Front matter
Landscape In Art
BEFORE
CLAUDE AND SALVATOR
Chapter I. Page
The Scope of Landscape Art . . ■ . . . 1
"What is Landscape ? — Limitations of the term.
CHAPTEE 11.
Landscape in Literature — Greek and Latin ... 6
Early Myths — Homer — Hesiod — Sophocles — Plato — Aristophanes —Theocritus— Lucretius — Catullus — Yirgil — Horace — TibuUus — Cicero — Pliny.
CHAPTER m.
Landscape in Literature — Mediaeval and to the end of the Sixteenth Century . . . . . .26
Hebrew poetry — St. Basil — St. Gregory of Nyssa — St. Chrysostom — Ausonius — Claudian — Indian poetry — Troubadours and Minnesingers — The early Romances — Dante — Petrarch — Boccaccio — Lorenzo di Medici — Leonardo da Vinci — Ariosto — Bembo — Aretino — Tasso — Camoens — Chaucer — Raleigh — Sidney — Spenser — Shakespeare — Cowley — Milton — Summary — Relations between landscape-art and literature.
CHAPTER IV.
Principles of Art applied to Landscape .... 53
Form : — Character of line — Nature of the beautiful — Composition of lines — Proportion of parts — Perspective — Organic unity — Fitness — Record of time — Dignity — Generalisation — Composition. Shadow : — Relief — Effect — Concentration — Mystery — Pathos. Colour : — Harmonies — Conxii
CONTENTS.
trasts— Influence of atmosphere— Gradation— Effects of shadow, of reflection, of transparency — Colour a help to composition — Expresses sentiment — Appeals to imagination. General Conclusions: — Inherent powers of art— The real and the ideal— Noble art— Pathos of nature— Its gradual apprehension in art— Conventionalism— Personality of painters.
CHAPTER V.
Egyptian— Assyrian— Indian— Chinese-Japanese. Greek :— Polj^gnotus —Agatharchos — Scenery of the Greek stage— Apollodorus— Zeuxis— Parrhasius — Apelles— Genre-painting— Mural decoration. Roman :— Pompeian— An olive grove— Coast scenery— Scenic illusion— Wall-paintings at Rome— Ludius— Livia's Villa— Tombs— The Palestrina Nymphseum — The Odyssey pictures. Summary.
CHAPTEE VI.
The Landscape of Early Christian Mosaics . . .114
Frescos of the Catacombs. Church Mosaics :— Ravenna— Rome.
CHAPTER Vn.
The Landscape of Manuscripts ..... 123
Italian— Byzantine— Irish— Age of Charlemagne— Gothic vulgate of the ninth century— Origin of Diaper— Influence of glass-painting— Awakening in the thirteenth century— French manuscripts— Netherland manuscripts—Disappearance of Diaper— The landscape of various manuscripts —Illustrations to the poems of Christina of Pisa— The Bedford Missal— Book of Hours by Gerliard Hoornbach — Thesaurus Historiarum — Influence of manuscript-art upon landscape.
CHAPTER VHL Early Flemish Landscape . . . . . .146
Hubert van Eyck— John van Eyck— Roger van der Weyden— Ouwater— Hans Memlinc— Dierick Bouts— Gerard van der Meire— Gheerardt David — Joachim Patenier — Quentin Matsys — Henri de Bles — Jan Mostaert.
CONTENTS.
xiii
CHAPTER IX.
The Landscape of Early Italian Art . ■ .
Duccio— Giovanni di Paolo— Taddeo di Bartolo— Giotto— Jacopo Casentino -Era Angelico— Masaccio— Filippo Lippi— Uccello— Pesellino— Benozzo Gozzoli— Piero Delia Francesca— Piero Pollaiuolo— Verroccliio— Gliirlandaio— Filippiao Lippi— Cosimo Roselli— Sandro Botticelli.
CHAPTEE X.
The Landscape of Italian Art in the Sixteenth Century . 214
Leonardo da Vinci— Lorenzo di Credi— Piero di Cosimo — Bernardino Luini — BeltrafSo— Pietro Perugino- Luca Signorelli—Francia— Lorenzo Costa — Amico Aspertini— Pinturiccliio- Bernardino Fungai— Ant. de Bazzi (II Sodoma)— Fra Bartolommeo— Mariotto Albertinelli— Andi'ea del Sarto.
CHAPTER XL
Landscape of Italian Art— the Raphael Period . . . 251
Michael Angelo — Raphael— Correggio — Garofalo — Ludo vico Mazzolino — Dosso Dossi.
CHAPTER XIL
German Landscape of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
"Wilhelm of Cologne— Stephan Lochner— Master of the Lyversberg Passion- Martin Schongauer — Michael Wohlgemuth— Albrecht Diirer — Hans Kulmbach— Hans L. Schaufelein— Hans Burgkmair— George Pencz- Sebald Behara — Bartel Beham — Hans Baldang — Nicholas Manuel— Albrecht Altdorfer— Mathias Grunewald — Melchior Feselen — Lucas Cranach— Hans Holbein, the elder— Hans Holbein.
CHAPTER XIIL Landscape of the Venetian School, Fifteenth Century . 309
Gentile da Fabriano— Antonello da Messina— Andrea Mantegna— Francesco Mantegna— The Vivarini— Carlo Crivelli— Gentile Bellini— Giovanni Bellini— Vittore Carpaccio— Cima da Conegliano— Marco Basaiti— Giorgione — Palma Vecchio — Pordenone.
xiv
CONTENTS.
CHAPTEE XIV.
_ PAGE
LANDSCAPE OF THE VENETIAN SCHOOL IN CULMINATION AND
Decline 341
Titian— Savoldo— Lorenzo Lotto— Bonifazio— Paris Bordone— Bassano— Schiavone — Veronese— Tintoretto.
CHAPTEE XV.
The Landscape of the Carracci School . . . .378
Ludovico Carracci— Agostino Carracci— Annibale Carracci— Domenichino— Francesco Albani— Guido Eeni— AUori (Bronzino)— Alessandro AUori— Cristofano AUori — Scarsellino — Lanfranco — Sisto Badalocchio — Schedone — Caravaggio— Domenico Feti — Guercino.
CHAPTEE XVI.
Italianised Flemings and Germans of the Sixteenth Century 402
Mabuse— Bernbard van Orley— Lucas van Leyden— Jan Sclioreel— Lucas Gassel— J. Cornelis Vermeyen— Martin de Yos— Abraham Bloemart— Paul Bril— Pieter Brueghel— Jan Brueghel— Jodocus Momper— Roeland Savery— David Vinckebooms— Lucas van Valkenburg— Pieter Lastmann— Bartholomew de Bruyn— Adam Elsheimer.
CHAPTEE XVII The Landscape of Eubens ...... 424
Influence of Italy— Home scenery— Changeful effects.
CHAPTEE XVIH.
The Advent of Claude and Salvator . . . .434
Claude Lorraine— Salvator Rosa— Gaspar Poussin— Rembrandt— Turner.
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.
FIG.
PAGE
1. Turner's Alps from Turin .....
3. Mountain Outlines : Van Eyck .....
4. Turner's Trees at Bolton
5. Hills above Florence : Turner .....
6. Examples of Proportion ... ...
7. Cyclamen Leayes .......
8. View from Asolo over the Trevisana ....
9. Turner's Eouen .......
10. Bellini's Mou-»jtains ......
11. An Assyrian Tree, Brit. Mus. .....
12. Trees from the Caves at Bagh .....
13. Mountain Peaks, from a Japanese Jar ....
14. Gateway, from a Pompeian Picture ....
15. An Olive Grove, Pompeian Collection ....
. 101
16. Leap Decoration, from Pompeii .....
. 102
17. Rocky Coast Scene, Pompeii .....
18. Cypress, Pompeii .......
19. Tree from Livia's Villa ......
20. The Palestrina Nymph^um . . . . _ .
21. Tree in the Lateran Collection ....
. 115
22. Mosaics, Sta. Maria Maggiore, Rome ....
. 116
23. Fragment of Rock, SS. Cosmo e Damiano, Rome
. 116
24. Tree at San Vitale, Ravenna .....
. 117
25. Trees from S. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna
. 118
26. Tree and Rock Fragments, S. Apollinare in Classe
. 118
27. Rock in the Baptistery of Sta. Maria in Cosmedin, Ravenna
. 118
28. Clouds at Sta, Maria Maggiore, Rome ....
. 119
29. Clouds at SS. Cosmo b Damiano, Rome ....
30. Cumulus Cloud. S. Vitale, Ravenna ....
. 120
31. Evening Clouds, S. Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna .
32. Clouds and Tree. S. Prasede, Rome ....
. 121
33, Trees from Book of Genesis, Vienna ....
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.
riG. PAGE
Bi. Step Kocks in Book of Genesis, Vienna .... 125
35. Byzantine Rocks of Ninth Century ..... 125
36. Goats and Rocks from MS. of Tenth Century . . . 126
37. Trees in a Greek Psalter, 1066 a.d. . . . . . 126
38. Trees from the Melisenda MS. ...... 127
39. Tree from a Gothic Yulgate of the Ninth Century . .129
40. Tree of Life, Gothic Vulgate ...... 130
41. Destruction of Pharaoh, and a Twelfth-Century Tree . .130
42. Tree of the Sepulchre, Anglo-Norman, Twelfth Century . . 131
43. Pigs under an Oak, Thirteenth Century . . . .134
44. Tree and Rock, Netherland Work, Fourteenth Century . .137
45. Rocks and Trees, from a Prayer-Book, Bodleian . . . 138
46. A Rock of the Seashore, History of Justin .... 138
47. Hills and Trees in the Poems of Christina of Pisa . . .139
48. Rock Platform and "Waves in the Christina Miniatures . .139
49. Supernatural Clouds ....... 139
50. Heraldic Sign for Clouds . . . . . . .140
51. Caligraphic Clouds in the St. Ethelwold MS. . . . 140
52. Laminated Rocks of the Bedford Missal . . . .141
53. Angels and the Shepherds, Bedford Missal . . . .141
54. Entombment by Gerhardt Hoornbach . . . . .142
55. From the Holy Warriors : Van Eyck, Berlin .... 150 66. View of a City : J. van Eyck, Louvre . . . . .152
57. View of a City : Van der Weyden, Munich . • . . . 156
58. Alpine Scenery : Memlinc, Bruges . . . . .161
59. The Baptism : Memlinc, Bruges ...... 162
60. St. Christopher : Stuerboudt, Munich ..... 164
61. Landscape of the St. Erasmus, Louvain .... 167
62. Landscape by Van der Meire, Ghent ..... 169
63. From the Flight into Egypt : Patenier, Antwerp . . . 172
64. From the Holy Family by Quentin Matsys .... 173
65. From the Temptation of St. Anthony : H. de Bles . . . 175
66. Christ appearing to Mary : Dcrccio, Siena .... 181
67. Rocks of Giovanni di Paolo, Siena ..... 181
68. Trees and Rocks of Giotto, Padua . . . . , .183
69. Landscape of the "Deposition": Fra Angelico . . .187
70. Rocks from the Triumph of Death : Lorenzetti, Pisa . . 188
71. Landscape of the Tribute Money : Masaccio .... 192
72. Landscape at S. Clemente, Rome : Masaccio . . . .193
73. From the Campo Santo Pisa : Benozzo Gozzoli .... 198
74. Landscape by Ghirlandaio, Sistine Chapel .... 205
75. Rocks by Ghirlandaio, Sta. Maria Novella .... 206
76. Rocks in the St. Bernard of Filippino Lippi .... 207
77. Trees and Path : Sandro Botticelli, Sistine . . . .211
78. From a Sketch by L. da Vinci ...... 216
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xvii
FIG. PAGE
79. Mountain Outlines : L. da Vinci . . . . .217
80. Storm over an Alpine Valley : L. da Vinci .... 220
81. From the Virgin of the Rocks : L. da Vinci, Louvre . . 222
82. From the Assumption of the Virgin : Perugino . . . 2-31
83. Landscape of Christ in the Garden : Perugino . . . 231
84. Landscape of the Madonna: Perugino, National Gallery. . 233 85- Landscape in the Sistine Chapel by Signorelli . . . 235
86. From an Annunciation by Francia, Brera .... 238
87. Landscape of a Nativity : Francia, Bologna .... 289
88. Landscape of the St. Catherine : Fra Bartolommeo . . 247
89. Landscape to left in the " Connestabile " Madonna: Raphael . 255
90. Landscape to right in the "Connestabile" Madonna: Raphael . 256
91. Landscape of Apollo and Marsyas : Raphael. . . . 258 92,. Landscape of the Vision of Ezekiel : Raphael . . . 264
93. Landscape of Correggio's Madonna, Tribune, Florence . . 266
94. Mountain Scene from the Entombment : Durer , . . 277
95. View in Durer's Portrait at the Uffizi .... 278
96. Landscape from Visitation of the Virgin : Durer . . . 284 97'. From the Raising of Drusiana : Burgkmair, Augsburg . . 288 98'.. Recovery op the Body of St. Quirinus : Altdorfer . . . 294 99*. Moonlight among Trees : Altdorfer ..... 298
100». Martyrdom of St. Quirinus : Altdorfer .... 300
101. Fac-simile, reduced, of a Pen-Drawing by Altdorfer . . 302
102. The Tarpeian Rock, Cranach ...... 305
103'.. Lucerne, from part of a Drawing : Holbein .... 306
104. Mountain Landscape : Holbein . .... 307
105i. Mantegna's Hillside ....... 313
106!. Mantegna's Rocks, from a Drawing ..... 314
10?. Bellini's Landscape of the Barbarigo Picture at Murano . 321
108. Bellini's Landscape of the Madonna at S. Francesco della Vigna 322
109) . Bellini's St. Jerome at S. Crisostomo, Venice . . . 323
110) . Landscape from a Picture at S. Alvise : Carpaccio . . . 325
111. Arch of Rocks at S. Giorgio de' Schiavone : Carpaccio . . 327
112. Alpine Meadow-Scene : Cima, Parma Gallery . . . 329
113. The Chaldean Sages : Giorgione, Vienna .... 335
114. From a Fresco by Titian in the Scvola del Santo, Padua . 344
115. Landscape in the Sacred and Profane Love : Titian . . 345
116. Landscape of the Madonna in Glory, Serravalle : Titian . 346
117. From Titian's Portrait^of the Duchess of Urbino, Uffizi . 347
118. The St. Jerome of Titian, from an Engraving . . . 349
119. From Titian's Sketch for his Fresco at Padua . . . 350
120. From Titian's St. John in the Wilderness .... 351 1211. From the Landscape by Titian at Buckingham Palace . Frontispiece
122. Castle of Cadore, in the Picture at Alnwick . . . 354
123. Pesaro, from Sir A. H. Layard's St. Jerome : Savoldo . . 357
^viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
riG.
124. From an Adoration of the Shepherds : Savoldo, Turin . . 358
125. From a Picture in the Venice Academy : Bonifazio . . 361
126. Landscape in the Sta. Giustina: P, Veronese . . .368
127. The Magdalen in the Wilderness: Tintoretto . To face page 371
128. Landscape op the Crucifixion, Scuola di San Rocco : Tintoretto
129. Sunset over the Lagoons : Tintoretto .... 375
130. From a Drawing by Agostino Carracci, Pitti . . .383
131. Landscape with Musicians: Annibale Carracci, Louvre
132. Erminia and the Shepherds : Domenichino , . . 338
133. From an Engraving, after a Drawing by Guercino . . .400
134. Landscape by P. Bril, Berlin ..... 410
135. Landscape by J. Brueghel, from an Engraving . To face page 415
136. Flight into Egypt: Elsheimer, from the Engraving by Goudt
137. Landscape by Rubens, from an Engraving by Bolswert
138. View OF THE EscuRiAL : Rubens . . . . To face page 430
139. The Shipwreck of wSIneas : Rubens, from an Engraving . . 432
140. Landscape by Claude, from an Engraving . . To face page 436
141. Landscape by Salvator Rosa, formerly in the Guadagni Collection
CHAPTEE 1.
THE SCOPE OF LANDSCAPE- ART.
The spirit of art, first shown, it may be presumed, in device of apparel and personal ornament, must have found its first definite and large embodiment in architecture. The earliest of all social necessities would be the dwelling, and with construction of the dwelling, however rude, came the opportunity to display some notion of symmetry, some feeling for proportion, some expression of an idea. Then, as the dwelling increased in magnitude and importance, — as it became the royal dwelling, and the dwelling for the god, — this expression gained in dignity, and there came also symbolical representation ; a mute but potent world of figures rose in colour upon the walls, or stood carved in marble or cast in bronze. Here art found great and endless scope and reached an endless fame.
But in time, along with the human figure depicted upon the walls in every variety of action and office, there came hints of the world it lived in. A tree, or something like a tree ; a river, if that could be put before the eye ; a hill ; the semblance of walls and towers — how much would these help to tell the story ? Thus was added, but only as an explanatory adjunct to the human figure or the divine personage concerned in human affairs, something of the external scene of things.
Hence it was in architecture, the home of the man, — in sculpture and painting, recording the doings and feelings of the man or the man-god, — that art found its sufficient scope, and for ages had no other. In architecture thoughts of beauty and grandeur could be expressed ; sculpture and painting found in the human frame all they needed for rendering what thought conceived or heart could feel. But all the while there lay at hand untouched, except for casual illustration, a vast region abundantly rich in the beautiful, the grand, and the emotional, waiting to be explored — waiting to yield up its
THE SCOPE OF LANDSCAPE -AET.
[chap. I.
powers to whomsoever could use them. Landscape offered all this to art, but long in vain. The time came at last, though by slow degrees, and then art saw and seized a new opportunity.
But what is landscape ? To what is this new word properly applied ? The dictionary does not help us much, for landscape, after all, was the creation of art. It was the artistic eye that discovered landscape in the surrounding scene of things, though poetic vision had, as we shall see, frequent forecasts of its charm.
"This green earth," we say, "that blue sky;" and such vague and general terms may serve for the occasion — nay, sufficiently express all that some minds care to see. But what of the real spectacle ? Look, and the green dissolves away into a maze of soft sweet colours ; look more closely still, and objects of infinitely varied form as well as tint fill up the scene. Trees spring from the soil, spread their arms abroad, and uphold a weight of foliage ; hills swell upon the sight and break in crags, or soar in rocky pinnacles ; woods climb the steeps and hang in purple folds ; vales wind among the hills, disappearing in their recesses ; a stream, a river, wanders and widens into shimmering reaches, or yields its waters to a lake that shines, a second sky; a mountain rises dark into the blue, and along the far horizon mountain rolls on mountain bathed in tints of azure, or white with gleaming snows. Or view that vast floor of waters which we call the sea, restless with glittering waves that are lost at last in one level waste, bounded only as it seems by the very verge of the world !
Above, the overarching sky changes to all colours with the opening and the closing day. The moon succeeds, and, " Empress of the noon of night," pours forth her silver splendour. Nor day nor night, nor sun nor moon alone, brings change into the sky. From time to time it is mottled with pearl, or swathed in veils of vapour, or hidden in part or altogether by huge bulks of cloud that, swift or slow, pursue their windborne way. And all these powers of the sky are potent too on earth, working endless witchery with alternate gloom and brightness, storm and calm.
It is also a living spectacle, a world of creatures busy or at rest. Among them man appears, and all other life becomes subservient ; he invades the scene with his works ; a dwelling thrusts its roof into sight ; a town displays itself, curving along a shore, set stately in the plain, or climbing the hillside with walls and towers that catch the morning or the evening glow ; gardens and
Chap. I.] The Scope Of Landscape -aut
groves enhance its beauty ; industries many and various give to it life and interest.
Such in brief are the main features of the panorama which surrounds us. Evidently here is an interminable array of objects, and of objects full of beauty. There are ceaseless diversities of form, ceaseless interchanges of light and shade ; colours radiant, soft, and deep ; contrasts, harmonies, and combinations without end ; while amidst the abounding intricacy perspective brings unity and order. Yet this is not all. This great spectacle has power to suggest ideas, to raise emotion ; there is discovered in it an answering to the human soul as it thinks and as it feels.
To poet and artist this long hidden mystery was at last revealed, and modern civilisation has been abundantly leavened with a sense of landscape beauty. Yet there is much that is superficial in popular admiration. We have spoken of human industries as taking part in the scene, but to many observers the industries alone are the feature to be observed; economics offer the only source of interest. They look at the field for its cultivation, and note the trimness of its fences ; they look at the wood not for its trees but for its timber, at the stream for its navigable capabilities or its water power ; roads are interesting as they suit the traveller, houses as they are four-square and weather- tight ; towns stand well if they command the sources of trade. All this cannot be objected to. The hand of man has been creating after its fashion, contriving, altering, — such action is man's prerogative ; he must needs turn the surface of the earth to all manner of account ; but admiration of this is not admiration of landscape.
Nor is it landscape that is sought by the majority of those whose object in the outdoor world is pleasure not business. Sport which carries so many people over miles of country, and into some of the wildest solitudes, is a brave exercise of limb and lung, and sends the eye searching far and wide over field and moor and forest. There is no doubt in this an exhilarating sense of freedom ; there may belong to it in some of the selecter minds an enjoyment of scenery nearly allied to that of which we speak, but the exigencies of the chase allow no pause for landscape to make its true appeal. So far we cannot even except the angler, though of all forms of sport his seems to breed most sympathy with nature.
The ride, the drive, the promenade, afford a pleasure in which, to most, the landscape element is quite subordinate. It is fresh air.
THE SCOPE OF LANDSCAPE -ART.
[chap. I.
space of sky and breadth of earth, brightness and colour, more than all perhaps, people — crowds of people — that make the charm. It is the moving play of life that captivates, although to the intercourse with folk, a background of nature may not be amiss ; and if the promenade command a prospect, all the better. So the picnic is by choice spread in some charming spot ; but whatever the gifts of nature around, they are but adjuncts to the talk and the viands — they set off the grace of life. The great sea must be only a murmur and a sparkle ; the great mountains must not be too great.
Nor can we call delight in garden or park a test of true landscape feeling. The garden is too limited, too formal, too clearly ruled by man's device. It is devoted too evidently to flowers as a show, to fruit as a luxury; its lawns are too soft, its paths too carefully ordered. Yet the garden may, under certain conditions, come very near to landscape, and the park still more so ; size helps this last, the majesty of trees dignifies it ; it lies up and down the hills ; it may cunningly imitate a natural scene. Yet with all its delights — and the avenue is a noble feature, and the ornamental water charming (only that it is ornamental), and the palace in the midst may be of lordly grace — still the park is not exactly landscape.
For landscape — in the sense that poetry and art have learnt to apprehend it — must be nature's work. It is in the main what the powers of nature — vegetation, sunshine and storm, the winds, the Avaters — have concurred to fashion. The seasons and the years have had free course over it. It is the careless beauty unmeddled with, unforced, that has come to be, and which, if here and there destroyed or interrupted, rises in some new form under nature's hand. This is what poet and artist have to deal with, and this under all those transient effects of colour and of light in which the moods of nature seem to be expressed. Poet and artist alike have in all this to interpret nature's appeal to the imagination, and to utter her response to human feeling.
The special office of the artist is to render this interpretation, by means of lines and tints, a language addressed to the eye, the adequacy of which we shall presently discuss. But in confining landscape-art to the natural scene, we must remember that we have already admitted the presence not only of "the cattle upon a thousand hills " but of man and his works, for in this sense man is a part of nature, and nature is always claiming what he does for herself. Landscape-art welcomes man as introducing the momentous
CHAP. I.]
THE SCOPE OF LANDSCAPE -ART.
human story into the spectacle which it is her function to interpret. The natural scene accepts, and art delights, in the path that lies across the sward and the road that penetrates the forest or winds over the hill, while the stately tree is all the more interesting as it lends to the human habitation a protecting shade. All those industries that are concerned with the outdoor world find, when not too obtrusive, a legitimate place. Over the work of the plough and tbe ingathering of harvest Nature smiles and Art rejoices ; boats glide along the streams, and all manner of navigable craft track their way upon the deep ; they partake of all the accidents of light and shade which grace the natural scene ; and to art they are a special gain, for they bring with them colours of their own which enhance those of nature. Landscape-art may even depict a town or a street, but this must be under the condition that it is but a part of the scene, or that nature rules over it with her effects of simshine and cloud, and the history she has written upon the age-worn walls. A building would be incongruous with landscape, had it not become, by virtue of time or vegetation or incidents of light, all but a natural object itself.
Thus landscape - art has a noble sphere, and beauty of a kind peculiar to itself. Historical and portrait art must ever indeed take precedence, because there is no greater object within the scope of our senses than the human being. His form, the ideal of beauty, grace, and strength, the fit instrument of a moral and spiritual nature ; his countenance " a tablet of unutterable thoughts," and a sensitive index of emotion — these afford an inexhaustible range for art and its absolutely noblest subject. But landscape -art comes next, and with this advantage, that its highest excellences are more ready of attainment. It searches out the grace, the beauty, the grandeur, and the pathos that dwell in earth and sky. It reads the face of nature ; it finds therein a wondrous reflex of the human soul, and refuses to take this reading as a " fallacy." It discovers that as music touches and thrills the innermost chords of being, so will landscape, in its harmonies and contrasts, soothe or rouse the spirit, and with this great privilege, that no subtle foul suggestion ever accompanies the spectacle. The fair robe of nature is the vesture of innocence ; she walks in beauty and in mystery, and her " word is pure, enlightening the eyes."
CHAPTEE II.
LANDSCAPE IN LITEEATUEE GEEEK AND LATIN.
Early Myfhs — Homer — Hesiod — Sophocles — Plato — Aristophanes — Theocritus — Lucretius — Catullus — Virgil — Horace — TibuUus — Cicero — Pliny.
Although landscape -art possesses, as we have seen, so rich and fair a field, it is comparatively a modern art. This naturally follows from the fact tliat appreciation of natural scenery has only in modern times become a distinctive feature of civilisation. It is beyond the limits of our subject to set forth the complex conditions which have led to this. Incidentally some of them may be suggested in the following pages, and we may briefly state now the conclusion that the change is mainly due to the development of a moral sensitiveness which has affected all culture, and which has discovered a sympathetic response in the spectacle of nature. 'No doubt other things have helped. The discovery of the New World, and the subsequent and ever-growing spirit of travel; the safety and leisure which now attend the ordinary traveller ; the revolt against conventions of society, and the trammels of a highly -wrought civilisation; an awakened interest in the past, and in all historic lands and scenes ; the charm of solitude, more scarce as the human crowd increases — these and other circumstances have had their influence, though mental and moral problems still more. Any way the fact that the modern sense of landscape beauty has become a power in life unknown to the ancient and mediaeval w^orld is patent. If the full and intelligent enjoyment of landscape is still confined to the few, yet the many talk about it and profess to seek it. They flock to all beautiful scenes, and, what is more remarkable, learn to find pleasure in such as are only stern and wild. The spell of landscape is upon all literature ; the historian claims its aid ; the traveller, in page after page deals in vivid description; poetry dwells with passionate delight upon the loveliness or grandeur of natural scenes ; and
Chap. Ii.] Earliest Observation Of Landscape
landscape painting takes a foremost place in the practice of art.
But were the long ages sightless and dumb amidst the landscape beauty of the world ? Certainly not, and our object in the present and following chapter is to show that much was seen and felt in literature before it was fully expressed in art. The modern feeling for landscape has been defined as " a consciously sentimental view of natural phenomena." We have rather put it as a finding in scenery an original source of noble or pathetic emotion ; but, however modern this feeling, however recent this discovery, we may be sure the germs lie deep in human nature. Admiration as well as wonder, more or less intelligent, must have accompanied the earliest perception of the thousandfold forms, colours, and objects of the natural world, and a certain sympathy would soon stir in the breast.
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