132 ON THE RELATION OF OPTICS TO PAINTING. 



towards rose-red. Still more satisfactory combinations 

 are those of three tints which bring about equilibrium 

 in the impression of colour, and, notwithstanding the 

 great body of colour, avoid a onesided fatigue of the 

 eye, without falling into the baldness of complemen- 

 tary tints. To this belongs the combination which 

 the Venetian masters used so much red, green, and 

 violet; as well as Paul Veronese's purple, greenish 

 blue, and yellow. The former triad corresponds ap- 

 proximately to the three fundamental colours, in so 

 far as these can be produced by pigments ; the latter 

 gives the mixtures of each pair of fundamental colours. 

 It is however to be observed, that it has not yet been 

 possible to establish rules for the harmony of colours 

 with the same precision and certainty as for the con- 

 sonance of tones. On the contrary, a consideration of 

 the facts shows that a number of accessory influences 

 come into play, 1 when once the coloured surface is 

 also to produce, either wholly or in part, a representa- 

 tion of natural objects or of solid forms, or even if it 

 only offers a resemblance with the representation of 

 a relief, of shaded and of non-shaded surfaces. It 

 is moreover often difficult to establish, as a matter o f 

 fact, what are the colours which produce the harmonic 

 impression. This is pre-eminently the case with 



1 Conf. E. Briicke, Die Physioloc/ie der Farben fur die Zrvecltc 

 der Kungtgemer'be. Leipzig, 1866. W. v. Bezold, Die Farlenlelire 

 in Hinblick auf Kunst wid Kunstgenerbe. Braunschweig, 1874. 



