The text discusses the positioning of figures in art, emphasizing realism and elegance. It praises the Italian painter Masaccio for improving the depiction of figures by avoiding ungraceful poses and demonstrating the importance of subtle shifts in body posture for more natural representation. It also references diagrams to illustrate these points.
Position of Figures in
standing, or in a balanced movement of the limbs, cannot be realistically performed in life without achieving elegance or grace, nor is it particularly commendable in Painting.
The renowned Italian painter Masaccio was highly praised because he notably improved the degenerate state of Painting concerning the positioning of Figures. As it was common at the time due to general neglect, the posture of Figures with both feet firmly on the ground was clumsy and ungraceful, without the least willingness or effectiveness in their action. He taught to depart from such limp and graceless ways by slightly shifting one Hip, the loose play of either Leg, the gentle heel-lifting of a moderately retracted Foot, the ambiguous bending of one Knee, the turning of the Head's gaze either way, and similar, more understandable positioning. All these elements, which are so clearly illustrated in the preceding diagram labeled A, about the swaying of the Hips, the side of the lower Shoulder, and how the Head is turned differently from the Chest, or regarding the position of the right leg (notably shown here largely unburdened and slightly shifted backward), require no further explanation; Therefore, we shall proceed from this to the following Examples.
You then see again in this second Model marked with B, an appearance very similar to the previous stance; only with this distinction that this one
Translation Notes:
- "Stelling der Beelden": "Position of Figures"
- "Schilder-Konst": "Painting"
- "Beelden": "Figures"