1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



303 



above having been left open till lately), and partly from their having been 

 painted on an intonaco of lime and marble dust ; they have also suffered in 

 some measure from violence and mischief. 



Effect of Stained Glass on Paintings. — A few facts and observations con- 

 nected with the employment of stained glass in rooms with paintings in them 

 may not lie unimportant, as an opinion lias been expressed that windows 

 coloured in any degree are incompatible with paintings in rooms so lighted. 

 It rather appears, however, from many instances, that stained glass may be 

 sometimes so employed with great advantage; and that the excess of light 

 may be thus subdued or otherwise modified so as to produce the most 

 pleasing effect. 



In the cathedral at Munich the windows are coloured to a certain height, 

 and although the effect is far from pleasing considered in itself, yet it is very 

 useful as regards the pictures in the church, as the light is brought in from 

 above in an advantageous manner. 



At Saronno, near Milan, there are two small frescos by Luini with a 

 coloured circular window between. The pictures are lighted by a window 

 on one side, and could not be seen at all but for the exclusion of white light 

 by the coloured glass in the centre window. In St. Patrizio, at Bologna 

 there is an altar-piece under a window tilled with richly stained glass ; the 

 picture is well lighted from an opposite window, but if the window over it 

 had been of white glass it would have been impossible to see the picture, 

 which is very dark. The sun happened to shine through the rich hues of 

 the window above, and I observed here, as I had previously remarked at 

 Saronno, that the picture did not suffer in consequence. 



At Assisi in the upper church, all the windows, one excepted over the door, 

 are coloured, but in those which are painted, much of the glass is left white ; 

 the light is weak in this church, and it is thus apparent that it does not al- 

 ways answer to tint all the windows, even although pure light is partially 

 admitted, but where the light is sufficient every window in a room with 

 paintings may have a certain proportion of stained glass in it, provided pure 

 light be not altogether excluded. It may be objected that coloured rays 

 will he thrown on the frescos when the sun shines, but white rays are quite 

 as objectionable, and besides, frescos never should be placed where the suu 

 can shine upon them, as, like other pictures, they fade sooner or later under 

 its influence ; coloured glass in such a case might be an advantage, and the 

 inconvenience from the coloured rays would be temporary. 



Fresco-secco. — Certain processes of painting allied to fresco having been 

 referred to in the foregoing statement, it may be desirable to add a brief 

 account of them. 



The early mural pictures, although commenced in fresco, were, as before 

 observed, usually finished in distemper, and the vehicle employed was a mix- 

 ture of yolk of egg and vinegar. This mode of painting was adopted also 

 on panel and on canvass ; and it is probable that many Venetian pictures, 

 supposed to be entirely in oil, were painted in this manner, and then glazed 

 and finished with oil colour. 



There can be no doubt of the durability of this mode of painting on walls, 

 as there are many well-preserved examples of it by the early masters ; but I 

 am unable to quote any instance of the successful adoption of the process in 

 modern times. Professor Overbeck informed me that he painted in this 

 manner at Assisi, but that it was necessary to lay a ground of whiting on 

 the wall in the first place — a process which is manifestly objectionable, and 

 not in accordance with ancient practice. 



An Italian artist informed me that it is necessary first to give the wall a 

 coat of strong size, and then to give it a second coat mixed with the yolk of 

 egg and vinegar. 



Another mode of painting, of which there appear to be a few early exam- 

 plea, and of which there are many later ones, is called by the Italians/z-eseo- 

 secco. I was informed that a large painting by Orgagna, in the church of 

 Sta. Maria Novella, is in fresco-secco. I examined it. but hesitate to pro- 

 nounce an opinion. 



The later masters painted extensive works in this manner: the ceiling of 

 the great hall in the Barberini Palace in Rome appears to me to be in fresco- 

 secco ; and in Rome, Florence, and Genoa, the ceilings of most of the pa- 

 laces are covered with paintings executed in this manner; it is the mode of 

 painting still adopted in Italy for nearly all decorative purposes, is easy of 

 execution, and unquestionably durable, whilst it is certainly the most econo- 

 mical process which can be followed. 



Fresco-secco has been practised for some time in Munich : the ceilings of 

 corridors of loggie and those of staircases, are thus painted in the palace ; 

 and the Chevalier Von Klenze, who first introduced the process at Munich, 

 is satisfied with the experiments which have been there made with it. 



The following is a description of the method. The plastering of the wall 

 having been completed and lime and sand only having been used for the last 

 coat, the whole is allowed to dry thoroughly.' When a wall is intended to 

 be painted, the surface of the lime is rubbed with pumice-stone, and on the 

 evening of the day preceding that on which the painting is to be commenced 

 the plaster is thoroughly washed with water, with which a little lime has 

 been mixed. The wall is again wetted next morning, and then the cartoons 

 are fastened up and the outline is pounced. The artist then begins to paint. 

 The colours are the same as those used in fresco-huono, and are mixed with 

 water in the same way, lime being used for the white. 



If the wall should become too dry, a syringe, having many fine holes at 

 the end, is used to wet it. Work done in this nay will bear to lie washed as 

 well as real fresco, and is as durable : for ornament it is a better method 

 than real fresco, as in the latter art it is quite impossible to make the join- 



ings at outlines, owing to the complicated forms of ornaments; on this ac- 

 count walls thus decorated in real fresco present an unsatisfactory appear- 

 ance. The joinings are particularly observable in the loggie of the Vatican. 



Painting in fresco-secco can be quitted and resumed at any point. The 

 artist need not rigidly calculate his day's work, and can always keep the 

 plaster in a good state for working on. But whilst it offers these advantages, 

 and is particularly useful where mere ornamental painting is alone contem- 

 plated, it is in every important respect an inferior art to real frerco. Paint- 

 ings executed in this mode are ever heavy and opaque, whereas fresco is 

 light and transparent. Fresco-secco has been chiefly adopted by late and in- 

 ferior masters, and none of the works executed in this manner are of great 

 reputation. The early pictures which are designated by the Italians as 

 works in fresco-secco are not probably executed in this manner. The method 

 may have been adopted in repainting parts, and this may have led to the idea 

 that entire works were thus executed. 



Fresco-secco is extensively used in Italy at present, and with great suc- 

 cess : the chiaro-scuro decorations executed in this manner are excellent ; 

 but I found that at Milan, where I had an opportunity of examining some 

 specimens, it did not bear washing like the Munich process. The method 

 seemed the same, but the result differed in this respect, and I bad no oppor- 

 tunity of seeing the actual process of paintings executeil in this mode, in 

 any other part of Italy. 



At Genoa, where the paintings in the churches and palaces have no claim 

 to be called frescos, although generally so described, a compound process has 

 been followed in their execution. They were all commenced, or partly 

 commenced, in fresco, but were finished in distemper, and size has been used 

 for mixing the colours, as they can easily be removed by washing. The 

 object of the Genoese artists has been to supply the fancied deficiencies of 

 fresco- painting in point of colour; but, although they have succeeded in 

 making use of vermiliion, brilliant green, and bright yellow, they have not 

 produced satisfactory works of art. The paintings are garish, and out of 

 harmony ; the colours subsequently added in distemper do not harmonize 

 with those previously used in fresco, and the general effect is totally devoid 

 of that transparency which is distinctive of good fresco-painting. The Ge- 

 noese have brought fresco down to the level of mere size-painting; and the 

 works which they have left are proofs of the danger of carrying the practice 

 of retouching too far. 



In the Doria Palace instances occur in which it may be observed that the 

 entire picture was not prepared in fresco and then retouched in distemper, 

 but that portions were painted in fresco and then, the plaster being allowed 

 to dry, the remaining portions, not previously touched when wet, uere begun 

 nd finished in distemper. Pierino del Vaga, or perhaps Pordenone who 

 painted in the same palace, may have introduced this practice as well as 

 others equally objectionable. 



The annexed wood-cut, Fig. G, exhibits a contrivance for a scaffolding, &e. 

 formerly and still in use in the practice of fresco-paintiug. 



Fig. 6. 



Steps with a moveable sent, and which has an iron bo. I. ot clamp on the 

 end, and a leg equal in heighl in two steps. 



