352 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Septkmbkk, 



" Tlie surface to be painted on must be a solid dry coat of stucco grounded 

 vith a mixture of such colours as will give a suitable tone of colour aud 

 depth. Tlie first coat or ground is to be fixed by the couterium with a 

 moderate degree of fusion. The subject may be sketched on this ground 

 with chalk or charcoal ; and precise outlines, especially of minute forms, can 

 be traced or sketched in with a metallic point or etching needle. The can- 

 terhim or salamander is not to be used again until the whole surface is 

 covered and the effect advanced to a certain degree. It is clear that the 

 manipulation of these materials, differing greatly, from painting in oil, will 

 succeed more readily in the hands of an artist who has had some practice in 

 fresco or in distemper ; and as the surface is in most cases perpendicular 

 some care is required to prevent the colour from running down. 



" When the inustion by the canterium is finished, ajid the whole surface 

 of the picture cooled, it may be poHshed by friction with cioth or hard 

 cushions, covered with some more or less rough texture, or with some of the 

 implements used in polishing wood."-' 



Those who recommend in preference the solution of wax in spirit, and the 

 addition of resins, do not profess to have discovered the precise process of 

 the Greeks, but they have not failed to remark that the ancient writers speak 

 of resins as entering into the ingredients of painting.-^ 



The credit of having suggested the present systems of wax-painting, which 

 are adopted with various modifications at Paris and Munich, is generally 

 attributed to Montabert, who, in the eighth volume of his comprehensive 

 " Traitt' complet de la Peinture,"-'= extols this art abovethat of oil painting. 

 In consequence of the difficulty of reviving the study of Fresco painting in 

 France, the attention of many artists and chemists has been turned to the 

 employment of wax painting, and various churches and public buildings in 

 Paris have been already decorated in this mode. In Munich, also, consi- 

 derable works are in progress, executed in a method analogous to that of 

 Montabert. 



The advantage of wax as a vehicle is its durability. A wall painted white, 

 partly with wax and partly with oil, exhibits the same tint for some days, 

 but by degrees the oil colour darkens, aud after some montlisjthe two por- 

 tions are quite distinct ; that which was painted in wax retaining all its 

 brilliancy. 



To this advantage is opposed, besides the difficulty of manipulation, the 

 dull effect of dark shadows in pictures executed in wax. This is owing to 

 the semi-opaque nature of the material, and is unavoidable as long as the 

 absence of gloss on the surface is considered indispensable; but the colours 

 become much more vivid after the surface is polished, and the admixture of 

 resins tends to give clearness to the deeper shades. 



Some of the French artists have gone farther ; they have added a portion 

 of oil to the cero-resinous medium, and by this means attain any degree of 

 richness they please.-' In this last system the »?«/ quality, or absence of 

 gloss, is in a great measure abandoned, and the method is only to be consi- 

 dered a means of lessening the quantity of oil, and consequently of avoiding 

 the danger of a horny and darkened surface. 



Some German artists, again, have considered it essential that the resinous 

 ingredient should predominate, and have recommended only a thirtieth part 

 of wax, the rest consisting entirely of hquid resin-" (balsam). 



Wax painting, properly so called, from its not admitting of much force 

 (while its lights are assumed to be unchangeably bright), would suggest a 

 particular style and choice of subjects ; and as all colours (according to the 

 French chemists) may be employed in it, it is considered to be particularly 

 fitted for poetical subjects adapted to the lighter kinds of decoration. It is 

 for such purposes that it has been chiefly employed in Munich. 



The following is a description of the methods in general use at Paris and 

 at Munich. 



A wall which is to be painted in wax (and the same principle is applicable 

 to all mural pictures) should not be quite perpendicular, but should incline 

 inwards, with reference to the room, in,.its upper part. By this means the 

 work is better seen, and dust is less apt to collect on it. The surface should 

 be levigated ; it is then to be thoroughly dried hy heat, and lastly to be 

 saturated with the following mixture: 10 parts of white wax, 2 parts of 

 resin, and 40 parts of spirit of turpentine. This liquid is made to penetrate 

 the wall or stucco by means of heat,-^ and the application is repeated till 

 the surface ceases to absorb. Holes or irregularities are to be stopped with 

 a mastic composed of wax, resin, and whiting. Over this preparation a coat 

 or two of wax colour is to be spread as a ground for the painting. 



The wax used in painting shoidd be bleached and perfectly free from ex- 

 traneous matter.' » The resiu recommended by Montabert is that called 



2 4 Extract of a letter from Mr. John King, chemist, 2li, Mall, Clifton, Bristol. Aug. 

 21, 1842. 



25 A wi'iter of the second centurj', Julius Pollux, enumerates among the materials of 

 painters, wax, colours, and ' pharmaca.' Various Greek epigrams mention frankincense 

 CLibanas, Libanoton) as entering into the composition of paintings. Other examples are 

 quoted by SoehnOe, " Recterches nouvelles sur les Proc^dis de Peintre des anciens," 

 Paris, 1822, p. 36, and by Em^ric David, ib. p. 171. Compare Knirim, " Die Harimalerei 

 der Alten," Leipzig, 1839. 



2S Paris, 1829. 



- ' The method__of Taubenheim is analogous.— See Fratrel " La Cire alli^e avec rHuile," 

 &c. Mauheim, 1770. The later practice of Joshua RejTiolds was probably sugg«sted ijy 

 the researches prosecuted on the Continent at the corresponding period, respecting wax- 

 painting. 



28 See Knirim, ib. p. 182. 29 See the Second Report, p. 50. 



^30 The ■ punic wax ' of the ancients was nothing more than bleached wax. Pliny, 1. 

 -1, c. 14, and Dioscorides, 1. 2, c. 105. Compare Retjueno, ib. v. 2, p. 81!. Bleached wax 

 IS easily procured, but the white wax sold for ordinary purposes is mixed with spermaceti. 



elemi ; this combined with wax and an essential oil is the vehicle in which 

 the colours are ground, and which serves to work them. The proportions 

 are, 1 part of resin, and 4 parts of wax, dissolved over a water-bath in 16 

 parts of essence of spike-lavender.-' ' The colours are ground in this gluten, 

 diluted as may be required during the operation of grinding by the addition 

 of the essence. They are then preserved in glass or earthenware vessels, and 

 if they get hard (which can only happen after a considerable time) they may 

 be dissolved with the essence or ground again and are always fit for use. 

 Instead of elemi, copal may be used by those who prefer hard resin.= ^ 



The solution of wax alone is effected by the same essence, and this pre- 

 paration is available when the artist wishes to increase the proportion of 

 wax. The paste may be thinned with water by grinding it thoroughly with 

 a muller, and gradually adding water to the amount of four times the weight 

 of wax. This is called the milk of wax, and serves as a varnish for pictures 

 executed in the above mode."^ The solution of elemi or other resins in the 

 essence, without wax, may also be employed when the resinous ingredient is 

 required in greater abundance. To these materials may be added the essen- 

 tial oil of wax (procured from wax by distillation) which evaporates more 

 slowly than that of lavender, and may sometimes be of use in the practice of 

 this art.-'" 



A process introduced in Munich by Professor Fernbaeh is not yet made 

 known, but it is supposed to consist merely in the addition of liquid resin 

 (balsam) to the wax, instead of artificial solutions of hard resinous sub- 

 stances."'^ 



The methods more commonly practised in Germany differ but little from 

 the system of Montabert. The following descriptions have been obligingly 

 furnished by the artists : — 



" For large paintings it is desirable that the ground should be somewhat 

 rough. In Munich it is prepared as follows. A mortar composed of three 

 parts of sand and one of lime is spread on the wall. AYhen this is done the 

 whole surface, while moist, is rubbed with a linen cloth ; the result is a 

 granulated ground, like rough paper. For small works, ornaments, &c., the 

 ground requires to be smooth, and in such cases finely pounded white marble 

 should be mixed with the lime instead of sand ; the mortar so composed 

 being then carefully spread and made even. 



" The encaustic vehicle is prepared as follows : — To one pound of rectified 

 spirit of turpentine add half a pound of Damara resin and a quarter of a 

 pound of wax. The resin should be pounded to powder, and the wax cut 

 up in small pieces. Both are then to be put into an earthenware or copper 

 vessel, and the spirit of turpentine poured on them. Place the vessel on a 

 moderate charcoal fire, so that the solution may take place slowly. When 

 the ingredients are dissolved the vehicle is ready for use, and should be kept 

 in glass bottle well stopped to prevent the volatile oil from escaping. Should 

 the mixture become too thick in time, spirit of turpentine may be added. 

 The colours are ground in such a quantity of this vehicle as is necessary to 

 saturate them. If during the grinding the pigment tends to set (dry) spirit 

 of turpentine should be added. For extensive paintings the colours are kept 

 in glass vessels. For smaller works they may be tied up in bladders like 

 colours for oil painting. The same colours which are employed in oil may 

 also be used in encaustic painting. 



" It is essential that the ground on which the painting is to be executed 

 should be quite dry. Then the whole surface to be painted is to be washed 

 over with milk. When this is dry a ground of encaustic colour is to be 

 spread on the wall, the artist selecting any tone he pleases. This being done 

 the surface is suffered to dry well, which will require some days, as it is im- 

 portant that the colour should be in no danger of being dissolved by subse- 

 quent operations. The artist can then begin to paint. 



" In executing ornaments on a coloured ground, the ground must be com- 

 posed of two or three coats (not too thick), each of which should be allowed 

 to dry separately. The time required for drying varies according to the state 

 of the weather. As soon as the pigment used for the ground is no longer 

 easily dissolved, — a degree of hardness which it often attains in the course 

 of a day, the painter may begin to work. 



" When the painting, whether consisting of ornaments or other subjects, 

 is finished and sufficiently dry, the whole is to be thinly passed over with 

 the encaustic vehicle applied with a large brush, and after a day or two this 

 varnish is to be heated with a charcoal fire, to such a degree, however, as 

 not to injure the colours. The result is an equal but moderate shine over 

 the whole surface." 



Another process, practised at Munich in 1843, may complete this list of 

 recipes : — 



To a pound of turpentine (resin), evaporated to dryness by heat, add half 

 a pound of powdered Damara resin, and a quarter of a pound of bleached 

 wax, cut into small pieces. To be heated as before ; and, when used, to be 

 diluted, when necessary, with spirit of turpentine. 



A mode of cleaning wax paintings is described, together with the materials 

 now used by the French artists, in Durosiez's pamphlet, before quoted. 



The following description of the nature and advantages of wax, as adapted 



a r ' Essence d'aspic' — It is prepared from the wild lavender (Lavandula major or lati- 

 folia). It evaporate more slowly than spirit of turpentine. 



3 2 Durosiez, ib., p. IG. 



3 3 Ure, "Dictionary of Arts," &c., article Varnish, describes the preparation of milk 

 of wax by means of spirits of wine. 



3 4 See Durosiez, ib. 



3S Balsams, as Is well-known, are native compounds of resins with eaeential oils. 



