"Were my fellow-labourer Cratippus to under"take such a commission, he would at once lose the "interest, his address has procured him in the Lace"dæmonian administration. Nay, it were well if " he did not get himself expelled from that little "community, in which he daily sups black broth "for his master's interest, and out-does the native Spartans in bitterness against Athenian politeness, "or Asiatic magnificence. "But here, whatever tends to improve, or to adorn "life, has its due share of reputation. The pencil "of my countryman Parrhasius has obtained for "him the right of citizenship. Phidias's skill in "statuary, and architecture, raised him so high in the "state, that he was treated like a public minister, " and was impeached before the people. But thou "wilt not wonder at any marks of distinction shewn "to an artist here, after thy adventure with Zeuxis "at Ephesus, if thou recollectest with how stately an "air he received thy visit, and, amidst all the pomp, " and attendance of a Persian Viceroy, how freely he reproved thy false criticism on his works. To "those reproofs may, perhaps, be due the admirable "taste, of which thou art become the master, and "which, joined to that liberality, which equally dis"tinguishes thee, will establish a school of elegance "in the East, and will convert our affectation of "the costly, and the unnatural, into a love of what "is great, and simple. My situation enables me to assist this noble design, and it is with great plea"sure, that I give thee an immediate evidence of "my attention to it, by the following list: 66 "The two figures of Delian brass are of Polycle"tus. In one he shews all the soft beauties of a "delicate; in the other, the manly grace, and the strong muscling of a body trained to arms. Thou "wilt be apt in the latter to charge the sculptor "with extravagance; but the exercises practised "here give a shape to the parts, very different from "those of the less active nations. "Most "Most of the Herma, thou wilt observe, have "the same turn of countenance. That celestial "sweetness, however, is not the mere idea of the "artist. The hint is taken from Alcibiades, the "most beautiful youth in Athens. The Cupid holding a thunderbolt, which is also his portrait, I "cannot but look upon as prophetic, and as an expression of that authority, which his charming person, and most engaging manners are likely one day to establish for him amongst his fellow citi"zens. It was with difficulty I got the Sea piece of "Androbius from the family, whose ancestor is the "hero of it. The intrepidity, and the eagerness, "which appear in the face, and the action of Scyl"lis in swimming towards the Persian galleys, "whose cables he cut in the bad weather before the "battle of Artemisium, are wonderfully expressed. "Great Minister, let not the subject offend thee: "we love not our country the less, when admiring "the virtue of its enemies; and a work of art, be the "subject as it may, I consider as one of the spoils "of Greece. "The victory of our troops over the Egyptian rebels, forms, however, a more agreeable attraction, "The painter, to shew it happened upon the Nile, "has introduced a crocodile seizing an ass upon "the bank, and has enriched the landscape with a "Sphynx, and a Pyramid. 66 Every master, thou wilt imagine, was am"bitious to succeed in the representation of Pe"ricles. To help the want of proportion in his "head, and yet not quite lose a peculiarity so "marked, they generally covered it with a helmet. "He had otherwise a most graceful figure; and "Ctesilaus has done him that justice, that in this "admirable statue all spectators agree that he is "truly Olympian. The ruler of Athens, the arbi"ter of Greece, the orator, the general, and states66 man, all appear in his look, and his attitude : Ctesilaus, "silaus, indeed, has the peculiar art of improving every charm, and of adding to the noblest of all subjects a dignity of his own. "After surveying this interesting portrait, what "wilt thou say of the same great person exposed in' "the ridiculous draughts of a painter, in Cleon's pay, his one deformity aggravated, and all his fea"tures distorted? Through all this thou wilt per"ceive a shocking likeness; and the painter has co 66 pied as happily the abusive description of the "comic poet Cratines, as Phidias copied the sub"lime verses of Homer in the design of his Jupiter. "Such is the licence of the pencil at Athens. But "it goes higher, and burlesques even their Gods in "the Birth of Bacchus, where Jupiter appears in the "habit, and posture of a woman in labour, the god"desses like so many gossips attending around him. "The enlightened adorers of Mithras, potent Satrap, 66 may safely join in the laugh at these representa"tions. To express the Deity under any form, we "know to be absurd, and impious. But we must "allow that we owe to this very superstition of Greece "the arts of design, and their existence. The rude image of some god was the first effort of sculp"ture; and the most curious paintings adorn the "walls of temples. "The encomiums of the Poets have made the Cow "of Myron so famous, that I was determined to procure it for thee. It is indeed a capital piece. "The brass, thou wilt see, is of a different kind from "that which has been used by Polycletus; it comes "from the forges of Egina. These two compe"titors vie even in the choice of their materials. "The Lion surrounded by Cupids, by the same "hand, strikes me infinitely more. Wouldst thou "conceive it possible for that nobleness of cha"racter which distinguishes the gods, and the heroes "of Phidias to be displayed in the brute creation? Myron's "Myron's Lion will convince thee of it. The "boys are designed with such softness, and placed so "advantageously, some of them tying garlands round "his neck, some playing with his paws, or climbing "upon his back, that no group, however superior "on account of the subject, has been more admired. "The Genius of Athens is the work of Parrhasius. "By the expression which he has given to his figure, "and the attributes that accompany it, he most "ingeniously shews the temper, and state of this "people. There is an air of grandeur mixed with levity, and a fierceness tempered by generous feel"ings. The owl represents political prudence, "the caduceus eloquence, and his trident is their "dominion of the sea. It is "In general, I must confess, that allegorical subjects like these are seldom pleasing to me. "difficult for the most ingenious to find symbols, "that exactly represent the idea, for which they are "intended; and if they are not such as are autho"rised by common use, they perplex, instead of "entertaining, or informing us. "I would speak to thee on this occasion, not as "the lowest of slaves to the support of the Persian "Throne, but as a passionate lover of the arts to "the generous protector of them." ( When Mr. WRAY first became a resident in London I cannot ascertain; but I should think it was not long after he had become Fellow of the Royal Society in 1728-9. In 1742 my Father bantered his passion for curious animals, by an Elegiac Poem in Latin hendecasyllables upon the death (real or supposed) of a Polypus. These verses are so excellent, and the raillery so elegant, that I cannot forbear to insert them here, with a version of them in English rhyme, attempted, non passibus æquis, by me.. POLYPUS POLYPUS WRAII*. Written in London in 1742. (Copied from the Latin Poems of the late "Flete, O! Mercuriique Apollinesque, * "Daniel Wray, Esq. F. R. S. and F. S. A. a Deputy-teller of the Exchequer, a very accomplished scholar, and most agreeable companion. The author often rallied him, but with playful satire, for he admired, and loved him." Note of the Editor. In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. XLII. No. 469, p. 422, will be found Mr. Martin Folkes's account of his experiments upon this insect-a circumstance, which accounts not only for the date of my Father's playful satire on his friend, but also for the allusion to Mr. Folkes in the Poem itself. He had been appointed President of the Royal Society in 1741. "Ironical." Note of the Editor. § The Satirist was not fonder of a jest than his hero was. But the passion for his own wit, imputed here to the latter, formed no part of his character, and is invented by the Poet. Fertur; |