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Title: A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture,
Architecture

Author: Clara Erskine Clement Waters

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Most recently updated: January 3, 2021

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF ART
FOR BEGINNERS AND STUDENTS: PAINTING, SCULPTURE,
ARCHITECTURE ***

Fig. 58.—The Venus of Milo. (See
page 87.)

A
HISTORY OF ART
FOR

BEGINNERS AND STUDENTS

PAINTING—SCULPTURE—ARCHITECTURE
WITH

COMPLETE INDEXES AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS

BY

CLARA ERSKINE CLEMENT
AUTHOR OF "HANDBOOK OF LEGENDARY AND MYTHOLOGICAL
ART,"
"PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, ENGRAVERS, ARCHITECTS AND THEIR
WORKS,"
"ARTISTS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY," ETC.

NEW YORK

FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY MDCCCXCI
Copyright, 1887,
By FREDERICK A. STOKES,
Successor to White, Stokes, & Allen.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Ancient Sculpture:
Egypt, 1
Assyria, 10
CHAPTER II.
Greek Sculpture, 18
CHAPTER III.
Ancient Italian Sculpture, 82
CHAPTER IV.
Mediæval Sculpture, from the Fifth to the Fifteenth
105
Century,
CHAPTER V.
Italian Sculpture in the Fifteenth Century, 136
CHAPTER VI.
Sculpture in Germany, France, England, and Spain,
160
from 1450 to 1550,
CHAPTER VII.
Italian Sculpture in the Sixteenth Century—
181
Cellini, Michael Angelo, and Others,
CHAPTER VIII.
European Sculpture from Michael Angelo to
213
Canova,
CHAPTER IX.
Canova, Thorwaldsen, and Other Recent Sculptors, 235

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Venus of Milo, Frontispiece
Statue of Cephren in the Museum at Cairo, 3
Various Kinds of Dogs, 5
Androsphinx, 6
Kriosphinx, 6
The Great Sphinx, 7
Hieracosphinx, 8
The Colossi at Thebes, 9
Polishing a Colossal Statue, 10
Mode of Transporting a Colossus from the
11
Quarries (from a lithographic Drawing),
Statue of Sardanapalus I. (from Nimrud), 12
Lion-Hunt (from Nimrud), 13
Wounded Lion Biting a Chariot-wheel, 15
Arm-chair or Throne (Khorsabad), 16
Mode of Drawing the Bow (Koyunjik), 17
Lion Devouring Deer, 22
Heracles, Triton, and Nereids, 23
Heracles and the Cecrops, 23
Actæon and his Dogs, 24
From the Harpy Monument, London, 25
Figures from the Pediment of the Temple of
27
Minerva, at Ægina,
Archaistic Artemis at Naples, 28
The Discobolus (Myron), 30
Athenian Coins with the Minerva Promachos, 34
Coin of Elis with the Olympian Zeus, 36
Bust of Jupiter found at Otricoli, 37
Torso of a Statue of Theseus (?), 38
From the Frieze of the Parthenon, 43
The Five Central Figures, 44
Youths Preparing to join the Cavalcade, 45

Horsemen Starting, 46
Procession of Cavalry, 46
Procession of Chariots, 47
Train of Musicians and Youths, 47
Cows for Sacrifice, 48
Train of Noble Maidens, 48
Head of Asclepius (in the British Museum), 50
A Wounded Amazon (Cresilas), 52
Statue of Pericles (Cresilas), 52
Eirene and the Young Plutus (Cephisodotus), 56
Portrait of Mausolus, 57
From the Frieze of the Mausoleum, 58
The Eros of Centocelle, 60
Niobe and her Youngest Daughter, 62
Brother and Sister, 63
The Eldest Daughter, 64
A Niobid, 65
Ganymede (after Leochares), 66
Monument of Lysicrates (Athens), 67
Bacchus and Lion (from the Lysicrates
68
Monument),
The Apoxyomenos of Lysippus, 69
The Laocoon Group, 75
The Farnese Bull, 77
Gallic Warrior (Venice), 78
The Dying Gaul, 79
Boy and Goose, 80
Spinario, 81
Venus de' Medici, 86
The Farnesian Hercules, 89
The Apollo Belvedere, 90
Head of Apollo Belvedere, 91
The Steinhäuser Head, 91
The Stroganoff Apollo, 92
Diane à la Biche, 95
Athena of the Capitol, 96

Triumphal Procession from Arch of Titus, 97
From the Reliefs of Trajan's Column, 99
Portrait of Sophocles, 101
Statue of Augustus, 102
Agrippina the Elder, 103
Statue of St. Peter, 106
From the Cathedra of Maximianus, 109
Diptych (Zurich), 110
From the Façade of Chartres Cathedral, 113
From the North Transept of Rheims
118
Cathedral,
From the West Façade of Strasburg
120
Cathedral,
Duke Robert of Normandy, 121
Ivory Relief (Hunting Scene), 124
Relief by Nicola Pisano (Lucca), 128
Relief from the Pulpit at Pisa (Nicola
129
Pisano),
Campo Santo of Pisa (Giovanni Pisano), 132
Relief by Jacopo della Quercia (Bologna), 138
From the Eastern Gates (showing
141
compartments 6, 8, and 10),
The Annunciation (Donatello), 143
Statue of St. George (Donatello), 144
Dancing Boys (Luca della Robbia), 147
Boy with Dolphin (Verocchio), 149
Statue of Colleoni (Verocchio), 150
Terra-cottas from the Ospedale Grande
156
(Milan),
Count Eberhard von Grumbach (Rimpar), 169
Justice, 170
The Three Wise Virgins, 170
Tomb of St. Sebald (Nuremberg), 172
Peter Vischer's Statue, 173
St. Sebald and the Burning Icicles (Vischer), 174
Peter (Vischer), 175

John (Vischer), 175
Man and Geese (Labenwolf), 176
Pharisee, Levite (Rustici), 183
Bacchus (Jacopo Sansovino), 185
Perseus (Benvenuto Cellini), 191
Michael Angelo's Angel (Bologna), 197
Pietà (Michael Angelo), 199
Michael Angelo's David, 201
Giuliano de' Medici (Michael Angelo), 205
Statue of Moses (Michael Angelo), 207
Mercury (Giovanni da Bologna), 215
Relief by Berruguete (Valladolid), 217
Rape of Proserpine (Bernini), 225
Caryatide (Quellinus), 231
Heads of Dying Warriors (Schlüter), 232
The Great Elector (Schlüter), 233
The Three Graces (Canova), 241
Hebe (Canova), 246
Ariadne and the Panther (Dannecker), 249
Jason (Thorwaldsen), 256
Ganymede and the Eagle (Thorwaldsen), 260
The Three Graces (Thorwaldsen), 261
Statue of Queen Louise (Rauch), 270
Nymph (by Bosio), 273

SCULPTURE.

CHAPTER I.
ANCIENT SCULPTURE.

EGYPT.

No one can speak with exactness as to the time when sculpture was first
practised by the Egyptians; we only know that it was a very long time ago. But
we do know that in the time of the twelfth dynasty, which dates from 2466 B.C.,
sculpture had reached a stage of excellence such as could only have resulted
from the experience of many years of training and practice in this art.
In the Egyptian collection of the Louvre, at Paris, there is the memorial stone of
an old Egyptian sculptor which has an inscription that reads as if he had written
it himself; this was the way by which Egyptians made these inscriptions sound
as if the dead themselves spoke to those who were still alive. This sculptor's
name was Martisen, and he lived about forty-four centuries ago. Brugsch-Bey, a
very learned writer on Egypt, says: "He calls himself 'a master among those
who understand art, and a plastic artist,' who 'was a wise artist in his art.' He
relates in succession his knowledge in the making of statues, in every position,
according to prescribed use and measure; and brings forward, as his particular
invention, an etching with colors, if I have rightly understood the expression,
'which can neither be injured by fire nor washed off by water; 'and, as a further
explanation of this, states that 'no man has arisen who has been able to do this
except himself alone and the eldest son of his race, whom God's will has
created. He has arisen able to do this, and the exercise of his hand has been
admired in masterly works in all sorts of precious stones, from gold and silver
to ivory and ebony.'"
There is no doubt but that Martisen and his son, who was named Usurtasen,
were sculptors at the time when Egyptian art reached its highest point.
The earliest works of Egyptian sculpture are the bas-reliefs found in the
chambers of the tombs; the walls are almost covered with them, and they are
painted with colors which are still bright and fresh, though more than four
thousand years have passed since they were put on. The subjects of these reliefs
are taken from the life of the persons buried in the tombs, and even their

possessions and occupations are thus represented. These sculptures were made
by tracing the designs on the stone and then cutting it away between the figures.
The mode of arrangement in these reliefs does not satisfy our ideas of what it
should be. It seems as if the artists had no plan of their work in their minds—no
aim as to what the effect should be when finished. On the contrary, the reliefs
impress us as if the sculptors made one figure, and then added another and
another in such a way as to represent the fact they wished to tell without any
attention to the beauty of the whole; and so it does not seem as if there was any
unity in them, but as if the large bas-reliefs were made up of disjointed parts
which in one sense really have no relation to each other.
The same is true of the Egyptian statues. It appears as if the different parts
might have been made separately or even by different sculptors, and then joined
together. All this is because the Egyptians seemed to think of an object in parts
and not as a whole. Then, too, the position of the early statues was so unnatural
and awkward. The arms were placed close to the sides of the body, and there
was no separation between the legs; and though in some of their articles of
furniture, their pottery, and in the details of their architecture, the Egyptians
made a great advance, they did not equally improve in their sculpture.
One great hindrance to the progress of Egyptian sculpture was the fact that
figures were never represented in action. They were not figures moving and
living in stone; they were like figures petrified and fixed: they were statues, and
no one can forget this for a moment while looking at them. I can learn of but
one Egyptian figure sculptured as if in action; this is a quoit-thrower in the
Tombs of the Kings. A sitting statue, whether of a man or a woman, had the
hands rested on the knees or held across the breast (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.—Statue of Cephren
in the Museum at Cairo.

There were very few groups in Egyptian sculpture, and these seldom had more
than two figures. It was customary to represent a husband and wife sitting on
the same chair holding each other's hands, or having their arms around one
another's waists or shoulders. Sometimes the principal figure is of large size,
and the inferior persons are made much smaller and placed at the sides of the
larger figure. In short, very few attitudes are represented in Egyptian sculpture,
and it almost seems as if there must have been fixed rules for a certain limited
number of positions after which all sculptured figures were made.
In spite of this sameness and stiffness, Egyptian sculpture is remarkable, and it
is probable that if they had not been fettered by prejudices and rules the
Egyptians would have excelled both in sculpture and painting.
The sides of obelisks and, more especially, the walls of temples were covered
with sculptures which gave the history of kings—of their wars and conquests,
and of their great works in their kingdoms. The sculptures upon the temple
walls could be estimated by square rods, or even acres, better than by lesser
measures. Their amount and the labor it required to make them are simply
marvellous.

I will describe the subjects depicted upon one inner wall in the palace-temple of
Medemet Haboo, and will quote from Wilkinson's "Egypt and Thebes." On the
west wall "the Egyptian princes and generals conduct the 'captive chiefs' into
the presence of the king. He is seated at the back of his car, and the spirited
horses are held by his attendants on foot. Large heaps of hands are placed
before him, which an officer counts, one by one, as the other notes down their
number on a scroll; each heap containing three thousand, and the total
indicating the returns of the enemy's slain. The number of captives, reckoned
one thousand in each line, is also mentioned in the hieroglyphics above, where
the name of the Rebo points out the nation against whom this war was carried
on. Their flowing dresses, striped horizontally with blue or green bands on a
white ground, and their long hair and aquiline noses give them the character of
an Eastern nation in the vicinity of Assyria and Persia, as their name reminds us
of the Rhibii of Ptolemy, whom he places near the Caspian." ...
The suite of this historical subject continues on the south wall. The king,
returning victorious to Egypt, proceeds slowly in his car, conducting in triumph
the prisoners he has made, who walk beside and before it, three others being
bound to the axle. Two of his sons attend as fan-bearers, and the several
regiments of Egyptian infantry, with a corps of their allies, under the command
of these princes, marching in regular step and in the close array of disciplined
troops, accompany their king. He arrives at Thebes, and presents his captives to
Amen-Ra and Mut, the deities of the city, who compliment him, as usual, on the
victory he has gained, and the overthrow of the enemy he has "trampled beneath
his feet."

Fig. 2—Various Kinds of Dogs.
This description of these bas-reliefs, which are usually painted, will give an idea
of the great works of Egyptian sculptors.
The representation of the animals in these sculptures is as successful as any part
of them. There being no intellectual expression required, they are more pleasing
than the human beings, with their set, unchanging features and expression. The
Egyptians had several breeds of dogs, and the picture here (Fig. 2) is made up
from the dogs found in the sculptures—No. 1, hound; 2, mastiff; 3, turnspit; 4,
5, fox-dogs; 6, 7, greyhounds.
One of the figures often repeated by the sculptors of Egypt was the Sphinx. The
colossal and most famous one (Fig. 5) is not far from the great pyramid, and has

the form of a recumbent lion with
a human head. It is one hundred
and seventy-two feet long, and is
the Sphinx of the world; but there
were great numbers of these
strange figures in Egypt—in
some cases there were avenues
leading to the temples bordered
by them on each side. The form
of the Sphinx was intended to
express some spiritual thought to
the Egyptians, and the stories
Fig. 3.--Androsphinx. about it are very interesting. Its

form certainly denotes the union
of physical and mental power.
The form of which we have
spoken as being that of the great
Sphinx is called the androsphinx
(Fig. 3). Another has the body of
the lion with the head of the ram,
and is called the kriosphinx (Fig.
4); still another has the same
body and the head of a hawk; this
is called the hieracosphinx (Fig.
6). They all typified the king,
Fig. 4.—Kriosphinx.
without doubt, and it is probable
that the various heads were so
given to show respect for the different gods who were represented with the
heads of these creatures. Sometimes the androsphinx has human hands in place
of the lion's paws. The winged Sphinx has been found in Egypt, but it is rare.

Fig. 5.—The Great Sphinx.

The colossal statues of Egypt are
very wonderful on account of
their vast weight and size. The
most famous are two which stand
on the west bank of the Nile at
Thebes (Fig. 7). Each of these
colossi is made from a single
block of stone such as is not
found within several days'
Fig. 6.—Hieracosphinx. journey of the place where they
stand. They are forty-seven feet
high, and contain eleven thousand five hundred cubic feet each. But a third is
still larger; it represents the King Rameses II., and, when whole, was of a single
stone, and weighed eight hundred and eighty-seven tons. It was brought from
Assouan to Thebes, a distance of one hundred and thirty-eight miles. It is
wonderful to think of moving such a vast weight over such a distance, and one
would naturally wish to know also how the sculptors could work on such a
statue. The plate here given (Fig. 8) shows the process of polishing a statue, and

the following one (Fig. 9) illustrates the mode of moving one when finished.
These representations are found in tombs and grottoes, and tell us plainly just
what we wish to know about these things.

Fig. 7.—The Colossi at Thebes.
I have now pointed out the marked peculiarities of Egyptian sculpture, and
before leaving the subject will call your attention to the fact that in most cases it
was used in connection with and almost as a part of Egyptian architecture. In
the tombs the bas-reliefs are for the decoration of the walls and to finish the
work of the architect, while at the same time they are an interesting feature of
the art of the nation and period. In the temple palaces this is also true—though
the reliefs serve the purpose of telling the history of the kings; they are, as it
were, framed into and make a part of the architectural effect. The obelisks,
colossal figures and Sphinxes were placed before the grand buildings, and made
a part of them architecturally. In general terms we may say that sculpture never
became an independent art in Egypt, but was essentially wedded to architecture;
and this fact largely accounts for that other truth that sculpture never reached
the perfection in Egypt that it promised, or the excellence that would have
seemed to be the natural result of its earliest attainments.

Fig. 8—Polishing a colossal Statue.

ASSYRIA.

The works of sculpture in Assyria consisted of statues, bas-reliefs, statuettes in
clay, carvings in ivory, metal castings, and some smaller works, such as articles
for jewelry, made in minute imitation of larger works in sculpture.

Fig. 9.—Mode of Transporting a Colossus from the Quarries.
From a Lithographic Drawing.
In a Grotto at Dayr E'Shake, near El Bersheh.

1. The statue bound upon a sledge with ropes. It is of a private individual,
not of a king, or a deity.
2. Man probably beating time with his hands, and giving out the verse of a
song, to which the men responded; though 3 appears as if about to throw
something which 2 is preparing to catch, or striking crotala.
4. Pouring a liquid, perhaps grease, from a vase.
5. Egyptian soldiers, carrying boughs.
6, 7, 8, 9. Men, probably captives and convicts, dragging the statue.
10. Men carrying water, or grease.
11. Some implements.
12. Taskmasters.
13, 14, 15, 16. Reliefs of men.

The statues found in Assyria are by no means beautiful, according to our idea of
beauty. They are as set and stiff in design as the Egyptian works of this sort, and
they have suffered so much injury from the weather and from violence that we
cannot judge of the manner in which they were originally finished.

The number of Assyrian statues that have been found is
small; this one given here (Fig. 10), of Sardanapalus I., is in
the best state of preservation of any of them. It is smaller
than life size, being about forty-two inches high. The
statuettes of the Assyrians are less artistic than the statues.
They are made from a clay which turned red in baking, and
are colored so as to resemble Greek pottery. They are almost
always of a grotesque appearance, and usually represent
gods or genii. They also combine human and animal forms
in a less noble and artistic way than is done in the Egyptian
representation of the Sphinx. There are also small figures of
animals in terra-cotta, principally dogs and ducks. But the
large and small statues of the Assyrians are their most
unimportant works in sculpture. It is in their bas-reliefs that
their greatest excellence is seen, and in them alone their
progress in art can be traced. This sort of sculpture seems to
Fig. 10.— have been used by the Assyrians just as painting was used in
Statue of Italy after the Renaissance. It was their mode of expressing
Sardanapalus I. everything. Through it they gave expression to their
From Nimrud. religious feeling; they told the history of their nation, and
glorified their kings; they represented the domestic scenes
which now make the subjects of genre pictures; and even
imitated vegetables and fruits, as well as to reproduce landscapes and
architecture in these pictures cut from stone. In truth, it is chiefly from the bas-
reliefs that we learn the history of Assyria, and in this view their sculptures are
even more important than when they are considered merely from an artistic
view.
The most ancient palaces at Nimrud furnish the earliest examples of bas-relief.
These date at about the end of the tenth century B.C. One striking peculiarity in
the design is that all the figures, both men and animals, are given in exact
profile. In spite of this sameness of position they have much spirit and action.
The picture of a lion-hunt given here (Fig. 11) is one of the very best of these
reliefs, and you will notice that the animal forms are much superior to those of
the human beings. This is true of all Assyrian art in all its stages. In these oldest
bas-reliefs there are no backgrounds; but later on these are added, and
mountains, hills, streams, trees, and wild animals are all introduced as details of
the general design. The highest state of this art was reached about 650 B.C. At
this period the various forms seem to be more varied and less arranged

according to some rule. The human faces and figures are more delicately
finished, and there is an air of freedom and a spirit in the handling of the
subjects that is far better than that of any other time. The plants and trees are far
more beautiful than before.

Fig. 11.—Lion-hunt.
From Nimrud.
The figures of animals, too, are full of life and action in this period. I shall only
give one illustration, and shall choose the head of a lion, probably the best
specimen of animal drawing which is yet known in Assyrian art. It represents
the head of a wounded lion, who, in his agony, rushes upon a chariot and seizes
the wheel with his teeth. The drawing of this head, as a portrayal of agony and
fierceness, compares favorably with anything of the same kind belonging to any
age of art, either classic or modern (Fig. 12).
There is a question which has not yet been decided as to the amount of color
used on the Assyrian bas-reliefs. From the traces of color remaining on those
that are found in the excavations, and from what we know of the use of colors
on the buildings to which the bas-reliefs belonged, we may be sure that colors
were used on them; but to what extent cannot be told. It may have been applied
with the freedom of the Egyptians, or it may have been sparingly used, as was
the manner of the ancient Greeks. The colors that have been found in the ruins
of Assyria are white, black, red and blue.

Next to the sculpture, the metal work of the Assyrians was the most important
of their arts. This work was done in three ways: I. Whole figures or parts of
figures cast in a solid shape. II. Castings of low bas-reliefs. III. Embossed
designs made chiefly with the hammer, but finished with the graver. In the solid
castings there are only animal forms, and lions are far more numerous than any
other creature. Many of them have a ring fastened to the back, which indicates
that they were used for weights. These castings are all small and their form
good; but we have no reason to think that the Assyrians could make large metal
castings.

Fig. 12.—Wounded Lion biting a Chariot-wheel.
From the North Palace, Koyunjik.
The castings in relief were used to
ornament thrones, furniture, and
perhaps chariots. They were fastened
in their places by means of small
nails. They had no great merit. The
embossed or hammered work, on the
contrary, is artistic and very curious.
Large numbers of embossed bowls
and dishes have been found, and this
work was used for the end of sword-
sheaths, the sides of chairs and stools,
and various other ornamental
purposes. It is probable that the main
part of the tables, chairs, and so on
were of wood, with the ornaments in
embossed metals. All this shows the
Assyrians to have been an artistic Fig. 13.—Arm-chair or Throne.
people, and to have reached an Khorsabad.
interesting stage in their arts, though
their works are coarse and imperfect
when judged by Greek standards or by our own idea of what is beautiful. If we
had the space to consider all the various designs of the bas-reliefs in detail, you
would learn from them a great many interesting facts concerning the domestic
life of this ancient and interesting people. From them we can learn all about the
costumes worn by the king and those of lesser rank; can see how their wars
were carried on, and what their chariots, weapons, and equipments were. Their
games, amusements, musical instruments, agricultural pursuits, food, and, in
short, everything connected with their daily life is plainly shown in these
sculptures, and, as I have said before, the whole history of Assyria is better
studied from them than from any other one source. For this reason their great
value cannot be over-estimated (Fig. 13).
Other very ancient nations had sculptors, and a few remains of their arts still
exist. This is true of the Medes, Babylonians, and Persians; but the general
features of their arts resembled those of the Assyrians, though they were less
advanced than that nation, and have left nothing as interesting as the Egyptian

and Assyrian remains which we have considered. I shall therefore leave them
and pass to the sculpture of Greece.

Fig. 14.—Mode of Drawing the Bow.
Koyunjik.

CHAPTER II.
GREEK SCULPTURE.

We have seen that the Egyptians and Assyrians were skilful in sculpture, but at
the same time their works have not moved us as we wish to be moved by art;
there is always something beyond them to be desired, and it remained for the
Greeks to attain to that perfection in sculpture which satisfies all our nature and
fills our highest conceptions of beauty and grace. In truth, in Greece alone has
this perfection in plastic art existed, and since the time of its highest excellence
there no other nation has equalled the examples of Greek sculpture which still
exist, though we have reason to believe that its finest works have perished, and
that those remaining are of the second grade.
There are many reasons for the high artistic attainments of the Greeks, and a
discussion or even a simple statement of them would require an essay far too
learned and lengthy for the scope of this book; but I will speak of one truth that
had great influence and went far to perfect Greek art—that is, the unbounded
love of beauty, which was an essential part of the Greek nature. To the Greek, in
fact, beauty and good had the same meaning—beauty was good, and the good
must be beautiful.
Sculpture deals almost exclusively with the form of man, and the other features
in it have some relation to the human element of the design; and it would have
been impossible for a true Greek to represent the human form otherwise than
beautiful. A writer on this point says: "The chief aim of the enlightened Greek,
his highest ambition and his greatest joy, was to be a man in the fullest sense of
the word—man in the most complete development of his bodily strength and
beauty, in the active exercise of the keenest senses, in the greatest because
tempered enjoyment of sensual pleasure, in the free and joyous play of an
intellect strong by nature, graced and guided by the most exquisite taste, and
enlightened by the sublimest philosophy." Thus, beauty was so important to the
Greek that every parent prayed that his children might have this gift, and the
names of beautiful persons were engraved upon pillars set where all could read
them; and at times there were competitions for the prize of beauty.

The religion of the Greek, too, taught that the body was the beautiful and
godlike temple of his soul; and the truth that human beings have something in
common with a higher power than their own gave him a great respect for
humanity, and, in truth, he felt that if he could escape death he should be
content and almost, if not quite, a god. For we must remember that the gods of
the Greek were not all-wise, all-powerful, and all-good, as we believe our God
to be. If you read their mythology you will find that with the power of the god
much imperfection and weakness were mingled. They did not believe that Zeus
had been the greatest god from the beginning, but that there was a time when he
had no power. He was not omniscient nor omnipresent, and was himself subject
to the decrees of Fate, as when he could not save his loved Sarpedon from
death. Not knowing all things, even the gods are sometimes represented as
depending upon mortals for information, and all these religious views tended to
make the human form far more noble to the Greek than it can be to the
Christian, with his different views of the relations of God and man.
Greek sculpture existed in very early days, and we have vague accounts of a
person called Dædalus, who seems to have been a wood-carver. Many cities
claimed to have been his birthplace, and no one can give any clear account of
this ancient artist. He is called the inventor of the axe, saw, gimlet, plummet-
line, and a kind of fish-glue or isinglass. He is also said to have been the first
sculptor who separated the arms from the bodies of his statues, or made the feet
to step out; he also opened their eyes, and there is a legend that the statues of
Dædalus were so full of life that they were chained lest they should run away.
We call the time to which Dædalus belonged the prehistoric period, and his
works and those of other artists of his day have all perished. Two very ancient
specimens of sculpture remain—the Lion Gate of Mycenæ and the Niobe of
Mount Sipylus; but as their origin is not known, and they may not be the work
of Greek artists, it is best for us to pass on to about 700 B.C., when the records
of individual artists begin.
Among the earliest of these was Dibutades, of whom Pliny said that he was the
first who made likenesses in clay. This author also adds that Dibutades first
mixed red earth with clay, and made the masks which were fastened to the end
of the lowest hollow tiles on the roofs of temples. Pliny relates the following
story of the making of the first portrait in bas-relief.
Dibutades lived in Sicyon, and had a daughter called sometimes Kora, and
again Callirhoe. She could not aid her father very much in his work as a

sculptor, but she went each day to the flower-market and brought home flowers,
which gave a very gay and cheerful air to her father's little shop. Kora was very
beautiful, and many young Greeks visited her father for the sake of seeing the
daughter. At length one of these youths asked Dibutades to take him as an
apprentice; and when this request was granted the young man made one of the
family of the sculptor. Their life was one of simple content. The young man
could play upon the reed, and his education fitted him to be the instructor of
Kora. After a time, for some reason that Pliny does not mention, it was best for
the youth to go away from the artist's home, and he then asked Kora if she
would be his wife. She consented, and vows of betrothal were exchanged, while
they were sad at the thought of parting.
The last evening of his stay, as they sat together, Kora seized a coal from the
brazier, and traced upon the wall the outline of the face that was so dear to her;
and she did this so correctly that when her father saw it he knew instantly from
what face it had been drawn. Then he wished to do his part, for he also loved
the young man. So he brought his clay and filled in the outline which Kora had
drawn, and so went on to model the first portrait in bas-relief that was ever
made. Thus did this great art grow out of the love of this beautiful maiden of
Sicyon, about twenty-five hundred years ago.
After this beginning Dibutades went on to perfect his art. He made medallions
and busts, and decorated the beautiful Grecian structures with his work, and
work in bas-relief became the most beautiful ornamentation of the splendid
temples and theatres of Greece. He also founded a school for modelling at
Sicyon, and became so famous an artist that several Greek cities claim the
honor of having been his birthplace.
The bas-relief made from Kora's outline was preserved in the Nymphæum at
Corinth for almost two hundred years, but was then destroyed by fire. She
married her lover, and he became a famous artist at Corinth.
We have said that accounts of individual artists exist from about 700 B.C.; but
these accounts are of so general a character and so wanting in detail that I shall
pass on about two hundred years, after saying a few words of the advance made
in the arts of sculpture, and mentioning a few of the examples which remain
from that early time, which is called the Archaic period. This expression not
only means an ancient period of art, but carries also the idea of an obsolete art
—of something that is not only ancient, but something that is no longer
practised in the same manner or by the same people as existed in this ancient or

archaic time. During this archaic period a beginning was made in many
branches of plastic art. There were statues in metal and marble, bas-reliefs in
various kinds of stone and marble, as well as some chryselephantine statues.
This kind of work is often said to have been invented by Phidias, but the truth
seems to be that he was not its inventor, but carried it to great perfection. These
chryselephantine statues were made of wood and then covered with ivory and
gold; the ivory was used for the flesh parts of the statue, and gold for the
drapery and ornaments of the figure, and the finished work was very brilliant in
its effect.

Fig. 15.—Lion devouring Deer.
The principal subjects represented in the sculpture of the archaic period were
connected with the religion of the Greeks, which is known to us as mythology.
Most statues were of the gods, but portrait statues were not unknown, and the
custom of setting up statues of the victors in the Greek games dates back to this
very early time. This was a custom which afforded a large field for sculptors to
work in, and must have had a great influence to give life and progress to their
art.
Of the remains of this art very interesting things have been written, but I shall
speak only of a few such objects of which pictures can be given to aid you in
understanding about them. Among the earliest reliefs that have been preserved
are those now in the Museum of the Louvre, at Paris, which were found in the
ruins of a Doric temple at Assos (Fig. 15).

Fig. 16.—Heracles, Triton, and Nereids.
The various designs upon these marbles
seem to have no connection with each
other, and are executed in a rude manner.
The most interesting one represents
Heracles, or Hercules, struggling with a
Triton (Fig. 16).
The female figures represent Nereids, who
are terrified by seeing Heracles in contest
with the sea-monster. There are many
proofs that these reliefs belong to a very
ancient day.
An interesting relief from the temple of
Selinus represents Heracles striding off
with a pole across his shoulders, to which
are hung two Cecrops who had robbed and Fig. 17.—Heracles and the
tormented him (Fig. 17). Cecrops.
A very fine work is also from Selinus, and
represents Actæon torn by his dogs. The mythological story was that Zeus, or
Jupiter, was angry with Actæon because he wished to marry Semele, and the
great god commanded Artemis, or Diana, to throw a stag's skin over Actæon, so
that his own dogs would tear him. In the relief Artemis stands at the left (Fig.
18).
There is in the British Museum a monument which was discovered at Xanthos
in 1838. It is thought to have been made about 500 B.C., and is called "The
Harpy Monument," It is a tower, round the four sides of which runs a frieze at a
height of about twenty-one feet from the ground. The frieze is of white marble,

and is let into the frieze which is of
sandstone. The Lycians, in whose
country it was found, were
accustomed to bury their dead at the
top of such towers.
There is very great difference of
opinion among scholars and critics
concerning the meaning of the
various scenes in these sculptures;
and as all their writing is speculation,
and no one knows the truth about it, I
shall only say that it is a very
interesting object in the history of art,
and shall speak of the four corner
figures on the shortest parts of the
frieze, from which the whole work
Fig. 18.—Actæon and his Dogs. takes its name. The Harpies are very
curious; they had wings, and arms
like human arms, with claws for hands, and feathered tails. Their bodies are
egg-shaped, which is a very strange feature in their formation. We cannot
explain all these different things, but there is little doubt that, with the little
forms which they have in their arms, they represent the messengers of death
bearing away the souls of the deceased. In the Odyssey, Homer represents the
Harpies as carrying off the daughters of King Pandareus and giving them to the
cruel Erinnyes for servants. For this reason the Harpies were considered as
robbers, and whenever a person suddenly disappeared it was said that they had
been carried off by Harpies (Fig. 19).

Fig. 19.—From the Harpy Monument, London.
Before leaving this subject of existing sculptures from the fifth century B.C., I
will speak of the two groups which belonged to the temple of Minerva in
Ægina, and are now in the Glyptothek at Munich. The city of Ægina was the
principal city of the island of Ægina, which was in the gulf of the same name,
near the south-west coast of Greece. This city was at the height of its prosperity
about 475 B.C., at which time a beautiful temple was built, of which many
columns are still standing, though much of it has fallen down. In 1811 some
English and German architects visited this place, and the marbles they obtained
are the most remarkable works which still exist from so early a period.
Thorwaldsen, the Danish sculptor, restored these reliefs, and the King of
Bavaria bought them.
Upon the western pediment there were eleven figures which represented an
episode in the Trojan war; it was the struggle of Ajax, Ulysses, and other Greek

warriors to obtain the dead body of Achilles, which was held by the Trojans.
The story is that the goddess Thetis had dipped her son Achilles in the river
Styx for the purpose of making him invulnerable, or safe from wounds by
weapons. But as she held him by the ankles they were not wetted, and so he
could be wounded in them. During the siege of Troy Apollo guided the arrow of
Paris to this spot, and the great leader of the Greeks was killed. It is believed
that the warrior in this picture who is about to send his arrow is Paris. In the
central or highest part of the pediment the goddess Minerva stands and tries to
cover the fallen body of Achilles with her shield. These figures are on the side
where the space grows narrower. You can judge of what the action and spirit of
the whole must be when these smaller figures have so much. We are sure that
the arrow will shoot out with such force as must carry death to its victim, and
the second warrior, who braces himself on his feet and knee, will thrust his
lance with equal power (Fig. 20).
There are traces of color and of metal ornaments upon these Æginetan statues;
the weapons, helmets, shields, and quivers were red or blue; the eyes, hair, and
lips were painted, and there are marks upon the garments of the goddess that
show that she must have had bronze ornaments. There was a famous sculptor of
Ægina named Callon, who lived about the time that this temple was built; and
though it is not known to be so, yet many critics and scholars believe that he
may have been the sculptor of these works, because they resemble the written
descriptions of his statues and reliefs.

Fig. 20.—Figures from the Pediment of the Temple of Minerva, at
Ægina.
There was a period which we call archaistic, and by this we indicate a time
when it was the fashion for the sculptors to imitate as nearly as possible the
works of the true archaic period. It has constantly happened in the history of
society that fashion has ordained this same thing, though the objects of
imitation have varied with the different ages and nations. This archaistic "craze"
to imitate old sculptures was at its height in the times of the Roman emperors
Augustus and Hadrian; but here in America we have seen the same passion
manifested in the desire to have such furniture as Queen Anne and her people
admired, or such as "came over in the Mayflower;" and when the true original
articles were no longer to be found in garrets and out-of-the-way places, then
manufacturers began to imitate the old in the new, and one can now buy all sorts
of ancient-looking furniture that is only just from the workmen's hands.
But among the Greeks there was a second motive for reproducing the works of
the earlier artists, which was the fact that the images of the gods and such
articles as belonged to religious services were sacred in their earliest forms, and
were venerated by the people. Thus it followed that the advance and change in
the taste of the people and the skill of the artists was more suited to other
subjects, while the religious images were made as nearly as possible like the
older ones. If it happened that a rude ancient image of a god was placed side by
side with a modern and more beautiful statue of the same deity, the pious Greek
would prefer the ugly one, while he could well admire the most lovely. You

should remember that these temple images were really
objects of actual worship.
Many of these archaistic works are in various museums of
art.
This is a very beautiful temple image, and was discovered
at Pompeii in 1760. It was found in a small temple or
chapel, of which it must have been the principal deity. It is
in excellent preservation; the only parts which are wanting
are the fingers of the right hand and the object which it
held. Like many of these statues, it is less than life-size—
four feet and two inches in height. When it was first
discovered there were many traces of color about it. The
hair was gilded to represent the blonde hair which the
Fig. 21.— poets ascribed to Artemis (Diana). There was considerable
Archaistic red about the garments, and some flowers were upon the
Artemis at border of the drapery. There is an archaic stiffness about
Naples. this statue, but the flowing hair, the form of the eyes, and
the free style of the nude parts all show that it belongs to
the archaistic period (Fig. 21).
It would be pleasant and satisfying if we could trace step by step the progress of
Greek sculpture from the rude archaic manner to that of the Periclean age, or
from such art as is seen in the sculpture of Ægina to the perfections of the
reliefs of the Parthenon. This we cannot do; but we know some of the causes
that led to this progress, and can give accounts of a few sculptors who, while
they did not equal the great Phidias, were at least the forerunners of such a type
of art as his.
The chief cause of the progress of art was the greater freedom of the artist in the
choice and treatment of his subjects. So long as the subjects were almost
entirely religious there could be little variety in the manner of treating them.
Each god or goddess had its own attributes, which must be rendered with exact
care; and any new mode of portraying them was almost a sacrilege. But as time
passed on and the Panhellenic games and the national Pantheon at Olympia
grew into their great importance, new subjects were furnished for the artists,
which allowed them to show their originality and to indulge their artistic
imaginations to their fullest extent. The victors in the games were heroes, and
regarded even as demi-gods, and statues were allowed to be erected to them,

although this had hitherto been considered a divine honor and was accorded to
the gods alone. When these heroes were represented, the artists, not being
bound by any laws, could study their subjects and represent them to the life as
nearly as they were able to do. This exaltation of the Olympian victors gave an
opportunity for the development of sculpture such as cannot be over-estimated
in its influence and results.
Another characteristic of the art of the time we are now considering was the
almost universal use of bronze. This metal is excellent for displaying the minute
features of the nude parts of statues, but it is not equal to marble in the
representation of draperies or for giving expression to the face. Pythagoras of
Rhegium was a famous artist who worked entirely in bronze. The only copies
from his works of which we know are on two gems, one of which is in the
Berlin Museum. He made exact studies of the body in action, and gave new
importance to the reproduction of the veins and muscles. It is also claimed that
Pythagoras was the first to lay down clearly the laws of symmetry or proportion
which is governed by strict mathematical rules.
Myron of Eleutheræ flourished about 500 to 440 B.C., and was reckoned
among Athenian artists because, though not born at Athens, he did most of his
works there, and his most famous work, the statue of a cow, stood on the
Acropolis of that city. This cow was represented as in the act of lowing, and was
elevated upon a marble base. It was carried from Athens to Rome, where it
stood in the Forum of Peace. Many writers mentioned this work of Myron's, and
thirty-seven epigrams were written concerning it.
Though the cow was so much talked of, the artistic fame of Myron rests more
upon the "Discobolus," or quoit-thrower. The original statue does not exist, but
there are several copies of it. That in the Massimi Villa is a very accurate one,
and was found on the Esquiline Hill at Rome in A.D. 1782; our illustration is
made from this statue. Myron's great skill in representing the human figure in
excited action is well shown in the quoit-thrower. To make such a figure as this
requires great power in a sculptor. No model could constantly repeat this action,
and if he could there is but a flash of time in which the artist sees just the
position he reproduces. This figure, however, is so true to life that one feels like
keeping out of the range of the quoit when it flies (Fig. 22). There are several
other existing works attributed to Myron: they are a marble copy of his statue of
Marsyas, in the Lateran at Rome; two torsi in the gallery at Florence; a figure
called Diomed, and a bronze in the gallery at Munich.

Myron made statues of gods and heroes, but he
excelled in representing athletes. His works were
very numerous, and a list of those which are only
known through the mention of them by various
writers would be of little value here. While Myron
reproduced the form and action of the body with
marvellous effect, he made no advance in
representing the expression of the face, nor in the
treatment of the hair. He was daring in his art, for he
not only imitated what he saw in life, but he also
represented grotesque imaginary creatures, and in
many ways proved that he had a rich creative fancy.
A third sculptor of this time was Calamis, who was
in his prime about B.C. 450. He was not born in
Athens, but he worked there. Calamis added to the
exact representations of Pythagoras and Myron the
element of grace beyond their powers in that Fig. 22.—The
direction. He made a greater variety of figures than Discobolus.
they, for to gods and heroes he added heroines, boys
and horses. His works were in bronze, gold and ivory, as well as marble. But
what we know of Calamis is gathered from the writings of Greek authors rather
than from works, or copies of works, by him still existing; indeed, no statue
remains known to be his own, though there are some which critics fancy may be
so. But we may be certain of his great excellence from the many praises sung
and said of him, and Lucian, who knew all the best works of all the greatest
masters of Greece, puts Calamis before them all for elegance and grace, and for
the finer expression of faces; when imagining a beautiful statue of a young girl
he declares that he would go to Calamis to impart to it a chaste modesty and
give it a sweet and unaffected smile.
Phidias is the most famous of all Greek sculptors, and as Greek sculpture is the
finest sculpture of which we have any knowledge, it follows that Phidias was
the first sculptor of the world. And yet, in spite of his fame, we do not know the
time of his birth. We know that he was the son of Charmidas, but we know
nothing of the father except that he had a brother who was a painter, and this
makes it probable that the family of Phidias were artists.
As nearly as can be told, Phidias was born about B.C. 500. This would have
made him ten years old at the time of the battle of Marathon and twenty years

old when Salamis was fought, while he came of age at the time of Platæa. He
seems to have begun his artistic life as a painter, and we know nothing of him as
an independent sculptor until the administration of Cimon, about B.C. 471. But
his finest works belong to the time of Pericles, who was his friend as well as
patron, and made him the master over all the great public works at Athens
during what we speak of as the Periclean age.
It seems that the favor of Pericles was a dear privilege to Phidias, for it exposed
him to bitter envy and hatred; and those who feared to attack Pericles himself
avenged themselves upon Phidias, and accused him of dishonesty in obtaining
the gold for the robe of the statue of Minerva which he made for the Parthenon.
He proved himself innocent of this, but he was accused of other crimes, and one
account says that he was thrown into prison and died there of disease or poison.
Another account relates that the great sculptor went into exile at Elis, where he
made his most famous statue, the Olympian Zeus, and that he was there
convicted of theft and put to death. With such contradictory stories we cannot
know the exact truth; but we do know that he went to Elis accompanied by
distinguished artists. He was received with honor, and for a long time the studio
that he occupied there was shown to strangers. The Olympians also allowed him
an honor which the Athenians never extended to him—that is, to inscribe his
name upon the base of the statue of Zeus, which he was not permitted to do in
the case of the Minerva (or Athena) of the Parthenon.
It often happens in the case of a very great man that the events which have
preceded his manhood have prepared the way for him and his work in so
striking a manner that it seems as if he could not have been great at any other
time, and that he could not avoid being so, when everything had been shaped to
his advantage. This was true of Phidias. When he came to be a man the dreadful
wars which had ravaged Greece were over, and the destruction of the older
structures prepared the way for the rebuilding of Athens. Large quantities of
"marble, bronze, ivory, gold, ebony and cypress wood" were there, and a great
number of skilful workmen were at hand to work under his command. The
Athenians were ablaze with zeal to rebuild the temples and shrines of their
gods, who, as they believed, had led them to their victories, and not only the
public, but the private means were used to make Athens the grandest and most
beautiful city of the world.
The first great work with which the name of Phidias was connected was the
building of the temple of Theseus, called also the Theseion. This was a very
important temple, and was constructed in obedience to the command of an

oracle in this wise: In B.C. 470 the island of Scyros had been taken by the
Athenians, and upon this island Theseus had been buried. After the battle of
Marathon, in which he had aided the Athenians, Theseus was much regarded by
them, and in B.C. 476 they were directed to remove his bones to Athens and
build over them a shrine worthy of so great a champion. Just then a gigantic
skeleton was discovered at Scyros by Cimon, and was brought to Athens with
great ceremony, and laid to rest with pompous respect, and the splendid temple
dedicated to Theseus was begun, and Phidias was commissioned to make its
plastic ornaments. The precincts of this temple later became a sanctuary where
the poor man and the slave could be safe from the oppressor.

Fig. 23.—Athenian Coins with the Minerva
Promachos.
Phidias executed many works under the patronage of Cimon, the greatest of
which was the colossal statue of Minerva, which stood on the Acropolis. It was
called the "Minerva Promachos," and was so gigantic that "the crest of her
helmet and the point of her spear could be seen by the mariner off the
promontory of Sunium glittering in the sunlight as a welcome to her own
chosen people, and an awful warning to her foes." The meaning of Promachos
may be given as champion or guardian, and we know from existing descriptions
that, with its pedestal, it must have been at least seventy feet in height. It was
made from the spoils taken at Marathon; its pedestal was found, in 1840,
standing between the Parthenon and the Erechtheium. It has been called the
"Pallas with the golden spear," for this goddess was known as Athena, Minerva,
and Pallas, and it is said that Alaric was so impressed by its awful aspect that he
shrank from it in horror. The only representations of this statue now in existence
are upon Athenian coins, and the position of the goddess differs in these, as you

will see by the illustration (Fig. 23); there are reasons for believing that the one
in which the shield rests upon the ground is correct, one of which is that some
years after the death of Phidias the inside of the shield was ornamented by a
relief of the battle of the Centaurs.
Though Phidias proved himself to be a great artist during the reign of Cimon, it
was not until the time of Pericles that he reached the glorious height of his
genius. Pericles and Phidias seem to have been two grand forces working in
harmony for the political and artistic grandeur of Athens, and, indeed, of all
Attica, for within a period of twenty years nearly all the great works of that
country were begun and completed. Plutarch writes of these wonders in these
words: "Hence we have the more reason to wonder that the structures raised by
Pericles should be built in so short a time, and yet built for ages. For as each of
them, as soon as it was finished, had the venerable air of antiquity, so now that
they are old they have the freshness of a modern building. A bloom is diffused
over them which preserves their aspect untarnished by time, as if they were
animated with a spirit of perpetual youth and unfading elegance."
It is quite impossible that I should speak here of the works of Phidias in detail,
and I have decided to speak only of the frieze of the Parthenon, because the
Elgin marbles enable us to give illustrations from it and to know more about
this than of the other works of the great masters about whom whole volumes
might be written with justice. But, first, I will give a picture of a coin which
shows the great Olympian Zeus, or Jupiter, which Phidias made at Elis, after he
was an exile from Athens (Fig. 24). When Phidias was asked how he had found
a model for this Jupiter, he quoted the lines from Homer:
"He said, and nodded with his shadowy brows,
Waved on the immortal head the ambrosial locks,
And all Olympus trembled at the nod."

Fig. 24.—Coin of Elis with the Olympian Zeus.
The writings of the ancients have almost
numberless references to this statue, and its
praise is unending. It was colossal in size
and made of ivory and gold, and one
historian says that though the temple had
great height, yet the Jupiter was so large that
if he had risen from his throne he must have
carried the roof away. It is related that when
the work was completed Phidias prayed to
Jupiter to give him a sign from heaven that
he might know whether his work was
pleasing to the great god or not. This prayer
was answered, and a flash of lightning came
which struck the pavement in front of the
statue. This statue was reckoned among the
seven wonders of the world, and it is
believed that the magnificent bust called the
"Jupiter Otricoli" is a copy from the
Olympian statue (Fig. 25).
Fig. 25.—Bust of Jupiter
I shall speak in another volume (upon found at Otricoli.
Architecture) of the former glory and the
present ruin of the Parthenon at Athens, and tell how upon its decoration Phidias
lavished his thought and care until it surpassed in beauty any other structure of
which we have knowledge. Early in the present century Lord Elgin, the English
Ambassador to the Porte, interested himself in having the sculptures found in
the ruins taken to England. In 1812 eighty chests containing these priceless
works of the greatest sculptor who ever lived were placed in Burlington House,
and a few years later Parliament purchased them for £35,000, and they were

placed in the British Museum, where they now are. There is a great number of
them, and all are of great interest; but I shall pass over the metopes and the
pediments, and shall pass to the frieze after speaking of this one figure of
Theseus, which is from the sculptures of the eastern pediment. The sculptures
upon this pediment represented the story of the birth of Athena, and it was
proper that Theseus should be present, as he was king over Athens, of which
city Athena, or Minerva, was the protecting goddess. Torso is a term used in
sculpture to denote a mutilated figure, and many such remains of ancient
sculpture exist which are so beautiful, even in their ruin, that they are the pride
of the museums where they are, and serve as studies for the artists of all time.
This figure of Theseus is wonderful for the majesty and grace of its attitude, for
perfection of its anatomical accuracy, and for the appearance of elasticity of
muscle with which it impresses one, even though made of marble. It really
seems as if the skin could be moved upon it, so soft does its surface look to be.
It is ranked as the greatest miracle of sculpture. Though it is called a Theseus, I
ought to state that some critics take exceptions to this name, and believe it to be
Hercules or Bacchus; but by almost general consent it is called a Theseus (Fig.
26).

Fig. 26.—Torso of a Statue of Theseus (?).
We may imagine that the representation upon this eastern pediment must have
been magnificent. Of course the chosen goddess of Athens would be made to
appear with great glory. The myth relates that Athena was born in an instant, by
springing forth from the head of Zeus, or Jupiter, fully armed. It is believed that
in this sculpture she was represented a moment after birth when she appeared in
full, colossal majesty, shouting her war-cry and waving her lance—something
as these lines represent the scene:
"Wonder strange possessed
The everlasting gods, that shape to see
Shaking a javelin keen, impetuously
Rush from the crest of ægis-bearing Jove.
Fearfully Heaven was shaken, and did move
Beneath the might of the Cærulean-eyed
Earth dreadfully surrounded far and wide,
And lifted from its depths; the sea swelled high
In purple billows."
It is very important, when considering the sculpture at Athens, to know
something about the character of this goddess whose power and influence was
so great there. I shall give an extract from an English writer on Greek sculpture,
Mr. Walter Copeland Perry:
"It is a very remarkable fact, and one which gives us a deep insight into the
character of the Athenians, that the central figure in their religion, the most
perfect representative of their feelings, thoughts, and aspirations, was not Zeus
or Hera (Juno), nor the most popular gods of all times and nations, Ares (Mars)
and Aphrodite (Venus), but Athena, the virgin, the goddess of wise counsel and
brave deed! She was enthroned in the very heart of their citadel; and she stood
in colossal grandeur on the battlements to terrify their foes, and to give the first
welcome to the mariner or the exile when he approached his divine and
beautiful home, which reposed in safety under the protection of her lance and
shield."
The attributes of this goddess, as given in Greek literature and shown forth in
Greek art, are very varied and hard to be understood as belonging to one person.
She is the patroness of war, and in Homer's Iliad she is represented as rushing
into battle in this wise:

"The cuirass donn'd of cloud-compelling force
And stood accoutred for the bloody fray.
Her tasselled ægis round her shoulders next
She threw, with terror circled all around,
And on its face were figured deeds of arms
And Strife and Courage high, and panic Rout.
There too a Gorgon's head of monstrous size
Frown'd terrible, portent of angry Jove.
. . . . . . . In her hand
A spear she bore, long, weighty, tough, wherewith
The mighty daughter of a mighty sire
Sweeps down the ranks of those her hate pursues."
But this warlike goddess is also represented as the wise counsellor who restrains
Achilles from rash action; and though she does not shrink from war and danger,
yet the most precious gift to her people was not the war-horse, but the olive, the
emblem of peace, and to her honor was this sacred tree planted. "She stands in
full armor, with brandished lance, on the highest point of the Acropolis, and yet
she is the patroness of all household and female work, in which she herself
excels."
It is very interesting to notice that in the early representations of Athena, while
she is very warlike in her bearing and raises her lance in her right hand, she also
carries in her left the distaff and the spindle and the lamp of knowledge. In the
later art of Phidias she is still stern and severe, but her face also expresses
dignity and grandeur of thought and character. Later still, her warlike attributes
are made less prominent: the shield rests on the ground, and the lance is more
like a sceptre, until, in the decline of art, she is represented as lovely and gentle,
and all her grand power is lost, and she is not above a great number of other
goddesses who are attractive for their soft, lovely grace, but have no selfhood,
no individuality to command our admiration or respect.
We come now to speak of the Elgin marbles from the frieze of the Parthenon. It
was about thirty-five feet above the floor, three feet three inches broad, and
about five hundred and twenty-two feet long. It represented a continuous
procession, and the subject is called the great Panathenaic Procession. About
four hundred feet of this frieze remains, so that a good judgment can be formed
of it. First I must tell you what this procession means. The festival of the
Panathenæa was the most important of all the splendid pomps which were
celebrated at Athens. It is probable that this festival was held every year about

the middle of August, but the great Panathenaic occurred only in the third year
of each olympiad; an olympiad was a period of four years, extending from one
celebration of the Olympic games to another, which was an event of great
importance in reckoning time with the Greeks; thus we see that the great
procession represented on the frieze occurred once in every four years. This
festival continued several days, and all were filled with horse-racing, cock-
fighting, gymnastic and musical contests, and a great variety of games; poets
also recited their verses, and philosophers held arguments in public places.[A]
But the most important day was that on which a procession went up to the
Parthenon and carried the peplos, or garment for the great goddess, which had
been woven by the maidens of Athens. This peplos was made of crocus-colored
stuff, on which the figures of the gods engaged in their contests with the giants
appeared in beautiful, rich embroidery. In later years, after the Athenians had
fallen from their first high-minded simplicity, they sometimes embroidered on
the peplos the likeness of a man whom they wished to flatter, as thus placing
him in the company of the gods was a very great compliment.
[A] In the Persian invasion of Greece by Xerxes, B.C. 480, that monarch was
surprised to learn that the Olympic games were not suspended at the approach of his
army.

The procession of the peplos was formed at daybreak in the Potters' Quarter of
the city, and passed to the Dromos, then to the market-place, onward to the
temple of Demeter, round the Acropolis along the Pelasgic wall, through the
Propylæa to the temple of Athena Polias. The procession was as splendid as all
the wealth, nobility, youth and beauty of Athens could make it. Of the vast
multitude which joined it some were in chariots, others on horses and almost
countless numbers on foot. After the most important officers of the government
come the envoys of the Attic colonies with the noble Athenian maidens, the
basket-bearers, the aliens who resided in Athens dressed in red instead of white,
and a chosen company of aged men bearing branches of the sacred olive.
The peplos was not borne by hands, but was suspended from the mast of a ship,
upon wheels, which some writers say was moved by machinery placed
underground. When the temple was reached the splendid garment was placed
upon the sacred statue, which was believed to have fallen from heaven. During
the festival of the Panathenæa prisoners were permitted to enjoy their freedom,
men whose services to the public merited recognition received gifts of gold
crowns, and their names were announced by heralds in public places, and many
interesting ceremonies filled up the time. We do not know the exact order in

which all these things happened; but it is believed that the procession of the
peplos was the crowning glory of it all, and was celebrated on the final day.
The plan of the Parthenon frieze which represented this great procession was as
follows: On the eastern side above the main entrance to the temple there were
two groups of the most important and powerful of the many gods of the Greek
religion. Each of these groups had six gods and an attendant, so that there were
seven figures in each of these groups, as you will see by the illustration (Fig.
27).
There has been much study of these sculptures, and many scholars have written
about them. There is still a difference of opinion as to which gods are here
represented, but I shall give you the most generally accepted opinion, which
calls a, Hermes, or Mercury, the messenger of the gods; b, Apollo; c, Artemis,
or Diana; d, Ares, or Mars; e, Iris, who is attending upon f, Hera, or Juno; g,
Zeus, or Jupiter; h, Athena, Minerva, or Pallas; i, Hephæstus, or Vulcan; j,
Poseidon, or Neptune; k, Dionysus, or Bacchus; l, m, n are more doubtful, but
are probably Aphrodite, or Venus, Demeter, or Ceres, and Triptolemus, the boy
who was a favorite with Ceres, who invented the plough and first sowed corn.

Fig. 27.
Now, these two groups of divinities were divided by a very singular group
containing five figures (Fig. 28).
There has been much controversy as to these figures and what they are doing.
They seem to be unconscious of the great gods who are near to them on either
side. The greater number of critics consider that the two maidens, e and d, are of
the number who have embroidered the peplos; the central figure, c, a priestess
of Athena; a, the Archon Basileus; and b, a consecrated servant-boy, who is
delivering up the peplos. Other critics believe, however, that these figures are
all preparing for the sacred ceremonies about to begin, and that the priest is
giving the boy-servant a garment which he has taken off. Other theories may
arise, and we can only listen to them all, and yet not know the truth; but the
more we study the more we shall admire these exquisite figures.

Fig. 28.—The Five Central Figures.
Just here I will call your attention to one feature of these antique bas-reliefs
which is called Isocephalism, and means that all the heads are at an equal
height. You will see that all figures, whether standing or sitting, walking, in
chariots, or on horseback, have the heads on the same level.
These three groups, the five central figures and the two groups of gods, are
approached on each side by long, continuous processions, and these processions
each start out from the south-west corner of the Parthenon, so that one branch
goes along the south and a part of the east side, and the other and longer
division marches on the whole of the west and north, and a portion of the east
side. I shall give here a series of pictures which are all explained by their titles,
and will give you an excellent idea of this magnificent frieze, and doubtless
many of my readers have studied or will study and admire it in the British
Museum (Figs. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35).

Fig. 29—Youths Preparing to Join the Cavalcade.
Though all this frieze was the conception of the great Phidias, it must have been
the work of many hands, and close examination shows that some portions of it
are done much better than others. These sculptures have a double value; for
while they are so priceless as treasures of art, they tell us much of that
prosperous, glorious Athens of which we love to read and hear stories. These
figures show us how the people dressed and moved, and we see in them the
"stately" magistrates and venerable seers of Athens, the sacred envoys of
dependent states, the victors in their chariots drawn by the steeds which had
won for them the cheap but priceless garland, the full-armed warriors, the
splendid cavalry, and the noble youths of 'horse-loving' Athens on their favorite
steeds, in the flush and pride of their young life; and last, not least, the train of
high-born Athenian maidens, marching with bowed heads and quiet gait, for
they are engaged in holy work, with modest mien, and gentle dignity and grace.
All that was sacred, powerful, and grand—all that was beautiful, graceful, and
joyous in Athenian life, is represented there, in ideal form, of course, but in
strict conformity with the realities of life.... It is by the study of such works as
these that we get the clearest insight into the essence and spirit of classical
antiquity; and they help us better to understand all that we may read in history
or poetry concerning the ancient, classic Greeks.

Fig. 30.—Horsemen Starting.

Fig. 31.—Procession of Cavalry.

Fig. 32.—Procession of Chariots.

Fig. 33.—Train of Musicians and Youths.

Fig. 34.—Cows for Sacrifice.

Fig. 35.—Train of Noble Maidens.
We must now leave Phidias and speak of other sculptors who were his
contemporaries and pupils. Among the last Alcamenes was the most celebrated.
He was born in Lemnos, but was a citizen of Athens; so he is sometimes called

an Athenian, and again a Lemnian. His statues were numerous, and most of
them represented the gods. One of Hephæstus, or Vulcan, was remarkable for
the way in which his lameness was concealed so skilfully that no deformity
appeared.
His most famous statue was a Venus, or Aphrodite, concerning which it is
related that Agoracritus, another celebrated pupil of Phidias, contended with
Alcamenes in making a statue of that goddess. The preference was given to
Alcamenes, and Agoracritus believed this to have been done on account of his
being an Athenian citizen, and not solely for the merit of the statue. The Venus
of Alcamenes stood in a temple of that goddess in a garden beyond the eastern
wall of Athens. This statue was very much praised for its beauty by ancient
writers, who all mention with especial pride the eurythmy of the action of the
wrist. This is a term frequently used in regard to sculpture, and is somewhat
difficult to explain. It means a harmony and proportion of action which
corresponds to rhythm in music. When a statue has the effect it should have it
appears as if the motion of the figure was arrested for a moment, and would be
resumed immediately. That is what we mean when we say a statue has life; and,
as in life, the motion of a statue may be awkward or it may be graceful; it may
be harmonious to the eye, just as music is harmonious to the ear, or it may seem
out of tune and time, just as inharmonious sounds are to a correct ear for the
rhythm of sound; so when we speak of the eurythmy of sculpture we mean that
its apparent motion is in accord with the laws of proportion, and is harmonious
and graceful to the eye.
While Alcamenes had this power of imparting grace to his statues, he also
approached Phidias in majesty and a divine sweetness, which was the sweetness
of great strength. In truth, he is recognized as the sculptor who most nearly
approached the great Phidias. He represented also for the first time the god
Asclepius, or Æsculapius, who was very important to the Greeks, who placed
great value upon physical health. Alcamenes represented him as a sort of
humanized Zeus or Jupiter. Of the Asclepius heads found at Melos we may
regard this one given here as a free copy of the type of god which this great
sculptor represented the god of medicine and health to be (Fig. 36).
Alcamenes was also the principal assistant of Phidias in his decoration of the
temple of Jupiter at Olympia, and is said to have himself executed the relief
upon the western pediment, in which the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ was
represented with great spirit.

Agoracritus of Paros, who has been mentioned
as the rival of Alcamenes, is called the favorite
pupil of Phidias, and it is said that the master
even gave Agoracritus some of his works, and
allowed the pupil to inscribe his name upon
them. For this reason the ancient writers were
often in doubt as to the authorship of the statues
called by the names of these sculptors. It is said
that when the Venus of Alcamenes was
preferred before that of Agoracritus the latter
changed his mark, and made it to represent a
Nemesis, or the goddess who sent suffering to
those who were blessed with too many gifts. It
is said that this statue was cut from a block of
marble which the Persians brought with them to
Marathon for the purpose of making a trophy of
Fig. 36.—Head of it which they could set up to commemorate the
Asclepius. victory they felt so sure of gaining; in their
In the British Museum. flight and adversity it was left, and at last
served a Greek sculptor in making a statue of
an avenging goddess. This seems to be a
striking illustration of "poetic justice."
Agoracritus sold the Nemesis to the people of Rhamnus, who had a temple
dedicated to that goddess, and made a condition that it should never be set up in
Athens. In the museum of the Lateran at Rome there is a small but very
beautiful antique statue of Nemesis, which is thought to be a copy of this
famous work. As Nemesis was the goddess who meted out fortune according to
her idea of right, a measure was her symbol, and the Greek measure of a cubit
was generally placed in her hand. The word cubit means the length of the
forearm from the elbow to the wrist, and in this statue of which we speak this
part of the arm is made very prominent, and the measure itself is omitted.
The sculptor Myron also had pupils and followers who executed many works,
and of this school was Cresilas of Cydonia, in Crete. We are interested in him
because two copies from his works exist, of which I give pictures here. Pliny, in
speaking of the portrait statue of Pericles, said it was a marvel of the art "which
makes illustrious men still more illustrious." The cut given here is from a bust
in the British Museum. There is reason to believe that Cresilas excelled Myron
in the expression of his faces (Figs. 37, 38).

Callimachus is an artist of whom
we know little, but that little is
interesting. We do not know
where he was born, but as he was
employed to make a candelabra
for the eternal lamp which burned
before the sacred statue of Athena
Polias, we may suppose that he
was an Athenian. Some writers
say that he invented a lamp which
would burn a year without going
out, and that such an one made of
gold was the work he did for the
temple of Minerva. Callimachus
lived between B.C. 550 and 396,
and is credited with having
Fig. 37.—A invented the Corinthian capital in Fig. 38.—Statue of
Wounded this wise: A young girl of Corinth Pericles.
Amazon. died, and her nurse, according to Cresilas.
Cresilas. custom, placed a basket upon her
grave containing the food she had
loved best in life. It chanced that the basket was put down
upon a young acanthus plant, and the leaves grew up about the basket in such a
way that when Callimachus saw it the design for the capital which we know as
Corinthian was suggested to him, and was thus named from the city in which all
this had occurred.
While the plastic art of Athens, or the Attic school of sculpture, reached its
greatest excellence in Phidias, there was in the Peloponnesus another school of
much importance. Argos was the chief city of this school, and its best master
was Polycleitus of Sicyon, who was born about B.C. 482. He was thus about
twelve years younger than Phidias. Polycleitus was held in such esteem that
many of the ancient writers couple his name with that of Phidias. He was
employed in the decoration of the Heraion, or temple of Hera, at Argos. But his
greatest work was a statue of Hera, or Juno, for a temple on Mount Eubœa,
between Argos and Mycenæ. This statue was chryselephantine, and as Juno was
the majestic, white-armed, ox-eyed goddess consort of Jupiter, it is a striking
coincidence that Phidias at Olympia and Polycleitus on Mount Eubœa should
have made from ivory and gold two famous statues of this renowned pair, who

reigned over the mythical world of the Greek religion. There are several copies
of heads of Juno in various museums, and some of them have been ascribed to
Polycleitus; but the proof of the truth of this is far from being satisfactory. This
master made other statues of divinities, but he excelled in representing athletes;
and however fine his other works may have been, it was in the reproduction of
strong, youthful, manly beauty that he surpassed other sculptors. Some of his
statues of this sort, especially a Doryphorus, or spear-bearer, were considered as
models from which all other artists could work.
Polycleitus is said to have written a treatise in which he gave exact rules for the
proportions of the different parts of the body. This was called "the canon" of
Polycleitus, and there is good reason to believe that the Doryphorus was called
by the same name, "the canon," because it was fashioned according to the rules
laid down by Polycleitus in his treatise. His pupils and followers are mentioned
with honor by the Greek authors of his time, but I need not mention them here.
The art of Phidias and Polycleitus was the art of Greece at its best period. After
the close of the Persian wars the people of Greece were a religious and patriotic
people. The Persian wars developed the best quality of character, for these wars
were waged against a foreign foe, and the Greeks were defending their freedom
and their civilization, and at the end of the struggle Pericles, who guided them
to their greatest prosperity, was a statesman and a man of high aims; he was a
gentleman as well as a strong ruler. The Peloponnesian war, on the contrary,
was a civil war, and it divided the Greeks among themselves and roused the evil
passions of friend against friend all over their country. It was the cause of
selfishness, treachery, and immorality, and one of its worst effects was seen in
the loss of religious tone among the people: their old contented simplicity of life
and thought was gone; every man thought only of himself, and the nation began
to sink into the condition which at last made it an easy prey to the Macedonians.
We have studied all these wars in our histories, but perhaps we have not thought
how much they affected sculpture and the other arts, and brought them down
from the lofty heights of the Periclean age.
But there were still men who strove to be great and grand in morals and in
intellect, and perhaps strove all the more earnestly for this on account of the
decline they saw about them. Few countries in any age have had more splendid
men than Socrates, Plato, Euripides, Aristophanes, Pelopidas, Epaminondas,
Demosthenes, Dion, and Timoleon, and these all lived between the
Peloponnesian and the Macedonian wars. And while the arts were less grand
than before, they did not fall into decline for some years, though they took on

new features. The gods who had been mostly represented were less often the
subjects of the sculptor, and when they were so they were softened and made
less awful in their effect. Other gods were more freely taken for models, such as
came nearer to human life and thought, because less sublime in their attributes
and characters. Among these were Venus as a lovely woman rather than as the
great mother of all living creatures, and Eros, or Love; while Plutus, or Wealth,
and satyrs, nymphs, and tritons were multiplied in great numbers.
When the gods who were represented were more like human beings in their
character, it followed that the statues of them more nearly resembled men and
women, and gradually the old grandeur and sublimity were changed to grace,
beauty, and mirth. Many people would prefer these works because they come
nearer to the every-day life of the world; but earnest, thoughtful minds look for
something more noble in art—something that will not come down to us as we
are, but will help us to rise above ourselves and to strive after better things.
Cephisodotus was a sculptor who lived until about B.C. 385, or a little later, and
stood between the old and the new schools of Greek art. The cut given here is
from a group at Munich, which is believed to be a copy of a work by him, and it
is a combination of the simple dignity of the art of Phidias (which is seen in the
flowing drapery and the wavy edge of its folds) and the later Attic style (which
is seen in the dreamy, gentle air of the face of the nurse of the little god). (Fig.
39.) We know very little of the life of Cephisodotus, and as little is said of his
works by ancient writers.

Fig. 39.—Eirene and
the Young Plutus.
Cephisodotus.
Scopas of Paros was one of the greatest sculptors of the later Attic school. The
island of Paros, where he was born, was the place where the finest Greek
marble was found; but he worked so much at Athens that he is spoken of as an
Athenian. He was an architect as well as a sculptor, and he superintended the
erection of some splendid structures, which he also ornamented with his
sculptures. I shall speak especially of the tomb of Mausolus, the King of Caria.
Scopas executed the sculptures of the east side, and as he was the best artist of
the sculptors employed there, it is probable that he had much to do with the
design for all the work. This mausoleum was reckoned as one of the "seven
wonders of the world," and has given a name to fine tombs the world over.
The most interesting of the sculptures from this tomb which are now in the
British Museum seems to me to be the statue of Mausolus himself. It is plainly
intended to be an exact portrait of the king, and it is so designed and executed
that we feel sure it must show him to us just as he was when alive, more than
twenty-two hundred years ago (Fig. 40).
A part of the frieze upon the mausoleum showed the battle of the Greeks and the
Amazons, and this illustration from it gives an idea of the boldness of action

and the correctness of the design (Fig. 41). This picture is
from a slab in the possession of the Serra family in Genoa.
On the right a warrior holds down an Amazon whom he has
forced to her knees and is about to kill, while she stretches
out her right hand in supplication. The figures to the left are
full of spirit, and absolutely seem to be in motion. We do
not know that any of these figures were executed by the
hand of Scopas, but it is probable that they were, and they
give us an idea of the art of his time.
Scopas also carved one of the splendid pillars of the temple
of Diana at Ephesus, and did much architectural decoration,
as well as to execute many statues and groups of figures.
The ancient writers say very little of the art of Scopas, but
when all that we can learn is brought together, it shows that
he had great fertility in expressing his own ideas, that his
genius was creative and his works original. He represented
the gods which the earlier sculptors had shown in their Fig. 40.—
works in quite a new manner, and he was the first to show Portrait of
the goddess Venus in all the beauty which imagination could Mausolus.
attribute to her. His representations of nymphs of wood and
sea, of monsters, and all sorts of strange, imaginary beings were numberless,
and he made his sculptured figures to express every emotion that can be fancied
or felt, from the tenderest and sweetest affection to the wildest passions of the
soul.

Fig. 41—From the Frieze of the Mausoleum.
His works were always representations of gods or of sentiments as shown by
some superhuman beings; he never portrayed a hero, with the exception of
Hercules, and was ever busy with the ideal rather than with realities about him.
He worked in marble only, which is far more suited to the elegant beauty of his
style than are bronze and gold or ivory.
We are accustomed to call Praxiteles the greatest sculptor of the second school
of Greek art, just as we give that place to Phidias in the first. We have no fixed
dates concerning Praxiteles. We know that he was the son of a Cephisodotus,
who was a bronze worker, and was thought to be a son of Alcamenes, thus
making Praxiteles a grandson of the latter. Praxiteles was first instructed by his
father. Later he came under the influence of Scopas, who was much older than
he; and by Scopas he was persuaded to give up working in bronze and confine
himself to marble. Perhaps the most authentic date we have concerning him is
that given by Pliny, who says that he was in his prime from B.C. 364-360.
It is impossible to praise a sculptor more than Praxiteles was praised by the
Greek authors; and, although Athens was the place where he lived and labored
most, yet he was known to all Greece, and even to other countries, and the
number of his works was marvellous. There are trustworthy accounts of forty-
seven groups, reliefs, and statues by his hand, and it is not probable that these
are all that he executed.
Praxiteles represented youth and beauty and such subjects as are most pleasing
to popular taste. Thus it happened that his male figures were the young Apollo,
Eros, and youthful satyrs, while a large proportion of his statues represented
lovely women. Venus was frequently repeated by him, and there is a story that
he made two statues of her, one being draped and the other nude. The people of
Cos bought the first, and the last was purchased by the Cnidians, who placed it
in the midst of an open temple, where it could be seen from all sides. It became
so famous that many people went to Cnidos solely for the purpose of seeing it,
and the "Cnidian Venus" acquired a reputation wherever art was known. When
the oppressor of the Cnidians, King Nicodemus of Bithynia, offered to release
them from a debt of one hundred talents (about $100,000) if they would give
him the Venus, they refused, and declared that it was the chief glory of their
State.
Another story relates that Phryne, a friend of Praxiteles, had been told by him
that she could have any work which she might choose from his workshop. She

wished to have the one which the
artist himself considered the best.
In order to find out which he so
esteemed she sent a servant to tell
him that his workshop was on
fire. He exclaimed, "All is lost if
my Satyr and Cupid are not
saved!" Then Phryne told him of
her trick, and chose the Cupid, or
Eros, for her gift. Phryne then
offered the statue to the temple of
Thespiæ, in Bœotia, where it was
placed between a statue of Venus
and one of Phryne herself. This
Cupid was almost as celebrated
as the Cnidian Venus, and was
Fig. 42.—The Eros of Centocelle. visited by many people. The head
given here (Fig. 42), which was
found in Centocelle by Gavin Hamilton, and is now in the Vatican, is thought by
many to be a copy of a Cupid by Praxiteles, and even of the Thespian statue; but
we have no proof of this. The Cupid, or Eros, of the art of Scopas and Praxiteles
is not the merry little creature who bears that name in later art; he is a youth just
coming into manhood, with a dreamy, melancholy face, the tender beauty of
which makes him one of the most attractive subjects in sculpture. Caligula
carried the Thespian Cupid to Rome; Claudius restored it to its original place,
but Nero again bore it to Rome, where it was burned in a conflagration in the
time of Titus.
I shall say no more of Praxiteles personally, because I wish to describe to you
the largest and grandest group of Greek statues which exists, or, as I should say,
of which we have any copies. We do not know whether Scopas or Praxiteles
made these famous figures, since they are attributed to both these sculptors;
perhaps we can never positively know to whom to ascribe the fame of this
marvellous work. The historian Pliny tells us that they stood in the temple of
Apollo Sosianus at Rome. Sosius was the legate of Antony in Syria and Cilicia;
he erected this temple in his own honor, and brought many beautiful works from
the East for its decoration. It is believed that he brought the Niobe group from
Cilicia, and displayed it when celebrating his victory over Judea, B.C. 35.

In A.D. 1583 a large number of statues
representing this subject were found in Rome,
and were purchased by the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, who placed them in the Villa
Medici. In 1775 they were removed to the
Palace of the Uffizi, in Florence, where an
apartment was assigned to them. The figures
were restored, and each one placed on its own
pedestal, which work was not completed until
1794.
The group must have had originally
seventeen figures—Niobe and fourteen
children, a pedagogue and a female nurse.
Now there are but twelve—Niobe, six sons,
four daughters, and the pedagogue. At first it
was supposed that these figures ornamented
the temple pediment, but it is now thought
that they stood on an undulating rocky base,
with a background at a little distance. Niobe Fig. 43.—Niobe and Her
is the central figure, in any case, and the Youngest Daughter.
children were fleeing toward her from either
side; she is the only one represented in such a way as to present the full face to
the beholder (Fig. 43). But we shall better understand our subject if I recount as
concisely as possible the story of Niobe, which, as you know, is a Grecian myth.
Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus, and was born on Mount Sipylus. When a
child Niobe played with Lato, or Latona, who afterward married the great god
Jupiter, or Zeus. Niobe became the wife of Amphion, and had a very happy life;
she was the mother of seven sons and seven daughters, and all this prosperity
made her forget that she was mortal, and she dared to be insolent even to the
gods themselves. Lato had but two children, the beautiful Apollo and the archer-
queen of heaven, called Diana, or Artemis.

Fig. 44.—Brother and Sister.
Amphion and Niobe were the King and Queen of Thebes, and when the worship
of Lato was established in that city Niobe was very angry. She thought of Lato
as her playmate and not a goddess, and was so imprudent as to drive in her
chariot to the temple and command the Theban women not to join in this
worship. Niobe also asserted that she was superior to this Lato, who had but two
children, while she had fourteen lovely sons and daughters, any one of which
was worthy of honor. All this so enraged Lato that she begged Apollo, who was
the god of the silver bow, and Diana, her huntress daughter, to take revenge on
Niobe. Obedient to her commands, Apollo and Artemis descended to earth, and
in one day slew all the children of Niobe. Then this proud mother, left alone,
could do nothing but weep, and this she did continually until Jupiter took pity

on her and turned her into stone, and whirled her away from Thebes to Mount
Sipylus, the scene of her happy childhood. In this picture of Niobe she clasps
her youngest child, who has fled to her for protection.

I
ca
n
n
ot
gi
v
e
pi
ct
ur
es
of
al
l
th
e
fi
g
Fig. 46.—A Niobid. Fig. 45.—The Eldest
ur
Daughter.
es
, but one of the most interesting is this
brother and sister. She is wounded, and he endeavors to raise his garment so as
to shield her and himself from the deadly arrows which pursue them (Fig. 44).
This figure of the eldest daughter is very beautiful. An arrow has pierced her
neck, and the right hand is bent back to the wound. The face is noble and
simple, and has been a favorite model to Guido Reni and other Italian masters
(Fig. 45).
Fig. 46 shows one of the older sons, who, though wounded and fallen on one
knee, still looks toward his slayer with an air of defiance. There is a world of
interest connected with these statues, and they move us with a variety of
emotions. The poor mother, so prosperous a moment before, and now seeing her
children dying around her, slain by the sure arrows of the unseen gods—how
can we pity her enough! and then the brave son who tries to shield his sister
while he is dazed by the suddenness of the misfortunes which he cannot account
for; the old pedagogue, to whom the youngest boy has run for protection—and,

indeed, all demand our sympathy for their grief and our admiration for their
beauty, which is still theirs in spite of their woe.
One of the young sculptors who was employed with Scopas in the work on the
mausoleum was Leochares. We read of several statues of Zeus and Apollo by
this master, but his most celebrated work was the group of Ganymede borne
upward by the eagle of Zeus. There are several copies of this sculpture, but that
given here, from the Vatican figure, is the best of all, and is very beautiful. We
know very few facts concerning Leochares, and cannot even say whether he
was an Athenian or not (Fig. 47).
There is still standing at Athens, in its original place, the Choragic monument of
Lysicrates; and though we do not know the names of the architects and
sculptors who made it, there are traces upon it which indicate that it belonged to
the school of Scopas (Fig. 48).

Fig. 47.—Ganymede.
After Leochares.

This monument was erected B.C. 334, when Lysicrates was choragus—that is,
when it was his office to provide the chorus for the plays represented at Athens.
This was an expensive office, and one that demanded much labor and care. He
had first to find the choristers, and then bring them together to be instructed,
and provide them with proper food while they studied. The choragus who gave
the best musical entertainment received a tripod as his reward, and it was the

custom to build a monument upon which to place the
tripod, so that it should be a lasting honor to the
choragus and his family. The street in which these
monuments were erected was called "the street of the
Tripods."
It was also the custom to dedicate each tripod to some
special divinity, and this of Lysicrates was dedicated
to Bacchus, and had a frieze with sculptures telling the
story of that god and the Tyrrhenian robbers who bore
him off to their ship. In order to revenge himself he
changed the oars and masts into serpents and himself
into a lion; music was heard, and ivy grew all over the
vessel; the robbers went mad and leaped into the sea,
and changed into dolphins.
In the frieze, however, it is represented that the god is
on shore quietly amusing himself with the lion (Fig.
49), while satyrs and sileni punish the robbers by
beating them with sticks and chasing them with fury, Fig. 48.—Monument
while they are turning gradually into dolphins and of Lysicrates.
rushing into the sea. The design is so fine that it might Athens.
easily be attributed to one of the best sculptors; but the
execution is careless, and this is not strange when we
remember that it was all done at the expense of one man, and he a private
citizen.

Fig. 49.—Bacchus and Lion.
From the Lysicrates Monument.
We will return now to the Peloponnesian school, of which Polycleitus was the
head in its earliest period. After his time the sculptors of his school continued to
prefer the subjects in which he excelled, and represented youthful heroes and
victors with as much industry as the artists of Athens bestowed upon their
statues of womanly grace and beauty. The subjects of the Peloponnesian school
were especially suited to the use of bronze, and the chief sculptor of his time,
Lysippus, whose works are said to have numbered fifteen hundred, worked
entirely in bronze. In order to keep a record of the number of his works, he
adopted the plan of putting aside one gold coin from the price of every statue,
and at his death his heirs are said to have found the above number of these coins
thus laid away. His home was at Sicyon, and his time of work is given as B.C.
372-316. This seems a long period for active employment as a sculptor; but the
number of his works accords well with this estimate of his working years.
Lysippus cannot be said to have followed any school; he was original, and this
trait made him prominent, for he was not bound by old customs, but was able to
adapt himself to the new spirit of the age, which came to Greece with the reign
of Alexander. This sculptor made a great number of statues of Hercules; and as
Alexander loved to regard himself as a modern Hercules, Lysippus also
represented the monarch in many different ways, and with much the same spirit
as that he put into the statues of the hero-god. For example, he made a statue of

"Alexander with his Spear," "Alexander at a Lion
Hunt," "Alexander as the Sun-God," and so on through
many changes of expression and attributes, but all being
likenesses of the great king. There is in the Capitol at
Rome a head of Alexander called Helios, which is
thought by many critics to be the best bust of him in
existence. There are metal rays fastened to the head; it
has a wild, Bacchus-like air, and the hair is thrown
back, as if he had shaken his head furiously; and the
defect of a wry neck, which the monarch had, is
cleverly concealed by this motion. Alexander was a
very handsome man, his faults being this twist in his
neck and a peculiar shape of the eye.
We cannot here give the long list of works by Lysippus,
but will speak of that which interests us most, because
we have a beautiful copy of it. I mean the
Apoxyomenos, which is in the Vatican. It represents a Fig. 50.—The
youth scraping himself (as the name denotes) with the Apoxyomenos of
strigil after a contest in the arena (Fig. 50). The Vatican Lysippus.
copy was found in the Trastevere at Rome in 1849, and
is well preserved. Without doubt it is a faithful reproduction of the original,
which was probably brought from Greece to Rome by Agrippa, who set it up in
front of his public baths. Here it became such a favorite with the people that
when Tiberius removed it to his own house there was a demonstration in the
theatre, and so violent a demand was made for its restoration that the cunning
emperor dared not refuse. This statue may be called an example of a grand
genre style. It represents a scene from common life in Greece, but it is so
simply natural, so graceful and free from restraint, that one could not weary of
it. The expression of the face is that of quiet content—his task has been
faithfully done, and the remembrance of it is pleasant. The hair is finely
executed; this was a point in which Lysippus excelled; but the great charm of
the whole is in the pose of the figure. In his occupation of scraping one portion
of the body after another he must constantly change his position, and this one,
in which he can rest but a moment, seems to have the motion in it which he
must almost instantly make, while it is full of easy grace in itself. The art of
Lysippus was not as elevated as that of Phidias, who tried to represent the
highest ideal which a mortal may form of a god; but there was nothing mean or
vulgar in the works of the former; on the contrary, it was with a pure and noble

spirit that he endeavored to represent the perfections of youthful, manly beauty,
and his naturalism was of a healthy and dignified sort.
The most important pupil of Lysippus was Chares Of Lindos, who was
prominent not only on account of his own works, but also because he
introduced the art of Sicyon into his native island of Rhodes. This island is but
forty-five miles long and twenty miles wide at its broadest part, and yet its art
became second only to that of Athens.
At the city of Rhodes alone there were three thousand statues, besides many
paintings and other rare and beautiful objects. Chares is best known for the sun-
god which he erected here; it was called the "Colossus of Rhodes," and was
reckoned as one of the seven wonders of the world. One hundred statues of the
sun were erected at Rhodes, and Pliny says that any one of them was beautiful
enough to have been famous; but that of Chares was so remarkable that it
overshadowed all the rest.
It stood quite near the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes, but we have no reason
to believe that its legs spanned the mouth of the port so that ships sailed
between them, as has often been said, although its size was almost beyond our
imagination. The statue was one hundred and five feet high, and few men could
reach around one of its thumbs with their arms, while each finger was as large
as most statues. Twelve years were occupied in its erection, from B.C. 292 to
280, and it cost three hundred talents, or about $300,000 of our money,
according to its usual estimate, though there are those who name its cost as
more than four times that amount. The men of Rhodes obtained this great sum
by selling the engines of war which Demetrius Poliorcetes left behind him when
he abandoned the siege of Rhodes in B.C. 303. We have no copy of this statue,
but there are coins of Rhodes which bear a face that is believed with good
reason to be that of the Colossus.
Fifty-six years after its completion, in B.C. 224, the Colossus was overthrown
by an earthquake, and an oracle forbade the restoration of it by the Rhodians. In
A.D. 672, nearly a thousand years after its fall, its fragments were sold to a Jew
of Emesa by the command of the Caliph Othman IV. It is said that they weighed
seven hundred thousand pounds, and nine hundred camels were required to bear
them away. When we consider what care must have been needful to cast this
huge figure in bronze, and so adjust the separate parts that the whole would
satisfy the standard of art at Rhodes, we are not surprised that it should have

been reckoned among the seven wonders, and that Chares should have become
a famous master.
Chares also founded a school of art which became very important, and, indeed,
it seems to have been the continuance of the school of the Peloponnesus; for
after the time of Lysippus the sculpture of Argos and Sicyon came to an end,
and we may add that with Lysippus and his school the growth of art in Greece
ceased; it had reached the highest point to which it ever attained, and all its later
works were of its decline, and foreshadowed its death.
The reign of Alexander the Great was so brilliant that it is difficult to realize
that it was a time of decline to the Greeks; and during the life of Alexander
perhaps this does not appear with clearness; but at the close of his reign there
arose such contentions and troubles among his generals that everything in
Greece suffered, and with the rest Greek art was degraded. In the time of
Pericles it was thought to be a crime in him that he permitted his portrait to be
put upon the shield of the Parthenon, and he was prosecuted for thus exalting
himself to a privilege which belonged to the gods alone. Alexander, on the
contrary, claimed to be a god, and was represented by painters and sculptors
until his portraits and statues were almost numberless.
Soon after the death of Alexander the humiliation of Athens and its old
Periclean spirit was complete. If you read the history of Demetrius Poliorcetes,
who was even allowed to hold his revels in the most sacred part of the
Parthenon—the temple of Minerva—you will see that Athens was enslaved and
her people no longer worthy to lead the world in the arts of peace, as they were
no longer the brave men who could stand first in war. In their degraded state the
Athenians suffered three hundred and sixty statues to be erected to Demetrius
Phalereus, and these were destroyed to make way for the golden images of the
conquering freebooter Poliorcetes. This last was hailed by the debased people as
a god and a saviour. His name and that of his father, Antigonus, were woven
into the sacred peplos.
At length, under the Diadochi, or successors of Alexander, order was restored,
and Antigonus, Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus divided the kingdom of
Alexander into four Græco-Oriental monarchies. The dynasty of the Ptolemies
in Egypt was the most reputable of these, and gave much encouragement to art
and letters. But the sacred fire seems to have died out, or did not burn clearly
when transplanted from Athens to Alexandria. The Alexandrines seem to have
been mere imitators of what had gone before, and there is nothing to be said of

them that is of importance enough for us to linger over it. Very few works
remain from this Diadochean period. The Metope of Ilium, which Dr.
Schliemann has in his garden in Athens, the Barberini Faun, in the Glyptothek
at Munich, and the Nile of the Vatican are the most important remnants of
Alexandrine sculpture.
Amid all the confusion and strife which followed the death of Alexander the
island of Rhodes remained undisturbed, and when the division of the
monarchies was made the Rhodians still retained their independence. They were
neutral, and so had a commerce with all the monarchies, and thus gained great
wealth; and theirs was the only independent State of the old Hellenic world
which was able to found and maintain a school of art. Among the great works of
the Rhodian artists none is more familiar to us than the group of the Laocoon.
In the time of Pliny this work stood in the palace of Titus, and the historian
called it "preferable to all other works of pictorial or plastic art." There is a
difference of opinion as to the period when it was made, and many date it in the
time of Titus, who lived A.D. 40 to 81. But the weight of argument seems to me
to rest with those who believe that it was made at Rhodes in the time of the
Diadochi.
The group in the Vatican is probably a copy, because Pliny says that the original
was made of one block, and that of the Vatican is composed of six pieces. Pliny
also tells us that the Laocoon was the work of three sculptors, Agesander,
Polydorus, and Athenodorus. The Vatican group was found in 1506 in the
excavation of the Baths of Titus, in Rome, and was placed in its present position
by Pope Julius II. (Fig. 51). The right arm of Laocoon was missing, and
Michael Angelo attempted to restore it, but left it incomplete; Montorsoli made
an unsatisfactory attempt for its restoration, and the arm as it now is was made
by Cornacini, and more straight than it should be.
The story which these statues illustrate is told in the second book of the Æneid,
and says that Laocoon was a priest of Apollo at Troy, who, when the Greeks left
the wooden horse outside the city and pretended to sail away, warned the
Trojans against taking the horse inside the walls; he also struck his spear into
the side of the monster. But Sinon, who had been left behind by the Greeks,
persuaded the Trojans that the horse would prove a blessing to them, and they
drew it into the city, and ordered feasts and sacrifices to be celebrated to do
honor to the occasion. Laocoon had much offended Pallas Athene by his words
and acts, and when he went to prepare a sacrifice to Neptune that goddess sent

two huge serpents up out of the sea to destroy him and his two sons, who were
with him by the altar. When the three victims were dead the fearful creatures
went to the Acropolis and disappeared.

Fig. 51.—The Laocoon Group.
In the Laocoon group it appears that the eldest son will save himself, and in
certain minor points the sculptors seem not to have followed the account of
Virgil; but we see that it must be the same story that is illustrated, and we know

that it was told with some variation by other poets. This group is a wonderful
piece of sculpture, but it is not of the highest art, and it is far from pleasant to
look at. The same is true of another famous group which is in Naples, and
which is also from the Rhodian school.
I mean the Farnesian Bull, or the Toro Farnese. This group was made by
Apollonius and Tauriscus, who are believed to have been brothers. It was
probably made at Tralles, in Caria, which was their native place, and sent by
them to Rhodes, the great art-centre; from Rhodes it was sent to Rome, where it
was in the possession of Asinius Pollio. This splendid group, which is probably
the original work, was found in the Baths of Caracalla, in 1546, and was first
placed in the Farnese Palace, from which it was removed to the National
Museum in Naples, in 1786 (Fig. 52).
This group tells a part of the story of Dirce, who had incurred the hatred and
displeasure of Antiope, the mother of Amphion, who was King of Thebes and
the husband of Niobe. In order to appease the wrath of his mother, Amphion,
with the aid of his twin-brother Zethus, bound Dirce to the horns of a wild bull
to be dashed to pieces. All this takes place on Mount Cithæron, and it is said
that after Dirce had suffered horrible agonies the god Dionysus changed her into
a fountain, which always remains upon this mountain.
In this piece of sculpture, dreadful as the idea is, there is less of horror than in
the Laocoon, for the reason that the moment chosen is that just before the
climax of the catastrophe, while in the Laocoon it is in its midst. The latter
group is made to be seen from but one side, and was probably intended for a
niche; but the Farnese Bull is perfect, and presents a finished aspect on all sides
and from every point of view. There are numerous accessories and much
attention to detail, while the rocky base represents Mount Cithæron and the
wildness of the scene in a manner not before known in sculpture. The group has
been much restored, but its excellences support the theory of its being the
original work of the Greek artists, and the skill with which the various figures
are brought into one stupendous moment is such as commands great praise and
admiration; it is doubtful if any other work of sculpture tells its story with
power equal to that of this celebrated group.

Fig. 52.—The Farnese Bull.
After the art of Rhodes that of Pergamon was important. When Attalus I., King
of Pergamon, gained his victory over the Gauls, in B.C. 229, the Greek artists
were aroused to new efforts to record in sculpture the great deeds of Attalus and
to place him on a level with the glorious heroes of their nation who had
preceded him. It is recorded that the conqueror himself offered four groups of
statues at Athens, and that they stood on the southern wall of the Acropolis. The
subjects were: "The Battle of the Gods and Giants," "The Battle of Athenians
and Amazons," "The Battle of Marathon," and "The Destruction of the Gauls in
Mysia by Attalus." Thus the different epochs of Greek history were represented,

and Attalus placed himself near
the other great warriors who had
preserved the honor and freedom
of their nation. These groups
consisted of many figures, and
are estimated to have been from
sixty to eighty in number. It is
believed that at least ten of them
are now in European collections
—that is, three in Venice, four in
Naples, one in Paris, one in the
Vatican, and the last in the
Castellani collection in Rome.
This picture of one of those in
Fig. 53.—Gallic Warrior. Venice seems to represent a
Venice. warrior who has been suddenly
thrown down; his weapons and
shield—which last was probably held in the left hand—have been dropped in
the violence of the shock which has prostrated him (Fig. 53). His face and hair
are of the barbarian type, and the power and elasticity of his powerful frame are
manifest even in this moment of his defeat. He is yet unwounded, but the
weapon of his adversary may be before his eyes, and in another moment he may
sink back in the agony of death.

Fig. 54.—The Dying Gaul.
It is now believed that the statue of the Dying Gaul, often called the Dying
Gladiator, was the work of a sculptor of Pergamon, and represents a Gaul who
has killed himself rather than submit as a slave to his conquerors. The moment
had come when he could not escape, and he chose death rather than humiliation.
We learn from history that when these barbarians saw that all was lost they
frequently slew their wives and children and then themselves, to avoid being
taken as prisoners, which really meant being made slaves. This warrior has
thrown himself upon his shield; his battle-horn is broken, and the sword which
has given him the freedom of death has fallen from his hand. His eye is already
dim, his right arm can scarce sustain him, his brow is contracted with pain, and
it seems as if a sigh escaped his lips. He has not the noble form of the Greeks;
we do not feel the exalted spirit which is shown in the death scenes of some of
the Periclean statue heroes; here it is only a rude, barbarous Gaul, suffering
death as a brute might; it is very realistic, and when we are near the marble
itself we see the coarseness of the skin, the hardened soles of the feet, the coarse
hand, and we are sure the artist must have made a true representation of this
wild, savage man, who yet had the nobility of nature which would not live to be
enslaved (Fig. 54).
These illustrations and remarks will give you some idea of the art of Pergamon,
and I shall now leave the subject of Greek sculpture after some account of
Boethus of Chalcedon. His date is very uncertain, though we have accounts of
his works by ancient writers. Some scholars believe that he lived about B.C.

275. Many
works in chased
silver made by
Boethus were
in the temple of
Athena in
Lindus in the
time of the
historian Pliny;
there are
accounts of a
figure of a boy
made in gold
and one of the
youthful
Asclepius; but
Fig. 55.—Boy and the Boy Fig. 56.—Spinario.
Goose. Strangling a
Goose, in the
gallery of the Louvre, is his most interesting work
for us (Fig. 55). You will remember that even the ancient Egyptians made
caricatures and playful, mocking pictures not unlike some of our own day. This
boy and goose are of the same spirit, and is intended as a parody on the
representations of Hercules struggling with the Nemean lion, which had been
represented many times by Greek artists. The boy seems to be working as hard
as any giant could do. The execution of this work is fine. It was probably made
for a fountain, the water coming through the beak of the goose. There are
several works of ancient sculpture which are of the same spirit, and for this
reason are attributed to Boethus. The Spinario, or Thorn-extractor, in the
museum of the Capitol, at Rome, is one of the most charming pieces of genre
statuary in existence (Fig. 56).
It represents a boy taking a thorn from his foot. His attitude is natural and
graceful, and the purity and simplicity of its style places it on an equality with
works of the best period of sculpture. The expression of the face is that of
perfect absorption in what he is doing, and is given with great skill and
truthfulness. The treatment of the hair is like that of the archaic period, and
there will always be some critics who cannot think that such perfection could
exist in the sculpture of what we call the Alexandrian age.

CHAPTER III.
ANCIENT ITALIAN SCULPTURE.

Ancient Italian sculpture was essentially Greek in its spirit, and originated with
the Etruscans, a very ancient people in Italy. There are traces of an Oriental
influence in the art of Etruria—a suggestion of the sculpture of Egypt and
Assyria, just as there is in Greek archaic art; but the real feeling and spirit of it
is Greek, and must have been borrowed from Greece in some way.
The different theories and opinions about the Etruscans and their origin do not
concern us here; we have to do only with their sculpture as it is seen in the
remnants of it now in existence. In the beginning the Etruscans made their
statues of clay; marble was very rarely used. Later on they learned the art of
working in bronze, and carried it to great perfection. Their bronze works were
so numerous that in B.C. 295 Fulvius Flaccus is said to have carried away two
thousand statues from Volsinii alone. Some of their figures were colossal, but
the greater number were statuettes.
There are some Etruscan bronzes remaining in the museums of Europe. The
Etruscans always were copyists rather than original artists; but they copied such
excellent things, and did it so well, that their productions are by no means to be
despised, and the skill which they acquired caused their bronze and metal work
to be highly valued, even in Athens itself.
The Etruscans were physically a more luxurious people than the Greeks, as may
be seen in the pictures of them which still remain in the tombs of Corneto and
other places. They gave much attention to luxury of living, and the richly
decorated goblets and other articles of table furniture which they made may be
seen in the Vatican and British Museum, while the delicate and artistic gold
work of their personal ornaments is still much admired and copied diligently.
The Romans as a people were patrons of art rather than artists. They seem from
very early days to have admired the plastic art of other nations; but of Romans
themselves there were very few sculptors; their artists were architects of grand
structures rather than workers in the lesser monuments of artistic skill and
genius. At first, as we have said, they relied upon the Etruscans, who built their
earliest temples and adorned them with sculptures, and the first record which we

have of Greek artists working in Rome gives us the names of Damophilus and
Gorgasus, who decorated the temple of Ceres with paintings and sculptures.
This temple was consecrated in B.C. 493; if its adornment was of the same date,
the knowledge of Greek art was brought to Rome at a very early period—at
least fifty-six years before the completion of the Parthenon.
But the means by which the whole Roman people were made familiar with the
beauties of Greek art are to be found in another direction. It was not the
building of their own temples, or any work done by Greek artists in Rome, that
gave the Romans their love and appreciation for art; it was rather the art spoils
seized by their victorious leaders and brought home to adorn and beautify every
portion of the Eternal City. In B.C. 212 Marcellus carried to Rome the spoils he
had taken at Syracuse; he exhibited them in his triumphal procession, and
afterward consecrated them in the temple of Honor and Valor which he built.
From this time it was the fashion to bring home all the choice things that
Roman conquerors could seize, and the number of beautiful objects thus gained
for Rome was marvellous.
When Flaminius defeated Philip of Macedon it required two days to gather up
the spoils. After Fulvius Nobilior conquered the Ætolians he brought Greek
artists to Rome to arrange his festivities, and he exhibited five hundred and
fifteen bronze and marble statues which he had taken from the defeated people.
When Perseus of Macedon was overcome by Æmilius Paulus it required two
hundred and fifty wagons to remove the pictures and statues alone which he
displayed in his triumphal procession; among these treasures there was a statue
of Athena by Phidias himself. This work of spoiling the Grecian cities which
came into their power was diligently carried on by Mummius, Sulla, and others,
until at length the Emperor Augustus removed many of the archaic sculptures to
Rome. But the works which best pleased the Romans were those of the later
school of Athens. The ruling gods at Rome were Mars, Bacchus, and Venus, and
the statues of these deities were much valued.
So far, to the time of Augustus, the statues and other objects removed had been
the spoils of war; but Caligula and Nero did not hesitate to go in times of peace
and act the part of robbers. The first sent a consul in A.D. 31 with orders to
bring the best works of art from Greece to Rome to adorn his villas; Nero went
so far as to send his agents to bring even the images of the deities from the most
sacred temples, together with the offerings made to them, for the decoration of
his Golden House; it is said that from Delphi alone he received five hundred
statues of bronze.

At first the larger number of these art spoils were so placed as to be constantly
seen by the whole Roman people, and there is no doubt that their influence was
very great and went far to refine their ideas and to prepare the way for the
polish and grace of the Augustan age. Very soon the individual desire for works
of art was felt, and wealthy men began to decorate their homes with pictures
and statues; and at last these things were thought to be necessary to the proper
enjoyment of life.
From all these causes there came about a revival of Greek art under the
Romans, and in it many beautiful works were produced. Indeed, the greater
portion of the sculptures which are now the pride of the collections all over
Europe belong to this period. It cannot be said that the artists of this date
originated much, but they followed the greatest masters that ever lived; and if
they repeated their subjects they so changed them to suit the spirit of their time
that they gave their works a certain effect of being something new, and threw
their own individuality about them.
The list of names which can be given as belonging to Greek sculptors who
worked at Rome is long, and would have little interest here. Instead of speaking
of the artists I shall speak of the most famous works of the time which remain;
most of these are so placed that they are seen by travellers, and have become
familiar to all the world.
The beautiful statue which is known as the Venus de' Medici is so called
because after its discovery it rested for a time in the Medici Palace in Rome. It
was found in the seventeenth century in the Portico of Octavia at Rome, and
was broken into eleven fragments. The arms from the elbows down are restored;
when it was found it had traces of gilding on the hair; the ears are pierced, as if
gold rings had sometimes been placed in them. In 1680 Duke Cosmo III.
removed it to Florence, where it is the chief glory of the famous Tribune of the
Uffizi Gallery. Many persons believe this to have been a copy of the renowned
Cnidian Venus by Praxiteles, of which I have told you. This Venus de' Medici
was the work of an Athenian artist named Cleomenes. He was the son of
Apollodorus, a sculptor who lived in Rome in the first or second century of the
Christian era. (Fig. 57.)
The aim of the sculptor was not to make a goddess, and his work lacks the
dignity which was thrown around the more ancient statues of Venus. Cleomenes
endeavored to produce a lovely woman in the youth of her beauty. Some critics
believe that this Venus is intended to represent the moment when that goddess

stood before Paris for judgment. If this story is not well known
I will tell how when Peleus and Thetis were married they
invited all the gods to their wedding save the goddess
Discordia, and she was so offended by this slight that she
threw into the midst of the assembly a golden apple on which
were the words, "To the fairest." Juno, Minerva, and Venus all
claimed it, and Jupiter sent Mercury to conduct these three
beautiful goddesses to Paris, that he might decide to which it
belonged. His decision gave the apple to Venus; and this so
excited the jealousy and hatred of the others that a long list of
serious troubles arose until Paris was driven out of Greece,
and, going to the house of Menelaus, he saw and loved Helen,
carried her off to Troy, and thus brought on the Trojan war of
which the world has heard so much ever since. If I were
writing a Sunday-school book I could draw many lessons from
this story; but as I am only writing about art, I will go back
Fig. 57.— and remind you that many persons try to study these old
Venus de' statues and to find out exactly what they mean; some such
Medici. students say that the moment when Paris pronounced Venus to
be the most lovely of the goddesses is the time represented by
the sculptor of the Venus de' Medici.
As Venus was the goddess of Love and Beauty, it was natural that statues of her
should be multiplied. The Chigi Venus in the Vatican has much the same pose as
the Venus de' Medici, but she holds the end of a fringed garment in her hand.
The Venus of the Capitol, in Rome, is larger than these; the Venus Callipiga,
which was found in the Golden House of Nero, and is now in the Museum of
Naples, is also worthy of being mentioned in company with these other
exquisite sculptures.
However, there is yet another Venus more admirable and more praised than
these. She is called the Venus of Milo, or Melos, and is in the gallery of the
Louvre, at Paris. This statue is probably of a later date than those of which we
have spoken, and is thought to be the work of Alexandros, the son of Menides
of Antiocheia, or one of those sculptors who are called Asiatic Greeks. It is said
that the base of this statue with the name of the artist upon it was destroyed, for
the purpose of leading the King of France to believe it to be more ancient than it
really is (Fig. 58, frontispiece).

This magnificent statue was discovered in 1820 by a peasant of the town of
Melos, or Milo, on the island of the same name. It was in a niche of a wall
which had long been buried. The Marquis of Rivière, who was the French
Ambassador at Constantinople, purchased it and presented it to King Louis
XVIII., who placed it in the Louvre. It is made from two blocks of marble
joined above the drapery which envelops the legs. As the statue now stands it
has the tip of the nose and the foot which projects beyond the drapery as they
have been restored by modern artists.
This is the only Venus which has come down to us from the past which
represents a goddess rather than a beautiful woman. The form has beauty of the
highest type, but it has a grandeur which exalts it far above mere beauty. The
pure, majestic expression of the head and face speak the calm dignity of a
superior being. I shall quote from Perry, who says: "The Venus de Milo is justly
admired, not only for the grandeur of its design, the perfection of its proportion,
and the exquisite moulding of the superb and luxuriant form, but for the vivid
freshness of the flesh and the velvet softness of the skin, in which it stands
unrivalled in ancient and modern art. The extraordinary skill with which minute
details, such as the folds of the skin in the neck, are harmonized with the ideal
beauty of the whole is beyond all imitation and all praise. The life-like effect of
this wonderful masterpiece is greatly enhanced by the rare and perfect
preservation of the epidermis and by the beautiful warm, yellowish tinge which
the lapse of centuries has given to the marble."
In the Museum at Naples is the Farnesian Hercules, which was found in the
Baths of Caracalla, in Rome, in 1540. It was first placed in the Farnese Palace,
and from that circumstance received the name by which it is known. It is the
work of Glycon, an Athenian, and his name is inscribed upon it. There is little
doubt that this is a copy of a more ancient statue by the great Lysippus; that
master created representations of Hercules in all ages and forms. Glycon
probably worked in the time of Hadrian; and though he copied the design and
form of Lysippus, he exaggerated some points so as to injure the effect of the
whole. For example, the head is small in proportion to the breadth of the breast
and shoulders; and because Hercules was a swift runner the sculptor has made
the legs too long to be natural. It is in such particulars as these that the decline
of art may be traced, even in works that command admiration (Fig. 59).
The moment in which the god is represented is that which immediately
followed his securing the apples of the Hesperides, the wedding present of Ge
to Juno. Of all the labors of Hercules, perhaps this was the most arduous. Juno

had left these apples with the Hesperides for
safekeeping. These goddesses lived on Mount Atlas,
and the serpent Ladon helped them to guard their
precious trust. Hercules did not know just where the
apples were kept, and this made his task all the more
difficult. When, therefore, he arrived at Mount Atlas he
offered to hold up the world for Atlas if he would go
and fetch the apples. This Atlas did, but refused to take
the weight from Hercules again. However, Hercules
took the apples and hastened to his master, Eurystheus,
with them. While performing this labor he had a
terrible struggle with Ladon, and some accounts say
that he killed the monster.
Now, the statue represents the god with the apples in
his right hand, the world held on his back, while he
leans heavily on his club covered with a lion's skin. All
the muscles of his body are swollen from his struggle; Fig. 59.—The
his head droops, his whole expression of face and form Farnesian Hercules.
is that of sadness and weariness. The youthfulness and
strength with which the older sculptors invested him is not here. It is a splendid
work, but it is not of the best; it belongs to an age when there was too much
straining after effect, when the moderation of the best Greek masters did not
satisfy the spirit of the time; and no sculptor lived whose power equalled that of
Phidias or Lysippus.

Fig. 60.—The Apollo Belvedere.
There are some reliefs and vases of this Roman period that are very interesting.
I shall speak of but one relief—the Sacrifice of Iphigenia, which is in Florence.
It is called the work of Cleomenes, and his name is inscribed upon it; but there
is some doubt as to the genuineness of the inscription. This relief is very
beautiful. It represents a priest cutting off the hair of the lovely maiden as a
preparation for her sacrifice.
The story runs that Iphigenia was the daughter of Agamemnon, who killed a
hart sacred to Diana. To revenge this act the goddess becalmed the Greek fleet
on its way to Aulis. The seer Calchas advised Agamemnon to sacrifice his
daughter to appease Diana; this he consented to do, but Diana put a hart in the
place of the maiden, whom she bore to Tauris and made a priestess. In this relief
the maiden has an air of resigned grief; her father stands by himself with his
head covered. The sculptor of this relief was not the first who had represented
Agamemnon thus, for a painter, Timanthes, had made a picture of this subject
about B.C. 400, and in describing it Quintilian said that "when he had painted

Calchas sad, Ulysses sadder, and had represented in the face of Menelaus the
most poignant grief that art can express, having exhausted the deepest feelings
and finding no means of worthily portraying the countenance of the father, he
covered his head and left it to every man's own heart to estimate his sufferings."
I come now to the
Apollo Belvedere, one
of the most celebrated
of all the statues in the
Vatican, and the best
known and most
universally admired of
all the ancient statues
which remain to us. It
was found at about the
end of the fifteenth
century at the ancient
city of Antium, where
it probably made one
Fig. 61.—Head of of the ornaments of the Fig. 62.—The
Apollo Belvedere Imperial Palace. The Steinhäuser Head.
authorities upon such
subjects have never yet agreed as to whether the marble from which it is cut is a
marble of Greece or of Italy (Fig. 60).
This statue has been lauded in all tongues of the civilized world, and nothing
could be added to what has been said in its praise; and yet all who see it wish to
exalt it still higher if possible. A few years ago another head of Apollo, of Greek
marble, was found in a magazine in Rome, by Herr Steinhäuser, by whose name
it is known; it is now in the museum at Basle (Figs. 61, 62).
Though this statue has been so much studied and admired it has never yet been
satisfactorily explained, and there are several important questions about it which
cannot be answered with certainty. Nothing is known of its age or of the name
of its sculptor. It is not described by any ancient writer, neither can any one say
whether it is an original or a copy; and above all in importance is the question
of what this beautiful young god is doing—what is the meaning of it?
The answers of the authorities to these queries vary so much that here I shall
only mention the theory which I love, and which is accepted by many. When the

statue was found the left hand was missing, and a
bow was believed to have been the article which it
held; and it was said that Apollo had just shot an
arrow on some dreadful flight, and was watching for
its effect. This theory was the principal one until
1860, when a scholar, Stephani, called attention to the
fact that in St. Petersburg there is a bronze statuette,
less than two feet high, which is almost exactly the
same as the Apollo Belvedere—too nearly the same
to be an accidental likeness. Now, as this is an
antique bronze, it seems to prove that both it and the
marble of the Vatican are copies of an ancient work.
The statuette is called the Stroganoff Apollo, because
it belongs to the collection of a nobleman of that
name. It is believed to be one of a number of bronzes
which were found near Janina in 1792, and given by
Fig. 63.—The the son of Ali Pasha to his physician, Dr. Frank (Fig.
Stroganoff Apollo. 63).
The chief importance of this discovery was the fact
that the left hand was perfect, and did not hold a bow, but some soft, elastic
substance which Stephani believes to be the ægis, or shield, of Jupiter, on which
was the head of Medusa. The sight of this shield paralyzed those who saw it;
and though it belonged to Jupiter and Minerva, Jupiter sometimes lent it to his
son Apollo to aid him in his warfare; such instances are recorded by Homer.
After Stephani had told his idea of it, the German scholar Ludwig Preller
pointed out what seems to be the true meaning of it by suggesting that Apollo
was extending this dreadful ægis before the sight of the Gauls at Delphi, in B.C.
279. History relates that when the Gauls approached Delphi the people asked
the oracle if they should carry away and conceal the treasures of the temple. The
oracle replied, "I myself and the White Maidens (meaning Athena and Artemis)
will take care of that." Then four thousand Greeks stood by ready to defend the
sacred place; but in the midst of the battle the youthful god came down through
the roof of the temple, and the White Maidens left their own altars to aid him in
driving back the barbarous foe. A great tempest arose, and rocks fell from
Parnassus on the heads of the Gauls, and it seemed as if all the powers of
heaven and earth had united to sustain the Greeks against their enemies. It is
also written that the spectres of Greek heroes who had long been dead were
seen in the midst of the battle dealing death upon the Gauls. But above all the

fury of the tempest and the noise of war the clashing of the shield and spear of
Athena and the twanging sound of the oft-discharged bow of Artemis were
heard, while the flash of the awful shield of Apollo was seen to be even more
vivid and terrific than the forked lightnings themselves.
It is recorded that after this victory two statues of Apollo and one each of
Athena and Artemis were offered in the temple of Apollo as thank-offerings for
its preservation and the victory over the Gauls. It is delightful to regard the
Apollo Belvedere as a copy of one of these, and this view of it is most
satisfying. Lübke, in speaking of this theory, says: "Not till now have we
understood the Apollo Belvedere. In unveiled beauty we see the elegant form of
the slender figure, the left shoulder only being covered by the chlamys, which
falls down over the arm, which, far outstretched, holds the ægis with its Medusa
head. The right arm is slightly turned aside, but both hands have been
unskilfully restored. The attitude of the god is full of pathos, and is conceived at
a dramatic moment. Ardently excited and filled with divine anger, with which is
mingled a touch of triumphant scorn, the intellectual head is turned sideward,
while the figure, with elastic step, is hastening forward. The eye seems to shoot
forth lightning; there is an expression of contempt in the corners of the mouth,
and the distended nostrils seem to breathe forth divine anger. It is a bold attitude
thus transfixed in marble, full of life-like and excited action."
In the Iliad Homer describes the scene when Jupiter gave the ægis to Apollo,
that he might put the Achæans to flight with it. In connection with the Apollo
Belvedere it is well to recall that description which is thus translated by Lord
Derby
"While Phœbus motionless his ægis held,
Thick flew the shafts, and fast the people fell
On either side; but when he turned its flash
Full in the faces of the astonished Greeks,
And shouted loud, their spirits within them quailed,
Their fiery courage borne in mind no more."
It is very interesting to know that many who believe that the Apollo Belvedere
represents that god when terrifying the Gauls, believe also that the statues of the
"White Maidens" rushing forth from their temples to aid him are in existence,
the Artemis being the statue at the Louvre known as "Diane à la Biche" and the
Minerva being the Athena with spear and shield in the museum of the Capitol at
Rome.

This statue of
Artemis, or Diana,
has been in France
since the time of
Henry IV.
Formerly it was at
Versailles, but is
now one of the
treasures of the
Louvre. The left
hand with the bow
is restored. The
effect of the figure
is that of lightness
combined with
strength. She is
Fig. 65.—Athena of the going forward Fig. 64.—Diane À La
Capitol. rapidly, with her Biche.
eyes fixed on some
distant object, and
draws an arrow from her quiver even as she flies. This figure corresponds to the
Apollo Belvedere in its spirit and apparent earnestness of purpose; it is of the
same proportions, and in such details of treatment as the rich sandals it plainly
belongs to the time and the school of the Apollo—indeed, there is no reason
why it might not have formed a part of a group in which the Apollo stood. (Fig.
64.)
If we think of this Diana simply as an ideal huntress hastening to the chase the
statue is very beautiful, and a remarkable example of such a subject; but when
she is regarded as one of the "White Maidens" rushing forth to aid her brother in
defending his temple against a barbarous enemy she is invested with a deeper
interest; she becomes an important actor in a terrible drama, and those of us
who could have no sympathy with her love for hunting are roused to an
enthusiastic hope that she will succeed in doing her part to turn the savage foe
away from the sacred hill of Pytho, and thus preserve its temple and its
treasures.
The statue of Athena, advancing with spear and shield, is supposed to be a third
member of the group which commemorated the victory over the Gauls. The
position of the two goddesses would indicate that they were represented as

hastening from opposite directions toward the Apollo Belvedere, the central
figure of the whole. The whole bearing of this statue carries out the impression
which Homer gives of the delight with which Athena led the Greeks to battle;
she is full of eagerness, and rushes forward with the undaunted vigor of the
confidence and courage of one who goes to fight for a just and holy cause (Fig.
65).
Whether this "Gallic theory," as it is called, concerning the Apollo, Diana, and
Athena be correct or no, it is the most satisfactory in sentiment of any that has
been advanced, and certainly, when we consider the three statues in this
connection, there is nothing inharmonious in the supposition that they made the
important parts of a whole which may have had many other figures of lesser
importance in it.
There are many other statues of the Roman period in various museums, but I
shall leave this part of our subject here, and speak briefly of the historical
sculpture in the reliefs upon the triumphal arches of the Eternal City. In an age
when martial glory was the chief desire of man, and among a people who
accorded to successful generals the highest honors, it was most natural that the
conquerors should desire to place some monument of their exploits where it
would be constantly before the eyes of the people, and thus keep in perpetual
remembrance their valiant deeds and their great successes.

Fig. 66.—Triumphal Procession from Arch of Titus.

We read that pictures of the foreign scenes of sieges and battles were displayed
in public places in Rome at a very early date. We cannot find records of plastic
works of this sort before the time of the emperors, but after such sculptures
came into favor they were multiplied rapidly. The principal historical reliefs in
Rome were upon the arches of Claudius, Titus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and
Septimius Severus, and on the architrave of the temple of Minerva in the
Forum.
Of the arch of Claudius there are some remaining fragments of sculpture, now
in the Villa Borghese. The arch of Titus was erected to celebrate the taking of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70. It was restored in 1822. The frieze represents both a
triumphal procession and one of sacrifice. The picture we give here shows a
company of warriors in the dress of peace, who bear articles of booty taken
from the conquered city. They have the candelabra with seven branches, the
table of the shew-bread, the silver trumpets, etc. This will give you a good idea
of these reliefs. (Fig. 66.)
The arch of Trajan no longer stands, and its reliefs are now on the arch of
Constantine; but Trajan's Pillar is one of the best preserved of all the antique
monuments of Rome, and with some account of this column and a picture from
it we will leave the historical sculptures of Rome. The Senate and people of
Rome decreed that this column should be erected to the memory of Trajan, and
it was in the centre of the Forum which bore the same name—the Forum
Trajani. The column is about one hundred and six feet high, and originally was
surmounted by a bronze statue of Trajan, which was replaced by one of St. Peter
by Pope Sixtus V. A band of reliefs runs around this pillar in a spiral form; this
band is six hundred feet long, and the sculptures represent Trajan's campaign
against the Dacians. Many of the figures lose their effect on account of the
height at which they are placed. There are more than a hundred scenes upon it,
in which are about twenty-five hundred human figures, besides many horses
and other objects. The whole is executed with the greatest care.
The real object of the whole work was to glorify the Emperor Trajan, and he is
represented in many of the scenes; sometimes he is conducting engagements,
storming a fort, or encouraging his troops; again he is holding an audience,
protecting the women of a conquered city, or sitting in judgment on captives.
Fig. 67 represents the Dacians assaulting a Roman fort. It is winter, and while
some have crossed the ice in safety, others have broken through. Everything
about it is represented in the most life-like and matter-of-fact manner, and this
shows distinctly the principal difference between the Greek and the Roman art

when the latter was not influenced by the former. It is pure, realistic, historical
sculpture, and this pillar shows this at its very best estate; it is a splendid
specimen of this kind of art. In all these many scenes there are but two
mythological figures: one is Selene, used to represent Night, and the other is
Jupiter tonans, who indicates Storm. But the correctness and elegance of the
sculptures show what the Greek teaching did for the Romans; for it was to the
Greeks that the latter owed their knowledge of the human form and their power
to render it properly in sculpture.

Fig. 67.—From the Reliefs of Trajan's Column.
The last sort of ancient sculpture of which I shall speak is portrait sculpture, and
perhaps this belongs also to historical sculpture, for it is by means of statues and
busts that we know the faces and forms of many of the great men and women
who hold their places in the regard of the world through all the centuries,
because they were concerned in the events which make up what we call the
history of the world. We have said that in Greece in very early times there were
no portrait sculptures; gradually they were introduced until, in the time of
Alexander, portrait statues were almost numberless, and these and busts were
used for the decoration of libraries and public buildings, as well as for the
adornment of squares and places of resort in the open air.
The finest life-size statue which remains from the Greeks is that of Sophocles,
of which we give a picture (Fig. 68). It was not found until about 1839, and was
presented to Pope Gregory XVI. by Cardinal Antonelli; it is in the museum of
the Lateran. This engraving from it shows its beauties so well that it is scarcely
needful to speak of it in detail. This statue is valuable not only as a portrait of
Sophocles, but as a representation of a true product of the highest and best of

Athenian civilization and culture; of an elegant, aristocratic man who was
trained in gymnastic and warlike exercises which developed his physical parts,
as well as in science, philosophy, and music—in various deep studies and
lighter accomplishments which rendered him profound and scholarly, and at the
same time elegant and graceful. "The attitude, though simple, is well chosen to
show the most graceful lines of the figure; and the position of the arms—the
one gracefully enveloped in the himation, and the other firmly planted on the
hip—gives to the whole form an air of mingled ease and dignity. The face is
handsome and full of winning grace, and bears the stamp not only of the
creative genius of the poet, but of the experience of the active citizen; of one
who has felt both the joys and the sufferings of human lot, and preserved amid
them the constitutional calmness, the gentle benevolence, the tranquil,
meditative piety for which he was renowned and loved by the people among
whom he lived and sang."
Among the Romans
portrait sculpture
held a position of
importance. This
people had always
placed great value
upon the likenesses
of the dead, and
from the earliest
times had used
different means of
making them. In the
very early days of
the nation the
custom prevailed of
making masks of the
faces of the dead in
wax, and these
masks were worn in
Fig. 68.—Portrait Fig. 69.—Statue of Augustus.
the funeral
Statue of
procession by one of
Sophocles.
the mourners, who also wore the dress and insignia of
the departed. The first aim in these masks was to have
an exact resemblance to the dead; and this idea was carried on through all the

eras of Roman art, and is a strong distinguishing feature between Greek and
Roman sculpture; for while the Greeks wished to reproduce the face of one of
whom they made a bust or statue, they did not hesitate to idealize that face; but
the Romans labored to make an exact likeness of the man, leaving him in his
statue as nothing more than he looked to be. This manner of portraiture often
does great injustice to its model, for the changing expressions which come with
emotions and with conversation often illuminate the plainest faces with a rare
beauty; therefore the aim of portraiture should be to give the very most and best
that can be imagined as coming to the face which is reproduced.
I can speak of but a few of the almost numberless Roman portrait sculptures.
This statue of Augustus was found in 1863 in a villa built by his wife, Livia,
about nine miles from Rome, at Porta Prima. It is a noble work, and every
minute detail of the ornamentation has a force and meaning that can be
explained. At the same time the whole work is full of strength and dignity,
which comes from the character of the man himself, and is in no sense
dependent on all the emblems of his rank and power, with which the dress is
loaded (Fig. 69). This statue is in the Vatican, and there one can compare it with
the exquisite bust known as the "Young Augustus" and with the statue of the
emperor when aged, in which he is veiled as a priest. The study of these three
sculptures, thus fortunately near each other, is most interesting.

Fig. 70.—Agrippina the Elder.
The Roman women who held important positions were frequently honored with
statues. Among those that remain none is more interesting than this of the elder
Agrippina. She was a woman of great strength and equally great purity of
character, and as we study this statue we can easily understand that she could
perform the duties of a general when occasion demanded this service, and when
that necessity was past could nurse the sick and wounded with all the tenderness
of a true womanly nature. It is in every way a noble work of art, combining
grace, dignity, and the aristocratic refinement of a high-born lady. The drapery
of this and other similar statues is very beautiful, and fully satisfies all artistic
demands. We have full proof that such garments were in actual use by the
women of Greece and Rome (Fig. 70).
It was not unusual for the great men and women of Rome to be represented in
portrait statues with the attributes of gods and goddesses. Livia appears as
Ceres, Julia as Flora, and so on; and during the best days of Roman art these
statues were very beautiful. But at last they, like all other sculptures, grew less
and less worthy, until they became positively absurd, and lacked any power to
command our admiration.
What is thus true of portrait sculpture is true of all Roman art. Its decline kept
step with the decline of the nation, and both fell at length into a pitiable state of

feebleness and corruption. From this we are glad to turn to the study of
Christian art, which, even in its primary struggles, when groping its way
through ignorance and helplessness, was still a living thing, and held the
promise of a new life—a renaissance of that which had gradually died in
Greece and Rome.

CHAPTER IV.
MEDIÆVAL SCULPTURE, FROM THE FIFTH TO THE
FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

The ancient or classic Italian sculpture of which we have spoken may be said to
have extended to about the middle of the fourth century of the Christian era.
The arch of Constantine was one of its latest works, and is interesting as an
example of the decline of art. The sculptures upon it, which were taken from the
arch of Trajan, executed two centuries earlier, are so superior to those that were
added in the time of Constantine, that nothing could give one a clearer idea of
the decadence of sculpture than seeing the works of two periods thus placed
side by side.
After the time of Constantine, when the Christians were no longer forced to
hide their art in the catacombs, they began to have a sculpture of their own. The
first Christians in Rome were brought into contact with the worship of Isis and
Pan, Venus and Apollo, and were filled with horror at the sight of the statues of
these divinities. They believed that any representation of the human form was
forbidden by the commandment which says, "Thou shalt not make to thyself
any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or in
the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth." Thus it happened that when
the early Christians desired to represent the Saviour they employed painting,
such as is found in the catacombs, rather than sculpture, and separate statues are
the rarest remains of early Christian art.

Fig. 71.—Statue of St. Peter.
The oldest Christian statue which is known in marble is that of St. Hippolytus,
which is in the Museum of the Lateran Palace, where there are also two small
statues of Christ as the Good Shepherd, which were found in the catacombs.
The most important statue of this period is that of St. Peter, which is held in
great reverence by Roman Catholics, who kiss its toe as they enter the church of
St. Peter's at Rome, and press their foreheads against the extended foot. The
statue is of bronze, and some antiquarians believe that it is the Jupiter of the
Capitol changed so as to answer for a statue of St. Peter; others say that it was
cast from the metal of the statue of Jupiter; and the usual belief is that it was
made by the order of Pope Leo I. about the middle of the fifth century as a
thank-offering for the deliverance of Rome from the barbarian Attila by the
miraculous protection of St. Peter and St. Paul. This statue is too rude to belong
to classic art, though it is of remarkable excellence for a work of the fifth
century (Fig. 71).

The principal use of sculpture by the early Christians was for the decoration of
the sarcophagi, or burial-cases. These were cut in bas-reliefs after the manner of
the ancients, the subjects being taken from the life of Christ; the ornaments
were the Christian emblems, such as the lamb, cross, vine, palm, dove, and the
monogram of Christ. As time passed the designs were more and more elaborate;
stories from the Old Testament were frequently illustrated, and numerous
figures were crowded together, with many symbols ingeniously inserted to
make the meaning of the whole more clear.
The largest number and the best of these sarcophagi are now in the museums of
the Lateran and the Vatican. In the centre of one of the finest of these is a shell,
in which are the half figures of the two who were buried in this sarcophagus. At
the upper left hand is the Saviour before the tomb of Lazarus; one of the sisters
of the dead man kisses the hand of Jesus; next to this is the Denial of Peter;
nearest the shell Moses reaches up to receive the Table of the Law. On the right
of the shell, in the upper row, is the Sacrifice of Isaac and the Washing of
Pilate's Hands. On the lower row, beginning at the left, is Moses causing the
Water to flow from the Rock; next is the Apprehension of Peter, and next,
Daniel in the Lions' Den. Besides these there are the Healing of the Blind and
the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. This will show how elaborate the carving
is on these burial-cases, and how the subjects from the Old and New Testaments
are mingled without order or apparent reason. These sarcophagi have been
found in various parts of Italy and in France, and are seen in many museums.
In no part of the Roman Empire was sculpture as favorably regarded by the
early Christians as at Byzantium. Several attempts to adorn the city with statues
and other works of art were made there, and many of the Greek sculptures
which had been carried to Rome were again borne off to decorate this new
Capitol. The Emperor Constantine there erected a column a hundred feet high,
and placed his statue on it; Theodosius also erected a column and an obelisk;
but Justinian excelled all these, and about 543 A.D. set up a monument with a
colossal equestrian statue of himself in bronze upon it. The column which
supported this statue was of brick masonry covered with plates of bronze. From
the accounts we have of it we conclude that this was a fine work for its time; it
was called the Augustio, and was placed on the Augusteum near the church of
St. Sophia; in the sixteenth century it had been overthrown and broken in
pieces, and the metal was then melted down. The artist who executed the
Augustio was Eustathius of Rome, who was sent to Byzantium for this purpose.

But the Byzantine Christians soon grew into a fixed disapproval of statues, and
favored only the lesser works of art. Ivory-carving, which long before had been
brought from the East by the Greeks, now came into special favor, and the
Byzantine artists devoted all their talent to making beautiful works of this sort.
The most important of these carvings which remains is in the cathedral of
Ravenna. It is the episcopal chair or cathedra of Maximianus, and was made
between 546 and 552 (Fig. 72).
This chair is composed entirely of carved plates of
ivory; scenes from the life of Joseph and other similar
designs are represented, and these are surrounded by a
great variety of small figures, which form a sort of
framework around the principal parts; for example,
animals and birds among vine-branches, and all
arranged in a life-like and artistic manner. So large a
work as this chair in ivory is unusual. The greater
number of ivory carvings are upon small objects, such
as drinking-cups and other vessels, book-covers and
diptychs, or tablets for writing, of which fine specimens
remain and are seen in art collections.
Diptychs were carved ivory tablets, with the inner
surface waxed for writing, and were used by the early
Christians, as they had been by the ancients. The
illustration given here is from the diptych of the Consul
Areobrudus, and belongs to the year 506 (Fig. 73). The Fig. 72.—From the
whole design upon it represents a contest with lions and Cathedra of
bears; the scene is where—the circus gates being Maximianus.
thrown open—the animals rush into the arena to be
slain by the gladiators. Some diptychs are ornamented with subjects from the
life of Christ and other religious themes.
About the beginning of the tenth century ivory-carving was much used for
church purposes. The smaller altars were covered with it, the vessels used for
the Holy Sacrament were made of it, magnificent covers for church books, were
carved, and as much thought seems to have been given to the designs upon
these small objects as had formerly been devoted to the splendid temples of the
ancients. Ivory-carving extended from Byzantium into Germany and other
Western countries, and along with it went the working in rich and precious
metals, which had also been practised somewhat by the earlier Christians.

Fig. 73.—Diptych.
Zurich.
During the tenth century the metal works were very costly, and the different
cathedrals and churches rivalled each other in possessions of this sort. Altar
tables were covered with embossed metal plates, which were extended down
from the top of the table to the floor, forming antependiums, as they are called,
in the same way that those of cloth are now used. These plates of metal were
worked into designs in relief, ornamented with delicate filigree work, with
paintings in enamel, and even with rare antique cameos and exquisite gems.
Crucifixes were also made of metals and richly adorned, as well as all the
vessels and smaller articles used in the service and ceremonials of the church—
incense-burners, candlesticks, tabernacles and reliquaries, or caskets for

preserving relics. In the sacristies of many old churches and in art collections
these rare, costly articles are still preserved, and are of great interest in the study
of art.
Many of the designs used on these objects were quaint and even grotesque,
while the drawing of the figures and the arrangement of the subjects is often
done in the crudest and most inartistic manner. Vessels for church use were
made in the shapes of griffins, dragons, cranes, lions, and other curious birds
and beasts, while the human faces represented sometimes had enamelled or
jewelled eye balls. In one case the eyes of the Saviour were made of large
carbuncles; you can understand that this would give an expression quite the
opposite of that gentleness and peace which we look for in the face of the
Redeemer. In truth, there is so much of the grotesque and even barbarous
element in many of these works, that we can but ridicule while we recognize the
industry and care which was expended upon them. It is also difficult to
understand how the feeling for art and the practice of it which had attained to
such perfection among the ancients could have died out of the world so
completely, for in these mediæval days it existed nowhere on the face of the
earth.
About the beginning of the eleventh century bronze casting came to hold an
important place in the art of Germany, and as architecture now received more
attention, and bronze gates, and occasionally bronze figures of bishops and
other church dignitaries, were used for the decoration of church buildings, we
may say that bronze works made the medium through which sculpture in
connection with architecture was again brought into use. At Hildesheim there is
still a bronze gate at the principal entrance to the cathedral, which was cast in
1015, and in various places in Germany, France, and Northern Italy works of
this kind are seen which belong to the eleventh century, while a bit of stone or
wood sculpture of this period is very rarely met.
The twelfth century brought about a great change in sculpture and its uses. This
century was a period of remarkable activity in every department of human life.
The Crusades were then preached, and armies of zealous Christians went forth
to redeem Jerusalem from the power of the Pagans; in this century all the
institutions of chivalry flourished; the nations of the world had more intercourse
with each other than had before existed; commerce was extended into new
channels; men were more individual and thought more independently for
themselves than they had done hitherto; and, in short, human intellect all over

the Western world seemed to be awakening from a long, deep sleep, and to be
inspired with strength and activity.
With all the other changes there came revivals of architecture and sculpture,
which went hand in hand, and in the beginning can scarcely be separated from
each other. The early Christians had been content with the decoration of
interiors; now the exteriors received much attention, and the portals or entrances
to the churches were richly decorated with statues and other sculptured
ornaments, and the exterior decoration soon extended to many portions of the
edifices. In the interiors, too, the altars, fonts, choir-screens, and other objects
were made of carved stone or of stucco, which hardened like stone, and were all
richly ornamented with sculpture. A completely new spirit seemed to possess
the artists, who thus found a satisfactory field for their labors, and the period
known as the Romanesque was thus ushered in.

Fig. 74.—From the Façade of Chartres
Cathedral.
We cannot claim that the works of the twelfth century were free from the faults
of the preceding eras, or were satisfactory to our artistic sense; but we may say
that they show the effect of the new life which had come into the world, and
give unerring promise of the progress which followed. The same improvement
is seen in bronze-casting as in sculpture; and though to our eyes it still remains
crude and ungraceful, yet by comparing it with the work of the previous century
we mark a hopeful and important change.
Germany, in its different provinces, took the lead in this artistic progress; but
France was not far behind; and, indeed, in the cathedral of Chartres the first
promise was given of the splendid church portals of the early Gothic style of
architecture which followed the Romanesque. In this cathedral, too, we see for
the first time an attempt to make the head and face a reproduction of nature
rather than a repetition of the classic head, which had come to be so imperfectly
copied that it had degenerated into a caricature. (Fig. 74.)
Other cathedrals at St. Denis, Le Mans, Bourges, and Paris are splendid
examples of the art of this time; and when we remember how Italy took the lead
of these northern countries in later days, it seems strange that at this era she was
far behind them. It is even true that the first works in Northern Italy which
indicated that the awakening which had come north of the Alps had reached that
country were executed wholly or in part by German artists; but by the end of the
twelfth century both the sculpture and bronze-casting of Italy gave promise of
the great revival of true art which was to come in that home of the arts.
However, it is not possible to connect the art of Italy with that of any other
country in any comprehensive sense. Italian art may be said to have died out
more completely in the beginning of the middle ages than did the art of northern
nations; its period of decline, too, was longer; but when its awakening came it
aroused itself and took on new strength by a method of its own, and may be said
to have been distinct from northern art in every respect, and divided from it by
its different spirit as clearly as Italy was divided from other lands by the
towering summits of the Alps.
About the beginning of the thirteenth century there dawned upon the northern
nations a new era in literature. Hitherto the written language had been the
monkish Latin; now the poets began to use their own tongues. This new writing
may be said to have commenced with the Provençal poets, who were followed

by those of Northern France; but it was in Germany that such song broke forth
as showed how the national feeling had been repressed, and how, now that it
had burst its bonds, it resembled the freshets of spring when they escape from
the icy hand of Winter and rush from one point to another, brushing aside every
obstacle which lies in their way. I cannot here speak in detail of these poets and
their works, but Hartmann of Aue, Walther von der Vogelweid, Wolfram and
Gottfried of Strasburg are names which grow brighter with passing centuries.
At the same time with this advance in letters there came, in North-eastern
France, the new Gothic style of architecture, which had the effect to revive
sculpture and in a degree restore to it the importance it had in classic days. Now,
the same artist was both architect and sculptor, and the result was that
architecture was so arranged as to afford an honorable place to sculpture, which,
in its turn, added much to the grand and full effect of architecture.
Artists now began to study nature and the life about them in preference to the
antique, and the sculptors of the thirteenth century were fortunate in living in a
time when costumes were picturesque and suited to artistic representations. The
dress of a knight was as graceful as one could wish, with its flowing lines and
the mantle clasped at one side of the neck, or thrown loosely over the arm and
shoulder; and the costume of the other sex, with the full folds of the lower
garment fastened by the girdle, and veiling without hiding the movement of the
figure, was scarcely less fitting for the artists use than were the classic robes of
the Greeks.
The effect of the sculpture of this period was frequently heightened by the use
of color. The draperies were enriched by gold ornaments, and painted in rich
blue and red, while the flesh parts were delicately tinted. Colors were used with
care, and often served to conceal the defects in the sculpture itself, and were
thus of great advantage. Color was most frequently used in interior decoration,
but it was not unknown upon exterior portals, and porches were introduced to
protect this polychromy, as the painting of sculpture was called.
The subjects now represented in sculpture were far more numerous than
formerly. While the life of Christ and the Virgin still made the central and most
important topic, there were added scenes from the lives of the saints, those who
were regarded as the patrons of the city or those to whom the edifice was
dedicated being most frequently chosen. New symbolic designs were made
showing the flight of time by seasons and months; others represented the
virtues, and even the customs and habits of the people were sometimes

introduced. There were also humorous representations, even on sacred edifices.
Water-pipes and gutter-spouts were ended with the heads of monsters and
curious animals, and even with grotesque faces; in short, the smaller details of
the architecture of this period show the vividness of the imagination of the time.
For example, the leaf-work which was used in the ornamental portions of
sculpture had hitherto copied the antique acanthus leaf; now the flowers and
leaves native to France were the models of the sculptors, and a charming variety
of life-like ornament was the result.
The church of Ste. Chapelle, at Paris, completed about 1248, was the first
edifice in which this style was seen in its full development. Here, for the first
time, the statues were not placed in the stiff, perpendicular posture, but, by
being inclined to different positions, had a light appearance and an air of
movement, which was a great relief from the rigidity which had ruled up to this
time.
The cathedral at Rheims, however, shows the perfection of thirteenth-century
art. It is conceded to be the best example of church building of its time, and its
façade the most beautiful structure of the Middle Ages. Its wealth of sculpture is
wonderful; its three great portals, the buttresses, the space above the great
window and various other portions are so much ornamented that the whole
effect is that of a forest of sculpture, and it is difficult to turn from it to consider
the architecture of the edifice. It naturally follows that in this vast amount of
artistic work there is no equality of excellence; some of the statues are like
those of an earlier date: some are too tall and awkward; others too short and
rotund; but there are many elegant figures, full of grace and dignity, with the
drapery falling in natural folds, and an air of life and freedom of movement
about the heads quite unknown before this time.
In one of the side portals of this cathedral there is a figure of Christ which was
not surpassed by any work of this period. The study of every portion of the
figure is so perfect as to surprise us when we remember that anatomy was not
then studied by artists as it had been in classic times or as it has been in more
recent days. This statue holds an orb in the left hand, and the right hand is
uplifted; not only the nails of the fingers, but the structure of all the joints is
skilfully indicated.
It frequently happens that the reliefs are far more excellent than the statues of
mediæval date. This is so noticeable that it would seem as if the best sculptors
preferred to make the reliefs, and that the figures were left to those of less

talent. On the pediment at Rheims the Last Judgment is represented in five
divisions, and these reliefs are among the most beautiful sculptures of this
century. The scene of the Resurrection of the Dead is arranged in two rows of
figures; a section of it is here given (Fig. 75).
There are twenty-nine of these little figures in the whole subject, and the variety
of positions and the naturalness of the various expressions are all that could be
desired in any age of art. The forms are in good proportions, and the faces are
filled with fear, surprise, hope, and supplication. A volume might be written
upon the sculptures of the Rheims Cathedral which would be full of interest to
the student of mediæval art.

Fig. 75.—From the North Transept of Rheims Cathedral.
Critics have compared the progress and life which pervaded the art of the
thirteenth century with the spirit of the age of Phidias. The two periods are alike
in the fact that the artists of each broke away from the traditions of those who
had preceded them, and took up their work with a desire to come nearer to
nature. They were alike, too, in the union of architecture and sculpture, and in
the fact that all kinds of sculpture were required for the adornment of a single

structure. Colossal and full-sized statues, statuettes, reliefs, and a great variety
of simply ornamental designs were lavished upon the Christian cathedral, as
they had been upon the Greek temple; and in one case as in the other the various
groups and scenes represented were intended to show forth religious mysteries,
and to illustrate the working of the supreme power which controls the world in
relation to human beings.
But I must leave this part of our subject and speak of the monumental sculpture
of the thirteenth century. While many of the tomb statues still retained a general
resemblance to those of the past, there were many examples of new strength and
progress. In a church near Le Mans the statue of Berengaria, the wife of Richard
Cœur de Lion, who died in 1219, was made with open eyes; this gives a very
life-like appearance to the face, and the whole head is as noble as that of an
antique statue; the drapery is full and free; the feet rest upon a dog, which is the
emblem of fidelity, and in the hands is a casket. There is something about this
statue which appeals to us—a human element which had been sadly wanting in
the monumental statues of the preceding centuries.
But the series of reliefs which were made for the Cathedral of St. Denis were
the most important tomb sculptures of this period. They were sixteen in number,
and represented princes of the early lines of French sovereigns down to the
thirteenth century. Of course those of the Merovingians and Carlovingians could
not be portrait statues, and the heads of both kings and queens are all of the
same type until those of Philip the Bold, who died in 1285, and his wife,
Isabella of Aragon, who died in 1271, are reached. These two are intended to be
portraits, and they show the individual characters of these royal personages. In
all France there is no more interesting succession of monuments than these.
In Germany the Romanesque style of architecture and the sculpture which went
with it held their sway much longer than in France, and the new Gothic style
made its way very slowly in the countries north of France. Slight traces of its
influence in one way and another may be found about the middle of the
thirteenth century; but it was not until the very end of this period that the Gothic
style had affected German art, except in the south-western portions of the
country. These provinces bordered upon France, and formed a sort of middle
ground between the two nations. In Strasburg, at the end of the century, a
cathedral was built which was one of the most splendid examples of a union of
the two styles that could be produced. The sculptures show the effect of the new
French manner in their life and ease of grouping and attitude, while they are still

crowded and over-decorated, as in the earlier days, and the fixed architectural
frame of the German style is preserved throughout. (Fig. 76.)

Fig. 76.—From the West Façade, Strasburg Cathedral.
There is reason to believe that the relief of the Death of the Virgin, at Strasburg,
was the work of Sabina von Steinbach, a daughter of the architect of the west
façade of the cathedral. The grouping is fine, and the transparent drapery, which
reminds us of the same effects in antique sculpture, is beautifully executed.
In the Cathedral of Freiburg, the nave of which was completed in 1270, there
are some very fine sculptures, which are like the Rheims works in spirit and
execution; a figure of the Madonna is one of the best statues of the time in any
country. There is much to admire in the whole of this cathedral. Here and there

in Germany there are some tomb-sculptures of the thirteenth
century, which are simple, noble, and individual; but the
progress of art here was much less rapid than in France.
Another marked event in the art history of the thirteenth
century was the introduction of sculpture into England. The
few pieces of plastic art which existed in that country before
this date were not sufficient in number or excellence to merit
the name of English sculpture.
The first important step was made about the end of the twelfth
century, when Guillaume de Sens, a French architect, was
employed to build a new choir to Canterbury Cathedral. Not
long after this the Temple Church was erected; then
Westminster Abbey followed, and at length, under Henry III.,
all the arts were rapidly advanced in his kingdom. This king
summoned artists and skilled workmen from different
countries, and portrait-sculpture received especial attention in Fig. 77.—
the England of that day. By comparing English tomb-sculpture Duke Robert
with that of other countries, it is seen that the aim of the artists of
was to make the statues resemble those whose memories they Normandy.
honored, far more than other nations had done. The illustration
given here, with its air of life—almost of motion—is a good example of what I
mean (Fig. 77).
The sculptures upon the English exteriors, and, indeed, upon the interiors of
edifices, were far less lavish than on the Continent; but in Wells Cathedral,
completed before 1250, there is a wealth of sculpture for an English church of
this date, and from this time forward the plastic arts were of great importance in
Great Britain.
With the beginning of the fourteenth century there were great changes in the
religious and political affairs of all Europe. The Pope no longer held the
supreme authority that had belonged to his office, and the imperial power was
also much shaken. We cannot speak of these subjects in detail here, but the
result to art of these changes was seen in a development of individualism, and
the effects of it did not show an improvement when considered as a whole,
though it has some new features which were attractive.
In these days of which we now speak the word citizen had a far deeper meaning
than ever before, and the growth of wealth and prosperity in the citizen classes

gave a new impulse to all the activities of life, and to art along with others.
This new life and spirit gave more freedom to artists, and they attempted new
effects, so that a far greater variety was made in their works. The statue of the
Madonna, for example, was so often repeated that it afforded an opportunity for
all sorts of experiments, by which the sculptors tried to add to the deep feeling
and the devotion that had already been expressed in the representations of the
sweet Mother of Christ. But just here they failed; the new era brought more
realism, more likeness to nature, more freedom to the artist to put something of
himself into his work; but much of the deep thought and the devout feeling of
the thirteenth century was lost, and it cannot be said that art was elevated in its
tone.
There were influences, too, in the new state of society which permitted details
to be introduced into religious subjects which were far from suitable or
devotional; sometimes they were even comic in their effects. For example, such
scenes as allowed the representation of evil spirits or devils were made to serve
for all sorts of coarse, grotesque, and burlesque side-play, and the little figures
which represented these powers were made to do all kinds of ridiculous capers
side by side with such serious subjects as the Last Judgment or the death scenes
of eminent men. This makes us feel, when we study the fourteenth century, that
the sculpture of the Middle Ages reached its highest point in the thirteenth
century, and soon after began to decline.
In Germany the most important sculptures of this period were executed at
Nuremberg. The Church of St. Laurence, that of St. Sebald, the Frauenkirche, or
the Church of Our Lady, are all great monuments to the art of this city and the
calm dignity and grace which marked the works of the Nuremberg sculptors.
At the close of the century, between 1385 and 1396, Master Heinrich den Balier
erected the "Beautiful Fountain," which is still the pride of the city and a
splendid monument of the time. In Nuremberg many of the dwelling-houses
were decorated with sculptures, and it is now one of the most interesting places
in all Germany to the student of ancient art.
We have not the space to speak in detail of the sculpture of the time; Augsburg,
Prague, Stuttgart, Bamberg, Würzburg, Cologne, and many other German towns
and cities have rich treasures of its work, but its character is everywhere much
the same, and great activity, with a tendency toward decline, are its prominent
features.

In Germany in this century ivory-carving was much practised and used for a
great variety of purposes. In these smaller works the life and freshness, the
grace and spirit of the manner of the time were very attractive (Fig. 78).

Fig. 78.—Ivory Relief. Hunting Scene.
In France the fourteenth century was much less productive of works of art than
the preceding one had been. The fact that so much had been done in the
thirteenth century—so many new churches built and so many older ones
remodelled—is one reason for this change. In this direction there was very little
left to be done. Then, too, the country was so disturbed by wars with England
that the arts of peace suffered neglect. However, there was still much to be done

to complete the grand works already begun, and during the early part of this
century a great deal was accomplished by way of interior decoration in edifices
not yet completed, and in the making of monuments in memory of persons of
rank and importance. Those in the Cathedral of St. Denis were much increased
in number, and in all parts of France these works were multiplied.
During this century many artists from the Netherlands were employed in
France; and in the city of Dijon, which was the residence of the dukes of
Burgundy, the works of Flemish artists were very numerous.
Perhaps the most skilful of these masters was Claux Sluter, who was the
favorite of Philip the Bold, and executed the splendid monument to that duke
which is now in the Museum at Dijon. He was also the sculptor of the Moses
Fountain, the decorations of the Carthusian chapel, and other works which still
remain to show how fine a sculptor he was. Sluter had a great influence upon
art, and, in fact, may be said to have established a school the effects of which
endured long after his time.
In England sculpture made no progress during the fourteenth century. Large
architectural sculptures were neither numerous nor fine. Tomb-sculptures and
monuments with portrait reliefs and statues were the principal plastic works of
the time. The habit of erecting monuments to the dead now extended to all
classes, whereas it had formerly been confined to noble and distinguished
people. The result was that the monuments of the higher classes were more and
more splendid in order to mark the differences of rank, and much grand effect
was thus produced; but the merits of the sculpture was less than formerly, and
the monuments of this age are wanting in spirit, stiff and unattractive. The
costume of the time, too, was so ugly that it served to give a grotesque air to
many figures, and thus added to the general appearance of decline which
marked the English tomb-sculpture of the fourteenth century. It compares
unfavorably with the German monuments of the same period, and the realistic
portrait element which ruled it makes it seem like a monotonous and feeble
system of mechanics rather than a style of art.
As we have said, the sculpture of Italy was quite different from that of the more
northern countries of Europe. One great reason for this was that individualism
in art was a strong power in Italy much earlier than in more northern countries.
In Germany the early sculptors of the Middle Ages did not put their names upon
their works; they practised their art as a religious service, and their pious
devotion made them forget themselves. Not so in Italy: there each artist wished

to be known in his works, and regarded them as works of art, done for the sake
of art, and not as acts of piety. One result of this difference was that the northern
sculptures had more of deep feeling and profound thought in them, while the
Italian works had more perfection of form.
In Italy sculpture held the second place in the decoration of churches. Painting
was preferred before it, and in spite of the influence of the Gothic style, which
extended south of the Alps, the Italians would not give up their large wall-
spaces and the splendid Christian paintings which were their glory. They built
their edifices with this end in view, and as the same person was frequently an
architect, painter and sculptor, he knew how to arrange his plans so as to suit his
ideas of the merits of each art.
So it happened that the principal works which the sculptors did for the church
were separate objects, such as altar-pieces, fonts, pulpits, and tombs. It rarely
occurred that whole fronts of churches were covered with sculptures, as in
Germany or France, and there were few richly sculptured portals of churches in
Italy. The material mostly used for Italian sculpture was fine white marble,
which was very rarely colored; sometimes a little gilding was used; but as a rule
painting and sculpture were not united, as they had been north of the Alps.
However, the sculptors of Italy had a wider range in art than in other lands; for
being less devoted to the service of the church, they were employed for more
secular works. It is true that the separate statues of the Madonna were very
numerous, and that tomb-sculpture was important; but added to these there were
civil monuments to show forth the glory of the cities and their great men, and
there were public fountains and other sculptures which told of the splendor and
fame of each one of the many petty powers into which the whole country was
divided. The council-halls of the free cities were very fine, and gave great
opportunity to Italian artists to give variety to their works, and the sculptors
very early excelled in reliefs, which told historical stones with great clearness.
As early as the beginning of the thirteenth century we can trace the progress of
Italian sculpture by telling the story of the lives of separate artists. The first man
of importance who thus claims our attention is Nicola Pisano, who was born at
Pisa between 1205 and 1207, and who, according to the custom of his time, was
both architect and sculptor. When he was but fifteen years old he received an
appointment as architect to Frederic II., with whom he went to Naples; he
served this sovereign ten years, and then went to Padua, where he was
employed as the architect of the Basilica of St. Anthony.

In 1237 Nicola made his first essay in sculpture, and executed a relief
representing the Deposition from the Cross, which still remains in its place over
one of the side doors of the Cathedral of San Martino at Lucca. This work was
most excellent as the attempt of a young artist, and it was also excellent when
compared with the work of other Italian sculptors who had preceded him. (Fig.
79.)

Fig. 79.—Relief by Nicola Pisano.
Lucca.
During the twelve years following this time Nicola Pisano was chiefly
employed as an architect, and it was not until 1260 that he established his fame
as a sculptor; but when we consider the pulpit for the Baptistery of Pisa, which
he now did, it is plain that he must have given much thought and study to
sculpture since his first work at Lucca; and this last work has such qualities as
indicate that he had studied the sculpture of classic days. The work upon this
pulpit is a wonderful advance upon the sculpture of the period; and though there
are marks of his inexperience in its arrangement, as a whole it is above criticism
when the time to which it belonged and the circumstances of its sculpture are
taken into account. (Fig. 80.)
Nicola went next to Bologna to make a sarcophagus to contain the remains of
St. Dominick, who had died there in 1221. This burial-case was completed in
1267, and is very interesting as an illustration of the art of the thirteenth century.
The next work of this sculptor was a pulpit for the Cathedral of Siena. When he
undertook this work he agreed to live at Siena until it was completed, with the

exception of short visits to Pisa—four in each year. He had assistants in this
work, and it was completed in about a year and a half. Meantime he exerted a
great influence upon the sculpture of Siena, which up to this time had amounted
to little more than good stone-cutting. Indeed, Nicola Pisano had an effect upon
the art of all Italy: in the north at Padua, in the south at Naples, and in Central
Italy at Pisa, Lucca, and Siena.

Fig. 80.—Relief from the Pulpit at Pisa.
Nicola Pisano.
In 1269 he was commissioned to build a convent and an abbey at La Scorgola,
which are now in ruins. In 1274 Nicola commenced his last work, the Fountain
of Perugia. He did not remain constantly in that city, but after making the plans
he left his son Giovanni in charge of the work, while he returned to Pisa and
occupied himself with making the figures for its decoration. This fountain was
held in such esteem that laws were enacted for its preservation, and it was called
the most valuable possession of the city, while some went so far as to say that it

could not be surpassed in the world. Even now, after all it has suffered from
time and weather, it commands our admiration.
In 1278 Nicola died, after a life of great achievements. He left an untarnished
name, too, for he had been loved and respected by all his associates, and as
patron, friend, and servant had done all his duty. Mr. Perkins, in his "Tuscan
Sculptors," says of him: "Inestimable were the services rendered to art by this
great man. He gave the death-blow to Byzantinism and barbarism; established
new architectural principles; founded a new school of sculpture in Italy, and
opened men's eyes to the degraded state of art by showing them where to study
and how to study; so that Cimabue, Guido da Siena, the Masuccios and the
Cosmati all profited by his pervading and enduring influence. Never hurried by
an ill-regulated imagination into extravagances, he was careful in selecting his
objects of study and his methods of self-cultivation; an indefatigable worker,
who spared neither time nor strength in obedience to the numerous calls made
upon him from all parts of the peninsula; now in Pisa, then in Naples, Padua,
Siena, Lucca, or Florence; here to design a church, there to model a bas-relief,
erect a pulpit, a palace or a tower; by turns architect and sculptor, great in both,
original in both, a reviver in both, laying deep and well the foundations of his
edifices by hitherto unpractised methods, and sculpturing his bas-reliefs upon
principles evolved from the study of antique models long unheeded. Ever
respected and esteemed by the many persons of all classes with whom he came
in contact, he was truly a great man—one to whom the world owes an eternal
debt of gratitude, and who looms up in gigantic proportions through the mist of
five centuries, holding the same relation to Italian art which Dante holds to
Italian literature."
Fra Guglielmo d'Agnello (1238-1314?), also a Pisan, was a pupil of Nicola
Pisano, and worked with him at Bologna. There is little to be said of his works
after his master's death.
Giovanni Pisano (about 1240-1320) was born at Pisa, and though a pupil of his
father and a co-worker with him, he seems to have fallen under some other and
a very different influence. In architecture he preferred the Gothic style, and in
sculpture he was fond of all sorts of fantastic action and expression; his works
were full of exaggeration. He was an architect as well as sculptor, and was a
master in his own right when twenty years old, and in 1268 he went to Naples
to design a church for the Franciscans; he was also the architect of the episcopal
palace there.

After the death of his father the Pisans were anxious to retain Giovanni in their
service; he first transformed an old church into a new one in the pointed style of
architecture. It was named Santa Maria della Spina, because a rich merchant
had presented one of the thorns from the crown of Christ to it. This was the first
building in Italy of this style of architecture. Giovanni next built the Campo
Santo of Pisa. Many shiploads of earth had been brought from Palestine to Pisa
in order to make a burial-place in which Christians could be laid in the sacred
earth. Giovanni Pisano inclosed the spot where this earth was laid with walls
and arranged the interior of the inclosure in such a way that it could be
extensively decorated with works of art. He made it the most beautiful Campo
Santo in Italy. Many of the sculptures are by his own hand. (Fig. 81.)
This allegorical representation of Pisa was the first attempt at making large
statues in Italy since the days of the Emperor Constantine. The city stands
alone, and is a proud princess with a diadem, holding in her arms two infants to
indicate her fruitfulness. Below her are four statues of the cardinal virtues,
Temperance being a nude figure. It is a very strange work, and in some respects
not attractive, but it shows the originality of the sculptor; the principal figure
has much intensity of expression.
From this monument and his other works in Pisa, Giovanni became famous, and
was called to Siena to build the front of the cathedral. The people of Siena held
out every inducement to him to make his home there, by freeing him from taxes
for life; but after three years he went to Perugia, where he erected a monument
which has been destroyed. After this time he devoted himself entirely to
sculpture, and executed a variety of works at Arezzo, Pistoja, Florence, Perugia,
and Cortona. In 1312 he commenced the rebuilding of the cathedral at Prato.

Fig. 81.—Campo Santo of Pisa.
Giovanni Pisano.
We have not the space to speak of his works in detail. The Campo Santo has
more of interest than the others, and is Romanesque in its character; and yet it is
true that he employed Gothic forms far more than any other. Some authors
credit Giovanni with having introduced an independent art into Italy; but let that
be as it may, he had not the feeling for beauty, neither had he the repose which
was such a charm in the works of his father. At the same time his works are full
of life and dramatic action, and could never have been designed or executed by
any man who had not an uncommon genius.

Arnolfo di Cambio (1232-1310) was also a pupil of Nicola Pisano, and though
eight years older than Giovanni Pisano he did not become an independent
master until after Giovanni had won much fame. There are some works in
Rome which are attributed to Arnolfo, but as there are uncertainties about his
being their author, it is not best for us to discuss them here. He erected at
Orvieto, in the church of San Domenico, a monument to the Cardinal de Braye.
It was a very elaborate work, and the statue of the Madonna, which is placed
above that of the cardinal, is full of majestic spirit and dignified repose. This is
the only well-authenticated sculptural work by Arnolfo, but this is one of the
most finished monuments of the art of the Pisan school, and is quite sufficient to
bring his name through the centuries with honor.
Andrea Pisano (1270-1345) is principally famous as a bronze-caster, and his
chief work was the making of the gates to the Baptistery of Florence, which
have since been replaced by those of Ghiberti. When these gates were finished,
in 1339, the Signory went in procession to view them; this proves in what
esteem they must have been held, for the Signory never left the Palazzo Vecchio
in a body except on the most important occasions. After examining the gates
they conferred the honor of citizenship upon the sculptor. These gates told the
story of John the Baptist, and the work is full of sentiment, beauty, and
simplicity, while the design is pure, the draperies full of elegant grace, and the
execution of the whole almost perfect.
Nino Pisano was the son of the latter. The time of his birth is not known; he
died before 1361. His works are pleasing, and he especially excelled in drapery.
They are not numerous, and are seen in the churches of Pisa.
But by far the most important pupil of Andrea Pisano, and, indeed, the most
important Tuscan master of the end of the fourteenth century, was Andrea
Arcagnuolo di Cione, commonly called Andrea Orcagna (1329-1376?). This
artist was the son of Maestro Cione, a goldsmith of Florence. Orcagna was an
architect, goldsmith, sculptor, painter, mosaist, and poet. Painting is the art by
which he is best known and of which he executed the greatest number of
interesting works. In this place we shall speak of his most important work as a
sculptor, which was the tabernacle in the church of Or San Michele, in Florence,
made to hold the picture of the Madonna painted by Ugolino da Siena. This
tabernacle is of white marble in the Gothic style. It rises from the centre high up
toward the roof of the church, and has sculptures in bas-relief, statuettes and
busts, all illustrating the life of the Virgin from her birth to her death. It is also
enriched with mosaics, intaglios, enamels, gilded glass, pietra dura, and all of

these arranged in a whole which is quite unique in art. It may be regarded as a
piece of architecture or as a sculptural work, and it is full of symbolism; and
whatever view is taken of it, it commands admiration for the artist who
conceived and executed so difficult a task.
During the later years of the fourteenth century there were many sculptors in
Italy of whom we know very little more than their names. They did a vast
amount of work in all parts of the country, much of which is still to be seen.
One of these, of whom few personal facts are known, exerted a large influence
in Florence, where the fruits of his industry were almost marvellous. He was
called Pietro di Giovanni and Pietro Tedesco, or "the German". The time and
place of his birth are not known, but the records show that he worked on the
Cathedral of Florence from 1386 to 1399. He worked in true German style;
wherever scroll-work and simple ornamental designs were required he mingled
a variety of leaves and flowers where the acanthus alone had before been used.
He also made fantastic little human beings, dwarfs and grotesque beings of
different sorts, and exhausted the animal world in his designs. Lions, bears,
apes, dogs, lizards, crabs, birds and fish, bees, butterflies, and all manner of
insects may be seen nestling among vines and branches, while angels play on
pipes and violas. The whole effect of these works is cheerful and natural, and
would be as suitable to decorate a music hall or a theatre as they are for a
church.
The works of this master are too extreme in the realistic element to be taken as a
fair example of the Italian sculpture of this time, but Niccolò of Arrezzo, the
Massegne, and the Bon or Buoni family, and many others in different portions
of the country contributed to put aside the stiff, formal manner of the past, and
to bring in the more sympathetic and natural one of the fifteenth century. In
truth, the last decades of the fourteenth century were a transition period, when
art was bursting its bonds, and was preparing for the glorious works of the
golden days of sculpture in Italy.

CHAPTER V.
ITALIAN SCULPTURE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

There was no one great influence or circumstance which led up to the revival of
art and letters which took place in the fifteenth century, and which is known
under the general name of the Renaissance. Its causes were many, and may be
traced in every department of the life of the Middle Ages—in religion, politics,
learning, and the habits of the people. This is far too great a topic for us to enter
on here, and we must keep to the one matter which we have in hand.
In Italy, heretofore, as we have shown, sculpture had been almost entirely
separated from other arts, and stood by itself. Its works had been the smaller
objects of which we have spoken; and though these were oftentimes splendid in
their design and execution, they did not afford the sculptor the same broad field
for his work as he has when his productions are combined with architecture.
Now all this was changed. The French and German artists had brought out a
style of architecture of their own, the Italians pursued another course, and went
back to classic art for their teaching, and now every opportunity was given for
sculpture to assume its utmost importance; and the art of ancient Greece was
studied with all the enthusiasm of the Italian nature.
The masters of Florence, or, rather, of Tuscany, were of great importance in the
beginning of the new movement, and I shall speak first of them. Francesco
Squarcione, who lived from 1396 to 1474, was a painter, and travelled into
Greece to collect antique objects, and made many drawings from the
monuments which he saw. He established a school in Padua, and his museum
was of advantage to sculptors as well as to painters. Other Tuscan artists who
were in love with classic art wandered among its remains in Rome and other
parts of Italy, and brought back to their homes a greater knowledge of sculpture,
as well as the drawings which they had made; and in this part of Italy the
Renaissance early made itself a living, active power.
Among the very first of these sculptors was Jacopo della Quercia (1374-1438),
who was so called from the little market town of Quercia, near Siena, in which
he was born. His father was a goldsmith, and instructed his son in his art; but
the boy loved sculpture, and studied it under one Luca di Giovanni. When but

nineteen years old he made an equestrian statue of wood, and covered it with
cloth, and painted it to represent marble in a manner which proved him to be an
artist. About this time he left his home, and the next that we know of him was
about ten years later, when his design for the gates of the Baptistery of Florence
was pronounced to be next in merit to those of Ghiberti and Brunelleschi.
In 1408 Quercia went to Ferrara, where he did several works. While there he
was called by the Signory of Siena to make a new fountain in the Piazza del
Campo. This was a beautiful work, and even in this century, though much
injured, its remaining sculptures prove that it must have been a wonder in its
day. It has been restored after the original model by Quercia, who was often
called Jacopo della Fonte on account of this work. He executed some sculptures
in Lucca, but his masterpiece was the decoration of the great portal of the
Basilica of San Petronio, at Bologna. (Fig. 82.)
The fifteen reliefs here represent the
history of Adam and Eve, and other
stories from the creation to the
deluge. They show the full freedom
and power of Quercia's style, and are
among the most attractive of all the
Tuscan sculptures of this period.
Duringd the last years of his life this
artist was employed as
superintendent of the works upon the
Cathedral of Siena, in which city he
died.
We come now to speak of the famous
Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), who
was born in Florence, and was both a
goldsmith and sculptor; and though
his fame rests upon his bas-reliefs,
yet the exquisite detail and careful
Fig. 82.—Relief by Jacopo della finish in them came from his practice
Quercia. of the goldsmith's art. In 1398 a
Bologna. plague broke out in Florence, and
Ghiberti fled to Rimini for safety.
While there he painted a few pictures; but his name is so linked with the

splendid gates which he made for the Baptistery of Florence that it is of those
that one naturally thinks when his name is heard.
We have spoken of the gates which Andrea Pisano had made to this Baptistery
long before; these were for the south side; and when, in 1400, the plague again
visited Florence the people believed that the wrath of Heaven should be
appeased by a thank-offering. Accordingly the Guild of Wool-merchants
promised to add gates on the north and east of the Baptistery of St. John the
Baptist.
A time was appointed for the examination of designs, and many artists entered
into the competition, and sent in their drawings and models. A great number of
these represented the Sacrifice of Isaac. At length all the models were set aside
but two, and these were made by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti; then the former
declared that he thought his rival's design the best, thus showing a nobility of
character which cannot be too much praised.
The commission was thus given to Ghiberti, who first executed the northern
gates. He began them in 1403, and finished them twenty-one years later. They
illustrate the life of Christ in twenty scenes; they have also the figures of the
evangelists and the four Fathers of the Church in a beautiful framework of
foliage, animals, and other ornamental figures, which divides and incloses the
larger compositions. These gates are done in a manner much in advance of that
of Pisano, and yet they retain some features of an earlier style which are not
found in Ghiberti's later works. But from the first he showed original talent, as
one may see by his model of the Sacrifice of Isaac, which is preserved in the
Museum of the Bargello, beside that of Brunelleschi.
These northern gates are very beautiful, but those on the east are far more so; it
is of these last that Michael Angelo declared, "They are worthy to be the gates
of Paradise!" These are divided into ten compartments, representing: 1, Creation
of Adam and Eve; 2, History of Cain and Abel; 3, Noah; 4, Abraham and Isaac;
5, Jacob and Esau; 6, History of Joseph; 7, Moses on Mount Sinai; 8, Joshua
before Jericho; 9, David and Goliath; 10, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
(Fig. 83).
This sculptor showed great skill for one in his age, but to us there is some
disappointment in them on account of the crowded appearance of the figures.
Familiarity with them, however, reveals their beauty, and we find that, in truth,
the stories Ghiberti wished to tell are brought out with much distinctness. They

will ever remain one of the great monuments of the sculpture of the
Renaissance.
Ghiberti endeavored to introduce fine backgrounds to his reliefs, which gave
him an opportunity to add figures illustrating other incidents than the principal
one of the work. His sculptures show the influence of the Gothic style, the study
of nature and that of the antique all combined; with these are united his own
power of conception, his ability in design, and his wonderful delicacy of
execution. These gates have been continually studied by the artists of his own
and succeeding generations.

Fig. 83.—From the Eastern Gates.
Showing compartments 6, 8, and 10.
The next work of importance by Ghiberti is the sarcophagus of St. Zenobius in
the Cathedral of Florence. Other lesser sculptures are in other churches in
Florence and in the Cathedral of Siena.
We come now to one of the most interesting sculptors of the fifteenth century.
Donatello he was called, but his real name was Donato di Betto Bardi (1386-
1468). He was born in Florence, and from his boyhood was a member of the
family of the rich banker Ruberto Martelli, who was the firm friend of the
sculptor for life, and when he died he provided in his will that the works by

Donatello which he bequeathed to his family should never be pledged, sold, or
given away, but kept as a perpetual inheritance for his heirs. Donatello was a
realist, and followed nature with great exactness. This was not always
productive of beauty in his works; indeed, some of them are very ugly, and a
story which illustrates this is told of himself and Brunelleschi. Donatello had
made a crucifix, carved from wood, for the Church of Santa Croce, and when it
was finished he asked Brunelleschi's opinion of it. This latter artist was
principally an architect; but as he had learned the goldsmith's trade, he executed
some sculptures, and a close friendship existed between himself and Donatello.
Relying on their love for each other, Brunelleschi frankly told Donatello that his
crucifix was very ugly, and his figure of Christ like that of a day-laborer,
whereas it should represent a person of the greatest possible beauty.
Donatello was very angry at this, and exclaimed, "It is easier to criticise than to
execute; do you take a piece of wood and make a better crucifix!" Brunelleschi
determined to do this, and when his work was finished he invited Donatello to
sup with him. He placed the crucifix in a conspicuous place in his house, and
then took Donatello with him to the market to buy their food. He gave the
parcels to Donatello, and asked him to go before to the house, saying that he
would soon follow. When Donatello entered and saw the crucifix he was so
delighted at the sight that he forgot everything else, and dropped the eggs,
cheese, and all on the floor, and stood gazing at the carving as motionless as if
he were a statue himself. When Brunelleschi came he said, "What are we to do
now? You have spoiled all the dinner!"
"I have had dinner enough for to-day," replied Donatello. "You may have a
better appetite. To you, I confess, belongs the power of carving the figure of
Christ; to me that of representing day-laborers."
This famous crucifix by Brunelleschi is now in the Gondi Chapel of the Church
of Santa Maria Novella; that by Donatello is in the chapel of Saints Ludovico
and Bartolommeo in the Church of Santa Croce.
The Annunciation cut from sandstone, which is in Santa Croce, is one of his
earliest works, and is full of grace and nobleness (Fig. 84). He made some
beautiful groups of dancing children, which are now in the Uffizi Gallery; but
he considered his David, which is in the same gallery, as his masterpiece. He
was so proud of it that he swore by it, saying, "By the faith I have in my
Zuccone!" This word means bald-head, and had come to be used as the usual
name for the David.

Fig. 84.—The Annunciation.
By Donatello.
But in spite of his liking for the David, it is generally thought that his St.
George, on the exterior of the Church of Or San Michele, is far better. The
German art-writer Grimm thus speaks of this work: "What a man is the St.
George in the niche of the Church of Or San Michele! He stands there in
complete armor, sturdily, with his legs somewhat striding apart, resting on both
with equal weight, as if he meant to stand so that no power could move him
from his post. Straight before him he holds up his high shield; both hands touch
its edge, partly for the sake of holding it, partly in order to rest on it; the eyes
and brows are full of expectant boldness.... We approach this St. George, and
the mere artistic interest is transformed suddenly into a more lively sympathy
with the person of the master.... Who is it, we ask, who has placed such a man
there, so ready for battle?" (Fig. 85.)
Donatello's impetuosity led him into many rash acts. Among other instances of
this it is related that a rich Genoese merchant gave an order for a portrait bust of

himself in bronze; when it was finished the great Duke
Cosimo de' Medici, who was a friend of Donatello, admired
the work so much that he placed it on his balcony, so that
all Florentines who passed by could see it. When the
merchant was given the price of the bust he objected to it,
and it was referred to Duke Cosimo for settlement. In the
conversation the Genoese said that the bust could be made
in a month, and that he was willing to pay the artist a dollar
a day for his time and labor.
When Donatello heard this he exclaimed, "I know how to
destroy the result of the study of years in the twinkling of
an eye!" and he threw the bust into the street below, where
it was broken into fragments. Then the merchant was
deeply mortified, and offered the sculptor double the price
he had asked if he would repeat the work; but though
Donatello sadly needed the money he would not do this,
and persisted in his refusal, even when Cosimo de' Medici
tried to persuade him to consent.
Fig. 85.—Statue
of St. George. When Donatello was old Duke Cosimo gave him an
By Donatello. allowance which would support himself and four workmen;
but in spite of this Donatello wore such shabby clothes that
Cosimo sent him a red surcoat, a mantle and hood. These
Donatello returned, saying they were far too fine for him. When the sculptor at
length became feeble and bedridden his benefactor had died, but Piero de'
Medici, the son of Cosimo, was careful to keep him in comfort; and when he
died his funeral was attended with much ceremony. He was buried near Duke
Cosimo, in the Church of San Lorenzo.
Several of Donatello's works are in this church, and are a more suitable
monument to his memory than any that could be made by other hands.
The works of Donatello are numerous, both in marble and bronze, and in both
these substances he made statues and reliefs. We cannot speak in detail of all
that he accomplished; but as he lived in an age when every advance in art was
an event in history, we must not forget to say that he made the first equestrian
statue which had been produced since the time of the Romans. This statue is in
Padua, in front of the Church of San Antonio; it is of colossal size, and
represents the Venetian General Gattamelata; and though it does not satisfy our

conception as an equestrian statue, it is worthy of some praise when we
remember all the circumstances of its origin. It is not probable that Donatello
had ever seen an antique equestrian statue, unless it might have been that of
Marcus Aurelius, which was found in the Forum in 1187; no modern statues
existed as examples for him; he was not familiar with the modelling of horses,
and for every reason it was a bold thing for him to undertake such a work.
Donatello had more influence upon the art of his time than any other Tuscan
sculptor, with the single exception of Michael Angelo. As a man he was honest,
simple, and upright in all his dealings; as a friend he was loyal and faithful; as a
Christian he was humble and charitable, and left behind him a name which has
been handed down through more than four centuries with respect and honor.
Luca della Robbia (1400-1481) is another native of Florence, whose name is
widely known. Like many others, he began life as a goldsmith, and in this way
gained a mastery over detail and a finish of style that are remarkable in all his
works. He turned his attention to sculpture early in life, and was so enthusiastic
in his pursuit of this art that he worked night and day, minding neither cold nor
hunger and fatigue; in the beginning he made numerous wax models, which
have perished, and with all his industry we have no work of his before he was
forty-five years old, except the reliefs of Music, Philosophy, Geometry,
Grammar and Astronomy, Plato and Aristotle, Ptolemy and Euclid, and a man
playing a lute, which are set into the side of the Campanile at Florence, and two
scenes from the life of St. Peter, which are in the Uffizi.
In the same gallery are also the series of reliefs which Luca began when forty-
five years old for the balustrade of an organ in the cathedral. These reliefs
represent boys singing, dancing, and playing on musical instruments (Fig. 86).
The attitudes are so graceful and so varied, and the expressions on the faces are
so many, that there is much to admire in a subject which in unskilful hands
would be very monotonous.

Fig. 86.—dancing Boys.
By Luca della Robbia.
No sculptures since the classic days represent child-life with such freshness and
charming qualities, and these alone would have raised Luca to a high rank as a
sculptor. In the Uffizi one is able to examine these works closely, and they gain
by this nearness to the eye, which enables one to see the minuteness of his
finish. There are various works of his in bronze and marble still to be seen in the
churches of Florence, but the special art to which he gave his attention was to
the perfecting of enamel upon terra-cotta—on the making of what is known as
the Robbia ware. In this he achieved a great success, and his bas-reliefs are very

beautiful. At first he used but few colors, but later he increased their number,
and was able to produce a combined effect of painting and relief that is very
pleasing.
These works were used for altar-pieces, medallions on exteriors, fountains, wall
decoration, and a great variety of purposes. Twelve medallions representing the
months, which are in the South Kensington Museum, are said to have been
made by Luca to decorate a writing cabinet for one of the Medici.
Luca worked with his nephew, Andrea, who had four sons; and when Luca died
his secrets belonged to them, and made their fortunes. They were occupied
eleven years in making a frieze to a hospital in Pistoja; it represented the Seven
Acts of Mercy. One of them went to France and decorated the Château of
Madrid for Francis I. Pope Leo X. employed another to pave the Loggie of the
Vatican with Robbia tiles, and these wares, in one form and another, were used
in numberless ways, both useful and decorative.
The Robbia family was followed by other workers in
glazed ware, and during about a century it was a
prominent feature in art, and then was gradually
given up.
The most noted pupil of Donatello was Andrea del
Verocchio (1432-1488). He was born at Florence,
and was early apprenticed to a goldsmith called
Verocchio, from whom the sculptor took his
surname. It is said that this name came from the fact
that the elder Verocchio had remarkable exactness of
sight.
Neither the metal works nor the paintings which
Verocchio did remain, and after about 1466 he
Fig. 87.—Boy with devoted himself entirely to sculpture. It is difficult to
Dolphin. associate him with Donatello; his execution is
By Verocchio. finished like most sculptors who were also metal-
workers; his nude parts are true to nature, but not
graceful or attractive, and his draperies are in small folds, which give a tumbled,
crumpled effect rather than that of the easy, graceful falling of soft material.
His best works are a David in the Museum of the Bargello, Florence; a bronze
Genius pressing a Dolphin to itself on a fountain in the court of the Palazzo

Vecchio (Fig. 87); an equestrian statue of Colleoni before the Church of San
Giovanni e Paolo, Venice (Fig. 88); and a group of St. Thomas examining the
Wounds of Christ at the Church of Or San Michele, Florence. This last work is
in his best and latest manner; the expression is powerful, but the drapery is still
very faulty.
Although this equestrian statue is called by Verocchio's name, he did not live to
see it completed; and though it was without doubt made from his design, still
some credit for its execution is due to Alessandro Leopardo, who finished it.
When Colleoni died he left all his large fortune to the Republic of Venice on
condition that they should erect an equestrian monument to him in the square of
St. Mark. As it was forbidden by the laws of Venice to place such things in the
Piazza of St. Mark, it was placed in its present position, before the Church of
San Giovanni e Paolo, on the square of the School of St. Mark, and it was
thought that this answered the requirements of the will.

Fig. 88.—Statue of Colleoni.
By Verocchio.
When Verocchio had gone to Venice and had modelled the horse, he was told
that the Signory intended to have the rider made by another sculptor. He felt this
to be an insult, and broke off the head and legs of the horse, and left Venice for
Florence. The Signory issued a decree forbidding him to set foot again on
Venetian soil under pain of death. The sculptor replied that he should not take
the risk, as he well knew that the Signory could take off his head, and he could
not put it on, while he could replace his horse's head with a better one. The
Venetians knew that this was true, and repealed their decree, and doubling his
pay, asked him to come to complete his work. Verocchio consented to do so, but
had not been long in Venice when he died. Verocchio is said to have spent much

time in drawing from the antique, and his works prove him to have been
diligent and painstaking; these qualities made him the sculptor that he was; but
we see no traces in his work of the heaven-born genius which makes the artist
great, and so inspires himself that his works fill all beholders with an
enthusiasm in a degree akin to his own; the works of such artists as Verocchio,
who have only the excellencies which come from patient industry, interest us,
but they cannot move our hearts.
It often happened in Italy that a number of artists belonged to the same family,
as in the case of the Robbias. One such family had the name of Gambarelli, but
were known in art as the Rossellini. There were five sculptors of this name, all
brothers. Two of them had great ability, Bernardo and Antonio. Bernardo was
most distinguished as an architect, and some very celebrated edifices were built
from his designs; he also executed some excellent sculptures, among which are
the fine monument of Lionardo Bruni in the Church of Santa Croce, and that of
the Beata Villana in Santa Maria Novella, Florence. The first is one of the best
monuments in Tuscany. In the Uffizi are a bust of St. John, a charming work,
and a portrait bust of Battista Sforza.
Antonio Rossellino (1427-1490), called Proconsolo, from the quarter of
Florence in which he was born, was by far the best sculptor of the family. He is
called a pupil of Donatello, but his work very closely resembles that of
Ghiberti. Among his best works are the monument to Cardinal Portogallo, in the
Church of San Miniato, near Florence; that of Mary of Aragon in Monte Oliveto
at Naples; a relief of the Nativity in the same church, and a relief of the Adoring
Madonna in the Uffizi Gallery. His characteristics were grace, delicacy of
treatment, sweetness of expression, and all these combined with a noble dignity.
Other Tuscan sculptors of this period were Desiderio da Settignano, Mino da
Fiesole (1400-1486), Andrea Ferrucci (1465-1526), and Benedetto da Majano
(1442-1498), who was eminent as an architect as well as for his sculpture. His
father was a stone-cutter, and two other sons in the family were artists.
Benedetto began life as a worker in wooden mosaics, or intarsiatore, as it is
called. He made two beautiful inlaid chests, and carried them to Hungary as a
gift to King Matthias Corvinus, whose fame as a patron of art had reached his
ears. But the young artist was doomed to a dreadful disappointment, for when
he unpacked his chests in the presence of the king it was found that the sea-
damp had spoiled them, and the mosaics had fallen apart. Benedetto then
determined to work in more durable materials, and executed some sculptures in
marble and terra-cotta while he remained in Hungary.

After his return to Florence, Benedetto worked as an architect, and the Strozzi
Palace was built after his design. His masterpiece in sculpture was the
monument to Filippo Strozzi, in the Strozzi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella, and
it also merits mention among the best works of the fifteenth century. A pulpit in
Santa Croce, by Benedetto, is also very fine, and his skill was shown here in his
supporting the pulpit against a column and putting the staircase by which the
pulpit is entered inside the column; thus it was concealed, and the building in no
wise weakened, while the pulpit is far more beautiful than it would be were the
staircase in sight.
Benedetto was summoned to Naples by the Duke of Calabria, who gave him
commissions which occupied him for two years. Few Tuscan sculptors have
produced more pleasing works than Benedetto's; though not profound they are
pleasing and unaffected, and in whatever frame of mind one may be, they do
not disturb, but rather soothe and charm, as they could not do if they were false
in sentiment or executed in an affected manner.
Matteo Civitali di Giovanni (1435-1501) was born in Lucca, but studied art in
Florence. His statue of St. Sebastian in the Cathedral of Lucca was so much
admired by the painter Perugino that he copied it in his picture of the
Entombment.
Civitali's chief work in sculpture was the tomb of Pietro da Noceto in the same
cathedral. In Genoa, in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, he executed six
statues and five bas-reliefs. A bas-relief of Faith by Civitali in the Uffizi Gallery
is a fine work, full of earnestness and deep religious feeling.
Civitali was also an accomplished architect, and did much to improve the style
of building in Lucca. The beautiful temple of the Volto Santo in the cathedral
was designed by him.
This sculptor may be said to have had four different styles of work. The St.
Sebastian was in his earliest manner, and is simply realistic; his second manner
was the best; it is pure and dignified in conception, while deep feeling pervades
all; the tomb of Noceto was in this second style; his third manner was more free
and less pure, while the fourth, as seen in his work at Genoa, is full of
extravagant exaggeration.
Next to the sculptors of the Tuscan or Florentine school of this period were
those of Venice in importance and independence of manner. This school was
much influenced by that of Tuscany because of the nearness of the two cities

and the constant communication between them, as well as by the fact that
Tuscan sculptors were more or less employed in Venice. One of the earliest
Venetian sculptors was Antonio Giovanni Bregno, called Antonio Rizzo or
Riccio (about 1430-1498?). Although he was born in Verona, and there had the
opportunity to study the Roman ruins which are the pride of the city, he is yet
essentially an artist of Venice, since he spent most of his life there, and was
even at the head of the workshop for the sculptors who worked upon the palace.
One little episode in the life of this artist was an expedition to Scutari with the
Venetian soldiers, who went to its defence against the Turks. Rizzo showed
himself so brave in action, and was so severely wounded, that after his return to
Venice the Senate gave him a pension which lasted through twenty years. Rizzo
so won the confidence of the Venetians that he was appointed to important
offices with large salaries, and it is sad to be forced to add that he proved to be a
dishonest man, and when his accounts were examined he fled to Foligno, where
he soon died. We will not speak of him as an architect; as a sculptor he is known
by statues of Adam and Eve in niches opposite the Giant's Staircase in the Ducal
Palace, and by sepulchral monuments in the Church of the Frari. While his
works cannot be highly praised for beauty, they do show the style of the
Renaissance distinctly.
Lombardo is the family name of three sculptors of this period in Venice. They
were Pietro and his two sons, Tullio and Antonio, and the three together are
spoken of as the Lombardi. Pietro, the father, was as much an architect as a
sculptor, and the works of the father and son are so associated that it is difficult
to speak of them separately. We know that Tullio was the superior artist of the
three, but there are no works of theirs that command a detailed description here.
The monument to the Doge Pietro Mocenigo, in the Church of SS. Giovanni e
Paolo, the angels of the font in San Martino, an altar-relief in the altar of San
Giovanni Crisostomo, reliefs on the front of the Scuola di San Marco, and two
reliefs in the Church of San Antonio at Padua, are the principal sculptures of the
Lombardi.
Alessandro Leopardo, who flourished about 1490, was the most eminent
bronze-caster of his time, and was distinguished for the happy manner in which
he adapted classic ideas to his needs in his works.
Very little is known of the life of this sculptor, and that little is not to his credit.
He lived in Venice, and had a studio in the Piazza del Cavallo, and in 1487
committed a forgery, for which he was banished from the city. But when
Verocchio died, leaving the Colleoni statue unfinished, the Senate desired to

have it completed by Leopardo, so they sent him a safe-conduct for six months,
and he returned to Venice. As there is no account of his again leaving the city, it
is supposed that he was allowed to remain as long as he chose. There has been
much difference of opinion as to which artist—Verocchio or Leopardo—should
be credited with the excellence of the Colleoni statue. The truth, as near as it
can be told, seems to be that Verocchio designed and modelled it, that Leopardo
completed and cast it, and made the lofty pedestal upon which it stands, and
which, taken by itself, is a splendid work. It is of fine proportions, and has six
Corinthian columns, in the capitals of which there are dolphins, while the frieze
is composed of trophies and marine animals, all of which are symbols of the
City on the Sea which erected the monument.
After the Colleoni statue was unveiled the Senate gave Leopardo an order for
three standard bases of bronze to be placed in the Piazza of St. Mark's. He also
made three splendid candelabra for the Venetian Academy. Leopardo was also
an architect. The time of his death is very uncertain, but a writer speaks of him
in 1541 as "the new glory of our age, who shines like a star in the Venetian
waters."
Although an immense amount of sculpture of this period remains in various
parts of Italy, it is very difficult to trace the story of separate artists and to give a
satisfactory account of those whose works are worthy of high praise. There is
scarcely an Italian city of any size which has not some splendid remains of this
morning of the Renaissance. In Ancona there are the portal of San Francesco
and the front of Mercanzia, with which the name of Giorgio da Sebenico is
associated. At Rimini the Church of San Francesco, with its wealth of plastic
ornament, cannot be ascribed to any one artist or to any number with surety; it
is in the style of Luca della Robbia and Donatello, but in the execution does not
reach their standard. In Cesena, Padua, and Verona there are fifteenth-century
sculptures, and in the Milanese territory the plastic art of this period is very
interesting.

Figs. 89, 90.—Terra-cottas from the Ospedale Grande.
Milan.
In Milan, in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in the Ospedale Grande,
and in the cathedral there is a wealth of sculpture to reward the student of this
art who visits them; and in the Museum of the Breda there are many interesting
works. The terra-cotta decoration of the Ospedale excels all other works of this
sort in upper Italy, and the immense façade of this edifice is a marvel in its way
(Figs. 89, 90). The differences between this hospital and the wonderful Milan
Cathedral afford a remarkable contrast in works of the same period.
Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, or Omodeo (1447-1520), was born on a farm near
the Certosa of Pavia. When but nineteen years old his name appears as one of
those who were employed upon this splendid edifice, and the records of his
payments show that his work was well considered, even then. Omodeo was
undoubtedly the best sculptor of his time in all Lombardy, and his sculptures in
the Colleoni Chapel at Bergamo would be sufficient to make any artist famous.
The whole work may be called his, for he designed the building and the
sculptures of the façade, which are in the richest style of the Renaissance; there
are statuettes, colonettes, busts, medallions, and bas-reliefs, and wherever a flat
surface exists it is divided into diamond-shaped slabs of colored marbles. The
portal is very much ornamented: on each side of the rose window above this
entrance there are busts of Cæsar and Augustus in contrast with numbers of
angels' heads not far away. There are bas-reliefs representing children playing
upon musical instruments, and the whole front of the chapel, with its numerous

pilasters and colonettes, has been compared to a gigantic organ, by Mr. Perkins,
in his "Italian Sculptors".
Of the interior decoration we can only say that it is much in Omodeo's style,
though the monument to Colleoni, the founder of the chapel, is said to be the
work of German sculptors, and to have been done after Omodeo left Bergamo.
At Pavia, Omodeo succeeded Guiniforte as chief architect of the Certosa, and
designed the façade, which was made by him and his successors. The bas-relief
of the Deposition from the Cross, which is on the front of the high-altar here, is
the work of Omodeo. At Cremona and at Isola Bella he executed some
monuments, but at length, in 1490, he began his work on the Cathedral of
Milan. Here a cupola was commenced after his model and under his direction;
but when it was partly done doubts of its solidity were expressed, and Omodeo
was commanded to leave it and design the north door to the cathedral. He also
constructed the spiral staircase leading to the roof through an elegant Gothic
turret, where the medallion portrait of Omodeo may be seen. It has since been
proved that the cupola of Omodeo was solid enough, for it has sustained the
spire which was put upon it in 1772; but he was tormented concerning it in
many ways, and died without justification.
Omodeo stands at the head of northern Italian sculptors in his dexterous use of
his chisel; his ease in composition and his skill in the management of drapery
would have made him eminent; but the effect of all these good qualities was
injured by his mannerism, and the fact that his standard of beauty was not a
high one. This may be partly accounted for by the fact that in Lombardy an
artist had no opportunity to study the remains of classic art, and this one
circumstance very largely excuses the inferiority of the northern sculptors to
those of Tuscany, whose taste had been much improved by close study of
ancient plastic art.
There are many sculptors mentioned as having done some part of the work upon
the Milan Cathedral, but very few are known, except by casual remark.
Cristoforo Solari, called "Il Gobbo, or del Gobbo," was one of the most
prominent, and yet we know almost nothing of his history until, in 1490, he was
so disappointed when Omodeo was made architect of the cathedral instead of
himself that he went to Venice, and remained there during several years.
After a time Solari was appointed ducal sculptor to Ludovico Moro, and the
monument which he erected to Beatrice d'Este was one of his principal works.
When Ludovico lost his power Solari went to Rome, and remained until he was

recalled to Milan to execute sculptures for the cathedral. He was very
independent in his reply, and refused to go unless his conditions were complied
with; one of these conditions was that he should not be under the direction of
any one, but should select his marbles and his subjects to please himself. The
statues he made are not as fine as we might expect them to be after this
beginning; however, he was at length appointed head architect. Soon after this
he was engaged in making a new model for a cupola, and then suddenly his
name ceases to appear upon the registers.
The Cathedral of Como is another of those vast edifices which afforded
opportunities for artists to make themselves famous. The principal part of the
façade to this cathedral was ornamented by Tommaso and Jacopo Rodari. The
first was at one time architect of the cathedral, and together they executed a
large portion of the sculptures. Their best work was in the ornamental parts.
In the southern parts of Italy, both in the states of the Church and in Naples,
there are many works of the fifteenth century which were executed by artists
from Florence and other parts of Italy. Thus there is nothing new to be said
concerning sculpture in Southern Italy during this period, since the works which
are not by foreign artists are in the same style as theirs; for the native sculptors
copied those from Central and Northern Italy, and no great progress or original
manner can be found in these southern districts.

CHAPTER VI.
SCULPTURE IN GERMANY, FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND
SPAIN, FROM 1450 TO 1550.

In Italy, as we have seen, the sculpture of the Renaissance was much advanced
by the fact that in the beginning of its growth the architecture of the country was
largely an imitation of Greek architecture; and as the same artist was frequently
an architect, sculptor, and painter, edifices were designed with the purpose of
placing the works of the sculptor in the most favorable positions.
In the countries north of Italy sculpture had no such aid or advantages. The
Gothic style of architecture was a hindrance to the sculptor, whose works were
combined with it. The Gothic construction afforded no broad, generous spaces
for sculpture; all plastic work must be confined in limited spaces between
columns and baldachins, or in arched niches, or between narrow flutings; and
though something had been done to vary the upright stiffness of the statues of
its earliest days, there was no freedom for the realistic and natural tendencies of
the Renaissance art to develop in.
Another advantage on the side of Italian art was the fact that Italy was a land of
grace and beauty; its people were more refined in manner, more elegant and
picturesque in their costumes than were those of Northern Europe, and all the
influences surrounding the Italian artist were far more favorable to a
development of his artistic nature than were those of France or Germany. Then,
too, the remains of antique art which were within reach of the Italian sculptor
were quite shut off from others. For all these and other reasons the sculpture of
the north was more tardy in taking on the better spirit and form of the
Renaissance, and as a whole it never became as pleasing to most people as was
the sculpture of Italy.
In a former chapter we have spoken of the sculptor Claux Sluter and his work at
Dijon in the fourteenth century; the desire which he showed to make his figures
like the men they represented, and a general study of nature rather than of older
works of sculpture, had much effect upon the sculpture of his time, and
gradually became much exaggerated. German sculptors tried not only to make
exact portraits of the faces and heads of their figures, but they gave the same

attention to imitating every detail of costume and every personal peculiarity of
the model from which they worked. This tended to weaken and narrow their
own designs, and the whole effect of their work is fantastic and exaggerated—
an effect quite opposed to the noble and harmonious treatment of the whole
which the best Italian masters strove to attain.
The attempt to produce startling effects in German art made such subjects as the
Passion of Christ, the Temptation of St. Anthony, and the Martyrdoms of the
Saints to be constantly repeated, and many reliefs are overloaded with such
details as may very properly be used in painting, and which belong to
picturesque art, but which take away the dignity and calm grandeur which
should make the spirit of sculpture. But there is one feature of German sculpture
at this time which appeals to our sympathy—that is, the deep, earnest feeling
which pervades it, and which constantly tried new methods of expression.
In Germany there were guilds or trade-associations, and the members of these
guilds were allowed to work in the special branch only of sculpture which
belonged to their company, so that this art was divided by more fixed lines than
in Italy, where, in truth, at the period of which we speak, the Florentine school
was a supreme power, and its sculptors, as we have seen, worked in as many
sorts of sculpture as pleased them.
The schools of Germany were far more independent of each other, and the
entire organization of art in Germany was very different from that of Italy.
One of the most prominent effects of the architecture of Germany was to drive
the sculptors to seek for such work as had no relation to architecture, and an
important result from this was the great attention which they paid to wood-
carving; indeed, this was the favorite pursuit of the German sculptors for many
years. About the middle of the fifteenth century the importance of this art in
Germany was far greater than those of bronze-casting or stone sculpture.
The principal works in wood-carving were the altars, which finally came to be
colossal in size, and with their multitude of reliefs, statuettes, and ornaments
were marvellous monuments to the industry and skill of the wood-carvers. The
reliefs in these works are usually arranged on landscape backgrounds, and so
much resemble pictures in many ways that the colors and gilding which were
freely used on them do not seem out of place, and it appears to be quite natural
that wood-carvers should often have been painters also.

The Swabian school, the principal seat of which was Ulm, was the earliest to
adopt the new, realistic style. There are works by Swabian artists which show
this tendency as early as 1431. Jörg Syrlin, who flourished during the last half
of the fifteenth century, was an eminent wood-carver, and as he did not color his
works he can be better judged as a sculptor than he could be if the effect of the
whole depended partly upon painting. The choir-stalls in the Cathedral of Ulm
and the fountain in the market-place, called "Fischkasten," are his most
important works; but a singing-desk, now in the museum, and other lesser
pieces are also excellent examples of his style. The choir-stalls have an
immense number of figures and a mass of ornament, which made them far
richer than any such work of an earlier date, and none that have since been
made have equalled them. It is almost incredible that they were completed in
four years, and yet there are no marks of haste upon the work. The figures are
dignified and graceful, the faces delicate and expressive, the hands well formed,
and a beauty of design and execution marks the whole. The lower figures,
which come nearest the eye, are finer than those which are higher up, so that a
unity of effect is preserved throughout the whole. He sometimes took occasion
to give touches of humor in his works, and in these stalls he introduced his own
portrait and that of his wife.
The "Fischkasten" is sculptured in stone, and has three knights upon it which
appear to be boldly advancing, as if about to step off and walk away. Other
works by this master are less important, and it is doubtful if all that are called
by his name are really his own. Jörg Syrlin, the younger, trained by his father,
adopted his style, and became an excellent artist.
We have not space to speak of the Swabian sculptures in detail. Fine works exist
in Tiefenbronn, Rothenburg, Blaubeuren, Herrenberg, Gmünd, Ravensburg, and
many other places.
The influence of the Swabian school was very wide; it can be traced in many
parts of Germany, in Hungary and Transylvania, and even in Switzerland,
Austria, and Bavaria. Swabian artists were often summoned to adjacent
provinces, and thus did much work away from their homes. The reliefs upon the
door of the Cathedral of Constance were executed by Simon Hayder, a Swabian,
in 1470. The altar of the cathedral at Chur was the work of Jacob Rösch,
another Swabian master, who thus labored on the very boundary of Italy. The
school at Augsburg was the second Swabian school in importance, and much
influence went out from that centre, though its sculptures were not as fine as
those of Ulm.

In some cases fine old sculptures still exist in the churches and other places for
which they were intended. Again we find them either whole, or in parts, in
museums to which they have been removed when they were no longer required
for the uses for which they were made, or when they were replaced by more
modern works. So few facts are known concerning them that it is almost
impossible to do more than repeat descriptions of the subjects they represent;
and this is neither profitable nor entertaining in a book of this kind; therefore I
shall now speak only of such artists as have left some record behind them, and
of works whose authorship can be given.
Veit Stoss, who flourished about the middle of the fifteenth century, was an
eminent wood-carver. Very little is known about him. His name is sometimes
said to be Wit Stwosz, and Cracow and Nuremberg both claim to have been his
birthplace. But it is now believed that he was born in Nuremberg, as it is known
that in 1477 he gave up his citizenship there and went to Cracow, and in 1496
he paid a small sum to be again made a citizen of Nuremberg.
We also know that his reputation as a man was not good. In a Nuremberg decree
he is called a "reckless and graceless citizen, who has caused much uneasiness
to the honorable council and the whole town." He was convicted of crimes for
which he should have suffered death, but the sentence was changed, and he was
branded: both cheeks were pierced with a hot iron. After this he broke the oath
he had taken to the city, and joined her enemies in plotting against her; he was
subsequently imprisoned, and at his death, in 1533, he was very old and
perfectly blind.
It seems almost like a contradiction to say that this master was one of the most
tender in feeling of all the wood-carvers of his time. He was especially
successful in representing the purity of the Madonna and of youthful saints. His
principal works are in the churches of Cracow and Nuremberg. In the
Frauenkirche at Cracow the high-altar, a part of the stalls in the choir, and some
other sculptures are his. In Nuremberg his best works are a bas-relief of the
Crowning of the Virgin, which is preserved in the Burgkapelle; the great
Madonna statue, which was placed in the Frauenkirche in 1504; and the
colossal Angel's Salutation, which is suspended in the choir of the Church of St.
Laurence. This last is an unusual and important work. The angel appears as if
flying, and the drapery is much inflated; the Virgin is queenly and majestic, yet
graceful; all around are medallions in which are represented the Seven Sorrows
of the Virgin. The style of these reliefs is charming if we except the drapery;
that has the faults of the time, and is bad in style; but the female heads are all

that we could ask; the whole design is distinct, and few reliefs could surpass
these in simple beauty and genuine artistic feeling.
Another remarkable work of his is a panel of roses, now in the Burgkapelle. The
panel is seven feet high by five wide; more than half of this is covered by a
wreath of roses; there are besides four rows of small half-length figures
arranged round a cross of St. Anthony, a representation of the Last Judgment,
scenes in the history of man from the creation to the death of the Virgin, and
many other saints and like subjects in bits of reliefs, which fill up all spare
spaces. The style is very distinct, and the draperies better in this work than in
others from his hand.
There are other works in Nuremberg and elsewhere which are attributed to Veit
Stoss, but these that are known to be his are quite enough to establish his fame
as a gifted artist and a remarkable sculptor for his time.
Though Stoss is among the early masters of Nuremberg, it is yet true that others
had been at work while he was in Cracow, and the way had been prepared for
him and his work when he returned to his native city in 1496. Among the most
active artists in Nuremberg was Michael Wohlgemuth (1434-1519), who is
generally considered as a painter only; but we know that he made contracts for
entire works in which sculpture and painting are combined, and must have had
the oversight of the whole; and in this view it is proper to mention this master's
name. The altars at Haller Cross Chapel, Nuremberg, one at Zwickau, another at
Schwabach, and that of the Heilsbronn Monastery, near Nuremberg, are all
ascribed to Wohlgemuth.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), who was one of the great masters of the world,
was an architect, painter, and sculptor. He was a pupil of Michael Wohlgemuth,
and sculpture was less practised by him than other arts; yet the few works of his
which remain are much valued.
Dürer probably executed his carvings about 1510-1520. In the British Museum
there is a relief of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, which was purchased in the
Netherlands more than eighty years since for $2500. It is cut in a block of
cream-colored stone, seven and one half by five and one half inches in size, and
is a wonderful work. The companion piece, which represents the same saint
Preaching in the Wilderness, is in the Brunswick Museum, where there is also
an "Ecce Homo" carved in wood.

Dürer executed many little carvings in stone, ivory, and boxwood, and the
existing ones are seen in various collections in Germany. It is quite probable
that others are in private hands.
There are in Nuremberg many most excellent wood-carvings by unknown
masters; one who cares for this art is well repaid for a visit to this old city, and,
indeed, this is true of other old German towns. Bamberg, Marburg, Frankfort-
on-the-Main, Dortmund, Halle, and many other towns have riches in this kind
of art.
The stone sculpture of Germany in the fifteenth century was of less importance
than the wood-carving until toward the close of the period. The exteriors of the
churches and other edifices erected at this time had but little sculptural
ornament, and that consisted principally of traceries and figures in geometric
designs. Some small detached works, such as fonts, pulpits, or fountains, were
made in stone, but the chief use of stone sculpture was for monuments to the
dead.
Adam Krafft (about 1430-1507), of whose early history almost nothing is
known, is a very important master of this time, and his principal works add
another charm to the city of Nuremberg. A remarkable series of works by Krafft
are the Seven Stages, or seven bas-reliefs placed on the way to the Johannis
Cemetery, the designs representing the seven falls of Christ on his way to
Golgotha.
These reliefs are much crowded, and the only part that is at all idealized is the
figure of Christ; that is noble and calm in effect, and the drapery is simple and
dignified. The other figures are coarse and dressed like the Nurembergers of the
time in which Krafft lived.
In the churches of St. Sebald and St. Laurence and in the Frauenkirche there are
other splendid works of Krafft, and in some dwelling-houses of Nuremberg
there are sculptures of his. A Madonna on the houses, 1306, in the
Hirschelgasse, is one of the finest, perhaps the very best in all Germany. We do
not know whether this was by Krafft or not, but it has a purity and nobleness
that scarcely any other German sculptor attained.
That Krafft had a sense of humor is shown by a bas-relief above the entrance to
the Public Scales. The weigher stands observing the beam, and beneath it is
written, "To thyself as to others." Another man adds a weight to one scale, and
the man who is to be taxed puts his hand into his money-bag very reluctantly.

Perhaps his most artistic work was the tabernacle in the Church of St. Laurence.
It is sixty-four feet high; the lower part is supported by the kneeling figures of
Krafft and two of his associates. Above this rises a slender Gothic pyramid
ornamented with bas-reliefs and statuettes. He was employed upon this
tabernacle from 1496 to 1500. It is believed that a "Burial of Christ," in the
chapel of the Johannis Cemetery, was his latest work, and executed in 1507, the
year in which he died, in the hospital of Schwabach. Krafft led a most
industrious life, and was so skilful a workman that he could work with his left
hand as readily as with his right.
Tilman Riemenschneider was an important sculptor, born at Osterode, in the
Hartz Mountains, probably about 1460. In 1483 he went to Würzburg, and was
elected to one honorable office after another, until, in 1520, he was head
burgomaster. After the Peasants' War, in 1525, he was deprived of his office; he
lived but six years after this, and kept himself in close retirement, not even
practising his art.
His sculptures are mostly in stone, and are quite numerous in Würzburg and its
vicinity. His monument to the Knight Eberhard von Grumbach, in the church at
Rimpar, was probably his earliest important work. In it he has contrived to
express strength and bravery of character in spite of the stiff costume, every
detail of which is worked out (Fig. 91).

Fig. 91.—Count Eberhard von
Grumbach.
Rimpar.
In 1495 Riemenschneider received the important commission to erect in
Bamberg Cathedral a splendid monument to the Emperor Heinrich II. and his
wife Kunigunde. This occupied him until 1513, and is a splendid example of his
skill. The figures of the two royal personages lie upon a large sarcophagus; the
statues are more than life-size, and are dressed in the fantastic costume of the
fifteenth century. Upon the sides of the sarcophagus are five reliefs,
representing as many scenes from the lives of the emperor and empress. The
monuments and religious subjects executed by this sculptor are very numerous.
In the church at Maidbrunn there is a relief representing the "Lamentation over
the Dead Body of Christ," which is probably his latest work. It is cut from

sandstone, and the figure of Nicodemus is believed to be the sculptor's own
portrait.

Fig. 92.—Justice. Fig. 93.—The Three Wise Virgins.
We give here four figures from the portal of the cathedral at Berne, in
Switzerland. The really splendid sculptures were the work of Nicolaus Künz,
and from their style seem to belong to about 1520. They show the influence of
such artists as the painters Nicolaus Manuel (1484-1531) and Hans Holbein
(about 1459-1524). The statues of the Wise and Foolish Virgins are fine, and
that of Justice, whose pose is full of grace, and whose almost transparent
garment is an exquisite work, affords an excellent illustration of the most
pleasing sculpture of this period (Figs. 92, 93).
Another art, which had its headquarters at Nuremberg in the fifteenth century, is
bronze-casting, and its chief master was the famous Peter Vischer, who was the
son of another brasier, Hermann Vischer. The date of Peter Vischer's birth is
given as 1460, and he was admitted to be a master in his art in 1489. Five years
later than this he was summoned to Heidelberg together with a sculptor, Simon
Lamberger, to aid the Elector Philip with advice and skill. Nothing is known of
any work which Vischer did there.

Vischer's foundry at Nuremberg enjoyed a great fame, and orders were sent to it
from far and near. No doubt a great many monuments were cast here which
were not designed by Vischer at all. His works were numerous, but I shall only
describe his masterpiece, which was the shrine or tomb of St. Sebald, and
occupied Peter Vischer from 1508 to 1519, he being assisted by his five sons.
The son Peter was admitted as a master in the thimble trade in 1527. Hans was
called "the caster," and seems to have superintended the carving of models;
Hermann went to Italy and brought home designs and models; and Jacob and
Paul seem to have had no special departments. Between 1495 and 1508 so little
was recorded of Peter Vischer that it leads to the belief that these years must
have been given to study and to the improvement which the tomb of St. Sebald
shows over the work of the monument to Archbishop Ernst, in the Magdeburg
Cathedral, which was done in 1495.
The bones of St. Sebald had been inclosed in a sarcophagus of the Middle Ages,
and the work required of Vischer was a fitting tomb for such precious and
honored relics, for St. Sebald is the special patron saint of Nuremberg, and
dwelt in a cell near that city. His legend relates that he was the son of a Danish
king, who came to Germany as a missionary and settled at Nuremberg, where
he did many miraculous works of charity. On one occasion, during very cold
weather, he is said to have found a family nearly frozen and without fuel; he
commanded them to bring the icicles hanging from the roof and make a fire of
them. They obeyed, and were thus warmed. Many such wonders are told of him,
and Vischer in his statue makes him to appear as a pilgrim, with shell in hat,
staff, rosary and wallet, while in his hand he holds a model of a church intended
to represent that in which the tomb is erected. This Church of St. Sebald is now
used for the Lutheran service, and the shrine still stands in the centre of the
choir. (Fig. 94.)

Fig. 94.—Tomb of St. Sebald.
By Peter Vischer. Nuremberg.
The architecture of this remarkable work is of the richest style of Gothic, and
the whole of it is in bronze, except that the oaken sarcophagus is encased in
silver plates. This rests beneath a fret-work canopy supported on slender pillars.
There is an abundance of ornament everywhere, but the close examination of its
detail shows beauty and fitness in every part. For example, if we compare the
statue of the saint, of which we have spoken, which stands at the end of the
shrine most exposed, with the statue of Vischer himself, which is at the opposite
end, we shall see how the saint, with his symbols and his flowing drapery, is an

ideal work, and seems to be advancing with authority and
the air which befits the son of a king, while Vischer, with his
round cap, leather apron, and German face, is simply the
representation of a worker bent upon doing his best (Fig.
95).
The sarcophagus rests upon a base on which are four reliefs
of scenes from the life of the saint, all in the purest manner
of the time. One of these represents the burning of the icicles
recounted above (Fig. 96).
This base and sarcophagus and the fret-work above it form
the centre of the tomb. Then outside of this are eight pillars
supporting a baldachin, or canopy, in the richly ornamented
Romanesque style, and the combinations of the Gothic and
the decorative architecture are so skilfully made as not to Fig. 95.—Peter
offend our taste. But it is generally acknowledged that the Vischer's
chief beauty of this work is the series of the figures of the Statue.
apostles, which are upon the pillars. They are slender in
proportion, gracefully draped, and bear their distinctive symbols. They are
perfectly free from the realism of the earlier works of Vischer, and have more of
the purity and nobleness of the works of Ghiberti than are seen in the statues of
any other German artist of this age (Figs. 97, 98).

Fig. 96.—St. Sebald and the Burning Icicles.
Vischer.
Above the apostles are figures of prophets and other Biblical personages;
Perseus and Hercules are also represented, and other statues typify Strength,
Justice, Prudence, and Moderation. The figure of the Infant Christ is upon the
centre of the highest, or middle dome. Between the pillars at their bases stand
graceful candelabra, and the base itself rests upon snails. Besides all these
principal figures there are almost numberless others and many ornamental
designs. There are harpies, sirens, satyrs, fawns, and all sorts of fantastic
creatures. The whole work is full of the deep feeling of the north and the beauty
and richness of the south, and is a most remarkable production.
We are told that Vischer was but poorly paid for this labor, with all its thought
and skill. He inscribed upon it these words: "... He completed it for the praise of
God Almighty alone, and for the honor of St. Sebald, Prince of Heaven, by the
aid of pious persons, paid by their voluntary contributions." There is a
satisfaction in remembering that Vischer lived ten years after this tomb was
completed, and must have heard many praises of his work.

The later works of Vischer were a few reliefs and two important monuments at
Aschaffenburg and Wittenberg. His sons Hans and Hermann executed a few
monuments, which are done in the manner of their father, but do not equal him
in design or finish. There are numerous works which must be regarded as
productions of Vischer's studio and foundry of which we cannot give clear
accounts, not knowing whether they were the earlier works of the father, or
were executed by the sons or other pupils, of which he had many.

Fig. 97.—Peter. Fig. 98.—John.
By Peter Vischer. By Peter Vischer.
Pankraz Labenwolf was one of Vischer's pupils, and completed the splendid
lattice-work over the Town-hall which the master left unfinished; Labenwolf
added some ornaments and coats-of-arms to it. In 1550 he cast the fountain in
the court-yard of the same building, which is a graceful and creditable work; but
another fountain in the vegetable market, behind the Frauenkirche, is truly
original; the water flows from the mouths of two geese held under the arms of a
peasant; the whole effect is droll and unique (Fig. 99).
You will remember how, about 1390, Claux Sluter, by his works in Dijon, had a
great influence upon French sculpture. A century and more later this art in
France was largely under the influence of Italian masters, who had been called

into France by Francis I. and other patrons of art.
Splendid works of sculpture were also imported from
Italy, and the effect of the Italian Renaissance, which
was so plainly seen upon the painting of France, was
also at work upon its sculpture.
Where the sculptures were a part of an architectural
decoration, as in the case of the choir screen in the
cathedral at Amiens, and other like works, the change
was not as complete as in cases where the work was
one of independent sculpture, as in monuments and
statues to commemorate the dead, or in portrait
sculpture.
The wealth and power of the nobility of France at this
period enabled them to gratify their desire to leave fine
monuments of themselves, in order to keep their
Fig. 99.—Man and names in memory in future centuries. In these the
Geese. Italian manner was adopted, and the works when
By Labenwolf. completed were far more splendid and elegant than
were the corresponding works in Germany. But they
have a grave fault, which makes them much less interesting than are the
German sculptures: they are more conventional, less expressive, and far less
artistic in spirit. They impress one as if the soft, luxurious court atmosphere had
passed over them, and taking away their strong points, had left them only a
general air of being well-bred and well-kept persons, of little importance to the
real life of the world.
In the Louvre, in the Museum of Modern Sculpture, all this change can be
traced, and the traveller in France may see such monuments as we refer to in all
the cathedrals and most of the churches all over the country. Many of them
cannot be traced to any one master. A fine specimen is the Amboise Monument
in Rouen Cathedral, which is said to have been the work of one Roulland de
Roux and his assistants.
Jean Juste of Tours was one of the best French artists of his day. In the
Cathedral of Tours is a monument to two young children of Charles VIII.,
which proves him to have had much delicacy and tenderness of execution. The
sarcophagus is covered with graceful designs, and on the lid lie the two babies,

for the eldest was but three years old. The whole work is exquisite, and gives
one a feeling of satisfaction.
About 1530 Juste erected the splendid monument to Louis XII. and Anne of
Brittany in the Church of St. Denis. While the general form of the monument is
much like that of the Visconti in the Certosa at Pavia, the figures of the dead
couple are quite different from the Italian manner. Below on a bier the two nude
bodies are stretched in all the realism possible, and the heads are noble and
touching in expression. Above, on the upper part of the monument, where in
Italy the patron saint or some other figure usually is placed, the king and queen
again appear; they are kneeling, with full drapery about them, while the faces
are characteristic and very expressive. This monument, taken all in all, is in the
perfection of the French art of the time. Another work by Juste now in the
Louvre is the monument to Louis de Poncher, one of the ministers of Francis I.,
and his wife, Roberta. These statues are in alabaster, and were formerly in the
Church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, which was built by Poncher.
Pierre Bontemps must have been a famous sculptor, as he was chosen to erect
the monument to Francis I., his wife Claude and their three children. This is also
at St. Denis, and is even more grand than that to Louis XII. On the upper
platform the five figures are kneeling; they are noble and simple, with an air of
great repose. These examples serve to give an idea of the religious sculpture of
the time.
Secular subjects were unusual. A house in Bourges is decorated with the figures
of the master and mistress above the entrance, as if they would speak a
welcome, while reliefs of industrial scenes, such as might be seen outside and
inside of the house, are placed in various positions over the building and in the
court-yard. Something of a like sort is upon the Hotel Bourgtheroulde at Rouen,
where the friezes show scenes between Francis I. and Henry VIII. Biblical
scenes are also distributed over the building.
Bruges is almost the only city of the Netherlands that has any sculptures of this
period of which one would speak. Just at this time the art of that country was
painting preeminently, and the Van Eycks and their followers had done such
things as held the attention of all to the neglect of other arts. At Bruges in the
cathedral, the Church of St. Jacques, and the Liebfrauenkirche there are some
fine monuments, and the Palais de Justice has a carved chimney-piece which is
magnificent, and a work of the highest rank.

In England sculpture was of less account even than in the Netherlands. One
circumstance is worthy of notice. Pietro Torrigiano, after quarrelling with
Michael Angelo and breaking his nose, fled to England, and his monument of
Henry VII. and his queen in Westminster Abbey, erected in 1519, marks the
introduction of the style of the Italian Renaissance into England. The structure
is of black marble; the statues of the king and queen are in gilt bronze, and are
grandly noble in design and finished in execution. The smaller figures and all
the details of the monument are fine. The master received £1000 for this work.
Torrigiano executed other works, and entered into an agreement to make a
monument to Henry VIII. and Catherine of Aragon, but for some reason he went
to Spain in 1519 and never returned, as he was destroyed by the Inquisition
three years later.
It is probable that Torrigiano may have been led to Spain by hearing of the
revival of art which was taking place there. Flemish and Italian artists went
there, and the influence of their styles was felt by the native masters. The result
was that they brought forth a manner of their own, combining certain features of
northern and of southern art, and used to express the thoughts of the Spaniards
themselves. The carved altars of Seville, Toledo, and Burgos show how
splendid this art was; and though we cannot trace the lives and works of
Spanish sculptors as we should like to do, we can be sure that there were men
among them equal to any demand that could be made upon decorative sculptors.
This is proved by the portals and fronts of the churches, by the highly
ornamented chapels, the wall niches and choir screens of the interiors, while the
monuments are also equal to those of other nations. That of Ferdinand and
Isabella in the Church of the Guardian Angel, at Granada, is noble and
magnificent. It is believed to have been erected before the death of Ferdinand in
1516, and was probably the work of an Italian sculptor. This monument has a
large marble sarcophagus, with a structure above it in the Renaissance style. At
the corners of the sarcophagus there are griffins of excellent workmanship, and
on the sides reliefs and statuettes of the Four Fathers of the Church; on the lid
repose the figures of the royal pair, executed in a grand and dignified simplicity.

CHAPTER VII.
ITALIAN SCULPTURE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY—
CELLINI, MICHAEL ANGELO, AND OTHERS.

By the beginning of the sixteenth century sculpture occupied a different place
with relation to architecture from that which it had held in the previous
centuries which we have just considered. The architecture of Italy became much
more plain, and its union with sculpture in any large degree was rare.
Painting, too, had now an effect to lessen the sphere of sculpture. This art was
always preferred by the Christians, as has been shown before, and now, when it
had reached most satisfactory heights, it was used in many places where
sculpture had before been placed. One important example of this is seen in the
decoration of altars; where bas-reliefs had been used paintings were now
preferred, and the end of all was that sculpture was limited to monuments and to
separate pieces—reliefs or single statues or groups of figures.
In some ways this separation of the arts was a benefit to all. Under the old rule
sculptors had often been forced to sacrifice their design to the needs of the
architecture their work adorned. At other times they were compelled to put aside
their own feeling and their artistic ideas as to how a subject should be treated,
and suit themselves to such forms as were approved by the particular priest or
bishop whose church they decorated. Now, when left to itself, sculpture became
more individual in its expression, and far more free and interesting in itself. In
the beginning of the sixteenth century the works of Italian sculpture were
splendid in the extreme. It was delicate and beautiful; the drapery was made to
show the figure and its natural motion, while it added an exquisite grace to the
whole; many works of this period were fine in conception, good in their
arrangement, and executed in a noble, spirited manner. Some critics believe that
during the first four decades of this era Italian sculpture equalled the antique art
of the Romans. Others make 1520, or the time of Raphael, the limit to the best
epoch of this art; but it is scarcely possible thus to fix an exact bound; the
important point is that this excellence was reached, and the regret follows that it
could not endure for a longer period.

A far greater variety of subjects was represented in this age of sculpture than
before. Formerly the rule was the production of religious effects. Scenes from
the life of Christ and his disciples, others from those of the saints, or the
illustration of scriptural stories, with the portrait tomb-sculpture, had been the
sculptor's work. Now all the stories of mythology were studied as diligently as
they had been in classic days, and artists studied to clothe the pagan personages
with new forms; and in all this effort much appeared that was original. It is easy
to see that such sculpture from the hand of a Christian artist must lack the
important element of pure sincerity. An artist who believed in Jesus Christ could
not conceive a statue of Jupiter, with all the glorious attributes, that an ancient
Greek would have given to his god of gods. In this view the sculpture of classic
subjects of this sixteenth century may be said to have been two-sided—the work
illustrated a religion in which the artist pleased his imagination, but for which
he had no reverence or love. But in spite of all it was a golden age, and many of
its works are a "joy forever."

Fig. 100. Pharisee. Fig. 101. Levite.
By Rustici. By Rustici.
Although the first public work which Leonardo Da Vinci did at Milan was to
model an equestrian statue, we can scarcely speak of him as a sculptor. But the
first Florentine of this period whom I shall mention is Giovanni Francesco

Rustici (1476-1550), who was a fellow-pupil with Leonardo under Verocchio.
Very few works by this master remain, but a prominent and important one is the
bronze group above the northern portal to the baptistery at Florence. It
represents the "preaching of St. John The Baptist," and is grand in the free
action of its figures. The Drapery is in a pure style, very much like that of
Ghiberti (figs. 100, 101). This work was ordered by a guild of merchants, and
they failed to pay the price which had been fixed for it. Rustici was so
embarrassed by this that he undertook no more large works, and after the
Medici were expelled from florence he went into the service of Francis I. in
France he had executed various works, and was finally commissioned to model
an equestrian statue of the king in colossal size, when the sovereign died.
Rustici survived but three years, and we are told that he only executed small
works, and those "for the most part for the sake of kindness."
Andrea Contucci dal Monte San Savino, called Sansovino (1460-1529), was a
very important sculptor, because large works were committed to him, and his
name must remain associated with them. Like Giotto, Sansovino was a
shepherd-boy, and drew pictures upon the stones of the fields. Like Giotto, too,
he was sent to Florence to study, and in the school of Pallajuolo made good
progress. When thirty years old he was appointed architect and sculptor to the
King of Portugal. After an absence of ten years he returned to Florence, and
later to Rome, where Pope Julius II. commissioned him to erect monuments to
the Cardinals Rovere and Sforza, in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo.
These monuments were his best works, but they cannot be praised. The statues
are in positions which seem to be uncomfortable, and there is such a mass of
ornament and so many statuettes that the whole has an effect of confusion.
In 1513 Leo X. sent Sansovino to Loreto to adorn the temple which incloses the
"Casa Santa" with bas-reliefs. This Casa Santa is believed to be the house in
which the Virgin Mary was born at Nazareth; and when the Saracens invaded
the land four angels are said to have borne the house to the coast of Dalmatia,
and later to a spot near Loreto; but here some brigands entered it, and again it
was removed to its present position in the Church of Loreto; this is said to have
been done in 1295. Naturally this "Casa Santa" is a sacred object to all Roman
Catholics, and it is visited by thousands and thousands of pilgrims each year.
The decoration of this shrine was very important, and an honorable work for
any artist. Sansovino did not execute all the reliefs, and the highest praise that
can be given to those he did is to say that they are superior to the others that are

beside them. He was a most skilful workman, and it seems as if marble became
like wax under his hand; but this very skill led him to multiply his ornaments,
and to repeat acanthus leaves and honeysuckle vines until the whole was a
weariness and confusion, and conveyed no meaning or sentiment whatever.
Sansovino's most important pupil was Jacopo Tatti, who,
on account of his master, is called Jacopo Sansovino
(1477-1570). He was born at Florence, and when Andrea
Sansovino returned from Portugal Jacopo became his
pupil. Early in life he went to Rome, and there studied and
copied the works of antiquity; among other things he made
a copy of the Laocoon, which was cast in bronze at a later
time. Soon after his return to Florence, in 1511, Jacopo
received orders for some works, but the most important
statue which he made about this time is the Bacchus, now
in the Uffizi. In this work he showed how completely he
was in sympathy with the classic spirit; this Bacchus is a
triumph in this manner, and has been called "the most
beautiful and spirited pagan statue of the Renaissance
period." It is full of gladness, and is simple, delicate, and
beautiful. The young god is advancing and holding up a
cup, which he regards with an expression of delight; in his
right hand he has a bunch of grapes, from which a Pan is
eating stealthily (Fig. 102).
Fig. 102.—
In 1514 Jacopo Sansovino was employed upon the Bacchus.
decorations for the visit of Leo X. to Florence. Soon after By Jacopo
this he went again to Rome and submitted plans for the Sansovino.
Church of San Giovanni de' Fiorentini, which the
Florentines were about to erect—for this master was an architect as well as a
sculptor. The taking of Rome by Constable de Bourbon, in 1527, drove
Sansovino away; he went to Venice, intending to go to France, but Venice
charmed him, and his work pleased the Venetians, and the result was that from
1529 he served the Venetians as long as he lived. He was appointed Protomastro
of the Republic of Venice, and had the care of St. Mark's, the Campanile, the
Piazza, and the surrounding buildings. He received a good salary, and was
provided with a handsome house to live in.
He first restored the cupolas of St. Mark's; then completed the Scuola della
Misericordia; he next made the interior of San Francesco della Vigna; then the

Zecca, the Fabbriche Nuove, and the Loggietta of the Campanile. He also
erected other churches and palaces, besides smaller sculptural works. But his
architectural masterpiece was the Library of St. Mark's. The bronze gate to the
Sacristy of St. Mark's was one of his principal works. It is subject to criticism as
being too crowded; but it is a fine work and full of strong feeling.
His statues are numerous and seen all over Venice; indeed, it is proper to speak
of him as a Venetian, so thoroughly did he adopt that city, and so industriously
did he work for it during forty years. Had he remained in Florence he might
have been a better artist; the splendor and luxury of the Venetians brought out
corresponding traits in Jacopo, and he fell short of the purity which the
influence of Florence might have given him. He is one of the masters in whom
the sensual influence of the study of pagan art was fully manifested. Many of
his subjects were mythological; among them were the story of Phrixos and
Helle, Mercury, Apollo, Pallas, Mars, and Neptune, the last two being colossal
figures on the steps of the Doge's Palace.
Among the pupils and associates of Sansovino were Niccolo Braccini (1485-
1550), called Il Tribolo, and Francesco Sangallo (1498-1570), neither of
whom were important artists, though many works by them are seen in various
places in Italy.
Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1572) is a far more interesting study than were many
sculptors of his time. His life was an eventful one, and his own account of it is
one of the most interesting books of its class in existence. His statement of the
origin of his family is that "Julius Cæsar had a chief and valorous captain
named Fiorino da Cellino, from a castle situated four miles from Monte
Fiascone. This Fiorino having pitched his camp below Fiesole, where Florence
now stands, in order to be near the river Arno, for the convenience of the army,
the soldiers and other persons, when they had the occasion to visit him, said to
each other, 'Let us go to Fiorenza,' which name they gave to the place where
they were encamped, partly from their captain's name of Fiorino, and partly
from the abundance of flowers which grew there; wherefore Cæsar, thinking it a
beautiful name, and considering flowers to be of good augury, and also wishing
to honor his captain, whom he had raised from an humble station, and to whom
he was greatly attached, gave it to the city which he founded on that spot."
When this artist was born his father was quite old, and named him Benvenuto,
which means welcome, on account of his pleasure in the child of his old age.
The father had a passion for music, and from the first wished that his son should

study this art; but the boy loved drawing, and was determined to be an artist;
thus his time was divided between these two pursuits until he was fifteen years
old, when he was apprenticed to a goldsmith.
Benvenuto had a fiery temper, and when still very young he became involved in
so serious a quarrel that he was obliged to flee from Florence. He went first to
Siena, and thence to Bologna, and at last back to Florence, where he resumed
his work. It was not long, however, before he became angry again because his
best clothes were given to his brother, and he walked off to Pisa, where he
remained a year. He had even then become so skilful in his art that some of his
works done there have never been excelled either in design or execution.
When Cellini was eighteen years old Torrigiano came to Florence to engage
artists to go to England to aid him in some works he was to execute. He wished
to have Cellini in the number; but Torrigiano so disgusted Benvenuto by his
boasting of the blow that he had given Michael Angelo, that though he had the
natural youthful desire to travel, he refused to be employed by such a man as
Torrigiano. We can safely assume that this predisposed Michael Angelo in
Cellini's favor, and was the foundation of the friendship which he afterward
showed to the younger sculptor.
From his eighteenth to his fortieth year Cellini lived mostly at Rome. He was
employed by Pope Clement VII., the cardinals and Roman nobles. The Pope
desired to have a cope button made and a magnificent diamond set in it. This
jewel had cost Julius II. thirty-six thousand ducats. Many artists sent in designs
for this button, and Clement chose that by Cellini. He used the diamond as a
throne, and placed a figure of the Almighty upon it; the hand was raised as if in
blessing, and many angels fluttered about the folds of the drapery, while various
jewels were set around the whole. When other artists saw the design they did
not believe that it could be executed successfully; but Cellini made it a perfect
work of art and of beauty.
Cellini writes of himself as being very active in the siege of Rome, May 5th,
1527. He says that he killed the Constable de Bourbon, who led the siege, and
that he wounded the Prince of Orange, who was chosen in Bourbon's place. No
one else saw him perform these feats. Cellini went to the Pope, who was in the
Castle of St. Angelo, and he there rendered such services to the cause of the
Church that the Holy Father pardoned him for all the sins into which his temper
had led him—"for all the homicides he had committed or might commit in the
service of the Apostolic Church." A few years later, when Cellini was called

upon to take part in the defence of his own city, he put all his property into the
care of a friend, and stole away to Rome.
In 1534 Cellini killed a fellow-goldsmith, called Pompeo; Paul III. was now
Pope; and as he needed the services of Benvenuto very much he pardoned him.
But the sculptor felt that he was in ill favor with all about him, and went to
France. In about a year he returned to find that he had been accused of stealing
some jewels which the pope had commanded him to take out of their settings.
Cellini was held a prisoner nearly two years, but his guilt was never proved.
At the end of this time the Cardinal Ippolito d'Este obtained his release in order
that he might go to France to execute some work for Francis I. Cellini remained
in France five years, and received many honors and gifts; but as Madame
d'Étampes and other persons to whose advice the king listened were enemies of
Cellini, he never was treated as his artistic qualities merited. Francis I. really
admired Cellini, and presented him with the Hôtel de Petit Nesle, which was on
the site of the present Hôtel de la Monnaie; he also made him a lord, and on one
occasion expressed his fear of losing him, when Madame d'Étampes replied,
"The surest way of keeping him would be to hang him on a gibbet."
Of all the objects which Cellini made during his five years in France but two
remain. One is a splendid salt-cellar, and the other is a nymph in bronze, which
was made for the Palace of Fontainebleau, and is now in the Renaissance
Museum of the Louvre. This salt-cellar is now in the Ambraser Gallery at
Vienna. The frieze around the base has figures in relief which represent the
hours of the day and the winds. The upper part is made like the surface of the
sea, and from it rise figures of Neptune and Cybele. The first is a symbol of the
salt of the sea, and the second of the spices which the earth gives. The god is
placing his arm on a small ship intended for the salt, and a vessel for pepper, in
the form of a triumphal arch, is near the goddess. All this is made of fine
embossed gold, and has some touches of enamel-work. It is one of the finest
pieces of the goldsmith's art which remains from the sixteenth century.
In 1545 Cellini returned to Florence, and remained there, with short absences,
until his death. Duke Cosmo de' Medici became his patron, and commissioned
him to make a statue of Perseus for the Loggia de' Lanzi. The ambition of the
artist was much excited by the thought of having his work placed by those of
Donatello and Michael Angelo, and all care was taken from his mind, as the
Duke provided him with a comfortable house and gave him a salary sufficient
for his support.

It was nine years before the statue was completed and in its place, and in this
time Cellini had suffered much. Baccio Bandinelli and others were his enemies,
and at times the Duke had been under their influence, and would not furnish the
money necessary to the work. But at last all was ready for the casting; and just
at this unfortunate moment for Cellini to leave it he was seized with a severe
illness; he was suffering much, and believed himself about to die, when some
one ran in shouting, "Oh, Benvenuto, your work is ruined past earthly remedy!"
Ill as he was he rushed out to the furnace, to find that the fire was too low, and
the metal, being cool, had ceased flowing into the mould. By almost
superhuman efforts he remedied the evil, and again the bronze flowed; he
prayed earnestly, and when the mould was filled he writes: "I fell on my knees
and thanked God with all my heart, after which I ate a hearty meal with my
assistants, and it being then two hours before dawn, went to bed with a light
heart, and slept as sweetly as if I had never been ill in all my life."

Fig. 103.—Perseus.
By Benvenuto Cellini.
When the statue was unveiled Cellini's prediction that it would please all the
world except Bandinelli and his friends was fulfilled. Perseus is represented just
at the moment when he has cut off the head of Medusa, who was one of the
Gorgons, and had turned to stone every one who looked at her. (Fig. 103.)
After the completion of the Perseus, Cellini went to Rome for a short time.
While there he made a bust of Bindo Altoviti; when Michael Angelo saw this he
wrote: "My Benvenuto, I have long known you as the best goldsmith in the
world, and I now know you as an equally good sculptor, through the bust of
Messer Bindo Altoviti." Cellini did no more important works, though he was
always industrious. He made a crucifix which he intended for his own grave,
but he gave it to the Duchess Eleanora; this was afterward sent to Philip II. of
Spain, and is now in the Escurial.
Cellini's life was by no means a model one, but he had his good qualities. He
took a widowed sister with six children to his home, and made them welcome
and happy. At his death he was buried in the Church of the Annunziata, beneath
the chapel of the Company of St. Luke, and many honors were paid to his
memory.
His autobiography was so rich in its use of the Florentine manner of speech and
so fine in its diction that it was honored as an authority by the Accademia della
Crusca. He also wrote valuable works on the goldsmith's art and on bronze-
casting and sculpture. He wrote poems and various kinds of verses, but his large
acquaintance with popes, cardinals, kings, artists, and men of letters makes his
story of his life far more interesting than his other writings.
The artists of Upper Italy were much influenced by Florentine art, as they had
formerly been, and we can speak of no very great sculptor of this century who
belonged to this part of the country. Alfonso Lombardo (1488-1537) was a
native of Lucca; his principal works are seen in Ferrara, Bologna, and Cesena.
Properzia de' Rossi (1490-1530) was born at Bologna, and is interesting as the
one Italian sculptress of that time. She was born about a year after her father
had returned from the galleys, where he had worked out a sentence of eighteen
years for the crime of manslaughter. Properzia seems to have inherited her
father's violent temper, and was twice arraigned in court. She was very beautiful

in person, and had a devoted lover in Antonio Galeazzo Malvasia de' Bottigari,
who did not marry until many years after the death of Properzia.
Properzia studied drawing under Marc Antonio Raimondi, the famous engraver.
She first devoted herself to the cutting of intaglios, which demanded an
immense amount of patient labor. There is in the cabinet of gems in the Uffizi
Gallery, at Florence, a cherry-stone carved by Properzia, on which sixty heads
may be counted; the subject is a Glory of Saints. Other like works of hers exist
in the Palazzo Grassi, in Bologna. Her next work was in arabesques, marble
ornaments, lions, griffins, vases, eagles, and similar objects.
Finally she essayed a bust of Count Guido Pepoli; it is now in the Sacristy of
San Petronio, in Bologna. In the same place are two bas-reliefs by her hand,
Solomon receiving the Queen of Sheba, and Joseph and Potiphar's Wife. In the
chapel Zambeccari in San Petronio there are two large figures of angels by
Properzia, which are near the Ascension of the Virgin by Il Tribolo. Her manner
was much influenced by her contact with this sculptor. Properzia was employed,
with other artists, to finish the sculpture of the portal of San Petronio, left
unfinished by Jacopo della Quercia.
Antonio Begarelli (1499-1565), called also Antonio da Modena, from the
place of his birth, was a celebrated modeller in clay. It is said that when Michael
Angelo visited Modena in 1529 he saw Begarelli and his works, and exclaimed,
"Alas for the statues of the ancients, if this clay were changed to marble!"
Begarelli had a school for teaching design and modelling, and he greatly
influenced the manner of the Lombard school of painting. Its foreshortening, its
relief and grace are largely due to him and his teaching.
Begarelli and Correggio were fast friends, and resembled each other in their
conception of the grand and beautiful. When Correggio was decorating the
cupola of the Cathedral of Parma, Begarelli was at work in the same place, and
made many models from which Correggio painted his floating figures. Some
works by Begarelli may be seen in the Berlin Museum. His Descent from the
Cross, in the Church of San Francesco, at Modena, is one of his best works. He
was also employed in the Church of San Benedetto, in Mantua, and in San
Giovanni, at Parma.
During the sixteenth century the works at the Certosa at Pavia and in various
edifices in Milan were constantly carried on. Frequently the same sculptors
worked in both cities, but there is no one artist of great excellence among them
of whom we can give an account. The same is true of the works in Venice and in

Southern Italy. The traveller sees many pieces of sculpture belonging to this
period, but there are no great and interesting men whose story we can tell in
connection with them, and I shall now pass to an account of the great
Florentine.
Michael Angelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was born in the Castle of Caprese,
where his father, Ludovico Buonarroti, was stationed at that time, holding the
office of Podesta, or Governor, of the towns of Caprese and Chiusi. The
Buonarroti family held good rank in Florence, and the mother of the great artist
was also a woman of good position. When his father returned to Florence the
child Michael was left at Settignano upon an estate of the family, and was in the
care of the wife of a stone-mason. As soon as the boy could use his hands he
drew pictures everywhere that it was possible, and his nurse could show many
of these childish drawings with which he adorned the walls of her house.
At a proper time Michael Angelo was removed to Florence and placed in a
school, where he became intimate with Francesco Granacci, who was a pupil of
the artist Ghirlandajo. Michael Angelo's father and his uncles were firmly
opposed to his being an artist; they wished him to follow the traditions of his
family, and carry on the silk and woollen trade. But the boy was firm in his
determination, and after many trials was at length, in 1488, apprenticed to the
Ghirlandaji for three years.
Domenico Ghirlandajo was at this time engaged in the restoration of the Church
of Santa Maria Novella, and Michael Angelo came into the midst of great
artistic works. One day at the dinner hour he drew a picture of the scaffolding
and all its belongings, with the men at work on it; it was a remarkable drawing
for a boy, and when the master saw it he exclaimed, "He understands more than
I do myself!" The master really became jealous of his pupil, more especially
when Michael Angelo corrected the drawings which Ghirlandajo gave his
scholars for models.
About this time Michael Angelo was brought to the notice of Lorenzo de'
Medici, who was at that time at the head of the government of Florence, and
from him the boy-artist obtained admission for himself and Granacci to study in
the gardens of San Marco. The art treasures of the Medici were placed in these
gardens; works of sculpture were there, and cartoons and pictures were hung in
buildings erected for the purpose, and art-students were admitted to study there
and proper instructors provided for them.

The master in sculpture was old Bertoldo, and Michael Angelo, forsaking
painting, obtained some instruments and a piece of marble, and copied a mask
of a faun. He changed his own work somewhat from the model, and opened the
mouth so that the teeth could be seen. When Lorenzo saw this he praised the
work, but said, "You have made your faun old, and yet you have left all his
teeth; you should have known that at such an age there are generally some teeth
wanting." When he came again he saw that a gap had been made in the teeth,
and so well done that he was delighted. This work is now in the Uffizi Gallery.
Very soon Lorenzo sent for Michael Angelo's father, who had been sad enough
at the thought that his son might be a painter, and was now in despair when he
found that he inclined also to be a stone-mason. At first he refused to see the
duke, but Granacci persuaded him to go. He went with a firm determination to
yield to nothing, but once in presence of Lorenzo he yielded everything, and
returned home declaring that not only Michael, but he himself, and all that he
had were at the nobleman's service.
Lorenzo at once took Michael Angelo into his palace; he clothed the boy
properly, and gave him five ducats a month for spending money. Each day
Lorenzo gave an entertainment, and it was the rule that the first person who
came should sit next the duke at the head of the table. Michael Angelo often had
this place, and he soon became a great favorite with Lorenzo, and obtained
besides the greatest advantages from the life in the palace; for many eminent
men from all parts of the world came to visit there, and all sorts of subjects were
discussed in such a manner that a young man could learn much of the world and
what was in it, and acquire a feeling of ease with strangers and in society such
as few young persons possess.

Fig. 104.—Michael Angelo's Angel.
Bologna.
Michael Angelo was but seventeen years old when Poliziano advised him to
attempt an original work, and gave him the marble for a relief of the contest
between Hercules and the Centaurs. This work surprised every one, and is still
preserved in the collection of the Buonarroti family. In the year 1492 he also
made a relief of the Madonna Suckling the Child Jesus, which is also in the
same place. In the same year Lorenzo de' Medici died, and Michael Angelo, full
of grief, went to his father's house and arranged a studio there. After a time
Piero de Medici invited him to come back to the palace, and he went; but it was
no more the same place as formerly, and he was unhappy there. Soon political
troubles drove the Medici from power, and in 1494, in the midst of the

confusion, Michael Angelo escaped to Venice. There he made friends with Gian
Francesco Aldovrandi of Bologna, and was persuaded by that nobleman to
accompany him to his own city.
While at Bologna he executed an angel holding a candelabra, which is one of
the most lovely and pleasing things he ever made (Fig. 104). When he received
the commission to ornament the sarcophagus which contained the remains of
San Domenico in the Church of San Petronio, the Bolognese artists were so
angry at being thus set aside for a stranger, and a youth of twenty, that they
threatened vengeance on him, and he returned to Florence.
It was at this time that he executed a Cupid, which was the means of leading
him to Rome. The story is that when he had the statue completed Lorenzo de'
Medici, a relative of his first patron, advised him to give it the appearance of an
antique marble, and added that he would then sell it in Rome and get a good
price for it. Michael Angelo consented to this plan, and in the end he received
thirty ducats for the work. The secret of its origin was not kept, and the cardinal
who had bought it sent an agent to Florence to find out the truth about it. This
agent pretended to be in search of a sculptor; and when he saw Michael Angelo
he asked him what works he had done. When he mentioned a Sleeping Cupid,
and the agent asked questions, the young sculptor found that the cardinal had
paid two hundred ducats for it, and that he had been greatly deceived when
attempting to deceive others.

Fig. 105.—Pietà.
By Michael Angelo.
Michael Angelo consented to go to Rome with this man, who promised to
receive him into his own house, and assured him that he would be fully
occupied in the Eternal City. The oldest writing by the hand of Michael Angelo
is the letter which he wrote to Lorenzo telling him of his arrival in Rome; when
this was written he was twenty-one years old. The first work which he did after
he reached Rome was the "Drunken Bacchus," now in the Uffizi Gallery; it
shows a great knowledge of anatomy in one so young, and the expression of
drunkenness is given in the most natural manner.

But the work that established his fame as a great sculptor is the Pietà, now in St.
Peter's at Rome (Fig. 105). He was twenty-five years old when he executed this
work, and from that time was acknowledged to be the greatest sculptor of Italy
—a decision which has never been reversed.
Soon after this Michael Angelo returned to Florence, and his first important
work was a Madonna, now at Bruges; it is life-size, and one of his finest
sculptures. There was at this time an immense block of marble which had lain
many years in the yard to the workshops of the cathedral. Several sculptors had
talked of making something from it, and now Michael Angelo was asked by the
consuls to make something good of it. He had just taken an order for fifteen
statues for the Piccolomini tomb at Siena; but when he saw the immense block
he gave up the Siena work, and contracted to make a statue in two years. He
was to be paid six gold florins a month, and as much more as could be agreed
upon when the work was done. He first made a model in wax of his David; it
was very small, and is now in the Uffizi. In the beginning of 1504, after about
two years and a half had been spent upon it, the work was done, and a
discussion then arose as to where it should be placed.
At length it was decided to put it where Michael Angelo himself wished it to be,
next the gate of the palace where the Judith of Donatello then stood. The statue
weighed eighteen thousand pounds, and its removal was a work of great
importance. I shall not give all the details of it here, but shall quote what Grimm
says: "The erection of this David was like an occurrence in nature from which
people are accustomed to reckon. We find events dated so many years after the
erection of the giant. It was mentioned in records in which there was not a line
respecting art."
In 1527 the statue was injured by a stone thrown in a riot. At length it began to
show the effect of time and weather, and the people of Florence talked of
removing it for better preservation. There was much feeling against this; the
Florentines feared that misfortunes would fall upon them if this great work were
disturbed; but at last, in 1873, it was placed in the Academy of Fine Arts. It
represents the youthful David at the moment when he declares to Goliath, "I
come unto thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts." The beautiful figure is
muscular and pliant, and the face is full of courage. (Fig. 106.)
About the beginning of the year 1505 Pope Julius II. summoned Michael
Angelo to Rome, and after a time gave him a commission to build a colossal
mausoleum to be erected for himself. The design was made and accepted, and

then Michael Angelo went to Carrara to select marble;
after much trouble he succeeded in getting it to Rome,
where all who saw it were astonished at the size of the
blocks. Pope Julius was delighted, and had a passage
made from the palace to the workshop of the sculptor,
so that he could visit the artist without being seen.
Other sculptors now became jealous of Michael Angelo,
and when he went a second time to Carrara, Bramante
persuaded the pope that it was a bad sign to build his
tomb while he was still living. When Michael Angelo
returned and the workmen he had hired arrived from
Florence, he found the pope much changed toward him.
He no longer hastened the work, neither would he
furnish money to carry it on.
Michael Angelo sought the pope for an explanation, and
was refused an audience. He wrote a letter thus: "Most
Holy Father, I was this morning driven from the palace
by the order of your Holiness. If you require me in
future you can seek me elsewhere than in Rome." He Fig. 106.—Michael
ordered a Jew to sell all he possessed in Rome, and Angelo's David.
started for Florence, and stopped not until he was on the
ground of Tuscany. The pope sent after him, but as he was a citizen of Florence
he threatened the messengers if they touched him. He said he had been treated
as a criminal, and he considered himself free from his engagements, and would
not return then or ever.
When he reached home a letter came to the Signory of Florence urging his
return, and saying that he should be safe. But Michael waited until the third
letter was received, and only consented to go when it was arranged that he
should be sent as an ambassador of Florence, and be under the protection of the
Florentine Republic.
In November, 1506, when the pope had taken Bologna, he sent for Michael
Angelo to come to him there. Michael Angelo had not yet seen the pope since
he left Rome in anger. When he reached Bologna he went first to San Petronio
to hear mass. A servant of the pope recognized him and led him to his Holiness.
Julius was at table, but ordered that Michael Angelo should come in, and said to
him, "You have waited thus long, it seems, till we should ourselves come to
seek you." Michael Angelo kneeled down and begged his pardon, but added that

he had remained away because he had been offended. The pope looked at him
doubtfully, when one of the priests, fearing what would happen, advised the
pope not to judge an ignorant artist as he would another man. Then the pope
turned upon him in great anger, and declaring that he himself was ignorant and
miserable, ordered him out of his sight. The poor ecclesiastic was so terrified
that the attendants were obliged to carry him out, and then the pope spoke
graciously to the sculptor, and commanded him not to leave Bologna without
his permission. The pope soon gave him an order for a colossal statue in bronze
to be erected in Bologna.
The first cast of this statue failed, and the work was not ready to be put in its
place until February, 1508. This being done, Michael Angelo returned to
Florence, where he had much to do; but Julius soon sent for him to go to Rome,
and insisted that he should paint the roof of the Sistine Chapel, which occupied
him a long time.
In 1513 Julius II. died, and Michael Angelo resumed his work upon his
mausoleum. The pope had mentioned it in his will, and his heirs wished it to be
completed. At this time he probably worked upon the statue of Moses and upon
the two chained youths. He devoted himself to the mausoleum during three
years.
Leo X., who was now pope, demanded the services of Michael Angelo to erect a
façade to the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. The artist objected to this
great work, and declared that he was bound to complete the tomb for which he
had already received money. But Leo insisted upon his going to Florence. He
had much trouble to get his marble from the quarries—the men were ill there.
He was ill himself, and he passed a year of great anxiety and trouble, when
there came word from Rome that the work must be given up; the building was
postponed, and no payment was made to Michael Angelo! He was much
disheartened, but returned to his work on the mausoleum.
About 1523, when, after many changes, Cardinal Medici was pope, the work at
San Lorenzo was resumed. But in 1525 the pope again summoned Michael
Angelo to Rome. The heirs of Julius were complaining of delay, but at last the
pope insisted upon his great need of the artist, and again he was sent back to
Florence, where the cupola of the new Sacristy to San Lorenzo was soon
finished. Great political confusion now ensued, and little can be said of Michael
Angelo as a sculptor until 1530, when he again resumed his work on the
Sacristy.

Fig. 107.—Giuliano de' Medici.
By Michael Angelo.
He worked with the greatest industry and rapidity, and in a few months had
nearly finished the four colossal figures which rest upon the sarcophagi of
Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici. The pope was forced to command the
sculptor to rest. His health was so broken by the sorrow which the political
condition of Florence caused him, and by his anxiety about the mausoleum of
Julius, that there was much danger of his killing himself with work and worry.
He went to Rome, and matters were more satisfactorily arranged. He returned to
Florence, and labored there until 1534, when Clement VII. died, and Michael
Angelo left his work in San Lorenzo, never to resume it. Unfinished as these
sculptures are, they make a grand part of the wonderful works of this great man.

The statues of the two Medici and those of Morning, Evening, Day, and Night
would be sufficient to establish the fame of an artist if he had done nothing
more. (Fig. 107.)
Under the new pope, Paul III., he was constantly employed as a painter, and
architectural labors were put upon him, so that as a sculptor we have no more
works of his to mention except an unfinished group which was in his studio at
the time of his death. It represents the dead Christ upon his mother's lap, with
Joseph of Arimathea standing by. This group is now in the Church of Santa
Maria del Fiore, or the Cathedral of Florence. The mausoleum of Julius II.
caused Michael Angelo and others so much trouble and vexation that the whole
affair came to be known as the "tragedy of the sepulchre." When Julius first
ordered it he intended to place it in St. Peter's, but in the end it was erected in
the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli, of which Julius had been the titular
cardinal. Of all the monument but three figures can really be called the work of
Michael Angelo. These are the Leah and Rachel upon the lower stage, and the
Moses, which is one of the most famous statues in the world. Paul III., with
eight cardinals, once visited the studio of the sculptor when he was at work
upon this statue, and they declared that this alone was sufficient for the pope's
monument (Fig. 108).
The life of Michael Angelo was a sad one; indeed, it is scarcely possible to
recount a more pathetic story than was his. The misfortunes which came to the
Medici were sharp griefs to him, and his temperament was such that he could
not forget his woes. His family, too, looked to him for large sums of money, and
while he lived most frugally they spent his earnings. In his old age he said,
"Rich as I am, I have always lived like a poor man."

Fig. 108.—Statue of Moses.
By Michael Angelo.
In 1529, when Florence was under great political excitement, Michael Angelo
was appointed superintendent of all the fortifications of the Florentine territory.
In the midst of his duties he became aware of facts which determined him to fly.
He went to Venice, and was proscribed as a rebel. We cannot stay here to
inquire as to his wisdom in this, but must go on to say that at length he was so
much needed that he was persuaded to return. Then he had the dreadful
experiences of hope and fear, sickness and famine, and all the horrors of a siege,
only to see his beloved home deprived of its freedom, and in the possession of
those whom he despised and hated. To Michael Angelo this was far more bitter
than any personal sorrow; he never recovered from its effects, and it was

immediately after this that he worked in the Sacristy of San Lorenzo as if trying
to kill himself.
He was bold as he was angry. He was treated kindly, and advised to forget the
past; but he never concealed his views. When his statue of Night was exhibited,
verses were put upon it, according to the custom of the time; one verse read,
"Night, whom you see slumbering here so charmingly, has been carved by an
angel, in marble. She sleeps, she lives; waken her, if you will not believe it, and
she will speak."
To this Michael Angelo replied, "Sleep is dear to me, and still more that I am
stone, so long as dishonor and shame last among us; the happiest fate is to see,
to hear nothing; for this reason waken me not. I pray you, speak gently." He had
great courage to speak his anger thus publicly in the midst of those who could
easily destroy him.
In 1537 or 1538 his father died, and the artist suffered terribly from his grief. He
wrote a sonnet beginning:
"Already had I wept and sighed so much.
I thought all grief forever at an end,
Exhaled in sighs, shed forth in bitter tears."
The religious views of Michael Angelo were very broad, and he had a trustful
and obedient dependence upon God, in whose mercy and love he gratefully
rested with the simple faith of a child. It was not far from the time when his
father died that Michael Angelo first met Vittoria Colonna. He was now more
than sixty years old; and though his poems show that he had loved children and
women all his life, yet he had allowed himself no attachments; his life had been
lonely and alone. Now, at this late hour, he yielded his heart to this beautiful,
gifted woman, who returned his friendship with the fullest esteem. During these
years he was happier than he had ever been. But in 1541 she fell under the
suspicion of the Inquisition, and was obliged to leave Rome.
During two years they wrote constantly to each other, and each sent to the other
the sonnets they wrote. At this time all Italy read the poems of Vittoria, and
those of Michael Angelo still stand the test of time. In them he shows the
blessed effect of her influence over him. At length she returned to Rome and
entered a convent, where she died in 1547. Michael Angelo was with her to the
last, and years later he declared that he regretted nothing so much as that he had
only kissed her hand, and not her forehead or cheeks in that last hour. His loss

was far too great to be told. (An engraving of a portrait of Michael Angelo can
be seen in Mrs. Clement's "Painting," p. 95.)
In the year following Vittoria's death all the hopes which he had cherished for
the freedom of Florence were crushed. High honors were offered him to induce
him to return there, but he would not go. His health failed, his sadness
increased, and his writings show how constantly he mourned for Vittoria. After
this he did much work as an architect, and held the post of director of the
building of St. Peter's. He superintended the erection of the statue of Marcus
Aurelius, and completed the Farnese Palace, and had many improvements in
mind.
Now, in his old age, he was authority itself in Rome. He had no rival, and his
advice was sought by artists as well as others. He lived very simply: he dined
alone, and received his visitors in the plainest manner. Anatomy, which had
always been a passion with him, was now his chief pursuit. He made many
dissections of animals, and was grateful when a human subject could be
allowed him.
When he could not sleep he would get up at night and work upon the group of
which we have spoken; he had a cap with a candle in it, so that it cast a light
upon his work. Vasari once entered when he was at work upon this group, and
had a lantern in his hand; he dropped it purposely, so that the sculpture should
not be seen, and said: "I am so old that death often pulls me by the coat to come
to him, and some day I shall fall down like this lantern, and my last spark of life
will be extinguished."
There are many very interesting circumstances told of his last years and his
strength of mind, and the work which he did was wonderful; but we have not
space to recount it here.
At length, in February, 1564, when almost ninety years old, he died. He had
asked to be buried in Florence. His friends feared that this would be opposed, so
they held burial-services in Rome, and his body was afterward carried through
the gates as merchandise. In Florence the body was first laid in San Piero
Maggiore, and on Sunday, at evening, the artists assembled, and forming a
procession, proceeded to Santa Croce, where he was buried. The younger artists
bore the bier upon their shoulders, and the older ones carried torches to light the
way. A great multitude followed the procession, and in the Sacristy of Santa
Croce the coffin was opened; though three weeks had passed since his death, his
face appeared as if he had just died; the crowd was very great, but all was quiet,

and before morning it had dispersed. The Duke had thought that a public funeral
would recall old memories, and might cause a disturbance; but Michael Angelo
had left Florence thirty years before his death, and his connection with the city
was forgotten by many.
The July following was appointed for a memorial service in his honor; San
Lorenzo was splendidly decorated; Varchi delivered an oration. Leonardo, his
nephew, erected a monument to him in Santa Croce, for which the Duke gave
the marble. His statue stands in the court of the Uffizi with those of other great
Florentines, but with no especial prominence. His house in the Ghibelline Street
is preserved as a museum, and visitors there see many mementos of this great
man.
In 1875 a grand festival was held in Florence to celebrate the four hundredth
anniversary of his birth. The ceremonies were impressive, and certain
documents relating to his life which had never been opened, by command of the
king, were given to suitable persons for examination. Mr. Heath Wilson, an
English artist, then residing at Florence, wrote a new life of Michael Angelo,
and the last signature which Victor Emmanuel wrote before his death was upon
the paper which conferred on Mr. Wilson the Order of the Corona d'Italia,
given as a recognition of his services in writing this book.
The national pride in Michael Angelo is very strong. "All Italians feel that he
occupies the third place by the side of Dante and Raphael, and forms with them
a triumvirate of the greatest men produced by their country—a poet, a painter,
and one who was great in all arts. Who would place a general or a statesman by
their side as equal to them? It is art alone which marks the prime of nations."
The genius of Michael Angelo and his spirit were powerful forces. They
pervaded the whole art of Italy to such an extent that it may be said that all
sculptors were his imitators, both while he lived and after his death. He loved to
treat strong subjects, such as demanded violent movement and unusual
positions. It was only a man of his genius who could raise such subjects above
grotesqueness and the one effect of strange and unnatural exaggeration. As we
look over all his works it seems as if the idea of beauty and such things as are
pleasing to the ordinary mind rarely, if ever, came to his mind. Noble feeling,
depth of thought, strength, and grandeur are the associations which we have
with him, and in the hands of weaker men, as his imitators were, these subjects
became barren, hollow displays of distorted limbs and soulless heads and faces.

The result is, that there is little to be said of the immediate followers of this
great man. Guglielmo della Porta was one of his most able scholars, and his
chief work was a monument to Pope Paul III. in the Church of St. Peter's. The
figure of the pope is in bronze, is seated, and holding the right hand in
benediction. It is dignified and well designed. The figures of Justice and
Prudence are not as good, and two others, Peace and Abundance, which were a
part of this work, but are now in the Farnese Palace, lack power, and show an
attempt at a representation of mere physical beauty.
Baccio Bandinelli (1487-1559) is more noticeable for his hatred of Michael
Angelo than for any other characteristic. He was a native of Florence and a
friend of Leonardo da Vinci. He was powerful in his design and bold in his
treatment of his subjects, but he was full of affectation and mannerisms in his
execution of his works. He was false and envious, and his one good quality was
that of industry. His best works are on the screen of the high-altar in the
Cathedral of Florence, a relief on a pedestal in the Piazza of San Lorenzo, in
Florence, and a group in the Church of the Annunziata, which he intended for
his own monument; the subject is Nicodemus supporting Christ, and the
Nicodemus is a portrait of Bandinelli himself.

CHAPTER VIII.
EUROPEAN SCULPTURE FROM MICHAEL ANGELO TO
CANOVA.

Not only Italian artists attempted to follow the great sculptor of Italy, but those
of other nations flocked to Rome, and whatever ideas they may have had before
reaching that city they seemed to lose them all and to aim simply at one thing—
to be Michaelangeloesque.
Giovanni da Bologna (1529-1608) was born in Douai, in Flanders, and was
called Il Fiammingo for this reason. Giovanni was intended for a notary by his
father, who planned his education with that end in view; but the boy's passion
for sculpture was so great that the father was obliged to yield to it, and placed
him under the instruction of a sculptor named Beuch, who had studied in Italy.
Later Giovanni went to Rome, and finally settled in Florence, where his most
important works remain.
He was an imitator of Michael Angelo, and one of his best imitators; but when
his works are compared with those of the great master, or with the masterpieces
of the fifteenth century, we see a decline in them. In religious subjects Giovanni
was not at home; his most successful works were those which represented
sentiment or abstract ideas, because on them he could lavish his skill in
execution, and use ornaments that did not suit the simplicity of religious
subjects. In the Loggia de' Lanzi, at Florence, there are two groups by him, the
Rape of the Sabines and Hercules and Nessus. In the Piazza della Signoria is his
excellent statue of Duke Cosmo I., and in the Uffizi Gallery a bronze statue of
Mercury. The Rape of the Sabines is his masterpiece, and the Mercury is one of
the best works of its kind since the days of classic art. It is the favorite Mercury
of the world, and has been frequently copied. It is seen in many galleries and
collections in its original size, and a small copy is much used in private houses.
(Fig. 109.)
Giovanni was especially happy in his designs for fountains, and that which he
erected in Bologna, in 1564, in front of the Palazzo Pubblico, is a splendid work
of this kind. The statue of Neptune at its summit is stately and free in its action;

the children are charming and life-like, and the Sirens at the base give an
harmonious finish and complete the outline with easy grace.
He also erected a magnificent fountain in the island of the Boboli Gardens. In
the Palazzo Vecchio is a marble group by Giovanni representing Virtue
conquering Vice. At Petraja there is a beautiful Venus crowning a fountain
remarkable for grace and delicacy, and, all in all, his works prove him to have
been the best sculptor of his own time. Tuscany may claim him and be proud of
him, for he was far more her son than that of his native Flanders.
Giovanni da Bologna was far less successful in reliefs than in statues, as may be
seen in the bronze gates to the Cathedral of Pisa, which he made in the last
years of his life. In his character this master was attractive and much beloved by
his friends. One of them wrote of him: "The best fellow in the world, not in the
least covetous, as he shows by his poverty; filled with a love of glory, and
ambitious of rivalling Michael Angelo."

Fig. 109.—Mercury.
By Giovanni da Bologna.
Giovanni decorated a chapel in the Church of the Annunziata with several
reliefs in bronze and with a crucifix; he not only wished to be buried here
himself, as he was, but he also desired to provide a place of burial for any of his
countrymen who might die in Florence. The chapel is called that of the
Madonna del Soccorso.
The decline of sculpture in Italy at this period makes its study so unpromising
that it is a pleasure to turn to France, where the works of Jean Goujon show that
he had the true idea of sculpture in relief. From 1555 to 1562 this sculptor was
employed on the works at the Louvre, and during the massacre of St.

Bartholomew he was shot while on a scaffold quietly working at a bas-relief on
that palace.
Goujon was an architect as well as a sculptor, and also a medal engraver, as is
shown by the curious and rare medal which he made for Catherine de' Medici.
Many of his works are preserved in different parts of France, and some bas-
reliefs in the Museum of the Louvre are excellent specimens of his style.
One also sees in France many works by Germain Pilon, who died in 1590. He
executed the monument to Francis I., and took a part in that of Henry II. and
Catherine de' Medici at the Church of St. Denis. He was the sculptor of the
group of the three Graces in the Louvre, which formerly bore an urn containing
the heart of Henry II., and was in the Church of the Celestines.
But the sculptors of France at this time are not of such interest as to hold our
attention long. There was a certain amount of spirit in their decorations of
palaces and tombs, but there were no men of great genius, and no splendid
works upon which we can dwell with pleasure or profit.
In Germany, too, while there was much activity in sculpture, and public
fountains and luxurious palaces and rich ornaments employed many artists, yet
there was no originality or freshness in these works, and they fell below those
of the past. Bronzes are still made at Nuremberg, but they only serve to make
one regret that they are so inferior to those of earlier days; and nowhere in all
Germany does any one artist stand out and present a man to be studied in his
works or remembered as one of the gifted of the earth. And yet a list of the
names of German sculptors of this time would be very long, for all over the land
churches were being decorated, monuments built, and statues and fountains
erected.

Fig. 110.—Relief by Berruguete.
Valladolid.
In England the best sculpture of the sixteenth century was seen in the portrait
statues on monuments, and we find no great artists there of whom to give an
account.
In Spain Alonso Berruguete (1480-1561), who was the most eminent artist of
his time, had introduced the Italian manner. He went to Italy about 1503, and
studied in Rome and Florence during seventeen years. This was at the time
when Italian sculpture was at the height of its excellence; and Berruguete
returned to Spain filled with the purest and best conceptions of what art should
be, and the ends it should serve. He has been called the Michael Angelo of
Spain, because he was an architect, painter, and sculptor.
Upon his return to Spain he was appointed painter and sculptor to Charles V.
Among his most celebrated works in sculpture are the reliefs in the choir of the
Cathedral at Toledo; the altar in the Church of San Benito el Real at Valladolid

(Fig. 110), for which he was paid forty-four hundred ducats, and his sculptures
in the Collegio Mayor at Salamanca. His final work was a monument to the
Cardinal and Grand Inquisitor, Don Juan de Tavera, which is in the Church of
the Hospital of St. John at Toledo. The sarcophagus is ornamented by reliefs
from the story of John the Baptist, which are executed in an excellent manner,
simple and expressive.
Other Spanish sculptors were Esteban Jordan, an eminent wood-carver,
Gregorio Hernandez (1566-1636), who has been called "the sculptor of
religion." His works are so full of a spirit of devotion that they seem to have
been executed under an inspiration. Hernandez was very devout in his life, and
did many works of charity; he often provided decent burial for the very poor
who died without friends who could bury them.
Many of his works have been removed from the chapels for which they were
designed, and are now in the Museum of Valladolid, where they are not as
effective as when placed in their original positions. He is superior to other
Spanish sculptors in his representation of nude figures and in the grandeur of
his expression.
Juan de Juni (died 1614) studied in Italy, and acquired much mannerism; his
works are seen in Valladolid.
Juan Martinez Montañes (died 1650) was a famous sculptor, and excelled in
figures of children and cherubs. His conceptions had much beauty and depth of
feeling, and his draperies were most graceful; and to this power of thinking out
clearly and well the subject he wished to represent he added the ability to do his
work in an artistic manner, and to give it an elegance of finish without taking
away its strength. A Conception by him, in the Cathedral of Seville, is a noble
work, and in the university church of the same city there is an altar which is one
of his important works. Other sculptures by Montañes are in the Museum of
Seville.
The great Alonso Cano (1601-1667) was a pupil of Montañes in sculpture, and,
like so many other artists of his time, was a painter and architect as well as a
sculptor. His personal history is very peculiar. He was a man of violent temper,
and was often involved in serious quarrels. He was obliged to flee from
Granada to Madrid on account of a duel, and when his wife was found
murdered in her bed he was suspected of the crime. In spite of all this he took
priest's orders, and was appointed to a canonry in the Cathedral of Granada; but
on account of his temper he was deprived of this office by the chapter of the

cathedral. He was so angry at this that he would do no more work for the
cathedral.
He devoted the remainder of his life to religious and charitable works. He gave
away the money he earned as soon as he received it, and when he had no money
to give away he was in the habit of making drawings, which he signed and
marked with a suitable price; these he gave to the person he desired to assist,
and recommended some person to whom application to buy the work could be
made. After his death a large number of these charitable works was collected.
He hated Jews with such hatred that he could not endure to look at one, and
many strange stories are told of him in connection with these people.
He loved his chisel better than his brush, and was accustomed to say that when
weary he carved for rest. One of his pupils expressed great surprise at this,
when Cano answered, "Blockhead, don't you perceive that to create form and
relief on a flat surface is a greater service than to fashion one shape into
another?"
The most beautiful sculpture by Cano which remains is a Virgin about a foot
high in the Sacristy of the Cathedral of Granada, where there are several other
statuettes by him. These are colored in a manner which the Spaniards call
"estofado;" it has the effect to soften the whole appearance of the works, like an
enamel. At the entrance of the choir of the cathedral there are two colossal busts
by Cano; they are grand works, and are called Adam and Eve.
Pedro Roldan (1624-1700), born at Seville, is an interesting sculptor because
of his work, and on account of his being the last one whose manner was like
that of Juni and Hernandez. His first celebrated work was the high-altar in the
chapel of the Biscayans in the Franciscan convent. When the Caridad, or
Hospital of Charity, was restored, Roldan executed the last great work in
painted sculpture; it was an immense piece for the centre of the retablo of the
high-altar of the church, and represented the Entombment of Christ.
Seville abounds in his works, and he executed bas-reliefs in stone for the
exterior of the Cathedral at Jaen. He was so devoted to his art that he felt every
moment to be lost that was not spent in its service. He married a lady of good
family, and lived in the country; when obliged to go to Seville he was
accustomed to carry a lump of clay, and model from it as he rode along. Roldan
was not by any means the best of Spanish sculptors, but he had great skill in the
composition of his works, and the draperies and all the details were carefully

studied. His daughter, Doña Luisa Roldan, studied sculpture under her father's
instruction, and became a good artist; he was accustomed to allow her to
superintend her studio and his pupils. She often aided him by her suggestions,
and on one occasion, when a statue that he had made was rejected, she pointed
out to him certain anatomical defects, which he remedied, and the whole
appearance of the work was so changed that it was thought to be new, and was
accepted for the place for which it had been ordered.
The works executed by Doña Luisa were principally small figures of the Virgin,
the Adoration of the Shepherds, and kindred subjects. Several of these were
presented to King Charles II., and he was so pleased by them that he ordered a
life-size statue of St. Michael for the Church of the Escorial. She executed this
to his satisfaction, and he then appointed her sculptress in ordinary to the king.
She died at Madrid in 1704, surviving her father but four years. She left works
in various convents and churches.
In Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century a new era in sculpture was
inaugurated. Art was now required to serve the Church in the way of appealing
to sentiments and feeling in a far coarser and more sensational a manner than
formerly. Painting was suited to these purposes far more than sculpture, and it
had been raised to great heights, in Spain, by Murillo, in the North by Rubens
and his followers, and in Italy by numerous masters.
Lübke says of this period: "All that was now demanded of art was effect and
feeling at any price. The one was attained through the other. A passionate
excitement pulsates throughout all artistic works; the ideal repose of the former
altar-pieces no longer satisfied. Longing, devotional ardor, passionate rapture,
enthusiastic ecstasy—these are the aims of the new art. No longer the solemn
dignity of the saint, but the nervous visions of enraptured monks, are its ideal. It
delights in thrilling delineations of martyrdom, seeking to render such scenes as
effective and touching as possible. A desire for substantial power, a political-
religious tendency, had taken possession of art, and had adapted it to its own
objects. That, under such circumstances, painting reaches a new and truly
artistic importance may be traced above all to the great masters who now
cultivated the art, and still more to the tone of the age, which promoted it in a
rare measure.... The same spirit, however, which imparted such genuine
importance to painting produced the ruin of sculpture. This epoch, more than
any other, is a proof that the greatest men of talent, appearing in a perverted age,
are carried by their very genius all the more certainly to ruin. All that, in a more
favorable period, would have raised them to be stars in the art firmament, now

made them fall like some ignis fatuus, the brilliant light of which owes its
illusory existence only to miasma. This striking fact appears, at first sight,
inexplicable; but it is easy to understand, if we consider the different character
of the two arts. Plastic art had formerly emulated painting, and thus, especially
in relief, had suffered unmistakable injury to its own peculiar nature. At that
time, however, painting itself was full of architectural severity and plastic
nobleness of form. Now, when everything depended on striking effect and
speaking delineation of passionate emotions, it was compelled to have recourse
to naturalistic representation, to freer arrangements and to more striking forms
that emulated reality. If, however, sculpture, which could not keep pace with its
rival in the enamelled coloring and mysterious charm of the chiaro-oscuro
which it brought into the field, would, in anywise, do the same as painting, it
was compelled to plunge regardlessly into the same naturalism of forms and
into the same bold display of passion with which painting produced such grand
effects. And this sculpture did without the slightest scruple, and in this lack of
an artistic conscience its whole glory perished. It is true in this passion for
excited compositions an excess of splendid works were produced; it is true
immense resources were expended, and able artists were employed; but such
inner hollowness stares at us with inanimate eye from the greater number of
these works that we turn from them with repugnance, and even often with
disgust."
The artist who first met this new demand upon sculpture, and may be called the
founder of a new style, was Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), a very
gifted man. When but ten years old this remarkable genius was known as a
prodigy in art, and it was at this early age that his father took him to Rome.
Pope Paul V. was soon interested in him, and Cardinal Barberini assisted him in
his studies; from this fortunate beginning all through his life good fortune
attended his steps. He lived through the pontificate of nine popes, and was
always in favor with the reigning head of the Church. This gave him the
opportunity to fill Rome with his works, and he imprinted himself upon the art
of the Eternal City; no artist since the time of Michael Angelo held such sway,
and Bernini acquired his power easily, while the grand Michael Angelo was
disputed at every step, and fought a long, hard battle before he was allowed to
take the place which was so clearly his by right.
The fame of Bernini extended to other lands, and he was invited to France,
where he went when sixty-eight years old, accompanied by one of his sons and
a numerous retinue. He was loaded with favors, and received large sums of
money and many valuable presents. In Rome, too, he was much favored; he

held several church benefices, and his son was made a Canon of Santa Maria
Maggiore; and it was in this church that Bernini was buried with great
magnificence, as became his position and his wealth, for he left the immense
fortune of four hundred thousand Roman crowns.
Bernini had great versatility of talent, a remarkable imagination and power of
conceiving his subjects clearly, and, more than all, he had marvellous power of
execution and compelling his marble to show forth his thought. It has been said
that marble was like wax or clay beneath his hand. He was subject to no rules;
indeed, he believed that an artist must set aside all rules if he would excel. This
sounds very fascinating, but a study of Bernini's works will show that it is a
deceitful maxim. A man of small talent could do nothing in this way, and even
Bernini, who without doubt had great gifts, often failed to make up in any way
for the sins against rules of which he was guilty. Westmacott, in his writing
upon sculpture, says it would have been better for art if Bernini had never lived;
and it is true that in his struggle for effect he was an injury rather than a benefit
to the art of his own day and the succeeding years.
The worst defect in the sculpture of Bernini is his treatment of the human body.
At times he exaggerates the muscular power beyond all resemblance to nature,
and again he seems to leave out all anatomy and soften the body to a point that
far exceeds possibility. This softness is seen in his Apollo and Daphne, which
shows the moment when she is suddenly changed into a laurel-tree in order to
escape the pursuit of the young god. This group is in the Villa Borghese, at
Rome; it was executed when Bernini was but eighteen years old, and near the
close of his life he declared that he had made little progress after its production.
But he reached the height of this objectionable manner in his representation of
the Rape of Proserpine, which is in the Villa Ludovisi. The Pluto is a rough,
repulsive man, with whom no association of a god can be made, and the
Proserpine is made a soulless, sensual figure, so far from attractive in a pure
sense that we are almost willing that Pluto should carry her to some region from
which she is not likely to come back. At the same time we are sorry not to
provide her with an ointment for the blue marks which the big hands of Pluto
are making on her soft flesh. The plain truth is, that this work makes a low and
common thing of a subject which could be so treated as to be a "thing of
beauty" in a charming sense. (Fig. 111.)
Bernini executed a statue of St. Bibiana for the church of that saint at Rome,
and one of St. Longinus in one of the niches to the dome of St. Peter's; he also

made the designs for the one hundred and sixty-two
statues in the colonnades of St. Peter's, and for the
decorations of the bridge of St. Angelo; in such
works, almost without exception, he chose some
moment in the lives of the persons represented that
called for a striking attitude and gave an opportunity
for an effect that is often theatrical. As a mere
decoration such statues have a certain value of an
inferior sort; but as works of art, as intellectual
efforts, they are worthless. However, this decorative
effect, as it is seen on the façade of the Lateran,
where the figures stand out against the sky, or on the
bridge of St. Angelo, is not by any means to be
despised; only we cannot call a sculptor a great artist
when he can do nothing finer than this.
Some of Bernini's works in which he shows intense
suffering have more genuine feeling, and are finer in
artistic qualities. One of these is Pietà, in the chapel
of St. Andreas Corsini in the Lateran. But he Fig. 111.—Rape of
frequently goes beyond the bounds of good taste, as, Proserpine.
for example, on the monument to Pope Urban VIII., By Bernini.
in St. Peter's, where he represents Death with his
bony hand writing the inscription on the panel; this is truly terrible, and not less
so is another Death upon the monument of Alexander VII., raising the marble
curtain before the entrance to the vault, as if he were inviting one to walk in.
Many objections can be made to his draperies. He exaggerated the small
curtains seen on some ancient tombs until they were huge objects of ugliness;
the drapery upon his figures is so prominently treated that instead of being a
minor object it sometimes seems like the principal one; it no longer serves to
conceal forms, and at the same time show their grace and motion, but it is
inflated, fluttering, grotesque in form and quite absurd when compared with
statues in which it answers its true purpose.
Charles I. of England heard so much of Bernini that he desired to have a statue
of himself executed by this sculptor; three of Vandyck's portraits of the king
were sent to him, and the likeness of the statue was so satisfactory to the
monarch that he sent the artist six thousand crowns and a ring worth as much
more.

Bernini executed a colossal equestrian statue of Constantine for the portico of
St. Peter's; he made another of Louis XIV., which was changed into a Marcus
Curtius, and sent to Versailles. He also executed the fountain in the Piazza
Navona, at Rome, which is one of his exaggerated works.
François Duquesnoy (1594-1646) was born at Brussels, and was known in
Rome as Il Fiammingo. The Archduke Albert sent him to Rome to study, and he
was a contemporary of Bernini. When his patron died Duquesnoy was left
without means, and was forced to carve small figures in ivory for his support.
His figures of children, which were full of life and child-like expression,
became quite famous. An important work of his in this way is the fountain of
the Manneken-Pis, at Brussels.
His masterpiece is a colossal statue of St. Andrew in the Church of St. Peter's; it
occupied him five years, and is one of the best works of modern art. His statue
of St. Susanna in the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto, in Rome, is simple and
noble, and is much admired. Little is known of this artist's life, and it is said that
he was poisoned by his brother when on his way to France.
There was a goodly company of sculptors following Bernini, but none whose
works or life was of sufficient importance or interest to demand our attention
here, and we will pass to the sculpture of France, where the arts were less
devoted to the service of the Church and more to the uses of kings, princes, and
noblemen. The court of France was devoted to pomp and pleasure, and
sculpture was used for the glorification of the leaders in all its follies. In one
sense this is more agreeable than the art in Italy which we have been
considering, for nothing can be more disagreeable than a false religious
sentiment in art; it is only when the artist is filled with true devotion and feels
deeply in his own soul all that he tries to express in his work that religious
representations can appeal to us agreeably or benefit us by their influence.
Simon Guillain (1581-1658) is especially interesting as the sculptor of the
statue of Louis XIV. as a boy, which is in the Louvre; those of his parents are
also there; formerly they decorated the Pont au Change. Other works by this
master are in the same museum.
Jacques Sarrazin (1588-1660) is only known by his works, which are now in
the Louvre, of which a bronze bust of the Chancellor Pierre Séguier is worthy of
notice.

François Anguier (1604-1669) was born at Eu, in Normandy, and was the son
of a carpenter, who taught his son to carve in wood at an early age. When still
quite young François went to Paris to study, and later to Rome. He became one
of the first artists of his time in France, and was a favorite of the king, Louis
XIII., who made him keeper of the gallery of antiquities, and gave him
apartments in the Louvre. Most of his important works were monuments to
illustrious men. His copies of antique sculptures were very fine.
Michel Anguier (1612-1686) was a brother of the preceding, with whom he
studied until they both went to Rome. Michel remained there ten years, and was
employed with other artists in St. Peter's and in some palaces. In 1651 he
returned to Paris, and assisted François in the great work of the tomb of the
Duke de Montmorenci at Moulins.
Michel executed a statue of Louis XIII., which was cast in bronze. He adorned
the apartments of Queen Anne of Austria in the Louvre, and for her executed the
principal sculptures in the Church of Val de Grace; a Nativity in this church is
his best work. His sculptures are seen in various churches, and he also executed
statues of ancient gods and vases for garden ornaments. He was a professor in
the Academy of Arts in Paris, and wrote lectures on sculpture.
François Girardon (1630-1715), born at Troyes, was a protégé of the
Chancellor Séguier. Louis XIV. gave him a pension, by which he was enabled to
study in Rome, and after his return to France the king gave him many
commissions. The monument to Cardinal Richelieu in the Church of the
Sorbonne is from the hand of this sculptor. Perhaps his best-known work is the
Rape of Proserpine at Versailles. He made an equestrian statue of Louis XIV.,
which was destroyed in the Revolution; a model of it in bronze is in the Louvre.
His bust of Boileau is a strong, fine work. Many of his sculptures were
destroyed by the revolutionists.
A devoted follower of Bernini was Pierre Puget (1622-1694). His works are
seen at the Louvre and at Versailles. His group of Milo of Crotona endeavoring
to free himself from the claws of the lion is full of life and is natural, but the
subject is too repulsive to be long examined; his Perseus liberating Andromeda
is more agreeable, and is noble in its forms and animated in expression. His
Alexander and Diogenes is in relief, and is effective and picturesque.
Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) was born at Lyons, and manifested his artistic
talent very early in life. Before he was seventeen years old he had distinguished
himself by a statue of the Virgin, and progressed rapidly in his studies, which he

made in Paris. In 1667 he was engaged by Cardinal Furstenburg to go to Alsace
to decorate his palace; this occupied him four years. When he again went to
Paris he became a very eminent artist. He executed a statue of Louis XIV., and
received a commission from the province of Bretagne for an equestrian statue of
the same monarch.
Among his best works are the tomb of Cardinal Mazarin; the tomb of the great
Colbert in the Church of St. Eustache; the monument of Charles le Brun in the
Church of St. Nicolas; the statue of the great Condé; the marble statue of Louis
XIV., in the Church of Notre Dame, and others. In the tomb of Mazarin he
showed fine powers of construction and excellence of design. The kneeling
figure of the minister is a dignified statue and well executed; the statues in
bronze of Prudence, Peace, and Fidelity, and the marble figures of Charity and
Religion are each and all noble works, and free to a remarkable degree from the
mannerisms and faults of his time.
Nicolas Coustou (1658-1733) was a nephew and pupil of Coysevox. He took
the grand prize at Paris, and went to Rome to study when he was twenty-three
years old. He made many copies of the antique. After his return to France he
was much employed. His chief work was a colossal representation of the
Junction of the Seine and the Marne. He also made for the city of Lyons a
bronze statue representing the river Saone. Some of his sculptures are in the
Church of Notre Dame.
Guillaume Coustou (1678-1746), brother of Nicolas, also gained the grand
prize and went to Rome, and on his return made a fine reputation. Much of his
best work was for the gardens of Marly; he executed a bronze statue of the
Rhone at Lyons; a bas-relief of Christ with the Doctors, at Versailles, and
statues of Louis XIV. and Cardinal Dubois, in the Museum of French
Monuments.
Jean Baptiste Pigalle (1714-1785) is the last French sculptor of whom I shall
speak here. He was born in Paris, and gained his first fame by a statue of
Mercury; but his masterpiece was the tomb of Marshal Moritz of Saxony, in the
Church of St. Thomas, at Strasburg. The soldier is represented in his own
costume, just as he wore it in life, about to enter a tomb, on one side of which
stands a skeleton Death, and on the other a mourning Hercules. A statue
representing France tries to hold him back, and a Genius attends on him with an
inverted torch. There are many accessories of military emblems and trophies.

There have been several engravings made from this tomb, the best part of which
is the figure of the Marshal.
Pigalle was a favorite with Mme. Pompadour, of whom he made a portrait
statue. She employed him to do many works for her. His best monument in
Paris is that of the Comte d'Harcourt, in the Church of Notre Dame.
In the Netherlands, as in Italy, the painting of the time had a great effect upon
sculpture, and it was full of energy, like the pictures of the Rubens school; at the
same time there remained traces of the traditions of former days, and while a
great change had come since the days of Vischer, there was still a firm
adherence to nature, and no such affectations and mannerisms existed here as
were seen in the works of Bernini and his followers in Italy and France.

One of the ablest sculptors of his day was Arthur Quellinus,
who was born at Antwerp in 1607. He studied under
Duquesnoy, and was especially happy in his manner of
imagining his subjects, and of avoiding the imitation of others
or a commonplace treatment of his own. The magnificent Town
Hall of Antwerp was commenced in 1648, and Quellinus
received the commission to decorate it with plastic works. His
sculptures are numerous, both on the interior and exterior of the
edifice. In the two pediments he introduced allegorical
representations of the power of the city of Antwerp, especially
in her commerce. These compositions are picturesque in their
arrangement, but the treatment is such as belongs to sculpture;
in one of these a figure which represents the city is enthroned
like a queen, and is surrounded by fantastic sea-gods, who offer
their homage to her. (Fig. 112.)
We cannot give a list of many detached works by Quellinus,
Fig. 112. but one of the best of the old monuments in Berlin is attributed
Caryatide. to him. It is the tomb of Count Sparr in the Marienkirche.
Quellinus.
At the present day Berlin is a city of much artistic importance,
and the beginning of its present architectural and sculptural prominence may be
dated at about the end of the seventeenth century, not quite two hundred years
ago. One of the most influential artists of that time was Andreas Schlüter
(1662-1714), who was born in Hamburg. His father was a sculptor of no
prominence, but he took his son with him to Dantzig, where many
Netherlandish artists were employed upon the buildings being constructed there.
Andreas Schlüter was naturally gifted, and he devoted himself to the study of
both architecture and sculpture, at home and later in Italy. Before he was thirty
years old he was employed in important affairs in Warsaw, and in 1694 he was
summoned to Berlin, where he executed the plastic ornaments of the Arsenal;
the heads of the Dying Warriors above the windows in the court-yard are
remarkable works. They are very fine when regarded only as excellent
examples of good sculpture, and they are very effective placed as they are, for
they seem to tell the whole tragic story of what a soldier's life and fate must
often be (Fig. 113).

Fig. 113.—Heads of Dying Warriors.
By Schlüter.
However, the masterpiece of this sculptor is the equestrian statue of the Great
Elector for the long bridge at Berlin, which was completed in 1703 (Fig. 114).
Lübke says of this: "Although biassed as regards form by the age which
prescribed the Roman costume to ideal portraits of this kind, the horseman on
his mighty charger is conceived with so much energy, he is filled with such
power of will, he is so noble in bearing and so steady in his course, that no other
equestrian statue can be compared with this in fiery majesty. Equally masterly is
the arrangement of the whole, especially the four chained slaves on the base, in
whom we gladly pardon a certain crowding of movements and forms."

Fig. 114.—The Great Elector.
By Schlüter.
Schlüter also made a statue of the Elector Frederic III., which is now in
Königsberg. Besides his works in sculpture he was the architect of the royal
palaces at Potsdam, Charlottenburg, and Berlin, and there are many sculptures
by him at these places. When he was thus in an important position and at the
height of professional prosperity he met with a sad misfortune, from the effects
of which he never recovered. A chime of bells had been purchased in Holland,
and Schlüter was commissioned to arrange an old tower for their reception. He
carried it higher than it had been, and was proceeding to finish it, when it

threatened to fall, and had to be pulled down. On account of this Schlüter was
dismissed from his position as court architect; and though his office of sculptor
was left to him his power was gone, and he was broken down in spirit. He was
called to St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and died soon after. Now, the verdict
of judges is that he was one of the greatest artists of his age, and that his works,
both in sculpture and architecture, belong to the noblest productions of his
century.

CHAPTER IX.
CANOVA, THORWALDSEN, AND OTHER RECENT
SCULPTORS.

In the middle of the eighteenth century the arts had fallen into such a feeble
state that a true artistic work—one conceived and executed in an artist spirit—
was not to be looked for. As in the Middle Ages, too, thought seemed to be
sleeping. Both art and letters were largely prostrated to the service of those in
high places; they were scarcely used except for the pleasure or praise of men
whose earthly power made them to be feared, and because they were feared
they were flattered openly and despised secretly.
But about the end of the century another spirit arose; a second Renaissance took
place, which may be traced in literature and in art, as it may be in the movement
of political events and an independence of thought everywhere.
Naturally the question as to where artists could turn for their models was an
important one, and as before in various epochs in art the antique had been the
"only help in time of trouble," so it proved again. In 1764 Winckelmann
published his "History of Ancient Art," in which the rich significance of classic
art was clearly placed before the student. The service which this author rendered
to art can scarcely be over-estimated, coming, as it did, at a time when the
genius of art seemed to have turned his back upon the world, and all true
inspiration was lost. At about the same time the monuments of Athens were
recalled to the European world by Stuart and Revett in their architectural
designs, and by the end of the century the study of the antique had done its
transforming work, and artists were striving for more worthy ends than the
favor of kings and powerful patrons. This new study of classic art did not show
its full and best results until the Danish sculptor Thorwaldsen executed his
works; but before his time others were striving for that which it was his
privilege to perfect.
Among the earliest and most famous of these eighteenth-century reformers was
the Venetian, Antonio Canova (1757-1822). He was born in Possagno, and was
the son and grandson of stone-cutters. His father died when he was very young,
and he was thus left to the care and instruction of his grandfather, the old Pasino

Canova, who lost no time in accustoming the boy to the use of the chisel, for
there are cuttings in existence which were executed by Canova in his ninth year.
Signor Giovanni Faliero dwelt near Possagno, and was in the habit of
employing Pasino Canova frequently; he entertained such respect for the old
stone-cutter that he sometimes asked him to spend a few days at his villa. On
these visits the old man was accompanied by Antonio, who soon became a
favorite with all the family of Faliero, and a friend of the young Giuseppe.
On one occasion when Pasino and the boy attended a festival at Villa Faliero,
the ornament for the dessert was forgotten. When the servants remembered it at
the last moment they went to the old Pasino in distress, and begged him to save
them from the displeasure of the master. The old man could do nothing for
them, but the young Tonin, as he was called, asked for some butter, and from it
quickly carved a lion. At table this strange ornament attracted the attention of all
the guests, and Tonin was called in to receive their praises; from this time the
Senator Faliero became his patron, and he placed the boy under the instruction
of Giuseppe Bernardi, called Toretto, a Venetian sculptor who had settled at
Pagnano.
At this time Canova was twelve years old; he studied two years under Toretto,
and made many statues and models, which are still preserved by the Faliero
family, or in other collections. His first really original work was the modelling
of two angels in clay; he did these during an absence of his master's; he placed
them in a prominent place, and then awaited Toretto's opinion with great
anxiety. When the master saw them he was filled with surprise, and exclaimed
that they were truly marvellous; from these models the grandfather cut two
angels in pietra dura for the high-altar at Monfumo. At this same period Canova
made his first representations of the human form; he was accustomed to make
small statues and give them to his friends.
When he was fifteen years old Faliero sent for him, and received him into his
own family. Canova wished to earn something for himself, and engaged to work
half of the day for Giuseppe Ferrari, who was a nephew of his former master,
Toretto. Of this time Canova afterward wrote: "I labored for a mere pittance, but
it was sufficient. It was the fruit of my own resolution, and, as I then flattered
myself, the foretaste of more honorable rewards." This circumstance proves
how remarkable he must have been; it is unusual for a boy of fifteen to be paid
for work instead of paying for instruction. In Venice he was able to learn much
from observation. He divided his time systematically, spending his mornings in
the Academy or some gallery, his afternoons in the shop where he was

employed, and his evenings in studies for which he had had no opportunity as a
child.
The first commission which was given to Canova was from the Commendatore
Farsetti for a pair of baskets filled with fruit and flowers, to be sculptured in
marble, and placed on a staircase which led to the picture gallery in the Farsetti
Palace, where Canova spent much time in study. These works have no special
excellence.
After a year in Venice he went to Asolo with the Faliero family. Some time
before this his patron had asked Canova to make for him a group of Orpheus
and Eurydice, taking the moment when Eurydice beholds her lover torn away
from her forever. Canova had been busy with this in his leisure hours in Venice,
and he took with him to Asolo everything necessary to the work. He completed
the Eurydice in his sixteenth year; it was life-size, and cut from pietra di
Costosa.
With this first attempt Canova became convinced that the small models such as
were in use by sculptors were quite insufficient to good work, and he
determined that his models should be of the size which the finished work would
have, even when colossal.
After this time he had his studio in a cell of the monastery of the Augustine
friars attached to the Church of San Stefano, in Venice. During the next three
years he was occupied with his Orpheus and a bust of the Doge Renier. At this
time he studied entirely from nature; he devoted himself to the pursuit of
anatomy, and after a time was accustomed to make dissections in order to
sketch or model from important parts or some conformations that he desired in
particular instances.
In 1776 his Orpheus was finished and exhibited, and it chanced to be at the
annual festival of the Ascension, when the opera of Orpheus was brought out in
Venice. Canova was accustomed to say that the praise he then received was
"that which made him a sculptor;" and so grateful was he for it that later, when
he became Marquis of Ischia, he chose for his armorial ensigns the lyre and
serpent which are the mythological symbols of Orpheus and Eurydice. The
Senator Grimani ordered a copy of the Orpheus, and this was the first work of
Canova in Carrara marble.
He soon found his workshop too small, and removed to one in the street of San
Maurizio, where he remained until he left his native country. His next work was

a statue of Æsculapius, larger than life; a short time before his death, when he
saw this statue, he sorrowfully declared that "his progress had by no means
corresponded with the indications of excellence in this performance of his
youth." About this time he executed an Apollo and Daphne which was never
entirely finished, and when twenty-two years old he completed a group of
Dædalus and Icarus for the Senator Pisani. This was intended for an exterior
decoration of his palace; but when it was done Pisani considered it worthy of a
place in his gallery, already famous on account of the painting of Darius and his
Family, by Paul Veronese, and other fine works. This may be called Canova's
last work in Venice, as he went to Rome soon after his twenty-third birthday.
The Cavaliere Zuliani was then the representative of Venice in Rome, and
Faliero gave Canova letters to him. Zuliani was an enlightened patron of art,
and he received the young sculptor with great kindness, and soon arranged to
have his model of Dædalus and Icarus exhibited to the best artists and judges of
art in Rome. We can fancy the anxiety with which Canova went to this
exhibition; but the praise which he there received secured for him a place
among the artists then in Rome.
Canova had a great desire to undertake a group of some important subject, and
Zuliani was his friend in this; for he gave him the marble, and promised if no
other purchaser appeared to give him the full value of the work when
completed. He also gave him a workshop in the Venetian Palace, to which no
one had access, where he could be entirely free and undisturbed. The subject
chosen for the group was Theseus vanquishing the Minotaur, and the size was to
be colossal. Canova now worked with untiring devotion; he was often seen
before the statues on Monte Cavallo, with sketch-book in hand, as soon as it
was light enough for him to see, and he studied faithfully in the museums and
galleries of Rome. His friends in Venice had secured for him a pension of three
hundred ducats, which placed him above want, and he was free to devote
himself to his Theseus, although while at work on that he made a statue of
Apollo, which was exhibited with Angelini's Minerva, and received much
praise.
Meantime no one knew of the Theseus save the ambassador. When it was
finished Zuliani prepared it for exhibition, and invited all the most distinguished
men in Rome to an entertainment. A model of the head of Theseus was put in a
prominent place, and the guests were busy in discussing it; they asked questions
and expressed opinions, and when their interest was well awakened Zuliani
said: "Come, let us end this discussion by seeing the original," and the statue

was unveiled before their eyes. Canova often declared that death itself could not
have been more terrible to him than were those moments. But he and all else
were forgotten in the surprise and admiration which the group excited; in that
hour the artists who afterward hated him gave him their sincere praise. From
that day the fame of Canova was established.

Fig. 115.—The Three Graces.
By Canova.
Very soon he was selected to erect a monument to Clement XIV. This pope was
a famous man; he was the collector of the Clementine Museum, the author of
the elegant letters known by his family name of Ganganelli, and, above all, he

was the suppressor of the Jesuits. While Canova felt the honor that was thus
offered him he also thought himself bound to consult those who had conferred
his pension upon him, and thus helped him to become the artist that he was. He
went, therefore, to Venice and sought direction from the Senate; he was told to
employ his time as should be most profitable to himself. He therefore gave up
his studio in Venice, and as his patron, Zuliani, had now left Rome, he fitted up
the studio in the Strada Babbuino, which became so well known to lovers of art
of all nations who visited Rome. In 1787 the above monument was exhibited,
and was much admired. An engraving was made from it and dedicated to
Zuliani; but Canova desired to do something more worthy for his patron, and
made a statue of Psyche as a gift to him; Zuliani hesitated to accept it, but
finally consented to do so if Canova would in turn accept a number of silver
medals with the Psyche on one side and a head of Canova on the other, which
he could give to his friends. In the midst of all this Zuliani died, and his heirs
were so angry because he had left works of art to the Public Library that they
refused to carry out his plans. In the end the Psyche was bought by Napoleon
and presented to the Queen of Bavaria.
Canova executed a second papal monument to Pope Clement XIII. It was
erected in St. Peter's by his nephews. The mourning genius upon it is frequently
mentioned as one of Canova's happiest figures. The execution of these two
monuments occupied almost ten years of the best part of this sculptor's life.
Canova's fame had extended over all Europe, and he was asked to go to St.
Petersburg, and offered most advantageous terms if he would do so; but he
declined, and executed the monument of Admiral Emo, on a commission from
the Venetian Senate. For this work he received a gold medal and an annuity for
life.
In 1798, during the revolutionary excitement at Rome, Canova went to
Possagno, his native town. Here, in his retirement, he painted more than twenty
pictures, which were by no means to be despised. His masterpiece represented
the Saviour just taken from the cross, and surrounded by the Marys, St. John,
Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea. This was the first of the many gifts which
he made to this little church, by which it became a splendid temple and the
expression of Canova's love for his birthplace and early home.
After he returned to Rome his health was not sufficient to allow of his usual
close application to work, and he went to Berlin and Vienna in company with
Prince Rezzonico, and this so benefited him that he was able to resume his

labors with new energy. He soon achieved a proud triumph, for his Perseus was
placed in one of the Stanze of the Vatican by a public decree; this was the first
modern work which had been thus honored.
In 1802-1803 Napoleon requested Canova to go to Paris to model a portrait bust
for a colossal statue; the work was finished six years later. In 1805 the artist
went again to Vienna, where he modelled a bust of the Emperor of Austria; in
1810 again to Paris to prepare a model for the statue of Maria Louisa. With the
exception of these short journeys he was constantly at work in his Roman studio
until 1815, when he was sent in an official capacity to France by the pope, for
the purpose of reclaiming the works of art which had been carried from Italy in
times of war, and which really belonged to the patrimony of the Church.
Canova executed his commission with rare judgment, and then continued his
journey to England. In London he received many honors; the king gave him an
order for a group, held several conversations with him, made him valuable gifts,
and intrusted him with a private letter to the pope.
Canova returned to Rome on January 5th, 1816. His entry might almost be
called a triumphal one, for the people of Rome were so grateful for the
restoration of their treasures that they expressed their joy in demonstrations to
Canova. He had been President of St. Luke's Academy before; he was now
made President of the Commission to purchase works of art, and of the
Academy of Archæology. In full consistory of all the high officers of the
Church, the pope caused his name to be inscribed upon the "golden volume of
the Capitol," and conferred upon him the title of Marquis of Ischia, with a
pension of three thousand crowns a year.
Canova now determined to execute a colossal statue of Religion, which should
commemorate the return of the pope from banishment. He endeavored to
persuade the authorities to decide where it should be placed; this was not done,
and he was much grieved at his failure to carry out the idea. But he determined
that from this time he would devote his life and fortune to religion, and resolved
to erect a church at Possagno, to adorn it with works of art, and to make it his
own burial-place.
On July 8th, 1819, Canova assembled his workmen in his native town, and gave
them a fête; many peasant girls joined in the festivities and assisted in the
breaking of the ground; at evening, as they all passed before Canova to bid him
farewell, each one received a gift from him. Three days later the religious
ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the future church took place. An

immense number of people from the surrounding country and from Venice were
present; Canova, in his robes as a Knight of Christ, and wearing the insignia of
other orders, led the procession; all who had seen Canova when a poor boy in
their midst were much impressed by this occasion. Here, in a public manner, he
consecrated his life and fortune to the service of God and the benefit of his
birthplace. Every autumn Canova went to Possagno to encourage the workmen
and to give directions as to how the whole should be done. Between these visits
he worked devotedly, for he was forced to earn all he could in order to pay for
his great undertaking.
At this time he executed a statue of Washington, and was making an equestrian
statue of Ferdinand of Naples, and in the month of May, 1822, went to that city,
where he fell ill; he returned to Rome, and revived somewhat, and resumed his
work. On September 17th he went to Possagno, in October to Villa Faliero,
where, fifty years before, he had spent such happy days. From here he went to
Venice, and on the 13th of the same month he died.
Solemn services were held in the cathedral, and his remains were then intrusted
to the priests of Possagno, who bore them to their temple, where he was buried
on the 25th of the month; the crowd was so great that the oration was delivered
in the open air. Canova's heart was given to the Academy of Venice, and an
elegant little monument was erected in the Palace of Arts to contain this relic of
the sculptor. The Venetian artists arranged to erect to him a monument, and
chose the design which he himself had made for the tomb of Titian; it is in the
Church of Santa Maria de' Frari. In Rome a statue was decreed to him, and he
was declared the perpetual President of her chief academy.
In personal appearance Canova was not grand or very attractive. His head was
remarkably well placed upon his shoulders, and the loose manner in which he
dressed his neck allowed this to be seen; his forehead was a noble one, his hair
black, and his whole manner and dress was modest and simple. His habits were
very orderly and quiet; he rose early to work, and went little into public society;
but he welcomed a few friends to dinner almost daily. He entertained them
cordially, but without display, and led the conversation to light, cheerful topics
that did not touch upon art, or demand mental exertion. At eleven o'clock he
retired to his own room and amused himself with a book or pencil before
sleeping. Some of his best drawings were made at this hour, and have been
published with the title of "Pensieri," or thoughts. To describe one day was to
give a picture of all, so regular were his habits of life.

In his professional life he was just and generous to others, and though he would
have no pupils, he would leave everything to advise an artist or visit his works.
He was also a patron of art, and had executed, at his own expense, the numerous
busts of distinguished persons in the Capitoline Museum.
There is a story of a romance in his life. It is said that
when he first arrived in Venice he fell in love with a
beautiful girl who was older than himself, who went to
draw in the Farsetti Gallery. Day by day he watched her
until she came no more; at length her attendant returned,
and Canova inquired for her mistress; she burst into tears
and answered, "La Signora Julia is dead." He asked no
more, and never knew who Julia was or any
circumstances of her history; but all his life he treasured
her image, and when he endeavored to unite the purity of
an angel with the earthly beauty of a woman, the
remembrance of Julia was always in his mind.
Canova was one of the few artists who received their full
merit of praise and the benefits of their labors while
alive. Without doubt he was a great sculptor, and coming
as he did, at a time when art was at its worst, he seemed
all the more remarkable to the men around him. But the
verdict of to-day would not exalt him as highly as did his
Fig. 116.—Hebe. friends and patrons. His statues lack the repose which
By Canova. makes the grandest feature of the best sculpture; his
female figures have a sentimental sort of air that is not all
we could wish, and does not elevate them above what we may call pleasing art.
His male figures are better, more natural and simple, though some of his
subjects bordered on the coarse and brutal, as in the two fencers, Kreugas and
Damoxenes, or Hercules and Lichas. But in his religious subjects he is much
finer, and in some of his monuments he shows dignity and earnestness, while
his composition is in the true artistic spirit. Taken on the whole, he was a
wonderful artist and a man of whom his century might well be proud.
Other sculptors of this period and of different nations studied at Rome, and
devoted themselves to the antique with enthusiasm. One of these was Antoine
Denis Chaudet (1763-1810), who was born at Paris. His talent was so early
developed that he was admitted to the Royal Academy when fourteen years old,
and when twenty-one he gained the first prize, and with the royal pension went

to Rome, where he remained five years. He soon took good rank among artists
of that time, for he was a designer and painter as well as sculptor. He adhered
strictly to the antique style, and attained much purity, though he was always
cold in treatment. He was made a Professor of Sculpture in the French
Academy, and made valuable contributions to the "Dictionary of Fine Arts."
Chaudet's principal works in sculpture were the silver statue of Peace in the
Tuileries; a statue of Cincinnatus in the Senate Chamber; a statue of Œdipus; a
bas-relief of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, in the Musée Napoléon, and
many busts and smaller works.
He also designed numerous medals and some of the illustrations for a fine
edition of Racine, and painted a picture of Æneas and Anchises in the Burning
of Troy.
Johann Heinrich Dannecker (1758-1841) was born at Stuttgart. By a statue of
Milo he gained the prize of the academy founded by Duke Charles Eugene, and
with the royal pension he went first to Paris and then to Rome, where he studied
seven years. He then returned to Würtemberg, and was made Director of the
Royal Academy, with a salary of fifteen thousand francs a year. During fifteen
years Dannecker maintained a high rank in his art, but his health became so
feeble that he was forced to see others excel him. One of his works has a wide
reputation, and is known to many people the world over, through the generosity
of Herr Bethmann of Frankfort, who admits visitors to his gallery, and from the
models and pictures which have been made from it; it is the Ariadne on a
Panther (Fig. 117).

Fig. 117.—Ariadne and the Panther.
By Dannecker.
Dannecker had a delicate feeling for nature; his figures were light and graceful,
and his heads were noble in expression. He labored eight years upon a figure of
Christ, which belongs to the Emperor of Russia; in Stuttgart a nymph pouring
water on Neckar Street and two nymphs on a reservoir in the palace garden
show his fine taste in architectural sculpture. Among his other works are a
statue of Alexander, a monument to Count Zeppelin, a Cupid, and a Maiden
lamenting a Dead Bird. Some of his works are among the very best productions
of modern sculpture; his portraits are noble and true to nature; the works named

here are by no means all that he did, and we should add that his efforts in
religious subjects exhibit a pure sense of the beautiful, and a true conception of
Christian ideas.
We come now, for the first time, to a great English sculptor. John Flaxman
(1755-1826) was born in York, but while he was still an infant his father
removed to London, where he kept a plaster-cast shop. The boy began to draw
and even to model very early; when but five years old he kept some soft wax,
with which he could take an impression from any seal or ring or coin which
pleased him. He was very delicate in health, and was once thought to be dead,
and was prepared for burial, when animation returned; his parents tried to
gratify all his wishes, and while a child he modelled a great number of figures
in wax, clay, and plaster.
By the time he was ten years old he was much stronger, and was able to use the
activity which corresponded to his enthusiastic feeling and imagination. About
this time he read "Don Quixote," and was so moved by the adventures of that
hero that he went out early one morning armed with a toy sword and bent upon
protecting some forlorn damsel; he went to Hyde Park and wandered about all
day, not finding any one who was in need of his services. At night he returned
home, very hungry and weary, to find his family in great alarm over his unusual
absence.
He now spent all his time in drawing and modelling, and never had more than
two lessons from a master; at eleven years of age he began to gain various
prizes, and at fourteen was admitted to study at the Royal Academy, and gained
the silver medal there that same year. About this time he made some friends
who aided him to study the classics and to learn more of history, all of which
was of great use to him in his art. He was also fortunate in having the friendship
of Mr. Wedgwood, for whom he made many models. He also painted a few
pictures in oil.
Among his earliest sculptures were a group of Venus and Cupid and a
monument to Mrs. Morley, who, with her baby, died at sea. Flaxman
represented the mother and child rising from the sea and being received by
descending angels.
In 1782 Flaxman married Miss Ann Denman, whose intelligence and love of art
were of great assistance to her husband. In 1787 he went to Rome, where he
remained seven years. During this time he made a group for Lord Bristol,
representing the Fury of Athamas, from the Metamorphoses of Ovid; this work

cost him much labor, for which he received but small pay; it was carried to
Ireland and then to Ickworth House, in Suffolk, where but few people see it. In
Rome Flaxman also made a group of Cephalus and Aurora for Mr. Thomas
Hope, and the designs from Homer, Æschylus, and Dante, which have such a
world-wide fame.
In 1794 he returned to England, where he was constantly employed on
important works until his death. We cannot give a list of his numerous works.
Many of his monuments are seen in the churches of England. In Glasgow are
his statues of Mr. Pitt and Sir John Moore, in bronze; in Edinburgh is that of
Robert Burns. Flaxman executed much sculpture for the East Indies, one of
these works being unfinished when he died. Some critics consider his Archangel
Michael and Satan his best work; it was made for the Earl of Egremont, who
had his life-size Apollo also.
In 1797 Flaxman was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, in 1800 an
Academician, and in 1810, when a Professor of Sculpture was added to the
other professors of the Academy, he was appointed to the office. His lectures
have been published. The friezes on the Covent Garden Theatre were all
designed by Flaxman, and he executed the figure of Comedy himself. His last
work was making designs for the exterior decoration of Buckingham Palace,
which would have been entirely under his direction and partly executed by him
if he had lived.
His wife died in 1820, and her loss was a grief from which he could not
recover; she had been a great advantage to him, and he had depended much
upon her sympathy and counsel. Flaxman was a singularly pure man, and so
attractive in manner that he was the friend of old and young alike.
Sir Richard Westmacott succeeded Flaxman as Professor at the Royal Academy;
he said: "But the greatest of modern sculptors was our illustrious countryman,
John Flaxman, who not only had all the fine feeling of the ancient Greeks
(which Canova in a degree possessed), but united to it a readiness of invention
and a simplicity of design truly astonishing. Though Canova was his superior in
the manual part, high finishing, yet in the higher qualities, poetical feeling and
invention, Flaxman was as superior to Canova as was Shakespeare to the
dramatists of his day."
But the perfection of the results of the study of Canova and others who
endeavored to raise sculpture to its ancient glory was seen in the Dane, Bertel
Thorwaldsen (1770-1844), who was born in Copenhagen. The descent of this

artist has been traced to memorable sources in two quite distinct ways. Those
who claim that the Norsemen discovered America relate that during their stay
upon this coast a child was born, from whom Thorwaldsen's descent can be
distinctly followed. The learned genealogists of Iceland say that his ancestors
were descended from Harald Hildetand, King of Denmark, who, in the eighth
century, was obliged to flee, first to Norway and then to Iceland, and that one of
his descendants, Oluf Paa, in the twelfth century, was a famous wood-carver.
But this much is certain: in the fourteenth century there lived in Southern
Iceland a wealthy man, whose family and descendants were much honored. One
of these, Thorvald Gottskalken, a pastor, had two sons and but a small fortune;
so he sent his sons to Copenhagen, where one became a jeweller and died
young; the other, who was a wood-carver, was the father of the artist, whose
mother was Karen Gröulund, the daughter of a Jutland peasant.
The father was employed in a shipyard, and carved only the rude ornaments of
vessels and boats; but these served to lead the mind of the little Bertel to the art
he later followed. His father could not have dreamed of such a future as came to
his son, but he was wise enough to know that the boy might do more and better
than he had done, and he sent him, when eleven years old, to the free school of
the Royal Academy to study drawing; and very soon the works of the father
showed the gain which the son had made, for his designs were those now used
by the old wood-carver.
Bertel was also sent to study his books at the school of Charlottenburg, and here
he was so far from clever that he was put in the lowest class. When Bertel
gained his first prize at the academy the chaplain of the school at
Charlottenburg asked him if the boy who had taken the prize was his brother.
He looked up with surprise, and blushing, said, "It is myself, Herr Chaplain."
The priest was astounded at this, and said, "Herr Thorwaldsen, please to pass up
to the first class."
The boy was amazed at these honors, and from this day retained the title of
"Herr," which gave him much distinction. When, after many years, the sculptor
had been loaded with honors, and stood on the heights of fame, he was
accustomed to say that no glory had ever been so sweet to him as that first
rapture which came from the words of the Chaplain Höyer when he was
seventeen years old and a poor school-boy.
The effect of this first prize seemed to be to rouse his ambition, and he worked
with the greatest diligence and earnestness. Two years later he made a bas-relief

of Love in Repose, which took the large silver medal. His father now thought
him prepared to enter on the life of a ship's carver, and Bertel made no objection
to doing so; but the painter Abildgaard, who had been his teacher in the
academy, had grown very fond of him, and saw how much talent he had, and
could not think of his being but a common tradesman without deep regret. He
went, therefore, to the old carver, and after some difficulty obtained his consent
that his son should spend half his time in study at the academy, and the other
half in the earning of his daily bread at his father's side.
In 1790, when twenty years old, Thorwaldsen made a medallion of the Princess
of Denmark, which was so good a likeness that a number of copies was sold. A
year later he gained the small gold medal of the academy by a bas-relief of the
Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple. The Minister of State now became
interested in the young artist, and measures were taken to aid him to go on with
his studies. His patrons desired him to study the subjects of the antique
sculptures, and he chose that of Priam begging the Body of Hector from
Achilles. Later in life he repeated this subject, and it is interesting to notice the
strength and grandeur of the second when compared with the weakness of the
first. And yet it was from the latter that predictions were made of Thorwaldsen's
future greatness. In 1793 he gained the prize which entitled him to travel and
study three years at the expense of the academy. The work he presented was a
bas-relief of Saint Peter healing the Paralytic. In these works this sculptor
already showed two qualities which remained the same through his life; in his
subjects from antiquity he showed a Greek spirit, which has led some writers to
speak of him as a "posthumous Greek," or a true Greek artist born after other
Greek artists had died; on the other hand, when he treated religious subjects his
spirit was like that of the best masters of the Renaissance, and these works
remind us of Raphael. All this excellence came entirely from his artistic nature,
for outside of that he was ignorant; he knew nothing of history or literature, and
was never a man of culture as long as he lived. Outside of the work connected
with his profession Thorwaldsen was indolent, and only acquired knowledge of
other matters through observation or from the conversation of others.
Although he gained the prize which allowed him to travel in 1793, he did not
leave Copenhagen until May, 1796. In the mean time he had done what he could
to earn something: he had made designs for book-publishers, given lessons in
drawing and modelling, and made some bust and medallion portraits, reliefs,
and so on. The vessel in which the young sculptor sailed for Naples was called
the Thetis, and the captain engaged to watch over him; the voyage was long,
and all on board became fond of Thorwaldsen, though the captain wrote, "He is

an honest boy, but a lazy rascal." This opinion is very amusing when we know
what an enormous amount of labor he performed. At Naples he remained for
some time, and saw and admired all its works of art. He did not reach Rome
until about nine months after leaving Copenhagen, but from that time his whole
thought and life were changed. He was accustomed to say, "I was born on the
8th of March, 1797; before then I did not exist."
While in Naples Thorwaldsen had been ill, and suffered from a malarial
affection, which compelled him to be idle much of the time. But he was always
studying the antique statues, and made many copies. Some of the first original
works which he attempted were failures, when, at last, he modelled a colossal
statue of Jason, which was well received by those who saw it, and made him
somewhat famous in Rome (Fig. 118). Canova praised it, and other critics did
the same; but Thorwaldsen had no money; the academy had supported him six
years; what could he do? Quite discouraged, he was engaged in his preparations
for leaving Rome, when Mr. Thomas Hope, the English banker, gave him an
order for the Jason in marble. In an hour his life was changed. He was living in
Rome not as a student on charity, but as an artist gaining his living. We are
forced to add that Mr. Hope did not receive this statue until 1828, and
Thorwaldsen has been much blamed for his apparent ingratitude; but we cannot
here give all the details of the unfortunate affair.
Thorwaldsen had a true and faithful friend in Rome, the archæologist Zoëga; at
his house the young Dane had met a beautiful Italian girl, Anna Maria Magnani,
whom he loved devotedly. She was too ambitious to marry a poor sculptor, so
she married a rich M. d'Uhden; but she persuaded Thorwaldsen to sign an
agreement by which he bound himself to take care of her if she should not agree
with her husband and should leave him; this was just what happened in 1803,
and the sculptor received her into his house, where she remained sixteen years,
when she disappears from his life. He provided an honorable marriage for their
daughter.
In 1803 Thorwaldsen also made the acquaintance of the Baron von Schubart,
the Danish Minister, who presented the sculptor to Baron von Humboldt; and
through the friendship of these two men, and the persons to whom they
presented him, Thorwaldsen received many orders. In 1804 his fame had
become so well established that he received orders from all countries, and from
this time, during the rest of his life, he was never able to do all that was required
of him. He was much courted in society, where he was praised for his art and
beloved for his agreeable and pleasing manner. In this same year he was made a

Professor of the Royal Academy of Florence;
and though the Academy of Copenhagen
expected his return, they would not recall him
from the scene of his triumphs, and sent him a
gift of four hundred crowns. A few months later
he was made a member of the Academy of
Bologna and of that of his native city, in which
last he was also appointed a Professor.
Many circumstances conspired to increase his
popularity and to excite the popular interest in
him, when, in 1805, he produced the bas-relief
of the Abduction of Briseis, which still remains
one of his most celebrated works. His Jason had
put him on a level with Canova, who was then at
the height of his fame; now the Briseis was said
by many to excel the same type of works by
Canova, and there is no question that in bas-
relief the Dane was the better sculptor of the
two. This relief and his group of Cupid and Fig. 118.—Jason.
Psyche, which was completed in 1805, mark the By Thorwaldsen.
era at which Thorwaldsen reached his full
perfection as a sculptor. In this same year he modelled his first statue of Venus;
it was less than life-size; and though two copies of it were finished in marble, he
was not pleased with it, and destroyed the model: later he made the same statue
in full size.
In 1806 he received his first commission for religious subjects, which consisted
of two baptismal fonts for a church in the island of Fionia. But he was devoted
to mythological subjects, and preferred them before all others, and in this same
year modelled a Hebe while engaged upon the fonts. His industry was great, but
he found time to receive many visitors at his studio, and went frequently into
society. At the house of Baron von Humboldt, then Prussian Ambassador at
Rome, Thorwaldsen was always welcome and happy; here he met all persons of
note who lived in or who visited Rome.
It was at this period that the young Prince Louis of Bavaria entered into a
correspondence with Thorwaldsen, which ended only with the sculptor's life.
Louis was collecting objects for his Glyptothek at Munich, and he frequently
consulted Thorwaldsen in these matters; his advice was of value, and he more

than once saved Louis from imposition by dealers. Louis gave the sculptor the
order for the fine Adonis, now in the Glyptothek; it was modelled in 1808, but
was not completed until 1832; this splendid work was executed entirely by
Thorwaldsen's own hands. In 1808 he also received the order for four bas-
reliefs to be used in the restoration of the Palace of Christiansborg, which had
been injured by fire. This was the year, too, when he was made an honorary
member of the Academy of St. Luke.
The year 1809 brought deep sorrows to Thorwaldsen in the death of his two
friends, Stanley and Zoëga. He interested himself in the settlement of the affairs
of the latter, and had much trouble and anxiety; but he managed to accomplish
the modelling of six bas-reliefs in this year, in spite of the disturbed state of
Rome on account of the pope's departure, and in spite of the hindrances in his
own life.
In 1810 the King of Denmark made Thorwaldsen a Knight of Danebrog, and he
was then known in Italy as the Cavaliere Alberto. His work this year was in bas-
reliefs, and in 1811 he modelled a colossal statue of Mars, the bust of
Mademoiselle Ida Brun, a lovely statue of Psyche, and his own portrait as a
colossal Hermes.
The people of Denmark were growing very impatient at the prolonged absence
of their artist. He had left home a mere boy, and was now famous over all the
world. They wished for his return; a marble quarry had been discovered in
Norway, and even Prince Christian Frederick wrote to Thorwaldsen to urge his
going home. The sculptor wished to go, and even made some preparations to do
so, when he received so important a commission that it was impossible to leave
Rome. This new work was a frieze for one of the great halls in the Quirinal
Palace. He chose the Entrance of Alexander the Great into Babylon for his
subject, and it proved to be one of the most important works of his life. It was
completed in June, 1812; and though it had been somewhat criticised as too
rough in its finish, when it was elevated to its proper height it was all that had
been expected by the artist's friends; later he repeated this frieze for his own
countrymen. In Rome he was now frequently called the "Patriarch of Bas-
relief." Soon after this he was made a member of the Imperial Academy of
Vienna.
In 1813 Thorwaldsen was again a victim of malignant fever, and visited the
baths of Lucca, in company with the Baron and Baroness von Schubart, for the
benefit of his health. He met many people and received much honor, especially

from the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. His health was improved, but his old and
tried friend, the Baroness von Schubart, died the winter following; he felt her
loss deeply, for she had been his friend and confidante from the time of his
arrival in Rome.
He was always busy, and one after another of his almost numberless works was
finished. In 1815 he made the Achilles and Priam, a relief which is sometimes
called his masterpiece; in the same year he made the famous and familiar
medallions of Night and Morning; it is said that he conceived the first while
awake in a sleepless, restless condition, and modelled it entirely on the
following day; these medallions have been reproduced in all possible forms—in
engravings, on cameos, gems, in metals, and a variety of marble, plaster, and
porcelain.

Fig. 119.—Ganymede and the Eagle.
By Thorwaldsen.

About this time Thorwaldsen removed to a spacious studio with gardens, and
received pupils, and was overwhelmed with orders, so that he could not yet go
to Denmark, in spite of the urgent letters he received. He executed many
important original works, and also restored the marbles of Ægina, now at
Munich; this was a great task, but his study of the antique had made him better
able to do it than was any other modern sculptor.
The exquisite group of Ganymede and the Eagle (Fig. 119) shows the effect of
his study of the antique, and the same may be said of his statue of Hope, a small
copy of which was afterward placed above the tomb of the Baroness von
Humboldt. The Three Graces (Fig. 120) belongs to the year 1817; the Mercury
was of about this date, as well as the elegant statue of the Princess Baryatinska,
which is his finest portrait statue.
After an absence from Denmark of twenty-three years he left Rome in July,
1819, and turned his face toward home. His model for the famous Lion of
Lucerne had already been sent on before him, and the work commenced by one
of his pupils, Bienaimé. Thorwaldsen first went to Lucerne, where he gave all
necessary advice in this work, and then proceeding on his journey reached
Copenhagen on the 3d of October. Apartments had been prepared for him in the
Academy of Fine Arts, and as soon as it was known that he was there he was the
centre of attraction and importance. Crowds went to welcome him to his home.
A great reception and a grand banquet were given in his honor, and he was
lauded to the skies in speeches, and was made a Counsellor of State, in order
that he might sit at table with the royal family and not violate the court
etiquette.

Fig. 120.—The Three Graces.
By Thorwaldsen.
All this must have gratified the artist, who had earned such proud honors by the
force of his genius; but it interests us much more to know that he received
commissions for some very important works, among which those of the Church
of Our Lady are very interesting. The orders for all the work which he did here
were not given at once, but in the end it became a splendid monument to this
sculptor, and embraces almost all his religious works of any importance. There
are the figures of Christ and the Twelve Apostles; the Angel of Baptism, which
is an exquisite font; the Preaching of St. John the Baptist, which is a group in
terra-cotta on the pediment of the church; a bas-relief in marble of the
Institution of the Lord's Supper; another in plaster of Christ's Entry into

Jerusalem; one of Christ Bearing the Cross; one of the Baptism of Christ;
another of the Guardian Angel, and one of Christian Charity.
He did not remain very long in Denmark, but went to Warsaw, where he had
been summoned to arrange for some important works. He was presented to the
Emperor Alexander, who gave him sittings for a portrait bust; this was so
successful that for some years Thorwaldsen employed skilled workmen to
constantly repeat it, in order to fill the demand for it which was made upon him.
While at Warsaw he received an order for a monument to Copernicus, which
was dedicated in 1830; other important commissions were given him, and after
visiting Cracow, Troppau, and Vienna, he reached Rome in December, 1820,
where he was heartily welcomed by the artists, who gave him a banquet, on
which occasion the Prince Royal of Denmark sat next to the sculptor.
Before this a correspondence had established a friendship between Thorwaldsen
and Prince Louis of Bavaria; but from the year 1821 intimate personal relations
existed between them. He took up work with great energy; he had returned to
Rome with so much to do that he required much room, and employed a large
company of workmen. In the summer of 1822 he was able to secure a large
building which had been used for a stable to the Barberini Palace, and here he
was able to set up all his large models.
In 1824 Thorwaldsen was summoned by the Cardinal Consalvi, who gave him
the commission for the monument to Pius VII., now in the Clementine Chapel
of St. Peter's at Rome; this work was not completed when the cardinal himself
died, and his own monument by Thorwaldsen was placed in the Pantheon
before that of Pius VII. was put in its place. He also made a cross for the
Capuchins for which he would accept no reward, though they were entirely
satisfied with it.
In 1825 Thorwaldsen was elected President of the Academy of St. Luke with
the advice and consent of Pope Leo XII., who paid him a visit in his studio.
Many delays occurred, and the monument to Pius VII. was not erected until
1831.
The works upon which the artist and his assistants were engaged were far too
numerous to be mentioned; he was at the very height of fame and popularity,
and was forced to refuse some of the commissions sent him. In 1830 he went to
Munich to superintend the setting up of his monument to Eugène Beauharnais,
the Duke of Leuchtenberg. This gave Louis of Bavaria an opportunity to show
his regard for the sculptor, which he did in every possible way. Soon after the

monument was unveiled Thorwaldsen received the cross of an officer of the
Legion of Honor.
Thorwaldsen's place in Rome was a very important one, not only as an artist,
but as a man. He had the respect and esteem of many good men of all nations;
he also suffered some things from the envy of those who were jealous of him, as
is the case with all successful men; but he was a fearless person, and did not
trouble himself on account of these things. The frequent agitations of a political
nature, however, did disturb him, and he began to think seriously of returning to
Denmark. In 1837, when the cholera broke out in Rome, he determined to
leave; his countrymen were delighted, and a government frigate was sent to take
him home; he sailed from Leghorn in August, 1838. His arrival was hailed with
joy in Denmark, and wherever he went his progress was marked by tokens of
the pride which his countrymen felt in him. As soon as it was known in
Copenhagen, on September 17th, that the "Rota," which brought the sculptor,
was in the harbor, a flag was run up from St. Nicolas Church as a signal for the
beginning of the festivities which had been arranged.
Although it rained heavily, boats filled with artists, poets, students, physicians,
mechanics, and naval officers went out to meet him; each boat had a flag with
an appropriate device, that of the artists having Thorwaldsen's Three Graces, the
poets, a Pegasus, and so on. The meeting with his friends on the deck of the ship
was a pleasant surprise to the artist, who was hurried ashore amid the firing of
salutes and all sorts of joyous demonstrations, a vast number of boats rowing
after that in which he was seated. His carriage was drawn by the people from
the quay to Charlottenburg, where a vast crowd assembled to get a sight at him.
His form was tall and erect, his step firm; his long white hair fell on his
shoulders, and his clear eye and benevolent face beamed with intelligence and
sympathetic interest in all around him. He was led out on a balcony, where,
uncovered, he saluted the people, who greeted him with wild applause.
Thorwaldsen smiled and said, "Would not any one think that we were in Rome,
and I were the pope about to give the benediction urbi et orbi from the balcony
of St. Peter's?"
One ovation after another followed, day by day, and such crowds of visitors
went to see him that he was unable to unpack and arrange his possessions which
he had brought from Italy, or to work at all, which was worse to him. At last he
began to do as he had done in Rome, and to receive his friends with his chisel or
modelling-stick in hand. He lived frugally, and continued many of his Roman
habits of life; but he was forced to dine out every evening.

He was now sixty-eight years old, but he did a vast amount of work in one way
and another, and was so pursued by all sorts of people who wished to engage his
attention in a variety of projects, that he seriously considered the question of
leaving Copenhagen. He became very fond of certain families where he visited,
among which was that of the Baron von Stampe, who, with his wife and
children, were soon treated by the sculptor as if they were his own kindred. He
went with them to their summer home at Nysoë, and while there the baroness
persuaded him to model his own statue. He did this imperfectly, as he had no
suitable workshop; and when the baroness saw his difficulty in working in an
ordinary room she had a studio built for him in a garden near the castle. She
took the time to do this when Thorwaldsen was absent for eight days, and in this
short space the whole was completed, so that when he returned it seemed to him
like magic. This studio was dedicated in July, 1839.
He then began the proper modelling of his own statue, and was progressing very
well when he received a letter from the poet Oehlenschlaeger, who was in great
haste to have a portrait bust made of himself. Thorwaldsen felt that he ought not
to make his own statue when thus wanted for other work, and he threw down
his tools, and would have broken the model. But the baroness succeeded in
getting him away, and locked the studio, keeping the key. However, no
argument or entreaty would move the sculptor, and she could do nothing with
him until she happened to think of crying. When she began to weep and to
accuse him of having no affection for her, and reminded him of the proofs of
her devotion which she had given him, he was taken in by her mock tears, and
exclaimed, "Well, they may think what they like. My statue is not for posterity,
but I cannot refuse it to a friend to whom it will give such pleasure." He then
resumed his work, and completed his statue in seventeen days. He represented
himself standing with one arm resting upon his statue of Hope.
After this summer Thorwaldsen divided his time between Copenhagen and
Stampeborg, and worked with the same industry in one place as in the other.
The life in the country was a great delight to him; he played games, listened to
fairy tales from the poet Andersen, or to music from the young girls of the
house, all with equal pleasure; and if he were allowed to have his mornings for
work he would spend the rest of the day in the woods or pay visits, and was
perfectly happy in this succession of labor and leisure.
Baroness Stampe did not stop at one trick upon the old artist, for she found it
more easy to gain a point in this way than by argument. He had promised to
execute a statue of Christian IV. for Christian VIII., the reigning king; he put it

off until the king was impatient. One day, when he had gone for a walk, the
baroness went to the studio and began a sketch in clay as well as she could.
When Thorwaldsen returned he asked what she was doing, and she answered, "I
am making the statue of the king. Since you will not do it, and I have pledged
my word, I must do it myself." The artist laughed, and began to criticise her
work; she insisted it was all right, and at last said, "Do it better, then, yourself;
you make fun of me; I defy you to find anything to change in my work."
Thorwaldsen was thus led on to correct the model, and when once he had begun
he finished it.
It would be impossible to give any account here of the numerous incidents in
the later years of the life of this sculptor; of the honors he received, of the many
works he was consulted about and asked to do, of the visits he paid and received
from persons of note; few lives are as full as was his, and the detailed accounts
of it are very interesting.
He had always desired to go again to Rome, and in 1841, when the Baron von
Stampe decided to go there with his family, Thorwaldsen travelled with them.
They went through Germany, and were everywhere received as honorably as if
he were a royal person: he was invited to visit royal families; court carriages
were at his service; Mendelssohn gave a musical fête for him; in all the great
cities he was shown the places and objects worthy of his attention; poets and
orators paid him respect, and nothing that could be done to show appreciation of
his genius and his works was omitted.
In Rome it was the same; he remained there almost a year, and upon his arrival
at Copenhagen, in October, 1842, he experienced the crowning glory of his life.
During his absence the Thorwaldsen Museum had been completed, and here,
the day after he reached home, he was received. The building was decorated
with garlands, and he went over the whole of it; at last he entered the inner
court, where he was to be buried; here he stood for some time with bowed head,
while all about him kept silence. Can any one fancy the thoughts that must have
come to him? Here he must be buried, and yet here would he live in the works
of his hand which would surround him and remain to testify to his immortal
powers.
He lived three years more, and was always busy. His mind was strong and his
conceptions of his subjects had lost nothing, but his ability to execute his works
was less; his hand had lost somewhat of its cunning. He went much into society,
was fond of the theatre, and under the devoted care of his servant, Wilkens, he

enjoyed all that was possible to a man of his age. On the 24th of March 1844,
the Baroness von Stampe went to ask him to dine at her house; he said he was
not well and would not go out; but as his daughter was to be there and expected
him he decided to go. He was modelling a bust of Luther, and threw down
before it a handful of clay and stuck a trowel in it; just so, as he left it, this now
stands in the museum, preserved under glass, with the print of his hand in the
clay.
He was merry at dinner, and in speaking of the museum said he could die now,
whenever he chose, since the architect Bindesböll had finished his tomb. After
dinner he went to the theatre, and there it was seen that he was really ill; he was
taken out with haste and laid upon a sofa, when it was found that he was already
dead. The Charlottenburg joined the theatre, and there, in the hall of antique
sculpture, he was laid. He was first buried in the Frue Kirke, which he had so
splendidly decorated; four years later he was borne to the vault in the centre of
the Thorwaldsen Museum, where above him grows the evergreen ivy, a fitting
emblem of his unfading fame.
Thiele, in his splendid book called "Thorwaldsen and his Works," gives a list of
two hundred and sixty works by this master; and as one journeys from Rome,
where are some of his sculptures in St. Peter's and the Quirinal, to Copenhagen,
with the Frue Kirke and the Museum, one passes through few cities that are not
adorned by his statues and reliefs. Among his most important works are the
frieze of Alexander's entrance into Babylon, at the Quirinal; the Lion of
Lucerne; the many statues, groups, and bas-reliefs in the Frue Kirke; more than
thirty sepulchral and commemorative monuments in various cities and
countries; sixteen bas-reliefs which illustrate the story of Cupid and Psyche;
twenty bas-reliefs of Genii; twenty-two figures from antique fables, and many
portrait busts and statues, and various other subjects.
Thorwaldsen was a very remarkable man. No circumstance of his youth
indicated his success, and a certain indolence which he had would have seemed
to forbid it; but the power was within him, and was of that genuine quality
which will declare itself; and a man who has it becomes great without intending
to be so, and almost without believing that he is remarkable beyond others. The
true antique spirit seems to have been revived in him. His characteristics as a
sculptor are severe simplicity, perfect beauty in form, distinctness, and repose.
Thiele says of him: "He has challenged and has received the decision of the
world's Supreme Court, that his name shall stand on the rolls of immortality.
And if his life might be embodied in a single emblem, perhaps it should be that

of a young lion, with an eye that glows and flashes fire, while he is bound with
ivy and led by the hand of the three graces."
The sculpture of Germany in the last part of the eighteenth and the early years
of the present century was very interesting. The architect Schinkel was a great
lover of antique art, and he had much influence over all arts, as well as in his
special department. Thorwaldsen himself so admired the sculptor John Rudolph
Schadow (1786-1822) that when the King of Prussia gave him a commission
for a statue he replied: "Sire, there is at this moment in Rome one of your
faithful subjects who is more capable than I of performing to your satisfaction
the task with which you deign to honor me; permit me to solicit for him your
royal favor." The commission was given to Schadow, and he made his charming
work, The Spinner. John Rudolph was the son of John Gottfried Schadow
(1764-1850), who was court sculptor, and long survived his gifted son. The
chief works of the father were the statues of Count von der Mark, at Berlin; that
of Frederick the Great, at Stettin; Luther's monument in the market-place at
Wittenberg, and Blücher's statue at Rostock.
John Rudolph Schadow studied under both Canova and Thorwaldsen, and was a
very gifted artist. He was engaged upon a group of Achilles protecting the body
of Penthesilea at the time of his death; it was finished by Wolff.

Fig. 121.—Statue of Queen Louise.
By Rauch.
Christian Frederic Tieck (1776-1851) was an eminent sculptor of his time, and
decorated with sculpture some of the fine edifices erected at Berlin by Schinkel.
He was very active in establishing a gallery of models from the antique at
Berlin, and was a Director of the Sculptures in the Museum as well as a member
of the Academy. His most successful original works were portrait busts, and he
had many notable people among his sitters. Among them were the Emperor of
Germany, the King of Bavaria, Schelling, Goethe, Lessing, and many others.
Christian Rauch (1777-1857). This eminent sculptor was born at Waldeck, and
followed the manner of Schadow, which he carried to its perfection. His statue
of Queen Louise (Fig. 121) is one of the finest works of modern sculpture, and
his statues of the Generals Scharnhorst and Bülow, in Berlin, are very fine; the
reliefs upon the pedestals are of classic beauty. But his masterpiece is the grand
Friedrichs monument. Rauch executed many excellent busts; he made good
portraits, and yet he elevated the character of his subjects to the greatest
nobleness of which they were capable. As a rule Rauch avoided religious
subjects, but late in life he modelled the group of Moses supported in prayer by
Aaron and Hur.

Among his important works are the statue of Blücher, at Breslau; that of August
Hermann Franke, at Halle; Dürer, at Nuremberg; monument to Maximilian I., at
Munich; and six marble Victories for the Walhalla. His works are numerous,
and in them we feel that this artist had not a great imaginative power; he rarely
conceived imaginary subjects, but he took some fact or personality as his
motive, and elevated it to the highest point to which it could be brought, and
under his masterly style of execution produced splendid results.
Ernst Rietschel (1804-1860) was a gifted pupil of Rauch. After spending some
time in Rome he settled in Dresden, and executed the statue of Friederich
August of Saxony, for the Zwingerhof, when but twenty-seven years old. His
chief excellence was in portrait statues, and those of Lessing and Luther are
remarkable for their powerful expression of the intellectual and moral force of
those men. His religious subjects were full of deep feeling, and his lighter
works have a charming grace about them.
Ludwig Schwanthaler (1802-1848) studied much in Rome, and was as devoted
to the antique as was Thorwaldsen. He executed many works in Munich, the
principal ones being the interior decoration of the Glyptothek; also that of the
Königsbau and two groups for the Walhalla. A prominent work by this master is
the bronze statue of Bavaria, which is fifty-four feet high and stands in front of
the Ruhmeshalle. He also made twelve gilt-bronze statues of Bavarian
sovereigns. Schwanthaler had remarkable powers of invention and a fruitful
imagination; in these points he ranks with the first of modern sculptors; but his
works rarely rise above what we call decorative art, and in spite of his excellent
gifts he lacked the power to arouse any enthusiasm for his statues.
There are many other names that might be mentioned in connection with
modern sculpture in Germany. Nowhere have the monuments and portrait
statues and busts reached a higher excellence than in what we may call, in
general terms, the Berlin school. Profound attention has been given to the
proper reproduction of the individual characters of its subjects, while the art has
not been allowed to sink into caricature or commonplaceness. Nowhere does the
traveller better appreciate the art of our own day than in the sculpture of
Germany.
But there are exceptions to this rule; some such artists as Theodore Kalide and
Ludwig Wichmann are wanting in the serious qualities of Schadow, Rauch, and
their followers, and sometimes fall into a coarse realism; but in spite of this, the

revival of love for the antique, which began with Canova and his time, has
borne rich fruit in the works of modern German sculptors.
In France the spirit of modern sculpture has been largely that of the severe
classic style, and it has shown many of the same qualities that we have seen in
modern German sculpture; but the different characteristics of the two nations
have had their influence here as in everything else. In France the artist has
aimed at a fine effect—flowing outline and dazzling representations of dramatic
motives—far more than the northern sculptors have done. There is less thought
and depth of feeling, more outward attraction and striking effect. The classic
taste which asserted itself in the time of Canova was adopted in France, but in a
French manner; and one of the earliest artists who showed its effects was
François Joseph Bosio (1769-1845), who was much honored. He was made a
member of the Institute of France and of the Royal Academy of Berlin: he was
chief sculptor to the King of France, and executed many public works. He made
many portrait busts of the royal family and other prominent persons, but his
chief works were the reliefs on the column of the Place Vendôme, the Chariot
on the arch of the Place du Carrousel, the monument to the Countess Demidoff,
and statues of mythological heroes and heroines. For the Chapelle Expiatoire,
Bosio executed a group representing Louis XVII. receiving comfort from an
angel; the design is not as good as in some of his classic works, but the
conception is pure and noble.

Fig. 122.—Nymph.
By Bosio.
James Pradier (1790-1832), though born in Geneva, was essentially a French
sculptor, and excelled the artists of his day in his representations of feminine
beauty. His masterpiece is a fountain at Nimes, in which the figures are fine and
the drapery noble and distinct in treatment. The serious and comic Muses of the
Fountain Molière are excellent works. He made several separate statues which
are well known; his Psyche has a butterfly poised on the upper part of the arm;
Atalanta is fastening her sandals; Sappho is in despair. His Niobe group showed
his power to represent bold action, and his Prometheus chained, erected in the
garden of the Tuileries, is grand and spirited.
We could name a great number of French sculptors belonging to this period
whose works are seen in many public places which they adorn, but whose
genius was not sufficient to place them in the first ranks of the world's artists, or
make the accounts of them anything more than a list of works which has little
meaning, except when one stands before them. Perhaps no one man had so wide

an influence upon this art as had Pierre Jean David (1793-1856), who is called
David of Angers, which was his birthplace, in order to distinguish him from
Jacques Louis David, the great painter, who was like a father to this sculptor,
though in no way connected with him by ties of kindred, as far as we know. But
when the sculptor went to Paris, a very poor boy, David the painter, whose
attention was called to him in some way, was his friend, and gave him lessons in
drawing and aided him in other ways. In 1811 David of Angers obtained the
prize which enabled him to go to Rome, and after his return to Paris he was
constantly employed. The amount of his work was enormous; many of his
statues were colossal, and he executed a great number of busts and more than
ninety medallions.
He made the statue of Mme. de Staël; one of Talma for the Théâtre Français; the
colossal statue of King René at Aix; monument to Fénelon at Cambray; the
statue of the great Condé at Versailles; the Gutenberg memorial at Strasburg,
which is one of his most successful works, and a large number of other
sculptures.
His chief characteristic is realism, and he carried this so far that it frequently
became coarseness. David designed the relief for the pediment of the Pantheon.
The inscription on the building declares that it is dedicated by a grateful country
to its great men, and the sculptor seems to have had this in mind, for he
represented in his group a figure of France surrounded by those who had been
great in its times of war and days of peace. It is too realistic to be pleasing, and
is far less creditable to the sculptor than are many of his less prominent works.
If little can be said of the modern French sculpture prior to our immediate time,
there is still less to be told of that of England. There are many public
monuments there, but they do not show forth any high artistic genius or rise
above the commonplace except in very rare instances. There is but one English
sculptor of whom I shall speak. John Gibson (1791-1866) was born near
Conway, in Wales. When he was nine years old his parents went to Liverpool
with the intention of sailing for America; but they gave up the idea, and the boy
was sent to school in Liverpool. Before this he had been in the habit of drawing
and of making sketches of anything that he saw and was pleased with; he now
studied the prints in the shop windows, and made pictures, which he sold to his
fellow-pupils. He attracted the attention of a print-seller, who was so interested
in him that he allowed him to draw from studies and casts from the antique
which he had. When fourteen years old the boy was apprenticed to a cabinet-
maker, but after a year he persuaded his employer to allow him to leave his

shop, and was then apprenticed to a wood-carver. He did not stop at this,
however, for when he became acquainted with the Messrs. Francis, who had a
marble-yard, he persuaded his second master to release him, and was
apprenticed for the third time, and in this case to the occupation which he had
determined should be that of his life.
He was now very happy, and his improvement in drawing, modelling, and
working in marble was very rapid. After a few months he made the
acquaintance of William Roscoe, who became his friend and patron. He
remained in Liverpool until he was twenty-seven years old; he had improved
every advantage within his reach, but he was very desirous of travelling. In
1817, armed with a few letters of introduction, he went to London, where he
obtained several orders, and in October of that year went to Rome.
He had a letter to Canova, who took him under his care and gave him admission
to the classes in the Academy, in which he could draw from living models. In
1819 he received his first important commission; it was from the Duke of
Devonshire for a group of Mars and Cupid. From this time he advanced steadily
in his profession, and was always busy. He lived twenty-seven years in Rome,
and passed his summers in Innsbrück.
In 1844 he went to Liverpool to oversee the erection of his statue of Mr.
Huskisson; he was received with enthusiasm, and when he went to Glasgow to
superintend the placing of his statue of Mr. Finlay in the Merchants' Hall his
reception was even more flattering, as it was given him simply as an artist, and
not connected with any former associations, as in Liverpool. During this visit to
England Gibson was summoned to Windsor to make a statue of Queen Victoria,
which he completed after his return to Rome. The queen was represented in a
classical costume, and the diadem, sandals, and borders of the drapery were
colored. This was very much criticised and much was written and said about it;
Gibson took little notice of all this, and simply answered it by saying,
"Whatever the Greeks did was right."
In 1851 Gibson sustained a great loss in the death of his brother Ben, who had
lived with him in Rome for fourteen years. Five years later, when in perfect
health, the sculptor was attacked by paralysis, and lived but a short time. He
was buried in the English cemetery at Rome, and Lord Lytton wrote the
inscription upon his monument. It says: "His native genius strengthened by
careful study, he infused the spirit of Grecian art into masterpieces all his own.
His character as a man was in unison with his attributes as an artist—beautiful

in its simplicity and truthfulness, noble in its dignity and elevation." A
monument was also raised to Gibson in the church at Conway.
The master left the models of all his works and the larger part of his fortune to
the Royal Academy in London. Among his works are Mars and Cupid, at
Chatsworth; Psyche borne by Zephyrs, in the Palazzo Torlonia, at Rome, and a
replica at St. Petersburg; Hylas surprised by Nymphs, in the National Gallery,
London; Sleeping Shepherd Boy, in the Lenox collection in New York; Cupid
disguised as a Shepherd, which he often repeated; portraits of Queen Victoria, at
Buckingham Palace and Osborne; Sir Robert Peel, in Westminster Abbey;
George Stephenson, in St. George's Hall, Liverpool; eighteen portrait busts;
sixteen bas-reliefs of ideal subjects and sixteen others for monuments to the
dead. A large part of these are in the chapel of the Liverpool Cemetery. He
modelled a bas-relief of Christ blessing little children.
Gibson found his entire happiness in his art. In his own words, he worked on
"happily and with ever new pleasure, avoiding evil and with a calm soul,
making images, not for worship, but for the love of the beautiful. The beautiful
elevates us above the crowd in this world; the ideal, higher—yes, higher still, to
celestial beauty, the fountain of all. Socrates said that outward beauty was the
sign of the inward; in the life of a man, as in an image, every part should be
beautiful."
He was never elated by praise; he was glad of tributes which proved that he was
respected, but he received all honors with a simplicity of self-respect which
spoke the sincere nobility of his nature.
There are many amusing anecdotes told of his absentmindedness about
everything not connected with his art. Miss Harriet Hosmer was his only pupil,
and she said of him: "He is a god in his studio, but God help him when he is out
of it." He never could master the ins and outs of railroad travelling, and even
when put in the right train at the right time he would be sure to get out at the
wrong place at the wrong time.
On one of his journeys, when he supposed he was at the right place, he got out
and asked the porter to show him the way to the cathedral. In his own account
he said: "But the scoundrel would have it there was no cathedral in the place,
and at last had the impudence to ask me if I knew where I was. Then I
discovered that instead of being in Chichester, where I had a particular
appointment with the dean and chapter, I was safe in Portsmouth, where there
was no cathedral at all."

The time has not come for any comprehensive estimate of the sculpture of our
own country. So many of our artists are still living that it would be unjust to
speak of them in connection with those whose work is complete and whose rank
is fixed as a matter of history. We have no right to say of one who is still
working that he has reached his full height, and even after death a certain period
must elapse before the true merit of an artist can be established and his name
written in its just place upon the roll of fame. So, in leaving this subject, we will
turn again to the land of which we first spoke in considering modern sculpture.
In Italy this art has not risen above the elevation to which Canova and
Thorwaldsen brought it; for though the last was a Dane, his work may truly be
said to belong to the Roman school. We must regard Italy as the land of art in a
peculiar sense, but it is easy to understand that under the political misfortunes
which she has suffered an advance in artistic life could not be made. Now, when
a new spirit is active there, and a freer thought prevails in other directions, may
we not believe that in the arts there will be a revival of the best inspiration that
has ever come to that home of grace and beauty?
As we glance over the entire civilized world of to-day we find an immense
activity in all matters pertaining to the fine arts. Schools and academies are
multiplied everywhere, and the interest in works of art is universal. Many a
private gentleman is to-day as liberal a patron of artists as were the princes and
nobles of the past. It is as if there were a vast crucible in which artists of all
nations are being tested, and from this testing of their metal it would seem that
much pure gold must come forth.
As we review the history of sculpture from its earliest days to the present, we
are compelled to linger lovingly with the Greek or classic art. The period in
which it existed was a blessed period for the sculptor. We all know that the best
foundation for the excellence of art is the study and reproduction of nature, and
in the times of the Greeks there was no reason why the human form, the most
beautiful object in nature, should not be used by the sculptor for the decoration
of the temple, for the statues of the public square or theatre, or for any position
in which sculpture could be used at all. The customs of modern life are opposed
to this free exhibition of nude forms, and the difficulties that are thrown in the
way of the sculptor by this one fact are almost more than we can realize; and the
task of draping a figure and yet showing its shape and indicating its proper
proportions and action is one before which even a Greek sculptor would have
reason to doubt himself.

On the other hand, when a sculptor does succeed in producing a draped figure
which satisfies artistic taste, he has achieved much, and merits the highest
praise. A drapery which has gracefully composed masses and flowing lines adds
great dignity to the figure of a patriarch or a prophet, and there are numerous
subjects, religious and monumental, in which a full, graceful drapery is
requisite; but when, as is often the case, the sculptor is required to reproduce the
actual costume of the day, what can we look for? The truth is, it has no grace in
itself; what, then, must it be when put into the fixedness of bronze or marble?
Yet where is the remedy for this? We do not wish to see the men whom we have
known and who have moved among us in the dress of other men put into an
antique disguise by the sculptor; the incongruity of this is too apparent. Much
has been written and said upon these points, and no solution of the difficulty has
been found; but it is only just that when we judge of the statues made under
such difficulties, we should remember them and give the artist the benefit of the
consideration of all the hindrances that exist for him.
Westmacott, in his "Handbook of Sculpture," gives as his "Conclusion" an
account of the mechanical methods of the sculptor, and I believe that I can add
nothing here which will be of greater use to my readers than a quotation from
that author.
"The artist, having invented or conceived his subject, usually begins by making
a small sketch of it in some soft and obedient substance, as clay or wax. He can
change or alter this at his pleasure till he is satisfied with the lines and masses of
the composition, and the proportions it will command of light and shadow. He
then proceeds to copy this small but useful sketch, as his guide, in its general
arrangement, for his full-sized model. Before commencing the larger model it is
necessary to form a sort of skeleton or framework of iron and wood, with joints
made of wire, to support the great mass of clay in which the figure or group is
now to be executed. This iron frame is firmly fixed upon a turning bench, or
banker, so that the model may be constantly moved without difficulty, so as to
be seen in different lights and in various points of view. As the clay is likely to
shrink as it gets dry, it is necessary occasionally to wet it. This is done by
sprinkling water over it with a brush, or from a large syringe, and by laying
damp cloths upon it. This is the ordinary process for making a model in the
'round.'
"In modelling in rilievo of either kind, alto or basso, a plane or ground is
prepared upon which the design is, or should be, carefully drawn. This may be
made of clay floated or laid upon a board, or the ground may be of slate, or even

of wood, though the latter is objectionable, in large works especially, from its
liability to shrink and to be warped by the action of damp or moisture. The clay
is then laid in small quantities upon this ground, the outline being bounded by
the drawing, which should be carefully preserved; and the bulk or projection of
the figures is regulated by the degree of relief the sculptor desires to give to his
design.
"If the final work is to be baked in clay (terra-cotta) there must be no iron or
wooden nucleus, as it would interfere with the model drying regularly and
uniformly, and probably cause it to crack in shrinking. The model is therefore
prepared for drying without such support. When perfectly free from moisture
the model is placed in an oven and baked slowly, by which it acquires great
hardness and the peculiar brownish-red color seen in these works. This art has
been brought to great perfection in England in modern days.
"If the final work is to be in marble, or bronze, or only in plaster, the next
process after finishing the model is to mould it, in preparation for its being
reproduced in a material that will bear moving about without risk of injury to
the design. This is done by covering it with a mixture of plaster of Paris with
water, which quickly sets or becomes consistent, forming a hard and thick
coating over the whole. The clay is then carefully picked out, and an exact
matrix, or form, remains. This is washed clean, and the interior is then brushed
over with any greasy substance, usually a composition of soap and oil, to
prevent the plaster with which it is next to be filled adhering too firmly to it.
The fresh plaster is mixed to about the consistency of cream and then poured
into the mould, which is gently moved about till the inner surface is entirely
filled or covered, so that all parts may be reached. The thickness or substance of
the coating depends upon the size of the work and the degree of strength
required.
"When the newly introduced plaster is set the mould is carefully knocked away
with chisels, and a true cast appears beneath, giving an entire fac-simile of the
original model. Some skill is required in making moulds, in order to provide for
projecting parts and under-cuttings; practice alone can teach the artist how to
deal with those difficulties when they occur. The above general instructions
sufficiently explain the ordinary processes of moulding and casting in plaster.
"In metal-casting or founding great attention must be paid to the strengthening
of the parts to bear the weight of the metal; but the principle described in
plaster-moulding applies also to the preparation for metal-casting. The mixture

of metals to form bronze, the proper heating of the furnace, burning and uniting
parts, chasing and other processes of founding cannot be fully described in this
place. They belong to a distinct practice, and to be well understood must be
studied in the foundry.
"If the model—now reproduced in plaster—is to be copied in marble or stone,
the first step is to procure a block of the required size. Two stones, called scale-
stones, are then prepared, upon one of which the model or plaster cast is placed,
and upon the other the rough block of marble. The fronts of these stones have
figured marks or 'scales,' to use the technical term, exactly corresponding. An
instrument capable of being easily moved, and which is fitted up with socket-
joints and movable arms, is then applied to the scale-stone of the model, and a
projecting point or 'needle' is made to touch a particular part of the model itself.
This is carefully removed to the scale-stone of the rough block, and the marble
is cut away till the 'needle' reaches so far into the block as to correspond with
the 'point' taken on the model. A pencil-mark is then made to show that the
point is found and registered. This process is repeated all over the model and
block, alternately, till a rough copy or shape of the model is entirely made.
These 'pointing' machines are not always precisely alike in their forms, but the
principle upon which they act is exactly similar in all. The statue being thus
rudely shaped out, the block is placed in the hands of a superior workman,
called a 'carver,' who, having the plastic model near at hand to refer to, copies
the more minute portions of the work by means of chisels, rasps, and files, the
pencil-marks made by the 'pointer' showing him the precise situation of the
parts and the limit beyond which he is not to penetrate into the marble. When
the carver has carried the work as far as the sculptor desires, he proceeds
himself to give it the finishing touches, improving the details of form and
expression, managing the different effects produced by two different materials
—one, the plastic model, being opaque; the other, the marble, being
considerably diaphanous; giving the proper varieties of texture in the flesh, hair,
and drapery, and, more especially, harmonizing the whole.
"The rich quality of surface that appears more or less in works of marble is
produced by rubbing with fine sand or pumice-stone and other substances, and
the ancients appear to have completed this part of their work by a process which
is called 'circumlitio,' and may mean not only rubbing or polishing, but applying
some composition, such as hot wax, to give a soft, glowing color to the surface.
Many of the ancient statues certainly exhibit the appearance of some foreign
substance having slightly penetrated the surface of the work to about one eighth
of an inch, and its color is of a warmer tint than the marble below it; a process,

be it observed, quite distinct from and not to be confounded with polychromy,
or what is usually understood by painting sculpture with various tints, in
imitation of the natural color of the complexion, hair, and eyes. Its object,
probably, with the ancients as with modern sculptors, has been simply to get rid
of the glare and freshness of appearance that is sometimes objected to in a
recently finished work, by giving a general warmth to the color of the marble."

INDEX.
Abildgaard, 254
"Abraham and Isaac," 139
"Abundance" (della Porta), 212
Academy of Fine Arts, Florence, Michael Angelo's David in, 201
Achilles, story of, 26;
and Priam (Thorwaldsen), 279;
and Penthesilea (Schadow), 270
Acropolis, 78
Action in Egyptian sculpture, 3
"Actæon and his Dogs," 24
"Adam" (Cano), 220
"Adam and Eve," reliefs of, 138, 139;
by Rizzo, 154
"Adonis" (Thorwaldsen), 258
"Adoring Madonna," 152
Ægina, marbles of, and Thorwaldsen, 260
Æmilius Paulus, 84
"Æneas and Anchises" (Chaudet), 248
Æsculapius. See Asclepius
Ætolians, 84
Agamemnon, 90
Agesander and the Laocoon, 74
Agnello, Fra Guglielmo d', 130
Agoracritus, 49, 51
Agrippa and the Apoxyomenos, 70
Agrippina, statue of, 103
Aix, 275
Alaric and Minerva Promachos, 35
Albert, Archduke, and Duquesnoy, 226
Alcamenes, 49
Aldovrandi, Gian Francesco, 198
Alexander the Great;
statues of, 69, 72;
decline after, 72;

portrait statues of, 100;
and Diogenes, by Puget, 229;
by Dannecker, 248;
by Thorwaldsen, 259;
Entrance into Babylon of, 268
Alexander, Emperor of Russia, and Thorwaldsen, 262
Alexander VII., monument of, 226
Alexandros, sculptor of Venus of Milo, 87
Alto-rilievo, 281
Altoviti, statue of (Cellini), 191
Amadeo, Giovanni Antonio, 157
Amboise Monument, 177
Ambraser Gallery, Vienna, Cellini's salt-cellar in, 190
Amiens Cathedral, 176
Ancient Italian sculpture, 82
Ancona, 156
Andersen, Hans, and Thorwaldsen, 266
Androsphinx, 6
"Angel of Baptism" (Thorwaldsen), 262
"Angel's Salutation" (Stoss), 165
Anguier, François, 228
Anguier, Michael, 228
Animals in Egyptian sculpture, 5
Anne of Austria, and Anguier, 228
Anne of Brittany, monument of, 177
"Annunciation" (Donatello), 142
Annunziata, church of, 212
Antigonus, father of Poliorcetes, 73
Antium, 91
Antonelli, Cardinal, 100
Antwerp, town hall of, 231
Aphrodite. See Venus
Apollo;
Sosianus, temple of, 61;
by Leochares, 65;
the Belvedere, 91,
theories concerning, 92, 95;
the Steinhäuser, 91;
the Stroganoff, 92;

by Sansovino, 186;
and Daphne, by Bernini, 224;
and Daphne, by Canova, 239;
by Canova, 240;
by Flaxman, 251
Apollodorus, 86
Apollonius, of the Toro Farnese, 76
Apostles (Thorwaldsen), 262
"Apoxyomenos" (Lysippus), 70
Archaic period, 22
Archaistic period, 27
Arches in Rome, 97
Architecture, close connection with Egyptian sculpture, 10
"Archangel Michael and Satan" (Flaxman), 251
Areobrudus, diptych of, 109
Arezzo, 132
Argos, school of, 72
"Ariadne" (Dannecker), 248
Arrezzo, Niccolò of, 135
Artemis, archaistic statue of, 28, 94, 95 (and see Diana)
Aschaffenburg Vischer's works in, 175
Asclepius, by Alcamenes, 50;
by Canova, 239
Assos, reliefs from, 23
Assyria, 10
Assyrian influence on Etruscan art, 82
Atalanta, by Pradier, 274
Athena;
Promachos (Phidias), 34;
birth of, 38;
attributes of, 39;
representations of, 40;
by Phidias, 84;
of the Capitol, 94, 95, 96 (and see Minerva and Pallas)
Athenodorus and the Laocoon, 74
Athens, statue from, at Rome, 84
Attalus I., statues of, 78
Augsburg, 123, 164
Augustio, 108

Augustus, Emperor;
and archaistic period, 27;
and Grecian spoils, 84;
statue of, 102

Babylonians, 17
Bacchus;
and the Tyrrhenian robbers, 67;
tripod of, by Lysicrates, 67; 84;
by Sansovino, 185;
by Michael Angelo, 200
Baldachin, 174
Balier, Heinrich den, 123
Bamberg, 123;
carvings in, 167;
and Krafft, 168
Bandinelli, Baccio, 212;
and Cellini, 190
Baptistery of Pisa, 128
Baptistery of Florence, 137, 138;
gates of, 133
Barberini, Cardinal, and Bernini, 223
"Barberini Faun," 73
Bargello, museum of the, 139
Baryatinska, Princess, 260
Basle, Steinhäuser Apollo in, 91
Basilica of San Petronio, Bologna, 137
Bas-relief;
Egyptian, 2;
Assyrian, 12;
the first, 20
Basso-rilievo, 281
"Battle of Athenians and Amazons," 78
"Battle of Marathon," 78
"Battle of the Gods and Giants," 78
Bavaria;
King of, 270;
statue of, 271;
sovereigns of, Schwanthaler's statues of, 272

Beata Villana, 151
Beauharnais, monument to, 263
"Beautiful Fountain," Nuremberg, 123
Beauty, Greek love of, 18
Begarelli, Antonio, 193
"Berengaria," statue of, 119
Berlin Museum, works of Pythagoras in, 30;
Begarelli's works in, 194
Berlin school, 272
Bernardi, Giuseppe, 237
Berne, cathedral of, 170
Bernini, 223
Berruguete, Alonso, 217
Bertoldo and Michael Angelo, 195
Bethmann, Herr, 248
Beuch, 213
Bienaimé, pupil of Thorwaldsen, 261
Bindesböll, architect, 268
"Birth of St. John" (Dürer), 166
Blücher, Schadow's statue of, 269;
Rauch's statue of, 271
Boboli Gardens, 214
Boethus of Chalcedon, 80
Boileau, bust of, 229
Bologna; 128;
works of Lombardo in, 192;
Michael Angelo in, 198
Bologna, Giovanni da, 213
Bon family, 135
Bontemps, Pierre, 178
Bosio, François Joseph, 273
Bottigari, de', 193
Bourges, Cathedral of, 114, 178
Bourgtherroulde, Hotel, 178
"Boy and Dolphin" (Verocchio), 149
"Boy and Goose," 80
Braccini, Nicolo, 187
Bramante and Michael Angelo, 202
Braye, Cardinal de, monument of, 133

Bregno, Antonio Giovanni, 154
Breslau, 271
Briseis, by Thorwaldsen, 257
Bristol, Lord, and Flaxman, 251
British Museum;
Harpy monument in, 24;
Elgin marbles in, 37;
statue of Pericles in, 52;
statue of Mausolus in, 57;
Etruscan table-ware in, 83;
Dürer's carvings in, 166
Bronzes, Etruscan, 82
"Brother and Sister," Niobe group, 64
Bruges, 178
Brugsch-Bey concerning Martisen, 1
Brun, Charles le, monument of, 229
Brun, Ida, Thorwaldsen's statue of, 258
Brunelleschi, 139, 140
Bruni, Lionardo, statue of, 151
Brunswick Museum, 166
Buckingham Palace, and Flaxman, 251;
and Gibson, 277
Buonarroti, 194
Buoni, 135
Burgkapelle, and Veit Stoss, 165
Burgos, Altars of, 179
"Burial of Christ" (Krafft), 168
Burns, Flaxman's statue of, 251
Bülow, Rauch's statue of, 270
Byzantium, early Christian sculpture in, 108;
ivory carving in, 108

"Cain and Abel," 139
Calabria, Duke of, 153
Calamis, 31
Caligula, and the Thespian Cupid, 61;
and Grecian spoils, 84
Callimachus, 52
Callon of Ægina, 27

Cambio, Arnolfo di, 133
Cambray, 275
Campanile at Florence, 146
Campo Santo of Pisa, 131
Cano, Alonso, 219
Canon of Polycleitus, 54
Canova, Antonio, 236;
and Gibson, 276
Canova, Pasino, 236
Canterbury Cathedral, 121
Capitol at Rome;
Helios in, 69;
Minerva in, 95
Capitoline Museum, busts by Canova in, 246
Capuchins and Thorwaldsen, 263
Caracalla, Baths of;
and "Farnese Bull," 76;
and "Farnesian Hercules," 88
Caridad of Seville, 220
Carlovingians, statues of, 119
Carrousel, Place du, Chariot of, 273
Carthusian Chapel, Dijon, 125
Carver, 283
Casa Santa, Loreto, 184
Castellani collection, 78
Cavaliere Alberto, 258
Cellini, Benvenuto, 187
"Centaurs and Lapithæ" (Alcamenes), 51
"Cephalus and Aurora" (Flaxman), 251
Cephisodotus, 55
Ceres;
Roman temple of, 83;
Livia as, 104
Certosa of Pavia, 177; 194;
and Omodeo, 158
Cesena, 156;
and Lombardo, 192
Chapelle Expiatoire, 274
Chares of Lindos, 71

"Charity" (Coysevox), 229
Charles I. and Bernini, 226
Charles VIII., 177
Charmidas, 32
Chartres, cathedral of, 114
Chaudet, Antoine Denis, 247
Choragic monument of Lysicrates, 65
Choragus, 65
Christ;
early statues of, 106;
figure of, at Rheims, 117;
by Vischer, 174;
by Michael Angelo, 206;
by Coustou, 230;
by Dannecker, 248;
various statues of, by Thorwaldsen, 262;
by Gibson, 277
Christian IV., Thorwaldsen's statue of, 266
Christian VIII. and Thorwaldsen, 266
Christian Art, 104
"Christian Charity" (Thorwaldsen), 262
Christian Frederick, Prince, 259
Christian sculpture, 105
Christiansborg palace and Thorwaldsen, 258
Chryselephantine statues, 22
Chur, cathedral of, 164
Church of Our Lady, Thorwaldsen's works in, 262
Cimon, patron of Phidias, 34
Cincinnatus, by Chaudet, 248
Cione, Andrea Arcagnuolo di, 134
Circumlitio, 284
Civitali, Matteo, 153
Claudius;
and the Thespian Cupid, 61;
arch of, in Rome, 98
Clement VII. and Cellini, 187
Clement XIII., Canova's monument of, 242
Clement XIV., monument of, 240
Cleomenes, 86, 90

Cnidos, Venus of, 60
Coins, Athenian, 35;
of Elis, 35
Colbert, tomb of, 229
Colleoni;
statue of, 149;
and Leopardo, 155
Colleoni Chapel, Bergamo, 157
Cologne, 123
Colonna, Vittoria, and Michael Angelo, 209
Color;
in Assyrian bas-reliefs, 14;
in Æginetan statues, 26;
in thirteenth century sculptures, 115
Colossi, Egyptian, 8;
of Thebes, 8
Colossus of Rhodes, 71
"Comedy" (Flaxman), 251
Como, cathedral of, 159
"Conception" (Montañes), 219
Condé, statues of, by Coysevox, 229;
by David, 275
Consalvi, Cardinal, 263
Constance, cathedral of, 163
Constantine, arch of, 105;
column of, 108;
Bernini's statue of, 226
Conway, 277
Copernicus, Thorwaldsen's monument to, 262
Corinthian capital, 53
Cornacini, 74
Corneto, 83
Correggio and Begarelli, 193
Cortona, 132
Cosmo I., and Donatello, 144;
Giovanni da Bologna's statue of, 214
Cosmo III. and "Venus de' Medici," 85
Coustou, Guillaume, 230
Coustou, Nicolas, 229

Covent Garden Theatre, 251
Cow, Myron's statue of, 30
Coysevox, Antoine, 229
Cracow and Veit Stoss, 164
Cresilas, 52
"Crowning of the Virgin" (Stoss), 165
Cupid;
by Praxiteles, 60;
by Michael Angelo, 198;
by Dannecker, 248;
and Psyche (Thorwaldsen), 257;
as a shepherd (Gibson), 183 (and see Eros)
Cybele, by Cellini, 190

Dacians on Trajan's Pillar, 99
Dædalus, 20;
and Icarus (Canova), 239
Damophilus, 83
Dannecker, Johann Heinrich, 248
Da Siena, Ugolino, 134
David, by Donatello, 142;
by Verocchio, 149;
by Michael Angelo, 200
"David and Goliath," 139
David of Angers, 274
David, Jacques Louis, 274
David, Pierre Jean, 274
"Day" (Michael Angelo), 206
"Death," by Bernini, 226;
by Pigalle, 230
"Death of the Virgin" (Strasburg), 120
Delphi, bronzes from, 84
Demetrius Poliorcetes, 71
Demidoff, Countess, Bosio's statue of, 274
Denman, Ann, 251
"Deposition from the Cross," by Pisano, 127;
by Omodeo, 158
"Descent from the Cross" (Begarelli), 194
"Destruction of the Gauls in Mysia," 78

Devonshire, Duke of, 276
Diadochi, 73
Diana;
temple of, at Ephesus, 57;
à la Biche, 95 (and see Artemis)
Dibutades, 20
Dijon, 125
Diomed, by Myron, 31
Diptychs, 109
"Discobolus" of Myron, 30
Donatello, 140
Donato di Betto Bardi, 140
Dortmund, wood-carvings in, 167
"Doryphorus," by Polycleitus, 54
Dubois, Cardinal, Coustou's statue of, 230
Duquesnoy, François, 226, 231
Dürer, Albrecht; 166;
Rauch's statue of, 271
"Dying Gaul," 79
"Dying Warriors" (Schlüter), 232

Egremont, Earl of, 251
Egyptians;
ancient sculpture of, 1;
influence of, on Etruscan art, 82
"Eldest Daughter," Niobe group, 64
Elector Frederic III., Schlüter's statue of, 234
Eleventh century, metal work in, 111
Elgin, Lord, 37
Elgin marbles, 35, 40
Emo, Admiral, monument of, 242
Emperor of Austria, Canova's bust of, 243
England; sculpture introduced into, in fourteenth century, 125;
in sixteenth century, 179
"Entombment of Christ" (Roldan), 220
Erinnyes, 25
Ernst, Vischer's monument of, 171
Eros, 55;
of Centocelle, 60 (and see Cupid)

Escorial, church of, 221
Esquiline, Discobolos found on, 31
Estofado, 220
Étampes, Mme. d', 189
Etruscans originated Italian sculpture, 82
Eurydice, by Canova, 238
Eurythmy, 49
Eustathius of Rome, 108
Eve, by Cano, 220
"Evening" (Michael Angelo), 206
"Expulsion of Heliodorus" (Thorwaldsen), 254
Eyck, van, 178

Fabbriche Nuova, 186
Faliero, Giovanni, 236
Farnese Palace;
and Michael Angelo, 209;
della Porta's statues in, 212
"Farnesian Bull," 76
"Farnesian Hercules," 88
Farsetti, Commendatore and Canova, 237
Fénelon, David's statue of, 275
Ferdinand and Isabella, monument of, 180
Ferrara, Quercia's works in, 137;
Lombardo's works in, 192
Ferrari, Giuseppe, and Canova, 237
Ferrucci, Andrea, 152
Fiammingo, Il, 213
"Fidelity" (Coysevox), 229
Fiesole, Mino da, 152
Fifteenth century, 136
Finlay, Gibson's statue of, 276
Fionia, Island of, 257
Fiorino, 187
"Fischkasten" (Syrlin), 163
Flaccus, Fulvius, and statues from Volsinii, 82
Flaminius, 84
Flaxman, John, 250
Flora, Julia as, 104

Florence;
and Giovanni Pisano, 132;
and Pietro di Giovanni, 135;
Ghiberti's works in, 140
Florence, Baptistery of, 133
Florence, cathedral of, high altar in, 212
Forum Trajani, 98
Fountain;
by Labenwolf, 176;
by Giovanni da Bologna, 214;
by Bernini, 226;
of the Manneken-Pis, 227;
Molière, 274
Fourteenth century, 122
Fra Guglielmo d'Agnello, 130
France in fourteenth century, 124
Francis I., 148, 176;
and Rustici, 183;
and Cellini, 189;
monument of, by Pilon, 216
Franke, Rauch's statue of, 271
Frankfort, wood-carvings in, 167
Frari, church of, 154
Frauenkirche, Nuremberg; 123;
Krafft's works in, 167
Frederic II., 127
Frederick the Great, Schadow's statue of, 269
Freiburg, cathedral of, 121
French monuments, Museum of, 230
Friedrich August, Rietschel's statue of, 271
Friedrichs monument, 271
Frue Kirche, 268
Fulvius Nobilior, 84
Furstenburg, Cardinal, and Coysevox, 229
"Fury of Athamas" (Flaxman), 251

"Gallic theory" concerning Apollo, Diana, and Minerva, 96
"Gallic Warrior" in Venice, 78
Gambarelli, The, 151

Ganymede, by Leochares, 65;
by Thorwaldsen, 260
Gattamelata, statue of, 145
Genii, by Thorwaldsen, 268
Genoa, 153
Genre;
Apoxyomenos as example of, 70;
sculpture, 81
Germany, Emperor of, 270
Ghibelline Street, 211
Ghiberti, Lorenzo, 133, 138
Ghirlandajo, Domenico, and Michael Angelo, 195
Gibson, John, 275
Giovanni, Luca di, 137
Giovanni, Pietro di, 135
Girardon, François, 228
Glycon, 88
Glyptothek, Munich;
groups from Ægina in, 25;
Barberini Faun in, 73;
Thorwaldsen's Adonis in, 258;
Schwanthaler's decoration of, 271
"Gobbo, Il." See Solari
Goethe, Tieck's statue of, 270
Golden House of Nero, 84;
"Venus Callipiga" in, 87
Gorgasus, 83
Gothic style, 114, 115;
in German art, 120;
hindrances of, 160
Gottfried of Strasburg, 115
Gottskalken, Thorvald, 253
Goujon, Jean, 216
Graces, The, by Pilon, 216;
by Canova, 241;
by Thorwaldsen, 260
Granacci, Francesco, 194
Granada, cathedral of, Virgin by Cano in, 220
Great Elector, Schlüter's statue of, 233.

Greece;
ancient sculpture of, 18;
religion of, 19;
influence of, on Etruscan art, 82;
portrait sculpture in, 100
Gregory XVI., Pope, 100
Grimani, Senator, 239
Grimm;
concerning Donatello's St. George, 143;
concerning Michael Angelo's David, 200
Gröulund, Karen, 253
Grumbach, statue of (Krafft), 168
Guardian Angel, church of, 180
"Guardian Angel" (Thorwaldsen), 262
Guido Reni, 64
Guillain, Simon, 227
Guillaume de Sens, 121
Guinifort and Omodeo, 158
Gutenberg memorial, Strasburg, 275

Hadrian, Emperor;
and archaistic period, 27;
and Glycon, 88
Halle;
wood-carvings in, 167;
statue of Franke in, 271
Hamilton, Gavin, 60
Harald Hildetand, 252
Harcourt, Comte d', Pigalle's statue of, 230
"Harpy Monument," 24
Hartmann of Aue, 115
Hayder, Simon, 163
Hebe, by Thorwaldsen, 258
Heinrich II., Krafft's statue of, 168
Helios, 69
Henry II., monument of, 216
Henry III. of England, 121
Henry VII., monument of, 179
Hephæstus (Vulcan) by Alcamenes, 49

Hera;
statue of, by Polycleitus, 53;
temple of, at Argos, 53 (and see Juno)
Heracles (Hercules);
and Triton, 23;
and Cecrops, 23 (and see Hercules)
Hercules;
by Scopas, 59;
by Lysippus, 69;
caricature of, 80;
the Farnesian, 88;
by Vischer, 174;
by Michael Angelo, 196;
and Nessus, by Giovanni da Bologna, 214;
by Pigalle, 230;
and Lichas, by Canova, 247 (and see Heracles)
Hermes, by Thorwaldsen, 258
Hernandez, Gregorio, 218, 220
Hesperides, apples of, 89
Hieracosphinx, 6
Hildesheim, bronze gate at, 112
History shown by Assyrian bas-reliefs, 16
Honor and Valor, temple of, 83
Hope, Thomas, 251, 256
"Hope," Thorwaldsen's statue of, 260
Hosmer, Harriet, 278
Höyer, 253
Humboldt, Baron von, 257, 258
Huskisson, Gibson's statue of, 276
"Hylas and Nymphs" (Gibson), 277

Iliad, selection from, 94
Intarsiatore, 152
Iphigenia, relief of, 90
Isabella of Aragon, statue of, 119
Ischia, Marquis of, 244
Isocephalism, 44
Italian classic sculpture, time of, 105
Italy in fourteenth century, 126

Ivory carving;
in Byzantium, 108;
in Germany, 110;
in fourteenth century, 123

"Jacob and Esau," 139
Jacopo della Fonte, 137
Jaen, cathedral of, 220
Janina, 92
Jason, by Thorwaldsen, 255
Johannis Cemetery, 167, 168
"John the Baptist," by Andrea Pisano, 134;
by Berruguete, 218
Jordan, Esteban, 218
Joseph;
history of, by Ghiberti, 139;
and Potiphar's wife, 193
Joseph of Arimathea, by Canova, 243
"Joshua before Jericho," 139
Julia as Flora, 104
Julia and Canova, 246
Julius II., Pope;
and the Laocoon, 74;
and Sansovino, 184;
and Michael Angelo, 202;
mausoleum of, 206
"Junction of the Seine and Marne" (Coustou), 230
Juni, Juan de, 218, 220
Juno, 86 (and see Hera)
Jupiter;
Otricoli, 36;
temple of, at Olympia, 51;
"Tonans" on Trajan's Pillar, 99;
as St. Peter, 107 (and see Zeus)
Juste, Jean, 177
"Justice," by Krafft, 170;
by Vischer, 174;
by della Porta, 212
Justinian, monument of, 108

Kalide, Theodore, 272
King of Prussia and Schadow, 269
Königsbau, 271
Königsberg, statue in, 234
Kora, 20
Krafft, Adam, 167
"Kreugas and Damoxenes" (Canova), 247
Kriosphinx, 6
Kunigunde, by Krafft, 168
Künz, Nicolaus, 170

Labenwolf, Pankraz, 175
Lamberger, Simon, 171
"Lamentation" (Krafft), 170
Lamp of Minerva, by Callimachus, 53
Laocoon, 74;
by Sansovino, 185
"Last Judgment," of Rheims cathedral, 117
Lateran;
Myron's Marsyas in, 31;
antique statue of Nemesis in, 51;
statue of Sophocles in, 100;
statue of St. Hippolitus in, 106;
Sarcophagi in, 107;
Bernini's "Pietà" in, 226
Leah, by Michael Angelo, 206
Le Mans, cathedral of, 114
Lenox Gallery, New York, 277
Leo I., Pope, 107
Leo X., Pope, 148, 184;
and Michael Angelo, 204
Leo XII. and Thorwaldsen, 263
Leochares, 65
Leopardo, Alessandro, 149, 155
Lessing, Tieck's statue of, 270;
Rietschel's statue of, 271
Leuchtenberg, Duke of, monument to, 263
Liebfrauenkirche, 178

"Lion of Lucerne" (Thorwaldsen), 261
Liverpool Cemetery, chapel, 277
Livia, wife of Augustus, 102, 104
Loggia de' Lanzi, Florence, groups in, 213
Loggietta of the Campanile, Venice, 186
Lombardi, The, 154
Lombardo, Alfonso, 192
"Lord's Supper" (Thorwaldsen), 262
Loreto, 184
Louis of Bavaria and Thorwaldsen, 258, 262, 263
Louis XII., monument of, 177
Louis XIII., Anguier's statue of, 228
Louis XIV.;
Guillain's statue of, 227;
and Girardon, 228;
Coysevox's statue of, 229;
Coustou's statue of, 230
Louis XVIII.;
and Venus of Milo, 87;
Bosio's statue of, 274
Louise, Queen, Rauch's statue of, 270
Louvre, Paris;
Egyptian collection in, 1;
archaic reliefs in, 23;
"Venus of Milo" in, 87;
statue of Artemis in, 95;
Museum of Modern Sculpture in, 177;
monument by Juste in, 178;
Cellini's nymph in, 190;
Pilon's "Graces" in, 216;
bas-reliefs by Goujon in, 216;
Sarrazin's works in, 227;
Guillain's Louis XIV. in, 227;
Girardon's works in, 228;
Puget's works in, 229
"Love in Repose" (Thorwaldsen), 254
Lübke, Wilhelm;
concerning Apollo Belvedere, 94;
concerning fourteenth century, 221;

concerning Schlüter, 233
Lucca, 128, 137
Lucian, concerning Calamis, 32
Ludovico Moro and Omodeo, 159
Luther, bust of (Thorwaldsen), 268;
Schadow's monument to, 269;
Rietschel's statue of, 271
Lysippus, 68;
school of, 72;
Hercules by, 88;
power of, 89
Lytton, Lord, concerning Gibson, 277

Madonna, statue of (Freiburg), 121;
repetition of, 122;
by Arnolfo di Cambio, 133;
by Stoss, 165;
by Michael Angelo, 196, 200
Madonna del Soccorso, chapel of, 216
Magnani, Anna Maria, 256
Maidbrunn, Krafft's work in, 170
"Maiden and Bird" (Dannecker), 248
Majano, Benedetto da, 152
Manuel, Nicolaus, 170
Marburg, wood-carvings in, 167
Marcellus, 83
Marcus Aurelius;
arch of, in Rome, 98;
statue of, 209
Maria Louisa, Canova's statue of, 243
Marienkirche, Count Sparr's monument in, 231
Mark, Count von der, 269
Mars;
and the Romans, by Sansovino, 186;
by Thorwaldsen, 258;
and Cupid, by Gibson, 276, 277
Marsyas, by Myron, 31
Martisen, Egyptian sculptor, 1
Mary of Aragon, 152

Marys, The, by Canova, 243
Massegne, The, 135
Massimi Villa, 30
Matthias Corvinus, 152
Mausoleum, 57
Mausolus, 56
Maximianus, cathedra of, 108
Maximilian I., Rauch's statue of, 271
Mazarin, Cardinal, tomb of, 229
Medemet Haboo, sculpture in, 4
Medes, 17
Medici, Catherine de', 216
Medici, Cosmo de', 144;
and Cellini, 190
Medici, Giuliano de', 204
Medici, Lorenzo de', 195, 204
Medici, Piero de', 144;
and Michael Angelo, 196
Melos, 50
Mendelsohn and Thorwaldsen, 267
Menides of Antiocheia, 87
Mercury, by Sansovino, 186;
by Giovanni da Bologna, 214;
by Pigalle, 230;
by Thorwaldsen, 260
Merovingians, statues of, 119
Metal work;
Assyrian, 14;
in tenth century, 110;
in eleventh century, 111
Michael Angelo;
attempted to restore the Laocoon, 74;
concerning Ghiberti's gates, 139;
and Cellini, 187, 191, 194
Milan, 156;
cathedral of, and Omodeo, 158
Milo (Melos), 87
Milo, by Puget, 229;
by Dannecker, 248

Minerva;
temple of, in Ægina, 25;
of the Capitol, 95;
temple of, in the Forum, 98 (and see Athena and Pallas)
Mocenigo, Doge Pietro, 155
Modena, Antonio da, 193
"Moderation" (Vischer), 174
Montañes, Juan Martinez, 218
Monte Oliveto, 152
Montmorenci, Duke de, tomb of, 228
Montorsoli attempted to restore the Laocoon, 74
Monumental sculpture of thirteenth century, 119
Moore, Sir John, Flaxman's statue of, 251
Moritz, statue of (Pigalle), 230
Morley, Mrs., monument of, 251
"Morning" (Michael Angelo), 206
Moses;
on Mount Sinai, 139;
by Michael Angelo, 206, 207;
Aaron, and Hur (Rauch), 271
"Moses Fountain," 125
Mount Cithæron and "Farnese Bull," 76
Mummius and Grecian spoils, 84
Munich, group by Cephisodotus in, 55
Murillo, 221
"Music" (della Robbia), 146
Mycenæ, Lion Gate of, 20
Myron of Eleutheræ, 30;
followers of, 51

Naples;
Laocoon group in, 76;
historical statues in, 78
Naples, Museum of;
"Venus Callipiga" in, 87;
and "Farnese Bull", 76;
"Farnesian Hercules" in, 88
Napoleon and Canova, 242, 243
National Gallery, London, 277

"Nativity," by Rossellino, 152;
by Anguier, 228
Nemesis of Agoracritus, 51
Neptune;
by Sansovino, 186;
by Cellini, 190;
by Giovanni da Bologna, 214
Nero, and the Thespian Cupid, 61;
and Grecian spoils, 84
Niccolò of Arezzo, 135
Nicodemus;
by Krafft, 170;
by Bandinelli, 212;
by Canova, 243
"Night," by Michael Angelo, 206, 208
"Nile of the Vatican," 73
Nimes, Pradier's fountain at, 274
Nimrud, bas-reliefs at, 13
Niobe;
of Mount Sipylus, 20;
group, 61;
myth of, 62
Noah, 139
Noceto, 153
Notre Dame, church of;
statue of Louis XIV. in, 229;
Coustou's sculptures in, 230;
d'Harcourt's monument in, 230
Nuremberg;
sculptures of, 123;
and Veit Stoss, 164;
and Wohlgemuth, 166;
statue of Dürer in, 271
"Nymph," by Dannecker, 248;
by Bosio, 273
Nysoë and Thorwaldsen, 265

Obelisks, 4
Octavia, portico of, and Venus de' Medici, 85

Œdipus, by Chaudet, 248
Oehlenschlager, 265
Oluf Paa, 252
Olympiad, 41
Olympic games, 41
Omodeo. See Amadeo
Or San Michele, church of, 134, 143, 149
Orcagna, Andrea, 134
"Orpheus and Eurydice" (Canova), 238
Orvieto, 133
Osborne, 277
Othman IV., Caliph, and Colossus of Rhodes, 72
Our Lady, church of, Nuremberg, 123

Padua, 137, 156
"Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture," relief of, by Chaudet, 248
Palais de Justice (Bruges), 178
Palazzo Grassi, 193
Palazzo Pubblico, fountain in front of, 214
Palazzo Torlonia (Rome), 277
Palazzo Vecchio, 149, 214
Pallajuolo, 184
Pallas, by Sansovino, 186 (and see Athena and Minerva)
Panathenaic Procession, 41
Pandareus, King, 25
Panhellenic games, 29
Pantheon, influence of, upon sculpture, 29
Pantheon, Paris, 275
Paris;
historic statue in, 78;
cathedrals of, 114
Paros, 56
Parthenon, frieze of; 35; 40;
groups of seven on, 42;
central group in, 43;
historical value of, 45;
inequality of work in, 45
Paul III. and Michael Angelo, 206;
monument of, 212