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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b37b27f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #53369 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53369) diff --git a/old/53369-0.txt b/old/53369-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index cd04804..0000000 --- a/old/53369-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8105 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nietzsche and Art, by Anthony M. Ludovici - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Nietzsche and Art - -Author: Anthony M. Ludovici - -Release Date: October 26, 2016 [EBook #53369] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIETZSCHE AND ART *** - - - - -Produced by Marc D'Hooghe at Free Literature (back online -soon in an extended version, also linking to free sources -for education worldwide ... MOOC's, educational -materials,...) (Images generously made available by the -Internet Archive.) - - - - - -NIETZSCHE AND ART - -by - -ANTHONY M. LUDOVICI - -Author of 'Who is to be Master of the World?' - - -"Rien n'est beau que le vrai, dit un vers respecté; et moi, je lui -réponds, sans crainte d'un blasphème: Rien n'est vrai sans beauté." ---Alfred de Musset. - - -CONSTABLE & CO. LTD. - -LONDON - -1911 - - - -[Illustration: Sekhet (Louvre)] - - -Preface - - -"We philosophers are never more delighted than when we are taken for -artists."[1] - - -In this book, which embodies a course of lectures delivered in a -somewhat condensed and summarized form at University College, London, -during November and December, 1910, I have done two things. I have -propounded Nietzsche's general Art doctrine, and, with the view of -illustrating it and of defining it further, I have also applied its -leading principles to one of the main branches of Art. - -As this has not been done before, either in English or in any -Continental language, my book is certainly not free from the crudeness -and inadvertences which are inseparable from pioneer efforts of this -nature. Nevertheless it is with complete confidence, and a deep -conviction of its necessity, that I now see it go to print; for, -even if here and there its adventurous spirit may ultimately require -modification, I feel certain that, in the main, time itself, together -with the help of other writers, will fully confirm its general thesis, -if I should be unable to do so. - -Sooner or later it will be brought home to us in Europe that we -cannot with impunity foster and cultivate vulgarity and mob qualities -in our architecture, our sculpture, our painting, our music and -literature, without paying very dearly for these luxuries in our -respective national politics, in our family institutions, and even -in our physique. To connect all these things together, and to show -their inevitable interdependence, would be a perfectly possible though -arduous undertaking. In any case, this is not quite the task I have -set myself in this work. I have indeed shown that to bestow admiration -on a work of extreme democratic painting and at the same time to be -convinced of the value of an aristocratic order of society, is to -be guilty of a confusion of ideas which ultimately can lead only to -disastrous results in practical life; but further than this I have not -gone, simply because the compass of these lectures did not permit of my -so doing. - -Confining myself strictly to Nietzsche's æsthetic, I have been content -merely to show that the highest Art, or Ruler Art, and therefore the -highest beauty,--in which culture is opposed to natural rudeness, -selection to natural chaos, and simplicity to natural complexity,--can -be the flower and product only of an aristocratic society which, in its -traditions and its active life, has observed, and continues to observe, -the three aristocratic principles,--culture, selection and simplicity. - -Following Nietzsche closely, I have sought to demonstrate the -difference between the art which comes of inner poverty (realism, or -democratic art), and that which is the result of inner riches (Ruler -Art). - -Identifying the first with the reflex actions which respond to external -stimuli, I have shown it to be slavishly dependent upon environment -for its existence, and, on that account, either beneath reality -(Incompetence), on a level with reality (Realism), or fantastically -different from reality (Romanticism). I have, moreover, associated -these three forms of inferior art with democracy, because in democracy -I find three conditions which are conducive to their cultivation, -viz.--(1) The right of self-assertion granted to everybody, and the -consequent necessary deterioration of world-interpretations owing to -the fact that the function of interpretation is claimed by mediocrity; -(2) the belief in a general truth that can be made common to all, which -seems to become prevalent in democratic times, and which perforce -reduces us to the only truth that can be made common to all, namely -Reality; and (3) a democratic dislike of recognizing the mark or stamp -of any _particular_ human power in the things interpreted, and man's -consequent "return to Nature" untouched by man, which, once again, is -Reality. - -Identifying Ruler Art, or the Art of inner riches, with the function of -giving, I have shown it to be dependent upon four conditions which are -quite inseparable from an aristocratic society, and which I therefore -associate, without any hesitation, as Nietzsche does, with Higher Man, -with Nature's rare and _lucky strokes_ among men. These conditions are ---(1) Long tradition under the sway of noble and inviolable values, -resulting in an accumulation of will power and a superabundance of good -spirits; (2) leisure which allows of meditation, and therefore of that -process of lowering pitchers into the wells of inner riches; (3) the -disbelief in freedom for freedom's sake without a purpose or without an -aim; and (4) an order of rank according to which each is given a place -in keeping with his value, and authority and reverence are upheld. - -In the course of this exposition, it will be seen that I have to lay -realism also at the door of Ruler Art; but I am careful to point out -that, although such realism (I call it _militant realism_ in respect -to the art both of the Middle Ages and of the later Renaissance, as -well as of Greece) is a fault, of Ruler Art which very much reduces -the latter's rank among the arts; it is nevertheless above that other -realism of mediocrity which, for the want of a better term, I call -_poverty realism_. (See Lecture II, Part II, end.) - -In order firmly to establish the difference between the Ruler and -Democratic styles I ought, perhaps, to have entered with more -thoroughness than I have done into the meditative nature of the one, -and the empirical nature of the other. This, apart from a few very -unmistakable hints, I have unfortunately been unable to do. I found -it quite impossible to include all the detail bearing upon the main -thesis, in this first treatise; and, though I have resolved to discuss -these important matters very soon, in the form of supplementary essays, -I can but acknowledge here that I recognize their omission as a blemish. - -The wide field covered by this book, and the small form in which I -was compelled to cast it, have thus led to many questions remaining -inadequately answered and to many statements being left insufficiently -substantiated. In the end I found it quite impossible to avail myself -even of a third of the material I had collected for its production, -and I should therefore be grateful if it could be regarded more in the -light of a preliminary survey of the ground to be built upon, rather -than as a finished building taking its foundation in Nietzsche's -philosophy of Art. - -With regard to all my utterances on Egypt, I should like the reader -kindly to bear only this in mind: that my choice of Egyptian art, as -the best example of Ruler Art we possess, is neither arbitrary nor -capricious; but, because it is neither arbitrary nor capricious, it -does not follow that I regard a return to the types of Egypt as the -only possible salvation of the graphic arts. This would be sheer -Romanticism and sentimentality. "A thousand paths are there which have -never yet been trodden; a thousand salubrities and hidden islands of -life. Unexhausted and undiscovered is still man and man's world" (_Z._, -I, XXII.). - -It is rather the spirit which led to this Egyptian Art, which I regard -as so necessary to all great achievements, either in legislation, art, -or religion; and whether this spirit happens to be found on the banks -of the Nile, in the Vatican, or in Mexico. I point to it merely as -something which we ought to prize and cherish, and which we now possess -only in an extremely diluted and decadent form. It is the spirit which -will establish order at all costs, whose manner of exploiting higher -men is to look upon the world through their transfiguring vision, and -which believes that it is better for mankind to attain to a high level, -even in ones, twos, or threes, than that the bulk of humanity should -begin to doubt that man can attain to a high level at all. - -This spirit might produce any number of types; it is not necessary, -therefore, that the Egyptian type should be regarded as precisely the -one to be desired. I do but call your attention to these granite and -diorite sculptures, because behind them I feel the presence and the -power of that attitude towards life which the ancient Pharaohs held and -reverenced, and which I find reflected in Nietzsche's Art values. - - - * * * * * - -In quoting from German authorities, where I have not been able to -give reference to standard English translations, I have translated -the extracts from the original myself, for the convenience of English -readers; while, in the case of French works, I have deliberately given -the original text, only when I felt that the sense might suffer by -translation. - -I should now like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Oscar Levy, who -has always been ready to place his valuable time and wide knowledge at -my disposal whenever I have expressed the smallest desire of consulting -him on any difficult point that may have arisen during the preparation -of these lectures. And I should also like to acknowledge the help -afforded me by both Mr. J. M. Kennedy and Dr. Mügge,--the one through -his extensive acquaintance with Eastern literature, and the other -through his valuable bibliography of works relating to Nietzsche's life -and philosophy. - -It only remains for me to thank the Committee and the Provost of -University College, Gower Street, for their kindness, and for the -generous hospitality which they have now extended to me on two separate -occasions; and, finally, to avail myself of this opportunity in order -to express my grateful recognition of the trouble taken on my behalf by -Professor Robert Priebsch and Mr. Walter W. Seton of London University, -on both occasions when I had the honour of delivering a course of -lectures at their College. - - ANTHONY M. LUDOVICI. -February 1911. - - -[1] Friedrich Nietzsche's Gesämmelte Briefe, vol. 111, p. 305. - - - - - - CONTENTS - - - LECTURE I - - PART I - - Anarchy in Modern Art - - The State of Modern Art - - The Fine Arts: - 1. The Artists - 2. The Public - 3. The Critics - 4. Some Art-Criticisms - - PART II - - Suggested Causes of the Anarchy in Modern Art - - 1. Morbid Irritability - 2. Misleading Systems of Æsthetic - 3. Our Heritage:-- - (a) Christianity - (b) Protestantism - (c) Philosophical Influences - (d) The Evolutionary Hypothesis - - LECTURE II - - Government in Art--Nietzsche's Definition of Art - - PART I - - Divine Art and the Man--God - - 1. The World "Without Form" and "Void" - 2. The First Artists - 3. The People and their Man-God - 4. The Danger - 5. The Two Kinds of Artists - - PART II - - Deductions from Part I--Nietzsche's Art Principles - - 1. The Spirit of the Age incompatible with Ruler Art - 2. A Thrust parried. Police or Detective Art defined - 3. The Purpose of Art Still the Same as Ever - 4. The Artist's and the Layman's View of Life - 5. The Confusion of the Two Points of View - 6. The Meaning of Beauty of Form and of Beauty of Content in Art - 7. The Meaning of Ugliness of Form and of Ugliness of Content in Art - 8. The Ruler-Artist's Style and Subject - - PART III - - Landscape and Portrait Painting - - 1. The Value "Ugly" in the Mouth of the Dionysian Artist - 2. Landscape Painting - 3. Portrait Painting - - LECTURE III - - Nietzsche's art principles in the history of art - - PART I - - Christianity and the Renaissance - - 1. Rome and the Christian Ideal - 2. The Pagan Type appropriated and transformed by Christian Art - 3. The Gothic Building and Sentiment - 4. The Renaissance - - PART II - - Greece and Egypt - - 1. Greek Art - (a) The Parthenon - (b) The Apollo of Tenea - (c) The Two Art-Wills of Ancient Greece - (d) Greek Painting - - 2. Egyptian Art - (a) King Khephrën - (b) The Lady Nophret - (c) The Pyramid - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - Sekhet (_Louvre_) Frontispiece - The Marriage of Mary, by Raphael (_Brera, Milan_) - Saskia, by Rembrandt (_Dresden Royal Picture Gallery_) - The Canon of Polycleitus (_Rome_) - The Apollo of Tenea (_Glyptothek, Munich_) - The Medusa Metope of Selinus (_Palermo_) - King Khephrën (_Cairo Museum_) - The Lady Nophret (_Cairo Museum_) - - - - - Abbreviations Used in Referring to Nietzsche's Works - - - E. I. = The Future of our Educational Institutions. - B. T. = The Birth of Tragedy. - H. A. H. = Human All-too-Human. - D. D. = Dawn of Day. - J. W. = Joyful Wisdom. - Z. = Thus spake Zarathustra. - G. E. = Beyond Good and Evil. - G. M. = The Genealogy of Morals. - C. W. = The Case of Wagner and Nietzsche contra Wagner. - T. I. = The Twilight of the Idols. - A. = Antichrist. - W. P. = The Will to Power. - - - - The English renderings given in this book are taken from the - Complete and Authorized Translation of Nietzsche's Works - edited by Oscar Levy. - - (This edition in 18 volumes is entirely being made available - at Project Gutenberg too, also with a linked index to all works - as last volume, and will be completed soon.--Transcriber's Note.) - - - -Nietzsche and Art - - - - -Lecture I[1] - - - - -Part I - - -Anarchy in Modern Art - - - "Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord - did there confound the language of all the earth: and from - thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all - the earth."--_Genesis_ xi. 9. - - - -"Concerning great things," said Nietzsche, "one should either be -silent, or one should speak loftily:--loftily, that is to say, -cynically and innocently."[2] - -Art is a great thing. Maybe it is the greatest thing on earth. -Wherever and whenever Nietzsche speaks about it he always does so -loftily, and with reverence; while his position as an anchorite, and -as an artist who kept aloof from the traffic for fame, allowed him to -retain that innocence in his point of view, which he maintains is so -necessary in the treatment of such a subject. - -As the children of an age in which Art is rapidly losing its prestige, -we modern Europeans may perhaps feel a little inclined to purse our -lips at the religious solemnity with which Nietzsche approaches this -matter. So large a number of vital forces have been applied to the -object of giving us entertainment in our large cities, that it is now -no longer a simple matter to divorce Art altogether in our minds from -the category of things whose sole purpose is to amuse or please us. - -Some there are, of course, who would repudiate this suggestion -indignantly, and who would claim for Art a very high moral purpose. -These moralists apart, however, it seems safe to say, that in the -minds of most people to-day, Art is a thing which either leaves them -utterly unmoved, or to which they turn only when they are in need of -distraction, of decoration for their homes, or of stimulation in their -thought. - -Leaving the discussion of Nietzsche's personal view of Art to the next -lecture, I shall now first attempt, from his standpoint, a general -examination of the condition of Art at the present day, which, though -it will be necessarily rapid and sketchy, will, I hope, not prove -inadequate for my purpose. - -Before I proceed, however, I should like to be allowed to call your -attention to the difficulties of my task. As far as I am aware, mine is -the first attempt that has been made, either here or abroad, to place -an exhaustive account of Nietzsche's Art doctrine before any audience. -But for one or two German writers, who have discussed Nietzsche ---the artist--tentatively and hesitatingly, I know of no one who has -endeavoured to do so after having had recourse to all his utterances -on the subject, nor do I know of anybody who has applied his æsthetic -principles to any particular branch or branches of Art. It is therefore -with some reason that I now crave your indulgence for my undertaking -and beg you to remember that it is entirely of a pioneer nature. - -Many of you here, perhaps, are already acquainted with Nietzsche's -philosophy, and are also intimately associated with one of the branches -of Art. Nevertheless, let me warn you before I begin, that you may have -to listen to heresies that will try your patience to the utmost. - -I also am intimately associated with one of the branches of Art, and my -traditions are Art traditions. I can well imagine, therefore, how some -of you will receive many of the statements I am about to make; and I -can only entreat you to bear with me patiently until the end, if only -with the hope that, after all, there may be something worth thinking -about, if not worth embracing, in what you are going to hear. - -Two years ago, in this same hall, I had the honour of addressing an -audience on the subject of Nietzsche's moral and evolutionary views, -and, since then, I have wondered whether I really selected the more -important side of his philosophy for my first lectures. If it were -not for the fact that the whole of his thought is, as it were, of one -single piece, harmoniously and consistently woven, I should doubt that -I had selected the more vital portion of it; for it is impossible to -overrate the value of his Art doctrine--especially to us, the children -of an age so full of perplexity, doubt and confusion as this one is. In -taking Nietzsche's Art principles and Art criticism as a basis for a -new valuation of Art, I am doing nothing that is likely to astonish the -careful student of Nietzsche's works. - -Friends and foes alike have found themselves compelled to agree upon -this point, that Nietzsche, whatever he may have been besides, was at -least a great artist and a great thinker on Art. - -On the ground that he was solely and purely an artist some have even -denied his claim to the title Philosopher. Among the more celebrated -of modern writers who have done this, is the Italian critic Benedetto -Croce;[3] while Julius Zeitler declares that "Nietzsche's artistic -standpoint should be regarded as the very basis of all his thought," -and that "no better access could be discovered to his spirit than by -way of his æsthetic."[4] - -Certainly, from the dawn of his literary career, Art seems to have -been one of Nietzsche's most constant preoccupations. Even the general -argument of his last work, _The Will to Power_, is an entirely artistic -one; while his hatred of Christianity was the hatred of an artist -long before it became the hatred of an aristocratic moralist, or of a -prophet of Superman. - -In _The Birth of Tragedy_, a book in which, by the bye, he declares that -there can be but one justification of the world, and that is as an -æsthetic phenomenon,[4] we find the following words-- - -"To the purely æsthetic world interpretation ... taught in this book, -there is no greater antithesis than the Christian dogma, which is -_only_ and will be only moral, and which, with its absolute standards, -for instance, its truthfulness of God, relegates--that is, disowns, -convicts, condemns--Art, all Art, to the realm of falsehood. Behind -such a mode of thought and valuation, which, if at all genuine, must -be hostile to Art, I always experienced what was _hostile to life_, the -wrathful vindictive counter will to life itself: for all life rests on -appearance, Art, illusion, optics, and necessity of perspective and -error."[5] - -Nietzsche's works are, however, full of the evidences of an artistic -temperament. - -Who but an artist, knowing the joy of creating, for instance, could -have laid such stress upon the creative act as the great salvation from -suffering and an alleviation of life?[6] Who but an artist could have been -an atheist out of his lust to create? - -"For what could be created, if there were Gods!" cries Zarathustra.[7] - -But, above all, who save an artist could have elevated taste to such -a high place as a criterion of value, and have made his own personal -taste the standard for so many grave valuations? - -"And ye tell me, my friends," says Zarathustra, "that there is to be no -dispute about taste and tasting? But all life is a dispute about taste -and tasting! - -"Taste: that is weight at the same time, and scales and weigher; and -alas for every living thing that would live without dispute about -weight and scales and weighing!"[8] - -But it is more particularly in Nietzsche's understanding of the -instinct which drove him to expression, and in his attitude towards -those whom he would teach, that we recognize the typical artist, in -the highest acceptation of the word--that is to say, as a creature of -abundance, who must give thereof or perish. Out of plenitude and riches -only, do his words come to us. With him there can be no question of -eloquence as the result of poverty, vindictiveness, spite, resentment, -or envy; for such eloquence is of the swamp.[9] Where he is wrath, he -speaks from above, where he despises his contempt is prompted by love -alone, and where he annihilates he does so as a creator.[10] - -"Mine impatient love," he says, "floweth over in streams, down towards -the sunrise and the sunset. From out silent mountains and tempests of -affliction, rusheth my soul into the valleys. - -"Too long have I yearned and scanned the far horizon. Too long hath the -shroud of solitude been upon me: thus have I lost the habit of silence. - -"A tongue have I become and little else besides, and the brawling of a -brook, falling from lofty rocks: downward into the dale will I pour my -words. - -"And let the torrent of my love dash into all blocked highways. How -could a torrent help but find its way to the sea! - -"Verily, a lake lies within me, complacent and alone; but the torrent -of my love draws this along with it, down--into the ocean! - -"New highways I tread, new worlds come unto me; like all creators I -have grown weary of old tongues. No longer will my spirit walk on -worn-out soles. - -"Too slow footed is all speech for me:--Into thy chariot, O storm, do I -leap! And even thee will I scourge with my devilry. - -"Thus spake Zarathustra."[11] - - -[1] Delivered at University College on Dec. 1st, 1910. - -[2] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 1. - -[2] Æsthetic (translation by Douglas Ainslie), p. 350. - -[3] Nietzsches Æsthetik, p. 5. - -[4] _B. T._, p. 183. - -[5] _B. T._, pp. 9, 10. - -[6] _Z._, II, XXIV. - -[7] _Z._, II, XXIV. - -[8] _Z._, II, XXXV. See also La Bruyère's reply to his countrymen's -popular belief, "des goûts et des couleurs on ne peut discuter," in Les -Caractères: Des ouvrages de l'esprit, Aph. 10. - -[9] _Z._, III, LVI. - -[10] _Z._, II, XXXIV. - -[11] _Z._, II, XXIII. - - - - -The State of Modern Art. - - -The Art of to-day, unholy and undivine as the Tower of Babel, seems to -have incurred the wrath of a mighty godhead, and those who were at work -upon it have abandoned it to its fate, and have scattered apart--all -speaking different tongues, and all filled with confusion. - -Precisely on account of the disorder which now prevails in this -department of life, sincere and honest people find it difficult to show -the interest in it, which would be only compatible with its importance. - -Probably but few men, to-day, could fall on their knees and sob at -the deathbed of a great artist, as Pope Leo X once did. Maybe there -are but one or two who, like the Taiko's generals, when Teaism was in -the ascendancy in Japan, would prefer the present of a rare work of -art to a large grant of territory as a reward of victory;[12] and there -is certainly not one individual in our midst but would curl his lips -at the thought of a mere servant sacrificing his life for a precious -picture. - -And yet, says the Japanese writer, Okakura-Kakuzo, "many of our -favourite dramas in Japan are based on the loss and subsequent recovery -of a noted masterpiece."[13] - -In this part of the world to-day, not only the author, but also the -audience for such dramas is entirely lacking. - -The layman, as well as the artist, knows perfectly well that this -is so. Appalled by the disorder, contradictoriness, and difference -of opinion among artists, the layman has ceased to think seriously -about Art; while artists themselves are so perplexed by the want of -solidarity in their ranks, that they too are beginning to question the -wherefore of their existence. - -Not only does every one arrogate to himself the right to utter his word -upon Art; but Art's throne itself is now claimed by thousands upon -thousands of usurpers--each of whom has a "free personality" which -he insists upon expressing,[14] and to whom severe law and order would be -an insuperable barrier. Exaggerated individualism and anarchy are the -result. But such results are everywhere inevitable, when all æsthetic -canons have been abolished, and when there is no longer anybody strong -enough to command or to lead. - -"Knowest thou not who is most needed of all?" says Zarathustra. "He who -commandeth great things. - -"To execute great things is difficult; but the more difficult task is -to command great things."[15] - -Direct commanding of any sort, however, as Nietzsche declares, has -ceased long since. "In cases," he observes, "where it is believed that -the leader and bell-wether cannot be dispensed with, attempt after -attempt is made nowadays to replace commanders by the summing together -of clever gregarious men: all representative constitutions, for -example, are of this origin."[16] - -Although, in this inquiry, the Fine Arts will be the subject of -my particular attention, it should not be supposed that this is -necessarily the department in modern life in which Nietzsche believed -most disorder, most incompetence, and most scepticism prevails. I -selected the Fine Arts, in the first place, merely because they are the -arts concerning which I am best informed, and to which the Nietzschean -doctrine can be admirably applied; and secondly, because sculpture and -painting offer a wealth of examples known to all, which facilitates -anything in the way of an exposition. For even outsiders and plain men -in the street must be beginning to have more than an inkling of the -chaos and confusion which now reigns in other spheres besides the Fine -Arts. It must be apparent to most people that, in every department -of modern life where culture and not calculation, where taste and -not figures, where ability and not qualifications, are alone able to -achieve anything great--that is to say, in religion, in morality, in -law, in politics, in music, in architecture, and finally in the plastic -arts, precision and government are now practically at an end. - -"Disintegration," says Nietzsche,"--that is to say, uncertainty--is -peculiar to this age: nothing stands on solid ground or on a sound -faith.... All our road is slippery and dangerous, while the ice -which still bears us has grown unconscionably thin: we all feel the -mild and gruesome breath of the thaw-wind--soon, where we are walking, -no one will any longer be able to stand!"[17] - -We do not require to be told that in religion and moral matters, -scarcely any two specialists are agreed--the extraordinarily large -number of religious sects in England alone needs but to be mentioned -here; in law we divine that things are in a bad state; in politics even -our eyes are beginning to give us evidence of the serious uncertainty -prevailing; while in architecture and music the case is pitiable. - -"If we really wished, if we actually dared to devise a style of -architecture which corresponded to the state of our souls," says -Nietzsche, "a labyrinth would be the building we should erect. But," he -adds, "we are too cowardly to construct anything which would be such a -complete revelation of our hearts."[18] - -However elementary our technical knowledge of the matter may be, we, as -simple inquirers, have but to look about our streets to-day, in order -to convince ourselves of the ignominious muddle of modern architecture. -Here we find structural expedients used as ornaments,[19] the most rigid -parts of buildings, in form (the rectangular parts, etc.), placed -near the roof instead of in the basement,[20] and pillars standing -supporting, and supported by, nothing.[21] Elsewhere we see solids -over voids,[22] mullions supporting arches,[23] key-stones introduced into -lintels,[24] real windows appearing as mere holes in the wall, while the -ornamental windows are shams,[25] and pilasters resting on key-stones.[26] - -And, everywhere, we see recent requirements masked and concealed behind -Greek, Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, Rococo, and Baroque embellishments, -thrown together helter-skelter, and with a disregard of structural -demands which must startle even the uninitiated.[27] - -Our streets are ugly in the extreme.[28] Only at night, as Camille -Mauclair says, does the artificial light convert their hideousness -into a sort of lugubrious grandeur,[29] and that is perhaps why, to the -sensitive artistic Londoner, the darkness of night or the pale glow of -the moon is such a solace and relief. - -As to the state of modern music, this is best described perhaps, though -with perfectly unconscious irony, by Mr. Henry Davey, in the opening -words of his _Student's Musical History_. - -"Music has indeed been defined," he says, "as 'sound with regular -vibrations,' other sounds being called noise. This definition," the -author adds, "is only suited to undeveloped music; modern music may -include noise and even silence."[30] - -People are mistaken if they suppose that Nietzsche, in attacking -Wagner as he did, was prompted by any personal animosity or other -considerations foreign to the question of music. In Wagner, Nietzsche -saw a Romanticist of the strongest possible type, and he was opposed -to the Romantic School of Music, because of its indifference to form. -Always an opponent of anarchy, despite all that his critics may say -to the contrary, Nietzsche saw with great misgiving the decline and -decay of melody and rhythm in modern music, and in attacking Wagner -as the embodiment of the Romantic School, he merely personified the -movement to which he felt himself so fundamentally opposed. And in -this opposition he was not alone. The Romantic movement, assailed by -many, will continue to be assailed, until all its evil influences are -exposed. - -"Since the days of Beethoven," says Emil Naumann, "instrumental -music, generally speaking, has retrograded as regards spontaneity of -invention, thematic working, and mastery of art form,"[31] and the same -author declares that he regards all modern masters as the natural -outcome of the Romantic era.[32] - -Nietzsche has told us in his Wagner pamphlets what he demands from -music,[33] and this he certainly could not get from the kind of music -which is all the rage just now. - -What it lacks in invention it tries to make up in idiosyncrasy, -intricacy, and complexity, and that which it cannot assume in the -matter of form, it attempts to convert into a virtue and a principle.[34] - -"Bombast and complexity in music," says P. von Lind, "as in any other -art, are always a sign of inferiority; for they betray an artist's -incapacity to express himself simply, clearly, and exhaustively--three -leading qualities in our great heroes of music (_Tonheroen_). In this -respect the whole of modern music, including Wagner's, is inferior to -the music of the past."[35] - -But of all modern musical critics, perhaps Richard Hamann is -the most desperate concerning the work of recent composers. His book on -Impressionism and Art entirely supports Nietzsche's condemnation of the -drift of modern music, and in his references to Wagner, even the words -lie uses seem to have been drawn from the Nietzschean vocabulary.[36] - -Briefly what he complains of in the music of the day is its want of -form,[37] its abuse of discord,[38] its hundred and one different artifices -for producing nerve-exciting and nerve-stimulating effects,[39] its -predilection in favour of cacophonous instruments,[40] its unwarrantable -sudden changes in rhythm or tempo within the same movement,[41] its habit -of delaying the solving chord, as in the love-death passage of Tristan -and Isolde,[42] and, finally, its realism, of which a typical example is -Strauss's "By a Lonely Brook"--all purely Nietzschean objections! - -Well might Mr. Allen cry out: "Oh for the classic simplicity of a -bygone age, the golden age of music that hath passed away!"[43] But -the trouble does not end here; for, if we are to believe a certain -organ-builder, bell-founder and pianoforte-maker of ripe experience, it -has actually descended into the sphere of instrument-making as well.[44] - - -[12] Okakura-Kakuzo, _The Book of Tea_, pp. 112, 113. - -[13] _The Book of Tea_, p. 112. - -[14] See in this regard _B. T._, pp. 54, 55. - -[15] _Z._, II. XLVI. - -[16] _G. E._, p.121. - -[17] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 55. - -[18] _D. D._, Aph. 169. - -[19] This is such a common fault that it is superfluous to give -particular examples of it, but the New War Office in Whitehall is a -good case in point. - -[20] Local Government Board building; Piccadilly Hotel (Regent St. -side). - -[21] Piccadilly Hotel (Piccadilly side), and the Sicilian Avenue, -Bloomsbury. - -[22] New Scotland Yard. - -[23] Gaiety Theatre; the new Y.M.C.A. building, Tottenham Court Road. - -[24] Local Government Board. - -[25] Gaiety Theatre. - -[26] Marylebone Workhouse. - -[27] See Fergusson's Introduction to his _History of Modern -Architecture_. - -[28] See W. Morris's _Address on the Decorative Arts_, pp. 18, 19. - -[29] _Trois crises de l'art actuel_, p. 243. - -[30] _The Student's Musical History_, p. 1. - -[31] _History of Music_, Vol. II, p. 927. See also _The Student's -Musical History_, by Henry Davey, p. 97. "Weakness of rhythm is the -main reason of the inferiority of the romantic composers to their -predecessors." - -[32] _History of Music_, p. 1195. See also P. v. Lind, _Moderner -Geschmack und moderne Musik_, in which the author complains of the -excessive virtuosity, want of faith and science of modern music, while -on p. 34 he, too, calls all modern musicians romanticists. - -[33] See especially _C. W._, pp. 59, 60. - -[34] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 276. - -[35] _Moderner Geschmack und moderne Musik_, p. 54. - -[36] Der Impressionismus in Leben und Kunst. - -[37] _Ibid_., pp. 53, 57. - -[38] _Ibid_., p. 64. - -[39] _Ibid_., p. 67. - -[40] _Ibid_., p. 69. - -[41] _Ibid_., p. 74. - -[42] _Ibid_., p. 61. - -[43] _The Fallacy of Modern Music_, p. 10. - -[44] _A Protest against the Modern Development of Unmusical Tone_, by -Thomas C. Lewis. - - - - -The Fine Arts.--1. The Artists. - - -Turning, now, to Painting and Sculpture, what is it precisely that we -see? - -In this branch of Art, chaos and anarchy are scarcely the words to use. -The condition is rather one of complete and hopeless dissolution. There -is neither a direction, a goal, nor a purpose. Slavish realism side -by side with crude conventions, incompetence side by side with wasted -talent, coloured photography side by side with deliberate eccentricity, -and scientific principles applied to things that do not matter in -the least: these are a few of the features which are noticeable at a -first glance. Going a little deeper, we find that the whole concept of -what Art really is seems to be totally lacking in the work of modern -painters and sculptors, and, if we were forced to formulate a Broad -definition for the painting and sculpture of our time, we should find -ourselves compelled to say that they are no more than a _field in which -more or less interesting people manifest their more or less interesting -personalities_. - -There is nothing in this definition which is likely to offend the -modern artist. On the contrary, he would probably approve of it all -too hastily. But, in approving of it, he would confess himself utterly -ignorant of what Art actually is, and means, and purposes in our midst. - -Or to state the case differently: it is not that the modern artist -has no notion at all of what Art is; but, that his notion is one -which belittles, humiliates and debases Art, root and branch. - -To have gazed with understanding at the divine Art of Egypt, to have -studied Egyptian realism and Egyptian conventionalism; to have stood -doubtfully before Greek sculpture, even of the best period, and to have -known how to place it in the order of rank among the art-products of -the world; finally, to have learnt to value the Art of the Middle Ages, -not so much because of its form, but because of its content: these are -experiences which ultimately make one stand aghast before the work of -our modern men, and even before the work of some of their predecessors, -and to ask oneself into whose hands could Art have passed that she -should have fallen so low? - -Whether one look on a Sargent or on a Poynter, on a Rodin or on a -Brock, on a Vuillard or on a Maurice Denis, on an Alfred East or on a -Monet, the question in one's heart will be; not, why are these men so -poor? but, why are they so modest?--why are they so humble?--why, in -fact, are their voices so obsequiously servile and faint? One will ask: -not, why do these men paint or mould as they do? but, why do they paint -or mould at all? - -Ugliness, in the sense of amorphousness, one will be able to explain. -Ugliness, in this sense, although its position in Art has not yet been -properly accounted for, one will be able to classify perfectly well. -But this tremulousness, this plebeian embarrassment, this democratic -desire to please, above all, this democratic disinclination to assume -a position of authority,--these are things which contradict the -very essence of Art, and these are the things which are found in the -productions of almost every European school to-day. - -But, as a matter of fact, to do artists justice, beneath all the -tremendous activity of modern times in both branches of the art we are -discussing, there is, among the thinking members of the profession, -a feeling of purposelessness, of doubt and pessimism, which is ill -concealed, even in their work. The best of these artists know, and -will even tell you, that there are no canons, that individuality is -absolute, and that the aim of all their work is extremely doubtful, if -not impossible to determine. There is not much quarrelling done, or -hand-to-hand scuffling engaged in; because no one feels sufficiently -firm on his own legs to stand up and oppose the doctrine that "there is -no accounting for tastes." A clammy, deathlike stillness reigns over -the whole of this seething disagreement and antagonism in principles. -Not since Whistler fired his bright missiles into the press has the -report of a decent-sized gun been heard; and this peace in chaos, this -silence in confusion, is full of the suggestion of decomposition and -decay. - -"Art appears to be surrounded by the magic influence of death," says -Nietzsche, "and in a short time mankind will be celebrating festivals -of memory in honour of it."[45] - -With but one or two brilliant exceptions, that which characterizes -modern painting and modern sculpture is, generally speaking, its -complete lack of Art in the sense in which I shall use this word in my -next lecture. This indeed, as you will see, covers everything. For the -present purpose, however, let it be said that, from the Nietzschean -standpoint, the painters and sculptors of the present age are deficient -in dignity, in pride, in faith, and, above all, in love. - -They are too dependent upon environment, upon Nature, to give a -direction and a meaning to their exalted calling; they are too -disunited and too lawless to be leaders; they are in an age too chaotic -and too sceptical to be able to find a "wherefore" and a "whither" for -themselves; and, above all, there are too many pretenders in their -ranks--too many who ought never to have painted or moulded at all--to -make it possible for the greatest among them to elevate the Cause of -Art to its proper level. - -No æsthetic canon is to be seen or traced anywhere; nobody knows one, -nobody dares to assert one. The rule that tastes cannot be disputed is -now the only rule that prevails, and, behind this rule, the basest, -meanest and most preposterous individual claims are able to make their -influence felt. - -Certainly, it is true, there is no accounting for tastes; but, once -a particular taste has revealed itself it ought to be possible to -classify it and to point out where it belongs and whither it is going -to lead. Undoubtedly a man's taste cannot be taken from him, because -its roots are in his constitution; but, once he has identified himself -with a particular form of taste, it ought to be possible to identify -him too,--that is to say, to realize his rank and his value. - -If it is impossible to do this nowadays, it is because there is no -criterion to guide us. It will therefore be my endeavour to establish a -criterion, based upon Nietzsche's æsthetic, and, in the course of these -lectures, to classify a few forms of taste in accordance with it. - -Meanwhile, however, the inquiry into the present condition of the Fine -Arts must be continued; and this shall now be done by taking up the -public's standpoint. - - -[45] _H. A. H._, Vol. I, pp. 205, 206. - - - - -2. _The Public._ - - -The man who goes to a modern exhibition of pictures and sculptures, -experiences visually what they experience aurally who stand on a -Sunday evening within sight of the Marble Arch, just inside Hyde Park. -Not only different voices and different subjects are in the air; but -fundamentally different conceptions of life, profoundly and utterly -antagonistic outlooks. - -The Academy, The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and -Gravers, The Royal Society of British Artists, The New English Art -Club, The Salon des Artistes Français, and the Salon des Beaux Arts, -are all alike in this; and the International's scorn of the Academy,[46] -xvi or the Academy's scorn of it, is as ridiculous as the Beaux Arts' -scorn of the Salon, or vice versâ. - -It is quite foolish, therefore, to inveigh against the public for their -bad taste, Philistinism and apathy. How can they be expected to know, -where there are no teachers? How can they be otherwise than apathetic -where keen interest must perforce culminate in confusion? How can they -have good taste or any taste at all, where there is no order of rank in -tastes? - -We know the torments of the modern lay student of Art, when he asks -himself uprightly and earnestly whether he should say "yes" or "no" -before a picture or a piece of sculpture. We know the moments of -impotent hesitancy during which he racks his brains for some canon -or rule on which to base his judgment, and we sympathize with his -blushes when finally he inquires after the name of the artist, before -volunteering to express an opinion. - -At least a name is some sort of a standard nowadays. In the absence of -other standards it is something to cling to; and the modern visitor to -an Art exhibition has precious little to cling to, poor soul! - -Still, even names become perplexing in the end; for it soon occurs to -the lay student in question that, not only Millais, but also Leighton, -Whistler, Rodin, Frith, Watts, Gauguin, John, and Vuillard have names -in the Art world. - -Now, it is generally at this stage that such a student of Art either -retires disconcerted from his first attempts at grappling with the -problem, and takes refuge in indifference; or else, from the depth of -his despair, draws a certain courage which makes him say that, after -all, _he knows what he likes_. Even if he does utter a heresy at times -against fashion or against culture, he knows what pleases him. - -And thus is formed that large concourse of people who set up what they -like and dislike as the standard of taste. - -It is in vain that painters and sculptors deplore the existence of this -part of their audience. It is they themselves who are responsible for -its existence. It is the anarchy in their own ranks that has infected -the bravest of their followers. - -The taste of the masses, endowed with self-confidence in this way, is -now a potent force in European Art, and among those so-called artists -who do not suffer under the existing state of affairs, there are many -who actually conform and submit to this mob-rule. In my next lecture I -shall show how even the art-canons of the lay masses have been adopted -by some painters and sculptors in perfect good faith. - -"Too long have we acknowledged them to be right, these petty people," -says Zarathustra. "Thus we have at last given them power as well;--and -now they teach that 'good' is only what petty people call 'good.'" - -It is on this account that many sincere and refined natures turn -reluctantly away from Art altogether nowadays, and begin to doubt -whether it serves any good purpose in the world at all. They grow weary -of the humbug of the studios, the affectation of gushing amateurs, and -the snobbery of the lionizing disciple of one particular school, and -doubt the honesty even of his leader. They grow timid and renounce -all judgment in Art, wondering whether any of it really matters. In -a gingerly fashion they still hold on to generally accepted views,-- -views that time seems to have endorsed,--and thus they very often give -all their attention to the Old Masters.[48] - -And yet, it is in thus turning away with contempt from modern Art, that -sincere people tacitly acknowledge how profoundly serious the question -is on which they have turned their backs. For, it is the horror of its -disorder that makes them disconsolate: they could continue facing this -disorder only if the matter were less important. - -Passing over that unfortunately large percentage of up-to-date people, -in whose minds Art in general is associated with jewellery, French -pastry and goldfish, as a more or less superfluous, though pleasing, -luxury, the rest of the civilized world certainly feels with varying -degrees of conviction that Art has some essential bearing upon life; -and, though few will grant it the importance that Nietzsche claims for -it, a goodly number will realize that it is quite impossible to reckon -without it. - -Now, if by chance, one of the last-mentioned people, having grown -disgusted at the prevailing degeneration of Art, should start out in -quest of a canon, or a standard whereby he might take his bearings in -the sea of confusion around him, what are we to suppose would await him? - -Unfortunately, we know only too well what awaits him! - -He may turn to the art-critics--the class of men which society -sustains for his special benefit in art matters,--or he may turn to -the philosophers. He may spend years and years of labour in studying -the Art and thought of Antiquity, of the Middle Ages, and of the -Renaissance; but, unless he have sufficient independence of spirit to -distrust not only the Art, but every single manifestation of modern -life, and to try to find what the general corrosive is which seems to -be active everywhere, it is extremely doubtful whether he will ever -succeed in reaching a bourne or a destination of any sort whatsoever. - -He will still be asking: "What is a good poem?" "What is good music?" ---and, above all, "What is a good picture or a good statue?" - -We know the difficulties of the layman, and even of the artist in -this matter; for most of us who have thought about Art at all have -experienced these same difficulties. - -The general need, then, I repeat, is a definite canon,[49] a definite -statement as to the aim and purpose of Art, and the establishment of an -order of rank among tastes. Once more, I declare that I have attempted -to arrive at these things by the principles of Nietzsche's Æsthetic; -but, in order to forestall the amusement which an announcement of this -sort is bound to provoke nowadays, let me remind you of two things: -_First_, that any artistic canon must necessarily be relative to a -certain type of man; and _secondly_, that the most that an establishment -of an order of rank among tastes can do for you, is to allow you the -opportunity of exercising some choice--a choice of type in manhood, -therefore a choice as to a mode of life, and therefore a choice of -values, and the customs and conditions that spring from them. - -At present you have no such choice. You certainly have the option of -following either Rodin and Renoir, or Whistler and Manet, or Sargent -and Boldini, or John and Gauguin, or Herkomer and Lavery; but not one -of you can say, "If I follow the first couple I shall be going in such -and such a direction," or, "If I follow the second couple I shall be -travelling towards this or that goal,"--this you would scarcely be -able to say; neither could your leaders help you. - - -[46] For some amusing, and, at the same time, shrewd, remarks -concerning the International Society, I would refer the reader to Mr. -Wake _Cook's Anarchism in Art_ (Cassell & Co.). I agree on the whole -with what Mr. Wake Cook says, but cannot appreciate his remarks on -Whistler. - -[47] _Z._, IV, LXVII. - -[48] In a _Times_ leader of the 20th December, 1909, the writer puts -the case very well. After referring to the heated controversy which -was then raging round the Berlin wax bust that Dr. Bode declared to be -a Leonardo, the writer goes on to say: "... it is amusing to see how -the merit of the work is forgotten in the dispute about its origin. It -seems to be assumed that if it is by Leonardo it must be a great work -of art, and if by Lucas nothing of the kind.... This fact proves what -needs no proving, that there are many wealthy connoisseurs who buy -works of art not for their intrinsic merit, but for what is supposed to -be their authenticity.... This state of things reveals an extraordinary -timidity in buyers of works of art. If they all trusted their own -taste" [that is to say, if they had a taste of their own based upon -some reliable canon] "names would have no value. The intrinsic merit -of a work of art is not affected by the name it bears.... Yet in the -market the name of a great painter is worth more than the inspiration -of a lesser one.... Hence many people believe that it is far more -difficult to understand pictures than literature.... But there is no -more mystery about pictures than about literature. It is only the -market that makes a mystery of them, and the market does this because -it is timid." In other words: because it does not know. - -[49] On this point see _Questionings on Criticism and Beauty_, by the -Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour. (Oxford University Press.) Mr. Balfour entirely -agrees that to-day we are driven to a kind of anarchy of individual -preferences, and he acknowledges that he is not satisfied to remain in -this position. He does not seem to recognize, however, how curiously -and almost perfectly this anarchy in Art coincides with a certain -anarchy in other departments of life, and thus, although it displeases -him, he sees in it no imminent danger, or no hint that Art and life -react in any way upon each other. - - - - -3. The Critics. - - -Now, to return to our lay-student of Art, let us suppose that he first -approaches the art-critics of the day for guidance. Will there be one -among these men who will satisfy him? Is there a single art-critic -either of the nineteenth or twentieth century who knew, or who knows, -his business? - -It is possible to point to one or two, and even so, in doing this, one -is prompted more by a sense of kindness than by a sense of accuracy. -Some Continental critics, Camille Mauclair and Muther among them, and -here and there an English critic like R. A. M. Stevenson, occasionally -seem to hit a nail on the head; but as a rule, one can say with -Coventry Patmore: "There is little that is conclusive or fruitful in -any of the criticism of the present day."[50] - -For the most part it is written by men who know absurdly little of -their subject, and who, if they do know it, are acquainted much more -with its chronological and encyclopædic than with its philosophical -side. There is not much conscience either, or much acumen, in these -men; and they are as a rule concerned with questions that are -irrelevant to the point at issue. Like a certain kind of insect, as -Nietzsche very justly remarks, they live by stinging; but their stings -serve no purpose save that of providing them with their food.[51] - -They are, perhaps, less to blame than the artists themselves for the -state of affairs that exists to-day; but, while the artists have -betrayed only themselves, the critics have betrayed the reading -public. They have neither resisted nor condemned the flood of anarchy -that has swept over the art-world; they have rather promoted it in -every way in their power, abetting and applauding artists in their -lawlessness. In fairness to some of them, however, it should be said, -that in encouraging the confusion and disorder around them they very -often acted with almost religious sincerity. This reservation applies -to Ruskin, for instance, and to many other critics writing for the -better-class papers. - -Lest this be considered as an overstatement of the case, hear what one -of these men himself actually says concerning his own profession! Mr. -Frank Rutter, writing in 1907, expressed himself as follows:-- - -"In olden days the press used to lead public opinion; now it meekly -follows because its courage has been sapped by servile cringing to -the advertiser, because its antics and sensational inaccuracy have -brought it into contempt. No longer commanding the authority of a -parent or guardian, it seeks to attract attention by the methods of the -cheap-jack. The few exceptions surviving only prove the rule."[52] - -Finding themselves forced to speak of other things than "The Purpose of -Art," "The Standard of Beauty," and "The Canons of Art"--simply because -nobody now knows anything about these matters, or dares to assert -anything concerning them,--the better-class art-critics, feeling that -they must do something more than state merely their opinions concerning -the work under notice--in fact, that they must give their reasons for -their praise or blame--have lately been compelled to have recourse to -the only field that is open to them, and that is _technique_. - -Now, while Mr. Clutton Brock seems perfectly justified in deprecating -these tactics on the part of some of his brother critics, and while -Mr. Rutter seems quite wrong in upholding them, the question which -naturally arises out of the controversy is: what is there left to the -critic to talk about? - -If he is no longer able to judge of the general tendency and teaching -of a play, and if he is no longer able to regard it æsthetically, -what can he do but analyse the playwright's grammar, and seek out the -latter's split infinitives, his insufficient use of the subjunctive -mood, his Cockney idioms and Cockney solecisms? - -We agree with Mr. Clutton Brock that ... "the public has no concern -with the process of production but only with the product"; and -that "if Art _were in a healthy state_[53] the public would know this -and would not ask for technical criticism." We also agree that "the -critic's proper business is with the product, not with the process of -production; to explain their own understanding and enjoyment of the -meaning and beauty of works of art, and not the technical means by -which they have been made."[54] - -But, while we agree with all this, we cannot help sympathizing with the -late R. A. M. Stevenson and his admirer Mr. Frank Rutter; for their -dilemma is unique. - -When Monsieur Domergue of the French Academy assured his friend -Beauzée confidentially that he had discovered that Voltaire didn't -know grammar, Beauzée very rightly replied with some irony: "I am much -obliged to you for telling me; now I know that it is possible to do -without it."[55] - -And this is the only reply that ought to be made to any criticism which -analyses the technique of a real work of Art; since it is obvious, -that if technical questions are uppermost, the work is by implication -unworthy of consideration in all other respects.[56] - - -[50] _Principles in Art_, p. 4. - -[51] _H. A. H_., Vol. II, Aph. 164. - -[52] _The Academy_, August 24th, 1907. Article, "The Pursuit of Taste." - -[53] The italics are mine. - -[54] _The Academy_, Oct. 26th, 1907. Article, "The Hypochondria of Art." - -[55] Monsieur de Saint Ange's Reception Speech, 1810. - -[56] There is, however, a further excuse for Mr. Rutter and his school -of critics, and that is, that in an age like this one, in which -Amateurism is rampant, the critic very often performs a salutary office -in condemning a work on purely technical grounds. I, for my part, -am quite convinced that the morbid attention which is now paid to -technique is simply a result of the extraordinary preponderance of the -art-student element in our midst. - - - - -4. Some Art Criticisms. - - -In order further to establish my contention, it might perhaps be an -advantage to refer to some criticisms that have actually been made. -It will not be necessary to give more than one or two of these, -because everybody must know that similar instances could be multiplied -indefinitely; but while I shall limit the selection, I should not like -it to be thought that the cases I present are not absolutely typical. - -Quite recently the art-world has been staring with something akin to -amazement, not unmingled here and there with indignation, at the work -of one Augustus John, in whose pictures they have found at once a -problem and an innovation. - -Now, without for the present wishing to express any opinion at all upon -Mr. John's work, this at least seemed quite clear to me when I first -saw it; namely, that it challenged profound analysis. Unconsciously or -consciously, Mr. John seemed to re-question a whole number of things -afresh. The direction of Art, the purpose of Art, the essence of -Art, the value of Art--these are some of the subjects into which he -provoked me to inquire. - -Here was an opportunity for the more wise among the critics to show -their wisdom. This was essentially a case in which the public required -expert guidance. Augustus John comes forward with a new concept of what -is beautiful. He says pictorially this and that is beautiful. Are we to -follow him or to reject him? - -Hear one or two critics:-- - -Commenting upon one of Mr. Max Beerbohm's caricatures in the Spring -Exhibition of the New English Art Club, 1909, the Times critic writes -as follows--"Here an art-critic meets a number of Mr. John's strange -females with long necks and bent, unlovely heads, like a child's -copy of a Primitive; and the puzzled critic ejaculates, 'How odd -it seems that thirty years hence I may be desperately in love with -these ladies!' Odd, indeed, but perfectly possible," continues the -Timesexpert. "Some of us have learned, in twenty years, to find nature -in Claude Monet, and the time may come when the women in Mr. John's -'Going to the Sea,' or in the 'Family Group' at the Grafton, will seem -as beautiful as the Venus de Milo. The 'return of Night primeval and of -old chaos' may be nearer than we think." Then after paying Mr. John's -drawing a compliment, the writer continues: "But can any one, for -all that, whose mind is not warped by purely technical prepossession -in favour of a technician, say that the picture would not have been -enormously improved if the artist had thought more of nature and less -of his 'types' If Mr. John would throw his types to the winds, look -for a beautiful model, and paint her as she is, we should not have to -wait the thirty years of Mr. Max Beerbohm's critic, but might begin to -fall in love with her at once."[57] - -And this, let me assure you, is a comparatively able criticism! - -But, what guidance does it give? Why is it so timid and non-committing? -And, where it is committing, why is it so vague? The words "beautiful -model" mean absolutely nothing nowadays. How, then, can the critic -employ them without defining the particular sense in which he wishes -them to be understood? - -I examined this picture of Mr. John's, as also the one at the Grafton. -Both of them were full of his personal solution of the deepest problems -associated with the ideas of Art and beauty; but how can we know -whether to accept these solutions unless they are made quite plain by -our critics? It may be suggested that Mr. John's solutions of these -problems is not sufficiently important. Why, then, discuss them at all? - -The _Daily Telegraph_ also contained a so-called criticism of Mr. John. -After commenting, as the previous critic did, upon Mr. Max Beerbohm's -caricature and the words accompanying it, the writer proceeds: "How -true--to give the most obvious of all instances--with respect to -Wagner! And yet Mr. Max Beerbohm, the satirist, is as regards the -actual moment, not quite, quite up to date. To-day, for fear of -being accused of a Bœotian denseness, we hasten to acclaim, if not -necessarily to enjoy, Cézanne, Maurice Denis, the neo-Impressionists, -etc., etc."[58] - -"For fear of being accused of Bœotian denseness!" Yes, that is the -whole trouble! Apparently, then, if we are to believe the _Daily -Telegraph_ critic, Mr. John has been acclaimed, simply in order that his -critics may escape the gibe of being classically dense! - -Possessing neither the necessary knowledge, nor the necessary values, -nor yet the necessary certainty, to take up a definite stand for or -against, these critics "acclaim" novelty, in whatever garb it may come, -lest, perchance, their intelligence be for one instant doubted. Very -good!--at least this is a confession which reveals both their humility -and their honesty, and, since it entirely supports my contention, I am -entirely grateful for it. - -But what ought to be said to the implied, ingenuous and perfectly -unwarrantable assumption, that that which posterity endorses must of -necessity have been right all along? Why should Wagner be vindicated -simply because an age subsequent to his own happens to rave about -him? Before such posthumous success can vindicate a man, surely the -age in which it occurs must be duly valued. In the event of its being -more lofty, more noble, and more tasteful than the age which preceded -it, then certainly posthumous fame is a vindication; but if the case -be otherwise, then it is a condemnation. In an ascending culture the -classic of yesterday becomes the primitive of to-morrow, and in a -declining culture the decadent of yesterday becomes the classic of -to-morrow. Thus in valuing, say, Michelangelo, it all depends whence -you come. If you come from Egypt and walk down towards him, your -opinion will be very different from that of the man who comes from -twentieth-century Europe and who walks up towards him. - -But we are not ascending so rapidly or so materially--if we are -ascending at all--as to make posthumous success a guarantee of -excellence. In fact, precisely the converse might be true, and men -who are now quickly forgotten, may be all the greater on that account -alone. In any case, however, the matter is not so obvious as to allow -us to make the broad generalizations we do concerning it. - -Perhaps, in order to be quite fair, I ought now to refer to other -critics, as well as to other criticisms concerning John written by the -critics already quoted. True, in the Times for October 14th, 1905, -there appears a more elaborate discussion of Mr. John's powers. (I say -more elaborate, but I mean more lengthy!) And the _Daily Telegraph_ has -also given us more careful views, as, for instance, in their issues of -October 17th, 1905, and November 23rd, 1909. I doubt, however, whether -it could be honestly said that one really understands any better how to -place Mr. John after having read the articles in question, though, in -making this objection, I should like it to be understood, that I regard -it as applying not only to the art-criticism of the two particular -papers to which I have referred, but to art-criticism in general.[59] - -Most of what we read on this matter in the sphere of journalism is -pure badinage, and little besides--entertainingly and ably written -it is true, but generally very wide of the fundamental principles at -stake, and of that consciousness of dealing with a deeply serious -question, which the subject Art ought to awaken. - -No one seems to feel nowadays that a picture, like a sonnet, like a -sonata, and like a statue, if it claim attention at all, should claim -the attention of all those who are most deeply concerned with the -problems of Life, Humanity, and the Future; and that every breath of -Art comes from the lungs of Life herself, and is full of indications as -to her condition. - -When one says these things nowadays, people are apt to regard one as a -little peculiar, a little morbid, and perhaps a little too earnest as -well. Only two or three months ago, a certain critic, commenting upon a -sentence of mine in my Introduction to Nietzsche's _Case of Wagner_,[60] -in which I declared that "the principles of Art are inextricably bound -up with the laws of Life," assured the readers of the Nation that "the -plainest facts of everyday life contradict this theory of non-artistic -philosophers in their arm-chairs."[61] And thus the fundamental -questions are shelved, year after year, while Art withers, and real -artists become ever more and more scarce. - -"I loathe this great city," cried Zarathustra. - -"Woe to this great city!--And I would that I already saw the pillar of -fire in which it will be consumed! - -"For such pillars of fire must precede the great noontide. But this -hath its time and its own fate."[62] - - -[57] _The Times_, May 22nd, 1909. - -[58] _The Daily Telegraph_, May 31st, 1909. - -[59] A further example of what I mean can be found in the _Morning -Post's_ article (4th April), on the International Society's 1910 -Show. Here the writer's only comments on a Simon Bussy (No. 149), -which really required serious treatment, or no treatment at all, are: -"Could any English tourist at Mentone see that resort in the terms -of M. Bussy?" And his comments on an important Monet (No. 133) are: -"What happy Idler at Antibes other than a Frenchman could record -the particular impression of Monet (No. 133), even in enjoying the -hospitalities of Eilenroe?" - -[60] Dr. Oscar Levy's Authorized English Edition of Nietzsche's -_Complete Works._ - -[61] _The Nation_, July 9th, 1910. - -[62] _Z._, III, LI. - - - - -Part II - - -Suggested Causes Of The Anarchy In Modern Art - - - "... To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even - to them that do believe in his name."--_John_ i. 12. - - - -And now, what are the causes of this depression and this madness in -Art? For Nietzsche was not alone in recognizing it. Many voices, some -wholly trustworthy, have been raised in support of his view. - -It could only have been the unsatisfactory conditions, even in his -time, that made Hegel regard Art as practically dead; for, as Croce -and Monsieur Bénard rightly observe, Hegel's _Vorlesungen über Æsthetik_ -are Art's dirge.[1] Schopenhauer's extraordinary misunderstanding -of Art, also, precisely like Plato's,[2] can be explained only by -supposing that the examples of Art which he saw about him misled his -otherwise penetrating judgment. Even Ruskin's vague and wholly confused -utterances on the subject are evidence of his groping efforts to find -his way in the disorder of his time. And, as to the voices of lesser -men, their name is legion. - -Two eminent Englishmen of the last century, however, were both clear -and emphatic in their denunciation of the age in which they lived. I -refer to Matthew Arnold and William Morris. The former made a most -illuminating analysis of some of the influences which have conduced -to bring about the regrettable state of modern life, while William -Morris--less philosophical perhaps, and more direct, though totally -wrong in the remedies he advocates--bewailed Art's unhappy plight as -follows-- - -"I must in plain words say of the Decorative Arts, of all the arts, -that it is not merely that we are inferior in them to all who have -gone before us, but also that they are in a state of anarchy and -disorganization, that makes a sweeping change necessary and certain."[3] - -There can be no doubt, therefore, that what Nietzsche saw was a plain -fact to very many thinking men besides; but, in tracing the conditions -to precise and definite causes, Nietzsche by far excelled any of his -contemporaries. - -Before proceeding, however, to examine the more general causes that he -suggests, I should like to pause here a moment, in order to dispose -of one particular cause which, although of tremendous importance for -us moderns, can scarcely be regarded as having been active for a very -long period. I refer to the manner in which Nietzsche accounts for a -good deal that is incompetent and futile, in the Art of the present day -only, by pointing to a psychological misapprehension which is, alas, -but all too common. I should not have broken my general narrative with -the consideration of this particular cause, had it not been that I feel -sure it will help laymen, and artists as well, to account for much that -will still remain obscure, even after the more general causes have been -discussed. - - -[1] Benedetto Croce, _Æsthetic_ (translated by Douglas Ainslie), p. -308, and Monsieur Bénard's critical survey of Hegel's _Æsthetik_ in -_Cours d'Esthétique_, Vol. V. p. 493. - -[2] On this point see Schelling, _Sämmtliche Werke_, Vol. V, -"Vorlesungen über die Methode des akademischen Studiums," pp. 346-47. - -[3] _The Decorative Arts_, an address delivered before the Trades Guild -of Learning, p. 11. - - - - -1. Morbid Irritability. - - -Nietzsche recognized that this age is one in which Will is not merely -diseased, but almost paralyzed. Everywhere he saw men and women, youths -and girls, who are unable to resist a stimulus, however slight; who -react with excessive speed in the presence of an irritant, and who -bedeck this weakness and this irritability with all the finest gala -dresses and disguises that they can lay their hands on.[4] - -In Determinism he saw the philosophical abstract of this fact; in our -novels and plays he saw its representation under the cloak of passion -and emotion; in the Darwinian theory of the influence of environment, -he saw it logged out in scientific garb, and in the modern artist's -dependence upon an appeal to Nature for inspiration--i. e. for a spur -to react upon, he recognized its unhealthiest manifestation. - -"The power of resisting stimuli is on the wane," he says; "the strength -required in order to stop action, and to cease from reacting, is most -seriously diseased."[5] - -"Man unlearns the art of _doing_, and _all he does is to react_ to -stimuli coming from his environment."[6] - -Speaking of the modern artist, he refers to "the absurd irritability of -his system, which makes a crisis out of every one of his experiences, -and deprives him of all calm reflection,"[7] and, while describing -Europeans in general, he lays stress upon their "spontaneous and -changeable natures."[8] - -In calling our attention to these things, Nietzsche certainly laid his -finger on the root of a good deal for which the other more general -causes which I shall adduce fail to account. - -There can be no doubt that this irritability does exist, and that it -causes large numbers of unrefined and undesirable men and women to -enter the arts to-day, who are absolutely mistaken in their diagnosis -of their condition. We are all only too ready to conceal our defects -beneath euphemistic interpretations of them, and we most decidedly -prefer, if we have the choice, to regard any morbid symptoms we may -reveal, as the sign of strength rather than of weakness. There is some -temptation, therefore, both for our friends and ourselves, to interpret -our natures kindly and if possible flatteringly; and, if we suffer -from a certain "sickly irritability and sensitiveness" in the presence -of what we think beautiful, we prefer to ascribe this to an artistic -temperament rather than to a debilitated will. - -We are acquainted with the irascible nerve patient who pours his curses -on the head of a noisy child; and in his case we are only too ready to -suspect a morbid condition of the body. But when we ourselves, or our -young friends, or our brothers, sister, or cousins, suddenly display, -when still in their teens, a sort of gasping enthusiasm before a -landscape, a peasant child, or a sunset; when they show an inability -to bide their time, to pause, and to remain inactive in the presence -of what they consider beautiful, we immediately conclude from their -conduct, not that they have little command of themselves, but that they -must of necessity have strong artistic natures. - -Our novels are full of such people with weak wills, so are our plays; -so, too, unfortunately, are our Art Schools. - -We know the Art student who, the moment he sees what he would call "a -glorious view," or a "dramatic sunset or sunrise," hurls his materials -together helter-skelter and dashes off, ventre à terre, to the most -convenient spot whence he can paint it. - -We have seen him seize the thing he calls an impression, his teeth -clenched the while, and his nostrils dilated. But how often does it -occur to us that such a creature has got a bad temper? How often do we -realize that he is irritable, self-indulgent, sick in fact? - -Only in an age like our own could this ridiculous travesty of an artist -pass for an artist. It is only in our age that his neurotic touchiness -could possibly be mistaken for strength and vigour; and yet there are -hundreds of his kind among the painters and sculptors of the day. - -Many a student's call to Art, at present, is merely a reminder, on the -part of Nature, that he should cultivate restraint and forbearance, -and should go in for commerce; for there is a whole universe between -such a man and the artist of value. Not that sensitiveness is absent -in the real artist; but it is of a kind which has strength to wait, to -reflect, to weigh, and, if necessary, to refrain from action altogether. - -"Slow is the experience of all deep wells," says Zarathustra. "Long -must they wait ere they know what hath sunk into their depths."[9] - -But the people I have just described have only a skin, and any itch -upon it they call Art. - -No lasting good, no permanent value can come of these irascible people -who will be avenged on all that they call beauty, "right away"; -who will, so to speak, "pay beauty out," and who cannot contain -themselves in its presence. They can but help to swell the ranks of the -incompetent, and even if they are successful, as they sometimes are -nowadays, all they do is to wreck the sacred calling in which they are -but pathological usurpers. - -Now, in turning to the more general causes, we find that in accounting -for the prevailing anarchy in Europe and in countries like Europe, -and particularly in England and in countries like England, Nietzsche -pointed to the whole heritage of traditional thought which prevailed -and still does prevail in the civilized parts of the Western world, -and declared that it was in our most fundamental beliefs, in our most -unquestioned dogmas, and in our most vaunted birthrights that this -anarchy takes its source. - -If Art had lost its prestige in our midst, and even its justification; -and if individualism, incompetence, eccentricity, mediocrity and doubt -were rife, we must seek the causes of all this neither in Diderot's -somewhat disappointing essay on painting, nor in the slur that Rousseau -had once cast upon the culture of man, nor in John Stuart Mill's -arguments in favour of individualism, nor yet in Spencer's declaration -that "the activities we call play are united with the æsthetic -activities by the trait that neither subserves in any direct way the -processes conducive to life."[10] - -All these things are merely symptomatic. Diderot, Rousseau, John Stuart -Mill, and Spencer were only symptoms of still deeper influences which -have been at work for centuries, and those influences are to be sought -in the most vital values upon which our civilization is based. - - -[4] _G. E._, p. 145. - -[5] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 36. - -[6] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 63. - -[7] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 258. - -[8] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 339. - -[9] _Z._, I, XII. - -[10] _The Principles of Psychology_, Vol. II, p. 627. - - - - -2. Misleading Systems of Æsthetic. - - -It is perfectly true that from classic times onward the guidance -of European thought, on matters of Art, has been almost entirely -inadequate if not misleading. But for the subconscious motives of -artists and their spectators there seems to have been very little -comprehension of what Art actually means and aspires to, and even these -subconscious motives have been well-nigh stifled, thanks to the false -doctrines with which they have been persistently and systematically -smothered. Perhaps, however, the very nature of the subject condemns -it to false theoretical treatment; for it has almost always been at -the mercy of men who were not themselves performers in the arts. Of -the few artists who have written on Art, how many have given us an -adequate expression of what they themselves must have felt and aspired -to? Not one. Ghiberti, Vasari, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Mengs, Hogarth -and Reynolds--to mention the most famous, teach us scarcely anything -at all concerning the essence of their life passion, and this is, as -Nietzsche observes, perhaps "a necessary fault; for," he continues, -"the artist who would begin to understand himself would therewith begin -to mistake himself--he must not look backwards, he must not look at -all; he must give.--It is an honour for an artist to have no critical -faculty; if he can criticize he is mediocre, he is modern."[11] - -Still, the greater part of this faulty guidance may, in itself, be but -another outcome of the erroneous and rooted beliefs which lie even -deeper in the heart of life than Art itself, and for these beliefs we -must seek deep down in the foundations of European thought for the last -two or three hundred years. In fact, we must ask ourselves what our -heritage from by-gone ages has been. - -Since Art is the subject of our inquiry, and "Art is the only task -of life,"[12] it seems moderately clear that everything that has tended -to reduce the dignity of Art must, in the first place, have reduced -the dignity of man. Is our heritage of thought of a kind that exalts -man, or is it of a kind that debases him? What are, in fact, its chief -characteristics? - - -[11] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 256. - -[12] Ibid., p. 292. - - - - -3. Our Heritage.--A. Christianity. - - -We shall find that the one definite and unswerving tendency of the -traditional thought of Europe has been, first, to establish on earth -that equality between men which from the outset Christianity had -promised them in Heaven; secondly, to assail the prestige of man by -proving that other tenet of the Faith which maintains the general -depravity of human nature; and thirdly, to insist upon truth in the -Christian sense; that is, as an absolute thing which can be, and must -be, made common to all. - -At the root of all our science, all our philosophy, and all our -literature, the three fundamental doctrines of Christianity: the -equality of all souls, the insuperable depravity of human nature, and -the insistence upon Truth, are the ruling influences. - -By means of the first and third doctrines equality was established in -the spirit, and by means of the second it was established in the flesh.[13] - - -By means of the first, each individual, great or small, was granted an -importance[14] undreamt of theretofore,[15] while the lowest were raised -to the highest power; by means of the second, in which the pride of -mankind received a snub at once severe and merciless, the highest were -reduced to the level of the low, while the low were by implication -materially raised; and by means of the third, no truth or point of -view which could not be made general could be considered as a truth or -a point of view at all. Practically it amounted to this, that in one -breath mankind was told, first, - - "Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured - To save thy soul from Death and Hell;"[16] - -secondly, "Thou shalt have no other God before Me;" and thirdly, - - "From Greenland's icy mountains - To India's coral strand, - ... every prospect pleases, - And only man is vile."[17] - -But in each case, as I have pointed out, it was the higher men who -suffered. Because they alone had something to lose. The first notion ---that of equality, threatened at once to make them doubt their own -privileges and powers, to throw suspicion into the hearts of their -followers, and to make all special, exceptional and isolated claims -utterly void. The third--the insistence upon a truth which could be -general and absolute, denied their right to establish their own truths -in the hearts of men, and to rise above the most general truth which -was reality; while in the second--the Semitic doctrine of general sin, -which held that man was not only an imperfect, but also a fallen being, -and that all his kind shared in this shame--there was not alone the -ring of an absence of rank, but also of a universal depreciation of -human nature which was ultimately to lead, by gradual stages, from a -disbelief in man himself to a disbelief in nobles, in kings and finally -in gods.[18] - -At one stroke, not one or two human actions, but all human -performances, inspirations and happy thoughts, had been stripped of -their glory and condemned. Man could raise himself only by God's grace ---that is to say, by a miracle, otherwise he was but a fallen angel, -aimlessly beating the air with his broken wings. - -These three blows levelled at the head of higher men were fatal to the -artist; for it is precisely in the value of human inspirations, in -the efficiency of human creativeness, and in the irresistible power -of human will, that he, above all, must and does believe. It is his -mission to demand obedience and to procure reverence; for, as we shall -see, every artist worthy the name is at heart a despot.[19] - -Fortunately, the Holy Catholic Church intervened, and by its rigorous -discipline and its firm establishment upon a hierarchical principle, -suppressed for a while the overweening temper of the Christian soul, -and all claims of individual thought and judgment, while it also -recognized an order of rank among men; but the three doctrines above -described remained notwithstanding at the core of the Christian Faith, -and awaited only a favourable opportunity to burst forth and blight all -the good that the Church had done. - -This favourable opportunity occurred in the person of Martin Luther. -The Reformation, in addition to reinstating, with all their evil -consequences, the three doctrines mentioned above, also produced a -certain contempt for lofty things and an importunate individualism -which has done nought but increase and spread from that day to this. - -Individualism, on a large scale, of course, had been both tolerated and -practised in Gothic architecture, and on this account the buildings of -the Middle Ages might be said to breathe a more truly Christian spirit[20] -than most of the sculpture and the painting of the same period, -which are more hieratic.[21] But it was not until the Reformation -began to spread that the most tiresome form of individualism, which we -shall call Amateurism,[22] received, as it were, a Divine sanction; -and there can be no doubt that it is against this element in modern -life that not only Art, but all forces which aim at order, law and -discipline, will eventually have to wage their most determined and most -implacable warfare. - - -[13] The Judaic story of the fall of man is at bottom an essentially -democratic one. This absence of rank in sin had no parallel in the -aristocratic Pagan world. Likewise, in the manner of the fall, there -is a total absence of noble qualities. "Curiosity, beguilement, -seductibility and wantonness--in short, a whole series of pre-eminently -feminine passions--were regarded as the origin of evil." See _B. T._, -pp. 78, 79. - -[14] Bury, _History of the Later Roman Empire_, Vol. I, p. 33. - -[15] _A._, Aph. 43 and 64. - -[16] _Hymns Ancient and Modern_, No. 435. - -[17] _Ibid_., No. 522. - -[18] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 312: "When it occurs to inferior men to doubt -that higher men exist, then the danger is great," etc. See, in fact, -the whole of Aph. 874. - -[19] See _A._, Aph. 49: "The concept of guilt and punishment, inclusive -of the doctrine of 'grace,' of 'salvation,' and of 'forgiveness'--lies -through and through, without a shred of psychological truth. Sin,... -this form of human self-violation _par excellence_, was invented solely -for the purpose of making all science, all culture, and every kind of -elevation and nobility utterly impossible." - -[20] Ruskin, _On the Nature of Gothic Architecture_ (p. 7), contrasting -the classic and Gothic style, says: "... In the mediæval, or especially -Christian, system of ornament, this slavery [_i.e._ the slavery imposed -by the classic canon] is done away with altogether; Christianity having -recognized, in small things as well as great, the individual value of -every soul." - -[21] In a good deal of the painting and sculpture of the -pre-Renaissance period, too, signs were not lacking which showed that -the Christian ideal of truth was beginning to work its effects by -leading to a realism which I have classified in Lecture II as Police -Art. Of course, a good deal of this realism may also be accounted for -by the reasons which I suggest at the end of Part I of Lecture III; -be this as it may, however, as it is difficult to decide the actual -proportion of either of these influences, the weight of the Christian -doctrine of Truth must not be altogether overlooked in such productions -as Donatello's "Crucifixion" (Capella Bardi, S. Croce, Florence); -Masolino's "Raising of Tabitha" (Carmine, Florence); Masaccio's -Fresco (S. Maria del Carmine, Florence); Ucello's "Rout of S. Romano" -(Uffizi); Andrea del Castagno's "Crucifixion" (in the Monastery of the -Angeli, Florence); and the really beautiful statues of the Founders in -the Cathedral of Naumburg. - -[22] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 297: "The terrible consequences of -'freedom'--in the end everybody thinks he has the right to every -problem. All order of rank is banished." - - - - -B. Protestantism. - - -For Protestantism was nothing more nor less than a general rebellion -against authority.[23] By means of it the right of private judgment -was installed once more, and to the individual was restored that -importance which Christianity had acknowledged from the first, and -which only the attitude of the Church had been able to modify. The -layman, with his conscience acknowledged to be the supreme tribunal, -was declared a free man, emancipated even from the law,[24] or, as -Luther said, "free Lord of all, subject to none."[25] - -Now, not only the immortal soul of every individual became important; -but also every one of his proclivities, desires and aspirations. He was -told that he could be his own priest if he chose,[26] and that Christ had -obtained this prerogative for him. Megalomania, in fact, as Nietzsche -declares, was made his duty.[27] - -"Let men so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards -of the mysteries of God."[28] - -With these words St. Paul had addressed the Corinthians, and Luther did -not fail to base his strongest arguments upon the text.[29] - -"Even the Reformation," says Nietzsche, "was a movement for individual -liberty; 'Every one his own priest' is really no more than a formula -for _libertinage_.As a matter of fact, the words, 'Evangelical freedom' -would have sufficed--and all instincts which had reasons for remaining -concealed broke out like wild hounds, the most brutal needs suddenly -acquired the courage to show themselves, everything seemed justified."[30] - -Was it at all likely that the formula, "Every one his own priest," was -going to lead to trouble only in ecclesiastical matters? As a matter of -fact we know that Luther himself extended the principle still further -in his own lifetime. By his radical alterations in the church service -Luther gave the laity a much more prominent place in Divine worship -than they had ever had before; for, in addition to the fact that the -liturgy as compiled by him was written almost entirely in the native -tongue, the special attention he gave to the singing of hymns[31] -allowed the people an opportunity of displaying their individual powers -to such an extent that it has even been said that "they sang themselves -into enthusiasm for the new faith."[31] - -But these remarkable changes were only symbolic of the changes that -followed elsewhere; for, once this spirit of individual liberty and -judgment had invaded that department of life which theretofore had -been held most sacred, what was there to prevent it from entering and -defiling less sacred sanctuaries? - -Bearing in mind the condition of the arts at the present day, and -taking into account a fact which we all very well know; namely, that -thousands upon thousands are now practising these arts who have -absolutely no business to be associated with them in any way, we are -almost inclined to forgive Protestantism and Puritanism their smashing -of our images, and their material iconoclasm; so light does this -damage appear, compared with the other indirect damage they have done -to the spirit of Art, by establishing the fatal precedent of allowing -everybody to touch and speak of everything--however sacred. - -We may argue with Buckle that the English spirit is of a kind which -is essentially Protestant in temper; but this only seems to make the -matter worse. - -When Cardinal Newman and Matthew Arnold point, the one to the evils of -Liberalism, and the other to the evils of anarchy, we know to what they -are referring. They are referring to the impossibility, nowadays, of -awakening reverence for anything or for anybody. - -"May not every man in England say what he likes?" Matthew Arnold -exclaims. "But," he continues, "the aspirations of culture, which -is the study of perfection, are not satisfied, unless what men say, -when they may say what they like, is worth saying.... Culture -indefatigably tries, not to make what each raw person may like, the -rule by which he fashions himself; but to draw ever nearer to a sense -of what is indeed beautiful, graceful, and becoming, and to get the raw -person to like that."[32] - -But what is fatal to culture is no less fatal to art, and thus we find -Nietzsche saying-- - -"Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now it becometh mob."[33] - -If in the Europe, and especially in the England of to-day, everybody -has a right to every judgment and to every joy; if a certain slavish -truthfulness to nature and reality, rawness and ruggedness, have -well-nigh wrecked higher aspirations, and if everybody can press his -paltry modicum of voice, of thought, of draughtsmanship, of passion -and impudence to the fore, and thus spread his portion of mediocrity -like dodder over the sacred field of Art; it is because the fundamental -principles of the Christian faith are no longer latent or suppressed in -our midst; but active and potent--if not almighty. - -It might almost be said that they have reared a special instinct--the -instinct of liberty and of taking liberties, without any particular aim -or purpose; and, by so doing, have thrown all virtue, all merit, all -ambition, not on the side of culture, but on the side of that "free -personality"[34] and rude naturalness, or truth to man's original savagery, -which it seems the triumph of every one, great or small, to produce. - -No one any longer claims the kind of freedom that Pope Paul III claimed -for his protégé Benvenuto Cellini:[35] this would be too dangerous, -because, in a trice, it would be applied to all. Therefore the -insignificant majority get more freedom than is good for them, and the -noble minority are deprived of their birthright. - -"Thus do I speak unto you in parable," cries Zarathustra, "ye who make -the soul giddy, ye preachers of _equality_! Tarantulas are ye unto me, -and secretly revengeful ones! - -"But I will soon bring your hiding-places to the light, therefore do I -laugh in your faces my laughter of the height. - -"And 'Will to Equality'--that itself shall henceforth be the name of -virtue; and against all that hath power will we raise an outcry! - -"Ye preachers of equality, the tyrant frenzy of impotence crieth thus -in you for 'equality': your most secret tyrant longings disguise -themselves in words of virtue!"[36] - -And now recapitulating a moment, what have we found our heritage to -consist of, in the realm of the religious spirit? - -In the first place: a certain universal acknowledgment and claim of -liberty, which has no special purpose or direction, and which is too -fair to some and unfair to many. Secondly, a devotion to a truth that -could be general, which perforce has reduced us to vulgar reality; -thirdly, a prevailing depression in the value and dignity of man, -resulting from the suspicion that has been cast upon all authority -and all loftiness; and fourthly, a wanton desecrating and befingering -of all sanctuaries by anybody and everybody, which is the inevitable -outcome of that amateur priesthood introduced and sanctified by Martin -Luther. - - -[23] Buckle, _History of Civilization in England_, Vol. II, p. 140: -"Whatever the prejudices of some may suggest, it will be admitted, by -all unbiassed judges, that the Protestant Reformation was neither more -nor less than an open rebellion. Indeed, the mere mention of private -judgment, on which it was avowedly based, is enough to substantiate -this fact. To establish the right of private judgment was to appeal -from the Church to individuals," etc. (See also p. 138 in the same -volume.) _Cambridge Modern History_, Vol. II, p. 166: "In the Edict of -Worms, Luther had been branded as a revolutionary, then as a heretic, -and the burden of the complaints preferred against him by the Catholic -humanists was, that his methods of seeking a reformation would be -fatal to all order, political or ecclesiastical. They painted him as -the apostle of revolution, a second Catiline." And p. 174: "The most -frequent and damaging charge levelled at Luther between 1520 and 1525 -reproached him with being the apostle of revolution and anarchy, and -predicted that his attacks on spiritual authority would develop into a -campaign against civil order unless he were promptly suppressed." - -[24] _A Treatise Touching the Libertie of a Christian_, by Martyne -Luther (translated from the Latin by James Bell, 1579. Edited by -W. Bengo' Collyer, 1817), p. 17: "So that it is manifest that to a -Christian man faith sufficeth only for all, and that he needeth no -works to be justified by. Now, if he need no works, then also he needs -not the law: if he have no need of the law, surely he is then free from -the law. So this also is true. The law is not made for the righteous -man, and this is the same Christian libertie." - -[25] _Ibid_., p. 3. - -[26] _Ibid_., p. 31. - -[27] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 211. - -[28] 1 Cor. iv. 1. - -[29] Cambridge Modern History, Vol. II, p. 201. - -[30] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 75. - -[31] Emil Naumann, _History of Music_, Vol. II, p. 429: "With the -Catholics, hymns in the mother tongue were only used at processions -and on high festivals, and were then sung by the congregation only -at Christmas, Easter, and certain other high feast days. With these -exceptions, the Catholic congregational song consisted of short musical -phrases chanted by the priests, to which the people either responded, -or added their voices to the refrain sung by the choristers from the -altar. The part assigned to the people then was but a very subordinate -one." See also the Introduction to C. von Winterfeld's Sacred Songs of -Luther (Leipzig, 1840). - -[32] _The Beginnings of Art_, by Ernst Grosse, pp. 299, 300; and -Cambridge Modern History, Vol. II, p. 201. - -[33] Culture and Anarchy (Smith, Elder, 1909), pp. 11, 12. - -[34] _Z._, I, VII. - -[35] E. I., pp. 54, 55. - -[36] _Sandro Botticelli_, by Emile Gebhart (1907), p. 9: "Paul III âme -très haute, répond aux personnes qui lui dénoncent les vices de son -spirituel spadassin: 'Les hommes uniques dans leur art, comme Cellini, -ne doivent pas être soumis aux lois, et lui moins que tout autre.'" - - - - -C. Philosophical Influences. - - -Now, turning to our heritage in philosophy and science, do we find -that it tends to resist, or to thwart in any way the principles of our -religious heritage? Not in the slightest degree! At every point and -at every stage it has confirmed and restated, with all the pomp of -facts and statistics to support it, what the religious spirit had laid -down for our acceptance. It is superficial and ridiculous to suppose, -as Dr. Draper once supposed, that there has been a conflict between -Religion and Science. I take it that he means the Christian Religion -alone. Such a conflict has never taken place; what has taken place, -however, is a conflict between Science and the Catholic Church. The -Christian Religion and Science together, however, have never had any -such antagonism, and least of all in England, where, from the time of -Roger Bacon,[37] the first English Experimentalist, to the present -day, nothing has been left undone, no stone has been left unturned, -which might establish scientifically that which Christianity, as we -have seen, wished to establish emotionally. - -Universal liberty, without a purpose or a direction; the free and -plebeian production of thoughts and theories divorced from all aim -or ideal, after the style in which children are born in the slums; -devotion to a truth that can be common to all; the depression of the -value and dignity of man, and a certain lack of reverence for all -things--these four aspirations of Christianity and Protestantism have -been the aspirations of science, and at the present moment they are -practically attained. - -Unfortunately, it is in the nature of human beings to imitate success, -and England's success as a colonizing and constitutional nation has -undoubtedly been a potent force in spreading not only her commercial, -but also her philosophical views among all ambitious and aspiring -Western nations, who guilelessly took the evil with the good. - -The empiricists, Francis Bacon, Hobbes and Locke, were among the first, -by their teaching, to level a decisive blow at genuine thought, at the -man who knows and who is the measure of all things;[38] and this they -did by arriving at a conception of knowledge and thought that converted -the latter into possessions which might be common to everybody--that is -to say, by reducing all knowledge to that which can be made immediately -the experience of all. This was the greatest blasphemy against the -human spirit that has ever been committed. By means of it, every one, -whatever he might be, could aspire to intellectuality and wisdom; -for experience belongs to everybody, whereas a great spirit is the -possession only of the fewest. - -The Frenchmen, Helvetius, Voltaire, Rousseau, Maupertius, Condillac, -Diderot, d'Alembert, La Mettrie and Baron Holbach, were quick to -become infected, and in Germany, despite the essentially aristocratic -influence of Leibnitz,[39] Kant was the first to follow suit. - -Begun in this way, English philosophical speculation, as Dr. Max -Schasler says, was forced to grow ever more and more materialistic[40] -in character, and, if "Science has already come very generally to -mean, not that which may be known, but only such knowledge as every -animal with faculties a little above those of an ant or a beaver can be -induced to admit," and if "incommunicable knowledge, or knowledge which -can be communicated at present only to a portion--perhaps a small -portion--of mankind, is already affirmed to be no knowledge at all,"[41] -it is thanks to the efforts of the fathers of English thought. - -Hence Nietzsche's cry, that "European ignobleness, the plebeian ism of -modern ideas--is England's work and invention."[42] - -But it is not alone in its vulgarization of the concept of knowledge, -or in its materialistic tendency, that English influence has helped -to reduce the dignity of man and to level his kind; the utilitarians -from Bentham to John Stuart Mill and Sidgwick, by taking the greatest -number as the norm, as the standard and measurement of all things, ably -reflected the Christian principle, of the equality of souls, in their -works, and, incidentally, by so doing, treated the greatest number -exceedingly badly. For what is mediocre can neither be exalted nor -charmed by values drawn from mediocrity, and is constantly in need of -values drawn from super-mediocrity, for its joy, for its love of life, -and for its reconciliation with drabby reality.[43] - - -[37] It is important here to note, first, that Roger Bacon was an -Aristotelian through his intimate study of the Arabian treatises on the -Greek philosopher, and, secondly, that although Greek speculation was -governed more by insight than experience, Aristotle forms a striking -exception to this rule. - -[38] _G. E._, p. 210: "What is lacking in England, and has always been -lacking, that half-actor and rhetorician knew well enough, the absurd -muddle-head Carlyle, who sought to conceal under passionate grimaces -what he knew about himself: namely, what was lacking in Carlyle--real -power of intellect, real depth of intellectual perception, in short, -philosophy." - -[39] In reply to those who said, "Nothing exists in the intellect but -what has before existed in the senses," Leibnitz replied: "Yes, nothing -but the intellect." - -[40] _Kritische Geschichte der Æsthetik_ (1872). Speaking of the -English Æstheticians, he says (p. 285), "The fact that there is no -decrease, but rather an increase of Materialism in their thought, no -purification in their meditation from the coarseness of experience, -but rather a gradual immersion in the same, may also be regarded as -characteristic of the development of the English spirit in general." - -[41] Coventry Patmore, _Principles in Art_, p. 209. - -[42] _G. E._, p. 213. - -[43] Even J. S. Mill saw the flaw in his own teaching in this respect, -and acknowledged it openly. See his _Liberty_, chapter "The Elements of -Well-Being," paragraph 13. - - - - -D. The Evolutionary Hypothesis. - - -Finally, in the latter half of the last century, these two tendencies -at last reached their zenith, and culminated in a discovery which, -by some, is considered as the proudest product of the English mind. -This discovery, which was at once a gospel and a solution of all -world riddles, and which infected the whole atmosphere of Europe from -Edinburgh to Athens, was the Evolutionary Hypothesis as expounded by -Darwin and Spencer. - -A more utterly vulgar, mechanistic, and depressing conception of -life and man cannot be conceived than this evolutionary hypothesis -as it was presented to us by its two most famous exponents; and its -immediate popularity and rapid success, alone, should have made it seem -suspicious, even in the eyes of its most ardent adherents. - -And yet it was acclaimed and embraced by almost everybody, save those, -only, whose interests it assailed. - -How much more noble was the origin of the world as described even in -Genesis, Disraeli was one of the first to see and to declare;[44] -and yet, so strong was the faith in a doctrine which, by means of -its popular proof through so-called facts, could become the common -possession of every tinker, tailor and soldier, that people preferred -to think they had descended from monkeys, rather than doubt such an -overwhelming array of data, and regard themselves still as fallen -angels. - -In its description of the prime motor of life as a struggle for -existence; in its insistence upon adaptation to environment and -mechanical adjustment to external influences;[45] in its deification of a -blind and utterly inadequate force which was called Natural Selection; -and above all in its unprincipled optimism, this new doctrine bore the -indelible stamp of shallowness and vulgarity. - -According to it, man was not only a superior monkey, but he was also -a creature who sacrificed everything in order to live; he was not -only a slave of habit, but he was a yielding jelly, fashioned by his -surroundings; he was not only a coward, but a cabbage; and, with it -all, he was invoked to do nothing to assist the world process and his -own improvement; for, he was told by his unscrupulous teachers, that -"evil tended perpetually to disappear,"[46] and that "progress was -therefore not an accident, but a necessity."[47] - -Thus not only was man debased, but we could now fold our arms -apathetically, and look on while he dashed headlong to his ruin.[48] - -"No," said the evolutionists, "we do not believe in a moral order of -things, although our doctrine does indeed seem to be a reflection of -such an order; neither do we believe in God: but we certainly pin our -faith to our little idol Evolution, and feel quite convinced that it -is going to make us muddle through to perfection somehow--look at our -proofs!" - -And what are these proofs? On all sides they are falling to bits, and -we are quickly coming to the conclusion that an assembly of facts can -prove nothing--save the inability of a scientist to play the rôle of a -creative poet. - -Nietzsche was one of the first to see, that if Becoming were a reliable -hypothesis, it must be supported by different principles from those of -the Darwinian school, and he spared no pains in sketching out these -different principles.[49] - -"These English psychologists--what do they really mean?" Nietzsche -demands. "We always find them voluntarily or involuntarily at the same -task of pushing to the front the _partie honteuse_ of our inner world, -and looking for the efficient, governing and decisive principle in that -precise quarter where the intellectual self-respect of the race would -be the most reluctant to find it--that is to say, in slothfulness of -habit, or in forgetfulness, or in blind and fortuitous mechanism and -association of ideas, or in some factor that is purely passive, reflex, -molecular, or fundamentally stupid,--what is the real motive power -which always impels these psychologists in precisely this direction?"[50] - -Not one of these advocates of mechanism, however, realized how -profoundly he was degrading man, and how seriously he had therefore -sullied all human achievement. In their scientific _réchauffé_ of the -Christian concept of man's depravity, they all had the most hearty -faith, and, as there was little in their over-populated and industrial -country to contradict their conclusions, they did not refrain from -passing these conclusions into law. - -We can detect nothing in this greatest scientific achievement of the -last century which seriously resists or opposes our heritage in the -realm of the religious spirit. In their fundamentals, the two are one; -And when we take them both to task, and try to discover their influence -upon the world, we wonder not so much why Art is so bad, but why Art -has survived at all. - -For, though for the moment we may exclude the influence of earlier -English thought upon general artistic achievement, at least the -degraded condition of Art at the present day cannot be divorced in this -manner from more recent English speculation, for even Mr. Bosanquet -counts Darwin and Lyell among those who have ushered in the new -renaissance of art in England![51] - -"At present," says Nietzsche, "nobody has any longer the courage for -separate rights, for rights of domination, for a feeling of reverence -for himself and his equals,--for pathos of distance,... and even our -politics are morbid from this want of courage!"[52] - -To-day, when all reverence has vanished, even before kings and -gods, when to respect oneself overmuch is regarded with undisguised -resentment, what can we hope from a quarter in which self-reverence -and reverence in general are the first needs of all? - -We can only hope to find what we actually see, and that, as we all very -well know and cannot deny, is a condition of anarchy, incompetence, -purposelessness and chaos. - -"Culture ... has a very important function to fulfil for mankind," -said Matthew Arnold. "And this function is particularly important -in our modern world, of which the whole civilization is, to a much -greater degree than the civilization of Greece and Rome, mechanical -and external, and tends constantly to become more so. But, above all, -in our own country has culture a weighty part to perform, because, -here, that mechanical character, which civilization tends to take -everywhere, is shown in the most eminent degree.... The idea of -perfection as an inward condition of the mind and spirit is at variance -with the mechanical and material civilization in esteem with us, and -nowhere, as I have said, so much in esteem as with us."[53] - -We may trust that it is not in vain that men like Matthew Arnold and -Nietzsche raised their voices against the spirit of the age. And we may -hope that it is not in vain that lesser men have taken up their cry. - -In any case Nietzsche did not write in utter despair. His words do not -fall like faded autumn leaves announcing the general death that is -imminent. On the contrary, he saw himself approaching a new century, -this century, and he drew more than half his ardour from the hope -that we might now renounce this heritage of the past, the deleterious -effects of which he spent his lifetime in exposing. - -"Awake and listen, ye lonely ones!" he says. "From the future winds are -coming with a gentle beating of wings, and there cometh good tidings -for fine ears. - -"Ye lonely ones of to-day, ye who stand apart, ye shall one day be a -people, and from you who have chosen yourselves, a chosen people shall -arise. - -"Verily a place of healing shall the earth become! And already -a new odour lieth around it, an odour which bringeth salvation--and a -new hope."[54] - -[44] See Froude's _The Earl of Beaconsfield_ (9th Edition), pp. 176, -177: "The discoveries of science are not, we are told, consistent with -the teachings of the Church.... It is of great importance when this -tattle about science is mentioned, that we should attach to the phrase -precise ideas. The function of science is the interpretation of nature, -and the interpretation of the highest nature is the highest science. -What is the highest nature? Man is the highest nature. But I must say -that when I compare the interpretation of the highest nature by the -most advanced, the most fashionable school of modern science with some -other teaching with which we are familiar I am not prepared to admit -that the lecture room is more scientific than the Church. What is the -question now placed before society, with a glib assurance the most -astounding? The question is this: Is man an ape or an angel? I, my -Lord, I am on the side of the angels. I repudiate with indignation and -abhorrence the contrary view, which I believe foreign to the conscience -of humanity." - -[45] See p. 37. - -[46] Spencer, _Social Statics_ (Ed. 1892), p. 27. - -[47] _Ibid_., p. 31. - -[48] Two Christian principles are concealed here: 1. The depravity of -man. 2. Faith in a moral order of things. - -[49] I have discussed this question, with as much detail as the space -would allow, in _Nietzsche, his Life and Works_, Chap. IV. (Constable's -Philosophies Ancient and Modern). See also my letter, "Nietzsche and -Science," in the _Spectator_ of 8th January, 1910. - -[50] _G. M._, p. 17. - -[51] _A History of Æsthetic_, p. 445. - -[52] _A._, Aph. 43. - -[53] _Culture and Anarchy_ (Smith, Elder, 1909), p. 10. - -[54] _Z._, I, XXII. - - - - -Lecture II[1] - - -Government in Art. Nietzsche's Definition of Art - - - - -Part I - - -Divine Art and the Man-God - - - "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, - and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and - have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of - the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the - earth."--Genesis i. 28. - - - -Man has ceased from believing in miracles, because he is convinced that -the divine power of the miracle-worker has departed from him. At last -he has proclaimed the age of wonders to be at an end, because he no -longer knows himself capable of working wonders. - -He acknowledges that miracles are still needed. He hears the -distressing cry for the super-natural everywhere. All about him to-day -he feels that wonders will have to be worked if the value of Life, -of his fellows, and of himself is to be raised, by however little; -and yet he halts like one paralyzed before the task he can no longer -accomplish, and finding that his hand has lost its cunning and that -his eye has lost its authority, he stammers helplessly that the age of -miracles has gone by. - -Everything convinces him of the fact. Everybody, from his priest to -his porter, from his wife to his astrologer, from his child to his -neighbour, tells him plainly that he is no longer divine, no longer a -god, no longer even a king! - -Not only has the age of miracles gone by; but with it, also, has -vanished that age in which man could conceive of god in his own image. -There are no gods now; because man himself has long since doubted that -man is godlike. - -Soon there will be no kings,[2] finally there will be no greatness -at all, and this will mean the evanescence of man himself. - -To speak of all this as the advance of knowledge, as the march -of progress, as the triumph of science, and as the glories of -enlightenment, is merely to deck a corpse, to grease-paint a sore, and -to pour rose-water over a cesspool. - -If the triumph of science mean "The Descent of Man"; if the glories of -enlightenment mean, again, the descent of man; and if progress imply, -once more, the descent of man; then the question to be asked is: in -whose hands have science, enlightenment and the care of progress fallen? - -This world is here for us to make of it what we will. It is a field of -yielding clay, in which, like sandboys, we can build our castles and -revel in our creations. - -But what are these people doing? In building their castles they grow -ever more like beavers, and ants, and beetles. In laying out their -gardens they grow ever more like slugs, and worms, and centipedes. And -their joy seems to be to feel themselves small and despised. - -Once, for instance, their sky was the mighty god Indra; the clouds were -his flock, and he drove his flock across his vast fields--blue and -fragrant with delicate flowers. Their fruitful rain was the milk which -their god Indra obtained from his herd of cows, and their seasons of -drought were times when the god Indra was robbed by brigands of his -flock. - -Now, their sky is infinite space. Their clouds are masses of vapour in -a state of condensation more or less considerable, and their rain is -the outcome of that condensation becoming too considerable. - -Not so many years ago their Heaven and their Earth were the father and -mother of all living things, who had become separated in order that -their offspring might have room to live and breathe and move. And thus -their mists were the passionate sighs of the loving wife, breathing her -love heavenwards; and the dew, the tearful response of her affectionate -and sorrowful spouse. - -Now, their Heaven is a thing that no one knows anything at all about. -Their Earth is an oblate spheroid revolving aimlessly through a -hypothetical medium called ether; their mists are vaporous emanations; -while their dew is a discharge of moisture from the air upon substances -that have irradiated a sufficient quantity of heat. - -Their Sun was once a god with long, shining streams of golden hair, of -which every year their goddess Night would rob him, thus leaving Winter -mistress of the earth. - -Now, their sun is the central orb of their Solar system. It consists of -a nucleus, it is surrounded by a photosphere and a chromosphere, and -has a disease of the face called "spots." - -The facts remain the same; the mist still rises, the dew still falls, -and the canopy of Heaven still spans the two horizons. Whatever the -interpretation of these phenomena may be, this at least is certain, -that they are still with us. But there is one thing that changes; one -thing that cannot remain indifferent to interpretation--even though -the facts do not alter,--and that is the soul of man. - -A million times more sensitive to changes in interpretation than the -column of mercury is to changes in the atmosphere, the soul of man -rises or falls according to the nobility or the baseness of the meaning -which he himself puts into things; and, just as, in this matter, he may -be his own regenerator, so, also, may he be his own assassin. - - -[1] Delivered at University College on Dec. 8th, 1910. - -[2] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 187: "The time of kings has gone by, because -people are no longer worthy of them. They do not wish to see the symbol -of their ideal in a king, but only a means to their own ends." See also -_Z._, III, LVI. - - - - -1. The World "without form" and "void." - - -For, in the beginning, the world was "without form" and "void," things -surrounded man; but they had no meaning. His senses received probably -the same number of impressions as they do now--and perhaps more--but -these impressions had no co-ordination and no order. He could neither -calculate them, reckon with them, nor communicate[3] them to his -fellows. - -Before he could thus calculate, reckon with, and communicate the -things of this world, a vast process of simplification, co-ordination, -organization and ordering had to be undertaken, and this process, -however arbitrarily it may have been begun, was one of the first needs -of thinking man. - -Everything had to be given some meaning, some interpretation, and some -place; and in every case, of course, this interpretation was in the -terms of man, this meaning was a human meaning, and this place was a -position relative to humanity. - -Perhaps no object is adequately defined until the relation to it of -every creature and thing in the universe has been duly discovered and -recorded.[4] But no such transcendental meaning of a thing preoccupied -primeval man. All he wished was to understand the world, in order -that he might have power over it, reckon with it, and communicate his -impressions concerning it. And, to this end, the only relation of a -thing that he was concerned with was its relation to himself. It must -be given a name, a place, an order, a meaning--however arbitrary, -however fanciful, however euphemistic. Facts were useless, chaotic, -bewildering, meaningless, before they had been adjusted,[5] organized, -classified, and interpreted in accordance with the desires, hopes, aims -and needs of a particular kind of man. - -Thus interpretation was the first activity of all to thinking humanity, -and it was human needs that interpreted the world.[6] - -The love of interpreting and of adjusting--this primeval love and -desire, this power of the sandboy over his castles; how much of the -joy in Life, the love of Life, and, at the same time, the sorrow in -Life, does not depend upon it! For we can know only a world which we -ourselves have created.[7] - -There was the universe--strange and inscrutable; terrible in its -strangeness, insufferable in its inscrutability, incalculable in its -multifariousness. With his consciousness just awaking, a cloud or a -shower might be anything to man--a godlike friend or a savage foe. The -dome of blue behind was also prodigious in its volume and depth, and -the stars upon it at night horrible in their mystery. - -What, too, was this giant's breath that seemed to come from nowhere, -and which, while it cooled his face, also bent the toughest trees like -straws? The sun and moon were amazing--the one marvellously eloquent, -communicative, generous, hot and passionate: the other silent, -reserved, aloof, cold, incomprehensible.[8] - -But there were other things to do, besides interpreting the stars, the -sun, the moon, the sea, and the sky above. There was the perplexing -multiplicity of changes and of tides in Life, to be mastered and -simplified. There was the fateful flow of all things into death and -into second birth, the appalling fact of Becoming and never-resting, of -change and instability, of bloom and of decay, of rise and of decline. -What was to be done? - -It was impossible to live in chaos. And yet, in its relation to man -Nature was chaotic. There was no order anywhere. And, where there is -no order, there are surprises,[9] ambushes, lurking indignities. The -unexpected could jump out at any minute. And a masterful mind abhors -surprises and loathes disorder. His Will to Power is humiliated by -them. To man,--whether he be of yesterday, of to-day or of to-morrow-- -unfamiliarity, constant change, and uncertainty, are sources of great -anxiety, great sorrow, great humiliation and sometimes great danger. -Hence everything must be familiarized, named and fixed. Values must -be definitely ascertained and determined. And thus valuing becomes a -biological need. Nietzsche even goes so far as to ascribe the doctrine -of causality to the inherent desire in man to trace the unfamiliar -to the familiar. "The so-called instinct of causality," he says, "is -nothing more than the fear of the unfamiliar, and the attempt at -finding something in it which is already known."[10] - -In the torrent and pell-mell of Becoming, some milestones must be fixed -for the purpose of human orientation. In the avalanche of evolutionary -changes, pillars must be made to stand, to which man can hold tight for -a space and collect his senses. The slippery soil of a world that is -for ever in flux, must be transformed into a soil on which man can gain -some foothold.[11] - -Primeval man stood baffled and oppressed by the complexity of his task. -Facts were insuperable as facts; they could, however, be overcome -spiritually--that is to say, by concepts. And that they must be -overcome, man never doubted for an instant--he was too proud for that. -For his aim was not existence, but a certain kind of existence--an -existence in which he could hold his head up, look down upon the world, -and stare defiance even at the firmament. - -And thus all humanity began to cry out for a meaning, for an -interpretation, for a scheme, which would make all these distant and -uncontrollable facts their property, their spiritual possessions. This -was not a cry for science, or for a scientific explanation, as we -understand it; nor was it a cry for truth in the Christian sense.[12] -For the bare truth, the bare fact, the bald reality of the thing was -obvious to everybody. All who had eyes to see could see it. All who had -ears to hear could hear it. And all who had nerves to feel could feel -it. If ever there was a time when there was a truth for all, this was -the time; and it was ugly, bare and unsatisfying. What was wanted was a -scheme of life, a picture of life, in which all these naked facts and -truths could be given some place and some human significance--in fact, -some order and arrangement, whereby they would become the chattels -of the human spirit, and no longer subjects of independent existence -and awful strangeness.[13] Only thus could the dignity and pride of -humanity begin to breathe with freedom. Only thus could life be made -possible, where existence alone was not the single aim and desire. - -"The purpose of 'knowledge,' "says Nietzsche, "in this case, as in -the case of 'good,' or 'beautiful,' must be regarded strictly and -narrowly from an anthropocentric and biological standpoint. In order -that a particular species may maintain and increase its power, its -conception of reality must contain enough which is calculable and -constant to allow of its formulating a scheme of conduct. The utility -of preservation--and _not_ some abstract or theoretical need to eschew -deception--stands as the motive force behind the development of the -organs of knowledge.... In other words, the measure of the desire -for knowledge depends upon the extent to which the _Will to Power_ grows -in a certain species: a species gets a grasp of a given amount of -reality in order to master it, in order to enlist that amount into its -service."[14] - -And thus "the object was, not to know, but to schematize, to impose as -much regularity and form upon chaos as our practical needs required."[15] - -"The whole apparatus of knowledge," says Nietzsche, "is an abstracting -and simplifying apparatus--not directed at knowledge, but at the -appropriation of things."[16] - -No physical thirst, no physical hunger, has ever been stronger than -this thirst and hunger, which yearned to make all that is unfamiliar, -familiar; or in other words, all that is outside the spirit, inside the -spirit.[17] - -Life without food and drink was bad enough; but Life without -nourishment for this spiritual appetite, this famished wonder,[18] -this starving amazement, was utterly intolerable! - -The human system could appropriate, and could transform into man, in -bone and flesh, the vegetation and the animals of the earth; but what -was required was a process, a _Weltanschauung_, a general concept of -the earth which would enable man to appropriate also Life's other -facts, and transform them into man the spirit. Hence the so-called -thirst for knowledge may be traced to the lust of appropriation and -conquest,[19] and the "will to truth" to a process of establishing -things, to a process of making things true and lasting.... Thus -truth is not something which is present and which has to be found and -discovered; it is something which has to be created and which gives its -name to a process, or better still, to the "will to overpower."[20] - -For what is truth? It is any interpretation of the world which has -succeeded in becoming the belief of a particular type of man.[21] -Therefore there can be many truths; therefore there must be an order of -rank among truths. - -"Let this mean Will to Truth unto you," says Zarathustra, "that -everything be made thinkable, visible, tangible unto man! - -"And what ye have called the world, shall have first to be created by -you:[22] your reason, your image, your will, your love shall the world be! -And, verily, for your own bliss, ye knights of Knowledge!"[23] - -"The purpose was to deceive oneself in a useful way; the means thereto -was the invention of forms and signs, with the help of which, the -confusing multifariousness of Life could be reduced to a useful and -wieldly scheme."[24] - -This was the craving. Not only must a meaning, a human meaning, be -given to all things, in order to subordinate them to man's power; but -Life itself must also be schematized and arranged. And, while all -humanity cried aloud for this to be done, it was humanity's artists and -higher men who set to and did it.[25] - - -[3] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 72: "... Communication is necessary, and for -it to be possible, something must be stable, simple and capable of -being stated precisely." - -[4] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 65. - -[5] Okakura-Kakuzo, _The Book of Tea_, p. 58: "Adjustment is Art." - -[6] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 13. See also Th. Gomperz, _Greek Thinkers_, -Vol. I, p. 25. Speaking of interpretation, he says: "And this tendency -was notably strengthened by the suspicious circumstances of external -life, which awoke the desire for clearness, distinctness and a logical -sequence of ideas." - -[7] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 21. See also Max Müller, _Introduction to the -Science of Religion_, pp. 198-207, _T. I._, Part 10, Aph. 19. - -[8] Hegel, in his _Vorlesungen über Æsthetik_ (Vol. I, p. 406), says: -"If we should wish to speak of the first appearance of symbolic Art -as a subjective state, we should remember that artistic meditation in -general, like religious meditation--or rather the two in one--and even -scientific research, took their origin in wonderment." - -[9] Hegel makes some interesting remarks on this point. See his -_Vorlesungen über Æsthetik_, Vol. I, p. 319. He shows that the extreme -regularity of gardens of the seventeenth century was indicative of -their owners' masterful natures. - -[10] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 58. See also p. 11: "to 'understand' means -simply this: to be able to express something new in the terms of -something old or familiar." - -[11] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 88. - -[12] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 26: "The prerequisite of all living things -and of their lives is: that there should be a large amount of faith, -that it should be possible to pass definite judgments on things, and -that there should be no doubt at all concerning values. Thus it is -necessary that something should be assumed to be true, _not_ that it is -true." - -[13] Felix Clay, _The Origin of the Sense of Beauty_, p. 95: "The -mind or the eye, brought face to face with a number of disconnected -and apparently different facts, ideas, shapes, sounds or objects, is -bothered and uneasy; the moment that some central conception is offered -or discovered by which they all fall into order, so that their due -relation to one another can be perceived and the whole grasped, there -is a sense of relief and pleasure which is very intense." - -[14] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 12. - -[15] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 29. - -[16] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 24. - -[17] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 76. Hegel was also approaching this truth -when he said, in his introduction to the _Vorlesungen über Æsthetik_ -(pp. 58, 59 of the translation of that Introduction by B. Bosanquet): -"Man is realized for himself by poetical activity, inasmuch as he -has the impulse, in the medium which is directly given to him, and -externally presented before him, to produce himself. This purpose he -achieves by the modification of external things upon which he impresses -the seal of his inner being. Man does this in order, as a free subject, -to strip the outer world of its stubborn foreignness, and to enjoy, in -the shape and fashion of things, a mere external reality of himself." - -[18] Hegel again seems to be on the road to Nietzsche's standpoint, -when he says: "Wonderment arises when man, as a spirit separated -from his immediate connection with Nature, and from the immediate -relation to his merely practical desires, steps back from Nature and -from his own singular existence, and then begins to seek and to see -generalities, permanent qualities, and absolute attributes in things" -(Vorlesungen über Æsthetik, Vol. I, p. 406). - -[19] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 339. See also Hegel (_Vorlesungen über -Æsthetik_, p. 128): "The instinct of curiosity and the desire -for knowledge, from the lowest stage up to the highest degree of -philosophical insight, is the outcome only of man's yearning to make -the world his own in spirit and concepts." - -[20] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 60. - -[21] "Truth is that kind of error without which a certain species of -living being cannot exist" (_W. P._, Vol. II, p. 20). See also _G. -E._, pp. 8, 9: "A belief might be false and yet life-preserving." -See also _W. P._, Vol. II, pp. 36, 37: "We should not interpret -this _constraint_ in ourselves to imagine concepts, species, forms, -purposes, and laws as if we were in a position to construct a real -world; but as a constraint to adjust a world by means of which our -existence is ensured: we thereby create a world which is determinable, -simplified, comprehensible, etc., for us." - -[22] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 76. - -[23] _Z._, II, XXIV. See also _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 33: "Truth is -the will to be master over the manifold sensations that reach -consciousness; it is the will to classify phenomena according to -definite categories." - -[24] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. M. See also Schelling, _System des -transcendentalen Idealismus_, p. 468, where the author says, "Science, -in the highest interpretation of this term, has one and the same -mission as Art." - -[25] _W. P._, Vol. II, pp. 28, 90, 103. - - - - -2. The First Artists. - - -For it was then that man's strongest instinct became creative in -man's highest product--the artist--and the discovery was made that -the world, although "without form" and "void," as a fact, could be -simplified and made calculable and full of form and attractions, as a -valuation, as an interpretation, as a spiritual possession. With the -world at a distance from him, unfamiliar and unhuman, man's existence -was a torment. With it beneath him, inside him, bearing the impress of -his spirit, and proceeding from him, he became a lord, casting care to -the winds, and terror to the beasts around. - -Man, the bravest animal on earth, thus conceived the only possible -condition of his existence; namely, to become master of the world. -And, when we think of the miracles he then began to perform, we cease -from wondering why he once believed in miracles, why he thought of God -as in his own image, and why he made his strongest instinct God, and -thereupon made Him say: "Replenish the earth and subdue it!" - -It was therefore the powerful who made the names of things into law.[26] -It was their Will to Power that simplified, organized, ordered -and schematized the world, and it was their will to prevail which made -them proclaim their simplification, their organization, their order -and scheme, as the norm, as the thing to be believed, as the world of -values which must be regarded as creation itself. - -These early artists conceived of no other way of subduing the earth -than by converting it into concepts; and, as time soon showed that -there actually was no other way, interpretation came to be regarded -as the greatest task of all.[27] Naming, adjusting, classifying, -qualifying, valuing, putting a meaning into things, and, above all, -simplifying--all these functions acquired a sacred character, and he -who performed them to the glory of his fellows became sacrosanct. - -So great were the relief and solace that these functions bestowed upon -mankind, and so different did ugly reality appear, once it had been -interpreted by the artist mind, that creating and naming actually -began to acquire much the same sense. For to put a meaning into -things was clearly to create them afresh[28]--in fact, to create -them literally. And so it came to pass that, in one of the oldest -religions on earth, the religion of Egypt, God was imagined as a Being -who created things by naming them;[29] while, in the Judaic notion -of the creation of the world, which was probably derived from the -Egyptians themselves, Jehovah is also said to have brought things into -existence merely by pronouncing their names.[30] - -The world thus became literally man's Work of Art,[31] man's Sculpture.[32] -Miracle after miracle at last reduced Nature to man's chattel, and it -was man's lust of mastership, his will to power, which thus became -creative in his highest specimen--the artist--and which, fighting for -"the higher worthiness and meaning of mankind,"[33]transfigured reality by -means of human valuations, and overcame Becoming by falsifying it as -Being.[34] - -"We are in need of lies," says Nietzsche, "in order to rise superior to -reality, to truth--that is to say, in order to live.... That lies -should be necessary to life, is part and parcel of the terrible and -questionable character of existence. "Metaphysics, morality, religion, -science--all these things are merely different forms of falsehood, -by means of them we are led to believe in life. 'Life must inspire -confidence;' the task which this imposes upon us is enormous. In order -to solve this problem man must already be a liar in his heart. But he -must, above all, be an artist. And he is that. Metaphysics, religion, -morality, science--all these things are but an offshoot of his will to -Art, to falsehood, to a flight from 'truth,' to a denial of 'truth.' -This ability, this artistic capacity, _par excellence_, of man--thanks -to which he overcomes reality with lies--is a quality which he has in -common with all other forms of existence.... - -"To be blind to many things, to see many things falsely, to fancy -many things. Oh, how clever man has been in those circumstances in -which he believed that he was anything but clever! Love, enthusiasm, -'God'--are but subtle forms of ultimate self-deception; they are -but seductions to life and to the belief in life! In those moments -when man was deceived, when he befooled himself and when he believed -in life: Oh, how his spirit swelled within him! Oh, what ecstasies he -had! What power he felt! And what artistic triumphs in the feeling of -power!... Man had once more become master of 'matter'--master of -truth!... And whenever man rejoices, it is always in the same way: -he rejoices as an artist, his Power is his joy, he enjoys falsehood as -his power."[35] - -"Subdue it!" said the Jehovah of the Old Testament, speaking to man, -and pointing to the earth: "have dominion over the fish of the sea, and -over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon -the earth." - -This was man's original concept of his task on earth, and with it -before him he began to breathe at last, and to feel no longer a worm, -entangled in a mysterious piece of clockwork mechanism. - -"What is it that created esteeming and despising and value and will?" -Zarathustra asks. - -"The creating self created for itself esteeming and despising, it -created for itself joy and woe. The creating body created for itself -spirit, as a hand to its will."[36] - -To appraise a thing was to create it for ever in the minds of a people. -But to create a thing in the minds of a people was to create that -people too; for it is to have values in common that constitutes a -people.[37] - -"Creators were they who created peoples, and hung one belief and one -love over them," says Zarathustra; "thus they served life."[38] - -"Values did man stamp upon things only that he might preserve himself ---he alone created the meaning of things--a human meaning! Therefore -calleth he himself man--that is, the valuing one. - -"Valuing is creating: listen, ye creators! Valuation itself is the -treasure and jewel of valued things. - -"Through valuing alone can value arise; and without valuing, the nut of -existence would be hollow. Listen, ye creators! - -"Change of values--that is, change of creators.[39] - -"Verily a prodigy is this power of praising and blaming. Tell me, -ye brethren, who will master it for me? Who will put a yoke on the -thousand necks of this animal?"[40] - -"All the beauty and sublimity with which we have invested real and -imagined things," says Nietzsche, "I will show to be the property and -product of man, and this should be his most beautiful apology. Man -as a poet, as a thinker, as a god, as love, as power. Oh, the regal -liberality with which he has lavished gifts upon things!... Hitherto -this has been his greatest disinterestedness, that he admired and -worshipped, and knew how to conceal from himself that he it was who had -created what he admired."[41] - -"Man as a poet, as a thinker, as a god, as love, as power"--this man, -following his divine inspiration to subdue the earth and to make it -his, became the greatest stimulus to Life itself, the greatest bond -between earth and the human soul; and, in shedding the glamour of his -personality, like the sun, upon the things he interpreted and valued, -he also gilded, by reflection, his fellow creatures. - -There is not a thing we call sacred, beautiful, good or precious, that -has not been valued for us by this man, and when we, like children, -call out for the Truth about the riddles of this world, it is not for -the truth of reality which is the object of Christianity and of science -for which we crave; but for the simplifications[42] and values of -this man-god, who, by the art-form, into which he casts reality, makes -us believe that reality is as he says it is. - -If this man is lacking, then we succumb to the blackest despair. If he -is with us, we voluntarily yield to boundless joy and good cheer. His -function is the divine principle on earth; his creation Art "is the -highest task and the properly metaphysical activity of this life."[43] - - -[26] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 28; also C.E., p. 288. See also Schelling, -Sämmtliche Werke, Vol. V, "_Vorlesungen über die Methode des -akademischen Studiums_," p. 286: "The first origin of religion in -general, as of every other kind of knowledge and culture, can be -explained only as the teaching of higher natures." - -[27] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 89: "The Will to Truth at this stage is -essentially the art of interpretation." - -[28] Thus Schiller, in one of his happy moments, called beauty our -second creator (zweite Schöpferin). - -[29] Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, The Religion of Ancient Egypt, p. 67. - -[30] That those who successfully determined values even in -comparatively recent times should have been regarded almost universally -as enjoying "some closer intimacy with the Deity than ordinary -mortals," proves how very godlike and sacred the establishment of order -was thought to be. See Max Müller, _Introduction to the Science of -Religion_, p. 88. - -[31] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 102. - -[32] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 107. - -[33] _H. A. H._, Vol. I, p. 154. - -[34] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 108: "Art is the will to overcome Becoming, -it is a process of eternalizing." And p. 107: "To stamp Becoming with -the character of Being--this is the highest Will to Power." See also -_G. M._, p. 199. - -[35] _W. P._, Vol. II, pp. 289, 290. See also H.A.H., Vol. I, p. 154. - -[36] _Z._, I, IV. - -[37] Schelling and Hegel both held this view; the one expressed it -quite categorically in his lectures on Philosophy and Mythology, and -the other in his _Philosophy of History_. - -[38] _Z._, I, XI. - -[39] _Z._, I, XV. - -[40] _Z._, I, XVI. - -[41] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 113. - -[42] See Th. Gomperz, _Greek Thinkers_, p. 46, who, speaking of -the old Ionian Nature-philosophers, says: "The bold flight of -their imagination did not stop at the assumption of a plurality of -indestructible elements; it never rested till it reached the conception -of a single fundamental or primordial matter as the essence of natural -diversity.... The impulse to simplification, when it had once been -aroused, was like a stone set in motion, which rolls continuously till -it is checked by an obstacle." See also Dr. W. Worringer, _Abstraktion -und Einfühlung_, p. 20. - -[43] _B. T._, p. 20. - - - - -3. The People and their Man-God. - - -Think of the joy that must have spread through a wondering people like -the Greeks, when they were told that Earth, as the bride of Heaven, and -fertilized by his life-giving rain, became the mother not only of deep -eddying Ocean, but also of all that lives and dies upon her broad bosom! - -Imagine the jubilation, the feeling of power and the sense of extreme -relief that must have filled the hearts of the ancient New Zealanders, -when the first great Maori artist arose and said to his brothers and -sisters that it was the god of the forests, Tane Mahuta, with his tall -trees that had wrenched the sky by force from mother Earth, where once -upon a time he used to crush her teeming offspring to death.[44] - -With what superior understanding could they now gaze up into the -sky, and snap their fingers scornfully at its former azure mystery! -No wonder that the artist who could come forward with such an -interpretation became a god! And no wonder that in strong nations gods -and men are one! The fact that the explanation was not a true one, -according to our notions, did not matter in the least. - -History not only reveals, but also proves that lies are not necessarily -hostile to existence. - -For thousands of years the human race not only lived, but also -flourished with the lie of the Ptolemaic theory of the heavens on their -tongue. - -For centuries men thrived and multiplied, believing that the lightning -was Jehovah's anger, and that the rainbow was Jehovah's reminder of a -certain solemn covenant by which He promised never again to destroy all -life on earth by a flood. - -I do not wish to imply that these two beliefs are false. For my part, -I would prefer to believe them, rather than accept the explanations -of these phenomena which modern science offers me. Still, the fact -remains that these two Judaic explanations have been exploded by -modern science, though the question whether, as explanations, they are -superior to modern science, scarcely requires a moment's consideration. - -At any rate they were the work of an artist, and when we think of the -joy they must have spread among wondering mankind, we cannot wonder -that such an artist was made a god. It was an artist, too, who created -the unchanging thing;[45] who created every kind of permanency, _i.e._ -Stability out of Evolution, and among other unchangeable things, the -soul of man, which was perhaps the greatest artistic achievement that -has ever been accomplished. - -And this Man-God who created Being--that is to say, a stable world, -a world which can be reckoned with, and in which the incessant -kaleidoscopic character of things is entirely absent--this same -Man-God who found the earth "without form" and "void," and whose -magnificent Spirit "moved upon the face of the waters"; when people -grew too weak to look upon him as their brother and God at the same -time,[46] was relegated to his own world, and from a great distance they -now pray to him and worship him and say: "For Thine is the Kingdom, the -Power and the Glory, For ever and ever. Amen." - -"For ever and ever;" this was something they could not say of the world -as it is; and the thought of stability and of Being was a delight to -them. - -It may be difficult for us to picture how great the rejoicings must -have been which followed upon every fresh ordering and arranging of the -universe, every fresh interpretation of the world in the terms of man. - -Perhaps only a few people to-day, who are beginning to cast dubious -glances at Life, and to question even the justification of man's -existence, may be able to form some conception of the thrill that must -have passed through an ancient community, when one of its higher men -uprose and ordered and adjusted Life for them, and, in so ordering it, -transfigured it. - -How much richer they must have felt! And how inseparable the two -notions "artist" and "giver" must have appeared to them! - -"If indeed this is Life," they must have said; "if Life is really as he -orders it"--and his voice and eye allowed them to prefix no such "if" -with genuine scepticism--"then of a truth it is a well of delight and -a fountain of blessedness." - -Thus Art--this function which "is with us in order that we may not -perish through truth,"[47] this "enhancement of the feeling of Life and -Life's stimulant,"[48] which "acts as a tonic, increases strength and -kindles desire"[49]--became the "great seducer" to earth and to the world;[50] -and we can imagine the gratitude that swelled in the hearts of men -for him whose function it was. How could he help but become a god! -Even tradition was not necessary for this. For at the very moment when -his creative spirit lent its glory to the earth, man must have been -conscious of his divinity or of his use as a mouthpiece by a Divinity.[50] - -"O, Lord Varuna, may this song go well to thy heart!" sang the -ancient Hindus. - -"Thou who knowest the place of the birds that fly through the sky, who -on the waters knowest the ships. - -"Thou the upholder of order, who knowest the twelve months with the -offspring of each, and who knowest the month that is engendered -afterwards. - -"Thou who knowest the track of the wind, of the wide, the bright, the -mighty; and knowest those who reside on high. - -"Thou the upholder of order, Varuna, sit down among thy people, thou, -the wise, sit there to govern. - -"From thence perceiving all wondrous things, thou seest what has been -and what will be done. - -"Thou who givest to men glory, and not half glory, who givest it even -to our own selves. - -"Thou, O wise god, art Lord of all, of heaven and earth!"[51] - -We can follow every word of this heartfelt worship with perfect -sympathy now. - -"Thou, the upholder of order, who knowest the twelve months with the -offspring of each"--this is no empty praise. It is the cry of those -who feel inexpressibly grateful to their great artist; to him who has -put some meaning, some order into the world. - -And "Thou who givest men glory, and not half glory"--here is the -sincere recognition of a people who have been raised and who not only -rejoice in their elevation, but also recognize that it has been a -creative act--a gift and a blessing from one who had something to -give. For the soul of man is a million times more sensitive to changes -in interpretation than the column of mercury is to changes in the -atmosphere, and nothing can be more grateful than the soul of man when -it is raised, however little, and thereby glorified. - - -[44] See Max Müller, _India. What can it teach us?_ pp. 154. 155; also -pp. 150 and 151. - -[45] _W. P._, Vol. II, pp. 88, 89: "Happiness can be promised only by -Being: change and happiness exclude each other. The loftiest desire -is thus to be one with Being. That is the formula for the way to -happiness." - -[46] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 313. - -[47] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 264. - -[48] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 244. - -[49] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 252. - -[50] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 290. See also p. 292: "Art is more divine -than truth." - -[51] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 133. See also Schopenhauer, _Parerga und -Paralipomena_, Vol. II, Chap. XV, "_Ueber Religion_," para. 176, where -this view is ably upheld. - -[52] Rig-Veda, I, 23. - - - - - -4. The Danger. - - -Now, having reached this point, and having established--First: that -it is our artists who value and interpret things for us, and who put -a meaning into reality which, without them, it would never possess; -and, secondly: that it is their will to power that urges them thus to -appropriate Nature in concepts, and their will to prevail which gives -them the ardour to impose their valuation with authority upon their -fellows, thus forming a people; the thought which naturally arises is -this: The power that artists can exercise, and the prerogative they -possess, is one which might prove exceedingly dangerous; for while it -may work for good, it may also work very potently for evil. Does it -matter who interprets the world? who gives a meaning to things? who -adjusts and systematizes Nature? and who imposes order upon chaos? - -Most certainly it matters. For a thousand meanings are possible, and -men may have a thousand been aiming for years, other interpretations -are still possible. - -Listen to your artistic friend's description of the most trifling -excursion he has made, and then set your inartistic friend to relate ---say, his journey round the world. Whereupon ask yourself whether it -matters who sees things and who interprets life for you. The first, -even with his trifling excursion in his mind, will make you think -that life is really worth living, that the world is full, of hidden -treasure. The second will make you conclude that this earth is an -uninteresting monster, and that boredom can be killed only by the -dangers of motor racing, aerial navigation and glacier climbing. - -"A thousand paths are there which never have been trodden," says -Zarathustra, "a thousand salubrities and hidden islands of life. Still -unexhausted and undiscovered is mankind and man's world."[53] - -This interpreting of Nature and this making and moulding of a people -might therefore have brilliant or sinister results. There are many who -wish to prevail; there are many who wish to lure their fellows on, and -not all are standing on a superior plane. - -For though artists, as a rule, are men of strong propensities[54] and -surplus energy, there is an instinct of chastity in the best of them,[55] -which impels them to devote all their power to prevailing in concepts -rather than in offspring, and which makes them avoid precisely that -quarter whither other men turn when they wish to prevail.[56] - -The question as to what kind of man it is who walks up to Life and -orders and values her for us, is therefore of the most extraordinary -importance. Nothing could be more important than this. Because, as we -have seen, the question is not one of truth in the Christian and modern -scientific sense. A belief is often life-preserving and still false -from the standpoint of reality.[57] It is a matter, rather, of -finding that belief, whether true or false, which most conduces to the -love of an exalted form of Life. And if we ask, Who is the man who is -interpreting life for us? What is he? What is his rank? we practically -lay our finger upon the very worth of our view of the world. - -There is no greater delight or passionate love on earth for the artist -than this: to feel that he has stamped his hand on a people and on -a millennium, to feel that his eyes, his ears, and his touch have -become their eyes, and their ears, and their touch. There is no deeper -enjoyment than this for him: to feel that as he sees, hears and feels, -they also will be compelled to see, hear and feel. Only thus is he able -to prevail. A people becomes his offspring.[58] - -While their elation and blessedness consisted in being raised in -concepts to his level, and in seeing the world through his artistic -prisms--in fact, in scoring materially by allowing him, their higher -man, to establish their type; it was his solitary and unfathomable -glory to prevail for ever through their minds, and to lay the -foundation of his hazar, his thousand years of life on earth, in the -spirit of his fellows. - -Utilitarian, if you will, are both points of view: the one giving from -his abundance, simply because he must discharge some of his plenitude -or perish, found his meaning in giving. The others, stepping up on the -gifts bestowed, found their meaning in receiving.[59] - -The artist, then, as the highest manifestation of any human community, -justifies his existence merely by living his life, and by imparting -some of his magnificence to the things about him. To use a metaphor of -George Meredith's, he gilds his retainers as the sun gilds, with its -livery, the small clouds that gather round it. This is the artist's -power and it is also his bliss. From a lower and more economical -standpoint, he justifies his life by raising the community to its -highest power; by binding it to Life with the glories which he alone -can see, and by luring it up to heights which he is the first to scale -and to explore.[60] - - -[53] _Z._, I, XXII. - -[54] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 243. - -[55] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 259. Also _G. M._, p. 141. - -[56] In this regard it is interesting to note that: "The Teutonic -'Kunst' (Art) is formed from _können_, and _können_ is developed from -a primitive Ich kann. Ich kann philology recognizes a preterite form -of a lost verb, of which we find the traces in Kin-d, a child; and the -form Ich kann, thus meaning originally, 'I begot,' contains the germ of -the two developments--_können_, 'to be master,' 'to be able,' and -'kennen' to know" (_Sidney Colvin_, in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, -9th Edition. Article, "Art"). - -[57] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 14. See also _G. E._, pp. 8, 9. - -[58] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 368: "The great man is conscious of his -power over a people, and of the fact that he coincides temporarily with -a people or with a century--this magnifying of his self-consciousness -as causa and voluntas is misunderstood as 'altruism': he feels driven -to means of communication: all great men are inventive in such means. -They want to form great communities in their own image; they would fain -give multiformity and disorder definite shape; it stimulates them to -behold chaos." - -[59] _W. P._, pp. 255, 256. - -[60] Even Fichte recognizes this power in Art to stamp values -upon a people. See the Sämmtliche Werke, Vol, IV, p. 353: "Art converts -the transcendental standpoint into the general standpoint.... The -philosopher can raise himself and others to this standpoint only with -great effort. But the artistic spirit actually finds himself there, -without having thought about it; he knows no other standpoint, and -those who yield to his influence are drawn so imperceptibly over to -his side, that they do not even notice how the change takes place." - - - - -5. The Two Kinds of Artists. - - -Up to the present I have spoken only of the desirable artist, of him -who, from the very health and fulness that is in him, cannot look on -Life without transfiguring her; of the man who naturally sees things -fuller, simpler, stronger and grander[61] than his fellows.[62] When -this man speaks of Life, his words are those of a lover extolling his -bride.[63] There is a ring of ardent desire and deep longing in his speech, -which is infectious because it is so sincere, which is convincing -because it is so authoritative, and which is beautiful because it -is so simple. - -Intoxicated[64] by his love, giddy with enthusiasm, he rhapsodizes -about her, magnifies her; points to vast unknown qualities and beauties -in her, to which he is the first to give some lasting names; and stakes -his life upon her myriad charms. This Dionysian artist, the prototype -of all gods and demi-gods that have ever existed on earth, exalts Life -when he honours her with his love; and in exalting her, exalts humanity -as well.[65] - -For the mediocre, simply because they cannot transfigure Life in that -way, benefit extremely from looking on the world through the Dionysian -artist's personality. It is his genius which, by putting ugly reality -into an art-form, makes life desirable. Beneath all his dithyrambs, -however, there is still the will to power and the will to prevail-- -just as these instincts are to be found behind the magnificats of the -everyday lover; but, in the case of the former, it is the power in the -spirit. - -There is, however, another kind of man who walks towards Life to value -and to order her. The kind of man who, as we saw in my last lecture, -declares that "man is born in sin,"--"that depravity is universal," ---"that nothing exists in the intellect but what has before existed -in the senses; "and that "every man is his own priest"; the man who -defines Life as "the continuous adjustment of internal relations to -external relations"; and who says: "it is only the cultivation of -individuality which produces, or can produce, well-developed human -beings"; the man who declares that we are all equal, that there is one -truth for all, if only it can be found; and who thus not only kills all -higher men, but also deprives his fellow creatures of all the beauty -that these higher men have brought, and might still bring, into the -world; finally, the man who values humanity with figures and in the -terms of matter, who values progress in the terms of the engineer's -workshop, and who denies that Art can have any relation to Life. - -This man is a sort of inverted Midas at whose touch all gold turns to -tinsel, all pearls turn to beads, and all beauty withers and fades, His -breath is that of the late autumn, and his words are hoarfrost. Having -nothing to give,[66] he merely robs things of the beauty that was once -laid in them, by insisting upon the truth of their reality; and he sees -Life smaller, thinner, weaker, and greyer than it is even to the people -themselves. He is the antithesis of the Dionysian artist. He comes from -the people, and very often from a substratum lower than they. How, -therefore, can he give the people anything they do not already possess? -He is a housewives have not already seen or felt? People have no use -for him, therefore, and whenever they are drawn to his side by his -seditious songs about equality, they find, when it is too late, that he -has made the world drabbier, uglier, colder, and stranger for them than -it was before. - -This is the man who insists upon truth. Forgetting that truth is -ugly[67] and that humanity has done little else, since it first became -conscious, than to master and overcome truth, he wishes to make this -world what it was in the beginning, "without form" and "void," and to -empty things of the meaning that has been put into them, simply because -he is unable to create a world for himself.[68] - -Aiming at a general truth for all, he is reduced to naked reality, -to Nature as it was before God's Spirit moved upon the face of the -waters, and this is his world of facts, stripped of all that higher -men have put into them. This man of science without Art, is gradually -reducing us to a state of absolute ignorance; for while he takes from -us what we know about things, he gives us nothing in return. How often -do we not hear people who are influenced by his science, exclaim that -the more they learn the less they feel they know. This exclamation -contains a very profound truth; for science is robbing us inch by inch -of all the groundfield-labourer among field-labourers, a housewife -among housewives--how could he point to any beauty or desire which -field-labourers and that was once conquered for us by bygone artists.[69] - -Such a man, if he can be really useful in garnering and accumulating -facts, and in devising and developing novel mechanical contrivances, -ought in any case to be closeted apart, so that none of his breath -can reach the Art-made world. And when he begins valuing, all windows -and doors ought speedily to be barred and bolted against him. He is -the realist. It is he who sees spots on the sun's face; it is he who -denies that mist is the passionate sigh of mother Earth, yearning for -her spouse the sky; it is he who will not believe that the god of the -forest with his tallest trees separated the earth and the heavens -by force, and the explanations he gives of things, though they are -doubtless useful to him in his laboratory, are empty and colourless. -Granting, as I say, that he does anything useful in the department of -facts, let his profession at least be a strictly esoteric one. For his -interpretations are so often ignoble, in addition to being colourless, -that his business, like that of a certain Paris functionary, ought to -be pursued in the most severe and most zealous secrecy. - -If the world grows ugly, and Life loses her bloom; if all winds are -ill winds, and the sunshine seems sickly and pale; if we turn our eyes -dubiously about us, and begin to question the justification of our -existence, we may be quite certain that this man, this realist, and his -type, are in the ascendancy, and that he it is who is stamping his ugly -fist upon our millennium. - -For the function of Art is the function of the ruler. It relieves the -highest of their burden, so that mediocrity may be twice blessed, -and it makes us a people by luring us to a certain kind of Life. Its -essence is riches, its activity is giving and perfecting,[70] and while -it is a delight to the highest, it is also a boon to those beneath them. - -The attempt of the Dionysian artist[71] to prevail, therefore, is -sacred and holy. In his efforts to make his eyes our eyes, his ears our -ears, and his touch our touch, though he does not pursue any altruistic -purpose, he confers considerable benefits upon mankind. Whereas -the attempt of that other man to prevail--the realist and devotee -of so-called truth--is barbarous and depraved. By his egoism he -depresses, depreciates and dismantles Life in great things as in small. -Woe to the age whose values allow his voice to be heard with respect! -There are necessary grey studies to be made, necessary uglinesses to -be described, perhaps. But let these studies and descriptions be kept -within the four walls of a laboratory until the time comes when, by -their collective means, man can be raised and not depressed by them. -Science is not with us to promulgate values. It is with us to be the -modest handmaiden of Art, working in secrecy until all its ugliness -can be collected, transfigured, and used for the purpose of man's -exaltation by the artist. It may be useful for our science-slaves, -working behind the scenes of Life, to know that the sky is merely our -limited peep into an infinite expanse of ether--whatever that is. But -when we ask to hear about it, let us be told as follows-- - -"O heaven above me! Thou pure! Thou deep! Thou abyss of light! Gazing -on Thee, I quiver with godlike desires. - -"To cast myself up unto thy height--that is my profundity! To hide -myself in thy purity--that is mine innocence. - -"We have been friends from the beginning, thou and I. Sorrow and horror -and soil we share: even the sun is common to us. - -"We speak not to each other, for we know too many things. We stare -silently at each other; by smiles do we communicate our knowledge. - -"And all my wanderings and mountain-climbings--these were but a -necessity and a makeshift of the helpless one. To fly is the one thing -that my will willeth, to fly into thee. - -"And what have I hated more than passing clouds and all that defileth -thee! - -"The passing clouds I loathe--those stealthy cats of prey. They take -from thee and me what we have in common--that immense, that infinite -saying of Yea and Amen. - -"These mediators and mixers we loathe--the passing clouds. - -"Rather would I sit in a tub, with the sky shut out; rather would I -sit in the abyss without a sky, than see thee, sky of Light, denied by -wandering clouds! - -"And oft have I longed to pin them fast with the jagged gold wires of -lightning, that I might, like the thunder, beat the drum upon their -bellies. - -"An angry drummer, because they bereave me of thy Yea and Amen I-- -thou heaven above me, thou pure, thou bright, thou abyss of Light! And -because they bereave thee of my Yea and Amen. - -"Thus spake Zarathustra."[72] - - -[61] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 243: "Artists should not see things -as they are; they should see them fuller, simpler, stronger. To this -end, however, a kind of youthfulness, of vernality, a sort of perpetual -elation, must be peculiar to their lives." See also T. I., Part 10, -Aph. 8. - -[62] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 243. See also T. I., Part 10, Aph. 9. - -[63] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 248. - -[64] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 241: "The feeling of intoxication -(elation) is, as a matter of fact, equivalent to a sensation of surplus -strength." See also p. 254. - -[65] Schelling also recognized the transfiguring power of Art; -but he traced it to the fact that the artist invariably paints Nature -at her zenith. See p. II, _The Philosophy of Art_ (translation by A. -Johnson): "Every growth of nature has but one moment of perfect beauty, -... Art, in that it presents the object in this moment, withdraws it -from time, and causes it to display its pure being in the form of -eternal beauty." This is making the natural object itself the adequate -source of its own transfiguration, and the theory overlooks the power -of the artist himself to see things as they are not. - -[66] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 244: "The sober-minded man, the tired -man, the exhausted and dried-up man, can have no feeling for Art, -because he does not possess the primitive force of Art, which is the -tyranny of inner riches." - -[67] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 101. - -[68] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 89: "The belief that the world which -ought to be, is, really exists, is a belief proper to the unfruitful, -who do not wish to create a world. They take it for granted, they -seek for ways and means of attaining it. 'The will to truth' [in -the Christian and scientific sense] is the impotence of the will to -create." - -[69] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 104: "The development of science tends -ever more to transform the known into the unknown: its aim, however, is -to do the _reverse_, and it starts out with the instinct of tracing the -unknown to the known. In short, science is laying the road to sovereign -ignorance, to a feeling that knowledge does not exist at all, that it -was merely a form of haughtiness to dream of such a thing." - -[70] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 263: "The essential feature in art is -its power of perfecting existence, its production of perfection and -plenitude. Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing, and the -deification of existence." - -[71] Fichte comes near to Nietzsche, here, with his idea of -the "beautiful spirit" which sees all nature full, large and abundant, -as opposed to him who sees all things thinner, smaller, and emptier -than they actually are. See Fichte's _Sämmtliche Werke_, Vol. IV, p. -354. See also Vol. III, p. 273. - -[72] _Z._, III, XLVIII. - - - - -Part II - - -Deductions from Part I. - - -Nietzsche's Art Principles - - - "For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the - scribes."-- Matthew vii. 29. - - - - -1. The Spirit of the Age Incompatible with Ruler-Art. - - -With Nietzsche's concept of Art before me I feel as if I had left the -arts of the present day many thousand leagues behind, and it is almost -a hardship to be obliged to return to them. For unless most of that -which is peculiar to this age be left many thousand leagues to the -rear, all hope of making any headway must be abandoned. - -We live in a democratic age. It is only natural, therefore, that all -that belongs to the ruler should have been whittled down, diluted, and -despoiled of its dignity; and we must feel no surprise at finding that -no pains have been spared which might reduce Art also to a function -that would be compatible with the spirit of the times. All that -savours of authority has become the work of committees, assemblies, -herds, crowds, and mobs. How could the word of one man be considered -authoritative, now that the ruling principle, to use a phrase of Mr. -Chesterton's, is that "twelve men are better than one"?[1] - -The conception of Art as a manifestation of the artist's will to power -and his determination to prevail, is a much too dangerous one for the -present day. It involves all kinds of things which are antagonistic to -democratic theory, such as: Command, Reverence, Despotism, Obedience, -Greatness and Inequality. Therefore, if artists are to be tolerated -at all, they must have a much more modest, humble, and pusillanimous -comprehension of what their existence means, and of the purpose and -aim of their work; and their claims, if they make any, must be meek, -unprivileged, harmless and unassuming. - -While, therefore, the artist, as Nietzsche understood him, scarcely -exists at all to-day, another breed of man has come to the fore in -the graphic arts, whose very weakness is his passport, who makes no -claims at establishing new values of beauty, and who contents himself -modestly with exhibiting certain baffling dexterities, virtuosities -and tricks, which at once amaze and delight ordinary spectators or -Art-students, simply because they themselves have not yet overcome even -the difficulties of a technique. - -Monet's pointillisme, Sargent's visible and nervous brush strokes, -Rodin's wealth of anatomical detail, the Impressionist's scientific -rendering of atmosphere, Peter Graham's gauzy mists, Lavery's -post-Whistlerian portraits of pale people, and the touching devotion of -all modern artists to Truth, in the Christian and scientific sense, are -all indications of the general "funk"--the universal paralysis of will -that has overtaken the Art-world. - -But I am travelling too fast. I said that no pains have been spared -which might reduce Art also to a function that would be compatible with -the democratic spirit of the times. Now in what form have these pains -been taken? - -Their form has invariably been to turn the tables upon Art, and to make -its beauty dependent upon Nature, instead of Nature's beauty dependent -upon it.[2] - -Tradition, of course, very largely laid the foundation of this mode of -thinking, and, from the Greeks to Ruskin, few seem to have realized how -much beauty Art had already laid in Nature, before even the imitative -artist could consider Nature as beautiful. - -As Croce rightly observes: "Antiquity seems generally to have been -entrammelled in the meshes of the belief in mimetic, or the duplication -of natural objects by the artist;"[3] but when we remember that, as -Schelling points out, in Greece speculation about Art began with Art's -decline,[4] we ought to feel no surprise at this remote underestimation -of the artistic fact.[5] - -In reviewing the work of æstheticians from Plato to Croce, however, -what strikes me as so significant is the fact that, from the time -of Plotinus--who practically marks the end of the declension which -started in Plato's time--to the end of the seventeenth century, -scarcely a voice of any magnitude was raised in Europe on the subject -of Art.[6] - -That there was no real "talk" about Art, at the time when it was -revived in the Middle Ages, and at the time when it flourished in -the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and that all the old Hellenic -discussions on the subject should have been taken up again at a -period when the last emaciated blooms of the Renaissance and of the -counter-Renaissance were bowing their heads, only shows how very sorry -the plight of all great human functions must be when man begins to hope -that he may set them right by talking about them. - -When it is remembered, however, that, from the end of the seventeenth -century onward, Art was regarded either as imitation pure and simple or -as idealized imitation by no less than fifteen thinkers of note--that -is to say, roughly speaking, by the Earl of Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, -Home, Burke and Hume in England, by Batteux and Diderot in France, -by Pagano and Spaletti in Italy, by Hemsterhuis in Holland, and by -Leibnitz, Baumgarten, Kant, Schiller and Fichte in Germany; and that -if Winckelmann and Lessing opposed these ideas, it was rather with the -recommendation of another kind of imitation--that of the antique-- -than with a new valuation of Art; we can feel scarcely any surprise -at all at the sudden and total collapse of the dignity of Art in the -nineteenth century, under the deadly influence of the works of men like -Semper and his followers. - -It is all very well to point to men like Goethe, Heydenreich, -Schelling, Hegel, Hogarth and Reynolds--all of whom certainly did a -good deal to brace the self-respect of artists; but it is impossible -to argue that any one of them took up either such a definite or such a -determined attitude against the fifteen others whom I have mentioned, -as could materially stem the tide of democratic Art which was rising -in Europe. And if in the latter half of the nineteenth century we have -Ruskin telling us that "the art which makes us believe what we would -not otherwise have believed, is misapplied, and in most instances very -dangerously so";[7] and if we find that his first principle is, "that our -graphic art, whether painting or sculpture, is to produce something -which shall look as like Nature as possible,"[8] and that, in extolling -the Gothic, he says it was "the love of natural objects for their -own sake, and the effort to represent them frankly, unconstrained -by artistic laws";[9] we realize how very slight the effect of those -exceptional spirits, headed by Goethe, must have been. - - -[1] See his evidence before the Joint Committee on the Stage -Censorship.--Daily Press, September 24th, 1909. - -[2] _T. I._, Part 10, Aph. 19: "Man believes the world itself to be -overcharged with beauty,--he forgets that he is the cause of it. He -alone has endowed it with beauty.... In reality man mirrors himself in -things; he counts everything beautiful which reflects his likeness.... -Is the world really beautiful, just because man thinks it is? Man has -humanized it, that is all." - -[3] _Æsthetic_ (Douglas Ainslie's translation), p. 259. See also B. -Bosanquet, _A History of Æsthetic_, pp. 15-18. - -[4] _Sämmtliche Werke_, Vol. V, "Vorlesungen über die Methode des -akademischen Studiums," pp. 346, 347. - -[5] Dr. Max Schasler (_Kritische Geschichte der Æsthetik_, p. 73) -agrees that the understanding of Art in classical antiquity seems to -be quite barbaric in its stupidity ("_von einer geradezu barbarischen -Bornirtheit_"); but he adds that this may be an argument in favour of -the antique; for it may prove the unconsciousness of the artists and -the absolute unity of the artistic life and of artistic appreciation in -antiquity. - -[6] Aristotle was, of course, studied and commentated to a very great -extent during these fifteen centuries; but in all the branches of -science save Æsthetic. Where his Poetic was examined, the philological -or literary-historical interest was paramount. Augustine and St. Thomas -Aquinas do not differ materially from Plotinus and Plato. - -[7] _Lectures on Art_ (1870), p. 50. - -[8] _Aratra Pentelici_ (1870), p. 118. It is true that this is followed -by a restriction; but what does this restriction amount to? Ruskin -says: "We must produce what shall look like Nature to people who know -what Nature is." - -[9] _On the Nature of the Gothic_ (Smith, Elder, 1854), p. 19. - - - - -2. A Thrust parried. Police or Detective Art defined. - - -But to return to the movement initiated by Semper[10]--here we -certainly have the scientific and Christian _coup de grâce_ levelled -at the expiring spirit of nineteenth-century Art. For the actors in -this movement not only maintained that Art is imitation, but that it -actually took its origin in imitation--and of the basest sort--that -is to say, of accidental combinations of lines and colours produced in -basket-work, weaving and plaiting. - -This conclusion, which was arrived at, once more, by means of a -formidable array of facts, and which called itself "Evolution in -Art," was, like its first cousin, "Evolution in the Organic World," -absolutely democratic, ignoble, and vulgar; seeking the source of the -highest human achievements either in automatic mimicry, slavish and -even faulty copying, or involuntary adoption of natural or purely -utilitarian forms. - -Taking the beauty of Nature for granted--an assumption which, as -the first part of this lecture shows, is quite unwarrantable--these -Art-Evolutionists sought to prove that all artistic beauty was the -outcome of man's Simian virtues working either in the realm of Nature -or in the realm of his own utilitarian handiwork. And from the purely -imitative productions found in the Madeleine Cavern in La Dordogne, -to the repetitive patterns worked on wooden bowls by the natives in -British New Guinea, the origin of all art lay in schoolboy "cribbing." - -This was a new scientific valuation of Art--foreshadowed, as I have -shown, by philosophical æsthetic, but arriving independently, as it -were, at the conclusion that Art was no longer a giver, but a robber. - -Volumes were written to show the origin in technical industry of -individual patterns and ornaments on antique vases. And as Alois Riegl -rightly observes, the authors of these works spoke with such assurance, -that one might almost have believed that they had been present when the -vases were made.[11] - -Even Semper, however, as Riegl points out, did not go so far as his -disciples, and though he believed that art-forms had been evolved--a -fact any one would be ready to admit--he did not press the point that -technical industry had always been their root. - -When we find such delicate and beautifully rhythmic patterns as those -which Dr. A. C. Haddon gives us in his interesting work on Evolution -in Art, and are told that they originated in the frigate birds, or in -woodlarks, which infest the neighbourhood from which these patterns -hail;[12] when we are shown a Chinese ornament which resembles -nothing so much as the Egyptian honeysuckle and lotus ornament,[13] -and we are told that it is derived from the Chinese bat, and when we -are persuaded that an ordinary fish-hook can lead to a delightful -bell-like[14] design; then our knowledge of what Art is protests -against this desecration of its sanctity--more particularly after -we have been informed that any beauty that the original "Skeuomorph"[15] -may ultimately possess is mostly due to rapid and faulty copying -by inexpert draughtsmen, or to a simplifying process which repeated -drawings of the same thing must at length involve. - -This is nonsense, and of a most pernicious sort. No mechanical copying -or involuntary simplification will necessarily lead to designs of great -beauty. One has only to set a class of children to make dozens of -copies of an object--each more removed than the last from the original ---in order to discover that if any beauty arises at all, it is actually -_given_ or _imparted_ to the original by one particular child, who happens -to be an artist, and that the rest of the class will be quite innocent -of anything in the way of embellishments, or beauty of any kind. - -It would be absurd to argue that the beak of a frigate bird had not -been noticed by particular natives in those parts of the world where -the creature abounds; but the creative act of making an ornamental -design based upon a pot-hook unit, such as the frigate bird's beak -is, bears no causal relation whatsoever to the original fact in the -artist's environment, and to write books in order to show that it -does, is as futile as to try and show that pneumonia or bronchitis or -pleurisy was the actual cause of Poe's charming poem, "Annabel Lee." - -Riegl, Lipps, and Dr. Worringer very rightly oppose this view of Semper -and others. In his book, _Stilfragen_, Riegl successfully disposes of -the theory that repetitive patterns have invariably been the outcome -of technical processes such as weaving and plaiting, and points out -that, very often, a vegetable or animal form is given to an original -ornamental figure, only after it has been developed to such an extent -that it actually suggests that vegetable or animal form.[16] - -Dr. Worringer goes to great pains in order to show that there is -an Art-will which is quite distinct from mimicry of any kind, and -that this Art-will, beginning in the graphic arts with rhythmic and -repetitive geometrical designs, such as zigzags, cross-hatchings and -spirals, has nothing whatsoever to do with natural objects or objects -of utility, such as baskets and woven work, which these designs happen -to resemble.[17] - -He points out that there is not only a difference of degree, but -actually a marked difference of kind, between the intensely realistic -drawing of the Madeleine finds and of some Australian cave painting -and rock sculptures,[18] which are the work of the rudest savages, and the -rhythmic decoration of other races; and that whereas the former are -simply the result of a truly imitative instinct which the savage does -well to cultivate for his own self-preservation--since the ability -to imitate also implies sharpened detective senses[19]--the latter is -the result of a genuine desire for order and simple and organized -arrangement, and an attempt in a small way to overcome confusion. "It -is man's only possible way of emancipating himself from the accidental -and chaotic character of reality."[20] - -The author also shows very ably that, even where plant forms are -selected by the original geometric artist, it is only owing to some -peculiarly orderly or systematic arrangement of their parts, and that -the first impulse in the selective artist is not to imitate Nature, but -to obtain a symmetrical and systematic arrangement of lines,[21] to gratify -his will to be master of natural disorder. - -These objections of Riegl and Worringer are both necessary and -important; for, as the former declares: "It is now high time that we -should retreat from the position in which it is maintained that the -roots of Art lie in purely technical prototypes."[22] - -Even in the camp of the out-and-out evolutionists, however, there seems -always to have been some uncertainty as to whether they were actually -on the right scent. One has only to read Grosse, where he throws doubt -on the technical origin of ornament, and acknowledges that he clings -to it simply because he can see no other,[23] and the concluding word of -Dr. Haddon's book, _Evolution in Art_,[24] in order to understand how -very much a proper concept of the Art-instinct would have helped these -writers to explain a larger field of facts than they were able to -explain, and to do so with greater accuracy. - -Nobody, of course, denies that the patterns on alligators' backs, the -beaks of birds, and even the regular disposition of features in the -human face, have been incorporated into designs; but what must be -established, once and for all, is the fact that there is a whole ocean -of difference between the theory which would ascribe such coincidences -to the imitative faculty, and that which would show them to be merely -the outcome of an original desire for rhythmic order, simplification, -and organization, which may or may not avail itself of natural or -technical forms suggestive of symmetrical arrangement that happen to be -at hand. - -It is an important controversy, and one to which I should have been -glad to devote more attention. In summing up, however, I don't think -I could do better than quote the opening lines of the Rev. J. F. -Rowbotham's excellent _History of Music_, in which the same questions, -although applied to a different branch of Art, are admirably stated and -answered. - -In this book the author says-- - -"The twittering of birds, the rustling of leaves, the gurgling of -brooks, have provoked the encomiums of poets. Yet none of these has -ever so powerfully affected man's mind that he has surmised the -existence of something deeper in them than one hearing would suffice -to disclose, and has endeavoured by imitating them to familiarize -himself with their nature, so that he may repeat the effect at his own -will and pleasure in all its various shades. These sounds, with that -delicate instinct which has guided him so nicely through this universe -of tempting possibilities, he chose deliberately to pass over. He heard -them with pleasure maybe. But pleasure must possess some æsthetic -value. There must be a secret there to fathom, a mystery to unravel, -before we would undertake its serious pursuit. - -"And there is a kind of sound which exactly possesses these -qualities--a sound fraught with seductive mystery--a sound which is -Nature's magic, for by it can dumb things speak. - -"The savage who, for the first time in our world's history, knocked -two pieces of wood together, and took pleasure in the sound, had other -aims than his own delight. He was patiently examining a mystery; he was -peering with his simple eyes into one of Nature's greatest secrets. The -something he was examining was rhythmic sound, on which rests the whole -art of music."[25] - -Thus, as you see, there is a goodly array of perfectly sensible people -on the other side. Still, the belief that graphic art took its origin -in imitation must undoubtedly have done a good deal of damage; for the -numbers that hold it and act upon it at the present day are, I am sorry -to say, exceedingly great. - -By identifying the will to imitate with the instinct of -self-preservation pure and simple, however, we immediately obtain its -order of rank; for having already established that the will to Art is -the will to exist in a certain way--that is to say, with power, all -that which ministers to existence alone must of necessity fall below -the will to Art. In helping us to make this point, Dr. Worringer and -Mr. Felix Clay have done good service, while Riegl's contribution to -the side opposed to the Art-Evolutionists cannot be estimated too -highly. - -We are now able to regard the realistic rockdrawings and cave-paintings -of rude Bushmen, as also the finds in the Madeleine Cavern, with an -understanding which has not been vouchsafed us before, and in comparing -these examples of amazing truth to Nature--which, for want of a better -name, we shall call Detective or Police Art[26]--with the double -twisted braid, the palmette, and the simple fret in Assyrian ornament, -we shall be able to assign to each its proper order of rank. - -It seems a pity, before laying down the principles of an art, that -it should be necessary to clear away so many false doctrines and -prejudices heaped upon it in perfect good faith by scientific men. It -is only one proof the more, if such were needed, of the vulgarizing -influence science has exercised over everything it has touched, since -it began to become almost divinely ascendant in the nineteenth century. - - - -[10] "_Der Stil in der technischen und tektonischen Künsten, oder -praktische Æsthetik_." - -[11] See the excellent work, _Stilfragen_, p. 11. - -[12] _Evolution in Art_, by A. C. Haddon. See especially figures 26, -27, 30, 31, 32, pp. 49-52. See also figure 106, p. 181. - -[13] _The Evolution of Decorative Art_, by Henry J. Balfour, p. 50. - -[14] _Evolution in Art_, by A. C. Haddon, p. 76. - -[15] A word Dr. Colley March introduced to express the idea of an -ornament due to structure. - -[16] _Stilfragen_, p. 208 _et seq_. See also Dr. W. Worringer's really -valuable contribution to this subject: _Abstraktion und Einfühlung_, p. -58. - -[17] _Abstraktion und Einfühlung_, pp. 4, 8, 9, 11. - -[18] _Abstraktion und Einfühlung_, p. 51. See also Grosse, The -Beginnings of Art, pp. 166-169 et seq. - -[19] For confirmation of this point see Felix Clay, _The Origin of the -Sense of Beauty_, p. 97. - -[20] _Abstraktion und Einfühlung_, p. 44. - -[21] _Abstraktion und Einfühlung_, p. 58. - -[22] Stilfragen, p. 12. - -[23] _The Beginnings of Art_, pp. 145-147. - -[24] p. 309: "There are certain styles of ornamentation which, at all -events in particular cases, may very well be original, taking that word -in its ordinary sense, such, for example, as zigzags, cross-hatching, -and so forth. The mere toying with any implement which could make -a mark on any surface might suggest the simplest ornamentation -[_N.B._--It is characteristic of this school that even original design, -according to them, must be the result of "toying" with an instrument, -and of a suggestion from chance markings it may make] to the most -savage mind. This may or may not have been the case, and it is entirely -beyond proof either way, and therefore we must not press our analogy -too far. It is, however, surprising and is certainly very significant -that the origin of so many designs can be determined although they are -of unknown age." - -[25] _The History of Music_, by J. F. Rowbotham, 1893, pp. 7, 8. See -also Dr. Wallaschek's _Anfänge der Tonkunst_ (Leipzig, 1903). - -[26] The Bertillon system of identification and Madame Tussaud's, -together with a large number of modern portraits and landscapes, are -the highest development of this art. - - - - -3. The Purpose of Art Still the Same as Ever. - - -But in spite of all the attempts that have been made to democratize -Art, and to fit it to the Procrustes bed of modernity, two human -factors have remained precisely the same as they ever were, and show -no signs of changing. I refer to the general desire to obey and to -follow, in the mass of mankind, and to the general desire to prevail in -concepts, if not in offspring, among higher men. - -Wherever one may turn, wherever one inquires, one will discover that, -at the present day, however few and weak the commanders may be, there -is among the vast majority of people an insatiable thirst to obey, -to find opinions ready-made, and to believe in some one or in some -law. The way the name of science is invoked when a high authority -is needed--just as the Church or the Bible used to be invoked in -years gone by--the love of statistics and the meekness with which -a company grows silent when they are quoted; the fact that the most -preposterous fashions are set in clothing, in tastes, and in manners; -the sheep-like way in which people will follow a leader, whether in -politics, literature, or in sport, not to dilate upon the love of great -names and the faith in the daily Press which nowadays, so I hear, even -prescribes schemes for dinner-table conversation--all these things -show what a vast amount of instinctive obedience still remains the -birthright of the Greatest Number. For even advertisement hoardings and -the excessive use of advertisements in this age, in addition to the -fact that they point unmistakably to the almost omnipotent power of the -commercial classes (a power which vouchsafes them even the privilege -of self-praise, which scarcely any other class of society could claim -without incurring the charge of bad-taste), also show how docilely -the greatest number must ultimately respond to repeated stimuli, and -finally obey if they be told often enough to buy, or to go to see, -any particular thing. And, in this respect, the Nietzschean attitude -towards the greatest number is one of kindness and consideration. - -This instinct to obey, says Nietzsche, is the most natural thing in the -world, and it must be gratified. By all means it must be gratified. -What is fatal is not that it should be fed with commands, but that it -should be starved by the lack of commanders, and so be compelled to go -in search of food on its own account. - -"Inasmuch as in all ages," says Nietzsche, "as long as mankind has -existed, there have always been human herds (family alliances, -communities, tribes, peoples, states, churches), and always a great -number who obey in proportion to the small number who command--in -view, therefore, of the fact that obedience has been most practised -and fostered among mankind hitherto, one may reasonably suppose that, -generally speaking, the need thereof is now innate in every one, as -a kind of _formal conscience_ which gives the command: 'Thou shalt -unconditionally do something, unconditionally refrain from something.' -In short, 'Thou shalt.' This need tries to satisfy itself and to fill -its form with a content; according to its strength, impatience and -eagerness, it thereby seizes, as an omnivorous appetite, with little -selection, and accepts whatever is shouted into its ear by all sorts -of commanders--parents, teachers, laws, class prejudices, or public -opinion."[27] - -Everywhere, then, "he who would command finds those who must obey"[28]-- -this is obvious to the most superficial observer; because it is easier -to obey than to command. - -"Wherever I found living things," says Zarathustra, "there heard I also -the language of obedience. All living things are things that obey. - -"And this I heard secondly: whatever cannot obey itself, is commanded. -Such is the nature of living things. - -"This, however, is the third thing I heard: to command is more -difficult than to obey. And not only because the commander beareth the -burden of all who obey, and because this burden easily crusheth him:-- - -"An effort and a risk seemed all commanding unto me; and whenever it -commandeth, the living thing risketh itself. - -"Yea, even when it commandeth himself, then also must it atone for its -commanding. Of its own law must it become the judge and avenger and -victim."[29] - -For opinions are a matter of will; they are always, or ought to -be always, travelling tickets implying a certain definite aim and -destination, and the opinions we hold concerning Life must point to -a certain object we see in Life;--hence there is just as great a -market for opinions, and just as great a demand for fixed values to-day -as there ever was, and the jealous love with which men will quote -well-established views, or begin to believe when they hear that a view -is well established--a fact which is at the root of all the fruits of -modern popularity--shows what a need and what a craving there is for -authority, for authoritative information, and for unimpeachable coiners -of opinions. - -Now all the arts either determine values or lay stress upon certain -values already established.[30] What, then, are the particular values -that the graphic arts determine or accentuate? It must be clear that -they determine what is beautiful, desirable, in fact, imperative, in -form and colour. - -The purpose of the graphic arts, then, has remained the same as it ever -was. It is to determine the values "ugly" and "beautiful" for those who -wish to know what is ugly and what is beautiful. The fact that painters -and sculptors have grown so tremulous and so little self-reliant as -to claim only the right to imitate, to please and to amuse, does not -affect this statement in the least; it is simply a reflection upon -modern artists and sculptors. - -Since, however, these values beautiful and ugly are themselves but the -outcome of other more fundamental values which have ruled and moulded -a race for centuries, it follows that the artist who would accentuate -or determine the qualities beautiful or ugly, must bear some intimate -relation to the past and possible future of the people. - -Place the Hermes of Praxiteles and especially the canon of Polycletus -in any part of a cathedral of the late Gothic, and you will see to what -extent the values which gave rise to Gothic Art were incompatible with, -and antagonistic to, those which reared Praxiteles and Polycletus. -Now, if you want a still greater contrast, place an Egyptian granite -sculpture inside a building like le Petit Trianon, and this intimate -association between the Art and the values of a people will begin to -seem clear to you. - -You may ask, then, why or how such an art as Ruler-art can please? -Since it introduces something definitely associated with a particular -set of values, and commands an assent to these values, how is it that -one likes it? - -The reply is that one does not necessarily like it. One often hates -it. One likes it only when one feels that it reveals values which are -in sympathy with one's own aspirations. The Ruler-art of Egypt, for -instance, can stir no one who, consciously or unconsciously, is not in -some deep secret sympathy with the society which produced it; and as an -example of this sympathy--if you wish to know why the realism which -comes from poverty[31] tends to increase and flourish in democratic times, -it is only because there is that absence of particular human power in -it which is compatible with a society in which a particular human power -is completely lacking. - -For it is absolute nonsense to speak of _l'art pour l'art_ and of the -pleasure of art for art's sake as acceptable principles.[32] I will show -later on how this notion arose. Suffice it to say, for the present, -that this is the death of Art. It is separating Art from Life, and it -is relegating it to a sphere--a Beyond--where other things, stronger -than Art, have already been known to die. The notion of art for art's -sake can only arise in an age when the purpose of Art is no longer -known, when its relation to Life has ceased from being recognized, and -when artists have grown too weak to find the realization of their will -in their works. - - -[27] _G. E._, p. 120. - -[28] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 105. - -[29] _Z._, II, XXXIV. - -[30] T. I., Part 10, Aph. 24: "A psychologist asks what does all art -do? does it not praise? does it not glorify? does it not select? does -it not bring into prominence? In each of these cases it strengthens or -weakens certain valuations. ... Is this only a contingent matter?--an -accident, something with which the instinct of the artist would not at -all be concerned? Or rather, is it not the pre-requisite which enables -the artist to do something? Is his fundamental instinct directed -towards art?--or is it not rather directed towards the sense of art, -namely, life? towards desirableness of life?" - -[31] See p. 119. - -[32] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 246. See also T. I., Part 10, Aph. 24, and _G. -E._, p. 145. - - - - -4. The Artist's and the Layman's View of Life. - - -If the artist's view of Life can no longer affect Life, if his -ordering, simplifying and adjusting mind can no longer make Life -simpler, more orderly and better adjusted, then all his power has -vanished, and he has ceased from counting in our midst, save, perhaps, -as a _decorator_ of our homes--that is to say, as an artisan; or as an -_entertainer_--that is to say, as a mere illustrator of our literary -men's work. - -What is so important in the artist is, that disorder and confusion are -the loadstones that attract him.[33] Though, in stating this, I should ask -you to remember that he sees disorder and confusion where, very often, -the ordinary person imagines everything to be admirably arranged. -Still, the fact remains that he finds his greatest proof of power only -where his ordering and simplifying mind meets with something whereon it -may stamp its two strongest features: Order and Simplicity; and where -he is strong, relative disorder is his element, and the arrangement -of this disorder is his product.[34] Stimulated by disorder, which he -despises, he is driven to his work; spurred by the sight of anarchy, -his inspiration is government; fertilized by rudeness and ruggedness, -his will to power gives birth to culture and refinement. He gives of -himself--his business is to make things reflect him. - -Thus, even his will to eternalize, and to stamp the nature of stability -on Becoming, must not be confounded with that other desire for Being -which is a desire for rest and repose and opiates,[35] and which has -found its strongest expression in the idea of the Christian Heaven. -It is, rather, a feeling of gratitude towards Life, a desire to show -thankfulness to Life, which makes him desire to rescue one beautiful -body from the river of Becoming, and fix its image for ever in this -world,[36] whereas the other is based upon a loathing of Life and a -weariness of it. - -Defining _ugliness_ provisionally as disorder, it may have a great -attraction for the artist, it may even be the artist's sole attraction, -and in converting it--the thing he despises most--into _beauty_, which -we shall define provisionally as order, he reaches the zenith of his -power.[37] - -"Where is beauty?" Zarathustra asks. "Where I must will with my whole -will; where I will love and perish, that an image may not remain merely -an image.[38] - -"For to create desireth the loving one, because he despiseth."[39] - -It follows from this, therefore, that the realistic -artist--the purveyor of Police Art--who goes direct to beauty or -ugliness and, after having worked upon either, leaves it just as it was -before,[40] shows no proof of power at all, and ranks with the bushmen -of Australia and the troglodytes of La Dordogne, as very much below -the hierophantic artist who transforms and transfigures. All realists, -therefore, from Apelles[41] in the fourth century B.C. to the modern -impressionists, portrait painters and landscapists, must step down. -Like the scientists, they merely ascertain facts, and, in so doing, -leave things precisely as they are.[42] Photography is rapidly outstripping -them, and will outstrip them altogether once it has mastered the -problem of colour. Photography could never have vied with the artist of -Egypt, or even of China and Japan; because in the arts of each of these -nations there is an element of human power over Nature or reality, -which no mechanical process can emulate. - -Now, what is important in the ideal and purely hypothetical layman -is, that he has a horror of disorder, of confusion, and of chaos, and -flees from it whenever possible. He finds no solace anywhere, except -where the artist has been and left things transformed and richer for -him. Bewildered by reality, he extends his hands for that which the -artist has made of reality. He is a receiver. He reaches his zenith in -apprehending.[43] His attitude is that of a woman, as compared with the -attitude of the artist which is that of the man. - -"Logical and geometrical simplification is the result of an increase -of power: conversely, the mere aspect of such simplification increases -the sense of power in the beholder."[44] To see what is ugliness to him, -represented as what is beauty to him, also impresses the spectator with -the feeling of power; of an obstacle overcome, and thereby stimulates -his activities. Moreover, the spectator may feel a certain gratitude -to Life and Mankind. It often happens, even in our days, that another -world is pictured as by no means a better world,[45] and the healthy -and optimistic layman may feel a certain thankfulness to Life and to -Humanity. It is then once more that he turns to the artist who has -felt the same in a greater degree, who can give him this thing--be it -a corner of Life or of Humanity--who can snatch it from the eternal -flux and torrent of all things into decay or into death, and who can -carve or paint it in a form unchanging for him, in spite of a world of -Becoming, of Evolution, and of ebb and flow. Just as the musician cries -Time! Time! Time! to the cacophonous medley of natural sounds that pour -into his ears from all sides, and assembles them rhythmically for our -ears hostile to disorder; so the graphic artist cries Time! Time! Time! -to the incessant and kaleidoscopic procession of things from birth to -death, and places in the layman's arms the eternalized image of that -portion of Life for which he happens to feel great gratitude. - - -[33] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 368. - -[34] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 241. - -[35] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 280. - -[36] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 281. - -[37] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 244. - -[38] _Z._, II, XXXVII. - -[39] _Z._, I. XVIII. - -[40]_ T. I._, Part 10, Aph. "Nature, estimated artistically, -is no model. It exaggerates, it distorts, it leaves gaps. -Nature is accident. Studying 'according to nature' seems -to me a bad sign; it betrays subjection, weakness, fatalism; -this lying-in-the-dust before petit fails is unworthy of a -complete artist. Seeing what is--that belongs to another -species of intellects, to the anti-artistic, to the practical." - -[41] See Woltmann and Woermann, _History of Painting_, -Vol. I, p. 62. - -[42] _B. T._, p. 59. See also Schopenhauer, _Parerga und -Paralipomena_, Vol. II, p. 447. - -[43] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 255. - -[44] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 241. - -[45] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 95: "A people that are proud of -themselves, and who are on the ascending path of Life, -always picture another existence as lower and less valuable -than theirs." - - - - -5. The Confusion of the Two Points of View. - - -It is obvious that if both pleasures are to remain pure and undefiled-- -if the artist is to attain to his zenith in happiness, and the layman -to his also--their particular points of view must not be merged, -dulled, or blunted by excessive spiritual intercourse.[46] For a very large -amount of the disorder in the arts of the present can easily be traced -to a confusion of the two points of view. - -In an ideal society, the artist's standpoint would be esoteric, and the -layman's exoteric. - -Nowadays, of course, owing to the process of universal levelling which -has been carried so far that it is invading even the department of sex, -it is hard to find such distinctions as the artist's and the layman's -standpoint in art sharply and definitely juxtaposed. And this fact -accounts for a good deal of the decrease in æsthetic pleasure, which -is so characteristic of the age. In fact, it accounts for the decrease -of pleasure in general, for only where there are sharp differences can -there be any great pleasure. Pessimism and melancholia can arise only -in inartistic ages, when a process of levelling has merged all the joys -of particular standpoints into one. - -Let me give you a simple example, drawn from modern life and the -pictorial arts, in order to show you to what extent the standpoint of -the people or of the layman has become corrupted by the standpoint of -the artist, and vice-versâ. - -Strictly speaking, artists in search of scope for their powers should -prefer Hampstead Heath or the Forest of Fontainebleau[47] to the -carefully laid-out gardens of our parks and of Versailles. Conversely, -if their taste were still uncorrupted, the public ought to prefer the -carefully arranged gardens of our parks and of Versailles to Hampstead -Heath or the Forest of Fontainebleau. - -Some of the public, of course, still do hold the proper views on these -points, but their number is rapidly diminishing, and most of them -assume the airs of artists now, and speak with sentimental enthusiasm -about the beautiful ruggedness of craggy rocks, the glorious beauty of -uncultivated Nature, and the splendour of wild scenery.[48] - -[Illustration: The Marriage of Mary. By Raphael. (Brera, Milan.)] - -Artists, on the other hand, having become infected by the public's -original standpoint--the desire for order--either paint pictures -like Raphael's "Marriage of Mary,"[49] his "Virgin and Child attended -by St. John the Baptist and St. Nicholas of Bari,"[50] and Perugino's -"Vision of St. Bernard,"[51] in which the perfectly symmetrical aspect and -position of the architecture is both annoying and inartistic, owing to -the fact that it was looked at by the artist from a point at which it -was orderly and arranged before he actually painted it, and could not -therefore testify to his power of simplifying or ordering--but simply -to his ability to avail himself of another artist's power, namely, the -architect's; or else, having become infected by the public's corrupt -standpoint--the desire for disorder and chaos as an end in itself-- -they paint as Ruysdael, Hobbema and Constable painted--that is to -say, without imparting anything of themselves, or of their power to -order and simplify, to the content of the picture, lest the desire for -disorder or chaos should be thwarted.[52] - -This is an exceedingly important point, and its value for art criticism -cannot be overrated. If one can trust one's taste, and it is still a -purely public taste, it is possible to tell at a glance why one cannot -get oneself to like certain pictures in which either initial regularity -has been too great, thus leaving no scope for the artist's power, or in -which final irregularity is too great, thus betraying no evidence of -the artist's power. - -Looking at Rubens' "Ceres,"[53] in which the architecture is -viewed also in a frontal position, you may be tempted to ask why such -a picture is not displeasing, despite the original symmetry of the -architecture in the position in which the painter chose to paint it. -The reply is simple. Here Rubens certainly placed the architecture -full-face; but besides dissimulating the greater part of it in shadow-- -which in itself produces unsymmetrical shapes that have subsequently to -be arranged by tone composition--lie carefully disordered it by means -of garlands and festoons, and only then did he exercise his artistic -mind in making a harmonious and orderly pictorial arrangement of it, -which also included some cupids skilfully placed. - -All realism, or Police Art, therefore, in addition to being the outcome -of the will to truth which Christianity and its offshoot Modern Science -have infused into the arts, may also be the result of the artist's -becoming infected either with the public's pure taste, or with the -public's corrupted or artist-infected taste, and we are thus in -possession of one more clue as to what constitutes a superior work of -graphic art. - - -[46] _W. P._, Vol. II, pp. 255, 256. - -[47] In regard to this point it is interesting to note that Kant, in -his _Kritik der Urteilskraft_, actually called landscape-painting a -process of gardening. - -[48] I do not mean to imply here that all the sentimental gushing -that is given vent to nowadays over rugged and wild scenery is the -outcome only of a confusion of the artist's and layman's standpoints. -The influence of the Christian and Protestant worship of pointless -freedom, together with that of their contempt of the work of man, is -largely active here; and the sight of unhandseled and wild shrubs, -and of tangled and matted grasses, cheers the heart of the fanatical -believer in the purposeless freedom and anarchy which Christianity and -Protestantism have done so much to honour and extol. That the same man -who honours government and an aristocratic ideal may often be found -to-day dilating upon the charms of chaotic scenery, only shows how -muddle-headed and confused mankind has become. - -[49] The Brera at Milan. - -[50] The National Gallery, London. Raphael was very much infected with -the people's point of view, hence the annoying stiltedness of many of -his pictures. - -[51] Pinakothek, Munich. - -[52] See particularly, Ruysdael's "Rocky Landscape," "Landscape with a -Farm" (Wallace collection); Hobbema's "Outskirts of a Wood" and many -others in the Wallace collection; and Constable's "Flatford Mill" and -"The Haywain" (National Gallery). - -[53] Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg. - - - - -6. The Meaning of Beauty of Form and of Beauty of Content in Art. - - -So far, then, I have arrived at this notion of beauty in Ruler-Art, -namely: that it may be regarded almost universally as that order, -simplicity and transfiguration which the artist mind imparts to the -content of his production. This notion seems to allow of almost -universal application, because, as I showed in the first part of -this lecture, it involves one of the primary instincts of man--the -overcoming of chaos and anarchy by adjustment, simplification and -transfiguration. It is only in democratic ages, or ages of decline, -when instincts become disintegrated, that beauty in Art is synonymous -with a lack of simplicity, of order and of transfiguration. I have -shown, however, that the second kind of beauty, or democratic beauty, -is of an inferior kind to that of the first beauty, or Ruler beauty, -because, while the former takes its root in the will to live, the -latter arises surely and truly out of the will to power.[54] Either -beauty, however, constitutes ugliness in its opponent's opinion. - -But there is another aspect of Beauty in Art which has to be -considered, and that is the intrinsic beauty of the content of an -artistic production. You may say that, _ex hypothesi_, I have denied that -there could be any such beauty. Not at all! - -Since the ruler-artist transfigures by enhancement, by embellishment -and by ennoblement, his mind can be stimulated perfectly well by an -object or a human being which to the layman is vertiginously beautiful, -and which to himself is exceedingly pleasing. In fact, if his mind -is a mind which, like that of most master-artists, adores that which -is difficult, it will go in search of the greatest natural beauty it -can find, in order, by a stupendous effort in transfiguration, to -outstrip even that; for the embellishment of the downright ugly and the -downright revolting presents a task too easy to the powerful artist--a -fact which explains a good deal of the ugly contents of many a modern -picture. - -What, then, constitutes the beauty of the content in an artistic -production, as distinct from the beauty of the treatment? In other -words, what is beauty in a subject? - -For the notion that the subject does not matter in a picture is one -which should be utterly and severely condemned. It arose at a time -when art was diseased, when artists themselves had ceased from having -anything of importance to say, when the subjects chosen had no meaning, -and when technique was bad. And it must be regarded more in the light -of a war-cry coming from a counter-movement, aiming at an improved -technique and rebelling against an abuse of literature in the graphic -arts, than in the light of sound doctrine, taking its foundation in -normal and healthy conditions. - -The intrinsic beauty of the content or substance of a picture or -sculpture may therefore be the subject of legitimate inquiry, and in -determining what it consists of, we raise the whole question of content -beauty. - -Volumes, stacks of volumes, have been written on this question. The -most complicated and incomprehensible answers have been given to it, -and not one can be called satisfactory; for all of them would be -absolute. - -When, however, we find a modern writer defining the beautiful as -"that which has characteristic or individual expressiveness for sense -perception or imagination, subject to the conditions of general or -abstract expressiveness in the same medium,"[55] we feel, or at least -_I_ feel, that something must be wrong. It is definitions such as these -which compel one to seek for something more definite and more lucid -in the matter of explanation, and if, in finding the latter, one may -seem a little too prosaic and _terre-à-terre_, it is only because the -transcendental and metaphysical nature of the kind of definition we -have just quoted makes anything which is in the slightest degree -clearer, appear earthly and material beside it. - -It is obvious that, if we could only arrive at a subject-beauty which -was absolute, practically all the difficulties of our task would -vanish. For having established the fact that the purpose of the -graphic arts is to determine the values beautiful and ugly, it would -only remain for us to urge all artists to advocate that absolute -subject-beauty with all the eloquence of line and colour that our -concept of Art-form would allow, and all the problems of Art would be -solved. - -But we can postulate no such absolute in subject-beauty. "Absolute -beauty exists just as little as absolute goodness and truth."[56] The -term "beautiful," like the term "good," is only a means to an end. It -is simply the arbitrary self-affirmation of a certain type of man in -his struggle to prevail.[57] He says "Yea" to his type, and calls it -beautiful. He cannot extend his power and overcome other types unless -with complete confidence and assurance he says "Yea" to his own type. - -You and I, therefore, can speak of the beautiful with an understanding -of what that term means, only on condition that our values, our -traditions, our desires, and our outlook are exactly the same. If you -agree with me on the question of what is good, our agreement simply -means this, that in that corner of the world from which you and I hail, -the same creator of values prevails over both of us. Likewise, if you -and I agree on the question of what is beautiful, this fact merely -denotes that as individuals coming from the same people, we have our -values, our tradition and our outlook in common. - -"Beautiful," then, is a purely relative term which may be applied to a -host of dissimilar types and which every people must apply to its own -type alone, if it wishes to preserve its power. Biologically, absolute -beauty exists only within the confines of a particular race. That race -which would begin to consider another type than their own as beautiful, -would thereby cease from being a race. We may be kind, amiable, and -even hospitable to the Chinaman or the Negro; but the moment we begin -to share the Chinaman's or the Negro's view of beauty, we run the risk -of cutting ourselves adrift from our own people. - -But assuming, as we must, that all people, the Chinese, the Negroes, -the Hindus, the Red Indians, and the Arabs between themselves apply -the word beautiful only to particular individuals among their own -people, in order to distinguish them from less beautiful or mediocre -individuals--what meaning has the term in that case? - -Obviously, since the spirit of the people, its habits, prejudices -and prepossessions are determined by their values, and values may -fix a type, that creature will be most beautiful among them who is -the highest embodiment and outcome of all their values, and who -therefore corresponds most to the ideal their æsthetic legislator had -in mind when he created their values.[58] Thus even morality can -be justified æsthetically.[59] And in legislating for primeval peoples, -higher men and artist-legislators certainly worked like sculptors on a -yielding medium which was their own kind. - -The most beautiful negro or Chinaman thus becomes that individual negro -or Chinaman who is rich in those features which the life-spirit of the -Ethiopian or Chinese people is calculated to produce, and who, owing to -a long and regular observance of the laws and traditions of his people, -by his ancestors for generations, has inherited that regularity of form -in his type, which all long observance of law and order is bound to -cultivate and to produce.[60] And in reviewing the peoples of Europe -alone, we can ascribe the many and different views which they have held -and still hold of beauty, only to a difference in the values they have -observed for generations in their outlook, their desires and their -beliefs. - -It is quite certain, therefore, that, in the graphic arts, which either -determine or accentuate the values "ugly" and "beautiful," every artist -who sets up his notion of what is subject-beauty, like every lover -about to marry, either assails or confirms and consolidates the values -of his people.[61] - -Examples of this, if they were needed, are to be found everywhere. See -how the Gothic school of painting, together with men like Fra Angelico, -Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, El Greco, and subsequently Burne-Jones, -set up the soulful person, the person of tenuous, nervous and -heaven-aspiring slenderness, as the type of beauty, thus advocating and -establishing Christian values in a very seductive and often artistic -manner; while the Pagans, with Michelangelo, Titian, and even Rubens, -represented another code of values--perhaps even several other codes-- -and sought to fix their type also. - -Note, too, how hopeless are the attempts of artists who stand for the -Pagan ideal, when they paint Christian saints and martyrs, and how -singularly un-Pagan those figures are which appear in the pictures of -the advocates of the Christian ideal when they attempt Pagan types. -Christ by Rubens is not the emaciated, tenuous Person suffering from -a wasting disease that Segna represents him to be; while the Mars and -Venus of Botticelli in the National Gallery would have been repudiated -with indignation by any Greek of antiquity. - -When values are beginning to get mixed, then, owing to an influx of -foreigners from all parts of the world, we shall find the strong -biological idea of absolute beauty tending to disappear, and in its -place we shall find the weak and wholly philosophical belief arising -that beauty is relative. Thus, in Attica of the fifth century B.C., -when 300,000 slaves, chiefly foreigners, were to be counted among the -inhabitants, the idea that beauty was a relative term first occurred to -the "talker" Socrates. - -Still, in all concepts of beauty, however widely separated and however -diametrically opposed, there is this common factor: that the beautiful -person is the outcome of a long observance through generations of -the values peculiar to a people. A certain regularity of form and -feature, whether this form and feature be Arab, Ethiopian or Jewish, -is indicative of a certain regular mode of life which has lasted for -generations; and in calling this indication beautiful, a people once -more affirms itself and its values. If the creature manifesting this -regularity be a Chinaman, he will be the most essential Chinaman that -the Chinese values can produce; his face will reveal no fighting and -discordant values; there will be no violent contrasts of type in -his features, and, relative to Chinese values, his face will be the -most regular and harmonious that can be seen, and therefore the most -beautiful.[62] The Chinese ruler-artist, in representing a mediocre -Chinaman, would therefore exercise his transfiguring powers to overcome -any discordant features in the face before him, and would thus produce -a beautiful type.[63] Or, if his model happened to be the highest -product of Chinese values, his object would be to transcend even that, -and to point to something higher. - -Once again, therefore, though it is impossible to posit a universal -concept of subject-beauty, various concepts may be given an order of -rank, subject to the values with which they happen to be associated. - - -[54] If this book be read in conjunction with my monograph on -_Nietzsche: his Life and Works_ (Constable), or my _Who is to be -Master of the World?_ (Foulis), there ought to be no difficulty in -understanding this point. - -[55] B. Bosanquet, _A History of Æsthetic_, p. 4. - -[56] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 246. See also _T. I._, Part 10, Aph. 19: "The -'beautiful in itself' is merely an expression, not even a concept." - -[57] _T. I._, Part 10, Apr. 19: "In the beautiful, man posits himself -as the standard of perfection; in select cases he worships himself in -that standard. A species _cannot_ possibly do otherwise than thus say -yea to itself." - -[58] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 361: "Legislative moralities are the -principal means by which one can form mankind, according to the fancy -of a creative and profound will: provided, of course, that such an -artistic will of the first order gets the power into its own hands, -and can make its creative will prevail over long periods in the form -of legislation, religions, and morals." See p. 79 in the first part of -this lecture. - -[59] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 185. - -[60] _G. E._, p. 107: "The essential thing 'in heaven and earth' is, -apparently, that there should be long obedience in the same direction; -there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, -something which has made life worth living; for instance, virtue, -art, music, dancing, reason, spirituality--anything whatever that is -transfiguring, refined, foolish, or divine." - -[61] _T. I._, Part 10, Aph. 24. - -[62] _T. I._, Part 10, Aph. 47: "Even the beauty of a race or family, -the pleasantness and kindness of their whole demeanour, is acquired by -effort; like genius, it is the final result of the accumulated labour -of generations. There must have been great sacrifices made to good -taste; for the sake of it, much must have been done, and much refrained -from--the seventeenth century in France is worthy of admiration in -both ways; good taste must then have been a principle of selection, for -society, place, dress, and sexual gratification, beauty must have been -preferred to advantage, habit, opinion, indolence. Supreme rule:--we -must not 'let ourselves go,' even when only in our own presence.--Good -things are costly beyond measure, and the rule always holds, that he -who possesses them is other than he who acquires them. All excellence -is inheritance; what has not been inherited is imperfect, it is a -beginning." - -[63] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 245: "'Beauty,' therefore, is, to the artist, -something which is above order of rank, because in beauty contrasts -are overcome, the highest sign of power thus manifesting itself in the -conquest of opposites; and achieved without a feeling of tension." See -also Hegel, _Vorlesungen über Æsthetik_, Vol. I, pp. 130, 144. - - - - -7. The Meaning of Ugliness of Form and of Ugliness of Content in Art. - - -Ugliness in Art, therefore, is Art's contradiction.[67] It is the absence -of Art. It is a sign that the simplifying, ordering and transfiguring -power of the artist has not been successful, and that chaos, disorder -and complexity have not been overcome. - -Ugliness of form in Art, therefore, will tend to become prevalent -in democratic times; because it is precisely at such times that a -general truth for all is believed in, and, since reality is the only -truth which can be made common to all, democratic art is invariably -realistic, and therefore, according to my definition of the beautiful -in form, ugly. - -In this matter, I do not ask you to take my views on trust. A person -who will seem to you very much more authoritative than myself--a man -who once had the honour of influencing Whistler, and who, by the bye, -is also famous for having flung down the Colonne Vendôme in Paris-- -once expressed himself quite categorically on this matter. - -At the Congress of Antwerp in 1861, after he had criticized other -artists and other concepts of art, this man concluded his speech as -follows: "By denying the ideal and all that it involves, I attain to -the complete emancipation of the individual, and finally to democracy. -Realism is essentially democratic."[68] - -As you all must know, this man was Gustave Courbet, of whom Muther said -that he had a predilection for the ugly.[69] - -Artists infected with the pure or the corrupt layman's view of Art, -as described in the previous section, and artists obsessed by the -Christian or scientific notion of truth, will consequently produce ugly -work. They will be realists, or Police-artists, and consequently ugly. - -But how can content- or subject-ugliness be understood? Content- or -subject-ugliness is the decadence of a type.[70] It is the sign -that certain features, belonging to other peoples (hitherto called ugly -according to the absolute biological standard of beauty of a race), -are beginning to be introduced into their type. Or it may mean that -the subject to be represented does not reveal that harmony and lack -of contrasts which the values of a people are capable of producing. -In each case it provokes hatred, and this "hatred is inspired by the -most profound instinct of the species; there is horror, foresight, -profundity, and far-reaching vision in it--it is the profoundest of -all hatreds. On account of it art is _profound_."[71] - -The hatred amounts to a condemnation of usurping values, or of -discordant values; in fact, to a condemnation of dissolution and -anarchy, and the judgment "ugly" is of the most serious import. - -Thus, although few of us can agree to-day as to what constitutes a -beautiful man or woman, there is still a general idea common to us all, -that a certain regularity of features constitutes beauty, and that, -with this beauty, a certain reliable, harmonious, and calculable nature -will be present. Spencer said the wisest thing in all his philosophy -when he declared that "the saying that beauty is but skin deep, is but -a skin-deep saying."[72] - -For beauty in any human creature, being the result of a long and -severe observance by his ancestors of a particular set of values, -always denotes some definite attitude towards Life; it always lures to -some particular kind of life and joy--as Stendhal said, "Beauty is -a promise of happiness"--and as such it seduces to Life and to this -earth. - -This explains why beauty is regarded with suspicion by negative -religions, and why it tends to decline in places where the sway -of a negative religion is powerful. Because a negative religion -cannot tolerate that which lures to life, to the body, to joy and to -voluptuous ecstasy. - -It is upon their notion of spiritual beauty, upon passive virtues, that -the negative religions lay such stress, and thus they allow the ugly to -find pedestals in their sanctuaries more easily than the beautiful. - - -[67] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 252. - -[68] A. Estignard, _Gustave Courbet_ (Paris, 1896), p. 118. - -[69] _Geschichte der Malerei_, Vol. III, p. 204. - -[70] _W. P._, Vol. II, pp. 241, 242, 245. See also T. I., Part 10, Aph. -20: "The ugly is understood as a sign and symptom of degeneration; that -which reminds us in the remotest manner of degeneracy prompts us to -pronounce the verdict 'ugly.' Every indication of exhaustion, gravity, -age or lassitude; every kind of constraint, such as cramp or paralysis; -and above all the odour, the colour, and the likeness of decomposition -or putrefaction, be it utterly attenuated even to a symbol:--all these -things call forth a similar reaction, the evaluation 'ugly.' A hatred -is there excited: whom does man hate there? There can be no doubt: _the -decline of his type_." - -[71] _T. I._, Part 10, Aph. 20. - -[72] _Essays_, Vol. II (1901 Edition), p. 394. - - - - -8. The Ruler-Artist's Style and Subject. - - -Up to the present, you have doubtless observed that I have spoken only -of man as the proper subject-matter of the graphic Arts. In maintaining -this, Nietzsche not only has Goethe and many lesser men on his side, -but he has also the history of Art in general. I cannot, however, show -you yet how, or in what manner, animal-painting, landscape-painting, -and, in some respects, portrait-painting are to be placed lower than -the art which concerns itself with man. Let it therefore suffice, for -the present, simply to recognize the fact that Nietzsche did take up -this attitude, and leave the more exhaustive discussion of it to the -next part of this lecture. - -Now, eliminating for a moment all those pseudo-artists who have been -reared by the two strongest public demands on the Art of the present -age--I speak of portrait-painting and dining-room pictures--there -remains a class of artists which still shows signs of raising its head -here and there, though every year with less frequency, and this is the -class which, for want of a better term, we call Ruler-artists. - -As I say, they are becoming extremely rare; their rarity, which may be -easily accounted for,[73] is one of the evil omens of the time. - -The ruler-artist is he who, elated by his own health and love of Life, -says "Yea" to his own type and proclaims his faith or confidence in -it, against all other types; and who, in so doing, determines or -accentuates the values of that type. If he prevails in concepts in so -doing, he also ennobles and embellishes the type he is advocating. - -He is either the maker or the highest product of an aspiring and an -ascending people. In him their highest values find their most splendid -bloom. In him their highest values find their strongest spokesman. And -in his work they find the symbol of their loftiest hopes. - -By the beauty which his soul reflects upon the selected men he -represents in his works, he establishes an order of rank among his -people, and puts each in his place. - -The spectator who is very much beneath the beauty of the ruler-artist's -masterpieces feels his ignominious position at a glance. He realizes -the impassable gulf that is for ever fixed between himself and that! -And this sudden revelation tells him his level. Such a man, after -he has contemplated the ruler-artist's work, may rush headlong to the -nearest river and drown himself. His despair may be so great when he -realizes the impossibility of ever reaching the heights he has been -contemplating, that he may immolate himself on the spot. Only thus can -the world be purged of the many-too-many. - -"Unto many life is a failure," says Zarathustra, "a poisonous worm -eating through into their heart. These ought to see to it that they -succeed better in dying. - -"Many-too-many live.... Would that preachers of swift death might -arise! They would be the proper storms to shake the trees of life."[74] - -In the presence of beauty, alone, can one know one's true rank, and -this explains why the Japanese declare that "until a man has made -himself beautiful he has no right to approach beauty,"[75] for "great art -is that before which we long to die."[76] - -But, to those who see but the smallest chance of approaching it, beauty -is an exhortation, a stimulus, a bugle-call. It may drive them to means -for pruning themselves of ugliness; it may urge them to inner harmony, -to a suppression of intestinal discord. - -"Beauty alone should preach penitence,"[77] says Zarathustra. And in this -sentence you have the only utilitarian view of beauty that has any -aristocratic value, besides that which maintains that beauty lures to -Life, and to the body. - -Hence, beauty need not impel all men to the river. There are some who, -after contemplating it, will feel just near enough to it not to despair -altogether of attaining to its level, and this thought will lend them -both hope and courage. - -The ruler-artist, therefore, in order that his subject-beauty may have -some meaning, must be the synthesis of the past and the future of a -people. Up to his waist in their spirit, he must mould or paint them -the apotheosis of their type. Only thus can he hope to prevail with his -subject--Man. - -The German philosopher, Karl Heinrich Heydenreich, was one of the first -to recognize this power of the ruler-artist, and the necessity of his -being intimately associated with a particular people, although above -them; and in his little book, _System der Æsthetik_, he makes some very -illuminating remarks on this matter.[78] - -Thus Benedetto Croce rightly argues that in order to _appreciate_ the -artistic works of bygone and extinct nations, it is necessary to have -a knowledge and understanding of their life and history--in other -words, of their values.[79] What he does not point out, however, and -what seems very important, is, that such historical research would be -quite unnecessary to one who by nature was _a priori_ in sympathy with -the values of an extinct nation; and also, that all the historical -knowledge available could not make any one whose character was not -a little Periclean or Egyptian from the start, admire, or even -appreciate, either the Parthenon, or the brilliant diorite statue of -King Khephrën in the Cairo Museum. - -All great ruler-art, then, is, as it were, a song of praise, a -magnificat, appealing only to those, and pleasing only those, who feel -in sympathy with the values which it advocates. And that is why all art -of any importance, and of any worth, must be based upon a certain group -of values--in other words, must have a philosophy or a particular view -of the world as its foundation. Otherwise it is pointless, meaningless, -and divorced from life. Otherwise it is acting, sentimental nonsense, -or _l'art pour l'art_. - -All great ruler-art also takes Man as its content; because human values -are the only values that concern it. All great ruler-art also takes -beauty within a certain people as its aim; because the will-to-power is -its driving instinct, and beauty, being the most difficulty thing to -achieve, is the strongest test of power. Finally, all great ruler-art -is optimistic; because it implies the will of the artist to prevail. - -But what constitutes the form of the ruler-artist's work? In what way -must he give us his content? - -The ruler-artist's form is the form of the commander. It must scorn -to please.[80] It must brook no disobedience and no insubordination, -save among those of its beholders about whom it does not care, from -whom it would fain separate itself, and among whom it is not with its -peers. It must be authoritative, extremely simple, irrefutable, full -of restraint, and as repetitive as a Mohammedan prayer. It must point -to essentials, it must select essentials, and it must transfigure -essentials. The presence of non-essentials in a work of art is -sufficient to put it at once upon a very low plane. For what matters -above all is that the ruler-artist should prevail in concepts, and in -order to do this his work must contain the definite statement of the -value he sets upon all that he most cherishes. - -Hence the belief all through the history of æsthetic that high art is -a certain unity in variety, a certain single idea exhaled from a more -or less complex whole, or, as the Japanese say, "repetition with a -modicum of variation."[81] - -_Symmetry_, as denoting balance, and as a help to obtaining a complete -grasp of an idea; _Sobriety_, as revealing that restraint which a -position of command presupposes; _Simplicity_, as proving the power -of the great mind that has overcome the chaos in itself,[82] to reflect -its order and harmony upon other things,[83] and to select the -most essential features from among a host of more or less essential -features; _Transfiguration_, as betraying that Dionysian elation and -elevation from which the artist gives of himself to reality and makes -it reflect his own glory back upon him; _Repetition_, as a means of -obtaining obedience; and _Variety_, as the indispensable condition of all -living Art--all Art which is hortatory and which does not aim at repose -alone, at sleep, and at soothing and lulling jaded and exasperated -nerves,--these are the principal qualities of ruler-art, and any work -which would be deficient in one of these qualities would thereby be -utterly and deservedly condemned to take its place on a lower plane. - -Perhaps the greatest test of all, however, in regard to the worth of an -artistic production is to inquire whence it came, what was its source. -Has hunger or superabundance created it?[84] - -If the first, the work will make nobody richer. It will rather rob -them of what they have. It is likely to be either (A) true to Nature, -(B) uglier than Nature, or (C) absurdly unnatural. A is the product of -the ordinary man, B is the product of the man below mediocrity, save -in a certain manual dexterity, and C is the outcome of the tyrannical -will of the sufferer,[85] who wishes to wreak his revenge on all that -thrives, and is beautiful and happy, and which bids him weave fantastic -worlds of his own, away from this one, where people of his calibre can -forget their wretched ailments and evil humours, and wallow in their -own feverish nightmares of overstrained, palpitating and neuropathic -yearnings. A is poverty-realism or Police Art. B is pessimism and -incompetent Art. C is Romanticism. - -Where superabundance is active, the work is the gift and the blessing -of the will to power of some higher man. It will seem as much above -Nature to mediocre people as its creator is above them. But, since it -will brook no contradiction, it will actually value Nature afresh, and -stimulate them to share in this new valuation. - -Where poverty is active, the work is an act of robbery. It is what -psychologists call a reflex action resulting from a stimulus--the -only kind of action that we understand nowadays: hence our belief in -Determinism, Darwinism, and such explanations of Art as we find in -books by Taine and other writers who share his views. - -The Art which must have experience and which is not the outcome of -inner riches brought to the surface by meditation--this is the art of -poverty. The general modern belief in experience and in the necessity -of furnishing the mind by going direct to Nature and to reality shows -to what extent the Art of to-day has become reactive instead of active. - -The greater part of modern realism is the outcome of this poverty. It -is reactive art, resulting from reflex actions; and, as such, is an -exceedingly unhealthy sign. Not only does it show that the power of -resisting stimuli is waning or altogether absent; but it also denotes -that that inner power which requires no stimulus to discharge itself is -either lacking or exceedingly weak. - -With these words upon the subject of realism, I shall now conclude this -part of Lecture II. - -I shall return to realism in my next lecture; but you will see that -it will be of a different kind from that of which I have just spoken. -It will be superior, and will be the outcome of riches rather than -of poverty. Although beneath genuine Ruler-art, which transfigures -reality, it will nevertheless be superior to the poverty-realism -which I have just discussed; for it will be of a kind which is forced -upon the powerful artist who, in the midst of a world upholding other -values than his own, is obliged to bring forward his ideal with such -a preponderance of characteristic features as would seem almost to -represent a transcript of reality. This realism I call _militant -realism_, to distinguish it from the former kind. - -In discussing mediæval. Renaissance and Greek Art, in my next lecture, -this distinction will, I hope, be made quite plain to you. - - -[73] _G. E._, p. 120 - -[74] _Z._, I, XXI. - -[75] _The Book of Tea_, p. 152. - -[76] _Ibid._ 199. - -[77] _Z._, I, XXVI. - -[78] _System der Æsthetik_ (1790), pp. 9, 10, 11, where, -in replying to the question why the arts were not only pursued with -more perfection by the ancients, but also judged with more competence -by them, he says: "Their material was drawn from the heart of their -nation, and from the life of their citizens, and the manner of -representing it and of framing it was in keeping with the character -and needs of the people.... If the Greek lent his ear to the poet, or -his eye to the painter and sculptor, of his age, he was shown subjects -which were familiar to his soul, intimately related to his imagination, -and, as it were, bound by blood-relationship to his heart." On pp. 12, -13, he also shows that if Art is less thrilling nowadays, it is because -peoples are too mixed, and a single purpose no longer characterizes -their striving. - -[79] _Æsthetic_ (translated by Douglas Ainslie), p. 210 et seq. - -[80] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 277: "The greatness of an artist is -not to be measured by the beautiful feelings which he evokes: let this -belief be left to the girls. It should be measured according to the -extent to which he approaches the grand style, according to the extent -to which he is capable of the grand style. This style and great passion -have this in common--that they scorn to please; that they forget to -persuade; that they command; that they will...." See also p. 241. - -[81] This was first brought to my notice by my friend, Dr. -Wrench. See _The Grammar of Life_, by G. T. Wrench (Heinemann, 1908), -p. 218. Although the development of this idea really belongs to a -special treatise on the laws of Style in painting, it is interesting -to note here that this excellent principle is quickly grasped if the -powerfully alliterative phrases: "Where there's a will there's a way," -or "Goodness gracious!" or "To-morrow, to-morrow, and not to-day," be -spoken before certain pictures, or written beneath them. The first -phrase, for instance, written beneath the "Aldobrindini Marriage," or -Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," is seen immediately to be next of kin to -these pictures as an art-form; and the same holds good of the second -written beneath Reynolds's "John Dunning (First Lord Ashburton) and his -Sister," or Manet's "Olympia." - -[82] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 277. - -[83] _W. P._, Vol. II. p. 288. "The most convincing artists -are those who make harmony ring out of every discord, and who benefit -all things by the gift of their power and their inner harmony: in -every work of art they merely reveal the symbol of their inmost -experiences--their creation is gratitude for their life." See also p. -307. - -[84] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 280: "In regard to all æsthetic -values I now avail myself of this fundamental distinction: in every -individual case I ask myself has hunger or has superabundance been -creative here?" - -[85] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 281. - - - - -Part III - - -LANDSCAPE AND PORTRAIT PAINTING - - - "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for - the service of man: that he may bring forth fruit out of the - earth."--Psalms civ. 14. - - - - - -1. The Value "Ugly" in the Mouth of the Creator. - - -In the last section of this lecture, I told you of three kinds of -ugliness. I said there was the ugliness of chaos and disorder, which -provokes the hate of the layman, and which the artist overcomes. I -spoke of the ugliness of form in Art, which appeared when the artist -had failed in his endeavour to master disorder, or when he had selected -a subject already ordered, in which he has left himself no scope -for manifesting his power; and I also pointed to that ugliness of -subject in Art, in which the ordinary beholder, as well as the artist, -recognizes the degeneration of his type or a low example of it. - -There is, however, a fourth aspect of ugliness, and that is the -esoteric postulation of the value "ugly" by the creator. I have shown -how creating also involves giving, and therefore loss--just as -procreation does; but what is the precise meaning of the word "ugly" in -the mouth of the Dionysian artist? - -We must remember that his eyes are not our eyes, and that his mind is -not our mind. He cannot look at Life without enriching her. But what is -his attitude to the transfigurations of former artists? - -Before these the Dionysian artist can feel only loathing, and, in -a paroxysm of hatred, he raises his axe and shatters the past into -fragments. All around him, a moment before, people said: "The world -is beautiful!" But he, thoroughly alone, groans at its unspeakable -ugliness. - -He rejoices as he sees the fragments fly beneath his mighty weapon, -and the greater the beauty of the thing he destroys, the higher is his -exultation. For, to him, "the joy in the destruction of the most noble -thing and at the sight of its gradual undoing," is "the joy over what -is coming and what lies in the future," and this "triumphs over actual -things, however good they may be."[1] - -What he calls "ugly," then, has nothing whatsoever in common with any -other concept of ugliness; it is simply the outcome of his creative -spirit "which compels him to regard what has existed hitherto as no -longer acceptable, but as botched, worthy of being suppressed--ugly!"[2] -And thus it is peculiar to him alone. - -I have shown you that Nietzsche explains pleasure, æsthetically, as -the appropriation of the world by man's Will to Power. Pain, or evil, -now obtains its æsthetic justification. It is the outcome of the -destruction that the creator spreads in a world of Becoming; it is the -periodical smashing of Being by the Dionysian creator who can endure -Becoming. No creator can tolerate the past save as a thing which once -served as his schooling. But a people are usually one with their past. -To them it is at once a grandfather, a father, and an elder brother. -In a trice the creator deprives them of these relatives. Through him -they are made orphans, brotherless and alone. Hence the pain that is -inevitably associated with the joy of destruction and of creation. - -Not only a creative genius, however, but also a creative age, may use -the word ugly in this Dionysian sense. For a robust and rich people -scorn to treasure and to hoard that which has gone before. And thus our -museums, alone, are perhaps the greatest betrayal of our times. - -When the Athenians returned to their ruined Acropolis in the first -half of the fifth century before Christ, they did not even scratch -the ground to recover the masterpieces that lay broken, though not -completely destroyed, all around them. And, as Professor Gardner -observes, it is fortunate for us that no mortar was required for the -buildings which were being erected to take the place of those that -had been destroyed; otherwise these fragments of marble sculpture -and architecture, instead of being buried to help in filling up the -terraced area of the Acropolis, would certainly have gone to the -lime-kiln.[3] - -The men of the Renaissance, in the same way, regarded the buildings of -ancient Rome merely as so many quarries whence they might bear away -the materials for their own constructions. And whether Paul II wished -to build the Palazzo di Venezia, or Cardinal Riario the Cancellaria, -the same principle obtained. At the same period we also find Raphael -destroying the work of earlier painters by covering it with his own -compositions,[4] and Michelangelo not hesitating to obliterate -even Perugino's altar frescoes in the Sixtine Chapel in order to paint -his "Judgment." While in comparatively recent times, at a moment -when a great future seemed to be promised to modern Egypt, Mehemet -Ali sent his architect to the sacred Pyramids of Gizeh, to rob them -of the alabaster which he required for his magnificent mosque on the -citadel of Cairo.[5] - -From a purely archæological and scholastic point of view, therefore, -it is possible to justify our museums--the British Museum, for -instance. But from the creative or artistic standpoint, they are simply -a confession of impotence, of poverty, and of fear; and, as such, are -utterly contemptible. In any case, however, I think that, for the -sake of public taste and sanity, some of the ugly fragments--such as -two-thirds of the maimed and mutilated parts of bodies from the Eastern -and Western pediments of the Parthenon--ought never to have been -allowed to stand outside a students' room in a school of archæology or -of art, and even in such institutions as these, I very much question -the value of the pieces to which I have referred. - - -[1] _W. P._, Vol I, p. 333. See also _B. T._, pp. 27, 28. - -[2] _W. P._, Vol. I, p. 333. - -[3] _A Handbook of Greek Sculpture_, by E. A. Gardner, M.A., p. 212. - -[4] Piero della Francesca's decorations in the Vatican, painted under -the direction of Pope Nicholas V, were ultimately destroyed by Raphael. -See W. S. Waters, M.A., _Piero della Francesca_, pp. 23, 24, 108. - -[5] See also Fergusson, _A History of Architecture_, Vol. I, p. 48: -"... If we had made the same progress in the higher that we have in the -lower branches of the building art, we should see a Gothic Cathedral -pulled down with the same indifference, content to know that we could -easily replace it by one far nobler and more worthy of our age and -intelligence. No architect during the Middle Ages ever hesitated to -pull down any part of a cathedral that was old and going to decay; -and to replace it with something in the style of the day, however -incongruous that might be; and if we were progressing as they were, we -should have as little compunction in following the same course." - - - - -2. Landscape Painting. - - -Up to the present, I have spoken only of Man as the proper subject -of Ruler-Art. I have done this because Man is the highest subject of -Art in general, and because the moment humanity ceases from holding -the first place in our interest, something must be amiss, either with -humanity, or with ourselves. - -Still, there are degrees and grades among ruler-artists. All of them -cannot aspire to the exposition of the highest human values. And just -as some turn to design and to ornament, and thus, in a small way, -arrange and introduce order into a small area of the world, so others ---standing halfway between these designers and the valuers of humanity ---apply their powers quite instinctively to Nature away from Man. They -have a thought to express--let us say it is: "Order is the highest -good," or "Power is the source of all pleasure and beauty," or "Anarchy -contends in vain against the governing power of light which is genius," -and in the case of this last thought they paint a rugged scene which -they reveal as arranged, simplified and transfigured by the power of -the sun. In each of these cases they use Nature merely as a symbol, or -a vehicle, by means of which their thought or valuation is borne in -upon their fellows; and they do not start out as actual admirers of -mere scenery, wishing only to repeat it as carefully as possible. - -Even when it uses Nature merely as a symbol or a vehicle, however, -there can be little doubt that this kind of Ruler-Art is a degree lower -in rank than the art which concerns itself with man; and when this -kind of art becomes realistic, as it did with Constable and all his -followers, it is literally superfluous. Only when the landscape is a -minor element, serving but to receive and convey the mood or aspiration -of the artist, is it a subject for Ruler-Art, and then the hand of -man should be visible in it everywhere. With the artist's arranging, -simplifying and transfiguring power observable in Nature, landscape -painting, as Kant very wisely observed in his _Kritik der Urteilskraft_, -becomes a process of pictorial gardening, and as such can teach very -great lessons. - -Still, all landscapes ought to be approached with caution by the lover -of Ruler-Art; for unless they are treated with an extreme ruler-spirit, -they point too imperatively away from man, to promise a development -that can be wholesomely human. - -When it is remembered that landscape painting only became a really -important and serious branch of art when all the turmoil and -contradiction which three successive changes of values had brought -about were at their height--I refer to the blow levelled at Mediæval -values by the Renaissance, to 'the blow levelled at the Renaissance -by the Counter-Renaissance and Protestantism (in its German form of -Evangelism and in its English form as Puritanism), and to the blow -levelled at the artistic spirit of Europe in general by the rise of -modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--and when, -therefore, doubt and confusion had already entered men's minds as to -what was to be believed about Man and Life; when it is remembered also -that it was precisely in the north, where, as we shall see, culture was -less a matter of tradition than in the south, that landscape found its -most energetic and most realistic exponents--from Joachim Patenier[6] -to Ruysdael; and that it was in the north, even after the -Renaissance, that the negative character of Christianity, in regard to -humanity and to Life, found its strongest adherents; the importance of -establishing a very severe canon in regard to all landscape painting, -and of insisting upon very high ruler qualities in this branch of the -art, ought to be clear to all who take this subject to heart. - -For, difficult as it may seem to realize it, there is nothing -whatsoever artistically beautiful in landscape.[7] Only sentimental[8] -townspeople, compelled by their particular mode of existence -to gaze daily on their own hideous homes and streets, ever manifest -a senselessly ardent and determined affection for green fields and -hills, for their own sake; and with English psychologists, it would be -quite admissible here to say that all beauty that particular people -believe to exist in country scenery, is the outcome of association. The -ancients liked the sunlit and fruitful valley because of its promise of -sustenance and wealth; but they showed no love of nature as such.[9] - -Mr. S. H. Butcher,[10] for instance, points out how landscape painting -only became a serious and independent branch of art among the Greeks -after the fourth century B.C.--that is to say, long over a century -after the date when, according to Freeman, the decline of Hellas -began; and, in speaking of the Greeks in their best period, he says: -"They do not attach themselves to nature with that depth of feeling, -with that gentle melancholy, that characterizes the moderns.... -Their impatient imagination only traverses nature to pass beyond it to -the drama of human life." J. A. Symonds tells us that "Conciseness, -simplicity and an almost prosaic accuracy are the never-failing -attributes of classical descriptive art--moreover, humanity was always -more present to their minds than to ours. Nothing evoked sympathy -from the Greek unless it appeared before him in human shape, or in -connection with some human sentiment. The ancient poets do not describe -inanimate nature as such, or attribute a vague spirituality to fields -and clouds. That feeling for the beauty of the world which is embodied -in such poems as Shelley's _Ode to the West Wind_ gave birth in their -imagination to definite legends, involving some dramatic interest and -conflict of passions."[11] And Mahaffy and Mr. W. R. Hardie tell the same -story.[12] - -But even among sensible moderns, uninfected by sentimental fever, the -love of nature is mostly of a purely utilitarian kind, as witness the -love of cornfields, hayfields and orchards. The farmer at certain times -gazes kindly at the purple hills behind his acres of cultivated land, -because their colour indicates the coming rain. The cattle-breeder -smiles as he surveys the Romney marshes, and thinks of the splendid -pastureland they would make. - -In fact, the attitude of sensible mankind in general towards landscape, -as landscape, seems to have been pretty well summarized by the writer -of the 104th Psalm, from whom, according to W. H. Rhiel, the Christian -world, and especially the Teutonic part of it, seems to have derived -much of their love of the beauties of Nature.[13] - -What constitutes the artistic beauty in a painted landscape, then, is -the mood, the particular human quality, that the artist throws into -it. As the French painters say, a landscape is a state of the soul; -and unless the particular mood or idea with which the artist invests -a natural scene have some value and interest, and be painted in a -commanding or ruler manner, it is a mere piece of superfluous foolery, -which may, however, find its proper place on a great railway poster or -in an estate agent's illustrated catalogue. - -There is, on the other hand, another kind of love of nature, which -dates only from the eighteenth century, and which is thoroughly and -unquestionably contemptible. This also, like the above, is the result -of association, and has nothing artistic in its constitution; but this -time it is an association which is misanthropic and negative. I refer -to what is generally known as the love of the Romantic in Nature, the -love of mountains, torrents, unhandseled copses, virgin woods, and -rough and uncultivated country. - -In this love a new element enters the appreciation of Nature, and -that is a dislike and mistrust of everything that bears the stamp of -man's power or his labour, and therefore an exaltation of everything -untutored, uncultured, free, unconstrained and wild. - -This attitude of mind seems to have been unknown not only to the Greeks -and to the Romans,[14] but, practically, to all European nations up -to the time of Rousseau. As Friedländer says, it would be difficult -to find evidence of travellers going to mountain country in quest of -beauty, before the eighteenth century,[15] and the majority of those who -were forced to visit such country, before that time, in their Journeys -to foreign cities, describe it as horrible, ugly and depressing. Oliver -Goldsmith is a case in point. Riehl declares that in guidebooks, even -as late as 1750, Berlin, Leipzig, Augsburg, Darmstadt, Mannheim, etc., -are spoken of as lying in nice and cheerful surroundings, whilst the -most picturesque parts (according to modern notions) of the Black -Forest, of the Harz, and the Thuringian woods are described as "very -gloomy," "barren," and "monstrous," or at least as not particularly -pleasant. And then he adds: "This is not the private opinion of the -individual topographists: it is the standpoint of the age."[16] - -Even in the Bible illustrations of the eighteenth century, we also find -the same spirit prevailing. Paradise--that is to say, the original -picture of virgin glory in natural beauty--is made to look like what -moderns would call a monotonously flat garden, devoid of any indication -of a hill, in which the Almighty, or Adam, or somebody, has already -clipped all the trees and hedges, and carefully trimmed the grass. - -You may argue with Riehl[17] that mediæval painters must have thought -rough, wild and barren country beautiful; otherwise, why did they put -it in their pictures? One low-German painter of the Middle Ages, for -instance, painted a picture of Cologne, and, contrary to the genuine -nature of the surrounding country, introduced a background of jagged -and rocky mountains. Why did he do this, if he did not think jagged and -rocky mountains beautiful? - -In reply to this I cannot do better than quote Friedländer again, who -on this very question writes as follows-- - -"At least the lack of a sense for the beauty of mountain scenery, which -is noticeable in the poetry and travels of the Middle Ages, viewed as -a whole, ought to lead us to suspect that this same sense could have -been only very slightly apparent in the realm of pictorial art. But -ought we not to ascribe the fantastic and romantic art ideal of the old -masters, in landscape, rather to their endeavour to transfer the scene -and figures of their pictures from reality to an imaginary world?... -Even if historical painters like John van Eyck and Memling eagerly -introduced jagged rocks and sharp mountain (which apparently they had -never seen) into their backgrounds ... it is difficult to recognize -any real understanding or even knowledge of the nature of mountains in -all this; but simply an old and therefore very conventional form of -heroic landscape which was considered as the only suitable one for a -large number of subjects."[18] - -But there is other evidence, besides that to be found in mediæval -poetry and travels, which shows to what extent the particular sense -for natural beauty, which I am now discussing, was lacking in the -Middle Ages. Its absence is also illustrated by the arrangement of -castles and other buildings. Mr. d'Auvergne, in his work _The English -Castles_, more than once calls attention to this, and instances a tower -at Dunstanburgh Castle,[19] which, though commanding a wildly romantic -prospect, was selected for the vilest domestic uses. - -Suddenly, all this is contradicted and reversed. Precisely where man's -hand has been, everything is supposed to be polluted, unclean, and -ugly; and rough, uncultivated nature, however rugged, however unkempt, -is exalted above all that which the human spirit has shaped and trained. - -How did this change come about? - -To begin with, let it be said, that it was not quite so sudden as -Friedländer would have us suppose. Long before the dawn of the -eighteenth century, the very principles that were at the base of -European life and aspirations--the principle of the depravity of man, -the principle of liberty for liberty's sake, the principle of the -pursuit of general truth; and finally, the principle that experience ---that is to say, a direct appeal to nature--was the best method of -furnishing the mind--all these principles had been leading steadily to -one conclusion, and this conclusion Rousseau was the first to embody in -his energetic and fulminating protest against culture, tradition, human -power and society. And the fact that his doctrine spread so rapidly, -that within fifty years of its exposition, with the help of men like -Coxe, Ramond de Carbonnières, Étienne de Sénancour, Töppefer, Saussure -and Bourit, it had practically become the credo and the passion of -Europe, shows how ready the age must have been for the lessons Rousseau -taught it. - -All of you who have read the fulsome and bombastic praise of Nature, -together with the bitter disparagement of the work of man, in such -works as _La Nouvelle Héloise_, the _Confessions_, his letters to _Monsieur -de Malesherbes_, and his _Reveries of a lonely Rambler_, will not require -to be told the gospel Rousseau preaches.[20] - -Suffice it to say, that he successfully created a love of the rough, of -the rugged, the unhandseled and the uncultivated in the minds of almost -all Europeans--especially Northerners, and that this love was rapidly -reflected in landscape painting. - -This new feeling for the romantic, for the unconstrained and for -the savage in Nature, although it soon dominated art, was, in its -essentials, quite foreign to art and to the artist. It had nothing -in common with the motives that prompt and impel the artist to his -creations. Its real essence was moral and not artistic; its fundamental -feature was its worship of the abstract principles of liberty, anarchy -and the absence of culture, which rude nature exemplifies on all sides; -and it was a moral or scientific spirit that animated it, whether in -Rousseau or in his followers. - -Friedrich Schiller, who entirely supports Rousseau's particular kind -of love for Nature, frankly admits this[21] in his able and profound -analysis of the sentiment in question; whatever self-contempt, and -contempt of adult manhood, may have lain behind Rousseau's valuations, -Schiller brings all of it openly into the light of day, and in his -efforts to support the Frenchman's school of thought, literally exposes -it to ridicule. - -One or two voices, such as Hegel's[22] and Chateaubriand's, were raised in -protest against this thoroughly vulgar and sentimental attitude towards -savage and wild phenomena; but they were unable to resist a movement, -the strength of which had been accumulating for so many centuries in -the hearts of almost all Europeans; and, ultimately, numbers triumphed. - -Even the hand of man--of the artist--in a painted landscape, got -to be a thing of the past. Realism--because it most conscientiously -repeated that unconstrained and anarchical spirit which the romantic -age loved to detect in matted weeds, in tangled and impenetrable -coppices, in thick festoons of parasitic plants, in unhandseled -brambles and in babbling brooks--became the ruling principle. -Classical influence alone was able for a while to resist too rapid a -decline; but soon we find Constable declaring in the early part of -the nineteenth century, that "there is nothing ugly," and addressing -aspiring artists in these words: "Observe that thy best director, thy -perfect guide is Nature. Copy from her. In her paths is thy triumphal -arch. She is above all other teachers; and ever confide in her with -a bold heart:"[23] and a whole host of people following in his wake and -applauding his principles. - -Just as England by her influence had created Rousseau and his peculiar -mode of thinking,[24] so, again, British influence was to show its -power in the world of Art. The parallel is striking, but nevertheless -true. In the years 1824, 1826 and 1829, Constable, whom Muther calls -the father of landscape painting,[25] and whom Meier Graefe calls the -father of modern painting,[26] exhibited in Paris, and his style soon -became a dominant force.[27] - -Stendhal, though very much too moderate, was one of the first to -raise, his voice against the lack of idealism (transfiguration, -simplification) in these English pictures; but his efforts were of -no avail, and he might just as well have shouted in the face of a -hurricane. - - -[6] According to Dr. Wilhelm Lübke, _Outlines of the History of Art_ -(Vol. II, p. 452), Patenier might almost be called the founder of the -modern northern school of landscape painting. See also p. 575 in the -same volume. On this subject see also Muther, _Geschichte der Malerei_, -Vol. II, p. 72: "Although in a way it is possible to establish in what -respect the painting of the Netherlands in the sixteenth century ran -parallel with that of Italy, it is also necessary to emphasize the -fact, on the other hand, that painting." Muther mentions Hendrik Met de -Bles, Joachim de Patenier and Bosch as the leaders of this tendency. - -[7] See W. H. Riehl, _Culturstudien aus drei Jahrhunderten_, p. 67. - -[8] This use of the word sentimental in regard to the love of nature -for its own sake, is not by any means unprecedented. Schiller, in his -essay _Ueber naive und sentimentale Dichtung_, as an advocate in favour -of the love in question, constantly refers to it as sentimental. (See -1838 Edition of _Works_, Vol. XII, pp. 167-281.) - -[9] See W. R. Hardie, _Lectures in Classical Subjects_, pp. 16-17: -"What are the scenes in Nature which had the greatest attraction -for the ancients? The landscape which a Greek would choose for his -environment was a tranquil one, a cultivated spot or a spot capable -of cultivation;" and p. 21: "... apart from the work of one or two -exceptional poets like Æschylus or Pindar, it must be allowed that the -ancient view of Nature was somewhat prosaic and practical, showing a -decided preference for fertile, habitable and accessible country." - -[10] _Some Aspects of Greek Genius_, p. 252. See also his remarks, -pp. 246-248, concluding thus: "The great period, indeed, of the Attic -drama, when the dialectic movement of thought was in full operation, -can hardly be called 'simple' in Schiller's sense" [he is quoting -Schiller on "Simple and Sentimental Poetry," where in the opening -paragraph Schiller applies the word _naiv_, simple, to a natural -object, as meaning that state in which nature and art stand contrasted -and the former shames the latter]; "yet even then, as in Homer, nature -is but the background of the picture, the scene in which man's activity -displays itself. The change of sentiment sets in only from the time -of Alexander onwards. Nature is then sought for her own sake; artists -and poets turn to her with disinterested love; her moods are lovingly -noted, and she is brought into close relationship with man." - -[11] _Studies of the Greek Poets_, Vol. II, p. 258. - -[12] See _Social Life in Greece_ (Mahaffy), p. 426, and _What have the -Greeks done for Modern Civilization?_ (Mahaffy, 1909), p. 11: "External -nature was the very thing that the Greeks, all through their great -history, felt less keenly than we should have expected. Their want of a -sense of the picturesque has ever been cited as a notable defect." See -also W. R. Hardie, _Lectures on Classical Subjects_ (1903), p. 8: "To -what extent do the modern feelings and fancies about Nature appear in -the ancient poets?... The usual and substantially true answer is that -they appear to a very slight extent. Like Whitehead, the Greek is slow -to recognize 'a bliss that leans not to mankind.'" - -[13] _Culturstudien aus drei Jahrhunderten_ (2nd Edition, 1859), p. 63. - -[14] See S. H. Butcher, _Some Aspects of the Greek Genius_, pp. 265, -266: "Mountains and lonely woods and angry seas, in all periods of -Greek literature, so far from calling out a sublime sense of mystery -and awe, raise images of terror and repulsion, of power divorced from -beauty and alien to art. Homer, when for the moment he pauses to -describe a place, chooses one in which the hand of man is visible; -which he has reclaimed from the wild, made orderly, subdued to his own -use. Up to the last days of Greek antiquity man has not yet learnt -so to lose himself in the boundless life of Nature, as to find a -contemplative pleasure in her wilder and more majestic scenes." - -See also J. A. Symonds, _Studies of the Greek Poets_, Vol. II, p. 257: -"The Greeks and Romans paid less attention to inanimate nature than -we do, and were beyond all question repelled by the savage grandeur -of marine and mountain scenery, preferring landscapes of smiling -and cultivated beauty to rugged sublimity or the picturesqueness of -decay...." - -See also W. R. Hardie, _Lectures on Classical Subjects_, pp. 3, 9, 17, -and Friedlander, _Roman Life and Manners_, Vol. I. pp. 391, 392, 393, -395. - -[15] _Ueber die Entstehung und Entwicklung des Gefühls für das -Romantische in der Natur_, pp. 4, 10. - -[16] _Culturstudien aus drei Jahrhunderten_, p. 57. - -[17] _Ibid._, pp. 59, 60. - -[18] _Ueber die Entstehung und Entwicklung des Gefühls für das -Romantische in der Natur_, pp. 2, 3. - -[19] E. B. d'Auvergne, _The English Castles_, pp. 216, 217. - -[20] See _Lettres Nouvelles addressées à Monsieur de Malesherbes_ -(Geneva, 1780), 3rd letter, p. 43. Speaking of a lonely walk in the -neighbourhood of his country house, he says: "J'allois alors d'un pas -plus tranquille chercher quelque lieu sauvage dans la forêt, quelque -lieu désert, où rien ne me montrant la main de l'homme ne m'annonçât -la servitude et la domination, enfin quelqu' asyle où je pusse croire -avoir pénétré le premier, et où nul tiers importun ne vint s'entreposer -entre la nature et moi. C'était là qu'elle sembloit déployer à mes -yeux une magnificence toujours nouvelle. L'or des genêts et la pourpre -des bruyères frappoient mes yeux d'un luxe qui touchoit mon cœur; la -majesté des arbres"--and so on in the same romantic strain for twenty -lines. It is impossible to reproduce every passage I should like -to quote, in order to reveal the full range of Rousseau's passion -for nature and his bitter contempt of man and man's work; but the -above is typical, and other equally gushing passages may be found in -_Les Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire_ (Paris, 1882), pp. 119, 138, -etc., etc.; _La Nouvelle Héloise_, especially the 11th letter; _Les -Confessions_ (Ed. 1889, Vol. I), Bk. VI, pp. 229, 234, 238, 245, and -Bk. IV, p. 169: "... on sait déjà ce que j'entends par un beau pays. -Jamais pays de plaine, quelque beau qu'il fût, ne parut tel à mes yeux. -Il me faut des torrents, des rochers, des sapins, des bois noirs, des -montagnes, des chemins raboteux à monter et à descendre, des précipices -à mes cotés, qui me fassent peur.... J'eus ce plaisir ... en approchant -de Chambéri ... car ce qu'il y a de plaisir dans mon goût pour des -lieux escarpés, est qu'ils me font tourner la tête: et j'aime beaucoup -ce tournoiement pourvu que je sois en sureté." - -[21] _Sämmtliche Werke_ (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1838), Vol. XII, -"Ueber naive und sentimentale Dichtung," p. 168, 169: "This kind of -pleasure at the sight of Nature is not an æsthetic pleasure, but a -moral one: for it is arrived at by means of an idea, and it is not -felt immediately the act of contemplation has taken place, neither -does it depend for its existence upon beauty of form." And, p. 189, -after pointing out that the Greeks completely lacked this feeling for -Nature, he says: "Whence comes this different sense? How is it that we -who, in everything related to Nature, are inferior to the ancients, -should pay such homage to her, should cling so heartily to her, and -be able to embrace the inanimate world with such warmth of feeling? -It is not our greater conformity to Nature, but, on the contrary, the -opposition to her, which is inherent in our conditions and our customs, -that impels us to find some satisfaction in the physical world for our -awakening instinct for truth and primitive rudeness, which, like the -moral tendency from which that instinct arises, lies incorruptible and -indestructible in all human hearts and can find no satisfaction in the -moral world." - -[22] See _Hegels Leben_, by Karl Rosenkranz, especially pp. 475, 476 -and 482, 483. - -[23] See _The Life and Letters of John Constable_, by C. R. Leslie, -R.A., pp. 343, 349. - -[24] See J. Morley's _Rousseau_, Vol. I, pp. 85, 86: "According to -his own account, it was Voltaire's Letters on the English which first -drew him seriously to study, and nothing which that illustrious man -wrote at this time escaped him." And p. 146: "Locke was Rousseau's most -immediate inspirer, and the latter affirmed himself to have treated -the same matters exactly on Locke's principles. Rousseau, however, -exaggerated Locke's politics as greatly as Condillac exaggerated his -metaphysics." And p. 147: "We need not quote passages from Locke to -demonstrate the substantial correspondence of assumption between him -and the author of the Social Contract. They are to be found in every -chapter." - -[25] _Geschichte der Malerei_, Vol. III, p. 175. - -[26] _Modern Art_, Vol. I, p. 140. - -[27] _Ibid._, p. 138: "What his fatherland neglected was taken over -by the Continent. Strange as this neglect may seem, the rapidity -with which Europe assimilated Constable is even more remarkable. -The movement began in Paris.... France needed what Constable had to -give.... The young Frenchmen saw the traditional English freedom with -eyes sharpened by enthusiasm." - - - - -3. Portrait Painting. - - -When one now adds to these influences, the steady rise of the power of -the bourgeoisie in Europe, from the seventeenth century onward, and, -as a result of this increasing power, an uninterrupted growth in the -art of portrait painting--a growth that attained such vast proportions -that it cast all attainments of a like nature in any other age or -continent into the shade--one can easily understand what factors have -been the most formidable opponents of Ruler-Art in the Occident, since -the event of the Renaissance. - -After all that I have said concerning the principles of Ruler-Art, it -will scarcely be necessary for me to expatiate upon those elements in -portrait painting which are antagonistic to these principles; for when -you think of portrait painting as it has been developed by the claims -of the bourgeoisie in Europe, you must not have Leonardo da Vinci's -"Mona Lisa" in mind. Neither must you consider that portrait work -in which, by chance, the artist has had before him a model who, in -every feature of face or of figure, corresponded to his ideal; nor -that in which the artist has been able to allow himself to exercise -his simplifying and transfiguring power. Otherwise some of the best -of Rubens' and Rembrandt's work would of necessity come under the ban -which we must set upon by far the greater number of portraits. - -[Illustration: Saskia By Rembrandt.] - -When Rembrandt painted his bride Saskia,[28] for instance, the extent to -which he exercised his simplifying and transfiguring power is amazing, -and precludes all possibility of our classing this work among the -portraits which should be condemned. He knew perfectly well that poor -Saskia was not beautiful--what beautiful girl would have condescended -to look at Rembrandt?--so what did he do? He cast all the upper and -right side of her face in shadow, and deliberately concentrated all -his attention, and consequently the attention of the beholder as well, -upon three or four square inches of nice round muscle in the lower part -of Saskia's young cheek and neck. But how many plain daughters of rich -bourgeois would allow three or four square inches of their cheek and -neck to be exalted in this way, at the cost of their eyes and their -nose and their brow? The same remarks also apply to Rembrandt's "Jewish -Rabbi" in the National Gallery. There he had to deal with an emaciated, -careworn old Jew. How did he overcome the difficulty? All of you who -know this picture will be able to answer this question for yourselves, -and I need not, therefore, go into the matter. - -This, then, is not the class of portrait work which need necessarily -deteriorate the power of art. What does deteriorate this power, is -that other and more common class of portrait painting which began in -Holland in the seventeenth century, and in which each sitter insisted -upon discovering all his little characteristics and individual -peculiarities; in which, as Muther says, each sitter wished to find "a -counterfeit of his personality," and in which "no artistic effect, but -resemblance alone was the object desired."[29] - -It was the insistence upon this kind of portrait work by the wealthy -bourgeoisie of England, which well-nigh drove Whistler, with his -ruler spirit, out of his mind, and it is precisely this portrait work -which is dominant to-day. In order to be pleasing and satisfactory -to the people who demand it, this class of painting presupposes the -suppression of all those first principles upon which Ruler-Art relies -in order to flourish and to soar; and where it is seriously and -earnestly pursued, art is bound to suffer. - -This was recognized three hundred years ago by the Spanish theoretician -Vincenti Carducho, and his judgment still remains the wisest that has -ever been written on the subject. In formulating the credo of the -sixteenth century, he wrote as follows-- - -"No great and extraordinary painter was ever a portraitist, for such -an artist is enabled by judgment and acquired habit to improve upon -nature. In portraiture, however, he must confine himself to the model, -whether it be good or bad, with sacrifice of his observation and -selection; which no one would like to do who has accustomed his mind -and his eye to good forms and proportions."[30] - -Our art at the present day is, unfortunately, very largely the -development and natural outcome of the two influences I have just -described, and that accounts for a good deal for which I have failed to -account hitherto. - -Art no longer gives: it takes. It no longer reflects beauty on reality: -it seeks its beauty in reality. And that is why it falls to pieces -judged by the standard of Ruler-Art. It cannot bear the fierce light -of an art that is intimate with Life and inseparable from Life. In -its death-throes it has decked itself with all kinds of metaphysical -plumes, in order that it may thus, perhaps, live after death. But these -plumes have been used before by dying gods and have proved of no avail. -"Virtue for virtue's sake," was the cry of a dying religion. "Art for -art's sake," is now the cry of an expiring godlike human function. - -But unless this cry be altered very quickly into a cry of art for the -sake of Life, there will be no chance of saving it. Before this art for -Life's sake can be discovered, however; before the purpose after which -it will strive can be determined and established, the first thing to -which we shall have to lend our attention is not art, but mankind. - -The purpose of man is a thousand times more important than the purpose -of art. The one determines the other. And as a proof of how intimately -the two are connected, see how much doubt there is as to the purpose of -art, precisely at a moment when men also, owing to the terrible civil -war which is raging among their values, are beginning to doubt the real -purpose of human existence. - -It would be useless to indulge in a detailed criticism of individual -artists. To all those who have followed my arguments closely, no such -clumsy holding up of particular modern artists to ridicule will seem -necessary. In some of your minds these men are idols still, and it -pleases only the envious and the unsuccessful to see niche-statues -stoned. - -The great artist, as I have shown you, is the synthetic and superhuman -spirit that apotheosizes the type of a people and thereby stimulates -them to a higher mode of life. But where should we go to-day, if we -wished to look for a type or for a desirable code of values which that -type would exemplify? - -We know that we can go nowhere; for such things do not exist. They are -utterly and hopelessly extinct. - -Our first duty, then, is not to mend the arts--you cannot mend a -cripple. But it is rather to mend the parents who bring forth this -cripple--to mend Life itself, and above all Man. - -"Away from God and Gods did my will allure me," says Zarathustra; "what -would there be to create if there were Gods! - -"But to man doth it ever drive me anew, my burning will; thus doth it -drive the hammer unto the stone. - -"Alas, ye fellow-men, within the stone slumbereth an image for me, -the image of all my visions! Alas that it should perforce slumber in -ugliest stone! - -"Now rageth my hammer, ruthlessly against its prison. From the stone -fly the fragments: what's that to me? - -"I shall end the work: for a shadow came unto me--the stillest and -lightest of all things once came unto me. - -"The beauty of the Superman came unto me as a shadow. Alas my brethren, -what are the gods to me now!"[31] - - -[28] Dresden Royal Picture Gallery. - -[29] _History of Painting_ (Eng. Trans.), Vol. II, pp. 572, 576. - -[30] Muther, _History of Painting_ (English Translation), Vol. II, p. -481. - -[31] _Z._, II, XXIV. - - - - -Lecture III[1] - - - -Nietzsche's Art Principles in the History of Art - - - - -Part I - - -Christianity and the Renaissance - - "For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye - through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye - shall live."--Romans viii. 13. - - -I shall now endeavour to show you when and where Nietzsche's Art -doctrine, or part of it, has raised its head in the past, and to touch -lightly upon the conditions which led to its observance. - -In doing this I shall travel backwards, zigzag fashion, from Rome, -viâ Greece to Egypt, and beginning with Christianity, I shall show -how the Holy Catholic Church succeeded in establishing one of the -conditions necessary to all great Art, which, as I have said, is unity -and solidarity lasting over a long period of time, and forming men -according to a definite and severe scheme of values. - - -[1] Delivered at University College on Dec. 15th, 1910. - - -1. Rome and the Christian Ideal. - - -The compass of these lectures does not allow me to say anything -concerning the Art of Rome. There are many aspects of this Art which -are both interesting and important from the historical standpoint; -but, from the particular point of view which I am now representing, -temporal Rome does not concern me nearly as much as sacred Rome and its -provincial Government. - -For the first act of the Christian power was not to volatilize the -stone bulwarks of the monuments of antiquity, neither was it to -spiritualize the citizen of the Roman Empire; but it was to convert -Rome the secular administration into Rome the Eternal City. - -Long before the exterior of the Græco-Roman column was divided up and -sub-divided, until, despite its volume, it seemed to have no solidity -whatever; and long before men's eyes and bodies were transformed from -broad, spacious wells of life into narrow, tenuous cylinders of fire, -a teaching was spread broadcast over the Roman Empire, the devouring -power of which was astounding, and the like of whose digestion has not -been paralleled in history. - -The Romans in their latter days had degenerated through the decline -among them of that very principle which is the basis of all great -art--restraint. Always utilitarians, in the end they had become -materialists, and finally their will power had disintegrated. - -Then, suddenly--perhaps through the very fact that their will power had -declined, and through a preponderance among them of a class of people -who were unfit to allow themselves any material enjoyment, and who were -conscious of this shortcoming--the pendulum of Life swung back with a -force so great to the opposite extreme, that the Pagan world was shaken -to its foundations, and in its death-agony stretched out its arms and -embraced the foreign creed which said-- - -"Flesh is death; Spirit is life and peace. The body is dead because of -sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If ye live after -the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the -deeds of the body, ye shall live."[2] - -Here was a fundamentally new valuation, a totally novel outlook upon -the world of man. Some extraordinarily magnetic creator of values had -spread his will over an empire, and stamped his hand upon a corner of -the globe, and "the blessedness to write upon the will of millenniums -as upon brass,"[3] promised to be his. - -Here was a principle which obviously must have found its origin in a -class of mind which, in order to overcome the flesh at all, knew of no -better means thereto than to cut it right away and for ever. It was not -a matter of contriving some sort of desirable inner harmony; the will -of the people in whom this creed took its roots was incapable of such -an achievement. The order went: "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck -it out, and cast it from thee ... if thy right hand offend thee, cut -it off!" Whenever the Spirit was mentioned it was spelt in capital -letters and uttered in exalted tones; while the body, on the other -hand, as the great obstacle to salvation, was written small. States of -the soul became surer indices to the qualities "good," "beautiful," -and "virtuous," than states of the body, and the paradox that Life was -the denial of Life, was honestly believed to be an attainable ideal. -In Lübke's words: "Christianity disturbed the harmony between man and -nature, and introduced a sense of discordance by proclaiming to man a -higher spiritual law, in the light of which his inborn nature became a -sinful thing which he was to overcome."[4] - -The people who acclaimed this teaching by instinct ultimately organized -themselves, conquered the Pagan world, enlisted Pagan elements into -their organization--Pagan spirit and Pagan order--and gradually -accomplished a task which no other European values seem to have -been able to do. They established one idea, one thought, one hope, -in the breasts of almost all great Western peoples, from Ireland to -Constantinople, from the Mediterranean to the Baltic. - -The power of their creation--the Church--was such that it -co-ordinated the most heterogeneous elements, the most conflicting -factors, and the most absurd contrasts. And, however much one may -deprecate the nature of the type they advocated, and the ignoble -valuation of humanity upon which their religion was based, as a -Nietzschean, one can but acknowledge the power they wielded, the might -with which they made one ideal prevail, and the art with which for a -while they united and harmonized such discordant voices as those of the -people of Europe. - -One can admire all this, I say, even though it is but a spiritual -reflection of Rome's former power, her former victories, and her former -law and order.[5] - -For, soon, however un-Pagan the ideal may have been which the Church -made to prevail, the methods it employed were purely Pagan methods. - -Fearing nothing, respecting nothing that was opposed to it, and not -losing heart before the difficulty of vanquishing even the most -formidable enemies of the expiring Empire--the Teutons away in the -North--spiritual Rome thus set about its task of appropriating -humanity; and all the art of the organizer, of the orator, of the -painter, sculptor and architect, was speedily ordered into its service. -If the type to which its ideal aspired were not already a general fact, -then it must be made a general fact. It must be reared, cultivated -and maintained. - -Strangely enough, the feat of vanquishing the German nation proved a -thousand times easier to Rome the Eternal City, than it had done to -Rome the Metropolis of the Greatest Empire of antiquity. The ancient -Germans, with their strong tendency to subjectivity, to fantastic -brooding and to cobweb spinning, and with their coarse, brutal natures -unused either to restraint or to the culture that arises from it, fell -easy victims to this burning teaching of the spirit, of faith, and -of sentiment;[6] and it was in their susceptible and untutored -breasts that Christianity laid its firmest foundation. - -In its work of appropriation and consumption, as I say, the Church -halted at nothing. - -[2] Romans viii. 6, 10, 13. - -[3] _Z._, III, LVI. - -[4] _Outlines of the History of Art_, Vol. I, p. 445. - -[5] See H. H. Milman, D.D., _History of Latin Christianity_ (Ed. -1864), Vol. I, p. 10. Speaking of Catholicism, he says: "It was -the Roman Empire, again extended over Europe by a universal code, -and a provincial government; by a hierarchy of religious prætors -or proconsuls, and a host of inferior officers, each in strict -subordination to those immediately above them, and gradually descending -to the very lowest ranks of society, the whole with a certain degree of -freedom of action, but a restrained and limited freedom, and with an -appeal to the spiritual Cæsar in the last resort." - -[6] See J. B. Bury, _A History of the Roman Empire_, Vol. I, p. 17: -"It has been said that the function of the German nations was to -be the bearers of Christianity. The growth of the new religion was -indeed contemporary with the spread of the new races in the Empire, -but at this time in the external events of history, so far from -being closely attached to the Germans, Christianity is identified -with the Roman Empire. It is long afterwards that we see the mission -fulfilled. The connection lies on a psychological basis: the German -character was essentially subjective. The Teutons were gifted with -that susceptibility which we call heart, and it was to the needs -of the heart that Christianity possessed endless potentialities of -adaptation.... Christianity and Teutonism were both solvents of the -ancient world, and as the German nations became afterwards entirely -Christian, we see that they were historically adapted to one another." - - - - -2. The Pagan Type appropriated and transformed by Christian Art. - - -Just as St. Paul had not refrained from taking possession of the -Unknown God whom the Athenians ignorantly worshipped, by declaring -Him to be precisely the God whom he had come among them to proclaim, -so Christianity did not refrain from incorporating all the suitable -features of the Pagan faith into its own creed. - -The Pagan type was thus the first thing to be assimilated and absorbed, -and in the early Christian paintings of the catacombs you must not be -surprised to find the Saviour depicted with all the beauties and charms -of the classical god or hero. Here he appears as a Hermes, there as an -Apollo, and yonder as an Orpheus.[7] Beardless, young, and strong, Christ -stalks towards you. His gait is free his carriage majestic. Across his -shoulders you will sometimes see, as in the catacombs of the Via Appia -in Rome, that he bears a sheep, and he looks for all the world like a -young Hermes, who, as you know, was the Greek god of flocks. - -Elsewhere he looks like a Roman senator, as in the catacomb of St. -Callixtus, for instance; his mother Mary looks like a Roman matron, -praying with uplifted hands, and the apostles Peter and Paul, together -with the prophets, appear as peripatetic philosophers, grasping -learned-looking scrolls of manuscript, while Daniel is presented as -a Hercules.[8] - -Even the famous bronze statue of St. Peter in his great -church at Rome is in fact an antique statue of a consul which has -been transformed into a Peter, and the original of this monument was -probably quite innocent of the sanctity which has caused the foot of -his effigy to be worn away by the kisses of the faithful.[9] - -This bold manner of appropriating the Pagan ideal in Art was but -the symbol of what was actually occurring in the outside world; for -the object was not to glorify the Pagan type, but to overthrow it, -to transform it by degrees into the type which was compatible with -Christian values, and thus to obliterate it. - -We can watch this process. We can see the classic features and form -of body surely and permanently vanishing from the wall decorations of -the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries A.D., and the Christian type -asserting itself with ever greater assurance. Already in San Paolo -fuori-le-mura in Rome, which had been decorated about the middle of -the fifth century,[10] Christ appears bearded,[11] ugly and gloomy, and his -apostles reflect his appearance and mood. In the Church of San Vitale -in Ravenna, of the sixth century, the spirit of the antique had almost -passed away;[12] in the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori-le-mura the bearded -Christ is no longer sublime and dignified, but wan and emaciated;[13] while -in the Church of SS. Nazarus and Celsus at Ravenna, there is a mosaic -of the fifth century in which even the sheep are beginning to look with -gloomy and dissatisfied eyes upon the world about them. - -Examples could be multiplied almost indefinitely to prove how slow but -sure was this gradual self-assertion of the type that was compatible -with Christian values, and the early period of mediæval art is well -described by Woltmann and Woermann as one in which the classical cast -of figure and features gets swallowed up in ugliness.[14] - -Finally, in the seventh century, the most daring and most extraordinary -artistic feat of all was accomplished. The greatest paradox the world -had ever seen--a god on a cross--was portrayed for men's eyes -to behold. The Crucifixion became one of the loftiest subjects of -Christian art, and the god of the Christians was painted in his death -agony. - -I will not dwell upon the manifold influences exercised by this -class of picture; I simply record the fact, in order to show with -what steadily increasing audacity the Church ultimately realized and -exhibited its type. - -For, the fact that Christian Art was didactic, as all art is which is -associated with the will and idea of a fighting cause, and which is -born on a soil of clashing values, nobody seems to deny.[15] Paulinus -of Nola, Gregory the Great, Bishop Germanus, Gregory the Second,[16] John -of Damascus and Basil the Great were all agreed as to the incalculable -worth of images in the propagation of the Christian doctrine, and their -attitude, subsequently adopted by the Franciscans and Dominicans, -lasted, according to Milman, until very late in the Middle Ages. When -it is remembered, moreover, that illuminated manuscripts, which were -destined to remain in the hands of single individuals, retained the -classical mould of body and features much later than did the work for -church decoration, it is not difficult to discover the strong motive -which lay behind the production of public art.[17] - -With Roman culture and art, the western and northern provinces of Gaul, -Spain, Germany and Britain thus received their religion and their ideal -type; and if to-day, in our ball-rooms and drawing-rooms we are often -confronted with tenuous, flamelike, swan-necked creatures, that recall -Burne-Jones, Botticelli, Duccio and Segna to our minds, we know to -which values these people owe their slender, heaven-aspiring stature, -and their long, sensitive fingers. - -For the attitude of the Christian ideal to Life, to the body, and to -the world was an entirely negative one. The command from on high was, -that the deeds of the body should be mortified through the Spirit. All -beauty, all voluptuousness, smoothness and charm were very naturally -regarded with suspicion by the promoters of such an ideal; for beauty, -voluptuousness and shapeliness lure back to Life, lure back to the -flesh, and ultimately back to the body. - -What else, then, could possibly have been expected from such an ideal -than the ultimate decline and uglification of the body? To what else -did such an ideal actually aspire? For was not ugliness the strongest -obstacle in the way of the loving one, in the way of him who wished -only to affirm and to promote life? - -When the student of mediæval miniatures, wall-paintings and -stained-glass windows finds bodily charm almost completely eliminated, -when he sees ugliness prevailing, and even made seductive by a host -of the most subtle art-forms, by a gorgeous wealth of ornament -and repetitive design; and when he perceives a certain guilty -self-consciousness in regard to the attributes of sex revealing -itself in such paintings as that on the ceiling of the Church of St. -Michael at Hildesheim, where Adam and Eve are represented as naked -human monstrosities, exactly alike in frame and limbs, and with all -indications as to sex, save Eve's long tresses and Adam's beard, -carefully suppressed,[18] what can be concluded from all this irrefutable -and unimpeachable evidence? - -When he finds the Gothic type of figure growing ever more tenuous, ever -more emaciated and more sickly as the centuries roll on; when he hears -of a Byzantine canon of the eleventh century in which the human body -is actually declared to be a monstrosity measuring nine heads; when he -finds strength and manhood gradually departing from the faces and the -limbs of the men, and an expression of tender sentiment, culminating -in puling sentimentality becoming the rule; finally, when he stands -opposite Segna's appalling picture of "Christ on the Cross" at the -National Gallery; what, under these circumstances, is he to say, save -that he is here concerned with an art which is antagonistic and hostile -to beauty, to Life and the world? - -For the qualities of this art, qua art, although they never once attain -to the excellence of Ruler-Art, are sometimes exceedingly great. With -Meier Graefe I should be willing to agree that there has been no real -style since the Gothic,[19] or certainly not one that can claim anything -like such general distribution. And, if it had not been for the fact -that the more the paradox at the root of Christian doctrine was -realized, the more paradoxical it appeared--a fact which called forth -the energies of scores of apologists, commentators, and dialecticians, -and which made pictures retain to the very end a rhetorical, -persuasive, and therefore more or less realistic manner, sometimes -assisted (more especially towards the close of the Middle Ages) by -almost lyrical ornament and charm; there is no saying to what simple -power Christian art might not have attained. For behind it were all the -conditions which go to produce the greatest artistic achievements. - -As a style, apart from its subject--or content beauty; as the -manifestation of a mighty will--who can help admiring this art of -Christianity? If only its ideal had been a possible one, and one which -would have required no rhetoric, seduction, or emotional oratory, -accompanied by the ringing of all the precious metals, to support it -until the end; it might have ascended to the highest pinnacle of art in -simplicity, restraint and order. Into simplicity, however, it was never -able to develop, while its constant need of explaining made it to the -very last retain more or less realism in the presentation of its ideal -type. - - -[7] On this point see Kraus, _Geschichte der christlichen Kunst_, Vol. -I, pp. 41, 46 et seq. Muther, _Geschichte der Malerei_, Vol. I, p. 13. -Woltmann and Woermann, _History of Painting_, Vol. I. pp. 151-156. Paul -Lacroix, _Les Arts au Moyen Age et à l'Epoque de la Renaissance_ (Ed. -1877, Paris), p. 254. - -[8] See J. A. Crowe and G. B. Cavalcaselle, _The History of Painting -in Italy_ (Ed. 1903), Vol. I, p. 4. Woltmann and Woermann, _op. cit._, -Vol. I, p. 156. - -[9] Woltmann and Woermann, _op. cit._, Vol. I, p. 156. - -[10] J. A. Crowe and G. B. Cavalcaselle, _op. cit._, pp. 14, 15. - -[11] For a discussion of the material causes of the change of type, see -Milman, _op. cit._. Vol. IX, p. 324. - -[12] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, _op. cit._, Vol. I, pp. 24, 25. - -[13] Woltmann and Woermann, _op. cit._, Vol. I, p. 185. - -[14] Woltmann and Woermann, _op. cit._, Vol. I, p. 230. - -[15] See an interesting discussion on the early Christian attitude -towards art in Kraus, _Geschichte der christlichen Kunst_, Vol. I, pp. -58 et seq. See also Milman's conclusions on the subject, _History of -Latin Christianity_, Vol. II, pp. 345, 346. - -[16] See his letter to Leo the Isaurian, quoted by Milman, _op. cit._, -Vol. II, pp. 358-361. See also the Rev. J. S. Black's article on -"Images" in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_ (9th Edition). - -[17] The Rev. J. S. Black says, in his article on "Images," above -referred to, that even as early as the fourth or fifth centuries there -is evidence of the tendency to enlist art in the service of the Church, -while Woltmann and Woermann (_op. cit._, Vol. I, p. 167) quote the -following instance: "When St. Nilus (A.D. 450) was consulted about -the decoration of a church, he rejected as childish and unworthy the -intended design of plants, birds, animals, and a number of crosses, -and desired the interior to be adorned with pictures from the Old -and New Testaments, with the same motive that Gregory II expressed -afterwards...." - -[18] Kraus seems to be of the opinion that this suppression of primary -sexual characteristics in paintings was not at all uncommon in the -Middle Ages. See _Geschichte der christlichen Kunst_, Vol. II, p. 280. - -[19] _Modern Art_, Vol. I, p. 24. - - - - -3. The Gothic Building and Sentiment. - - -But the hierarchy of the Church, although it left no doubt in the minds -of its followers as to the genuine type which was the apotheosis of -Christian values, was nevertheless unable completely to impose its culture -upon the barbarians under its sway. And soon, somewhere towards the end -of the twelfth century, there began to appear in Europe, in things that -did not seem to matter from the moral or didactic standpoint, a certain -uncouth and uncultured spirit, which showed to what extent the despotic -rule of Rome was beginning to be flouted. - -In architecture, which, like music, has for some reason or other -always seemed to Europeans to be less intimately connected with the -thought and will of man than the graphic arts, an un-Catholic spirit -was preparing its road to triumph. When I say un-Catholic, I mean -emancipated from the law and order of the Universal Church.[20] And in -the Gothic edifice, from its early stages to its development -into the flamboyant style, all the impossibilities, all the terrible -self-immolations imposed by the Christian ideal upon man, begin to make -themselves openly felt. - -Now churches begin to tower aloft into heights undreamt of heretofore. -Huge columns spring heavenwards, bearing up a roof that seems almost -ethereal because it is so high. Spires are thrust right into the very -breasts of clouds, and acres are covered by constructions which, -mechanically speaking, are alive. Kicks from the vaulted arches against -the hollowed-out walls below, necessitate counter-kicks; buttresses and -flying buttresses strive and struggle against the crushing pressure of -the stone or brick skies of these fantastic architectural feats. All -the parts of this mass of stone on baked clay are at loggerheads and at -variance with each other, and their strife never ceases. - -Typical of the contest going on within the body of the mediæval -Christian, and the vain aspirations of his soul, the lofty buildings -are also symbolic of the discord and lack of equilibrium which, as -Lübke says, Christianity introduced into man's relations to Nature and -to himself. And when we find the columns of these buildings carved and -moulded to look like groups of pillars embracing each other to gain -strength, the salient parts of the construction grooved and striped, -and the extremities of the clustered pillars spreading after the manner -of a fan, over our heads; we are amazed at the manner in which mass and -volume have been volatilized, spiritualized, and apparently dissipated. - -Elsewhere, too, there is variegated glass, gigantic filigree work, -festive decoration, as elaborated as that of a queen or a bride; -infinite grandeur and infinite littleness.[21] The ornament is nervous -and excited, festoons, trefoils, gables, gargoyles and niches, all -thrust themselves at you; all strive for individual effect, individual -attention, and individual value, with a restlessness and an importunacy -which knows no limits; until your eyes, bewildered and dazzled by the -jutting, projecting and budding details, and out-startled by surprise, -instinctively drop at last, and perhaps close in a paroxysm of despair, -before the High Altar.[22] - -This was the germ of Protestantism in stone. Long before Martin Luther -burned the Papal Bull in the market-place of Wittenberg, the elements -of Protestantism had already found expression in Gothic architecture. -True the Pagan and Catholic spirit was still sufficiently master to -dominate them, just as it did the heretics, by a tremendous force -of style; but they are nevertheless present, and it is in this -architecture, if we choose to seek it, that we shall find, at once, all -the beauty, all the ugliness, and all the incompatible elements of the -Christian ideal. - -Its beauty and the fact for which we ought to be grateful to it, is, -that by its one-sided and earnest advocacy of the spiritual in man, it -extended the domain of his spirit over an area so much greater than -that which had been covered theretofore, that only now can it be said -that he knows exactly where he stands and who he is. Its ugliness lies -in its contempt of the body and of Life; and its incompatible elements -are its negation of Life and the necessary attitude of affirmation -towards Life which all living creatures are bound to assume. - -If, however, the above description of the Gothic may seem unfair, hear -what one of the greatest friends of the Gothic has said on the subject! - -John Ruskin, in the early days of the last half of the nineteenth -century, wrote as follows-- - -"I believe that the characteristic or moral elements of the Gothic are -the following, placed in order of their importance: (1) Savageness, (2) -Changefulness, (3) Naturalism, (4) Grotesqueness, (5) Rigidity, (6) -Redundance."[23] - -He speaks of it as being "instinct with work of an imagination -as wild and wayward as the Northern Sea";[24] lays stress upon its -rudeness,[25] and declares that it is that strange disquietude of -the Gothic spirit--that is its greatness, "that restlessness of the -dreaming mind, that wanders hither and thither among the niches, and -flickers feverishly around, and yet is not satisfied, nor shall be -satisfied."[26] - -In fact, in no instance could the saying, "preserve me from my own -friends," be more aptly applied than in Ruskin's defence of the Gothic. -For Ruskin was a conscientious student, and things which even enemies -of his subject would be likely to overlook, he brings forward proudly -and ingenuously, like a truculent mother presenting an ugly child to a -friend, and with a broad smile in his forcible prose which sometimes -throws even the experienced reader quite off his guard. - -Hippolyte Taine speaks of the people of the Middle Ages as being -possessed of delicate and over-excited imaginations, of morbid fancy -unto whom vivid sensation--manifold, changing, bizarre and extreme ---are necessary. In referring to their taste in ornament, he says, -"It is the adornment of a nervous, over-excited woman, similar to -the extravagant costumes of the day, whose delicate and morbid poesy -denotes by its excess the singular sentiments, the feverish, violent, -and impotent aspiration peculiar to an age of knights and monks."[27] - -[Illustration: The Canon of Polycleitus (_Rome_)] - -And if you think of the physical and spiritual operations they had been -made to undergo, you will not feel very much inclined to question these -conclusions. It must not be supposed that the canon of Polycletus, -measuring seven heads, was transformed into the Byzantine canon, -measuring nine heads, without some one's suffering--even though it -took centuries to effect the change. It must not be believed that the -calm Pagan idea of death was converted into the Christian terror of -death without the sacrifice of something; nor must these emaciated, -careworn, and neurotic faces in Mediæval paintings be conceived as mere -inventions of morbid phantasy. The deeds of the body are not mortified -through the Spirit with impunity. Such brilliant achievements have -their accounts to pay, and the Church never once deceived itself or -its followers as to what was paying, what was suffering, or where the -amputations and vivisections were taking place. - -Look at the type of which the monks approved! Examine it in Cimabue's, -Duccio's, Segna's and the Cologne painters' pictures. Examine it in the -tapestry of Berne, known as the "Adoration of the Kings"; look at it -in countless stained glass windows, and see its repetition in hundreds -of illuminated manuscripts, some of which, like the Latin missal of -the Church of St. Bavon at Ghent, and the _Lives of the Saints_ by Simeon -Metaphrasi, have found their way into the British Museum. - -Then ask yourself whether or not humanity was suffering in conforming -itself to this holy creed. "Like those mothers," says Lecky, "who -govern their children by persuading them that the dark is crowded -with spectres that' will seize the disobedient, and who often succeed -in creating an association of ideas which the adult man is unable -altogether to dissolve, the Catholic priests, by making the terrors of -death for centuries the nightmare of the imagination, resolved to base -their power upon the nerves."[28] - -And, now that all this is known and realized, what is the meaning of -the Renaissance, what is its explanation? - -[20] Speaking of Gothic buildings in general, Fergusson, in A History -of Architecture, Vol. I, p. 41, says: "It is in Nature's highest works -that we find the symmetry of proportion most prominent. When we descend -to the lower types of animals we find we lose it to a great extent, and -among trees and vegetables generally find it only in a far less degree, -and sometimes miss it altogether. In the mineral kingdom among rocks -and stones it is altogether absent. So universal is this principle in -Nature that we may safely apply it to our criticism on art, and say -that a building is perfect as a whole in proportion to its motived -regularity, and departs from the highest type in the ratio in which -symmetrical arrangement is neglected. It may, however, be incorrect to -say that an oak-tree is a less perfect work of creation than a human -body, but it is certain that a picturesque group of Gothic buildings -may be as perfect as the stately regularity of an Egyptian or classic -temple; but if it is so, it is equally certain that it belongs to a -lower and inferior class of design." Page 34: "The revival of the -rites and ceremonies of the Mediæval Church, our reverent love of our -own national antiquities, and our admiration of the rude but vigorous -manhood of the Middle Ages, all have combined to repress the classical -element, both in our literature and in our art, and to exalt in their -place Gothic feelings and Gothic art to an extent which cannot be -justified on any grounds of reasonable criticism." - -[21] See Hippolyte Taine, _On the Nature of the Work of Art_ -(translated by John Durand), pp. 130, 131, 132, 133, 134. - -[22] Dr. Wilhelm Lübke, _op. cit._, Vol. II, p. 14, 15, says, speaking -of the Gothic: "What a contrast to the quiet, sober masses of the -Romanesque style ...! Here, on the other hand, everything thrusts -itself into prominence, everything strives for outward effect, -everything endeavours to work out its individuality with spirit and -energy. ... At the choir ... a positive sense of disquiet and confusion -is produced, which may indeed excite the fancy, but cannot satisfy the -sense of beauty." - -[23] _On the Nature of Gothic Architecture_ (1854), p. 4. - -[24] _On the Nature of Gothic Architecture_, p. 6. - -[25] _Ibid_., p. 11. - -[26] _Ibid_., p. 19. - -[27] _On the Nature of the Work of Art_, pp. 131-33, 134. - -[28] _History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne_, Vol. I, -p. 211. - - - - -4. The Renaissance. - - -The Renaissance, in its early stages, at least, was a period neither -of pure realism nor of classicalism; it was neither a revival of -learning nor a revival of antiquity. These words are mere euphemisms, -mere drawing-room phrases. For, at its inception, the Renaissance -was nothing more nor less than man's convalescence, after an illness -that had lasted centuries. It was his first walk into the open, after -leaving his bed and his sick-room. - -According to the Nietzschean doctrine of art, this realism of Van Eyck, -of Van der Weyden, Quintin Massys, Donatello, Pisanello, Masolino, -Ucello and others ought to disgust you. It is not art, or if it is, its -rank is inferior. Why, then, does it claim attention? Why is it far -superior to the realism of the present day, despite some appallingly -ugly features?[29] - -It is superior only in this sense, that it is the work of -convalescents. After they had been laid on the rack in the attempt to -stretch their limbs and bodies to infinity, you must not be surprised -that these men could only limp along. How could they be expected to -walk majestically and with grace? That they could stand at all was a -mercy. That they were able to hobble along as they did was a triumph. - -To expect these recovering invalids to impart something of themselves -to Life, to enrich her and to transfigure her, would be to expect the -impossible. But if you applaud them at all, applaud them for their -recovery, for the fact that it is well that they can give us even -drabby reality as it is. Do not congratulate them yet on their health. -For their realism, as realism, is as hopeless, as uninteresting and as -unelevating as any realism ever was and ever will be. - -It is deceptive, too, for what seem to be beauties in their pictures -are borrowed from such of their predecessors of the late Gothic period -as were already overloading their pictures with ornamental art forms, -in order to disguise the ugliness of the type they presented. Where -they beguile you, it is often with a wealth of sweet ornament.[30] - -In Ucello's "Battle of Sant' Eglidio," at the National Gallery, it is -impossible not to recognize the pains the artist has taken to make your -eye dwell on the dainty trappings and accoutrements of the knights -and their steeds, on the distracting balls of gold in the shrubbery, -artfully repeated in the bridles of the horses, and on the complex maze -of pikes, spears and lances, which makes the glimpse of hills in the -distance all the more restful and pleasing. - -Also in Pisanello's "St. Anthony and St. George" (National Gallery), -whatever charm there is to be seen is still a Gothic charm, and the -same holds good of this painter's remarkable picture of the "Vision -of St. Eustace," in which the deliberately ornamental purpose of the -animals in the background charms you more than their startling realism. - -If you leave these pictures, in the National Gallery, and walk over to -Orcagna's "Coronation of the Virgin," you will see where the ornamental -charm of the early Renaissance realists probably found its origin. For -these convalescent men made no sudden and unanticipated appearance. -They were preceded by painters like Orcagna, who were beginning to feel -the impossibility of making a beautiful image out of the Christian -type, and who therefore crammed their pictures with ornament in a -manner so prodigal that the human portion of them assumed quite a -subordinate place. - -Look at this picture of Orcagna's. It seems positively to ring with -gold. Massed halos of the precious metal convert the faces of the -people into mere decorative discs of colour. The golden embroidery on -the dresses and on the hangings in the background give you a feeling of -sunshine, of wealth and of luxury, which makes you forget the ideal for -which all this lavish display is acting but as a subtle impresario. And -the utilization of every square inch of room by filigrees, festoons, -frills and fretwork of gorgeousness, almost convinces you at last that -you are in front of an art which says "Yea" to the glory of sunshine, -beauty and life. - -In this very need of extravagant ornament, however, Orcagna confesses -quite openly to you that, as far as humanity is concerned, he, as -an artist, is bankrupt and destitute. His picture, like most things -connected with the art of Christianity, is a pictorial paradox; and -when you leave it, to wander through the other rooms, your mind must be -of a singularly ingenuous stamp if it feels no suspicion with regard to -Orcagna's use of such a deafening brass band in the exaltation of his -ideal. - -If you doubt all this, how can you explain the fact that those painters -of the early Renaissance who remained faithful to the Christian -type--such men, I mean, as Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, Alesso -Baldovinetti, Botticelli and Ghirlandaio--all remained more or less -faithful, too, to Orcagna's belief in ornament and pretty accessories; -while all those painters who either carried on or developed the new -spirit in Pisanello's, Ucello's, Masolino's and Masaccio's work-- -such men as Pollajuolo, Verrochio, Perugini, Bellini, and ultimately -Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Raphael--all discarded -pretty and seductive accessories, or, when they did use them, made them -completely subordinate to the human element in their work? - -The gradual growth in the importance of the human body and of the Pagan -type, in the Renaissance painters, from Masaccio to Michelangelo, with -whom there can no longer be any question of convalescence, the rapid -return to a healthy life-affirming type, and the ultimate triumph of -this type in the very heart of the Vatican--the headquarters of the -greatest negative religion on earth,--these are the facts which make -the art of this age so admirable and so thrilling. - -It represents the greatest stand which Europe has ever made against the -denial of life, humanity and beauty; and if some of the artists, like -Pisanello, Piero della Francesca, and ultimately Titian, in their great -zeal, returned to nature with almost as much interest as to man, this -is easily accounted for when it is remembered how long nature and man -had been separated.[31] - -But the fact that makes the final glory of the Renaissance type all the -more glorious is the extraordinary circumstance that almost every one -of the artists who fought for it, and for the principles it involved, -from Piero della Francesca to Titian, were one after the other captured -and enchained by the Church itself. Often it was in the very atmosphere -of the high altar, with the fumes of the incense about them, that they -asserted their positive faith in Life and Man. The greatest dangers, -the greatest temptations surrounded them But they planted their -banner, notwithstanding, in the centre of their true enemy's camp, -and, for a while, their true enemy acquiesced, because the command was -in the hands of men who were artists and pagans themselves, and who -consequently did not believe in one single tenet of the negative creed -which they professed. - -Just as the realism of some of the early Renaissance artists, however, -was the inevitable outcome of their convalescent state, so the strong -realism of many of the painters and sculptors of the late Renaissance -was the natural result of their combative attitude. - -Fighting for a particular kind of man, against centuries of false -and unhealthy tradition, it was necessary to bring forward the new -ideal with every characteristic plainly, emphatically and powerfully -expressed; for every characteristic of a new ideal is of the highest -importance. - -These new values of the Renaissance spirit were scarcely one hundred -years old, when Michelangelo set himself the task of embodying them in -his sculpture and painting. Would it be fair to criticize him from the -standpoint of Egypt or even of Greece? - -From the standpoint of Egypt he is disappointing. The preponderance -of characteristic traits over simplicity in his work spoils the power -of his conceptions. His prevailing lack of simplicity makes you guess -at the youth of the values on which he stood, and his tortuous bodies -often make you question whether his types have entirely left the -nerves of the Gothic period behind them. But are not all these defects -precisely of a kind which are unfortunately inseparable from the -position which Michelangelo assumed? - -He was the greatest of the Renaissance artists. In criticizing him, I -have said all that can be said, from this particular standpoint, of his -predecessors and contemporaries. His power lies in the forcibleness, -the exhilaration, the exuberance and the wealth with which he brings -forward his type. It lies in his absolute contempt of seductive -prettiness, his sometimes terrible strength, his vehemence and his -energy, and above all in his magnificent conceptions and the types with -which he illustrates them. Compared with the art from which it had -sprung, his art was stupendous. - -And where he is weak, compared with a higher--and by no means a modern ---concept of art, he suffers from the virtues of his position as a -fighter and as an innovator. - -In valuing him, as I said in my first lecture, it all depends whence -you come. If you hail from Europe of the nineteenth and twentieth -century, you can but go on your knees before him. If you hail from -Memphis of the year 4000 B.C., you can but criticize and feel ill at -ease before his work. - -I have not yet said anything concerning the relation of the Renaissance -artists to Greece, simply because, taking in view the circumstances of -their development, the relation seems fairly obvious. In discussing -the art of Greece itself, however, the matter will probably appear -quite clear to you. How much of the transfiguration in late Renaissance -art is actually due to Greek influence, or to the Dionysian spirit -of the age, it is difficult to determine. In my opinion, the latter -influence was more potent, and to the Greek influence I should be more -prepared to ascribe the spur which originally led to the adoption of a -thoroughly Pagan type. - - -[29] Kraus, in his _Geschichte der christlichen Kunst_, Vol. II, denies -that the revival of the antique was predominant in the Renaissance, -and argues that individualism and nature study were the prominent -notes. Venturi, the Italian art-historian, declares that the antique -began to be paramount only in the sixteenth century, and that with -it the decadence began. While Eugène Müntz, in his monumental work, -_L'Histoire de l'Art pendant la Renaissance_, Vol. I, p. 42, speaking -of the two movements of the period, says: "Deux voies s'ouvraient aux -novateurs, ou le naturalisme à outrance, un naturalisme qui, n'étant -plus soutenu par les hautes aspirations du moyen âge, risquait fort -de sombrer dans la vulgarité (l'exemple de Paolo Ucello, d'Andrea del -Castagna, de Pollajuolo l'a bien prouvé) ou bien la nature contrôlée, -purifiée, ennoblie par l'étude des modèles anciens." The latter was the -later movement. See also Woltmann and Woermann, _History of Painting_, -Vol. II, Introduction. - -[30] Muther, in his _History of Painting_, Vol. I, p. 87, actually -declares that Jan van Eyck and Pisanello in their dainty manner -remained Gothic. - -[31] Of Piero della Francesca, Muther says, _op. cit._, Vol. I, p. 97: -"He created the grammar of modern painting.... Four hundred years ago -he proposed the problem of realism, and endeavoured, as the forerunner -of the most modern artists, to establish in what manner atmosphere -changes colour impressions." - - - - -Part II - - -Greece and Egypt - - - "The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land - make thy father and brethren to dwell."--Genesis xlvii. 6. - - - - -1. Greek Art. - - -I have now spoken to you of Christian Art, and you have not been taken -altogether by surprise; because, in England at least, people are not -unacquainted with the fight Art has had with Puritanism. And you were, -therefore, partly prepared for what I had to say. The views I have -expressed concerning the Renaissance were not entirely new to you -either, and, if they were, I can only hope that they will assist you in -giving to the Art of that period its proper valuation. Now, however, -I fear I am going to level a blow at what must seem to you even more -sacred, even more invulnerable and even more thoroughly established -than either Christian or Renaissance Art. I refer to the Art of Greece. - -Albeit, before I proceed with my task, do not be surprised if, like -Charles the First's executioner, Brandon, I kneel to kiss the hand -of my victim, if only by so doing I may seem to you to understand -the grave nature of my business, and satisfy you that the blow I am -about to deliver is prompted more by conviction than by that cheap -irreverence for great things which is, alas, only too prevalent to-day. - -Goethe says somewhere that, if we find fault with Euripides at all we -should do so on bended knees. It seems to me that this ought also to -be the attitude of people and critics in this age who attempt to value -what the Greeks achieved in the graphic arts. For the earnestness and -vigour wherewith, collectively, they set up their triumphs and ideals -in stone and marble, the moment any opportunity arose for them to -affirm and exalt their type, is deserving of the utmost praise and -admiration. - -Too many great writers have exalted the Greeks, however, to make it -necessary for me to edify you with any long and enthusiastic praise of -those qualities which Nietzsche admired in them. - -Fairness alone, therefore, compels me to acknowledge the grandeur -of the type their art advocates. With Nietzsche I can but extol the -yea-saying of this type to the passions, to beauty, to health, in -fact to life. The fearlessness of the Greeks before beauty was their -acknowledgment that life was a blessing to which it was worth while to -be lured and seduced. And their innocent acceptance of the strongest -passions is sufficient to show to what extent they had not only -mastered them, but had also enlisted them into their service. - -Nevertheless, though it is only decent to exercise some reserve in this -matter, it certainly is necessary to point to a curious fact in regard -to Greek Art in general, and that is, that, with the exception of some -of its archaic examples, it has been revered with ever-increasing -fervour by strangers, from the second century before Christ to the -present day,--when I say strangers, I mean people whose thought and -aspirations were not necessarily the outcome of Hellenic values,--and -that this general appreciation of Greek Art by foreigners implies that -there is some quality in it which is only too common to everybody and -to anybody, irrespective of nationality and education. If it were asked -what this common factor was, I should reply, it is Nature herself, to -which Greek Art, in its so-called best period, is undeniably in close -and intimate relationship. - -In examining the works of the seventh, sixth and fifth centuries -before Christ, it is well to bear in mind the peculiar state of the -country in which they appeared, its division into states, and its mixed -population. It is well to think of the many ideals that dominated these -people, and of the fact that the citizen of one city was often regarded -as an alien, without any political rights whatever, if he ventured to -transfer his abode to another city but a few miles distant from his -own; and allowances should be made for the rivalry and competition this -state of affairs conduced to bring about. It is also well to remember -the individual lives the colonists lived, and the altered outlook on -life to which their independent positions were bound to lead, and -which, when they returned to their mother city, as many of them used to -do, must have shed a new and strange light upon what they saw. - -Although a certain uniformity can be traced in the political history -of most Greek states, no one would dare to maintain that the Greeks, -at any time in their history, were a perfectly united people observing -the same values; whilst even in the history of each separate state, -changes occurred so constantly that a stable political type is a rare -and practically negligible fact. - -In spite of the many heroes and geniuses which arose from time to time, -there never seems to have been that power, either human or superhuman, -which might have welded these peoples indissolubly together, or which, -taking its root in one of the contending races, could have made that -race completely absorb and digest the others. - -Even the games of Greece, which, it might be argued, tended to unite -the various peoples, cannot be said to have gone very far in this -respect, since the very fact that the Hellenic nation enforced a -sacred armistice during the month of the games, between states that -were at war, shows that the most this institution could achieve was a -suspension of arms. - -On the whole, therefore, the fact that one can talk of different -types as characteristic of particular schools or ideals is amply -accounted for, and when the general spirit of rivalry that animated -the whole nation for centuries is duly taken into consideration it -is not difficult to explain a certain preponderance of manifold -characteristics over simplicity, which is observable in the greater -part of Greek sculpture--a preponderance which sometimes led very -rapidly to the crudest realism, and which at other times approached -realism only after a considerable lapse of time. Such phenomena are the -inevitable result of that lack of the powerful master or ruler spirit -who unifies and co-ordinates heterogeneity, and who thereby makes -simplification and powerful art possible, as the outcome of relative -permanency.[32] - -For, when technique is largely mastered, realism, as I have shown in -the case of Mediæval and Renaissance Art, may in a great measure be the -outcome of a desire to make one's own particular ideal unmistakably -plain, and although this kind of truth to nature always reveals a -clashing of values or types, it is of a kind which may be regarded as -infinitely superior to the realism which has nothing to say at all, and -which merely copies out of poverty of invention. - -When talking to strangers about an ideal they do not share with you, -it is necessary to bring all your powers to bear upon an adequate and -perfectly vivid representation of what you have in your mind. - -I, on this platform, assuming that Nietzsche as an art valuer was -strange to you, had to present him to you with all the realism and -detail I could dispose of. If I had been talking to people who knew -the Nietzschean views of art perfectly well, I might have indulged in -certain artistic simplifications and poetical transfigurations which I -considered unsuited to the present circumstances. - -This same feeling, I believe, partly explains the tendency to realism -in Greek art. And it is precisely to this tendency to realism that I -think it is now high time to call attention, after all the fulsome -praise which has for ages been lavished upon the products of the -Hellenic spirit. - -When you turn to the granite statue of the Egyptian goddess Sekhet in -the Louvre, or to the lions of Gebel Barkal in the Egyptian Gallery -of the British Museum, you are conscious of a sensation of great -strangeness, of humiliating unfamiliarity, of almost incalculable -distance. You may look at these things for a moment and wonder what -they mean; you may even pass on with a feeling of indifference -amounting to scorn;[33] but whatever your sensations are, you will be -quite unable to deny that what you have seen does not belong to your -world, that it is utterly and completely separated from you, and that -you felt in need of a guide and of an initiator in its presence. - -You may laugh at the lions of Gebel Barkal, you may deny that they are -beautiful; but, whoever you are, scholar, poet, painter or layman, you -will admit that they are cruelly distant and strange, terribly remote -and uncommunicative. - - - - -A. The Parthenon. - - -Now, if you turn round and bear to the right in the Egyptian Gallery at -the British Museum, you will find a broad passage lined with statues -that seem very much more familiar to you than those which you are just -leaving behind; and, in the distance, you will espy the maimed figures -of the Eastern pediment of the Parthenon. In a moment you will be in -the Elgin Room, and everywhere about you you will see all that remains -of the ancient temple of Athens which is worth seeing. - -If you have not been to Athens, you must not suppose that you have -missed much, as far as the Parthenon is concerned. Unless you are very -modern and very romantic, and can take pleasure in visiting a gruesome -ruin by moonlight, you would be only depressed and disappointed by -the decayed and ugly mass of stones that now stands like a battered -skeleton on the Acropolis. You may take it, therefore, that, as -you stand in the Elgin Room, you have around you the best that the -Parthenon could yield after its partial destruction and dismantlement -in 1687 by the victorious Veneto-German army. And what is it that you -see? - -Remember that you are a man of the twentieth century A.D., and that you -have just been bored to extinction by a walk in the Egyptian Gallery. -Remember, too, that you have very few fixed opinions about Art, and -that the artistic condition of your continent is one of chaos and -anarchy. - -In spite of all this, however, you will walk up to the horse's head at -the extreme right of the Eastern pediment of the Parthenon, and the two -thousand and four hundred years that separate you from it will vanish -as by magic. - -For years I have taken men, women and children up to this horse's -head. In some cases these people have been technical connoisseurs of -a horse's points; in others they have been mere bourgeois people, -indifferent both to the art of Greece and to equine anatomy; and with -the children I was concerned with raw manhood that cared not a jot for -Art, and whose one sole, savage instinct was to recognize and classify -what was before them. - -If you supposed, however, that the verdict of these different people -was anything but unanimous, you would be vastly mistaken. The children -cried with delight. Their powers of recognizing things was stimulated -to the utmost. One of them told me it was like a real bus-horse. The -connoisseurs of a horse's points began to draw plausible conclusions -from the existing head as to the probable conformation of the body -which the artist had deliberately omitted, and the bourgeois people -declared that they loved the fascinating softness and convincing -looseness of the mouth.--All of them were charmed. All of them -understood. Not one of them felt that this horse held itself aloof from -them and kept its distance, as the austere Egyptian lions had done. And -all of them were children of the twentieth century A.D., and over two -thousand years separated them from the objects they were inspecting. - -Their comments on the Parthenon Frieze were much the same. Once or -twice one of them would say that there was a monotonous similarity of -feature in the men and in the horses--a comment which immediately -revealed to me that 2,400 years had indeed wrought some change. On the -whole, however, the attitude of those I escorted amazed me; for, with -but few exceptions, it was one of sympathy and understanding. I will -not say that I did not stimulate their interest a good deal, by making -them feel that their criticism was valuable to me; I will not pretend -that if they had been alone they would have troubled to concentrate -their minds to any great extent upon the exhibits around them; but this -I will affirm, with absolute confidence: that if all the men, women -and children who stream through the Elgin Room daily were given the -same stimulus to exercise their critical faculty, and were similarly -induced to give particular attention to all they saw, the sympathy and -understanding which I observed among the groups of visitors I escorted -would be found to be a fairly general, if not a common occurrence. - -[Illustration: The Apollo of Tenea, Glyptothek, Munich.] - - - - -B. The Apollo of Tenea. - - -Take the same people down to the Cast Room and show them the Apollo of -Tenea, and what will they say? - -When I first halted before this bewilderingly beautiful statue in the -Glyptothek at Munich, I felt I was in the presence of something very -much more masterful, very much more impressive, and infinitely more -commanding than anything Greek I had ever seen in London, Paris, or -Athens. - -Here was a style which was strange. But it was evidently a style which -was the product of a will, and of a long observance of particular -values that had at last culminated in a type; for this Apollo resembled -nothing modern, Egyptian, Assyrian, Mediæval, or of the Renaissance. - -This statue scorns to make a general appeal. It is the apotheosis of -a type. Of this there can be no question. It is the work of a loving -and powerful artist, who could simplify the human frame, and express -stenographically, so to speak, the essential features of the people -he represented, because he knew the essential features to which their -values aspired. - -The arms, alone, transcend everything that I have ever seen in Hellenic -Art for consummate skill in transfiguring and retaining bare essentials -alone; and although, here and there, particularly in the breast, -there is a broadness and a sweeping ease, which I admit ought to be -attributed more to incomplete control of essentials than to their -actual simplification, the whole figure breathes a spirit so pure, so -certain and so sound, that it is the nearest approach I can find in -Greek Art to that ideal artistic fact in which the particular values -of a people find their apotheosis in the transfigured and simplified -example of their type. - -I would deny that the qualities of this statue are not ultimate -qualities. I would deny that there is anything transitional or archaic -in them. What is archaic, what is transitional, is the weak treatment -of the chest and abdomen. Compared with the simplified chest and -abdomen of an Egyptian statue of the fourth or fifth dynasty, it shows -a minimum rather than a maximum of command of, and superiority over, -reality. Any healthy development of such an art, however, ought only to -have led to greater perfection in the treatment of the parts mentioned, -and I seriously question the general belief that it marks a progress in -sculpture which must ultimately lead to the rendering of the athletic -types for which the sculptors of Argos and Sicyon became famous. There -is something strange and foreign in this statue which does not reappear -in the Hellenic Art of the Periclean age.[34] Like the vases of the -sixth century and some of the ante-Periclean Acropolis statues, there -is a Ruler form in its execution that makes quite a limited appeal-- -a fact which would be consistent with its having been the apotheosis -of a type. Its exhortation is not directed at mankind in general. It -communicates little to the modern European, and the crowds that stream -through the Elgin Room of the British Museum would probably pass it by -without either sympathy or understanding. - -And yet, as I have shown, it cannot be regarded as a perfect specimen -of Ruler-art; there are too many uncertainties and too many doubts in -it. - -As marking an advanced stage in a very high class of Ruler-art, -however, it is magnificent, and any transformation of its form to -greater realism would be a descent, rather than an ascent, in taste. - -If you turn from it to the sculptures of the temple of Selinus, which, -as far as one can say, must have been carved not more than about half -a century earlier, you will see that these are indeed archaic. They -are beneath realism in their coarseness and crudity. But it is in the -sculptures of Selinus, and not in the Apollo of Tenea, or in the best -vases of the sixth century, that you must seek the motive spirit of the -Art which has made the Periclean age so glorious; This striving after -realism, although unsuccessful in the metopes of Selinus, reveals a -different aspiration, a totally different will, from that which created -the Munich Apollo, and it was precisely this aspiration that was fully -realized, with but a slight admixture of the other will, in Athens of -the fifth century. - -Some will say that Egyptian influence is apparent in the Apollo of -Tenea, and they will add that the Greek colonists in Selinus, finding -themselves in very close contact with their commercial rivals the -Phœnicians, very naturally scorned all Eastern canons and ideas when -erecting their temples. - -Both of these suggestions are perfectly legitimate. The Apollo of -Tenea either betrays Egyptian influence or, owing to its Ruler form, -it takes one's mind back involuntarily to the Ruler-art of the Nile. -The sculptures of Selinus may also be the outcome of the conscious -renunciation of Eastern influence, or they may be the manifestation of -a particular "Art-Will," as Worringer has it, which aimed at realism -and was quite guiltless of any other ulterior motive. In both cases -I favour the latter alternative, and I should like to believe that -in addition to the influences I have already mentioned in respect -of realism there were two Art-Wills active in ancient Greece--each -striving for supremacy and power. - - - - -C. The two Art-Wills of Ancient Greece. - - -I cannot see how any one rising from a study of Hellenic Art can arrive -at any other conclusion. A superior will aiming at a Ruler-art form is -the one, an inferior will aiming at realism is the other. And it is a -significant fact, that while the first will sent forth its last blooms -in the sixth century--a period when, according to Freeman, Hellenic -life readied its zenith,[35] the ultimate triumphs of the other and -inferior will, in the fifth century, marks the first stage in a decline -that was never to be arrested.[36] - -[Illustration: The Medusa Metope of Sellinus, Palermo.] - -This is not the usual view, I know. As a rule, the art of the age of -Pericles is considered to be the highest that Greece ever produced. -But in this art I see a preponderance of realism which reveals to what -extent the other and inferior will was beginning to prevail. And when I -study Hellenistic art, and see this evil assuming such proportions as -to make even modern historians and Art-scholars deliberately denounce -it, I cannot help but recognize the germs of this decay in the art -which hitherto has been most praised and admired. - -As I say, I am judging purely from the artistic records. But I have no -doubt that, if I possessed the necessary scholarship, I could trace -the two Art-wills to two distinct races of men who, from the days of -the fall of Mycenæan culture, strove for mastership in Greece. I also -entertain no doubts that the fall of Greece might be attributed to the -gradual triumph of that race which possessed the inferior Art-will, and -nothing I have read, either in Grote, Bury, Oman, Curtius, Schnaase, -Miss Harrison and others, has led me seriously to hesitate before -suggesting this hypothesis. - -Professor Ridgeway's Early Age of Greece leads me to suppose that -the problem might be solved in the way I suggest. But, in any case, -whether this is so or not, the style of the art of Pheidias shows -a descent from the style of the Apollo of Tenea, which only an age -with a mistaken conception of what art really is could possibly have -overlooked. - -The art of the fifth and fourth centuries, I will not and cannot deny, -contains a large proportion of Ruler form, or what modern and ancient -art-historians call the "ideal."[37] No people, any portion of which -had been capable of producing the Apollo of Tenea, could have avoided -it; but that it preponderates in realism, the evidence of history, -alone, apart from that of our own senses, proves beyond a doubt. - -The appreciation which it has met with at the hands of almost all -Europeans of all ages, and particularly at the hands of the Renaissance -realists, shows how general its appeal has been; and no art which has -been so very much above Nature as to apotheosize the particular values -of a particular people at its zenith, has ever made such a general -appeal. - - - - -D. Greek Painting. - - -In regard to the painting of Greece, I will not detain you long. -Practically all I have said in regard to Greek sculpture may be applied -with equal force to Greek painting, and I cannot do better than sum -up this side of the question with the words of that profound Japanese -artist Okakura-Kakuzo. - -In speaking of the great style of the Greeks, in painting--a style -which vanished with the sixth century,--he says-- - -"The great style of the Greeks in painting--that style which was -theirs before a stage chiaroscuro and imitation of Nature were brought -in by the Appellesian school,--rises up before us with ineffaceable -regret ... and we cannot refrain from saying that European work, by -following the later school, has lost greatly in power of structural -composition and line expression, though it has added to the facility of -realistic representation."[38] - -When it is remembered that the demands of theatrical scenery are -generally admitted to have exercised considerable influence over -Greek painting, we need feel no surprise at the necessarily vulgar -nature of its ultimate development; while in raising this point about -chiaroscuro, Okakura-Kakuzo really opens a very serious and needful -inquiry. - -It may be seriously questioned whether the chiaroscuro which -Apollodorus is said to have introduced in the fifth century was not the -worst possible blow that has ever been levelled at Ruler-Art, and it is -difficult to separate this discovery from the people who made it. - -Once it is recognized that chiaroscuro implies a blending of colours -together, an elimination of all those sharp contrasts which the -compromising spirit of a democratic age cannot abide, and a general -hugging and embracing of all colours by each other, at the cost of the -life of all definite lines; once it is acknowledged, moreover, that all -gradations and blurred zones of contact lead inevitably to the very -worst forms of Police Art, such as Zeuxis, Parrhasius and Timanthus -practised, and that escape from realism is not only difficult, -but almost impossible under such conditions, the question whether -Apollodorus is to be praised or cursed becomes a very weighty and vital -one; and in saying that he ought to be cursed, I make a very important -statement, however unreasonable it may seem to you at present. - -You have noticed that until now I have not compared the Periclean art -of Greece with the art of any other country, but simply with what -is generally called the archaic art of Greece itself. I have spoken -Only of the Apollo of Tenea, and of certain promising features in the -sixth-century sculptures which were discovered on the Acropolis within -recent years. - - - -[32] See Edward A. Freeman, _The Chief Periods of European History_, p. -6: "The mission of the Greek race was to be the teachers, the beacons, -of mankind, but not their rulers." Page 9: "The tale of Hellas shows us -a glorified ideal of human powers, held up to the world for a moment to -show what man can be, but to show us also that such he cannot be for -long." - -[33] The attitude of such men as Lübke and Winckelmann to Egyptian art -is typical of the lack of understanding with which modern Europeans -have approached the monuments of the Nile. See _History of Sculpture_, -by Dr. Wilhelm Lübke, Vol. I, pp. 22-25, and _History of Ancient Art_, -by John Winckelmann, Vol. I, pp. 169, 171, 175. - -[34] This view seems quite opposed to that of a great authority on the -subject, Mr. A. S. Murray; but how this author comes to the conclusion -that "... in describing the progress of sculpture from its early days -to its highest development, it is convenient to speak of it as a -gradual elimination of realism," I am quite at a loss to understand. -See _A History of Greek Sculpture_, p. 239. - -[35] See _The Chief Periods of European History_, pp. 21-23. See also -Bury, _History of Greece_, Chaps. IV and V. - -[36] In studying the actual decline of Greek art it would, I think, be -very necessary to lay some stress upon the part taken by the people -in general, in judging and criticizing artistic productions under the -democracies. See Rev. J. Mahaffy (_Social Life in Greece_), who is -talking entirely from the Hellenic standpoint, p. 440: "The really -vital point was the public nature of the work they (the Athenian Demos) -demanded; it was not done to please private and peculiar taste, it was -not intended for the criticism of a small clique of partial admirers, -but it was set up, or performed for all the city together, for the -fastidious, for the vulgar, for the learned, and for the ignorant. It -seems to me that this necessity, and the consequent broad intention of -the Greek artist, is the main reason _why its effects upon the world -has never been diminished, and why its lessons are eternal_" (the -italics are mine). - -[37] T. G. Tucker, in his _Life in Ancient Greece_, does his best -to reconcile the realism of Greek art with the "ideal," and helps -himself out of the difficulty by reasserting Schelling's claim in -_The Philosophy of Art_ (see note to p. 91 in this book). Mr. Tucker -says, p. 186: "Many people imagine that Greek sculpture--to take that -salient province again--deliberately avoided truth to Nature, and aimed -at some utterly conventional thing called the ideal. Nothing could be -more mistaken. The whole aim of Greek sculpture was to reproduce the -living man or woman, and the sublime of its execution was attained only -when the carving seemed instinct with life--a life not merely of the -limbs, but a life of the soul, which informed the countenance, and was -felt to be controlling every limb. A Greek sculptor like Praxiteles -studied long and lovingly.... To anatomy he is as true as an artist -need wish to be. But are not his figures ideal? Doubtless, but what -does 'ideal' mean? That they are abstract, conventional, or frankly -superhuman? Anything but that. It means simply that he carves figures -which, while entirely true to strict anatomy, entirely lifelike in -all their delicate modelling ... are examples of nature in happiest -circumstances...." - -[38] _Ideals of the East_, p. 53. - - - - -2. Egyptian Art.--A. King Khephrën. - - -If, however, I now choose to compare the art of the Temple of Zeus at -Olympia, and the Parthenon at Athens[39] with that of Egypt, the first -falls absolutely to pieces. If I walk from the lions of Gebel Barkal, -which Reginald Stuart Poole considers as the "finest example of the -idealization of animal forms that any age has produced,"[40] over to -the horses of the Parthenon, the latter seem poor, feeble, and slavish -beside the powerfully simplified and commanding work of Egypt. And if, -with vivid recollections of the diorite statue of King Khephrën at -Cairo, I walk up to the best Greek work of the Periclean age, or after, -either in London or Paris, I marvel at the denseness of an age which -can put the Egyptian Pharaoh second in the order of rank. - -[Illustration: King Khephrën, Cairo Museum] - -We now know too much to believe that the noble simplicity of King -Khephrën--the builder of the second pyramid of Gizeh--is the result -of incompetence or of limited means in dealing with the stone out -of which he was carved. No artist who follows the careful lines and -profiles of this statue, and who understands the broad grasp with -which each undulation, however sweeping, comprehends and comprises all -that is essential and indispensable, can doubt for an instant that the -sculptor who carved it was not only capable of realism, but infinitely -superior to it. And he who does not admire the consummate Ruler form -of this statue, and see in it the expression of the greatest artistic -power that has ever existed on earth, and probably the portrait of the -greatest human power that has ever existed on earth, confesses himself, -immediately, unfamiliar with the fundamental spirit of great art.[41] - -The type of King Khephrën it is quite impossible to admire and to -like, unless one is to some extent in sympathy with his ideals and his -aspirations. His features will remain strange and quite inscrutable -as long as one does not feel one's self leaning, however slightly, to -his side, in thought and emotion; but the masterly treatment of his -apotheosized portrait by a man who was probably his greatest artist, -ought to be apparent to all who have thought and meditated upon the -question of what constitutes the greatest art. - -Here is to be seen that autocratic mode of expression which brooks -neither contradiction nor disobedience; the Symmetry which makes the -spectator obtain a complete grasp of an idea; the Sobriety which -reveals the restraint that a position of command presupposes; the -Simplicity proving the power of a great mind that has overcome the -chaos in itself and has reflected its order and harmony upon an object, -the most essential features of which it has selected with unfailing -accuracy; the Transfiguration that betrays the Dionysian ecstasy and -pathos from which the artist gives of himself to reality and makes -it reflect his own glory back upon him; the Repetition which ensures -obedience, and finally the Variety which is the indispensable condition -of all living Art.[42] - -For the artist who carved this monument was no coward. His duty was to -surpass the beauty of the most beautiful subject on earth in his time. -This man whom he has bequeathed to us in stone was not only a king, but -a god, and none but the most masterful mind, none but the most ultimate -product of ages spent in the observance of a definite and particular -set of values, could have been capable of giving this simplified -rendering, this selection of essentials, of a man-god who was the -highest outcome of these same values. - -How was this possible? How were these values maintained so long? - -In the first place, it can now be affirmed with confidence that the -Egyptians, in the days of Khephrën, were a very pure and united race, -having remained, thanks to their isolated position on the Delta of -the Nile, aloof and free from the ethical and blood influence of the -foreigner for probably thousands of years. Secondly, everybody seems to -agree that, whatever its ultimate purity may have been, the Egyptian -people, thanks to the inordinate power of their values, certainly had -a capacity for absorbing and digesting foreign elements which was -simply extraordinary;[43] and, thirdly, we have it on the authority -of Wilkinson that "the superiority of their legislation has always been -acknowledged as the cause of the duration of an empire which lasted -with a very uniform succession of hereditary sovereigns, and with the -same form of government for a much longer period than the generality of -ancient states."[44] - -We can understand King Khephrën, then, only as the apotheosis of a type -which was the product of the values of his people. For that they loved -him and worshipped him quite willingly and quite heartily, no honest -student of their history can any longer doubt. - -It was with great rejoicings, and not, as Buckle and Spencer thought, -with the woeful and haggard faces of ill-used slaves, that his people -assembled annually to continue and to complete the building of his -pyramid. Dr. Henry Brugsch-Bey, Wilkinson, Dr. Petrie,[45] and -many others have cleared up all our doubts on this point, and only -an Englishman like Buckle,[46] who could not divorce labour from the -modern idea of sweating, and absolute monarchy from the modern idea of -cruelty, and slavery from the modern idea of brutality,[47] was able -to think otherwise. - -For it was highly probable that King Khephrën had no standing army. It -is certain that his predecessor had not.[48] It is even probable that -he had no armed bodyguard. What, then, was the power which, every year, -could muster thousands of his fellow-countrymen about him, and which -induced them cheerfully to undertake this most strenuous, this most -skilful, and this most highly artistic labour for him? - -This power, there can no longer be any doubt, was the power of -affection and profound and sincere reverence. An examination of the -pyramids of Gizeh, alone, apart from all historical evidence, is -sufficient to convince any one who has any knowledge of what forced -labour produces, that love was very largely active in the work of -these Egyptians of the third and fourth dynasties;[49] and, if we turn -from the actual monuments themselves to the sculpture that adorned -them, we become convinced that the people who built them were a united, -law-abiding race, who recognized in Khephrën the highest product of -their values. And yet, that enormous power was wielded by this one -man-god, is proved by every detail that history and the archæological -records have handed down to us. He was the remote predecessor of a king -who one day would be able to declare-- - -"I teach the priests what is their duty: I turn away the ignorant man -from his ignorance.... The gods are full of delight in my time, and -their temples celebrate feasts of joy. I have placed the boundaries of -the land of Egypt at the horizon. I gave protection to those who were -in trouble, and smote those who did evil against them. I placed Egypt -at the head of all the nations, because its inhabitants are at one with -me in the worship of Amon!"[50] - -He was a man the moral standards of whose people were in many respects -higher than those of the Greeks;[51] he and his subjects felt very strongly -the value of strength of character and of self-control;[52] though perhaps -they laid "greater stress upon discretion and quietness than on any -qualities of character. In the repudiation of sins an Egyptian would -say: 'My mouth hath not run on;' 'My mouth hath not been hot;' 'My -voice hath not been voluble in my speech;' 'My voice is not loud.'"[53] - -"Ptahotep urged similar discreetness; he said: 'Let thy heart be -overflowing, but let thy mouth be restrained.'"[54] While another Egyptian -moralist said: "Do not be a talker!"[55] - -Thus we find all the evidences of precisely that principle which goes -to rear a great people--the belief that restraint is necessary, -and part of the art of life, and that in order to have one group of -advantages, another group must be sacrificed. - -For this is the principle of all great legislation; it is the principle -of all great art,--and it is the principle of all great life. - -A great legislator has to discover what sacrifices his people can -afford to make, what things they will be able for ever to discard in -order to reap the advantages of a certain mode of life. His teaching -must include restraint. It is the renunciation of some things and the -careful cultivation of others that builds up a noble type. As Mr. -Chesterton once observed, with really uncustomary wisdom, you cannot -be King of England and the Beadle of Balham at the same time. To be -the one you must sacrifice the advantages which are associated with -the other. All values, all art,[56] and all life is based upon this -principle--that if you grasp all, you lose all; or, as Nietzsche -has it: "The belief in the pleasure which comes of restraint--this -pleasure of a rider on a fiery steed."[57] - -You may argue that the enjoyment of one set of joys is better in your -opinion than the enjoyment of another set; but you cannot claim the -enjoyment of all; that is impossible. It is only among an uncultured -or democratic people that every one aspires to all pleasures, and it -is precisely among such a people that some form of Puritanism becomes -an urgent need--that is to say, as a substitute for the art of life.[58] -Because the indiscriminate pursuit of all joys perforce ends in -failure, and therefore in unhappiness. But measure is the delight only -of æsthetic natures;[59] hence, where the art of living has not yet been -learned, some kind of severe puritanical morality will be a condition -of existence, and if that is dropped excesses will soon begin to make -their presence felt. - -I do not wish you to imagine, therefore, that the Egyptians were an -austere, ascetic and self-castigating race; on the contrary, as all -authorities declare, they were full of the joy of life and of the -love of life;[60] and it was precisely because they recognized -well-defined limits in particular things that they could allow -themselves a certain margin in others. - -In the art of Egypt I recognized this principle of restraint, long -before I discovered that it existed in their life and system of -society, and I was not surprised to find it observed with greater -severity by their rulers than by the mass of the people themselves.[61] - -No one can command who has not first learnt to obey his own will. -Nobody could command as that Man-God Khephrën commanded,[62] before -he had become complete master of himself. - -"He who cannot command himself shall obey," says Zarathustra.[63] And about -five thousand years ago Ptahotep--the great moralist of the fifth -dynasty of Egypt--said: "He that obeyeth his heart, shall command!"[64] - -This atmosphere is strange to us. We, who are used to seeing liberty -and authority granted indiscriminately as ends in themselves, to -everybody and anybody, find it difficult to realize this manner of -thought. If we know of it at all, we misunderstand it and confound the -moderation of weak natures with the restraint of the strong.[65] - -This art of life which takes as a fundamental principle that every joy -is bought by some sacrifice, is strange and archaic now. The people it -reared communicate little to our age, as their statues will prove if -you look at them; the art it created leaves modern spectators cold; -and yet, as every great legislator and artist should know, it is -precisely upon the principle with which the Egyptian people of the -fourth dynasty were reared, and with which the splendid statue of King -Khephrën was carved, that all great life and art repose. - -It cannot be said too often, therefore, that the Egyptians were a happy -and contented people, and this they were because there was some power -abroad in their world, and because he who wielded that power could make -them believe that the human race was as high as a pyramid, although but -one man perhaps could ever represent the apex. - - - -B. The Lady Nophret. - - -But you may object that in some of the works of this period the -Egyptian artists showed a lack of restraint, a lack of the instinct -that knows how much to sacrifice, which far surpassed this same vice -in the art of the Greeks. You may point to the perfectly stupendous -realism of the Lady Nophret and her husband or brother, and declare -with Fergusson that "nothing more wonderfully truthful and realistic -has been done since that time, till the invention of photography."[66] - -[Illustration: The Lady Nophret (Cairo Museum)] - -I confess that when I drew near to these statues in the Museum at -Cairo, it is no exaggeration to say that I was literally startled by -their lifelike appearance. Like Miss Jane Harrison, I felt that the -"Lady Nophret," at least, must be able to rise and come forward,[67] so -ridiculously fresh and warm did she appear in her spotless white dress -and her majestic wig. I soon realized that I was in the presence of a -kind of realism which transcended anything I had ever seen in ancient -or modern art, for its convincingness and truth; and it was difficult -to believe that this piece of wholesale deception--certainly more -perfect than any waxwork figure I had ever known,--like the statue of -the Man-God Khephrën, was a product of the pyramid period. - -You must not gather, from what I have just said, that the Lady Nophret -is in the slightest degree as vulgar or as commonplace as an ordinary -waxwork figure or modern portrait. Though its vitality cannot be -denied,[68] there are artistic qualities in the simple moulding of the -figure which place it very much higher than the realistic work either -of ancient Greece or of modern Europe. It is only beside the statue -of King Khephrën that it appears so weak; and, as it is almost a -contemporary of this magnificent person, the manner in which it has -been presented to us by the artist seems to be a problem. - -The first lesson it teaches you is this--that whatever you may think -about the conventionalism of King Khephrën, such conventionalism has -nothing whatever to do with archaic clumsiness, inability to see -Nature, or incompetence. It is clear that the Egyptians were greater -masters in rendering nature realistically than any people before or -after them.[69] If they had not been, they could never have produced -the portrait-statues of the architect Ti; the two portrait-statues of -Ranofir, priest of Ptah of Memphis, and that of the Scribe and of the -Cheikh-el-Beled[70]--all in the museum at Cairo. - -When they are not realistic, then, it is because they do not wish to -be; it is because they deliberately desire to rise above nature, to -transfigure it, simplify it, and arrange it--in fact, to be artists. - -What, then, was the object of these realistic portrait-statues about -which I have chosen to speak collectively in my references to the Lady -Nophret? - -They were never intended by the artist who made them to be seen by the -eye of man. They were never intended to be works of Ruler-art, set up -to emphasize and underline the values of a people. They had a definite -purpose, of course, but this purpose was quite foreign to that of Art -as I defined it in my last lecture. What was this purpose? - -It was related to Death.[71] No realistic sculptural work was -associated with Life by the ancient Egyptians. As men who were still -able to believe in a Man-God, and were still convinced of the power -of man-wrought miracles, how could they associate realism or that -principle of manufacture whereby a man deliberately suppresses his -will to art and makes himself subservient to nature--how could they -associate this with Life,--Life which to these dwellers on the Nile -was inextricably bound up with the hand, the thought, the will, and the -power of man? - -No--these realistic sculptures which throw all our puerile Police Art -into the shade were associated not with Life, but with the opposite of -Life--with Death, with underground tombs and sarcophagi, with mummies -and musty mastabas, and with the hope of conquering Eternal Sleep. - -The Egyptians believed that a living man consisted of a body, a Ka or -ghost, and a Ba or soul. At death, the Ka and Ba were supposed to be -liberated; but it was hoped that a day would nevertheless come when the -Ka, which was the element in which the life of the deceased person was -specially believed to reside, would come back to the body and effect -its resurrection. Hence the care with which a body was embalmed and -preserved from putrefaction. - -Accidents, however, might happen, thought the ancient Egyptians. The -embalmed mummy might perish, it might be destroyed. What would the -unfortunate Ka do, if it returned and found the mummy of its former -body annihilated? A way out of this difficulty quickly occurred to the -nimble minds of these imaginative people. If the mummy had perished, -they thought, the Ka might possibly enter an effigy of its former -body, provided that effigy were sufficiently lifelike. In this way the -realistic Ka-statues were introduced, and for fear lest even these -might perish, wealthy people would sometimes multiply their number to -what would seem a ridiculous extent. - -Once they were manufactured, these Ka-statues would be placed far away -from the sight of living man, in the tomb of the departed person, and -in this way his resurrection was supposed to be ensured.[72] - -For the Egyptians could imagine no world better than their own. And -even a resurrection could but occur amid surroundings which were as -like as possible to those of everyday life on earth. - -The realism of the Ka-statue of the Lady Nophret, therefore, need -not frighten us. On the contrary, it only helps to throw the -transfiguration and power of King Khephrën's diorite statue into -greater relief. The Egyptians knew perfectly well that a Ka-statue was -only a duplication, a copy, and a repetition of reality, and they knew -also that its proper place was underground and out of sight.[73] -If Lady Nophret and her companion Ka-statues had never been found, -however, we might have believed, as many have believed, that the -conventionalism of Egyptian sculpture was beneath instead of very much -above Nature. - -But even when we know what we do know, it is only with the utmost -difficulty that an artist who is a child of this weak and impotent age -can feel any love for these strange, transcendentally powerful, and -almost superhuman figures in granite and diorite which the sculptors -of Egypt have left us. The artist may perhaps get nearer to them than -any one else in his age, because he, by virtue of the modicum of -creative power that is in him, initiates himself almost automatically -into the mysteries of this great Egyptian simplicity, order, and -transfiguration. But others who are not artists can only pass them by. -For these figures are the apotheosis of a particular type. They are -what all art should be, a stimulus, and a spur to a life based upon a -definite set of values. How, then, could people stop and admire them -who are living under values which are possibly the very reverse of -those which this art advocates, or under no definite values at all? - -The style of the statue of King Khephrën, with but a few modifications, -was the style of all Egyptian statuary until the days of Psammetichus, -over two thousand years later: how can we, the changeable and restless -children of Europe, understand these things? - - - - -C. The Pyramid. - - -How can we admire and understand even the symbol of King Khephrën's -social organization--the Pyramid, when we know and love only the level -plain? - -The Pyramid, which in its form embodies all the highest qualities of -great art, and all the highest principles of a healthy society, is the -greatest artistic achievement that has been discovered hitherto. - -This symbolic wedlock of Art and Sociology still stands, with all its -six thousand years of age, on the threshold of the desert--that is -to say, on the threshold of chaos and disorder, where none but the -wind attempts to shape and to form; and reminds us of a master will -that once existed and set its eternal stamp upon the face of the world -in Egypt, so that posterity might learn whether mankind had risen or -declined. - -In its synthesis of the three main canons, simplicity, repetition and -variety,[74] nothing has ever excelled it; in its mystic utterance -of the conditions of the ideal state, in which every member takes his -place and ultimately succeeds in holding highest man uppermost and -nearest the sun, it is unparalleled in history; and in its sacred -revelation that Man can attain to some height if he chooses, that -he can believe in Man the God, and Man the Hierophant, and Man the -Prophet, if he chooses, and that he can be noble, happy, lasting and -powerful in so doing--in this treble advocacy of these sublime ideals, -the pyramid and the Egyptians who created it stand absolutely alone in -the history of the world. - -The best in Greece was borrowed from them; the best we still possess is -perhaps but a faint after-glow of their setting sun, and the cold and -unfamiliar tone in which their art seems to appeal to modern men ought -to prove to us how remote, how incalculably far off, they are from -our insignificant age of progress and advancement, of feebleness and -mediocrity, and of hopeless errors, in which "the prince proposes, but -the shopkeeper disposes!"[75] - -I cannot go into the details of their society with you now. I can but -assure you that the more you read about it in the works of men like -Wilkinson, Petrie and Brugsch-Bey, the more convinced you will become -of its transcendental superiority. And if, in praising their art above -that of any other nation, I have been forced to deal all too hastily -with their morals and their State, it is simply because I can conceive -of no such perfect art being possible, save as the flower of the noble -and man-exalting values which I find at the base of the Egyptian -Pyramid. - -In identifying Nietzsche's art canon with that admired and respected -by Egypt at its best, I have done nothing at all surprising to those -who know Nietzsche's philosophy. Everything he says on Art in his -maturest work, _The Will to Power_, drove me inevitably, not to Italy, -not to Greece, not to Holland, and not to India--but to the Valley -of the Nile; while in two books already published I forestalled these -lectures, in one respect, by declaring Nietzsche's ideal aristocratic -state to have been based symbolically upon the idea of the Egyptian -Pyramid. - -Only a romantic idealist would have the sentimental fanaticism to stand -up before you now to preach an Egyptian Renaissance. I wish to do -nothing of the sort. I know too well to what extent the Art of Egypt -was the product of a people reared by a definite set of inviolable -values, to hope to transplant it with any chance of success on to our -democratic and anarchical soil. What I do wish to advocate, however, -is, that when you think of the best in Art, your mind should go back to -the severe and vigorous culture of Egypt and not to that of any other -country. - -This will at least give you a standard of measurement, according to -which most of the culture of the present day will strike you as tawdry -and putrescent. In this way a salutary change may be brought about, and -the words of Disraeli concerning the Egyptians may also come true, in -which he said: "The day may yet come when we shall do justice to the -high powers of that mysterious and imaginative people."[76] - -Nothing can be done, however, until our type is purified,[77] until we have -at least become a people. For until that time it will be impossible to -discover a type which may become the subject-matter of the graphic arts. - -"Upwards life striveth to build itself with columns and stairs: into -remote distances it longeth to gaze: and outwards after blissful -beauties--_therefore_ it needeth height! - -"And because it needeth height, it needeth stairs and contradiction -between stairs, and those who can climb! to rise striveth life, and in -rising to surpass itself! - -"Verily, he who here towered aloft his thought in stone knew as well as -the wisest ones about the secret of life! - -"That there is struggle and inequality even in beauty and war for power -and supremacy: that doth he here teach us in the plainest parable. - -"Thus spake Zarathustra."[78] - - -[39] I am quite willing with Mr. Gardner to acknowledge the superiority -of the latter over the former. See _Handbook to Greek Sculpture_, p. -216 _et seq._ - -[40] _Encyclopædia Britannica_ (9th Edition), Article, "Egypt." - -[41] See Dr. Petrie, _A History of Egypt_. On page 54 of this book, -the author says, speaking of King Khephrën: "It is a marvel of art; -the precision of the expression combining what a man should be to win -our feelings, and what a King should be to command our regard. The -subtlety shown in this combination of expression--the ingenuity in the -over-shadowing hawk, which does not interfere with the front view; the -technical ability in executing this in so resisting a material--all -unite in fixing our regard on this as one of the leading examples of -ancient art." - -[42] Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, _A History of Art in Ancient -Egypt_, Vol. II, p. 239: "The true originality of the Egyptian style -consists in its deliberately epitomizing that upon which the artists -of other countries have elaborately dwelt--in its lavishing all its -executive powers upon chief masses and leading lines, and in the -marvellous judgment with which it seizes their real meaning, their -proportion, and the sources of their artistic effect." - -[43] _A History of Egypt_, by Dr. Henry Brugsch-Bey, Vol. I, p. 7: -"Although in so long a space of time as sixty centuries, events and -revolutions of great historical importance must of necessity have -altered the political state of Egypt, yet, notwithstanding all, the old -Egyptian race has undergone but little change; for it still preserves -to this day those distinctive features of physiognomy, and those -peculiarities of manners and customs, which have been handed down to -us by the united testimony of the monuments and the accounts of the -ancient classical writers, as the hereditary characteristics of this -people." - -[44] _The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_, Vol. I, p. 293. - -[45] _A History of Egypt_, p. 40: "It is said that a hundred -thousand men were levied for three months at a time (i.e. during -the three months of the inundation, when ordinary labour would be -at a standstill); and on this scale the pyramid building occupied -twenty years." [He is speaking of the Great Pyramid built by Kheops, -Khephrën's predecessor; but this does not affect my contention.] "On -reckoning number and weight of the stones, this labour would fully -suffice for the work. The skilled masons had large barracks, now behind -the second pyramid, which might hold even four thousand men; but -perhaps a thousand would quite suffice to do all the fine work in the -time. Hence there was no impossibility in the task, and no detriment -to the country in employing a small proportion of the population at a -season when they were all idle by the compulsion of natural causes. The -training and skill which they would acquire by such work would be a -great benefit to the national character." - -And the same writer says in _The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh_, p. -211: "Thus we see that the traditional accounts that we have of the -means employed in building the great Pyramid, require conditions of -labour supply which are quite practicable in such a land, which would -not be ruinous to the prosperity of the country, or oppressive to the -people, and which would amply and easily suffice for the execution of -their work." - -[46] _History of Civilization in England_ (Ed. 1871), Vol. I, pp. 90, -91, 92, 93. And Herbert Spencer's _Autobiography_, Vol. II, pp. 341-343. - -[47] Quite typical of Western inability to understand the basis of a -patriarchal government, and of the misinterpretation of such a form, -which writers like Buckle did their best to increase and spread, was -the first Act of the play _Fallen Idols_, recently presented at His -Majesty's Theatre, London, in which Egyptian slaves were seen cringing -and crawling before an inhuman taskmaster, who continually lashed out -at them with a big whip. - -[48] Fergusson, _History of Architecture_, Vol. I, p. 95: "Nor is our -wonder less when we ask ourselves how it happened that such a people -became so strongly organized at that early age as to be willing to -undertake the greatest architectural works the world has since seen -in honour of one man from among themselves. A king without an army, -and with no claim, so far as we can see, to such an honour, beyond the -common consent of all, which could hardly have been attained except by -the title of long-inherited services acknowledged by the community at -large." And on p. 94, speaking of the pictures in the Great Pyramid, -the author says: "On these walls the owner of the tomb is usually -represented seated, offering first-fruits on a simple table-altar to -an unseen god. He is generally accompanied by his wife, and surrounded -by his stewards, who enumerate his wealth in horned cattle, in oxen, -in sheep and goats, in geese and ducks. In other pictures some are -ploughing and sowing, some reaping or thrashing out corn, while others -are tending his tame monkeys or cranes, and other domesticated pets. -Music and dancing add to the circle of domestic enjoyments, and fowling -and fishing occupy his days of leisure. No sign of soldiers or of -warlike strife appears in any of these pictures, no arms, no chariots -or horses. No camels suggest foreign travel." - -[49] I should like to reproduce here Fergusson's enthusiastic account -of the work in the interior of the Great Pyramid. I have not space, -however, and earnestly recommend readers to refer to it on pp. 93, 94 -of Vol. I in his _History of Architecture_. - -[50] Dr. Henry Brugsch-Bey, _History of Egypt under the Pharaohs_, Vol. -I, pp. 444-445. - -[51] Dr. Petrie, _Religion and Conscience in Ancient Egypt_, p. 86. - -[52] _Ibid._, p. 112. - -[53] _Ibid._, p. 116. - -[54] Dr. Petrie, _Religion and Conscience in Ancient Egypt_, p. 116. - -[55] _Ibid._, p. 117. This moralist was Any. - -[56] _G. E._, p. 107: "Every artist knows how different from the -state of letting himself go, is his 'most natural' condition, the -free arranging, locating, disposing and constructing in the moments -of 'inspiration'--and how strictly and delicately he then obeys a -thousand laws, which, by their very rigidness and precision, defy all -formulation by means of ideas." - -[57] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 309. - -[58] See Nietzsche's remarks on the great need of Christianity in -England, _G. E._, p. 211. - -[59] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 309. - -[60] See Brugsch-Bey, _A History of Egypt_, Vol. I, p. 25; Wilkinson, -_The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_, Vol. I, p. 156; -Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, _A History of Art in Ancient -Egypt_, p. 38; Dr. Petrie, _Religion and Conscience in Ancient Egypt_, -p. 162. - -[61] See Wilkinson, Vol. I, p. 179. - -[62] See _Ibid._, p. 167. Where he is speaking of the Pharaohs he says: -"By the practice of justice towards their subjects, they secured to -themselves that good-will which was due from children to a parent ... -and this, Diodorus observes, was the main cause of the duration of the -Egyptian state." - -[63] _Z._, III, LVI. - -[64] Dr. Petrie, _Religion and Conscience in Ancient Egypt_, p. 120. - -[65] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 309. - -[66] _History of Architecture_, Vol. I, p. 95. - -[67] Miss Jane Harrison, _Introductory Studies in Greek Art_, p. 6. - -[68] Dr. Petrie, _A History of Egypt_, p. 35. Referring to the Lady -Nophret and her husband, the author says (speaking quite in the style -of a modern art-critic): "These statues are most expressive, and stand -in their vitality superior to the works of any later age in Egypt." - -[69] On the walls of some of the tombs I inspected at Sakarah, the -consummate mastery with which some of the minutest characteristics of -domestic animals were represented in bold outline gave me a standard -by the side of which even M. Boutet de Monvel's beautiful studies of -animals seemed to fall into the shade. (See his illustrations to La -Fontaine's fables.) - -[70] Models of the Scribe and of the Cheikh-el-Beled are to be seen at -the British Museum; but they give one but a poor idea of the originals. - -[71] Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, _A History of Art in Ancient -Egypt_, Vol. II, p. 181. Speaking of these portrait statues, they say: -"They were not ideal figures to which the desire for beauty of line -and expression had much to say; they were stone bodies, bodies which -had to reproduce all the individual contours of their flesh-and-blood -originals; when the latter was ugly, its reproduction had to be ugly -also, and ugly in the same way." - -[72] See Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, _A History of Art in -Ancient Egypt_, Vol. II, p. 181. Speaking of the arrangements which -were necessary to enable the inhabitants of the tomb to resist -annihilation, the authors say: "Those arrangements were of two kinds, a -provision of food and drink, which had to be constantly renewed, either -in fact or by the magic multiplication which followed prayer, and a -permanent support for the Ka or double, a support that should fill the -place of the living body of which it had been deprived by dissolution." - -[73] Okakura-Kakuzo passes a funny remark in regard to our modern -realistic portraits; he says: "In Western houses we are often -confronted with what appears to us useless reiteration. We find it -trying to talk to a man while his full-length portrait stares at us -from behind his back. We wonder which is real, he of the picture, or -he who talks, and feel a curious conviction that one of them must be a -fraud."--The Book of Tea, p. 97. - -[74] See Hogarth, _The Analysis of Beauty_ (Ed. 1753), p. 21: "There -is no object composed of straight lines that has so much variety, with -so few parts, as the pyramid: and it is its constantly varying from -its base gradually upwards in every situation of the eye (without -giving the idea of sameness as the eye moves round it) that has made -it esteemed in all ages, in preference to the cone, which in all views -appears nearly the same, being varied only by light and shade." - -[75] _Z._, III, LI. - -[76] Contarini Fleming. - -[77] _W. P._, Vol. II, p. 318: "Purification of taste can only be the -result of strengthening of the type;" and p. 403: "Progress is the -strengthening of the type, the ability to exercise great will power; -everything else is a misunderstanding and a danger." - -[78] _Z._, II, XXIX. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Nietzsche and Art, by Anthony M. Ludovici - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIETZSCHE AND ART *** - -***** This file should be named 53369-0.txt or 53369-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/3/6/53369/ - -Produced by Marc D'Hooghe at Free Literature (back online -soon in an extended version, also linking to free sources -for education worldwide ... MOOC's, educational -materials,...) 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Ludovici - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Nietzsche and Art - -Author: Anthony M. Ludovici - -Release Date: October 26, 2016 [EBook #53369] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIETZSCHE AND ART *** - - - - -Produced by Marc D'Hooghe at Free Literature (back online -soon in an extended version, also linking to free sources -for education worldwide ... MOOC's, educational -materials,...) (Images generously made available by the -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="500" alt="" /> -</div> - - -<h1>NIETZSCHE AND ART</h1> - -<h3>by</h3> - -<h2>ANTHONY M. LUDOVICI</h2> - -<h4>Author of 'Who is to be Master of the World?'</h4> - - -<p class="center">"Rien n'est beau que le vrai, dit un vers respecté;<br /> et moi, je lui -réponds, sans crainte d'un blasphème:<br /> Rien n'est vrai sans beauté." -—Alfred de Musset.</p> - - -<h5>CONSTABLE & CO. LTD.</h5> - -<h5>LONDON</h5> - -<h5>1911</h5> - - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"> -<a id="sekhet"></a> -<img src="images/sekhet.jpg" width="250" alt="" /> -<p class="center">Sekhet (Louvre)</p></div> - - -<h4>Preface</h4> - - -<p>"We philosophers are never more delighted than when we are taken for -artists."<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - - -<p>In this book, which embodies a course of lectures delivered in a -somewhat condensed and summarized form at University College, London, -during November and December, 1910, I have done two things. I have -propounded Nietzsche's general Art doctrine, and, with the view of -illustrating it and of defining it further, I have also applied its -leading principles to one of the main branches of Art.</p> - -<p>As this has not been done before, either in English or in any -Continental language, my book is certainly not free from the crudeness -and inadvertences which are inseparable from pioneer efforts of this -nature. Nevertheless it is with complete confidence, and a deep -conviction of its necessity, that I now see it go to print; for, -even if here and there its adventurous spirit may ultimately require -modification, I feel certain that, in the main, time itself, together -with the help of other writers, will fully confirm its general thesis, -if I should be unable to do so.</p> - -<p>Sooner or later it will be brought home to us in Europe that we -cannot with impunity foster and cultivate vulgarity and mob qualities -in our architecture, our sculpture, our painting, our music and -literature, without paying very dearly for these luxuries in our -respective national politics, in our family institutions, and even -in our physique. To connect all these things together, and to show -their inevitable interdependence, would be a perfectly possible though -arduous undertaking. In any case, this is not quite the task I have -set myself in this work. I have indeed shown that to bestow admiration -on a work of extreme democratic painting and at the same time to be -convinced of the value of an aristocratic order of society, is to -be guilty of a confusion of ideas which ultimately can lead only to -disastrous results in practical life; but further than this I have not -gone, simply because the compass of these lectures did not permit of my -so doing.</p> - -<p>Confining myself strictly to Nietzsche's æsthetic, I have been content -merely to show that the highest Art, or Ruler Art, and therefore the -highest beauty,—in which culture is opposed to natural rudeness, -selection to natural chaos, and simplicity to natural complexity,—can -be the flower and product only of an aristocratic society which, in its -traditions and its active life, has observed, and continues to observe, -the three aristocratic principles,—culture, selection and simplicity.</p> - -<p>Following Nietzsche closely, I have sought to demonstrate the -difference between the art which comes of inner poverty (realism, or -democratic art), and that which is the result of inner riches (Ruler -Art).</p> - -<p>Identifying the first with the reflex actions which respond to external -stimuli, I have shown it to be slavishly dependent upon environment -for its existence, and, on that account, either beneath reality -(Incompetence), on a level with reality (Realism), or fantastically -different from reality (Romanticism). I have, moreover, associated -these three forms of inferior art with democracy, because in democracy -I find three conditions which are conducive to their cultivation, -viz.—(1) The right of self-assertion granted to everybody, and the -consequent necessary deterioration of world-interpretations owing to -the fact that the function of interpretation is claimed by mediocrity; -(2) the belief in a general truth that can be made common to all, which -seems to become prevalent in democratic times, and which perforce -reduces us to the only truth that can be made common to all, namely -Reality; and (3) a democratic dislike of recognizing the mark or stamp -of any <i>particular</i> human power in the things interpreted, and man's -consequent "return to Nature" untouched by man, which, once again, is -Reality.</p> - -<p>Identifying Ruler Art, or the Art of inner riches, with the function of -giving, I have shown it to be dependent upon four conditions which are -quite inseparable from an aristocratic society, and which I therefore -associate, without any hesitation, as Nietzsche does, with Higher Man, -with Nature's rare and <i>lucky strokes</i> among men. These conditions are -—(1) Long tradition under the sway of noble and inviolable values, -resulting in an accumulation of will power and a superabundance of good -spirits; (2) leisure which allows of meditation, and therefore of that -process of lowering pitchers into the wells of inner riches; (3) the -disbelief in freedom for freedom's sake without a purpose or without an -aim; and (4) an order of rank according to which each is given a place -in keeping with his value, and authority and reverence are upheld.</p> - -<p>In the course of this exposition, it will be seen that I have to lay -realism also at the door of Ruler Art; but I am careful to point out -that, although such realism (I call it <i>militant realism</i> in respect -to the art both of the Middle Ages and of the later Renaissance, as -well as of Greece) is a fault, of Ruler Art which very much reduces -the latter's rank among the arts; it is nevertheless above that other -realism of mediocrity which, for the want of a better term, I call -<i>poverty realism</i>. (See Lecture II, Part II, end.)</p> - -<p>In order firmly to establish the difference between the Ruler and -Democratic styles I ought, perhaps, to have entered with more -thoroughness than I have done into the meditative nature of the one, -and the empirical nature of the other. This, apart from a few very -unmistakable hints, I have unfortunately been unable to do. I found -it quite impossible to include all the detail bearing upon the main -thesis, in this first treatise; and, though I have resolved to discuss -these important matters very soon, in the form of supplementary essays, -I can but acknowledge here that I recognize their omission as a blemish.</p> - -<p>The wide field covered by this book, and the small form in which I -was compelled to cast it, have thus led to many questions remaining -inadequately answered and to many statements being left insufficiently -substantiated. In the end I found it quite impossible to avail myself -even of a third of the material I had collected for its production, -and I should therefore be grateful if it could be regarded more in the -light of a preliminary survey of the ground to be built upon, rather -than as a finished building taking its foundation in Nietzsche's -philosophy of Art.</p> - -<p>With regard to all my utterances on Egypt, I should like the reader -kindly to bear only this in mind: that my choice of Egyptian art, as -the best example of Ruler Art we possess, is neither arbitrary nor -capricious; but, because it is neither arbitrary nor capricious, it -does not follow that I regard a return to the types of Egypt as the -only possible salvation of the graphic arts. This would be sheer -Romanticism and sentimentality. "A thousand paths are there which have -never yet been trodden; a thousand salubrities and hidden islands of -life. Unexhausted and undiscovered is still man and man's world" (<i>Z.</i>, -I, XXII.).</p> - -<p>It is rather the spirit which led to this Egyptian Art, which I regard -as so necessary to all great achievements, either in legislation, art, -or religion; and whether this spirit happens to be found on the banks -of the Nile, in the Vatican, or in Mexico. I point to it merely as -something which we ought to prize and cherish, and which we now possess -only in an extremely diluted and decadent form. It is the spirit which -<i>will</i> establish order at all costs, whose manner of exploiting higher -men is to look upon the world through their transfiguring vision, and -which believes that it is better for mankind to attain to a high level, -even in ones, twos, or threes, than that the bulk of humanity should -begin to doubt that man can attain to a high level at all.</p> - -<p>This spirit might produce any number of types; it is not necessary, -therefore, that the Egyptian type should be regarded as precisely the -one to be desired. I do but call your attention to these granite and -diorite sculptures, because behind them I feel the presence and the -power of that attitude towards life which the ancient Pharaohs held and -reverenced, and which I find reflected in Nietzsche's Art values.</p> - - -<p class="center">* * * * * * *</p> - -<p>In quoting from German authorities, where I have not been able to -give reference to standard English translations, I have translated -the extracts from the original myself, for the convenience of English -readers; while, in the case of French works, I have deliberately given -the original text, only when I felt that the sense might suffer by -translation.</p> - -<p>I should now like to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Oscar Levy, who -has always been ready to place his valuable time and wide knowledge at -my disposal whenever I have expressed the smallest desire of consulting -him on any difficult point that may have arisen during the preparation -of these lectures. And I should also like to acknowledge the help -afforded me by both Mr. J. M. Kennedy and Dr. Mügge,—the one through -his extensive acquaintance with Eastern literature, and the other -through his valuable bibliography of works relating to Nietzsche's life -and philosophy.</p> - -<p>It only remains for me to thank the Committee and the Provost of -University College, Gower Street, for their kindness, and for the -generous hospitality which they have now extended to me on two separate -occasions; and, finally, to avail myself of this opportunity in order -to express my grateful recognition of the trouble taken on my behalf by -Professor Robert Priebsch and Mr. Walter W. Seton of London University, -on both occasions when I had the honour of delivering a course of -lectures at their College.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap" style="margin-left: 65%;">Anthony M. Ludovici.</span><br /> -February 1911.</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Friedrich Nietzsche's Gesämmelte Briefe, vol. 111, p. 305.</p></div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p style="margin-left: 10%;"> -<span class="caption">CONTENTS</span><br /> -<br /> -<br /> -<a href="#Lecture_I">LECTURE I</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#Part_I">Part I</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Anarchy in Modern Art</span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#The_State_of_Modern_Art">The State of Modern Art</a></span><br /> -<br /> -The Fine Arts:<br /> -<a href="#The_Fine_Arts_The_Artists">1. The Artists</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Public">2. The Public</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Critics">3. The Critics</a><br /> -<a href="#Some_Art_Criticisms">4. Some Art-Criticisms</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#Part_IIa">Part II</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Suggested Causes of the Anarchy in Modern Art</span><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#Morbid_Irritability">1. Morbid Irritability</a><br /> -<a href="#Misleading_Systems_of_AEsthetic">2. Misleading Systems of Æsthetic</a><br /> -3. Our Heritage:—<br /> -<a href="#Our_Heritage_A_Christianity">(a) Christianity</a><br /> -<a href="#B_Protestantism">(b) Protestantism</a><br /> -<a href="#C_Philosophical_Influences">(c) Philosophical Influences</a><br /> -<a href="#D_The_Evolutionary_Hypothesis">(d) The Evolutionary Hypothesis</a><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#Lecture_II">LECTURE II</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Government in Art—Nietzsche's Definition of Art</span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#Part_Ib">Part I</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Divine Art and the Man—God</span><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#The_World_without_form_and_void">1. The World "Without Form" and "Void"</a><br /> -<a href="#The_First_Artists">2. The First Artists</a><br /> -<a href="#The_People_and_their_Man-God">3. The People and their Man-God</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Danger">4. The Danger</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Two_Kinds_of_Artists">5. The Two Kinds of Artists</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#Part_IIb">Part II</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Deductions from Part I—Nietzsche's Art Principles</span><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#The_Spirit_of_the_Age_Incompatible_with_Ruler-Art">1. The Spirit of the Age incompatible with Ruler Art</a><br /> -<a href="#A_Thrust_parried_Police_or_Detective_Art_defined">2. A Thrust parried. Police or Detective Art defined</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Purpose_of_Art_Still_the_Same_as_Ever">3. The Purpose of Art Still the Same as Ever</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Artists_and_the_Laymans_View_of_Life">4. The Artist's and the Layman's View of Life</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Confusion_of_the_Two_Points_of_View">5. The Confusion of the Two Points of View</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Meaning_of_Beauty_of_Form_and_of_Beauty_of_Content_in_Art">6. The Meaning of Beauty of Form and of Beauty of Content in Art</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Meaning_of_Ugliness_of_Form_and_of_Ugliness_of_Content_in_Art">7. The Meaning of Ugliness of Form and of Ugliness of Content in Art</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Ruler-Artists_Style_and_Subject">8. The Ruler-Artist's Style and Subject</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#Part_III">Part III</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Landscape and Portrait Painting</span><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#The_Value_Ugly_in_the_Mouth_of_the_Creator">1. The Value "Ugly" in the Mouth of the Dionysian Artist</a><br /> -<a href="#Landscape_Painting">2. Landscape Painting</a><br /> -<a href="#Portrait_Painting">3. Portrait Painting</a><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#Lecture_III">LECTURE III</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Nietzsche's art principles in the history of art</span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#Part_I">Part I</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Christianity and the Renaissance</span><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#Rome_and_the_Christian_Ideal">1. Rome and the Christian Ideal</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Pagan_Type_appropriated_and_transformed_by_Christian_Art">2. The Pagan Type appropriated and transformed by Christian Art</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Gothic_Building_and_Sentiment">3. The Gothic Building and Sentiment</a><br /> -<a href="#The_Renaissance">4. The Renaissance</a><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap"><a href="#Part_II">Part II</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Greece and Egypt</span><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#Greek_Art">1. Greek Art</a><br /> -<a href="#A_The_Parthenon">(a) The Parthenon</a><br /> -<a href="#B_The_Apollo_of_Tenea">(b) The Apollo of Tenea</a><br /> -<a href="#C_The_two_Art-Wills_of_Ancient_Greece">(c) The Two Art-Wills of Ancient Greece</a><br /> -<a href="#D_Greek_Painting">(d) Greek Painting</a><br /> -<br /> -<a href="#Egyptian_Art_A_King_Khephren">2. Egyptian Art</a><br /> -<a href="#Egyptian_Art_A_King_Khephren">(a) King Khephrën</a><br /> -<a href="#B_The_Lady_Nophret">(b) The Lady Nophret</a><br /> -<a href="#C_The_Pyramid">(c) The Pyramid</a><br /> -</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p style="margin-left: 10%;"> -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS<br /> -<br /> -<br /> -<a href="#sekhet">Sekhet</a> (<i>Louvre</i>) Frontispiece<br /> -<a href="#marriage">The Marriage of Mary</a>, by Raphael (<i>Brera, Milan</i>)<br /> -<a href="#saskia">Saskia, by Rembrandt</a> (<i>Dresden Royal Picture Gallery</i>)<br /> -<a href="#canon">The Canon of Polycleitus</a> (<i>Rome</i>)<br /> -<a href="#apollo">The Apollo of Tenea</a> (<i>Glyptothek, Munich</i>)<br /> -<a href="#metope">The Medusa Metope of Selinus</a> (<i>Palermo</i>)<br /> -<a href="#khephren">King Khephrën</a> (<i>Cairo Museum</i>)<br /> -<a href="#nophret">The Lady Nophret</a> (<i>Cairo Museum</i>)<br /> -</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h5><a name="Abbreviations_Used_in_Referring_to_Nietzsches_Works" id="Abbreviations_Used_in_Referring_to_Nietzsches_Works">Abbreviations Used in Referring to Nietzsche's Works</a></h5> - - -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="font-size: 0.9em;"> -<tr><td align="left">E. I.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">The Future of our Educational Institutions.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">B. T.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">The Birth of Tragedy.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">H. A. H.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">Human All-too-Human.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">D. D.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">Dawn of Day.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">J. W.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">Joyful Wisdom.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Z.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">Thus spake Zarathustra.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">G. E.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">Beyond Good and Evil.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">G. M.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">The Genealogy of Morals.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">C. W.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">The Case of Wagner and Nietzsche contra Wagner.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">T. I.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">The Twilight of the Idols.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">A.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">Antichrist.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">W. P.</td><td align="left">=</td><td align="left">The Will to Power.</td></tr> -</table></div> - -<p style="font-size: 0.9em;">The English renderings given in this book are taken from the Complete -and Authorized Translation of Nietzsche's Works edited by Oscar Levy.</p> - -<p class="transnote">This edition in 18 volumes is entirely being made available at Project Gutenberg too, -also with a linked index to all works as last volume, and will be -completed soon.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h3>Nietzsche and Art</h3> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<h3><a name="Lecture_I" id="Lecture_I">Lecture I</a><a name="FNanchor_1_2" id="FNanchor_1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_2" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h3> - - -<h4 class="smcap"><a name="Part_Ia" id="Part_Ia">Part I</a></h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">Anarchy in Modern Art</h4> - - -<blockquote> - -<p style="font-size: 0.9em;">"Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord -did there confound the language of all the earth: and from -thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all -the earth."—<i>Genesis</i> xi. 9. -</p></blockquote> - - -<p>"Concerning great things," said Nietzsche, "one should either be -silent, or one should speak loftily:—loftily, that is to say, -cynically and innocently."<a name="FNanchor_2_3" id="FNanchor_2_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_3" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>Art is a great thing. Maybe it is the greatest thing on earth. -Wherever and whenever Nietzsche speaks about it he always does so -loftily, and with reverence; while his position as an anchorite, and -as an artist who kept aloof from the traffic for fame, allowed him to -retain that innocence in his point of view, which he maintains is so -necessary in the treatment of such a subject.</p> - -<p>As the children of an age in which Art is rapidly losing its prestige, -we modern Europeans may perhaps feel a little inclined to purse our -lips at the religious solemnity with which Nietzsche approaches this -matter. So large a number of vital forces have been applied to the -object of giving us entertainment in our large cities, that it is now -no longer a simple matter to divorce Art altogether in our minds from -the category of things whose sole purpose is to amuse or please us.</p> - -<p>Some there are, of course, who would repudiate this suggestion -indignantly, and who would claim for Art a very high moral purpose. -These moralists apart, however, it seems safe to say, that in the -minds of most people to-day, Art is a thing which either leaves them -utterly unmoved, or to which they turn only when they are in need of -distraction, of decoration for their homes, or of stimulation in their -thought.</p> - -<p>Leaving the discussion of Nietzsche's personal view of Art to the next -lecture, I shall now first attempt, from his standpoint, a general -examination of the condition of Art at the present day, which, though -it will be necessarily rapid and sketchy, will, I hope, not prove -inadequate for my purpose.</p> - -<p>Before I proceed, however, I should like to be allowed to call your -attention to the difficulties of my task. As far as I am aware, mine is -the first attempt that has been made, either here or abroad, to place -an exhaustive account of Nietzsche's Art doctrine before any audience. -But for one or two German writers, who have discussed Nietzsche -—the artist—tentatively and hesitatingly, I know of no one who has -endeavoured to do so after having had recourse to all his utterances -on the subject, nor do I know of anybody who has applied his æsthetic -principles to any particular branch or branches of Art. It is therefore -with some reason that I now crave your indulgence for my undertaking -and beg you to remember that it is entirely of a pioneer nature.</p> - -<p>Many of you here, perhaps, are already acquainted with Nietzsche's -philosophy, and are also intimately associated with one of the branches -of Art. Nevertheless, let me warn you before I begin, that you may have -to listen to heresies that will try your patience to the utmost.</p> - -<p>I also am intimately associated with one of the branches of Art, and my -traditions are Art traditions. I can well imagine, therefore, how some -of you will receive many of the statements I am about to make; and I -can only entreat you to bear with me patiently until the end, if only -with the hope that, after all, there may be something worth thinking -about, if not worth embracing, in what you are going to hear.</p> - -<p>Two years ago, in this same hall, I had the honour of addressing an -audience on the subject of Nietzsche's moral and evolutionary views, -and, since then, I have wondered whether I really selected the more -important side of his philosophy for my first lectures. If it were -not for the fact that the whole of his thought is, as it were, of one -single piece, harmoniously and consistently woven, I should doubt that -I had selected the more vital portion of it; for it is impossible to -overrate the value of his Art doctrine—especially to us, the children -of an age so full of perplexity, doubt and confusion as this one is.</p> - -<p>In taking Nietzsche's Art principles and Art criticism as a basis for a -new valuation of Art, I am doing nothing that is likely to astonish the -careful student of Nietzsche's works.</p> - -<p>Friends and foes alike have found themselves compelled to agree upon -this point, that Nietzsche, whatever he may have been besides, was at -least a great artist and a great thinker on Art.</p> - -<p>On the ground that he was solely and purely an artist some have even -denied his claim to the title Philosopher. Among the more celebrated -of modern writers who have done this, is the Italian critic Benedetto -Croce;<a name="FNanchor_3_4" id="FNanchor_3_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_4" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> while Julius Zeitler declares that "Nietzsche's artistic -standpoint should be regarded as the very basis of all his thought," -and that "no better access could be discovered to his spirit than by -way of his æsthetic."<a name="FNanchor_4_5" id="FNanchor_4_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_5" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>Certainly, from the dawn of his literary career, Art seems to have -been one of Nietzsche's most constant preoccupations. Even the general -argument of his last work, <i>The Will to Power</i>, is an entirely artistic -one; while his hatred of Christianity was the hatred of an artist -long before it became the hatred of an aristocratic moralist, or of a -prophet of Superman.</p> - -<p>In <i>The Birth of Tragedy</i>, a book in which, by the bye, he declares that -there can be but one justification of the world, and that is as an -æsthetic phenomenon,<a name="FNanchor_5_6" id="FNanchor_5_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_6" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> we find the following words—</p> - -<p>"To the purely æsthetic world interpretation ... taught in this book, -there is no greater antithesis than the Christian dogma, which is -<i>only</i> and will be only moral, and which, with its absolute standards, -for instance, its truthfulness of God, relegates—that is, disowns, -convicts, condemns—Art, all Art, to the realm of falsehood. Behind -such a mode of thought and valuation, which, if at all genuine, must -be hostile to Art, I always experienced what was <i>hostile to life</i>, the -wrathful vindictive counter will to life itself: for all life rests on -appearance, Art, illusion, optics, and necessity of perspective and -error."<a name="FNanchor_6_7" id="FNanchor_6_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_7" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>Nietzsche's works are, however, full of the evidences of an artistic -temperament.</p> - -<p>Who but an artist, knowing the joy of creating, for instance, could -have laid such stress upon the creative act as the great salvation from -suffering and an alleviation of life?<a name="FNanchor_7_8" id="FNanchor_7_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_8" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Who but an artist could have been -an atheist out of his lust to create?</p> - -<p>"For what could be created, if there were Gods!" cries Zarathustra.(7)</p> - -<p>But, above all, who save an artist could have elevated taste to such -a high place as a criterion of value, and have made his own personal -taste the standard for so many grave valuations?</p> - -<p>"And ye tell me, my friends," says Zarathustra, "that there is to be no -dispute about taste and tasting? But all life is a dispute about taste -and tasting!</p> - -<p>"Taste: that is weight at the same time, and scales and weigher; and -alas for every living thing that would live without dispute about -weight and scales and weighing!"<a name="FNanchor_8_9" id="FNanchor_8_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_9" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>But it is more particularly in Nietzsche's understanding of the -instinct which drove him to expression, and in his attitude towards -those whom he would teach, that we recognize the typical artist, in -the highest acceptation of the word—that is to say, as a creature of -abundance, who must give thereof or perish. Out of plenitude and riches -only, do his words come to us. With him there can be no question of -eloquence as the result of poverty, vindictiveness, spite, resentment, -or envy; for such eloquence is of the swamp.<a name="FNanchor_9_10" id="FNanchor_9_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_10" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Where he is wrath, he -speaks from above, where he despises his contempt is prompted by love -alone, and where he annihilates he does so as a creator.<a name="FNanchor_10_11" id="FNanchor_10_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_11" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> - -<p>"Mine impatient love," he says, "floweth over in streams, down towards -the sunrise and the sunset. From out silent mountains and tempests of -affliction, rusheth my soul into the valleys.</p> - -<p>"Too long have I yearned and scanned the far horizon. Too long hath the -shroud of solitude been upon me: thus have I lost the habit of silence.</p> - -<p>"A tongue have I become and little else besides, and the brawling of a -brook, falling from lofty rocks: downward into the dale will I pour my -words.</p> - -<p>"And let the torrent of my love dash into all blocked highways. How -could a torrent help but find its way to the sea!</p> - -<p>"Verily, a lake lies within me, complacent and alone; but the torrent -of my love draws this along with it, down—into the ocean!</p> - -<p>"New highways I tread, new worlds come unto me; like all creators I -have grown weary of old tongues. No longer will my spirit walk on -worn-out soles.</p> - -<p>"Too slow footed is all speech for me:—Into thy chariot, O storm, do I -leap! And even thee will I scourge with my devilry.</p> - -<p>"Thus spake Zarathustra."<a name="FNanchor_11_12" id="FNanchor_11_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_12" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_2" id="Footnote_1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_2"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Delivered at University College on Dec. 1st, 1910.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_3" id="Footnote_2_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_3"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 1.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_4" id="Footnote_3_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_4"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Æsthetic (translation by Douglas Ainslie), p. 350.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_5" id="Footnote_4_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_5"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Nietzsches Æsthetik, p. 5.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_6" id="Footnote_5_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_6"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>B. T.</i>, p. 183.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_7" id="Footnote_6_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_7"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>B. T.</i>, pp. 9, 10.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_8" id="Footnote_7_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_8"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXIV.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_9" id="Footnote_8_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_9"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXXV. See also La Bruyère's reply to his -countrymen's popular belief, "des goûts et des couleurs on ne peut -discuter," in Les Caractères: Des ouvrages de l'esprit, Aph. 10.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_10" id="Footnote_9_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_10"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, III, LVI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_11" id="Footnote_10_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_11"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXXIV.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_12" id="Footnote_11_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_12"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXIII.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<h4 style="font-style: italic;"><a name="The_State_of_Modern_Art" id="The_State_of_Modern_Art">The State of Modern Art.</a></h4> - - -<p>The Art of to-day, unholy and undivine as the Tower of Babel, seems to -have incurred the wrath of a mighty godhead, and those who were at work -upon it have abandoned it to its fate, and have scattered apart—all -speaking different tongues, and all filled with confusion.</p> - -<p>Precisely on account of the disorder which now prevails in this -department of life, sincere and honest people find it difficult to show -the interest in it, which would be only compatible with its importance.</p> - -<p>Probably but few men, to-day, could fall on their knees and sob at -the deathbed of a great artist, as Pope Leo X once did. Maybe there -are but one or two who, like the Taiko's generals, when Teaism was in -the ascendancy in Japan, would prefer the present of a rare work of -art to a large grant of territory as a reward of victory;<a name="FNanchor_12_13" id="FNanchor_12_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_13" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> and there -is certainly not one individual in our midst but would curl his lips -at the thought of a mere servant sacrificing his life for a precious -picture.</p> - -<p>And yet, says the Japanese writer, Okakura-Kakuzo, "many of our -favourite dramas in Japan are based on the loss and subsequent recovery -of a noted masterpiece."<a name="FNanchor_13_14" id="FNanchor_13_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_14" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> - -<p>In this part of the world to-day, not only the author, but also the -audience for such dramas is entirely lacking.</p> - -<p>The layman, as well as the artist, knows perfectly well that this -is so. Appalled by the disorder, contradictoriness, and difference -of opinion among artists, the layman has ceased to think seriously -about Art; while artists themselves are so perplexed by the want of -solidarity in their ranks, that they too are beginning to question the -wherefore of their existence.</p> - -<p>Not only does every one arrogate to himself the right to utter his word -upon Art; but Art's throne itself is now claimed by thousands upon -thousands of usurpers—each of whom has a "free personality" which -he insists upon expressing,<a name="FNanchor_14_15" id="FNanchor_14_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_15" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> and to whom severe law and order would be -an insuperable barrier. Exaggerated individualism and anarchy are the -result. But such results are everywhere inevitable, when all æsthetic -canons have been abolished, and when there is no longer anybody strong -enough to command or to lead.</p> - -<p>"Knowest thou not who is most needed of all?" says Zarathustra. "He who -commandeth great things.</p> - -<p>"To execute great things is difficult; but the more difficult task is -to command great things."<a name="FNanchor_15_16" id="FNanchor_15_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_16" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p>Direct commanding of any sort, however, as Nietzsche declares, has -ceased long since. "In cases," he observes, "where it is believed that -the leader and bell-wether cannot be dispensed with, attempt after -attempt is made nowadays to replace commanders by the summing together -of clever gregarious men: all representative constitutions, for -example, are of this origin."<a name="FNanchor_16_17" id="FNanchor_16_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_17" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p>Although, in this inquiry, the Fine Arts will be the subject of -my particular attention, it should not be supposed that this is -necessarily the department in modern life in which Nietzsche believed -most disorder, most incompetence, and most scepticism prevails. I -selected the Fine Arts, in the first place, merely because they are the -arts concerning which I am best informed, and to which the Nietzschean -doctrine can be admirably applied; and secondly, because sculpture and -painting offer a wealth of examples known to all, which facilitates -anything in the way of an exposition. For even outsiders and plain men -in the street must be beginning to have more than an inkling of the -chaos and confusion which now reigns in other spheres besides the Fine -Arts. It must be apparent to most people that, in every department -of modern life where culture and not calculation, where taste and -not figures, where ability and not qualifications, are alone able to -achieve anything great—that is to say, in religion, in morality, in -law, in politics, in music, in architecture, and finally in the plastic -arts, precision and government are now practically at an end.</p> - -<p>"Disintegration," says Nietzsche,"—that is to say, uncertainty—is -peculiar to this age: nothing stands on solid ground or on a sound -faith.... All our road is slippery and dangerous, while the ice -which still bears us has grown unconscionably thin: we all feel the -mild and gruesome breath of the thaw-wind—soon, where we are walking, -no one will any longer be able to stand!"<a name="FNanchor_17_18" id="FNanchor_17_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_18" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<p>We do not require to be told that in religion and moral matters, -scarcely any two specialists are agreed—the extraordinarily large -number of religious sects in England alone needs but to be mentioned -here; in law we divine that things are in a bad state; in politics even -our eyes are beginning to give us evidence of the serious uncertainty -prevailing; while in architecture and music the case is pitiable.</p> - -<p>"If we really wished, if we actually dared to devise a style of -architecture which corresponded to the state of our souls," says -Nietzsche, "a labyrinth would be the building we should erect. But," he -adds, "we are too cowardly to construct anything which would be such a -complete revelation of our hearts."<a name="FNanchor_18_19" id="FNanchor_18_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_19" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p>However elementary our technical knowledge of the matter may be, we, as -simple inquirers, have but to look about our streets to-day, in order -to convince ourselves of the ignominious muddle of modern architecture. -Here we find structural expedients used as ornaments,<a name="FNanchor_19_20" id="FNanchor_19_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_20" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> the most rigid -parts of buildings, in form (the rectangular parts, etc.), placed -near the roof instead of in the basement,<a name="FNanchor_20_21" id="FNanchor_20_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_21" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> and pillars standing -supporting, and supported by, nothing.<a name="FNanchor_21_22" id="FNanchor_21_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_22" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Elsewhere we see solids -over voids,<a name="FNanchor_22_23" id="FNanchor_22_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_23" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> mullions supporting arches,<a name="FNanchor_23_24" id="FNanchor_23_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_24" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> key-stones introduced into -lintels,<a name="FNanchor_24_25" id="FNanchor_24_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_25" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> real windows appearing as mere holes in the wall, while the -ornamental windows are shams,<a name="FNanchor_25_26" id="FNanchor_25_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_26" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and pilasters resting on key-stones.<a name="FNanchor_26_27" id="FNanchor_26_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_27" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> - -<p>And, everywhere, we see recent requirements masked and concealed behind -Greek, Roman, Gothic, Renaissance, Rococo, and Baroque embellishments, -thrown together helter-skelter, and with a disregard of structural -demands which must startle even the uninitiated.<a name="FNanchor_27_28" id="FNanchor_27_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_28" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - -<p>Our streets are ugly in the extreme.<a name="FNanchor_28_29" id="FNanchor_28_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_29" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> Only at night, as Camille -Mauclair says, does the artificial light convert their hideousness -into a sort of lugubrious grandeur,<a name="FNanchor_29_30" id="FNanchor_29_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_30" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> and that is perhaps why, to the -sensitive artistic Londoner, the darkness of night or the pale glow of -the moon is such a solace and relief.</p> - -<p>As to the state of modern music, this is best described perhaps, though -with perfectly unconscious irony, by Mr. Henry Davey, in the opening -words of his <i>Student's Musical History</i>.</p> - -<p>"Music has indeed been defined," he says, "as 'sound with regular -vibrations,' other sounds being called noise. This definition," the -author adds, "is only suited to undeveloped music; modern music may -include noise and even silence."<a name="FNanchor_30_31" id="FNanchor_30_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_31" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>People are mistaken if they suppose that Nietzsche, in attacking -Wagner as he did, was prompted by any personal animosity or other -considerations foreign to the question of music. In Wagner, Nietzsche -saw a Romanticist of the strongest possible type, and he was opposed -to the Romantic School of Music, because of its indifference to form. -Always an opponent of anarchy, despite all that his critics may say -to the contrary, Nietzsche saw with great misgiving the decline and -decay of melody and rhythm in modern music, and in attacking Wagner -as the embodiment of the Romantic School, he merely personified the -movement to which he felt himself so fundamentally opposed. And in -this opposition he was not alone. The Romantic movement, assailed by -many, will continue to be assailed, until all its evil influences are -exposed.</p> - -<p>"Since the days of Beethoven," says Emil Naumann, "instrumental -music, generally speaking, has retrograded as regards spontaneity of -invention, thematic working, and mastery of art form,"<a name="FNanchor_31_32" id="FNanchor_31_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_32" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> and the same -author declares that he regards all modern masters as the natural -outcome of the Romantic era.<a name="FNanchor_32_33" id="FNanchor_32_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_33" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p>Nietzsche has told us in his Wagner pamphlets what he demands from -music,<a name="FNanchor_33_34" id="FNanchor_33_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_34" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> and this he certainly could not get from the kind of music -which is all the rage just now.</p> - -<p>What it lacks in invention it tries to make up in idiosyncrasy, -intricacy, and complexity, and that which it cannot assume in the -matter of form, it attempts to convert into a virtue and a principle.<a name="FNanchor_34_35" id="FNanchor_34_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_35" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<p>"Bombast and complexity in music," says P. von Lind, "as in any other -art, are always a sign of inferiority; for they betray an artist's -incapacity to express himself simply, clearly, and exhaustively—three -leading qualities in our great heroes of music (<i>Tonheroen</i>). In this -respect the whole of modern music, including Wagner's, is inferior to -the music of the past."<a name="FNanchor_35_36" id="FNanchor_35_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_36" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> - -<p>But of all modern musical critics, perhaps Richard Hamann is -the most desperate concerning the work of recent composers. His book on -Impressionism and Art entirely supports Nietzsche's condemnation of the -drift of modern music, and in his references to Wagner, even the words -lie uses seem to have been drawn from the Nietzschean vocabulary.<a name="FNanchor_36_37" id="FNanchor_36_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_37" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> - -<p>Briefly what he complains of in the music of the day is its want of -form,<a name="FNanchor_37_38" id="FNanchor_37_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_38" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> its abuse of discord,<a name="FNanchor_38_39" id="FNanchor_38_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_39" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> its hundred and one different artifices -for producing nerve-exciting and nerve-stimulating effects,<a name="FNanchor_39_40" id="FNanchor_39_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_40" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> its -predilection in favour of cacophonous instruments,<a name="FNanchor_40_41" id="FNanchor_40_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_41" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> its unwarrantable -sudden changes in rhythm or tempo within the same movement,<a name="FNanchor_41_42" id="FNanchor_41_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_42" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> its habit -of delaying the solving chord, as in the love-death passage of Tristan -and Isolde,<a name="FNanchor_42_43" id="FNanchor_42_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_43" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> and, finally, its realism, of which a typical example is -Strauss's "By a Lonely Brook"—all purely Nietzschean objections!</p> - -<p>Well might Mr. Allen cry out: "Oh for the classic simplicity of a -bygone age, the golden age of music that hath passed away!"<a name="FNanchor_43_44" id="FNanchor_43_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_44" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> But -the trouble does not end here; for, if we are to believe a certain -organ-builder, bell-founder and pianoforte-maker of ripe experience, it -has actually descended into the sphere of instrument-making as well.<a name="FNanchor_44_45" id="FNanchor_44_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_45" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_13" id="Footnote_12_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_13"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Okakura-Kakuzo, <i>The Book of Tea</i>, pp. 112, 113.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_14" id="Footnote_13_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_14"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>The Book of Tea</i>, p. 112.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_15" id="Footnote_14_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_15"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> See in this regard <i>B. T.</i>, pp. 54, 55.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_16" id="Footnote_15_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_16"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II. XLVI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_17" id="Footnote_16_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_17"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p.121.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_18" id="Footnote_17_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_18"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 55.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_19" id="Footnote_18_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_19"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>D. D.</i>, Aph. 169.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_20" id="Footnote_19_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_20"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> This is such a common fault that it is superfluous to -give particular examples of it, but the New War Office in Whitehall -is a good case in point.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_21" id="Footnote_20_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_21"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Local Government Board building; Piccadilly Hotel -(Regent St. side).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_22" id="Footnote_21_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_22"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Piccadilly Hotel (Piccadilly side), and the Sicilian -Avenue, Bloomsbury.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_23" id="Footnote_22_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_23"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> New Scotland Yard.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_24" id="Footnote_23_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_24"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Gaiety Theatre; the new Y.M.C.A. building, Tottenham -Court Road.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_25" id="Footnote_24_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_25"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Local Government Board.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_26" id="Footnote_25_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_26"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Gaiety Theatre.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_27" id="Footnote_26_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_27"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Marylebone Workhouse.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_28" id="Footnote_27_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_28"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> See Fergusson's Introduction to his <i>History of Modern -Architecture</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_29" id="Footnote_28_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_29"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> See W. Morris's <i>Address on the Decorative Arts</i>, -pp. 18, 19.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_30" id="Footnote_29_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_30"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>Trois crises de l'art actuel</i>, p. 243.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_31" id="Footnote_30_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_31"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <i>The Student's Musical History</i>, p. 1.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_32" id="Footnote_31_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_32"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <i>History of Music</i>, Vol. II, p. 927. See also <i>The -Student's Musical History</i>, by Henry Davey, p. 97. "Weakness of -rhythm is the main reason of the inferiority of the romantic composers -to their predecessors."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_33" id="Footnote_32_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_33"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>History of Music</i>, p. 1195. See also P. v. Lind, <i>Moderner Geschmack -und moderne Musik</i>, in which the author complains of the excessive -virtuosity, want of faith and science of modern music, while on p. 34 -he, too, calls all modern musicians romanticists.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_34" id="Footnote_33_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_34"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> See especially <i>C. W.</i>, pp. 59, 60.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_35" id="Footnote_34_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_35"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 276.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_36" id="Footnote_35_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_36"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>Moderner Geschmack und moderne Musik</i>, p. 54.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_37" id="Footnote_36_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_37"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Der Impressionismus in Leben und Kunst.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_38" id="Footnote_37_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_38"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., pp. 53, 57.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_39" id="Footnote_38_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_39"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 64.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_40" id="Footnote_39_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_40"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 67.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_41" id="Footnote_40_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_41"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 69.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_42" id="Footnote_41_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_42"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 74.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_43" id="Footnote_42_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_43"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 61.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_44" id="Footnote_43_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_44"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> <i>The Fallacy of Modern Music</i>, p. 10.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_45" id="Footnote_44_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_45"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <i>A Protest against the Modern Development of Unmusical -Tone</i>, by Thomas C. Lewis.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Fine_Arts_The_Artists" id="The_Fine_Arts_The_Artists">The Fine Arts.—1. The Artists.</a></p> - - -<p>Turning, now, to Painting and Sculpture, what is it precisely that we -see?</p> - -<p>In this branch of Art, chaos and anarchy are scarcely the words to use. -The condition is rather one of complete and hopeless dissolution. There -is neither a direction, a goal, nor a purpose. Slavish realism side -by side with crude conventions, incompetence side by side with wasted -talent, coloured photography side by side with deliberate eccentricity, -and scientific principles applied to things that do not matter in -the least: these are a few of the features which are noticeable at a -first glance. Going a little deeper, we find that the whole concept of -what Art really is seems to be totally lacking in the work of modern -painters and sculptors, and, if we were forced to formulate a Broad -definition for the painting and sculpture of our time, we should find -ourselves compelled to say that they are no more than a <i>field in which -more or less interesting people manifest their more or less interesting -personalities</i>.</p> - -<p>There is nothing in this definition which is likely to offend the -modern artist. On the contrary, he would probably approve of it all -too hastily. But, in approving of it, he would confess himself utterly -ignorant of what Art actually is, and means, and purposes in our midst.</p> - -<p>Or to state the case differently: it is not that the modern artist -has no notion at all of what Art is; but, that his notion is one -which belittles, humiliates and debases Art, root and branch.</p> - -<p>To have gazed with understanding at the divine Art of Egypt, to have -studied Egyptian realism and Egyptian conventionalism; to have stood -doubtfully before Greek sculpture, even of the best period, and to have -known how to place it in the order of rank among the art-products of -the world; finally, to have learnt to value the Art of the Middle Ages, -not so much because of its form, but because of its content: these are -experiences which ultimately make one stand aghast before the work of -our modern men, and even before the work of some of their predecessors, -and to ask oneself into whose hands could Art have passed that she -should have fallen so low?</p> - -<p>Whether one look on a Sargent or on a Poynter, on a Rodin or on a -Brock, on a Vuillard or on a Maurice Denis, on an Alfred East or on a -Monet, the question in one's heart will be; not, why are these men so -poor? but, why are they so modest?—why are they so humble?—why, in -fact, are their voices so obsequiously servile and faint? One will ask: -not, why do these men paint or mould as they do? but, why do they paint -or mould at all?</p> - -<p>Ugliness, in the sense of amorphousness, one will be able to explain. -Ugliness, in this sense, although its position in Art has not yet been -properly accounted for, one will be able to classify perfectly well. -But this tremulousness, this plebeian embarrassment, this democratic -desire to please, above all, this democratic disinclination to assume -a position of authority,—these are things which contradict the -very essence of Art, and these are the things which are found in the -productions of almost every European school to-day.</p> - -<p>But, as a matter of fact, to do artists justice, beneath all the -tremendous activity of modern times in both branches of the art we are -discussing, there is, among the thinking members of the profession, -a feeling of purposelessness, of doubt and pessimism, which is ill -concealed, even in their work. The best of these artists know, and -will even tell you, that there are no canons, that individuality is -absolute, and that the aim of all their work is extremely doubtful, if -not impossible to determine. There is not much quarrelling done, or -hand-to-hand scuffling engaged in; because no one feels sufficiently -firm on his own legs to stand up and oppose the doctrine that "there is -no accounting for tastes." A clammy, deathlike stillness reigns over -the whole of this seething disagreement and antagonism in principles. -Not since Whistler fired his bright missiles into the press has the -report of a decent-sized gun been heard; and this peace in chaos, this -silence in confusion, is full of the suggestion of decomposition and -decay.</p> - -<p>"Art appears to be surrounded by the magic influence of death," says -Nietzsche, "and in a short time mankind will be celebrating festivals -of memory in honour of it."<a name="FNanchor_45_46" id="FNanchor_45_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_46" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> - -<p>With but one or two brilliant exceptions, that which characterizes -modern painting and modern sculpture is, generally speaking, its -complete lack of Art in the sense in which I shall use this word in my -next lecture. This indeed, as you will see, covers everything. For the -present purpose, however, let it be said that, from the Nietzschean -standpoint, the painters and sculptors of the present age are deficient -in dignity, in pride, in faith, and, above all, in love.</p> - -<p>They are too dependent upon environment, upon Nature, to give a -direction and a meaning to their exalted calling; they are too -disunited and too lawless to be leaders; they are in an age too chaotic -and too sceptical to be able to find a "wherefore" and a "whither" for -themselves; and, above all, there are too many pretenders in their -ranks—too many who ought never to have painted or moulded at all—to -make it possible for the greatest among them to elevate the Cause of -Art to its proper level.</p> - -<p>No æsthetic canon is to be seen or traced anywhere; nobody knows one, -nobody dares to assert one. The rule that tastes cannot be disputed is -now the only rule that prevails, and, behind this rule, the basest, -meanest and most preposterous individual claims are able to make their -influence felt.</p> - -<p>Certainly, it is true, there is no accounting for tastes; but, once -a particular taste has revealed itself it ought to be possible to -classify it and to point out where it belongs and whither it is going -to lead. Undoubtedly a man's taste cannot be taken from him, because -its roots are in his constitution; but, once he has identified himself -with a particular form of taste, it ought to be possible to identify -him too,—that is to say, to realize his rank and his value.</p> - -<p>If it is impossible to do this nowadays, it is because there is no -criterion to guide us. It will therefore be my endeavour to establish a -criterion, based upon Nietzsche's æsthetic, and, in the course of these -lectures, to classify a few forms of taste in accordance with it.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, however, the inquiry into the present condition of the Fine -Arts must be continued; and this shall now be done by taking up the -public's standpoint.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_46" id="Footnote_45_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_46"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>H. A. H.</i>, Vol. I, pp. 205, 206.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Public" id="The_Public">2.The Public.</a></p> - - -<p>The man who goes to a modern exhibition of pictures and sculptures, -experiences visually what they experience aurally who stand on a -Sunday evening within sight of the Marble Arch, just inside Hyde Park. -Not only different voices and different subjects are in the air; but -fundamentally different conceptions of life, profoundly and utterly -antagonistic outlooks.</p> - -<p>The Academy, The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and -Gravers, The Royal Society of British Artists, The New English Art -Club, The Salon des Artistes Français, and the Salon des Beaux Arts, -are all alike in this; and the International's scorn of the Academy,<a name="FNanchor_46_47" id="FNanchor_46_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_47" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> -or the Academy's scorn of it, is as ridiculous as the Beaux Arts' -scorn of the Salon, or vice versâ.</p> - -<p>It is quite foolish, therefore, to inveigh against the public for their -bad taste, Philistinism and apathy. How can they be expected to know, -where there are no teachers? How can they be otherwise than apathetic -where keen interest must perforce culminate in confusion? How can they -have good taste or any taste at all, where there is no order of rank in -tastes?</p> - -<p>We know the torments of the modern lay student of Art, when he asks -himself uprightly and earnestly whether he should say "yes" or "no" -before a picture or a piece of sculpture. We know the moments of -impotent hesitancy during which he racks his brains for some canon -or rule on which to base his judgment, and we sympathize with his -blushes when finally he inquires after the name of the artist, before -volunteering to express an opinion.</p> - -<p>At least a name is some sort of a standard nowadays. In the absence of -other standards it is something to cling to; and the modern visitor to -an Art exhibition has precious little to cling to, poor soul!</p> - -<p>Still, even names become perplexing in the end; for it soon occurs to -the lay student in question that, not only Millais, but also Leighton, -Whistler, Rodin, Frith, Watts, Gauguin, John, and Vuillard have names -in the Art world.</p> - -<p>Now, it is generally at this stage that such a student of Art either -retires disconcerted from his first attempts at grappling with the -problem, and takes refuge in indifference; or else, from the depth of -his despair, draws a certain courage which makes him say that, after -all, <i>he knows what he likes</i>. Even if he does utter a heresy at times -against fashion or against culture, he knows what pleases him.</p> - -<p>And thus is formed that large concourse of people who set up what they -like and dislike as the standard of taste.</p> - -<p>It is in vain that painters and sculptors deplore the existence of this -part of their audience. It is they themselves who are responsible for -its existence. It is the anarchy in their own ranks that has infected -the bravest of their followers.</p> - -<p>The taste of the masses, endowed with self-confidence in this way, is -now a potent force in European Art, and among those so-called artists -who do not suffer under the existing state of affairs, there are many -who actually conform and submit to this mob-rule. In my next lecture I -shall show how even the art-canons of the lay masses have been adopted -by some painters and sculptors in perfect good faith.</p> - -<p>"Too long have we acknowledged them to be right, these petty people," -says Zarathustra. "Thus we have at last given them power as well;—and -now they teach that 'good' is only what petty people call 'good.'"<a name="FNanchor_47_48" id="FNanchor_47_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_48" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p>It is on this account that many sincere and refined natures turn -reluctantly away from Art altogether nowadays, and begin to doubt -whether it serves any good purpose in the world at all. They grow weary -of the humbug of the studios, the affectation of gushing amateurs, and -the snobbery of the lionizing disciple of one particular school, and -doubt the honesty even of his leader. They grow timid and renounce -all judgment in Art, wondering whether any of it really matters. In -a gingerly fashion they still hold on to generally accepted views,— -views that time seems to have endorsed,—and thus they very often give -all their attention to the Old Masters.<a name="FNanchor_48_49" id="FNanchor_48_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_49" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> - -<p>And yet, it is in thus turning away with contempt from modern Art, that -sincere people tacitly acknowledge how profoundly serious the question -is on which they have turned their backs. For, it is the horror of its -disorder that makes them disconsolate: they could continue facing this -disorder only if the matter were less important.</p> - -<p>Passing over that unfortunately large percentage of up-to-date people, -in whose minds Art in general is associated with jewellery, French -pastry and goldfish, as a more or less superfluous, though pleasing, -luxury, the rest of the civilized world certainly feels with varying -degrees of conviction that Art has some essential bearing upon life; -and, though few will grant it the importance that Nietzsche claims for -it, a goodly number will realize that it is quite impossible to reckon -without it.</p> - -<p>Now, if by chance, one of the last-mentioned people, having grown -disgusted at the prevailing degeneration of Art, should start out in -quest of a canon, or a standard whereby he might take his bearings in -the sea of confusion around him, what are we to suppose would await him?</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, we know only too well what awaits him!</p> - -<p>He may turn to the art-critics—the class of men which society -sustains for his special benefit in art matters,—or he may turn to -the philosophers. He may spend years and years of labour in studying -the Art and thought of Antiquity, of the Middle Ages, and of the -Renaissance; but, unless he have sufficient independence of spirit to -distrust not only the Art, but every single manifestation of modern -life, and to try to find what the general corrosive is which seems to -be active everywhere, it is extremely doubtful whether he will ever -succeed in reaching a bourne or a destination of any sort whatsoever.</p> - -<p>He will still be asking: "What is a good poem?" "What is good music?"—and, -above all, "What is a good picture or a good statue?"</p> - -<p>We know the difficulties of the layman, and even of the artist in -this matter; for most of us who have thought about Art at all have -experienced these same difficulties.</p> - -<p>The general need, then, I repeat, is a definite canon,<a name="FNanchor_49_50" id="FNanchor_49_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_50" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> a definite -statement as to the aim and purpose of Art, and the establishment of an -order of rank among tastes. Once more, I declare that I have attempted -to arrive at these things by the principles of Nietzsche's Æsthetic; -but, in order to forestall the amusement which an announcement of this -sort is bound to provoke nowadays, let me remind you of two things: -<i>First</i>, that any artistic canon must necessarily be relative to a -certain type of man; and <i>secondly</i>, that the most that an establishment -of an order of rank among tastes can do for you, is to allow you the -opportunity of exercising some choice—a choice of type in manhood, -therefore a choice as to a mode of life, and therefore a choice of -values, and the customs and conditions that spring from them.</p> - -<p>At present you have no such choice. You certainly have the option of -following either Rodin and Renoir, or Whistler and Manet, or Sargent -and Boldini, or John and Gauguin, or Herkomer and Lavery; but not one -of you can say, "If I follow the first couple I shall be going in such -and such a direction," or, "If I follow the second couple I shall be -travelling towards this or that goal,"—this you would scarcely be -able to say; neither could your leaders help you.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_47" id="Footnote_46_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_47"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> For some amusing, and, at the same time, shrewd, remarks -concerning the International Society, I would refer the reader to Mr. -Wake <i>Cook's Anarchism in Art</i> (Cassell & Co.). I agree on the whole -with what Mr. Wake Cook says, but cannot appreciate his remarks on -Whistler.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_48" id="Footnote_47_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_48"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, IV, LXVII.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_49" id="Footnote_48_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_49"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> In a <i>Times</i> leader of the 20th December, 1909, the -writer puts the case very well. After referring to the heated -controversy which was then raging round the Berlin wax bust that Dr. -Bode declared to be a Leonardo, the writer goes on to say: "... it is -amusing to see how the merit of the work is forgotten in the dispute -about its origin. It seems to be assumed that if it is by Leonardo it -must be a great work of art, and if by Lucas nothing of the kind.... -This fact proves what needs no proving, that there are many wealthy -connoisseurs who buy works of art not for their intrinsic merit, but -for what is supposed to be their authenticity.... This state of -things reveals an extraordinary timidity in buyers of works of art. -If they all trusted their own taste" [that is to say, if they had a -taste of their own based upon some reliable canon] "names would have -no value. The intrinsic merit of a work of art is not affected by the -name it bears.... Yet in the market the name of a great painter -is worth more than the inspiration of a lesser one.... Hence many -people believe that it is far more difficult to understand pictures -than literature.... But there is no more mystery about pictures than -about literature. It is only the market that makes a mystery of them, -and the market does this because it is timid." In other words: because -it does not know.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_50" id="Footnote_49_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_50"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> On this point see <i>Questionings on Criticism and Beauty</i>, -by the Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour. (Oxford University Press.) Mr. Balfour -entirely agrees that to-day we are driven to a kind of anarchy of -individual preferences, and he acknowledges that he is not satisfied -to remain in this position. He does not seem to recognize, however, -how curiously and almost perfectly this anarchy in Art coincides with -a certain anarchy in other departments of life, and thus, although it -displeases him, he sees in it no imminent danger, or no hint that Art -and life react in any way upon each other.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Critics" id="The_Critics">3. The Critics.</a></p> - - -<p>Now, to return to our lay-student of Art, let us suppose that he first -approaches the art-critics of the day for guidance. Will there be one -among these men who will satisfy him? Is there a single art-critic -either of the nineteenth or twentieth century who knew, or who knows, -his business?</p> - -<p>It is possible to point to one or two, and even so, in doing this, one -is prompted more by a sense of kindness than by a sense of accuracy. -Some Continental critics, Camille Mauclair and Muther among them, and -here and there an English critic like R. A. M. Stevenson, occasionally -seem to hit a nail on the head; but as a rule, one can say with -Coventry Patmore: "There is little that is conclusive or fruitful in -any of the criticism of the present day."<a name="FNanchor_50_51" id="FNanchor_50_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_51" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> - -<p>For the most part it is written by men who know absurdly little of -their subject, and who, if they do know it, are acquainted much more -with its chronological and encyclopædic than with its philosophical -side. There is not much conscience either, or much acumen, in these -men; and they are as a rule concerned with questions that are -irrelevant to the point at issue. Like a certain kind of insect, as -Nietzsche very justly remarks, they live by stinging; but their stings -serve no purpose save that of providing them with their food.<a name="FNanchor_51_52" id="FNanchor_51_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_52" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<p>They are, perhaps, less to blame than the artists themselves for the -state of affairs that exists to-day; but, while the artists have -betrayed only themselves, the critics have betrayed the reading -public. They have neither resisted nor condemned the flood of anarchy -that has swept over the art-world; they have rather promoted it in -every way in their power, abetting and applauding artists in their -lawlessness. In fairness to some of them, however, it should be said, -that in encouraging the confusion and disorder around them they very -often acted with almost religious sincerity. This reservation applies -to Ruskin, for instance, and to many other critics writing for the -better-class papers.</p> - -<p>Lest this be considered as an overstatement of the case, hear what one -of these men himself actually says concerning his own profession! Mr. -Frank Rutter, writing in 1907, expressed himself as follows:—</p> - -<p>"In olden days the press used to lead public opinion; now it meekly -follows because its courage has been sapped by servile cringing to -the advertiser, because its antics and sensational inaccuracy have -brought it into contempt. No longer commanding the authority of a -parent or guardian, it seeks to attract attention by the methods of the -cheap-jack. The few exceptions surviving only prove the rule."<a name="FNanchor_52_53" id="FNanchor_52_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_53" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p>Finding themselves forced to speak of other things than "The Purpose of -Art," "The Standard of Beauty," and "The Canons of Art"—simply because -nobody now knows anything about these matters, or dares to assert -anything concerning them,—the better-class art-critics, feeling that -they must do something more than state merely their opinions concerning -the work under notice—in fact, that they must give their reasons for -their praise or blame—have lately been compelled to have recourse to -the only field that is open to them, and that is <i>technique</i>.</p> - -<p>Now, while Mr. Clutton Brock seems perfectly justified in deprecating -these tactics on the part of some of his brother critics, and while -Mr. Rutter seems quite wrong in upholding them, the question which -naturally arises out of the controversy is: what is there left to the -critic to talk about?</p> - -<p>If he is no longer able to judge of the general tendency and teaching -of a play, and if he is no longer able to regard it æsthetically, -what can he do but analyse the playwright's grammar, and seek out the -latter's split infinitives, his insufficient use of the subjunctive -mood, his Cockney idioms and Cockney solecisms?</p> - -<p>We agree with Mr. Clutton Brock that ... "the public has no concern -with the process of production but only with the product"; and -that "if Art <i>were in a healthy state</i><a name="FNanchor_53_54" id="FNanchor_53_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_54" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> the public would know this -and would not ask for technical criticism." We also agree that "the -critic's proper business is with the product, not with the process of -production; to explain their own understanding and enjoyment of the -meaning and beauty of works of art, and not the technical means by -which they have been made."<a name="FNanchor_54_55" id="FNanchor_54_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_55" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<p>But, while we agree with all this, we cannot help sympathizing with the -late R. A. M. Stevenson and his admirer Mr. Frank Rutter; for their -dilemma is unique.</p> - -<p>When Monsieur Domergue of the French Academy assured his friend -Beauzée confidentially that he had discovered that Voltaire didn't -know grammar, Beauzée very rightly replied with some irony: "I am much -obliged to you for telling me; now I know that it is possible to do -without it."<a name="FNanchor_55_56" id="FNanchor_55_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_56" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> - -<p>And this is the only reply that ought to be made to any criticism which -analyses the technique of a real work of Art; since it is obvious, -that if technical questions are uppermost, the work is by implication -unworthy of consideration in all other respects.<a name="FNanchor_56_57" id="FNanchor_56_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_57" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_51" id="Footnote_50_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_51"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <i>Principles in Art</i>, p. 4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_52" id="Footnote_51_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_52"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <i>H. A. H</i>., Vol. II, Aph. 164.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_53" id="Footnote_52_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_53"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <i>The Academy</i>, August 24th, 1907. Article, "The Pursuit -of Taste."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_54" id="Footnote_53_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_54"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> The italic are mine.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_55" id="Footnote_54_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_55"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <i>The Academy</i>, Oct. 26th, 1907. Article, "The Hypochondria -of Art."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55_56" id="Footnote_55_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_56"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Monsieur de Saint Ange's Reception Speech, 1810.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56_57" id="Footnote_56_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_57"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> There is, however, a further excuse for Mr. Rutter and -his school of critics, and that is, that in an age like this one, in -which Amateurism is rampant, the critic very often performs a salutary -office in condemning a work on purely technical grounds. I, for my -part, am quite convinced that the morbid attention which is now paid to -technique is simply a result of the extraordinary preponderance of the -art-student element in our midst.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="Some_Art_Criticisms" id="Some_Art_Criticisms">4. Some Art Criticisms.</a></p> - - -<p>In order further to establish my contention, it might perhaps be an -advantage to refer to some criticisms that have actually been made. -It will not be necessary to give more than one or two of these, -because everybody must know that similar instances could be multiplied -indefinitely; but while I shall limit the selection, I should not like -it to be thought that the cases I present are not absolutely typical.</p> - -<p>Quite recently the art-world has been staring with something akin to -amazement, not unmingled here and there with indignation, at the work -of one Augustus John, in whose pictures they have found at once a -problem and an innovation.</p> - -<p>Now, without for the present wishing to express any opinion at all upon -Mr. John's work, this at least seemed quite clear to me when I first -saw it; namely, that it challenged profound analysis. Unconsciously or -consciously, Mr. John seemed to re-question a whole number of things -afresh. The direction of Art, the purpose of Art, the essence of -Art, the value of Art—these are some of the subjects into which he -provoked me to inquire.</p> - -<p>Here was an opportunity for the more wise among the critics to show -their wisdom. This was essentially a case in which the public required -expert guidance. Augustus John comes forward with a new concept of what -is beautiful. He says pictorially this and that is beautiful. Are we to -follow him or to reject him?</p> - -<p>Hear one or two critics:—</p> - -<p>Commenting upon one of Mr. Max Beerbohm's caricatures in the Spring -Exhibition of the New English Art Club, 1909, the Times critic writes -as follows—"Here an art-critic meets a number of Mr. John's strange -females with long necks and bent, unlovely heads, like a child's -copy of a Primitive; and the puzzled critic ejaculates, 'How odd -it seems that thirty years hence I may be desperately in love with -these ladies!' Odd, indeed, but perfectly possible," continues the -Timesexpert. "Some of us have learned, in twenty years, to find nature -in Claude Monet, and the time may come when the women in Mr. John's -'Going to the Sea,' or in the 'Family Group' at the Grafton, will seem -as beautiful as the Venus de Milo. The 'return of Night primeval and of -old chaos' may be nearer than we think." Then after paying Mr. John's -drawing a compliment, the writer continues: "But can any one, for -all that, whose mind is not warped by purely technical prepossession -in favour of a technician, say that the picture would not have been -enormously improved if the artist had thought more of nature and less -of his 'types' If Mr. John would throw his types to the winds, look -for a beautiful model, and paint her as she is, we should not have to -wait the thirty years of Mr. Max Beerbohm's critic, but might begin to -fall in love with her at once."<a name="FNanchor_57_58" id="FNanchor_57_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_58" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> - -<p>And this, let me assure you, is a comparatively able criticism!</p> - -<p>But, what guidance does it give? Why is it so timid and non-committing? -And, where it is committing, why is it so vague? The words "beautiful -model" mean absolutely nothing nowadays. How, then, can the critic -employ them without defining the particular sense in which he wishes -them to be understood?</p> - -<p>I examined this picture of Mr. John's, as also the one at the Grafton. -Both of them were full of his personal solution of the deepest problems -associated with the ideas of Art and beauty; but how can we know -whether to accept these solutions unless they are made quite plain by -our critics? It may be suggested that Mr. John's solutions of these -problems is not sufficiently important. Why, then, discuss them at all?</p> - -<p>The <i>Daily Telegraph</i> also contained a so-called criticism of Mr. John. -After commenting, as the previous critic did, upon Mr. Max Beerbohm's -caricature and the words accompanying it, the writer proceeds: "How -true—to give the most obvious of all instances—with respect to -Wagner! And yet Mr. Max Beerbohm, the satirist, is as regards the -actual moment, not quite, quite up to date. To-day, for fear of -being accused of a Bœotian denseness, we hasten to acclaim, if not -necessarily to enjoy, Cézanne, Maurice Denis, the neo-Impressionists, -etc., etc."<a name="FNanchor_58_59" id="FNanchor_58_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_59" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> - -<p>"For fear of being accused of Bœotian denseness!" Yes, that is the -whole trouble! Apparently, then, if we are to believe the <i>Daily -Telegraph</i> critic, Mr. John has been acclaimed, simply in order that his -critics may escape the gibe of being classically dense!</p> - -<p>Possessing neither the necessary knowledge, nor the necessary values, -nor yet the necessary certainty, to take up a definite stand for or -against, these critics "acclaim" novelty, in whatever garb it may come, -lest, perchance, their intelligence be for one instant doubted. Very -good!—at least this is a confession which reveals both their humility -and their honesty, and, since it entirely supports my contention, I am -entirely grateful for it.</p> - -<p>But what ought to be said to the implied, ingenuous and perfectly -unwarrantable assumption, that that which posterity endorses must of -necessity have been right all along? Why should Wagner be vindicated -simply because an age subsequent to his own happens to rave about -him? Before such posthumous success can vindicate a man, surely the -age in which it occurs must be duly valued. In the event of its being -more lofty, more noble, and more tasteful than the age which preceded -it, then certainly posthumous fame is a vindication; but if the case -be otherwise, then it is a condemnation. In an ascending culture the -classic of yesterday becomes the primitive of to-morrow, and in a -declining culture the decadent of yesterday becomes the classic of -to-morrow. Thus in valuing, say, Michelangelo, it all depends whence -you come. If you come from Egypt and walk down towards him, your -opinion will be very different from that of the man who comes from -twentieth-century Europe and who walks up towards him.</p> - -<p>But we are not ascending so rapidly or so materially—if we are -ascending at all—as to make posthumous success a guarantee of -excellence. In fact, precisely the converse might be true, and men -who are now quickly forgotten, may be all the greater on that account -alone. In any case, however, the matter is not so obvious as to allow -us to make the broad generalizations we do concerning it.</p> - -<p>Perhaps, in order to be quite fair, I ought now to refer to other -critics, as well as to other criticisms concerning John written by the -critics already quoted. True, in the Times for October 14th, 1905, -there appears a more elaborate discussion of Mr. John's powers. (I say -more elaborate, but I mean more lengthy!) And the <i>Daily Telegraph</i> has -also given us more careful views, as, for instance, in their issues of -October 17th, 1905, and November 23rd, 1909. I doubt, however, whether -it could be honestly said that one really understands any better how to -place Mr. John after having read the articles in question, though, in -making this objection, I should like it to be understood, that I regard -it as applying not only to the art-criticism of the two particular -papers to which I have referred, but to art-criticism in general.<a name="FNanchor_59_60" id="FNanchor_59_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_60" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> - -<p>Most of what we read on this matter in the sphere of journalism is -pure <i>badinage</i>, and little besides—entertainingly and ably written -it is true, but generally very wide of the fundamental principles at -stake, and of that consciousness of dealing with a deeply serious -question, which the subject Art ought to awaken.</p> - -<p>No one seems to feel nowadays that a picture, like a sonnet, like a -sonata, and like a statue, if it claim attention at all, should claim -the attention of all those who are most deeply concerned with the -problems of Life, Humanity, and the Future; and that every breath of -Art comes from the lungs of Life herself, and is full of indications as -to her condition.</p> - -<p>When one says these things nowadays, people are apt to regard one as a -little peculiar, a little morbid, and perhaps a little too earnest as -well. Only two or three months ago, a certain critic, commenting upon a -sentence of mine in my Introduction to Nietzsche's <i>Case of Wagner</i>,<a name="FNanchor_60_61" id="FNanchor_60_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_61" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> -in which I declared that "the principles of Art are inextricably bound -up with the laws of Life," assured the readers of the Nation that "the -plainest facts of everyday life contradict this theory of non-artistic -philosophers in their arm-chairs."<a name="FNanchor_61_62" id="FNanchor_61_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_62" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> And thus the fundamental -questions are shelved, year after year, while Art withers, and real -artists become ever more and more scarce.</p> - -<p>"I loathe this great city," cried Zarathustra.</p> - -<p>"Woe to this great city!—And I would that I already saw the pillar of -fire in which it will be consumed!</p> - -<p>"For such pillars of fire must precede the great noontide. But this -hath its time and its own fate."<a name="FNanchor_62_63" id="FNanchor_62_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_63" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57_58" id="Footnote_57_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_58"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>The Times</i>, May 22nd, 1909.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58_59" id="Footnote_58_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_59"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> <i>The Daily Telegraph</i>, May 31st, 1909.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59_60" id="Footnote_59_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_60"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> A further example of what I mean can be found in the -<i>Morning Post's</i> article (4th April), on the International Society's -1910 Show. Here the writer's only comments on a Simon Bussy (No. 149), -which really required serious treatment, or no treatment at all, are: -"Could any English tourist at Mentone see that resort in the terms -of M. Bussy?" And his comments on an important Monet (No. 133) are: -"What happy Idler at Antibes other than a Frenchman could record -the particular impression of Monet (No. 133), even in enjoying the -hospitalities of Eilenroe?"</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60_61" id="Footnote_60_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_61"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Dr. Oscar Levy's Authorized English Edition of -Nietzsche's <i>Complete Works.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61_62" id="Footnote_61_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_62"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> <i>The Nation</i>, July 9th, 1910.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62_63" id="Footnote_62_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_63"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, III, LI.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4 class="smcap"><a name="Part_IIa" id="Part_IIa">Part II</a></h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">Suggested Causes Of The Anarchy In Modern Art</h4> - - -<blockquote> - -<p style="font-size: 0.9em;">"... To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even -to them that do believe in his name."—<i>John</i> i. 12. -</p></blockquote> - - -<p>And now, what are the causes of this depression and this madness in -Art? For Nietzsche was not alone in recognizing it. Many voices, some -wholly trustworthy, have been raised in support of his view.</p> - -<p>It could only have been the unsatisfactory conditions, even in his -time, that made Hegel regard Art as practically dead; for, as Croce -and Monsieur Bénard rightly observe, Hegel's <i>Vorlesungen über Æsthetik</i> -are Art's dirge.<a name="FNanchor_1_64" id="FNanchor_1_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_64" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Schopenhauer's extraordinary misunderstanding -of Art, also, precisely like Plato's,<a name="FNanchor_2_65" id="FNanchor_2_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_65" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> can be explained only by -supposing that the examples of Art which he saw about him misled his -otherwise penetrating judgment. Even Ruskin's vague and wholly confused -utterances on the subject are evidence of his groping efforts to find -his way in the disorder of his time. And, as to the voices of lesser -men, their name is legion.</p> - -<p>Two eminent Englishmen of the last century, however, were both clear -and emphatic in their denunciation of the age in which they lived. I -refer to Matthew Arnold and William Morris. The former made a most -illuminating analysis of some of the influences which have conduced -to bring about the regrettable state of modern life, while William -Morris—less philosophical perhaps, and more direct, though totally -wrong in the remedies he advocates—bewailed Art's unhappy plight as -follows—</p> - -<p>"I must in plain words say of the Decorative Arts, of all the arts, -that it is not merely that we are inferior in them to all who have -gone before us, but also that they are in a state of anarchy and -disorganization, that makes a sweeping change necessary and certain."<a name="FNanchor_3_66" id="FNanchor_3_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_66" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p>There can be no doubt, therefore, that what Nietzsche saw was a plain -fact to very many thinking men besides; but, in tracing the conditions -to precise and definite causes, Nietzsche by far excelled any of his -contemporaries.</p> - -<p>Before proceeding, however, to examine the more general causes that he -suggests, I should like to pause here a moment, in order to dispose -of one particular cause which, although of tremendous importance for -us moderns, can scarcely be regarded as having been active for a very -long period. I refer to the manner in which Nietzsche accounts for a -good deal that is incompetent and futile, in the Art of the present day -only, by pointing to a psychological misapprehension which is, alas, -but all too common. I should not have broken my general narrative with -the consideration of this particular cause, had it not been that I feel -sure it will help laymen, and artists as well, to account for much that -will still remain obscure, even after the more general causes have been -discussed.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_64" id="Footnote_1_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_64"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Benedetto Croce, <i>Æsthetic</i> (translated by Douglas -Ainslie), p. 308, and Monsieur Bénard's critical survey of Hegel's -<i>Æsthetik</i> in <i>Cours d'Esthétique</i>, Vol. V. p. 493.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_65" id="Footnote_2_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_65"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> On this point see Schelling, <i>Sämmtliche Werke</i>, Vol. V, -"Vorlesungen über die Methode des akademischen Studiums," pp. 346-47.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_66" id="Footnote_3_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_66"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>The Decorative Arts</i>, an address delivered before the -Trades Guild of Learning, p. 11.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="Morbid_Irritability" id="Morbid_Irritability">1. Morbid Irritability.</a></p> - - -<p>Nietzsche recognized that this age is one in which Will is not merely -diseased, but almost paralyzed. Everywhere he saw men and women, youths -and girls, who are unable to resist a stimulus, however slight; who -react with excessive speed in the presence of an irritant, and who -bedeck this weakness and this irritability with all the finest gala -dresses and disguises that they can lay their hands on.<a name="FNanchor_4_67" id="FNanchor_4_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_67" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>In Determinism he saw the philosophical abstract of this fact; in our -novels and plays he saw its representation under the cloak of passion -and emotion; in the Darwinian theory of the influence of environment, -he saw it logged out in scientific garb, and in the modern artist's -dependence upon an appeal to Nature for inspiration—i. e. for a spur -to react upon, he recognized its unhealthiest manifestation.</p> - -<p>"The power of resisting stimuli is on the wane," he says; "the strength -required in order to stop action, and to cease from reacting, is most -seriously diseased."<a name="FNanchor_5_68" id="FNanchor_5_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_68" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>"Man unlearns the art of <i>doing</i>, and <i>all he does is to react</i> to -stimuli coming from his environment."<a name="FNanchor_6_69" id="FNanchor_6_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_69" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>Speaking of the modern artist, he refers to "the absurd irritability of -his system, which makes a crisis out of every one of his experiences, -and deprives him of all calm reflection,"<a name="FNanchor_7_70" id="FNanchor_7_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_70" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> and, while describing -Europeans in general, he lays stress upon their "spontaneous and -changeable natures."<a name="FNanchor_8_71" id="FNanchor_8_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_71" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>In calling our attention to these things, Nietzsche certainly laid his -finger on the root of a good deal for which the other more general -causes which I shall adduce fail to account.</p> - -<p>There can be no doubt that this irritability does exist, and that it -causes large numbers of unrefined and undesirable men and women to -enter the arts to-day, who are absolutely mistaken in their diagnosis -of their condition. We are all only too ready to conceal our defects -beneath euphemistic interpretations of them, and we most decidedly -prefer, if we have the choice, to regard any morbid symptoms we may -reveal, as the sign of strength rather than of weakness. There is some -temptation, therefore, both for our friends and ourselves, to interpret -our natures kindly and if possible flatteringly; and, if we suffer -from a certain "sickly irritability and sensitiveness" in the presence -of what we think beautiful, we prefer to ascribe this to an artistic -temperament rather than to a debilitated will.</p> - -<p>We are acquainted with the irascible nerve patient who pours his curses -on the head of a noisy child; and in his case we are only too ready to -suspect a morbid condition of the body. But when we ourselves, or our -young friends, or our brothers, sister, or cousins, suddenly display, -when still in their teens, a sort of gasping enthusiasm before a -landscape, a peasant child, or a sunset; when they show an inability -to bide their time, to pause, and to remain inactive in the presence -of what they consider beautiful, we immediately conclude from their -conduct, not that they have little command of themselves, but that they -must of necessity have strong artistic natures.</p> - -<p>Our novels are full of such people with weak wills, so are our plays; -so, too, unfortunately, are our Art Schools.</p> - -<p>We know the Art student who, the moment he sees what he would call "a -glorious view," or a "dramatic sunset or sunrise," hurls his materials -together helter-skelter and dashes off, <i>ventre à terre</i>, to the most -convenient spot whence he can paint it.</p> - -<p>We have seen him seize the thing he calls an impression, his teeth -clenched the while, and his nostrils dilated. But how often does it -occur to us that such a creature has got a bad temper? How often do we -realize that he is irritable, self-indulgent, sick in fact?</p> - -<p>Only in an age like our own could this ridiculous travesty of an artist -pass for an artist. It is only in our age that his neurotic touchiness -could possibly be mistaken for strength and vigour; and yet there are -hundreds of his kind among the painters and sculptors of the day.</p> - -<p>Many a student's call to Art, at present, is merely a reminder, on the -part of Nature, that he should cultivate restraint and forbearance, -and should go in for commerce; for there is a whole universe between -such a man and the artist of value. Not that sensitiveness is absent -in the real artist; but it is of a kind which has strength to wait, to -reflect, to weigh, and, if necessary, to refrain from action altogether.</p> - -<p>"Slow is the experience of all deep wells," says Zarathustra. "Long -must they wait ere they know what hath sunk into their depths."<a name="FNanchor_9_72" id="FNanchor_9_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_72" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p>But the people I have just described have only a skin, and any itch -upon it they call Art.</p> - -<p>No lasting good, no permanent value can come of these irascible people -who will be avenged on all that they call beauty, "right away"; -who will, so to speak, "pay beauty out," and who cannot contain -themselves in its presence. They can but help to swell the ranks of the -incompetent, and even if they are successful, as they sometimes are -nowadays, all they do is to wreck the sacred calling in which they are -but pathological usurpers.</p> - -<p>Now, in turning to the more general causes, we find that in accounting -for the prevailing anarchy in Europe and in countries like Europe, -and particularly in England and in countries like England, Nietzsche -pointed to the whole heritage of traditional thought which prevailed -and still does prevail in the civilized parts of the Western world, -and declared that it was in our most fundamental beliefs, in our most -unquestioned dogmas, and in our most vaunted birthrights that this -anarchy takes its source.</p> - -<p>If Art had lost its prestige in our midst, and even its justification; -and if individualism, incompetence, eccentricity, mediocrity and doubt -were rife, we must seek the causes of all this neither in Diderot's -somewhat disappointing essay on painting, nor in the slur that Rousseau -had once cast upon the culture of man, nor in John Stuart Mill's -arguments in favour of individualism, nor yet in Spencer's declaration -that "the activities we call play are united with the æsthetic -activities by the trait that neither subserves in any direct way the -processes conducive to life."<a name="FNanchor_10_73" id="FNanchor_10_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_73" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> - -<p>All these things are merely symptomatic. Diderot, Rousseau, John Stuart -Mill, and Spencer were only symptoms of still deeper influences which -have been at work for centuries, and those influences are to be sought -in the most vital values upon which our civilization is based.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_67" id="Footnote_4_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_67"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p. 145.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_68" id="Footnote_5_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_68"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 36.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_69" id="Footnote_6_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_69"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 63.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_70" id="Footnote_7_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_70"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 258.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_71" id="Footnote_8_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_71"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 339.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_72" id="Footnote_9_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_72"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XII.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_73" id="Footnote_10_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_73"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>The Principles of Psychology</i>, Vol. II, p. 627.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="Misleading_Systems_of_AEsthetic" id="Misleading_Systems_of_AEsthetic">2. Misleading Systems of Æsthetic.</a></p> - - -<p>It is perfectly true that from classic times onward the guidance -of European thought, on matters of Art, has been almost entirely -inadequate if not misleading. But for the subconscious motives of -artists and their spectators there seems to have been very little -comprehension of what Art actually means and aspires to, and even these -subconscious motives have been well-nigh stifled, thanks to the false -doctrines with which they have been persistently and systematically -smothered. Perhaps, however, the very nature of the subject condemns -it to false theoretical treatment; for it has almost always been at -the mercy of men who were not themselves performers in the arts. Of -the few artists who have written on Art, how many have given us an -adequate expression of what they themselves must have felt and aspired -to? Not one. Ghiberti, Vasari, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Mengs, Hogarth -and Reynolds—to mention the most famous, teach us scarcely anything -at all concerning the essence of their life passion, and this is, as -Nietzsche observes, perhaps "a necessary fault; for," he continues, -"the artist who would begin to understand himself would therewith begin -to mistake himself—he must not look backwards, he must not look at -all; he must give.—It is an honour for an artist to have no critical -faculty; if he can criticize he is mediocre, he is modern."<a name="FNanchor_11_74" id="FNanchor_11_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_74" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> - -<p>Still, the greater part of this faulty guidance may, in itself, be but -another outcome of the erroneous and rooted beliefs which lie even -deeper in the heart of life than Art itself, and for these beliefs we -must seek deep down in the foundations of European thought for the last -two or three hundred years. In fact, we must ask ourselves what our -heritage from by-gone ages has been.</p> - -<p>Since Art is the subject of our inquiry, and "Art is the only task -of life,"<a name="FNanchor_12_75" id="FNanchor_12_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_75" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> it seems moderately clear that everything that has tended -to reduce the dignity of Art must, in the first place, have reduced -the dignity of man.</p> - -<p>Is our heritage of thought of a kind that exalts man, or is it of a -kind that debases him? What are, in fact, its chief characteristics?</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_74" id="Footnote_11_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_74"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 256.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_75" id="Footnote_12_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_75"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Ibid., p. 292.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="Our_Heritage_A_Christianity" id="Our_Heritage_A_Christianity">3. Our Heritage.—A. Christianity.</a></p> - - -<p>We shall find that the one definite and unswerving tendency of the -traditional thought of Europe has been, first, to establish on earth -that equality between men which from the outset Christianity had -promised them in Heaven; secondly, to assail the prestige of man by -proving that other tenet of the Faith which maintains the general -depravity of human nature; and thirdly, to insist upon truth in the -Christian sense; that is, as an absolute thing which can be, and must -be, made common to all.</p> - -<p>At the root of all our science, all our philosophy, and all our -literature, the three fundamental doctrines of Christianity: the -equality of all souls, the insuperable depravity of human nature, and -the insistence upon Truth, are the ruling influences.</p> - -<p>By means of the first and third doctrines equality was established in -the spirit, and by means of the second it was established in the flesh.<a name="FNanchor_13_76" id="FNanchor_13_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_76" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> - - -<p>By means of the first, each individual, great or small, was granted an -importance<a name="FNanchor_14_77" id="FNanchor_14_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_77" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> undreamt of theretofore,<a name="FNanchor_15_78" id="FNanchor_15_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_78" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> while the lowest were raised -to the highest power; by means of the second, in which the pride of -mankind received a snub at once severe and merciless, the highest were -reduced to the level of the low, while the low were by implication -materially raised; and by means of the third, no truth or point of -view which could not be made general could be considered as a truth or -a point of view at all. Practically it amounted to this, that in one -breath mankind was told, first,</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured<br /> -To save thy soul from Death and Hell;"<a name="FNanchor_16_79" id="FNanchor_16_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_79" class="fnanchor">[16]</a><br /> -</p> - -<p>secondly, "Thou shalt have no other God before Me;" and thirdly,</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 20%;"> -"From Greenland's icy mountains<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To India's coral strand,</span><br /> -... every prospect pleases,<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And only man is vile."</span><a name="FNanchor_17_80" id="FNanchor_17_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_80" class="fnanchor">[17]</a><br /> -</p> - -<p>But in each case, as I have pointed out, it was the higher men who -suffered. Because they alone had something to lose. The first notion -—that of equality, threatened at once to make them doubt their own -privileges and powers, to throw suspicion into the hearts of their -followers, and to make all special, exceptional and isolated claims -utterly void. The third—the insistence upon a truth which could be -general and absolute, denied their right to establish their own truths -in the hearts of men, and to rise above the most general truth which -was reality; while in the second—the Semitic doctrine of general sin, -which held that man was not only an imperfect, but also a fallen being, -and that all his kind shared in this shame—there was not alone the -ring of an absence of rank, but also of a universal depreciation of -human nature which was ultimately to lead, by gradual stages, from a -disbelief in man himself to a disbelief in nobles, in kings and finally -in gods.<a name="FNanchor_18_81" id="FNanchor_18_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_81" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p>At one stroke, not one or two human actions, but all human -performances, inspirations and happy thoughts, had been stripped of -their glory and condemned. Man could raise himself only by God's grace -—that is to say, by a miracle, otherwise he was but a fallen angel, -aimlessly beating the air with his broken wings.</p> - -<p>These three blows levelled at the head of higher men were fatal to the -artist; for it is precisely in the value of human inspirations, in -the efficiency of human creativeness, and in the irresistible power -of human will, that he, above all, must and does believe. It is his -mission to demand obedience and to procure reverence; for, as we shall -see, every artist worthy the name is at heart a despot.<a name="FNanchor_19_82" id="FNanchor_19_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_82" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> - -<p>Fortunately, the Holy Catholic Church intervened, and by its rigorous -discipline and its firm establishment upon a hierarchical principle, -suppressed for a while the overweening temper of the Christian soul, -and all claims of individual thought and judgment, while it also -recognized an order of rank among men; but the three doctrines above -described remained notwithstanding at the core of the Christian Faith, -and awaited only a favourable opportunity to burst forth and blight all -the good that the Church had done.</p> - -<p>This favourable opportunity occurred in the person of Martin Luther. -The Reformation, in addition to reinstating, with all their evil -consequences, the three doctrines mentioned above, also produced a -certain contempt for lofty things and an importunate individualism -which has done nought but increase and spread from that day to this.</p> - -<p>Individualism, on a large scale, of course, had been both tolerated and -practised in Gothic architecture, and on this account the buildings of -the Middle Ages might be said to breathe a more truly Christian spirit<a name="FNanchor_20_83" id="FNanchor_20_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_83" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> -than most of the sculpture and the painting of the same period, -which are more hieratic.<a name="FNanchor_21_84" id="FNanchor_21_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_84" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> But it was not until the Reformation -began to spread that the most tiresome form of individualism, which we -shall call Amateurism,<a name="FNanchor_22_85" id="FNanchor_22_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_85" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> received, as it were, a Divine sanction; -and there can be no doubt that it is against this element in modern -life that not only Art, but all forces which aim at order, law and -discipline, will eventually have to wage their most determined and most -implacable warfare.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_76" id="Footnote_13_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_76"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> The Judaic story of the fall of man is at bottom an -essentially democratic one. This absence of rank in sin had no parallel -in the aristocratic Pagan world. Likewise, in the manner of the fall, -there is a total absence of noble qualities. "Curiosity, beguilement, -seductibility and wantonness—in short, a whole series of pre-eminently -feminine passions—were regarded as the origin of evil." See <i>B. T.</i>, pp. -78, 79.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_77" id="Footnote_14_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_77"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Bury, <i>History of the Later Roman Empire</i>, Vol. I, p. 33.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_78" id="Footnote_15_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_78"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>A.</i>, Aph. 43 and 64.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_79" id="Footnote_16_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_79"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>Hymns Ancient and Modern</i>, No. 435.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_80" id="Footnote_17_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_80"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., No. 522.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_81" id="Footnote_18_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_81"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 312: "When it occurs to inferior men -to doubt that higher men exist, then the danger is great," etc. See, in -fact, the whole of Aph. 874.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_82" id="Footnote_19_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_82"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> See <i>A.</i>, Aph. 49: "The concept of guilt and punishment, -inclusive of the doctrine of 'grace,' of 'salvation,' and of -'forgiveness'—lies through and through, without a shred of -psychological truth. Sin,... this form of human self-violation -<i>par excellence</i>, was invented solely for the purpose of making all -science, all culture, and every kind of elevation and nobility utterly -impossible."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_83" id="Footnote_20_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_83"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Ruskin, <i>On the Nature of Gothic Architecture</i> (p. 7), -contrasting the classic and Gothic style, says: "... In the mediæval, -or especially Christian, system of ornament, this slavery [<i>i.e.</i> the -slavery imposed by the classic canon] is done away with altogether; -Christianity having recognized, in small things as well as great, the -individual value of every soul."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_84" id="Footnote_21_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_84"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> In a good deal of the painting and sculpture of the -pre-Renaissance period, too, signs were not lacking which showed that -the Christian ideal of truth was beginning to work its effects by -leading to a realism which I have classified in Lecture II as Police -Art. Of course, a good deal of this realism may also be accounted for -by the reasons which I suggest at the end of Part I of Lecture III; -be this as it may, however, as it is difficult to decide the actual -proportion of either of these influences, the weight of the Christian -doctrine of Truth must not be altogether overlooked in such productions -as Donatello's "Crucifixion" (Capella Bardi, S. Croce, Florence); -Masolino's "Raising of Tabitha" (Carmine, Florence); Masaccio's -Fresco (S. Maria del Carmine, Florence); Ucello's "Rout of S. Romano" -(Uffizi); Andrea del Castagno's "Crucifixion" (in the Monastery of the -Angeli, Florence); and the really beautiful statues of the Founders in -the Cathedral of Naumburg.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_85" id="Footnote_22_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_85"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 297: "The terrible consequences of -'freedom'—in the end everybody thinks he has the right to every -problem. All order of rank is banished."</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="B_Protestantism" id="B_Protestantism">B. Protestantism.</a></p> - - -<p>For Protestantism was nothing more nor less than a general rebellion -against authority.<a name="FNanchor_23_86" id="FNanchor_23_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_86" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> By means of it the right of private judgment -was installed once more, and to the individual was restored that -importance which Christianity had acknowledged from the first, and -which only the attitude of the Church had been able to modify. The -layman, with his conscience acknowledged to be the supreme tribunal, -was declared a free man, emancipated even from the law,<a name="FNanchor_24_87" id="FNanchor_24_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_87" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> or, as -Luther said, "free Lord of all, subject to none."<a name="FNanchor_25_88" id="FNanchor_25_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_88" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p>Now, not only the immortal soul of every individual became important; -but also every one of his proclivities, desires and aspirations. He was -told that he could be his own priest if he chose,<a name="FNanchor_26_89" id="FNanchor_26_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_89" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> and that Christ had -obtained this prerogative for him. Megalomania, in fact, as Nietzsche -declares, was made his duty.<a name="FNanchor_27_90" id="FNanchor_27_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_90" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - -<p>"Let men so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards -of the mysteries of God."<a name="FNanchor_28_91" id="FNanchor_28_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_91" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - -<p>With these words St. Paul had addressed the Corinthians, and Luther did -not fail to base his strongest arguments upon the text.<a name="FNanchor_29_92" id="FNanchor_29_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_92" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>"Even the Reformation," says Nietzsche, "was a movement for individual -liberty; 'Every one his own priest' is really no more than a formula -for <i>libertinage</i>.As a matter of fact, the words, 'Evangelical freedom' -would have sufficed—and all instincts which had reasons for remaining -concealed broke out like wild hounds, the most brutal needs suddenly -acquired the courage to show themselves, everything seemed justified."<a name="FNanchor_30_93" id="FNanchor_30_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_93" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>Was it at all likely that the formula, "Every one his own priest," was -going to lead to trouble only in ecclesiastical matters? As a matter of -fact we know that Luther himself extended the principle still further -in his own lifetime. By his radical alterations in the church service -Luther gave the laity a much more prominent place in Divine worship -than they had ever had before; for, in addition to the fact that the -liturgy as compiled by him was written almost entirely in the native -tongue, the special attention he gave to the singing of hymns[31] -allowed the people an opportunity of displaying their individual powers -to such an extent that it has even been said that "they sang themselves -into enthusiasm for the new faith."<a name="FNanchor_31_94" id="FNanchor_31_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_94" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>But these remarkable changes were only symbolic of the changes that -followed elsewhere; for, once this spirit of individual liberty and -judgment had invaded that department of life which theretofore had -been held most sacred, what was there to prevent it from entering and -defiling less sacred sanctuaries?</p> - -<p>Bearing in mind the condition of the arts at the present day, and -taking into account a fact which we all very well know; namely, that -thousands upon thousands are now practising these arts who have -absolutely no business to be associated with them in any way, we are -almost inclined to forgive Protestantism and Puritanism their smashing -of our images, and their material iconoclasm; so light does this -damage appear, compared with the other indirect damage they have done -to the spirit of Art, by establishing the fatal precedent of allowing -everybody to touch and speak of everything—however sacred.</p> - -<p>We may argue with Buckle that the English spirit is of a kind which -is essentially Protestant in temper; but this only seems to make the -matter worse.</p> - -<p>When Cardinal Newman and Matthew Arnold point, the one to the evils of -Liberalism, and the other to the evils of anarchy, we know to what they -are referring. They are referring to the impossibility, nowadays, of -awakening reverence for anything or for anybody.</p> - -<p>"May not every man in England say what he likes?" Matthew Arnold -exclaims. "But," he continues, "the aspirations of culture, which -is the study of perfection, are not satisfied, unless what men say, -when they may say what they like, is worth saying.... Culture -indefatigably tries, not to make what each raw person may like, the -rule by which he fashions himself; but to draw ever nearer to a sense -of what is indeed beautiful, graceful, and becoming, and to get the raw -person to like that."<a name="FNanchor_32_95" id="FNanchor_32_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_95" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p>But what is fatal to culture is no less fatal to art, and thus we find -Nietzsche saying—</p> - -<p>"Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now it becometh mob."<a name="FNanchor_33_96" id="FNanchor_33_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_96" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> - -<p>If in the Europe, and especially in the England of to-day, everybody -has a right to every judgment and to every joy; if a certain slavish -truthfulness to nature and reality, rawness and ruggedness, have -well-nigh wrecked higher aspirations, and if everybody can press his -paltry modicum of voice, of thought, of draughtsmanship, of passion -and impudence to the fore, and thus spread his portion of mediocrity -like dodder over the sacred field of Art; it is because the fundamental -principles of the Christian faith are no longer latent or suppressed in -our midst; but active and potent—if not almighty.</p> - -<p>It might almost be said that they have reared a special instinct—the -instinct of liberty and of taking liberties, without any particular aim -or purpose; and, by so doing, have thrown all virtue, all merit, all -ambition, not on the side of culture, but on the side of that "free -personality"<a name="FNanchor_34_97" id="FNanchor_34_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_97" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> and rude naturalness, or truth to man's original savagery, -which it seems the triumph of every one, great or small, to produce.</p> - -<p>No one any longer claims the kind of freedom that Pope Paul III claimed -for his protégé Benvenuto Cellini:<a name="FNanchor_35_98" id="FNanchor_35_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_98" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> this would be too dangerous, -because, in a trice, it would be applied to all. Therefore the -insignificant majority get more freedom than is good for them, and the -noble minority are deprived of their birthright.</p> - -<p>"Thus do I speak unto you in parable," cries Zarathustra, "ye who make -the soul giddy, ye preachers of <i>equality</i>! Tarantulas are ye unto me, -and secretly revengeful ones!</p> - -<p>"But I will soon bring your hiding-places to the light, therefore do I -laugh in your faces my laughter of the height.</p> - -<p>"And 'Will to Equality'—that itself shall henceforth be the name of -virtue; and against all that hath power will we raise an outcry!</p> - -<p>"Ye preachers of equality, the tyrant frenzy of impotence crieth thus -in you for 'equality': your most secret tyrant longings disguise -themselves in words of virtue!"<a name="FNanchor_36_99" id="FNanchor_36_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_99" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> - -<p>And now recapitulating a moment, what have we found our heritage to -consist of, in the realm of the religious spirit?</p> - -<p>In the first place: a certain universal acknowledgment and claim of -liberty, which has no special purpose or direction, and which is too -fair to some and unfair to many. Secondly, a devotion to a truth that -could be general, which perforce has reduced us to vulgar reality; -thirdly, a prevailing depression in the value and dignity of man, -resulting from the suspicion that has been cast upon all authority -and all loftiness; and fourthly, a wanton desecrating and befingering -of all sanctuaries by anybody and everybody, which is the inevitable -outcome of that amateur priesthood introduced and sanctified by Martin -Luther.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_86" id="Footnote_23_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_86"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Buckle, <i>History of Civilization in England</i>, Vol. II, -p. 140: "Whatever the prejudices of some may suggest, it will be -admitted, by all unbiassed judges, that the Protestant Reformation was -neither more nor less than an open rebellion. Indeed, the mere mention -of private judgment, on which it was avowedly based, is enough to -substantiate this fact. To establish the right of private judgment was -to appeal from the Church to individuals," etc. (See also p. 138 in -the same volume.) <i>Cambridge Modern History</i>, Vol. II, p. 166: "In the -Edict of Worms, Luther had been branded as a revolutionary, then as a -heretic, and the burden of the complaints preferred against him by the -Catholic humanists was, that his methods of seeking a reformation would -be fatal to all order, political or ecclesiastical. They painted him as -the apostle of revolution, a second Catiline." And p. 174: "The most -frequent and damaging charge levelled at Luther between 1520 and 1525 -reproached him with being the apostle of revolution and anarchy, and -predicted that his attacks on spiritual authority would develop into a -campaign against civil order unless he were promptly suppressed."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_87" id="Footnote_24_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_87"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>A Treatise Touching the Libertie of a Christian</i>, by -Martyne Luther (translated from the Latin by James Bell, 1579. Edited -by W. Bengo' Collyer, 1817), p. 17: "So that it is manifest that to -a Christian man faith sufficeth only for all, and that he needeth no -works to be justified by. Now, if he need no works, then also he needs -not the law: if he have no need of the law, surely he is then free from -the law. So this also is true. The law is not made for the righteous -man, and this is the same Christian libertie."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_88" id="Footnote_25_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_88"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 3.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_89" id="Footnote_26_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_89"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 31.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_90" id="Footnote_27_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_90"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 211.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_91" id="Footnote_28_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_91"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> 1 Cor. iv. 1.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_92" id="Footnote_29_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_92"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Cambridge Modern History, Vol. II, p. 201.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_93" id="Footnote_30_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_93"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 75.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_94" id="Footnote_31_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_94"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Emil Naumann, <i>History of Music</i>, Vol. II, p. 429: "With -the Catholics, hymns in the mother tongue were only used at processions -and on high festivals, and were then sung by the congregation only -at Christmas, Easter, and certain other high feast days. With these -exceptions, the Catholic congregational song consisted of short musical -phrases chanted by the priests, to which the people either responded, -or added their voices to the refrain sung by the choristers from the -altar. The part assigned to the people then was but a very subordinate -one." See also the Introduction to C. von Winterfeld's Sacred Songs of -Luther (Leipzig, 1840).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_95" id="Footnote_32_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_95"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>The Beginnings of Art</i>, by Ernst Grosse, pp. 299, 300; -and Cambridge Modern History, Vol. II, p. 201.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_96" id="Footnote_33_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_96"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Culture and Anarchy (Smith, Elder, 1909), pp. 11, 12.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_97" id="Footnote_34_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_97"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, VII.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_98" id="Footnote_35_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_98"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> E.I., pp. 54, 55.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_99" id="Footnote_36_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_99"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Sandro Botticelli</i>, by Emile Gebhart (1907), p. 9: "Paul -III âme très haute, répond aux personnes qui lui dénoncent les vices -de son spirituel spadassin: 'Les hommes uniques dans leur art, comme -Cellini, ne doivent pas être soumis aux lois, et lui moins que tout -autre.'"</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="C_Philosophical_Influences" id="C_Philosophical_Influences">C. Philosophical Influences.</a></p> - - -<p>Now, turning to our heritage in philosophy and science, do we find -that it tends to resist, or to thwart in any way the principles of our -religious heritage? Not in the slightest degree! At every point and -at every stage it has confirmed and restated, with all the pomp of -facts and statistics to support it, what the religious spirit had laid -down for our acceptance. It is superficial and ridiculous to suppose, -as Dr. Draper once supposed, that there has been a conflict between -Religion and Science. I take it that he means the Christian Religion -alone. Such a conflict has never taken place; what has taken place, -however, is a conflict between Science and the Catholic Church. The -Christian Religion and Science together, however, have never had any -such antagonism, and least of all in England, where, from the time of -Roger Bacon,<a name="FNanchor_37_100" id="FNanchor_37_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_100" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> the first English Experimentalist, to the present -day, nothing has been left undone, no stone has been left unturned, -which might establish scientifically that which Christianity, as we -have seen, wished to establish emotionally.</p> - -<p>Universal liberty, without a purpose or a direction; the free and -plebeian production of thoughts and theories divorced from all aim -or ideal, after the style in which children are born in the slums; -devotion to a truth that can be common to all; the depression of the -value and dignity of man, and a certain lack of reverence for all -things—these four aspirations of Christianity and Protestantism have -been the aspirations of science, and at the present moment they are -practically attained.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, it is in the nature of human beings to imitate success, -and England's success as a colonizing and constitutional nation has -undoubtedly been a potent force in spreading not only her commercial, -but also her philosophical views among all ambitious and aspiring -Western nations, who guilelessly took the evil with the good.</p> - -<p>The empiricists, Francis Bacon, Hobbes and Locke, were among the first, -by their teaching, to level a decisive blow at genuine thought, at the -man who knows and who is the measure of all things;<a name="FNanchor_38_101" id="FNanchor_38_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_101" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> and this they -did by arriving at a conception of knowledge and thought that converted -the latter into possessions which might be common to everybody—that is -to say, by reducing all knowledge to that which can be made immediately -the experience of all. This was the greatest blasphemy against the -human spirit that has ever been committed. By means of it, every one, -whatever he might be, could aspire to intellectuality and wisdom; -for experience belongs to everybody, whereas a great spirit is the -possession only of the fewest.</p> - -<p>The Frenchmen, Helvetius, Voltaire, Rousseau, Maupertius, Condillac, -Diderot, d'Alembert, La Mettrie and Baron Holbach, were quick to -become infected, and in Germany, despite the essentially aristocratic -influence of Leibnitz,<a name="FNanchor_39_102" id="FNanchor_39_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_102" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Kant was the first to follow suit.</p> - -<p>Begun in this way, English philosophical speculation, as Dr. Max -Schasler says, was forced to grow ever more and more materialistic<a name="FNanchor_40_103" id="FNanchor_40_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_103" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> -in character, and, if "Science has already come very generally to -mean, not that which may be known, but only such knowledge as every -animal with faculties a little above those of an ant or a beaver can be -induced to admit," and if "incommunicable knowledge, or knowledge which -can be communicated at present only to a portion—perhaps a small -portion—of mankind, is already affirmed to be no knowledge at all,"<a name="FNanchor_41_104" id="FNanchor_41_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_104" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> -it is thanks to the efforts of the fathers of English thought.</p> - -<p>Hence Nietzsche's cry, that "European ignobleness, the plebeian ism of -modern ideas—is England's work and invention."<a name="FNanchor_42_105" id="FNanchor_42_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_105" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<p>But it is not alone in its vulgarization of the concept of knowledge, -or in its materialistic tendency, that English influence has helped -to reduce the dignity of man and to level his kind; the utilitarians -from Bentham to John Stuart Mill and Sidgwick, by taking the greatest -number as the norm, as the standard and measurement of all things, ably -reflected the Christian principle, of the equality of souls, in their -works, and, incidentally, by so doing, treated the greatest number -exceedingly badly. For what is mediocre can neither be exalted nor -charmed by values drawn from mediocrity, and is constantly in need of -values drawn from super-mediocrity, for its joy, for its love of life, -and for its reconciliation with drabby reality.<a name="FNanchor_43_106" id="FNanchor_43_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_106" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_100" id="Footnote_37_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_100"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> It is important here to note, first, that Roger Bacon was -an Aristotelian through his intimate study of the Arabian treatises on -the Greek philosopher, and, secondly, that although Greek speculation -was governed more by insight than experience, Aristotle forms a -striking exception to this rule.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_101" id="Footnote_38_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_101"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p. 210: "What is lacking in England, and has always -been lacking, that half-actor and rhetorician knew well enough, the -absurd muddle-head Carlyle, who sought to conceal under passionate -grimaces what he knew about himself: namely, what was lacking in -Carlyle—real power of intellect, real depth of intellectual perception, -in short, philosophy."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_102" id="Footnote_39_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_102"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> In reply to those who said, "Nothing exists in the -intellect but what has before existed in the senses," Leibnitz replied: -"Yes, nothing but the intellect."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_103" id="Footnote_40_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_103"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Kritische Geschichte der Æsthetik</i> (1872). Speaking of -the English Æstheticians, he says (p. 285), "The fact that there is no -decrease, but rather an increase of Materialism in their thought, no -purification in their meditation from the coarseness of experience, -but rather a gradual immersion in the same, may also be regarded as -characteristic of the development of the English spirit in general."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_104" id="Footnote_41_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_104"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Coventry Patmore, <i>Principles in Art</i>, p. 209.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_105" id="Footnote_42_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_105"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p. 213.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_106" id="Footnote_43_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_106"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Even J. S. Mill saw the flaw in his own teaching in this -respect, and acknowledged it openly. See his <i>Liberty</i>, chapter "The -Elements of Well-Being," paragraph 13.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="D_The_Evolutionary_Hypothesis" id="D_The_Evolutionary_Hypothesis">D. The Evolutionary Hypothesis.</a></p> - - -<p>Finally, in the latter half of the last century, these two tendencies -at last reached their zenith, and culminated in a discovery which, -by some, is considered as the proudest product of the English mind. -This discovery, which was at once a gospel and a solution of all -world riddles, and which infected the whole atmosphere of Europe from -Edinburgh to Athens, was the Evolutionary Hypothesis as expounded by -Darwin and Spencer.</p> - -<p>A more utterly vulgar, mechanistic, and depressing conception of -life and man cannot be conceived than this evolutionary hypothesis -as it was presented to us by its two most famous exponents; and its -immediate popularity and rapid success, alone, should have made it seem -suspicious, even in the eyes of its most ardent adherents.</p> - -<p>And yet it was acclaimed and embraced by almost everybody, save those, -only, whose interests it assailed.</p> - -<p>How much more noble was the origin of the world as described even in -Genesis, Disraeli was one of the first to see and to declare;<a name="FNanchor_44_107" id="FNanchor_44_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_107" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> -and yet, so strong was the faith in a doctrine which, by means of -its popular proof through so-called facts, could become the common -possession of every tinker, tailor and soldier, that people preferred -to think they had descended from monkeys, rather than doubt such an -overwhelming array of data, and regard themselves still as fallen -angels.</p> - -<p>In its description of the prime motor of life as a struggle for -existence; in its insistence upon adaptation to environment and -mechanical adjustment to external influences;<a name="FNanchor_45_108" id="FNanchor_45_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_108" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> in its deification of a -blind and utterly inadequate force which was called Natural Selection; -and above all in its unprincipled optimism, this new doctrine bore the -indelible stamp of shallowness and vulgarity.</p> - -<p>According to it, man was not only a superior monkey, but he was also -a creature who sacrificed everything in order to live; he was not -only a slave of habit, but he was a yielding jelly, fashioned by his -surroundings; he was not only a coward, but a cabbage; and, with it -all, he was invoked to do nothing to assist the world process and his -own improvement; for, he was told by his unscrupulous teachers, that -"evil tended perpetually to disappear,"<a name="FNanchor_46_109" id="FNanchor_46_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_109" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> and that "progress was -therefore not an accident, but a necessity."<a name="FNanchor_47_110" id="FNanchor_47_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_110" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p>Thus not only was man debased, but we could now fold our arms -apathetically, and look on while he dashed headlong to his ruin.<a name="FNanchor_48_111" id="FNanchor_48_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_111" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> - -<p>"No," said the evolutionists, "we do not believe in a moral order of -things, although our doctrine does indeed seem to be a reflection of -such an order; neither do we believe in God: but we certainly pin our -faith to our little idol Evolution, and feel quite convinced that it -is going to make us muddle through to perfection somehow—look at our -proofs!"</p> - -<p>And what are these proofs? On all sides they are falling to bits, and -we are quickly coming to the conclusion that an assembly of facts can -prove nothing—save the inability of a scientist to play the rôle of a -creative poet.</p> - -<p>Nietzsche was one of the first to see, that if Becoming were a reliable -hypothesis, it must be supported by different principles from those of -the Darwinian school, and he spared no pains in sketching out these -different principles.<a name="FNanchor_49_112" id="FNanchor_49_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_112" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> - -<p>"These English psychologists—what do they really mean?" Nietzsche -demands. "We always find them voluntarily or involuntarily at the same -task of pushing to the front the <i>partie honteuse</i> of our inner world, -and looking for the efficient, governing and decisive principle in that -precise quarter where the intellectual self-respect of the race would -be the most reluctant to find it—that is to say, in slothfulness of -habit, or in forgetfulness, or in blind and fortuitous mechanism and -association of ideas, or in some factor that is purely passive, reflex, -molecular, or fundamentally stupid,—what is the real motive power -which always impels these psychologists in precisely this direction?"<a name="FNanchor_50_113" id="FNanchor_50_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_113" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> - -<p>Not one of these advocates of mechanism, however, realized how -profoundly he was degrading man, and how seriously he had therefore -sullied all human achievement. In their scientific <i>réchauffé</i> of the -Christian concept of man's depravity, they all had the most hearty -faith, and, as there was little in their over-populated and industrial -country to contradict their conclusions, they did not refrain from -passing these conclusions into law.</p> - -<p>We can detect nothing in this greatest scientific achievement of the -last century which seriously resists or opposes our heritage in the -realm of the religious spirit. In their fundamentals, the two are one; -And when we take them both to task, and try to discover their influence -upon the world, we wonder not so much why Art is so bad, but why Art -has survived at all.</p> - -<p>For, though for the moment we may exclude the influence of earlier -English thought upon general artistic achievement, at least the -degraded condition of Art at the present day cannot be divorced in this -manner from more recent English speculation, for even Mr. Bosanquet -counts Darwin and Lyell among those who have ushered in the new -renaissance of art in England!<a name="FNanchor_51_114" id="FNanchor_51_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_114" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<p>"At present," says Nietzsche, "nobody has any longer the courage for -separate rights, for rights of domination, for a feeling of reverence -for himself and his equals,—for pathos of distance,... and even our -politics are morbid from this want of courage!"<a name="FNanchor_52_115" id="FNanchor_52_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_115" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p>To-day, when all reverence has vanished, even before kings and -gods, when to respect oneself overmuch is regarded with undisguised -resentment, what can we hope from a quarter in which self-reverence -and reverence in general are the first needs of all?</p> - -<p>We can only hope to find what we actually see, and that, as we all very -well know and cannot deny, is a condition of anarchy, incompetence, -purposelessness and chaos.</p> - -<p>"Culture ... has a very important function to fulfil for mankind," -said Matthew Arnold. "And this function is particularly important -in our modern world, of which the whole civilization is, to a much -greater degree than the civilization of Greece and Rome, mechanical -and external, and tends constantly to become more so. But, above all, -in our own country has culture a weighty part to perform, because, -here, that mechanical character, which civilization tends to take -everywhere, is shown in the most eminent degree.... The idea of -perfection as an <i>inward</i> condition of the mind and spirit is at variance -with the mechanical and material civilization in esteem with us, and -nowhere, as I have said, so much in esteem as with us."<a name="FNanchor_53_116" id="FNanchor_53_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_116" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<p>We may trust that it is not in vain that men like Matthew Arnold and -Nietzsche raised their voices against the spirit of the age. And we may -hope that it is not in vain that lesser men have taken up their cry.</p> - -<p>In any case Nietzsche did not write in utter despair. His words do not -fall like faded autumn leaves announcing the general death that is -imminent. On the contrary, he saw himself approaching a new century, -<i>this</i> century, and he drew more than half his ardour from the hope -that we might now renounce this heritage of the past, the deleterious -effects of which he spent his lifetime in exposing.</p> - -<p>"Awake and listen, ye lonely ones!" he says. "From the future winds are -coming with a gentle beating of wings, and there cometh good tidings -for fine ears.</p> - -<p>"Ye lonely ones of to-day, ye who stand apart, ye shall one day be a -people, and from you who have chosen yourselves, a chosen people shall -arise.</p> - -<p>"Verily a place of healing shall the earth become! And already -a new odour lieth around it, an odour which bringeth salvation—and a -new hope."<a name="FNanchor_54_117" id="FNanchor_54_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_117" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_107" id="Footnote_44_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_107"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> See Froude's <i>The Earl of Beaconsfield</i> (9th Edition), -pp. 176, 177: "The discoveries of science are not, we are told, -consistent with the teachings of the Church.... It is of great -importance when this tattle about science is mentioned, that we should -attach to the phrase precise ideas. The function of science is the -interpretation of nature, and the interpretation of the highest nature -is the highest science. What is the highest nature? Man is the highest -nature. But I must say that when I compare the interpretation of the -highest nature by the most advanced, the most fashionable school of -modern science with some other teaching with which we are familiar I -am not prepared to admit that the lecture room is more scientific than -the Church. What is the question now placed before society, with a glib -assurance the most astounding? The question is this: Is man an ape or -an angel? I, my Lord, I am on the side of the angels. I repudiate with -indignation and abhorrence the contrary view, which I believe foreign -to the conscience of humanity."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_108" id="Footnote_45_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_108"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> See p. 37.**</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_109" id="Footnote_46_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_109"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Spencer, <i>Social Statics</i> (Ed. 1892), p. 27.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_110" id="Footnote_47_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_110"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 31.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_111" id="Footnote_48_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_111"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Two Christian principles are concealed here: 1. The -depravity of man. 2. Faith in a moral order of things.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_112" id="Footnote_49_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_112"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> I have discussed this question, with as much detail as -the space would allow, in <i>Nietzsche, his Life and Works</i>, Chap. IV. -(Constable's Philosophies Ancient and Modern). See also my letter, -"Nietzsche and Science," in the <i>Spectator</i> of 8th January, 1910.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_113" id="Footnote_50_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_113"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <i>G. M.</i>, p. 17.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_114" id="Footnote_51_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_114"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <i>A History of Æsthetic</i>, p. 445.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_115" id="Footnote_52_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_115"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <i>A.</i>, Aph. 43.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_116" id="Footnote_53_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_116"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> <i>Culture and Anarchy</i> (Smith, Elder, 1909), p. 10.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_117" id="Footnote_54_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_117"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XXII.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="Lecture_II" id="Lecture_II">Lecture II</a><a name="FNanchor_1_118" id="FNanchor_1_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_118" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h4> - - -<h4>Government in Art. Nietzsche's Definition of Art</h4> - -<h4 class="smcap"><a name="Part_Ib" id="Part_Ib">Part I</a></h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">Divine Art and the Man-God</h4> - - -<blockquote> - -<p style="font-size: 0.9em;">"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, -and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and -have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of -the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the -earth."—<i>Genesis</i> i. 28. -</p></blockquote> - - -<p>Man has ceased from believing in miracles, because he is convinced that -the divine power of the miracle-worker has departed from him. At last -he has proclaimed the age of wonders to be at an end, because he no -longer knows himself capable of working wonders.</p> - -<p>He acknowledges that miracles are still needed. He hears the -distressing cry for the <i>super</i>-natural everywhere. All about him to-day -he feels that wonders will have to be worked if the value of Life, -of his fellows, and of himself is to be raised, by however little; -and yet he halts like one paralyzed before the task he can no longer -accomplish, and finding that his hand has lost its cunning and that -his eye has lost its authority, he stammers helplessly that the age of -miracles has gone by.</p> - -<p>Everything convinces him of the fact. Everybody, from his priest to -his porter, from his wife to his astrologer, from his child to his -neighbour, tells him plainly that he is no longer divine, no longer a -god, no longer even a king!</p> - -<p>Not only has the age of miracles gone by; but with it, also, has -vanished that age in which man could conceive of god in his own image. -There are no gods now; because man himself has long since doubted that -man is godlike.</p> - -<p>Soon there will be no kings,<a name="FNanchor_2_119" id="FNanchor_2_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_119" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> finally there will be no greatness -at all, and this will mean the evanescence of man himself.</p> - -<p>To speak of all this as the advance of knowledge, as the march -of progress, as the triumph of science, and as the glories of -enlightenment, is merely to deck a corpse, to grease-paint a sore, and -to pour rose-water over a cesspool.</p> - -<p>If the triumph of science mean "The Descent of Man"; if the glories of -enlightenment mean, again, the descent of man; and if progress imply, -once more, the descent of man; then the question to be asked is: in -whose hands have science, enlightenment and the care of progress fallen?</p> - -<p>This world is here for us to make of it what we will. It is a field of -yielding clay, in which, like sandboys, we can build our castles and -revel in our creations.</p> - -<p>But what are these people doing? In building their castles they grow -ever more like beavers, and ants, and beetles. In laying out their -gardens they grow ever more like slugs, and worms, and centipedes. And -their joy seems to be to feel themselves small and despised.</p> - -<p>Once, for instance, their sky was the mighty god Indra; the clouds were -his flock, and he drove his flock across his vast fields—blue and -fragrant with delicate flowers. Their fruitful rain was the milk which -their god Indra obtained from his herd of cows, and their seasons of -drought were times when the god Indra was robbed by brigands of his -flock.</p> - -<p>Now, their sky is infinite space. Their clouds are masses of vapour in -a state of condensation more or less considerable, and their rain is -the outcome of that condensation becoming too considerable.</p> - -<p>Not so many years ago their Heaven and their Earth were the father and -mother of all living things, who had become separated in order that -their offspring might have room to live and breathe and move. And thus -their mists were the passionate sighs of the loving wife, breathing her -love heavenwards; and the dew, the tearful response of her affectionate -and sorrowful spouse.</p> - -<p>Now, their Heaven is a thing that no one knows anything at all about. -Their Earth is an oblate spheroid revolving aimlessly through a -hypothetical medium called ether; their mists are vaporous emanations; -while their dew is a discharge of moisture from the air upon substances -that have irradiated a sufficient quantity of heat.</p> - -<p>Their Sun was once a god with long, shining streams of golden hair, of -which every year their goddess Night would rob him, thus leaving Winter -mistress of the earth.</p> - -<p>Now, their sun is the central orb of their Solar system. It consists of -a nucleus, it is surrounded by a photosphere and a chromosphere, and -has a disease of the face called "spots."</p> - -<p>The facts remain the same; the mist still rises, the dew still falls, -and the canopy of Heaven still spans the two horizons. Whatever the -interpretation of these phenomena may be, this at least is certain, -that they are still with us. But there is one thing that changes; one -thing that cannot remain indifferent to interpretation—even though -the facts do not alter,—and that is the soul of man.</p> - -<p>A million times more sensitive to changes in interpretation than the -column of mercury is to changes in the atmosphere, the soul of man -rises or falls according to the nobility or the baseness of the meaning -which he himself puts into things; and, just as, in this matter, he may -be his own regenerator, so, also, may he be his own assassin.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_118" id="Footnote_1_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_118"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Delivered at University College on Dec. 8th, 1910.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_119" id="Footnote_2_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_119"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 187: "The time of kings has gone -by, because people are no longer worthy of them. They -do not wish to see the symbol of their ideal in a king, but -only a means to their own ends." See also <i>Z.</i>, III, LVI.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_World_without_form_and_void" id="The_World_without_form_and_void">1. The World "without form" and "void."</a></p> - - -<p>For, in the beginning, the world was "without form" and "void," things -surrounded man; but they had no meaning. His senses received probably -the same number of impressions as they do now—and perhaps more—but -these impressions had no co-ordination and no order. He could neither -calculate them, reckon with them, nor communicate<a name="FNanchor_3_120" id="FNanchor_3_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_120" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> them to his -fellows.</p> - -<p>Before he could thus calculate, reckon with, and communicate the -things of this world, a vast process of simplification, co-ordination, -organization and ordering had to be undertaken, and this process, -however arbitrarily it may have been begun, was one of the first needs -of thinking man.</p> - -<p>Everything had to be given some meaning, some interpretation, and some -place; and in every case, of course, this interpretation was in the -terms of man, this meaning was a human meaning, and this place was a -position relative to humanity.</p> - -<p>Perhaps no object is adequately defined until the relation to it of -every creature and thing in the universe has been duly discovered and -recorded.<a name="FNanchor_4_121" id="FNanchor_4_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_121" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> But no such transcendental meaning of a thing preoccupied -primeval man. All he wished was to understand the world, in order -that he might have power over it, reckon with it, and communicate his -impressions concerning it. And, to this end, the only relation of a -thing that he was concerned with was its relation to himself. It must -be given a name, a place, an order, a meaning—however arbitrary, -however fanciful, however euphemistic. Facts were useless, chaotic, -bewildering, meaningless, before they had been adjusted,<a name="FNanchor_5_122" id="FNanchor_5_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_122" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> organized, -classified, and interpreted in accordance with the desires, hopes, aims -and needs of a particular kind of man.</p> - -<p>Thus interpretation was the first activity of all to thinking humanity, -and it was human needs that interpreted the world.<a name="FNanchor_6_123" id="FNanchor_6_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_123" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>The love of interpreting and of adjusting—this primeval love and -desire, this power of the sandboy over his castles; how much of the -joy in Life, the love of Life, and, at the same time, the sorrow in -Life, does not depend upon it! For we can know only a world which we -ourselves have created.<a name="FNanchor_7_124" id="FNanchor_7_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_124" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> - -<p>There was the universe—strange and inscrutable; terrible in its -strangeness, insufferable in its inscrutability, incalculable in its -multifariousness. With his consciousness just awaking, a cloud or a -shower might be anything to man—a godlike friend or a savage foe. The -dome of blue behind was also prodigious in its volume and depth, and -the stars upon it at night horrible in their mystery.</p> - -<p>What, too, was this giant's breath that seemed to come from nowhere, -and which, while it cooled his face, also bent the toughest trees like -straws? The sun and moon were amazing—the one marvellously eloquent, -communicative, generous, hot and passionate: the other silent, -reserved, aloof, cold, incomprehensible.<a name="FNanchor_8_125" id="FNanchor_8_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_125" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>But there were other things to do, besides interpreting the stars, the -sun, the moon, the sea, and the sky above. There was the perplexing -multiplicity of changes and of tides in Life, to be mastered and -simplified. There was the fateful flow of all things into death and -into second birth, the appalling fact of Becoming and never-resting, of -change and instability, of bloom and of decay, of rise and of decline. -What was to be done?</p> - -<p>It was impossible to live in chaos. And yet, in its relation to man -Nature was chaotic. There was no order anywhere. And, where there is -no order, there are surprises,<a name="FNanchor_9_126" id="FNanchor_9_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_126" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> ambushes, lurking indignities. The -unexpected could jump out at any minute. And a masterful mind abhors -surprises and loathes disorder. His Will to Power is humiliated by -them. To man,—whether he be of yesterday, of to-day or of to-morrow— -unfamiliarity, constant change, and uncertainty, are sources of great -anxiety, great sorrow, great humiliation and sometimes great danger. -Hence everything must be familiarized, named and fixed. Values must -be definitely ascertained and determined. And thus valuing becomes a -biological need. Nietzsche even goes so far as to ascribe the doctrine -of causality to the inherent desire in man to trace the unfamiliar -to the familiar. "The so-called instinct of causality," he says, "is -nothing more than the fear of the unfamiliar, and the attempt at -finding something in it which is already known."<a name="FNanchor_10_127" id="FNanchor_10_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_127" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> - -<p>In the torrent and pell-mell of Becoming, some milestones must be fixed -for the purpose of human orientation. In the avalanche of evolutionary -changes, pillars must be made to stand, to which man can hold tight for -a space and collect his senses. The slippery soil of a world that is -for ever in flux, must be transformed into a soil on which man can gain -some foothold.<a name="FNanchor_11_128" id="FNanchor_11_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_128" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> - -<p>Primeval man stood baffled and oppressed by the complexity of his task. -Facts were insuperable as facts; they could, however, be overcome -spiritually—that is to say, by concepts. And that they must be -overcome, man never doubted for an instant—he was too proud for that. -For his aim was not existence, but a certain kind of existence—an -existence in which he could hold his head up, look down upon the world, -and stare defiance even at the firmament.</p> - -<p>And thus all humanity began to cry out for a meaning, for an -interpretation, for a scheme, which would make all these distant and -uncontrollable facts their property, their spiritual possessions. This -was not a cry for science, or for a scientific explanation, as we -understand it; nor was it a cry for truth in the Christian sense.<a name="FNanchor_12_129" id="FNanchor_12_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_129" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> -For the bare truth, the bare fact, the bald reality of the thing was -obvious to everybody. All who had eyes to see could see it. All who had -ears to hear could hear it. And all who had nerves to feel could feel -it. If ever there was a time when there was a truth for all, this was -the time; and it was ugly, bare and unsatisfying. What was wanted was a -scheme of life, a picture of life, in which all these naked facts and -truths could be given some place and some human significance—in fact, -some order and arrangement, whereby they would become the chattels -of the human spirit, and no longer subjects of independent existence -and awful strangeness.<a name="FNanchor_13_130" id="FNanchor_13_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_130" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Only thus could the dignity and pride of -humanity begin to breathe with freedom. Only thus could life be made -possible, where existence alone was not the single aim and desire.</p> - -<p>"The purpose of 'knowledge,' "says Nietzsche, "in this case, as in -the case of 'good,' or 'beautiful,' must be regarded strictly and -narrowly from an anthropocentric and biological standpoint. In order -that a particular species may maintain and increase its power, its -conception of reality must contain enough which is calculable and -constant to allow of its formulating a scheme of conduct. The utility -of preservation—and <i>not</i> some abstract or theoretical need to eschew -deception—stands as the motive force behind the development of the -organs of knowledge.... In other words, the measure of the desire -for knowledge depends upon the extent to which the <i>Will to Power</i> grows -in a certain species: a species gets a grasp of a given amount of -reality in order to master it, in order to enlist that amount into its -service."<a name="FNanchor_14_131" id="FNanchor_14_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_131" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> - -<p>And thus "the object was, not to know, but to schematize, to impose as -much regularity and form upon chaos as our practical needs required."<a name="FNanchor_15_132" id="FNanchor_15_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_132" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> - -<p>"The whole apparatus of knowledge," says Nietzsche, "is an abstracting -and simplifying apparatus—not directed at knowledge, but at the -appropriation of things."<a name="FNanchor_16_133" id="FNanchor_16_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_133" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p>No physical thirst, no physical hunger, has ever been stronger than -this thirst and hunger, which yearned to make all that is unfamiliar, -familiar; or in other words, all that is outside the spirit, inside the -spirit.<a name="FNanchor_17_134" id="FNanchor_17_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_134" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<p>Life without food and drink was bad enough; but Life without -nourishment for this spiritual appetite, this famished wonder,<a name="FNanchor_18_135" id="FNanchor_18_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_135" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> -this starving amazement, was utterly intolerable!</p> - -<p>The human system could appropriate, and could transform into man, in -bone and flesh, the vegetation and the animals of the earth; but what -was required was a process, a <i>Weltanschauung</i>, a general concept of -the earth which would enable man to appropriate also Life's other -facts, and transform them into man the spirit. Hence the so-called -thirst for knowledge may be traced to the lust of appropriation and -conquest,<a name="FNanchor_19_136" id="FNanchor_19_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_136" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> and the "will to truth" to a process of establishing -things, to a process of making things true and lasting.... Thus -truth is not something which is present and which has to be found and -discovered; it is something which has to be created and which gives its -name to a process, or better still, to the "will to overpower."<a name="FNanchor_20_137" id="FNanchor_20_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_137" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>For what is truth? It is any interpretation of the world which has -succeeded in becoming the belief of a particular type of man.<a name="FNanchor_21_138" id="FNanchor_21_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_138" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> -Therefore there can be many truths; therefore there must be an order of -rank among truths.</p> - -<p>"Let this mean Will to Truth unto you," says Zarathustra, "that -everything be made thinkable, visible, tangible unto man!</p> - -<p>"And what ye have called the world, shall have first to be created by -you:<a name="FNanchor_22_139" id="FNanchor_22_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_139" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> your reason, your image, your will, your love shall the world be! -And, verily, for your own bliss, ye knights of Knowledge!"<a name="FNanchor_23_140" id="FNanchor_23_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_140" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<p>"The purpose was to deceive oneself in a useful way; the means thereto -was the invention of forms and signs, with the help of which, the -confusing multifariousness of Life could be reduced to a useful and -wieldly scheme."<a name="FNanchor_24_141" id="FNanchor_24_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_141" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - -<p>This was the craving. Not only must a meaning, a human meaning, be -given to all things, in order to subordinate them to man's power; but -Life itself must also be schematized and arranged. And, while all -humanity cried aloud for this to be done, it was humanity's artists and -higher men who set to and did it.<a name="FNanchor_25_142" id="FNanchor_25_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_142" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_120" id="Footnote_3_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_120"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 72: "... Communication is necessary, -and for it to be possible, something must be stable, simple and capable -of being stated precisely."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_121" id="Footnote_4_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_121"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 65.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_122" id="Footnote_5_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_122"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Okakura-Kakuzo, <i>The Book of Tea</i>, p. 58: "Adjustment is -Art."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_123" id="Footnote_6_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_123"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 13. See also Th. Gomperz, <i>Greek -Thinkers</i>, Vol. I, p. 25. Speaking of interpretation, he says: "And -this tendency was notably strengthened by the suspicious circumstances -of external life, which awoke the desire for clearness, distinctness -and a logical sequence of ideas."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_124" id="Footnote_7_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_124"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 21. See also Max Müller, <i>Introduction -to the Science of Religion</i>, pp. 198-207, <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. 19.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_125" id="Footnote_8_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_125"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Hegel, in his <i>Vorlesungen über Æsthetik</i> (Vol. I, p. -406), says: "If we should wish to speak of the first appearance of -symbolic Art as a subjective state, we should remember that artistic -meditation in general, like religious meditation—or rather the two in -one—and even scientific research, took their origin in wonderment."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_126" id="Footnote_9_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_126"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Hegel makes some interesting remarks on this point. See -his <i>Vorlesungen über Æsthetik</i>, Vol. I, p. 319. He shows that the -extreme regularity of gardens of the seventeenth century was indicative -of their owners' masterful natures.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_127" id="Footnote_10_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_127"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 58. See also p. 11: "to 'understand' -means simply this: to be able to express something new in the terms of -something old or familiar."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_128" id="Footnote_11_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_128"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 88.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_129" id="Footnote_12_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_129"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 26: "The prerequisite of all living -things and of their lives is: that there should be a large amount of -faith, that it should be possible to pass definite judgments on things, -and that there should be no doubt at all concerning values. Thus it is -necessary that something should be assumed to be true, <i>not</i> that it is -true."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_130" id="Footnote_13_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_130"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Felix Clay, <i>The Origin of the Sense of Beauty</i>, p. -95: "The mind or the eye, brought face to face with a number of -disconnected and apparently different facts, ideas, shapes, sounds -or objects, is bothered and uneasy; the moment that some central -conception is offered or discovered by which they all fall into order, -so that their due relation to one another can be perceived and the -whole grasped, there is a sense of relief and pleasure which is very -intense."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_131" id="Footnote_14_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_131"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 12.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_132" id="Footnote_15_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_132"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 29.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_133" id="Footnote_16_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_133"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 24.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_134" id="Footnote_17_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_134"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 76. Hegel was also approaching this -truth when he said, in his introduction to the <i>Vorlesungen über -Æsthetik</i> (pp. 58, 59 of the translation of that Introduction by B. -Bosanquet): "Man is realized for himself by poetical activity, inasmuch -as he has the impulse, in the medium which is directly given to him, -and externally presented before him, to produce himself. This purpose -he achieves by the modification of external things upon which he -impresses the seal of his inner being. Man does this in order, as a -free subject, to strip the outer world of its stubborn foreignness, and -to enjoy, in the shape and fashion of things, a mere external reality -of himself."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_135" id="Footnote_18_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_135"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Hegel again seems to be on the road to Nietzsche's -standpoint, when he says: "Wonderment arises when man, as a spirit -separated from his immediate connection with Nature, and from the -immediate relation to his merely practical desires, steps back from -Nature and from his own singular existence, and then begins to seek and -to see generalities, permanent qualities, and absolute attributes in -things" (Vorlesungen über Æsthetik, Vol. I, p. 406).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_136" id="Footnote_19_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_136"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 339. See also Hegel (<i>Vorlesungen -über Æsthetik</i>, p. 128): "The instinct of curiosity and the desire -for knowledge, from the lowest stage up to the highest degree of -philosophical insight, is the outcome only of man's yearning to make -the world his own in spirit and concepts."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_137" id="Footnote_20_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_137"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 60.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_138" id="Footnote_21_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_138"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "Truth is that kind of error without which a certain -species of living being cannot exist" (<i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 20). See also -<i>G. E.</i>, pp. 8, 9: "A belief might be false and yet life-preserving." -See also <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, pp. 36, 37: "We should not interpret this -<i>constraint</i> in ourselves to imagine concepts, species, forms, -purposes, and laws as if we were in a position to construct a real -world; but as a constraint to adjust a world by means of which our -existence is ensured: we thereby create a world which is determinable, -simplified, comprehensible, etc., for us."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_139" id="Footnote_22_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_139"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 76.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_140" id="Footnote_23_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_140"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXIV. See also <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 33: "Truth -is the will to be master over the manifold sensations that reach -consciousness; it is the will to classify phenomena according to -definite categories."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_141" id="Footnote_24_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_141"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. M. See also Schelling, <i>System des -transcendentalen Idealismus</i>, p. 468, where the author says, "Science, -in the highest interpretation of this term, has one and the same -mission as Art."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_142" id="Footnote_25_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_142"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, pp. 28, 90, 103.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_First_Artists" id="The_First_Artists">2. The First Artists.</a></p> - - -<p>For it was then that man's strongest instinct became creative in -man's highest product—the artist—and the discovery was made that -the world, although "without form" and "void," as a fact, could be -simplified and made calculable and full of form and attractions, as a -valuation, as an interpretation, as a spiritual possession. With the -world at a distance from him, unfamiliar and unhuman, man's existence -was a torment. With it beneath him, inside him, bearing the impress of -his spirit, and proceeding from him, he became a lord, casting care to -the winds, and terror to the beasts around.</p> - -<p>Man, the bravest animal on earth, thus conceived the only possible -condition of his existence; namely, to become master of the world. -And, when we think of the miracles he then began to perform, we cease -from wondering why he once believed in miracles, why he thought of God -as in his own image, and why he made his strongest instinct God, and -thereupon made Him say: "Replenish the earth and subdue it!"</p> - -<p>It was therefore the powerful who made the names of things into law.<a name="FNanchor_26_143" id="FNanchor_26_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_143" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> -It was their Will to Power that simplified, organized, ordered -and schematized the world, and it was their will to prevail which made -them proclaim their simplification, their organization, their order -and scheme, as the norm, as the thing to be believed, as the world of -values which must be regarded as creation itself.</p> - -<p>These early artists conceived of no other way of subduing the earth -than by converting it into concepts; and, as time soon showed that -there actually was no other way, interpretation came to be regarded -as the greatest task of all.<a name="FNanchor_27_144" id="FNanchor_27_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_144" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> Naming, adjusting, classifying, -qualifying, valuing, putting a meaning into things, and, above all, -simplifying—all these functions acquired a sacred character, and he -who performed them to the glory of his fellows became sacrosanct.</p> - -<p>So great were the relief and solace that these functions bestowed upon -mankind, and so different did ugly reality appear, once it had been -interpreted by the artist mind, that creating and naming actually -began to acquire much the same sense. For to put a meaning into -things was clearly to create them afresh<a name="FNanchor_28_145" id="FNanchor_28_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_145" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>—in fact, to create -them literally. And so it came to pass that, in one of the oldest -religions on earth, the religion of Egypt, God was imagined as a Being -who created things by naming them;<a name="FNanchor_29_146" id="FNanchor_29_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_146" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> while, in the Judaic notion -of the creation of the world, which was probably derived from the -Egyptians themselves, Jehovah is also said to have brought things into -existence merely by pronouncing their names.<a name="FNanchor_30_147" id="FNanchor_30_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_147" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>The world thus became literally man's Work of Art,<a name="FNanchor_31_148" id="FNanchor_31_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_148" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> man's Sculpture.<a name="FNanchor_32_149" id="FNanchor_32_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_149" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> -Miracle after miracle at last reduced Nature to man's chattel, and it -was man's lust of mastership, his will to power, which thus became -creative in his highest specimen—the artist—and which, fighting for -"the higher worthiness and meaning of mankind,"<a name="FNanchor_33_150" id="FNanchor_33_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_150" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>transfigured reality by -means of human valuations, and overcame Becoming by falsifying it as -Being.<a name="FNanchor_34_151" id="FNanchor_34_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_151" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<p>"We are in need of lies," says Nietzsche, "in order to rise superior to -reality, to truth—that is to say, in order to live.... That lies -should be necessary to life, is part and parcel of the terrible and -questionable character of existence....</p> - -<p>"Metaphysics, morality, religion, science—all these things are -merely different forms of falsehood, by means of them we are led to -believe in life. 'Life must inspire confidence;' the task which this -imposes upon us is enormous. In order to solve this problem man must -already be a liar in his heart. But he must, above all, be an artist. -And he is that. Metaphysics, religion, morality, science—all -these things are but an offshoot of his will to Art, to falsehood, -to a flight from 'truth,' to a denial of 'truth.' This ability, this -artistic capacity, <i>par excellence</i>, of man—thanks to which he -overcomes reality with lies—is a quality which he has in common -with all other forms of existence....</p> - -<p>"To be blind to many things, to see many things falsely, to fancy -many things. Oh, how clever man has been in those circumstances in -which he believed that he was anything but clever! Love, enthusiasm, -'God'—are but subtle forms of ultimate self-deception; they are -but seductions to life and to the belief in life! In those moments -when man was deceived, when he befooled himself and when he believed -in life: Oh, how his spirit swelled within him! Oh, what ecstasies he -had! What power he felt! And what artistic triumphs in the feeling of -power!... Man had once more become master of 'matter'—master of -truth!... And whenever man rejoices, it is always in the same way: -he rejoices as an artist, his Power is his joy, he enjoys falsehood as -his power."<a name="FNanchor_35_152" id="FNanchor_35_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_152" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> - -<p>"Subdue it!" said the Jehovah of the Old Testament, speaking to man, -and pointing to the earth: "have dominion over the fish of the sea, and -over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon -the earth."</p> - -<p>This was man's original concept of his task on earth, and with it -before him he began to breathe at last, and to feel no longer a worm, -entangled in a mysterious piece of clockwork mechanism.</p> - -<p>"What is it that created esteeming and despising and value and will?" -Zarathustra asks.</p> - -<p>"The creating self created for itself esteeming and despising, it -created for itself joy and woe. The creating body created for itself -spirit, as a hand to its will."<a name="FNanchor_36_153" id="FNanchor_36_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_153" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> - -<p>To appraise a thing was to create it for ever in the minds of a people. -But to create a thing in the minds of a people was to create that -people too; for it is to have values in common that constitutes a -people.<a name="FNanchor_37_154" id="FNanchor_37_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_154" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> - -<p>"Creators were they who created peoples, and hung one belief and one -love over them," says Zarathustra; "thus they served life."<a name="FNanchor_38_155" id="FNanchor_38_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_155" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p>"Values did man stamp upon things only that he might preserve himself—he -alone created the meaning of things—a human meaning! Therefore -calleth he himself man—that is, the valuing one.</p> - -<p>"Valuing is creating: listen, ye creators! Valuation itself is the -treasure and jewel of valued things.</p> - -<p>"Through valuing alone can value arise; and without valuing, the nut of -existence would be hollow. Listen, ye creators!</p> - -<p>"Change of values—that is, change of creators.<a name="FNanchor_39_156" id="FNanchor_39_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_156" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> - -<p>"Verily a prodigy is this power of praising and blaming. Tell me, -ye brethren, who will master it for me? Who will put a yoke on the -thousand necks of this animal?"<a name="FNanchor_40_157" id="FNanchor_40_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_157" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> - -<p>"All the beauty and sublimity with which we have invested real and -imagined things," says Nietzsche, "I will show to be the property and -product of man, and this should be his most beautiful apology. Man -as a poet, as a thinker, as a god, as love, as power. Oh, the regal -liberality with which he has lavished gifts upon things!... Hitherto -this has been his greatest disinterestedness, that he admired and -worshipped, and knew how to conceal from himself that he it was who had -created what he admired."<a name="FNanchor_41_158" id="FNanchor_41_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_158" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> - -<p>"Man as a poet, as a thinker, as a god, as love, as power"—this man, -following his divine inspiration to subdue the earth and to make it -his, became the greatest stimulus to Life itself, the greatest bond -between earth and the human soul; and, in shedding the glamour of his -personality, like the sun, upon the things he interpreted and valued, -he also gilded, by reflection, his fellow creatures.</p> - -<p>There is not a thing we call sacred, beautiful, good or precious, that -has not been valued for us by this man, and when we, like children, -call out for the Truth about the riddles of this world, it is not for -the truth of reality which is the object of Christianity and of science -for which we crave; but for the simplifications<a name="FNanchor_42_159" id="FNanchor_42_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_159" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> and values of -this man-god, who, by the art-form, into which he casts reality, makes -us believe that reality is as he says it is.</p> - -<p>If this man is lacking, then we succumb to the blackest despair. If he -is with us, we voluntarily yield to boundless joy and good cheer. His -function is the divine principle on earth; his creation <i>Art</i> "is the -highest task and the properly metaphysical activity of this life."<a name="FNanchor_43_160" id="FNanchor_43_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_160" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_143" id="Footnote_26_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_143"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 28; also C.E., p. 288. See also -Schelling, Sämmtliche Werke, Vol. V, "<i>Vorlesungen über -die Methode des akademischen Studiums</i>," p. 286: "The -first origin of religion in general, as of every other kind of -knowledge and culture, can be explained only as the teaching -of higher natures."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_144" id="Footnote_27_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_144"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 89: "The Will to Truth at this stage -is essentially the art of interpretation."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_145" id="Footnote_28_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_145"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Thus Schiller, in one of his happy moments, called beauty -our second creator (zweite Schöpferin).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_146" id="Footnote_29_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_146"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, The Religion of Ancient -Egypt, p. 67.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_147" id="Footnote_30_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_147"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> That those who successfully determined values even in -comparatively recent times should have been regarded -almost universally as enjoying "some closer intimacy with -the Deity than ordinary mortals," proves how very godlike -and sacred the establishment of order was thought to be. -See Max Müller, <i>Introduction to the Science of Religion</i>, -p. 88.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_148" id="Footnote_31_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_148"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 102.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_149" id="Footnote_32_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_149"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 107.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_150" id="Footnote_33_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_150"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <i>H. A. H.</i>, Vol. I, p. 154.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_151" id="Footnote_34_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_151"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 108: "Art is the will to overcome -Becoming, it is a process of eternalizing." And p. 107: -"To stamp Becoming with the character of Being—this is -the highest Will to Power." See also <i>G. M.</i>, p. 199.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_152" id="Footnote_35_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_152"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, pp. 289, 290. See also <i>H. A. H.</i>, -Vol. I, p. 154.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_153" id="Footnote_36_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_153"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, IV.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_154" id="Footnote_37_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_154"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Schelling and Hegel both held this view; the one -expressed it quite categorically in his lectures on Philosophy -and Mythology, and the other in his <i>Philosophy of History</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_155" id="Footnote_38_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_155"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_156" id="Footnote_39_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_156"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XV.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_157" id="Footnote_40_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_157"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XVI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_158" id="Footnote_41_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_158"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 113.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_159" id="Footnote_42_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_159"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> See Th. Gomperz, <i>Greek Thinkers</i>, p. 46, who, -speaking of the old Ionian Nature-philosophers, says: "The bold -flight of their imagination did not stop at the assumption -of a plurality of indestructible elements; it never rested -till it reached the conception of a single fundamental or -primordial matter as the essence of natural diversity.... -The impulse to simplification, when it had once been -aroused, was like a stone set in motion, which rolls -continuously till it is checked by an obstacle." See also -Dr. W. Worringer, <i>Abstraktion und Einfühlung</i>, p. 20.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_160" id="Footnote_43_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_160"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> <i>B. T.</i>, p. 20.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_People_and_their_Man-God" id="The_People_and_their_Man-God">3. The People and their Man-God.</a></p> - - -<p>Think of the joy that must have spread through a wondering people like -the Greeks, when they were told that Earth, as the bride of Heaven, and -fertilized by his life-giving rain, became the mother not only of deep -eddying Ocean, but also of all that lives and dies upon her broad bosom!</p> - -<p>Imagine the jubilation, the feeling of power and the sense of extreme -relief that must have filled the hearts of the ancient New Zealanders, -when the first great Maori artist arose and said to his brothers and -sisters that it was the god of the forests, Tane Mahuta, with his tall -trees that had wrenched the sky by force from mother Earth, where once -upon a time he used to crush her teeming offspring to death.<a name="FNanchor_44_161" id="FNanchor_44_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_161" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> - -<p>With what superior understanding could they now gaze up into the -sky, and snap their fingers scornfully at its former azure mystery! -No wonder that the artist who could come forward with such an -interpretation became a god! And no wonder that in strong nations gods -and men are one! The fact that the explanation was not a true one, -according to our notions, did not matter in the least.</p> - -<p>History not only reveals, but also proves that lies are not necessarily -hostile to existence.</p> - -<p>For thousands of years the human race not only lived, but also -flourished with the lie of the Ptolemaic theory of the heavens on their -tongue.</p> - -<p>For centuries men thrived and multiplied, believing that the lightning -was Jehovah's anger, and that the rainbow was Jehovah's reminder of a -certain solemn covenant by which He promised never again to destroy all -life on earth by a flood.</p> - -<p>I do not wish to imply that these two beliefs are false. For my part, -I would prefer to believe them, rather than accept the explanations -of these phenomena which modern science offers me. Still, the fact -remains that these two Judaic explanations have been exploded by -modern science, though the question whether, as explanations, they are -superior to modern science, scarcely requires a moment's consideration.</p> - -<p>At any rate they were the work of an artist, and when we think of the -joy they must have spread among wondering mankind, we cannot wonder -that such an artist was made a god. It was an artist, too, who created -the unchanging thing;<a name="FNanchor_45_162" id="FNanchor_45_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_162" class="fnanchor">45</a> who created every kind of permanency, <i>i.e.</i> -Stability out of Evolution, and among other unchangeable things, the -soul of man, which was perhaps the greatest artistic achievement that -has ever been accomplished.</p> - -<p>And this Man-God who created Being—that is to say, a stable world, -a world which can be reckoned with, and in which the incessant -kaleidoscopic character of things is entirely absent—this same -Man-God who found the earth "without form" and "void," and whose -magnificent Spirit "moved upon the face of the waters"; when people -grew too weak to look upon him as their brother and God at the same -time,<a name="FNanchor_46_163" id="FNanchor_46_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_163" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> was relegated to his own world, and from a great distance they -now pray to him and worship him and say: "For Thine is the Kingdom, the -Power and the Glory, For ever and ever. Amen."</p> - -<p>"For ever and ever;" this was something they could not say of the world -as it is; and the thought of stability and of Being was a delight to -them.</p> - -<p>It may be difficult for us to picture how great the rejoicings must -have been which followed upon every fresh ordering and arranging of the -universe, every fresh interpretation of the world in the terms of man.</p> - -<p>Perhaps only a few people to-day, who are beginning to cast dubious -glances at Life, and to question even the justification of man's -existence, may be able to form some conception of the thrill that must -have passed through an ancient community, when one of its higher men -uprose and ordered and adjusted Life for them, and, in so ordering it, -transfigured it.</p> - -<p>How much richer they must have felt! And how inseparable the two -notions "artist" and "giver" must have appeared to them!</p> - -<p>"If indeed this is Life," they must have said; "if Life is really as he -orders it"—and his voice and eye allowed them to prefix no such "if" -with genuine scepticism—"then of a truth it is a well of delight and -a fountain of blessedness."</p> - -<p>Thus Art—this function which "is with us in order that we may not -perish through truth,"<a name="FNanchor_47_164" id="FNanchor_47_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_164" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> this "enhancement of the feeling of Life and -Life's stimulant,"<a name="FNanchor_48_165" id="FNanchor_48_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_165" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> which "acts as a tonic, increases strength and -kindles desire"<a name="FNanchor_49_166" id="FNanchor_49_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_166" class="fnanchor">[49]</a>—became the "great seducer" to earth and to the world;<a name="FNanchor_50_167" id="FNanchor_50_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_167" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> -and we can imagine the gratitude that swelled in the hearts of men -for him whose function it was. How could he help but become a god! -Even tradition was not necessary for this. For at the very moment when -his creative spirit lent its glory to the earth, man must have been -conscious of his divinity or of his use as a mouthpiece by a Divinity.<a name="FNanchor_51_168" id="FNanchor_51_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_168" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> - -<p>"O, Lord Varuna, may this song go well to thy heart!" sang the -ancient Hindus.</p> - -<p>"Thou who knowest the place of the birds that fly through the sky, who -on the waters knowest the ships.</p> - -<p>"Thou the upholder of order, who knowest the twelve months with the -offspring of each, and who knowest the month that is engendered -afterwards.</p> - -<p>"Thou who knowest the track of the wind, of the wide, the bright, the -mighty; and knowest those who reside on high.</p> - -<p>"Thou the upholder of order, Varuna, sit down among thy people, thou, -the wise, sit there to govern.</p> - -<p>"From thence perceiving all wondrous things, thou seest what has been -and what will be done.</p> - -<p>"Thou who givest to men glory, and not half glory, who givest it even -to our own selves.</p> - -<p>"Thou, O wise god, art Lord of all, of heaven and earth!"<a name="FNanchor_52_169" id="FNanchor_52_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_169" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p>We can follow every word of this heartfelt worship with perfect -sympathy now.</p> - -<p>"Thou, the upholder of order, who knowest the twelve months with the -offspring of each"—this is no empty praise. It is the cry of those -who feel inexpressibly grateful to their great artist; to him who has -put some meaning, some order into the world.</p> - -<p>And "Thou who givest men glory, and not half glory"—here is the -sincere recognition of a people who have been raised and who not only -rejoice in their elevation, but also recognize that it has been a -creative act—a gift and a blessing from one who had something to -give. For the soul of man is a million times more sensitive to changes -in interpretation than the column of mercury is to changes in the -atmosphere, and nothing can be more grateful than the soul of man when -it is raised, however little, and thereby glorified.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_161" id="Footnote_44_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_161"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> See Max Müller, <i>India. What can it teach us?</i> -pp. 154. 155; also pp. 150 and 151.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_162" id="Footnote_45_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_162"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, pp. 88, 89: "Happiness can be -promised only by Being: change and happiness exclude -each other. The loftiest desire is thus to be one with -Being. That is the formula for the way to happiness."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_163" id="Footnote_46_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_163"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 313.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_164" id="Footnote_47_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_164"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 264.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_165" id="Footnote_48_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_165"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 244.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_166" id="Footnote_49_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_166"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 252.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_167" id="Footnote_50_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_167"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 290. See also p. 292: "Art is more -divine than truth."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_168" id="Footnote_51_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_168"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 133. See also Schopenhauer, -<i>Parerga und Paralipomena</i>, Vol. II, Chap. XV, "<i>Ueber -Religion</i>," para. 176, where this view is ably upheld.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_169" id="Footnote_52_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_169"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Rig-Veda, I, 23.</p></div> - - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Danger" id="The_Danger">4. The Danger.</a></p> - - -<p>Now, having reached this point, and having established—First: that -it is our artists who value and interpret things for us, and who put -a meaning into reality which, without them, it would never possess; -and, secondly: that it is their will to power that urges them thus to -appropriate Nature in concepts, and their will to prevail which gives -them the ardour to impose their valuation with authority upon their -fellows, thus forming a people; the thought which naturally arises is -this: The power that artists can exercise, and the prerogative they -possess, is one which might prove exceedingly dangerous; for while it -may work for good, it may also work very potently for evil. Does it -matter who interprets the world? who gives a meaning to things? who -adjusts and systematizes Nature? and who imposes order upon chaos?</p> - -<p>Most certainly it matters. For a thousand meanings are possible, and -men may have a thousand been aiming for years, other interpretations -are still possible.</p> - -<p>Listen to your artistic friend's description of the most trifling -excursion he has made, and then set your inartistic friend to relate—say, -his journey round the world. Whereupon ask yourself whether it -matters who sees things and who interprets life for you. The first, -even with his trifling excursion in his mind, will make you think -that life is really worth living, that the world is full, of hidden -treasure. The second will make you conclude that this earth is an -uninteresting monster, and that boredom can be killed only by the -dangers of motor racing, aerial navigation and glacier climbing.</p> - -<p>"A thousand paths are there which never have been trodden," says -Zarathustra, "a thousand salubrities and hidden islands of life. Still -unexhausted and undiscovered is mankind and man's world."<a name="FNanchor_53_170" id="FNanchor_53_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_170" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<p>This interpreting of Nature and this making and moulding of a people -might therefore have brilliant or sinister results. There are many who -wish to prevail; there are many who wish to lure their fellows on, and -not all are standing on a superior plane.</p> - -<p>For though artists, as a rule, are men of strong propensities<a name="FNanchor_54_171" id="FNanchor_54_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_171" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> and -surplus energy, there is an instinct of chastity in the best of them,<a name="FNanchor_55_172" id="FNanchor_55_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_172" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> -which impels them to devote all their power to prevailing in concepts -rather than in offspring, and which makes them avoid precisely that -quarter whither other men turn when they wish to prevail.<a name="FNanchor_56_173" id="FNanchor_56_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_173" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> - -<p>The question as to what kind of man it is who walks up to Life and -orders and values her for us, is therefore of the most extraordinary -importance. Nothing could be more important than this. Because, as we -have seen, the question is not one of truth in the Christian and modern -scientific sense. A belief is often life-preserving and still false -from the standpoint of reality.<a name="FNanchor_57_174" id="FNanchor_57_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_174" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> It is a matter, rather, of -finding that belief, whether true or false, which most conduces to the -love of an exalted form of Life. And if we ask, Who is the man who is -interpreting life for us? What is he? What is his rank? we practically -lay our finger upon the very worth of our view of the world.</p> - -<p>There is no greater delight or passionate love on earth for the artist -than this: to feel that he has stamped his hand on a people and on -a millennium, to feel that his eyes, his ears, and his touch have -become their eyes, and their ears, and their touch. There is no deeper -enjoyment than this for him: to feel that as he sees, hears and feels, -they also will be compelled to see, hear and feel. Only thus is he able -to prevail. A people becomes his offspring.<a name="FNanchor_58_175" id="FNanchor_58_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_175" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> - -<p>While their elation and blessedness consisted in being raised in -concepts to his level, and in seeing the world through his artistic -prisms—in fact, in scoring materially by allowing him, their higher -man, to establish their type; it was his solitary and unfathomable -glory to prevail for ever through their minds, and to lay the -foundation of his hazar, his thousand years of life on earth, in the -spirit of his fellows.</p> - -<p>Utilitarian, if you will, are both points of view: the one giving from -his abundance, simply because he must discharge some of his plenitude -or perish, found his meaning in giving. The others, stepping up on the -gifts bestowed, found their meaning in receiving.<a name="FNanchor_59_176" id="FNanchor_59_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_176" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> - -<p>The artist, then, as the highest manifestation of any human community, -justifies his existence merely by living his life, and by imparting -some of his magnificence to the things about him. To use a metaphor of -George Meredith's, he gilds his retainers as the sun gilds, with its -livery, the small clouds that gather round it. This is the artist's -power and it is also his bliss. From a lower and more economical -standpoint, he justifies his life by raising the community to its -highest power; by binding it to Life with the glories which he alone -can see, and by luring it up to heights which he is the first to scale -and to explore.<a name="FNanchor_60_177" id="FNanchor_60_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_177" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_170" id="Footnote_53_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_170"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XXII.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_171" id="Footnote_54_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_171"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 243.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55_172" id="Footnote_55_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_172"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 259. Also <i>G. M.</i>, p. 141.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56_173" id="Footnote_56_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_173"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> In this regard it is interesting to note that: "The -Teutonic 'Kunst' (Art) is formed from <i>können</i>, and <i>können</i> is developed -from a primitive Ich kann. Ich kann philology recognizes a preterite -form of a lost verb, of which we find the traces in Kin-d, a child; and -the form Ich kann, thus meaning originally, 'I begot,' contains the -germ of the two developments—<i>können</i>, 'to be master,' 'to be able,' and -'kennen' to know" (<i>Sidney Colvin</i>, in the <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>, 9th -Edition. Article, "Art").</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57_174" id="Footnote_57_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_174"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 14. See also <i>G. E.</i>, pp. 8, 9.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58_175" id="Footnote_58_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_175"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 368: "The great man is conscious of his -power over a people, and of the fact that he coincides temporarily with -a people or with a century—this magnifying of his self-consciousness -as causa and voluntas is misunderstood as 'altruism': he feels driven -to means of communication: all great men are inventive in such means. -They want to form great communities in their own image; they would fain -give multiformity and disorder definite shape; it stimulates them to -behold chaos."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59_176" id="Footnote_59_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_176"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, pp. 255, 256.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60_177" id="Footnote_60_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_177"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Even Fichte recognizes this power in Art to stamp values -upon a people. See the Sämmtliche Werke, Vol, IV, p. 353: "Art converts -the transcendental standpoint into the general standpoint.... The -philosopher can raise himself and others to this standpoint only with -great effort. But the artistic spirit actually finds himself there, -without having thought about it; he knows no other standpoint, and -those who yield to his influence are drawn so imperceptibly over to -his side, that they do not even notice how the change takes place."</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Two_Kinds_of_Artists" id="The_Two_Kinds_of_Artists">5. The Two Kinds of Artists.</a></p> - - -<p>Up to the present I have spoken only of the desirable artist, of him -who, from the very health and fulness that is in him, cannot look on -Life without transfiguring her; of the man who naturally sees things -fuller, simpler, stronger and grander<a name="FNanchor_61_178" id="FNanchor_61_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_178" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> -than his fellows.<a name="FNanchor_62_179" id="FNanchor_62_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_179" class="fnanchor">62</a> When -this man speaks of Life, his words are those of a lover extolling his -bride.<a name="FNanchor_63_180" id="FNanchor_63_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_180" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> There is a ring of ardent desire and deep longing in his speech, -which is infectious because it is so sincere, which is convincing -because it is so authoritative, and which is beautiful because it -is so simple.</p> - -<p>Intoxicated<a name="FNanchor_64_181" id="FNanchor_64_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_181" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> by his love, giddy with enthusiasm, he rhapsodizes -about her, magnifies her; points to vast unknown qualities and beauties -in her, to which he is the first to give some lasting names; and stakes -his life upon her myriad charms. This Dionysian artist, the prototype -of all gods and demi-gods that have ever existed on earth, exalts Life -when he honours her with his love; and in exalting her, exalts humanity -as well.<a name="FNanchor_65_182" id="FNanchor_65_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_182" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p>For the mediocre, simply because they cannot transfigure Life in that -way, benefit extremely from looking on the world through the Dionysian -artist's personality. It is his genius which, by putting ugly reality -into an art-form, makes life desirable. Beneath all his dithyrambs, -however, there is still the will to power and the will to prevail—just -as these instincts are to be found behind the magnificats of the -everyday lover; but, in the case of the former, it is the power in the -spirit.</p> - -<p>There is, however, another kind of man who walks towards Life to value -and to order her. The kind of man who, as we saw in my last lecture, -declares that "man is born in sin,"—"that depravity is universal," -—"that nothing exists in the intellect but what has before existed -in the senses; "and that "every man is his own priest"; the man who -defines Life as "the continuous adjustment of internal relations to -external relations"; and who says: "it is only the cultivation of -individuality which produces, or can produce, well-developed human -beings"; the man who declares that we are all equal, that there is one -truth for all, if only it can be found; and who thus not only kills all -higher men, but also deprives his fellow creatures of all the beauty -that these higher men have brought, and might still bring, into the -world; finally, the man who values humanity with figures and in the -terms of matter, who values progress in the terms of the engineer's -workshop, and who denies that Art can have any relation to Life.</p> - -<p>This man is a sort of inverted Midas at whose touch all gold turns to -tinsel, all pearls turn to beads, and all beauty withers and fades, His -breath is that of the late autumn, and his words are hoarfrost. Having -nothing to give,<a name="FNanchor_66_183" id="FNanchor_66_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_183" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> he merely robs things of the beauty that was once -laid in them, by insisting upon the truth of their reality; and he sees -Life smaller, thinner, weaker, and greyer than it is even to the people -themselves. He is the antithesis of the Dionysian artist. He comes from -the people, and very often from a substratum lower than they. How, -therefore, can he give the people anything they do not already possess? -He is a housewives have not already seen or felt? People have no use -for him, therefore, and whenever they are drawn to his side by his -seditious songs about equality, they find, when it is too late, that he -has made the world drabbier, uglier, colder, and stranger for them than -it was before.</p> - -<p>This is the man who insists upon truth. Forgetting that truth is -ugly<a name="FNanchor_67_184" id="FNanchor_67_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_184" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> and that humanity has done little else, since it first became -conscious, than to master and overcome truth, he wishes to make this -world what it was in the beginning, "without form" and "void," and to -empty things of the meaning that has been put into them, simply because -he is unable to create a world for himself.<a name="FNanchor_68_185" id="FNanchor_68_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_185" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> - -<p>Aiming at a general truth for all, he is reduced to naked reality, -to Nature as it was before God's Spirit moved upon the face of the -waters, and this is his world of facts, stripped of all that higher -men have put into them. This man of science without Art, is gradually -reducing us to a state of absolute ignorance; for while he takes from -us what we know about things, he gives us nothing in return. How often -do we not hear people who are influenced by his science, exclaim that -the more they learn the less they feel they know. This exclamation -contains a very profound truth; for science is robbing us inch by inch -of all the groundfield-labourer among field-labourers, a housewife -among housewives—how could he point to any beauty or desire which -field-labourers and that was once conquered for us by bygone artists.<a name="FNanchor_69_186" id="FNanchor_69_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_186" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> - -<p>Such a man, if he can be really useful in garnering and accumulating -facts, and in devising and developing novel mechanical contrivances, -ought in any case to be closeted apart, so that none of his breath -can reach the Art-made world. And when he begins valuing, all windows -and doors ought speedily to be barred and bolted against him. He is -the realist. It is he who sees spots on the sun's face; it is he who -denies that mist is the passionate sigh of mother Earth, yearning for -her spouse the sky; it is he who will not believe that the god of the -forest with his tallest trees separated the earth and the heavens -by force, and the explanations he gives of things, though they are -doubtless useful to him in his laboratory, are empty and colourless. -Granting, as I say, that he does anything useful in the department of -facts, let his profession at least be a strictly esoteric one. For his -interpretations are so often ignoble, in addition to being colourless, -that his business, like that of a certain Paris functionary, ought to -be pursued in the most severe and most zealous secrecy.</p> - -<p>If the world grows ugly, and Life loses her bloom; if all winds are -ill winds, and the sunshine seems sickly and pale; if we turn our eyes -dubiously about us, and begin to question the justification of our -existence, we may be quite certain that this man, this realist, and his -type, are in the ascendancy, and that he it is who is stamping his ugly -fist upon our millennium.</p> - -<p>For the function of Art is the function of the ruler. It relieves the -highest of their burden, so that mediocrity may be twice blessed, -and it makes us a people by luring us to a certain kind of Life. Its -essence is riches, its activity is giving and perfecting,<a name="FNanchor_70_187" id="FNanchor_70_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_187" class="fnanchor"></a> and while -it is a delight to the highest, it is also a boon to those beneath them.</p> - -<p>The attempt of the Dionysian artist<a name="FNanchor_71_188" id="FNanchor_71_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_188" class="fnanchor"></a> to prevail, therefore, is -sacred and holy. In his efforts to make his eyes our eyes, his ears our -ears, and his touch our touch, though he does not pursue any altruistic -purpose, he confers considerable benefits upon mankind. Whereas -the attempt of that other man to prevail—the realist and devotee -of so-called truth—is barbarous and depraved. By his egoism he -depresses, depreciates and dismantles Life in great things as in small. -Woe to the age whose values allow his voice to be heard with respect! -There are necessary grey studies to be made, necessary uglinesses to -be described, perhaps. But let these studies and descriptions be kept -within the four walls of a laboratory until the time comes when, by -their collective means, man can be raised and not depressed by them. -Science is not with us to promulgate values. It is with us to be the -modest handmaiden of Art, working in secrecy until all its ugliness -can be collected, transfigured, and used for the purpose of man's -exaltation by the artist. It may be useful for our science-slaves, -working behind the scenes of Life, to know that the sky is merely our -limited peep into an infinite expanse of ether—whatever that is. But -when we ask to hear about it, let us be told as follows—</p> - -<p>"O heaven above me! Thou pure! Thou deep! Thou abyss of light! Gazing -on Thee, I quiver with godlike desires.</p> - -<p>"To cast myself up unto thy height—that is my profundity! To hide -myself in thy purity—that is mine innocence.</p> - -<p>"We have been friends from the beginning, thou and I. Sorrow and horror -and soil we share: even the sun is common to us.</p> - -<p>"We speak not to each other, for we know too many things. We stare -silently at each other; by smiles do we communicate our knowledge.</p> - -<p>"And all my wanderings and mountain-climbings—these were but a -necessity and a makeshift of the helpless one. To fly is the one thing -that my will willeth, to fly into thee.</p> - -<p>"And what have I hated more than passing clouds and all that defileth -thee!</p> - -<p>"The passing clouds I loathe—those stealthy cats of prey. They take -from thee and me what we have in common—that immense, that infinite -saying of Yea and Amen.</p> - -<p>"These mediators and mixers we loathe—the passing clouds.</p> - -<p>"Rather would I sit in a tub, with the sky shut out; rather would I -sit in the abyss without a sky, than see thee, sky of Light, denied by -wandering clouds!</p> - -<p>"And oft have I longed to pin them fast with the jagged gold wires of -lightning, that I might, like the thunder, beat the drum upon their -bellies.</p> - -<p>"An angry drummer, because they bereave me of thy Yea and Amen!—thou -heaven above me, thou pure, thou bright, thou abyss of Light! And -because they bereave thee of <i>my</i> Yea and Amen.</p> - -<p>"Thus spake Zarathustra."<a name="FNanchor_72_189" id="FNanchor_72_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_189" class="fnanchor">72</a></p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61_178" id="Footnote_61_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_178"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 243: "Artists should not see things -as they are; they should see them fuller, simpler, stronger. To this -end, however, a kind of youthfulness, of vernality, a sort of perpetual -elation, must be peculiar to their lives." See also T. I., Part 10, -Aph. 8.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62_179" id="Footnote_62_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_179"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 243. See also T. I., Part 10, Aph. 9.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63_180" id="Footnote_63_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_180"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 248.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64_181" id="Footnote_64_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_181"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 241: "The feeling of intoxication -(elation) is, as a matter of fact, equivalent to a sensation of surplus -strength." See also p. 254.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65_182" id="Footnote_65_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_182"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Schelling also recognized the transfiguring power of Art; -but he traced it to the fact that the artist invariably paints Nature -at her zenith. See p. II, <i>The Philosophy of Art</i> (translation by A. -Johnson): "Every growth of nature has but one moment of perfect beauty, -... Art, in that it presents the object in this moment, withdraws it -from time, and causes it to display its pure being in the form of -eternal beauty." This is making the natural object itself the adequate -source of its own transfiguration, and the theory overlooks the power -of the artist himself to see things as they are not.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66_183" id="Footnote_66_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_183"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 244: "The sober-minded man, the tired -man, the exhausted and dried-up man, can have no feeling for Art, -because he does not possess the primitive force of Art, which is the -tyranny of inner riches."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67_184" id="Footnote_67_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_184"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 101.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_68_185" id="Footnote_68_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_185"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 89: "The belief that the world which -ought to be, is, really exists, is a belief proper to the unfruitful, -who do not wish to create a world. They take it for granted, they -seek for ways and means of attaining it. 'The will to truth' [in -the Christian and scientific sense] is the impotence of the will to -create."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69_186" id="Footnote_69_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_186"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 104: "The development of science tends -ever more to transform the known into the unknown: its aim, however, is -to do the <i>reverse</i>, and it starts out with the instinct of tracing the -unknown to the known. In short, science is laying the road to sovereign -ignorance, to a feeling that knowledge does not exist at all, that it -was merely a form of haughtiness to dream of such a thing."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70_187" id="Footnote_70_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_187"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 263: "The essential feature in art is -its power of perfecting existence, its production of perfection and -plenitude. Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing, and the -deification of existence."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_71_188" id="Footnote_71_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_188"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Fichte comes near to Nietzsche, here, with his idea of -the "beautiful spirit" which sees all nature full, large and abundant, -as opposed to him who sees all things thinner, smaller, and emptier -than they actually are. See Fichte's <i>Sämmtliche Werke</i>, Vol. IV, p. -354. See also Vol. III, p. 273.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72_189" id="Footnote_72_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_189"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, III, XLVIII.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="Part_IIb" id="Part_IIb">Part II</a></h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">Deductions from Part I.</h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">Nietzsche's Art Principles</h4> - - -<blockquote> - -<p style="font-size: 0.9em;">"For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the -scribes."—<i>Matthew</i> vii. 29. -</p></blockquote> - - - -<p class="caption"><a id="The_Spirit_of_the_Age_Incompatible_with_Ruler-Art"></a>1. The Spirit of the Age Incompatible with Ruler-Art.</p> - - -<p>With Nietzsche's concept of Art before me I feel as if I had left the -arts of the present day many thousand leagues behind, and it is almost -a hardship to be obliged to return to them. For unless most of that -which is peculiar to this age be left many thousand leagues to the -rear, all hope of making any headway must be abandoned.</p> - -<p>We live in a democratic age. It is only natural, therefore, that all -that belongs to the ruler should have been whittled down, diluted, and -despoiled of its dignity; and we must feel no surprise at finding that -no pains have been spared which might reduce Art also to a function -that would be compatible with the spirit of the times. All that -savours of authority has become the work of committees, assemblies, -herds, crowds, and mobs. How could the word of one man be considered -authoritative, now that the ruling principle, to use a phrase of Mr. -Chesterton's, is that "twelve men are better than one"?<a name="FNanchor_1_190" id="FNanchor_1_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_190" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>The conception of Art as a manifestation of the artist's will to power -and his determination to prevail, is a much too dangerous one for the -present day. It involves all kinds of things which are antagonistic to -democratic theory, such as: Command, Reverence, Despotism, Obedience, -Greatness and Inequality. Therefore, if artists are to be tolerated -at all, they must have a much more modest, humble, and pusillanimous -comprehension of what their existence means, and of the purpose and -aim of their work; and their claims, if they make any, must be meek, -unprivileged, harmless and unassuming.</p> - -<p>While, therefore, the artist, as Nietzsche understood him, scarcely -exists at all to-day, another breed of man has come to the fore in -the graphic arts, whose very weakness is his passport, who makes no -claims at establishing new values of beauty, and who contents himself -modestly with exhibiting certain baffling dexterities, virtuosities -and tricks, which at once amaze and delight ordinary spectators or -Art-students, simply because they themselves have not yet overcome even -the difficulties of a technique.</p> - -<p>Monet's pointillisme, Sargent's visible and nervous brush strokes, -Rodin's wealth of anatomical detail, the Impressionist's scientific -rendering of atmosphere, Peter Graham's gauzy mists, Lavery's -post-Whistlerian portraits of pale people, and the touching devotion of -all modern artists to Truth, in the Christian and scientific sense, are -all indications of the general "funk"—the universal paralysis of will -that has overtaken the Art-world.</p> - -<p>But I am travelling too fast. I said that no pains have been spared -which might reduce Art also to a function that would be compatible with -the democratic spirit of the times. Now in what form have these pains -been taken?</p> - -<p>Their form has invariably been to turn the tables upon Art, and to make -its beauty dependent upon Nature, instead of Nature's beauty dependent -upon it.<a name="FNanchor_2_191" id="FNanchor_2_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_191" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>Tradition, of course, very largely laid the foundation of this mode of -thinking, and, from the Greeks to Ruskin, few seem to have realized how -much beauty Art had already laid in Nature, before even the imitative -artist could consider Nature as beautiful.</p> - -<p>As Croce rightly observes: "Antiquity seems generally to have been -entrammelled in the meshes of the belief in mimetic, or the duplication -of natural objects by the artist;"<a name="FNanchor_3_192" id="FNanchor_3_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_192" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> but when we remember that, as -Schelling points out, in Greece speculation about Art began with Art's -decline,<a name="FNanchor_4_193" id="FNanchor_4_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_193" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> we ought to feel no surprise at this remote underestimation -of the artistic fact.<a name="FNanchor_5_194" id="FNanchor_5_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_194" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>In reviewing the work of æstheticians from Plato to Croce, however, -what strikes me as so significant is the fact that, from the time -of Plotinus—who practically marks the end of the declension which -started in Plato's time—to the end of the seventeenth century, -scarcely a voice of any magnitude was raised in Europe on the subject -of Art.<a name="FNanchor_6_195" id="FNanchor_6_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_195" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>That there was no real "talk" about Art, at the time when it was -revived in the Middle Ages, and at the time when it flourished in -the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and that all the old Hellenic -discussions on the subject should have been taken up again at a -period when the last emaciated blooms of the Renaissance and of the -counter-Renaissance were bowing their heads, only shows how very sorry -the plight of all great human functions must be when man begins to hope -that he may set them right by talking about them.</p> - -<p>When it is remembered, however, that, from the end of the seventeenth -century onward, Art was regarded either as imitation pure and simple or -as idealized imitation by no less than fifteen thinkers of note—that -is to say, roughly speaking, by the Earl of Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, -Home, Burke and Hume in England, by Batteux and Diderot in France, -by Pagano and Spaletti in Italy, by Hemsterhuis in Holland, and by -Leibnitz, Baumgarten, Kant, Schiller and Fichte in Germany; and that -if Winckelmann and Lessing opposed these ideas, it was rather with the -recommendation of another kind of imitation—that of the antique— -than with a new valuation of Art; we can feel scarcely any surprise -at all at the sudden and total collapse of the dignity of Art in the -nineteenth century, under the deadly influence of the works of men like -Semper and his followers.</p> - -<p>It is all very well to point to men like Goethe, Heydenreich, -Schelling, Hegel, Hogarth and Reynolds—all of whom certainly did a -good deal to brace the self-respect of artists; but it is impossible -to argue that any one of them took up either such a definite or such a -determined attitude against the fifteen others whom I have mentioned, -as could materially stem the tide of democratic Art which was rising -in Europe. And if in the latter half of the nineteenth century we have -Ruskin telling us that "the art which makes us believe what we would -not otherwise have believed, is misapplied, and in most instances very -dangerously so";<a name="FNanchor_7_196" id="FNanchor_7_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_196" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> and if we find that his first principle is, "that our -graphic art, whether painting or sculpture, is to produce something -which shall look as like Nature as possible,"<a name="FNanchor_8_197" id="FNanchor_8_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_197" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> and that, in extolling -the Gothic, he says it was "the love of natural objects for their -own sake, and the effort to represent them frankly, unconstrained -by artistic laws";<a name="FNanchor_9_198" id="FNanchor_9_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_198" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> we realize how very slight the effect of those -exceptional spirits, headed by Goethe, must have been.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_190" id="Footnote_1_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_190"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See his evidence before the Joint Committee on the Stage -Censorship.—Daily Press, September 24th, 1909.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_191" id="Footnote_2_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_191"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. 19: "Man believes the world itself -to be overcharged with beauty,—he forgets that he is the cause of -it. He alone has endowed it with beauty.... In reality man mirrors -himself in things; he counts everything beautiful which reflects his -likeness.... Is the world really beautiful, just because man thinks it -is? Man has humanized it, that is all."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_192" id="Footnote_3_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_192"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Æsthetic</i> (Douglas Ainslie's translation), p. 259. See -also B. Bosanquet, <i>A History of Æsthetic</i>, pp. 15-18.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_193" id="Footnote_4_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_193"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>Sämmtliche Werke</i>, Vol. V, "Vorlesungen über die Methode -des akademischen Studiums," pp. 346, 347.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_194" id="Footnote_5_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_194"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Dr. Max Schasler (<i>Kritische Geschichte der Æsthetik</i>, -p. 73) agrees that the understanding of Art in classical antiquity -seems to be quite barbaric in its stupidity ("<i>von einer geradezu -barbarischen Bornirtheit</i>"); but he adds that this may be an argument -in favour of the antique; for it may prove the unconsciousness of the -artists and the absolute unity of the artistic life and of artistic -appreciation in antiquity.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_195" id="Footnote_6_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_195"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Aristotle was, of course, studied and commentated to -a very great extent during these fifteen centuries; but in all the -branches of science save Æsthetic. Where his Poetic was examined, the -philological or literary-historical interest was paramount. Augustine -and St. Thomas Aquinas do not differ materially from Plotinus and -Plato.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_196" id="Footnote_7_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_196"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Lectures on Art</i> (1870), p. 50.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_197" id="Footnote_8_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_197"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Aratra Pentelici</i> (1870), p. 118. It is true that this is -followed by a restriction; but what does this restriction amount to? -Ruskin says: "We must produce what shall look like Nature to people who -know what Nature is."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_198" id="Footnote_9_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_198"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>On the Nature of the Gothic</i> (Smith, Elder, 1854), p. 19.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="A_Thrust_parried_Police_or_Detective_Art_defined" id="A_Thrust_parried_Police_or_Detective_Art_defined">2. A Thrust parried. Police or Detective Art defined.</a></p> - - -<p>But to return to the movement initiated by Semper<a name="FNanchor_10_199" id="FNanchor_10_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_199" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>—here we -certainly have the scientific and Christian <i>coup de grâce</i> levelled -at the expiring spirit of nineteenth-century Art. For the actors in -this movement not only maintained that Art is imitation, but that it -actually took its origin in imitation—and of the basest sort—that -is to say, of accidental combinations of lines and colours produced in -basket-work, weaving and plaiting.</p> - -<p>This conclusion, which was arrived at, once more, by means of a -formidable array of facts, and which called itself "Evolution in -Art," was, like its first cousin, "Evolution in the Organic World," -absolutely democratic, ignoble, and vulgar; seeking the source of the -highest human achievements either in automatic mimicry, slavish and -even faulty copying, or involuntary adoption of natural or purely -utilitarian forms.</p> - -<p>Taking the beauty of Nature for granted—an assumption which, as -the first part of this lecture shows, is quite unwarrantable—these -Art-Evolutionists sought to prove that all artistic beauty was the -outcome of man's Simian virtues working either in the realm of Nature -or in the realm of his own utilitarian handiwork. And from the purely -imitative productions found in the Madeleine Cavern in La Dordogne, -to the repetitive patterns worked on wooden bowls by the natives in -British New Guinea, the origin of all art lay in schoolboy "cribbing."</p> - -<p>This was a new scientific valuation of Art—foreshadowed, as I have -shown, by philosophical æsthetic, but arriving independently, as it -were, at the conclusion that Art was no longer a giver, but a robber.</p> - -<p>Volumes were written to show the origin in technical industry of -individual patterns and ornaments on antique vases. And as Alois Riegl -rightly observes, the authors of these works spoke with such assurance, -that one might almost have believed that they had been present when the -vases were made.<a name="FNanchor_11_200" id="FNanchor_11_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_200" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> - -<p>Even Semper, however, as Riegl points out, did not go so far as his -disciples, and though he believed that art-forms had been evolved—a -fact any one would be ready to admit—he did not press the point that -technical industry had always been their root.</p> - -<p>When we find such delicate and beautifully rhythmic patterns as those -which Dr. A. C. Haddon gives us in his interesting work on Evolution -in Art, and are told that they originated in the frigate birds, or in -woodlarks, which infest the neighbourhood from which these patterns -hail;<a name="FNanchor_12_201" id="FNanchor_12_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_201" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> when we are shown a Chinese ornament which resembles -nothing so much as the Egyptian honeysuckle and lotus ornament,<a name="FNanchor_13_202" id="FNanchor_13_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_202" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> -and we are told that it is derived from the Chinese bat, and when we -are persuaded that an ordinary fish-hook can lead to a delightful -bell-like<a name="FNanchor_14_203" id="FNanchor_14_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_203" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> design; then our knowledge of what Art is protests -against this desecration of its sanctity—more particularly after -we have been informed that any beauty that the original "Skeuomorph"<a name="FNanchor_15_204" id="FNanchor_15_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_204" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> -may ultimately possess is mostly due to rapid and faulty copying -by inexpert draughtsmen, or to a simplifying process which repeated -drawings of the same thing must at length involve.</p> - -<p>This is nonsense, and of a most pernicious sort. No mechanical copying -or involuntary simplification will necessarily lead to designs of great -beauty. One has only to set a class of children to make dozens of -copies of an object—each more removed than the last from the original -—in order to discover that if any beauty arises at all, it is actually -<i>given</i> or <i>imparted</i> to the original by one particular child, who happens -to be an artist, and that the rest of the class will be quite innocent -of anything in the way of embellishments, or beauty of any kind.</p> - -<p>It would be absurd to argue that the beak of a frigate bird had not -been noticed by particular natives in those parts of the world where -the creature abounds; but the creative act of making an ornamental -design based upon a pot-hook unit, such as the frigate bird's beak -is, bears no causal relation whatsoever to the original fact in the -artist's environment, and to write books in order to show that it -does, is as futile as to try and show that pneumonia or bronchitis or -pleurisy was the actual cause of Poe's charming poem, "Annabel Lee."</p> - -<p>Riegl, Lipps, and Dr. Worringer very rightly oppose this view of Semper -and others. In his book, <i>Stilfragen</i>, Riegl successfully disposes of -the theory that repetitive patterns have invariably been the outcome -of technical processes such as weaving and plaiting, and points out -that, very often, a vegetable or animal form is given to an original -ornamental figure, only after it has been developed to such an extent -that it actually suggests that vegetable or animal form.<a name="FNanchor_16_205" id="FNanchor_16_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_205" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p>Dr. Worringer goes to great pains in order to show that there is -an Art-will which is quite distinct from mimicry of any kind, and -that this Art-will, beginning in the graphic arts with rhythmic and -repetitive geometrical designs, such as zigzags, cross-hatchings and -spirals, has nothing whatsoever to do with natural objects or objects -of utility, such as baskets and woven work, which these designs happen -to resemble.<a name="FNanchor_17_206" id="FNanchor_17_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_206" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<p>He points out that there is not only a difference of degree, but -actually a marked difference of kind, between the intensely realistic -drawing of the Madeleine finds and of some Australian cave painting -and rock sculptures,<a name="FNanchor_18_207" id="FNanchor_18_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_207" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> which are the work of the rudest savages, and the -rhythmic decoration of other races; and that whereas the former are -simply the result of a truly imitative instinct which the savage does -well to cultivate for his own self-preservation—since the ability -to imitate also implies sharpened detective senses<a name="FNanchor_19_208" id="FNanchor_19_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_208" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>—the latter is -the result of a genuine desire for order and simple and organized -arrangement, and an attempt in a small way to overcome confusion. "It -is man's only possible way of emancipating himself from the accidental -and chaotic character of reality."<a name="FNanchor_20_209" id="FNanchor_20_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_209" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>The author also shows very ably that, even where plant forms are -selected by the original geometric artist, it is only owing to some -peculiarly orderly or systematic arrangement of their parts, and that -the first impulse in the selective artist is not to imitate Nature, but -to obtain a symmetrical and systematic arrangement of lines,<a name="FNanchor_21_210" id="FNanchor_21_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_210" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> to gratify -his will to be master of natural disorder.</p> - -<p>These objections of Riegl and Worringer are both necessary and -important; for, as the former declares: "It is now high time that we -should retreat from the position in which it is maintained that the -roots of Art lie in purely technical prototypes."<a name="FNanchor_22_211" id="FNanchor_22_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_211" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>Even in the camp of the out-and-out evolutionists, however, there seems -always to have been some uncertainty as to whether they were actually -on the right scent. One has only to read Grosse, where he throws doubt -on the technical origin of ornament, and acknowledges that he clings -to it simply because he can see no other,<a name="FNanchor_23_212" id="FNanchor_23_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_212" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> and the concluding word of -Dr. Haddon's book, <i>Evolution in Art</i>,<a name="FNanchor_24_213" id="FNanchor_24_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_213" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> in order to understand how -very much a proper concept of the Art-instinct would have helped these -writers to explain a larger field of facts than they were able to -explain, and to do so with greater accuracy.</p> - -<p>Nobody, of course, denies that the patterns on alligators' backs, the -beaks of birds, and even the regular disposition of features in the -human face, have been incorporated into designs; but what must be -established, once and for all, is the fact that there is a whole ocean -of difference between the theory which would ascribe such coincidences -to the imitative faculty, and that which would show them to be merely -the outcome of an original desire for rhythmic order, simplification, -and organization, which may or may not avail itself of natural or -technical forms suggestive of symmetrical arrangement that happen to be -at hand.</p> - -<p>It is an important controversy, and one to which I should have been -glad to devote more attention. In summing up, however, I don't think -I could do better than quote the opening lines of the Rev. J. F. -Rowbotham's excellent <i>History of Music</i>, in which the same questions, -although applied to a different branch of Art, are admirably stated and -answered.</p> - -<p>In this book the author says—</p> - -<p>"The twittering of birds, the rustling of leaves, the gurgling of -brooks, have provoked the encomiums of poets. Yet none of these has -ever so powerfully affected man's mind that he has surmised the -existence of something deeper in them than one hearing would suffice -to disclose, and has endeavoured by imitating them to familiarize -himself with their nature, so that he may repeat the effect at his own -will and pleasure in all its various shades. These sounds, with that -delicate instinct which has guided him so nicely through this universe -of tempting possibilities, he chose deliberately to pass over. He heard -them with pleasure maybe. But pleasure must possess some æsthetic -value. There must be a secret there to fathom, a mystery to unravel, -before we would undertake its serious pursuit.</p> - -<p>"And there is a kind of sound which exactly possesses these -qualities—a sound fraught with seductive mystery—a sound which is -Nature's magic, for by it can dumb things speak.</p> - -<p>"The savage who, for the first time in our world's history, knocked -two pieces of wood together, and took pleasure in the sound, had other -aims than his own delight. He was patiently examining a mystery; he was -peering with his simple eyes into one of Nature's greatest secrets. The -something he was examining was rhythmic sound, on which rests the whole -art of music."<a name="FNanchor_25_214" id="FNanchor_25_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_214" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p>Thus, as you see, there is a goodly array of perfectly sensible people -on the other side. Still, the belief that graphic art took its origin -in imitation must undoubtedly have done a good deal of damage; for the -numbers that hold it and act upon it at the present day are, I am sorry -to say, exceedingly great.</p> - -<p>By identifying the will to imitate with the instinct of -self-preservation pure and simple, however, we immediately obtain its -order of rank; for having already established that the will to Art is -the will to exist in a certain way—that is to say, with power, all -that which ministers to existence alone must of necessity fall below -the will to Art. In helping us to make this point, Dr. Worringer and -Mr. Felix Clay have done good service, while Riegl's contribution to -the side opposed to the Art-Evolutionists cannot be estimated too -highly.</p> - -<p>We are now able to regard the realistic rockdrawings and cave-paintings -of rude Bushmen, as also the finds in the Madeleine Cavern, with an -understanding which has not been vouchsafed us before, and in comparing -these examples of amazing truth to Nature—which, for want of a better -name, we shall call Detective or Police Art<a name="FNanchor_26_215" id="FNanchor_26_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_215" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>—with the double -twisted braid, the palmette, and the simple fret in Assyrian ornament, -we shall be able to assign to each its proper order of rank.</p> - -<p>It seems a pity, before laying down the principles of an art, that -it should be necessary to clear away so many false doctrines and -prejudices heaped upon it in perfect good faith by scientific men. It -is only one proof the more, if such were needed, of the vulgarizing -influence science has exercised over everything it has touched, since -it began to become almost divinely ascendant in the nineteenth century.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_199" id="Footnote_10_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_199"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> "<i>Der Stil in der technischen und tektonischen Künsten, -oder praktische Æsthetik</i>."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_200" id="Footnote_11_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_200"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> See the excellent work, <i>Stilfragen</i>, p. 11.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_201" id="Footnote_12_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_201"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> <i>Evolution in Art</i>, by A. C. Haddon. See especially -figures 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, pp. 49-52. See also figure 106, -p. 181.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_202" id="Footnote_13_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_202"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>The Evolution of Decorative Art</i>, by Henry J. Balfour, p. 50.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_203" id="Footnote_14_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_203"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Evolution in Art</i>, by A. C. Haddon, p. 76.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_204" id="Footnote_15_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_204"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> A word Dr. Colley March introduced to express the idea -of an ornament due to structure.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_205" id="Footnote_16_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_205"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>Stilfragen</i>, p. 208 <i>et seq</i>. See also Dr. W. Worringer's -really valuable contribution to this subject: <i>Abstraktion und -Einfühlung</i>, p. 58.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_206" id="Footnote_17_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_206"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>Abstraktion und Einfühlung</i>, pp. 4, 8, 9, 11.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_207" id="Footnote_18_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_207"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>Abstraktion und Einfühlung</i>, p. 51. See also Grosse, -The Beginnings of Art, pp. 166-169 et seq.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_208" id="Footnote_19_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_208"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> For confirmation of this point see Felix Clay, <i>The -Origin of the Sense of Beauty</i>, p. 97.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_209" id="Footnote_20_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_209"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <i>Abstraktion und Einfühlung</i>, p. 44.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_210" id="Footnote_21_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_210"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <i>Abstraktion und Einfühlung</i>, p. 58.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_211" id="Footnote_22_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_211"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Stilfragen, p. 12.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_212" id="Footnote_23_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_212"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>The Beginnings of Art</i>, pp. 145-147.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_213" id="Footnote_24_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_213"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> p. 309: "There are certain styles of ornamentation -which, at all events in particular cases, may very well be -original, taking that word in its ordinary sense, such, for -example, as zigzags, cross-hatching, and so forth. The -mere toying with any implement which could make a mark -on any surface might suggest the simplest ornamentation -[<i>N.B.</i>—It is characteristic of this school that even original -design, according to them, must be the result of "toying" -with an instrument, and of a suggestion from chance -markings it may make] to the most savage mind. This may -or may not have been the case, and it is entirely beyond -proof either way, and therefore we must not press our -analogy too far. It is, however, surprising and is certainly -very significant that the origin of so many designs can be -determined although they are of unknown age."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_214" id="Footnote_25_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_214"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>The History of Music</i>, by J. F. Rowbotham, 1893, -pp. 7, 8. See also Dr. Wallaschek's <i>Anfänge der Tonkunst</i> -(Leipzig, 1903).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_215" id="Footnote_26_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_215"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The Bertillon system of identification and Madame -Tussaud's, together with a large number of modern -portraits and landscapes, are the highest development of -this art.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Purpose_of_Art_Still_the_Same_as_Ever" id="The_Purpose_of_Art_Still_the_Same_as_Ever">3. The Purpose of Art Still the Same as Ever.</a></p> - - -<p>But in spite of all the attempts that have been made to democratize -Art, and to fit it to the Procrustes bed of modernity, two human -factors have remained precisely the same as they ever were, and show -no signs of changing. I refer to the general desire to obey and to -follow, in the mass of mankind, and to the general desire to prevail in -concepts, if not in offspring, among higher men.</p> - -<p>Wherever one may turn, wherever one inquires, one will discover that, -at the present day, however few and weak the commanders may be, there -is among the vast majority of people an insatiable thirst to obey, -to find opinions ready-made, and to believe in some one or in some -law. The way the name of science is invoked when a high authority -is needed—just as the Church or the Bible used to be invoked in -years gone by—the love of statistics and the meekness with which -a company grows silent when they are quoted; the fact that the most -preposterous fashions are set in clothing, in tastes, and in manners; -the sheep-like way in which people will follow a leader, whether in -politics, literature, or in sport, not to dilate upon the love of great -names and the faith in the daily Press which nowadays, so I hear, even -prescribes schemes for dinner-table conversation—all these things -show what a vast amount of instinctive obedience still remains the -birthright of the Greatest Number. For even advertisement hoardings and -the excessive use of advertisements in this age, in addition to the -fact that they point unmistakably to the almost omnipotent power of the -commercial classes (a power which vouchsafes them even the privilege -of self-praise, which scarcely any other class of society could claim -without incurring the charge of bad-taste), also show how docilely -the greatest number must ultimately respond to repeated stimuli, and -finally obey if they be told often enough to buy, or to go to see, -any particular thing. And, in this respect, the Nietzschean attitude -towards the greatest number is one of kindness and consideration.</p> - -<p>This instinct to obey, says Nietzsche, is the most natural thing in the -world, and it must be gratified. By all means it must be gratified. -What is fatal is not that it should be fed with commands, but that it -should be starved by the lack of commanders, and so be compelled to go -in search of food on its own account.</p> - -<p>"Inasmuch as in all ages," says Nietzsche, "as long as mankind has -existed, there have always been human herds (family alliances, -communities, tribes, peoples, states, churches), and always a great -number who obey in proportion to the small number who command—in -view, therefore, of the fact that obedience has been most practised -and fostered among mankind hitherto, one may reasonably suppose that, -generally speaking, the need thereof is now innate in every one, as -a kind of <i>formal conscience</i> which gives the command: 'Thou shalt -unconditionally do something, unconditionally refrain from something.' -In short, 'Thou shalt.' This need tries to satisfy itself and to fill -its form with a content; according to its strength, impatience and -eagerness, it thereby seizes, as an omnivorous appetite, with little -selection, and accepts whatever is shouted into its ear by all sorts -of commanders—parents, teachers, laws, class prejudices, or public -opinion."<a name="FNanchor_27_216" id="FNanchor_27_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_216" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - -<p>Everywhere, then, "he who would command finds those who must obey"<a name="FNanchor_28_217" id="FNanchor_28_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_217" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>— -this is obvious to the most superficial observer; because it is easier -to obey than to command.</p> - -<p>"Wherever I found living things," says Zarathustra, "there heard I also -the language of obedience. All living things are things that obey.</p> - -<p>"And this I heard secondly: whatever cannot obey itself, is commanded. -Such is the nature of living things.</p> - -<p>"This, however, is the third thing I heard: to command is more -difficult than to obey. And not only because the commander beareth the -burden of all who obey, and because this burden easily crusheth him:—</p> - -<p>"An effort and a risk seemed all commanding unto me; and whenever it -commandeth, the living thing risketh itself.</p> - -<p>"Yea, even when it commandeth himself, then also must it atone for its -commanding. Of its own law must it become the judge and avenger and -victim."<a name="FNanchor_29_218" id="FNanchor_29_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_218" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>For opinions are a matter of will; they are always, or ought to -be always, travelling tickets implying a certain definite aim and -destination, and the opinions we hold concerning Life must point to -a certain object we see in Life;—hence there is just as great a -market for opinions, and just as great a demand for fixed values to-day -as there ever was, and the jealous love with which men will quote -well-established views, or begin to believe when they hear that a view -is well established—a fact which is at the root of all the fruits of -modern popularity—shows what a need and what a craving there is for -authority, for authoritative information, and for unimpeachable coiners -of opinions.</p> - -<p>Now all the arts either determine values or lay stress upon certain -values already established.<a name="FNanchor_30_219" id="FNanchor_30_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_219" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> What, then, are the particular values -that the graphic arts determine or accentuate? It must be clear that -they determine what is beautiful, desirable, in fact, imperative, in -form and colour.</p> - -<p>The purpose of the graphic arts, then, has remained the same as it ever -was. It is to determine the values "ugly" and "beautiful" for those who -wish to know what is ugly and what is beautiful. The fact that painters -and sculptors have grown so tremulous and so little self-reliant as -to claim only the right to imitate, to please and to amuse, does not -affect this statement in the least; it is simply a reflection upon -modern artists and sculptors.</p> - -<p>Since, however, these values beautiful and ugly are themselves but the -outcome of other more fundamental values which have ruled and moulded -a race for centuries, it follows that the artist who would accentuate -or determine the qualities beautiful or ugly, must bear some intimate -relation to the past and possible future of the people.</p> - -<p>Place the Hermes of Praxiteles and especially the canon of Polycletus -in any part of a cathedral of the late Gothic, and you will see to what -extent the values which gave rise to Gothic Art were incompatible with, -and antagonistic to, those which reared Praxiteles and Polycletus. -Now, if you want a still greater contrast, place an Egyptian granite -sculpture inside a building like le Petit Trianon, and this intimate -association between the Art and the values of a people will begin to -seem clear to you.</p> - -<p>You may ask, then, why or how such an art as Ruler-art can please? -Since it introduces something definitely associated with a particular -set of values, and commands an assent to these values, how is it that -one likes it?</p> - -<p>The reply is that one does not necessarily like it. One often hates -it. One likes it only when one feels that it reveals values which are -in sympathy with one's own aspirations. The Ruler-art of Egypt, for -instance, can stir no one who, consciously or unconsciously, is not in -some deep secret sympathy with the society which produced it; and as an -example of this sympathy—if you wish to know why the realism which -comes from poverty<a name="FNanchor_31_220" id="FNanchor_31_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_220" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> tends to increase and flourish in democratic times, -it is only because there is that absence of particular human power in -it which is compatible with a society in which a particular human power -is completely lacking.</p> - -<p>For it is absolute nonsense to speak of <i>l'art pour l'art</i> and of the -pleasure of art for art's sake as acceptable principles.<a name="FNanchor_32_221" id="FNanchor_32_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_221" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> I will show -later on how this notion arose. Suffice it to say, for the present, -that this is the death of Art. It is separating Art from Life, and it -is relegating it to a sphere—a Beyond—where other things, stronger -than Art, have already been known to die. The notion of art for art's -sake can only arise in an age when the purpose of Art is no longer -known, when its relation to Life has ceased from being recognized, and -when artists have grown too weak to find the realization of their will -in their works.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_216" id="Footnote_27_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_216"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p. 120.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_217" id="Footnote_28_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_217"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 105.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_218" id="Footnote_29_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_218"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXXIV.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_219" id="Footnote_30_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_219"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> T. I., Part 10, Aph. 24: "A psychologist asks what -does all art do? does it not praise? does it not glorify? does -it not select? does it not bring into prominence? In each -of these cases it strengthens or weakens certain valuations.<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">... Is this only a contingent matter?—an accident,</span><br /> -something with which the instinct of the artist would not -at all be concerned? Or rather, is it not the pre-requisite -which enables the artist to do something? Is his fundamental<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">instinct directed towards art?—or is it not rather</span><br /> -directed towards the sense of art, namely, life? towards -desirableness of life?"</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_220" id="Footnote_31_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_220"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> See <a href="#It_follows_from_this_therefore">p. 119.</a>**</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_221" id="Footnote_32_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_221"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 246. See also <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. 24, -and <i>G. E.</i>, p. 145.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Artists_and_the_Laymans_View_of_Life" id="The_Artists_and_the_Laymans_View_of_Life">4. The Artist's and the Layman's View of Life.</a></p> - - -<p>If the artist's view of Life can no longer affect Life, if his -ordering, simplifying and adjusting mind can no longer make Life -simpler, more orderly and better adjusted, then all his power has -vanished, and he has ceased from counting in our midst, save, perhaps, -as a <i>decorator</i> of our homes—that is to say, as an artisan; or as an -<i>entertainer</i>—that is to say, as a mere illustrator of our literary -men's work.</p> - -<p>What is so important in the artist is, that disorder and confusion are -the loadstones that attract him.<a name="FNanchor_33_222" id="FNanchor_33_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_222" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> Though, in stating this, I should ask -you to remember that he sees disorder and confusion where, very often, -the ordinary person imagines everything to be admirably arranged. -Still, the fact remains that he finds his greatest proof of power only -where his ordering and simplifying mind meets with something whereon it -may stamp its two strongest features: Order and Simplicity; and where -he is strong, relative disorder is his element, and the arrangement -of this disorder is his product.<a name="FNanchor_34_223" id="FNanchor_34_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_223" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Stimulated by disorder, which he -despises, he is driven to his work; spurred by the sight of anarchy, -his inspiration is government; fertilized by rudeness and ruggedness, -his will to power gives birth to culture and refinement. He gives of -himself—his business is to make things reflect him.</p> - -<p>Thus, even his will to eternalize, and to stamp the nature of stability -on Becoming, must not be confounded with that other desire for Being -which is a desire for rest and repose and opiates,<a name="FNanchor_35_224" id="FNanchor_35_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_224" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> and which has -found its strongest expression in the idea of the Christian Heaven. -It is, rather, a feeling of gratitude towards Life, a desire to show -thankfulness to Life, which makes him desire to rescue one beautiful -body from the river of Becoming, and fix its image for ever in this -world,<a name="FNanchor_36_225" id="FNanchor_36_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_225" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> whereas the other is based upon a loathing of Life and a -weariness of it.</p> - -<p>Defining <i>ugliness</i> provisionally as disorder, it may have a great -attraction for the artist, it may even be the artist's sole attraction, -and in converting it—the thing he despises most—into <i>beauty</i>, which -we shall define provisionally as order, he reaches the zenith of his -power.<a name="FNanchor_37_226" id="FNanchor_37_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_226" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> - -<p>"Where is beauty?" Zarathustra asks. "Where I must will with my whole -will; where I will love and perish, that an image may not remain merely -an image.<a name="FNanchor_38_227" id="FNanchor_38_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_227" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p>"For to create desireth the loving one, because he despiseth."<a name="FNanchor_39_228" id="FNanchor_39_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_228" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> - -<p><a id="It_follows_from_this_therefore"></a>It follows from this, therefore, that the realistic artist—the -purveyor of Police Art—who goes direct to beauty or ugliness -and, after having worked upon either, leaves it just as it was -before,<a name="FNanchor_40_229" id="FNanchor_40_229"></a><a -href="#Footnote_40_229" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> shows no proof -of power at all, and ranks with the bushmen of Australia and the -troglodytes of La Dordogne, as very much below the hierophantic -artist who transforms and transfigures. All realists, therefore, -from Apelles<a name="FNanchor_41_230" id="FNanchor_41_230"></a><a -href="#Footnote_41_230" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> in the fourth -century B.C. to the modern impressionists, portrait painters and -landscapists, must step down. Like the scientists, they merely -ascertain facts, and, in so doing, leave things precisely as -they are.<a name="FNanchor_42_231" id="FNanchor_42_231"></a><a -href="#Footnote_42_231" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> Photography is -rapidly outstripping them, and will outstrip them altogether once it -has mastered the problem of colour. Photography could never have vied -with the artist of Egypt, or even of China and Japan; because in the -arts of each of these nations there is an element of human power over -Nature or reality, which no mechanical process can emulate.</p> - -<p>Now, what is important in the ideal and purely hypothetical layman -is, that he has a horror of disorder, of confusion, and of chaos, and -flees from it whenever possible. He finds no solace anywhere, except -where the artist has been and left things transformed and richer for -him. Bewildered by reality, he extends his hands for that which the -artist has made of reality. He is a receiver. He reaches his zenith in -apprehending.<a name="FNanchor_43_232" id="FNanchor_43_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_232" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> His attitude is that of a woman, as compared with the -attitude of the artist which is that of the man.</p> - -<p>"Logical and geometrical simplification is the result of an increase -of power: conversely, the mere aspect of such simplification increases -the sense of power in the beholder."<a name="FNanchor_44_233" id="FNanchor_44_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_233" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> To see what is ugliness to him, -represented as what is beauty to him, also impresses the spectator with -the feeling of power; of an obstacle overcome, and thereby stimulates -his activities. Moreover, the spectator may feel a certain gratitude -to Life and Mankind. It often happens, even in our days, that another -world is pictured as by no means a better world,<a name="FNanchor_45_234" id="FNanchor_45_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_234" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> and the healthy -and optimistic layman may feel a certain thankfulness to Life and to -Humanity. It is then once more that he turns to the artist who has -felt the same in a greater degree, who can give him this thing—be it -a corner of Life or of Humanity—who can snatch it from the eternal -flux and torrent of all things into decay or into death, and who can -carve or paint it in a form unchanging for him, in spite of a world of -Becoming, of Evolution, and of ebb and flow. Just as the musician cries -Time! Time! Time! to the cacophonous medley of natural sounds that pour -into his ears from all sides, and assembles them rhythmically for our -ears hostile to disorder; so the graphic artist cries Time! Time! Time! -to the incessant and kaleidoscopic procession of things from birth to -death, and places in the layman's arms the eternalized image of that -portion of Life for which he happens to feel great gratitude.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_222" id="Footnote_33_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_222"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 368.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_223" id="Footnote_34_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_223"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 241.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_224" id="Footnote_35_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_224"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 280.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_225" id="Footnote_36_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_225"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 281.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_226" id="Footnote_37_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_226"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 244.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_227" id="Footnote_38_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_227"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXXVII.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_228" id="Footnote_39_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_228"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I. XVIII.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_229" id="Footnote_40_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_229"><span class="label">[40]</span></a><i> T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. "Nature, estimated artistically, -is no model. It exaggerates, it distorts, it leaves gaps. -Nature is accident. Studying 'according to nature' seems -to me a bad sign; it betrays subjection, weakness, fatalism; -this lying-in-the-dust before petit fails is unworthy of a -complete artist. Seeing what is—that belongs to another -species of intellects, to the anti-artistic, to the practical."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_230" id="Footnote_41_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_230"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> See Woltmann and Woermann, <i>History of Painting</i>, -Vol. I, p. 62</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_231" id="Footnote_42_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_231"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <i>B. T.</i>, p. 59. See also Schopenhauer, <i>Parerga und -Paralipomena</i>, Vol. II, p. 447.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_232" id="Footnote_43_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_232"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 255.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_233" id="Footnote_44_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_233"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 241.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_234" id="Footnote_45_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_234"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 95: "A people that are proud of -themselves, and who are on the ascending path of Life, -always picture another existence as lower and less valuable -than theirs."</p></div> - - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a id="The_Confusion_of_the_Two_Points_of_View"></a>5. The Confusion of the Two Points of View.</p> - - -<p>It is obvious that if both pleasures are to remain pure and undefiled— -if the artist is to attain to his zenith in happiness, and the layman -to his also—their particular points of view must not be merged, -dulled, or blunted by excessive spiritual intercourse.<a name="FNanchor_46_235" id="FNanchor_46_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_235" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> For a very large -amount of the disorder in the arts of the present can easily be traced -to a confusion of the two points of view.</p> - -<p>In an ideal society, the artist's standpoint would be esoteric, and the -layman's exoteric.</p> - -<p>Nowadays, of course, owing to the process of universal levelling which -has been carried so far that it is invading even the department of sex, -it is hard to find such distinctions as the artist's and the layman's -standpoint in art sharply and definitely juxtaposed. And this fact -accounts for a good deal of the decrease in æsthetic pleasure, which -is so characteristic of the age. In fact, it accounts for the decrease -of pleasure in general, for only where there are sharp differences can -there be any great pleasure. Pessimism and melancholia can arise only -in inartistic ages, when a process of levelling has merged all the joys -of particular standpoints into one.</p> - -<p>Let me give you a simple example, drawn from modern life and the -pictorial arts, in order to show you to what extent the standpoint of -the people or of the layman has become corrupted by the standpoint of -the artist, and vice-versâ.</p> - -<p>Strictly speaking, artists in search of scope for their powers should -prefer Hampstead Heath or the Forest of Fontainebleau<a name="FNanchor_47_236" id="FNanchor_47_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_236" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> to the -carefully laid-out gardens of our parks and of Versailles. Conversely, -if their taste were still uncorrupted, the public ought to prefer the -carefully arranged gardens of our parks and of Versailles to Hampstead -Heath or the Forest of Fontainebleau.</p> - -<p>Some of the public, of course, still do hold the proper views on these -points, but their number is rapidly diminishing, and most of them -assume the airs of artists now, and speak with sentimental enthusiasm -about the beautiful ruggedness of craggy rocks, the glorious beauty of -uncultivated Nature, and the splendour of wild scenery.<a name="FNanchor_48_237" id="FNanchor_48_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_237" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="marriage"></a> -<img src="images/marriage.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p style="font-size: 0.8em; text-align: center;">The Marriage of Mary. By Raphael. (Brera, Milan.)</p> -</div> -<hr class="r5" /> -<p>Artists, on the other hand, having become infected by the public's -original standpoint—the desire for order—either paint pictures -like Raphael's "Marriage of Mary,"<a name="FNanchor_49_238" id="FNanchor_49_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_238" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> his "Virgin and Child attended -by St. John the Baptist and St. Nicholas of Bari,"<a name="FNanchor_50_239" id="FNanchor_50_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_239" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> and Perugino's -"Vision of St. Bernard,"<a name="FNanchor_51_240" id="FNanchor_51_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_240" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> in which the perfectly symmetrical aspect and -position of the architecture is both annoying and inartistic, owing to -the fact that it was looked at by the artist from a point at which it -was orderly and arranged before he actually painted it, and could not -therefore testify to his power of simplifying or ordering—but simply -to his ability to avail himself of another artist's power, namely, the -architect's; or else, having become infected by the public's corrupt -standpoint—the desire for disorder and chaos as an end in itself— -they paint as Ruysdael, Hobbema and Constable painted—that is to -say, without imparting anything of themselves, or of their power to -order and simplify, to the content of the picture, lest the desire for -disorder or chaos should be thwarted.<a name="FNanchor_52_241" id="FNanchor_52_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_241" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> - -<p>This is an exceedingly important point, and its value for art criticism -cannot be overrated. If one can trust one's taste, and it is still a -purely public taste, it is possible to tell at a glance why one cannot -get oneself to like certain pictures in which either initial regularity -has been too great, thus leaving no scope for the artist's power, or in -which final irregularity is too great, thus betraying no evidence of -the artist's power.</p> - -<p>Looking at Rubens' "Ceres,"<a name="FNanchor_53_242" id="FNanchor_53_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_242" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> in which the architecture is -viewed also in a frontal position, you may be tempted to ask why such -a picture is not displeasing, despite the original symmetry of the -architecture in the position in which the painter chose to paint it. -The reply is simple. Here Rubens certainly placed the architecture -full-face; but besides dissimulating the greater part of it in shadow— -which in itself produces unsymmetrical shapes that have subsequently to -be arranged by tone composition—lie carefully disordered it by means -of garlands and festoons, and only then did he exercise his artistic -mind in making a harmonious and orderly pictorial arrangement of it, -which also included some cupids skilfully placed.</p> - -<p>All realism, or Police Art, therefore, in addition to being the outcome -of the will to truth which Christianity and its offshoot Modern Science -have infused into the arts, may also be the result of the artist's -becoming infected either with the public's pure taste, or with the -public's corrupted or artist-infected taste, and we are thus in -possession of one more clue as to what constitutes a superior work of -graphic art.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_235" id="Footnote_46_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_235"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, pp. 255, 256.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_236" id="Footnote_47_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_236"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> In regard to this point it is interesting to note -that Kant, in his Kritik der Urteilskraft, actually called -landscape-painting a process of gardening.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_237" id="Footnote_48_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_237"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> I do not mean to imply here that all the sentimental -gushing that is given vent to nowadays over rugged and wild scenery -is the outcome only of a confusion of the artist's and layman's -standpoints. The influence of the Christian and Protestant worship -of pointless freedom, together with that of their contempt of the -work of man, is largely active here; and the sight of unhandseled and -wild shrubs, and of tangled and matted grasses, cheers the heart of -the fanatical believer in the purposeless freedom and anarchy which -Christianity and Protestantism have done so much to honour and extol. -That the same man who honours government and an aristocratic ideal may -often be found to-day dilating upon the charms of chaotic scenery, only -shows how muddle-headed and confused mankind has become.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_238" id="Footnote_49_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_238"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> The Brera at Milan.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_239" id="Footnote_50_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_239"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> The National Gallery, London. Raphael was very much -infected with the people's point of view, hence the annoying -stiltedness of many of his pictures.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_240" id="Footnote_51_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_240"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Pinakothek, Munich.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_241" id="Footnote_52_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_241"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> See particularly, Ruysdael's "Rocky Landscape," -"Landscape with a Farm" (Wallace collection); Hobbema's "Outskirts of -a Wood" and many others in the Wallace collection; and Constable's -"Flatford Mill" and "The Haywain" (National Gallery).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_242" id="Footnote_53_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_242"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Meaning_of_Beauty_of_Form_and_of_Beauty_of_Content_in_Art" id="The_Meaning_of_Beauty_of_Form_and_of_Beauty_of_Content_in_Art">6. The Meaning of Beauty of Form and of Beauty of Content in Art.</a></p> - - -<p>So far, then, I have arrived at this notion of beauty in Ruler-Art, -namely: that it may be regarded almost universally as that order, -simplicity and transfiguration which the artist mind imparts to the -content of his production. This notion seems to allow of almost -universal application, because, as I showed in the first part of -this lecture, it involves one of the primary instincts of man—the -overcoming of chaos and anarchy by adjustment, simplification and -transfiguration. It is only in democratic ages, or ages of decline, -when instincts become disintegrated, that beauty in Art is synonymous -with a lack of simplicity, of order and of transfiguration. I have -shown, however, that the second kind of beauty, or democratic beauty, -is of an inferior kind to that of the first beauty, or Ruler beauty, -because, while the former takes its root in the will to live, the -latter arises surely and truly out of the will to power.<a name="FNanchor_54_243" id="FNanchor_54_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_243" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> Either -beauty, however, constitutes ugliness in its opponent's opinion.</p> - -<p>But there is another aspect of Beauty in Art which has to be -considered, and that is the intrinsic beauty of the content of an -artistic production. You may say that, <i>ex hypothesi</i>, I have denied -that there could be any such beauty. Not at all!</p> - -<p>Since the ruler-artist transfigures by enhancement, by embellishment -and by ennoblement, his mind can be stimulated perfectly well by an -object or a human being which to the layman is vertiginously beautiful, -and which to himself is exceedingly pleasing. In fact, if his mind -is a mind which, like that of most master-artists, adores that which -is difficult, it will go in search of the greatest natural beauty it -can find, in order, by a stupendous effort in transfiguration, to -outstrip even that; for the embellishment of the downright ugly and the -downright revolting presents a task too easy to the powerful artist—a -fact which explains a good deal of the ugly contents of many a modern -picture.</p> - -<p>What, then, constitutes the beauty of the content in an artistic -production, as distinct from the beauty of the treatment? In other -words, what is beauty in a subject?</p> - -<p>For the notion that the subject does not matter in a picture is one -which should be utterly and severely condemned. It arose at a time -when art was diseased, when artists themselves had ceased from having -anything of importance to say, when the subjects chosen had no meaning, -and when technique was bad. And it must be regarded more in the light -of a war-cry coming from a counter-movement, aiming at an improved -technique and rebelling against an abuse of literature in the graphic -arts, than in the light of sound doctrine, taking its foundation in -normal and healthy conditions.</p> - -<p>The intrinsic beauty of the content or substance of a picture or -sculpture may therefore be the subject of legitimate inquiry, and in -determining what it consists of, we raise the whole question of content -beauty.</p> - -<p>Volumes, stacks of volumes, have been written on this question. The -most complicated and incomprehensible answers have been given to it, -and not one can be called satisfactory; for all of them would be -absolute.</p> - -<p>When, however, we find a modern writer defining the beautiful as -"that which has characteristic or individual expressiveness for sense -perception or imagination, subject to the conditions of general or -abstract expressiveness in the same medium,"<a name="FNanchor_55_244" id="FNanchor_55_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_244" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> we feel, or at least -<i>I</i> feel, that something must be wrong. It is definitions such as these -which compel one to seek for something more definite and more lucid -in the matter of explanation, and if, in finding the latter, one may -seem a little too prosaic and <i>terre-à-terre</i>, it is only because the -transcendental and metaphysical nature of the kind of definition we -have just quoted makes anything which is in the slightest degree -clearer, appear earthly and material beside it.</p> - -<p>It is obvious that, if we could only arrive at a subject-beauty which -was absolute, practically all the difficulties of our task would -vanish. For having established the fact that the purpose of the -graphic arts is to determine the values beautiful and ugly, it would -only remain for us to urge all artists to advocate that absolute -subject-beauty with all the eloquence of line and colour that our -concept of Art-form would allow, and all the problems of Art would be -solved.</p> - -<p>But we can postulate no such absolute in subject-beauty. "Absolute -beauty exists just as little as absolute goodness and truth."<a name="FNanchor_56_245" id="FNanchor_56_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_245" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> The -term "beautiful," like the term "good," is only a means to an end. It -is simply the arbitrary self-affirmation of a certain type of man in -his struggle to prevail.<a name="FNanchor_57_246" id="FNanchor_57_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_246" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> He says "Yea" to his type, and calls it -beautiful. He cannot extend his power and overcome other types unless -with complete confidence and assurance he says "Yea" to his own type.</p> - -<p>You and I, therefore, can speak of the beautiful with an understanding -of what that term means, only on condition that our values, our -traditions, our desires, and our outlook are exactly the same. If you -agree with me on the question of what is good, our agreement simply -means this, that in that corner of the world from which you and I hail, -the same creator of values prevails over both of us. Likewise, if you -and I agree on the question of what is beautiful, this fact merely -denotes that as individuals coming from the same people, we have our -values, our tradition and our outlook in common.</p> - -<p>"Beautiful," then, is a purely relative term which may be applied to a -host of dissimilar types and which every people must apply to its own -type alone, if it wishes to preserve its power. Biologically, absolute -beauty exists only within the confines of a particular race. That race -which would begin to consider another type than their own as beautiful, -would thereby cease from being a race. We may be kind, amiable, and -even hospitable to the Chinaman or the Negro; but the moment we begin -to share the Chinaman's or the Negro's view of beauty, we run the risk -of cutting ourselves adrift from our own people.</p> - -<p>But assuming, as we must, that all people, the Chinese, the Negroes, -the Hindus, the Red Indians, and the Arabs between themselves apply -the word beautiful only to particular individuals among their own -people, in order to distinguish them from less beautiful or mediocre -individuals—what meaning has the term in that case?</p> - -<p>Obviously, since the spirit of the people, its habits, prejudices -and prepossessions are determined by their values, and values may -fix a type, that creature will be most beautiful among them who is -the highest embodiment and outcome of all their values, and who -therefore corresponds most to the ideal their æsthetic legislator had -in mind when he created their values.<a name="FNanchor_58_247" id="FNanchor_58_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_247" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> Thus even morality can -be justified æsthetically.<a name="FNanchor_59_248" id="FNanchor_59_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_248" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> And in legislating for primeval peoples, -higher men and artist-legislators certainly worked like sculptors on a -yielding medium which was their own kind.</p> - -<p>The most beautiful negro or Chinaman thus becomes that individual negro -or Chinaman who is rich in those features which the life-spirit of the -Ethiopian or Chinese people is calculated to produce, and who, owing to -a long and regular observance of the laws and traditions of his people, -by his ancestors for generations, has inherited that regularity of form -in his type, which all long observance of law and order is bound to -cultivate and to produce.<a name="FNanchor_60_249" id="FNanchor_60_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_249" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> And in reviewing the peoples of Europe -alone, we can ascribe the many and different views which they have held -and still hold of beauty, only to a difference in the values they have -observed for generations in their outlook, their desires and their -beliefs.</p> - -<p>It is quite certain, therefore, that, in the graphic arts, which either -determine or accentuate the values "ugly" and "beautiful," every artist -who sets up his notion of what is subject-beauty, like every lover -about to marry, either assails or confirms and consolidates the values -of his people.<a name="FNanchor_61_250" id="FNanchor_61_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_250" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> - -<p>Examples of this, if they were needed, are to be found everywhere. See -how the Gothic school of painting, together with men like Fra Angelico, -Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, El Greco, and subsequently Burne-Jones, -set up the soulful person, the person of tenuous, nervous and -heaven-aspiring slenderness, as the type of beauty, thus advocating and -establishing Christian values in a very seductive and often artistic -manner; while the Pagans, with Michelangelo, Titian, and even Rubens, -represented another code of values—perhaps even several other codes— -and sought to fix their type also.</p> - -<p>Note, too, how hopeless are the attempts of artists who stand for the -Pagan ideal, when they paint Christian saints and martyrs, and how -singularly un-Pagan those figures are which appear in the pictures of -the advocates of the Christian ideal when they attempt Pagan types. -Christ by Rubens is not the emaciated, tenuous Person suffering from -a wasting disease that Segna represents him to be; while the Mars and -Venus of Botticelli in the National Gallery would have been repudiated -with indignation by any Greek of antiquity.</p> - -<p>When values are beginning to get mixed, then, owing to an influx of -foreigners from all parts of the world, we shall find the strong -biological idea of absolute beauty tending to disappear, and in its -place we shall find the weak and wholly philosophical belief arising -that beauty is relative. Thus, in Attica of the fifth century B.C., -when 300,000 slaves, chiefly foreigners, were to be counted among the -inhabitants, the idea that beauty was a relative term first occurred to -the "talker" Socrates.</p> - -<p>Still, in all concepts of beauty, however widely separated and however -diametrically opposed, there is this common factor: that the beautiful -person is the outcome of a long observance through generations of -the values peculiar to a people. A certain regularity of form and -feature, whether this form and feature be Arab, Ethiopian or Jewish, -is indicative of a certain regular mode of life which has lasted for -generations; and in calling this indication beautiful, a people once -more affirms itself and its values. If the creature manifesting this -regularity be a Chinaman, he will be the most essential Chinaman that -the Chinese values can produce; his face will reveal no fighting and -discordant values; there will be no violent contrasts of type in -his features, and, relative to Chinese values, his face will be the -most regular and harmonious that can be seen, and therefore the most -beautiful.<a name="FNanchor_62_251" id="FNanchor_62_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_251" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> The Chinese ruler-artist, in representing a mediocre -Chinaman, would therefore exercise his transfiguring powers to overcome -any discordant features in the face before him, and would thus produce -a beautiful type.<a name="FNanchor_63_252" id="FNanchor_63_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_252" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> Or, if his model happened to be the highest -product of Chinese values, his object would be to transcend even that, -and to point to something higher.</p> - -<p>Once again, therefore, though it is impossible to posit a universal -concept of subject-beauty, various concepts may be given an order of -rank, subject to the values with which they happen to be associated.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_243" id="Footnote_54_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_243"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> If this book be read in conjunction with my monograph -on <i>Nietzsche: his Life and Works</i> (Constable), or my <i>Who -is to be Master of the World?</i> (Foulis), there ought to be -no difficulty in understanding this point.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55_244" id="Footnote_55_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_244"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> B. Bosanquet, <i>A History of Æsthetic</i>, p. 4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56_245" id="Footnote_56_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_245"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 246. See also <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. -19: "The 'beautiful in itself' is merely an expression, not even a -concept."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57_246" id="Footnote_57_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_246"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Apr. 19: "In the beautiful, man posits -himself as the standard of perfection; in select cases he worships -himself in that standard. A species <i>cannot</i> possibly do otherwise than -thus say yea to itself."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58_247" id="Footnote_58_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_247"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 361: "Legislative moralities are -the principal means by which one can form mankind, according to the -fancy of a creative and profound will: provided, of course, that such -an artistic will of the first order gets the power into its own hands, -and can make its creative will prevail over long periods in the form -of legislation, religions, and morals." See p. 79 in the first part of -this lecture.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59_248" id="Footnote_59_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_248"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 185.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60_249" id="Footnote_60_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_249"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p. 107: "The essential thing 'in heaven and -earth' is, apparently, that there should be long obedience in the same -direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long -run, something which has made life worth living; for instance, virtue, -art, music, dancing, reason, spirituality—anything whatever that is -transfiguring, refined, foolish, or divine."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61_250" id="Footnote_61_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_250"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. 24.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62_251" id="Footnote_62_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_251"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. 47: "Even the beauty of a race -or family, the pleasantness and kindness of their whole demeanour, -is acquired by effort; like genius, it is the final result of the -accumulated labour of generations. There must have been great -sacrifices made to good taste; for the sake of it, much must have been -done, and much refrained from —the seventeenth century in France is -worthy of admiration in both ways; good taste must then have been -a principle of selection, for society, place, dress, and sexual -gratification, beauty must have been preferred to advantage, habit, -opinion, indolence. Supreme rule:—we must not 'let ourselves go,' even -when only in our own presence.—Good things are costly beyond measure, -and the rule always holds, that he who possesses them is other than he -who acquires them. All excellence is inheritance; what has not been -inherited is imperfect, it is a beginning."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63_252" id="Footnote_63_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_252"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 245: "'Beauty,' therefore, is, to -the artist, something which is above order of rank, because in beauty -contrasts are overcome, the highest sign of power thus manifesting -itself in the conquest of opposites; and achieved without a feeling of -tension." See also Hegel, <i>Vorlesungen über Æsthetik</i>, Vol. I, pp. 130, -144.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Meaning_of_Ugliness_of_Form_and_of_Ugliness_of_Content_in_Art" id="The_Meaning_of_Ugliness_of_Form_and_of_Ugliness_of_Content_in_Art">7. The Meaning of Ugliness of Form and of Ugliness of Content in Art.</a></p> - - -<p>Ugliness in Art, therefore, is Art's contradiction.<a name="FNanchor_64_253" id="FNanchor_64_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_253"><span class="label">[64]</span></a>It is the absence -of Art. It is a sign that the simplifying, ordering and transfiguring -power of the artist has not been successful, and that chaos, disorder -and complexity have not been overcome.</p> - -<p>Ugliness of form in Art, therefore, will tend to become prevalent -in democratic times; because it is precisely at such times that a -general truth for all is believed in, and, since reality is the only -truth which can be made common to all, democratic art is invariably -realistic, and therefore, according to my definition of the beautiful -in form, ugly.</p> - -<p>In this matter, I do not ask you to take my views on trust. A person -who will seem to you very much more authoritative than myself—a man -who once had the honour of influencing Whistler, and who, by the bye, -is also famous for having flung down the Colonne Vendôme in Paris— -once expressed himself quite categorically on this matter.</p> - -<p>At the Congress of Antwerp in 1861, after he had criticized other -artists and other concepts of art, this man concluded his speech as -follows: "By denying the ideal and all that it involves, I attain to -the complete emancipation of the individual, and finally to democracy. -Realism is essentially democratic."<a name="FNanchor_65_254" id="FNanchor_65_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_254"><span class="label">[65]</span></a></p> - -<p>As you all must know, this man was Gustave Courbet, of whom Muther said -that he had a predilection for the ugly.<a name="FNanchor_66_255" id="FNanchor_66_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_255"><span class="label">[66]</span></a></p> - -<p>Artists infected with the pure or the corrupt layman's view of Art, -as described in the previous section, and artists obsessed by the -Christian or scientific notion of truth, will consequently produce ugly -work. They will be realists, or Police-artists, and consequently ugly.</p> - -<p>But how can content- or subject-ugliness be understood? Content- or -subject-ugliness is the decadence of a type.<a name="FNanchor_67_255" id="FNanchor_67_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_256" class="fnanchor">[67]</a>It is the sign -that certain features, belonging to other peoples (hitherto called ugly -according to the absolute biological standard of beauty of a race), -are beginning to be introduced into their type. Or it may mean that -the subject to be represented does not reveal that harmony and lack -of contrasts which the values of a people are capable of producing. -In each case it provokes hatred, and this "hatred is inspired by the -most profound instinct of the species; there is horror, foresight, -profundity, and far-reaching vision in it—it is the profoundest of -all hatreds. On account of it art is <i>profound</i>."<a name="FNanchor_68_257" id="FNanchor_68_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_257" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> - -<p>The hatred amounts to a condemnation of usurping values, or of -discordant values; in fact, to a condemnation of dissolution and -anarchy, and the judgment "ugly" is of the most serious import.</p> - -<p>Thus, although few of us can agree to-day as to what constitutes a -beautiful man or woman, there is still a general idea common to us all, -that a certain regularity of features constitutes beauty, and that, -with this beauty, a certain reliable, harmonious, and calculable nature -will be present. Spencer said the wisest thing in all his philosophy -when he declared that "the saying that beauty is but skin deep, is but -a skin-deep saying."<a name="FNanchor_69_258" id="FNanchor_69_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_258" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> - -<p>For beauty in any human creature, being the result of a long and -severe observance by his ancestors of a particular set of values, -always denotes some definite attitude towards Life; it always lures to -some particular kind of life and joy—as Stendhal said, "Beauty is -a promise of happiness"—and as such it seduces to Life and to this -earth.</p> - -<p>This explains why beauty is regarded with suspicion by negative -religions, and why it tends to decline in places where the sway -of a negative religion is powerful. Because a negative religion -cannot tolerate that which lures to life, to the body, to joy and to -voluptuous ecstasy.</p> - -<p>It is upon their notion of spiritual beauty, upon passive virtues, that -the negative religions lay such stress, and thus they allow the ugly to -find pedestals in their sanctuaries more easily than the beautiful.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64_253" id="Footnote_64_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_253"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 252.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65_254" id="Footnote_65_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_254"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> A. Estignard, <i>Gustave Courbet</i> (Paris, 1896), p. 118.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66_255" id="Footnote_66_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_255"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> <i>Geschichte der Malerei</i>, Vol. III, p. 204.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67_256" id="Footnote_67_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_256"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, pp. 241, 242, 245. See also T. I., -Part 10, Aph. 20: "The ugly is understood as a sign and symptom -of degeneration; that which reminds us in the remotest manner of -degeneracy prompts us to pronounce the verdict 'ugly.' Every indication -of exhaustion, gravity, age or lassitude; every kind of constraint, -such as cramp or paralysis; and above all the odour, the colour, and -the likeness of decomposition or putrefaction, be it utterly attenuated -even to a symbol:—all these things call forth a similar reaction, the -evaluation 'ugly.' A hatred is there excited: whom does man hate there? -There can be no doubt: <i>the decline of his type</i>."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_68_257" id="Footnote_68_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_257"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> <i>T. I.</i>, Part 10, Aph. 20.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69_258" id="Footnote_69_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_258"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> <i>Essays</i>, Vol. II (1901 Edition), p. 394.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Ruler-Artists_Style_and_Subject" id="The_Ruler-Artists_Style_and_Subject">8. The Ruler-Artist's Style and Subject.</a></p> - - -<p>Up to the present, you have doubtless observed that I have spoken only -of man as the proper subject-matter of the graphic Arts. In maintaining -this, Nietzsche not only has Goethe and many lesser men on his side, -but he has also the history of Art in general. I cannot, however, show -you yet how, or in what manner, animal-painting, landscape-painting, -and, in some respects, portrait-painting are to be placed lower than -the art which concerns itself with man. Let it therefore suffice, for -the present, simply to recognize the fact that Nietzsche did take up -this attitude, and leave the more exhaustive discussion of it to the -next part of this lecture.</p> - -<p>Now, eliminating for a moment all those pseudo-artists who have been -reared by the two strongest public demands on the Art of the present -age—I speak of portrait-painting and dining-room pictures—there -remains a class of artists which still shows signs of raising its head -here and there, though every year with less frequency, and this is the -class which, for want of a better term, we call Ruler-artists.</p> - -<p>As I say, they are becoming extremely rare; their rarity, which may be -easily accounted for,<a name="FNanchor_70_259" id="FNanchor_70_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_259" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> is one of the evil omens of the time.</p> - -<p>The ruler-artist is he who, elated by his own health and love of Life, -says "Yea" to his own type and proclaims his faith or confidence in -it, against all other types; and who, in so doing, determines or -accentuates the values of that type. If he prevails in concepts in so -doing, he also ennobles and embellishes the type he is advocating.</p> - -<p>He is either the maker or the highest product of an aspiring and an -ascending people. In him their highest values find their most splendid -bloom. In him their highest values find their strongest spokesman. And -in his work they find the symbol of their loftiest hopes.</p> - -<p>By the beauty which his soul reflects upon the selected men he -represents in his works, he establishes an order of rank among his -people, and puts each in his place.</p> - -<p>The spectator who is very much beneath the beauty of the ruler-artist's -masterpieces feels his ignominious position at a glance. He realizes -the impassable gulf that is for ever fixed between himself and that! -And this sudden revelation tells him his level. Such a man, after -he has contemplated the ruler-artist's work, may rush headlong to the -nearest river and drown himself. His despair may be so great when he -realizes the impossibility of ever reaching the heights he has been -contemplating, that he may immolate himself on the spot. Only thus can -the world be purged of the many-too-many.</p> - -<p>"Unto many life is a failure," says Zarathustra, "a poisonous worm -eating through into their heart. These ought to see to it that they -succeed better in dying.</p> - -<p>"Many-too-many live.... Would that preachers of swift death might -arise! They would be the proper storms to shake the trees of life."<a name="FNanchor_71_260" id="FNanchor_71_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_260" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> - -<p>In the presence of beauty, alone, can one know one's true rank, and -this explains why the Japanese declare that "until a man has made -himself beautiful he has no right to approach beauty,"<a name="FNanchor_72_261" id="FNanchor_72_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_261" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> for "great art -is that before which we long to die."<a name="FNanchor_73_262" id="FNanchor_73_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_262" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> - -<p>But, to those who see but the smallest chance of approaching it, beauty -is an exhortation, a stimulus, a bugle-call. It may drive them to means -for pruning themselves of ugliness; it may urge them to inner harmony, -to a suppression of intestinal discord.</p> - -<p>"Beauty alone should preach penitence,"<a name="FNanchor_74_263" id="FNanchor_74_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_263" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> says Zarathustra. And in this -sentence you have the only utilitarian view of beauty that has any -aristocratic value, besides that which maintains that beauty lures to -Life, and to the body.</p> - -<p>Hence, beauty need not impel all men to the river. There are some who, -after contemplating it, will feel just near enough to it not to despair -altogether of attaining to its level, and this thought will lend them -both hope and courage.</p> - -<p>The ruler-artist, therefore, in order that his subject-beauty may have -some meaning, must be the synthesis of the past and the future of a -people. Up to his waist in their spirit, he must mould or paint them -the apotheosis of their type. Only thus can he hope to prevail with his -subject—Man.</p> - -<p>The German philosopher, Karl Heinrich Heydenreich, was one of the first -to recognize this power of the ruler-artist, and the necessity of his -being intimately associated with a particular people, although above -them; and in his little book, <i>System der Æsthetik</i>, he makes some very -illuminating remarks on this matter.<a name="FNanchor_75_264" id="FNanchor_75_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_264" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> - -<p>Thus Benedetto Croce rightly argues that in order to <i>appreciate</i> the -artistic works of bygone and extinct nations, it is necessary to have -a knowledge and understanding of their life and history—in other -words, of their values.<a name="FNanchor_76_265" id="FNanchor_76_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_265" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> What he does not point out, however, and -what seems very important, is, that such historical research would be -quite unnecessary to one who by nature was <i>a priori</i> in sympathy with -the values of an extinct nation; and also, that all the historical -knowledge available could not make any one whose character was not -a little Periclean or Egyptian from the start, admire, or even -appreciate, either the Parthenon, or the brilliant diorite statue of -King Khephrën in the Cairo Museum.</p> - -<p>All great ruler-art, then, is, as it were, a song of praise, a -magnificat, appealing only to those, and pleasing only those, who feel -in sympathy with the values which it advocates. And that is why all art -of any importance, and of any worth, must be based upon a certain group -of values—in other words, must have a philosophy or a particular view -of the world as its foundation. Otherwise it is pointless, meaningless, -and divorced from life. Otherwise it is acting, sentimental nonsense, -or <i>l'art pour l'art</i>.</p> - -<p>All great ruler-art also takes Man as its content; because human values -are the only values that concern it. All great ruler-art also takes -beauty within a certain people as its aim; because the will-to-power is -its driving instinct, and beauty, being the most difficulty thing to -achieve, is the strongest test of power. Finally, all great ruler-art -is optimistic; because it implies the will of the artist to prevail.</p> - -<p>But what constitutes the form of the ruler-artist's work? In what way -must he give us his content?</p> - -<p>The ruler-artist's form is the form of the commander. It must scorn -to please.<a name="FNanchor_77_266" id="FNanchor_77_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_266" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> It must brook no disobedience and no insubordination, -save among those of its beholders about whom it does not care, from -whom it would fain separate itself, and among whom it is not with its -peers. It must be authoritative, extremely simple, irrefutable, full -of restraint, and as repetitive as a Mohammedan prayer. It must point -to essentials, it must select essentials, and it must transfigure -essentials. The presence of non-essentials in a work of art is -sufficient to put it at once upon a very low plane. For what matters -above all is that the ruler-artist should prevail in concepts, and in -order to do this his work must contain the definite statement of the -value he sets upon all that he most cherishes.</p> - -<p>Hence the belief all through the history of æsthetic that high art is -a certain unity in variety, a certain single idea exhaled from a more -or less complex whole, or, as the Japanese say, "repetition with a -modicum of variation."<a name="FNanchor_78_267" id="FNanchor_78_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_267" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> - -<p><i>Symmetry</i>, as denoting balance, and as a help to obtaining a complete -grasp of an idea; <i>Sobriety</i>, as revealing that restraint which a -position of command presupposes; <i>Simplicity</i>, as proving the power -of the great mind that has overcome the chaos in itself,<a name="FNanchor_79_268" id="FNanchor_79_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_268" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> to reflect -its order and harmony upon other things,<a name="FNanchor_80_269" id="FNanchor_80_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_269" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> and to select the -most essential features from among a host of more or less essential -features; <i>Transfiguration</i>, as betraying that Dionysian elation and -elevation from which the artist gives of himself to reality and makes -it reflect his own glory back upon him; <i>Repetition</i>, as a means of -obtaining obedience; and <i>Variety</i>, as the indispensable condition of all -living Art—all Art which is hortatory and which does not aim at repose -alone, at sleep, and at soothing and lulling jaded and exasperated -nerves,—these are the principal qualities of ruler-art, and any work -which would be deficient in one of these qualities would thereby be -utterly and deservedly condemned to take its place on a lower plane.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the greatest test of all, however, in regard to the worth of an -artistic production is to inquire whence it came, what was its source. -Has hunger or superabundance created it?<a name="FNanchor_81_270" id="FNanchor_81_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_270" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> - -<p>If the first, the work will make nobody richer. It will rather rob -them of what they have. It is likely to be either (A) true to Nature, -(B) uglier than Nature, or (C) absurdly unnatural. A is the product of -the ordinary man, B is the product of the man below mediocrity, save -in a certain manual dexterity, and C is the outcome of the tyrannical -will of the sufferer,<a name="FNanchor_82_271" id="FNanchor_82_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_271" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> who wishes to wreak his revenge on all that -thrives, and is beautiful and happy, and which bids him weave fantastic -worlds of his own, away from this one, where people of his calibre can -forget their wretched ailments and evil humours, and wallow in their -own feverish nightmares of overstrained, palpitating and neuropathic -yearnings. A is poverty-realism or Police Art. B is pessimism and -incompetent Art. C is Romanticism.</p> - -<p>Where superabundance is active, the work is the gift and the blessing -of the will to power of some higher man. It will seem as much above -Nature to mediocre people as its creator is above them. But, since it -will brook no contradiction, it will actually value Nature afresh, and -stimulate them to share in this new valuation.</p> - -<p>Where poverty is active, the work is an act of robbery. It is what -psychologists call a reflex action resulting from a stimulus—the -only kind of action that we understand nowadays: hence our belief in -Determinism, Darwinism, and such explanations of Art as we find in -books by Taine and other writers who share his views.</p> - -<p>The Art which must have experience and which is not the outcome of -inner riches brought to the surface by meditation—this is the art of -poverty. The general modern belief in experience and in the necessity -of furnishing the mind by going direct to Nature and to reality shows -to what extent the Art of to-day has become reactive instead of active.</p> - -<p>The greater part of modern realism is the outcome of this poverty. It -is reactive art, resulting from reflex actions; and, as such, is an -exceedingly unhealthy sign. Not only does it show that the power of -resisting stimuli is waning or altogether absent; but it also denotes -that that inner power which requires no stimulus to discharge itself is -either lacking or exceedingly weak.</p> - -<p>With these words upon the subject of realism, I shall now conclude this -part of Lecture II.</p> - -<p>I shall return to realism in my next lecture; but you will see that -it will be of a different kind from that of which I have just spoken. -It will be superior, and will be the outcome of riches rather than -of poverty. Although beneath genuine Ruler-art, which transfigures -reality, it will nevertheless be superior to the poverty-realism -which I have just discussed; for it will be of a kind which is forced -upon the powerful artist who, in the midst of a world upholding other -values than his own, is obliged to bring forward his ideal with such -a preponderance of characteristic features as would seem almost to -represent a transcript of reality. This realism I call <i>militant -realism</i>, to distinguish it from the former kind.</p> - -<p>In discussing mediæval. Renaissance and Greek Art, in my next lecture, -this distinction will, I hope, be made quite plain to you.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70_259" id="Footnote_70_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_259"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p. 120</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_71_260" id="Footnote_71_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_260"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XXI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72_261" id="Footnote_72_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_261"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> <i>The Book of Tea</i>, p. 152.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_73_262" id="Footnote_73_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_262"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> 199.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_74_263" id="Footnote_74_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_263"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, I, XXVI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_75_264" id="Footnote_75_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_264"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> <i>System der Æsthetik</i> (1790), pp. 9, 10, 11, where, -in replying to the question why the arts were not only pursued with -more perfection by the ancients, but also judged with more competence -by them, he says: "Their material was drawn from the heart of their -nation, and from the life of their citizens, and the manner of -representing it and of framing it was in keeping with the character -and needs of the people.... If the Greek lent his ear to the poet, or -his eye to the painter and sculptor, of his age, he was shown subjects -which were familiar to his soul, intimately related to his imagination, -and, as it were, bound by blood-relationship to his heart." On pp. 12, -13, he also shows that if Art is less thrilling nowadays, it is because -peoples are too mixed, and a single purpose no longer characterizes -their striving.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_76_265" id="Footnote_76_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_265"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> <i>Æsthetic</i> (translated by Douglas Ainslie), p. 210 et -seq.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_77_266" id="Footnote_77_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_266"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 277: "The greatness of an artist is -not to be measured by the beautiful feelings which he evokes: let this -belief be left to the girls. It should be measured according to the -extent to which he approaches the grand style, according to the extent -to which he is capable of the grand style. This style and great passion -have this in common—that they scorn to please; that they forget to -persuade; that they command; that they will...." See also p. 241.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_78_267" id="Footnote_78_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_267"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> This was first brought to my notice by my friend, Dr. -Wrench. See <i>The Grammar of Life</i>, by G. T. Wrench (Heinemann, 1908), -p. 218. Although the development of this idea really belongs to a -special treatise on the laws of Style in painting, it is interesting -to note here that this excellent principle is quickly grasped if the -powerfully alliterative phrases: "Where there's a will there's a way," -or "Goodness gracious!" or "To-morrow, to-morrow, and not to-day," be -spoken before certain pictures, or written beneath them. The first -phrase, for instance, written beneath the "Aldobrindini Marriage," or -Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," is seen immediately to be next of kin to -these pictures as an art-form; and the same holds good of the second -written beneath Reynolds's "John Dunning (First Lord Ashburton) and his -Sister," or Manet's "Olympia."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_79_268" id="Footnote_79_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_268"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 277.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_80_269" id="Footnote_80_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_269"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II. p. 288. "The most convincing artists -are those who make harmony ring out of every discord, and who benefit -all things by the gift of their power and their inner harmony: in -every work of art they merely reveal the symbol of their inmost -experiences—their creation is gratitude for their life." See also p. -307.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_81_270" id="Footnote_81_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_270"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 280: "In regard to all æsthetic -values I now avail myself of this fundamental distinction: in every -individual case I ask myself has hunger or has superabundance been -creative here?"</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_82_271" id="Footnote_82_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_271"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 281.</p></div> - - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4 class="smcap"><a name="Part_III" id="Part_III">Part III</a></h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">LANDSCAPE AND PORTRAIT PAINTING</h4> - - -<blockquote> - -<p style="font-size: 0.9em;">"He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service -of man: that he may bring forth fruit out of the earth."—Psalms civ. 14.</p></blockquote> - - -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Value_Ugly_in_the_Mouth_of_the_Creator" id="The_Value_Ugly_in_the_Mouth_of_the_Creator">1. The Value "Ugly" in the Mouth of the Creator.</a></p> - - -<p>In the last section of this lecture, I told you of three kinds of -ugliness. I said there was the ugliness of chaos and disorder, which -provokes the hate of the layman, and which the artist overcomes. I -spoke of the ugliness of form in Art, which appeared when the artist -had failed in his endeavour to master disorder, or when he had selected -a subject already ordered, in which he has left himself no scope -for manifesting his power; and I also pointed to that ugliness of -subject in Art, in which the ordinary beholder, as well as the artist, -recognizes the degeneration of his type or a low example of it.</p> - -<p>There is, however, a fourth aspect of ugliness, and that is the -esoteric postulation of the value "ugly" by the creator. I have shown -how creating also involves giving, and therefore loss—just as -procreation does; but what is the precise meaning of the word "ugly" in -the mouth of the Dionysian artist?</p> - -<p>We must remember that his eyes are not our eyes, and that his mind is -not our mind. He cannot look at Life without enriching her. But what is -his attitude to the transfigurations of former artists?</p> - -<p>Before these the Dionysian artist can feel only loathing, and, in -a paroxysm of hatred, he raises his axe and shatters the past into -fragments. All around him, a moment before, people said: "The world -is beautiful!" But he, thoroughly alone, groans at its unspeakable -ugliness.</p> - -<p>He rejoices as he sees the fragments fly beneath his mighty weapon, -and the greater the beauty of the thing he destroys, the higher is his -exultation. For, to him, "the joy in the destruction of the most noble -thing and at the sight of its gradual undoing," is "the joy over what -is coming and what lies in the future," and this "triumphs over actual -things, however good they may be."<a name="FNanchor_1_272" id="FNanchor_1_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_272" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>What he calls "ugly," then, has nothing whatsoever in common with any -other concept of ugliness; it is simply the outcome of his creative -spirit "which compels him to regard what has existed hitherto as no -longer acceptable, but as botched, worthy of being suppressed—ugly!"<a name="FNanchor_2_273" id="FNanchor_2_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_273" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> -And thus it is peculiar to him alone.</p> - -<p>I have shown you that Nietzsche explains pleasure, æsthetically, as -the appropriation of the world by man's Will to Power. Pain, or evil, -now obtains its æsthetic justification. It is the outcome of the -destruction that the creator spreads in a world of Becoming; it is the -periodical smashing of Being by the Dionysian creator who can endure -Becoming. No creator can tolerate the past save as a thing which once -served as his schooling. But a people are usually one with their past. -To them it is at once a grandfather, a father, and an elder brother. -In a trice the creator deprives them of these relatives. Through him -they are made orphans, brotherless and alone. Hence the pain that is -inevitably associated with the joy of destruction and of creation.</p> - -<p>Not only a creative genius, however, but also a creative age, may use -the word ugly in this Dionysian sense. For a robust and rich people -scorn to treasure and to hoard that which has gone before. And thus our -museums, alone, are perhaps the greatest betrayal of our times.</p> - -<p>When the Athenians returned to their ruined Acropolis in the first -half of the fifth century before Christ, they did not even scratch -the ground to recover the masterpieces that lay broken, though not -completely destroyed, all around them. And, as Professor Gardner -observes, it is fortunate for us that no mortar was required for the -buildings which were being erected to take the place of those that -had been destroyed; otherwise these fragments of marble sculpture -and architecture, instead of being buried to help in filling up the -terraced area of the Acropolis, would certainly have gone to the -lime-kiln.<a name="FNanchor_3_274" id="FNanchor_3_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_274" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p>The men of the Renaissance, in the same way, regarded the buildings of -ancient Rome merely as so many quarries whence they might bear away -the materials for their own constructions. And whether Paul II wished -to build the Palazzo di Venezia, or Cardinal Riario the Cancellaria, -the same principle obtained. At the same period we also find Raphael -destroying the work of earlier painters by covering it with his own -compositions,<a name="FNanchor_4_275" id="FNanchor_4_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_275" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and Michelangelo not hesitating to obliterate -even Perugino's altar frescoes in the Sixtine Chapel in order to paint -his "Judgment." While in comparatively recent times, at a moment -when a great future seemed to be promised to modern Egypt, Mehemet -Ali sent his architect to the sacred Pyramids of Gizeh, to rob them -of the alabaster which he required for his magnificent mosque on the -citadel of Cairo.<a name="FNanchor_5_276" id="FNanchor_5_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_276" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>From a purely archæological and scholastic point of view, therefore, -it is possible to justify our museums—the British Museum, for -instance. But from the creative or artistic standpoint, they are simply -a confession of impotence, of poverty, and of fear; and, as such, are -utterly contemptible. In any case, however, I think that, for the -sake of public taste and sanity, some of the ugly fragments—such as -two-thirds of the maimed and mutilated parts of bodies from the Eastern -and Western pediments of the Parthenon—ought never to have been -allowed to stand outside a students' room in a school of archæology or -of art, and even in such institutions as these, I very much question -the value of the pieces to which I have referred.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_272" id="Footnote_1_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_272"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol I, p. 333. See also <i>B. T.</i>, pp. 27, 28.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_273" id="Footnote_2_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_273"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. I, p. 333.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_274" id="Footnote_3_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_274"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>A Handbook of Greek Sculpture</i>, by E. A. Gardner, M.A., -p. 212.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_275" id="Footnote_4_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_275"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Piero della Francesca's decorations in the Vatican, -painted under the direction of Pope Nicholas V, were ultimately -destroyed by Raphael. See W. S. Waters, M.A., <i>Piero della Francesca</i>, -pp. 23, 24, 108.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_276" id="Footnote_5_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_276"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See also Fergusson, <i>A History of Architecture</i>, Vol. I, -p. 48: "... If we had made the same progress in the higher that we -have in the lower branches of the building art, we should see a Gothic -Cathedral pulled down with the same indifference, content to know that -we could easily replace it by one far nobler and more worthy of our age -and intelligence. No architect during the Middle Ages ever hesitated -to pull down any part of a cathedral that was old and going to decay; -and to replace it with something in the style of the day, however -incongruous that might be; and if we were progressing as they were, we -should have as little compunction in following the same course."</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="Landscape_Painting" id="Landscape_Painting">2. Landscape Painting.</a></p> - - -<p>Up to the present, I have spoken only of Man as the proper subject -of Ruler-Art. I have done this because Man is the highest subject of -Art in general, and because the moment humanity ceases from holding -the first place in our interest, something must be amiss, either with -humanity, or with ourselves.</p> - -<p>Still, there are degrees and grades among ruler-artists. All of them -cannot aspire to the exposition of the highest human values. And just -as some turn to design and to ornament, and thus, in a small way, -arrange and introduce order into a small area of the world, so others -—standing halfway between these designers and the valuers of humanity -—apply their powers quite instinctively to Nature away from Man. They -have a thought to express—let us say it is: "Order is the highest -good," or "Power is the source of all pleasure and beauty," or "Anarchy -contends in vain against the governing power of light which is genius," -and in the case of this last thought they paint a rugged scene which -they reveal as arranged, simplified and transfigured by the power of -the sun. In each of these cases they use Nature merely as a symbol, or -a vehicle, by means of which their thought or valuation is borne in -upon their fellows; and they do not start out as actual admirers of -mere scenery, wishing only to repeat it as carefully as possible.</p> - -<p>Even when it uses Nature merely as a symbol or a vehicle, however, -there can be little doubt that this kind of Ruler-Art is a degree lower -in rank than the art which concerns itself with man; and when this -kind of art becomes realistic, as it did with Constable and all his -followers, it is literally superfluous. Only when the landscape is a -minor element, serving but to receive and convey the mood or aspiration -of the artist, is it a subject for Ruler-Art, and then the hand of -man should be visible in it everywhere. With the artist's arranging, -simplifying and transfiguring power observable in Nature, landscape -painting, as Kant very wisely observed in his <i>Kritik der Urteilskraft</i>, -becomes a process of pictorial gardening, and as such can teach very -great lessons.</p> - -<p>Still, all landscapes ought to be approached with caution by the lover -of Ruler-Art; for unless they are treated with an extreme ruler-spirit, -they point too imperatively away from man, to promise a development -that can be wholesomely human.</p> - -<p>When it is remembered that landscape painting only became a really -important and serious branch of art when all the turmoil and -contradiction which three successive changes of values had brought -about were at their height—I refer to the blow levelled at Mediæval -values by the Renaissance, to 'the blow levelled at the Renaissance -by the Counter-Renaissance and Protestantism (in its German form of -Evangelism and in its English form as Puritanism), and to the blow -levelled at the artistic spirit of Europe in general by the rise of -modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—and when, -therefore, doubt and confusion had already entered men's minds as to -what was to be believed about Man and Life; when it is remembered also -that it was precisely in the north, where, as we shall see, culture was -less a matter of tradition than in the south, that landscape found its -most energetic and most realistic exponents—from Joachim Patenier<a name="FNanchor_6_277" id="FNanchor_6_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_277" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> -to Ruysdael; and that it was in the north, even after the -Renaissance, that the negative character of Christianity, in regard to -humanity and to Life, found its strongest adherents; the importance of -establishing a very severe canon in regard to all landscape painting, -and of insisting upon very high ruler qualities in this branch of the -art, ought to be clear to all who take this subject to heart.</p> - -<p>For, difficult as it may seem to realize it, there is nothing -whatsoever artistically beautiful in landscape.<a name="FNanchor_7_278" id="FNanchor_7_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_278" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Only sentimental<a name="FNanchor_8_279" id="FNanchor_8_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_279" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> -townspeople, compelled by their particular mode of existence -to gaze daily on their own hideous homes and streets, ever manifest -a senselessly ardent and determined affection for green fields and -hills, for their own sake; and with English psychologists, it would be -quite admissible here to say that all beauty that particular people -believe to exist in country scenery, is the outcome of association. The -ancients liked the sunlit and fruitful valley because of its promise of -sustenance and wealth; but they showed no love of nature as such.<a name="FNanchor_9_280" id="FNanchor_9_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_280" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p>Mr. S. H. Butcher,<a name="FNanchor_10_281" id="FNanchor_10_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_281" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> for instance, points out how landscape painting -only became a serious and independent branch of art among the Greeks -after the fourth century B.C.—that is to say, long over a century -after the date when, according to Freeman, the decline of Hellas -began; and, in speaking of the Greeks in their best period, he says: -"They do not attach themselves to nature with that depth of feeling, -with that gentle melancholy, that characterizes the moderns.... -Their impatient imagination only traverses nature to pass beyond it to -the drama of human life." J. A. Symonds tells us that "Conciseness, -simplicity and an almost prosaic accuracy are the never-failing -attributes of classical descriptive art—moreover, humanity was always -more present to their minds than to ours. Nothing evoked sympathy -from the Greek unless it appeared before him in human shape, or in -connection with some human sentiment. The ancient poets do not describe -inanimate nature as such, or attribute a vague spirituality to fields -and clouds. That feeling for the beauty of the world which is embodied -in such poems as Shelley's <i>Ode to the West Wind</i> gave birth in their -imagination to definite legends, involving some dramatic interest and -conflict of passions."<a name="FNanchor_11_282" id="FNanchor_11_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_282" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> And Mahaffy and Mr. W. R. Hardie tell the same -story.<a name="FNanchor_12_283" id="FNanchor_12_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_283" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> - -<p>But even among sensible moderns, uninfected by sentimental fever, the -love of nature is mostly of a purely utilitarian kind, as witness the -love of cornfields, hayfields and orchards. The farmer at certain times -gazes kindly at the purple hills behind his acres of cultivated land, -because their colour indicates the coming rain. The cattle-breeder -smiles as he surveys the Romney marshes, and thinks of the splendid -pastureland they would make.</p> - -<p>In fact, the attitude of sensible mankind in general towards landscape, -as landscape, seems to have been pretty well summarized by the writer -of the 104th Psalm, from whom, according to W. H. Rhiel, the Christian -world, and especially the Teutonic part of it, seems to have derived -much of their love of the beauties of Nature.<a name="FNanchor_13_284" id="FNanchor_13_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_284" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> - -<p>What constitutes the artistic beauty in a painted landscape, then, is -the mood, the particular human quality, that the artist throws into -it. As the French painters say, a landscape is a state of the soul; -and unless the particular mood or idea with which the artist invests -a natural scene have some value and interest, and be painted in a -commanding or ruler manner, it is a mere piece of superfluous foolery, -which may, however, find its proper place on a great railway poster or -in an estate agent's illustrated catalogue.</p> - -<p>There is, on the other hand, another kind of love of nature, which -dates only from the eighteenth century, and which is thoroughly and -unquestionably contemptible. This also, like the above, is the result -of association, and has nothing artistic in its constitution; but this -time it is an association which is misanthropic and negative. I refer -to what is generally known as the love of the Romantic in Nature, the -love of mountains, torrents, unhandseled copses, virgin woods, and -rough and uncultivated country.</p> - -<p>In this love a new element enters the appreciation of Nature, and -that is a dislike and mistrust of everything that bears the stamp of -man's power or his labour, and therefore an exaltation of everything -untutored, uncultured, free, unconstrained and wild.</p> - -<p>This attitude of mind seems to have been unknown not only to the Greeks -and to the Romans,<a name="FNanchor_14_285" id="FNanchor_14_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_285" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> but, practically, to all European nations up -to the time of Rousseau. As Friedländer says, it would be difficult -to find evidence of travellers going to mountain country in quest of -beauty, before the eighteenth century,<a name="FNanchor_15_286" id="FNanchor_15_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_286" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and the majority of those who -were forced to visit such country, before that time, in their Journeys -to foreign cities, describe it as horrible, ugly and depressing. Oliver -Goldsmith is a case in point. Riehl declares that in guidebooks, even -as late as 1750, Berlin, Leipzig, Augsburg, Darmstadt, Mannheim, etc., -are spoken of as lying in nice and cheerful surroundings, whilst the -most picturesque parts (according to modern notions) of the Black -Forest, of the Harz, and the Thuringian woods are described as "very -gloomy," "barren," and "monstrous," or at least as not particularly -pleasant. And then he adds: "This is not the private opinion of the -individual topographists: it is the standpoint of the age."<a name="FNanchor_16_287" id="FNanchor_16_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_287" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> - -<p>Even in the Bible illustrations of the eighteenth century, we also find -the same spirit prevailing. Paradise—that is to say, the original -picture of virgin glory in natural beauty—is made to look like what -moderns would call a monotonously flat garden, devoid of any indication -of a hill, in which the Almighty, or Adam, or somebody, has already -clipped all the trees and hedges, and carefully trimmed the grass.</p> - -<p>You may argue with Riehl<a name="FNanchor_17_288" id="FNanchor_17_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_288" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> that mediæval painters must have thought -rough, wild and barren country beautiful; otherwise, why did they put -it in their pictures? One low-German painter of the Middle Ages, for -instance, painted a picture of Cologne, and, contrary to the genuine -nature of the surrounding country, introduced a background of jagged -and rocky mountains. Why did he do this, if he did not think jagged and -rocky mountains beautiful?</p> - -<p>In reply to this I cannot do better than quote Friedländer again, who -on this very question writes as follows—</p> - -<p>"At least the lack of a sense for the beauty of mountain scenery, which -is noticeable in the poetry and travels of the Middle Ages, viewed as -a whole, ought to lead us to suspect that this same sense could have -been only very slightly apparent in the realm of pictorial art. But -ought we not to ascribe the fantastic and romantic art ideal of the old -masters, in landscape, rather to their endeavour to transfer the scene -and figures of their pictures from reality to an imaginary world?... -Even if historical painters like John van Eyck and Memling eagerly -introduced jagged rocks and sharp mountain (which apparently they had -never seen) into their backgrounds ... it is difficult to recognize -any real understanding or even knowledge of the nature of mountains in -all this; but simply an old and therefore very conventional form of -heroic landscape which was considered as the only suitable one for a -large number of subjects."<a name="FNanchor_18_289" id="FNanchor_18_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_289" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p>But there is other evidence, besides that to be found in mediæval -poetry and travels, which shows to what extent the particular sense -for natural beauty, which I am now discussing, was lacking in the -Middle Ages. Its absence is also illustrated by the arrangement of -castles and other buildings. Mr. d'Auvergne, in his work <i>The English -Castles</i>, more than once calls attention to this, and instances a tower -at Dunstanburgh Castle,<a name="FNanchor_19_290" id="FNanchor_19_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_290" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> which, though commanding a wildly romantic -prospect, was selected for the vilest domestic uses.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, all this is contradicted and reversed. Precisely where man's -hand has been, everything is supposed to be polluted, unclean, and -ugly; and rough, uncultivated nature, however rugged, however unkempt, -is exalted above all that which the human spirit has shaped and trained.</p> - -<p>How did this change come about?</p> - -<p>To begin with, let it be said, that it was not quite so sudden as -Friedländer would have us suppose. Long before the dawn of the -eighteenth century, the very principles that were at the base of -European life and aspirations—the principle of the depravity of man, -the principle of liberty for liberty's sake, the principle of the -pursuit of general truth; and finally, the principle that experience -—that is to say, a direct appeal to nature—was the best method of -furnishing the mind—all these principles had been leading steadily to -one conclusion, and this conclusion Rousseau was the first to embody in -his energetic and fulminating protest against culture, tradition, human -power and society. And the fact that his doctrine spread so rapidly, -that within fifty years of its exposition, with the help of men like -Coxe, Ramond de Carbonnières, Étienne de Sénancour, Töppefer, Saussure -and Bourit, it had practically become the credo and the passion of -Europe, shows how ready the age must have been for the lessons Rousseau -taught it.</p> - -<p>All of you who have read the fulsome and bombastic praise of Nature, -together with the bitter disparagement of the work of man, in such -works as <i>La Nouvelle Héloise</i>, the <i>Confessions</i>, his letters to <i>Monsieur -de Malesherbes</i>, and his <i>Reveries of a lonely Rambler</i>, will not require -to be told the gospel Rousseau preaches.<a name="FNanchor_20_291" id="FNanchor_20_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_291" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>Suffice it to say, that he successfully created a love of the rough, of -the rugged, the unhandseled and the uncultivated in the minds of almost -all Europeans—especially Northerners, and that this love was rapidly -reflected in landscape painting.</p> - -<p>This new feeling for the romantic, for the unconstrained and for -the savage in Nature, although it soon dominated art, was, in its -essentials, quite foreign to art and to the artist. It had nothing -in common with the motives that prompt and impel the artist to his -creations. Its real essence was moral and not artistic; its fundamental -feature was its worship of the abstract principles of liberty, anarchy -and the absence of culture, which rude nature exemplifies on all sides; -and it was a moral or scientific spirit that animated it, whether in -Rousseau or in his followers.</p> - -<p>Friedrich Schiller, who entirely supports Rousseau's particular kind -of love for Nature, frankly admits this<a name="FNanchor_21_292" id="FNanchor_21_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_292" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> in his able and profound -analysis of the sentiment in question; whatever self-contempt, and -contempt of adult manhood, may have lain behind Rousseau's valuations, -Schiller brings all of it openly into the light of day, and in his -efforts to support the Frenchman's school of thought, literally exposes -it to ridicule.</p> - -<p>One or two voices, such as Hegel's<a name="FNanchor_22_293" id="FNanchor_22_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_293" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> and Chateaubriand's, were raised in -protest against this thoroughly vulgar and sentimental attitude towards -savage and wild phenomena; but they were unable to resist a movement, -the strength of which had been accumulating for so many centuries in -the hearts of almost all Europeans; and, ultimately, numbers triumphed.</p> - -<p>Even the hand of man—of the artist—in a painted landscape, got -to be a thing of the past. Realism—because it most conscientiously -repeated that unconstrained and anarchical spirit which the romantic -age loved to detect in matted weeds, in tangled and impenetrable -coppices, in thick festoons of parasitic plants, in unhandseled -brambles and in babbling brooks—became the ruling principle. -Classical influence alone was able for a while to resist too rapid a -decline; but soon we find Constable declaring in the early part of -the nineteenth century, that "there is nothing ugly," and addressing -aspiring artists in these words: "Observe that thy best director, thy -perfect guide is Nature. Copy from her. In her paths is thy triumphal -arch. She is above all other teachers; and ever confide in her with -a bold heart:"<a name="FNanchor_23_294" id="FNanchor_23_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_294" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> and a whole host of people following in his wake and -applauding his principles.</p> - -<p>Just as England by her influence had created Rousseau and his peculiar -mode of thinking,<a name="FNanchor_24_295" id="FNanchor_24_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_295" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> so, again, British influence was to show its -power in the world of Art. The parallel is striking, but nevertheless -true. In the years 1824, 1826 and 1829, Constable, whom Muther calls -the father of landscape painting,<a name="FNanchor_25_296" id="FNanchor_25_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_296" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and whom Meier Graefe calls the -father of modern painting,<a name="FNanchor_26_297" id="FNanchor_26_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_297" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> exhibited in Paris, and his style soon -became a dominant force.<a name="FNanchor_27_298" id="FNanchor_27_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_298" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> Stendhal, though very much too moderate, was -one of the first to raise, his voice against the lack of idealism -(transfiguration, simplification) in these English pictures; but his -efforts were of no avail, and he might just as well have shouted in the -face of a hurricane.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_277" id="Footnote_6_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_277"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> According to Dr. Wilhelm Lübke, <i>Outlines of the History -of Art</i> (Vol. II, p. 452), Patenier might almost be called the founder -of the modern northern school of landscape painting. See also p. 575 -in the same volume. On this subject see also Muther, <i>Geschichte -der Malerei</i>, Vol. II, p. 72: "Although in a way it is possible to -establish in what respect the painting of the Netherlands in the -sixteenth century ran parallel with that of Italy, it is also necessary -to emphasize the fact, on the other hand, that painting." Muther -mentions Hendrik Met de Bles, Joachim de Patenier and Bosch as the -leaders of this tendency.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_278" id="Footnote_7_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_278"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> See W. H. Riehl, <i>Culturstudien aus drei Jahrhunderten</i>, -p. 67.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_279" id="Footnote_8_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_279"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This use of the word sentimental in regard to the love of -nature for its own sake, is not by any means unprecedented. Schiller, -in his essay <i>Ueber naive und sentimentale Dichtung</i>, as an advocate in -favour of the love in question, constantly refers to it as sentimental. -(See 1838 Edition of <i>Works</i>, Vol. XII, pp. 167-281.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_280" id="Footnote_9_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_280"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See W. R. Hardie, <i>Lectures in Classical Subjects</i>, pp. -16-17: "What are the scenes in Nature which had the greatest attraction -for the ancients? The landscape which a Greek would choose for his -environment was a tranquil one, a cultivated spot or a spot capable -of cultivation;" and p. 21: "... apart from the work of one or two -exceptional poets like Æschylus or Pindar, it must be allowed that the -ancient view of Nature was somewhat prosaic and practical, showing a -decided preference for fertile, habitable and accessible country."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_281" id="Footnote_10_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_281"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>Some Aspects of Greek Genius</i>, p. 252. See also his -remarks, pp. 246-248, concluding thus: "The great period, indeed, -of the Attic drama, when the dialectic movement of thought was in -full operation, can hardly be called 'simple' in Schiller's sense" -[he is quoting Schiller on "Simple and Sentimental Poetry," where in -the opening paragraph Schiller applies the word <i>naiv</i>, simple, to a -natural object, as meaning that state in which nature and art stand -contrasted and the former shames the latter]; "yet even then, as in -Homer, nature is but the background of the picture, the scene in which -man's activity displays itself. The change of sentiment sets in only -from the time of Alexander onwards. Nature is then sought for her own -sake; artists and poets turn to her with disinterested love; her moods -are lovingly noted, and she is brought into close relationship with -man."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_282" id="Footnote_11_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_282"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>Studies of the Greek Poets</i>, Vol. II, p. 258.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_283" id="Footnote_12_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_283"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> See <i>Social Life in Greece</i> (Mahaffy), p. 426, and <i>What -have the Greeks done for Modern Civilization?</i> (Mahaffy, 1909), p. 11: -"External nature was the very thing that the Greeks, all through their -great history, felt less keenly than we should have expected. Their -want of a sense of the picturesque has ever been cited as a notable -defect." See also W. R. Hardie, <i>Lectures on Classical Subjects</i> -(1903), p. 8: "To what extent do the modern feelings and fancies about -Nature appear in the ancient poets?... The usual and substantially true -answer is that they appear to a very slight extent. Like Whitehead, the -Greek is slow to recognize 'a bliss that leans not to mankind.'"</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_284" id="Footnote_13_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_284"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Culturstudien aus drei Jahrhunderten</i> (2nd Edition, -1859), p. 63.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_285" id="Footnote_14_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_285"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> See S. H. Butcher, <i>Some Aspects of the Greek Genius</i>, -pp. 265, 266: "Mountains and lonely woods and angry seas, in all -periods of Greek literature, so far from calling out a sublime sense -of mystery and awe, raise images of terror and repulsion, of power -divorced from beauty and alien to art. Homer, when for the moment he -pauses to describe a place, chooses one in which the hand of man is -visible; which he has reclaimed from the wild, made orderly, subdued -to his own use. Up to the last days of Greek antiquity man has not yet -learnt so to lose himself in the boundless life of Nature, as to find a -contemplative pleasure in her wilder and more majestic scenes." -</p> -<p> -See also J. A. Symonds, <i>Studies of the Greek Poets</i>, Vol. II, p. 257: -"The Greeks and Romans paid less attention to inanimate nature than -we do, and were beyond all question repelled by the savage grandeur -of marine and mountain scenery, preferring landscapes of smiling -and cultivated beauty to rugged sublimity or the picturesqueness of -decay...." -</p> -<p> -See also W. R. Hardie, <i>Lectures on Classical Subjects</i>, pp. 3, 9, 17, -and Friedlander, <i>Roman Life and Manners</i>, Vol. I. pp. 391, 392, 393, -395.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_286" id="Footnote_15_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_286"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>Ueber die Entstehung und Entwicklung des Gefühls für das -Romantische in der Natur</i>, pp. 4, 10.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_287" id="Footnote_16_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_287"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>Culturstudien aus drei Jahrhunderten</i>, p. 57.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_288" id="Footnote_17_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_288"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 59, 60.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_289" id="Footnote_18_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_289"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>Ueber die Entstehung und Entwicklung des Gefühls für das -Romantische in der Natur</i>, pp. 2, 3.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_290" id="Footnote_19_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_290"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> E. B. d'Auvergne, <i>The English Castles</i>, pp. 216, 217.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_291" id="Footnote_20_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_291"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> See <i>Lettres Nouvelles addressées à Monsieur de -Malesherbes</i> (Geneva, 1780), 3rd letter, p. 43. Speaking of a lonely -walk in the neighbourhood of his country house, he says: "J'allois -alors d'un pas plus tranquille chercher quelque lieu sauvage dans la -forêt, quelque lieu désert, où rien ne me montrant la main de l'homme -ne m'annonçât la servitude et la domination, enfin quelqu' asyle où -je pusse croire avoir pénétré le premier, et où nul tiers importun ne -vint s'entreposer entre la nature et moi. C'était là qu'elle sembloit -déployer à mes yeux une magnificence toujours nouvelle. L'or des genêts -et la pourpre des bruyères frappoient mes yeux d'un luxe qui touchoit -mon cœur; la majesté des arbres"—and so on in the same romantic -strain for twenty lines. It is impossible to reproduce every passage I -should like to quote, in order to reveal the full range of Rousseau's -passion for nature and his bitter contempt of man and man's work; but -the above is typical, and other equally gushing passages may be found -in <i>Les Rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire</i> (Paris, 1882), pp. 119, 138, -etc., etc.; <i>La Nouvelle Héloise</i>, especially the 11th letter; <i>Les -Confessions</i> (Ed. 1889, Vol. I), Bk. VI, pp. 229, 234, 238, 245, and -Bk. IV, p. 169: "... on sait déjà ce que j'entends par un beau pays. -Jamais pays de plaine, quelque beau qu'il fût, ne parut tel à mes yeux. -Il me faut des torrents, des rochers, des sapins, des bois noirs, des -montagnes, des chemins raboteux à monter et à descendre, des précipices -à mes cotés, qui me fassent peur.... J'eus ce plaisir ... en approchant -de Chambéri ... car ce qu'il y a de plaisir dans mon goût pour des -lieux escarpés, est qu'ils me font tourner la tête: et j 'aime beaucoup -ce tournoiement pourvu que je sois en sureté."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_292" id="Footnote_21_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_292"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <i>Sämmtliche Werke</i> (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1838), Vol. -XII, "Ueber naive und sentimentale Dichtung," p. 168, 169: "This kind -of pleasure at the sight of Nature is not an æsthetic pleasure, but -a moral one: for it is arrived at by means of an idea, and it is not -felt immediately the act of contemplation has taken place, neither -does it depend for its existence upon beauty of form." And, p. 189, -after pointing out that the Greeks completely lacked this feeling for -Nature, he says: "Whence comes this different sense? How is it that we -who, in everything related to Nature, are inferior to the ancients, -should pay such homage to her, should cling so heartily to her, and -be able to embrace the inanimate world with such warmth of feeling? -It is not our greater conformity to Nature, but, on the contrary, the -opposition to her, which is inherent in our conditions and our customs, -that impels us to find some satisfaction in the physical world for our -awakening instinct for truth and primitive rudeness, which, like the -moral tendency from which that instinct arises, lies incorruptible and -indestructible in all human hearts and can find no satisfaction in the -moral world."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_293" id="Footnote_22_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_293"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> See <i>Hegels Leben</i>, by Karl Rosenkranz, especially pp. -475, 476 and 482, 483.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_294" id="Footnote_23_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_294"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> See <i>The Life and Letters of John Constable</i>, by C. R. -Leslie, R.A., pp. 343, 349.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_295" id="Footnote_24_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_295"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> See J. Morley's <i>Rousseau</i>, Vol. I, pp. 85, 86: -"According to his own account, it was Voltaire's Letters on the -English which first drew him seriously to study, and nothing which -that illustrious man wrote at this time escaped him." And p. 146: -"Locke was Rousseau's most immediate inspirer, and the latter affirmed -himself to have treated the same matters exactly on Locke's principles. -Rousseau, however, exaggerated Locke's politics as greatly as Condillac -exaggerated his metaphysics." And p. 147: "We need not quote passages -from Locke to demonstrate the substantial correspondence of assumption -between him and the author of the Social Contract. They are to be found -in every chapter."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_296" id="Footnote_25_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_296"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>Geschichte der Malerei</i>, Vol. III, p. 175.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_297" id="Footnote_26_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_297"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Modern Art</i>, Vol. I, p. 140.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_298" id="Footnote_27_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_298"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 138: "What his fatherland neglected was taken -over by the Continent. Strange as this neglect may seem, the rapidity -with which Europe assimilated Constable is even more remarkable. -The movement began in Paris.... France needed what Constable had to -give.... The young Frenchmen saw the traditional English freedom with -eyes sharpened by enthusiasm."</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="Portrait_Painting" id="Portrait_Painting">3. Portrait Painting.</a></p> - - -<p>When one now adds to these influences, the steady rise of the power of -the bourgeoisie in Europe, from the seventeenth century onward, and, -as a result of this increasing power, an uninterrupted growth in the -art of portrait painting—a growth that attained such vast proportions -that it cast all attainments of a like nature in any other age or -continent into the shade—one can easily understand what factors have -been the most formidable opponents of Ruler-Art in the Occident, since -the event of the Renaissance.</p> - -<p>After all that I have said concerning the principles of Ruler-Art, it -will scarcely be necessary for me to expatiate upon those elements in -portrait painting which are antagonistic to these principles; for when -you think of portrait painting as it has been developed by the claims -of the bourgeoisie in Europe, you must not have Leonardo da Vinci's -"Mona Lisa" in mind. Neither must you consider that portrait work -in which, by chance, the artist has had before him a model who, in -every feature of face or of figure, corresponded to his ideal; nor -that in which the artist has been able to allow himself to exercise -his simplifying and transfiguring power. Otherwise some of the best -of Rubens' and Rembrandt's work would of necessity come under the ban -which we must set upon by far the greater number of portraits.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="saskia"></a> -<img src="images/saskia.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p style="font-size: 0.8em; text-align: center;">Saskia By Rembrandt.</p> -</div> -<hr class="r5" /> -<p>When Rembrandt painted his bride Saskia,<a name="FNanchor_28_299" id="FNanchor_28_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_299" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> for instance, the extent to -which he exercised his simplifying and transfiguring power is amazing, -and precludes all possibility of our classing this work among the -portraits which should be condemned. He knew perfectly well that poor -Saskia was not beautiful—what beautiful girl would have condescended -to look at Rembrandt?—so what did he do? He cast all the upper and -right side of her face in shadow, and deliberately concentrated all -his attention, and consequently the attention of the beholder as well, -upon three or four square inches of nice round muscle in the lower part -of Saskia's young cheek and neck. But how many plain daughters of rich -bourgeois would allow three or four square inches of their cheek and -neck to be exalted in this way, at the cost of their eyes and their -nose and their brow? The same remarks also apply to Rembrandt's "Jewish -Rabbi" in the National Gallery. There he had to deal with an emaciated, -careworn old Jew. How did he overcome the difficulty? All of you who -know this picture will be able to answer this question for yourselves, -and I need not, therefore, go into the matter.</p> - -<p>This, then, is not the class of portrait work which need necessarily -deteriorate the power of art. What does deteriorate this power, is -that other and more common class of portrait painting which began in -Holland in the seventeenth century, and in which each sitter insisted -upon discovering all his little characteristics and individual -peculiarities; in which, as Muther says, each sitter wished to find "a -counterfeit of his personality," and in which "no artistic effect, but -resemblance alone was the object desired."<a name="FNanchor_29_300" id="FNanchor_29_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_300" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>It was the insistence upon this kind of portrait work by the wealthy -bourgeoisie of England, which well-nigh drove Whistler, with his -ruler spirit, out of his mind, and it is precisely this portrait work -which is dominant to-day. In order to be pleasing and satisfactory -to the people who demand it, this class of painting presupposes the -suppression of all those first principles upon which Ruler-Art relies -in order to flourish and to soar; and where it is seriously and -earnestly pursued, art is bound to suffer.</p> - -<p>This was recognized three hundred years ago by the Spanish theoretician -Vincenti Carducho, and his judgment still remains the wisest that has -ever been written on the subject. In formulating the credo of the -sixteenth century, he wrote as follows—</p> - -<p>"No great and extraordinary painter was ever a portraitist, for such -an artist is enabled by judgment and acquired habit to improve upon -nature. In portraiture, however, he must confine himself to the model, -whether it be good or bad, with sacrifice of his observation and -selection; which no one would like to do who has accustomed his mind -and his eye to good forms and proportions."<a name="FNanchor_30_301" id="FNanchor_30_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_301" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>Our art at the present day is, unfortunately, very largely the -development and natural outcome of the two influences I have just -described, and that accounts for a good deal for which I have failed to -account hitherto.</p> - -<p>Art no longer gives: it takes. It no longer reflects beauty on reality: -it seeks its beauty in reality. And that is why it falls to pieces -judged by the standard of Ruler-Art. It cannot bear the fierce light -of an art that is intimate with Life and inseparable from Life. In -its death-throes it has decked itself with all kinds of metaphysical -plumes, in order that it may thus, perhaps, live after death. But these -plumes have been used before by dying gods and have proved of no avail. -"Virtue for virtue's sake," was the cry of a dying religion. "Art for -art's sake," is now the cry of an expiring godlike human function.</p> - -<p>But unless this cry be altered very quickly into a cry of art for the -sake of Life, there will be no chance of saving it. Before this art for -Life's sake can be discovered, however; before the purpose after which -it will strive can be determined and established, the first thing to -which we shall have to lend our attention is not art, but mankind.</p> - -<p>The purpose of man is a thousand times more important than the purpose -of art. The one determines the other. And as a proof of how intimately -the two are connected, see how much doubt there is as to the purpose of -art, precisely at a moment when men also, owing to the terrible civil -war which is raging among their values, are beginning to doubt the real -purpose of human existence.</p> - -<p>It would be useless to indulge in a detailed criticism of individual -artists. To all those who have followed my arguments closely, no such -clumsy holding up of particular modern artists to ridicule will seem -necessary. In some of your minds these men are idols still, and it -pleases only the envious and the unsuccessful to see niche-statues -stoned.</p> - -<p>The great artist, as I have shown you, is the synthetic and superhuman -spirit that apotheosizes the type of a people and thereby stimulates -them to a higher mode of life. But where should we go to-day, if we -wished to look for a type or for a desirable code of values which that -type would exemplify?</p> - -<p>We know that we can go nowhere; for such things do not exist. They are -utterly and hopelessly extinct.</p> - -<p>Our first duty, then, is not to mend the arts—you cannot mend a -cripple. But it is rather to mend the parents who bring forth this -cripple—to mend Life itself, and above all Man.</p> - -<p>"Away from God and Gods did my will allure me," says Zarathustra; "what -would there be to create if there were Gods!</p> - -<p>"But to man doth it ever drive me anew, my burning will; thus doth it -drive the hammer unto the stone.</p> - -<p>"Alas, ye fellow-men, within the stone slumbereth an image for me, -the image of all my visions! Alas that it should perforce slumber in -ugliest stone!</p> - -<p>"Now rageth my hammer, ruthlessly against its prison. From the stone -fly the fragments: what's that to me?</p> - -<p>"I shall end the work: for a shadow came unto me—the stillest and -lightest of all things once came unto me.</p> - -<p>"The beauty of the Superman came unto me as a shadow. Alas my brethren, -what are the gods to me now!"<a name="FNanchor_31_302" id="FNanchor_31_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_302" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_299" id="Footnote_28_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_299"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Dresden Royal Picture Gallery.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_300" id="Footnote_29_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_300"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>History of Painting</i> (Eng. Trans.), Vol. II, pp. 572, 576.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_301" id="Footnote_30_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_301"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Muther, <i>History of Painting</i> (English Translation), -Vol. II, p. 481.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_302" id="Footnote_31_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_302"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXIV.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4 class="smcap"><a name="Lecture_III" id="Lecture_III">Lecture III</a><a name="FNanchor_1_303" id="FNanchor_1_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_303" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h4> - - - -<h4 class="smcap">Nietzsche's Art Principles in the History of Art</h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap"><a name="Part_I" id="Part_I">Part I</a></h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">Christianity and the Renaissance</h4> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye -through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye -shall live."—Romans viii. 13.</p></blockquote> - - -<p>I shall now endeavour to show you when and where Nietzsche's Art -doctrine, or part of it, has raised its head in the past, and to touch -lightly upon the conditions which led to its observance.</p> - -<p>In doing this I shall travel backwards, zigzag fashion, from Rome, -viâ Greece to Egypt, and beginning with Christianity, I shall show -how the Holy Catholic Church succeeded in establishing one of the -conditions necessary to all great Art, which, as I have said, is unity -and solidarity lasting over a long period of time, and forming men -according to a definite and severe scheme of values.</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_303" id="Footnote_1_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_303"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Delivered at University College on Dec. 15th, 1910.</p></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<p class="caption"><a id="Rome_and_the_Christian_Ideal"></a>1. Rome and the Christian Ideal.</p> - - -<p>The compass of these lectures does not allow me to say anything -concerning the Art of Rome. There are many aspects of this Art which -are both interesting and important from the historical standpoint; -but, from the particular point of view which I am now representing, -temporal Rome does not concern me nearly as much as sacred Rome and its -provincial Government.</p> - -<p>For the first act of the Christian power was not to volatilize the -stone bulwarks of the monuments of antiquity, neither was it to -spiritualize the citizen of the Roman Empire; but it was to convert -Rome the secular administration into Rome the Eternal City.</p> - -<p>Long before the exterior of the Græco-Roman column was divided up and -sub-divided, until, despite its volume, it seemed to have no solidity -whatever; and long before men's eyes and bodies were transformed from -broad, spacious wells of life into narrow, tenuous cylinders of fire, -a teaching was spread broadcast over the Roman Empire, the devouring -power of which was astounding, and the like of whose digestion has not -been paralleled in history.</p> - -<p>The Romans in their latter days had degenerated through the decline -among them of that very principle which is the basis of all great -art—restraint. Always utilitarians, in the end they had become -materialists, and finally their will power had disintegrated.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly—perhaps through the very fact that their will power had -declined, and through a preponderance among them of a class of people -who were unfit to allow themselves any material enjoyment, and who were -conscious of this shortcoming—the pendulum of Life swung back with a -force so great to the opposite extreme, that the Pagan world was shaken -to its foundations, and in its death-agony stretched out its arms and -embraced the foreign creed which said—</p> - -<p>"Flesh is death; Spirit is life and peace. The body is dead because of -sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If ye live after -the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the -deeds of the body, ye shall live."<a name="FNanchor_2_304" id="FNanchor_2_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_304" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p>Here was a fundamentally new valuation, a totally novel outlook upon -the world of man. Some extraordinarily magnetic creator of values had -spread his will over an empire, and stamped his hand upon a corner of -the globe, and "the blessedness to write upon the will of millenniums -as upon brass,"<a name="FNanchor_3_305" id="FNanchor_3_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_305" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> promised to be his.</p> - -<p>Here was a principle which obviously must have found its origin in a -class of mind which, in order to overcome the flesh at all, knew of no -better means thereto than to cut it right away and for ever. It was not -a matter of contriving some sort of desirable inner harmony; the will -of the people in whom this creed took its roots was incapable of such -an achievement. The order went: "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck -it out, and cast it from thee ... if thy right hand offend thee, cut -it off!" Whenever the Spirit was mentioned it was spelt in capital -letters and uttered in exalted tones; while the body, on the other -hand, as the great obstacle to salvation, was written small. States of -the soul became surer indices to the qualities "good," "beautiful," -and "virtuous," than states of the body, and the paradox that Life was -the denial of Life, was honestly believed to be an attainable ideal. -In Lübke's words: "Christianity disturbed the harmony between man and -nature, and introduced a sense of discordance by proclaiming to man a -higher spiritual law, in the light of which his inborn nature became a -sinful thing which he was to overcome."<a name="FNanchor_4_306" id="FNanchor_4_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_306" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>The people who acclaimed this teaching by instinct ultimately organized -themselves, conquered the Pagan world, enlisted Pagan elements into -their organization—Pagan spirit and Pagan order—and gradually -accomplished a task which no other European values seem to have -been able to do. They established one idea, one thought, one hope, -in the breasts of almost all great Western peoples, from Ireland to -Constantinople, from the Mediterranean to the Baltic.</p> - -<p>The power of their creation—the Church—was such that it -co-ordinated the most heterogeneous elements, the most conflicting -factors, and the most absurd contrasts. And, however much one may -deprecate the nature of the type they advocated, and the ignoble -valuation of humanity upon which their religion was based, as a -Nietzschean, one can but acknowledge the power they wielded, the might -with which they made one ideal prevail, and the art with which for a -while they united and harmonized such discordant voices as those of the -people of Europe.</p> - -<p>One can admire all this, I say, even though it is but a spiritual -reflection of Rome's former power, her former victories, and her former -law and order.<a name="FNanchor_5_307" id="FNanchor_5_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_307" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>For, soon, however un-Pagan the ideal may have been which the Church -made to prevail, the methods it employed were purely Pagan methods.</p> - -<p>Fearing nothing, respecting nothing that was opposed to it, and not -losing heart before the difficulty of vanquishing even the most -formidable enemies of the expiring Empire—the Teutons away in the -North—spiritual Rome thus set about its task of appropriating -humanity; and all the art of the organizer, of the orator, of the -painter, sculptor and architect, was speedily ordered into its service. -If the type to which its ideal aspired were not already a general fact, -then it must be made a general fact. It must be reared, cultivated -and maintained.</p> - -<p>Strangely enough, the feat of vanquishing the German nation proved a -thousand times easier to Rome the Eternal City, than it had done to -Rome the Metropolis of the Greatest Empire of antiquity. The ancient -Germans, with their strong tendency to subjectivity, to fantastic -brooding and to cobweb spinning, and with their coarse, brutal natures -unused either to restraint or to the culture that arises from it, fell -easy victims to this burning teaching of the spirit, of faith, and -of sentiment;<a name="FNanchor_6_308" id="FNanchor_6_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_308" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> and it was in their susceptible and untutored -breasts that Christianity laid its firmest foundation.</p> - -<p>In its work of appropriation and consumption, as I say, the Church -halted at nothing.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_304" id="Footnote_2_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_304"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Romans viii. 6, 10, 13.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_305" id="Footnote_3_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_305"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, III, LVI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_306" id="Footnote_4_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_306"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>Outlines of the History of Art</i>, Vol. I, p. 445.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_307" id="Footnote_5_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_307"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See H. H. Milman, D.D., <i>History of Latin Christianity</i> -(Ed. 1864), Vol. I, p. 10. Speaking of Catholicism, he says: -"It was the Roman Empire, again extended over Europe -by a universal code, and a provincial government; by a -hierarchy of religious prætors or proconsuls, and a host of -inferior officers, each in strict subordination to those -immediately above them, and gradually descending to the very -lowest ranks of society, the whole with a certain degree of -freedom of action, but a restrained and limited freedom, and -with an appeal to the spiritual Cæsar in the last resort."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_308" id="Footnote_6_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_308"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> See J. B. Bury, <i>A History of the Roman Empire</i>, Vol. I, -p. 17: "It has been said that the function of the German -nations was to be the bearers of Christianity. The growth -of the new religion was indeed contemporary with the -spread of the new races in the Empire, but at this time in -the external events of history, so far from being closely -attached to the Germans, Christianity is identified with the -Roman Empire. It is long afterwards that we see the -mission fulfilled. The connection lies on a psychological -basis: the German character was essentially subjective. The -Teutons were gifted with that susceptibility which we call -heart, and it was to the needs of the heart that Christianity -possessed endless potentialities of adaptation.... Christianity -and Teutonism were both solvents of the ancient world, and -as the German nations became afterwards entirely Christian, -we see that they were historically adapted to one another."</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Pagan_Type_appropriated_and_transformed_by_Christian_Art" id="The_Pagan_Type_appropriated_and_transformed_by_Christian_Art">2. The Pagan Type appropriated and transformed by Christian Art.</a></p> - - -<p>Just as St. Paul had not refrained from taking possession of the -Unknown God whom the Athenians ignorantly worshipped, by declaring</p> - -<p>Him to be precisely the God whom he had come among them to proclaim, -so Christianity did not refrain from incorporating all the suitable -features of the Pagan faith into its own creed.</p> - -<p>The Pagan type was thus the first thing to be assimilated and absorbed, -and in the early Christian paintings of the catacombs you must not be -surprised to find the Saviour depicted with all the beauties and charms -of the classical god or hero. Here he appears as a Hermes, there as an -Apollo, and yonder as an Orpheus.<a name="FNanchor_7_309" id="FNanchor_7_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_309" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Beardless, young, and strong, Christ -stalks towards you. His gait is free his carriage majestic. Across his -shoulders you will sometimes see, as in the catacombs of the Via Appia -in Rome, that he bears a sheep, and he looks for all the world like a -young Hermes, who, as you know, was the Greek god of flocks.</p> - -<p>Elsewhere he looks like a Roman senator, as in the catacomb of St. -Callixtus, for instance; his mother Mary looks like a Roman matron, -praying with uplifted hands, and the apostles Peter and Paul, together -with the prophets, appear as peripatetic philosophers, grasping -learned-looking scrolls of manuscript, while Daniel is presented as -a Hercules.<a name="FNanchor_8_310" id="FNanchor_8_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_310" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>Even the famous bronze statue of St. Peter in his great -church at Rome is in fact an antique statue of a consul which has -been transformed into a Peter, and the original of this monument was -probably quite innocent of the sanctity which has caused the foot of -his effigy to be worn away by the kisses of the faithful.<a name="FNanchor_9_311" id="FNanchor_9_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_311" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p>This bold manner of appropriating the Pagan ideal in Art was but -the symbol of what was actually occurring in the outside world; for -the object was not to glorify the Pagan type, but to overthrow it, -to transform it by degrees into the type which was compatible with -Christian values, and thus to obliterate it.</p> - -<p>We can watch this process. We can see the classic features and form -of body surely and permanently vanishing from the wall decorations of -the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries A.D., and the Christian type -asserting itself with ever greater assurance. Already in San Paolo -fuori-le-mura in Rome, which had been decorated about the middle of -the fifth century,<a name="FNanchor_10_312" id="FNanchor_10_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_312" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Christ appears bearded,<a name="FNanchor_11_313" id="FNanchor_11_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_313" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> ugly and gloomy, and his -apostles reflect his appearance and mood. In the Church of San Vitale -in Ravenna, of the sixth century, the spirit of the antique had almost -passed away;<a name="FNanchor_12_314" id="FNanchor_12_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_314" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> in the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori-le-mura the bearded -Christ is no longer sublime and dignified, but wan and emaciated;<a name="FNanchor_13_315" id="FNanchor_13_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_315" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> while -in the Church of SS. Nazarus and Celsus at Ravenna, there is a mosaic -of the fifth century in which even the sheep are beginning to look with -gloomy and dissatisfied eyes upon the world about them.</p> - -<p>Examples could be multiplied almost indefinitely to prove how slow but -sure was this gradual self-assertion of the type that was compatible -with Christian values, and the early period of mediæval art is well -described by Woltmann and Woermann as one in which the classical cast -of figure and features gets swallowed up in ugliness.<a name="FNanchor_14_316" id="FNanchor_14_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_316" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> - -<p>Finally, in the seventh century, the most daring and most extraordinary -artistic feat of all was accomplished. The greatest paradox the world -had ever seen—a god on a cross—was portrayed for men's eyes -to behold. The Crucifixion became one of the loftiest subjects of -Christian art, and the god of the Christians was painted in his death -agony.</p> - -<p>I will not dwell upon the manifold influences exercised by this -class of picture; I simply record the fact, in order to show with -what steadily increasing audacity the Church ultimately realized and -exhibited its type.</p> - -<p>For, the fact that Christian Art was didactic, as all art is which is -associated with the will and idea of a fighting cause, and which is -born on a soil of clashing values, nobody seems to deny.<a name="FNanchor_15_317" id="FNanchor_15_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_317" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Paulinus -of Nola, Gregory the Great, Bishop Germanus, Gregory the Second,<a name="FNanchor_16_318" id="FNanchor_16_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_318" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> John -of Damascus and Basil the Great were all agreed as to the incalculable -worth of images in the propagation of the Christian doctrine, and their -attitude, subsequently adopted by the Franciscans and Dominicans, -lasted, according to Milman, until very late in the Middle Ages. When -it is remembered, moreover, that illuminated manuscripts, which were -destined to remain in the hands of single individuals, retained the -classical mould of body and features much later than did the work for -church decoration, it is not difficult to discover the strong motive -which lay behind the production of public art.<a name="FNanchor_17_319" id="FNanchor_17_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_319" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<p>With Roman culture and art, the western and northern provinces of Gaul, -Spain, Germany and Britain thus received their religion and their ideal -type; and if to-day, in our ball-rooms and drawing-rooms we are often -confronted with tenuous, flamelike, swan-necked creatures, that recall -Burne-Jones, Botticelli, Duccio and Segna to our minds, we know to -which values these people owe their slender, heaven-aspiring stature, -and their long, sensitive fingers.</p> - -<p>For the attitude of the Christian ideal to Life, to the body, and to -the world was an entirely negative one. The command from on high was, -that the deeds of the body should be mortified through the Spirit. All -beauty, all voluptuousness, smoothness and charm were very naturally -regarded with suspicion by the promoters of such an ideal; for beauty, -voluptuousness and shapeliness lure back to Life, lure back to the -flesh, and ultimately back to the body.</p> - -<p>What else, then, could possibly have been expected from such an ideal -than the ultimate decline and uglification of the body? To what else -did such an ideal actually aspire? For was not ugliness the strongest -obstacle in the way of the loving one, in the way of him who wished -only to affirm and to promote life?</p> - -<p>When the student of mediæval miniatures, wall-paintings and -stained-glass windows finds bodily charm almost completely eliminated, -when he sees ugliness prevailing, and even made seductive by a host -of the most subtle art-forms, by a gorgeous wealth of ornament -and repetitive design; and when he perceives a certain guilty -self-consciousness in regard to the attributes of sex revealing -itself in such paintings as that on the ceiling of the Church of St. -Michael at Hildesheim, where Adam and Eve are represented as naked -human monstrosities, exactly alike in frame and limbs, and with all -indications as to sex, save Eve's long tresses and Adam's beard, -carefully suppressed,<a name="FNanchor_18_320" id="FNanchor_18_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_320" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> what can be concluded from all this irrefutable -and unimpeachable evidence?</p> - -<p>When he finds the Gothic type of figure growing ever more tenuous, ever -more emaciated and more sickly as the centuries roll on; when he hears -of a Byzantine canon of the eleventh century in which the human body -is actually declared to be a monstrosity measuring nine heads; when he -finds strength and manhood gradually departing from the faces and the -limbs of the men, and an expression of tender sentiment, culminating -in puling sentimentality becoming the rule; finally, when he stands -opposite Segna's appalling picture of "Christ on the Cross" at the -National Gallery; what, under these circumstances, is he to say, save -that he is here concerned with an art which is antagonistic and hostile -to beauty, to Life and the world?</p> - -<p>For the qualities of this art, qua art, although they never once attain -to the excellence of Ruler-Art, are sometimes exceedingly great. With -Meier Graefe I should be willing to agree that there has been no real -style since the Gothic,<a name="FNanchor_19_321" id="FNanchor_19_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_321" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> or certainly not one that can claim anything -like such general distribution. And, if it had not been for the fact -that the more the paradox at the root of Christian doctrine was -realized, the more paradoxical it appeared—a fact which called forth -the energies of scores of apologists, commentators, and dialecticians, -and which made pictures retain to the very end a rhetorical, -persuasive, and therefore more or less realistic manner, sometimes -assisted (more especially towards the close of the Middle Ages) by -almost lyrical ornament and charm; there is no saying to what simple -power Christian art might not have attained. For behind it were all the -conditions which go to produce the greatest artistic achievements.</p> - -<p>As a style, apart from its subject—or content beauty; as the -manifestation of a mighty will—who can help admiring this art of -Christianity? If only its ideal had been a possible one, and one which -would have required no rhetoric, seduction, or emotional oratory, -accompanied by the ringing of all the precious metals, to support it -until the end; it might have ascended to the highest pinnacle of art in -simplicity, restraint and order. Into simplicity, however, it was never -able to develop, while its constant need of explaining made it to the -very last retain more or less realism in the presentation of its ideal -type.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_309" id="Footnote_7_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_309"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> On this point see Kraus, <i>Geschichte der christlichen -Kunst</i>, Vol. I, pp. 41, 46 et seq. Muther, <i>Geschichte der Malerei</i>, -Vol. I, p. 13. Woltmann and Woermann, <i>History of Painting</i>, Vol. I. -pp. 151-156. Paul Lacroix, <i>Les Arts au Moyen Age et à l'Epoque de la -Renaissance</i> (Ed. 1877, Paris), p. 254.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_310" id="Footnote_8_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_310"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> See J. A. Crowe and G. B. Cavalcaselle, <i>The History of -Painting in Italy</i> (Ed. 1903), Vol. I, p. 4. Woltmann and Woermann, -<i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. I, p. 156.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_311" id="Footnote_9_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_311"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Woltmann and Woermann, <i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. I, p. 156.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_312" id="Footnote_10_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_312"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> J. A. Crowe and G. B. Cavalcaselle, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. 14, -15.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_313" id="Footnote_11_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_313"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> For a discussion of the material causes of the change of -type, see Milman, <i>op. cit.</i>. Vol. IX, p. 324.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_314" id="Footnote_12_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_314"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Crowe and Cavalcaselle, <i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. I, pp. 24, 25.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_315" id="Footnote_13_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_315"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Woltmann and Woermann, <i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. I, p. 185.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_316" id="Footnote_14_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_316"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Woltmann and Woermann, <i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. I, p. 230.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_317" id="Footnote_15_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_317"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> See an interesting discussion on the early Christian -attitude towards art in Kraus, <i>Geschichte der christlichen Kunst</i>, -Vol. I, pp. 58 et seq. See also Milman's conclusions on the subject, -<i>History of Latin Christianity</i>, Vol. II, pp. 345, 346.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_318" id="Footnote_16_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_318"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> See his letter to Leo the Isaurian, quoted by Milman, -<i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. II, pp. 358-361. See also the Rev. J. S. Black's -article on "Images" in the <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i> (9th Edition).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_319" id="Footnote_17_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_319"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The Rev. J. S. Black says, in his article on "Images," -above referred to, that even as early as the fourth or fifth centuries -there is evidence of the tendency to enlist art in the service of the -Church, while Woltmann and Woermann (<i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. I, p. 167) quote -the following instance: "When St. Nilus (A.D. 450) was consulted about -the decoration of a church, he rejected as childish and unworthy the -intended design of plants, birds, animals, and a number of crosses, -and desired the interior to be adorned with pictures from the Old -and New Testaments, with the same motive that Gregory II expressed -afterwards...."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_320" id="Footnote_18_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_320"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Kraus seems to be of the opinion that this suppression of -primary sexual characteristics in paintings was not at all uncommon in -the Middle Ages. See <i>Geschichte der christlichen Kunst</i>, Vol. II, p. -280.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_321" id="Footnote_19_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_321"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>Modern Art</i>, Vol. I, p. 24.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Gothic_Building_and_Sentiment" id="The_Gothic_Building_and_Sentiment">3. The Gothic Building and Sentiment.</a></p> - - -<p>But the hierarchy of the Church, although it left no doubt in the minds -of its followers as to the genuine type which was the apotheosis of -Christian values, was nevertheless unable completely to impose its culture -upon the barbarians under its sway. And soon, somewhere towards the end -of the twelfth century, there began to appear in Europe, in things that -did not seem to matter from the moral or didactic standpoint, a certain -uncouth and uncultured spirit, which showed to what extent the despotic -rule of Rome was beginning to be flouted.</p> - -<p>In architecture, which, like music, has for some reason or other -always seemed to Europeans to be less intimately connected with the -thought and will of man than the graphic arts, an un-Catholic spirit -was preparing its road to triumph. When I say un-Catholic, I mean -emancipated from the law and order of the Universal Church.<a name="FNanchor_20_322" id="FNanchor_20_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_322" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> And in -the Gothic edifice, from its early stages to its development -into the flamboyant style, all the impossibilities, all the terrible -self-immolations imposed by the Christian ideal upon man, begin to make -themselves openly felt.</p> - -<p>Now churches begin to tower aloft into heights undreamt of heretofore. -Huge columns spring heavenwards, bearing up a roof that seems almost -ethereal because it is so high. Spires are thrust right into the very -breasts of clouds, and acres are covered by constructions which, -mechanically speaking, are alive. Kicks from the vaulted arches against -the hollowed-out walls below, necessitate counter-kicks; buttresses and -flying buttresses strive and struggle against the crushing pressure of -the stone or brick skies of these fantastic architectural feats. All -the parts of this mass of stone on baked clay are at loggerheads and at -variance with each other, and their strife never ceases.</p> - -<p>Typical of the contest going on within the body of the mediæval -Christian, and the vain aspirations of his soul, the lofty buildings -are also symbolic of the discord and lack of equilibrium which, as -Lübke says, Christianity introduced into man's relations to Nature and -to himself. And when we find the columns of these buildings carved and -moulded to look like groups of pillars embracing each other to gain -strength, the salient parts of the construction grooved and striped, -and the extremities of the clustered pillars spreading after the manner -of a fan, over our heads; we are amazed at the manner in which mass and -volume have been volatilized, spiritualized, and apparently dissipated.</p> - -<p>Elsewhere, too, there is variegated glass, gigantic filigree work, -festive decoration, as elaborated as that of a queen or a bride; -infinite grandeur and infinite littleness.<a name="FNanchor_21_323" id="FNanchor_21_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_323" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> The ornament is nervous -and excited, festoons, trefoils, gables, gargoyles and niches, all -thrust themselves at you; all strive for individual effect, individual -attention, and individual value, with a restlessness and an importunacy -which knows no limits; until your eyes, bewildered and dazzled by the -jutting, projecting and budding details, and out-startled by surprise, -instinctively drop at last, and perhaps close in a paroxysm of despair, -before the High Altar.<a name="FNanchor_22_324" id="FNanchor_22_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_324" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>This was the germ of Protestantism in stone. Long before Martin Luther -burned the Papal Bull in the market-place of Wittenberg, the elements -of Protestantism had already found expression in Gothic architecture. -True the Pagan and Catholic spirit was still sufficiently master to -dominate them, just as it did the heretics, by a tremendous force -of style; but they are nevertheless present, and it is in this -architecture, if we choose to seek it, that we shall find, at once, all -the beauty, all the ugliness, and all the incompatible elements of the -Christian ideal.</p> - -<p>Its beauty and the fact for which we ought to be grateful to it, is, -that by its one-sided and earnest advocacy of the spiritual in man, it -extended the domain of his spirit over an area so much greater than -that which had been covered theretofore, that only now can it be said -that he knows exactly where he stands and who he is. Its ugliness lies -in its contempt of the body and of Life; and its incompatible elements -are its negation of Life and the necessary attitude of affirmation -towards Life which all living creatures are bound to assume.</p> - -<p>If, however, the above description of the Gothic may seem unfair, hear -what one of the greatest friends of the Gothic has said on the subject!</p> - -<p>John Ruskin, in the early days of the last half of the nineteenth -century, wrote as follows—</p> - -<p>"I believe that the characteristic or moral elements of the Gothic are -the following, placed in order of their importance: (1) Savageness, (2) -Changefulness, (3) Naturalism, (4) Grotesqueness, (5) Rigidity, (6) -Redundance."<a name="FNanchor_23_325" id="FNanchor_23_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_325" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<p>He speaks of it as being "instinct with work of an imagination as wild -and wayward as the Northern Sea";<a name="FNanchor_24_326" id="FNanchor_24_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_326" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> lays stress upon its rudeness,<a name="FNanchor_25_327" id="FNanchor_25_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_327" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and -declares that it is that strange disquietude of the Gothic spirit— -that is its greatness,"that restlessness of the dreaming mind, that -wanders hither and thither among the niches, and flickers feverishly -around, and yet is not satisfied, nor shall be satisfied."<a name="FNanchor_26_328" id="FNanchor_26_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_328" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> - -<p>In fact, in no instance could the saying, "preserve me from my own -friends," be more aptly applied than in Ruskin's defence of the Gothic. -For Ruskin was a conscientious student, and things which even enemies -of his subject would be likely to overlook, he brings forward proudly -and ingenuously, like a truculent mother presenting an ugly child to a -friend, and with a broad smile in his forcible prose which sometimes -throws even the experienced reader quite off his guard.</p> - -<p>Hippolyte Taine speaks of the people of the Middle Ages as being -possessed of delicate and over-excited imaginations, of morbid fancy -unto whom vivid sensation—manifold, changing, bizarre and extreme -—are necessary. In referring to their taste in ornament, he says, -"It is the adornment of a nervous, over-excited woman, similar to -the extravagant costumes of the day, whose delicate and morbid poesy -denotes by its excess the singular sentiments, the feverish, violent, -and impotent aspiration peculiar to an age of knights and monks."<a name="FNanchor_27_329" id="FNanchor_27_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_329" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<a id="canon"></a> -<img src="images/canon.jpg" width="350" alt="" /> -<p style="font-size: 0.8em; text-align: center;">The Canon of Polycleitus (<i>Rome</i>)</p> -</div> -<hr class="r5" /> -<p>And if you think of the physical and spiritual operations they had been -made to undergo, you will not feel very much inclined to question these -conclusions. It must not be supposed that the canon of Polycletus, -measuring seven heads, was transformed into the Byzantine canon, -measuring nine heads, without some one's suffering—even though it -took centuries to effect the change. It must not be believed that the -calm Pagan idea of death was converted into the Christian terror of -death without the sacrifice of something; nor must these emaciated, -careworn, and neurotic faces in Mediæval paintings be conceived as mere -inventions of morbid phantasy. The deeds of the body are not mortified -through the Spirit with impunity. Such brilliant achievements have -their accounts to pay, and the Church never once deceived itself or -its followers as to what was paying, what was suffering, or where the -amputations and vivisections were taking place.</p> - -<p>Look at the type of which the monks approved! Examine it in Cimabue's, -Duccio's, Segna's and the Cologne painters' pictures. Examine it in the -tapestry of Berne, known as the "Adoration of the Kings"; look at it -in countless stained glass windows, and see its repetition in hundreds -of illuminated manuscripts, some of which, like the Latin missal of -the Church of St. Bavon at Ghent, and the <i>Lives of the Saints</i> by Simeon -Metaphrasi, have found their way into the British Museum.</p> - -<p>Then ask yourself whether or not humanity was suffering in conforming -itself to this holy creed. "Like those mothers," says Lecky, "who -govern their children by persuading them that the dark is crowded -with spectres that' will seize the disobedient, and who often succeed -in creating an association of ideas which the adult man is unable -altogether to dissolve, the Catholic priests, by making the terrors of -death for centuries the nightmare of the imagination, resolved to base -their power upon the nerves."<a name="FNanchor_28_330" id="FNanchor_28_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_330" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - -<p>And, now that all this is known and realized, what is the meaning of -the Renaissance, what is its explanation?</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_322" id="Footnote_20_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_322"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Speaking of Gothic buildings in general, Fergusson, in -A History of Architecture, Vol. I, p. 41, says: "It is in Nature's -highest works that we find the symmetry of proportion most prominent. -When we descend to the lower types of animals we find we lose it to a -great extent, and among trees and vegetables generally find it only in -a far less degree, and sometimes miss it altogether. In the mineral -kingdom among rocks and stones it is altogether absent. So universal is -this principle in Nature that we may safely apply it to our criticism -on art, and say that a building is perfect as a whole in proportion to -its motived regularity, and departs from the highest type in the ratio -in which symmetrical arrangement is neglected. It may, however, be -incorrect to say that an oak-tree is a less perfect work of creation -than a human body, but it is certain that a picturesque group of Gothic -buildings may be as perfect as the stately regularity of an Egyptian or -classic temple; but if it is so, it is equally certain that it belongs -to a lower and inferior class of design." Page 34: "The revival of the -rites and ceremonies of the Mediæval Church, our reverent love of our -own national antiquities, and our admiration of the rude but vigorous -manhood of the Middle Ages, all have combined to repress the classical -element, both in our literature and in our art, and to exalt in their -place Gothic feelings and Gothic art to an extent which cannot be -justified on any grounds of reasonable criticism."</p></div> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_323" id="Footnote_21_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_323"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> See Hippolyte Taine, <i>On the Nature of the Work of Art</i> -(translated by John Durand), pp. 130, 131, 132, 133, 134.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_324" id="Footnote_22_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_324"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Dr. Wilhelm Lübke, <i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. II, p. 14, 15, says, -speaking of the Gothic: "What a contrast to the quiet, sober masses -of the Romanesque style ...! Here, on the other hand, everything -thrusts itself into prominence, everything strives for outward effect, -everything endeavours to work out its individuality with spirit and -energy. ... At the choir ... a positive sense of disquiet and confusion -is produced, which may indeed excite the fancy, but cannot satisfy the -sense of beauty."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_325" id="Footnote_23_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_325"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>On the Nature of Gothic Architecture</i> (1854), p. 4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_326" id="Footnote_24_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_326"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>On the Nature of Gothic Architecture</i>, p. 6.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_327" id="Footnote_25_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_327"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 11.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_328" id="Footnote_26_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_328"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Ibid</i>., p. 19.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_329" id="Footnote_27_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_329"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>On the Nature of the Work of Art</i>, pp. 131-33, 134.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_330" id="Footnote_28_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_330"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>History of European Morals from Augustus to -Charlemagne</i>, Vol. I, p. 211.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="The_Renaissance" id="The_Renaissance">4. The Renaissance.</a></p> - - -<p>The Renaissance, in its early stages, at least, was a period neither -of pure realism nor of classicalism; it was neither a revival of -learning nor a revival of antiquity. These words are mere euphemisms, -mere drawing-room phrases. For, at its inception, the Renaissance -was nothing more nor less than man's convalescence, after an illness -that had lasted centuries. It was his first walk into the open, after -leaving his bed and his sick-room.</p> - -<p>According to the Nietzschean doctrine of art, this realism of Van Eyck, -of Van der Weyden, Quintin Massys, Donatello, Pisanello, Masolino, -Ucello and others ought to disgust you. It is not art, or if it is, its -rank is inferior. Why, then, does it claim attention? Why is it far -superior to the realism of the present day, despite some appallingly -ugly features?<a name="FNanchor_29_331" id="FNanchor_29_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_331" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>It is superior only in this sense, that it is the work of -convalescents. After they had been laid on the rack in the attempt to -stretch their limbs and bodies to infinity, you must not be surprised -that these men could only limp along. How could they be expected to -walk majestically and with grace? That they could stand at all was a -mercy. That they were able to hobble along as they did was a triumph.</p> - -<p>To expect these recovering invalids to impart something of themselves -to Life, to enrich her and to transfigure her, would be to expect the -impossible. But if you applaud them at all, applaud them for their -recovery, for the fact that it is well that they can give us even -drabby reality as it is. Do not congratulate them yet on their health. -For their realism, as realism, is as hopeless, as uninteresting and as -unelevating as any realism ever was and ever will be.</p> - -<p>It is deceptive, too, for what seem to be beauties in their pictures -are borrowed from such of their predecessors of the late Gothic period -as were already overloading their pictures with ornamental art forms, -in order to disguise the ugliness of the type they presented. Where -they beguile you, it is often with a wealth of sweet ornament.<a name="FNanchor_30_332" id="FNanchor_30_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_332" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>In Ucello's "Battle of Sant' Eglidio," at the National Gallery, it is -impossible not to recognize the pains the artist has taken to make your -eye dwell on the dainty trappings and accoutrements of the knights -and their steeds, on the distracting balls of gold in the shrubbery, -artfully repeated in the bridles of the horses, and on the complex maze -of pikes, spears and lances, which makes the glimpse of hills in the -distance all the more restful and pleasing.</p> - -<p>Also in Pisanello's "St. Anthony and St. George" (National Gallery), -whatever charm there is to be seen is still a Gothic charm, and the -same holds good of this painter's remarkable picture of the "Vision -of St. Eustace," in which the deliberately ornamental purpose of the -animals in the background charms you more than their startling realism.</p> - -<p>If you leave these pictures, in the National Gallery, and walk over to -Orcagna's "Coronation of the Virgin," you will see where the ornamental -charm of the early Renaissance realists probably found its origin. For -these convalescent men made no sudden and unanticipated appearance. -They were preceded by painters like Orcagna, who were beginning to feel -the impossibility of making a beautiful image out of the Christian -type, and who therefore crammed their pictures with ornament in a -manner so prodigal that the human portion of them assumed quite a -subordinate place.</p> - -<p>Look at this picture of Orcagna's. It seems positively to ring with -gold. Massed halos of the precious metal convert the faces of the -people into mere decorative discs of colour. The golden embroidery on -the dresses and on the hangings in the background give you a feeling of -sunshine, of wealth and of luxury, which makes you forget the ideal for -which all this lavish display is acting but as a subtle impresario. And -the utilization of every square inch of room by filigrees, festoons, -frills and fretwork of gorgeousness, almost convinces you at last that -you are in front of an art which says "Yea" to the glory of sunshine, -beauty and life.</p> - -<p>In this very need of extravagant ornament, however, Orcagna confesses -quite openly to you that, as far as humanity is concerned, he, as -an artist, is bankrupt and destitute. His picture, like most things -connected with the art of Christianity, is a pictorial paradox; and -when you leave it, to wander through the other rooms, your mind must be -of a singularly ingenuous stamp if it feels no suspicion with regard to -Orcagna's use of such a deafening brass band in the exaltation of his -ideal.</p> - -<p>If you doubt all this, how can you explain the fact that those painters -of the early Renaissance who remained faithful to the Christian -type—such men, I mean, as Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, Alesso -Baldovinetti, Botticelli and Ghirlandaio—all remained more or less -faithful, too, to Orcagna's belief in ornament and pretty accessories; -while all those painters who either carried on or developed the new -spirit in Pisanello's, Ucello's, Masolino's and Masaccio's work— -such men as Pollajuolo, Verrochio, Perugini, Bellini, and ultimately -Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Raphael—all discarded -pretty and seductive accessories, or, when they did use them, made them -completely subordinate to the human element in their work?</p> - -<p>The gradual growth in the importance of the human body and of the Pagan -type, in the Renaissance painters, from Masaccio to Michelangelo, with -whom there can no longer be any question of convalescence, the rapid -return to a healthy life-affirming type, and the ultimate triumph of -this type in the very heart of the Vatican—the headquarters of the -greatest negative religion on earth,—these are the facts which make -the art of this age so admirable and so thrilling.</p> - -<p>It represents the greatest stand which Europe has ever made against the -denial of life, humanity and beauty; and if some of the artists, like -Pisanello, Piero della Francesca, and ultimately Titian, in their great -zeal, returned to nature with almost as much interest as to man, this -is easily accounted for when it is remembered how long nature and man -had been separated.<a name="FNanchor_31_333" id="FNanchor_31_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_333" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>But the fact that makes the final glory of the Renaissance type all the -more glorious is the extraordinary circumstance that almost every one -of the artists who fought for it, and for the principles it involved, -from Piero della Francesca to Titian, were one after the other captured -and enchained by the Church itself. Often it was in the very atmosphere -of the high altar, with the fumes of the incense about them, that they -asserted their positive faith in Life and Man. The greatest dangers, -the greatest temptations surrounded them But they planted their -banner, notwithstanding, in the centre of their true enemy's camp, -and, for a while, their true enemy acquiesced, because the command was -in the hands of men who were artists and pagans themselves, and who -consequently did not believe in one single tenet of the negative creed -which they professed.</p> - -<p>Just as the realism of some of the early Renaissance artists, however, -was the inevitable outcome of their convalescent state, so the strong -realism of many of the painters and sculptors of the late Renaissance -was the natural result of their combative attitude.</p> - -<p>Fighting for a particular kind of man, against centuries of false -and unhealthy tradition, it was necessary to bring forward the new -ideal with every characteristic plainly, emphatically and powerfully -expressed; for every characteristic of a new ideal is of the highest -importance.</p> - -<p>These new values of the Renaissance spirit were scarcely one hundred -years old, when Michelangelo set himself the task of embodying them in -his sculpture and painting. Would it be fair to criticize him from the -standpoint of Egypt or even of Greece?</p> - -<p>From the standpoint of Egypt he is disappointing. The preponderance -of characteristic traits over simplicity in his work spoils the power -of his conceptions. His prevailing lack of simplicity makes you guess -at the youth of the values on which he stood, and his tortuous bodies -often make you question whether his types have entirely left the -nerves of the Gothic period behind them. But are not all these defects -precisely of a kind which are unfortunately inseparable from the -position which Michelangelo assumed?</p> - -<p>He was the greatest of the Renaissance artists. In criticizing him, I -have said all that can be said, from this particular standpoint, of his -predecessors and contemporaries. His power lies in the forcibleness, -the exhilaration, the exuberance and the wealth with which he brings -forward his type. It lies in his absolute contempt of seductive -prettiness, his sometimes terrible strength, his vehemence and his -energy, and above all in his magnificent conceptions and the types with -which he illustrates them. Compared with the art from which it had -sprung, his art was stupendous.</p> - -<p>And where he is weak, compared with a higher—and by no means a modern -—concept of art, he suffers from the virtues of his position as a -fighter and as an innovator.</p> - -<p>In valuing him, as I said in my first lecture, it all depends whence -you come. If you hail from Europe of the nineteenth and twentieth -century, you can but go on your knees before him. If you hail from -Memphis of the year 4000 B.C., you can but criticize and feel ill at -ease before his work.</p> - -<p>I have not yet said anything concerning the relation of the Renaissance -artists to Greece, simply because, taking in view the circumstances of -their development, the relation seems fairly obvious. In discussing -the art of Greece itself, however, the matter will probably appear -quite clear to you. How much of the transfiguration in late Renaissance -art is actually due to Greek influence, or to the Dionysian spirit -of the age, it is difficult to determine. In my opinion, the latter -influence was more potent, and to the Greek influence I should be more -prepared to ascribe the spur which originally led to the adoption of a -thoroughly Pagan type.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_331" id="Footnote_29_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_331"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Kraus, in his <i>Geschichte der christlichen Kunst</i>, Vol. -II, denies that the revival of the antique was predominant in the -Renaissance, and argues that individualism and nature study were the -prominent notes. Venturi, the Italian art-historian, declares that -the antique began to be paramount only in the sixteenth century, -and that with it the decadence began. While Eugène Müntz, in his -monumental work, <i>L'Histoire de l'Art pendant la Renaissance</i>, Vol. I, -p. 42, speaking of the two movements of the period, says: "Deux voies -s'ouvraient aux novateurs, ou le naturalisme à outrance, un naturalisme -qui, n'étant plus soutenu par les hautes aspirations du moyen âge, -risquait fort de sombrer dans la vulgarité (l'exemple de Paolo Ucello, -d'Andrea del Castagna, de Pollajuolo l'a bien prouvé) ou bien la nature -contrôlée, purifiée, ennoblie par l'étude des modèles anciens." The -latter was the later movement. See also Woltmann and Woermann, <i>History -of Painting</i>, Vol. II, Introduction.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_332" id="Footnote_30_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_332"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Muther, in his <i>History of Painting</i>, Vol. I, p. 87, -actually declares that Jan van Eyck and Pisanello in their dainty -manner remained Gothic.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_333" id="Footnote_31_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_333"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Of Piero della Francesca, Muther says, <i>op. cit.</i>, Vol. -I, p. 97: "He created the grammar of modern painting.... Four hundred -years ago he proposed the problem of realism, and endeavoured, as the -forerunner of the most modern artists, to establish in what manner -atmosphere changes colour impressions."</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4 class="smcap"><a name="Part_II" id="Part_II">Part II</a></h4> - - -<h4 class="smcap">Greece and Egypt</h4> - - -<blockquote> - -<p style="font-size: 0.9em;">"The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land -make thy father and brethren to dwell."—Genesis xlvii. 6. -</p></blockquote> - - - -<p class="caption"><a id="Greek_Art"></a>1. Greek Art.</p> - - -<p>I have now spoken to you of Christian Art, and you have not been taken -altogether by surprise; because, in England at least, people are not -unacquainted with the fight Art has had with Puritanism. And you were, -therefore, partly prepared for what I had to say. The views I have -expressed concerning the Renaissance were not entirely new to you -either, and, if they were, I can only hope that they will assist you in -giving to the Art of that period its proper valuation. Now, however, -I fear I am going to level a blow at what must seem to you even more -sacred, even more invulnerable and even more thoroughly established -than either Christian or Renaissance Art. I refer to the Art of Greece.</p> - -<p>Albeit, before I proceed with my task, do not be surprised if, like -Charles the First's executioner, Brandon, I kneel to kiss the hand -of my victim, if only by so doing I may seem to you to understand -the grave nature of my business, and satisfy you that the blow I am -about to deliver is prompted more by conviction than by that cheap -irreverence for great things which is, alas, only too prevalent to-day.</p> - -<p>Goethe says somewhere that, if we find fault with Euripides at all we -should do so on bended knees. It seems to me that this ought also to -be the attitude of people and critics in this age who attempt to value -what the Greeks achieved in the graphic arts. For the earnestness and -vigour wherewith, collectively, they set up their triumphs and ideals -in stone and marble, the moment any opportunity arose for them to -affirm and exalt their type, is deserving of the utmost praise and -admiration.</p> - -<p>Too many great writers have exalted the Greeks, however, to make it -necessary for me to edify you with any long and enthusiastic praise of -those qualities which Nietzsche admired in them.</p> - -<p>Fairness alone, therefore, compels me to acknowledge the grandeur -of the type their art advocates. With Nietzsche I can but extol the -yea-saying of this type to the passions, to beauty, to health, in -fact to life. The fearlessness of the Greeks before beauty was their -acknowledgment that life was a blessing to which it was worth while to -be lured and seduced. And their innocent acceptance of the strongest -passions is sufficient to show to what extent they had not only -mastered them, but had also enlisted them into their service.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, though it is only decent to exercise some reserve in this -matter, it certainly is necessary to point to a curious fact in regard -to Greek Art in general, and that is, that, with the exception of some -of its archaic examples, it has been revered with ever-increasing -fervour by strangers, from the second century before Christ to the -present day,—when I say strangers, I mean people whose thought and -aspirations were not necessarily the outcome of Hellenic values,—and -that this general appreciation of Greek Art by foreigners implies that -there is some quality in it which is only too common to everybody and -to anybody, irrespective of nationality and education. If it were asked -what this common factor was, I should reply, it is Nature herself, to -which Greek Art, in its so-called best period, is undeniably in close -and intimate relationship.</p> - -<p>In examining the works of the seventh, sixth and fifth centuries -before Christ, it is well to bear in mind the peculiar state of the -country in which they appeared, its division into states, and its mixed -population. It is well to think of the many ideals that dominated these -people, and of the fact that the citizen of one city was often regarded -as an alien, without any political rights whatever, if he ventured to -transfer his abode to another city but a few miles distant from his -own; and allowances should be made for the rivalry and competition this -state of affairs conduced to bring about. It is also well to remember -the individual lives the colonists lived, and the altered outlook on -life to which their independent positions were bound to lead, and -which, when they returned to their mother city, as many of them used to -do, must have shed a new and strange light upon what they saw.</p> - -<p>Although a certain uniformity can be traced in the political history -of most Greek states, no one would dare to maintain that the Greeks, -at any time in their history, were a perfectly united people observing -the same values; whilst even in the history of each separate state, -changes occurred so constantly that a stable political type is a rare -and practically negligible fact.</p> - -<p>In spite of the many heroes and geniuses which arose from time to time, -there never seems to have been that power, either human or superhuman, -which might have welded these peoples indissolubly together, or which, -taking its root in one of the contending races, could have made that -race completely absorb and digest the others.</p> - -<p>Even the games of Greece, which, it might be argued, tended to unite -the various peoples, cannot be said to have gone very far in this -respect, since the very fact that the Hellenic nation enforced a -sacred armistice during the month of the games, between states that -were at war, shows that the most this institution could achieve was a -suspension of arms.</p> - -<p>On the whole, therefore, the fact that one can talk of different -types as characteristic of particular schools or ideals is amply -accounted for, and when the general spirit of rivalry that animated -the whole nation for centuries is duly taken into consideration it -is not difficult to explain a certain preponderance of manifold -characteristics over simplicity, which is observable in the greater -part of Greek sculpture—a preponderance which sometimes led very -rapidly to the crudest realism, and which at other times approached -realism only after a considerable lapse of time. Such phenomena are the -inevitable result of that lack of the powerful master or ruler spirit -who unifies and co-ordinates heterogeneity, and who thereby makes -simplification and powerful art possible, as the outcome of relative -permanency.<a name="FNanchor_32_334" id="FNanchor_32_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_334" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p>For, when technique is largely mastered, realism, as I have shown in -the case of Mediæval and Renaissance Art, may in a great measure be the -outcome of a desire to make one's own particular ideal unmistakably -plain, and although this kind of truth to nature always reveals a -clashing of values or types, it is of a kind which may be regarded as -infinitely superior to the realism which has nothing to say at all, and -which merely copies out of poverty of invention.</p> - -<p>When talking to strangers about an ideal they do not share with you, -it is necessary to bring all your powers to bear upon an adequate and -perfectly vivid representation of what you have in your mind.</p> - -<p>I, on this platform, assuming that Nietzsche as an art valuer was -strange to you, had to present him to you with all the realism and -detail I could dispose of. If I had been talking to people who knew -the Nietzschean views of art perfectly well, I might have indulged in -certain artistic simplifications and poetical transfigurations which I -considered unsuited to the present circumstances.</p> - -<p>This same feeling, I believe, partly explains the tendency to realism -in Greek art. And it is precisely to this tendency to realism that I -think it is now high time to call attention, after all the fulsome -praise which has for ages been lavished upon the products of the -Hellenic spirit.</p> - -<p>When you turn to the granite statue of the Egyptian goddess Sekhet in -the Louvre, or to the lions of Gebel Barkal in the Egyptian Gallery -of the British Museum, you are conscious of a sensation of great -strangeness, of humiliating unfamiliarity, of almost incalculable -distance. You may look at these things for a moment and wonder what -they mean; you may even pass on with a feeling of indifference -amounting to scorn;<a name="FNanchor_33_335" id="FNanchor_33_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_335" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> but whatever your sensations are, you will be -quite unable to deny that what you have seen does not belong to your -world, that it is utterly and completely separated from you, and that -you felt in need of a guide and of an initiator in its presence.</p> - -<p>You may laugh at the lions of Gebel Barkal, you may deny that they are -beautiful; but, whoever you are, scholar, poet, painter or layman, you -will admit that they are cruelly distant and strange, terribly remote -and uncommunicative.</p> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="center"><a name="A_The_Parthenon" id="A_The_Parthenon">A. The Parthenon.</a></p> - - -<p>Now, if you turn round and bear to the right in the Egyptian Gallery at -the British Museum, you will find a broad passage lined with statues -that seem very much more familiar to you than those which you are just -leaving behind; and, in the distance, you will espy the maimed figures -of the Eastern pediment of the Parthenon. In a moment you will be in -the Elgin Room, and everywhere about you you will see all that remains -of the ancient temple of Athens which is worth seeing.</p> - -<p>If you have not been to Athens, you must not suppose that you have -missed much, as far as the Parthenon is concerned. Unless you are very -modern and very romantic, and can take pleasure in visiting a gruesome -ruin by moonlight, you would be only depressed and disappointed by -the decayed and ugly mass of stones that now stands like a battered -skeleton on the Acropolis. You may take it, therefore, that, as -you stand in the Elgin Room, you have around you the best that the -Parthenon could yield after its partial destruction and dismantlement -in 1687 by the victorious Veneto-German army. And what is it that you -see?</p> - -<p>Remember that you are a man of the twentieth century A.D., and that you -have just been bored to extinction by a walk in the Egyptian Gallery. -Remember, too, that you have very few fixed opinions about Art, and -that the artistic condition of your continent is one of chaos and -anarchy.</p> - -<p>In spite of all this, however, you will walk up to the horse's head at -the extreme right of the Eastern pediment of the Parthenon, and the two -thousand and four hundred years that separate you from it will vanish -as by magic.</p> - -<p>For years I have taken men, women and children up to this horse's -head. In some cases these people have been technical connoisseurs of -a horse's points; in others they have been mere bourgeois people, -indifferent both to the art of Greece and to equine anatomy; and with -the children I was concerned with raw manhood that cared not a jot for -Art, and whose one sole, savage instinct was to recognize and classify -what was before them.</p> - -<p>If you supposed, however, that the verdict of these different people -was anything but unanimous, you would be vastly mistaken. The children -cried with delight. Their powers of recognizing things was stimulated -to the utmost. One of them told me it was like a real bus-horse. The -connoisseurs of a horse's points began to draw plausible conclusions -from the existing head as to the probable conformation of the body -which the artist had deliberately omitted, and the bourgeois people -declared that they loved the fascinating softness and convincing -looseness of the mouth.—All of them were charmed. All of them -understood. Not one of them felt that this horse held itself aloof from -them and kept its distance, as the austere Egyptian lions had done. And -all of them were children of the twentieth century A.D., and over two -thousand years separated them from the objects they were inspecting.</p> - -<p>Their comments on the Parthenon Frieze were much the same. Once or -twice one of them would say that there was a monotonous similarity of -feature in the men and in the horses—a comment which immediately -revealed to me that 2,400 years had indeed wrought some change. On the -whole, however, the attitude of those I escorted amazed me; for, with -but few exceptions, it was one of sympathy and understanding. I will -not say that I did not stimulate their interest a good deal, by making -them feel that their criticism was valuable to me; I will not pretend -that if they had been alone they would have troubled to concentrate -their minds to any great extent upon the exhibits around them; but this -I will affirm, with absolute confidence: that if all the men, women -and children who stream through the Elgin Room daily were given the -same stimulus to exercise their critical faculty, and were similarly -induced to give particular attention to all they saw, the sympathy and -understanding which I observed among the groups of visitors I escorted -would be found to be a fairly general, if not a common occurrence.</p> -<hr /> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> -<a id="apollo"></a> -<img src="images/apollo.jpg" width="300" alt="" /> -<p style="font-size: 0.8em; text-align: center;">The Apollo of Tenea, Glyptothek, Munich.</p> -</div> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p class="center"><a name="B_The_Apollo_of_Tenea" id="B_The_Apollo_of_Tenea">B. The Apollo of Tenea.</a></p> - - -<p>Take the same people down to the Cast Room and show them the Apollo of -Tenea, and what will they say?</p> - -<p>When I first halted before this bewilderingly beautiful statue in the -Glyptothek at Munich, I felt I was in the presence of something very -much more masterful, very much more impressive, and infinitely more -commanding than anything Greek I had ever seen in London, Paris, or -Athens.</p> - -<p>Here was a style which was strange. But it was evidently a style which -was the product of a will, and of a long observance of particular -values that had at last culminated in a type; for this Apollo resembled -nothing modern, Egyptian, Assyrian, Mediæval, or of the Renaissance.</p> - -<p>This statue scorns to make a general appeal. It is the apotheosis of -a type. Of this there can be no question. It is the work of a loving -and powerful artist, who could simplify the human frame, and express -stenographically, so to speak, the essential features of the people -he represented, because he knew the essential features to which their -values aspired.</p> - -<p>The arms, alone, transcend everything that I have ever seen in Hellenic -Art for consummate skill in transfiguring and retaining bare essentials -alone; and although, here and there, particularly in the breast, -there is a broadness and a sweeping ease, which I admit ought to be -attributed more to incomplete control of essentials than to their -actual simplification, the whole figure breathes a spirit so pure, so -certain and so sound, that it is the nearest approach I can find in -Greek Art to that ideal artistic fact in which the particular values -of a people find their apotheosis in the transfigured and simplified -example of their type.</p> - -<p>I would deny that the qualities of this statue are not ultimate -qualities. I would deny that there is anything transitional or archaic -in them. What is archaic, what is transitional, is the weak treatment -of the chest and abdomen. Compared with the simplified chest and -abdomen of an Egyptian statue of the fourth or fifth dynasty, it shows -a minimum rather than a maximum of command of, and superiority over, -reality. Any healthy development of such an art, however, ought only to -have led to greater perfection in the treatment of the parts mentioned, -and I seriously question the general belief that it marks a progress in -sculpture which must ultimately lead to the rendering of the athletic -types for which the sculptors of Argos and Sicyon became famous. There -is something strange and foreign in this statue which does not reappear -in the Hellenic Art of the Periclean age.<a name="FNanchor_34_336" id="FNanchor_34_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_336" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Like the vases of the -sixth century and some of the ante-Periclean Acropolis statues, there -is a Ruler form in its execution that makes quite a limited appeal— -a fact which would be consistent with its having been the apotheosis -of a type. Its exhortation is not directed at mankind in general. It -communicates little to the modern European, and the crowds that stream -through the Elgin Room of the British Museum would probably pass it by -without either sympathy or understanding.</p> - -<p>And yet, as I have shown, it cannot be regarded as a perfect specimen -of Ruler-art; there are too many uncertainties and too many doubts in -it.</p> - -<p>As marking an advanced stage in a very high class of Ruler-art, -however, it is magnificent, and any transformation of its form to -greater realism would be a descent, rather than an ascent, in taste.</p> - -<p>If you turn from it to the sculptures of the temple of Selinus, which, -as far as one can say, must have been carved not more than about half -a century earlier, you will see that these are indeed archaic. They -are beneath realism in their coarseness and crudity. But it is in the -sculptures of Selinus, and not in the Apollo of Tenea, or in the best -vases of the sixth century, that you must seek the motive spirit of the -Art which has made the Periclean age so glorious; This striving after -realism, although unsuccessful in the metopes of Selinus, reveals a -different aspiration, a totally different will, from that which created -the Munich Apollo, and it was precisely this aspiration that was fully -realized, with but a slight admixture of the other will, in Athens of -the fifth century.</p> - -<p>Some will say that Egyptian influence is apparent in the Apollo of -Tenea, and they will add that the Greek colonists in Selinus, finding -themselves in very close contact with their commercial rivals the -Phœnicians, very naturally scorned all Eastern canons and ideas when -erecting their temples.</p> - -<p>Both of these suggestions are perfectly legitimate. The Apollo of -Tenea either betrays Egyptian influence or, owing to its Ruler form, -it takes one's mind back involuntarily to the Ruler-art of the Nile. -The sculptures of Selinus may also be the outcome of the conscious -renunciation of Eastern influence, or they may be the manifestation of -a particular "Art-Will," as Worringer has it, which aimed at realism -and was quite guiltless of any other ulterior motive. In both cases -I favour the latter alternative, and I should like to believe that -in addition to the influences I have already mentioned in respect -of realism there were two Art-Wills active in ancient Greece—each -striving for supremacy and power.</p> - - - -<hr /> -<h5><a name="C_The_two_Art-Wills_of_Ancient_Greece" id="C_The_two_Art-Wills_of_Ancient_Greece">C. The two Art-Wills of Ancient Greece.</a></h5> - - -<p>I cannot see how any one rising from a study of Hellenic Art can arrive -at any other conclusion. A superior will aiming at a Ruler-art form is -the one, an inferior will aiming at realism is the other. And it is a -significant fact, that while the first will sent forth its last blooms -in the sixth century—a period when, according to Freeman, Hellenic -life readied its zenith,<a name="FNanchor_35_337" id="FNanchor_35_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_337" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> the ultimate triumphs of the other and -inferior will, in the fifth century, marks the first stage in a decline -that was never to be arrested.<a name="FNanchor_36_338" id="FNanchor_36_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_338" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="metope"></a> -<img src="images/metope.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p style="font-size: 0.8em; text-align: center;">The Medusa Metope of Sellinus, Palermo.</p> -</div> -<hr class="r5" /> -<p>This is not the usual view, I know. As a rule, the art of the age of -Pericles is considered to be the highest that Greece ever produced. -But in this art I see a preponderance of realism which reveals to what -extent the other and inferior will was beginning to prevail. And when I -study Hellenistic art, and see this evil assuming such proportions as -to make even modern historians and Art-scholars deliberately denounce -it, I cannot help but recognize the germs of this decay in the art -which hitherto has been most praised and admired.</p> - -<p>As I say, I am judging purely from the artistic records. But I have no -doubt that, if I possessed the necessary scholarship, I could trace -the two Art-wills to two distinct races of men who, from the days of -the fall of Mycenæan culture, strove for mastership in Greece. I also -entertain no doubts that the fall of Greece might be attributed to the -gradual triumph of that race which possessed the inferior Art-will, and -nothing I have read, either in Grote, Bury, Oman, Curtius, Schnaase, -Miss Harrison and others, has led me seriously to hesitate before -suggesting this hypothesis.</p> - -<p>Professor Ridgeway's Early Age of Greece leads me to suppose that -the problem might be solved in the way I suggest. But, in any case, -whether this is so or not, the style of the art of Pheidias shows -a descent from the style of the Apollo of Tenea, which only an age -with a mistaken conception of what art really is could possibly have -overlooked.</p> - -<p>The art of the fifth and fourth centuries, I will not and cannot deny, -contains a large proportion of Ruler form, or what modern and ancient -art-historians call the "ideal."<a name="FNanchor_37_339" id="FNanchor_37_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_339" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> No people, any portion of which -had been capable of producing the Apollo of Tenea, could have avoided -it; but that it preponderates in realism, the evidence of history, -alone, apart from that of our own senses, proves beyond a doubt.</p> - -<p>The appreciation which it has met with at the hands of almost all -Europeans of all ages, and particularly at the hands of the Renaissance -realists, shows how general its appeal has been; and no art which has -been so very much above Nature as to apotheosize the particular values -of a particular people at its zenith, has ever made such a general -appeal.</p> - - - -<hr /> -<h5><a name="D_Greek_Painting" id="D_Greek_Painting">D. Greek Painting.</a></h5> - - -<p>In regard to the painting of Greece, I will not detain you long. -Practically all I have said in regard to Greek sculpture may be applied -with equal force to Greek painting, and I cannot do better than sum -up this side of the question with the words of that profound Japanese -artist Okakura-Kakuzo.</p> - -<p>In speaking of the great style of the Greeks, in painting—a style -which vanished with the sixth century,—he says—</p> - -<p>"The great style of the Greeks in painting—that style which was -theirs before a stage chiaroscuro and imitation of Nature were brought -in by the Appellesian school,—rises up before us with ineffaceable -regret ... and we cannot refrain from saying that European work, by -following the later school, has lost greatly in power of structural -composition and line expression, though it has added to the facility of -realistic representation."<a name="FNanchor_38_340" id="FNanchor_38_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_340" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p>When it is remembered that the demands of theatrical scenery are -generally admitted to have exercised considerable influence over -Greek painting, we need feel no surprise at the necessarily vulgar -nature of its ultimate development; while in raising this point about -chiaroscuro, Okakura-Kakuzo really opens a very serious and needful -inquiry.</p> - -<p>It may be seriously questioned whether the chiaroscuro which -Apollodorus is said to have introduced in the fifth century was not the -worst possible blow that has ever been levelled at Ruler-Art, and it is -difficult to separate this discovery from the people who made it.</p> - -<p>Once it is recognized that chiaroscuro implies a blending of colours -together, an elimination of all those sharp contrasts which the -compromising spirit of a democratic age cannot abide, and a general -hugging and embracing of all colours by each other, at the cost of the -life of all definite lines; once it is acknowledged, moreover, that all -gradations and blurred zones of contact lead inevitably to the very -worst forms of Police Art, such as Zeuxis, Parrhasius and Timanthus -practised, and that escape from realism is not only difficult, -but almost impossible under such conditions, the question whether -Apollodorus is to be praised or cursed becomes a very weighty and vital -one; and in saying that he ought to be cursed, I make a very important -statement, however unreasonable it may seem to you at present.</p> - -<p>You have noticed that until now I have not compared the Periclean art -of Greece with the art of any other country, but simply with what -is generally called the archaic art of Greece itself. I have spoken -Only of the Apollo of Tenea, and of certain promising features in the -sixth-century sculptures which were discovered on the Acropolis within -recent years.</p> - -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_334" id="Footnote_32_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_334"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> See Edward A. Freeman, <i>The Chief Periods of European -History</i>, p. 6: "The mission of the Greek race was to be the teachers, -the beacons, of mankind, but not their rulers." Page 9: "The tale of -Hellas shows us a glorified ideal of human powers, held up to the world -for a moment to show what man can be, but to show us also that such he -cannot be for long."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_335" id="Footnote_33_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_335"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> The attitude of such men as Lübke and Winckelmann to -Egyptian art is typical of the lack of understanding with which modern -Europeans have approached the monuments of the Nile. See <i>History of -Sculpture</i>, by Dr. Wilhelm Lübke, Vol. I, pp. 22-25, and <i>History of -Ancient Art</i>, by John Winckelmann, Vol. I, pp. 169, 171, 175.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_336" id="Footnote_34_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_336"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> This view seems quite opposed to that of a great -authority on the subject, Mr. A. S. Murray; but how this author comes -to the conclusion that "... in describing the progress of sculpture -from its early days to its highest development, it is convenient to -speak of it as a gradual elimination of realism," I am quite at a loss -to understand. See <i>A History of Greek Sculpture</i>, p. 239.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_337" id="Footnote_35_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_337"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> See <i>The Chief Periods of European History</i>, pp. 21-23. -See also Bury, <i>History of Greece</i>, Chaps. IV and V.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_338" id="Footnote_36_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_338"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> In studying the actual decline of Greek art it would, -I think, be very necessary to lay some stress upon the part taken by -the people in general, in judging and criticizing artistic productions -under the democracies. See Rev. J. Mahaffy (<i>Social Life in Greece</i>), -who is talking entirely from the Hellenic standpoint, p. 440: "The -really vital point was the public nature of the work they (the Athenian -Demos) demanded; it was not done to please private and peculiar taste, -it was not intended for the criticism of a small clique of partial -admirers, but it was set up, or performed for all the city together, -for the fastidious, for the vulgar, for the learned, and for the -ignorant. It seems to me that this necessity, and the consequent broad -intention of the Greek artist, is the main reason <i>why its effects upon -the world has never been diminished, and why its lessons are eternal</i>" -(the italic are mine).</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_339" id="Footnote_37_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_339"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> T. G. Tucker, in his <i>Life in Ancient Greece</i>, does his -best to reconcile the realism of Greek art with the "ideal," and helps -himself out of the difficulty by reasserting Schelling's claim in -<i>The Philosophy of Art</i> (see note to p. 91 in this book). Mr. Tucker -says, p. 186: "Many people imagine that Greek sculpture—to take that -salient province again—deliberately avoided truth to Nature, and aimed -at some utterly conventional thing called the ideal. Nothing could be -more mistaken. The whole aim of Greek sculpture was to reproduce the -living man or woman, and the sublime of its execution was attained only -when the carving seemed instinct with life—a life not merely of the -limbs, but a life of the soul, which informed the countenance, and was -felt to be controlling every limb. A Greek sculptor like Praxiteles -studied long and lovingly.... To anatomy he is as true as an artist -need wish to be. But are not his figures ideal? Doubtless, but what -does 'ideal' mean? That they are abstract, conventional, or frankly -superhuman? Anything but that. It means simply that he carves figures -which, while entirely true to strict anatomy, entirely lifelike in -all their delicate modelling ... are examples of nature in happiest -circumstances...."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_340" id="Footnote_38_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_340"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Ideals of the East</i>, p. 53.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="tb" /> -<p class="caption"><a name="Egyptian_Art_A_King_Khephren" id="Egyptian_Art_A_King_Khephren">2. Egyptian Art.—A. King Khephrën.</a></p> - - -<p>If, however, I now choose to compare the art of the Temple of Zeus at -Olympia, and the Parthenon at Athens<a name="FNanchor_39_341" id="FNanchor_39_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_341" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> with that of Egypt, the first -falls absolutely to pieces. If I walk from the lions of Gebel Barkal, -which Reginald Stuart Poole considers as the "finest example of the -idealization of animal forms that any age has produced,"<a name="FNanchor_40_342" id="FNanchor_40_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_342" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> over to -the horses of the Parthenon, the latter seem poor, feeble, and slavish -beside the powerfully simplified and commanding work of Egypt. And if, -with vivid recollections of the diorite statue of King Khephrën at -Cairo, I walk up to the best Greek work of the Periclean age, or after, -either in London or Paris, I marvel at the denseness of an age which -can put the Egyptian Pharaoh second in the order of rank.</p> -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="khephren"></a> -<img src="images/khephren.jpg" width="400" alt="" /> -<p style="font-size: 0.8em; text-align: center;">King Khephrën, Cairo Museum</p> -</div> -<hr class="r5" /> -<p>We now know too much to believe that the noble simplicity of King -Khephrën—the builder of the second pyramid of Gizeh—is the result -of incompetence or of limited means in dealing with the stone out -of which he was carved. No artist who follows the careful lines and -profiles of this statue, and who understands the broad grasp with -which each undulation, however sweeping, comprehends and comprises all -that is essential and indispensable, can doubt for an instant that the -sculptor who carved it was not only capable of realism, but infinitely -superior to it. And he who does not admire the consummate Ruler form -of this statue, and see in it the expression of the greatest artistic -power that has ever existed on earth, and probably the portrait of the -greatest human power that has ever existed on earth, confesses himself, -immediately, unfamiliar with the fundamental spirit of great art.<a name="FNanchor_41_343" id="FNanchor_41_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_343" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> - -<p>The type of King Khephrën it is quite impossible to admire and to -like, unless one is to some extent in sympathy with his ideals and his -aspirations. His features will remain strange and quite inscrutable -as long as one does not feel one's self leaning, however slightly, to -his side, in thought and emotion; but the masterly treatment of his -apotheosized portrait by a man who was probably his greatest artist, -ought to be apparent to all who have thought and meditated upon the -question of what constitutes the greatest art.</p> - -<p>Here is to be seen that autocratic mode of expression which brooks -neither contradiction nor disobedience; the Symmetry which makes the -spectator obtain a complete grasp of an idea; the Sobriety which -reveals the restraint that a position of command presupposes; the -Simplicity proving the power of a great mind that has overcome the -chaos in itself and has reflected its order and harmony upon an object, -the most essential features of which it has selected with unfailing -accuracy; the Transfiguration that betrays the Dionysian ecstasy and -pathos from which the artist gives of himself to reality and makes -it reflect his own glory back upon him; the Repetition which ensures -obedience, and finally the Variety which is the indispensable condition -of all living Art.<a name="FNanchor_42_344" id="FNanchor_42_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_344" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<p>For the artist who carved this monument was no coward. His duty was to -surpass the beauty of the most beautiful subject on earth in his time. -This man whom he has bequeathed to us in stone was not only a king, but -a god, and none but the most masterful mind, none but the most ultimate -product of ages spent in the observance of a definite and particular -set of values, could have been capable of giving this simplified -rendering, this selection of essentials, of a man-god who was the -highest outcome of these same values.</p> - -<p>How was this possible? How were these values maintained so long?</p> - -<p>In the first place, it can now be affirmed with confidence that the -Egyptians, in the days of Khephrën, were a very pure and united race, -having remained, thanks to their isolated position on the Delta of -the Nile, aloof and free from the ethical and blood influence of the -foreigner for probably thousands of years. Secondly, everybody seems to -agree that, whatever its ultimate purity may have been, the Egyptian -people, thanks to the inordinate power of their values, certainly had -a capacity for absorbing and digesting foreign elements which was -simply extraordinary;<a name="FNanchor_43_345" id="FNanchor_43_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_345" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> and, thirdly, we have it on the authority -of Wilkinson that "the superiority of their legislation has always been -acknowledged as the cause of the duration of an empire which lasted -with a very uniform succession of hereditary sovereigns, and with the -same form of government for a much longer period than the generality of -ancient states."<a name="FNanchor_44_346" id="FNanchor_44_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_346" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> - -<p>We can understand King Khephrën, then, only as the apotheosis of a type -which was the product of the values of his people. For that they loved -him and worshipped him quite willingly and quite heartily, no honest -student of their history can any longer doubt.</p> - -<p>It was with great rejoicings, and not, as Buckle and Spencer thought, -with the woeful and haggard faces of ill-used slaves, that his people -assembled annually to continue and to complete the building of his -pyramid. Dr. Henry Brugsch-Bey, Wilkinson, Dr. Petrie,<a name="FNanchor_45_347" id="FNanchor_45_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_347" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> and -many others have cleared up all our doubts on this point, and only -an Englishman like Buckle,<a name="FNanchor_46_348" id="FNanchor_46_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_348" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> who could not divorce labour from the -modern idea of sweating, and absolute monarchy from the modern idea of -cruelty, and slavery from the modern idea of brutality,<a name="FNanchor_47_349" id="FNanchor_47_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_349" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> was able -to think otherwise.</p> - -<p>For it was highly probable that King Khephrën had no standing army. It -is certain that his predecessor had not.<a name="FNanchor_48_350" id="FNanchor_48_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_350" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> It is even probable that -he had no armed bodyguard. What, then, was the power which, every year, -could muster thousands of his fellow-countrymen about him, and which -induced them cheerfully to undertake this most strenuous, this most -skilful, and this most highly artistic labour for him?</p> - -<p>This power, there can no longer be any doubt, was the power of -affection and profound and sincere reverence. An examination of the -pyramids of Gizeh, alone, apart from all historical evidence, is -sufficient to convince any one who has any knowledge of what forced -labour produces, that love was very largely active in the work of -these Egyptians of the third and fourth dynasties;<a name="FNanchor_49_351" id="FNanchor_49_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_351" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> and, if we turn -from the actual monuments themselves to the sculpture that adorned -them, we become convinced that the people who built them were a united, -law-abiding race, who recognized in Khephrën the highest product of -their values. And yet, that enormous power was wielded by this one -man-god, is proved by every detail that history and the archæological -records have handed down to us. He was the remote predecessor of a king -who one day would be able to declare—</p> - -<p>"I teach the priests what is their duty: I turn away the ignorant man -from his ignorance.... The gods are full of delight in my time, and -their temples celebrate feasts of joy. I have placed the boundaries of -the land of Egypt at the horizon. I gave protection to those who were -in trouble, and smote those who did evil against them. I placed Egypt -at the head of all the nations, because its inhabitants are at one with -me in the worship of Amon!"<a name="FNanchor_50_352" id="FNanchor_50_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_352" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> - -<p>He was a man the moral standards of whose people were in many respects -higher than those of the Greeks;<a name="FNanchor_51_353" id="FNanchor_51_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_353" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> he and his subjects felt very strongly -the value of strength of character and of self-control;<a name="FNanchor_52_354" id="FNanchor_52_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_354" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> though perhaps -they laid "greater stress upon discretion and quietness than on any -qualities of character. In the repudiation of sins an Egyptian would -say: 'My mouth hath not run on;' 'My mouth hath not been hot;' 'My -voice hath not been voluble in my speech;' 'My voice is not loud.'"<a name="FNanchor_53_355" id="FNanchor_53_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_355" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<p>"Ptahotep urged similar discreetness; he said: 'Let thy heart be -overflowing, but let thy mouth be restrained.'"<a name="FNanchor_54_356" id="FNanchor_54_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_356" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> While another Egyptian -moralist said: "Do not be a talker!"<a name="FNanchor_55_357" id="FNanchor_55_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_357" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> - -<p>Thus we find all the evidences of precisely that principle which goes -to rear a great people—the belief that restraint is necessary, -and part of the art of life, and that in order to have one group of -advantages, another group must be sacrificed.</p> - -<p>For this is the principle of all great legislation; it is the principle -of all great art,—and it is the principle of all great life.</p> - -<p>A great legislator has to discover what sacrifices his people can -afford to make, what things they will be able for ever to discard in -order to reap the advantages of a certain mode of life. His teaching -must include restraint. It is the renunciation of some things and the -careful cultivation of others that builds up a noble type. As Mr. -Chesterton once observed, with really uncustomary wisdom, you cannot -be King of England and the Beadle of Balham at the same time. To be -the one you must sacrifice the advantages which are associated with -the other. All values, all art,<a name="FNanchor_56_358" id="FNanchor_56_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_358" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> and all life is based upon this -principle—that if you grasp all, you lose all; or, as Nietzsche -has it: "The belief in the pleasure which comes of restraint—this -pleasure of a rider on a fiery steed."<a name="FNanchor_57_359" id="FNanchor_57_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_359" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> - -<p>You may argue that the enjoyment of one set of joys is better in your -opinion than the enjoyment of another set; but you cannot claim the -enjoyment of all; that is impossible. It is only among an uncultured -or democratic people that every one aspires to all pleasures, and it -is precisely among such a people that some form of Puritanism becomes -an urgent need—that is to say, as a substitute for the art of life.<a name="FNanchor_58_360" id="FNanchor_58_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_360" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> -Because the indiscriminate pursuit of all joys perforce ends in -failure, and therefore in unhappiness. But measure is the delight only -of æsthetic natures;<a name="FNanchor_59_361" id="FNanchor_59_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_361" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> hence, where the art of living has not yet been -learned, some kind of severe puritanical morality will be a condition -of existence, and if that is dropped excesses will soon begin to make -their presence felt.</p> - -<p>I do not wish you to imagine, therefore, that the Egyptians were an -austere, ascetic and self-castigating race; on the contrary, as all -authorities declare, they were full of the joy of life and of the -love of life;<a name="FNanchor_60_362" id="FNanchor_60_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_362" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> and it was precisely because they recognized -well-defined limits in particular things that they could allow -themselves a certain margin in others.</p> - -<p>In the art of Egypt I recognized this principle of restraint, long -before I discovered that it existed in their life and system of -society, and I was not surprised to find it observed with greater -severity by their rulers than by the mass of the people themselves.<a name="FNanchor_61_363" id="FNanchor_61_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_363" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> - -<p>No one can command who has not first learnt to obey his own will. -Nobody could command as that Man-God Khephrën commanded,<a name="FNanchor_62_364" id="FNanchor_62_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_364" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> before -he had become complete master of himself.</p> - -<p>"He who cannot command himself shall obey," says Zarathustra.<a name="FNanchor_63_365" id="FNanchor_63_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_365" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> And about -five thousand years ago Ptahotep—the great moralist of the fifth -dynasty of Egypt—said: "He that obeyeth his heart, shall command!"<a name="FNanchor_64_366" id="FNanchor_64_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_366" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> - -<p>This atmosphere is strange to us. We, who are used to seeing liberty -and authority granted indiscriminately as ends in themselves, to -everybody and anybody, find it difficult to realize this manner of -thought. If we know of it at all, we misunderstand it and confound the -moderation of weak natures with the restraint of the strong.<a name="FNanchor_65_367" id="FNanchor_65_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_367" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p>This art of life which takes as a fundamental principle that every joy -is bought by some sacrifice, is strange and archaic now. The people it -reared communicate little to our age, as their statues will prove if -you look at them; the art it created leaves modern spectators cold; -and yet, as every great legislator and artist should know, it is -precisely upon the principle with which the Egyptian people of the -fourth dynasty were reared, and with which the splendid statue of King -Khephrën was carved, that all great life and art repose.</p> - -<p>It cannot be said too often, therefore, that the Egyptians were a happy -and contented people, and this they were because there was some power -abroad in their world, and because he who wielded that power could make -them believe that the human race was as high as a pyramid, although but -one man perhaps could ever represent the apex.</p> - - -<hr /> -<p class="center"><a id="B_The_Lady_Nophret"></a>B. The Lady Nophret.</p> - - -<p>But you may object that in some of the works of this period the -Egyptian artists showed a lack of restraint, a lack of the instinct -that knows how much to sacrifice, which far surpassed this same vice -in the art of the Greeks. You may point to the perfectly stupendous -realism of the Lady Nophret and her husband or brother, and declare -with Fergusson that "nothing more wonderfully truthful and realistic -has been done since that time, till the invention of photography."<a name="FNanchor_66_368" id="FNanchor_66_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_368" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"> -<a id="nophret"></a> -<img src="images/nophret.jpg" width="350" alt="" /> -<p style="font-size: 0.8em; text-align: center;">The Lady Nophret (Cairo Museum)</p> -</div> -<hr class="r5" /> -<p>I confess that when I drew near to these statues in the Museum at -Cairo, it is no exaggeration to say that I was literally startled by -their lifelike appearance. Like Miss Jane Harrison, I felt that the -"Lady Nophret," at least, must be able to rise and come forward,<a name="FNanchor_67_369" id="FNanchor_67_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_369" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> so -ridiculously fresh and warm did she appear in her spotless white dress -and her majestic wig. I soon realized that I was in the presence of a -kind of realism which transcended anything I had ever seen in ancient -or modern art, for its convincingness and truth; and it was difficult -to believe that this piece of wholesale deception—certainly more -perfect than any waxwork figure I had ever known,—like the statue of -the Man-God Khephrën, was a product of the pyramid period.</p> - -<p>You must not gather, from what I have just said, that the Lady Nophret -is in the slightest degree as vulgar or as commonplace as an ordinary -waxwork figure or modern portrait. Though its vitality cannot be -denied,<a name="FNanchor_68_370" id="FNanchor_68_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_370" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> there are artistic qualities in the simple moulding of the -figure which place it very much higher than the realistic work either -of ancient Greece or of modern Europe. It is only beside the statue -of King Khephrën that it appears so weak; and, as it is almost a -contemporary of this magnificent person, the manner in which it has -been presented to us by the artist seems to be a problem.</p> - -<p>The first lesson it teaches you is this—that whatever you may think -about the conventionalism of King Khephrën, such conventionalism has -nothing whatever to do with archaic clumsiness, inability to see -Nature, or incompetence. It is clear that the Egyptians were greater -masters in rendering nature realistically than any people before or -after them.<a name="FNanchor_69_371" id="FNanchor_69_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_371" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> If they had not been, they could never have produced -the portrait-statues of the architect Ti; the two portrait-statues of -Ranofir, priest of Ptah of Memphis, and that of the Scribe and of the -Cheikh-el-Beled<a name="FNanchor_70_372" id="FNanchor_70_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_372" class="fnanchor">[70]</a>—all in the museum at Cairo.</p> - -<p>When they are not realistic, then, it is because they do not wish to -be; it is because they deliberately desire to rise above nature, to -transfigure it, simplify it, and arrange it—in fact, to be artists.</p> - -<p>What, then, was the object of these realistic portrait-statues about -which I have chosen to speak collectively in my references to the Lady -Nophret?</p> - -<p>They were never intended by the artist who made them to be seen by the -eye of man. They were never intended to be works of Ruler-art, set up -to emphasize and underline the values of a people. They had a definite -purpose, of course, but this purpose was quite foreign to that of Art -as I defined it in my last lecture. What was this purpose?</p> - -<p>It was related to Death.<a name="FNanchor_71_373" id="FNanchor_71_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_373" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> No realistic sculptural work was -associated with Life by the ancient Egyptians. As men who were still -able to believe in a Man-God, and were still convinced of the power -of man-wrought miracles, how could they associate realism or that -principle of manufacture whereby a man deliberately suppresses his -will to art and makes himself subservient to nature—how could they -associate this with Life,—Life which to these dwellers on the Nile -was inextricably bound up with the hand, the thought, the will, and the -power of man?</p> - -<p>No—these realistic sculptures which throw all our puerile Police Art -into the shade were associated not with Life, but with the opposite of -Life—with Death, with underground tombs and sarcophagi, with mummies -and musty mastabas, and with the hope of conquering Eternal Sleep.</p> - -<p>The Egyptians believed that a living man consisted of a body, a Ka or -ghost, and a Ba or soul. At death, the Ka and Ba were supposed to be -liberated; but it was hoped that a day would nevertheless come when the -Ka, which was the element in which the life of the deceased person was -specially believed to reside, would come back to the body and effect -its resurrection. Hence the care with which a body was embalmed and -preserved from putrefaction.</p> - -<p>Accidents, however, might happen, thought the ancient Egyptians. The -embalmed mummy might perish, it might be destroyed. What would the -unfortunate Ka do, if it returned and found the mummy of its former -body annihilated? A way out of this difficulty quickly occurred to the -nimble minds of these imaginative people. If the mummy had perished, -they thought, the Ka might possibly enter an effigy of its former -body, provided that effigy were sufficiently lifelike. In this way the -realistic Ka-statues were introduced, and for fear lest even these -might perish, wealthy people would sometimes multiply their number to -what would seem a ridiculous extent.</p> - -<p>Once they were manufactured, these Ka-statues would be placed far away -from the sight of living man, in the tomb of the departed person, and -in this way his resurrection was supposed to be ensured.<a name="FNanchor_72_374" id="FNanchor_72_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_374" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - -<p>For the Egyptians could imagine no world better than their own. And -even a resurrection could but occur amid surroundings which were as -like as possible to those of everyday life on earth.</p> - -<p>The realism of the Ka-statue of the Lady Nophret, therefore, need -not frighten us. On the contrary, it only helps to throw the -transfiguration and power of King Khephrën's diorite statue into -greater relief. The Egyptians knew perfectly well that a Ka-statue was -only a duplication, a copy, and a repetition of reality, and they knew -also that its proper place was underground and out of sight.<a name="FNanchor_73_375" id="FNanchor_73_375"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_375" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> -If Lady Nophret and her companion Ka-statues had never been found, -however, we might have believed, as many have believed, that the -conventionalism of Egyptian sculpture was beneath instead of very much -above Nature.</p> - -<p>But even when we know what we do know, it is only with the utmost -difficulty that an artist who is a child of this weak and impotent age -can feel any love for these strange, transcendentally powerful, and -almost superhuman figures in granite and diorite which the sculptors -of Egypt have left us. The artist may perhaps get nearer to them than -any one else in his age, because he, by virtue of the modicum of -creative power that is in him, initiates himself almost automatically -into the mysteries of this great Egyptian simplicity, order, and -transfiguration. But others who are not artists can only pass them by. -For these figures are the apotheosis of a particular type. They are -what all art should be, a stimulus, and a spur to a life based upon a -definite set of values. How, then, could people stop and admire them -who are living under values which are possibly the very reverse of -those which this art advocates, or under no definite values at all?</p> - -<p>The style of the statue of King Khephrën, with but a few modifications, -was the style of all Egyptian statuary until the days of Psammetichus, -over two thousand years later: how can we, the changeable and restless -children of Europe, understand these things?</p> - - - -<hr /> -<p class="center"><a name="C_The_Pyramid" id="C_The_Pyramid">C. The Pyramid.</a></p> - - -<p>How can we admire and understand even the symbol of King Khephrën's -social organization—the Pyramid, when we know and love only the level -plain?</p> - -<p>The Pyramid, which in its form embodies all the highest qualities of -great art, and all the highest principles of a healthy society, is the -greatest artistic achievement that has been discovered hitherto.</p> - -<p>This symbolic wedlock of Art and Sociology still stands, with all its -six thousand years of age, on the threshold of the desert—that is -to say, on the threshold of chaos and disorder, where none but the -wind attempts to shape and to form; and reminds us of a master will -that once existed and set its eternal stamp upon the face of the world -in Egypt, so that posterity might learn whether mankind had risen or -declined.</p> - -<p>In its synthesis of the three main canons, simplicity, repetition and -variety,<a name="FNanchor_74_376" id="FNanchor_74_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_376" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> nothing has ever excelled it; in its mystic utterance -of the conditions of the ideal state, in which every member takes his -place and ultimately succeeds in holding highest man uppermost and -nearest the sun, it is unparalleled in history; and in its sacred -revelation that Man can attain to some height if he chooses, that -he can believe in Man the God, and Man the Hierophant, and Man the -Prophet, if he chooses, and that he can be noble, happy, lasting and -powerful in so doing—in this treble advocacy of these sublime ideals, -the pyramid and the Egyptians who created it stand absolutely alone in -the history of the world.</p> - -<p>The best in Greece was borrowed from them; the best we still possess is -perhaps but a faint after-glow of their setting sun, and the cold and -unfamiliar tone in which their art seems to appeal to modern men ought -to prove to us how remote, how incalculably far off, they are from -our insignificant age of progress and advancement, of feebleness and -mediocrity, and of hopeless errors, in which "the prince proposes, but -the shopkeeper disposes!"<a name="FNanchor_75_377" id="FNanchor_75_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_377" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> - -<p>I cannot go into the details of their society with you now. I can but -assure you that the more you read about it in the works of men like -Wilkinson, Petrie and Brugsch-Bey, the more convinced you will become -of its transcendental superiority. And if, in praising their art above -that of any other nation, I have been forced to deal all too hastily -with their morals and their State, it is simply because I can conceive -of no such perfect art being possible, save as the flower of the noble -and man-exalting values which I find at the base of the Egyptian -Pyramid.</p> - -<p>In identifying Nietzsche's art canon with that admired and respected -by Egypt at its best, I have done nothing at all surprising to those -who know Nietzsche's philosophy. Everything he says on Art in his -maturest work, <i>The Will to Power</i>, drove me inevitably, not to Italy, -not to Greece, not to Holland, and not to India—but to the Valley -of the Nile; while in two books already published I forestalled these -lectures, in one respect, by declaring Nietzsche's ideal aristocratic -state to have been based symbolically upon the idea of the Egyptian -Pyramid.</p> - -<p>Only a romantic idealist would have the sentimental fanaticism to stand -up before you now to preach an Egyptian Renaissance. I wish to do -nothing of the sort. I know too well to what extent the Art of Egypt -was the product of a people reared by a definite set of inviolable -values, to hope to transplant it with any chance of success on to our -democratic and anarchical soil. What I do wish to advocate, however, -is, that when you think of the best in Art, your mind should go back to -the severe and vigorous culture of Egypt and not to that of any other -country.</p> - -<p>This will at least give you a standard of measurement, according to -which most of the culture of the present day will strike you as tawdry -and putrescent. In this way a salutary change may be brought about, and -the words of Disraeli concerning the Egyptians may also come true, in -which he said: "The day may yet come when we shall do justice to the -high powers of that mysterious and imaginative people."<a name="FNanchor_76_378" id="FNanchor_76_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_378" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> - -<p>Nothing can be done, however, until our type is purified,<a name="FNanchor_77_379" id="FNanchor_77_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_379" class="fnanchor"></a> until we have -at least become a people. For until that time it will be impossible to -discover a type which may become the subject-matter of the graphic arts.</p> - -<p>"Upwards life striveth to build itself with columns and stairs: into -remote distances it longeth to gaze: and outwards after blissful -beauties—<i>therefore</i> it needeth height!</p> - -<p>"And because it needeth height, it needeth stairs and contradiction -between stairs, and those who can climb! to rise striveth life, and in -rising to surpass itself!</p> - -<p>"Verily, he who here towered aloft his thought in stone knew as well as -the wisest ones about the secret of life!</p> - -<p>"That there is struggle and inequality even in beauty and war for power -and supremacy: that doth he here teach us in the plainest parable.</p> - -<p>"Thus spake Zarathustra."<a name="FNanchor_78_380" id="FNanchor_78_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_380" class="fnanchor">78</a></p> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_341" id="Footnote_39_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_341"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> I am quite willing with Mr. Gardner to acknowledge the -superiority of the latter over the former. See <i>Handbook to Greek -Sculpture</i>, p. 216 <i>et seq.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_342" id="Footnote_40_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_342"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i> (9th Edition), Article, -"Egypt."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_343" id="Footnote_41_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_343"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> See Dr. Petrie, <i>A History of Egypt</i>. On page 54 of this -book, the author says, speaking of King Khephrën: "It is a marvel of -art; the precision of the expression combining what a man should be to -win our feelings, and what a King should be to command our regard. The -subtlety shown in this combination of expression—the ingenuity in the -over-shadowing hawk, which does not interfere with the front view; the -technical ability in executing this in so resisting a material—all -unite in fixing our regard on this as one of the leading examples of -ancient art."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_344" id="Footnote_42_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_344"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, <i>A History of Art in -Ancient Egypt</i>, Vol. II, p. 239: "The true originality of the Egyptian -style consists in its deliberately epitomizing that upon which the -artists of other countries have elaborately dwelt—in its lavishing -all its executive powers upon chief masses and leading lines, and in -the marvellous judgment with which it seizes their real meaning, their -proportion, and the sources of their artistic effect."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_345" id="Footnote_43_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_345"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> <i>A History of Egypt</i>, by Dr. Henry Brugsch-Bey, Vol. I, -p. 7: "Although in so long a space of time as sixty centuries, events -and revolutions of great historical importance must of necessity have -altered the political state of Egypt, yet, notwithstanding all, the old -Egyptian race has undergone but little change; for it still preserves -to this day those distinctive features of physiognomy, and those -peculiarities of manners and customs, which have been handed down to -us by the united testimony of the monuments and the accounts of the -ancient classical writers, as the hereditary characteristics of this -people."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_346" id="Footnote_44_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_346"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <i>The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians</i>, Vol. -I, p. 293.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_347" id="Footnote_45_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_347"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>A History of Egypt</i>, p. 40: "It is said that a hundred -thousand men were levied for three months at a time (i.e. during -the three months of the inundation, when ordinary labour would be -at a standstill); and on this scale the pyramid building occupied -twenty years." [He is speaking of the Great Pyramid built by Kheops, -Khephrën's predecessor; but this does not affect my contention.] "On -reckoning number and weight of the stones, this labour would fully -suffice for the work. The skilled masons had large barracks, now behind -the second pyramid, which might hold even four thousand men; but -perhaps a thousand would quite suffice to do all the fine work in the -time. Hence there was no impossibility in the task, and no detriment -to the country in employing a small proportion of the population at a -season when they were all idle by the compulsion of natural causes. The -training and skill which they would acquire by such work would be a -great benefit to the national character." -</p> -<p> -And the same writer says in <i>The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh</i>, p. -211: "Thus we see that the traditional accounts that we have of the -means employed in building the great Pyramid, require conditions of -labour supply which are quite practicable in such a land, which would -not be ruinous to the prosperity of the country, or oppressive to the -people, and which would amply and easily suffice for the execution of -their work."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_348" id="Footnote_46_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_348"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <i>History of Civilization in England</i> (Ed. 1871), Vol. I, -pp. 90, 91, 92, 93. And Herbert Spencer's <i>Autobiography</i>, Vol. II, pp. -341-343.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_349" id="Footnote_47_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_349"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Quite typical of Western inability to understand the -basis of a patriarchal government, and of the misinterpretation of -such a form, which writers like Buckle did their best to increase -and spread, was the first Act of the play <i>Fallen Idols</i>, recently -presented at His Majesty's Theatre, London, in which Egyptian slaves -were seen cringing and crawling before an inhuman taskmaster, who -continually lashed out at them with a big whip.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_350" id="Footnote_48_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_350"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Fergusson, <i>History of Architecture</i>, Vol. I, p. 95: "Nor -is our wonder less when we ask ourselves how it happened that such a -people became so strongly organized at that early age as to be willing -to undertake the greatest architectural works the world has since seen -in honour of one man from among themselves. A king without an army, -and with no claim, so far as we can see, to such an honour, beyond the -common consent of all, which could hardly have been attained except by -the title of long-inherited services acknowledged by the community at -large." And on p. 94, speaking of the pictures in the Great Pyramid, -the author says: "On these walls the owner of the tomb is usually -represented seated, offering first-fruits on a simple table-altar to -an unseen god. He is generally accompanied by his wife, and surrounded -by his stewards, who enumerate his wealth in horned cattle, in oxen, -in sheep and goats, in geese and ducks. In other pictures some are -ploughing and sowing, some reaping or thrashing out corn, while others -are tending his tame monkeys or cranes, and other domesticated pets. -Music and dancing add to the circle of domestic enjoyments, and fowling -and fishing occupy his days of leisure. No sign of soldiers or of -warlike strife appears in any of these pictures, no arms, no chariots -or horses. No camels suggest foreign travel."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_351" id="Footnote_49_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_351"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> I should like to reproduce here Fergusson's enthusiastic -account of the work in the interior of the Great Pyramid. I have not -space, however, and earnestly recommend readers to refer to it on pp. -93, 94 of Vol. I in his <i>History of Architecture</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_352" id="Footnote_50_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_352"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Dr. Henry Brugsch-Bey, <i>History of Egypt under the -Pharaohs</i>, Vol. I, pp. 444-445.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_353" id="Footnote_51_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_353"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Dr. Petrie, <i>Religion and Conscience in Ancient Egypt</i>, -p. 86.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_354" id="Footnote_52_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_354"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 112.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_355" id="Footnote_53_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_355"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 116.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_356" id="Footnote_54_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_356"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Dr. Petrie, <i>Religion and Conscience in Ancient Egypt</i>, -p. 116.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55_357" id="Footnote_55_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_357"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 117. This moralist was Any.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56_358" id="Footnote_56_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_358"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <i>G. E.</i>, p. 107: "Every artist knows how different from -the state of letting himself go, is his 'most natural' condition, the -free arranging, locating, disposing and constructing in the moments -of 'inspiration'—and how strictly and delicately he then obeys a -thousand laws, which, by their very rigidness and precision, defy all -formulation by means of ideas."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57_359" id="Footnote_57_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_359"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 309.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58_360" id="Footnote_58_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_360"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> See Nietzsche's remarks on the great need of Christianity -in England, <i>G. E.</i>, p. 211.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59_361" id="Footnote_59_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_361"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 309.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60_362" id="Footnote_60_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_362"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> See Brugsch-Bey, <i>A History of Egypt</i>, Vol. I, p. 25; -Wilkinson, <i>The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians</i>, Vol. -I, p. 156; Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, <i>A History of Art in -Ancient Egypt</i>, p. 38; Dr. Petrie, <i>Religion and Conscience in Ancient -Egypt</i>, p. 162.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61_363" id="Footnote_61_363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_363"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> See Wilkinson, Vol. I, p. 179.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62_364" id="Footnote_62_364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_364"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> See <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 167. Where he is speaking of the Pharaohs -he says: "By the practice of justice towards their subjects, they -secured to themselves that good-will which was due from children to -a parent ... and this, Diodorus observes, was the main cause of the -duration of the Egyptian state."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63_365" id="Footnote_63_365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_365"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, III, LVI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64_366" id="Footnote_64_366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_366"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Dr. Petrie, <i>Religion and Conscience in Ancient Egypt</i>, -p. 120.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65_367" id="Footnote_65_367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_367"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 309.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66_368" id="Footnote_66_368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_368"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> <i>History of Architecture</i>, Vol. I, p. 95.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67_369" id="Footnote_67_369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_369"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Miss Jane Harrison, <i>Introductory Studies in Greek Art</i>, -p. 6.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_68_370" id="Footnote_68_370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_370"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Dr. Petrie, <i>A History of Egypt</i>, p. 35. Referring to -the Lady Nophret and her husband, the author says (speaking quite in -the style of a modern art-critic): "These statues are most expressive, -and stand in their vitality superior to the works of any later age in -Egypt."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69_371" id="Footnote_69_371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_371"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> On the walls of some of the tombs I inspected at Sakarah, -the consummate mastery with which some of the minutest characteristics -of domestic animals were represented in bold outline gave me a standard -by the side of which even M. Boutet de Monvel's beautiful studies of -animals seemed to fall into the shade. (See his illustrations to La -Fontaine's fables.)</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70_372" id="Footnote_70_372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_372"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Models of the Scribe and of the Cheikh-el-Beled are to be -seen at the British Museum; but they give one but a poor idea of the -originals.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_71_373" id="Footnote_71_373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_373"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, <i>A History of Art in -Ancient Egypt</i>, Vol. II, p. 181. Speaking of these portrait statues, -they say: "They were not ideal figures to which the desire for beauty -of line and expression had much to say; they were stone bodies, -bodies which had to reproduce all the individual contours of their -flesh-and-blood originals; when the latter was ugly, its reproduction -had to be ugly also, and ugly in the same way."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72_374" id="Footnote_72_374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_374"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> See Georges Perrot and Charles Chipiez, <i>A History of -Art in Ancient Egypt</i>, Vol. II, p. 181. Speaking of the arrangements -which were necessary to enable the inhabitants of the tomb to resist -annihilation, the authors say: "Those arrangements were of two kinds, a -provision of food and drink, which had to be constantly renewed, either -in fact or by the magic multiplication which followed prayer, and a -permanent support for the Ka or double, a support that should fill the -place of the living body of which it had been deprived by dissolution."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_73_375" id="Footnote_73_375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_375"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Okakura-Kakuzo passes a funny remark in regard to our -modern realistic portraits; he says: "In Western houses we are often -confronted with what appears to us useless reiteration. We find it -trying to talk to a man while his full-length portrait stares at us -from behind his back. We wonder which is real, he of the picture, or -he who talks, and feel a curious conviction that one of them must be a -fraud."—The Book of Tea, p. 97.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_74_376" id="Footnote_74_376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_376"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> See Hogarth, <i>The Analysis of Beauty</i> (Ed. 1753), p. -21: "There is no object composed of straight lines that has so much -variety, with so few parts, as the pyramid: and it is its constantly -varying from its base gradually upwards in every situation of the eye -(without giving the idea of sameness as the eye moves round it) that -has made it esteemed in all ages, in preference to the cone, which -in all views appears nearly the same, being varied only by light and -shade."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_75_377" id="Footnote_75_377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_377"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, III, LI.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_76_378" id="Footnote_76_378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_378"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Contarini Fleming.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_77_379" id="Footnote_77_379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_379"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> <i>W. P.</i>, Vol. II, p. 318: "Purification of taste can -only be the result of strengthening of the type;" and p. 403: "Progress -is the strengthening of the type, the ability to exercise great will -power; everything else is a misunderstanding and a danger."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_78_380" id="Footnote_78_380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_380"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> <i>Z.</i>, II, XXIX.</p></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Nietzsche and Art, by Anthony M. Ludovici - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NIETZSCHE AND ART *** - -***** This file should be named 53369-h.htm or 53369-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/3/6/53369/ - -Produced by Marc D'Hooghe at Free Literature (back online -soon in an extended version, also linking to free sources -for education worldwide ... MOOC's, educational -materials,...) 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