§ 37 Qualities Necessary for Work in the Round
Now seeing that all figures of whatever sort, whether carved in marble, cast in bronze, or wrought in plaster or wood, must be in salient work in the round, and seeing too that as we walk round them they are looked at from every side, it is clear that if we want to call them perfect they must have many qualities. The most obvious is that when such a figure is presented to our eyes, it should show at the first glance the expression intended, whether pride or humility, caprice, gaiety or melancholy—according to the personage portrayed. It must also be balanced in all its members: that is, it must not have long legs, a thick head, and short and deformed arms; but be well proportioned, and from head to foot have each part conforming with the others. In the same way, if the figure have the face of an old man, let it have the arms, body, legs, hands, and feet of an old man, the skeleton symmetrically ordered throughout, the muscles and sinews and veins all in their proper places. If it have the face of a youth, it must in like manner be round, soft and sweet in expression, harmonious in every part. If it is not to be nude, do not let the drapery that is to cover it be so meagre as to look thin, nor clumsy like lumps of stone, but let the flow of the folds be so turned that they reveal the nude beneath—and with art and grace now show now hide it without any harshness that may detract from the figure. Let the hair and beard be worked with a certain delicacy, arranged and curled to show they have been combed, having the greatest softness and grace given to them that the chisel can convey; and because the sculptors cannot in this part actually counterfeit nature, they make the locks of hair solid and curled, working from manner153 rather than in imitation of nature. Even though the figures be draped, the feet and hands must be modelled with the care and beauty shown in the other parts. And as the figure is in the round, it is essential that in front, in profile, and at the back, it be of equal proportions, having at every turn and view to show itself happily disposed throughout. Indeed the whole work must be harmonious, and exhibit pose, drawing and unity, grace and finish; these qualities taken together show the natural talent and capacity of the artist.