Wonders of sculpture . ed by the Athenians to indicate that theyheld her in perpetuity, and she could never desertthem. This faithful Victory drew the car on whichMinerva was to ascend to Heaven, after her victoryover Neptune. Lastly, at the right angle of thepediment, a small fragment of a group of Latonaand her Children. When Marie Joseph Chenier said of the inspiredblind poet of Chios : Brisant des potentats la couronne ephemere,Trois mille ans ont passe sur la cendre dHomere,Et, depuis trois mille ans, Homere respecteEst jeune encor de gloire et dimmortalite ; he had before his mind two Ho
Wonders of sculpture . ed by the Athenians to indicate that theyheld her in perpetuity, and she could never desertthem. This faithful Victory drew the car on whichMinerva was to ascend to Heaven, after her victoryover Neptune. Lastly, at the right angle of thepediment, a small fragment of a group of Latonaand her Children. When Marie Joseph Chenier said of the inspiredblind poet of Chios : Brisant des potentats la couronne ephemere,Trois mille ans ont passe sur la cendre dHomere,Et, depuis trois mille ans, Homere respecteEst jeune encor de gloire et dimmortalite ; he had before his mind two Homeric poems whichhad been preserved without alteration, first in the GRECIAN SCULPTURE. Ill memory of men, then in frail writing, and lastlyin imperishable printing. The arts are not sofortunate as letters ; for, inasmuch as their workscannot be multiplied by copies, and a singlespecimen of course occupies but one spot in theworld, neither the canvas of the painter, themarble of the sculptor, nor the pillars and vaults. Fig. 40.—Torso. of architecture, can resist the destructive action oftime as well as printed or written matter. TheIliad still remains complete, and the less aged Par-thenon is in ruins. Whilst the glory of Homer restson the imperishable foundation of his works,ruthless time and sacrilegious men have left toPheidias nothing but pitiable remains, of which wemay say, as of the mutilated body of Hippolytus : Triste objet oil des Dieux triomphe la colere,Et que meconnaitrait Iceil meme de son pere. N 178 GRECIAN SCULPTURE. \^\xt these relics are so beautiful, so wonderful, sodivine ; the feeblest imagination can so readily re-combine and complete them ; they address the soulin language so lofty and profound ; they awakensuch insatiable curiosity, such fervent admiration ;they justify so entirely the verdict of Cicero ontheir author—Menti insidebat idea pulchritudinis—that although centuries have not spared him,Pheidias, Hke Homer, Est jeune encor de gloire et
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublis, booksubjectsculpture
