Bassano Even Placed
Objects In The Immediate Vicinity Of The Supreme Feature
Whose Pretended Purpose Was To Divert Attention From
It yet
a little longer and thus delay and augment the surprise;
for instance, to the right of it he
Has placed a stooping
man with a cap so red that it is sure to hold the eye
for a moment - to the left of it, some six feet away,
he has placed a red-coated man on an inflated horse,
and that coat plucks your eye to that locality the next
moment - then, between the Trunk and the red horseman he
has intruded a man, naked to his waist, who is carrying
a fancy flour-sack on the middle of his back instead
of on his shoulder - this admirable feat interests you,
of course - keeps you at bay a little longer, like a sock
or a jacket thrown to the pursuing wolf - but at last,
in spite of all distractions and detentions, the eye
of even the most dull and heedless spectator is sure
to fall upon the World's Masterpiece, and in that
moment he totters to his chair or leans upon his guide
for support.
Descriptions of such a work as this must necessarily
be imperfect, yet they are of value. The top of the Trunk
is arched; the arch is a perfect half-circle, in the Roman
style of architecture, for in the then rapid decadence
of Greek art, the rising influence of Rome was already
beginning to be felt in the art of the Republic.
The Trunk is bound or bordered with leather all around
where the lid joins the main body.
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