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 Gisnce 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. 
Ata 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, 
