tongues, and people, so did not the Israelites escape it; but immediately after their departure from Egypt we find an exact similitude of the sacred calf of the Egyptians, cast in melted gold, which they constructed below Mount Sinai In Egypt, metallic statues, as well as those of stone, must have existed anterior to that event, as they actually had done to our knowledge, and long before idolatry had made its appearance in Egypt, it had existed in Chaldea, as already shown.

Own

As that worship had first its being in Chaldea, so had the art of statuary its origin in that country; it was improved, perhaps, in Egypt, and perfected in Greece, from the time of Pericles to that of Alexander, commonly called the Great.

DRAWING.

THE HUMAN FIGURE.

FROM what has been said in the previous article, it would appear that drawing of the human figure was nearly coeval with the art of statuary, or perhaps prior to it in Greece. As there is ample room to suppose the rude aboriginal inhabitants of Greece borrowed their art, as they did their religious and civil policy, from the Egyptians, and in fact from every nation where they discovered anything worthy their attention, so must we suppose they had also this art, in its infancy it is true, from the same people. Upon reflecting for a single moment, we are fully satisfied that the origin of the art now under contemplation came from Egypt. An ancient philosopher expressed himself with great truth, when he said, "Necessity was man's first instructor." We accordingly perceive the necessity of the earliest inhabitants of Egypt to exer

cise the art of drawing, they having determined to record their transactions by hieroglyphical representa

tion.

We have not the slightest doubt but we have now in the British Museum some of the earliest specimens of Egyptian hieroglyphical delineation, in the sarcophagi; from its inscription, it has been discovered that that identical monument cannot be less than three

thousand five hundred and ninety-eight years old!

Previous to this, we can have no doubt that the art of drawing must have existed.

Like its sister art, sculpture, it received every improvement of which it was susceptible, from the mature conceptions and the delicate hand of Grecian artisans; words are, perhaps, inadequate to convey this art to a second person. Years of incessant labour, with an attention to principles established and found to correspond correctly with nature, are the only means to obtain a just knowledge of its principles, and to judge tastefully of its correct execution.

However, in addition to the rules laid down in the preceding article, we add the following, which have. been approved by Sir Joshua Reynolds, by no means a contemptible judge of the art :

1. That from the crown of the head to the forehead is the third part of a face.

2. The face begins at the root of the lowest hairs that grow on the forehead, and ends at the bottom of the chin.

3. The face is divided into three proportionate parts; the first contains the forehead or brow; the second, the nose; and the third, the mouth and chin.

4. From the chin to the pit between the collarbones, is two lengths of a nose.

5. From the pit between the collar-bones to the bottom of the breast, one face.

6. From the bottom of the breast to the navel, one face.

7. From the navel to the genitories, one face.

8. From the genitories to the upper part of the knee, two faces.

9. The knee contains half a face.

10. From the lower part of the knee to the ancle, two faces.

11. From the ancle to the sole of the foot, half a face.

12. A man with his arms extended, is from his longest finger on each hand, as broad as he is long. 13. From one side of the breast to the other, two faces.

14. The bone of the arm called humerus, i.e., from the shoulder to the elbow joint, is the length of two faces.

15. From the end of the elbow to the joint of the little finger, the bone called cubitus, with a part of the hand, is also two faces.

16. From the box of the shoulder-blade, to the pit between the collar-bones, one face.

From

17. To be satisfied in measures of breadth. the extremity of one finger to the other, so that his breadth should be equal to the length, it should be observed, that the bones of the elbows with the humerus, and the humerus with the shoulder-blade, or scapula, bear the proportions of a face when the arms are extended.

18. The sole of the foot is one-sixth part of the length of the entire figure.

19. The hand is the length of a face.

20. The thumb contains a nose in length.

21. The inside of the arm, from the place where the muscle disappears, which is connected with the breast (called the pectoral muscle,) to the middle of the arm, four noses long.

22. From the middle of the arm, at the top, to the beginning of the head, five noses.

23. The longest toe is one nose.

24. The outermost parts of the paps, and the pit

between the collar-bones of a female, form an equilateral triangle.

The knowledge of the preceding proportions, are as mere rudiments essential to the delineation of the human figure; but they relate to a body in a quiescent state only. The more difficult task remains to become thoroughly acquainted with its actions. To obtain this, a rudimental and even an intimate acquaintance with the skeleton, and assiduous and incessant practice are necessary.

However, the lectures delivered to the Royal Academy have furnished us with the probable extent to which the motions of the human frame may be carried.

First, premising that the motions of the head and trunk of the body are limited by the several joints of the spine.

2. The motion of the body upon the lower limbs takes place at the hip-joints, at the knees, and at the ancles.

3. Those limbs, called great limbs (the whole frame being technically divided, and denominated the upper and lower extremities), have rotatory motions at their junctions with the trunk, by means of a ball and socket joints, at the shoulders and the hips. The analogy of parts between the upper and lower extremities is not carried through the structure of those limbs in the body.

4. The fulcrum of the upper limb is itself moveable upon the trunk, as appears from the extensive motions of the scapula, which so generally accompany the rotation of the shoulder, and supply the limb with a great variety of motion, much more than the lower limb possesses.

5. The junction of the thigh with the mass without motion, called the pelvis, limits its rotation to the ball and socket-joint without farther extension.

6. The rotation of the head and neck takes place at the joint between the first and second vertebræ.

7. When the nose is parallel with the sternum, the face may be turned towards either shoulder, through an angle of 60 deg. on each side; the whole range of its motion being 120 degrees.

8. The lateral bending of the neck is equally divided between the seven vertebra; but the bowing of the head, and violently tossing it backward, are chiefly effected at the joint of the skull, and the first bone of the vertebral column called the atlas.

9. Although the preceding motions are consistent with an erect stature of the neck, yet the lateral motions demand a curvature of its whole mass.

10. The movements of the trunk are regulated by rotary and lateral motions, nearly equally divided among the several joints of the vertebræ of the back and loins.

11. The joints or the dorsal or back vertebræ are, notwithstanding, more close and compact than those of the loins; allowing of a wider range for bending and turning in the loins than the back.

12. The sternum and ribs move upward, to assist the chest in the expansion required for respiration; drawing the clavicles and the shoulders upwards in full inspiration, and tend to a contrary motion on expiration. Such movements also, characterise strong action and certain passion, and very apparent in a naked figure.

13. In stooping to touch the ground, the thigh-bone forms an angle of somewhere about 55 degrees with the average direction of the vertebræ.

14. The leg bends upon the thigh at an angle of about 75 degrees, and the line of the tibia forms, with the sole of the foot, when that is elevated, an angle of 65 degrees.

15. The whole of this limb is susceptible of motion at the hip-joint forwards to a right angle with its