Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Removal Of The Monuments Of The Fine Arts From Italy To France.
THE REMOVAL OF THE MONUMENTS OF THE FINE ARTS FROM ITALY TO FRANCE .
THE following letter has been written by the" celebrated Architect ; Louis , on a subject which has lately engaged rnuch attention It will not be denied , that he writes like a man of taste and an enthusiast of the fine arts ; and by some it may also be supposed , that as a
politician he displays sound reflection and profound discernment . The object of the French in removing from Italy the monuments of the fine arts , was to render Paris the centre of elegance , the resort of amateurs , and the school of artists . Louis controverts the liberality and propriety of this mode of thinking .
" j \ yjfY retirement at my country seat , my dear friend , has not impaired - my passion for the arts . They always constituted my principal enjoyment ; and I have so long-considered them as essentially connected with the public felicity , that I take a particular interest in whatever relates to them . I could not then hear without some alarm , that a plan had been formed to despoil the fine collections of Italy and
Rome , in order to increase those of Paris . I am convinced that such a measure will be attended with infinite mischief , without producing any real advantage to the country . This removal will destroy the most , valuable collection , and will extinguish that laudable zeal , which induced us to visit Italy , where so much advantage was always to be derived from the contemplation of objects
, which do not admit of being removed . This removal will alienate from us a people who are naturally hospitable to ajl the nations of Europe ; and who knows whether the French may in future be able to encounter that sentiment of public indignation , which their conduct in despoiling Rome cannot fail to excite , to cherish , and to perpetuate agai . ist them ?
Judge then what must be the alarm which is now felt by all the enlig htened friends of the arts , in consequence of the danger of removing and conveying , for a considerable distance , those beautiful statues already mutilated , and , which an enthusiastic respect would not allow to be repaired , lest in the process they might in the slightest degree be liable to be still further defaced . If the ancient Romans removed to their own capita ! the monuments
of Greece , it was because they anticipated the annihilation of the arts in a country which they almost depopulated ; and also because they had not so much a taste for the arts , as an ambition to engross their trophies . Ought this haughty , and even ferocious , nation to be in every respect a model for imitation ?
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Removal Of The Monuments Of The Fine Arts From Italy To France.
THE REMOVAL OF THE MONUMENTS OF THE FINE ARTS FROM ITALY TO FRANCE .
THE following letter has been written by the" celebrated Architect ; Louis , on a subject which has lately engaged rnuch attention It will not be denied , that he writes like a man of taste and an enthusiast of the fine arts ; and by some it may also be supposed , that as a
politician he displays sound reflection and profound discernment . The object of the French in removing from Italy the monuments of the fine arts , was to render Paris the centre of elegance , the resort of amateurs , and the school of artists . Louis controverts the liberality and propriety of this mode of thinking .
" j \ yjfY retirement at my country seat , my dear friend , has not impaired - my passion for the arts . They always constituted my principal enjoyment ; and I have so long-considered them as essentially connected with the public felicity , that I take a particular interest in whatever relates to them . I could not then hear without some alarm , that a plan had been formed to despoil the fine collections of Italy and
Rome , in order to increase those of Paris . I am convinced that such a measure will be attended with infinite mischief , without producing any real advantage to the country . This removal will destroy the most , valuable collection , and will extinguish that laudable zeal , which induced us to visit Italy , where so much advantage was always to be derived from the contemplation of objects
, which do not admit of being removed . This removal will alienate from us a people who are naturally hospitable to ajl the nations of Europe ; and who knows whether the French may in future be able to encounter that sentiment of public indignation , which their conduct in despoiling Rome cannot fail to excite , to cherish , and to perpetuate agai . ist them ?
Judge then what must be the alarm which is now felt by all the enlig htened friends of the arts , in consequence of the danger of removing and conveying , for a considerable distance , those beautiful statues already mutilated , and , which an enthusiastic respect would not allow to be repaired , lest in the process they might in the slightest degree be liable to be still further defaced . If the ancient Romans removed to their own capita ! the monuments
of Greece , it was because they anticipated the annihilation of the arts in a country which they almost depopulated ; and also because they had not so much a taste for the arts , as an ambition to engross their trophies . Ought this haughty , and even ferocious , nation to be in every respect a model for imitation ?