The Analysis of Beauty: Written with a view of fixing the fluctuating ideas of tasteHogarth, William
Philosophy
The Analysis of Beauty: Written with a view of fixing the fluctuating ideas of taste
Hogarth, William
Aesthetics -- Early works to 1800
Yet, properly speaking, no living creatures are capable of moving in
such truly varied and graceful directions, as the human species; and
it would be needless to say how much superior in beauty their forms
and textures likewise are. And surely also after what has been said
relating to figure and motion, it is plain and evident that nature
has thought fit to make beauty of proportion, and beauty of movement,
necessary to each other: so that the observation before made on
animals, will hold equally good with regard to man: i. e. that he who
is most exquisitely well-proportion'd is most capable of exquisite
movements, such as ease and _grace in deportment_, or in dancing.
It may be a sort of collateral confirmation of what has been said of
this method of nature's working, as well as otherwise worth our notice,
that when any parts belonging to the human body are conceal'd, and
not immediately concern'd in movement, all such ornamental shapes, as
evidently appear in the muscles and bones[6], are totally neglected as
unnecessary, for nature doth nothing in vain! this is plainly the case
of the intestines, none of them having the least beauty, as to form,
except the _heart_; which noble part, and indeed kind of first mover,
is a simple and well-varied figure; conformable to which, some of the
most elegant Roman urns and vases have been fashion'd.
[6] See Chapter IX on Compositions with the Serpentine-line.
Now, thus much being kept in remembrance, our next step will be to
speak of, first, general measurements; such as the whole height of the
body to its breadth, or the length of a limb to its thickness: and,
secondly, of such appearances of dimensions as are too intricately
varied to admit of a description by lines.
The former will be confined to a very few straight lines, crossing each
other, which will easily be understood by everyone; but the latter
will require somewhat more attention, because it will extend to the
precision of every modification, bound, or limit, of the human figure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account