"
The song was unsuccessful, but the Diary is, in a sense, the
very song that he was seeking; and his portrait by Hales, so
admirably reproduced in Mynors Bright's edition, is a
confirmation of the Diary. Hales, it would appear, had known
his business; and though he put his sitter to a deal of
trouble, almost breaking his neck "to have the portrait full
of shadows," and draping him in an Indian gown hired
expressly for the purpose, he was preoccupied about no merely
picturesque effects, but to portray the essence of the man.
Whether we read the picture by the Diary or the Diary by the
picture, we shall at least agree that Hales was among the
number of those who can "surprise the manners in the face."
Here we have a mouth pouting, moist with desires; eyes
greedy, protuberant, and yet apt for weeping too; a nose
great alike in character and dimensions; and altogether a
most fleshly, melting countenance. The face is attractive by
its promise of reciprocity. I have used the word GREEDY, but
the reader must not suppose that he can change it for that
closely kindred one of HUNGRY, for there is here no
aspiration, no waiting for better things, but an animal joy
in all that comes. It could never be the face of an artist;
it is the face of a VIVEUR - kindly, pleased and pleasing,
protected from excess and upheld in contentment by the
shifting versatility of his desires.
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