--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art, not less eloquently than literature…" description: "\"Art, not less eloquently than literature, teaches her children to venerate the single eye. Remember Matsys. His representations of miser-life are breat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/robert-aris-willmott-11067_altars_art-not-less-eloquently-than-literature_1395992.jpg" --- # Art, not less eloquently than literature, teaches her… ![“Art, not less eloquently than literature, teaches her children to venerate the single eye. Remember Matsys. His representations of miser-life are breathing. A forfeited bond twinkles in the hard smile. But follow him to an altar-piece. His Apostle has caught a stray tint from his usurer. Features…” quote by Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/robert-aris-willmott-11067_altars_art-not-less-eloquently-than-literature_1395992.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/robert-aris-willmott-11067_altars_art-not-less-eloquently-than-literature_1395992.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b0/robert-aris-willmott-11067_altars_art-not-less-eloquently-than-literature_1395992.jpg) > “Art, not less eloquently than literature, teaches her children to venerate the single eye. Remember Matsys. His representations of miser-life are breathing. A forfeited bond twinkles in the hard smile. But follow him to an altar-piece. His Apostle has caught a stray tint from his usurer. Features of exquisite beauty are seen and loved; but the old nature of avarice frets under the glow of devotion. Pathos staggers on the edge of farce.” [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art can reveal moral contradictions, showing beauty intertwined with greed and devotion. **In simple terms:** Art exposes hidden moral conflicts. Key Takeaway Look beyond surface beauty to underlying motives. Themes art morality greed devotion irony Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - museum visits - art education - personal reflection - ethical analysis Key Concepts aesthetic criticism symbolism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does visual beauty mask ethical flaws? - Can art change attitudes toward greed? A Different Perspective Art may romanticize vice, obscuring its harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altars/) [Apostles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apostles/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Avarice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avarice/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Breathing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Devotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devotion/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Misers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misers/) [Pathos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pathos/) [Representation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representation/) [Single eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single-eye/) ## Related quotes > [I trust I may be enabled in the treatment of patients always to act with a single eye to their good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lister/i-trust-i-may-be-enabled-in-the-treatment-of-patients-always-to-act/) [Joseph Lister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lister/) > [As I have grown older I am more and more convinced that I have not grown up, that my powers have not come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corra-may-harris/as-i-have-grown-older-i-am-more-and-more-convinced-that-i-have-not/) [Corra May Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corra-may-harris/) > [When the light of the star which flows into my eyes as a drop of gold first pierced the darkness in space, there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naz-m-hikmet-2/when-the-light-of-the-star-which-flows-into-my-eyes-as-a-drop-of-gold/) [Naz?m Hikmet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naz-m-hikmet-2/) > [May God enable me to have a single eye and a simple heart, desiring to please God, to do good to my fellow creatures,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wilberforce/may-god-enable-me-to-have-a-single-eye-and-a-simple-heart-desiring-to/) [William Wilberforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wilberforce/) > [Singleness, simplicity, is required of me. One treasure, a single eye, and a sole Master!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-elliot/singleness-simplicity-is-required-of-me-one-treasure-a-single-eye-and/) [Jim Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-elliot/) > [The readiest way which God takes to draw a man to himself is, to afflict him in that he loves most, and with good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley/the-readiest-way-which-god-takes-to-draw-a-man-to-himself-is-to/) [John Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley/) > [When the minds have learn't to mingle, when no thought is wholly one's own, and each has taken too much of the other ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/when-the-minds-have-learn-t-to-mingle-when-no-thought-is-wholly-one-s/) [Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/) > [God, give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-whitefield/god-give-me-a-deep-humility-a-well-guided-zeal-a-burning-love-and-a/) [George Whitefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-whitefield/) > [Whoever reads the gospel with a single eye, and sincere intentions, will find, that our blessed Lord took all opportunities of reminding his disciples…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-whitefield/whoever-reads-the-gospel-with-a-single-eye-and-sincere-intentions/) [George Whitefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-whitefield/) ## More by Robert Aris Willmott > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. 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It grows every day, and is improved by cultivation, as a good temper is refined by religion. In its most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/taste-is-not-stationary-it-grows-every-day-and-is-improved-by/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [The gloomy recess of an ecclesiastical library is like a harbor, into which a far-traveling curiosity has sailed with its freight, and cast anchor.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/the-gloomy-recess-of-an-ecclesiastical-library-is-like-a-harbor-into/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Romance is the truth of imagination and boyhood. Homer's horses clear the world at a bound. 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It does not keep the eye on itself. The observer forgets the window in the landscape it displays.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/whatever-is-pure-is-also-simple-it-does-not-keep-the-eye-on-itself/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Humor is the pensiveness of wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/humor-is-the-pensiveness-of-wit/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) [Explore all 62 Robert Aris Willmott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) ## More Altars quotes > [There are different kinds of fire; there is false fire. 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Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/go-not-to-the-temple-to-put-flowers-upon-the-feet-of-god-first-fill/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [And in any preaching you do, admonish the people concerning repentance, and that nobody can be saved except he who receives the most holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-of-assisi/and-in-any-preaching-you-do-admonish-the-people-concerning-repentance/) [Francis of Assisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-of-assisi/) > [Yes, thou art ever present, power divine; not circumscribed by time, nor fixed by space, confined to altars, nor to temples bound. In wealth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/yes-thou-art-ever-present-power-divine-not-circumscribed-by-time-nor/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [The revolting details of childbirth had been hidden from me with such care that I was as surprised as I was horrified, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/the-revolting-details-of-childbirth-had-been-hidden-from-me-with-such/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is by far the most elegant worship, hardly excepting the Greek mythology. 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