Only yawns can respond to the old theory, revived from time to time in a new guise, according to which great art is that which limits itself to accurately portraying reality. If that were the case, it would suffice to remain faithful, and the art that portrayed the most stupid, repulsive, banal, or uninteresting scene would be great. In fact, the opposite effect is achieved if one dwells minutely on something that should be disregarded. To confirm this, one only has to imagine how ridiculous a piece of music would be in which the composer strove to perfectly replicate certain “sounds of nature.” Great art is only that which, using whatever medium it may, elevates those who come into contact with it, or at least holds out that possibility; the rest is nonsense.