The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 3 (of 4): Hegel's Aesthetik
Georg Hegel · en
There is not a marked line of distinction here between the masculine
and feminine character, for the more youthful figures of Bacchus and
Apollo frequently are fined out to the point of feminine delicacy and
softness, nay, we even find representations of Hercules in which there
is so much the appearance of a young woman's form that critics have
confused him with Iole, his sweetheart. And it is not merely this point
of transition but even the combination of the male and female figure,
which the ancients have expressly represented in their hermaphrodites.
(_γ_) _Thirdly_, and in conclusion, there is the question as to the
main distinctions which the figure of sculpture receives in order
that it may be classed within one of the specific divisions of
subject-matter which constitute the content of the ideal outlook on the
world appropriate to this art.
The organic forms which sculpture can utilize generally in its plastic
effort are on the one hand the forms of humanity, on the other those
of _animal_ life. In respect to the animal forms we have already seen
that in the case of the more severe type of the art at its culminating
perfection they will only be found as attributes associated with
the divine form, as when we find a hind with the hunting Diana, or
Zeus with an eagle. And the same thing may be said of the panther,
griffin, and similar figures. Apart from the genuine attributes animal
forms are, however, accepted partly in combination with human shapes,
and in part entirely by themselves. The extent, however, of such
representations is of a limited character. Apart from figures of the
roebuck it is above all the horse whose beauty and fiery animation
obtains a recognition in plastic art, whether it be in union with
the human form, or in its own free and independent shape. In fact,
we find that the horse stands generally in a close relation to the
courage, bravery, and dexterity of human heroism and heroic beauty,
whereas other animals, such as the lion, which Hercules overcomes,
and the wild boar, which Meleager kills, are objects of heroic deeds
themselves, and consequently are entitled to a place within the circle
of representation, when such are expanded in groups and reliefs where a
freer field is admissible for situations of movement and action.
The _human_ figure on its part, in so far as it is conceived in form
and expression as pure Ideal, supplies the adequate form for the
divine, which, being still in union with the sensuous material, is not
capable of being concentrated in the simple unity of _one_ God, and can
merely embrace a _collective_ whole of divine figures. And similarly,
to put the matter conversely, the human, whether we regard it according
to its form or its expression, cannot pass out of the province of human
individuality, albeit the same is at one time brought into intimacy and
union with the divine, and at another with the animal nature.