392 DRAWING THE FIGURE. 



copying what is bad, and acquiring false ideas of 

 beauty. 



By these exercises he will have acquired some 

 facility in handhng his pencil, and he will be thus 

 prepared for the study of the whole figure. But 

 before he can proceed to this with advantage, 

 we would recommend to him the study of 

 anatomy. 



An artist who is not acquainted with the form 

 and construction of the several bones which sup- 

 port and govern the human frame, and does not 

 know in what manner the muscles moving those 

 bones are fixed to them, can make nothing of 

 what appears of them through the integuments 

 with which they are covered ; and which appear- 

 ance is, however, the noblest object of the pencil. 

 It is impossible for an artist to copy faithfully 

 what he sees, unless he thoroughly understands it. 

 Let him employ ever so much time and study in 

 the attempt, it cannot but be attended with many 

 and great mistakes ; just as it must happen to a 

 man who undertakes to copy something in a lan- 

 guage which he does not understand, or to trans- 

 late into his own what has been written in another, 

 on a subject with which he is not acquainted. 



But it is not necessary for him to study anatomy 

 as a surgeon, nor to make himself acquainted with 

 all the nerves, veins, &c. It is sufficient to study 

 the skeleton, and the muscles which cover them, 

 and of these, he should most particularly make 

 himself familiar with those muscles which most 

 frequently appear and come into action. 



For this purpose, he should procure plaster casts 

 of the anatomy of the human body, and consult 

 treatises written upon the subject; and if he have 



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