brandt, and Rubens. Still, in any such picture, all we can have is the individual conception of the artist; simply his rendering or interpretation of the Scriptural idea, which may be wide enough of the original facts. A more solemn and subduing representation of a deluge we could not well conceive than Poussin has painted. But, then, is it a representation of the Noachian Deluge? Was there that solitary serpent trailing up the rock from the edge of the rising flood? Or was there that infant child, which seems to press its naked foot against the face of that other rock, as if to assist its exhausted mother, who, erect in the rocking boat, is endeavoring to hand up this weakling to its father, who has gained an upper ledge? We gazed, awe-struck, as upon a deluge; still the question came, was such the deluge which the Scriptures record? Nor will it deny that many even of the greatest masters have given a wider license to their fancy than the sobriety of the subject justified. We are not sure, therefore, if to any very great extent the Scriptures have been indebted to sacred painting. It is not the less true, however, on this account, that painting has been under unspeakable obligation to the Scriptures. If to small extent they have been its debtor, to a very large extent they have been its benefactor. For have we not seen that it has supplied the artist with a class of subjects, which, though he might not be able to treat them with literal correctness to the original, did call forth his

highest powers, and stimulate his genius, as subjects of another class or style would not have done? Nor have our great masters been slow to own this. They have shown what a deep hold the Bible had taken on their imaginations, and how, more than any other book, they found it replete with suggestive themes.

CHAPTER V.

THE BIBLE THE PROMOTER OF LITERATURE AND THE ARTS-MODERN SCULPTURE AND MUSIC.

LESS perhaps than her sister arts, Poetry and Painting, has Sculpture borrowed her subjects from the Bible. One reason of this may be found in the nature of the art itself, which does not admit of an equal range of subject with poetry or even painting. Another reason may have been, that numerous specimens of ancient statuary, while scarcely any ancient pictures, have been handed down to us; the canvas having decayed while the marble has endured. Hence it has happened that whereas the moderns had to strike out a new path for themselves in painting, in sculpture they made it their ambition rather to copy the classic models.

This last remark, however, does not apply to the earliest sculptures of British growth which time has spared us. For these were not imitations of the classic models, but are essentially Gothic, with nothing of the Grecian in their form, their grouping, or their character. As works of art these betray manifold defects in drawing, anatomy, and composition. Yet though they were finished before the birth of Cimabue-the Chaucer of art-they exhibit a bold

ness of conception and an irresistible sentiment, which are not always to be found in more modern productions. And how are we to account for this? whence such high attributes in works so early? It is doubtless owing to the subjects which the artists made choice of. And after saying this, the reader will not be surprised to hear that these subjects were selected from the Scriptures. It was the themes of inspiration which, by their own sublimity and lofty sentiment, sustained the unskilled chisel of infant art; so that if it carved but rudely, yet were its compositions bold, impressive, and exalted. Speaking of the Cathedral of Wells, which was built by Bishop Joceline in the thirteenth century, Flaxman, confessedly a competent judge, says, "The west front of this church equally testifies the piety and comprehension of the Bishop's mind. The sculpture presents the noblest, most useful, and interesting subjects possible to be chosen. On the south side, above the west door, are alto-relievos of the creation, in its different parts, together with the deluge, and important acts of the patriarchs. Companions to these, on the north side, are altorelievos of the principal circumstances in the life of our Savior. Above these are two rows of statues, larger than nature, in niches, of kings, queens, and nobles, patrons of the Church, saints, bishops, and other religious persons, from its first foundation to the reign of Henry the Third. Near the pediment is our Savior come to judgment, attended

by angels, and the twelve apostles. The upper arches on each side, along the whole of the west front, and continued in the north and south ends, are occupied by figures rising from their graves, strongly expressing the hope, fear, astonishment, stupefaction, or despair, inspired by the presence of the Lord and Judge of the world in that awful moment." With regard therefore to medieval sculpture we are entitled to pronounce that whatever of idealistic merit it possesses is owing to the Scriptures.

I have said that it was too much the ambition of modern sculptors to emulate the works of the ancient; when emulation would often degenerate into mere imitation-in this case an imitation of the Greeks' dead mythology and untranslatable ideal. But it was not possible that true genius should not at times aspire to originality. And the remarkable fact is, that when the great masters turned aside from the classic models, to strike into a path of their own, they went to the Scriptures for their subjects. How replete with the spirit and materials of high art must that book be, of which it is not exaggeration to say that it contributed to raise modern sculpture to an original art.

It were tedious to enumerate all the eminent sculptors who, while doing homage to the Bible, have immortalized their own fame. Suffice to mention the names of Ghiberti, Donatello, Angelo, Canova, Thorwaldsen, and Flaxman. So long as an admiring posterity shall repeat the praises of these