Theirs was a country of smiling
skies, of blue heaven and golden sunshine; their buildings breathed
the very essence of all that is highest in art; even the throngs that
filled the streets were picturesque and classic in appearance. For in
those days fashions of dress did not change as capriciously as they do
now. A beautiful style of costume was adopted and retained, and in
consequence artists had ever before them men and women who were
excellent models for chaste decoration. In our time such a procedure
would be impossible, as the national dress of both our men and women
has become utilitarian rather than beautiful, and now has little
artistic to recommend it. If we wish classic draperies and faultless
styles of hair-dressing we must revert to the past for our models."
There was a silence broken only by the snapping of the fire.
"To give you some idea how much of this pottery the Greeks turned out
I must tell you that at Naples there is a collection of two thousand
Greek cups and vases. The Vatican at Rome has one thousand more;
Florence has seven hundred; Turin five hundred; Vienna three hundred;
Berlin about seventeen hundred; the Louvre at Paris fifteen hundred;
and the British Museum nearly twenty-six hundred.
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