Essays in Portraiture Defended (14)

Do away, then, with all this that is excessive and invidious, Lycinus—that sort of thing is not in keeping with your character, for you have not as a rule been ready and quick to praise. Now, however, you have somehow changed all at once and are lavish with it; you who were so niggardly before have become a spendthrift in compliments! Do not be ashamed, either, to reshape the essay after it has been put into circulation. Even Phidias, they say, did that when he made the Zeus for the people of Elis![*] He stood behind the door when he first unveiled and exhibited his work, and listened to those who criticized or commended any part. One would criticize the nose as too thick, another the face as too long, and so it went. Then, when the spectators had left, Phidias locked himself up once more, and corrected and reshaped the statue to suit the opinion of the majority; for he did not think that the advice of so many folk was trivial, but that always of necessity the many could see better than the one, even if that one were Phidias.[*]