lent cross of
a horizontal and vertical in itself and simply required to be let alone
and led away from. The background destroys this and, instead of being an
aid to circular observation, persists in _adding_ a line to one in the
subject which should have been parried, and thus cuts the picture in two.

Cuyp in this as in another similar picture had in mind light and shade
rather than linear composition, but even so, the composition shows little
intelligence. No amount of after manipulation could condone so vicious a
slaughter of space and line opportunities which the background, with its
reduplicating edge, accomplishes.

Study in that vast and changeful realm the sky offers a greater
opportunity for selection than any other part of nature.

The sky is but one of two elements in every landscape and in the majority
of cases it is the secondary element. If the sky is to agree with an
interesting landscape it must retire behind it. If it causes divided
interest, its interest must be sacrificed. Drawings, photographs and
color studies of skies with the intention of combining them with landscape
should be made in the range of secondary interest and with the calculation
of their fitting to the linear scheme of landscape. Skies which move away
from the horizon diagonally, suggesting the oppositional feeling, are more
useful in an artist's portfolio than a series of clouds, the bottoms of
which parallel the horizon, especially when these float isolated in the
sky. When the formal terrace of clouds entirely fills the sky space, its
massive structure is felt rather than the horizontal lines, just as a
series of closely paralleled lines becomes a flat tint.

THE LINE OF BEAUTY.

The most elastic and variable of the fundamental forms of composition is
the line of beauty, the letter S, or, conceived more angularly, the letter
Z. This is one particularly adapted to upright arrangements and one
largely used by the old masters. We are able to trace this curvilinear
feeling through at least one-third of the great figure compositions of the
Renaissance. Note the page of sketches in the chapter on _Light and
Shade._ Though selected for this quality they show a strong feeling for
the sweeping line of the letter S. "The Descent from the Cross," a most
marked example, can well be considered one of the world's greatest
compositions. Over and over again Rubens has repeated this general form
and always with great effect. W