Chapter III: Part 3

_Several ridiculous heads of men and women_, formerly in Vasari's collection, drawn in pen and ink[i121]. Aurelio Lovino had, says Lomazzo, a book of sketches by Leonardo, of odd and ridiculous heads. This book appears to have contained about 250 figures of countrymen and countrywomen laughing, drawn by the hand of Leonardo. Card. Silvio Valenti had a similar book, in which were caricature heads drawn with a pen, like that engraven by Count Caylus. Of these caricatures mention is made in the second volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, p. 170[i122]. The passage in the Lettere Pittoriche here referred to, is part of a letter without any name or date, addressed _Al Sig. C. di C._; but a note of the editor's explains these initials, as meaning Sig. Conte di Caylus, and supposes the author to have been the younger Mariette. The letter mentions a collection of heads from Leonardo's drawings, published by the Count; and the editor, in another note, tells us, that they are caricature heads drawn in pen and ink; that the originals were bought in Holland, from Sig. Cardin. Silvio Valenti, and that the prints of which the letter speaks, are in the famous collection of the Corsini library. The author of the Letter supposes these caricatures to have been drawn when Vinci retired to Melzi's house, that he invented them as a new sort of recreation, and intended them as a subject for the academy which he had established at Milan.

In another part of the same Letter, p. 173, 174, this collection of drawings of heads is again mentioned, and it is there said, that it might be that which belonged to the Earl of Arundel. This conjecture is founded on there being many such heads engraven formerly by Hollar. In fact, the number of the plates which he has done from drawings of this painter, are near one hundred, which compose different series. The author of the Letter adds, that, if a conjecture might be permitted, we might affirm, that this is the collection of heads of which Paul Lomazzo speaks; at least the description which he gives of a similar collection which was in the hands of Aurelio Lovino, a painter of Milan, corresponds with this as well in the number of the drawings as their subjects. It represents, like this, studies from old men, countrymen, wrinkled old women, which are all laughing. Another part of this Letter says, it is easy to believe that the collection of drawings of heads which occasioned this Letter, might be one of those books in which Leonardo noted the most singular countenances.

In p. 198 of the same Letter, Hollar's engravings are said to be about an hundred, and to have been done at Antwerp in 1645, and the following year; and in p. 199, Count Caylus's publication is said to contain 59 plates in aqua fortis, done in 1730, and that this latter is the work so often mentioned in the Letter.

_Another collection of the same kind of caricature heads_ mentioned in Mariette's Letter[i123], as existing in the cabinet of either the King of Spain or the King of Sardinia.

_Four caricature heads_, mentioned, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 190, as being in the possession of Sig. Crozat. They are described as drawn with a pen, and are said to have come originally from Vasari's collection of drawings. Of this collection it is said, in a note on the above passage, that it was afterwards carried into France, and fell into the hands of a bookseller, who took the volume to pieces, and disposed of the drawings separately, and that many of them came into the cabinets of the King, and Sig. Crozat. Others say, and it is more credible, that Vasari's collection passed into that of the Grand Dukes of Medici.

_A head of Americo Vespucci_, in charcoal, but copied by Vasari in pen and ink[i124].

_A head of an old man_, beautifully drawn in charcoal[i125].

_An head of Scarramuccia, captain of the gypsies_, in chalk; formerly belonging to Pierfrancesco Giambullari, canon of St. Lorenzo, at Florence, and left by him to Donato Valdambrini of Arezzo, canon of St. Lorenzo also[i126].

_Several designs of combatants on horseback_, made by Leonardo for Gentil Borri, a master of defence[i127], to shew the different positions necessary for a horse soldier in defending himself, and attacking his enemy.

_A carton of our Saviour, the Virgin, St. Ann, and St. John._ Vasari says of this, that for two days, people of all sorts, men and women, young and old, resorted to Leonardo's house to see this wonderful performance, as if they had been going to a solemn feast; and adds, that this carton was afterwards in France. It seems that this was intended for an altar-piece for the high altar of the church of the Annunziata, but the picture was never painted[i128]. However, when Leonardo afterwards went into France, he, at the desire of Francis the First, put the design into colours. Lomazzo has said, that this carton of St. Ann was carried into France; that in his time it was at Milan, in the possession of Aurelio Lovino, a painter; and that many drawings from it were in existence. What was the fate this carton of St. Ann underwent, may be seen in a letter of P. Resta, printed in the third volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, in which he says, that Leonardo made three of these cartons, and nevertheless did not convert it into a picture, but that it was painted by Salai, and that the picture is still in the sacristy of St. Celsus at Milan[i129].

_A drawing of an old man's head, seen in front_, in red chalk; mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 191.

_A carton_ designed by him _for painting the council-chamber at Florence_. The subject which he chose for this purpose was, the history of Niccolo Piccinino, the Captain of Duke Philip of Milan, in which he drew a group of men on horseback fighting for a standard[i130]. Mariette, in a note, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 193, mentions this carton, which he says represented two horsemen fighting for a standard; that it was only part of a large history, the subject of which was the rout of Niccolo Piccinino, General of the army of Philip Duke of Milan, and that a print was engraven of it by Edelinck, when young, but the drawing from which he worked was a bad one. In the catalogue of prints from the works of Leonardo, inserted Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 195, this print is again mentioned and described more truly, as representing four horsemen fighting for a standard. It is there supposed to have been engraven from a drawing by Fiammingo, and that this drawing might have been made from the picture which Du Fresne speaks of as being in his time in the possession of Sig. La Maire, an excellent painter of perspective.

_A design of Neptune drawn in his car by sea horses, attended by sea gods_; made by him for his friend Antonio Segni[i131].

_Several anatomical drawings_ made from the life, many of which have been since collected into a volume, by his scholar Francesco Melzi[i132].

_A book of the Anatomy of man_, mentioned by Vasari, p. 36, the drawings for which were made with the assistance of Marc Antonio della Torre, before noticed in the present life. It is probably the same with the preceding.

A beautiful and well-preserved study in red and black chalk, of the _head of a Virgin_, from which he afterwards painted a picture. This study was at one time in the celebrated Villa de Vecchietti, but afterwards, in consequence of a sale, passed into the hands of Sig. Ignazio Hugford[i133].

_Two heads of women in profile_, little differing from each other, drawn in like manner in black and red chalk, bought at the same sale by Sig. Hugford, but now among the Elector Palatine's collection of drawings[i134].

_A book of the Anatomy of a horse_, mentioned by Vasari, p. 36, as a distinct work; but probably included in Leonardo's manuscript collections. See the account before given of them.

Several designs by Leonardo were in the possession of Sig. Jabac, who seems to have been a collector of pictures, and to have bought up for the King of France several excellent pictures particularly by Leonardo da Vinci[i135].

_A drawing of a young man embracing an old woman_, whom he is caressing for the sake of her riches. This is mentioned, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 198, as engraven by Hollar, in 1646.

_A head of a young man seen in profile_, engraven in aqua fortis by Conte di Caylus, from a drawing in the King of France's collection[i136].

_A fragment of a Treatise on the Motions of the Human Body_, already mentioned in the foregoing life.

In the Lettere Pittoriche, vol. ii. p. 199, mention is made of a print representing _some intertwisted lines upon a black ground_, in the style of some of Albert Durer's engravings in wood. In the middle of this, in a small compartment, is to be read, "/Academia Leonardi Vin/." Vasari, it is there said, has noticed it as a singularity.

In p. 200 of the same work, a similar print is also noticed, which differs only in the inscription from the former. In this last it is /Academia Leonardi Vici/. Both this and the former print are said to be extremely rare, and only to have been seen in the King of France's collection. It does not however appear from any thing in the Lett. Pitt. that they were designed by Leonardo.

The Abate di Villeloin, in his Catalogue of Prints published in 1666, speaks, under the article of Leonardo da Vinci, of a print of the taking down from the Cross; but the Lett. Pitt. says it was engraven from Eneas Vico, not from Leonardo[i137].

_Two drawings of monsters_, mentioned by Lomazzo, consisting of a boy's head each, but horribly distorted by the misplacing of the features, and the introduction of other members not in Nature to be found there. These two drawings were in the hands of Francesco Borella, a sculptor[i138].

_A portrait_ by Leonardo, _of Artus, Maestro di Camera to Francis I._ drawn in black lead pencil[i139].

_The head of a Cæsar crowned with oak_, among a valuable collection of drawings in a thick volume in folio, in the possession of Sig. Pagave[i140].

_The proportions of the human body._ The original of this is preserved in the possession of Sig. Pagave. At the head and foot of this drawing is to be read the description which begins thus: _Tanto apre l'Uomo nelle braccia quanto è la sua altezza, &c._ and above all, at the head of the work is the famous Last Supper, which he proposes to his scholars as the rule of the art[i141].

_The Circumcision_, a large drawing mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. 283, as the work of Leonardo, by Nicolo Gabburri, in a letter dated Florence, 4th Oct. 1732, and addressed _Al Sig. Pietro Mariette_. Gabburri says he saw this drawing, and that it was done on white paper a little tinted with Indian ink, and heightened with ceruse. Its owner then was Alessandro Galilei, an architect of Florence.

_A drawing consisting of several laughing heads, in the middle of which is another head in profile, crowned with oak leaves._ This drawing was the property of the Earl of Arundel, and was engraven by Hollar in 1646[i142].

_A man sitting, and collecting in a looking-glass the rays of the sun, to dazzle the eyes of a dragon who is fighting with a lion._ A print of this is spoken of, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, as badly engraven by an anonymous artist, but it is there said to have so little of Leonardo's manner as to afford reason for believing it not designed by him, though it might perhaps be found among his drawings in the King of France's collection. Another print of it, of the same size, has been engraven from the drawing by Conte de Caylus. It represents a pensive man, and differs from the former in this respect, that in this the man is naked, whereas in the drawing he is clothed.

PAINTINGS.

_A Madonna_, formerly in the possession of Pope Clement the Seventh[i143].

_A small Madonna and Child_, painted for Baldassar Turini da Pescia, who was the Datary[i144] at Lyons, the colours of which are much faded[i145]. It is not known where this now is.

_A Virgin and Child_, at one time in the hands of the Botti family[i146].

_The Virgin sitting in St. Ann's lap, and holding her little Son_, formerly at Paris[i147]. This has been engraven in wood, in chiaro oscuro, by an unknown artist. The picture was in the King of France's cabinet, and a similar one is in the sacristy of St. Celsus at Milan[i148].

_Another Virgin with her Son, St. John, and an Angel_, mentioned by Du Fresne, as at Paris[i149].

_A Madonna and Child_, in the possession of the Marquis di Surdi[i150].

_A Madonna and Child_, painted on the wall in the church of St. Onofrio at Rome[i151].

_A Madonna kneeling_, in the King's gallery in France[i152].

_An Holy Family, with St. Michael, and another Angel_, in the King of France's collection[i153].

_A Madonna_, in the church of St. Francis at Milan, attributed to Leonardo by Sorman[i154].

_A Virgin and Child_, by Leonardo, in Piacenza, near the church of Our Lady in the Fields. It was bought for 300 chequins by the Principe di Belgioioso[i155].

_A Madonna, half length, holding on her knee the infant Jesus, with a lily in his hand._ A print of this, engraven in aqua fortis by Giuseppe Juster, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 196. The picture is there said to have been in the possession of Charles Patin, and was supposed by some to have been painted for Francis I.

_An Herodiade_, some time in Cardinal Richelieu's possession[i156].

_The daughter of Herodias, with an executioner holding out to her the head of St. John_, in the Barberini palace[i157].

_An Herodiade with a basket, in which is the head of John the Baptist._ A print of this in aqua fortis, by Gio. Troven, under the direction of Teniers, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, and is there said to have been done from a picture which was then in the cabinet of the Archduke Leopold, but had been before in that of the Emperor.

Another picture of the same subject, but differently disposed. It is also an half length. A print from it, in aqua fortis, by Alessio Loyr, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197; but it is not there said in whose possession the picture ever was.

_The angel_ in Verrochio's picture before mentioned[i158].

_The shield_, mentioned by Vasari, p. 26, as painted by him at the request of his father, and consisting of serpents, &c.

_A head of Medusa_, in oil, in the palace of Duke Cosmo. It is still in being, and in good preservation[i159].

_A head of an angel raising one arm in the air_, in the collection of Duke Cosmo[i160]. Whether this is a picture, or only a drawing, does not appear; but as Vasari does not notice any difference between that and the head of Medusa, which he decidedly says is in oil, it is probable that this is so also.

_The Adoration of the Magi_: it was in the house of Americo Benci, opposite to the Portico of Peruzzi[i161].

_The famous Last Supper_, in the Refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie[i162]. A list of the copies made from this celebrated picture has, together with its history, been given in a former page. A print has been engraven from it under the direction of Pietro Soutman; but he being a scholar of Rubens, has introduced into it so much of Rubens's manner[i163], that it can no longer be known for Leonardo da Vinci's. Besides this, Mariette also mentions two other prints, one of them an engraving, the other an etching, but both by unknown authors. He notices also, that the Count di Caylus had etched it in aqua fortis[i164]. The print lately engraven of it by Morghen has been already noticed in a former page.

_A Nativity_, sent as a present from the Duke of Milan to the Emperor[i165].

_The portraits of Lodovic Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Maximilian his eldest son, and on the other side Beatrix his dutchess, and Francesco his other son_, all in one picture, in the same Refectory with the Last Supper[i166].

_The portraits of two of the handsomest women at Florence_, painted by him as a present to Lewis XII[i167].

_The painting in the council-chamber at Florence_[i168]. The subject of this is the battle of Attila[i169].

_A portrait of Ginevra_, daughter of Americo Benci[i170].

_The portrait of Mona Lisa_, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, painted for her husband[i171]. Lomazzo has said, she was a Neapolitan, but this is supposed a mistake, and that she was a Florentine[i172]. In a note of Mariette's, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 175, this picture is said to have been in the collection of Francis I. King of France, who gave for it 4000 crowns.

_A small picture of a child_, which was at Pescia, in the possession of Baldassar Turini. It is not known where this now is[i173].

_A painting of two horsemen struggling for a flag_, in the Palais Royal at Paris[i174].

_A nobleman of Mantua_[i175].

_A picture of Flora_, which Du Fresne mentions as being in his time at Paris. This is said to have been once in the cabinet of Mary de Medicis[i176], and though for some time supposed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci, was discovered by Mariette to have been the work of Francisco Melzi, whose name is upon it[i177]. In the supplement to the life of Leonardo, inserted in Della Valle's edition of Vasari, this picture is said to have been painted for the Duke de S. Simone.

_A head of John the Baptist_, in the hands of Camillo Albizzo[i178].

_The Conception of the blessed Virgin_, for the church of St. Francis at Milan[i179]. This was esteemed a copy, and not worth more than 30 chequins, till an Englishman came there, who thought a large sum of money well employed in the purchase of it[i180].

_St. John in the Wilderness_, said to be at Paris[i181]. In Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, mention is made of a print of St. John the Baptist, half length, by Sig. Jabac, who had the original picture, which was formerly in the King of France's cabinet.

_Joseph and Potiphar's wife_, which Mons. de Charmois, secretary to the Duke of Schomberg, had[i182].

_A portrait of Raphael_, in oil, in the Medici gallery. This is mentioned in Vasari, p. 47; and though not expressly there said to be by Leonardo, is so placed as to make it doubtful whether it was or not.

_A Nun, half length_, by Leonardo, in the possession of Abbate Nicolini[i183].

_Two fine heads_, painted in oil by Leonardo, bought at Florence by Sig. Bali di Breteuil, ambassador from Malta to Rome. One of these, representing a woman, was in his first manner. The other, a Virgin, in his last[i184].

_A Leda_, which Lomazzo says was at Fontainebleau, and did not yield in colouring to the portrait of Joconda in the Duke's gallery. Richardson says it was in the palace Mattei[i185].

_The head of a dead man_, with all its minute parts, painted by Leonardo, formerly in the Mattei palace, but no longer there[i186].

A picture containing a study of _two most delicate female heads_, in the Barberini palace at Rome[i187].

_A portrait of a girl with a book in her hand_, in the Strozzi palace in Rome[i188].

_The Dispute of Jesus with the Doctors_, half length, in the Panfili palace[i189].

Five pictures in the Ambrosian library at Milan, the subjects not mentioned[i190].

Some in the gallery of the archbishopric at Milan, the number and subjects equally unnoticed[i191].

One picture in the sacristy of Santa Maria, near St. Celsus at Milan[i192].

_A small head of Christ_, while a youth, mentioned by Lomazzo. Probably this may be the study for the picture of Jesus disputing with the Doctors, at the Panfili palace[i193].

_St. Michael with a man kneeling_, in the King of France's collection[i194].

_A Bacchus_, in the same collection[i195].

_The fair Ferraia_, in the same collection[i196].

_A portrait of a lady_, there also[i197].

_A Christ with a globe in his hand_[i198]. A very fine picture, half length, now in the possession of Richard Troward, Esq. of Pall Mall. This was engraven by Hollar in 1650, in aqua fortis[i199].

_The Fall of Phaeton_, in the gallery of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, of which Scannelli speaks, but it is mentioned by no one else[i200].

_St. Catherine with a palm-branch_, in the gallery of the Duke of Modena[i201].

_The head of a young man armed_, in the same collection, very graceful, but inferior to the St. Catherine[i202].

_A portrait of the Queen of Naples_, which was in the Aldobrandini gallery, but afterwards to be found in a chamber of portraits in the Panfili palace. It is not equal in colouring to the Dispute of Jesus with the Doctors[i203].

_A portrait in profile of the Dutchess of Milan_, mentioned by Richardson as being in a chamber leading to the Ambrosian library[i204].

_A beautiful figure of the Virgin, half length_, in the palace of Vaprio. It is of a gigantic size, for the head of the Virgin is six common palms in size, and that of the Divine Infant four in circumference. Della Valle speaks of having seen this in the year 1791, and says he is not ignorant that tradition ascribes this Madonna to Bramante, notwithstanding which he gives it to Leonardo[i205].

_A laughing Pomona with three veils_, commended by Lomazzo. It was done for Francis I. King of France[i206].

_The portrait of Cecilia Gallarani_, mentioned by Bellincione in one of his sonnets, as painted by Leonardo[i207].

_Another of Lucrezia Cavelli_, a celebrated performer on the lute, ascribed to him on the same authority. Copies of both this and the former may be seen at Milan[i208].

_Our Saviour before Pilate_, in the church of S. Florentino, at Amboise. It is thought that the carton only of this was Leonardo's, and that the picture was painted by Andrea Salai, or Melzi[i209].

_A portrait of Leonardo_ by himself, half length, in the Ambrosian library at Milan[i210]. Della Valle has inserted a copy of this before the Supplement to Leonardo's Life, in his edition of Vasari, for which purpose Sig. Pagave transmitted him a drawing from the original picture. But Leonardo's own drawing for the picture itself, is in the possession of his Britannic Majesty, and from that Mr. Chamberlaine has prefixed to his publication before mentioned, a plate engraven by Bartolozzi.

A

TREATISE,

_&c._

DRAWING.

PROPORTION.

/Chap. I./--_What the young Student in Painting ought in the first Place to learn._

/The/ young student should, in the first place, acquire a knowledge of perspective, to enable him to give to every object its proper dimensions: after which, it is requisite that he be under the care of an able master, to accustom him, by degrees, to a good style of drawing the parts. Next, he must study Nature, in order to confirm and fix in his mind the reason of those precepts which he has learnt. He must also bestow some time in viewing the works of various old masters, to form his eye and judgment, in order that he may be able to put in practice all that he has been taught[1].

/Chap. II./--_Rule for a young Student in Painting._

/The/ organ of sight is one of the quickest, and takes in at a single glance an infinite variety of forms; notwithstanding which, it cannot perfectly comprehend more than one object at a time. For example, the reader, at one look over this page, immediately perceives it full of different characters; but he cannot at the same moment distinguish each letter, much less can he comprehend their meaning. He must consider it word by word, and line by line, if he be desirous of forming a just notion of these characters. In like manner, if we wish to ascend to the top of an edifice, we must be content to advance step by step, otherwise we shall never be able to attain it.

A young man, who has a natural inclination to the study of this art, I would advise to act thus: In order to acquire a true notion of the form of things, he must begin by studying the parts which compose them, and not pass to a second till he has well stored his memory, and sufficiently practised the first; otherwise he loses his time, and will most certainly protract his studies. And let him remember to acquire accuracy before he attempts quickness.

/Chap. III./--_How to discover a young Man's Disposition for Painting._

/Many/ are very desirous of learning to draw, and are very fond of it, who are, notwithstanding, void of a proper disposition for it. This may be known by their want of perseverance; like boys, who draw every thing in a hurry, never finishing, or shadowing.

/Chap. IV./--_Of Painting, and its Divisions._

/Painting/ is divided into two principal parts. The first is the figure, that is, the lines which distinguish the forms of bodies, and their component parts. The second is the colour contained within those limits.

/Chap. V./--_Division of the Figure._

/The/ form of bodies is divided into two parts; that is, the proportion of the members to each other, which must correspond with the whole; and the motion, expressive of what passes in the mind of the living figure.

/Chap. VI./--_Proportion of Members._

/The/ proportion of members is again divided into two parts, viz. equality, and motion. By equality is meant (besides the measure corresponding with the whole), that you do not confound the members of a young subject with those of old age, nor plump ones with those that are lean; and that, moreover, you do not blend the robust and firm muscles of man with feminine softness: that the attitudes and motions of old age be not expressed with the quickness and alacrity of youth; nor those of a female figure like those of a vigorous young man. The motions and members of a strong man should be such as to express his perfect state of health.

/Chap. VII./--_Of Dimensions in general._

/In/ general, the dimensions of the human body are to be considered in the length, and not in the breadth; because in the wonderful works of Nature, which we endeavour to imitate, we cannot in any species find any one part in one model precisely similar to the same part in another. Let us be attentive, therefore, to the variation of forms, and avoid all monstrosities of proportion; such as long legs united to short bodies, and narrow chests with long arms. Observe also attentively the measure of joints, in which Nature is apt to vary considerably; and imitate her example by doing the same.

/Chap. VIII./--_Motion, Changes, and Proportion of Members._

/The/ measures of the human body vary in each member, according as it is more or less bent, or seen in different views, increasing on one side as much as they diminish on the other.

/Chap. IX./--_The Difference of Proportion between Children and grown Men._

/In/ men and children I find a great difference between the joints of the one and the other in the length of the bones. A man has the length of two heads from the extremity of one shoulder to the other, the same from the shoulder to the elbow, and from the elbow to the fingers; but the child has only one, because Nature gives the proper size first to the seat of the intellect, and afterwards to the other parts.

/Chap. X./--_The Alterations in the Proportion of the human Body from Infancy to full Age._

/A man/, in his infancy, has the breadth of his shoulders equal to the length of the face, and to the length of the arm from the shoulder to the elbow, when the arm is bent[2]. It is the same again from the lower belly to the knee, and from the knee to the foot. But, when a man is arrived at the period of his full growth, every one of these dimensions becomes double in length, except the face, which, with the top of the head, undergoes but very little alteration in length. A well-proportioned and full-grown man, therefore, is ten times the length of his face; the breadth of his shoulders will be two faces, and in like manner all the above lengths will be double. The rest will be explained in the general measurement of the human body[3].

/Chap. XI./--_Of the Proportion of Members._

/All/ the parts of any animal whatever must be correspondent with the whole. So that, if the body be short and thick, all the members belonging to it must be the same. One that is long and thin must have its parts of the same kind; and so of the middle size. Something of the same may be observed in plants, when uninjured by men or tempests; for when thus injured they bud and grow again, making young shoots from old plants, and by those means destroying their natural symmetry.

/Chap. XII./--_That every Part be proportioned to its Whole._

/If/ a man be short and thick, be careful that all his members be of the same nature, viz. short arms and thick, large hands, short fingers, with broad joints; and so of the rest.

/Chap. XIII./--_Of the Proportion of the Members._

/Measure/ upon yourself the proportion of the parts, and, if you find any of them defective, note it down, and be very careful to avoid it in drawing your own compositions. For this is reckoned a common fault in painters, to delight in the imitation of themselves.

/Chap. XIV./--_The Danger of forming an erroneous Judgment in regard to the Proportion and Beauty of the Parts._

/If/ the painter has clumsy hands, he will be apt to introduce them into his works, and so of any other part of his person, which may not happen to be so beautiful as it ought to be. He must, therefore, guard particularly against that self-love, or too good opinion of his own person, and study by every means to acquire the knowledge of what is most beautiful, and of his own defects, that he may adopt the one and avoid the other.

/Chap. XV./--_Another Precept._

/The/ young painter must, in the first instance, accustom his hand to copying the drawings of good masters; and when his hand is thus formed, and ready, he should, with the advice of his director, use himself also to draw from relievos; according to the rules we shall point out in the treatise on drawing from relievos[4].

/Chap. XVI./--_The Manner of drawing from Relievos, and rendering Paper fit for it._

/When/ you draw from relievos, tinge your paper of some darkish demi-tint. And after you have made your outline, put in the darkest shadows, and, last of all, the principal lights, but sparingly, especially the smaller ones; because those are easily lost to the eye at a very moderate distance[5].

/Chap. XVII./--_Of drawing from Casts or Nature._

/In/ drawing from relievo, the draftsman must place himself in such a manner, as that the eye of the figure to be drawn be level with his own[6].

/Chap. XVIII./--_To draw Figures from Nature._

/Accustom/ yourself to hold a plummet in your hand, that you may judge of the bearing of the parts.

/Chap. XIX./--_Of drawing from Nature._

/When/ you draw from Nature, you must be at the distance of three times the height of the object; and when you begin to draw, form in your own mind a certain principal line (suppose a perpendicular); observe well the bearing of the parts towards that line; whether they intersect, are parallel to it, or oblique.

/Chap. XX./--_Of drawing Academy Figures._

/When/ you draw from a naked model, always sketch in the whole of the figure, suiting all the members well to each other; and though you finish only that part which appears the best, have a regard to the rest, that, whenever you make use of such studies, all the parts may hang together.

In composing your attitudes, take care not to turn the head on the same side as the breast, nor let the arm go in a line with the leg[7]. If the head turn towards the right shoulder, the parts must be lower on the left side than on the other; but if the chest come forward, and the head turn towards the left, the parts on the right side are to be the highest.

/Chap. XXI./--_Of studying in the Dark, on first waking in the Morning, and before going to sleep._

/I have/ experienced no small benefit, when in the dark and in bed, by retracing in my mind the outlines of those forms which I had previously studied, particularly such as had appeared the most difficult to comprehend and retain; by this method they will be confirmed and treasured up in the memory.

/Chap. XXII./--_Observations on drawing Portraits._

/The/ cartilage, which raises the nose in the middle of the face, varies in eight different ways. It is equally straight, equally concave, or equally convex, which is the first sort. Or, secondly, unequally straight, concave, or convex. Or, thirdly, straight in the upper part, and concave in the under. Or, fourthly, straight again in the upper part, and convex in those below. Or, fifthly, it may be concave and straight beneath. Or, sixthly, concave above, and convex below. Or, seventhly, it may be convex in the upper part, and straight in the lower. And in the eighth and last place, convex above, and concave beneath.

The uniting of the nose with the brows is in two ways, either it is straight or concave. The forehead has three different forms. It is straight, concave, or round. The first is divided into two parts, viz. it is either convex in the upper part, or in the lower, sometimes both; or else flat above and below.

/Chap. XXIII./--_The Method of retaining in the Memory the Likeness of a Man, so as to draw his Profile, after having seen him only once._

/You/ must observe and remember well the variations of the four principal features in the profile; the nose, mouth, chin, and forehead. And first of the nose, of which there are three different sorts[8], straight, concave, and convex. Of the straight there are but four variations, short or long, high at the end, or low. Of the concave there are three sorts; some have the concavity above, some in the middle, and some at the end. The convex noses also vary three ways; some project in the upper part, some in the middle, and others at the bottom. Nature, which seems to delight in infinite variety, gives again three changes to those noses which have a projection in the middle; for some have it straight, some concave, and some convex.

/Chap. XXIV./--_How to remember the Form of a Face._

/If/ you wish to retain with facility the general look of a face, you must first learn how to draw well several faces, mouths, eyes, noses, chins, throats, necks, and shoulders; in short, all those principal parts which distinguish one man from another. For instance, noses are often different sorts[9]. Straight, bunched, concave, some raised above, some below the middle, aquiline, flat, round, and sharp. These affect the profile. In the front view there are eleven different sorts. Even, thick in the middle, thin in the middle, thick at the tip, thin at the beginning, thin at the tip, and thick at the beginning. Broad, narrow, high, and low nostrils; some with a large opening, and some more shut towards the tip.

The same variety will be found in the other parts of the face, which must be drawn from Nature, and retained in the memory. Or else, when you mean to draw a likeness from memory, take with you a pocket-book, in which you have marked all these variations of features, and after having given a look at the face you mean to draw, retire a little aside, and note down in your book which of the features are similar to it; that you may put it all together at home.

/Chap. XXV./--_That a Painter should take Pleasure in the Opinion of every body._

/A painter/ ought not certainly to refuse listening to the opinion of any one; for we know that, although a man be not a painter, he may have just notions of the forms of men; whether a man has a hump on his back, a thick leg, or a large hand; whether he be lame, or have any other defect. Now, if we know that men are able to judge of the works of Nature, should we not think them more able to detect our errors?

ANATOMY.

/Chap. XXVI./--_What is principally to be observed in Figures._

/The/ principal and most important consideration required in drawing figures, is to set the head well upon the shoulders, the chest upon the hips, the hips and shoulders upon the feet.

/Chap. XXVII./--_Mode of Studying._

/Study/ the science first, and then follow the practice which results from that science. Pursue method in your study, and do not quit one part till it be perfectly engraven in the memory; and observe what difference there is between the members of animals and their joints[10].

/Chap. XXVIII./--_Of being universal._

/It/ is an easy matter for a man who is well versed in the principles of his art, to become universal in the practice of it, since all animals have a similarity of members, that is, muscles, tendons, bones, &c. These only vary in length or thickness, as will be demonstrated in the Anatomy[11]. As for aquatic animals, of which there is great variety, I shall not persuade the painter to take them as a rule, having no connexion with our purpose.

/Chap. XXIX./--_A Precept for the Painter._

/It/ reflects no great honour on a painter to be able to execute only one thing well, such as a head, an academy figure, or draperies, animals, landscape, or the like, confining himself to some particular object of study; because there is scarcely a person so void of genius as to fail of success, if he apply earnestly to one branch of study, and practise it continually.

/Chap. XXX./--_Of the Measures of the human Body, and the bending of Members._

/It/ is very necessary that painters should have a knowledge of the bones which support the flesh by which they are covered, but particularly of the joints, which increase and diminish the length of them in their appearance. As in the arm, which does not measure the same when bent, as when extended; its difference between the greatest extension and bending, is about one eighth of its length. The increase and diminution of the arm is effected by the bone projecting out of its socket at the elbow; which, as is seen in figure A B, Plate I. is lengthened from the shoulder to the elbow; the angle it forms being less than a right angle. It will appear longer as that angle becomes more acute, and will shorten in proportion as it becomes more open or obtuse.

_London, Published by J. Taylor High Holborn._]

/Chap. XXXI./--_Of the small Bones in several Joints of the human Body._

/There/ are in the joints of the human body certain small bones, fixed in the middle of the tendons which connect several of the joints. Such are the patellas of the knees, and the joints of the shoulders, and those of the feet. They are eight in number, one at each shoulder, one at each knee, and two at each foot under the first joint of the great toe towards the heel. These grow extremely hard as a man advances in years.

/Chap. XXXII./--_Memorandum to be observed by the Painter._

/Note/ down which muscles and tendons are brought into action by the motion of any member, and when they are hidden. Remember that these remarks are of the greatest importance to painters and sculptors, who profess to study anatomy, and the science of the muscles. Do the same with children, following the different gradations of age from their birth even to decrepitude, describing the changes which the members, and particularly the joints, undergo; which of them grow fat, and which lean.

/Chap. XXXIII./--_The Shoulders._

/The/ joints of the shoulders, and other parts which bend, shall be noticed in their places in the Treatise on Anatomy, where the cause of the motions of all the parts which compose the human body shall be explained[12].

/Chap. XXXIV./--_The Difference of Joints between Children and grown Men._

/Young/ children have all their joints small, but they are thick and plump in the spaces between them; because there is nothing upon the bones at the joints, but some tendons to bind the bones together. The soft flesh, which is full of fluids, is enclosed under the skin in the space between the joints; and as the bones are bigger at the joints than in the space between them, the skin throws off in the progress to manhood that superfluity, and draws nearer to the bones, thinning the whole part together. But upon the joints it does not lessen, as there is nothing but cartilages and tendons. For these reasons children are small in the joints, and plump in the space between, as may be observed in their fingers, arms, and narrow shoulders. Men, on the contrary, are large and full in the joints, in the arms and legs; and where children have hollows, men are knotty and prominent.

/Chap. XXXV./--_Of the Joints of the Fingers._

/The/ joints of the fingers appear larger on all sides when they bend; the more they bend the larger they appear. The contrary is the case when straight. It is the same in the toes, and it will be more perceptible in proportion to their fleshiness.

/Chap. XXXVI./--_Of the Joint of the Wrist._

/The/ wrist or joint between the hand and arm lessens on closing the hand, and grows larger when it opens. The contrary happens in the arm, in the space between the elbow and the hand, on all sides; because in opening the hand the muscles are extended and thinned in the arm, from the elbow to the wrist; but when the hand is shut, the same muscles swell and shorten. The tendons alone start, being stretched by the clenching of the hand.

/Chap. XXXVII./--_Of the Joint of the Foot._

/The/ increase and diminution in the joint of the foot is produced on that side where the tendons are seen, as D E F, _Plate I._ which increases when the angle is acute, and diminishes when it becomes obtuse. It must be understood of the joint in the front part of the foot A B C.

/Chap. XXXVIII./--_Of the Knee._

/Of/ all the members which have pliable joints, the knee is the only one that lessens in the bending, and becomes larger by extension.

/Chap. XXXIX./--_Of the Joints._

/All/ the joints of the human body become larger by bending, except that of the leg.

/Chap. XL./--_Of the Naked._

/When/ a figure is to appear nimble and delicate, its muscles must never be too much marked, nor are any of them to be much swelled. Because such figures are expressive of activity and swiftness, and are never loaded with much flesh upon the bones. They are made light by the want of flesh, and where there is but little flesh there cannot be any thickness of muscles.

/Chap. XLI./--_Of the Thickness of the Muscles._

/Muscular/ men have large bones, and are in general thick and short, with very little fat; because the fleshy muscles in their growth contract closer together, and the fat, which in other instances lodges between them, has no room. The muscles in such thin subjects, not being able to extend, grow in thickness, particularly towards their middle, in the parts most removed from the extremities.

/Chap. XLII./--_Fat Subjects have small Muscles._

/Though/ fat people have this in common with muscular men, that they are frequently short and thick, they have thin muscles; but their skin contains a great deal of spongy and soft flesh full of air; for that reason they are lighter upon the water, and swim better than muscular people.

/Chap. XLIII./--_Which of the Muscles disappear in the different Motions of the Body._

/In/ raising or lowering the arm, the pectoral muscles disappear, or acquire a greater relievo. A similar effect is produced by the hips, when they bend either inwards or outwards. It is to be observed, that there is more variety of appearances in the shoulders, hips, and neck, than in any other joint, because they are susceptible of the greatest variety of motions. But of this subject I shall make a separate treatise[13].

/Chap. XLIV./--_Of the Muscles._

/The/ muscles are not to be scrupulously marked all the way, because it would be disagreeable to the sight, and of very difficult execution. But on that side only where the members are in action, they should be pronounced more strongly; for muscles that are at work naturally collect all their parts together, to gain increase of strength, so that some small parts of those muscles will appear, that were not seen before.

/Chap. XLV./--_Of the Muscles._

/The/ muscles of young men are not to be marked strongly, nor too much swelled, because that would indicate full strength and vigour of age, which they have not yet attained. Nevertheless they must be more or less expressed, as they are more or less employed. For those which are in motion are always more swelled and thicker than those which remain at rest. The intrinsic and central line of the members which are bent, never retains its natural length.

/Chap. XLVI./--_The Extension and Contraction of the Muscles._

/The/ muscle at the back part of the thigh shows more variety in its extension and contraction, than any other in the human body; the second, in that respect, are those which compose the buttocks; the third, those of the back; the fourth, those of the neck; the fifth, those of the shoulders; and the sixth, those of the Abdomen, which, taking their rise under the breast, terminate under the lower belly; as I shall explain when I speak of each.

/Chap. XLVII./--_Of the Muscle between the Chest and the lower Belly._

/There/ is a muscle which begins under the breast at the Sternum, and is inserted into, or terminates at the Os pubis, under the lower belly. It is called the Rectus of the Abdomen; it is divided, lengthways, into three principal portions, by transverse tendinous intersections or ligaments, viz. the superior part, and a ligament; the second part, with its ligaments; and the third part, with the third ligament; which last unites by tendons to the Os pubis. These divisions and intersections of the same muscle are intended by nature to facilitate the motion when the body is bent or distended. If it were made of one piece, it would produce too much variety when extended, or contracted, and also would be considerably weaker. When this muscle has but little variety in the motion of the body, it is more beautiful[14].

/Chap. XLVIII./--_Of a Man's complex Strength, but first of the Arm._

/The/ muscles which serve either to straighten or bend the arm, arise from the different processes of the Scapula; some of them from the protuberances of the Humerus, and others about the middle of the Os humeri. The extensors of the arm arise from behind, and the flexors from before.

That a man has more power in pulling than in pushing, has been proved by the ninth proposition De Ponderibus[15], where it is said, that of two equal weights, that will have the greatest power which is farthest removed from the pole or centre of its balance. It follows then of course, that the muscle N B, _Plate II._ and the muscle N C, being of equal power, the inner muscle N C, will nevertheless be stronger than the outward one N B, because it is inserted into the arm at C, a point farther removed from the centre of the elbow A, than B, which is on the other side of such centre, so that that question is determined. But this is a simple power, and I thought it best to explain it before I mentioned the complex power of the muscles, of which I must now take notice. The complex power, or strength, is, for instance, this, when the arm is going to act, a second power is added to it (such as the weight of the body and the strength of the legs, in pulling or pushing), consisting in the extension of the parts, as when two men attempt to throw down a column; the one by pushing, and the other by pulling[16].

/Chap. XLIX./--_In which of the two Actions, Pulling or Pushing, a Man has the greatest Power_, Plate II.

/A man/ has the greatest power in pulling, for in that action he has the united exertion of all the muscles of the arm, while some of them must be inactive when he is pushing; because when the arm is extended for that purpose, the muscles which move the elbow cannot act, any more than if he pushed with his shoulders against the column he means to throw down; in which case only the muscles that extend the back, the legs under the thigh, and the calves of the legs, would be active. From which we conclude, that in pulling there is added to the power of extension the strength of the arms, of the legs, of the back, and even of the chest, if the oblique motion of the body require it. But in pushing, though all the parts were employed, yet the strength of the muscles of the arms is wanting; for to push with an extended arm without motion does not help more than if a piece of wood were placed from the shoulder to the column meant to be pushed down.

_London, Published by J. Taylor High Holborn._]

/Chap. L./--_Of the bending of Members, and of the Flesh round the bending Joint._

/The/ flesh which covers the bones near and at the joints, swells or diminishes in thickness according to their bending or extension; that is, it increases at the inside of the angle formed by the bending, and grows narrow and lengthened on the outward side of the exterior angle. The middle between the convex and concave angle participates of this increase or diminution, but in a greater or less degree as the parts are nearer to, or farther from, the angles of the bending joints.

/Chap. LI./--_Of the naked Body._

/The/ members of naked men who work hard in different attitudes, will shew the muscles more strongly on that side where they act forcibly to bring the part into action; and the other muscles will be more or less marked, in proportion as they co-operate in the same motion.

/Chap. LII./--_Of a Ligament without Muscles._

/Where/ the arm joins with the hand, there is a ligament, the largest in the human body, which is without muscles, and is called the strong ligament of the Carpus; it has a square shape, and serves to bind and keep close together the bones of the arm, and the tendons of the fingers, and prevent their dilating, or starting out.

/Chap. LIII./--_Of Creases._

/In/ bending the joints the flesh will always form a crease on the opposite side to that where it is tight.

/Chap. LIV./--_How near behind the Back one Arm can be brought to the other_, Plate III. and IV.

/When/ the arms are carried behind the back, the elbows can never be brought nearer than the length from the elbow to the end of the longest finger; so that the fingers will not be seen beyond the elbows, and in that situation, the arms with the shoulders form a perfect square. The greatest extension of the arm across the chest is, when the elbow comes over the pit of the stomach; the elbow and the shoulder in this position, will form an equilateral triangle.

/Chap. LV./--_Of the Muscles._

/A naked/ figure being strongly marked, so as to give a distinct view of all the muscles, will not express any motion; because it cannot move, if some of its muscles do not relax while the others are pulling. Those which relax cease to appear in proportion as the others pull strongly and become apparent.

_London, Published by J. Taylor High Holborn._]

_London, Published by J. Taylor High Holborn._]

/Chap. LVI./--_Of the Muscles._

/The/ muscles of the human body are to be more or less marked according to their degree of action. Those only which act are to be shewn, and the more forcibly they act, the stronger they should be pronounced. Those that do not act at all must remain soft and flat.

/Chap. LVII./--_Of the Bending of the Body._

/The/ bodies of men diminish as much on the side which bends, as they increase on the opposite side. That diminution may at last become double, in proportion to the extension on the other side. But of this I shall make a separate treatise[17].

/Chap. LVIII./--_The same Subject._