[Religion and Art in Ancient Greece by Ernest Arthur Gardner]@TWC D-Link bookReligion and Art in Ancient Greece CHAPTER I 15/15
In some cases, especially in statues of men, it may have been intended merely as a device to give expression and life to the face; but it cannot have been a matter of indifference to a primitive worshipper that his deity should smile on him through the face of its visible image.
This point of view being given, it is evidently only a question of how far it is within the power of art to express the benignity of the god, and later on his character and personality, in an adequate manner; and this power depends on the gradual acquisition of mastery over form and material, of knowledge and observation of the human body and face, and of the technical skill requisite to express this knowledge in marble or bronze, or more precious materials such as gold and ivory.
All this development belongs to the history of art, not to that of religion.
But before we can pursue the investigation any further, it is necessary to consider the different sources and channels of religious influence on art with which we have to deal..
<<Back Index Next>> D-Link book Top TWC mobile books
|