DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0098
£4 BEAUTY.
and in praise of genius alone, the greatest masters are universally of opinion, that a picture de-
signed according to the rules of perspective, and the principles of anatomy, will ever be held in
higher esteem by good judges, than a piece defective in these respects, though ever so beautiful
m colours. Nature, though she varies the forms and complexions of men, never deviates from
the mechanical principles of anatomy; anci the effects of perspective are so evidently the laws of
nature, and so f amiliarized to us by experience, that every deviation therefrom is justly reckoned
distortion. Hannibal Caracci was so sensible of the value of contour that, from expressions cf
his yet extant, we can discover he considered almost every thing else of little value in compa-
rison with design. And Michael Angelo, when viewing a piece drawn by a prince of the Venetian
school, exclaimed, " What a pity it is that this man did not set out by studying design."
The mechanical divisions of the human frame have been delivered in Chap. iii. Lesson 4. In
this place, by the term proportion is to be understood a regular analogous and harmonious coin-
cidence of parts with each other, so that the whole appears the result of skill and taste. This
principle has by some been attempted to be confined to the architect and mechanic ; it is never-
theless, an indispensable qualification of the artist of genius. In the labours of the former it is
seen to the greatest advantage by the generality of mankind ; but the want of it in the latter h
also equally discovered by the connoisseur.
As a principal part of this subject consists in the general contour, it may be necessary just to
take a view of the exterior appearances of the ages and sexes. In childhood the outline of the head
partakes more of the form of a circle than in adult persons, in whom it approaches to that of an oval.
The ieatures of children are also of a similar form, but len« thenin2: as thev advance in ao;e. The
whole height of the adult has been estimated by different artists at seven,- seven and an half, and
eight heads; but the head of a child generally measures one-fifth of the length of the figure. Their
eyes are larger in proportion than in.the adult, the nose more flat, the cheeks plump and round, the
mouth somewhat retired, the ears large, and the whole countenance, if it were not enlivened by
frequent smiles, and devoid of any expression of care, somewhat heavy. The sexes, however, in
this tender age, are strongly marked, distinguishable to the attentive observer, and the distinction
should not be passed over by the artist. Though the general face, while young, has no peculiar
characteristic by^ which we may point out the sex, yet it may in general be observed, that the fea-
tures of boys do not display- an equal degree of sprightliness and vivacity with those of girls: being
in general more robust; their heads are also broader, and their ears larger; they have usually a
greater quantity of hair, and more frequently curled than girls, thereby indicating more strength.
The Ieatures of boys also grow faster than those of girls, in proportion to the iris, or ring of the
eye, which is the standard whereby the other features are measured, and by which we perceive the
gradual increase of the other parts of the face : for this feature is the soonest perfected : and, as
Mr. Hogarth observes, " continues ever the same ; and you may sometimes find this part of the
eye, in a new-born infant, full as large as in a man six feet high; nay, sometimes larger." But as
maturity succeeds to youth, the features extend their form, and lose much of their roundness;
the nose rises in the middle, the cheeks fall, the mouth assumes its future form, and the whole
face acquires a greater power of expression, The difference of sex becomes very apparent; and
every countenance possesses that grace, particular expression, cast of features, and contour pe-
culiar to itself; thereby forming that infinite variety which it constitutes the greatest and most
intricate part of the artist's practice to imitate,
and in praise of genius alone, the greatest masters are universally of opinion, that a picture de-
signed according to the rules of perspective, and the principles of anatomy, will ever be held in
higher esteem by good judges, than a piece defective in these respects, though ever so beautiful
m colours. Nature, though she varies the forms and complexions of men, never deviates from
the mechanical principles of anatomy; anci the effects of perspective are so evidently the laws of
nature, and so f amiliarized to us by experience, that every deviation therefrom is justly reckoned
distortion. Hannibal Caracci was so sensible of the value of contour that, from expressions cf
his yet extant, we can discover he considered almost every thing else of little value in compa-
rison with design. And Michael Angelo, when viewing a piece drawn by a prince of the Venetian
school, exclaimed, " What a pity it is that this man did not set out by studying design."
The mechanical divisions of the human frame have been delivered in Chap. iii. Lesson 4. In
this place, by the term proportion is to be understood a regular analogous and harmonious coin-
cidence of parts with each other, so that the whole appears the result of skill and taste. This
principle has by some been attempted to be confined to the architect and mechanic ; it is never-
theless, an indispensable qualification of the artist of genius. In the labours of the former it is
seen to the greatest advantage by the generality of mankind ; but the want of it in the latter h
also equally discovered by the connoisseur.
As a principal part of this subject consists in the general contour, it may be necessary just to
take a view of the exterior appearances of the ages and sexes. In childhood the outline of the head
partakes more of the form of a circle than in adult persons, in whom it approaches to that of an oval.
The ieatures of children are also of a similar form, but len« thenin2: as thev advance in ao;e. The
whole height of the adult has been estimated by different artists at seven,- seven and an half, and
eight heads; but the head of a child generally measures one-fifth of the length of the figure. Their
eyes are larger in proportion than in.the adult, the nose more flat, the cheeks plump and round, the
mouth somewhat retired, the ears large, and the whole countenance, if it were not enlivened by
frequent smiles, and devoid of any expression of care, somewhat heavy. The sexes, however, in
this tender age, are strongly marked, distinguishable to the attentive observer, and the distinction
should not be passed over by the artist. Though the general face, while young, has no peculiar
characteristic by^ which we may point out the sex, yet it may in general be observed, that the fea-
tures of boys do not display- an equal degree of sprightliness and vivacity with those of girls: being
in general more robust; their heads are also broader, and their ears larger; they have usually a
greater quantity of hair, and more frequently curled than girls, thereby indicating more strength.
The Ieatures of boys also grow faster than those of girls, in proportion to the iris, or ring of the
eye, which is the standard whereby the other features are measured, and by which we perceive the
gradual increase of the other parts of the face : for this feature is the soonest perfected : and, as
Mr. Hogarth observes, " continues ever the same ; and you may sometimes find this part of the
eye, in a new-born infant, full as large as in a man six feet high; nay, sometimes larger." But as
maturity succeeds to youth, the features extend their form, and lose much of their roundness;
the nose rises in the middle, the cheeks fall, the mouth assumes its future form, and the whole
face acquires a greater power of expression, The difference of sex becomes very apparent; and
every countenance possesses that grace, particular expression, cast of features, and contour pe-
culiar to itself; thereby forming that infinite variety which it constitutes the greatest and most
intricate part of the artist's practice to imitate,