The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1822-11-22

opinion and by chain Of Argument,
drawn from the desc riptinns OF the shiela-
of Achilles aud Eneas. as portrayed by
Homer aud Virgil, ea1ea,ofs To establish
its contrary. ilomcl's account of his he.
ro's shield, and the know letige Of art which
II implies, must suppose very p6rle { state
of art ia his tilomer's1 owl day nj least
lie must have acquired itle,s ga the subject
from perfection Ia arr, existing mp To, or At
bis own time. But his perfection could
not have occurred suddenly. Thcart must
have been previously and long understood
aud cultivated in Greece before Homrr's
cra-lt must needs have begun at 80 remote
QUE as tina, Of the Trojan war, to be 30
far advanced ~ llomerB poetry declares
il 10 be, at the time in which that poetry
was written. Mr. Webb, author of the ve-
ry elegant lutle volume, "Beautics of Pain.
ting and Poetry is even more vehement
than Dan Pope himself against pliny's &C.
neral assertion He supports Pope view,
aud certainly makes more Of il, aud u bet
ter authority too, than the Original fihrica-
tor nj the theory, Yet, after at, old Pliny
is mol yet worated. Give Mr., Pope his da-
tum, indeed, aud il would be otherwise
Grant him that iiomef's description implies,
necessarily, n eo.eX,sient excellence of arl,
aud he fairly WINS the battle. IL does not
imply any such thiug, however. According
TO thu poets information or conception
no matter which--thc fact OF aiirlbuiing the
de,ires on Achilles shicld IL blacksmith
proves AT once llomers complete igno.
rance of any liberal process of art. Be
sides, the bird evidently docs not know
whether the wolk WAS executed by pnih-
Ter or n sculptor. lie 5peaks of laised or
clnbo 'sed parts, and le also lands the co
ioa,Hg ri thc grapes. Herr IL IN evidcn
conlngion of IDEAS between the two ii lei'
branches a ART. The figures on The sbed
mht have been all painted or all raised
like jGs r5'iG ~ least they nni aaye
been 50 according 10 tie notions transmit
ted to us oi painting and sculpture. No
one ever heard al work in which the two
processes were confined. No one ever
hoard oi painted statue, except IN a i.o-
man Catholic continental chapel, ar in II
puppct show. AT III events 10 enc ever
thought u gueh likmg IN connection wiz an
enlightened esa efan. Aud any person who
comes forward 10 da6rrlhe She flct MS .yi
dencc Of the taste OF any age, M far as re-
!
sider his observations bad, and his ., idencr
incooclusivc; or we should say he spoke
truth, and drew his IDEAS from n very bar
barous state ofmt. Now we can only APP
ply either Of these remarks TO Iloncl's de-
scfipton and we do not care which we
apply; Dir Pope's and Mr.. Webb's theory
is destroyed by either.
We incline abe Of opinion with the lear
ned and profound T,uubull, thai it is inn
possible, ont Of such mass Of conflicting
! testimony and Isolated facts to establish the
/ precise era Of the btth of art in ancient
/ Greece. To reconcile us to many unac-
conntable assertions III historical unecdote,
the sanie writer ventures conjecture, with
which W. are also very willing 20 atand
committed. IL bclicycs that the profess
sim may have undergone many revolutions
OF decline and revival, of which We are un-
informed. He speaks, we believe, OF
Greece exclusively: but perhaps the Oh
5ervation would be found to hold good with
reference 10 other countries also.