the art of painting in oil and in fresco being a history mérimée jfl 1757 1836

7/28/2019 The art of painting in oil and in fresco being a history Mrime JFL 1757 1836.

1/428


2/428

\^ CENT^^ ^

4fl^y'lL f^f'Mc-^ "Tu cnrxî-/îc^ c-v^^ p^^î-v^ /A- y/Wr

AS


3/428


4/428


5/428

fk. T9Y hMm k-^w-^


6/428

fr


7/428

THE ART OF

PAINTING IN OIL,AND IN

FRESCO:BEING A

HISTORY OF THE VARIOUS PROCESSES AND MATERIALS EMPLOYED,FROM ITS DISCOVERY, BY HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK,

TO THE PRESENT TIME:

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH TREATISE OFM. J. F. L. MERIMEE,

SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, IN PARIS.

WITHORIGINAL OBSERVATIONS

ON THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF BRITISH ART, THE FRENCH AND ENGLISHCHROMATIC SCALES, AND THEORIES OF COLOURING,

By W. B. SARSFIELD TAYLOR,SENIOR CURATOR OF THE LIVING MODEL ACADEMY, &C. &C.

LONDON:WHITTAKER & Co. AVE MARIA LANE.

1839.


8/428

iSoo'6 S3

LONDONGILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,ST. John's square.


9/428

TO

THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS

THE ROYAL ACADEMY

Mr. President and Gentlemen,The time has at length arrived which I so muchdesired, and I have now the honour to lay beforeyou, the translation of M. Merimee's History of OilPainting, &c.The duty of translating that valuable work on

art, it is not very probable I should have under-taken, but for the friendly advice which I receivedfrom several distinguished members of the Academy,and eventually for the kind permission which you

a2


10/428

IV DEDICATION.

granted me, to dedicate this work to your RoyalInstitution.

This circumstance determined me to undertakethe task, for it convinced me that a work on artmust possess no small degree of intrinsic merit,with which the Royal Academy would allow itsname to be connected.

Inspired by these considerations, I have given mybest attention to this work, and have taken everymethod that my experience could devise to renderit as useful in its new language as it is calculatedto be in its original tongue. I have neglected noopportunity of consulting members of this Academyon technical points of consequence in the languageof art ; and I have the satisfaction to say, that Ihave uniformly experienced the greatest attentionto my inquiries, and every good feeling for the pro-motion of the object in view.

Having done all that was in my power to ren-der the translation correct, I have added a rapid,but correct outline of the rise and progress ofBritish art, which I trust will not be withoutts use upon the public mind, together with ob-


11/428

DEDICATION. Vservations on the methods and materials generallyemployed in the English school, and the Englishtheory of colouring exemplified by a chromaticscale. In doing this, 1 was actuated by that loveof art which is natural to me, to give a clear viewof its true position,at the same time pointing outto whom, and to what circumstances it owes itspresent condition.

Permit me now, Mr. President and Gentlemen ofthe Royal Academy, to offer you my best thanksfor the kindly feeling with which you first excitedmy attention to this work, and which has continuedsteadily to its completion.

With feelings of the highest respect, I am,Mr. President and Gentlemen,

Your most obliged and obedient servant,W. B. Sarsfield Taylor.

a3


12/428


13/428

REPORTINSTITUTE OF FRANCE.

The following pages, by way of preface, are ex-tracts from the report made to the Academy ofFine Arts in Paris, by M. Quatremere de Quincy,the Chairman of the Commission selected by thelloyal Institute of France, to examine the manu-script work of M. Merimee, on this very importantsubject, and to report thereon. They will be foundvery satisfactory, coming as they do from men ofscience and learning, who were eminently qualifiedto give a just decision upon the merits of any lite-raiy or scientific production.

THE REPORT." The Commission whom you have selected to

examine the manuscript work of M. Merimee, en-A 4


14/428

VIU EEPORT OF THEtitled, ' On Painting in Oil, being an account of thevarious methods and materials made use of by theprofessors of that art, from the time of Hubert andJohn Van Eyck, down to the present day,"havethe honour to present to you the result of theirobservations and their opinions upon this work.

" The precepts which the author has collected,extended, and developed, with the judicious advicehe has offered, are not so much intended to teachthis art, as to lay before the artist, the proper mate-rials for painting, and how to make pictures durable.A principal object has been to collect and carefullydescribe the numerous processes used in oil paint-ing, from its earliest appearance to our own time.

*' The result of this investigation shows that theolder masters of the Venetian and Flemish schools,did not paint as modems do, with pm*e oils, butthat they tempered their colours with varnishes; towhich must be attributed the state of preservationin which we find their pictures.

" M. Merimee describes the modes of preparingthe different varnishes that are proper to mix withthe colours, and also those which are to be usedover the picture when finished. He also communi-cates the most exact ideas upon the colouring sub-stances, their preparation, solidity or durableness,


15/428

INSTITUTE or FRANCE. IXtheir action, and influence upon each other whencombined, the changes from the effects of Hght andair, to which they are hable, and hkewise from theoily substances with which they may be united.He also points out the precautions to be taken forpermanently preserving pictures, and the means bywhich they can be repaired when injured by time.He finishes his work by a theory of colouring, onthe principles of natural harmony,

" The author commences his first chapter bysetting it down as an incontrovertible fact, thatthe brothers Van Eycli were the inventors of paint-ing in oil ; and refutes the assertions of Theophilusand Cennino Cennini on that question.

" He strongly points out the remarkable fact, thatthe pictures painted in oil, both in Germany andItaly, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are ina better state of preservation, than the major pai-t ofthe works which were painted at a much laterperiod ; and particularly those painted in the lastcentury. Hence he is of opinion that the processemployed in the earlier times of this art has beengreatly altered in its descent to us ; and that eventhe traditionary accounts of this method are veryerroneous.

" The great object of the author appears to be,a5


16/428

X REPORT OF THEthat of bringing to light the primitive processes ofpainting; for this purpose he has consulted theearlier works on this art, and has examined withthe greatest care, many of those pictures whichhave most successfully resisted the effects of timeand exposure ; and he is decidedly of opinion, thatthese works owe their preservation to particularmodes of combining, in a liquid state, resinous sub-stances ; by the use of which the colours weredefended from the action of causes that have in-jured or destroyed pictures of much more moderndates.

" From the commencement of the art, long beforethe discovery of painting in oil, the employment ofvarnish for the preservation of pictures from theaction of the air was well understood ; yet it isworthy of remark, that not one of the authors whowrote upon this subject at that time, mentions aword of varnish being incorporated with the co-lours, except Armenini, who, in 1587, advised themixing of resinous substances with the oils in thecolouring materials, and even in the preparation ofthe ground.

" M, Merimee has closely examined, and analysedwith great care, paintings of the earliest dates,and has consulted many of the ablest restorers of


17/428

INSTITUTE OF FRAXCE. XI

pictures ; and hence he is strongly of opinion, fromthe hardness of the ground, and the brightness ofthepictures, that the colours have not only been incor-porated with oil, but also with varnishes, even ofthat sort called ' hard varnish."' With respectto later works, almost all the pictures from thecommencement of the sixteenth century are, as allthose of the preceding one, painted on a whiteground composed of chalk and size, primed with acouch of drying oil : the artists began their work withtransparent colours ; and when they had completedin this way their design and general effect of ckiaro''scuro, they completed their work with lighter tints,applied with a full pencil, which gave greaterrelief and consistence to the picture. This wasthe method pursued by the brothers Van Eyck, P.Perugino. L. de Vinci, Raffael, and Fra Bartolomeo.

" Another method was practised by Titian andCorreggio. They used to lay in the first paintingswith size, and to use only resinous liquids andtransparent colours in finishing the picture. It isa very remarkable circumstance that the greatest ofthe colourists have employed these two opposite me-thods, and yet they have produced similar results.

" ]\I. Merimee is of opinion that the quantity ofglazing observable in the works of the Venetian

A 6


18/428

XU REPORT OF THEand Flemish masters is a proof of the employmentof varnish in their colours ; but he adds, that weshould be well aware of the great disadvantageswhich are the results of excessive glazing, or ofits being unskilfully done ; for we see pictureswhich appear of a brilliant character when fresh,that in a little time change and become of a dulland darker tone. And it is not a little worthy ofobservation, that the pictures of Titian, Paul Ve-ronese, and Rubens, which are in the best state ofpreservation, are those which they painted upondistemper grounds.

" After having given a general review of the mostcelebrated artists of the schools of Italy and Flan-ders, M. Merimee comes to the French school,which he dates only from the time of Simon Vouetto whose influential example he attributes the smalladvances that the French school has obtained in theart of colouring. If, by this, it is to be understoodthat Vouet had the first school, there is proof that anumber of very clever pupils were formed under him.It must be admitted, on the other hand also, thatbefore his time France had some very clever artists,without reckoning those who settled there fromItaly. If the school of Vouet did not producegreat colourists, there would, perhaps, be some


19/428

INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. XIUdegree of severity in extending the effect of such apretended cause to all the succeeding painters inFrance ; amongst whom are some to whom no onewill deny the title of good colourists.

" M. Merimee beUeves that he has traced thedeterioration of our pictures to have followed as aninevitable consequence of the decay of our school.And adds, that as, since this school has becomeregenerated, the painters have proved themselvesmore careful, the colourmen more conscientious andbetter instructed ; we ought, therefore, to indulgethe hope that scientific knowledge, coming to theassistance of art, will bestow upon our pictures amore durable character.

" The second chapter treats of the nature andproperties of the substances used in these compo-sitions ; and after some inquiries into the natureof the ' Atramentum,"' or varnish of Apelles, theauthor takes a general view of the resinous andbituminous substances of which varnishes are com-posed, and also points out the different sorts of oilemployed in painting ; but it is in the preparationof the varnishes that we find a great number ofnew and valuable ideas, for the discovery of whichwe are indebted to the author.

" The fourth chapter, which in itself forms a con-12


20/428

XIV REPORT OF THEsiderable part of the work, relates to the prepara-tion of colours, and belongs properly to what maybe termed the chemistry of painting ; and we canbear ample testimony to the extensive and accu-rate knowledge of M. Merimee, who it is evidenthas selected with judgment from amongst a heapof preparations and receipts, those which he foundapproach nearest to the simplicity of nature. Forit is a remarkable fact, that the most permanentclass of colours, are those which have been theslowest of creation in nature's laboratory.

" The fifth chapter treats of the preparations ofthe grounds for panels, cloths, and walls. This is oneof the most useful parts ; and the methods pointedout by the author, all tend to the preservation ofthe colours, and the durability of the pictures.

" The sixth chapter treats of the best method ofpreserving pictures, and describes the various in-jurious modes in use, for the purpose of givingthem as it is pretended a new existence.

" The seventh chapter is entitled ' a theory ofcolours, as applied to the harmony of colouring.'After having clearly established this theory, whichis founded upon the natural properties of colours,the author proceeds to develop the principles ofharmony as applicable to painting, and in so


21/428

INSTITUTE OF FRAXCE. XVdoing he places them upon their natural relationsto each other. This part is not capable of analy-zation, and detached extracts would only convey tothe mind ideas of it that must be very imperfect.

" To these the author has added a chapter onfresco, which, though not mentioned in the title ofthe work, is yet one of great usefulness ; whetherwe regard it in reference to the employment ofthis process of late years, or as to its great im-portance during several ages, concurrently withthe art of painting in oil.

" Entrusted with the duty of rendering a faithfulaccount of this work, the Commission are ofopinion, that they have carefully pointed out thegreat utility and advantages, that must result tothe art of painting from its publication.

" The Academy approves of the opinions con-tained in the report, and have directed that a copyof it be laid before the Minister of the HomeDepartment."

(Signed,) Quatremebe de Quincy,(Permanent ) Secretary to the Institute of France.


22/428

THEAUTHOR'S PREFACE.

The pictures of Hubert and John Van Eyck, withothers of the same period, but by different artists,are now in a better state of preservation than thegreater number of those painted in the last cen-tury : the processes used in their execution, havingonly been transmitted down by tradition, have not,it is very probable, reached our time perfectlypure ; and it is reasonable to suppose that thosepictures, that even now surprise us by their bril-liancy after a lapse of three centuries, have notbeen painted with the same combination of mate-rials, as those which we see evidently impaired,though not painted one-fourth part of that period.

If it were possible to discover a manuscript ofVan Eyck upon the preparation and applicationof colours, there can be no doubt that the an-


23/428

THE AUTHOR S PREFACE. XVllnouncement of it would create a considerabledegree of eagerness to possess such a treasure,especially amongst those who cultivate the art ofpainting : this hypothesis does not appear likelyto be realized ; but might we not gain the sameobject if we should be fortunate enough to discoverthose primitive processes, and modes of painting,by consulting carefully the earlier treatises onthat art, and by an attentive examination ofthose ancient paintings, which have best resistedthe numerous causes of decay to which such worksare liable ?

It appeared to me quite possible that this objectcould be attained, and I therefore determined toundertake those researches of which this essay isthe result. If I have not performed all that Iwished, or that may be achieved ; still it will beadmitted that a commencement has been made,and that 1 have traced out a way in which othersmay succeed with greater chances of success.When a pupil of the French school has attained

that degree of experience, which gives him a fairchance of gaining the first prize in the class ofpainting, there can be no doubt of his capabilityto make a copy from any picture of his master.Let him then be directed to copy a first-rate pic-ture of the Flemish or Venetian schools, and I am


24/428

XVIU THE AUTHOR S PREFACE.quite sure he will encounter difficulties which hewill be unable to surmount, should he not havebeen made acquainted with the process used bythe colourist whom he wishes to imitate; but ifthese processes have been shown to him, and if hehave been taught the process for increasing the bril-liancy and transparency of his colour, and how topreserve those fine qualities, or to recover them afterhe may have lost them ; a practical knowledge ofthose methods may soon be acquired by a youngpainter, whose eye and hand have already attainedto a high degree of correctness and facility ; withsuch instruction he may then set about to copy apicture of Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, and Van-dyke, without experiencing any greater difficulties,than he would find in copying a work of his ownmaster.

Every painter, in the course of his studies, feelsin a gi'eater or less degree, desirous of knowingthe nature and fitness of the colours he employs,and there are few books that can give him muchsatisfaction in these respects ; and the Encyclo-pedie^ a work which ought to be the most re-plete with instruction, is that which contains thegreatest number of errors.

Watin''s book, published in 1772, contains muchinstruction ; this work, which, considering the time


25/428

THE AUTHOR S PREFACE. XIXit was written, has a good deal of merit, has hada great circulation, and has gone through severaleditions; and as nothing better appeared, it wasreprinted a few years ago.M. Tingry, a Genevese professor of chemistry,

has wTitten a work in two volumes on the samesubject, published in 1803. The author was toowell informed to confine himself \vithin the limitswhich would have been sufficient for a mere work-man ; he undertook with the aid of his own branchof science, to explain the theory also : this workwould have been the best that could have beenproduced at that time, if he had united to the in-formation he possessed, that knowledge whichpractice only can bestow. If instead of enlarginghis book, by borrowing from others what appearedto agree with his own theoiy, he had confined him-self to describing the experiments which he hadmade and repeated, his book would have possessedhigher value. But at all times, the work of Tingryupon the preparation and use of colours and var-nishes, is one of those that may be consulted withthe greatest advantage. The two works just cited,are only intended for decorative painting, but thereare two others, composed particularly for artiststhe first was published at Rome, in 1813, by M.Marcucci, who had studied painting early in life,


26/428

XX THE AUTHOR S PREFACE.when, being compelled by circumstances to takea situation in pharmacy, he preserved in thissituation his first affection for art ; and to consolehimself for his disappointment, he collected all thathe could in chemistry, of what he conceived wouldbe useful to, or likely to promote, the advancementof the art.The work of M. Marcucci is divided into two

principal parts ; the first contains the methods ofpreparing the different materials used in painting ;the other treats of the various methods used in theschools of Florence, Venice, and Flanders, in theirmost flourishing times. To these are added, thenotes of a celebrated restorer of pictures at Rome.

Originally led away by the title of the work,I had intended to have translated it, and to havemade additions to it where necessary, but I gave itup, as I found it would be requisite to recast thewhole of the first part ; yet being the work of oneacquainted with chemistry, it should have pos-sessed more useful instruction.

Doubtless the author has not thought it requisiteto bestow all the care upon it of which he wascapable. He contented himself with choosing,among divers works, the processes which he thoughtmost likely to succeed, but without trying themhimself, as he ought to have done. He may have


27/428

THE AUTHOR S PREFACE. XXIsupposed, that in large cities, where great paintersreside, their wants are easily supplied by commerce :this may be true so far ; but it happens some-times that an eminent painter may reside unavoid-ably in a place where such resources are not to befound ; would it not then be of importance that heshould have the power of preparing or directing thepreparation of whatever his works may require ?The second part of the work is the best : it con-

tains observations that are highly interesting, uponthe operations of the old masters. M. Marcuccirightly judged that it would be most proper to con-sult on this subject a person of great knowledge inthe art of restoring pictures. In fact, it is by theprocess of restoring, that discoveries are made ofthe various methods of the schools, as well as theparticular met hod of each master.The second work is that of M. Bouvier, himselfa painter, and member of the Society of Arts atGeneva. He published it three years since, underthe title of " Manual for Young Artists and Ama-teurs in Painting.""

In this work, which is the fruit of long expe-rience, the author does not treat of the nature ofcolours and their preparation, but merely the effectsthat are produced in the employment of them.

In treating of the practical method to be used in


28/428

XXU THE AUTHOR S PREFACE.

the various stages of painting, he goes into detailsthat would appear superfluous to those who, beingplaced under the instructions of a skilfiil master,are therefore acquainted with the various means andresources of art ; but it is chiefly arranged for theuse of persons living at a distance from large cities,in which are to be found the best methods of instruc-tion, and every material necessary in the exercise ofthe art. Even persons who enjoy situations themost favom-able for their instruction, will find inthe Manual of M. Bouvier some things of whichthey were ignorant, and the knowledge of whichwill be of advantage, relating to the effects of cer-tain colours, and the precautions requisite to betaken in their preparation and emplojinent.The artists for a long period either prepared the

colours themselves, or else had them prepared undertheir immediate inspection, as well as the oils andvarnishes which they used. This was the businessof the pupils at the commencement of their agree-ment, so that, before they began to handle thepencil, they had acquired a knowledge of all thatwas most proper to give pictures durability. Inafter times this became changed, and the prepara-tion of the materials became exclusively the busi-ness of traders, who had a stronger feeling towardstheir own immediate profit, than any regard to the


29/428

THE AUTHOR S PREFACE. XXlll

preservation of pictures. The artists then, nolonger learning the nature of their colours, were in-competent to detect fraud, or distinguish the goodfrom the inferior sort, and therefore used such ascame to their hand, and even some preferred thosewhich were sold at the lowest prices.To such causes may be ascribed the rapid change

that has taken place in the greater part of the pic-tures of the last century ; but as it happened inthat time that our (the French) school had reachedthe lowest point in its decline, this would not be asubject of regret to the admirers of art, if the worksof Boucher and some other able men had not ap-peared at the close of that age.

In proportion as the school has regenerated itself,the artists have become more careful ; and thebusiness of preparing colours has become verylucrative : the number of establishments has in-creased, and some of the proprietors have a know-ledge of chemistry, and those who are not acquaintedwith that science are so convinced of the advantagesit bestows, that they educate in it those of theirchildren who are to succeed them in their businessso that in the next generation there will not be acolour-maker of respectability, who shall not possessa knowledge of chemistry equal to those who pre-pare our medicine.


30/428

XXIV THE AUTHOR S PREFACE.

The principal object of this essay being to showthe various methods of painting in oil which havebeen in use from the time of Van Eyck, downto these days, a full description of what has thusbeen collected should form the commencementof the work ; and from these researches I havearrived at this conclusion, namely, that the mostancient painters of the Venetian and Flemishschools did not paint, as we do, with pure oils, butthat they tempered their colour also with varnish,and to this is to be attributed the great preserva-tion of their pictures.

I intend, then, to describe the methods of prepar-ing different kinds of varnish, either for mixingwith colours, or merely for covering pictures whenfinished, to give clearness and brightness to thework, as well as to defend it against the action ofsuch substances as would injure the colours.

In like manner, I intend to lay before the readerthe most correct information that I have been ableto obtain relative to the colours used by thepainters ; the preparation and soUdity of thesecolours ; their action upon each other when mixedtogether in various degrees; the alterations towhich they are liable from the action of light andair, as well as from the oily substances with whichthey are combined.


31/428

THE AUTHOR S PREFACE. XXV

Finally, I shall point out the precautions thatshould be taken for the preservation of pictures, aswell as the means to be employed in repairing theinjuries to which they are liable.

It would perhaps be expected, that having de-scribed the processes of the ancient painters, Ishould point out those to which I would give thepreference, but this is not a part of my duty. Themodes of operation depend very much upon thegreater or less degree of facility which the artistmay possess : Rembrandt was obliged to return tohis work repeatedly ; he had not the power ofpainting it all up at once like Rubens : thereforeeach must choose that method of operating whichis most convenient and agreeable to himself. Iam bound to give an account of what has beendone, but not to lay down rules for the guidanceof others. I was of opinion all along, that atthe close of a work the special object of whichrelates to the preparation and use of colours, Ishould be enabled to explain the theory of coloursas applicable to the harmony of colouring. With-out an harmonious arrangement, brightness andtransparency of colour cannot produce an agreeablecombination to the eye. This most interesting partof painting, has hitherto been treated in a manneraltogether empirical. I conceive that the only


32/428

XXVI THE AUTHOR S PREFACE,

way by which its principles can be comprehended, isto found them upon the natural laws of colours.Many persons who had been apprised of the work

I had in progress, having requested me to add to itsome instructions infresco paintinp^lat first declinedto do so, on the ground that I was not sufficientlyacquainted with it practically : but afterwards, upona careful examination of the ancient frescos, andhaving attentively consulted the best works whichdescribe the processes, I found out the chief causewhy the frescos of later times have more the ap-pearance of distemper painting, than resemblanceto the fine frescos of older times ; consequently,I have determined to devote a few pages to thatspecies of painting, hoping that they will not bewithout utility in the arts.^

' It was not until the moment when I had made my prepara-tions for printing this essay, that I was told of the work whichM, P. de Montahert was about to publish ; but my occupationsdid not allow me sufficient leisure to read the whole of thatTraite complet de la Peinture. I have only been able to take acursory view of those parts which relate to subjects of which Ihave specially treated ; and I have experienced great satisfactionin finding that we have adopted similar views on points of thefirst importance. M. de Montahert is of the same opinion withme, namely, that the preservation of the pictures by Van Eyck, andothers who followed his method, is owing to the employment ofvarnish in the painting ; and we also agree in thinking that " har-mony" ought to have for its foundation the natural laws ofcolouring.I consider this opinion as important in aid of mine, coming asit does from an artist who has so deeply examined into everyprinciple of his art.


33/428

INTRODUCTION.

The translation of M. Merimee's " History of OilPainting," which I have now the honour to lay be-fore the British public, was originally suggested tome by some very distinguished artists, members ofthe Royal Academy \ These gentlemen were them-selves well acquainted with that treatise, and de-scribed it to be, as a practical work, of great vahu^in the arts. The partiality which this account of thebook excited in me was further corroborated bythe President, and several other members of theAcademy, who had the volume in their possession.Finally, having determined to undertake the trans-lation of it, I applied to the Royal Academy fortheir sanction ; and I received permission fromthese gentlemen to dedicate it to them in their

' Sir Augustus Wall Callcott, Sir David Wilkie, Mr. Etty, Mr.Mulready, Mr. Hilton, Mr. Phillips, and Mr. Cooper.

a 2


34/428

XXVm INTRODUCTION.public and collective capacity. Having obtained theopinion and sanction of such competent judges ofits merits, I no longer hesitated to commence thetranslation of the work ; which, after many inter-ruptions from other engagements, I have at lengthcompleted.Had that work been originally my own, I wouldnot have said much about it ; but as it is the workof another, I may be permitted to state in commen-dation of it, that it has, in its original language,received the approbation of one of the most learnedand scientific societies in Europe,I mean theRoyal Institute of France ; and to the Report ofthe committee of that learned body, I beg leave torefer my readers.

That M. Merimee, therefore, was fully compe-tent to produce, and has produced, a work highlyuseful to the arts, there cannot now be any doubtand to have done this, it required that he shouldpossess, not only considerable skill and experienceas a painter, and accurate historical knowledge, butalso extensive experience as a practical chemist.These various qualities M. Merimee possessed inan eminent degree ; and therefore he was peculiarlywell qualified for the difficult task which he hadundertaken.


35/428

INTRODCCTION. XXIX

Independently of the instructions conveyed topainters, his advice will be found, we think, emi-nently useful to those noblemen and gentlemenwho, having valuable collections of pictures, willthus be enabled to superintend the restoration ofthem ; or at least the possessors of these fineworks will be placed more on their guard againstthe practices of ignorant picture-cleaners, who doso much mischief to the noblest works of art.

Against the artifices of the inferior sort of co-lourmen, he also gives some excellent advice, andshows us that a great number of good pictureshave suffered nmcli, others have been ruined, bythe employment of materials made up in a fraudu-lent manner.

The receipts for manufacturing the colours, oils,and varnishes, of the purest and best kinds, at amoderate expense, will be found very valuable, not toartists and amateurs only, but also to the colounnen.

That section describing the proper methods ofpreparing panels, canvases, and walls, is, perhaps,amongst the most valuable in the whole work, asevery artist knows that the preservation or destruc-tion of his colouring depends mainly upon the pre-paration upon which the materials are laid.

The chapter on colouring, and on the harmonya 3


36/428

XXX INTRODUCTION.

of colours, is one of very high interest to colourists*It lays down the principles of harmony, and explainsthe causes of discords in painting, with accuracy sofar as those principles are known amongst Frenchai'tists. With us these are not new, but arecorroborative of the principles deduced long sincein this country, from the experiments of Newtonon light, which gave rise to the first chromaticscale, as applicable to painting ; which scale wascomposed by Moses Hairis, in 1776, as our readerswill see in the " Original Observations,"" at theclose of this work : so that we had the precedencein that respect by above fifty-four years, and yet itis curious that Harris''s chromatic scale, which waspublished at the time specified, in his " NaturalSystem of Colours,"" seems to have been very littleknown in London, the very place where he pub-lished it ; and it was almost forgotten, until Mr.Phillips, R.A., introduced it in his course oflectures at the Royal Academy, about twelveyears ago. The reasons given in explanation ofwhat are the causes of harmony in colouring aremore profound and philosophic in the work of Mr.Harris than in that of M. Merimee, although theirgeneral principles agree.The information on " Frescos"'"' is altogether new


37/428

INTRODUCTION. XXXI

in this country, and is likely to prove an acquisitionto our artists in time, if the nobility and men offortune, or the directors of public works, demandthat it shall be can-ied into operation. It is asplendid art, when properly executed in suitablesituations ; and in this climate it would have a veryfine effect, if employed for interior decoration.With respect to the " Original Observations,"'^

at the close of the volume, they arose in theAuthor's mind long since, in consequence of thescarcity of sound information, which still exists inEnglish society, with respect to a general and cor-rect view of the rise, progress, and condition ofthe arts in England.An historical sketch is therefore submitted to the

public in a chronological form, as the best calculatedto give a clear and consecutive view of the wholequestion of the arts, from the earliest records inEngland. It will thus be seen at a glance, thatthe art of painting has not been decidedly natu-ralized in this country for a longer period thanseventy or eighty years ; we shall then find thatthe honours and profits of this profession were, witha very few exceptions, exclusively in the hands offoreigners, the greater j)ai't of whom returnedhome when they had realized some property, and


38/428

XXXll INTUODUCTION.

then sent over other parties to supply the deniaiulfor pictures ; but no attempt had been made toestabhsh a school to instruct the natives, nor werethe latter properly encouraged, even when some ofthem did display good talents.

It is therefore quite evident, that om* nativeschool of arts did not commence until the time ofHogarth, Hudson, and Reynolds, but it was notproperly established until the chartered society ofnative artists commenced their living model schoolin St. Martin's Lane, 1760 ; and it only becamepermanent when the Royal Academy was embodiedby George HI., in 1768, (seventy years;) andduring that brief period we should think it wouldbe difficult, if not quite impossible, to point outany school of painting which has advanced morerapidly in improvement ; we should also recol-lect, that whatever encouragement our school mayhave received, is from the private funds of thenobility and gentry of this country, and not atall, as in the continental schools, from the Statetreasur\% as a remuneration for great works ex-ecuted for the public edifices. Besides, it should berecollected, that the schools of Italy were full twoJiundred years (1260 to 1480) in activity, beforethey displayed works much above mediocrity, though


39/428

INTRODUCTION. XXXlll

assisted by every sort of encouragement, publicand private, and that the highest honours were atthat time conferred upon the professors of the arts.The northern schools of Europe were still slower

in arriving at the power of producing such splendidworks, as Rubens, Vandyke, and Rembrandt haveleft us. It is clear, therefore, that the cases ofthose schools, and of ours, are not at all parallelthey are by no means analogous to each other ; andtherefore the reasoning applicable to one class can-not have the slightest application to the other.And it was from the erroneous idea, that thesecases were parallel, that false reasoning was appliedto them, and consequently the most erroneousopinions were held, and injurious reflections werefreely thrown, not only upon the British School ofArt, but even upon the intellectual capabilities ofthe nation.^The object of the writer of this essay being solely

to lay before the British public a plain historicsketch, supported by a few strong facts, to showthe state of neglect with which the English artists

^ Banks and Flaxnian have shown what British talent can doin sculpture ; so Iiave Rossi and many others now no more. Andwe have at present some of the ablest sculptors in Europe, native-bred artists.


40/428

XXXIV INTRODUCTION.

had contended so long in their native land, andthereby to disabuse the general mind, of thedistorted and erroneous notions which still floatindistinctly through society on that subject, to thedetriment of native talent, he now feels himselfcalled on to state, that his arguments have no-thing whatever to do with the foreign artists ofthe present time. The facts regarding those ofprevious ages ai-e stated merely to prove that therewas a bad and unnatural system pursued generallyby the English governments of those days, for whichthe foreign artists were not accountable ; and toshow that, whilst every other govermnent in Europewas justly emulous to elicit the native talents oftheir people, our monarchs and statesmen, with theexceptions stated, were acting directly contrary tothose rational purposes.At present, however, these matters are greatly

altered for the better : there is evidently a gooddeal of encouragement for pictures, and other worksof art, not, to be sure, of the highest class of art ;but in the classes that are encouraged there is, ingeneral, much, very often high, talent displayed :and if our school may have got the character ofbeing more of the ornamental, than of the his-toric, or epic style, this may well be accounted for,


41/428

INTRODFCTION. XXXV

when we see how very small the encouragement isfor works of the higher classes of poetic or historicart.

In Queen Anne's reign there were three goodnative artists,the two Olivers and Cooper ; inQueen Victoria's reign there are most probablythree thousand artists, most of whom can paint wellmany of them are men of very superior talentthis must prove, that so soon as the incubus ofneglect or contempt was removed from the nativearts, these intellectual pursuits soon sprang intoa vigorous existence.

The chapter on colouring, with the chromaticscale, was quite indispensable to show oui* priorclaim to the discovery of the diagi-am, which soclearly points out the inseparable connexion betweenthe prismatic colours of the divided rays of light,and the harmony of colouring as applied to pictures.

In concluding this introduction to the work, theauthor cannot omit the opportunity of gratefullyacknowledging the kind attention of those membersof the Royal Academy, and of the profession gene-rally, who have encouraged him in this somewhatarduous task, which, from its scientific and techni-cal character, required repeated revision. In com-mitting the result of his labours to the public, he

8


42/428

XXXVl INTRODUCTION.

trusts it will be found that the work has beenexecuted with fidelity.

In performing the duty of an historian, he hasselected his facts from the most authentic materialsand having no other object in view but the substi-tution of just ideas for those obscure and erroneousnotionswhich still exist amongst us, to the prejudiceof our School of Arts, he cannot suppose he hasgiven cause for any ungracious reflections ; but inthe pursuit of truth he would not think of avertingthe unjust sentence of the illiberal, or of conci-liating favour at the expense of justice.


43/428

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.PAGE.

An Inquiry into the various methods employed in Oil Paint-ing, from the days of Hubert and John Van Eyck to thepresent time ; with original observations, &c I

CHAPTER II.On varnishes 4)

SECTION I.Of the different substances which enter into the composition

of the varnishes 45

THE BITUMENS.Asphaltum, or Bitumen 40Amber ;//.

b


44/428

XXXVni CONTENTS.

THE RESINOUS SUBSTANCES.PAGE.Gum animee 48Gum copal ih.Gum lac 50Gum mastic 51Gum sandarach ib.

THE OILS.Fixed or solid oils 52Linseed oil 53Nut oil 54Poppy oil ib.Method of preparing drying oil 65

VOLATILE, OR ESSENTIAL OILS.

Essence (or spirit) of turpentine 58Oil of spike 59Oil of rosemary ib.Petrolium, rock oil, or naphtha ib.

SECTION II.METHODS OF PREPARING VARNISHES PROPER FOR PAINTING.

Italian varnish 61Flanders varnish 03English varnish CO"Oil copal varnish ib.Picture varnish 80


45/428

CONTENTS. XXXIX

CHAPTER III.PAGE.

On tlie use of varnish with the colours 84SECTION I.

On glazing 8(i

SECTION II.Effects of air and light upon oils and resinous substances. ... 90

SECTION III.The causes of pictures becoming cracked, and the methods

of preventing that evil 92

CHAPTER IV.ON THE PREPARATION OF COLOURS.

YELLOWS.Chromate of lead 94Mineral x'ellow, chloride of lead 96Naples j'ellow 99Iodide of lead 103The ochres ib-Orpiment 106Sulphuret of Cadmium 107Gamboge 108Indian yellow 109The yellow lakes 'i-

b2


46/428

xl CONTENTS.

THE ORANGE COLOURS,I'AGi;,

Orange chromate of lead (sah-chromate of lead) 110Massicot (protoxide of lead) ib.Minium 1 1Red orpiment (rea/^r) 112

THE REDS.Carmine 112Cinnabar, or vermilion 117Periodide of mercury 120Lake 122Methods of preparing lake . , 126Brown Pink 1 29Madder lake 130Observations on the foregoing substances 138

THE VARIOUS QUALITIES OF MADDER LAKE, AND THESELECTION OF WATER FOR THE OPERATIONS.

The violet-coloured substances, and the efTect of acidulated 14-1water 140

The precipitation of lake 1 48Adulteration of madder lakeMethod of detecting the fraudThe red oxides of iron 150

PURPLE COLOURS.Cassius purple 151Tritoxide of iron {purple oxide of iron) 152

THE BLUES.Cobalt blue {arserdate and phosphate of cobalt and alumine) 153Egyptian blue, used in ancient times 155


47/428

CONTENTS. XliPACK.

Blue ashes 1 58Prussian blue . , . ,Ultramarine 1G2

THE GREENS.Malachite and mountain green , 170Oxide of chrome 171Green earth (terra verte) 173Verdigris crystallized {acetate of copper) 175Scheele's green 170Vienna or Brunswick green 179

BROWNS.Asphaltum, or bitumen 181Brown from Prussian blue 183Brown pink 185Raw umber 1 8CCassel and Cologne earths 187

BLACKS.Ivory black 187Bone black 188Charcoal ib.Liege ib.Coffee ib.Lamp 1891 ndian ink ib.

WHITES.Ceruse 201Flake white ib.Krems white 205A method of restoring to the original whiteness the lights

touched with white lead on ancient drawings 212


48/428

xlii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.PAGE.

Oil the preparing and priming of panels, canvasses, andwalls 214

Priming on taffety 222On priming walls ib.An expeditious method of laying in a dead colour upon dis-

temper ground 224

CHAPTER VI.On the preservation of pictures and the methods used for

restoring them 227

CHAPTER VII.A theory of the principles of harmony in colouring 242A theory of colouring, applied to the harmony of colours in

painting, with a chromatic scale 245

CHAPTER VIII.On fresco painting 271The colours and other materials proper to be employed in this

branch of the art 279


49/428

CONTENTS. xliii

SUPPLEMENT.

CHAPTER I.SECTION I.

VAUE.Introduction 291Observations on the English School of Painting 293

SECTION II.Observations on the metliods employed in the English school

of painting 331Sir J. Reynolds's notes, &c 336

CHAPTER II.English theory of colouring, considered practicallywith a

cliromatic scale 349Lectures at the lloyal Academy 351

CONCLUSION.A plan for encouraging the cultivation of the grand style of

painting in England 362List of noblemen and gentlemen who have encouraged, and

still patronize, the Arts ib.Architectural Society 368Institute of Architecture ib.School of Design ib.Art Union Society 369Account of premiums, lectures, &c. at the lloyal Academy., ib.

7


50/428

xliv CONTENTS.

PAGE.Drawing Academies :

The Antique Scliool 3G9The Living Model School ib.The Painting School ib.Mr. Sass's :Y}(\

Exhibitions :Royal Academy IJ? 1British Institution ib.

Artists' Gallery ib.Water Colour Painting Societies :

The old ib. new ib.

ERRATA.Page 34, line 21, /or che si fania, read che si faccla.Page 81, lines 8 and 9, for parts read drachms.Page 182, line 5, &c.for grains read drachms.


51/428

THE ART

PAINTING IN OIL,

CHAPTER I.AN" ENQUIRY INTO, AND OBSERVATIONS UPON, THE

VARIOUS METHODS USED IN OIL PAINTING, FROMTHE DAYS OF HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK TOTHE PRESENT TIME.

For a long series of years it has been the generalopinion, that John Van Eyck was the original dis-coverer of painting in oil. Some learned men have,however, maintained that this art was practise*!long before the era in which that painter lived. Butsupposing that they could demonstrate the truth oftheir assertions, still we are not bound to concludethat Van Eyck had any knowledge of whatever at-tempts may have been made in that way before his

B


52/428

2 THE ART 01'"

time ; and he cannot be deprived of the meritattached to a discovery hke this, so important tothe arts.One thing, however, is quite clear ; which is,

that, in the time of Van Eyck, the arts had madesuch progress, that the discovery of painting in oilcould not have been much longer delayed. Thisevent was in some degree inevitable ; and it is sur-prising that the invention did not take place at thesame time, in all those countries where the artswere successfully cultivated '. At that period the

' For some time previous to the fifteenth century,* almost everycolour now in use was known. Painting on glass was practisedwith great success ; enamels were fused to be employed formosaics ; and, by the aid of commerce, the artists could and did ob-tain the Ultramarine, India lake, and Chinese vermilion ; and theylikewise understood how to prepare them. Cennino Cennini, inhis Treatise on Painting, publislied in 1437, describes a processby which the ultramarine was extracted from lapis lazuli ; and healso mentions the lakes which were extracted from the resin-lacs, or that were prepared from the shearings of wool : and it isfrom similar shearings of a crimson tint that the species of lakewas made, the mode of preparing which has been described byNeri, in his treatise " Del Arte Vetraria." In fact, the varnisheshad been in use for some centuries ; and the discovery of distilla-tion had enabled the chemists to produce the volatile or essentialoils with which the varnishes, when too viscous, might be diluted,and rendered as liquid as might be required.

In 1781, Dr. Raspe published, in London, a dissertation toprove that the discovery of oil painting was erroneously attributed

* The celebrated Cinque Cento.


53/428

I'AIXTING IN OIL. 3

artists all painted in distemper, or, as it is com-monly termed, " body colours ;" and they after-to the brothers, Hubert and John Van Eyck. In support of hisopinion, the author produced an unedited Latin MS., entitledDe Arte Phigendi. This work, which appears to have been writtenby Theophilus, a monk, towards the close of the tenth, or com-mencement of the eleventh ceniury, Dr. Ilaspe brought forward,as proving incontestably that, from a very remote jjcriod, pictureswere painted in oil. I have read that treatise with the greatestattention ; and, so far from discovering any proofs to support thelearned Doctor's opinion, I have found quite enough to refutethat idea, as we shall see presently.

Theophilus has accurately described a method of making linseedoil, and also a species of varnish composed of this oil and of a re-sinous gum, which appears to have been copal. He then pointsout the manner in which walls, wood-work, and even statues,ought to be painted j but he does not any where give advice to applyoil painting to pictures. And further, in refutation of Dr. Raspe,we find that Tlieopliilus directs the house-painters by no means tolay on a second couch of colour until the first is completely dry ;and he adds this remarkable passage, that such a method would heloo slow and loo laborious for painting pictures. {Quod in imaginibmdiuiurnum et t


54/428

4 THE ART OF

wards coated their pictures with varnish, whichcommunicated a transparency and brightness tothe colours, defending them, at the same time,against the injurious action of the atmosphere.The idea of mixing the colours, in the first

instance, with varnish, is sufficiently obvious, not tohave suggested itself to the human mind ; and it isnot unlikely that some artists had already attemptedcompletely finished by his brother in 1432. One of these works,representing " The Lamb" in the Apocalypse, was in the collec-tion of the Louvre, previous to 1815.

It is impossible but that Cennini must have heard a report ofpictures being painted in oil by the Flemish artists, whom, in allprobability, he confounded with the Germans : hence, not being atall acquainted with that process as used for pictures, but merelythe process employed in house-painting and decorating, he de-scribes that method of using it exactly as Theophilus had doneseveral centuries before his time, and as it was practised in hisday to paint walls, wood-work, and casts, or other objects ofsculpture. He directs that the linseed oil should be reduced tohalf its quantity by boiling, or by exposure for a sufficient time tothe heat of the sun. It is with this viscous oil only that hedirects the colours to be tempered ; but he does not give us anyidea how the colours might be rendered more liquid, or how tofacilitate the drying of the slow dryers; and he then directs thatthe tints should be put into small pots of glazed earthen-ware, inthe same way as practised for fresco painting. It is quite evidentthat Cennini could never have had practical knowledge of theprocess which he describes *.

Vide the Journal ofGhent, Messager des Sciences et des Arts, inwhich several articles are inserted, in November, 1823, July,August, and September, 1824.


55/428

PAINTIXG IX OIL. O

to make it available ; but many difficulties were tobe surmounted ere a novel method could be fairlysubstituted for that of distemper, to which theywere habituated ; the artists, in fact, not having therequisite information or knowledge of the meansby which their efforts might have been successful.

The varnish in use at that period was of an oilyand very viscous nature ; nor did the practitionersknow how to render it sufficieptly fluid to mixwell with the colours, and thereby render themequally manageable as they are in distemper. Be-sides this, we know that there is a great divei'sityin the action of the oil on various colours ; some ofthem, for instance, massicot, white lead, and rawumber, give a drying quality to the oils, whilstothers, such as lakes, animal charcoal, and bitumi-nous earths, produce quite the contrary effect. Theartists of that time, moreover, had not the methodsof preparing the oils so as to obviate these difficul-ties, and to cause the drying process to be carriedon equally and expeditiously with all the colours atthe same time.Van Eyck, it appears, was the first to discover

a remedy for these defects ; and if he may not beallowed the honour due to an original discoverer,he cannot be denied the merit of having canied the

B 3


56/428

THE ART OF

preparation and use of colours to a degree of per-fection which has never been surpassed, and towhich indeed we have, even now, scarcely arrived,notwithstanding the great advancement of scientificknowledge since that era. In fact, his pictures arein a higher state of preservation than the gi'eaterpart of those which have been painted two centurieslater than his time.

Biographers, who have transmitted to us someaccounts of Van Eyck, give it as their opinion thathe was compelled, by necessity, to seek a new me-thod of painting. It is stated by these writers,that the varnish with which he coated his picturescould only be dried by the solar rays. They statefurther, that in one of these operations the panelon which a picture had been painted was split bythe sun's heat ; and that these circumstances deter-mined the artist to try some other means, whichwould ensure him from the danger of losing, in amoment, the fruits of a long and laborious study.

Perhaps the truth of this anecdote may bedoubted ; but one thing is certain, namely, thatthe imperfect nature of distemper painting wasquite a sufficient motive to cause that artist to makethe researches which are attributed to him.

This painter possessed the art of imitation in a


57/428

PAINTI^TG IN OIL. 7

very high degree. Therefore, to reduce the difficul-ties of manual labour, and to increase the resourcesof art, were sufficient incitements, it would appear,to inspire him with a desire of obtaining a newvehicle, by means of which the colours, when dry,would preserve the transparency and brilliancywhichthey possess at the moment of their being appliedto the canvass, and which medium, at the same time,would allow them to dry so gradually as to give theartist sufficient time to comliine his half-tints, andproduce the effect of those insensible gradations ofshade which we see in nature, and producing in artthat relief or effect called chiaro ""scuro.

Thus, as I have already observed, the idea ofincorj)orating the varnish with the colour, beingthe most simple, we may infer that it would natu-rally, in the first instance, occur to the mind ofVan Eyck. The object of his researches wouldhave been but imperfectly fulfilled if his colourshad been prepared as ours, and, equally liable todry in, had required the aid of a coat of varnishto draw out their clearness and brilliancy.However probable the foregoing suppositionsmay appear, it is not on such a basis that I wouldattempt to establish my opinion ; that is foundedupon the closest possible examination of ancient oil-

B 4


58/428

8 THE ART OFpictures. This examination, which was undertakenpurposely to discover the primitive modes ofpainting,has demonstrated to me that, in the pictures of VanEyck, as well as those of the painters who followedhis method, the colours have not been used simplywith oil of a more or less drying quality, but thatthey were mixed with varnish ; which is the causeof the surprising preservation we witness in so manyof the earliest pictures, and which have retainedtheir brilliancy of tone much better than the greaterpart of those which were painted in the last cen-tury. Having formed my opinion from my ownobservation of the ancient pictures, I sought for acorroboration of it in the works of different authorswho have wTitten on the arts. I have consultedthe treatises of Leonardo da Vinci, Paul Lomazzo,Vasari, Gerard de Lairesse, and also the two mostancient wTiters with whose works we are acquainted,Oennino Cennini and Theophilus. I expected tohave found in the course of these researches acomplete elucidation of the preparations and usesof colours ; but my hopes have not been realizedas I could wish. Yet I have not been whollydisappointed ; and I shall lay before the readerall the testimony which I have been able to collecton this subject.


59/428

PAINTING IN OIL. y

We are told that Julius II., who had invitedLeonardo to Rome, and had engaged him to deco-rate several walls of the Vatican, had also thecuriositv to enter the atelier of this great artistwhile he was absent. Here, instead of finding, ashe expected, designs and cartons for the work, hesaw only some chemical apparatus and utensils,which he undersitood were for the preparing of var-nish. " This ariist,"" said Julius, " begins his workwhere others finish." Mr. T. Sheldrake, an Eng-lish artist, quotes this passage in a memoir uTittento show the advantages derivable from the employ-ment of varnish in painting ; and he considers thisas a proof that Leonardo was in the constant habitof mixing varnish with his colours.

There would be little difficulty in proving anytheory, if we could admit testimony so vague as this ;for the chemical apparatus which the Pope judgedwere intended for the making of varnishes, might aswell have been used for making drying oils, or forrectifying oil of tuqientine,operations which it isvery probable the painters were obliged to engagein personally at those periods, when the fabricationof the materials requisite for the practice of the artdid not form, as in om* days, a lucrative branch ofindustry.

B 5


60/428

10 THE AKT OF

In his " Traite de Peinture^'' Leonardo da Vincimakes no mention of the use of varnisli, except incases where the acetate of copper (verdigris) isused. For he observes, that this colour, beinir asoluble salt, it would dissolve in water wheneverthe picture was washed ; and that is the reasonhe gives for covering this particular colour withvarnish the moment it became dry.

In another place he proposes an unchangeablevarnish for painters, to be composed of amber andnut oil, or simply of nut oil thickened by exposureto the sun.

In the above extracts there is nothing to showthat Leonardo was in the habit of mixing varnishwith his colours ; but one of the most ancientauthors, who has technically described the processof painting (Armenini de Faenzd)^ and who livedtowards the middle of the sixteenth century, leavesno doubt as to the use of varnish. He stronglyadvises that it should be mixed not only with thecolours used for glazing, but also in those of thegeneral painting. He says,

" After the first painting is completed and quitedry, then commences the operation ofretouching andfinishing each part with precision ; for this purposethe finest and best ground colours must be used,


61/428

PAINTIKG IN OIL. 11

being prepared quite fresh, as they are wanted.For in this stage of the work, it is usual to glazethe flesh tints, instead of using solid painting withthese parts, which have already received a certaindegree of finishing. To facilitate the execution ofthe work, that part of it which is to be repaintedmust be lightly rubl^ed \\ith the fingers dipped infine nut oil ; the work is then to be carefully wipedwith silk or linen, to take away all that can be thusremoved of the oil, which, if allowed to remain,would be detrimental, as it has a decided tendencyto give, in time, a yellow tone to the picture. Thispreparation very nnich facilitates the work, in caus-ing the fresh colours to glide freely over the surface,whereby the most difficult parts of it may be com-pleted with caire. Artists of experience employbut few colours in this stage of the business ; glazingthe parts lightly, instead of using solid colour. Inthis way they c-an obtain much softness and sweet-ness of tone in the flesh tints and draperies.

" I now revert to the draperies as they are glazedin the ordinary way, though skilful painters dislikethis mode, because they do not desire to see thestuffs made of one uniform tint throughout.

" In operating upon a green drapery, the processwe have hinted at is managed in this way. After

B 6


62/428

12 THK ART OFhaving laid on the dead colour with green, black,and white, in a full and firm manner, some commonvarnish is then incorporated with yellow lake andverdigris. With this mixture the parts preparedare glazed with a large tool. The same process isused for crimson, yellow, or other drapery,onlymixing the appropriate colours with the varnish \"

^ Ma finite che sono tutte le bozze e quelle rascinte : s'incomin-cia di nuovo poi con far piil da sennocon finissimi colori lavorandoogni cosa, e tutta viu di quelli facendo le mestichc mentre si la-vora a poco a poco ; perchiochfi questa volta piii presto si vela checoprano le cose le quali sono gia condotti bene al segno e special-mente le carni e perche egli vi riesca bene si deve prima ungerequel luogo, quando recuoprir si vuole, con ogiio di noce che sia benchiaro, sottile, nel quale se li bagna dentro due dita e di subito sipone sii quel luogo e caleavisi la pianta della mano col spargcrlougualmente per quello spazio ; il che fatto si netta con pezzette dipanno lino, perche quando riman mal netto s'ingialliscon i coloricon tempo ; e questo porge tal ajuto che egli fa scorrere sottilmenteogni tinta o mestica che se li pou sopra senza, schiffar punto siecheogni cosa difficile con facilita si esprime. Quivi gli esperti adope-rano le loro mestiche con gran sparmio, auzi (come si e detto)non coprendo ma velaudo sottilmente quel che t sotto ne fan ri-maner dolcissime e morbide le carni e i panni.Ma ritorno a i panni che k velare si usano se bene e valenti ciosprezzano perchd troppo gli offende il vederli di un color solo,noudimmo non li vogliamo losciar indietro.

Se il panno si ha da far verde il modo predetto sar4 che dopoche non verde negro e bianco si sari bozzato, clie sia alquantocrudetto, si giunge poi con verderame un poco di vernice communee di giallo santo e cosi accompagnato si vien velando tutto ugual-mente con un penello grosso di vajo. . . . Ma se sarS di lacca, sitien con quello il medisimo stile mettendovi dentro della predettavernice: e cosi si dee fare d'ogni altro quando si ^ per velarli.


63/428

PAIXTIXG IN OIL, 13Armonini afterwards describes the method of

preparing different varnishes.The uses of varnish are Hkewise pointed out by

Gr. de Lairesse in his Treatise on Painting. Hedescribes how to paint upon the dead colour of apicture ; he tells us that the part intended forrepainting should be first moistened slightly by acouch of mastic varnish, mixed with thick oil clari-fied in the sun.

If the earlier authors have not afforded us moredetails as to the technical modes of the art, it mustbe attributed to the various modifications which theprocess was liable to, from the moment it cameinto practical use, as it was known at fii'st only toa small number of artists, who kept it to them-selves. Others, who were not acquainted with it,sought to find it out ; and we must admit that theyhad much difficulty in this respect. The process ofpainting houses, wood-work, and even statues, wasknown for several centuries. The methods of makingoil varnish was known, as also the volatile oils, bydistillation. By these last they were enabled torender fluid the most viscous oils : nothing, there-fore, remained to be done, but to discover a modeof giving a more drying quality to the oils, to coun-teract the effects of certain colours, which are very


64/428

14 THE ART OFdeficient in that quality. Of this we should befully aware ; and even in acquiring afterwards theknowledge of Van Eyck's process, we should beconvinced that this mode had been simplified.The most certain way of recovering the primitive

process, is doubtless that of examining with atten-tion the earliest pictures in oil, and by consulting per-sons who are habitually engaged in restoring them.We learn from these researches, that the colour ofthose pictures which belong to the first epoch ofoil painting, are mostly of a harder body than thoseof a later date ; that they resist dissolvents muchbetter ; and that, if rubbed with a file, they showunderneath a shining appearance, resembling that ofa picture painted in varnish. It is easy to ascertainthe truth of these observations ; and when there isno longer any doubt on this point, we may fairly con-clude that the colours of those pictures have not beensimply used with pure oil, as those of our days, butwith a mixture of varnish, of which some would befound to be of that description which we call " hardvarnish."By far the greater number of pictures painted

from the beginning to the end of the sixteenth cen-tury are painted on wood ; their panels are primedwith a couch of prepared plaster of Paris, well

12


65/428

J'AIXTING IN OIL. 15

ground, and incorporated with animal gluten,preparation similar to that used by wood-gilders.This surface was then brushed over with boiled oil,to prevent the very rapid absorption of the colours,an accident which would impede the free motion ofthe pencils, and render the working of them moredifficult.

There is, at Florence, a picture by Leonardo daVinci, and also another by Fra Bartolomeo, which aremerely dead-coloured ; the outlines are drawn withthe pencil, and the shadows afterwards washed in,like a drawing in bistre, with a brown colour, whichis found to be bitumen. The method of laying in thepicture with a kind ofwash ofa single tint was, I haveno doubt, the practice of Van Eyck, as it was con-stantly followed by the chief painters of the Romanand Florentine schools,P. Perugino, Raffael, daVinci, and F. Bartolomeo ; and entirely by the schoolof the Low Countries, where their primitive methodwould most likely be preserved for a long period.

This method, which habituates the eye to trans-parency, and seems on that account more agreeableto colourists, was not yet practised in the Venetianschool, except, perhaps, by the first of them whoconnnenced painting in oil.

Titian, and his immediate followers, laid in their


66/428

16 THE ART OFpictures with a body of solid colour. They had, nodoubt, ascertained that they could obtain the samedegree of transparency by glazing upon their workafterwards. This method also gave them the advan-tage of making all the changes that might suggestthemselves as tliey proceeded. Corregio, and thepainters of his school, also commenced their pic-tures with a full body of colour, and often in a graytone of simple black and white.

Those who adopted this method were rathercareless as to gi'ounds upon which they painted.There are, for instance, many pictures of Titianpainted upon a red ground ; generally, they arepainted upon distemper grounds, made of plasterof Paris and glue.We have no doubt that the art of glazing waspractised from the commencement of painting. Assoon as colours came into use, it must have beenperceived that the deepest tints applied in thinglazes, upon those of the brightest tone, produceda new series of tints, which could not be matchedby any combination of opaque colours. Even indistemper, glazing was practised : but in oil this artwas much more easy ; for in the latter there is nodanger of disturbing the ground upon which theglaze is laid.


67/428

PVIXTING IK OIL. 17

The extensive u^e made of glazing by the Flemishand Venetian schcols would go far to prove thatthey employed a j^reat deal of varnish with theircolours. This gla/;ing is remarkable for the uni-formity of its tint, and is scarcely observable, ex-cept upon close inspection ; but it would be quiteimpossible to produce the same effect with coloursincorporated with our drying oils.

Titian, Corregio, and F. Bartolomeo, are thepainters who have made the greatest use of glazing.I have not yet seen a picture of Titian which is notglazed from one end to the other, even in thebrightest parts ; and if occasionally we see someparts without it, yet upon a close inspection weshall find that it is because the glaze has been car-ried off in the cleaning.Yet we should be awake to the inconveniences

resulting from an excessive use of glazing, or fromits being done improperly. For it does sometimeshappen, that pictures which come from the easelwith great brilliancy, become quite altered in a fewyears : this was not overlooked by the colourists ofthe second age. They only glazed those partswhich, from their natural colour and tone, had no-thing to fear from the bistre-like tint which theymust acquire in time.


68/428

18 THE AKT OFThus Titian and P. Veronese laid in their pic-

tures with solid colour, and very often painted oficloth primed in distemper ; but in the latter casethey laid their sketches on with water-colours.

This very expeditious process, which ought tolead from distemper to oil painting, is described byLeonardo da Vinci. I have seen several picturesproduced in this manner, which evidently belongto the period when painting in distemper had, insome degree, been given up. I am astonished thatno person of our school has ever tried this method ;but I shall endeavour to show the advantages de-rivable from it.

If the methods used by Van Eyck have been insome measure preserved without alteration, it is,doubtless, in that school of which he was thefounder, that we must expect to find them. OthoVenius followed this process two centuries afterVan Eyck's time, and transmitted it to Rubens,who practised it without alteration, as would ap-pear from the pictures of both these artists shewingthe same transparency, and the same tints, arrangedin similar order. The great superiority of the execu-tion in the works of this painter is purely owingto the superiority of his genius.

Rubens painted most commonly upon panels pre-


69/428

PAIXTING IN OIL. 19

pared in distemper, similar to those of the old Italianmasters ; sometimes also, but rarely, he used clothsprimed with a light gray ground of oil colour. Thepictures of the Luxembourg Gallery are treated inthis manner.

There is a great number of sketches by thismaster, in which the process described may bedistinctly traced.The figures being first sketched with black lead,

are afterwai'ds gone over with the hair pencil, andthe effect is made out by a wash of a brownishcolour, of the same kind that is observable in theunfinished pictures already described of Leonardoda Vinci and F. Bartolomeo.The lines formed by the colour are fine, yet full

of colour ; their perfect continuity proves that thepencil flowed freely on the surface ; the ridgesformed by the brush are not effaced ; and fulltouches of transparent colour, though very liquid,have kept their situations.

Doubtless it is easy enough to make the pencilflow freely upon a smooth surface lightly moist-ened with oil, and the finest lines may be tracedthereon ; but they are no sooner formed than theirneatness is gone. If we employ liquid transparent


70/428

20 THE ART OFcolours, they do not remain an instant : as we haveapplied them, the oil separates, and in a short timethe lines become more or less indistinct.

Rubens has often painted a picture off at onceupon very smooth panels. He used very littlecolour in the shadows, or even in the half-tints ; itis in the light parts only that we find touches ofsohd colour.

If, with the colours now in use, we shouldattempt to paint a picture up at once upon a similai'ground, we should soon find ourselves stopped by aninsurmountable difficulty. The colour would glideover a surface too fine to retain it ; a second at-tempt would obliterate the first ; and we shouldvery soon discover the necessity of beginning with aslight dead colour, and of substituting, for the smoothsurface, one somewhat granular, and retentive ofthe colour.

If,- by way of explaining the various materialsemployed, we should suppose that Rubens usedvery soft and free pencils,^therefore more fit tolay on the colours, and cause them to retain theirsituation,this will not explain why it is that theoil never separated itself from the most liquid partof the colour. We must, therefore, admit that


71/428

PAINTING IN OIL. 21Rubens did not paint with colours prepared as oursare, but that he rubbed the surface of his panelwith an unctuous substance, which was sufficientlyHquid to allow tlie free movement of the pencil, andat the same time to make the colour adhere to thesurface, as well as to prevent the tendency whichsome of them have to spread farther than theyought to do.

I have stated that Rubens preserved unalteredthe process which he had learned from his master.Yet, when in Italy, he adopted the method of Cor-regio ; painting, like him, every part of his picturewith a full body of colour, afterwards merely glazingthe shadows, the darkest parts, and the draperies.But on his return home he soon resumed the trans-parent manner of his master.

Jacob Jordaens did not commence painting underRubens ; and his method of dead colouring was notlike that of the latter, composed of light washesbut his colour is so brilliant and so transparent,that it is not to be doubted he made use of var-nish.

Van Dyke, who had at first adhered to themanner of Rubens, and had even gone beyond himin the extravagant use of cinabar, changed his pro-cess and his colouring when in Italy : he painted


72/428

IZ THE ART OFwitli a full body of colour, like Titian ; but wasmore cautious in the use of glazing*.

After having, like his master, made an inordinateuse of Vermillion, he abandoned it for a system ofcoloviring less brilliant, but more true to nature,arising, probably, from his painting so many portraits,which brought nature constantly before him. As hehad some experimental knowledge of chemistry, hefound that the elements of cinabar were not favour-aljle to its stability ; consequently he used it butseldom. It is probable, also, that he recommendedto his pupils to be sparing of its application, as theywould find in the Venetian red, the brightest tintsof the most brilliant carnations. P. Tyssens, oneof the most skilful artists of this school, never madeuse of cinabar ; and a pupil of the latter exceededhis master's instructions so much, that his picturespresent little else except a grayish tone.

Apparently nothing can be more remote fromthe process used by Van Eyck than that of Rem-brandt, yet he followed that method in his earlierworks ; but the vivacity and strength of his ima-

' I remember having seen, in the Altieri Palace at Rome apicture by Van Dyke, in which could be clearly traced the trans-ition in the manner of this pupil of Rubens, from that of his mas-ter, to follow that of Titian.


73/428

PAINTING IN OIL, 23gination made him abandon it, as he no longer at-tached any importance to the executive part. Im-patient to reahze the fine effects that presentedthemsehes to his imagination, this made him rathercareless in the application of his colours : M'hateverhe found on his palette, ho turned into use. Thenit was that he often used muddy and opaque tintsfor those that were brilliant and transparent ; buthe had too fine and just a sentiment of colouring toadmit of his looking upon this species of art but fora brief period, and his first care in making up hispalette, no doubt, was to restore the lost transpa-rency by glazing. It is really surprising that a schoollike this, in which the executive part was not valued,should produce an artist (G. Dow) who looked uponthat quality as very essential. The pupils adoptedthe later manner of their master, which was lesscareful than the first. In this respect Gerard Dowwas an exception, which we cannot account forsufficiently by attributing it to the patient characterof that artist, and the slowness of his imagination ;but our surprise will be diminished when we find,that when Dow entered the atelier of Rembrandt,the latter had only begun to be admired, and hisworks at that time were executed with remarkablecare.


74/428

24 THE ART OFIt seems to be the fate of the arts, that their de-

cadence begins immediately after they have attainednear to perfection. This destiny had been already,in great part, accomplished in Italy, when the chieffounder of the French school, Simon Vouet, wentthither to study the great masters. Even the tradi-tionary accounts of their process had either been lost,or had been so corrupted, that the practitioners, whohad constantly before their eyes the chefs-iToiivresof Titian, of Raffaele, and Corregio, were prodigalof their applause to Joseph Arpino. The greaternumber of pictures painted at this time were infresco, and were done from memory, after drawingsmore or less finished. The result of this was, tliatthe artists contracted the habit of painting theireasel pictures after a similar fashion, and were nolonger capable of painting from nature. By thisvicious practice, each painter adopted, without per-ceiving it, certain forms and tints, which they con-stantly reproduced, until all their figures appearedas if done from the same model.

Such was the state of the arts at the time thatVouet received his education. It is reasonable tosuppose that this state of things should have a greatinfluence upon the French school : the style of Vouethas more of elegance than elevation ; he treated


75/428


76/428

26 THE ART OFquaintod, if he had been obhged to apply himselfconstantly to the study of nature.

It is, therefore, to the established practice of ourschool," painting from drawings,"that we mayattribute the want of success in colouring whichhas attended the efforts of our historical painters.Le Brun was not ignorant of the methods employ-ed by the colourists ; he understood how to in-crease, by glazing, the brilliancy and transparencyof colours. His pictures display many specimensof fine colouring ; and I have no doubt whatever,but that he would have been ranked amongst thecolourists if he had painted from nature.

AVhenever the artists cease to take nature fortheir model, the art itself follows a downward careerwith a frightful rapidity, that soon brings it todecay, and at last a time arrives when the faithfulrepresentations of nature are looked down upon asbeing incompatible with genius.Under this morbid influence, success can only be

obtained by a mean submission to the arbitrary dic-tates of bad taste. Then, and for so unworthy amotive, it is that the limits of good taste are in-vaded by sweeping forms, that well may be calledhyperbolic curves, with broken lines and different


77/428


78/428

28 THE ART OFthose who have materially assisted in restoring thecharacter of the French school, by bringing backthc! art to its true basis," the careful study ofnature."

The following detail of his method is givenupon the authority of one who was well acquaintedwith it. He always, in painting a head, laid itin first with a full body of colour. Afterwards,when he would repaint upon this dead colour, hebegan by glazing it entirely, and then got in hiseffect with transparent colours combined witha strong unctuous vehicle, by means of which hispictures dried without absorption. After this pre-paration, which he carried on rapidly, he entirelyi-opainted the head, commencing by the lights, andgoing progressively to the shadows. But as he didnot possess great facility, he could not finish his\\'ork in the second operation ; therefore it stillappeared only in an advanced state of dead colour.Sometimes he could not get it to his liking forseveral sittings ; but at last, by following the samemode of operations, he was enabled to produce awork, in which we admire the colouring, withoutperceiving any traces of the labour by which it wasproduced.

Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was contemporary


79/428


80/428

30 THE ART OFlaid ; many parts have faded from the action of theUght and air, and some have become brown fromthe oils and varnishes used having been badly pre-pared. Like P. Veronese, he has often painted ondistemper grovmds. There is at Paris' one of hisfinest portraits, painted on such a gi-ound. At theback of the canvass, and exactly behind the faceand head, there is a couch of white and size, whichhas been applied to absorb the redundant oil, whichwould have remained in that work, from its havingbeen repainted several times without allowing iteach time to become quite dry.

Mengs also used a mixture of varnish with hiscolours ; and I understand that his method is stillvery generally practised at Dresden. Among themodern painters I could mention many others, toshow the advantages derivable from the proper com-bination of varnish with the colour, but I prefer re-turning to the older masters who have followed thejjrocess of Van Eyck ; and I shall add, that anyartist, by an attentive examination of the picturesbelonging to the first period of oil painting, may

* In the possession of the Prince de Broglio : it is the portraitof " the Marquis of Granby."

the art of painting in oil and in fresco being a history mérimée jfl 1757 1836

Documents