Note (return) — FINE ARTS.

The arts were neglected in Rome until the introduction of the popish religion. At that eventful era, statues and pictures were eagerly sought for; the admirable Grecian works were appropriated to purposes quite contrary to their pagan origin, for in many cases heathen deities were converted into apostles. The labours of Phidias, Myron, Praxiteles, Lysippus, and Scopas,6 were highly valued by the Romans, who became the correct imitators, and in time the rivals, of those celebrated sculptors.