Part 6 (1/2)

Now, that this progress has in sos taken place is perfectly true; but it is true also that this progress is by noancient and modern art; that there are other circue from one to the other, immeasurably ether lost sight of

110 The fact is, that reater skill, as by a radical change in te_ art than that of the thirteenth century,--it is altogether another art Between the two there is a great gulf, a distinction forever ineffaceable The change from one to the other was not that of the child into the man, as we usually consider it; it was that of the chrysalis into the butterfly There was an entire change in the habits, food, method of existence, and heart of the whole creature That we know more than thirteenth century people is perfectly true; but that is not the essential difference between us and them We are different kind of creatures from them,--as different as moths are different from caterpillars; and different in a certain broad and vast sense, which I shall try this evening to explain and prove to you;--different not merely in this or that result of minor circumstances,--not as you are different frohlander of this century frohtier sense than that; in a sense so great and clear, that we are enabled to separate all the Christian nations and tongues of the early tiroup as the kingdonificance in that term, which I want you to dwell upon and work out; it is a term which we use in a di into that of which we are conscious I want to deepen and make clear to you this consciousness that the world has had essentially a Trinity of ages--the Classical Age, the Middle Age, the Modern Age; each of these e races and individuals of apparently enore,--the Classical Age having its Egyptians and Ninevites, Greeks and Ro its Goths and Franks, Lolish, Spaniards and Ger in each case subordinate to the htier and broader distinction, between _Classicalism_, _Mediaevalisht is indeed only to inquire into a matter of art; but we cannot do so properly until we consider this art in its relation to the inner spirit of the age in which it exists; and by doing so we shall not only arrive at theour present subject, but we shall obtain thes

Now the division of ti Raphael as the man whose works mark the separation between Mediaevalism and Modernism, is perfectly accurate It has been accepted as such by all their opponents

You have, then, the three periods: Classicalis to the fall of the Ro from that fall to the close of the fifteenth century; and Modernis into the spirit of these three epochs, observe, I don't mean to compare their bad men,--I don't mean to take Tiberius as a type of Classicalism, nor Ezzelin as a type of Mediaevalism, nor Robespierre as a type of Modernism Bad men are like each other in all epochs; and in the Roman, the Paduan, or the Parisian, sensuality and cruelty admit of little distinction in themen comparatively virtuous, it is important to study the phases of character; and it is into these only that it is necessary for us to inquire Consider therefore, first, the essential difference in character between three of the reat epochs of the world have produced,--all three devoted to the service of their country,--all of the therein I mean, Leonidas in the Classical period, St Louis in the Mediaeval period, and Lord Nelson in the Modern period

Leonidas had the id sense of duty, and died with thethe accepted prophecy of his death St Louis had the id sense of duty, and the id sense of duty, and----

You must supply my pause with your charity

Now you do not suppose that the main difference between Leonidas and Nelson lay in the modern inventions at the command of the one, as compared with the imperfect military instruments possessed by the other

They were not essentially different, in that the one fought with lances and the other with guns But they were essentially different in the whole tone of their religious belief

113 By this instance youto e which constitutes Modernism I said just now that it was like that of the wores which God causes in His lower creatures are ales which God allows man to make in himself are very often quite the other way; like Ada that this last change was like that of a chrysalis, I meant only in the completeness of it, not in the tendency of it Instead of from the worm to the butterfly, it is very possible it may have been from the butterfly to the worm

Have patience with me for a ive me a little time to justify an, wherever civilization began, with Pagan Faith Mediaevalisan and continued to _confess_ Christ And, lastly, Modernisan and continues to _deny_ Christ

You are startled, but give me a moment to explain What, you would say to me, do you mean to tell us that _we_ deny Christ? ho are essentially s, and yet all of us professing believers in Christ, and we trust most of us true ones? I answer, So far as we are believers indeed, we are one with the faithful of all times,--one with the classical believer of Athens and Ephesus, and one with the mediaeval believer of the banks of the Rhone and the valleys of the Monte Viso But so far as, in various strange ways, sos, we deny this belief, in so far we are essentially infected with this spirit, which I call Modernise of which I speak has nothing whatever to do with the Refor than the Refore which has taken place, not only in reforland, and reformed Scotland; but in unreformed France, in unreformed Italy, in unreformed Austria I class honest Protestants and honest Roeneral terether, I pray your pardon, but allow me to do so at present, for the sake of perspicuity, if for nothing else; and so classing thee took place, about the time of Raphael, in the spirit of Roe consisted in the _denial_ of their religious belief, at least in the external and trivial affairs of life, and often in far s

116 For instance, hear this direction to an upholsterer of the early thirteenth century Under the commands of the Sheriff of Wiltshi+re, he is thus ordered to make some alterations in a roo's lower chareen color, and to put a border to it, and to cause the heads of kings and queens to be painted on the borders; and to paint on the walls of the King's upper chaelists, and to paint the wainscot of the saold”[34]

[Footnote 34: Liberate Rolls, preserved in the Tower of London, and quoted by Mr Turner in his History of the Doain, the Sheriff of Wiltshi+re is ordered to ”put two s's son; and put a glassin the chamber of our Queen at Clarendon; and in the samecause to be painted a Mary with her Child, and at the feet of the said Mary, a queen with clasped hands”

Again, the Sheriff of Southa's bed, with the figures of the guards of the bed of Solo's great Hall at Northampton, and cause the history of Lazarus and Dives to be painted in the same”

117 And so on; I need not multiply instances You see that in all these cases, the furniture of the King's house is made to confess his Christianity It ht be, it was all that men had then to live and die by; and you see there was not a pane of glass in their s, nor a pallet by their bedside that did not confess and proclai them to be richly decorated at all, examine what that decoration consists of You will find Cupids, Graces, Floras, Dianas, Jupiters, Junos But you will not find, except in the forht principally for its artistic beauty, either Christ, or the Virgin, or Lazarus and Dives And if a thousand years hence, any curious investigator were to dig up the ruins of Edinburgh, and not know your history, he would think you had all been born heathens Now that, so far as it goes, is denying Christ; it is pure Modernism

”No,” you will answer me, ”you misunderstand and calumniate us We do not, indeed, choose to have Dives and Lazarus on our s; but that is not because we are ious iery” Pardon me: that is not the reason Go into any fashi+onable lady's boudoir in Paris, and see if you will find Dives and Lazarus there You will find, indeed, either that she has her private chapel, or that she has a crucifix in her dressing-rooeneral decoration of the house, it is all coain What do you suppose was the substance of good education, the education of a knight, in the Middle Ages? What was taught to a boy as soon as he was able to learn anything? First, to keep under his body, and bring it into subjection and perfect strength; then to take Christ for his captain, to live as always in His presence, and finally, to do his _devoir_--mark the word--to all men Now consider, first, the difference in their influence over the armies of France, between the ancient word ”devoir,” and ain, ask yourselves what you expect your own children to be taught at your great schools and universities Is it Christian history, or the histories of Pan and Silenus? Your present education, to all intents and purposes, denies Christ, and that is intensely and peculiarly Modernisain, what do you suppose was the proclaiovernes? I do not say it was a principle acted up to, or that the cunning and violence of wicked men had not too often their full sway then as now; but on what principles were that cunning and violence, so far as was possible, restrained? By the _confessed_ fear of God, and _confessed_ authority of His law You will find that all treaties, laws, transactions whatsoever, in the Middle Ages, are based on a confession of Christianity as the leading rule of life; that a text of Scripture is held, in all public asseainst an appearance of expediency; and although, in the end, the expediency ht triumph, yet it was never without a distinct allowance of Christian principle, as an efficient eleht be committed, at least Christ was openly confessed Nohat is the custom of your British Parliareater htest attempt to introduce the authority of Scripture in a political consultation That is denying Christ It is intensely and peculiarly Modernis you this saht is to show you its full effect in one thing only, nahtway to that, as I have little enough tiuishes ious_, and all modern art is _profane_ Once more, your patience for an instant I say, all ancient art was religious; that is to say, religion was its first object; private luxury or pleasure its second I say all modern art is profane; that is, private luxury or pleasure is its first object; religion its second Now you all know, that anything which ion _no_ object God will put up with a greatHe will _not_ put up with in it--a second place He who offers God a second place, offers Hihty truth which you all know, that he who ion his first object, makes it his whole object; he has no other work in the world than God's work Therefore I do not say that ancient art was _ree in this ious art; modern art is profane art; and between the two the distinction is as firht and darkness

121 Now, do not let what I say be encumbered in your ht not to be brought into the service of religion That is not the question at present--do not agitate it The siht into that service, and received therein a peculiar forht into that service, and has received in consequence another forreat distinction between mediaeval and modern art; and from that are clearly deducible all other essential differences between them That is the point I wish to show you, and of that there can be no dispute

Whether or not Christianity be the purer for lacking the service of art, is disputable--and I do not in the dispute; but that art is the _i in the service of Christianity, is indisputable, and that is the main point I have now to do with

122 Perhaps there are soion of the thirteenth century was Christianity Be it so; still is the statement true, which is all that is necessary for reat because it was devoted to such religion as then existed Grant that Rorant it, if you will, to be the sa as old heathenism--and still I say to you, whatever it was, ht of all their thoughts; and just as classical art was greatest in building to its Gods, soto its Gods, and reat, because it builds to _no_ God You have, for instance, in your Edinburgh Library, a Bible of the thirteenth century, the Latin Bible, coate It contains the Old and New Testaments, complete, besides the books of Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, the books of Judith, Baruch, and Tobit The whole is written in the ins with an illuures, illustrative of the book which it begins Nohether this were done in the service of true Christianity or not, the simple fact is, that here is aa Bible, as the sole end of his art; and that doing this, either in a book or on a wall, was the com and Bible thinking which this work involved, ood works which, whether right or wrong, were the groundwork of his whole being Now, about the year 1500, this entire systeed Instead of the life of Christ, men had, for the most part, to paint the lives of Bacchus and Venus; and if you walk through any public gallery of pictures by the ”great masters,” as they are called, you will indeed find here and there what is called a Holy Fa pretty children, or a pretty wo but Floras, Pomonas, Satyrs, Graces, Bacchanals, and Banditti Now, you will not declare--you cannot believe--that Angelico painting the life of Christ, Benozzo painting the life of Abrahain, Giotto painting the life of St Francis, orse employed, or likely to produce a less healthy art, than titian painting the loves of Venus and Adonis, than Correggio painting the naked Antiope, than Salvator painting the slaughters of the thirty years' war? If you will not let me call the one kind of labor Christian, and the other unchristian, at least you will let me call the one moral, and the other immoral, and that is all I ask you to ad you what you may feel inclined to doubt or dispute; and I must leave you to consider the subject at your leisure But henceforward I tell you plain facts, which admit neither of doubt nor dispute by any one ill take the pains to acquaint himself with their subject-matter

When the entire purpose of art was , it naturally took truth for its first object, and beauty, and the pleasure resulting from beauty, only for its second But when it lost all purpose of , it as naturally took beauty for its first object, and truth for its second

That is to say, in all they did, the old artists endeavored, in one way or another, to express the real facts of the subject or event, this being their chief business: and the question they first asked the, or that, actually have occurred? ould this person, or that, have done under the circu formed their conception, they work it out with only a secondary regard to grace or beauty, while a race and beauty of his work first, and unites afterwards as ive you a single strong instance to reat fresco of the Trius,[35]