172 MOVEMENT 



who seem to forget that one of the characteristics of 

 running, and even of walking, is to maintain a 

 continuous position of unstable equilibrium. We 

 must not, however, spend time on these reflections, 

 for by criticizing the details of works, which are 

 excellent in other respects, we may expose ourselves to 

 the warning, "Ne sutor, ultra crepidam." We will 

 only remark that among the infinite variety of 

 attitudes shown by chronophotography in registering 

 all the jihases of a movement, there are certainly 



Fig. 112.— A. man walking; successive positions afforded by chronophotogiaphy on 



, fixed plates. 



some which might be accepted by artists without 

 transgressing the laws of aesthetics, and an interesting 

 variety might be given to such representations. Thus, 

 in Fig. 112, in which a nude figure is represented as 

 walking, a series of attitudes is shown, amongst which 

 several could be introduced into a work of art ; and so 

 with many other series of the same kind. 



In these pictures artists would also find a faithful 

 expression of the action of the muscles, which show the 

 conditions of contraction or relaxation by the degree 

 of prominence. Now, these two opposite conditions 

 of the muscles are closely associated with each 



