look with indifference at the personification of the Supreme Being in
the centre of the Capella Sestina, or the figures of the Sybils which
surround that chapel, to which we may add the statue of Moses; and
whether the same sensations are not excited by those works, as what he
may remember to have felt from the most sublime passages of Homer? I
mention those figures more particularly, as they come nearer to a
comparison with his Jupiter, his demi-gods, and heroes; those Sybils
and Prophets being a kind of intermediate beings between men and
angels. Though instances may be produced in the works of other
Painters, which may justly stand in competition with those I have
mentioned--such as the Isaiah, and the vision of Ezekiel, by
Raffaelle, the St. Mark of Frate Bartolomeo, and many others; yet
these, it must be allowed, are inventions so much in Michel Angelo's
manner of thinking, that they may be truly considered as so many rays,
which discover manifestly the centre from whence they emanated.
The sublime in Painting, as in Poetry, so overpowers, and takes such a
possession of the whole mind, that no room is left for attention to
minute criticism. The little elegancies of art in the presence of these
great ideas thus greatly expressed, lose all their value, and are, for
the instant, at least, felt to be unworthy of our notice. The correct
judgment, the purity of taste which characterise Raffaelle, the
exquisite grace of Correggio and Parmegiano, all disappear before them.
That Michel Angelo was capricious in his inventions cannot be denied;
and this may make some circumspection necessary in studying his works;
for though they appear to become him, an imitation of them is always
dangerous, and will prove sometimes ridiculous. "Within that circle
none durst walk but he." To me, I confess his caprice does not lower
the estimation of his genius, even though it is sometimes, I
acknowledge, carried to the extreme: and however those eccentric
excursions are considered, we must at the same time recollect that
those faults, if they are faults, are such as never could occur to a
mean and vulgar mind: that they flowed from the same source which
produced his greatest beauties, and were, therefore, such as none but
himself was capable of committing: they were the powerful impulses of
a mind unused to subjection of any kind, and too high to be controlled
by cold criticism.
Many see his daring extravagance who can see nothing else. A young
Artist finds the works of Michel Angelo so totally different from
those of his own master, or of those with whom he is surrounded, that
he may be easily persuaded to abandon and neglect studying a style
which appears to him wild, mysterious, and above his comprehension,
and which he therefore feels no disposition to admire; a good
disposition, which he concludes that he should naturally have, if the
style deserved it. It is necessary, therefore, that students should be
prepared for the disappointment which they may experience at their
first setting out; and they must be cautioned, that probably they will
not, at first sight, approve.
It must be remembered, that this great style itself is artificial in
the highest degree: it presupposes in the spectator, a cultivated and
prepared artificial state of mind. It is an absurdity, therefore, to
suppose that we are born with this taste, though we are with the seeds
of it, which, by the heat and kindly influence of this genius, may be
ripened in us.
A late Philosopher and Critic[18] has observed, speaking of taste,
that _we are on no account to expect that fine things should descend
to us_--our taste, if possible, must be made to ascend to them. The
same learned writer recommends to us _even to feign a relish, till we
find a relish come_; _and feel, that what began in fiction,
terminates in reality_. If there be in our Art anything of that
agreement or compact, such as I apprehend there is in music, with
which the Critic is necessarily required previously to be acquainted,
in order to form a correct judgment: the comparison with this art will
illustrate what I have said on these points, and tend to show the
probability, we may say the certainty, that men are not born with a
relish for those arts in their most refined state, which, as they
cannot understand, they cannot be impressed with their effects. This
great style of Michel Angelo is as far removed from the simple
representation of the common objects of nature, as the most refined
Italian music is from the inartificial notes of nature, from whence
they both profess to originate. But without such a supposed compact,
we may be very confident that the highest state of refinement in
either of those arts will not be relished without a long and
industrious attention.
In pursuing this great Art, it must be acknowledged that we labour
under greater difficulties than those who were born in the age of its
discovery, and whose minds from their infancy were habituated to this
style; who learned it as language, as their mother tongue. They had no
mean taste to unlearn; they needed no persuasive discourse to allure
them to a favourable reception of it, no abstruse investigation of its
principles to convince them of the great latent truths on which it is
founded. We are constrained, in these latter days, to have recourse to
a sort of Grammar and Dictionary, as the only means of recovering a
dead language. It was by them learned by rote, and perhaps better
learned that way than by precept.
The style of Michel Angelo, which I have compared to language, and
which may, poetically speaking, be called the language of the Gods,
now no longer exists, as it did in the fifteenth century; yet, with
the aid of diligence, we may in a great measure supply the deficiency
which I mentioned--of not having his works so perpetually before our
eyes--by having recourse to casts from his models and designs in
Sculpture; to drawings, or even copies of those drawings; to prints,
which, however ill executed, still convey something by which this
taste may be formed, and a relish may be fixed and established in our
minds for this grand style of invention. Some examples of this kind we
have in the Academy, and I sincerely wish there were more, that the
younger students might in their first nourishment imbibe this taste,
whilst others, though settled in the practice of the commonplace style
of Painters, might infuse, by this means, a grandeur into their works.
I shall now make some remarks on the course which I think most proper
to be pursued in such a study. I wish you not to go so much to the
derivative streams, as to the fountain-head; though the copies are not
to be neglected; because they may give you hints in what manner you
may copy; and how the genius of one man may be made to fit the
peculiar manner of another.
To recover this lost taste, I would recommend young Artists to study
the works of Michel Angelo, as he himself did the works of the ancient
Sculptors; he began when a child a copy of a mutilated Satyr's head,
and finished in his model what was wanting in the original. In the
same manner, the first exercise that I would recommend to the young
artist when he first attempts invention is, to select every figure, if
possible, from the inventions of Michel Angelo. If such borrowed
figures will not bend to his purpose, and he is constrained to make a
change to supply a figure himself, that figure will necessarily be in
the same style with the rest; and his taste will by this means be
naturally initiated, and nursed in the lap of grandeur. He will sooner
perceive what constitutes this grand style by one practical trial than
by a thousand speculations, and he will in some sort procure to
himself the advantage which in these later ages has been denied
him--the advantage of having the greatest of Artists for his master
and instructor.
The next lesson should be, to change the purpose of the figures
without changing the attitude, as Tintoret has done with the Samson of
Michel Angelo. Instead of the figure which Samson bestrides, he has
placed an eagle under him: and instead of the jaw-bone, thunder and
lightning in his right hand; and thus it becomes a Jupiter. Titian, in
the same manner, has taken the figure which represents God dividing
the light from the darkness in the vault of the Capella Sestina, and
has introduced it in the famous battle of Cadore, so much celebrated
by Vasari; and extraordinary as it may seem, it is here converted to a
general falling from his horse. A real judge who should look at this
picture would immediately pronounce the attitude of that figure to be
in a greater style than any other figure of the composition. These two
instances may be sufficient, though many more might be given in their
works, as well as in those of other great Artists.
When the Student has been habituated to this grand conception of the
Art, when the relish for this style is established, makes a part of
himself, and is woven into his mind, he will, by this time, have got a
power of selecting from whatever occurs in nature that is grand, and
corresponds with that taste which he has now acquired, and will pass
over whatever is commonplace and insipid. He may then bring to the
mart such works of his own proper invention as may enrich and increase
the general stock of invention in our Art.
I am confident of the truth and propriety of the advice which I have
recommended; at the same time I am aware how much by this advice I
have laid myself open to the sarcasms of those critics who imagine our
Art to be a matter of inspiration. But I should be sorry it should
appear even to myself that I wanted that courage which I have
recommended to the Students in another way; equal courage, perhaps, is
required in the adviser and the advised; they both must equally dare
and bid defiance to narrow criticism and vulgar opinion.
That the Art has been in a gradual state of decline, from the age of
Michel Angelo to the present, must be acknowledged; and we may
reasonably impute this declension to the same cause to which the
ancient Critics and Philosophers have imputed the corruption of
eloquence. Indeed, the same causes are likely at all times and in all
ages to produce the same effects; indolence--not taking the same pains
as our great predecessors took--desiring to find a shorter way--are
the general imputed causes. The words of Petronius[19] are very
remarkable. After opposing the natural chaste beauty of the eloquence
of former ages to the strained, inflated style then in fashion,
"neither," says he, "has the Art of Painting had a better fate, after
the boldness of the Egyptians had found out a compendious way to
execute so great an art."
By _compendious_, I understand him to mean a mode of Painting such as
has infected the style of the later Painters of Italy and France;
commonplace, without thought, and with as little trouble, working as
by a receipt; in contradistinction to that style for which even a
relish cannot be acquired without care and long attention, and most
certainly the power of executing cannot be obtained without the most
laborious application.
I have endeavoured to stimulate the ambition of Artists to tread in
this great path of glory, and, as well as I can, have pointed out the
track which leads to it, and have at the same time told them the price
at which it may be obtained. It is an ancient saying, that labour is
the price which the gods have set upon everything valuable.
The great Artist who has been so much the subject of the present
Discourse, was distinguished even from his infancy for his
indefatigable diligence; and this was continued through his whole
life, till prevented by extreme old age. The poorest of men, as he
observed himself, did not labour from necessity more than he did from
choice. Indeed, from all the circumstances related of his life, he
appears not to have had the least conception that his art was to be
acquired by any other means than great labour; and yet he, of all men
that ever lived, might make the greatest pretensions to the efficacy
of native genius and inspiration. I have no doubt that he would have
thought it no disgrace that it should be said of him, as he himself
said of Raffaelle, that he did not possess his art from nature, but by
long study.[20] He was conscious that the great excellence to which he
arrived was gained by dint of labour, and was unwilling to have it
thought that any transcendent skill, however natural its effects might
seem, could be purchased at a cheaper price than he had paid for it.
This seems to have been the true drift of his observation. We cannot
suppose it made with any intention of depreciating the genius of
Raffaelle, of whom he always spoke, as Coudivi says, with the greatest
respect: though they were rivals, no such illiberality existed between
them; and Raffaelle, on his part, entertained the greatest veneration
for Michel Angelo, as appears from the speech which is recorded of
him, that he congratulated himself, and thanked God, that he was born
in the same age with that painter.
If the high esteem and veneration in which Michel Angelo has been held
by all nations and in all ages should be put to the account of
prejudice, it must still be granted that those prejudices could not have
been entertained without a cause: the ground of our prejudice, then,
becomes the source of our admiration. But from whatever it proceeds, or
whatever it is called, it will not, I hope, be thought presumptuous in
me to appear in the train, I cannot say of his imitators, but of his
admirers. I have taken another course, one more suited to my abilities,
and to the taste of the times in which I live. Yet however unequal I
feel myself to that attempt, were I now to begin the world again, I
would tread in the steps of that great master: to kiss the hem of his
garment, to catch the slightest of his perfections, would be glory and
distinction enough for an ambitious man.
I feel a self-congratulation in knowing myself capable of such
sensations as he intended to excite. I reflect, not without vanity,
that these Discourses bear testimony of my admiration of that truly
divine man; and I should desire that the last words which I should
pronounce in this Academy, and from this place, might be the name
of--MICHEL ANGELO.[21]
FOOTNOTES:
18: James Harris.
19: Pictura quoque non alium exitum fecit, postquam
Ægyptiorum audacia tam magnæ artis compendiariam invenit.
20: _Che Raffaelle non ebbe quest' arte da natura, ma per
lungo studio._
21: Unfortunately for mankind, these _were_ the last words
pronounced by this great Painter from the Academical chair. He died
about fourteen months after this Discourse was delivered.
THREE LETTERS
TO
THE IDLER.
THE IDLER.
NUMBER 76. _Saturday, September 29, 1759._
TO THE IDLER.
SIR--I was much pleased with your ridicule of those shallow Critics,
whose judgment, though often right as far as it goes, yet reaches only
to inferior beauties; and who, unable to comprehend the whole, judge
only by parts, and from thence determine the merit of extensive works.
But there is another kind of Critic still worse, who judges by narrow
rules, and those too often false, and which though they should be
true, and founded on nature, will lead him but a very little way
towards the just estimation of the sublime beauties in works of
Genius; for whatever part of an art can be executed or criticised by
rules, that part is no longer the work of Genius, which implies
excellence out of the reach of rules. For my own part, I profess
myself an Idler, and love to give my judgment, such as it is, from my
immediate perceptions, without much fatigue of thinking; and I am of
opinion, that if a man has not those perceptions right, it will be
vain for him to endeavour to supply their place by rules; which may
enable him to talk more learnedly, but not to distinguish more
acutely. Another reason which has lessened my affection for the study
of Criticism is, that Critics, so far as I have observed, debar
themselves from receiving any pleasure from the polite arts, at the
same time that they profess to love and admire them; for these rules
being always uppermost, give them such a propensity to criticise, that
instead of giving up the reins of their imagination into their
author's hands, their frigid minds are employed in examining whether
the performance be according to the rules of art.
To those who are resolved to be Critics in spite of nature, and at the
same time have no great disposition to much reading and study, I would
recommend to assume the character of Connoisseur, which may be purchased
at a much cheaper rate than that of a Critic in poetry. The remembrance
of a few names of Painters, with their general characters, and a few
rules of the Academy, which they may pick up among the Painters, will go
a great way towards making a very notable Connoisseur.
With a gentleman of this cast I visited last week the Cartoons at
Hampton Court; he was just returned from Italy, a Connoisseur, of
course, and of course his mouth full of nothing but the Grace of
Raffaelle, the Purity of Domenichino, the Learning of Poussin, the Air
of Guido, the greatness of Taste of the Caraccis, and the Sublimity
and grand Contorno of Michel Angelo; with all the rest of the cant of
Criticism, which he emitted with that volubility which generally those
orators have, who annex no ideas to their words.
As we were passing through the rooms, in our way to the Gallery, I
made him observe a whole length of Charles the First, by Vandyke, as a
perfect representation of the character as well as the figure of the
man. He agreed it was very fine, but it wanted spirit and contrast,
and had not the flowing line, without which a figure could not
possibly be graceful. When we entered the Gallery, I thought I could
perceive him recollecting his Rules by which he was to criticise
Raffaelle. I shall pass over his observation of the boats being too
little, and other criticisms of that kind, till we arrived at St.
_Paul preaching_. "This," says he, "is esteemed the most excellent of
all the Cartoons: what nobleness, what dignity there is in that figure
of St. Paul! and yet what an addition to that nobleness could
Raffaelle have given, had the art of Contrast been known in his time;
but above all, the flowing line, which constitutes Grace and Beauty!
You would not then have seen an upright figure standing equally on
both legs, and both hands stretched forward in the same direction, and
his drapery, to all appearance, without the least art of disposition."
The following Picture is the _Charge to Peter_. "Here," says he, "are
twelve upright figures; what a pity it is that Raffaelle was not
acquainted with the pyramidal principle! he would then have contrived
the figures in the middle to have been on higher ground, or the
figures at the extremities stooping or lying; which would not only
have formed the group into the shape of a pyramid, but likewise
contrasted the standing figures. Indeed," added he, "I have often
lamented that so great a genius as Raffaelle had not lived in this
enlightened age, since the art has been reduced to principles, and had
his education in one of the modern Academies; what glorious works
might we then have expected from his divine pencil!"
I shall trouble you no longer with my friend's observations, which, I
suppose, you are now able to continue by yourself. It is curious to
observe, that at the same time that great admiration is pretended for
a name of fixed reputation, objections are raised against those very
qualities by which that great name was acquired.
These Critics are continually lamenting that Raffaelle had not the
Colouring and Harmony of Rubens, or the Light and Shadow of Rembrandt,
without considering how much the gay harmony of the former, and
affectation of the latter, would take from the Dignity of Raffaelle;
and yet Rubens had great Harmony, and Rembrandt understood Light and
Shadow; but what may be an excellence in a lower class of Painting,
becomes a blemish in a higher; as the quick, sprightly turn, which is
the life and beauty of epigrammatic compositions, would but ill suit
with the majesty of heroic Poetry.
To conclude; I would not be thought to infer from anything that has
been said, that Rules are absolutely unnecessary, but to censure
scrupulosity, a servile attention to minute exactness, which is
sometimes inconsistent with higher excellence, and is lost in the
blaze of expanded genius.
I do not know whether you will think Painting a general subject. By
inserting this letter, perhaps you will incur the censure a man would
deserve, whose business being to entertain a whole room, should turn
his back on a company, and talk to a particular person.
I am, Sir, etc.
NUMBER 79. _Saturday, October 20, 1759._
TO THE IDLER.
SIR--Your acceptance of a former letter on Painting gives me
encouragement to offer a few more sketches on the same subject.
Amongst the Painters and the writers on Painting there is one maxim
universally admitted and continually inculcated. _Imitate Nature_ is
the invariable rule; but I know none who have explained in what manner
this rule is to be understood; the consequence of which is, that every
one takes it in the most obvious sense--that objects are represented
naturally, when they have such relief that they seem real. It may
appear strange, perhaps, to hear this sense of the rule disputed; but
it must be considered, that if the excellency of a Painter consisted
only in this kind of imitation, Painting must lose its rank, and be no
longer considered as a liberal art, and sister to Poetry: this
imitation being merely mechanical, in which the slowest intellect is
always sure to succeed best; for the Painter of genius cannot stoop to
drudgery, in which the understanding has no part; and what pretence
has the Art to claim kindred with Poetry, but by its power over the
imagination? To this power the Painter of genius directs his aim; in
this sense he studies Nature, and often arrives at his end, even by
being unnatural, in the confined sense of the word.
The grand style of Painting requires this minute attention to be
carefully avoided, and must be kept as separate from it as the style of
Poetry from that of History. Poetical ornaments destroy that air of
truth and plainness which ought to characterise History; but the very
being of Poetry consists in departing from this plain narration, and
adopting every ornament that will warm the imagination. To desire to see
the excellencies of each style united, to mingle the Dutch with the
Italian School, is to join contrarieties which cannot subsist together,
and which destroy the efficacy of each other. The Italian attends only
to the invariable, the great and general ideas which are fixed and
inherent in universal Nature; the Dutch, on the contrary, to literal
truth and a minute exactness in the detail, as I may say, of Nature,
modified by accident. The attention to these petty peculiarities is the
very cause of this naturalness so much admired in the Dutch pictures,
which, if we suppose it to be a beauty is certainly of a lower order,
that ought to give place to a beauty of a superior kind, since one
cannot be obtained but by departing from the other.
If my opinion were asked concerning the works of Michel Angelo, whether
they would receive any advantage from possessing this mechanical merit,
I should not scruple to say they would lose, in a great measure, the
effect which they now have on every mind susceptible of great and noble
ideas. His works may be said to be all genius and soul; and why should
they be loaded with heavy matter, which can only counteract his purpose
by retarding the progress of the imagination?