107
my wish to preserve them from the innovations
of caprice and fashion, to which the public is
always prone; and to assure the youth of genius,
that while he continues to found the merit of
his works on true principles, he will always
find, notwithstanding the apparent generality of
any fashion, that there is no surer way, either
to fame or fortune, than by acting in art, as
well as life, on those principles which have
received the sanction of experience, and the
approbation of the wise of all ages. X
66
now return
shall
I
to
the
consideration
of
painting
sculpture.
ahd
" The Greeks, above all others, aiibrd us the
best and most decided proofs of the beauty
arising from the philosophical consideration of
the subject intended to be represented.. To all
their deities a iixed and appropriate character
was given, from which it would have perhaps
been profanity to depart. This character was
the result of a careful consideration of the
ideal beauty suitable to the respective attributes
of the different deities. Thus in their Jupiter,