§ 215. Midway between these two
iubjert..^ * ' * ^ classes, connecting the two, are ideal-
ized subjects. The artist here begins
with an actual subject, and by suppressing entirely
or by only more or less repressing certain features,
by amplifying others, or even by introducing en-
tirely new features, he creates a new ideal, neither
real, nor purely imaginary, but one grounded on
the real yet transformed and made new. A ruling
trait of character in a real person is thus often
brought out to stand alone and dissociated from
other traits. The Grecian mythology revealed a
Jupiter of divers not to say ill-sorted traits. The
sculptor separates those of majesty and power and
incorporates them only into his marble, that he
may represent simply the king of the gods. By
thus presenting real but only partial traits in a
given character, the artist may elevate it above its
true merits . or depress it below and caricature it,
according as his selection turns upon the noble
and worthy or on the low and contemptible.
