bs 
* Numidicus. 
3 Ova. 
* Sinadicus, 
» For they wer 
fo made that 
they mought 
be taken off & 
fet on againce 
The five and thirtieth Booke 
; Cc H A P, I. ‘ 
e& The honour of flat picture in old time. 
pe 
Se 
O begin then with that which remaineth as touching Pi@tureand Paintingthis 
|| would be knowne, That in times paft it was reputed a noble andexcellent Art: 
in thofe daies I meane, whe Kings and whole States made account thereof; 
gir |! and when thofe onely were thought ennobled and immortalized whom pain- 
&— ty)’ ters vouchfafed to commend by their workmanthip to pofteritie. But now, the 
= marble and porphyrit ftones have put painting cleane downe: the gold alfo 
laid upon them hath woon all credit from painters colours: gold | fay,wherewith not only plaine 
and entire walls are richly guilded all over, but alfo the polifhed works of marble engraven upon 
them after the manner of inlaid worke and marquetage of divers peeces,tefembling men;beafts, 
floures, and all things elfe : for in thefe daies contented we are not with plaine{quares and tables 
of marble, nor with the riches of mightiemountains,couched under covertand laid within our 
bed-chambers in that fortas they grew, but come wee are now to paint ftones. Devifed this was 
firftin the daies of Claudivs Cefar : but when Nero came tobe Emperour, the invention was ta- 
ken up, to give thofe colours to ftones in their fuperficiall outfide, which they had ‘not of their 
owne;to make them fported, which naturally were of one fimple colour: thar by the helpe of 
mans hand, the * Numidian red porphyrit {houldbe fet out with white {pots in*eg-fathion: the 
* Sinadian grey marble diftinguifhed with marks and ftrakes of purple: as ifour delicat wantons : 
fhewed thereby how they could have withed the {tones to grow. Thus would they feeme to cor- 
rect the works of Nature, to fupply the want of mountaines and quarries, and to make amends 
for the hills cloven in funder for gold, and hewed in peeces for marble. And what isthe end of 
all this prodigious prodigalitie and waftfull fuperfluitie ? but thatthe fire when it commeth,may 
confume in one houre a world of wealth, - : 
“= 
Cuap. il. 
CS The estimation and account that was made of Images in times paft, 
reprefented by lively pictures. ie . 
77 He manner was in auncient time, to continue and perpetuat the memoriall of men, by 
drawing their pourtraicures in lively colours,as like to their proportion and {hape as poffi- 
bly could be; but this cuftomeis growne now altogither out of ufe:in ftead thereof wee 
have ihields and {cutcheons fet up of brafle : wee have faces of filver in them, without any lively 
diftinétion of one from another :and as for our ftatues,the heads upon them otherwhiles bee 
*chaunged one for another; which hath given occafion long fince of many a jeft and hbell {pred 
abroad in rime and fung in everie ftreet. In fo much as all men now adaies are more defirous to 
have the rich matter {eene that goeth to the making of images, than to be known by their owne 
perfonage and vifage asit is:and yet everie man delighteth to have his cabinet and clofet well 
furnithed with antique painted cables: the {tatues and images of other men they thinkit enough - 
to honour and adores whiles they themfelves, meafuring worfhip by wealth, and thinkingno- 
thing honourable that is not fumptuous and coftly, fee not how by this means they give occa- 
fion to their heires for to breake open their counters and make fpoile of all, or elfe before that 
day come, entice atheefe to be hooking or twitching them away with gins and {nares, Confide- 
ring then, thatnoman careth fora lively piéture, all the monuments that they leave unto their 
heirs, are images rather of their monies, than refemblances of themfelves. Howbeit, thefe great 
men take pleafureto have their owne wreftling places and halls of exercife, yeaand the roumes 
where they are annointed, beautified and adorned with the pourtraitures of noble champions: 
they delight alforo have the face of Epicur#s in everie chamber of the houfe, yea and to carrie 
the fame about them upon their rings wherefoever they goe: in the remembrance and honour 
of his nativitie,they doe offer facrifice everie twentith day of the moon,and thefe month-minds 
they keepe as holydaies duly, which thereupon they call Jcades: and none fo muchas they who — 
will not abide to be knowne another day by any lively image drawne whiles they be alive. 1 hus it 
is come to paffe, that whiles artificers play themand fir ftill for want of worke, noble arts by the 
. means 
a 
q 
