wants which cannot be completely supplied; that is, want of

strength of parts. In this, certainly men are not equal, and a man

can bring home wares only in proportion to the capital with which

he goes to market. Carlo, by diligence, made the most of what he

had; but there was undoubtedly a heaviness about him, which

extended itself, uniformly to his invention, expression, his

drawing, colouring, and the general effect of his pictures. The

truth is, he never equalled any of his patterns in anyone thing,

and he added little of his own.

But we must not rest contented, even in this general study of the

moderns; we must trace back the art to its fountain head, to that

source from whence they drew their principal excellences, the

monuments of pure antiquity.

All the inventions and thoughts of the ancients, whether conveyed

to us in statues, bas-reliefs, intaglios, cameos, or coins, are to

be sought after and carefully studied: The genius that hovers over

these venerable relics may be called the father of modern art.

From the remains of the works of the ancients the modern arts were

revived, and it is by their means that they must be restored a

second time. However it may mortify our vanity, we must be forced

to allow them our masters; and we may venture to prophecy, that

when they shall cease to be studied, arts will no longer flourish,

and we shall again relapse into barbarism.

The fire of the artist's own genius operating upon these materials

which have been thus diligently collected, will enable him to make

new combinations, perhaps, superior to what had ever before been in

the possession of the art. As in the mixture of the variety of

metals, which are said to have been melted and run together at the

burning of Corinth, a new and till then unknown metal was produced

equal in value to any of those that had contributed to its