“I beg to thank you sincerely for your manly criticism
on my picture. The way in which you spoke of me is the way in which I like to
be spoken of, viz., with force both in praise and censure. Allow me to say that
no other eyes or brows would have done for my principal figure; dark eyes and
forcible brows gave him at once the look of a being liable to appetite and
passion. The great thing to give him was the look of power without the
appearance as if its exercise was an effort. I painted the head seven times,
and tried every variety of human feature; this
| 132 | AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. |
