 as if fascinated1 into the gulf of fire towards which the whole mass of misery are being urged by the ministers of doom--the flames bite them1 the devils fish for and catch them with long grappling-hooks3--in sad contrast to the group on the opposite side1 a queen1 condemned herself but self-forgetful1 vainly struggles to rescue her daughter from a demon who has caught her by the gown and is dragging her backwards into the abyss--her sister1 wringing her hands1 looks on in agony--it is a fearful scene4 ,a vast rib or arch in the walls of pandemonium admits one into the contiguous gulf of ,hell1 forming the third fresco1 or rather a continuation of the second--in which ,satan sits in the midst1 in gigantic terror1 cased in armor and crunching sinners--of whom ,judas1 especially1 is eaten and ejected1 re-eaten and re-ejected again and again forever4 ,the punishments of the wicked are portrayed in circles numberless around him4 ,but in everything save horror this compartment is inferior to the preceding1 and it has been much injured and repainted4--,vol4 iii41 p4 #ach4 99 99 99 #ge4 ,we might have been spared all notice of this last compartment4 ,throughout ,italy1 owing1 it may be supposed1 to the interested desire of the clergy to impress upon the populace as forcibly as possible the verity of purgatorial horrors1 nearly every representation of the ,inferno has been repainted1 and vulgar butchery substituted for the expressions of punishment which were too chaste for monkish purposes4 ,the infernos of ,giotto at ,padua1 and of ,orcagna at ,florence1 have thus been destroyed2 but in neither case have they been replaced by anything so merely disgusting as these restorations by ,solazzino in the ,campo ,santo4 ,not a line of ,orcagna's remains1 except in one row of figures halfway up the wall1 where his firm black drawing is still distinguishable3 throughout the rest of the fresco1 hillocks of pink flesh have been substituted for his severe forms--and for his agonized features1 puppets' heads with roaring mouths and staring eyes1 the whole as coarse and sickening1 and quite as weak1 as any scrabble on the lowest booths of a ,london ,fair4 #gf4 ,lord ,lindsay's comparison of these frescoes of ,orcagna with the great work in the ,sistine1 is1 as a specimen of his writing1 too good not to be quoted4 99 99 99 ,while ,michael ,angelo's leading idea seems to be the self-concentration and utter absorption of all feeling into the one predominant thought1 ,am ,i1 individually1 safe8 resolving itself into two emotions only1 doubt and despair--all diversities of character1 all kindred sympathies annihilated under their pressure--those emotions uttering themselves1 not through the face but the form1 by bodily contortion1 rendering the whole composition1 with all its overwhelming merits1 a mighty hubbub--,orcagna's on the contrary embraces the whole world of passions that make up the economy of man1 and these not confused or crushed into each other1 but expanded and enhanced in quality and intensity commensurably with the 'change' attendant upon the resurrection--variously expressed indeed1 and in reference to the diversities of individual character1 which will be nowise compromised by that change1 yet from their very intensity suppressed and subdued1 stilling the body and informing only the soul's index1 the countenance4 ,all therefore is calm2 the saved have acquiesced in all things1 they can mourn no more--the damned are to them as if they had never been2--among the lost1 grief is too deep1 too settled for caricature1 and while every feeling of the spectator1 every key of the soul's organ1 is played upon by turns1 tenderness and pity form the under-song throughout and ultimately prevail2 the curse is uttered in sorrow rather than wrath1 and from the pitying ,virgin and the weeping archangel above1 to the mother endeavoring to rescue her daughter below1 and the young secular led to paradise under the approving smile of ,s4 ,michael1 all resolves itself into sympathy and love4--,michael ,angelo's conception may be more efficacious for teaching by terror--it was his object1 ,i believe1 as the heir of ,savonarola and the representative of the ,protestant spirit within the bosom of ,catholicism2 but ,orcagna's is in better taste1 truer to human nature1 sublimer in philosophy1 and 7if ,i mistake not7 more scriptural4--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #aci-ada4 99 99 99 #gg4 ,we think it somewhat strange that the object of teaching by terror should be attributed to ,m4 ,angelo more than to ,orcagna1 seeing that the former1 with his usual dignity1 has refused all representation of infernal punishment--except in the figure dragged down with the hand over the face1 the serpent biting the thigh1 and in the fiends of the extreme angle2 while ,orcagna1 whose intention may be conjectured even from ,solazzino's restoration1 exhausted himself in detailing ,dante's distribution of torture1 and brings into successive prominence every expedient of pain2 the prong1 the spit1 the rack1 the chain1 venomous fang and rending beak1 harrowing point and dividing edge1 biting fiend and calcining fire4 ,the objects of the two great painters were indeed opposed1 but not in this respect4 ,orcagna's1 like that of every great painter of his day1 was to write upon the wall1 as in a book1 the greatest possible number of those religious facts or doctrines which the ,church desired should be known to the people4 ,this he did in the simplest and most straightforward way1 regardless of artistical reputation1 and desiring only to be read and understood4 ,but ,michael ,angelo's object was from the beginning that of an artist4 ,he addresses not the sympathies of his day1 but the understanding of all time1 and he treats the subject in the mode best adapted to bring every one of his own powers into full play4 ,as might have been expected1 while the self-forgetfulness of ,orcagna has given1 on the one hand1 an awfulness to his work1 and verity1 which are wanting in the studied composition of the ,sistine1 on the other it has admitted a puerility commensurate with the narrowness of the religion he had to teach4 #gh4 ,greater differences still result from the opposed powers and idiosyncrasies of the two men4 ,orcagna was unable to draw the nude--on this inability followed a coldness to the value of flowing lines1 and to the power of unity in composition--neither could he indicate motion or buoyancy in flying or floating figures1 nor express violence of action in the limbs--he cannot even show the difference between pulling and pushing in the muscles of the arm4 ,in ,m4 ,angelo these conditions were directly reversed4 ,intense sensibility to the majesty of writhing1 flowing1 and connected lines1 was in him associated with a power1 unequaled except by ,angelico1 of suggesting aerial motion--motion deliberate or disturbed1 inherent or impressed1 impotent or inspired--gathering into glory1 or gravitating to death4 ,orcagna was therefore compelled to range his figures symmetrically in ordered lines1 while ,michael ,angelo bound them into chains1 or hurled them into heaps1 or scattered them before him as the wind does leaves4 ,orcagna trusted for all his expression to the countenance1 or to rudely explained gesture aided by grand fall of draperies1 though in all these points he was still immeasurably inferior to his colossal rival4 ,as for his embracing the whole world of passions which make up the economy of man1 he had no such power of delineation--nor1 we believe1 of conception4 ,the expressions on the inferno side are all of them varieties of grief and fear1 differing merely in degree1 not in character or operation3 there is something dramatic in the raised hand of a man wearing a green bonnet with a white plume--but the only really far-carried effort in the group is the head of a ,dominican monk 7just above the queen in green71 who1 in the midst of the close crowd1 struggling1 shuddering1 and howling on every side1 is fixed in quiet1 total despair1 insensible to all things1 and seemingly poised in existence and sensation upon that one point in his past life when his steps first took hold on hell2 this head1 which is opposed to a face distorted by horror beside it1 is1 we repeat1 the only highly wrought piece of expression in the group4 #gi4 ,what ,michael ,angelo could do by expression of countenance alone1 let the ,pieta of ,genoa tell1 or the ,lorenzo1 or the parallel to this very head of ,orcagna's1 the face of the man borne down in the ,last ,judgment with the hand clenched over one of the eyes4 ,neither in that fresco is he wanting in dramatic episode2 the adaptation of the ,niobe on the spectator's left hand is far finer than ,orcagna's condemned queen and princess2 the groups rising below1 side by side1 supporting each other1 are full of tenderness1 and reciprocal devotion2 the contest in the center for the body which a demon drags down by the hair is another kind of quarrel from that of ,orcagna between a feathered angel and bristly fiend for a diminutive soul--reminding us1 as it forcibly did at first1 of a vociferous difference in opinion between a cat and a cockatoo4 ,but ,buonaroti knew that it was useless to concentrate interest in the countenances1 in a picture of enormous size1 ill lighted2 and he preferred giving full play to the powers of line-grouping1 for which he could have found no nobler field4 ,let us not by unwise comparison mingle with our admiration of these two sublime works any sense of weakness in the naivete of the one1 or of coldness in the science of the other4 ,each painter has his own sufficient dominion1 and he who complains of the want of knowledge in ,orcagna1 or of the display of it in ,michael ,angelo1 has probably brought little to his judgment of either4 #hj4 ,one passage more we must quote1 well worthy of remark in these days of hollowness and haste1 though we question the truth of the particular fact stated in the second volume respecting the shrine of ,or ,san ,michele4 ,cement is now visible enough in all the joints1 but whether from recent repairs we cannot say3-- ,there is indeed another1 a technical merit1 due to ,orcagna1 which ,i would have mentioned earlier1 did it not partake so strongly of a moral virtue4 ,whatever he undertook to do1 he did well--by which ,i mean1 better than anybody else4 ,his ,loggia1 in its general structure and its provisions against injury from wet and decay1 is a model of strength no less than symmetry and elegance2 the junction of the marbles in the tabernacle of ,or ,san ,michele1 and the exquisite manual workmanship of the bas-reliefs1 have been the theme of praise for five centuries2 his colors in the ,campo ,santo have maintained a freshness unrivaled by those of any of his successors there2--nay1 even had his mosaics been preserved at ,orvieto1 ,i am confident the commettitura would be found more compact and polished than any previous to the sixteenth century4 ,the secret of all this was that he made himself thoroughly an adept in the mechanism of the respective arts1 and therefore his works have stood4 ,genius is too apt to think herself independent of form and matter--never was there such a mistake2 she cannot slight either without hamstringing herself4 ,but the rule is of universal application2 without this thorough mastery of their respective tools1 this determination honestly to make the best use of them1 the divine1 the soldier1 the statesman1 the philosopher1 the poet--however genuine their enthusiasm1 however lofty their genius--are mere empirics1 pretenders to crowns they will not run for1 children not men--sporters with ,imagination1 triflers with ,reason1 with the prospects of humanity1 with ,time1 and with ,god4--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #adh1 #adi4 99 99 99 ,a noble passage this1 and most true1 provided we distinguish always between mastery of tool together with thorough strength of workmanship1 and mere neatness of outside polish or fitting of measurement1 of which ancient masters are daringly scornful4 #ha4 ,none of ,orcagna's pupils1 except ,francisco ,traini1 attained celebrity-- 99 99 99 nothing in fact is known of them except their names4 ,had their works1 however inferior1 been preserved1 we might have had less difficulty in establishing the links between himself and his successor in the supremacy of the ,semi-,byzantine school at ,florence1 the ,beato ,fra ,angelico da ,fiesole4444 ,he was born at ,vicchio1 near ,florence1 it is said in #achg1 and was baptized by the name of ,guido4 ,of a gentle nature1 averse to the turmoil of the world1 and pious to enthusiasm1 though as free from fanaticism as his youth was innocent of vice1 he determined1 at the age of twenty1 though well provided for in a worldly point of view1 to retire to the cloister2 he professed himself accordingly a brother of the monastery of ,s4 ,domenico at ,fiesole in #adjg1 assuming his monastic name from the ,apostle of love1 ,s4 ,john4 ,he acquired from his residence there the distinguishing surname 'da ,fiesole2' and a calmer retreat for one weary of earth and desirous of commerce with heaven would in vain be sought for2--the purity of the atmosphere1 the freshness of the morning breeze1 the starry clearness and delicious fragrance of the nights1 the loveliness of the valley at one's feet1 lengthening out1 like a life of happiness1 between the ,apennine and the sea--with the intermingling sounds that ascend perpetually from below1 softened by distance into music1 and by an agreeable compromise at once giving a zest to solitude and cheating it of its loneliness--rendering ,fiesole a spot which angels might alight upon by mistake in quest of paradise1 a spot where it would be at once sweet to live and sweet to die4--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #aea-aec4 99 99 99 #hb4 ,our readers must recollect that the convent where ,fra ,giovanni first resided is not that whose belfry tower and cypress grove crown the top of ,fesole4 ,the ,dominican convent is situated at the bottom of the slope of olives1 distinguished only by its narrow and low spire2 a cypress avenue recedes from it towards ,florence--a stony path1 leading to the ancient ,badia of ,fiesole1 descends in front of the three-arched loggia which protects the entrance to the church4 ,no extended prospect is open to it2 though over the low wall1 and through the sharp1 thickset olive leaves1 may be seen one silver gleam of the ,arno1 and1 at evening1 the peaks of the ,carrara mountains1 purple against the twilight1 dark and calm1 while the fire-flies glance beneath1 silent and intermittent1 like stars upon the rippling of mute1 soft sea4 99 99 99 ,it is by no means an easy task to adjust the chronology of ,fra ,angelico's works2 he has affixed no dates to them1 and consequently1 when external evidence is wanting1 we are thrown upon internal1 which in his case is unusually fallacious4 ,it is satisfactory therefore to possess a fixed date in #adcc1 the year in which he painted the great tabernacle for the ,company of ,flax-merchants1 now removed to the gallery of the ,uffizii4 ,it represents the ,virgin and child1 with attendant ,saints1 on a gold ground--very dignified and noble1 although the ,madonna has not attained the exquisite spirituality of his later efforts4 ,round this tabernacle as a nucleus1 may be classed a number of paintings1 all of similar excellence--admirable that is to say1 but not of his very best1 and in which1 if ,i mistake not1 the type of the ,virgin bears throughout a strong family resemblance4--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #afj1 #afa4 99 99 99 #hc4 ,if the painter ever increased in power after this period 7he was then forty-three71 we have been unable to systematize the improvement4 ,we much doubt whether1 in his modes of execution1 advance were possible4 ,men whose merit lies in record of natural facts1 increase in knowledge2 and men whose merit is in dexterity of hand increase in facility2 but we much doubt whether the faculty of design1 or force of feeling1 increase after the age of twenty-five4 ,by ,fra ,angelico1 who drew always in fear and trembling1 dexterous execution had been from the first repudiated2 he neither needed nor sought technical knowledge of the form1 and the inspiration1 to which his power was owing1 was not less glowing in youth than in age4 ,the inferiority traceable 7we grant7 in this ,madonna results not from its early date1 but from ,fra ,angelico's incapability1 always visible1 of drawing the head of life size4 ,he is1 in this respect1 the exact reverse of ,giotto2 he was essentially a miniature painter1 and never attained the mastery of muscular play in the features necessary in a full-sized drawing4 ,his habit1 almost constant1 of surrounding the iris of the eye by a sharp black line1 is1 in small figures1 perfectly successful1 giving a transparency and tenderness not otherwise expressible4 ,but on a larger scale it gives a stony stare to the eyeball1 which not all the tenderness of the brow and mouth can conquer or redeem4 #hd4 ,further1 in this particular instance1 the ear has by accident been set too far back--7,fra ,angelico1 drawing only from feeling1 was liable to gross errors of this kind1--often1 however1 more beautiful than other men's truths7--and the hair removed in consequence too far off the brow2 in other respects the face is very noble--still more so that of the ,christ4 ,the child stands upon the ,virgin's knees1#i one hand raised in the usual attitude of benediction1 the other holding a globe4 ,the face looks straightforward1 quiet1 ,jupiter-like1 and very sublime1 owing to the smallness of the features in proportion to the head1 the eyes being placed at about three-sevenths of the whole height1 leaving four-sevenths for the brow1 and themselves only in length about one-sixth of the breadth of the face1 half closed1 giving a peculiar appearance of repose4 ,the hair is short1 golden1 symmetrically curled1 statuesque in its contour2 the mouth tender and full of life3 the red cross of the glory about the head of an intense ruby enamel1 almost fire color2 the dress brown1 with golden girdle4 ,in all the treatment ,fra ,angelico maintains his assertion of the authority of abstract imagination1 which1 depriving his subject of all material or actual being1 contemplates it as retaining qualities eternal only--adorned by incorporeal splendor4 ,the eyes of the beholder are supernaturally unsealed3 and to this miraculous vision whatever is of the earth vanishes1 and all things are seen endowed with an harmonious glory--the garments falling with strange1 visionary grace1 glowing with indefinite gold--the walls of the chamber dazzling as of a heavenly city--the mortal forms themselves impressed with divine changelessness--no domesticity--no jest--no anxiety--no expectation--no variety of action or of thought4 ,love1 all fulfilling1 and various modes of power1 are alone expressed2 the ,virgin never shows the complacency or petty watchfulness of maternity2 she sits serene1 supporting the child whom she ever looks upon1 as a stranger among strangers2 ,behold the handmaid of the ,lord forever written upon her brow4 #he4 ,an approach to an exception in treatment is found in the ,annunciation of the upper corridor of ,st4 ,mark's1 most unkindly treated by our author3-- 99 99 99 ,probably the earliest of the series--full of faults1 but imbued with the sweetest feeling2 there is a look of naive curiosity1 mingling with the modest and meek humility of the ,virgin1 which almost provokes a smile4--iii41 #agf4 99 99 99 ,many a ,sabbath evening of bright summer have we passed in that lonely corridor--but not to the finding of faults1 nor the provoking of smiles4 ,the angel is perhaps something less majestic than is usual with the painter2 but the ,virgin is only the more to be worshiped1 because here1 for once1 set before us in the verity of life4 ,no gorgeous robe is upon her2 no lifted throne set for her2 the golden border gleams faintly on the dark blue dress2 the seat is drawn into the shadow of a lowly loggia4 ,the face is of no strange1 far-sought loveliness2 the features might even be thought hard1 and they are worn with watching1 and severe1 though innocent4 ,she stoops forward with her arms folded on her bosom3 no casting down of eye nor shrinking of the frame in fear2 she is too earnest1 too self-forgetful for either3 wonder and inquiry are there1 but chastened and free from doubt2 meekness1 yet mingled with a patient majesty2 peace1 yet sorrowfully sealed1 as if the promise of the ,angel were already underwritten by the prophecy of ,simeon4 ,they who pass and repass in the twilight of that solemn corridor1 need not the adjuration inscribed beneath3-- ,virginis intactae cum veneris ante figuram ,praetereundo cave ne sileatur ,ave4#aj ,we in general allow the inferiority of ,angelico's fresco to his tempera works2 yet even that which of all these latter we think the most radiant1 the ,annunciation on the reliquary of ,santa ,maria ,novella1 would1 we believe1 if repeatedly compared with this of ,st4 ,mark's1 in the end have the disadvantage4 ,the eminent value of the tempera paintings results partly from their delicacy of line1 and partly from the purity of color and force of decoration of which the material is capable4 #hf4 ,the passage1 to which we have before alluded1 respecting ,fra ,angelico's color in general1 is one of the most curious and fanciful in the work3-- 99 99 99 ,his coloring1 on the other hand1 is far more beautiful1 although of questionable brilliancy4 ,this will be found invariably the case in minds constituted like his4 ,spirit and ,sense act on each other with livelier reciprocity the closer their approximation1 the less intervention there is of ,intellect4 ,hence the most religious and the most sensual painters have always loved the brightest colors--,spiritual ,expression and a clearly defined 7however inaccurate7 outline forming the distinction of the former class2 ,animal ,expression and a confused and uncertain outline 7reflecting that lax morality which confounds the limits of light and darkness1 right and wrong7 of the latter4 ,on the other hand1 the more that ,intellect1 or the spirit of ,form1 intervenes in its severe precision1 the less pure1 the paler grow the colors1 the nearer they tend to the hue of marble1 of the bas-relief4 ,we thus find the purest and brightest colors only in ,fra ,angelico's pictures1 with a general predominance of blue1 which we have observed to prevail more or less in so many of the ,semi-,byzantine painters1 and which1 fanciful as it may appear1 ,i cannot but attribute1 independently of mere tradition1 to an inherent1 instinctive sympathy between their mental constitution and the color in question2 as that of red1 or of blood1 may be observed to prevail among painters in whom ,sense or ,nature predominates over ,spirit--for in this1 as in all things else1 the moral and the material world respond to each other as closely as shadow and substance4 ,but1 in ,painting as in ,morals1 perfection implies the due intervention of ,intellect between ,spirit and ,sense--of ,form between ,expression and ,coloring--as a power at once controlling and controlled--and therefore1 although acknowledging its fascination1 ,i cannot unreservedly praise the ,coloring of ,fra ,angelico4--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #aic1 #aid4 99 99 99 #hg4 ,there is much ingenuity1 and some truth1 here1 but the reader1 as in other of ,lord ,lindsay's speculations1 must receive his conclusions with qualification4 ,it is the natural character of strong effects of color1 as of high light1 to confuse outlines2 and it is a necessity in all fine harmonies of color that many tints should merge imperceptibly into their following or succeeding ones3--we believe ,lord ,lindsay himself would hardly wish to mark the hues of the rainbow into divided zones1 or to show its edge1 as of an iron arch1 against the sky1 in order that it might no longer reflect 7a reflection of which we profess ourselves up to this moment altogether unconscious7 that lax morality which confounds the limits of right and wrong4 ,again1 there is a character of energy in all warm colors1 as of repose in cold1 which necessarily causes the former to be preferred by painters of savage subject--that is to say1 commonly by the coarsest and most degraded2--but when sensuality is free from ferocity1 it leans to blue more than to red 7as especially in the flesh tints of ,guido71 and when intellect prevails over this sensuality1 its first step is invariably to put more red into every color1 and so rubor est virtutis color4 ,we hardly think ,lord ,lindsay would willingly include ,luca ,giordano among his spiritual painters1 though that artist's servant was materially enriched by washing the ultramarine from the brushes with which he painted the ,ricardi palace2 nor would he1 we believe1 degrade ,ghirlandajo to fellowship with the herd of the sensual1 though in the fresco of the vision of ,zacharias there are seventeen different reds in large masses1 and not a shade of blue4 ,the fact is1 there is no color of the spectrum1 as there is no note of music1 whose key and prevalence may not be made pure in expression1 and elevating in influence1 by a great and good painter1 or degraded to unhallowed purpose by a base one4 #hh4 ,we are sorry that our author cannot unreservedly praise the coloring of ,angelico2 but he is again curbed by his unhappy system of balanced perfectibility1 and must quarrel with the gentle monk because he finds not in him the flames of ,giorgione1 nor the tempering of ,titian1 nor the melody of ,cagliari4 ,this curb of perfection we took between our teeth from the first1 and we will give up our hearts to ,angelico without drawback or reservation4 ,his color is1 in its sphere and to its purpose1 as perfect as human work may be3 wrought to radiance beyond that of the ruby and opal1 its inartificialness prevents it from arresting the attention it is intended only to direct2 were it composed with more science it would become vulgar from the loss of its unconsciousness2 if richer1 it must have parted with its purity1 if deeper1 with its joyfulness1 if more subdued1 with its sincerity4 ,passages are1 indeed1 sometimes unsuccessful2 but it is to be judged in its rapture1 and forgiven in its fall3 he who works by law and system may be blamed when he sinks below the line above which he proposes no elevation1 but to him whose eyes are on a mark far off1 and whose efforts are impulsive1 and to the utmost of his strength1 we may not unkindly count the slips of his sometime descent into the valley of humiliation4 #hi4 ,the concluding notice of ,angelico is true and interesting1 though rendered obscure by useless recurrence to the favorite theory4 99 99 99 ,such are the surviving works of a painter1 who has recently been as unduly extolled as he had for three centuries past been unduly depreciated1--depreciated1 through the amalgamation during those centuries of the principle of which he was the representative with baser1 or at least less precious matter--extolled1 through the recurrence to that principle1 in its pure1 unsophisticated essence1 in the present --in a word1 to the simple ,imaginative ,christianity of the middle ages1 as opposed to the complex ,reasoning ,christianity of recent times4 ,creeds therefore are at issue1 and no exclusive partisan1 neither ,catholic nor ,protestant in the absolute sense of the terms1 can fairly appreciate ,fra ,angelico4 ,nevertheless1 to those who regard society as progressive through the gradual development of the component elements of human nature1 and who believe that ,providence has accommodated the mind of man1 individually1 to the perception of half-truths only1 in order to create that antagonism from which ,truth is generated in the abstract1 and by which the progression is effected1 his rank and position in art are clear and definite4 ,all that ,spirit could achieve by herself1 anterior to that struggle with ,intellect and ,sense which she must in all cases pass through in order to work out her destiny1 was accomplished by him4 ,last and most gifted of a long and imaginative race--the heir of their experience1 with collateral advantages which they possessed not--and flourishing at the moment when the transition was actually taking place from the youth to the early manhood of ,europe2 he gave full1 unreserved1 and enthusiastic expression to that ,love and ,hope which had winged the ,faith of ,christendom in her flight towards heaven for fourteen centuries1--to those yearnings of the ,heart and the ,imagination which ever precede1 in ,universal as well as ,individual development1 the severer and more chastened intelligence of ,reason4--,vol4 iii41 pp4 #ahh-aij4 99 99 99 #ij4 ,we must again repeat that if our author wishes to be truly serviceable to the schools of ,england1 he must express himself in terms requiring less laborious translation4 ,clearing the above statement of its mysticism and metaphor1 it amounts only to this1--that ,fra ,angelico was a man of 7humanly speaking7 perfect piety--humility1 charity1 and faith--that he never employed his art but as a means of expressing his love to ,god and man1 and with the view1 single1 simple1 and straightforward1 of glory to the ,creator1 and good to the ,creature4 ,every quality or subject of art by which these ends were not to be attained1 or to be attained secondarily only1 he rejected2 from all study of art1 as such1 he withdrew2 whatever might merely please the eye1 or interest the intellect1 he despised1 and refused2 he used his colors and lines1 as ,david his harp1 after a kingly fashion1 for purposes of praise and not of science4 ,to this grace and gift of holiness were added1 those of a fervent imagination1 vivid invention1 keen sense of loveliness in lines and colors1 unwearied energy1 and to all these gifts the crowning one of quietness of life and mind1 while yet his convent-cell was at first within view1 and afterwards in the center1 of a city which had lead of all the world in ,intellect1 and in whose streets he might see daily and hourly the noblest setting of manly features4 ,it would perhaps be well to wait until we find another man thus actuated1 thus endowed1 and thus circumstanced1 before we speak of unduly extolling the works of ,fra ,angelico4 #ia4 ,his artistical attainments1 as might be conjectured1 are nothing more than the development1 through practice1 of his natural powers in accordance with his sacred instincts4 ,his power of expression by bodily gesture is greater even than ,giotto's1 wherever he could feel or comprehend the passion to be expressed2 but so inherent in him was his holy tranquillity of mind1 that he could not by any exertion1 even for a moment1 conceive either agitation1 doubt1 or fear--and all the actions proceeding from such passions1 or1 a fortiori1 from any yet more criminal1 are absurdly and powerlessly portrayed by him2 while contrariwise1 every gesture1 consistent with emotion pure and saintly1 is rendered with an intensity of truth to which there is no existing parallel2 the expression being carried out into every bend of the hand1 every undulation of the arm1 shoulder1 and neck1 every fold of the dress and every wave of the hair4 ,his drawing of movement is subject to the same influence2 vulgar or vicious motion he cannot represent2 his running1 falling1 or struggling figures are drawn with childish incapability2 but give him for his scene the pavement of heaven1 or pastures of ,paradise1 and for his subject the inoffensive pace of glorified souls1 or the spiritual speed of ,angels1 and ,michael ,angelo alone can contend with him in majesty1--in grace and musical continuousness of motion1 no one4 ,the inspiration was in some degree caught by his pupil ,benozzo1 but thenceforward forever lost4 ,the angels of ,perugino appear to be let down by cords and moved by wires2 that of ,titian1 in the sacrifice of ,isaac1 kicks like an awkward swimmer2 ,raphael's ,moses and ,elias of the ,transfiguration are cramped at the knees2 and the flight of ,domenichino's angels is a sprawl paralyzed4 ,the authority of ,tintoret over movement is1 on the other hand1 too unlimited2 the descent of his angels is the swoop of a whirlwind or the fall of a thunderbolt2 his mortal impulses are oftener impetuous than pathetic1 and majestic more than melodious4 #ib4 ,but it is difficult by words to convey to the reader unacquainted with ,angelico's works1 any idea of the thoughtful variety of his rendering of movement--,earnest haste of girded faith in the ,flight into ,egypt1 the haste of obedience1 not of fear2 and unweariedness1 but through spiritual support1 and not in human strength--,swift obedience of passive earth to the call of its ,creator1 in the ,resurrection of ,lazarus--,march of meditative gladness in the following of the ,apostles down the ,mount of ,olives--,rush of adoration breaking through the chains and shadows of death1 in the ,spirits in ,prison4 ,pacing of mighty angels above the ,firmament1 poised on their upright wings1 half opened1 broad1 bright1 quiet1 like eastern clouds before the sun is up2--or going forth1 with timbrels and with dances1 of souls more than conquerors1 beside the shore of the last great ,red ,sea1 the sea of glass mingled with fire1 hand knit with hand1 and voice with voice1 the joyful winds of heaven following the measure of their motion1 and the flowers of the new earth looking on1 like stars pausing in their courses4 #ic4 ,and yet all this is but the lowest part and narrowest reach of ,angelico's conceptions4 ,joy and gentleness1 patience and power1 he could indicate by gesture--but ,devotion could be told by the countenance only4 ,there seems to have been always a stern limit by which the thoughts of other men were stayed2 the religion that was painted even by ,perugino1 ,francia1 and ,bellini1 was finite in its spirit--the religion of earthly beings1 checked1 not indeed by the corruption1 but by the veil and the sorrow of clay4 ,but with ,fra ,angelico the glory of the countenance reaches to actual transfiguration2 eyes that see no more darkly1 incapable of all tears1 foreheads flaming1 like ,belshazzar's marble wall1 with the writing of the ,father's name upon them1 lips tremulous with love1 and crimson with the light of the coals of the altar--and all this loveliness1 thus enthusiastic and ineffable1 yet sealed with the stability which the coming and going of ages as countless as sea-sand cannot dim nor weary1 and bathed by an ever flowing river of holy thought1 with ,god for its source1 ,god for its shore1 and ,god for its ocean4 #id4 ,we speak in no inconsiderate enthusiasm4 ,we feel assured that to any person of just feeling who devotes sufficient time to the examination of these works1 all terms of description must seem derogatory4 ,where such ends as these have been reached1 it ill becomes us to speak of minor deficiencies as either to be blamed or regretted3 it cannot be determined how far even what we deprecate may be accessory to our delight1 nor by what intricate involution what we deplore may be connected with what we love4 ,every good that nature herself bestows1 or accomplishes1 is given with a counterpoise1 or gained at a sacrifice2 nor is it to be expected of ,man that he should win the hardest battles and tread the narrowest paths1 without the betrayal of a weakness1 or the acknowledgment of an error4 #ie4 ,with this final warning against our author's hesitating approbation of what is greatest and best1 we must close our specific examination of the mode in which his design has been worked out4 ,we have done enough to set the reader upon his guard against whatever appears slight or inconsiderate in his theory or statements1 and with the more severity1 because this was alone wanting to render the book one of the most valuable gifts which ,art has ever received4 ,of the translations from the lives of the saints we have hardly spoken2 they are gracefully rendered1 and all of them highly interesting--but we could wish to see these1 and the enumerations of fresco subjects#aa with which the other volumes are in great part occupied1 published separately for the convenience of travelers in ,italy4 ,they are something out of place in a work like that before us4 ,for the rest1 we might have more interested the reader1 and gratified ourselves1 by setting before him some of the many passages of tender feeling and earnest eloquence with which the volumes are replete--but we felt it necessary rather to anticipate the hesitation with which they were liable to be received1 and set limits to the halo of fancy by which their light is obscured--though enlarged4 ,one or two paragraphs1 however1 of the closing chapter must be given before we part3-- 99 99 99 #if4 ,what a scene of beauty1 what a flower-garden of art--how bright and how varied--must ,italy have presented at the commencement of the sixteenth century1 at the death of ,raphael6 ,the sacrileges we lament took place for the most part after that period2 hundreds of frescoes1 not merely of ,giotto and those other elders of ,christian ,art1 but of ,gentile da ,fabriano1 ,pietro della ,francesca1 ,perugino and their compeers1 were still existing1 charming the eye1 elevating the mind1 and warming the heart4 ,now alas6 few comparatively and fading are the relics of those great and good men4 ,while ,dante's voice rings as clear as ever1 communing with us as friend with friend1 theirs is dying gradually away1 fainter and fainter1 like the farewell of a spirit4 ,flaking off the walls1 uncared for and neglected save in a few rare instances1 scarce one of their frescoes will survive the century1 and the labors of the next may not improbably be directed to the recovery and restoration of such as may still slumber beneath the whitewash and the daubs with which the ,bronzinos and ,zuccheros 'et id genus omne' have unconsciously sealed them up for posterity--their best title to our gratitude4--,but why not begin at once8 at all events in the instances numberless1 where merely whitewash interposes between us and them4 ,it is easy to reply--what need of this8 ,they--the artists--have ,moses and the prophets1 the frescoes of ,raphael and ,michael ,angelo--let them study them4 ,doubtless1--but we still reply1 and with no impiety--they will not repent1 they will not forsake their idols and their evil ways--they will not abandon ,sense for ,spirit1 oils for fresco--unless these great ones of the past1 these ,sleepers of ,ephesus1 arise from the dead4444 ,it is not by studying art in its perfection--by worshiping ,raphael and ,michael ,angelo exclusively of all other excellence--that we can expect to rival them1 but by re-ascending to the fountain-head--by planting ourselves as acorns in the ground those oaks are rooted in1 and growing up to their level--in a word1 by studying ,duccio and ,giotto that we may paint like ,taddeo di ,bartolo and ,masaccio1 ,taddeo di ,bartolo and ,masaccio that we may paint like ,perugino and ,luca ,signorelli1 ,perugino and ,luca ,signorelli that we may paint like ,raphael and ,michael ,angelo4 ,and why despair of this1 or even of shaming the ,vatican8 ,for with genius and ,god's blessing nothing is impossible4 ,i would not be a blind partisan1 but1 with all their faults1 the old masters ,i plead for knew how to touch the heart4 ,it may be difficult at first to believe this2 like children1 they are shy with us--like strangers1 they bear an uncouth mien and aspect--like ghosts from the other world1 they have an awkward habit of shocking our conventionalities with home truths4 ,but with the dead as with the living all depends on the frankness with which we greet them1 the sincerity with which we credit their kindly qualities2 sympathy is the key to truth--we must love1 in order to appreciate4--iii41 p4 #dah4 99 99 99 #ig4 ,these are beautiful sentences2 yet this let the young painter of these days remember always1 that whomsoever he may love1 or from whomsoever learn1 he can now no more go back to those hours of infancy and be born again4#ab ,about the faith1 the questioning and the teaching of childhood there is a joy and grace1 which we may often envy1 but can no more assume3--the voice and the gesture must not be imitated when the innocence is lost4 ,incapability and ignorance in the act of being struggled against and cast away are often endowed with a peculiar charm--but both are only contemptible when they are pretended4 ,whatever we have now to do1 we may be sure1 first1 that its strength and life must be drawn from the real nature with us and about us always1 and secondly1 that1 if worth doing1 it will be something altogether different from what has ever been done before4 ,the visions of the cloister must depart with its superstitious peace--the quick1 apprehensive symbolism of early ,faith must yield to the abstract teaching of disciplined ,reason4 ,whatever else we may deem of the ,progress of ,nations1 one character of that progress is determined and discernible4 ,as in the encroaching of the land upon the sea1 the strength of the sandy bastions is raised out of the sifted ruin of ancient inland hills--for every tongue of level land that stretches into the deep1 the fall of ,alps has been heard among the clouds1 and as the fields of industry enlarge1 the intercourse with ,heaven is shortened4 ,let it not be doubted that as this change is inevitable1 so it is expedient1 though the form of teaching adopted and of duty prescribed be less mythic and contemplative1 more active and unassisted3 for the light of ,transfiguration on the ,mountain is substituted the ,fire of ,coals upon the ,shore1 and on the charge to hear the ,shepherd1 follows that to feed the ,sheep4 ,doubtful we may be for a time1 and apparently deserted2 but if1 as we wait1 we still look forward with steadfast will and humble heart1 so that our ,hope for the ,future may be fed1 not dulled or diverted by our ,love for the ,past1 we shall not long be left without a ,guide3--the way will be opened1 the ,precursor appointed--the ,hour will come1 and the ,man4 ,,footnotes3 #d ,this essay is a review of two books by ,lord ,lindsay1 viz41 ,progression by ,antagonism1 published in #ahdf1 and the ,sketches of the ,history of ,christian ,art1 which appeared in the following year4 ,it is1 with the paper on ,sir ,c4 ,eastlake's ,history of ,oil ,painting1 one of the very few anonymous writings of its author4 ,i never felt at ease 7says ,mr4 ,ruskin1 in speaking of anonymous criticism7 in my graduate incognito1 and although ,i consented1 some nine years ago1 to review ,lord ,lindsay's ',christian ,art1' and ,sir ,charles ,eastlake's ',essay on ,oil ,painting1' in the ,quarterly1 ,i have ever since steadily refused to write even for that once respectable periodical 7,academy ,notes1 ,no4 ,,ii41 #ahef74 ,for ,mr4 ,ruskin's estimate of ,lord ,lindsay's work1 see the ,eagle's ,nest1 ,sec4 #df1 and ,val d',arno1 ,sec4 #bfd1 where he speaks of him as his first master in ,italian art4--,,ed4 #e ,with one exception 7see p4 #be7 the quotations from ,lord ,lindsay are always from the ,christian ,art4--,,ed4 #f ,the reader must remember that this arcade was originally quite open1 the inner wall having been built after the fire1 in #aegd4 #g ,an ,historical ,essay on ,architecture by the late ,thomas ,hope4 7,murray1 #ahce7 chap1 iv41 pp4 #bc-ca4 #h ,at the feet of his ,madonna1 in the ,gallery of ,bologna4 #i ,in many pictures of ,angelico1 the ,infant ,christ appears self-supported--the ,virgin not touching the child4 #aj ,the upper inscription ,lord ,lindsay has misquoted--it runs thus3-- ,salve ,mater ,pietatis ,et ,totius ,trinitatis ,nobile ,triclinium4 #aa ,we have been much surprised by the author's frequent reference to ,lasinio's engravings of various frescoes1 unaccompanied by any warning of their inaccuracy4 ,no work of ,lasinio's can be trusted for anything except the number and relative position of the figures4 ,all masters are by him translated into one monotony of commonplace3--he dilutes eloquence1 educates naivete1 prompts ignorance1 stultifies intelligence1 and paralyzes power2 takes the chill off horror1 the edge off wit1 and the bloom off beauty4 ,in all artistical points he is utterly valueless1 neither drawing nor expression being ever preserved by him4 ,giotto1 ,benozzo1 or ,ghirlandajo are all alike to him2 and we hardly know whether he injures most when he robs or when he redresses4 #ab ,we do not perhaps enough estimate the assistance which was once given both to purpose and perception1 by the feeling of wonder which with us is destroyed partly by the ceaseless calls upon it1 partly by our habit of either discovering or anticipating a reason for everything4 ,of the simplicity and ready surprise of heart which supported the spirit of the older painters1 an interesting example is seen in the diary of ,albert ,duerer1 lately published in a work every way valuable1 but especially so in the carefulness and richness of its illustrations1 ,divers ,works of ,early ,masters in ,christian ,decoration1 edited by ,john ,weale1 ,london1 #b vols4 folio1 #ahdf4 ,,eastlake',s ,,history ,,of ,,oil-,,painting4#ac #ih4 ,the stranger in ,florence who for the first time passes through the iron gate which opens from the ,green ,cloister of ,santa ,maria ,novella into the ,spezieria1 can hardly fail of being surprised1 and that perhaps painfully1 by the suddenness of the transition from the silence and gloom of the monastic inclosure1 its pavement rough with epitaphs1 and its walls retaining1 still legible1 though crumbling and mildewed1 their imaged records of ,scripture ,history1 to the activity of a traffic not less frivolous than flourishing1 concerned almost exclusively with the appliances of bodily adornment or luxury4 ,yet perhaps1 on a moment's reflection1 the rose-leaves scattered on the floor1 and the air filled with odor of myrtle and myrrh1 aloes and cassia1 may arouse associations of a different and more elevated character2 the preparation of these precious perfumes may seem not altogether unfitting the hands of a religious brotherhood--or if this should not be conceded1 at all events it must be matter of rejoicing to observe the evidence of intelligence and energy interrupting the apathy and languor of the cloister2 nor will the institution be regarded with other than respect1 as well as gratitude1 when it is remembered that1 as to the convent library we owe the preservation of ancient literature1 to the convent laboratory we owe the duration of mediaeval art4 #ii4 ,it is at first with surprise not altogether dissimilar1 that we find a painter of refined feeling and deep thoughtfulness1 after manifesting in his works the most sincere affection for what is highest in the reach of his art1 devoting himself for years 7there is proof of this in the work before us7 to the study of the mechanical preparation of its appliances1 and whatever documentary evidence exists respecting their ancient use4 ,but it is with a revulsion of feeling more entire1 that we perceive the value of the results obtained--the accuracy of the varied knowledge by which their sequence has been established--and above all1 their immediate bearing upon the practice and promise of the schools of our own day4 ,opposite errors1 we know not which the least pardonable1 but both certainly productive of great harm1 have from time to time possessed the masters of modern art4 ,it has been held by some that the great early painters owed the larger measure of their power to secrets of material and method1 and that the discovery of a lost vehicle or forgotten process might at any time accomplish the regeneration of a fallen school4 ,by others it has been asserted that all questions respecting materials or manipulation are idle and impertinent2 that the methods of the older masters were either of no peculiar value1 or are still in our power2 that a great painter is independent of all but the simplest mechanical aids1 and demonstrates his greatness by scorn of system and carelessness of means4 #ajj4 ,it is evident that so long as incapability could shield itself under the first of these creeds1 or presumption vindicate itself by the second2 so long as the feeble painter could lay his faults on his palette and his panel2 and the self-conceited painter1 from the assumed identity of materials proceed to infer equality of power--7for we believe that in most instances those who deny the evil of our present methods will deny also the weakness of our present works7--little good could be expected from the teaching of the abstract principles of the art2 and less1 if possible1 from the example of any mechanical qualities1 however admirable1 whose means might be supposed irrecoverable on the one hand1 or indeterminate on the other1 or of any excellence conceived to have been either summoned by an incantation1 or struck out by an accident4 ,and of late1 among our leading masters1 the loss has not been merely of the system of the ancients1 but of all system whatsoever3 the greater number paint as if the virtue of oil pigment were its opacity1 or as if its power depended on its polish2 of the rest1 no two agree in use or choice of materials2 not many are consistent even in their own practice2 and the most zealous and earnest1 therefore the most discontented1 reaching impatiently and desperately after better things1 purchase the momentary satisfaction of their feelings by the sacrifice of security of surface and durability of hue4 ,the walls of our galleries are for the most part divided between pictures whose dead coating of consistent paint1 laid on with a heavy hand and a cold heart1 secures for them the stability of dullness and the safety of mediocrity2 and pictures whose reckless and experimental brilliancy1 unequal in its result as lawless in its means1 is as evanescent as the dust of an insect's wing1 and presents in its chief perfections so many subjects of future regret4 #aja4 ,but if these evils now continue1 it can only be through rashness which no example can warn1 or through apathy which no hope can stimulate1 for ,mr4 ,eastlake has alike withdrawn license from experimentalism and apology from indolence4 ,he has done away with all legends of forgotten secrets2 he has shown that the masters of the great ,flemish and early ,venetian schools possessed no means1 followed no methods1 but such as we may still obtain and pursue2 but he has shown also1 among all these masters1 the most admirable care in the preparation of materials and the most simple consistency in their use2 he has shown that their excellence was reached1 and could only have been reached1 by stern and exact science1 condescending to the observance1 care1 and conquest of the most minute physical particulars and hindrances2 that the greatest of them never despised an aid nor avoided a difficulty4 ,the loss of imaginative liberty sometimes involved in a too scrupulous attention to methods of execution is trivial compared to the evils resulting from a careless or inefficient practice4 ,the modes in which1 with every great painter1 realization falls short of conception are necessarily so many and so grievous1 that he can ill afford to undergo the additional discouragement caused by uncertain methods and bad materials4 ,not only so1 but even the choice of subjects1 the amount of completion attempted1 nay1 even the modes of conception and measure of truth are in no small degree involved in the great question of materials4 ,on the habitual use of a light or dark ground may depend the painter's preference of a broad and faithful1 or partial and scenic chiaroscuro2 correspondent with the facility or fatality of alterations1 may be the exercise of indolent fancy1 or disciplined invention2 and to the complexities of a system requiring time1 patience1 and succession of process1 may be owing the conversion of the ready draughtsman into the resolute painter4 ,farther than this1 who shall say how unconquerable a barrier to all self-denying effort may exist in the consciousness that the best that is accomplished can last but a few years1 and that the painter's travail must perish with his life8 #ajb4 ,it cannot have been without strong sense of this1 the true dignity and relation of his subject1 that ,mr4 ,eastlake has gone through a toil far more irksome1 far less selfish than any he could have undergone in the practice of his art4 ,the value which we attach to the volume depends1 however1 rather on its preceptive than its antiquarian character4 ,as objects of historical inquiry merely1 we cannot conceive any questions less interesting than those relating to mechanical operations generally1 nor any honors less worthy of prolonged dispute than those which are grounded merely on the invention or amelioration of processes and pigments4 ,the subject can only become historically interesting when the means ascertained to have been employed at any period are considered in their operation upon or procession from the artistical aim of such period1 the character of its chosen subjects1 and the effects proposed in their treatment upon the national mind4 ,mr4 ,eastlake has as yet refused himself the indulgence of such speculation2 his book is no more than its modest title expresses4 ,for ourselves1 however1 without venturing in the slightest degree to anticipate the expression of his ulterior views--though we believe that we can trace their extent and direction in a few suggestive sentences1 as pregnant as they are unobtrusive--we must yet1 in giving a rapid sketch of the facts established1 assume the privilege of directing the reader to one or two of their most obvious consequences1 and1 like honest 'prentices1 not suffer the abstracted retirement of our master in the back parlor to diminish the just recommendation of his wares to the passers-by4 #ajc4 ,eminently deficient in works representative of the earliest and purest tendencies of art1 our ,national ,gallery nevertheless affords a characteristic and sufficient series of examples of the practice of the various schools of painting1 after oil had been finally substituted for the less manageable glutinous vehicles which1 under the general name of tempera1 were principally employed in the production of easel pictures up to the middle of the fifteenth century4 ,if the reader were to make the circuit of this collection for the purpose of determining which picture represented with least disputable fidelity the first intention of its painter1 and united in its modes of execution the highest reach of achievement with the strongest assurance of durability1 we believe that--after hesitating long over hypothetical degrees of blackened shadow and yellowed light1 of lost outline and buried detail1 of chilled luster1 dimmed transparency1 altered color1 and weakened force--he would finally pause before a small picture on panel1 representing two quaintly dressed figures in a dimly lighted room--dependent for its interest little on expression1 and less on treatment--but eminently remarkable for reality of substance1 vacuity of space1 and vigor of quiet color2 nor less for an elaborate finish1 united with energetic freshness1 which seem to show that time has been much concerned in its production1 and has had no power over its fate4 #ajd4 ,we do not say that the total force of the material is exhibited in this picture1 or even that it in any degree possesses the lusciousness and fullness which are among the chief charms of oil-painting2 but that upon the whole it would be selected as uniting imperishable firmness with exquisite delicacy2 as approaching more unaffectedly and more closely than any other work to the simple truths of natural color and space2 and as exhibiting1 even in its quaint and minute treatment1 conquest over many of the difficulties which the boldest practice of art involves4 ,this picture1 bearing the inscription ,johannes ,van ,eyck 7fuit87 hic1 #adcd1 is probably the portrait1 certainly the work1 of one of those brothers to whose ingenuity the first invention of the art of oil-painting has been long ascribed4 ,the volume before us is occupied chiefly in determining the real extent of the improvements they introduced1 in examining the processes they employed1 and in tracing the modifications of those processes adopted by later ,flemings1 especially ,rubens1 ,rembrandt1 and ,vandyck4 ,incidental notices of the ,italian system occur1 so far as1 in its earlier stages1 it corresponded with that of the north2 but the consideration of its separate character is reserved for a following volume1 and though we shall expect with interest this concluding portion of the treatise1 we believe that1 in the present condition of the ,english school1 the choice of the methods of ,van ,eyck1 ,bellini1 or ,rubens1 is as much as we could modestly ask or prudently desire4 #aje4 ,it would have been strange indeed if a technical perfection like that of the picture above described 7equally characteristic of all the works of those brothers71 had been at once reached by the first inventors of the art4 ,so far was this from being the case1 and so distinct is the evidence of the practice of oil-painting in antecedent periods1 that of late years the discoveries of the ,van ,eycks have not unfrequently been treated as entirely fabulous2 and ,raspe1 in particular1 rests their claims to gratitude on the contingent introduction of amber-varnish and poppy-oil3--,such perhaps1 he says1 might have been the misrepresented discovery of the ,van ,eycks4 ,that tradition1 however1 for which the great painters of ,italy1 and their sufficiently vain historian1 had so much respect as never to put forward any claim in opposition to it1 is not to be clouded by incautious suspicion4 ,mr4 ,eastlake has approached it with more reverence1 stripped it of its exaggeration1 and shown the foundations for it in the fact that the ,van ,eycks1 though they did not create the art1 yet were the first to enable it for its function2 that having found it in servile office and with dormant power--laid like the dead ,adonis on his lettuce-bed--they gave it vitality and dominion4 ,and fortunate it is for those who look for another such reanimation1 that the method of the ,van ,eycks was not altogether their own discovery4 ,had it been so1 that method might still have remained a subject of conjecture2 but after being put in possession of the principles commonly acknowledged before their time1 it is comparatively easy to trace the direction of their inquiry and the nature of their improvements4 #ajf4 ,with respect to remote periods of antiquity1 we believe that the use of a hydrofuge oil-varnish for the protection of works in tempera1 the only fact insisted upon by ,mr4 ,eastlake1 is also the only one which the labor of innumerable ingenious writers has established3 nor up to the beginning of the twelfth century is there proof of any practice of painting except in tempera1 encaustic 7wax applied by the aid of heat71 and fresco4 ,subsequent to that period1 notices of works executed in solid color mixed with oil are frequent1 but all that can be proved respecting earlier times is a gradually increasing acquaintance with the different kinds of oil and the modes of their adaptation to artistical uses4 ,several drying oils are mentioned by the writers of the first three centuries of the ,christian era--walnut by ,pliny and ,galen1 walnut1 poppy1 and castor-oil 7afterwards used by the painters of the twelfth century as a varnish7 by ,dioscorides--yet these notices occur only with reference to medicinal or culinary purposes4 ,but at length a drying oil is mentioned in connection with works of art by ,aetius1 a medical writer of the fifth century4 ,his words are3-- 99 99 99 ,walnut oil is prepared like that of almonds1 either by pounding or pressing the nuts1 or by throwing them1 after they have been bruised1 into boiling water4 ,the 7medicinal7 uses are the same3 but it has a use besides these1 being employed by gilders or encaustic painters2 for it dries1 and preserves gildings and encaustic paintings for a long time4 ,it is therefore clear1 says ,mr4 ,eastlake1 that an oil varnish1 composed either of inspissated nut oil1 or of nut oil combined with a dissolved resin1 was employed on gilt surfaces and pictures1 with a view to preserve them1 at least as early as the fifth century4 ,it may be added that a writer who could then state1 as if from his own experience1 that such varnishes had the effect of preserving works 'for a long time1' can hardly be understood to speak of a new invention4--,p4 #bb4 99 99 99 ,linseed-oil is also mentioned by ,aetius1 though still for medicinal uses only2 but a varnish1 composed of linseed-oil mixed with a variety of resins1 is described in a manuscript at ,lucca1 belonging probably to the eighth century3-- 99 99 99 ,the age of ,charlemagne was an era in the arts2 and the addition of linseed-oil to the materials of the varnisher and decorator may on the above evidence be assigned to it4 ,from this time1 and during many ages1 the linseed-oil varnish1 though composed of simpler materials 7such as sandarac and mastic resin boiled in the oil71 alone appears in the recipes hitherto brought to light4--,ib41 p4 #bd4 99 99 99 #ajg4 ,the modes of bleaching and thickening oil in the sun1 as well as the siccative power of metallic oxides1 were known to the classical writers1 and evidence exists of the careful study of ,galen1 ,dioscorides1 and others by the painters of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries3 the loss 7recorded by ,vasari7 of ,antonio ,veneziano to the arts1 per che studio in ,dioscoride le cose dell'erbe1 is a remarkable instance of its less fortunate results4 ,still1 the immixture of solid color with the oil1 which had been commonly used as a varnish for tempera paintings and gilt surfaces1 was hitherto unsuggested2 and no distinct notice seems to occur of the first occasion of this important step1 though in the twelfth century1 as above stated1 the process is described as frequent both in ,italy and ,england4 ,mr4 ,eastlake's instances have been selected1 for the most part1 from four treatises1 two of which1 though in an imperfect form1 have long been known to the public2 the third1 translated by ,mrs4 ,merrifield1 is in course of publication2 the fourth1 ,tractatus de ,coloribus illuminatorum1 is of less importance4 ,respecting the dates of the first two1 those of ,eraclius and ,theophilus1 some difference of opinion exists between ,mr4 ,eastlake and their respective editors4 ,the former ,,ms4 was published by ,raspe1#ad who inclines to the opinion of its having been written soon after the time of ,st4 ,isidore of ,seville1 probably therefore in the eighth century1 but insists only on its being prior to the thirteenth4 ,that of ,theophilus1 published first by ,m4 ,charles de l',escalopier1 and lately from a more perfect ,,ms4 by ,mr4 ,hendrie1 is ascribed by its ,english editor 7who places ,eraclius in the tenth7 to the early half of the eleventh century4 ,mr4 ,hendrie maintains his opinion with much analytical ingenuity1 and we are disposed to think that ,mr4 ,eastlake attaches too much importance to the absence of reference to oil-painting in the ,mappae ,clavicula 7a ,,ms4 of the twelfth century71 in placing ,theophilus a century and a half later on that ground alone4 ,the question is one of some importance in an antiquarian point of view1 but the general reader will perhaps be satisfied with the conclusion that in ,,mss4 which cannot possibly be later than the close of the twelfth century1 references to oil-painting are clear and frequent4 #ajh4 ,nothing is known of the personality of either ,eraclius or ,theophilus1 but what may be collected from their works2 amounting1 in the first case1 to the facts of the author's language being barbarous1 his credulity exceptionable1 and his knowledge superficial1 together with his written description as vir sapientissimus2 while all that is positively known of ,theophilus is that he was a monk1 and that ,theophilus was not his real name4 ,the character1 however1 of which the assumed name is truly expressive1 deserves from us no unrespectful attention2 we shall best possess our readers of it by laying before them one or two passages from the preface4 ,we shall make some use of ,mr4 ,hendrie's translation2 it is evidently the work of a tasteful man1 and in most cases renders the feeling of the original faithfully2 but the ,latin1 monkish though it be1 deserved a more accurate following1 and many of ,mr4 ,hendrie's deviations bear traces of unsound scholarship4 ,an awkward instance occurs in the first paragraph3-- 99 99 99 ,theophilus1 humilis presbyter1 servus servorum ,dei1 indignus nomine et professione monachi1 omnibus mentis desidiam animique vagationem utili manuum occupatione1 et delectabili novitatum meditatione declinare et calcare volentibus1 retributionem coelestis praemii6 ,i1 ,theophilus1 an humble priest1 servant of the servants of ,god1 unworthy of the name and profession of a monk1 to all wishing to overcome and avoid sloth of the mind or wandering of the soul1 by useful manual occupation and the delightful contemplation of novelties1 send a recompense of heavenly price4--,theophilus1 p4 #a4 99 99 99 ,proemium is not price1 nor is the verb understood before retributionem send4 ,mr4 ,hendrie seems even less familiar with ,scriptural than with monkish language1 or in this and several other cases he would have recognized the adoption of apostolic formulae4 ,the whole paragraph is such a greeting and prayer as stands at the head of the sacred epistles3--,theophilus1 to all who desire to overcome wandering of the soul1 etc41 etc4 7wishes7 recompense of heavenly reward4 ,thus also the dedication of the ,byzantine manuscript1 lately translated by ,m4 ,didron1 commences ,a tous les peintres1 et a tous ceux qui1 aimant l'instruction1 etudieront ce livre1 salut dans le ,seigneur4 ,so1 presently afterwards1 in the sentence1 divina dignatio quae dat omnibus affluenter et non improperat 7translated1 divine authority which affluently and not precipitately gives to all71 though ,mr4 ,hendrie might have perhaps been excused for not perceiving the transitive sense of dignatio after indignus in the previous text1 which indeed1 even when felt1 is sufficiently difficult to render in ,english2 and might not have been aware that the word impropero frequently bears the sense of opprobo2 he ought still to have recognized the ,scriptural who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not4 ,qui1 in the first page1 translated wherefore1 mystifies a whole sentence2 ut mereretur1 rendered with a schoolboy's carelessness as he merited1 reverses the meaning of another2 jactantia1 in the following page1 is less harmfully but not less singularly translated jealousy4 ,we have been obliged to alter several expressions in the following passages1 in order to bring them near enough to the original for our immediate purpose3 99 99 99 ,which knowledge1 when he has obtained1 let no one magnify himself in his own eyes1 as if it had been received from himself1 and not from elsewhere2 but let him rejoice humbly in the ,lord1 from whom and by whom are all things1 and without whom is nothing2 nor let him wrap his gifts in the folds of envy1 nor hide them in the closet of an avaricious heart2 but all pride of heart being repelled1 let him with a cheerful mind give with simplicity to all who ask of him1 and let him fear the judgment of the ,gospel upon that merchant1 who1 failing to return to his lord a talent with accumulated interest1 deprived of all reward1 merited the censure from the mouth of his judge of 'wicked servant4' ,fearing to incur which sentence1 ,i1 a man unworthy and almost without name1 offer gratuitously to all desirous with humility to learn1 that which the divine condescension1 which giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not1 gratuitously conceded to me3 and ,i admonish them that in me they acknowledge the goodness1 and admire the generosity of ,god2 and ,i would persuade them to believe that if they also add their labor1 the same gifts are within their reach4 ,wherefore1 gentle son1 whom ,god has rendered perfectly happy in this respect1 that those things are offered to thee gratis1 which many1 plowing the sea waves with the greatest danger to life1 consumed by the hardship of hunger and cold1 or subjected to the weary servitude of teachers1 and altogether worn out by the desire of learning1 yet acquire with intolerable labor1 covet with greedy looks this ',,book ,,of ,,various ,,arts1' read it through with a tenacious memory1 embrace it with an ardent love4 ,should you carefully peruse this1 you will there find out whatever ,greece possesses in kinds and mixtures of various colors2 whatever ,tuscany knows of in mosaic-work1 or in variety of enamel2 whatever ,arabia shows forth in work of fusion1 ductility1 or chasing2 whatever ,italy ornaments with gold1 in diversity of vases and sculpture of gems or ivory2 whatever ,france loves in a costly variety of windows2 whatever industrious ,germany approves in work of gold1 silver1 copper1 and iron1 of woods and of stones4 ,when you shall have re-read this often1 and have committed it to your tenacious memory1 you shall thus recompense me for this care of instruction1 that as often as you shall have successfully made use of my work1 you pray for me for the pity of ,omnipotent ,god1 who knows that ,i have written these things1 which are here arranged1 neither through love of human approbation1 nor through desire of temporal reward1 nor have ,i stolen anything precious or rare through envious jealousy1 nor have ,i kept back anything reserved served for myself alone2 but in augmentation of the honor and glory of ,his name1 ,i have consulted the progress and hastened to aid the necessities of many men4--,ib4 pp4 xlvii4-li4 99 99 99 #aji4 ,there is perhaps something in the naive seriousness with which these matters of empiricism1 to us of so small importance1 are regarded by the good monk1 which may at first tempt the reader to a smile4 ,it is1 however1 to be kept in mind that some such mode of introduction was customary in all works of this order and period4 ,the ,byzantine ,,ms41 already alluded to1 is prefaced still more singularly3 ,que celui qui veut apprendre la science de la peinture commence a s'y preparer d'avance quelque temps en dessinant sans relache 444 puis qu'il adresse a ,jesus ,christ la priere et oraison suivante1 etc43--the prayer being followed by a homily respecting envy1 much resembling that of ,theophilus4 ,and we may rest assured that until we have again begun to teach and to learn in this spirit1 art will no more recover its true power or place than springs which flow from no heavenward hills can rise to useful level in the wells of the plain4 ,the tenderness1 tranquillity1 and resoluteness which we feel in such men's words and thoughts found a correspondent expression even in the movements of the hand2 precious qualities resulted from them even in the most mechanical of their works1 such as no reward can evoke1 no academy teach1 nor any other merits replace4 ,what force can be summoned by authority1 or fostered by patronage1 which could for an instant equal in intensity the labor of this humble love1 exerting itself for its own pleasure1 looking upon its own works by the light of thankfulness1 and finishing all1 offering all1 with the irrespective profusion of flowers opened by the wayside1 where the dust may cover them1 and the foot crush them8 #aaj4 ,not a few passages conceived in the highest spirit of self-denying piety would1 of themselves1 have warranted our sincere thanks to ,mr4 ,hendrie for his publication of the manuscript4 ,the practical value of its contents is however very variable2 most of the processes described have been either improved or superseded1 and many of the recipes are quite as illustrative of the writer's credulity in reception1 as generosity in communication4 ,the references to the land of ,havilah for gold1 and to ,mount ,calybe for iron1 are characteristic of monkish geographical science2 the recipe for the making of ,spanish gold is interesting1 as affording us a clew to the meaning of the mediaeval traditions respecting the basilisk4 ,pliny says nothing about the hatching of this chimera from cocks' eggs1 and ascribes the power of killing at sight to a different animal1 the catoblepas1 whose head1 fortunately1 was so heavy that it could not be held up4 ,probably the word basiliscus in ,theophilus would have been better translated cockatrice4 99 99 99 ,there is also a gold called ,spanish gold1 which is composed from red copper1 powder of basilisk1 and human blood1 and acid4 ,the ,gentiles1 whose skillfulness in this art is commendable1 make basilisks in this manner4 ,they have1 underground1 a house walled with stones everywhere1 above and below1 with two very small windows1 so narrow that scarcely any light can appear through them2 in this house they place two old cocks of twelve or fifteen years1 and they give them plenty of food4 ,when these have become fat1 through the heat of their good condition1 they agree together and lay eggs4 ,which being laid1 the cocks are taken out and toads are placed in1 which may hatch the eggs1 and to which bread is given for food4 ,the eggs being hatched1 chickens issue out1 like hens' chickens1 to which after seven days grow the tails of serpents1 and immediately1 if there were not a stone pavement to the house1 they would enter the earth4 ,guarding against which1 their masters have round brass vessels of large size1 perforated all over1 the mouths of which are narrow1 in which they place these chickens1 and close the mouths with copper coverings and inter them underground1 and they are nourished with the fine earth entering through the holes for six months4 ,after this they uncover them and apply a copious fire1 until the animals' insides are completely burnt4 ,which done1 when they have become cold1 they are taken out and carefully ground1 adding to them a third part of the blood of a red man1 which blood has been dried and ground4 ,these two compositions are tempered with sharp acid in a clean vessel2 they then take very thin sheets of the purest red copper1 and anoint this composition over them on both sides1 and place them in the fire4 ,and when they have become glowing1 they take them out and quench and wash them in the same confection2 and they do this for a long time1 until this composition eats through the copper1 and it takes the color of gold4 ,this gold is proper for all work4--,ib4 p4 #bfg4 99 99 99 ,our readers will find in ,mr4 ,hendrie's interesting note the explanation of the symbolical language of this recipe2 though we cannot agree with him in supposing ,theophilus to have so understood it4 ,we have no doubt the monk wrote what he had heard in good faith1 and with no equivocal meaning2 and we are even ourselves much disposed to regret and resist the transformation of toads into nitrates of potash1 and of basilisks into sulphates of copper4 #aaa4 ,but whatever may be the value of the recipes of ,theophilus1 couched in the symbolical language of the alchemist1 his evidence is as clear as it is conclusive1 as far as regards the general processes adopted in his own time4 ,the treatise of ,peter de ,st4 ,audemar1 contained in a volume transcribed by ,jehan le ,begue in #adca1 bears internal evidence of being nearly coeval with that of ,theophilus4 ,and in addition to these ,,mss41 ,mr4 ,eastlake has examined the records of ,ely and ,westminster1 which are full of references to decorative operations4 ,from these sources it is not only demonstrated that oil-painting1 at least in the broadest sense 7striking colors mixed with oil on surfaces of wood or stone71 was perfectly common both in ,italy and ,england in the #abth1 #acth1 and #adth centuries1 but every step of the process is determinable4 ,stone surfaces were primed with white lead mixed with linseed oil1 applied in successive coats1 and carefully smoothed when dry4 ,wood was planed smooth 7or1 for delicate work1 covered with leather of horse-skin or parchment71 then coated with a mixture of white lead1 wax1 and pulverized tile1 on which the oil and lead priming was laid4 ,in the successive application of the coats of this priming1 the painter is warned by ,eraclius of the danger of letting the superimposed coat be more oily than that beneath1 the shriveling of the surface being a necessary consequence4 99 99 99 ,the observation respecting the cause1 or one of the causes1 of a wrinkled and shriveled surface1 is not unimportant4 ,oil1 or an oil varnish1 used in abundance with the colors over a perfectly dry preparation1 will produce this appearance3 the employment of an oil varnish is even supposed to be detected by it4444 ,as regards the effect itself1 the best painters have not been careful to avoid it4 ,parts of ,titian's ,st4 ,sebastian 7now in the ,gallery of the ,vatican7 are shriveled2 the ,giorgione in the ,louvre is so2 the drapery of the figure of ,christ in the ,duke of ,wellington's ,correggio exhibits the same appearance2 a ,madonna and ,child by ,reynolds1 at ,petworth1 is in a similar state1 as are also parts of some pictures by ,greuze4 ,it is the reverse of a cracked surface1 and is unquestionably the less evil of the two4--,eastlake1 pp4 #cf-ch4 99 99 99 #aab4 ,on the white surface thus prepared1 the colors1 ground finely with linseed oil1 were applied1 according to the advice of ,theophilus1 in not less than three successive coats1 and finally protected with amber or sandarac varnish3 each coat of color being carefully dried by the aid of heat or in the sun before a second was applied1 and the entire work before varnishing4 ,the practice of carefully drying each coat was continued in the best periods of art1 but the necessity of exposure to the sun intimated by ,theophilus appears to have arisen only from his careless preparation of the linseed oil1 and ignorance of a proper drying medium4 ,consequent on this necessity is the restriction in ,theophilus1 ,st4 ,audemar1 and in the ,british ,museum ,,ms41 of oil-painting to wooden surfaces1 because movable panels could be dried in the sun2 while1 for walls1 the colors are to be mixed with water1 wine1 gum1 or the usual tempera vehicles1 egg and fig-tree juice2 white lead and verdigris1 themselves dryers1 being the only pigments which could be mixed with oil for walls4 ,but the ,,ms4 of ,eraclius and the records of our ,english cathedrals imply no such absolute restriction4 ,they mention the employment of oil for the painting or varnishing of columns and interior walls1 and in quantity very remarkable4 ,among the entries relating to ,st4 ,stephen's chapel1 occur--,for #ai flagons of painter's oil1 at #cs4 #d;d4 the flagon1 #dcs4 #d;d4 7,it might be as well1 in the next edition1 to correct the copyist's reverse of the position of the ,x and ,l1 lest it should be thought that the principles of the science of arithmetic have been progressive1 as well as those of art47 ,and presently afterwards1 in ,may of the same year1 to ,john de ,hennay1 for seventy flagons and a half of painter's oil for the painting of the same chapel1 at #bj;d4 the flagon1 #aags4 #f;d4 ,the expression painter's oil seems to imply more careful preparation than that directed by ,theophilus1 probably purification from its mucilage in the sun2 but artificial heat was certainly employed to assist the drying1 and after reading of flagons supplied by the score1 we can hardly be surprised at finding charcoal furnished by the cartload--see an entry relating to the ,painted ,chamber4 ,in one ,,ms4 of ,eraclius1 however1 a distinct description of a drying oil in the modern sense1 occurs1 white lead and lime being added1 and the oil thickened by exposure to the sun1 as was the universal practice in ,italy4 #aac4 ,such was the system of oil-painting known before the time of ,van ,eyck2 but it remains a question in what kind of works and with what degree of refinement this system had been applied4 ,the passages in ,eraclius refer only to ornamental work1 imitations of marble1 etc42 and although1 in the records of ,ely cathedral1 the words pro ymaginibus super columnas depingendis may perhaps be understood as referring to paintings of figures1 the applications of oil1 which are distinctly determinable from these and other ,english documents1 are merely decorative2 and the large supplies of it which appear in the ,westminster and ,ely records indicate the coarseness of the operations for which it was required4 ,theophilus1 indeed1 mentions tints for faces--mixturas vultuum2 but it is to be remarked that ,theophilus painted with a liquid oil1 the drying of which in the sun he expressly says in ymaginibus et aliis picturis diuturnum et taediosum nimis est4 ,the oil generally employed was thickened to the consistence of a varnish4 ,cennini recommends that it be kept in the sun until reduced one half2 and in the ,paris copy of ,eraclius we are told that the longer the oil remains in the sun the better it will be4 ,such a vehicle entirely precluded delicacy of execution4 99 99 99 ,paintings entirely executed with the thickened vehicle1 at a time when art was in the very lowest state1 and when its votaries were ill qualified to contend with unnecessary difficulties1 must have been of the commonest description4 ,armorial bearings1 patterns1 and similar works of mechanical decoration1 were perhaps as much as could be attempted4 ,notwithstanding the general reference to flesh-painting1 'e cosi fa dello incarnare1' in ,cennini's directions1 there are no certain examples of pictures of the fourteenth century1 in which the flesh is executed in oil colors4 ,this leads us to inquire what were the ordinary applications of oil-painting in ,italy at that time4 ,it appears that the method1 when adopted at all1 was considered to belong to the complemental and merely decorative parts of a picture4 ,it was employed in portions of the work only1 on draperies1 and over gilding and foils4 ,cennini describes such operations as follows4 ',gild the surface to be occupied by the drapery2 draw on it what ornaments or patterns you please2 glaze the unornamented intervals with verdigris ground in oil1 shading some folds twice4 ,then1 when this is dry1 glaze the same color over the whole drapery1 both ornaments and plain portions4' ,these operations1 together with the gilt field round the figures1 the stucco decorations1 and the carved framework1 tabernacle1 or ornamento itself of the picture1 were completed first2 the faces and hands1 which in ,italian pictures of the fourteenth century were always in tempera1 were added afterwards1 or at all events after the draperies and background were finished4 ,cennini teaches the practice of all but the carving4 ,in later times the work was divided1 and the decorator or gilder was sometimes a more important person than the painter4 ,thus some works of an inferior ,florentine artist were ornamented with stuccoes1 carving1 and gilding1 by the celebrated ,donatello1 who1 in his youth1 practiced this art in connection with sculpture4 ,vasari observed the following inscription under a picture3--',simone ,cini1 a ,florentine1 wrought the carved work2 ,gabriello ,saracini executed the gilding2 and ,spinello di ,luca1 of ,arezzo1 painted the picture1 in the year #ache4'--;,ib4 pp4 #ga1 #gb1 and #hj4 99 99 99 #aad4 ,we may pause to consider for a moment what effect upon the mental habits of these earlier schools might result from this separate and previous completion of minor details4 ,it is to be remembered that the painter's object in the backgrounds of works of this period 7universally1 or nearly so1 of religious subject7 was not the deceptive representation of a natural scene1 but the adornment and setting forth of the central figures with precious work--the conversion of the picture1 as far as might be1 into a gem1 flushed with color and alive with light4 ,the processes necessary for this purpose were altogether mechanical2 and those of stamping and burnishing the gold1 and of enameling1 were necessarily performed before any delicate tempera-work could be executed4 ,absolute decision of design was therefore necessary throughout2 hard linear separations were unavoidable between the oil-color and the tempera1 or between each and the gold or enamel4 ,general harmony of effect1 aerial perspective1 or deceptive chiaroscuro1 became totally impossible2 and the dignity of the picture depended exclusively on the lines of its design1 the purity of its ornaments1 and the beauty of expression which could be attained in those portions 7the faces and hands7 which1 set off and framed by this splendor of decoration1 became the cynosure of eyes4 ,the painter's entire energy was given to these portions2 and we can hardly imagine any discipline more calculated to insure a grand and thoughtful school of art than the necessity of discriminated character and varied expression imposed by this peculiarly separate and prominent treatment of the features4 ,the exquisite drawing of the hand also1 at least in outline1 remained for this reason even to late periods one of the crowning excellences of the religious schools4 ,it might be worthy the consideration of our present painters whether some disadvantage may not result from the exactly opposite treatment now frequently adopted1 the finishing of the head before the addition of its accessories4 ,a flimsy and indolent background is almost a necessary consequence1 and probably also a false flesh-color1 irrecoverable by any after-opposition4 #aae4 ,the reader is in possession of most of the conclusions relating to the practice of oil-painting up to about the year #adjf4 99 99 99 ,its inconveniences were such that tempera was not unreasonably preferred to it for works that required careful design1 precision1 and completeness4 ,hence the ,van ,eycks seem to have made it their first object to overcome the stigma that attached to oil-painting1 as a process fit only for ordinary purposes and mechanical decorations4 ,with an ambition partly explained by the previous coarse applications of the method1 they sought to raise wonder by surpassing the finish of tempera with the very material that had long been considered intractable4 ,mere finish was1 however1 the least of the excellences of these reformers4 ,the step was short which sufficed to remove the self-imposed difficulties of the art2 but that effort would probably not have been so successful as it was1 in overcoming long-established prejudices1 had it not been accompanied by some of the best qualities which oil-painting1 as a means of imitating nature1 can command4--,ib4 p4 #hh4 99 99 99 #aaf4 ,it has been a question to which of the two brothers1 ,hubert or ,john1 the honor of the invention is to be attributed4 ,van ,mander gives the date of the birth of ,hubert #acff2 and his interesting epitaph in the cathedral of ,st4 ,bavon1 at ,ghent1 determines that of his death3-- 99 99 99 ,take warning from me1 ye who walk over me4 ,i was as you are1 but am now buried dead beneath you4 ,thus it appears that neither art nor medicine availed me4 ,art1 honor1 wisdom1 power1 affluence1 are spared not when death comes4 ,i was called ,hubert ,van ,eyck2 ,i am now food for worms4 ,formerly known and highly honored in painting2 this all was shortly after turned to nothing4 ,it was in the year of the ,lord one thousand four hundred and twenty-six1 on the eighteenth day of ,september1 that ,i rendered up my soul to ,god1 in sufferings4 ,pray ,god for me1 ye who love art1 that ,i may attain to ,his sight4 ,flee sin2 turn to the best objects3 for you must follow me at last4 99 99 99 ,john ,van ,eyck appears by sufficient evidence to have been born between #acij and #acie2 and1 as the improved oil-painting was certainly introduced about #adaj1 the probability is greater that the system had been discovered by the elder brother than by the youth of #ae4 ,what the improvement actually was is a far more important question4 ,vasari's account1 in the ,life of ,antonello da ,messina1 is the first piece of evidence here examined 7p4 #bje72 and it is examined at once with more respect and more advantage than the half-negligent1 half-embarrassed wording of the passage might appear either to deserve or to promise4 ,vasari states that ,giovanni of ,bruges1 having finished a tempera-picture on panel1 and varnished it as usual1 placed it in the sun to dry--that the heat opened the joinings--and that the artist1 provoked at the destruction of his work-- 99 99 99 began to devise means for preparing a kind of varnish which should dry in the shade1 so as to avoid placing his pictures in the sun4 ,having made experiments with many things1 both pure and mixed together1 he at last found that linseed-oil and nut-oil1 among the many which he had tested1 were more drying than all the rest4 ,these1 therefore1 boiled with other mixtures of his1 made him the varnish which he1 nay1 which all the painters of the world1 had long desired4 ,continuing his experiments with many other things1 he saw that the immixture of the colors with these kinds of oils gave them a very firm consistence1 which1 when dry1 was proof against wet2 and1 moreover1 that the vehicle lit up the colors so powerfully1 that it gave a gloss of itself without varnish2 and that which appeared to him still more admirable was1 that it allowed of blending the colors infinitely better than tempera4 ,giovanni1 rejoicing in this invention1 and being a person of discernment1 began many works4 99 99 99 #aag4 ,the reader must observe that this account is based upon and clumsily accommodated to the idea1 prevalent in ,vasari's time throughout ,italy1 that ,van ,eyck not merely improved1 but first introduced1 the art of oil-painting1 and that no mixture of color with linseed or nut oil had taken place before his time4 ,we are only informed of the new and important part of the invention1 under the pointedly specific and peculiarly ,vasarian expression--altre sue misture4 ,but the real value of the passage is dependent on the one fact of which it puts us in possession1 and with respect to which there is every reason to believe it trustworthy1 that it was in search of a ,varnish which would dry in the shade that ,van ,eyck discovered the new vehicle4 ,the next point to be determined is the nature of the ,varnish ordinarily employed1 and spoken of by ,cennini and many other writers under the familiar title of ,vernice liquida4 ,the derivation of the word ,vernix bears materially on the question1 and will not be devoid of interest for the general reader1 who may perhaps be surprised at finding himself carried by ,mr4 ,eastlake's daring philology into regions poetical and planetary3-- 99 99 99 ,eustathius1 a writer of the twelfth century1 in his commentary on ,homer1 states that the ,greeks of his day called amber 7,greek3 elektron7 ,veronice 7,greek3 beronike74 ,salmasius1 quoting from a ,greek medical ,,ms4 of the same period1 writes it ,verenice 7,greek3 berenike74 ,in the ,lucca ,,ms4 7#hth century7 the word ,veronica more than once occurs among the ingredients of varnishes1 and it is remarkable that in the copies of the same recipes in the ,mappae ,clavicula 7#abth century7 the word is spelt1 in the genitive1 ,verenicis and ,vernicis4 ,this is probably the earliest instance of the use of the ,latinized word nearly in its modern form2 the original nominative ,vernice being afterwards changed to ,vernix4 ,veronice or ,verenice1 as a designation for amber1 must have been common at an earlier period than the date of the ,lucca ,,ms41 since it there occurs as a term in ordinary use4 ,it is scarcely necessary to remark that the letter ,greek3 beta was sounded v by the mediaeval ,greeks1 as it is by their present descendants4 ,even during the classic ages of ,greece ,greek3 beta represented ,greek3 phi in certain dialects4 ,the name ,berenice or ,beronice1 borne by more than one daughter of the ,ptolemies1 would be more correctly written ,pherenice or ,pheronice4 ,the literal coincidence of this name and its modifications with the ,vernice of the middle ages1 might almost warrant the supposition that amber1 which by the best ancient authorities was considered a mineral1 may1 at an early period1 have been distinguished by the name of a constellation1 the constellation of ,berenice's 7golden7 hair4--,eastlake1 p4 #bcj4 99 99 99 #aah4 ,we are grieved to interrupt our reader's voyage among the constellations2 but the next page crystallizes us again like ants in amber1 or worse1 in gum-sandarach4 ,it appears1 from conclusive and abundant evidence1 that the greater cheapness of sandarach1 and its easier solubility in oil rendered it the usual substitute for amber1 and that the word ,vernice1 when it occurs alone1 is the common synonym for dry sandarach resin4 ,this1 dissolved by heat in linseed oil1 three parts oil to one of resin1 was the ,vernice liquida of the ,italians1 sold in ,cennini's time ready prepared1 and the customary varnish of tempera pictures4 ,concrete turpentine 7oyle of fir-tree1 ,pece ,greca1 ,pegola71 previously prepared over a slow fire until it ceased to swell1 was added to assist the liquefaction of the sandarach1 first in ,venice1 where the material could easily be procured1 and afterwards in ,florence4 ,the varnish so prepared1 especially when it was long boiled to render it more drying1 was of a dark color1 materially affecting the tints over which it was passed4#ae 99 99 99 ,it is not impossible that the lighter style of coloring introduced by ,giotto may have been intended by him to counteract the effects of this varnish1 the appearance of which in the ,greek pictures he could not fail to observe4 ,another peculiarity in the works of the painters of the time referred to1 particularly those of the ,florentine and ,sienese schools1 is the greenish tone of their coloring in the flesh2 produced by the mode in which they often prepared their works1 viz4 by a green under-painting4 ,the appearance was neutralized by the red sandarac varnish1 and pictures executed in the manner described must have looked better before it was removed4--,ib4 p4 #beb4 99 99 99 ,farther on1 this remark is thus followed out3-- 99 99 99 ,the paleness or freshness of the tempera may have been sometimes calculated for this brown glazing 7for such it was in effect71 and when this was the case1 the picture was1 strictly speaking1 unfinished without its varnish4 ,it is1 therefore1 quite conceivable that a painter1 averse to mere mechanical operations1 would1 in his final process1 still have an eye to the harmony of his work1 and1 seeing that the tint of his varnish was more or less adapted to display the hues over which it was spread1 would vary that tint1 so as to heighten the effect of the picture4 ,the practice of tingeing varnishes was not even new1 as the example given by ,cardanus proves4 ,the next step to this would be to treat the tempera picture still more as a preparation1 and to calculate still further on the varnish1 by modifying and adapting its color to a greater extent4 ,a work so completed must have nearly approached the appearance of an oil picture4 ,this was perhaps the moment when the new method opened itself to the mind of ,hubert ,van ,eyck4444 ,the next change necessarily consisted in using opaque as well as transparent colors2 the former being applied over the light1 the latter over the darker1 portions of the picture2 while the work in tempera was now reduced to a light chiaroscuro preparation4444 ,it was now that the hue of the original varnish became an objection2 for1 as a medium1 it required to be itself colorless4--,ib4 pp4 #bga-bgc4 99 99 99 #aai4 ,our author has perhaps somewhat embarrassed this part of the argument1 by giving too much importance to the conjectural adaptation of the tints of the tempera picture to the brown varnish1 and too little to the bold transition from transparent to opaque color on the lights4 ,up to this time1 we must remember1 the entire drawing of the flesh had been in tempera2 the varnish1 however richly tinted1 however delicately adjusted to the tints beneath1 was still broadly applied over the whole surface1 the design being seen through the transparent glaze4 ,but the mixture of opaque color at once implies that portions of the design itself were executed with the varnish for a vehicle1 and therefore that the varnish had been entirely changed both in color and consistence4 ,if1 as above stated1 the improvement in the varnish had been made only after it had been mixed with opaque color1 it does not appear why the idea of so mixing it should have presented itself to ,van ,eyck more than to any other painter of the day1 and ,vasari's story of the split panel becomes nugatory4 ,but we apprehend1 from a previous passage 7p4 #beh71 that ,mr4 ,eastlake would not have us so interpret him4 ,we rather suppose that we are expressing his real opinion in stating our own1 that ,van ,eyck1 seeking for a varnish which would dry in the shade1 first perfected the methods of dissolving amber or copal in oil1 then sought for and added a good dryer1 and thus obtained a varnish which1 having been subjected to no long process of boiling1 was nearly colorless2 that in using this new varnish over tempera works he might cautiously and gradually mix it with the opaque color1 whose purity he now found unaffected1 by the transparent vehicle2 and1 finally1 as the thickness of the varnish in its less perfect state was an obstacle to precision of execution1 increase the proportion of its oil to the amber1 or add a diluent1 as occasion required4 #abj4 ,such1 at all events1 in the sum1 whatever might be the order or occasion of discovery1 were ,van ,eyck's improvements in the vehicle of color1 and to these1 applied by singular ingenuity and affection to the imitation of nature1 with a fidelity hitherto unattempted1 ,mr4 ,eastlake attributes the influence which his works obtained over his contemporaries3-- 99 99 99 ,if we ask in what the chief novelty of his practice consisted1 we shall at once recognize it in an amount of general excellence before unknown4 ,at all times1 from ,van ,eyck's day to the present1 whenever nature has been surprisingly well imitated in pictures1 the first and last question with the ignorant has been--,what materials did the artist use8 ,the superior mechanical secret is always supposed to be in the hands of the greatest genius2 and an early example of sudden perfection in art1 like the fame of the heroes of antiquity1 was likely to monopolize and represent the claims of many4--,ib4 p4 #bff4 99 99 99 ,this is all true2 that ,van ,eyck saw nature more truly than his predecessors is certain2 but it is disputable whether this rendering of nature recommended his works to the imitation of the ,italians4 ,on the contrary1 ,mr4 ,eastlake himself observes in another place 7p4 #bbj71 that the character of delicate imitation common to the ,flemish pictures militated against the acceptance of their method3-- 99 99 99 ,the specimens of ,van ,eyck1 ,hugo van der ,goes1 ,memling1 and others1 which the ,florentines had seen1 may have appeared1 in the eyes of some severe judges 7for example1 those who daily studied the frescoes of ,masaccio71 to indicate a certain connection between oil painting and minuteness1 if not always of size1 yet of style4 ,the method1 by its very finish and the possible completeness of its gradations1 must have seemed well calculated to exhibit numerous objects on a small scale4 ,that this was really the impression produced1 at a later period1 on one who represented the highest style of design1 has been lately proved by means of an interesting document1 in which the opinions of ,michael ,angelo on the character of ,flemish pictures are recorded by a contemporary artist4#af 99 99 99 #aba4 ,it was not1 we apprehend1 the resemblance to nature1 but the abstract power of color1 which inflamed with admiration and jealousy the artists of ,italy2 it was not the delicate touch nor the precise verity of ,van ,eyck1 but the vivacita de' colori 7says ,vasari7 which at the first glance induced ,antonello da ,messina to put aside every other avocation and thought1 and at once set out for ,flanders1 assiduously to cultivate the friendship of ,giovanni1 presenting to him many drawings and other things1 until ,giovanni1 finding himself already old1 was content that ,antonello should see the method of his coloring in oil1 nor then to quit ,flanders until he had thoroughly learned that process4 ,it was this process1 separate1 mysterious1 and admirable1 whose communication the ,venetian1 ,domenico1 thought the most acceptable kindness which could repay his hospitality2 and whose solitary possession ,castagno thought cheaply purchased by the guilt of the betrayer and murderer2 it was in this process1 the deduction of watchful intelligence1 not by fortuitous discovery1 that the first impulse was given to ,european art4 ,many a plank had yawned in the sun before ,van ,eyck's2 but he alone saw through the rent1 as through an opening portal1 the lofty perspective of triumph widening its rapid wedge2--many a spot of opaque color had clouded the transparent amber of earlier times2 but the little cloud that rose over ,van ,eyck's horizon was like unto a man's hand4 ,what this process was1 and how far it differed from preceding practice1 has hardly1 perhaps1 been pronounced by ,mr4 ,eastlake with sufficient distinctness4 ,one or two conclusions which he has not marked are1 we think1 deducible from his evidence1 ,in one point1 and that not an unimportant one1 we believe that many careful students of coloring will be disposed to differ with him3 our own intermediate opinion we will therefore venture to state1 though with all diffidence4 #abb4 ,we must not1 however1 pass entirely without notice the two chapters on the preparation of oils1 and on the oleo-resinous vehicles1 though to the general reader the recipes contained in them are of little interest2 and in the absence of all expression of opinion on the part of ,mr4 ,eastlake as to their comparative excellence1 even to the artist1 their immediate utility appears somewhat doubtful4 ,one circumstance1 however1 is remarkable in all1 the care taken by the great painters1 without exception1 to avoid the yellowing of their oil4 ,perfect and stable clearness is the ultimate aim of all the processes described 7many of them troublesome and tedious in the extreme73 and the effect of the altered oil is of course most dreaded on pale and cold colors4 ,thus ,philippe ,nunez tells us how to purify linseed oil for white and blues2 and ,pacheco1 el de linaza no me quele mal3 aunque ai quien diga que no a de ver el ,azul ni el ,blanco este ,azeite4#ag ,de ,mayerne recommends poppy oil for painting white1 blue1 and similar colors1 so that they shall not yellow2 and in another place1 for air-tints and blue2--while the inclination to green is noticed as an imperfection in hempseed oil3 so ,vasari--speaking of linseed-oil in contemporary practice--benche il noce e meglio1 perche ingialla meno4 ,the ,italians generally mixed an essential oil with their delicate tints1 including flesh tints 7p4 #dca74 ,extraordinary methods were used by the ,flemish painters to protect their blues2 they were sometimes painted with size1 and varnished2 sometimes strewed in powder on fresh white-lead 7p4 #def74 ,leonardo gives a careful recipe for preventing the change of color in nut oil1 supposing it to be owing to neglect in removing the skin of the nut4 ,his words1 given at p4 #cba1 are incorrectly translated3 una certa bucciolina1 is not a husk or rind--but a thin skin1 meaning the white membranous covering of the nut itself1 of which it is almost impossible to detach all the inner laminae4 ,this1 che tiene della natura del mallo1 ,leonardo supposes to give the expressed oil its property of forming a skin at the surface4 #abc4 ,we think these passages interesting1 because they are entirely opposed to the modern ideas of the desirableness of yellow lights and green blues1 which have been introduced chiefly by the study of altered pictures4 ,the anxiety of ,rubens1 expressed in various letters1 quoted at p4 #eaf1 lest any of his whites should have become yellow1 and his request that his pictures might be exposed to the sun to remedy the defect1 if it occurred1 are conclusive on this subject1 as far as regards the feeling of the ,flemish painters3 we shall presently see that the coolness of their light was an essential part of their scheme of color4 ,the testing of the various processes given in these two chapters must be a matter of time3 many of them have been superseded by recent discoveries4 ,copal varnish is in modern practice no inefficient substitute for amber1 and we believe that most artists will agree with us in thinking that the vehicles now in use are sufficient for all purposes1 if used rightly4 ,we shall1 therefore1 proceed in the first place to give a rapid sketch of the entire process of the ,flemish school as it is stated by ,mr4 ,eastlake in the #aath chapter1 and then examine the several steps of it one by one1 with the view at once of marking what seems disputable1 and of deducing from what is certain some considerations respecting the consequences of its adoption in subsequent art4 #abd4 ,the ground was with all the early masters pure white1 plaster of ,paris1 or washed chalk with size2 a preparation which has been employed without change from remote antiquity--witness the ,egyptian mummy-cases4 ,such a ground1 becoming brittle with age1 is evidently unsafe on canvas1 unless exceedingly thin2 and even on panel is liable to crack and detach itself1 unless it be carefully guarded against damp4 ,the precautions of ,van ,eyck against this danger1 as well as against the warping of his panel1 are remarkable instances of his regard to points apparently trivial3-- 99 99 99 ,in large altar-pieces1 necessarily composed of many pieces1 it may be often remarked that each separate plank has become slightly convex in front3 this is particularly observable in the picture of the ,transfiguration by ,raphael4 ,the heat of candles on altars is supposed to have been the cause of this not uncommon defect2 but heat1 if considerable1 would rather produce the contrary appearance4 ,it would seem that the layer of paint1 with its substratum1 slightly operates to prevent the wood from contracting or becoming concave on that side2 it might therefore be concluded that a similar protection at the back1 by equalizing the conditions1 would tend to keep the wood flat4 ,the oak panel on which the picture by ,van ,eyck in the ,national ,gallery is painted is protected at the back by a composition of gesso1 size1 and tow1 over which a coat of black oil-paint was passed4 ,this1 whether added when the picture was executed or subsequently1 has tended to preserve the wood 7which is not at all worm-eaten71 and perhaps to prevent its warping4--,ib4 pp4 #cgc1 #cgd4 99 99 99 ,on the white ground1 scraped1 when it was perfectly dry1 till it was as white as milk and as smooth as ivory 7,cennini71 the outline of the picture was drawn1 and its light and shade expressed1 usually with the pen1 with all possible care2 and over this outline a coating of size was applied in order to render the gesso ground non-absorbent4 ,the establishment of this fact is of the greatest importance1 for the whole question of the true function and use of the gesso ground hangs upon it4 ,that use has been supposed by all previous writers on the technical processes of painting to be1 by absorbing the oil1 to remove in some degree the cause of yellowness in the colors4 ,had this been so1 the ground itself would have lost its brilliancy1 and it would have followed that a dark ground1 equally absorbent1 would have answered the purpose as well4 ,but the evidence adduced by ,mr4 ,eastlake on this subject is conclusive3-- 99 99 99 ,pictures are sometimes transferred from panel to cloth4 ,the front being secured by smooth paper or linen1 the picture is laid on its face1 and the wood is gradually planed and scraped away4 ,at last the ground appears2 first1 the 'gesso grosso1' then1 next the painted surface1 the 'gesso sottile4' ,on scraping this it is found that it is whitest immediately next the colors2 for on the inner side it may sometimes have received slight stains from the wood1 if the latter was not first sized4 ,when a picture which happens to be much cracked has been oiled or varnished1 the fluid will sometimes penetrate through the cracks into the ground1 which in such parts had become accessible4 ,in that case the white ground is stained in lines only1 corresponding in their direction with the cracks of the picture4 ,this last circumstance also proves that the ground was not sufficiently hard in itself to prevent the absorption of oil4 ,accordingly1 it required to be rendered non-absorbent by a coating of size2 and this was passed over the outline1 before the oil-priming was applied4--,ib4 pp4 #chc1 #chd4 99 99 99 ,the perfect whiteness of the ground being thus secured1 a transparent warm oil-priming1 in early practice flesh-colored1 was usually passed over the entire picture4 ,this custom1 says ,mr4 ,eastlake1 appears to have been a remnant of the old habit of covering tempera pictures with a warm varnish1 and was sometimes omitted4 ,when used it was permitted to dry thoroughly1 and over it the shadows were painted in with a rich transparent brown1 mixed with a somewhat thick oleo-resinous vehicle2 the lighter colors were then added with a thinner vehicle1 taking care not to disturb the transparency of the shadows by the unnecessary mixture of opaque pigments1 and leaving the ground bearing bright through the thin lights4 787 ,as the art advanced1 the lights were more and more loaded1 and afterwards glazed1 the shadows being still left in untouched transparency4 ,this is the method of ,rubens4 ,the later ,italian colorists appear to have laid opaque local color without fear even into the shadows1 and to have recovered transparency by ultimate glazing4 #abe4 ,such are the principal heads of the method of the early ,flemish masters1 as stated by ,mr4 ,eastlake4 ,we have marked as questionable the influence of the ground in supporting the lights3 our reasons for doing so we will give1 after we have stated what we suppose to be the advantages or disadvantages of the process in its earlier stages1 guiding ourselves as far as possible by the passages in which any expression occurs of ,mr4 ,eastlake's opinion4 ,the reader cannot but see that the eminent character of the whole system is its predeterminateness4 ,from first to last its success depended on the decision and clearness of each successive step4 ,the drawing and light and shade were secured without any interference of color2 but when over these the oil-priming was once laid1 the design could neither be altered nor1 if lost1 recovered2 a color laid too opaquely in the shadow destroyed the inner organization of the picture1 and remained an irremediable blemish2 and it was necessary1 in laying color even on the lights1 to follow the guidance of the drawing beneath with a caution and precision which rendered anything like freedom of handling1 in the modern sense1 totally impossible4 ,every quality which depends on rapidity1 accident1 or audacity was interdicted2 no affectation of ease was suffered to disturb the humility of patient exertion4 ,let our readers consider in what temper such a work must be undertaken and carried through--a work in which error was irremediable1 change impossible--which demanded the drudgery of a student1 while it involved the deliberation of a master--in which the patience of a mechanic was to be united with the foresight of a magician--in which no license could be indulged either to fitfulness of temper or felicity of invention--in which haste was forbidden1 yet languor fatal1 and consistency of conception no less incumbent than continuity of toil4 ,let them reflect what kind of men must have been called up and trained by work such as this1 and then compare the tones of mind which are likely to be produced by our present practice1--a practice in which alteration is admitted to any extent in any stage--in which neither foundation is laid nor end foreseen--in which all is dared and nothing resolved1 everything periled1 nothing provided for--in which men play the sycophant in the courts of their humors1 and hunt wisps in the marshes of their wits--a practice which invokes accident1 evades law1 discredits application1 despises system1 and sets forth with chief exultation1 contingent beauty1 and extempore invention4 #abf4 ,but it is not only the fixed nature of the successive steps which influenced the character of these early painters4 ,a peculiar direction was given to their efforts by the close attention to drawing which1 as ,mr4 ,eastlake has especially noticed1 was involved in the preparation of the design on the white ground4 ,that design was secured with a care and finish which in many instances might seem altogether supererogatory4#ah ,the preparation by ,john ,bellini in the ,florentine gallery is completed with exhaustless diligence into even the portions farthest removed from the light1 where the thick brown of the shadows must necessarily have afterwards concealed the greater part of the work4 ,it was the discipline undergone in producing this preparation which fixed the character of the school4 ,the most important part of the picture was executed not with the brush1 but with the point1 and the refinements attainable by this instrument dictated the treatment of their subject4 ,hence the transition to etching and engraving1 and the intense love of minute detail1 accompanied by an imaginative communication of dignity and power to the smallest forms1 in ,albert ,duerer and others4 ,but this attention to minutiae was not the only result2 the disposition of light and shade was also affected by the method4 ,shade was not to be had at small cost2 its masses could not be dashed on in impetuous generalization1 fields for the future recovery of light4 ,they were measured out and wrought to their depths only by expenditure of toil and time2 and1 as future grounds for color1 they were necessarily restricted to the natural shadow of every object1 white being left for high lights of whatever hue4 ,in consequence1 the character of pervading daylight1 almost inevitably produced in the preparation1 was afterwards assumed as a standard in the painting4 ,effectism1 accidental shadows1 all obvious and vulgar artistical treatment1 were excluded1 or introduced only as the lights became more loaded1 and were consequently imposed with more facility on the dark ground4 ,where shade was required in large mass1 it was obtained by introducing an object of locally dark color4 ,the ,italian masters who followed ,van ,eyck's system were in the constant habit of relieving their principal figures by the darkness of some object1 foliage1 throne1 or drapery1 introduced behind the head1 the open sky being left visible on each side4 ,a green drapery is thus used with great quaintness by ,john ,bellini in the noble picture of the ,brera ,gallery2 a black screen1 with marbled veins1 behind the portraits of himself and his brother in the ,louvre2 a crimson velvet curtain behind the ,madonna1 in ,francia's best picture at ,bologna4 ,where the subject was sacred1 and the painter great1 this system of pervading light produced pictures of a peculiar and tranquil majesty2 where the mind of the painter was irregularly or frivolously imaginative1 its temptations to accumulative detail were too great to be resisted--the spectator was by the ,german masters overwhelmed with the copious inconsistency of a dream1 or compelled to traverse the picture from corner to corner like a museum of curiosities4 #abg4 ,the chalk or pen preparation being completed1 and the oil-priming laid1 we have seen that the shadows were laid in with a transparent brown in considerable body4 ,the question next arises--,what influence is this part of the process likely to have had upon the coloring of the school8 ,it is to be remembered that the practice was continued to the latest times1 and that when the thin light had been long abandoned1 and a loaded body of color had taken its place1 the brown transparent shadow was still retained1 and is retained often to this day1 when asphaltum is used as its base1 at the risk of the destruction of the picture4 ,the utter loss of many of ,reynolds' noblest works has been caused by the lavish use of this pigment4 ,what the pigment actually was in older times is left by ,mr4 ,eastlake undecided3-- 99 99 99 ,a rich brown1 which1 whether an earth or mineral alone1 or a substance of the kind enriched by the addition of a transparent yellow or orange1 is not an unimportant element of the glowing coloring which is remarkable in examples of the school4 ,such a color1 by artificial combinations at least1 is easily supplied2 and it is repeated1 that1 in general1 the materials now in use are quite as good as those which the ,flemish masters had at their command4--,ib4 p4 #dhh4 99 99 99 ,at p4 #ddf it is also asserted that the peculiar glow of the brown of ,rubens is hardly to be accounted for by any accidental variety in the ,cassel earths1 but was obtained by the mixture of a transparent yellow4 ,evidence1 however1 exists of asphaltum having been used in ,flemish pictures1 and with safety1 even though prepared in the modern manner3-- 99 99 99 ,it is not ground 7says ,de ,mayerne71 but a drying oil is prepared with litharge1 and the pulverized asphaltum mixed with this oil is placed in a glass vessel1 suspended by a thread in a water bath4 ,thus exposed to the fire it melts like butter2 when it begins to boil it is instantly removed4 ,it is an excellent color for shadows1 and may be glazed like lake2 it lasts well4--,ib4 p4 #dfc4 99 99 99 #abh4 ,the great advantage of this primary laying in of the darks in brown was the obtaining an unity of shadow throughout the picture1 which rendered variety of hue1 where it occurred1 an instantly accepted evidence of light4 ,it mattered not how vigorous or how deep in tone the masses of local color might be1 the eye could not confound them with true shadow2 it everywhere distinguished the transparent browns as indicative of gloom1 and became acutely sensible of the presence and preciousness of light wherever local tints rose out of their depths4 ,but however superior this method may be to the arbitrary use of polychrome shadows1 utterly unrelated to the lights1 which has been admitted in modern works2 and however beautiful or brilliant its results might be in the hands of colorists as faithful as ,van ,eyck1 or as inventive as ,rubens2 the principle on which it is based becomes dangerous whenever1 in assuming that the ultimate hue of every shadow is brown1 it presupposes a peculiar and conventional light4 ,it is true1 that so long as the early practice of finishing the under-drawing with the pen was continued1 the gray of that preparation might perhaps diminish the force of the upper color1 which became in that case little more than a glowing varnish--even thus sometimes verging on too monotonous warmth1 as the reader may observe in the head of ,dandolo1 by ,john ,bellini1 in the ,national ,gallery4 ,but when1 by later and more impetuous hands1 the point tracing was dispensed with1 and the picture boldly thrown in with the brown pigment1 it became matter of great improbability that the force of such a prevalent tint could afterwards be softened or melted into a pure harmony2 the painter's feeling for truth was blunted2 brilliancy and richness became his object rather than sincerity or solemnity2 with the palled sense of color departed the love of light1 and the diffused sunshine of the early schools died away in the narrowed rays of ,rembrandt4 ,we think it a deficiency in the work before us that the extreme peril of such a principle1 incautiously applied1 has not been pointed out1 and that the method of ,rubens has been so highly extolled for its technical perfection1 without the slightest notice of the gross mannerism into which its facile brilliancy too frequently betrayed the mighty master4 #abi4 ,yet it remains a question how far1 under certain limitations and for certain effects1 this system of pure brown shadow may be successfully followed4 ,it is not a little singular that it has already been revived in water-colors by a painter who1 in his realization of light and splendor of hue1 stands without a rival among living schools--,mr4 ,hunt2 his neutral shadows being1 we believe1 first thrown in frankly with sepia1 the color introduced upon the lights1 and the central lights afterwards further raised by body color1 and glazed4 ,but in this process the sepia shadows are admitted only on objects whose local colors are warm or neutral2 wherever the tint of the illumined portion is delicate or peculiar1 a relative hue of shade is at once laid on the white paper2 and the correspondence with the ,flemish school is in the use of brown as the ultimate representative of deep gloom1 and in the careful preservation of its transparency1 not in the application of brown universally as the shade of all colors4 ,we apprehend that this practice represents1 in another medium1 the very best mode of applying the ,flemish system2 and that when the result proposed is an effect of vivid color under bright cool sunshine1 it would be impossible to adopt any more perfect means4 ,but a system which in any stage prescribes the use of a certain pigment1 implies the adoption of a constant aim1 and becomes1 in that degree1 conventional4 ,suppose that the effect desired be neither of sunlight nor of bright color1 but of grave color subdued by atmosphere1 and we believe that the use of brown for an ultimate shadow would be highly inexpedient4 ,with ,van ,eyck and with ,rubens the aim was always consistent3 clear daylight1 diffused in the one case1 concentrated in the other1 was yet the hope1 the necessity of both2 and any process which admitted the slightest dimness1 coldness1 or opacity1 would have been considered an error in their system by either4 ,alike1 to ,rubens1 came subjects of tumult or tranquillity1 of gayety or terror2 the nether1 earthly1 and upper world were to him animated with the same feeling1 lighted by the same sun2 he dyed in the same lake of fire the warp of the wedding-garment or of the winding-sheet2 swept into the same delirium the recklessness of the sensualist1 and rapture of the anchorite2 saw in tears only their glittering1 and in torture only its flush4 ,to such a painter1 regarding every subject in the same temper1 and all as mere motives for the display of the power of his art1 the ,flemish system1 improved as it became in his hands1 was alike sufficient and habitual4 ,but among the greater colorists of ,italy the aim was not always so simple nor the method so determinable4 ,we find ,tintoret passing like a fire-fly from light to darkness in one oscillation1 ranging from the fullest prism of solar color to the coldest grays of twilight1 and from the silver tingeing of a morning cloud to the lava fire of a volcano3 one moment shutting himself into obscure chambers of imagery1 the next plunged into the revolutionless day of heaven1 and piercing space1 deeper than the mind can follow or the eye fathom2 we find him by turns appalling1 pensive1 splendid1 profound1 profuse2 and throughout sacrificing every minor quality to the power of his prevalent mood4 ,by such an artist it might1 perhaps1 be presumed that a different system of color would be adopted in almost every picture1 and that if a chiaroscuro ground were independently laid1 it would be in a neutral gray1 susceptible afterwards of harmony with any tone he might determine upon1 and not in the vivid brown which necessitated brilliancy of subsequent effect4 ,we believe1 accordingly1 that while some of the pieces of this master's richer color1 such as the ,adam and ,eve in the ,gallery of ,venice1 and we suspect also the miracle of ,st4 ,mark1 may be executed on the pure ,flemish system1 the greater number of his large compositions will be found based on a gray shadow2 and that this gray shadow was independently laid we have more direct proof in the assertion of ,boschini1 who received his information from the younger ,palma3 ,quando haveva stabilita questa importante distribuzione1 abboggiava il quadro tutto di chiaroscuro2 and we have1 therefore1 no doubt that ,tintoret's well-known reply to the question1 ,what were the most beautiful colors8 ,il nero1 e il bianco1 is to be received in a perfectly literal sense1 beyond and above its evident reference to abstract principle4 ,its main and most valuable meaning was1 of course1 that the design and light and shade of a picture were of greater importance than its color2 7and this ,tintoret felt so thoroughly that there is not one of his works which would seriously lose in power if it were translated into chiaroscuro72 but it implied also that ,tintoret's idea of a shadowed preparation was in gray1 and not in brown4 #acj4 ,but there is a farther and more essential ground of difference in system of shadow between the ,flemish and ,italian colorists4 ,it is a well-known optical fact that the color of shadow is complemental to that of light3 and that therefore1 in general terms1 warm light has cool shadow1 and cool light hot shadow4 ,the noblest masters of the northern and southern schools respectively adopted these contrary keys2 and while the ,flemings raised their lights in frosty white and pearly grays out of a glowing shadow1 the ,italians opposed the deep and burning rays of their golden heaven to masses of solemn gray and majestic blue4 ,either1 therefore1 their preparation must have been different1 or they were able1 when they chose1 to conquer the warmth of the ground by superimposed color4 ,we believe1 accordingly1 that ,correggio will be found--as stated in the notes of ,reynolds quoted at p4 #die--to have habitually grounded with black1 white1 and ultramarine1 then glazing with golden transparent colors2 while ,titian used the most vigorous browns1 and conquered them with cool color in mass above4 ,the remarkable sketch of ,leonardo in the ,uffizii of ,florence is commenced in brown--over the brown is laid an olive green1 on which the highest lights are struck with white4 ,now it is well known to even the merely decorative painter that no color can be brilliant which is laid over one of a corresponding key1 and that the best ground for any given opaque color will be a comparatively subdued tint of the complemental one2 of green under red1 of violet under yellow1 and of orange or brown therefore under blue4 ,we apprehend accordingly that the real value of the brown ground with ,titian was far greater than even with ,rubens2 it was to support and give preciousness to cool color above1 while it remained itself untouched as the representative of warm reflexes and extreme depth of transparent gloom4 ,we believe this employment of the brown ground to be the only means of uniting majesty of hue with profundity of shade4 ,but its value to the ,fleming is connected with the management of the lights1 which we have next to consider4 ,as we here venture for the first time to disagree in some measure with ,mr4 ,eastlake1 let us be sure that we state his opinion fairly4 ,he says3-- 99 99 99 ,the light warm tint which ,van ,mander assumes to have been generally used in the oil-priming was sometimes omitted1 as unfinished pictures prove4 ,under such circumstances1 the picture may have been executed at once on the sized outline4 ,in the works of ,lucas van ,leyden1 and sometimes in those of ,albert ,duerer1 the thin yet brilliant lights exhibit a still brighter ground underneath 7p4 #chi74444 ,it thus appears that the method proposed by the inventors of oil-painting1 of preserving light within the colors1 involved a certain order of processes4 ,the principal conditions were3 first1 that the outline should be completed on the panel before the painting1 properly so called1 was begun4 ,the object1 in thus defining the forms1 was to avoid alterations and repaintings1 which might ultimately render the ground useless without supplying its place4 ,another condition was to avoid loading the opaque colors4 ,this limitation was not essential with regard to the transparent colors1 as such could hardly exclude the bright ground 7p4 #cih74444 ,the system of coloring adopted by the ,van ,eycks may have been influenced by the practice of glass-painting4 ,they appear1 in their first efforts at least1 to have considered the white panel as representing light behind a colored and transparent medium1 and aimed at giving brilliancy to their tints by allowing the white ground to shine through them4 ,if those painters and their followers erred1 it was in sometimes too literally carrying out this principle4 ,their lights are always transparent 7mere white excepted7 and their shadows sometimes want depth4 ,this is in accordance with the effect of glass-staining1 in which transparency may cease with darkness1 but never with light4 ,the superior method of ,rubens consisted in preserving transparency chiefly in his darks1 and in contrasting their lucid depth with solid lights 7p4 #djh74444 ,among the technical improvements on the older process may be especially mentioned the preservation of transparency in the darker masses1 the lights being loaded as required4 ,the system of exhibiting the bright ground through the shadows still involved an adherence to the original method of defining the composition at first2 and the solid painting of the lights opened the door to that freedom of execution which the works of the early masters wanted4 7p4 #dij47 99 99 99 #aca4 ,we think we cannot have erred in concluding from these scattered passages that ,mr4 ,eastlake supposes the brilliancy of the high lights of the earlier schools to be attributable to the under-power of the white ground4 ,this we admit1 so far as that ground gave value to the transparent flesh-colored or brown preparation above it2 but we doubt the transparency of the highest lights1 and the power of any white ground to add brilliancy to opaque colors4 ,we have ourselves never seen an instance of a painted brilliant light that was not loaded to the exclusion of the ground4 ,secondary lights indeed are often perfectly transparent1 a warm hatching over the under-white2 the highest light itself may be so--but then it is the white ground itself subdued by transparent darker color1 not supporting a light color4 ,in the ,van ,eyck in the ,national ,gallery all the brilliant lights are loaded2 mere white1 ,mr4 ,eastlake himself admits1 was always so2 and we believe that the flesh-color and carnations are painted with color as opaque as the white head-dress1 but fail of brilliancy from not being loaded enough2 the white ground beneath being utterly unable to add to the power of such tints1 while its effect on more subdued tones depended in great measure on its receiving a transparent coat of warm color first4 ,this may have been sometimes omitted1 as stated at p4 #chi2 when it was so1 we believe that an utter loss of brilliancy must have resulted2 but when it was used1 the highest lights must have been raised from it by opaque color as distinctly by ,van ,eyck as by ,rubens4 ,rubens' ,judgment of ,paris is quoted at p4 #chh as an example of the best use of the bright gesso ground3--and how in that picture1 how in all ,rubens' best pictures1 is it used8 ,over the ground is thrown a transparent glowing brown tint1 varied and deepened in the shadow2 boldly over that brown glaze1 and into it1 are struck and painted the opaque gray middle tints1 already concealing the ground totally2 and above these are loaded the high lights like gems--note the sparkling strokes on the peacock's plumes4 ,we believe that ,van ,eyck's high lights were either1 in proportion to the scale of picture and breadth of handling1 as loaded as these1 or1 in the degree of their thinness1 less brilliant4 ,was then his system the same as ,rubens'8 ,not so2 but it differed more in the management of middle tints than in the lights3 the main difference was1 we believe1 between the careful preparation of the gradations of drawing in the one1 and the daring assumption of massy light in the other4 ,there are theorists who would assert that their system was the same--but they forget the primal work1 with the point underneath1 and all that it implied of transparency above4 ,van ,eyck secured his drawing in dark1 then threw a pale transparent middle tint over the whole1 and recovered his highest lights2 all was transparent except these4 ,rubens threw a dark middle tint over the whole at first1 and then gave the drawing with opaque gray4 ,all was opaque except the shadows4 ,no slight difference this1 when we reflect on the contrarieties of practice ultimately connected with the opposing principles2 above all on the eminent one that1 as all ,van ,eyck's color1 except the high lights1 must have been equivalent to a glaze1 while the great body of color in ,rubens was solid 7ultimately glazed occasionally1 but not necessarily71 it was possible for ,van ,eyck to mix his tints to the local hues required1 with far less danger of heaviness in effect than would have been incurred in the solid painting of ,rubens4 ,this is especially noticed by ,mr4 ,eastlake1 with whom we are delighted again to concur3-- 99 99 99 ,the practice of using compound tints has not been approved by colorists2 the method1 as introduced by the early masters1 was adapted to certain conditions1 but1 like many of their processes1 was afterwards misapplied4 ,vasari informs us that ,lorenzo di ,credi1 whose exaggerated nicety in technical details almost equaled that of ,gerard ,dow1 was in the habit of mixing about thirty tints before he began to work4 ,the opposite extreme is perhaps no less objectionable4 ,much may depend on the skillful use of the ground4 ,the purest color in an opaque state and superficially light only1 is less brilliant than the foulest mixture through which light shines4 ,hence1 as long as the white ground was visible within the tints1 the habit of matching colors from nature 7no matter by what complication of hues1 provided the ingredients were not chemically injurious to each other7 was likely to combine the truth of negative hues with clearness4--,ib4 p4 #djj4 99 99 99 #acb4 ,these passages open to us a series of questions far too intricate to be even cursorily treated within our limits4 ,it is to be held in mind that one and the same quality of color or kind of brilliancy is not always the best2 the phases and phenomena of color are innumerable in reality1 and even the modes of imitating them become expedient or otherwise1 according to the aim and scale of the picture4 ,it is no question of mere authority whether the mixture of tints to a compound one1 or their juxtaposition in a state of purity1 be the better practice4 ,there is not the slightest doubt that1 the ground being the same1 a stippled tint is more brilliant and rich than a mixed one2 nor is there doubt on the other hand that in some subjects such a tint is impossible1 and in others vulgar4 ,we have above alluded to the power of ,mr4 ,hunt in water-color4 ,the fruit-pieces of that artist are dependent for their splendor chiefly on the juxtaposition of pure color for compound tints1 and we may safely affirm that the method is for such purpose as exemplary as its results are admirable4 ,yet would you desire to see the same means adopted in the execution of the fruit in ,rubens' ,peace and ,war8 ,or again1 would the lusciousness of tint obtained by ,rubens himself1 adopting the same means on a grander scale in his painting of flesh1 have been conducive to the ends or grateful to the feelings of the ,bellinis or ,albert ,duerer8 ,each method is admirable as applied by its master2 and ,hemling and ,van ,eyck are as much to be followed in the mingling of color1 as ,rubens and ,rembrandt in its decomposition4 ,if an award is absolutely to be made of superiority to either system1 we apprehend that the palm of mechanical skill must be rendered to the latter1 and higher dignity of moral purpose confessed in the former2 in proportion to the nobleness of the subject and the thoughtfulness of its treatment1 simplicity of color will be found more desirable4 ,nor is the far higher perfection of drawing attained by the earlier method to be forgotten4 ,gradations which are expressed by delicate execution of the darks1 and then aided by a few strokes of recovered light1 must always be more subtle and true than those which are struck violently forth with opaque color2 and it is to be remembered that the handling of the brush1 with the early ,italian masters1 approached in its refinement to drawing with the point--the more definitely1 because the work was executed1 as we have just seen1 with little change or play of local color4 ,and--whatever discredit the looser and bolder practice of later masters may have thrown on the hatched and penciled execution of earlier periods--we maintain that this method1 necessary in fresco1 and followed habitually in the first oil pictures1 has produced the noblest renderings of human expression in the whole range of the examples of art3 the best works of ,raphael1 all the glorious portraiture of ,ghirlandajo and ,masaccio1 all the mightiest achievements of religious zeal in ,francia1 ,perugino1 ,bellini1 and such others4 ,take as an example in fresco ,masaccio's hasty sketch of himself now in the ,uffizii2 and in oil1 the two heads of monks by ,perugino in the ,academy of ,florence2 and we shall search in vain for any work in portraiture1 executed in opaque colors1 which could contend with them in depth of expression or in fullness of recorded life--not mere imitative vitality1 but chronicled action4 ,and we have no hesitation in asserting that where the object of the painter is expression1 and the picture is of a size admitting careful execution1 the transparent system1 developed as it is found in ,bellini or ,perugino1 will attain the most profound and serene color1 while it will never betray into looseness or audacity4 ,but if in the mind of the painter invention prevail over veneration1--if his eye be creative rather than penetrative1 and his hand more powerful than patient--let him not be confined to a system where light1 once lost1 is as irrecoverable as time1 and where all success depends on husbandry of resource4 ,do not measure out to him his sunshine in inches of gesso2 let him have the power of striking it even out of darkness and the deep4 #acc4 ,if human life were endless1 or human spirit could fit its compass to its will1 it is possible a perfection might be reached which should unite the majesty of invention with the meekness of love4 ,we might conceive that the thought1 arrested by the readiest means1 and at first represented by the boldest symbols1 might afterwards be set forth with solemn and studied expression1 and that the power might know no weariness in clothing which had known no restraint in creating4 ,but dilation and contraction are for molluscs1 not for men2 we are not ringed into flexibility like worms1 nor gifted with opposite sight and mutable color like chameleons4 ,the mind which molds and summons cannot at will transmute itself into that which clings and contemplates2 nor is it given to us at once to have the potter's power over the lump1 the fire's upon the clay1 and the gilder's upon the porcelain4 ,even the temper in which we behold these various displays of mind must be different2 and it admits of more than doubt whether1 if the bold work of rapid thought were afterwards in all its forms completed with microscopic care1 the result would be other than painful4 ,in the shadow at the foot of ,tintoret's picture of the ,temptation1 lies a broken rock-bowlder4#ai ,the dark ground has been first laid in1 of color nearly uniform2 and over it a few1 not more than fifteen or twenty1 strokes of the brush1 loaded with a light gray1 have quarried the solid block of stone out of the vacancy4 ,probably ten minutes are the utmost time which those strokes have occupied1 though the rock is some four feet square4 ,it may safely be affirmed that no other method1 however laborious1 could have reached the truth of form which results from the very freedom with which the conception has been expressed2 but it is a truth of the simplest kind--the definition of a stone1 rather than the painting of one--and the lights are in some degree dead and cold--the natural consequence of striking a mixed opaque pigment over a dark ground4 ,it would now be possible to treat this skeleton of a stone1 which could only have been knit together by ,tintoret's rough temper1 with the care of a ,fleming2 to leave its fiercely-stricken lights emanating from a golden ground1 to gradate with the pen its ponderous shadows1 and in its completion1 to dwell with endless and intricate precision upon fibers of moss1 bells of heath1 blades of grass1 and films of lichen4 ,love like ,van ,eyck's would separate the fibers as if they were stems of forest1 twine the ribbed grass into fanciful articulation1 shadow forth capes and islands in the variegated film1 and hang the purple bells in counted chiming4 ,a year might pass away1 and the work yet be incomplete2 yet would the purpose of the great picture have been better answered when all had been achieved8 or if so1 is it to be wished that a year of the life of ,tintoret 7could such a thing be conceived possible7 had been so devoted8 #acd4 ,we have put in as broad and extravagant a view as possible the difference of object in the two systems of loaded and transparent light2 but it is to be remembered that both are in a certain degree compatible1 and that whatever exclusive arguments may be adduced in favor of the loaded system apply only to the ultimate stages of the work4 ,the question is not whether the white ground be expedient in the commencement--but how far it must of necessity be preserved to the close8 ,there cannot be the slightest doubt that1 whatever the object1 whatever the power of the painter1 the white ground1 as intensely bright and perfect as it can be obtained1 should be the base of his operations2 that it should be preserved as long as possible1 shown wherever it is possible1 and sacrificed only upon good cause4 ,there are indeed many objects which do not admit of imitation unless the hand have power of superimposing and modeling the light2 but there are others which are equally unsusceptible of every rendering except that of transparent color over the pure ground4 ,it appears from the evidence now produced that there are at least three distinct systems traceable in the works of good colorists1 each having its own merit and its peculiar application4 ,first1 the white ground1 with careful chiaroscuro preparation1 transparent color in the middle tints1 and opaque high lights only 7,van ,eyck74 ,secondly1 white ground1 transparent brown preparation1 and solid painting of lights above 7,rubens74 ,thirdly1 white ground1 brown preparation1 and solid painting both of lights and shadows above 7,titian72 on which last method1 indisputably the noblest1 we have not insisted1 as it has not yet been examined by ,mr4 ,eastlake4 ,but in all these methods the white ground was indispensable4 ,it mattered not what transparent color were put over it3 red1 frequently1 we believe1 by ,titian1 before the brown shadows--yellow sometimes by ,rubens3--whatever warm tone might be chosen for the key of the composition1 and for the support of its grays1 depended for its own value upon the white gesso beneath2 nor can any system of color be ultimately successful which excludes it4 ,noble arrangement1 choice1 and relation of color1 will indeed redeem and recommend the falsest system3 our own ,reynolds1 and recently ,turner1 furnish magnificent examples of the power attainable by colorists of high caliber1 after the light ground is lost--7we cannot agree with ,mr4 ,eastlake in thinking the practice of painting first in white and black1 with cool reds only1 equivalent to its preservation73--but in the works of both1 diminished splendor and sacrificed durability attest and punish the neglect of the best resources of their art4 #ace4 ,we have stated1 though briefly1 the major part of the data which recent research has furnished respecting the early colorists2 enough1 certainly1 to remove all theoretical obstacles to the attainment of a perfection equal to theirs4 ,a few carefully conducted experiments1 with the efficient aids of modern chemistry1 would probably put us in possession of an amber varnish1 if indeed this be necessary1 at least not inferior to that which they employed2 the rest of their materials are already in our hands1 soliciting only such care in their preparation as it ought1 we think1 to be no irksome duty to bestow4 ,yet we are not sanguine of the immediate result4 ,mr4 ,eastlake has done his duty excellently2 but it is hardly to be expected that1 after being long in possession of means which we could apply to no profit1 the knowledge that the greatest men possessed no better1 should at once urge to emulation and gift with strength4 ,we believe that some consciousness of their true position already existed in the minds of many living artists2 example had at least been given by two of our ,academicians1 ,mr4 ,mulready and ,mr4 ,etty1 of a splendor based on the ,flemish system1 and consistent1 certainly1 in the first case1 with a high degree of permanence2 while the main direction of artistic and public sympathy to works of a character altogether opposed to theirs1 showed fatally how far more perceptible and appreciable to our present instincts is the mechanism of handling than the melody of hue4 ,indeed we firmly believe1 that of all powers of enjoyment or of judgment1 that which is concerned with nobility of color is least communicable3 it is also perhaps the most rare4 ,the achievements of the draughtsman are met by the curiosity of all mankind2 the appeals of the dramatist answered by their sympathy2 the creatures of imagination acknowledged by their fear2 but the voice of the colorist has but the adder's listening1 charm he never so wisely4 ,men vie with each other1 untaught1 in pursuit of smoothness and smallness--of ,carlo ,dolci and ,van ,huysum2 their domestic hearts may range them in faithful armies round the throne of ,raphael2 meditation and labor may raise them to the level of the great mountain pedestal of ,buonarotti--vestito gia de' raggi del pianeta1 che mena dritto altrui per ogni calle2 but neither time nor teaching will bestow the sense1 when it is not innate1 of that wherein consists the power of ,titian and the great ,venetians4 ,there is proof of this in the various degrees of cost and care devoted to the preservation of their works4 ,the glass1 the curtain1 and the cabinet guard the preciousness of what is petty1 guide curiosity to what is popular1 invoke worship to what is mighty2--,raphael has his palace--,michael his dome--respect protects and crowds traverse the sacristy and the saloon2 but the frescoes of ,titian fade in the solitudes of ,padua1 and the gesso falls crumbled from the flapping canvas1 as the sea-winds shake the ,scuola di ,san ,rocco4 #acf4 ,but if1 on the one hand1 mere abstract excellence of color be thus coldly regarded1 it is equally certain that no work ever attains enduring celebrity which is eminently deficient in this great respect4 ,color cannot be indifferent2 it is either beautiful and auxiliary to the purposes of the picture1 or false1 froward1 and opposite to them4 ,even in the painting of ,nature herself1 this law is palpable2 chiefly glorious when color is a predominant element in her working1 she is in the next degree most impressive when it is withdrawn altogether3 and forms and scenes become sublime in the neutral twilight1 which were indifferent in the colors of noon4 ,much more is this the case in the feebleness of imitation2 all color is bad which is less than beautiful2 all is gross and intrusive which is not attractive2 it repels where it cannot inthrall1 and destroys what it cannot assist4 ,it is besides the painter's peculiar craft2 he who cannot color is no painter4 ,it is not painting to grind earths with oil and lay them smoothly on a surface4 ,he only is a painter who can melodize and harmonize hue--if he fail in this1 he is no member of the brotherhood4 ,let him etch1 or draw1 or carve3 better the unerring graver than the unfaithful pencil--better the true sling and stone than the brightness of the unproved armor4 ,and let not even those who deal in the deeper magic1 and feel in themselves the loftier power1 presume upon that power--nor believe in the reality of any success unless that which has been deserved by deliberate1 resolute1 successive operation4 ,we would neither deny nor disguise the influences of sensibility or of imagination1 upon this1 as upon every other admirable quality of art2--we know that there is that in the very stroke and fall of the pencil in a master's hand1 which creates color with an unconscious enchantment--we know that there is a brilliancy which springs from the joy of the painter's heart--a gloom which sympathizes with its seriousness--a power correlative with its will2 but these are all vain unless they be ruled by a seemly caution--a manly moderation--an indivertible foresight4 ,this we think the one great conclusion to be received from the work we have been examining1 that all power is vain--all invention vain--all enthusiasm vain--all devotion even1 and fidelity vain1 unless these are guided by such severe and exact law as we see take place in the development of every great natural glory2 and1 even in the full glow of their bright and burning operation1 sealed by the cold1 majestic1 deep-graven impress of the signet on the right hand of ,time4 ,,samuel ,,prout4#bj #acg4 ,the first pages in the histories of artists1 worthy the name1 are generally alike2 records of boyish resistance to every scheme1 parental or tutorial1 at variance with the ruling desire and bent of the opening mind4 ,it is so rare an accident that the love of drawing should be noticed and fostered in the child1 that we are hardly entitled to form any conclusions respecting the probable result of an indulgent foresight2 it is enough to admire the strength of will which usually accompanies every noble intellectual gift1 and to believe that1 in early life1 direct resistance is better than inefficient guidance4 ,samuel ,prout--with how many rich and picturesque imaginations is the name now associated6--was born at ,plymouth1 ,september #agth1 #aghc1 and intended by his father for his own profession2 but although the delicate health of the child might have appeared likely to induce a languid acquiescence in his parent's wish1 the love of drawing occupied every leisure hour1 and at last trespassed upon every other occupation4 ,reproofs were affectionately repeated1 and every effort made to dissuade the boy from what was considered an idle amusement1 but it was soon discovered that opposition was unavailing1 and the attachment too strong to be checked4 ,it might perhaps have been otherwise1 but for some rays of encouragement received from the observant kindness of his first schoolmaster4 ,to watch the direction of the little hand when it wandered from its task1 to draw the culprit to him with a smile instead of a reproof1 to set him on the high stool beside his desk1 and stimulate him1 by the loan of his own pen1 to a more patient and elaborate study of the child's usual subject1 his favorite cat1 was a modification of preceptorial care as easy as it was wise2 but it perhaps had more influence on the mind and after-life of the boy than all the rest of his education together4 #ach4 ,such happy though rare interludes in school-hours1 and occasional attempts at home1 usually from the carts and horses which stopped at a public-house opposite1 began the studentship of the young artist before he had quitted his pinafore4 ,an unhappy accident which happened about the same time1 and which farther enfeebled his health1 rendered it still less advisable to interfere with his beloved occupation4 ,we have heard the painter express1 with a melancholy smile1 the distinct recollection remaining with him to this day1 of a burning autumn morning1 on which he had sallied forth alone1 himself some four autumns old1 armed with a hooked stick1 to gather nuts4 ,unrestrainable alike with pencil or crook1 he was found by a farmer1 towards the close of the day1 lying moaning under a hedge1 prostrated by a sunstroke1 and was brought home insensible4 ,from that day forward he was subject to attacks of violent pain in the head1 recurring at short intervals2 and until thirty years after marriage not a week passed without one or two days of absolute confinement to his room or to his bed4 ,up to this hour1 we may perhaps be permitted to use his own touching words1 ,i have to endure a great fight of afflictions2 can ,i therefore be sufficiently thankful for the merciful gift of a buoyant spirit8 #aci4 ,that buoyancy of spirit--one of the brightest and most marked elements of his character--never failed to sustain him between the recurrences even of his most acute suffering2 and the pursuit of his most beloved ,art became every year more determined and independent4 ,the first beginnings in landscape study were made in happy truant excursions1 now fondly remembered1 with the painter ,haydon1 then also a youth4 ,this companionship was probably rather cemented by the energy than the delicacy of ,haydon's sympathies4 ,the two boys were directly opposed in their habits of application and modes of study4 ,prout unremitting in diligence1 patient in observation1 devoted in copying what he loved in nature1 never working except with his model before him2 ,haydon restless1 ambitious1 and fiery2 exceedingly imaginative1 never captivated with simple truth1 nor using his pencil on the spot1 but trusting always to his powers of memory4 ,the fates of the two youths were inevitably fixed by their opposite characters4 ,the humble student became the originator of a new ,school of ,art1 and one of the most popular painters of his age4 ,the self-trust of the wanderer in the wilderness of his fancy betrayed him into the extravagances1 and deserted him in the suffering1 with which his name must remain sadly1 but not unjustly1 associated4 #adj4 ,there was1 however1 little in the sketches made by ,prout at this period to indicate the presence of dormant power4 ,common prints1 at a period when engraving was in the lowest state of decline1 were the only guides which the youth could obtain2 and his style1 in endeavoring to copy these1 became cramped and mannered2 but the unremitting sketching from nature saved him4 ,whole days1 from dawn till night1 were devoted to the study of the peculiar objects of his early interest1 the ivy-mantled bridges1 mossy water-mills1 and rock-built cottages1 which characterize the valley scenery of ,devon4 ,in spite of every disadvantage1 the strong love of truth1 and the instinctive perception of the chief points of shade and characters of form on which his favorite effects mainly depended1 enabled him not only to obtain an accumulated store of memoranda1 afterwards valuable1 but to publish several elementary works which obtained extensive and deserved circulation1 and to which many artists1 now high in reputation1 have kindly and frankly confessed their early obligations4 #ada4 ,at that period the art of water-color drawing was little understood at ,plymouth1 and practiced only by ,payne1 then an engineer in the citadel4 ,though mannered in the extreme1 his works obtained reputation2 for the best drawings of the period were feeble both in color and execution1 with commonplace light and shadow1 a dark foreground being a rule absolute1 as may be seen in several of ,turner's first productions4 ,but ,turner was destined to annihilate such rules1 breaking through and scattering them with an expansive force commensurate with the rigidity of former restraint4 ,it happened fortunately1 as it is said1--naturally and deservedly1 as it should be said1--that ,prout was at this period removed from the narrow sphere of his first efforts to one in which he could share in1 and take advantage of1 every progressive movement4 #adb4 ,the most respectable of the ,plymouth amateurs was the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,bidlake1 who was ever kind in his encouragement of the young painter1 and with whom many delightful excursions were made4 ,at his house1 ,mr4 ,britton1 the antiquarian1 happening to see some of the cottages sketches1 and being pleased with them1 proposed that ,prout should accompany him into ,cornwall1 in order to aid him in collecting materials for his ,beauties of ,england and ,wales4 ,this was the painter's first recognized artistical employment1 as well as the occasion of a friendship ever gratefully and fondly remembered4 ,on ,mr4 ,britton's return to ,london1 after sending to him a portfolio of drawings1 which were almost the first to create a sensation with lovers of ,art1 ,mr4 ,prout received so many offers of encouragement1 if he would consent to reside in ,london1 as to induce him to take this important step--the first towards being established as an artist4 #adc4 ,the immediate effect of this change of position was what might easily have been foretold1 upon a mind naturally sensitive1 diffident1 and enthusiastic4 ,it was a heavy discouragement4 ,the youth felt that he had much to eradicate and more to learn1 and hardly knew at first how to avail himself of the advantages presented by the study of the works of ,turner1 ,girtin1 ,cousins1 and others4 ,but he had resolution and ambition as well as modesty2 he knew that ,the noblest honors of the mind ,on rigid terms descend4 ,he had every inducement to begin the race1 in the clearer guidance and nobler ends which the very works that had disheartened him afforded and pointed out2 and the first firm and certain step was made4 ,his range of subject was as yet undetermined1 and was likely at one time to have been very different from that in which he has since obtained pre-eminence so confessed4 ,among the picturesque material of his native place1 the forms of its shipping had not been neglected1 though there was probably less in the order of ,plymouth dockyard to catch the eye of the boy1 always determined in its preference of purely picturesque arrangements1 than might have been afforded by the meanest fishing hamlet4 ,but a strong and lasting impression was made upon him by the wreck of the ,dutton ,east ,indiaman on the rocks under the citadel2 the crew were saved by the personal courage and devotion of ,sir ,edward ,pellew1 afterwards ,lord ,exmouth4 ,the wreck held together for many hours under the cliff1 rolling to and fro as the surges struck her4 ,haydon and ,prout sat on the crags together and watched her vanish fragment by fragment into the gnashing foam4 ,both were equally awe-struck at the time2 both1 on the morrow1 resolved to paint their first pictures2 both failed2 but ,haydon1 always incapable of acknowledging and remaining loyal to the majesty of what he had seen1 lost himself in vulgar thunder and lightning4 ,prout struggled to some resemblance of the actual scene1 and the effect upon his mind was never effaced4 #add4 ,at the time of his first residence in ,london1 he painted more marines than anything else4 ,but other work was in store for him4 ,about the year #ahah1 his health1 which as we have seen had never been vigorous1 showed signs of increasing weakness1 and a short trial of continental air was recommended4 ,the route by ,havre to ,rouen was chosen1 and ,prout found himself1 for the first time1 in the grotesque labyrinths of the ,norman streets4 ,there are few minds so apathetic as to receive no impulse of new delight from their first acquaintance with continental scenery and architecture2 and ,rouen was1 of all the cities of ,france1 the richest in those objects with which the painter's mind had the profoundest sympathy4 ,it was other then than it is now2 revolutionary fury had indeed spent itself upon many of its noblest monuments1 but the interference of modern restoration or improvement was unknown4 ,better the unloosed rage of the fiend than the scrabble of self-complacent idiocy4 ,the facade of the cathedral was as yet unencumbered by the blocks of new stonework1 never to be carved1 by which it is now defaced2 the ,church of ,st4 ,nicholas existed1 7the last fragments of the niches of its gateway were seen by the writer dashed upon the pavement in #ahdj to make room for the new ,hotel ,st4 ,nicholas72 the ,gothic turret had not vanished from the angle of the ,place de la ,pucelle1 the ,palais de ,justice remained in its gray antiquity1 and the ,norman houses still lifted their fantastic ridges of gable along the busy quay 7now fronted by as formal a range of hotels and offices as that of the ,west ,cliff of ,brighton74 ,all was at unity with itself1 and the city lay under its guarding hills1 one labyrinth of delight1 its gray and fretted towers1 misty in their magnificence of height1 letting the sky like blue enamel through the foiled spaces of their crowns of open work2 the walls and gates of its countless churches wardered by saintly groups of solemn statuary1 clasped about by wandering stems of sculptured leafage1 and crowned by fretted niche and fairy pediment--meshed like gossamer with inextricable tracery3 many a quaint monument of past times standing to tell its far-off tale in the place from which it has since perished--in the midst of the throng and murmur of those shadowy streets--all grim with jutting props of ebon woodwork1 lightened only here and there by a sunbeam glancing down from the scaly backs1 and points1 and pyramids of the ,norman roofs1 or carried out of its narrow range by the gay progress of some snowy cap or scarlet camisole4 ,the painter's vocation was fixed from that hour4 ,the first effect upon his mind was irrepressible enthusiasm1 with a strong feeling of a new-born attachment to ,art1 in a new world of exceeding interest4 ,previous impressions were presently obliterated1 and the old embankments of fancy gave way to the force of overwhelming anticipations1 forming another and a wider channel for its future course4 #ade4 ,from this time excursions were continually made to the continent1 and every corner of ,france1 ,germany1 the ,netherlands1 and ,italy ransacked for its fragments of carved stone4 ,the enthusiasm of the painter was greater than his ambition1 and the strict limitation of his aim to the rendering of architectural character permitted him to adopt a simple and consistent method of execution1 from which he has rarely departed4 ,it was adapted in the first instance to the necessities of the moldering and mystic character of ,northern ,gothic2 and though impressions received afterwards in ,italy1 more especially at ,venice1 have retained as strong a hold upon the painter's mind as those of his earlier excursions1 his methods of drawing have always been influenced by the predilections first awakened4 ,how far his love of the picturesque1 already alluded to1 was reconcilable with an entire appreciation of the highest characters of ,italian architecture we do not pause to inquire2 but this we may assert1 without hesitation1 that the picturesque elements of that architecture were unknown until he developed them1 and that since ,gentile ,bellini1 no one had regarded the palaces of ,venice with so affectionate an understanding of the purpose and expression of their wealth of detail4 ,in this respect the ,city of the ,sea has been1 and remains1 peculiarly his own4 ,there is1 probably1 no single piazza nor sea-paved street from ,st4 ,georgio in ,aliga to the ,arsenal1 of which ,prout has not in order drawn every fragment of pictorial material4 ,probably not a pillar in ,venice but occurs in some one of his innumerable studies2 while the peculiarly beautiful and varied arrangements under which he has treated the angle formed by ,st4 ,mark's ,church with the ,doge's palace1 have not only made every successful drawing of those buildings by any other hand look like plagiarism1 but have added 7and what is this but indeed to paint the lily67 another charm to the spot itself4 #adf4 ,this exquisite dexterity of arrangement has always been one of his leading characteristics as an artist4 ,notwithstanding the deserved popularity of his works1 his greatness in composition remains altogether unappreciated4 ,many modern works exhibit greater pretense at arrangement1 and a more palpable system2 masses of well-concentrated light or points of sudden and dextrous color are expedients in the works of our second-rate artists as attractive as they are commonplace4 ,but the moving and natural crowd1 the decomposing composition1 the frank and unforced1 but marvelously intricate grouping1 the breadth of inartificial and unexaggerated shadow1 these are merits of an order only the more elevated because unobtrusive4 ,nor is his system of color less admirable4 ,it is a quality from which the character of his subjects naturally withdraws much of his attention1 and of which sometimes that character precludes any high attainment2 but1 nevertheless1 the truest and happiest association of hues in sun and shade to be found in modern water-color art1#ba 7excepting only the studies of ,hunt and ,de ,wint7 will be found in portions of ,prout's more important works4 #adg4 ,of his peculiar powers we need hardly speak2 it would be difficult to conceive the circle of their influence widened4 ,there is not a landscape of recent times in which the treatment of the architectural features has not been affected1 however unconsciously1 by principles which were first developed by ,prout4 ,of those principles the most original was his familiarization of the sentiment1 while he elevated the subject1 of the picturesque4 ,that character had been sought1 before his time1 either in solitude or in rusticity2 it was supposed to belong only to the savageness of the desert or the simplicity of the hamlet2 it lurked beneath the brows of rocks and the eaves of cottages2 to seek it in a city would have been deemed an extravagance1 to raise it to the height of a cathedral1 an heresy4 ,prout did both1 and both simultaneously2 he found and proved in the busy shadows and sculptured gables of the ,continental street sources of picturesque delight as rich and as interesting as those which had been sought amidst the darkness of thickets and the eminence of rocks2 and he contrasted with the familiar circumstances of urban life1 the majesty and the aerial elevation of the most noble architecture1 expressing its details in more splendid accumulation1 and with a more patient love than ever had been reached or manifested before his time by any artist who introduced such subjects as members of a general composition4 ,he thus became the interpreter of a great period of the world's history1 of that in which age and neglect had cast the interest of ruin over the noblest ecclesiastical structures of ,europe1 and in which there had been born at their feet a generation other in its feelings and thoughts than that to which they owed their existence1 a generation which understood not their meaning1 and regarded not their beauty1 and which yet had a character of its own1 full of vigor1 animation1 and originality1 which rendered the grotesque association of the circumstances of its ordinary and active life with the solemn memorialism of the elder building1 one which rather pleased by the strangeness than pained by the violence of its contrast4 #adh4 ,that generation is passing away1 and another dynasty is putting forth its character and its laws4 ,care and observance1 more mischievous in their misdirection than indifference or scorn1 have in many places given the mediaeval relics the aspect and associations of a kind of cabinet preservation1 instead of that air of majestic independence1 or patient and stern endurance1 with which they frowned down the insult of the regardless crowd4 ,nominal restoration has done tenfold worse1 and has hopelessly destroyed what time1 and storm1 and anarchy1 and impiety had spared4 ,the picturesque material of a lower kind is fast departing--and forever4 ,there is not1 so far as we know1 one city scene in central ,europe which has not suffered from some jarring point of modernization4 ,the railroad and the iron wheel have done their work1 and the characters of ,venice1 ,florence1 and ,rouen are yielding day by day to a lifeless extension of those of ,paris and ,birmingham4 ,a few lusters more1 and the modernization will be complete3 the archaeologist may still find work among the wrecks of beauty1 and here and there a solitary fragment of the old cities may exist by toleration1 or rise strangely before the workmen who dig the new foundations1 left like some isolated and tottering rock in the midst of sweeping sea4 ,but the life of the middle ages is dying from their embers1 and the warm mingling of the past and present will soon be forever dissolved4 ,the works of ,prout1 and of those who have followed in his footsteps1 will become memorials the most precious of the things that have been2 to their technical value1 however great1 will be added the far higher interest of faithful and fond records of a strange and unreturning era of history4 ,may he long be spared to us1 and enabled to continue the noble series1 conscious of a purpose and function worthy of being followed with all the zeal of even his most ardent and affectionate mind4 ,a time will come when that zeal will be understood1 and his works will be cherished with a melancholy gratitude when the pillars of ,venice shall lie moldering in the salt shallows of her sea1 and the stones of the goodly towers of ,rouen have become ballast for the barges of the ,seine4 ,,sir ,,joshua ,,and ,,holbein4#bb #adi4 ,long ago discarded from our ,national ,gallery1 with the contempt logically due to national or ,english pictures1--lost to sight and memory for many a year in the ,ogygian seclusions of ,marlborough ,house--there have reappeared at last1 in more honorable exile at ,kensington1 two great pictures by ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds4 ,two1 with others2 but these alone worth many an entanglement among the cross-roads of the ,west1 to see for half an hour by spring sunshine3--the ,holy ,family1 and the ,graces1 side by side now in the principal room4 ,great1 as ever was work wrought by man4 ,in placid strength1 and subtlest science1 unsurpassed2--in sweet felicity1 incomparable4 #aej4 ,if you truly want to know what good work of painter's hand is1 study those two pictures from side to side1 and miss no inch of them 7you will hardly1 eventually1 be inclined to miss one73 in some respects there is no execution like it2 none so open in the magic4 ,for the work of other great men is hidden in its wonderfulness--you cannot see how it was done4 ,but in ,sir ,joshua's there is no mystery3 it is all amazement4 ,no question but that the touch was so laid2 only that it could have been so laid1 is a marvel forever4 ,so also there is no painting so majestic in sweetness4 ,he is lily-sceptered3 his power blossoms1 but burdens not4 ,all other men of equal dignity paint more slowly2 all others of equal force paint less lightly4 ,tintoret lays his line like a king marking the boundaries of conquered lands2 but ,sir ,joshua leaves it as a summer wind its trace on a lake2 he could have painted on a silken veil1 where it fell free1 and not bent it4 #aea4 ,such at least is his touch when it is life that he paints3 for things lifeless he has a severer hand4 ,if you examine that picture of the ,graces you will find it reverses all the ordinary ideas of expedient treatment4 ,by other men flesh is firmly painted1 but accessories lightly4 ,sir ,joshua paints accessories firmly1#bc flesh lightly2--nay1 flesh not at all1 but spirit4 ,the wreath of flowers he feels to be material2 and gleam by gleam strikes fearlessly the silver and violet leaves out of the darkness4 ,but the three maidens are less substantial than rose petals4 ,no flushed nor frosted tissue that ever faded in night wind is so tender as they2 no hue may reach1 no line measure1 what is in them so gracious and so fair4 ,let the hand move softly--itself as a spirit2 for this is ,life1 of which it touches the imagery4 #aeb4 ,and yet---- ,yes3 you do well to pause4 ,there is a yet to be thought of4 ,i did not bring you to these pictures to see wonderful work merely1 or womanly beauty merely4 ,i brought you chiefly to look at that ,madonna1 believing that you might remember other ,madonnas1 unlike her2 and might think it desirable to consider wherein the difference lay3--other ,madonnas not by ,sir ,joshua1 who painted ,madonnas but seldom4 ,who perhaps1 if truth must be told1 painted them never3 for surely this dearest pet of an ,english girl1 with the little curl of lovely hair under her ear1 is not one4 #aec4 ,why did not ,sir ,joshua--or could not--or would not ,sir ,joshua--paint ,madonnas8 neither he1 nor his great rival-friend ,gainsborough8 ,both of them painters of women1 such as since ,giorgione and ,correggio had not been2 both painters of men1 such as had not been since ,titian4 ,how is it that these ,english friends can so brightly paint that particular order of humanity which we call gentlemen and ladies1 but neither heroes1 nor saints1 nor angels8 ,can it be because they were both country-bred boys1 and for ever after strangely sensitive to courtliness8 ,why1 ,giotto also was a country-bred boy4 ,allegri's native ,correggio1 ,titian's ,cadore1 were but hill villages2 yet these men painted1 not the court1 nor the drawing-room1 but the ,earth3 and not a little of ,heaven besides3 while our good ,sir ,joshua never trusts himself outside the park palings4 ,he could not even have drawn the strawberry girl1 unless she had got through a gap in them--or rather1 ,i think1 she must have been let in at the porter's lodge1 for her strawberries are in a pottle1 ready for the ladies at the ,hall4 ,giorgione would have set them1 wild and fragrant1 among their leaves1 in her hand4 ,between his fairness1 and ,sir ,joshua's ,may-fairness1 there is a strange1 impassable limit--as of the white reef that in ,pacific isles encircles their inner lakelets1 and shuts them from the surf and sound of sea4 ,clear and calm they rest1 reflecting fringed shadows of the palm-trees1 and the passing of fretted clouds across their own sweet circle of blue sky4 ,but beyond1 and round and round their coral bar1 lies the blue of sea and heaven together--blue of eternal deep4 #aed4 ,you will find it a pregnant question1 if you follow it forth1 and leading to many others1 not trivial1 ,why it is1 that in ,sir ,joshua's girl1 or ,gainsborough's1 we always think first of the ,ladyhood2 but in ,giotto's1 of the ,womanhood8 ,why1 in ,sir ,joshua's hero1 or ,vandyck's1 it is always the ,prince or the ,sir whom we see first2 but in ,titian's1 the man4 ,not that ,titian's gentlemen are less finished than ,sir ,joshua's2 but their gentlemanliness#bd is not the principal thing about them2 their manhood absorbs1 conquers1 wears it as a despised thing4 ,nor--and this is another stern ground of separation--will ,titian make a gentleman of everyone he paints4 ,he will make him so if he is so1 not otherwise2 and this not merely in general servitude to truth1 but because in his sympathy with deeper humanity1 the courtier is not more interesting to him than anyone else4 ,you have learned to dance and fence2 you can speak with clearness1 and think with precision2 your hands are small1 your senses acute1 and your features well-shaped4 ,yes3 ,i see all this in you1 and will do it justice4 ,you shall stand as none but a well-bred man could stand2 and your fingers shall fall on the sword-hilt as no fingers could but those that knew the grasp of it4 ,but for the rest1 this grisly fisherman1 with rusty cheek and rope-frayed hand1 is a man as well as you1 and might possibly make several of you1 if souls were divisible4 ,his bronze color is quite as interesting to me1 ,titian1 as your paleness1 and his hoary spray of stormy hair takes the light as well as your waving curls4 ,him also ,i will paint1 with such picturesqueness as he may have2 yet not putting the picturesqueness first in him1 as in you ,i have not put the gentlemanliness first4 ,in him ,i see a strong human creature1 contending with all hardship3 in you also a human creature1 uncontending1 and possibly not strong4 ,contention or strength1 weakness or picturesqueness1 and all other such accidents in either1 shall have due place4 ,but the immortality and miracle of you--this clay that burns1 this color that changes--are in truth the awful things in both3 these shall be first painted--and last4 #aee4 ,with which question respecting treatment of character we have to connect also this further one3 ,how is it that the attempts of so great painters as ,reynolds and ,gainsborough are1 beyond portraiture1 limited almost like children's8 ,no domestic drama--no history--no noble natural scenes1 far less any religious subject3--only market carts2 girls with pigs2 woodmen going home to supper2 watering-places2 gray cart-horses in fields1 and such like4 ,reynolds1 indeed1 once or twice touched higher themes1--among the chords his fingers laid1 and recoiled3 wisely2 for1 strange to say1 his very sensibility deserts him when he leaves his courtly quiet4 ,the horror of the subjects he chose 7,cardinal ,beaufort and ,ugolino7 showed inherent apathy3 had he felt deeply1 he would not have sought for this strongest possible excitement of feeling1--would not willingly have dwelt on the worst conditions of despair--the despair of the ignoble4 ,his religious subjects are conceived even with less care than these4 ,beautiful as it is1 this ,holy ,family by which we stand has neither dignity nor sacredness1 other than those which attach to every group of gentle mother and ruddy babe2 while his ,faiths1 ,charities1 or other well-ordered and emblem-fitted virtues are even less lovely than his ordinary portraits of women4 ,it was a faultful temper1 which1 having so mighty a power of realization at command1 never became so much interested in any fact of human history as to spend one touch of heartfelt skill upon it2--which1 yielding momentarily to indolent imagination1 ended1 at best1 in a ,puck1 or a ,thais2 a ,mercury as ,thief1 or a ,cupid as ,linkboy4 ,how wide the interval between this gently trivial humor1 guided by the wave of a feather1 or arrested by the enchantment of a smile1--and the habitual dwelling of the thoughts of the great ,greeks and ,florentines among the beings and the interests of the eternal world6 #aef4 ,in some degree it may indeed be true that the modesty and sense of the ,english painters are the causes of their simple practice4 ,all that they did1 they did well1 and attempted nothing over which conquest was doubtful4 ,they knew they could paint men and women3 it did not follow that they could paint angels4 ,their own gifts never appeared to them so great as to call for serious question as to the use to be made of them4 ,they could mix colors and catch likeness--yes2 but were they therefore able to teach religion1 or reform the world8 ,to support themselves honorably1 pass the hours of life happily1 please their friends1 and leave no enemies1 was not this all that duty could require1 or prudence recommend8 ,their own art was1 it seemed1 difficult enough to employ all their genius3 was it reasonable to hope also to be poets or theologians8 ,such men had1 indeed1 existed2 but the age of miracles and prophets was long past2 nor1 because they could seize the trick of an expression1 or the turn of a head1 had they any right to think themselves able to conceive heroes with ,homer1 or gods with ,michael ,angelo4 #aeg4 ,such was1 in the main1 their feeling3 wise1 modest1 unenvious1 and unambitious4 ,meaner men1 their contemporaries or successors1 raved of high art with incoherent passion2 arrogated to themselves an equality with the masters of elder time1 and declaimed against the degenerate tastes of a public which acknowledged not the return of the ,heraclidae4 ,but the two great--the two only painters of their age--happy in a reputation founded as deeply in the heart as in the judgment of mankind1 demanded no higher function than that of soothing the domestic affections2 and achieved for themselves at last an immortality not the less noble1 because in their lifetime they had concerned themselves less to claim it than to bestow4 #aeh4 ,yet1 while we acknowledge the discretion and simple-heartedness of these men1 honoring them for both3 and the more when we compare their tranquil powers with the hot egotism and hollow ambition of their inferiors3 we have to remember1 on the other hand1 that the measure they thus set to their aims was1 if a just1 yet a narrow one2 that amiable discretion is not the highest virtue2 nor to please the frivolous1 the best success4 ,there is probably some strange weakness in the painter1 and some fatal error in the age1 when in thinking over the examples of their greatest work1 for some type of culminating loveliness or veracity1 we remember no expression either of religion or heroism1 and instead of reverently naming a ,madonna di ,san ,sisto1 can only whisper1 modestly1 ,mrs4 ,pelham feeding chickens4 #aei4 ,the nature of the fault1 so far as it exists in the painters themselves1 may perhaps best be discerned by comparing them with a man who went not far beyond them in his general range of effort1 but who did all his work in a wholly different temper--,hans ,holbein4 ,the first great difference between them is of course in completeness of execution4 ,sir ,joshua's and ,gainsborough's work1 at its best1 is only magnificent sketching2 giving indeed1 in places1 a perfection of result unattainable by other methods1 and possessing always a charm of grace and power exclusively its own2 yet1 in its slightness addressing itself1 purposefully1 to the casual glance1 and common thought--eager to arrest the passer-by1 but careless to detain him2 or detaining him1 if at all1 by an unexplained enchantment1 not by continuance of teaching1 or development of idea4 ,but the work of ,holbein is true and thorough2 accomplished1 in the highest as the most literal sense1 with a calm entireness of unaffected resolution1 which sacrifices nothing1 forgets nothing1 and fears nothing4 #afj4 ,in the portrait of the ,hausmann ,george ,gyzen1#be every accessory is perfect with a fine perfection3 the carnations in the glass vase by his side--the ball of gold1 chased with blue enamel1 suspended on the wall--the books--the steelyard--the papers on the table1 the seal-ring1 with its quartered bearings1--all intensely there1 and there in beauty of which no one could have dreamed that even flowers or gold were capable1 far less parchment or steel4 ,but every change of shade is felt1 every rich and rubied line of petal followed2 every subdued gleam in the soft blue of the enamel and bending of the gold touched with a hand whose patience of regard creates rather than paints4 ,the jewel itself was not so precious as the rays of enduring light which form it1 and flash from it1 beneath that errorless hand4 ,the man himself1 what he was--not more2 but to all conceivable proof of sight--in all aspect of life or thought--not less4 ,he sits alone in his accustomed room1 his common work laid out before him2 he is conscious of no presence1 assumes no dignity1 bears no sudden or superficial look of care or interest1 lives only as he lived--but forever4 #afa4 ,the time occupied in painting this portrait was probably twenty times greater than ,sir ,joshua ever spent on a single picture1 however large4 ,the result is1 to the general spectator1 less attractive4 ,in some qualities of force and grace it is absolutely inferior4 ,but it is inexhaustible4 ,every detail of it wins1 retains1 rewards the attention with a continually increasing sense of wonderfulness4 ,it is also wholly true4 ,so far as it reaches1 it contains the absolute facts of color1 form1 and character1 rendered with an unaccusable faithfulness4 ,there is no question respecting things which it is best worth while to know1 or things which it is unnecessary to state1 or which might be overlooked with advantage4 ,what of this man and his house were visible to ,holbein1 are visible to us3 we may despise if we will2 deny or doubt1 we shall not2 if we care to know anything concerning them1 great or small1 so much as may by the eye be known is forever knowable1 reliable1 indisputable4 #afb4 ,respecting the advantage1 or the contrary1 of so great earnestness in drawing a portrait of an uncelebrated person1 we raise at present no debate3 ,i only wish the reader to note this quality of earnestness1 as entirely separating ,holbein from ,sir ,joshua1--raising him into another sphere of intellect4 ,for here is no question of mere difference in style or in power1 none of minuteness or largeness4 ,it is a question of ,entireness4 ,holbein is complete in intellect3 what he sees1 he sees with his whole soul3 what he paints1 he paints with his whole might4 ,sir ,joshua sees partially1 slightly1 tenderly--catches the flying lights of things1 the momentary glooms3 paints also partially1 tenderly1 never with half his strength2 content with uncertain visions1 insecure delights2 the truth not precious nor significant to him1 only pleasing2 falsehood also pleasurable1 even useful on occasion--must1 however1 be discreetly touched1 just enough to make all men noble1 all women lovely3 we do not need this flattery often1 most of those we know being such2 and it is a pleasant world1 and with diligence--for nothing can be done without diligence--every day till four 7says ,sir ,joshua7--a painter's is a happy life4 ,yes3 and the ,isis2 with her swans1 and shadows of ,windsor ,forest1 is a sweet stream1 touching her shores softly4 ,the ,rhine at ,basle is of another temper1 stern and deep1 as strong1 however bright its face3 winding far through the solemn plain1 beneath the slopes of ,jura1 tufted and steep3 sweeping away into its regardless calm of current the waves of that little brook of ,st4 ,jakob1 that bathe the ,swiss ,thermopylae2#bf the low village nestling beneath a little bank of sloping fields--its spire seen white against the deep blue shadows of the ,jura pines4 #afc4 ,gazing on that scene day by day1 ,holbein went his own way1 with the earnestness and silent swell of the strong river--not unconscious of the awe1 nor of the sanctities of his life4 ,the snows of the eternal ,alps giving forth their strength to it2 the blood of the ,st4 ,jakob brook poured into it as it passes by--not in vain4 ,he also could feel his strength coming from white snows far off in heaven4 ,he also bore upon him the purple stain of the earth sorrow4 ,a grave man1 knowing what steps of men keep truest time to the chanting of ,death4 ,having grave friends also2--the same singing heard far off1 it seems to me1 or1 perhaps1 even low in the room1 by that family of ,sir ,thomas ,more2 or mingling with the hum of bees in the meadows outside the towered wall of ,basle2 or making the words of the book more tunable1 which meditative ,erasmus looks upon4 ,nay1 that same soft ,death-music is on the lips even of ,holbein's ,madonna4 ,who1 among many1 is the ,virgin you had best compare with the one before whose image we have stood so long4 ,holbein's is at ,dresden1 companioned by the ,madonna di ,san ,sisto2 but both are visible enough to you here1 for1 by a strange coincidence1 they are 7at least so far as ,i know7 the only two great pictures in the world which have been faultlessly engraved4 #afd4 ,the received tradition respecting the ,holbein ,madonna is beautiful2 and ,i believe the interpretation to be true4 ,a father and mother have prayed to her for the life of their sick child4 ,she appears to them1 her own ,christ in her arms4 ,she puts down her ,christ beside them--takes their child into her arms instead4 ,it lies down upon her bosom1 and stretches its hand to its father and mother1 saying farewell4 ,this interpretation of the picture has been doubted1 as nearly all the most precious truths of pictures have been doubted1 and forgotten4 ,but even supposing it erroneous1 the design is not less characteristic of ,holbein4 ,for that there are signs of suffering on the features of the child in the arms of the ,virgin1 is beyond question2 and if this child be intended for the ,christ1 it would not be doubtful to my mind1 that1 of the two--,raphael and ,holbein--the latter had given the truest aspect and deepest reading of the early life of the ,redeemer4 ,raphael sought to express ,his power only2 but ,holbein ,his labor and sorrow4 #afe4 ,there are two other pictures which you should remember together with this 7attributed1 indeed1 but with no semblance of probability1 to the elder ,holbein1 none of whose work1 preserved at ,basle1 or elsewhere1 approaches in the slightest degree to their power71 the ,st4 ,barbara and ,st4 ,elizabeth4#bg ,i do not know among the pictures of the great sacred schools any at once so powerful1 so simple1 so pathetically expressive of the need of the heart that conceived them4 ,not ascetic1 nor quaint1 nor feverishly or fondly passionate1 nor wrapt in withdrawn solemnities of thought4 ,only entirely true--entirely pure4 ,no depth of glowing heaven beyond them--but the clear sharp sweetness of the northern air3 no splendor of rich color1 striving to adorn them with better brightness than of the day3 a gray glory1 as of moonlight without mist1 dwelling on face and fold of dress2--all faultless-fair4 ,creatures they are1 humble by nature1 not by self-condemnation2 merciful by habit1 not by tearful impulse2 lofty without consciousness2 gentle without weakness2 wholly in this present world1 doing its work calmly2 beautiful with all that holiest life can reach--yet already freed from all that holiest death can cast away4 ,,footnotes3 #ac ,a review of the following-books3-- #a4 ,materials for a ,history of ,oil-,painting4 ,by ,charles ,lock ,eastlake1 ,r4,a41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,f4,s4,a41 ,secretary to the ,royal ,commission for promoting the ,fine ,arts in ,connection with the ,rebuilding of the ,houses of ,parliament1 etc41 etc4 ,london1 #ahdg4 #b4 ,theophili1 qui et ,rugerus1 ,presbyteri et ,monachi1 ,libri ,,iii4 de ,diversis ,artibus2 seu ,diversarum ,artium ,schedula4 7,an ,essay upon ,various ,arts1 in ,three ,books1 by ,theophilus1 called also ,rugerus1 ,priest and ,monk1 forming an ,encyclopaedia of ,christian ,art of the ,eleventh ,century4 ,translated1 with ,notes1 by ,robert ,hendrie47 ,london1 #ahdg4 #ad ,a ,critical ,essay on ,oil-,painting1 ,london1 #agha4 #ae ,the mediaeval painters were so accustomed to this appearance in varnishes1 and considered it so indispensable1 that they even supplied the tint when it did not exist4 ,thus ,cardanus observes that when white of eggs was used as a varnish1 it was customary to tinge it with red lead4--,eastlake1 p4 #bgj4 #af ,si je dis tant de mal de la peinture flamande1 ce n'est pas qu'elle soit entierement mauvaise1 mais elle veut rendre avec perfection tant de choses1 dont une seule suffirait par son importance1 qu'elle n'en fait aucune d'une maniere satisfaisante4 ,this opinion of ,m4 ,angelo's is preserved by ,francisco de ,ollanda1 quoted by ,comte ,raczynski1 ,les ,arts en ,portugal1 ,paris1 #ahdf4 #ag ,arte de ,pintura4 ,sevilla1 #afdi4 #ah ,the preparations of ,hemling1 at ,bruges1 we imagine to have been in water-color1 and perhaps the picture was carried to some degree of completion in this material4 ,van ,mander observes that ,van ,eyck's dead colorings were cleaner and sharper than the finished works of other painters4 #ai ,see ,stones of ,venice1 vol4 iii4 ,venetian ,index1 s4 ,rocco1 ,scuola di ,san1 ,sec4 #bj1 ,temptation4--,,ed4 #ahii4 #bj ,art ,journal1 ,march #ahdi4--;,,ed4 #ba ,we do not mean under this term to include the drawings of professed oil-painters1 as of ,stothard or ,turner4 #bb ,cornhill ,magazine1 ,march1 #ahfj4--;,,ed4 #bc ,as showing gigantic power of hand1 joined with utmost accuracy and rapidity1 the folds of drapery under the breast of the ,virgin are1 perhaps1 as marvelous a piece of work as could be found in any picture1 of whatever time or master4 #bd ,the reader must observe that ,i use the word here in a limited sense1 as meaning only the effect of careful education1 good society1 and refined habits of life1 on average temper and character4 ,of deep and true gentlemanliness--based as it is on intense sensibility and sincerity1 perfected by courage1 and other qualities of race2 as well as of that union of insensibility with cunning1 which is the essence of vulgarity1 ,i shall have to speak at length in another place4 #be ,museum of ,berlin4 #bf ,of #a1bjj ,swiss1 who fought by that brookside1 ten only returned4 ,the battle checked the attack of the ,french1 led by ,louis ,,xi4 7then ,dauphin7 in #addd2 and was the first of the great series of efforts and victories which were closed at ,nancy by the death of ,charles of ,burgundy4 #bg ,pinacothek of ,munich4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,art4 ,,ii4 ,,pre-,,raphaelitism4 ,,its ,,principles1 ,,and ,,turner4 7,pamphlet1 #ahea47 ,,its ,,three ,,colors4 7,nineteenth ,century1 ,nov4-,dec4 #ahgh47 99 99 99 99 99 ,,preface4 ,eight years ago1 in the close of the first volume of ,modern ,painters1 ,i ventured to give the following advice to the young artists of ,england3-- ,they should go to nature in all singleness of heart1 and walk with her laboriously and trustingly1 having no other thought but how best to penetrate her meaning2 rejecting nothing1 selecting nothing1 and scorning nothing4 ,advice which1 whether bad or good1 involved infinite labor and humiliation in the following it1 and was therefore1 for the most part1 rejected4 ,it has1 however1 at last been carried out1 to the very letter1 by a group of men who1 for their reward1 have been assailed with the most scurrilous abuse which ,i ever recollect seeing issue from the public press4 ,i have1 therefore1 thought it due to them to contradict the directly false statements which have been made respecting their works2 and to point out the kind of merit which1 however deficient in some respects1 those works possess beyond the possibility of dispute4 ,denmark ,hill1 ,august1 #ahea4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,pre-,,raphaelitism4#bh #aff4 ,it may be proved1 with much certainty1 that ,god intends no man to live in this world without working3 but it seems to me no less evident that ,he intends every man to be happy in his work4 ,it is written1 in the sweat of thy brow1 but it was never written1 in the breaking of thine heart1 thou shalt eat bread3 and ,i find that1 as on the one hand1 infinite misery is caused by idle people1 who both fail in doing what was appointed for them to do1 and set in motion various springs of mischief in matters in which they should have had no concern1 so on the other hand1 no small misery is caused by overworked and unhappy people1 in the dark views which they necessarily take up themselves1 and force upon others1 of work itself4 ,were it not so1 ,i believe the fact of their being unhappy is in itself a violation of divine law1 and a sign of some kind of folly or sin in their way of life4 ,now in order that people may be happy in their work1 these three things are needed3 ,they must be fit for it3 ,they must not do too much of it3 and they must have a sense of success in it--not a doubtful sense1 such as needs some testimony of other people for its confirmation1 but a sure sense1 or rather knowledge1 that so much work has been done well1 and fruitfully done1 whatever the world may say or think about it4 ,so that in order that a man may be happy1 it is necessary that he should not only be capable of his work1 but a good judge of his work4 #afg4 ,the first thing then that he has to do1 if unhappily his parents or masters have not done it for him1 is to find out what he is fit for4 ,in which inquiry a man may be safely guided by his likings1 if he be not also guided by his pride4 ,people usually reason in some such fashion as this3 ,i don't seem quite fit for a head-manager in the firm of ---- ,co41 therefore1 in all probability1 ,i am fit to be ,chancellor of the ,exchequer4 ,whereas1 they ought rather to reason thus3 ,i don't seem quite fit to be head-manager in the firm of ---- ,co41 but ,i dare say ,i might do something in a small green-grocery business2 ,i used to be a good judge of pease2 that is to say1 always trying lower instead of trying higher1 until they find bottom3 once well set on the ground1 a man may build up by degrees1 safely1 instead of disturbing everyone in his neighborhood by perpetual catastrophes4 ,but this kind of humility is rendered especially difficult in these days1 by the contumely thrown on men in humble employments4 ,the very removal of the massy bars which once separated one class of society from another1 has rendered it tenfold more shameful in foolish people's1 i4e41 in most people's eyes1 to remain in the lower grades of it1 than ever it was before4 ,when a man born of an artisan was looked upon as an entirely different species of animal from a man born of a noble1 it made him no more uncomfortable or ashamed to remain that different species of animal1 than it makes a horse ashamed to remain a horse1 and not to become a giraffe4 ,but now that a man may make money1 and rise in the world1 and associate himself1 unreproached1 with people once far above him1 not only is the natural discontentedness of humanity developed to an unheard-of extent1 whatever a man's position1 but it becomes a veritable shame to him to remain in the state he was born in1 and everybody thinks it his duty to try to be a gentleman4 ,persons who have any influence in the management of public institutions for charitable education know how common this feeling has become4 ,hardly a day passes but they receive letters from mothers who want all their six or eight sons to go to college1 and make the grand tour in the long vacation1 and who think there is something wrong in the foundations of society because this is not possible4 ,out of every ten letters of this kind1 nine will allege1 as the reason of the writers' importunity1 their desire to keep their families in such and such a station of life4#bi ,there is no real desire for the safety1 the discipline1 or the moral good of the children1 only a panic horror of the inexpressibly pitiable calamity of their living a ledge or two lower on the molehill of the world--a calamity to be averted at any cost whatever1 of struggle1 anxiety1 and shortening of life itself4 ,i do not believe that any greater good could be achieved for the country1 than the change in public feeling on this head1 which might be brought about by a few benevolent men1 undeniably in the class of gentlemen1 who would1 on principle1 enter into some of our commonest trades1 and make them honorable2 showing that it was possible for a man to retain his dignity1 and remain1 in the best sense1 a gentleman1 though part of his time was every day occupied in manual labor1 or even in serving customers over a counter4 ,i do not in the least see why courtesy1 and gravity1 and sympathy with the feelings of others1 and courage1 and truth1 and piety1 and what else goes to make up a gentleman's character1 should not be found behind a counter as well as elsewhere1 if they were demanded1 or even hoped for1 there4 #afh4 ,let us suppose1 then1 that the man's way of life1 and manner of work have been discreetly chosen2 then the next thing to be required is1 that he do not overwork himself therein4 ,i am not going to say anything here about the various errors in our systems of society and commerce1 which appear 7,i am not sure if they ever do more than appear7 to force us to overwork ourselves merely that we may live2 nor about the still more fruitful cause of unhealthy toil--the incapability1 in many men1 of being content with the little that is indeed necessary to their happiness4 ,i have only a word or two to say about one special cause of overwork--the ambitious desire of doing great or clever things1 and the hope of accomplishing them by immense efforts3 hope as vain as it is pernicious2 not only making men overwork themselves1 but rendering all the work they do unwholesome to them4 ,i say it is a vain hope1 and let the reader be assured of this 7it is a truth all-important to the best interests of humanity74 ,no great intellectual thing was ever done by great effort2 a great thing can only be done by a great man1 and he does it without effort4 ,nothing is1 at present1 less understood by us than this--nothing is more necessary to be understood4 ,let me try to say it as clearly1 and explain it as fully as ,i may4 #afi4 ,i have said no great intellectual thing3 for ,i do not mean the assertion to extend to things moral4 ,on the contrary1 it seems to me that just because we are intended1 as long as we live1 to be in a state of intense moral effort1 we are not intended to be in intense physical or intellectual effort4 ,our full energies are to be given to the soul's work--to the great fight with the ,dragon--the taking the kingdom of heaven by force4 ,but the body's work and head's work are to be done quietly1 and comparatively without effort4 ,neither limbs nor brain are ever to be strained to their utmost2 that is not the way in which the greatest quantity of work is to be got out of them3 they are never to be worked furiously1 but with tranquillity and constancy4 ,we are to follow the plow from sunrise to sunset1 but not to pull in race-boats at the twilight3 we shall get no fruit of that kind of work1 only disease of the heart4 #agj4 ,how many pangs would be spared to thousands1 if this great truth and law were but once sincerely1 humbly understood--that if a great thing can be done at all1 it can be done easily2 that1 when it is needed to be done1 there is perhaps only one man in the world who can do it2 but he can do it without any trouble--without more trouble1 that is1 than it costs small people to do small things2 nay1 perhaps1 with less4 ,and yet what truth lies more openly on the surface of all human phenomena8 ,is not the evidence of ,ease on the very front of all the greatest works in existence8 ,do they not say plainly to us1 not1 there has been a great effort here1 but1 there has been a great power here8 ,it is not the weariness of mortality1 but the strength of divinity1 which we have to recognize in all mighty things2 and that is just what we now never recognize1 but think that we are to do great things1 by help of iron bars and perspiration3--alas6 we shall do nothing that way but lose some pounds of our own weight4 #aga4 ,yet let me not be misunderstood1 nor this great truth be supposed anywise resolvable into the favorite dogma of young men1 that they need not work if they have genius4 ,the fact is that a man of genius is always far more ready to work than other people1 and gets so much more good from the work that he does1 and is often so little conscious of the inherent divinity in himself1 that he is very apt to ascribe all his capacity to his work1 and to tell those who ask how he came to be what he is3 ,if ,i am anything1 which ,i much doubt1 ,i made myself so merely by labor4 ,this was ,newton's way of talking1 and ,i suppose it would be the general tone of men whose genius had been devoted to the physical sciences4 ,genius in the ,arts must commonly be more self-conscious1 but in whatever field1 it will always be distinguished by its perpetual1 steady1 well-directed1 happy1 and faithful labor in accumulating and disciplining its powers1 as well as by its gigantic1 incommunicable facility in exercising them4 ,therefore1 literally1 it is no man's business whether he has genius or not3 work he must1 whatever he is1 but quietly and steadily2 and the natural and unforced results of such work will be always the things that ,god meant him to do1 and will be his best4 ,no agonies nor heart-rendings will enable him to do any better4 ,if he be a great man1 they will be great things2 if a small man1 small things2 but always1 if thus peacefully done1 good and right2 always1 if restlessly and ambitiously done1 false1 hollow1 and despicable4 #agb4 ,then the third thing needed was1 ,i said1 that a man should be a good judge of his work2 and this chiefly that he may not be dependent upon popular opinion for the manner of doing it1 but also that he may have the just encouragement of the sense of progress1 and an honest consciousness of victory2 how else can he become ,that awful independent on to-morrow1 ,whose yesterdays look backwards with a smile 8 ,i am persuaded that the real nourishment and help of such a feeling as this is nearly unknown to half the workmen of the present day4 ,for whatever appearance of self-complacency there may be in their outward bearing1 it is visible enough1 by their feverish jealousy of each other1 how little confidence they have in the sterling value of their several doings4 ,conceit may puff a man up1 but never prop him up2 and there is too visible distress and hopelessness in men's aspects to admit of the supposition that they have any stable support of faith in themselves4 #agc4 ,i have stated these principles generally1 because there is no branch of labor to which they do not apply3 but there is one in which our ignorance or forgetfulness of them has caused an incalculable amount of suffering2 and ,i would endeavor now to reconsider them with special reference to it--the branch of the ,arts4 ,in general1 the men who are employed in the ,arts have freely chosen their profession1 and suppose themselves to have special faculty for it2 yet1 as a body1 they are not happy men4 ,for which this seems to me the reason--that they are expected1 and themselves expect1 to make their bread by being clever--not by steady or quiet work2 and are therefore1 for the most part1 trying to be clever1 and so living in an utterly false state of mind and action4 #agd4 ,this is the case1 to the same extent1 in no other profession or employment4 ,a lawyer may indeed suspect that1 unless he has more wit than those around him1 he is not likely to advance in his profession2 but he will not be always thinking how he is to display his wit4 ,he will generally understand1 early in his career1 that wit must be left to take care of itself1 and that it is hard knowledge of law and vigorous examination and collation of the facts of every case intrusted to him1 which his clients will mainly demand3 this it is which he is to be paid for2 and this is healthy and measurable labor1 payable by the hour4 ,if he happen to have keen natural perception and quick wit1 these will come into play in their due time and place1 but he will not think of them as his chief power2 and if he have them not1 he may still hope that industry and conscientiousness may enable him to rise in his profession without them4 ,again in the case of clergymen3 that they are sorely tempted to display their eloquence or wit1 none who know their own hearts will deny1 but then they know this to be a temptation3 they never would suppose that cleverness was all that was to be expected from them1 or would sit down deliberately to write a clever sermon3 even the dullest or vainest of them would throw some veil over their vanity1 and pretend to some profitableness of purpose in what they did4 ,they would not openly ask of their hearers--,did you think my sermon ingenious1 or my language poetical8 ,they would early understand that they were not paid for being ingenious1 nor called to be so1 but to preach truth2 that if they happened to possess wit1 eloquence1 or originality1 these would appear and be of service in due time1 but were not to be continually sought after or exhibited2 and if it should happen that they had them not1 they might still be serviceable pastors without them4 #age4 ,not so with the unhappy artist4 ,no one expects any honest or useful work of him2 but everyone expects him to be ingenious4 ,originality1 dexterity1 invention1 imagination1 everything is asked of him except what alone is to be had for asking--honesty and sound work1 and the due discharge of his function as a painter4 ,what function8 asks the reader in some surprise4 ,he may well ask2 for ,i suppose few painters have any idea what their function is1 or even that they have any at all4 #agf4 ,and yet surely it is not so difficult to discover4 ,the faculties1 which when a man finds in himself1 he resolves to be a painter1 are1 ,i suppose1 intenseness of observation and facility of imitation4 ,the man is created an observer and an imitator2 and his function is to convey knowledge to his fellow-men1 of such things as cannot be taught otherwise than ocularly4 ,for a long time this function remained a religious one3 it was to impress upon the popular mind the reality of the objects of faith1 and the truth of the histories of ,scripture1 by giving visible form to both4 ,that function has now passed away1 and none has as yet taken its place4 ,the painter has no profession1 no purpose4 ,he is an idler on the earth1 chasing the shadows of his own fancies4 #agg4 ,but he was never meant to be this4 ,the sudden and universal ,naturalism1 or inclination to copy ordinary natural objects1 which manifested itself among the painters of ,europe1 at the moment when the invention of printing superseded their legendary labors1 was no false instinct4 ,it was misunderstood and misapplied1 but it came at the right time1 and has maintained itself through all kinds of abuse2 presenting1 in the recent schools of landscape1 perhaps only the first fruits of its power4 ,that instinct was urging every painter in ,europe at the same moment to his true duty--the faithful representation of all objects of historical interest1 or of natural beauty existent at the period2 representation such as might at once aid the advance of the sciences1 and keep faithful record of every monument of past ages which was likely to be swept away in the approaching eras of revolutionary change4 #agh4 ,the instinct came1 as ,i said1 exactly at the right moment2 and let the reader consider what amount and kind of general knowledge might by this time have been possessed by the nations of ,europe1 had their painters understood and obeyed it4 ,suppose that1 after disciplining themselves so as to be able to draw1 with unerring precision1 each the particular kind of subject in which he most delighted1 they had separated into two great armies of historians and naturalists2--that the first had painted with absolute faithfulness every edifice1 every city1 every battlefield1 every scene of the slightest historical interest1 precisely and completely rendering their aspect at the time2 and that their companions1 according to their several powers1 had painted with like fidelity the plants and animals1 the natural scenery1 and the atmospheric phenomena of every country on the earth--suppose that a faithful and complete record were now in our museums of every building destroyed by war1 or time1 or innovation1 during these last #bjj years--suppose that each recess of every mountain chain of ,europe had been penetrated1 and its rocks drawn with such accuracy that the geologist's diagram was no longer necessary--suppose that every tree of the forest had been drawn in its noblest aspect1 every beast of the field in its savage life--that all these gatherings were already in our national galleries1 and that the painters of the present day were laboring1 happily and earnestly1 to multiply them1 and put such means of knowledge more and more within reach of the common people--would not that be a more honorable life for them1 than gaining precarious bread by bright effects8 ,they think not1 perhaps4 ,they think it easy1 and therefore contemptible1 to be truthful2 they have been taught so all their lives4 ,but it is not so1 whoever taught it them4 ,it is most difficult1 and worthy of the greatest men's greatest effort1 to render1 as it should be rendered1 the simplest of the natural features of the earth2 but also be it remembered1 no man is confined to the simplest2 each may look out work for himself where he chooses1 and it will be strange if he cannot find something hard enough for him4 ,the excuse is1 however1 one of the lips only2 for every painter knows1 that when he draws back from the attempt to render nature as she is1 it is oftener in cowardice than in disdain4 #agi4 ,i must leave the reader to pursue this subject for himself2 ,i have not space to suggest to him the tenth part of the advantages which would follow1 both to the painter from such an understanding of his mission1 and to the whole people1 in the results of his labor4 ,consider how the man himself would be elevated2 how content he would become1 how earnest1 how full of all accurate and noble knowledge1 how free from envy--knowing creation to be infinite1 feeling at once the value of what he did1 and yet the nothingness4 ,consider the advantage to the people3 the immeasurably larger interest given to art itself2 the easy1 pleasurable1 and perfect knowledge conveyed by it1 in every subject2 the far greater number of men who might be healthily and profitably occupied with it as a means of livelihood2 the useful direction of myriads of inferior talents now left fading away in misery4 ,conceive all this1 and then look around at our exhibitions1 and behold the cattle pieces1 and sea pieces1 and fruit pieces1 and family pieces2 the eternal brown cows in ditches1 and white sails in squalls1 and sliced lemons in saucers1 and foolish faces in simpers2--and try to feel what we are1 and what we might have been4 #ahj4 ,take a single instance in one branch of archaeology4 ,let those who are interested in the history of ,religion consider what a treasure we should now have possessed1 if1 instead of painting pots1 and vegetables1 and drunken peasantry1 the most accurate painters of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had been set to copy1 line for line1 the religious and domestic sculpture on the ,german1 ,flemish1 and ,french cathedrals and castles2 and if every building destroyed in the ,french or in any other subsequent revolution1 had thus been drawn in all its parts with the same precision with which ,gerard ,dow or ,mieris paint bas-reliefs of ,cupids4 ,consider1 even now1 what incalculable treasure is still left in ancient bas-reliefs1 full of every kind of legendary interest1 of subtle expression1 of priceless evidence as to the character1 feelings1 habits1 histories1 of past generations1 in neglected and shattered churches and domestic buildings1 rapidly disappearing over the whole of ,europe--treasure which1 once lost1 the labor of all men living cannot bring back again2 and then look at the myriads of men1 with skill enough1 if they had but the commonest schooling1 to record all this faithfully1 who are making their bread by drawing dances of naked women from academy models1 or idealities of chivalry fitted out with ,wardour ,street armor1 or eternal scenes from ,gil ,blas1 ,don ,quixote1 and the ,vicar of ,wakefield1 or mountain sceneries with young idiots of ,londoners wearing ,highland bonnets and brandishing rifles in the foregrounds4 ,do but think of these things in the breadth of their inexpressible imbecility1 and then go and stand before that broken bas-relief in the southern gate of ,lincoln ,cathedral1 and see if there is no fiber of the heart in you that will break too4 #aha4 ,but is there to be no place left1 it will be indignantly asked1 for imagination and invention1 for poetical power1 or love of ideal beauty8 ,yes1 the highest1 the noblest place--that which these only can attain when they are all used in the cause1 and with the aid of truth4 ,wherever imagination and sentiment are1 they will either show themselves without forcing1 or1 if capable of artificial development1 the kind of training which such a school of art would give them would be the best they could receive4 ,the infinite absurdity and failure of our present training consists mainly in this1 that we do not rank imagination and invention high enough1 and suppose that they can be taught4 ,throughout every sentence that ,i ever have written1 the reader will find the same rank attributed to these powers--the rank of a purely divine gift1 not to be attained1 increased1 or in anywise modified by teaching1 only in various ways capable of being concealed or quenched4 ,understand this thoroughly2 know once for all1 that a poet on canvas is exactly the same species of creature as a poet in song1 and nearly every error in our methods of teaching will be done away with4 ,for who among us now thinks of bringing men up to be poets8--of producing poets by any kind of general recipe or method of cultivation8 ,suppose even that we see in a youth that which we hope may1 in its development1 become a power of this kind1 should we instantly1 supposing that we wanted to make a poet of him1 and nothing else1 forbid him all quiet1 steady1 rational labor8 ,should we force him to perpetual spinning of new crudities out of his boyish brain1 and set before him1 as the only objects of his study1 the laws of versification which criticism has supposed itself to discover in the works of previous writers8 ,whatever gifts the boy had1 would much be likely to come of them so treated8 unless1 indeed1 they were so great as to break through all such snares of falsehood and vanity1 and build their own foundation in spite of us2 whereas if1 as in cases numbering millions against units1 the natural gifts were too weak to do this1 could anything come of such training but utter inanity and spuriousness of the whole man8 ,but if we had sense1 should we not rather restrain and bridle the first flame of invention in early youth1 heaping material on it as one would on the first sparks and tongues of a fire which we desired to feed into greatness8 ,should we not educate the whole intellect into general strength1 and all the affections into warmth and honesty1 and look to heaven for the rest8 ,this1 ,i say1 we should have sense enough to do1 in order to produce a poet in words3 but1 it being required to produce a poet on canvas1 what is our way of setting to work8 ,we begin1 in all probability1 by telling the youth of fifteen or sixteen1 that ,nature is full of faults1 and that he is to improve her2 but that ,raphael is perfection1 and that the more he copies ,raphael the better2 that after much copying of ,raphael1 he is to try what he can do himself in a ,raphaelesque1 but yet original manner3 that is to say1 he is to try to do something very clever1 all out of his own head1 but yet this clever something is to be properly subjected to ,raphaelesque rules1 is to have a principal light occupying one-seventh of its space1 and a principal shadow occupying one-third of the same2 that no two people's heads in the picture are to be turned the same way1 and that all the personages represented are to possess ideal beauty of the highest order1 which ideal beauty consists partly in a ,greek outline of nose1 partly in proportions expressible in decimal fractions between the lips and chin2 but mostly in that degree of improvement which the youth of sixteen is to bestow upon ,god's work in general4 ,this ,i say is the kind of teaching which through various channels1 ,royal ,academy lecturings1 press criticisms1 public enthusiasm1 and not least by solid weight of gold1 we give to our young men4 ,and we wonder we have no painters6 #ahb4 ,but we do worse than this4 ,within the last few years some sense of the real tendency of such teaching has appeared in some of our younger painters4 ,it only could appear in the younger ones1 our older men having become familiarized with the false system1 or else having passed through it and forgotten it1 not well knowing the degree of harm they had sustained4 ,this sense appeared1 among our youths1--increased1--matured into resolute action4 ,necessarily1 to exist at all1 it needed the support both of strong instincts and of considerable self-confidence1 otherwise it must at once have been borne down by the weight of general authority and received canon law4 ,strong instincts are apt to make men strange and rude2 self-confidence1 however well founded1 to give much of what they do or say the appearance of impertinence4 ,look at the self-confidence of ,wordsworth1 stiffening every other sentence of his prefaces into defiance2 there is no more of it than was needed to enable him to do his work1 yet it is not a little ungraceful here and there4 ,suppose this stubbornness and self-trust in a youth1 laboring in an art of which the executive part is confessedly to be best learnt from masters1 and we shall hardly wonder that much of his work has a certain awkwardness and stiffness in it1 or that he should be regarded with disfavor by many1 even the most temperate1 of the judges trained in the system he was breaking through1 and with utter contempt and reprobation by the envious and the dull4 ,consider1 further1 that the particular system to be overthrown was1 in the present case1 one of which the main characteristic was the pursuit of beauty at the expense of manliness and truth2 and it will seem likely a priori1 that the men intended successfully to resist the influence of such a system should be endowed with little natural sense of beauty1 and thus rendered dead to the temptation it presented4 ,summing up these conditions1 there is surely little cause for surprise that pictures painted1 in a temper of resistance1 by exceedingly young men1 of stubborn instincts and positive self-trust1 and with little natural perception of beauty1 should not be calculated1 at the first glance1 to win us from works enriched by plagiarism1 polished by convention1 invested with all the attractiveness of artificial grace1 and recommended to our respect by established authority4 #ahc4 ,we should1 however1 on the other hand1 have anticipated1 that in proportion to the strength of character required for the effort1 and to the absence of distracting sentiments1 whether respect for precedent1 or affection for ideal beauty1 would be the energy exhibited in the pursuit of the special objects which the youths proposed to themselves1 and their success in attaining them4 ,all this has actually been the case1 but in a degree which it would have been impossible to anticipate4 ,that two youths1 of the respective ages of eighteen and twenty1 should have conceived for themselves a totally independent and sincere method of study1 and enthusiastically persevered in it against every kind of dissuasion and opposition1 is strange enough2 that in the third or fourth year of their efforts they should have produced works in many parts not inferior to the best of ,albert ,duerer1 this is perhaps not less strange4 ,but the loudness and universality of the howl which the common critics of the press have raised against them1 the utter absence of all generous help or encouragement from those who can both measure their toil and appreciate their success1 and the shrill1 shallow laughter of those who can do neither the one nor the other--these are strangest of all--unimaginable unless they had been experienced4 #ahd4 ,and as if these were not enough1 private malice is at work against them1 in its own small1 slimy way4 ,the very day after ,i had written my second letter to the ,times in the defense of the ,pre-,raphaelites1#cj ,i received an anonymous letter respecting one of them1 from some person apparently hardly capable of spelling1 and about as vile a specimen of petty malignity as ever blotted paper4 ,i think it well that the public should know this1 and so get some insight into the sources of the spirit which is at work against these men3 how first roused it is difficult to say1 for one would hardly have thought that mere eccentricity in young artists could have excited an hostility so determined and so cruel2 hostility which hesitated at no assertion1 however impudent4 ,that of the absence of perspective was one of the most curious pieces of the hue and cry which began with the ,times1 and died away in feeble maundering in the ,art ,union2 ,i contradicted it in the ,times--,i here contradict it directly for the second time4 ,there was not a single error in perspective in three out of the four pictures in question4 ,but if otherwise1 would it have been anything remarkable in them8 ,i doubt if1 with the exception of the pictures of ,david ,roberts1 there were one architectural drawing in perspective on the walls of the ,academy2 ,i never met but with two men in my life who knew enough of perspective to draw a ,gothic arch in a retiring plane1 so that its lateral dimensions and curvatures might be calculated to scale from the drawing4 ,our architects certainly do not1 and it was but the other day that1 talking to one of the most distinguished among them1 the author of several most valuable works1 ,i found he actually did not know how to draw a circle in perspective4 ,and in this state of general science our writers for the press take it upon them to tell us1 that the forest-trees in ,mr4 ,hunt's ,sylvia1 and the bunches of lilies in ,mr4 ,collins's ,convent ,thoughts1 are out of perspective4#ca #ahe4 ,it might not1 ,i think1 in such circumstances1 have been ungraceful or unwise in the ,academicians themselves to have defended their young pupils1 at least by the contradiction of statements directly false respecting them1#cb and the direction of the mind and sight of the public to such real merit as they possess4 ,if ,sir ,charles ,eastlake1 ,mulready1 ,edwin and ,charles ,landseer1 ,cope1 and ,dyce would each of them simply state their own private opinion respecting their paintings1 sign it1 and publish it1 ,i believe the act would be of more service to ,english art than anything the ,academy has done since it was founded4 ,but as ,i cannot hope for this1 ,i can only ask the public to give their pictures careful examination1 and to look at them at once with the indulgence and the respect which ,i have endeavored to show they deserve4 ,yet let me not be misunderstood4 ,i have adduced them only as examples of the kind of study which ,i would desire to see substituted for that of our modern schools1 and of singular success in certain characters1 finish of detail1 and brilliancy of color4 ,what faculties1 higher than imitative1 may be in these men1 ,i do not yet venture to say2 but ,i do say1 that if they exist1 such faculties will manifest themselves in due time all the more forcibly because they have received training so severe4 #ahf4 ,for it is always to be remembered that no one mind is like another1 either in its powers or perceptions2 and while the main principles of training must be the same for all1 the result in each will be as various as the kinds of truth which each will apprehend2 therefore1 also1 the modes of effort1 even in men whose inner principles and final aims are exactly the same4 ,suppose1 for instance1 two men1 equally honest1 equally industrious1 equally impressed with a humble desire to render some part of what they saw in nature faithfully2 and1 otherwise1 trained in convictions such as ,i have above endeavored to induce4 ,but one of them is quiet in temperament1 has a feeble memory1 no invention1 and excessively keen sight4 ,the other is impatient in temperament1 has a memory which nothing escapes1 an invention which never rests1 and is comparatively near-sighted4 #ahg4 ,set them both free in the same field in a mountain valley4 ,one sees everything1 small and large1 with almost the same clearness2 mountains and grasshoppers alike2 the leaves on the branches1 the veins in the pebbles1 the bubbles in the stream2 but he can remember nothing1 and invent nothing4 ,patiently he sets himself to his mighty task2 abandoning at once all thoughts of seizing transient effects1 or giving general impressions of that which his eyes present to him in microscopical dissection1 he chooses some small portion out of the infinite scene1 and calculates with courage the number of weeks which must elapse before he can do justice to the intensity of his perceptions1 or the fullness of matter in his subject4 #ahh4 ,meantime1 the other has been watching the change of the clouds1 and the march of the light along the mountain sides2 he beholds the entire scene in broad1 soft masses of true gradation1 and the very feebleness of his sight is in some sort an advantage to him1 in making him more sensible of the aerial mystery of distance1 and hiding from him the multitudes of circumstances which it would have been impossible for him to represent4 ,but there is not one change in the casting of the jagged shadows along the hollows of the hills1 but it is fixed on his mind forever2 not a flake of spray has broken from the sea of cloud about their bases1 but he has watched it as it melts away1 and could recall it to its lost place in heaven by the slightest effort of his thoughts4 ,not only so1 but thousands and thousands of such images1 of older scenes1 remain congregated in his mind1 each mingling in new associations with those now visibly passing before him1 and these again confused with other images of his own ceaseless1 sleepless imagination1 flashing by in sudden troops4 ,fancy how his paper will be covered with stray symbols and blots1 and undecipherable shorthand3--as for his sitting down to draw from ,nature1 there was not one of the things which he wished to represent1 that stayed for so much as five seconds together3 but none of them escaped for all that3 they are sealed up in that strange storehouse of his2 he may take one of them out perhaps1 this day twenty years1 and paint it in his dark room1 far away4 ,now1 observe1 you may tell both of these men1 when they are young1 that they are to be honest1 that they have an important function1 and that they are not to care what ,raphael did4 ,this you may wholesomely impress on them both4 ,but fancy the exquisite absurdity of expecting either of them to possess any of the qualities of the other4 #ahi4 ,i have supposed the feebleness of sight in the last1 and of invention in the first painter1 that the contrast between them might be more striking2 but1 with very slight modification1 both the characters are real4 ,grant to the first considerable inventive power1 with exquisite sense of color2 and give to the second1 in addition to all his other faculties1 the eye of an eagle2 and the first is ,john ,everett ,millais1 the second ,joseph ,mallard ,william ,turner4 ,they are among the few men who have defied all false teaching1 and have therefore1 in great measure1 done justice to the gifts with which they were intrusted4 ,they stand at opposite poles1 marking culminating points of art in both directions2 between them1 or in various relations to them1 we may class five or six more living artists who1 in like manner1 have done justice to their powers4 ,i trust that ,i may be pardoned for naming them1 in order that the reader may know how the strong innate genius in each has been invariably accompanied with the same humility1 earnestness1 and industry in study4 #aij4 ,it is hardly necessary to point out the earnestness or humility in the works of ,william ,hunt2 but it may be so to suggest the high value they possess as records of ,english rural life1 and still life4 ,who is there who for a moment could contend with him in the unaffected1 yet humorous truth with which he has painted our peasant children8 ,who is there who does not sympathize with him in the simple love with which he dwells on the brightness and bloom of our summer fruit and flowers8 ,and yet there is something to be regretted concerning him3 why should he be allowed continually to paint the same bunches of hot-house grapes1 and supply to the ,water ,color ,society a succession of pine-apples with the regularity of a ,covent ,garden fruiterer8 ,he has of late discovered that primrose banks are lovely1 but there are other things grow wild besides primroses3 what undreamt-of loveliness might he not bring back to us1 if he would lose himself for a summer in ,highland foregrounds2 if he would paint the heather as it grows1 and the foxglove and the harebell as they nestle in the clefts of the rocks1 and the mosses and bright lichens of the rocks themselves4 ,and then1 cross to the ,jura1 and bring back a piece of ,jura pasture in spring2 with the gentians in their earliest blue1 and a soldanelle beside the fading snow6 ,and return again1 and paint a gray wall of alpine crag1 with budding roses crowning it like a wreath of rubies4 ,that is what he was meant to do in this world2 not to paint bouquets in china vases4 #aia4 ,i have in various other places expressed my sincere respect for the works of ,samuel ,prout3 his shortness of sight has necessarily prevented their possessing delicacy of finish or fullness of minor detail2 but ,i think that those of no other living artist furnish an example so striking of innate and special instinct1 sent to do a particular work at the exact and only period when it was possible4 ,at the instant when peace had been established all over ,europe1 but when neither national character nor national architecture had as yet been seriously changed by promiscuous intercourse or modern improvement2 when1 however1 nearly every ancient and beautiful building had been long left in a state of comparative neglect1 so that its aspect of partial ruinousness1 and of separation from recent active life1 gave to every edifice a peculiar interest--half sorrowful1 half sublime2--at that moment ,prout was trained among the rough rocks and simple cottages of ,cornwall1 until his eye was accustomed to follow with delight the rents and breaks1 and irregularities which1 to another man1 would have been offensive2 and then1 gifted with infinite readiness in composition1 but also with infinite affection for the kind of subjects he had to portray1 he was sent to preserve1 in an almost innumerable series of drawings1 every one made on the spot1 the aspect borne1 at the beginning of the nineteenth century1 by cities which1 in a few years more1 re-kindled wars1 or unexpected prosperities1 were to ravage1 or renovate1 into nothingness4#cc #aib4 ,it seems strange to pass from ,prout to ,john ,lewis2 but there is this fellowship between them1 that both seem to have been intended to appreciate the characters of foreign countries more than of their own1 nay1 to have been born in ,england chiefly that the excitement of strangeness might enhance to them the interest of the scenes they had to represent4 ,i believe ,john ,lewis to have done more entire justice to all his powers 7and they are magnificent ones71 than any other man amongst us4 ,his mission was evidently to portray the comparatively animal life of the southern and eastern families of mankind4 ,for this he was prepared in a somewhat singular way--by being led to study1 and endowed with altogether peculiar apprehension of1 the most sublime characters of animals themselves4 ,rubens1 ,rembrandt1 ,snyders1 ,tintoret1 and ,titian1 have all1 in various ways1 drawn wild beasts magnificently2 but they have in some sort humanized or demonized them1 making them either ravenous fiends1 or educated beasts1 that would draw cars1 and had respect for hermits4 ,the sullen isolation of the brutal nature2 the dignity and quietness of the mighty limbs2 the shaggy mountainous power1 mingled with grace as of a flowing stream2 the stealthy restraint of strength and wrath in every soundless motion of the gigantic frame2 all this seems never to have been seen1 much less drawn1 until ,lewis drew and himself engraved a series of animal subjects1 now many years ago4 ,since then1 he has devoted himself to the portraiture of those ,european and ,asiatic races1 among whom the refinements of civilization exist without its laws or its energies1 and in whom the fierceness1 indolence1 and subtlety of animal nature are associated with brilliant imagination and strong affections4 ,to this task he has brought not only intense perception of the kind of character1 but powers of artistical composition like those of the great ,venetians1 displaying1 at the same time1 a refinement of drawing almost miraculous1 and appreciable only1 as the minutiae of nature itself are appreciable1 by the help of the microscope4 ,the value1 therefore1 of his works1 as records of the aspect of the scenery and inhabitants of the south of ,spain and of the ,east1 in the earlier part of the nineteenth century1 is quite above all estimate4 #aic4 ,i hardly know how to speak of ,mulready3 in delicacy and completion of drawing1 and splendor of color1 he takes place beside ,john ,lewis and the ,pre-,raphaelites2 but he has1 throughout his career1 displayed no definiteness in choice of subject4 ,he must be named among the painters who have studied with industry1 and have made themselves great by doing so2 but1 having obtained a consummate method of execution1 he has thrown it away on subjects either altogether uninteresting1 or above his powers1 or unfit for pictorial representation4 ,the ,cherry ,woman1 exhibited in #ahej1 may be named as an example of the first kind2 the ,burchell and ,sophia of the second 7the character of ,sir ,william ,thornhill being utterly missed72 the ,seven ,ages of the third2 for this subject cannot be painted4 ,in the written passage1 the thoughts are progressive and connected2 in the picture they must be co-existent1 and yet separate2 nor can all the characters of the ages be rendered in painting at all4 ,one may represent the soldier at the cannon's mouth1 but one cannot paint the bubble reputation which he seeks4 ,mulready1 therefore1 while he has always produced exquisite pieces of painting1 has failed in doing anything which can be of true or extensive use4 ,he has1 indeed1 understood how to discipline his genius1 but never how to direct it4 #aid4 ,edwin ,landseer is the last painter but one whom ,i shall name3 ,i need not point out to anyone acquainted with his earlier works1 the labor1 or watchfulness of nature which they involve1 nor need ,i do more than allude to the peculiar faculties of his mind4 ,it will at once be granted that the highest merits of his pictures are throughout found in those parts of them which are least like what had before been accomplished2 and that it was not by the study of ,raphael that he attained his eminent success1 but by a healthy love of ,scotch terriers4 ,none of these painters1 however1 it will be answered1 afford examples of the rise of the highest imaginative power out of close study of matters of fact4 ,be it remembered1 however1 that the imaginative power1 in its magnificence1 is not to be found every day4 ,lewis has it in no mean degree1 but we cannot hope to find it at its highest more than once in an age4 ,we have had it once1 and must be content4 #aie4 ,towards the close of the last century1 among the various drawings executed1 according to the quiet manner of the time1 in grayish blue1 with brown foregrounds1 some began to be noticed as exhibiting rather more than ordinary diligence and delicacy1 signed ,w4 ,turner4#cd ,there was nothing1 however1 in them at all indicative of genius1 or even of more than ordinary talent1 unless in some of the subjects a large perception of space1 and excessive clearness and decision in the arrangement of masses4 ,gradually and cautiously the blues became mingled with delicate green1 and then with gold2 the browns in the foreground became first more positive1 and then were slightly mingled with other local colors2 while the touch1 which had at first been heavy and broken1 like that of the ordinary drawing masters of the time1 grew more and more refined and expressive1 until it lost itself in a method of execution often too delicate for the eye to follow1 rendering1 with a precision before unexampled1 both the texture and the form of every object4 ,the style may be considered as perfectly formed about the year #ahjj1 and it remained unchanged for twenty years4 ,during that period the painter had attempted1 and with more or less success had rendered1 every order of landscape subject1 but always on the same principle1 subduing the colors of nature into a harmony of which the keynotes are grayish green and brown2 pure blues1 and delicate golden yellows being admitted in small quantity as the lowest and highest limits of shade and light3 and bright local colors in extremely small quantity in figures or other minor accessories4 #aif4 ,pictures executed on such a system are not1 properly speaking1 works in color at all2 they are studies of light and shade1 in which both the shade and the distance are rendered in the general hue which best expresses their attributes of coolness and transparency2 and the lights and the foreground are executed in that which best expresses their warmth and solidity4 ,this advantage may just as well be taken as not1 in studies of light and shadow to be executed with the hand2 but the use of two1 three1 or four colors1 always in the same relations and places1 does not in the least constitute the work a study of color1 any more than the brown engravings of the ,liber ,studiorum2 nor would the idea of color be in general more present to the artist's mind when he was at work on one of these drawings1 than when he was using pure brown in the mezzotint engraving4 ,but the idea of space1 warmth1 and freshness being not successfully expressible in a single tint1 and perfectly expressible by the admission of three or four1 he allows himself this advantage when it is possible1 without in the least embarrassing himself with the actual color of the objects to be represented4 ,a stone in the foreground might in nature have been cold gray1 but it will be drawn nevertheless of a rich brown1 because it is in the foreground2 a hill in the distance might in nature be purple with heath1 or golden with furze2 but it will be drawn1 nevertheless1 of a cool gray1 because it is in the distance4 #aig4 ,this at least was the general theory1--carried out with great severity in many1 both of the drawings and pictures executed by him during the period3 in others more or less modified by the cautious introduction of color1 as the painter felt his liberty increasing2 for the system was evidently never considered as final1 or as anything more than a means of progress3 the conventional1 easily manageable color1 was visibly adopted1 only that his mind might be at perfect liberty to address itself to the acquirement of the first and most necessary knowledge in all art--that of form4 ,but as form1 in landscape1 implies vast bulk and space1 the use of the tints which enabled him best to express them1 was actually auxiliary to the mere drawing2 and1 therefore1 not only permissible1 but even necessary1 while more brilliant or varied tints were never indulged in1 except when they might be introduced without the slightest danger of diverting his mind for an instant from his principal object4 ,and1 therefore1 it will be generally found in the works of this period1 that exactly in proportion to the importance and general toil of the composition1 is the severity of the tint2 and that the play of color begins to show itself first in slight and small drawings1 where he felt that he could easily secure all that he wanted in form4 #aih4 ,thus the ,crossing the ,brook1 and such other elaborate and large compositions1 are actually painted in nothing but gray1 brown1 and blue1 with a point or two of severe local color in the figures2 but in the minor drawings1 tender passages of complicated color occur not unfrequently in easy places2 and even before the year #ahjj he begins to introduce it with evident joyfulness and longing in his rude and simple studies1 just as a child1 if it could be supposed to govern itself by a fully developed intellect1 would cautiously1 but with infinite pleasure1 add now and then a tiny dish of fruit or other dangerous luxury to the simple order of its daily fare4 ,thus1 in the foregrounds of his most severe drawings1 we not unfrequently find him indulging in the luxury of a peacock2 and it is impossible to express the joyfulness with which he seems to design its graceful form1 and deepen with soft penciling the bloom of its blue1 after he has worked through the stern detail of his almost colorless drawing4 ,a rainbow is another of his most frequently permitted indulgences2 and we find him very early allowing the edges of his evening clouds to be touched with soft rose-color or gold2 while1 whenever the hues of nature in anywise fall into his system1 and can be caught without a dangerous departure from it1 he instantly throws his whole soul into the faithful rendering of them4 ,thus the usual brown tones of his foreground become warmed into sudden vigor1 and are varied and enhanced with indescribable delight1 when he finds himself by the shore of a moorland stream1 where they truly express the stain of its golden rocks1 and the darkness of its clear1 ,cairngorm-like pools1 and the usual serenity of his aerial blue is enriched into the softness and depth of the sapphire1 when it can deepen the distant slumber of some ,highland lake1 or temper the gloomy shadows of the evening upon its hills4 #aii4 ,the system of his color being thus simplified1 he could address all the strength of his mind to the accumulation of facts of form2 his choice of subject1 and his methods of treatment1 are therefore as various as his color is simple2 and it is not a little difficult to give the reader who is unacquainted with his works1 an idea either of their infinitude of aims1 on the one hand1 or of the kind of feeling which pervades them all1 on the other4 ,no subject was too low or too high for him2 we find him one day hard at work on a cock and hen1 with their family of chickens in a farm-yard2 and bringing all the refinement of his execution into play to express the texture of the plumage2 next day he is drawing the ,dragon of ,colchis4 ,one hour he is much interested in a gust of wind blowing away an old woman's cap2 the next1 he is painting the fifth plague of ,egypt4 ,every landscape painter before him had acquired distinction by confining his efforts to one class of subject4 ,hobbima painted oaks2 ,ruysdael1 waterfalls and copses2 ,cuyp1 river or meadow scenes in quiet afternoons2 ,salvator and ,poussin1 such kind of mountain scenery as people could conceive1 who lived in towns in the seventeenth century4 ,but ,i am well persuaded that if all the works of ,turner1 up to the year #ahbj1 were divided into classes 7as he has himself divided them in the ,liber ,studiorum71 no preponderance could be assigned to one class over another4 ,there is architecture1 including a large number of formal gentlemen's seats1 ,i suppose drawings commissioned by the owners2 then lowland pastoral scenery of every kind1 including nearly all farming operations---plowing1 harrowing1 hedging and ditching1 felling trees1 sheep-washing1 and ,i know not what else2 then all kinds of town life--courtyards of inns1 starting of mail coaches1 interiors of shops1 house-buildings1 fairs1 elections1 etc42 then all kinds of inner domestic life--interiors of rooms1 studies of costumes1 of still life1 and heraldry1 including multitudes of symbolical vignettes2 then marine scenery of every kind1 full of local incident2 every kind of boat and method of fishing for particular fish1 being specifically drawn1 round the whole coast of ,england--pilchard fishing at ,st4 ,ives1 whiting fishing at ,margate1 herring at ,loch ,fyne2 and all kinds of shipping1 including studies of every separate part of the vessels1 and many marine battle pieces1 two in particular of ,trafalgar1 both of high importance--one of the ,victory after the battle1 now in ,greenwich ,hospital2 another of the death of ,nelson1 in his own gallery2 then all kinds of mountain scenery1 some idealized into compositions1 others of definite localities2 together with classical compositions1 ,romes1 and ,carthages1 and such others1 by the myriad1 with mythological1 historical1 or allegorical figures--nymphs1 monsters1 and specters2 heroes and divinities4#ce #bjj4 ,what general feeling1 it may be asked incredulously1 can possibly pervade all this8 ,this1 the greatest of all feelings--an utter forgetfulness of self4 ,throughout the whole period with which we are at present concerned1 ,turner appears as a man of sympathy absolutely infinite--a sympathy so all-embracing1 that ,i know nothing but that of ,shakspeare comparable with it4 ,a soldier's wife resting by the roadside is not beneath it2#cf ,rizpah1 the daughter of ,aiah1 watching the dead bodies of her sons1 not above it4 ,nothing can possibly be so mean as that it will not interest his whole mind1 and carry away his whole heart2 nothing so great or solemn but that he can raise himself into harmony with it2 and it is impossible to prophesy of him at any moment1 whether1 the next1 he will be in laughter or in tears4 #bja4 ,this is the root of the man's greatness2 and it follows as a matter of course that this sympathy must give him a subtle power of expression1 even of the characters of mere material things1 such as no other painter ever possessed4 ,the man who can best feel the difference between rudeness and tenderness in humanity1 perceives also more difference between the branches of an oak and a willow than anyone else would2 and1 therefore1 necessarily the most striking character of the drawings themselves is the speciality of whatever they represent--the thorough stiffness of what is stiff1 and grace of what is graceful1 and vastness of what is vast2 but through and beyond all this1 the condition of the mind of the painter himself is easily enough discoverable by comparison of a large number of the drawings4 ,it is singularly serene and peaceful3 in itself quite passionless1 though entering with ease into the external passion which it contemplates4 ,by the effort of its will it sympathizes with tumult or distress1 even in their extremes1 but there is no tumult1 no sorrow in itself1 only a chastened and exquisitely peaceful cheerfulness1 deeply meditative2 touched1 without loss of its own perfect balance1 by sadness on the one side1 and stooping to playfulness upon the other4 ,i shall never cease to regret the destruction1 by fire1 now several years ago1 of a drawing which always seemed to me to be the perfect image of the painter's mind at this period1--the drawing of ,brignal ,church near ,rokeby1 of which a feeble idea may still be gathered from the engraving 7in the ,yorkshire series74 ,the spectator stands on the ,brignal banks1 looking down into the glen at twilight2 the sky is still full of soft rays1 though the sun is gone1 and the ,greta glances brightly in the valley1 singing its even-song2 two white clouds1 following each other1 move without wind through the hollows of the ravine1 and others lie couched on the far away moorlands2 every leaf of the woods is still in the delicate air2 a boy's kite1 incapable of rising1 has become entangled in their branches1 he is climbing to recover it2 and just behind it in the picture1 almost indicated by it1 the lowly church is seen in its secluded field between the rocks and the stream2 and around1 it the low churchyard wall1 and a few white stones which mark the resting places of those who can climb the rocks no more1 nor hear the river sing as it passes4 ,there are many other existing drawings which indicate the same character of mind1 though ,i think none so touching or so beautiful3 yet they are not1 as ,i said above1 more numerous than those which express his sympathy with sublimer or more active scenes2 but they are almost always marked by a tenderness of execution1 and have a look of being beloved in every part of them1 which shows them to be the truest expression of his own feelings4 #bjb4 ,one other characteristic of his mind at this period remains to be noticed--its reverence for talent in others4 ,not the reverence which acts upon the practices of men as if they were the laws of nature1 but that which is ready to appreciate the power1 and receive the assistance1 of every mind which has been previously employed in the same direction1 so far as its teaching seems to be consistent with the great text-book of nature itself4 ,turner thus studied almost every preceding landscape painter1 chiefly ,claude1 ,poussin1 ,vandevelde1 ,loutherbourg1 and ,wilson4 ,it was probably by the ,sir ,george ,beaumonts and other feeble conventionalists of the period1 that he was persuaded to devote his attention to the works of these men2 and his having done so will be thought1 a few scores of years hence1 evidence of perhaps the greatest modesty ever shown by a man of original power4 ,modesty at once admirable and unfortunate1 for the study of the works of ,vandevelde and ,claude was productive of unmixed mischief to him3 he spoiled many of his marine pictures1 as for instance ,lord ,ellesmere's1 by imitation of the former2 and from the latter learned a false ideal1 which1 confirmed by the notions of ,greek art prevalent in ,london in the beginning of this century1 has manifested itself in many vulgarities in his composition pictures1 vulgarities which may perhaps be best expressed by the general term ,twickenham ,classicism1 as consisting principally in conceptions of ancient or of rural life such as have influenced the erection of most of our suburban villas4 ,from ,nicole ,poussin and ,loutherbourg he seems to have derived advantage2 perhaps also from ,wilson2 and much in his subsequent travels from far higher men1 especially ,tintoret and ,paul ,veronese4 ,i have myself heard him speaking with singular delight of the putting in of the beech leaves in the upper right-hand corner of ,titian's ,peter ,martyr4 ,i cannot in any of his works trace the slightest influence of ,salvator2 and ,i am not surprised at it1 for though ,salvator was a man of far higher powers than either ,vandevelde or ,claude1 he was a willful and gross caricaturist4 ,turner would condescend to be helped by feeble men1 but could not be corrupted by false men4 ,besides1 he had never himself seen classical life1 and ,claude was represented to him as competent authority for it4 ,but he had seen mountains and torrents1 and knew therefore that ,salvator could not paint them4 #bjc4 ,one of the most characteristic drawings of this period fortunately bears a date1 #ahah1 and brings us within two years of another dated drawing1 no less characteristic of what ,i shall henceforward call ,turner's ,second period4 ,it is in the possession of ,mr4 ,hawkesworth ,fawkes of ,farnley1 one of ,turner's earliest and truest friends2 and bears the inscription1 unusually conspicuous1 heaving itself up and down over the eminences of the foreground--,,passage ,,of ,,mont ,,cenis4 ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,,turner1 ,january #aeth1 #ahbj4 ,the scene is on the summit of the pass close to the hospice1 or what seems to have been a hospice at that time1--,i do not remember any such at present1--a small square built house1 built as if partly for a fortress1 with a detached flight of stone steps in front of it1 and a kind of drawbridge to the door4 ,this building1 about #djj or #ejj yards off1 is seen in a dim1 ashy gray against the light1 which by help of a violent blast of mountain wind has broken through the depth of clouds which hang upon the crags4 ,there is no sky1 properly so called1 nothing but this roof of drifting cloud2 but neither is there any weight of darkness--the high air is too thin for it1--all savage1 howling1 and luminous with cold1 the massy bases of the granite hills jutting out here and there grimly through the snow wreaths4 ,there is a desolate-looking refuge on the left1 with its number #af1 marked on it in long ghastly figures1 and the wind is drifting the snow off the roof and through its window in a frantic whirl2 the near ground is all wan with half-thawed1 half-trampled snow2 a diligence in front1 whose horses1 unable to face the wind1 have turned right round with fright1 its passengers struggling to escape1 jammed in the window2 a little farther on is another carriage off the road1 some figures pushing at its wheels1 and its driver at the horses' heads1 pulling and lashing with all his strength1 his lifted arm stretched out against the light of the distance1 though too far off for the whip to be seen4 #bjd4 ,now ,i am perfectly certain that anyone thoroughly accustomed to the earlier works of the painter1 and shown this picture for the first time1 would be struck by two altogether new characters in it4 ,the first1 a seeming enjoyment of the excitement of the scene1 totally different from the contemplative philosophy with which it would formerly have been regarded4 ,every incident of motion and of energy is seized upon with indescribable delight1 and every line of the composition animated with a force and fury which are now no longer the mere expression of a contemplated external truth1 but have origin in some inherent feeling in the painter's mind4 ,the second1 that although the subject is one in itself almost incapable of color1 and although1 in order to increase the wildness of the impression1 all brilliant local color has been refused even where it might easily have been introduced1 as in the figures2 yet in the low minor key which has been chosen1 the melodies of color have been elaborated to the utmost possible pitch1 so as to become a leading1 instead of a subordinate1 element in the composition2 the subdued warm hues of the granite promontories1 the dull stone color of the walls of the buildings1 clearly opposed1 even in shade1 to the gray of the snow wreaths heaped against them1 and the faint greens and ghastly blues of the glacier ice1 being all expressed with delicacies of transition utterly unexampled in any previous drawings4 #bje4 ,these1 accordingly1 are the chief characteristics of the works of ,turner's second period1 as distinguished from the first1--a new energy inherent in the mind of the painter1 diminishing the repose and exalting the force and fire of his conceptions1 and the presence of ,color1 as at least an essential1 and often a principal1 element of design4 ,not that it is impossible1 or even unusual1 to find drawings of serene subject1 and perfectly quiet feeling1 among the compositions of this period2 but the repose is in them1 just as the energy and tumult were in the earlier period1 an external quality1 which the painter images by an effort of the will3 it is no longer a character inherent in himself4 ,the ,ulleswater1 in the ,england series1 is one of those which are in most perfect peace2 in the ,cowes1 the silence is only broken by the dash of the boat's oars1 and in the ,alnwick by a stag drinking2 but in at least nine drawings out of ten1 either sky1 water1 or figures are in rapid motion1 and the grandest drawings are almost always those which have even violent action in one or other1 or in all2 e4g4 high force of ,tees1 ,coventry1 ,llanthony1 ,salisbury1 ,llanberis1 and such others4 #bjf4 ,the color is1 however1 a more absolute distinction2 and we must return to ,mr4 ,fawkes's collection in order to see how the change in it was effected4 ,that such a change would take place at one time or other was of course to be securely anticipated1 the conventional system of the first period being1 as above stated1 merely a means of study4 ,but the immediate cause was the journey of the year #ahbj4 ,as might be guessed from the legend on the drawing above described1 ,passage of ,mont ,cenis1 ,january #aeth1 #ahbj1 that drawing represents what happened on the day in question to the painter himself4 ,he passed the ,alps then in the winter of #ahbj2 and either in the previous or subsequent summer1 but on the same journey1 he made a series of sketches on the ,rhine1 in body color1 now in ,mr4 ,fawkes's collection4 ,every one of those sketches is the almost instantaneous record of an effect of color or atmosphere1 taken strictly from nature1 the drawing and the details of every subject being comparatively subordinate1 and the color nearly as principal as the light and shade had been before1--certainly the leading feature1 though the light and shade are always exquisitely harmonized with it4 ,and naturally1 as the color becomes the leading object1 those times of day are chosen in which it is most lovely2 and whereas before1 at least five out of six of ,turner's drawings represented ordinary daylight1 we now find his attention directed constantly to the evening3 and1 for the first time1 we have those rosy lights upon the hills1 those gorgeous falls of sun through flaming heavens1 those solemn twilights1 with the blue moon rising as the western sky grows dim1 which have ever since been the themes of his mightiest thoughts4 #bjg4 ,i have no doubt1 that the immediate reason of this change was the impression made upon him by the colors of the continental skies4 ,when he first traveled on the ,continent 7#ahjj71 he was comparatively a young student2 not yet able to draw form as he wanted1 he was forced to give all his thoughts and strength to this primary object4 ,but now he was free to receive other impressions2 the time was come for perfecting his art1 and the first sunset which he saw on the ,rhine taught him that all previous landscape art was vain and valueless1 that in comparison with natural color1 the things that had been called paintings were mere ink and charcoal1 and that all precedent and all authority must be cast away at once1 and trodden underfoot4 ,he cast them away3 the memories of ,vandevelde and ,claude were at once weeded out of the great mind they had encumbered2 they and all the rubbish of the schools together with them2 the waves of the ,rhine swept them away forever3 and a new dawn rose over the rocks of the ,siebengebirge4 #bjh4 ,there was another motive at work1 which rendered the change still more complete4 ,his fellow artists were already conscious enough of his superior power in drawing1 and their best hope was that he might not be able to color4 ,they had begun to express this hope loudly enough for it to reach his ears4 ,the engraver of one of his most important marine pictures told me1 not long ago1 that one day about the period in question1 ,turner came into his room to examine the progress of the plate1 not having seen his own picture for several months4 ,it was one of his dark early pictures1 but in the foreground was a little piece of luxury1 a pearly fish wrought into hues like those of an opal4 ,he stood before the picture for some moments2 then laughed1 and pointed joyously to the fish3--,they say that ,turner can't color6 and turned away4 #bji4 ,under the force of these various impulses the change was total4 ,every subject thenceforward was primarily conceived in color2 and no engraving ever gave the slightest idea of any drawing of this period4 ,the artists who had any perception of the truth were in despair2 the ,beaumontites1 classicalists1 and owl species in general1 in as much indignation as their dullness was capable of4 ,they had deliberately closed their eyes to all nature1 and had gone on inquiring1 ,where do you put your brown 'tree'8 ,a vast revelation was made to them at once1 enough to have dazzled anyone2 but to them1 light unendurable as incomprehensible4 ,they did to the moon complain1 in one vociferous1 unanimous1 continuous ,tu whoo4 ,shrieking rose from all dark places at the same instant1 just the same kind of shrieking that is now raised against the ,pre-,raphaelites4 ,those glorious old ,arabian ,nights1 how true they are6 ,mocking and whispering1 and abuse loud and low by turns1 from all the black stones beside the road1 when one living soul is toiling up the hill to get the golden water4 ,mocking and whispering1 that he may look back1 and become a black stone like themselves4 #baj4 ,turner looked not back1 but he went on in such a temper as a strong man must be in1 when he is forced to walk with his fingers in his ears4 ,he retired into himself2 he could look no longer for help1 or counsel1 or sympathy from anyone2 and the spirit of defiance in which he was forced to labor led him sometimes into violences1 from which the slightest expression of sympathy would have saved him4 ,the new energy that was upon him1 and the utter isolation into which he was driven1 were both alike dangerous1 and many drawings of the time show the evil effects of both2 some of them being hasty1 wild1 or experimental1 and others little more than magnificent expressions of defiance of public opinion4 ,but all have this noble virtue--they are in everything his own3 there are no more reminiscences of dead masters1 no more trials of skill in the manner of ,claude or ,poussin2 every faculty of his soul is fixed upon nature only1 as he saw her1 or as he remembered her4 #baa4 ,i have spoken above of his gigantic memory3 it is especially necessary to notice this1 in order that we may understand the kind of grasp which a man of real imagination takes of all things that are once brought within his reach--grasp thenceforth not to be relaxed forever4 ,on looking over any catalogues of his works1 or of particular series of them1 we shall notice the recurrence of the same subject two1 three1 or even many times4 ,in any other artist this would be nothing remarkable4 ,probably1 most modern landscape painters multiply a favorite subject twenty1 thirty1 or sixty fold1 putting the shadows and the clouds in different places1 and inventing1 as they are pleased to call it1 a new effect every time4 ,but if we examine the successions of ,turner's subjects1 we shall find them either the records of a succession of impressions actually received by him at some favorite locality1 or else repetitions of one impression received in early youth1 and again and again realized as his increasing powers enabled him to do better justice to it4 ,in either case we shall find them records of seen facts2 never compositions in his room to fill up a favorite outline4 #bab4 ,for instance1 every traveler--at least1 every traveler of thirty years' standing--must love ,calais1 the place where he first felt himself in a strange world4 ,turner evidently loved it excessively4 ,i have never catalogued his studies of ,calais1 but ,i remember1 at this moment1 five3 there is first the ,pas de ,calais1 a very large oil painting1 which is what he saw in broad daylight as he crossed over1 when he got near the ,french side4 ,it is a careful study of ,french fishing-boats running for the shore before the wind1 with the picturesque old city in the distance4 ,then there is the ,calais ,harbor in the ,liber ,studiorum3 that is what he saw just as he was going into the harbor--a heavy brig warping out1 and very likely to get in his way or run against the pier1 and bad weather coming on4 ,then there is the ,calais ,pier1 a large painting1 engraved some years ago by ,mr4 ,lupton3#cg that is what he saw when he had landed1 and ran back directly to the pier to see what had become of the brig4 ,the weather had got still worse1 the fishwomen were being blown about in a distressful manner on the pier head1 and some more fishing-boats were running in with all speed4 ,then there is the ,fortrouge1 ,calais3 that is what he saw after he had been home to ,dessein's1 and dined1 and went out again in the evening to walk on the sands1 the tide being down4 ,he had never seen such a waste of sands before1 and it made an impression on him4 ,the shrimp girls were all scattered over them too1 and moved about in white spots on the wild shore2 and the storm had lulled a little1 and there was a sunset--such a sunset6--and the bars of ,fortrouge seen against it1 skeleton-wise4 ,he did not paint that directly2 thought over it--painted it a long while afterwards4 #bac4 ,then there is the vignette in the illustrations to ,scott4 ,that is what he saw as he was going home1 meditatively2 and the revolving lighthouse came blazing out upon him suddenly1 and disturbed him4 ,he did not like that so much2 made a vignette of it1 however1 when he was asked to do a bit of ,calais1 twenty or thirty years afterwards1 having already done all the rest4 ,turner never told me all this1 but anyone may see it if he will compare the pictures4 ,they might1 possibly1 not be impressions of a single day1 but of two days or three2 though1 in all human probability1 they were seen just as ,i have stated them2#ch but they are records of successive impressions1 as plainly written as ever traveler's diary4 ,all of them pure veracities4 ,therefore immortal4 #bad4 ,i could multiply these series almost indefinitely from the rest of his works4 ,what is curious1 some of them have a kind of private mark running through all the subjects4 ,thus1 ,i know three drawings of ,scarborough1 and all of them have a starfish in the foreground3 ,i do not remember any others of his marine subjects which have a starfish4 ,the other kind of repetition--the recurrence to one early impression--is1 however1 still more remarkable4 ,in the collection of ,f4 ,h4 ,bale1 ,esq41 there is a small drawing of ,llanthony ,abbey4 ,it is in his boyish manner1 its date probably about #agie2 evidently a sketch from nature1 finished at home4 ,it had been a showery day2 the hills were partially concealed by the rain1 and gleams of sunshine breaking out at intervals4 ,a man was fishing in the mountain stream4 ,the young ,turner sought a place of some shelter under the bushes2 made his sketch2 took great pains when he got home to imitate the rain1 as he best could2 added his child's luxury of a rainbow2 put in the very bush under which he had taken shelter1 and the fisherman1 a somewhat ill-jointed and long-legged fisherman1 in the courtly short breeches which were the fashion of the time4 #bae4 ,some thirty years afterwards1 with all his powers in their strongest training1 and after the total change in his feelings and principles1 which ,i have endeavored to describe1 he undertook the series of ,england and ,wales1 and in that series introduced the subject of ,llanthony ,abbey4 ,and behold1 he went back to his boy's sketch and boy's thought4 ,he kept the very bushes in their places1 but brought the fisherman to the other side of the river1 and put him1 in somewhat less courtly dress1 under their shelter1 instead of himself4 ,and then he set all his gained strength and new knowledge at work on the well-remembered shower of rain1 that had fallen thirty years before1 to do it better4 ,the resultant drawing#ci is one of the very noblest of his second period4 #baf4 ,another of the drawings of the ,england series1 ,ulleswater1 is the repetition of one in ,mr4 ,fawkes's collection1 which1 by the method of its execution1 ,i should conjecture to have been executed about the year #ahjh or #ahaj3 at all events1 it is a very quiet drawing of the first period4 ,the lake is quite calm2 the western hills in gray shadow1 the eastern massed in light4 ,helvellyn rising like a mist between them1 all being mirrored in the calm water4 ,some thin and slightly evanescent cows are standing in the shallow water in front2 a boat floats motionless about a hundred yards from the shore2 the foreground is of broken rocks1 with some lovely pieces of copse on the right and left4 ,this was evidently ,turner's record of a quiet evening by the shore of ,ulleswater1 but it was a feeble one4 ,he could not at that time render the sunset colors3 he went back to it1 therefore1 in the ,england series1 and painted it again with his new power4 ,the same hills are there1 the same shadows1 the same cows1--they had stood in his mind1 on the same spot1 for twenty years1--the same boat1 the same rocks1 only the copse is cut away--it interfered with the masses of his color4 ,some figures are introduced bathing2 and what was gray1 and feeble gold in the first drawing1 becomes purple and burning rose-color in the last4 #bag4 ,but perhaps one of the most curious examples is in the series of subjects from ,winchelsea4 ,that in the ,liber ,studiorum1 ,winchelsea1 ,sussex1 bears date #ahab1 and its figures consist of a soldier speaking to a woman1 who is resting on the bank beside the road4 ,there is another small subject1 with ,winchelsea in the distance1 of which the engraving bears date #ahag4 ,it has two women with bundles1 and two soldiers toiling along the embankment in the plain1 and a baggage wagon in the distance4 ,neither of these seems to have satisfied him1 and at last he did another for the ,england series1 of which the engraving bears date #ahcj4 ,there is now a regiment on the march2 the baggage wagon is there1 having got no farther on in the thirteen years1 but one of the women is tired1 and has fainted on the bank2 another is supporting her against her bundle1 and giving her drink2 a third sympathetic woman is added1 and the two soldiers have stopped1 and one is drinking from his canteen4#dj #bah4 ,nor is it merely of entire scenes1 or of particular incidents that ,turner's memory is thus tenacious4 ,the slightest passages of color or arrangement that have pleased him--the fork of a bough1 the casting of a shadow1 the fracture of a stone--will be taken up again and again1 and strangely worked into new relations with other thoughts4 ,there is a single sketch from nature in one of the portfolios at ,farnley1 of a common wood-walk on the estate1 which has furnished passages to no fewer than three of the most elaborate compositions in the ,liber ,studiorum4 #bai4 ,i am thus tedious in dwelling on ,turner's powers of memory1 because ,i wish it to be thoroughly seen how all his greatness1 all his infinite luxuriance of invention1 depends on his taking possession of everything that he sees1--on his grasping all1 and losing hold of nothing1--on his forgetting himself1 and forgetting nothing else4 ,i wish it to be understood how every great man paints what he sees or did see1 his greatness being indeed little else than his intense sense of fact4 ,and thus ,pre-,raphaelitism and ,raphaelitism1 and ,turnerism1 are all one and the same1 so far as education can influence them4 ,they are different in their choice1 different in their faculties1 but all the same in this1 that ,raphael himself1 so far as he was great1 and all who preceded or followed him who ever were great1 became so by painting the truths around them as they appeared to each man's own mind1 not as he had been taught to see them1 except by the ,god who made both him and them4 #bbj4 ,there is1 however1 one more characteristic of ,turner's second period1 on which ,i have still to dwell1 especially with reference to what has been above advanced respecting the fallacy of overtoil2 namely1 the magnificent ease with which all is done when it is successfully done4 ,for there are one or two drawings of this time which are not done easily4 ,turner had in these set himself to do a fine thing to exhibit his powers2 in the common phrase1 to excel himself2 so sure as he does this1 the work is a failure4 ,the worst drawings that have ever come from his hands are some of this second period1 on which he has spent much time and laborious thought2 drawings filled with incident from one side to the other1 with skies stippled into morbid blue1 and warm lights set against them in violent contrast2 one of ,bamborough ,castle1 a large water-color1 may be named as an example4 ,but the truly noble works are those in which1 without effort1 he has expressed his thoughts as they came1 and forgotten himself2 and in these the outpouring of invention is not less miraculous than the swiftness and obedience of the mighty hand that expresses it4 ,anyone who examines the drawings may see the evidence of this facility1 in the strange freshness and sharpness of every touch of color2 but when the multitude of delicate touches1 with which all the aerial tones are worked1 is taken into consideration1 it would still appear impossible that the drawing could have been completed with ease1 unless we had direct evidence on the matter3 fortunately1 it is not wanting4 ,there is a drawing in ,mr4 ,fawkes's collection of a man-of-war taking in stores3 it is of the usual size of those of the ,england series1 about sixteen inches by eleven3 it does not appear one of the most highly finished1 but it is still farther removed from slightness4 ,the hull of a first-rate occupies nearly one-half of the picture on the right1 her bows towards the spectator1 seen in sharp perspective from stem to stern1 with all her port-holes1 guns1 anchors1 and lower rigging elaborately detailed2 there are two other ships of the line in the middle distance1 drawn with equal precision2 a noble breezy sea dancing against their broad bows1 full of delicate drawing in its waves2 a store-ship beneath the hull of the larger vessel1 and several other boats1 and a complicated cloudy sky4 ,it might appear no small exertion of mind to draw the detail of all this shipping down to the smallest ropes1 from memory1 in the drawing-room of a mansion in the middle of ,yorkshire1 even if considerable time had been given for the effort4 ,but ,mr4 ,fawkes sat beside the painter from the first stroke to the last4 ,turner took a piece of blank paper one morning after breakfast1 outlined his ships1 finished the drawing in three hours1 and went out to shoot4 #bba4 ,let this single fact be quietly meditated upon by our ordinary painters1 and they will see the truth of what was above asserted1--that if a great thing can be done at all1 it can be done easily2 and let them not torment themselves with twisting of compositions this way and that1 and repeating1 and experimenting1 and scene-shifting4 ,if a man can compose at all1 he can compose at once1 or rather he must compose in spite of himself4 ,and this is the reason of that silence which ,i have kept in most of my works1 on the subject of ,composition4 ,many critics1 especially the architects1 have found fault with me for not teaching people how to arrange masses2 for not attributing sufficient importance to composition4 ,alas6 ,i attribute far more importance to it than they do2--so much importance1 that ,i should just as soon think of sitting down to teach a man how to write a ,divina ,commedia1 or ,king ,lear1 as how to compose1 in the true sense1 a single building or picture4 ,the marvelous stupidity of this age of lecturers is1 that they do not see that what they call1 principles of composition1 are mere principles of common sense in everything1 as well as in pictures and buildings2--,a picture is to have a principal light8 ,yes2 and so a dinner is to have a principal dish1 and an oration a principal point1 and an air of music a principal note1 and every man a principal object4 ,a picture is to have harmony of relation among its parts8 ,yes2 and so is a speech well uttered1 and an action well ordered1 and a company well chosen1 and a ragout well mixed4 ,composition6 ,as if a man were not composing every moment of his life1 well or ill1 and would not do it instinctively in his picture as well as elsewhere1 if he could4 ,composition of this lower or common kind is of exactly the same importance in a picture that it is in anything else1--no more4 ,it is well that a man should say what he has to say in good order and sequence1 but the main thing is to say it truly4 ,and yet we go on preaching to our pupils as if to have a principal light was everything1 and so cover our academy walls with ,shacabac feasts1 wherein the courses are indeed well ordered1 but the dishes empty4 #bbb4 ,it is not1 however1 only in invention that men overwork themselves1 but in execution also2 and here ,i have a word to say to the ,pre-,raphaelites specially4 ,they are working too hard4 ,there is evidence in failing portions of their pictures1 showing that they have wrought so long upon them that their very sight has failed for weariness1 and that the hand refused any more to obey the heart4 ,and1 besides this1 there are certain qualities of drawing which they miss from over-carefulness4 ,for1 let them be assured1 there is a great truth lurking in that common desire of men to see things done in what they call a masterly1 or bold1 or broad1 manner3 a truth oppressed and abused1 like almost every other in this world1 but an eternal one nevertheless2 and whatever mischief may have followed from men's looking for nothing else but this facility of execution1 and supposing that a picture was assuredly all right if only it were done with broad dashes of the brush1 still the truth remains the same3--that because it is not intended that men shall torment or weary themselves with any earthly labor1 it is appointed that the noblest results should only be attainable by a certain ease and decision of manipulation4 ,i only wish people understood this much of sculpture1 as well as of painting1 and could see that the finely finished statue is1 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred1 a far more vulgar work than that which shows rough signs of the right hand laid to the workman's hammer3 but at all events1 in painting it is felt by all men1 and justly felt4 ,the freedom of the lines of nature can only be represented by a similar freedom in the hand that follows them2 there are curves in the flow of the hair1 and in the form of the features1 and in the muscular outline of the body1 which can in no wise be caught but by a sympathetic freedom in the stroke of the pencil4 ,i do not care what example is taken2 be it the most subtle and careful work of ,leonardo himself1 there will be found a play and power and ease in the outlines1 which no slow effort could ever imitate4 ,and if the ,pre-,raphaelites do not understand how this kind of power1 in its highest perfection1 may be united with the most severe rendering of all other orders of truth1 and especially of those with which they themselves have most sympathy1 let them look at the drawings of ,john ,lewis4 #bbc4 ,these then are the principal lessons which we have to learn from ,turner1 in his second or central period of labor4 ,there is one more1 however1 to be received2 and that is a warning2 for towards the close of it1 what with doing small conventional vignettes for publishers1 making showy drawings from sketches taken by other people of places he had never seen1 and touching up the bad engravings from his works submitted to him almost every day1--engravings utterly destitute of animation1 and which had to be raised into a specious brilliancy by scratching them over with white1 spotty lights1 he gradually got inured to many conventionalities1 and even falsities2 and1 having trusted for ten or twelve years almost entirely to his memory and invention1 living1 ,i believe1 mostly in ,london1 and receiving a new sensation only from the burning of the ,houses of ,parliament1 he painted many pictures between #ahcj and #ahdj altogether unworthy of him4 ,but he was not thus to close his career4 #bbd4 ,in the summer either of #ahdj or #ahda1 he undertook another journey into ,switzerland4 ,it was then at least forty years since he had first seen the ,alps2 7the source of the ,arveron1 in ,mr4 ,fawkes's collection1 which could not have been painted till he had seen the thing itself1 bears date #ahjj17 and the direction of his journey in #ahdj marks his fond memory of that earliest one2 for1 if we look over the ,swiss studies and drawings executed in his first period1 we shall be struck by his fondness for the pass of the ,st4 ,gothard2 the most elaborate drawing in the ,farnley collection is one of the ,lake of ,lucerne from ,fluelen2 and1 counting the ,liber ,studiorum subjects1 there are1 to my knowledge1 six compositions taken at the same period from the pass of ,st4 ,gothard1 and1 probably1 several others are in existence4 ,the valleys of ,sallenche and ,chamouni1 and ,lake of ,geneva1 are the only other ,swiss scenes which seem to have made very profound impressions on him4 ,he returned in #ahda to ,lucerne2 walked up ,mont ,pilate on foot1 crossed the ,st4 ,gothard1 and returned by ,lausanne and ,geneva4 ,he made a large number of colored sketches on this journey1 and realized several of them on his return4 ,the drawings thus produced are different from all that had preceded them1 and are the first which belong definitely to what ,i shall henceforward call his ,third period4 ,the perfect repose of his youth had returned to his mind1 while the faculties of imagination and execution appeared in renewed strength2 all conventionality being done away by the force of the impression which he had received from the ,alps1 after his long separation from them4 ,the drawings are marked by a peculiar largeness and simplicity of thought3 most of them by deep serenity1 passing into melancholy2 all by a richness of color1 such as he had never before conceived4 ,they1 and the works done in following years1 bear the same relation to those of the rest of his life that the colors of sunset do to those of the day2 and will be recognized1 in a few years more1 as the noblest landscapes ever yet conceived by human intellect4 #bbe4 ,such has been the career of the greatest painter of this century4 ,many a century may pass away before there rises such another2 but what greatness any among us may be capable of1 will1 at least1 be best attained by following in his path2--by beginning in all quietness and hopefulness to use whatever powers we may possess to represent the things around us as we see and feel them2 trusting to the close of life to give the perfect crown to the course of its labors1 and knowing assuredly that the determination of the degree in which watchfulness is to be exalted into invention1 rests with a higher will than our own4 ,and1 if not greatness1 at least a certain good1 is thus to be achieved2 for though ,i have above spoken of the mission of the more humble artist1 as if it were merely to be subservient to that of the antiquarian or the man of science1 there is an ulterior aspect1 in which it is not subservient1 but superior4 ,every archaeologist1 every natural philosopher1 knows that there is a peculiar rigidity of mind brought on by long devotion to logical and analytical inquiries4 ,weak men1 giving themselves to such studies1 are utterly hardened by them1 and become incapable of understanding anything nobler1 or even of feeling the value of the results to which they lead4 ,but even the best men are in a sort injured by them1 and pay a definite price1 as in most other matters1 for definite advantages4 ,they gain a peculiar strength1 but lose in tenderness1 elasticity1 and impressibility4 ,the man who has gone1 hammer in hand1 over the surface of a romantic country1 feels no longer1 in the mountain ranges he has so laboriously explored1 the sublimity or mystery with which they were veiled when he first beheld them1 and with which they are adorned in the mind of the passing traveler4 ,in his more informed conception1 they arrange themselves like a dissected model3 where another man would be awe-struck by the magnificence of the precipice1 he sees nothing but the emergence of a fossiliferous rock1 familiarized already to his imagination as extending in a shallow stratum1 over a perhaps uninteresting district2 where the unlearned spectator would be touched with strong emotion by the aspect of the snowy summits which rise in the distance1 he sees only the culminating points of a metamorphic formation1 with an uncomfortable web of fanlike fissures radiating1 in his imagination1 though their centers4#da ,that in the grasp he has obtained of the inner relations of all these things to the universe1 and to man1 that in the views which have been opened to him of natural energies such as no human mind would have ventured to conceive1 and of past states of being1 each in some new way bearing witness to the unity of purpose and everlastingly consistent providence of the ,maker of all things1 he has received reward well worthy the sacrifice1 ,i would not for an instant deny2 but the sense of the loss is not less painful to him if his mind be rightly constituted2 and it would be with infinite gratitude that he would regard the man1 who1 retaining in his delineation of natural scenery a fidelity to the facts of science so rigid as to make his work at once acceptable and credible to the most sternly critical intellect1 should yet invest its features again with the sweet veil of their daily aspect2 should make them dazzling with the splendor of wandering light1 and involve them in the unsearchableness of stormy obscurity2 should restore to the divided anatomy its visible vitality of operation1 clothe the naked crags with soft forests1 enrich the mountain ruins with bright pastures1 and lead the thoughts from the monotonous recurrence of the phenomena of the physical world1 to the sweet interests and sorrows of human life and death4 ,,footnotes3 #bh ,this essay was first published in #ahea as a separate pamphlet entitled ,pre-,raphaelitism1 by the author of ,modern ,painters4 7#hvo1 pp4 #fh4 ,london3 ,smith1 ,elder1 ,co47 ,it was afterwards reprinted in #ahfb1 without alteration1 except that the later issue bore the author's name1 and omitted a dedication which in the first edition ran as follows3--,to ,francis ,hawkesworth ,fawkes1 ,esq41 of ,farnley1 ,these pages1 ,which owe their present form to advantages granted ,by his kindness1 ,are affectionately inscribed1 ,by his obliged friend1 ,john ,ruskin4--,,ed4 #bi ,compare ,sesame and ,lilies1 ,sec4 #b4--;,,ed4 #cj ,see ,arrows of the ,chace1 vol4 i41 which gives several letters there collected under the head of ,pre-,raphaelitism4--,,ed4 #ca ,it was not a little curious1 that in the very number of the ,art ,union which repeated this direct falsehood about the ,pre-,raphaelite rejection of linear perspective 7by-the-bye1 the next time ,j4 ,b4 takes upon him to speak of anyone connected with the ,universities1 he may as well first ascertain the difference between a ,graduate and an ,under-,graduate71 the second plate given should have been of a picture of ,bonington's--a professional landscape painter1 observe--for the want of aerial perspective in which the ,art ,union itself was obliged to apologize1 and in which1 the artist has committed nearly as many blunders in linear perspective as there are lines in the picture4 #cb ,these false statements may be reduced to three principal heads1 and directly contradicted in succession4 ,the first1 the current fallacy of society as well as of the press1 was1 that the ,pre-,raphaelites imitated the errors of early painters4 ,a falsehood of this kind could not have obtained credence anywhere but in ,england1 few ,english people1 comparatively1 having ever seen a picture of early ,italian ,masters4 ,if they had they would have known that the ,pre-,raphaelite pictures are just as superior to the early ,italian in skill of manipulation1 power of drawing1 and knowledge of effect1 as inferior to them in grace of design2 and that in a word1 there is not a shadow of resemblance between the two styles4 ,the ,pre-,raphaelites imitate no pictures3 they paint from nature only4 ,but they have opposed themselves as a body1 to that kind of teaching above described1 which only began after ,raphael's time3 and they have opposed themselves as sternly to the entire feeling of the ,renaissance schools2 a feeling compounded of indolence1 infidelity1 sensuality1 and shallow pride4 ,therefore they have called themselves ,pre-,raphaelite4 ,if they adhere to their principles1 and paint nature as it is around them1 with the help of modern science1 with the earnestness of the men of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries1 they will1 as ,i said1 found a new and noble school in ,england4 ,if their sympathies with the early artists lead them into mediaevalism or ,romanism1 they will of course come to nothing4 ,but ,i believe there is no danger of this1 at least for the strongest among them4 ,there may be some weak ones1 whom the ,tractarian heresies may touch2 but if so1 they will drop off like decayed branches from a strong stem4 ,i hope all things from the school4 ,the second falsehood was1 that the ,pre-,raphaelites did not draw well4 ,this was asserted1 and could have been asserted only by persons who had never looked at the pictures4 ,the third falsehood was1 that they had no system of light and shade4 ,to which it may be simply replied that their system of light and shade is exactly the same as the ,sun's2 which is1 ,i believe1 likely to outlast that of the ,renaissance1 however brilliant4 #cc ,see ante1 pp4 #adh-aeg4--;,,ed4 #cd ,he did not use his full signature1 ,j4 ,m4 ,w41 until about the year #ahjj4 #ce ,i shall give a catalogue raisonnee of all this in the third volume of ,modern ,painters4 #cf ,see post1 ,sec4 #bag4 #cg ,the plate was1 however1 never published4 #ch ,and the more probably because ,turner was never fond of staying long at any place1 and was least of all likely to make a pause of two or three days at the beginning of his journey4 #ci ,vide ,modern ,painters1 ,part ,,ii4 ,sect4 ,,iii4 ,chap4 ,,iv4 ,sec4 #ac4 #dj ,see ante1 ,sec4 #bjj4 #da ,this state of mind appears to have been the only one which ,wordsworth had been able to discern in men of science2 and in disdain of which1 he wrote that short-sighted passage in the ,excursion1 ,book ,,iii1 ,p4 #afe-aij1 which is1 ,i think1 the only one in the whole range of his works which his true friends would have desired to see blotted out4 ,what else has been found fault with as feeble or superfluous1 is not so in the intense distinctive relief which it gives to his character4 ,but these lines are written in mere ignorance of the matter they treat2 in mere want of sympathy with the men they describe3 for1 observe1 though the passage is put into the mouth of the ,solitary1 it is fully confirmed1 and even rendered more scornful1 by the speech which follows4 ,,the ,,three ,,colors ,,of ,,pre-,,raphaelitism4#db ,i4 #bbf4 ,i was lately staying in a country house1 in which1 opposite each other at the sides of the drawing-room window1 were two pictures1 belonging to what in the nineteenth century must be called old times1 namely ,rossetti's ,annunciation1 and ,millais' ,blind ,girl2 while1 at the corner of the chimney-piece in the same room1 there was a little drawing of a ,marriage-dance1 by ,edward ,burne ,jones4 ,and in my bedroom1 at one side of my bed1 there was a photograph of the tomb of ,ilaria di ,caretto at ,lucca1 and on the other1 an engraving1 in long since superannuated manner1 from ,raphael's ,transfiguration4 ,also over the looking-glass in my bedroom1 there was this large illuminated text1 fairly well written1 but with more vermilion in it than was needful2 ,lord1 teach us to pray4 ,and for many reasons ,i would fain endeavor to tell my ,oxford pupils some facts which seem to me worth memory about these six works of art2 which1 if they will reflect upon1 being1 in the present state of my health1 the best ,i can do for them in the way of autumn lecturing1 it will be kind to me4 ,and as ,i cannot speak what ,i would say1 and believe my pupils are more likely to read it if printed in the ,nineteenth ,century than in a separate pamphlet1 ,i have asked1 and obtained of the editor1 space in columns which ought1 nevertheless1 ,i think1 usually to be occupied with sterner subjects1 as the ,fates are now driving the nineteenth century on its missionary path4 #bbg4 ,the first picture ,i named1 ,rossetti's ,annunciation1 was1 ,i believe1 among the earliest that drew some public attention to the so-called ,pre-,raphaelite school4 ,the one opposite to it1--,millais' ,blind ,girl1 is among those chiefly characteristic of that school in its determined manner4 ,and the third1 though small and unimportant1 is no less characteristic1 in its essential qualities1 of the mind of the greatest master whom that school has yet produced4 ,i believe most readers will start at the application of the term master1 to any ,english painter4 ,for the hope of the nineteenth century is more and more distinctly every day1 to teach all men how to live without mastership either in art or morals 7primarily1 of course1 substituting for the words of ,christ1 ,ye say well1 for so ,i am1--the probable emendation1 ,ye say ill1 for so ,i am not72 and to limit the idea of magistracy altogether1 no less than the functions of the magistrate1 to the suppression of disturbance in the manufacturing districts4 ,nor would ,i myself use the word ,master in any but the most qualified sense1 of any modern painter2 scarcely even of ,turner1 and not at all1 except for convenience and as a matter of courtesy1 of any workman of the ,pre-,raphaelite school1 as yet4 ,in such courtesy1 only1 let the masterless reader permit it me4 #bbh4 ,i must endeavor first to give1 as well as ,i can by description1 some general notion of the subjects and treatment of the three pictures4 ,rossetti's ,annunciation differs from every previous conception of the scene known to me1 in representing the angel as waking the ,virgin from sleep to give her his message4 ,the ,messenger himself also differs from angels as they are commonly represented1 in not depending1 for recognition of his supernatural character1 on the insertion of bird's wings at his shoulders4 ,if we are to know him for an angel at all1 it must be by his face1 which is that simply of youthful1 but grave1 manhood4 ,he is neither transparent in body1 luminous in presence1 nor auriferous in apparel2--wears a plain1 long1 white robe1--casts a natural and undiminished shadow1--and1 although there are flames beneath his feet1 which upbear him1 so that he does not touch the earth1 these are unseen by the ,virgin4 ,she herself is an ,english1 not a ,jewish girl1 of about sixteen or seventeen1 of such pale and thoughtful beauty as ,rossetti could best imagine for her2 concerning which effort1 and its degree of success1 we will inquire farther presently4 ,she has risen half up1 not started up1 in being awakened2 and is not looking at the angel1 but only thinking1 it seems1 with eyes cast down1 as if supposing herself in a strange dream4 ,the morning light fills the room1 and shows at the foot of her little pallet-bed1 her embroidery work1 left off the evening before1--an upright lily4 ,upright1 and very accurately upright1 as also the edges of the piece of cloth in its frame1--as also the gliding form of the angel1--as also1 in severe foreshortening1 that of the ,virgin herself4 ,it has been studied1 so far as it has been studied at all1 from a very thin model2 and the disturbed coverlid is thrown into confused angular folds1 which admit no suggestion whatever of ordinary girlish grace4 ,so that1 to any spectator little inclined towards the praise of barren uprightnesse1 and accustomed on the contrary to expect radiance in archangels1 and grace in ,madonnas1 the first effect of the design must be extremely displeasing1 and the first is perhaps1 with most art-amateurs of modern days1 likely to be the last4 #bbi4 ,the background of the second picture 7,millais' ,blind ,girl71 is an open ,english common1 skirted by the tidy houses of a well-to-do village in the cockney rural districts4 ,i have no doubt the scene is a real one within some twenty miles from ,london1 and painted mostly on the spot4 ,the houses are entirely uninteresting1 but decent1 trim1 as human dwellings should be1 and on the whole inoffensive--not cottages1 mind you1 in any sense1 but respectable brick-walled and slated constructions1 old-fashioned in the sense of old at1 suppose1 ,bromley or ,sevenoaks1 and with a pretty little church belonging to them1 its window traceries freshly whitewashed by order of the careful warden4 ,the common is a fairly spacious bit of ragged pasture1 with a couple of donkeys feeding on it1 and a cow or two1 and at the side of the public road passing over it1 the blind girl has sat down to rest awhile4 ,she is a simple beggar1 not a poetical or vicious one2--being peripatetic with musical instrument1 she will1 ,i suppose1 come under the general term of tramp2 a girl of eighteen or twenty1 extremely plain-featured1 but healthy1 and just now resting1 as any one of us would rest1 not because she is much tired1 but because the sun has but this moment come out after a shower1 and the smell of the grass is pleasant4 ,the shower has been heavy1 and is so still in the distance1 where an intensely bright double rainbow is relieved against the departing thunder-cloud4 ,the freshly wet grass is all radiant through and through with the new sunshine2 full noon at its purest1 the very donkeys bathed in the rain-dew1 and prismatic with it under their rough breasts as they graze2 the weeds at the girl's side as bright as a ,byzantine enamel1 and inlaid with blue veronica2 her upturned face all aglow with the light that seeks its way through her wet eyelashes 7wet only with the rain74 ,very quiet she is1--so quiet that a radiant butterfly has settled on her shoulder1 and basks there in the warm sun4 ,against her knee1 on which her poor instrument of musical beggary rests 7harmonium71 leans another child1 half her age--her guide2--indifferent1 this one1 either to sun or rain1 only a little tired of waiting4 ,no more than a half profile of her face is seen2 and that is quite expressionless1 and not the least pretty4 #bcj4 ,both of these pictures are oil-paintings4 ,the third1 ,mr4 ,burne ,jones's ,bridal1 is a small water-color drawing1 scarcely more than a sketch2 but full and deep in such color as it admits4 ,any careful readers of my recent lectures at ,oxford know that ,i entirely ignore the difference of material between oil and water as diluents of color1 when ,i am examining any grave art question3 nor shall ,i hereafter1 throughout this paper1 take notice of it4 ,nor do ,i think it needful to ask the pardon of any of the three artists for confining the reader's attention at present to comparatively minor and elementary examples of their works4 ,if ,i can succeed in explaining the principles involved in them1 their application by the reader will be easily extended to the enjoyment of better examples4 ,this drawing of ,mr4 ,jones's1 however1 is far less representative of his scale of power than either of the two pieces already described1 which have both cost their artists much care and time2 while this little water-color has been perhaps done in the course of a summer afternoon4 ,it is only about seven inches by nine3 the figures of the average size of ,angelico's on any altar predella2 and the heads1 of those on an average ,corinthian or ,syracusan coin4 ,the bride and bridegroom sit on a slightly raised throne at the side of the picture1 the bride nearest us2 her head seen in profile1 a little bowed4 ,before them1 the three bridesmaids and their groomsmen dance in circle1 holding each other's hands1 bare-footed1 and dressed in long dark blue robes4 ,their figures are scarcely detached from the dark background1 which is a willful mingling of shadow and light1 as the artist chose to put them1 representing1 as far as ,i remember1 nothing in particular4 ,the deep tone of the picture leaves several of the faces in obscurity1 and none are drawn with much care1 not even the bride's2 but with enough to show that her features are at least as beautiful as those of an ordinary ,greek goddess1 while the depth of the distant background throws out her pale head in an almost lunar1 yet unexaggerated1 light2 and the white and blue flowers of her narrow coronal1 though merely white and blue1 shine1 one knows not how1 like gems4 ,her bridegroom stoops forward a little to look at her1 so that we see his front face1 and can see also that he loves her4 #bca4 ,such being the respective effort and design of the three pictures1 although ,i put by1 for the moment1 any question of their mechanical skill or manner1 it must yet1 ,i believe1 be felt by the reader that1 as works of young men1 they contained1 and even nailed to the ,academy gates1 a kind of ,lutheran challenge to the then accepted teachers in all ,european schools of ,art3 perhaps a little too shrill and petulant in the tone of it1 but yet curiously resolute and steady in its triple ,fraternity1 as of ,william of ,burglen with his ,melchthal and ,stauffacher1 in the ,grutli meadow1 not wholly to be scorned by even the knightliest powers of the ,past4 ,we have indeed1 since these pictures were first exhibited1 become accustomed to many forms both of pleasing and revolting innovation3 but consider1 in those early times1 how the pious persons who had always been accustomed to see their ,madonnas dressed in scrupulously folded and exquisitely falling robes of blue1 with edges embroidered in gold1--to find them also1 sitting under arcades of exquisitest architecture by ,bernini1--and reverently to observe them receive the angel's message with their hands folded on their breasts in the most graceful positions1 and the missals they had been previously studying laid open on their knees1 7see my own outline from ,angelico of the ,ancilla ,domini1 the first plate of the fifth volume of ,modern ,painters72--consider1 ,i repeat1 the shock to the feelings of all these delicately minded persons1 on being asked to conceive a ,virgin waking from her sleep on a pallet bed1 in a plain room1 startled by sudden words and ghostly presence which she does not comprehend1 and casting in her mind what manner of ,salutation this should be4 #bcb4 ,again1 consider1 with respect to the second picture1 how the learned possessors of works of established reputation by the ancient masters1 classically catalogued as landscapes with figures2 and who held it for eternal1 artistic law that such pictures should either consist of a rock1 with a ,spanish chestnut growing out of the side of it1 and three banditti in helmets and big feathers on the top1 or else of a ,corinthian temple1 built beside an arm of the sea1 with the ,queen of ,sheba beneath1 preparing for embarkation to visit ,solomon1--the whole properly toned down with amber varnish2--imagine the first consternation1 and final wrath1 of these cognoscenti1 at being asked to contemplate1 deliberately1 and to the last rent of her ragged gown1 and for principal object in a finished picture1 a vagrant who ought at once to have been sent to the workhouse2 and some really green grass and blue flowers1 as they actually may any day be seen on an ,english common-side4 ,and finally1 let us imagine1 if imagination fail us not1 the far more wide and weighty indignation of the public1 accustomed always to see its paintings of marriages elaborated in ,christian propriety and splendor2 with a bishop officiating1 assisted by a dean and an archdeacon2 the modesty of the bride expressed by a veil of the most expensive ,valenciennes1 and the robes of the bridesmaids designed by the perfectest of ,parisian artists1 and looped up with stuffed robins or other such tender rarities2--think with what sense of hitherto unheard-of impropriety1 the ,british public must have received a picture of a marriage1 in which the bride was only crowned with flowers1--at which the bridesmaids danced barefoot1--and in which nothing was known1 or even conjecturable1 respecting the bridegroom1 but his love6 #bcc4 ,such being the manifestly opponent and agonistic temper of these three pictures 7and admitting1 which ,i will crave the reader to do for the nonce1 their real worth and power to be considerable71 it surely becomes a matter of no little interest to see what spirit it is that they have in common1 which1 recognized as revolutionary in the minds of the young artists themselves1 caused them1 with more or less of firmness1 to constitute themselves into a society1 partly monastic1 partly predicatory1 called ,pre-,raphaelite3 and also recognized as such1 with indignation1 by the public1 caused the youthfully didactic society to be regarded with various degrees of contempt1 passing into anger 7as of offended personal dignity71 and embittered farther1 among certain classes of persons1 even into a kind of instinctive abhorrence4 #bcd4 ,i believe the reader will discover1 on reflection1 that there is really only one quite common and sympathetic impulse shown in these three works1 otherwise so distinct in aim and execution4 ,and this fraternal link he will1 if careful in reflection1 discover to be an effort to represent1 so far as in these youths lay either the choice or the power1 things as they are1 or were1 or may be1 instead of1 according to the practice of their instructors and the wishes of their public1 things as they are not1 never were1 and never can be3 this effort being founded deeply on a conviction that it is at first better1 and finally more pleasing1 for human minds to contemplate things as they are1 than as they are not4 ,thus1 ,mr4 ,rossetti1 in this and subsequent works of the kind1 thought it better for himself and his public to make some effort towards a real notion of what actually did happen in the carpenter's cottage at ,nazareth1 giving rise to the subsequent traditions delivered in the ,gospels1 than merely to produce a variety in the pattern of ,virgin1 pattern of ,virgin's gown1 and pattern of ,virgin's house1 which had been set by the jewelers of the fifteenth century4 ,similarly1 ,mr4 ,millais1 in this and other works of the kind1 thought it desirable rather to paint such grass and foliage as he saw in ,kent1 ,surrey1 and other solidly accessible ,english counties1 than to imitate even the most ,elysian fields enameled by ,claude1 or the gloomiest branches of ,hades forest rent by ,salvator3 and yet more1 to manifest his own strong personal feeling that the humanity1 no less than the herbage1 near us and around1 was that which it was the painter's duty first to portray2 and that1 if ,wordsworth were indeed right in feeling that the meanest flower that blows can give1--much more1 for any kindly heart it should be true that the meanest tramp that walks can give--thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears4 #bce4 ,and if at first--or even always to careless sight--the third of these pictures seem opposite to the two others in the very point of choice1 between what is and what is not2 insomuch that while they with all their strength avouch realities1 this with simplest confession dwells upon a dream1--yet in this very separation from them it sums their power and seals their brotherhood2 reaching beyond them to the more perfect truth of things1 not only that once were1--not only that now are1--but which are the same yesterday1 to-day1 and forever2--the love by whose ordaining the world itself1 and all that dwell therein1 live1 and move1 and have their being2 by which the ,morning stars rejoice in their courses--in which the virgins of deathless ,israel rejoice in the dance--and in whose constancy the ,giver of light to stars1 and love to men1 ,himself is glad in the creatures of ,his hand1--day by new day proclaiming to ,his ,church of all the ages1 ,as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride1 so shall thy ,lord rejoice over thee4 ,such1 the reader will find1 if he cares to learn it1 is indeed the purport and effort of these three designs--so far as1 by youthful hands and in a time of trouble and rebuke1 such effort could be brought to good end4 ,of their visible weaknesses1 with the best justice ,i may1--of their veritable merits with the best insight ,i may1 and of the farther history of the school which these masters founded1 ,i hope to be permitted to speak more under the branches that do not remember their green felicity2 adding a corollary or two respecting the other pieces of art above named#dc as having taken part in the tenor of my country hours of idleness4 ,,footnotes3 #db ,nineteenth ,century1 ,,nov4-,,dec4 #ahgh4--;,,ed4 #dc ,may ,i in the meantime recommend any reader interested in these matters to obtain for himself such photographic representation as may be easily acquirable of the tomb of ,ilaria8 ,it is in the north transept of the ,cathedral of ,lucca2 and is certainly the most beautiful work existing by the master who wrought it1--,jacopo della ,quercia4 ,,the ,,three ,,colors ,,of ,,pre-,,raphaelitism4 ,,ii4 #bcf4 ,the feeling which1 in the foregoing notes on the pictures that entertained my vacation1 ,i endeavored to illustrate as dominant over early ,pre-,raphaelite work1 is very far from being new in the world4 ,demonstrations in support of fact against fancy have been periodical motives of earthquake and heartquake1 under the two rigidly incumbent burdens of drifted tradition1 which1 throughout the history of humanity1 during phases of languid thought1 cover the vaults of searching fire that must at last try every man's work1 what it is4 ,but the movement under present question derived unusual force1 and in some directions a morbid and mischievous force1 from the vulgarly called#dd scientific modes of investigation which had destroyed in the minds of the public it appealed to1 all possibility1 or even conception1 of reverence for anything1 past1 present1 or future1 invisible to the eyes of a mob1 and inexpressible by popular vociferation4 ,it was indeed1 and had long been1 too true1 as the wisest of us felt1 that the mystery of the domain between things that are universally visible1 and are only occasionally so to some persons1--no less than the myths or words in which those who had entered that kingdom related what they had seen1 had become1 the one uninviting1 and the other useless1 to men dealing with the immediate business of our day2 so that the historian of the last of ,european kings might most reasonably mourn that the ,berlin ,galleries1 which are made up1 like other galleries1 of goat-footed ,pan1 ,europa's ,bull1 ,romulus's ,she-wolf1 and the ,correggiosity of ,correggio1 contain1 for instance1 no portrait of ,friedrich the ,great2 no likeness at all1 or next to none at all1 of the noble series of human realities1 or of any part of them1 who have sprung 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 99 99 99 #bcg4 ,but we must surely1 in fairness to modernism1 remember that although no portraits of great ,frederick1 of a trustworthy character1 may be found at ,berlin1 portraits of the ,english squire1 be he great or small1 may usually be seen at his country house4 ,and ,edinburgh1 as ,i lately saw1--if she boasts of no ,venetian perfectness of art in the portraiture of her ,bruce or ,james1 her ,douglas or ,knox1 at ,holyrood1 has at least a charming portrait of a ,scottish beauty in the ,attic ,institution1 whose majesty1 together with that of the more extensive glass roofs of the railway station1 and the tall chimney of the gasworks1 inflates the ,caledonian mind1 contemplative around the spot where the last of its minstrels appears to be awaiting eternal extinction under his special extinguisher2--and pronouncing of all its works and ways that they are very good4 ,and are there not also sufficiently resembling portraits of all the mouthpieces of constituents in ,british ,parliament--as their vocal powers advance them into that worshipful society--presented to the people1 with due felicitation on the new pipe it has got to its organ1 in the ,illustrated or other graphic ,news8 ,surely1 therefore1 it cannot be portraiture of merely human greatness of mind that we are anyway short of2 but another manner of greatness altogether8 ,and may we not regret that as great ,frederick is dead1 so also great ,pan is dead1 and only the goat-footed ,pan1 or rather the goat's feet of him without the ,pan1 left for portraiture8 99 99 99 #bch4 ,i chanced to walk1 to-day1 #ith of ,november1 through the gallery of the ,liverpool ,museum1 in which the good zeal and sense of ,mr4 ,gatty have already1 in beautiful order1 arranged the ,egyptian antiquities1 but have not yet prevailed far enough to group1 in like manner1 the scattered ,byzantine and ,italian ivories above4 ,out of which collection1 every way valuable1 two primarily important pieces1 it seems to me1 may be recommended for accurate juxtaposition1 bringing then for us into briefest compass an extensive story of the ,arts of ,mankind4 ,the first is an image of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 carved in the eleventh century2 being then conceived by the image-maker as decently covered by his raiment of camel's hair2 bearing a gentle aspect1 because the herald of a gentle ,lord2 and pointing to his quite legibly written message concerning the ,lamb which is that gentle ,lord's heraldic symbol4 ,the other carving is also of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 ,italian work of the sixteenth century4 ,he is represented thereby as bearing no aspect1 for he is without his head2--wearing no camel's hair1 for he is without his raiment2--and indicative of no message1 for he has none to bring4 #bci4 ,now if these two carvings are ever put in due relative position1 they will constitute a precise and permanent art-lecture to the museum-visitants of ,liverpool-burg2 exhibiting to them instantly1 and in sum1 the conditions of the change in the aims of art which1 beginning in the thirteenth century under ,niccolo ,pisano1 consummated itself three hundred years afterwards in ,raphael and his scholars4 ,niccolo1 first among ,italians1 thought mainly in carving the ,crucifixion1 not how heavy ,christ's head was when ,he bowed it2--but how heavy ,his body was when people came to take it down4 ,and the apotheosis of flesh1 or1 in modern scientific terms1 the molecular development of flesh1 went steadily on1 until at last1 as we see in the instance before us1 it became really of small consequence to the artists of the ,renaissance ,incarnadine1 whether a man had his head on or not1 so only that his legs were handsome3 and the decapitation1 whether of ,st4 ,john or ,st4 ,cecilia2 the massacre of any quantity of ,innocents2 the flaying1 whether of ,marsyas or ,st4 ,bartholomew1 and the deaths1 it might be of ,laocoon by his vipers1 it might be of ,adonis by his pig1 or it might be of ,christ by ,his people1 became1 one and all1 simply subjects for analysis of muscular mortification2 and the vast body of artists accurately1 therefore1 little more than a chirurgically useless sect of medical students4 ,of course there were many reactionary tendencies among the men who had been trained in the pure ,tuscan schools1 which partly concealed1 or adorned1 the materialism of their advance2 and ,raphael himself1 after profoundly studying the arabesques of ,pompeii and of the palace of the ,caesars1 beguiled the tedium1 and illustrated the spirituality of the converse of ,moses and ,elias with ,christ concerning ,his decease which ,he should accomplish at ,jerusalem1 by placing them1 above the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 in the attitudes of two humming-birds on the top of a honeysuckle4 #bdj4 ,but the best of these ornamental arrangements were insufficient to sustain the vivacity1 while they conclusively undermined the sincerity1 of the ,christian faith1 and the real consequences of the acceptance of this kind 7,roman ,bath and ,sarcophagus kind7 of religious idealism were instant and manifold4#de 99 99 99 ,so far as it was received and trusted in by thoughtful persons1 it only served to chill all the conceptions of sacred history which they might otherwise have obtained4 ,whatever they could have fancied for themselves about the wild1 strange1 infinitely stern1 infinitely tender1 infinitely varied veracities of the life of ,christ1 was blotted out by the vapid fineries of ,raphael3 the rough ,galilean pilot1 the orderly custom receiver1 and all the questioning wonder and fire of uneducated apostleship1 were obscured under an antique mask of philosophical faces and long robes4 ,the feeble1 subtle1 suffering1 ceaseless energy and humiliation of ,st4 ,paul were confused with an idea of a meditative ,hercules leaning on a sweeping sword2 and the mighty presences of ,moses and ,elias were softened by introductions of delicate grace1 adopted from dancing nymphs and rising ,auroras4 ,now no vigorously minded religious person could possibly receive pleasure or help from such art as this2 and the necessary result was the instant rejection of it by the healthy religion of the world4 ,raphael ministered1 with applause1 to the impious luxury of the ,vatican1 but was trampled underfoot at once by every believing and advancing ,christian of his own and subsequent times2 and thenceforward pure ,christianity and high art took separate roads1 and fared on1 as best they might1 independently of each other4 ,but although ,calvin1 and ,knox1 and ,luther1 and their flocks1 with all the hardest-headed and truest-hearted faithful left in ,christendom1 thus spurned away the spurious art1 and all art with it 7not without harm to themselves1 such as a man must needs sustain in cutting off a decayed limb71 certain conditions of weaker ,christianity suffered the false system to retain influence over them2 and to this day the clear and tasteless poison of the art of ,raphael infects with sleep of infidelity the hearts of millions of ,christians4 ,it is the first cause of all that pre-eminent dullness which characterizes what ,protestants call sacred art2 a dullness not merely baneful in making religion distasteful to the young1 but in sickening1 as we have seen1 all vital belief of religion in the old4 ,a dim sense of impossibility attaches itself always to the graceful emptiness of the representation2 we feel instinctively that the painted ,christ and painted apostle are not beings that ever did or could exist2 and this fatal sense of fair fabulousness1 and well-composed impossibility1 steals gradually from the picture into the history1 until we find ourselves reading ,st4 ,mark or ,st4 ,luke with the same admiring1 but uninterested1 incredulity1 with which we contemplate ,raphael4 #bda4 ,without claiming1--nay1 so far as my knowledge can reach1 utterly disclaiming--any personal influence over1 or any originality of suggestion to1 the men who founded our presently realistic schools1 ,i may yet be permitted to point out the sympathy which ,i had as an outstanding spectator with their effort2 and the more or less active fellowship with it1 which1 unrecognized1 ,i had held from the beginning4 ,the passage ,i have just quoted 7with many others enforcing similar truths7 is in the third volume of ,modern ,painters2 but if the reader can refer to the close of the preface to the second edition#df of the first1 he will find this very principle of realism asserted for the groundwork of all ,i had to teach in that volume4 ,the lesson so far pleased the public of that day1 that ever since1 they have refused to listen to any corollaries or conclusions from it1 assuring me1 year by year1 continually1 that the older ,i grew1 the less ,i knew1 and the worse ,i wrote4 ,nevertheless1 that first volume of ,modern ,painters did by no means contain all that even then ,i knew2 and in the third1 nominally treating of ,many ,things1 will be found the full expression of what ,i knew best2 namely1 that all things1 many or few1 which we ought to paint1 must be first distinguished boldly from the nothings which we ought not2 and that a faithful realist1 before he could question whether his art was representing anything truly1 had first to ask whether it meant seriously to represent anything at all6 #bdb4 ,and such definition has in these days become more needful than ever before1 in this solid1 or spectral--which-ever the reader pleases to consider it--world of ours4 ,for some of us1 who have no perception but of solidity1 are agreed to consider all that is not solid1 or weighably liquid1 nothing4 ,and others of us1 who have also perception of the spectral1 are sometimes too much inclined to call what is no more than solid1 or weighably liquid1 nothing4 ,but the general reader may be at least assured that it is not at all possible for the student to enter into useful discussion concerning the qualities of art which takes on itself to represent things as they are1 unless he include in its subjects the spectral1 no less than the substantial1 reality2 and understand what difference must be between the powers of veritable representation1 for the men whose models are of ponderable flesh1 as for instance1 the ,sculptor's model1 lately under debate in ,liverpool1--and the men whose models pause perhaps only for an instant--painted on the immeasurable air1--forms which they themselves can but discern darkly1 and remember uncertainly1 saying3 ,a vision passed before me1 but ,i could not discern the form thereof4 #bdc4 ,and the most curious1 yet the most common1 deficiency in the modern contemplative mind1 is its inability to comprehend that these phenomena of true imagination are yet no less real1 and often more vivid than phenomena of matter4 ,we continually hear artists blamed or praised for having painted this or that 7either of material or spectral kind71 without the slightest implied inquiry whether they saw this1 or that4 ,whereas the quite primal difference between the first and second order of artists1 is that the first is indeed painting what he has seen2 and the second only what he would like to see6 ,but as the one that can paint what he would like1 has therefore the power1 if he chooses1 of painting more or less what also his public likes1 he has a chance of being received with sympathetic applause1 on all hands1 while the first1 it may be1 meets only reproach for not having painted something more agreeable4 ,thus ,mr4 ,millais1 going out at ,tunbridge or ,sevenoaks1 sees a blind vagrant led by an ugly child2 and paints that highly objectionable group1 as they appeared to him4 ,but your pliably minded painter gives you a beautiful young lady guiding a sightless ,belisarius 7see the gift by one of our most tasteful modistes to our ,national ,gallery71 and the gratified public never troubles itself to ask whether these ethereal mendicants were ever indeed apparent in this world1 or any other4 ,much more1 if1 in deeper vistas of his imagination1 some presently graphic ,zechariah paint--7let us say7 four carpenters1 the public will most likely declare that he ought to have painted persons in a higher class of life1 without ever inquiring whether the ,lord had shown him four carpenters or not4 ,and the worst of the business is that the public impatience1 in such sort1 is not wholly unreasonable4 ,for truly1 a painter who has eyes can1 for the most part1 see what he likes with them2 and is1 by divine law1 answerable for his liking4 ,and1 even at this late hour of the day1 it is still conceivable that such of them as would verily prefer to see1 suppose1 instead of a tramp with a harmonium1 ,orpheus with his lute1 or ,arion on his dolphin1 pleased ,proteus rising beside him from the sea1--might1 standing on the pleasant lea of ,margate or ,brighton1 have sight of those personages4 ,orpheus with his lute1--,jubal with his harp and horn1--,harmonia1 bride of the warrior seed-sower1--,musica herself1 lady of all timely thought and sweetly ordered things1--,cantatrice and ,incantatrice to all but the museless adder2 these the ,amphion of ,fesole saw1 as he shaped the marble of his tower2 these1 ,memmi of ,siena1 fair-figured on the shadows of his vault2--but for us1 here is the only manifestation granted to our best practical painter--a vagrant with harmonium--and yonder blackbirds and iridescent jackasses1 to be harmonized thereby4 #bdd4 ,our best painter 7among the living7 ,i say2--no question has ever been of that4 ,since ,van ,eyck and ,duerer there has nothing been seen so well done in laying of clear oil-color within definite line4 ,and what he might have painted for us1 if we had only known what we would have of him6 ,heaven only knows4 ,but we none of us knew1--nor he neither2 and on the whole the perfectest of his works1 and the representative picture of that generation--was no ,annunciate ,maria bowing herself2 but only a ,newsless ,mariana stretching herself3 which is indeed the best symbol of the mud-moated ,nineteenth century2 in its ,grange1 ,stable--,sty1 or whatever name of dwelling may best befit the things it calls ,houses and ,cities3 imprisoned therein by the unassailablest of walls1 and blackest of ditches--by the pride of ,babel1 and the filthiness of ,aholah and ,aholibamah2 and their worse younger sister2--craving for any manner of ,news from any world--and getting none trustworthy even of its own4 #bde4 ,i said that in this second paper ,i would try to give some brief history of the rise1 and the issue1 of that ,pre-,raphaelite school3 but1 as ,i look over two of the essays#dg that were printed with mine in that last number of the ,nineteenth ,century--the first--in laud of the ,science which accepts for practical spirits1 inside of men1 only ,avarice and ,indolence2 and the other1--in laud of the ,science which rejects the ,worker outside of ,men1 ,i am less and less confident in offering to the readers of the ,nineteenth ,century any ,history relating to such despised things as unavaricious industry1--or incorporeal vision4 ,i will be as brief as ,i can4 #bdf4 ,the central branch of the school1 represented by the central picture above described3--,the ,blind ,girl--was essentially and vitally an uneducated one4 ,it was headed1 in literary power1 by ,wordsworth2 but the first pure example of its mind and manner of ,art1 as opposed to the erudite and artificial schools1 will be found1 so far as ,i know1 in ,moliere's song3 j'aime mieux ma mie4 ,its mental power consisted in discerning what was lovely in present nature1 and in pure moral emotion concerning it4 ,its physical power1 in an intense veracity of direct realization to the eye4 ,so far as ,mr4 ,millais saw what was beautiful in vagrants1 or commons1 or crows1 or donkeys1 or the straw under children's feet in the ,ark 7,noah's or anybody else's does not matter71--in the ,huguenot and his mistress1 or the ivy behind them1--in the face of ,ophelia1 or in the flowers floating over it as it sank2--much more1 so far as he saw what instantly comprehensible nobleness of passion might be in the binding of a handkerchief1--in the utterance of two words1 ,trust me or the like3 he prevailed1 and rightly prevailed1 over all prejudice and opposition2 to that extent he will in what he has done1 or may yet do1 take1 as a standard-bearer1 an honorable place among the reformers of our day4 ,so far as he could not see what was beautiful1 but what was essentially and forever common 7in that ,god had not cleansed it71 and so far as he did not see truly what he thought he saw2 7as for instance1 in this picture1 under immediate consideration1 when he paints the spark of light in a crow's eye a hundred yards off1 as if he were only painting a miniature of a crow close by17--he failed of his purpose and hope2 but how far ,i have neither the power nor the disposition to consider4 #bdg4 ,the school represented by ,mr4 ,rossetti's picture and adopted for his own by ,mr4 ,holman ,hunt1 professed1 necessarily1 to be a learned one2 and to represent things which had happened long ago1 in a manner credible to any moderns who were interested in them4 ,the value to us of such a school necessarily depends on the things it chooses to represent1 out of the infinite history of mankind4 ,for instance1 ,david1 of the first ,republican ,academe1 was a true master of this school2 and1 painting the ,horatii receiving their swords1 foretold the triumph of that ,republican ,power4 ,gerome1 of the latest ,republican ,academe1 paints the dying ,polichinelle1 and the morituri gladiators3 foretelling1 in like manner1 the shame and virtual ruin of modern ,republicanism4 ,what our own painters have done for us in this kind has been too unworthy of their real powers1 for ,mr4 ,rossetti threw more than half his strength into literature1 and1 in that precise measure1 left himself unequal to his appointed task in painting2 while ,mr4 ,hunt1 not knowing the necessity of masters any more than the rest of our painters1 and attaching too great importance to the externals of the life of ,christ1 separated himself for long years from all discipline by the recognized laws of his art2 and fell into errors which wofully shortened his hand and discredited his cause--into which again ,i hold it no part of my duty to enter4 ,but such works as either of these painters have done1 without antagonism or ostentation1 and in their own true instincts2 as all ,rossetti's drawing from the life of ,christ1 more especially that of the ,madonna gathering the bitter herbs for the ,passover when ,he was twelve years old2 and that of the ,magdalen leaving her companions to come to ,him2 these1 together with all the mythic scenes which he painted from the ,vita ,nuova and ,paradiso of ,dante1 are of quite imperishable power and value3 as also many of the poems to which he gave up part of his painter's strength4 ,of ,holman ,hunt's ,light of the ,world1 and ,awakening ,conscience1 ,i have publicly spoken and written1 now for many years1 as standard in their kind3 the study of sunset on the ,egean1 lately placed by me in the schools of ,oxford1 is not less authoritative in landscape1 so far as its aim extends4 #bdh4 ,but the ,school represented by the third painting1 ,the ,bridal1 is that into which the greatest masters of all ages are gathered1 and in which they are walled round as in ,elysian fields1 unapproachable but by the reverent and loving souls1 in some sort already among the ,dead4 ,they interpret to those of us who can read them1 so far as they already see and know1 the things that are forever4 ,charity never faileth2 but whether there be prophecies1 they shall fail--tongues1 they shall cease--knowledge1 it shall vanish4 ,and the one message they bear to us is the commandment of the ,eternal ,charity4 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thine heart1 and thy neighbor as thyself4 ,as thyself--no more1 even the dearest of neighbors4 ,therefore let every man see that he love his wife even as himself4 ,no more--else she has become an idol1 not a fellow-servant2 a creature between us and our ,master4 ,and they teach us that what higher creatures exist between ,him and us1 we are also bound to know1 and to love in their place and state1 as they ascend and descend on the stairs of their watch and ward4 ,the principal masters of this faithful religious school in painting1 known to me1 are ,giotto1 ,angelico1 ,sandro ,botticelli1 ,filippo ,lippi1 ,luini1 and ,carpaccio2 but for a central illustration of their mind1 ,i take that piece of work by the sculptor of ,quercia1#dh of which some shadow of representation1 true to an available degree1 is within reach of my reader4 #bdi4 ,this sculpture is central in every respect2 being the last ,florentine work in which the proper form of the ,etruscan tomb is preserved1 and the first in which all right ,christian sentiment respecting death is embodied4 ,it is perfectly severe in classical tradition1 and perfectly frank in concession to the passions of existing life4 ,it submits to all the laws of the past1 and expresses all the hopes of the future4 ,now every work of the great ,christian schools expresses primarily1 conquest over death2 conquest not grievous1 but absolute and serene2 rising with the greatest of them1 into rapture4 ,but this1 as a central work1 has all the peace of the ,christian ,eternity1 but only in part its gladness4 ,young children wreathe round the tomb a garland of abundant flowers1 but she herself1 ,ilaria1 yet sleeps2 the time is not yet come for her to be awakened out of sleep4 ,her image is a simple portrait of her--how much less beautiful than she was in life1 we cannot know--but as beautiful as marble can be4 ,and through and in the marble we may see that the damsel is not dead1 but sleepeth3 yet as visibly a sleep that shall know no ending until the last day break1 and the last shadow flee away2 until then1 she shall not return4 ,her hands are laid on her breast--not praying--she has no need to pray now4 ,she wears her dress of every day1 clasped at her throat1 girdled at her waist1 the hem of it drooping over her feet4 ,no disturbance of its folds by pain of sickness1 no binding1 no shrouding of her sweet form1 in death more than in life4 ,as a soft1 low wave of summer sea1 her breast rises2 no more3 the rippled gathering of its close mantle droops to the belt1 then sweeps to her feet1 straight as drifting snow4 ,and at her feet her dog lies watching her2 the mystery of his mortal life joined1 by love1 to her immortal one4 ,few know1 and fewer love1 the tomb and its place1--not shrine1 for it stands bare by the cathedral wall3 only1 by chance1 a cross is cut deep into one of the foundation stones behind her head4 ,but no goddess statue of the ,greek cities1 no nun's image among the cloisters of ,apennine1 no fancied light of angel in the homes of heaven1 has more divine rank among the thoughts of men4 #bej4 ,in so much as the reader can see of it1 and learn1 either by print or cast1 or beside it2 7and he would do well to stay longer in that transept than in the ,tribune at ,florence17 he may receive from it1 unerring canon of what is evermore ,lovely and ,right in the dealing of the ,art of ,man with his fate1 and his passions4 ,evermore lovely1 and right4 ,these two virtues of visible things go always hand in hand3 but the workman is bound to assure himself of his ,rightness first2 then the loveliness will come4 ,and primarily1 from this sculpture1 you are to learn what a ,master is4 ,here was one man at least1 who knew his business1 once upon a time6 ,unaccusably2--none of your fool's heads or clown's hearts can find a fault here6 ,dog-fancier1#di cobbler1 tailor1 or churl1 look here--says ,master ,jacopo--look6 ,i know what a brute is1 better than you1 ,i know what a silken tassel is--what a leathern belt is--,also1 what a woman is2 and also--what a ,law of ,god is1 if you care to know4 ,this it is1 to be a ,master4 ,then secondly--you are to note that with all the certain rightness of its material fact1 this sculpture still is the ,sculpture of a ,dream4 ,ilaria is dressed as she was in life4 ,but she never lay so on her pillow6 nor so1 in her grave4 ,those straight folds1 straightly laid as a snowdrift1 are impossible2 known by the ,master to be so--chiseled with a hand as steady as an iron beam1 and as true as a ray of light--in defiance of your law of ,gravity to the ,earth4 ,that law prevailed on her shroud1 and prevails on her dust3 but not on herself1 nor on the ,vision of her4 ,then thirdly1 and lastly4 ,you are to learn that the doing of a piece of ,art such as this is possible to the hand of ,man just in the measure of his obedience to the laws which are indeed over his heart1 and not over his dust3 primarily1 as ,i have said1 to that great one1 ,thou shalt ,love the ,lord thy ,god4 ,which command is straight and clear2 and all men may obey it if they will1--so only that they be early taught to know ,him4 ,and that is precisely the piece of exact ,science which is not taught at present in our ,board ,schools--so that although my friend1 with whom ,i was staying1 was not himself1 in the modern sense1 ill-educated2 neither did he conceive me to be so1--he yet thought it good for himself and me to have that ,inscription1 ,lord1 teach us to ,pray1 illuminated on the house wall--if perchance either he or ,i could yet learn what ,john 7when he still had his head7 taught his ,disciples4 #bea4 ,but alas1 for us only at last1 among the people of all ages and in all climes1 the lesson has become too difficult2 and the ,father of all1 in every age1 in every clime adored1 is ,rejected of science1 as an ,outside ,worker1 in ,cockneydom of the nineteenth century4 ,rejected of ,science3 well2 but not yet1 not yet--by the men who can do1 as well as know4 ,and though ,i have neither strength nor time1 nor at present the mind to go into any review of the work done by the ,third and chief ,school of our younger painters1 headed by ,burne ,jones2#ej and though ,i know its faults1 palpable enough1 like those of ,turner1 to the poorest sight2 and though ,i am discouraged in all its discouragements1 ,i still hold in fullness to the hope of it in which ,i wrote the close of the third lecture ,i ever gave in ,oxford--of which ,i will ask the reader here in conclusion to weigh the words1 set down in the days of my best strength1 so far as ,i know2 and with the uttermost care given to that inaugural ,oxford work1 to speak only that which ,i did know4 #beb4 ,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 'good1' and 'wicked1' used of men1 you may almost substitute the words ',makers' or ',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 ,and perfect the day shall be1 when it is of all men understood that the beauty of ,holiness must be in labor as well as in rest4 ,nay6 more1 if it may be1 in labor2 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 labor 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 life1 and they shall dwell in the house of the ,lord--,for ,ever4#ea ,,footnotes3 #dd ,vulgarly2 the use of the word scientia1 as if it differed from knowledge1 being a modern barbarism2 enhanced usually by the assumption that the knowledge of the difference between acids and alkalies is a more respectable one than that of the difference between vice and virtue4 #de ,modern ,painters1 volume iii4 ,i proceed in my old words1 of which ,i cannot better the substance1 though--with all deference to the taste of those who call that book my best--,i could1 the expression4 #df ,the third edition was published in #ahdf1 while the ,pre-,raphaelite ,school was still in swaddling clothes4 #dg ,these essays were1 ,recent ,attacks on ,political ,economy1 by ,robert ,lowe1 and ,virchow and ,evolution1 by ,prof4 ,tyndall1--,,ed4 #dh ,james of ,quercia3 see the rank assigned to this master in ,ariadne ,florentina4 ,the best photographs of the monument are1 ,i believe1 those published by the ,arundel ,society2 of whom ,i would very earnestly request that if ever they quote ,modern ,painters1 they would not interpolate its text with unmarked parentheses of modern information such as emblem of conjugal fidelity4 ,i must not be made to answer for either the rhythm or the contents of sentences thus manipulated4 #di ,i foolishly1 in ,modern ,painters1 used the generic word hound to make my sentence prettier4 ,he is a flat-nosed bulldog4 #ej ,it would be utterly vain to attempt any general account of the works of this painter1 unless ,i were able also to give abstract of the subtlest mythologies of ,greek worship and ,christian romance4 ,besides1 many of his best designs are pale pencil drawings like ,florentine engravings1 of which the delicacy is literally invisible1 and the manner irksome1 to a public trained among the black scrabblings of modern wood-cutter's and etcher's prints4 ,i will only say that the single series of these pencil-drawings1 from the story of ,psyche1 which ,i have been able to place in the schools of ,oxford1 together with the two colored beginnings from the stories of ,jason and ,alcestis1 are1 in my estimate1 quite the most precious gift1 not excepting even the ,loire series of ,turners1 in the ratified acceptance of which my ,university has honored with some fixed memorial the aims of her first ,art-,teacher4 #ea ,lectures on ,art1 ,sec4,sec4 #ie-f4--;,,ed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,art4 ,,iii4 ,,architecture4 ,,the ,,opening ,,of ,,the ,,crystal ,,palace4 7,pamphlet1 #ahed47 ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,architecture ,,in ,,our ,,schools4 7,r4,i4,b4,a4 ,transactions1 #ahfe47 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,opening ,,of ,,the ,,crystal ,,palace4#eb #bec4 ,i read the account in the ,times newspaper of the opening of the ,crystal ,palace at ,sydenham as ,i ascended the hill between ,vevay and ,chatel ,st4 ,denis1 and the thoughts which it called up haunted me all day long as my road wound among the grassy slopes of the ,simmenthal4 ,there was a strange contrast between the image of that mighty palace1 raised so high above the hills on which it is built as to make them seem little else than a basement for its glittering stateliness1 and those lowland huts1 half hidden beneath their coverts of forest1 and scattered like gray stones along the masses of far-away mountain4 ,here man contending with the power of ,nature for his existence2 there commanding them for his recreation2 here a feeble folk nested among the rocks with the wild goat and the coney1 and retaining the same quiet thoughts from generation to generation2 there a great multitude triumphing in the splendor of immeasurable habitation1 and haughty with hope of endless progress and irresistible power4 #bed4 ,it is indeed impossible to limit1 in imagination1 the beneficent results which may follow from the undertaking thus happily begun4#ec ,for the first time in the history of the world1 a national museum is formed in which a whole nation is interested2 formed on a scale which permits the exhibition of monuments of art in unbroken symmetry1 and of the productions of nature in unthwarted growth1--formed under the auspices of science which can hardly err1 and of wealth which can hardly be exhausted2 and placed in the close neighborhood of a metropolis overflowing with a population weary of labor1 yet thirsting for knowledge1 where contemplation may be consistent with rest1 and instruction with enjoyment4 ,it is impossible1 ,i repeat1 to estimate the influence of such an institution on the minds of the working-classes4 ,how many hours once wasted may now be profitably dedicated to pursuits in which interest was first awakened by some accidental display in the ,norwood palace2 how many constitutions1 almost broken1 may be restored by the healthy temptation into the country air2 how many intellects1 once dormant1 may be roused into activity within the crystal walls1 and how these noble results may go on multiplying and increasing and bearing fruit seventy times seven-fold1 as the nation pursues its career1--are questions as full of hope as incapable of calculation4 ,but with all these grounds for hope there are others for despondency1 giving rise to a group of melancholy thoughts1 of which ,i can neither repress the importunity nor forbear the expression4 #bee4 ,for three hundred years1 the art of architecture has been the subject of the most curious investigation2 its principles have been discussed with all earnestness and acuteness2 its models in all countries and of all ages have been examined with scrupulous care1 and imitated with unsparing expenditure4 ,and of all this refinement of inquiry1--this lofty search after the ideal1--this subtlety of investigation and sumptuousness of practice1--the great result1 the admirable and long-expected conclusion is1 that in the center of the #aith century1 we suppose ourselves to have invented a new style of architecture1 when we have magnified a conservatory6 #bef4 ,in ,mr4 ,laing's speech1 at the opening of the palace1 he declares that an entirely novel order of architecture1 producing1 by means of unrivaled mechanical ingenuity1 the most marvelous and beautiful effects1 sprang into existence to provide a building4#ed ,in these words1 the speaker is not merely giving utterance to his own feelings4 ,he is expressing the popular view of the facts1 nor that a view merely popular1 but one which has been encouraged by nearly all the professors of art of our time4 ,it is to this1 then1 that our ,doric and ,palladian pride is at last reduced6 ,we have vaunted the divinity of the ,greek ideal--we have plumed ourselves on the purity of our ,italian taste--we have cast our whole souls into the proportions of pillars and the relations of orders--and behold the end6 ,our taste1 thus exalted and disciplined1 is dazzled by the luster of a few rows of panes of glass2 and the first principles of architectural sublimity1 so far sought1 are found all the while to have consisted merely in sparkling and in space4 ,let it not be thought that ,i would depreciate 7were it possible to depreciate7 the mechanical ingenuity which has been displayed in the erection of the ,crystal ,palace1 or that ,i underrate the effect which its vastness may continue to produce on the popular imagination4 ,but mechanical ingenuity is not the essence either of painting or architecture1 and largeness of dimension does not necessarily involve nobleness of design4 ,there is assuredly as much ingenuity required to build a screw frigate1 or a tubular bridge1 as a hall of glass2--all these are works characteristic of the age2 and all1 in their several ways1 deserve our highest admiration1 but not admiration of the kind that is rendered to poetry or to art4 ,we may cover the ,german ,ocean with frigates1 and bridge the ,bristol ,channel with iron1 and roof the county of ,middlesex with crystal1 and yet not possess one ,milton1 or ,michael ,angelo4 #beg4 ,well1 it may be replied1 we need our bridges1 and have pleasure in our palaces2 but we do not want ,miltons1 nor ,michael ,angelos4 ,truly1 it seems so2 for1 in the year in which the first ,crystal ,palace was built1 there died among us a man whose name1 in after-ages1 will stand with those of the great of all time4 ,dying1 he bequeathed to the nation the whole mass of his most cherished works2 and for these three years1 while we have been building this colossal receptacle for casts and copies of the art of other nations1 these works of our own greatest painter have been left to decay in a dark room near ,cavendish ,square1 under the custody of an aged servant4 ,this is quite natural4 ,but it is also memorable4 #beh4 ,there is another interesting fact connected with the history of the ,crystal ,palace as it bears on that of the art of ,europe1 namely1 that in the year #ahea1 when all that glittering roof was built1 in order to exhibit the paltry arts of our fashionable luxury--the carved bedsteads of ,vienna1 and glued toys of ,switzerland1 and gay jewelry of ,france--in that very year1 ,i say1 the greatest pictures of the ,venetian masters were rotting at ,venice in the rain1 for want of roof to cover them1 with holes made by cannon shot through their canvas4 ,there is another fact1 however1 more curious than either of these1 which will hereafter be connected with the history of the palace now in building2 namely1 that at the very period when ,europe is congratulated on the invention of a new style of architecture1 because fourteen acres of ground have been covered with glass1 the greatest examples in existence of true and noble ,christian architecture are being resolutely destroyed1 and destroyed by the effects of the very interest which was beginning to be excited by them4 #bei4 ,under the firm and wise government of the third ,napoleon1 ,france has entered on a new epoch of prosperity1 one of the signs of which is a zealous care for the preservation of her noble public buildings4 ,under the influence of this healthy impulse1 repairs of the most extensive kind are at this moment proceeding1 on the cathedrals of ,rheims1 ,amiens1 ,rouen1 ,chartres1 and ,paris2 7probably also in many other instances unknown to me74 ,these repairs were1 in many cases1 necessary up to a certain point2 and they have been executed by architects as skillful and learned as at present exist1--executed with noble disregard of expense1 and sincere desire on the part of their superintendents that they should be completed in a manner honorable to the country4 #bfj4 ,they are1 nevertheless1 more fatal to the monuments they are intended to preserve1 than fire1 war1 or revolution4 ,for they are undertaken1 in the plurality of instances1 under an impression1 which the efforts of all true antiquaries have as yet been unable to remove1 that it is impossible to reproduce the mutilated sculpture of past ages in its original beauty4 ,reproduire avec une exactitude mathematique1 are the words used1 by one of the most intelligent writers on this subject1#ee of the proposed regeneration of the statue of ,ste4 ,modeste1 on the north porch of the ,cathedral of ,chartres4 ,now it is not the question at present whether thirteenth century sculpture be of value1 or not4 ,its value is assumed by the authorities who have devoted sums so large to its so-called restoration1 and may therefore be assumed in my argument4 ,the worst state of the sculptures whose restoration is demanded may be fairly represented by that of the celebrated group of the ,fates1 among the ,elgin ,marbles in the ,british ,museum4 ,with what favor would the guardians of those marbles1 or any other persons interested in ,greek art1 receive a proposal from a living sculptor to reproduce with mathematical exactitude the group of the ,fates1 in a perfect form1 and to destroy the original8 ,for with exactly such favor1 those who are interested in ,gothic art should receive proposals to reproduce the sculpture of ,chartres or ,rouen4 #bfa4 ,in like manner1 the state of the architecture which it is proposed to restore may1 at its worst1 be fairly represented to the ,british public by that of the best preserved portions of ,melrose ,abbey4 ,with what encouragement would those among us who are sincerely interested in history1 or in art1 receive a proposal to pull down ,melrose ,abbey1 and reproduce it mathematically8 ,there can be no doubt of the answer which1 in the instances supposed1 it would be proper to return4 ,by all means1 if you can1 reproduce mathematically1 elsewhere1 the group of the ,fates1 and the ,abbey of ,melrose4 ,but leave unharmed the original fragment1 and the existing ruin4#ef ,and an answer of the same tenor ought to be given to every proposal to restore a ,gothic sculpture or building4 ,carve or raise a model of it in some other part of the city2 but touch not the actual edifice1 except only so far as may be necessary to sustain1 to protect it4 ,i said above that repairs were in many instances necessary4 ,these necessary operations consist in substituting new stones for decayed ones1 where they are absolutely essential to the stability of the fabric2 in propping1 with wood or metal1 the portions likely to give way2 in binding or cementing into their places the sculptures which are ready to detach themselves2 and in general care to remove luxuriant weeds and obstructions of the channels for the discharge of the rain4 ,but no modern or imitative sculpture ought ever1 under any circumstances1 to be mingled with the ancient work4 #bfb4 ,unfortunately1 repairs thus conscientiously executed are always unsightly1 and meet with little approbation from the general public2 so that a strong temptation is necessarily felt by the superintendents of public works to execute the required repairs in a manner which1 though indeed fatal to the monument1 may be1 in appearance1 seemly4 ,but a far more cruel temptation is held out to the architect4 ,he who should propose to a municipal body to build in the form of a new church1 to be erected in some other part of their city1 models of such portions of their cathedral as were falling into decay1 would be looked upon as merely asking for employment1 and his offer would be rejected with disdain4 ,but let an architect declare that the existing fabric stands in need of repairs1 and offer to restore it to its original beauty1 and he is instantly regarded as a lover of his country1 and has a chance of obtaining a commission which will furnish him with a large and ready income1 and enormous patronage1 for twenty or thirty years to come4 #bfc4 ,i have great respect for human nature4 ,but ,i would rather leave it to others than myself to pronounce how far such a temptation is always likely to be resisted1 and how far1 when repairs are once permitted to be undertaken1 a fabric is likely to be spared from mere interest in its beauty1 when its destruction1 under the name of restoration1 has become permanently remunerative to a large body of workmen4 ,let us assume1 however1 that the architect is always conscientious--always willing1 the moment he has done what is strictly necessary for the safety and decorous aspect of the building1 to abandon his income1 and declare his farther services unnecessary4 ,let us presume1 also1 that every one of the two or three hundred workmen who must be employed under him is equally conscientious1 and1 during the course of years of labor1 will never destroy in carelessness what it may be inconvenient to save1 or in cunning what it is difficult to imitate4 ,will all this probity of purpose preserve the hand from error1 and the heart from weariness8 ,will it give dexterity to the awkward--sagacity to the dull--and at once invest two or three hundred imperfectly educated men with the feeling1 intention1 and information of the freemasons of the thirteenth century8 ,grant that it can do all this1 and that the new building is both equal to the old in beauty1 and precisely correspondent to it in detail4 ,is it1 therefore1 altogether worth the old building8 ,is the stone carved to-day in their masons' yards altogether the same in value to the hearts of the ,french people as that which the eyes of ,st4 ,louis saw lifted to its place8 ,would a loving daughter1 in mere desire for gaudy dress1 ask a jeweler for a bright fac-simile of the worn cross which her mother bequeathed to her on her deathbed8--would a thoughtful nation1 in mere fondness for splendor of streets1 ask its architects to provide for it fac-similes of the temples which for centuries had given joy to its saints1 comfort to its mourners1 and strength to its chivalry8 #bfd4 ,but it may be replied1 that all this is already admitted by the antiquaries of ,france and ,england2 and that it is impossible that works so important should now be undertaken with due consideration and faithful superintendence4 ,i answer1 that the men who justly feel these truths are rarely those who have much influence in public affairs4 ,it is the poor abbe1 whose little garden is sheltered by the mighty buttresses from the north wind1 who knows the worth of the cathedral4 ,it is the bustling mayor and the prosperous architect who determine its fate4 ,i answer farther1 by the statement of a simple fact4 ,i have given many years1 in many cities1 to the study of ,gothic architecture2 and of all that ,i know1 or knew1 the entrance to the north transept of ,rouen ,cathedral was1 on the whole1 the most beautiful--beautiful1 not only as an elaborate and faultless work of the finest time of ,gothic art1 but yet more beautiful in the partial1 though not dangerous1 decay which had touched its pinnacles with pensive coloring1 and softened its severer lines with unexpected change and delicate fracture1 like sweet breaks in a distant music4 ,the upper part of it has been already restored to the white accuracies of novelty2 the lower pinnacles1 which flanked its approach1 far more exquisite in their partial ruin than the loveliest remains of our ,english abbeys1 have been entirely destroyed1 and rebuilt in rough blocks1 now in process of sculpture4 ,this restoration1 so far as it has gone1 has been executed by peculiarly skillful workmen2 it is an unusually favorable example of restoration1 especially in the care which has been taken to preserve intact the exquisite1 and hitherto almost uninjured sculptures which fill the quatrefoils of the tracery above the arch4 ,but ,i happened myself to have made1 five years ago1 detailed drawings of the buttress decorations on the right and left of this tracery1 which are part of the work that has been completely restored4 ,and ,i found the restorations as inaccurate as they were unnecessary4 #bfe4 ,if this is the case in a most favorable instance1 in that of a well-known monument1 highly esteemed by every antiquary in ,france1 what1 during the progress of the now almost universal repair1 is likely to become of architecture which is unwatched and despised8 ,despised6 and more than despised--even hated6 ,it is a sad truth1 that there is something in the solemn aspect of ancient architecture which1 in rebuking frivolity and chastening gayety1 has become at this time literally repulsive to a large majority of the population of ,europe4 ,examine the direction which is taken by all the influences of fortune and of fancy1 wherever they concern themselves with art1 and it will be found that the real1 earnest effort of the upper classes of ,european society is to make every place in the world as much like the ,champs ,elysees of ,paris as possible4 ,wherever the influence of that educated society is felt1 the old buildings are relentlessly destroyed2 vast hotels1 like barracks1 and rows of high1 square-windowed dwelling-houses1 thrust themselves forward to conceal the hated antiquities of the great cities of ,france and ,italy4 ,gay promenades1 with fountains and statues1 prolong themselves along the quays once dedicated to commerce2 ball-rooms and theaters rise upon the dust of desecrated chapels1 and thrust into darkness the humility of domestic life4 ,and when the formal street1 in all its pride of perfumery and confectionery1 has successfully consumed its way through wrecks of historical monuments1 and consummated its symmetry in the ruin of all that once prompted a reflection1 or pleaded for regard1 the whitened city is praised for its splendor1 and the exulting inhabitants for their patriotism--patriotism which consists in insulting their fathers with forgetfulness1 and surrounding their children with temptation4 #bff4 ,i am far from intending my words to involve any disrespectful allusion to the very noble improvements in the city of ,paris itself1 lately carried out under the encouragement of the ,emperor4 ,paris1 in its own peculiar character of bright magnificence1 had nothing to fear1 and everything to gain1 from the gorgeous prolongation of the ,rue ,rivoli4 ,but ,i speak of the general influence of the rich travelers and proprietors of ,europe on the cities which they pretend to admire1 or endeavor to improve4 ,i speak of the changes wrought during my own lifetime on the cities of ,venice1 ,florence1 ,geneva1 ,lucerne1 and chief of all on ,rouen1 a city altogether inestimable for its retention of mediaeval character in the infinitely varied streets in which one half of the existing and inhabited houses date from the #aeth or early #afth century1 and the only town left in ,france in which the effect of old ,french domestic architecture can yet be seen in its collective groups4 ,but when ,i was there1 this last spring1 ,i heard that these noble old ,norman houses are all1 as speedily as may be1 to be stripped of the dark slates which protected their timbers1 and deliberately whitewashed over all their sculptures and ornaments1 in order to bring the interior of the town into some conformity with the handsome fronts of the hotels and offices on the quay4 ,hotels and offices1 and handsome fronts in general--they can be built in ,america or ,australia--built at any moment1 and in any height of splendor4 ,but who shall give us back1 when once destroyed1 the habitations of the ,french chivalry and bourgeoisie in the days of the ,field of the ,cloth of ,gold8 #bfg4 ,it is strange that no one seems to think of this6 ,what do men travel for1 in this ,europe of ours8 ,is it only to gamble with ,french dies--to drink coffee out of ,french porcelain--to dance to the beat of ,german drums1 and sleep in the soft air of ,italy8 ,are the ball-room1 the billiard-room1 and the ,boulevard1 the only attractions that win us into wandering1 or tempt us to repose8 ,and when the time is come1 as come it will1 and that shortly1 when the parsimony--or lassitude--which1 for the most part1 are the only protectors of the remnants of elder time1 shall be scattered by the advance of civilization--when all the monuments1 preserved only because it was too costly to destroy them1 shall have been crushed by the energies of the new world1 will the proud nations of the twentieth century1 looking round on the plains of ,europe1 disencumbered of their memorial marbles1--will those nations indeed stand up with no other feeling than one of triumph1 freed from the paralysis of precedent and the entanglement of memory1 to thank us1 the fathers of progress1 that no saddening shadows can any more trouble the enjoyments of the future1--no moments of reflection retard its activities2 and that the new-born population of a world without a record and without a ruin may1 in the fullness of ephemeral felicity1 dispose itself to eat1 and to drink1 and to die8 #bfh4 ,is this verily the end at which we aim1 and will the mission of the age have been then only accomplished1 when the last castle has fallen from our rocks1 the last cloisters faded from our valleys1 the last streets1 in which the dead have dwelt1 been effaced from our cities1 and regenerated society is left in luxurious possession of towns composed only of bright saloons1 overlooking gay parterres8 ,if this indeed be our end1 yet why must it be so laboriously accomplished8 ,are there no new countries on the earth1 as yet uncrowned by thorns of cathedral spires1 untenanted by the consciousness of a past8 ,must this little ,europe--this corner of our globe1 gilded with the blood of old battles1 and gray with the temples of old pieties--this narrow piece of the world's pavement1 worn down by so many pilgrims' feet1 be utterly swept and garnished for the masque of the ,future8 ,is ,america not wide enough for the elasticities of our humanity8 ,asia not rich enough for its pride8 or among the quiet meadowlands and solitary hills of the old land1 is there not yet room enough for the spreadings of power1 or the indulgences of magnificence1 without founding all glory upon ruin1 and prefacing all progress with obliteration8 #bfi4 ,we must answer these questions speedily1 or we answer them in vain4 ,the peculiar character of the evil which is being wrought by this age is its utter irreparableness4 ,its newly formed schools of art1 its extending galleries1 and well-ordered museums will assuredly bear some fruit in time1 and give once more to the popular mind the power to discern what is great1 and the disposition to protect what is precious4 ,but it will be too late4 ,we shall wander through our palaces of crystal1 gazing sadly on copies of pictures torn by cannon-shot1 and on casts of sculpture dashed to pieces long ago4 ,we shall gradually learn to distinguish originality and sincerity from the decrepitudes of imitation and palsies of repetition2 but it will be only in hopelessness to recognize the truth1 that architecture and painting can be restored when the dead can be raised1--and not till then4 #bgj4 ,something might yet be done1 if it were but possible thoroughly to awaken and alarm the men whose studies of archaeology have enabled them to form an accurate judgment of the importance of the crisis4 ,but it is one of the strange characters of the human mind1 necessary indeed to its peace1 but infinitely destructive of its power1 that we never thoroughly feel the evils which are not actually set before our eyes4 ,if1 suddenly1 in the midst of the enjoyments of the palate and lightnesses of heart of a ,london dinner-party1 the walls of the chamber were parted1 and through their gap1 the nearest human beings who were famishing1 and in misery1 were borne into the midst of the company--feasting and fancy-free--if1 pale with sickness1 horrible in destitution1 broken by despair1 body by body1 they were laid upon the soft carpet1 one beside the chair of every guest1 would only the crumbs of the dainties be cast to them--would only a passing glance1 a passing thought be vouchsafed to them8 ,yet the actual facts1 the real relations of each ,dives and ,lazarus1 are not altered by the intervention of the house wall between the table and the sick-bed--by the few feet of ground 7how few67 which are indeed all that separate the merriment from the misery4 #bga4 ,it is the same in the matters of which ,i have hitherto been speaking4 ,if every one of us1 who knows what food for the human heart there is in the great works of elder time1 could indeed see with his own eyes their progressive ruin2 if every earnest antiquarian1 happy in his well-ordered library1 and in the sense of having been useful in preserving an old stone or two out of his parish church1 and an old coin or two out of a furrow in the next plowed field1 could indeed behold1 each morning as he awaked1 the mightiest works of departed nations moldering to the ground in disregarded heaps2 if he could always have in clear phantasm before his eyes the ignorant monk trampling on the manuscript1 the village mason striking down the monument1 the court painter daubing the despised and priceless masterpiece into freshness of fatuity1 he would not always smile so complacently in the thoughts of the little learnings and petty preservations of his own immediate sphere4 ,and if every man1 who has the interest of ,art and of ,history at heart1 would at once devote himself earnestly--not to enrich his own collection--not even to enlighten his own neighbors or investigate his own parish-territory--but to far-sighted and fore-sighted endeavor in the great field of ,europe1 there is yet time to do much4 ,an association might be formed1 thoroughly organized so as to maintain active watchers and agents in every town of importance1 who1 in the first place1 should furnish the society with a perfect account of every monument of interest in its neighborhood1 and then with a yearly or half-yearly report of the state of such monuments1 and of the changes proposed to be made upon them2 the society then furnishing funds1 either to buy1 freehold1 such buildings or other works of untransferable art as at any time might be offered for sale1 or to assist their proprietors1 whether private individuals or public bodies1 in the maintenance of such guardianship as was really necessary for their safety2 and exerting itself1 with all the influence which such an association would rapidly command1 to prevent unwise restoration and unnecessary destruction4 #bgb4 ,such a society would of course be rewarded only by the consciousness of its usefulness4 ,its funds would have to be supplied1 in pure self-denial1 by its members1 who would be required1 so far as they assisted it1 to give up the pleasure of purchasing prints or pictures for their own walls1 that they might save pictures which in their lifetime they might never behold2 they would have to forego the enlargement of their own estates1 that they might buy1 for a ,european property1 ground on which their feet might never tread4 ,but is it absurd to believe that men are capable of doing this8 ,is the love of art altogether a selfish principle in the heart8 and are its emotions altogether incompatible with the exertions of self-denial or enjoyments of generosity8 #bgc4 ,i make this appeal at the risk of incurring only contempt for my ,utopianism4 ,but ,i should forever reproach myself if ,i were prevented from making it by such a risk2 and ,i pray those who may be disposed in any wise to favor it to remember that it must be answered at once or never4 ,the next five years determine what is to be saved--what destroyed4 ,the restorations have actually begun like cancers on every important piece of ,gothic architecture in ,christendom2 the question is only how much can yet be saved4 ,all projects1 all pursuits1 having reference to art1 are at this moment of less importance than those which are simply protective4 ,there is time enough for everything else4 ,time enough for teaching--time enough for criticising--time enough for inventing4 ,but time little enough for saving4 ,hereafter we can create1 but it is now only that we can preserve4 ,by the exertion of great national powers1 and under the guidance of enlightened monarchs1 we may raise magnificent temples and gorgeous cities2 we may furnish labor for the idle1 and interest for the ignorant4 ,but the power neither of emperors1 nor queens1 nor kingdoms1 can ever print again upon the sands of time the effaced footsteps of departed generations1 or gather together from the dust the stones which had been stamped with the spirit of our ancestors4 ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,architecture ,,in ,,our ,,schools4#eg #bgd4 ,i suppose there is no man who1 permitted to address1 for the first time1 the ,institute of ,british ,architects1 would not feel himself abashed and restrained1 doubtful of his claim to be heard by them1 even if he attempted only to describe what had come under his personal observation1 much more if on the occasion he thought it would be expected of him to touch upon any of the general principles of the art of architecture before its principal ,english masters4 ,but if any more than another should feel thus abashed1 it is certainly one who has first to ask their pardon for the petulance of boyish expressions of partial thought2 for ungraceful advocacy of principles which needed no support from him1 and discourteous blame of work of which he had never felt the difficulty4 #bge4 ,yet1 when ,i ask this pardon1 gentlemen--and ,i do it sincerely and in shame--it is not as desiring to retract anything in the general tenor and scope of what ,i have hitherto tried to say4 ,permit me the pain1 and the apparent impertinence1 of speaking for a moment of my own past work2 for it is necessary that what ,i am about to submit to you to-night should be spoken in no disadvantageous connection with that2 and yet understood as spoken1 in no discordance of purpose with that4 ,indeed there is much in old work of mine which ,i could wish to put out of mind4 ,reasonings1 perhaps not in themselves false1 but founded on insufficient data and imperfect experience--eager preferences1 and dislikes1 dependent on chance circumstances of association1 and limitations of sphere of labor3 but1 while ,i would fain now1 if ,i could1 modify the applications1 and chasten the extravagance of my writings1 let me also say of them that they were the expression of a delight in the art of architecture which was too intense to be vitally deceived1 and of an inquiry too honest and eager to be without some useful result2 and ,i only wish ,i had now time1 and strength and power of mind1 to carry on1 more worthily1 the main endeavor of my early work4 ,that main endeavor has been throughout to set forth the life of the individual human spirit as modifying the application of the formal laws of architecture1 no less than of all other arts2 and to show that the power and advance of this art1 even in conditions of formal nobleness1 were dependent on its just association with sculpture as a means of expressing the beauty of natural forms3 and ,i the more boldly ask your permission to insist somewhat on this main meaning of my past work1 because there are many buildings now rising in the streets of ,london1 as in other cities of ,england1 which appear to be designed in accordance with this principle1 and which are1 ,i believe1 more offensive to all who thoughtfully concur with me in accepting the principle of ,naturalism than they are to the classical architect to whose modes of design they are visibly antagonistic4 ,these buildings1 in which the mere cast of a flower1 or the realization of a vulgar face1 carved without pleasure by a workman who is only endeavoring to attract attention by novelty1 and then fastened on1 or appearing to be fastened1 as chance may dictate1 to an arch1 or a pillar1 or a wall1 hold such relation to nobly naturalistic architecture as common sign-painter's furniture landscapes do to painting1 or commonest wax-work to ,greek sculpture2 and the feelings with which true naturalists regard such buildings of this class are1 as nearly as might be1 what a painter would experience1 if1 having contended earnestly against conventional schools1 and having asserted that ,greek vase-painting and ,egyptian wall-painting1 and ,mediaeval glass-painting1 though beautiful1 all1 in their place and way1 were yet subordinate arts1 and culminated only in perfectly naturalistic work such as ,raphael's in fresco1 and ,titian's on canvas2--if1 ,i say1 a painter1 fixed in such faith in an entire1 intellectual and manly truth1 and maintaining that an ,egyptian profile of a head1 however decoratively applicable1 was only noble for such human truth as it contained1 and was imperfect and ignoble beside a work of ,titian's1 were shown1 by his antagonist1 the colored daguerreotype of a human body in its nakedness1 and told that it was art such as that which he really advocated1 and to such art that his principles1 if carried out1 would finally lead4 #bgf4 ,and because this question lies at the very root of the organization of the system of instruction for our youth1 ,i venture boldly to express the surprise and regret with which ,i see our schools still agitated by assertions of the opposition of ,naturalism to ,invention1 and to the higher conditions of art4 ,even in this very room ,i believe there has lately been question whether a sculptor should look at a real living creature of which he had to carve the image4 ,i would answer in one sense1--no2 that is to say1 he ought to carve no living creature while he still needs to look at it4 ,if we do not know what a human body is like1 we certainly had better look1 and look often1 at it1 before we carve it2 but if we already know the human likeness so well that we can carve it by light of memory1 we shall not need to ask whether we ought now to look at it or not2 and what is true of man is true of all other creatures and organisms--of bird1 and beast1 and leaf4 ,no assertion is more at variance with the laws of classical as well as of subsequent art than the common one that species should not be distinguished in great design4 ,we might as well say that we ought to carve a man so as not to know him from an ape1 as that we should carve a lily so as not to know it from a thistle4 ,it is difficult for me to conceive how this can be asserted in the presence of any remains either of great ,greek or ,italian art4 ,a ,greek looked at a cockle-shell or a cuttlefish as carefully as he looked at an ,olympic conqueror4 ,the eagle of ,elis1 the lion of ,velia1 the horse of ,syracuse1 the bull of ,thurii1 the dolphin of ,tarentum1 the crab of ,agrigentum1 and the crawfish of ,catana1 are studied as closely1 every one of them1 as the ,juno of ,argos1 or ,apollo of ,clazomenae4 ,idealism1 so far from being contrary to special truth1 is the very abstraction of speciality from everything else4 ,it is the earnest statement of the characters which make man man1 and cockle cockle1 and flesh flesh1 and fish fish4 ,feeble thinkers1 indeed1 always suppose that distinction of kind involves meanness of style2 but the meanness is in the treatment1 not in the distinction4 ,there is a noble way of carving a man1 and a mean one2 and there is a noble way of carving a beetle1 and a mean one2 and a great sculptor carves his scarabaeus grandly1 as he carves his king1 while a mean sculptor makes vermin of both4 ,and it is a sorrowful truth1 yet a sublime one1 that this greatness of treatment cannot be taught by talking about it4 ,no1 nor even by enforced imitative practice of it4 ,men treat their subjects nobly only when they themselves become noble2 not till then4 ,and that elevation of their own nature is assuredly not to be effected by a course of drawing from models1 however well chosen1 or of listening to lectures1 however well intended4 ,art1 national or individual1 is the result of a long course of previous life and training2 a necessary result1 if that life has been loyal1 and an impossible one1 if it has been base4 ,let a nation be healthful1 happy1 pure in its enjoyments1 brave in its acts1 and broad in its affections1 and its art will spring round and within it as freely as the foam from a fountain2 but let the spring of its life be impure1 and its course polluted1 and you will not get the bright spray by treatises on the mathematical structure of bubbles4 #bgg4 ,and ,i am to-night the more restrained in addressing you1 because1 gentlemen--,i tell you honestly--,i am weary of all writing and speaking about art1 and most of my own4 ,no good is to be reached that way4 ,the last fifty years have1 in every civilized country of ,europe1 produced more brilliant thought1 and more subtle reasoning about art than the five thousand before them1 and what has it all come to8 ,do not let it be thought that ,i am insensible to the high merits of much of our modern work4 ,it cannot be for a moment supposed that in speaking of the inefficient expression of the doctrines which writers on art have tried to enforce1 ,i was thinking of such ,gothic as has been designed and built by ,mr4 ,scott1 ,mr4 ,butterfield1 ,mr4 ,street1 ,mr4 ,waterhouse1 ,mr4 ,godwin1 or my dead friend1 ,mr4 ,woodward4 ,their work has been original and independent4 ,so far as it is good1 it has been founded on principles learned not from books1 but by study of the monuments of the great schools1 developed by national grandeur1 not by philosophical speculation4 ,but ,i am entirely assured that those who have done best among us are the least satisfied with what they have done1 and will admit a sorrowful concurrence in my belief that the spirit1 or rather1 ,i should say1 the dispirit1 of the age1 is heavily against them2 that all the ingenious writing or thinking which is so rife amongst us has failed to educate a public capable of taking true pleasure in any kind of art1 and that the best designers never satisfy their own requirements of themselves1 unless by vainly addressing another temper of mind1 and providing for another manner of life1 than ours4 ,all lovely architecture was designed for cities in cloudless air2 for cities in which piazzas and gardens opened in bright populousness and peace2 cities built that men might live happily in them1 and take delight daily in each other's presence and powers4 ,but our cities1 built in black air which1 by its accumulated foulness1 first renders all ornament invisible in distance1 and then chokes its interstices with soot2 cities which are mere crowded masses of store1 and warehouse1 and counter1 and are therefore to the rest of the world what the larder and cellar are to a private house2 cities in which the object of men is not life1 but labor2 and in which all chief magnitude of edifice is to inclose machinery2 cities in which the streets are not the avenues for the passing and procession of a happy people1 but the drains for the discharge of a tormented mob1 in which the only object in reaching any spot is to be transferred to another2 in which existence becomes mere transition1 and every creature is only one atom in a drift of human dust1 and current of interchanging particles1 circulating here by tunnels underground1 and there by tubes in the air2 for a city1 or cities1 such as this no architecture is possible--nay1 no desire of it is possible to their inhabitants4 #bgh4 ,one of the most singular proofs of the vanity of all hope that conditions of art may be combined with the occupations of such a city1 has been given lately in the design of the new iron bridge over the ,thames at ,blackfriars4 ,distinct attempt has been there made to obtain architectural effect on a grand scale4 ,nor was there anything in the nature of the work to prevent such an effort being successful4 ,it is not edifices1 being of iron1 or of glass1 or thrown into new forms1 demanded by new purposes1 which need hinder its being beautiful4 ,but it is the absence of all desire of beauty1 of all joy in fancy1 and of all freedom in thought4 ,if a ,greek1 or ,egyptian1 or ,gothic architect had been required to design such a bridge1 he would have looked instantly at the main conditions of its structure1 and dwelt on them with the delight of imagination4 ,he would have seen that the main thing to be done was to hold a horizontal group of iron rods steadily and straight over stone piers4 ,then he would have said to himself 7or felt without saying71 ,it is this holding1--this grasp1--this securing tenor of a thing which might be shaken1 so that it cannot be shaken1 on which ,i have to insist4 ,and he would have put some life into those iron tenons4 ,as a ,greek put human life into his pillars and produced the caryatid2 and an ,egyptian lotus life into his pillars and produced the lily capital3 so here1 either of them would have put some gigantic or some angelic life into those colossal sockets4 ,he would perhaps have put vast winged statues of bronze1 folding their wings1 and grasping the iron rails with their hands2 or monstrous eagles1 or serpents holding with claw or coil1 or strong four-footed animals couchant1 holding with the paw1 or in fierce action1 holding with teeth4 ,thousands of grotesque or of lovely thoughts would have risen before him1 and the bronze forms1 animal or human1 would have signified1 either in symbol or in legend1 whatever might be gracefully told respecting the purposes of the work and the districts to which it conducted4 ,whereas1 now1 the entire invention of the designer seems to have exhausted itself in exaggerating to an enormous size a weak form of iron nut1 and in conveying the information upon it1 in large letters1 that it belongs to the ,london1 ,chatham1 and ,dover ,railway ,company4 ,i believe then1 gentlemen1 that if there were any life in the national mind in such respects1 it would be shown in these its most energetic and costly works4 ,but that there is no such life1 nothing but a galvanic restlessness and covetousness1 with which it is for the present vain to strive2 and in the midst of which1 tormented at once by its activities and its apathies1 having their work continually thrust aside and dishonored1 always seen to disadvantage1 and overtopped by huge masses1 discordant and destructive1 even the best architects must be unable to do justice to their own powers4 #bgi4 ,but1 gentlemen1 while thus the mechanisms of the age prevent even the wisest and best of its artists from producing entirely good work1 may we not reflect with consternation what a marvelous ability the luxury of the age1 and the very advantages of education1 confer on the unwise and ignoble for the production of attractively and infectiously bad work8 ,i do not think that this adverse influence1 necessarily affecting all conditions of so-called civilization1 has been ever enough considered4 ,it is impossible to calculate the power of the false workman in an advanced period of national life1 nor the temptation to all workmen1 to become false4 #bhj4 ,first1 there is the irresistible appeal to vanity4 ,there is hardly any temptation of the kind 7there cannot be7 while the arts are in progress4 ,the best men must then always be ashamed of themselves2 they never can be satisfied with their work absolutely1 but only as it is progressive4 ,take1 for instance1 any archaic head intended to be beautiful2 say1 the ,attic ,athena1 or the early ,arethusa of ,syracuse4 ,in that1 and in all archaic work of promise1 there is much that is inefficient1 much that to us appears ridiculous--but nothing sensual1 nothing vain1 nothing spurious or imitative4 ,it is a child's work1 a childish nation's work1 but not a fool's work4 ,you find in children the same tolerance of ugliness1 the same eager and innocent delight in their own work for the moment1 however feeble2 but next day it is thrown aside1 and something better is done4 ,now1 in this careless play1 a child or a childish nation differs inherently from a foolish educated person1 or a nation advanced in pseudo-civilization4 ,the educated person has seen all kinds of beautiful things1 of which he would fain do the like--not to add to their number--but for his own vanity1 that he also may be called an artist4 ,here is at once a singular and fatal difference4 ,the childish nation sees nothing in its own past work to satisfy itself4 ,it is pleased at having done this1 but wants something better2 it is struggling forward always to reach this better1 this ideal conception4 ,it wants more beauty to look at1 it wants more subject to feel4 ,it calls out to all its artists--stretching its hands to them as a little child does--,oh1 if you would but tell me another story1--,oh1 if ,i might but have a doll with bluer eyes4 ,that's the right temper to work in1 and to get work done for you in4 ,but the vain1 aged1 highly-educated nation is satiated with beautiful things--it has myriads more than it can look at2 it has fallen into a habit of inattention2 it passes weary and jaded through galleries which contain the best fruit of a thousand years of human travail2 it gapes and shrugs over them1 and pushes its way past them to the door4 #bha4 ,but there is one feeling that is always distinct2 however jaded and languid we may be in all other pleasures1 we are never languid in vanity1 and we would still paint and carve for fame4 ,what other motive have the nations of ,europe to-day8 ,if they wanted art for art's sake they would take care of what they have already got4 ,but at this instant the two noblest pictures in ,venice are lying rolled up in outhouses1 and the noblest portrait of ,titian in existence is hung forty feet from the ground4 ,we have absolutely no motive but vanity and the love of money--no others1 as nations1 than these1 whatever we may have as individuals4 ,and as the thirst of vanity thus increases1 so the temptation to it4 ,there was no fame of artists in these archaic days4 ,every year1 every hour1 saw someone rise to surpass what had been done before4 ,and there was always better work to be done1 but never any credit to be got by it4 ,the artist lived in an atmosphere of perpetual1 wholesome1 inevitable eclipse4 ,do as well as you choose to-day1--make the whole ,borgo dance with delight1 they would dance to a better man's pipe to-morrow4 ,credette ,cimabue nella pittura1 tener lo campo1 et ora ha ,giotto il grido4 ,this was the fate1 the necessary fate1 even of the strongest4 ,they could only hope to be remembered as links in an endless chain4 ,for the weaker men it was no use even to put their name on their works4 ,they did not4 ,if they could not work for joy and for love1 and take their part simply in the choir of human toil1 they might throw up their tools4 ,but now it is far otherwise--now1 the best having been done--and for a couple of hundred years1 the best of us being confessed to have come short of it1 everybody thinks that he may be the great man once again1 and this is certain1 that whatever in art is done for display1 is invariably wrong4 #bhb4 ,but1 secondly1 consider the attractive power of false art1 completed1 as compared with imperfect art advancing to completion4 ,archaic work1 so far as faultful1 is repulsive1 but advanced work is1 in all its faults1 attractive4 ,the moment that art has reached the point at which it becomes sensitively and delicately imitative1 it appeals to a new audience4 ,from that instant it addresses the sensualist and the idler4 ,its deceptions1 its successes1 its subtleties1 become interesting to every condition of folly1 of frivolity1 and of vice4 ,and this new audience brings to bear upon the art in which its foolish and wicked interest has been unhappily awakened1 the full power of its riches3 the largest bribes of gold as well as of praise are offered to the artist who will betray his art1 until at last1 from the sculpture of ,phidias and fresco of ,luini1 it sinks into the cabinet ivory and the picture kept under lock and key4 ,between these highest and lowest types1 there is a vast mass of merely imitative and delicately sensual sculpture2--veiled nymphs--chained slaves--soft goddesses seen by roselight through suspended curtains--drawing room portraits and domesticities1 and such like1 in which the interest is either merely personal and selfish1 or dramatic and sensational2 in either case1 destructive of the power of the public to sympathize with the aims of great architects4 #bhc4 ,gentlemen1--,i am no ,puritan1 and have never praised or advocated puritanical art4 ,the two pictures which ,i would last part with out of our ,national ,gallery1 if there were question of parting with any1 would be ,titian's ,bacchus and ,correggio's ,venus4 ,but the noble naturalism of these was the fruit of ages of previous courage1 continence1 and religion--it was the fullness of passion in the life of a ,britomart4 ,but the mid-age and old age of nations is not like the mid-age or old age of noble women4 ,national decrepitude must be criminal4 ,national death can only be by disease1 and yet it is almost impossible1 out of the history of the art of nations1 to elicit the true conditions relating to its decline in any demonstrable manner4 ,the history of ,italian art is that of a struggle between superstition and naturalism on one side1 between continence and sensuality on another4 ,so far as naturalism prevailed over superstition1 there is always progress2 so far as sensuality over chastity1 death4 ,and the two contests are simultaneous4 ,it is impossible to distinguish one victory from the other4 ,observe1 however1 ,i say victory over superstition1 not over religion4 ,let me carefully define the difference4 ,superstition1 in all times and among all nations1 is the fear of a spirit whose passions are those of a man1 whose acts are the acts of a man2 who is present in some places1 not in others2 who makes some places holy and not others2 who is kind to one person1 unkind to another2 who is pleased or angry according to the degree of attention you pay to him1 or praise you refuse to him2 who is hostile generally to human pleasure1 but may be bribed by sacrifice of a part of that pleasure into permitting the rest4 ,this1 whatever form of faith it colors1 is the essence of superstition4 ,and religion is the belief in a ,spirit whose mercies are over all ,his works--who is kind even to the unthankful and the evil2 who is everywhere present1 and therefore is in no place to be sought1 and in no place to be evaded2 to whom all creatures1 times1 and things are everlastingly holy1 and who claims--not tithes of wealth1 nor sevenths of days--but all the wealth that we have1 and all the days that we live1 and all the beings that we are1 but who claims that totality because ,he delights only in the delight of ,his creatures2 and because1 therefore1 the one duty that they owe to ,him1 and the only service they can render ,him1 is to be happy4 ,a ,spirit1 therefore1 whose eternal benevolence cannot be angered1 cannot be appeased2 whose laws are everlasting and inexorable1 so that heaven and earth must indeed pass away if one jot of them failed3 laws which attach to every wrong and error a measured1 inevitable penalty2 to every rightness and prudence1 an assured reward2 penalty1 of which the remittance cannot be purchased2 and reward1 of which the promise cannot be broken4 #bhd4 ,and thus1 in the history of art1 we ought continually to endeavor to distinguish 7while1 except in broadest lights1 it is impossible to distinguish7 the work of religion from that of superstition1 and the work of reason from that of infidelity4 ,religion devotes the artist1 hand and mind1 to the service of the gods2 superstition makes him the slave of ecclesiastical pride1 or forbids his work altogether1 in terror or disdain4 ,religion perfects the form of the divine statue1 superstition distorts it into ghastly grotesque4 ,religion contemplates the gods as the lords of healing and life1 surrounds them with glory of affectionate service1 and festivity of pure human beauty4 ,superstition contemplates its idols as lords of death1 appeases them with blood1 and vows itself to them in torture and solitude4 ,religion proselytes by love1 superstition by war2 religion teaches by example1 superstition by persecution4 ,religion gave granite shrine to the ,egyptian1 golden temple to the ,jew1 sculptured corridor to the ,greek1 pillared aisle and frescoed wall to the ,christian4 ,superstition made idols of the splendors by which ,religion had spoken3 reverenced pictures and stones1 instead of truths2 letters and laws1 instead of acts1 and forever1 in various madness of fantastic desolation1 kneels in the temple while it crucifies the ,christ4 #bhe4 ,on the other hand1 to reason resisting superstition1 we owe the entire compass of modern energies and sciences2 the healthy laws of life1 and the possibilities of future progress4 ,but to infidelity resisting religion 7or which is often enough the case1 taking the mask of it71 we owe sensuality1 cruelty1 and war1 insolence and avarice1 modern political economy1 life by conservation of forces1 and salvation by every man's looking after his own interest2 and1 generally1 whatsoever of guilt1 and folly1 and death1 there is abroad among us4 ,and of the two1 a thousand-fold rather let us retain some color of superstition1 so that we may keep also some strength of religion1 than comfort ourselves with color of reason for the desolation of godlessness4 ,i would say to every youth who entered our schools--,be a ,mahometan1 a ,diana-worshiper1 a ,fire-worshiper1 ,root-worshiper1 if you will2 but at least be so much a man as to know what worship means4 ,i had rather1 a million-fold rather1 see you one of those quibus haec nascuntur in hortis numina1 than one of those quibus haec non nascuntur in cordibus lumina2 and who are1 by everlasting orphanage1 divided from the ,father of ,spirits1 who is also the ,father of lights1 from whom cometh every good and perfect gift4 #bhf4 ,so much of man1 ,i say1 feeling profoundly that all right exercise of any human gift1 so descended from the ,giver of good1 depends on the primary formation of the character of true manliness in the youth--that is to say1 of a majestic1 grave1 and deliberate strength4 ,how strange the words sound2 how little does it seem possible to conceive of majesty1 and gravity1 and deliberation in the daily track of modern life4 ,yet1 gentlemen1 we need not hope that our work will be majestic if there is no majesty in ourselves4 ,the word manly has come to mean practically1 among us1 a schoolboy's character1 not a man's4 ,we are1 at our best1 thoughtlessly impetuous1 fond of adventure and excitement2 curious in knowledge for its novelty1 not for its system and results2 faithful and affectionate to those among whom we are by chance cast1 but gently and calmly insolent to strangers3 we are stupidly conscientious1 and instinctively brave1 and always ready to cast away the lives we take no pains to make valuable1 in causes of which we have never ascertained the justice4 ,this is our highest type--notable peculiarly among nations for its gentleness1 together with its courage2 but in lower conditions it is especially liable to degradation by its love of jest and of vulgar sensation4 ,it is against this fatal tendency to vile play that we have chiefly to contend4 ,it is the spirit of ,milton's ,comus2 bestial itself1 but having power to arrest and paralyze all who come within its influence1 even pure creatures sitting helpless1 mocked by it on their marble thrones4 ,it is incompatible1 not only with all greatness of character1 but with all true gladness of heart1 and it develops itself in nations in proportion to their degradation1 connected with a peculiar gloom and a singular tendency to play with death1 which is a morbid reaction from the morbid excess4 #bhg4 ,a book has lately been published on the ,mythology of the ,rhine1 with illustrations by ,gustave ,dore4 ,the ,rhine god is represented in the vignette title-page with a pipe in one hand and a pot of beer in the other4 ,you cannot have a more complete type of the tendency which is chiefly to be dreaded in this age than in this conception1 as opposed to any possibility of representation of a river-god1 however playful1 in the mind of a ,greek painter4 ,the example is the more notable because ,gustave ,dore's is not a common mind1 and1 if born in any other epoch1 he would probably have done valuable 7though never first rate7 work2 but by glancing 7it will be impossible for you to do more than glance7 at his illustrations of ,balzac's ,contes ,drolatiques1 you will see further how this drolatique1 or semi-comic mask is1 in the truth of it1 the mask of a skull1 and how the tendency to burlesque jest is both in ,france and ,england only an effervescence from the cloaca maxima of the putrid instincts which fasten themselves on national sin1 and are in the midst of the luxury of ,european capitals1 what ,dante meant when he wrote quel mi sveglio col puzzo1 of the body of the ,wealth-,siren2 the mocking levity and mocking gloom being equally signs of the death of the soul2 just as1 contrariwise1 a passionate seriousness and passionate joyfulness are signs of its full life in works such as those of ,angelico1 ,luini1 ,ghiberti1 or ,la ,robbia4 ,it is to recover this stern seriousness1 this pure and thrilling joy1 together with perpetual sense of spiritual presence1 that all true education of youth must now be directed4 ,this seriousness1 this passion1 this universal human religion1 are the first principles1 the true roots of all art1 as they are of all doing1 of all being4 ,get this vis viva first and all great work will follow4 ,lose it1 and your schools of art will stand among other living schools as the frozen corpses stand by the winding stair of the ,st4 ,michael's ,convent of ,mont ,cenis1 holding their hands stretched out under their shrouds1 as if beseeching the passer by to look upon the wasting of their death4 #bhh4 ,and all the higher branches of technical teaching are vain without this2 nay are in some sort vain altogether1 for they are superseded by this4 ,you may teach imitation1 because the meanest man can imitate2 but you can neither teach idealism nor composition1 because only a great man can choose1 conceive1 or compose2 and he does all these necessarily1 and because of his nature4 ,his greatness is in his choice of things1 in his analysis of them1 and his combining powers involve the totality of his knowledge in life4 ,his methods of observation and abstraction are essential habits of his thought1 conditions of his being4 ,if he looks at a human form he recognizes the signs of nobility in it1 and loves them--hates whatever is diseased1 frightful1 sinful1 or designant of decay4 ,all ugliness1 and abortion1 and fading away2 all signs of vice and foulness1 he turns away from1 as inherently diabolic and horrible2 all signs of unconquered emotion he regrets1 as weaknesses4 ,he looks only for the calm purity of the human creature1 in living conquests of its passions and of fate4 ,that is idealism2 but you cannot teach anyone else that preference4 ,take a man who likes to see and paint the gambler's rage2 the hedge-ruffian's enjoyment2 the debauched soldier's strife2 the vicious woman's degradation2--take a man fed on the dusty picturesque of rags and guilt2 talk to him of principles of beauty6 make him draw what you will1 how you will1 he will leave the stain of himself on whatever he touches4 ,you had better go lecture to a snail1 and tell it to leave no slime behind it4 ,try to make a mean man compose2 you will find nothing in his thoughts consecutive or proportioned--nothing consistent in his sight--nothing in his fancy4 ,he cannot comprehend two things in relation at once--how much less twenty6 ,how much less all6 ,everything is uppermost with him in its turn1 and each as large as the rest2 but ,titian or ,veronese compose as tranquilly as they would speak--inevitably4 ,the thing comes to them so--they see it so--rightly1 and in harmony3 they will not talk to you of composition1 hardly even understanding how lower people see things otherwise1 but knowing that if they do see otherwise1 there is for them the end there1 talk as you will4 #bhi4 ,i had intended1 in conclusion1 gentlemen1 to incur such blame of presumption as might be involved in offering some hints for present practical methods in architectural schools1 but here again ,i am checked1 as ,i have been throughout1 by a sense of the uselessness of all minor means1 and helps1 without the establishment of a true and broad educational system4 ,my wish would be to see the profession of the architect united1 not with that of the engineer1 but of the sculptor4 ,i think there should be a separate school and university course for engineers1 in which the principal branches of study connected with that of practical building should be the physical and exact sciences1 and honors should be taken in mathematics2 but ,i think there should be another school and university course for the sculptor and architect1 in which literature and philosophy should be the associated branches of study1 and honors should be taken in literis humanioribus2 and ,i think a young architect's examination for his degree 7for mere pass71 should be much stricter than that of youths intending to enter other professions4 ,the quantity of scholarship necessary for the efficiency of a country clergyman is not great4 ,so that he be modest and kindly1 the main truths he has to teach may be learned better in his heart than in books1 and taught in very simple ,english4 ,the best physicians ,i have known spent very little time in their libraries2 and though my lawyer sometimes chats with me over a ,greek coin1 ,i think he regards the time so spent in the light rather of concession to my idleness than as helpful to his professional labors4 ,but there is no task undertaken by a true architect of which the honorable fulfillment will not require a range of knowledge and habitual feeling only attainable by advanced scholarship4 #bij4 ,since1 however1 such expansion of system is1 at present1 beyond hope1 the best we can do is to render the studies undertaken in our schools thoughtful1 reverent1 and refined1 according to our power4 ,especially1 it should be our aim to prevent the minds of the students from being distracted by models of an unworthy or mixed character4 ,a museum is one thing--a school another2 and ,i am persuaded that as the efficiency of a school of literature depends on the mastering a few good books1 so the efficiency of a school of art will depend on the understanding a few good models4 ,and so strongly do ,i feel this that ,i would1 for my own part1 at once consent to sacrifice my personal predilections in art1 and to vote for the exclusion of all ,gothic or ,mediaeval models whatsoever1 if by this sacrifice ,i could obtain also the exclusion of ,byzantine1 ,indian1 ,renaissance-,french1 and other more or less attractive but barbarous work2 and thus concentrate the mind of the student wholly upon the study of natural form1 and upon its treatment by the sculptors and metal workers of ,greece1 ,ionia1 ,sicily1 and ,magna ,graecia1 between #ejj and #cej ,b4,c4 ,but ,i should hope that exclusiveness need not be carried quite so far4 ,i think ,donatello1 ,mino of ,fiesole1 the ,robbias1 ,ghiberti1 ,verrocchio1 and ,michael ,angelo1 should be adequately represented in our schools--together with the ,greeks--and that a few carefully chosen examples of the floral sculpture of the ,north in the thirteenth century should be added1 with especial view to display the treatment of naturalistic ornament in subtle connection with constructive requirements2 and in the course of study pursued with reference to these models1 as of admitted perfection1 ,i should endeavor first to make the student thoroughly acquainted with the natural forms and characters of the objects he had to treat1 and then to exercise him in the abstraction of these forms1 and the suggestion of these characters1 under due sculptural limitation4 ,he should first be taught to draw largely and simply2 then he should make quick and firm sketches of flowers1 animals1 drapery1 and figures1 from nature1 in the simplest terms of line1 and light and shade2 always being taught to look at the organic1 actions and masses1 not at the textures or accidental effects of shade2 meantime his sentiment respecting all these things should be cultivated by close and constant inquiry into their mythological significance and associated traditions2 then1 knowing the things and creatures thoroughly1 and regarding them through an atmosphere of enchanted memory1 he should be shown how the facts he has taken so long to learn are summed by a great sculptor in a few touches2 how those touches are invariably arranged in musical and decorative relations2 how every detail unnecessary for his purpose is refused2 how those necessary for his purpose are insisted upon1 or even exaggerated1 or represented by singular artifice1 when literal representation is impossible2 and how all this is done under the instinct and passion of an inner commanding spirit which it is indeed impossible to imitate1 but possible1 perhaps1 to share4 #bia4 ,perhaps6 ,pardon me that ,i speak despondingly4 ,for my own part1 ,i feel the force of mechanism and the fury of avaricious commerce to be at present so irresistible1 that ,i have seceded from the study not only of architecture1 but nearly of all art2 and have given myself1 as ,i would in a besieged city1 to seek the best modes of getting bread and water for its multitudes1 there remaining no question1 it seems1 to me1 of other than such grave business for the time4 ,but there is1 at least1 this ground for courage1 if not for hope3 ,as the evil spirits of avarice and luxury are directly contrary to art1 so1 also1 art is directly contrary to them2 and according to its force1 expulsive of them and medicinal against them2 so that the establishment of such schools as ,i have ventured to describe--whatever their immediate success or ill success in the teaching of art--would yet be the directest method of resistance to those conditions of evil among which our youth are cast at the most critical period of their lives4 ,we may not be able to produce architecture1 but1 at the least1 we shall resist vice4 ,i do not know if it has been observed that while ,dante rightly connects architecture1 as the most permanent expression of the pride of humanity1 whether just or unjust1 with the first cornice of ,purgatory1 he indicates its noble function by engraving upon it1 in perfect sculpture1 the stories which rebuke the errors and purify the purposes of noblest souls4 ,in the fulfillment of such function1 literally and practically1 here among men1 is the only real use of pride of noble architecture1 and on its acceptance or surrender of that function it depends whether1 in future1 the cities of ,england melt into a ruin more confused and ghastly than ever storm wasted or wolf inhabited1 or purge and exalt themselves into true habitations of men1 whose walls shall be ,safety1 and whose gates shall be ,praise4 ,,note4--,in the course of the discussion which followed this paper the meeting was addressed by ,prof4 ,donaldson1 who alluded to the architectural improvements in ,france under the ,third ,napoleon1 by ,mr4 ,george ,edmund ,street1 by ,prof4 ,kerr1 ,mr4 ,digby ,wyatt1 and others4 ,the ,president then proposed a vote of thanks to ,mr4 ,ruskin1 who1 in acknowledging the high compliment paid him1 said he would detain the meeting but a few minutes1 but he felt he ought to make some attempt to explain what he had inefficiently stated in his paper2 and there was hardly anything said in the discussion in which he did not concur3 the supposed differences of opinion were either because he had ill-expressed himself1 or because of things left unsaid4 ,in the first place he was surprised to hear dissent from ,professor ,donaldson while he expressed his admiration of some of the changes which had been developed in modern architecture4 ,there were two conditions of architecture adapted for different climates2 one with narrow streets1 calculated for shade2 another for broad avenues beneath bright skies2 but both conditions had their beautiful effects4 ,he sympathized with the admirers of ,italy1 and he was delighted with ,genoa4 ,he had been delighted also by the view of the long vistas from the ,tuileries4 ,mr4 ,street had showed that he had not sufficiently dwelt on the distinction between near and distant carving--between carving and sculpture4 ,he 7,mr4 ,ruskin7 could allow of no distinction4 ,sculpture which was to be viewed at a height of #ejj feet above the eye might be executed with a few touches of the chisel2 opposed to that there was the exquisite finish which was the perfection of sculpture as displayed in the ,greek statues1 after a full knowledge of the whole nature of the object portrayed2 both styles were admirable in their true application--both were sculpture--perfect according to their places and requirements4 ,the attack of ,professor ,kerr he regarded as in play1 and in that spirit he would reply to him that he was afraid a practical association with bricks and mortar would hardly produce the effects upon him which had been suggested1 for having of late in his residence experienced the transition of large extents of ground into bricks and mortar1 it had had no effect in changing his views2 and when he said he was tired of writing upon art1 it was not that he was ashamed of what he had written1 but that he was tired of writing in vain1 and of knocking his head1 thick as it might be1 against a wall4 ,there was another point which he would answer very gravely4 ,it was referred to by ,mr4 ,digby ,wyatt1 and was the one point he had mainly at heart all through--viz41 that religion and high morality were at the root of all great art in all great times4 ,the instances referred to by ,mr4 ,digby ,wyatt did not counteract that proposition4 ,modern and ancient forms of life might be different1 nor could all men be judged by formal canons1 but a true human heart was in the breast of every really great artist4 ,he had the greatest detestation of anything approaching to cant in respect of art2 but1 after long investigation of the historical evidence1 as well as of the metaphysical laws bearing on this question1 he was absolutely certain that a high moral and religious training was the only way to get good fruits from our youth2 make them good men first1 and only so1 if at all1 they would become good artists4 ,with regard to the points mooted respecting the practical and poetical uses of architecture1 he thought they did not sufficiently define their terms2 they spoke of poetry as rhyme4 ,he thanked the ,president for his definition to-night1 and he was sure he would concur with him that poetry meant as its derivation implied--the doing4 ,what was rightly done was done forever1 and that which was only a crude work for the time was not poetry2 poetry was only that which would recreate or remake the human soul4 ,in that sense poetical architecture was separated from all utilitarian work4 ,he had said long ago men could not decorate their shops and counters2 they could decorate only where they lived in peace and rest--where they existed to be happy4 ,there ornament would find use1 and there their doing would be permanent4 ,in other cases they wasted their money if they attempted to make utilitarian work ornamental4 ,he might be wrong in that principle1 but he had always asserted it1 and had seen no reason in recent works for any modification of it4 ,he thanked the meeting sincerely for the honor they had conferred upon him by their invitation to address them that evening1 and for the indulgence with which they had heard him4--,,ed4 ,,footnotes3 #eb pamphlet1 the full title of which was ,the ,opening of the ,crystal ,palace ,considered in some of its ,relations to the ,progress of ,art1 by ,john ,ruskin1 ,m4,a4 ,london3 ,smith1 ,elder1 ,co41 #ahed4--;,,ed4 #ec ,but see now ,aratra ,pentelici1 ,sec4 #ec4--;,,ed4 #ed ,see the ,times of ,monday1 ,june #abth4 #ee ,m4 l',abbe ,bulteau1 ,description de la ,cathedral de ,chartres 7#hvo1 ,paris1 ,sagnier et ,bray1 #ahej71 p4 #ih1 note4 #ef ,see ,arrows of the ,chace4 #eg ,this paper was read by ,mr4 ,ruskin at the ordinary meeting of the ,royal ,institute of ,british ,architects1 ,may #ae1 #ahfe1 and was afterwards published in the ,sessional ,papers of the ,institute1 #ahfd-e1 ,part ,,iii41 ,no4 #b1 pp4 #aci-adg4 ,its full title 7as there appears7 was ,an ,inquiry into some of the conditions at present affecting the ,study of ,architecture in our ,schools4--,,ed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,art4 ,,iv4 ,,inaugural ,,address4 ,,cambridge ,,school ,,of ,,art4 7,pamphlet1 #aheh47 99 99 99 99 99 ,,inaugural ,,address#eh ,,delivered ,,at ,,the ,,cambridge ,,school ,,of ,,art1 ,,october #bi,,th1 #aheh4 #a4 ,i suppose the persons interested in establishing a ,school of ,art for workmen may in the main be divided into two classes1 namely1 first1 those who chiefly desire to make the men themselves happier1 wiser1 and better2 and secondly1 those who desire to enable them to produce better and more valuable work4 ,these two objects may1 of course1 be kept both in view at the same time2 nevertheless1 there is a wide difference in the spirit with which we shall approach our task1 according to the motive of these two which weighs most with us--a difference great enough to divide1 as ,i have said1 the promoters of any such scheme into two distinct classes2 one philanthropic in the gist of its aim1 and the other commercial in the gist of its aim2 one desiring the workman to be better informed chiefly for his own sake1 and the other chiefly that he may be enabled to produce for us commodities precious in themselves1 and which shall successfully compete with those of other countries4 #b4 ,and this separation in motives must lead also to a distinction in the machinery of the work4 ,the philanthropists address themselves1 not to the artisan merely1 but to the laborer in general1 desiring in any possible way to refine the habits or increase the happiness of our whole working population1 by giving them new recreations or new thoughts3 and the principles of ,art-,education adopted in a school which has this wide but somewhat indeterminate aim1 are1 or should be1 very different from those adopted in a school meant for the special instruction of the artisan in his own business4 ,i do not think this distinction is yet firmly enough fixed in our minds1 or calculated upon in our plans of operation4 ,we have hitherto acted1 it seems to me1 under a vague impression that the arts of drawing and painting might be1 up to a certain point1 taught in a general way to everyone1 and would do everyone equal good2 and that each class of operatives might afterwards bring this general knowledge into use in their own trade1 according to its requirements4 ,now1 that is not so4 ,a wood-carver needs for his business to learn drawing in quite a different way from a china-painter1 and a jeweler from a worker in iron4 ,they must be led to study quite different characters in the natural forms they introduce in their various manufacture4 ,it is no use to teach an iron-worker to observe the down on a peach1 and of none to teach laws of atmospheric effect to a carver in wood4 ,so far as their business is concerned1 their brains would be vainly occupied by such things1 and they would be prevented from pursuing1 with enough distinctness or intensity1 the qualities of ,art which can alone be expressed in the materials with which they each have to do4 #c4 ,now1 ,i believe it to be wholly impossible to teach special application of ,art principles to various trades in a single school4 ,that special application can be only learned rightly by the experience of years in the particular work required4 ,the power of each material1 and the difficulties connected with its treatment are not so much to be taught as to be felt2 it is only by repeated touch and continued trial beside the forge or the furnace1 that the goldsmith can find out how to govern his gold1 or the glass-worker his crystal2 and it is only by watching and assisting the actual practice of a master in the business1 that the apprentice can learn the efficient secrets of manipulation1 or perceive the true limits of the involved conditions of design4 ,it seems to me1 therefore1 that all idea of reference to definite businesses should be abandoned in such schools as that just established3 we can have neither the materials1 the conveniences1 nor the empirical skill in the master1 necessary to make such teaching useful4 ,all specific ,art-teaching must be given in schools established by each trade for itself3 and when our operatives are a little more enlightened on these matters1 there will be found1 as ,i have already stated in my lectures on the political economy of ,art1#ei absolute necessity for the establishment of guilds of trades in an active and practical form1 for the purposes of ascertaining the principles of ,art proper to their business1 and instructing their apprentices in them1 as well as making experiments on materials1 and on newly-invented methods of procedure2 besides many other functions which ,i cannot now enter into account of4 ,all this for the present1 and in a school such as this1 ,i repeat1 we cannot hope for3 we shall obtain no satisfactory result1 unless we give up such hope1 and set ourselves to teaching the operative1 however employed--be he farmer's laborer1 or manufacturer's2 be he mechanic1 artificer1 shopman1 sailor1 or plowman--teaching1 ,i say1 as far as we can1 one and the same thing to all2 namely1 ,sight4 #d4 ,not a slight thing to teach1 this3 perhaps1 on the whole1 the most important thing to be taught in the whole range of teaching4 ,to be taught to read--what is the use of that1 if you know not whether what you read is false or true8 ,to be taught to write or to speak--but what is the use of speaking1 if you have nothing to say8 ,to be taught to think--nay1 what is the use of being able to think1 if you have nothing to think of8 ,but to be taught to see is to gain word and thought at once1 and both true4 ,there is a vague acknowledgment of this in the way people are continually expressing their longing for light1 until all the common language of our prayers and hymns has sunk into little more than one monotonous metaphor1 dimly twisted into alternate languages1--asking first in ,latin to be illuminated2 and then in ,english to be enlightened2 and then in ,latin again to be delivered out of obscurity2 and then in ,english to be delivered out of darkness2 and then for beams1 and rays1 and suns1 and stars1 and lamps1 until sometimes one wishes that1 at least for religious purposes1 there were no such words as light or darkness in existence4 ,still1 the main instinct which makes people endure this perpetuity of repetition is a true one2 only the main thing they want and ought to ask for is1 not light1 but ,sight4 ,it doesn't matter how much light you have if you don't know how to use it4 ,it may very possibly put out your eyes1 instead of helping them4 ,besides1 we want1 in this world of ours1 very often to be able to see in the dark--that's the great gift of all2--but at any rate to see no matter by what light1 so only we can see things as they are4 ,on my word1 we should soon make it a different world1 if we could get but a little--ever so little--of the dervish's ointment in the ,arabian ,nights1 not to show us the treasures of the earth1 but the facts of it4 #e4 ,however1 whether these things be generally true or not1 at all events it is certain that our immediate business1 in such a school as this1 will prosper more by attending to eyes than to hands2 we shall always do most good by simply endeavoring to enable the student to see natural objects clearly and truly4 ,we ought not even to try too strenuously to give him the power of representing them4 ,that power may be acquired1 more or less1 by exercises which are no wise conducive to accuracy of sight3 and1 vice versa1 accuracy of sight may be gained by exercises which in no wise conduce to ease of representation4 ,for instance1 it very much assists the power of drawing to spend many hours in the practice of washing in flat tints2 but all this manual practice does not in the least increase the student's power of determining what the tint of a given object actually is4 ,he would be more advanced in the knowledge of the facts by a single hour of well-directed and well-corrected effort1 rubbing out and putting in again1 lightening1 and darkening1 and scratching1 and blotching1 in patient endeavors to obtain concordance with fact1 issuing perhaps1 after all1 in total destruction or unpresentability of the drawing2 but also in acute perception of the things he has been attempting to copy in it4 ,of course1 there is always a vast temptation1 felt both by the master and student1 to struggle towards visible results1 and obtain something beautiful1 creditable1 or salable1 in way of actual drawing3 but the more ,i see of schools1 the more reason ,i see to look with doubt upon those which produce too many showy and complete works by pupils4 ,a showy work will always be found1 on stern examination of it1 to have been done by some conventional rule2--some servile compliance with directions which the student does not see the reason for2 and representation of truths which he has not himself perceived3 the execution of such drawings will be found monotonous and lifeless2 their light and shade specious and formal1 but false4 ,a drawing which the pupil has learned much in doing1 is nearly always full of blunders and mishaps1 and it is highly necessary for the formation of a truly public or universal school of ,art1 that the masters should not try to conceal or anticipate such blunders1 but only seek to employ the pupil's time so as to get the most precious results for his understanding and his heart1 not for his hand4 #f4 ,for1 observe1 the best that you can do in the production of drawing1 or of draughtsmanship1 must always be nothing in itself1 unless the whole life be given to it4 ,an amateur's drawing1 or a workman's drawing--anybody's drawing but an artist's1 is always valueless in itself4 ,it may be1 as you have just heard ,mr4 ,redgrave tell you1 most precious as a memorial1 or as a gift1 or as a means of noting useful facts2 but as ,art1 an amateur's drawing is always wholly worthless2 and it ought to be one of our great objects to make the pupil understand and feel that1 and prevent his trying to make his valueless work look1 in some superficial1 hypocritical1 eye-catching1 penny-catching way1 like work that is really good4 #g4 ,if1 therefore1 we have to do with pupils belonging to the higher ranks of life1 our main duty will be to make them good judges of ,art1 rather than artists2 for though ,i had a month to speak to you1 instead of an hour1 time would fail me if ,i tried to trace the various ways in which we suffer1 nationally1 for want of powers of enlightened judgment of ,art in our upper and middle classes4 ,not that this judgment can ever be obtained without discipline of the hand3 no man ever was a thorough judge of painting who could not draw2 but the drawing should only be thought of as a means of fixing his attention upon the subtleties of the ,art put before him1 or of enabling him to record such natural facts as are necessary for comparison with it4 ,i should also attach the greatest importance to severe limitation of choice in the examples submitted to him4 ,to study one good master till you understand him will teach you more than a superficial acquaintance with a thousand3 power of criticism does not consist in knowing the names or the manner of many painters1 but in discerning the excellence of a few4 ,if1 on the contrary1 our teaching is addressed more definitely to the operative1 we need not endeavor to render his powers of criticism very acute4 ,about many forms of existing ,art1 the less he knows the better4 ,his sensibilities are to be cultivated with respect to nature chiefly2 and his imagination1 if possible1 to be developed1 even though somewhat to the disadvantage of his judgment4 ,it is better that his work should be bold1 than faultless3 and better that it should be delightful1 than discreet4 #h4 ,and this leads me to the second1 or commercial1 question2 namely1 how to get from the workman1 after we have trained him1 the best and most precious work1 so as to enable ourselves to compete with foreign countries1 or develop new branches of commerce in our own4 ,many of us1 perhaps1 are under the impression that plenty of schooling will do this2 that plenty of lecturing will do it2 that sending abroad for patterns will do it2 or that patience1 time1 and money1 and good will may do it4 ,and1 alas1 none of these things1 nor all of them put together1 will do it4 ,if you want really good work1 such as will be acknowledged by all the world1 there is but one way of getting it1 and that is a difficult one4 ,you may offer any premium you choose for it--but you will find it can't be done for premiums4 ,you may send for patterns to the antipodes--but you will find it can't be done upon patterns4 ,you may lecture on the principles of ,art to every school in the kingdom--and you will find it can't be done upon principles4 ,you may wait patiently for the progress of the age--and you will find your ,art is unprogressive4 ,or you may set yourselves impatiently to urge it by the inventions of the age--and you will find your chariot of ,art entirely immovable either by screw or paddle4 ,there's no way of getting good ,art1 ,i repeat1 but one--at once the simplest and most difficult--namely1 to enjoy it4 ,examine the history of nations1 and you will find this great fact clear and unmistakable on the front of it--that good ,art has only been produced by nations who rejoiced in it2 fed themselves with it1 as if it were bread2 basked in it1 as if it were sunshine2 shouted at the sight of it2 danced with the delight of it2 quarreled for it2 fought for it2 starved for it2 did1 in fact1 precisely the opposite with it of what we want to do with it--they made it to keep1 and we to sell4 #i4 ,and truly this is a serious difficulty for us as a commercial nation4 ,the very primary motive with which we set about the business1 makes the business impossible4 ,the first and absolute condition of the thing's ever becoming salable is1 that we shall make it without wanting to sell it2 nay1 rather with a determination not to sell it at any price1 if once we get hold of it4 ,try to make your ,art popular1 cheap--a fair article for your foreign market2 and the foreign market will always show something better4 ,but make it only to please yourselves1 and even be resolved that you won't let anybody else have any2 and forthwith you will find everybody else wants it4 ,and observe1 the insuperable difficulty is this making it to please ourselves1 while we are incapable of pleasure4 ,take1 for instance1 the simplest example1 which we can all understand1 in the art of dress4 ,we have made a great fuss about the patterns of silk lately2 wanting to vie with ,lyons1 and make a ,paris of ,london4 ,well1 we may try forever3 so long as we don't really enjoy silk patterns1 we shall never get any4 ,and we don't enjoy them4 ,of course1 all ladies like their dresses to sit well1 and be becoming2 but of real enjoyment of the beauty of the silk1 for the silk's own sake1 ,i find none2 for the test of that enjoyment is1 that they would like it also to sit well1 and look well1 on somebody else4 ,the pleasure of being well dressed1 or even of seeing well-dressed people--for ,i will suppose in my fair hearers that degree of unselfishness--be that pleasure great or small1 is quite a different thing from delight in the beauty and play of the silken folds and colors themselves1 for their own gorgeousness or grace4 #aj4 ,i have just had a remarkable proof of the total want of this feeling in the modern mind4 ,i was staying part of this summer in ,turin1 for the purpose of studying one of the ,paul ,veroneses there--the presentation of the ,queen of ,sheba to ,solomon4 ,well1 one of the most notable characters in this picture is the splendor of its silken dresses3 and1 in particular1 there was a piece of white brocade1 with designs upon it in gold1 which it was one of my chief objects in stopping at ,turin to copy4 ,you may1 perhaps1 be surprised at this2 but ,i must just note in passing1 that ,i share this weakness of enjoying dress patterns with all good students and all good painters4 ,it doesn't matter what school they belong to1--,fra ,angelico1 ,perugino1 ,john ,bellini1 ,giorgione1 ,titian1 ,tintoret1 ,veronese1 ,leonardo da ,vinci--no matter how they differ in other respects1 all of them like dress patterns2 and what is more1 the nobler the painter is1 the surer he is to do his patterns well4 #aa4 ,i stayed then1 as ,i say1 to make a study of this white brocade4 ,it generally happens in public galleries that the best pictures are the worst placed2 and this ,veronese is not only hung at considerable height above the eye1 but over a door1 through which1 however1 as all the visitors to the gallery must pass1 they cannot easily overlook the picture1 though they would find great difficulty in examining it4 ,beside this door1 ,i had a stage erected for my work1 which being of some height and rather in a corner1 enabled me to observe1 without being observed myself1 the impression made by the picture on the various visitors4 ,it seemed to me that if ever a work of ,art caught popular attention1 this ought to do so4 ,it was of very large size2 of brilliant color1 and of agreeable subject4 ,there are about twenty figures in it1 the principal ones being life size3 that of ,solomon1 though in the shade1 is by far the most perfect conception of the young king in his pride of wisdom and beauty which ,i know in the range of ,italian art2 the queen is one of the loveliest of ,veronese's female figures2 all the accessories are full of grace and imagination2 and the finish of the whole so perfect that one day ,i was upwards of two hours vainly trying to render1 with perfect accuracy1 the curves of two leaves of the brocaded silk4 ,the ,english travelers used to walk through the room in considerable numbers2 and were invariably directed to the picture by their laquais de place1 if they missed seeing it themselves4 ,and to this painting--in which it took me six weeks to examine rightly two figures--,i found that on an average1 the ,english traveler who was doing ,italy conscientiously1 and seeing everything as he thought he ought1 gave about half or three-quarters of a minute2 but the flying or fashionable traveler1 who came to do as much as he could in a given time1 never gave more than a single glance1 most of such people turning aside instantly to a bad landscape hung on the right1 containing a vigorously painted white wall1 and an opaque green moat4 ,what especially impressed me1 however1 was that none of the ladies ever stopped to look at the dresses in the ,veronese4 ,certainly they were far more beautiful than any in the shops in the great square1 yet no one ever noticed them4 ,sometimes when any nice1 sharp-looking1 bright-eyed girl came into the room1 ,i used to watch her all the way1 thinking--,come1 at least you'll see what the ,queen of ,sheba has got on4 ,but no--on she would come carelessly1 with a little toss of the head1 apparently signifying nothing in this room worth looking at--except myself1 and so trip through the door1 and away4 #ab4 ,the fact is1 we don't care for pictures3 in very deed we don't4 ,the ,academy exhibition is a thing to talk of and to amuse vacant hours2 those who are rich amongst us buy a painting or two1 for mixed reasons1 sometimes to fill the corner of a passage--sometimes to help the drawing-room talk before dinner--sometimes because the painter is fashionable--occasionally because he is poor--not unfrequently that we may have a collection of specimens of painting1 as we have specimens of minerals or butterflies--and in the best and rarest case of all1 because we have really1 as we call it1 taken a fancy to the picture2 meaning the same sort of fancy which one would take to a pretty arm-chair or a newly-shaped decanter4 ,but as for real love of the picture1 and joy of it when we have got it1 ,i do not believe it is felt by one in a thousand4 #ac4 ,i am afraid this apathy of ours will not be easily conquered2 but even supposing it should1 and that we should begin to enjoy pictures properly1 and that the supply of good ones increased as in that case it would increase--then comes another question4 ,perhaps some of my hearers this evening may occasionally have heard it stated of me that ,i am rather apt to contradict myself4 ,i hope ,i am exceedingly apt to do so4 ,i never met with a question yet1 of any importance1 which did not need1 for the right solution of it1 at least one positive and one negative answer1 like an equation of the second degree4 ,mostly1 matters of any consequence are three-sided1 or four-sided1 or polygonal2 and the trotting round a polygon is severe work for people any way stiff in their opinions4 ,for myself1 ,i am never satisfied that ,i have handled a subject properly till ,i have contradicted myself at least three times3 but once must do for this evening4 ,i have just said that there is no chance of our getting good ,art unless we delight in it3 next ,i say1 and just as positively1 that there is no chance of our getting good ,art unless we resist our delight in it4 ,we must love it first1 and restrain our love for it afterwards4 #ad4 ,this sounds strange2 and yet ,i assure you it is true4 ,in fact1 whenever anything does not sound strange1 you may generally doubt its being true2 for all truth is wonderful4 ,but take an instance in physical matters1 of the same kind of contradiction4 ,suppose you were explaining to a young student in astronomy how the earth was kept steady in its orbit2 you would have to state to him--would you not8--that the earth always had a tendency to fall to the sun2 and that also it always had a tendency to fly away from the sun4 ,these are two precisely contrary statements for him to digest at his leisure1 before he can understand how the earth moves4 ,now1 in like manner1 when ,art is set in its true and serviceable course1 it moves under the luminous attraction of pleasure on the one side1 and with a stout moral purpose of going about some useful business on the other4 ,if the artist works without delight1 he passes away into space1 and perishes of cold3 if he works only for delight1 he falls into the sun1 and extinguishes himself in ashes4 ,on the whole1 this last is the fate1 ,i do not say the most to be feared1 but which ,art has generally hitherto suffered1 and which the great nations of the earth have suffered with it4 #ae4 ,for1 while most distinctly you may perceive in past history that ,art has never been produced1 except by nations who took pleasure in it1 just as assuredly1 and even more plainly1 you may perceive that ,art has always destroyed the power and life of those who pursued it for pleasure only4 ,surely this fact must have struck you as you glanced at the career of the great nations of the earth3 surely it must have occurred to you as a point for serious questioning1 how far1 even in our days1 we were wise in promoting the advancement of pleasures which appeared as yet only to have corrupted the souls and numbed the strength of those who attained to them4 ,i have been complaining of ,england that she despises the ,arts2 but ,i might1 with still more appearance of justice1 complain that she does not rather dread them than despise4 ,for1 what has been the source of the ruin of nations since the world began8 ,has it been plague1 or famine1 earthquake-shock or volcano-flame8 ,none of these ever prevailed against a great people1 so as to make their name pass from the earth4 ,in every period and place of national decline1 you will find other causes than these at work to bring it about1 namely1 luxury1 effeminacy1 love of pleasure1 fineness in ,art1 ingenuity in enjoyment4 ,what is the main lesson which1 as far as we seek any in our classical reading1 we gather for our youth from ancient history8 ,surely this--that simplicity of life1 of language1 and of manners gives strength to a nation2 and that luxuriousness of life1 subtlety of language1 and smoothness of manners bring weakness and destruction on a nation4 ,while men possess little and desire less1 they remain brave and noble3 while they are scornful of all the arts of luxury1 and are in the sight of other nations as barbarians1 their swords are irresistible and their sway illimitable3 but let them become sensitive to the refinements of taste1 and quick in the capacities of pleasure1 and that instant the fingers that had grasped the iron rod1 fail from the golden scepter4 ,you cannot charge me with any exaggeration in this matter2 it is impossible to state the truth too strongly1 or as too universal4 ,forever you will see the rude and simple nation at once more virtuous and more victorious than one practiced in the arts4 ,watch how the ,lydian is overthrown by the ,persian2 the ,persian by the ,athenian2 the ,athenian by the ,spartan2 then the whole of polished ,greece by the rougher ,roman2 the ,roman1 in his turn refined1 only to be crushed by the ,goth3 and at the turning point of the middle ages1 the liberty of ,europe first asserted1 the virtues of ,christianity best practiced1 and its doctrines best attested1 by a handful of mountain shepherds1 without art1 without literature1 almost without a language1 yet remaining unconquered in the midst of the ,teutonic chivalry1 and uncorrupted amidst the hierarchies of ,rome4#fj #af4 ,i was strangely struck by this great fact during the course of a journey last summer among the northern vales of ,switzerland4 ,my mind had been turned to the subject of the ultimate effects of ,art on national mind before ,i left ,england1 and ,i went straight to the chief fields of ,swiss history3 first to the center of her feudal power1 ,hapsburg1 the hawk's nest from which the ,swiss ,rodolph rose to found the ,austrian empire2 and then to the heart of her republicanism1 that little glen of ,morgarten1 where first in the history of ,europe the shepherd's staff prevailed over the soldier's spear4 ,and it was somewhat depressing to me to find1 as day by day ,i found more certainly1 that this people which first asserted the liberties of ,europe1 and first conceived the idea of equitable laws1 was in all the--shall ,i call them the slighter1 or the higher8--sensibilities of the human mind1 utterly deficient2 and not only had remained from its earliest ages till now1 without poetry1 without ,art1 and without music1 except a mere modulated cry2 but as far as ,i could judge from the rude efforts of their early monuments1 would have been1 at the time of their greatest national probity and power1 incapable of producing good poetry or ,art under any circumstances of education4 #ag4 ,i say1 this was a sad thing for me to find4 ,and then1 to mend the matter1 ,i went straight over into ,italy1 and came at once upon a curious instance of the patronage of ,art1 of the character that usually inclines most to such patronage1 and of the consequences thereof4 ,from ,morgarten and ,grutli1 ,i intended to have crossed to the ,vaudois ,valleys1 to examine the shepherd character there2 but on the way ,i had to pass through ,turin1 where unexpectedly ,i found the ,paul ,veroneses1 one of which1 as ,i told you just now1 stayed me at once for six weeks4 ,naturally enough1 one asked how these beautiful ,veroneses came there3 and found they had been commissioned by ,cardinal ,maurice of ,savoy4 ,worthy ,cardinal1 ,i thought3 that's what ,cardinals were made for4 ,however1 going a little farther in the gallery1 one comes upon four very graceful pictures by ,albani--these also commissioned by the ,cardinal1 and commissioned with special directions1 according to the ,cardinal's fancy4 ,four pictures1 to be illustrative of the four elements4 #ah4 ,one of the most curious things in the mind of the people of that century is their delight in these four elements1 and in the four seasons4 ,they had hardly any other idea of decorating a room1 or of choosing a subject for a picture1 than by some renewed reference to fire and water1 or summer and winter2 nor were ever tired of hearing that summer came after spring1 and that air was not earth1 until these interesting pieces of information got finally and poetically expressed in that well-known piece of elegant ,english conversation about the weather1 ,thomson's ,seasons4 ,so the ,cardinal1 not appearing to have any better idea than the popular one1 orders the four elements2 but thinking that the elements pure would be slightly dull1 he orders them1 in one way or another1 to be mixed up with ,cupids2 to have1 in his own words1 una copiosa quantita di ,amorini4 ,albani supplied the ,cardinal accordingly with ,cupids in clusters3 they hang in the sky like bunches of cherries2 and leap out of the sea like flying fish2 grow out of the earth in fairy rings2 and explode out of the fire like squibs4 ,no work whatsoever is done in any of the four elements1 but by the ,cardinal's ,cupids4 ,they are plowing the earth with their arrows2 fishing in the sea with their bowstrings2 driving the clouds with their breath2 and fanning the fire with their wings4 ,a few beautiful nymphs are assisting them here and there in pearl-fishing1 flower-gathering1 and other such branches of graceful industry2 the moral of the whole being1 that the sea was made for its pearls1 the earth for its flowers1 and all the world for pleasure4 #ai4 ,well1 the ,cardinal1 this great encourager of the arts1 having these industrial and social theories1 carried them out in practice1 as you may perhaps remember1 by obtaining a dispensation from the ,pope to marry his own niece1 and building a villa for her on one of the slopes of the pretty hills which rise to the east of the city4 ,the villa which he built is now one of the principal objects of interest to the traveler as an example of ,italian domestic architecture3 to me1 during my stay in the city1 it was much more than an object of interest2 for its deserted gardens were by much the pleasantest place ,i could find for walking or thinking in1 in the hot summer afternoons4 ,i say thinking1 for these gardens often gave me a good deal to think about4 ,they are1 as ,i told you1 on the slope of the hill above the city1 to the east2 commanding1 therefore1 the view over it and beyond it1 westward--a view which1 perhaps1 of all those that can be obtained north of the ,apennines1 gives the most comprehensive idea of the nature of ,italy1 considered as one great country4 ,if you glance at the map1 you will observe that ,turin is placed in the center of the crescent which the ,alps form round the basin of ,piedmont2 it is within ten miles of the foot of the mountains at the nearest point2 and from that point the chain extends half round the city in one unbroken ,moorish crescent1 forming three-fourths of a circle from the ,col de ,tende to the ,st4 ,gothard2 that is to say1 just two hundred miles of ,alps1 as the bird flies4 ,i don't speak rhetorically or carelessly2 ,i speak as ,i ought to speak here--with mathematical precision4 ,take the scale on your map2 measure fifty miles of it accurately2 try that measure from the ,col de ,tende to the ,st4 ,gothard1 and you will find that four cords of fifty miles will not quite reach to the two extremities of the curve4 #bj4 ,you see1 then1 from this spot1 the plain of ,piedmont1 on the north and south1 literally as far as the eye can reach2 so that the plain terminates as the sea does1 with a level blue line1 only tufted with woods instead of waves1 and crowded with towers of cities instead of ships4 ,then in the luminous air beyond and behind this blue horizon-line1 stand1 as it were1 the shadows of mountains1 they themselves dark1 for the southern slopes of the ,alps of the ,lago ,maggiore and ,bellinzona are all without snow2 but the light of the unseen snowfields1 lying level behind the visible peaks1 is sent up with strange reflection upon the clouds2 an everlasting light of calm ,aurora in the north4 ,then1 higher and higher around the approaching darkness of the plain1 rise the central chains1 not as on the ,switzer's side1 a recognizable group and following of successive and separate hills1 but a wilderness of jagged peaks1 cast in passionate and fierce profusion along the circumference of heaven2 precipice behind precipice1 and gulf beyond gulf1 filled with the flaming of the sunset1 and forming mighty channels for the flowings of the clouds1 which roll up against them out of the vast ,italian plain1 forced together by the narrowing crescent1 and breaking up at last against the ,alpine wall in towers of spectral spray2 or sweeping up its ravines with long moans of complaining thunder4 ,out from between the cloudy pillars1 as they pass1 emerge forever the great battlements of the memorable and perpetual hills3 ,viso1 with her shepherd-witnesses to ancient faith2 ,rocca-,melone1 the highest place of ,alpine pilgrimage2#fa ,iseran1 who shed her burial sheets of snow about the march of ,hannibal2 ,cenis1 who shone with her glacier light on the descent of ,charlemagne2 ,paradiso1 who watched with her opposite crest the stoop of the ,french eagle to ,marengo2 and underneath all these1 lying in her soft languor1 this tender ,italy1 lapped in dews of sleep1 or more than sleep--one knows not if it is trance1 from which morning shall yet roll the blinding mists away1 or if the fair shadows of her quietude are indeed the shades of purple death4 ,and1 lifted a little above this solemn plain1 and looking beyond it to its snowy ramparts1 vainly guardian1 stands this palace dedicate to pleasure1 the whole legend of ,italy's past history written before it by the finger of ,god1 written as with an iron pen upon the rock forever1 on all those fronting walls of reproachful ,alp2 blazoned in gold of lightning upon the clouds that still open and close their unsealed scrolls in heaven2 painted in purple and scarlet upon the mighty missal pages of sunset after sunset1 spread vainly before a nation's eyes for a nation's prayer4 ,so stands this palace of pleasure2 desolate as it deserves--desolate in smooth corridor and glittering chamber--desolate in pleached walk and planted bower--desolate in that worst and bitterest abandonment which leaves no light of memory4 ,no ruins are here of walls rent by war1 and falling above their defenders into mounds of graves3 no remnants are here of chapel-altar1 or temple porch1 left shattered or silent by the power of some purer worship3 no vestiges are here of sacred hearth and sweet homestead1 left lonely through vicissitudes of fate1 and heaven-sent sorrow4 ,nothing is here but the vain apparelings of pride sunk into dishonor1 and vain appanages of delight now no more delightsome4 ,the hill-waters1 that once flowed and plashed in the garden fountains1 now trickle sadly through the weeds that encumber their basins1 with a sound as of tears3 the creeping1 insidious1 neglected flowers weave their burning nets about the white marble of the balustrades1 and rend them slowly1 block from block1 and stone from stone3 the thin1 sweet-scented leaves tremble along the old masonry joints as if with palsy at every breeze2 and the dark lichens1 golden and gray1 make the footfall silent in the path's center4 ,and day by day as ,i walked there1 the same sentence seemed whispered by every shaking leaf1 and every dying echo1 of garden and chamber4 ,thus end all the arts of life1 only in death2 and thus issue all the gifts of man1 only in his dishonor1 when they are pursued or possessed in the service of pleasure only4 #ba4 ,this then is the great enigma of ,art ,history1--you must not follow ,art without pleasure1 nor must you follow it for the sake of pleasure4 ,and the solution of that enigma is simply this fact2 that wherever ,art has been followed only for the sake of luxury or delight1 it has contributed1 and largely contributed1 to bring about the destruction of the nation practicing it3 but wherever ,art has been used also to teach any truth1 or supposed truth--religious1 moral1 or natural--there it has elevated the nation practicing it1 and itself with the nation4 #bb4 ,thus the ,art of ,greece rose1 and did service to the people1 so long as it was to them the earnest interpreter of a religion they believed in3 the ,arts of northern sculpture and architecture rose1 as interpreters of ,christian legend and doctrine3 the ,art of painting in ,italy1 not only as religious1 but also mainly as expressive of truths of moral philosophy1 and powerful in pure human portraiture4 ,the only great painters in our schools of painting in ,england have either been of portrait--,reynolds and ,gainsborough2 of the philosophy of social life--,hogarth2 or of the facts of nature in landscape--,wilson and ,turner4 ,in all these cases1 if ,i had time1 ,i could show you that the success of the painter depended on his desire to convey a truth1 rather than to produce a merely beautiful picture2 that is to say1 to get a likeness of a man1 or of a place2 to get some moral principle rightly stated1 or some historical character rightly described1 rather than merely to give pleasure to the eyes4 ,compare the feeling with which a ,moorish architect decorated an arch of the ,alhambra1 with that of ,hogarth painting the ,marriage a la ,mode1 or of ,wilkie painting the ,chelsea ,pensioners1 and you will at once feel the difference between ,art pursued for pleasure only1 and for the sake of some useful principle or impression4 #bc4 ,but what you might not so easily discern is1 that even when painting does appear to have been pursued for pleasure only1 if ever you find it rise to any noble level1 you will also find that a stern search after truth has been at the root of its nobleness4 ,you may fancy1 perhaps1 that ,titian1 ,veronese1 and ,tintoret were painters for the sake of pleasure only3 but in reality they were the only painters who ever sought entirely to master1 and who did entirely master1 the truths of light and shade as associated with color1 in the noblest of all physical created things1 the human form4 ,they were the only men who ever painted the human body2 all other painters of the great schools are mere anatomical draughtsmen compared to them2 rather makers of maps of the body1 than painters of it4 ,the ,venetians alone1 by a toil almost super-human1 succeeded at last in obtaining a power almost super-human2 and were able finally to paint the highest visible work of ,god with unexaggerated structure1 undegraded color1 and unaffected gesture4 ,it seems little to say this2 but ,i assure you it is much to have done this--so much1 that no other men but the ,venetians ever did it3 none of them ever painted the human body without in some degree caricaturing the anatomy1 forcing the action1 or degrading the hue4 #bd4 ,now1 therefore1 the sum of all is1 that you who wish to encourage ,art in ,england have to do two things with it3 you must delight in it1 in the first place2 and you must get it to serve some serious work1 in the second place4 ,i don't mean by serious1 necessarily moral3 all that ,i mean by serious is in some way or other useful1 not merely selfish1 careless1 or indolent4 ,i had1 indeed1 intended before closing my address1 to have traced out a few of the directions in which1 as it seems to me1 ,art may be seriously and practically serviceable to us in the career of civilization4 ,i had hoped to show you how many of the great phenomena of nature still remained unrecorded by it1 for us to record2 how many of the historical monuments of ,europe were perishing without memorial1 for the want of but a little honest1 simple1 laborious1 loving draughtsmanship2 how many of the most impressive historical events of the day failed of teaching us half of what they were meant to teach1 for want of painters to represent them faithfully1 instead of fancifully1 and with historical truth for their aim1 instead of national self-glorification4 ,i had hoped to show you how many of the best impulses of the heart were lost in frivolity or sensuality1 for want of purer beauty to contemplate1 and of noble thoughts to associate with the fervor of hallowed human passion2 how1 finally1 a great part of the vital power of our religious faith was lost in us1 for want of such art as would realize in some rational1 probable1 believable way1 those events of sacred history which1 as they visibly and intelligibly occurred1 may also be visibly and intelligibly represented4 ,but all this ,i dare not do yet4 ,i felt1 as ,i thought over these things1 that the time was not yet come for their declaration3 the time will come for it1 and ,i believe soon2 but as yet1 the man would only lay himself open to the charge of vanity1 of imagination1 and of idle fondness of hope1 who should venture to trace in words the course of the higher blessings which the ,arts may have yet in store for mankind4 ,as yet there is no need to do so3 all that we have to plead for is an earnest and straightforward exertion in those courses of study which are opened to us day by day1 believing only that they are to be followed gravely and for grave purposes1 as by men1 and not by children4 ,i appeal1 finally1 to all those who are to become the pupils of these schools1 to keep clear of the notion of following ,art as dilettantism3 it ought to delight you1 as your reading delights you--but you never think of your reading as dilettantism4 ,it ought to delight you as your studies of physical science delight you--but you don't call physical science dilettantism4 ,if you are determined only to think of ,art as a play or a pleasure1 give it up at once3 you will do no good to yourselves1 and you will degrade the pursuit in the sight of others4 ,better1 infinitely better1 that you should never enter a picture gallery1 than that you should enter only to saunter and to smile3 better1 infinitely better1 that you should never handle a pencil at all1 than handle it only for the sake of complacency in your small dexterity3 better1 infinitely better1 that you should be wholly uninterested in pictures1 and uninformed respecting them1 than that you should just know enough to detect blemishes in great works1--to give a color of reasonableness to presumption1 and an appearance of acuteness to misunderstanding4 ,above all1 ,i would plead for this so far as the teaching of these schools may be addressed to the junior ,members of the ,university4 ,men employed in any kind of manual labor1 by which they must live1 are not likely to take up the notion that they can learn any other art for amusement only2 but amateurs are3 and it is of the highest importance1 nay1 it is just the one thing of all importance1 to show them what drawing really means2 and not so much to teach them to produce a good work themselves1 as to know it when they see it done by others4 ,good work1 in the stern sense of the word1 as ,i before said1 no mere amateur can do2 and good work1 in any sense1 that is to say1 profitable work for himself or for anyone else1 he can only do by being made in the beginning to see what is possible for him1 and what not2--what is accessible1 and what not2 and by having the majesty and sternness of the everlasting laws of fact set before him in their infinitude4 ,it is no matter for appalling him3 the man is great already who is made well capable of being appalled2 nor do we even wisely hope1 nor truly understand1 till we are humiliated by our hope1 and awe-struck by our understanding4 ,nay1 ,i will go farther than this1 and say boldly1 that what you have mainly to teach the young men here is1 not so much what they can do1 as what they cannot2--to make them see how much there is in nature which cannot be imitated1 and how much in man which cannot be emulated4 ,he only can be truly said to be educated in ,art to whom all his work is only a feeble sign of glories which he cannot convey1 and a feeble means of measuring1 with ever-enlarging admiration1 the great and untraversable gulf which ,god has set between the great and the common intelligences of mankind3 and all the triumphs of ,art which man can commonly achieve are only truly crowned by pure delight in natural scenes themselves1 and by the sacred and self-forgetful veneration which can be nobly abashed1 and tremblingly exalted1 in the presence of a human spirit greater than his own4 ,,footnotes3 #eh ,this ,address has been already printed in three forms1--7a7 in a pamphlet printed at ,cambridge for the committee of the ,school of ,art1 by ,naylor ,co41 ,chronicle office1 #aheh2 7b7 in a second pamphlet1 ,cambridge1 ,deighton ,bell2 ,london1 ,bell ,daldy1 #aheh2 and 7c7 a new edition1 published for ,mr4 ,ruskin by ,mr4 ,george ,allen in #ahgi4 ,the first of these pamphlets contains1 in addition to the address1 a full account of the inaugural soiree at which it was read1 and a report of speeches then made by ,mr4 ,redgrave1 ,r4,a41 and ,mr4 ,george ,cruikshank2 and both the first and second pamphlet also contain a few introductory words spoken1 by ,mr4 ,ruskin1 before proceeding to deliver his address4--,,ed4 #ei ,see ,a ,joy ,for ,ever1 ,sec4 #aac1 and ,time and ,tide1 ,sec4 #gh4--;,,ed4 #fj ,i ought perhaps to remind the reader that this statement refers to two different societies among the ,alps2 the ,waldenses in the #acth1 and the people of the ,forest ,cantons in the #adth and following centuries4 ,protestants are perhaps apt sometimes to forget that the virtues of these mountaineers were shown in connection with vital forms of opposing religions2 and that the patriots of ,schwytz and ,uri were as zealous ,roman ,catholics as they were good soldiers4 ,we have to lay to their charge the death of ,zuinglius as well as of ,gessler4 #fa ,the summit of ,rocca-,melone is the sharp peak seen from ,turin on the right hand of the gorge of the ,cenis1 dominant over the low projecting pyramid of the hill called by ,de ,saussure ,montagne de ,musinet4 ,rocca-,melone rises to a height of #aa1jjj feet above the sea1 and its peak is a place of pilgrimage to this day1 though it seems temporarily to have ceased to be so in the time of ,de ,saussure1 who thus speaks of it3 ,il y a eu pendant longtemps sur cette cime1 une petite chapelle avec une image de ,notre ,dame qui etoit en grande veneration dans le pays1 et ou un grand nombre de gens alloient au mois d'aout en procession1 de ,suze et des environs2 mais le sentier qui conduit a cette chapelle est si etroit et si scabreux qu'il n'y avoit presque pas d'annees qu'il n'y perit du monde2 la fatigue et la rarete de l'air saisissoient ceux qui avoient plutot consulte leur devotion que leurs forces2 ils tomberent en defalliance1 et de la dans le precipice4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,art4 ,v4 ,,the ,,cestus ,,of ,,aglaia4 7,art ,journal1 ,january-,july #ahfe2 ,january1 ,february1 and ,april #ahff47 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,cestus ,,of ,,aglaia4 ,greek3 ,poikilon o eni panta teteuchatai oude se phemi ,aprekton ge neesthai1 ho ti phresi sesi menoinas4 7,,hom4 ,il4 xiv4 #bbj-ba47 ,,prefatory4#fb #be4 ,not many months ago1 a friend1 whose familiarity with both living and past schools of ,art rendered his opinion of great authority1 said casually to me in the course of talk1 ,i believe we have now as able painters as ever lived2 but they never paint as good pictures as were once painted4 ,that was the substance of his saying2 ,i forget the exact words1 but their tenor surprised me1 and ,i have thought much of them since4 ,without pressing the statement too far1 or examining it with an unintended strictness1 this ,i believe to be at all events true1 that we have men among us1 now in ,europe1 who might have been noble painters1 and are not2 men whose doings are altogether as wonderful in skill1 as inexhaustible in fancy1 as the work of the really great painters2 and yet these doings of theirs are not great4 ,shall ,i write the commonplace that rings in sequence in my ear1 and draws on my hand--are not ,great1 for they are not 7in the broad human and ethical sense7 ,good8 ,i write it1 and ask forgiveness for the truism1 with its implied uncharitableness of blame2 for this trite thing is ill understood and little thought upon by any of us1 and the implied blame is divided among us all2 only let me at once partly modify it1 and partly define4 #bf4 ,in one sense1 modern ,art has more goodness in it than ever ,art had before4 ,its kindly spirit1 its quick sympathy with pure domestic and social feeling1 the occasional seriousness of its instructive purpose1 and its honest effort to grasp the reality of conceived scenes1 are all eminently good1 as compared with the insane picturesqueness and conventional piety of many among the old masters4 ,such domestic painting1 for instance1 as ,richter's in ,germany1 ,edward ,frere's in ,france1 and ,hook's in ,england1 together with such historical and ideal work as----perhaps the reader would be offended with me were ,i to set down the several names that occur to me here1 so ,i will set down one only1 and say--as that of ,paul de la ,roche2 such work1 ,i repeat1 as these men have done1 or are doing1 is entirely good in its influence on the public mind2 and may1 in thankful exultation1 be compared with the renderings of besotted1 vicious1 and vulgar human life perpetrated by ,dutch painters1 or with the deathful formalism and fallacy of what was once called ,historical ,art4 ,also1 this gentleness and veracity of theirs1 being in part communicable1 are gradually learned1 though in a somewhat servile manner1 yet not without a sincere sympathy1 by many inferior painters1 so that our exhibitions and currently popular books are full of very lovely and pathetic ideas1 expressed with a care1 and appealing to an interest1 quite unknown in past times4 ,i will take two instances of merely average power1 as more illustrative of what ,i mean than any more singular and distinguished work could be4 ,last year1 in the ,british ,institution1 there were two pictures by the same painter1 one of a domestic1 the other of a sacred subject4 ,i will say nothing of the way in which they were painted2 it may have been bad1 or good1 or neither3 it is not to my point4 ,i wish to direct attention only to the conception of them4 ,one1 ,cradled in his ,calling1 was of a fisherman and his wife1 and helpful grown-up son1 and helpless new-born little one2 the two men carrying the young child up from the shore1 rocking it between them in the wet net for a hammock1 the mother looking on joyously1 and the baby laughing4 ,the thought was pretty and good1 and one might go on dreaming over it long--not unprofitably4 ,but the second picture was more interesting4 ,i describe it only in the circumstances of the invented scene--sunset after the crucifixion4 ,the bodies have been taken away1 and the crosses are left lying on the broken earth2 a group of children have strayed up the hill1 and stopped beside them in such shadowy awe as is possible to childhood1 and they have picked up one or two of the drawn nails to feel how sharp they are4 ,meantime a girl with her little brother--goat-herds both--have been watering their flock at ,kidron1 and are driving it home4 ,the girl1 strong in grace and honor of youth1 carrying her pitcher of water on her erect head1 has gone on past the place steadily1 minding her flock2 but her little curly-headed brother1 with cheeks of burning ,eastern brown1 has lingered behind to look1 and is feeling the point of one of the nails1 held in another child's hand4 ,a lovely little kid of the goats has stayed behind to keep him company1 and is amusing itself by jumping backwards and forwards over an arm of the cross4 ,the sister looks back1 and1 wondering what he can have stopped in that dreadful place for1 waves her hand for the little boy to come away4 ,i have no hesitation in saying that1 as compared with the ancient and stereotyped conceptions of the ,taking down from the ,cross1 there is a living feeling in that picture which is of great price4 ,it may perhaps be weak1 nay1 even superficial1 or untenable--that will depend on the other conditions of character out of which it springs--but1 so far as it reaches1 it is pure and good2 and we may gain more by looking thoughtfully at such a picture than at any even of the least formal types of the work of older schools4 ,it would be unfair to compare it with first-rate1 or even approximately first-rate designs2 but even accepting such unjust terms1 put it beside ,rembrandt's ghastly white sheet1 laid over the two poles at the ,cross-foot1 and see which has most good in it for you of any communicable kind4 #bg4 ,i trust1 then1 that ,i fully admit whatever may1 on due deliberation1 be alleged in favor of modern ,art4 ,nay1 ,i have heretofore asserted more for some modern ,art than others were disposed to admit1 nor do ,i withdraw one word from such assertion4 ,but when all has been said and granted that may be1 there remains this painful fact to be dealt with1--the consciousness1 namely1 both in living artists themselves and in us their admirers1 that something1 and that not a little1 is wrong with us2 that they1 relentlessly examined1 could not say they thoroughly knew how to paint1 and that we1 relentlessly examined1 could not say we thoroughly know how to judge4 ,the best of our painters will look a little to us1 the beholders1 for confirmation of his having done well4 ,we1 appealed to1 look to each other to see what we ought to say4 ,if we venture to find fault1 however submissively1 the artist will probably feel a little uncomfortable3 he will by no means venture to meet us with a serenely crushing ,sir1 it cannot be better done1 in the manner of ,albert ,duerer4 ,and yet1 if it could not be better done1 he1 of all men1 should know that best1 nor fear to say so2 it is good for himself1 and for us1 that he should assert that1 if he knows that4 ,the last time my dear old friend ,william ,hunt came to see me1 ,i took down one of his early drawings for him to see 7three blue plums and one amber one1 and two nuts74 ,so he looked at it1 happily1 for a minute or two and then said1 ,well1 it's very nice1 isn't it8 ,i did not think ,i could have done so well4 ,the saying was entirely right1 exquisitely modest and true2 only ,i fear he would not have had the courage to maintain that his drawing was good1 if anybody had been there to say otherwise4 ,still1 having done well1 he knew it2 and what is more no man ever does do well without knowing it3 he may not know how well1 nor be conscious of the best of his own qualities2 nor measure1 or care to measure1 the relation of his power to that of other men1 but he will know that what he has done is1 in an intended1 accomplished1 and ascertainable degree1 good4 ,every able and honest workman1 as he wins a right to rest1 so he wins a right to approval1--his own if no one's beside2 nay1 his only true rest is in the calm consciousness that the thing has been honorably done--,greek3 suneidesis hoti kalon4 ,i do not use the ,greek words in pedantry1 ,i want them for future service and interpretation2 no ,english words1 nor any of any other language1 would do as well4 ,for ,i mean to try to show1 and believe ,i can show1 that a simple and sure conviction of our having done rightly is not only an attainable1 but a necessary seal and sign of our having so done2 and that the doing well or rightly1 and ill or wrongly1 are both conditions of the whole being of each person1 coming of a nature in him which affects all things that he may do1 from the least to the greatest1 according to the noble old phrase for the conquering rightness1 of integrity1 wholeness1 or wholesomeness4 ,so that when we do external things 7that are our business7 ill1 it is a sign that internal1 and1 in fact1 that all things1 are ill with us2 and when we do external things well1 it is a sign that internal and all things are well with us4 ,and ,i believe there are two principal adversities to this wholesomeness of work1 and to all else that issues out of wholeness of inner character1 with which we have in these days specially to contend4 ,the first is the variety of ,art round us1 tempting us to thoughtless imitation2 the second our own want of belief in the existence of a rule of right4 #bh4 ,i4 ,i say the first is the variety of ,art around us4 ,no man can pursue his own track in peace1 nor obtain consistent guidance1 if doubtful of his track4 ,all places are full of inconsistent example1 all mouths of contradictory advice1 all prospects of opposite temptations4 ,the young artist sees myriads of things he would like to do1 but cannot learn from their authors how they were done1 nor choose decisively any method which he may follow with the accuracy and confidence necessary to success4 ,he is not even sure if his thoughts are his own2 for the whole atmosphere round him is full of floating suggestion3 those which are his own he cannot keep pure1 for he breathes a dust of decayed ideas1 wreck of the souls of dead nations1 driven by contrary winds4 ,he may stiffen himself 7and all the worse for him7 into an iron self-will1 but if the iron has any magnetism in it1 he cannot pass a day without finding himself1 at the end of it1 instead of sharpened or tempered1 covered with a ragged fringe of iron filings4 ,if there be anything better than iron--living wood fiber--in him1 he cannot be allowed any natural growth1 but gets hacked in every extremity1 and bossed over with lumps of frozen clay2--grafts of incongruous blossom that will never set2 while some even recognize no need of knife or clay 7though both are good in a gardener's hand71 but deck themselves out with incongruous glittering1 like a ,christmas-tree4 ,even were the style chosen true to his own nature1 and persisted in1 there is harm in the very eminence of the models set before him at the beginning of his career4 ,if he feels their power1 they make him restless and impatient1 it may be despondent1 it may be madly and fruitlessly ambitious4 ,if he does not feel it1 he is sure to be struck by what is weakest or slightest of their peculiar qualities2 fancies that this is what they are praised for2 tries to catch the trick of it2 and whatever easy vice or mechanical habit the master may have been betrayed or warped into1 the unhappy pupil watches and adopts1 triumphant in its ease3--has not sense to steal the peacock's feather1 but imitates its voice4 ,better for him1 far better1 never to have seen what had been accomplished by others1 but to have gained gradually his own quiet way1 or at least with his guide only a step in advance of him1 and the lantern low on the difficult path4 ,better even1 it has lately seemed1 to be guideless and lightless2 fortunate those who1 by desolate effort1 trying hither and thither1 have groped their way to some independent power4 ,so1 from ,cornish rock1 from ,st4 ,giles's ,lane1 from ,thames mudshore1 you get your ,prout1 your ,hunt1 your ,turner2 not1 indeed1 any of them well able to spell ,english1 nor taught so much of their own business as to lay a color safely2 but yet at last1 or first1 doing somehow something1 wholly ineffective on the national mind1 yet real1 and valued at last after they are dead1 in money2--valued otherwise not even at so much as the space of dead brick wall it would cover2 their work being left for years packed in parcels at the ,national ,gallery1 or hung conclusively out of sight under the shadowy iron vaults of ,kensington4 ,the men themselves1 quite inarticulate1 determine nothing of their ,art1 interpret nothing of their own minds2 teach perhaps a trick or two of their stage business in early life--as1 for instance1 that it is good where there is much black to break it with white1 and where there is much white to break it with black1 etc41 etc42 in later life remain silent altogether1 or speak only in despair 7fretful or patient according to their character72 one who might have been among the best of them1#fc the last we heard of1 finding refuge for an entirely honest heart from a world which declares honesty to be impossible1 only in a madness nearly as sorrowful as its own2--the religious madness which makes a beautiful soul ludicrous and ineffectual2 and so passes away1 bequeathing for our inheritance from its true and strong life1 a pretty song about a tiger1 another about a bird-cage1 two or three golden couplets1 which no one will ever take the trouble to understand1--the spiritual portrait of the ghost of a flea1--and the critical opinion that the unorganized blots of ,rubens and ,titian are not ,art4 ,which opinion the public mind perhaps not boldly indorsing1 is yet incapable of pronouncing adversely to it1 that the said blots of ,titian and ,rubens are ,art1 perceiving for itself little good in them1 and hanging them also well out of its way1 at tops of walls 7,titian's portrait of ,charles ,v4 at ,munich1 for example2 ,tintoret's ,susannah1 and ,veronese's ,magdalen1 in the ,louvre71 that it may have room and readiness for what may be generally termed railroad work1 bearing on matters more immediately in hand2 said public looking to the present pleasure of its fancy1 and the portraiture of itself in official and otherwise imposing or entertaining circumstances1 as the only ,right cognizable by it4 #bi4 ,,ii4 ,and this is a deeper source of evil1 by far1 than the former one1 for though it is ill for us to strain towards a right for which we have never ripened it is worse for us to believe in no right at all4 ,anything1 we say1 that a clever man can do to amuse us is good2 what does not amuse us we do not want4 ,taste is assuredly a frivolous1 apparently a dangerous gift2 vicious persons and vicious nations have it2 we are a practical people1 content to know what we like1 wise in not liking it too much1 and when tired of it1 wise in getting something we like better4 ,painting is of course an agreeable ornamental ,art1 maintaining a number of persons respectably1 deserving therefore encouragement1 and getting it pecuniarily1 to a hitherto unheard-of extent4 ,what would you have more8 ,this is1 ,i believe1 very nearly our ,art-creed4 ,the fact being 7very ascertainably by anyone who will take the trouble to examine the matter71 that there is a cultivated ,art among all great nations1 inevitably necessary to them as the fulfillment of one part of their human nature4 ,none but savage nations are without ,art1 and civilized nations who do their ,art ill1 do it because there is something deeply wrong at their hearts4 ,they paint badly as a paralyzed man stammers1 because his life is touched somewhere within2 when the deeper life is full in a people1 they speak clearly and rightly2 paint clearly and rightly2 think clearly and rightly4 ,there is some reverse effect1 but very little4 ,good pictures do not teach a nation2 they are the signs of its having been taught4 ,good thoughts do not form a nation2 it must be formed before it can think them4 ,let it once decay at the heart1 and its good work and good thoughts will become subtle luxury and aimless sophism2 and it and they will perish together4 #cj4 ,it is my purpose1 therefore1 in some subsequent papers1 with such help as ,i may anywise receive1 to try if there may not be determined some of the simplest laws which are indeed binding on ,art practice and judgment4 ,beginning with elementary principle1 and proceeding upwards as far as guiding laws are discernible1 ,i hope to show1 that if we do not yet know them1 there are at least such laws to be known1 and that it is of a deep and intimate importance to any people1 especially to the ,english at this time1 that their children should be sincerely taught whatever arts they learn1 and in riper age become capable of a just choice and wise pleasure in the accomplished works of the artist4 ,but ,i earnestly ask for help in this task4 ,it is one which can only come to good issue by the consent and aid of many thinkers2 and ,i would1 with the permission of the ,editor of this ,journal1 invite debate on the subject of each paper1 together with brief and clear statements of consent or objection1 with name of consenter or objector2 so that after courteous discussion had1 and due correction of the original statement1 we may get something at last set down1 as harmoniously believed by such and such known artists4 ,if nothing can thus be determined1 at least the manner and variety of dissent will show whether it is owing to the nature of the subject1 or to the impossibility1 under present circumstances1 that different persons should approach it from similar points of view2 and the inquiry1 whatever its immediate issue1 cannot be ultimately fruitless4 ,,footnotes3 #fb ,art ,journal1 ,new ,series1 vol4 iv41 pp4 #e-f4 ,january #ahfe4--;,,ed4 #fc ,see p4 #cec1 ,sec4 #hc1 for a further mention of ,william ,blake4--,,ed4 ,,the ,,cestus ,,of ,,aglaia ,,chapter ,i4#fd #ca4 ,our knowledge of human labor1 if intimate enough1 will1 ,i think1 mass it for the most part into two kinds--mining and molding2 the labor that seeks for things1 and the labor that shapes them4 ,of these the last should be always orderly1 for we ought to have some conception of the whole of what we have to make before we try to make any part of it2 but the labor of seeking must be often methodless1 following the veins of the mine as they branch1 or trying for them where they are broken4 ,and the mine1 which we would now open into the souls of men1 as they govern the mysteries of their handicrafts1 being rent into many dark and divided ways1 it is not possible to map our work beforehand1 or resolve on its directions4 ,we will not attempt to bind ourselves to any methodical treatment of our subject1 but will get at the truths of it here and there1 as they seem extricable2 only1 though we cannot know to what depth we may have to dig1 let us know clearly what we are digging for4 ,we desire to find by what rule some ,art is called good1 and other ,art bad3 we desire to find the conditions of character in the artist which are essentially connected with the goodness of his work3 we desire to find what are the methods of practice which form this character or corrupt it2 and finally1 how the formation or corruption of this character is connected with the general prosperity of nations4 #cb4 ,and all this we want to learn practically3 not for mere pleasant speculation on things that have been2 but for instant direction of those that are yet to be4 ,my first object is to get at some fixed principles for the teaching of ,art to our youth2 and ,i am about to ask1 of all who may be able to give me a serviceable answer1 and with and for all who are anxious for such answer1 what arts should be generally taught to the ,english boy and girl1--by what methods1--and to what ends8 ,how well1 or how imperfectly1 our youth of the higher classes should be disciplined in the practice of music and painting8--how far1 among the lower classes1 exercise in certain mechanical arts might become a part of their school life8--how far1 in the adult life of this nation1 the ,fine ,arts may advisably supersede or regulate the mechanical ,arts8 ,plain questions these1 enough2 clearly also important ones2 and1 as clearly1 boundless ones--mountainous--infinite in contents--only to be mined into in a scrambling manner by poor inquirers1 as their present tools and sight may serve4 #cc4 ,i have often been accused of dogmatism1 and confess to the holding strong opinions on some matters2 but ,i tell the reader in sincerity1 and entreat him in sincerity to believe1 that ,i do not think myself able to dictate anything positive respecting questions of this magnitude4 ,the one thing ,i am sure of is1 the need of some form of dictation2 or1 where that is as yet impossible1 at least of consistent experiment1 for the just solution of doubts which present themselves every day in more significant and more impatient temper of interrogation4 ,here is one1 for instance1 lying at the base of all the rest--namely1 what may be the real dignity of mechanical ,art itself8 ,i cannot express the amazed awe1 the crushed humility1 with which ,i sometimes watch a locomotive take its breath at a railway station1 and think what work there is in its bars and wheels1 and what manner of men they must be who dig brown iron-stone out of the ground1 and forge it into ,,that6 ,what assemblage of accurate and mighty faculties in them2 more than fleshly power over melting crag and coiling fire1 fettered1 and finessed at last into the precision of watchmaking2 ,titanian hammer-strokes beating1 out of lava1 these glittering cylinders and timely-respondent valves1 and fine ribbed rods1 which touch each other as a serpent writhes1 in noiseless gliding1 and omnipotence of grasp2 infinitely complex anatomy of active steel1 compared with which the skeleton of a living creature would seem1 to a careless observer1 clumsy and vile--a mere morbid secretion and phosphatous prop of flesh6 ,what would the men who thought out this--who beat it out1 who touched it into its polished calm of power1 who set it to its appointed task1 and triumphantly saw it fulfill this task to the utmost of their will--feel or think about this weak hand of mine1 timidly leading a little stain of water-color1 which ,i cannot manage1 into an imperfect shadow of something else--mere failure in every motion1 and endless disappointment2 what1 ,i repeat1 would these ,iron-dominant ,genii think of me8 and what ought ,i to think of them8 #cd4 ,but as ,i reach this point of reverence1 the unreasonable thing is sure to give a shriek as of a thousand unanimous vultures1 which leaves me shuddering in real physical pain for some half minute following2 and assures me1 during slow recovery1 that a people which can endure such fluting and piping among them is not likely soon to have its modest ear pleased by aught of oaten stop1 or pastoral song4 ,perhaps ,i am then led on into meditation respecting the spiritual nature of the ,tenth ,muse1 who invented this gracious instrument1 and guides its modulation by stokers' fingers2 meditation1 also1 as to the influence of her invention amidst the other parts of the ,parnassian melody of ,english education4 ,then it cannot but occur to me to inquire how far this modern pneuma1 ,steam1 may be connected with other pneumatic powers talked of in that old religious literature1 of which we fight so fiercely to keep the letters bright1 and the working valves1 so to speak1 in good order 7while we let the steam of it all carefully off into the cold condenser71 what connection1 ,i say1 this modern spiritus1 in its valve-directed inspiration1 has with that more ancient spiritus1 or warm breath1 which people used to think they might be born of4 ,whether1 in fine1 there be any such thing as an entirely human ,art1 with spiritual motive power1 and signal as of human voice1 distinct inherently from this mechanical ,art1 with its mechanical motive force1 and signal of vulture voice4 ,for after all1 this shrieking thing1 whatever the fine make of it may be1 can but pull or push1 and do oxen's work in an impetuous manner4 ,that proud king of ,assyria1 who lost his reason1 and ate oxen's food1 would he have much more cause for pride1 if he had been allowed to spend his reason in doing oxen's work8 #ce4 ,these things1 then1 ,i would fain consult about1 and plead with the reader for his patience in council1 even while we begin with the simplest practical matters2 for raveled briers of thought entangle our feet1 even at our first step4 ,we would teach a boy to draw4 ,well1 what shall he draw8--,gods1 or men1 or beasts1 or clouds1 or leaves1 or iron cylinders8 ,are there any gods to be drawn8 any men or women worth drawing1 or only worth caricaturing8 ,what are the aesthetic laws respecting iron cylinders2 and would ,titian have liked them rusty1 or fresh cleaned with oil and rag1 to fill the place once lightened by ,st4 ,george's armor8 ,how can we begin the smallest practical business1 unless we get first some whisper of answer to such questions8 ,we may tell a boy to draw a straight line straight1 and a crooked one crooked2 but what else8 ,and it renders the dilemma1 or multilemma1 more embarrassing1 that whatever teaching is to be had from the founders and masters of art is quite unpractical4 ,the first source from which we should naturally seek for guidance would1 of course1 be the sayings of great workmen2 but a sorrowful perception presently dawns on us that the great workmen have nothing to say4 ,they are silent1 absolutely in proportion to their creative power4 ,the contributions to our practical knowledge of the principles of ,art1 furnished by the true captains of its hosts1 may1 ,i think1 be arithmetically summed by the ,o of ,giotto3 the inferior teachers become didactic in the degree of their inferiority2 and those who can do nothing have always much to advise4 #cf4 ,this however1 observe1 is only true of advice direct4 ,you never1 ,i grieve to say1 get from the great men a plain answer to a plain question2 still less can you entangle them in any agreeable gossip1 out of which something might unawares be picked up4 ,but of enigmatical teaching1 broken signs and sullen mutterings1 of which you can understand nothing1 and may make anything2--of confused discourse in the work itself1 about the work1 as in ,duerer's ,melancolia2--and of discourse not merely confused1 but apparently unreasonable and ridiculous1 about all manner of things except the work1--the great ,egyptian and ,greek artists give us much3 from which1 however1 all that by utmost industry may be gathered1 comes briefly to this1--that they have no conception of what modern men of science call the ,conservation of forces1 but deduce all the force they feel in themselves1 and hope for in others1 from certain fountains or centers of perpetually supplied strength1 to which they give various names3 as1 for instance1 these seven following1 more specially3-- #a4 ,the ,spirit of ,light1 moral and physical1 by name the ,physician-,destroyer1 bearing arrows in his hand1 and a lyre2 pre-eminently the destroyer of human pride1 and the guide of human harmony4 ,physically1 ,lord of the ,sun2 and a mountain ,spirit1 because the sun seems first to rise and set upon hills4 #b4 ,the ,spirit of helpful ,darkness--of shade and rest4 ,night the ,restorer4 #c4 ,the ,spirit of ,wisdom in ,conduct1 bearing1 in sign of conquest over troublous and disturbing evil1 the skin of the wild goat1 and the head of the slain ,spirit of physical storm4 ,in her hand1 a weaver's shuttle1 or a spear4 #d4 ,the ,spirit of ,wisdom in ,arrangement2 called the ,lord or ,father of ,truth3 throned on a four-square cubit1 with a measuring-rod in his hand1 or a potter's wheel4 #e4 ,the ,spirit of ,wisdom in ,adaptation2 or of serviceable labor3 the ,master of human effort in its glow2 and ,lord of useful fire1 moral and physical4 #f4 ,the ,spirit1 first of young or nascent grace1 and then of fulfilled beauty3 the wife of the ,lord of ,labor4 ,i have taken the two lines in which ,homer describes her girdle1 for the motto of these essays3 partly in memory of these outcast fancies of the great masters3 and partly for the sake of a meaning which we shall find as we go on4 #g4 ,the ,spirit of pure human life and gladness4 ,master of wholesome vital passion2 and physically1 ,lord of the ,vine4 #cg4 ,from these ludicrous notions of motive force1 inconsistent as they are with modern physiology and organic chemistry1 we may1 nevertheless1 hereafter gather1 in the details of their various expressions1 something useful to us4 ,but ,i grieve to say that when our provoking teachers descend from dreams about the doings of ,gods to assertions respecting the deeds of ,men1 little beyond the blankest discouragement is to be had from them4 ,thus1 they represent the ingenuity1 and deceptive or imitative ,arts of men1 under the type of a ,master who builds labyrinths1 and makes images of living creatures1 for evil purposes1 or for none2 and pleases himself and the people with idle jointing of toys1 and filling of them with quicksilver motion2 and brings his child to foolish1 remediless catastrophe1 in fancying his father's work as good1 and strong1 and fit to bear sunlight1 as if it had been ,god's work4 ,so1 again1 they represent the foresight and kindly zeal of men by a most rueful figure of one chained down to a rock by the brute force and bias and methodical hammer-stroke of the merely practical ,arts1 and by the merciless ,necessities or ,fates of present time2 and so having his very heart torn piece by piece out of him by a vulturous hunger and sorrow1 respecting things he cannot reach1 nor prevent1 nor achieve4 ,so1 again1 they describe the sentiment and pure soul-power of ,man1 as moving the very rocks and trees1 and giving them life1 by its sympathy with them2 but losing its own best-beloved thing by mere venomous accident3 and afterwards going down to hell for it1 in vain2 being impatient and unwise1 though full of gentleness2 and1 in the issue1 after as vainly trying to teach this gentleness to others1 and to guide them out of their lower passions to sunlight of true healing ,life1 it drives the sensual heart of them1 and the gods that govern it1 into mere and pure frenzy of resolved rage1 and gets torn to pieces by them1 and ended2 only the nightingale staying by its grave to sing4 ,all which appearing to be anything rather than helpful or encouraging instruction for beginners1 we shall1 for the present1 ,i think1 do well to desire these enigmatical teachers to put up their pipes and be gone2 and betaking ourselves in the humblest manner to intelligible business1 at least set down some definite matter for decision1 to be made a first stepping-stone at the shore of this brook of despond and difficulty4 #ch4 ,most masters agree 7and ,i believe they are right7 that the first thing to be taught to any pupil1 is how to draw an outline of such things as can be outlined4 ,now1 there are two kinds of outline--the soft and hard4 ,one must be executed with a soft instrument1 as a piece of chalk or lead2 and the other with some instrument producing for ultimate result a firm line of equal darkness2 as a pen with ink1 or the engraving tool on wood or metal4 ,and these two kinds of outline have both of them their particular objects and uses1 as well as their proper scale of size in work4 ,thus ,raphael will sketch a miniature head with his pen1 but always takes chalk if he draws of the size of life4 ,so also ,holbein1 and generally the other strong masters4 ,but the black outline seems to be peculiarly that which we ought to begin to reason upon1 because it is simple and open-hearted1 and does not endeavor to escape into mist4 ,a pencil line may be obscurely and undemonstrably wrong2 false in a cowardly manner1 and without confession3 but the ink line1 if it goes wrong at all1 goes wrong with a will1 and may be convicted at our leisure1 and put to such shame as its black complexion is capable of4 ,may we1 therefore1 begin with the hard line8 ,it will lead us far1 if we can come to conclusions about it4 #ci4 ,presuming1 then1 that our schoolboys are such as ,coleridge would have them--i4e4 that they are ,innocent1 steady1 and wise1 ,and delight in the things of earth1 water1 and skies1 and1 above all1 in a moral state in which they may be trusted with ink--we put a pen into their hands 7shall it be steel87 and a piece of smooth white paper1 and something before them to draw4 ,but what8 ,nay1 the reader answers1 you had surely better give them pencil first1 for that may be rubbed out4 ,perhaps so2 but ,i am not sure that the power of rubbing out is an advantage2 at all events1 we shall best discover what the pencil outline ought to be1 by investigating the power of the black one1 and the kind of things we can draw with it4 #dj4 ,suppose1 for instance1 my first scholar has a turn for entomology1 and asks me to draw for him a wasp's leg1 or its sting2 having first humanely provided me with a model by pulling one off or out4 ,my pen must clearly be fine at the point1 and my execution none of the boldest1 if ,i comply with his request4 ,if ,i decline1 and he thereupon challenges me at least to draw the wasp's body1 with its pretty bands of black crinoline--behold us involved instantly in the profound question of local color6 ,am ,i to tell him he is not to draw outlines of bands or spots8 ,how1 then1 shall he know a wasp's body from a bee's8 ,i escape1 for the present1 by telling him the story of ,daedalus and the honeycomb2 set him to draw a pattern of hexagons1 and lay the question of black bands up in my mind4 #da4 ,the next boy1 we may suppose1 is a conchologist1 and asks me to draw a white snail-shell for him6 ,veiling my consternation at the idea of having to give a lesson on the perspective of geometrical spirals1 with an austere regard of control ,i pass on to the next student3--,who1 bringing after him1 with acclamation1 all the rest of the form1 requires of me contemptuously1 to draw a horse4 ,and ,i retreat in final discomfiture2 for not only ,i cannot myself execute1 but ,i have never seen1 an outline1 quite simply and rightly done1 either of a shell or a pony2 nay1 not so much as of a pony's nose4 ,at a girls' school we might perhaps take refuge in rosebuds3 but these boys1 with their impatient battle-cry1 my kingdom for a horse1 what is to be done for them8 #db4 ,well1 this is what ,i should like to be able to do for them4 ,to show them an enlarged black outline1 nobly done1 of the two sides of a coin of ,tarentum1 with that fiery rider kneeling1 careless1 on his horse's neck1 and reclined on his surging dolphin1 with the curled sea lapping round them2 and then to convince my boys that no one 7unless it were ,taras's father himself1 with the middle prong of his trident7 could draw a horse like that1 without learning2--that for poor mortals like us there must be sorrowful preparatory stages2 and1 having convinced them of this1 set them to draw 7if ,i had a good copy to give them7 a horse's hoof1 or his rib1 or a vertebra of his thunder-clothed neck1 or any other constructive piece of him4 #dc4 ,meanwhile1 all this being far out of present reach1 ,i am fain to shrink back into my snail-shell1 both for shelter and calm of peace2 and ask of artists in general how the said shell1 or any other simple object involving varied contour1 should be outlined in ink8--how thick the lines should be1 and how varied8 ,my own idea of an elementary outline is that it should be unvaried2 distinctly visible2 not thickened towards the shaded sides of the object2 not express any exaggerations of aerial perspective1 nor fade at the further side of a cup as if it were the further side of a crater of a volcano2 and therefore1 in objects of ordinary size1 show no gradation at all1 unless where the real outline disappears1 as in soft contours and folds4 ,nay1 ,i think it may even be a question whether we ought not to resolve that the line should never gradate itself at all1 but terminate quite bluntly6 ,albert ,duerer's ,cannon furnishes a very peculiar and curious example of this entirely equal line1 even to the extreme distance2 being in that respect opposed to nearly all his other work1 which is wrought mostly by tapering lines2 and his work in general1 and ,holbein's1 which appear to me entirely typical of rightness in use of the graver and pen1 are to be considered carefully in their relation to ,rembrandt's loose etching1 as in the ,spotted ,shell4 #dd4 ,but ,i do not want to press my own opinions now1 even when ,i have been able to form them distinctly4 ,i want to get at some unanimous expression of opinion and method2 and would propose1 therefore1 in all modesty1 this question for discussion1 by such artists as will favor me with answer1#fe giving their names3--,how ought the pen to be used to outline a form of varied contour2 and ought outline to be entirely pure1 or1 even in its most elementary types1 to pass into some suggestion of shade in the inner masses8 ,for there are no examples whatever of pure outlines by the great masters4 ,they are always touched or modified by inner lines1 more or less suggestive of solid form1 and they are lost or accentuated in certain places1 not so much in conformity with any explicable law1 as in expression of the master's future purpose1 or of what he wishes immediately to note in the character of the object4 ,most of them are irregular memoranda1 not systematic elementary work3 of those which are systematized1 the greater part are carried far beyond the initiative stage2 and ,holbein's are nearly all washed with color3 the exact degree in which he depends upon the softening and extending his touch of ink by subsequent solution of it1 being indeterminable1 though exquisitely successful4 ,his stupendous drawings in the ,british ,museum 7,i can justly use no other term than stupendous1 of their consummately decisive power7 furnish finer instances of this treatment than any at ,basle2 but it would be very difficult to reduce them to a definable law4 ,venetian outlines are rare1 except preparations on canvas1 often shaded before coloring2--while ,raphael's1 if not shaded1 are quite loose1 and useless as examples to a beginner3 so that we are left wholly without guide as to the preparatory steps on which we should decisively insist2 and ,i am myself haunted by the notion that the students were forced to shade firmly from the very beginning1 in all the greatest schools2 only we never can get hold of any beginnings1 or any weak work of those schools3 whatever is bad in them comes of decadence1 not infancy4 #de4 ,i purpose in the next essay#ff to enter upon quite another part of the inquiry1 so as to leave time for the reception of communications bearing upon the present paper3 and1 according to their importance1 ,i shall ask leave still to defer our return to the subject until ,i have had time to reflect upon them1 and to collect for public service the concurrent opinions they may contain4 ,,footnotes3 #fd ,art ,journal1 vol4 iv41 pp4 #cc-e4 ,february #ahfe4 ,the first word being printed in plain capitals instead of with an ornamental initial letter generally used by the ,art ,journal1 the following note was added by the author3--,i beg the ,editor's and reader's pardon for an informality in the type2 but ,i shrink from ornamental letters1 and have begged for a legible capital instead4--,,ed4 #fe ,i need not say that this inquiry can only be pursued by the help of those who will take it up good-humoredly and graciously3 such help ,i will receive in the spirit in which it is given2 entering into no controversy1 but questioning further where there is doubt3 gathering all ,i can into focus1 and passing silently by what seems at last irreconcilable4 #ff ,this essay1 ,chapter ,,ii4 in the ,art ,journal1 is here omitted as having been already reprinted with only a few verbal alterations in ,the ,queen of the ,air1 ,sec4,sec4 #ace to #adb inclusive1 which see4 ,the ,art ,journal1 however1 contained a final paragraph1 introductory of ,chapter ,,iii41 which is omitted in ,the ,queen of the ,air1 and was as follows3--,to the discernment of this law 7i4e41 that to which the arts are subject1 see ,queen of the ,air1 ,sec4 #adb7 we will now address ourselves slowly1 beginning with the consideration of little things1 and of easily definable virtues4 ,and since ,patience is the pioneer of all the others1 ,i shall endeavor in the next paper to show how that modest virtue has been either held of no account1 or else set to vilest work in our modern ,art-schools2 and what harm has resulted from such disdain1 or such employment of her4--,,ed4 ---------------------------------------- ,transcriber's note3 ,chapter ,,ii is missing from the original4 ---------------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,iii4#fg ,dame ,pacience sitting there ,i fonde1 ,with face pale1 upon an hill of sonde4 #df4 ,as ,i try to summon this vision of ,chaucer's into definiteness1 and as it fades before me1 and reappears1 like the image of ,piccarda in the moon1 there mingles with it another2--the image of an ,italian child1 lying1 she also1 upon a hill of sand1 by ,eridanus' side2 a vision which has never quite left me since ,i saw it4 ,a girl of ten or twelve1 it might be2 one of the children to whom there has never been any other lesson taught than that of patience3--patience of famine and thirst2 patience of heat and cold2 patience of fierce word and sullen blow2 patience of changeless fate and giftless time4 ,she was lying with her arms thrown back over her head1 all languid and lax1 on an earth-heap by the river side 7the softness of the dust being the only softness she had ever known71 in the southern suburb of ,turin1 one golden afternoon in ,august1 years ago4 ,she had been at play1 after her fashion1 with other patient children1 and had thrown herself down to rest1 full in the sun1 like a lizard4 ,the sand was mixed with the draggled locks of her black hair1 and some of it sprinkled over her face and body1 in an ashes to ashes kind of way2 a few black rags about her loins1 but her limbs nearly bare1 and her little breasts1 scarce dimpled yet1--white1--marble-like--but1 as wasted marble1 thin with the scorching and the rains of ,time4 ,so she lay1 motionless2 black and white by the shore in the sun2 the yellow light flickering back upon her from the passing eddies of the river1 and burning down on her from the west4 ,so she lay1 like a dead ,niobid3 it seemed as if the ,sun-,god1 as he sank towards gray ,viso 7who stood pale in the southwest1 and pyramidal as a tomb71 had been wroth with ,italy for numbering her children too carefully1 and slain this little one4 ,black and white she lay1 all breathless1 in a sufficiently pictorial manner3 the gardens of the ,villa ,regina gleamed beyond1 graceful with laurel-grove and labyrinthine terrace2 and folds of purple mountain were drawn afar1 for curtains round her little dusty bed4 #dg4 ,pictorial enough1 ,i repeat2 and yet ,i might not now have remembered her1 so as to find her figure mingling1 against my will1 with other images1 but for her manner of revival4 ,for one of her playmates coming near1 cast some word at her which angered her2 and she rose--en ego1 victa situ--she rose with a single spring1 like a snake2 one hardly saw the motion2 and with a shriek so shrill that ,i put my hands upon my ears2 and so uttered herself1 indignant and vengeful1 with words of justice1--,alecto standing by1 satisfied1 teaching her acute1 articulate syllables1 and adding her own voice to carry them thrilling through the blue laurel shadows4 ,and having spoken1 she went her way1 wearily3 and ,i passed by on the other side1 meditating1 with such ,levitical propriety as a respectable person should1 on the asplike ,passion1 following the sorrowful ,patience2 and on the way in which the saying1 ,dust shalt thou eat all thy days has been confusedly fulfilled1 first by much provision of human dust for the meat of what ,keats calls human serpentry2 and last1 by gathering the ,consumed and ,consumer into dust together1 for the meat of the death spirit1 or serpent ,apap4 ,neither could ,i1 for long1 get rid of the thought of this strange dust-manufacture under the mill-stones1 as it were1 of ,death2 and of the two colors of the grain1 discriminate beneath1 though indiscriminately cast into the hopper4 ,for indeed some of it seems only to be made whiter for its patience1 and becomes kneadable into spiced bread1 where they sell in ,babylonian shops slaves1 and souls of men2 but other some runs dark from under the mill-stones2 a little sulphurous and nitrous foam being mingled in the conception of it2 and is ominously stored up in magazines near river-embankments2 patient enough--for the present4 #dh4 ,but it is provoking to me that the image of this child mingles itself now with ,chaucer's2 for ,i should like truly to know what ,chaucer means by his sand-hill4 ,not but that this is just one of those enigmatical pieces of teaching which we have made up our minds not to be troubled with1 since it may evidently mean just what we like4 ,sometimes ,i would fain have it to mean the ghostly sand of the horologe of the world3 and ,i think that the pale figure is seated on the recording heap1 which rises slowly1 and ebbs in giddiness1 and flows again1 and rises1 tottering2 and still she sees1 falling beside her1 the never-ending stream of phantom sand4 ,sometimes ,i like to think that she is seated on the sand because she is herself the ,spirit of ,staying1 and victor over all things that pass and change2--quicksand of the desert in moving pillar2 quicksand of the sea in moving floor2 roofless all1 and unabiding1 but she abiding2--to herself1 her home4 ,and sometimes ,i think1 though ,i do not like to think 7neither did ,chaucer mean this1 for he always meant the lovely thing first1 not the low one71 that she is seated on her sand-heap as the only treasure to be gained by human toil2 and that the little ant-hill1 where the best of us creep to and fro1 bears to angelic eyes1 in the patientest gathering of its galleries1 only the aspect of a little heap of dust2 while for the worst of us1 the heap1 still lower by the leveling of those winged surveyors1 is high enough1 nevertheless1 to overhang1 and at last to close in judgment1 on the seventh day1 over the journeyers to the fortunate ,islands2 while to their dying eyes1 through the mirage1 the city sparkles like a grain of salt4 #di4 ,but of course it does not in the least matter what it means4 ,all that matters specially to us in ,chaucer's vision1 is that1 next to ,patience 7as the reader will find by looking at the context in the ,assembly of ,foules71 were ,beheste and ,art2--,promise1 that is1 and ,art3 and that1 although these visionary powers are here waiting only in one of the outer courts of ,love1 and the intended patience is here only the long-suffering of love2 and the intended beheste1 its promise2 and the intended art1 its cunning1--the same powers companion each other necessarily in the courts and antechamber of every triumphal home of man4 ,i say triumphal home1 for1 indeed1 triumphal arches which you pass under1 are but foolish things1 and may be nailed together any day1 out of pasteboard and filched laurel2 but triumphal doors1 which you can enter in at1 with living laurel crowning the ,lares1 are not so easy of access3 and outside of them waits always this sad portress1 ,patience2 that is to say1 the submission to the eternal laws of ,pain and ,time1 and acceptance of them as inevitable1 smiling at the grief4 ,so much pains you shall take--so much time you shall wait3 that is the ,law4 ,understand it1 honor it2 with peace of heart accept the pain1 and attend the hours2 and as the husbandman in his waiting1 you shall see1 first the blade1 and then the ear1 and then the laughing of the valleys4 ,but refuse the ,law1 and seek to do your work in your own time1 or by any serpentine way to evade the pain1 and you shall have no harvest--nothing but apples of ,sodom3 dust shall be your meat1 and dust in your throat--there is no singing in such harvest time4 #ej4 ,and this is true for all things1 little and great4 ,there is a time and a way in which they can be done3 none shorter--none smoother4 ,for all noble things1 the time is long and the way rude4 ,you may fret and fume as you will2 for every start and struggle of impatience there shall be so much attendant failure2 if impatience become a habit1 nothing but failure3 until on the path you have chosen for your better swiftness1 rather than the honest flinty one1 there shall follow you1 fast at hand1 instead of ,beheste and ,art for companions1 those two wicked hags1 ,with hoary locks all loose1 and visage grim2 ,their feet unshod1 their bodies wrapt in rags1 ,and both as swift on foot as chased stags2 ,and yet the one her other legge had lame1 ,which with a staff all full of little snags ,she did support1 and ,impotence her name3 ,but th' other was ,impatience1 armed with raging flame4 ,raging flame1 note2 unserviceable2--flame of the black grain4 ,but the fire which ,patience carries in her hand is that truly stolen from ,heaven1 in the pith of the rod--fire of the slow match2 persistent ,fire like it also in her own body1--fire in the marrow2 unquenchable incense of life3 though it may seem to the bystanders that there is no breath in her1 and she holds herself like a statue1 as ,hermione1 the statue lady1 or ,griselda1 the stone lady2 unless indeed one looks close for the glance forward1 in the eyes1 which distinguishes such pillars from the pillars1 not of flesh1 but of salt1 whose eyes are set backwards4 #ea4 ,i cannot get to my work in this paper1 somehow2 the web of these old enigmas entangles me again and again4 ,that rough syllable which begins the name of ,griselda1 ,gries1 the stone2 the roar of the long fall of the ,toccia seems to mix with the sound of it1 bringing thoughts of the great ,alpine patience2 mute snow wreathed by gray rock1 till avalanche time comes--patience of mute tormented races till the time of the ,gray league came2 at last impatient4 7,not that1 hitherto1 it has hewn its way to much3 the ,rhine-foam of the ,via ,mala seeming to have done its work better47 ,but it is a noble color that ,grison ,gray2--dawn color--graceful for a faded silk to ride in1 and wonderful1 in paper1 for getting a glow upon1 if you begin wisely1 as you may some day perhaps see by those ,turner sketches at ,kensington1 if ever anybody can see them4 #eb4 ,but we will get to work now2 the work being to understand1 if we may1 what tender creatures are indeed riding with us1 the ,british public1 in faded silk1 and handing our plates for us with tender little thumbs1 and never wearing1 or doing1 anything else 7not always having much to put on their own plates74 ,the loveliest arts1 the arts of noblest descent1 have been long doing this for us1 and are still1 and we have no idea of their being ,princesses1 but keep them ill-entreated and enslaved3 vociferous as we are against ,black slavery1 while we are gladly acceptant of ,gray2 and fain to keep ,aglaia and her sisters--,urania and hers1--serving us in faded silk1 and taken for kitchen-wenches4 ,we are mad ,sanchos1 not mad ,quixotes3 our eyes enchant ,downwards4 #ec4 ,for one instance only3 has the reader ever reflected on the patience1 and deliberate subtlety1 and unostentatious will1 involved in the ordinary process of steel engraving2 that process of which engravers themselves now with doleful voices deplore the decline1 and with sorrowful hearts expect the extinction1 after their own days8 ,by the way--my friends of the field of steel1--you need fear nothing of the kind4 ,what there is of mechanical in your work2 of habitual and thoughtless1 of vulgar or servile--for that1 indeed1 the time has come2 the sun will burn it up for you1 very ruthlessly2 but what there is of human liberty1 and of sanguine life1 in finger and fancy1 is kindred of the sun1 and quite inextinguishable by him4 ,he is the very last of divinities who would wish to extinguish it4 ,with his red right hand1 though full of lightning coruscation1 he will faithfully and tenderly clasp yours1 warm blooded2 you will see the vermilion in the flesh-shadows all the clearer2 but your hand will not be withered4 ,i tell you--7dogmatically1 if you like to call it so1 knowing it well7--a square inch of man's engraving is worth all the photographs that ever were dipped in acid 7or left half-washed afterwards1 which is saying much7--only it must be man's engraving2 not machine's engraving4 ,you have founded a school on patience and labor--only4 ,that school must soon be extinct4 ,you will have to found one on thought1 which is ,phoenician in immortality and fears no fire4 ,believe me1 photography can do against line engraving just what ,madame ,tussaud's wax-work can do against sculpture4 ,that1 and no more4 ,you are too timid in this matter2 you are like ,isaac in that picture of ,mr4 ,schnorr's in the last number of this ,journal1 and with ,teutonically metaphysical precaution1 shade your eyes from the sun with your back to it4 ,take courage2 turn your eyes to it in an aquiline manner2 put more sunshine on your steel1 and less burr2 and leave the photographers to their ,phoebus of ,magnesium wire4 #ed4 ,not that ,i mean to speak disrespectfully of magnesium4 ,i honor it to its utmost fiery particle 7though ,i think the soul a fierier one72 and ,i wish the said magnesium all comfort and triumph2 nightly-lodging in lighthouses1 and utter victory over coal gas4 ,could ,titian but have known what the gnomes who built his dolomite crags above ,cadore had mixed in the make of them1--and that one day--one night1 ,i mean--his blue distances would still be seen pure blue1 by light got out of his own mountains6 ,light out of limestone--color out of coal--and white wings out of hot water6 ,it is a great age this of ours1 for traction and extraction1 if it only knew what to extract from itself1 or where to drag itself to6 #ee4 ,but in the meantime ,i want the public to admire this patience of yours1 while they have it1 and to understand what it has cost to give them even this1 which has to pass away4 ,we will not take instance in figure engraving1 of which the complex skill and textural gradation by dot and checker must be wholly incomprehensible to amateurs2 but we will take a piece of average landscape engraving1 such as is sent out of any good workshop--the master who puts his name at the bottom of the plate being of course responsible only for the general method1 for the sufficient skill of subordinate hands1 and for the few finishing touches if necessary4 ,we will take1 for example1 the plate of ,turner's ,mercury and ,argus1 engraved in this ,journal4#fh #ef4 ,i suppose most people1 looking at such a plate1 fancy it is produced by some simple mechanical artifice1 which is to drawing only what printing is to writing4 ,they conclude1 at all events1 that there is something complacent1 sympathetic1 and helpful in the nature of steel2 so that while a pen-and-ink sketch may always be considered an achievement proving cleverness in the sketcher1 a sketch on steel comes out by mere favor of the indulgent metal3 or perhaps they think the plate is woven like a piece of pattern silk1 and the pattern is developed by pasteboard cards punched full of holes4 ,not so4 ,look close at that engraving--imagine it to be a drawing in pen and ink1 and yourself required similarly to produce its parallel6 ,true1 the steel point has the one advantage of not blotting1 but it has tenfold or twentyfold disadvantage1 in that you cannot slur1 nor efface1 except in a very resolute and laborious way1 nor play with it1 nor even see what you are doing with it at the moment1 far less the effect that is to be4 ,you must feel what you are doing with it1 and know precisely what you have got to do2 how deep--how broad--how far apart--your lines must be1 etc4 and etc4 7a couple of lines of etc4's would not be enough to imply all you must know74 ,but suppose the plate were only a pen drawing3 take your pen--your finest--and just try to copy the leaves that entangle the nearest cow's head and the head itself2 remembering always that the kind of work required here is mere child's play compared to that of fine figure engraving4 ,nevertheless1 take a strong magnifying glass to this--count the dots and lines that gradate the nostrils and the edges of the facial bone2 notice how the light is left on the top of the head by the stopping at its outline of the coarse touches which form the shadows under the leaves2 examine it well1 and then--,i humbly ask of you--try to do a piece of it yourself6 ,you clever sketcher--you young lady or gentleman of genius--you eye-glassed dilettante--you current writer of criticism royally plural1--,i beseech you--do it yourself2 do the merely etched outline yourself1 if no more4 ,look you1--you hold your etching needle this way1 as you would a pencil1 nearly2 and then1--you scratch with it6 it is as easy as lying4 ,or if you think that too difficult1 take an easier piece2--take either of the light sprays of foliage that rise against the fortress on the right1 put your glass over them--look how their fine outline is first drawn1 leaf by leaf2 then how the distant rock is put in between1 with broken lines1 mostly stopping before they touch the leaf outline1 and--again1 ,i pray you1 do it yourself2 if not on that scale1 on a larger4 ,go on into the hollows of the distant rock--traverse its thickets--number its towers--count how many lines there are in a laurel bush--in an arch--in a casement3 some hundred and fifty1 or two hundred1 deliberately drawn lines1 you will find1 in every square quarter of an inch2--say three thousand to the inch1--each with skillful intent put in its place6 and then consider what the ordinary sketcher's work must appear to the men who have been trained to this6 #eg4 ,but might not more have been done by three thousand lines to a square inch8 you will perhaps ask4 ,well1 possibly4 ,it may be with lines as with soldiers3 three hundred1 knowing their work thoroughly1 may be stronger than three thousand less sure of their game4 ,we shall have to press close home this question about numbers and purpose presently2--it is not the question now4 ,supposing certain results required1--atmospheric effects1 surface textures1 transparencies of shade1 confusions of light1--more could not be done with less4 ,there are engravings of this modern school1 of which1 with respect to their particular aim1 it may be said1 most truly1 they cannot be better done4 #eh4 ,whether an engraving should aim at effects of atmosphere1 may be disputable 7just as also whether a sculptor should aim at effects of perspective72 but ,i do not raise these points to-day4 ,admit the aim--let us note the patience2 nor this in engraving only4 ,i have taken an engraving for my instance1 but ,i might have taken any form of ,art4 ,i call upon all good artists1 painters1 sculptors1 metal-workers1 to bear witness with me in what ,i now tell the public in their name1--that the same ,fortitude1 the same deliberation1 the same perseverance in resolute act--is needed to do anything in ,art that is worthy4 ,and why is it1 you workmen1 that you are silent always concerning your toil2 and mock at us in your hearts1 within that shrine at ,eleusis1 to the gate of which you have hewn your way through so deadly thickets of thorn2 and leave us1 foolish children1 outside1 in our conceited thinking either that we can enter it in play1 or that we are grander for not entering8 ,far more earnestly is it to be asked1 why do you stoop to us as you mock us8 ,if your secrecy were a noble one1--if1 in that incommunicant contempt1 you wrought your own work with majesty1 whether we would receive it or not1 it were kindly1 though ungraciously1 done2 but now you make yourselves our toys1 and do our childish will in servile silence4 ,if engraving were to come to an end this day1 and no guided point should press metal more1 do you think it would be in a blaze of glory that your art would expire8--that those plates in the annuals1 and black proofs in broad shop windows1 are of a nobly monumental character1--chalybe perennius8 ,i am afraid your patience has been too much like yonder poor ,italian child's2 and over that genius of yours1 low laid by the ,matin shore1 if it expired so1 the lament for ,archytas would have to be sung again2--pulveris exigui--munera4 ,suppose you were to shake off the dust again6 cleanse your wings1 like the morning bees on that ,matin promontory2 rise1 in noble impatience1 for there is such a thing3 the ,impatience of the ,fourth ,cornice4 ,cui buon voler1 e giusto amor cavalca4 ,shall we try1 together1 to think over the meaning of that ,haste1 when the ,may mornings come8 ,,footnotes3 #fg ,a small portion of this chapter was read by ,mr4 ,ruskin1 at ,oxford1 in ,november #ahhd1 as a by-lecture1 during the delivery of the course on the ,pleasures of ,england4--,,ed4 #fh ,the rest of this and the whole of the succeeding paragraph is also reprinted in ,ariadne ,florentina1 ,sec4 #aae1 and para4 i4 of #aaf4--;,,ed4 ,,chapter ,,iv4#fi #ei4 ,it is a wild ,march day1--the #bjth2 and very probably due course of ,english ,spring will bring as wild a ,may-day by the time this writing meets anyone's eyes2 but at all events1 as yet the days are rough1 and as ,i look out of my fitfully lighted window into the garden1 everything seems in a singular hurry4 ,the dead leaves2 and yonder two living ones1 on the same stalk1 tumbling over and over each other on the lawn1 like a quaint mechanical toy2 and the fallen sticks from the rooks' nests1 and the twisted straws out of the stable-yard--all going one way1 in the hastiest manner6 ,the puffs of steam1 moreover1 which pass under the wooded hills where what used to be my sweetest field-walk ends now1 prematurely1 in an abyss of blue clay2 and which signify1 in their silvery expiring between the successive trunks of wintry trees1 that some human beings1 thereabouts1 are in a hurry as well as the sticks and straws1 and1 having fastened themselves to the tail of a manageable breeze1 are being blown down to ,folkestone4 #fj4 ,in the general effect of these various passages and passengers1 as seen from my quiet room1 they look all very much alike4 ,one begins seriously to question with one's self whether those passengers by the ,folkestone train are in truth one whit more in a hurry than the dead leaves4 ,the difference consists1 of course1 in the said passengers knowing where they are going to1 and why2 and having resolved to go there--which1 indeed1 as far as ,folkestone1 may1 perhaps1 properly distinguish them from the leaves3 but will it distinguish them any farther8 ,do many of them know what they are going to ,folkestone for8--what they are going anywhere for8 and where1 at last1 by sum of all the days' journeys1 of which this glittering transit is one1 they are going for peace8 ,for if they know not this1 certainly they are no more making haste than the straws are4 ,perhaps swiftly going the wrong way2 more likely going no way--any way1 as the winds and their own wills1 wilder than the winds1 dictate2 to find themselves at last at the end which would have come to them quickly enough without their seeking4 #fa4 ,and1 indeed1 this is a very preliminary question to all measurement of the rate of going1 this where to8 or1 even before that1 are we going on at all8--getting on 7as the world says7 on any road whatever8 ,most men's eyes are so fixed on the mere swirl of the wheel of their fortunes1 and their souls so vexed at the reversed cadences of it when they come1 that they forget to ask if the curve they have been carried through on its circumference was circular or cycloidal2 whether they have been bound to the ups and downs of a mill-wheel or of a chariot-wheel4 ,that phrase1 of getting on1 so perpetually on our lips 7as indeed it should be71 do any of us take it to our hearts1 and seriously ask where we can get on to8 ,that instinct of hurry has surely good grounds4 ,it is all very well for lazy and nervous people 7like myself for instance7 to retreat into tubs1 and holes1 and corners1 anywhere out of the dust1 and wonder within ourselves1 what all the fuss can be about8 ,the fussy people might have the best of it1 if they know their end4 ,suppose they were to answer this ,march or ,may morning thus3--,not bestir ourselves1 indeed6 and the spring sun up these four hours6--and this first of ,may1 #ahfe1 never to come back again2 and of ,firsts of ,may in perspective1 supposing ourselves to be 'nel mezzo del cammin1' perhaps some twenty or twenty-five to be1 not without presumption1 hoped for1 and by no means calculated upon4 ,say1 twenty of them1 with their following groups of summer days2 and though they may be long1 one cannot make much more than sixteen hours apiece out of them1 poor sleepy wretches that we are2 for even if we get up at four1 we must go to bed while the red yet stays from the sunset3 and half the time we are awake1 we must be lying among haycocks1 or playing at something1 if we are wise2 not to speak of eating1 and previously earning whereof to eat1 which takes time3 and then1 how much of us and of our day will be left for getting on8 ,shall we have a seventh1 or even a tithe1 of our twenty-four hours8--two hours and twenty-four minutes clear1 a day1 or1 roughly1 a thousand hours a year1 and 7violently presuming on fortune1 as we said7 twenty years of working life3 twenty thousand hours to get on in1 altogether8 ,many men would think it hard to be limited to an utmost twenty thousand pounds for their fortunes1 but here is a sterner limitation2 the ,pactolus of time1 sand1 and gold together1 would1 with such a fortune1 count us a pound an hour1 through our real and serviceable life4 ,if this time capital would reproduce itself6 and for our twenty thousand hours we could get some rate of interest1 if well spent8 ,at all events1 we will do something with them2 not lie moping out of the way of the dust1 as you do4 #fb4 ,a sufficient answer1 indeed2 yet1 friends1 if you would make a little less dust1 perhaps we should all see our way better4 ,but ,i am ready to take the road with you1 if you mean it so seriously--only let us at least consider where we are now1 at starting4 ,here1 on a little spinning1 askew-axised thing we call a planet--7impertinently enough1 since we are far more planetary ourselves74 ,a round1 rusty1 rough little metallic ball--very hard to live upon2 most of it much too hot or too cold3 a couple of narrow habitable belts about it1 which1 to wandering spirits1 must look like the places where it has got damp1 and green-moldy1 with accompanying small activities of animal life in the midst of the lichen4 ,explosive gases1 seemingly1 inside it1 and possibilities of very sudden dispersion4 #fc4 ,this is where we are2 and roundabout us1 there seem to be more of such balls1 variously heated and chilled1 ringed and mooned1 moved and comforted2 the whole giddy group of us forming an atom in a milky mist1 itself another atom in a shoreless phosphorescent sea of such ,volvoces and ,medusae4 ,whereupon1 ,i presume1 one would first ask1 have we any chance of getting off this ball of ours1 and getting on to one of those finer ones8 ,wise people say we have1 and that it is very wicked to think otherwise4 ,so we will think no otherwise2 but1 with their permission1 think nothing about the matter now1 since it is certain that the more we make of our little rusty world1 such as it is1 the more chance we have of being one day promoted into a merrier one4 #fd4 ,and even on this rusty and moldy ,earth1 there appear to be things which may be seen with pleasure1 and things which might be done with advantage4 ,the stones of it have strange shapes2 the plants and the beasts of it strange ways4 ,its air is coinable into wonderful sounds2 its light into manifold colors3 the trees of it bring forth pippins1 and the fields cheese 7though both of these may be1 in a finer sense1 to come74 ,there are bright eyes upon it which reflect the light of other eyes quite singularly2 and foolish feelings to be cherished upon it2 and gladdenings of dust by neighbor dust1 not easily explained1 but pleasant1 and which take time to win4 ,one would like to know something of all this1 ,i suppose8--to divide one's score of thousand hours as shrewdly as might be4 ,ten minutes to every herb of the field is not much2 yet we shall not know them all1 so1 before the time comes to be made grass of ourselves6 ,half an hour for every crystalline form of clay and flint1 and we shall be near the need of shaping the gray flint stone that is to weigh upon our feet4 ,and we would fain dance a measure or two before that cumber is laid upon them3 there having been hitherto much piping to which we have not danced4 ,and we must leave time for loving1 if we are to take ,marmontel's wise peasant's word for it1 ,il n'y a de bon que c'a6 ,and if there should be fighting to do also8 and weeping8 and much burying8 truly1 we had better make haste4 #fe4 ,which means1 simply1 that we must lose neither strength nor moment4 ,hurry is not haste2 but economy is1 and rightness is4 ,whatever is rightly done stays with us1 to support another right beyond1 or higher up3 whatever is wrongly done1 vanishes2 and by the blank1 betrays what we would have built above4 ,wasting no word1 no thought1 no doing1 we shall have speed enough2 but then there is that farther question1 what shall we do8--what we are fittest 7worthiest1 that is7 to do1 and what is best worth doing8 ,note that word worthy1 both of the man and the thing1 for the two dignities go together4 ,is it worth the pains8 ,are we worth the task8 ,the dignity of a man depends wholly upon this harmony4 ,if his task is above him1 he will be undignified in failure2 if he is above it1 he will be undignified in success4 ,his own composure and nobleness must be according to the composure of his thought to his toil4 #ff4 ,as ,i was dreaming over this1 my eyes fell by chance on a page of my favorite thirteenth century psalter1 just where two dragons1 one with red legs1 and another with green1--one with a blue tail on a purple ground1 and the other with a rosy tail on a golden ground1 follow the verse ,quis ascendet in montem ,domini1 and begin the solemn ,qui non accepit in vano animam suam4 ,who hath not lift up his soul unto vanity1 we have it2 and ,greek3 elaben epi mataio1 the ,greeks 7not that ,i know what that means accurately73 broadly1 they all mean1 who has not received nor given his soul in vain1 this is the man who can make haste1 even uphill1 the only haste worth making2 and it must be up the right hill1 too3 not that ,corinthian ,acropolis1 of which1 ,i suppose1 the white specter stood eighteen hundred feet high1 in ,hades1 for ,sisyphus to roll his fantastic stone up--image1 himself1 forever of the greater part of our wise mortal work4 #fg4 ,now all this time1 whatever the reader may think1 ,i have never for a moment lost sight of that original black line with which is our own special business4 ,the patience1 the speed1 the dignity1 we can give to that1 the choice to be made of subject for it1 are the matters ,i want to get at4 ,you think1 perhaps1 that an engraver's function is one of no very high dignity2--does not involve a serious choice of work4 ,consider a little of it4 ,here is a steel point1 and 'tis like ,job's iron pen--and you are going to cut into steel with it1 in a most deliberate way1 as into the rock forever4 ,and this scratch or inscription of yours will be seen of a multitude of eyes4 ,it is not like a single picture or a single wall painting2 this multipliable work will pass through thousand thousand hands1 strengthen and inform innumerable souls1 if it be worthy2 vivify the folly of thousands if unworthy4 ,remember1 also1 it will mix in the very closest manner in domestic life4 ,this engraving will not be gossiped over and fluttered past at private views of academies2 listlessly sauntered by in corners of great galleries4 ,ah1 no6 ,this will hang over parlor chimney-pieces--shed down its hourly influence on children's forenoon work4 ,this will hang in little luminous corners by sick beds2 mix with flickering dreams by candlelight1 and catch the first rays from the window's glimmering square4 ,you had better put something good into it6 ,i do not know a more solemn field of labor than that champ d'acier4 ,from a pulpit1 perhaps a man can only reach one or two people1 for that time1--even your book1 once carelessly read1 probably goes into a bookcase catacomb1 and is thought of no more4 ,but this2 taking the eye unawares again and again1 and always again3 persisting and inevitable6 where will you look for a chance of saying something nobly1 if it is not here8 #fh4 ,and the choice is peculiarly free2 to you of all men most free4 ,an artist1 at first invention1 cannot always choose what shall come into his mind1 nor know what it will eventually turn into4 ,but you1 professed copyists1 unless you have mistaken your profession1 have the power of governing your own thoughts1 and of following and interpreting the thoughts of others4 ,also1 you see the work to be done put plainly before you2 you can deliberately choose what seems to you best1 out of myriads of examples of perfect ,art4 ,you can count the cost accurately2 saying1 ,it will take me a year--two years--five--a fourth or fifth1 probably1 of my remaining life1 to do this4 ,is the thing worth it8 ,there is no excuse for choosing wrongly2 no other men whatever have data so full1 and position so firm1 for forecast of their labor4 #fi4 ,i put my psalter aside 7not1 observe1 vouching for its red and green dragons3--men lifted up their souls to vanity sometimes in the thirteenth as in the nineteenth century71 and ,i take up1 instead1 a book of ,english verses1 published--there is no occasion to say when4 ,it is full of costliest engravings--large1 skillful1 appallingly laborious2 dotted into textures like the dust on a lily leaf1--smoothed through gradations like clouds1--graved to surfaces like mother-of-pearl2 and by all this toil there is set forth for the delight of ,englishwomen1 a series of the basest dreams that ungoverned feminine imagination can coin in sickliest indolence1--ball-room amours1 combats of curled knights1 pilgrimages of disguised girl-pages1 romantic pieties1 charities in costume1--a mass of disguised sensualism and feverish vanity--impotent1 pestilent1 prurient1 scented with a venomous elixir1 and rouged with a deadly dust of outward good2 and all this done1 as such things only can be done1 in a boundless ignorance of all natural veracity2 the faces falsely drawn--the lights falsely cast--the forms effaced or distorted1 and all common human wit and sense extinguished in the vicious scum of lying sensation4 ,and this1 ,i grieve to say1 is only a characteristic type of a large mass of popular ,english work4 ,this is what we spend our ,teutonic lives in2 engraving with an iron pen in the rock forever2 this1 the passion of the ,teutonic woman 7as opposed to ,virgilia71 just as foxhunting is the passion of the ,teutonic man1 as opposed to ,valerius4 #gj4 ,and while we deliberately spend all our strength1 and all our tenderness1 all our skill1 and all our money1 in doing1 relishing1 buying1 this absolute ,wrongness1 of which nothing can ever come but disease in heart and brain1 remember that all the mighty works of the great painters of the world1 full of life1 truth1 and blessing1 remain to this present hour of the year #ahfe unengraved6 ,there literally exists no earnestly studied and fully accomplished engraving of any very great work1 except ,leonardo's ,cena4 ,no large ,venetian picture has ever been thoroughly engraved4 ,of ,titian's ,peter ,martyr1 there is even no worthy memorial transcript but ,le ,febre's4 ,the ,cartoons have been multiplied in false readings2 never in faithful ones till lately by photography4 ,of the ,disputa and the ,parnassus1 what can the ,english public know8 of the thoughtful ,florentines and ,milanese1 of ,ghirlandajo1 and ,luini1 and their accompanying hosts--what do they yet so much as care to know8 ,the ,english public will not pay1 you reply1 for engravings from the great masters4 ,the ,english public will only pay for pictures of itself2 of its races1 its rifle-meetings1 its rail stations1 its parlor-passions1 and kitchen interests2 you must make your bread as you may1 by holding the mirror to it4 #ga4 ,friends1 there have been hard fighting and heavy sleeping1 this many a day1 on the other side of the ,atlantic1 in the cause1 as you suppose1 of ,freedom against slavery2 and you are all1 open-mouthed1 expecting the glories of ,black ,emancipation4 ,perhaps a little ,white ,emancipation on this side of the water might be still more desirable1 and more easily and guiltlessly won4 ,do you know what slavery means8 ,suppose a gentleman taken by a ,barbary corsair--set to field-work2 chained and flogged to it from dawn to eve4 ,need he be a slave therefore8 ,by no means2 he is but a hardly-treated prisoner4 ,there is some work which the ,barbary corsair will not be able to make him do2 such work as a ,christian gentleman may not do1 that he will not1 though he die for it4 ,bound and scourged he may be1 but he has heard of a ,person's being bound and scourged before now1 who was not therefore a slave4 ,he is not a whit more slave for that4 ,but suppose he take the pirate's pay1 and stretch his back at piratical oars1 for due salary1 how then8 ,suppose for fitting price he betray his fellow prisoners1 and take up the scourge instead of enduring it--become the smiter instead of the smitten1 at the ,african's bidding--how then8 ,of all the sheepish notions in our ,english public mind1 ,i think the simplest is that slavery is neutralized when you are well paid for it6 ,whereas it is precisely that fact of its being paid for which makes it complete4 ,a man who has been sold by another1 may be but half a slave or none2 but the man who has sold himself6 ,he is the accurately ,finished ,bondsman4 #gb4 ,and gravely ,i say that ,i know no captivity so sorrowful as that of an artist doing1 consciously1 bad work for pay4 ,it is the serfdom of the finest gifts--of all that should lead and master men1 offering itself to be spit upon1 and that for a bribe4 ,there is much serfdom1 in ,europe1 of speakers and writers1 but they only sell words2 and their talk1 even honestly uttered1 might not have been worth much2 it will not be thought of ten years hence2 still less a hundred years hence4 ,no one will buy our parliamentary speeches to keep in portfolios this time next century2 and if people are weak enough now to pay for any special and flattering cadence of syllable1 it is little matter4 ,but you1 with your painfully acquired power1 your unwearied patience1 your admirable and manifold gifts1 your eloquence in black and white1 which people will buy1 if it is good 7and has a broad margin71 for fifty guineas a copy--in the year #bjjj2 to sell it all1 as ,ananias his land1 yea1 for so much1 and hold yourselves at every fool's beck1 with your ready points1 polished and sharp1 hasting to scratch what he wills6 ,to bite permanent mischief in with acid2 to spread an inked infection of evil all your days1 and pass away at last from a life of the skillfulest industry--having done whatsoever your hand found 7remuneratively7 to do1 with your might1 and a great might1 but with cause to thank ,god only for this--that the end of it all has at last come1 and that there is no device nor work in the ,grave4 ,one would get quit of this servitude1 ,i think1 though we reached the place of ,rest a little sooner1 and reached it fasting4 #gc4 ,my ,english fellow-workmen1 you have the name of liberty often on your lips2 get the fact of it oftener into your business6 talk of it less1 and try to understand it better4 ,you have given students many copy-books of free-hand outlines--give them a few of free heart outlines4 ,it appears1 however1 that you do not intend to help me with any utterance respecting these same outlines4#gj ,be it so3 ,i must make out what ,i can by myself4 ,and under the influence of the ,solstitial sign of ,june ,i will go backwards1 or askance1 to the practical part of the business1 where ,i left it three months ago1 and take up that question first1 touching ,liberty1 and the relation of the loose swift line to the resolute slow one and of the etched line to the engraved one4 ,it is a worthy question1 for the open field afforded by illustrated works is tempting even to our best painters1 and many an earnest hour and active fancy spend and speak themselves in the black line1 vigorously enough1 and dramatically1 at all events3 if wisely1 may be considered4 ,the ,french also are throwing great passion into their eaux fortes--working with a vivid haste and dark1 brilliant freedom1 which looked as if they etched with very energetic waters indeed--quite waters of life 7it does not look so well1 written in ,french74 ,so we will take1 with the reader's permission1 for text next month1 ,rembrandt1 and strong waters4 ,,footnotes3 #fi ,art ,journal1 vol4 iv41 pp4 #abi-cj4 ,may #ahfe4--;,,ed4 #gj ,i have received some interesting private letters1 but cannot make use of them at present1 because they enter into general discussion instead of answering the specific question ,i asked1 respecting the power of the black line2 and ,i must observe to correspondents that in future their letters should be addressed to the ,editor of this ,journal1 not to me2 as ,i do not wish to incur the responsibility of selection4 ,,chapter ,v4#ga #gd4 ,the work ,i have to do in this paper ought1 rightly1 to have been thrown into the form of an appendix to the last chapter2 for it is no link of the cestus of ,aglaia we have to examine1 but one of the crests of canine passion in the cestus of ,scylla4 ,nevertheless1 the girdle of the ,grace cannot be discerned in the full brightness of it1 but by comparing it with the dark torment of that other2 and 7in what place or form matters little7 the work has to be done4 ,rembrandt ,van ,rhyn--it is said1 in the last edition of a very valuable work#gb 7for which1 nevertheless1 ,i could wish that greater lightness in the hand should be obtained by the publication of its information in one volume1 and its criticism in another7--was the most attractive and original of painters4 ,it may be so2 but there are attractions1 and attractions4 ,the sun attracts the planets--and a candle1 night-moths2 the one with perhaps somewhat of benefit to the planets2--but with what benefit the other to the moths1 one would be glad to learn from those desert flies1 of whom1 one company having extinguished ,mr4 ,kinglake's candle with their bodies1 the remainder1 who had failed in obtaining this martyrdom1 became suddenly serious1 and clung despondingly to the canvas4 #ge4 ,also1 there are originalities1 and originalities4 ,to invent a new thing1 which is also a precious thing2 to be struck by a divinely-guided ,rod1 and become a sudden fountain of life to thirsty multitudes--this is enviable4 ,but to be distinct of men in an original ,sin2 elect for the initial letter of a ,lie2 the first apparent spot of an unknown plague2 a ,root of bitterness1 and the first-born worm of a company1 studying an original ,de-,composition1--this is perhaps not so enviable4 ,and if we think of it1 most human originality is apt to be of that kind4 ,goodness is one1 and immortal2 it may be received and communicated--not originated3 but ,evil is various and recurrent1 and may be misbegotten in endlessly surprising ways4 #gf4 ,but1 that we may know better in what this originality consists1 we find that our author1 after expatiating on the vast area of the ,pantheon1 illuminated solely by the small circular opening in the dome above1 and on other similar conditions of luminous contraction1 tells us that to ,rembrandt belongs the glory of having first embodied in ,art1 and perpetuated1 these rare and beautiful effects of nature4 ,such effects are indeed rare in nature2 but they are not rare1 absolutely4 ,the sky1 with the sun in it1 does not usually give the impression of being dimly lighted through a circular hole2 but you may observe a very similar effect any day in your coal-cellar4 ,the light is not ,rembrandtesque on the current1 or banks1 of a river2 but it is on those of a drain4 ,color is not ,rembrandtesque1 usually1 in a clean house2 but is presently obtainable of that quality in a dirty one4 ,and without denying the pleasantness of the mode of progression which ,mr4 ,hazlitt1 perhaps too enthusiastically1 describes as attainable in a background of ,rembrandt's--,you stagger from one abyss of obscurity to another--,i cannot feel it an entirely glorious speciality to be distinguished1 as ,rembrandt was1 from other great painters1 chiefly by the liveliness of his darkness1 and the dullness of his light4 ,glorious1 or inglorious1 the speciality itself is easily and accurately definable4 ,it is the aim of the best painters to paint the noblest things they can see by sunlight4 ,it was the aim of ,rembrandt to paint the foulest things he could see--by rushlight4 #gg4 ,by rushlight1 observe3 material and spiritual4 ,as the sun for the outer world2 so in the inner world of man1 that which ,greek3 ereuna tameua koilias#gc--the candle of ,god1 searching the inmost parts4 ,if that light within become but a more active kind of darkness2--if1 abdicating the measuring reed of modesty for scepter1 and ceasing to measure with it1 we dip it in such unctuous and inflammable refuse as we can find1 and make our soul's light into a tallow candle1 and thenceforward take our guttering1 sputtering1 ill-smelling illumination about with us1 holding it out in fetid fingers--encumbered with its lurid warmth of fungous wick1 and drip of stalactitic grease--that we may see1 when another man would have seen1 or dreamed he saw1 the flight of a divine ,virgin--only the lamplight upon the hair of a costermonger's ass2--that1 having to paint the good ,samaritan1 we may see only in distance the back of the good ,samaritan1 and in nearness the back of the good ,samaritan's dog2--that having to paint the ,annunciation to the ,shepherds1 we may turn the announcement of peace to men1 into an announcement of mere panic to beasts2 and1 in an unsightly firework of unsightlier angels1 see1 as we see always1 the feet instead of the head1 and the shame instead of the honor2--and finally concentrate and rest the sum of our fame1 as ,titian on the ,assumption of a spirit1 so we on the dissection of a carcass1--perhaps by such fatuous fire1 the less we walk1 and by such phosphoric glow1 the less we shine1 the better it may be for us1 and for all who would follow us4 #gh4 ,do not think ,i deny the greatness of ,rembrandt4 ,in mere technical power 7none of his eulogists know that power better than ,i1 nor declare it in more distinct terms7 he might1 if he had been educated in a true school1 have taken rank with the ,venetians themselves4 ,but that type of distinction between ,titian's ,assumption1 and ,rembrandt's ,dissection1 will represent for you with sufficient significance the manner of choice in all their work2 only it should be associated with another characteristic example of the same opposition 7which ,i have dwelt upon elsewhere7 between ,veronese and ,rembrandt1 in their conception of domestic life4 ,rembrandt's picture1 at ,dresden1 of himself1 with his wife sitting on his knee1 a roasted peacock on the table1 and a glass of champagne in his hand1 is the best work ,i know of all he has left2 and it marks his speciality with entire decision4 ,it is1 of course1 a dim candlelight2 and the choice of the sensual passions as the things specially and forever to be described and immortalized out of his own private life and love1 is exactly that painting the foulest thing by rushlight which ,i have stated to be the enduring purpose of his mind4 ,and you will find this hold in all minor treatment2 and that to the uttermost3 for as by your broken rushlight you see little1 and only corners and points of things1 and those very corners and points ill and distortedly2 so1 although ,rembrandt knows the human face and hand1 and never fails in these1 when they are ugly1 and he chooses to take pains with them1 he knows nothing else3 the more pains he takes with even familiar animals1 the worse they are 7witness the horse in that plate of the ,good ,samaritan71 and any attempts to finish the first scribbled energy of his imaginary lions and tigers1 end always only in the loss of the fiendish power and rage which were all he could conceive in an animal4 #gi4 ,his landscape1 and foreground vegetation1 ,i mean afterwards to examine in comparison with ,duerer's2 but the real caliber and nature of the man are best to be understood by comparing the puny1 ill-drawn1 terrorless1 helpless1 beggarly skeleton in his ,youth ,surprised by ,death1 with the figure behind the tree in ,duerer's plate 7though it is quite one of ,duerer's feeblest7 of the same subject4 ,absolutely ignorant of all natural phenomena and law2 absolutely careless of all lovely living form1 or growth1 or structure2 able only to render with some approach to veracity1 what alone he had looked at with some approach to attention1--the pawnbroker's festering heaps of old clothes1 and caps1 and shoes--,rembrandt's execution is one grand evasion1 and his temper the grim contempt of a strong and sullen animal in its defiled den1 for the humanity with which it is at war1 for the flowers which it tramples1 and the light which it fears4 #hj4 ,again1 do not let it be thought that when ,i call his execution evasive1 ,i ignore the difference between his touch1 on brow or lip1 and a common workman's2 but the whole school of etching which he founded1 7and of painting1 so far as it differs from ,venetian work7 is inherently loose and experimental4 ,etching is the very refuge and mask of sentimental uncertainty1 and of vigorous ignorance4 ,if you know anything clearly1 and have a firm hand1 depend upon it1 you will draw it clearly2 you will not care to hide it among scratches and burrs4 ,and herein is the first grand distinction between etching and engraving--that in the etching needle you have an almost irresistible temptation to a wanton speed4 ,there is1 however1 no real necessity for such a distinction2 an etched line may have been just as steadily drawn1 and seriously meant1 as an engraved one2 and for the moment1 waiving consideration of this distinction1 and opposing ,rembrandt's work1 considered merely as work of the black line1 to ,holbein's and ,duerer's1 as work of the black line1 ,i assert ,rembrandt's to be inherently evasive4 ,you cannot unite his manner with theirs2 choice between them is sternly put to you1 when first you touch the steel4 ,suppose1 for instance1 you have to engrave1 or etch1 or draw with pen and ink1 a single head1 and that the head is to be approximately half an inch in height more or less 7there is a reason for assigning this condition respecting size1 which we will examine in due time73 you have it in your power to do it in one of two ways4 ,you may lay down some twenty or thirty entirely firm and visible lines1 of which every one shall be absolutely right1 and do the utmost a line can do4 ,by their curvature they shall render contour2 by their thickness1 shade2 by their place and form1 every truth of expression1 and every condition of design4 ,the head of the soldier drawing his sword1 in ,duerer's ,cannon1 is about half an inch high1 supposing the brow to be seen4 ,the chin is drawn with three lines1 the lower lip with two1 the upper1 including the shadow from the nose1 with five4 ,three separate the cheek from the chin1 giving the principal points of character4 ,six lines draw the cheek1 and its incised traces of care2 four are given to each of the eyes2 one1 with the outline1 to the nose2 three to the frown of the forehead4 ,none of these touches could anywhere be altered--none removed1 without instantly visible harm2 and their result is a head as perfect in character as a portrait by ,reynolds4 #ha4 ,you may either do this--which1 if you can1 it will generally be very advisable to do--or1 on the other hand1 you may cover the face with innumerable scratches1 and let your hand play with wanton freedom1 until the graceful scrabble concentrates itself into shade4 ,you may soften--efface--retouch--rebite--dot1 and hatch1 and redefine4 ,if you are a great master1 you will soon get your character1 and probably keep it 7,rembrandt often gets it at first1 nearly as securely as ,duerer72 but the design of it will be necessarily seen through loose work1 and modified by accident 7as you think7 fortunate4 ,the accidents which occur to a practiced hand are always at first pleasing--the details which can be hinted1 however falsely1 through the gathering mystery1 are always seducing4 ,you will find yourself gradually dwelling more and more on little meannesses of form and texture1 and lusters of surface3 on cracks of skin1 and films of fur and plume4 ,you will lose your way1 and then see two ways1 and then many ways1 and try to walk a little distance on all of them in turn1 and so1 back again4 ,you will find yourself thinking of colors1 and vexed because you cannot imitate them2 next1 struggling to render distances by indecision1 which you cannot by tone4 ,presently you will be contending with finished pictures2 laboring at the etching1 as if it were a painting4 ,you will leave off1 after a whole day's work 7after many days' work if you choose to give them71 still unsatisfied4 ,for final result--if you are as great as ,rembrandt--you will have most likely a heavy1 black1 cloudy stain1 with less character in it than the first ten lines had4 ,if you are not as great as ,rembrandt1 you will have a stain by no means cloudy2 but sandy and broken1--instead of a face1 a speckled phantom of a face1 patched1 blotched1 discomfited in every texture and form--ugly1 assuredly2 dull1 probably2 an unmanageable and manifold failure ill concealed by momentary1 accidental1 undelightful1 ignoble success4 ,undelightful2 note this especially1 for it is the peculiar character of etching that it cannot render beauty4 ,you may hatch and scratch your way to picturesqueness or to deformity--never to beauty4 ,you can etch an old woman1 or an ill-conditioned fellow4 ,but you cannot etch a girl--nor1 unless in his old age1 or with very partial rendering of him1 a gentleman4 #hb4 ,and thus1 as farther belonging to1 and partly causative of1 their choice of means1 there is always a tendency in etchers to fasten on unlovely objects2 and the whole scheme of modern rapid work of this kind is connected with a peculiar gloom which results from the confinement of men1 partially informed1 and wholly untrained1 in the midst of foul and vicious cities4 ,a sensitive and imaginative youth1 early driven to get his living by his art1 has to lodge1 we will say1 somewhere in the by-streets of ,paris1 and is left there1 tutorless1 to his own devices4 ,suppose him also vicious or reckless1 and there need be no talk of his work farther2 he will certainly do nothing in a ,duereresque manner4 ,but suppose him self-denying1 virtuous1 full of gift and power--what are the elements of living study within his reach8 ,all supreme beauty is confined to the higher salons4 ,there are pretty faces in the streets1 but no stateliness nor splendor of humanity2 all pathos and grandeur is in suffering2 no purity of nature is accessible1 but only a terrible picturesqueness1 mixed with ghastly1 with ludicrous1 with base concomitants4 ,huge walls and roofs1 dark on the sunset sky1 but plastered with advertisement bills1 monstrous-figured1 seen farther than ever ,parthenon shaft1 or spire of ,sainte ,chapelle4 ,interminable lines of massy streets1 wearisome with repetition of commonest design1 and degraded by their gilded shops1 wide-fuming1 flaunting1 glittering1 with apparatus of eating or of dress4 ,splendor of palace-flank and goodly quay1 insulted by floating cumber of barge and bath1 trivial1 grotesque1 indecent1 as cleansing vessels in a royal reception room4 ,solemn avenues of blossomed trees1 shading puppet-show and baby-play2 glades of wild-wood1 long withdrawn1 purple with faded shadows of blood2 sweet windings and reaches of river far among the brown vines and white orchards1 checked here by the ,ile ,notre ,dame1 to receive their nightly sacrifice1 and after playing with it among their eddies1 to give it up again1 in those quiet shapes that lie on the sloped slate tables of the square-built ,temple of the ,death-,sibyl1 who presides here over spray of ,seine1 as yonder at ,tiber over spray of ,anio4 ,sibylline1 indeed1 in her secrecy1 and her sealing of destinies1 by the baptism of the quick water-drops which fall on each fading face1 unrecognized1 nameless in this ,baptism forever4 ,wreathed thus throughout1 that ,paris town1 with beauty1 and with unseemly sin1 unseemlier death1 as a fiend-city with fair eyes2 forever letting fall her silken raiment so far as that one may behold her bosom and half her side4 ,under whose whispered teaching1 and substitution of ,contes ,drolatiques for the tales of the wood fairy1 her children of ,imagination will do1 what ,gerome and ,gustave ,dore are doing1 and her whole world of lesser ,art will sink into shadows of the street and of the boudoir-curtain1 wherein the etching point may disport itself with freedom enough4#gd #hc4 ,nor are we slack in our companionship in these courses4 ,our imagination is slower and clumsier than the ,french--rarer also1 by far1 in the average ,english mind4 ,the only man of power equal to ,dore's whom we have had lately among us1 was ,william ,blake1 whose temper fortunately took another turn4 ,but in the calamity and vulgarity of daily circumstance1 in the horror of our streets1 in the discordance of our thoughts1 in the laborious looseness and ostentatious cleverness of our work1 we are alike4 ,and to ,french faults we add a stupidity of our own2 for which1 so far as ,i may in modesty take blame for anything1 as resulting from my own teaching1 ,i am more answerable than most men4 ,having spoken earnestly against painting without thinking1 ,i now find our exhibitions decorated with works of students who think without painting2 and our books illustrated by scratched wood-cuts1 representing very ordinary people1 who are presumed to be interesting in the picture1 because the text tells a story about them4 ,of this least lively form of modern sensational work1 however1 ,i shall have to speak on other grounds2 meantime1 ,i am concerned only with its manner2 its incontinence of line and method1 associated with the slightness of its real thought1 and morbid acuteness of irregular sensation2 ungoverned all1 and one of the external and slight phases of that beautiful ,liberty which we are proclaiming as essence of gospel to all the earth1 and shall presently1 ,i suppose1 when we have had enough of it here1 proclaim also to the stars1 with invitation to them out of their courses4 #hd4 ,but you asked us for 'free-heart' outlines1 and told us not to be slaves1 only thirty days ago4#ge ,inconsistent that ,i am6 so ,i did4 ,but as there are attractions1 and attractions2 originalities1 and originalities1 there are liberties1 and liberties4 ,yonder torrent1 crystal-clear1 and arrow-swift1 with its spray leaping into the air like white troops of fawns1 is free1 ,i think4 ,lost1 yonder1 amidst bankless1 boundless marsh--soaking in slow shallowness1 as it will1 hither and thither1 listless1 among the poisonous reeds and unresisting slime--it is free also4 ,you may choose which liberty you will1 and restraint of voiceful rock1 or the dumb and edgeless shore of darkened sand4 ,of that evil liberty1 which men are now glorifying1--and of its opposite continence--which is the clasp and ,greek3 chrusee perone of ,aglaia's cestus--we will try to find out something in next chapter4#gf ,,footnotes3 #ga ,art ,journal1 vol4 iv41 pp4 #agg-h4 ,june #ahfe4--;,,ed4 #gb ,wornum's ,epochs of ,painting4 ,i have continual occasion to quarrel with my friend on these matters of critical question2 but ,i have deep respect for his earnest and patient research1 and we remain friends--on the condition that ,i am to learn much from him1 and he 7though it may be questionable whose fault that is7 nothing from me4 #gc ,prov4 xx1 #bg4 #gd ,as ,i was preparing these sheets for press1 ,i chanced on a passage in a novel of ,champfleury's1 in which one young student is encouraging another in his contest with these and other such evils2--the evils are in this passage accepted as necessities2 the inevitable deadliness of the element is not seen1 as it can hardly be except by those who live out of it4 ,the encouragement1 on such view1 is good and right2 the connection of the young etcher's power with his poverty is curiously illustrative of the statements in the text1 and the whole passage1 though long1 is well worth such space as it will ask here1 in our small print4 ,cependant1 dit ,thomas1 on a vu des peintres de talent qui etaient partis de ,paris apres avoir expose de bons tableaux et qui s'en revenaient classiquement ennuyeux4 ,c'est done la faute de l'enseignement de l',academie4 ,bah6 dit ,gerard1 rien n'arrete le developpement d'un homme puisqu'il comprend l'art1 pourquoi ne fait-il pas d'art8 ,parce qu'il gagne a peu pres sa vie en faisant du commerce4 ,on dirait que tu ne veux pas me comprendre1 toi qui as justement passe par la4 ,comment faisais-tu quand tu etais compositeur d'une imprimerie8 ,le soir1 dit ,thomas1 et le matin en hiver1 a partir de quatre heures1 je faisais des etudes a la lampe pendant deux heures1 jusqu'au moment ou j'allais a l'atelier4 ,et tu ne vivais pas de la peinture8 ,je ne gagnais pas un sou4 ,bon6 dit ,gerard2 tu vois bien que tu faisais du commerce en dehors de l'art et que cependant tu etudiais4 ,quand tu es sorti de l'imprimerie comment as-tu vecu8 ,je faisais cinq ou six petites aquarelles par jour1 que je vendais1 sous les arcades de l',institut1 six sous piece4 ,et tu en vivais2 c'est encore du commerce4 ,tu vois done que ni l'imprimerie1 ni les petits dessins1 a cinq sous1 ni la privation1 ni la misere ne t'ont empeche d'arriver4 ,je ne suis pas arrive4 ,n'importe1 tu arriveras certainement4 4 4 4 ,si tu veux d'autres exemples qui prouvent que la misere et les autres pieges tendus sous nos pas ne doivent rien arreter1 tu te rappelles bien ce pauvre garcon dont vous admiriez les eaux-fortes1 que vous mettiez aussi haut que ,rembrandt1 et qui aurait ete lion1 disiez-vous1 s'il n'avait tant souffert de la faim4 ,qu'a-t-il fait le jour ou il lui est tombe un petit heritage du ciel8 ,il est vrai1 dit ,thomas1 embarrasse2 qu'il a perdu tout son sentiment4 ,ce n'etait pas cependant une de ces grosses fortunes qui tuent un homme1 qui le rendent lourd1 fier et insolent3 il avait juste de quoi vivre1 six cents francs de rentes1 une fortune pour lui1 qui vivait avec cinq francs par mois4 ,il a continue a travailler2 mais ses eaux-fortes n'etaient plus supportables2 tandis qu'avant1 il vivait avec un morceau de pain et des legumes2 alors il avait du talent4 ,cela1 ,thomas1 doit te prouver que ni les mauvais enseignements1 ni les influences1 ni la misere1 ni la faim1 ni la maladie1 ne peuvent corrompre une nature bien douee4 ,elle souffre2 mais trouve moi un grand artiste qui n'ait pas souffert4 ,il n'y a pas un seul homme de denie heureux depuis que l'humanite existe4 ,j'ai envie1 dit ,thomas1 de te faire cadeau d'une jolie cravate4 ,pourquoi8 dit ,gerard4 ,parce que tu as bien parle4 #ge ,see ante1 p4 #cdc1 ,sec4 #gc4--;,,ed4 #gf ,chapter ,,vi41 which is here omitted1 having been already reprinted in ,the ,queen of the ,air 7,sec4,sec4 #adb-aei71 together with the last paragraph 7somewhat altered7 of the present chapter4 ,after the publication of ,chapter ,,vi4 the essays were discontinued until ,january #ahff4--;,,ed4 ---------------------------------------- ,transcriber's note3 ,chapter ,,vi is missing from the original4 ---------------------------------------- ,,chapter ,,vii4#gg #he4 ,in recommencing this series of papers1 ,i may perhaps take permission briefly to remind the reader of the special purpose which my desultory way of writing1 7of so vast a subject ,i find it impossible to write otherwise than desultorily71 may cause him sometimes to lose sight of2 the ascertainment1 namely1 of some laws for present practice of ,art in our schools1 which may be admitted1 if not with absolute1 at least with a sufficient consent1 by leading artists4 ,there are indeed many principles on which different men must ever be at variance2 others1 respecting which it may be impossible to obtain any practical consent in certain phases of particular schools4 ,but there are a few1 which1 ,i think1 in all times of meritorious ,art1 the leading painters would admit2 and others which1 by discussion1 might be arrived at1 as1 at all events1 the best discoverable for the time4 #hf4 ,one of those which ,i suppose great workmen would always admit1 is1 that1 whatever material we use1 the virtues of that material are to be exhibited1 and its defects frankly admitted2 no effort being made to conquer those defects by such skill as may make the material resemble another4 ,for instance1 in the dispute so frequently revived by the public1 touching the relative merits of oil color and water color2 ,i do not think a great painter would ever consider it a merit in a water color to have the force of oil4 ,he would like it to have the peculiar delicacy1 paleness1 and transparency belonging specially to its own material4 ,on the other hand1 ,i think he would not like an oil painting to have the deadness or paleness of a water color4 ,he would like it to have the deep shadows1 and the rich glow1 and crumbling and bossy touches which are alone attainable in oil color4 ,and if he painted in fresco1 he would neither aim at the transparency of water color1 nor the richness of oil2 but at luminous bloom of surface1 and dignity of clearly visible form4 ,i do not think that this principle would be disputed by artists of great power at any time1 or in any country2 though1 if by mischance they had been compelled to work in one material1 while desiring the qualities only attainable in another1 they might strive1 and meritoriously strive1 for those better results1 with what they had under their hand4 ,the change of manner in ,william ,hunt's work1 in the later part of his life1 was an example of this4 ,as his art became more developed1 he perceived in his subjects qualities which it was impossible to express in a transparent medium2 and employed opaque white to draw with1 when the finer forms of relieved light could not be otherwise followed4 ,it was out of his power to do more than this1 since in later life any attempt to learn the manipulation of oil color would have been unadvisable2 and he obtained results of singular beauty2 though their preciousness and completion would never1 in a well-founded school of ,art1 have been trusted to the frail substance of water color4 #hg4 ,but although ,i do not suppose that the abstract principle of doing with each material what it is best fitted to do1 would be1 in terms1 anywhere denied2 the practical question is always1 not what should be done with this1 or that1 if everything were in our power2 but what can be1 or ought to be1 accomplished with the means at our disposal1 and in the circumstances under which we must necessarily work4 ,thus1 in the question immediately before us1 of the proper use of the black line--it is easy to establish the proper virtue of ,line work1 as essentially ,de-,lineation1 the expressing by outline the true limits of forms1 which distinguish and part them from other forms2 just as the virtue of brush work is essentially breadth1 softness1 and blending of forms4 ,and1 in the abstract1 the point ought not to be used where the aim is not that of definition1 nor the brush to be used where the aim is not that of breadth4 ,every painting in which the aim is primarily that of drawing1 and every drawing in which the aim is primarily that of painting1 must alike be in a measure erroneous4 ,but it is one thing to determine what should be done with the black line1 in a period of highly disciplined and widely practiced art1 and quite another thing to say what should be done with it1 at this present time1 in ,england4 ,especially1 the increasing interest and usefulness of our illustrated books render this an inquiry of very great social and educational importance4 ,on the one side1 the skill and felicity of the work spent upon them1 and the advantage which young readers1 if not those of all ages1 might derive from having examples of good drawing put familiarly before their eyes1 cannot be overrated2 yet1 on the other side1 neither the admirable skill nor free felicity of the work can ultimately be held a counterpoise for the want--if there be a want--of sterling excellence3 while1 farther1 this increased power of obtaining examples of art for private possession1 at an almost nominal price1 has two accompanying evils3 it prevents the proper use of what we have1 by dividing the attention1 and continually leading us restlessly to demand new subjects of interest1 while the old are as yet not half exhausted2 and it prevents us--satisfied with the multiplication of minor art in our own possession--from looking for a better satisfaction in great public works4 #hh4 ,observe1 first1 it prevents the proper use of what we have4 ,i often endeavor1 though with little success1 to conceive what would have been the effect on my mind1 when ,i was a boy1 of having such a book given me as ,watson's ,illustrated ,robinson ,crusoe4#gh ,the edition ,i had was a small octavo one1 in two volumes1 printed at the ,chiswick ,press in #ahab4 ,it has1 in each volume1 eight or ten very rude vignettes1 about a couple of inches wide2 cut in the simple1 but legitimate1 manner of ,bewick1 and1 though wholly commonplace and devoid of beauty1 yet1 as far as they go1 rightly done2 and here and there sufficiently suggestive of plain facts4 ,i am quite unable to say how far ,i wasted1--how far ,i spent to advantage1--the unaccountable hours during which ,i pored over these wood-cuts2 receiving more real sensation of sympathetic terror from the drifting hair and fear-stricken face of ,crusoe dashed against the rock1 in the rude attempt at the representation of his escape from the wreck1 than ,i can now from the highest art2 though the rocks and water are alike cut only with a few twisted or curved lines1 and there is not the slightest attempt at light and shade1 or imitative resemblance4 ,for one thing1 ,i am quite sure that being forced to make all ,i could out of very little things1 and to remain long contented with them1 not only in great part formed the power of close analysis in my mind1 and the habit of steady contemplation2 but rendered the power of greater art over me1 when ,i first saw it1 as intense as that of magic2 so that it appealed to me like a vision out of another world4 #hi4 ,on the other hand this long contentment with inferior work1 and the consequent acute enjoyment of whatever was the least suggestive of truth in a higher degree1 rendered me long careless of the highest virtues of execution1 and retarded by many years the maturing and balancing of the general power of judgment4 ,and ,i am now1 as ,i said1 quite unable to imagine what would have been the result upon me1 of being enabled to study1 instead of these coarse vignettes1 such lovely and expressive work as that of ,watson2 suppose1 for instance1 the vignette at p4 #hg1 which would have been sure to have caught my fancy1 because of the dog1 with its head on ,crusoe's knee1 looking up and trying to understand what is the matter with his master4 ,it remains to be seen1 and can only be known by experience1 what will actually be the effect of these treasures on the minds of children that possess them4 ,the result must be in some sort different from anything yet known2 no such art was ever yet attainable by the youth of any nation4 ,yet of this there can1 as ,i have just said1 be no reasonable doubt2--that it is not well to make the imagination indolent1 or take its work out of its hands by supplying continual pictures of what might be sufficiently conceived without pictures4 #ij4 ,take1 for instance1 the preceding vignette1 in the same book1 ,crusoe looking at the first shoots of barley4 ,nothing can be more natural or successful as a representation2 but1 after all1 whatever the importance of the moment in ,crusoe's history1 the picture can show us nothing more than a man in a white shirt and dark pantaloons1 in an attitude of surprise2 and the imagination ought to be able to compass so much as this without help4 ,and if so laborious aid be given1 much more ought to be given4 ,the virtue of ,art1 as of life1 is that no line shall be in vain4 ,now the number of lines in this vignette1 applied with full intention of thought in every touch1 as they would have been by ,holbein or ,duerer1 are quite enough to have produced1--not a merely deceptive dash of local color1 with evanescent background1--but an entirely perfect piece of chiaroscuro1 with its lights all truly limited and gradated1 and with every form of leaf and rock in the background entirely right1 complete1--and full not of mere suggestion1 but of accurate information1 exactly such as the fancy by itself cannot furnish4 ,a work so treated by any man of power and sentiment such as the designer of this vignette possesses1 would be an eternal thing2 ten in the volume1 for real enduring and educational power1 were worth two hundred in imperfect development1 and would have been a perpetual possession to the reader2 whereas one certain result of the multiplication of these lovely but imperfect drawings1 is to increase the feverish thirst for excitement1 and to weaken the power of attention by endless diversion and division4 ,this volume1 beautiful as it is1 will be forgotten2 the strength in it is1 in final outcome1 spent for naught2 and others1 and still others1 following it1 will come like shadows1 so depart4 #ia4 ,there is1 however1 a quite different disadvantage1 but no less grave1 to be apprehended from this rich multiplication of private possession4 ,the more we have of books1 and cabinet pictures1 and cabinet ornaments1 and other such domestic objects of art1 the less capable we shall become of understanding or enjoying the lofty character of work noble in scale1 and intended for public service4 ,the most practical and immediate distinction between the orders of mean and high ,art1 is that the first is private1--the second public2 the first for the individual1 the second for all4 ,it may be that domestic ,art is the only kind which is likely to flourish in a country of cold climate1 and in the hands of a nation tempered as the ,english are2 but it is necessary that we should at least understand the disadvantage under which we thus labor2 and the duty of not allowing the untowardness of our circumstances1 or the selfishness of our dispositions1 to have unresisted and unchecked influence over the adopted style of our art4 ,but this part of the subject requires to be examined at length1 and ,i must therefore reserve it for the following paper4 ,,footnotes3 #gg ,art ,journal1 vol4 v41 pp4 #i1 #aj4 ,january #ahff4--;,,ed4 #gh ,routledge1 #ahfd4 ,the engraving is all by ,dalziel4 ,i do not ask the reader's pardon for speaking of myself1 with reference to the point at issue4 ,it is perhaps quite as modest to relate personal experience as to offer personal opinion2 and the accurate statement of such experience is1 in questions of this sort1 the only contribution at present possible towards their solution4 ,,chapter ,,viii4#gi #ib4 ,in pursuing the question put at the close of the last paper1 it must be observed that there are essentially two conditions under which we have to examine the difference between the effects of public and private ,art on national prosperity4 ,the first in immediate influence is their ,economical function1 the second their ,ethical4 ,we have first to consider what class of persons they in each case support2 and1 secondly1 what classes they teach or please4 ,looking over the list of the gift-books of this year1 perhaps the first circumstance which would naturally strike us would be the number of persons living by this industry2 and1 in any consideration of the probable effects of a transference of the public attention to other kinds of work1 we ought first to contemplate the result on the interests of the workman4 ,the guinea spent on one of our ordinary illustrated gift-books is divided among-- #a4 ,a number of second-rate or third-rate artists1 producing designs as fast as they can1 and realizing them up to the standard required by the public of that year4 ,men of consummate power may sometimes put their hands to the business2 but exceptionally4 #b4 ,engravers1 trained to mechanical imitation of this second or third-rate work2 of these engravers the inferior classes are usually much overworked4 #c4 ,printers1 paper-makers1 ornamental binders1 and other craftsmen4 #d4 ,publishers and booksellers4 #ic4 ,let us suppose the book can be remuneratively produced if there is a sale of five thousand copies4 ,then ,l#ejjj1 contributed for it by the public1 are divided among the different workers2 it does not matter what actual rate of division we assume1 for the mere object of comparison with other modes of employing the money2 but let us say these ,l#ejjj are divided among five hundred persons1 giving on an average ,l#aj to each4 ,and let us suppose these ,l#aj to be a fortnight's maintenance to each4 ,then1 to maintain them through the year1 twenty-five such books must be published2 or to keep certainly within the mark of the probable cost of our autumnal gift-books1 suppose ,l#ajj1jjj are spent by the public1 with resultant supply of #ajj1jjj households with one illustrated book1 of second or third-rate quality each 7there being twenty different books thus supplied71 and resultant maintenance of five hundred persons for the year1 at severe work of a second or third-rate order1 mostly mechanical4 #id4 ,now1 if the mind of the nation1 instead of private1 be set on public work1 there is of course no expense incurred for multiplication1 or mechanical copying of any kind1 or for retail dealing4 ,the ,l#ejjj1 instead of being given for five thousand copies of the work1 and divided among five hundred persons1 are given for one original work1 and given to one person4 ,this one person will of course employ assistants2 but these will be chosen by himself1 and will form a superior class of men1 out of whom the future leading artists of the time will rise in succession4 ,the broad difference will therefore be1 that1 in the one case1 ,l#ejjj are divided among five hundred persons of different classes1 doing second-rate or wholly mechanical work2 and in the other case1 the same sum is divided among a few chosen persons of the best material of mind producible by the state at the given epoch4 ,it may seem an unfair assumption that work for the public will be more honestly and earnestly done than that for private possession4 ,but every motive that can touch either conscience or ambition is brought to bear upon the artist who is employed on a public service1 and only a few such motives in other modes of occupation4 ,the greater permanence1 scale1 dignity of office1 and fuller display of ,art in a ,national building1 combine to call forth the energies of the artist2 and if a man will not do his best under such circumstances1 there is no best in him4 #ie4 ,it might also at first seem an unwarrantable assumption that fewer persons would be employed in the private than in the national work1 since1 at least in architecture1 quite as many subordinate craftsmen are employed as in the production of a book4 ,it is1 however1 necessary1 for the purpose of clearly seeing the effect of the two forms of occupation1 that we should oppose them where their contrast is most complete2 and that we should compare1 not merely bookbinding with bricklaying1 but the presentation of ,art in books1 necessarily involving much subordinate employment1 with its presentation in statues or wall-pictures1 involving only the labor of the artist and of his immediate assistants4 ,in the one case1 then1 ,i repeat1 the sum set aside by the public for ,art-purposes is divided among many persons1 very indiscriminately chosen2 in the other among few carefully chosen4 ,but it does not1 for that reason1 support fewer persons4 ,the few artists live on their larger incomes1#hj by expenditure among various tradesmen1 who in no wise produce ,art1 but the means of pleasant life2 so that the real economical question is1 not how many men shall we maintain1 but at what work shall they be kept8--shall they every one be set to produce ,art for us1 in which case they must all live poorly1 and produce bad ,art2 or out of the whole number shall ten be chosen who can and will produce noble ,art2 and shall the others be employed in providing the means of pleasant life for these chosen ten8 ,will you have1 that is to say1 four hundred and ninety tradesmen1 butchers1 carpet-weavers1 carpenters1 and the like1 and ten fine artists1 or will you1 under the vain hope of finding1 for each of them within your realm1 five hundred good as he1 have your full complement of bad draughtsmen1 and retail distributors of their bad work8 #if4 ,it will be seen in a moment that this is no question of economy merely2 but1 as all economical questions become1 when set on their true foundation1 a dilemma relating to modes of discipline and education4 ,it is only one instance of the perpetually recurring offer to our choice--shall we have one man educated perfectly1 and others trained only to serve him1 or shall we have all educated equally ill8--,which1 when the outcries of mere tyranny and pride-defiant on one side1 and of mere envy and pride-concupiscent on the other1 excited by the peril and promise of a changeful time1 shall be a little abated1 will be found to be1 in brief terms1 the one social question of the day4 ,without attempting an answer which would lead us far from the business in hand1 ,i pass to the ,ethical part of the inquiry2 to examine1 namely1 the effect of this cheaply diffused ,art on the public mind4 #ig4 ,the first great principle we have to hold by in dealing with the matter is1 that the end of ,art is ,,not to amuse2 and that all ,art which proposes amusement as its end1 or which is sought for that end1 must be of an inferior1 and is probably of a harmful1 class4 ,the end of ,art is as serious as that of all other beautiful things--of the blue sky and the green grass1 and the clouds and the dew4 ,they are either useless1 or they are of much deeper function than giving amusement4 ,whatever delight we take in them1 be it less or more1 is not the delight we take in play1 or receive from momentary surprise4 ,it might be a matter of some metaphysical difficulty to define the two kinds of pleasure1 but it is perfectly easy for any of us to feel that there is generic difference between the delight we have in seeing a comedy and in watching a sunrise4 ,not but that there is a kind of ,divina ,commedia1--a dramatic change and power1--in all beautiful things3 the joy of surprise and incident mingles in music1 painting1 architecture1 and natural beauty itself1 in an ennobled and enduring manner1 with the perfectness of eternal hue and form4 ,but whenever the desire of change becomes principal2 whenever we care only for new tunes1 and new pictures1 and new scenes1 all power of enjoying ,nature or ,art is so far perished from us3 and a child's love of toys has taken its place4 ,the continual advertisement of new music 7as if novelty were its virtue7 signifies1 in the inner fact of it1 that no one now cares for music4 ,the continual desire for new exhibitions means that we do not care for pictures2 the continual demand for new books means that nobody cares to read4 #ih4 ,not that it would necessarily1 and at all times1 mean this2 for in a living school of ,art there will always be an exceeding thirst for1 and eager watching of freshly-developed thought4 ,but it specially and sternly means this1 when the interest is merely in the novelty2 and great work in our possession is forgotten1 while mean work1 because strange and of some personal interest1 is annually made the subject of eager observation and discussion4 ,as long as 7for one of many instances of such neglect7 two great pictures of ,tintoret's lie rolled up in an outhouse at ,venice1 all the exhibitions and schools in ,europe mean nothing but promotion of costly commerce4 ,through that1 we might indeed arrive at better things2 but there is no proof1 in the eager talk of the public about ,art1 that we are arriving at them4 ,portraiture of the said public's many faces1 and tickling of its twice as many eyes1 by changeful phantasm1 are all that the patron-multitudes of the present day in reality seek2 and this may be supplied to them in multiplying excess forever1 yet no steps made to the formation of a school of ,art now1 or to the understanding of any that have hitherto existed4 #ii4 ,it is the carrying of this annual ,exhibition into the recesses of home which is especially to be dreaded in the multiplication of inferior ,art for private possession4 ,public amusement or excitement may often be quite wholesomely sought1 in gay spectacles1 or enthusiastic festivals2 but we must be careful to the uttermost how we allow the desire for any kind of excitement to mingle among the peaceful continuities of home happiness4 ,the one stern condition of that happiness is that our possessions should be no more than we can thoroughly use2 and that to this use they should be practically and continually put4 ,calculate the hours which1 during the possible duration of life1 can1 under the most favorable circumstances1 be employed in reading1 and the number of books which it is possible to read in that utmost space of time2--it will be soon seen what a limited library is all that we need1 and how careful we ought to be in choosing its volumes4 ,similarly1 the time which most people have at their command for any observation of ,art is not more than would be required for the just understanding of the works of one great master4 ,how are we to estimate the futility of wasting this fragment of time on works from which nothing can be learned8 ,for the only real pleasure1 and the richest of all amusements1 to be derived from either reading or looking1 are in the steady progress of the mind and heart1 which day by day are more deeply satisfied1 and yet more divinely athirst4 #ajj4 ,as far as ,i know the homes of ,england of the present day1 they show a grievous tendency to fall1 in these important respects1 into the two great classes of over-furnished and unfurnished3--of those in which the ,greek marble in its niche1 and the precious shelf-loads of the luxurious library1 leave the inmates nevertheless dependent for all their true pastime on horse1 gun1 and croquet-ground2--and those in which ,art1 honored only by the presence of a couple of engravings from ,landseer1 and literature1 represented by a few magazines and annuals arranged in a star on the drawing-room table1 are felt to be entirely foreign to the daily business of life1 and entirely unnecessary to its domestic pleasures4 #aja4 ,the introduction of furniture of ,art into households of this latter class is now taking place rapidly2 and1 of course1 by the usual system of the ingenious ,english practical mind1 will take place under the general law of supply and demand2 that is to say1 that whatever a class of consumers1 entirely unacquainted with the different qualities of the article they are buying1 choose to ask for1 will be duly supplied to them by the trade4 ,i observe that this beautiful system is gradually extending lower and lower in education2 and that children1 like grown-up persons1 are more and more able to obtain their toys without any reference to what is useful or useless1 or right or wrong2 but on the great horseleech's law of demand and supply4 ,and1 indeed1 ,i write these papers1 knowing well how effectless all speculations on abstract proprieties or possibilities must be in the present ravening state of national desire for excitement2 but the tracing of moral or of mathematical law brings its own quiet reward2 though it may be1 for the time1 impossible to apply either to use4 ,the power of the new influences which have been brought to bear on the middle-class mind1 with respect to ,art1 may be sufficiently seen in the great rise in the price of pictures which has taken place 7principally during the last twenty years7 owing to the interest occasioned by national exhibitions1 coupled with facilities of carriage1 stimulating the activity of dealers1 and the collateral discovery by mercantile men that pictures are not a bad investment4 #ajb4 ,the following copy of a document in my own possession will give us a sufficiently accurate standard of ,art-price at the date of it3-- ,london1 ,june #aath1 #ahad4 ,received of ,mr4 ,cooke the sum of twenty-two pounds ten shillings for three drawings1 viz41 ,lyme1 ,land's ,end1 and ,poole4 ,l#bb1 #ajs4 ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,,turner4 ,it would be a very pleasant surprise to me if any one of these three 7southern coast7 drawings1 for which the artist received seven guineas each 7the odd nine shillings being1 ,i suppose1 for the great resource of tale-tellers about ,turner--coach-hire7 were now offered to me by any dealer for a hundred4 ,the rise is somewhat greater in the instance of ,turner than of any other unpopular#ha artist2 but it is at least three hundred per cent4 on all work by artists of established reputation1 whether the public can themselves see anything in it1 or not4 ,a certain quantity of intelligent interest mixes1 of course1 with the mere fever of desire for novelty2 and the excellent book illustrations1 which are the special subjects of our inquiry1 are peculiarly adapted to meet this2 for there are at least twenty people who know a good engraving or wood-cut1 for one who knows a good picture4 ,the best book illustrations fall into three main classes3 fine line engravings 7always grave in purpose71 typically represented by ,goodall's illustrations to ,rogers's poems2--fine wood-cuts1 or etchings1 grave in purpose1 such as those by ,dalziel1 from ,thomson and ,gilbert2--and fine wood-cuts1 or etchings1 for purpose of caricature1 such as ,leech's and ,tenniel's in ,punch4 ,each of these have a possibly instructive power special to them1 which we will endeavor severally to examine in the next chapter4 ,,footnotes3 #gi ,art ,journal1 vol4 v41 pp4 #cc-d4 ,february #ahff1--;,,ed4 #hj ,it may be1 they would not ask larger incomes in a time of highest national life2 and that then the noble art would be far cheaper to the nation than the ignoble4 ,but ,i speak of existing circumstances4 #ha ,i have never found more than two people 7students excepted7 in the room occupied by ,turner's drawings at ,kensington1 and one of the two1 if there are two1 always looks as if he had got in by mistake4 ,,chapter ,,ix4#hb #ajc4 ,i purpose in this chapter1 as intimated in the last1 to sketch briefly what ,i believe to be the real uses and powers of the three kinds of engraving1 by black line2 either for book illustration1 or general public instruction by distribution of multiplied copies4 ,after thus stating what seems to me the proper purpose of each kind of work1 ,i may1 perhaps1 be able to trace some advisable limitations of its technical methods4 ,i4 ,and first1 of pure line engraving4 ,this is the only means by which entire refinement of intellectual representation can be given to the public4 ,photographs have an inimitable mechanical refinement1 and their legal evidence is of great use if you know how to cross-examine them4 ,they are popularly supposed to be true1 and1 at the worst1 they are so1 in the sense in which an echo is true to a conversation of which it omits the most important syllables and reduplicates the rest4 ,but this truth of mere transcript has nothing to do with ,art properly so called2 and will never supersede it4 ,delicate art of design1 or of selected truth1 can only be presented to the general public by true line engraving4 ,it will be enough for my purpose to instance three books in which its power has been sincerely used4 ,i am more in fields than libraries1 and have never cared to look much into book illustrations2 there are1 therefore1 of course1 numbers of well-illustrated works of which ,i know nothing3 but the three ,i should myself name as typical of good use of the method1 are ,i4 ,rogers's ,poems1 ,,ii4 the ,leipsic edition of ,heyne's ,virgil 7#ahjj71 and ,,iii4 the great ,description de l',egypte4 #ajd4 ,the vignettes in the first named volumes 7considering the ,italy and ,poems as one book7 ,i believe to be as skillful and tender as any hand work1 of the kind1 ever done2 they are also wholly free from affectation of overwrought fineness1 on the one side1 and from hasty or cheap expediencies on the other2 and they were produced1 under the direction and influence of a gentleman and a scholar4 ,multitudes of works1 imitative of these1 and far more attractive1 have been produced since2 but none of any sterling quality3 the good books were 7,i was told7 a loss to their publisher1 and the money spent since in the same manner has been wholly thrown away4 ,yet these volumes are enough to show what lovely service line engraving might be put upon1 if the general taste were advanced enough to desire it4 ,their vignettes from ,stothard1 however conventional1 show in the grace and tenderness of their living subjects how types of innocent beauty1 as pure as ,angelico's1 and far lovelier1 might indeed be given from modern ,english life1 to exalt the conception of youthful dignity and sweetness in every household4 ,i know nothing among the phenomena of the present age more sorrowful than that the beauty of our youth should remain wholly unrepresented in ,fine ,art1 because unfelt by ourselves2 and that the only vestiges of a likeness to it should be in some of the more subtle passages of caricatures1 popular 7and justly popular7 as much because they were the only attainable reflection of the prettiness1 as because they were the only sympathizing records of the humors1 of ,english girls and boys4 ,of our oil portraits of them1 in which their beauty is always conceived as consisting in a fixed simper--feet not more than two inches long1 and accessory grounds1 pony1 and groom--our sentence need not be guarda e passa1 but passa only4 ,yet one oil picture has been painted1 and so far as ,i know1 one only1 representing the deeper loveliness of ,english youth--the portraits of the three children of the ,dean of ,christ ,church1 by the son of the great portrait painter1 who has recorded whatever is tender and beautiful in the faces of the aged men of ,england1 bequeathing1 as it seems1 the beauty of their children to the genius of his child4 #aje4 ,the second book which ,i named1 ,heyne's ,virgil1 shows1 though unequally and insufficiently1 what might be done by line engraving to give vital image of classical design1 and symbol of classical thought4 ,it is profoundly to be regretted that none of these old and well-illustrated classics can be put frankly into the hands of youth2 while all books lately published for general service1 pretending to classical illustration1 are1 in point of ,art1 absolutely dead and harmful rubbish4 ,i cannot but think that the production of well-illustrated classics would at least leave free of money-scathe1 and in great honor1 any publisher who undertook it2 and although schoolboys in general might not care for any such help1 to one1 here and there1 it would make all the difference between loving his work and hating it4 ,for myself1 ,i am quite certain that a single vignette1 like that of the fountain of ,arethusa in ,heyne1 would have set me on an eager quest1 which would have saved me years of sluggish and fruitless labor4 #ajf4 ,it is the more strange1 and the more to be regretted1 that no such worthy applications of line engraving are now made1 because1 merely to gratify a fantastic pride1 works are often undertaken in which1 for want of well-educated draughtsmen1 the mechanical skill of the engraver has been wholly wasted1 and nothing produced useful1 except for common reference4 ,in the great work published by the ,dilettanti ,society1 for instance1 the engravers have been set to imitate1 at endless cost of sickly fineness in dotted and hatched execution1 drawings in which the light and shade is always forced and vulgar1 if not utterly false4 ,constantly 7as in the #cgth plate of the first volume71 waving hair casts a straight shadow1 not only on the forehead1 but even on the ripples of other curls emerging beneath it3 while the publication of plate #da1 as a representation of the most beautiful statue in the ,british ,museum1 may well arouse any artist's wonder what kind of diletto in antiquity it might be1 from which the ,society assumed its name4 #ajg4 ,the third book above named as a typical example of right work in line1 the ,description de l',egypte1 is one of the greatest monuments of calm human industry1 honestly and delicately applied1 which exist in the world4 ,the front of ,rouen ,cathedral1 or the most richly-wrought illuminated missal1 as pieces of resolute industry1 are mere child's play compared to any group of the plates of natural history in this book4 ,of unemotional1 but devotedly earnest and rigidly faithful labor1 ,i know no other such example4 ,the lithographs to ,agassiz's poissons fossiles are good in their kind1 but it is a far lower and easier kind1 and the popularly visible result is in larger proportion to the skill2 whereas none but workmen can know the magnificent devotion of unpretending and observant toil1 involved in even a single figure of an insect or a starfish on these unapproachable plates4 ,apply such skill to the simple presentation of the natural history of every ,english county1 and make the books portable in size1 and ,i cannot conceive any other book-gift to our youth so precious4 #ajh4 ,,ii4 ,wood-cutting and etching for serious purpose4 ,the tendency of wood-cutting in ,england has been to imitate the fineness and manner of engraving4 ,this is a false tendency2 and so far as the productions obtained under its influence have been successful1 they are to be considered only as an inferior kind of engraving1 under the last head4 ,but the real power of wood-cutting is1 with little labor1 to express in clear delineation the most impressive essential qualities of form and light and shade1 in objects which owe their interest not to grace1 but to power and character4 ,it can never express beauty of the subtlest kind1 and is not in any way available on a large scale2 but used rightly1 on its own ground1 it is the most purely intellectual of all ,art2 sculpture1 even of the highest order1 being slightly sensual and imitative2 while fine wood-cutting is entirely abstract1 thoughtful1 and passionate4 ,the best wood-cuts that ,i know in the whole range of ,art are those of ,duerer's ,life of the ,virgin2 after these come the other works of ,duerer1 slightly inferior from a more complex and wiry treatment of line4 ,i have never seen any other work in wood deserving to be named with his2 but the best vignettes of ,bewick approach ,duerer in execution of plumage1 as nearly as a clown's work can approach a gentleman's4 #aji4 ,some very brilliant execution on an inferior system--less false1 however1 than the modern ,english one--has been exhibited by the ,french2 and if we accept its false conditions1 nothing can surpass the cleverness of our own school of ,dalziel1 or even of the average wood-cutting in our daily journals1 which however1 as aforesaid1 is only to be reckoned an inferior method of engraving4 ,these meet the demand of the imperfectly-educated public in every kind2 and it would be absurd to urge any change in the method1 as long as the public remain in the same state of knowledge or temper4 ,but1 allowing for the time during which these illustrated papers have now been bringing whatever information and example of ,art they could to the million1 it seems likely that the said million will remain in the same stage of knowledge yet for some time4 ,perhaps the horse is an animal as antagonistic to ,art in ,england1 as he was in harmony with it in ,greece2 still1 allowing for the general intelligence of the ,london bred lower classes1 ,i was surprised by a paragraph in the ,pall ,mall ,gazette1 quoting the ,star of ,november #fth of last year1 in its report upon the use made of illustrated papers by the omnibus stablemen1--to the following effect3-- ,they are frequently employed in the omnibus yards from five o'clock in the morning till twelve at night1 so that a fair day's work for a 'horse-keeper' is about eighteen hours4 ,for this enormous labor they receive a guinea per week1 which for them means seven1 not six1 days2 though they do contrive to make ,sunday an 'off-day' now and then4 ,the ignorance of aught in the world save ''orses and 'buses' which prevails amongst these stablemen is almost incredible4 ,a veteran horse-keeper1 who had passed his days in an omnibus-yard1 was once overheard praising the ',lus-trated ,london ,news with much enthusiasm1 as the best periodical in ,london1 'leastways at the coffee-shop4' ,when pressed for the reason of his partiality1 he confessed it was the 'pickshers' which delighted him4 ,he amused himself during his meal-times by 'counting the images6' #aaj4 ,but for the classes among whom there is a real demand for educational art1 it is highly singular that no systematic use has yet been made of wood-cutting on its own terms2 and only here and there1 even in the best books1 is there an example of what might be done by it4 ,the frontispieces to the two volumes of ,mr4 ,birch's ,ancient ,pottery and ,porcelain1 and such simpler cuts as that at p4 #bgc of the first volume1 show what might be cheaply done for illustration of archaic classical work2 two or three volumes of such cuts chosen from the best vases of ,european collections and illustrated by a short and trustworthy commentary1 would be to any earnest schoolboy worth a whole library of common books4 ,but his father can give him nothing of the kind--and if the father himself wish to study ,greek ,art1 he must spend something like a hundred pounds to put himself in possession of any sufficiently illustrative books of reference4 ,as to any use of such means for representing objects in the round1 the plate of the head of ,pallas facing p4 #afh in the same volume sufficiently shows the hopelessness of setting the modern engraver to such service4 ,again1 in a book like ,smith's dictionary of geography1 the wood-cuts of coins are at present useful only for comparison and reference4 ,they are absolutely valueless as representations of the art of the coin4 #aaa4 ,now1 supposing that an educated scholar and draughtsman had drawn each of these blocks1 and that they had been cut with as much average skill as that employed in the wood-cuts of ,punch1 each of these vignettes of coins might have been an exquisite lesson1 both of high ,art treatment in the coin1 and of beautiful black and white drawing in the representation2 and this just as cheaply--nay1 more cheaply--than the present common and useless drawing4 ,the things necessary are indeed not small1--nothing less than well educated intellect and feeling in the draughtsmen2 but intellect and feeling1 as ,i have often said before now1 are always to be had cheap if you go the right way about it--and they cannot otherwise be had for any price4 ,there are quite brains enough1 and there is quite sentiment enough1 among the gentlemen of ,england to answer all the purposes of ,england3 but if you so train your youths of the richer classes that they shall think it more gentlemanly to scrawl a figure on a bit of note paper1 to be presently rolled up to light a cigar with1 than to draw one nobly and rightly for the seeing of all men2--and if you practically show your youths1 of all classes1 that they will be held gentlemen1 for babbling with a simper in ,sunday pulpits2 or grinning through1 not a horse's1 but a hound's1 collar1 in ,saturday journals2 or dirtily living on the public money in government non-offices3--but that they shall be held less than gentlemen for doing a man's work honestly with a man's right hand--you will of course find that intellect and feeling cannot be had when you want them4 ,but if you like to train some of your best youth into scholarly artists1--men of the temper of ,leonardo1 of ,holbein1 of ,duerer1 or of ,velasquez1 instead of decomposing them into the early efflorescences and putrescences of idle clerks1 sharp lawyers1 soft curates1 and rotten journalists1--you will find that you can always get a good line drawn when you need it1 without paying large subscriptions to schools of ,art4 #aab4 ,,iii4 ,this relation of social character to the possible supply of good ,art is still more direct when we include in our survey the mass of illustration coming under the general head of dramatic caricature--caricature1 that is to say1 involving right understanding of the true grotesque in human life2 caricature of which the worth or harmfulness cannot be estimated1 unless we can first somewhat answer the wide question1 ,what is the meaning and worth of ,english laughter8 ,i say1 of ,english laughter1 because if you can well determine the value of that1 you determine the value of the true laughter of all men--the ,english laugh being the purest and truest in the metal that can be minted4 ,and indeed only ,heaven can know what the country owes to it1 on the lips of such men as ,sydney ,smith and ,thomas ,hood4 ,for indeed the true wit of all countries1 but especially ,english wit 7because the openest71 must always be essentially on the side of truth--for the nature of wit is one with truth4 ,sentiment may be false--reasoning false--reverence false---love false1--everything false except wit2 that must be true--and even if it is ever harmful1 it is as divided against itself--a small truth undermining a mightier4 ,on the other hand1 the spirit of levity1 and habit of mockery1 are among the chief instruments of final ruin both to individual and nations4 ,i believe no business will ever be rightly done by a laughing ,parliament3 and that the public perception of vice or of folly which only finds expression in caricature1 neither reforms the one1 nor instructs the other4 ,no man is fit for much1 we know1 who has not a good laugh in him--but a sad wise valor is the only complexion for a leader2 and if there was ever a time for laughing in this dark and hollow world1 ,i do not think it is now4 ,this is a wide subject1 and ,i must follow it in another place2 for our present purpose1 all that needs to be noted is that1 for the expression of true humor1 few and imperfect lines are often sufficient1 and that in this direction lies the only opening for the serviceable presentation of amateur work to public notice4 #aac4 ,i have said nothing of lithography1 because1 with the exception of ,samuel ,prout's sketches1 no work of standard ,art-value has ever been produced by it1 nor can be3 its opaque and gritty texture being wholly offensive to the eye of any well trained artist4 ,its use in connection with color is1 of course1 foreign to our present subject4 ,nor do ,i take any note of the various current patents for cheap modes of drawing1 though they are sometimes to be thanked for rendering possible the publication of sketches like those of the pretty little ,voyage en ,zigzag 7how we spent the summer7 published by ,longmans--which are full of charming humor1 character1 and freshness of expression2 and might have lost more by the reduction to the severe terms of wood-cutting than they do by the ragged interruptions of line which are an inevitable defect in nearly all these cheap processes4 ,it will be enough1 therefore1 for all serious purpose1 that we confine ourselves to the study of the black line1 as produced in steel and wood2 and ,i will endeavor in the next paper#hc to set down some of the technical laws belonging to each mode of its employment4 ,,footnotes3 #hb ,art ,journal1 vol4 v41 pp4 #ig-h4 ,april #ahff4--;,,ed4 #hc ,the present paper was1 however1 the last4--,,ed4