Emy’s Reviews > The Story of Art > Status Update

Long ago, in the distant past, people had looked at portraits with awe, because they had thought that in preserving the likeness the artist could somehow preserve the soul of the person he portrayed. Now the great scientist, Leonardo, had made some of the dreams and fears of these first image-makers come true. He knew the spell which would infuse fife into the colours spread by his magic brush. 

...the very reason why nearly all the famous statues of the ancient world perished was that after the victory of Christianity it was considered a pious duty to smash any statue of the heathen Gods. The sculptures in our museums are, for the most part, only secondhand copies made in Roman times for travellers as souvenirs, and as decorations for gardens or public baths.