213 



animal or vegetable life; the chief of which 

 qualities are smoothness and softness in 

 the surface ; fulness and undulation in the 

 outline; symmetry in the parts, and clear- 

 ness and freshness in the colour. No one 

 can well doubt that these are essential 

 qualities of beauty, who considers what 

 must be the consequence of substituting 

 those of an opposite kind : but if any one 

 should ask (and it has been doubted by a 

 writer of high reputation on these sub- 

 jects*) whether they are suited to the 

 painter, the question may be answered by 

 another ; by asking what is the rank which 

 Guido, Albano and Correggio hold among 

 painters ? Raphael, the first name among 

 the modems, who had grandeur, and dig- 

 nity of character, more constantly in view 

 than any of the last mentioned painters, 

 was very far from neglecting beauty, or 

 the qualities assigned to it : and if we go 

 back to the ancients, what were the pic- 

 tures most highly admired while they ex- 



* Mr, Gilpin. 



p3 



