Emulate
the Best
In
anticipation of my upcoming talk
at the Harold Acton Library of the British Institute in Florence, I thought
I’d post this apposite extract from my favorite English poet, John Dryden:
 |
| Kneller's portrait of Dryden |
Of
various Parts a perfect whole is wrought;
Thy pictures think, and we
Divine their Thought.
*Shakespear,
thy Gift, I place before my Sight;
With
awe I ask his Blessing e’re I write;
With
Rev’rence look on his Majestick Face;
Proud to be less, but of
his Godlike Race.
His
Soul Inspires me, while thy Praise I write,
And
like Teucer, under Ajax Fight;
Bids
thee thro’ me, be bold; with dauntless breast
Contemn the bad and Emulate
the best…
—John
Dryden, “To Sir Godfrey Kneller, Principal Painter to His Majesty”, from Miscellanies (1694), in The Poems of John Dryden, ed. John
Sargeaunt, Oxford Editions of Standard Authors, 1948, p. 168.
*Shakespeare’s
Picture drawn by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and given to the Author
The
talk is open to members of the Library, but joining the
Library is rather straightforward, in person at the Institute.
An
encouraging review of The Challenge of Emulation has been published by the Sacred Architecture Journal:
And
here are some links to recent articles of interest:
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