,,laocoon4 ,an ,essay upon the ,limits of ,painting and ,poetry4 ,,with ,,remarks ,,illustrative ,,of ,,various ,,points ,,in ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,ancient ,,art4 ,,by ,,gotthold ,,ephraim ,,lessing4 ,,translated ,,by ,,ellen ,,frothingham4 ,illustration3 ,logo ,,boston3 ,,roberts ,,brothers4 #ahij4 ,entered according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahgc1 by ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,in the office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 at ,washington4 ,,university ,,press3 ,,john ,,wilson ,,son1 ,,cambridge4 ,,translator',s ,,preface4 ,a translation of the ,laocoon was given to the ,english public by ,e4 ,c4 ,,beasley1 one of the tutors of ,leamington ,college1 in #ahec4 ,very few copies found their way to ,america1 and the book is now difficult to obtain4 ,the desire of the present translator has been to make a version which could be easily read by persons ignorant of any language save ,english4 ,to this end an attempt was made to banish all foreign languages from the text1 and substitute for the original quotations their equivalents1 as near as possible1 in ,english4 ,this method was found1 however1 on trial1 to be incompatible with the closeness of ,lessing's criticism1 depending1 as that in many cases does1 on the shade of meaning of the original word4 ,for the sake of consistency1 therefore1 ,lessing's method has been adhered to in every instance2 the words of the author cited being retained in the text1 and a translation given in a foot-note wherever the meaning was not sufficiently indicated by the context4 ,the same course has been pursued with the modern as with the ancient languages4 ,dryden's translation of ,virgil has been used throughout1 and ,bryant's of ,homer in every case but one1 where a quotation from the neid and the ,odyssey stood in close connection4 ,in this single instance ,pope's version was preferred2 his style being more in harmony with that of ,dryden1 and his want of literalness being here not objectionable4 ,such notes as were not necessary to the understanding of the text have been transferred to the end of the book4 ,the translator would here acknowledge the valuable assistance received from ,mr4 ,w4 ,t4 ,,brigham in the rendering of quotations from the classics4 ,,ellen ,,frothingham4 ,,boston1 ,june1 #ahgc4 ,,preface4 ,the first who compared painting with poetry was a man of fine feeling1 who was conscious of a similar effect produced on himself by both arts4 ,both1 he perceived1 represent absent things as present1 give us the appearance as the reality4 ,both produce illusion1 and the illusion of both is pleasing4 ,a second sought to analyze the nature of this pleasure1 and found its source to be in both cases the same4 ,beauty1 our first idea of which is derived from corporeal objects1 has universal laws which admit of wide application4 ,they may be extended to actions and thoughts as well as to forms4 ,a third1 pondering upon the value and distribution of these laws1 found that some obtained more in painting1 others in poetry3 that in regard to the latter1 therefore1 poetry can come to the aid of painting2 in regard to the former1 painting to the aid of poetry1 by illustration and example4 ,the first was the amateur2 the second1 the philosopher2 the third1 the critic4 ,the first two could not well make a false use of their feeling or their conclusions1 whereas with the critic all depends on the right application of his principles in particular cases4 ,and1 since there are fifty ingenious critics to one of penetration1 it would be a wonder if the application were1 in every case1 made with the caution indispensable to an exact adjustment of the scales between the two arts4 ,if ,apelles and ,protogenes1 in their lost works on painting1 fixed and illustrated its rules from the already established laws of poetry1 we may be sure they did so with the same moderation and exactness with which ,aristotle1 ,cicero1 ,horace1 and ,quintilian1 in their still existing writings1 apply the principles and experiences of painting to eloquence and poetry4 ,it is the prerogative of the ancients in nothing either to exceed or fall short4 ,but we moderns have in many cases thought to surpass the ancients by transforming their pleasure-paths into highways1 though at the risk of reducing the shorter and safer highways to such paths as lead through deserts4 ,the dazzling antithesis of the ,greek ,voltaire1 that painting is dumb poetry1 and poetry speaking painting1 stood in no text-book4 ,it was one of those conceits1 occurring frequently in ,simonides1 the inexactness and falsity of which we feel constrained to overlook for the sake of the evident truth they contain4 ,the ancients1 however1 did not overlook them4 ,they confined the saying of ,simonides to the effect produced by the two arts1 not failing to lay stress upon the fact that1 notwithstanding the perfect similarity of their effects1 the arts themselves differ both in the objects and in the methods of their imitation1 4 ,but1 as if no such difference existed1 many modern critics have drawn the crudest conclusions possible from this agreement between painting and poetry4 ,at one time they confine poetry within the narrower limits of painting1 and at another allow painting to fill the whole wide sphere of poetry4 ,whatever is right in one must be permitted to the other2 whatever pleases or displeases in one is necessarily pleasing or displeasing in the other4 ,full of this idea they1 with great assurance1 give utterance to the shallowest judgments1 whenever they find that poet and painter have treated the same subject in a different way4 ,such variations they take to be faults1 and charge them on painter or poet1 according as their taste more inclines to the one art or the other4 ,this fault-finding criticism has partially misled the virtuosos themselves4 ,in poetry1 a fondness for description1 and in painting1 a fancy for allegory1 has arisen from the desire to make the one a speaking picture without really knowing what it can and ought to paint1 and the other a dumb poem1 without having considered in how far painting can express universal ideas without abandoning its proper sphere and degenerating into an arbitrary method of writing4 ,to combat that false taste and those ill-grounded criticisms is the chief object of the following chapters4 ,their origin was accidental1 and in their growth they have rather followed the course of my reading than been systematically developed from general principles4 ,they are1 therefore1 not so much a book as irregular collectanea for one4 ,yet ,i flatter myself that1 even in this form1 they will not be wholly without value4 ,we ,germans suffer from no lack of systematic books4 ,no nation in the world surpasses us in the faculty of deducing from a couple of definitions whatever conclusions we please1 in most fair and logical order4 ,baumgarten acknowledged that he was indebted to ,gesner's dictionary for a large proportion of the examples in his 8sthetics40 ,if my reasoning be less close than that of ,baumgarten1 my examples will1 at least1 savor more of the fountain4 ,since ,i made the ,laocoon my point of departure1 and return to it more than once in the course of my essay1 ,i wished him to have a share in the title-page4 ,other slight digressions on various points in the history of ancient art1 contribute less to the general design of my work1 and have been retained only because ,i never can hope to find a better place for them4 ,further1 ,i would state that1 under the name of painting1 ,i include the plastic arts generally2 as1 under that of poetry1 ,i may have allowed myself sometimes to embrace those other arts1 whose imitation is progressive4 ,,laocoon4 ,i4 ,the chief and universal characteristic of the ,greek masterpieces in painting and sculpture consists1 according to ,winkelmann1 in a noble simplicity and quiet grandeur1 both of attitude and expression4 8,as the depths of the sea10 he says1#a 8remain always at rest1 however the surface may be agitated1 so the expression in the figures of the ,greeks reveals in the midst of passion a great and steadfast soul40 8,such a soul is depicted in the countenance of the ,laocoon1 under sufferings the most intense4 ,nor is it depicted in the countenance only3 the agony betrayed in every nerve and muscle1--we almost fancy we could detect it in the painful contraction of the abdomen alone1 without looking at the face and other parts of the body1--this agony1 ,i say1 is yet expressed with no violence in the face and attitude4 ,he raises no terrible cry1 as ,virgil sings of his ,laocoon4 ,this would not be possible1 from the opening of the mouth1 which denotes rather an anxious and oppressed sigh1 as described by ,sadolet4 ,bodily anguish and moral greatness are diffused in equal measure through the whole structure of the figure2 being1 as it were1 balanced against each other4 ,laocoon suffers1 but he suffers like the ,philoctetes of ,sophocles4 ,his sufferings pierce us to the soul1 but we are tempted to envy the great man his power of endurance40 8,to express so noble a soul far outruns the constructive art of natural beauty4 ,the artist must have felt within himself the mental greatness which he has impressed upon his marble4 ,greece united in one person artist and philosopher1 and had more than one ,metrodorus4 ,wisdom joined hands with art and inspired its figures with more than ordinary souls40 ,the remark which lies at the root of this criticism--that suffering is not expressed in the countenance of ,laocoon with the intensity which its violence would lead us to expect--is perfectly just4 ,that this very point1 where a shallow observer would judge the artist to have fallen short of nature and not to have attained the true pathos of suffering1 furnishes the clearest proof of his wisdom1 is also unquestionable4 ,but in the reason which ,winkelmann assigns for this wisdom1 and the universality of the rule which he deduces from it1 ,i venture to differ from him4 ,his depreciatory allusion to ,virgil was1 ,i confess1 the first thing that aroused my doubts1 and the second was his comparison of ,laocoon with ,philoctetes4 ,using these as my starting-points1 ,i shall proceed to write down my thoughts in the order in which they have occurred to me4 8,laocoon suffers like the ,philoctetes of ,sophocles40 ,how does ,philoctetes suffer8 ,strange that his sufferings have left such different impressions upon our minds4 ,the complaints1 the screams1 the wild imprecations with which his pain filled the camp1 interrupting the sacrifices and all offices of religion1 resounded not less terribly through the desert island to which they had been the cause of his banishment4 ,nor did the poet hesitate to make the theatre ring with the imitation of these tones of rage1 pain1 and despair4 ,the third act of this play has been regarded as much shorter than the others4 ,a proof1 say the critics1#b that the ancients attached little importance to the equal length of the acts4 ,i agree with their conclusion1 but should choose some other example in support of it4 ,the cries of pain1 the moans1 the broken exclamations1 1 6 6 6 1 6 the 1 6 filling whole lines1 of which this act is made up1 would naturally require to be prolonged in the delivery and interrupted by more frequent pauses than a connected discourse4 ,in the representation1 therefore1 this third act must have occupied about as much time as the others4 ,it seems shorter on paper to the reader than it did to the spectator in the theatre4 ,a cry is the natural expression of bodily pain4 ,homer's wounded heroes not infrequently fall with a cry to the ground4 ,venus screams aloud#c at a scratch1 not as being the tender goddess of love1 but because suffering nature will have its rights4 ,even the iron ,mars1 on feeling the lance of ,diomedes1 bellows as frightfully as if ten thousand raging warriors were roaring at once1 and fills both armies with terror4#d ,high as ,homer exalts his heroes in other respects above human nature1 they yet remain true to it in their sensitiveness to pain and injuries and in the expression of their feelings by cries or tears or revilings4 ,judged by their deeds they are creatures of a higher order2 in their feelings they are genuine human beings4 ,we finer ,europeans of a wiser posterity have1 ,i know1 more control over our lips and eyes4 ,courtesy and decency forbid cries and tears4 ,we have exchanged the active bravery of the first rude ages for a passive courage4 ,yet even our ancestors were greater in the latter than the former4 ,but our ancestors were barbarians4 ,to stifle all signs of pain1 to meet the stroke of death with unaverted eye1 to die laughing under the adder's sting1 to weep neither over our own sins nor at the loss of the dearest of friends1 are traits of the old northern heroism4#e ,the law given by ,palnatoko to the ,jomsburghers was to fear nothing1 nor even to name the word fear4 ,not so the ,greek4 ,he felt and feared4 ,he expressed his pain and his grief4 ,he was ashamed of no human weakness1 yet allowed none to hold him back from the pursuit of honor or the performance of a duty4 ,principle wrought in him what savageness and hardness developed in the barbarian4 ,greek heroism was like the spark hidden in the pebble1 which sleeps till roused by some outward force1 and takes from the stone neither clearness nor coldness4 ,the heroism of the barbarian was a bright1 devouring flame1 ever raging1 and blackening1 if not consuming1 every other good quality4 ,when ,homer makes the ,trojans advance to battle with wild cries1 while the ,greeks march in resolute silence1 the commentators very justly observe that the poet means by this distinction to characterize the one as an army of barbarians1 the other of civilized men4 ,i am surprised they have not perceived a similar characteristic difference in another passage4#f ,the opposing armies have agreed upon an armistice1 and are occupied1 not without hot tears on both sides 7 71 with the burning of their dead4 ,but ,priam forbids his ,trojans to weep 7' 71 8and for this reason10 says ,madame ,dacier2 8he feared they might become too tender-hearted1 and return with less spirit to the morrow's fight40 ,good2 but ,i would ask why ,priam alone should apprehend this4 ,why does not ,agamemnon issue the same command to his ,greeks8 ,the poet has a deeper meaning4 ,he would show us that only the civilized ,greek can weep and yet be brave1 while the uncivilized ,trojan1 to be brave1 must stifle all humanity4 ,i am in no wise ashamed to weep 7 71 he elsewhere#g makes the prudent son of wise ,nestor say4 ,it is worthy of notice that1 among the few tragedies which have come down to us from antiquity1 there should be two in which bodily pain constitutes not the least part of the hero's misfortunes4 ,besides ,philoctetes we have the dying ,hercules1 whom also ,sophocles represents as wailing1 moaning1 weeping1 and screaming4 ,thanks to our well-mannered neighbors1 those masters of propriety1 a whimpering ,philoctetes or a screaming ,hercules would now be ridiculous and not tolerated upon the stage4 ,one of their latest poets1#h indeed1 has ventured upon a ,philoctetes1 but he seems not to have dared to show him in his true character4 ,among the lost works of ,sophocles was a ,laocoon4 ,if fate had but spared it to us6 ,from the slight references to the piece in some of the old grammarians1 we cannot determine how the poet treated his subject4 ,of one thing ,i am convinced1--that he would not have made his ,laocoon more of a ,stoic than ,philoctetes and ,hercules4 ,every thing stoical is untheatrical4 ,our sympathy is always proportionate with the suffering expressed by the object of our interest4 ,if we behold him bearing his misery with magnanimity1 our admiration is excited2 but admiration is a cold sentiment1 wherein barren wonder excludes not only every warmer emotion1 but all vivid personal conception of the suffering4 ,i come now to my conclusion4 ,if it be true that a cry1 as an expression of bodily pain1 is not inconsistent with nobility of soul1 especially according to the views of the ancient ,greeks1 then the desire to represent such a soul cannot be the reason why the artist has refused to imitate this cry in his marble4 ,he must have had some other reason for deviating in this respect from his rival1 the poet1 who expresses it with deliberate intention4 ,,ii4 ,be it truth or fable that ,love made the first attempt in the imitative arts1 thus much is certain3 that she never tired of guiding the hand of the great masters of antiquity4 ,for although painting1 as the art which reproduces objects upon flat surfaces1 is now practised in the broadest sense of that definition1 yet the wise ,greek set much narrower bounds to it4 ,he confined it strictly to the imitation of beauty4 ,the ,greek artist represented nothing that was not beautiful4 ,even the vulgarly beautiful1 the beauty of inferior types1 he copied only incidentally for practice or recreation4 ,the perfection of the subject must charm in his work4 ,he was too great to require the beholders to be satisfied with the mere barren pleasure arising from a successful likeness or from consideration of the artist's skill4 ,nothing in his art was dearer to him or seemed to him more noble than the ends of art4 8,who would want to paint you when no one wants to look at you80 says an old epigrammatist#i to a misshapen man4 ,many a modern artist would say1 8,no matter how misshapen you are1 ,i will paint you4 ,though people may not like to look at you1 they will be glad to look at my picture2 not as a portrait of you1 but as a proof of my skill in making so close a copy of such a monster40 ,the fondness for making a display with mere manual dexterity1 ennobled by no worth in the subject1 is too natural not to have produced among the ,greeks a ,pauson and a ,pyreicus4 ,they had such painters1 but meted out to them strict justice4 ,pauson1 who confined himself to the beauties of ordinary nature1 and whose depraved taste liked best to represent the imperfections and deformities of humanity1#aj lived in the most abandoned poverty2#aa and ,pyreicus1 who painted barbers' rooms1 dirty workshops1 donkeys1 and kitchen herbs1 with all the diligence of a ,dutch painter1 as if such things were rare or attractive in nature1 acquired the surname of ,rhyparographer1#ab the dirt-painter4 ,the rich voluptuaries1 indeed1 paid for his works their weight in gold1 as if by this fictitious valuation to atone for their insignificance4 ,even the magistrates considered this subject a matter worthy their attention1 and confined the artist by force within his proper sphere4 ,the law of the ,thebans commanding him to make his copies more beautiful than the originals1 and never under pain of punishment less so1 is well known4 ,this was no law against bunglers1 as has been supposed by critics generally1 and even by ,junius himself1#ac but was aimed against the ,greek ,ghezzi1 and condemned the unworthy artifice of obtaining a likeness by exaggerating the deformities of the model4 ,it was1 in fact1 a law against caricature4 ,from this same conception of the beautiful came the law of the ,olympic judges4 ,every conqueror in the ,olympic games received a statue1 but a portrait-statue was erected only to him who had been thrice victor4#ad ,too many indifferent portraits were not allowed among works of art4 ,for although a portrait admits of being idealized1 yet the likeness should predominate4 ,it is the ideal of a particular person1 not the ideal of humanity4 ,we laugh when we read that the very arts among the ancients were subject to the control of civil law2 but we have no right to laugh4 ,laws should unquestionably usurp no sway over science1 for the object of science is truth4 ,truth is a necessity of the soul1 and to put any restraint upon the gratification of this essential want is tyranny4 ,the object of art1 on the contrary1 is pleasure1 and pleasure is not indispensable4 ,what kind and what degree of pleasure shall be permitted may justly depend on the law-giver4 ,the plastic arts especially1 besides the inevitable influence which they exercise on the character of a nation1 have power to work one effect which demands the careful attention of the law4 ,beautiful statues fashioned from beautiful men reacted upon their creators1 and the state was indebted for its beautiful men to beautiful statues4 ,with us the susceptible imagination of the mother seems to express itself only in monsters4 ,from this point of view ,i think ,i detect a truth in certain old stories which have been rejected as fables4 ,the mothers of ,aristomenes1 of ,aristodamas1 of ,alexander the ,great1 ,scipio1 ,augustus1 and ,galerius1 each dreamed during pregnancy that she was visited by a serpent4 ,the serpent was an emblem of divinity4#ae ,without it ,bacchus1 ,apollo1 ,mercury1 and ,hercules were seldom represented in their beautiful pictures and statues4 ,these honorable women had been feasting their eyes upon the god during the day1 and the bewildering dream suggested to them the image of the snake4 ,thus ,i vindicate the dream1 and show up the explanation given by the pride of their sons and by unblushing flattery4 ,for there must have been some reason for the adulterous fancy always taking the form of a serpent4 ,but ,i am wandering from my purpose1 which was simply to prove that among the ancients beauty was the supreme law of the imitative arts4 ,this being established1 it follows necessarily that whatever else these arts may aim at must give way completely if incompatible with beauty1 and1 if compatible1 must at least be secondary to it4 ,i will confine myself wholly to expression4 ,there are passions and degrees of passion whose expression produces the most hideous contortions of the face1 and throws the whole body into such unnatural positions as to destroy all the beautiful lines that mark it when in a state of greater repose4 ,these passions the old artists either refrained altogether from representing1 or softened into emotions which were capable of being expressed with some degree of beauty4 ,rage and despair disfigured none of their works4 ,i venture to maintain that they never represented a fury4#af ,wrath they tempered into severity4 ,in poetry we have the wrathful ,jupiter1 who hurls the thunderbolt2 in art he is simply the austere4 ,anguish was softened into sadness4 ,where that was impossible1 and where the representation of intense grief would belittle as well as disfigure1 how did ,timanthes manage8 ,there is a well-known picture by him of the sacrifice of ,iphigenia1 wherein he gives to the countenance of every spectator a fitting degree of sadness1 but veils the face of the father1 on which should have been depicted the most intense suffering4 ,this has been the subject of many petty criticisms4 8,the artist10 says one1#ag 8had so exhausted himself in representations of sadness that he despaired of depicting the father's face worthily40 8,he hereby confessed10 says another1#ah 8that the bitterness of extreme grief cannot be expressed by art40 ,i1 for my part1 see in this no proof of incapacity in the artist or his art4 ,in proportion to the intensity of feeling1 the expression of the features is intensified1 and nothing is easier than to express extremes4 ,but ,timanthes knew the limits which the graces have imposed upon his art4 ,he knew that the grief befitting ,agamemnon1 as father1 produces contortions which are essentially ugly4 ,he carried expression as far as was consistent with beauty and dignity4 ,ugliness he would gladly have passed over1 or have softened1 but since his subject admitted of neither1 there was nothing left him but to veil it4 ,what he might not paint he left to be imagined4 ,that concealment was in short a sacrifice to beauty2 an example to show1 not how expression can be carried beyond the limits of art1 but how it should be subjected to the first law of art1 the law of beauty4 ,apply this to the ,laocoon and we have the cause we were seeking4 ,the master was striving to attain the greatest beauty under the given conditions of bodily pain4 ,pain1 in its disfiguring extreme1 was not compatible with beauty1 and must therefore be softened4 ,screams must be reduced to sighs1 not because screams would betray weakness1 but because they would deform the countenance to a repulsive degree4 ,imagine ,laocoon's mouth open1 and judge4 ,let him scream1 and see4 ,it was1 before1 a figure to inspire compassion in its beauty and suffering4 ,now it is ugly1 abhorrent1 and we gladly avert our eyes from a painful spectacle1 destitute of the beauty which alone could turn our pain into the sweet feeling of pity for the suffering object4 ,the simple opening of the mouth1 apart from the violent and repulsive contortions it causes in the other parts of the face1 is a blot on a painting and a cavity in a statue productive of the worst possible effect4 ,montfaucon showed little taste when he pronounced the bearded face of an old man with wide open mouth1 to be a ,jupiter delivering an oracle4#ai ,cannot a god foretell the future without screaming8 ,would a more becoming posture of the lips cast suspicion upon his prophecies8 ,valerius cannot make me believe that ,ajax was painted screaming in the above-mentioned picture of ,timanthes4#bj ,far inferior masters1 after the decline of art1 do not in a single instance make the wildest barbarian open his mouth to scream1 even though in mortal terror of his enemy's sword4#ba ,this softening of the extremity of bodily suffering into a lesser degree of pain is apparent in the works of many of the old artists4 ,hercules1 writhing in his poisoned robe1 from the hand of an unknown master1 was not the ,hercules of ,sophocles1 who made the ,locrian rocks and the ,euban promontory ring with his horrid cries4 ,he was gloomy rather than wild4#bb ,the ,philoctetes of ,pythagoras ,leontinus seemed to communicate his pain to the beholder1 an effect which would have been destroyed by the slightest disfigurement of the features4 ,it may be asked how ,i know that this master made a statue of ,philoctetes4 ,from a passage in ,pliny1 which ought not to have waited for my emendation1 so evident is the alteration or mutilation it has under gone4#bc ,,iii4 ,but1 as already observed1 the realm of art has in modern times been greatly enlarged4 ,its imitations are allowed to extend over all visible nature1 of which beauty constitutes but a small part4 ,truth and expression are taken as its first law4 ,as nature always sacrifices beauty to higher ends1 so should the artist subordinate it to his general purpose1 and not pursue it further than truth and expression allow4 ,enough that truth and expression convert what is unsightly in nature into a beauty of art4 ,allowing this idea to pass unchallenged at present for whatever it is worth1 are there not other independent considerations which should set bounds to expression1 and prevent the artist from choosing for his imitation the culminating point of any action8 ,the single moment of time to which art must confine itself1 will lead us1 ,i think1 to such considerations4 ,since the artist can use but a single moment of ever-changing nature1 and the painter must further confine his study of this one moment to a single point of view1 while their works are made not simply to be looked at1 but to be contemplated long and often1 evidently the most fruitful moment and the most fruitful aspect of that moment must be chosen4 ,now that only is fruitful which allows free play to the imagination4 ,the more we see the more we must be able to imagine2 and the more we imagine1 the more we must think we see4 ,but no moment in the whole course of an action is so disadvantageous in this respect as that of its culmination4 ,there is nothing beyond1 and to present the uttermost to the eye is to bind the wings of ,fancy1 and compel her1 since she cannot soar beyond the impression made on the senses1 to employ herself with feebler images1 shunning as her limit the visible fulness already expressed4 ,when1 for instance1 ,laocoon sighs1 imagination can hear him cry2 but if he cry1 imagination can neither mount a step higher1 nor fall a step lower1 without seeing him in a more endurable1 and therefore less interesting1 condition4 ,we hear him merely groaning1 or we see him already dead4 ,again1 since this single moment receives from art an unchanging duration1 it should express nothing essentially transitory4 ,all phenomena1 whose nature it is suddenly to break out and as suddenly to disappear1 which can remain as they are but for a moment2 all such phenomena1 whether agreeable or otherwise1 acquire through the perpetuity conferred upon them by art such an unnatural appearance1 that the impression they produce becomes weaker with every fresh observation1 till the whole subject at last wearies or disgusts us4 ,la ,mettrie1 who had himself painted and engraved as a second ,democritus1 laughs only the first time we look at him4 ,looked at again1 the philosopher becomes a buffoon1 and his laugh a grimace4 ,so it is with a cry4 ,pain1 which is so violent as to extort a scream1 either soon abates or it must destroy the sufferer4 ,again1 if a man of firmness and endurance cry1 he does not do so unceasingly1 and only this apparent continuity in art makes the cry degenerate into womanish weakness or childish impatience4 ,this1 at least1 the sculptor of the ,laocoon had to guard against1 even had a cry not been an offence against beauty1 and were suffering without beauty a legitimate subject of art4 ,among the old painters ,timomachus seems to have been the one most fond of choosing extremes for his subject4 ,his raving ,ajax and infanticide ,medea were famous4 ,but from the descriptions we have of them it is clear that he had rare skill in selecting that point which leads the observer to imagine the crisis without actually showing it1 and in uniting with this an appearance not so essentially transitory as to become offensive through the continuity conferred by art4 ,he did not paint ,medea at the moment of her actually murdering her children1 but just before1 when motherly love is still struggling with jealousy4 ,we anticipate the result and tremble at the idea of soon seeing ,medea in her unmitigated ferocity1 our imagination far outstripping any thing the painter could have shown us of that terrible moment4 ,for that reason her prolonged indecision1 so far from displeasing us1 makes us wish it had been continued in reality4 ,we wish this conflict of passions had never been decided or had lasted at least till time and reflection had weakened her fury and secured the victory to the maternal sentiments4 ,this wisdom on the part of ,timomachus won for him great and frequent praise1 and raised him far above another artist unknown1 who was foolish enough to paint ,medea at the height of her madness1 thus giving to this transient access of passion a duration that outrages nature4 ,the poet#bd censures him for this1 and says very justly1 apostrophizing the picture1 8,art thou then for ever thirsting for the blood of thy children8 ,is there always a new ,jason and a new ,creusa to inflame thy rage8 ,to the devil with the very picture of thee60 he adds angrily4 ,of ,timomachus' treatment of the raving ,ajax1 we can judge by what ,philostratus tells us4#be ,ajax was not represented at the moment when1 raging among the herds1 he captures and slays goats and oxen1 mistaking them for men4 ,the master showed him sitting weary after these crazy deeds of heroism1 and meditating self-destruction4 ,that was really the raving ,ajax1 not because he is raving at the moment1 but because we see that he has been raving1 and with what violence his present reaction of shame and despair vividly portrays4 ,we see the force of the tempest in the wrecks and corpses with which it has strewn the beach4 ,,iv4 ,a review of the reasons here alleged for the moderation observed by the sculptor of the ,laocoon in the expression of bodily pain1 shows them to lie wholly in the peculiar object of his art and its necessary limitations4 ,scarce one of them would be applicable to poetry4 ,without inquiring here how far the poet can succeed in describing physical beauty1 so much at least is clear1 that since the whole infinite realm of perfection lies open for his imitation1 this visible covering under which perfection becomes beauty will be one of his least significant means of interesting us in his characters4 ,indeed1 he often neglects it altogether1 feeling sure that if his hero have gained our favor1 his nobler qualities will either so engross us that we shall not think of his body1 or have so won us that1 if we think of it1 we shall naturally attribute to him a beautiful1 or1 at least1 no unsightly one4 ,least of all will he have reference to the eye in every detail not especially addressed to the sense of sight4 ,when ,virgil's ,laocoon screams1 who stops to think that a scream necessitates an open mouth1 and that an open mouth is ugly8 ,enough that 8clamores horrendos ad sidera tollit0 is fine to the ear1 no matter what its effect on the eye4 ,whoever requires a beautiful picture has missed the whole intention of the poet4 ,further1 nothing obliges the poet to concentrate his picture into a single moment4 ,he can take up every action1 if he will1 from its origin1 and carry it through all possible changes to its issue4 ,every change1 which would require from the painter a separate picture1 costs him but a single touch2 a touch1 perhaps1 which1 taken by itself1 might offend the imagination1 but which1 anticipated1 as it has been1 by what preceded1 and softened and atoned for by what follows1 loses its individual effect in the admirable result of the whole4 ,thus were it really unbecoming in a man to cry out in the extremity of bodily pain1 how can this momentary weakness lower in our estimation a character whose virtues have previously won our regard8 ,virgil's ,laocoon cries2 but this screaming ,laocoon is the same we know and love as the most far-seeing of patriots and the tenderest of fathers4 ,we do not attribute the cry to his character1 but solely to his intolerable sufferings4 ,we hear in it only those1 nor could they have been made sensible to us in any other way4 ,who blames the poet1 then8 ,rather must we acknowledge that he was right in introducing the cry1 as the sculptor was in omitting it4 ,but ,virgil's is a narrative poem4 ,would the dramatic poet be included in this justification8 ,a very different impression is made by the mention of a cry and the cry itself4 ,the drama1 being meant for a living picture to the spectator1 should therefore perhaps conform more strictly to the laws of material painting4 ,in the drama we not only fancy we see and hear a crying ,philoctetes1 we actually do see and hear him4 ,the more nearly the actor approaches nature1 the more sensibly must our eyes and ears be offended1 as in nature they undoubtedly are when we hear such loud and violent expressions of pain4 ,besides1 physical suffering in general possesses in a less degree than other evils the power of arousing sympathy4 ,the imagination cannot take hold of it sufficiently for the mere sight to arouse in us any corresponding emotion4 ,sophocles1 therefore1 might easily have overstepped the bounds not only of conventional propriety1 but of a propriety grounded in the very nature of our sensibilities1 in letting ,philoctetes and ,hercules moan and weep1 scream and roar4 ,the by-standers cannot possibly feel such concern for their suffering as these excessive outbreaks seem to demand4 ,to us spectators the lookers-on will seem comparatively cold2 and yet we cannot but regard their sympathy as the measure of our own4 ,add to this that the actor can rarely or never carry the representation of bodily pain to the point of illusion1 and perhaps the modern dramatic poets are rather to be praised than blamed for either avoiding this danger altogether or skirting it at a safe distance4 ,much would in theory appear unanswerable if the achievements of genius had not proved the contrary4 ,these observations are not without good foundation1 yet in spite of them ,philoctetes remains one of the masterpieces of the stage4 ,for a portion of our strictures do not apply to ,sophocles1 and by a disregard of others he has attained to beauties which the timid critic1 but for this example1 would never have dreamed of4 ,the following remarks will make this apparent3-- #a4 ,the poet has contrived wonderfully to intensify and ennoble the idea of physical pain4 ,he chose a wound1--for we may consider the details of the story dependent upon his choice1 in so far as he chose the subject for their sake1--he chose1 ,i say1 a wound and not an inward distemper1 because the most painful sickness fails to impress us as vividly as an outward hurt4 ,the inward sympathetic fire which consumed ,meleager when his mother sacrificed him in the brand to her sisterly fury1 would therefore be less dramatic than a wound4 ,this wound1 moreover1 was a divine punishment4 ,in it a fiercer than any natural poison raged unceasingly1 and at appointed intervals an access of intenser pain occurred1 always followed by a heavy sleep1 wherein exhausted nature acquired the needed strength for entering again upon the same course of pain4 ,chateaubrun represents him as wounded simply by the poisoned arrow of a ,trojan4 ,but so common an accident gives small scope for extraordinary results4 ,every one was exposed to it in the old wars2 why were the consequences so terrible only in the case of ,philoctetes8 ,a natural poison that should work for nine years without destroying life is far more improbable than all the fabulous miraculous elements with which the ,greek decked out his tale4 #b4 ,but great and terrible as he made the physical sufferings of his hero1 he was well aware that these alone would not suffice to excite any sensible degree of sympathy4 ,he joined with them1 therefore1 other evils1 also insufficient of themselves to move us greatly1 but receiving from this connection a darker hue of tragedy1 which in turn reacted upon the bodily pain4 ,these evils were complete loss of human companionship1 hunger1 and all the discomforts attendant on exposure to an inclement sky when thus bereft4#bf ,imagine a man under these circumstances1 but in possession of health1 strength1 and industry1 and we have a ,robinson ,crusoe1 who has little claim to our compassion1 though we are by no means indifferent to his fate4 ,for we are seldom so thoroughly content with human society as not to find a certain charm in thinking of the repose to be enjoyed without its pale2 more particularly as every one flatters himself with the idea of being able gradually to dispense altogether with the help of others4 ,again1 imagine a man suffering from the most painful of incurable maladies1 but surrounded by kind friends who let him want for nothing1 who relieve his pain by all the means in their power1 and are always ready to listen to his groans and complaints2 we should pity him undoubtedly1 but our compassion would soon be exhausted4 ,we should presently shrug our shoulders and counsel patience4 ,only when all these ills unite in one person1 when to solitude is added physical infirmity1 when the sick man not only cannot help himself1 but has no one to help him1 and his groans die away on the desert air1--then we see a wretch afflicted by all the ills to which human nature is exposed1 and the very thought of putting ourselves in his place for a moment fills us with horror4 ,we see before us despair in its most dreadful shape1 and no compassion is stronger or more melting than that connected with the idea of despair4 ,such we feel for ,philoctetes1 especially at the moment when1 robbed of his bow1 he loses the only means left him of supporting his miserable existence4 ,alas for the ,frenchman who had not the sense to perceive this nor the heart to feel it6 or1 if he had1 was petty enough to sacrifice it all to the pitiful taste of his nation6 ,chateaubrun gives ,philoctetes companionship by introducing a princess into his desert island4 ,neither is she alone1 but has with her a lady of honor3 a thing apparently as much needed by the poet as by the princess4 ,all the admirable play with the bow he has left out and introduced in its stead the play of bright eyes4 ,the heroic youth of ,france would in truth have made themselves very merry over a bow and arrows1 whereas nothing is more serious to them than the displeasure of bright eyes4 ,the ,greek harrows us with fear lest the wretched ,philoctetes should be forced to remain on the island without his bow1 and there miserably perish4 ,the ,frenchman found a surer way to our hearts by making us fear that the son of ,achilles would have to depart without his princess4 ,and this is called by the ,parisian critics triumphing over the ancients4 ,one of them even proposed to name ,chateaubrun's piece 8,la difficult vaincue40#bg #c4 ,turning now from the effect of the whole1 let us examine the separate scenes wherein ,philoctetes is no longer the forsaken sufferer1 but has hope of leaving the dreary island and returning to his kingdom4 ,his ills are therefore now confined entirely to his painful wound4 ,he moans1 he cries1 he goes through the most hideous contortions4 ,against this scene objections on the score of offended propriety may with most reason be brought4 ,they come from an ,englishman1 a man1 therefore1 not readily to be suspected of false delicacy4 ,as already hinted1 he supports his objections by very good arguments4 8,all feelings and passions10 he says1 8with which others can have little sympathy1 become offensive if too violently expressed40#bh 8,it is for the same reason that to cry out with bodily pain1 how intolerable soever1 appears always unmanly and unbecoming4 ,there is1 however1 a good deal of sympathy even with bodily pain4 ,if ,i see a stroke aimed and just ready to fall upon the leg or arm of another person1 ,i naturally shriek and draw back my own leg or my own arm2 and when it does fall1 ,i feel it in some measure and am hurt by it as well as the sufferer4 ,my hurt1 however1 is no doubt excessively slight1 and1 upon that account1 if he makes any violent outcry1 as ,i cannot go along with him1 ,i never fail to despise him40 ,nothing is more deceptive than the laying down of general laws for our emotions4 ,their web is so fine and intricate that the most cautious speculation is hardly able to take up a single thread and trace it through all its interlacings4 ,and if it could1 what should we gain8 ,there is in nature no single1 unmixed emotion4 ,with every one spring up a thousand others1 the most insignificant of which essentially modifies the original one1 so that exception after exception arises until our supposed universal law shrinks into a mere personal experience in a few individual cases4 ,we despise a man1 says the ,englishman1 whom we hear crying out under bodily pain4 ,but not always2 not the first time2 not when we see that the sufferer does all in his power to suppress expressions of pain2 not when we know him to be otherwise a man of resolution3 still less when we see him giving proof of firmness in the midst of his suffering2 when we see that pain1 though it extort a cry1 can extort nothing further2 that he submits to a continuance of the anguish rather than yield a jot of his opinions or resolves1 although such a concession would end his woes4 ,all this we find in ,philoctetes4 ,to the old ,greek mind moral greatness consisted in unchanging love of friends as well as unfaltering hatred of enemies4 ,this greatness ,philoctetes preserves through all his tortures4 ,his own griefs have not so exhausted his tears that he has none to shed over the fate of his old friends4 ,his sufferings have not so enervated him that1 to be free from them1 he would forgive his enemies and lend himself to their selfish ends4 ,and did this man of rock deserve to be despised by the ,athenians1 because the waves1 that could not shake him1 wrung from him a moan8 ,i confess to having little taste for the philosophy of ,cicero in general1 but particularly distasteful to me are his views with regard to the endurance of bodily pain set forth in the second book of his ,tusculan ,disputations4 ,one would suppose1 from his abhorrence of all expressions of bodily pain1 that he was training a gladiator4 ,he seems to see in such expressions only impatience1 not considering that they are often wholly involuntary1 and that true courage can be shown in none but voluntary actions4 ,in the play of ,sophocles he hears only the cries and complaints of ,philoctetes and overlooks altogether his otherwise resolute bearing4 ,else what excuse for his rhetorical outbreak against the poets8 8,they would make us effeminate by introducing the bravest of their warriors as complaining40 ,they should complain1 for the theatre is no arena4 ,the condemned or hired gladiator was bound to do and bear with grace4 ,no sound of lamentation must be heard1 no painful contortion seen4 ,his wounds and death were to amuse the spectators1 and art must therefore teach the suppression of all feeling4 ,the least manifestation of it might have aroused compassion1 and compassion often excited would soon have put an end to the cruel shows4 ,but what is to be avoided in the arena is the very object of the tragic stage1 and here1 therefore1 demeanor of exactly the opposite kind is required4 ,the heroes on the stage must show feeling1 must express their sufferings1 and give free course to nature4 ,any appearance of art and constraint represses sympathy4 ,boxers in buskin can at most excite our admiration4 ,this term may fitly be applied to the so-called ,senecan tragedies4 ,i am convinced that the gladiatorial shows were the chief reason why the ,romans never attained even to mediocrity in their tragedies4 ,in the bloody amphitheatre the spectators lost all acquaintance with nature4 ,a ,ctesias might have studied his art there1 never a ,sophocles4 ,the greatest tragic genius1 accustomed to these artificial death scenes1 could not help degenerating into bombast and rodomontade4 ,but as these were incapable of inspiring true heroism1 so were the complaints of ,philoctetes incapable of producing effeminacy4 ,the complaints are human1 while the deeds are heroic4 ,both together make the human hero1 who is neither effeminate nor callous1 but appears first the one and then the other1 as now ,nature sways him1 and now principle and duty triumph4 ,this is the highest type that wisdom can create and art imitate4 #d4 ,sophocles1 not content with securing his suffering ,philoctetes against contempt1 has even shielded him beforehand from such hostile criticism as that employed by the ,englishman4 ,though we may not always despise a man who cries out under bodily pain1 we certainly do not feel that degree of sympathy with him which his cry seems to demand4 ,how then should those comport themselves who are about this screaming ,philoctetes8 ,should they appear to be greatly moved8 ,that were contrary to nature4 ,should they seem as cold and embarrassed as the by-stander on such occasions is apt actually to be8 ,such a want of harmony would offend the spectator4 ,sophocles1 as ,i have said1 anticipated this and guarded against it in the following way1--he gave to each of the by-standers a subject of personal interest4 ,they are not solely occupied with ,philoctetes and his cries4 ,the attention of the spectator1 therefore1 is directed to the change wrought in each person's own views and designs by the sympathy excited in him1 whether strong or weak1 not to the disproportion between the sympathy itself and its exciting cause4 ,neoptolemus and the chorus have deceived the unhappy ,philoctetes1 and while perceiving the despair they are bringing upon him they behold him overpowered by one of his accesses of pain4 ,even should this arouse no great degree of sympathy in them1 it must at least lead them to self-examination and prevent their increasing by treachery a misery which they cannot but respect4 ,this the spectator looks for2 nor is his expectation disappointed by the magnanimous ,neoptolemus4 ,had ,philoctetes been master of his suffering1 ,neoptolemus would have persevered in his deceit4 ,philoctetes1 deprived by pain of all power of dissimulation1 necessary as that seems to prevent his future travelling companion from repenting too soon of his promise to take him with him1 ,philoctetes1 by his naturalness1 recalls ,neoptolemus to nature4 ,the conversion is admirable1 and all the more affecting for being brought about by unaided human nature4 ,the ,frenchman had recourse again here to the bright eyes4 8,de mes dguisements que penserait ,sophie80 says the son of ,achilles4 ,but ,i will think no more of this parody4 ,sophocles1 in 8,the ,trachini10 makes use of this same expedient of combining in the by-standers another emotion with the compassion excited by a cry of physical pain4 ,the pain of ,hercules has no enervating effect1 but drives him to madness4 ,he thirsts for vengeance1 and1 in his frenzy1 has already seized upon ,lichas and dashed him in pieces against the rock4 ,the chorus is composed of women who are naturally overpowered with fear and horror4 ,their terror1 and the doubt whether a god will hasten to ,hercules' relief1 or whether he will fall a victim to his misfortune1 make the chief interest of the piece with but a slight tinge of compassion4 ,as soon as the issue has been decided by the oracle1 ,hercules grows calm1 and all other feelings are lost in our admiration of his final decision4 ,but we must not forget1 when comparing the suffering ,hercules with the suffering ,philoctetes1 that one is a demi-god1 the other but a man4 ,the man is never ashamed to complain2 but the demi-god feels shame that his mortal part has so far triumphed over his immortal1 that he should weep and groan like a girl4#bi ,we moderns do not believe in demi-gods1 but require our most insignificant hero to feel and act like one4 ,that an actor can imitate the cries and convulsions of pain so closely as to produce illusion1 ,i neither deny nor affirm4 ,if our actors cannot1 ,i should want to know whether ,garrick found it equally impossible2 and1 if he could not succeed1 ,i should still have the right to assume a degree of perfection in the acting and declamation of the ancients of which we of to-day can form no idea4 ,v4 ,some critics of antiquity argue that the ,laocoon1 though a work of ,greek art1 must date from the time of the emperors1 because it was copied from the ,laocoon of ,virgil4 ,of the older scholars who have held this opinion ,i will mention only ,bartolomus ,martiani1#cj and of the moderns1 ,montfaucon4#ca ,they doubtless found such remarkable agreement between the work of art and the poem that they could not believe the same circumstances1 by no means selfsuggesting ones1 should have occurred by accident to both sculptor and poet4 ,the question then arose to whom the honor of invention belonged1 and they assumed the probabilities to be decidedly in favor of the poet4 ,they appear1 however1 to have forgotten that a third alternative is possible4 ,the artist may not have copied the poet any more than the poet the artist2 but both perhaps drew their material from some older source1 which1 ,macrobius suggests1 might have been ,pisander4#cb ,for1 while the works of this ,greek writer were still in existence1 the fact was familiar to every schoolboy that the ,roman poet's whole second book1 the entire conquest and destruction of ,troy1 was not so much imitated as literally translated from the older writer4 ,if then ,pisander was ,virgil's predecessor in the history of ,laocoon also1 the ,greek artists did not need to draw their material from a ,latin poet1 and this theory of the date of the group loses its support4 ,if ,i were forced to maintain the opinion of ,martiani and ,montfaucon1 ,i should escape from the difficulty in this way4 ,pisander's poems are lost1 and we can never know with certainty how he told the story of ,laocoon4 ,probably1 however1 he narrated it with the same attendant circumstances of which we still find traces in the ,greek authors4 ,now these do not in the least agree with the version of ,virgil1 who must have recast the ,greek tradition to suit himself4 ,the fate of ,laocoon1 as he tells it1 is quite his own invention1 so that the artists1 if their representation harmonize with his1 may fairly be supposed to have lived after his time1 and have used his description as their model4 ,quintus ,calaber indeed1 like ,virgil1 makes ,laocoon express suspicion of the wooden horse2 but the wrath of ,minerva1 which he thereby incurs1 is very differently manifested4 ,as the ,trojan utters his warning1 the earth trembles beneath him1 pain and terror fall upon him2 a burning pain rages in his eyes2 his brain gives way2 he raves2 he becomes blind4 ,after his blindness1 since he still continues to advise the burning of the wooden horse1 ,minerva sends two terrible dragons1 which1 however1 attack only ,laocoon's children4 ,in vain they stretch out their hands to their father4 ,the poor blind man cannot help them4 ,they are torn and mangled1 and the serpents glide away into the ground1 doing no injury to ,laocoon himself4 ,that this was not peculiar to ,quintus1#cc but must have been generally accepted1 appears from a passage in ,lycophron1 where these serpents receive the name of 8childeaters40#cd ,but if this circumstance were generally accepted among the ,greeks1 ,greek artists would hardly have ventured to depart from it4 ,or1 if they made variations1 these would not be likely to be the same as those of a ,roman poet1 had they not known him and perhaps been especially commissioned to use him as their model4 ,we must insist on this point1 ,i think1 if we would uphold ,martiani and ,montfaucon4 ,virgil is the first and only one#ce who represents both father and children as devoured by the serpents2 the sculptors have done this also1 although1 as ,greeks1 they should not2 probably1 therefore1 they did it in consequence of ,virgil's example4 ,i am well aware that this probability falls far short of historical certainty4 ,but since ,i mean to draw no historical conclusions from it1 we may be allowed to use it as an hypothesis on which to base our remarks4 ,let us suppose1 then1 that the sculptors used ,virgil as their model1 and see in what way they would have copied him4 ,the cry has been already discussed4 ,a further comparison may perhaps lead to not less instructive results4 ,the idea of coiling the murderous serpents about both father and sons1 tying them thus into one knot1 is certainly a very happy one1 and betrays great picturesqueness of fancy4 ,whose was it8 the poet's or the artist's8 ,montfaucon thinks it is not to be found in the poem2#cf but1 in my opinion1 he has not read the passage with sufficient care4 ,illi agmine certo ,laocoonta petunt1 et primum parva duorum ,corpora natorum serpens amplexus uterque ,implicat et miseros morsu depascitur artus4 ,post ipsum1 auxilio subeuntem et tela ferentem1 ,corripiunt spirisque ligant ingentibus4#cg ,the poet has described the serpents as being of a wonderful length4 ,they have wound their coils about the boys and seize the father also 7corripiunt7 as he comes to their aid4 ,owing to their great length they could not in an instant have disengaged themselves from the boys4 ,there must therefore have been a moment when the heads and forward parts of the bodies had attacked the father while the boys were still held imprisoned in the hindmost coils4 ,such a moment is unavoidable in the progress of the poetic picture2 and the poet makes it abundantly manifest1 though that was not the time to describe it in detail4 ,a passage in ,donatus#ch seems to prove that the old commentators were conscious of it2 and there was still less likelihood of its escaping the notice of artists whose trained eye was quick to perceive any thing that could be turned to their advantage4 ,the poet carefully leaves ,laocoon's arms free that he may have the full use of his hands4 ,ille simul manibus tendit divellere nodos4#ci ,in this point the artist must necessarily have followed him2 for nothing contributes more to the expression of life and motion than the action of the hands4 ,in representations of passion1 especially1 the most speaking countenance is ineffective without it4 ,arms fastened close to the body by the serpents' coils would have made the whole group cold and dead4 ,we consequently see them in full activity1 both in the main figure and the lesser ones1 and most active where for the moment the pain is sharpest4 ,with the exception of this freedom of the arms1 there was1 however1 nothing in the poet's manner of coiling the serpents which could be turned to account by the artists4 ,virgil winds them twice round the body and twice round the neck of ,laocoon1 and lets their heads tower high above him4 ,bis medium amplexi1 bis collo squamea circum ,terga dati1 superant capite et cervicibus altis4#dj ,this description satisfies our imagination completely4 ,the noblest parts of the body are compressed to suffocation1 and the poison is aimed directly at the face4 ,it furnished1 however1 no picture for the artist1 who would show the physical effects of the poison and the pain4 ,to render these conspicuous1 the nobler parts of the body must be left as free as possible1 subjected to no outward pressure which would change and weaken the play of the suffering nerves and laboring muscles4 ,the double coils would have concealed the whole trunk and rendered invisible that most expressive contraction of the abdomen4 ,what of the body would be distinguishable above or below or between the coils would have been swollen and compressed1 not by inward pain but by outward violence4 ,so many rings about the neck would have destroyed the pyramidal shape of the group which is now pleasing to the eye1 while the pointed heads of the serpents projecting far above this huge mass1 would have been such a violation of the rules of proportion that the effect of the whole would have been made repulsive in the extreme4 ,there have been designers so devoid of perception as to follow the poet implicitly4 ,one example of the hideous result may be found among the illustrations by ,francis ,cleyn4#da ,the old sculptors saw at a glance that their art required a totally different treatment4 ,they transferred all the coils from the trunk and neck to the thighs and feet1 parts which might be concealed and compressed without injury to the expression4 ,by this means they also conveyed the idea of arrested flight1 and a certain immobility very favorable to the arbitrary continuance of one posture4 ,i know not how it happens that the critics have passed over in silence this marked difference between the coils in the marble and in the poem4 ,it reveals the wisdom of the artist quite as much as another difference which they all comment upon1 though rather by way of excuse than of praise1--the difference in the dress4 ,virgil's ,laocoon is in his priestly robes1 while in the group he1 as well as his two sons1 appears completely naked4 ,some persons1 it is said1 find a great incongruity in the fact that a king's son1 a priest1 should be represented naked when offering a sacrifice4 ,to this the critics answer in all seriousness that it is1 to be sure1 a violation of usage but that the artists were driven to it from inability to give their figures suitable clothing4 ,sculpture1 they say1 cannot imitate stuffs4 ,thick folds produce a bad effect4 ,of two evils they have therefore chosen the lesser1 and preferred to offend against truth rather than be necessarily faulty in drapery4#db ,the old artists might have laughed at the objection1 but ,i know not what they would have said to this manner of answering it4 ,no greater insult could be paid to art4 ,suppose sculpture could imitate different textures as well as painting1 would ,laocoon necessarily have been draped8 ,should we lose nothing by drapery8 ,has a garment1 the work of slavish hands1 as much beauty as an organized body1 the work of eternal wisdom8 ,does the imitation of the one require the same skill1 involve the same merit1 bring the same honor as the imitation of the other8 ,do our eyes require but to be deceived1 and is it a matter of indifference to them with what they are deceived8 ,in poetry a robe is no robe4 ,it conceals nothing4 ,our imagination sees through it in every part4 ,whether ,virgil's ,laocoon be clothed or not1 the agony in every fibre of his body is equally visible4 ,the brow is bound with the priestly fillet1 but not concealed4 ,nay1 so far from being a hinderance1 the fillet rather strengthens our impression of the sufferer's agony4 ,perfusus sanie vittas atroque veneno4#dc ,his priestly dignity avails him nothing4 ,the very badge of it1 which wins him universal consideration and respect1 is saturated and desecrated with the poisonous slaver4 ,but this subordinate idea the artist had to sacrifice to the general effect4 ,had he retained even the fillet1 his work would have lost in expression from the partial concealment of the brow which is the seat of expression4 ,as in the case of the cry he sacrificed expression to beauty1 he here sacrificed conventionality to expression4 ,conventionality1 indeed1 was held of small account among the ancients4 ,they felt that art1 in the attainment of beauty1 its true end1 could dispense with conventionalities altogether4 ,necessity invented clothes1 but what has art to do with necessity8 ,there is a beauty of drapery1 ,i admit2 but it is nothing as compared with the beauty of the human form4 ,will he who can attain to the greater rest content with the lesser8 ,i fear that the most accomplished master in drapery1 by his very dexterity1 proves his weakness4 ,,vi4 ,my supposition that the artists imitated the poet is no disparagement to them4 ,on the contrary the manner of their imitation reflects the greatest credit on their wisdom4 ,they followed the poet without suffering him in the smallest particular to mislead them4 ,a model was set them1 but the task of transferring it from one art into another gave them abundant opportunity for independent thought4 ,the originality manifested in their deviations from the model proves them to have been no less great in their art than the poet was in his4 ,now1 reversing the matter1 ,i will suppose the poet to be working after the model set him by the artists4 ,this is a supposition maintained by various scholars4#dd ,i know of no historical arguments in favor of their opinion4 ,the work appeared to them of such exceeding beauty that they could not believe it to be of comparatively recent date4 ,it must have been made when art was at its perfection1 because it was worthy of that period4 ,we have seen that1 admirable as ,virgil's picture is1 there are yet traits in it unavailable for the artist4 ,the saying therefore requires some modification1 that a good poetical description must make a good picture1 and that a poet describes well only in so far as his details may be used by the artist4 ,even without the proof furnished by examples1 we should be inclined to predicate such limitation from a consideration of the wider sphere of poetry1 the infinite range of our imagination1 and the intangibility of its images4 ,these may stand side by side in the greatest number and variety without concealment or detriment to any1 just as the objects themselves or their natural symbols would in the narrow limits of time or space4 ,but if the smaller cannot contain the greater it can be contained in the greater4 ,in other words1 if not every trait employed by the descriptive poet can produce an equally good effect on canvas or in marble1 can every trait of the artist be equally effective in the work of the poet8 ,undoubtedly2 for what pleases us in a work of art pleases not the eye1 but the imagination through the eye4 ,the same picture1 whether presented to the imagination by arbitrary or natural signs1 must always give us a similar pleasure1 though not always in the same degree4 ,but even granting this1 ,i confess that the idea of ,virgil's having imitated the artists is more inconceivable to me than the contrary hypothesis4 ,if the artists copied the poet1 ,i can account for all their deviations4 ,differences would necessarily have arisen1 because many traits employed by him with good effect would in their work have been objectionable4 ,but why such deviations in the poet8 ,would he not have given us an admirable picture by copying the group faithfully in every particular8#de ,i can perfectly understand how his fancy1 working independently1 should have suggested to him this and that feature1 but ,i see no reason why his judgment should have thought it necessary to transform the beauties that were before his eyes into these differing ones4 ,it even seems to me that1 had ,virgil used this group as his model1 he could hardly have contented himself with leaving the general embrace of the three bodies within the serpents' folds to be thus guessed at4 ,the impression upon his eye would have been so vivid and admirable1 that he could not have failed to give the position greater prominence in his description4 ,as ,i have said1 that was not the time to dwell upon its details2 but the addition of a single word might have put a decisive emphasis upon it1 even in the shadow in which the poet was constrained to leave it4 ,what the artist could present without that word1 the poet would not have failed to express by it1 had the work of art been before him4 ,the artist had imperative reasons for not allowing the sufferings of his ,laocoon to break out into cries4 ,but if the poet had had before him in the marble this touching union of pain with beauty1 he would certainly have been under no necessity of disregarding the idea of manly dignity and magnanimous patience arising from it and making his ,laocoon suddenly startle us with that terrible cry4 ,richardson says that ,virgil's ,laocoon needed to scream1 because the poet's object was not so much to excite compassion for him as to arouse fear and horror among the ,trojans4 ,this ,i am ready to grant1 although ,richardson appears not to have considered that the poet is not giving the description in his own person1 but puts it into the mouth of neas1 who1 in his narration to ,dido1 spared no pains to arouse her compassion4 ,the cry1 however1 is not what surprises me1 but the absence of all intermediate stages of emotion1 which the marble could not have failed to suggest to the poet if1 as we are supposing1 he had used that as his model4 ,richardson goes on to say1 that the story of ,laocoon was meant only as an introduction to the pathetic description of the final destruction of ,troy1 and that the poet was therefore anxious not to divert to the misfortunes of a private citizen the attention which should be concentrated on the last dreadful night of a great city4#df ,but this is a painter's point of view1 and here inadmissible4 ,in the poem1 the fate of ,laocoon and the destruction of the city do not stand side by side as in a picture4 ,they form no single whole to be embraced at one glance1 in which case alone there would have been danger of having the eye more attracted by the ,laocoon than by the burning city4 ,the two descriptions succeed each other1 and ,i fail to see how the deepest emotion produced by the first could prejudice the one that follows4 ,any want of effect in the second must be owing to its inherent want of pathos4 ,still less reason would the poet have had for altering the serpents' coils4 ,in the marble they occupy the hands and encumber the feet1 an arrangement not less impressive to the imagination than satisfactory to the eye4 ,the picture is so distinct and clear that words can scarcely make it plainer than natural signs4 ,micat alter et ipsum ,laocoonta petit1 totumque infraque supraque ,implicat et rabido tandem ferit ilia morsu4 ,at serpens lapsu crebro redeunte subintrat ,lubricus1 intortoque ligat genua infima nodo4 ,these lines are by ,sadolet4 ,they would doubtless have come with greater picturesqueness from ,virgil1 had his fancy been fired by the visible model4 ,under those circumstances he would certainly have written better lines than those we now have of him4 ,bis medium amplexi1 bis collo squamea circum ,terga dati1 superant capite et cervicibus altis4 ,these details satisfy the imagination1 it is true2 but not if we dwell upon them and try to bring them distinctly before us4 ,we must look now at the serpents1 and now at ,laocoon4 ,the moment we try to combine them into one picture1 the grouping begins to displease1 and appear in the highest degree unpicturesque4 ,but these deviations from his supposed model1 even if not unfortunate1 were entirely arbitrary4 ,imitation is intended to produce likeness1 but how can likeness result from needless changes8 ,such changes rather show that the intention was not to produce likeness1 consequently that there has been no imitation4 ,perhaps not of the whole1 some may urge1 but of certain parts4 ,good2 but what are the parts so exactly corresponding in the marble and in the poem1 that the poet might seem to have borrowed them from the sculptor8 ,the father1 the children1 and the serpents1 both poet and sculptor received from history4 ,except what is traditional in both1 they agree in nothing but the single circumstance that father and sons are bound by the serpents' coils into a single knot4 ,but this arose from the new version1 according to which father and sons were involved in a common destruction1--a version1 as already shown1 to be attributed rather to ,virgil1 since the ,greek traditions tell the story differently4 ,if1 then1 there should have been any imitation here1 it is more likely to have been on the side of the artist than of the poet4 ,in all other respects their representations differ1 but in such a way that the deviations1 if made by the artist1 are perfectly consistent with an intention to copy the poet1 being such as the sphere and limitations of his art would impose on him4 ,they are1 on the contrary1 so many arguments against the supposed imitation of the sculptor by the poet4 ,those who1 in the face of these objections1 still maintain this supposition1 can only mean that the group is older than the poem4 ,,vii4 ,when we speak of an artist as imitating a poet or a poet an artist1 we may mean one of two things1--either that one makes the work of the other his actual model1 or that the same original is before them both1 and one borrows from the other the manner of copying it4 ,when ,virgil describes the shield of neas1 his imitation of the artist who made the shield is of the former kind4 ,the work of art1 not what it represents1 is his model4 ,even if he describe the devices upon it they are described as part of the shield1 not as independently existing objects4 ,had ,virgil1 on the other hand1 copied the group of the ,laocoon1 this would have been an imitation of the second kind4 ,he would then have been copying1 not the actual group1 but what the group represents1 and would have borrowed from the marble only the details of his copy4 ,in imitations of the first kind the poet is an originator1 in those of the second a copyist4 ,the first is part of the universal imitation which constitutes the very essence of his art1 and his work is that of a genius1 whether his model be nature or the product of other arts4 ,the second degrades him utterly4 ,instead of the thing itself1 he imitates its imitations1 and gives us a lifeless reflection of another's genius for original touches of his own4 ,in the by no means rare cases where poet and artist must study their common original from the same point of view1 their copies cannot but coincide in many respects1 although there may have been no manner of imitation or emulation between them4 ,these coincidences among contemporaneous artists and poets may lead to mutual illustrations of things no longer present to us4 ,but to try to help out these illustrations by tracing design where was only chance1 and especially by attributing to the poet at every detail a reference to this statue or that picture1 is doing him very doubtful service4 ,nor is the reader a gainer by a process which renders the beautiful passages perfectly intelligible1 no doubt1 but at the sacrifice of all their life4 ,this is the design and the mistake of a famous ,english work by the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,spence1 entitled1 8,polymetis2 or1 ,an inquiry concerning the agreement between the works of the ,roman poets and the remains of the ancient artists1 being an attempt to illustrate them mutually from one another40#dg ,spence has brought to his work great classical learning and a thorough knowledge of the surviving works of ancient art4 ,his design of using these as means to explain the ,roman poets1 and making the poets in turn throw light on works of art hitherto imperfectly understood1 has been in many instances happily accomplished4 ,but ,i nevertheless maintain that to every reader of taste his book must be intolerable4 ,when ,valerius ,flaccus describes the winged thunderbolts on the shields of the ,roman soldiers1-- ,nec primus radios1 miles ,romane1 corusci ,fulminis et rutilas scutis diffuderis alas1 the description is naturally made more intelligible to me by seeing the representation of such a shield on an ancient monument4#dh ,it is possible that the old armorers represented ,mars upon helmets and shields in the same hovering attitude that ,addison thought he saw him in with ,rhea on an ancient coin1#di and that ,juvenal had such a helmet or shield in mind in that allusion of his which1 till ,addison1 had been a puzzle to all commentators4 ,the passage in ,ovid where the wearied ,cephalus invokes ,aura1 the cooling zephyr1-- 8,aura 444 venias 444 ,meque juves1 intresque sinus1 gratissima1 nostros10 and his ,procris takes this ,aura for the name of a rival1--this passage1 ,i confess1 seems to me more natural when ,i see that the ancients in their works of art personified the gentle breezes1 and1 under the name ,aur1 worshipped certain female sylphs4#ej ,i acknowledge that when ,juvenal compares an idle patrician to a ,hermes-column1 we should hardly perceive the point of the comparison unless we had seen such a column and knew it to be a poorly cut pillar1 bearing the head1 or at most the trunk1 of the god1 and1 owing to the want of hands and feet1 suggesting the idea of inactivity4#ea ,illustrations of this kind are not to be despised1 though neither always necessary nor always conclusive4 ,either the poet regarded the work of art not as a copy but as an independent original1 or both artist and poet were embodying certain accepted ideas4 ,their representations would necessarily have many points of resemblance1 which serve as so many proofs of the universality of the ideas4 ,but when ,tibullus describes ,apollo as he appeared to him in a dream1--the fairest of youths1 his temples wreathed with the chaste laurel1 ,syrian odors breathing from his golden hair that falls in ripples over his long neck1 his whole body as pink and white as the cheek of the bride when led to her bridegroom1--why need these traits have been borrowed from famous old pictures8 ,echion's 8nova nupta verecundia notabilis0 may have been in ,rome and been copied thousands of times3 did that prove virgin modesty itself to have vanished from the world8 ,since the painter saw it1 was no poet to see it more save in the painter's imitation8#eb ,or when another poet speaks of ,vulcan as wearied and his face reddened by the forge1 did he need a picture to teach him that labor wearies and heat reddens8#ec ,or when ,lucretius describes the alternations of the seasons and brings them before us in the order of nature1 with their whole train of effects on earth and air1 was ,lucretius the creature of a day8 had he lived through no entire year and seen its changes1 that he must needs have taken his description from a procession of statues representing the seasons8 ,did he need to learn from statues the old poetic device of making actual beings out of such abstractions8#ed ,or ,virgil's 8pontem indignatus ,araxes10 that admirable poetic picture of a river overflowing its banks and tearing down the bridge that spans it1--do we not destroy all its beauty by making it simply a reference to some work of art1 wherein the river god was represented as actually demolishing a bridge8#ee ,what do we want of such illustrations which banish the poet from his own clearest lines to give us in his place the reflection of some artist's fancy8 ,i regret that this tasteless conceit of substituting for the creations of the poet's own imagination a familiarity with those of others should have rendered a book1 so useful as the ,polymetis might have been made1 as offensive as the feeblest commentaries of the shallowest quibblers1 and far more derogatory to the classic authors4 ,still more do ,i regret that ,addison should in this respect have been the predecessor of ,spence1 and1 in his praiseworthy desire to make the old works of art serve as interpreters1 have failed to discriminate between those cases where imitation of the artist would be becoming in the poet1 and those where it would be degrading to him4#ef ,,viii4 ,spence has the strangest notions of the resemblance between painting and poetry4 ,he believes the two arts to have been so closely connected among the ancients that they always went hand in hand1 the poet never losing sight of the painter1 nor the painter of the poet4 ,that poetry has the wider sphere1 that beauties are within her reach which painting can never attain1 that she may often see reason to prefer unpicturesque beauties to picturesque ones1--these things seem never to have occurred to him4 ,the slightest difference1 therefore1 between the old poets and artists throws him into an embarrassment from which it taxes all his ingenuity to escape4 ,the poets generally gave ,bacchus horns4 ,spence is therefore surprised that we seldom see these appendages on his statues4#eg ,he suggests one reason and another2 now the ignorance of the antiquarians1 and again 8the smallness of the horns themselves1 which were very likely to be hid under the crown of grapes or ivy which is almost a constant ornament of the head of ,bacchus40 ,he goes all round the true cause without ever suspecting it4 ,the horns of ,bacchus were not a natural growth like those of fauns and satyrs4 ,they were ornaments which he could assume or lay aside at pleasure4 ,tibi1 cum sine cornibus adstas1 ,virgineum caput est1 444 says ,ovid in his solemn invocation to ,bacchus4#eh ,he could therefore show himself without horns1 and did1 in fact1 thus show himself when he wished to appear in his virgin beauty4 ,in this form artists would choose to represent him1 and necessarily omitted all disagreeable accompaniments4 ,horns fastened to the diadem1 as we see them on a head in the royal museum in ,berlin1#ei would have been a cumbersome appendage1 as would also the diadem itself1 concealing the beautiful brow4 ,for this reason the diadem appears as rarely as the horns on the statues of ,bacchus1 although1 as its inventor1 he is often crowned with it by the poets4 ,in poetry both horns and diadem served as subtle allusions to the deeds and character of the god3 in a picture or statue they would have stood in the way of greater beauties4 ,if ,bacchus1 as ,i believe1 received the name of ,biformis1 1 from having an aspect of beauty as well as of terror1 the artists would naturally have chosen the shape best adapted to the object of their art4 ,in the ,roman poets ,minerva and ,juno often hurl the thunderbolt4 ,why are they not so represented in art8 asks ,spence4#fj ,he answers1 8,this power was the privilege of these two goddesses1 the reason of which was1 perhaps1 first learnt in the ,samothracian mysteries4 ,but since1 among the ancient ,romans1 artists were considered as of inferior rank1 and therefore rarely initiated into them1 they would doubtless know nothing of them2 and what they knew not of they clearly could not represent40 ,i should like to ask ,spence whether these common people were working independently1 or under the orders of superiors who might be initiated into the mysteries2 whether the artists occupied such a degraded position among the ,greeks2 whether the ,roman artists were not for the most part ,greeks by birth2 and so on4 ,statius and ,valerius ,flaccus describe an angry ,venus with such terrible features that we should take her at the moment for a fury rather than for the goddess of love4 ,spence searches in vain for such a ,venus among the works of ancient art4 ,what is his conclusion8 ,that more is allowed to the poet than to the sculptor and painter8 ,that should have been his inference4 ,but he has once for all established as a general rule that 8scarce any thing can be good in a poetical description which would appear absurd if represented in a statue or picture40#fa ,consequently the poets must be wrong4 8,statius and ,valerius ,flaccus belong to an age when ,roman poetry was already in its decline4 ,in this very passage they display their bad judgment and corrupted taste4 ,among the poets of a better age such a repudiation of the laws of artistic expression will never be found40#fb ,such criticism shows small power of discrimination4 ,i do not propose to undertake the defence of either ,statius or ,valerius1 but will simply make a general remark4 ,the gods and other spiritual beings represented by the artist are not precisely the same as those introduced by the poet4 ,to the artist they are personified abstractions which must always be characterized in the same way1 or we fail to recognize them4 ,in poetry1 on the contrary1 they are real beings1 acting and working1 and possessing1 besides their general character1 qualities and passions which may upon occasion take precedence4 ,venus is to the sculptor simply love4 ,he must therefore endow her with all the modest beauty1 all the tender charms1 which1 as delighting us in the beloved object1 go to make up our abstract idea of love4 ,the least departure from this ideal prevents our recognizing her image4 ,beauty distinguished more by majesty than modesty is no longer ,venus but ,juno4 ,charms commanding and manly rather than tender1 give us1 instead of a ,venus1 a ,minerva4 ,a ,venus all wrath1 a ,venus urged by revenge and rage1 is to the sculptor a contradiction in terms4 ,for love1 as love1 never is angry1 never avenges itself4 ,to the poet1 ,venus is love also1 but she is the goddess of love1 who has her own individuality outside of this one characteristic1 and can therefore be actuated by aversion as well as affection4 ,what wonder1 then1 that in poetry she blazes into anger and rage1 especially under the provocation of insulted love8 ,the artist1 indeed1 like the poet1 may1 in works composed of several figures1 introduce ,venus or any other deity1 not simply by her one characteristic1 but as a living1 acting being4 ,but the actions1 if not the direct results of her character1 must not be at variance with it4 ,venus delivering to her son the armor of the gods is a subject equally suitable to artist and poet4 ,for here she can be endowed with all the grace and beauty befitting the goddess of love4 ,such treatment will be of advantage as helping us the more easily to recognize her4 ,but when ,venus1 intent on revenging herself on her contemners1 the men of ,lemnos1 wild1 in colossal shape1 with cheeks inflamed and dishevelled hair1 seizes the torch1 and1 wrapping a black robe about her1 flies downward on the storm-cloud1--that is no moment for the painter1 because he has no means of making us recognize her4 ,the poet alone has the privilege of availing himself of it4 ,he can unite it so closely with some other moment when the goddess is the true ,venus1 that we do not in the fury forget the goddess of love4 ,flaccus does this1-- ,neque enim alma videri ,jam tumet2 aut tereti crinem subnectitur auro1 ,sidereos diffusa sinus4 ,eadem effera et ingens ,et maculis suffecta genas2 pinumque sonantem ,virginibus ,stygiis1 nigramque simillima pallam4#fc ,and ,statius also1-- ,illa ,paphon veterem centumque altaria linquens1 ,nec vultu nec crine prior1 solvisse jugalem ,ceston1 et ,idalias procul ablegasse volucres ,fertur4 ,erant certe1 media qui noctis in umbra ,divam1 alios ignes majoraque tela gerentem1 ,tartarias inter thalamis volitasse sorores ,vulgarent3 utque implicitis arcana domorum ,anguibus1 et sva formidine cuncta replerit ,limina4#fd ,or1 we may say1 the poet alone possesses the art of so combining negative with positive traits as to unite two appearances in one4 ,no longer now the tender ,venus1 her hair no more confined with golden clasps1 no azure draperies floating about her1 without her girdle1 armed with other flames and larger arrows1 the goddess hastes downward1 attended by furies of like aspect with herself4 ,must the poet abstain from the use of this device because artists are debarred from it8 ,if painting claim to be the sister of poetry1 let the younger at least not be jealous of the elder1 nor seek to deprive her of ornaments unbecoming to herself4 ,,ix4 ,when we compare poet and painter in particular instances1 we should be careful to inquire whether both have had entire freedom1 and been allowed to labor for the highest results of their art without the exercise of any constraint from without4 ,religion often exercised such constraint upon the old artists4 ,a work1 devotional in character1 must often be less perfect than one intended solely to produce pleasure4 ,superstition loaded the gods with symbols which were not always reverenced in proportion to their beauty4 ,in the temple of ,bacchus at ,lemnos1 from which the pious ,hypsipyle rescued her father under the guise of the deity1#fe the god was represented horned4 ,so he doubtless appeared in all his temples1 the horns being symbols typical of his nature and functions4 ,the unfettered artist1 whose ,bacchus was not designed for a temple1 omitted the symbol4 ,if1 among the statues of the god that remain to us1 we find none with horns1#ff that circumstance perhaps proves that none of them were sacred statues1 representing the god in the shape under which he was worshipped4 ,we should naturally expect1 too1 that against such the fury of the pious iconoclasts in the first centuries of ,christianity would have been especially directed4 ,only here and there a work of art was spared1 because it had never been desecrated by being made an object of worship4 ,but since1 among the antiques that have been unburied1 there are specimens of both kinds1 we should discriminate and call only those works of art which are the handiwork of the artist1 purely as artist1 those where he has been able to make beauty his first and last object4 ,all the rest1 all that show an evident religious tendency1 are unworthy to be called works of art4 ,in them ,art was not working for her own sake1 but was simply the tool of ,religion1 having symbolic representations forced upon her with more regard to their significance than their beauty4 ,by this ,i do not mean to deny that religion often sacrificed meaning to beauty1 or so far ceased to emphasize it1 out of regard for art and the finer taste of the age1 that beauty seemed to have been the sole end in view4 ,if we make no such distinction1 there will be perpetual strife between connoisseurs and antiquarians from their failure to understand each other4 ,when the connoisseur maintains1 according to his conception of the end and aim of art1 that certain things never could have been made by one of the old artists1 meaning never by one working as artist from his own impulse1 the antiquarian will understand him to say that they could never have been fashioned by the artist1 as workman1 under the influence of religion or any other power outside the domain of art4 ,he will therefore think to confute his antagonist by showing some figure which the connoisseur1 without hesitation1 but to the great vexation of the learned world1 will condemn back to the rubbish from which it had been dug4#fg ,but there is danger1 on the other hand1 of exaggerating the influence of religion on art4 ,spence furnishes a remarkable instance of this4 ,he found in ,ovid that ,vesta was not worshipped in her temple under any human image1 and he thence drew the conclusion that there had never been any statues of the goddess4 ,what had passed for such must be statues1 not of ,vesta1 but of a vestal virgin4#fh ,an extraordinary conclusion6 ,because the goddess was worshipped in one of her temples under the symbol of fire1 did artists therefore lose all right to personify after their fashion a being to whom the poets give distinct personality1 making her the daughter of ,saturn and ,ops1 bringing her into danger of falling under the ill treatment of ,priapus1 and narrating yet other things in regard to her8 ,for ,spence commits the further error of applying to all the temples of ,vesta and to her worship generally what ,ovid says only of a certain temple at ,rome4#fi ,she was not everywhere worshipped as in this temple at ,rome4 ,until ,numa erected this particular sanctuary1 she was not so worshipped even in ,italy4 ,numa allowed no deity to be represented in the shape of man or beast4 ,in this prohibition of all personal representations of ,vesta consisted1 doubtless1 the reformation which he introduced into her rites4 ,ovid himself tells us that1 before the time of ,numa1 there were statues of ,vesta in her temple1 which1 when her priestess ,sylvia became a mother1 covered their eyes with their virgin hands4#gj ,yet further proof that in the temples of the goddess outside the city1 in the ,roman provinces1 her worship was not conducted in the manner prescribed by ,numa1 is furnished by various old inscriptions1 where mention is made of a priest of ,vesta 7,pontificis ,vest74#ga ,at ,corinth1 again1 was a temple of ,vesta without statues1 having only an altar whereon sacrifices were offered to the goddess4#gb ,but did the ,greeks1 therefore1 have no statues of ,vesta8 ,there was one at ,athens in the ,prytaneum1 next to the statue of ,peace4#gc ,the people of ,iasos boasted of having one in the open air1 upon which snow and rain never fell4#gd ,pliny mentions one in a sitting posture1 from the chisel of ,scopas1 in the ,servilian gardens at ,rome1 in his day4#ge ,granting that it is difficult for us now to distinguish between a vestal virgin and the goddess herself1 does that prove that the ancients were not able or did not care to make the distinction8 ,certain attributes point evidently more to one than the other4 ,the sceptre1 the torch1 and the palladium would seem to belong exclusively to the goddess4 ,the tympanum1 attributed to her by ,codinus1 belongs to her1 perhaps1 only as the ,earth4 ,or perhaps ,codinus himself did not know exactly what it was he saw4#gf ,x4 ,spence's surprise is again aroused in a way that shows how little he has reflected on the limits of poetry and painting4 8,as to the muses in general10 he says1 8it is remarkable that the poets say but little of them in a descriptive way2 much less than might indeed be expected for deities to whom they were so particularly obliged40#gg ,what is this but expressing surprise that the poets1 when they speak of the muses1 do not use the dumb language of the painter8 ,in poetry1 ,urania is the muse of astronomy4 ,her name and her employment reveal her office4 ,in art she can be recognized only by the wand with which she points to a globe of the heavens4 ,the wand1 the globe1 and the attitude are the letters with which the artist spells out for us the name ,urania4 ,but when the poet wants to say that ,urania had long read her death in the stars1-- ,ipsa diu positis lethum prdixerat astris ,urania4#gh ,why should he add1 out of regard to the artist1--,urania1 wand in hand1 with the heavenly globe before her8 ,would that not be as if a man1 with the power and privilege of speech1 were to employ the signs which the mutes in a ,turkish seraglio had invented to supply the want of a voice8 ,spence expresses the same surprise in regard to the moral beings1 or those divinities who1 among the ancients1 presided over the virtues and undertook the guidance of human life4#gi 8,it is observable10 he says1 8that the ,roman poets say less of the best of these moral beings than might be expected4 ,the artists are much fuller on this head2 and one who would know how they were each set off must go to the medals of the ,roman emperors4 ,the poets1 in fact1 speak of them very often as persons2 but of their attributes1 their dress1 and the rest of their figure they generally say but little40 ,when a poet personifies abstractions he sufficiently indicates their character by their name and employment4 ,these means are wanting to the artist1 who must therefore give to his personified abstractions certain symbols by which they may be recognized4 ,these symbols1 because they are something else and mean something else1 constitute them allegorical figures4 ,a female figure holding a bridle in her hand1 another leaning against a column1 are allegorical beings4 ,but in poetry ,temperance and ,constancy are not allegorical beings1 but personified abstractions4 ,necessity invented these symbols for the artist1 who could not otherwise indicate the significance of this or that figure4 ,but why should the poet1 for whom no such necessity exists1 be obliged to accept the conditions imposed upon the artist8 ,what excites ,spence's surprise should1 in fact1 be prescribed as a law to all poets4 ,they should not regard the limitations of painting as beauties in their own art1 nor consider the expedients which painting has invented in order to keep pace with poetry1 as graces which they have any reason to envy her4 ,by the use of symbols the artist exalts a mere figure into a being of a higher order4 ,should the poet employ the same artistic machinery he would convert a superior being into a doll4 ,conformity to this rule was as persistently observed by the ancients as its studious violation is by the viciousness of modern poets4 ,all their imaginary beings go masked1 and the writers who have most skill in this masquerade generally understand least the real object of their work1 which is to let their personages act1 and by their actions reveal their character4 ,among the attributes by which the artist individualizes his abstractions1 there is one class1 however1 better adapted to the poet than those we have been considering1 and more worthy of his use4 ,i refer to such as are not strictly allegorical1 but may be regarded as instruments which the beings bearing them would or could use1 should they ever come to act as real persons4 ,the bridle in the hand of ,temperance1 the pillar which supports ,constancy are purely allegorical1 and cannot therefore be used by the poet4 ,the scales in the hand of ,justice are less so1 because the right use of the scales is one of the duties of ,justice4 ,the lyre or flute in the hand of a muse1 the lance in the hand of ,mars1 hammer and tongs in the hands of ,vulcan1 are not symbols at all1 but simply instruments without which none of the actions characteristic of these beings could be performed4 ,to this class belong the attributes sometimes woven by the old poets into their descriptions1 and which1 in distinction from those that are allegorical1 ,i would call the poetical4 ,these signify the thing itself1 while the others denote only some thing similar4#hj ,,xi4 ,count ,caylus also seems to require that the poet should deck out the creatures of his imagination with allegorical attributes4#ha ,the ,count understood painting better than poetry4 ,but other points more worthy of remark have struck me in the same work of his1 some of the most important of which ,i shall mention here for closer consideration4 ,the artist1 in the ,count's opinion1 should make himself better acquainted with ,homer1 that greatest of all word painters1--that second nature1 in fact4 ,he calls attention to the rich and fresh material furnished by the narrative of the great ,greek1 and assures the painter that the more closely he follows the poet in every detail1 the nearer his work will approach to perfection4 ,this is confounding the two kinds of imitation mentioned above4 ,the painter is not only to copy the same thing that the poet has copied1 but he is to copy it with the same touches4 ,he is to use the poet not only as narrator1 but as poet4 ,but why is not this second kind of imitation1 which we have found to be degrading to the poet1 equally so to the artist8 ,if there had existed previous to ,homer such a series of pictures as he suggests to ,count ,caylus1 and we knew that the poet had composed his work from them1 would he not lose greatly in our estimation8 ,why should we not in like manner cease to admire the artist who should do no more than translate the words of the poet into form and color8 ,the reason ,i suppose to be this4 ,in art the difficulty appears to lie more in the execution than in the invention1 while with poetry the contrary is the case4 ,there the execution seems easy in comparison with the invention4 ,had ,virgil copied the twining of the serpents about ,laocoon and his sons from the marble1 then his description would lose its chief merit2 for what we consider the more difficult part had been done for him4 ,the first conception of this grouping in the imagination is a far greater achievement than the expression of it in words4 ,but if the sculptor have borrowed the grouping from the poet1 we still consider him deserving of great praise1 although he have not the merit of the first conception4 ,for to give expression in marble is incalculably more difficult than to give it in words4 ,we weigh invention and execution in opposite scales1 and are inclined to require from the master as much less of one as he has given us more of the other4 ,there are even cases where the artist deserves more credit for copying ,nature through the medium of the poet's imitation than directly from herself4 ,the painter who makes a beautiful landscape from the description of a ,thomson1 does more than one who takes his picture at first hand from nature4 ,the latter sees his model before him2 the former must1 by an effort of imagination1 think he sees it4 ,one makes a beautiful picture from vivid1 sensible impressions1 the other from the feeble1 uncertain representations of arbitrary signs4 ,from this natural readiness to excuse the artist from the merit of invention1 has arisen on his part an equally natural indifference to it4 ,perceiving that invention could never be his strong point1 but that his fame must rest chiefly on execution1 he ceased to care whether his theme were new or old1 whether it had been used once or a hundred times1 belonged to himself or another4 ,he kept within the narrow range of a few subjects1 grown familiar to himself and the public1 and directed all his invention to the introducing of some change in the treatment1 some new combination of the old objects4 ,that is actually the meaning attached to the word 8invention0 in the old text-books on painting4 ,for although they divide it into the artistic and the poetic1 yet even the poetic does not extend to the originating of a subject1 but solely to the arrangement or expression4#hb ,it is invention1 not of the whole1 but of the individual parts and their connection with one another2 invention of that inferior kind which ,horace recommended to his tragic poet3 ,tuque ,rectius ,iliacum carmen deducis in actus1 ,quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus4#hc ,recommended1 ,i say1 but not commanded4 ,he recommended it as easier for him1 more convenient1 more advantageous3 he did not command it as intrinsically nobler and better4 ,the poet1 indeed1 has a great advantage when he treats of familiar historical facts and well-known characters4 ,he can omit a hundred tiresome details otherwise indispensable to an understanding of the piece4 ,and the sooner he is understood1 the sooner he can interest his readers4 ,the same advantage is possessed by the painter when his subject is so familiar to us that we take in at a glance the meaning and design of his whole composition1 and can not only see that his characters are speaking1 but can even hear what they say4 ,on that first glance the chief effect depends4 ,if that necessitate a tiresome guessing and pondering1 our readiness to be touched is chilled4 ,we take revenge upon the unwise artist by hardening ourselves against his expression2 and alas for him1 if to that expression he have sacrificed beauty6 ,no inducement remains for us to linger before his work4 ,what we see does not please us1 and what it means we do not understand4 ,considering now these two points3 first1 that invention and novelty in the subject are by no means what we chiefly require from the painter2 and secondly1 that a familiar subject helps and quickens the effect of his art1 ,i think we shall find a deeper reason for his avoidance of new subjects than indolence or ignorance or absorption of his whole industry and time in the mechanical difficulties of his art1 which are the causes assigned for it by ,count ,caylus4 ,we may even be inclined to praise as a wise and1 as far as we are concerned1 a beneficent forbearance on the part of the artist1 what seemed to us at first a deficiency in art and a curtailment of our enjoyment4 ,i have no fear that experience will contradict me4 ,painters will be grateful to the ,count for his good intentions1 but will hardly make as general use of his advice as he expects4 ,should such1 however1 be the case1 a new ,caylus would be needed at the end of a hundred years to remind us of the old themes and recall the artist to a field where others before him have reaped undying laurels4 ,or shall we expect the public to be as learned as the connoisseur with his books1 and familiar with all the scenes of history and fable that offer fit subjects for art8 ,i grant that artists1 since the time of ,raphael1 would have done better to take ,homer for their manual than ,ovid4 ,but since1 once for all1 they have not done so1 let us leave the public in its old ruts1 and not throw more difficulties in the way of its pleasure than are necessary to make the pleasure worth having4 ,protogenes had painted the mother of ,aristotle4 ,i know not how much the philosopher paid for the picture1 but instead of the full payment1 or perhaps over and above it1 he gave the painter a piece of advice which was of more value than the money4 ,not1 as ,i believe1 in the way of flattery1 but because he knew that art needed to make itself universally intelligible1 he advised him to paint the exploits of ,alexander4 ,the whole world was ringing with the fame of them1 and he could foresee that their memory would remain to all posterity4 ,but ,protogenes was not wise enough to follow this counsel4 8,impetus animi10 says ,pliny1 8et qudam artis libido10#hd a certain presumption in art1 and a craving after something new and strange1 led him to the choice of other subjects4 ,he preferred the story of ,ialysus1#he of ,cydippe1 and others of like kind1 whose meaning we can now scarce even conjecture4 ,,xii4 ,homer treats of two different classes of beings and actions1--the visible and the invisible4 ,this distinction cannot be made on canvas1 where every thing is visible1 and visible in precisely the same way4 ,when ,count ,caylus1 therefore1 makes pictures of invisible actions follow immediately upon pictures of visible ones2 and in scenes of mixed actions1 participated in by beings of both kinds1 does not1 and perhaps cannot1 indicate how those figures which only we who look at the picture are supposed to see1 shall be so represented that the characters in the picture shall not see them1 or at least shall not look as if they could not help seeing them1 he makes the whole series1 as well as many separate pictures1 in the highest degree confused1 unintelligible1 and self-contradictory4 ,with the book before us this difficulty might finally be overcome4 ,the great objection would be that1 with the loss of all distinction to the eye between the visible and the invisible beings1 all the characteristic traits must likewise disappear1 which serve to elevate the higher order of beings above the lower4 ,when1 for instance1 the gods who take different sides in the ,trojan war come at last to actual blows1 the contest goes on in the poem unseen4#hf ,this invisibility leaves the imagination free play to enlarge the scene at will1 and picture the gods and their movements on a scale far grander than the measure of common humanity4 ,but painting must accept a visible theatre1 whose various fixed parts become a scale of measurement for the persons acting upon it4 ,this scale is always before the eye1 and the disproportionate size of any superhuman figures makes beings that were grand in the poem monstrous on canvas4 ,minerva1 on whom ,mars had made the first attack1 steps backward and with mighty hand lifts from the ground an enormous stone1 black and rough1 which1 in old times1 had required the strength of many men to be rolled into its place and set up as a landmark4#hg ' 1 1 ' ,to obtain an adequate idea of the size of this stone1 we must remember that ,homer makes his heroes twice as strong as the mightiest men of his day1 yet says they were far surpassed in strength by the men whom ,nestor had known in his youth4 ,now if ,minerva is to hurl at ,mars a stone which it had required1 not one man1 but many men of the time of ,nestor's youth to set up as a landmark1 what1 ,i ask1 should be the stature of the goddess8 ,if her size be proportioned to that of the stone1 all marvel ceases4 ,a being of thrice my size can1 of course1 throw three times as large a stone4 ,but if the stature of the goddess be not proportioned to the size of the stone1 the result is a palpable improbability in the picture which cannot be atoned for by the cold consideration that a goddess is necessarily of supernatural strength4 ,mars1 overthrown by this enormous stone1 covered seven hides1-- ' 4 ,it is impossible for the painter to give the god this extraordinary size4 ,yet if he do not1 we have no ,homeric ,mars lying on the ground1 but an ordinary warrior4#hh ,longinus says1 it has often seemed to him that ,homer's design was to raise his men to gods and degrade his deities to men4 ,painting accomplishes this4 ,on canvas we lose every thing which in poetry exalts the gods above mere godlike men4 ,size1 strength1 speed1--qualities which ,homer has always in store for his gods in miraculous measure1 far surpassing any thing he attributes to his most famous heroes1#hi--;are necessarily reduced in the picture to the common scale of humanity4 ,jupiter and ,agamemnon1 ,apollo and ,achilles1 ,ajax and ,mars1 are all kindred beings1 only to be distinguished by some arbitrary outward sign4 ,the expedient to which painters have recourse to indicate that a certain character is supposed to be invisible1 is a thin cloud veiling the side of the figure that is turned towards the other actors on the scene4 ,this cloud seems at first to be borrowed from ,homer himself4 ,for1 when in the confusion of battle one of the chief heroes becomes exposed to a danger from which nothing short of divine aid can save him1 the poet makes his guardian deity veil him in a thick cloud or in darkness1 and so lead him from the field4 ,paris is thus delivered by ,venus1#ij ,idus by ,neptune1#ia ,hector by ,apollo4#ib ,caylus never omits strongly to recommend to the artist this mist or cloud1 whenever he is to paint pictures of such occurrences4 ,but who does not perceive that this veiling in mist and darkness is only the poet's way of saying that the hero became invisible8 ,it always seems strange to me1 therefore1 to find this poetical expression embodied in a picture1 and an actual cloud introduced1 behind which1 as behind a screen1 the hero stands hidden from his enemy4 ,this was not the poet's meaning4 ,the artist in this exceeds the limits of painting4 ,his cloud is a hieroglyphic1 a purely symbolic sign1 which does not make the rescued hero invisible1 but simply says to the observers1--8,you are to suppose this man to be invisible40 ,it is no better than the rolls of paper with sentences upon them1 which issue from the mouth of personages in the old ,gothic pictures4 ,homer1 to be sure1 makes ,achilles give three thrusts with his lance at the thick cloud#ic while ,apollo is carrying off ,hector1-- ' 4 ,but that1 in the language of poetry1 only means that ,achilles was so enraged that he thrust three times with his lance before perceiving that his enemy was no longer before him4 ,achilles saw no actual cloud4 ,the whole secret of this invisibility lay not in the cloud1 but in the god's swift withdrawal of the imperilled hero4 ,in order to indicate that the withdrawal took place so instantaneously that no human eye could follow the retreating form1 the poet begins by throwing over his hero a cloud2 not because the by-standers saw the cloud in the place of the vanished shape1 but because to our mind things in a cloud are invisible4 ,the opposite device is sometimes used1 and1 instead of the object being made invisible1 the subject is smitten with blindness4 ,thus ,neptune blinds the eyes of ,achilles when he rescues neas from his murderous hands by transporting him from the thick of the contest to the rear4#id ,in reality1 the eyes of ,achilles were no more blinded in the one case than in the other the rescued heroes were veiled in a cloud4 ,both are mere expressions employed by the poet to impress more vividly on our minds the extreme rapidity of the removal2 the disappearance1 as we should call it4 ,but artists have appropriated the ,homeric mist not only in those cases of concealment or disappearance where ,homer himself employed or would have employed it1 but in cases where the spectator was to perceive something which the characters on the canvas1 or some of them at least1 were not to be conscious of4 ,minerva was visible to ,achilles only1 when she restrained him from committing violence against ,agamemnon4 8,i know no other way of expressing this10 says ,caylus1 8than to interpose a cloud between the goddess and the other members of the council40 ,this is entirely contrary to the spirit of the poet4 ,invisibility was the natural condition of his deities4 ,so far from any stroke of blindness or intercepting of the rays of light being necessary to render them invisible1#ie a special illumination1 an increased power of human vision was needed to see them4 ,not only1 therefore1 is this cloud an arbitrary and not a natural symbol in painting1 but it does not possess the clearness which1 as an arbitrary sign1 it should4 ,it has a double meaning1 being employed as well to make the invisible visible as to render the visible invisible4 ,,xiii4 ,if ,homer's works were completely destroyed1 and nothing remained of the ,iliad and ,odyssey but this series of pictures proposed by ,caylus1 should we from these--even supposing them to be executed by the best masters--form the same idea that we now have of the poet's descriptive talent alone1 setting aside all his other qualities as a poet8 ,let us take the first piece that comes to hand1--the picture of the plague4#if ,what do we see on the canvas8 ,dead bodies1 the flame of funeral pyres1 the dying busied with the dead1 the angry god upon a cloud discharging his arrows4 ,the profuse wealth of the picture becomes poverty in the poet4 ,should we attempt to restore the text of ,homer from this picture1 what can we make him say8 8,thereupon the wrath of ,apollo was kindled1 and he shot his arrows among the ,grecian army4 ,many ,greeks died1 and their bodies were burned40 ,now let us turn to ,homer himself3#if ' 1 ' 1 ' 1 ' 4 ' ' ' 1 ' 4 ' ' 1 ' ' 4 1 ' ' 4 ,the poet here is as far beyond the painter1 as life is better than a picture4 ,wrathful1 with bow and quiver1 ,apollo descends from the ,olympian towers4 ,i not only see him1 but hear him4 ,at every step the arrows rattle on the shoulders of the angry god4 ,he enters among the host like the night4 ,now he seats himself over against the ships1 and1 with a terrible clang of the silver bow1 sends his first shaft against the mules and dogs4 ,next he turns his poisoned darts upon the warriors themselves1 and unceasing blaze on every side the corpse-laden pyres4 ,it is impossible to translate into any other language the musical painting heard in the poet's words4 ,equally impossible would it be to infer it from the canvas4 ,yet this is the least of the advantages possessed by the poetical picture4 ,its chief superiority is that it leads us through a whole gallery of pictures up to the point depicted by the artist4 ,but the plague is perhaps not a favorable subject for a picture4 ,take the council of the gods1#ig which is more particularly addressed to the eye4 ,an open palace of gold1 groups of the fairest and most majestic forms1 goblet in hand1 served by eternal youth in the person of ,hebe4 ,what architecture6 what masses of light and shade6 what contrasts6 what variety of expression6 ,where shall ,i begin1 where cease1 to feast my eyes8 ,if the painter thus enchant me1 how much more will the poet6 ,i open the book and find myself deceived4 ,i read four good1 plain lines1 which might very appropriately be written under the painting4 ,they contain material for a picture1 but are in themselves none4#ig 1 ' 1 4 ,apollonius1 or a more indifferent poet still1 would not have said it worse4 ,here ,homer is as far behind the artist as1 in the former instance1 he surpassed him4 ,yet1 except in these four lines1 ,caylus finds no single picture in the whole fourth book of the ,iliad4 8,rich as this book is10 he says1 8in its manifold exhortations to battle1 in the abundance of its conspicuous and contrasting characters1 in the skill with which the masses to be set in motion are brought before us1 it is yet entirely unavailable for painting40 8,rich as it otherwise is10 he might have added1 8in what are called poetic pictures40 ,for surely in this fourth book we find as many such pictures1 and as perfect1 as in any of the whole poem4 ,where is there a more detailed1 a more striking picture than that of ,pandarus breaking the truce at the instigation of ,minerva1 and discharging his arrow at ,menelaus8 than that of the advance of the ,grecian army8 or of the mutual attack8 or of the deed of ,ulysses1 whereby he avenges the death of his friend ,leucus8 ,what must we conclude1 except that not a few of the finest pictures in ,homer are no pictures for the artist8 that the artist can extract pictures from him where he himself has none8 that such of his as the artist can use would be poor indeed did they show us no more than we see on the canvas8 what1 in short1 but a negative answer to my question8 ,painted pictures drawn from the poems of ,homer1 however numerous and however admirable they may be1 can give us no idea of the descriptive talent of the poet4 ,,xiv4 ,if it1 then1 be true that a poem not in itself picturesque may yet be rich in subjects for an artist1 while another in a high degree picturesque may yield him nothing1 this puts an end to the theory of ,count ,caylus1 that the test of a poem is its availability for the artist1 and that a poet's rank should depend upon the number of pictures he supplies to the painter4#ih ,far be it from us to give this theory even the sanction of our silence4 ,milton would be the first to fall an innocent victim4 ,indeed1 the contemptuous judgment which ,caylus passes upon the ,english poet would seem to be the result not so much of national taste as of this assumed rule4 ,milton resembles ,homer1 he says1 in little excepting loss of sight4 ,milton1 it is true1 can fill no picture galleries4 ,but if1 so long as ,i retained my bodily eye1 its sphere must be the measure of my inward vision1 then ,i should esteem its loss a gain1 as freeing me from such limitations4 ,the fact that 8,paradise ,lost0 furnishes few subjects for a painter no more prevents it from being the greatest epic since ,homer1 than the story of the passion of ,christ becomes a poem1 because you can hardly insert the head of a pin in any part of the narrative without touching some passage which has employed a crowd of the greatest artists4 ,the evangelists state their facts with the dryest possible simplicity1 and the painter uses their various details while the narrators themselves manifested not the smallest spark of genius for the picturesque4 ,there are picturesque and unpicturesque facts1 and the historian may relate the most picturesque without picturesqueness1 as the poet can make a picture of those least adapted to the painter's use4 ,to regard the matter otherwise is to allow ourselves to be misled by the double meaning of a word4 ,a picture in poetry is not necessarily one which can be transferred to canvas4 ,but every touch1 or every combination of touches1 by means of which the poet brings his subject so vividly before us that we are more conscious of the subject than of his words1 is picturesque1 and makes what we call a picture2 that is1 it produces that degree of illusion which a painted picture is peculiarly qualified to excite1 and which we in fact most frequently and naturally experience in the contemplation of the painted canvas4#ii ,,xv4 ,experience shows that the poet can produce this degree of illusion by the representation of other than visible objects4 ,he therefore has at his command whole classes of subjects which elude the artist4 ,dryden's 8,ode on ,cecilia's ,day0 is full of musical pictures1 but gives no employment to the brush4 ,but ,i will not lose myself in examples of this kind1 for they after all teach us little more than that colors are not tones1 and ears not eyes4 ,i will confine myself to pictures of visible objects1 available alike to poet and painter4 ,what is the reason that many poetical pictures of this class are unsuitable for the painter1 while many painted pictures lose their chief effect in the hands of the poet8 ,examples may help us4 ,i revert to the picture of ,pandarus in the fourth book of the ,iliad1 as one of the most detailed and graphic in all ,homer4 ,from the seizing of the bow to the flight of the arrow every incident is painted2 and each one follows its predecessor so closely1 and yet is so distinct from it1 that a person who knew nothing of the use of a bow could learn it from this picture alone4#ajj ,pandarus brings forth his bow1 attaches the string1 opens the quiver1 selects a well-feathered arrow never before used1 adjusts the notch of the arrow to the string1 and draws back both string and arrow2 the string approaches his breast1 the iron point of the arrow nears the bow1 the great arched bow springs back with a mighty twang1 the cord rings1 and away leaps the eager arrow speeding towards the mark4 ,caylus cannot have overlooked this admirable picture4 ,what1 then1 did he find which made him judge it no fitting subject for an artist8 ,and what in the council and carousal of the gods made that seem more adapted to his purpose8 ,the subjects are visible in one case as in the other1 and what more does the painter need for his canvas8 ,the difficulty must be this4 ,although both themes1 as representing visible objects1 are equally adapted to painting1 there is this essential difference between them3 one is a visible progressive action1 the various parts of which follow one another in time2 the other is a visible stationary action1 the development of whose various parts takes place in space4 ,since painting1 because its signs or means of imitation can be combined only in space1 must relinquish all representations of time1 therefore progressive actions1 as such1 cannot come within its range4 ,it must content itself with actions in space2 in other words1 with mere bodies1 whose attitude lets us infer their action4 ,poetry1 on the contrary-- ,,xvi4 ,but ,i will try to prove my conclusions by starting from first principles4 ,i argue thus4 ,if it be true that painting employs wholly different signs or means of imitation from poetry1--the one using forms and colors in space1 the other articulate sounds in time1--and if signs must unquestionably stand in convenient relation with the thing signified1 then signs arranged side by side can represent only objects existing side by side1 or whose parts so exist1 while consecutive signs can express only objects which succeed each other1 or whose parts succeed each other1 in time4 ,objects which exist side by side1 or whose parts so exist1 are called bodies4 ,consequently bodies with their visible properties are the peculiar subjects of painting4 ,objects which succeed each other1 or whose parts succeed each other in time1 are actions4 ,consequently actions are the peculiar subjects of poetry4 ,all bodies1 however1 exist not only in space1 but also in time4 ,they continue1 and1 at any moment of their continuance1 may assume a different appearance and stand in different relations4 ,every one of these momentary appearances and groupings was the result of a preceding1 may become the cause of a following1 and is therefore the centre of a present action4 ,consequently painting can imitate actions also1 but only as they are suggested through forms4 ,actions1 on the other hand1 cannot exist independently1 but must always be joined to certain agents4 ,in so far as those agents are bodies or are regarded as such1 poetry describes also bodies1 but only indirectly through actions4 ,painting1 in its coexistent compositions1 can use but a single moment of an action1 and must therefore choose the most pregnant one1 the one most suggestive of what has gone before and what is to follow4 ,poetry1 in its progressive imitations1 can use but a single attribute of bodies1 and must choose that one which gives the most vivid picture of the body as exercised in this particular action4 ,hence the rule for the employment of a single descriptive epithet1 and the cause of the rare occurrence of descriptions of physical objects4 ,i should place less confidence in this dry chain of conclusions1 did ,i not find them fully confirmed by ,homer1 or1 rather1 had they not been first suggested to me by ,homer's method4 ,these principles alone furnish a key to the noble style of the ,greek1 and enable us to pass just judgment on the opposite method of many modern poets who insist upon emulating the artist in a point where they must of necessity remain inferior to him4 ,i find that ,homer paints nothing but progressive actions4 ,all bodies1 all separate objects1 are painted only as they take part in such actions1 and generally with a single touch4 ,no wonder1 then1 that artists find in ,homer's pictures little or nothing to their purpose1 and that their only harvest is where the narration brings together in a space favorable to art a number of beautiful shapes in graceful attitudes1 however little the poet himself may have painted shapes1 attitudes1 or space4 ,if we study one by one the whole series of pictures proposed by ,caylus1 we shall in every case find proof of the justness of these conclusions4 ,here1 then1 ,i leave the ,count with his desire to make the painter's color-stone the touchstone of the poet1 and proceed to examine more closely the style of ,homer4 ,for a single thing1 as ,i have said1 ,homer has commonly but a single epithet4 ,a ship is to him at one time the black ship1 at another the hollow ship1 and again the swift ship4 ,at most it is the well-manned black ship4 ,further painting of the ship he does not attempt4 ,but of the ship's sailing1 its departure and arrival1 he makes so detailed a picture1 that the artist would have to paint five or six1 to put the whole upon his canvas4 ,if circumstances compel ,homer to fix our attention for a length of time on any one object1 he still makes no picture of it which an artist can follow with his brush4 ,by countless devices he presents this single object in a series of moments1 in every one of which it assumes a different form4 ,only in the final one can the painter seize it1 and show us ready made what the artist has been showing us in the making4 ,if ,homer1 for instance1 wants us to see the chariot of ,juno1 ,hebe must put it together piece by piece before our eyes4 ,we see the wheels1 the axle1 the seat1 the pole1 the traces and straps1 not already in place1 but as they come together under ,hebe's hands4 ,the wheels are the only part on which the poet bestows more than a single epithet4 ,he shows us separately the eight brazen spokes1 the golden fellies1 the tires of brass1 and the silver nave4 ,it would almost seem that1 as there was more than one wheel1 he wished to spend as much more time in the description as the putting on would require in reality4#aja ' ' 1 1 4 1 ' 1 ' 4 1 4 ' ' 1 ' 1 ' ,when ,homer wishes to tell us how ,agamemnon was dressed1 he makes the king put on every article of raiment in our presence3 the soft tunic1 the great mantle1 the beautiful sandals1 and the sword4 ,when he is thus fully equipped he grasps his sceptre4 ,we see the clothes while the poet is describing the act of dressing4 ,an inferior writer would have described the clothes down to the minutest fringe1 and of the action we should have seen nothing4#ajb ' 1 1 ' 1 ' ' 4 1 ,how does he manage when he desires to give a more full and minute picture of the sceptre1 which is here called only ancestral and undecaying1 as a similar one in another place is only 1--golden-studded8 ,does he paint for us1 besides the golden nails1 the wood1 and the carved head8 ,he might have done so1 had he been writing a description for a book of heraldry1 from which at some later day an exact copy was to be made4 ,yet ,i have no doubt that many a modern poet would have given such heraldic description in the honest belief that he was really making a picture himself1 because he was giving the painter material for one4 ,but what does ,homer care how far he outstrips the painter8 ,instead of a copy1 he gives us the history of the sceptre4 ,first we see it in the workshop of ,vulcan2 then it shines in the hands of ,jupiter2 now it betokens the dignity of ,mercury2 now it is the baton of warlike ,pelops2 and again the shepherd's staff of peace-loving ,atreus4#ajc 1 1 1 ' 1 1 ' 1 4 ,and so at last ,i know this sceptre better than if a painter should put it before my eyes1 or a second ,vulcan give it into my hands4 ,it would not surprise me to find that some one of ,homer's old commentators had admired this passage as a perfect allegory of the origin1 progress1 establishment1 and final inheritance of monarchical power among men4 ,i should smile indeed were ,i to read that the maker of the sceptre1 ,vulcan1 as fire1 as that which is of supreme importance to the maintenance of mankind1 typified the removal of the necessities which induced the early races of men to subject themselves to a single ruler2 that the first king was a son of ,time 7 71 revered and venerable1 who desired to share his power with a wise and eloquent man1 a ,mercury 7 71 or to resign it wholly to him2 that the wise speaker1 at the time when the young state was threatened by foreign enemies1 delivered his supreme authority to the bravest warrior 7 72 that the brave warrior1 after having subdued the enemies and secured the safety of the realm1 let this power play into the hands of his son1 who1 as a peace-loving ruler1 a beneficent shepherd of his people 7 71 introduced comfort and luxury2 that thus the way was opened1 after his death1 for the richest of his relations 7 7 to obtain by gifts and bribery1 and finally to secure to his family for ever1 as a piece of property obtained by purchase1 that authority which had originally been conferred as a mark of confidence1 and had been regarded by merit rather as a burden than an honor4 ,i should smile at all this1 but it would increase my respect for a poet to whom so much could be attributed4 ,but this is a digression4 ,i am now considering the history of the sceptre as a device for making us linger over a single object1 without entering into a tiresome description of its various parts4 ,again1 when ,achilles swears by his sceptre to be revenged on ,agamemnon for his contemptuous treatment1 ,homer gives us the history of this sceptre4 ,we see it still green upon the mountains1 the axe severs it from the parent trunk1 strips it of leaves and bark1 and makes it ready to serve the judges of the people1 as the token of their godlike office4#ajd 1 1 1 ' 1 4 ,homer's object was not so much to describe two staves of different shape and material1 as to give us a graphic picture of the different degrees of power which these staves represented4 ,one the work of ,vulcan1 the other cut upon the hills by an unknown hand2 one the old possession of a noble house1 the other destined to be grasped by the first comer2 one extended by a monarch over many islands and over all ,argos1 the other borne by one from among the ,greeks1 who1 in connection with others1 had been intrusted with the duty of upholding the laws4 ,this was in fact the difference between ,agamemnon and ,achilles2 and ,achilles1 even in the blindness of his passion1 could not but admit it4 ,not only when ,homer's descriptions have these higher aims in view1 but even when his sole object is the picture1 he will yet break this up into a sort of history of the object in order that the various parts1 which we see side by side in nature1 may just as naturally follow each other in his picture1 and1 as it were1 keep pace with the flow of the narrative4 ,he wants1 for instance1 to paint us the bow of ,pandarus4 ,it is of horn1 of a certain length1 well polished1 and tipped at both ends with gold4 ,what does he do8 ,does he enumerate these details thus drily one after another8 ,by no means4 ,that would be telling off such a bow1 setting it as a copy1 but not painting it4 ,he begins with the hunting of the wild goat from whose horns the bow was made4 ,pandarus had lain in wait for him among the rocks and slain him4 ,owing to the extraordinary size of the horns1 he decided to use them for a bow4 ,they come under the workman's hands1 who joins them together1 polishes1 and tips them4 ,and thus1 as ,i have said1 the poet shows us in the process of creation1 what the painter can only show us as already existing4#aje 1 ' 1 1 ' 4 1 ' 1 4 ,i should never have done1 were ,i to try to write out all the examples of this kind4 ,they will occur in numbers to every one familiar with ,homer4 ,,xvii4 ,but1 it may be urged1 the signs employed in poetry not only follow each other1 but are also arbitrary2 and1 as arbitrary signs1 they are certainly capable of expressing things as they exist in space4 ,homer himself furnishes examples of this4 ,we have but to call to mind his shield of ,achilles to have an instance of how circumstantially and yet poetically a single object can be described according to its coexistent parts4 ,i will proceed to answer this double objection4 ,i call it double1 because a just conclusion must hold1 though unsupported by examples1 and on the other hand the example of ,homer has great weight with me1 even when ,i am unable to justify it by rules4 ,it is true that since the signs of speech are arbitrary1 the parts of a body can by their means be made to follow each other as readily as in nature they exist side by side4 ,but this is a property of the signs of language in general1 not of those peculiar to poetry4 ,the prose writer is satisfied with being intelligible1 and making his representations plain and clear4 ,but this is not enough for the poet4 ,he desires to present us with images so vivid1 that we fancy we have the things themselves before us1 and cease for the moment to be conscious of his words1 the instruments with which he effects his purpose4 ,that was the point made in the definition given above of a poetical picture4 ,but the poet must always paint2 and now let us see in how far bodies1 considered in relation to their parts lying together in space1 are fit subjects for this painting4 ,how do we obtain a clear idea of a thing in space8 ,first we observe its separate parts1 then the union of these parts1 and finally the whole4 ,our senses perform these various operations with such amazing rapidity as to make them seem but one4 ,this rapidity is absolutely essential to our obtaining an idea of the whole1 which is nothing more than the result of the conception of the parts and of their connection with each other4 ,suppose now that the poet should lead us in proper order from one part of the object to the other2 suppose he should succeed in making the connection of these parts perfectly clear to us2 how much time will he have consumed8 ,the details1 which the eye takes in at a glance1 he enumerates slowly one by one1 and it often happens that1 by the time he has brought us to the last1 we have forgotten the first4 ,yet from these details we are to form a picture4 ,when we look at an object the various parts are always present to the eye4 ,it can run over them again and again4 ,the ear1 however1 loses the details it has heard1 unless memory retain them4 ,and if they be so retained1 what pains and effort it costs to recall their impressions in the proper order and with even the moderate degree of rapidity necessary to the obtaining of a tolerable idea of the whole4 ,let us take an example which may be called a masterpiece of its kind4 ,dort ragt das hohe ,haupt vom edeln ,enziane ,weit bern niedern ,chor der ,pbelkruter hin1 ,ein ganzes ,blumenvolk dient unter seiner ,fahne1 ,sein blauer ,bruder selbst bckt sich und ehret ihn4 ,der ,blumen helles ,gold1 in ,strahlen umgebogen1 ,thrmt sich am ,stengel auf1 und krnt sein grau ,gewand1 ,der ,bltter glattes ,weiss mit tiefem ,grn durchzogen1 ,strahlt von dem bunten ,blitz von feuchtem ,diamant4 ,gerechtestes ,gesetz6 dass ,kraft sich ,zier vermhle1 ,in einem schnen ,leib wohnt eine schn're ,seele4 ,hier kriecht ein niedrig ,kraut1 gleich einem grauen ,nebel1 ,dem die ,natur sein ,blatt im ,kreuze hingelegt1 ,die holde ,blume zeigt die zwei vergldten ,schnbel1 ,die ein von ,amethyst gebildter ,vogel trgt4 ,dort wirft ein glnzend ,blatt1 in ,finger ausgekerbet1 ,auf einen hellen ,bach den grnen ,wiederschein2 ,der ,blumen zarten ,schnee1 den matter ,purpur frbet1 ,schliesst ein gestreifter ,stern in weisse ,strahlen ein4 ,smaragd und ,rosen blhn auch auf zertretner ,heide1 ,und ,felsen decken sich mit einem ,purpurkleide4#ajf ,the learned poet is here painting plants and flowers with great art and in strict accordance with nature1 but there is no illusion in his picture4 ,i do not mean that a person who had never seen these plants and flowers could form little or no idea of them from his description4 ,perhaps all poetical pictures require a previous knowledge of their subject4 ,neither would ,i deny that a person possessing such knowledge might derive from the poet a more vivid idea of certain details4 ,i only ask how it is with a conception of the whole4 ,if that is to become more vivid1 none of the separate details must stand in undue prominence1 but the new illumination must be equally shared by all4 ,our imagination must be able to embrace them all with equal rapidity in order to form from them in an instant that one harmonious whole which the eye takes in at a glance4 ,is that the case here8 ,if not1 how can it be said1 8that the most exact copy produced by a painter is dull and faint compared with this poetical description80#ajg ,it is far inferior to what lines and colors can produce on canvas4 ,the critic who bestowed upon it this exaggerated praise must have regarded it from an entirely false point of view4 ,he must have looked at the foreign graces which the poet has woven into his description1 at his idealization of vegetable life1 and his development of inward perfections1 to which outward beauty serves but as the shell4 ,these he was considering1 and not beauty itself or the degree of resemblance and vividness of the image1 which painter and poet respectively can give us4 ,upon this last point every thing depends1 and whoever maintains that the lines1 ,der ,blumen helles ,gold in ,strahlen umgebogen1 ,thrmt sich am ,stengel auf1 und krnt sein grau ,gewand1 ,der ,bltter glattes ,weiss1 mit tiefem ,grn durchzogen1 ,strahlt von dem bunten ,blitz von feuchtem ,diamant1 can vie in vividness of impression with a flowerpiece by a ,huysum1 must either never have analyzed his own sensations1 or must wilfully ignore them4 ,it might be very pleasant to hear the lines read if we had the flowers in our hand2 but1 taken by themselves1 they say little or nothing4 ,i hear in every word the laborious poet1 but the thing itself ,i am unable to see4 ,once more1 then1 ,i do not deny that language has the power of describing a corporeal whole according to its parts4 ,it certainly has1 because its signs1 although consecutive1 are nevertheless arbitrary4 ,but ,i deny that this power exists in language as the instrument of poetry4 ,for illusion1 which is the special aim of poetry1 is not produced by these verbal descriptions of objects1 nor can it ever be so produced4 ,the coexistence of the body comes into collision with the sequence of the words1 and although while the former is getting resolved into the latter1 the dismemberment of the whole into its parts is a help to us1 yet the reunion of these parts into a whole is made extremely difficult1 and not infrequently impossible4 ,where the writer does not aim at illusion1 but is simply addressing the understanding of his readers with the desire of awakening distinct and1 as far as possible1 complete ideas1 then these descriptions of corporeal objects1 inadmissible as they are in poetry1 are perfectly appropriate4 ,not only the prose writer1 but the didactic poet 7for in as far as he is didactic he is no poet7 may use them with good effect4 ,thus ,virgil1 in his ,georgics1 describes a cow fit for breeding3-- ,optima torv ,forma bovis1 cui turpe caput1 cui plurima cervix1 ,et crurum tenus a mento palearia pendent4 ,tum longo nullus lateri modus3 omnia magna3 ,pes etiam1 et camuris hirt sub cornibus aures4 ,nec mihi displiceat maculis insignis et albo1 ,aut juga detractans interdumque aspera cornu1 ,et faciem tauro propior2 quque ardua tota1 ,et gradiens ima verrit vestigia cauda4#ajh ,or a handsome colt3-- ,illi ardua cervix1 ,argutumque caput1 brevis alvus1 obesaque terga1 ,luxuriatque toris animosum pectus1 c4#aji ,here the poet is plainly concerned more with the setting forth of the separate parts than with the effect of the whole4 ,his object is to tell us the characteristics of a handsome colt and a good cow1 so that we may judge of their excellence according to the number of these characteristics which they possess4 ,whether or not all these can be united into a vivid picture was a matter of indifference to him4 ,except for this purpose1 elaborate pictures of bodily objects1 unless helped out by the above-mentioned ,homeric device of making an actual series out of their coexistent parts1 have always been considered by the best critics as ineffective trifles1 requiring little or no genius4 8,when a poetaster10 says ,horace1 8can do nothing else1 he falls to describing a grove1 an altar1 a brook winding through pleasant meadows1 a rushing river1 or a rainbow40 ,lucus et ara ,dian1 ,et properantis aqu per amnos ambitus agros1 ,aut flumen ,rhenum1 aut pluvius describitur arcus4#aaj ,pope1 when a man1 looked back with contempt on the descriptive efforts of his poetic childhood4 ,he expressly enjoined upon every one1 who would not prove himself unworthy the name of poet1 to abandon as early as possible this fondness for description4 ,a merely descriptive poem he declared to be a feast made up of sauces4#aaa ,herr ,von ,kleist1 ,i know1 prided himself very little on his 8,spring40 ,had he lived1 he would have refashioned it altogether4 ,he wanted to introduce into it some plan1 and was meditating how he could best make the crowd of pictures1 which seemed to have been drawn at random from the whole vast range of fresh creation1 rise in some natural order and follow each other in fitting sequence4 ,he would1 at the same time1 have done what ,marmontel1 doubtless with reference to his ,eclogues1 recommended to several ,german poets4 ,he would have converted a series of pictures scantily interwoven with mental emotions1 into a series of emotions sparingly interspersed with images4#aab ,,xviii4 ,and shall ,homer nevertheless have fallen into those barren descriptions of material objects8 ,let us hope that only a few such passages can be cited4 ,and even those few1 ,i venture to assert1 will be found really to confirm the rule1 to which they appear to form an exception4 ,the rule is this1 that succession in time is the province of the poet1 coexistence in space that of the artist4 ,to bring together into one and the same picture two points of time necessarily remote1 as ,mazzuoli does the rape of the ,sabine women and the reconciliation effected by them between their husbands and relations2 or as ,titian does1 representing in one piece the whole story of the ,prodigal ,son1--his dissolute life1 his misery1 and repentance1--is an encroachment of the painter on the domain of the poet1 which good taste can never sanction4 ,to try to present a complete picture to the reader by enumerating in succession several parts or things which in nature the eye necessarily takes in at a glance1 is an encroachment of the poet on the domain of the painter1 involving a great effort of the imagination to very little purpose4 ,painting and poetry should be like two just and friendly neighbors1 neither of whom indeed is allowed to take unseemly liberties in the heart of the other's domain1 but who exercise mutual forbearance on the borders1 and effect a peaceful settlement for all the petty encroachments which circumstances may compel either to make in haste on the rights of the other4 ,i will not bring forward in support of this the fact that1 in large historical pictures the single moment of time is always somewhat extended1 and that perhaps no piece1 very rich in figures1 can be found1 in which every character has exactly the motion and attitude proper to him at that particular moment4 ,the position of some belongs to a preceding point of time1 that of others to a later4 ,this is a liberty which the painter must justify by certain subtleties of arrangement1 such as placing his figures more in the foreground or background1 and thus making them take a more or less immediate interest in what is going on4 ,i will merely quote1 in favor of my view1 a criticism of ,mengs on ,raphael's drapery4#aac 8,there is a reason for all his folds1 either in the weight of the material or the tension of the limbs4 ,we can often infer from their present condition what they had been previously4 ,raphael indeed aimed at giving them significance in this way4 ,we can judge from the folds whether1 previously to the present posture1 a leg or an arm had been more in front or more behind1 whether a limb had been bent and is now straightening itself1 or whether it had been outstretched and is now bending40 ,here unquestionably the artist unites into one two distinct points of time4 ,for1 since the foot in its motion forward is immediately followed by that portion of the garment which rests upon it1--unless indeed the garment be of exceedingly stiff material1 in which case it is ill adapted to painting1--there can be no moment at which the drapery assumes in the least degree any other fold than the present posture of the limb demands4 ,if any other be represented1 then the fold is that of the preceding moment while the position of the foot is that of the present4 ,few1 however1 will be inclined to deal thus strictly with the artist who finds it for his interest to bring these two moments of time before us at once4 ,who will not rather praise him for having had the wisdom and the courage to commit a slight fault for the sake of greater fulness of expression8 ,a similar indulgence is due to the poet4 ,the continuity of his imitation permits him1 strictly speaking1 to touch at one moment on only a single side1 a single property of his corporeal objects4 ,but if the happy construction of his language enables him to do this with a single word1 why should he not sometimes be allowed to add a second such word8 why not a third1 if it be worth his while1 or even a fourth8 ,as ,i have said1 a ship in ,homer is either simply the black ship1 or the hollow ship1 or the swift ship2 at most the well-manned black ship4 ,that is true of his style in general4 ,occasionally a passage occurs where he adds a third descriptive epithet3#aad 1 1 1 8round1 brazen1 eight-spoked wheels40 ,even a fourth3 1 1 1 1#aae 8a uniformly smooth1 beautiful1 brazen1 wrought shield40 ,who will not rather thank than blame him for this little luxuriance1 when we perceive its good effect in a few suitable passages8 ,the true justification of both poet and painter shall not1 however1 be left to rest upon this analogy of two friendly neighbors4 ,a mere analogy furnishes neither proof nor justification4 ,i justify them in this way4 ,as in the picture the two moments of time follow each other so immediately that we can without effort consider them as one1 so in the poem the several touches answering to the different parts and properties in space are so condensed1 and succeed each other so rapidly1 that we seem to catch them all at once4 ,here1 as ,i have said1 ,homer is greatly aided by his admirable language4 ,it not only allows him all possible freedom in multiplying and combining his epithets1 but enables him to arrange them so happily that we are relieved of all awkward suspense with regard to the subject4 ,some of the modern languages are destitute of one or more of those advantages4 ,those which1 like the ,french1 must have recourse to paraphrase1 and convert the 1 1 of ,homer into 8the round wheels which were of brass and had eight spokes10 give the meaning1 but destroy the picture4 ,the sense is here1 however1 nothing2 the picture every thing4 ,the one without the other turns the most graphic of poets into a tiresome tattler4 ,this fate has often befallen ,homer under the pen of the conscientious ,madame ,dacier4 ,the ,german language can generally render the ,homeric adjectives by equally short equivalents1 but it cannot follow the happy arrangement of the ,greek4 ,it can say1 indeed1 8the round1 brazen1 eight-spoked20 but 8wheels0 comes dragging after4 ,three distinct predicates before any subject make but a confused1 uncertain picture4 ,the ,greek joins the subject with the first predicate and lets the others follow4 ,he says1 8round wheels1 brazen1 eight-spoked40 ,thus we know at once of what he is speaking1 and learn first the thing and then its accidents1 which is the natural order of our thoughts4 ,the ,german language does not possess this advantage4 ,or shall ,i say1 what really amounts to the same thing1 that1 although possessing it1 the language can seldom use it without ambiguity8 ,for if adjectives be placed after the subject 7runde ,rder1 ehern und achtspeichigt7 they are indeclinable1 differing in nothing from adverbs1 and if referred1 as adverbs1 to the first verb that is predicated of the subject1 the meaning of the whole sentence becomes always distorted1 and sometimes entirely falsified4 ,but ,i am lingering over trifles and seem to have forgotten the shield of ,achilles1 that famous picture1 which more than all else1 caused ,homer to be regarded among the ancients as a master of painting4#aaf ,but surely a shield1 it may be said1 is a single corporeal object1 the description of which according to its coexistent parts cannot come within the province of poetry4 ,yet this shield1 its material1 its form1 and all the figures which occupied its enormous surface1 ,homer has described1 in more than a hundred magnificent lines1 so circumstantially and precisely that modern artists have found no difficulty in making a drawing of it exact in every detail4 ,my answer to this particular objection is1 that ,i have already answered it4 ,homer does not paint the shield finished1 but in the process of creation4 ,here again he has made use of the happy device of substituting progression for coexistence1 and thus converted the tiresome description of an object into a graphic picture of an action4 ,we see not the shield1 but the divine master-workman employed upon it4 ,hammer and tongs in hand he approaches the anvil2 and1 after having forged the plates from the rough metal1 he makes the pictures designed for its decoration rise from the brass1 one by one1 under his finer blows4 ,not till the whole is finished do we lose sight of him4 ,at last it is done2 and we wonder at the work1 but with the believing wonder of an eyewitness who has seen it a-making4 ,the same cannot be said of the shield of neas in ,virgil4 ,the ,roman poet either failed to see the fineness of his model1 or the things which he wished to represent upon his shield seemed to him not of such a kind as to allow of their being executed before our eyes4 ,they were prophecies1 which the god certainly could not with propriety have uttered in our presence as distinctly as the poet explains them in his work4 ,prophecies1 as such1 require a darker speech1 in which the names of those persons to come1 whose fortunes are predicted1 cannot well be spoken4 ,in these actual names1 however1 lay1 it would seem1 the chief point of interest to the poet and courtier4#aag ,but this1 though it excuse him1 does not do away with the disagreeable effect of his departure from the ,homeric method1 as all readers of taste will admit4 ,the preparations made by ,vulcan are nearly the same in ,homer as in ,virgil4 ,but while in ,homer we see1 besides the preparations for the work1 the work itself1 ,virgil1 after showing us the god at work with his ,cyclops1 ,ingentem clypeum informant 444 444 ,alii ventosis follibus auras ,accipiunt1 redduntque2 alii stridentia tingunt ra lacu4 ,gemit impositis incudibus antrum4 ,illi inter sese multa vi brachia tollunt ,in numerum1 versantque tenaci forcipe massam1#aah suddenly drops the curtain and transports us to a wholly different scene4 ,we are gradually led into the valley where ,venus appears1 bringing neas the arms that in the mean while have been finished4 ,she places them against the trunk of an oak2 and1 after the hero has sufficiently stared at them1 and wondered over them1 and handled them1 and tried them1 the description or picture of the shield begins1 which grows so cold and tedious from the constantly recurring 8here is10 and 8there is10 and 8near by stands10 and 8not far from there is seen10 that all ,virgil's poetic grace is needed to prevent it from becoming intolerable4 ,since1 moreover1 this description is not given by neas1 who delights in the mere figures without any knowledge of their import1 444 rerumque ignarus imagine gaudet1 nor by ,venus1 although she might be supposed to know as much about the fortunes of her dear grandson as her good-natured husband1 but by the poet himself1 the action meanwhile necessarily remains at a stand-still4 ,not a single one of the characters takes part2 nor is what follows in the least affected by the representations on the shield4 ,the subtle courtier1 helping out his material with every manner of flattering allusion1 is apparent throughout2 but no trace do we see of the great genius1 who trusts to the intrinsic merit of his work1 and despises all extraneous means of awakening interest4 ,the shield of neas is therefore1 in fact1 an interpolation1 intended solely to flatter the pride of the ,romans2 a foreign brook with which the poet seeks to give fresh movement to his stream4 ,the shield of ,achilles1 on the contrary1 is the outgrowth of its own fruitful soil4 ,for a shield was needed2 and1 since even what is necessary never comes from the hands of deity devoid of beauty1 the shield had to be ornamented4 ,the art was in treating these ornamentations as such1 and nothing more2 in so weaving them into the material that when we look at that we cannot but see them4 ,this could be accomplished only by the method which ,homer adopted4 ,homer makes ,vulcan devise decorations1 because he is to make a shield worthy of a divine workman4 ,virgil seems to make him fashion the shield for the sake of the decorations1 since he deems these of sufficient importance to deserve a special description long after the shield is finished4 ,,xix4 ,the objections brought against ,homer's shield by the elder ,scaliger1 ,perrault1 ,terrasson1 and others1 are well known1 as are also the answers of ,madame ,dacier1 ,boivin1 and ,pope4 ,but these latter1 it seems to me1 have gone somewhat too far1 and confiding in the justness of their cause have asserted things incorrect in themselves and contributing little to the poet's justification4 ,in answer to the chief objection1 that ,homer had burdened his shield with more figures than there could possibly have been room for1 ,boivin undertook to show in a drawing how the necessary space might be obtained4 ,his idea of the various concentric circles was very ingenious1 although there is no foundation for it in the poet's words and nothing anywhere to indicate that shields divided in this way were known to the ancients4 ,since ,homer calls it 7 7 a shield1 artistically wrought on all sides1 ,i should prefer to gain the required space by turning to account the concave surface4 ,a proof that the old artists did not leave this empty is furnished in the shield of ,minerva by ,phidias4#aai ,but not only does ,boivin fail to seize this advantage1 but1 by separating into two or three pictures what the poet evidently meant for one1 he unnecessarily multiplies the representations while diminishing the space by one-half4 ,i know the motive which led him to this1 but it was one by which he should not have allowed himself to be influenced4 ,he should have shown his opponents the unreasonableness of their demands1 instead of trying to satisfy them4 ,an example will make my meaning clear4 ,when ,homer says of one of the two cities3#abj ' ' ' 1 1 ' ' 4 ' 1 4 ' ' 1 ' ' 1 4 ' ' 1 he refers1 as ,i understand him1 to but a single picture1 that of a public lawsuit about the contested payment of a considerable fine for the committal of a murder4 ,the artist1 who is to execute this design1 can use but a single moment of the action1--that of the accusation1 of the examination of witnesses1 of the pronouncing of the sentence1 or any other preceding or following or intervening moment which may seem to him most fitting4 ,this single moment he makes as pregnant as possible1 and reproduces it with all that power of illusion which in the presentation of visible objects art possesses above poetry4 ,left far behind in this respect1 what remains to the poet1 if his words are to paint the same design with any degree of success1 but to avail himself of his peculiar advantages8 ,these are the liberty of extending his representation over what preceded1 as well as what was to follow1 the artist's single point of time1 and the power of showing not only what the artist shows1 but what he has to leave to our imagination4 ,only by using these advantages can the poet raise himself to a level with the artist4 ,their works most resemble each other when their effect is equally vivid2 not when one brings before the imagination through the ear neither more nor less than the other presents to the eye4 ,had ,boivin defended the passage in ,homer according to this principle1 he would not have divided it into as many separate pictures as he thought he detected distinct points of time4 ,all that ,homer relates could not1 indeed1 be united in a single picture4 ,the accusation and the denial1 the summoning of the witnesses and the shouts of the divided populace1 the efforts of the heralds to quiet the tumult and the sentence of the judges1 are things successive in time1 not coexistent in space4 ,but what is not actually in the picture is there virtually1 and the only true way of representing an actual picture in words is to combine what virtually exists in it with what is absolutely visible4 ,the poet who allows himself to be bound by the limits of art may furnish data for a picture1 but can never create one of his own4 ,the picture of the beleaguered city#aba ,boivin divides likewise into three4 ,he might as well have made twelve out of it as three4 ,for since he has once for all failed to grasp the spirit of the poet1 and requires him to be bound by the unities of a material picture1 he might have discovered many more violations of these unities4 ,in fact he ought almost to have devoted a separate space on the shield to every separate touch of the poet4 ,in my opinion ,homer has but ten different pictures on the whole shield1 every one of which he introduces with 1 or 1 or ' 1 or 1 8on it he wrought10 8on it he placed10 8on it he formed10 8on it ,vulcan skilfully fashioned40#abb ,in the absence of these introductory words we have no right to suppose a distinct picture4 ,on the contrary every thing which they cover must be regarded as a single whole1 wanting in nothing but the arbitrary concentration into one moment of time1 which the poet was in no way bound to observe4 ,had he observed this1 and1 by strictly limiting himself to it1 excluded every little feature which in the material representation would have been inconsistent with this unity of time2 had he in fact done what his cavillers require1--these gentlemen would indeed have had no fault to find with him1 but neither would any person of taste have found aught to admire4 ,pope not only accepted ,boivin's drawing1 but thought he was doing a special service by showing that every one of these mutilated pieces was in accordance with the strictest rules of painting1 as laid down at the present day4 ,contrast1 perspective1 the three unities1 he found1 were all observed in the best possible manner4 ,and although well aware that1 according to the testimony of good and trustworthy witnesses1 painting at the time of the ,trojan war was still in its cradle1 he supposes either that ,homer1 instead of being bound by the achievements of painting at that time or in his own day1 must in virtue of his godlike genius have anticipated all that art should in future be able to accomplish1 or else that the witnesses could not have been so entirely worthy of faith that the direct testimony of this artistic shield should not be preferred to theirs4 ,whoever will1 may accept the former supposition3 the latter1 surely1 no one will be persuaded to adopt who knows any thing more of the history of art than the date of the historians4 ,that painting in the time of ,homer was still in its infancy he believes1 not merely on the authority of ,pliny1 or some other writer1 but chiefly because1 judging from the works of art mentioned by the ancients1 he sees that even centuries later no great progress had been made4 ,the pictures of ,polygnotus1 for instance1 by no means stand the test which ,pope thinks can be successfully applied to ,homer's shield4 ,the two great works by this master at ,delphi1 of which ,pausanias has left a circumstantial description1#abc were evidently wholly wanting in perspective4 ,the ancients had no knowledge of this branch of art1 and what ,pope adduces as proof that ,homer understood it1 only proves that he has a very imperfect understanding of it himself4#abd 8,that ,homer10 he says1 8was not a stranger to aerial perspective appears in his expressly marking the distance of object from object4 ,he tells us1 for instance1 that the two spies lay a little remote from the other figures1 and that the oak under which was spread the banquet of the reapers stood apart4 ,what he says of the valley sprinkled all over with cottages and flocks appears to be a description of a large country in perspective4 ,and1 indeed1 a general argument for this may be drawn from the number of figures on the shield1 which could not be all expressed in their full size2 and this is therefore a sort of proof that the art of lessening them according to perspective was known at that time40 ,the mere representing of an object at a distance as smaller than it would be if nearer the eye1 by no means constitutes perspective in a picture4 ,perspective requires a single point of view2 a definite1 natural horizon2 and this was wanting in the old pictures4 ,in the paintings of ,polygnotus the ground1 instead of being level1 rose so decidedly at the back that the figures which were meant to stand behind seemed to be standing above one another4 ,if this was the usual position of the various figures and groups1--and that it was so may fairly be concluded from the old bas-reliefs1 where those behind always stand higher than those in front1 and look over their heads1--then we may reasonably take it for granted in ,homer1 and should not unnecessarily dismember those representations of his1 which according to this treatment might be united in a single picture4 ,the double scene in the peaceful city1 through whose streets a joyous marriage train was moving at the same time that an important trial was going on in the market-place1 requires thus no double picture4 ,homer could very well think of it as one1 since he imagined himself to be overlooking the city from such a height as to command at once a view of the streets and the market4 ,my opinion is that perspective in pictures came incidentally from scene-painting1 which was already in its perfection4 ,but the applications of its rules to a single smooth surface was evidently no easy matter2 for1 even in the later paintings found among the antiquities of ,herculaneum1 there are many and various offences against perspective1 which would now hardly be excusable even in a beginner4#abe ,but ,i will spare myself the labor of collecting my desultory observations on a point whereon ,i may hope to receive complete satisfaction from ,winkelmann's promised 8,history of ,art40#abf ,,xx4 ,to return1 then1 to my road1 if a saunterer can be said to have a road4 ,what ,i have been saying of bodily objects in general applies with even more force to those which are beautiful4 ,physical beauty results from the harmonious action of various parts which can be taken in at a glance4 ,it therefore requires that these parts should lie near together2 and1 since things whose parts lie near together are the proper subjects of painting1 this art and this alone can imitate physical beauty4 ,the poet1 who must necessarily detail in succession the elements of beauty1 should therefore desist entirely from the description of physical beauty as such4 ,he must feel that these elements arranged in a series cannot possibly produce the same effect as in juxtaposition2 that the concentrating glance which we try to cast back over them immediately after their enumeration1 gives us no harmonious picture2 and that to conceive the effect of certain eyes1 a certain mouth and nose taken together1 unless we can recall a similar combination of such parts in nature or art1 surpasses the power of human imagination4 ,here again ,homer is the model of all models4 ,he says1 ,nireus was fair2 ,achilles was fairer2 ,helen was of godlike beauty4 ,but he is nowhere betrayed into a more detailed description of these beauties4 ,yet the whole poem is based upon the loveliness of ,helen4 ,how a modern poet would have revelled in descriptions of it6 ,even ,constantinus ,manasses sought to adorn his bald chronicle with a picture of ,helen4 ,i must thank him for the attempt1 for ,i really should not know where else to turn for so striking an example of the folly of venturing on what ,homer's wisdom forbore to undertake4 ,when ,i read in him3#abg 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 it is like seeing stones rolled up a mountain1#abh on whose summit they are to be built into a gorgeous edifice2 but which all roll down of themselves on the other side4 ,what picture does this crowd of words leave behind8 ,how did ,helen look8 ,no two readers out of a thousand would receive the same impression of her4 ,but political verses by a monk are1 it is true1 no poetry4 ,let us hear ,ariosto describe his enchantress ,alcina3#abi-- ,di persona era tanto ben formata1 ,quanto mai finger san pittori industri4 ,con bionda chioma1 lunga e annodata1 ,oro non 1 che piu risplenda e lustri4 ,spargeasi per la guancia delicata ,misto color di rose e di ligustri4 ,di terso avorio era la fronte lieta1 ,che lo spazio finia con giusta meta4 ,sotto due negri1 e sottilissimi archi ,son due negri1 occhi1 anzi due chiari soli ,pietosi a riguardar1 a mover parchi1 ,intorno a cui par ch' ,amor scherzi1 e voli1 ,e ch' indi tutta la faretra scarchi1 ,e che visibilmente i cori involi4 ,quindi il naso per mezzo il viso scende ,che non trova l' invidia ove l' emende4 ,sotto quel sta1 quasi fra due vallette1 ,la bocca sparsa di natio cinabro1 ,quivi due filze son di perle elette1 ,che chiude1 ed apre un bello e dolce labro2 ,quindi escon le cortesi parolette1 ,da render molle ogni cor rozzo e scabro2 ,quivi si forma quel soave riso1 ,ch' apre a sua posta in terra il paradiso4 ,bianca neve il pel collo1 e 'l petto latte1 ,il collo tondo1 il petto colmo e largo2 ,due pome acerbe1 e pur d' avorio fatte1 ,vengono e van1 come onda al primo margo1 ,quando piacevole aura il mar combatte4 ,non potria l' altre parti veder ,argo1 ,ben si pu giudicar1 che corrisponde1 ,a quel ch' appar di fuor1 quel che s' asconde4 ,mostran le braccia sua misura giusta1 ,et la candida man spesso si vede1 ,lunghetta alquanto1 e di larghezza angusta1 ,dove n nodo appar1 n vena eccede4 ,si vede al fin de la persona augusta ,il breve1 asciutto1 e ritondetto piede4 ,gli angelici sembianti nati in cielo ,non si ponno celar sotto alcun velo4 ,milton1 speaking of ,pandemonium1 says3-- ,the work some praise1 and some the architect4 ,praise of one1 then1 is not always praise of the other4 ,a work of art may merit great approbation without redounding much to the credit of the artist2 and1 again1 an artist may justly claim our admiration1 even when his work does not entirely satisfy us4 ,by bearing this in mind we can often reconcile contradictory judgments1 as in the present case4 ,dolce1 in his dialogues on painting1 makes ,aretino speak in terms of the highest praise of the above-quoted stanzas1#acj while ,i select them as an instance of painting without picture4 ,we are both right4 ,dolce admires the knowledge of physical beauty which the poet shows3 ,i consider only the effect which this knowledge1 conveyed in words1 produces on my imagination4 ,dolce concludes from this knowledge that good poets are no less good painters3 ,i1 judging from the effect1 conclude that what painters can best express by lines and colors is least capable of expression in words4 ,dolce recommends ,ariosto's description to all painters as a perfect model of a beautiful woman3 ,i recommend it to all poets as the most instructive of warnings not to attempt1 with still greater want of success1 what could not but fail when tried by an ,ariosto4 ,it may be that when the poet says1-- ,di persona era tanto ben formata1 ,quanto mai finger san pittori industri1 he proves himself to have had a complete knowledge of the laws of perspective1 such as only the most industrious artist can acquire from a study of nature and of ancient art4#aca ,in the words1-- ,spargeasi per la guancia delicata ,misto color di rose e di ligustri1 he may show himself to be a perfect master of color1--a very ,titian4#acb ,his comparing ,alcina's hair to gold1 instead of calling it golden hair1 may be taken as proof that he objected to the use of actual gold in coloring4#acc ,we may even discover in the descending nose the profile of those old ,greek noses1 afterwards borrowed by ,roman artists from the ,greek masterpieces4#acd ,of what use is all this insight and learning to us readers who want to fancy we are looking at a beautiful woman1 and desire to feel that gentle quickening of the pulses which accompanies the sight of actual beauty8 ,the poet may know the relations from which beauty springs1 but does that make us know them8 ,or1 if we know them1 does he show them to us here8 or does he help us in the least to call up a vivid image of them8 ,a brow that forms a fitting bound1 ,che lo spazio finia con giusta meta2 ,a nose where envy itself finds nothing to amend1 ,che non trova l' invidia1 ove l' emende2 ,a hand1 narrow1 and somewhat long1 ,lunghetta alquanto1 e di larghezza angusta2 what sort of a picture do these general formul give us8 ,in the mouth of a drawing-master1 directing his pupils' attention to the beauties of the academic model1 they might have some meaning4 ,for the students would have but to look at the model to see the fitting bounds of the gay forehead1 the fine cut of the nose1 and the slenderness of the pretty hand4 ,but in the poem ,i see nothing1 and am only tormented by the futility of all my attempts to see any thing4 ,in this respect ,virgil1 by imitating ,homer's reticence1 has achieved tolerable success4 ,his ,dido is only the most beautiful 7pulcherrima7 ,dido4 ,any further details which he may give1 have reference to her rich ornaments and magnificent dress4 ,tandem progreditur 444 ,sidoniam picto chlamydem circumdata limbo3 ,cui pharetra ex auro1 crines nodantur in aurum1 ,aurea purpuream subnectit fibula vestem4#ace ,if1 on this account1 any should apply to him what the old artist said to one of his pupils who had painted a gayly decked ,helen1--8,since you could not paint her beautiful1 you have painted her rich10--,virgil would answer3 8,i am not to blame that ,i could not paint her beautiful4 ,the fault lies in the limits of my art1 within which it is my merit to have kept40 ,i must not forget here the two odes of ,anacreon wherein he analyzes the beauty of his mistress and of ,bathyllus4#acf ,the device which he uses entirely justifies the analysis4 ,he imagines that he has before him a painter who is working from his description4 8,thus paint me the hair10 he says2 8thus the brow1 the eyes1 the mouth2 thus the neck and bosom1 the thighs and hands40 ,as the artist could execute but one detail at a time1 the poet was obliged to give them to him thus piecemeal4 ,his object is not to make us see and feel1 in these spoken directions to the painter1 the whole beauty of the beloved object4 ,he is conscious of the inadequacy of all verbal expression2 and for that reason summons to his aid the expression of art1 whose power of illusion he so extols1 that the whole song seems rather a eulogium of art than of his lady4 ,he sees not the picture but herself1 and fancies she is about to open her mouth to speak4 4 1 1 4 ,so1 too1 in his ode to ,bathyllus1 the praises of the beautiful boy are so mingled with praises of art and the artist1 that we are in doubt in whose honor the song was really written4 ,he selects the most beautiful parts from various pictures1 the parts for which the pictures were remarkable4 ,he takes the neck from an ,adonis1 breast and hands from a ,mercury1 the thighs from a ,pollux1 the belly from a ,bacchus1 until he has the whole ,bathyllus as a finished ,apollo from the artist's hand4 1 1 1 1 4 1 4 ,thus ,lucian1 to give an idea of the beauty of ,panthea1 points to the most beautiful female statues by the old sculptors4#acg ,what is this but a confession that here language of itself is powerless2 that poetry stammers1 and eloquence grows dumb1 unless art serve as interpreter4 ,,xxi4 ,but are we not robbing poetry of too much by taking from her all pictures of physical beauty8 ,who seeks to take them from her8 ,we are only warning her against trying to arrive at them by a particular road1 where she will blindly grope her way in the footsteps of a sister art without ever reaching the goal4 ,we are not closing against her other roads whereon art can follow only with her eyes4 ,homer himself1 who so persistently refrains from all detailed descriptions of physical beauty1 that we barely learn1 from a passing mention1 that ,helen had white arms#ach and beautiful hair1#aci even he manages nevertheless to give us an idea of her beauty1 which far surpasses any thing that art could do4 ,recall the passage where ,helen enters the assembly of the ,trojan elders4 ,the venerable men see her coming1 and one says to the others3#adj-- ' 4 ,what can give a more vivid idea of her beauty than that cold-blooded age should deem it well worth the war which had cost so much blood and so many tears8 ,what ,homer could not describe in its details1 he shows us by its effect4 ,paint us1 ye poets1 the delight1 the attraction1 the love1 the enchantment of beauty1 and you have painted beauty itself4 ,who can think of ,sappho's beloved1 the sight of whom1 as she confesses1 robs her of sense and thought1 as ugly8 ,we seem to be gazing on a beautiful and perfect form1 when we sympathize with the emotions which only such a form can produce4 ,it is not ,ovid's minute description of the beauties of his ,lesbia1-- ,quos humeros1 quales vidi tetigique lacertos6 ,forma papillarum quam fuit apta premi6 ,quam castigato planus sub pectore venter6 ,quantum et quale latus6 quam juvenile femur6 that makes us fancy we are enjoying the same sight which he enjoyed2 but because he gives the details with a sensuousness which stirs the passions4 ,yet another way in which poetry surpasses art in the description of physical beauty1 is by turning beauty into charm4 ,charm is beauty in motion1 and therefore less adapted to the painter than the poet4 ,the painter can suggest motion1 but his figures are really destitute of it4 ,charm therefore in a picture becomes grimace1 while in poetry it remains what it is1 a transitory beauty1 which we would fain see repeated4 ,it comes and goes1 and since we can recall a motion more vividly and easily than mere forms and colors1 charm must affect us more strongly than beauty under the same conditions4 ,all that touches and pleases in the picture of ,alcina is charm4 ,her eyes impress us not from their blackness and fire1 but because they are-- ,pietosi a riguardar1 a mover parchi1 they move slowly and with gracious glances1 because ,cupid sports around them and shoots from them his arrows4 ,her mouth pleases1 not because vermilion lips enclose two rows of orient pearls1 but because of the gentle smile1 which opens a paradise on earth1 and of the courteous accents that melt the rudest heart4 ,the enchantment of her bosom lies not so much in the milk and ivory and apples1 that typify its whiteness and graceful form1 as in its gentle heavings1 like the rise and fall of waves under a pleasant breeze4 ,due pome acerbe1 e pur d' avorio fatte1 ,vengono e van1 come onda al primo margo1 ,quando piacevole aura il mar combatte4 ,i am convinced that such traits as these1 compressed into one or two stanzas1 would be far more effective than the five over which ,ariosto has spread them1 interspersed with cold descriptions of form much too learned for our sensibilities4 ,anacreon preferred the apparent absurdity of requiring impossibilities of the artist1 to leaving the image of his mistress unenlivened with these mobile charms4 ' 4 ,he bids the artist let all the graces hover about her tender chin and marble neck4 ,how so8 literally8 ,but that is beyond the power of art4 ,the painter could give the chin the most graceful curve and the prettiest dimple1 ,amoris digitulo impressum 7for the here seems to me to mean dimple72 he could give the neck the softest pink1 but that is all4 ,the motion of that beautiful neck1 the play of the muscles1 now deepening and now half concealing the dimple1 the essential charm exceeded his powers4 ,the poet went to the limits of his art in the attempt to give us a vivid picture of beauty1 in order that the painter might seek the highest expression in his4 ,here we have1 therefore1 a fresh illustration of what was urged above1 that the poet1 even when speaking of a painting or statue1 is not bound to confine his description within the limits of art4 ,,xxii4 ,zeuxis painted a ,helen1 and had the courage to write beneath his picture those famous lines of ,homer wherein the elders express their admiration of her beauty4 ,never did painting and poetry engage in closer rivalry4 ,victory remained undecided1 and both deserved to be crowned4 ,for as the wise poet showed us only in its effects the beauty which he felt the impossibility of describing in detail1 so the equally wise painter exhibited beauty solely through its details1 deeming it unworthy of his art to have recourse to any outward aids4 ,his whole picture was the naked figure of ,helen4 ,for it was probably the same that he painted for the people of ,cortona4#ada ,let us1 for curiosity's sake1 compare with this ,caylus's picture as sketched for modern artists from the same lines of ,homer4 8,helen1 covered with a white veil1 appears in the midst of several old men1 ,priam among the number1 who should be at once recognizable by the emblems of his royal dignity4 ,the artist must especially exert his skill to make us feel the triumph of beauty in the eager glances and expressions of astonished admiration on the countenances of the old men4 ,the scene is over one of the gates of the town4 ,the background of the painting may be lost either in the open sky or against the higher buildings of the town4 ,the first would be the bolder1 but the one would be as suitable as the other40 ,imagine this picture1 executed by the greatest master of our time1 and compare it with the work of ,zeuxis4 ,which will show the real triumph of beauty8 ,this1 where ,i feel it myself1 or that1 where ,i am to infer it from the grimaces of admiring graybeards8 8,turpe senilis amor60 ,looks of desire make the most reverend face ridiculous1 and an old man who shows the cravings of youth is an object of disgust4 ,this reproach cannot be brought against the ,homeric elders4 ,theirs is but a passing spark of feeling which wisdom instantly stifles2 an emotion which does honor to ,helen without disgracing themselves4 ,they acknowledge their admiration1 but add at once1#adb-- 1 '1 1 ' ' 4 ,this decision saves them from being the old coxcombs which they look like in ,caylus's picture4 ,and what is the sight that fixes their eager looks8 ,a veiled1 muffled figure4 ,is that ,helen8 ,i cannot conceive what induced ,caylus to make her wear a veil4 ,homer1 to be sure1 expressly gives her one1 ' ' 1 8,she left her chamber1 robed and veiled in white10 but only to cross the street in4 ,and although he makes the elders express their admiration before she could have had time to take it off or throw it back1 yet they were not seeing her then for the first time4 ,their confession need not therefore have been caused by the present hasty glance4 ,they might often have felt what1 on this occasion1 they first acknowledged4 ,there is nothing of this in the picture4 ,when ,i behold the ecstasy of those old men1 ,i want to see the cause1 and1 as ,i say1 am exceedingly surprised to perceive nothing but a veiled1 muffled figure1 at which they are staring with such devotion4 ,what of ,helen is there8 ,her white veil and something of her outline1 as far as outline can be traced beneath drapery4 ,but perhaps the ,count did not mean that her face should be covered4 ,in that case1 although his words--8,hlne couverte d'un voile blanc0--hardly admit of such an interpretation1 another point excites my surprise4 ,he recommends to the artist great care in the expression of the old men's faces1 and wastes not a word upon the beauty of ,helen's4 ,this modest beauty1 approaching timidly1 her eyes moist with repentant tears1--is1 then1 the highest beauty so much a matter of course to our artists1 that they need not be reminded of it8 or is expression more than beauty8 or is it with pictures as with the stage1 where we are accustomed to accept the ugliest of actresses for a ravishing princess1 if her prince only express the proper degree of passion for her4 ,truly this picture of ,caylus would be to that of ,zeuxis as pantomime to the most sublime of poetry4 ,homer was unquestionably more read formerly than now1 yet we do not find mention of many pictures drawn from him even by the old artists4#adc ,they seem diligently to have availed themselves of any individual physical beauties which he may have pointed out4 ,they painted these1 well knowing that in this department alone they could vie with the poet with any chance of success4 ,zeuxis painted besides ,helen a ,penelope1 and the ,diana of ,apelles was the goddess of ,homer attended by her nymphs4 ,i will take this opportunity of saying that the passage in ,pliny referring to this picture of ,apelles needs correcting4#add ,but to paint scenes from ,homer merely because they afforded a rich composition1 striking contrasts1 and artistic shading1 seems not to have been to the taste of the old artists2 nor could it be1 so long as art kept within the narrow limits of its own high calling4 ,they fed upon the spirit of the poet1 and filled their imagination with his noblest traits4 ,the fire of his enthusiasm kindled theirs4 ,they saw and felt with him4 ,thus their works became copies of the ,homeric1 not in the relation of portrait to original1 but in the relation of a son to a father1--like1 but different4 ,the whole resemblance often lies in a single trait1 the other parts being alike in nothing but in their harmony with that4 ,since1 moreover1 the ,homeric masterpieces of poetry were older than any masterpiece of art1 for ,homer had observed nature with the eye of an artist before either ,phidias or ,apelles1 the artists naturally found ready made in his poems many valuable observations1 which they had not yet had time to make for themselves4 ,these they eagerly seized upon1 in order that1 through ,homer1 they might copy nature4 ,phidias acknowledged that the lines1#ade-- ' ' ' ' 1 served him as the model of his ,olympian ,jupiter1 and that only through their help had he succeeded in making a godlike countenance1 8propemodum ex ipso clo petitum40 ,whoever understands by this merely that the imagination of the artist was fired by the poet's sublime picture1 and thus made capable of equally sublime representations1 overlooks1 ,i think1 the chief point1 and contents himself with a general statement where something very special and much more satisfactory is meant4 ,phidias here acknowledges also1 as ,i understand him1 that this passage first led him to notice how much expression lies in the eyebrows1 8quanta pars animi0 is shown in them4 ,perhaps it further induced him to bestow more attention upon the hair1 in order to express in some degree what ,homer calls ambrosial curls4 ,for it is certain that the old artists before ,phidias had very little idea of the language and significance of the features1 and particularly neglected the hair4 ,even ,myron was faulty in both these respects1 as ,pliny observes1#adf and1 according to the same authority1 ,pythagoras ,leontinus was the first who distinguished himself by the beauty of his hair4 ,other artists learned from the works of ,phidias what ,phidias had learned from ,homer4 ,i will mention another example of the same kind which has always given me particular pleasure4 ,hogarth passes the following criticism on the ,apollo ,belvidere4#adg 8,these two masterpieces of art1 the ,apollo and the ,antinous1 are seen together in the same palace at ,rome1 where the ,antinous fills the spectator with admiration only1 whilst the ,apollo strikes him with surprise1 and1 as travellers express themselves1 with an appearance of something more than human1 which they of course are always at a loss to describe2 and this effect1 they say1 is the more astonishing1 as1 upon examination1 its disproportion is evident even to a common eye4 ,one of the best sculptors we have in ,england1 who lately went to see them1 confirmed to me what has been now said1 particularly as to the legs and thighs being too long and too large for the upper parts4 ,and ,andrea ,sacchi1 one of the great ,italian painters1 seems to have been of the same opinion1 or he would hardly have given his ,apollo1 crowning ,pasquilini the musician1 the exact proportion of the ,antinous 7in a famous picture of his now in ,england71 as otherwise it seems to be a direct copy from the ,apollo4 8,although in very great works we often see an inferior part neglected1 yet here this cannot be the case1 because in a fine statue1 just proportion is one of its essential beauties2 therefore it stands to reason1 that these limbs must have been lengthened on purpose1 otherwise it might easily have been avoided4 8,so that if we examine the beauties of this figure thoroughly1 we may reasonably conclude1 that what has been hitherto thought so unaccountably excellent in its general appearance1 hath been owing to what hath seemed a blemish in a part of it40 ,all this is very suggestive4 ,homer also1 ,i would add1 had already felt and noticed the same thing1--that an appearance of nobility is produced by a disproportionate size of the foot and thigh4 ,for1 when ,antenor is comparing the figure of ,ulysses with that of ,menelaus1 he says1#adh-- 1 ' 1 4 8,when both were standing ,menelaus overtopped him by his broad shoulders2 but when both were sitting1 ,ulysses was the more majestic40 ,since1 when seated1 ,ulysses gained in dignity what ,menelaus lost1 we can easily tell the proportion which the upper part of the body in each bore to the feet and thighs4 ,in ,ulysses the upper part was large in proportion to the lower3 in ,menelaus the size of the lower parts was large in proportion to that of the upper4 ,,xxiii4 ,a single incongruous part may destroy the harmonious effect of many beauties1 without1 however1 making the object ugly4 ,ugliness requires the presence of several incongruous parts which we must be able to take in at a glance if the effect produced is to be the opposite of that which we call beauty4 ,accordingly ugliness in itself can be no subject for poetry4 ,yet ,homer has described its extreme in ,thersites1 and described it by its coexistent parts4 ,why did he allow himself in the case of ugliness what he wisely refrained from as regards beauty8 ,will not the effect of ugliness be as much hindered by the successive enumeration of its elements1 as the effect of beauty is neutralized by a similar treatment8 ,certainly it will1 and therein lies ,homer's justification4 ,the poet can make ugliness his theme only because it acquires through his description a less repulsive aspect1 and ceases in a measure to produce the effect of ugliness4 ,what he cannot employ by itself1 he uses as an ingredient to excite and strengthen certain mixed impressions1 with which he must entertain us in the absence of those purely agreeable4 ,these mixed sensations are those of the ridiculous and the horrible4 ,homer makes ,thersites ugly in order to make him ridiculous4 ,mere ugliness1 however1 would not have this effect4 ,ugliness is imperfection1 and the ridiculous requires a contrast between perfections and imperfections4#adi ,this is the explanation of my friend1 to which ,i would add that this contrast must not be too sharp and decided1 but that the opposites must be such as admit of being blended into each other4 ,all the ugliness of ,thersites has not made the wise and virtuous sop ridiculous4 ,a silly1 monkish conceit sought to transfer to the writer the of his instructive fables by representing his person as deformed4 ,but a misshapen body and a beautiful soul are like oil and vinegar1 which1 however much they may be stirred together1 will always remain distinct to the taste4 ,they give rise to no third4 ,each one produces its own effect1--the body distaste1 the soul delight4 ,the two emotions blend into one only when the misshapen body is at the same time frail and sickly1 a hinderance and source of injury to the mind4 ,the result1 however1 is not laughter1 but compassion2 and the object1 which before we had simply respected1 now excites our interest4 ,the frail1 misshapen ,pope must have been more interesting to his friends than the strong1 handsome ,wycherley4 ,but although ,thersites is not ridiculous on account of his ugliness alone1 he would not be ridiculous without it4 ,many elements work together to produce this result2 the ugliness of his person corresponding with that of his character1 and both contrasting with the idea he entertains of his own importance1 together with the harmlessness1 except to himself1 of his malicious tongue4 ,the last point is the 7the undeadly71 which ,aristotle#aej takes to be an indispensable element of the ridiculous4 ,my friend also makes it a necessary condition that the contrast should be unimportant1 and not interest us greatly4 ,for1 suppose that ,thersites had had to pay dearly for his spiteful detraction of ,agamemnon1 that it had cost him his life instead of a couple of bloody wales1 then we should cease to laugh at him4 ,to test the justice of this1 let us read his death in ,quintus ,calaber4#aea ,achilles regrets having slain ,penthesilea4 ,her noble blood1 so bravely shed1 claims the hero's respect and compassion1 feelings which soon grow into love4 ,the slanderous ,thersites turns this love into a crime4 ,he inveighs against the sensuality which betrays even the bravest of men into follies3 ' 4 ,achilles' wrath is kindled4 ,without a word he deals him such a blow between cheek and ear that teeth1 blood1 and life gush from the wound4 ,this is too barbarous4 ,the angry1 murderous ,achilles becomes more an object of hate to me than the tricky1 snarling ,thersites4 ,the shout of delight raised by the ,greeks at the deed offends me4 ,my sympathies are with ,diomedes1 whose sword is drawn on the instant to take vengeance on the murderer of his kinsman4 ,for ,thersites as a man is of my kin also4 ,but suppose that the attempts of ,thersites had resulted in open mutiny2 that the rebellious people had actually taken to the ships1 and treacherously abandoned their commanders1 who thereupon had fallen into the hands of a vindictive enemy2 and that the judgment of the gods had decreed total destruction to fleet and nation3 how should we then view the ugliness of ,thersites8 ,although harmless ugliness may be ridiculous1 hurtful ugliness is always horrible4 ,i cannot better illustrate this than by a couple of admirable passages from ,shakespeare4 ,edmund1 bastard son of the ,earl of ,gloucester in ,king ,lear1 is no less a villain than ,richard1 ,duke of ,gloucester1 who1 by the most hideous crimes1 paved his way to the throne1 which he ascended under the title of ,richard the ,third4 ,why does he excite in us far less disgust and horror8 ,when the bastard says1#aeb-- ,thou1 nature1 art my goddess2 to thy law ,my services are bound2 wherefore should ,i ,stand in the plague of custom1 and permit ,the curiosity of nations to deprive me1 ,for that ,i am some twelve or fourteen moonshines ,lag of a brother8 ,why bastard8 wherefore base8 ,when my dimensions are as well compact1 ,my mind as generous1 and my shape as true ,as honest ,madam's issue8 why brand they thus ,with base8 with baseness8 bastardy8 base1 base8 ,who1 in the lusty stealth of nature1 take ,more composition and fierce quality1 ,than doth1 within a dull1 stale1 tired bed1 ,go to creating a whole tribe of fops ,got 'tween asleep and wake8 ,i hear a devil speaking1 but in the form of an angel of light4 ,when1 on the contrary1 the ,earl of ,gloucester says1#aec-- ,but ,i1--that am not shaped for sportive tricks1 ,nor made to court an amorous looking-glass2 ,i1 that am rudely stamped1 and want love's majesty2 ,to strut before a wanton1 ambling nymph2 ,i1 that am curtailed of this fair proportion1 ,cheated of feature by dissembling nature1 ,deformed1 unfinished1 sent before my time ,into this breathing world1 scarce half made up1 ,and that so lamely and unfashionably1 ,that dogs bark at me as ,i halt by them2 ,why ,i1 in this weak piping time of peace1 ,have no delight to pass away the time2 ,unless to spy my shadow in the sun1 ,and descant on mine own deformity2 ,and1 therefore1 since ,i cannot prove a lover1 ,to entertain these fair1 well-spoken days1 ,i am determined to prove a villain4 ,i hear a devil and see a devil1 in a shape which only the devil should wear4 ,,xxiv4 ,such is the use which the poet makes of ugliness of form4 ,how can the painter legitimately employ it8 ,painting as imitative skill can express ugliness2 painting as a fine art will not express it4 ,in the former capacity its sphere extends over all visible objects2 in the latter it confines itself to those which produce agreeable impressions4 ,but do not disagreeable impressions please in the imitation8 ,not all4 ,an acute critic has already remarked this in respect of disgust4#aed 8,representations of fear10 he says1 8of sadness1 horror1 compassion1 c41 arouse painful emotions only in so far as we believe the evil to be actual4 ,the consideration that it is but an illusion of art may resolve these disagreeable sensations into those of pleasure4 ,but1 according to the laws of imagination1 the disagreeable sensation of disgust arises from the mere representation in the mind1 whether the object be thought actually to exist or not4 ,no matter how apparent the art of the imitation1 our wounded sensibilities are not relieved4 ,our discomfort arose not from the belief that the evil was actual1 but from the mere representation which is actually present4 ,the feeling of disgust1 therefore1 comes always from nature1 never from imitation40 ,the same criticism is applicable to physical ugliness4 ,this also wounds our sight1 offends our taste for order and harmony1 and excites aversion without regard to the actual existence of the object in which we perceive it4 ,we wish to see neither ,thersites himself nor his image4 ,if his image be the less displeasing1 the reason is not that ugliness of shape ceases to be ugly in the imitation1 but that we possess the power of diverting our minds from this ugliness by admiration of the artist's skill4 ,but this satisfaction is constantly disturbed by the thought of the unworthy use to which art has been put1 and our esteem for the artist is thereby greatly diminished4 ,aristotle adduces another reason#aee for the pleasure we take in even the most faithful copy of what in nature is disagreeable4 ,he attributes this pleasure to man's universal desire for knowledge4 ,we are pleased when we can learn from a copy 1 what each and every thing is1 or when we can conclude from it 1 that it is the very thing we already know4 ,but this is no argument in favor of the imitation of ugliness4 ,the pleasure which arises from the gratification of our desire for knowledge is momentary and only incidental to the object with regard to which it has been satisfied1 whereas the discomfort which accompanies the sight of ugliness is permanent1 and essential to the object causing it4 ,how1 then1 can one counterbalance the other8 ,still less can the trifling entertainment of tracing a likeness overcome the unpleasant impression produced by ugliness4 ,the more closely ,i compare the ugly copy with the ugly original1 the more ,i expose myself to this influence1 so that the pleasure of the comparison soon disappears1 leaving nothing behind but the painful impression of this twofold ugliness4 ,from the examples given by ,aristotle he appears not to include ugliness of form among the disagreeable things which may give pleasure in the imitation4 ,his examples are wild beasts and dead bodies4 ,wild beasts excite terror even when they are not ugly2 and this terror1 not their ugliness1 may be made to produce sensations of pleasure through imitation4 ,so also of dead bodies4 ,keenness of sympathy1 the dreadful thought of our own annihilation1 make a dead body in nature an object of aversion4 ,in the imitation the sense of illusion robs sympathy of its sharpness1 and1 by the addition of various palliating circumstances1 that disturbing element may be either entirely banished or so inseparably interwoven with these softening features1 that terror is almost lost in desire4 ,since1 then1 ugliness of form1 from its exciting sensations of pain of a kind incapable of being converted by imitation into pleasurable emotions1 cannot in itself be a fitting subject for painting as a fine art1 the question arises whether it may not be employed in painting as in poetry as an ingredient for strengthening other sensations4 ,may painting make use of deformity in the attainment of the ridiculous and horrible8 ,i will not venture to answer this question absolutely in the negative4 ,unquestionably1 harmless ugliness can be ridiculous in painting also1 especially when united with an affectation of grace and dignity4 ,equally beyond question is it that hurtful ugliness excites terror in a picture as well as in nature1 and that the ridiculous and the terrible1 in themselves mixed sensations1 acquire through imitation an added degree of fascination4 ,but ,i must call attention to the fact that painting and poetry do not stand upon the same footing in this respect4 ,in poetry1 as ,i have observed1 ugliness of form loses its disagreeable effect almost entirely by the successive enumeration of its coexistent parts4 ,as far as effect is concerned it almost ceases to be ugliness1 and can thus more closely combine with other appearances to produce new and different impressions4 ,but in painting ugliness is before our eyes in all its strength1 and affects us scarcely less powerfully than in nature itself4 ,harmless ugliness cannot1 therefore1 long remain ridiculous4 ,the disagreeable impression gains the mastery1 and what was at first amusing becomes at last repulsive4 ,nor is the case different with hurtful ugliness4 ,the element of terror gradually disappears1 leaving the deformity unchanging and unrelieved4 ,count ,caylus was therefore right in omitting the episode of ,thersites from his series of ,homeric pictures4 ,but are we justified in wishing it out of ,homer8 ,i perceive with regret that this is done by one critic whose taste is otherwise unerring4#aef ,i postpone further discussion of the subject to a future occasion4 ,,xxv4 ,the second distinction mentioned by the critic just quoted1 between disgust and other disagreeable emotions1 appears in the distaste which deformity excites in us4 8,other disagreeable passions10 he says1#aeg 8may sometimes1 in nature as well as in art1 produce gratification1 because they never arouse pure pain4 ,their bitterness is always mixed with satisfaction4 ,our fear is seldom devoid of hope2 terror rouses all our powers to escape the danger2 anger is mixed with a desire for vengeance2 sadness1 with the pleasant recollection of former happiness2 and compassion is inseparable from the tender sentiments of love and good-will4 ,the mind is at liberty to dwell now on the agreeable1 and now on the disagreeable side1 and thus to obtain a mingling of pleasure and pain1 more delightful than the purest pleasure4 ,very little study of ourselves will furnish us with abundant instances4 ,why else is his anger dearer to an angry man and his sadness to a melancholy one1 than all the cheerful images by which we strive to soothe him8 ,quite different is the case with disgust and its kindred sensations4 ,here the mind is conscious of no perceptible admixture of pleasure4 ,a feeling of uneasiness gains the mastery1 and under no imaginable conditions in nature or art would the mind fail to recoil with aversion from representations of this nature40 ,very true2 but1 since the critic acknowledges the existence of other sensations nearly akin to that of disgust1 and producing1 like that1 nothing but pain1 what answers more nearly to this description than emotions excited by the sight of physical deformity8 ,these are not only kindred to that of disgust1 but they resemble it in being destitute of all admixture of pleasure in art as well as in nature4 ,under no imaginable conditions1 therefore1 would the mind fail to recoil with aversion from such representations4 ,this aversion1 if ,i have analyzed my feelings with sufficient care1 is altogether of the nature of disgust4 ,the sensation which accompanies the sight of physical deformity is disgust1 though a low degree of it4 ,this1 indeed1 is at variance with another remark of our critic1 according to which only our more occult senses--those of taste1 smell1 and touch--are capable of receiving impressions of disgust4 8,the first two10 he says1 8from an excessive sweetness1 and the latter from an extreme softness of bodies which offer too slight resistance to the fibres coming in contact with them4 ,such objects1 then1 become intolerable to the sight1 but solely through the association of ideas1 because we remember how disagreeable they were to our sense of taste1 smell1 or touch4 ,for1 strictly speaking1 there are no objects of disgust to the eyes40 ,i think1 however1 that some might be mentioned4 ,a mole on the face1 a hare-lip1 a flattened nose with prominent nostrils1 are deformities which offend neither taste1 smell1 nor touch4 ,yet the sight of them excites in us something much more nearly resembling disgust than we feel at sight of other malformations1 such as a club-foot or a hump on the back4 ,the more susceptible the temperament1 the more distinctly are we conscious1 when looking at such objects1 of those motions in the body which precede nausea4 ,that these motions soon subside1 and rarely if ever result in actual sickness1 is to be explained by the fact that the eye receives in and with the objects causing them such a number of pleasing images that the disagreeable impressions are too much weakened and obscured to exert any marked influence on the body4 ,the more occult senses of taste1 smell1 and touch1 on the contrary1 cannot receive other impressions when in contact with the repulsive object4 ,the element of disgust operates in full force1 and necessarily produces much more violent effects upon the body4 ,the same rules hold of things loathsome as of things ugly1 in respect of imitation4 ,indeed1 since the disagreeable effect of the former is the more violent1 they are still less suitable subjects of painting or poetry4 ,only because the effect is softened by verbal expression1 did ,i venture to assert that the poet might employ certain loathsome traits as an ingredient in such mixed sensations as can with good effect be strengthened by the use of ugliness4 ,the ridiculous may be heightened by an element of disgust2 representations of dignity and propriety likewise become ludicrous when brought into contrast with the disgusting4 ,examples of this abound in ,aristophanes4 ,i am reminded of the weasel that interrupted the worthy ,socrates in his astronomical observations4#aeh 4 ' 4 4 2 4 4 1 ' 4 4 4 ,if what fell into the open mouth had not been disgusting1 there would be nothing ludicrous in the story4 ,an amusing instance of this occurs in the ,hottentot story of ,tquassouw and ,knonmquaiha1 attributed to ,lord ,chesterfield1 which appeared in the 8,connoisseur10 an ,english weekly1 full of wit and humor4 ,the filthiness of the ,hottentots is well known1 as also the fact of their regarding as beautiful and holy what excites our disgust and aversion4 ,the pressed gristle of a nose1 flaccid breasts descending to the navel1 the whole body anointed with a varnish of goat's fat and soot1 melted in by the sun1 hair dripping with grease1 arms and legs entwined with fresh entrails1--imagine all this the object of an ardent1 respectful1 tender love2 listen to expressions of this love in the noble language of sincerity and admiration1 and keep from laughing if you can4#aei ,the disgusting seems to admit of being still more closely united with the terrible4 ,what we call the horrible is nothing more than a mixture of the elements of terror and disgust4 ,longinus#afj takes offence at the 8 7mucus flowing from the nostrils7 in ,hesiod's picture of ,sorrow2#afa but not1 ,i think1 so much on account of the loathsomeness of the trait1 as from its being simply loathsome with no element of terror4 ,for he does not seem inclined to find fault with the ' 1 the long nails projecting beyond the fingers4 ,long nails are not less disgusting than a running nose1 but they are at the same time terrible4 ,it is they that tear the cheeks till the blood runs to the ground3 444 ' ' 4444 ,the other feature is simply disgusting1 and ,i should advise ,sorrow to cease her crying4 ,read ,sophocles' description of the desert cave of his wretched ,philoctetes4 ,there are no provisions to be seen1 no comforts beyond a trampled litter of dried leaves1 an unshapely wooden bowl1 and a tinder-box4 ,these constitute the whole wealth of the sick1 forsaken man4 ,how does the poet complete the sad and frightful picture8 ,by introducing the element of disgust4 8,ha60 ,neoptolemus draws back of a sudden1 8here are rags drying full of blood and matter40#afb ,,ne4 4 4 ' 2 4 4 ,o4 ' ' 1 ' 2 4 ' ' 1 ' 4 ,o4 4 4 1 ' 1 4 ,so in ,homer1 ,hector dragged on the ground1 his face foul with dust1 his hair matted with blood1 ,squalentem barbam et concretos sanguine crines1 7as ,virgil expresses it#afc7 is a disgusting object1 but all the more terrible and touching4 ,who can recall the punishment of ,marsyas1 in ,ovid1 without a feeling of disgust8#afd ,clamanti cutis est summos direpta per artus3 ,nec quidquam1 nisi vulnus erat2 cruor undique manat3 ,detectique patent nervi3 trepidque sine ulla ,pelle micant ven3 salientia viscera possis1 ,et perlucentes numerare in pectore fibras4 ,but the loathsome details are here appropriate4 ,they make the terrible horrible1 which in fiction is far from displeasing to us2 since1 even in nature1 where our compassion is enlisted1 things horrible are not wholly devoid of charm4 ,i do not wish to multiply examples1 but this one thing ,i must further observe4 ,there is one form of the horrible1 the road to which lies almost exclusively through the disgusting1 and that is the horror of famine4 ,even in ordinary life we can convey no idea of extreme hunger save by enumerating all the innutritious1 unwholesome1 and particularly disgusting things with which the stomach would fain appease its cravings4 ,since imitation can excite nothing of the feeling of actual hunger1 it has recourse to another disagreeable sensation which1 in cases of extreme hunger1 is felt to be a lesser evil4 ,we may thus infer how intense that other suffering must be which makes the present discomfort in comparison of small account4 ,ovid says of the ,oread whom ,ceres sent to meet ,famine1#afe-- ,hanc 7,famem7 procul ut vidit4444 444 refert mandata de2 paulumque morata ,quanquam aberat longe1 quanquam modo venerat illuc1 ,visa tamen sensisse famem4444 ,this is an unnatural exaggeration4 ,the sight of a hungry person1 even of ,hunger herself1 has no such power of contagion4 ,compassion and horror and loathing may be aroused1 but not hunger4 ,ovid has not been sparing of this element of the horrible in the picture of ,famine2 while both he and ,callimachus1#aff in their description of ,erisichthon's starvation1 have laid chief emphasis upon the loathsome traits4 ,after ,erisichthon has devoured every thing1 not sparing even the sacrificial cow1 which his mother had been fattening for ,vesta1 ,callimachus makes him fall on horses and cats1 and beg in the streets for crumbs and filthy refuse from other men's tables4 1 1 1 1 -- ' 4 ,ovid represents him finally as biting into his own flesh1 that his body might thus furnish nourishment for itself4 ,vis tamen illa mali postquam consumserat omnem ,materiam 444 ,ipse suos artus lacero divellere morsu ,cpit et infelix minuendo corpus alebat4 ,the hideous harpies were made loathsome and obscene in order that the hunger occasioned by their carrying off of the food might be the more horrible4 ,hear the complaints of ,phineus in ,apollonius3#afg-- ' ' 1 4 1 ' 4 1 4 ,i would gladly excuse in this way1 if ,i could1 ,virgil's disgusting introduction of the harpies4 ,they1 however1 instead of occasioning an actual present hunger1 only prophesy an inward craving2 and this prophecy1 moreover1 is resolved finally into a mere play upon words4 ,dante not only prepares us for the starvation of ,ugolino by a most loathsome1 horrible description of him together with his former persecutor in hell1 but the slow starvation itself is not free from disgusting features1 as where the sons offer themselves as food for the father4 ,i give in a note a passage from a play by ,beaumont and ,fletcher1 which might have served me in the stead of all other examples1 were it not somewhat too highly drawn4#afh ,i come now to objects of disgust in painting4 ,even could we prove that there are no objects directly disgusting to the eye1 which painting as a fine art would naturally avoid1 it would still be obliged to refrain from loathsome objects in general1 because they become through the association of ideas disgusting also to the sense of sight4 ,pordenone1 in a picture of the entombment1 makes one of the by-standers hold his nose4 ,richardson#afi objects to this on the ground that ,christ had not been long enough dead for corruption to set in4 ,in the raising of ,lazarus1 however1 he would allow the painter to represent some of the lookers-on in that attitude1 because the narrative expressly states that the body was already offensive4 ,but ,i consider the representation in both cases as insufferable1 for not only the actual smell1 but the very idea of it is nauseous4 ,we shun bad-smelling places even when we have a cold in the head4 ,but painting does not employ loathsomeness for its own sake1 but1 like poetry1 to give emphasis to the ludicrous and the terrible4 ,at its peril6 ,what ,i have already said of ugliness in this connection applies with greater force to loathsomeness4 ,this also loses much less of its effect in a visible representation than in a description addressed to the ear1 and can therefore unite less closely with the elements of the ludicrous and terrible in painting than in poetry4 ,as soon as the surprise passes and the first curious glance is satisfied1 the elements separate and loathsomeness appears in all its crudity4 ,,xxvi4 ,winkelmann's 8,history of ,ancient ,art0 has appeared1 and ,i cannot venture a step further until ,i have read it4 ,criticism based solely upon general principles may lead to conceits which sooner or later we find to our shame refuted in works on art4 ,the ancients well understood the connection between painting and poetry1 and are sure not to have drawn the two arts more closely together than the good of both would warrant4 ,what their artists have done will teach me what artists in general should do2 and where such a man precedes with the torch of history1 speculation may boldly follow4 ,we are apt to turn over the leaves of an important work before seriously setting ourselves to read it4 ,my chief curiosity was to know the author's opinion of the ,laocoon2 not of its merit as a work of art1 for that he had already given1 but merely of its antiquity4 ,would he agree with those who think that ,virgil had the group before him1 or with those who suppose the sculptors to have followed the poet8 ,i am pleased to find that he says nothing of imitation on either side4 ,what need is there1 indeed1 of supposing imitation8 ,very possibly the resemblances which ,i have been considering between the poetic picture and the marble group were not intentional but accidental1 and1 so far from one having served as a model for the other1 the two may not even have had a common model4 ,had he1 however1 been misled by an appearance of imitation1 he must have declared in favor of those who make ,virgil the imitator4 ,for he supposes the ,laocoon to date from the period when ,greek art was in its perfection3 to be1 therefore1 of the time of ,alexander the ,great4 8,kind fortune10 he says1#agj 8watching over the arts even in their extinction1 has preserved for the admiration of the world a work of this period of art1 which proves the truth of what history tells concerning the glory of the many lost masterpieces4 ,the ,laocoon with his two sons1 the work of ,agesander1 ,apollodorus1#aga and ,athenodorus1 of ,rhodes1 dates in all probability from this period1 although we cannot determine the exact time1 nor give1 as some have done1 the ,olympiad in which these artists flourished40 ,in a note he adds3 8,pliny says not a word with regard to the time when ,agesander and his assistants lived4 ,but ,maffei1 in his explanation of the ancient statues1 professes to know that these artists flourished in the eighty-eighth ,olympiad2 and others1 like ,richardson1 have maintained the same on his authority4 ,he must1 ,i think1 have mistaken an ,athenodorus1 a pupil of ,polycletus1 for one of our artists4 ,polycletus flourished in the eighty-seventh ,olympiad1 and his supposed pupil was therefore referred to the ,olympiad following4 ,maffei can have no other grounds for his opinion40 ,certainly he can have no other4 ,but why does ,winkelmann content himself with the mere mention of this supposed argument of ,maffei8 ,does it refute itself8 ,not altogether4 ,for although not otherwise supported1 it yet carries with it a certain degree of probability unless we can prove that ,athenodorus1 the pupil of ,polycletus1 and ,athenodorus1 the assistant of ,agesander and ,polydorus1 could not possibly have been one and the same person4 ,happily this is proved by the fact that the two were natives of different countries4 ,we have the express testimony of ,pausanias#agb that the first ,athenodorus was from ,clitor in ,arcadia1 while the second1 on the authority of ,pliny1 was born at ,rhodes4 ,winkelmann can have had no object in refraining from a direct refutation of ,maffei by the statement of this circumstance4 ,probably the arguments which his undoubted critical knowledge derived from the skill of the workmanship seemed to him of such great weight1 that he deemed any slight probability which ,maffei's opinion might have on its side a matter of no importance4 ,he doubtless recognized in the ,laocoon too many of those arguti#agc 7traits of animation7 peculiar to ,lysippus1 to suppose it to be of earlier date than that master who was the first to enrich art with this semblance of life4 ,but1 granting the fact to be proved that the ,laocoon cannot be older than ,lysippus1 have we thereby proved that it must be contemporaneous with him or nearly so8 ,may it not be a work of much later date8 ,passing in review those periods previous to the rise of the ,roman monarchy1 when art in ,greece alternately rose and sank1 why1 ,i ask1 might not ,laocoon have been the happy fruit of that emulation which the extravagant luxury of the first emperors must have kindled among artists8 ,why might not ,agesander and his assistants have been the contemporaries of ,strongylion1 ,arcesilaus1 ,pasiteles1 ,posidonius1 or ,diogenes8 ,were not some of the works of those masters counted among the greatest treasures ever produced by art8 ,and if undoubted works from the hand of these men were still in existence1 but the time in which they lived was unknown and left to be determined by the style of their art1 would not some inspiration from heaven be needed to prevent the critic from referring them to that period which to ,winkelmann seemed the only one worthy of producing the ,laocoon8 ,pliny1 it is true1 does not expressly mention the time when the sculptors of the ,laocoon lived4 ,but were ,i to conclude from a study of the whole passage whether he would have them reckoned among the old or the new artists1 ,i confess the probability seems to me in favor of the latter inference4 ,let the reader judge4 ,after speaking at some length of the oldest and greatest masters of sculpture1--,phidias1 ,praxiteles1 and ,scopas1--and then giving1 without chronological order1 the names of the rest1 especially of those who were represented in ,rome by any of their works1 ,pliny proceeds as follows3#agd-- ,nec multo plurium fama est1 quorundam claritati in operibus eximiis obstante numero artificum1 quoniam nec unus occupat gloriam1 nec plures pariter nuncupari possunt1 sicut in ,laocoonte1 qui est in ,titi ,imperatoris domo1 opus omnibus et pictur et statuari artis prponendum4 ,ex uno lapide eum et liberos draconumque mirabiles nexus de consilii sententia fecere summi artifices1 ,agesander et ,polydorus et ,athenodorus ,rhodii4 ,similiter ,palatinas domus ,csarum replevere probatissimis signis ,craterus cum ,pythodoro1 ,polydectes cum ,hermolao1 ,pythodorus alius cum ,artemone1 et singularis ,aphrodisius ,trallianus4 ,agripp ,pantheum decoravit ,diogenes ,atheniensis2 et ,caryatides in columnis templi ejus probantur inter pauca operum3 sicut in fastigio posita signa1 sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata4 ,of all the artists mentioned in this passage1 ,diogenes of ,athens is the one whose date is fixed with the greatest precision4 ,he adorned the ,pantheon of ,agrippa1 and therefore lived under ,augustus4 ,but a close examination of ,pliny's words will1 ,i think1 determine with equal certainty the date of ,craterus and ,pythodorus1 ,polydectes and ,hermolaus1 the second ,pythodorus and ,artemon1 as also of ,aphrodisius of ,tralles4 ,he says of them3 8,palatinas domus ,csarum replevere probatissimis signis40 ,can this mean only that the palaces were filled with admirable works by these artists1 which the emperors had collected from various places and brought to their dwellings in ,rome8 ,surely not4 ,the sculptors must have executed their works expressly for the imperial palaces1 and must1 therefore1 have lived at the time of these emperors4 ,that they were artists of comparatively late date1 who worked only in ,italy1 is plain from our finding no mention of them elsewhere4 ,had they worked in ,greece at an earlier day1 ,pausanias would have seen some work of theirs and recorded it4 ,he mentions1 indeed1 a ,pythodorus1#age but ,hardouin is wrong in supposing him to be the same referred to by ,pliny4 ,for ,pausanias calls the statue of ,juno at ,corona1 in ,botia1 the work of the former1 7an ancient idol71 a term which he applies only to the works of those artists who lived in the first rude days of art1 long before ,phidias and ,praxiteles4 ,with such works the emperors would certainly not have adorned their palaces4 ,of still less value is another suggestion of ,hardouin1 that ,artemon may be the painter of the same name elsewhere mentioned by ,pliny4 ,identity of name is a slight argument1 and by no means authorizes us to do violence to the natural interpretation of an uncorrupted passage4 ,if it be proved beyond a doubt that ,craterus and ,pythodorus1 ,polydectes and ,hermolaus1 with the rest1 lived at the time of the emperors whose palaces they adorned with their admirable works1 then ,i think we can assign no other date to those artists1 the sculptors of the ,laocoon1 whose names ,pliny connects with these by the word similiter4 ,for if ,agesander1 ,polydorus1 and ,athenodorus were really such old masters as ,winkelmann supposes1 it would be the height of impropriety for an author1 who makes great account of precision of expression1 to leap from them to the most modern artists1 merely with the words 8in like manner40 ,but it may be urged that this similiter has no reference to a common date1 but to some other circumstance common to all these masters1 who yet in age were widely different4 ,pliny1 it may be said1 is speaking of artists who had worked in partnership1 and on this account had not obtained the fame they merited4 ,the names of all had been left in neglect1 because no one artist could appropriate the honor of the common work1 and to mention the names of all the participators would require too much time 7quoniam nec unus occupat gloriam1 nec plures pariter nuncupari possunt74 ,this had been the fate of the sculptors of the ,laocoon1 as well as of the many other masters whom the emperors had employed in the decoration of their palaces4 ,but1 granting all this1 the probabilities are still in favor of the supposition that ,pliny meant to refer only to the later artists whose labors had been in common4 ,if he had meant to include older ones1 why confine himself to the sculptors of the ,laocoon8 ,why not mention others1 as ,onatas and ,calliteles1 ,timocles and ,timarchides1 or the sons of this ,timarchides1 who together had made a statue of ,jupiter at ,rome8#agf ,winkelmann himself says that a long list might be made of older works which had more than one father4#agg ,and would ,pliny have thought but of the single example of ,agesander1 ,polydorus1 and ,athenodorus1 if he had not meant to confine himself strictly to the more modern masters8 ,if ever a conjecture gained in probability from the number and magnitude of the difficulties solved by it1 this one1 that the sculptors of the ,laocoon flourished under the first emperors1 has that advantage in a high degree4 ,for had they lived and worked in ,greece at the time which ,winkelmann assigns to them1 had the ,laocoon itself existed earlier in ,greece1 then the utter silence of the ,greeks with regard to such a work1 8surpassing all the results of painting or statuary0 7opere omnibus et pictur et statuari artis prponendo71 is most surprising4 ,it is hard to believe that such great masters should have created nothing else1 or that the rest of their works should have been1 equally with the ,laocoon1 unknown to ,pausanias4 ,in ,rome1 on the contrary1 the greatest masterpiece might have remained long concealed4 ,if the ,laocoon had been finished as early as the time of ,augustus1 there would be nothing surprising in ,pliny's being the first1 and1 indeed1 the last1 to mention it4 ,for remember what he tells#agh of a ,venus by ,scopas1 which stood in the temple of ,mars at ,rome3 444 8quemcunque alium locum nobilitatura4 ,rom quidem magnitudo operum eam obliterat1 ac magni officiorum negotiorumque acervi omnes a contemplatione talium abducunt3 quoniam otiosorum et in magno loci silentio apta admiratio talis est40 ,those who would fain see in the group an imitation of ,virgil's ,laocoon will readily catch at what ,i have been saying1 nor will they be displeased at another conjecture which just occurs to me4 ,why should not ,asinius ,pollio1 they may think1 have been the patron who had ,virgil's ,laocoon put into marble by ,greek artists8 ,pollio was a particular friend of the poet1 survived him1 and appears to have written an original work on the neid4 ,for whence but from such a work could the various comments have been drawn which ,servius quotes from that author8#agi ,pollio was1 moreover1 a lover of art and a connoisseur1 possessed a valuable collection of the best of the old masterpieces1 ordered new works from the artists of his day1 and showed in his choice a taste quite likely to be pleased by so daring a piece as the ,laocoon1#ahj 8ut fuit acris vehementi1 sic quoque spectari monumenta sua voluit40 ,since1 however1 the cabinet of ,pollio in ,pliny's day1 when the ,laocoon was standing in the palace of ,titus1 seems to have existed entire in a separate building1 this supposition again loses something of its probability4 ,why might not ,titus himself have done what we are trying to ascribe to ,pollio8 ,,xxvii4 ,a little item first brought to my notice by ,winkelmann himself confirms me in my opinion that the sculptors of the ,laocoon lived at the time of the emperors1 or at least could not date from so early a period as he assigns them4 ,it is this3#aha 8,in ,nettuno1 the ancient ,antium1 ,cardinal ,alexander ,albani discovered in #agag in a deep vault1 which lay buried under the sea1 a vase of the grayish black marble now called bigio1 wherein the ,laocoon was inlaid4 ,upon this vase is the following inscription3-- 4 8,athanodorus of ,rhodes1 son of ,agesander1 made it40 ,we learn from this inscription that father and son worked on the ,laocoon2 and probably ,apollodorus 7,polydorus7 was also a son of ,agesander1 for this ,athanodorus can be no other than the one mentioned by ,pliny4 ,the inscription also proves that more than three works of art have been found--the number stated by ,pliny--on which the artists have set the word 8made10 in definite past time1 1 fecit4 ,other artists1 he says1 from modesty1 made use of indefinite time1 8was making10 1 faciebat4 ,few will contradict ,winkelmann in his conclusion that the ,athanodorus of this inscription can be no other than the ,athenodorus whom ,pliny mentions as among the sculptors of the ,laocoon4 ,athanodorus and ,athenodorus are entirely synonymous2 for the ,rhodians used the ,doric dialect4 ,but the other conclusions which he draws from the inscription require further comment4 ,the first1 that ,athenodorus was a son of ,agesander1 may pass4 ,it is highly probable1 though by no means certain4 ,some of the old artists1 we know1 called themselves after their teachers instead of taking their fathers' names4 ,what ,pliny says of the brothers ,apollonius and ,tauriscus cannot well be explained in any other way4#ahb ,but shall we say that this inscription contradicts the statement of ,pliny that there were only three works of art to which their masters had set their names in definite past time 7 instead of 78 ,this inscription6 ,what need of this to teach us what we might have learned long ago from a multitude of others8 ,on the statue of ,germanicus was there not the inscription --1 ,cleomenes made8 on the so-called ,apotheosis of ,homer1 1 ,archelaus made8 on the well-known vase at ,gaeta1 1 ,salpion made8 nor are other instances wanting4#ahc ,winkelmann may answer3 8,no one knows that better than ,i4 ,so much the worse for ,pliny4 ,his statement has been so much the oftener contradicted1 and is so much the more surely refuted40 ,by no means4 ,how if ,winkelmann has made ,pliny say more than he meant to say8 ,how if these examples contradict1 not ,pliny's statement1 but only something which ,winkelmann supposes him to have stated8 ,and this is actually the case4 ,i must quote the whole passage4 ,pliny1 in the dedication of his work to ,titus1 speaks with the modesty of a man who knows better than any one else how far what he has accomplished falls short of perfection4 ,he finds a noteworthy example of such modesty among the ,greeks1 on the ambitious and boastful titles of whose books 7inscriptiones1 propter quas vadimonium deseri possit7 he dwells at some length1 and then says3#ahd ,et ne in totum videar ,grcos insectari1 ex illis nos velim intelligi pingendi fingendique conditoribus1 quos in libellis his invenies1 absoluta opera1 et illa quoque qu mirando non satiamur1 pendenti titulo inscripsisse3 ut ,,apelles ,,faciebat1 aut ,,polycletus3 tanquam inchoata semper arte et imperfecta3 ut contra judiciorum varietates superesset artifici regressus ad veniam1 velut emendaturo quidquid desideraretur1 si non esset interceptus4 ,quare plenum verecundi illud est1 quod omnia opera tanquam novissima inscripsere1 et tanquam singulis fato adempti4 ,tria non amplius1 ut opinor1 absolute traduntur inscripta1 ,,ille ,,fecit1 qu suis locis reddam3 quo apparuit1 summam artis securitatem auctori placuisse1 et ob id magna invidia fuere omnia ea4 ,i desire to call particular attention to the words of ,pliny1 8pingendi fingendique conditoribus0 7the creators of the imitative arts74 ,pliny does not say that it was the habit of all artists of every date to affix their names to their works in indefinite past time4 ,he says explicitly that only the first of the old masters--those creators of the imitative arts1 ,apelles1 ,polycletus1 and their contemporaries--possessed this wise modesty1 and1 by his mention of these alone1 he gives plainly to be understood1 though he does not actually say it in words1 that their successors1 particularly those of a late date1 expressed themselves with greater assurance4 ,with this interpretation1 which is the only true one1 we may fully accept the inscription from the hand of one of the three sculptors of the ,laocoon without impugning the truth of what ,pliny says1 that but three works existed whereon their creators had cut the inscription in the finished past time2 only three1 that is1 among all the older works1 of the time of ,apelles1 ,polycletus1 ,nicias1 and ,lysippus4 ,but then we cannot accept the conclusion that ,athenodorus and his assistants were contemporaries of ,apelles and ,lysippus1 as ,winkelmann would make them4 ,we should reason thus4 ,if it be true that among the works of the old masters1 ,apelles1 ,polycletus1 and others of that class1 there were but three whose inscriptions stood in definite past time1 and if it be further true that ,pliny has mentioned these three by name1#ahe then ,athenodorus1 who had made neither of these three works1 and who nevertheless employs the definite past time in his inscriptions1 cannot belong among those old masters2 he cannot be a contemporary of ,apelles and ,lysippus1 but must have a later date assigned him4 ,in short1 we may1 ,i think1 take it as a safe criterion that all artists who employed the 1 the definite past tense1 flourished long after the time of ,alexander the ,great1 either under the empire or shortly before4 ,of ,cleomenes this is unquestionably true2 highly probable of ,archelaus2 and of ,salpion the contrary1 at least1 cannot be proved4 ,so also of the rest1 not excepting ,athenodorus4 ,let ,winkelmann himself decide4 ,but ,i protest beforehand against the converse of the proposition4 ,if all who employed the belong among the later artists1 not all who have used the are to be reckoned among the earliest4 ,some of the more recent artists also may have really possessed this becoming modesty1 and by others it may have been assumed4 ,,xxviii4 ,next to his judgment of the ,laocoon1 ,i was curious to know what ,winkelmann would say of the so-called ,borghese ,gladiator4 ,i think ,i have made a discovery with regard to this statue1 and ,i rejoice in it with all a discoverer's delight4 ,i feared lest ,winkelmann should have anticipated me1 but there is nothing of the kind in his work4 ,if ought could make me doubt the correctness of my conjecture1 it would be the fact that my alarm was uncalled for4 8,some critics10 says ,winkelmann1#ahf 8take this statue for that of a discobolus1 that is1 of a person throwing a disc or plate of metal4 ,this opinion was expressed by the famous ,herr von ,stosch in a paper addressed to me4 ,but he cannot have sufficiently studied the position which such a figure would assume4 ,a person in the act of throwing must incline his body backward1 with the weight upon the right thigh1 while the left leg is idle4 ,here the contrary is the case4 ,the whole figure is thrown forward1 and rests on the left thigh while the right leg is stretched backward to its full extent4 ,the right arm is new1 and a piece of a lance has been placed in the hand4 ,on the left can be seen the strap that held the shield4 ,the fact that the head and eyes are turned upward and that the figure seems to be protecting himself with the shield against some danger from above would rather lead us to consider this statue as representing a soldier who had especially distinguished himself in some position of peril4 ,the ,greeks probably never paid their gladiators the honor of erecting them a statue2 and this work1 moreover1 seems to have been made previous to the introduction of gladiators into ,greece40 ,the criticism is perfectly just4 ,the statue is no more a gladiator than it is a discobolus1 but really represents a soldier who distinguished himself in this position on occasion of some great danger4 ,after this happy guess1 how could ,winkelmann help going a step further8 ,why did he not think of that warrior who in this very attitude averted the destruction of a whole army1 and to whom his grateful country erected a statue in the same posture8 ,the statue1 in short1 is ,chabrias4 ,this is proved by the following passage from ,nepos' life of that commander3--#ahg 8,hic quoque in summis habitus est ducibus2 resque multas memoria dignas gessit4 ,sed ex his elucet maxime inventum ejus in prlio1 quod apud ,thebas fecit1 quum ,botiis subsidio venisset4 ,namque in eo victori fidente summo duce ,agesilao1 fugatis jam ab eo conductitiis catervis1 reliquam phalangem loco vetuit cedere1 obnixoque genu scuto1 projectaque hasta impetum excipere hostium docuit4 ,id novum ,agesilaus contuens1 progredi non est ausus suosque jam incurrentes tuba revocavit4 ,hoc usque eo tota ,grcia fama celebratum est1 ut illo statu ,chabrias sibi statuam fieri voluerit1 qu publice ei ab ,atheniensibus in foro constituta est4 ,ex quo factum est1 ut postea athlet1 ceterique artifices his statibus in statuis ponendis uterentur in quibus victoriam essent adepti40 ,the reader will hesitate a moment1 ,i know1 before yielding his assent2 but1 ,i hope1 only for a moment4 ,the attitude of ,chabrias appears to be not exactly that of the ,borghese statue4 ,the thrusting forward of the lance1 8projecta hasta10 is common to both2 but commentators explain the 8obnixo genu scuto0 to be 8obnixo genu in scutum10 8obfirmato genu ad scutum40 ,chabrias is supposed to have showed his men how to brace the knee against the shield and await the enemy behind this bulwark1 whereas the statue holds the shield aloft4 ,but what if the commentators are wrong1 and instead of 8obnixo genu scuto0 belonging together1 8obnixo genu0 were meant to be read by itself and 8scuto0 alone1 or in connection with the 8projectaque hasta10 which follows8 ,the insertion of a single comma makes the correspondence perfect4 ,the statue is a soldier1 8qui obnixo genu1#ahh scuto projectaque hasta impetum hostis excipit10 who1 with firmly set knee1 and shield and lance advanced1 awaits the approach of the enemy4 ,it shows what ,chabrias did1 and is the statue of ,chabrias4 ,that a comma belongs here is proved by the 8que0 affixed to the 8projecta10 which would be superfluous if 8obnixo genu scuto0 belonged together1 and has1 therefore1 been actually omitted in some editions4 ,the great antiquity which this interpretation assigns to the statue is confirmed by the shape of the letters in the inscription4 ,these led ,winkelmann himself to the conclusion that this was the oldest of the statues at present existing in ,rome on which the master had written his name4 ,i leave it to his critical eye to detect1 if possible1 in the style of the workmanship any thing which conflicts with my opinion4 ,should he bestow his approval1 ,i may flatter myself on having furnished a better example than is to be found in ,spence's whole folio of the happy manner in which the classic authors can be explained by the old masterpieces1 and in turn throw light upon them4 ,,xxix4 ,winkelmann has brought to his work1 together with immense reading and an extensive and subtle knowledge of art1 that noble confidence of the old masters which led them to devote all their attention to the main object1 treating all secondary matters with what seems like studied neglect1 or abandoning them altogether to any chance hand4 ,a man may take no little credit to himself for having committed only such errors as anybody might have avoided4 ,they force themselves upon our notice at the first hasty reading2 and my only excuse for commenting on them is that ,i would remind a certain class of persons1 who seem to think no one has eyes but themselves1 that they are trifles not worthy of comment4 ,in his writings on the imitation of the ,greek works of art1 ,winkelmann had before allowed himself to be misled by ,junius1 who is1 indeed1 a very deceptive author4 ,his whole work is a cento1 and since his rule is to quote the ancients in their very words1 he not infrequently applies to painting passages which in their original connection had no bearing whatever on the subject4 ,when1 for instance1 ,winkelmann would tell us that the highest effect in art1 as in poetry1 cannot be attained by the mere imitation of nature1 and that poet as well as painter should choose an impossibility which carries probability with it rather than what is simply possible1 he adds3 8,this is perfectly consistent with ,longinus' requirement of possibility and truth from the painter in opposition to the incredibility which he requires from the poet40 ,yet the addition was unfortunate1 for it shows a seeming contradiction between the two great art critics which really does not exist4 ,longinus never said what is here attributed to him4 ,something similar he does say with regard to eloquence and poetry1 but by no means of poetry and painting4 ' 1 1 1 ' 1 ' 1 he writes to his friend ,terentian2#ahi and again1 1 1 4#aij ,but ,junius interpolates here painting instead of oratory1 and it was in his writings1 not in those of ,longinus1 that ,winkelmann read3 8,prsertim cum poetic phantasi finis sit 1 pictori vero1 1 1 ut loquitur idem ,longinus10 c4#aia ,the words of ,longinus1 to be sure1 but not his meaning4 ,the same must have been the case with the following remark3#aib 8,all motions and attitudes of ,greek figures which were too wild and fiery to be in accordance with the character of wisdom1 were accounted as faults by the old masters and classed by them under the general name of parenthyrsus40 ,the old masters8 ,there can be no authority for that except ,junius4 ,parenthyrsus was a word used in rhetoric1 and1 as a passage in ,longinus would seem to show1 even there peculiar to ,theodorus4#aic 1 1 1 4 ,i doubt1 indeed1 whether this word can be translated into the language of painting4 ,for in oratory and poetry pathos can be carried to extreme without becoming parenthyrsus1 which is only the extreme of pathos in the wrong place4 ,but in painting the extreme of pathos would always be parenthyrsus1 whatever its excuse in the circumstances of the persons concerned4 ,so1 also1 various errors in the 8,history of ,art0 have arisen solely from ,winkelmann's haste in accepting ,junius instead of consulting the original authors4 ,when1 for instance1 he is citing examples to show that excellence in all departments of art and labor was so highly prized by the ,greeks1 that the best workman1 even on an insignificant thing1 might immortalize his name1 he brings forward this among others3#aid 8,we know the name of a maker of very exact balances or scales2 he was called ,parthenius40 ,winkelmann must have read the words of ,juvenal1 8lances ,parthenio factas10 which he here appeals to1 only in ,junius's catalogue4 ,had he looked up the original passage in ,juvenal1 he would not have been misled by the double meaning of the word 8lanx10 but would at once have seen from the connection that the poet was not speaking of balances or scales1 but of plates and dishes4 ,juvenal is praising ,catullus for throwing overboard his treasures during a violent storm at sea1 in order to save the ship and himself4 ,in his description of these treasures1 he says3-- ,ille nec argentum dubitabat mittere1 lances ,parthenio factas1 urn cratera capacem ,et dignum sitiente ,pholo1 vel conjuge ,fusci4 ,adde et bascaudas et mille escaria1 multum ,clati1 biberet quo callidus emtor ,olynthi4 ,what can the 8lances0 be which are here standing among drinking-cups and bowls1 but plates and dishes8 ,and what does ,juvenal mean1 except that ,catullus threw overboard his whole silver table-service1 including plates made by ,parthenius4 8,parthenius10 says the old scholiast1 8clatoris nomen0 7the name of the engraver74 ,but when ,grangus1 in his annotations1 appends to this name1 8sculptor1 de quo ,plinius0 7sculptor spoken of by ,pliny71 he must have been writing at random1 for ,pliny speaks of no artist of that name4 8,yes10 continues ,winkelmann1 8even the name of the saddler1 as we should call him1 has been preserved1 who made the leather shield of ,ajax40 ,this he cannot have derived from the source to which he refers his readers1--the life of ,homer1 by ,herodotus4 ,here1 indeed1 the lines from the ,iliad are quoted wherein the poet applies to this worker in leather the name ,tychius4 ,but it is at the same time expressly stated that this was the name of a worker in leather of ,homer's acquaintance1 whose name he thus introduced in token of his friendship and gratitude4#aie 4 1 1 3 ' 1 1 1 ' 1 #aif ,here we have exactly the opposite of what ,winkelmann asserts4 ,so utterly forgotten1 even in ,homer's time1 was the name of the saddler who made the shield of ,ajax1 that the poet was at liberty to substitute that of a perfect stranger4 ,various other little errors ,i have found which are mere slips of memory1 or concern things introduced merely as incidental illustrations4 ,for instance1 it was ,hercules1 not ,bacchus1 who1 as ,parrhasius boasts1 appeared to him in the same shape he had given him on the canvas4#aig ,tauriscus was not from ,rhodes1 but from ,tralles1 in ,lydia4#aih ,the ,antigone was not the first tragedy of ,sophocles4#aii ,but ,i refrain from multiplying such trifles4 ,censoriousness it could not be taken for2 but to those who know my great respect for ,winkelmann it might seem trifling4 ,,notes ,,to ,,the ,,laocoon4 ,note #a1 p4 #h4 ,antiochus 7,anthol4 lib4 ii4 cap4 #d74 ,hardouin1 in his commentary on ,pliny 7lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #cf71 attributes this epigram to a certain ,piso4 ,but among all the ,greek epigrammatists there is none of this name4 ,note #b1 p4 #i4 ,for this reason ,aristotle commanded that his pictures should not be shown to young persons1 in order that their imagination might be kept as free as possible from all disagreeable images4 7,polit4 lib4 viii4 cap4 #e1 p4 #ebf1 edit4 ,conring47 ,boden1 indeed1 would read ,pausanias in this passage instead of ,pauson1 because that artist is known to have painted lewd figures 7de ,umbra poetica comment4 #a1 p4 xiii74 ,as if we needed a philosophic law-giver to teach us the necessity of keeping from youth such incentives to wantonness6 ,a comparison of this with the well-known passage in the 8,art of ,poesy0 would have led him to withhold his conjecture4 ,there are commentators1 as ,khn on lian 7,var4 ,hist4 lib4 iv4 cap4 #c71 who suppose the difference mentioned by ,aristotle as existing between ,polygnotus1 ,dionysius1 and ,pauson to consist in this3 that ,polygnotus painted gods and heroes2 ,dionysius1 men2 and ,pauson1 animals4 ,they all painted human figures2 and the fact that ,pauson once painted a horse1 does not prove him to have been a painter of animals as ,boden supposes him to have been4 ,their rank was determined by the degree of beauty they gave their human figures2 and the reason that ,dionysius could paint nothing but men1 and was therefore called pre-eminently the anthropographist1 was that he copied too slavishly1 and could not rise into the domain of the ideal beneath which it would have been blasphemy to represent gods and heroes4 ,note #c1 p4 #aa4 ,the serpent has been erroneously regarded as the peculiar symbol of a god of medicine4 ,but ,justin ,martyr expressly says 7,apolog4 ii4 p4 #ee1 edit4 ,sylburgh71 ' 1 2 and a number of monuments might be mentioned where the serpent accompanies deities having no connection with health4 ,note #d1 p4 #ab4 ,look through all the works of art mentioned by ,pliny1 ,pausanias1 and the rest1 examine all the remaining statues1 bas-reliefs1 and pictures of the ancients1 and nowhere will you find a fury4 ,i except figures that are rather symbolical than belonging to art1 such as those generally represented on coins4 ,yet ,spence1 since he insisted on having furies1 would have done better to borrow them from coins than introduce them by an ingenious conceit into a work where they certainly do not exist4 7,seguini ,numis4 p4 #agh4 ,spanheim1 de ,prst4 ,numism4 ,dissert4 xiii4 p4 #fci4 ,les ,csars de ,julien1 par ,spanheim1 p4 #dh47 ,in his ,polymetis he says 7dial4 xvi473 8,though furies are very uncommon in the works of the ancient artists1 yet there is one subject in which they are generally introduced by them4 ,i mean the death of ,meleager1 in the relievos of which they are often represented as encouraging or urging ,altha to burn the fatal brand on which the life of her only son depended4 ,even a woman's resentment1 you see1 could not go so far without a little help from the devil4 ,in a copy of one of these relievos1 published in the #8,admiranda1' there are two women standing by the altar with ,altha1 who are probably meant for furies in the original1 7for who but furies would assist at such a sacrifice87 though the copy scarce represents them horrid enough for that character4 ,but what is most to be observed in that piece is the round disc beneath the centre of it1 with the evident head of a fury upon it4 ,this might be what ,altha addressed her prayers to whenever she wished ill to her neighbors1 or whenever she was going to do any very evil action4 ,ovid introduces her as invoking the furies on this occasion in particular1 and makes her give more than one reason for her doing so40 7,metamorph4 viii4 #dgi47 ,in this way we might make every thing out of any thing4 8,who but furies10 asks ,spence1 8would have assisted at such a sacrifice80 ,i answer1 the maid-servants of ,altha1 who had to kindle and feed the fire4 ,ovid says 7,metamorph4 viii473-- ,protulit hunc 7stipitem7 genetrix1 tdasque in fragmina poni ,imperat1 et positis inimicos admovet ignes4 8,the mother brought the brand and commands torches to be placed upon the pieces1 and applies hostile flame to the pile40 ,both figures have actually in their hands these 8tdas10 long pieces of pine1 such as the ancients used for torches1 and one1 as her attitude shows1 has just broken such a piece4 ,as little do ,i recognize a fury upon the disc towards the middle of the work4 ,it is a face expressive of violent pain1--doubtless the head of ,meleager himself 7,metamorph4 viii4 #eae74 ,inscius atque absens flamma ,meleagros in illa ,uritur2 et ccis torreri viscera sentit ,ignibus2 et magnos superat virtute dolores4 8,meleager1 absent and unconscious1 is consumed in that fire1 and feels his bowels parched with the unseen flames2 yet with courage he subdues the dreadful pains40 ,the artist used this as an introduction to the next incident of the same story1--the death of ,meleager4 ,what ,spence makes furies1 ,montfaucon took to be fates1 with the exception of the head upon the disc1 which he also calls a fury4 ,bellori leaves it undecided whether they are fates or furies4 ,an 8or0 which sufficiently proves that they are neither the one nor the other4 ,montfaucon's further interpretation should have been clearer4 ,the female figure resting on her elbows by the bed1 he should have called ,cassandra1 not ,atalanta4 ,atalanta is the one sitting in a grieving attitude with her back towards the bed4 ,the artist has very wisely turned her away from the family1 as being only the beloved1 not the wife1 of ,meleager1 and because her distress at a calamity of which she had been the innocent cause must have exasperated his family4 ,note #e1 p4 #ad4 ,he thus describes the degrees of sadness actually expressed by ,timanthes3 8,calchantem tristem1 mstum ,ulyssem1 clamantem ,ajacem1 lamentantem ,menelaum40 ,ajax screaming would have been extremely ugly1 and since neither ,cicero nor ,quintilian1 when speaking of this picture1 so describe him1 ,i shall venture with the less hesitation to consider this an addition with which ,valerius has enriched the canvas from his own invention4 ,note #f1 p4 #ae4 ,we read in ,pliny 7lib4 #cd1 sect4 #ai73 8,eundem ,myro vicit et ,pythagoras ,leontinus1 qui fecit statiodromon ,astylon1 qui ,olympi ostenditur3 et ,libyn puerum tenentem tabulam1 eodem loco1 et mala ferentem nudum4 ,syracusis autem claudicantem3 cujus hulceris dolorem sentire etiam spectantes videntur40 8,pythagoras ,leontinus surpassed him 7,myro74 ,he made the statue of the runner1 ,astylon1 which is exhibited at ,olympia1 and in the same place a ,libyan boy holding a tablet1 and a rude statue bearing apples2 but at ,syracuse a limping figure1 the pain of whose sore the beholders themselves seem to feel40 ,let us examine these last words more closely4 ,is there not evident reference here to some person well known as having a painful ulcer8 8,cujus hulceris10 c4 ,and shall that 8cujus0 be made to refer simply to the 8claudicantem10 and the 8claudicantem10 perhaps1 to the still more remote 8puerum80 ,no one had more reason to be known by such a malady than ,philoctetes4 ,i read1 therefore1 for 8claudicantem10 8,philoctetem10 or1 at least1 both together1 8,philoctetem claudicantem10 supposing that1 as the words were so similar in sound1 one had crowded out the other4 ,sophocles represents him as ' 1 compelled to drag his limping gait1 and his not being able to tread as firmly on his wounded foot would have occasioned a limp4 ,note #g1 p4 #bd4 ,when the chorus perceives ,philoctetes under this accumulation of miseries1 his helpless solitude seems the circumstance that chiefly touches them4 ,we hear in every word the social ,greek4 ,with regard to one passage1 however1 ,i have my doubts4 ,it is this3-- ' 1 ' 1 ' ' -- 4 ,lit43 ,i myself1 my only neighbor1 having no power to walk1 nor any companion1 a neighbor in ill1 to whom ,i might wail forth my echoing1 gnawing groans1 bloodstained4 ,the common translation of ,winshem renders the lines thus3-- ,ventis expositus et pedibus captus ,nullum cohabitatorem ,nec vicinum ullum saltem malum habens1 apud quem gemitum mutuum4 ,gravemque ac cruentum ,ederet4 ,the translation of ,thomas ,johnson differs from this only in the choice of words3-- ,ubi ipse ventis erat expositus1 firmum gradum non habens1 ,nec quenquam indigenarum1 ,nec malum vicinum1 apud quem ploraret ,vehementur edacem ,sanguineum morbum1 mutuo gemitu4 ,one might think he had borrowed these words from the translation of ,thomas ,naogeorgus1 who expresses himself thus 7his work is very rare1 and ,fabricius himself knew it only through ,operin's ,catalogue73-- 444 ubi expositus fuit ,ventis ipse1 gradum firmum haud habens1 ,nec quenquam indigenam1 nec vel malum ,vicinum1 ploraret apud quem ,vehementer edacem atque cruentum ,morbum mutuo4 ,if these translations are correct1 the chorus pronounces the strongest possible eulogy on human society4 ,the wretch has no human being near him2 he knows of no friendly neighbor2 even a bad one would have been happiness4 ,thomson1 then1 might have had this passage in mind when he puts these words into the mouth of his ,melisander1 who was likewise abandoned by ruffians on a desert island3-- ,cast on the wildest of the ,cyclad isles ,where never human foot had marked the shore1 ,these ruffians left me2 yet believe me1 ,arcas1 ,such is the rooted love we bear mankind1 ,all ruffians as they were1 ,i never heard ,a sound so dismal as their parting oars4 ,to him1 also1 the society of ruffians was better than none4 ,a great and admirable idea6 ,if we could but be sure that ,sophocles1 too1 had meant to express it6 ,but ,i must reluctantly confess to finding nothing of the sort in him1 unless1 indeed1 ,i were to use1 instead of my own eyes1 those of the old scholiast1 who thus transposes the words3-- 1 1 ' 4 ,brumoy1 as well as our modern ,german translator1 has held to this reading1 like the translators quoted above4 ,brumoy says1 8,sans socit1 mme importune20 and the ,german1 8jeder ,gesellschaft1 auch der beschwerlichsten1 beraubt40 ,my reasons for differing from all of these are the following4 ,first1 it is evident that if was meant to be separated from ' and constitute a distinct clause1 the particle would necessarily have been repeated before it4 ,since this is not the case1 it is equally evident that belongs to 1 and there should be no comma after 4 ,this comma crept in from the translation4 ,accordingly1 ,i find that some ,greek editions 7as that published at ,wittenberg of #aehe in #hvo1 which was wholly unknown to ,fabricius7 are without it1 but put a comma only after 1 as is proper4 ,secondly1 is that a bad neighbor from whom we may expect1 as the scholiast has it1 1 8 ,to mingle his sighs with ours is the office of a friend1 not an enemy4 ,in short1 the word has not been rightly understood4 ,it has been thought to be derived from the adjective 1 when it is really derived from the substantive 4 ,it has been translated an evil neighbor1 instead of a neighbor in ill4 ,just as means not an evil1 in the sense of a false1 untrue prophet1 but a prophet of evil1 and means not a bad1 unskilful painter1 but a painter of bad things4 ,in this passage the poet means by a neighbor in ill1 one who is overtaken by a similar misfortune with ourselves1 or from friendship shares our sufferings2 so that the whole expression1 ' ' 1 is to be translated simply by 8neque quenquam indigenarum mali socium habens40 ,the new ,english translator of ,sophocles1 ,thomas ,franklin1 must have been of my opinion4 ,neither does he find an evil neighbor in 1 but translates it simply 8fellow-mourner40 ,exposed to the inclement skies1 ,deserted and forlorn he lies1 ,no friend nor fellow-mourner there1 ,to soothe his sorrow and divide his care4 ,note #h1 p4 #cd4 ,saturnal4 lib4 v4 cap4 #b4 8,non parva sunt alia qu ,virgilius traxit a ,grcis1 dicturumne me putatis qu vulgo nota sunt8 quod ,theocritum sibi fecerit pastoralis operis autorem1 ruralis ,hesiodum8 et quod in ipsis ,georgicis1 tempestatis serenitatisque signa de ,arati ,phnomenis traxerit8 vel quod eversionem ,troj1 cum ,sinone suo1 et equo ligneo cterisque omnibus1 qu librum secundum faciunt1 a ,pisandro pene ad verbum transcripserit8 qui inter ,grcos poetas eminet opere1 quod a nuptiis ,jovis et ,junonis incipiens universas historias1 qu mediis omnibus sculis usque ad tatem ipsius ,pisandri contigerunt1 in unam seriem coactas redegerit1 et unum ex diversis hiatibus temporum corpus effecerit8 in quo opere inter historias cteras interitus quoque ,troj in hunc modum relatus est4 ,qu fideliter ,maro interpretando1 fabricatus est sibi ,iliac urbis ruinam4 ,sed et hc et talia ut pueris decantata prtereo40 ,not a few other things were brought by ,virgil from the ,greeks1 and inserted in his poem as original4 ,do you think ,i would speak of what is known to all the world8 how he took his pastoral poem from ,theocritus1 his rural from ,hesiod8 and how1 in his ,georgics1 he took from the ,phenomena of ,aratus the signs of winter and summer8 or that he translated almost word for word from ,pisander the destruction of ,troy1 with his ,sinon and wooden horse and the rest8 ,for he is famous among ,greek poets for a work in which1 beginning his universal history with the nuptials of ,jupiter and ,juno1 he collected into one series whatever had happened in all ages1 to the time of himself1 ,pisander4 ,in which work the destruction of ,troy1 among other things1 is related in the same way4 ,by faithfully interpreting these things1 ,maro made his ruin of ,ilium4 ,but these1 and others like them1 ,i pass over as familiar to every schoolboy4 ,note #i1 p4 #ce4 ,i do not forget that a picture mentioned by ,eumolpus in ,petronius may be cited in contradiction of this4 ,it represented the destruction of ,troy1 and particularly the history of ,laocoon exactly as narrated by ,virgil4 ,and since1 in the same gallery at ,naples were other old pictures by ,zeuxis1 ,protogenes1 and ,apelles1 it was inferred that this was also an old ,greek picture4 ,but permit me to say that a novelist is no historian4 ,this gallery and picture1 and ,eumolpus himself1 apparently existed only in the imagination of ,petronius4 ,that the whole was fiction appears from the evident traces of an almost schoolboyish imitation of ,virgil4 ,thus ,virgil 7neid lib4 ii4 #aii-bbd73-- ,hic aliud majus miseris multoque tremendum ,objicitur magis1 atque improvida pectora turbat4 ,laocoon1 ductus ,neptuno sorte sacerdos1 ,solemnis taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras4 ,ecce autem gemini a ,tenedo tranquilla per alta 7,horresco referens7 immensis orbibus angues ,incumbunt pelago1 pariterque ad litora tendunt3 ,pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta1 jubque ,sanguine exsuperant undas3 pars cetera pontum ,pone legit1 sinuatque immensa volumine terga4 ,fit sonitus1 spumante salo3 jamque arva tenebant1 ,ardentesque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni ,sibila lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora4 ,diffugimus visu exsangues4 ,illi agmine certo ,laocoonta petunt1 et primum parva duorum ,corpora natorum serpens amplexus uterque ,implicat1 et miseros morsu depascitur artus4 ,post ipsum1 auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem1 ,corripiunt1 spirisque ligant ingentibus2 et jam ,bis medium amplexi1 bis collo squamea circum ,terga dati1 superant capite et cervicibus altis4 ,ille simul manibus tendit divellere nodos1 ,perfusus sanie vittas atroque veneno3 ,clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit4 ,quales mugitus1 fugit cum saucius aram ,taurus et incertam excussit cervice securim4 ,and thus ,eumolpus1 in whose lines1 as is usually the case with improvisators1 memory has had as large a share as imagination3-- ,ecce alia monstra4 ,celsa qua ,tenedos mare ,dorso repellit1 tumida consurgunt freta1 ,undaque resultat scissa tranquillo minor4 ,qualis silenti nocte remorum sonus ,longe refertur1 cum premunt classes mare1 ,pulsumque marmor abiete imposita gemit4 ,respicimus1 angues orbibus geminis ferunt ,ad saxa fluctus3 tumida quorum pectora ,rates ut alt1 lateribus spumas agunt3 ,dat cauda sonitum2 liber ponto jub ,coruscant luminibus1 fulmineum jubar ,incendit quor1 sibilisque und tremunt2 ,stupuere mentes4 ,infulis stabant sacri ,phrygioque cultu gemina nati pignora ,laocoonte1 quos repente tergoribus ligant ,angues corusci3 parvulas illi manus ,ad ora referunt3 neuter auxilio sibi ,uterque fratri transtulit pias vices1 ,morsque ipsa miseros mutuo perdit metu4 ,accumulat ecce liberm funus parens ,infirmus auxiliator2 invadunt virum ,jam morte pasti1 membraque ad terram trahunt4 ,jacet sacerdos inter aras victima4 ,the main points are the same in both1 and in many places the same words are used4 ,but those are trifles1 and too evident to require mention4 ,there are other signs of imitation1 more subtle1 but not less sure4 ,if the imitator be a man with confidence in his own powers1 he seldom imitates without trying to improve upon the original2 and1 if he fancy himself to have succeeded1 he is enough of a fox to brush over with his tail the footprints which might betray his course4 ,but he betrays himself by this very vanity of wishing to introduce embellishments1 and his desire to appear original4 ,for his embellishments are nothing but exaggerations and excessive refinements4 ,virgil says1 8,sanguine jub02 ,petronius1 8liber jub luminibus coruscant02 ,virgil1 8ardentes oculos suffecti sanguine et igni02 ,petronius1 8fulmineum jubar incendit quor40 ,virgil1 8fit sonitus spumante salo02 ,petronius1 8sibilis und tremunt40 ,so the imitator goes on exaggerating greatness into monstrosity1 wonders into impossibilities4 ,the boys are secondary in ,virgil4 ,he passes them over with a few insignificant words1 indicative simply of their helplessness and distress4 ,petronius makes a great point of them1 converting the two children into a couple of heroes4 ,neuter auxilio sibi ,uterque fratri transtulit pias vices ,morsque ipsa miseros mutuo perdit metu4 ,who expects from human beings1 and children especially1 such self-sacrifice8 ,the ,greek understood nature better 7,quintus ,calaber1 lib4 xii471 when he made even mothers forget their children at the appearance of the terrible serpents1 so intent was every one on securing his own safety4 444 1 ,a 4444 ,the usual method of trying to conceal an imitation is to alter the shading1 bringing forward what was in shadow1 and obscuring what was in relief4 ,virgil lays great stress upon the size of the serpents1 because the probability of the whole subsequent scene depends upon it4 ,the noise occasioned by their coming is a secondary idea1 intended to make more vivid the impression of their size4 ,petronius raises this secondary idea into chief prominence1 describing the noise with all possible wealth of diction1 and so far forgetting to describe the size of the monsters that we are almost left to infer it from the noise they make4 ,he hardly would have fallen into this error1 had he been drawing solely from his imagination1 with no model before him which he wished to imitate without the appearance of imitation4 ,we can always recognize a poetic picture as an unsuccessful imitation when we find minor details exaggerated and important ones neglected1 however many incidental beauties the poem may possess1 and however difficult1 or even impossible1 it may be to discover the original4 ,note #aj1 p4 #cf4 ,suppl4 aux ,antiq4 ,expl4 ,t4 i4 p4 #bdc4 ,il y a quelque petite diffrence entre ce que dit ,virgile1 et ce que le marbre reprsente4 ,il semble1 selon ce que dit le pote1 que les serpens quittrent les deux enfans pour venir entortiller le pre1 au lieu que dans ce marbre ils lient en mme temps les enfans et leur pre4 ,note #aa1 p4 #cg4 ,donatus ad v4 #bbg1 lib4 ii4 neid4 ,mirandum non est1 clypeo et simulacri vestigiis tegi potuisse1 quos supra et longos et validos dixit1 et multiplici ambitu circumdedisse ,laocoontis corpus ac liberorum1 et fuisse superfluam partem4 ,the 8non0 in the clause 8mirandum non est10 should1 it seems to me1 be omitted1 unless we suppose the concluding part of the sentence to be missing4 ,for1 since the serpents were of such extraordinary length1 it would certainly be surprising that they could be concealed beneath the goddess's shield1 unless this also were of great length1 and belonged to a colossal figure4 ,the assurance that this was actually the case must have been meant to follow1 or the 8non0 has no meaning4 ,note #ab1 p4 #ci4 ,in the handsome edition of ,dryden's ,virgil 7,london1 #afig74 ,yet here the serpents are wound but once about the body1 and hardly at all about the neck4 ,so indifferent an artist scarcely deserves an excuse1 but the only one that could be made for him would be that prints are merely illustrations1 and by no means to be regarded as independent works of art4 ,note #ac1 p4 #dj4 ,this is the judgment of ,de ,piles in his remarks upon ,du ,fresnoy3 8,remarquez1 s'il vous plat1 que les draperies tendres et lgres1 n'tant donnes qu'au sexe fminin1 les anciens sculpteurs ont vit autant qu'ils out pu1 d'habiller les figures d'hommes2 parce qu'ils ont pens1 comme nous l'avons dj dit qu'en sculpture on ne pouvait imiter les toffes1 et que les gros plis faisaient un mauvais effet4 ,il y a presque autant d'exemples de cette vrit1 qu'il y a parmi les antiques1 de figures d'hommes nuds4 ,je rapporterai seulement celui du ,laocoon1 lequel1 selon la vraisemblance1 devrait tre vtu4 ,en effet1 quelle apparence y a-t-il qu'un fils de roi1 qu'un prtre d',apollon1 se trouvt tout nud dans la crmonie actuelle d'un sacrifice8 car les serpens passrent de l'le de ,tenedos au rivage de ,troye1 et surprirent ,laocoon et ses fils dans le temps mme qu'il sacrifiait ,neptune sur le bord de la mer1 comme le marque ,virgile dans le second livre de son ,enide4 ,cependant les artistes qui sont les auteurs de ce bel ouvrage1 ont bien vu qu'ils ne pouvaient pas leur donner de vtements convenables leur qualit1 sans faire comme un amas de pierres1 dont la masse ressemblerait un rocher1 au lieu des trois admirables figures1 qui ont t1 et qui sont toujours1 l'admiration des sicles4 ,c'est pour cela que de deux inconveniens1 ils out jug celui des draperies beaucoup plus fcheux1 que celui d'aller contre la vrit mme40 ,note #ad1 p4 #db4 ,maffei1 ,richardson1 and1 more recently1 ,herr ,von ,hagedorn4 7,betrachtungen ber die ,malerei1 p4 #cg4 ,richardson1 ,trait de la ,peinture1 vol4 iii47 ,de ,fontaines does not merit being reckoned in the same class with these scholars4 ,in the notes to his translation of ,virgil1 he maintains1 indeed1 that the poet had the group in mind1 but he is so ignorant as to ascribe it to ,phidias4 ,note #ae1 p4 #dd4 ,i can adduce no better argument in support of my view than this poem of ,sadolet4 ,it is worthy of one of the old poets1 and1 since it may well take the place of an engraving1 ,i venture to introduce it here entire4 ,,de ,,laocoontis ,,statua ,,jacobi ,,sadoleti ,,carmen4 ,ecce alto terr e cumulo1 ingentisque ruin ,visceribus1 iterum reducem longinqua reduxit ,laocoonta dies2 aulis regalibus olim ,qui stetit1 atque tuos ornabat1 ,tite1 ,penates4 ,divin simulacrum artis1 nec docta vetustas ,nobilius spectabat opus1 nunc celsa revisit ,exemptum tenebris rediviv mnia ,rom4 ,quid primum summumque loquar8 miserumne parentem ,et prolem geminam8 an sinuatos flexibus angues ,terribili aspectu8 caudasque irasque draconum ,vulneraque et veros1 saxo moriente1 dolores8 ,horret ad hc animus1 mutaque ab imagine pulsat ,pectora1 non parvo pietas commixta tremori4 ,prolixum bini spiris glomerantur in orbem ,ardentes colubri1 et sinuosis orbibus errant1 ,ternaque multiplici constringunt corpora nexu4 ,vix oculi sufferre valent1 crudele tuendo ,exitium1 casusque feros3 micat alter1 et ipsum ,laocoonta petit1 totumque infraque supraque ,implicat et rabido tandem ferit ilia morsu4 ,connexum refugit corpus1 torquentia sese ,membra1 latusque retro sinuatum a vulnere cernas4 ,ille dolore acri1 et laniatu impulsus acerbo1 ,dat gemitum ingentem1 crudosque evellere dentes ,connixus1 lvam impatiens ad terga ,chelydri ,objicit3 intendunt nervi1 collectaque ab omni ,corpore vis frustra summis conatibus instat4 ,ferre nequit rabiem1 et de vulnere murmur anhelum est4 ,at serpens lapsu crebro redeunte subintrat ,lubricus1 intortoque ligat genua infima nodo4 ,absistunt sur1 spirisque prementibus arctum ,crus tumet1 obsepto turgent vitalia pulsu1 ,liventesque atro distendunt sanguine venas4 ,nec minus in natos eadem vis effera svit ,implexuque angit rapido1 miserandaque membra ,dilacerat3 jamque alterius depasta cruentum ,pectus1 suprema genitorem voce cientis1 ,circumjectu orbis1 validoque volumine fulcit4 ,alter adhuc nullo violatus corpora morsu1 ,dum parat adducta caudam divellere planta1 ,horret ad aspectum miseri patris1 hret in illo1 ,et jam jam ingentes fletus1 lachrymasque cadentes ,anceps in dubio retinet timor4 ,ergo perenni ,qui tantum statuistis opus jam laude nitentes1 ,artifices magni 7quanquam et melioribus actis ,quritur ternum nomen1 multoque licebat ,clarius ingenium ventur tradere fam7 ,attamen ad laudem qucunque oblata facultas ,egregium hanc rapere1 et summa ad fastigia niti4 ,vos rigidum lapidem vivis animare figuris ,eximii1 et vivos spiranti in marmore sensus ,inserere1 aspicimus motumque iramque doloremque1 ,et pene audimus gemitus2 vos extulit olim ,clara ,rhodos1 vestr jacuerunt artis honores ,tempore ab immenso1 quos rursum in luce secunda ,roma videt1 celebratque frequens3 operisque vetusti ,gratia parta recens4 ,quanto prstantius ergo est ,ingenio1 aut quovis extendere fata labore1 ,quam fastus et opes et inanem extendere luxum4 ,,laocoon1 ,,by ,,james ,,sadolet4 ,so1 from the depths of earth and the bowels of mighty ruins1 the long-deferred day has brought back the returning ,laocoon1 who stood of old in thy royal halls and graced thy penates1 ,titus4 ,the image of divine art1 a work as noble as any produced by the learning of antiquity1 now freed from darkness1 beholds again the lofty walls of renovated ,rome4 ,with what part shall ,i begin as the greatest8 the unhappy father and his two sons8 the sinuous coils of the terrible serpents8 the tails and the fierceness of the dragons8 the wounds and real pains of the dying stone8 ,these chill the mind with horror1 and pity1 mingled with no slight fear1 drives our hearts back from the dumb image4 ,two gleaming snakes cover a vast space with their gathered coils1 and move in sinuous rings1 and hold three bodies bound in a many-twisted knot4 ,eyes scarce can bear to behold the cruel death and fierce sufferings4 ,one gleaming seeks ,laocoon himself1 winding him all about1 above1 below1 and attacks his groins at last with poisonous bite4 ,the imprisoned body recoils1 and you see the limbs writhe and the side shrink back from the wound4 ,forced by the sharp pain and bitter anguish1 he groans2 and1 trying to tear out the cruel teeth1 throws his left hand upon the serpent's back4 ,the nerves strain1 and the whole body in vain collects its strength for the supreme effort4 ,he cannot endure the fierce torture1 and pants from the wound4 ,but the slippery snake glides down with frequent folds1 and binds his leg below the knee with twisted knot4 ,the calves fall in1 the tight-bound leg swells between the pressing coils1 and the vitals grow tumid from the stopping of the pulses1 and black blood distends the livid veins4 ,the same cruel violence attacks the children no less fiercely1 tortures them with many encircling folds1 and lacerates their suffering limbs4 ,now satiated upon the bloody breast of one1 who1 with his last breath1 calls upon his father1 the serpent supports the lifeless body with the mighty circles thrown around it4 ,the other1 whose body has as yet been hurt by no sting1 while preparing to pluck out the tail from his foot1 is filled with horror at sight of his wretched father1 and clings to him4 ,a double fear restrains his great sobs and falling tears4 ,therefore ye enjoy perpetual fame1 ye great artificers who made the mighty work1 although an immortal name may be sought by better deeds1 and nobler talents may be handed down to future fame4 ,yet any power employed to snatch this praise and reach the heights of fame is excellent4 ,ye have excelled in animating the rigid stone with living forms1 and inserting living senses within the breathing marble4 ,we see the movement1 the wrath and pain1 and almost hear the groans4 ,illustrious ,rhodes begot you of old4 ,long the glories of your art lay hid1 but ,rome beholds them again in a second dawn1 and celebrates them with many voices1 in fresh acknowledgment of the old labor4 ,how much nobler1 then1 to extend our fates by art or toil than to swell pride and wealth and empty luxury4 7,leodegarii a ,quercu ,farrago ,poematum1 ,t4 ii47 ,gruter has introduced this poem with another one of ,sadolet into his well-known collection1 but with many errors4 7,delic4 ,poet4 ,italorum4 ,parte alt47 ,note #af1 p4 #de4 ,de la ,peinture1 tome iii4 p4 #eaf4 ,c'est l'horreur que les ,troens ont conue contre ,laocoon1 qui tait ncessaire ,virgile pour la conduite de son pome2 et cela le mne cette description pathtique de la destruction de la patrie de son hros4 ,aussi ,virgile n'avait garde de diviser l'attention sur la dernire nuit1 pour une grand ville entire1 par la peinture d'un petit malheur d'un particulier4 ,note #ag1 p4 #ea4 ,i say it is possible1 but ,i would wager ten against one that it is not so4 ,juvenal is speaking of the early days of the republic1 when splendor and luxury were yet unknown1 and the soldier put whatever gold and silver he got as booty upon his arms and the caparisons of his horse4 7,sat4 xi47 ,tunc rudis et ,grajas mirari nescius artes ,urbibus eversis prdarum in parte reperta ,magnorum artificum frangebat pocula miles4 ,ut phaleris gauderet equus1 clataque cassis ,romule simulacra fer mansuescere juss ,imperii fato1 geminos sub rupe ,quirinos1 ,ac nudam effigiem clypeo fulgentis et hasta1 ,pendentisque ,dei perituro ostenderet hosti4 ,the soldier broke up the precious cups1 the masterpieces of great artists1 to make a she-wolf1 a little ,romulus and ,remus to deck his helmet with4 ,all is plain down to the last two lines1 where the poet proceeds to describe such a figure on the helmets of the old soldiers4 ,the figure is meant for the god ,mars1 but what can the term pendentis mean as applied to him8 ,rigaltius found in an old gloss the interpretation 8quasi ad ictum se inclinantis40 ,lubinus supposes the figure to have been on the shield1 and1 as the shield hung from the arm1 the figure might be spoken of as hanging4 ,but this is contrary to the construction1 the subject of 8ostenderet0 being not 8miles0 but 8cassis40 ,according to ,britannicus1 whatever stands high in the air may be said to hang1 and the expression may be used of this figure perched above or upon the helmet4 ,some would read 8perdentis0 as a contrast to the following 8perituro10 though none but themselves would think the contrast desirable4 ,what does ,addison say to this doubtful passage8 ,he thinks all the commentators are wrong and maintains this to be the true meaning4 8,the ,roman soldiers1 who were not a little proud of their founder and the military genius of their republic1 used to bear on their helmets the first history of ,romulus1 who was begot by the god of war and suckled by a wolf4 ,the figure of the god was made as if descending upon the priestess ,ilia1 or1 as others call her1 ,rhea ,silvia4 ,as he was represented descending1 his figure appeared suspended in the air over the vestal virgin1 in which sense the word #8pendentis' is extremely proper and poetical4 ,besides the antique basso-rilievo 7in ,bellori7 that made me first think of this interpretation1 ,i have since met with the same figures on the reverses of a couple of ancient coins1 which were stamped in the reign of ,antoninus ,pius40 7,addison's ,travels1 ,rome1 ,tonson's edition1 #agde1 p4 #ahc47 ,since ,spence considers this such a happy discovery on the part of ,addison1 that he quotes it as a model of its kind and as the strongest proof of the value of the works of the old artists in throwing light on the classic ,roman poets1 ,i cannot refrain from a closer examination of it4 7,polymetis1 dial4 vii47 ,i must observe1 in the first place1 that the bas-relief and the coin would hardly have recalled to ,addison the passage from ,juvenal1 had he not remembered reading in the old scholiast1 who substituted 8venientis0 for 8fulgentis0 in the last line but one1 this interpretation3 8,martis ad ,iliam venientis ut concumberet40 ,now1 instead of this reading of the old scholiast1 let us accept ,addison's1 and see if we have then the slightest reason for supposing the poet to have had ,rhea in mind4 ,would it not rather be a complete inversion on his part1 where he is speaking of the wolf and the boys1 to be thinking of the adventure to which the children owe their life8 ,rhea has not yet become a mother1 and the boys are already lying under the rock4 ,would an hour of dalliance be a fitting emblem for the helmet of a ,roman soldier8 ,the soldier was proud of the divine origin of the founder of his country1 and that was sufficiently typified by the wolf and the children4 ,what need of introducing ,mars at a moment when he was any thing but the dread-inspiring god8 ,his visit to ,rhea may have been represented on any number of old marbles and coins3 did that make it a fitting ornament for armor8 ,what are the marbles and coins on which ,addison saw ,mars in this hovering attitude8 ,the old bas-relief to which he appeals is said to be in ,bellori1 but we shall look for it in vain in the ,admiranda1 his collection of finest old bas-reliefs4 ,spence cannot have found it there or elsewhere1 for he makes no mention of it4 ,nothing remains1 therefore1 but the coins1 which we will study from ,addison himself4 ,i see a recumbent figure of ,rhea1 and ,mars standing on a somewhat higher plane1 because there was not room for him on the same level4 ,that is all3 there is no sign of his being suspended4 ,such an effect is produced very strongly1 it is true1 in ,spence's copy4 ,the upper part of the figure is thrown so far forward as to make standing impossible2 so that if the body be not falling1 it must be hovering4 ,spence says this coin is in his possession4 ,it is hard to question a man's veracity1 even in a trifle1 but our eyes are often greatly influenced by a preconceived opinion4 ,he may1 besides1 have thought it allowable for the good of the reader to have the artist so emphasize the expression which he thought he saw1 that as little doubt might remain on our mind as on his4 ,one thing is plain3 that ,spence and ,addison refer to the same coin1 which is either very much misrepresented by one or embellished by the other4 ,but ,i have another objection to make to this supposed hovering attitude of ,mars4 ,a body thus suspended1 without any visible cause for the law of gravitation not acting upon it1 is an absurdity of which no example can be found in the old works of art4 ,it is not allowable even in modern painting4 ,if a body is to be suspended in the air1 it must either have wings or appear to rest upon something1 if only a cloud4 ,when ,homer makes ,thetis rise on foot from the sea-shore to ,olympus1 ' 7,iliad1 xviii4 #adh71 ,count ,caylus is too well aware of the limitations of art to counsel the painter to represent her as walking unsupported through the air4 ,she must pursue her way upon a cloud 7,tableaux tirs de l',iliade1 p4 #ia71 as in another place he puts her into a chariot 7p4 #aca71 although exactly the opposite is stated by the poet4 ,how can it be otherwise8 ,although the poet represents the goddess with a human body1 he yet removes from her every trace of coarse and heavy materiality1 and animates her with a power which raises her beyond the influence of our laws of motion4 ,how could painting so distinguish the bodily shape of a deity from the bodily shape of a human being1 that our eyes should not be offended by observing it acted upon by different laws of motion1 weight1 and equilibrium8 ,how but by conventional signs1 such as a pair of wings or a cloud8 ,but more of this elsewhere2 here it is enough to require the defenders of the ,addison theory to show on the old monuments a second figure floating thus unsupported in the air4 ,can this ,mars be the only one of its kind8 why8 ,were there some particular conditions handed down by tradition which would necessitate such exceptional treatment in this one case8 ,there is no trace of such in ,ovid 7,fast4 lib4 i471 but rather proof that no such conditions ever could have existed4 ,for in other ancient works of art which represent the same story1 ,mars is evidently not hovering1 but walking4 ,examine the bas-relief in ,montfaucon 7,suppl4 ,t4 i4 p4 #ahc71 which is to be found1 if ,i am not mistaken1 in the ,mellini palace at ,rome4 ,rhea lies asleep under a tree1 and ,mars approaches her softly1 with that expressive backward motion of the right hand by which we warn those behind to stay where they are1 or to advance gently4 ,his attitude is precisely the same as on the coin1 except that in one case he holds his lance in the right1 in the other in the left hand4 ,we often find famous statues and bas-reliefs copied on coins1 and the same may well be the case here1 only that the cutter of the die did not perceive the force of the backward motion of the hand1 and thought it better employed in holding the lance4 ,taking all these arguments into consideration1 what degree of probability remains to ,addison's theory8 ,hardly more than a bare possibility4 ,but where can better explanation be had if this fails8 ,possibly among the interpretations rejected by ,addison4 ,but if not1 what then8 ,the passage in the poet is corrupted1 and so it must remain4 ,it certainly will so remain1 if twenty new conjectures are invented4 ,we might say that 8pendentis0 here was to be taken figuratively in the sense of uncertain1 undecided4 ,mars 8pendens0 would then be the same as ,mars 8incertus0 or ,mars 8communis40 8,dii communes10 says ,servius 7ad4 v4 #aah1 lib4 xii4 neid71 are ,mars1 ,bellona1 and ,victory1 so called from their favoring both parties in war4 ,and the line1-- ,pendentisque ,dei 7effigiem7 perituro ostenderet hosti1 would mean that the old ,roman soldier was accustomed to wear the image of the impartial god in the presence of his enemy1 who1 in spite of the impartiality1 was soon to perish4 ,a very subtle idea1 making the victories of the old ,romans depend more upon their own bravery than on the friendly aid of their founder4 ,nevertheless1 8non liquet40 ,note #ah1 p4 #ea4 8,till ,i got acquainted with these ,aur 7or sylphs710 says ,spence 7,polymetis1 dial4 xiii471 8,i found myself always at a loss in reading the known story of ,cephalus and ,procris in ,ovid4 ,i could never imagine how ,cephalus crying out1 #8,aura venias' 7though in ever so languishing a manner71 could give anybody a suspicion of his being false to ,procris4 ,as ,i had been always used to think that ,aura signified only the air in general1 or a gentle breeze in particular1 ,i thought ,procris's jealousy less founded than the most extravagant jealousies generally are4 ,but when ,i had once found that ,aura might signify a very handsome young woman as well as the air1 the case was entirely altered1 and the story seemed to go on in a very reasonable manner40 ,i will not take back in the note the approval bestowed in the text on this discovery1 on which ,spence so plumes himself4 ,but ,i cannot refrain from remarking that1 even without it1 the passage was very natural and intelligible4 ,we only needed to know that ,aura occurs frequently among the ancients as a woman's name4 ,according to ,nonnus1 for instance 7,dionys4 lib4 xlviii471 the nymph of ,diana was thus named1 who1 for claiming to possess a more manly beauty than the goddess herself1 was1 as a punishment for her presumption1 exposed in her sleep to the embraces of ,bacchus4 ,note #ai1 p4 #eb4 ,juvenalis ,satyr4 viii4 v4 #eb-ee4 444 ,at tu ,nil nisi ,cecropides2 truncoque simillimus ,herm6 ,nullo quippe alio vincis discrimine1 quam quod ,illi marmoreum caput est1 tua vivit imago4 8,but thou art nothing if not a descendant of ,cecrops2 in body most like a ,hermes2 forsooth the only thing in which you surpass that1 is that your head is a living image1 while the ,hermes is marble40 ,if ,spence had embraced the old ,greek writers in his work1 a fable of sop might perhaps--and yet perhaps not--have occurred to him1 which throws still clearer light upon this passage in ,juvenal4 8,mercury10 sop tells us1 8wishing to know in what repute he stood among men1 concealed his divinity1 and entered a sculptor's studio4 ,here he beheld a statue of ,jupiter1 and asked its value4 #8,a drachm1' was the answer4 ,mercury smiled4 #8,and this ,juno8' he asked again4 #8,about the same4' ,the god meanwhile had caught sight of his own image1 and thought to himself1--#8,i1 as the messenger of the gods1 from whom come all gains1 must be much more highly prized by men4' #8,and this god1' he asked1 pointing to his own image1 #8how dear might that be8' #8,that8' replied the artist1 #8buy the other two1 and ,i will throw that in4'0 ,mercury went away sadly crestfallen4 ,but the artist did not recognize him1 and could therefore have had no intention of wounding his self-love4 ,the reason for his setting so small a value on the statue must have lain in its workmanship4 ,the less degree of reverence due to the god whom it represented could have had nothing to do with the matter1 for the artist values his works according to the skill1 industry1 and labor bestowed upon them1 not according to the rank and dignity of the persons represented4 ,if a statue of ,mercury cost less than one of ,jupiter or ,juno1 it was because less skill1 industry1 and labor had been expended upon it4 ,and such was the case here4 ,the statues of ,jupiter and ,juno were full-length figures1 while that of ,mercury was a miserable square post1 with only the head and shoulders of the god upon it4 ,what wonder1 then1 that it might be thrown in without extra charge8 ,mercury overlooked this circumstance1 from having in mind only his own fancied superiority1 and his humiliation was therefore as natural as it was merited4 ,we look in vain among the commentators1 translators1 and imitators of sop's fables for any trace of this explanation4 ,i could mention the names of many1 were it worth the trouble1 who have understood the story literally2 that is1 have not understood it at all4 ,on the supposition that the workmanship of all the statues was of the same degree of excellence1 there is an absurdity in the fable which these scholars have either failed to perceive or have very much exaggerated4 ,another point which1 perhaps1 might be taken exception to in the fable1 is the price the sculptor sets upon his ,jupiter4 ,no potter can make a puppet for a drachm4 ,the drachm here must stand in general for something very insignificant4 7,fab4 sop1 #ij47 ,note #bj1 p4 #ec4 ,cretius de ,r4 ,n4 lib4 v4 #gcf-gdg4 ,it ,ver1 et ,venus1 et ,veneris prnuntius ante ,pinnatus graditur ,zephyrus2 vestigia propter ,flora quibus mater prspargens ante viai ,cuncta coloribus egregiis et odoribus opplet1 ,inde loci sequitur ,calor aridus1 et comes una ,pulverulenta ,ceres2 et ,etesia flabra ,aquilonum4 ,inde ,autumnus adit2 graditur simul ,evius ,evan2 ,inde ali tempestates ventique sequuntur1 ,altitonans ,vulturnus et ,auster fulmine pollens4 ,tandem ,bruma nives adfert1 pigrumque rigorem ,reddit1 ,hyems sequitur1 crepitans ac dentibus ,algus4 ,spring advances and ,venus and winged ,zephyrus1 the herald of ,venus1 precedes1 whose path mother ,flora fills with wondrous flowers and odors4 ,then follow in order dry ,heat and his companion dusty ,ceres1 and the ,etesian blasts of the ,northwind4 ,then ,autumn approaches1 and ,evian ,bacchus4 ,then other tempests and winds1 deep-thundering ,volturnus and ,auster 7south and south-east winds71 mighty with lightnings4 ,at length1 the solstice brings snow1 and slothful numbness returns2 ,winter follows1 and cold with chattering teeth4 ,spence regards this passage as one of the most beautiful in the whole poem1 and it is certainly one on which the fame of ,lucretius as a poet chiefly rests4 ,but1 surely1 to say that the whole description was probably taken from a procession of statues representing the seasons as gods1 is to detract very much from his merit1 if not to destroy it altogether4 ,and what reason have we for the supposition8 ,this1 says the ,englishman3 8,such processions of their deities in general were as common among the ,romans of old1 as those in honor of the saints are in the same country to this day4 ,all the expressions used by ,lucretius here come in very aptly1 if applied to a procession40 ,excellent reasons6 ,against the last1 particularly1 we might make many objections4 ,the very epithets applied to the various personified abstractions1--8,calor aridus10 8,ceres pulverulenta10 8,volturnus altitonans10 8fulmine pollens ,auster10 8,algus dentibus crepitans10--show that they received their characteristics from the poet and not from the artist4 ,he would certainly have treated them very differently4 ,spence seems to have derived his idea of a procession from ,abraham ,preigern1 who1 in his remarks on this passage1 says1 8,ordo est quasi ,pomp cujusdam4 ,ver et ,venus1 ,zephyrus et ,flora10 c4 ,but ,spence should have been content to stop there4 ,to say that the poet makes his seasons move as in a procession1 is all very well2 but to say that he learned their sequences from a procession1 is nonsense4 ,note #ba1 p4 #fb4 ,valerius ,flaccus1 lib4 ii4 ,argonaut1 v4 #bfe-bgc4 ,serta patri1 juvenisque comam vestisque ,lyi ,induit1 et medium curru locat2 raque circum ,tympanaque et plenas tacita formidine cistas4 ,ipsa sinus hederisque ligat famularibus artus2 ,pampineamque quatit ventosis ictibus hastam1 ,respiciens2 teneat virides velatus habenas ,ut pater1 et nivea tumeant ut cornua mitra1 ,et sacer ut ,bacchum referat scyphus4 8,the maid clothes her father with the garlands1 the locks and the garments of ,bacchus1 and places him in the centre of the chariot2 around him the brazen drums and the boxes filled with nameless terror2 herself1 looking back1 binds his hair and limbs with ivy and strikes windy blows with the vine-wreathed spear2 veiled like the father she holds the green reins2 the horns project under the white turban1 and the sacred goblet tells of ,bacchus40 ,the word 8tumeant10 in the last line but one1 would seem to imply that the horns were not so small as ,spence fancies4 ,note #bb1 p4 #fb4 ,the so-called ,bacchus in the garden of the ,medicis at ,rome 7,montfaucon ,suppl4 aux ,ant4 ,t4 #a1 p4 #bed7 has little horns growing from the brow4 ,but for this very reason some critics suppose it to be a faun4 ,and indeed such natural horns are an insult to the human countenance1 and can only be becoming in beings supposed to occupy a middle station between men and beasts4 ,the attitude also and the longing looks the figure casts upward at the grapes1 belong more properly to a follower of the god than to the god himself4 ,i am reminded here of what ,clemens ,alexandrinus says of ,alexander the ,great4 7,protrept4 p4 #dh1 edit4 ,pott47 1 1 4 ,it was ,alexander's express desire to be represented in his statue with horns4 ,he was well content with the insult thus done to human beauty1 if only a divine origin might be imputed to him4 ,note #bc1 p4 #fd4 ,when ,i maintained in a former chapter that the old artists had never made a fury1 it had not escaped me that the furies had more than one temple1 which certainly would not have been left devoid of their statues4 ,pausanias found some of wood in their temple at ,cerynea1 not large nor in any way remarkable4 ,it would seem that the art1 which had no opportunity of displaying itself on them1 sought to make amends on the images of the priestesses which stood in the hall of the temple1 as they were of stone and of very beautiful workmanship4 7,pausanias ,achaic4 cap4 xxv4 p4 #ehg1 edit4 ,kuhn47 ,neither had ,i forgotten that heads of them were supposed to have been found on an abraxas1 made known by ,chiffletius1 and on a lamp by ,licetus4 7,dissertat4 sur les ,furies par ,bannier2 ,mmoires de l',acadmie des ,inscript4 ,t4 v4 #dh47 ,neither was ,i unacquainted with the ,etruscan vase of ,gorius 7,tabl4 #aea4 ,musei ,etrusci7 whereon are ,orestes and ,pylades attacked by furies4 ,but ,i was speaking of works of art1 under which head ,i consider none of these to come4 ,if the latter deserve more than the others to be included under the name1 it would in one aspect rather confirm my theory than contradict it4 ,for1 little as the ,etruscan artists aimed at beauty in most cases1 they yet seem to have characterized the furies more by their dress and attributes than by any terrible aspect of countenance4 ,these figures thrust their torches at ,orestes and ,pylades1 with such a tranquil expression of face that they almost seem to be terrifying them in sport4 ,the horror they inspire in ,orestes and ,pylades appears from the fear of the two men1 not at all from the shape of the furies themselves4 ,they are1 therefore1 at once furies and no furies4 ,they perform the office of furies1 but without that appearance of violence and rage which we are accustomed to associate with the name4 ,they have not that brow which1 as ,catullus says1 8expirantis prportat pectoris iras40 ,winkelmann thought lately that he had discovered1 upon a cornelian in the cabinet of ,stoss1 a fury1 running1 with streaming hair and garments1 and a dagger in her hand4 7,library of the ,fine ,arts1 vol4 v47 ,von ,hagedorn at once counselled all the artists to turn this discovery to account1 and represent furies thus in their pictures4 7,betrachtungen ber die ,malerei1 p4 #bbb47 ,but ,winkelmann himself presently threw doubt on his discovery1 because he did not find that the ancients ever armed the furies with daggers instead of torches4 7,descript4 des ,pierres ,graves1 p4 #hd47 ,he must then consider the figures on the coins of the cities of ,lyrba and ,massaura1 which ,spanheim calls furies 7,les ,csars de ,julien1 p4 #dd71 to be not such but a ,hecate triformis4 ,else here would be exactly such a fury1 with a dagger in each hand1 and strangely enough also with flowing hair1 while in the other figures the hair is covered with a veil4 ,but granting ,winkelmann's first supposition to have been correct1 the same would apply to this engraved stone as to the ,etruscan vase1 unless owing to the fineness of the work the features were indistinguishable4 ,besides1 all engraved stones1 from their use as seals1 belong rather to symbolism2 and the figures on them are more often a conceit of the owner than the voluntary work of the artist4 ,note #bd1 p4 #fd4 ,fast4 lib4 vi4 #bie-ih4 ,esse diu stultus ,vest simulacra putavi3 ,mox didici curvo nulla subesse tholo4 ,ignis inextinctus templo celatur in illo2 ,effigiem nullam ,vesta1 nec ignis1 habet4 8,i long foolishly thought there were images of ,vesta2 then ,i found that none existed beneath the arching dome4 ,an ever-burning fire is hidden in that temple4 ,image there is none either of ,vesta or of fire40 ,ovid is speaking only of the worship of ,vesta at ,rome1 and of the temple erected to her there by ,numa1 of whom he just before says3 ,regis opus placidi1 quo non metuentius ullum ,numinis ingenium terra ,sabina tulit4 8,the work of that peaceful king who feared the gods more than any other offspring of the ,sabine land40 ,note #be1 p4 #fe4 ,fast4 lib4 iii4 v4 #de1 #df4 ,sylvia fit mater3 ,vest simulacra feruntur ,virgineas oculis opposuisse manus4 ,spence should thus have compared the different parts of ,ovid together4 ,the poet is speaking of different times2 here of the state of things before ,numa1 there of the state of things after him4 ,statues of her were worshipped in ,italy as they were in ,troy1 whence neas brought her rites with him4 ,manibus vittas1 ,vestamque potentem1 ternumque adytis effert penetralibus ignem1 says ,virgil of the ghost of ,hector1 after he had warned neas to fly4 8,he bears in his hands from the innermost shrine garlands1 and mighty ,vesta and the eternal fire40 ,here the eternal fire is expressly distinguished from ,vesta herself and from her statue4 ,spence cannot have consulted the ,roman poets with much care1 since he allowed such a passage as this to escape him4 ,note #bf1 p4 #fe4 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxvi4 sect4 #d4 8,scopas fecit4--,vestam sedentem laudatam in ,servilianis hortis40 ,lipsius must have had this passage in mind when he wrote 7de ,vesta cap4 #c73 8,plinius ,vestem sedentem effingi solitam ostendit1 a stabilitate40 ,but what ,pliny says of a single work by ,scopas he ought not to have taken for a generally accepted characteristic4 ,in fact1 he observes that on coins ,vesta was as often represented standing as sitting4 ,this1 however1 was no correction of ,pliny1 but only of his own mistaken conception4 ,note #bg1 p4 #ff4 ,georg4 ,codinus de ,originib4 ,constant4 1 1 1 ' 4 ,suidas1 following him1 or both following some older authority1 says the same thing under the word 4 8,under the name of ,vesta the ,earth is represented by a woman bearing a drum1 in which she is supposed to hold the winds confined40 ,the reason is somewhat puerile4 ,it would have sounded better to say that she carried a drum1 because the ancients thought her figure bore some resemblance to one1 4 7,plutarchus de placitis ,philos4 cap4 #aj1 id4 de facie in orbe ,lun47 ,perhaps1 after all1 ,codinus was mistaken in the figure or the name or both4 ,possibly he did not know what better name to give to what he saw ,vesta holding1 than a drum4 ,or he might have heard it called tympanum1 and the only thing the word suggested to him was the instrument known to us as a kettle-drum4 ,but 8tympana0 were also a kind of wheel4 ,hinc radios trivere rotis1 hinc tympana plaustris ,agricol4--7,virgilius ,georgic4 lib4 ii4 #ddd47 ,very similar to such a wheel appears to me the object borne by ,fabretti's ,vesta 7ad ,tabulam ,iliadis1 p4 #ccd7 which that scholar takes to be a hand-mill4 ,note #bh1 p4 #gj4 ,lib4 i4 ,od4 #ce4 ,te semper anteit sva ,necessitas3 ,clavos trabales et cuneos manu ,gestans ahenea2 nec severus ,uncus abest liquidumque plumbum4 ,in this picture of ,necessity drawn by ,horace1 perhaps the richest in attributes of any to be found in the old poets1 the nails1 the clamps1 and the liquid lead1 whether regarded as means of confinement or implements of punishment1 still belong to the class of poetical1 rather than allegorical1 attributes4 ,but1 even so1 they are too crowded2 and the passage is one of the least effective in ,horace4 ,sanadon says3 8,j'ose dire que ce tableau1 pris dans le dtail1 serait plus beau sur la toile que dans une ode hroque4 ,je ne puis souffrir cet attirail patibulaire de clous1 de coins1 de crocs1 et de plomb fondu4 ,j'ai cru en devoir dcharger la traduction1 en substituant les ides gnrales aux ides singulires4 ,c'est dommage que le pote ait eu besoin de ce correctif40 ,sanadon's sentiment was fine and true1 but he does not give the right ground for it4 ,the objection is not that these attributes are the paraphernalia of the gallows1 for he had but to interpret them in their other sense to make them the firmest supports of architecture4 ,their fault is in being addressed to the eye and not to the ear4 ,for all impressions meant for the eye1 but presented to us through the ear1 are received with effort1 and produce no great degree of vividness4 ,these lines of ,horace remind me of a couple of oversights on the part of ,spence1 which give us no very good idea of the exactitude with which he has studied the passages he cites from the old poets4 ,he is speaking of the image under which the ,romans represented faith or honesty4 7,dial4 x47 8,the ,romans10 he says1 8called her #8,fides2' and1 when they called her #8,sola ,fides1' seem to mean the same as we do by the words #8downright honesty4' ,she is represented with an erect1 open air1 and with nothing but a thin robe on1 so fine that one might see through it4 ,horace therefore calls her #8thin-dressed' in one of his odes1 and #8transparent' in another40 ,in these few lines are not less than three gross errors4 ,first1 it is false that 8sola0 was a distinct epithet applied to the goddess ,fides4 ,in the two passages from ,livy1 which he adduces as proof 7lib4 i4 sect4 #ba1 lib4 ii4 sect4 #c71 the word has only its usual signification1--the exclusion of all else4 ,in one place1 indeed1 the 8soli0 has been questioned by the critics1 who think it must have crept into the text through an error in writing1 occasioned by the word next to it1 which is 8solenne40 ,in the other passage cited1 the author is not speaking of fidelity at all1 but of innocence1 ,innocentia4 ,secondly1 ,horace1 in one of his odes 7the thirty-fifth of the first book1 mentioned above71 is said to have applied to ,fides the epithet thin-dressed3 ,te spes1 et albo rara fides colit ,velata panno4 8,rarus10 it is true1 can also mean thin2 but here it means only rare1 seldom appearing1 and is applied to ,fidelity herself1 not to her clothing4 ,spence would have been right1 had the poet said1 8,fides raro velata panno40 ,thirdly1 ,horace is said to have elsewhere called faith or honesty transparent1 in the sense in which friends protest to one another1 8,i wish you could read my heart40 ,this meaning is said to be found in the line of the eighteenth ode of the ,first ,book3 ,arcanique ,fides prodiga1 pellucidior vitro4 ,how can a critic allow himself to be thus misled by a word8 ,is a faith1 8arcani prodiga10 lavish of secrets1 faithfulness8 is it not rather faithlessness8 ,and it is of faithlessness1 in fact1 that ,horace says1 8,she is transparent as glass1 because she betrays to every eye the secrets entrusted to her40 ,note #bi1 p4 #ga4 ,apollo delivers the washed and embalmed body of ,sarpedon to ,death and ,sleep1 that they may bring him to his native country4 7,iliad1 xvi4 #fha1 #fhb47 1 4 ,caylus recommends this idea to the painter1 but adds3 8,it is a pity that ,homer has given us no account of the attributes under which ,sleep was represented in his day4 ,we recognize the god only by his act1 and we crown him with poppies4 ,these ideas are modern4 ,the first is of service1 but cannot be employed in the present case1 where even the flowers would be out of keeping in connection with the figure of ,death40 7,tableaux tirs de l',iliade1 de l',odysse d',homre1 et de l',enide de ,virgile1 avec des observations gnrales sur le costume1 ,paris1 #ageg-eh47 ,that is requiring of ,homer ornamentations of that petty kind most at variance with the nobility of his style4 ,the most ingenious attributes he could have bestowed on ,sleep would not have characterized him so perfectly1 nor have brought so vivid a picture of him before us1 as the single touch which makes him the twin brother of ,death4 ,let the artist seek to express this1 and he may dispense with all attributes4 ,the old artists did1 in fact1 make ,sleep and ,death resemble each other1 like twin-brothers4 ,on a chest of cedar1 in the ,temple of ,juno at ,elis1 they both lay as boys in the arms of ,night4 ,one was white1 the other black2 one slept1 the other only seemed to sleep2 the feet of both were crossed4 ,for so ,i should prefer to translate the words of ,pausanias 7,eliac4 cap4 xviii4 p4 #dbb1 edit4 ,kuhn71 1 rather than by 8crooked feet10 as ,gedoyn does1 8les pieds contrefaits40 ,what would be the meaning of crooked feet8 ,to lie with crossed feet is customary with sleepers4 ,sleep is thus represented by ,maffei4 7,raccol4 ,pl4 #aea47 ,modern artists have entirely abandoned this resemblance between ,sleep and ,death1 which we find among the ancients1 and always represent ,death as a skeleton1 or at best a skeleton covered with skin4 ,caylus should have been careful to tell the artists whether they had better follow the custom of the ancients or the moderns in this respect4 ,he seems to declare in favor of the modern view1 since he regards ,death as a figure that would not harmonize well with a flower-crowned companion4 ,has he further considered how inappropriate this modern idea would be in a ,homeric picture8 ,how could its loathsome character have failed to shock him8 ,i cannot bring myself to believe that the little metal figure in the ducal gallery at ,florence1 representing a skeleton sitting on the ground1 with one arm on an urn of ashes 7,spence's ,polymetis1 tab4 xli471 is a veritable antique4 ,it cannot possibly represent ,death1 because the ancients represented him very differently4 ,even their poets never thought of him under this repulsive shape4 ,note #cj1 p4 #gf4 ,richardson cites this work as an illustration of the rule that the attention of the spectator should be diverted by nothing1 however admirable1 from the chief figure4 8,protogenes10 he says1 8had introduced into his famous picture of ,ialysus a partridge1 painted with so much skill that it seemed alive1 and was admired by all ,greece4 ,but1 because it attracted all eyes to itself1 to the detriment of the whole piece1 he effaced it40 7,trait de la ,peinture1 ,t4 i4 p4 #df47 ,richardson is mistaken2 this partridge was not in the ,ialysus1 but in another picture of ,protogenes called the ,idle ,satyr1 or ,satyr in ,repose1 4 ,i should hardly have mentioned this error1 which arose from a misunderstanding of a passage in ,pliny1 had not the same mistake been made by ,meursius4 7,rhodi4 lib4 i4 cap4 #ad47 8,in eadem tabula1 scilicet in qua ,ialysus1 ,satyrus erat1 quem dicebant ,anapauomenon1 tibeas tenens40 ,something of the same kind occurs in ,winkelmann4 7,von der ,nachahm4 der ,gr4 ,w4 in der ,mal4 und ,bildh4 p4 #ef47 ,strabo is the only authority for this partridge story1 and he expressly discriminates between the ,ialysus and the ,satyr leaning against a pillar on which sat the partridge4 7,lib4 xiv47 ,meursius1 ,richardson1 and ,winkelmann misunderstood the passage in ,pliny 7lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #cf71 from not perceiving that he was speaking of two different pictures3 the one which saved the city1 because ,demetrius would not assault the place where it stood2 and another1 which ,protogenes painted during the siege4 ,the one was ,ialysus1 the other the ,satyr4 ,note #ca1 p4 #gi4 ,this invisible battle of the gods has been imitated by ,quintus ,calaber in his ,twelfth ,book1 with the evident design of improving on his model4 ,the grammarian seems to have held it unbecoming in a god to be thrown to the ground by a stone4 ,he therefore makes the gods hurl at one another huge masses of rock1 torn up from ,mount ,ida1 which1 however1 are shattered against the limbs of the immortals and fly like sand about them4 444 ' ' ' 4444 ,a conceit which destroys the effect by marring our idea of the size of the gods1 and throwing contempt on their weapons4 ,if gods throw stones at one another1 the stones must be able to hurt them1 or they are like silly boys pelting each other with earth4 ,so old ,homer remains still the wiser1 and all the fault-finding of cold criticism1 and the attempts of men of inferior genius to vie with him1 serve but to set forth his wisdom in clearer light4 ,i do not deny that ,quintus's imitation has excellent and original points2 but they are less in harmony with the modest greatness of ,homer than calculated to do honor to the stormy fire of a more modern poet4 ,that the cry of the gods1 which rang to the heights of heaven and the depths of hell1 should not be heard by mortals1 seems to me a most expressive touch4 ,the cry was too mighty to be grasped by the imperfect organs of human hearing4 ,note #cb1 p4 #hj4 ,no one who has read ,homer once through1 ever so hastily1 will differ from this statement as far as regards strength and speed2 but he will not perhaps at once recall examples where the poet attaches superhuman size to his gods4 ,i would therefore refer him1 in addition to the description of ,mars just quoted1 whose body covered seven hides1 to the helmet of ,minerva1 ' 7,iliad1 v4 #gdd71 under which could be concealed as many warriors as a hundred cities could bring into the field2 to the stride of ,neptune 7,iliad1 xiii4 #bj72 and especially to the lines from the description of the shield1 where ,mars and ,minerva lead the troops of the beleaguered city4 7,iliad1 xviii4 #eaf-eai47 ' 1 1 1 1 1 ' ' 4 444 ,while the youths ,marched on1 with ,mars and ,pallas at their head1 ,both wrought in gold1 with golden garments on1 ,stately and large in form1 and over all ,conspicuous in bright armor1 as became ,the gods2 the rest were of an humbler size4--,,bryant4 ,judging from the explanations they feel called upon to give of the great helmet of ,minerva1 ,homer's commentators1 old as well as new1 seem not always sufficiently to have borne in mind this wonderful size of the gods4 7,see the notes on the above-quoted passage in the edition of ,clarke and ,ernesti47 ,but we lose much in majesty by thinking of the ,homeric deities as of ordinary size1 as we are accustomed to see them on canvas in the company of mortals4 ,although painting is unable to represent these superhuman dimensions1 sculpture to a certain extent may1 and ,i am convinced that the old masters borrowed from ,homer their conception of the gods in general as well as the colossal size which they not infrequently gave them4 7,herodot4 lib4 ii4 p4 #acj1 edit4 ,wessel47 ,further remarks upon the use of the colossal1 its excellent effect in sculpture and its want of effect in painting1 ,i reserve for another place4 ,,note #cc1 p4 #hb4 ,homer1 ,i acknowledge1 sometimes veils his deities in a cloud1 but only when they are not to be seen by other deities4 ,in the fourteenth book of the ,iliad1 for instance1 where ,juno and ,sleep1 1 betake themselves to ,mount ,ida1 the crafty goddess's chief care was not to be discovered by ,venus1 whose girdle she had borrowed under pretence of a very different journey4 ,in the same book the love-drunken ,jupiter is obliged to surround himself and his spouse with a golden cloud to overcome her chaste reluctance4 ' 1 ' 4444 ,she did not fear to be seen by men1 but by the gods4 ,and although ,homer makes ,jupiter say a few lines further on1-- 1 ' 1 4 8,fear thou not that any god or man will look upon us10 that does not prove that the cloud was needed to conceal them from the eyes of mortals1 but that in this cloud they would be as invisible to the gods as they always were to men4 ,so1 when ,minerva puts on the helmet of ,pluto 7,iliad1 v4 #dhe71 which has the same effect of concealment that a cloud would have1 it is not that she may be concealed from the ,trojans1 who either see her not at all or under the form of ,sthenelus1 but simply that she may not be recognized by ,mars4 ,,note #cd1 p4 #hg4 ,tableaux tirs de l',iliade1 ,avert4 p4 #e4 8,on est toujours convenu1 que plus un pome fournissait d'images et d'actions1 plus il avait de supriorit en posie4 ,cette rflexion m'avait conduit penser que le calcul des diffrens tableaux1 qu' offrent les pomes1 pouvait servir comparer le mrite respectif des pomes et des potes4 ,le nombre et le genre des tableaux que prsentent ces grands ouvrages1 auraient t une espce de pierre de touche1 ou1 plutt1 une balance certaine du mrite de ces pomes et du gnie de leurs auteurs40 ,,note #ce1 p4 #hh4 ,what we call poetic pictures1 the ancients1 as we learn from ,longinus1 called 8phantasi20 and what we call illusion in such pictures1 they named 8enargia40 ,it was therefore said by some one1 as ,plutarch tells us 7,erot4 ,t4 ii4 edit4 ,henr4 ,steph4 p4 #acea71 that poetic 8phantasi0 were1 on account of their 8enargia10 waking dreams3 4 ,i could wish that our modern books upon poetry had used this nomenclature1 and avoided the word picture altogether4 ,we should thus have been spared a multitude of doubtful rules1 whose chief foundation is the coincidence of an arbitrary term4 ,no one would then have thought of confining poetic conceptions within the limits of a material picture4 ,but the moment these conceptions were called a poetic picture1 the foundation for the error was laid4 ,,note #cf1 p4 #hi4 ,iliad1 iv4 #aje4 ' 1 444 1 ' ' 1 ' ' 1 ' 1 4 1 1 ' ' 1 ' 4 ,to bend that bow the warrior lowered it ,and pressed an end against the earth4444 ,then the ,lycian drew aside ,the cover from his quiver1 taking out ,a well-fledged arrow that had never flown1-- ,a cause of future sorrows4 ,on the string ,he laid that fatal arrow4444 ,grasping the bowstring and the arrow's notch ,he drew them back and forced the string to meet ,his breast1 the arrow-head to meet the bow1 ,till the bow formed a circle4 ,then it twanged2 ,the cord gave out a shrilly sound2 the shaft ,leaped forth in eager haste to reach the host4--,,bryant4 ,,note #cg1 p4 #ajh4 ,prologue to the ,satires1 #cdj4 ,that not in ,fancy's maze he wandered long1 ,but stooped to ,truth and moralized his song4 ,ibid4 #adh4 444 ,who could take offence ,while pure description held the place of sense8 ,warburton's remark on this last line may have the force of an explanation by the poet himself4 8,he uses pure equivocally1 to signify either chaste or empty2 and has given in this line what he esteemed the true character of descriptive poetry1 as it is called1--a composition1 in his opinion1 as absurd as a feast made up of sauces4 ,the use of a picturesque imagination is to brighten and adorn good sense3 so that to employ it only in description1 is like children's delighting in a prism for the sake of its gaudy colors1 which1 when frugally managed and artfully disposed1 might be made to represent and illustrate the noblest objects in nature40 ,both poet and commentator seem to have regarded the matter rather from a moral than an artistic point of view4 ,but so much the better that this style of poetry seems equally worthless from whichever point it be viewed4 ,,note #ch1 p4 #ajh4 ,potique ,franaise1 ,t4 ii4 p4 #eja4 8,j'crivais ces rflexions avant que les essais des ,allemands dans ce genre 7l',eglogue7 fussent connus parmi nous4 ,ils ont excut ce que j'avais conu2 et s'ils parviennent donner plus au moral et moins au dtail des peintures physiques1 ils excelleront dans ce genre1 plus riche1 plus vaste1 plus fcond1 et infiniment plus naturel et plus moral que celui de la galanterie champtre40 ,,note #ci1 p4 #aae4 ,i see that ,servius attempts to excuse ,virgil on other grounds1 for the difference between the two shields has not escaped his notice4 8,sane interest inter hunc et ,homeri clypeum2 illic enim singula dum fiunt narrantur2 hic vero perfecto opere nascuntur2 nam et hic arma prius accipit neas1 quam spectaret2 ibi postquam omnia narrata sunt1 sic a ,thetide deferuntur ad ,achillem40 ,there is a marked difference between this and the shield of ,homer3 for there events are narrated one by one as they are done1 here they are known by the finished work2 here the arms are received by neas before being seen1 there1 after all has been told1 they are carried by ,thetis to ,achilles4 7,ad4 v4 #fbe1 lib4 viii4 neid47 ,why8 8,for this reason10 says ,servius3 8because1 on the shield of neas1 were represented not only the few events referred to by the poet1 but1-- 444 genus omne futur ,stirpis ab ,ascanio1 pugnataque in ordine bella1 8,all the description of his future race from ,ascanius1 and the battles1 in the order in which they should occur40 ,it would have been impossible for the poet1 in the same short space of time occupied by ,vulcan in his work1 to mention by name the long line of descendants1 and to tell of all their battles in the order of their occurrence4 ,that seems to be the meaning of ,servius's somewhat obscure words3 8,opportune ergo ,virgilius1 quia non videtur simul et narrationis celeritas potuisse connecti1 et opus tam velociter expedire1 ut ad verbum posset occurrere40 ,since ,virgil could bring forward but a small part of 8the unnarratable text of the shield10 and not even that little while ,vulcan was at work1 he was obliged to reserve it till the whole was finished4 ,for ,virgil's sake1 ,i hope that this argument of ,servius is baseless4 ,my excuse is much more creditable to him4 ,what need was there of putting the whole of ,roman history on a shield8 ,with few pictures ,homer made his shield an epitome of all that was happening in the world4 ,it would almost seem that ,virgil1 despairing of surpassing the ,greek in the design and execution of his pictures1 was determined to exceed him at least in their number1 and that would have been the height of childishness4 ,,note #dj1 p4 #aah4 8,scuto ejus1 in quo ,amazonum prlium clavit intumescente ambitu parm2 ejusdem concava parte deorum et gigantum1 dimicationem40 8,her shield1 on the convex side of which he sculptured a battle of the ,amazons1 and on the concave side the contest of the gods and giants40 7,plinius1 lib4 xxxvi4 sect4 #d47 ,,note #da1 p4 #abb4 ,the first begins at line #dhc and goes to line #dhi2 the second extends from #dij to #eji2 the third1 from #eaj to #edj2 the fourth1 from #eda to #edi2 the fifth1 from #eej to #efj2 the sixth1 from #efa to #egb2 the seventh1 from #egc to #ehf2 the eighth1 from #ehg to #ehi2 the ninth1 from #eij to #fje2 and the tenth1 from #fjf to #fjh4 ,the third picture alone is not so introduced2 but that it is one by itself is evident from the words introducing the second1-- 1--as also from the nature of the subject4 ,,note #db1 p4 #abc4 ,iliad1 vol4 v4 obs4 p4 #fa4 ,in this passage ,pope makes an entirely false use of the expression 8aerial perspective10 which1 in fact1 has nothing to do with the diminishing of the size according to the increased distance1 but refers only to the change of color occasioned by the air or other medium through which the object is seen4 ,a man capable of this blunder may justly be supposed ignorant of the whole subject4 ,,note #dc1 p4 #abh4 ,constantinus ,manasses ,compend4 ,chron4 p4 #bj 7edit4 ,venet74 ,madame ,dacier was well pleased with this portrait of ,manasses1 except for its tautology4 8,de ,helen pulchritudine omnium optime ,constantinus ,manasses2 nisi in eo tautologiam reprehendas40 7,ad ,dictyn ,cretensem1 lib4 i4 cap4 #c1 p4 #e47 ,she also quotes1 according to ,mezeriac 7,comment4 sur les ,eptres d',ovide1 ,t4 i4 p4 #cfa71 the descriptions given by ,dares ,phrygius1 and ,cedrenus1 of the beauty of ,helen4 ,in the first there is one trait which sounds rather strange4 ,dares says that ,helen had a mole between her eyebrows3 8notam inter duo supercilia habentem40 ,but that could not have been a beauty4 ,i wish the ,frenchwoman had given her opinion4 ,i1 for my part1 regard the word 8nota0 as a corruption1 and think that ,dares meant to speak of what the ,greeks called 1 and the ,latins1 8glabella40 ,he means to say that ,helen's eyebrows did not meet1 but that there was a little space between them4 ,the taste of the ancients was divided on this point4 ,some considered this space between the eyebrows beauty1 others not4 7,junius de ,pictura ,vet4 lib4 iii4 cap4 #i1 p4 #bde47 ,anacreon took a middle course4 ,the eyebrows of his beloved maiden were neither perceptibly separated1 nor were they fully grown together3 they tapered off delicately at a certain point4 ,he says to the artist who is to paint her 7,od4 #bh73-- 1 1 ' 4 ,this is ,pauer's reading1 but the meaning is the same in other versions1 and has been rightly given by ,henr4 ,stephano3-- ,supercilii nigrantes ,discrimina nec arcus1 ,confundito nec illos3 ,sed junge sic ut anceps ,divortium relinquas1 ,quale esse cernis ipsi4 ,but if my interpretation of ,dares' meaning be the true one1 what should we read instead of 8notam80 ,perhaps 8moram40 ,for certainly 8mora0 may mean not only the interval of time before something happens1 but also the impediment1 the space between one thing and another4 ,ego inquieta montium jaceam mora1 is the wish of the raving ,hercules in ,seneca1 which ,gronovius very well explains thus3 8,optat se medium jacere inter duas ,symplegades1 illarum velut moram1 impedimentum1 obicem2 qui eas moretur1 vetet aut satis arcte conjungi1 aut rursus distrahi40 ,the same poet uses 8laceratorum mor0 in the sense of 8junctur40 7,schrderus ad4 v4 #gfb4 ,thyest47 ,,note #dd1 p4 #aca4 ,dialogo della ,pittura1 intitolata l',aretino3 ,firenze #agce1 p4 #agh4 8,se vogliono i ,pittori senza fatica trovare un perfetto esempio di bella ,donna1 legiano quelle ,stanze dell' ,ariosto1 nelle quali egli discrive mirabilmente le belezze della ,fata ,alcina2 e vedranno parimente1 quanto i buoni ,poeti siano ancora essi ,pittori40 ,,note #de1 p4 #aca4 ,ibid4 8,ecco1 che1 quanto alla proporzione1 l'ingeniosissimo ,ariosto assegna la migliore1 che sappiano formar le mani de' pi eccellenti ,pittori1 usando questa voce industri1 per dinotar la diligenza1 che conviene al buono artefice40 ,,note #df1 p4 #acb4 ,ibid4 8,qui l',ariosto colorisce1 e in questo suo colorire dimostra essere un ,titiano40 ,,note #dg1 p4 #acb4 ,ibid4 8,poteva l',ariosto nella guisa1 che ha detto chioma bionda1 dir chioma d'oro3 ma gli parve forse1 che havrebbe havuto troppo del ,poetico4 ,da che si pu ritrar1 che 'l ,pittore dee imitar l'oro1 e non metterlo 7come fanno i ,miniatori7 nelle sue ,pitture1 in modo1 che si possa dire1 que' capelli non sono d'oro1 ma par che risplendano1 come l'oro40 ,what ,dolce goes on to quote from ,athenus is remarkable1 but happens to be a misquotation4 ,i shall speak of it in another place4 ,,note #dh1 p4 #acb4 ,ibid4 8,il naso1 che discende gi1 havendo peraventura la considerazione a quelle forme de' nasi1 che si veggono ne' ritratti delle belle ,romane antiche40 ,,note #di1 p4 #adc4 ,pliny says of ,apelles 7lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #cf73 8,fecit et ,dianam sacrificantium ,virginum choro mixtam2 quibus vicisse ,homeri versus videtur id ipsum describentis40 8,he also made a ,diana surrounded by a band of virgins performing a sacrifice2 a work in which he would seem to have surpassed the verses of ,homer describing the same thing40 ,this praise may be perfectly just2 for beautiful nymphs surrounding a beautiful goddess1 who towers above them by the whole height of her majestic brow1 form a theme more fitting the painter than the poet4 ,but ,i am somewhat suspicious of the word 8sacrificantium40 ,what have the nymphs of ,diana to do with offering sacrifices8 ,is that the occupation assigned them by ,homer8 ,by no means4 ,they roam with the goddess over hills and through forest2 they hunt1 play1 dance4 7,odyss4 vi4 #ajb-ajf74 ' ' 1 ' 1 444 ,as when o'er ,erymanth ,diana roves ,or wide ,taygetus's resounding groves2 ,a sylvan train the huntress queen surrounds1 ,her rattling quiver from her shoulder sounds2 ,fierce in the sport along the mountain brow1 ,they bay the boar or chase the bounding roe4 ,high o'er the lawn with more majestic pace1 ,above the nymphs she treads with stately grace4--,,pope4 ,pliny1 therefore1 can hardly have written 8sacrificantium10 rather 8venantium0 7hunting71 or something like it2 perhaps 8sylvis vagantium0 7roaming the woods71 which corresponds more nearly in number of letters to the altered word4 8,saltantium0 7bounding71 approaches most nearly to the of ,homer4 ,virgil1 also1 in his imitation of this passage1 represents the nymphs as dancing4 7neid1 i4 #dig1 #dih47 ,qualis in ,eurot ripis1 aut per juga ,cynthi ,exercet ,diana choros4444 ,such on ,eurotas' banks or ,cynthus' height ,diana seems2 and so she charms the sight1 ,when in the dance the graceful goddess leads ,the choir of nymphs and overtops their heads4--,,dryden4 ,spence gives a remarkable criticism on this passage4 7,polymetis1 dial4 viii47 8,this ,diana10 he says1 8both in the picture and in the descriptions1 was the ,diana ,venatrix1 though she was not represented1 either by ,virgil or ,apelles or ,homer1 as hunting with her nymphs2 but as employed with them in that sort of dances which of old were regarded as very solemn acts of devotion40 ,in a note he adds1 8,the expression of 1 used by ,homer on this occasion1 is scarce proper for hunting2 as that of 8choros exercere10 in ,virgil1 should be understood of the religious dances of old1 because dancing1 in the old ,roman idea of it1 was indecent1 even for men1 in public1 unless it were the sort of dances used in honor of ,mars or ,bacchus or some other of their gods40 ,spence supposes that those solemn dances are here referred to1 which1 among the ancients1 were counted among the acts of religion4 8,it is in consequence of this10 he says1 8that ,pliny1 in speaking of ,diana's nymphs on this very occasion1 uses the word 8sacrificare0 of them1 which quite determines these dances of theirs to have been of the religious kind40 ,he forgets that1 in ,virgil1 ,diana joins in the dance1 8exercet ,diana choros40 ,if this were a religious dance1 in whose honor did ,diana dance it8 in her own1 or in honor of some other deity8 ,both suppositions are absurd4 ,if the old ,romans did hold dancing in general to be unbecoming in a grave person1 was that a reason why their poets should transfer the national gravity to the manners of the gods1 which were very differently represented by the old ,greek poets8 ,when ,horace says of ,venus 7,od4 iv4 lib4 i471-- ,jam ,cytherea choros ducit ,venus1 imminente luna2 ,junctque ,nymphis ,grati decentes ,alterno terram quatiunt pede4444 8,now ,cytherean ,venus leads the bands1 under the shining moon1 and the fair graces1 joined with the nymphs1 beat the ground with alternate feet10--were these1 likewise1 sacred1 religious dances8 ,but it is wasting words to argue against such a conceit4 ,,note #ej1 p4 #ade4 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxiv4 sect4 #ai4 8,ipse tamen corporum tenus curiosus1 animi sensus non expressisse videtur1 capillum quoque et pubem non emendatius fecisse1 quam rudis antiquitas instituisset4 8,hic primus nervos et venas expressit1 capillumque diligentius40 ,,note #ea1 p4 #afb4 ,the ,connoisseur1 vol4 i4 no4 #ba4 ,the beauty of ,knonmquaiha is thus described4 8,he was struck with the glossy hue of her complexion1 which shone like the jetty down on the black hogs of ,hessaqua2 he was ravished with the prest gristle of her nose2 and his eyes dwelt with admiration on the flaccid beauties of her breasts1 which descended to her navel40 ,and how were these charms set off by art8 8,she made a varnish of the fat of goats mixed with soot1 with which she anointed her whole body as she stood beneath the rays of the sun2 her locks were clotted with melted grease1 and powdered with the yellow dust of ,buchu2 her face1 which shone like the polished ebony1 was beautifully varied with spots of red earth1 and appeared like the sable curtain of the night bespangled with stars2 she sprinkled her limbs with wood-ashes1 and perfumed them with the dung of ,stinkbingsem4 ,her arms and legs were entwined with the shining entrails of an heifer2 from her neck there hung a pouch composed of the stomach of a kid2 the wings of an ostrich overshadowed the fleshy promontories behind2 and before she wore an apron formed of the shaggy ears of a lion40 ,here is further the marriage ceremony of the loving pair4 8,the ,surri1 or ,chief ,priest1 approached them1 and1 in a deep voice1 chanted the nuptial rites to the melodious grumbling of the ,gom-,gom2 and1 at the same time 7according to the manner of ,caffraria71 bedewed them plentifully with the urinary benediction4 ,the bride and bridegroom rubbed in the precious stream with ecstasy1 while the briny drops trickled from their bodies1 like the oozy surge from the rocks of ,chirigriqua40 ,,note #eb1 p4 #aff4 ,the ,sea-,voyage1 act iii4 scene #a4 ,a ,french pirate ship is thrown upon a desert island4 ,avarice and envy cause quarrels among the men1 and a couple of wretches1 who had long suffered extreme want on the island1 seize a favorable opportunity to put to sea in the ship4 ,robbed thus of their whole stock of provisions1 the miserable men see death1 in its worst forms1 staring them in the face1 and express to each other their hunger and despair as follows3-- ,lamure4 ,oh1 what a tempest have ,i in my stomach6 ,how my empty guts cry out6 ,my wounds ache1 ,would they would bleed again1 that ,i might get ,something to quench my thirst6 ,franville4 ,o ,lamure1 the happiness my dogs had ,when ,i kept house at home6 ,they had a storehouse1 ,a storehouse of most blessed bones and crusts4 ,happy crusts6 ,oh1 how sharp hunger pinches me6 ,lamure4 ,how now1 what news8 ,morillar4 ,hast any meat yet8 ,franville4 ,not a bit that ,i can see4 ,here be goodly quarries1 but they be cruel hard ,to gnaw4 ,i ha' got some mud1 we'll eat it with spoons2 ,very good thick mud2 but it stinks damnably4 ,there's old rotten trunks of trees1 too1 ,but not a leaf nor blossom in all the island4 ,lamure4 ,how it looks6 ,morillar4 ,it stinks too4 ,lamure4 ,it may be poison4 ,franville4 ,let it be any thing1 ,so ,i can get it down4 ,why1 man1 ,poison's a princely dish6 ,morillar4 ,hast thou no biscuit8 ,no crumbs left in thy pocket8 ,here is my doublet1 ,give me but three small crumbs4 ,franville4 ,not for three kingdoms1 ,if ,i were master of 'em4 ,oh1 ,lamure1 ,but one poor joint of mutton we ha' scorned1 man6 ,lamure4 ,thou speak'st of paradise2 ,or but the snuffs of those healths1 ,we have lewdly at midnight flung away4 ,morillar4 ,ah1 but to lick the glasses6 ,but this is nothing1 compared with the next scene1 when the ship's surgeon enters4 ,franville4 ,here comes the surgeon4 ,what ,hast thou discovered8 ,smile1 smile1 and comfort us4 ,surgeon4 ,i am expiring1 ,smile they that can4 ,i can find nothing1 gentlemen1 ,here's nothing can be meat without a miracle4 ,oh1 that ,i had my boxes and my lints now1 ,my stupes1 my tents1 and those sweet helps of nature6 ,what dainty dishes could ,i make of them6 ,morillar4 ,hast ne'er an old suppository8 ,surgeon4 ,oh1 would ,i had1 sir6 ,lamure4 ,or but the paper where such a cordial ,potion1 or pills hath been entombed6 ,franville4 ,or the best bladder1 where a cooling glister8 ,morillar4 ,hast thou no searcloths left8 ,nor any old poultices8 ,franville4 ,we care not to what it hath been ministered4 ,surgeon4 ,sure ,i have none of these dainties1 gentlemen4 ,franville4 ,where's the great wen ,thou cut'st from ,hugh the sailor's shoulder8 ,that would serve now for a most princely banquet4 ,surgeon4 ,ay1 if we had it1 gentlemen4 ,i flung it overboard1 slave that ,i was4 ,lamure4 ,a most improvident villain6 ,,note #ec1 p4 #agg4 neid1 lib4 ii4 #g1 and especially lib4 xi4 #ahc4 ,we might safely1 therefore1 add such a work to the list of lost writings by this author4 ,,note #ed1 p4 #agi4 ,consult the list of inscriptions on ancient works of art in ,mar4 ,gudius4 7ad ,phdri fab4 v4 lib4 i471 and1 in connection with that1 the correction made by ,gronovius4 7,prf4 ad ,tom4 ix4 ,thesauri ,antiq4 ,grc47 ,,note #ee1 p4 #ahb4 ,he at least expressly promises to do so3 8qu suis locis reddam0 7which ,i shall speak of in their proper place74 ,but if this was not wholly forgotten1 it was at least done very cursorily1 and not at all in the way this promise had led us to expect4 ,when he writes 7lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #ci71 8,lysippus quoque gin pictur su inscripsit1 2 quod profecto non fecisset1 nisi encaustica inventa10 he evidently uses to prove something quite different4 ,if he meant1 as ,hardouin supposes1 to indicate in this passage one of the works whose inscription was written in definite past time1 it would have been worth his while to put in a word to that effect4 ,hardouin finds reference to the other two works in the following passage3 8,idem 7,divus ,augustus7 in ,curia quoque1 quam in ,comitio consecrabat1 duas tabulas impressit parieti3 ,nemeam sedentem supra leonem1 palmigeram ipsam1 adstante cum baculo sene1 cujus supra caput tabula big dependet4 ,nicias scripsit se inussisse2 tali enim usus est verbo4 ,alterius tabul admiratio est1 puberem filium seni patri similem esse1 salva tatis differentia1 supervolante aquila draconem complexa4 ,philochares hoc suum opus esse testatus est40 7,lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #aj47 ,two different pictures are here described which ,augustus had set up in the newly built senate-house4 ,the second was by ,philochares1 the first by ,nicias4 ,all that is said of the picture by ,philochares is plain and clear1 but there are certain difficulties in regard to the other4 ,it represented ,nemea seated on a lion1 a palm-branch in her hand1 and near her an old man with a staff3 8cujus supra caput tabula big dependet40 ,what is the meaning of that8 8over his head hung a tablet on which was painted a two-horse chariot40 ,that is the only meaning the words will bear4 ,was there1 then1 a smaller picture hung over the large one8 and were both by ,nicias8 ,hardouin must so have understood it1 else where were the two pictures by ,nicias1 since the other is expressly ascribed to ,philochares8 8,inscripsit ,nicias igitur gemin huic tabul suum nomen in hunc modum3 3 atque adeo e tribus operibus1 qu absolute fuisse inscripta1 ,,ille ,,fecit1 indicavit ,prfatio ad ,titum1 duo hc sunt ,niciae40 ,i should like to ask ,hardouin one question4 ,if ,nicias had really used the indefinite1 and not the definite past tense1 and ,pliny had merely wished to say that the master1 instead of 1 had used 1 would he not still have been obliged to say in ,latin1 8,nicias scripsit se inussisse80 ,but ,i will not insist upon this point4 ,pliny may really have meant to indicate here one of the three works before referred to4 ,but who will be induced to believe that there were two pictures1 placed one above the other8 ,not ,i for one4 ,the words 8cujus supra caput tabula big dependet0 must be a corruption4 8,tabula big10 a picture of a two-horse chariot1 does not sound much like ,pliny1 although ,pliny does elsewhere use 8biga0 in the singular4 ,what sort of a two-horse chariot8 ,such as were used in the races at the ,neman games1 so that this little picture should1 from its subject1 be related to the chief one8 ,that cannot be2 for not two but four horse chariots were usual in the ,neman games4 7,schmidius in ,prol4 ad ,nemeonicas1 p4 #b47 ,at one time1 ,i thought that ,pliny might1 instead of 8big10 have written a ,greek word1 1 which the copyists did not understand4 ,for we know1 from a passage in ,antigonus ,carystius1 quoted by ,zenobius 7conf4 ,gronovius1 ,t4 ix4 ,antiquit4 ,grc4 ,prf4 p4 #g71 that the old artists did not always put their name on the work itself1 but sometimes on a separate tablet1 attached to the picture or statue1 and this tablet was called 4 ,the word 8tabula1 tabella10 might have been written in the margin in explanation of the ,greek word1 and at last have crept into the text4 was turned into 8big10 and so we get 8tabula big40 ,this agrees perfectly with what follows2 for the next sentence contains what was written on it4 ,the whole passage would then read thus3 8cujus supra caput dependet1 quo ,nicias scripsit se inussisse40 ,my correction is rather a bold one1 ,i acknowledge4 ,need a critic feel obliged to suggest the proper reading for every passage that he can prove to be corrupted8 ,i will rest content with having done the latter1 and leave the former to some more skilful hand4 ,but to return to the subject under discussion4 ,if ,pliny be here speaking of but a single picture by ,nicias1 on which he had inscribed his name in definite past time1 and if the second picture thus inscribed be the above-mentioned one of ,lysippus1 where is the third8 ,that ,i cannot tell4 ,if ,i might look for it elsewhere among the old writers1 the question were easily answered4 ,but it ought to be found in ,pliny2 and there1 ,i repeat1 ,i am entirely unable to discover it4 ,,note #ef1 p4 #ahf4 ,thus ,statius says 8obnixa pectora0 7,thebaid4 lib4 vi4 v4 #hfc73 444 rumpunt obnixa furentes ,pectora4 which the old commentator of ,barths explains by 8summa vi contra nitentia40 ,thus ,ovid says 7,halievt4 v4 ii471 8obnixa fronte10 when describing the 8scarus0 trying to force its way through the fish-trap1 not with his head1 but with his tail4 ,non audet radiis obnixa occurrere fronte4 ,,note #eg1 p4 #aib4 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 part ii4 p4 #cbh4 8,he produced the ,antigone1 his first tragedy1 in the third year of the seventy-seventh ,olympiad40 ,the time is tolerably exact1 but it is quite a mistake to suppose that this first tragedy was the ,antigone4 ,neither is it so called by ,samuel ,petit1 whom ,winkelmann quotes in a note4 ,he expressly puts the ,antigone in the third year of the eighty-fourth ,olympiad4 ,the following year1 ,sophocles went with ,pericles to ,samos1 and the year of this expedition can be determined with exactness4 ,in my life of ,sophocles1 ,i show1 from a comparison with a passage of the elder ,pliny1 that the first tragedy of this author was probably ,triptolemus4 7,lib4 xviii4 sect4 #ab47 ,pliny is speaking of the various excellence of the fruits of different countries1 and concludes thus3 8,h fuere sententi1 ,alexandro magno regnante1 cum clarissima fuit ,grcia1 atque in toto terrarum orbe potentissima2 ita tamen ut ante mortem ejus annis fere ,,cxlv4 ,sophocles poeta in fabula ,triptolemo frumentum ,italicum ante cuncta laudaverit1 ad verbum translata sententia3 ,et fortunatam ,italiam frumento canere candido40 ,he is here not necessarily speaking of the first tragedy of ,sophocles1 to be sure4 ,but the date of that1 fixed by ,plutarch1 the scholiast1 and the ,arundelian marbles1 as the seventy-seventh ,olympiad1 corresponds so exactly with the date assigned by ,pliny to the ,triptolemus1 that we can hardly help regarding that as the first of ,sophocles' tragedies4 ,the calculation is easily made4 ,alexander died in the hundred and fourteenth ,olympiad4 ,one hundred and forty-five years cover thirty-six ,olympiads and one year1 which subtracted from the total1 gives seventy-seven4 ,the ,triptolemus of ,sophocles appeared in the seventy-seventh ,olympiad2 the last year of this same ,olympiad is the date of his first tragedy3 we may naturally conclude1 therefore1 that these tragedies are one4 ,i show at the same time that ,petit might have spared himself the writing of the whole half of the chapter in his 8,miscellanea0 which ,winkelmann quotes 7xviii4 lib4 iii474 ,in the passage of ,pliny1 which he thinks to amend1 it is quite unnecessary to change the name of the ,archon ,aphepsion into ,demotion1 or 4 ,he need only have looked from the third to the fourth year of the seventy-seventh ,olympiad to find that the ,archon of that year was called ,aphepsion by the ancient authors quite as often as ,phdon1 if not oftener4 ,he is called ,phdon by ,diodorus ,siculus1 ,dionysius ,halicarnassus1 and the anonymous author of the table of the ,olympiads2 while the ,arundelian marbles1 ,apollodorus1 and1 quoting him1 ,diogenes ,laertius1 call him ,aphepsion4 ,plutarch calls him by both names2 ,phdon in the life of ,theseus and ,aphepsion in the life of ,cimon4 ,it is therefore probable1 as ,palmerius supposes1 8,aphepsionem et ,phdonem ,archontas fuisse eponymos2 scilicet1 uno in magistratu mortuo1 suffectus fuit alter40 7,exercit4 p4 #deb47 ,this reminds me that ,winkelmann1 in his first work on the imitation of ,greek art1 allowed an error to creep in with regard to ,sophocles4 8,the most beautiful of the youths danced naked in the theatre1 and ,sophocles1 the great ,sophocles1 was in his youth the first to show himself thus to his fellow-citizens40 ,sophocles never danced naked on the stage4 ,he danced around the trophies after the victory of ,salamis1 according to some authorities naked1 but according to others clothed4 7,athen4 lib4 i4 p4 m4 #bj47 ,sophocles was one of the boys who was brought for safety to ,salamis1 and on this island it pleased the tragic muse to assemble her three favorites in a gradation typical of their future career4 ,the bold schylus helped gain the victory2 the blooming ,sophocles danced around the trophies2 and on the same happy island1 on the very day of the victory1 ,euripides was born4 ,,index4 ,achilles1 sceptre of1 #ih2 shield of1 #aac4 ,action1 culminating point of an1 not the point to be represented by the artist1 #af4 ,albani1 ,cardinal ,alexander1 his discovery of a vase which illustrated the date of the ,laocoon1 #agh et seq4 ,anacreon1 two odes of1 #acc1 #aci4 ,apelles1 his picture of ,diana1 #adc4 ,ariosto1 his description of ,alcina1 #abh1 #ach4 ,aristophanes1 element of disgust used by1 #afa4 ,aristotle1 advice of1 to ,protogenes1 #gf2 his reason why we receive pleasure from a faithful copy of the disagreeable1 #aed4 ,art should express nothing essentially transitory1 #ag4 ,arts among the ancients1 subject to the control of law1 #aj4 ,bacchus1 how represented in poetry and painting1 #ef et seq4 ,beauty1 the supreme law of the imitative arts1 #aa2 subordinated in modern art to other ends1 #af2 representations of physical1 the province of painting1 not of poetry1 #abf4 ,boivin1 his explanations of ,homer1 #aah1 #aba4 ,calaber1 ,quintus1 his rendering of the story of ,laocoon1 #cd2 his account of the death of ,thersites1 #aej4 ,callimachus1 his picture of famine1 #afe4 ,caricature1 law against1 among the ,thebans1 #i4 ,caylus1 ,count1 some points in his work considered1 #ga1 #gg1 #hj1 #hb1 #hf1 #hg1 #ic2 his sketch for a picture of ,helen1 #adj4 ,chateaubrun1 his representation of ,philoctetes1 #be4 ,cicero1 his views in regard to bodily pain1 #bh4 ,cleyn1 ,francis1 illustrations by1 #ci4 ,constancy1 how represented in art1 #fh et seq4 ,dacier1 ,madame1 her translation of ,homer1 #aac4 ,dante1 his description of the starvation of ,ugolino1 #aff4 ,deformity1 physical1 in art1 produces disgust1 #aei4 ,disgust produced more through the other senses than through that of sight1 #afj2 object of1 in painting1 #afg4 ,disgusting1 the1 its use in expressing the horror of famine1 #afd4 ,dolce1 his dialogue on ,painting1 #aca4 ,drama1 expression of suffering in the1 #ba et seq4 ,dryden1 his ,ode on ,cecilia's ,day1 #hi4 ,flaccus1 ,valerius1 his description of an angry ,venus1 #eg et seq4 ,french language1 not adapted to translation of ,homer1 #aab4 ,german language1 compared to the ,greek1 #aac4 ,gladiator1 ,borghese1 the author's theory in regard to the1 #ahd et seq4 ,gladiatorial shows1 effect of1 #bi4 ,haller1 ,von1 description quoted from his 8,alps10 #ajc4 ,hercules1 as represented by ,sophocles1 #f2 the1 of ,sophocles1 #ca4 ,hogarth1 his criticism of the ,apollo ,belvidere1 #ade4 ,homer1 expressions of pain in his heroes1 #d2 representation of his heroes1 #gi et seq42 his descriptions not generally available for pictures1 #hc1 #adc2 his picture of ,pandarus1 #hi2 style of1 #ic2 his description of the chariot of ,juno1 #id2 his description of the sceptre of ,agamemnon1 #ie2 of the shield of ,achilles1 #ih1 #aac1 #aah2 of the bow of ,pandarus1 #ii2 his indebtedness to the flexibility of the ,greek language1 #aab2 his description of the beleaguered city1 #aba2 avoids detailed description1 #abg2 his representation of ,helen1 #acf2 his ,thersites1 #adh et seq4 ,imitations of the poet by the artist and the reverse1 #di et seq4 ,invention required less of the artist than of the poet1 #gb et seq4 ,junius1 ,francis1 an unsafe authority1 #ahh4 ,juno1 how represented in ancient art1 #eg4 ,kleist1 ,von1 his own judgment of his poem 8,spring10 #ajh4 ,klotzius1 on the effects of different forms of the disagreeable in art1 #aeh4 ,laocoon1 of ,virgil1 #bj et seq42 compared with the statue1 #cf et seq42 contains traits unavailable for the artist1 #db2 the group of1 possibly suggested by ,virgil's description1 #dc et seq42 the1 probable date of1 #agj et seq4 ,longinus1 his remarks in regard to eloquence and poetry1 #ahh4 ,lucian represents physical beauty by comparison with statues1 #ace4 ,manasses1 ,constantinus1 his pictures of ,helen1 #abg4 ,martiani1 his opinion in regard to the date of the ,laocoon1 #cd et seq4 ,mazzuoli1 his 8,rape of the ,sabines10 #aji4 ,mengs1 his criticism on ,raphael's drapery1 #aaj4 ,milton furnishes few subjects for a painter1 #hg4 ,minerva1 how represented in ancient art1 #eg1 #gh4 ,montfaucon1 his want of taste1 #ad2 his opinions in regard to the date of the ,laocoon1 #cc et seq4 ,olympic judges1 law of the1 #aj4 ,ovid1 his description of ,lesbia1 #acg2 his description of the punishment of ,marsyas1 #afc2 his picture of famine1 #afe4 ,pain1 expression of1 in ,sophocles1 #c2 in ,homer1 #d1 #e2 among ,europeans1 #d2 among the ,greeks1 #e2 in its disfiguring extreme1 not compatible with beauty1 #ac2 expression of1 among the ,english1 #bf4 ,painting among the ,greeks confined to imitation of beauty1 #h4 ,passion1 violent1 not expressed in ancient art1 #ab4 ,pauson1 character of his pictures1 #i4 ,phidias1 his indebtedness to ,homer1 #add et seq4 ,philoctetes of ,sophocles1 the1 his sufferings compared with those of ,laocoon1 #c2 the1 of ,pythagoras ,leontinus1 #ad2 of ,sophocles1 the embodiment of physical and mental suffering1 #bc1 #bd1 #cj4 ,picturesque1 the1 in poetry1 #hh4 ,pisander1 possibly ,virgil's predecessor in the history of ,laocoon1 #cd4 ,pliny1 his mention of the ,laocoon1 #agb2 of famous ,greek sculptors1 #agc et seq4 ,poetry1 how it surpasses art in description of physical beauty1 #acg et seq4 ,polygnotus1 pictures of1 #abc et seq4 ,pope1 contempt of1 for descriptive poems1 #ajh2 his explanations of ,homer1 #abb et seq4 ,pordenone1 his picture of the entombment1 #afg4 ,pyreicus1 character of his pictures1 #i4 ,religion1 influence of1 on art1 #fb et seq4 ,richardson1 remarks of1 on ,virgil's ,laocoon1 #de2 his criticism of ,pordenone1 #afg4 ,ridiculous1 the1 heightened by an element of disgust1 #afa4 ,sadolet1 extract from1 #df4 ,shakespeare1 his use of ugliness in the character of ,richard ,,iii41 #aea4 ,sophocles1 a ,laocoon among his lost works1 #f2 his description of the desert cave of ,philoctetes1 #afc4 ,spence1 ,rev4 ,mr41 criticism of his work 8,polymetis10 #ej2 notions of1 in regard to the resemblance between painting and poetry1 #ee1 #eg4 ,statius1 his description of an angry ,venus1 #eg et seq4 ,statues1 beautiful1 produced beautiful men1 #aj4 ,stoicism not adapted to the drama1 #f4 ,stosch1 ,herr von1 his opinion of the ,borghese ,gladiator1 #ahc4 ,symbols1 use of1 in poetry and painting1 #fg et seq4 ,temperance1 how represented in art1 #fh et seq4 ,timanthes1 picture of ,iphigenia by1 #ab4 ,timomachus1 his representations of ,ajax and ,medea1 #ah4 ,titian1 his picture of the ,prodigal ,son1 #aji4 ,ugliness1 as used in poetry1 #adi1 #aef2 as used in painting1 #aec1 #aef4 ,urania1 how represented in art1 #fg4 ,vesta1 how worshipped1 #fd et seq4 ,virgil1 description from the ,georgics1 #ajf2 his description of the shield of neas1 #aad2 the ,dido of1 #acc2 his introduction of the ,harpies1 #aff4 ,winkelmann1 quoted1 #a2 soundness of his criticism doubted1 #b2 his opinion of the ,laocoon1 #afh2 his opinion of the ,borghese ,gladiator1 #ahc2 criticism of1 #ahg et seq4 ,zeuxis1 his picture of ,helen1 #adj et seq4 ----- ,footnote #a3 ,von der ,nachahmung der griechischen ,werke in der ,malerei und ,bildhauerkunst1 p4 #ba1 #bb4 ,footnote #b3 ,brumoy ,tht4 des ,grecs1 ,t4 ii4 p4 #hi4 ,footnote #c3 ,iliad v4 #cdc4 4 ,footnote #d3 ,iliad v4 #hei4 ,footnote #e3 ,th4 ,bartholinus4 ,de ,causis contempt a ,danis adhuc ,gentilibus ,mortis1 cap4 #a4 ,footnote #f3 ,iliad vii4 #dba4 ,footnote #g3 ,odyssey iv4 #aie4 ,footnote #h3 ,chateaubrun4 ,footnote #i3 ,see ,appendix1 note #a4 ,footnote #aj3 ,see ,appendix1 note #b4 ,footnote #aa3 ,aristophanes1 ,plut4 v4 #fjb et ,acharnens4 v4 #hed4 ,footnote #ab3 ,plinius1 lib4 xxx4 sect4 #cg4 ,footnote #ac3 ,de ,pictura vet4 lib4 ii4 cap4 iv4 sect4 #a4 ,footnote #ad3 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxiv4 sect4 #i4 ,footnote #ae3 ,see ,appendix1 note #c4 ,footnote #af3 ,see ,appendix1 note #d4 ,footnote #ag3 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #ce4 ,cum mstos pinxisset omnes1 prcipue patruum1 et tristiti omnem imaginem consumpsisset1 patris ipsius vultum velavit1 quem digne non poterat ostendere4 ,footnote #ah3 ,valerius ,maximus1 lib4 viii4 cap4 #b4 ,summi mroris acerbitatem arte exprimi non posse confessus est4 ,footnote #ai3 ,antiquit4 expl4 ,t4 i4 p4 #ej4 ,footnote #bj3 ,see ,appendix1 note #e4 ,footnote #ba3 ,bellorii ,admiranda1 ,tab4 #aa1 #ab4 ,footnote #bb3 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxiv4 sect4 #ai4 ,footnote #bc3 ,see ,appendix1 note #f4 ,footnote #bd3 ,philippus1 ,anthol4 lib4 iv4 cap4 #i1 ep4 #aj4 4 1 o 2 4444 ,footnote #be3 ,vita ,apoll4 lib4 ii4 cap4 #bb4 ,footnote #bf3 ,see ,appendix1 note #g4 ,footnote #bg3 ,mercure de ,france1 ,april1 #agee1 p4 #agg4 ,footnote #bh3 8,the ,theory of ,moral ,sentiments10 by ,adam ,smith1 part i4 sect4 #b1 chap #a4 7,london1 #agfa47 ,footnote #bi3 ,trach4 v4 #ajhh1 #ajhi3 4444 ,footnote #cj3 ,topographi ,urbis ,rom1 lib4 iv4 cap4 #ad4 ,et quanquam hi 7,agesander et ,polydorus et ,athenodorus ,rhodii7 ex ,virgilii descriptione statuam hanc formavisse videntur1 c4 ,footnote #ca3 ,suppl4 aux ,ant4 ,expliq4 ,t4 i4 p4 #bdb4 ,il semble qu',agsandre1 ,polydore1 et ,athnodore1 qui en furent les ouvriers1 aient travaill comme l'envie1 pour laisser un monument qui rpondait l'incomparable description qu'a fait ,virgile de ,laocoon1 c4 ,footnote #cb3 ,see ,appendix1 note #h4 ,footnote #cc3 ,paralip4 lib4 xii4 v4 #cih-djh4 ,footnote #cd3 ,or rather serpent1 for ,lycophron mentions but one3 ,footnote #ce3 ,see ,appendix1 note #i4 ,footnote #cf3 ,see ,appendix1 note #aj4 ,footnote #cg3 ,their destined way they take1 ,and to ,laocoon and his children make2 ,and first around the tender boys they wind1 ,then with their sharpened fangs their limbs and bodies grind4 ,the wretched father1 running to their aid ,with pious haste1 but vain1 they next invade4--,,dryden4 ,footnote #ch3 ,see ,appendix1 note #aa4 ,footnote #ci3 ,with both his hands he labors at the knots4 ,footnote #dj3 ,twice round his waist their winding volumes rolled1 ,and twice about his gasping throat they fold4 ,the priest thus doubly choked1--their crests divide1 ,and towering o'er his head in triumph ride4--,,dryden4 ,footnote #da3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ab4 ,footnote #db3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ac4 ,footnote #dc3 ,his holy fillets the blue venom blots4--,,dryden4 ,footnote #dd3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ad4 ,footnote #de3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ae4 ,footnote #df3 ,see ,appendix1 note #af4 ,footnote #dg3 ,the first edition was issued in #agdg2 the second1 #agee4 ,selections by ,n4 ,tindal have been printed more than once4 ,footnote #dh3 ,val4 ,flaccus1 lib4 vi4 v4 #ee1 #ef4 ,polymetis1 dial4 vi4 p4 #ej4 ,footnote #di3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ag4 ,footnote #ej3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ah4 ,footnote #ea3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ai4 ,footnote #eb3 ,tibullus1 ,eleg4 #d1 lib4 iii4 ,polymetis1 dial4 viii4 ,footnote #ec3 ,statius1 lib4 i4 ,sylv4 #e1 v4 #h4 ,polymetis1 dial4 viii4 ,footnote #ed3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bj4 ,footnote #ee3 neid1 lib4 viii4 #gbe4 ,polymetis1 dial4 xiv4 ,footnote #ef3 ,in various passages of his ,travels ,remarks on ,italy and his ,dialogues on ,ancient ,medals4 ,footnote #eg3 ,polymetis1 dial4 ix4 ,footnote #eh3 ,metamorph4 lib4 iv4 #ai1 #bj4 ,when thou appearest unhorned1 thy head is as the head of a virgin4 ,footnote #ei3 ,begeri ,thes4 ,brandenb4 vol4 iii4 p4 #bdb4 ,footnote #fj3 ,polymetis1 dial4 vi4 ,footnote #fa3 ,polymetis1 dial4 xx4 ,footnote #fb3 ,polymetis1 dial4 vii4 ,footnote #fc3 ,argonaut4 lib4 ii4 v4 #ajb-ajf4 8,gracious the goddess is not emulous to appear1 nor does she bind her hair with the burnished gold1 letting her starry tresses float about her4 ,wild she is and huge1 her cheeks suffused with spots2 most like to the ,stygian virgins with crackling torch and black mantle40 ,footnote #fd3 ,thebaid4 lib4 v4 #fa-fd4 8,leaving ancient ,paphos and the hundred altars1 not like her former self in countenance or the fashion of her hair1 she is said to have loosened the nuptial girdle and have sent away her doves4 ,some report that in the dead of night1 bearing other fires and mightier arms1 she had hasted with the ,tartarean sisters to bed-chambers1 and filled the secret places of homes with twining snakes1 and all thresholds with cruel fear40 ,footnote #fe3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ba4 ,footnote #ff3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bb4 ,footnote #fg3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bc4 ,footnote #fh3 ,polymetis1 dial4 vii4 ,footnote #fi3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bd4 ,footnote #gj3 ,see ,appendix1 note #be4 ,footnote #ga3 ,lipsius de ,vesta et ,vestalibus1 cap4 #ac4 ,footnote #gb3 ,pausanias1 ,corinth4 cap4 xxxv4 p4 #aih 7edit4 ,kuhn74 ,footnote #gc3 ,pausanias1 ,attic4 cap4 xviii4 p4 #da4 ,footnote #gd3 ,polyb4 ,hist4 lib4 xvi4 sect4 #b1 ,op4 ,t4 ii4 p4 #ddc 7edit ,ernest474 ,footnote #ge3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bf4 ,footnote #gf3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bg4 ,footnote #gg3 ,polymetis1 dial4 viii4 ,footnote #gh3 ,statius1 ,theb4 viii4 #eea4 ,footnote #gi3 ,polymetis1 dial4 x4 ,footnote #hj3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bh4 ,footnote #ha3 ,see ,appendix1 note #bi4 ,footnote #hb3 ,betrachtungen ber die ,malerei1 p4 #aei4 ,footnote #hc3 ,ad ,pisones1 v4 #abh-acj4 8,thou wilt do better to write out in acts the story of ,troy1 than to tell of things not yet known nor sung40 ,footnote #hd3 ,lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #cf4 ,footnote #he3 ,see ,appendix1 note #cj4 ,footnote #hf3 ,iliad xxi4 #che4 ,footnote #hg3 ,she only stepped ,backward a space1 and with her powerful hand ,lifted a stone that lay upon the plain1 ,black1 huge1 and jagged1 which the men of old ,had placed there for a landmark4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #hh3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ca4 ,footnote #hi3 ,see ,appendix1 note #cb4 ,footnote #ij3 ,iliad iii4 #cha4 ,footnote #ia3 ,iliad v4 #bc4 ,footnote #ib3 ,iliad xx4 #ddd4 ,footnote #ic3 ,iliad xx4 #ddf4 ,footnote #id3 ,iliad xx4 #cba4 ,footnote #ie3 ,see ,appendix1 note #cc4 ,footnote #if3 ,iliad i4 #dd-ec4 ,tableaux tirs de l',iliade1 p4 #gj4 ,down he came1 ,down from the summit of the ,olympian mount1 ,wrathful in heart2 his shoulders bore the bow ,and hollow quiver2 there the arrows rang ,upon the shoulders of the angry god1 ,as on he moved4 ,he came as comes the night1 ,and1 seated from the ships aloof1 sent forth ,an arrow2 terrible was heard the clang ,of that resplendent bow4 ,at first he smote ,the mules and the swift dogs1 and then on man ,he turned the deadly arrow4 ,all around ,glared evermore the frequent funeral piles4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #ig3 ,iliad iv4 #a-d4 ,tableaux tirs de l',iliade1 p4 #cj4 ,meantime the immortal gods with ,jupiter ,upon his golden pavement sat and held ,a council4 ,hebe1 honored of them all1 ,ministered nectar1 and from cups of gold ,they pledged each other1 looking down on ,troy4 ,,bryant4 ,footnote #ih3 ,see ,appendix1 note #cd4 ,footnote #ii3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ce4 ,footnote #ajj3 ,see ,appendix1 note #cf4 ,footnote #aja3 ,iliad v4 #gbb4 ,hebe rolled the wheels1 ,each with eight spokes1 and joined them to the ends ,of the steel axle1--fellies wrought of gold1 ,bound with a brazen rim to last for ages1-- ,a wonder to behold4 ,the hollow naves ,were silver1 and on gold and silver cords ,was slung the chariot's seat2 in silver hooks ,rested the reins2 and silver was the pole ,where the fair yoke and poitrels1 all of gold1 ,she fastened4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #ajb3 ,iliad ii4 #dc-dg4 ,he sat upright and put his tunic on1 ,soft1 fair1 and new1 and over that he cast ,his ample cloak1 and round his shapely feet ,laced the becoming sandals4 ,next1 he hung ,upon his shoulders and his side the sword ,with silver studs1 and took into his hand ,the ancestral sceptre1 old but undecayed4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #ajc3 ,iliad ii4 #aja-ajh4 ,he held ,the sceptre2 ,vulcan's skill had fashioned it1 ,and ,vulcan gave it to ,saturnian ,jove1 ,and ,jove bestowed it on his messenger1 ,the ,argus-queller ,hermes4 ,he in turn ,gave it to ,pelops1 great in horsemanship2 ,and ,pelops passed the gift to ,atreus next1 ,the people's shepherd4 ,atreus1 when he died1 ,bequeathed it to ,thyestes1 rich in flocks2 ,and last1 ,thyestes left it to be borne ,by ,agamemnon1 symbol of his rule ,o'er many isles and all the ,argive realm4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #ajd3 ,iliad i4 #bcd-bci4 ,by this my sceptre1 which can never bear ,a leaf or twig1 since first it left its stem ,among the mountains1--for the steel has pared ,its boughs and bark away1--to sprout no more1 ,and now the ,achaian judges bear it1--they ,who guard the laws received from ,jupiter4 ,,bryant4 ,footnote #aje3 ,iliad iv4 #aje-aaa4 ,he uncovered straight ,his polished bow made of the elastic horns ,of a wild goat1 which1 from his lurking-place1 ,as once it left its cavern lair1 he smote1 ,and pierced its breast1 and stretched it on the rock4 ,full sixteen palms in length the horns had grown ,from the goat's forehead4 ,these an artisan ,had smoothed1 and1 aptly fitting each to each1 ,polished the whole and tipped the work with gold4 ,,bryant4 ,footnote #ajf3 ,von ,haller's ,alps4 ,the lofty gentian's head in stately grandeur towers ,far o'er the common herd of vulgar weeds and low2 ,beneath his banners serve communities of flowers2 ,his azure brethren1 too1 in rev'rence to him bow4 ,the blossom's purest gold in curving radiations ,erect upon the stalk1 above its gray robe gleams2 ,the leaflets' pearly white with deep green variegations ,with flashes many-hued of the moist diamond beams4 ,o ,law beneficent6 which strength to beauty plighteth1 ,and to a shape so fair a fairer soul uniteth4 ,here on the ground a plant like a gray mist is twining1 ,in fashion of a cross its leaves by ,nature laid2 ,part of the beauteous flower1 the gilded beak is shining1 ,of a fair bird whose shape of amethyst seems made4 ,there into fingers cleft a polished leaf reposes1 ,and o'er a limpid brook its green reflection throws2 ,with rays of white a striped star encloses ,the floweret's disk1 where pink flushes its tender snows4 ,thus on the trodden heath are rose and emerald glowing1 ,and e'en the rugged rocks are purple banners showing4 ,footnote #ajg3 ,breitinger's kritische ,dichtkunst1 vol4 ii4 p4 #hjg4 ,footnote #ajh3 ,georg4 lib4 iii4 #ea and #gi4 ,if her large front and neck vast strength denote2 ,if on her knee the pendulous dewlap float2 ,if curling horns their crescent inward bend1 ,and bristly hairs beneath the ear defend2 ,if lengthening flanks to bounding measure spread2 ,if broad her foot and bold her bull-like head2 ,if snowy spots her mottled body stain1 ,and her indignant brow the yoke disdain1 ,with tail wide-sweeping as she stalks the dews1 ,thus1 lofty1 large1 and long1 the mother choose4 ,,dryden4 ,footnote #aji3 ,georg4 lib4 iii4 #ea and #gi4 ,light on his airy crest his slender head1 ,his belly short1 his loins luxuriant spread2 ,muscle on muscle knots his brawny breast1 c4 ,,dryden4 ,footnote #aaj3 ,de ,art4 ,poet4 #af4 ,footnote #aaa3 ,see ,appendix1 note #cg4 ,footnote #aab3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ch4 ,footnote #aac3 ,gedanken ber die ,schnheit und ber den ,geschmack in der ,malerei1 p4 #fi4 ,footnote #aad3 ,iliad v4 #gbb4 ,footnote #aae3 ,iliad xii4 #bif4 ,footnote #aaf3 ,dionysius ,halicarnass4 in ,vita ,homeri apud ,th4 ,gale in ,opusc4 ,mythol4 p4 #dja4 ,footnote #aag3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ci4 ,footnote #aah3 neid lib4 viii4 #ddg4 ,their artful hands a shield prepare4 ,one stirs the fire1 and one the bellows blows2 ,the hissing steel is in the smithy drowned2 ,the grot with beaten anvils groans around4 ,by turns their arms advance in equal time1 ,by turns their hands descend and hammers chime2 ,they turn the glowing mass with crooked tongs4 ,,dryden4 ,footnote #aai3 ,see ,appendix1 note #dj4 ,footnote #abj3 ,iliad xviii4 #dig-ejh4 ,meanwhile a multitude ,was in the forum where a strife went on1-- ,two men contending for a fine1 the price ,of one who had been slain4 ,before the crowd ,one claimed that he had paid the fine1 and one ,denied that aught had been received1 and both ,called for the sentence which should end the strife4 ,the people clamored for both sides1 for both ,had eager friends2 the herald held the crowd ,in check2 the elders1 upon polished stones1 ,sat in a sacred circle4 ,each one took ,in turn a herald's sceptre in his hand1 ,and rising gave his sentence4 ,in the midst ,two talents lay in gold1 to be the meed ,of him whose juster judgment should prevail4 ,,bryant4 ,footnote #aba3 ,iliad xviii4 #eji-edj4 ,footnote #abb3 ,see ,appendix1 note #da4 ,footnote #abc3 ,phocic4 cap4 xxv4-xxxi4 ,footnote #abd3 ,see ,appendix1 note #db4 ,footnote #abe3 ,betrachtungen ber die ,malerei1 p4 #ahe4 ,footnote #abf3 ,written in #agfc4 ,footnote #abg3 8,she was a woman right beautiful1 with fine eyebrows1 of clearest complexion1 beautiful cheeks2 comely1 with large1 full eyes1 with snow-white skin1 quick-glancing1 graceful2 a grove filled with graces1 fair-armed1 voluptuous1 breathing beauty undisguised4 ,the complexion fair1 the cheek rosy1 the countenance pleasing1 the eye blooming2 a beauty unartificial1 untinted1 of its natural color1 adding brightness to the brightest cherry1 as if one should dye ivory with resplendent purple4 ,her neck long1 of dazzling whiteness2 whence she was called the swan-born1 beautiful ,helen40 ,footnote #abh3 ,see ,appendix1 note #dc4 ,footnote #abi3 ,orlando ,furioso1 canto vii4 st4 #aa-ae4 ,her shape is of such perfect symmetry1 ,as best to feign the industrious painter knows2 ,with long and knotted tresses2 to the eye ,not yellow gold with brighter lustre glows4 ,upon her tender cheek the mingled dye ,is scattered of the lily and the rose4 ,like ivory smooth1 the forehead gay and round ,fills up the space and forms a fitting bound4 ,two black and slender arches rise above ,two clear black eyes1 say suns of radiant light1 ,which ever softly beam and slowly move2 ,round these appears to sport in frolic flight1 ,hence scattering all his shafts1 the little ,love1 ,and seems to plunder hearts in open sight4 ,thence1 through 'mid visage1 does the nose descend1 ,where envy finds not blemish to amend4 ,as if between two vales1 which softly curl1 ,the mouth with vermeil tint is seen to glow2 ,within are strung two rows of orient pearl1 ,which her delicious lips shut up or show1 ,of force to melt the heart of any churl1 ,however rude1 hence courteous accents flow2 ,and here that gentle smile receives its birth1 ,which opes at will a paradise on earth4 ,like milk the bosom1 and the neck of snow2 ,round is the neck1 and full and round the breast2 ,where1 fresh and firm1 two ivory apples grow1 ,which rise and fall1 as1 to the margin pressed ,by pleasant breeze1 the billows come and go4 ,not prying ,argus could discern the rest4 ,yet might the observing eye of things concealed ,conjecture safely from the charms revealed4 ,to all her arms a just proportion bear1 ,and a white hand is oftentimes descried1 ,which narrow is and somedeal long1 and where ,no knot appears nor vein is signified4 ,for finish of that stately shape and rare1 ,a foot1 neat1 short1 and round beneath is spied4 ,angelic visions1 creatures of the sky1 ,concealed beneath no covering veil can lie4 ,,william ,,stewart ,,rose4 ,footnote #acj3 ,see ,appendix1 note #dd4 ,footnote #aca3 ,see ,appendix1 note #de4 ,footnote #acb3 ,see ,appendix1 note #df4 ,footnote #acc3 ,see ,appendix1 note #dg4 ,footnote #acd3 ,see ,appendix1 note #dh4 ,footnote #ace3 neid iv4 #acf4 ,the queen at length appears2 ,a flowered cymar with golden fringe she wore1 ,and at her back a golden quiver bore2 ,her flowing hair a golden caul restrains2 ,a golden clasp the ,tyrian robe sustains4--,,dryden4 ,footnote #acf3 ,od4 xxviii41 xxix4 ,footnote #acg3 1 #c1 ,t4 ii4 p4 #dfa 7edit4 ,reitz74 ,footnote #ach3 ,iliad iii4 #aba4 ,footnote #aci3 ,ibid4 #cai4 ,footnote #adj3 ,ibid4 #aef-aeh4 ,small blame is theirs if both the ,trojan knights ,and brazen-mailed ,achaians have endured ,so long so many evils for the sake ,of that one woman4 ,she is wholly like ,in feature to the deathless goddesses4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #ada3 ,val4 ,maximus lib4 iii4 cap4 #g4 ,dionysius ,halicarnass4 ,art4 ,rhet4 cap4 #ab4 4 ,footnote #adb3 ,so be it2 let her1 peerless as she is1 ,return on board the fleet1 nor stay to bring ,disaster upon us and all our race4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #adc3 ,fabricii ,biblioth4 ,grc4 lib4 ii4 cap4 #f1 p4 #cde4 ,footnote #add3 ,see ,appendix1 note #di4 ,footnote #ade3 ,iliad i4 #ebh4 ,valerius ,maximus1 lib4 iii4 cap4 #g4 ,as thus he spoke the son of ,saturn gave ,the nod with his dark brows4 ,the ambrosial curls ,upon the ,sovereign ,one's immortal head ,were shaken1 and with them the mighty mount ,olympus trembled4--,,bryant4 ,footnote #adf3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ej4 ,footnote #adg3 ,hogarth's ,analysis of ,beauty1 chap4 xi4 ,footnote #adh3 ,iliad iii4 #baj4 ,footnote #adi3 ,philos4 ,schriften des ,herrn ,moses ,mendelssohn1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bc4 ,footnote #aej3 ,de ,poetica1 cap4 v4 ,footnote #aea3 ,paralipom4 lib4 i4 #gbj-ggh4 ,footnote #aeb3 ,king ,lear1 ,act i4 scene #b4 ,footnote #aec3 ,king ,richard ,,iii4 ,act i4 scene #a4 ,footnote #aed3 ,briefe1 die neueste ,literatur betreffend1 ,part v4 p4 #ajb4 ,footnote #aee3 ,de ,poetica1 cap4 iv4 ,footnote #aef3 ,klotzii ,epistol ,homeric1 p4 #cc et seq4 ,footnote #aeg3 ,klotzii ,epistol ,homeric1 p4 #ajc4 ,footnote #aeh3 ,nubes1 #agj-agd4 ,disciple4 ,but he was lately deprived of a great idea by a weasel4 ,strepsiades4 ,in what way8 tell me4 ,disciple4 ,he was studying the courses of the moon and her revolutions1 and1 while gazing upward open-mouthed1 a weasel in the dark dunged upon him from the roof4 ,footnote #aei3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ea4 ,footnote #afj3 1 4 p4 #ae 7edit4 ,t4 ,fabri74 ,footnote #afa3 ,scut4 ,hercul4 #bff4 ,footnote #afb3 ,philoct4 #ca-ci4 ,footnote #afc3 neid1 lib4 ii4 #bgg4 ,footnote #afd3 ,metamorph4 vi4 #chg4 8,the skin is torn from the upper limbs of the shrieking ,marsyas1 till he is nought but one great wound3 thick blood oozes on every side2 the bared sinews are visible2 and the palpitating veins quiver1 stripped of the covering of skin2 you can count the protruding entrails1 and the muscles shining in the breast4 ,footnote #afe3 ,metamorph4 lib4 viii4 #hji4 8,seeing ,famine afar off1 she delivers the message of the goddess4 ,and after a little while1 although she was yet at a distance and was but approaching1 yet the mere sight produced hunger40 ,footnote #aff3 ,hym4 in ,cererem1 #aaa-aaf4 ,footnote #afg3 ,argonaut4 lib4 ii4 #bbh-bcc4 8,scarcely have they left us any food that smells not mouldy1 and the stench is unendurable4 ,no one for a time could bear the foul food1 though his stomach were beaten of adamant4 ,but bitter necessity compels me to bethink me of the meal1 and1 so remembering1 put it into my wretched belly40 ,footnote #afh3 ,see ,appendix1 note #eb4 ,footnote #afi3 ,richardson de la ,peinture1 vol4 i4 p4 #gd4 ,footnote #agj3 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 p4 #cdg4 ,footnote #aga3 ,not ,apollodorus1 but ,polydorus4 ,pliny is the only one who mentions these artists1 and ,i am not aware that the manuscripts differ in the writing of the name4 ,had such been the case1 ,hardouin would certainly have noticed it4 ,all the older editions also read ,polydorus4 ,winkelmann must therefore have merely made a slight error in transcribing4 ,footnote #agb3 444 4 ,phoc4 cap4 ix4 p4 #hai 7edit4 ,kuhn74 ,footnote #agc3 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxiv4 sect4 #ai4 ,footnote #agd3 ,lib4 xxxvi4 sect4 #d4 8,nor are there many of great repute the number of artists engaged on celebrated works preventing the distinction of individuals2 since no one could have all the credit1 nor could the names of many be rehearsed at once3 as in the ,laocoon1 which is in the palace of the emperor ,titus1 a work surpassing all the results of painting or statuary4 ,from one stone he and his sons and the wondrous coils of the serpents were sculptured by consummate artists1 working in concert3 ,agesander1 ,polydorus1 and ,athenodorus1 all of ,rhodes4 ,in like manner ,craterus with ,pythodorus1 ,polydectes with ,hermolaus1 another ,pythodorus with ,artemon1 and ,aphrodisius of ,tralles by himself1 filled the palaces of the ,csars on the ,palatine with admirable statuary4 ,diogenes1 the ,athenian1 decorated the ,pantheon of ,agrippa1 and the ,caryatides on the columns of that temple rank among the choicest works1 as do also the statues on the pediment1 though these1 from the height of their position1 are less celebrated40 ,footnote #age3 ,botic4 cap4 xxxiv4 p4 #ggh 7edit4 ,kuhn74 ,footnote #agf3 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxvi4 sect4 #d1 p4 #gcj4 ,footnote #agg3 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 part ii4 p4 #cca4 ,footnote #agh3 ,plinius1 xxxvi4 sect4 #d4444 8which would make the glory of any other place4 ,but at ,rome the greatness of other works overshadows it1 and the great press of business and engagements turns the crowd from the contemplation of such things2 for the admiration of works of art belongs to those who have leisure and great quiet40 ,footnote #agi3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ec4 ,footnote #ahj3 ,plinius1 xxxvi4 sect4 #d4 ,footnote #aha3 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 part ii4 p4 #cdg4 ,footnote #ahb3 ,lib4 xxxvi4 sect4 #d4 ,footnote #ahc3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ed4 ,footnote #ahd3 ,prefatio ,edit4 ,sillig4 8,lest ,i should seem to find too much fault with the ,greeks1 ,i would be classed with those founders of the art of painting and sculpture1 recorded in these little volumes1 whose works1 although complete and such as cannot be sufficiently admired1 yet bear a suspended title1 as ,apelles or ,polycletus #8was making'2 as if the work were always only begun and still incomplete1 so that the artist might appeal from criticism as if himself desirous of improving1 had he not been interrupted4 ,wherefore from modesty they inscribed every work as if it had been their last1 and in hand at their death4 ,i think there are but three with the inscription1 #8,he made it1' and these ,i shall speak of in their place4 ,from this it appeared that the artists felt fully satisfied with their work1 and these excited the envy of all40 ,footnote #ahe3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ee4 ,footnote #ahf3 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 part i4 p4 #cid4 ,footnote #ahg3 ,cap4 i4 8,he was also reckoned among their greatest leaders1 and did many things worthy of being remembered4 ,among his most brilliant achievements was his device in the battle which took place near ,thebes1 when he had come to the aid of the ,botians4 ,for when the great leader ,agesilaus was now confident of victory1 and his own hired troops had fled1 he would not surrender the remainder of the phalanx1 but with knee braced against his shield and lance thrust forward1 he taught his men to receive the attack of the enemy4 ,at sight of this new spectacle1 ,agesilaus feared to advance1 and ordered the trumpet to recall his men who were already advancing4 ,this became famous through all ,greece1 and ,chabrias wished that a statue should be erected to him in this position1 which was set up at the public cost in the forum at ,athens4 ,whence it happened that afterwards athletes and other artists or persons versed in some art had statues erected to them in the same position in which they had obtained victory40 ,footnote #ahh3 ,see ,appendix1 note #ef4 ,footnote #ahi3 1 1 ' 7edit4 ,t4 ,fabri71 4 #cf1 #ci4 8,but so it is that rhetorical figures aim at one thing1 poetical figures at quite another2 since in poetry emphasis is the main object1 in rhetoric distinctness40 ,footnote #aij3 8,so with the poets1 legends and exaggeration obtain and in all transcend belief2 but in rhetorical figures the best is always the practicable and the true40 ,footnote #aia3 ,de ,pictura ,vet4 lib4 i4 cap4 #d1 p4 #cc4 ,footnote #aib3 ,von der ,nachahmung der griech4 ,werke1 c41 #bc4 ,footnote #aic3 1 4 8,next to this is a third form of faultiness in pathos1 which ,theodorus calls parenthyrsus2 it is a pathos unseasonable and empty1 where pathos is not necessary2 or immoderate1 where it should be moderate40 ,footnote #aid3 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 part i4 p4 #acf4 ,footnote #aie3 ,herodotus de ,vita ,homeri1 p4 #gef 7edit4 ,wessel74 ,footnote #aif3 ,iliad1 vii4 ,footnote #aig3 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 part i4 p4 #agf4 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxv4 sect4 #cf4 ,athenus1 lib4 xii4 p4 #edc4 ,footnote #aih3 ,geschichte der ,kunst1 part ii4 p4 #cec4 ,plinius1 lib4 xxxvi4 sect4 #d4 ,footnote #aii3 ,see ,appendix1 note #eg4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,messrs4 ,roberts ,brothers' ,publications4 ,,goethe',s ,,hermann ,,and ,,dorothea ,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,german ,,by ,,ellen ,,frothingham4 ,,with ,,illustrations4 ,thin #hvo1 cloth1 gilt1 bevelled boards4 ,price #b4jj4 ,a cheaper edition1 #afmo1 cloth4 ,price #a4jj4 8,miss ,frothingham's translation is something to be glad of3 it lends itself kindly to perusal1 and it presents ,goethe's charming poem in the metre of the original4444 ,it is not a poem which could be profitably used in an argument for the enlargement of the sphere of woman3 it teaches her subjection1 indeed1 from the lips of a beautiful girl1 which are always so fatally convincing2 but it has its charm1 nevertheless1 and will serve at least for an agreeable picture of an age when the ideal woman was a creature around which grew the beauty and comfort and security of home40--,atlantic ,monthly4 8,the poem itself is bewitching4 ,of the same metre as ,longfellow's #8,evangeline1' its sweet and measured cadences carry the reader onward with a real pleasure as he becomes more and more absorbed in this descriptive wooing song4 ,it is a sweet volume to read aloud in a select circle of intelligent friends40--,providence ,press4 8,miss ,frothingham has done a good service1 and done it well1 in translating this famous idyl1 which has been justly called #8one of the most faultless poems of modern times4' ,nothing can surpass the simplicity1 tenderness1 and grace of the original1 and these have been well preserved in ,miss ,frothingham's version4 ,her success is worthy of the highest praise1 and the mere ,english reader can scarcely fail to read the poem with the same delight with which it has always been read by those familiar with the ,german4 ,its charming pictures of domestic life1 the strength and delicacy of its characterization1 the purity of tone and ardent love of country which breathe through it1 must always make it one of the most admired of ,goethe's works40--,boston ,christian ,register4 ,sold everywhere4 ,mailed1 postpaid1 by the ,publishers1 ,,roberts ,,brothers1 ,,boston4 ,,sanskrit ,,and ,,its ,,kindred ,,literatures4 ,,studies ,,in ,,comparative ,,mythology4 ,by ,,laura ,,elizabeth ,,poor4 #afmo4 ,cloth4 #djj pages ,price1 #b4jj4 ,the book goes over ground which has been made new by the modern discoveries in philology and mythology4 ,it describes and compares the literatures of the different ,aryan families1 and brings forward the comparative mythology1 as it manifests itself in each different country1 filling a place which is almost empty in that department1 and giving in a brief space information which is scattered through hundreds of different volumes4 ,in fact1 there is no one book which contains just what this does1--a sketch of comparative mythology1 with history enough to make it clear and connected4 ,it creates and fills a place of its own4 ,rev4 ,dr4 ,f4 ,h4 ,hedge1 of ,harvard ,university1 ,cambridge1 says of it3-- 8,the unpretending volume with the above title is just what was needed to popularize the results of the researches of such scholars as ,wilson1 ,spiegel1 ,grimm1 ,monier ,williams1 ,mller1 ,whitney1 and others1 and to place them within easy reach of readers who may not have access to those writers4 ,the author's task seems to have been well executed2 she has produced an entertaining and instructive work1 full of interesting matter1 illustrated by choice extracts1 and written in an easy and animated style4 ,such books1 of course1 are not consulted as final authorities1 but this is well worth reading by all who desire an initial acquaintance with the subjects discussed40 8,one of the chief merits of the volume is the clearness with which the author expresses her thoughts1 and the skill with which she disentangles the subtleties of metaphysical and religious doctrines1 making them plain to the most casual reader40--,boston ,courier4 8,the book1 of course1 is an elementary one1 but it must be valuable to the young student who desires to get a complete view of literature and of the reciprocal relations of its various divisions4 ,it can hardly fail to interest the reader in the new science of which it gives results1 and lead him to more exhaustive studies for himself4 ,if such a work could be made a school text-book it would give pupils a long start in their pursuit of a correct and systematic knowledge of language and literature40--,buffalo ,courier4 8,let no intelligent reader be deterred from its diligent perusal by the learned name which introduces the interesting book now offered to the public to illustrate studies in comparative mythology4 ,the word ,sanskrit has an abstruse sound to unenlightened ears1 but there is nothing abstruse in the subject as here presented1 and nothing difficult to be understood by persons of ordinary culture4444 ,the writer's treatment of the subject is much to be commended4 ,it is bright1 fresh1 earnest1 and strong4 ,she arouses the reader's attention from the beginning1 charms his imagination by choice extracts from the literary treasures of past ages1 pleases his taste by drawing parallelisms between the myths of the past and the fables of the present1 convinces him that one literature unites different nations and different centuries1 and that each nation is a link in the great chain of development of the human mind4 ,we earnestly commend this work to all who would understand the unity and continuity of literature4 ,it is full of general information and instruction1 the style is earnest and easy1 the enthusiasm sympathetic1 and the presentation specially thought-stirring and satisfactory40--,providence ,journal4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes #a4 ,silently corrected palpable typographical errors2 retained non-standard spellings and dialect4 #b4 ,reindexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter4 #c4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4 #d4 ,enclosed blackletter font in equals4