Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning/Chapter 6
CHAP. VI.
Of Ancient and Modern Architecture, Statuary, and Painting.
HItherto the Moderns seem to have had very little Reason to boast of their Acquisitions, and Improvements; Let us see now what they may have hereafter. In those Arts, sure, if in any, they may challenge the Preference, which depending upon great Numbers of Experiments and Observations, which do not every Day occurr, cannot be supposed to be brought to Perfection in a few Ages. Among such, doubtless, Architecture, Sculpture and Painting may, and ought here to be reckoned; both because they were extreamly valued by the Ancients, and do still keep up their just Price. They are likewise very properly taken notice of in this Place, because they have always been the Entertainments of Ingenious and Learned Men, whose Circumstances would give them Opportunity to lay out Money upon them, or to please themselves with other Men's Labours. In these Things, if we may take Men's Judgments in their own Professions, the Ancients have far out-done the Moderns. The Italians, whose Performances have been the most considerable in this kind, and who, as Genuine Successors of the Old Romans, are not apt to undervalue what they do themselves, have, for the most part, given the uncontested Pre-eminence to the Ancient Greek Architects, Painters and Sculptors. Whose Authority we ought the rather to acquiesce in, because Michael-Angelo and Bernini, two wonderful Masters, and not a little jealous of their Honour, did always ingenuously declare, that their best Pieces were exceeded by some of the ancient Statues still to be seen at Rome.
Here therefore I at first intended to have left off; and I thought my self obliged to resign what I believed could not be maintained, when Monsieur Perrault's Parallel of the Ancients and Moderns came to my Hands. His Skill in Architecture and Mechanicks was sufficiently manifested long ago, in his admirable Translation of, and Commentaries upon Vitruvius: And his long Conversation with the finest Pieces of Antiquity, and of these Later Ages, fitted him for judging of these Matters better than other Men. So that, though there might be great Reason not to agree to his Hypothesis of the State of Ancient and Modern Eloquence and Poesie; yet in Things of this Nature, where the Mediums of Judging are quite different, and where Geometrical Rules of Proportion, which in their own Nature are unalterable, go very far to determine the Question, his Judgment seemed to be of great weight. I shall therefore chuse rather to give a short View of what he says upon these Subjects, than to pass any Censure upon them of my own.
Pag. 88.Of Architecture he says, "That though the Moderns have received the Knowledge * of the Five Orders from the Ancients, yet if they employ it to better Purposes, if their Buildings be more useful, and more beautiful, then they must be allowed to be the better Architects: For it is in Architecture, as it is in Oratory; as he that lays down Rules, when and how to use Metaphors, Hyperbole's, Prosopopoeia's, or any other Figures of Rhetorick, may very often not be so good an Orator as he that uses them judiciously in his Discourses: So he that teaches what a Pillar, an Architrave or a Cornice is, and that instructs another in the Rules of Proportion, so as to adjust all the Parts of each of the several Orders aright, may not be so good an Architect as he that builds a magnificent Temple, or a noble Palace, that shall answer all those Ends for which such Structures are designed. That the chief Reason why the Doric, the Ionic, or the Corinthian Models have pleased so much, is, partly because the Eye has been long accustomed to them, and partly because they have been made use of by Men who understood and followed those other Rules which will eternally please, upon the Score of real Usefulness; whereas the Five Orders owe their Authority to Custom, rather than to Nature. That these Universal Rules are; Pag. 95.To make those Buildings which will bear it, lofty and wide: In Stone-work, to use the largest, the smoothest, and the evenest Stones: To make the Joints almost imperceptible: To place the perpendicular Parts of the Work exactly Perpendicular, and the Horizontal Parts exactly Horizontal: To support the weak Parts of the Work by the strong: to cut Square Figures perfectly Square, and Round Figures perfectly Round: To hew the whole exactly true; and to fix all the Corners of the Work evenly, as they ought to be. That these Rules, well observed, will always please even those who never understood one single Term of Art: Whereas the other accidental Beauties, such as he supposes Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian Work to be, please, only because they are found together with these, though their being the most conspicuous Parts of a Building made them be first observed: From whence Men began to fansie Inherent Beauties in that, which owes the greatest part of its Charms to the good Company in which it is taken notice of, and so in time delighted, when it was seen alone. Pag. 97, 99That otherwise it would be impossible that there should be so great a Variety in the Assigning of the Proportions of the several Orders; no two eminent Architects ever keeping to the same Measure, though they have neither spoiled nor lessened the Beauty of their Works. That if we go to Particulars, we shall not find (for the purpose) in the Pantheon at Rome, which is the most regular, and the most magnificent ancient Building now extant, two Pillars of a like thickness. (a) Bandeaux de la voute du Temple Pag. 111. Pag. 113.That (a) the Girders of the arched Roof do not lie full upon the great Columns or Pilasters; but some quite over the Cavities of the Windows which are underneath; others half over the Windows, and half upon the Columns or Pilasters. Pag. 114.That the Modillons of the Cornice are not exactly over the Middle of the Chapiters of the Pillars. That in the Fronts of the Piazza's, the Number of the Modillons in Sides of equal length is not alike: With several Instances of Negligence, which would now be thought unpardonable. That, generally speaking, in other Buildings, their Floors were twice as thick as their Walls; which loaded them exceedingly, to no purpose. Pag. 115.That their Way of Laying Stones in Lozenges was inconvenient as well as troublesome, since every Stone so placed was a Wedge to force those asunder on which it leaned. Pag. 117.That they did not understand the nicest Thing in Architecture, which is, the Art of Cutting Stones in such a manner, as that several Pieces might be jointed one into another; for want of which, they made their Vaults of Brick plaster'd over; and their Architraves of Wood, or of one single Stone; which obliged them to set their Pillars closer to one another than otherwise had been necessary: Whereas, by this Art of Cutting Stone, Arches have been made almost flat; Stair-Cases of a vast heighth have been raised, where the Spectator is at a loss to tell what supports them; whilst the Stones are jointed into each other in such a manner, that they mutually bear up themselves, without any Rest but the Wall, into which the innermost Stones are fastned. Pag. 118.That they had not Engines to raise their Stones to any considerable heighth; but if the Work was low, they carried them upon their Shoulders; if high, they raised sloping Mounts of Earth level with their Work, by which they rolled up their Stones to what heighth they pleased: For, as for the Engines for Raising of Stones in Vitruvius, those who understand Mechanicks are agreed, that they can never be very serviceable. That it is not the Largeness of a Building, but the well executing of a Noble Design, which commends an Architect; otherwise the Egyptian Pyramids, as they are the greatest, would also be the finest Structures in the World. And last of all, Pag. 119, 120.That the French King's Palace at Versailles, and the Frontispiece of the Louvre, discover more true Skill in Architecture of all sorts, than any thing which the Ancients ever performed, if we may judge of what is lost, by what remains."
What Monsieur Perrault says of the Ancients Way of Raising their Stone, may be confirmed by the Accounts which Garsilasso de la Vega, and others, give of the vast Buildings of massy Stone which the Spaniards found in Peru, upon their first Arrival. It is most certain that the Peruans knew not the Use of Iron; and by consequence, could make no Engines very serviceable for such a purpose. They ground their Stones one against another, to smooth them; and afterwards they raised them with Leavers: And thus, with Multitude of Hands they reared such Structures as appeared wonderful, even to Men acquainted with Modern Architecture.
Pag. 121.Of Sculpture he says; 'That we are to distinguish between entire Statues, and Basso Relievo's; and in entire Statues, between naked and cloathed Pieces. The naked Images of the Ancients, as Hercules, Apollo, Diana, the Gladiators, the Wrestlers, Bacchus, Laocoon, and some few more, are truly admirable: Pag. 125.They shew something extreamly noble, which one wants Words for, that is not to be found in Modern Work: Though he cannot tell whether Age does not contribute to the Beauty. That if some of the most excellent of the Modern Pieces should be preserved 1500 or 2000 Years, or ting'd with some Chymical Water, that could in a short time make them appear Antique, it is probable they would be viewed with the same Veneration which is now payed to Ancient Statues. Pag. 129.That the naked Sculpture of single Figures is a very noble Art indeed, but the simplest of any that has ever charmed Mankind; not being burthen'd with a Multiplicity of Rules, nor needing the Knowledge of any other Art to compleat it; since a Man that has a Genius, and Application, wants only a beautiful Model in a proper Posture, which he is faithfully to copy: Pag. 121.And therefore, That in the Cloathed Statues of the Ancients, the Drapery wants much of that Art which is discernable in some Modern Pieces; they could never make the Clothes sit loose to the Bodies, nor manage the Folds so as to appear easie and flowing, like well-made Garments upon living Bodies. Pag. 129.That the Basso Relievo's of the Ancients plainly show, that the Statuaries in those Days did not understand all the Precepts that are necessary to compleat their Art; because they never observed the Rules of Perspective, they did not lessen their Figures gradually, to make them suitable to the Place where they stood, but set them almost all upon the same Line; so that those behind were as large, and as distinguishable, as those before; as if they had been purposely mounted upon Steps, to be seen over one another's Heads. Pag. 130.That this is visible in the Columna Trajana at this Day, though that is the noblest ancient Performance in Basso Relievo still remaining; wherein, together with some very beautiful Pag. 132.Airs of some of the Heads, and some very happy Postures, one may discern that there is scarce any Art in the Composition of the whole, no lessening of the Relievo in any part, with great Ignorance in Perspective in the whole. Pag. 133.That the ancient Works in Basso Relievo did not truly deserve that Name, being properly entire Statues, either sawed down perpendicularly, from Head to Foot, with the fore-part fastned, or glued to a flat Ground, or sunk half way in: Pag. 134.Whereas the true Art consists in raising the Figures so from their Ground, which is of the same Piece, that with two or three Inches of Relievo, they may appear like distinct Images rising out of the Ground, some more, some less, according to the several Distances in which they ought to be placed.'
Pag. 143.Of Painting, he says; 'That three Things are necessary to make a perfect Picture; To represent the Figures truly; To express the Passions naturally; and, To put the whole judiciously together. For the First, It is necessary that all the Out-Lines be justly drawn, and that every Part be properly coloured. For the Second, It is necessary that the Painter should hit the different Airs and Characters of the Face, with all the Postures of the Figures, so as to express what they do, and what they think. The whole is judiciously put together, when every several Figure is set in the Place in which we see it, for a particular Purpose; and the Colouring gradually weakned, so as to suit that part of the Plain in which every Figure appears. All which is as applicable to the several Parts of a Picture that has but one Figure, as to the several Figures in a Picture that has more. Pag. 135.That if we judge of Ancient and Modern Paintings by this Rule, we may divide them into three Classes: The First takes in the Age of Zeuxis, Apelles, Timanthes, and the rest that are so much admired in Antiquity. The Second takes in the Age of Raphael, Titian, Paul Veronese, and those other great Masters that flourished in Italy in the last Age. The Third contains the Painters of our own Age; such as Poussin, Le Brun, and the like. That if we may judge of the Worth of the Painters of the First Classe by the Commendations which have been given them, we have Reason to say, either that their Admirers did not understand Painting well, or that themselves were not so valuable, or both. Pag. 136.That whereas Zeuxis is said to have painted a Bunch of Grapes so naturally, that the Birds pecked at them; Cooks have, of late Years, reached at Partridges and Capons, painted in Kitchins; which has made By-standers smile, without raising the Painter's Reputation to any great heighth. Pag. 139.That the Contention between Protogenes and Apelles shewed the Infancy of their Art: Apelles was wonderfully applauded for drawing a very fine Stroke upon a Table: Protogenes drew a Second over that, in a different Colour; which Apelles split into two, by a Third. Pag. 141.Yet this was not so much as what Giotto did, who lived in the Beginning of the Restoration of Painting in Italy; who drew, without Compasses, with a single Stroke of a Pencil, upon a Board, an O, so exquisitely round, that it is still proverbial among the Italians, when they would describe a Man that is egregiously stupid, to say, That he is as round as the O of Giotto. That when Poussin's Hand shook so much, that he could scarce manage his Pencil, he painted some Pieces of inestimable Value; and yet very indifferent Painters would have divided every Line that he drew, into nine or ten Parts. Pag. 142.That the Chineses, who cannot yet express Life and Passion in their Pieces, will draw the Hairs of the Face and Beard so fine, that one may part them with the Eye from one another, and tell them. Pag. 150.Though the Ancients went much beyond all this; for the Remains of the ancient Painting discover great Skill in Designing, great Judgment in Ordering of the Postures, much Nobleness and Majesty in the Airs of the Heads; but little Art, at the same time, in the Mixing of their Colours, and none at all in the Perspective, or the Placing of the Figures. That their Colouring is all equally strong; nothing comes forward, nothing falls back in their Pictures; the Figures are almost. all upon a Line: So that their Paintings appear like Pieces in Basso Relievo, coloured; all dry and unmoveable, without Union, without Connexion, and that living Softness which distinguishes Pictures from Statues in Marble or Copper. Wherefore, since the Paintings of these Ancient Masters were justly designed, and the Passions of every several Figure naturally expressed, which are the Things that the Generality of Judges most admire, who cannot discern those Beauties that result from a judicious Composition of the whole, so well as they can the distinct Beauties of the several Parts, there is no Wonder that Zeuxis and Apelles, and the other Ancient Masters, were so famous, and so well rewarded. For, of the three Things at first assigned, as necessary to a perfect Painter, true Drawing, with proper Colouring, affect the Senses; natural Expressing of the Motions of the Soul move the Passions; Pag. 146.whereas a Judicious Composition of the whole, which is discernable in an Artful Distribution of Lights and Shades, in the gradual Lessening of Figures, according to their respective Places, in making every Figure answer to that particular Purpose which it is intended to represent, affects the Understanding only; and so, instead of Charming, will rather disgust an unskilful Spectator. Pag. 147.Such a Man, and under this Head almost all Mankind may be comprehended, will contentedly forgive the grossest Faults in Perspective, if the Figures are but very prominent, and the View not darkned by too much Shade; which, in their Opinion, spoils all Faces, especially of Friends, whose Images chiefly such Men are desirous to see.'
When he compares the Paintings of Raphael and Le Brun together, he observes, Pag. 159.'That Raphael seems to have had the greater Genius of the two; that there is something so Noble in his Postures, and the Airs of his Heads; something so just in his Designs, so perfect in the Mixture of his Colours, that his St. Michael will always be thought the first Picture in the World, unless his H. Family should dispute Precedency with it. Pag. 160.In short, he says, That if we consider the Persons of Raphael and Le Brun, Raphael perhaps may be the greater Man: But if we consider the Art, as a Collection of Rules, all necessary to be observed to make it perfect, it appears much more compleat in Monsieur Le Brun's Pieces: For Raphael understood so little of the gradual Lessening of Light, and Weakning of Colours, which is caused by the Interposition of the Air, that the hindmost Figures in his Pieces appear almost as plain as the foremost; and the Leaves of distant Trees, almost as visible as of those near at hand; and the Windows of a Building four Leagues off may all be counted as easily as of one that is within twenty Paces. Nay, he cannot tell whether some part of that Beauty, now so peculiar to Raphael's Pieces, may not, in a great Measure, be owing to Time, which adds a real Beauty to good Paintings. For, in Works of this kind, as in New-killed Meat, or New-gathered Fruit, there is a Rawness and Sharpness, which Time alone concocts and sweetens, by mortifying that which has too much Life, by weakning that which is too strong, and by mixing the Extremities of every Colour entirely into one another. Pag. 161.So that no Man can tell what will be the Beauty of Le Brun's Family of Darius, Alexander's Triumph, the Defeat of Porus, and some other Pieces of equal Force, when Time shall have done her Work, and shall have added those Graces which are now so remarkable in the St. Michael, and the H. Family. One may already observe, that Monsieur Le Brun's Pieces begin to soften; and that Time has, in part, added those Graces which it alone can give, by sweetning what was left on purpose, by the judicious Painter, to amuse its Activity, and to keep it from the Substance of the Work'. Thus far Monsieur Perrault.
Whether his Reasonings are just, I dare not determine: Thus much may very probably be inferred, That in these Things also the World does not decay so fast as Sir William Temple believes; and that Poussin, Le Brun and Bernini have made it evident by their Performances in Painting and Statuary, (h) Pag. 52.(h) That we have had Masters in both these Arts, who have deserved a Rank with those that flourished in the last Age, after they were again restored to these Parts of the World.