  The Critical Reflections make a contribution to the Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns. This was a long running debate about the relative merits of ancient and modern writers and artists. Du Bos’s contribution to the debate is judicious. He reaches the conclusion that modern sculptors have not surpassed their ancient counterparts. With regard to painting, he says that it is difficult to reach a judgement since so few ancient paintings have survived. Nevertheless, he thinks it unlikely that modern painters have surpassed the ancients. Ancient poets have a significant edge over modern ones. Du Bos allows that, in the natural sciences, modern scientists have eclipsed the ancients.