To each of the six Greek sculptors from whom this
book takes its title a separate volume might well
have been assigned in a series such as the present.
But when the editor of the series suggested to me
that the great sculptors of Greece should be grouped
together, I accepted the suggestion because it seemed
that a definite need might thus be met. There are
probably many people who wish to acquire some grasp
of the character of the chief sculptors, without follow-
ing the whole course of the history of Greek sculpture
from its origins to its decadence; and there are others
who desire to supplement what general outlines of this
history they may have learnt by a more vivid realisation
and appreciation of the work of the leading artists.
There is no need to defend the selection of the six
sculptors to whom the chapters of the book are
devoted. Alike in their influence on their contem-

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