A good portrait must be not only a good likeness ; it must reveal something of the character and temperament of the sitter, his surroundings, the depth of his mind and feeling, the manner in which his intelligence works, his social customs, and his way of regarding and passing through life.
Of course, it is true that many people do not want what occupies and influences them in their lives to appear and be fixed in their portraits—on the contrary, they wish to hide all that moves them under a mask of indifference or a dis sembling smile. They prefer to be conventional, and are better satisfied when the photographer produces as flattering a portrait as possible, and effaces by retouching everything from the face which may express a distinctive passing feeling. But they overlook the fact that these momentary glimpses of feeling give the intellectual expression, and that when they are smoothed over and made to disappear the result leaves only a soulless mask.
When we next pass a shop that has a display of photo graphs of actresses or self-advertising beauties in the windows, it will be worth while to make this very simple experiment : Let us gaze at the collection for one minute, and we shall find a main impression that is left on our mind is one of " parted lips and even teeth." No! we must "show Virtue her own feature, Scorn her own image, and the very age and body of Time his form and pressure." Retouching.—Excessive retouching has been the greatest enemy of the proper original presentation of the portrait. It is the source of the smoothness and insipidity of the pictures which we find on postcards, etc., and which are so displeasing to cultured persons. This artificial beauty is very .far removed from being equal to the beauty of a true portrait. . Beginners frequently say that they can only take as their models handsome women, pretty children, and other pleasing subjects to do credit to their skill. But a picture
may be made from any subject if it be properly and naturally treated, so that its very honest simplicity will cause a pleasing and a pleading impression of artistic truth.
Retouching should not be employed at all except to remedy defects in the negative itself. The so-called improvements made in the lines of the portrait destroy the likeness and lessen the artistic value of the whole. A portrait must be a likeness. " Not the exactness of the exterior," said Bonaparte to David, who was about to paint his por trait; "a pimple on the nose makes the likeness." One might add to this : An orchid and an eyeglass are to some a portrait of a great statesman (now, alas ! in ill health); and can I mention a big, a very big, collar without your at once thinking of " The Grand Old Man." The character and expression of the countenance must be depicted, per mitting a glimpse of the working of the soul within.
It is absurd to remove wrinkles. Just let us think for a moment. Let us bring back to our memory the grand old heads of Carlyle, Tennyson, Longfellow, Charles Kingsley, and that old pulpit warrior General Booth. The wrinkles on their faces are so many medals of honour—so many scars inflicted in their intellectual struggle and conquest—and each separate trace of time should be a mark of man's nobility. Each one of you will probably have some dear friend whose likeness you would wish to have near you when she herself has passed away. Do you want then to regard her as she was or as she was not ? Do you want to have removed from her dear visage that delicate tracery round the temples that reminds you of her kindly humour, or those marks of patient resignation round the sweet old lips ? I am sure you do not.