The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 3 (of 4): Hegel's Aesthetik — Georg Hegel — John Shaqi
The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 3 (of 4): Hegel's Aesthetik
Georg Hegel · en
all occasions hold fast to such exclusiveness, but, on the one hand,
introduces incidentally much that is of a traditional, scholastic,
or local character as a contribution from its history, while, on the
other, it ministers to vital popular necessities. Active humanity
demands for its diversion variety, and seeks in diverse directions for
a stimulus to its vision and imagination. We may take as an analogous
case the reading aloud of Greek tragedies, which also brings before us
the work of art under its more abstract form. In the wider field of
external existence we have still to add, to make a public performance,
living actors, costume, stage scenery, dancing, and music. And in like
manner, too, the sculptured figure is unable to dispense with much that
is supplementary on its own stage of reality. We are, however, only
concerned here with the genuine work of sculpture as such; external
aspects such as those above adverted to must not be permitted to
prevent us bringing before the mind the notion of our subject-matter in
its most ideal and exclusive sense of definition.
Proceeding now to the more definite _heads of division_ in this
section we may observe that sculpture constitutes the very centre of
the _classical_ type of art to such a degree that we are unable to
accept the symbolical, classical and romantic types as distinctions
which affect throughout and form the basis of our division. Sculpture
is the genuine art of the classical Ideal simply. It is quite true
that sculpture has also its stages in which it is in the grasp of
the _symbolical_ type, as in Egypt for example. But these are rather
preliminary stages of its historical evolution, no genuine distinctions
which essentially affect the art of sculpture when notionally
considered, in so far, that is, as these exceptional examples, in
the manner of their execution and the use that is made of them,
rather belong to architecture than are strictly within the aim and
purpose of sculpture. In a similar way, when we find the _romantic_
type thereby expressed, sculpture passes beyond its rightful sphere,
and only receives with the qualified imitation of Greek sculpture
its exclusively plastic type. We must therefore look about us for a
principle of division of another character.