110 



D R A \V I N O. 



riry of the pencil, the art has been carried to tin- li 

 |^J & point of perfection ; and it is to be regretted that many 

 *~Y~ m of the pointers of this scliool, in the humble sphere to 

 which they limited themselves, have displayed t.ilmt- 

 which, had they received a proper bias, would hi>c 

 given them rank and eminence among those who have 



.lied in tin- higher dcjvirtments of the art. 



V: ' h \Ve have taken no notice of tin- French school : for 



although several artists of that nation, such as N. I'ous- 

 sin, Le Brun, Sebastian Bourdon, and Le Stteur, hold 

 a high rank in the art; yet as the French taste has al- 

 ways been much more inclined to the frivolities and af- 

 fectations of Watteau and others, than to the genuine 

 principles of sound art, these must be considered ra- 

 ther tin a colony of the Roman school. 

 Drapery. The judicious choice and disposition of the draperies, 



form another important subject for the artist's attention, 

 whether considered as contributing to the expression of 

 the character represented by the propriety of costume, 

 or as affording additional assistance in giving grace to 

 his figures ; in uniting the parts of a group, or one 

 group to another; or as forming a substratum on which 

 he is to dispose the variety of colour and strength of 

 chiar' oscuro, so essential to the pleasing effect of his 

 work. Its excellence consists in three things, viz. 1st, 

 The disposition of the folds ; 2d, The di verity of the 

 stuffs ; and, 3d, The harmony produced by the scien- 

 tific arrangement of the colours. 



The drapery, in its folds, should be so disposed, that 

 the character of the form, and proportion of the figure, 

 should appear, as far as probability will allow. It was 

 usual for the great masters, first to draw their figures 

 naked, and then to adapt their drapery to their posi- 

 tion. Whatever be the motion of the figure, the folds 

 of the drapery should always shew distinctly the ac- 

 tion and attitude of the figure, and the true position of 

 the body. In the composition of many figures, atten- 

 tion must be paid in the folds to the variety produced 

 by the qualities of thick or thin stuffs, as adapted to the 

 characters of the several figures. In the representa- 

 tion of philosophers and prophets, in order to corre- 

 spond with their dignity and gravity of deportment, the 

 folds should be few and large. In men of elevated cha- 

 racter, and matrons of a superior class, such as the Vir- 

 gin Mary, and the disciples, the folds will not be so few 

 nor heavy as in the former ; and for nymphs or young 

 females, the drapery will be light and thin, and the 

 folds small and numerous. Regard also must be paid 

 to the rank and condition of the several characters, in 

 the introduction of suitable ornaments, such as jewels, 

 embroidery, rich robes for queens, princes, &c. The in- 

 troduction of diversity of stud's, does not seem consist- 

 ent with the dignity of historical composition, which 

 is always degraded by individual representation. On 

 this principle, the Roman, Florentine, and Bolognese 

 schools, have never given greater variety to their stuffs 

 than what was necessary for the difference of si/.e in 

 the folds. The \Ynrtian school, on the contrary, which 

 sacrificed every thing to the richness and splendour of 

 effect, have taken the most unbounded lie, n-e. even in 

 those subjects where the most rigid severity of style 

 would have been most appropriate, in the profuse in- 

 troduction of silks, satins, brocade, and embroidery, 

 which are only to be admitted in those conversations, 

 and other subjects of individual life, in which the Fle- 

 mish and Dutch schools have so pre-eminently excel- 

 led. 



Drapery is also of essential service to the painter in 

 t he harmonious distribution of colour and chiar' oscuru. 





and in st mining the character of solemnity or gaiety 

 suitable t< 't ; but we shnll not enter on tl .< 



further dU< u^sioii of this subject. :is it belongs to the 

 two great parts of the art colouring and chiar' o<cuio. 

 See l'\ivri\u. 



Kaffacllf, in his first works, imitated hi master 1'ie- 

 tn> 1'erugino, in his ilraperies, as well as in every thing 

 else. He somewhat improved his style fn nil the Vorici 

 of M,i-saccio and Fra llartolomeo di S. Marco. O> 

 ing the works of the ancients, he abandoned altogether 

 the schools of those masters, and adopting such rules 

 as he formed from the study of the antique, lor the na- 

 tural folds of his drapery, he acquired that admirable 

 fciste by which his folds are distinguished, and in which 

 he has never been equalled. 



Correggio, in his draperies, kept always in view what 

 was agreeable or pleasing. He very early quitted thr 

 manner of his predecessors in art ; he. in general, paint- 

 ed his figures from small models, which he clothed with 

 pieces of cloth or paper. He sought every where for 

 masses, and in those masses for what was pleasing, in 

 preference to the truth of individual folds. 



Titian painted his draperies, as he did most other 

 things, merely from imitation. Me made them very 

 beautiful, and strongly resembling nature, but exactly 

 as he found them in the object before him, without 

 choice in the folds. 



The critical knowledge and just theory of the art, 

 which are to be matured by the study of the antique 

 and the works of the great masters of the Italian schools, 

 must be founded on an intimate knowledge of the 

 human figure, in its various states of action and re- 

 pose, of the effect of the passions on the face and 

 body, and its symmetry or proportions in its adapta- 

 tions to the various characters of youth, manhood, or 

 age ; strength, agility, or delicacy, of plumpness or 

 Icannc.-s; for the several degrees of which, in every pos- 

 sible combination, have each of them a conformity of 

 parts, and a proportionate arrangement of relative mag- 

 nitudes peculiar to itself: and this knowledge of pro- 

 portion is only to be acquired by the accurate investiga- 

 tion of general nature in its approaches to the abstract 

 of each character ; and the more we are practised in 

 this study, the better will we be enabled to appropri- Slu( ly of 

 ate to each character the peculiar proportions which "' 

 constitute it. The antique st:it'ies are excellent ex- 

 amples of the mode of study to be pursued in adapt- 

 ing proportion to character, by a happy conformity of 

 each to the other ; and though they apply but to lew 

 characters, as but few remain entire, yet enough is lefl 

 to point out the way ; for the greatest absurdities must 

 follow, when the proportions and form of the mu 

 are not adapted to the character of the figure ; and the 

 degree of muscular exertion to the occasion of calling 

 it forth, as is the case with the works of I jinfranco, 1'ie- 

 tro da Cortona, Carlo Cignani, I.eMoine.and others, who 

 have indulged so far in this fondness for some particular 

 proportions, that their figures are all of the same fa- 

 mily and character, with no difference but what 

 from action, portion, or age ; and thi can only be ac- 

 quired by the study of anatomy, which is the grammar 

 of painting. Without anatomy, the most careful exa- 

 mination of the figure will lie of no avail. As thedis- ^' 



I" muscular action is but momentary, and cannot 

 be fixed or ret lined, the effect produced upon the ex- 

 tirnal Mirface of the body and limbs by the action of 

 the muscles, the swelling and retiring of the Meshy 

 and the appearances of the sinews or tendons, 

 which accompany all the varieties of exertion or change 





