e glorified the state in their work, and thus
felt the living force of a national ambition which raised them above
themselves. But elsewhere there was little to inspire that devotion
for a common country necessary as a background to sustain the greatest
work. Hence Italian art, so living within certain limits, remained
stunted beyond these. The conviction that art existed in order to
express ideal beauty, that its main purpose was to please the eye and
the senses in spite of the result attained, proved inadequate
compensation for all that had been withdrawn. The art ideal tended
more and more to become a conscience and a purpose in itself, an inward
impulse for action and an outward goal.

The artist's real greatness will depend at all times on his qualities
as a representative. His true merit will arise from giving expression
in ideal terms to his nation and to his age. In so far as he has been
able to do this and the spirit of his country is reflected in his work,
in so far as he has represented what is best therein and most enduring,
he will have achieved greatness. Not that this is always, or even
often, a conscious expression. It is unfair reading to search for deep
thought in the work of either painter or poet. Neither art {xxiii}
offers the best medium to convey the abstractions of the mind, since
each has its own method of expression, independent of pure reason. But
painter and poet, in the degree they attain greatness, express more
than themselves. Ariosto, intent only to amuse, reflects with playful
wit and skepticism the splendid luxury and joy of living in Renaissance
court life. The care with which he chiselled each line proves that his
real seriousness and conscience lay in his artistic purpose. Without
Ariosto's wit, Paolo Veronese depicted a similar side in painting,
though his Venetian birthright made him celebrate the glory of the
Republic. Poet and painter alike expressed far more than either could
know. If such a test be applied to the artists of the Renaissance,
each in turn will respond to it,--just as the weakness of the later
Bolognese as a school is that, beyond a certain technical merit, they
meant and represented so little. But the noblest
painters,--Michelangelo and Raphael, Titian and Leonardo,--in addition
to possessing the solid grasp of technical mastery, reflected some
aspect of their nation's life and civilization. In Michelangelo was
realized the grandeur of Italy st