“Studying nature with passion, and all the independence
proper to his character, he could not fail to combine
precision with liberty, and truth with beauty. It is in this
final emancipation, this perfect mastery of modelling,
of illumination, and of expression, this breadth and
freedom, that the master’s raison d’être and glory consist.
Others may have struck out new paths also; but none
travelled further or mounted higher than he.”