A portrait type that appeared with relentless frequency in eighteenth-century England is the familiar image of a gentleman poised with one hand inside his partially unbuttoned waistcoat. Standard interpretations of this portrait posture offer observations of correspondence—demonstrating either that it mirrors actual social behavior or that it borrows from classical statuary. Such explanations, however, illuminate neither the source of this curious convention nor the reason for its popularity. It is true that in real life the "hand-in" was a common stance for elite men. Still, there were other ways of comporting the body that did not become winning portrait formulas. And even if the "hand-in' portrait does resemble certain classical statues, what accounts for the adoption of this particular pose?

Which of the following might provide an explanation for the popularity of hand-in portraits that would satisfy the author of the passage?

❑ An eighteenth-century English etiquette manual discussing the social implications of the "hand-in" stance
❑ A comprehensive catalog of eighteenth-century English portraits that showed what proportion of portraits depicted gentlemen in the "hand-in" stance
❑ A passage from an eighteenth-century English novel in which a gentleman considers what stance to adopt when his portrait is painted



In the context of the passage as a whole, the primary function of the sentence ("It is . . . men") is to

A. emphasize the influence of a particular social class on the conventions of eighteenth-century English portraiture
B. account for the origin of a particular type of behavior frequently represented in eighteenth-century English portraiture
C. acknowledge a historical basis for two competing hypotheses about a particular portrait type
D. question the relevance of certain evidence frequently cited in support of an explanation for a particular portrait type
E. concede that one explanation for the prevalence of a particular portrait type has a basis in fact