IJO . Umiarh en Mrt Sheldrake s 



merely- enricliing a colour by glazing, in my opinion fuffi- 

 cientlv accounts for Venetian brilliancy. 



What is meant bv black and white not being the paint- 

 er's extreme of light and dark, I profcfs not to underftand : 

 all that 1 know is, that the artifts have to lament, as well as 

 Mr. Sheldrake, the being obliged to reprefent fliadow with 

 a fub (lance, and that even glazing them thin is but a poor 

 iniilation of the real appearance. With refpecl: to " the 

 painter's art being to reprcftnt objefts as thcN-^ appear, in 

 point of colour, to be not as they really arc," I am equally 

 at a lofs to underltand the author, having ever been taught 

 to confider all colour as comparative ; and therefore, that 

 black at 50 feet diftance was no longer fo, and to call it black 

 would be as abfurd as to call twilight night. 



If I judge right, (from the author's recapitulation,) there 

 are three Itages in his procefsj firft, the darkeft tints, then 

 the lights, and laftly the colouring. Now I think it is evi- 

 dent, from the oil being inflantly abforbed by the ground, 

 that it would be utterly impoffible to blend the lights and 

 darks together fo as to make the pi6lure mellow. Then 

 comes the glazing for the colours, which is bad, as experi- 

 ence has fufficicntly fhewn the want of durability : befides, 

 for fuch a procefs, oil makes the colours too thin to work : 

 this made the artifts refort to the expedient of ufing ma- 

 guilp, which has the injurious tendency before (laled. What 

 made thefe artifts fo dciirous of a clearnefs in the fiiadcs, was 

 to give them that non-fubftantial appearance Nature puts 

 on : in his light:-, it is true, the artill wants brilliancy, to 

 acquire which he occafionally glazes or fcumbles; but every 

 good artift knows, that the lefs rccourfe he has to the fonner 

 practice, the more permanent his picture will be. 



After all the confideration I have been able to give this 

 fubjeft, I am inclined to think that the Venetian metliod, 

 judging from a pifture by Tintorct now before me, was more 

 hke that followed by Sir Jofhua Ueynokis; as above de- 



fcribed^ 



