POPULAH SCIENTIFIC LECTURES. 



617 



to give of the lights and colors of his object 

 I have described as a translation, and I have 

 nrged that, as a general rule, it cannot give a 

 11 copy true in all its details. The altered 

 scale of brightness which the artist must ap- 

 ! ply in many cases is opposed to this. It is 

 'i not the colors of the objects, but the impres- 

 3 sion which they have given, or would give, 

 ' which is to be imitated, so as to produce as 

 * distinct and vivid a conception as possible 

 '[of thoso objects. As the painter must 

 ! jchange the scale of light and color in which 

 he executes his picture, he only alters some- 

 thing which is subject to manifold change 

 ; according to the lighting, and the degree of 

 !j ffatigue of the eye. He retains the more es- 

 i sential, that is, tho gradations of brightness 

 I and tint. Here present themselves a series 

 '[ ; of phenomena which are occasioned by the 

 I [manner in which the eye replies to an exter- 

 I pal irritation ; and since they depend upon 

 the intensity of this irritation they are not 

 directly produced by the varied luminous in- 

 tensity and colors of the picture. These ob- 

 jective phenomena, which occur on looking 

 at the object, would be wanting if the painter 

 did not represent them objectively on his 

 canvas. The fact that they are represented 

 is particularly significant for tho kind of 

 problem which is to be solved by a pictorial 

 representation. 



Nov, in all translations, the individuality 

 of the translator plays a part. In artistic 

 productions many important points are left 

 to the choice of the artist, which he can de- 

 cide according to his individual taste, or ac- 

 cording to the requirements of his subject. 

 Within certain limits he can freely select the 

 absolute brightness of his colors, as well as 

 the strength of the shadows. Like Ilem- 

 brandt, he may exaggerate them in order to 

 obtain strong relief ; or he may diminish 

 them, with Fra Angelico and his modern imi- 

 tators, in order to soften earthly shadows in 

 the representation of sacred objects. Like 

 the Dutch school, he may represent the vary- 

 ing light of the atmosphere, now bright and 

 sunny, and now pale, or warm and cold, and 

 thereby evoke in the observer moods which 

 depend on the illumination and on the state 

 of the weather ; or by means of undisturbed 

 air he may cause his figures to stand out ob- 

 jectively clear as it were, and uninfluenced 

 by subjective impressions. By this means 

 great variety is attained in what artists call 

 " style" or" treatment," and indeed in their 

 purely pictorial elements. 



IV. HABMONY OP COLOR. 



We here naturally raise the question : If, 

 owing to the small quantity of light and 

 saturation of his colors, the artist seeks, in 

 all kinds of indirect ways, by imitating sub- 

 jective impressions to attain resemblance to 

 nature, as close as possible, but still imper- 

 fect, would it not be more convenient to 

 seek for means of obviating these evils ? 

 Such there are indeed. Frescoes are some, 

 times viewed in direct sunlight ; transpar- 

 encies and paintings on glass can utilize far 



higher degrees of brightness, and far moro 

 saturated colors ; in dioramas and in theatri- 

 cal decorations wo may employ powerful ar- 

 tificial light, and, if need be, the electrio 

 light. But when I enumerate these branches 

 of art, it will at once strike you that those 

 works which we admire as the greatest mas- 

 terpieces of painting, do not belong to this 

 class ; but by far the larger number of tho 

 great works of art are executed with tho com- 

 paratively dull water or oil-colors, or at any 

 rate for rooms with softened light. If 

 higher artistic effects could bo attained with 

 colors lighted by tho sun, we should un- 

 doubtedly have pictures which took advan- 

 tage of this. Fresco painting would have led 

 to this ; or the experiments of Munich's 

 celebrated optician Steinheil, which ho made 

 as a matter of science, that is, to produce oil 

 paintings which should be looked at in bright 

 sunshine, would not be isolated. 



Experiment seems therefore to teach that 

 moderation of light and of colors in pktures 

 is ever advantageous, and we need only look 

 at frescoes in direct sunlight, such as those 

 of tho new Pinakothek in Munich, to learn 

 in what this advantage consists. Their bright- 

 ness is so great that we cannot look at them 

 steadily for any length of time. And what 

 in this case is so painful and so tiring to the 

 eye, would also operate in a smaller degree 

 if, in a picture, brilliant colors wero used, 

 even locally and to p. moderate extent, which 

 wero intended to represent bright sunlight, 

 and a mass of light shed' over the picture. 

 It is much easier to produce an accurate im- 

 itation of tho feeble light of moonshine with 

 artificial light in dioramas and theatra deco- 

 rations. 



Wo may therefore designate truth to na- 

 ture of ft beautiful picture us an ennobled 

 fidelity to nature. Such a picture repro- 

 duces all that is essential in the impression, 

 and attains full vividness of conception, but 

 without injury or tiring the eye by the nude 

 lights of reality. The differences between 

 art and nature are chiefly confined, as w 

 have already seen, to those matters which w* 

 can in reality only estimate in an uncertain 

 manner, such as tho absolute intensities of 

 light. 



That which is pleasant to the senses, the 

 beneficial but not exhausting fatigue of our 

 nerves, the feeling of comfort, corresponds 

 in this case, as in others, to those conditions 

 which are most favorable for perceiving the 

 outer world, and which admit of tho finest 

 discrimination and observation. 



It has been mentioned above that the dis- 

 crimination of the finest shadows, and of the 

 modelling which they express, is the most 

 delicate under a certain moan brightness. I 

 should liko to direct your attention to an- 

 other point which has great importance in 

 painting : I refer to our natural delight in 

 colors, which has undoubtedly a great influ- 

 ence upon our pleasure in the works of the 

 painter. In its simplest expression, as pleas- 

 ure in gaudy flowers, feathers, stones, in fire- 

 works, and Bengal lights, this inclination has 



