The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1851-07-17
&. ''' For tie Gazette.
Painting and Scripture
- ~. - No o III Ill

Isssfll u + e.. r.
shade, and by perspective, the range Of
objects which it may select for imitation
Is sih6nitely more extensive. Que whole
branch Of the art. the Landscapes. is al
most totally incompatible even with re-
lief, the sort Of sculpture nearest ap'
proaching TO painting. But even in the
repI ese btation 6f7human forms aud hu.
man action, in which they assimiIate,
painting. by her command nf all the ac
cessories, all external objects which en-
circle and influence man and his aclious.
not only powerfully aids her Illusion, but
fixes the attention ;Othe point where she
wishes it to centre, and diverts t'from
what il is her interest to couceal. If she
wishes to create gloomy emotion. she
invests her agents in a sombre atmos-
phere; if more gay, she pnurs abroad a
Auod of light. She throws about a cir
cumstantialuess and par'icularity, which
realizes and gives an air of l:uth to the
whole. She not only relates the event
generally, but the sliShter particularities
which distinguish it. Thus wonderfully
aiding aud deepening the impression she
aims at producing; various but not dis,
cordant. Or if discordant only for her own
purposes. gaining effect by cuDtrast, or
aggrandizing by comparison. ln tho
Peter Martyr of Titan is a mastery as
ssmbly Of these accessories. "Above
the main group Of the murderer and the
saint, all is in wild & &terri6c character,
huge storm-bealen tree. sky in the
distance. lurid and ihreatning, and in the
corner Of tue picture a figure flying away
from the scene Of desolation and death. "
But sculpture, cold, naked, aud severe
with no power Of dlzzling the sense, M
accessories to aid the illusion, must in.
deed be exqnisitly conceived. and finely
wrought, before the Imagination will
yield to its impression, and endow it with
motion and life. We must be tempted
by the freedom and force Of the outline
or the imposing effect OF the general char
acter, before We dwell upon it with that
;once ntration Of mind which is necessary
to imbiSe its whole spirit. But it is pre-
cisely this previous exerlion. this abstract
ion from our every day sensations, which
favors power ofenjoyng whatisideal
Once beyond the world of positive reali'
iy. we expatiate readily, as far as the
artist will lead as. 1t is then, after this
effort and exaltation, nothing objection
able, that the shapes we behold surpas
all that we have beretufnre seen in hu
man limb and feature. We huve alread
slept beyond nature, by looking on
stone with somewhat similar feeling
which we experience in on looking On
human being;. aud it is but little farthe
to sympathize with what differs fri'm h,i
manity only in its perfection. with wha
is isiucompatible with truth only in It's ln
true degree Of excellence. For in spit
of the cold philosophy anI rnethodize'
i.
senselessness Of some, admiration is
lofty and pDeasurable emotion of the sou
There is in man an innate tendency to tn
, better; where emulation. and envy, il
: gross felIuw-passion. cannot exist; b
proudly claims ,kuIred, with what ennt
bles humanity aud considers himself a
! dorned by what adorns his nature. Th
r same feeling which exhaults him whil
, contemplating the mental powers Of tn
: warrior Alexander. or the philosopht
Socrates. or the poet Homer, is alive I
. the corporeal beauty Of the Appolo or III
= Venus. The kiug aud the sage, and III
: bard. have indeed existed, but ever,
/, thing supernatural is not consequent
unnatural; and there is in the free tape
vf.imagiualon no more extravagance |
supposing the human form capable
il such exquisite symmetry and beatty, thu
Q the human mind ofsuch energy and pov
. or. Aud indie eed in man, as 10 the 9th
: works of creation. there is such grad
!; tion and difference in form. such sup
!. riority of one over another, that the il
I. agination has no difficulty in suppnsil
a something superior to all All fro
\ 3Phersetes up to au Archilles, between
4 Hecate and a Helen" may existin h
o ture, and why not something more lol
d. than Achilles. more lovely than Heleu}
. Moreover, as 1.-The proper study Of ma
b kind is mani" 50 the proper feelings
y mankind are for man; and whence bea
. tiful human form is, andre asonably oug
- to be. most admirable in his eyes. Fl um
Al action interestshim. human suffering
il fects him, and humsn beauty causes
N him complacent pride, and noble d
y y light: In mind aud in body. human d
,e q feet and weakness Invariably produce
III him melancholy sensationi but there a
Of so few forms, an 4 SO few souls, in realil