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fol. 51v 'Of Ideas of Power, as they are dependent upon Execution' (Pt I, Sn II, Ch I) (3.124)
like wood . ^ {only thin & transparent .} On this the eye , nostril , & outline of cheek ,
are given with
two or three rude brown touches . about three or four minutes work -
({though} the head is <about> colossal) The <b>{B}ack ground is then laid in with
thick
solid . warm white - actually projecting . all round the head - leaving
5 it in dark intaglio ; Finally, five thin <dash> strokes of very <blu>
cold bluish white are struck for the high light on the forehead and
nose - & the head is complete . Seen within a yard of the
canvass - <the> it looks actually transparent - a flimsy, meaningless, distant
shadow - the back ground looking solid - <&> projecting . & close to you .
10 <Seen at> {From} the right distance - ten or twelve yards , whence alone
the whole of the picture can be seen . it is the most complete - rich -
substantial, & living realization of the projecting head of the animal
<Now we have in this execution> {<*.*> the back ground ^ {then falling} far
behind .} <Now t>There is no <small> {slight} nor mean <degree
of> pleasure in perceiving such a result attained by means so strange.
15 By Berghem , on the other hand , a dark background is first laid in
with exquisite delicacy and transparency - and on this the cows head
is actually modelled in luminous white . the separate locks of hair projecting
from the canvass . No<r> surprise - nor much <of> pleasure of any kind <is>
{would be} attendant
on this execution . (though it is <quite artistlike - and> infinitely more careful
20 than Rubens's), {even were the result equally successful} and what little <pleasure>
we ha<d>ve in it, vanishes, when on retiring
fol. 52r 'Of Ideas of Power, as they are dependent upon Execution' (Pt I, Sn II, Ch I) (3.123f)
[note: page is cut through, but not right to the bottom or right to the middle]
103
#87#< each excellence which is theoretically desireable - depends on the nature of the
subject - In subjects full of motion and tumult - impetuosity and confusion
of execution assist the great impression to be conveyed - in subjects full of
repose - simplicity <and truth> are {is} the great object<s>. A feebleness of
<hand> {touch}
5 may be admitted in a Madonna - which would be painful in a Hercules
and a rigidity of execution excusable in a falling figure - which would
be intolerable in a recumbent one . A great artist will vary the particular
<of> excellencies of his execution - making one more prominent than another -
according to the nature of his subject. <But> and that execution may
10 be always considered the best which is most illustrative of the subject -
tenderness in a Magdalen - energy in an Achilles - simplicity in a <Jupiter> -
Truth in all.
But though <thus> each of the Virtues of execution may thus have their
place and cause of prominence - <T>the three first will commonly be the only
15 attendants of the highest art - and the others will be the signs of <an>{eff}orts
perhaps first not of their kind. but of a lower order . Truth . simplicity
and Mystery . Are [sic] the Great qualities of Execution {through} which all the most
sublime
thoughts of art are <addressed> {expressed} - for it is by these that the attention is
withdrawn from the artist - & freed in his conception. To see that execution is swift or
20 that it is decided - or that it is strange - we must look away from its creation . >
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