PREFACE. 



in the motto prefixed to this Essay, the testi- 

 mony of no common observer; of one, who 

 was sufficiently vain of his own talents and 

 discernment in every way, and not likely 

 to acknowledge a superiority in other men 

 without strong conviction. It is not a mere 

 observation of Cicero ; it is an exclama- 

 tion : Quam multa vident pictores! it 

 marks his surprise at the extreme differ- 

 ence which the study of nature, by means 

 of the art of painting, seems to make al- 

 most in the sight itself. It may likewise 

 be observed, that his remark does not ex- 

 tend to form,— in which the ancient painters 

 are acknowledged to be our superiors; not 

 to colour, — in which they are also conceived 

 to be at least our rivals ; but to light and 

 shadow, — the supposed triumph of modern, 

 over ancient art: on which account, the 

 professors of painting since its revival, 

 have a still better right to the compliment 



