The Project Gutenberg eBook of Modern Painters, Volume 2 (of 5)
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Title: Modern Painters, Volume 2 (of 5)
Author: John Ruskin
Release date: September 4, 2009 [eBook #29906]
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Marius Borror and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN PAINTERS, VOLUME 2 (OF 5) ***
| Transcriber's note: |
A few typographical errors have been corrected. They
appear in the text like this, and the
explanation will appear when the mouse pointer is moved over the marked
passage. Sections in Greek will yield a transliteration
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| LANDSCAPE FROM A PAINTING BY J. M. W. TURNER |
Library Edition | |
THE COMPLETE WORKS | |
OF | |
JOHN RUSKIN | |
MODERN PAINTERS | |
Volume II—OF TRUTH AND THEORETIC | |
FACULTIES | |
Volume III—OF MANY THINGS | |
NATIONAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION | |
NEW YORK |
CHICAGO |
MODERN PAINTERS.
VOLUME II.,
CONTAINING
PART III.,
SECTIONS I. AND II.
OF THE IMAGINATIVE AND THEORETIC FACULTIES.
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS.
PART III.
OF IDEAS OF BEAUTY.
SECTION I.
OF THE THEORETIC FACULTY.
Chapter I.—Of the Rank and Relations of the Theoretic Faculty.
| page | ||
| § 1. | With what care the subject is to be approached. | 1 |
| § 2. | And of what importance considered. | 2 |
| § 3. | The doubtful force of the term "utility". | 3 |
| § 4. | Its proper sense. | 4 |
| § 5. | How falsely applied in these times. | 4 |
| § 6. | The evil consequences of such interpretation. How connected with national power. | 5 |
| § 7. | How to be averted. | 6 |
| § 8. | Division of the pursuits of men into subservient and objective. | 8 |
| § 9. | Their relative dignities. | 10 |
| § 10. | How reversed through erring notions of the contemplative and imaginative faculties. | 10 |
| § 11. | Object of the present section. | 11 |
Chapter II.—Of the Theoretic Faculty as concerned with Pleasures of Sense.
| § 1. | Explanation of the term "theoretic". | 12 |
| § 2. | Of the differences of rank in pleasures of sense. | 12 |
| § 3. | Use of the terms Temperate and Intemperate. | 13 |
| § 4. | Right use of the term "intemperate". | 13 |
| § 5. | Grounds of inferiority in the pleasures which are subjects of intemperance. | 14 |
| § 6. | Evidence of higher rank in pleasures of sight and hearing. | 15 |
| § 7. | How the lower pleasures may be elevated in rank. | 16 |
| § 8. | Ideas of beauty how essentially moral. | 17 |
| § 9. | How degraded by heartless reception. | 17 |
| § 10. | How exalted by affection. | 18 |
Chapter III.—Of Accuracy and Inaccuracy in Impressions of Sense.
| § 1. | By what test is the health of the perceptive faculty to be determined? | 19 |
| § 2. | And in what sense may the terms Right and Wrong be attached to its conclusions? | 20 |
| § 3. | What power we have over impressions of sense. | 21 |
| § 4. | Depends on acuteness of attention. | 21 |
| § 5. | Ultimate conclusions universal. | 22 |
| § 6. | What duty is attached to this power over impressions of sense. | 22 |
| § 7. | How rewarded. | 23 |
| § 8. | Especially with respect to ideas of beauty. | 23 |
| § 9. | Errors induced by the power of habit. | 24 |
| § 10. | The necessity of submission in early stages of judgment. | 24 |
| § 11. | The large scope of matured judgment. | 25 |
| § 12. | How distinguishable from false taste. | 25 |
| § 13. | The danger of a spirit of choice. | 26 |
| § 14. | And criminality. | 27 |
| § 15. | How certain conclusions respecting beauty are by reason demonstrable. | 27 |
| § 16. | With what liabilities to error. | 28 |
| § 17. | The term "beauty" how limitable in the outset. Divided into typical and vital. | 28 |
Chapter IV.—Of False Opinions held concerning Beauty.
| § 1. | Of the false opinion that truth is beauty, and vice versa. | 30 |
| § 2. | Of the false opinion that beauty is usefulness. Compare Chap. xii. § 5. | 31 |
| § 3. | Of the false opinion that beauty results from custom. Compare Chap. vi. § 1. | 31 |
| § 4. | The twofold operation of custom. It deadens sensation, but confirms affection. | 31 |
| § 5. | But never either creates or destroys the essence of beauty. | 32 |
| § 6. | Instances. | 32 |
| § 7. | Of the false opinion that beauty depends on the association of ideas. | 33 |
| § 8. | Association. Is, 1st, rational. It is of no efficiency as a cause of beauty. | 33 |
| § 9. | Association accidental. The extent of its influence. | 34 |
| § 10. | The dignity of its function. | 35 |
| § 11. | How it is connected with impressions of beauty. | 36 |
| § 12. | And what caution it renders necessary in the examination of them. | 36 |
Chapter V.—Of Typical Beauty:—First, of Infinity, or the Type of Divine Incomprehensibility.
| § 1. | Impossibility of adequately treating the subject. | 38 |
| § 2. | With what simplicity of feeling to be approached. | 38 |
| § 3. | The child instinct respecting space. | 39 |
| § 4. | Continued in after life. | 40 |
| § 5. | Whereto this instinct is traceable. | 40 |
| § 6. | Infinity how necessary in art. | 41 |
| § 7. | Conditions of its necessity. | 42 |
| § 8. | And connected analogies. | 42 |
| § 9. | How the dignity of treatment is proportioned to the expression of infinity. | 43 |
| § 10. | Examples among the Southern schools. | 44 |
| § 11. | Among the Venetians. | 44 |
| § 12. | Among the painters of landscape. | 45 |
| § 13. | Other modes in which the power of infinity is felt. | 45 |
| § 14. | The beauty of curvature. | 46 |
| § 15. | How constant in external nature. | 46 |
| § 16. | The beauty of gradation. | 47 |
| § 17. | How found in nature. | 47 |
| § 18. | How necessary in Art. | 48 |
| § 19. | Infinity not rightly implied by vastness. | 49 |
Chapter VI.—Of Unity, or the Type of the Divine Comprehensiveness.
| § 1. | The general conception of divine Unity. | 50 |
| § 2. | The glory of all things is their Unity. | 50 |
| § 3. | The several kinds of unity. Subjectional. Original. Of sequence, and of membership. | 51 |
| § 4 | Unity of membership. How secured. | 52 |
| § 5. | Variety. Why required. | 53 |
| § 6. | Change, and its influence on beauty. | 54 |
| § 7. | The love of change. How morbid and evil. | 55 |
| § 8. | The conducing of variety towards unity of subjection. | 55 |
| § 9. | And towards unity of sequence. | 57 |
| § 10. | The nature of proportion. 1st, of apparent proportion. | 57 |
| § 11. | The value of apparent proportion in curvature. | 60 |
| § 12. | How by nature obtained. | 61 |
| § 13. | Apparent proportion in melodies of line. | 61 |
| § 14. | Error of Burke in this matter. | 62 |
| § 15. | Constructive proportion. Its influence in plants. | 63 |
| § 16. | And animals. | 64 |
| § 17. | Summary. | 64 |
Chapter VII.—Of Repose, or the Type of Divine Permanence.
| § 1. | Universal feeling respecting the necessity of repose in art. Its sources. | 65 |
| § 2. | Repose how expressed in matter. | 66 |
| § 3. | The necessity to repose of an implied energy. | 66 |
| § 4. | Mental repose, how noble. | 67 |
| § 5. | Its universal value as a test of art. | 68 |
| § 6. | Instances in the Laocoon and Theseus. | 69 |
| § 7. | And in altar tombs. | 70 |
Chapter VIII.—Of Symmetry, or the Type of Divine Justice.
| § 1. | Symmetry, what and how found in organic nature. | 72 |
| § 2. | How necessary in art. | 72 |
| § 3. | To what its agreeableness is referable. Various instances. | 73 |
| § 4. | Especially in religious art. | 73 |
Chapter IX.—Of Purity, or the Type of Divine Energy.
| § 1. | The influence of light as a sacred symbol. | 75 |
| § 2. | The idea of purity connected with it. | 75 |
| § 3. | Originally derived from conditions of matter. | 76 |
| § 4. | Associated ideas adding to the power of the impression. Influence of clearness. | 76 |
| § 5. | Perfect beauty of surface, in what consisting. | 77 |
| § 6. | Purity only metaphorically a type of sinlessness. | 78 |
| § 7. | Energy, how expressed by purity of matter. | 79 |
| § 8. | And of color. | 79 |
| § 9. | Spirituality, how so expressed. | 79 |
Chapter X.—Of Moderation, or the Type of Government by Law.
| § 1. | Meaning of the terms Chasteness and Refinement. | 81 |
| § 2. | How referable to temporary fashions. | 81 |
| § 3. | How to the perception of completion. | 81 |
| § 4. | Finish, by great masters esteemed essential. | 82 |
| § 5. | Moderation, its nature and value. | 84 |
| § 6. | It is the girdle of beauty. | 84 |
| § 7. | How found in natural curves and colors. | 84 |
| § 8. | How difficult of attainment, yet essential to all good. | 85 |
Chapter XI.—General Inferences respecting Typical Beauty.
| § 1. | The subject incompletely treated, yet admitting of general conclusions. | 86 |
| § 2. | Typical beauty not created for man's sake. | 87 |
| § 3. | But degrees of it for his sake admitted. | 87 |
| § 4. | What encouragement hence to be received. | 87 |
Chapter XII.—Of Vital Beauty:—First, as Relative.
| § 1. | Transition from typical to vital Beauty. | 89 |
| § 2. | The perfection of the theoretic faculty as concerned with vital beauty, is charity. | 90 |
| § 3. | Only with respect to plants, less affection than sympathy. | 91 |
| § 4. | Which is proportioned to the appearance of energy in the plants. | 92 |
| § 5. | This sympathy is unselfish, and does not regard utility. | 93 |
| § 6. | Especially with respect to animals. | 94 |
| § 7. | And it is destroyed by evidences of mechanism. | 95 |
| § 8. | The second perfection of the theoretic faculty as concerned with life is justice of moral judgment. | 96 |
| § 9. | How impeded. | 97 |
| § 10. | The influence of moral signs in expression. | 97 |
| § 11. | As also in plants. | 99 |
| § 12. | Recapitulation. | 100 |
Chapter XIII.—Of Vital Beauty:—Secondly, as Generic.
| § 1. | The beauty of fulfilment of appointed function in every animal. | 101 |
| § 2. | The two senses of the word "ideal." Either it refers to action of the imagination. | 102 |
| § 3. | Or to perfection of type. | 103 |
| § 4. | This last sense how inaccurate, yet to be retained. | 103 |
| § 5. | Of Ideal form. First, in the lower animals. | 104 |
| § 6. | In what consistent. | 104 |
| § 7. | Ideal form in vegetables. | 105 |
| § 8. | The difference of position between plants and animals. | 105 |
| § 9. | Admits of variety in the ideal of the former. | 106 |
| § 10. | Ideal form in vegetables destroyed by cultivation. | 107 |
| § 11. | Instance in the Soldanella and Ranunculus. | 108 |
| § 12. | The beauty of repose and felicity, how consistent with such ideal. | 108 |
| § 13. | The ideality of Art. | 109 |
| § 14. | How connected with the imaginative faculties. | 109 |
| § 15. | Ideality, how belonging to ages and conditions. | 110 |
Chapter XIV.—Of Vital Beauty:—Thirdly, in Man.
| § 1. | Condition of the human creature entirely different from that of the lower animals. | 111 |
| § 2. | What room here for idealization. | 111 |
| § 3. | How the conception of the bodily ideal is reached. | 112 |
| § 4. | Modifications of the bodily ideal owing to influence of mind. First, of intellect. | 113 |
| § 5. | Secondly, of the moral feelings. | 113 |
| § 6. | What beauty is bestowed by them. | 115 |
| § 7. | How the soul culture interferes harmfully with the bodily ideal. | 115 |
| § 8. | The inconsistency among the effects of the mental virtues on the form. | 116 |
| § 9. | Is a sign of God's kind purpose towards the race. | 116 |
| § 10. | Consequent separation and difference of ideals. | 117 |
| § 11. | The effects of the Adamite curse are to be distinguished from signs of its immediate activity. | 118 |
| § 12. | Which latter only are to be banished from ideal form. | 118 |
| § 13. | Ideal form is only to be obtained by portraiture. | 119 |
| § 14. | Instances among the greater of the ideal Masters. | 119 |
| § 15. | Evil results of opposite practice in modern times. | 120 |
| § 16. | The right use of the model. | 121 |
| § 17. | Ideal form to be reached only by love. | 121 |
| § 18. | Practical principles deducible. | 122 |
| § 19. | Expressions chiefly destructive of ideal character. 1st, Pride. | 122 |
| § 20. | Portraiture ancient and modern. | 123 |
| § 21. | Secondly, Sensuality. | 123 |
| § 22. | How connected with impurity of color. | 124 |
| § 23. | And prevented by its splendor. | 124 |
| § 24. | Or by severity of drawing. | 125 |
| § 25. | Degrees of descent in this respect: Rubens, Correggio, and Guido. | 125 |
| § 26. | And modern art. | 126 |
| § 27. | Thirdly, ferocity and fear. The latter how to be distinguished from awe. | 126 |
| § 28. | Holy fear, how distinct from human terror. | 127 |
| § 29. | Ferocity is joined always with fear. Its unpardonableness. | 127 |
| § 30. | Such expressions how sought by painters powerless and impious. | 128 |
| § 31. | Of passion generally. | 129 |
| § 32. | It is never to be for itself exhibited—at least on the face. | 130 |
| § 33. | Recapitulation. | 131 |
Chapter XV.—General Conclusions respecting the Theoretic Faculty.
| § 1. | There are no sources of the emotion of beauty more than those found in things visible. | 133 |
| § 2. | What imperfection exists in visible things. How in a sort by imagination removable. | 134 |
| § 3. | Which however affects not our present conclusions. | 134 |
| § 4. | The four sources from which the pleasure of beauty is derived are all divine. | 134 |
| § 5. | What objections may be made to this conclusion. | 135 |
| § 6. | Typical beauty may be æsthetically pursued. Instances. | 135 |
| § 7. | How interrupted by false feeling. | 136 |
| § 8. | Greatness and truth are sometimes by the Deity sustained and spoken in and through evil men. | 137 |
| § 9. | The second objection arising from the coldness of Christian men to external beauty. | 138 |
| § 10. | Reasons for this coldness in the anxieties of the world. These anxieties overwrought and criminal. | 139 |
| § 11. | Evil consequences of such coldness. | 140 |
| § 12. | Theoria the service of Heaven. | 140 |