t it might have been an
Alcibiades rushing from the flames, when his house was fired; but is
more satisfied that "it might form an admirable Ulysses bestriding the
deck of his ship to defend his companions from the descending fangs of
Scylla, or rather, with indignation and anguish, seeing them already
snatched up, and writhing in the mysterious gripe." In such fanciful
humours, it might be made to mean any thing or any body. And we are,
after all, quite at a loss to know whether the _conjecture_ is offered
as a specimen of "_invention_." He considers the cartoon of Pisa "the
most striking instance, of the eminent place due to this _intuitive
faculty among the principal organs of invention_"--we mark these words
in italics, not quite certain of their meaning. The work is engraved for
Foster, by Schiavonetti; and a wonderful work it is--the work of Michael
Angelo begun in competition with Leonardo da Vinci. The original is said
to have been destroyed by Baccio Bandinelli; still there are the ancient
prints and drawings which show the design, and there is a small copy at
Holkham. Benvenuto Cellini--and could there be a better
authority?--denies that the powers afterwards exerted in the Capella
Sistina, arrive at half its excellence. Mr Fuseli's description is so
good, that we give it entire. "It represents an imaginary moment
relative to the war carried on by the Florentines against Pisa; and
exhibits a numerous group of warriors, roused from their bathing in the
Arno, by the sudden signal of a trumpet, and rushing to arms. This
composition may, without exaggeration, be said to personify with
unexampled variety, that motion which Agasias and Theon embodied in
single figures. In imagining this transient moment from state of
relaxation to a state of energy, the ideas of motion, to use the bold
figure of Dante, seem to have showered into the artist's mind. From the
chief, nearly placed in the centre, who precedes, and whose voice
accompanies the trumpet, every age of human agility, every attitude,
every feature of alarm, haste, hurry, exertion, eagerness, burst into so
many rays, like sparks flying from the hammer. Many have reached, some
boldly step, some have leaped on the rocky shore; here two arms emerging
from the water, grapple with the rock, there two hands cry for help, and
their companions bend over or rush on to assist them: often imitated,
but inimitable, is the ardent feature of the grim veteran, whose every
sinew