What did William Hogarth mean by the line of beauty?

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The Painter and His Pug, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on canvas, 1745; in the Tate Gallery, London. — William Hogarth *The Painter and His Pug*, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on canvas, 1745; in the Tate Gallery, London.

William Hogarth defined the "line of beauty" as an S-shaped, sinuous line that served as his shorthand symbol for the variety, intricacy, and expressiveness found in nature.12

In his 1753 treatise, The Analysis of Beauty, Hogarth expanded on this concept, expressing his belief in the "beauty of a composed intricacy of form" that "leads the eye a kind of chace". He advocated for the use of this line—also known as "Hogarth's line"—to incorporate movement, irregularity, and exaggeration into art to achieve greater expressiveness. He famously featured this line on a palette in his 1745 self-portrait, signaling its importance as a fundamental element of his artistic philosophy.312