316 ARIADNE FLORENTINA. 



the mechanical furrow as to accept it for final excellence. The 

 engraving is full of the painter's higher power and wider per- 

 ception ; it is classically perfect, because duly subordinate, 

 and presenting for your applause only the virtues proper to 

 its own sphere. Among these, I must now reiterate, the first 

 of all is the decorative arrangement of lines. 



126. You ah 1 know what a pretty thing a damask table-cloth 

 is, and how a pattern is brought out by threads running one- 

 way in one space, and across in another. So, in lace, a cer- 

 tain delightfulness is given by the texture of meshed lines. 



Similarly, on any surface of metal, the object of the en- 

 graver is, or ought to be, to cover it with lovely lines, forming 

 a lacework, and including a variety of spaces, delicious to the 

 eye. 



And this is his business, primarily ; before any other matter 

 can be thought of, his work must be ornamental. You know 

 I told you a sculptor's business is first to cover a surface with 

 pleasant bosses, whether they mean anything or not ; so an en- 

 graver's is to cover it with pleasant lines whether they mean 

 anything or not. That they should mean something, and a 

 good deal of something, is indeed desirable afterwards ; but 

 first we must be ornamental. 



127. Now if you will compare Plate II. at the beginning of this 

 lecture, which is a characteristic example of good Florentine 

 engraving, and represents the Planet and power of Aphro- 

 dite, with the Aphrodite of Bewick in the upper division of 

 Plate I., you will at once understand the difference between a 

 primarily ornamental, and a primarily realistic, style. The 

 first requirement in the Florentine work, is that it shall be a 

 lovely arrangement of lines ; a pretty thing upon a page. 

 Bewick has a secondary notion of making his vignette a pretty 

 thing upon a page. But he is overpowered by his vigorous 

 veracity, and bent first on giving you his idjea of Venus. Quite 

 right, he would have been, mind you, if he had been carving 

 a statue of her on Mount Eryx ; but not when he was engrav- 

 ing a vignette to ^Esop's fables. To engrave well is to orna- 

 ment a surface well, not to create a realistic impression. I beg 

 your pardon for my repetitions ; but the point at issue is the 



