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AN EXPENSIVE " MASTERPIECE " 191
own hearts as to the past, and especially to
the golden days of T'ang. History is deaf to
the doctrine of progressive evolution, and, if
we would understand the history of art, we
must learn to think in styles rather than in
years ; also we must become accustomed to
remote derivations. It is possible to confound
Renaissance work of the sixteenth century
with Roman of the second ; it is impossible to
confuse either with their neighbours, Gothic
and Byzantine. Similarly, it would be intolerable
to mistake Ming for Sung, but excusable
to mistake it for T'ang, and that, I believe, is
just what Mr. Hobson has done.
But, to be frank, I care very little when or
where this figure was made what I care about
;
is its aesthetic
insignificance. Look at the
are as insensi-
modelling of the hands : they
tive and convictionless as lumps of bread.
Look at the tight, cheap realism of the head ;
the accents violent without being impressive,
the choice of relief common. The chest is the
best part of the thing, and that strikes me as
traditional rather than felt. The view
being
of the figure in is
profile
less
unsatisfactory
than the view from in front : but look at
those hands !
If this thing impresses any one, it must
impress him by its dramatic and not by its
plastic qualities ; and that is not the way in