Was Portraits and Silhouettes

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1914. Excerpt: ... SILHOUETTES LI VER WENDELL HOLMES, once on a time in jocund mood, wrote verses to a charming unknown lady whose portrait was exhibited in the Athenaeum gallery. One stanza shall be given here as an introduction to our subject: Pray did you ever hear, my love, Of boys that go about Who, for a very trifling sum, Will snip one's portrait out? I'm not averse to red and white, But all things have their place; I think a profile cut in black Would suit your style of face! His rather nonchalant attitude towards silhouettes has been echoed frequently throughout the ages, for like all arts, and like the Roman Empire, the art of silhouette cutting has had its rise and its fall. Like wax models, shades have come down to us from farthest antiquity. In the tombs of Egypt, the conventionalized figures done in profile arebut painted silhouettes, and are as true to life as our own, except for one thing: the Egyptian never learned to draw the eye in profile, nor did any artist of Crete, of Babylon, of Nineveh, or of any other city, until the fourth century B.C., when a Syracusan modelled it correctly for a coin. The figures on Etruscan oil jars and Greek vases are nothing but shades. The first legend of a real shade is that of the daughter of Diabutades, who realized that her lover was becoming cold toward her. One day, as he stood so that the sun cast his shadow upon the wall, she outlined it, hoping to keep his image, if not his love. There are many variations of this story; often it is the tale of alover whosebetrothed had died, and whose shadow, as she lay in her coffin, was cast upon the wall by the candle at her head. It matters not to which legend we pin our faith, for the real story is so far removed in antiquity that age lends it charm. The Japanese have alw...