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