130 THE MODEL 



whole flesh surface exhibits vital energy in a way which no 

 work of art has ever done. 



It will, however, be objected that to contrast a chalk 

 drawing with a photograph from nature is not fair. The 

 former must always, to some extent, resemble a diagram, 

 while the latter represents at least the fulness and complete- 

 ness of life. I therefore pass on to a third degree of 

 comparison; and for this purpose I will select companion 

 reproductions by photography of Flandrin's famous study 

 in the Luxembourg and of a living model in the same 

 attitude. 1 (Flandrin's picture, it will be remembered, repre- 

 sents a young man seated naked on a rock above the sea, with 

 a craggy line of coast in the far distance. His legs are 

 gathered up to the belly, and clasped with both hands above 

 the ankles ; his head is bent upon the knees, so that nothing 

 of the facial expression is visible.) Any unfairness in this 

 comparison will certainly be to the injury of the model ; for 

 Flandrin's picture has all the advantage of the most con- 

 summate brushwork, and of the most careful attention to light 

 and shade upon flesh surfaces. It is in fact an elaborate oil- 

 painting of high technical excellence and elevated style. My 

 photograph from the model is a comparatively poor one ; the 

 subject has not been selected with care, and the print is flat. 

 Yet I learn from it innumerable niceties which Flandrin has 

 not worked out something about the spring and strain of 

 tendons in the wrist and forearm where the hand is clasped ; 

 something about the wrinkles in the belly caused by the forward 

 bending of the back ; something about the prolongation of the 

 muscles of the pleura due to the stretching of the arm in that 

 position. The model, moreover, is most interesting, more 

 rich in suggestions of vital energy and movement. From the 

 point of view of uncompromising realism, there can be no 

 doubt which is the more satisfactory performance. The 

 photograph of the model is second, the photograph of the 

 picture is third, in its remove from nature, from reality, from 



1 The Autotype Company sells an admirable carbon photograph of 

 Flandrin's picture. The photograph of the model is from the series 

 issued for art-students at Vienna, mentioned hi a note above. 



