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lie would feel flattered by being told what a beautiful imitation of nature his grounds
presented. When, therefore, nature is closely imitated in its general cflbcts hy the
landscape-gardener, exotic trees should bo introduced instead of those common to the
sun-ounding country, the artist in this manner rcducing to practice the axiom laid doivn
by Quatrcmere de Quincy, that to imitate in the fine arts is to produce the resemblance
of a thing, but in some other thing which becomes the image of it. I t is this production
of an image or ideal copy which distinguishes the artist from the mechanic, who can
only produce an exact or lacsimile copy.
1481. A s an illustration o f the theory o f landscape-gardening which we have adopted,
we subjoin a slight analysis of the principles of a composition expressive of picturesque
and natiu-al beauty. For this purpose, it is a matter of indiflercnce, as far as respects
picturesque beauty, whether we choose a real or a painted landscape ; but, as we mean
also to investigate its poetic or general beauty, wc shall prefer a reality. We choose,
then, a perfect flat, varied by wood, say elms, with a piece of water, and a high wall,
forming the angle of a ruined building ; it is animated by cows and sheep ; its expression
is that of melancholy grandeur ; aud, independently of this beauty, it is pictm-esque
in expression ; that is, if painted, it would form a tolerable pictm-e. We shall now
proceed to the analysis of such a scene. •
1482. Unity is the first obvious principle which pervades the picture. No ideas of
gaiety or prettiness ai-e excited by such a scene. All the parts unite in forming a whole,
which the eye can comprehend at once, and examine without distraction. “ L a vue,”
says Girardin, “ le plus vagabond de tous les sens, a besoin d’être fixée pour jouir avec
plaisir et sans lassitude.” Were this principle not prevalent, the groups of trees, the
lake, and the building, would only please when considered separately, and the result
would be as poor a production as a macliine, the wheels of wliich are accurately finished
and nicely polished, but which do not act in concert, so as to eficct the intended
movement.
1483. I t is true to nature; that is, the objects or materials arc what they a[)pear to be.
The trees, which are neither vei-y old nor very young, though in the distance diminished
by their remote situation, we discover, by their tranks and contour, to be still trees.
They are not shrabs placed near the eye, w ith a view to produce a false perspective ; nor
is the fragment of building merely a disguised wall, because it has openings wliich have
once been windows, and it is crowned in one part by battlements. The water is natural,
its surface beiug below the level of the adjoining ground, not raised above it, as is often
the case in artificial waters. This completes the tra th or reality of the scene. The
necessity of adhering to truth is still greater in painting, in wliich all objects must appear
to be natural, not only in forms and colour, but also relatively to the forms and colours
around them. Objects, especially those whose forms and dimensions are familiar to us,
as men or horses, painted of different heights in the same plane, as, for example, in the
distance, of the same magnitude as that in which they appear in the foreground, would,
from the acquired habit of mcasm-ing unknown by known objects, give a falseliood to
the scene, and would appeal- as animals of a different species, or as monsters. It seems
to be from the same principle of being tra e to nature, that the gi-adation of scene, or
what is called distance, is required or at least is so satisfactory in landscape. The mind,
after being impressed with the effect of a whole, delights in examining its parts in
succession ; the more simple and obvious the an-angement of these parts, therefore, the
more readily does the mind acquiesce in their effect. The eye of the artist, seizing on
the ncai-est and most remote parts of a scene, readily marks an intei-mediate or middle
distance ; no given extent seems neccssai-y for this purpose : —
“ To make the landscape grateful to th e sight,
Thre e points of distance always should unite ;
And, howsoe’er the view may be confined,
T h re e mark’d divisions we shall always find.” Tke Landscape, by K n i g h t .
1484. The disposition o f the parts is the next object of analysis, and the inquiry is
how in this respect they concur in foi-ming a whole. I . As to forms, we find that their
disposition is in groups or masses. The largest group, for example, is placed towards
one side of the picture iu tho foreground, another towards the opposite side of the
middle distance, including the building and the adjoining lake ; and the remote, or thii-d
distance, consists of a low line of w'ood, ivith projecting gi-oups or masses. 2. As to
colours, we find only different shades of yellow and green on the trees and ground.
3. As to the light, we find one large and principal light near the middle of the view,
diverging into shade as it approaches the sides -, the clearest part is the water, and the
next cleai-est the building; and the third light spreads over a broad space of gi-ound,
near the water. The groups in the foreground are all in a deep shadow. One of these,
near the water, pai-takes of the principal light ; and those in the third distance are
distinguished by a sort of neutralisation of light, colour, and shade. Such is the
disposition of the groups or parts, in order, in a complex view of the whole, to fix the
eye, and to prevent it from being distracted by scattered lights, confusion of forms, and
inharmonious colours.
1485. The connection which subsists between these different parts is a subordinate but
an important consideration. 1. They are connected in each distance by a real nearaess
of situation; and, 2. In the view as a whole, from the one group coming in part before
the other, so as to produce connection by apparent proximity. Suppose the reverse to
be the case, and that the groups were unconnected either by real or apparent distance
of situation; the consequence would be, that each group being suiToimded by light,
would become a distinct object. The eye would have no resting place, and the assemblage
would not compose a whole.
1486. The relation which subsists between the parts, composing each indiridual group,
is next to be examined. In regard to the form of the parts of each g ro u p ; as they arc
all groups of the same sort of tree, we find one elementary form prevalent, but differing
in magnitude, and in combination, by the disposition of the trees, which is contrasted to
such a degree, that each group differs in form from the others, without at the same time
being of an opposite form.
1487. In regard to colour, the same kind of colour prevails in each and in all of the
groups, but is varied in degree by the same contrasted disposition. In some parts a
ycUowish-grecn prevails, in others a grecnisk-ycllow, in others a rassct or red-green, and
occasionally a bright green — as on that part of the turf'where the light strikes with the
greatest force.
1488. In regard to light and shade, those parts of the groups wliich rise above the horizon,
and are backed by the sky, arc dark, and generally darker than such as aa-e backed by
tlic ground, or by other adjoining groups. The prominent parts of each group ai-c
lighter than the retiring parts or recesses among tlie spray and leaves. These prominent
aiid retiring parts, in the near gi-oups, are very numerous ; in the distance they arc lost
in the general aerial shade of the group. I t may be obsen-ed, as a general principle,^
that trees, from their rough smface, and consequently from thcir imperfect reflection of
light, are always comparatively dai-ker than water, bnildings, or ground. Iu creating
real landscape, they serve in some measure as shades, as the other materials mentioned
seiwe as lights.
1489. fh e sky, the cows, and the sheep, must be noticed in order to complete the
sketch. Suppose, then, that the sky is merely gi-ey and cloudy, and that the cattle and
sheep are grouped in the middle distance, what theu will be the expression qf the view ?
We think it would express veiy little to general observers; but there being nothing
glaringly offensive in tho an-angement, it would be expressive of beauty to him who had
bestowed some attention on the subject of landscapes; for though it exhibits but little
hai-mony of foi-ms and colours, or light and shade, it still possesses enough of these
ingredients to render it worth looking at as a pictm-esque view.
1490. The general or natural expression o f melancholy and grandeur remains to bo
accounted for. Eor this purpose, let the building be the rains of an ancient castle,
whose lofty quadrangular form may be readily imagined from the walls we mentioned
as composing a part of the scenery. The character of grandeur, then, is not in this
instance communicated to the picture by the picturesque effect of the walls, winch have
no variety of form, light, or shade in themselves, but by the mental associations to which
they give rise in a cultivated mind.
1491. A s anotlier example o f picturesque, and poetic, or sentimental expression, imagine
the cattle and sheep removed, the surface of the ground covered hy smoothly mown turf,
and tho luxuriant branches of some of the foreground trees nearly reclining on the
ground. The flrst expression wonld be that of beautiful or elegant picturesque; the next,
that of stillness and consecration tom a n ,— stillness, as being without animals or moving
obiects; and consecration to m.an, from the mown surface, greatly heightened hy the
circumstance of the branches of trees roclining on the ground, which never can happen
where sheep or cattle avc admitted, and which forms the leading visible distinction
between a group of trees in a park, and a group on a mown lawn. I t is not from the
smoothness of the turf, or any particular mixture of light and shade in the reclining
branches, that this expression is produced, but from reflecting on the cause of this
appearance. „ , , ,
1492. A s a third example, imagine, instead of the smooth tmf, imconth rough groimd,
covered in some places with furze, briars, brambles, and tangled thickets; the water
fringed with rushes, and partially concealed by aquatic shmb s; and wild horses and
deer forming the animated pai-t of the scene. The expression would he eminently
picturesque ; but there would also be an expression of wildness, not resulting from the
picturesque qualities as s-uch, but from mental reflection on the diflerence between this
scene and one of cultivation.
1493. As a fourth example, imagine the view deprived of the lake and the building,^
and consisting only of the wood and ground, with the heads of a straggling row of