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all the other lines of the face. This, I be- 

 lieve, is the case in a number of statues, 

 gems and medals ; and particularly in the 

 statue, which, of all others, is the best ex- 

 ample on the present occasion, — that of the 

 Venus de Medicis : and as casts of that sta- 

 tue, and especially of the bust, are very 

 common, it is easy for any person to satisfy 

 himself with respect to the degree of varia- 

 tion. 



If this be true, even of one statue of the 

 highest class, that single instance will out- 

 weigh millions of examples, drawn from in- 

 ferior works of art ; more especially if it be 

 considered that the statue in question, re- 

 presents the Goddess of Love and Beauty. 

 It must, therefore, be at least doubtful, 

 whether the ancients considered the straight 

 line of the nose and forehead as the most 

 beautiful: but whatever may have been 

 their opinion, or the forms of living models 

 in Greece, the reason which Sir Joshua has 

 assigned for the beauty of that line, can 

 hardly be admitted in this country; for 



