[c] See Plate 8.
[d] Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
[e] See Plate 10.
[f] See Frontispiece and Plate 11.
[g] "E di belle donne, io mi servo di certa idea che mi viene nella mente." Letter to Castiglione.
CHAPTER X
EXPRESSION. PART V.—PORTRAITURE
Limitations of the portrait painter—Generalizations—Emphasis and addition of qualities—Practice of the ancient Greeks—Dignity—Importance of simplicity—Some of the great masters—Portraiture of women—The English masters—The quality of grace—The necessity of repose.
While in the scale of the painter's art, portraiture ranks next to the higher branches of historical work, yet it is some distance behind them, for apart from the commonplace of scenic arrangement, the imagination of the portrait painter cannot be carried further than the consideration of added or eliminated details of form and expression in relation to a set subject. But these details are very difficult, and so it comes about that a good portrait involves a far greater proportion of mental labour than the result appears on the surface to warrant. It is indirectly consequent upon the complexity of his task that the work of the artist who devotes practically his whole time to portraiture, often varies so largely in quality. He paints some portraits which are generally appreciated, but as time goes on he is overwhelmed with orders which he cannot possibly fulfil without reducing the value of his work. He thus acquires a habit of throwing his whole power into his work only when the personage he represents is of public importance, or has a countenance particularly amenable to his manner or style. It is necessary that this fact should be borne in mind, otherwise erroneous standards are likely to be set up when artists like Van Dyck, Reynolds, or Romney, are referred to as examples.