Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/393

 ( 363 ) CHAPTER VI. HEBREW ARCHEOLOGY AND HEBREW LITERATURE CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE HISTORY OF ART. If we have studied with a decree of care, which may have seemed too minute, the smallest relics of Jewish art and industry, it was not entirely because of the place which Israel holds in the world's annals, albeit to an inquiring mind the reason might appear sufficient ; since few will be found indifferent to aught that pertains to a people " whose religion became the stem of the general religion of the world." x On the other hand, we could not ignore that the Hebrews, through the voice of their best qualified representatives, abjured sculpture, the noblest of plastic arts ; that they not only neglected it, but proscribed it aloud ; unhesitatingly immolating it to the crowning of the passionate effort which was directed to the purifying ever more of their creed and public worship, ultimately rising to "the conception of the divine." It seemed natural, therefore, that in a survey of plastic arts, the space allotted to the Jewish division should have been more sparingly dealt out, the more so that images came to be ruthlessly broken and banished from their midst ; deliberately setting their faces and stiffening themselves against any lurking proclivity to translate their ideas, like the rest of the world, into tangible forms. We could not, however, make up our minds to such a line of conduct. The Jews, though specially jealous and adverse to any innovation that interfered with their religious observances, had not the same objection to architecture; hence it came to pass that their buildings could favourably compare with those of the surrounding Asiatic nations. There was yet another advantage in taking upon ourselves the archaeological exploration of Palestine, making it as 1 Renan, "Les Origines de la Bible" {Revue des Deux-Mondes, p. 259, 15 Mars,