The anatomy of the external forms of man : intended for the use of artists, painters and sculptors / By J. Fau ; edited with additions by Robert Knox. With an atlas of twenty-eight plates, quarto.

  • Fau, Julien.
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The anatomy of the external forms of man : intended for the use of artists, painters and sculptors / By J. Fau ; edited with additions by Robert Knox. With an atlas of twenty-eight plates, quarto. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    care in its construction, in order to conceal the heaviness of its mass. In proportion as the model is large, so is the design pure, especially when examined behind. The movements of the torso exhibit the finest muscular developments; in man, the capacious chest, massive shoulders, braced up reins, indicate the rude labours in which he is forced to engage; whilst the undulating and smooth forms of the torso, in woman, exhibit an inexpressible grace and beauty, connected with her sex. Even if we failed to admire, from a want of taste, the beauteous forms of the arms or upper limbs, their numerous and graceful movements, the super- abundance of articulations in the hand of man, would alone merit all our admiration. The head, as the culminating point, is not less wonderful; and if occasionally, irregular contours and forms less pure detract from the beauty of the face, it still remains, as the mirror of the soul, reflecting all its passions and sentiments. In men living free and far removed from civilization, the human organization has a development in refe- rence solely to the limited wants of his barbarous condi- tion. The savage pursues and strikes the fleet antelope, contends with the jaguar, arrests with his arrow the bird in his rapid flight; the slightest noise, the scarcely perceptible footmark attracts his attention; and when, at last, he encounters his prey, then begins one of those struggles where force and skill display their utmost power. In representing individuals so placed, the artist ought 1 #