FRE 



tended at first to stand alone, will, with 

 difficulty, enter into composition without 

 some alteration ; though the Diana in the 

 Thesus, and the woman with wing's in the 

 Telephus, are more contrasted, and have 

 an air of motion. 



" The general taste of the composition 

 is remarkable, not only for its resem- 

 blance to statues, as I have observed be- 

 fore, but to bas reliefs also. It is 

 clear that the authors had them present 

 to their imagination, and that they had 

 made on their minds a very lively im- 

 pression. 



" The demi-tints are of an olive grey, 

 or of a yellowish or reddish cast, and 

 the shades of red, mixed with black. 

 The draperies, in general, are made with 

 little plaits, formed of light and flexible 

 stuffs, after the style of Roman sculpture." 

 The picture of Telephus is, however, an 

 exception, and seems to lead the author 

 to think, that the artist who performed 

 this piece was superior to those who ex- 

 ecuted the others. 



In the aggregate there are nogroupes, 

 harmony, or claro obscuro. Each figure 

 stands, as it were, independent, with its 

 own light and shade only, neither receiv- 

 ing reflected light from the next, nor 

 casting shade on it; nor are the shades 

 broken, but done with the same colour 

 as the half tints, and have merely less 

 white; this peculiarity arose from 'their 

 deficiency in the science of perspective, 

 which reduced the artist to the necessity 

 of making the graduation of distance by 

 the faintness of his colours. "For the 

 rest," adds the Count, ' the pictures are 

 done with ease, the touch is bold, and 

 the pencil handled freely, the colouring 

 being sometimes laid on in patches, and 

 sometimes softened down ; in a word, the 

 execution is light, and in the same style 

 nearly as we paint the decorations of our 

 theatres, the whole indicating a great 

 practice in the artists." 



Thus much is considered necessary, 

 in order to shew that the adoption of 

 many colours in Fresco paintings took 

 place subsequent to 471 ; like all other 

 arts, it must have been improved by de- 

 grees, and it cannot be doubted, that the 

 great masters, whose labours still adorn 

 the numerous churcnes and palaces in 

 Italy, contributed largely to its perfec- 

 tion, though it is well known that many 

 of their best works have suffered from 

 damps, which it is presumed will pre- 

 vent their stability wherever it prevails. 

 This circumstance has operated to so 

 great a degree in St. Peter's at Rome, 



that most of the old pictures have been 

 replaced by others in Mosaic. See MO- 

 SAIC. 



The same cause has prevented the fre- 

 quent use of Fresco painting in England, 

 except in mansions where a dry air is 

 constantly preserved; the necessity of 

 this precaution is demonstrated at pre- 

 sent in the dome of St. Paul's. The 

 manner of performing this description of 

 painting is, to work while the plaster is 

 wet which covers the wall to be deco- 

 rated; consequently, in the execution of 

 large subjects, the process of plastering 

 must immediately precede the brush of 

 the artist, and only in the proportion he 

 works, that the colours may incorporate 

 with the composition, and that it may 

 not absorb the water which dilutes them, 

 and prevent the free touches intended 

 for effect. 



Vitruvius, who calls Fresco painting 

 udo tectorio, gives an accurate account of 

 the extreme care which the ancients 

 thought necessary in preparing the sluc- 

 coes for the colours, and it must be ad- 

 mitted they succeeded admirably, when 

 we consider how very perfect the re- 

 mains of their productions now are, after 

 undergoing the sulphurous inhumation of 

 ashes, caused by the eruption of Vesuvi- 

 us, one thousand three hundred and 

 thirty-seven years past. The moderns,, 

 however, conceive that their iime and 

 sand is preferable. 



The design intended for a wall should 

 be drawn on paper, or any substance from 

 whence it may be transferred to the wet 

 plaster; the mode of proceeding must 

 afterwards be similar to that practised in 

 painting upon canvas. The colours should 

 be earths, exclusively, diluted with water 

 sufficiently to make them flow freely, but 

 not to decompose the plaster and mix its 

 surface with them ; long soft haired 

 brushes should therefore be preferred. 



FRESH suit, in law, is such a ready and 

 earnest following of an offender, as never 

 ceases, from the time of the offence being- 

 committed or discovered, until he be ap- 

 prehended ; and tke effect of this, in the 

 pursuit of a felon, is, that the party pur- 

 suing shall have his goods again, whereas, 

 otherwise, they are forfeited to the king. 

 Anciently the law was strict in this case, 

 but now the goods are, in all cases, re- 

 stored to the party. 



FRESH, a term used at sea, to signify 

 a strong, but not violent or dangerous, 

 wind : hence, when the gale increases, 

 it is said to freshen. In the plural, the 

 word implies the impetuosity of an ebb~ 



