Part 4, Sections 17-22 Summary and Analysis

Part 4: The Magic of Images begins with a quote by Byron in 1821 that the scope of the sculptor is to heighten nature into heroic beauty, thus surpassing his model. Section 17: The Awe of Images, describes man's earliest images of living creatures which lie in the caves of Altamira, Lascaux and Les Trois Freres. Paleolithic man found power as an image maker, though these drawings were not discovered until the late nineteenth century. Man did not make images of himself until the upper Paleolithic period, revealing a momentous self-discovery.

In Section 18: Human Hieroglyphs, Egyptians created immortal images by carving hieroglyphs into stone. It took until the late nineteenth century to realize that the hieroglyphs were phonetic symbols of a dead spoken language. Having never developed perspective, Egyptians focused on actual, unchanging physical dimensions.

In Section 19: The Athletic Ideal...