Detail fromThe Birth of Venus by Cabanel, 1863 "Yes, my friend," the old man replied as he wakened from his trance, "you must have faith, faith in art, and you must live a long time with your work to produce a creation like this. Some of these shadows cost me a lot of hard work. Look there--on that cheek, under the eyes --that faint shadow which you'd swear was untrans- latable if you saw it in nature. Do you suppose an effect like that didn't cost me incredible difficulties to re- produce? But also, my dear Porbus, consider my work closely, and you'll understand something more of what I was telling you about the way I handle the modeling and the outlines. Look at the light on the breast and you'll see how, by a series of brushstrokes and by accents ap- plied with a full brush, I've managed to capture the truth of light and to combine it with the gleaming whiteness of the highlights, and how, by an opposite effort, by smooth- ing ...