Excerpt from The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, Vol. 17 of 18: Sculpture to Thermo-Electricity In Egyptian statues, it is further to be Observed, that the attitude is constantly rectilinear, denoting that state of art when poverty of resource limits its search of the beautiful by the difficulties of execution. It is in fact the first choice Of infant invention, ren dered permanent by prescriptive institutions. From the curve being thus unknown in the contour, the ac tion is necessarily angular, whenever the movement is not parallel to the 'gravitating line of the figure. Hence the arms have but two positions, either hang ing close to the sides, or crossed at right angles upon the breast; or sometimes varied by one placed in each posture. Lateral motions are likewise unattempted, the statue standing equally poised on both limbs; with the feet not exactly Opposite, one more advanced than the other, and Often almost in front. In every posture of standing, sitting, or kneeling, these remarks apply: hence it is easy to conceive that little Of grace, case, or animation is ever to be found in the most perfect works: yet we often Observe a grave and staid serenity not unpleasing nor devoid of interest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.