Since artistic imitations are intended to arouse emotions similar to those aroused by the objects imitated, Du Bos values what he calls vraisemblance (verisimilitude). Painters, for example, must “make a painting consistent with what we know of the customs, habits, architecture, and arms of the people that one intends to represent” (1.30). A work can, however, be vraisemblable without being an imitation of the real world and historical events. A work can be vraisemblable and yet be an example of