Statuary

Simply on aesthetic grounds I can almost applaud the Victorians’ fig obsessed Bowdlerisation of Greek and Roman statuary.

He [Francis Bacon] lyeth interred in the Church of St. Michael at St. Albans in Hartfordſhire, and hath there a fair ſtatuary monument erected for him of white Marble at the coſt of Sir Thomas Meautis, his ancient ſervant, who was not neerer to him living then dead: […]

There is the lady’s own book, complete without a teacher—showing how the waist should be boddiced; the parasol handled; the statuary attitudes; the Parisian curtsy; the prettiest toss of the head, and swing of the train.

Characteristically, the photo series ends with the trainer having successfully contorted the boy’s body into a classical, statuary pose, even as the boy forces a pained smile for the camera.