Though in the pulpit, on the theatre, and even in common conversation, the Italians make use of a great deal of action; yet Italian vivacity5 is different from French; the former proceeds from sensibility, the latter from animal spirits.
The inhabitants of this country have not the brisk look, and elastic6 trip, which[64] is universal in France; they move rather with a flow composed pace: their spines7 never having been forced into a straight line, retain the natural bend; and the people of the most finished fashion, as well as the neglected vulgar, seem to prefer the unconstrained attitude of the Antinous, and other antique statues, to the artificial graces of a French dancing-master, or the erect8 strut9 of a German soldier. I imagine I perceive a great resemblance between many of the living countenances11 I see daily, and the features of the ancient busts12 and statues; which leads me to believe, that there are a greater number of the genuine descendants of the old Romans in Italy, than is generally imagined.
I am often struck with the fine character of countenance10 to be seen in the streets of Rome. I never saw features more expressive13 of reflection, sense, and genius; in the very lowest ranks there are countenances[65] which announce minds fit for the highest and most important situations; and we cannot help regretting, that those to whom they belong, have not received an education adequate to the natural abilities we are convinced they possess, and placed where these abilities could be brought into action.
Of all the countries in Europe, Switzerland is that in which the beauties of nature appear in the greatest variety of forms, and on the most magnificent scale; in that country, therefore, the young landscape painter has the best chance of seizing the most sublime14 ideas: but Italy is the best school for the history painter, not only on account of its being enriched with the works of the greatest masters, and the noblest models of antique sculpture; but also on account of the fine expressive style of the Italian countenance. Here you have few or none of those fair,[66] fat, glistening15, unmeaning faces, so common in the more northern parts of Europe. I happened once to sit by a foreigner of my acquaintance at the Opera in the Hay-market, when a certain Nobleman, who at that time was a good deal talked of, entered. I whispered him—“That is Lord ——.” “Not surely the famous Lord ——,” said he. “Yes,” said I, “the very same.” “It must be acknowledged then,” continued he, “that the noble Earl does infinite honour to those who have had the care of his education.” “How so?” rejoined I. “Because,” replied the foreigner, “a countenance so completely vacant, strongly indicates a deficiency of natural abilities; the respectable figure he makes in the senate, I therefore presume must be entirely16 owing to instruction.”
Strangers, on their arrival at Rome, form no high idea of the beauty of the[67] Roman women, from the specimens17 they see in the fashionable circles to which they are first introduced. There are some exceptions; but in general it must be acknowledged, that the present race of women of high rank, are more distinguished18 by their other ornaments19, than by their beauty. Among the citizens, however, and in the lower classes, you frequently meet with the most beautiful countenances. For a brilliant red and white, and all the charms of complexion20, no women are equal to the English. If a hundred, or any greater number, of English women were taken at random21, and compared with the same number of the wives and daughters of the citizens of Rome, I am convinced, that ninety of the English would be found handsomer than ninety of the Romans; but the probability is, that two or three in the hundred Italians, would have finer countenances than any of the English. English beauty is more[68] remarkable22 in the country, than in towns; the peasantry of no country in Europe can stand a comparison, in point of looks, with those of England. That race of people have the conveniencies of life in no other country in such perfection; they are no where so well fed, so well defended from the injuries of the seasons; and no where else do they keep themselves so perfectly23 clean, and free from all the vilifying24 effects of dirt. The English country girls, taken collectively, are, unquestionably, the handsomest in the world. The female peasants of most other countries, indeed, are so hard worked, so ill fed, so much tanned by the sun, and so dirty, that it is difficult to know whether they have any beauty or not. Yet I have been informed, by some Amateurs, since I came here, that, in spite of all these disadvantages, they sometimes find, among the Italian peasantry, countenances highly interesting, and[69] which they prefer to all the cherry cheeks of Lancashire.
Beauty, doubtless, is infinitely25 varied26; and happily for mankind, their tastes and opinions, on the subject, are equally various. Notwithstanding this variety, however, a style of face, in some measure peculiar27 to its own inhabitants, has been found to prevail in each different nation of Europe. This peculiar countenance is again greatly varied, and marked with every degree of discrimination between the extremes of beauty and ugliness. I will give you a sketch28 of the general style of the most beautiful female heads in this country, from which you may judge whether they are to your taste or not.
A great profusion29 of dark hair, which seems to encroach upon the forehead, rendering30 it short and narrow; the nose[70] generally either aquiline31, or continued in a straight line from the lower part of the brow; a full and short upper lip; by the way, nothing has a worse effect on a countenance, than a large interval32 between the nose and mouth; the eyes are large, and of a sparkling black. The black eye certainly labours under one disadvantage, which is, that, from the iris33 and pupil being of the same colour, the contraction34 and dilatation of the latter is not seen, by which the eye is abridged35 of half its powers. Yet the Italian eye is wonderfully expressive; some people think it says too much. The complexion, for the most part, is of a clear brown, sometimes fair, but very seldom florid, or of that bright fairness which is common in England and Saxony. It must be owned, that those features which have a fine expression of sentiment and meaning in youth, are more apt, than less expressive faces, to become soon strong and masculine. In England[71] and Germany, the women, a little advanced in life, retain the appearance of youth longer than in Italy.
With countenances so favourable37 for the pencil, you will naturally imagine, that portrait painting is in the highest perfection here. The reverse, however, of this is true; that branch of the art is in the lowest estimation all over Italy. In palaces, the best furnished with pictures, you seldom see a portrait of the proprietor38, or any of his family. A quarter length of the reigning39 Pope is sometimes the only portrait, of a living person, to be seen in the whole palace. Several of the Roman Princes affect to have a room of state, or audience chamber40, in which is a raised seat like a throne, with a canopy41 over it. In those rooms the effigies42 of the Pontiffs are hung; they are the work of very inferior artists, and seldom cost above three or four sequins. As soon as his Holiness[72] departs this life, the portrait disappears, and the face of his successor is in due time hung up in its stead. This, you will say, is treating their old sovereign a little unkindly, and paying no very expensive compliment to the new; it is not so ?conomical, however, as what was practised by a certain person. I shall not inform you whether he was a Frenchman or an Englishman, but he certainly was a courtier, and professed43 the highest possible regard for all living monarchs44; but considered them as no better than any other piece of clay when dead. He had a full length picture of his own Sovereign in the principal room of his house; on his majesty’s death, to save himself the expence of a fresh body, and a new suit of ermine, he employed a painter to brush out the face and periwig, and clap the new King’s head on his grandfather’s shoulders; which, he declared, were in the most perfect preservation45, and[73] fully36 able to wear out three or four such heads as painters usually give in these degenerate46 days.
The Italians, in general, very seldom take the trouble of sitting for their pictures. They consider a portrait as a piece of painting, which engages the admiration47 of nobody but the person it represents, or the painter who drew it. Those who are in circumstances to pay the best artists, generally employ them in some subject more universally interesting, than the representation of human countenances staring out of a piece of canvas.
Pompeio Battoni is the best Italian painter now at Rome. His taste and genius led him to history painting, and his reputation was originally acquired in that line; but by far the greater part of his fortune, whatever that may be, has flowed through a different channel. His[74] chief employment, for many years past, has been painting the portraits of the young English, and other strangers of fortune, who visit Rome. There are artists in England, superior in this, and every other branch of painting, to Battoni. They, like him, are seduced48 from the free walks of genius, and chained, by interest, to the servile drudgery49 of copying faces. Beauty is worthy50 of the most delicate pencil; but, gracious heaven! why should every periwig-pated fellow, without countenance or character, insist on seeing his chubby51 cheeks on canvas?
“Could you not give a little expression to that countenance?” said a gentleman to an eminent52 English painter, who showed him a portrait which he had just finished. “I made that attempt already,” replied the painter; “but what the picture gained in expression, it lost in likeness53; and by the time there was a little common sense[75] in the countenance, nobody knew for whom it was intended. I was obliged, therefore, to make an entire new picture, with the face perfectly like, and perfectly meaningless, as you see it.”
Let the colours for ever remain, which record the last fainting efforts of Chatham; the expiring triumph of Wolf; or the indecision of Garrick, equally allured54 by the two contending Muses55! But let them perish and fly from the canvas, which blind self-love spreads for insipidity56 and ugliness! Why should posterity57 know, that the first genius of the age, and those whose pencils were formed to speak to the heart, and delineate beauteous Nature, were chiefly employed in copying faces? and many of them, faces that imitate humanity so abominably58, that, to use Hamlet’s expression, they seem not the genuine work of Nature, but of Nature’s journeymen.
To this ridiculous self-love, equally prevalent among the great vulgar and small,[76] some of the best painters in France, Germany, and Great Britain, are obliged for their subsistence. This creates a suspicion, that a taste for the real beauties of painting, is not quite so universal, as a sensibility to their own personal beauties, among the individuals of these countries. And nothing can be a stronger proof of the important light in which men appear in their own eyes, and their small importance in those of others, than the different treatment which the generality of portraits receive, during the life, and after the death, of their constituents59. During the first of these periods, they inhabit the finest apartments of the houses to which they belong; they are flattered by the guests, and always viewed with an eye of complacency by the landlord. But, after the commencement of the second, they begin to be neglected; in a short time are ignominiously60 thrust up to the garret; and, to fill up the measure of their affliction, they finally are thrown out of doors, in the most barbarous manner,[77] without distinction of rank, age, or sex. Those of former times are scattered61, like Jews, with their long beards and brown complexions62, all over the face of the earth; and, even of the present century, Barons63 of the most ancient families, armed cap-a-pee, are to be purchased for two or three ducats, in most of the towns of Germany. French Marquises, in full suits of embroidered64 velvet65, may be had at Paris still cheaper; and many worshipful citizens of London are to be seen dangling66 on the walls of an auction-room, when they are scarce cold in their graves.
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1
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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impute
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| v.归咎于 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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4
sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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6
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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7
spines
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| n.脊柱( spine的名词复数 )；脊椎；（动植物的）刺；书脊 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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9
strut
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| v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆 | |
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10
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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busts
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| 半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕 | |
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13
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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14
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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15
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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20
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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vilifying
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| v.中伤，诽谤( vilify的现在分词 ) | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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contraction
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| n.缩略词，缩写式，害病 | |
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abridged
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| 削减的，删节的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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42
effigies
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| n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 ) | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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45
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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47
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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48
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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49
drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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50
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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51
chubby
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| adj.丰满的，圆胖的 | |
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52
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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53
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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54
allured
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| 诱引，吸引( allure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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55
muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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56
insipidity
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| n.枯燥无味，清淡，无精神；无生气状 | |
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57
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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58
abominably
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| adv. 可恶地，可恨地，恶劣地 | |
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59
constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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61
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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62
complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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63
barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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64
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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65
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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66
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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