The Art of Arts

The blind man's judgment was just, when, having felt first a statue, and then a painting of the same figure, he remarked, "If this flat surface looks like that round one, then this is the greater art."

Painting is called "The Art of Arts;" for to be a successful painter necessitates a knowledge of drawing, sculpture, and architecture. While the sculptor and architect make forms, the painter, without making them, presents them to the eye.

Pliny states that "Gyges the Lydian" introduced painting into Egypt, and adds, "The Egyptians affirm that the art was invented among themselves several thousand years before it passed into Greece."

The formative period of Grecian painting covers about seven hundred years,--from the fall of Troy (1184 B.C.) to the restoration of the Athenian Democracy (510 B.C.).