Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Monument, we do it, not from any blind partiality for ancient art, or from any propensity to undervalue the genius of contemporary artists, but from a sober survey of the causes which have led to the eminence of art in other states, and by which the celebrity of our own literature and poetry has been created. We cannot forget that the works of antiquity were restored, and their spirit diffused over Europe, before the Jerusalem Delivered, or the Paradise Lost, were written. It is from a wish to obtain similar advantages for the arts in this country, that we press so earnestly for the restoration of the most perfect edifice of antiquity in the National Monument. It is just because we have the highest opinion of the genius of our own artists, that we would wish to give them the immense advantage of having the finest monument of ancient art continually before their eyes. It is by such habitual contemplation, more than by the hurried impression of a transient visit, that the spirit of ancient excellence is to be inhaled; and could they obtain in this way the advantages which the Italian artists have derived from the study of the Pantheon and the Colyseum, we have not the slightest doubt that the genius of this country would rival the architecture as it has long done the poetry of Italy. Such a measure would be the same service to the arts in this country, that the restoration of Virgil and Cicero were to the poetry and eloquence of Europe. It is not to be forgotten, that till such an edifice is erected, the influence of the magnificent ruins of Athens is as much lost, towards forming the public taste in this country, as the Æneid or the orations of Cicero would have been had they still remained undiscovered amidst the rubbish of the monastic libraries: And were it accomplished, we are sanguine enough to imagine, that the genius of Britain would make the same addition to the simplicity of the Grecian original, that the fancy of Tasso or Milton did to the poetry of Greece and Rome.

But if the present opportunity be suffered to escape, it is impossible to say when an opportunity may again occur of adorning our northern metropolis with this matchless edifice, or of transferring to its inhabitants the taste which grew up in Athens round the

works of Phidias. Centuries may revolve before another similar opportunity occurs; and never, perhaps, in the future history of this country, will it fall to the lot of its inhabitants to erect a building in which public feeling will be so deeply and universally interested. Greater and more beneficial consequences, therefore, may be anticipated from the adoption of this measure, at this time and on this occasion, than on any other that may occur in the future history of the country.

It is of the utmost moment, moreover, to give a proper impulse to the public mind when it is in a state of excitation, and when extraneous events have already occasioned a rapid progress in its exertions. The progress of art does not resemble the slow and unceasing advancement of science or philosophy, which gathers new additions from every year which passes-but consists in sudden starts, followed by long intervals of slumber or decay. The arts of Grecian sculpture and architecture rose to absolute perfection in the forty years which elapsed between the burning of Athens by Xerxes, and the building of the Parthenon; and the art of painting in modern times was brought from a state of infancy, to the greatest excellence which it has since attained, during the lifetime of Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci. These brilliant epochs in both countries were succeeded by long intervals of time, in which the arts were stationary or retrograde, and during which they fell into a slumber from which they have never yet been awakened. Now there is reason to hope, that in this country we are now in that state of excitation and progress which is the forerunner of perfection in the fine arts. Like the Athenian republic after the Persian war, we have just terminated, with unexampled glory, a contest of unparalleled duration and interest; and like them, the vigour and public spirit, which was called forth during the struggle which had preceded, in the defence of the state, is now turned towards its embellishment and decoration:-Like the Italian republics, the treasures of ancient art are now newly opened to the higher classes among our people, so long ex cluded from them by the events of the war, and our nobility return from the classical scenes of Athens and Rome

[blocks in formation]

Now, then, is the critical moment, when so many causes have prepared the minds of our people for distinction in the fine arts, and given so strong an impulse both to the vigour and the taste of the public mind, to aid this effort by transferring to our city the most perfect monument of ancient art, and giving to our inhabitants the advantages which the united genius of Phidias and Pericles conferred upon the Athenian people. It is not in every age that such extraordinary talents are given to mankind, or in which circumstances exist capable of calling them into action. Like the genius of Raphael, or Newton, or Tasso, the powers of Phidias burst all the ordinary barriers of human advancement, and attained a perfection, in a few years, which the subsequent efforts of men have sought in vain to rival. It is this perfection which we wish to seize it is these powers of which we seek to avail ourselves; and it is just because this moment seems more favourable to the rise of Scottish genius in the fine arts, than any other that perhaps may ever arise, that we would now communicate to it the extraordinary and unequalled advantages which this measure would confer. If the measures be postponed, it may come when the tide is turned, and when these consequences can no longer follow its adoption.

It appears, moreover, in a peculiar manner expedient to erect, in this island, some unexceptionable model, which may give our artists and our people an opportunity of estimating the value, and feeling the magnificence of the DORIC ORDER. Of every other species of architecture we have great and splendid examples amongst us. York and Durham cathedrals stand

Hist. de Rep. Ital. 3, 242.

unrivalled in the grandeur of Gothic taste-St Paul's rivals, in so far as the exterior goes, "the sun of the Vatican;-the dome of St Peter's, the most glorious structure that ever has been applied to the use of religion;”+— the Louvre, and the Place Louis XV. surpass every other edifice in the world in the peculiar style in which they are built; and the front of Whitehall, and of several noblemen's seats in England, convey some idea of the gorgeous magnificence of the Venetian architecture. But of the Doric temples, of that order which the taste of Phidias selected as most appropriate for public edifices of triumph or gratitude, we have no examples on this side of the Alps. Except in the simple but sublime structure of the Brandenberg gate at Berlin, there is no instance of an attempt even to adopt this order in a building of any description in any modern capital. The traveller must go to Pestum, or traverse the ruins of Agrigentum and Attica, before he can see an example even of the buildings which have immortalized the name of the Grecian artists; for it is hardly necessary to observe, that no conception of the beauty of the Doric order can be formed from the porticoes of Covent-Garden, or the Court-Room of Glasgow, where both the situation and the buildings to which they are applied are totally unsuited to that species of architecture.

Now there never before was, perhaps there may never occur again, an opportunity of erecting in this island an edifice of precisely the same description, and destined to exactly the same purpose, as the Parthenon of Athens. This celebrated temple, dedicated to Minerva, the tutelary deity of the city, and erected after the glorious termination of the Persian war, was, under the name of a temple, in fact the NATIONAL MONUMENT OF ATHENS. There is something very remarkable in this coincidence. The taste and ge nius of Phidias, unrivalled perhaps in the subsequent history of the world, selected this building as the most appropriate for an edifice which was to combine national gratitude with religious devotion, and to awaken in the mind the joint emotions of exultation at past success, and gratitude to the celestial power by whose protecting in

+ Gibbon, 12, 430.

fluence it has been obtained. Widely, indeed, as the feelings with which we regard a Christian temple differ from those with which the Athenians approached the temple of Minerva, there is yet a most remarkable coincidence between the purposes to which our National Monument is destined, and those to which that exquisite building was applied; and when we recollect by whom this form was selected for that expression, and how uniformly Grecian sculpture addresses itself to the universal feelings of mankind, it is well worthy of consideration, whether any deviation from the means which they employed would be attended with any reasonable prospect of advantage.

The great disadvantage, moreover, which has hitherto attended the attempts of our artists to revive the Doric order, has been, that it has been introduced as an appendage only to other buildings, or as a part of an extensive pile, reared after a different style, and intended for a different purpose. But the chief beauty of the Doric temple consists in its being one unbroken whole-in all the sides presenting the same simple but imposing aspect. In the partial imitations of it which have hitherto been introduced in this country, this great beauty has been of course entirely lost. In the National Monument, we have an opportunity, for the first time, of presenting an entire Grecian temple to the public eye, and of exhibiting that unity of effect, in which, perhaps, more than any thing else, its overwhelming grandeur will be found to consist.

The situation, too, of the Calton Hill seems calculated, in a most remarkable and fortunate manner, for the attainment of this object. The striking similarity of this hill to the Acropolis, has been observed by every traveller, and may be perceived, in the clearest manner, from the beautiful drawings which Mr Williams has brought home of Grecian scenery. With the exception of Stirling, there is no town in Great Britain, perhaps none in Europe, which contains an eminence bearing so close a resemblance to the spot which Phidias selected for the site of his triumphal edifice. In Edinburgh, therefore, we have the extraordinary, the unparalleled advantage of possessing the means of raising another Parthenon, to the celebration of triumphs yet more mo

mentous to mankind than those which the original was intended to commemorate, and of erecting it on the precise spot which its original author would have chosen as best calculated to display its peculiar excellencies. With such advantages, and with the possession of quarries capable of yielding blocks of any dimensions, and susceptible as the capitals in Waterloo Place demonstrate of the utmost delicacy of carving, is it not reasonable to expect, that the erection of the Parthenon would be attended with a great and most salutary effect on the public taste; and that the eyes of our artists and our people, habituated to the whole beauties of the Grecian temple, and trained to the perception of the purposes for which it is adapted, would no longer tolerate those deviations from its principles, or those misapplications of its design, by which the genius of modern architects has so often been perverted, and the efforts of modern patriotism so often misapplied.

If this advantage were given to the public taste, it is not, perhaps, presuming too much upon its probable consequences, to anticipate that Edinburgh may become the centre of taste, and the school of correct design in the fine arts. It is extraneous events indeed which communicate vigour to a people, and nurse that spirit of emulation amongst them, which is the foundation of excellence in every branch of human exertion. But when the impulse is given, inconsiderable circumstances are often capable of determining its direction. In the present state of exaltation of the public mind, and with the ardent passion for the fine arts which foreign travelling has excited in so large a proportion of our higher classes, it is impossible to estimate the effect which the perpetual contemplation of the work of Phidias may eventually produce. Every body knows the rapid and unequalled progress which the art of agriculture has made in this country during the last forty years; which, in spite of all the obstructions of an unfavourable climate, has raised it from the lowest state of depression to the highest perfection in that short period; and it is equally well known, that it is to the efforts of a few patriotic individuals, who led the way in reforming the husbandry in our agricultural districts, combining with the native vigour and

acquired intelligence of our people, that we are indebted for this extraor dinary change. Consequences equally beneficial and astonishing may with still more confidence be anticipated from the measure which we propose in the fine arts; for the knowledge of agriculture, though doubtless greatly aided by practical example, is yet capable of being communicated by writing; but without the erection of fine models in architecture, all attempts to improve the public taste are as utterly hopeless, as it would be to communicate good manners, without at the same time giving the advantage of living in polished society.

beauty of this edifice. The Roman youth, we are told by Plutarch, flocked to the Acropolis of Athens to contemplate those glorious edifices which were even then unrivalled in the wide extent of the Roman dominion. It was there that Cicero went to fill his

mind with the contemplation of every thing that is majestic in architectu ral design; and there it was that Marcus Aurelius and Trajan repaired to borrow, from a subject city, conceptions of art worthy of the imperial throne. It was round that centre of taste that those Grecian sculptors were found, whose works the universal consent of subsequent ages have stamped as the most perfect efforts of the human mind. The genius of Michael Angelo, and Bramante, has sought in vain to deviate from the rules which the Athenian edifices have established; and at this day men of all descriptions, differing from one ano

thought, unite in admiration of their unequalled beauties, and, forgetting the rivalries of nations, meet in the ruins of the Acropolis to do homage to that perfection of design, which for above 2000 years has stood unrivalled among the works of men.

In architecture too, when an opportunity for erecting a great building does occur, it is of the last importance to fix upon a model of known and approved excellence. The influence which an ornamental edifice exercises upon the public taste, is almost beyond the power of estimation. Whether in every other subject of human ther it is good or bad-it must stand for centuries, and determine the taste of those who view it when the name even of its original author is forgotten. Of what incalculable importance then to choose well, the design of an edifice from which such important effects upon the national taste must follow. Now it is no doubt possible, that as fine an original design as the Parthenon may be obtained, just as it is possible that, in a few years, as beautiful a poem as the Æneid, or as fine a statue as the Apollo, or as sublime a work as the Principia, may be produced. But surely the chances are infinitely against such an occurrence. That building was not the work of any single man. It was the result of the joint deliberations of those masters of design who adorned the age of Pericles, and whose works, both in sculpture and architecture, subsequent ages have sought in vain to rival.The taste of its authors long chastened by the habitual contemplation of the Grecian edifices, was directed and aided by the genius of Phidias; a name to be classed with Milton, and Newton, and Cicero, among those who stand aloof from the celebrity of any other

men.

The universal consent of subsequent ages have stamped their authority upon the perfection of the design. From the age of Pericles to the time of Canova, there has been but one opinion upon the extraordinary

In suggesting, therefore, the Parthenon as the model of the National Monument, we are not presump tuously setting up our own opinion above that of our contemporaries infi nitely better qualified to judge of the subject than ourselves. It is just be cause we distrust our own opinion, and are strongly impressed with the importance of selecting an unexceptionable model, that we make the suggestion; trusting in support of our opinion to the united suffrages of the greatest men whom the world has ever seen, and the concurring opinion of twenty centuries on the only subject, perhaps, in which perfect unanimity is to be found in the whole history of human affairs.

These considerations are so obvious, that they must have occurred to every one who has thought for an instant on the subject; and they would, we are persuaded, have universally led to the adoption of the measure which has been proposed, were it not for certain objections which are urged against the proposal, and which being, as we conceive, founded on a misconception of the subject, shall be shortly noticed.

It is said, in the first instance, that there is something humiliating in copying any work, however admirable, or in servilely imitating the works of others, when an original design is within our reach. Better, it is thought, to have the whole merit of a secondary design, than come in merely as successful imitators of first rate perform

ances.

In answer to this, it might be observed, that if this copy is to be the forerunner of future excellence in the art of original design; and if it is by serving such an apprenticeship only to past merit that the foundation of future or present excellencies is to be laid, then it is surely the part of wise men to do that by which their own or their country's eminence in art can alone be secured. No man was more conscious of the greatness of their powers than Petrarch and Dante; yet we are told that they sought more to restore the works of the ancients than publish their own performances; and felt that their principal claim to the gratitude of future ages consisted in the works of ancient genius, which they had raised from oblivion and neglect. It is no doubt more flattering to the genius of a young artist to make original designs than copy the works of others; yet we have the authority of Leonardo de Vinci for saying, that for many years a student should be confined entirely to studying the works of others; and that from the fidelity and diligence with which he imitated their excellencies, he augured best of his future proficiency in original design!t As a nation, we are now forming our taste to prepare the way for future excellence in design; let us not then desert the models of ancient excellence before we are qualified to do without their guidance.

But this objection, in fact, proceeds upon an entire misapprehension of the nature of architectural design, and the limits within which the invention of the artist must be confined. In poetry, in painting, and sculpture, the great variety of objects on which the powers of the artist are to be exerted, renders a corresponding variety of de sign within the reach of his exertions. To copy in these arts, when an infinite

* Sismondi Let, du Midi, 3. 42.

variety of forms is possible, may justly be deemed a reproach to the invention of this artist. But this is wholly inapplicable to architecture. The ob jects which the artist has there to attain are comparatively so small in number, and the materials on which he has to operate, so limited in extent, and so uniformly the same in strength and texture, that the multiplication of forms or proportion is wholly impossible; and after the first efforts of art have fixed on the most appropriate for the materials for building, future ages are of necessity compelled to adopt the models which antiquity has left. The forms on which the architect has to exert his powers do not resemble the varying expression of the human figure, or the endless variety of natural objects, but rather the combinations of mathematical figures, in which the same elements must, of necessity, be resorted to in the latest as in the earliest stages of the art.

Nor is it to be imagined that the powers of modern artists are, on this account, confined to mere imitation. How impossible soever it may be to invent new forms or propositions, which shall be adapted, as well as the old ones, to the permanent character of the materials of which all buildings must be composed; yet to select and arrange these forms, and adopt those models best suited to the expression intended to be conveyed, or the situa tion in which the edifice is to be placed, furnishes a boundless field for modern genius. And when we observe how often the Grecian models have been misapplied, and their expression misconceived, by modern artists, we are almost tempted to believe that the power of choosing well among the remains of ancient arts is a rarer gift than the faculty of originally conceiving them.

It is observed both by Eustace‡ and Forsyth, and the observation has been reiterated by every person who has visited the Italian cities, that the ruin of the modern Italian architecture has been the continual attempt at novelty; and that in no instance have they succeeded in forming edifices of real beauty, but where they have exactly adhered to the monuments of antiquity.

[blocks in formation]
« ZurückWeiter »