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- Author: S. Spooner
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Egyptian Art, 1
Ancient Thebes, 2
The Temple of Carnac, 5
Temple of Luxor, 5
The Statues of Memnon, 6
Heliopolis, 7
Memphis, 8
Lake Moeris, 9
The Colossal Sphinx, 10
The Labyrinth of Egypt, 11
The Catacombs of Egypt, 12
The Pyramids of Egypt, 19
Perilous Ascent of the Pyramid of Cephren, 27
Egyptian Obelisks, 30
Removal of an Obelisk by Fontana, 33
Removal of an Obelisk from Thebes to Paris, 40
Carburi's Base for the Equestrian Statue of Peter the Great, 42
Comparative Skill of the Ancients and Moderns in Mechanics, 45
The Britannia Tubular Railway Bridge, 46
The Tubes, 47
Construction of the Tubes, 49
Floating the Tubes, 50
Raising the Tubes, 52
Glory of Ancient Rome, 57
The Capitol, 59
Modern Rome, 60
The Foundation of Venice, 72
Theodoric the Great, and his Love of the Fine Arts, 73
Archimedes, 77
The Trials of Genius--Filippo Brunelleschi, 80
Brunelleschi's Enthusiasm, 122
Brunelleschi and Donatello, 123
Donatello, 125
Donatello and the Merchant, 126
Donatello and his Kinsmen, 127
Death of Donatello, 128
Donatello and Michael Angelo Compared, 128
Sofonisba Anguisciola's Early Distinction, 129
Sofonisba's Visit to Rome, 130
Sofonisba's Marriages, 131
Sofonisba's Residence at Genoa, and her Intercourse with Vandyck, 132
Carriera Rosalba, 133
Rosalba's Modesty, 133
Rosalba's Knowledge of Tempers, 133
Elizabeth Sirani, 134
Death of Elizabeth Sirani, 135
Rachel Ruysch, 135
Sir Anthony Vandyck, 136
Vandyck's Visit to Italy, 138
Vandyck's Return to Antwerp, 139
Vandyck's Visit to England, 141
William van de Velde the Elder, 143
Van de Velde and Charles II., 144
William van de Velde the Younger, 145
The Younger van de Velde's Works, 146
Nicholas Poussin, 148
Poussin's first Celebrity, 149
Poussin's first Visit to Rome, 150
Poussin's Distress at Rome, 151
Poussin's Success at Rome, 152
Poussin's Invitation to Paris, 153
Poussin's Return to Rome, 154
Sir Joshua Reynolds' Critique on Poussin, 156
Poussin's Views of his Art, 157
Poussin's Works, 158
Marino and Poussin, 159
Poussin Romanized, 160
Poussin's Habits of Study, 161
Poussin's Old Age, 162
Poussin's Last Work and Death, 163
Poussin's Ideas of Painting, 164
Poussin and the Nobleman, 165
Poussin and Mengs, 165
Poussin and Domenichino, 166
Poussin and Salvator Rosa, 166
Poussin, Angelo, and Raffaelle Compared, 168
Rembrandt, 170
Rembrandt's Works, 173
Rembrandt as an Engraver, 174
Anecdote of Schwarts, 175
Jacques Callot, 176
Callot's Patriotism, 177
Ingenuity of Artists, 178
A Hint to Jewelers, 179
Curious Paintings, 180
The Oldest Oil Painting Extant, 181
Curious Representations of the Harpies, 181
Adrian Brower, 182
Brower, the Duke d'Aremberg, and Rubens, 183
Death of Brower, 184
Brower's Works, 185
Rosa da Tivoli, 185
Rosa da Tivoli's Works, 186
Rosa da Tivoli's Facility of Execution, 186
Rosa da Tivoli's Habits, 187
Luca Cambiaso's Facility in Painting, 187
Cambiaso's Works in Spain, 188
Cambiaso's Artistic Merits, 190
Rarity of Female Portraits in Spain, 191
Murillo's Pictures in Spanish America, 192
Murillo's "Virgin of the Napkin," 193
Anecdote of an Altar-Piece by Murillo, 194
Murillo and his slave Gomez, 195
An Artist's Love of Romance, 195
Estéban March's Strange Method of Study, 198
March's Adventure of the Fish, fried in Linseed Oil, 199
A Painter's Rebuke, 200
A Painter's Retort Courteous, 201
Ardemans and Bocanegra--A Trial of Skill, 201
A Painter's Artifice to "Keep up Appearances," 202
A Good Natured Criticism, 203
Alonso Cano and the Intendant of the Bishop of Malaga, 203
Cano's Love of Sculpture, 204
Castillo's Sarcasm on Alfaro, 204
Torres' Imitations of Caravaggio, 205
Pantoja and the Eagle, 205
The Painter Methodius and the King of Bulgaria, 206
John C. Vermeyen and Charles V., 206
Blas de Prado and the Emperor of Morocco, 207
Don Juan Carreño, 208
Carreño's Copy of Titian's St. Margaret, 208
Carreño's Abstraction of Mind, 209
Anecdote of Cespedes' Last Supper, 209
Zuccaro's Compliment to Cespedes, 210
Dona Barbara Maria de Hueva, 210
The Miraculous Picture of the Virgin, 211
The Chair of St. Peter, 213
The Sagro Catino, or Emerald Dish, 215
The "Painter of Florence," 217
Legend of the Painter-Friar, the Devil, and the Virgin, 220
Gerard Douw, 222
Douw's Style, 224
Douw's Method of Painting, 225
Douw's Works, 226
Albert Durer, 228
Durer's Works as a Painter, 229
Durer's Works as an Engraver, 231
Durer's Fame and Death, 233
Durer's Habits and Literary Works, 234
Ludolph Backhuysen, 235
John Baptist Weenix the Elder, 236
Weenix's Facility of Hand, 236
John Baptist Weenix the Younger, 237
Jan Steen, 238
Jan Steen's Works, 238
Kugler's Critique on the Works of Jan Steen, 240
Frolics of Mieris and Jan Steen, 241
Sir Anthony More, 242
Sir Anthony More and Philip II., 243
More's Success and Works, 243
Perilous Adventure of a Painter, 245
Anecdote of John de Mabuse, 246
Capugnano and Lionello Spada, 247
Michael Angelo Caravaggio--His Quarrelsome Disposition, 248
Jacopo Amiconi, 249
Painting the Dead, 250
Taddeo Zuccaro, 250
Zuccaro's Resentment, 251
Royal Criticism, 252
Pietro da Cortona, 253
"Know Thyself," 254
Benvenuto Cellini, 255
Fracanzani and Salvator Rosa, 256
Pope Urban VIII. and Bernini, 256
Emulation and Rivalry in the Fine Arts, 257
The Nótte of Correggio, 259
The Dresden Gallery, 262
Painting among the Egyptians, 263
Painting among the Greeks, 265
Numismatics, 269
Restoring Ancient Edifices, 274
Napoleon's Love of Art, 274
Napoleon's Works at Paris, 276
The Napoleon Medals, 281
The Elephant Fountain, 286
Interesting Drawing, 287
Sévre China, 288
Dismantling of the Louvre, 289
Removal of the Venetian Horses from Paris, 296
Removal of the Statue of Napoleon from the Place Vendôme, 301
The Musée Français and the Musée Royal, 302
Boydell's Shakspeare Gallery, 305
Brief Sketch of a Plan for an American National Gallery of Art, 307
BOOK 1,pg.1
EGYPTIAN ART.
Champollion, the famous explorer of Egyptian antiquities, holds the
following language at the end of his fifteenth letter, dated at Thebes.
"It is evident to me, as it must be to all who have thoroughly examined
Egypt or have an accurate knowledge of the Egyptian monuments existing
in Europe, that the arts commenced in Greece by a servile imitation of
the arts in Egypt, much more advanced than is vulgarly believed, at the
period when the Egyptian colonies came in contact with the savage
inhabitants of Attica or the Peloponnesus. Without Egypt, Greece would
probably never have become the classical land of the fine arts. Such is
my entire belief on this great problem. I write these lines almost in
the presence of bas-reliefs which the Egyptians executed, with the most
elegant delicacy of workmanship, seventeen hundred years before the
Christian era. What were the Greeks then doing?"
The sculptures of the monument of El Asaffif are ascertained to be more
than three thousand five hundred years old.
ANCIENT THEBES.
Thebes, an ancient city and capital of Egypt, and the oldest city in the
world, was situated in Upper Egypt, on both sides of the Nile, about two
hundred and sixty miles south of Cairo. Thebes is "the city of a hundred
gates," the theme and admiration of ancient poets and historians, and
the wonder of travelers--"that venerable city," in the language of Dr.
Pocoke, "the date of whose destruction is older than the foundation of
other cities, and the extent of whose ruins, and the immensity of whose
colossal fragments still offer so many astonishing objects, that one is
riveted to the spot, unable to decide whither to direct the step, or fix
the attention." These ruins extend about eight miles along the Nile,
from each bank to the sides of the enclosing mountains, and describe a
circuit of twenty-seven miles. The most remarkable objects on the
eastern side are the temples of Carnac and Luxor; and on the western
side are the Memnonium or palace of Memnon, two colossal statues, the
sepulchres of the kings, and the temple of Medinet Abu. The glory of
Thebes belongs to a period prior to the commencement of authentic
history. It is recorded only in the dim lights of poetry and tradition,
which might be suspected of fable, did not such mighty witnesses remain
to attest their truth. Strabo and Diodorus Siculus described Thebes
under the name of _Diospolis_ (the city of God), and gave such
magnificent descriptions of its monuments as caused the fidelity of
those writers to be called in question, till the observations of modern
travelers proved their accounts to have fallen short of the reality. At
the time of the Persian invasion under Cambyses, Memphis had supplanted
Thebes; and the Ptolemys afterwards removed the seat of empire to
Alexandria. At present, its site presents only a few scattered villages,
consisting of miserable cottages built in the courts of the temples. The
ancient structures, however, remain in a state of wonderful
preservation. Almost the whole extent of eight miles along the river is
covered with magnificent portals, obelisks decorated with most beautiful
sculptures, forests of columns, and long avenues of sphynxes and
colossal statues. The most remarkable monuments, the ruins of which
remain, are the temples of Carnac, Luxor, the Memnonium or temple of
Memnon, and the temple of Medinet Abu. The tomb of Osymandyas, the
temple of Iris, the Labyrinth, and the Catacombs lie on the western
side of the Nile. In the interior of the mountains which rise behind
these monuments, are found objects less imposing and magnificent indeed,
but not less interesting--the tombs of the kings of Thebes. Several of
these were opened by Belzoni, and were found in great preservation, with
mummies in the sarcophagi, as well as dispersed through the chambers.
Such was ancient Thebes--a city so populous that, according to ancient
writers, in times of war 10,000 soldiers issued from each of her hundred
gates, forming an army of 1,000,000 men. That these magnificent ruins
are the remains of "the city of an hundred gates,"--"the earliest
capital in the world," cannot be doubted. According to the measurements
made by the French, their distance from the sea on the north, is 680,000
metres (850 miles), and from Elephantine on the south, 180,000 metres
(225 miles)--corresponding exactly with the 6,800 and 1,800 stadia of
Herodotus. The circumference of the ruins is about 15,000 metres (17½
miles), agreeing with the 140 stadia given by Diodorus as the
circumference of Thebes. The origin of the name of this celebrated city,
as well as the date of its foundation, is unknown. According to
Champollion, who deciphered many of the inscriptions on these ruins, the
Egyptian name was _Thbaki-antepi-Amoun_ (City of the Most High), of
which the _No-Ammon_ of the Hebrews and _Diospolis_ of the Greeks are
mere translations; _Thebæ_, of the Greeks is also perhaps derived from
the Egyptian _Thbaki_ (the city).
THE TEMPLE OF CARNAC.
The largest of the temples of Thebes, and of any in Egypt, is that of
Carnac, on the site of the ancient Diospolis. Diodorus describes it as
thirteen stadia, or about a mile and a half in circumference, which
nearly agrees with the admeasurements of Denon. It has twelve principal
entrances; and the body of the temple, which is preceded by a large
court, consists of a prodigious hall or portico, the roof of which is
supported by one hundred and thirty-four columns, some twenty-six, and
others thirty feet in circumference; four beautiful obelisks then mark
the entrance to the shrine, which consists of three apartments, built
entirely of granite.
TEMPLE OF LUXOR.
The temple of Luxor is about one and a fourth mile above that of Carnac,
and though it is of smaller dimensions it is in a superior style of
architecture, and in more complete preservation. The entrance is thought
to surpass everything else that Egypt presents. In front are the two
finest obelisks in the world, formed of rose-colored granite, and
rising, as Denon supposes, after allowing for the portion buried in the
ground, to the height of one hundred feet. But the objects which most
attract attention, are the sculptures which cover the east wing of the
northern front. They represent on a grand scale, a victory gained by one
of the ancient kings of Egypt over their Asiatic enemies, consisting of
multitudes of figures, horses, and chariots, executed in the best style
of Egyptian art; the number of human figures introduced exceeds fifteen
hundred, five hundred of which are on foot, and the rest in chariots.
THE STATUES OF MEMNON.
There were many colossal statues of Memnon in Egypt, but the most
remarkable were the two in the Memnonium or palace of Memnon, at Thebes.
The largest is of rose-colored granite, and stood in the centre of the
principal court; its height was sixty-four feet, and its remains are
scattered forty feet around it. Rigaud, one of the French savans, says,
"the excavations are still visible where the wedges were placed which
divided the monument when it was thrown down by Cambyses." The trunk
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