Page View
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764 / The analysis of beauty : written with a view of fixing the fluctuating ideas of taste
(1753)
Chap. II: of variety, pp. 16-17
Page 17
,ANALYSIS ofBEAUTY. I mean here, and every where indeed, a compofed variety; for variety uncompofed, and without defign, is confufion and deformity. Obferve, that a gradual leffening is a kind of varying that gives beauty. The pyramid diminifhing from its bafis to its point, and the fcroll or voluta, gradually leffening to its center, are beautiful forms. So alfo ob- je6ts that only feem to do fo, though in fat they do not, have equal beauty: thus perfpe&ive views, and particularly thofe of buildings, are always pleafmg to the eye. The little fhip, between figure'17 and 88, fuppos'd moving along the fhore even with the eye, might have its top and bottom bounded by two lines at equal dif- tances all the way, as A; but if the flip puts out to fea, thefe lines at top and bottom would feem to vary and meet each other by degrees, as B, in the point C, which is in the line where the fky and water meets, call'd the horizon. Thus much of the manner of per- fpedives adding beauty, by feemingly varying other- wife unvaried forms, I thought, might be acceptable to thofe, who have not learnt perfpe&ive. CHAP.
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright