i68 TREES IN NATURE, MYTH & ART 



the birch to the Ionic, the elm and the lime to 

 the Corinthian? The beech and the horse- 

 chestnut we might call domed trees ; though 

 a double line of beeches gives us our Gothic 

 vaulting ; and the Lombardy poplar is the 

 equivalent of the Gothic spire. We must not 

 push the comparison too far, but it serves at 

 least to emphasise the various types of beauty 

 that we find in trees. 



This is perhaps the most convenient place 

 to refer to the problem, which every landscape 

 painter has to face, of the representation of 

 trees. Let it be said at once that it is not 

 to be done by recipe, though recipes have 

 been given. The method of representation 

 must vary according to the kind of tree, and 

 also according to the particular quality that 

 is to be emphasised or effect that is to be 

 seized. It is with trees as with architecture. 

 One painter will wish to emphasise the massive 

 strength of a building, another its intricate 

 variety of detail — mullion and moulding, tracery 

 and elaborate carving. So with trees. No 

 one method will serve for all trees or any 

 tree. One of the best-known sets of recipes 

 was that of J. D. Harding, in praise of whose 



