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  • Aug. 1, 1795
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Aug. 1, 1795: Page 61

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    Article DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS. Page 1 of 3 →
Page 61

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Dissertations On The Polite Arts.

DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS .

No . III .

"TTNour former papers we have endeavoured to shew , that the polite J }_ arts consist in imitation , and that the object of their imitation is nature represented to the mind by enthusiasm . We have nothing more to do than to shew the manner in which this imitation is made . And by this means we shall have the particular difference of . arts , whose common object is the imitation of nature . Nature be divided with regard to the polite arts into two

may parts ; one which we take in by the eyes , and the other by the ministry of the ears ; for the other senses are quite barren with regard to the polite arts . The first , part is the object of painting , which epresents upon a plan all that is visible . It is the object also of sculpture which represents nature /?; relievo ; it is the object likewise of the art of gesture , which is a branch of the othertwo arts just

named , and which differs in what it includes , only in this , that the subject to which gestuies are given in dancing is natural and alive , whilst the painter ' s canvas and the marble of the statuary are not so . The second part is the object of music , considered singly , and as a simple tune , bearing the second place to poetry , which employs . words , but words in metre , and calculated in ail its tones . Thus painting imitates nature by colours , sculpture by relievos , rlancins bv the motions and attitudes of the body . Musick imitates

it by inarticulate sounds , and poetry by words in measure . These are the distinctive characters of the principal arts ; and if it sometimes happens that those arts join with one another , and are confounded , as , for example , in poetry , if" dancing furnishes gestures to the actors upon the stage ; if music gives the tone of voice in declamation ; if the pencil decorates the scene ; these are services which they render mutualltp one anotherin virtue of their common end

y , , and their reciprocal alliance , but it is without any prejudice to their particular and natural rights . A tragedy without gestures , \ y ithout music , without decoration , is still a poem . It is an imitation expressed by discourse in metre . A p iece of music without words is . still music . It expresses complaint or joy independently of words ,, which help it indeed , but neither give nor take away any thing that

alters its nature . Its essential expression is sound , as that of painting is colour , and of dancing the movement of the body . But here a remark is to be made , that as arts ought to chuse their designs from nature , and perfect them , they ougjit also to chuse and perfect the expressions they borrow from nature . They should not emp loy all sorts of colours , nor all sorts of sounds ; they must make a just choice , and an exquisite mixture of them ; they must be connected , proportioned , shaded , and put in an harmonious order .

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1795-08-01, Page 61” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 9 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01081795/page/61/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
LONDON: Article 1
TO OUR READERS, CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 2
PRICES OF BINDING PER VOLUME. Article 2
Untitled Article 3
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, OR GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY . Article 4
ON THE PRESENT STATE OF FREEMASONRY. Article 7
HISTORY OF MASONRY. Article 10
CHARACTER OF BERNARD GILPIN, Article 14
THE KHALIF AND HIS VISIER, AN ORIENTAL APOLOGUE. Article 18
ANECDOTES OF HENRI DUC DE MONTMORENCI. Article 20
EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCES OF GRATITUDE. Article 24
EXTRACTS FROM A CURIOUS MANUSCRIPT, CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD OF HENRY VIII. Article 25
BON MOT. Article 27
THE STAGE. Article 28
CHARACTER OF LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH. Article 29
A THIEF RESCUED BY AN ELEPHANT. AN AUTHENTIC ANECDOTE. Article 31
ANECDOTES OF THE LIFE OF THEODORE, KING OF CORSICA*. Article 32
ORIGIN OF ST. JAMES'S PALACE. Article 33
THE UNION OF LOVE TO GOD AND LOVE TO MAN, A SERMON, Preached in St. Andrew's Church, New Town, Edinburgh, Article 34
ACCOUNT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY NATURAL GENIUS, Article 42
PHYSIOGNOMICAL SKETCHES. Article 47
CURIOUS METHOD OF PROTECTING CORN. Article 50
ON COMPASSION. Article 50
ON MODESTY, AS A MASCULINE VIRTUE. Article 53
SOME ACCOUNT OF BOTANY BAY, Article 55
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE . Article 56
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 58
ON POVERTY. Article 60
DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS. Article 61
POETRY. Article 64
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE, A SKETCH. Article 67
TO INDUSTRY. Article 67
WRITTEN IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER, Article 68
PORTRAIT OF AN HYPOCRITE. Article 68
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 69
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 69
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Page 61

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Dissertations On The Polite Arts.

DISSERTATIONS ON THE POLITE ARTS .

No . III .

"TTNour former papers we have endeavoured to shew , that the polite J }_ arts consist in imitation , and that the object of their imitation is nature represented to the mind by enthusiasm . We have nothing more to do than to shew the manner in which this imitation is made . And by this means we shall have the particular difference of . arts , whose common object is the imitation of nature . Nature be divided with regard to the polite arts into two

may parts ; one which we take in by the eyes , and the other by the ministry of the ears ; for the other senses are quite barren with regard to the polite arts . The first , part is the object of painting , which epresents upon a plan all that is visible . It is the object also of sculpture which represents nature /?; relievo ; it is the object likewise of the art of gesture , which is a branch of the othertwo arts just

named , and which differs in what it includes , only in this , that the subject to which gestuies are given in dancing is natural and alive , whilst the painter ' s canvas and the marble of the statuary are not so . The second part is the object of music , considered singly , and as a simple tune , bearing the second place to poetry , which employs . words , but words in metre , and calculated in ail its tones . Thus painting imitates nature by colours , sculpture by relievos , rlancins bv the motions and attitudes of the body . Musick imitates

it by inarticulate sounds , and poetry by words in measure . These are the distinctive characters of the principal arts ; and if it sometimes happens that those arts join with one another , and are confounded , as , for example , in poetry , if" dancing furnishes gestures to the actors upon the stage ; if music gives the tone of voice in declamation ; if the pencil decorates the scene ; these are services which they render mutualltp one anotherin virtue of their common end

y , , and their reciprocal alliance , but it is without any prejudice to their particular and natural rights . A tragedy without gestures , \ y ithout music , without decoration , is still a poem . It is an imitation expressed by discourse in metre . A p iece of music without words is . still music . It expresses complaint or joy independently of words ,, which help it indeed , but neither give nor take away any thing that

alters its nature . Its essential expression is sound , as that of painting is colour , and of dancing the movement of the body . But here a remark is to be made , that as arts ought to chuse their designs from nature , and perfect them , they ougjit also to chuse and perfect the expressions they borrow from nature . They should not emp loy all sorts of colours , nor all sorts of sounds ; they must make a just choice , and an exquisite mixture of them ; they must be connected , proportioned , shaded , and put in an harmonious order .

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