Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/16

 INTRODUCTION. THE fine arts once played a very important part in the refined and intellectual life of this country ; but since the close of the middle ages they have been undervalued and neglected among us. Happily at the present day many signs of a revival are presenting them- selves, and art is now in much greater danger of being misunderstood than forgotten. Classical languages are no longer the only instruments of culture, and literary attain- ments have now ceased, to be considered — as they for long were — the sole objects of a cultivated man's ambition ; for causes of an almost opposite nature have largely directed attention to science and to the arts. The marvellous advances, brilliant discoveries, and splendid attainments of our foremost natural philosophers have been among the most powerful of the influences which have secured for scientific research so large a share of public attention. In other words, we have cared for science because it is living and growing under our eyes. With art the case is different. It is a revival and not a fresh growth which we are witnessing. Without