The stereoscope : $b its history, theory, and construction, with its application to the fine and useful arts and to educationBrewster, David
History
The stereoscope : $b its history, theory, and construction, with its application to the fine and useful arts and to education
Brewster, David
Stereoscope
To the arts of sculpture and architecture, the processes of binocular
photography and stereoscopic combination are particularly applicable.
The landscape painter has every day within his reach examples of the
picturesque, the wild and the sublime in nature. In the fields which
surround him, in the river, or even in the “brook that bubbles by,” on
the shore, on the heath, or on the mountain side, he has the choice of
materials for every department of his art. The sculptor has no such
advantage. Swathed in impenetrable drapery the human figure mocks his
eager eye, and it is only by stolen glances, or during angel visits,
few and far between, that he can see those divine forms which it is his
business to portray. He must therefore quit his home and seek for the
models of ancient and modern art. In the British Museum, in the Louvre,
in the Vatican, and in the repositories of art in Berlin, Munich, and
other European cities, he must spend months and years in the study of
his profession. He must copy, day after day, those master triumphs of
genius which the taste of ages has consecrated, and gather from their
study the true principles of his art. Transferred to his own studio,
these copies will be his instructor and his guide. They will exhibit
to him forms more than human, though human still, embodying all that
is true and beautiful in what might be man. The value of these copies,
however, depends on the skill and care with which they have been taken;
but no labour however great, and no power of drawing however masterly,
can give even an approximate idea either of the outline or round of
solid figures, whether single or in groups. Light and shade can alone
evolve those muscular prominences, or those soft and sphere-like
relievos which give such power and beauty to forms, male and female;
but how can an artist catch and fix those lights and shades which give
relief to the parts which they illuminate or obscure? The light of
the sun, even in a cloudless sky, is ever varying in intensity, and
the breadth and direction of the shadows which he casts are varying
from hour to hour. In a cloudy day, the motion of the clouds, and the
varying reflexions within his apartment, subject the lights and shadows
to constant change. The portions of the drawing executed in the morning
will not harmonize with what is drawn at noon, or during the decline
of day. We consider it, therefore, impossible to execute a drawing of
a statue, or of a group of statues, from which the artist can have
anything like an accurate idea of the forms which compose them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account