But as the sun rises, nature takes her real tints gradually. We see
every thing in its own colour; the gold and the rose has faded away
with the truer light, and a stern realism takes its place. The human
form must be expressed, in all its solidity and truth, not only in its
outward semblance, but the hidden soul must be seen through the veil of
flesh. And in this lies the reason of the decline; only to a few great
masters it was given to reveal spirituality in humanity--the others
could only emulate form and colour, and failed.
It is impossible to contemplate art apart from religion; as truly as
the celestial sun is the revealer of form, so surely is the heavenly
light of religion the first inspirer of art.
Where would the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Etruscan paintings and
sculptures have been but for the veneration of the mystic gods of the
dead, which both prompted and preserved them?
What would Greek sculpture have been without the deified
personifications of the mysterious powers of nature which inspired it?
and it is the fact of the pagan religion being both sensuous and
realistic which explains the perfection of Greek art.
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