poi

HOW great a share variety has in producing beauty
may be seen in the ornamental part of nature.
The shapes and colours of plants, flowers, leaves, the
paintings in butterflies wings, shells, &c. seem of little
other intended use, than that of entertaining the eye
with the pleasure of variety.
All the senses delight in it, and equally are averse to
sameness. The ear is as much offended with one even
continued note, as the eye is with being fix'd to a point,
or to the view of a dead wall.
Yet when the eye is glutted with a succession of va-
riety, it finds relief in a certain degree of sameness; and
even plain space becomes agreeable, and properly intro-
duced, and contrasted with variety, adds to it more
variety.

I mean

I mean here, and every where indeed, a composed
variety; for variety uncomposed, and without design,
is confusion and deformity.
Observe, that a gradual lessening is a kind of varying
that gives beauty. The pyramid diminishing from it
basis to its point, and the scroll or voluta, gradually
lessening to its center, are beautiful forms. So also ob-
jects that only seem to do so, though in fact they do
not, have equal beauty: thus perspective views, and
particularly those of buildings, are always pleasing to
the eye.
The little ship, between figure 87 and 88, suppos'd
moving along the shore even with the eye, might have
its top and bottom bounded two lines at equal dis-
tances all the way, as A; but if the ship puts out to
sea, these lines at top and bottom would seem to vary
and meet each other by degrees, as B, in the point C,
which is in the line where the sky and water meets,
call'd the horizon. Thus much of the manner of per-
spectives adding beauty, by seemingly varying other-
wise unvaried forms, I thought, might be acceptable
to those, who have not learnt perspective.