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Show 170 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE. CHAPTER IX. ON THE M E T H O D OF RAISING A N D IMPROVING A SUBJECT. " II n'est point de serpent, ni de monstre odieux, Qui, part l'art imitS, ne puisse plaire aux yeux : D'un pinceau delicat l'artifice agreeable Duplus affreux objet fait unobjet aimable."-BOILEAU. THE composer of Ballets should imitate those sculptors of antiquity who, in order to conceal the disproportionate length of Pericles' head, always represented that great man in a helmet15. It the author possesses sufficient talent to ennoble an indifferent subject, it will be sure of producing a good effect. H o w much genius does it require to perfect and embellish certain productions of nature, and, at the same time, to cover the art by which such improvement is effected! That peculiar and genuine ease to be observed in the works of the great masters was not produced without unwearied application. Whatever is added or withdrawn from a model should be done with a cultivated taste and a profound knowledge of nature. T h e best designs are drawn from nature, who also suggests to us every means of improvement and embellishment. Raphael is a model both for authors and artists; he imitated nature with profound judgment, and ennobled whatever he imitated. His exalted taste rejected whatever was mean, trivial, or indecent; whatever, in short, might offend the sight or wound the feelings. H e imparted an air of novelty to the most ordinary subjects; and the simplest circumstance is rendered interesting by his pencil. T o him, |