hether the line is traceable upon the
vertical plane or carries the eye into the picture and forms itself into
the graceful union of one object with another, its great pictorial power
is revealed to any who will look for it.

[Hogarth's Line of Beauty]

In Hogarth's essay on "The Line of Beauty," he sets forth a series of
seven curves selecting No. 4 as the most perfect. This is duplicated in
nature by the line of a woman's back. If two be joined side by side they
produce the beautiful curve of a mouth and the cupid's bow. Horizontally,
the line becomes a very serviceable one in landscape. As a vertical it
recalls the upward sweep of a flame which, ever moving, is symbolic of
activity and life. To express this line both in the composition of the
single figure and of many figures was the constant effort of Michael
Angelo and, through Marcus de Sciena, his pupil, it has been passed down
to us. By the master it was considered most important advice. "The
greatest grace," he asserts, "that a picture can have is that it express
life and motion, as that of a flame of fire." Yet in the face of such a
statement from the painter of the "Last Judgment" it is difficult to
reconcile the lack of it in this great picture.

The compound curve which this line contains is one of perfect balance,
traceable in the standing figure. As an element of grace, alone, it
affords the same delight as the interweaving curves of a dance or the
fascination of coiling and waving smoke. Classic landscape, in which many
elements are introduced, or any subject where scattered elements are to be
swept together and controlled is dependent upon this principle. An
absolute line is not of course necessary, but points of attraction, which
the eye easily follows, is an equivalent. Many simple subjects owe their
force and distinction entirely to a good introduction through a bold
sweeping curved line. Thanks to the wagon track of the seashore, which may
be given any required curve, the formality and frequent emptiness of this
subject is made to yield itself into good composition. When the subject
rejects grace and demands a rugged form, the sinuous flow of line may be
exchanged for an abrupt and forcible zigzag. In such an arrangement the
eye is pulled sharply across spaces from one object to another, the space
itself containing little of interest. In the short chapter on Getting out
of the Picture, the use of this zigzag line was emphasi