Ven the critic of some twenty years ago, to whom the drama of life seemed literary and therefore not fit for painting, must confess to an interest in the subject of a picture when that picture is a portrait.

The painter's perception of the character of his sitter is an essential part of his work, even of his execution. There is an insight in portraiture of which no one is afraid to speak. Even when, in the last century, the crime of literature was discovered, this was not accused of literature, and no man charged this kind of reading with that sin. Most justly did the portrait painter pass unrebuked.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.