Identifier: appreciationofsc00stur (find matches)
Title: Appreciation of sculpture; a handbook by Russell Sturgis ...
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Sturgis, Russell
Subjects: Sculpture
Publisher: The Baker
Contributing Library: Whitney Museum of American Art, Frances Mulhall Achilles Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Metropolitan New York Library Council - METRO

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olecism in the cutof the trousers ; and even with the greatestcare he is absolutely certain that his statue,offending no one when it is accepted, willbe a monstrosity to the people of only halfa century later when the fashion he hasbeen compelled to represent shall have be-come obsolete, with the result inevitable inmodern costume, of being also hideous.But the Roman dress has never becomeugly to us, and whether it is studied thor-oughly and realistically, as in Plate XIII, oras a more decorative adjunct, as in the twostatues shown in Plate XII, it is equally ahelp to the design, enabling us to receivewithout special regret, this substitution forthe still more admirable treatment of thenude. Plate XIV is a Roman relief of a latertime, a relic of the lost arch dedicated toMarcus Aurelius, and therefore erected andthe sculptures wrought probably after thedeath of that Emperor, 180 a. d. Decadenceis obvious enough in the work of that reignand of the time that was to follow. The re-(60) I
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omg Plate XIV.—RELIEF SCULPTURE: MARCUS AURELIUS OFFERING SACRIFICE, AT-TENDED BY THE FLAMEN DIALIS, A BOY HOLDING A BOX (OF INCENSE?) ANDOTHER SERVANTS OF THE RITE. SCULPTURE OF ABOUT l8o A. D. MUSEUMOF THE PALACE OF THE CONSERVATORS, ROME. The Roman Empire and Early Egypt lief is indeed imperfectly preserved, for somemodern disfigurement does surely exist inparts of the group ; but the conception canbe perfectly understood and the desire ofthe Roman artist of the second centuryA. D. to tell the story which he had to re-late, is as visibly strong as his inferiority inall technical and even in all artistic ways.It is curious to see what pains have beentaken to force the heads all into profile,and how awkwardly the composer hasdone his work. The drapery, too, haslost its charm ; it is too obviously copiedfrom copies, too evidently the result ofthe artists memories of other reliefs, ex-cluding, as it seems, the study of the menaround him and their garments. It is afirst step in the direct

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