DILET'TANT, a term wholly natu ralized in France, England, and Germa ny ; signifying an amateur, chiefly of music, but also of the kindred sciences. The dilettant is one who treats Art em pirically, a lover of art who is not satis• fied with looking and enjoying, but nntst needs criticize without the necessary qual ifications for so important a function. The dilettant holds the same relation to the artist, that the bungler dues to the artisan, he takes hold of art by the amok end ; conscious that art is learned accord ing to rules, he errs in treating its laws as mechanical when they are spiritual. Ile confounds art with material ; he re gards neatness and finish, which are me chanical, as the highest excellences. In vent-ion, composition, coloring, being spir itual, are invisible to him. Having no confidence in the application of his rules, he applies them empirically, and follows, as nearly as he can, the direction of pop ular taste. While the aim and endeavor of the artist is the highest in art, the di lettant has no aim : he sees only what is beside him—nothing beyond. Many di
lettante are collectors ; they are fond, if possessed of the means, of raking togeth er, their object being to possess, not to choose with understanding, and be con tent with a few good things. The dilet tants do great injury to artists, by foster ing the mechanical, rather than the spir itual, in art, and by bringing them down to their own level. Yet, on the other hand, dilettantism has its advantages ; it prevents an entire want of cultivation, and as it is in some sort a necessary con sequence of a general extension of art, it may even be the cause of it. Under cer tain circumstances it may excite and de velop a true artistic talent, and substitute a certain idea of art, in place of entire ignorance, and extend it to where the ar tist would not be able to reach ; though few artists can be connoisseurs, many are dilettante.