The belly, the flanks, and the secret parts are worthy of the
chest; the hips are large and rounded; the thighs, the legs, and
the arms are in just proportion. The breadth of the shoulders is
also in the most perfect relation to the dimensions of the other
parts of the body; the feet, of medium length, terminate in
beautifully arranged toes." (Houdoy reproduces this passage in
_La Beaute des Femmes_; cf. also Stratz, _Die Schoenheit des
Weiblichen Koerpers_, Chapter III.)
Gabriel de Minut, who published in 1587 a treatise of no very
great importance, _De la Beaute_, also wrote under the title of
_La Paulegraphie_ a very elaborate description, covering sixty
pages, of Paule de Viguier, a Gascon lady of good family and
virtuous life living at Toulouse. Minut was her devoted admirer
and addressed an affectionate poem to her just before his death.
She was seventy years of age when he wrote the elaborate account
of her beauty. She had blue eyes and fair hair, though belonging
to one of the darkest parts of France.
Ploss and Bartels (_Das Weib_, bd. 1, sec. 3) have independently
brought together a number of passages from the writers of many
countries describing their ideals of beauty.
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