Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 5.djvu/139

Rh much the less had I seen them: for except Laocoon, the father, and the Faun with the crotola, there were no casts in the academy; and whatever Oeser chose to say to us on the subject of those works was enigmatical enough. How can a conception of the end of art be given to beginners?

Director Verschaffel's reception was kind. I was conducted to the saloon by one of his associates, who, after he had opened it for me, left me to my own inclinations and reflections. Here I now stood, open to the most wonderful impressions, in a spacious, four-cornered, and, with its extraordinary height, almost cubical, saloon, in a space well lighted from above by the windows under the cornice; with the noblest statues of antiquity, not only ranged along the walls, but also set up one with another over the whole area,—a forest of statues, through which one was forced to wind; a great, ideal, popular assembly, through which one was forced to press. All these noble figures could, by opening and closing the curtains, be placed in the most advantageous light; and, besides this, they were movable on their pedestals, and could be turned about at pleasure.

After I had for a time sustained the first impression of this irresistible mass, I turned to those figures which attracted me the most; and who can deny that the Apollo Belvidere, with his well-proportioned colossal stature, his slender build, his free movement, his conquering glance, carried off the victory over our feelings in preference to all the others? I then turned to Laocoon, whom I here saw for the first time in connection with his sons. I brought to mind, as well as possible, the discussions and contests which had been held concerning him, and tried to get a point of view of my own; but I was now drawn this way, now that. The dying gladiator long held me fast; but the group of Castor and Pollux, that precious though problematical