It had gained its height dates its first decline.* of perfection at the period when Macedonia became sufficiently powerful to threaten the freedom of the Achæans; and from the hour when Greece was brought into contact with tyranny, in consequence of her unfortunate alliance with the Romans, down to the period of her fatal subjection to their power, the genius of her artists was from year to year becoming more torpid and less aspiring, and their productions evinced the gradual progress of deterioration. When her overthrow was finally consummated, and her territory was incorporated with the dominion of her conquerors, the arts received their lethal blow:† genius, it is true, was not at once extinguished, but for the few centuries during which it survived, its existence was merely a protracted decay, and the annals of its decline present no one instance of even apparent revival. The claims of Greece to the invention of painting and sculpture have been frequently "Il resultera de cette histoire," says Winkelmann, “que la liberté seul a elevé l'art à sa perfection." Hist. de l'Art, 1. vi. c. i. The opposite opinion is adopted by M. Heyne, another historian and critic of the fine arts, in his Dissertation sur les Epoques de l'Art chez les Anciens, &c. as well as by various others. + Turnbull, Treatise on Ancient Painting. Agincourt, Histoire de l'Art par les Monumens, vol. i. p. 7. disputed; but one point, at least, is certain, that she alone advanced them to perfection, although others may have possessed them before her. Rome, on the contrary, can adduce no shadow of a title to originality in the arts,† but must bear the stigma of having crushed them almost to extinction, as often as she received them from the Etruscans, the Greeks, or their colonists in Asia, Sicily, or Egypt. The causes of this singular antithesis in the character of the two greatest nations of antiquity are, however, sufficiently evinced in the records of their domestic policy, which have severally reached us. It has been a favourite, though now almost an exploded theory, to attribute the excellence of the Greeks, in works of literature or taste, to the influence of their climate and their soil; • Winkelmann, l. i. c. 1. + Ibid, l. v. c. 1, 2. "Si l'on considère que ce peuple conquérant, qui, depuis la fondation de sa ville, ravagea les contrées voisines, et soumit toutes les nations chez lesquelles la peinture était connue, ne s'occupa des beaux arts en aucune maniere pendant plus de quatre cents ans, et que depuis cette epoque, on n'a vu chez lui aucun artiste recommandable, mais seulement quelques ouvrages médiocres, faits par un ou deux de ses citoyens, on ne sera pas tenté d'accorder aux Romains, ni le goût des beaux arts, ni la gloire de les avoir encouragés."-Mus. Franç. Disc. Peint. Anc. p. 101. § Winkelmann, l. i. c. 3. l. iv. c. 1. The theory of the in that of Italy was equally salubrious and pure, and yet the one has proved the grave, whilst the other was the cradle of genius. It is true, that art is indebted for its second birth to Italy, but it was under a different constitution that it revived: when its professors were rendered honourable instead of being branded as infamous, and their works were looked upon as efforts of intellect, and not regarded as mere productions of mechanical skill. The inventive excellence of the Greeks, in works of taste has been attributed to various and united causes, but principally to the scope afforded to imagination by the sublimities of their mythology, and the splendour attendant upon the celebration of their national games.* But let their origin be as it may, their ultimate perfection is solely attributable to the honours heaped on those who practised them, and the high rewards conferred by their countrymen on distinguished artists. Whilst the mercurial spirit of the Athenians and the other states was involving them in continual wars, their slaves and menials were occupied in the exercise of the mechanical and domestic fluence of climate on mind is briefly but ingeniously discussed by Voltaire, Philos. Dict. art. Climate. * Musée Français, Discours Historique sur la Sculpture, p. 43. arts at home. But during their intervals of peace, when the haughty soldier returned flushed with triumph, he disdained to share with his servants and dependants the practice of these humbler professions. It was then, that to find encouragement for these turbulent warriors or restless citizens, the decree was passed, which forbade the exercise of sculpture or design to slaves, rendered the liberal arts the province of freemen alone, and dignified them for ever in the eyes of the Athenians.* Thus, confined exclusively to the exalted portion of the state, riches or aggrandizement became in a short time a secondary object with the sculptor or the painter; and a laurel crown or a public decree was considered a higher gratification than the gold of individuals, or the most costly gains of the artist.† The crowd, dazzled with magnificence, bestowed a species of worship on those whose talents had adorned their cities; and they, in turn, be * Sir W. Young, Hist. Athens. Winkelmann, 1. iv. c. 8. + Polygnotus, a painter of Thasos (about 422 years before the Christian era), having ornamented the Poecile at Athens with his paintings of the Trojan war, refused to accept any remuneration, though pressed by the people to name his own price. For this disinterestedness he was rewarded by a decree of the Amphictyonic council, ordaining, that wherever he went he should be supported at the expense of the state.Plin. lib. xxxv. c. 9. Plutarch. ↑ Winkelmann, liv. iv. c. 1. came intoxicated with the glorious pride arising from their elevation. The most distinguished individuals did not disdain to use the chisel or the pallet; the labour, as well as the design, equally ennobled genius; and the boldest conception was expressed in the most graceful execution. Honours and rewards rapidly swelled the number of candidates for national distinction, and on every public occasion the productions of numerous artists were exhibited for the selection of the state. Nor was patronage corrupted by an abandonment to the rich and the powerful, but entrusted to the assembled nation, whose united voices directed its conferment. § With the increasing passion of the people for the adornment of their national edifices, arose the ambition of individuals to contribute to their support, || and public osten • Parrhasius, the Ephesian, was so exalted in his own opinion, as to lay claim to divine origin, and clothing himself with a crown of gold and a purple robe, he assumed the title of the "King of Painters."-Pliny. † So conscious were many of the painters of their own excellence, that they did not scruple to inscribe on their works, "It is easier to criticise than to imitate." And so glowingly were they admired by the people, that they did not presume to ridicule the arrogance of the inscription. Sir W. Young. § Winkelmann, liv. iv. c. 1. When Pericles was directing those public works which still remain to attest the magnificence of the ancient Greeks, and whose expense was defrayed by the money of the state, |