emplitied in the productions of the Grecian and
Italian sculptors; not that the Artists may not
execute as well, but because they will not so rea-
dily find models ; or what is perhaps more to the
point, they will not find a taste so capable of
appreciating the merits of their performances.
In Italy the eye is familiar with the human form,
in a state of almost complete nudity; and the
beauty of muscular expression, and of the osteo-
logical proportions of man, is there as well known
as that of the features and complexion of his coun-
tenance ; but the same degree of nakedness
could not be endured in the climate of England,
for it is associated with sentiments of modesty
and shame, which render even the accidental in-
nocent exposure of so much of the body offensive
to the feelings of decorum. It is not, therefore,
just to allege, that, because the Italians are a
calm, persuasive, and pensive people, and the
French all stir, talk, and inconstancy, they
are respectively actuated by different moral
causes. It will not be asserted that, though the
sources of their taste in art spring from different
qualities in the same common objects, any innate
incapacity for excellence in the tine arts, is in-I
N