106 



D R A W I N 0. 



Drawing, comp.itil.1r perfections never found united in onr mo- 



' 



^ The ideal style comprehends propriety of attitude, 

 elegance of contour, choice t>f expression. pla\ of dra- 

 pery, in short. c\ cry thing that c.m elevate individual 

 nature, to the most sublime conceptions of the imairina- 

 tion. ' It is not easy," says Reynolds, " to define in 

 what this great style consists, nor to <!r-i ribe by words 

 the pro]H-r means of acquiring it. Hut though there 

 licit her are nor can be any precisv rules for iti exercise 

 or acquisition. yet we may truly say, that it will al- 

 ways be obtained in proportion to our attention in ob- 

 serving the works of nature, to our skill in selecting, 

 and our care in digesting, methodising, and comparing 

 our observations. The power of discovering what is 

 deformed in nature, or, in other words, what is |>arti- 

 cularor uncommon, can IK' acquired only by experience, 

 and the whole beauty and grandeur of the nrt consists 

 in Irving to get over all singular forms, local customs, 

 peculiarities, and details of every kind. 



" All the objects which are exhibited to our view by 

 nature, upon close inspection, will be found to have 

 their blemishes and defects : but it is not every eye that 

 perceives these blemishes ; it must be an eye long used 

 to the contemplation and comparison of these forms, 

 and which, by a long habit of observing what any set 

 of objects of the same kind have in common, has ac- 

 quired the power of discerning what each wants in par- 

 ticular. This long laborious comparison should be the 

 first study of the painter who aims at the highest style. 

 By this means he acquires a just idea of beautiful forms ; 

 he corrects nature by herself. her imperfect state by her 

 more perfect, his eye being enabled to distinguish the 

 accidental deficiencies, excrescences, and deformities of 

 things from their general figure : lie makes out an ab- 

 stract idea of their forms more perfect than any one ori- 

 ginal ; anil what may seem a paradox, he learns to de- 

 sign naturally, by drawing his figures unlike to any one 

 object. This idea of the perfect state of nature, which 

 the artist calls ideal Ix'auty, is the great leading princi- 

 ple on which works of genius are conducted." 

 Buty. Beauty or perfection then, is that form of bodies 



arising from a complete harmony in all their parts, cor- 

 responding with the generic qualities of their several 

 species, of whatever kind, sex, or age. 



Pure simple beauty, or perfection, being equally 

 adapted to all the several animal destinations proper to 

 its species, is equally removed from the several clashes 

 of character which so evidently define and manifest 

 their peculiar powers. Mere K-auty of form, though 

 alway pleasing, (we speak here more particularly of 

 that of the human body,) is incapable of excitin- 

 interest, till it be combined with the expressions of sen- 

 timent and mind; then it becomes interesting and fasci- 

 nating, and particularly when it is in action, and ac- 

 companied by the grace-. its natural attendants, which, 

 without altering any of its constituent parts, make the 

 soul and sensations of the heart visible in the external 

 figure, and which, still more in the female, by their af- 

 fecting sensibilities, and happy transitions, produce 

 on the whole together, an air and apect the most 

 amiable, tender, and endearing. Hut although the 

 graceful is so eminently distinguishable, and carries 

 with it such, peculiar power in female action, yet it is 

 by no means to be understood as confined merely to 

 female action ; for as grace is produced from the union 

 and entire conformity between the tender sentiment* of 

 the heart, and the corresponding mild and easy actions 

 of the body, every action or movement of a perfect and 



lu-autiful Ixxly of either sex, nay, even of almost any nmwinjr, 

 species where this union is visible, must be gi^ccl'iif. '* 

 I Icncc arise that grace, elegance, and dignity ofatti- ^ """ 

 tude mid gesture which we so much admire in the 

 Greek statues; not that these qualities consist in any 

 particular 1 uty, or depend on the impressions 



which any s|X'cilu lonus make on th<- or-. in- of sight, 

 but on the contrary they arise wholly from mental sym- 

 pathies and associations; and therefore the forms which 

 appear graceful .r dignified in a man, are to- 



tally different from those which ap|venr so in a lion, a 

 horse, or a dog, though all of these frequently <! 

 grace and elegance of form and motion in a high ami 

 eminent degree. There are certain postures into which 

 the body naturally throws itself, and certain gesture* 

 which it naturally displays, when nude 1 - the influence 

 of particular passions and dispositions of mind, so that 

 from our own internal feelings and sentiments, we learn 

 to associate the ideas and notions of certain tempers 

 and characters of mind with those of corresponding at- 

 titudes and modes of carriage of the body, as we do more 

 immediately and unequivocally from the features of the 

 lace, t'pon this principle, dignity of attitude is that 

 disposition of the limbs and person, which, from habi- 

 tual observation, we ha\e learned to consider as expres- 

 sive of a dignified and elevated mind, while grace and 

 elegance of form arc those dispositions and combinations 

 of motion or attitude, which, upon the same principle, 

 seem to express refinement of intellect, polish of man- 

 ners, and pleasantness of temper ; for though we apply 

 the words grace and elegance to inanimate objects, it 

 is always by metaphor and analogy, as we speak of 

 lightness and heaviness of form, although we know 

 that gravitation has no connection with form, but de- 

 pends entirely on substance. 



In the fine age of the arts in Greece, civilization 

 had just arrived at that state in which the manners 

 of men are polished, but natural, and consequent- 

 ly their attitudes and gestures expressive and cm- 

 phatical, without being coarse or violent ; all the more 

 noble and amiable sentiments of the mind were indi- 

 cated by the correspondent expressions of the coun- 

 tenance and bixly ; their modes of dress, too, having 

 been adapted to display to advantage the natural mo- 

 tions and gestures of the body, and not to constrain, 

 disguise, and conceal them, like those of modern Eu- 

 rope, the artists had continually before their eyes every 

 possible variety of models. In the gymnastic festivals, 

 too, where men of high rank and liberal education en- 

 tered into contests of personal strength tmd agility, 

 they had opportunities of seeing muscular effort and 

 exertion in every mode and degree. By studying 

 these models, and not by resorting to any abstract 

 rules, or predeterminate lines of beauty or grace, the 

 ancient artists seem to have produced those great mas- 

 terpieces of art : lor, as to particular lines, there are none 

 that may not be graceful, elegant or beautiful, in pro- 

 per circumstances and situations, and none that are not 

 the reverse, when improjK-rly employed. Accordingly 

 the design of the ancients is distinguished by an union 

 in the proportions, a simplicity of contour, an < 

 leii'-e of character, and a gracefulness of action. If we 

 observe the attitudes mid movements of the Greek sta- 

 M- cannot fail to mark that careless decency, and 

 unaffected grace, v. Inch ever attend the motions and ges- 

 tures of men unconscious of observation. The ancient* 

 could not but derive peculiar advantage from the ob- 

 servation of those living models of elegant and uncon- 

 strained nature, wlu'ch were perpetually before their 



