b

Supreme in beauty: lavish here thine art,

And bid him boldly from the canvass start:

While round that sov'reign form th' inferior train 185

In groups collected fill the pictur'd plain;

Fill, but not crowd; for oft some open space
Must part their ranks and leave a vacant place,
Lest artlessly dispers'd the sever'd crew
At random rush on our bewilder'd view;
Or parts with parts, in thick confusion bound,
Spread a tumultuous chaos o'er the ground.

C

In every figur'd group the judging eye

Demands the charms of contrariety:

In forms, in attitudes, expects to trace

Distinct inflections, and contrasted grace,

Where art diversely leads each changeful line,
Opposes, breaks, divides the whole design :

Pulchrior ante alias, reliquis nec operta figuris.

d

Agglomerata simul sint membra, ipsæque figuræ ? Stipentur, circumque globos locus usque vacabit; Nè, malè dispersis dum visus ubique figuris Dividitur, cunctisque operis fervente tumultu Partibus implicitis, crepitans confusio surgat.

e

Inque figurarum cumulis non omnibus idem

Corporis inflexus, motusque ; vel artubus omnes

Conversis pariter non connitantur eodem ;

'XII. Groups of figures.

XIII. Diversity of Attitude in Groups.

190

195

135

Thus, when the rest in front their charms display,
Let one with face averted turn away;

Shoulders oppose to breasts, and left to right,
With parts that meet and parts that shun the sight.
This rule in practice uniformly true

Extends alike to many forms or few,

200

í Yet keep thro' all the piece a perfect poize :

205

If here in frequent troops the figures rise,
There let some object tower with equal pride;
And so arrange each correspondent side,
That, thro' the well-connected plan, appear
No cold vacuity, no desert drear.

210

Sed quædam in diversa trahant contraria membra, 140
Transverséque aliis pugnant, et cætera frangant.
Pluribus adversis aversam oppone figuram,
Pectoribusque humeros, et dextera membra sinistris,
Seu multis constabit opus, paucisve figuris.

pars

& Altera tabulæ vacuo neu frigida campo,
Aut deserta siet, dum pluribus altera formis
Fervida mole sua supremam exsurgit ad oram.
Sed tibi sic positis respondeat utraque rebus,
Ut si aliquid sursum se parte attollat in unâ,
Sic aliquid parte ex aliâ consurgat, et ambas
Equiparet, geminas cumulando æqualiter oras.

145

150

XIV. A balance to be kept in the picture.

8 XIV. Tabulæ librámentum.

Say, does the Poet glow with genuine rage,

Who crouds with pomp and noise his bustling stage? Devoid alike of taste that Painter deem,

Whose flutt'ring works with num'rous figures teem;

A task so various how shall art fulfill,

When oft the simplest forms elude our skill?

But, did the toil succeed, we still should lose
That solemn majesty, that soft repose,
Dear to the curious eye, and only found,

Where few fair objects fill an ample ground.
Yet if some grand important theme demand
Of many needful forms a busy band,
Judgment will so the several groups unite,
That one compacted whole shall meet the sight.

215

220

i

Pluribus implicitum personis drama supremo
In genere, ut rarum est, multis ita densa figuris
Rarior est tabula excellens ; vel adhuc ferè nulla

Præstitit in multis, quod vix bene præstat in unâ: 155
Quippe solet rerum nimio dispersa tumultu,
Majestate carere gravi, requieque decora ;
Nec speciosa nitet, vacuo nisi libera campo.
Sed, si opere in magno, plures thema grande requirat
Esse figurarum cumulos, spectabitur unà

Machina tota rei; non singula quæque seorsim.

160

h XV. Of the number of fi- XV. Numerus figurarum. gures.

* The joints in each extreme distinctly treat, Nor e'er conceal the outline of the feet;

i The hands alike demand to be exprest In half-shown figures rang'd behind the rest; Nor can such forms with force or beauty shine,

Save when the head and hands in action join.

225

230

m Each air constrain'd and forc'd, each gesture rude, Whate'er contracts or cramps the attitude,

With scorn discard. When squares or angles join,

When flows in tedious parallel the line,

Acute, obtuse, whene'er the shapes appear,
Or take a formal geometric air,

n

" Præcipua extremis raro internodia membris Abdita sint; sed summa pedum vestigia nunquam.

• Gratia nulla manet, motusque, vigorque figuras
Retro aliis subter majori ex parte latentes,
Ni capitis motum manibus comitentur agendo.

P Difficiles fugito aspectus, contractaque visu
Membra sub ingrato, motusque, actusque coactos;
Quodque refert signis, rectos quodammodo tractus,
Sive parallelos plures simul, et vel acutas,
Vel geometrales (ut quadra, triangula) formas ;

235

165

170

These all displease, and the disgusted eye
Nauseates the tame and irksome symmetry.

Mark then our former rule ;* with contrast strong
And mode transverse the leading lines prolong;
For these in each design, if well exprest,
Give value, force, and lustre to the rest.

9 Nor yet to Nature such strict homage pay,
As not to quit when Genius leads the way;
Nor yet tho' Genius all his succour sends,
Her mimic powers tho' ready Memory lends,
Presume from Nature wholly to depart,
For nature is the arbitress of art.

In Error's grove ten thousand thickets spread,
Ten thousand devious paths our steps mislead;

240

245

250

175

Ingratamque pari signorum ex ordine quandam
Symmetriam: sed præcipua in contraria semper
Signa volunt duci transversa, ut diximus antè.*
Summa igitur ratio signorum habeatur in omni
Composito; dat enim reliquis pretium, atque vigorem.
' Non ita naturæ astanti sis cuique revinctus,
Hanc præter nihil ut genio studioque relinquas;
Nec sine teste rei natura, artisque magistra,
Quidlibet ingenio, memor ut tantummodo rerum,
Pingere posse putes; errorum est plurima sylva,

180

XIX. Natura Genio accommodanda.