The ordinary observer sees first the peculiarities of a thing.
If he is looking at an old gentleman he sees a fly sitting upon the
bald spot on his head, a wart on his nose, his collar pulled up behind.
But the trained and artistic observer sees the peculiarly perfect
outline of the old man's features and form, and in the tottering,
gait bent shoulders, and soiled senility a straight, handsome youth,
fastidious in his dress and perfect in his form. Such the old man
was once, and all the elements of his broken youth are clearly visible
under the hapless veneer of time for the one who has an eye to see.
This is but one illustration of many that might be offered.
A poor shop girl may have the bearing of a princess. Among New York
illustrators the typical model for a society girl is a young woman of
the most ordinary birth and breeding, misfortunes which are clearly
visible in her personal appearance. But she has the bearing, the air of
the social queen, and to the artist she is that alone. He does not see
the veneer of circumstances, though the real society girl would see
nothing else in her humble artistic rival.
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