Explanation of Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and the Art of Sculpture and Response to the Open Letter on These Thoughts

Summary

I could not believe that my little work would deserve such attention and stir up such judgments. It was written only for a few experts on the arts, and for this reason it seemed superfluous to lend it a certain learned air, which a work can acquire through the citation of books. Artists understand what is written in a few words about art, and since most of them “consider it foolish,” and must consider it so, “to spend more time on reading than on writing,” as an ancient orator has taught us, then if one cannot teach them anything new, one should at least make oneself agreeable to them through brevity. And I am generally of the opinion that as what is beautiful in art depends more on fine senses and refined taste than on deep reflection, the words of Neoptolemus, “Philosophize, but in a few words,” should especially be observed in works of this kind.

Some parts of my work are amenable to explanation, and as objections to it by an unnamed person have come to light, it would be reasonable for me to explain myself and at the same time provide a response. The circumstances, however, in which I find myself due to my imminent journey do not allow me to do either the one or the other in the way I have planned.