Should we still doubt of the truth or justnefs of the defcriptions, let us observe the works which gave occafion to them. Let us contemplate the fine proportions, the ftyle of drawing in the Laocoon and Gladiator. Let us mark the fublime of the art, in the expreffive energy, the divine character of the Apollo. Let us dwell on the elegant beauties of the Venus of Medicis. Thefe are the utmost efforts of defign: It can reach no farther than a full exertion of grace, character, and beauty. We have thus traced the genius of defign from its firft effays to its full flight. But there is an [] enthufiafm in every art. The Greek ftatuaries felt themfelves ftrait'tened within the out-lines of nature; they invented new proportions, they concieved [7] Ενθεσιασμόν της τεχνης owita Inuispyour. Suidas. έτω και Φείδιαν ενθε new new characters. The [g] Jupiter and Minerva of Phidias were fubjects of astonishment in the most enlightened ages. It fhould feem, that the wonderful effect of these statues, proceeded from an union of the beautiful, with the great and uncommon; thus combining the whole influence of vifible objects on the imagination. If we are astonished at the firft fight of the Coloffal ftatues on the monte Cavallo at Rome, a fecret and growing pleasure fucceeds this amazement: For, though the immenfity of their form feems, at first, to fet them above the fcale of our ideas, yet, fo happy is the fymmetry of their parts, fuch a freedom of defign, fuch an aptness for action prevail throughout, that the eye foon becomes familiar with their proportions, and capable of their beauties. [g] Non vidit Phidias Jovem, fecit tamen, velut tonantem; nec ftetit ante oculos ejus Minerva, dignus tamen illa arte animus, et concepit Deos et exhibuit. Senec. Ret. lib. x. B. IT is probable, that a great part of the pleasure which we receive in the contemplation of fuch Coloffal figures, arises from a comparison of their proportions with our own. The mind, in thefe moments, grows ambitious; and feels itself afpiring to greater powers, and fuperior functions: Thefe noble and exalted feelings diffufe a kind of rapture through the foul; and raise in it conceptions and aims above the limits of humanity. The finest, and, at the fame time, most pleasing senfations in nature, are thofe, which, (if I may be allowed the expreffion) carry us out of ourselves, and bring us nearest to that divine original from which we fpring. A. To this power of humanizing, if I may fo call it, these Coloffal proportions, fucceeds that of annexing the fublime to the moft minute. When two fuch extremes correspond correfpond in their effects, we may be affured, that the merit in both fprings from the fame caufe, a [b] greatness of manner. The moft celebrated inftance in this kind, was the Hercules of Lyfippus; which, though not more than a foot in height, filled the imagination equal to the Hercules Farnefe. As this ftatue is loft, we must content ourselves with the defcription of it by Statius [i]. At the chafte board the god himself appears, [6] Μιγαλότεχνον [i] Hæc inter cafe genius tutelaque menfæ Amphitryoniades, &c. Deus ille, Deus: Sefeque videndum Indulfie, Lyfippe, tibi, parvufque videri Vaftator Nemees,--&c. Lib. iv. Sylv. From From part to part our heated fancy flies, B. THE Jupiter of Phidias, and Hercules of Lyfippus are equal examples of the fuperior genius of the Greeks; and it must be confeffed, that if they have improved on nature, it was not fo much by quitting her proportions, as excelling her ideas. When I reflect on this evident fuperiority of the Greek artifts over the ancient and Modern Roman, I am at a loss to account for it: I cannot attribute it wholly to a pre-eminence of genius; being unwilling to believe, that nature could confine true tafte to fuch narrow boundaries: And yet, if the is partial to particular ages, why may not fhe be fo to particular cli mates ? A. THIS |