Masterpieces Of Greek Art

Author : Adolf Furtwangler
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330056318
Total Pages : 588 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (563 download)

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Download or read book Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture written by Adolf Furtwangler and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-13 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture: A Series of Essays on the History of Art Any unprejudiced attempt to form, from the text-books now in use, an estimate of the state of our knowledge of the history of art among the Greeks will force us to own with shame that we appear to know and to utilize the monuments far less than did Winckclmann in his day. Winckclmann's History of Art is wholly based upon a fresh and personal observation of the monuments, of which he makes a constant and extensive use. Our more recent histories of art are wont to take into consideration only one and the same small group of monuments, an accidental section of the mass of what has been preserved. Ever since Brunn laid with a master hand the foundation for the history and the characterization of the Greek artists, so far as these can be gathered from the traditions of the ancients, writers have for the most part been content to repeat what he established, only perhaps adding an occasional 'selected' monument to trim, as it were, the fabric of his weaving. Still it was quite justifiable to be thus prudent and cautious in dealing with the monuments, so long as we only painfully groped our way amidst the wealth of remains, without knowing how they should be utilized: it was certainly better to limit investigation to the little which was ascertained, than to venture without stay or support upon the ocean of what actually exists. Modern science, however, has afforded us a stay which enables us to keep steadily in the direction of our goal. Any one who understands how to observe the monuments, and who is willing, with indefatigable ardour, to test afresh and compare all forms, may nowadays, by means of photography, which helps to fix the individual objects, obtain a picture of Greek art far more richly coloured than the pale and meagre image we have hitherto possessed. I know that many fellow-scholars are engaged upon these lines, and it is only by combined effort that we shall be able to advance. Each must bring what contributions he can. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.