I suppose, Parrhasius (said he), painting may be defined as “a representation of visible objects,” may it not?371 That is to say, by means of colours and palette you painters represent and reproduce as closely as possible the ups and downs, lights and shadows, hard and soft, rough and smooth surfaces, the freshness of youth and the wrinkles of age, do you not?
You are right (he answered), that is so.
Soc. Further, in portraying2 ideal types of beauty, seeing it is not easy to light upon any one human being who is absolutely devoid3 of blemish4, you cull5 from many models the most beautiful traits of each, and so make your figures appear completely beautiful?372
Parrh. Yes, that is how we do.373
Well, but stop (Socrates continued); do you also pretend to represent in similar perfection the characteristic moods of the soul, its captivating charm and sweetness, with its deep wells of love, its intensity6 of yearning7, its burning point of passion? or is all this quite incapable8 of being depicted9?
Nay10 (he answered), how should a mood be other than inimitable, Socrates, when it possesses neither linear proportion374 nor colour, nor any of those qualities which you named just now; when, in a word, it is not even visible?
Soc. Well, but the kindly11 look of love, the angry glance of hate at any one, do find expression in the human subject, do they not?375
Parrh. No doubt they do.
Soc. Then this look, this glance, at any rate may be imitated in the eyes, may it not?
Undoubtedly12 (he answered).
Soc. And do anxiety and relief of mind occasioned by the good or evil fortune of those we love both wear the same expression?
By no means (he answered); at the thought of good we are radiant, at that of evil a cloud hangs on the brow.
Soc. Then here again are looks with it is possible to represent?
Parrh. Decidedly.
Soc. Furthermore, as through some chink or crevice13, there pierces through the countenance14 of a man, through the very posture15 of his body as he stands or moves, a glimpse of his nobility and freedom, or again of something in him low and grovelling16 — the calm of self-restraint, and wisdom, or the swagger of insolence17 and vulgarity?
You are right (he answered).
Soc. Then these too may be imitated?
No doubt (he said).
Soc. And which is the pleasanter type of face to look at, do you think — one on which is imprinted18 the characteristics of a beautiful, good, and lovable disposition19, or one which bears the impress of what is ugly, and bad, and hateful?376
Parrh. Doubtless, Socrates, there is a vast distinction between the two.
At another time he entered the workshop of the sculptor20 Cleiton,377 and in course of conversation with him said:
You have a gallery of handsome people here,378 Cleiton, runners, and wrestlers, and boxers22, and pancratiasts — that I see and know; but how do you give the magic touch of life to your creations, which most of all allures23 the soul of the beholder24 through his sense of vision?
As Cleiton stood perplexed25, and did not answer at once, Socrates added: Is it by closely imitating the forms of living beings that you succeed in giving that touch of life to your statues?
No doubt (he answered).
Soc. It is, is it not, by faithfully copying the various muscular contractions26 of the body in obedience27 to the play of gesture and poise28, the wrinklings of flesh and the sprawl29 of limbs, the tensions and the relaxations30, that you succeed in making your statues like real beings — make them “breathe” as people say?
Cleit. Without a doubt.
Soc. And does not the faithful imitation of the various affections of the body when engaged in any action impart a particular pleasure to the beholder?
Cleit. I should say so.
Soc. Then the threatenings in the eyes of warriors31 engaged in battle should be carefully copied, or again you should imitate the aspect of a conqueror32 radiant with success?
Cleit. Above all things.
Soc. It would seem then that the sculptor is called upon to incorporate in his ideal form the workings and energies also of the soul?
Paying a visit to Pistias,379 the corselet maker33, when that artist showed him some exquisite34 samples of his work, Socrates exclaimed:
By Hera! a pretty invention this, Pistias, by which you contrive35 that the corselet should cover the parts of the person which need protection, and at the same time leave free play to the arms and hands. . . . but tell me, Pistias (he added), why do you ask a higher price for these corselets of yours if they are not stouter36 or made of costlier37 material than the others?
Because, Socrates (he answered), mine are of much finer proportion.
Soc. Proportion! Then how do you make this quality apparent to the customer so as to justify38 the higher price — by measure or weight? For I presume you cannot make them all exactly equal and of one pattern — if you make them fit, as of course you do?
Fit indeed! that I most distinctly do (he answered), take my word for it: no use in a corselet without that.
But then are not the wearer’s bodies themselves (asked Socrates) some well proportioned and others ill?
Decidedly so (he answered).
Soc. Then how do you manage to make the corselet well proportioned if it is to fit an ill-proportioned body?380
Pist. To the same degree exactly as I make it fit. What fits is well proportioned.
Soc. It seems you use the term “well-proportioned” not in an absolute sense, but in reference to the wearer, just as you might describe a shield as well proportioned to the individual it suits; and so of a military cloak, and so of the rest of things, in your terminology39? But maybe there is another considerable advantage in this “fitting”?
Pist. Pray instruct me, Socrates, if you have got an idea.
Soc. A corselet which fits is less galling40 by its weight than one which does not fit, for the latter must either drag from the shoulders with a dead weight or press upon some other part of the body, and so it becomes troublesome and uncomfortable; but that which fits, having its weight distributed partly along the collar-bone and shoulder-blade, partly over the shoulders and chest, and partly the back and belly41, feels like another natural integument42 rather than an extra load to carry.381
Pist. You have named the very quality which gives my work its exceptional value, as I consider; still there are customers, I am bound to say, who look for something else in a corselet — they must have them ornamental43 or inlaid with gold.
For all that (replied Socrates), if they end by purchasing an ill-fitting article, they only become the proprietors44 of a curiously45 — wrought46 and gilded47 nuisance, as it seems to me. But (he added), as the body is never in one fixed48 position, but is at one time curved, at another raised erect49 how can an exactly-modelled corselet fit?
Pist. It cannot fit at all.
You mean (Socrates continued) that it is not the exactly-modelled corselet which fits, but that which does not gall21 the wearer in the using?
Pist. There, Socrates, you have hit the very point. I see you understand the matter most precisely50.382
369 alla men kai . . . “But indeed the sphere of his helpfulness was not circumscribed51; if,” etc.
370 For Parrhasius of Ephesus, the son of Evenor and rival of Zeuxis, see Woltmann and Woermann, “Hist. of Painting,” p. 47 foll.; Cobet, “Pros. Xen.” p. 50 (cf. in particular Quint. XII. x. 627). At the date of conversation (real or ideal) he may be supposed to have been a young man.
371 Reading with Schneider, L. Dind., etc., after Stobaeus, e graphike estin eikasia, or if the vulg. graphike estin e eikasia, trans. “Painting is the term applied52 to a particular representation,” etc.
372 Cf. Cic. “de Invent.” ii. 1 ad in. of Zeuxis; Max. Tur. “Dissert.” 23, 3, ap. Schneider ad loc.
373 Or, “that is the secret of our creations,” or “our art of composition.”
374 Lit. “symmetry.” Cf. Plin. xxxv. 10, “primus symmetriam picturae dedit,” etc.
375 Or, “the glance of love, the scowl53 of hate, which one directs towards another, are recognised expressions of human feeling.” Cf. the description of Parrhasius’s own portrait of Demos, ap. Plin. loc. cit.
376 For this theory cp. Ruskin, “Mod. P.” ii. 94 foll. and indeed passim.
377 An unknown artist. Coraes conj. Kleona. Cf. Plin. xxxiv. 19; Paus. v. 17, vi. 3. He excelled in portrait statues. See Jowett, “Plato,” iv.; “Laws,” p. 123.
378 Reading after L. Dind. kaloi ous, or if vulg. alloious, translate “You have a variety of types, Cleiton, not all of one mould, but runners,” etc.; al. “I see quite well how you give the diversity of form to your runners,” etc.
379 Cf. Athen. iv. 20, where the same artist is referred to apparently54 as Piston55, and for the type of person see the “Portrait of a Tailor” by Moroni in the National Gallery — see “Handbook,” Edw. T. Cook, p. 152.
380 Or, “how do you make a well-proportioned corselet fit an ill-proportioned body? how well proportioned?”
381 Schneider ad loc. cf Eur. “Electr.” 192, prosthemata aglaias, and for the weight cf. Aristoph. “Peace,” 1224.
382 Or, “There, Socrates, you have hit the very phrase. I could not state the matter more explicitly56 myself.”
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1
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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portraying
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| v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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3
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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cull
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| v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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10
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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12
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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13
crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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14
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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15
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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16
grovelling
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| adj.卑下的，奴颜婢膝的v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的现在分词 )；趴 | |
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17
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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imprinted
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| v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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19
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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gall
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| v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难 | |
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22
boxers
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| n.拳击短裤；（尤指职业）拳击手( boxer的名词复数 )；拳师狗 | |
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23
allures
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| 诱引，吸引( allure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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contractions
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| n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩 | |
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27
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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28
poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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29
sprawl
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| vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延 | |
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30
relaxations
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| n.消遣( relaxation的名词复数 )；松懈；松弛；放松 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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33
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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37
costlier
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| adj.昂贵的( costly的比较级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的 | |
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38
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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39
terminology
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| n.术语；专有名词 | |
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40
galling
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| adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
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41
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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42
integument
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| n.皮肤 | |
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43
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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44
proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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45
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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46
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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47
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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48
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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49
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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50
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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51
circumscribed
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| adj.[医]局限的：受限制或限于有限空间的v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；划定…范围；限制；限定 | |
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52
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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53
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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54
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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55
piston
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| n.活塞 | |
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56
explicitly
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| ad.明确地，显然地 | |
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