"There are, of course," he went on, "at the same time--that is to say,
among contemporaries--no two faces exactly alike. That is an axiom.
Strange as it may sound, among all the millions of countenances with two
eyes, a nose in the middle and a mouth below it, some difference exists
in each. That is, as I say, among contemporaries: in the world at this
moment in which I am speaking. But," he continued, warming to his
subject, for, as you will have already gathered, he was not one of the
taciturn brush-brotherhood, "after the lapse of years I see no reason
why nature should not begin precisely to reproduce physiognomies and so
save herself the trouble of for ever diversifying them. That being
so--and surely the hypothesis is not too far-fetched"--here his friend
said, "No, not at all--oh no!"--"why," the artist continued, "should
there not be at this moment, more than a century later, some one whose
resemblance to NELSON is exact? He would not be necessarily a naval
man--probably, indeed, not, for NELSON's face was not characteristic of
the sea--but whoever he was, even if he were an archbishop, I," said the
painter firmly, "should not hesitate to go up to him and ask him to sit
to me."
The friend agreed that this was a very proper attitude and that it
betokened true sincerity of purpose.
Pages:
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26