90 An Attempt to draw 
ought not to forget that painting works under a single point of 
view, 4 
The parts which are most isolated, and particularly the arms, 
do not less embarrass the sculptos: he ought to have support 
and solidity constantly in his mind; they are of suc ‘he necessity 
in execution, that in order to attain them, he is frequently com- 
pelled to renounce the most expressive attitudes. How great is, 
the constraint therefore in composition! What are the curtail- 
ments to which genius must net submit ! 
The accessories concur to the action, and serve to make it 
known ; their assistance is a very great resource to the arts: 
eloquence even makes use of them, for an epithet appears to 
me to be an accessory, or if we please an attribute: the painter’s 
only fear is lest he should abuse them; whereas the sculptor, 
restrained within very narrow bounds, can employ only attributes 
often of very general application ; since they sometimes accord 
with several figures, and since he can only place them on the 
clothing, on the head, on the hands, and sometimes on the sulp- 
port which has been mentioned. 
I do not speak of the convenience of positions, with respect toage 
and character, nor of the correctness of the tracing, of the details 
of putting the limbs and other organs inthe right place, for these 
parts are as necessary to sculpture as to painting: but the latter, 
having only one front or one point of view to represent, is exe- 
cuted with the more facility, because, if the painter perceives 
some error, or some degree of perfection which he can add, he 
is master of the art of instantly effacing and retouching; the 
sculptor, on the contrary, is deprived of this adv antage; he can- 
not retrace his steps from the moment he has chipped: off a 
piece of marble. [ shall pass over in silence the constraints 
which the dimensions of the block frequently occasion in pro- 
ducing the given figure. But these constraints are not all which 
the art undergoes. ‘The painter chooses the light which he wishes 
to fall on a surface: the sculptor has no choice; he has all 
kinds of light at once, and this very abundance isto bim a 
source of embarrassment; for he is obliged to consider and to 
reflect on all the parts of his figure, and to work them accord- 
ingly: it is himself in fact who, as it were, gives the lights-to his. 
subject. A sculptor must also make several sketches. until he 
finds the proper attitude: in this respect the mind of the seulp- 
tor is more creative than that of the painter, _ But this vanity is 
not satisfied but at the expense of much reflection and fatigue; 
whereas the painter has all the oppositions of colour, accidents 
and effects of every kind at his command, to produce correspon- 
dence and harmony in parts which concur most to general harmy. 
mony, 7, @. to the charms of sight. The sculptor has no;such 
advantages. 
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