PAINTING. 



ever, they were soon far surpassed by 

 their scholars, Giorgione da Castel Fran- 

 co, and Titian, who, superadding to .the 

 most astonishing richness of colour the 

 powerful light and shade of da Vinci, 

 produced works which, in their way, 

 have baffled all future attempts at im- 

 provement. The tone of colour of their 

 pictures is not that of nature in her 

 every-day garb ; it is in some respects 

 ideal, like the chiaro-scuro of Corregio 

 and Rubens, or the design of Michael 

 Angelo ; that which may be supposed, 

 but which is seldom found in nature : the 

 depth and mellowness of their tints seem 

 the effect of a tranquil, but vigorous 

 light, shining through the healed atmos- 

 phere of a summers evening. And here 

 it may not be foreign to our purpose 

 to observe, that there seems to be no- 

 thing in the colouring of Titian and 

 Giorgione incompatible with the greatest 

 purity of design, sublimity of concep- 

 tion, or propriety of expression ; where- 

 as the splendid extravagances, the bro- 

 caded stuffs, the gaudy trappings of the 

 f-Teater part of the more modern Vene- 

 tians, although they were perhaps all 

 masters of the theory of colours, are 

 wholly inconsistent with genuine expres- 

 sion and true grandeur : in short, the 

 sober senatorial dignity of Titian was 

 soon changed for show, for glitter, and 

 for ornamen 7 . ; invention, composition, de- 

 sign, and expression, were all made sub- 

 servient to the inordinate desire of effect 

 of colour. 



The short limits of this article will not 

 permit us to mention the numerous artists 

 who have excelled in chiaro-scuro and 

 colouring. These parts of the art, being 

 more especially calculated to give plea- 

 sure to the sight, have been more gene- 

 rally and more successfully practised, 

 than the arduous and less flattering task 

 of rational and expressive composition, 

 and correct design. 



In the present enquiry it has been our 

 chief aim to enforce such arguments as 

 are calculated to draw the attention of 

 the reader to the legitimate end of the 

 art; rhat, whilst the e\e is charmed with 

 beautiful forms, the magic of chiaro- 

 scuro, and the richiiess and harmony of 

 colours, the due expr, sj.ion of the sub- 

 ject of a piece may bo uttuiiK-d, it were 

 folly to deny: this union, indeed, cuiiiti- 

 tutes the perfection of painting, winch 

 should convey, like fin..- writing, truths to 

 the mind in language at once the most 

 forcible and beautiful; but -in attempt to 

 point out the means by which this delight 



may be conveyed to the sight, would ne- 

 cessarily require a minute investigation of 

 all the different modes which it is in the 

 power of the painter to adopt in the exe- 

 cutive departments of his art; and con- 

 sequently lead us, with perhaps, after all, 

 little prospect of success, far beyond the 

 limits we are obliged to prescribe to our- 

 selves. 



Simplicity with variety, inequality of 

 parts, with union in the whole, are, per- 

 haps, the basis of all those effects in 

 painting which give pleasure to the sight. 

 As in a composition one group, or one 

 figure, should strike the eye with supe- 

 riority over the secondary groups, or other 

 objects in the picture; so there should be 

 in a picture one principal mass ot light, 

 which, however connected with others, 

 should still predominate ; and for the 

 same reason no two colours should have 

 equal sway in the. same picture; as we 

 are at liberty to give the chief group or 

 figure of the composition that situation 

 which we judge most appropriate ; so 

 there is no rule by which we are obliged 

 to place the principal light in any one 

 given part of the picture. In clair-ob- 

 scure, an inequality of parts, a subordina- 

 tion of several small masses to one large 

 one, never fails to produce richness and 

 beauty of effect ; and thus, in composi- 

 tion, a similar richness and beauty are the 

 result of an opposition of several small bo- 

 dies or parts to one large and simple; 

 and in the same manner, from an arrange- 

 ment of several small masses of colour 

 in the vicinity of one large mass, the lat- 

 ter seems enriched, and to acquire addi- 

 tional consequence and beauty. 



As by the addition of smaller masses of 

 light, connected with the principal mass, 

 that mass acquires at once greater 

 breadth and influence, so the unity ot ac- 

 tion in a composition is in many cases 

 powerfully augmented by a repetition of 

 nearly the same action in two or three of 

 the accessorial figures arranged together, 

 one nevertheless- being- principal : this 

 was the frequent custom of Raffaele, has 

 its foundation in nature, where simitar 

 sentiments most frequently excite similar 

 outward demonstrations, and never fails, 

 if judiciously managed, to produce its ef- 

 fect. 



The doctrine of contrasts is equally ap- 

 pHcable to composition, to clair-obsc<ire, 

 a:iu to colouring. As in compost 

 too tVtquent contrast of lines, or of Lack 

 to from figures, is destructive oi' simplici- 

 ty and force of expression ; so the inordi- 



