into a whole, the same preference for profile, are observable in these as in the human figure. Seldom did they attempt to draw the face in front, either of men or animals; and when this was done, it fell far short of the profile, and was composed of the same juxtaposition of parts. It must, however, be allowed, that in general the character and form of animals were admirably portrayed; the parts were put together with greater truth; and the same licence was not resorted to as in the shoulders and other portions of the human body. Nor will I deny that great life and animation are given to the antelope, and many wild beasts, in the hunting scenes of the Theban tombs, or refuse my assent to the observation of Madame de Staël*, "Les sculpteurs Egyptiens saisissaient avec bien plus de génie la figure des animaux que celle des hommes."

The mode of representing men and animals in profile is primitive, and characteristic of the commencement of art: the first attempts made by an uncivilised people are confined to it; and until the genius of artists bursts forth, this style continues to hold its ground. From its simplicity it is readily understood; the most inexperienced perceive the object intended to be represented; and no effort is required to comprehend it. Hence it is that, though few combinations can be made under such restrictions, those few are perfectly intelligible, the eye being aware of the resemblance to the simple exterior; and the modern uninstructed peasant of

* Corinne, vol. i p. 127.

Egypt who is immediately struck with and understands the paintings of the Theban tombs, if shown an European drawing, is seldom able to distinguish men from animals; and no argument will induce him to tolerate foreshortening, the omission of those parts of the body concealed from his view by the perspective of the picture, or the introduction of shadows, particularly on the human flesh.

Bas-relief may be considered the earliest style of sculpture. It originated in those pictorial representations, which were the primæval records of a people anxious to commemorate their victories, the accession or the virtues of a king, and other events connected with their history. These were the first purposes to which the imitative powers of the mind were applied; but the progress was slow, and the infant art (if it may be so called) passed through several stages, ere it had the power of portraying real occurrences, and imitating living scenes. The rude drawing of a spear, a sword, a bow, or other weapon, supplied at first the place of the action itself, of which it was a species of hieroglyphic; but in process of time, the outlines of a warrior and a prostrate foe were attempted, and the valour of the prince who had led them to victory was recorded by this simple group.

As their skill increased, the mere allegorical representation was extended to that of a descriptive kind, and some resemblance of the hero's person was attempted; his car, the army he commanded, and the flying enemies, were introduced; and what was

at first scarcely more than a symbol, assumed the more exalted form and character of a picture. Of a similar nature were all their historical records, and these pictorial illustrations were a substitute for written documents. Sculpture, indeed, long preceded letters, and we find that even in Greece, to describe, draw, engrave, and write, were expressed by the same word, γράφειν.

The want of letters, and the inability to describe an individual, his occupations, or his glorious actions, led them in early ages to bury with the body some object which might indicate the character of the deceased. Thus, warriors were interred with their arms*; artisans with the implements they had used; the oar was placed over the sailor; and pateræ, and other utensils connected with his office, or the emblems of the deity in whose service he had been employed, were deposited in the sepulchre of a priest. In those times we find no inscription mentioned; a simple mound was raised over a chief, sometimes with a Tuλos or rough stone pillar, placed upon it, but no writing: and when, at a later period, any allusion to the occupations of the deceased was attempted, a rude allegorical emblem, of the same nature as the early historical records before alluded to, was engraved on the levelled surface of the stone.

Poetry and songs also supplied the want of writing, to record the details of events; and tradition handed down the glorious achievements of a

* Virgil, Æn. vi. 233., at the tomb of Misenus :

conqueror, and the history of past years, with the precision and enthusiasm of national pride. The poetry was recited to the sound of music, whence the same expression often implied the ode and the song; and as laws were recorded in a similar manner, the word vouos signified, as Aristotle observes, both a law and a song.

A

Sculpture dates long before architecture. simple hut, or a rude house, answers every purpose as a place of abode, and a long time elapses before man seeks to invent what is not demanded by necessity.

Architecture is a creation of the mind: it has no model in nature, and it requires great imaginative powers to conceive its ideal beauties; to make a proper combination of parts; and to judge of the harmony of forms altogether new, and beyond the reach of experience. But the desire in man to imitate, and to record what has passed before his eyes, in short, to transfer the impression from his own mind to another, is natural in every stage of society and however imperfectly he may succeed in representing the objects themselves, his attempts to indicate their relative position, and to embody the expression of his own ideas, are a source of the highest satisfaction.

As the wish to record events gave the first, religion gave the second impulse to sculpture. The simple pillar of wood or stone*, which was originally

* Lucan, mentioning the statues of the gods of Massilia, says, "Simulacra mista deorum

Arte carent, cæcisque extant informia truncis."

And Tacitus describes those of the Germans as "è stipitibus et impolito robore." De Mor. Germ.

chosen to represent the deity, afterwards assumed the human form, the noblest image of the power that created it; and the memorial of the primitive substitute for a statue is curiously preserved in the Greek name xwv, implying a column and an idol. Pausanias thinks that "all statues were in ancient times of wood, particularly those made in Egypt;" but this must have been at a period so remote as to be far beyond the known history of that country; though it is probable that when the arts were in their infancy, the Egyptians were confined to statues of that kind; and they occasionally erected wooden figures in their temples, even till the times of the latter Pharaohs.

Long after men had attempted to make out the parts of the figure, statues continued to be very rude; the arms were placed directly down the side to the thighs, and the legs were united together; nor did they pass beyond this imperfect state in Greece, until the age of Dædalus. The Egyptians, at the latest periods, continued to follow the imperfect models of their early artists, and grace and feeling were for ever prevented from forming a feature of their sculpture and though they made great progress in other branches of art, though they evinced considerable taste in the forms of their vases, their furniture, and even in some architectural details, they were for ever deficient in the combination of ideal beauty with the natural position of parts in the human figure.

One great impediment to the advancement of the

* Pausanias, lib. ii. c. xix.