of an Eyebrow, or the Falling of the Hair. I fhould think too, that the Attitude, while fixt, ought to be reckoned under this Article: By which I do not only mean the Pofture of the Perfon, but the Pofition of each Part; as the Turning of the Neck, the extending of the Hand, the Placing of a Foot; and fo on to the moft minute Particulars. The general Cause of Beauty in the Form or Shape in both Sexes is a Proportion, or an Union and Harmony [e], in all Parts of the Body. The diftinguishing Character of Beauty in the Female Form, is Delicacy and Softnefs; and in the Male, either apparent Strength, or Agility. The finest Exemplars that can be seen for the former, is the Venus of Medici; and for the Two latter, the Hercules Farnefe and the Apollo Belvedere. There is one thing indeed in the last of these Figures, which exceeds the Bounds of our prefent Enquiry; what I have heard an Italian Artift call Il foura umano; and what we may call the Tranfcendent, or Celestial [f]. 'Tis fomething diftinct from [e] Pulchritudo corporis aptâ compofitione membrorum movet oculos; & delectat hoc ipfo, quòd inter fe omnes partes quodam lepore confentiunt. Cicero de Off. lib. i. § 91. [f] This is mentioned, or hinted at, by several of the Roman Writers: Humanam fupra formam. Phædrus, lib. iv, f. 23. Forma nifi in veras non cadit illa Deas. Ovid. Her, Epift. xviii. 68. all all human Beauty, and of a Nature greatly fuperior to it; fomething that seems like an Air of Divinity: Which is expreft, or at leaft is to be traced out, in but very few Works of the Artifts; and, of which scarce any of the Poets have caught any Ray in their Defcriptions (or perhaps even in their Imagination,) excep Homer and Virgil, among the Antients; and our Shakespear, and Milton, among the Moderns. The Beauty of the mere human Form is much fuperior to that of Color; and it may be partly for this Reason, that when one is obferving the finest Works of the Artists at Rome (where there is ftill the noblest Collection of any in the World,) one feels the Mind more ftruck and more charmed with the capital Statues, than with the Pictures of the greatest Masters. One of the old Roman Poets, in speaking of a very handsome Man, who was Candidate for the Prize in Hoc ære, Ceres; hoc, lucida Gnoffis : Illo Maia tholo; Venus hoc, non improba, saxo: Numina In quiete Statius, lib. v. Sylv. i. 235. vifa fpecies viri majoris quàm pro humano ha bitu, augustiorisque. Livy, lib. viii. § 6. Os humerofque Deo fimilis ; namque ipfa decoram Purpureum, & lætos oculis afflârat honores: Quale manus addunt ebori decus; aut ubi flavo Argentum, Pariusve lapis, circumdatur auro. Virg. Æn. i. 593. fome fome of the public Games, fays, that he was much expected and much admired by all the Spectators, at his first Appearance; but that, when he flung off his Robes, and discovered the whole Beauty of his Shape altogether, it was fo fuperior, that it quite [g] extinguished the Beauties they had before so much admired in his Face. I have often felt much the fame Effect in viewing the Venus of Medici. If you obferve the Face only, it appears extremely beautiful; but if you confider all the other Elegancies of her Make, the Beauty of her Face becomes less ftriking, and is almost loft in fuch a Multiplicity of Charms. Whoever would learn what makes the Beauty of each Part of the human Body, may find it laid down, pretty much at large, by [h] Felibien; or may study Arcada Parthenopæum Appellant, denfique cient cava murmura Circi ; Emicat; & torto chlamyden diffibulat auro : Statius Theb. vi. 573. [b] In his Entretiens, vol. ii. p. 14-45. The chief of what he fays there, on the Beauty of the different Parts of the Female Form is as follows. That the Head should be well rounded; and look rather inclining to fmall than large. The Forehead white, fmooth, and open (not with the Hair growing down too deep upon it ;) neither flat nor prominent, but like the Head, well-rounded; and rather small in Proportion than large. it it with more Pleasure to himself, in the finest Pictures and Statues; and I am forced to have recourse to The Hair, either bright, black, or brown; not thin, but full and waving; and if it falls in moderate Curls, the better. The Black is particularly useful for fetting off the Whiteness of the Neck and Skin. The Eyes, black, chefnut, or blue; clear, bright, and lively ; and rather large in Proportion than small. The Eyebrows, well divided, rather full than thin; femicircular, and broader in the Middle than at the Ends; of a neat Turn, but not formal. The Cheeks fhould not be wide; fhould have a Degree of Plumpness with the Red and White finely blended together; and fhould look firm and foft. The Ear fhould be rather small then large; well folded, and with an agreeable Tinge of Red. The Nofe fhould be placed fo as to divide the Face into Two equal Parts; should be of a moderate Size, ftrait, and well-fquared; though fometimes a little Rifing in the Nofe, which is but juft perceivable, may give a very graceful Look to it. The Mouth fhould be small; and the Lips not of equal Thickness: They should be well-turned, small rather than grofs; soft, even to the Eye; and with a living Red in them. A truly pretty Mouth is like a Rose-bud that is beginning to blow. The Teeth should be middle-fized, white, well-ranged, and even. The Chin, of a moderate Size; white, soft, and agreeably rounded. The Neck should be white, ftrait, and of a foft, eafy, and flexible Make, rather long than fhort; lefs above, and encreasing gently toward the Shoulders: The Whiteness and Delicacy of its Skin should be continued, or rather go on improving, to the Bofom. The Skin in general should be white, properly tinged with Red; with an apparent Softness, and à Look of thriving Health in it. The Shoulders fhould be white, gently fpread, and with a much fofter Appearance of Strength, than in thofe of Men. The Arm hould be whire, round, firm, and foft; and more particu larly fo from the Elbow to the Hands. The Hand fhould unite infenfibly with the Arm; juft as it does in the Statue of the Venus of Medici. They fhould be long, and delicate; and even the Joints and nervous Parts of them should be without either any Hardness or Dryness. * VOL. I. them fo often, because in Life we commonly fee but a fmall Part of the human Body; most of it being either disguised, or altered, by what we call Dress. I was acquainted, for fome Years, with a Lady who has as pretty a made Head and Neck as can be conceived; and never knew any thing of the Matter, till I happened one Morning to catch her at her Toilet, before he had deformed herself by putting on her Headcloaths. If that beautiful round Oak, with fo fine and ftrait a Body, had a Tent or floping Building, coming down from the Top of its Trunk to the Ground, all round it, and Two or Three Sheets flung over the greatest Part of its Head, we fhould fcarce be able to know, whether it was a beautiful Tree or not: And fuch is the circling Hoop, that the Women wear in fome Countries; and the vaft Wad of Linen, that they carry upon their Head in others. The Fingers should be fine, long, round, and soft; small, and leffening towards the Tips of them: And the Nails long, rounded at the Ends, and pellucid. The Bofom fhould be white, and charming; and the Breasts equal in Roundness, Whiteness, and Firmness; neither too much elevated, nor too much depreffed; rifing gently, and very distinctly separated; in one Word, just like thofe of the Venus of Medici. The Sides fhould be long, and the Hips wider than the Shoulders; and should turn off as they do in the fame Venus; and go down rounding, and leffening gradually to the Knee. The Knee fhould be even, and well-rounded; the Legs ftrait, but varied by a proper Rounding of the more fleshy Part of them; and the Feet finely turned, white, and little. The |