So his son was taught music, drawing, dancing, riding, and fencing.

But there was another side to Goethe's early training which, in his case, deserves to be specially emphasised.

A striking characteristic of Goethe's writings is the knowledge they display of the whole range of the manual arts, and this knowledge he owed to the circumstances of his home.

His father, a virtuoso with the means of gratifying his tastes, freely employed artists of all kinds to execute designs of his own conception; and, as part of his son's education, entrusted him with the superintendence of his commissions.

Thus, in accordance with modern ideas, were combined in Goethe's training the practical and the theoretical--a combination which is the distinguishing characteristic of his productive activity.