DRAWING. 



Ill 



Drawing, of posture, cannot be perceived with sufficient accu- 

 r Design, racy, without the knowledge necessary to class the 

 V T^*' muscles engaged in the operation, and account for the 

 changes of form superinduced on the surface by the 

 various motions of the bones, particularly at the arti- 

 culation of the joints in the different actions of flexion 

 and extension; and it is only by a minute comparison 

 of their forms and situations, as they appear on dissec- 

 tion, with the living subject put in every variety of ac- 

 tion, that this knowledge can be attained. It was by 

 this practice that the great masters, particularly Leo- 

 nardo da Vinci, and Michael Angelo, acquired such 

 profound knowledge, and such exquisite correctness of 

 design ; and there are still extant many highly finished 

 drawings by them in this way, which abundantly prove 

 with what indefatigable industry and minuteness of in- 

 vestigation they applied to this study. 



Changes of The human figure, in various stages of existence, 

 the human from infancy, to maturity and old age, undergoes many 

 Sjjure. changes, which, without invading the province of ana- 

 tomy, we may briefly notice. Infants of both sexes bear 

 a strong resemblance to each other, in form, delicacy 

 of organization, plumpness and gait, and the size of 

 the muscles. But after a few years, when the organs 

 are more fully developed, the muscles of the male lose 

 their original softness and rotundity ; become firmer, 

 larger, and of a more determinate figure, till at last 

 the original rotundity entirely disappears ; the muscles, 

 particularly in action, are seen distinctly through the 

 kin, and strongly indicate superior strengthand activity. 

 The delicate organs of the female never acquire the 

 same bulk, strength, or rigidity, as those of the male: 

 on the contrary, they retain their original softness and 

 delicacv of texture; no rising muscle projects, to break 

 the gentle undulations, of the form. The form of the 

 child's head is powerfully distinguished from that of 

 the adult, by certain striking peculiarities ; as nature, 

 for wise purposes, brings the brain sooner to perfection 

 than any other organ, its size, and that of its case the 

 frkull cap, (or cranium), is larger in proportion than 

 the rest of the body, and the face is remarkably small 

 for want of the teeth and gums ; but in its progress 

 from infancy to youth, the growth of the teeth deepens 

 both the upper and lower jaws, and to give room for 

 the full set, the jaws are elongated : the bones of the 

 nose are raised, the nose is lengthened, and the cheek 

 bone is made to project, and the frontal sinews are form- 

 ed, which complete the character of the adult. When 

 the teeth fall out in old age, the alveolary processes 

 which grew up with them, and supported them, are 

 removed by absorption ; and there remains nothing but 

 the narrow base of the jaw, while the length of bone 

 from the hinge of the jaw to the angle is undiminish- 

 ed. The jaws, then, are allowed to approach nearer each 

 other at the fore part, the angle of the jaw comes more 

 forward, resembling that of the child, and the chin 

 projects also. The teetli and adventitious parts of the 

 j.iws being gone, the chin and nose approach, the mouth 

 is too small for the tongue, and the lips fall in. In their 

 ideal figures, the ancients did not confine themselves 

 strictly to the natural form of the head ; their practice, 

 by filling up the cavity between the forehead and nose, 

 and thereby uniting them, and also by giving a greater 

 projection to them than is ever to befound in nature, was 

 to include both within one straight line. This deviation 

 from the universal practice of nature, seems to have 

 arisen in a desire to give a more exalted and divine 

 character to their gods, heroes, and the like, by mag- 

 nifying those proportions which constitute the distin- 



Facial 

 angle. 



Comparison 

 of ths heaJi 

 of man and 

 animal*. 



guishing characteristic of the human countenance, in 

 opposition to that of the lower animals ; and this will 

 appear more evident on comparing those forms and 

 proportions which distinguish each from the other ; 

 though in their busts and portraits of individuals, they 

 seem to have copied correctly the models they had be- 

 fore them. 



In viewing the human head in profile, it will befound 

 that a line from the opening of the mouth, (the alveo- 

 lary process of the jaws), and another from the same 

 point to the projection of the chin, will form an angle so 

 obtuse, as to deviate little from the straight line, owing 

 to the prominence of the forehead and chin ; this is called 

 the facial angle ; the eyes lie in the cavity formed by 

 the projection of the forehead, the proportion between 

 the face and the cranium is nearly equal, as a line drawn 

 across the eyes divides the head into two equal parts, 

 reckoning from the crown of the head to the base of the 

 chin. In the heads of all the lower animals, on the con- 

 trary, the facial angle is very acute, the nose and fore- 

 head are flat, and fall back, and the eyes are very pro- 

 minent; and the face, up to the beginning of the frontal 

 bone at the middle of the orbit of the eye, (which forms 

 the boundary between the face and cranium), will be 

 found much larger, commonly two-thirds, than the space 

 from this point to the crown of the head ; and the ful- 

 ness and protuberance of the chin, which forms so beau- 

 tiful and striking a characteristic of the human counte- 

 nance, entirely disappears, leaving nothing but an un- 

 interrupted straight line from the gums to the angle of 

 the jaws. This subject will be found more amply dis- 

 cussed in Professor Camper's treatise on the connection 

 between the science of Anatomy and the arts of Draw- 

 ing and Painting, from which the student will derive 

 much useful information. 



Besides the anatomy of the human body, which is so Conipam 

 sure a guide in drawing the figure, the artist, who aims 

 at truth in the representation of animals, will do well 

 to pay some attention to the study of comparative ana- 

 tomy, more particularly the myology and osteology of 

 such animals, domestic or otherwise, as occur most fre- 

 quently to the painter in the exercise of his art. Not- 

 withstanding the variety in the structure and organiza- 

 tion of the lower animals, as adapted to the habitudes 

 and modes of life peculiar to each, the analogy be- 

 tween these and man, (we speak more particularly of 

 quadrupeds and birds,) is so great, that the knowledge 

 of the anatomy of the human body will forma sure foun- 

 dation for this other part of the science. Although the 

 Dutch school hasproduced many artists eminent as paint- 

 ers of animals, such as Du Jardin, Berghem, Vandevelde, 

 Bamboccio, Cuyp, Wovermans, and others, yet none of 

 them seems to have studied with such minute attention 

 the anatomy of animals as Paul Potter : these he has 

 drawn with great truth, spirit, and intelligence; he 

 sometimes, however, makes so ostentatious a display of 

 his knowledge of the bones, as to give a character of 

 leanness and poverty to his animals, ill suited to the 

 richness and beauty of his landscape. Cuyp's great 

 aim was rather a good general arrangement of his figures, 

 as subservient to some brilliant effect of sunshine which 

 he had in view, than any particular minuteness of de- 

 tail ; accordingly his animals, though of a good contour, 

 and well grouped, display none of that scientific draw- 

 ing, which is so desirable, and which we admire so 

 much in the works of Paul Potter, Du Jardin, and 

 some others of that school. 



Stubbs' great work on the anatomy of the horse will 

 afford the best assistance to the student in the iuvestiga. 



tive unaw- 

 my. 



