The philosophy of beards : a lecture : physiological, artistic & historical / by T.S. Gowing.
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before they were of my age, I cannot forbear regarding them as so many old Patriarchs, and at the same time looking upon myself as an idle smock-faced young fellow. I love to see your Abrahams, your Isaacs, and your Jacobs, as we have them in the old pieces of tapestry, with Beards below their girdles that cover half the hangings." The knight added, " if T would recommend Beards in one of my papers, and endeavour to restore human faces to their ancient dignity, upon a month's warning he would under- take to lead up the fashion himself in a pair of whiskers." In reference to this last allusion it may be as well to state, that the word whisker is frequently used by earlier authors to denote the moustache, and that in Addison's time, a mass of false hair was worn, and the head and face close shaven. To shew that it is the Beard alone that causes the sen- sation we have alluded to, look at two drawings on exactly the same original outline, of a Greek head of Jupiter, the one with, the other without the Beard! What say you? Is not the experiment a sort of " occular demonstration " in favor of nature, and a justification of art and artists ? See how the forehead of the bearded one rises like a well- supported dome—what depth the eyes acquire—how firm the features become—how the muscular angularity is modi- fied—into what free flowing lines the lower part of the oval is resolved, tind what gravity the increased length given to the face imparts.