A Catechism of Familiar Things Part 40

What country was the most highly celebrated for its sculpture?

Greece, which produced many celebrated sculptors, of whom the most eminent were Phidias, an Athenian, the great master of this art, who lived in the time of Pericles, 408 years before Christ; Lysippus, a native of Sicyon, near Corinth; and Praxiteles, a native of Magna Grecia.

What event proved fatal to this art?

The death of Alexander the Great was followed by a visible decline in all the fine arts; but the fatal blow to their existence was given by the success of the conquering Romans, who reduced Greece to a Roman province.

Was Sculpture always performed in Stone?

No; at first statues and other figures were formed of wood or baked clay, afterwards of stone, marble and metals; though these last were not brought to any degree of perfection, till about three hundred years before Christ. The Greeks were famous for their works in ivory; the great master of the art of carving statues in it was Phidias.

What progress did the Romans make in Sculpture?

Sculpture, during their early history, existed rather as a plant of foreign growth, partially cultivated by them, than as a native production of their own land. They collected, indeed, some of the most exquisite samples of Grecian sculpture, and invited to their capital the yet remaining sculptors of Greece, by whose labors not only Rome itself was embellished, but also many of the cities of Asia Minor, Spain, and Gaul, then under the Roman dominion; yet the taste for sculpture does not appear to have been cultivated in any measure corresponding with the advantages thus afforded them in the study of the best models of the art. The best works were produced by Greek artists, and chiefly Athenian, while the attempts of the Romans were unskilfully executed.

_Gaul_, the ancient name of France.

_Model_, pattern.

Did it always continue thus?

No; from the time of the Emperor Constantine, sculpture, and the rest of the fine arts, gradually revived. While inspired, perhaps, with a taste for sculpture by means of the scattered remains of Grecian art, the Roman artists drew, at the same time, from their own resources, and were by no means servile copyists of the sculptors of a former age. The first academy of the art was founded at Florence, in 1350, and at the close of the same century, sculpture was firmly established in Italy, and itinerant sculptors, not unskilful in their art, wandered from thence to Germany, France, and even to England. The most eminent master of the art was Michael Angelo, born in 1474, who was also a painter and architect; from his time, to the latter end of the last century, sculpture again gradually declined, but under Canova, a native of Possagno, in the Venetian Alps, it revived. He was born in 1757. Besides the above mentioned, were a number of others of various degrees of talent, as well as some still living.

_Servile_, slavish, mean.

_Itinerant_, wandering.

When was the knowledge of Sculpture introduced into England?

At the time of its conquest by the Romans; but the art appears to have been very rude and imperfect. From the time of the Norman invasion, and still further in the time of the Crusades, an improvement, however, began to show itself in British sculpture. But it is probable that most of their best architectural and sculptural works were executed by foreigners, members of those societies of wandering sculptors before mentioned. Under Edward the Third, the art appears to have been much cultivated by Englishmen. It is well known that two Italian sculptors were employed in England during the sixteenth century. John of Padua, a pupil of Michael Angelo, was master of works to Henry the Eighth. In the reign of Charles the First, English sculptors flourished, although their works are of a very low order.

_Invasion_, hostile entrance upon the rights or possessions of another.

_Architectural_, belong to Architecture.

_Sculptural_, belonging to Sculpture.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GATHERING TURPENTINE BY Sc.r.a.pING.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: DISTILLING TURPENTINE.]

With whom may the School of British Sculptors be considered as commencing?

With Banks, born in 1738, and Bacon, born in 1740; these were in every respect English artists. But the most eminent worker in the art which that country has yet produced, was John Flaxman, born in 1755. Our own country also may boast of sculptors of superior talents, and from the beautiful specimens of the art which have appeared, the attainment of a high degree of excellence in it is to be antic.i.p.ated.

_Attainment_, the act of arriving at or reaching.

_Antic.i.p.ated_, expected, foreseen.

Give me a short account of this art in Germany, France, and Spain.

In these countries, as in England and the United States, during their early history, many of the best works were executed by Italians.

Germany appears to have made little progress in sculpture before the seventeenth century; since that period, it has produced sculptors of some eminence, although it is more celebrated for its writers on the art, than for artists of eminence in its practice. In France, sculptors of some talent are mentioned as early as the sixteenth century. Girardon and Puget were the most celebrated artists of this period. Spanish history gives a long list of native sculptors, from the commencement of the same century, but many of them are but little known beyond their own country. Berruguete, a pupil of Michael Angelo, appears to have founded the first regular school of the art. Paul de Cespides, and in the eighteenth century, Philip de Castro, were the most eminent among them.

When was the use of Money first introduced?

It is not known with certainty: there is, however, reason to believe that both gold and silver were very early used as money in Egypt and Asia: it was afterwards introduced into Carthage and Greece; whence it was brought to Rome; and from that city spread gradually westward, through all the Roman dominions. Before the use of money was introduced, the only means of trade was by barter, or the exchange of one commodity for another, a custom long retained by uncivilized nations. In time, however, men discovered the necessity of something which would enable them to trade with greater facility; the first mention of money is in the time of Abraham, who, we are told in the Bible, paid "four hundred sides of silver of common current money,"

for a burying place.

_Current_, generally received, pa.s.sing from hand to hand.

Where was Carthage?

Carthage, now Tunis, was a commercial city, situated on the Northern Coast of Africa, which long contended for the dominion of the Mediterranean with the Romans; but, after three wars, it was taken and destroyed by the Roman general, Scipio Africa.n.u.s, in the year 251 before Christ.

_Commercial_, carrying on commerce or trade.

Of what substances was Money usually made?

Of metals, especially the precious metals, because they possess great value in small bulk; may be kept for any length of time without loss; and their value, although not altogether invariable, yet, generally speaking, changes only by slow degrees, and is less susceptible of fluctuation than that of most other articles. At different times, and amongst various nations, however, other things, in the scarcity of metal, have been subst.i.tuted for it, as sh.e.l.ls, wood, leather, paper, or even pasteboard on extraordinary occasions.

_Fluctuation_, unsteadiness; a wavering.

Of what form was money generally made?

The form of money has been more various than its materials; the ancient Britons used as money, rings or bars of iron or tin; the Lacedemonians used iron bars quenched with vinegar. The money of most nations usually bore an impression peculiar to themselves, as, for instance, the sicle of the Jews was marked with the golden pot of manna on one side, and Aaron's rod on the other; other coins with the figures of animals, &c.; in shape, coins were either round, irregular, or square.

Have the terms Money and Coin the same signification?

Not exactly; by money is understood any matters, such as metal, wood, leather, gla.s.s, horn, paper, fruits, sh.e.l.ls, &c., which have currency as a medium in commerce. Coin is a particular species always made of metal, and struck off according to a certain process called coining; it is not of equal antiquity with money. In fact, the very commodities themselves were the first moneys, that is, were current one for another by way of exchange. Coin is a piece of metal converted into money, by the impression of certain marks or figures thereon. The first coining of silver took place at Rome, two hundred and sixty-nine, and of gold, two hundred and six years before Christ: the Romans, after the commonwealth, stamped their coins with the image of the reigning emperor, which custom was followed by most civilized nations. Coins were, and are, frequently, struck in commemoration of a particular event or celebrated person.

When was the use of stamped coin introduced into Britain?

After the arrival of the Romans in that island, the natives imitated them, coining both gold and silver with the images of their kings stamped upon them; but the Romans, when they subdued the nation, suppressed also their coins, and obliged them to use their own; hence the number of Roman coins found among the relics of antiquity in that island.