Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 05
History
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 05
Literature -- Collections
From 'Grammar of Painting and Engraving'
Drawing is a work of the mind; every drawing is the expression of a
thought or sentiment, and is charged with showing us something superior
to the apparent truth when that reveals neither sentiment nor thought.
But what is this superior truth? It is sometimes the character of the
object drawn, sometimes the character of the designer, and in high art
is what we call style.
The artist sees in the creations of nature what he himself carries in
the depth of his soul, tints them with the colors of his imagination,
lends them the witchery of his genius. The temperament of the artist
modifies the character of objects, and even that of living figures. But
this power of taking possession is the appanage of great hearts, of
great artists, of those whom we call masters,--who, instead of being the
slaves of reality, dominate it. These have a style; their imitators have
only a manner.
Aside from the style peculiar to every great master, there is in art
something still superior and impersonal, which is style proper. Style is
truth aggrandized, simplified, freed from all insignificant details,
restored to its original essence, its typical aspect. This "style" _par
excellence_, in which instead of recognizing the soul of an artist we
feel the breath of the universal soul, was realized in the Greek
sculpture of the time of Pericles.
THE LAW OF PROPORTION IN ARCHITECTURE
From 'Grammar of Painting and Engraving'
Man, from the fact that he is the only intelligent being in creation,
desires to show his intelligence in his works. In order to do so he
makes them resemble himself in a measure, by impressing upon them the
characteristic of his intelligence, which is logic, and that of his
body, which is proportion. Architecture employs inorganic matter
alone--stone, marble, brick, iron, wood, when the sap has been dried out
of it and it ceases to be an organic substance; and yet, under the hand
of the architect, this inert matter expresses sentiments and feelings.
By subjecting it to the laws of order, symmetry, and proportion, in a
manner which appeals to the eye, he lends them a semblance of life and
an organism conceived after his own image. By this artificial
proportion, inert matter is raised to the dignity of the animal kingdom;
it is rendered eloquent and capable of expressing the soul of the
artist, and often that of a race.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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