The destiny of nations appears to have decreed that a society should periodically, though rarely, flourish, characterised by its love of the Fine Arts, and its capacity of ideal creation. These occasional and brilliant ebullitions of human invention elevate the race of man; they purify and chasten the taste of succeeding generations; and posterity1 accepts them as the standard of what is choice, and the model of what is excellent.
Classic Greece and Christian2 Italy stand out in our universal annals as the epochs of the Arts. During the last two centuries, while manners have undergone a rapid transition, while physical civilisation3 has advanced in an unprecedented4 degree, and the application of science to social life has diverted the minds of men from other pursuits, the Fine Arts have decayed and vanished.
I wish to call the attention of my countrymen to another great movement in the creative mind of Europe; one yet young and little recognised, but not inferior, in my opinion, either to that of Athens or of Florence.
It was on a cloudless day of the autumn of last year, that I found myself in a city that seemed almost visibly rising beneath my eye. The street in which I stood was of noble dimensions, and lined on each side with palaces or buildings evidently devoted5 to public purposes. Few were completely finished: the sculptor6 was working at the statues that adorned7 their fronts; the painter was still touching8 the external frescoes9; and the scaffold of the architect was not in every instance withdrawn11. Everywhere was the hum of art and artists. The Byzantine style of many of these buildings was novel to me in its modern adaptation, yet very effective. The delicate detail of ornament12 contrasted admirably with the broad fronts and noble fa?ades which they adorned. A church with two very lofty towers of white marble, with their fretted13 cones14 relieved with cerulean blue, gleamed in the sun; and near it was a pile not dissimilar to the ducal palace at Venice, but of nobler and more beautiful proportions, with its portal approached by a lofty flight of steps, and guarded by the colossal15 statues of poets and philosophers—suitably guarded, for it was the National Library.
As I advanced, I found myself in squares and circuses, in every instance adorned by an obelisk16 of bronze or the equestrian17 statue of some royal hero: I observed a theatre with a lofty Corinthian portico18, and a pediment brilliantly painted in fresco10 with designs appropriate to its purpose; an Ionic museum of sculpture, worthy20 to enshrine the works of a Phidias or a Praxiteles; and a palace for the painter, of which I was told the first stone had been rightly laid on the birthday of Raffaelle. But what struck me most in this city, more than its galleries, temples, and palaces, its magnificent buildings, splendid paintings, and consummate21 statues, was the all-pervading presence and all-inspiring influence of living and breathing Art. In every street, a school: the atelier of the sculptor open, the studio of the painter crowded: devoted pupils, aspiring22 rivals: enthusiasm, emulation23, excellence24. Here the long-lost feudal-art of colouring glass rediscovered; there fresco-painting entirely25 revived, and on the grandest scale; while the ardent26 researches of another man of genius successfully analyses the encaustic tenting of Herculaneum, and secures the secret process for the triumph of modern Art. I beheld27 a city such as I had mused28 over amid the crumbling29 fanes of Pericles, or, aided alike by memory and fancy, had conjured30 up in the palaces and gardens of the Medici.
Such is Munich, a city which, half a century ago, was the gross and corrupt31 capital of a barbarous and brutal32 people. Baron33 Reisbech, who visited Bavaria in 1780, describes the Court of Munich as one not at all more advanced than those of Lisbon and Madrid. A good-natured prince, fond only of show and thinking only of the chase; an idle, dissolute, and useless nobility; the nomination34 to offices depending on women and priests; the aristocracy devoted to play, and the remainder of the inhabitants immersed in scandalous debauch35.
With these recollections of the past, let us enter the palace of the present sovereign. With habits of extreme simplicity36, and a personal expenditure37 rigidly38 economical, the residence of the King of Bavaria, when completed, will be the most extensive and the most sumptuous39 palace in the world. But, then, it is not merely the palace of a king: it is a temple dedicated40 to the genius of a nation. The apartments of state, painted in fresco on the grandest scale, bold in design, splendid in colour, breathe the very Teutonic soul. The subjects are taken from the ‘Nibelungenlied,’ the Gothic epic41, and commemorate42 all the achievements of the heroic Siegfried, and all the adventures of the beautiful Chrimhilde. The heart of a German beats as he gazes on the forms and scenes of the Teutonic Iliad; as he beholds43 Haghen the fierce, and Dankwart the swift; Volker, the minstrel knight44, and the beautiful and haughty45 Brunhilda. But in point of harmonious46 dimension and august beauty, no chamber47 is perhaps more imposing48 than the Kaiser Saal, or Hall of the Sovereigns. It is, I should think, considerably49 above one hundred feet in length, broad and lofty in exact proportion. Its roof is supported on either side by columns of white marble; the inter-columniations are filled by colossal statues, of gilded50 brass51, of the electors and kings of the country. Seated on his throne, at the end of this imperial chamber, Louis of Bavaria is surrounded by the solemn majesty52 of his ancestors. These statues are by Schwanthaler, a sculptor who to the severe and classic taste and profound sentiment of his master, Thorwaldsen, unites an exuberance53 of invention which has filled Munich with the greatest works since Phidias. Cornelius, Julius Schnorr, and Hess are the principal painters who have covered the galleries, churches, and palaces of Munich with admirable frescoes. The celebrated54 Klenze is known throughout Europe as the first of living architects, and the favourite of his sovereign when that sovereign did not wear a crown; but we must not forget the name of Gartner, the architect who has revived the Byzantine style of building with such admirable effect.
But it was in the private apartments of the king that I was peculiarly impressed with the supreme55 genius of Schwanthaler. These chambers56, eight in number, are painted in encaustic, with subjects from the Greek poets, of which Schwanthaler supplied the designs. The ante-chambers are devoted to Orpheus and Hesiod, and the ornaments57 are in the oldest Greek style; severely58 simple; archaic59, but not rude; the figures of the friezes61 in outline, and without relief. The saloon of reception, on the contrary, is Homeric; and in its colouring, design, and decoration, as brilliant, as free, and as flowing as the genius of the great M?onian. The chamber of the throne is entirely adorned with white bas-reliefs, raised on a ground of dead gold; the subjects Pindaric; not inferior in many instances to the Attic62 remains63, and characterised, at the same time, by a singular combination of vigour64 and grace. Another saloon is devoted to ?schylus, and the library to Sophocles. The gay, wild muse19 of Aristophanes laughs and sings in his Majesty’s dressing-room; while the king is lulled65 to slumber66 by the Sicilian melodies and the soothing67 landscapes of Theocritus.
Of these chambers, I should say that they were a perfect creation of Art. The rooms themselves are beautifully proportioned; the subjects of their decorations are the most interesting in every respect that could be selected; and the purity, grace, and invention of the designs, are equalled only by their colouring, at the same time the most brilliant and harmonious that can be conceived; and the rich fancy of the arabesques68 and other appropriate decorations, which blend with all around, and heighten the effect of the whole. Yet they find no mean rivals in the private chambers of the queen, decorated in an analogous69 style, but entirely devoted to the poets of her own land. The Minnesingers occupy her first apartments, but the brilliant saloon is worthy of Wieland, whose Oberon forms it frieze60; while the bedchamber gleams with the beautiful forms and pensive70 incidents of Goethe’s esoteric pen. Schiller has filled the study with his stirring characters and his vigorous incidents. Groups from ‘Wallenstein’ and ‘Wilhelm Tell’ form the rich and unrivalled ceiling: while the fight of the dragon and the founding of the bell, the innocent Fridolin, the inspired maiden71 of Orleans, breathe in the compartments72 of the walls.
When I beheld these refined creations, and recalled the scenes and sights of beauty that had moved before me in my morning’s wanderings, I asked myself, how Munich, recently so Boeotian, had become the capital of modern Art; and why a country of limited resources, in a brief space, and with such facility and completeness, should have achieved those results which had so long and utterly73 eluded74 the desires of the richest and most powerful community in the world?
It is the fashion of the present age to underrate the influence of individual character. For myself, I have ever rejected this consolation75 of mediocrity. I believe that everything that is great has been accomplished76 by great men. It is not what witnessed at Munich, or know of its sovereign, that should make me doubt the truth of my conviction. Munich is the creation of its king, and Louis of Bavaria is not only a king but a poet. A poet on a throne has realised his dreams.
The End
1 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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2 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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3 civilisation | |
n.文明,文化,开化,教化 | |
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4 unprecedented | |
adj.无前例的,新奇的 | |
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5 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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6 sculptor | |
n.雕刻家,雕刻家 | |
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7 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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8 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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9 frescoes | |
n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 );温壁画技法,湿壁画 | |
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10 fresco | |
n.壁画;vt.作壁画于 | |
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11 withdrawn | |
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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12 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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13 fretted | |
焦躁的,附有弦马的,腐蚀的 | |
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14 cones | |
n.(人眼)圆锥细胞;圆锥体( cone的名词复数 );球果;圆锥形东西;(盛冰淇淋的)锥形蛋卷筒 | |
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15 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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16 obelisk | |
n.方尖塔 | |
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17 equestrian | |
adj.骑马的;n.马术 | |
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18 portico | |
n.柱廊,门廊 | |
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19 muse | |
n.缪斯(希腊神话中的女神),创作灵感 | |
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20 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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21 consummate | |
adj.完美的;v.成婚;使完美 [反]baffle | |
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22 aspiring | |
adj.有志气的;有抱负的;高耸的v.渴望;追求 | |
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23 emulation | |
n.竞争;仿效 | |
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24 excellence | |
n.优秀,杰出,(pl.)优点,美德 | |
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25 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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26 ardent | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的 | |
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27 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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28 mused | |
v.沉思,冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 );沉思自语说(某事) | |
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29 crumbling | |
adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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30 conjured | |
用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 ); 祈求,恳求; 变戏法; (变魔术般地) 使…出现 | |
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31 corrupt | |
v.贿赂,收买;adj.腐败的,贪污的 | |
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32 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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33 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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34 nomination | |
n.提名,任命,提名权 | |
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35 debauch | |
v.使堕落,放纵 | |
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36 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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37 expenditure | |
n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出;使用,消耗 | |
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38 rigidly | |
adv.刻板地,僵化地 | |
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39 sumptuous | |
adj.豪华的,奢侈的,华丽的 | |
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40 dedicated | |
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的 | |
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41 epic | |
n.史诗,叙事诗;adj.史诗般的,壮丽的 | |
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42 commemorate | |
vt.纪念,庆祝 | |
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43 beholds | |
v.看,注视( behold的第三人称单数 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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44 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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45 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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46 harmonious | |
adj.和睦的,调和的,和谐的,协调的 | |
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47 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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48 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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49 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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50 gilded | |
a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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51 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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52 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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53 exuberance | |
n.丰富;繁荣 | |
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54 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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55 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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56 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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57 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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58 severely | |
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 | |
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59 archaic | |
adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的,已不通用的 | |
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60 frieze | |
n.(墙上的)横饰带,雕带 | |
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61 friezes | |
n.(柱顶过梁和挑檐间的)雕带,(墙顶的)饰带( frieze的名词复数 ) | |
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62 attic | |
n.顶楼,屋顶室 | |
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63 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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64 vigour | |
(=vigor)n.智力,体力,精力 | |
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65 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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66 slumber | |
n.睡眠,沉睡状态 | |
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67 soothing | |
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的 | |
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68 arabesques | |
n.阿拉伯式花饰( arabesque的名词复数 );错综图饰;阿拉伯图案;阿拉贝斯克芭蕾舞姿(独脚站立,手前伸,另一脚一手向后伸) | |
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69 analogous | |
adj.相似的;类似的 | |
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70 pensive | |
a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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71 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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72 compartments | |
n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 );(列车车厢的)隔间;(家具或设备等的)分隔间;隔层 | |
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73 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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74 eluded | |
v.(尤指机敏地)避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 );逃避;躲避;使达不到 | |
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75 consolation | |
n.安慰,慰问 | |
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76 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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