1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



.-591 



works, but there is an example of the use of black as a preparation for blue 

 in the Farnesina, where Daniele daVolterra in his frescos on a ceiling in that 

 edifice has first laid in a coat of black in fresco, and then a coat of blue in 

 distemper. In some pictures, as for instance in those by Andrea Mantegna 

 in the Eremitani at l'adue, the blue of the skies has either partially changed 

 or entirely faded, whilst that of the draperies is comparatively well pre- 

 served, it is thus evident that from motives of economy different blues were 

 used in different portions of pictures. There are many other examples of 

 this in other parts of Italy. 



The Cardinal Bonaventura, in the fresco called the Dispute of the Sacra- 

 ment, by Raphael, is represented in a purplish-black robe which has been 

 painted over red; this is an instance of the adoption of an indirect process 

 with reference to another colour besides blue. It may be observed, that the 

 cardinal was a Franciscan, an order which is distinguished by a brown dress; 

 and, as it is not brown in the picture, this may perhaps be an instance of a 

 change of colour : but one object of this mode of painting seems to have 

 been the security of the colours against change, while another may have 

 been, the attainment of more harmony in the tone. In the picture just 

 mentioned, Raphael has followed precept in painting the blues in distemper 

 over red, and these have stood perfectly. In the School of Athens, on the 

 contrary, he has painted in the blues in fresco, and they have perished or 

 nearly so, as they have been in most instances in every part of Italy where blue 

 has been thus used; both in pictures of this and of previous times. In the 

 great works which Raphael subsequently painted in the Stanze he returned 

 to the old practice of painting the blues above red, probably dissatisfied with 

 the crudeness which was the result of using them on the wet plaster. The 

 blue that has thus been generally used seems to have been of a vegetable 

 nature, as in many instances it has changed to a brilliant green. It may be 

 urged that the use of ultramarine or cobalt may obviate all necessity for 

 such preparations, and secure the pictures against change ; but whilst the 

 former is by far too expensive a colour, the latter is crude and harsh in 

 fresco. It seems to have been the blue which was used by the Caracei, and 

 in their pictures, as in those of Gnido, it will be found to be frequently out 

 of harmony with the other colours ; either these have in some degree faded, 

 the blue remaining the same, or the blue has increased in intensity. Dome- 

 nichino used distemper extensively in his works; but in those of Guercino 

 will be found a triumphant solution of the difficulty ; his blues are put in in 

 fresco, and yet are in fine harmony with the other tones, they have generally 

 a warm purple hue, and may be either smalt, or cobalt tempered with red, 

 such as colccthar of vitriol. This is strongly exemplified in the Zampieri 

 Palace at Bologna, where the harmony apparent in a fresco of Guercino is 

 an agreeable relief, after the crudity which offends in those of his masters in 

 other rooms of the same palace : a comparison between the Aurora of Guido 

 in the Rospigliosi at Rome (all the blues in which are not retouched) and 

 that by Guercino in the Ludovisi, further corroborates the above observa- 

 tions. 



As has frequently been stated in the previous report, it was the practice to 

 retouch when the fresco was dry, more especially in the shadows. In some 

 cases it is now easy to detect this retouching : it will generally be found to 

 be proportionally somewhat darker than the painting around ; and whilst in 

 many frescos a remarkable polish or gloss may be observed even in situations 

 where that effect could not be produced by rubbing, the retouched parts are 

 invariably dim ; this is exemplified in the Evangelists by Domenicbino in the 

 church of S.Andrea della Valle at Rome: these are historically known to 

 have been retouched ; and in viewing them from particular spots, their sur- 

 faces arc seen to shine as if varnished, whilst some parts, which it may rea- 

 sonably be inferred are retouches, such as darks under the arms and in the 

 deep folds of the drapery, are quite flat and dim. 



There are portions in Raphael's pictures which present the appearance jus- 

 described ; in the School of Athens there are a few distemper touches evi 



Fig. 3. 



A, The entire sp.icc above the .lolled line is painted in 

 flowing hair included ; the cm being made at the dotte 



B B, represents the joining that, less carelul 

 C C C, Boundary of anotlwr day's work. 



me day, and the 

 lino C. The line 



trtists Mould have made. 



dently by the master's own hand, which have darkened: for instance, in one 

 bead he has had recourse to distemper to represent the external locks of 

 hair. This seems to indicate a difficulty in fresco which at first sight appears 

 formidable. In a picture by Gaudcnzio Ferrari, at Milan, a female head with 



long flowing locks is repre- 

 Fig. 4. sented, and the joining is made 



next the locks, and has a very 

 bad effect; the difficulty is suc- 

 cessfully overcome by the Ger- 

 man artists without having re- 

 course to distemper, and with- 

 out placing the joining so as to 

 injure the appearance of the 

 picture. This may best be ex- 

 emplified by a sketch : the fly- 

 ing tresses are painted in on 

 the back-ground on one day, 

 and the head is put in the next 

 day; the joining is indicated 

 by the dotted line in the figure 

 ("Figs. 3 & 4). The foliage of 

 trees is managed in the same 

 Work (or portions of work) of two days. wa y- It would be vain to think 

 The dotted line shows the cutting. The of cutting round the outline of 

 drapery under the beard is executed the foliage; the outer leaves and 

 same day as the head. thin projecting branches are 



executed on the same day with 

 the back-ground, and the cutting is kept quite within these. 



Transparency. — This important quality is perfectly attainable in fresco- 

 painting ; it is found in the works of the Roman and Florentine masters ; 

 amongst the latter, more especially in those of Andrea del Sarto ; in those 

 of the Lombards it is admirably maintained ; and its excess is seen in those 

 of the Venetians. 



It is not easy to explain how transparency is to be attained in fresco ; 

 there is, perhaps, no quality in which our German brethren are more defi- 

 cient; the brushes which they use are to an English eye small for the work, 

 and the first tint laid on with these presents a streaky appearance, which 

 perhaps could be obviated in some instances by the use of larger brushes, 

 and a different mode of using them. It will be easily understood how this 

 streaky appearance is produced ; having first given one wipe of the brush 

 full of colour, the artist follows it up with another, the colour sinking in 

 instantly, and as he cannot lay the second wipe exactly to the edge of the 

 first, the one overlaps the other in parts, and those parts are consequently 

 twice as dark as the others which have got only one wipe, and so he pro- 

 ceeds laying a tint composed of light and dark streaks, but nevertheless 

 transparent : this quality is lost in uniting the tint, for he continues to go 

 over the surface till he obtains what he seeks, a quiet flat tone, which how- 

 ever generally proves a heavy one. Now, in the ancient examples, this 

 union is obtained without sacrificing transparency. In a church near Cone- 

 gliano there are some curious frescos by a Venetian painter, in which the 

 excess of this quality is exhibited ; they do not merit the name of works of 

 art. and are very slightly executed ; the colours seem laid in in one wash 

 only, the plaster ground shining through ; but these bad pictures nrovc that 

 it is possible to lay in tints in a transparent and yet flat manner. 



Titian frequently makes use of the bare intonaco in particular places; 

 thus in his fresco of The Healing of the Foot of the Boy &c, in the Capi- 

 tolo of St. Antonio at Padua, the shadows are laid in with brown in a very 

 transparent manner, and for the half-tint he has left the bare lime. It may 

 lie doubted whether this practice is to be recommended ; it is never found 

 in the frescos of the Florentines or Romans, and that great fresco-painter, 

 Luini, obtains equal lightness and transparency without having recourse to 

 it. Such a practice gives a work a sketchy character which is objectionable, 

 especially in the principal figures. 



How the effect of transparency is to be mechanically obtained it remains 

 for the artist to discover by practice. 



A Milanese professor says that with a view to transparency it is necessary 

 to lay in the first tints early in the morning, and then to leave the work and 

 not resume it for two hours. He further says that the lime, if it have any 

 remains of an injurious caustic quality, exhaust its fury, to use his own 

 words, on these first colours, and may be more safely painted on afterwards. 

 It must be confessed that the frescos by Appiani, which he instanced as ex- 

 amples of the practice, are very far from exhibiting the quality of transpa- 

 rency. Other artists, however, hold the same opinion, and it is therefore 

 proper to state it. 



Hatching. — The prevalence of this practice amongst many of the old 

 masters (for it is evidently not always the result of retouching) seems to 

 prove that they also found a difficulty in getting flat tints ; in some of the 

 later masters it is a mere manner, but in earlier and better examples it may 

 have been adopted in the hope of getting a flat tint without destroying 

 transparency : whatever was the reason the practice was very general, and it 

 is to be observed that the great masters did not cross in this batching; the 

 lines lie all in one way, and Signor Colombo of Rome, says that the tempera 

 hatchings in Michael Angelo's Last Judgment are thus laid on with great 

 evenness and dexterity. 



In the works of Raphael, the most perfect of fresco-painters, there is no 

 hatching anywhere, nor is there in those of Correggio. The hatching with 



53 



