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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[September, 



ON FRESCO PAINTING. 



Bv Joseph Severn, of Rome.* 



(Continued from page 189.^ 



On a former occasion (see ante, p. 189), I was not altogether aware of 

 the difficulties that fresco-painting might possibly have to encounter in its 

 introduction into England ; perhaps my enthusiasm on the subject had a 

 little blinded me. Being seriously anxious for the success of the experiment, 

 I think it better now to review some of those diiTiculties which architecture, 

 ■with painting, hand in hand, may have to surmount. But, to lighten a dis- 

 agreeable task, I propose also to advert to the bright side of the subject— I 

 mean the union of architecture and fresco-painting, as regards invention. 

 It is a melancholy reflection, admiring and loving fresco-painting as I do, for 

 its high capabmties as appUcable to England, that from mere caprice it may 

 be spurned by our artists as well as the pul)hc. This may arise from the 

 singular apathy which prevails in this country with respect to painting as an 

 intellectual art, as a moral power. Yet when the great simplicity of painting 

 is considered, its universal language, as addressed alike, without the difficulty 

 of translation, to all nations— to the leanied and ignorant— to children, to 

 babes— to all— it must be felt as a great power— and one, in this country, 

 never fairly exercised ; if indeed it has ever been exercised at aU, which 



I doubt. 



This English apathy with regard to painting as a moral power is such, 



that at this moment I know of nothing but the novelty of fresco-painting 



likely to recommend it to my countrymen ; for, unless it can give " good 



things and understanding too," it will be regarded merely for its material 



interest, and not as the facile means of conveying a new and solid pleasure 



in opening the wondrous resources of art, and making painting rank with 



poetry and philosophy as a moral agent. More money is spent on the arts 



in England from one end of the year to the other than was ever spent before, 



or is distributed in any other country, or, perhaps, even in all other countries 



put together. But, in converse ratio to the money, is the time given to the 



arts This is assuredly less than is devoted to any other intellectual pursuit : 



and here I come to the great evil— an evil for which I see no remedy but 



state patronage. The generality of English pictm-es are produced by our 



artists, without due consideration of the decorum and power of the art, and 



are of 'course looked at in the same light by the pubhc ; but when once a 



tone and a taste are given, by Governuient protection, and its connection 



with architecture, there is then some hope that these vast annual sums will 



be properly expended, that our homes will be adorned with instructive orna- 



ments, and a new delight experienced by the English people. Without this, 



I fear that fresco, with all its capabilities— the good it will do to oil-painting 



in the education of the artists— the noble way it wiU call up the splendour 



of past English history— the opportunities it will give us to vie with foreign 



nations in the higher branches of art— I fear that all these advantages may 



be lost, and painting become subordinated to the upholsterer, who will reap 



the hard earnings of the artist, and take all the credit of his labours. So 



much we have to fear from the apathy of the artists and the ignorance of 



the public ; for they may go on as they do now, charging each other with 



want of capacity, until the upholsterer steps in, like the lawyer in the oyster 



fable, eats up the prize, and gives an empty shell to each '. 



To avert this consummation, the first experiment must be made in an entire 

 -work— in a complete composition, bringing fairly together on a large scale 

 all the powers of fresco, in which it excels every other manner of painting. 

 Thus developed, I am certain some fine point of our history would strike 

 every one bv its simplicity and grandeur, two things unknown in our art 

 now! I see, even at this moment, " in my mind's eye" young Richard the 

 Second riding up to the rebellious crowd as their new leader and king, whilst 

 . "Wat Tyler sinks confounded in death under the heroic blow of the Mayor ; 

 " then the consternation and doubt in the King's attendants at the result, 

 contrasted with the panic of the crowd— the action taking place in a large 

 open space, admitting the crowd, the horses, and even the buildings of the 

 time. Some such subject, fairly and honestly wrought, would insure the 

 success of fresco. The English have too much love for dramatic history in 

 books not to like it equally in painting, but it must be in a picture suited to 

 them. I cannot but think that the adaptation of fresco to our Enghsh pur- 

 poses and feelings is the only way to extend the sphere of history painting, 



* We are indebted for the continuation of this paper to the Athencemn.- 

 KniTOR. 



as the powers it affords invention are greater than those admitted by oil- 

 painting, and includes so many things in common with architecture. Nay, 

 it is not too much to anticipate the creation among us of a new style of art, 

 since the materials we have to work up and upon seem to be almost un- 

 touched. I think I am correct in observing that, as a people, we always 

 search for something like a story in all works of imagination, and appreciate 

 most of all the things which help to illustrate the story. This is an excellent 

 groundwork for the British heroic fresco-painter. I think also, as I have been 

 speaking of our ignorance of high art, I may fairly add, that our love for the 

 other and lower walks of art has not been fairly noticed or appreciated, cer- 

 tainly not turned to account. During my absence from home, I was taught to 

 believe that the Enghsh were dull and careless about the arts in every way, 

 showing no feeling but the bad one of mutilating statues and scraping pic- 

 tures ; but my own eyes have taught me that these assertions are untrue. 

 Consider the paying crowds in the exhiliitions ; is not this a strong example 

 of love for the arts .' Count the numbers who visit so respectfully Windsor 

 and Hampton Court ; is not this a genuine sign ? Nay, take the more 

 humble spectators who congregate and buzz about the print-shops, like "bees 

 about a honey-crocke," and shall we not find in them symptoms of the most 

 ardent love and the most elegant taste, if it were cultivated by education ■ 



Now Fresco is to aid this cultivation, inasmuch as it will extend the art to 

 history, and connect it with architecture ; thus giving a purpose and a sig- 

 nificance to painting, since I conclude the object of the building will always 

 extend to the subject of the pictures. A succession of subjects illustrating 

 the lives of our heroes will be demanded. The story, for instance, of our 

 Alfred would thus form a kind of epic poem in painting, when done in 

 architectural fresco, since the pictures may be united into a series, not only 

 by the progressive relation of incidents, but by appropriate ornaments still 

 farther illustrating the period. A suite of rooms in this way may be made 

 as one, through which the gazer may walk with the same mental profit as he 

 enjoys in reading history, for they will afford him a kind of animated. reading 

 at a glance. 



Painting represents only one moment of time, but that moment compre- 

 hends the past and the future, since both must be implied to make the 

 present action intelligible. Unless the subject admits of this, all the force 

 of expression and the variety of character, all the costumes, the architecture, 

 and the landscape are thrown away, for all must be seen at a glance, and 

 that glance must take in the whole sul)ject. Hence I conceive painting is 

 the most natural and simple of the arts, and the best suited to convey a 

 moral. How proud shall we feel to see the noble deeds of our forefathers 

 warming up the walls of those buildings which are the result of those deeds ! 

 To see our Alfred, when a fugitive, singing to the Danes, and then conquering 

 them— to see him modelling his little ships, and then building up his empire 

 —to see him constructing a lantern and a clock— translating the Holy 

 Scriptures— and compiling the laws of England, which still are standing like 

 the rock of his own immortal fame, even to our days— the second thousand 

 years bringing out their value tenfold. What heroic subjects are there to 

 compare with this ? for, while it has all the abstract beauty and sublimity of 

 the true heroic, even to the charms of antiquity, it is at the same time about 

 us- it is the element of the glorious liberty we live in— it is the power which 

 has extended our empire round the world, in peace and lilierty, in reUgion 

 and philosophy. What bosom can be insensible to such deeds, when they 

 are represented on a scale worthy of their grandeur ? but this can only be 

 accomplished when painting is assisted by architectm-e— when it has the aid 

 of grand proportions— when its figures are life-size at least— when its back- 

 grounds are ample— but most of all when the use of the building it adorns 

 has suggested the choice of subject. 



It is true that the art of painting is only to be acquired by years of devoted 

 attention, but this does not apply so much to the inventive as to the me- 

 chanical part. The story told by a picture should be intelUgible to all. I 

 can well remember, when a boy, the strong impression made on me by the 

 cartoons of Raffaello, which raised an interest and curiosity in my mind that 

 led me not only to read the particular chapters explaining the important 

 scripture subjects they present, but also to begin anew the entire reading 

 of the Bible, with the'first love I felt for it, and certainly the first intelligence 

 about it. To those who infer that no benefit can come from the fine arts I 

 would address these remarks, for is it possible that when Ratfaello has given 

 us those immortal pictures, more than sermons, that we should still look 

 down on the art as a thing merely sensual ? Is it possible that the dying 

 Ananias, extended on the ground before the Apostles, who caU down the 

 vengeance of Heaven on his uncharitable lie— whilst even, when his horror- 

 struck friends faU back from him, his unconscious wife behind is stiU counting 



