"Another circumstance, that tends to prejudice me in favour of their colouring, is the account we have of some of their principal painters using but four colours only. I am convinced, the fewer the cleaner will be the effect of those colours ; and that four is sufficient to make every combination required : two colours, mixed together, will not preserve the brightness of either of them single ; nor will three be as bright as two. Of this observation, simple as it is, an artist, who wishes to colour bright, will know the value. In regard to their power of giving peculiar expression, no correct judg ment can be formed ; but we cannot well suppose, that men, who were capable of giving that general grandeur of character, which so eminently distinguishes their works in sculpture, were incapable of expressing pecu liar passions. What they appear to have most failed in, is composition, both in regard to the grouping of their figures, and the art of disposing of the light and shadow in masses. It is apparent that this, which makes so considerable a part of modern art, was to them totally unknown. If the great painters had possessed this ex cellence, some portion of it would have infallibly been diffused, and have been discoverable in the works of the inferior ranks of artists, such as those works which have come down to us, and which may be considered as on the same rank with the paintings that ornament our public gardens. Supposing our modern pictures of this rank only were preserved, for the inspection of con noisseurs two thousand years hence, the general prin ciples of composition would be still discoverable in those pictures : However feebly executed, there would be seen an attempt to an union of the figure with its ground ; some idea of disposing both the figures and the lights in groups. Now, as nothing of this appears in what we have of ancient painting, we may conclude that this part of the art was totally neglected, or more probably unknown. They might, however, have produced single figures, which approached perfection, both in drawing and colouring ; they might excel in solo, (in the lan guage of musicians,) though they were probably incapa ble of composing a full piece for a concert of different instruments."—Reynolds's .Votes upon Fresnoy, note 37.
v. 350. See PAINTING.
The causes of this remarkable pre-eminence, to which the ancients attained in the fine arts, particularly in sculpture, statuary, architecture, and engraving, form an interesting object of speculation. One obvious ad vantage of the antique imitation of the human form, arose from the frequent opportunities which the artists enjoyed, of viewing nature either entirely uncovered, or veiled only with light and graceful cloathing. At the gymnasia, or public places, where the youths performed the various feats of running, wrestling, boxing and leap ing, quite naked, they had an opportunity of studying the finest examples of the natural and graceful play of the muscles ; and had exhibited before them every variety of posture and attitude, with a dignity and ex pression that can never be imitated by those mercenary models, that sell their ignoble nakedness to the artists in our modern academies. It has been asserted, that even the modest women of those days considered them selves as honoured, by being allowed to sit as models for a goddess ; and, if report may be credited, not less than 400 young women, of the first rank and beauty, stood to the sculptor who executed the Venus de Me dicis. Another essential advantage, which antiques possess over modern productions, is, that they are in general works of much longer time. Among the an cients, it was thought a great deal for one sculptor to have executed four or five statues in the course of his life ; hence the high finish of the most celebrated mar files of antiquity, which bears the minutest inspection, and the trial of every different light. It. was likewise no small advantage to possess an unoccupied field, in which the exertions of genius were unfettered, and free from the reproach of imitation. A modern artist labours under the disadvantage of a comparison with the fine models of antiquity, which, while he despairs of sur passing, he is compelled, by the tyranny of taste, in some measure to copy. Nothing can more cruelly damp the ardour of invention, or check the generous emula tion to excel.
We ought not, however, to allow our admiration of the antique to transport us too far ; or to blind us to the faults which appear even in the statues of Greece and Rome, while we refuse a just tribute of applause to the exertions of our most esteemed modern artists. There
is undoubtedly the greatest dignity and beauty in many specimens of the antique, which we possess ; but some times this is obtained at the expense of animation, and just expression. " The ancient sculptors," says sir Joshua Reynolds, "neglected to animate the features, even with the general expression of the passions. Of this, the group of the boxers is a remarkable instance ; they are engaged in the most animated action with the greatest serenity of countenance. This frequent defi ciency, in ancient sculpture, could proceed from nothing but a habit of inattention to what was considered as comparatively immaterial." It is said, that Michael An gelo, desirous of exposing the undue predilection in which the classical antique was held in his time, formed with great care a statue of Cupid, which he buried in a spot where he was sure it would be found, after having broken off one of its arms. The Cupid having been dug up, all the world pronounced it to be an antique, and resounded with its praises ; till the modern artist hav ing produced the arm, which fitted exactly to the de fective trunk, the connoisseurs were compelled, how ever reluctantly, to acknowledge their blunder. The anecdote, whether true or false, is instructive ; and ought to be always present in the recollection of our modern cognoscenti, who are so apt to give way to un due raptures on the sight of an ancient gem or medal.
An intimate acquaintance with ancient sculpture, sta tuary, engraving, &c., implies something more than a skilful discrimination between what is truly beautiful and classical, and what is fantastic or deformed. It im plies, also, a knowledge of the different styles of the artists ; the manners of the various ages ; and the dif ferent kinds of materials on which the various arts have been practised, whether wood, clay, ivory, precious stones, marble, flint, or metal. The various peculiar metallic compositions are objects of antiquarian as well as of philosophical research ; and to distinguish ge nuine bronze, orichalcum, or Corinthian brass, from the counterfeits which modern ingenuity sometimes imposes upon the public ; or to ascertain the true xrugo, which the lapse of centuries collects upon the surface of a Greek or Roman medal ; confers no less honour upon the connoisseur, than to point out the delicate traits by which an ancient Venus is distinguished from the igno ble imitation of a modern artist. The study of the an tique has served to prove, that the ancients had attained to a wonderful skill in the arts of metallurgy, pottery, engraving, founding, moulding, &cc. ; and in many res pects seem rather to have excelled than to have fallen short of the most ingenious productions of the modern work-shop. It was said by the late Mr Wcdgewood, who was doubtless the most skilful manufacturer of porcelain of our own times, that the famous Barberini vase, afforded evidence of an art of pottery among the ancients, of which we are as yet ignorant even of the rudiments.
The study of classical antiquities, while it improves and matures the taste, throws very material light upon many curious particulars respecting ancient manners and ancient history. In the statues of Greece and Rome, we have the costume and drapery of these countries exactly represented ; and, in a cronological series of me dals, we can trace the variations of fashion with con siderable accuracy ; while we have exact representa tions of many ancient monuments, warlike weapons, instruments of sacrifice, and domestic implements, with the forms of which we could never otherwise have been acquainted. By the same means, the dates of many re markable transactions in history are fixed with the most satisfactory precision. See MEDALS.
It remains to mention some of the most celebrated works on antiquities. Eusebius has preserved some fragments of the Ph.vnician Antiquities of Sanconiathon ; of which we have an English translation by bishop Cum berland ; with notes, 8cc. Lond. 1720. Of the Chaldaic Antiquities of Berosus, some fragments have been col lected by Joseph Scaliger and Fabricius. Annius of Viterbo, a Dominican monk, forged a Berosus, which he published in 1498 ; and afterwards produced the Egyptian Antiquities of Manitho. Dionysius Halicar nassus traced the Roman Antiquities, and Josephus the Jewish. The Greek Antiquities have been ably given by Gronovius, and since by Potter and Harwood. The Roman, by Grzvius, Hoepfner, Heineccius, Cantclius, Basil, Kennet, &cc. &cc. (in)