the merit of being accurate imitations, and almost
appear to be what they are not. This distinction
must be felt, or we shall never see the grand style in
painting revived. The painter must not be satisfied
to copy and represent what he sees; he must cultivate
this talent of imitation, merely as bestowing
those facilities which are to give scope to the exertions
of his genius, as the instruments and means only
which he is to employ for communicating his thoughts,
and presenting to others the creations of his fancy.
It is by his creative powers alone that he can become
truly a painter; and for these he is to trust to
original genius, cultivated and enriched by a constant
observation of nature. Till he has acquired a poet’s
eye for nature, and can seize with intuitive quickness
the appearances of passion, and all the effects produced
upon the body by the operations of the mind,
he has not raised himself above the mechanism of his
art, nor does he rank with the poet or the historian.
To assist the painter in a department of this inspiring
study, is one of the Author’s objects in these
Essays. He has been desirous, in principles deduced
from the structure of man, and the comparative anatomy
of animals, to lay a foundation for studying the
influence of the mind upon the body; and he ventures
to expect great indulgence to an attempt at once so
new and so difficult, where there is no authority
to consult but that of nature.
After the first edition was published, I was so fortunate
as to make discoveries in the Nervous System,
which gave a new and extraordinary interest to the
subject of these essays. I found that there was a
system of nerves, distinguishable by structure and
endowments, which had hitherto been confounded
with the common nerves; and having traced them
through the face, and neck, and body, and compared
them in the different classes of animals, it was finally
discovered that these nerves were the sole agents in
expression, when the frame was wrought under the
influence of passion.