and mechanical art at
its highest. The whole is, however, harmonious, agreeable to the eye,
and instructive. The conventionalisms of the drawing as well as those
of the composition are very different from ours. Whether it is man or
beast, the subject is invariably presented in outline by the brush, or
by the graving tool in sharp relief upon the background; but the animals
are represented in action, with their usual gait, movement, and play of
limbs distinguishing each species. The slow and measured walk of the ox,
the short step, meditative ears, and ironical mouth of the ass, the calm
strength of the lion at rest, the grimaces of the monkeys, the slender
gracefulness of the gazelle and antelope, are invariably presented with
a consummate skill in drawing and expression. The human figure is the
least perfect: every one is acquainted with those strange figures, whose
heads in profile, with the eye drawn in full face, are attached to a
torso seen from the front and supported by limbs in profile. These are
truly anatomical monsters, and yet the appearance they present to us
is neither laughable nor grotesque. The defective limbs are so deftly
connected with those which are normal, that the whole becomes natural:
the correct and fictitious lines are so ingeniously blent together
that they seem to rise necessarily from each other. The actors in these
dramas are constructed in such a paradoxical fashion that they could not
exist in this world of ours; they live notwithstanding, in spite of the
ordinary laws of physiology, and to any one who will take the trouble to
regard them without prejudice, their strangeness will add a charm which
is lacking in works more conformable to nature. A layer of colour spread
over the whole heightens and completes them. This colouring is never
quite true to nature nor yet entirely false. It approaches reality as
far as possible, but without pretending to copy it in a servile way. The
water is always a uniform blue, or broken up by black zigzag lines; the
skin of the men is invariably brown, that of the women pale yellow.

[Illustration: 249.jpg BAS-RELIEF IN IVORY]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Bouriant. The
original is in private possession.

The shade befitting each being or object was taught in the workshops,
and once the receipt for it was drawn up, it was never varied in
application. The effect produced by these conventional colours, however,
was neither discordant n