FIGURE OF THE HORSE, 



311 



artist Parrocel, of Louis XV. in his youth. The latter is 

 from Beauties and Defects in the Figure of the Horse^ by 

 H. Aiken, who published it seventy years ago, and who 

 described the subject of his work as follows: ''The animal 

 from which this drawing was made, is accounted one of the 

 finest figures in England." He must have had some mis- 

 givings ^bout the dimensions of the head and neck , for he 

 takes care to add that : ''A small head and neck in a horse 

 are considered a great beauty , and in the original of this 



y^>^v 



>in^ -2, < 



Fig 398 — Horse by Alken 



drawing, I think they are the least I ever saw in proportion 

 to the body.'* All the saddle-horses of some English artists, 

 among whom was that unrivalled caricaturist, Mr. John 

 Leech, have a remarkably ''good place for the collar" 

 on their shoulders. "The old masters'' drew horses very 

 incorrectly ; and yet we find in the bas-reliefs of the Par- 

 thenon done over two thousand years ago, horses depicted 

 with' a near approach to truth both in form and action (Fig. 



