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Ferenc Pulszky's Lecture on Gems, Ivories, Vases, Paintings
Transcription and notes by Andrea Hasznos
VII
Gems, Ivories, Vases, Paintings
Transcription and notes by Andrea Hasznos
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(1) I have endeavoured in my former Lectures to give
(2) an outline of the art of Egypt and its different phases
(3) which from its beginning down to the decay through a
(4) period of about thirty five centuries remained the
(5) mirror of the religious, social and political institutions
(6) of the Nilevalley, trying for the first time
(7) in art critic to
(8) fix and to characterize the six great epochs
(9) and styles of egyptian art; you have listened kindly
(10) to the review on Assyrian sculpture, and to my efforts of
(11) directing the attention of the friend of art
(12) to Hindustan, the Peninsula beyond the
(13) Ganges and China, countries, which have been
(14) nearly entirely omitted or slightly treated by
(15) the historians of art, since they are unconnected
(16) with western civilization; the views on Etruria
(17) or the tone of the portrait may have been
(18) questioned by some of you,
(19) on account of their novelty
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(20) you followed me in my comments upon
(21) the bas relief and the radical difference between
(22) ancient and modern reliefs.
(23) I have repeated to you in a short compass
(24) the often told history of Greek and roman art,
(25) we arrived from the infancy of sculpture to the
(26) epoch of Destruction, from
(27) Egyptians to Goths, Vandals and Byzantine
(28) iconoclasts. Today the subject of the Lecture are
(29) the Gems, Ivories, Vases, and Paintings of the ancients, that is to
(30) say those objects which at the time
(31) when the sciences revived were collected
(32) by the friends of antiquity and the patrons
(33) of art.
(34) It was a great and glorious time, about
(35) four hundred years ago, and it opened such …
(36) prospects to mankind as were not …
(37) until now, the dawn of modern(?) culture
(38) in the fifteenth and the beginning of the
(39) sixteenth century was in many respects more brilliant, more
(40) warm, more sunny, than the midday in which we live.
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(41) Europe presented an aspect not dissimilar to that
(42) of Greece in the fifth century b.C. The continent
(43) was divided in many states, and in every
(44) one of them the seeds of liberty had germinated,
(45) and science and literature were encouraged beyond
(46) examples. Prince Henry and his seafarers
(47) in Portugal, Queen Isabel, Cardinal …,
(48) Columbus and the Discovery of America
(49) in Spain, Francis the first in France, Henry the
(50) eighth in England, Emperor Maximilian
(51) and the Reforms in Germany, King Matthias and
(52) his romantic Hero cycle in Hungary, princes such as the …, chiefs of Republics such
(53) as Lorenzo Medici, and popes such as
(54) Julius II and Leon X in Italy, - where is the
(55) Epoch in modern History boasting of Europe
(56) as many friends of science and of art as sat contemporanously on the thrones and stood in the councils,
(57)
(58) between 1470 to 1530.
(59) Constantinople had fallen shortly before, nontheless in itself an
(60) overripe fruit, just at the time when
(61) the ground was sufficiently prepared
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(62) in western Europe for the last seeds of ancient cultures produced in that city in the remains of
(63) the classics and the traditions of art technic now diffused through the western
(64) world by the refugees escaping from
(65) the eastern empire. Painting and sculpture
(66) had a short but glorious bloom, the
(67) epoch of Pericles, and of the Greek philosophers
(68) seemed to have returned, and the Academy and
(69) the Stoa were transplanted from the Ilysses
(70) to the Arno, to the rivers of Saxony
(71) and to the lakes of Switzerland.
(72)
(73) It
(74) is not the place here to discuss the reasons
(75) why those brilliant blossoms were of such
(76) short duration and how they
(77) were blighted, but it is
(78) natural that during this epoch the
(79) remains of antiquity were admired and sought.
(80) The princes of Italy and the Popes collected them and abound(?)
(81) their gardens and palaces with pagan gods, not a spark had remained with them
(82) of the intolerant iconoclasts morbid
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(83) colour of old … , and
(84) the cults of beauty and of the charm of
(85) forms seemed to be introduced again.
(86) But next to the antique statues, which even by their
(87) bulk and significance were destined to
(88) become the property of souvereigns and princely homes<,>
(89) it was especially the gems, ivories and vases
(90) which were eagerly sought, and collected even
(91) by privates.
(92) You are all aware that the engraved gems are either cameos
(93) in relief or Intaglios which are carved into
(94) the stone. The seal was the origin of the
(95) {the} Intaglio therefore it is older than the
(96) cameo, which was developed from the symbolic relief
(97) representation of the beetle on the
(98) upper part of the signet.
(99) The use of seals ascends to the infancy of
(100) civilization, they were in the beginning of metal or of baked and glazed clay. The Genesis mentions the signet
(101) of Juda and the a… ring of
(102) Joseph, and
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(103) the goldring of king Khufu whom Herodotus calls Cheops … to … and …
(104) has been preserved to our day, it is in the collection of
(105) Dr Abbot<t> in America. The Assyrians<,> Babylonians
(106) and Persians did not know the cameo, their
(107) gems are all Intaglios and all seals.
(108) In the British Museum you can see
(109) them as well as some of their antique impressions
(110) in baked clay, which
(111) were appended to the treaties and agree-
(112) ments. One of the cylinders bears the royal
(113) name of Sennacherib, another that of Darius
(114) the son of Hystaspes, and may have been
(115) the great sealer of the empire. In the
(116) Fejérváry Museum there is also a royal
(117) persian cylinder, but without the name
(118) of the king, it is worthy of the best
(119) Greek time.
(120) The first mention of a Greek gem is
(121) that of the ring of Polycrates celebrated
(122) in tradition. It was engraved towards
(123) the end of the VIth century before Christ
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(124) by Theodore of Samos the son of Telecles
(125) and preserved in Rome in the time
(126) of Pliny in the temple of Concord, it
(127) contained according to Clemens Alexandrinus the representation of a lyre._
(128) On the most ancient coins of Greece
(129) the figures are still and angular and without expression,
(130) the head … and
(131) thighs are often to<o> short, the muscles
(132) exaggerated, and resembling in many respects
(133) the assyrian style; such is also the
(134) case with the most ancient engraved
(135) gems, the Etruscan Scarabs. Some of them are
(136) entirely rude, the outline is given only by
(137) globular points, similar to assyrian
(138) workmanship in some cylinders. These scarabs were
(139) principally used as signets. But when the genius of
(140) the Greeks developed all its power in
(141) the works of art, the gems became independent of
(142) that first aim, the seal, and got that excellence
(143) which … to our times never has been
(144) equalled. We see in them the artist as the
(145) master of the material, the still, straight and angular
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(146)lines of the beginner are rounded by his
(147)plastic hand to the softly inflexed (sic) line
(148)of beauty, no part becomes unnecessarily pro-
(149)minent, every detail gets the true proportions
(150)and reveals its effect only in the irresistible
(151)Harmony of the whole composition, which is always
(152)of the greatest simplicity because
(153)the artist knew what he was about
(154)to do and just only so much - and not more - as was
(155)required for the intended effect.
(156) The Cameos were all ornamental, the
(157)smaller ones, as rings, the larger gems as
(158)brooches and adornments of diadems, and of bracelets
(159)and of shoestrings. A few of peculiar sign,
(160)nearly all either of the time
(161)of the Ptolemies or of the first few
(162)Roman emperors, belonged to the royal or
(163)imperial treasure.
(164) Another class of gems were worn
(165)as amulets (a)potele/smata) or talismans
(166)in the belief that they avert evil from the bearer
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(167)The fancyfull (sic) combination of masks and faces, and animals which we
(168)often see well engraved but which has no reasonable
(169)meaning belong probably to that class, they
(170)are commonly called symplegmata. The
(171)Abraxas gems have originated with the heretic
(172)Sects of the Gnostics and Basilidians, half
(173)Christians half pagans, in the IVth - Vth century. They nearly always
(174)represent the God or …
(175)angel of the Gnosis, Iao and Abraxas, a human body
(176)with the head of a cock having two serpents
(177)instead of legs. Yet other gems, all of them cameos, are evidently
(178)Bridal offerings, with inscriptions requesting or
(179)offering love with good wishes for the
(180)person to whom they were presented.
(181) We find often names engraved on
(182)gems, which sometimes add considerably
(183)to their value. In Etruria, especially in the earlier epochs they give the name of the engraved figure, God or
(184)Hero, in Greece it is the name of the engraver, always in the Genitive.
(185)… without exception in small characters scarcely to be distinguished in the epoch of
(186)the decay this engraved name is that of the owner of the gem always in great and elongated character.
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(187)The most celebrated of the ancient engravers in gems
(188)known by the authors are Pyrgoteles, Apollonides
(189)Dioscurides and Solon, of the first, by whom Alexander
(190)the great wished to be portrayed to the exclusion of any
(191)other engraver, we have no authentic gem<;>
(192)the name of the other three appears on intaglios, we find that
(193)of Dioscurides, whose peculiarity it was to engrave
(194)the representations in full face on one
(195)of the most valuable intaglios of the Fejérváry
(196)Museum. Other celebrated names of engravers, known by
(197)their works are H…,…, Aspasios Phileus(?)
(198)Tryphon, …,…, Alexander and …
(199) his son.
(200) Amongst the ancients we read that it
(201)was Pompey the Great who dedicated
(202)the first collection of gems, Dactyliotheka, formed
(203)from the treasure of Mithridates, to the
(204)Capitolium Jupiter, Julius Caesar deposited
(205)six such collections in the temple of Venus Genitrix, from
(206)which the Julian family claimed the descent.
(207)Marcellus, the son of Octavia gave one to
(208)the sanctuary of the Palatin Apollo.
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(209)In the middle ages it was Lorenzo Medici
(210)who formed the first collection of gems (†1482)
(211)and in order to show the high value in which
(212)he held them, he had marked them with
(213)the Initials of his name. But he encouraged also
(214)the engraving of new stones. Louis of Berquem of Bruges in Belgium
(215)had in 1475 succeeded in
(216)cutting the diamant, Giovanni delle Carniole and
(217)Domenico de … became celebrated by the
(218)portraits which they engraved in the beginning of the 16th century.
(219) Pier Maria da Pescia was one of the most
(220)distinguished engravers of that century,
(221)he cut the celebrated signet of Michel Angelo
(222)now in the Imperial Library at Paris which
(223)for long time was taken for antique, though
(224)the composition is entirely modern, more
(225)picturesque, than plastic. Giovanni Bernardi
(226)di Castel Bolognese, Giovanni Giacomo Caraglio are mentioned amongst the celebrated engravers of the
(227)time and Marco del …who signed his stones with o.p.h.s. opus …… but it was
(228)principally Valerio Vicentino, or Valerio
(229)Belli whose name has become renowned, he
(230)was the first amongst the artists of that
(231)time who imitated the style of the antique
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(232)Alessandro Cesari(?) liked to select episodes
(233)of the life of Alexander the great for his com-
(234)positions and Giovanni Costanzi scenes
(235)of constancy, for instance that of Scipio, C…
(236)or S…, as allusions to his name. Giacomo
(237)Trezzo and Clement Birague(?) were the first
(238)who engraved diamonds.
(239) The preciousness of the antique stones, their
(240)beauty, their easy transportability, and the fact
(241)that they were scarcely damaged by time
(242)made them seem the most desirable remains of antiquity.
(243)In the 17 and yet more in the 18th century
(244)a collection of Gems became the necessary
(245)appendage of the treasures of every great
(246)house, but as artistic taste,
(247)knowledge of antiquity and princely
(248)means are seldom united, and as
(249)the supply of excavated gems did not correspond with
(250)the demand, forgeries became frequent. Not only that medieval works were passed off for antique
(251)but the name of an ancient artist was
(252)often engraved in good antique gems, in order
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(253)to enhance their value. Sometimes
(254)those forgers made strange mistakes. For instance
(255)a gem representing a bearded man was found engraved with the name of Pho.ius,
(256)of course that of the artist, but the dealer who got it,
(257)thought that this name
(258)belonged to the portrait and therefore had
(259)the name of the contemporarious artist Pyrgo-
(260)teles engraved on the same stone, unaware
(261)that at the epoch of that engraver the name of the representations
(262)never were (sic) engraved in stone. One of the
(263)finest collections ever made was that of
(264)Baron Stosch, cataloguized by the great Winckelmann
(265)and bought by Frederic the great of Prussia.
(266)In the beginning of the 18th century several great engravers
(267)arose again, the two(?) … and Natter, who
(268)acquired for his study several of the
(269)most celebrated antique gems, which afterwards
(270)were often passed off for originals. It
(271)is not long ago that one of those copies of
(272)Natter gave occasion to a great antiquarian
(273)dispute about the authenticity of the gem, but
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(274)even from the impressions in plaster it was easily ascertained
(275)which was the original. Towards
(276)the end of the last and the beginning of
(277)the present century there were many distinguished
(278)engravers of gems. Antonio Pichler and his three
(279)sons Giovanni, Guiseppe and Luigi, Marchant,
(280)Damastin(?) and Cerbara and Rega, Santarelli and Pistrucci and
(281)others. In order to enhance the value of
(282)their own productions, they depreciated those
(283)of the ancient masters. They proclaimed that
(284) their works could not be distinguished
(285)from the antique, they worked in the
(286)antique style, some of them broke their own works
(287)in order to give them an old appearance
(288)and the dealers in antiquities succeded in this way to
(289)sell many of their gems to collectors
(290)whose purse was larger than their understanding.
(291)P… Knight and especially the
(292)Prince Poniatowsky overtake in
(293)that way. But in the length the result did
(294)not answer the expectations of the
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(295)artists, amongst whom Giovanni Pichler became
(296)most notorious for making false antiques, -
(297)the passion for the collections of gems
(298)subsided suddenly, the works of the
(299)ancient(?) and of the modern artist were at equal discount,
(300)nobody trusted the antique gems, and the
(301)new ones were also only exceptionally bought.
(302)Pichler's gems, bearing the names of …
(303)and … and … and … once the property of Prince Poniatowsky wait
(304)for a buyer in the window of a shop at Warbour Street, - were they
(305)signed with his own name, they could have
(306)long ago been sold at fair prices. _
(307) Since a few years collections of gems
(308)begin again to be formed, and such …
(309)as the late Nott, or the Duke of B… and
(310)the Duke of … and Mr …
(311)were not afraid of buying gems; they are right the best
(312)test that modern artists cannot
(313)imitate ancient gems better than ancient statues
(314)or ancient pictures without being recognized
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(315)is that the modern Poniatowsky gems are unsellable in spite of the great names and of the real mastership
(316)of Pichler and some other engravers whilst the antique ones were soon picked out
(317)by those who understand the genius of antiquity. -
(318) The antique Ivories carry us to an entirely
(319) different period and land, an entirely different
(320) history. Ivory was one of the most appreciated
(321) materials for plastic in ancient times. The
(322) mild yellowish tint, its agreeable
(323) … and the easy way in which it
(324) can be sculptured … it in some
(325) respect in performance to marble and bronzes, it occured
(326) especially with gold. The Colossal … statues
(327) of Jupiter and Minerva by Phidias, and of Juno
(328) by Polyclitus … this material in a
(329) way never attained by modern sculpture,
(330) though the artists of the XVth and XVIth
(331) centuries had also a peculiar fondness for
(332) sculptures in ivory. -
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(333)The great statues of that material, all
(334)those celebrated master works of antiquity were
(335)destroyed, it was perhaps the costliness of the material itself
(336)which became one more reason for their destruction.
(337)Only a few reliefs have been saved,
(338)wrecks of the ancient splendour carried to
(339)us by the waves of time. The most impor-
(340)tant of them belong to the epoch of
(341)imperial Rome. It was not long ago that
(342)the officials of the British Museum, not
(343)frightened by the doubts
(344)of some nervous hypercritical amateurs
(345)have bought a most delightfull (sic) antique box
(346)of ivory - adorned by
(347)the representation of … carried
(348)away by …, and by a most gracefull (sic)
(349)garland of flowers and fruits. It belongs
(350)to the time of Emperor Marc Aurelius (?).
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(351)A peculiar class of antique ivories are the diptycha
(352)highly esteemed in the collections of the last
(353)centuries, but as their number is very limited
(354)they have by and bye (sic) passed into a few public collections
(355)and as there are very few newer floating
(356)in the market, they belong to the
(357)greatest rarities and are nearly unknown to collectors. They were the covers of
(358)books, that is to say their inside was
(359)lined with wax, the material for writing
(360)with the ancient Romans. A few
(361)of them, as far as I know five, one in
(362)Paris, one in the Church in M…, one
(363)formerly in Collection of Cardinal …, one in the Imperial … of Vienna,
(364)and one in the Fejervary Museum
(365)formerly belonging to the Florentine house of the
(366)Gaddis are adorned with mythological
(367)subjects, the best of them is that of
(368)the Fej. M. containing the splendid representation
(369)of Aesculapius and Hygieia, the latter adorned with the diadem of
(370)of Juno, leaning on the tripod of Apollo
(371)and accompanied by Cupid and by Iacchus and
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(372)his cista mystica. The Goddess is elevated
(373)here to the rank of the Goddesses of
(374)the highest order, a peculiarity not at all
(375)surprising at the time of Emperor Marcus
(376)Aurelius, when the Neoplatonic school of
(377)philosophy was prevalant, which in order to counteract
(378)the influence of Christianity
(379)began to look out for a philosophical defense
(380)of the old mythology. They tried to show
(381)that after all it was but one Godhead
(382)which they adored under different names and
(383)forms. With Apuleius for instance, in the Golden Ass, Isis
(384)the goddess of nature is invoked,
(385)whether Queen of heaven, or
(386)Ares, or Venus or Diana, or Proserpina, whatever
(387)may be the name and form under
(388)which she preferred to be worshipped. -
(389)Isis responds, saying that she, the great mother of nature, the uniform appearance of all(?) the Gods and Goddesses
(390)is called Cybele with the Phrygians, and
(391)Minerva with Athens, and Venus in Cyprus and
(392)Proserpina with the Sicilians and Ares in
(393)Eleusis, and Juno and … and Hecate(?) and
(394)Nemesis. This heaping of different attributes
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(395)with one representation this combination of many names with one role(?) was(?) the first breath of
(396)Christianity which forced heathenism to seek
(397)again the unity in the diversity of the
(398)mythological representations, and gave rise to
(399)the so called pantheistic figures, in which the
(400)attributes of many Deities are combined. -
(401)More important for the history of art
(402)though of a late period are the consular
(403)Diptycha, because they contain the name
(404)of the consul and therefore a certain and fixed
(405)date. All of them belong to the end of
(406)the Vth and the beginning of the XIIth(?) century
(407)of our era. The old custom of
(408)choosing yearly consuls had
(409)been maintained to that time of the Byzantine Empire, but those consuls were
(410)not even a shadow of their predecessors
(411)of old. They had nothing to do than
(412)to give a name to the year, a race and
(413)feast to the people, and presents to
(414)the Senate.
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(415)Amongst these presents were the consular dyptycha
(416)containing within
(417)the fasti consulares, the long series of the
(418)consuls from the time of Brutus Junius
(419)to the donor himself, who closed the
(420)illustrious list. - On the outside of the
(421)ivory he is represented seated on a sella
(422)consulis between the allegorical figures of
(423)Rome and Constantinople clad in
(424)richly embroidered garments, and eleva-
(425)ting in his right hand a handkerchief,
(426)the sign for the start in the race
(427)or the beginning of the games. Above him
(428)we see his name, title and signet, the
(429)symbol of the cross and the portrait of
(430)the Emperor and Empress. Below, there are
(431)either genii pouring presents, or representation
(432)of the games and races.
(433)All the museums of Europe do not contain Dyptycha of more
(434)than of 17 consuls
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(435)the earliest is of 486 b.C., their number
(436)counts to about 30, and one of the most
(437)complete Diptycha is that of the Fejervary
(438)Collection formerly in the family …
(439)in …. There are, besides, three diptycha
(440)of a different form, anterior to the consular
(441)diptycha, one in the church of Halberstadt,
(442)one in Italy, and one in the Fejervary
(443)Museum, and two posterior to that period
(444)one in Vienna the other in Paris
(445)which we could call imperial ones,
(446)and they represent Emperors and are
(447)not connected with the games given
(448)by the consuls at the inauguration.
(449)That of Halberstadt records a triumph,
(450)that of the Fejervary Museum the celebration
(451)of the cyclical games in
(452)honor of the centenary Anniversary of
(453)the foundation of Rome under Emperor
(454)Philip the Arab, who according to some
(455)authors was a Christian. -
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(456)The Paris diptychon shows us Emperor Justinus,
(457)the Vienna Ivory his nephew Justinian.
(458)Many of the diptycha come later with
(459)the treasure of the churches, the liturgy, and the names
(460)of saints, of martyrs, and of bishops were engraved
(461)in the inside, but then the outside did
(462)not tally exactly with that sacred character,
(463)the preface inscription was therefore
(464)often erased, and the name of some
(465)saint or bishop placed in its stand.
(466)For instance this diptychon here, of
(467)which the other not mutilated half is
(468)preserved in Paris bears the name
(469)of bishop …, or … one of
(470)the companions of Godfrey of Bouillon
(471)in the first crusade, a chronicler of
(472)the …, who had probably got it
(472)somewhere in Constantinople or the holy land._ On a
(473)diptychon at the church of …
(474)the top of the head of the consul has … been shaven
(475)in the priestly fashion, and the name of St David replaces that of the Gentleman dignitary.
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(476)Less scarce but highly valuable for the history
(477)of byzantine art and for its revival in the
(478)West are the sacred ivories, that is to
(479)say diptycha and triptycha which were used
(480)sometimes as bookcases and sometimes as altars.
(481)It is only by thus, by the miniatures and by a few
(482)bronze castings that we can trace the
(483)course of byzantine art, in that period when the mighty river
(484)had dried up to the size of a small river-
(485)let. The iconoclasts of the lower empire
(486)like your puritans saw in religious art
(487)nothing but a vehicle of idolatry; but
(488)art persecuted in the east found a
(489)refuge in the west, and it is interesting
(490)to see how medieval sculpture was developed from
(491)those lovable(?) ivory carvings, in which
(492)the traditions of statuary were yet
(493)alive. We see with them in
(494)the beginning of Christianity, Christian
(495)representations, with antique feeling and
(496)drapery, but this is soon abandoned
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(497)the figures become dry(?) and ugly, but expressive,
(498)the charm of forms is purposely avoided
(499)it is the mortification of the flesh which is
(500)the aim of representations worked by ascetic monks, it is
(501)the triumph of Christian spiritualism over antique sensuality.
(502)The forms become always
(503)more and more slender, but the emotions
(504)of the soul are often happily portrayed, until
(505)at length the body rescues its rights,
(506)and at the end of the XVth century the sensual beauty of the pagan
(507)world is matched with the deep
(508)expression of Christian Asketik and
(509)a higher degree of excellence attained
(510)though not in sculpture, but in plastics,
(511)than the ancients
(512)could have imagined. _
(513) With the ancients painting was the
(514)daughter of sculpture, of the coloured
(515)relief, its earliest form in Greece
(516)and Etruria are the Vases. _
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(517)The gracefull (sic) form is known all over the
(518)civilized world, their representations
(519)are an inexhausted mine of antiquarian
(520)knowledge, illustrating the mythology and the
(521)domestic life of the ancients. They are
(522)all either of Hellenic or Etruscan origin, no
(523)Roman painted vases with figures are known
(524)and towards the end of the second century
(525)b.C. the custom of moulding painted
(526)vases subsides altogether. The earliest
(527)of them are fawn coloured, with black,
(528)purple, blue, and white figures in a style
(529)which resembles that of Assyria, they
(530)are all small and found in Etruria, Sicily and Greece.
(531)They were succeded by large vases
(532)with black figures on
(533)red ground,
(534)all in
(535)a very … and often exaggarated style, where the females(?) are painted white.
(536)The next change is that of red figures
(537)on dark ground, likewise found in Etruria
Page 26
(538)but principally in Grecia Magna, where the
(539)blackfigured vases are more scarce. The first
(540)specimens of a highly developed art
(541)are found with this style of vase …-
(542)… and some of them were excavated in
(543)Cumae which was destroyed by the
(544)Campanians 421 b.Ch.
(545)We have here a date for fixing the
(546)period of those vases, it is in the
(547)best specimens contemporarious with
(548)Pericles and Phidias about 440 b.C. In
(549)Athens we find similar vases and also small jar … … ornamented with outlines of figures
(550)on white ground, something similar to our drawings which on a very few specimens
(551)are coloured, in fact they are paintings
(552)in the modern sense of the word.
(553)In Apulia we find the latest period
(554)of vases, of less beautifull (sic) forms,
(555)richer in design, the
(556)figures of a pale yellowish red on black
(557)ground, often adorned by white and purple
Page 27
(558)
(559)It seems that as the
(560)dominion of the Romans extended, who had
(561)abolished the feasts of Bacchus, with
(562)whose worship the vases seem to
(563)have been connected, the custom of
(564)forming them subsided everywhere. They
(565)became entirely obsolete, so much so
(566)that when in the time of Cicero
(567)vases were dug up by chance at Corinth
(568)in the old … of the city, they excited
(569)universal admiration and became the fashion, the vogue
(570)of the day, and were as highly priced as they
(571)are now. In the middle ages thousands
(572)of them were excavated probably in Etruria
(573)as we can infer from the popular name of "Etruscan vases" bestowed on them.
(574)But so entirely was it forgotten
(575)where the vases have been found, that in
(576)the time of Winkelmann and up to the
(577)year 1827 the notion that those vases
(578)could be etruscan was entirely given up.
Page 28
(579)They were called Magna Graecia ware, as it
(580)was exclusively around Naples and Sicily that
(581)such vases were found. But since 1828
(582)many cemeteries and Necropoles were excavated at Tarquini(?), Chinsi(?)
(583)…, … many thousands of vases sold
(584)to the friends of antiquity, and the old name
(585)of Etruscan vases was again restored to them.
(586)They increased the love of the study of archaeology in a
(587)considerable degree. First when they were found
(588)and the market overstocked with them, everybody
(589)thought that they will be depreciated, as the
(590)scarce friends of antiquity in Europe who
(591)collected ancient monuments were not likely
(592)to buy them all, - but, strange to say -
(593)with the supply the demand rose also, without depreciation of the article.
(594) It is
(595)an interesting fact, which deserves
(596)the attention of the political economist
(597)
(598)that works of art and of real merit are not depreciated
(599)by competition, the greater the supply, the greater the demand
Page 29
(600)provided they are really works of art, and not of manufacture
(601)because we feel that they have more
(602)than a temporary transient interest; to buy
(603)them is not to spend, but to invest
(604)money, they are, when bought for their artistic merits and not for their rarity, less subject to fashion
(605)than other articles of adornment, and works
(606)of the highest artistical value do not
(607)depend at all from the different
(608)daily fluctuations of the public mind.
(609)In some respect, it is true, we must allow
(610)that fashion has some influence on the prices,
(611)it was fashion which for the last fifty years depreciated
(612)gems, under the pretence that because
(613)some collectors were cheated, it was impossible
(614)to distinguish the antique engravings from
(615)the modern ones, yet good gems remained on the whole wellpaid, it is fashion which attaches
(616)now considerable value to the old
(617)Sevres China in London and to medieval bronzes in Paris yet it is
(618)not the artistic value of the objects
(619)which induces people to buy them;
Page 30
(620)The representations on Etruscan and Greek
(621)vases give us an idea of the ancient pictures, before
(622)in and shortly after the time of Phidias.
(623)The composition is principally plastic, like
(624)the antique relief, and the artist avoided
(625)too many places(?), or complicated groups.
(626)As air perspective was entirely unknown
(627)so depth was given to the conjunction
(628)and the figures were
(629)often placed above one another, it is
(630)evident that the principal tendency was,
(631)just as in sculpture, to show the
(632)development of the forms of the body
(633)in the most conspicuous and advantagous way, and every
(634)figure was viewed by the painter separately
(635)not in communion with the other figures,
(636)the most important feature on the vase
(637)paintings is the total absence of landscape
Page 31
(638)and the personification of inanimated objects.
(639)For the ancients all
(640)nature was was (sic) peopled by divine agencies,
(641)every hill, every spring, every season, every
(642)part of the day had its peculiar genius
(643)represented in human form. A scene, which
(644)with us would be represented in a landscape,
(645)becomes with the Greek painters
(646)a group, and the Genius of the hill, the
(647)nymph of the spring, the personification of day or night take
(648)part in the action.
(649) No works of the painters celebrated
(650)in antiquity have been preserved to
(651)our time, it is … that … … painting
(652)reached the highest degree
(653)in the time of Alexander, with … and
(654)Protogenes, and soon after began to decline, since
(655)Pliny calls it a dying art.
(656)Yet when in the XVIth century the … of … and in the middle of the
(657)last century the buried cities of
Page 32
(658)Lower Italy Herculaneum, Pompeii, and …
(659)were discovered and many antique paintings
(660)brought to light, it was seen that antique
(661)painting, though entirely different from
(662)modern painting must have had charms
(663)as peculiar as … of antique sculpture. We must always keep it before our mind
(664)that the frescoes of Pom-
(665)peii are nothing more than the adornments
(666)of the walls in the houses of a provincial city, that the
(667)productions are probably the works of
(668)second and thirdrate masters, and even,
(669)that they belong to a period when the
(670)painting, according to the judgement of
(671)ancients themselves, was declining. We cannot judge of the beauty and coloring of the works of P… or … by
(672)the pictures of Pompeii,
(673)but on the other side they give us a
(674)correct idea of the style of antique
(675)composition. We see that the artists
(676)avoid complicated groups, that they delight
(677)in single figures, on a fancy ground, black, blue or red
Page 33
(678)which shows the forms of the body to advantage.
(679)In larger compositions we find sometimes
(680)landscape as background but always very
(681)simple and subordinate to the figures, and each of the figures
(682)is shown distinctly
(683)noone does hide the other. The moulding
(684)of the muscles is often very plastic,
(685)the drapery is always noble and
(686)static(?), the coloring often excellent.
(687)The deficiency in the drawing is of course
(688)to be ascribed to the want
(689)of experience with provincial painters,
(690)but it is evident from their works
(691)that the ancients had no idea of
(692)air perspective, that is to say, of the gradation of
(693)color produced by distance, and even
(694)their lineal perspective is often
(695)very defective. Yet more striking is
(696)the fact, that the effects of the light
Page 34
(697)are not appreciated sufficiently, that is to
(698)say we see very often on ancient paintings
(699)that the light falls on one figure from
(700)one side and light on the other
(701)comes from the opposite side. I do not
(702)know whether this is only a Pompeian
(703)peculiarity, or whether it is a general
(704)deficiency of antique art.
(705) Antique fresco pictures are very rarely to be
(706)met with in collections - there are some
(707)few in the Vatican, found in Rome, and a dozen
(708)in Paris, carried to the Louvre from Naples, when
(709)the greatest collections have been found especially
(710)from Pompeii and …. The picture
(711)here exhibited was likewise found
(712)in Pompeii, it represents Phaedra seated
(713)at an armchair agitated by that
(714)conflict in her mind with which
(715)you are familiar either
(716)from the old authors or at least
Page 35
(717)from Racine or better Rachel. Her nurse
(718)stands close to her. The composition is
(719)noble, the figure of Phaedra is dignified(?), the attitude gracefull (sic)
(720)the head handsome and expressive. The coloring
(721)is admirable, the combination of the different
(722)colors shows a profound understanding
(723)of and feeling for the laws of harmony
(724)but the drawing is defective, especially
(725)in the lower part of the drapery, the
(726)foreshortening is not successfull (sic), and whilst
(727)the head is lighted from the right hand
(728)side, a mass of light is thrown
(729)on the knee from the left.
(730) As to the technic it is painted fresco
(731)but in a very light and thin way, some
(732)parts seem to be finished a tempera,
(733)and we know from Pliny that …
(734)was well acquainted with glazing,
(735)that therefore in the effect of the colors the
(736)ancients were not inferior to the modern painters.
Page 36
(737)The difference is rather to be sought in
(738)the more plastic composition, in the
(739)want of correct knowledge of lineal perspective,
(740)the ignorance of the law of
(741)air perspective entirely natural
(742)where we see that the effects of the
(743)light were but superficially studied.
(744)It is also peculiar
(745)that amongst the many pictures excavated
(746)until now, there has one only been found which
(747)seems to represent
(748)a historical scene, the death of T…,
(749)and even here the features have no individuality whatever,
(750)on a few vases we see likewise historic
(751)persons represented, King Croesus on the burning
(752)pyre in Paris, Archelaeus a magistrate
(753)of Greece superintending the market on another
(754)vase, Sappho and Alcaeus on a third in
(755)Munich. According to the workmanship(?)
Page 37
(756)of those vases they belong all to the
(757)period of the first great … school, yet, we
(758)do not see any individuality in the features
(759)of the persons represented and designated by
(760)name, they are entirely typical ideals. _
(761)Croesus and Alkaeus remind us of the
(762)bearded Bacchus, and Archelaeus of Mercury.
(763)We therefore must come also to
(764)that other conclusion that the battle of
(765)Marathon painted about the same time by Panainos in
(766)the Poikile in Athens, with the figure
(767)of Miltiades, - was probably done in the
(768)same typical and idealized way, and that the portrait of the great General
(769)was not a likeness in
(770)the present sense of the word. Antique painting
(771)was in that respect similar to antique sculpture
(772)when we examine all the faces on
(773)the beautifull (sic) relief of the Parthenon, we
(774)will find that they all have a family likeness,
Page 38
(775)the same type traces(?) through all the
(776)composition. In a painting of Maraccio
(777)or of the Gaddis and … on the contrary,
(778)we see that every face is different from
(779)all the others, has its own individual features.
(780)In art as in politics the ancient world
(781)dealt always only with the masses(?) without
(782)respect of the individuals, whilst
(783)Christian civilization looks more to the
(784)individual, and often goes too far on the
(785)other side, neglecting the wellfare of
(786)the masses
(787)for fear of injuring the vested rights
(788)of some individual. With the nations
(789)of antiquity and their history there is
(790)therefore always a grandeur more admired than understood by modern
(791)times, because history looks only to the masses not to the individuals, and high ……
(792)… …… in their ultimate ………… with the historian, whilst the … of our times seems …… petty and molto(?), because the great masses are expected to
(793)have p… with … which are only slowly(?) removed(?) in order not to interfere
(794)with the wellfare or comforts of individuals or classes. Few but great
(795)… characterize antiquity, many small ones the present times.
Last modified: 2016-03-09 00:39:42
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