NATURE IN THE LOUVRE. 263 



of the limbs is most apparent when viewed from the 

 right side of the statue ; but its most beautiful aspect is 

 exactly in front. In moving round, it is very striking 

 to observe how the least change of position — if you do 

 but move an inch — alters the outline and curve of the 

 work ; the breast, not visible before, is now apparent as 

 the bust rises ; another inch and it becomes a demi-lune, 

 till it swells to its full undulation. At every step the 

 figure alters, but no matter at how many angles it is 

 looked at, it always has beautiful curves. They adapt 

 themselves, these curves, to the position of the eye, and 

 wherever the eye is placed they satisfy its demands for 

 beauty. Examine any part, and it is found perfect ; for 

 instance, the inside of the right knee (visible from the 

 left of the statue) slightly bulges, being pressed out by 

 the stooping position. 



At a third visit it seemed to me that the statue had 

 grown much more beautiful in the few days which had 

 elapsed since I first saw it. Pondering upon the causes 

 of this increasing interest, I began to see that one reason 

 was because it recalled to my memory the loveliness of 

 nature. Old days which I had spent wandering among 

 deep meadows and by green woods came back to me. 

 In such days the fancy had often occurred to me that, 

 besides the loveliness of leaves and flowers, there must 

 be some secret influence drawing me on as a hand might 

 beckon. The light and colour suspended in the summer 

 atmosphere, as colour is in stained but translucent glass, 

 were to me always on the point of becoming tangible in 

 some beautiful form. The hovering lines and shape 

 never became sufficiently defined for me to know what 

 form it could be, yet the colours and the light meant 

 something which I was not able to fix. I was now sit- 

 ting in a gallery of stone, with cold marbles, cold floors, 



