SPECIAL LAWS. 373

Sculpture addresses the aesthetic
Jdm"rf^w*** sensibility through outline and light

and shadow. In order to its proper
interpretation, therefore, the eye must regard it
from the sculptor's standpoint, that it may receive
the same eflect of figure and of light and shadow
which he purposed. The highest product of sculp-
ture is the revelation of the human spirit and char-
acter. But the expression of the features varies
with the direction from which they are studied. A
photograph, although exact as the rays of light, may
be almost expressionless, or express almost opposite
characteristics, according as the rays fall directly on
this or on that feature. To read a statue right, the
eye must find its true position for observing.
In apprehending the idea it is obvi-
rihir^aclcrr"' ous the scusibility must be intelligent

of the character represented. It can
not be rightly impressed by an Apollo or a Venus
without knowing what characters these are. The
fuller and clearer this intelligence of the idea in the
aesthetic sense, the fuller and richer will be the
interpretation.
To a certain extent, this intelligence
Of material. of the material will help the interpre-
tation; for marble and metal express
very differently from each other as well as from
native flesh. Certainly the skill of the artist, which
enters largely in all aesthetic effect as a distinct ele-
ment, cannot well be estimated or felt without such
intelligence.
374 LAWS OF BEAUrV.
