| 462 | 463 | 464 | 465 | 466 |
| 1 | 306 | 613 | 919 | 1225 |
|
Painting is superior to sculpture (655. 656).
6
55.
THAT SCULPTURE IS LESS INTELLECTUAL THAN PAINTING, AND LACKS MANY
CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURE.
I myself, having exercised myself no less in sculpture than in
painting and doing both one and the other in the same degree, it
seems to me that I can, without invidiousness, pronounce an opinion
as to which of the two is of the greatest merit and difficulty and
perfection. In the first place sculpture requires a certain light,
that is from above, a picture carries everywhere with it its own
light and shade. Thus sculpture owes its importance to light and
shade, and the sculptor is aided in this by the nature, of the
relief which is inherent in it, while the painter whose art
expresses the accidental aspects of nature, places his effects in
the spots where nature must necessarily produce them. The sculptor
cannot diversify his work by the various natural colours of objects;
painting is not defective in any particular. The sculptor when he
uses perspective cannot make it in any way appear true; that of the
painter can appear like a hundred miles beyond the picture itself.
Their works have no aerial perspective whatever, they cannot
represent transparent bodies, they cannot represent luminous bodies,
nor reflected lights, nor lustrous bodies--as mirrors and the like
464
Page
Quick Jump
|