That was Count Caloveglia's classic
point of view. Measure! Measure in everything.
People revered him, above all else, for his knowledge in matters of
art. His connoisseurship was not one of mere learning; it was
intuitional. Astonishing tales were told of him. By the sense of touch
alone, and in the dark, he could appraise correctly any piece of
plastic work you liked. He had a natural affinity with such things.
They held it quite likely that the blood of Praxiteles or his compeers
may still have flowed through his veins--certain at all events, that
there hung about his person the traditions of the versatile colonists
on the shores of Magna Graecia who, freed by legions of slaves from the
trivial vexations which beset modern lives, were able to create in
their golden leisure those monuments of beauty which are the envy and
despair of our generation. On all that concerned the history and
technique of ancient bronzes, more especially, he was FACILE PRINCEPS
in the land, and it was hinted, after the sale of his property, that
Count Caloveglia would not be low to retrieve the fortunes of his
family by putting into exercise those talents for metal-working of
which, as a gifted boy, he had already shown himself to be possessed.
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