Do Not Repeat Movements; Let the Face Show the Emotion
Precepts against repeated poses and on matching gesture to the passions
The precepts continue against monotony and toward expressive truth. A painter should not repeat the same movement of the arms or legs, whether within one figure or among neighbouring ones, unless the subject demands it, for unlike an orator's repeated words seen at different times, repeated gestures are all seen at once. Movements must suit the mental state ('accidents') of the figure: an angry figure's face must read only as anger, and likewise for gladness, melancholy, laughter, and weeping. Great emotions call for great movements and small emotions for small, and the same degree of feeling should not be expressed identically across men of different ages. The page is entirely text.
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Do not repeat the same movement across figures
The painter should not repeat the movements of arms or legs, neither within one figure nor among the neighbouring ones, unless the case demands it. An orator may repeat words only for emphasis, heard at different moments, but a painting's repeated gestures are all seen at the same time and so tire the eye.
Let the face declare the emotion truthfully
Make the movements of the figures fit their mental states: if a figure is feigned angry, the face must show nothing but anger, and likewise for gladness, melancholy, laughter, and weeping.
Scale the movement to the degree of feeling
Do not make great movements in small or minimal states of feeling, nor small movements in great ones. And one same degree of alteration should not be expressed by the motion of the limbs in the same way in men of different ages.
