“‘Hé! Matame,’ he replied in his Alsatian jargon, ‘when you are dead your heirs will think themselves fortunate to possess a fine portrait by Henner and will trouble themselves very little to know if it was like you or not.’”
“It is possible that the painter said that,” Rodin answered, “but it was doubtless a sally which did not represent his real thought, for I do not believe that he had such false ideas in an art in which he showed great talent.
“But first let us understand the kind of resemblance demanded in a bust or portrait.
“If the artist only reproduces superficial features as photography does, if he copies the lineaments of a face exactly, without reference to character, he deserves no admiration. The resemblance which he ought to obtain is that of the soul; that alone matters; it is that which the sculptor or painter should seek beneath the mask of features.
“In a word, all the features must be expressive—that is to say, of use in the revelation of a conscience.”
“But doesn’t it sometimes happen that the face contradicts the soul?”
“Never.”
“Have you forgotten the precept of La Fontaine, ‘Il ne faut point juger les gens sur l’apparence’?”
Egyptian Sparrow-Hawk
See page [180]