Figure Composition

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Figure c'"P'*'?,Ilii
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original of
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is in
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text.
the United States on the use of the
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FIGURE COMPOSITION
Compiinion to "Figure Composition.'
FIGURE DRAWING.
With numerous
The aim of the author
to gfii^p
Illustrations.
Demy
8vo, 7/6 net.
in
preparing
this ivork nvas to assist the student

to
more readily those facts of form luhich come
many
artists
after years of experience J but ivhich are of as great value to those tvho
are at the outset of their careers as

positions.
^^
to those
ivho have established their
Even
to
ivithout the impressing text these draivings form a practical
guide
the right treatment of the

is
fgure, and the student tvho has

go far astray."
thoroughly examined them
not likely to
"The
precision
Academy and
" The
bones
Literature."
and muscles concerned are described "with a

is
and fulness that

.
unequalled in any mere manual of artistic anatomy.

it
thoroughly practical book,

to
should be of the utmost service

art of figure dratuing.
It ivill
to all
"who zuish
acquire the
difficult
teach them all the
anatomy they need and a great deal
else besides,*^
"The
Scotsman."
FIGURE COMPOSITION
BY
RICHARD
HON.
G.
AUTHOR OF
HAT TON,
(LONDON)
perspective yoR ART STUDENTS*
A.R.C.A.
'FJGURE drawing,'' "design," and
**
tyiTH
NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS
FOURTH THOUSAND
LONDON CHAPMAN AND HALL,

I9IO
All
rights rcier-ved
Ltd.
Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, dread street hill, e.g., and
bungay, suffolk.
PREFACE
To
skill
the "practical" man, the most sensible procedure
for artists to
adopt would
be, to,
first,
acquire the technical
necessary; second, master the rules of composition,
and then to produce works by the union of the two

faculties.
In truth, to those
who
are accustomed to methodical
ways, the
artist
must appear sadly happy-go-lucky.
He
lost
never seems to
know where he
is
going,
if
till
he has
himself in the wood.

to guide him,
And
he
is
asked
he has nothing
no principles to
is
follow.
Now
method
the pre-arranged order of procedure in

it
the performance of a task, and
is
complete, or partial,
according as the various elements which enter into the
work have been grasped, and allowed for. Method practical foresight, and its power relaxes as soon
foresight itself
fails.
is
as
Moreover, unless the foresight has

will
artist
been
effect
true, the
method
entangle
strives
;
itself.
is
The
ultimate
for
which the
the object of his
imagination, hardly of his foresight
and, indeed, the more
remote his objective, the

intermediate steps which
less readily
lie
does he note the

it.
between him and
upon which artistic are exceedingly few,. and they are so

principles
The
composition
is
built
self-evident that, in
their elementary form, they are inapplicable.
The words
VI
PREFACE
and
"subordination"
therefore,
"unity"
practically
artists,
cover
them.
One
and
in
hears
less,
among
as
of elementary
or fundamental principles, than of a

rules
number of maxims
of
thumb such
all
"Do
not have two vistas
your picture,"
against
ings
the
is
usual
which are nothing more than warnways in which the law of

the applicathat
is
subordination
It is
broken.
to see, therefore, that
it is
not
difificult
tion of the principle,
and not the principle

the application
itself,
hard to deal with.

the
little
And
is difficult
because
conditions so constantly vary.

help, for
is in
Experience brings
do we not see that the more experienced

composition, the more jejune, tiresome, and
the artist
perfunctory his creations become.
Hence
rule,
cannot but think that the best rule

full
is
to avoid
and, taking as
a grasp as possible of the various
conditions that surround composition, to squarely attack
our subject and trust to our power of put things in their places.
artistic control
to
We
have to hold
in
our grasp
story,
the architectural laws of stability, the
drama of our
and
I
all
the glittering beauty
we can
this
conceive.
have hoped, therefore, that
book may contain
all
those matters which should be borne in mind
by the
well
artist
when he approaches the composition of figure

Beside introducing such matters as
it
subjects.
is
to re-
member,
in
have added a number of illustrations merely
the hope that they will be interesting and suggestive
to the reader.
For
this reason chiefly are the
examples
of printing-blocks given.
The emblems,
they
to
texts,
and mottoes are included because
If he has much do with sacred subjects he should, however, have at his elbow Husenbeth's Emblems, wherein he will find several
may
serve the designer on occasion.

PREFACE
for
I
Vll
each saint
with the authorities given.
In the
Appendix
avoiding
have merely put together a short working
list,
using the same

permissible.
emblem for more than one saint, even when The dates are given as a guide to costume,
texts
will, in
the " days " as a guide to accessories.
The Latin
serviceable.
these days of inscriptions
be
The
inquirer into such matters will find the
use of
particular texts so constant
that
they become
as
emblematic.
Usually they
embody what was regarded

were
specified
the pith of the prophet's or saint's message.
In about the
eighth century the
evangelists
by
the
following hexameter mottoes
Hoc Mattheus agens hominem generaliter impht. Marcus ut alia fremit vox per deserta leonis.
fura
sacerdotis
Lucas
ie7tet
ore juvenci.
More volans
aqiiilce
verbo petit astra Johannes,
That
is,
Matthew doing
;
this
fills
up
(the circle of)

lion,
man
roars
universally
Mark, as the loud voice of the

;
through the desert
Luke,
;
in
the mouth of a steer, holds
the laws of the priest
Flying in the manner of an eagle,

stars.
John, in his word, seeks the
These
will
be found
on Plate XVIII.
in
in
D'Agincourt, and on crude sculptures

Italy
Cattaneo's
Architecture in
from
the Fifth
to
Eleventh Century
in both cases in mutilated condition.
To have
text
Appendix the source whence each and emblem has been derived would have expanded
given in the
the work beyond the assigned limits.

the
Bible,
The
references to
version,
as
Is.
xi.
i,
are
to
the
English
not to the Vulgate, though the Latin is from that. The reader can thus get at the English meanings, but the verse
nurnbers in the English do not always tally with those in
the Vulgate.
VUl
I
PREFACE
am much
indebted to Professor
J.
Wight Duff
foi
kindly looking over the Latin texts and mottoes. It remains only to thank Mr. Bernard Quaritch, Messrs. Macmillan and Co., Messrs. Bradbury, Agnew and Co., and the publishers, Messrs. Chapman and Hall, for permission to reproduce certain of the illustrations.
R. G. H.
Note. All the illustrations which are not by the author have beneath them, or before them, an indication of the source from which they have been derived. The crude wood-cut on page 6 appears to represent an incident in the tale of Valentine and Orson.
The author regrets to find that he allowed a number of trivial, but troublesome verbal errors to creep into and remain in the text. In places, too, the explanations might have been clearer, and passages do not follow one another as smoothly as to be read with ease. To
would be to rewrite a good portion of the book cannot be done. Moreover, as the book is for students who are likely to see their way clearly through all these difficulties, there is perhaps no great need that corrections should be extensively made.
revise all these defects
at present
which
Considerable additions and some corrections are
made on pages
246 and 267 to Appendix
II.
Page
I,
line 9, iox facility rtz.d. faculty
CONTENTS
PAR.
1. 2. 3.
PAGE
Introductory
...
...
... ... ... ...

... ... ...
... ... ...
...
... ... ... ... ...
...
...
...
...
The
Stress of the Architecture
lo
21
The Romantic and

The Figure The Figure
in in
the Classic
... ...
...
4.
5. 6.
Architectural Details
... ...
...
... ...
24
Decoration
44
48 54 68
83
Ornament
... ... ...
...
... ... ...
7. 8.
Covering Surfaces
Filling Spaces
...
... ...
...
...
... ...
...
...
...
...
9.
Conventions
Quality and
its
... ...
10. 11. 12. 13.

14.
Distribution
... ...
...
...
89 98
105
The
Classic Figure
... ...
...
...
...
... ...
The
Single Figure
...
...
... ... ... ... ...
...
Grouping
...
...
... ...
...
112 ii8
123
15' 16.
The Spectator in Relation The Ground Plan ... The Elements Available
to the Subject
...
... ... ... ...
..
...
... ...
... ...
...
134
145
153
17.
18. 19.
Emphasizing Particular Figures
...
... ... ... ...
The Conception of the Subject

Gesture in Relation to Action
Telling the Story
... ...
... ...
...
... ... ...
...
170 175 188
20. 21.
...
... ...
Conclusion
...
APPENDICES
I.
Examples of Printing-blocks
...
... ...
...
...
...
... ...
197
II.
Emblems
Mottoes
...
... ...
... ...
...
... ...
...
245 267
III.
... ...
...
..
IV.
A Note on Armour
...
287
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Abraham and
the Angels
xu
In studiosum captum
Amore
...
... ... ...
Bernard Bernard
229
PAGB 213
3
In vigilantiam regis In vitam humanam
215 222
201
77 6
Jerusalem, Illustrations from

Jethro brings the Wife and Sons of Moses to
William Blake
et seq.
him
. . .
...
Bernard
Joachim receiving the Promise
Albert Dilrer
Frederick Sandys
King Warwolf ...

Knight and Captive
Linear Design,
From a
figure
Chap-book
The
an element of
...
Lot escaping from Sodom Lot leaving Sodom (Plate VIII.)...
...
Bernard
47 223
Maude Clare
...
Raphael Face 174 Sir J. E. Millais 189

Tintoretto
Mercury and the Graces ... Modelled Decoration, The figure an element of Ornament, The figure agreeing with Our Lord, the Virgin, St. John, St. Paul, and
VII.)
... ...
... ...
99 45 49
St.
...
Catherine (Plate
Raphael
Face 160
S8 120
91
Palladian and Louis Quinze Decoration

Perspective, Effect of
Quality,
Diagrams
illustrating
Royalty
From a Chap-book
esse infortunia
...
Semper presto
Silent
Bernard
Sir Peter
Leges inter Arma and Lady Teazle
4 217 66
157 81
Sisyphus
Sketching the Ruins

Space-filling,
From
illustrating
...
Bailey's Dictionary
Diagrams
...
6982
120, 122
...
Spectator in relation to Subject
Spes proxima St. Barbara

St.
St.
Bernard 214
.58
Matthew
...
Nicholas and
St.
Stucco Decoration
Oswin repoussd The surface partitioned

silver
Bernard
221
64
...
The The The The The The The The The The The The The The
Admonition
Adoration of the Magi Adoration of the Magi Adoration of the Shepherds Annunciation Blacksmiths of Holsby
Colonel.
...
57 126
Albert Dilrer
... ...
205, 209
Bernard
224
147
From an Etching
Albert Diirer
G.J. Pinwell
203 90
85
171
Constable introduces Constance to Hermegild
Court
Crucifixion
Crucifixion
John Leech ... Bernard

...
'
168
225
23s 164
16S
Curse Curse
...
William Blake Holbein ... Mechel, after Holbein

...
...
Death of Jezabel
Bernard
223
The Death of Meleager .. ... The Evangelists ... ... The Fall ... ... ... The P"all ... ... ... The Flight into Egypt ... ... The Foresters ... ... ... The Graphic Muse ... ... The Hunt of the Calydonian Boar
.
XUl
PAGE
... ...
... ...
... ...
...LeBrun
... ... ...
143
...
Holbein
124 162
163
Ta^j
Meckel, after Holbein

...
... ...
...
... ... ...
Albert
...
DUrer
...
65
71
Sir J, Reynolds
... ... ... ... ... ... ...

...
...LeBrun
F. Sandys
... ...
...
142 135 187
".
the listener's soul hath gently passed

... ... ...
away "
The Massacre of the Christians The Morning ... ... The Muse (Plate IV.) ... The Nativity .. ... The Prisoner ... ... The Return of the Victors The Rich Man in Hell ... The Ships at Sea ... The Surrender... ... The Three Good Heathens The Vagrants ... ... The Woman of Samaria... The Woodcutter's Vision
Triumph of Maximilian
...
...
...
...
... ...
... 93 Face \02
...
... ... ...
... ... ... ...
Bernard
... ...
221
127 183
...
... ... ...
...
...
...
Palma
... ...
... ...
... ... ...
...
...
...
152 128
181
...
...
...
...
..
Burgmair
Fred. Walker
... ... ... ...
239
117
75
...
...
... ...
...
... ... ...
Traveller setting forth (Plate in.)

...
Unum
nihil,
duos plurimum posse

...
... ... ...

...
... ...
...
...
Uranus ... ... Vagabonds ... ... Vemer's Fride,\\\\.\itraXion

Vignettes
...
...
72 Face ^6 Burgmair iîetseq. ...Bernard 216 80 ... ...
Rowlandson
...
Thomas Bewick
Charles ICeene
to
... ...
169
159
11 5
... ...
TTioiuas
...
'
Bewick
...
...
8,95,155
...
...
Virgin and Child
...
...
Wall apparently recessed by a Composition ... ... ... ... Winter ... ... Zephyrus and Flora (Plate I.)
...
From a Chap-book
...
...
Faccjd
FIGURE COMPOSITION
J.
>
Introductory.
characters
in
We
There
use figures either because they are
a story, or because they are good decorative elements.

is
no denying that
figures are capable of character-
ization, or that
they are of such beauty as befits them for
purely aesthetic arrangements.
Their
lines,
masses, and
modelling are such that they can readily be associated

with architecture.
In the
fore
employment of the
facility,
figure, the artist
has thereIt
is
twofold
and twofold
responsibility.
evident, however, that the conditions which call forth the
narrative possibilities will excuse the relative absence of
the aesthetic.
And
in
the
same way, when the

its fitness
figure
is
associated with architecture,
for its position will

it
excuse, to
some
extent,
any absence of meaning

^
may
happen to have.
When
is
the
artist's intention
is
vigorous and steadfast he
able to compel the admiration of the spectator in spite
of deficiencies revealed by analysis.
But there can be no doubt that

satisfactory
in
work which
is
fully
the
responsibilities
both of narration and
arrangement are completely met.
INTRODUCTORY
Of
course
some
distinction
might be made between
arrangements that are merely harmonious, and those that

are architectural.
This
is
really
no more than a matter of
degree.
Just then as the figure story and appearance
may
be used for two purposes

the arrangement of
so
the rules of composition will

It is
be
for
one or the other end.
elements of interest on the one hand, and of elements of
beauty on the other.
Some
mur
" art
readers
may
be a
little
offended with what
may
appear an excess of arrangement.
They may even muri{
by geometric
rule."
But
must be remembered
by
its
that a great deal of decorative composition must
very nature consist of palpable arrangements, particularly

of
lines.
These arrangements are a response
to architec-
tural laws
lines
of stability, and the positive character of the
developed under them cannot but endow certain

of
the design
all.
parts
with
an importance which
is
is
not
extended to
point,
falling
Hence
should
?
there
emphasis on
arises
this or that
and the question naturally

where
it
is
the emphasis
We
have spoken of twofold responsibility

.'
what
are
the dangers
We
could count up several, but two seem
to stand out before all the others

tural calmness,
deficiency of architecstory.
and deficiency of
is
At
the present
time
it
is
the latter that

is
more
likely to
be neglected,
arrangements,
that the
for the
tendency
toward
conventional
under shelter of the word decoration.
It is true
it
work
is
decorative
the danger
it
is
that
may
be rather
real
thoughtless,
story-telling.
and that
may
neglect
nature and
After
all,
a figure-draughtsman
is
one who represents

of
architectural
people and scenes.
Under
the
stress
INTRODUCTORY
fitness
he
may
be excused his story-telling, even obliged

but the figures then should seem rather
to relinquish
it,
beginning to
live
and beginning
artist
to be characters, as
if
they
It
were just emerging from an ideal or average

should appear that the
or
personifications,
state.
wished them to be persons
and was only restrained by respect
for the architectural ensemble.
Whenever
architecture, or material or
method presses
The
Execution of the Earl of Derwentwatcr. (From a Newcastle Chap-Book.)
hard,
and
will
have
its
way, there
is
a degree of departure
from the ultimate truth of nature, because the means are not then delicate enough, and because something else than
the story
It is
is
seeking expression.
consequently curious to note

often
how
defective "realistic"
work becomes
pleasantly
is
decorative.
Indeed
it
generally docs, for there
nearly always a latent sense of
ornamental arrangement, and some of the "expedients" of

the untutored are precisely the " means " of the decorator.
INTRODUCTORY
the crude woodcuts both of the early and the degenerate days. Four of the latter are here
We
see this
in
reproduced.
The titles given to these are given for convenience. The cuts occur in A Garland of New Songs, printed about They have no con1820, but appear to be much older. with the "new songs," and it is amusing to nection
speculate upon their significance.
There
is
fairly
good
Royalty.
(From a Newcastle Chap-Book.)
reason to suppose the

of
"
first
is
rightly
named.
The
" cutter
wood has been rather overborne by his wood. He has managed no more than to introduce the dramatis personce
of the situation.
There
is
little
stir
and no
bustle,
and
not
the guard below are pretty regularly spaced out, the posts
of the scaffold being duly considered.
The
effect
is
very decorative, though the means
separation,
repetition,
symmetry are such as generally make it so. The royal scene is very puzzling. The artist goes so
INTRODUCTORY
far as to introduce the full view, the profile
and the threeIt
quarter view.
The
winter scene deserves a better
title.
is
more
decorative than the others.
Figures of the same height,
between trees which conveniently spread out and fill up the background, is a pretty general decorative recipe.
The knight and

If
his captive also has decorative qualities.
the drawing were not so atrocious they would appear to
Winter.
(From a Newcastle Chap-Book.)
greater advantage.
a hairy savage, or
The captive some one run
is
naked and apparently
wild.
The
subject must
be well
known
to collectors of chap-books, as wood-cuts
practically identical
with this one are sometimes seen.
The same may be

on page
alike,
3.
said of the execution scene reproduced
In both cases the various blocks are remarkably
and must have been repetitions of the same design.

step
onward is taken in the printer's embellishment illustrating a Gentleman sketching some Ruins. He has
an admirable selection from which to make
his
choice.
INTRODUCTORY
deceive the spectator
The wood-cufter probably intended to

doubt-^but again the workman
is
with a work of great care, and he has done his best, no
overborne by his
wood
Knight and Captive.
(From a Newcastle
Cliap-Boolj.)
and
his
tools,
and the
result
is
decoration.
The
old
block-maker, limited as he was to a small definite space,
Lir=Tn.H
^sg>^<
(Head-piece in Bailey's Dictionary, 1730.)
Sketching the Ruins.
was compelled to crowd
his figures, or
field.
whatever else he
things
introduced, into the available
He had to make
him
to adopt a
as clear as he could, and this led
method

INTRODUCTORY
The urgency
7
of arrangethent which separated forms really close together.

of the press, as well as a natural repugnance
to useless labour, led
him
also to restrict his cutting.
He
thus gives us
clouds and trees
and foreground simply
because he can hardly merely cut away the ground, for he can with but a few strokes convert the black masses into
something or other.
The
exigencies of the actual printing
moreover taught him the advantage of always having some form all over his block, so that wherever a large
surface of white threatens to appear he introduces
detail to "
some
keep the paper up."

master of woodto say
A step further brings us to the greatest

engraving,
that
Thomas Bewick. It is hardly too much he was the only man who chose the white line
Other engravers and
line in the
of the
artists
wood-cutter as his medium.
have since used the white
same way, but not so

His
he
it,
much
as their readiest
means of expression, but because

"
they desired to exercise the craft of wood-cutting.

greatness lay not in his inventing this
neither claimed to have invented
it,
white
line," for
nor did he invent
but in his use of
it
as a complete
means of expression.
That is to say between the memory of nature in his mind and the cut on the block no painter's or draughtsman's technique (of
lines,
or strokes, or cross-hatching, or
this interpretation of nature
brush-mark) intervened.
And
of his befits him to rank with the ablest of artists whose
aims are of the same kind.
his tools.
Bewick was both master and servant of his wood and He was too wide awake to neglect, or think
the peculiarities of the technique of printing. cut
deeply,
lightly of,
He
smooth paper
for his cuts to
and wanted no chalky-faced, horribly His work is be printed on.
distinctly in line with that of the preceding illustrations
INTRODUCTORY
only better, and the work of a
man who would
willingly
throw work away on a block
if
he got thereby nearer to a
representation of the natural things he loved so well, and
knew
It
so well.
is
decidedly a pity that his work
is
so constantly
vignetted.
We
are not
now
favourable to the vignette as

is
a decorative arrangement
it
so easily
artificial.
We
The
do not therefore so readily see the decorative quality of

his work, a
quality which would be to no small extent
due to
his acquiescence in the restraints of his craft.
Vagabonds.
(Wood-cut by Thomas Bewick.)
way in which
is
the boughs of the trees in this wood-cut spread
out and hang
down
all
at either side (like flowers in a vase)
quite in keeping with the ornamental fashion of his time.
Bewick, like
the art-craftsmen of his day,
had an
tell,
instinct for ornamentation, but
he had also stories to
and
he
it is
was the
story-telling that
he liked
is
best.
Whether
in
drawing birds or people he
engrossed
their
lives,
and
treats
them
precisely as a novelist would.
He
thus was true to one of the great obligations under which
the
artist
is
placed,
and he owes
his
eminence to the
completeness of his response.

INTRODUCTORY
9
We
shall deal in the
following pages with the archiarchitectural forms, then with the
tectural stress,
and with
figure in relation to architecture,
and to ornament, and
then as an element of decoration.

space-filling
and surface-covering.
We shall thus consider We shall then take

and
in groups,
some account of the

figures,
figure used singly
with
the relation of figure to figure, of the spectator to the
and of the plan occupied by the groups.

of the story.
Then,
after considering the various
elements at our command,
we shall pass to the telling The laws of composition

facts
:
are based upon the following
The proneness of the eye

colours,
to connect similar forms
and
and to pass from one to another. The simplicity and unity produced by similarity. The habit of the eye to
follow the course of lines.
The
laws of physical stability,

;
yielding the upright and horizontal lines and the triangle
and also the law of equal lateral expansion, resulting in symmetry, balance, and equilibrium. The inability of the
eye to pass across
multiplied.
lines, especially if
doubled, or further
The
fact of similarity of
appearance denoting
similarity of conditions.
To
these must be added those principles of beauty and
of richness which
patterns.
we
specially study
By
observing them
we
find
when we design we can give interest
and quality to forms, without touching the question of

meaning.
is
Indeed,
we
all
know
that aesthetic composition
sometimes decried as being
senseless.
Our
and
(3)
task
demands
is
that
we compose
figure subjects so
that (i) their story
told, (2) they exhibit aesthetic beauty,
conform to material and architectural conditions.
lO
THE STRESS OF THE ARCHITECTURE
2.
The
Stress of the Architecture.

First,
The demands
there
is
of Architecture are the following.
the acceptance of the main architectural principle

Stability
is
of stability.
obtained, or suggested,
by the hori-
zontal and vertical lines. secures
The
of
use of the two directions
an
appearance
stability.
The pyramidal
a form of stability.
arrangement pyramid suggests equilibrium, which

also suggests stability,
and even the inverted

is
Secondly, there
is
the acceptance of the material.
We
by which we mean rather the assertion of the material to some little extent, although we might deny that we meant quite so much. An instance of rank violation of this principle is making
a wood-engraving look like a copper-plate.
Thirdly, there
object, so that
flat
it
usually talk of the " frank " acceptance,
is is
the acceptance of the surface of the
an offence to make surfaces which are

telling of stories
appear modelled.
There can be no doubt that the

objects tends
little
offence
upon somewhat to obliterate their form. Some in this way most people will be willing to
all
bear with, but taste certainly rejects
performances
in
which there
is
not an appreciation of the conditions.
The
plate with the landscape
on
it
is
usually neither a plate

Collection there are
nor a landscape.
In the
Waddesdon
many
things which are neither one thing nor another, and
can only be classed as expensive objects

thoughtless individuals
stories
made by
rather
who had no more

chiefly
regard for the
they illustrated than for the pots they imposed
them upon, and who were clever they wera
concerned to show how

At
the
II
same time
there can
be
little
doubt that the
violation of surface, according to our third principle, has
Compositinn upon a Wall, apparently producing a
recess.
often given pleasure.

liable to
It
may be
that walls are themselves
crowd down upon the inhabitant^ especially when
12

made
to appear recessed.
decorated, unless they are
Much
decoration In Raphael's time and before was in perspective, as though the walls gave space for recesses, and Leighton's The frescoes at South Kensington are of the same order.
truth very probably
is,
that so long as the artist does not

is
play a mere scene-painter's trick (which
tiresome
when
our
once
discovered),
he
may extend
the bounds
of
habitation for us.
Very frequently compositions

have been employed.
Especially
in
recessed
by perspective
architecture
lines
is
when the
worked out
golden white
space
is
practically
outline
is
brownish
in
on
a good
effect
obtained, and the sense of
pleasant.
The acceptance of the

Either
it
material applies
two ways.
stone,
refers to the
adoption of a general character in

for
agreement with the material, as stone-like

plank-like for wood, or
it
and
admits the limitations of the

In
all
material, as in stained glass or mosaic.
cases the
material could be conquered more completely,

illusion could
a closer
be secured than
is
attempted, but the pro-
bability
is
that the illusion, being in material,
and associated
with building, would not seem in place, while there would
be an absence of that adaptability of material to thought
which
stone,
is
so pleasant.
To make
a thing which
is
obviously
wood or glass, speak, is a greater triumph than to produce waxworks or peep-shows. Do figures and ornament both come under the same I suppose the. laws when associated with architecture
.'
answer
has the
is
Yes.
figures,
But
or
this
last
is
surely only
if
the architecture
first
and the
word.
For
it
rather seems that
whenever
change.
rather
stories,
are cut or
painted
on a building, the building must

If the
itself
undergo some
figures are
mere architectural embellish-

more pretensions, than ornament, then they
13
ments, without interest, and of rather more cost, and rather

are better
'
In Vigilantiam Regis 'a Composition recessed by Perspective.
left
off.
But where they are admitted, the building must
attune to them, just as they must attune to the building.
On
the whole, however, one
must agree that the composi-
14
tion

must
suit the architecture, for the artist
has greater
architect
is,
range of possibilities than the architect.

not
unnaturally,
in
The
prone to
regard
it
second
importance, and
the figure work as would be well therefore if
architects studied figure composition,
of figures in a sensible action,
so
that the
and the arrangement monumental
sculpture which crowns every edifice of pretension
may
Lines of Stability,
the
Vertical, tlie Horizontal, tlie Pyramidal, the
Arched.
be replaced by something better worth looking
at,
and
paying
for.
We must understand the term " architecture " as wide enough to embrace all objects that have any solid form.
Objects usually have upstanding sides arranged round a
central axis, or the side
object.
is
continuous and forms a circular
The
sides
are
not necessarily vertical, but are

if
balanced
against one another
they slope.
It
seems
IS
The General Shape kept

Plank-like.
Sketch for Stained Glass the glass kept angular as being more suggestive of
the material.
i6

and a base,
practically essential that there should be a cap
a head and a
foot.
cap
-t)
cap
base
Dasc
An
Object with base and cap lines to each part. A Ciborium.
17
Usually the head and foot are projections, but when they are not, there are bands passing round to do duty for
them.
And
this rule of the
head and foot applies not only
to the whole object, but also to the parts, and although
many
instances can be
it
found of the non-application of
this rule, yet
is
a safe one to follow.
A mere
change.
projection for head
and
foot
is
a very sudden
or
cornice,
is
Usually
the
projecting
head,
Plain
Wall with Cap and Foot.
bracketed out below, either by brackets (or corbels), or
by a bed-mold. In
foot (or plinth)
is
similar fashion the upper surface of the

its
molded, or
edge
is
taken
off.
All these peculiarities will be seen in the illustrations.
The
cornice
plinth
is
commonly much deeper than

generally
projects
further.
the cornice,
which, however,
What
are
and plinth to a wall become

a colonnade
capital
and base to
a column, so that in
we
have, below, a
plinth, then a base, then the shaft of the column, then

its
cap,
and then upon that the
cornice, or, rather, the

is
entablature, which
surfaces.
the cornice with
its
supporting vertical
Simple Framing.
These architectural elements,
cornice, capital, base,

plinth, are
and
nothing
hori-
more
zontal
at top
than
emphasis
and bottom
In
of the work.
classic
work the
predomin-
horizontal line al-
ways
ates,
it
and although
the vertical
is
line that
predomGothic,
inates
Simple Panelling.
'^
in
'^
"t wise to

sin " that
19
restrain the use of the horizontal line, for the "original

is
in us tends to
There are given here

out in various styles.
make us neglect them both. some examples of different settings
The
simplest form of architectural arrangement of the

is
parts of an object
that in which there
is
a " wall
"
with
cornice above
and
foot below.
^M|
lli
(|Nllli
l| l l|
l
l! ;ii
illill ||i,l|
|
|i;||ih||in|l|ii;| ||lll||i| |
||II
I| l i |, |
,l|i |i ||N
||ii|iii||iii
l;|i||i'|.i|.|;ll.riil|ir":
Columns developed on the Framing.
The next
is
that in which the wall
is
replaced
by simple
differ
rails
framing, in which the uprights, the
stiles,
do not
stiles
from the horizontal bars, the

alike
rails.
Around
and
we can run a
pattern which should be of a severe
character, or a
molding
in the
may
run
all
round the panel.

is
The next type

the uprights
sort, differing in
ascending scale
that in which
become
definite weight-bearers
columns of a
the different styles.

to consider the " sub-architectural " lines.
We
have
now
20

lines
These are
horizontal, but
which are auxiliary to the vertical and which cannot exist without them. Lines
All arch-forms
pyramid-wise and the semicircle are the chief of these subarchitectural lines.
come
into the class.
They
are symmetrical,
and
their "thrust" abuts against
vertical
forms at either
side.
To
the decorator
for,
these
sub-architectural
lines are
of
great value,
though he constantly employs the

lines,
vertical
lines
and horizontal
which
are
the
architectural
Simple Panelling with sub-architectural forms within.
proper, he very
appropriately introduces
the sub-archi-
tectural because the architect has provided
him with
his
abutments.
Within a rectangular panel-framing, sloping

lines,
symmetrical
or
"
the
semicircle, or
the circle
itself,
or the oval, " repose
with complete security, and hence
the frequent use of these forms.
Another great architectural principle
is
that of symmetry.
Symmetry
produces,
as
it
suggests, stability,
and con-
sequently the decorator cannot

predilection for
it.
do better than have a
He
can arrange one figure on either
THE ROMANTIC AND THE CLASSIC

side, or
21
l;\/o
he can balance one important figure by
of less
importance, or occupying hardly more space.
Between
the symmetrical figures can be a composition of a subarchitectural character.

in
The Greek
vase-painting, Fig.
Figure Drawing,
is
a fine
example of that treatment

distinctiveness to the positive
principles.
The design of recent "The New Art") owes

Especially
is
years (so frequently referred to as

its
predominance of decorative and architectural

horizontal lines
the law of the frequent use of the vertical and
the architectural
lines
observed.
In
is
Up
to
recent years
the predominance of the curved
line
been regarded as a fundamental law of design.

specimens of the new art the same mistake
had some
made.
Apparently
theories of
this insistence
on the curve was due to the
Hogarth and Burke.
3.
The Romantic and

remember
the Classic.
It
is
essential to
that the difference between

is
the various styles of architecture
a difference of mood.
In studying
The same mood

moods, and
it
will
produce the same form.
the different styles one has, therefore, to study the different

is
of
little
advantage
to
pick
up the
peculiarities of a style, or epoch, if
one does not gain the
secret ideas from
which they sprang.
Some
of the styles are Romantic,
some
Classic,
and the
is
difference between the

all for clear
two seems to be that the Classic

not pretend to
statement, the Romantic for confused statement.
The Romanticist does

on the other hand,
statement, and has
he attempts to suggest and to

offers to
all his
know and expound, foreshadow. The Classicist,
expound. He makes a definite words carefully prepared.
22
It is

said that
it
was Christopher Wren's

effect of
original idea
that
when
the spectator entered St. Paul's he should at
once receive the whole
co-ordinated scheme.
The power and

test,
the care necessary for the execution of a

test,
design which was to stand that
which
of
the
is
the classic
must needs be very

so
great.
There
may
indeed be
" classical "
small wonder that
many works
eighteenth century are dull and insipid.

fortuitous or accidental accessory to
their work.
They allowed no
the clearness of
mar
Unfortunately the clearness was often insipid
and the appropriate accessories were
most wearisome.
Better a thousand times to choke the picture with well-
drawn
if
inappropriate details, on whiqh the eye could at
least fritter
away
its
time, than to engross the attention

spiritless,
with a few barren, bleak,

juncts.
though
suitable, ad-
The foreground
often in
good test of this. How the eighteenth century was it not mere blank
affords a
grass.
ground, not even
Compare
that with a flowery

I
lawn of a Brussels tapestry.

century.
In this comparison
am
principally thinking of the engraved
The transition 'Calydonian Hunt' reproduced in this volume. By confusion one does not mean a senseless and hopeless
work of the eighteenth may be remarked in Le Brun's
muddle, but an absence of thorough subordination, or
rather
one should say that
the
is
subordination
to be
is
is
of
a
In
different kind.
The
distinction
made
thus.
the Classic the

artistically
;
chief point
mentally
the chief point

artistically, or
in the
Romantic the chief point

is
that which strikes one most,
not the chief in actual
human
interest.
These
distinctions are
no doubt rather forced, but they
may, nevertheless, serve a purpose.
The
Classic tends to plainness,
and to the absence of

colour and pattern.
It easily, therefore,
23
sculptural,
is
becomes
so that in paintings the form of limb and drapery
worked
out as
if
and shade.
definite
came from the effect of light work also tend to the and monochromatic. Classic architecture demands
the whole variations
The
accessories in such
no variation either of material or of added decoration,

is all
it
interest
worked out in stone of one colour, and derives all its from the variety of tone produced by the carving.
is
Of
course this
sufficient
from an architectural point of
view, but not from a painter's.

architecture
Moreover the ancient

colourless as the savants
was not so blankly
of the seventeenth century thought.
from these distinctions that a composition may sometimes want a little more of the Classic, sometimes a that is, it sometimes wants little more of the Romantic
;
We learn
clearing
it
is
and has too many oddities about it, or again, that barren and cold, and will be improved by a bold
addition of colour or pattern.
We
understand, therefore,
how
it
is
that the photographic reproductions of pictures
become tiresome
they lack
do not
the variety of colour.

;
Some
pictures, however,
suffer
these are those which
lend themselves to a sculpturesque treatment, or which
happen to have bold, broad tones of good shape. Of all Romanticists, William Blake was the most conIndeed his work is sistent to the principle of confusion.
likely to get the principle itself
some
disrepute.
He
out-
heroded Herod,
did different?
and yet, who would have anything he The examples in the Appendix well repre-
sent him, except in his greatest quality of colour.
24
ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS
4.
Architectural Details.
The
up
character of our architecture will leave us with a
particular kind of spacing.
The whole extent may be
cut
into comparatively small spaces, or there
may
be large
surfaces of wall.
The one
tectural
architecture which
was
free
from the archinot
division
of surfaces
which did
need such
left
divisions
was the Byzantine.
Blank walls were
in all
times, but only in the Byzantine did the artists
seem
to
have forborne to run useless shafts up them.

Renaissance
is
The
early
comparatively
free,
and so
is
the Gothic, but
the Gothic architects not infrequently ran lines up their

walls for no particular reason except that of design.
In
to
Palladian Classic the wall
is
treated as
if
it
were
or
is
be pierced with arches or colonnades.

decoration,
The
various
members thus form frames for The simplest is of course carved.

plinth below
painted
that in which there
and a cornice above and nothing but wall

is
space between.
The next
step
the introduction of the pilaster running
Rectangular compartments are thus formed. In these rectangular compartments decoration can be applied. The decoration should, how-
up from the plinth to the cornice.
be surrounded by a frame of some kind, because the edge of the pilaster, with its cap and base, is not a clear
ever,
The frame might be nothing more than a plain flat member, or it may be more elaborate. If it has more than one member, that against the decoration (which is flat wall)
line.
should be of less height.

It
was not
at all an unusual thing for the
Romans
often the
to use
framing or panelling.
The molding was
same
all
25
round the space, at the bottom as well as at the top and

step would be the placing of a
of
it
sides.
The next
column before
the pilaster.
the pilaster, or the substitution
for
When
that
substitution takes place the

is,
column becomes "enis
gaged," that
less
than half of
it
it
let into
the wall, so
more than half of

in
is
projects.
is
Frequently
the wall, as
such cases the capital
continued along
it
also the base.
The
wall as
were passes
Pilaster
and Framing.
flatly
it is
along and
as
if
then
rolls
over
the
column, so
that
the decoration (provided

projections.
waved over the

indeed in
all
When
by the column) were this is done, and

is
kinds of cases, the decoration in the rectanthe columns, or pilasters,
gular spaces between
kept
some distance from them, a molding carrying the wall surface back to a lower level, as is shown in the
illustration.
The members
introduced, plinth, column, cornice and
framing, can be manipulated as one likes, but the manipu-
26
work
to another style.
lation transfers the
The
relation
is
between column and frame can be greatly varied, as
shown
here.
The
reader will indeed recognize that this
P^tails pf Plinths
and Cornices.
27
manipulation of the pure form gives us some of the best

settings
we can
have.
Mtinipulition of the Column,
etc.
Even the newest of the new
art has to
submit to these
arrangements of column and Returning to our pure form we can within the rectangle,
cornice.
28
between the columns, place arches, bringing them down
on to
antae,
which have cap and base and

improved thereby.
plinth.
The
cap and plinth of the anta we can carry along the wall
if
the proportion
is
The Arch between
the Columns.
We have then an arched rectangle within wnich we proceed with our frame as before. Above, we get triangular spaces, spandrels these are also framed. Owing to their
;
peculiar shape they are less fitted to receive compositions approaching the imitative, and are consequently filled
with figures
character.
It
is
29
or
of
a definitely
decorative
ornamental
a matter of some importance whether the arch
above.
between the columns reaches so high as the entablature Sometimes it

distance be-
does, but as often stops
some
low.
little
Very
column
frequently
the line of the neck of the

is
carried
along, and the space of
the height of the capital

is
treated
as
frieze.
The arch
up
often
comes
of the
to this line.
The treatment
lines
arch in relation to the
above
depends
the
pro-
largely
jection
ture.
is
upon
of the entablaIf the entablature
carried
on
columns
is
the
projection
very
considerable,
greater
of
than the
projection
the moldings round the

arch.
Consequently
is
The
Capitfll
continued as a Frieze.
there
an awkwardly
This
arch.
sudden change of altitude when the arch runs right up

to the entablature.
is
got over by using a bracket

carries
key-stone to the
The bracket
of
the
form
forward
bracket
to
is
the
prominence
the
entablature.
The
used also when the arch does not reach so
30
high.
It is
then longer than the moldings of the arch are
deep.
If instead of
columns
pilasters are used, the projection
above need be but
slight.
In that case the projection of

is
the nrioldings round the arch
only slightly
less
than that
of the form above, and the two are sometimes tied together
by a development of the key-stone.
We see this development of the key-stone in the debased Rococo or Regence style. When in that style the pilaster became merely a slightly raised ornament down the wall,
the cap and the key-stone
became
also
mere connecting
spaces
ornaments.
The moldings surrounding (framing) the
became narrow lines, and the paintings became more and more vignetted and concentrated in the centres of the panels. The vignetting was a consequence of the linear treatment of the time, and was not due to the slightness
of the architectural modelling.
slender lines and spots.
architectural decoration
is
The
style
fell
into one of
An
illustration of
Louis Quinze
given on page 58.

is
When
the space between the columns

it.
narrow a niche
can be placed in
The head
of the niche must not
come
higher than the level of the neck-mold of the column,

leaving the space above as a frieze of the height of the
capital.
The edge of
all
the niche can be plain or molded
like
an architrave
round
or
its
sides could be treated
as antse.
Instead of an arch spanning from column to column,
sometimes a more horizontal treatment

that
is
desirable.
In
case
to
another and smaller entablature passes from
column
is
column supported on
this
antae.
This entablature
far.
about
three-fifths
up the column, or perhaps not so

entablature
is
Very
often
new
borne on antse (or
pilasters) at the ends,
and by two columns between.
The
space between these small columns
is
31
greater than that
between each small column and
its
adjacent anta, so that
Niche
the space between the great columns
is
divided into three
spaces of which the middle is the larger. Above the entablature, and under the great entablature,
is
consequently a large horizontal panel, which sometimes
32
affords a
good position
for
work.
This oblong space may,
however, be curtailed by the presence of the aforesaid arch,
which consequently leaps across over the three panels below, and forms a lunette, with little spandrels at either
side.
small
"Order" between
the Columns.
Another development
on four
pilasters,
is
to carry this small entablature
and
in
front of the
place two columns of the
same
height,
two middle ones to and to crown this
central part with a pediment.
This pediment of course interferes with the lunette or
33
panel above, and consequently the decoration above the
pediment often takes the form of sculpture upon

It is
it.
not necessary to do more than allude to the break-
ing of the entablature which enables us to gain projection
without such deep shadows between the supports.
The
breaking increases the vertical lines and decreases the

horizontal ones.
When
a "frieze" of the depth of the capital, and

it, is
in
continuation with
plinth below.
used,
it
is
well to allow another

is
Otherwise the panel
placed
too low.
This
all
is
in
accordance with the rule of cap and base to
forms.
Classic architecture
is
a projected architecture, just as

find this in
numerous instances of the placing of architectural members, somewhat reGothic

is
recessed.
We
sembling complete
projecting before
it.
little
buildings, upon the wall, and These projecting members are con-
nected together by their moldings being continued along

the wall.
This
is
indeed another
way
of describing the
broken entablature and the broken

projections without
plinth,
which give
undue
weight.
;
We
that
have so
far
been speaking of one storey

should be
what
con-
happens when we have to deal with more ?

the successive storeys
It is natural
slightly,
or
siderably smaller as
they proceed upward.
The same
laws of decoration apply.
There
is,
in
each storey, the
main form supported upon a plinth and crowned by a

cornice.
is
The
recessing of the different superposed parts
shown
in the illustration
on page
consider
17.
It is
not exactly
storey
fits
part of our
work here
to
how one
upon the
other,
we
will only note that one rarely stands a
column upon a cornice. Usually a deep plinth separates them, and this deep plinth has in most' cases its capita]
34
is shown in the diagram already alluded to. Here we are more concerned to note that when a figure occurs on top of a form it corresponds to the main part
and base, as
of a storey.
on,
That
must bo
is,
it
must have
its
plinth to
stand
and
it
in
height proportionate to a supcr-
A
structure.
Baud of
Amoiiiii, with moldings
above and below.
We
in
see this
when we place a
figure beside a
pediment, or
front of an attic storey.
Indeed we must
place a
is
consider our figure as primarily a stone of proper size, and
then convert
a
it
into a statue.
To merely
man
or
woman
in stone
is
on top of a building
not sufficient.
The head
the capital.
It is
55
in
the
same with
figures
upon pediments, and
such-
like situations
they must
fall in
with the stony character
of the work.
Whether, furthermore, the figure be upon a building, or

in
a niche,
it is
subject to the law governing

its
all
architectural
parts
it
must have
base and cap.
Band of Adult
Figures, giving a more delicate effect, structure of larger size.
and
suitable to
Three
the
illustrations are given of different
ways of
treating
is in
same
architectural structure.
The
difference
the
scale or vigour of the ornamentation.
placed
first
and suitable
is
The figures were moldings added. Of course the

If
band of
figures
a dark band across the structure, the

its
moldings are merely
supports.
one dispensed with
36
the figures one would have to diminish the vigour of the
moldings and of their ornaments. When we turn to the Gothic we find

laws operating.
a cornice.
much
the
same
There must be a pFnth and there must be

do not
call
it
We
a cornice, and the nearest

is
term we have
is "
parapet," because a parapet
the nearest
^/////////////^V^^^j
wm^'
The Band.of
Figures (vertically divided).
form to a cornice
these
in
in
Gothic.
The main
diflerence between
members
in
Gothic and
in Classic is this
less
;
the plinth
Gothic projects more, the cornice

is
the cornice on
the gable end the top,
more than a slight projection at a mere weathering. Along the eaves it is generally
often no
an overhanging piece of wall, supported by a molding, or
on
corbels,
and crowned by a capping-mold, which some-
Gothic Details (fifteentli centiiiy, or Perpendicular). Above is a parapet with capping-mold and bed-mold, and between them the parapet wall shown partly perforated with tracery. From the bed-mold projects a gargoyle. Below this is a string-course passing over an ornament. Beneath is a plinth with a course of carving. At the side a molded cap and base.
38
fair projection.
times has a
Between these molds there
is
either plain walling, or carving, sometimes pierced tracery
of severe design.
Sometimes the lower molding, that

is
which supports the cornice,
of bold projection (as at
Gothic Capital and Arches, with a string-course above.
Notre Dame,
projection
If,
Paris),
and we cannot
fail
to note that the
is
not at the top of the cornice.
comparing the Gothic parapet with the Classic cornice, we include, in the Classic, the low wall or parapet
in
which so often occurs above the cornice, there

greater similarity than one anticipates.
is
much
In
is
the
Gothic,
however, the wall surface of the parapet
in
advance of
the wall surface below.
case.
39
is
In the Classic the reverse
the
we determine to space out our surface without upright lines, we make merely a plinth and a cornice if we add columns, whether partly engaged or free, we stand them upon broad but not tall bases and carry them up to our cornice, where we crown them with a broad capital, which
If
;
must support something as wide almost as

must be
either a pinnacle or an arch, for
itself.
This
we
are not pershall
mitted the use of the horizontal beam.
What we
probably do
ing
is
to throw off small arches either way, bringto other columns, or on to corbels.
them down again on

a matter of
fact,
As
however, the column rarely goes up
it is the buttress which does so, and then only rarely. The column really should always have above it branching arches, so that it and the arches
to support the parapet,
form a kind of
will
letter
Y.
To
carry the column too high
be to take away too much of the "head" of the
structure.
So
that
it
is
a good rule to always make the

it
Y-form, letting the column come as short as

It
likes.
has been said above that Gothic
is
a recessed archilittle
tecture,
and such
it is,
but there
is
always a
projection
before the face of the wall.

wall, cut off
our plinth and our parapet,
Having then drawn our main we draw our Y's

These Y's are on the face of
for
our columns and arches.
the wall, but within, the arches immediately recede, and

this
into
method of recessing we carry on throughout, cutting and through the wall.

it
we find arches, we do
If
desirable to cut up the spaces within the
so with tracery receding face behind face.
Gothic being a recessed or splayed architecture, we can

without offence slant our surfaces, as the plinth in the
illustration
on the next page shows.
40
We must not
forget to cut off at either side of our object
a portion which
we keep
arches.
plain,
and which serves as an

the form cf
abutment to our
Objects of small size follow, more or
less,
architecture, but the proportions are violated.
What
are
comparatively tiny ornaments on a building become important on an object.

avoided.
It is
thus that absurd mimicry
is
We must not forget the string-course.
It is carried
along
Early English.
anywhere
usually
starting at the
abacus of a
capital,
It either
which corresponds to the springing of the arch.

foliage.
terminates against projecting plain surfaces, or in a boss of
The
settle
tracery
first
is
not
difficult to
manage
if
one
is
careful to
the main shape of the opening, like an open
arch, then to design the general lines of the tracery sub-
dividing the main shape, next to add a chamfer

this tracery,
all
round
and then,
if
the tracery
is
to be carried further,
first face,
to design the second face of tracery within the
just as the
first
41
was designed within the main shape. One must not forget the chamfer, and one adds cusps as a
face
final
development.
Perpendicular.
Our faults
in designing
Gothic
will
be
too small a plinth,

We
shall be try-
too small a parapet, too
little
recessing.
Betwixt Gothic and Renaissance.
ing to keep the spaces large, whereas in Gothic the spaces
tend to become small, and the figures to become separated
one from another by architectural
line^.
42
Space
for "subjects " is usually
obtained by cutting away
columns and substituting
corbels.
Byzantine architecture, on the other hand, gives us more

scope for extended compositions.
tion in that style
is
The method
it.
of decora-
that of covering the surface with colour,
as
if
one cast a vestment over
The
limited imitative
ability of the time at
which the
style
was forming allowed
Gothic Tracery,
the pattern method to get firmly rooted and to develop.
We consequently see
being
"
a style in which ornament and figures
are scattered over the field without
any regard
to
one thing
proper
on the top " of another.

first
In the Greek vase-paintits
ings there were at
rows of animals, each with
ground
periods,
line.
Then
still
in the black-figure
and the red-figure
we
find the people
on the ground, but when
the white patches of paint begin to appear, and the decline

is
setting
in,
the figures are above one another, scattered
43
iSfei
Sg5
Gothic "Scheme."
44
THE FIGURE
IN
DECORATION
over the ground.
we
see in the
less
The same " off the ground " characteristics Pompeian as we do in the Byzantine. Somein
what
If
perhaps
the Byzantine, because they were
getting back to definite story, and real people.
we summarize the characteristics of the Byzantine method we find that it consists of these peculiarities. First
there
is
the attention to the main voids and solids, with the
round arch and the absence of molding.
Then
there are
bands and patches of
lacy, carved
life
ornament binding the
masses together, and giving
and sparkle to what would
otherwise be a rather too plain arrangement. Then, finally,

there
is
the covering as by a rich vesture of the surface,
some
parts, as the
columns, being kept pure and plain.
5.
The Figure
of
in
Decoration.
architectural, figure
The
principles
decorative, or
composition are the same as those governing any kind

of decoration.
The matter
is
simply more complicated.
We
or
cannot do with the figure what we can with foliage mere conventional elements, and we have also to
consider the story, or subject.
All design
is
is
an arrangement of elements.
in
An
element
an individual form used

own, or of another
class.
association with others of
its
leaf
is
;
a stalk, so are tendrils, so are fruits
an element, so is and these can be
associated together into a piece of decoration.
The
is
effect
decoration depends
(and from one point of view the value) of not on the elements, but on what
made
of
them.
And
this
view influences
figure
composition to some extent.
The work must be worth
looking at and must be decoratively effective, whatever
THE FIGURE
it
IN DECORATION
45
may
or
may
not mean.
And
of course, although one

artistic principle,
does not subscribe entirely to that as an
The
Figure as an felement of Modelled Decoration.
yet one must place great insistence on
it
when one
is
dealing with the decorative part of one's subject.

Decoration, in this limited view,
is
then the arrange-
46
THE FIGURE IN DECORATION
ment of elements.
What
nude
are the
elements with which
we
are concerned
First there is the
figure.
It is
is
the figure reduced

,
to a
It
minimum.
variety.
Now
It
the figure
a modelled element.
its
comparatively lacks colour, while

has
flowing
it
form
is
of the
greatest
surfaces,
surfaces
of
different size
and character,
of
its
has flowing
lines,
and the
beautiful
successive
shapes
parts
constitute
arrangement of form.
an instance where
Consequently when the
artist
has
an arrangement of form would be

its
acceptable he can employ the nude figure, for

are
parts
good decorative elements.

flat
Again, used on the

its
the nude
graceful,
is
a good element,
its
lines
are varied
and
different in size
and shape that
members so we may look far for more

and
is
suitable material.
If,
further, the figure

its
be clothed a wide range
added
at
is
once to
usefulness.
What we
call classic
drapery
well associated with the nude as suitable for modelled

it
treatment, but
is
as valuable also in linear design.
One need
and
little,
hardly mention costume, the rich variety of

artist
which provides the
with
all
kinds of shapes, big
which again augment

in the
his store.
In the wood-cut of
Hans Burgmair, 'The Three Good

Appendix, the
artist's
Heathens/ reproduced
debt to
costume
store
is
clear.
The
different parts of the
equipments
of these noble warriors provide the designer with a 'good
of "quality"
the
is
black of the shields, the scale
armour, the flutings and ornaments

to fine effect.
which he has arranged

the
The
child,
artist
figure also
varied
by being man, woman, and

of humanity, so that
with has a
all
the variations
fair field to
choose from.
To
these too must
THE FIGURE
IN DECORATION
47
The Figure
as
an Element of Linear Design
48
be added
all
THE FIGURE
IN
ORNAMENT
Hence emblems of the
ideal figures are dear to
the accessories which for explanatory reasons
are associated with the figures.

saints or of mythological
and
the decorator's heart.
knight he always loved.
His
whole equipment
is
picturesque,
and
sufficiently a thing
of the past to permit a fairly free treatment.

It is part
indeed of an
artist's
duty to find out good

usually found that
accessories,
his
and he who
is
able to introduce them into

it
work
fares well.
And
indeed
is is
he
who employs good
accessories
above the average,

well, or his acces-
largely perhaps because he

sories will look foolish.
must draw
Consequently they who cannot

intricacies of accessories,
really
draw avoid the

interest thereby.
and
lose
much
6.
The Figure
in
in
Ornament.
do no better
The
beginner
figure composition can
than design figures in association with ornament.
He
is
compelled, in so doing, to consider the bold curved forms
both of figure and ornament, and

leave out
in
this
way
learns to
details,
what
in
decoration
become impertinent
associating
though they are essential to imitative work.
The
great
is
temptation
to
in
the figure with
ornament
adopt merely ornamental poses

life
poses
fit
which have no relation to
and
action, but
which
very well with the arbitrary lines of conventional decoration.
The only way
to avoid
falling
into this habit
is
to
keep oneself interested
in character
and
incident,
and
to keep
breaking away from the restraints of regular

with any intention of flaunting those archi-
design
not
tectural
principles,
but with the hope
of
finding
new
solutions of old problems.
THE FIGURE
The
circle
IN
ORNAMENT
much
alike
in
49
their
and
spiral
line.
are
inde-
pendence of a base
circle or spiral
high up the
The
Lines of the Figure agreeing with those of the Ornament,
wall
is
no nearer the "top" than one low down,

is
for in
such decoration there
no top or bottom.
That
is
to say,
the spirals above are not " on the top" of those below them.
so
THE FIGURE
Some
IN
ORNAMENT
to the use of
persons of taste are
much opposed
grotesques.
Now
grotesques are originally merely heads
The
Figure subjected to the
Laws
of Decorative arrangement.
much
That
subjected to the process of being

is,
made
decorative.
the lines of them are accentuated
and curved
Often,
about so that they have more ornamental quality.
THE FIGURE
IN
ORNAMENT
faces,
51
of course, they have been mere corrupt
giving an
opportunity for a degraded treatment of the head, which
became
easily a treatment of a
degraded head.
If,
how-
Grotesque Heads.
ever, there
is
expression and
human
character, or
the
character of passion and thought, they
may be worthy
of a place
in
respectable
art.
Of
course
the
grotesque
cannot rank as an element

of the highest
class.
It
is
confessedly
rather
ills,
making
over
all
game of
seemly
joys of
is
the
and an unthe
that
gloating
life,
but for
no more to
other
be tabooed
diverit
than
sions
mundane
truly
place.
its
though
is
may
be kept in
It
in
fact
caricature
decoratively treated and aris-
ing from decoration, and like

all
caricatures depends
;
upon
it
Grotesque Heads applied. (Note tliat tliey are placed higher than midway between the moldings.
itself foritsjustification
has
its
no excuse but what
it
bears unmistakably upon
visage.
52
THE FIGURE
Another kind of
IN
ORNAMENT
or grotesque,
till
caricature,
is
it
that
is
in
which the figure

misshapen.
is
simply ornamentalized
quite
Perhaps one ought not to give an illustration of this, but it helps us to understand the tendency of Such work always makes its ornamental treatments.
appearance
when
ornament
and
decoration
(we
are
A Grotesque
Figure.
ashamed of the word ornament now-a-days, is so much more dignified) are in vogue.
"
decoration
"
Good
a stem
taste
requires the figure not to be part of the
architectural structure
not
to
be a handle, or a
foot, or
but
to be enclosed in a space, a niche or panel.
This law, however, was constantly broken (they cared

perhaps
little for
such matters
in
those days) in the past,

to mind.
is
.'
and numerous instances at once come when a thing had to be supported, what
Indeed,
more appropriate
than a figure or animal for the service
The
artist
may
THE FIGURE
IN
ORNAMENT
S3
do anything if he only does it properly, and there can be no doubt that designs may be made very dull if purity of
taste
is
to be always
is
demanded.
its
The salt of art much is forgiven
vigour,
its
interest, its beauty,
and
the
man who
very
intro-
duces one or another in his work.
The
served
figure
has
commonly
in
as
column, especially
pilaster form.
Sometimes the crime of making a

figure support a thing can be
evaded
by placing the
ports.
it
figure
between supfree,
This sets the figure
and
too frequently becomes an individual
statue with no great connection with

its
parent object.
The
task
is
to
maintain the connection while making

use of the freedom to express actions
inconsistent with the effort of support.
Where
it
the figure does support
anything,
appears to be best to
effort.
if
it
avoid an appearance of
When
used with foliage as

with
or
were part of the foliage the figure
must accord
supply
in line
it,
it
must
contrast
which
properly
Grotesque Figure.
associates itself with the ornament.
All the laws of radiation, rectangulation, symmetry, and
so on, apply, just as they do in ordinary patterns.

principles,
Some
the
however,
gain
in
importance
together to
notably
conservation of
breadth.
small work
contrast with
The
half-figure,
in
which the trunk of a figure joins
54
COVERING SURFACES
foliage, or
on to
emerges from a rosette
which
was the
by which
Gothic practice
has always been a ready device,
Half-Figures.
large scale
has been combined
with
broad
mass and
for
interest.
The main
combination
rule
the
of figures and
that
precisely
definite
in
ornament
the
is
same bold and curves must occur
the
figures as in the ornament.
The drawing must be delicate

in the
sense of being finely

it
selected, but
must not be
Half-Figure.
abstruse.
7.
Covering Surfaces.
all
We
size,
have seen that
objects,
no matter what
their
must have a base and a

is
cornice.
It is true that there
are instances where there

is
a good one.
no foot or cornice, but the rule The space between is the body or wall of
COVERING SURFACES
the object, and
It is either left
55
we have now
to consider its treatment.

it is
a clear surface, or
partitioned
by
lines
of one ort or another.

lines
We
have seen before that these
may
form simple panelling, of which the upright and
horizontal lines are treated in the
same way.
are indeed suggestive of there being strips of the
Such cases same
material fastened on to form a sort of framework.
We
In
can hardly
call this architectural panelling, it is a
subdivision of the surface
by
lines suitable as
framework.
some of the Roman stuccoes a framing

is
is
employed
which
ing. It
made
of lines of a pearl-string, or astragal, moldis
An
is
example
here given of this kind of decoration.

in these cases the
important to notice that
frame-
lines are the
same
all
round.
if
Sometimes there are accents

the junction
where the
emphasis.
lines
It is
meet, as
needed some
better to avoid these, however, for they
easily gain too
run into spots and

it
much prominence, and make the design lines. The reader will remember that
style that the Renaissance
fell in
was into such a
the
time of Louis Quinze.
The
picture
frames with fancy
corners are the last survivors of that style, which every
now and then
is
revived, especially in the decoration of
theatres, ball-rooms, and pleasure houses generally.
Louis Quinze style became one of spots

lines,
The connected by
and there
facility,
is
no
style
which affords the designer
greater
or which responds
Its lightness style,
more
readily to varied
fit
requirements.
situations,
and elegance But as a

which
it
for certain
it
and as a
answering to a certain mood,
has
its
claims on our attention.

in, it
style to emulate,
or to train oneself
the least of these
sized corners.
has serious disadvantages.

is
is its facility,
due to
its
Not empha-
We
refer to this style again
when speaking
of architectural spacing-out.
56
COVERING SURFACES
Goblet, the Surface partitioned with Bands.
COVERING SURFACES
57
S
J3
o
8
^?r
S8
It
COVERING SURFACES
may be found that bands or moldings which are the same all the way round are not so appropriate as something more architectural.
tectural
The dividing lines become archiwhen they express the weight of the structure, and how that weight is borne. The vertical lines thus
gain a character different from the horizontal ones.
phasis begins to settle here and
bases,
Em-
there, and so capitals, and various accentuations of the moldings occur.
Decoration
in the
Palladian and Louis Quinze Styles.
The
tradition of the past naturally
is
the start-point for
such work, and in thinking of the different ways of breaking up the surface one at once remembers how the shapes
are broken
all
up
in Classic, in
Gothic, in Renaissance, and in
the various styles.
The
illustration
is
appended shows the treatment

rigid,
in Pal-
ladian, which
a usual formal classic, and in Louis Quinze.
The former
and
is
somewhat heavy and
the latter light
irresponsible.
The
spaces in the former are definite,
COVERING SURFACES
and can be
that one
filled
full
59
In the Louis
up
to their borders.
Quinze, on the other hand, the panels are so lightly framed

is
obliged to keep the figure-work well in the

rest of the panel plain
middle of them, leaving the
ground.
The
greater isolation in the Palladian permits the decoraits
tion within
borders to b3 more realistic than would be
possible in the other case.
We
must
note, however, that
while the
work can be more
realistic, it
must have very
positive lines,
and be well balanced, for the architecture is strong and must enclose strength. In the other style the work although less realistic (because of the large amount
of ground)
may
be,
and generally
is,
much
looser.
The
whole style indeed runs toward speckliness and indecision.
The drapery, for instance, is crinkled and crumpled in a way that would be most ineffective in a severer style. The reader will not fail to observe that the spaces made by architectural members vary considerably. They are
not
is
all
of the
same
is
character,
and the kind of work which

Symmetrical
suitable in one
not suitable in another.
panels can always receive a higher class of work than those

that are unsymmetrical, or which are rendered at
all
odd
by
their
position in the architecture.
Spandrels are an
is
instance.
The
spandrel between
two arches
a good
space, in which the artist with
some
is
interest in action can
place figures to advantage, but the spandrel formed be-
tween an arch and an upright line
very odd, and admits

figure.
Its position
only an ornamental treatment of the
compels the
tural
artist to
take so
much
regard of the architec-
members
ing on account of
its
line
more interestmeaning than it is on account of and decorative fitness. Sometimes indeed the
that his figure can hardly be
its
ofif
corners can be cut

triangle.
by a
circle
being placed
in
the
In
such a
circle
a head or a half-figure goes
6o
very well, but
triangle,
COVERING SURFACES
we
are here considering the spandrel as a
and
its
fitness to receive
only the less important

are, of course,
figures
cannot be doubted.
Spandrels
not
always sharp-pointed.
sufificient
They sometimes,
therefore, are of
area to receive important work.

architectural setting, nor cut
If
we do not employ an
up
Wall decoration
in the
Byzantine manner.
the surface by bands,
we may spread
surface.
a " vesture " of figures
and ornament over the
This we can do in two ways.
We
can either
let
the
decoration be an adaptation of nature, and use sky, trees,
and
two
all
the accessories of existence, or
we can arrange our
figures
among ornament.
is
The
difference between these
styles
in
that in the former the figures stand on a
ground,
the latter they are spaced about anywhere, and
no thought of ground or of distance enters one's head. In the former, where there is sky and distance probably.
COVERING SURFACES
61
the fitness entirely depends upon the arrangement of the
various shapes, and their being steadied

horizontal
lines.
by
vertical
and
These
lines
vertical
and horizontal
lines are
architectural in effect.
They
serve the purpose of column
and
cornice.
The
between them, moreover, partake

is
of the sub-architectural quality, that
they form arches or
inverted arches.
It will readily
its
be appreciated that the
wider the space, the greater
extent, the
more necessary
The absence
it
of Architecture compensated for in the Design.
is
for the vertical
and horizontal
lines to
be adopted
and used with regularity. Distance in such work is allowable, but it must be so treated as not to interfere with the quietness and flatness of the general effect. For
frankly,
this reason the
drama should be enacted on one

all
plane.
The
different characters should be
of one
size,
may be some in front of others (as is where long-distance perspective is spoken of), yet the action must not run back into the design, but must keep on one
there
and though shown later on
62
plane.
COVERING SURFACES
The crude wood-cuts
book
at the beginning of the
are on the " one plane " system
in in
like actors
on a
stage.
is
mm^^-m
seen
Such an
the the
arrangement
as
is
processional,
Bayeux
tapestry,
and
of
Burgmair'a
'Triumph
Maximilian.'
The background must be

part of the
design
and not
merely added behind, but the

designer must be careful not
to introduce distance as projection.
h>^
By
I
using distance as
projection
mean
the followin,
ing of the interest
and
all
this
:^
can be done, though

figures are
front.
It
the
on one plane at the
seems to be a matter
w
of the relation of the figures

to the
ground they are stand-
ing on.
One
could so treat
the action
the ground
that
ran back into the picture, and

this
one must not do
in the
present case.
Some measure
is
of projection
advisable,
it
gives depth and space to the
composition
best
but
it
seems
the task
not to recede the main

if
is
action into the distance
decorative.
Where
there
is
distance there must always be a middle distance.

COVERING SURFACES
63
Sometimes one sees compositions in which there is an interesting drama in the foreground, then nothing of
interest, or of
any
size or importance,
till
the distance
is
reached.
This distracts the attention.
Hence Puvis de
figures a little
Chavannes introduces small subordinate
beyond the main plane of
action.
When
the
artist's
task
is
decorative he should only add
elements because they are interesting and beautiful in
shape or colour.
will
is
If
he adds them
in
order to realize he
If,
not succeed with his decoration.
for instance,
he
drawing a figure and the
reality of the scene strikes: him,
as let us
hope
it will,
he
may be
induced to add some mere
illusive distar.ce or accessories
under the idea that he
is
furthering the expression of his subject.
He may
be doing
so in one sense, but
if
he
is
supposed to be decorating he
his imagination.
must curb
his pencil if
he gives rein to
He
should then only admit forms which (i)
make
frames,
and so cut up the surface, and (2) are pleasant fillings for the frames. Sometimes he will have a number of things in a large space, and will need to tie them together. In
that case his cloud lines, his lines of road or wall or sea
will
come
in useful.
is
If
filled
no distance
used the spaces between the figures are
up with ornament.
Sometimes, of course, accessories,

fill
up the spaces, the whole being on perhaps a dark blue ground (as in some of the tapestries). Lines of lettering and flying bands, shields, or any form
or near trees, or bushes that can be found to be appropriate
or
that look well
can be introduced.
There
space
Jesse
spirals
in
is
no better instance of a design covering a large

in the
an ornamental manner than

below, and
in
Tree of
Jesse.
lies
from him branches a tree which

its
about, and'
boughs holds
figures
of
the
64
COVERING SURFACES
Sl Nicholas
iind St. Oswin.
book-cover in
silver repoussj.
GOVERING SURFACES
65
descendants of David's father, the genealogy culminating

in
Christ.
We do
not consider such an arrangement as that here
The
Foresters,
used in the design of
'
St.
Nicholas and
St.
Oswin
'
any
violation of natural law.
It is
is
a decorative composition, not introduced, and would

scrolls
and natural deceptive aspect

be out of place.
The
figures
do not stand on the
the scrolls merely satisfy the eye, and stop the
downward
te
COVERING SURFACES
f4^;fe8^:iig2^sii^:i2i^^
t. till
..-.. in\
till
^lu
m\ im
III!
nil
mi
iiii
im im
tu
jmw
Silent
Leges
inter
Arma.
COVERING SURFACES
67
Characters of Romance.
68
FILLING SPACES
trend of the lines of the figures.

likewise
The
vine and
its
tendrils
do not stand.
In
'
Silent leges inter
Arma
'
the figures do stand.
Their
position
on a permanent
vertical surface tends to

figures
make
them
and trees are, however, on the same plane, or very nearly, and though the background suggest a sky, it is not painted as such. This design is developed in a very conventional manner, which
"settle down."
befits
it
The
for conventional colouring, as in bright blue, sage
green, black
and
gold.
In
'
Characters of
Romance
'
the treatment
is
more
natural,
though
still
within positive limits.
This design
could be in brown outline on

here and there of colour.
warm
is
'
white, with touches
More
naturally treated, again,
The
Foresters,'
and
could be worked out in real colouring provided such a
scheme were adopted as had the breadth and balance of

decoration.
This composition has a
little
foreground, in
the others the figures are right up to the picture.
We
conclude, therefore, that

natural treatment.
It at
foreground goes with the more
once projects the subject.

'
As
surface coverings, the group of Jethro and Moses,'

'Crucifixion,' Plate
PlateXX.,and the
XXIII., are admirable.
In such a case the group in the former must be framed in
by
in
itself
without
the landscape.
It
would work out well
simple colouring on a plain background.
8.
Filling Spaces.
is
If our object or surface

architecture or
subdivided either by the
by some
substitute,
comparatively small spaces to deal with.

are large
we have a number of Some of these

importance
and are suitable
for compositions of
Fir.LING SPACES
69
and meaning, others are small, and perhaps so oddly shaped that we can only put in them subordinate subjects,
possibly single figures, emblematical or historical, or, maybe,
merely human beings more or
less actual, interesting,
and
worth having because of

or their character.
their beauty, or their
movement,
In any case these subordinate figures
must, as has been

line,
pointed out above, be decorative in

not
for
their
spaces do
permit of
an uncertain
treatment.
The
decorative
filling
of a space appears to be of one of
two kinds. The first is the angular, and probably in most The second is cases the pyramidal arrangement of lines.
based on radiation.
into
This second kind
is
itself divisible
two
classes
those
which have
their lines
radiating
from the borders, and those that have them radiating from
the centre or core of the figure or group
starwise.
from the
lines.
One commonly approaches

ever, is
space-filling only
point of view of radiating and flowing
This,
how-
a mistake, for although radiating and flowing are
70
FILLING SPACES
will
and always
filling
be the main means of correlation available
to the artist, they are not the only lines
upon which a
can be based.
is
Indeed, shape against shape, mass
against mass,
as important as line against line.

filling
We
can
consequently begin our

skirting our figure.
with lines
pyramid-wise
In this
way
the corners get rather left
empty, but be
if
the shapes
are considered there can

little
room
fill
for
ob-
jection.
Ornamentally
our corartist
we always
ners,
but
that
every
to
knows
fill
always
the
corners
when
is
figures are concerned
to force one's poses too

far.
In fact so long as
the figure has but one
head
of
it
will
be
difficult
to get
its
something atop
shoulders which
in the corners.
can go
Our choice
pyramidal
radial
of of
will
the
the
or
method
be
governed by the particular demands of the architecture.

If the architecture
requires the assertion of a round or

little
oval line
it
will
be of comparatively
use
commencing
with angular lines and forming pyramids.
Here are given a few sketches of pyramidal arrangements, and in Reynolds' 'Graphic Muse' we have a very
positive adoption of the method.
The
outline here given
of
it
was engraved by Blake.
FILLING SPACES
;i
Vision.'
The same The
angularity
we
see
in
'The Woodcutter's
is
slanting tree on the right
important.
;
It
forms, with the thigh, an inverted pyramid
it
broadens
the mass in the upper part of the picture, and also balances the figure on the
left.
The Graphic Muse.
By Sir Joshua Reynolds. (In the Diploma Gallery of the Royal Academy, and formerly on the ceiling of the Library. Engraved by William Blake in 1806.
)
Sometimes the demand

that
for a
curved line
lines
is
so strong
circles,
we commence
at
once with
which form
ovals, or
which radiate with the border.
The
lines
of
course radiate
among
themselves as well, as they do, for
instance, in the design
on page
27,
where the heads and
The Woodcutter's
Vision.
FILLING SPACES
the
foliage
at
73
the
feet
form pause-points, or restinglines pass.
places, from and to which the
In that design
it
the radiation
is
very simple, very obvious, as
generally
Lines forming a
circle.
Lines forming an oval.
and may be, when demand is great. The same can be

is,
the architectural stress on ornamental

said of the
lines in the
Gothic ivory carving

it
here illustrated, and
may
is
be
taken as a definite and necessary

rule that
where the work

its
to
be distinctly decorative
lines
must
fall
into very palpable radial
systems.
The
pencil
must not
all
tarry with accidents of forms, but
must
" ride
rough shod " over
considerations but the one that
the lines must conform to a very

clear system.
înes radiating with the border.
The
radial
method
is
twofold.
Its
lines
either
flow
74
FILLING SPACES
in
sympathy with the expand toward the borders and corners.

round and round
borders, or they
The
angle
it
suitability of the oval line as the filling of a rect-
is
evident.
It is
indeed so harmonious a
filling
that
leads the artist sometimes
to neglect his corners
when
comthe
fore-
he
might
fill
them.
Indeed,
one of
Ae
defects of the
positions of the seventeenth and
eighteenth
centuries
was
vacant
grounds.
nature
of
their
This vacantness was

to
line
due
of
largely
the
as
adoption
a
ruling
the
in
oval
one
used
composition.
has,
The
been
finest in
method
in
however,
of
the
some
'
compositions,
notably
the
very beautiful
Diana and Enlate
dymion of the
'
Mr. Watts.
with fine
Blake's
We
see
it
also used
effect
in
some
is
of
designs.
The
starlike
almost
necessary auxiliary of the oval

treatment, and
Gothic ivory carving, fourteentli
century.
vice
versd:
A
all
judicious
mixture of the two

be
evident
in
seems
to
good designs.
the swirl
of
The
the
rays of the star correct and

Blake,
calm
to
oval.
who
rather
wished
it
emphasize the
contrary
lines,
swirl, usually forbore to cross
by any
his
but there are some instances

so.
among
designs of his having done
FILLING SPACES
r
r
!
i,
'^%^
I
>''
,
II
"^
The
Woman
of Samaria.
composition based upon the oval.
76
FILLING SPACES
figure makes a moon-shape, as in the fine King Warwolf,' by Frederick Sandys. The hollow of the " moon " is in all such cases occupied by a
Sometimes the
'
wood-cut of
tangle of hnes radiating together, and sending off long
branches toward the borders and corners.
The composition
is
of
'
Europa and the Bull
'
is
a good
circle
example of the oval or
circle in the rectangle.
The
mainly formed by the drapery which makes a frame
round Europa.
thus easily found.
Her head is The drapery
across her breast further sur-
rounds the head, and the arm

carries the
eye down and round

bull,
beneath the head of the
which consequently becomes

noticed.
The
figure of
Europa
if
spreads out starwise, as
to
cross at right angles the circular

lines.
Other
found
lines
will
easily
be
in this print.
rather
straight line occurs from the
starlike arrangement.
top left-hand corner
down
this
to
is
Europa's
foot,
and
crossed by another from the dolphins up to the
little
boy,
who
yet,
is
upside down.
left,
Again, there
is
a fine sweeping line
from right to
upside
four
curving up to the corner.
Further
little
the leg of
Europa, her
arm, and
the
boy
down make a good
semi-circular
curve,
and the
little
cherubs on the right combine into a similar
form.
Sometimes
it is
so necessary to avoid the over-graceful-
ness of this system of curves that one plots out the whole
%i
ZKPHYRUS AMD FLORA.
*
^
A Star-like
composition.
FILLING SPACES
;;
King Warwolf.
By Frederick Sandys. From Once a Week. permission of Messrs. Bradbury, Agnew and Co,
By
special
78
FILLING SPACES
PILLING SPACES
79
Figure on an Aichilrave.
From a Private Cliapel, Genoa Kensington Museum.
now
ini
SoMli
wi^-V- ^t!"ir
-
mM 'M^z
ornamental
lines.
-"^^
The Last
Supper.
coniposilion based
upon
definite
Design for a chest.
The
filling restrained,
within the vertical
and horizontal
lines.
8o
FILLING SPACES
lines.
area with rectangular
This keeps the work calm be said
and steady, but without any "play" of movement.
The
reader will naturally expect that
it
shall
that the ordinary ornamental lines will be found governing
Uranus,
God
of the Sky.
figures in
certain situations.
The
architecture
demands
on these
figure
is
positive line
and the acceptance of such
definite points as rest
the corners.
points,
The eye
will
and must needs
and drags the form of the ornament (whether
or flower), to those strongly-accented positions. seen in the beautiful detail from
This
Genoa
in the
Museum
at
South Kensington on the previous page.
FILLING SPACES
8i
The
tinually
designer very soon finds that he cannot keep his

all
radiating lines all convex or
concave, they will con-
in figures
be
facing one another and forming
ovals, or
more
strictly the
shape called vesica piscis
pointed
Sisyphus.
ovals.
When
the shapes are
odd, as in 'Uranus'
radiation
is
'Sisyphus,'
the
same laws of
filling
and and pyramidal
balance apply, but their application
greatly
more
difficult.
The
expression "
the space " applies to the
filling
of small vacancies as well as to the attacking of those of

considerable size.
Indeed our whole study at the moment G
82
is
FILLING SPACES
directed to the bold and definite filling of the space, and
not to the covering of surfaces.

designs
In ordinary ornamental
line,
we
cut up the surface with a wandering

little
and
then attack the
spaces
it
makes on
either side.
We
it
sometimes put a form definitely into the middle of the

space,
so
that
deals fairly with the
whole
ever
area. Whatwe do we avoid

treat-
lop-sided
ment.
The same
be
can (but to a more

limited extent)
done
there
in figure
com-
position.
is
Where
a space we
can put something
some
thing.
las
complete
Just as in the
design 'St. Nicho-
and
St. Oswin,'
on page
the
Aristotle.
64, there
are spiral roots to
vine
so
filling
spaces,
we can
place hands, heads,
drapery.
Some examples may

fill
13the hand
design on page behind the column, the hand and orb, etc.
in tlie
be seen
In order to fully
the panel
we have
at times recourse
to various expedients.
Words
written on the background,
flying bands (which are
most appreciated by those who
know
the difficulty of them), shields, are
among
the most
usual expedients.
CONVENTIONS
83
Some
artists
have been able to introduce contrasting

If,
ideas in their additional figures.
for instance,
is
one
is
drawing Edwin and Angelina, nothing

in
more appropriate,
one sense, than a domestic
tiff
between a middle-aged
couple, in the background.
In the same way concurrent ideas are welcome. As when in a picture illustrating some act of brutalism (shall we say) there is introduced some little brutality on the part Such ideas at once suggest Hogarth, who of a child.
would probably add a picture of a gibbet on the
wall.
Not only do
suggestive details like these give interest to
the work, but they also keep the artist at work, because he
continues interested.
all the figures be shown ? It does seem necessary. Indeed, one can find many instances not where part of the figure is beyond the border. Sometimes a greater symmetry and balance of design is obtained, as
Should the whole of
in the
composition of Aristotle on the opposite page.
9.
Conventions.
thought and incident, and he does so
The
artist records
by representing persons and things. His work is entirely any visible substances he visible, and his means are
can arrange.
He
consequently either mimics the things
he presents, making them in the round, somewhat wax-
work
fashion, or he, with colour,
draws or paints forms

events, under-
which correspond to (or which

stands as
portray.
he, at all
corresponding to) the objects
he desires to
needs no
When
words
the effort
it,
is
one of pure imitation
it
to define
but when for any reason the representa-
84
tion
is
CONVENTIONS
not wholly imitative, the peculiarity which constitutes
is
the difference
it
called a convention.
Sculpture as
we
is
see
to-day
is all
conventional, whereas the
waxwork
not
in
conventional.
A convention
is
is
indeed the pecuhar
way
which a thing
effect
done to bridge over the degree of imitative
which
is
omitted.
Conventions are determined by various conditions.

exigencies of printing have
drawing to
The demanded the limitation of the black and white. The impossibility of obtain-
ing certain colours has, in several minor arts, compelled

the artist to express himself with the limited range available.
The
necessity for certain colourings (as in vestments
of black and gold) compels, again, the artist to achieve his

success with those facilities only.
The
result of the stress

is
of conditions which enforce
conventions
that the artist
must make up
interest,
in his
work,
somehow,
for the deficiencies in realism.
The eye demands
always a certain degree of
and any diminution

the more
on one hand has to be made good on another.

If
one
is
robbed of colour, one has to show
all
skill in
form.
If one's figures repeat (as in a pattern),
one
must endow them with a peculiar degree of beauty. The artist should at once fix his convention, and
mine what
cuts
limits
deter-
are imposed
upon
his work.
He
and
thus
away
all
those delightful peculiarities of nature which

free,
he
is
not permitted to use, and sets himself
finds
himself adopting into his work those additional peculiarities
which are to balance the
loss sustained.
The monochromatic photograph of a picture consequently

is
unsatisfying, because there
is
the loss of colour without

is
a compensating gain.
in tone, but this
is
Sometimes indeed there

and
if
a gain
accidental,
one picture gains
another loses by the chances of photographic reproduction.
Plate
TI.
GEOGRAPHY.
composition ol tones derived from the aspect of actual
life;
\Ta/act pag4
84.
CONVENTIONS
85
The
Colonel.
A pen-drawing in a manner as little
conventional as possible.
86
CONVENTIONS
Engraved
representations of paintings are
therefore
preferable as works, of art to photographs, but they are
not records in the same way, and the liability to serious

error diminishes one's confidence in
them as
for
records.
The most powerful

It
influence governing
convention
is
the decorative or architectural
demand
homogeneity.
may
be that architecture requires that the subject should
be treated in blues, greens and gold, or in blue, green,

purple, black
and orange,
in
outline,
on a warm
light
ground.
The
artist
variations are of course indefinite in number,
and the
must determine what limitations he
is
going
to impose.
It
seems somewhat strange to make faces

if
blue,
and so
but the
on, but
the convention
is
that the design be in blue,

It
is
there will be no incongruity.
not the
face,
whole woik, that
is
blue.
When
must
one has a particular piece of work to execute, one
find out, first
what conventions, are appropriate, and

desirable,
inevitable, then
what are
and having determined
these things, to not allow
any temptation to go beyond
them
tion
to affect one.
this.
All the artists
who
succeed in decora-
do
It is
not of course necessary that decorations

in
should be always conventional

of decorativeness does not
in the
lie
treatment.
in
The quality conventions so much as
play and balance of lines and colours.

all
thick line
a design
run around
decorative.
the forms will not necessarily
make
It
may
only show
how
stupid the artist occa-
sionally can be.

line will help to
If the
forms are decorative, then a stout
show up the forms and can do no harm, but a design that is devoid of decorative fitness, and overrides decorative and architectural laws, will not be made any better by being drawn with a reed pen. At the same time a conventional method often leads to
CONVENTIONS
8;
Danaides
88
CONVENTIONS
are
a decorative treatment, simply because the means

too
in
cumbersome
for realism.
This was what happened
the early crude wood-cuts.
Aconventional method
is
one
in
which there
is
concessionto a particular
technique, at the expense
of realism
not of
reality
for a conventionally expressed work may have more reality than one
imitatively rendered.
We
what
have
is
first
to find
a suitable mein that
dium, and then
medium
get
to get as near
nature as
we
can.
is
To
to
near
nature
get the spectator to so
Portrait.
pen-drawing
in
conventional manner.
enter into the reality of
the subject represented

that his
to him.
mind
is
wholly
lost in
it,
and
it
becomes
real
The
subject
illustrations here represent

realistic
both the conventional,
and the (more)
treatment of
in
all
cases with
some regard
to arrangement.
'The Colonel'
realistic
it
is
a pen-drawing in a
in
manner.
the
The conventions
incidental
are
conventions
the
pen,
to
drawing
with
and
to
the
postage stamp.
arrangement of tones and

the area covered
lines so that
may
be relieved of monotony.
The
'
QUALITY AND
ITS DISTRIBUTION
is
89
outline-work in the lower part
more conventional than
the shading of the head, but does not rank with the treat-
ment of such a drawing as 'A Portrait.' In that case the outline and mass are positively determined upon because
they
make
a pattern.
is
This positive kind of convention

to decorative
naturally
more
"
suited
work than the
other,
which
cannot be
it it
helped"
it
is
invented for a decorative purpose, and

reality greater because
makes the task of expressing

handicaps the pencil.
same time, the less positive or merely necessary conventions do not deter a piece from being decorative.
the
If the
At
forms and tones arc pleasantly adapted to their
place they must rank as decorative, though their decorativeness

is
not their
first
quality.
'
Danaides
it
'
and
'
Geography
artist's rule
are examples of this.
Indeed,
should be the
to realise as far as he can,
and not to overload himself with
conventions which are not demanded by the architectural

conditions of the ease.
10.
Quality and
its
Distribution,
his bread
The
artist
must continually be casting
upon
such
the waters.
He must
continually devote pains to what to
the Philistine will appear pure waste of time.
Of
all
labour lost, that spent upon quality has the least chance of recognition from the ordinary person. We say a line, a tone, a colour, an action, has quality when the artist has
succeeded in endowing
that
it
it
with such beauty within

its
itself
gains
an interest quite bej'ond
purpose as
beautiful
part
of
the story-telling machinery.
If the
drawing by Pinwell, here reproduced, has any outstanding
90
QUALITY ANP
ITS
PISTRIBUTION
The Blacksmiths of Holsby. By G. J. Pinwell. From Once a Week By special permission of iVIessrs. Bradbury. Agnew and Co.
QUALITY AND
merit
it
ITS
DISTRIBUTION
91
is
that of quality.
The
blacks, the whites, the

beautiful.
greys, are varied, sparkling, soft
and altogether
The woman hardly
looks weary and mud-bespattered, as

is
she should according to the story, but what
that
com-
pared with the beauty of the drawing
The term
sense,
quality should perhaps be used in only a narrow

to
as
referring
the
particular beauty of tones
or colours, not to the colours
themselves; but, on the other
hand, where an artist seeks

this
peculiar
beauty,
it
and
endeavours to get
manipulating his
by so work that
he
it,
shall
more probably get

interest,
then the tones and colours
have an
even
if
they
lack the final beauty, which
they would not have
if
he
were not striving

elements.
for
more
than the necessary value of

his
Every one
who
uses different strengths
of pigment
uses tone, but
The
Bath.
only those
who
strive
it
for
quality of tone use
in
the peculiar
way which name

his
tends to
produce
it.
Quality appears to be merely another

living material, so that
for vivid,
he
who endows
as
if
paint
with
quality
endows
lines
it
with
life,
he were using some living
substance.
With
arranged so that we get various shapes of

a great deal.
various size
we can do
The
effect will,
how-
92
ever, not
QUALITY AND
ITS
DISTRIBUTION
be very vigorous, though the drawing

often in such
may
be.
There
is
work a
delicate beauty
which prompts
sixteenth
emulation.
We
see this particularly in the wood-cuts of
the
early
century,
Italian,
whether
French,
or
German.
But
textures
if
we we
allow
ourselves
different
at once
gain
" colour "
and
-vigour,
and
effect.
The mere
use of black
and then white alone

gives fine quality of
texture.
In the early
wood-blocks
chess-board
the
pave-
ments and the black

shoes afford often a
delightful
colour.
play
of
Sometimes
is
too the ground
re-
presented
flowers cut
line
Varied tones and different textures.
by
in
little
white
black
upon
background, and then

the
sparkling
effect
of the different textures

thing
is
is
very pleasant.
differ.
The
essential
that the textures

lines,
Part of the work
may
be
in
parallel
part in dots, or short strokes, part
again in black patterns on white, and of white patterns
on black.
The
different things portrayed assist the artist
QUALITY AND
ITS DISTRIBUTION
.93
The Morning,
94
in
QUALITY AND
ITS
DISTRIBUTION
obtaining these varieties, which he should not try to
get by merely varying the arrangement of his lines, as

parallel
lines,
cross-hatching, dots
It
and other dodges of
doing much the same thing.

not be merely different.
amounts to
this
that
must
the patterning of the strokes must be interesting,
it
We
have a good example
in
Burgmair's
'
Three Good
see there a
Heathens,' reproduced in Plate

great variety of forms,
all
XXVIII.
worked
We
out.
carefully
Up
to
about the year 1525 great attention was bestowed

accessories, but afterwards the individual identity
lost.
upon the
of the different things gets
If
one looks
at the foliage
the
trees
and plants
of
such compositions as 'The
Calydonian Hunt' on page 142, 'Mercury and the Graces'

on page 99, the Holbeins on page 162, or the Burgmairs in the Appendix, one sees that they are not true to nature.
habit of the hand, a predilection for certain forms in
place of a reverent devotion to nature, and an insistence
on modelled form rather than on tone and colour,

these cases
introduced.
is
in all
reducing the probability of variety being
The
various tones, colours, contours of lines, or flow of
surfaces
must be
distributed, but without loss of breadth
or loss of connection.
Hence
in
'
The Bath
'
the dark
tones are with the dark tones, the light with the light, and
breadth
is
gained.
In
obtained by the deep modelling are
'The Morning' the dark tones made to come near

effect shall
one another so that the

In Bewick's time
it
not be spotty.
became quite a habit to counterchange the dark and light tones on left and right. In
John Skippe's chiaroscuro wood-cuts one side
dark, the other light.
is
always
On
the dark side occurs the light
part of the subject, on the light side the dark.
We
see
QUALITY AND ITS DISTRIBUTION
95
.5-*.?îv:j^f^^^^M
Vignettes by
Thomas
Bewick.
95
the
QUALITY AND ITS DISTRIBUTION

same
in
Bewick's
'
Keep on
this Side,' here reproduced.
In the other vignette
the
boys with the kite
the
boys
are light against h'ght.
Bewick's love of nature indeed led

to deal with the distribution of our
him
to discard the conventions of his time.
In sculpture
" colour,"
we have
is
of folds of drapery and any
By means means of obtaining shadow such as passing the arm horizontally across the body we If it is finely done we gain quality gain variety of tone. of tone, and not merely tone, and we shall probably get it
which
the darker parts of the work.
if
we know it is to be got. The powerful (and to some extent enigmatical) designs of William Blake owe much to their peculiar quality. As I have pointed out in Design,' one is able to repre'
sent light
and darkness by the peculiar manipulation of the white and black. The one should honeycomb the
other, as
if
the white crept over the black, or the black the

it
white.
Or, putting
another way,
it
is
as though the
in
white were giving birth to a wealth of form (expressed

fine
black line) which was hardly discernible, as
if
one
beautiful thing were growing on another.
In this Aubrey
Beardsley was hardly equalled.
Perhaps the most important diversity that the

designer has to deal with
is
figure-
that of diversity of movein
ment.
If all
the figures
is
bend
one way and
in
one
tire-
direction the result
not only unnatural but very
some.
And
this
defect
can moi-e readily be remedied

artist
than might be supposed, for the
has only to pay
some
his
first
attention to the matter, and take the trouble to revise
work, and he will gain

think should
Plate
On
et
much interest that he may at come by mere "genius." XVII. in the Appendix is a design 'De Morte
It is
Amore.'
a good composition of varied attitudes.
Plate
III.
f?^
CO
tp
-3
e
o
[TV^^tf
/d;^* 96.
QUALITY AND
itS DISTRIBUTION
9^
The
chief figure
is
the old man.
He
is
emphasized by the
cloud^lines around
Death and Love.
These
him.
cloud-lines,
roughly circular, abut against the space occupied by the

old
man and
the younger
man behind
is
These two
Practically
figures
form a group which
itself
the chief part of the
whole group
all
at the lower part of the design.
the lines contribute to place emphasis on these figures,
and lead to the old man's head.

are
all
Although the
feel
attitudes
conventional, that
is,
are stock positions, they are that
most admirably used, and one does not

composition
is
the
at all jejune.
its
Quality like other things has
fashions.
hundred
forms,
years ago quality was supposed to be found in
some
not in others.
Every one knows Doctor Syntax.
The
illustrations are not Rowlandson's best, and with their
repeated reproduction begin to pall somewhat.

is
The work
a skit on the Rev. William Gilpin's ideas on Picturesque

Gilpin's works, with their horrible conventional
Beauty.
plates without the least touch of nature,
and spread thick

Let no one
figures so
with the amateur,
still
command
fair prices.
be tempted.
Grizel, the dilapidated horse

is
which
largely in Syntax,
introduced to gratify the opinions of

says
in his
Mr. Gilpin.
Gilpin
Notes on
Picturesque
Beauty
"
The
horse, in
itself, is
is
certainly a nobler animal

;
than the cow.

gives
fire
His form
to his
and grace
more elegant and his spirit actions. But in a picturesque

is
light the
cow has undoubtedly the advantage, and

place, the lines of the horse are
:
every
In
way
the
better suited to receive the graces of the pencil.
first
round and smooth,
and admit little variety whereas the bones of the cow are high, and vary the line here and there by a squareness which
is
very picturesque.
There
is
a greater proportion of con-
cavity in
them
the lines of the horse being chiefly convex.

98
THE CLASSIC FIGURE

"But
is
not the lean, worn-out horse, whose bones are
staring, as picturesque as the
cow
In a degree
it is
but
we do not with
deficient form."
pleasure admit the idea of beauty into any
Consequently
in
Syntax we read
is
"My
Of
raw-boned mare
worth a score
these finepamper'd beasts, and more,
To give effect to bold design, And decorate such views as mine. To the fine steed your sportsmen bow,
V>vA picturesque prefers
a cow."
And
again
"
Stop brutes," he
I
cry'd, "
your noisy glee

;
do not want to hear but see Tho' by the picturesquish laws. You're better too with open jaws."
The
"
open jaws," and Gilpin's concave
lines
and
his
preference for spikes evidently point to the starlike arrange-
ment, which we know to be good decoratively.
II.
The
Classic Figure.
is
The annexed
ing
illustration
a reproduction of an en^jravpicture
by Agostino Caracci of a
it
by Jacopo
Tintoretto.
Beneath
we
read
" Spectator si scire cupis
quid picta
tabella
est,
Est Jovis
Spectator,
is
et
Maice filiiis,
to
et Ckarites." this picture

is, it
if
you want
know what
the son of Jupiter and Maia, and the Graces.

If,
however, the spectator happens to
know
the signifi-
cance of some of the details he will be able to dispense

with the explanation.
The
petasus, or
winged cap, and
THE CLASSIC FIGURE
99
lOO
the caduceus, the
it,
THE CLASSIC FIGURE

wand with
the two snakes entwined upon
is
denote that the person behind
Mercury
and the
fact
that the three maidens have their hands entwined (more
or
less),
and are holding
flowers, indicates that they are the
Graces, Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne.
Otherwise, who, without the written description, would
know?
And
is
who, even when he knows so much,
is
?
any
nearer knowing
who Mercurius and
the Gratise were
Aglaia
is
splendour,beauty, brightness, festive joy. Thalia
bloom, plenty, good fortune, prosperity.
Euphrosyne
that
is
cheerfulness.
life
From them proceed

and joyous.
all qualities
make
beautiful
One, however, looks
in vain in
this picture for the
joyous innocence which characterizes

are
these maidens.
They
sad.
more clothed than
usual,
and
seem unusually
We
are inclined on the whole to the
opinion that Tintoretto has
made "Graces"
of his female
figures, becauses the Graces were harmless personages who,
having nothing particular to do, could without offence be

represented without any definite occupation.
In a word these are classical figures, ideal figures.
The word
matured
" ideal " in this connection means, belonging to
the imagination, not copied from any natural example, but

in the
its
mind.
The word " classical " means

its
the same,
but derives
meaning from
reference to a great
number
what
is
of instances, which
become
associated together as a class.
The mind, by
the classical.
its
selective process, searches out
typical of a large
number of examples, and
so fixes upon
Of course the word " classical " has come to have a special meaning beyond that referring to numerous associated
instances.
It
denotes that kind of

is
art,
and that method
of artistic expression, which
connected with the terms
" ancient Greek " and " ancient
Roman,"

THE CLASSIC FIGURE
lOI
Another word which readily suggests itself is, " conventional." There are appropriate "conventions" in all art,
but very
little
can be said for

"
"
conventional figures," unless

" to
indeed
we take
''
conventional
mean
"
usual," which'
it
only rarely does.
The word
and
conventional
"
means
" according to habit,"
refers to the deficiencies
consequent upon a reliance
upon present knowledge, without

probability
any thought of the

be made.
of error,
or
of insuflficiency of information.
But a
closer
definition even than that has to

"
We
do not apply the term

deficiency
conventional
" unless there is
some
action,
of expression.
is
Figures are always in
and there
consequently some correspondence

If,
between action and form which must be shown.

ever,
howit
one draws the form one knows, without making

is
correspond to the right action, one

to no purpose.
guilty of delineating
One then
(as
it
renders the form from habit, and

is
not from a desire to express, and the result
conventional.
And
to
if it
be urged
if
sometimes
relies
is)
one's
work
is
sure
be conventional
is
one
upon knowledge, then the
two important matters are overlooked. Of these the first is that when one relies upon knowledge one yet is animated by a desire to express, and does not
reply
that
draw a
the
line unless
it
serve that purpose.
And
is
secondly,
artist's
power of acquiring knowledge
unbounded.
facts,
The eye
is
at a glance can acquire a

all
whole volume of
enough to freshen
or communicate.
artist
is
the stale notions in one's head.
It
only part of one's knowledge that one can write down,

It is
indeed in this particular that the

different
placed
upon a footing so
from the
than the
professors of other liberal pursuits.
The
Classic
Figure
is
nothing more or
less
delineation of a
body capable of easy and equal action
I02
THE CLASSIC FIGURE

It is a
the form arising from the possibilities of action.

perfect
ization.
body without
differentiation, without
individual-
No
one who has made
any study of Greek

It
art will
hesitate to say that the Greeks carried the treatment of the

figure to the highest perfection.
cannot be claimed that

soul,
they gave to their figures the expression of the

far as the
but so
rendering of the body with the greatest beauty

since.
and nobility went, they succeeded as none have

separated
fortunes.
The explanation seems man from man
to
me
to be this.
The Greeks
according to his actions, or his
Fortune and misfortune are the outside actions
bearing upon the individual, and are consequently of the
same nature
as his
own
is
actions.
It is
true they granted

bold,
men
passions
is
Ajax
life
hot-tempered, recklessly
Ulysses
attitude
crafty, or wise
is
but
the
in each, as in all cases, the
towards
same.
The healthy
well-
developed
man
or
pursues the ordinary course, swayed by
this or that defending, or opposing, divinity,
and battling
with
these,
taking
advantage
of
those, accidental
circumstances.
It
becomes, therefore, the exploit that makes the man,

is
who
identified
by the emblems appropriate

all
to his several
little
ventures.
Otherwise
men
are
alike,
heavier
limb for Hercules, a slenderer form for Mercury, activity
and strength
in
for
Mars, and so on.
Now whether this

Greek
It
be true of the delineation of personages

it
literature,
idle to
certainly
is
of their representation in
art.
were
say there were no expression in Greek

;
sculpture
all
in
Scopas particularly
but
is it
expression after
when compared with the work

?
of,
is
say, Donatello, or
Rodin
It is
not.
At
the best
if
it
pure physical exit is
pression, not emotional, or even
we
grant that,
the
Plate
IV.
THE MUSE. Drawing in sanguine of .the time of Hogarth.
ITo/mt fagt
X09.
THE CLASSIC FIGURE

expression of emotions
103
common
to
all
men, though the
circumstances give some degree of special intensity

in the
as
Laocoon.
All the gods, heroes, and

the
men
of Greek art would act in
same way upon a given
occasion, assuming that their
distinguishing characteristics did not interfere, but in the

art of more recent times the individuals
would act
it
differently
even when
all
conditions were equal, for
seems a postulate
of modern art that the characters shall be so drawn that
they will appear of a temperament, and nature, different,
on
all
occasions, from
art
other men, while the postulate of
Greek
seems to be that personages are the same, except

therefore, to
insist
for casual variations.
The modern work seems,

temperament, and
accidental), while the
I
it
on the
not on the action
(which
becomes
Greek
insists
on the
action.
should not have speculated upon these differences were
not instructive and valuable to the artist to approach his
studies
upon some plan which
assists
him.
For
do not
the
think
it
can be denied that he
who would conquer
figure, Greek-wise,
should insist on action and sacrifice

it,
everything else to
while he
to
who would
life's
follow the
moderns must
strive
represent a
all.
history in
man who
is
doing nothing at
Now
all this will
be of
little
value
it
if
we do not
falls
separate
the part of our subject (whatever
may
all
be) which falls to

to the
the classic or Greek side, from that which

side.
modern
We
are living at a time
when
the streams from before us the
the past meet, and
we cannot again have
simple tasks which the limited outlook of former times
imposed upon the

tasks are
classes of
artists of those days.
complex they are
divisible into the
Yet though our two great

All
which we have been speaking.
men
are
104
alike
THE CLASSIC FIGURE
all
men
are different
these
are the
two mottoes,
and we have
to see to
which our subject tends.
Greek Mythology because the Greeks dignified every-day passions and actions, and
revert so constantly to
We
made them the ruling characteristics of heroes and gods. The Greek way to represent learning is by Athene (Minerva), the Gothic vvay if one may use the convenient contrary term, without too much regard for its strict truth
would
represent
it
by
Aristotle,
Erasmus, or Bacon, by
Byzantine, the figures
any one who was of the

Sometimes, as
in the
right sort.
work we
call
are fairly straight
up and down.
In later work up to the

side,
time of Michael Angelo the figures bend from side to

as though the head
and the feet remained at the same distance from the spectator, and this kind of posing is the most general. From Michael Angelo's time till the end of
the eighteenth century, there was, however, a great fashion
for
figures
considerably foreshortened
the
head
being
nearer to or farther from the spectator than the heels.
This play of movement

it
is
by no means
artist.
it
to be despised, but
it
is
doubtful whether in the more violent phases

service to
is
of
any great
the
It
does not add very
greatly to his resources, while
tempts him to use poses

his subject,
which are beyond the needs of

consequently disturb the
diminish the force.
interest.
and which
They add
violence, but
At
the same time one cannot but admire the
skill often
displayed,
and
reflect
that
many modern
compositions
suffer because the artists

facility that is
cannot handle the figure with the
needed when such poses are attempted.
Of
all
our modern painters, the ablest, the late Mr.
Watts, could deal most successfully with such attitudes.
He
could arrange his figures with the greatest ease, and
THE SINGLE FIGURE

could therefore interpret his subject better.
lOS
Moreover, he
lacked vanity, and so was not continually trying to show

his cleverness.
In this matter of foreshortening

that
it is
it is
let it
be clearly noted
is
not the ability to foreshorten that
so necessary,
the power to think in foreshortening, and herein lay a
great deal of Watts's strength.
This foreshortening affects the drapery as well as the

figure.
Watts
could
project
his
drapery
forward (as
Tintoret could) edgewise, so as to suggest space beneath,

above, and
among
it.
The tendency among

"classic''
artists is to
treat drapery,
especially
drapery, as hanging
down
heavily.
12.
The
Single Figure.
A
to
its
FIGURE
action,
should, of course, only be posed in relation

its
and
action ought to be sensible.
The
artist
requires to be something of an actor,

realize the attitude
and to be able to
which a person Would adopt when
engaged
in
any
particular occupation.
little
The
artist begins,
not unnaturally, with too

particularly
actions.
knowledge.
He
forgets
how elbows
its
turn out and 'turn in with different
He
expects the figure to
move
like
an articulated
plane,
lay figure, keeping
arms and
legs in the
same
and
does not
make
sufficient
allowance for the apparently
trivial details
of posing.
In the next place the artist gets into a habit of posing

his figures according to
some standard of the harmonious

in
and graceful which

where.
Further,
is
the artistic atmosphere every-
a figure in
no sooner does a capable artist successfully pose some striking attitude, or some general attitude,
I06
THE SINGLE FIGURE

artists
than unconsciously other
begin using the same pose.
The pose
again.
thus gets accepted
and does duty again and

in
In the Greek
sculptures
the British
Museum
left
one sees the stock poses recurring, then again on the

vases,
and on the bronzes.
One such
attitude has the
foot raised
left
upon a stone and the
right wrist resting on the
knee.
The back
is
of course
Poses which,
tional,
in this
way, are
somewhat bent. often used become conven-
and
as
tliey ar6 so often

till
repeated that the artists take
them
above suspicion,
they gradually lose a good
deal of their real relation to action.
Two such
the
little
conventional poses are given on Plate XVII.

'
in
wood-cut
Unum
Nihil' from Alciafs Emblems.
The
think
soldier with the lance
we
all
know, and
do not
below
we any of
us dare draw.
lance,
With
and the
is
the shield
and the hand well up the
line of the lance
coming down
gentleman
to the feet, there

is "
produced a balanced
arrangement which
too good to be true."
The learned
is less worn out. He holds his drapery before him in an approved manner, and the direction of his head and hand balance him admirably. There can be no doubt that all artists must begin with conventional poses indeed,
;
although they
that such
is
may
think the contrary,
it
is
pretty certain
is
the
fact.
In one sense a conventional pose
simply
pose
which one
it
has
mastered, mastered so
thoroughly that
pressive.
is
easily handled,
and so rendeied ex-
Soon, however, the

will
artist will
grow impatient
can he do
(or
he should do so) and doing duty again
become
tired of the
same thing
?
and again.
What
He
can only extend his knowledge, and the

of the sameness of his productions, that
started in quest of other forms.
moment he tires moment he has

have persever-
He must
ance, for there
is
nothing so easy as to delude oneself with
Plate V.
FIGURE HOLDING THE CROSS.

Chiaroscuro in three blocks, printed in green and yellow, by A. M. Zannetti
{circa 1720).
iTa/nce pa
106.

THE SINGLE FIGURE
the notion that one wants the old
107
form,
conventional
whereas what one wants
is
probably to be
if
rid of difficulty.
from grace. been
When Cromwell lay He was
dying he asked
assured that a
in a state of grace
could not
fall
a man could fall man who had ever from it. Upon this
assurance being communicated to him he expressed his joy,

for
he said he knew he had once been

fares
it
in
a state of grace.
How
with the
artist ?
Is
he not unhappily liable to
upon his past grow conventional ? I have already said that forms drawn from memory, from one's own idea
satisfied,
become
to cease striving, to rest
acquirements
to
of things (which gives a kind of conventionality to one's

creations),
should not be condemned for being conven-
tional so long as they
have expression.
For what better
can the
artist
do than express?
His means are at once

is
authorized.
Their conventionality
not noticed.
Indeed very often a foolish conventional pose can be set

right,
not by any change in

at.
itself,
but by giving the figure

is
something to look
turn of the head.
The
chief conventionality
in the
To
face the
body one way and

it
to turn
the head another balances the pose.
Into this habit of reversing the action

fall,
is
it,
best not to
or rather perhaps
it
is
best to
is
fall
into
and then to
fall
out of
it
it
again, for there
danger that he who does
not acquire
has missed something.

is
This reversal
seen in the
'
Drawing of the time of
Hogarth,' Plate IV.
action further than the twist of the neck.
Note that the eyes are carrying the Not unfrequently

in order that the subject
the eyes are looking in an opposite direction to the head

often in old portraits
nt the spectator.
may
look
the
We
is
have to be careful of
this, for
direction of the eyes
of the greatest importance, and a
false direction (considering the
posing of the figure) will
I08
THE SINGLE FIGURE

of the neck that
give artificiality to the design, and a silly expression to the

figure.
It is the turn
is
so seductive.
It
reverses (and therefore balances) the figure
which
it
is
pro-
bably a technical advantage

character of the figure
-which
but
is
it
may
ruin the dramatic
a disadvantage certainly.
is
Referring again to the drawing in Plate IV.,
inter-
esting to note that apparently the artist thought of putting cushions, or

left.
some such form, on the right as well as on The remains of a charcoal line suggest this.
extraordinary pose
is
the
An
At
for a
that of Zannetti's, Plate V.

it is
first
one does not realize how utterly impossible

to get hold of a cross as this figure
is
man
doing.
Balancing the attitude, and getting a pleasing variety into

the positions of the limbs has led the artist far beyond the bounds of possibility.
It
was
in
managing
attitude that Sir
so high.
poses.
He
was able to give dignity

is
John Millais towered and beauty to simple

one turns from
Usually there
not
much
effect.
turn of he'ad, and the
eyes are not rolled round for
When
such a simple and quiet figure as this of Millais on the

opposite page to the figures of Michael Angelo in the
Sistine Chapel, one
wonders what one
is
to think.
There
are violent poses,
and the reasons are not always very

applies to the figures on the
for so
apparent.
The same
is all
of the Medici.
There seems no reason

right.
Tombs much twist.
Yet the
itself
twist
Not
as a record of the action a
figure takes
when doing something, but the action which in means something apart from any appropriateness.
Michael Angelo, indeed, used the figure as Beethoven used

sound, and none whose minds are not bound by rules
(which cannot apply to every effort of the

fail
human mind) will

their
to appreciate the work.
In the followers of Michael
Angelo the posing became over-posing, because
work
THE SINGLE FIGURE
109
no
THE SINGLE FIGURE

his.
had not the mental sanction of Hke Homer, nodded.

this respect,
He
too sometimes,
whose works are of a similar kind in The examples reproduced in the Appendix are decidedly excessive in posing, and without the Blake inspiration would be ludicrous. To any one,
Another
artist,
is
Blake.
however,
who has
troubled to read Blake's train of thought,
the designs need no excuse.
When we compose
course to get
a
tall
a single-figure subject
it
we have
of
i.3
all
our form out of
alone.
If our space
rectangle our figure, in a normal position, will occupy

it,
the middle of
with a space at either side, as in the

19.
designs on pages i8 and
Our conditions may permit

if
an arrangement as formal as these; but even
they do,
we
shall
have to consider the outside, or silhouette, shape

Perfectly symmetrical, with face and eyes
us,
of the figure.
looking straight out towards

figure
and arms symmetrical, the
may
be under certain circumstances.
Such circum-
stances arise from (i) the architectural needs, and (2) the
characters of the persons.
The
architecture will hardly
ever object to so formal a treatment, only indeed where

conditions vary.
Such
variation
is
present in the beautiful
caryatid portico of the Erechtheium at Athens (copied at

St.
Pancras Church).
Wherever there
is in
is
an outside
is
(as at
the two ends of a row of figures) there

conditions,
a difference of
and there consequently
the caryatid portico.
In
it
the four figures are symmetrically reversed
a standpxcept,
ing leg always being to the outside.
Viollet-le-Duc has
Lectures,
emphasized
therefore,
this
arrangement
in
his
when the
architecture necessarily
makes the
sides different
from the middle, the same arrangement
serves throughout.
The
character of
the
persons, however,
makes
rigid
THE SINGLE FIGURE

exactness seldom possible.
angels can
'
III
Only,
think, in the case of
it
'
be done.
in the
I
The
angels in Blake's beautiful
Sons of God
Job
think,
series are practically all alike.
Archangels must,
be differentiated, they have

with the architecvertical, horizontal,
19.
separate characters and functions.
When
figures are alike
we
deal
first
tural lines of them.
We
have to adjust
and slanting
lines, as in
the design on page
Our next effort will be to introduce flowing lines, and we may commence with merely revising the symmetrical
condition,
'
and achieve something

1 3.
like the central figure in
In Vigilantiam Regis,' page
Or we may
decide upon an unsymmetrical arrangement
of curves, as in the design on page 43.
We
then find our-
selves turning the figure to the three-quarter view,
and
balancing the action by reversing the direction of the
upper from the lower part of the

form on
figure,
and balancing
by form on that. In so doing, and in order to so

this side
continually in an andante
do, we pass our hands movement over and throughout
the figure, keeping the parts in relation to one another,
and constantly returning to the chief points again and

again.
Not
forgetting also that andante does not

is
mean
to
always one uniform pace, but that the movement
be
calm and progressive, not
loitering,
though at times
linger-
ing, as at others hastening.
As
light
the artist designs his single figures he cannot but be
at times harassed
by
suspicions that the bent leg (with

leg),
its
on the thigh and shadow on the

his
'"
the
arm
across
the body, the extended hand, and the curved neck are
sometimes arising from

subject.
composition," not from his

like
He must
simply keep on thinking,
an actor,
of his subject.
112
GROUPING
Often, of course, the side view greatly helps the artist

It
gives
him boldly-curved
lines, as in
the designs on pages
20 and 47.
13.
Grouping.
will
The
shape of a group
be determined by various
circumstances incidental to the action of the figures, but

the most generally used are the triangular, the vertical
and horizontal
ovals, the pear-shaped,

in
and the pentagonal.
These forms are
accordance with the laws of stability
The
Triangular form of Group.
and the
the top
rule that the

rule
most important part

equality of action.
is
generally at
which implies subordination.

is
Symmetry
triangular.
will exist
where there
Very frequently the form of the group has been

It
is
indeed
hardly possible to avoid the broad base in

is
many
cases where the triangle
not symmetrical (as
in
the second example here).
the one side, must receive

the balance.
The vacant space above, on some element in order to restore
Within the group the
lines of the figures will fall into a
harmonious arrangement, radiating tangentially with one

another or from the chief points of interest in the group.
GROUPING
The
result
is
113
a linear dance from point to point, including

all
is
and embracing
of line to line
the figures.
best secured
This harmonious relation
by working
at the
same
time upon
all
those which
think should be connected.
we The
of a
hand being
curve
it
as
it
were
full
has just drawn, will carry

it
some of
into the next line,
and
so the unity of the whole will be

established.
The
lines
must
run
boldly
intery-^_,
round and about the forms,
locking them, and always making

(enclosing)
good shapes.
This
is
Lines in harmonious relation.
well exemplified in the outlines
here given from two groups of Greeks and

the
Amazons from
them energy,
interest.
Temple of Nike Apteros.
There
is
in
vigour,
and prompt insistence on points of
Groups from the Temple of Nike Apteros.
Parallelism
is
a means of producing harmony, but also of

if
mimicry, and consequently we rarely
ever see
it
among
the lines of a group, or of a whole composition.
Exception
I
must, however, be
made
in
favour of the vertical and
114
GROUPING
horizontal lines, which have an architectural significance,
and add to the stabihty of the design.

Lines to be radiating need not necessarily be traced
right to a point of contact, for
parallel
sometimes they become
and would never meet.
But
it
is
not necessary
that either this region of parallelism or the point of contact should be within the design.
The eye
it.
will
be drawn
the
toward the conclusion of the system, but the attention
may
be turned by a line crossing
Sometimes,
if
Lines tending upward gathered together by a line across the top.
lines radiate
upwards, the line of heads at the top of the
group
is sufficient,
by reason of the greater

;
interest of the
if not,
heads, to gather in the converging lines
but
line,
or lines, must be contrived in the accessories, as

tree in the
by the
accompanying design.
it
The gathering
line
may
it
be curved, or
may
not, but care
must be taken that
leads the eye in the right direction, not out of the design,
but back to some important part of
it.
The drapery
head
is
which
in
some
.styles
is
fluttered over the
a kind
of gathering line as well as a "halo" around the head.
GROUPING
In the design
'
"S
Corona
gloriae,'
Plate VI., the hnes of the
figures are gathered together
by the Hnes of the wings, and
by the
the
haloes.
the figures are to be combined in one action, more constantly should the lines of one lead to the lines of another and back again. But if one figure of the group is in any way separated in thought or action from the others, the lines of that one should tend to return upon
themselves, or to diverge into the other parts of the design.
The more
This separation will be produced by not drawing the figure
A
at
pose reversed.
the
same time
as the others,
and only occasionally

it
allowing the pencil to wander from

It is useful to
to them.
remember that we can

its
it
reverse a figure
from front to back without altering

only reverses the figure,
outline.
This not
of course reverses the action.

face the audience
As one
is
tends always to
make everybody
It is
this facility is
welcome.
not bad, therefore,
when one
drawing a composition to make a point of trying to
reverse a figure or two.

It is
sometimes urged of Fred. Walker's designs that

are linked
his figures
together too
artist's
palpably.
It
seems
that he had the professional
eye for the quality
Il6
GROUPING
possibilities of his craft,
and
attaclced his subjects with that straightforward

fident vigour that characterized Millais.
his grace
If,
and he does not seem to have and conconsequently,

it is
becomes a
little
sidtly
because he introduced
a degree of positive line which would have served better

in
artists
more architectural surroundings. He is one of the few whose faults are also virtues, for who would wish Walker had used his " linked grace " less ? We must avoid having two groups of equal value in the
third,
composition unless they are both dominated by a

unless,
indeed,
we somewhat
architecturally
treat
the
subject and succeed in dividing the one from the other.
Equality of value comes rather from equality of persons,
and equality of emphasis upon them, rather than from

equality of area.
In Plate III.
'
is
reproduced a drawing by Rowlandson,

It is
Traveller setting Forth.'
drawn with the reed pen

His
facility in
in colour
and
tinted delicately.
in
it,
grouping
is
very well seen

present.
and
all
the tricks of the trade are
The
is
lines
of the group, of which the young
woman
another
the chief attraction, flow and reflow into one
well.
top, lines
child's
flow
The four heads are grouped together at the down to the young woman's foot. The
arm emphasizes the curve upon which the heads occur, it also leads on to the old man on the right. The upright post gives a valuable line. Between it and the border the old man and his dog form a " curvy " pattern.
Without the upright post this old man would fall into the main group, and then something would have been needed
further to the right to balance the
man on
horseback.
As
in all
good compositions, so
here, the groups alter-
nately absorb the attention, and must have balances at

either side.
Therefore on either side of the
man on
horse-
Plate VI
MB'
'""^
GROUPING
117
o
^
!-
-a
CM
CU pa
Il8
THE SPECTATOR
is
IN RELATION TO
THE SUBJECT
group
back
the dog and the group.
On
either side of the
the two old men.
On
either side of the girl the
young
men and
the old man.
Since the traveller looks toward

If the traveller looked forward,
the right, so does his dog.
so should the dog, for the interest would begin to run to

the
left.
In that case the cottages would be valuable;

is
now
one of them
not wanted, as the interest does not get
down
there.
14.
The
Spectator
in
Relation to the Subject.

is
The
relation of the spectator to the scene delineated
of considerable importance.
Properly the scene will only

is
appear real
if
the perspective
accurate.
There
is
per-
spective of course in a figure as

reality
is
much
as in a building, and
not gained without
it.
The
for
artist
has to decide then whether he

is
is
it
far
is
from or
near to the people he
drawing.
Broadly
is in
sufficient
him only
to determine
if
whether he
the same scene

is
with the figures, as

little
one of them, whether he

them, as
if
some
distance
from
he were merely the
them and not one of them, or thirdly, whether beyond his reach. If the subject should seem to demand the artist's presence, then the perspective will be rapid, as it would be were he in the room with the persons. If the figures are of celestial personages, or of mythical beings, and a remoteness is more appropriate, then the perspective will
spectator of
the figures are
be
less
sudden.
size,
In near perspective the figures rapidly diminish in

in distant perspective the figures diminish
in
size
only
slowly.
So that
if
we
are representing
will
persons close
in
behind one another they
be hardly different
height
THE SPECTATOR
in the long-distance
IN RELATION TO
THE SUBJECT
II
perspective, but will vary greatly in
the short-distance example.
The
reader will not forget that according to the laws

is
(and the acts) of perspective, the spectator's eye

the right angle of a right-angled
triangle
at
whose other
for
corners
are
at
the
reciprocal
vanishing points
to
say,
if
a
is
rectangular
object.
That
is
the
artist
drawing a house to be used as an

positions on
illustration in a book,
he must see that the vanishing points of

(or,
be the limits
angle.
If
it come at those more probably, off) the page which would of two lines meeting at the eye in a right
the vanishing
is
too quick, so that the vanishing
points are not as far apart as they should be, the illusion
which perspective should create

brought down near the paper.
is
not gained
till
the eye
is
The
if
greater the
distance of the spectator before the

in size will
picture, the
more equal
feet
the figures be.

it
Thus,
one figure be six
behind another,
will
appear very
is
much
if
smaller than the figure in front,

it
if
the spectator
it
near; but
will
be much more equal with

is
in size,
the
spectator
further
away.
The diagram
will
illustrate this,
and
will
demonstrate the
fact that if the
proportion between the distance of the one figure backward,
and of the spectator forward, be maintained, the figures will be precisely the same size although at different distances. In both diagrams the pavement is in squares of one foot.
In A, the rear figure
the spectator
is
is
6 feet behind the forward one, while

In
B,
12 feet before that.
the measure-
ments are 9
the
It
feet
and 18
feet; thus while the figures are
same
is,
size in both, a greater
depth
is
suggested
in B.
of course, in height only that the figures are alike,
the different perspective will affect the drawing of
them
120
if it
THE SPECTATOR
leave the
in
IN RELATION
TO THE SUBJECT
if
height the same.

B, at
Similarly,
a figure
were placed
it
the limit of 6 feet on the ground,
vvouid be
much
larger than the figure at 6 feet in A.

this,
The
facts thus
brought out amount to

there
is
that figures
between
which
some depth of distance may
Effect of short (a)
and long
(b) distance perspective.
be kept approximately equal
in
size, if
the
spectator
be regarded as
far in front of the picture.
To
gain the
proper illusion due to perspective the eye should be only six inches from the middle of the above diagram A, and
nine inches from the middle of diagram B.
fore, is right for a
Neither, there-
book
illustration, for
one rarely brings
THE SPECTATOR
IN
RELATION TO THE SUBJECT
121
the eye nearer to a book than twelve inches.
Indeed we
must be
careful
to
avoid drawing a perspective which
requires the spectator to
come nearer
it.
to the picture than

first
he can to conveniently view
We
must
determine
what distance
from, whether
will
it
be convenient for the work to be seen
be a large decorative piece, a picture, or a
book
and
ject,
illustration.
And
then
we must by means
is
of right
angles at the eye, in that position,

left
throw out to right

necessary.
our vanishing points so far as

is
station-point too near
annoying, and belittles the sub-
while a remote station-point merely
makes the design
monumental.
and renders
is
While long-distance perspective thus flattens the design it more suitable for permanent decoration, it
appropriate in these works for another reason, namely,
that
we expect
is
to
view persons represented in monu-
mental, that
distance.
feel
large,
permanent, decorative works, at a
But
picture painters generally try to
make
us
we
are with the persons represented,

it
and therefore
use short-distance perspective, and
must be said that

it
some measure of
deceiving illusion
deception, even
if
be only the unis
of the most linear of perspective,
welcome.
The
His
decorative artist must frequently adopt the system

figures, a
of a single plane of
processional
treatment.
background
in
such
as
case
is
becomes
merely a
"ground," and as often

colour.
not
in gold, or a single
Very often inexperienced persons spoil their compositions by beginning with a single plane of figures, and work out their subject to a considerable extent upon it, and then begin to add a recessed background. Now a recessed background implies a recessed treatment throughout, and
'
122
THE SPECTATOR
IN RELATION TO
THE SUBJECT
should frankly,
a definite scheme of perspective.
The
it
artist
and
at once, fix his
background either as a distance, or as

ground
should be so treated at
a ground.
If
it is
to be a
the beginning that the eye cannot begin to form distance
where none
scroll
is
intended.
conventional form, as a flying

lettering serves to prevent
placed in the sky, or
some
I.
St,
Luke, Mosaic at Ravenna

3.
2.
Correggio's
'
Ecce
Homo
Death of Aigisthos from a Greek
vase.
the
distance
forming.
The
scroll
can be taken
away
afterwards.
The
to
reason for the failure against which

is
guard
this,
is
we
are trying
^the
processional, or one-plane, kind of
composition
generally drawn in accordance with a very
distant station-point, or with a station-point shifting along,
as
if
each figure were viewed separately.
The landscape
THE GROUND PLAN

background
is
123
fixed and less
feels that that
generally drawn as
if
more
remote station-point were employed.

is
One
Moses and Jethro' (Plate XX.). The station-point for the group seems to be lower down than that for the landscape. One feels that there are two
the case with Bernard's
'
points of sight.
The three diagrams, many variations of the down upon
here given together, illustrate as use of perspective.
No. 2
is
in
short-distance perspective, and
we
are definitely looking

left.
the swooning figure on the
In No.
at
all.
there can hardly be said to be
any perspective
is
The
position of the feet indicates that either the point of sight

is
very low down or else the station-point

I
very distant.
No.
well
exhibits a legitimate subterfuge which has been, and
will be, constantly
employed.
In order to get the figure
up the panel (upon the principle that the noblest part should be at the top), and at the same time avoid an aggressive foreground, the figure is perched up on ledges of rock. Steps are the general means by which this effect is
obtained.
Sometimes deep distance can be avoided by using a

screen, perhaps of trees, or architecture.
15.
The Ground
Plan.
In a purely decorative scheme, of, say, the four evanThe gelists, there is no ground plan worth mentioning.
figures
If,
occur
on the
is
same plane
at
regular intervals.
however, our panel
so isolated as to permit a measure
of inequality of position, then
we have a more
pictorial piece
and our plan can be varied. In the design, 'The Learned caught by Love,' from
124
THE GROUND PLAN

is
Alciafs Emblems, the composition
mainly symmetrical,
but on one side there are two figures, on the other only
one.
That one
is
is
the more important.
The
plan
plan con-
sequently
'
not quite symmetrical.

there
is
In another design,
The
Council,'
a symmetrical
extending
toward the spectator.
Both these designs are on Plate

In
XIV.
in
the Appendix.
each the central figure
is
the most symmetrical
part of the design and acts as a
THE GROUND PLAN

members.
This
is
125
is still
supposing that the action
pro-
ceeding, but
will
if it is
about to terminate, the arrangement
become somewhat scattered. If the chief person be more toward one side of the group, the persons on the other side must either express some impatience, or must exhibit less interest. Those on the skirts of the group
directed
may be
talking
among
we
themselves, or apparently preparing
to depart.
In this design
encircled
see
the
head
of the
chief
figure
by an oval of heads, from which
tangentially
An
Exposition.
another
line
through the heads of the figures on the right
leads toward the doorway.
The
progress outward of the

to the
eye
is
arrested
by the arch and jamb and thrown

reaches the radiating lines of the
floor,
where
it
floor,
and
so
is
brought back to the group.
The
lines here given for
the figures are merely propositions.
If the figures
conform
brought
somewhat
to
them
it
will
be
sufficient.
Several vertical
lines are similarly introduced,
and
lines are also
from the corners.
A view taken
give us the
in line
with the centre of the group will

in
chief figure
the
middle, and
the other
126
THE GROUND PLAN

either side
;
members equally arranged on

almost at the right or
of
'
a view taken at
right angles to the middle line will give the chief figure
left
extreme.
is
In Raphael's cartoon
The Charge
to Peter,' Christ
becoming separated
left
;
from the group.
He
in
is
at the
less
extreme
interest
the figures at
those in the
the extreme right
show
than
middle.
It
is
we
feel
that in a
every way a masterly moment the separation
composition, and
will
be complete,
m ff/m.
An
Admonition,
and that the composition
assume that form so ably used by Mr. Orchardson, wherein one important figure on one side is balanced against a group of less important ones
will
on the other.
To keep the interest within a group, the outer figures may present the same curve or line on either side thus two figures may be both seated, one on each side of and
;
facing the centre
of
the
group, and providing by their
THE GROUND PLAN

bent backs symmetrical curves.
127
is
This
in
accordance
with the principle of radial composition, as described on
page
73.
Even
appears
Vide 'The Last Supper,' page 79. when the general effect is symmetrical and
almost processional, the
plan
has
its
figures
is
directed toward a focus.

"
In such a case the perspective

is
long distance," and the point of sight
kept low.
The
feet
consequently are
all
much on
level.
The
figures
The
Prisoner.
must, however, be properly related, and must have room to
stand on, and must stand where they can
see. properly.
Very
often indeed the plan
is
more or
it.
less circular,
and
the figures occupy positions upon
Sometimes, again,
the figures are at the corners of a triangle, as in the composition
'An Admonition.'
line across the
Usually we can draw a
space occupied by
the plan, and this gives us the direction of the interest.
In 'The Prisoner' that unfortunate person and the ray of

light indicate the direction of the action, with the
column
128
as a pivot
THE GROUND PLAN

upon which the plan can be turned about. In brought forward, and the window
this instance the figure is
sent
back.
We
thus have a sort of steel-yard arrangeis
ment.
The
principle of the steel-yard
that
small
weight at a distance from the fulcrum balances a large

weight near to
Ships
at Sea.'
in
it.
similar composition
is
that of
'
The
Except
very formal compositions
it is
not possible to
reduce the planning to any useful
rule.
We
can only
The
Ships at Sea.
record the fact

clear groups at
side, so that the
that
compositions sometimes consist of
which the spectator looks, from the outnearest figures have their backs to him,
if
sometimes of half such a plan, as

front of the picture.
figures are
the centre were at the
In
in
some
cases,
when
this
is
done the
This
arranged
a semicircle stretching from one

picture.
side to the other,

is,
and bending back into the
of course, a formal arrangement, suitable to large decor-
ative work.
Within the space
in front of the semicircle
may
be some chief point of

see in Raphael's
'
interest.
Such an arrangement we
Dispute of the Sacrament.'
THE GROUND PLAN

The
tit)
In works of a less formal character the semicircle

less regularly kept.
is
difficulty in all
such cases
is
to
prevent the figures appearing to pose behind the footlights,
as
if
on show.
Even the introduction of a backis
view
in
the foreground does not save one from this danger.

really to deal with the matter
The only way
to keep
Abraham and
the Three Angels.
The plan blocked
out.
accessories
up
to the foreground, accessories too of a kind
that can be supposed to continue further forward.
In the
eighteenth century they started off with a strip of dark

foliage, like a front piece of scenery.
It failed
chiefly, I
it is
think, because
it
was too
notice
like a strip of scenery,

it.
indeed
only then that we
If we commence by merely planning out the situation and the persons, we proceed, perhaps, as in the first sketch
I30
here given of
THE GROUND PLAN

Abraham and
is
the Angels.
The
plan
is
on
the ground, and each figure
put into perspective accord-
ing to the line on the ground representing the direction of

his shoulders.
None
of the figures here are twisted.

all
The
angels are regarded as
alike in importance,
and Abra-
ham
consequently addresses the middle of the group.
Abraham and
the Three Angels.
The
previous illustration developed.
If
we develop
the composition from this rigid arrange-
ment we obtain the second drawing.

that the face of the patriarch
If
is lost.
We
note, however,
we
retain
the figures
in
their
positions but
will
turn
Abraham's head
addressing the
to a profile
view he
to
us.
seem
to
be
angel
nearest
He may
thus be
addressing Barachiel
according to
legend this archangel
was the one who spoke
(for Barachiel is held
sometimes
THE GROUND PLAN
131
132
THE GROUND PLAN
THE GROUND PLAN

to be
33
among
the archangels) and
it
would thus be per-
missible to represent
Abraham
as speaking to one instead
of speaking generally to the three.

If,
however,
it
should appear best for him to address the

to the side.
three collectively, and yet be in side view, then the angels
must be brought
If that
is
is
shown
in
done the angels can form a narrow group, as the composition. There also the angels are
made more united in action than they are in the previous designs. They all participate in the action, and are, as it
were,
all
giving him their tidings at the same moment.

situation, impossible in actual
life,
Such a
is
eloquent in
For the limitations of the powers of delineative art would degrade two angels from their office, if one spoke, while that one would gain unnecessary importance.
painting.
No priority of importance is mentioned in the text, which only speaks of " three men," who say and do everything in
common.
is
The crouched
attitude of
Abraham
likewise
in
excess of the story, according to which he did not
realize the nature of his visitors.

ties to
His very marked
civiliis
them, however, indicate a subordination which
in
keeping with the significance of the incident.
Should the three men have wings

one wishes to keep closely to the
the
They were
evi-
dently messengers and the wings are appropriate, unless

text, or to
emphasize
human
character.
The
it
addition of wings sets one at

in spiritual history,
It is
once upon the subject as an incident
and induces one to

story, or
treat
from that point of view.
a question indeed whether
we
are representing the bare

its
whether we are illustrating

subject
is
significance.
in Plate
The same
treated
by Bernard
XX.

THE ELEMENTS AVAILABLE
134
6.
The Elements
may
Available.
The
is
status of an artist
almost be determined by
his composition
his choice
and use of the elements of which

of course
in
made
There
up.
is
every subject an irreducible miniwithout.

for
mum a
Even
number of things which cannot be done

is
within this narrow limit there
range enough
the inventive and careful draughtsman
to exhibit his choice
and the saneness of his selection. It might indeed be said that the whole value of an artist's work depends upon the value placed upon his When the Florentines wished Leonardo to leave choice.
with them a memorial of himself {^s Vasari
tells us),
they
clearly thought so highly of his taste, of his choice both
of elements and their arrangement, that they felt some expression of his " soul " would be a very desirable possession.
The patron buys
the
artist,
is
not merely something

true,
the artist does or makes.

all fine art
is
If this
and
it is
true of
works, the selection of the elements to be used

first
one of the
essentials in art.
interest,
to,
There are elements of

of beauty.
and there are elements

and augment the
story,
The former belong
the latter, though not necessary in one sense,
endow
the
work with that noble quality which the eyes of thoughtful and observant men have always demanded.
the
The character of mood in which
the elements depends very

the
designs reproduced in
much on work is conceived. In all the this book from Alciats Emblems
by the same
artist
is
and the one or two
Biblical subjects
Solomon Bernard
there
a very considerable scantiness
THE ELEMENTS AVA1LAPI.B
J3S
2
pa
sa
p.
:k
la
136

If
of interest in the figures and accessories.

his designs with those for the
same
subjects
we compare by Diirer we
a similar
see that they are bald of all superfluous form, while Durer's
are elaborate.
elaboration,
In Burgmair's
work we
see, too,
or
even
over-elaboration.
We
can
only
account for the difference by supposing that the greater

stress
on movement was diminishing the delight

Holbein,
in rich
patterning.
who belongs
to the
same time
as
Bernard, was decidedly capable as a designer of ornament,

yet his wood-cuts have the same unelaborated character as
Bernard's.
not
The absence of organized make the whole design
pattern in the accessories does

deficient in pattern.
We see
in Blake's designs this fact well illustrated.
Blake based
his
work on movement, but conceived the subjects as bathed and shimmering light. He was very capable in making patterns, but the ruling motif of his work was movement. The fine design by Frederick Sandys here reproduced is a good instance of well-chosen elements. It was a principle among the old masters to show as
in colour
much
of a figure as possible.
.
This was, perhaps, due

figure
is
to the fact that the
more completely a
its
shown,
the more completely will
personality be realized.
in
The
observance of this principle was so general

art
decorative
as to be almost imperative.
skill
It
is
remarkable with
what
them.
to
'
the old designers were able to group together

all
a number of figures, and yet show a great deal of
of
Raphael seems to have particularly endeavoured

figure.
show the whole length of the

Peter,'
Thus,
in his
Charge to
nearly
all
the figures are shown at
their full length,
and most of
his compositions are charac-
terized
by a similar treatment.
The worst example from

the old masters
in
is
137
'
perhaps the
'
Ecce
Homo
is
of Correggio,
our National Gallery.

but
all
The
Christ
a half-length
fact that in
its
figure,
the others are fragments.
The
its
this picture the
head of Mary Magdalene has
lower
part hidden, introduces that principle, by
violent dis-
regard of
it,
which seems to have been followed, almost
without exception, by the great masters

representation of the head.
for themselves.
the
complete
The
following analyses speak

fifty-
Raphael's 'School of Athens' contains

the faces of
nine heads,
all
which are complete, except

complete
four unimportant ones, which are cut off below the nose.
His Parnassus
' '
'
has twenty-eight heads

'
all
his
Dispute of the Sacrament
contains in the lower part
forty-one faces, of which only two very subordinate ones are partially hidden from below the nose.
Precisely the
;
same may be
fact there is
said of his other large
compositions
in
seldom a head of even secondary importance

It
which has not the whole of the face shown.

be supposed that such an arrangenient as
in conventionality,
might
this resulted
and that
in
ordinary nature such comIt

is,
pleteness would not be found.
however, one of the
tasks before the artist to deal with apparently unyield-
ing material.
If Raphael's
work were conventional, the show

he
charge could hardly be brought against Rembrandt's, but
an examination of
of a face
his elaborate compositions will
that he observed the principle of a complete representation
even more
rigidly than Raphael, because
generally allows himself very

in.
much less space to work Hundred Guilder print are forty figures, many necessarily represented by heads only. In the dark side of the plate are two heads, which are cut off below, but they are so dimly seen in the general gloom of that If these part, that it is difficult to make very much out.
In his
' '
138

is
two heads be omitted, there

and that so
the intention of the
figure.
;
only one face cut short,
slightly as not to interfere in the least with

It
is
that
of the
cripple
on the right of the centre

nose,
but only the tip
of
the
the
mouth, and the chin are hidden.
All
in
;
who
them
every
have
seen
Rembrandt's etchings
know
that
every face has a complete history written

person could, as
it
in it
were, be followed home, and the various

It is
circumstances of his condition be noted.
undoubtedly
because of this great interest, which he threw into every
and without which he could not draw them, that he endeavoured to show the features as completely as possible.
face,
It is
generally regarded as a rule, that attitudes indicating
violent action should be avoided.
Where
there
is
much
and
action there
is
generally considerable obliquity of
line,
this is apt to disturb the repose of the design.

is,
Movement
however, so important that

;
it
will
be well for the student
to disregard this rule

readily be cited.
to
which notable exceptions could
If a figure has to be elevated

its foot,
by an extra stone beneath

let
or to hold to a bough,
the part the foot rests
upon or hand holds be a lesser part of the stone or bough.
We
should avoid in decorative works placing one thing
before another, as
figure, for
when branches
it.
of a tree go behind a
such arrangements suggest distance and demand

It is well,
it
the expression of
however, for there to be

design
;
some overlapping,
parts
as
combines the
but the
crossed
should be as small
and
subordinate as
possible.
The same form should not be

That
is
repeated in a composition.
two heads should not be alike in position, nor should two bent arms meet at the elbows, forming
to say,
a kind of cross.

Nevertheless there are
139
many
instances of the repetition
of pose and form in classic examples.

are sculpture,
The
fact that
they
and occurring
are
in architectural settings,
account for their formality.
The
following analyses
interesting.
may may
the
be instructive, they
certainly
On
western pediment of the Parthenon,
we note
that the figure
Analysis of the Composition of figures on the Frieze from the Mausoleum.
of Cecrops
is
very similar to that of Ilissos which

the eastern pediment there
is
is
the
next to
varied
it.
On
a beautifully
the three at the other.

larity
symmetry between the three figures at one end and Then there is considerable simiIris,
between
which
is
the next at the
left
end, and
the cprresponding figure on the right.

In the fine frieze from the
there are
many
instances of very similar repetition.
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus The
I40
composition

falls
constantly into pyramidal arrangements
due to
figures fighting
toward one another.
These pyraThis triangle
midal arrangements have either an angle of 90 degrees at

the apex, or an angle of about 78 degrees.
is
approximately the same as the Egyptian triangle of

say.
which Viollet-le-Duc has so much to

the
In the frieze of
Mausoleum
It
is
it
occurs more frequently than the right
angle.
interesting to
full
note that where the action

is lost. is
becomes very
the
symmetry
at,
The
first
element of interest
the head.
of
if
little
The head
must be worth looking
and
it is
use spending
labour on the rest of the picture
the heads are not
Certain symmetrical figures on the Frieze of the
Temple
of
Nik4 Apteros.
interesting.
Of
course
is,
the
more
decorative,
it
the
more
ornamental the piece

lines, its
the more
will tell
its
great masses of colour, and
by its great movement, but

heads.
even with that saving clause the fact remains that the
artist
must
strive
above
all
things to
make good
feet,
We may add
too,
good hands and
because they are
so beautiful, and
because the hands are so expressive.

feet are
all
Frequently indeed the heads, the hands, and the

the only parts of the
body
seen,
and
it
becomes
the
more necessary
all
that they should be of great beauty, or at

full
events done with great reverence, and
of expression.
The drapery also is a valuable adjunct to the figure. With it we can reveal the action of the figures, and also the action of the breeze. So great indeed is its value in
this respect that the artist is in the matter.
under a special responsibility
I4I
We
sories.
have already seen that the
artist's
reputation, in
great measure, rests upon his choice of elements and acces-
He
has indeed to introduce
many
forms simply to
what Le Brun has done in his composition of 'The Death of Meleager.' The great mass of drapery is more to carry an oval composition up into the
cover his
field.
This
is
upper part than because
it
is
appropriate to the subject.
What
ative
is
gained by covering almost the whole of the figure
in the niche
on the wall, one can hardly

of
the
vases,
fruits,
tell.
The
not
decor-
value
etc.
will
escape
observation.
The death
phoses,
of Meleager closes the story of the
Hunt
of
the Calydonian Boar, as
we read
heroes
in
it
in Ovid's
Metamor-
Book Vni.
The
adventure are seen assembling

designs here reproduced.
tion
is
who engaged in that another of Le Brun's
This remarkably able composiIt is
very interesting.
divided vertically into three
compartments by four
foliage
trees,
which serve as columns. Their

in
expands across the upper part

is,
fairly horizontal
band, which
either side
however, slightly arched.

the
The
spears at
confine
composition within the middle.
The
chief interest
lies,
however, in the tree-forms and the

particularly
foreground.
The
trees
remind one of the
Brussels tapestries, but
we cannot
help noting that the

few,
ground
waning.
is
becoming barren, the plants are
and
it
is
clear that the artist's interest in
such natural forms
is
The
Flight
into
Egypt, from Diirer's 'Life of the
Virgin,' is beautiful both as
background and foreground.

at the base, nor the
is
We
must not overlook the pyramid

into a bordering arch
this belongs.
arching of the trees above.
This arch form
definitely
made
which
in six plates of the series to
This
is
reproduced in the Appendix.
143
S
ca
143
144

must not
differ
We
is
forget that
among
the elements available
character.
The
various
individuals
who make up
slightly,
humanity
one from another, sometimes but
generally very greatly. To make use of the young and the old, the gay and the sorrowful, the vicious and the
innocent,
is
merely to handle another set of the various

artist's
elements at the
command.
an object which most comIt is a
profile is that outline of

its
pletely reveals
character and form.
recognized
principle of decorative art that the form represented should
be as rapidly and easily understood as possible.

in
This
is
obedience to the feeling that the decoration must not

it
demand, because
can be given
cannot receive, more attention than
in a glance.
in
The
figures
must then be placed
towards the spectator,
such a manner as will present
least difficulty to their being understood.
An
examination
of historic pieces of decoration would exhibit the truth of

this statement.
In Greek vases, perhaps, which are
among
the most beautiful examples of figure decoration, there are
very few cases indeed of foreshortening.
they occur,
poses, in
it
is it
always
in
Where, however, some one of the few general

in
which
has been introduced

in
almost
all styles.
These are the
figures
;
front
view, with
arms almost
always spread out
the thighs foreshortened in the seated
front view of the figure,
and the three-quarter view of the

is
head.
this
is
Occasionally a foot
exceptional.
is
presented
in front view,
but
We
must note that a three-quarter

cannot
view of the head

view,
often preferable in decoration to a side
the delicate outline of which

In
always be
properly expressed.
the
other
view both the eye
and nose are seen

in full view, the
in
almost their simplest form

profile.
the
eye
nose in
EMPHASIZING PARTICULAR FIGURES
145
17.
Emphasizing Particular Figures,
Since
tention,
a composition cannot but consist largely of lines,

at-
which of necessity are very evident and attract the
and also of interesting elements,
it
follows that
the lines must be arranged in relation to the interesting

subjects.
lines
In short, there are things worth seeing, and the
which act as conductors must lead the eye to them.
If then
we wish
to
emphasize certain matters we must
adjust our lines accordingly.
We
find
that emphasis
is
always produced by the following

subject (whether the lines
by
lines
framing
in the
make
if
a rather square frame, or

;
a roundish one, or a frame of any form)
by
lines apit
;
proaching the subject, as

subject occurring
they radiated from
upon the trail of an important the subject occurring between similar forms, or
colours (as
if
line
by the by
;
tones, or
the eye seeing one colour

it,
is
attracted to the
similar colour, leaps to
and
rests
upon the subject on

forms by which
the way).
By
this
shifting
about these
is
lines, tones, or
emphasis
obtained
in
we can vary
the emphasis from
one to another figure
our composition, which teaches us
that our compositions sometimes are unsuccessful because
by accident
If
the
emphasizing elements
have arranged
themselves around the wrong figures.
through the
lines
of the composition sweeping boldly

in that direction
is
across the design a
movement
created,
we can
it,
stay
it
upon a
at
particular figure,
and so emphasize
mass, say a
by placing
the other side a vertical

is
column, or tree, so that the eye
repulsed.
lines
When
one has to give a feeling of solitude, the

L
146
of the composition
may
lead the eye
to,
or near,
some
This
unimportant object which stands out with considerable

prominence, and near the chief point of
is
interest.
fn
accordance with the fact that when one enters a

in
room
tion,
which a person
Often some
is
engaged
in
any
solitary occupa-
one rarely sees that person immediately upon one's

trifling detail will attract attention
entrance.
first.
This management of the
effect of solitude is to
cell.
be
seen in Durer's print of St. Jerome in his
Market-Place.
The
resort,
illustration
on
this
all
page represents a place of public
where people of
in all
temperaments and positions

Let
it
will
be engaged
another.
manner of conversation.
one character
persons will be
be sup-
posed that to
this place
in a story brings
These two
to the
ordinary
of the
spectator, possibly of far less interest than
many
other people present.
The
artist
will
have to express
the importance to the crowd of these other people, while
the attention of those

to the
two
strangers,
who see the who would be
picture
must be drawn
of considerable concern
to a reader of the supposed story.
radiating lines
over, as
is
This is to be done by from these strangers, and arching them

in
shown
the diagram.
In this example
all
the figures were drawn without any idea as to
which
*îC:?(ffl

t48
'
SMPIlASIzmG PARTICULAR FIGURES

and the whole of the archi-
figures should be emphasized,
tectural
background was added, to solve the problem,
when
it
of least
had been determined which were apparently importance, that they may become the centre
of interest.
Any
one of the figures
may
be similarly
emphasized by manipulating the background.

Further, a form
either side of
it
may
be emphasized by repeating on
similar forms, a blot of tone,
the
same or
or colour, or a pose reversed.
Again, when the figures of a composition are looking

at
an object, the
If
it
fact
naturally calls
attention to that
happen that the object is comparatively unimportant, the composition must be strengthened in other ways to prevent the interest wandering from the
object.
object.
The
following details of composition be noted in the
'Adoration' on page 147.

of the shepherds
Virgin's head.
The way
in
which the heads
and others form an oval around the She is evidently the centre of the com-
position, although the figures are
most of them looking

or ladder, the arch, the
staff,
at the
face,
child.
All the lines concentrate at the Virgin's
however, the slanting
beam
arm of
the figure with the long

figures
the right
arm and
head of the nearest

the ground leading
on the
left,
and the stick on
up by the Virgin's thigh and back The vertical lines of the archito mention no more. tecture and tree must not be overlooked. Strange as is
the drawing,
it
well repays study.
Yet another method of emphasizing or calling attention

to
a part of the subject
is
that of including
it
in
an
important line of the composition.
In this
'
Adoration
one
is
sure to follow the oval
made by
the heads, and
this oval line includes the
head of the Christ-child, upon

which the attention
149
Only on His head and on that of the Virgin can this be done from all the others one is led away, partially it will be seen by the
;
may
be kept.
proximity of other heads which force themselves upon

one's notice.
In the
'
Annunciation,' reproduced in Plate X.,
we
see
arrangement of the over-arching curves. These arches cluster over the group below. The lines
of the rafters carry the eye to the
little
a remarkable
figure
of the
Almighty,
of
their
in the sky.
The
arches are relieved of

(like
much
leaping
effect
by the boards
is
tie-rods)
running across them.

in
Above
a half-figure of Judith
at
circle. The eye once connects these three and centres on the Judith. Her sword deflects the eye downward, however, and the
circle,
and on either
side,
a dark
strong lines of the rafters cannot be ignored.

thus gets to the
to the Judith,
is
The eye
is
little
figure in the sky, which, in relation

right,
moving towards the
and
in line
with the Judith and the angel's head.

the canopy also point to the Almighty.
We
cannot over-
look that the knobs toward the top of the rods supporting
All the lines on
the
left
(not forgetting the lattice)
are hnes pulling the
interest
round to the
right.
is
In Plate IX. Joachim

angel,
represented kneeling before an

offspring.
who
delivers to
him a promise of
The
shepherds hard by are appropriate to the subject.
The
further
smallness of the angel makes him (or her) appear

in
the picture than Joachim, and
although the
pleasant,
difference in size
makes the composition more

little
the plan of the situation leaves one a

attitudes of the shepherds,
uneasy.
The
which are very
beautiful, assist
the arrangement of
lines.
The
uplifted
arms of one conleg of the
nect Joachim and the angel, while the
left
same
ISO

one into the curves of the
figure carries the curves of the other.
The
club lying at this figure's feet and the dog

the eye coming
at the left prevent
down too much
into
the corner.
the picture,
The head and hands of Joachim are in the middle of down to them come two lines from the top. The plunge of these lines is stopped by the drooping
semicircle
formed
by the
wing of the angel and the
bough on the
shepherds
ally placed
right.
The
of
are
symmetric-
on either side
Joachim
the staff of the one
and outstretched leg of the

other corresponding.
In the base of the picture two symmetrical
Analysis of Plate IX.
lines
form a
low
pyramid.
The
angel
lifted
is
composition
in
its
lower part concentrates attention on Joachim.
Above, the
hemmed
in
by the
fluttering drapery, the up-
arms of the shepherd, Joachim's sleeve and hand,

fail
and the tree. We must not
to observe that both the heads are

to,
upon, or very near
the edge of the dark mass, and
consequently on a line readily traced.
The
'Adoration,' reproduced in Plate XIII.,

life
is
not one
is
of the series illustrating the
of the Virgin, and
year later
in date.
The head
of the
little
Christ,
which
is
the chief point,
is
is
at the base of a
V-shaped
line of heads.
On
left
the right
Joseph, an exceedingly
fine figure,
on the
Balthasar,
151
who
is represented as being young, and an Ethiopian. Between Balthasar and Christ is the middle-aged Melchior. Between Balthasar and Joseph stands the oldest, Jasper, or
Caspar.
One cannot
in
resist
the
;
feeling
that
he
is
too
important
this
composition
the arch over his head
emphasizing him very much.
The
lines
is
all,
however,
the
throw the eye down on to Melchior, who

unimportant
parts, so
light in
that the eye leaps to the Christ,

is
which
is
light.
Balthasar
in
shown looking out
to
the
personages outside,
distribute
itself.
order that the composition
may
Another treatment of the Adoration

the Virgin,' and
position
is
is
from the
XI.
'
Life of
reproduced
in
Plate
The combold vertical
of a kind frequently seen.

is
mass descends, and

centres on Caspar
linked
to the
border with the

Interest
thatched roof on one side, arches on the other.
who
is
kneeling, and on
the
are
Child,
the Virgin and Joseph following.

semicircular
line.
The heads
left
on a
Balthasar on the
balances with
Joseph on the
right,
with Caspar as a centre.

little
Hence
beast
probably the beautiful

the Virgin's head, to
also looks like
group of shepherds close to

interest.
augment the
The
an
addition, to weight the right side
they
The same
probably were shifted about as occasion required.

little
upper vaulted chamber also seems to be
for the
purpose.
Plate XXII. shows another treatment of this subject, by Bernard. The method of composition, though differ-
ent from
It relies
DUrer's, differs
rather in
being
less
enforced.
more on the power of the two or three great whereas DUrer re-enforces line with line, which is not done hfere. The Christ's head in this case It is one of five which roughly form a circle, or oval.
principles,
152
is
between that of Caspar, who kneels, and the Virgin's,

also
and
line
between those of Joseph and Melchior.

in DUrer's.
The
pots held by Balthasar and Melchior occur on the curved
through the heads as they do
The design
by
Jacopo
Palma
(the
younger), here
conventional
that the rules
reproduced, includes several of the
artist's
is
it
methods of composition.
So obvious
The Rich Man
in Hell.
Engraving
after
Jacopo Palma.
have been observed, that the design

an
illustration,
may
well serve as
though
it
should certainly not be taken
as a model.
Dives, for
all his
pain,
is
tolerably comfortable.
He
is
gracefully twisted.
The
figure "reverses" with "pleasing''
and not inappropiate

other.
line
variety.
One
the
might, under such
circumstances, lean to one
side
in
and turn the head to the

left
Father Abraham, up
corner,
is
not in
with the glance of the unhappy Dives.
Dives very
THE CONCEPTION OF THE SUBJECT

languidly, though very gracefully, puts his finger to his
153
lip,
and asks that Lazarus may be sent to touch his tongue with water. But what makes this design interesting, or
rather
useful,
for
illustrative
purposes,
are
the
three
arms by which the head is framed. Two of these are convex against the head the third is concave to it. The
;
third, therefore, is in the
nature of a circumference to the
head as a centre.
emphasis
is
It
is
upon the
placed.
convex
lines
that
at the
moment
Such
lines are
very
frequently seen, though seldom as definite as here.
They
are traced lightly on either side of the figure of Christ in
Blake's 'Crucifixion,' which
is
reproduced
in Plate
Reverting to the Dives design we notice

obvious are the lines of
it.
XXVII. how very

and the
The
staff
on the
left,
arm on
the right, form a very palpable drooping semicircle
beneath the group.
The
Palma
reader will observe
many more
instances of definite
It is
ornamental composition in
this picture.
Palma the younger,

artists.
" the last of the
by Jacopo good and first
of the bad " Italian
18,
The Conception
To
of the Subject.
When
first
one has a particular task to perform, one must

conceive a subject
is
conceive the subject.

its
to
grasp
characteristics,
and
to find out,
by considering
attend
those
probabilities,
characteristics.
It
is,
what
peculiarities
would
for instance, evident that St. Peter, St. John,
and
task
St
is
John Baptist are very distinct personages.
Our
to find out the character of

will
each his
spiritual character,
which
account for his actions
his physical character^
154

will
which
account for his attitudes.

is
To
merely exchange
their heads
not sufficient
to give
St. Peter his key, St.
John
his
his hair-coat
book and his winged eagle, and St. John Baptist and his cross-staff, is hardly more satisfactory.
St.
To make
emaciated,
ities
Peter old,
St.
John young, and the Baptist

all
is still
not sufficient, though
these peculiar-
are getting us nearer the truth.

little
St. Peter is
;
determined,
St. John is dreamy, more a type of early vigour, and of hope, than
confident, a
impatient, but thorough
of middle-aged assurance
while the Baptist
is
anxious,
zealous, austere, active, fervent.
One can hardly

merely converts
tary treatment.
it
call it
conceiving a subject when one
into figures.
That
is
the most rudimen-
In such a case one makes
women women,
but
little
else.
men men, and One makes the various

by putting them in Such hardly amounts to
the
characters doing their particular acts
the positions appropriate to what they are doing.
a treatment
is
perfectly right, but

It
is
it
forming a conception.
scene.
more
like engineering
There are two main ways of developing the conception

from the bald planning just alluded to
these
are
the
human, and the
typical.
a "human" conception I mean that the figures made into different separate individual persons, actual models who are paid for their services, or any one who can
By
are
be induced to
In this
sit,
or
whose characteristics we can
purloin.
way we
some
easy to
get a great deal of interest into the work,

is
and, although there

there
is
a great danger of inappropriateness,
certainty of interest.
fall
It is
into a neglect of individuality.
It is
make all Jndeed, when an

easy to
one's
artist
men and
all
one's
women
alike.
succeeds in inventing a type, he

is
iSS
repeated,
rather to be pitied, for the

all his
same person
is
henceforward, in
works.
artist
And many
variety,
time the
may
so.
introduce greater
merely by troubling to do
Just at the moment,
however,
we
are considering the stress on
human
individu-
ality as a definite
method of developing the conception.

first
To employ
peculiarities,
the method, one has
to appreciate the
desire to accept
variations in humanity.
One
begins
by a
even oddities, and one must not merely appro-
Wood-cut by Thomas Bewick.
priate
them, but must
first
link
the peculiarities with
and find out what life history each face and means to oneself. It does not matter whether our figure surmises are true or not. We may see in a Lord Chief and by Justice a felon, we must see in him something,
character,
preference something different to his supposed character.
Otherwise
character
we
is
are
not conceiving character,
not conceived, the delineation of
and where physiognomy
will give but a
washy version of human
nature.
We
can.
must,
in brief, read into our characters as
much
as
we
156
I

would
call this
the method of Rembrandt.
Bewick
belongs to the same school.
The
" typical "
method
is
is
that in which the personages
by Morte Darthur there

are developed
types of different classes.
In Malory's
mention of the Almighty appearing

different
is
"as an old man."

say,
" as
How
the conception
is
if
we
an old king."
fail
The
idea of " king "
always
noble,
and cannot
tinker,
to dignify the treatment.
Then with
suggest
the subordinate personages
lawyer,
are
merchant, husband-
man,
butcher,
these
this
words
which
characteristics.
One commences
ideal or
in
method by modifying
and
one's
"stock"
figure,
loading him with attributes and

in person, gesture,
rendering him appropriate
clothing.
This method
rather than
differs
from the other
in
the insistence
in
being primarily on the characteristics of a man's station

life
on
his
own
individuality.
He
is
a butcher
first
and a
rascal afterwards, whereas otherwise

first
he would
typical
be a rascal
and a butcher by chance.

is
The
imaginary butcher
apron and
stout,
has a red
face,
shaven chin,
short hair, small eyes, and a permanent smile.

his steel are his
His blue
treated,
emblems.
first
Humanly
he
may be
(according to our
method) a good man, a
bad man, pious or a

accident.
rascal,
and a butcher merely by
The
simplest, one
is
would almost say the lowest, form of

is
conception
that in which the individual represented

or
merely a
man
the
'
woman
of appropriate age, surrounded
with his or her emblems or suitable adjuncts.

instance
is
Such an
if
Saint Barbara here given.

'
At first thought
the
such a form of conception seems too unimportant, as

task of developing a conception had been neglected.
it is
But
a method by no means to be despised,
human
Sir Peter
and Liady Teazle.
IS8

portrayed
is
being well
always interesting, and surely
many
of the early Italian works (some of Botticelli's, for
St.
Barbara.
instance) are of this order.

ticular effort to get
There
is
in
such cases no par-
beyond everyday
stint
life
taken at
its best.
One
admires indeed without
the
power
to
treat

ordinary people with so
159
much
reverence as to raise them,
without altering them, to the rank of the religious.
totally
is
different
manner of
which Sir
so great
his
conception
that
of
Edward Burne- Jones was

an exponent.
was,
early
reflect
feel
Based as
large
art,
work
on
not not
to
so
an
it
extent,
Italian
it
yet did
entirely.
One does
so sure
of meeting a living
person quite like a

angel, as
Burne-Jones
one
does
It
one
like
if
Botticelli angel.
seems as
remote.
he
made them purposely

this is
And
His
to reclose
indeed what he did.
method of conception was
move the personage from

touch with the spectator.
the apparent unreality.
in
Hence
There
is
work something of the quality we see in the annexed outline of a 'Virgin and Child,'
fact in his
from stained
glass.
There must sometimes

advantage
from the
in
be
an
removing the subject
present,
and setting
it
back
ideal.
in the past or
forward in the
Why
did,
Shakespeare give
the settings he did to the dramas
Hamlet ox The Tempest? There are some people who would have every story and every picture placed in their own day, or be historically true. Every undated hero must, for them, be in perfect garb,
of
"
l6o

historical character in his proper habit.
this Icind
is
and every
The
re-
most ridiculous demand of

domes, blue
skies,
that
which
quires the scenes in the Hfe of Christ decked with white
camels, turbans and
carpets.
These
things are mere guide-book impertinences, deflecting the
mind from the
real story
(which
is
eternal),
and fixing the

are after all
justifi-
attention on trivialities.
Let us note, however, that these

able
trivialities
symbols and emblems, and that they are perfectly

if
they are not mistaken for the essentials.

insistence in Burne-Jones's figures
The
upon bone and

emaciation,
lip further
nervous flesh gives
much
the
same
effect as
and the absence also of rosiness of cheek and

suggest a " foot-in-the-grave " condition to
any who do not

thought which
figures
is
sympathize with the

dominates the design.
particular
cast
of
The happiness
that
is
of the
somewhat
and
" the
strained, " the pain
almost a pleasure
pleasure that's almost pain " seem to be their
Not untruly, it is impossible for a man to be happy while he remembers another is unhappy and it is
part and
lot.
;
this
kind of pessimism that cannot but strike the spectator
of the works of Burne-Jones.
Except
for this strain of
pessimism the tender and nervous drawing of Burne-Jones
makes
his
work
similar to that of the early Italians.
Theirs,
however, was based upon actual natural people
who
are
human enough
The
to be genuinely glad.
ideal.
His, on the other
hand, are really based on the

ideal figure
is
that of which the forms are entirely
proportioned to perfect action.

fect proportion.
I
Perfect action
means
per-
have already dealt with
this
matter in
because
Paragraph
he
II.,
and here merely

ideal, or
refer to the subject
the artist can say to himself as he approaches his task, that

will
work from the
from the
real.
To
grasp the
Plate VII.
''"
'
''v^'
''
tHE CONCEPtlON OF tHE

real,
SUfejECt
16
one continually introduces
trivial details
which threaten
;
to
make
the figure nastily and prosaically true

it
and
am
convinced that
is
as well to
do
this,
as
it
is
well to rise
beyond
it.
In forming the conception, therefore,

closely in touch with actual form.
one must keep

from the
further
We
are told that
Raphael developed
his figures
real into the ideal.
He
to
seems to have. receded

till
them
and further from the spectator,
they form an exalted
company belonging
no period of time.
For dignity and nobility of conception the drawing by Raphael, reproduced in Plate VII., is not surpassed by any
work of any time. At the moment Raphael most popular of the old masters. But if any
personages,
will see in
it is
is
not the
artist finds
himself entrusted with the task of drawing saints and sacred
probable that, after his labour
is
ended, he
Raphael's works an easy and simple achievement

If
of the qualities he has been at such pains to express.
one
eyes,
is
allowed gaunt emblematic gestures, and haggard

spiritual,
if
one can represent the

;
by
delineating strange
unaccountable sadness
but
one has to employ the

before
generous forms of
creations
full
and confident vigour, then the

us
of Raphael will stand
pre-eminent.
Appropriately might
we
risen
write
:
under this
drawing of
Raphael's the motto of

verunt,"
Nahum
that
" Sol ortus est et avolafled
The
the
sun
is
and they have

divine
away
for
before
effulgence
of
countenance
the
persistence of evil
It is
easy to
make
and sorrow seems impossible. the mistake of demanding a develop-
ment too
realistic
is
it
and personal.
Sometimes
definite
in-
dividuality
other times,
in
as much out of place and tiresome There is a kind of is indispensable.
as, at
figure
which
intelligence
seems just
to
be animating the
l62

if
symmetrical beauty of the form, as
the incoming
life
brought with
it
an equal measure of the perception of the
relation of things.
Such
figures,
awaking, as
if their first
it
were, some-
times smile, sometimes weep, as

life
outlook upon
brought to them some definite sensation.

figures
Such
are
those of
the
Parthenon
pediment,
Michael Angelo's Day, Night, Dawn, and Evening, and
The
Fall
By Hans Holbein.
Wood-cut by
Liitzelburger.
the "fireplace" figures of Alfred Stevens.
The
late
Mr.
G. F. Watts
also had particular
power
in representing this
kind of animation and character.
There
subject,
is
a true and a false realization.
There
is
realization
which seeks to impress the
vital essence of the
and there is a realization which bases its success upon its power to present a deceptive illusion. We see the two kinds in the illustrations to the Dance of Death,'
'
here given.
The wood-cuts were
cut
probably by Hans
THte C0NCEt>Ttolsr
LUtzelburger, but Holbein
blocks.
OF The subject
163
may
have drawn them on the
The copper-plates are engraved by Chretien de Mechel, who published them in 1779.
In
all
respects the copper-plates are inferior to the wood-
The
Fall.
Version of Holbein's design by Mechel.
cuts.
Instead of bold, powerful

trivial details.
lines,
there are uncertain
ones broken by
Paltry shading takes the

is
place of real modelling.
Character
completely absent.
Apparently the deficiency has been in the engraver's
power of appreciation.
He
is
not interested in the real
164
nature and peculiarities of the various beasts, of the foliage and herbage, or even of the figure, but seems to regard all
these things as mere subjects for his pencil.
The only
quality these copper-plates have which the

is
wood-cuts have not
a certain
imitative
realism which
all.
does not improve the presentation of the subjects at
We
are no nearer the core of
the
story of the
'
Fall,'
The
Curse.
By Hans Holbein.
Wood-cut by Lutzelburger.
because atmospheric effect

leaves of the trees are
is
attempted, or because the

in light
some
and some
in shade.
We
are less convinced of the truth of the story, ?ind readily
see that the artist

into a
was
himself.
He
has converted a story
mere excuse
for certain
academic exercises.
in
The
violation of the
theme culminates
the Eve.
She no
down,
longer addresses
as
if it
Adam, but holds
the apple at arm's-length

sit
were a grenade.
She does not
solidly
as in the wood-cut, but gracefully
" reclines."
In every

way she is
graceful.
less true, less alive, and, spite
l6$
of her elegance, less

are worth
The hands
Those
in
in the
two
illustrations
full
comparing.
the wood-cut are
of natural
movement, and truth of form.
One
is
not surprised to
The
Curse.
Version of Holbein's design by Mechel.
hand of Adam. It is certainly not easily recognized in the wood-cut, and Mechel apparently was too absorbed in shading up Adam's skin to thinlc of
find
Mechel omitting the
left
his hands.
The
'
Curse
'
suffers
even more than the
'
Fall.'
The

l66
hopeful, healthy vigour of

face has
Adam
is
quite gone,
and
all
his
lost.
become merely boorish
its
expression
His hair no longer blows back from his brow, indicating

his toil, but lies in senseless ringlets
about his temples.
The
Eve
additional academic treatment of his limbs robs
them
done
not only of their vigour, but of their fleshiness as well.

is
pushed into the background.
Her
is
hair
is
up on the top of her head.

inexpressive.
Her
action
awkward and
however,
The
and
it
trees likewise
have
lost considerably
more bark,
suffer most,
less tree.
is
The
lines of the design,
their loss that the artist will regret
most.
paltry
and masterly, the design becomes and commonplace, while the story is quite lost.
fine
From being
Holbein drew a desolate landscape, suitable to the expulsion

from Eden.
Mechel already revives the land, and converts

Observe
his
a land of dry clay into a pleasant place.

little
trail
of
dark
herbage along the
foreground
so
common
in his day.
will
The conception
be greatly influenced by the degree
of architectural stress permitted or adopted.
Sometimes
one has a choice between a formal and a
free treatment.
Some
people value decorative effects always and every-
where, and seem incapable of appreciating work of a more

familiar character.
On
is
the other hand
some are impatient

which are not
of anything that
not "real."
"
Fashion has of course a
good deal
to
do with these
preferences,"
very deeply rooted in most cases.

suggest one or the other treatment,
these matters
it
The subjects sometimes but who shall determine

them unsolved,
for
It is wisest to leave
is
a mistake to
think one has always to irrevocably
determine principles and standards.
Ruskin was some-
times inconsistent and used to contradict himself.
He
was
wise.

It is,
167
actually
however, quite another matter when
we
approach our work.
We
must be
fairly sure
of our ground,
and must avoid

realistic
shilly-shallying
between the familiarly
and the formally decorative.

glad that John Leech, when he drew this Court
"
One
is
Scene, did not stray into the ornamental, or decorative.
His work
little
is
always well
composed," and many of our

yet one
is
rules
apply
in his designs,
glad that he
to
attended to his business and did not
fall
arranging
patterns on the ladies' dresses, or ornamenting the courthouse.
In
the
illustration
to
'Verner's
Pride,'
by
Charles
Keene, we have a decidedly unacademic treatment.

feel
We
the
that the scene could look very like that.
Roy
bailiff
has just been observed, and his incoming at the

is
lower corner
certainly in keeping with the story.

is
As
is
it
usual Keene's lighting
broad and
effective.
There
a flood of light across the hedge, the two
men behind
and the house. The tone of these two men is much the same, and they fall in with the broad light of the
house.
The
stick,
lines
balance more than one might expect
the
the slant of the roof
and
the chief points are
emphasized and connected by those very means we have

elsewhere noticed as contributing to that end.
On
is
the other hand

in the
produced
manner.
'The Crucifixion,' by Bernard, reAppendix (Plate XXIIL), and enlarged,
conceived in a very dignified and in no sense familiar
There
bands
is
a great deal of decorative quality in this
little
wood-cut.
The composition arranges

them
horses,
itself in
horizontal
the
sky, the white mountain distance, then a
pf heads, below
and
at the foot
row two groups.
-I
'-'S
By Charles Keene. From Once a Illustration to 'Verner's Pride.' By special permission of Messrs. Bradbury, Agnew and Co.
Week.
170
GESTURE IN RELATION TO ACTION

is
There
line
symmetry above and below.
There
is
a good
from the foot of the Virgin through her head, through
the head of St. John and along the leg of the penitent
thief,
and so to the head of
Christ.
On
the other side
there are sufificient forms to establish a similar line.
19.
Gesture
is
in
Relation to Action.
It
Gesture
is
the attitude accompanying an action.
consequently the
is
index to
the action.
Often
the
gesture
falls
the attitude into which a person involuntarily
under certain mental circumstances.
There
is in
that
case hardly
activity.
any action, certainly none that could be called These are the attitudes of emotion, and are as
is
natural,
and as constant, to the body as expression

attitudes
to
the face.
Some
walking.
of emotion are present at the
same
time as attitudes of action
as when
anger
is
united with
But of course when the action is at all violent it so permeates the body as to render any expression of emotion impossible, except in the face.
The nobler
the figure
and characterization
ceived figure.
the
the more profound

less
is
it
its
delineation
in action.
needs to be
Similarly excess of gesture
excused
in a finely con-
Particularly should the head be noble
and
the
well-wrought, and
of hardly less importance
are
hands.
For instance, a figure

say, striking, even
may
be posed in an attitude
is
of,.
when
there
nothing to
strike,
provided
effect
the whole figure

is
is
finely conceived.
Otherwise the
melodramatic.
melodramatic gesture
is
one
in
excess of the action.

It
i;i
of what
one who
suggests that the person
he
is
doing.
is making a show of his action Doubt is therefore cast on the
sincerity of his performance.
The term
is
theatrical has the
same import.
It
means that
so,
not really acting
is
pretending to be doing
by exhibiting the outward

lies
sign of such an action.
Wherein
the deficiency
it
Sometimes
is
in
the attitude being one really of
The
Constable introduces Constance to Hermegild, A painted enamel.
stability,
wnile simulating
if
movement
a stride
too long
the feet apart, as
for iirmness, while the
arms are moving
and would dislocate the balance.
There are of course also the graceful attitudes

in another sense, or spectacular.
theatrical
These are equally deare reminiscences of

all
structive of intelligible action.
They
masterpieces
for
I,
do not doubt that
the conventional
body and of the hands, owe their origin to masterpieces, which, being emulated by later artists, have bequeathed to them attitudes well enough when
poses, both of the
appropriately used, but otherwise tiresome.
Frequently, however, these conventional poses can be

merely by attending to their action.
that
is
172
set right
It
may
be
that
all
wanted
at.
is
something
for the figure to do,
or even to look
Of
time,
course there are attitudes which nothing can save
such as the striding-seated pose so often used after Titian's
and of which an example by Reynolds

71.
is
given on
page
We
is
must
not, however, forget
that
in
many
cases
especially of decoration
the
reasonableness of the action

to the architectural effect.
to
some extent subordinate
Certainly one has seen decoration upon spandrels

are spaces of peculiarly
unaccommodating form which would not have been improved by a rnore "reasonable"
treatment.
the
which
The
fact of the
matter
is,
that in such cases
architecture
excuses
the attitude, and
renders
it
unnoticeable.
But to excuse what appears at any time wrong is so false a position that one should interdict work which one knows
to be defective.
artist to
It
is
certainly a great misfortune for an
grow up with loose ideas upon so important a
matter as attitude.
rid
if
He may
it.
find
it
extremely
difficult to
himself of a habit of ornamentally posing his figures
he has once acquired
Security does not, however, He in prohibition.

in
It lies
varied experience and varied
effort.
Sometimes one
in order
should
make
designs as ornamentally as possible, inter-
weaving the figure with conventional ornament

to
compel oneself to deal with the

patterns.
lines as
one would when
making
At
other times one should draw subjects
with the greatest freedom, following any impulse of representation,
and not hesitating

face,
to
subject that occur to the mind, so that
draw any fragments of the if one happens to
be drawing the
and some
detail of dress, of accessory,

or of the background
to be recorded at once
173
is
comes
into one's mind, this detail
the face remaining unfinished.

these vivid
imitative
in
Then one should draw one of

figures in one's spandrel,
and one's previous experience
ornamentation
will
begin to suggest modifications.
So,
and so only, are

and-take,
fine decorative
works done, with a give^
now from
the architecture,
now from
the realism,
according as the
artist's
impulse
is
is
worth recording.
Just as
The
is
direction of the eyes
important.
we
in
turn
the head to the side contrary to that to which the figure

facing (in order to gain
symmetry or balance
It
the
pose), so
we
turn the eyes for a similar reason.
is
by
reversing thq^^movement that
we
obtain this symmetry, for
the body
itself
does
riot
change much.
dangerous.
reversal of the
movement could consequently be

eyes, but the proceeding
is
effected
by turning the
It is
is
dangerous
because a movement of definite character

the neck
reversed at
it
is
only a sly and underhand, or else a light

;
and coquettish, impulse, that uses the eyes only or perhaps

it
should, be put thus
that a person who looks
in
a reverse
any boldness of character turns the neck, the eyes continuing the turning by themselves rolling a
direction with
further. A reverse glance should be accompanied by a reverse turn of the neck, and if it is not there are only two explanations. First, the person does not wish and second, the artist is trying to to be seen looking balance his figure when the only means left (the turning of the eyes) suggest a character he does not wish
little
;
expressed.
The
artist
result of a misuse of the turn of the eye

silly,
is
to
make
a drawing
made-up,
really
ill-intentioned,
as though the
had
nothing
to
paint
and
was
merely
"painting pictures."
t74
GESTURE
RELATION TO ACTION
In portraiture a great deal depends upon the direction
of the eyes.
A straightforward
A
look always gives dignity,
and suggests that the person represented has some strength

of character.
slight slight turn of the eyes, in
movement in the figure or eyes in harmony with movement

the qualification)
rather
harmony with movement in the

and
assists
it.
in the figure (omitting

interest,
adds
vitality
and
the interpretation of character, but does not strengthen
Some examples
illustrations in the
of expressive poses are given in
the
Appendix.
In 'In Silentium' (Plate XVI.) the "silent

his
one"
rests
arm upon
is
his book-rest.
His
feet are to
one
side,
so
that there
his study.
lip
a suggestion of his having been moving about
The index
finger of the left
hand
is
upon the
is
a
is
gesture indicative of cogitation and absorption in
study.
pleasing.
is, it
The whole arrangement of The attitude of the figure

There
is
the
is
composition
symmetrical, that
is
directed to one side below, and the head
turned,
above, to the other.

in the design.
a good deal of horizontality

the shelf and the chest
The books on
below form a good pattern.

In
'
In
Vitam Humanam,' on
the
same
is
Plate, the attitudes
denote the different temperaments of the laughing and
weeping philosophers.
the other
position
is is
The one
gloating over
life,
and
deeply distressed and perplexed.
The comis
symmetrical, but differs from pure decorative

in
arrangement
while the
that
is
the
one
side,
the right,
loaded
left
not.
In a decorative scheme, with the
supports
essential.
on either
side,
a similarity of weight would be
There seems to me to be a forced gesture

design
in the fine
by Frederick Sandys which
is
reproduced
on
page
135.
The
left
hand would,
think, be better
more
Plate
Vm
1ft;.
bo
O o
o
-s
>
P.
"o
\Tofau page
I74.
TELLING THE STORY

natural
t;?
It
lower
fill
down, near, or upon, the key-board.

as
if it
looks very
in order to
much
were placed
in its
present position
the space, and because the right
arm
is
is
down
on the
seat.
Nevertheless the whole design

if
so finely
conceived that even
exception can justly be taken to
this particular detail of posing, the
work remains decidedly

is
of the highest rank.
No
duced
finer posing,
however, could there be than

'
seen in
Raphael's study of
in
Lot departing from Sodom,' reproPlate VIII. This design is most noble and
conception, appropriate in
its
dignified in
its
gestures,
and
wonderfully simple in
to reproduce (in Plate
treatment.
It
seems too cruel
XXI.) Bernard's design of the same
subject, for comparison.
20.
Telling the Story.
The word
" scene " originally
certain characters.
meant an action between In the same room, before the same

and
say,
is
scenery, there would consequently be several " scenes,"
the reader has no doubt noticed that such

the printed text of Shakespeare's plays.
"
the case in
still
We
there was quite a scene," by which

definite " to
we mean
that there
done which had a beginning and an ending, though but one of a chain of incidents which together make up a play or drama.
was a
do," something
The artist's subjects are always " scenes " in the old sense. The position of the actors in a scene constitute " a situation,"
and the situation
is
really the plan
which the actors
make by
upon two
their relative positions.
face one another,

feet,
Whether the persons or turn about this way or that, stand

throw the weight on one, these are
or
176
TELLING THE STORV

the action,
matters determined by
situation.
and
the
constitute
the
Properly a
" situation " is
a more demonstrative
screen
falls
association
of characters.
is
When
and
Lady Teazle
themselves
in
discovered, the arrangement results in a
fine "situation."
The
different characters at once reveal

attitudes.
their various
gives, of course, great
scope to the actors,
The "situation" who are thus
called
upon
to display,
their ability to render the impulses
and have the chance of displaying, and actions which such
a sudden turn of affairs brings out.
The
artist deals
with precisely similar conditions.
He
has to do his work entirely by (i) the relation of figure to

figure, (2) the
gestures of the figures, and (3) the facial
expression of each.
Gesture being so
sion
much more
its
visible
than
and,
facial expres-
has
greater
responsibility
consequently,
importance.
effective
But
the
in
turn
in
it
is
rendered ridiculous or
by
way
to
which the figures are placed

artist
against one another.

gestures,
The
has
first
to master his
and then
facial
correlate
them
into
a " scene."
Often the
expression will help one to the gesture,

readily responds
to
because one rather more

expression while one
to
is
facial
sitting at
work.
Usually one has
get
up and
" act " the part before
one gets hold of
the right gesture.

In such a subject as
'
Visit to the
Old People
is
'
the
gestures play an important part.
If the visitor
somecan be
what of a
stranger, the old people's landlord's son, the old

rise
woman
need not
from her
chair.
The
old
man
coming forward with a hand extended, the visitor need not have his head raised. , If the visitor is a son his head
may
be raised, for one sees some possibility of treating

that way.
the matter
The
old
man reed
not be ex-
"
TELLING THE STORY

tending his hand, for one does not
relatives in state.
" receive "
77
one's dear
He
can be removing his spectacles and

his elbow.
have
his
newspaper tucked under

effort to rise.
The
old
woman must make an

not appear to have
She certainly must

In higher society
risen,
is
and to be awaiting her son's ap-
proach
the
unless she
of
a very high dame.
artificialities
life will
natural impulses remain).
mask natural impulses (if the The welcome will then be more
of the kind accorded to distinguished ambassadors from

friendly powers.
The
father will extend a hand-shaken
welcome, the mother

she
is
will
probably incline a
rise,
little
forward,
too
much
of a lady to
but her face will
beam
with welcome for her son, and her
own
satisfaction at his
having such a mother.

that with the
;
The handshaking can be done in more than one way, with one hand or two. The " coolest
left
is
hand quite
is
in reserve,
perhaps behind
by hand as if to extend the embrace. The next phase is that where one touches the friend's right shoulder with one's left hand while one
the back
warm welcome
sure to be accompanied
a bringing forward of the
left
grasps his hand with one's right.
Lovers never embrace

in pictures if
single-handed
they look very cool

be seen that
in
they do.
It will readily
this
matter of arranging
the gestures and the relation of person to person, the artist

requires the ability of the actor.
If indeed he cannot
actor,
approach the matter as does the
he
will not will
gain
much much
ately,
success.
help.
Nothing
can,
fear,
be said that
be of
His subjects will require thinking out separand surely no rules or hints can really cover the one has found out what gestures are necessary
relation of figure to figure should be,
is
investigation necessary.
When
and what the
one has
has then
the elements on which the drama
based.
One
178
TELLING THE STORY

Often one begins by which easy views of the characters
it
to get a painter's record of them.
making sketches
occur.
in
side view,
may
be, will
help us to
fix the
in
degree of bending and twisting requisite.
In a view
which these movements are seen

ence to the pose, and the thing
to
fix.
in a
more foreshortened
condition, a slight variation in line will

is
make
a great differ-
consequently not so easy
We therefore
attending, at the
determine the gestures and relative
atti-
tudes in the readiest
way
possible, simply because
we
are
moment,
to the realization of the situation,
and not to
its
representation.
Having
settled the action
before the spectator,
we next consider its position who can be placed at any angle to

therefore,
the plan of the action, but his position affects the choice of
attitudes.
The
in,
attitudes,
are
dependent not
only on the characters of the persons, and the action they

are engaged
but also on the position of the spectator
in
relation to them.
The
view.
spectator
may
be so placed that he
is
at the
back of
one of the characters and sees the other

This
is
in,
practically, full
an arrangement frequently adopted when

is
one of the characters

other.
in the
to
be more dwelt upon than the
Moreover,
it
usually looks unconventional, though
seventeenth century no pose was more hackneyed

It
than the back view.

is
occurs over and over again,

it,
till
one
imin
thoroughly tired of
it
and one cannot

in
resist the
pression that
saved a good deal of labour.

it
Usually
those compositions
is
the foreground and in shade,
rooting itself to a dark fringe of herbage skirting the base

of the design.
The same back-view foreground

time.
figures lingered
on a long
We see them
in Row'.andson.
The tameness of these

TELLING THE STORY
hackneyed
figures is
179
due to
their difficulty.
profit of
Nearly always
work, and con-
whatever avoids work, avoids the

thought pall upon one from mere
sequently these foreground figures done without sufficient

insipidity.
In
they are amongst his most interesting figures.

will
Rembrandt The reader

of
remember them too

a
rule,
in
Velasquez's
'Surrender
Breda.'
As
though, the backs of figures have not been

;
turned to the spectator
as
if
the old theatrical
rule
in
"Don't turn your back on the audience"

composition.
well
in
held
good
The
figures consequently are generally fairly
view, and this law has led to
some measure of
falsity of attitude in relation to action.
Not infrequently the

one another.
cuts.
figures are not properly looking at
This
see
is
it
the case in
some of
Dlirer's
wood-
And we
of the
is
too in Holbein's, though decidedly
less frequently in his.
One
earth
is
commonest
instances of this defect in
the
planning
is
seen in those illustrations in which a figure on
addressing a figure in the sky.
Such a composition
Considering
that of the vision of Joachim, Plate IX.
the attitude of the angel, Joachim should be turned more
away from us. In Holbein's 'Abraham Abraham has to look over his shoulder
and even then
is
sacrificing Isaac,'
to see the angel,
not properly vis-d-vis.
The
instances
are indeed very numerous,
and instead of regarding them

as
as violations of a law governing the relation of figuie to

figure,
we must regard them
due
to
a regard for
clearness.
In considering this matter

different
art,
or
we must not lose sight of the demands made by decorative, and by imitative, shall we say of conventionally and illusively treated
has been suggested above that the back view
art?
It
l8o
TELLING THE STORY

less,
seems to demand
care,
whereas
artist.
it
requires
more labour and

difficulty,
on the part of the
It is
probably the
and
relative impossibility of rendering the
subject in a
conventional technique that has compelled some artists to
make
If
compromise between the geometrical planning of

that our two figures are to be placed both same distance from the spectator, so that the line
is
the action, and the facilities of their craft.
we decide
at the
joining their feet

view,
horizontal, they will be seen in side

in profile.
is
and
is
their
heads will be
This
of course assuming that the conversation

persistent of the
equal.
The more
two
is
always more definitely

if
facing his fellow, and, consequently,

different degrees of persistency, in
we have
to illustrate
the action,
we must
relate our figures differently to the centre of the action.
little
consideration will
to
show that the persons cona focus, or centre of action,
cerned will be related
according to the drama of the situation.
From
this focus the figures are placed, at
varying dis-
tances, according to their parts in the action;
and these
distances must be very carefully considered.

It is
of
little
use a painter spending weeks of labour to

if he,
represent a scene,
at the outset, plans
it
so that the
action will not be properly presented.
Many
Painting
a good picis
ture
fails
merely on that account.

it
not the
same
thing.
as literature,
cannot express anything and every-
There
art.
is
the paintable
and there
is
the unpaintable,
and
artists
do not always
sufficiently consider the limitations
of their
The
chance
artist
works alone by what
his trying to represent

in that direction
is visible. It is no use what cannot be seen. His only is that some gesture may indicate
what
is in itself
invisible.
82
TELLING THE STORY

in the
Thus
wood-cut by Petit Bernard, reproduced
in
Plate XVI., the laughing and the weeping philosophers
are indicated
facial
by
their
gestures.
little,
On
so small a scale
definite
expression can do
and the gestures are
auxiliaries.
"
The box
It is
full
of bank-notes was lying, locked, upon the
table."
a practically impossible subject.
manage
"
to suggest that the

is
box
is
a cash-box, but
One might how to

The
noise
suggest anything
in
it is
a perpetual puzzle.
She
sat with her face buried in her hands.
of the soldiers tramping past, the rumble of the

the shouts of the people
artillery,
..." Only by having
a convenient
window
subject.
or
two can one deal with the
latter part of this
"Although he appeared the picture of health he was

suffering from a mortal disease."
This
is
quite impossible artistically, unless
one
intro-
duces a crowd of gesticulating doctors.
Again, accessories must
befit their principals.
To
put
pint-pot beside an obvious teetotaller is not the way to make him a drunkard. He will simply not touch the stuff
at
all.
So crutches do not make a person lame, nor does
a heavy bundle
weariness.
"
make
a person weary, unless
he shows
The heavy burden
" is all
very well, but
if
the person
is
not under some difficulty in consequence of heaviness will not be apparent.

Similarly, although
its
weight, the
without an axe, an axe doesn't
Sometimes
it is
no use having an execution make an execution. necessary to keep the story reserved, as in
it
is
the sketch for tapestry
'
The
Surrender,' p. i8i.
Here the
story, while permeating the composition, and giving mean-
ing to
all
the parts,
is
not forced to a climax.
The most
The Return
of the Victors.
84
TELLING THE STORY
important personages are hardly of more consequence than

those of less account, and the eye
repeatedly back to a focus, but
is is
therefore not dragged
able to linger almost
anywhere
in the composition.
One
gains this quality by

is
arranging the lines so that the emphasis evenly over the surface, and does not
particular figures only.
distribution of emphasis
fall
distributed
certain
upon
In large
is
decorative works this
very welcome.
is
The movement
of the subject
as important as any-
thing else in the telling of the story.
Figures looking
their
toward a particular part of the plan, or directing

actions towards
it,
produce a movement in that direction.
Generally there are two chief streams of movement in a
dramatic situation, and the story depends upon their proper

representation.
The
relative attitudes of the figures be-
The Return of by looking toward the left indicate a stream of movement which is meeting that of the procession below. Were one of these
come, therefore, extremely important.
In
'
the Victors,' page
183, the three spectators
spectators to look toward the right instead of toward the

left,
the
movement
of the procession would be reduced by
the counter-movement being destroyed.
Second-rate painters give
all
the trappings, but they
do not make the characters suitable. They put on the black mask and all these indications of what is happening, but they have no power to express the human impulse of
the scene.
His Version is an instance of an expanded plan used symmetrically. The braggadocio is at one end of the plan and his three auditors at the other, The line between them is almost parallel to the spectator, there is just enough slant in it to throw the women a little
'
The composition
'
further
back into the
picture,
and so
to reduce their size
-
:'^'
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j0.:^:
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86
TELLING THE STORY
and importance.
to
The young lady
in the
middle
is
is
the one
whom
the relation of the encounter
addressed, and
the hero has to turn his head toward her.
He
does not
observe the ridicule of the coarser women, the younger of
whom
eldest
does not restrain her very evident amusement.
The
woman is seated with her hands on her knees, as working women do sometimes sit without any concession
to elegance.
Both the single
figure
;
and the group are symmetrical
at ail events, balanced
and they occur symmetrically on

in
either side of the little
group
the doorway.
This
little
group consists of men who, knowing the whole

interested to hear the braggart's account.
restrains the other's entrance.
affair,
are
One
of them
rapidly, and by drawing by constructing the figures and Every line drawn is then converting, or developing them. left. The effect of the light and shade is expressed at the same time. The background round the hero is not drawn This is a hint from John Leech and right up to his head.
The composition was executed
interesting passages, not
Charles Keene.
The
latter particularly
kept things clear of

in imitative
one another, and there can be no doubt that
drawing such a convention
is
of great assistance.
" is
By
"
drawing interesting passages

full
meant drawing
(although in a
well and with expression, and

slight manner),
effect
any piece that would "tell" in the completed work, and especially any piece that helps to fix the poses. The opposite way of working is to draw everything
" conscientiously," as if all It
the parts were of equal value.
should be noted that the furniture behind the
has to be balanced by the slanting lines which come

to the tip of the sword.
women down
The
" situation " in
'
Maude
Clare,'
by
Millais, is that a
TELLING THE STORY

wedding party
those going in
is is
187
entering a hall for the feast.
Among
;
Maude
Clare,
proud and haughty

are going
at the
she
makes a
gone
in,
"
scene
" at
the feast, but with that the illustration
has nothing to do.
The people
and
in,
some have
more are
following,
the person
who
so,
passes the
spectator.
moment Maude is The onlookers

at her are
in that
observe her closely.

really
Those who are looking
doing
the gestures are admirably
managed
respect.
for
The difference between the first and the second design The Massacre of the Christians is in the figure of the
'
'
The Massacre
of the Christians.
First sketch.
lS8
CONCLUSION
In the
first
young Soldan.
the
he looks rather a coward.

defend
his
In
second
he
appears
to
newly-married
Constance.
In the
little
wood-cut
Desidiam
subject.
Abjiciendam
Sloth
'
must be cast aside' (Plate XVIII.), we get a thoroughly
good expression of the

tree
The composition
into
runs
in a very unusual fashion
down
tree
one corner.
it
The
on the right
is
very curious, and
is
remarkable
that
any man should draw a
which
is
so very con-
ventional.
Its vertical lines are interesting
and show the and

it is
designer's sense of decorative arrangement,
no
more absurd than some of the

to-day.
trees in compositions of
21.
Conclusion.
of Figure Composition are Both claim consideration, and,
The beginning and end

Architecture and Drama.
according as they can, so they assert themselves. Devotion

to
them
will help the artist to solve every difficulty, for

all
they are the issue to which

of the elements tend.
the technical manipulations
The
artist
who manages
his
work
professionally rather than with impulse will hot succeed in
trade
doing more than gain the recognition of having learnt his of having learnt his trade, but of not being capable
of doing any business which people care about.
Hence
the frequent denunciations of the academic methods, which

are the learning of rules
and the practising of
exercises.
A person
may
may
be a capable painter, but not an
artist.
He
be able to draw, to paint, and to compose, but his
efforts are dull
workmanship
prefer
it
for
and impress none but those who admire its own sake, and who consequently
it
when
is
useless.
But there
is
another and
^
R
<
bo
>.
go
reason
CONCLUSION
better
why
the
academic method
is
not to be
thought too highly of-ît does not lead to success.

there
is
Unless
the
something to achieve by labour and

effort will
effort,
labour and
not be prompted to that tenacious
pursuit of perfection which accompanies imagination.
This book would appear to be one more of the various works which have been issued to make painters, when they,
like the poets,
can only be born.
hope
it is
not
so.
The
book
is
intended rather as an aid to those
who
are seeking
to express their delight in the representation of dramatic

story, restrained within conditions,
and not
at all to enable
people deficient in ideas, or power of thought, to attempt
what they are not
fitted to achieve.
is
The book,
do without
themselves.
for the
in
a way,
meant
for those
who can very well

rules, or a
it,
if
they cared to think the whole thing out
It is
an
aid, not a
book of
is
guide
feeble.
One
therefore says once more, that the

to be hot
only
way
to succeed in this subject
upon the
representation of stories, and the musical arrangement of
That enthusiasm will unbar every door, and dispel difficulty, and the author's hope is rather to set the student free, than to put bonds upon him. " It behoves you to be of brave mind, and least of all to distrust your own powers." So said Alciat (who wrote the Emblems, some illustrations towhich are reproduced in this volume), and so, too, would say William Blake. When he called Reynolds and the Academicians "devils" he meant, apparently, that you could not make artists by training up
it.
every
human
beings in the technique of the

it
craft.
He
did not
despise training, so long as
was prompted by a desire to express, and he said that labour was the chariot of genius.
This
not.
is
hardly the place to discuss whether he was
mad
or
It
seems clear that
if
he was
mad
at all
it
was only
CONCLUSION
in his works,
191
and only
call the
in
some of
to a
those.
To me
it
appears
that
all his
I
madness was due
particular artistic
method,
which
would
record of impulse.
Just as the Im-
pressionists record the impression of a scene on their eyes,
as Borrow recorded the impression of a scene in his mind, so Blake recorded the impulses, one can hardly call
them
In
impressions, which his subject called up within him.

this
impetuous fashion he gave
rein to his
pencil,
and
recorded whatever crossed his mind when thinking of a

thing.
To have
such confused notions
flitting
through
one's brain
might indeed be regarded as evidence of being

in one's
'peculiar" mentally, or "having a bee
bonnet,"
but on the other hand,

these
it
is
more than doubtful whether

elements
are
apparently conflicting
not
always
present in the mind.
Blake chose not to eliminate any,
he valued the impulse which prompted them, and trusted

to their being valuable in the final result.
Now
refer to this
method of Blake's because
it
is
evident to any one
who watches
the progress of artists
that they are sometimes timid of those
impulses which
come upon them

not of hand so
to
do what cannot
be, at the
moment,
intellectually supported.
They
as
distrust their
much
of judgment.
is
own powers, The motto we

your im-
can deduce from a study of Blake

pulses.
Trust
Opposite to Blake
should
place Leonardo, he
who
sought to eliminate every extraneous idea, not to eliminate

the ideas, or the ideal,
matter.
which would be quite another

for
this,
There
said
much to be
concern
it,
much to be said for all human ideals.

is
as there
is
To
get the thought
clear, to see it free
from
all
that
its
does not immediately

its
to see
is
its
balance,
harmony,
is
divine per-
fectness, that
worth attempting,
worth
sacrifice.
But
192
CONCLUSION
it.
again, only the vigour of the artist can sustain
Leonardo
of works which his followers could not Here and there same power as himself. may arise a follower worthy of him, and his tradition will The vigour remain. Always it is a question of strength.
began a
series
treat with the
of the artist
is
the vigour of his work.
The Renaissance covering the last four hundred years or more takes its name from the revival of classical learning by which it is distinguished. To the historian this revival
is
of the greatest interest, but of even greater
is
the develop-
ment and decay of Monarchism. The central principle of Monarchism is unquestioning subordination of the individual to a central authority over which there
is
no
control.
This involves the complete abolition of conscious freedom,

but in the hands of a Cromwell
as allow the individual all the
desire.
it
imposes such regulations
freedom he could claim or
Monarchism
at its best enables a

life
man
incapable of
self-government to live the

It is
he himself would choose.
not confined to
art.
politics,
but
may
also hold
sway
in
both religion and
Every one admits that Louis XIV. was Le Grand Monarque, and he ruled in art as well as in everything else.
Monarchism thus set its hand upon art, and said to the artist, not what can you do, and what can you feel but, can you do this, can you feel this ? for nothing else is
.'
admissible.
And
do not
this monarchistic control of art could
not have been
so complete in any period but the Renaissance.

intuitively
People
understand a phase of art altogether
foreign to their land
completely seen.
and time, especially if it be only inOnly those who were able to receive such an education as made them acquainted with the details
of the outward form of a civilization accepted at the time
CONCLUSION
193
as the best, and therefore only, model, could either appre-
produce works in the chosen manner. Unfortunately was only the style and external aspect of the classic forms which engaged the student's attention, not the spirit which had in Greece or Rome produced those forms. It was therefore within the grasp of any one who could absorb
ciate or
it
classic detail to
become a
critic
of
art.
The
true essence
of criticism, the comparison of result with the

one's
demands of
driest
own
best native feeling,
was
lost,
and the
in
formalism substituted.
One can only work

art.
such an art
it.
by becoming unthinkingly and
unfeelingly devoted to
And
this blind
devotion ruins real
Rabelais early in
like.''
the Renaissance saw that you should
"
do as you
Men
living
under similar conditions
will,
when doing what

and
this is
pleases themselves, produce things similar,
how
the various styles of the past were produced, and not by
any King Louis saying, do
this or that.
The sceptre of Louis passed

careful to
to the established
its
Academies
and so the profession became exclusive, and

precepts,
masters were
keep art among the clouds. Rules, principles, and maxims were to be found in great profusion,
initiated, the connoisseurs, or
but intelligible only to the

those
who know.
last fifty
During the
years the power of Monarchism in art
has sensibly declined.
Photography and steam-locomotion
have placed at our doors so

is
many
varying examples that

its
it
plain that the kind of art which has
establishment
among
us
is
by no means
universal,
and that thousands of
people have been happy without

jostled so rudely that
it.
And
principles are
we come at length to see that we can, and perforce must, "do as we like." Only that part of our work which comes from our own hearts will be pleasurewhatever we do because giving, or in any way expressive
;
194
it is
CONCLUSION
proper to be done, or because some one says
it
should
be, will
be so much dead weight upon our little genius. While we must not bind ourselves to any man's principles
gain by scanning them, because
it
we
is
probable we are
neglecting principles equally inherent in our
own
other.
natures,
but dormant, or overcrowded
in
some way or
I
The
eye.
practice of art requires,
am
sure, as
much
the
training of our moral nature as the training of
hand and
Principles of art are based on that moral substratum
upon which all character is built. The artist must do things which please himself, and must throw to the winds the monarchistic principle of doing what is approved or by law
established.
If
our
first
precept must be to do as
we
like,
all
and to
things
please ourselves, our second

in
must be to approach
such a
spirit as to
do
full
justice to their delicacy of con-
struction, or
beauty of form. Warned by the Selective Idealthe realists pursue actuality with some-
ism with which the century opened, and the Romanticism
which followed
they
it,
times an unwillingness to see delicacy and beauty where

exist.
They know only
too well the error and danger

;
of looking at nature through rose-tinted or green spectacles
and they would rather be accused of nasty realism than

prettiness.
Idealism must be
left for
those
who can
idealize,
or rather for those
whose thought metamorphoses

;
their
work
into ideal forms

is
but the only sure ground for the
Actualism with willingness to see delicacy of construction and beauty of form. The true idealist never
student
knows that he idealizes. not before them run the

if
risk of falling
Those who portray that which is below realism but

;
the fruits of this effort of imagination balance the loss

is
of realism the effort
justified.
life
Pictorial art displays facts of
and experience, orna-
CONCLUSION
mental art seeks
izing one
first
19s
beautiful.
to
make
life
naturally cross or overlap, but without in any

another,
life,
The two way neutralinto
when
pictorial
art
enters
the
pageant of
for
or ornamental art exhibits natural forms,

necessarily be subjects
of
these
must
interest
or
experience.
Conventionality
the
is
simply
suitability, so that the greater
more conventional becomes the result. One always has to choose one's means of expression, even for pictorial work whether it shall be and this choice is itself an clay, ink, copper, or paint
of suitability the
; ;
demands
act of conventionality.
To
this has
only to be added the

all
adaptation to the limits of the paper or canvas, and

the
demands of
suitability are
enumerated.
In decorative
art there are of course greater
demands, and these must be

all
supplied without trenching at
upon Realism.
The
rule to follow
is
to adopt such
means (whether
are
outline, tints
of colour, low-relief,
incising, etc.) as
suitable for the purpose in hand,
as closely as possible.
This
is
and with them to realize what the Greeks did when

is
decorating their vases.
The only
opposite to Realism
untruth.
is
The conmethod out

higher than
ventionality of which the realist complains
of place, as dirt
is
matter out of place.
Designers are
is
apt to fancy, and boast, that decorative art

pictorial, as if either
could be the higher, though a work
of the one
may
excel a
work of the
is
other.
They
allow
themselves to think they need
make no
effort to realize
and
that
every error
excusable under the
plea
of
conventionality.
in
Exactly what means of expression should be adopted decorating this or that object, must be determined by
faculty or
the exercise of that
judgment which should

196
CONCLUSION
artist
mark the
of taste.
from other men.
It is entirely
a matter
In closing this book following precepts
we may
not do
ill
to write
down
the
Do
as you
like.
Please yourself, or you will please no one.

Actualize, but look for beauty.
Realize in suitable, methods
Make
the most of modest means.
APPENDIX
EXAMPLES OF PRINTING-BLOCKS
ALBERT DURER
Life of the Virgin
.
Four wood-cuts
'Woodi-cai.
.
Plates
.
IX XII.
The Adoration of the Magi
Plate XIII.
SOLOMON BERNARD
Alciafs
Emblems
Ten wood-cuts
Plates
XIV XVIII.
Bible Prints
Eight wood-cuts Plates
XIX XXIII.
WILLIAM BLAKE
Jerusalem
Six blocks
.
Plates
XXIVXXVII.
HANS BURGMAIR
Three Good Heathens
.
.Wood-cut
.
Plate
XXVI IL
Triumph of Maximilian
Five wood-cuts. Plates
XXIXXXXIII.
197
ALBERT DURER
(1471-1528)
Durer's
each
I
'Life of the Virgin' consists of 19 wood-cuts,

inches, with a vignette frontispiece of the
if X 8i
Virgin seated within a crescent moon.

the most delicately-drawn and cut of
The
all
blocks are
his wood-cuts
and are perhaps the best that he executed.

Passion' in some respects
in
it
The
'
Little
is
superior.
The compositions
are bolder, broader, larger in treatment, but then they

if
are violent, and,
they gain vigour from that quality, they
not a
little fall
into the grotesque.

in
One
is
not surprised,
therefore, to
find
them an
'
insistence
'
on oddities of
is
costume, of which the

free.
Life of the Virgin

is
remarkably
The
great quality of this work
its
quiet beauty,
a beauty not merely of form but of conception, indeed

rather of conception than of form.
are
Some
is
of the faces
remarkably noble, and the drawing

strong.
both tender
and
Five of the blocks and the frontispiece are reproduced

in the
Monograph by Knackfuss.
different.
The
is
four here repro-
duced are
In addition there
here reproduced
another 'Adoration of the Magi,' dated 1511.
There
is
nothing finer than the Joseph of this block in any of

Durer's wood-cuts.
199
200
APPENDIX
The very
beautiful figures of shepherds in the
Joachim
block, Plate IX., cannot escape attention.
The one with

Joachim him-
upraised arms
is
most wonderfully posed. These shepherds

is
have a gracefulness which

self is as
Italian, while
Gothic as he well could be.
Full reference has already been

in the
made
to these blocks
body of the book under the headings of Emphasis
and Quality.
The
dates of the blocks for the
'
Life of
the Virgin' are 1509 and 15 10.
Plate IX.
JOACHIM RECEIVING THE PBOMISK. From DUrer's Life of the Virgin.'

'
Plate X,
THE ANNUNCIATION.
From
DUrer's
'
Life of the Virgin.'
203
Plate XI.
THE ADORATION OP THE MAGI.

From
Durer'
'
Life of the Virpn.'
20S
Plate XII.
THE PLIGHT INTO EGYPT. From Dttror's Life of tho Virgin.'

'
207
Plate XIII.
THE ADORATION OF THE MASI.

Wood-cut by
Diirer, dated 1511,
ao9
*/',
SOLOMON BERNARD
(1512-1598?)
ILLUSTRATIONS TO "ALCIAT'S EMBLEMS,' 1547
Among
the publications of the Holbein Society are
reprints of editions of Akiafs Emblems. Fountains of Alciat contains facsimiles of the editions Paris, 1534; and Venice, 1546. of Augsburg, 1531 Alcias Emblems in Full Stream is a facsimile of the com-
two volumes of
plete
edition issued at Lyons in 1551. The Emblems Epigrams are short Latin verses by Andrea Aiciati, or a famous jurisconsult (1492-15 50). These short verses were accompanied by devices which either illustrate the
text,
or
tell
the story in another way.

of the chief editions vary,
The
illustrations
and the
both
treatment of .the same subject by different

interesting
artists is
and
instructive.
The
illustrations in the edition
of 1547 are not commented upon by the Rev. Henry Green, the editor for the Holbein Society of their reprints,
and he merely says that the edition was published by Tornaesius and Gazeius, at Lyons, the devices being very In his Emblems of Andrea Aiciati, however, Mr. small. Green deals with the edition at some length, and says that
the wood-cuts are generally attributed to
(or
Little
Le
Petit Bernard
Bernard), but that
Douce
ascribed
Cousin.
Plates
Of
these devices, ten are reproduced,

plates.
them to same size,
on the following
The
Bible-cuts
reproduced in
XXIII. are said to be Bernard's, and Mr. Green attributes to him the Alciat illustrations of 1551, Are these of 1547 by the same hand?
to
XIX.
212
APPENDIX
To
debate this question would carry us beyond the
scope of our present work.
The
inquisitive reader will
probably find a copy of the edition of 155 1 the Full Stream in any public library of any size. He will find In silentium the horizontality (such as we see in and
'
'
by slanting, and perspective. The figures, he frequently curved, lines, in will find, are abnormally tall, with added grace and less
'
Semper
presto esse infortunia
')
replaced
real expression.
He
will find the ships
not so good, the
and furniture more florid, and the costumes more elaborate but more fanciful. It is remarkable that Bernard, if he was the artist of both, should have changed his style, or rather his mode
architecture
of conception, so
defect
is
much
in
artificiality
so short a time.
chief
merit,
His chief
action,
his
vivacious
and as he developed the former, he seems to have lost something of the latter. All the little cuts here reproduced would "work out" well in decoration. There is symmetry in In senatum boni principis,' and balance in In studiosum captum Amore.' In the latter, apparently, Venus, Juno, and Minerva are assembled before a more studious Paris. The Minerva is
'
'
the usual conventional pose almost repeated in Unum nihil.' The ships are reproduced because they will be acceptable as examples of decorative ship -form. 'In vitam humanam' shows us two philosophers. He
'
with his hands to his head and the corrugated brow is Heraclitus, the " weeping " philosopher the other is Democritus, the " laughing " philosopher. His brow is wrinkled.
;
His gibes seem to

also appears in
'
irritate his
nihil.'
companion.
philosopher
Unum
'De Morte
old
man
is
et Amore' is a very fine composition. The worthy of Holbein. The vivacious movement
in all Bernard's
which we see
in this block.
work
is
present in
full
measure
Plate XIV.
IN SENATini BONI PRINCIPIS.
STUDIOSUU CAPTUU AHOSB.
313
Platb XV.
IN FACILfe A VIHTUTE DESCISCENTES.
SPES PROXIMA.
Plate XVI.
IN SILENTIUM.
IN VITAM
HVMANAM.
BIS
Platb XVII.
Plate XVIII.
DESIDIAM ABJICIENDAM.
;'
SOLOMON BERNARD
BIBLE FIGURES
From an
Edition of the Vulgate, Lyons, 1558.
These
cuts were originally issued in 1554,
says they are Bernard's best work.

'
and Bryan Most of them are of
no higher merit than that of Lot escaping from Sodom on Plate XXI. They approach much more in style to the Aldat Emblems of 1551, than to those of 1547 (of which
the preceding note has dealt).
Of
all,
perhaps the 'St.
Matthew
'
is
the finest.
Two
size.
cu-e
'
here reproduced twice the original size

'
The
'
Adoration and
The
Crucifixion
'
the others are the same

movement
We cannot but
notice in
all
the varied play of
the gestures are musically adapted to one another, and the rhythm passes backwards and forwards into and out of the picture, and not merely sways from side to side. The infant Christ both in 'The Nativity' and 'The
Adoration'
former
is
is
beautiful
artificial
figure.
The Virgin
managed.
in
the
in
a very
is
attitude.
It
is
The drapery
in
often
very skilfully
constantly looped across the figure at the hip or the knee,
a manner which, however valuable decoratively,
is arti-
ficial,
and not to be imitated.

peculiarities of his
Two
mode
219
of composition are seen
220
in the cuts
left
APPENDIX
on Plate
XX.
One
is
the diagonal line from

is
to right across the picture,
and the other
the arrange-
ment of the
figures in a small rectangle in the left comer.
If the reader will
frame these groups round he

fillings,
will find
he
has fine decorative
with, in the
'
Jethro,' the hori-
zontal line strongly

persistence
marked.
parallel
In 'The Adoration' the

to
of lines
the
diagonal
is
very
remarkable.
The
use of the diagonal line as part of the scaffolding of

is
a composition
serves
is
well
known
to artists.
always to draw
it
it
across their designs.

it
Some indeed seem One useful purpose

if
that
prevents a painful symmetry (as

like
the
picture
were opened
a book) developing.
'
Such a
'
danger probably threatened

probably wards
In
Vitam
is
Humanam
in
Plate XVI., and the slanting line of the background as

it off.
Where
for.
there
a central object of
Plate XIV., the
importance, as in the illustrations in
symmetry
is
accounted
FlatkXIX.
S,T.
MATTHEW.
THE NATIVITY.
Platb XX.
ABRAHAM AND THE THREE ANGELS.
JETHRO BRINGS THE WIFE AND SONS OP MOSES TO HIM.
Plate XXI.
THE DEATH OF JEZABEL.
LOT ESCAPING FROM SOOOM.
i23
Plate XXIL
TUB ADOJtATION,
004
Platb XXIII.
THE
CRUCIFIXION,
285
WILLIAM BLAKE
(1757-1826)
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 'JERUSALEM
Blake
ground
executed these blocks either by drawing on the
copper with stopping-out varnish, or by scratching off the

in the ordinary
manner of
etching.
In any case
the blocks are surface-printing etchings.
Jerusalem was published in 1804.

plates,
is
It consists of i(X)
mostly
letterpress.
The
subject of the poem, which

It is
Blake's own, does not concern us.
one of his
" pro-
phetic " books,

poetry.
The whole
and contains passages of the most book, poem and pictures, is

light in absolute darkness
brilliant
like the
shimmering of
in a
the shimmering
of a light which reveals with every gleam ideas and forms
maze of disorder.
principle,
Blake seems in these works to have based his production
upon a
and the principle was that

is
clear logical
is clear),
statement was folly (because nothing was or

that the only worthy and vivid statement
artist
and
that of the
who does
not presume to separate ideas or forms,
but merely (as with the eye) observes and notes them.
The
there
reader will notice in the following plates,
first,
how
is
an expression of
light
light
;
of luminousnesswithout
what we call symmetry in

of
lines.
certain cases,
and shade he will observe the severe and the rhythmical arrangement
228
APPENDIX
Plate
On
XXIV.
are three designs from different pages

fallen angel
placed together.
Observe that the
becomes a
little
mountain, the snake-like form becomes clouds, with

birds in the sky,
beasts,
and the flaming flower a sun. Plough, man, tree, and hills, in the other illustration all,
also, are confused.
In Plate
will
XXVII.
the curves on either side of the Christ
not escape attention.
These six examples are reproduced by special permission of Mr. Bernard Quaritch.
Platk XXIV.
"*<^^
I
tfl
I I
Platb XXV.
331
Platb XXVI.
From
Blake's Jerusalem.
233
Plate XXVII.
From
Blake's Jerusalem.
3^
HANS BURGMAIR
the three good heathens'
'the triumph of maximilian'
plates.
'The Three Good Heathens' forms one of The grotesqueness of the costumes is
a series of
accounted
somewhat by the proximity of the Hungarians and the Turks to Lower Germany. 'The Triumph of Maximilian' consists of 135 blocks
for
which were engraved in the Emperor's lifetime. The full scheme not being completed at the Ertiperor's death, the blocks lay unprinted till the end of the eighteenth century, when an impression was published at Vienna in 1796. The following plates are reproduced from some of these impressions and the whole set have been reproduced by the Holbein Society, who issued at the same time a de;
scriptive text,
from which the
titles
here given are taken.
One
sometimes sees reproductions of the plates in which
horsemen carry square banners which fill up the upper part of the design. These attractive blocks belong to a number which upon scrutiny prove very uninteresting, and
are wholly
attributed to Diirer.
by another hand including those sometimes Those marked H B (hidden usually
among
the trappings) are vastly superior, and undoubtedly

237
by Burgmair.
238
APPENDIX
following plates Plate
Of the
PlatiB
XXIX.
is
Plate 37 of the
issue of 1796; Plate
XXX.
is
is
Plate 35; Plate
XXXI.
is
so; Plate
is
XXXII.
Plates 25 and 26;
and Plate
XXXIII.
Plates 41 and 42.
Plates 25
and 26 and 41
and 42 are now, therefore, for the first time printed edge to edge. No doubt the whole procession was meant to be
pasted into a continuous picture.
The procession is moving along at the slowest of paces. The attitudes are indeed in many cases not those of action.
We cannot
but observe the untiring industry with which

all
Burgmair has delineated
the folds and turns, edges and
ornaments, of the costume and armour.
look the fine arrangement of the swords in Plate
Nor can we overXXIX.,
or of the lances in Plate In Plate
XXX.
are flying overhead
XXXI., huge mentonnieres
of those knights
who
are not wearing them.
These menton-
nieres (or chin coverings) are of peculiar form.
They were
covered with several pieces held together in such a manner

that should the opponent succeed in thrusting his lance
upon the
It is to
right spot, they all flew
off".
be regretted that the inscriptions are absent from the tablets and bands in Plates XXXII. and XXXIII.
The addition would greatly improve the massing. The Emperor Maximilian I, died in the year 1519.
Plati XXVIII.
.^ DlE^DRi;i*
GVTEN.HAIDEN
J^
=
HECT01LVO-DR0I*GR0SALE5CANDXBÎVLIVS
THE THREE GOOD HEATHENS.
239
Plate XXIX.
241
Plate XXX.
843
Plate XXXI.
THE COURSE CALLED "BUND,"
Plati XXXII.
KUSIC OF TH. KAPtLLA UNDtR H8 G0G SLAKO.VY, BISHOI- OF VIENNA. ItALK,STEiU
PUkT XXXIII.
FlV^.
tilTIlSL
HBS ANTHONY VON VFAH. MASTIR Of THE TOUENEV.
APPENDIX
II
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

t.
Sacred Incidents.
Christian Saints.
2.
3.
4.
5. 6.
The The
Evangelists. Apostles.
Prophets and Patriarchs.
The Prophets and Apostles

Creed.
in
relation to the
7.
8.
The Muses. The Sibyls.
24s
[A few errors and mis-statements in the following pages are corrected here, and some additions to the list of emblems, etc. are given on page 267. For many of these emendations I am indebted to Mr. J. A. Knowles, and to my brother, Mr. A.J. Hatton. Crozier (p. 249). The word is sometimes derived from the French croc, a
,
bishop's hook, and hence signifies a crooljj a shepherd's staff pastoral staff. or an abbot's crozier is thus a pastoral staif, while an archbishop's has a cross crozier with two crossatop of it, as if crozier were also derived from cross. bars, or transoms, is given to cardinals and lo doctors of the Church, while one with three transoms belongs lo popes. S. Anthony's cross is the tau cross, shaped like the Greek letter t, with a transom but no head.
Mantles of the Heavenly Father and of our Lord.

Heavenly Father
is
The
represented in gold and white, our Lord in red, so that there may less confusion with the robe of the Virgin, which is usually blue, but white in representaions of the Assumption. Nimbus. The nimbus of the Father is usually round, with three bars radiating fro;n the centre, as if there were four in the form of a cross, but as this is the nimbus used for, and appropriate to the Son, some artists use for the Father three bars or rays, with an angle of 120 degrees between each, so that they do not suggest a cross, but the Trinity. The nimbus of the Almighty some-
now commonly
be
times bears the Greek letters O N 6 fiv " the Being " or " I am," and sometimes these are arranged in a triangular nimbus, to which somelimes is added another triangle, of which only two points are visible. When the five points are thus shown the nimbus is \iit pentacle (see Audsley's Handbook]. Crucifixion (p. 250). S. Longinus, the Roman soldier, sometimes stands with the Virgin and S. John at the foot of the cross. He is sometimes also associated with S. Michael and S. George, who are both also soldier-saints. The inscription on the tablet above Christ on the cross should be I. N.R.I. = lesous Christos, which Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judseorum, or else IC letters were used as long as the Greek, or Byzantine, influence was felt. I "H C as a contraction of the Greek lesous occurs in early representations, but I'H'S rarely or never. The figure ECCLESIA has a nimbus. Age of S. John. The remark on page 256 is perhaps not strictly correct. In Greek work he is always old, even when ihe word evangelist is* written beside him. In Latin work he is as constantly young. Apostles. The emblems given may be varied. If S. Thomas be given a carpenter's square, which is a very usual emblem for him, S. Matthias may retain the lance or spear, or more strictly, a pole-axe or halbert. S. Jude should have a boat or ship, leaving the fullar's bat or club for S. James the Less. S. Matthew, as an apostle, has a money-bag, as stated on page 256. He also (in England) has the carpenter's square, S, Thomas having a spear. The emblems of the evangelists and apostles were effectively used, and can still be, as charges upon their coats. The emblems of the Passion the Crown of thorns, the three Nails, the Dice, etc. are also frequently used as ornaments, are placed upon shields in the manner of coats-of-arms. and Patriarchs and Prophets. The statement (p. 258) that a wheel was a general emblem for a prophet is incorrect. sealed or unopened roll is the general emblem. Archangels (p. 252). Sometimes twelve is given as the full number. Of the names given Cherubim should be deleted. Commonly, in accordance with Rev. viii. 2, seven is regarded as the proper number. They are the first seven mentioned on page 252.
XC
EMBLEMS,
The
shown by the portrayal of
ETC.
identity of the personages represented should be

their characters,
and the
artist
should rely upon this as his chief means.
But, with certain
personages, definite accessories have been associated, and

these accessories have
their identification.
come
to be regarded as essential to
To
the artist these various details are
very welcome, because they afford opportunities for the

introduction of forms which would otherwise be irrelevant.
The artist may use any emblems he likes. He can invent them to serve his purposes, but in that case he must be careful to make them appropriate, and he must run the
risk of their being objected to.
emblems have, however, become sanctioned by it is these that we are concerned with here. Practically all that are given below are of that order, and where I have made a suggestion it is placed within square
Certain
usage, and
brackets
[ ],
or such brackets are used within the statement.

certain
;
Sometimes
words take the place of the usual

is
material object
sometimes, indeed, the " text "
the only
nieans of identification.
The
list
is
intended as an immediate help, and does

all
not pretend to be at
appropriate to our
exhaustive.
It is
a selection,
own
day, from the usage of the past.
Where
I
have not been able to trace a suitable emblem

is
have yet inserted the name to indicate that such

247
the
case.
248
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

of the Latin texts can be readily found
The meanings
by
referring to the chapter
and verse
stated.
These
all
refer-
ences are to the English Bible, the texts are
from the
Vulgate.
The
texts in old
work
are not always from the
Vulgate, but from other versions.
In a few cases these are
added.
Wherever the texts are enclosed within square brackets

[
]
it
is
to be understood that the texts are suggested, as
being appropriate, but have not been used in the past.
Curved brackets
indicate
that
the
portion
between
them can be omitted, the remainder being used. For instance, the text for S. Raphael is from Tobit, " EGO SEPTEM." This is followed by two passages in curved
. .
brackets, either or both of which are found in old work.
To
these succeed two other passages which are

[
].
within
square brackets
Either of these
may
be used without
any of the preceding.

Contractions have been freely employed in Latin.
The
non,
most frequent
is
the omission of n or m, which
is
indicated
by a
illu
short line over the vowel preceding, as no

ilium,
motes
montes.
if
The termination -orum

tail
can be contracted to -or
the
of the
r is
crossed.
tail
P with
crossed
the
is
tail
crossed
per, as in super.
in
with the
qui-
anywhere
a word.
for
traction for
Dominus, and Diim

is
Dns is the conDominum. Sometimes

for
considerable contraction
letters
made, as ala
anima, the
dropped being only

nostra,
and
n,
with the vowels

is
accompanying them.
noster, nra
is
Similarly,
oes
omnes,
ner
is
and so
on.
Apparently the only
words thus greatly contracted are omnis, anima, homo,

noster, vester,
and Dominus (used as a sacred name), and
the various
forms due to their declension.

terminations, -us
is
But
qm =
little
quoniam.
Of
expressed by a
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

curl, like
ae
249
a figure
9,
placed rather high; que becomes q:;

cedilla
becomes e with a
beneath
it,
while as a general
3
contraction for the latter part of a word the sign

is
(which
apparently only a wriggle of the pen) was used.

In
the
following
lists
Abp.
Archbishop, Bp.
fessor,
M.
Church, S.
= =
Martyr,
Ap. = Apostle, Ab. = Abbot, = Bishop, D. = Doctor, C. = ConV. = Virgin, F. = Father of the
by
their Latin
Saint (Sanctus or Sancta).

are followed
The names
form
in brackets,
then by the Saint's
"day" and
date of death.
Then
After
succeed the individual particulars and emblems.

these
come the emblems held

left,
in the right
is
hand, and then

is
those in the
but which hand

reader will
used
not of
all
much
consequence.
The
all
remember
that
virgins
wear white,
martyrs bear the instruments of their

that the proper
martyrdom and may have the palm, and

bishops, and to
costume must be given to deacons, bishops and arch-
monks and
abbots.
Confessors have their
proper insignia, with sometimes a

a general
lily.
The
cross-staff as
indis-
emblem of the
Christian
we
see carried
criminately.
crozier has a cross-top,

it.
and that of an
archbishop has a crucifix upon

the crooked head, and
is
The
pastoral staff has
carried with the curve directed
by bishops, backward by abbots, who more properly have the hood than the mitre. Sometimes the Almighty Father, or our Lord, is represented holding the emblem of a saint or a text of identification, within a circle or on a tablet. Thus in S. Gabriel's Church we may place a figure of our Lord holding a circle
forward
within which
Plena."
is
lily
and the words
"
Ave Maria
Gratia
The Heavenly Father

red or gold
;
is
generally represented clothed in
our Lord in white with a blue mantle.
250
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS
I.
Sacred Incidents.
Custom
has associated a certain treatment, and certain our Lord, of
texts, witii several of the scenes in the life of
which the following are the chief:
The Annunciation.
The
Virgin's hands crossed Virgin EccE upon her bosom. Domini.
ancilla
S. Gabriel carries a lily in
Gabriel
Ave Maria Gra-
hand, and extends the right while speaking.

left
The
Shepherds'
tia Plena, (Dominus tecum) (benedicta tu in mulibribus). Gloria in excelsis Deo

(et
'
'
Watch.
in
terra
is
Excelsis " early work.
pax). seen in
Gloria
in
altissimis
Deo, et in terra pax HOMINIBUS BONi VO-
The Last
Supper.
S.
generally seen reclining upon our Lord's bosom. SS. Peter, Andrew, and James the Greater aie the next
is
John
Amen
LUNTATIS. Vulgate. dico vobis quia unus vestrum me traS.
diturus est.
Mark
xiv. 18.
nearest.
Judas puts Eucharist in his

purse.
The
On
Crucifixion. Our Lord on the Cross, draped only with a cincture about the loins, and having the spear-wound in His right side. His right hand the Virgin, on the left S. John (Evan, and Ap.). Or, on His right the church Ecclesia, a robed and crowned woman holding a chalice into which falls blood from the wound, and on His left the ancient law Synagogia, a woman mournfully habited in grey, with expression of dejection, holding the two tables of the law (conjoined edge to edge) ; or with her head drooping, eyes blindfolded, crown falling, tables falling, and lance-banner broken and falling. Or, in place of Synagogia, a seraph (with four wings) sheathing a sword a decidedly preferable idea. Adam as an old man issues from a grave at foot of Cross and receives blood in a chalice. Above, an angel holds the sun, another the moon, as if On a table, or scroll, fastened on the Cross above our removing them.
Lord IHC
Hominum
or
(Gr.
IHCOYC =
More
fully,
lesous),
corrupted
into
I-II'S
Salvator).
Hlc est Jesus Rex Jud/EORUM
(Jesus (Matt.),
Hic EST Nazarenus ihc Rex JuD/EORUM.

is
The Virgin sometimes has a sword pointing to her heart. Of the two thieves, the penitent one, on our Lord's right,
Desmas, the
The Resurrection. Our

banner on a long
staff.
other
is
Jesmas.
Lord
steps
The banner
from the tomb, bearing a small white has a red cross upon it.
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS
251
2.
Christian Saints.
S.
Acca,
Ep.
of
252
S.
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

Dalmatic cope and mitre Pastoral
staff
Augustine, Bp. of 28 Aug. (Augusti 430 nus) C, D., F.
Book
Hippo
Child lading water into Book a hole in the sand on

S.
Pen
Augustine, Abp. 26 May of Canterbury 1171 (Augustinus)
the sea-shore Full vestments
Chalice
Staff
Monk's
habit, black
Book
Archangels SS. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, and also Uriel. There are sometimes included Chamuel, Zadkiel, Jophiel, Salathiel, Cherubim, but the authority for these is doubtful. See the several names.
S. S.
Barbara, V. & M. 4 Dec. 303 Tower Bede, the Vener- 27 May Monk's habit. able, D. (Beda) from heaven 735
Sword
Light Books streams
black.
Palm Pen
Ab. 21 March (Benedictus) 543 S. Benedict, Biscop. 12 Jan. 690 Ab. 20 Aug. S. Bernard, Ab., C.
S. Benedict,
C,
upon him Monk's habit, Raven
Cross
[Two
feet]
monasteries at his
at his feet
Three mitres
(Bernardus)
1153
or offered to him
S. Bernardinus, Siena
of 20
May
Chained demon Black habit Three mitres as last
1444
Tablet with
LH.S.
upon
S. S.
it
Catherine,
of 30 April
Black over white habit

of Dominican order
Siena Catherine, Alexandria
1380
of 25
Nov.
Crowned
307
A
S. Cecilia
with roses richly habited ring given to her by the infant Christ
Wheel with
spikes
22 Nov. 230
Playing upon an organ at which she sits, or which she cacries. An angel assists, or angels accompany, her
Chalice
Chamuel (Archangel)
S. Chiislopher
25 July
Bearded,
364
carrying the child Christ on his shoulders through the waves of the sea
Rough
staff
S. Clare,
V.
12 Aug.
1253
S.
Black gown, brown cloak Monstrance Lily white coif, black hood
Cleophas
Bp.
Pen
20 March 687
Otters, or an otter
S. Culhbert,
Head
Crozier
of
S.Oswald the King

Devil under his foot, Book knotted girdle,monk's habit, black over white Lily
S.
Dominic, C. (Dominicus)
4 Aug.
1221
with
crucifix
Book
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

S. Dunstan, B., C.
2S3
19 May. 988
Hammer
and tongs
S.
Edmund, K. & M. 20 Nov.

870
Ermine mantle ; crowned Sceptre Bound to a tree and

pierced with arrows.
Assailed by his murderers
Arrow
S.
Edward, K.
Edward, K.
& M. & C.
18
March
979
S.
5 Jan.
1066 Long beard
Sceptre
Church
or ring
S. Elizabeth,
Hungary
S.
of 12 Nov. 1231
Regally robed
crowned Crown
Book
Euphemia,V., M. 16 Sep. 307
Dagger in breast; lion Lily gnaws her arm; richly robed ; crowned
Kneels; has the stigmata Cross or wounds of our Lord's Passion, and crown of thorns upon his head. Crucifix before him from which rays carry the wounds Brown habit to him.
Palm
S. Francis, of Assisi
4 Oct.
1226
Book
(Franciscus)
and hood
S.
Gabriel
nunciation
(Arch-
12
March
angel), of the
An-
EGO SUM GABRIEL QUI ASTO ANTE DEUM Luke 19

i.
Lily
Addressing the Virgin
AVE GRATIA DOMINUS
(BBNEDICTA MULIERIBUS) Luke

S.
PLENA TECUM TU IN
i.
28
Genevieve of Nanterre,
3 Jan.
509
A devil (restrained by an
angel) endeavours to extinguish the flame of a candle which she holds
or of Paris
S.
George,
(Georgius)
M. 23 April
303
In armour, with red cross White banner with on his breast, attacks red cross the dragon a maiden
close
S. Giles,
by
Cross-staff
Ab.
Sep.
725 Monk's habit
Book Book
Arrows
S.
at his feet
Arrows
Gregory the Great, 12 March 604 F. (Gregorius)

Jerome, C.D.F.
(leronimus)
Pen Chasuble, Pope's mitre A dove whispers in his

ear
S.
30 Sep.
Lion.
420
Taking a thorn from the lion's paw
254
S.
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

24 June
John Baptist
Unkempt,
clothed
in Cross -staff
skins and usually partly nude, sometimes clad with the skin garment
of rough wood, on
which
scroll
is
over
tlie
others.
Lamb
bearing
AGECCE NUS DEI
(qui TOLLIT PEC-
CATA
MUNDI.)
S.
Chrysostome, F. (loannes
John
[4 Sep.
407 Chasuble, beard, Y-stole Pen
Book
Chrysostomus)
Jophiel (Archangel)
S.
Tree of Knowledge
19 March
Flaming sword
Carpenter's square or
tools
Joseph
(fosephus)
S.Lawience.Deacon, 10 Aug. M. (Laurentius) 258 S. Leonard, Deacon 6 Nov. 546 Cope,

(Leonardus)
S. Margaret,
Gridiron
stole,
cap
Pastoral
staff
Fetters joined by a chain
V.&M.
(Margarita)
S.
20 July 306
Stands on dragon
Cross-staff
Mary
(Maria)
the Virgin 8 Sep.
Red
robe, blue mantle. Lily beside her. In the Assumption and
Book
Apple
apple
(the
Lily
of
Annunciation
in white.
she
is
Eve)
ECCE ANCILLA DOMINI

S.
Mary Magdalene, M.
22 July
Long wavy
hair
Book
Small
of
Palm
box
oint-
ment
Martin (Martinus) i:Nov. 397 Nalied beggar In armour. Scales with Lance (Arch- 29 Sep. S. Michael a good soul weighed angel) against abad. Dragon.
S.
Scales
MICHAEL MAGNUS
PRO TUI
S. Nicholas,
PRINCEPS QUI STAT

POPULI
1
FILIIS
Daniel iX\.
Bp.
of 6 Dec.
332 Three children
in a tub,
Myra
Abp. of 17 March Ireland 464 28 April S. Peter Martyr
S. Patriclc,
or kneeling before
him
Tramples on serpents
Curved knife in his head, Palm

dagger at his breast. Black over white Dominicati habit
1252

EMBLEMS AND TEXTS
S.
25S
Raphael
angel)
(Arch-
12 Sep.
As
a pilgrim or traveller, Staff with wallet. Active, as passing to and fro, (Tobias) with his
fish.
accompanied by Tobit
EGO ENIM SUM RAPHAEL ANGELUS UNUS EX

SEPTEM, (qui ASTA-
MUS ANTE DOMINUM)

(PAXVOBIS, NOLITE TIMERE.) [ETENIMCUM ESSEM VOEISCUM, PER VOLUNTATEM DEI ERAM :] [IPSUM BENBDICITE,
. .
.
ET CANTATE
S.
ILLI :] Tobit ym. 15-18.

loin-cloth,
Sebastian, (Sebastianus)
M. 20
Jan. 288 Nude,

tied
tree.
with
to
Arrows
a column or Archers shoot at

pierc-
him.
ing
S. Silas
Arrows him
Book
34 Dalmatic with stones
Church, Palm book, or
stones
S.
Stephen, Deacon, 26 Dec.
M. (Stephanus)
S.
Thomas Aquinas,
F., D.
March
Cloak with hood
Pen
Battle-axe
Book
1274 S. Thomas, Abp. of 29 Dec. Canterbury 1 170 S. Uriel (Archangel)
[excedens excessit The sun COR tuvm in seculo HOC,] [et comprehendere cogitas
VIAM ALTISSIMI]
II
Esdras
iv. 2.
S. Ursula, V.
21 Oct. 453 S. Vincent, Deacon, 22 Jan. 304
Many Crow
virgins with her
Arrow Palm
M.
Zadkiel (Archangel)
Exposed naked to wild beasts and untouclied.

Sacrificial knife
Pitch-fork
Fathers of the (Eastern) Church SS. John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, and sometimes Cyril of Alexandria. Fathers of the (Western) Church SS. Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine and Gregory.
3.
The
his
Evangelists.
Gospel serve
to
The
man,
first
words of
identify
each
Evangelist.
lion,
Each
carries a
pen and book.
The emblems
and
ox, eagle
are
generally winged
become
2S6
symbols, standing
the Evangelists.
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

in
place
of,
rather than accompanying,

is,
The winged form

is
however, generally
I
used even when the Evangelist
present.
do not
recollect
having seen a wingless

is
S.
man
with S. Matthew, and the symbol
usually spoken of as " an angel."

Matthew
thseus)
(Mat- 21 Sep.
Man, winged.
Scroll
with LIBER Money-bag GBNERATIONIS (jESU CHRISTI FILII DAVID)

(FILII
ABRAHAM)
S.
Mark (Marcus)
25 April
VEN'ITE AD ME (OMNES QUI LABORATIS,) (ET ONERATI ESTIS,) (ET EGO REFICIAM VOS) Matt. xi. 26 Lion, winged. Scroll with initium evangelii (iesu CHRISTI) (FILII DEI)
(VIVl)
S.
Luke (Lucas)
18 October
Ox, winged
Painting a portrait of the Virgin Mary Scroll with QuomAM QUIDEM, or FUIT IN
DIEBUS HERODIS
S.
John (loannes)
27 Dec.
Eagle (As apostle) Blue tunic. As evange- Chalice list he is represented from young, as apostle very which old, with flowing springs beard and long hair. or crawls Scroll with IN prina serpent, CIPIO erat verbum or winged
serpent
4.
S.
The
Apostles.
Andrew (Andreas) 30 Nov.

M.
Cross saltire, which he holds or leans upon,

St.
is behind him Matthew's gospel in his bosom.
or which
S. Barnabas,
S.
(
1 1
June
Bartholomew
24 August
Knife
Bartholomaeus) S. James the Greatei 25 July (Jacobus major)
Hat with
flat turned up Staff \yith and cockle-shell on it. wallet Large coat or habit hanging instead of mantle. from a Wallet at girdle or hook hanging from his staff. upon it
EMBLEMS
S.
ANt) TEXTS
257
James the Less
2-58
EMBLEMS- AN1> TEXTS
5.
Prophets and PatriarcHs.
With
but one or two exceptions the Prophets have no
material emblems.
A wheel was
used as a general emblem
both for Patriarchs and Prophets in mediaeval times, but has
now become meaningless. It indicated the perfection of their knowledge^so Durandus says. The scroll is also a general emblem for a Prophet, and upon it are sometimes a few words
spoken or written by him, and by which he
In old
to be
may
be identified.
is
work the passage ascribed

it
to a Prophet
it
not always
found in his works, sometimes

is
belongs to another
Prophet, and sometimes
not a
literal transcript,
but
is
shortened version.
The
them.
four Greater Prophets are
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
and Daniel.
Elijah and
King David frequently accompany
Amos
ECCE DIES VENEUNT STILLABUNT MONTES
Abraham
DULCEDINEM Amos ix. 13 Long beard benedicentur in se Knife mine tuo omnes gentes terr.e
Gen. xxvi. 5
(Innocent.)
foliage
Adam
Nude among
animals and luxurious

(Guilty.) skins
trees
Partly clad in Spade

leafless
Earren land and

Daniel
Among
lions.
Ram
QUOD
Dan.
with
four horns
SUSCITABIT DEUS
CCF.LI
REGNUM
SIPABITUR)
iETERNUM (NON
IN DISii,
44
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

David, King (David Rex)
259
As a
youth, elothed scan
tily,
with a sling in his
hand and the head of
As
Goliath at his feet a king, crowned, playing upon a harp, or with hammers upon
bells, which hang above him AUDI FILIA ET VIDE, ET
INCLINA AUREM TUAM

Ps. xlv. 10
DESCENDET DOMINUS SICUT PLUVIA IN

VELI.US
Ps.
Ixxii.
Eve (Eva)
(Innocent.) birds and
(Guihy.) skins, holding a
Nude, with amid flowers Half clad in

distaff.
Two
Ezekiel
children
at her
knee (eT dixit
AD ME), CLAUSA ERIT

aperietur)
or
Elijah (Elias)
DOMINUS PORTA H/liC

(nON
xliv. 2
Ez.
porta quam vides CLAUSA ERIT Long black hair; loins

girt with skins
;
mantle
of sheep-skins
VIVIT DOMINUS (DEUS ISRAEL) (in CUJUS

CO.NSPECTir
STO)
SI
ERIT ANNIS his (rOS ET) PLUVIA, or VIVIT DOMINUS, KON ERIT PLUVIA SUPER TERram. I Kitigs xvii. I
Haggai (Aggaeus)
EGO VOBISCUM SUM (DIGIT DNS) Hag. i. 13 SPIRITUS MEUS ERIT IN MEDIO VESTRUM (NOLITE TIMERE)
I
Hag.
ii.
ET VENIET DESIDERAtus Hag. ii, 7
Habakkuk
cue)
(Haba.
SI
MORAM
FECERIT, EX:
PECTA illum (quia VENIENS VENIET, ET NON TARDABIT)

Hab. ii. 3 DOMINE, AUDIVI AUDITIONEM TUAM, ET timui Hab. iii. 2 DOMINUS (or DEUS) AB AUSTRO VENIET
Hab.
iii.
26o
Hosea (Osee)
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

EX EGYPTO VOCAVI LIUM MEUM
Hos.
FI-
xi. I
Isaac
Isaiah (Isaias)
Bearing faggots
ecce virgo concipiet Saw et pariet filium,)

(et
vocabitur noEJUS
men
UEL)
EMMANvii.
Isaiah
14
ECCE DOMINUS INGREDIETUR (EGYPTUM ET
MOVEBUNTUR SIMULACRA)
(This
is
Is. xix.
much shortened
Vulgate, from the which is " Ecce Dns
ascendet super nubem levem, et ingredietur
^gyptum,
The
ladder
et
commo-
vebuntur simulacra ")
Jacob
Jeremiah (leremias)
HIC DOMINUS N03TER (et NON IMPUTABI-
TUR
Jesse
{see
alius)
pp. 261-62)
Joel
[ego
DOMINUS DEUS VESTER ET NON EST amplius] Joel ii. 27
Job
Seated on a dunghill [SCIO ENIM quod REdemptor meus vivit] [et in NOVISSI-
mo die de terra surrecturus sum]

Job
Jonah (lonas)
[DIXIT
xix,
25
DOMINUS, EGO Whale
NON PARCAM NINIVE]

Jonah
Joseph (Patriarch)
Judith
iv.
1
Purse
Curved sword, and head

of Holofernes
Malachi (Malachias)
veniet ad templum (sanctum) suum do-
minator quem vos

QUiliRlTis Mai.
iii.
ECCE (eNIM) dies VENIET (DICIT DOMINUS) Mai. iv. I
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

Micah (Michaeas)
[quis deus simii.is tui] Micah vii. 18 Horns on his head.
261
Moses
Long beard. Long robe. Strikes

rock,
the
from
which
gushes water. Before a burning bush, removing his shoes
PROPHETAM SUSCITABO EIS (DE MEDIO FRATRUM SUORUM)

Deut. xviii. 1 8 Vulgate
;
OT-PROPHETAMDOMINUS SUSCITABIT (VOBIS DE FRATRIBUS VESTRIS)

;
PROPHETAM
SUSCI-
Nahum (Naum)
TABIT VODIS SOL ORTUS EST ET AVO-
LAVERUNT
Nahum
iii.
17
ECCE SUPER MONTES PEDES (eVANGELIZANTIS ET ANNUNTIANTIS PACEM)
Noah (Noe)
Solomon Rex
Long
Nahum i. 15 Dove beard. brings him an olive branch. In the Ark. Holding a model of the
SIBI
The Ark
Temple SAPIENTIA /EDIFICAVIT
DOMUM
Prov.
ix. 1
Zechariah
(Zacharias)
ECCE EGO VENIO, ET HABITABO IN MEDIO TUI Zech. ii. 10 VENIET DOMINUS DEUS
MEUS
SANCTI
Zephaniah
(Sophooios)
OMNESQUE
CUM EO
Zech. xiv. 5
QUIA JUXTA EST DIES DOMINI Zeph. i. 7 JUXTA EST DIES DOMINI
MAGNUS Zeph. i. 14 REX ISRAEL DOMINUS IN MEDIO TUI

Zeph.
iii.
15
In the Jesse-trees Jesse is lying below as if sleeping, his head generally resting on his hand. From his loins springs a conventional tree which branches out as a regular pattern. Within the branches small figures represent the persons (or some of them) through whom the genealogy of our Lord is traced, as in the opening Usually the list is greatly curtailed, and the selections of S. Matthew's Gospel. used differ. One of the sircp'est arrangements is seen in a MS. in the British Museum. Jesse lies below, th3 trunk passes straight up to King David, who is crowned, then to the Virgin Mary, and then to our Lord, above whom descends
262
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS
On either side of the Virgin are Abraham and Moses, with their the Dove. legends " Benedicenlur," etc., and "Prophetam," etc. On a window in S. Cunibert's, Cologne, is a Jesse-tree, which consists of scenes from the life of Christ, with the Prophets bearing witness. The arrangement is as follows : At the l)ottom lies Jesse, much larger (as usual) than any of the other figures. On either side of him are figures pouring water from jars, and representing the four rivers of Paradise. Their names are given JEHON, NIGRIS, TIGRIS, and PHISON. (In Genesis the names are Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates ; in the Vulgate Phison, Gehon, Tigris and Euphrates.) Encircled by the stem which springs from Jesse, up the middle of the composition, are the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Crucifixion (with Ecclesia and Synagogia), the Resurrection, and, above, Christ enthroned. His right hand raised in benediction, the left holding the Eucharistic wafer with the cross upon it. Seven doves encircle His head, and from their mouths streams pass to it. These doves represent the Seven Gifts of the Spirit Obedientia, spiritus sapientise ; Prudentia, spiritus consilii j Temperanlia, spiritus scientise ; Humilitas, spiritus intellectus ; Patientia, spiritus fortitudinis ; Benignitas, spiritus pietatis ; Providentia, spiritus timoris Domini. These seven are mentioned by Isaiah (xi. 2) as resting upon the Branch which shall grow out of the Roots of Jesse. On either side are ten figures, the majority carrying texts. Jonah, however, steps from the whale's mouth, Abraham sacrifices Isaac, and a bishop possibly represents Aaron, whose rod appears at his side, sprouting. The two uppermost figures are angels. They carry " Thronus tuus Deus in seculum seculi " (Heb. i. 8) and "Tu solus Altissimus." Next below them are two figures whose texts are really one : " lesus qui assumptus (est a vobis in cselum,) sic veniet quem ad modum vidistis eum," Acts i. 11. Another text from the New Testament is "Ecce agnus Dei et (or ecce, as in the lûlgate) qui tollit (peccata raunii)," John
i.
"(Quia) ecce Dominus egredietur de loco suo." Mic. super montes " (Et) Dominus de Sion pedes." etNak.Jerusalem dabit (vocem suam) rugiet Joel de
29.
Nahum "Ecce
Micah
i.
3.
i,
IJ.
In
" Ecce veniet "Dominus ingredietur." " In die Amos He holds the part of " (El)own of the same import. Jesse." Isaiah egred(ietur) virga de radice Habakkuk "Dominus ab austro veniet." Hab,
Haggai
desideratus.''
die ilia stillabunt (montes dulcedinem)." given to three persons.

ffag.
ii.
'J.
Joel
iii.
16.
This
text is
Ezekiel
solus
last
Joel's text,
ilia," etc., in
mistake for
his
Is. xi. i.
3.
iii.
6.
The
Prophets and Apostles

Creed.
in relation to the
The
following
list
exhibits the relation of the Apostles to
the Creed which bears their name, and also the testimony of the several Prophets to
its
truths.
Prophets and Apostles

former sup-
have been linked together on

porting the
latter,
this account, the
the latter fulfilling the former.
The
in-
scriptions for the Prophets are from the Vulgate,
and are based
upon those to be found
in the Fairford
windows, deciphered
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

in
is
263
Society.
the
monograph published by the Arundel

is,
As
pointed out in that work, No. 7

to Zephaniah, No. 9
to
in the
windows, ap-
plied
Micah, No. 10 to Malachi,
and No. II to Daniel. In the following list the correct names are used. This introduces Obadiah and excludes
Daniel.
To
retain
Daniel
quite
appropriate
text
is
suggested.
As
in other instances, parts that
can be omitted are placed
within brackets, or the brackets serve to divide the passage

into pieces, from which a choice can be made.
I-j
Petrus Credo in Deum Patrem (Omnipotentem, creatorem cseli et terrse). {JScce) tufecisti calum et terram (in fortittileremias Patrem vocabis me. dine tua magna.) ). Jer. iii. 19, and xxxii. 17. \
f
TAndreas
2,\
Et in lesum Christum, (Filium Ejus Unicum, Dominum Nostrum).

dixit
7.
David (Dominiis
Ps.
ad me,) Filius
metis es tu:
(Ego hodie gentii
te).
ii.
{Jacobus maj. Qui conceptus est (de Spiritu Sancto, Natusex Maria Virgine). Is. vii. 14. Isaias Ecce virgo concifiet {et fariet filium).
4-;
Johannes Passus sub Pontic Pilato, (crucifixus, Mortuus et Sepultus). Zacharias Suscitabo filios tuos. Zach. ix. 13. Et aspicient ad me, quern confixerunt (et plangent eum planctu quasi super unigenitum) et dolebunt (super eum ut doleri solet in morte primogeniti). Zach. xii. 10.
'\Osee
6-!
/Thomas Descendit ad Infernos, (Tertie die resurrexit mors, (morsus tuus ero inferne). Ero mors tua
a mortuis).
Hosea
xiii.
14.
[Jacobus minor
(Ascendit
ad
cselos,) sedet
ad dexteram Dei Patris Omnipoix. 6.
\Amos
'
(Qui) in calo ascensionem (suam). Amos judicare vivos mortuos). fPhilippus Inde venturus
cedificat
tentis.
(est
et
\MalacAias(El) accedam advos injudicio,
(et
ero testis velox).
Mai.
iii.
5.
f'Bartholomseus Credo in Spiritum Sanctum. Joel (Congregabo omnes gentes et deducam eas) in vallem Josaphat (: ceptabo (cum eis ibi super populo meo). Joel iii. 2. or Effundam spiritum meum (super omnem carnem). Joel
et) dis-
ii.
28.
Matthaeus i)\Sophonias
f
Sanctam Ecclesiam (catholicam, sanctorum communionem). Ut invocent omnes nomen Domini, serviant ei humero uno).
(et
\
r
Zeph.
iii.
9.
lO-j
Simon Remissionem peccatorum. Michaas (Revertetur, et miserebitur Micah vii. 19.

Eeechiel
nostri),
deponet iniquitates nostras.
CThaddeus (Judas)
il-j
Carnis resurrectionem. (Ecce ggg aperiam tumulos vestro vestros,) ego
-^.^g
(et)
educam vos de
12.
sepulcris ves-
tris
(populus meus),
Ezek. xxxvii.
264
(
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS
n
(
(Amen. Matthias Et vitam aeternam. Abdias Et erit Domino regnum. Obad. 21.
or
Daniel \J^&\is vivens
et aeternus in secula]
[et
[et potestas ejus
usque in seternum].
regnum ejus non dissipabitur,] Daniel vi. 26.
7.
The Muses.
by Apollo, their
leader,
lyre.
Laurel wreaths
The Muses are usually accompanied

crowned
in laurel,
Calliope (Muse of Epic Poetry) Clio (Muse of History) Erato (Muse of Tender Sometimes Poetry).
almost nude, and playing upon a

Crowned with
laurel
Books
Crowned with laurel Trumpet Crowned with myrtle and Plectrum
roses. Young, gay and animated, but someaccompanied by a little times thoughtful. Love, or Eros, with bow and torch. Muse also of Geometry and Acting. Euterpe (Muse of Music) Crowned with flowers, Holding with wind instruments at her both hands
feet
Book or scroll or Lyre or violin-bow violin
the
flute,
double
on
she
which
plays
Melpomene
Tragedy)
(Muse
of Richly clothed in changeable red ; grave deport-
Naked dagger, Some crowns

tragic
mask,
and
scep-
ment. Crowned with sword tres joined vine together Polyhymnia(Muse of Sub- Closely clad in white. Raised as if (Sceptre) Pearls on her head lime Poetry and Noble haranguing
Art,
Terpsichore
and of Memory) (Muse of Crowned with
laurel
Harp,
she
which
Dancing)
plays whilst dancing
Thalia (Muse of Comedy) Crowned with ivy.

ful
Play-
Comic mask
and wanton Urania (Muse of Astrono- Azure robe, crowned with my) stars
A large
globe
in both hands
8.
The
Sibyls.
is
The
the
Latin form of the word
sibylla,
and the names of

Cimmerica,
ten
Cumaea,
Persica,
Libyca,
Delphica,
Erythraea, Samia, Hellespontica or Trojica, Phrygia, Tiburtina, to
whom
are added Agrippa, Europaea.
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

The Cumaean
interest, or
is
265
the 'only one with any degree of actual

life
have lived a thousand years.
is told. She is said to She wrote her prophecies on leaves, which the wind carried away, and she also left nine books of prophecies. In her youth she was inspired by Apollo. She is sometimes regarded as the only Sibyl.
about whose
anything
Her real name was Amalthsea. The Erythraean (whose name was Hierophyle) is sometimes regarded as the same
person.
Sometimes four
is
the
full
number, sometimes nine,

are,
ten, or twelve.
Cumsea, Erythraea, and Persica
however,
the chief.
As
prophetesses they dwelt (in caves) in different places,
from which they derive their names.

upon.
They
are
usually
represented with scrolls or books, which they read or write
As
foretellers
of the
future
they sometimes have
lanterns.
Cumsea
Persica
Either young or very
old.
veil.
Golden garment, white
Libyca Old, purple garment, crowned with
flowers.
Delphica Young, black garment, a horn in her hand. Hellespontica Young and fair, purple garment, heavily Phrygia O'd, ill-favoured, red garment.
veiled.
Agrippi Old,
F.uropjea
roseal garments.
Comely, young,
in
rosy face, fine garment of gold-work, fine
veil.
The
Sibylline books, so long venerated
by the Romans,
and augmented
the early
Christian centuries, were re-
garded by some of the Fathers of the Church as pagan Lactantius constantly parallels to the Hebrew prophecies.
refers to
them, and
it is
the Erythraean Sibyl that he mentions

are the extracts he gives
most
frequently.
So suggestive
from these Sibylline verses that a

each Sibyl one) are given below
tion.i
number
(sufficient lo give
from Dr. Fletcher's translaLactantius.
The
too clear reference to certain Christian points of

Published
> Ante-Nicene Christian Library, Vols. XXI. and XXII. by Messrs. T. and T. Clark.
266
belief
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

which they are supposed to fbreshadow indicates that
In
to the Sibyls have been allocated their definite tasks in this

respect.
Dr. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase
and Fable
the reader will find an

Christianize her.
emblem given
to each Sibyl to further
Dr. Brewer refers these to clumsy invention
or monkish legend.
They
are indeed of
little artistic
value.
as yonr God, who is the Son of God. But there is one only God of power, who made the heaven, the sun, and stars, and moon, and fruitful earth, and waves of the waters of the sea. But they who honour the true God, inherit everlasting life, themselves inhabit-
Know Him
ing together paradise, the beautiful garden, for ever.
(Erythraa. )
Man made by
that
evil.
the very hands of God,
whom
the serpent treacherously beguiled,
he might come to the
fate of death,
and receive the knowledge of good and
The trumpet from heaven shall utter its wailing voice. When He shall come there will be fire and darkness in
night.
the midst of the black
And
the city
which
God made, He made more
brilliant than the stars,
and
spn,
and moon.
An
object of pity, dishonoured, without form,
He
will give
hope
to those
who
are objects of pity.
And after sleeping three days. He shall put an end to the fate of death ; and then relieving [releasing] Himself from the dead, He shall come to light, first showing to the called ones the beginning of the Resurrection.
The nourisher and creator of all things, who placed the sweet breath in all, and made God leader of all. [Erythma. Thou art my image, O man, possessed of right reason. He shall afterwards come into the hands of the unjust and faithless, and they
shall inflict shall
send forth poisonous

to stripes.
on God blows, [with impure hands, and with polluted mouths they spittle ;] and He shall then absolutely give His holy
body
ADDITIONS TO THE EMBLEMS

Where what
stated.
is here stated corrects the text of the preceding pages the fact is Otherwise the statements are merely additional, and often alternative.
S. S.
S.
Agatha. Pair of pincers. Agnes. Crowned, often prettily with
torch. S. Aloysius. Crucifix

S. S. S.
AlDAN.A
jt^LPHEGE.
roses.
Ambrose.
Beehive
Besides the stones, carries also a hatchet.

;
and
lily.
scourge of three thongs
a goose. Usually
seals.
in full pontifical costume.
Anselm.
S.
S. S.
Anthony of Padua. (June
Carries a Papal Bull with unbroken

13,
123 1)
Franciscan.
Preaching
to fishes.
Apollonia. A tooth between her pincers. Athanasius. Archbishop, wears the Pallium, for which Y-stole also the epigonation, or lozenge handkerchiefis not a correct term case depending by a cord to one corner on his right side. Carries a flaming heart transfixed by S. Augustine of Hippo.
;
two arrows, crossways. He wears alb, stole, maniple, etc., as well as the vestments mentioned on page 252. Ven. Bede. Not strictly a saint, nor properly with a nimbus. holding cup or Fire springing up beside him S. Benedict. raven with loaf, or cake, in his bill. chalice with a broken bowl Archbp. and M. (June 5, 755). Book S. Boniface (Bonifacius). pierced with a sword. As founder of the Cistercian Order his habit should S.' Bernard. be white, not black as stated. Iron comb. B. and M. (Feb. 3, 304). S. Blajze (Blasius). Burning coals. B. and C. (Nov. 13). S. Britius. S. Catherine of Siena.Wears crown of thorns, has the stigmata, carries a lily, a crucifix, a ring, or the Sacred Heart. Carries the child Christ through a stream, or S. Christopher.
river,
not the sea as stated.
S.
She
S. S.
is
Habited more properly in grey tunic and black hood. represented old and worn. Clement. B. and M. (Nov. 23, 100). An anchor. Crispin (Crispinus), M. (Oct. 25, 280). Shoemaker's awl and
Clare.
knife.
Table with three loaves upon it S. Cuthbert. B. Mar. 20, 687). Solan goose or gannet (or a swan) by his side. Sword and S. Cyprian (Cyprianus). Otter. M. (Sep. 26, 304). gridiron ; burning his books of magic. S. Dominic Dog with torch in his mouth setting fire to the world;
pilgrim's staff with crucifix at the top. not bishop as stated. Playing harp troop of angels before him ; a dove whispers in his ear. the Confessor. K. (Jan. 5, 1066). Purse ; S. John's S.
star in his
S.
nimbus
DUNSTAN.Archbishop,
Edward
Gospel.
S.
Edward the Martyr. K. (Mar.

267
18, 978).
Dagger
cup
in his
hand.
268
S.
EMBLEMS AND TEXTS

Elizabeth of Hungary.
Crowned
;
carries a basket of roses,

;
or carries roses in the folds of her robe
a church
;
a double crown
upon a book. S. Fabian.

S.
S.
B. M. (Jan. 20, 250). Sword or book wears papal crown. Gridiron. (Oct. Francis of Assisi. Crowned with thorns preaching to birds. Genevieve. A a hind beside him. S. Giles. Habited as a Benedictine Three books; treading Hilary. B. C. and D. (Jan. 368).
Faith.V. M.
6).
;
S.
distaff.
S.
S.
13,
on
reptiles.
Hilda.V.
Hugh.
Jerome.
(Dec.
15, 680).
The
fossil
Ammonite =
swan.
" S. Hilda's
Serpent."
S.
Wears scarlet robe and hat of a cardinal, although he was not one. the S. John Chrysostom. The Y-stole mentioned on page 254 Pallium. S. Joseph. Olive-brown cloak. Lambert. B. and M. (Sep. A dart. 709). Leonard. Habited as a Benedictine abbot.
S.
is
B. and C. (Nov.
17, 1189).
S.
17,
S. S.
Louis (K. of France). C. (Aug. 25, 1270). Crowned. Lily. Crown of thorns. S. LUCIAN. P. M. (Jan. 8, 312). Lying on potsherds in prison. V. M. (Dec. 13, 304). S. Lucy (Lucia). Her eyes on a book or
plate
S.
S.
S.
S.
S.
swoid or dagger through her neck a lamp. Michael. A flaming sword banner with a dove upon it. Nicomedes. P. and M. (June i, 90). Club spiked witli iron. Patrick. Book sprig of shamrock.
;
Prisca. V. and M.
Remigius.
Bp. (Oct.
(Jan. 18, 275).

I,
Sword
545).
Dove, an oil-cruse
S.
S. S. S. feet
S.
S.
;
Richard. B. and C. (Apr. 3, 1253). Stephen. Stone at his foreliead. Swithin. Bishop of Winchester. Translated
lion at her feet. in its beak. Chalice at his feet.

;
Thomas AQUINA-S. Habited

is
as a
Dominican
July 15, 862. a mitre at his ;
a book whereon is inscribed " Summa tlieologise tota tripartita." Thomas of Canterbury. Abp. M. (July 7. 1170). His
red
chasuble
Ursula.
V.
sword
in his head, or mitre.
M.
She
is
royally
robed and crowned
some-
times carries an arrow, or one in each hand. Landing from a ship. S. Valentine. B. M. (Feb. 14, 270). Sword. S. Vincent. M. (Jan. 22, 304). Burnt upon a spiked gridiron. Sibyls. The appearance of the following was not given on page 265 Hierophila Young, very fair, purple garment, lawn veil. Samia Middle aged, clothed in willow herbs, palm in hand. Tiburtina Old, hard visage, purple garments, holding the Sibylline books. The attributes here given for Hierophila will be seen to be the same as those given on page 265 for Hellespontica. Hellespontica is also described thus very young and fair, green garment, book in left hand, pen in right. For another and very different set of attributes, see Christian Symbols and Stories of the Saints, by C. E. Clement.
:
APPENDIX
MOTTOES
In the following
associated.
list
III
the English
is
not always a translait
tion of the version in another
language with which
is
The mottoes
placed together are therefore to

in
be understood as equal
ing in expression.
import, though perhaps vary-
Achievement of Purpose.
He who
He
is
afraid of leaves
feuilles
must not come

aller
into the
wood.
Qui a peur de
ne doit
au bois.
Fr.
that's afraid of
wounds must not go
to the wars.
After rain, sunshine.
Post nubila, Phcebus.
Lat.
He
that looks not before, finds himself behind.
good beginning makes a good ending.
Early sow, early mow.
By
little
and
little
the sea
is
drained.
He
overtakes at last
who
tires not.
Alcanza quien no cansa.
Sp.
More haste, worse speed. Haste and waste.

Festina lente. Lat. Qui nimis propere, minus prospere.
Lat. Lat.
Nimius properans
serius absolvit.
269
270
MOTTOES
Little strokes fell great oaks.
Multis ictibus dejicitur quercus.
Lat.
Actis Eevum implet, non segnibus annis.
Lat.
He
fills
his space with deeds, not with lingering years.
Aut nunquam tentes aut
perfice.
Lat.
Either never attempt, or accomplish.
Post tot naufragia, porlus.

After so
Lat.
many shipwrecks a
harbour.
Praesto et persto.
I
perform and
persevere.
Quae fuit durum pati Meminisse dulce est. Lat. That which it was harsh to
Finis coronat opus.
Seneca.
suffer, it is
pleasing to remember.
Lat.
The end crowns

Rest after
toil,
the work.
port after stormy seas.
Ease
after war,
death after
life,
do greatly
please.
Spenser.
Divisum
sic
The work,
breve fiet opus. Lat. divided aptly, shorter grows.
Character.
An
ape
is
an ape, a
varlet
's
a varlet.
Though he be
clothed in silk or scarlet.
As
the bell tinketh, the fool thinketh.
What the heart thinketh Ex abundantia cordis os

True blue never
stains.
the tongue speaketh.

loquitur.
Lat.
MOTTOES
In the Forehead and the Eye lecture of the Mind doth Vultus index Animi. Lat.
271
The
lie.
All
is
h.
Non oro tutto Non omne quod

Fronti nulla
not gold that glisters. quel che luce. Ital. splendet aurum est.
Lat.
fides.
Lat.
Appearances are
deceitful.
Jack is as good as Jill. Monsieur vaut bien Madame.
Fr.
Raton que la cosa del Leon. Sp. be the head of the Mouse than the tail of the Lion. (Sometimes the antithesis is between Pike and Sturgeon, or Ass and Horse, or Dog and Lion.)
ser la cabeza del
It is
Es major
better to
Kings have long hands.
When
knaves
fall
out honest
men come by
their right.
knavish
wit,
a knavish
will.
Mala mens, malus animus.

Beaucoup
sait qui sait parler,
mais plus
sait qui sait se taire.
Fr.
He knows much who knows how
to speak, but
he knows more
of silence.)
who knows how to hold his tongue. Tutum prsemium silentii. (The secure reward
Commerce.
room (empty) purse makes a
bleit
(shame-faced) merchant.
Scotch.
Where Bees
are there will be honey.
Parvum parva
small Pack becomes a small Pedlar. decent. Lat,
2^2
MOTTOES
Don't forsake the market for the
toll.
handful of trade is worth a handful of gold. Qui sait metier a rente. Fr. Chi hk arte, per tutto hk parte. //. Quien ha officio, ha beneficio. Sp.
The foremost Dog The
catches the Hare.
prince cannot say to the merchant, of thee.
thee; nor the merchant to the labourer,
have no need of I have no need
Swift. peu de
soin.
Peu de
bien,
Fr.
Little wealth, little worry.
Consequences.
He who
will
enjoy the
fire
Commoditas guavis sua
fert
must bear with the smoke. incommoda secum. Lat.
No Pains, no Profit. Kein Krieg kein Sieg.

En
fin le
Germ.
Tutti le volpi
renard se trouve chez le pelletier. Fr. si trovano in pellicaria. //. In the end the Fox is found at the Furrier's.
Lat.
Sibi quisque peccat.
Every one
sins for his
own
reckoning.
Ab
alio expectes, alteri
You may
quod feceris. Lat. expect from one what you have done to another.
Lat.
Acta exteriora indicant interiora secreta. (Outward) acts reveal (inward) secrets.
Divine Influence.
. .
God
stay,
shall
be
My
my
guide,
my hope. my lanthgrn
to
my
feet.
SHAKESPEARE.
MOTTOES
Deus et dissipantur. Lat. The breath of God has issued, and they
Afflavit
273
are dispersed.
Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera.
Fr.
Fontaine.
Help
yourself,
and Heaven
will help you.
Cemit omnia Deus vindex.
Lat.
An
avenging
God
sees
all.
Dieu avec nous. Fr. (God with us.) Dieu defend le droit. Fr. (God defends the
right.)
En Dieu est ma fiance. In God is my trust.
Fr.
c
Laus Deo. Lat. Praise be to God.

In te, Domine, speravi. In Thee, O Lord, have
Lat.
I
put
my
trust.
Equality of
Like master, like man.
Qualis herus,
Man Humanity.
Lat.
talis servus.
Tel maitre,
tel valet.
Fr.
yEqua lege necessitas

Lat.
Sortitur insignes et imos.
HORACE.
lowest.
Necessity,
by an equal law, takes the highest and the
.(Equa tellus
Pauperi (recluditur) regumque pueris. Lat. Horace. The earth (opens) equally for the poor man and the prince.
Homo homini aut Deus aut lupus. Lat. ERASMUS. Man is to man either a god or a wolf.
Humani
nihil (a
me) alienum.
is
Jjit.
Terence.
Nothing human
foreign to me.
274
Pallida
MOTTOES
mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres. Lat. Horace. With equal foot, rich friend, impartial Fate
Knocks
at the cottage
and the palace
gate.
Fortune and Fate.

Every flow
will
have
its
ebb.
VariEe sunt fortunae vices.
Lat.
Humana consilia divinitus gubernantur. Man proposes, God disposes.

Ane man may wooe quhair he
his
will,
Lat.
but he
mun wed
quhair
hap
is.
Scotch.
What is done cannot be undone. Quod factum est, infectum fieri non
Ce que
est fait, est fait.
potest.
Lat.
When
Fortune knocks (be sure
to)
open the Door,
Al ombre osado
la Fortuna le da la mano. Fortune lends a hand to the bold.
Sp.
Deo, non fortunH.
Lat.
(From God, not by chance.)

rebus (subjungere conor).
Lat.
(Et)
Mihi
res,
non
me
Horace.
try to
make circumstances submit
to
me, not myself to
them.
Est quoddam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra. Lat. Horace. Jt is something to proceed thus far, if it is not permitted to go
further.
Fortuna multis dat nimium, nuUi satis. Lat. Martial. Fortune gives too much to many, to none enough.
MOTTOES
27s
Health and
Health surpasses Riches.
Life.
Hide nothing from thy Priest, Physician, Lawyer, Lest thou shouldst wrong Soul, Body, or Estate.
Non
est vivere sed valere vita.

is
Lat.
Health
Life.
Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero. Lat. Horace. Enjoy the present day, as distrusting that which is to follow.
Dum
vires annique sinunt tolerate
laborem
Jam
veniet tacito curva senecta pede.
Lat.
OviD.
While strength and years permit, endure labour. Already cometh crooked age with silent step.
Le present
est
qui souffrent.
The
present
suffer.
is
pour ceux qui jouissent ; I'avenir pour ceux Fr. for those who enjoy, the future for those who
(Ut
Lat. sit) mens sana in corpore sano. healthy body and a mind at ease.
Juvenal.
Hope.
When
bale
is
highest, boot
is
nighest.
If it were not for Hope, the heart would break. Spes servat afflictos. Lat. Spes bona dat vires. Lat.
that lives on Hope has slender Diet. Qui spe aluntur, pendent, non vivunt. Lat.
He
Hope
well,
have
well.
276
MOTTOES
Du'm spiro, spero. Lat. While I breathe (or live),
I
hope.
Lat.
Dum
anima
est,
spes
est.
Cicero.
Whilst there
is life,
there
is
hope.
Esp6rance en Dieu. Hope in God.

L'Espdrance est
le
Fr.
songe d'un
homme
dveill^.
Fr.
Hope
is
the
dream of a man awake.
True hope is swift and flies with swallow's wings Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. Shakesficarg.
;
Spes longam reseces. Cut short vain hope.
Lat.
House and Home.

A A A
Little
Little
House well fill'd, Land well till'd,

will'd.
And
a Little Wife well
good neighbour, a good morrow.
The gown is hers that wears it. The world is his who enjoys it. NuUus argento color est nisi temperato Horace.
splendeat usu.
Lat.
home, though it be- never so homely. home, though ever so homely. II n'y a rien tel que d'etre chez soi. Fr. Domus amica domus optima. Lat.
is
is
Home Home
Better dry Bread at
Home
than roast Meat Abroad.
East or West, at Home is Best. East, West, hame's Best. Ost i West, zu Hause best. Ger,
MOTTOES
One's own Hearth is worth Gold. Eigener Heerd ist Goldes werth. Ger.
There's but ae gude wife in the country, and ilka he's got her.
277
man
thinks
Kinship and
Like blood,
like
Friendship.
good
is
A
On
Friend
in
need
a Friend indeed.
Lat.
Amicus
certus in re incerta cernitur.
connoit I'ami en besoin.
Fr.
All are not Friends
who speak
us Fair.
He
is
my
Friend who grindeth at
my
Mill.
Aquellos son ricos que tienen amigos.
Sp.
They
are rich
ibi
who have
opes.
friends.
Ubi amici,
Lat.
Better lose a Jest than a Friend.
Nos duo turba sumus.
Lat.
We A
two are a multitude.

in via,
Comes jucundus
pro vehiculo
est.
is
Lat. as
pleasant companion upon the road
good as a coach.
Labour.
All can't do
all.
Non omnes possumus

Ein jeder kann nicht
alles.
omnes. Lat. Germ.
By hammer and hand

Ars longa,
Art
is
all arts
do stand.
vita brevis.
life
Lat.
short.
long and
is
278
MOTTOES
bad workman
quarrels with his tools.

si
Proba
est materia,
probum adhibeas
artificem.
Lat.
Every man
to his trade.
Tractent fabrilia fabri. Lat. Ne sutor ultra crepidam. Lat.
Use perfection brings. Usus promptum facit. Lat.

Practice
makes perfect. Usus adjuvat artem. Lat.

Lat.
Fabricando fabri fimus.
Auloedus
Lat. sit, qui citharoedus esse non possit. Let him play the pipe who cannot play the harp.
Help Hands,
for
have no Lands.
Harm
Et
sibi
watch,.
Harm
catch.
parat malum, qui alteri parat.
Lat.
Health to himself, and to his infants bread, The lab'rer bears. Pope.
Leve fit quod bene That load becomes
fertur onus.
Lat.
is
Ovid.
light
which
cheerfully borne.
Labor omnia vincit. Labour conquers all
Lat.
things.
Virgil.
Laborum dulce lenimen. The sweet solace of our

Sir,
I
Lat.
labours.
Horace.
am
;
wear
a true labourer ; I earn that I eat get that I owe no man hate envy no man's happiness.
; ;
Shakespeare.
Jucundi acti labores. Lat. Labours past are pleasant.
Cicero.
Ower mony greeves
(overseers) hinder the wark.
MOTTOES
Liberality.
Giving alms never lessens the stock. El dar limosna nunca mengua la bolsa.
279
Sp.
Eagles catch no flies. Aquila non capit muscas.-
Lat.
He
Bis dat qui cito dat. Lat. gives twice who gives soon.
Locus est et pluribus umbris. Lat. There's room enough, and each may bring his friend.
Love.
Follow Love and Flee Love and it
it
will flee thee
will follow thee.
Qui non
zelat
is
non amat.
is
Lat.
He
I
that
not jealous
not in love.
could not love, I'm sure.

in love
One who
were wise.
CowLEY.
And
Let mutual joys our mutual trust combine, love, and love-born confidence be thine.
blind,
PoPE.
Love
is
and lovers cannot see
The
pretty follies that themselves commit.
Shakespeare,
Con amore.
Ital.
(With
love.)
bonny bride
is
sune buskit
(attired).
Music.
The man that hath no music in himself. Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet
Is
fit
sounds.
for treasons, stratagems
and
spoils.
Shakespeare.
28o
If
MOtTOES
music be the food of
like
love, play on.
SHAKESPEARE.
Sweet words
And
'twixt the pearls
silver
dropping honey she did shed and rubies softly brake sound, that heavenly music seem'd to make.
Spenser.
The music Long after

. .
in
it
bore was heard no more.

heart
I
my
WORDSWORTH.
Such music
Before was never made, But when of old the sons of morning sung.
MiLTON.
!
What
passion cannot music raise and quell
Dryden.
Shakespeare.
Wilt thou have music? hark! Apollo plays.
Sweet
bird, that shunn'st the noise of folly,

;
Most musical, most melancholy Thee, chauntress oft the woods among, I woo, to hear thy even-song. MiLTON.
Night.
. .
.
thievish night,
Why
With
should'st thou, but for
some
felonious end.
In thy dark lanthorn thus close up the stars
That Nature hung

everlasting
in
heaven, and
to give
fiU'd their
lamps
oil,
due
light
To
the misled and lonely traveller?
Milton.
Patriotism.
Deum
cole,
regem
serva.
Lat.
Fear God, serve the king.

Ducit amor
patriae.
Lat.
Love of
my
country leads me.
Duke
It is
et decorum est pro patria mori. Lat. Horace. pleasing and honourable to die for one's country.
MOTTOES
2S1
Peace and War.

War
Bellum nee timendum, nee provoeandum. Lat. is neither to be feared nor provoked.
Pliny.
In pace leones, in prselio cervi. Lat. In peace they are lions, in battle deer.
Self-reliance
Self-control.
Scotch.
A
I(
bleit cat
makes a proud mouse.

bite neither
you cannot
show your
teeth.
Great boast, small roast.
Lowliness is young Ambition's ladder, Whereto the climber upward turns his
face.
Shakespeare.
Self do, self have.
No man
Freedom
(Dico
loves fetters, though they be of Gold.
is
tibi
a Jewel. verum) libertas optima rerum.
Lat.
Verum vos
It
forti
animo esse
oportet, et
minime
viribus vestris
Alciat. behoves you to be of brave heart, and trust your own powers.
diffidere.
Lat.
least of all to dis-
Gardez bien.
Take
eare.
Ira furor brevis est.
Lat.
Horace.
Anger
is
a short madness.
282
MOTTOES
Temperance.
He
liveth long
who
long.
liveth well.
Old young, old
Rule Youth well, for Age will rule itself. Est opus ardentem fraenis arcere juventam.
Intemperance destroys more than the sword.
Plures occidit gula
Lat.
quam
gladius.
Lat,
Good words
(are worth much, and) cost little. Les belles paroles ont bien de la force et coute peu.
Fr.
Dulcibus est verbis alliciendus Amor.
Lat.
By
pleasant words love
is
to
be
allured.
Thrift.
There
is
no Alchemy
like saving.
Getting Four, spending Five, needs no Purse. Friend in the way is better than a Penny in the Purse.
All grasp,
all lose.
Grind with every wind.

Servire scenae.
Lat.
Keep some,
till
furthermore come.
small leak will sink a great ship.
Time.
Take Time by the Forelock. Time and Tide wait for no man. Time flies.
Dum
loquimur fugit hora.

fugit.
Lat.
Lat.
Volat irrevocabile tempus.
Tempus
Lat.
MOTTOES
Time brings all things to light. Time and straw make medlars ripe. Tempore patet occulta Veritas. Lat.
Joy of
this life for
283
From day
to night
time will not abide, it changeth as the tide.
Chaucer.
Hora e sempre.
It is
lial.
always time.
Labitur et labctur in
omne
and
volubilis aavum.
Lat.
Horace.
every age.
The stream
sti 1
flows,
will continue to flow to
Virtues.
Candor dat viribus
alas.
Lat.
Truth gives wings to strength.
Cassis tutissima virtus.
Lat.
Virtue
is
the safest shield.
Eo magis
praefulgebat
quod non
videbatur.
Lat.
Terence.
He
shone with the greater splendour, because he was not seen.
Esse quam videri malim. Lat. should wish to be rather than to be seen.
Potentissimus est qui se habet in potestate. Lat. He is most powerful who has himself in control.
Seneca.
La Patience
Patience
est amfere,
mais son
its
fruit est
doux. Fr.
Rousseau.
is bitter,
but
fruit is
sweet.
Concordii res parvse crescunt (discordiA maxima; dilabuntur). Sallust. Lat.
By union
small states flourish (by discord the greatest are
wasted).
Cor unum,
via una.
Lat.
(One
heart,
one way.)
284
Courage sans peur.
Fide et
MOTTOES
Fr.
(Courage without
fear.)
fiducii.
Lat.
By
faith
and courage.
Fide
et fortitudine.
Lat.
By
faith
and
fortitude.
Fide
et
By
faith
Amore. Lat. and love.

sit
Nullum numen abest
si
prudentia.
Lat.
Juvenal.
Prudence supphes the place of every god.
Wisdom and
After-wit
is
Learning.
everybody's wit.
As dumb
as a
fish.
Magis mutus quam
piscis.
Lat.
He
that would live in Peace and Rest Must hear and see but say the least.
Oy,
Voy
et te tais
Si tu
veux vivre en Paix.
Fr.
Lat.
Audi, vide, tace.

Si tu vis vivere in pace.
Spare to speak, spare to speed.
Force without Forecast Vis consili expers mole
is little
worth.
Lat.
ruit sua.
HORACE.
Forewarn'd, forearmed. Praemonitus, praemunitus.
Lat.
Good
sense,
which only
is
the gift of Heav'n,
And though no
science, fairly worth the sev'n.
PoPE.
MOTTOES
The
inquiry of truth, which
it
;
285
is
the knowledge of truth, the preference of

it,
the love-making or wooing of it ; and the

is
belief of truth, the enjoying of
the sovereign good
of
human
nature.
Bacon.
Alma
mater. Lat.
(A benign mother.) Applied to a university.
Amicus
Plato
is
Plato, amicus Socrates, sed
magis arnica
friend, but
Veritas.
Lat.
my
friend, Socrates is
my
Truth
is
more
my
Ars
friend.
est celare artem.
Lat.
(The
art is to conceal the art
Prdcepte commence, exemple achfeve. Fr. Precept begins, but example completes
Indocti discant,
ament meminisse
let
periti.
Lat.
their
Let the unskilful learn, and

recollections.
the learned improve
Inter silvas
Academi
quffirere
verum.
Lat.
HORACE.
To
search for truth in academic groves.
Avia Pieridum peragro

Trita solo
:
loca,
nuUius
antfe
juvat integros accedere fonteis,
Atque haurire. Lat. Lucretius. Through haunts of the Pierides I thread my way, where none before has trodden. I delight to approach their untasted springs, and to quench my thirst.
Ride,
I [ \1
si
sapis.
if
Lat.
Laugh,
you are wise.
APPENDIX
IV
A NOTE ON ARMOUR
A NOTE ON ARMOUR.
The
known
Plates
accompanying
as Maximilian,
diagrams illustrate the armour and of which examples are given in
XXXI. and XXXIII,
given.
Gothic suit (29) and details of other periods are also The reader hardly needs to be reminded that
in
armour commenced
garments.
Norman
times (to go no farther
back) with rings or small pieces of iron sewn on to leather
So arose
the kaudeck and the chausses.
Toward
the middle of the thirteenth century linked chain mail,
without any leather backing
(33),
came
into use.
Up
to
that time the ring " mail " consisted of rings sewn on
flatly,
and then of rings sewn on so that
their edges projected.
During the succeeding hundred years the haubeck and chausses were gradually more and more " reinforced " with
plates strapped on, so that the
body began
to
be entirely
encased.
By
the
the year 1400 the covering was complete,

finest
and the period of the

say,
armour entered upon.
Up
to,
1485
problem of producing an easily moving
and convenient complete covering was pursued, but then succeeded a period of casting aside. The first piece to go was the back-plate to the cuishe (42). Half of it, however,
remained (38 and Plate XXXI.) for some time. Up to the year 1350 the plates strapped on were of simple form, and the artist can hardly go far wrong if he
strap
plates
service.
on wherever he thinks they might be of Conical caps covered the shoulder, the elbow, and
289
290
the knee
;
A NOTE ON ARMOUR
simple plates sheathed the outer side of the
;
upper arm and the shin

of the armpit, and
round plates covered the hollow

elbow-joint,
the
covered
the
breasts.
As
these
plates
and similar pieces became more
numerous, and elasticity was demanded, various methods

of connection were adopted.
All these methods remained
to the last.
rivets,
are by straps, by hinges, by pivots, by making one piece glide within another. The and by
last are in the
They
only instances of the

in the rotatory joint
casque a
boiirrelet,
and
between the two
last pieces of the
rerebrace.
Of straps one
passed round the waist and held
the breastplate and back-piece together.

tassets
Sometimes the
were held up by
straps,
and sometimes the breastplate
A NOTE ON ARMOUR
291
and the back-piece were hung over the shoulder by the same means (36). Straps held up the pauldrons and brassarts if there were no pin (i8 and 40) for the purpose. The cuishes (24), and in later times the rerebrace, were strapped on, as they had been in the earliest times. The
straps were of
leather,
and passed
into buckles of
the
usual kind.
The buckle was, however, connected with one
piece of the armour by a short iron strap riveted on to it. Sometimes (30) the tassets were held on by two short iron
straps, riveted on,
and connected by a square link. Hinges were used to fasten the mentonniere on to the casque (but not always), to unite the two parts of the
292
A NOTE ON ARMOUR
(when
it
gorget, the vambrace, the gauntlet, the cuishe
had
a back-piece or a side-piece (38) ), the jamb, and the heelpiece, if it was separate from the jamb. Hinged pieces
usually fastened
itself in
by a button or
stud-/j9), which
engaged
a hole, the natural springiness of the metal keeping
Sometimes a hook that turned about (41) The lowest and largest plate of the gorget usually fastened on by means of a knob (39) on either side, after the upper part had been clasped round the
the joint secure.
was employed
instead.
neck.
The
hinges were of
"
butt " form, with only three

ij inches
knuckles; the size about ij inches long and

across
when open.
They were
(38),
riveted on with four rivets,
and were sometimes inside

as in Diirer's plate of "
sometimes outside the
piece,
The Knight, Death, and The

was
in
Devil."
The
chief use of the pivot
fastening the pro-
tections for the face
upon the casque.

visor
The mentonniere
pivot,
sometimes was fastened on by the same

lifted
and so was
Similar
up and down as the
and ventail were.
rivets permitting
movement
are seen in the gauntlet (22),
and always edged the

the ground.
solleret (as in 38) half-an-inch
Where
flexibility,
was required, the several scales

straps,
above and not actual movement, were riveted on to leather
which thus represented the leather foundation upon which rings and small plates had been sewn in the older
haubecks.
rerebrace,
The
pieces of the couvre-nuque, the gorget, the

tassets
and the braconniere and the
were held
together in this way.

in
slots,
For the same purpose
rivets riding
almain
rivet,
were employed about 1450.
The
reader will notice that the tendency was toward the more
employment of narrow overlapping plates. Pieces simple plates became subdivided. The reinat guard began as a stiff projecting skirt, and the braconniere came down in the same way, as indeed it did in the classic
extensive
first stiff,
A NOTE ON ARMOUR
cuirasse (Plate XVII.).
If
293
the parts covering
we compare
Gothic suit (30) with those in the Maximilian suit (11, 12 and 24), and with the still later form (31), we see both development and denudation
in the
the
abdomen and thigh
going on.
The same change
is
going on
in
the late suit
numbered 34 to 37. Care has been taken to show in the diagram how the pieces overlap (which is uppermost) in
the different parts.
lower.
As
a rule the upper goes beneath the
The
exceptions are
instep,
in the rerebrace,
fingers.
beneath the
genouill^re,
on the
and on the
is
The armour
first
in Plate
XXVIII.
not so fantastic
as, at
sight, appears.
Hector apparently wears a quilted

in plate here
gambeson, with additions
and
there.
His
greaves seem to be leather, with disks at the flanks of

genouill^res.
His deep tassets appear to be covered with
small scales.
Alexander wears a pansiere strapped up

chains,
to
the gorget, the buckle going up, and the strap coming
down.
The
though exaggerated, are not untrue to
medisEval usage.
1. The casque or helmet, pierced with holes (ia) to permit the passage of sound to the ears, as in Plate XXXIII. 2. The crest, but slightly elevated. A plume was fastened in a short tube behind (6), as in Plate XXXIII.
3.
The
visor.
Here the
in
one piece.
visifere.
4.
When
visiire, or visor proper, and the ventail are they are separate the ventail fastens on outside
of the
Mentonniire. The chin-piece of the helmet, extending up as far To remove the helmet the as the lower lip, as in Plate XXXIII. mentonni^re was opened ; when closed, a hook held it firm. This is seen in the diagram, as also is another hook fastening the visor. The word mentonnifere also applies to a loose reinforcing piece fastened on to the breastplate and extending up over the throat and chin, and worn only in tilting. In Plate XXXI. we see it fastened on, and also another mentonnifere with detachable pieces, and a clumsy and curious means of attachment. The horsemen crouch behind these so that
they dispense with the closed helmet with wear the salade (28).
its
movable
visor,
and

A NOTE ON ARMOUR
Couvre-nuqiie, or covering for the neck. Porte-panache, or plume-socket.
Gorget.
294
5.
6.
7.
Before and behind it is of three sliding scales, the lowest the largest and covered by the top of the corselet. The gorget opened" by a hinge on the left side, and fastened with a button on
much
In Plates XXXI. and XXXIII. chain mail takes its place. Sometimes the collar terminated above horizontally in a bourrelet, which provided a turntable on which the helmet could glide (ib). The helmet and gorget were the most essential pieces of the armour; the latter served, by means of its straps, as the chief support of the
the right.
cuirass.
The gorget was the first piece of the body-armour put on, as the helmet was the last. The toilet of the cavalier began at his feet. He first put on \i\^ jambs and aiishes. 8. The cuirass or corselet was composed of two principal pieces breastplate and back-piece. The breastplate was either in one piece (as in the Maximilian armour), in two, or in several scales. The name plastron was given to the upper of the two pieces, or to the one single piece. It has in our example a bold ridge above to The lower of the arrest the point of an antagonist's sword or lance. two pieces was called \.\\t. pansiere. It was (in late Gothic armour) in
front of the plastron
and glided upon
it,
the two being held together by
means
9.
of a button on the plastron working in a slot in the pansifere.
Plastron.
corselet rested upon the narrowness of the hips, where the gambeson, of deer-skin, quilted, and stuffed, prevented the discomfort which the pressure of the armour would otherwise have produced. It was of importance that the gambeson, which was properly a vest with sleeves, should be well shaped, but of still greater that the gorget and corselet should be so forged as to fit the figure with the bulk of the
The
gambeson upon
1 1.
it.
12.
nifere.
Braconniire, or skirt of long plates (Jaces), usually three. Tassets. series of short plates in continuation of the bracon-
XXXIII. they consist only of one large piece each. In that case they are fastened on by straps.
In Plate
There was often in fifteenth-century armour a large piece as the last by rivets sliding in grooves to short scales and those to the scales of the braconniire, the same arrangement of rivets being used throughout. This method of adjustment was called almain rivet. The artist must note that the braconniire covers only the upper part of the abdomen. 13. Back-piece, which the breastplate overlapped on both sides. 14. Garde-reins. Corresponding behind to the braconnifere. 15. Strap, fastening the breastplate and back-piece together.
scale, fastened
A NOTE ON ARMOUR
29$
i6. Pauldrons. Having put on the corselet, one next added the pauldrons, fixed either by pivots and springs (i8 and 40) or by straps. The pauldrons have, above, two narrow scales continuing them upward over the gorget or collar. The pauldrons had equal extensions on to
the back, but on to the breastplate that on the right side was smaller than that on the left, to give more freedom to the right arm. 17. Neck-guard, or Pass-guard.
of, above, the rerebrace ; below, the vambrace. held throughout by thongs of leather fixed inside. It ended below in two pieces of tube, one of which revolved upon the other (19c). The rotation of the arm was thus facilitated.
19.
Bassart, consisting
is
The
rerebrace
The vambrace, which

20.
21.
is
piece in tube-form provided with a hinge,

Cubitiire.
united to the rerebrace by straps, is in one and fastened with studs.

it
In earlier armour
encircled the elbow-joint (20A).
Bolt fastening the cubiti^re upon the brassart.

Gauntlets.
22.
24. Cuishes.
They
consist of a large piece with one or two scales at

is
the top, where there
a prominent border.
The
cuishe covered the
outer part of the thigh, and was held on by straps and buckles. 25. Genouillires. Usually consisting of a conical piece, to the outer
side of
which was fixed a wing, and with two scales above, and two
below, to allow the

26.
movement of
the leg.
to at
Jambs. Formed like the vambrace in tube-form, and modelled the form of calf and ankle. The two pieces were hinged together the outer side, and fastened together on the inner by studs fitting
Usually there were three scales at the instep and six The heel was either part of the jamb, and opened or was independent of it. The ankle had sometimes several
into slots.
28. Sollerets.
in the anterior part.
with
it,
scales (38).
In the first part of the fifteenth century the foot was not covered with armour. The jambs, in that case, ended at the ankle (42 and 29) in a small rolled edge. Seealsohowthey are finished in PlateXXXIII. Here given about half actual size. It 33. Linked ctiain mail. The linking forms a filled all vacancies (32) between the plates.
regular pattern
lines,
left.
when
stretched,
when hanging
close
up
it
makes wavy
there being rows of convex lines alternately toward right and The complete shirt of mail is said to have been retained, beneath
till
the plate-armour,
the end.
It is pointed out to me (as the sheets pass to the press) that bevor a better term for the mentonniere when actually a part of the helmet, leaving mentonniire to signify the loose re-inforcing piece
is
only.
I am also assured that the back-pieces to the cuishe (42) and mentonniere (28) are not met with in actual armour. One sees them, however, in illuminated MSS. They are carefully illustrated
in Viollet-le-Duc
and Planchd.
instinctively
The
artist
will
turn to Viollet-le-Duc's invaluable
Dictioimaire de Mobilier Franqais, for details of arms and armour. There is also valuable information in an excellent book. The Defensive
Armour and the Weapons and Engines of War of Mediaeval Times and of the "Renaissance" by Mr. Robert Coltman Clephan.
INDEX
Alciat's
Emblems,
lo6, 124, 134, 174,
Gothic, 37, 74, 104
188, igo, 211,
219
Angels, III
Apostles, 256
Greek Greek
sculpture, 113, 139

vases, 144
Grotesques, 51
Archangels, 252
Armour, 287
Backgrounds, 121, 141
Hogarth, William, 83 Holbein, Hans, 94, 162, 179

Jesse-tree, The, 63, 261
Bayeux Tapestry, 62
Beardsley, Aubrey, 96 Bernard, Solomon, 134, 151, 167, 175,
182, 211
ICeene, Charles, 167, 169, 186
Bewick, Thomas,
227
7,
95, 96, 155
Le Bran,
190,
Blake, William, 53, 74, 96,

Botticelli,
no,
Sandro, 158 Burgmair, Hans, 46, 62, 94, 136, 237 Burne-Jones, Sir E., 159, 160 Byzantine style, 42
Character and identity, 102, 154, 173, 194, 247 Chavannes, Piivis de, 63 Chiaroscuro woodcuts, 94 Contractions in I^tin, 248 Correggio, 137 Creed, The, 262
Charles, 26, 141, 142, 143 1*^7, 168, 186 Leonardo da Vinci, 134, 191 Life of the Virgin, Diirer's, 148 et
Leech, John,
seq.
Louis Quinze
style, 55,
58
Mechel, Chretien de, 163 Michael Angelo, 104, X08, 162

Millais, Sir J. E., 108, 109, 187, 189
Mottoes, 267 Muses, 264
"New
Art," The, 21
Palladian sty'e, 58
Dance of Death, 162 "Doctor Syntax, "97

Donatello, 102 Drapery, 140 DUrer, Albrecht, 136, 141, i^'jetseq., 179, 199
Patriarchs, 258 Perspective, 12, 118 Picturesque, The, 97 Processional arrangement, 12

Profile,
144
Prophets, 258
Egyptian
triangle,
140
Raphael,
126,
128,
136,
137,
161,
Emblems,
156,
247
Evangelists, 255
17s Realism, 195
Facial expression, 176 Fathers of the Church, 255 Foreground, 141

Gilpin, Rev.
W., 97
Regence style, 30 Rembrandt, 137, 138, 179 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 70, 190 Rococo style, 30 Roman stuccoes, 55 Rowlandson, Thomas, 97, 116, 178
297
298
Sacred incidents, 250 Saints, 251 Sandys, Frederick, 76, 135, 174 Scopas, 102 Sculpture, 94, 102 Sibyls, 264 Skippe, John, 94 Stevens, Alfred, 162
Tintoretto, Jacopo, 105
INDEX
Tone, 92, 94
Velasquez, 179 Viollet-le-Duc, E.
no, r40
Walker, Frederick, 115 Watts, G. F., 74, 104, 162 Wood-cuts their development, 7, 162 Wren, Sir C, 23
4,
5,
BiCHABD Clay & Sons, Limited, BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND
BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Library Cornell Unlverstty

Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright

the United States on the use of the

Compiinion to "Figure Composition.'

8vo, 7/6 net.

this ivork nvas to assist the student

more readily those facts of form luhich come

are at the outset of their careers as

ivho have established their

ivithout the impressing text these draivings form a practical

the right treatment of the

fgure, and the student tvho has

thoroughly examined them

and muscles concerned are described "with a

and fulness that

unequalled in any mere manual of artistic anatomy.

thoroughly practical book,

should be of the utmost service

teach them all the

anatomy they need and a great deal

'FJGURE drawing,'' "design," and

LONDON CHAPMAN AND HALL,

the "practical" man, the most sensible procedure

acquire the technical

necessary; second, master the rules of composition,

and then to produce works by the union of the two

are accustomed to methodical

must appear sadly happy-go-lucky.

himself in the wood.

the pre-arranged order of procedure in

the performance of a task, and

according as the various elements which enter into the

Moreover, unless the foresight has

the object of his

imagination, hardly of his foresight

and, indeed, the more

remote his objective, the

does he note the

between him and

upon which artistic are exceedingly few,. and they are so

their elementary form, they are inapplicable.

or fundamental principles, than of a

not have two vistas

which are nothing more than warnways in which the law of

tion of the principle,

and not the principle

hard to deal with.

conditions so constantly vary.

do we not see that the more experienced

perfunctory his creations become.

cannot but think that the best rule

a grasp as possible of the various

conditions that surround composition, to squarely attack

the architectural laws of stability, the

the glittering beauty

have hoped, therefore, that

book may contain

those matters which should be borne in mind

when he approaches the composition of figure

have added a number of illustrations merely

the hope that they will be interesting and suggestive