THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

414 The Harmony of Virtueor upward to heaven, born of their main preoccupation so thateven here, though they meet on common ground, they remaindiverse and unreconciled.*In dealing with the form the question between them is: shallI reproduce what the eye sees or shall I reproduce what thesoul sees? The lower type of European Art is content with reproducingwhat the eye sees. This it calls realism and fidelityto Nature — narrowing Nature to the limited confines of thematerially sensible. The reproduction, of course, is not a realreproduction but only an approximation within the limitationsimposed by the canvas, the brush and the paint box. It is reallyas close an imitation as our instruments will allow, absolutefidelity being rarely possible. This style of Art had perhaps itsutility, but now that we have photographs and can put colourinto the photographs, its separate field is in danger of beingtaken from it.*A higher European Art takes imitation of the form as itsbasis, but its nobler objective is not the imitation of form,but the imitation of emotion. The artist tries to see and recoveron canvas not only the body, but so much of the feelingas the body can for the moment express. This may oftenbe a great deal. In certain moments of powerful feeling orcritical action a great deal of our psychical selves may comeout in the eyes, the face, the gesture, the pose. This the artistimitates. He not only shows us an object or an incident,but he fixes on the canvas a moment in the soul-life of theobject. The habitual mood also stamps itself to a great extenton the face and certain traits of character betray themselvesin expression and feature. These too the imitative artist transfersto the canvas. When not exaggerated or theatrical, thiskind of art can be strong, effective and dramatic. But it hasserious limitations. So much of the inner truth as the outwardform interprets, this Art interprets. Its interpretation