good what either diftance or time may abate on the glow and freshness of the colours. A painter who does nothing more than what he fees, will never arrive at a perfect imitation; for though his work may feem, on the eafel, to be good to him, it may not appear fo to others, nor perhaps even to himself at a distance. A tint which, near, appears disjoined, and of one colour, may look of another at a diftance, and be confounded in the mafs it belongs to. If you would have your work, therefore, to produce a good effect in the place where it is to hang, both the colours and lights must be a little loaded, but with difcretion. In this point confult Titian, Rubens, Vandyke, and Rembrandt's methods; for indeed their art is won derful.

The tints usually require three times of obfervation. The firft is at the perfon's firft fitting down, when he has more fpirit and colour than ordinary; and this is to be noted in the first hour of his fitting. The 2d is when, being composed, his look is as ufual; which is to be obferved in the fecond hour. Ánd the third is when, through tiresomeness by fitting in one pofture, his colour alters to what wearinefs ufually creates. On which account, it is beft to keep to the fitter's ufual tint, a little improved.

3. In DRESS and DRAPERIES, all forts of colours do not fuit all forts of perfons. In men's portraits, we need only obferve great truth and great force: but in women's there muft alfo be charms; whatever beauty they have muft appear in a fine light, and their blemishes must be foftened. For this reafon, a white, lively, and bright tint, ought never to be fet off by a fine yellow, which would make it look like plafter; but rather by colours inclining to green, blue, or grey, or fuch others as, by their oppofition, may make the tint appear more fleshy than ufual in fair women. Vandyke often made a fillemot-coloured curtain for his ground; but that colour is foft and brown. Brown women, on the other hand, who have yellow enough to support the character of fleshinefs, may very well have yellowish draperies, to bring down the yellow of their tints, and make them look the fresher; and, near very high-coloured and lively carnations, linen does wonders.

In GROUNDS, two things are obfervable; the tone and the colour. The colour is to be confidered in the fame manner as thofe of draperies, with respect to the head. The tone must be always different from the mafs it fupports, and of which it is the ground, that the objects coming upon it may not feem tranfparent, but folid and raised. The colour of the hair of the head ufual ly determines the tone of the ground; and when the former is a bright chefnut, we are often embaraffed, unlefs helped by means of a curtain, or fome accident of the claro-obfcurro, fuppofed to be behind, or unless the ground is a fky. Where a ground is neither curtain nor landfcape, but is plain like a wall, it ought to be very much partycoloured, with almost imperceptible patches or ftains; for, befides its being fo in nature, the pic ture will look the more grand.

4. ATTITUDES ought to fuit the ages and qua. lities of perfons and their tempers. In old men and women, they should be grave, majestic, and

fometimes bold: and generally, in women, they ought to have a noble fimplicity and modeft cheerfulness: for modefty ought to be the character of women; a charm infinitely beyond coquetry: and indeed coquettes themselves care not to be painted fuch. Attitudes are of two kinds : one in motion, the other at reft. Thofe at rest may fuit every person: but thofe in motion are proper for young people only, and are hard to be expreffed; because a great part of the hair and drapery muft be moved by the air; motion, in painting, being never better expreffed than by fuch agitations. The attitudes at rest must not appear fo much at reft as to feem to represent an inactive perfon, and one who fits for no other pofe but to be a copy. And though the figure that is represented be at reft, yet the painter, if he thinks fit, may give it a flying drapery, provided the scene or ground be not a chamber or close place.

pur

It is above all things neceffary that the figures: which are not employed fhould appear to fatisfy the fpectator's curiofity; and for this purpose show themselves in fuch an action as fuits their tempers and conditions, as if they would inform him what they really were: and as most people pretend to fincerity, honefty, and greatness of mind, we must avoid, in attitudes, all manner of affectation; every thing there must appear easy and natural, and difcover more or lefs fpirit, nobleness, and majefty, in proportion to the perfon's character and digni ty. In a word, the attitudes are the language of portraits; and the kilful painter ought to give great attention to them. But the best attitudes. are fuch as induce the fpectator to think that the fitter took a favourable opportunity of being feen to advantage, and without affectation. With regard to women's portraits, in whatever attitude they are placed, they should sway in fuch a manner as to give their face but little fhade; and we should carefully examine whether the lady appear most beautiful in a smiling or in a ferious air, and paint her accordingly.

According to DE PILES, portraiture requires three different fittings and operations; to wit, dead colouring, fecond colouring, and retouching or finishing. Before the painter dead-colour, he muft attentively confider what afpect will beft fuit the fitter, by putting him in different pofitions, if he have not any fettled defign; when this is des termined, it is of the utmoft confequence to put the parts well together, by comparing always one part with another; for not only the portrait acquires a greater likeness when well defigned, but it is troublesome to make alterations at the fecond fitting, when the artift fhould only think of painting, that is, of difpofing and uniting his colours.

I. The dead-colouring ought to be clean, be caufe of the flope and transparency of the colours, especially in the fhades; and when the parts are well put together, and become clammy, they must be judicioufly fweetened and melted in each other; yet without taking away the air of the picture, that the painter may finish it, in proportion as he draws. But if fiery geniuses do not like this method of fcumbling, let them only mark the parts flightly, and fo far as is neceffary for giving an air. In dead-colouring, it is proper to put in rather too

little than too much hair about the forehead; that, in finishing, we may be at liberty to place it where we pleafe, and to paint it with all poffible softness and delicacy. If, on the contrary, you fketch upon the forehead a lock which may appear to be of a good tafte, and becoming the work, you may be puzzled in finishing it, and not find the life exactly in the fame pofition as you would paint it.

II. The bufinefs of the fecond fitting is, to put the colours well in their places, and to paint them in a manner that is fuitable to the fitter and to the effect we propofe; but before they are made clammy, we ought to examine afresh whether the parts are rightly placed, and here and there to give fome touches towards likeness, that, when we are affured of it, the work may go on with greater fatisfaction. If the portrait be justly defigned, the painter ought, as much as poffible, to work quick, as the work will thus have the more spirit and life. But this readiness is only the effect of long ftudy and experience. .

III. Before we retouch or finish, it is proper to terminate the hair, that, on finishing the carnations, we may be able to judge of the effect of the whole head. If, at the fecond fitting, we cannot do all we intended, which often happens, the third makes up the lofs, and gives both fpirit, phyfiognomy, and character. If we would paint a portrait at once, we must load the colouring; but neither fweeten nor drive, nor very much oil it; and if we dip the pencil in varnish as the work advances, this will readily enable us to put colour on colour, and to mix them without driving. There is nothing fo rare as fine hands, either in the defign or colouring. It is therefore convenient to cultivate a friendship with fome women, who will take pleasure in ferving for a copy. But if an opportunity occurs of copying hands after Vandyke, it muft not be let flip; for he drew them with a furprifing delicacy, and an admirable colouring. It is of great fervice to copy after the manners which come nearest to nature; as are those of Titian and Vandyke. ·

Before we begin colouring, we muft catch the very firft moments, which are commonly the moft agreeable and moft advantageous, and to keep them in our memory for ufe when we are finishing; for the fitter, growing tired with being long in the fame place, lofes thofe fpirits which, at his firft fitting down, gave beauty to the parts, and conveyed to the tint more lively blood, and a fresher colour. In fhort, we muft join to truth a probable and advantageous poffibility, which, far from abating likeness, ferves rather to fet it off. For this end, we ought to begin with obferving the ground of a tint, as well what it is in lights as in fhades; for the fhades are only beautiful as they are proportioned to the light. We must obferve, if the tint be very lively, whether it partake of yellowness, and where that yellownefs is placed; becaufe ufually, towards the end of the fitting, fatigue diffuses a general yellowness, which makes us forget what parts were of this colour, and what were not, unless we had taken due notice of it before. For this reafon, at the fecond fitting, the colours must be everywhere readily clapped in,

and fuch as appear at the first fitting down; for these are always the fineft.

The fureft way to judge of colours is by comparison; and to know a tint, nothing is better than to compare it with linen placed next it, or elfe placed next to the natural object, if there is occafion. The portrait being now finished, nothing remains, but, at some distance of time, to view both the picture and fitter together, to determine with certainty, whether there is any thing ftill wanting to the work.

SECT. IV. Of THEATRICAL DECORATIONS DESIGNS for FURNITURE, EMBROIDERY, CARRIAGES, &c.

THEATRICAL DECORATIONS require a particular art which unites feveral of the general parts of painting with the knowledge of architecture, perspective, &c. They who apply themselves to it would do well to defign their decorations by day, and to colour them by candle-light, as they will be much better able to judge of the effect of a painting intended to be viewed by that light.

The defigns for furniture, carriages, porcelain, and other branches of manufacture, form alfo a very important article of painting in general, and of academy painting in particular. This is a diftinct branch of the art; and without doubt not the leaft ufeful, as it contributes fo effentially to the fuccefs of manufactures, and confequently to the profperity of a state; and it is an art, to which it were much to be wished that youth of ability and invention would apply themselves. See JáPANNING and PORCELAIN. SECT. V. Of the DIFFERENT METHODS of

PAINTING.

1. The moft fimple of all methods of painting, and doubtlefs the first discovered and ufed, is painting in WATER COLOURS. See Part III.

2. Painting in eIL is preferable to all other methods, as it is more fufceptible of all forts of expreffions, of more perfect gradations of colours, and is at the fame time more durable. See Par: III. Sea. III.

3. MOSAIC painting, is performed by joining together a great number of fmall pieces of marble of different colours, with fucco. Works of this kind are made principally at Rome, where this art has been carried fo far as to refemble the paintings of the greatest mafters; and of thefe are made monuments for the lateft pofterity. See MOSAIC, N° II. § i-vii.

4. Painting in FRESCO is performed by drawing with colours diluted with water, on a wall newly plastered, and with which they fo incorporate, that they perish only with the ftucco itfelf. This is principally used on ceilings. See FRESCO, § 2.

5. MINIATURE painting is performed with water colours, or with gum-arabic; and reprefents objects in the leaft difcernible magnitudes. See MINIATURE, 2.

6. Painting in CRAYONS. Colours, either fimple or compound, are mixed with gum, and made into a kind of hard pafte like chalk, with which they draw on paper and parchment. See CRAYON, $2.

7. Painting

7. Painting in ENAMEL is performed on copper or gold, with mineral colours that are dried by fire, and become very durable. See ENAMEL, 3. The paintings on the PORCELAIN of Cuina and Europe, on Delft wares, &c. are fo many forts of enamel. See DELFT, § 3, and ENAMEL, $4.

8. Painting in WAX, or ENCAUSTIC painting, is a new invention, or rather an old one renewed, in which there are in France performances highly pleafing. It is done with wax mixed with varnish and colours.

9. Painting on GLASS, of which there are various kinds. See GLASS, § 23, i. ii.

.IO. ELYDORIC Painting, a new fpecies, invented by M. Petit.

Moft of thefe methods of painting being defcribed in their order, under the articles above referred to, we have only to defcribe the four following here.

I. Of PAINTING in FRESCO.

Or all kinds of painting, fresco is the moft durable, the most speedily executed, and the moft proper to adorn great buildings. It appears, that the fragments of ancient painting handed down to us by the Romans are all in frefco. NORDEN, quoted by Winckleman, fpeaks of the ruins of Egyptian palaces and temples, in which are Coloffian paintings on walls 80 feet high. The defcription which those authors have given of thefe paintings, of the prepared ground, and of the manner in which the colours have been employed, &c. fhows plainly that they have been executed in fresco.

The stability of fresco is demonftrated by the existence of those fragments of the highest antiquity. There are no other kinds of painting which could equally have refifted the injuries of the weather, the exceffive aridity of certain elements, the moisture of fubterraneous fituations, and the deftructions by barbarians. In making paintings in frefco, the choice of place, when they are without doors, is of the greatest importance. In countries where there is little or no frost, an exposure to the north is the most favourable; and in cold climates a western expofure fhould be made choice of, because the first rays of the rifing fun have a very pernicious effect after froft.

The choice of materials is the next thing of importance in executing frefco. To make it durable, the ground is the object of chief attention; and to make this perfect, the mortar ufed by the ancients, now unknown, would be neceffary. It is eafy to perceive, that a minute detail of forms, an extenfive mixture and gradation of tints, and the merit of a delicate and gentle touch, can make no part of the excellencies of this kind of painting. It cannot bear a clofe examination like a picture in oil. There is always fomething dry and rough which difpleases. An artist who would flatter himafelf with fuccefs in a fresco placed near the eye would be grofsly deceived; a common fpectator would find it coarse and badly finished.

Frefco is chiefly employed in palaces, temples, and public edifices. In thefe vaft places no kind of painting can be preferred to it; large, vivid in its ftrokes, and conftantly fresh, it enriches the architecture, animates it, and gives relief to the eye from the repetition of the fame forms, and VOL. XVI. PART 11,

the monotony of colour, in a place where coloured marbles and bronzes are not employed. A fine fresco gives the greatest effect to a lofty building, which ferves as a frame and support to this enchanting art, which fixes the attention of every perfon of fenfibility and tafte, Frefco has a freshnefs, splendour, and vigour not to be found in oil or water colours.

A known principle in all painting is, that the colouring is more perfect in proportion as it ap proaches to the lights and fhades in nature. As colours applied to any fubject can never reach this degree of perfection, the illufion which painters produce confifts in the comparifon and oppofition of the tones of colours among themfelves.

If the white of the finest and pureft oil appears heavy and grey, compared with great lights in natural whites, it follows, that, in order to copy them with fidelity, the tones which follow the first white must be degraded in an exact proportion. Thus it is neceffary that the fhades of a picture be confiderably deeper than those of the model; efpecially, if, from the greatest lights to the browns, one hath proportionally followed the diftance which is found between the colours on the pallet and the tones of the object copied. Now, if the white of frefco be infinitely more bright than that of oil, the fame effect will be obtained in a brown tone. On the other fide, if it conftantly happens that the brown tones of fresco are much more vigorous than thofe of water colours, and equal even to the browns of oil itself, it is certain that it poffeffes a splendour and vigour more extenfive than any other kind of painting. Thus, in the hands of an artift who is well acquainted with the colours fit for fresco, it is more fufceptible of the general effect, and more capable than any other kind, of giving projection and the femblance of life to the figures.

If we inquire why painting in frefco is now feldom or never practifed, we may ascribe it to the great talents required to execute it. "Many of our painters (fays VASARI in his Treatise on Painting) excel in oil and water colours, and yet fail in frefco; because of all kinds this requires the greatest ftrength of genius, boldness in the strokes, and refolution." If in an age abounding in great mafters it was difficult to excel in this kind, it must be much more fo in curs; but we should not require the characters of fublimity and ftyle to which men were accustomed in the time of Vafari.

We should execute in fresco as we do in oils; for Italy herfelf along with Michael Angelo and Zuicharo, had Cortonni Giardano and Francifchini as middling fresco-painters. And in France, Lafoffe, Bon Boulogne, and Perur, performed several works in fresco, which might be imitated by the painters of our times. But the real caufes for abandoning this art proceed from the want of knowledge and taste in the perfons who employ the artists, and from the manners of the age. As a pleasant or licentious conceit, unfinished colouring, and bold effects of shade, are the chief objects of confideration, a very fmooth painting, enlivened by gentle touches, completely gratifies the perfon who pays the price; and therefore the philofophical principles of the art, which require ftudy, are not cultivated.

The first layer is made of good lime and a cement of pounded brick, or, which is ftill better, river fand; this latter forms a layer more uneven, and better fitted to retain the fecond fmooth and po lished layer applied to its furface. There should be experiments to discover a layer ftill more compact, and more independent of the variations of the air; fuch, for example, as covers the aqueducts and ancient refervoirs conftructed by the Romans in the neighbourhood of Naples.

Before applying the fecond layer, or what you are to paint, it is neceffary that the firft be perfectly dry; for their iffues from the lime, when it is moift, a fme! both difagrecable and pernicious to the artist. When the firft layer is perfectly dry, it is wet with water in proportion to its drynefs, that the fecond layer may the more eafily incorporate with it.

The fecond layer is compofed of lime, flaked in the air, and exposed for a year, and of river fand, of an equal grain, and moderately fine. It requires an active and intelligent mafon to apply this layer, as the furface must be altogether equal. The operation is performed with a trowel; and the operator requires to have a fmall piece of wood to take away the large grains of fand, which, remaining, might render the furface uneven. To give a fine polish to this layer, one ought to take a fheet of paper, apply it to the wall, and pafs and repass the trowel over the paper. By thefe means the little inequalities which hurt the exactness of the ftroke, and which produce false appearances at a distance, are entirely fmoothed. The artist muft not lay more than the painter can finish in a day, as this kind of painting must be executed on a fresh ground.

The layer being thus prepared, the painter begins his operation; but as painting in frefco nuft be executed rapidly, and as there is no time to retouch any of the Atrokes, the painter takes care to provide himfelf with large cartoons, on which he has drawn, with exactnefs, and in their full fize, the figures which he is to paint, which leaves him nothing to do but to copy them on

the wall.

The cartoons are composed of several fheets of large paper pafted one on another, neither too thick nor too flender. The painter traces the tracks of the figures on the plafter, by paffing a fteel point over the tracks in the cartoons, or in pricking them. Having thus attained an exact and speedy drawing, it now remains to execute the painting. But it is effential, when one withes to finish any small work of this kind, in the firft place, to be informed of the proper colours, and of those which cannot be used.

In general, the colours extracted from earths, and those which have passed through the fire, are the only ones which can be employed in this kind of painting. The colours are white, made of S

lime, the white of egg-fhells, ultramarine, the black of charcoal, yellow ochre, burnt vitriol, red earth, green of Verona, Venetian black, and burnt ochre.

There are others which require to be used with great precaution, fuch as enamel blue, cinnabar, and white marble duft. When enamel blue is used, it requires to be applied instantaneously, and when the lime is very moift, otherwise it does not incorporate with the plafter; and if one retouch with this colour, it must be done an hour or more after the first application, to increase its luftre. With regard to the white marble duft, it is apt to turn black if it be not mixed up with a proper quantity of white lime.

Cinnabar, which has a splendour almost fuperior to all other colours, lofes it almost entirely when mixed with lime. At the fame time, it may be employed in places not exposed to the air, with a little degree of care in the preparation. Reduce a quantity of the pureft cinnabar to powder, put it into an earthen veffel, and pour lime-water on it for two or three times. By this process the cinnabar receives fome impreffion of lime-water, which makes it capable of being employed in fresco-painting.

One of the best colours, and the one most used in fresco for the gradation of tints, and for giving the requifite tone, is white of lime. This white is prepared by mixing lime flaked long before with good water. The lime depofits a fediment at the bottom of the veffel; when the water is poured off, this fediment is the white of lime.

Another kind of white might be ufed, the effects of which would be known by experience, namely, the white of egg shells. To prepare this white, one muft take a great quantity of shells of eggs, which must be pounded and boiled in water along with a quantity of quick lime; after this, they are put into a strainer, and washed repeatedly with fountain water. The shells are again pounded until the water employed for that purpose become pure and limpid; and when they are in this manner reduced to powder, this powder is grinded in water, and formed into small pieces, and dried in the fun.

All the different kinds of ochres make excellent colours for fresco, and take different shades, being previously burned in iron chefts. With regard to the Naples yellow, it is dangerous to use it where the painting is much expofed to the air. The blacks of charcoal, of peach ftones, and of vine twigs, are good; but that extracted from bones is of no value.

Roman vitriol gathered at the furnaces, and called burnt vitriol, grinded afterwards in spirit of wine, refifts the air extremely well when employed in lime. There is also a red extracted from this preparation fomewhat like that produced from lac. This colour is very proper for preparing the layers to be coloured with cinnabar; and the draperies painted with thefe two colours will vie in fplendour with those painted with fine lac in

oil.