522 CALLOTECHNICS. 



present branch of the fine arts. It comprehends therefore the prin- 

 ciples of engraving ; the mechanical processes of which we have 

 already explained, (p. 519.) Painting holds a high rank among the 

 ornamental arts ; often addressing the understanding as well as the 

 feelings ; and hence subserving important purposes in science and 

 morals, as well as contributing to relaxation and amusement. 



Drawings, are made with the pen, pencil, or crayon : but paintings, 

 strictly so called, are executed with the brush ; either in water colors, 

 on paper, or ivory, sometimes called washing; or in a still stricter 

 sense, in oil colors, or distemper, on canvass, or on walls, or the like. 

 A picture shaded with only one color, is called a monochrome ; in 

 contradistinction from polychromes, shaded with various colors. As 

 regards the subjects represented, painting is designated as flower, 

 fruit, shell, or game painting, all in still life ; landscape, and marine 

 painting, either from nature or fancy ; portrait painting, which 

 requires both ease and accuracy of execution ; and historical paint- 

 ing, which demands the highest powers of the pictorial art. Portraits, 

 are painted either in miniature, that is, very small ; or in half size ; 

 or in full size, whether full length, or not : and as regards the posi- 

 tion, they are either in profile, giving a side view, or frontal, giving 

 a front view of the face. Historical paintings, comprehending 

 allegorical and mythological, require for their success, the choice of 

 a noble or striking subject, and of the best point of time, and of view, 

 for its exhibition. 



Painting or drawing, in a rude form, appears to have been prac- 

 tised in the earliest times, and by all the nations of antiquity. Thus, 

 among the monuments of Egypt, the walls of temples and caverns, 

 are often found painted with figures of men and animals, in colors 

 which have retained most of their brilliancy, notwithstanding the 

 lapse of ages. Most of these paintings, like those of the Mexican 

 Indians, are historical and hieroglyphical ; portraying the exploits of 

 warriors and the worship of the gods. This art was introduced into 

 Greece, it is said, by Euchirus, long before the Trojan war : but the 

 first Grecian painting, in various colors, appears to have been the 

 Battle of Magnet e, painted by Bularchus, about 720 B. C. Zeuxis 

 and Parrhasius, famed for their rivalry, brought this art to great per- 

 fection, in the age of Pericles ; and the picture of Venus Anady- 

 omene, or Venus rising from the sea, by Apelles, about 330 B.C., 

 was deemed the most graceful and faultless painting of ancient times. 

 Both the Greeks and Romans appear to have attached less value to 

 this art, than to Sculpture ; perhaps because it was less intimately 

 connected with their religious institutions. The ancient art of 

 encaustic painting, consisted in mingling the colors with wax, and 

 applying them to the wall, or other surface, in a melted state. 



The art of painting was revived, in Italy, by Cimabue, who flou- 

 rished at Florence, about A. D. 1270. He copied or studied the 

 ancient artists ; and improved the Italian style so much, that he has 

 often been termed the father of this art. After his time, four different 

 schools, or styles of painting, arose in Italy, distinguished as the 

 Florentine, Roman, Venetian, and Lombard. The Florentine 

 school, commenced with Cimabue ; and reached its acme in the 



