FIRST LECTURE.

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take place of variety, contrail and compofition.—Suchwas the lefche painted by Polygnotus , and if we con-hder the variety of powers that diftinguilhed many of theparts, we rauft incline to afcribe the primitive arrange-ment o1 the whole rather to the artift’s choice and loftyhmplicity, than want of comprehenfion: nature hadendowed him with that redlitude of tafte which in theindividuum difeovers the ftamen of the genus, hencehis flyle of defign was effential with glimpfes of gran-deur (f) and ideal beauty. Polygnotus , fays Ariftotle,improves the model. His invention reached the con-ception of undeferibed being, in the daemon Eurynomus ;filled the chafm of defeription in Thefeus and Pirithous,in Ariadne and Phoedra ; and improved its terrors inthe fpedtre of Tityus ; whilft colour to aflift it, becamein his hand an organ of exprefiion; fuch was the pro-phetic glow which Hill crimfoned the cheeks of hisCaffandra in the time of Lucian (g). The improve-ments

(f) This I take to be the fenfe of MtytS’o? here, which cliftinguifhed hiui, ac-cording to iEiian, Var. Ililt. iv. 3. from Dionyfius of Colophon . The wordTtArioif in the fame paflage: xai ’tv toi; riAtioij ’ngyx^sTo tx ’xSAx, I tranflate :he aimed at, he fought his praife in the reprefentation of effential proportion ; whichleads to ideal beauty.

The xgsiTTn;, pssicx;, c/j.o isj; or the ftsArioux; xx® ’fi[xx;, n xxi toixtx;, yyti^onx;, of Ariftotle, Poetic, c. '2. by which he difi.inguifhes Polygnotus, Diony-lius, Paufon, confirms the fenfe given to the paflage of iEiian.

(g) TTUgetUV TO EV£f£uS'£;, ciXO TY\V KxtrijXvfyxil 11/ TYt AflTpyrt ’iTTOITlTi TOI? AfAlpOl?.

Lucian: £i>coi<£f. This, and what Paufanias tells of the colour of Eurynomus in

the