THE STATUES IN THE MUSEUM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5364, 25 January 1879, Page 6

THE STATUES IN THE MUSEUM.

"-*•?[ • [t has beeu very justly said that the Greek" i"*".;?! v luccccd in cotnbiuing in the most perfee l • { Yianner in this art ideality with realitj*, that •» an elevation more than human, with all •I'll::. :hetruth of life and all the energy oT bodily •7qualities. The Greeks wero never. vu'gar or commonplace. Whatever tbe subj ct was, *'H : . ; the taste and of the Hues was I e same as are to be seen in the statues of a •' ■■■'.'■ mblimer kind. These observations bring to i my recollection a piece of sculpture iu tho : !.j> t Vatican ; it represents a man killing a p»g. 1 m;i never saw a more matter-of-fact piece of art. but so far from being commonplace, there appeared to me to be a poetic f eling about t- and as a work of art it was about tqinl !§•'•}* to the Dying Gladiator and the Dancing 4 b l YD. The Venus de Medicis is now at Florence. • if*:.- !■ Ihe softuesa of the flesh, tho delic»cy of 1 3hape, air, aud posture, and the correctness of design in this btatue are inexpressible. It looks less than life. Addison says this is •wi-c not the case. He measured the wiist, aud round it as large as that of an ortinaiy- ?.•: jf-sized womau. 1 pay but little att ntion to the names of the ariUfci who arc supposed to have sculptured these statue*. 1 quote i: It: ironi Addison :— M 1 have several reasons to bolieve that the iiame of the sculptor on the pedestal is not so ohlas the statues." t - • Ihis figure of Venus put me in mind of a •3peceh she makes in on ; of the Gnek cpi--i'jV.v ?rams. The translation is something like i ■ this :— 'I have appeared to Anrh'ses, and Adonis, too : All thtse 1 frankly own, with -ut denying ; ' : i i But where has ihu I'nxitelo* been prying ? . " From this it may be supposed that Praxiteles •. ?• . was the sculptor. I:i Kvelyn's diary, a. l>. .' -IG4I, it seems that the Venus was in the < - SMedicean Palace at Konw. It does not ap- - from his journal ti at o'd Kvelyn was ? r:\nything great as cn art critic. He was not »: ar %vrong, however, when he s.iy; s , <l The « -. Venus is withouc parallel, being the master- .. . aiece of him whose uamc you see graven i-der it iu old Greek characters. £o- :•••: :hing in sculpture ever approaclied this □> racle of art." Some pt-rsjns say hat there is not enough expre.*sio:fi in j ho face of the Veuus. Perhaps they •- -' iiay, in some degree, be right. It is lossible that the head may have been re- • ; itored in part, if not entirely. I think Mr. ••i;-. kuskin is of opinion that the Greeks are not v .=!!:? ?qual to the Christiau artists in the matter 3f expression. This is a question of opinion. Lho most beautiful thing, as to exprc-siou, 1 sver saw was a of a female lireek »tatue at Nip es. For the m-st part, all ; • hat tbe ancient sculptors could do, not- ' withstanding their enthusiastic endeavours j j fC io raise the characters of til ir dvi:ies to • aspects of sagacity above human, featuies of I The Jupiter, in ■*r|?i|>}>ur Museum, is carried somewhat higii« r, by , ng it a little more severity than the VpDllo, by a larger promin ncy of brow ently bending in seeming thoughifulness, > * s i with an amp'e beard, which being jirjfi'.'added to the noble quantity of its other j-- 7 * - :? lines, invests this capital piece of sculpture •;/. h >vith uncommon diguity, which, iu the j cf a profound connoisseur, is ity led "a diviu-- idea, inconceivably great, > i md above .Nature." Goethe, the greatest .:<-!? poet and writer since the time of S:iakeipeare, in his autobiography, tells us when at Rome, "I could not resist the temptaon to procure a cast of the head of 'upiter. \ l[t stands right opposi'e to my bed, in a ood light, iu order that I may address my ; vmorning devotion* towards it." The statue iirti -.of Diana is vtry fiue. In Kvelyn's diary, in us account of the Villa Borgh. si, he says, Here is the reuowned Diana, which L ompey worship, cd." lb is unfortunate that the busts are obliged, for want of room, I suppose, to be in their present position. Th -y may > tiS.-Jrnament the building, but to the art t l lent th-.'y are useless. There are some .>e utifu! heads amongst them, which w.»uld j of more use to the young student than IjilU'ihe larger statues. Thtre wa-i no other thau the Museum in which to * Mr Unssc-ll's f-plendid gift, but the statues s h L:au never be properly se>n where jjishey are now. It is to be hoped that : ! Jjefore long a pr-pt-r home will be built r.'or these beautiful examples of Gr< ek art, il t that additions will be made to their ? r/iuuiber. It would be well to have some of M Angela's grand works, such a 5 the NLht ?- < j rXind Morning on the tomb of Lorenzo. They* i e of about the same proportion and of the '» »i!iiiame character as the large Elgin Marbles. \\ l have tbe statue of Theseus in our Museum, but it is now impossible to s*e its m* j.foeauties, for waut of space In Pagers iUOSi: 1 ' Italy J ' will be found some of the finest dnes ever writ'eu. Tbe writer of this notice l seen and f-lt in the Lorenzo Chapel all it| : Mr. Kuskm describts — Nor then foreet the liaraber of the d<*ad, < i # Where the shapes of Night and Day, 1 y\a Turned inio all ue, re-»t cvrliwuugly, c i "i. ot still are breuihiu.'. aud slitd sround at noon "<{' A two-fold influence,—ooly to be felt — r A light, a darkut:s*, rnin bng with ea h, Both, acd neithnr, ther- from to a^e • Two ghosti arc »iiting on their sepulchre-. i l"hat i? ihe Duk-; I orer.zo, iuarK him ffo 1 ! i n'.i He meditaus, his bnn! upon bis hand. >> hat, from Leneaihbis bel:n-like honaet scowls f Is ii a face, or Mi: ar< 3'«ull ? I 'Ti3 lost in shade; yet, like the basilisk, i. It fascicates. *nQ is intolrrable. His mien is noble, moat majestica 1 , -£> Then most so, wbm ilirtaut choir is heard At ncoo or eve,- n«>r f*:l ih-»u to atte id i r. i i-s On that thrice-hUlfrwi d day, nh»n all a» e there, ' M hen all, prGpiti-fciii.g tv h solemn s..ni;4, i \ iiit the dead, then wi.t ihou fed his power. !t: , ; 3 TheGieek sculpture known to us may be a iaed to five principal schools:—l. That f Archaic art. '2. That of the Age of !Transition. 3 That of Phiilias (40-i uc), which produced the highest development, or he School of 4. That of the tirst lecline, from the end of the Peloponnesian - \\ ar to the early pare of the second century or the School of Action. 5. 'Jhatof complete decline, extencliug to the Poman period. With the fall of Greek iberty an inferior school arose, which ?'j>.ystrove rather to please ihau to be truthful. H.he works of Phidias and his school are * "jaassive, bold, and broad, Bht-B"ing a conH;; ;??:ciousnes3 of power and love of truth, ' s jvitliout any attempt to produce pleasing '<* beyond what a correct representation | lyTould afford. | nS Mr. Russell's gift will, no doubt, give a 'H&jfiesire for art culture hitherto unknown in jfAuckland. Lord Bulwer says (writing 'Ibout art): —"The influence, too, upon a i-x sijjerson's mind aDd taste created by constant habitual view of the monuments of the rriffinly imperishable art which resorts to jtf/.physical material, is unspeakable. Looking ; fpoa the Greek marble, we become acl '.![uamted, almost insensibly, with tho Character of Greek life and literature,'' &c. ■fln one of the late newspaper*, X was glad : 4 ifo see that the subject of drawing from the ' f. landraped figures was lectured on at a meet■ag of the art section of tbe Social Science , s ongress. That distinguished promoter of ' £_rfc Mr. P. Eathbone, of Liverpool, read a 't'SiSaper on the moral and leathetical aspects of - j'sahe ondraped figures, in which he eloquently thai man, inclusive of woman, made in the Divine image, and to ob ject ; I ji-o the crowning work of the creation as not ■ -H.-f.-t for representation, was to accuse the . «fereator of indecency; that beauty and aor ility are naturally allied as are prudishtjjess and pruriency; thnt the ideal human f.t orm is the standard of a'l beauty of form iijii (nd proportion. Therefore, both artists and - {JlUublic should be accustomed to see it, and, ;|Buonßequently, it is necessary for the future ' £ English art and English morality that the tide, when represented by thoroughly rained and pure-minded artists, should s "ibava a place in our galleries. A Lovf.r of Art. £ :