looking at a figure in a picture
he liked to feel that he could walk round it, and this exactly expresses
the impression that the true art of painting should make upon the
spectator.

There is another observation of Leonardo's that it is well I should here
transcribe; he says: 'Many are desirous of learning to draw, and are
very fond of it, who are notwithstanding void of a proper disposition
for it. This may be known by their want of perseverance; like boys who
draw everything in a hurry, never finishing or shadowing.' This shows
they do not care for their work, and all instruction is thrown away upon
them. At the present time there is too much of this 'everything in a
hurry', and beginning in this way leads only to failure and
disappointment. These observations apply equally to perspective as to
drawing and painting.

Unfortunately, this study is too often neglected by our painters, some
of them even complacently confessing their ignorance of it; while the
ordinary student either turns from it with distaste, or only endures
going through it with a view to passing an examination, little thinking
of what value it will be to him in working out his pictures. Whether the
manner of teaching perspective is the cause of this dislike for it,
I cannot say; but certainly most of our English books on the subject are
anything but attractive.

All the great masters of painting have also been masters of perspective,
for they knew that without it, it would be impossible to carry out their
grand compositions. In many cases they were even inspired by it in
choosing their subjects. When one looks at those sunny interiors, those
corridors and courtyards by De Hooghe, with their figures far off and
near, one feels that their charm consists greatly in their perspective,
as well as in their light and tone and colour. Or if we study those
Venetian masterpieces by Paul Veronese, Titian, Tintoretto, and others,
we become convinced that it was through their knowledge of perspective
that they gave such space and grandeur to their canvases.

I need not name all the great artists who have shown their interest and
delight in this study, both by writing about it and practising it, such
as Albert Duerer and others, but I cannot leave out our own Turner, who
was one of the greatest masters in this respect that ever lived; though
in his case we can only judge of the results of his knowledge as shown
in his pictures, for although he was Professor of