LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION 113 



and important in the early morning, creep close to the bases of the 

 trees at noon to stretch themselves peacefully across the lawn again 

 as the sun sets. The long shadows are likely to be the most interest- 

 ing in a composition : certainly they do most to display the modeling 

 of the objects on which they fall, and particularly to show the delicate 

 gradations of rolling lawns or more distant and larger landscapes. 

 Often, since the designer may not have a perfect picture at all times of 

 the day, he chooses the later hours when, too, the owners of a place or 

 the frequenters of a park are most likely to have the leisure to enjoy 

 the scene, to produce his most complete composition, using the after- 

 noon shadows as important elements in the design. When, in late 

 afternoon, objects in the landscape are seen against the sunset sky, 

 with their shadow side toward the spectator, and still more, in twilight 

 when the modeling of the individual objects is no longer brought out 

 by the direct sunlight, the landscape falls into its main and simple 

 masses, and its pictorial composition is often best observed.* 



The light which falls on the surface of the earth and which, reflected Atmosphere 

 thence to our eyes, enables us to see the objects in a landscape, must '^^^ ^'" . 

 of course pass through the atmosphere in going from the sun to any Perspeaive 

 object and from that object to us. Even the clearest atmosphere has 

 in suspension in it very mnute particles of water and perhaps of dust. 

 When the mixed light of the sun goes through this atmosphere, the 

 blue rays, being of shorter wave length, are more abundantly reflected 

 from these minute particles, and the finer the particles the more nearly 

 will this reflected light approach to a pure blue. This accounts for the 



*"In fact, twilight does, what an improver ought to do: it connects what was 

 before scattered ; it fills up staring, meagre vacancies ; it destroys edginess ; and 

 by giving shadow as well as light to water, at once increases both its brilliancy and 

 softness. It must, however, be observed, that twilight, while it takes off the edginess 

 of those objects which are below the horizon, more sensibly marks the outline of those 

 which are above it, and opposed to the sky ; and consequently discovers the defects, 

 as well as the beauties of their forms. From this circumstance improvers may learn 

 a very useful lesson, that the outline against the sky should be particularly attended 

 to, so that nothing lumpy, meagre, or discordant should be there; for at all times, 

 in such a situation, the form is made out, but most of all when twilight has melted 

 the other parts together." 



Price, Essays on the Picturesque, 1810, v. i, p. 153. 



