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<A>

 “There is no such thing as the ‘art’ of Painting, and anyone who compares a drawing of Raphael, effected by outline, with one of Titian, effected by flecks of light and shade, without feeling that they belong to two different arts;”

See Illustration A- Raphael outline versus Titian light & shade

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<B>

“…anyone who does not realize a dissimilarity of essence between the works of Giotto or Mantegna - relief, created by brushstroke - and those of Vermeer or Goya - music, created on coloured canvas such a one will never grasp the deeper questions.”

 See Illustration B- Giotto & Mantegna (sculpture relief) versus Vermeer & Goya (music in colour)

 

<C>

 “the frescoes of Polygnotus and the mosaics of Ravenna, there is not even the similarity of technical means to bring them within the alleged genus”

 See Illustration C to contrast Polygnotus with the mosaics of Ravenna

 

 <D>

 “what is there in common between an etching and the art of Fra Angelico…?”

 See Illustration D to contrast etchings with Fra Angelico.

 

<E>

“what is there in common between…a proto-Corinthian vase painting and a Gothic cathedral-window…?”

See Illustration E to note contrast

 

<F>

“what is there in common between…the reliefs of Egypt and those of the Parthenon?”

See Illustration F to note contrast

 

<G>

“There is nothing in Greek and Roman art that stands in any· relation whatever to the form-language of a Donatello statue or a painting of Signorelli or a facade of Michelangelo.”

See Illustration G to note contrasting forms between Greek Culture and Faustian Culture

 

<H>

"The fact of the archaic Greek Apollo-type being ' influenced' by Egyptian portraiture...shows what he can express with it."  Spengler is denying that the Egyptian influence was critical to the Greek art form.

See Illustration H to see contrast between a Kouros and Egyptian portrait.

 

<I>

"The fact of… early Tuscan representation” being influenced “by Etruscan tomb-painting...shows what he can express with it." Again Spengler denies that Etruscan influence was in any way formative or critical to the later art form.

See Illustration I to contrast Etruscan tomb painting with early Tuscan art.

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Decline of the West, Chapter VII: Music and Plastic. (I) The Arts of Form 
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