le brother's amusement, his lips parted in a smile, his
finger directing the baby where to look.

[Illustration: LADY COCKBURN AND HER CHILDREN]

The mother turns her face towards that of her eldest son, scanning it
closely.

The action in the picture is so delightfully natural that we do not at
first realize how difficult a problem is solved in the arrangement of
the four figures. An amateur photographer places his sitters in a
stiff row and directs them all to look towards a single point. The
master artist conceives of some action which shall engage the
attention of all, and form a natural connection between them. Thus, in
our picture, the interest of the game binds the figures together. The
baby lifts his face to that of the mother and brother; the mother
turns to the child at her right, and the latter looks down at the
baby, thus completing the circle.

The lines of the composition are also so disposed as to bring the
figures together in a close unity. Follow the outer edge of the figure
of James at the left; trace across the mother's lap the line made by
the border of her mantle, and continued along the baby's body. From
the mother's elbow move the pencil past the baby's head and along his
out-stretched arm till the line ends at the top of George's head, and
from this point carry a somewhat irregular line across to the head of
James. We have thus traced the parallelogram which incloses the group.

The centre of the group is somewhat at the left of the centre of the
canvas, and the picture would seem one-sided were it not for the
details of the background at the right. Here the painter has
represented a parapet supporting a marble pillar, at the base of
which a large macaw perches. Beyond is seen a beautiful landscape.
This spot of color brings the composition into perfect balance. More
than this, the view thus opened relieves the crowded effect of the
compact grouping. The surrounding space would not seem large enough
for the four figures were it not for this added depth of space, which
gives the eye a long distance to traverse.

The composition is as fine in color as it is in lines and masses. It
is a "splendid tawny color harmony, formed by the red of the curtain,
the warm flesh tints, the rich orange yellow of the outer robe of
satin bordered with white fur, and the gaudy plumage of the macaw".[8]

[Footnote 8: Claude Phillips.]

With so many great artistic qualities, it is no wonder that the
portrait