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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[November, 



which the Cupids of the last named painter in the Convent of St. Paolo, at 

 Parma, are covered and destroyed, is manifestly the work of another hand ; 

 the lunettes underneath have fortunately escaped this profanation. 



Solid Painting. — This is a quality that is easily attainable ; it will be best 

 understood by observing, that whilst the plasterer lays on a preparatory in- 

 tonaco of lime and sand with the trowel, the artist lays on a finishing one of 

 lime and colour with the brush, and he may employ it as thickly as he 

 pleases. I observed in the works of Pordenone in Sta. Maria in Campagna, 

 at Piaccnza, that the lights were laid on with such a body of colour that 

 before the lime had time to set, the artist's sleeve, or mahl-stick, or some- 

 thing else in his way, has accidentally ploughed through his work, which he 

 has not been able, or has not cared to mend. 



Paul Veronese, in his frescos in the Villa Mazer, has charged his lights; 

 and his imitators in their works, both in the above villa and in that of the 

 Obizzi near Padua, have loaded so much that the lights stand up in lumps 

 upon the wall. Such extravagancies, like the washing iu of the shadows in 

 the pictures near Conegliano before mentioned, are poor substitutes for a 

 careful imitation of nature. 



The lights must of necessity he thicker than the shadows, as there is more 

 lime in the colours of the former than in those of the latter. The great 

 masters laid in their colours without ostentatious handling ; their works ex- 

 hibit no tricks of manipulation ; but it is surprising to observe the manner in 

 which some artists seem to have worked their tints. Pordenone has already 

 been alluded to, and Polidora da Caravaggio produces an effect as if liis 

 brush had been full of macguilp, as may be seen in his frescos in Rome, viz. 

 in St. Andrea on Monte Cavallo, and in the Farnesina. 



It is necessary to mention these instances to prove the extraordinary dex- 

 terity that has been attained in painting in fresco, a dexterity however, which 

 is not to be admired when it produces such effects, and which too often dis- 

 tinguishes the pencil of mediocrity. 



Glazing. — This process is frequently exemplified in the fresco-works of the 

 old masters ; its most successful application is seen in those of Razzi at 

 Siena, where the celebrated picture called the " Cristo alia Colonna," in the 

 gallery of the Academy, is a particularly interesting example of its legitimate 

 application in fresco, that is, of its use while the plaster is still moist; in this 

 instance parts are made out by means of it, and much lightness and transpa- 

 rency are attained. 



Pordenone invented or adopted some process which resembles that common 

 in oil-paiuting ; his works have evidently been glazed after the lime had been 

 allowed to dry; the flesh in all his figures is richly glazed — the transparent 

 colour filling up the hollows arising from the peculiar loading already 

 described as so remarkably exhibited in his frescos, if they can he called 

 such. Polidoro da Caravaggio seems to have adopted some analogous 

 method, hut probably these are the only masters who can be quoted a having 

 adopted a practice so foreign to fresco-painting. Perhaps the artist who 

 lpainted the papal chair-bearers in the Ileliodorus may be added to this brief 

 list. The adoption of such a practice evidently arises from a misapprehension 

 of the legitimate application of fresco-painting. Jt will be found that the 

 Venetian painters generally had no clear idea of the true mode of employing 

 this art i even Titian fell into the mistake of trying to produce effects of 

 light and shadow and colours, like those which he had been in the habit of 

 producing in bis oil-pictures. The light and brilliant colouring uf Paul 

 Veronese enabled him to paint with more success in fresco than the gene- 

 rality of his Venetian brethren ; but in his works it is evident that this is 

 merely the result of his system, not any attempt at an application of the 

 principles of colour suited to the peculiar art of fresco-painting, which he 

 sometimes practised, and most successfully at the Villa Mazer. Palma 

 Vecchio alone of the Venetian masters seems to have truly estimated the 

 powers of fresco ; there are two saints by him in S. Liberate at Castelfranco, 

 which have breadth and dignity. 



Razzi has already been alluded to as an artist whose works most promi- 

 nently exemplify legitimate glazing in fresco; it is not apparent in the works 

 of any other master to the same extent. 



Time occupied in Painting. — It is not difficult, in examining some frescos, 

 to ascertain the time occupied in painting them. In some examples, the 

 joinings by means of which this calculation can be made are distinctly 

 visible ; in others they are either so well executed, or are so concealed by 

 the use of distemper, that it is very difficult to trace them. It is evident 

 that the old masters painted with great rapidity; large and important works, 

 judging from the following examples, were executed in a mouth or six weeks. 



The " Incendio del Borgo," in the Stanze, seems to have been painted in 

 about forty days; the group of the young man carrying his father has been 

 executed in three days. The exquisite group of the traces, in the Farnesina, 

 by Raphael, has been painted, at most, in five days. The Cupid and the 

 head of the Grace, with her back to the spectator, have occupied one day; 

 the back and part of the lower limb of the latter figure, another. In this 

 day's work the rest of the leg may have been included. There appears to 

 be a joining across the knee; there was certainly one across the next ; both 

 these joinings do not follow outlines, but are iu parts of the figure which 

 are in shadow. It is of course better, as has been already observed, to cut 

 by outlines ; but this is not always possible, especially iu very large figures. 

 The Germans prefer cutting across a broad light when circumstances compel 

 the artist to make a joining where there is no outline. The graceful com- 

 position called the Galatea, also in the Farnesina, has been entirely executed 

 in eleven or twelve days; the head and body of the principal figure have 

 been painted in one day. This subject will be further incidentally illustr 



Duration of Frescos. — The circumstances which must be taken into con- 

 sideration in judging of the duration of frescos have already been adverted 

 to. It has been shown that where proper constructive principles have been 

 attended to, and where the walls are of good and appropriate materials, the 

 safety of the paintings is in a great measure secured, and it may he cer- 

 tainly proved that fresco is a very durable mode of painting, not surpassed 

 in this respect by any Other, if indeed equalled. But independently of the 

 most careful building, various causes luay contribute to the deterioration or 

 destruction of frescos, and as these have been very distinctly described in 

 the First Report it is not necessary to say much on the subject further than 

 to state a few facts. Damp is the greatest enemy of this kind of painting; 

 it ascends through the walls from the soil, and descends from ill-constructed 

 or dilapidated roofs. In Venice, where the houses actually stand in the 

 water, the external plastering falls off entirely to a height of twenty feet ; 

 in Milan, Padua and elsewhere, I obi :ryed that paintings arc obliterated on 

 walls to a height of from seven to eight feet from the ground. The destina- 

 tion of many fine works on roofs and on the upper part of walls is entirely 

 to be attributed to culpable negligence, or to ignorance ; this is painfully 

 exemplified in the Duomo at Parma ; the uld insufficient roof over the dome 

 still exists under the new leaded one which has been added to save the 

 wrecks of Correggio's works from final destruction; and the inadequate 

 construction of the former is sufficiently apparent in the section, Fig. 5. 



Fiu'. 5. 



Duomo, Parma. 



Many examples might be adduced of injury resulting to frescos from imper- 

 fect rooting, and the fact having been recognized, precautions have DOW 

 been taken alter irreparable injury has been done. The tiled roofs of Italy 

 have everywhere been a constant source of injury to frescos, but in some few- 

 instances precautions of an extraordinary nature have been taken to make 

 the roof water-tight. At the Villa Mazer flat tiles have been laid at right 

 angles to the roof-timbers, the joints being filled with lime. These tiles re- 

 present the planking under slates in this country, and the ordinary roof tiles 

 arc put over them in the usual way ; this makes an impenetrable but very 

 heavy roof. The plan has lately been adopted in the Palazzo del Giardino at 

 Parma, the frescos there by Annibale Caracci having suffered from damp. The 

 Caracci have evidently been alive to the necessity of taking precautions 

 against damp : the vault in the Farnese Palace in Rome, which is under an 

 open loggia, is covered with lead ; at the Palazzo del Giardino the upper 

 surface of the vaults has been carefully plastered; but this has not sufficed. 



Some frescos by Allori, in the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence, which are on a 

 six-inch brick wall, have lately been destroyed by plastering the back of the 

 wall. In the Library at Siena, the paintings on the vaults were ruined by 

 some masons who mixed lime above them. All these facts prove the neces- 

 sity of preventing, by every possible means, the passage of damp through 

 the walls, and there is no difficulty whatever in effecting this. 



External frescos may never be executed in this country, but their preser- 

 vation iu some parts of Italy may encourage their adoption in corridors and 

 porticos. Paintings are found to be well preserved on external walls turned 

 to a favourable weather quarter. Thus, as at Genoa and Treviso, although 

 frescos are nearly obliterated by the action of the weather on some walls, it 

 is to be observed that wherever they are protected by the projection of a 

 roof or cornice, they are well preserved. External damp or sea air has no 

 bad effect. The obliteration of external frescos in Venice cannot be attri- 

 buted to this, since those at Genoa are preserved ; and those in the Campo 

 Santo at Pisa, are doubtlessly destroyed by damp from the soil and roof. 

 As has already been observed, that by Orgagna, in the same place, has not 

 suffered at all from the action of the atmosphere. 



The paintings iu the upper loggia of the Vatican have suffered severely, 

 owing to the inefficient construction of the roof. Those beneath, from Ra- 

 phael's designs, have been much obliterated, partly by damp (the corridor 



