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Untitled Article
those who came after him might have a type to work by . Hours have I passed * from time to time , in the interior of the unfinished building , feeling a melancholy pleasure in conversing with that venerable enthusiast , upon a work destined so soon to perish . Eight thousand souls now dwell where the fourth part of a million
once inhabited . Strong must have been the enthusiasm , which , untinctured by avarice—the master-vice of the place—could retain that old man in so cheerless a region , while a few days ' journey might have yielded him abundance of all that human nature could desire , in districts which seem to have taken their type from Paradise .
With the exception of ancient Rome , the taste for art seemed to have perished in the world , till it was revived in Italy in the middle ages , under a new form . The public were no longer its patrons , for there was no longer any public . Despotic rulers , and a despotic church , had become the drain for all the produce of the surplus labour of the world ; and they patronized the arts ,
after the fashion they thought most likely to promote their several objects . The church encouraged the pictured images of superstition , and kings encouraged all that could glorify the few at the expense of the many . The most ennobling talents were thus held in base and unworthy shackles ; the growth of intellect was nipped in the bud ; and that which might have changed the
aspect of a world into ail that was beautiful and bright , was converted only to the purposes of evil . Still , shackled as they were , the Italian artists were a noble and glorious race , though their beauty was dimmed by the mist of their unholy patronage . Masters of most physical qualifications , chemists , sculptors , painters , jewellers , metal-workers , and architects , —now preparing
their colours ; now chiselling a statue ; now bidding the canvass start into life , with an impressive group from Scripture ; now fitting a lady ' s lovely limb with chased and jewelled armlet or wristlet ; now chasing the arabesque gold and silver marquetry of a rich cuirass , or the keen blade of a battle-brand or war-axe ; and then , at the sound of sudden civic tumult , momentarily
growing from the confusion amidst which they dwelt , suddenly throwing away the graver or the chisel , or the pencil and pallet , to don the helm , and grasp the spear , or ply the shining blade , with even more than the skill they had evinced in adorning it . These men were above the cares of the world , by the consideration their talents gave them with those in power ; and , taking no thought for
the morrow , they freely indulged in all to which imagination lent a momentary charm . They revelled in the smiles of beauty , and drank new draughts of inspiration , as they transferred to their canvass the features they loved . While thinking on these things , the mind of the enthusiast whispers , ' Oh , that I , too , had been an Italian artist in the middle ages !' Yet the judgment grieves that these men were ^ jwith fewexcepr
Untitled Article
O ? i the State of the Fine Arts in England . 6
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1833, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2606/page/5/
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