picture above cited is a remarkable instance. The visionary spectres in the back ground are wild and fantastic in their forms, as such fictitious beings might naturally be supposed to appear; but the mixture of horror and frenzy in the witch, of awe and anxiety in the monarch, and of terror and astonishment in the soldiers, are expressed, both in their countenances and gestures, with all the truth and nice discrimination of nature; and with all the dignity and elevation of poetry. The general effect of the whole, too, is extremely grand and imposing; and it is this general effect that pre-engages the attention, and thus disposes the mind to sympathize with the parts. Those painters, who, in their zeal for the grand style, affect to despise what they are pleased to call tricks of light and shade, do, in reality, despise the most powerful means, which their art affords, of producing the effect, which they profess to aim at; as will abundantly appear by the works of Titian, Rubens, and Rembrandt; who, without any pretensions to grandeur of form, or dignity or elevation of character or expression, have produced grander, and more imposing pictures*, than any of those, who have sought for * See the Peter Martyr of Titian, the Daniel in the Lions' Den of Rubens, the Raising of Lazarus and Crucifixion of Rembrandt, &c. CHAP. Of Judg ment. CHAP. III. Of Judg ment. grandeur in vast outlines and unusual pos tures. 52. Titian's expression of character is alwaysfeeble; Rubens's generally coarse; and Rembrandt's ridiculously low and mean, though admirably just and natural: conscious of his deficiency in anatomical science, and precision of outline, he cautiously avoided all objects that might lead him to attempt elegance of form, or grace and dignity of character; at the same time that his sound judgment and accurate observation pointed out the true expression of the temper and affections of the mind, both in the countenances and gestures of such figures, as were within his reach; and his unrivalled skill in the use of colours enabled him to exhibit it with a degree of exactitude and energy, which scarcely any other painter has ever attained. 53. The principles of excellence in painting are so distinct from those of sculpture, that the highly elevated character of general or ideal nature, so appropriate to the perfection. of the latter, is, perhaps, scarcely compatible with that of the former; which, being a more complete imitation of its objects, requires a stricter adherence to their individual peculiarities. In sculpture, we have only the forms and lines of expression; so that a statue is, in itself, but an abstract imitation; and, conse quently, is employed to the greatest advantage in exhibiting abstract nature: but, in painting, we have also the glow of animation; and the hues, as well as lines, of passion and affection; wherefore, as less is left to the imagination, the tone of imitation must be brought down nearer to a level with the individual objects, with which it will be compared, and by which it will consequently be judged. 54. In this respect, the difference between sculpture and painting is similar to that, which has been already remarked, between epic and dramatic poetry, In the picture and upon the stage, the imitation being immediately addressed to the organ of sense, and entirely dependent on its evidence, requires in many cases, and admits in all, a stricter and more detailed adherence to the peculiarities of common individual nature, than either of the sister arts will ever allow. Many of our most affecting tragedies are taken from the events of common life; and, in them, the personages appear upon the stage in the common dresses of the times-in laced coats, cocked hats, &c.; but no beauty of verse nor felicity of description could make us endure such things in epic narration. In the same manner, some of the most interesting and affecting pictures, that the art has ever produced, are taken from similar events, and treated in a similar style; such as CHAP. Of Judg ment. CHAP. III. Of Judg ment. Mr. West's General Wolfe, Mr. Westall's Storm in Harvest, and Mr. Wright's Soldier's Tent; in all of which the pathos is much improved, without the picturesque effect being at all injured, by the characters and dresses being taken from common familiar life. But, in sculpture, this could not be borne; that art never having made any impression, or excited any sympathy by exhibiting common individual nature. Even in their portraits, the sculptors of the fine ages of Greece always took the liberty of enlarging the features, and invigorating the expression, of whatever kind it happened to be; and if they employed drapery, it was always of that particular sort, which is peculiarly appropriated to the art, and which may therefore be properly called sculpturesque drapery. 55. Horace's advice of preferring the characters and fictions of the Iliad to those of common nature or history, as the materials of tragedy, seems to me very ill adapted to the principle of modern drama; how well soever it may have suited, the splendid musical exhibitions of the Greek theatre. The vast and exalted images, which are raised in the mind, by the pomp of heroic verse, and the amplification of heroic fiction, shrink into a degree of meanness, that becomes quite ridiculous, when reduced to the standard of ordinary nature, and exhibited in the person of a modern actor. The impression, which the sight of Achilles, on the French stage, first made upon me will never be effaced: a more farcical and ludicrous figure could scarcely present itself to my imagination, than a pert smart Frenchman, well rouged, laced, curled, and powdered; with the gait of a dancing master, and the accent of a milliner, attempting to personate that tremendous warrior, the nodding of whose crest dismayed armies; and the sound of whose voice made eyen the war horse shudder. The generality of the audience, indeed, never having viewed the original through the dazzling and expansive medium of Homer's verses, thought only of the lover of Iphigenia; and were, of course, as well satisfied with Mons. Achille, as with any other amorous hero, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage. In this, as in other instances, the habitual association of ideas makes the same object contemptibly ridiculous to one, and affectingly serious to another. In this country, however, the characters of the Iliad and Odyssey have been so generally known since Pope's splendid translation, that no tragedy has been popular, in which they have been introduced; and, I believe, Thomson's Agamemnon is the only instance of their being brought upon the stage. CHAP. III. Of Judg. ment. |