The text discusses the concept of beauty in art, emphasizing the importance of imagination over copying real-life models. It refers to the practices of ancient artists like Phidias and Zeuxis, who relied on ideals and composite images to depict beauty. The passage also highlights the challenge and artistry required to synthesize beauty from multiple sources.
Beauty of Human Figures.
Beauty flows from the deep wellspring of one's spirit, as if it could pour forth in full streams onto the artist's canvas. Indeed, the expression of Beauty can be significantly enhanced by strong imagination. It was told of the great Phidias, that when he crafted the image of Jupiter and Minerva, he did not draw from people as sources, but rather his mind conjured an ideal of refined Beauty, which he maintained firmly with the eyes of his intellect, guiding his hand and art without deviation, to follow the likeness of this ideal. The ancients saw well that Beauty was rarely perfect, yet they were not deterred; instead, they sought through every suitable means, and especially through imagination, to instill it powerfully within themselves. The learned Junius has collected many fine examples of this, known to be substantial. Zeuxis, the renowned painter, knowing it would be a great challenge to find all perfectly shaped limbs and the completeness of Beauty in one person, chose five beautiful maidens and took from each the finest part, crafting through wise assembly, an impeccable beautiful woman for those of Croton. An ancient famous painter crafted the Judgment of Paris with particular elegance, appealing to the viewers; just as he attributed to Juno and Pallas an exceedingly beautiful form...
Translation Notes:
- "Schoonheyd": Generally means "beauty," specifically concerning aesthetics or physical beauty.
- "Phydias": A celebrated ancient Greek sculptor known for his statue of Zeus at Olympia and the goddess Athena in the Parthenon.