Religion and Art in Ancient GreeceGardner, Ernest Arthur
Religion
Religion and Art in Ancient Greece
Gardner, Ernest Arthur
Art and religion -- Greece; Art, Greek; Greece -- Religion; Mythology, Classical, in art
pathos and passion, which is none the less intense and real because it
is expressed by means of the perfection of physical form, not as wasting
or deforming it.
It may be asked how the invisible, mental, or spiritual qualities can be
portrayed in visible form, especially if that visible form be not
overmuch distorted or modified, and in a more general way, how the
expression of a statue, and the impression it produces, can be analysed
or discussed. For examples of the way this can be done, the reader may
be referred once more to Brunn's _Gotteridealen_, a study of a few
selected representations of Greek gods in which the character of each is
brought out by a subtle and discriminating analysis of the visible
forms. Here it may suffice to quote Brunn's own words from the
Introduction to that work: "The spiritual effect produced on us by a
work of sculpture cannot be comprehended as a moral or a metaphysical
peculiarity, completely independent of corporeal phenomena; it can
become intelligible to us only by means of tangible sculptural forms, as
the exponents of spiritual expression." And again: "The spiritual
understanding of ideal artistic creations can only be attained on the
basis of a thorough analysis of their forms"; hence in such a study we
have to do with "no subjective fancies, but an investigation of
objective artistic principles, according to the method of scientific
work."
There are various ways in which spiritual qualities, mood, and character
may be given material expression in harmony with the bodily forms, not
in combat with the flesh. There are, for instance, certain bodily
peculiarities that usually accompany, and therefore suggest by
association, various temperaments or mental qualities; and, moreover,
the actual effect upon the features and bearing of certain emotions or
moods often leaves permanent traces, from which a habitual or repeated
tendency to such emotions or moods can be inferred. That certain types
of face and certain expressions are usually associated with certain
spiritual or mental qualities will hardly be denied; and here the method
of the Greek artist, in observing and working from memory rather than
from a posed model, gave him a great advantage in variety and freedom in
the expression of character no less than in the rendering of bodily
form. If he realised clearly the individuality of his gods, his skill
and mastery over his material and his store of observation gave him a
facility in giving this individuality a visible form which may not be so
obvious at first sight as the individuality of a Florentine or of a
modern head, but which is none the less there for those who have eyes to
see it, and who can accustom themselves to the subtle atmosphere of
ancient art, and to the moderation and restraint which are seldom, if
ever, violated in its most characteristic productions.
CHAPTER IV
ANTHROPOMORPHISM
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