A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, ArchitectureWaters, Clara Erskine Clement
History
A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture
Waters, Clara Erskine Clement
Art -- History
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.
[Illustration: 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).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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