Greek bronzes . ading the wings sidewards. Truth of that kind was of less import-ance to them than the beauty of the wings themselves, with their longsweeping lines enclosing narrow, flat surfaces which lie contiguously, andappealed irresistibly in an early stage of art, when artists did not carefor more truth to Nature than what was necessary for the moment. Another delight of those early sculptors was in the contrasts whichthey found, or established, between the more or less horizontal lines of GREEK BRONZES 17 the wings and the vertical lines of the drapery as seen in the effect
Greek bronzes . ading the wings sidewards. Truth of that kind was of less import-ance to them than the beauty of the wings themselves, with their longsweeping lines enclosing narrow, flat surfaces which lie contiguously, andappealed irresistibly in an early stage of art, when artists did not carefor more truth to Nature than what was necessary for the moment. Another delight of those early sculptors was in the contrasts whichthey found, or established, between the more or less horizontal lines of GREEK BRONZES 17 the wings and the vertical lines of the drapery as seen in the effect was one of balance and stability as against the rapid movementof the figure. There was the contrast also between the feathers of thewings, rigid and flat by nature, and the folds of the dress where theyare thrown into irregularity by the accident of movement. There wasthe contrast also of nude forms as against drapery and wings. I havepointed to these contrasts, not because it is necessary to emphasise the value. Fig. 4.—Archaic Bronze Victory. British Museum. and importance of them at all times, but specially because in the olderarts of Egypt and Assyria nothing of the kind had been recognised toany extent ; because the Greeks were the first to indicate the supremeimportance of such things, and because in our statuette the separatevalues of wings, drapery, and nude forms have obviously been the subjectof anxious consideration. In archaic sculpture oi the sixth century we have often occasionto notice the habit of lifting the skirt a little. It was the fashion then 18 GREEK BRONZES for women to wear long dresses falling to the ground in many fine folds,especially on public occasions when they went to attend ceremonies inthe temples. Ordinary prudence would suggest lifting the skirt fromthe ground. But we see this action frequently also in figures which arestanding placidly. It is almost always only a slight movement, justenough to throw the otherwise vertical and straight
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbronzesgreek, bookyea
