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as being the painter who had most suc- 

 ceeded in beauty of form ; but with less of 

 his purity and evenness of tint, there is a 

 freshness in that of Rubens, which would 

 admirably accord with beauty, though 

 there are but few instances in his works of 

 such a union, 



I have observed in a former part, that if 

 any one of the qualities which Mr. Burke 

 has so justly ascribed to beauty be more 

 essential than the others, it is freshness ; 

 and it is that, which makes the most distinct 

 line of separation between the beautiful and 

 the picturesque in colouring. I should on 

 that account, even if I were not sup- 

 ported by the authority of Sir Joshua 

 Reynolds, be inclined to call the Vene~ 

 tian style of colouring, and that of Mola, 

 of Domenico Feti, and others who have 

 imitated it, the picturesque style, as be-* 

 jng formed upon the deep and glowing 

 tints of autumn, and not upon the fresh 

 and delicate colours of spring; and al- 

 though this Venetian colouring may not 

 lipon the whole be so congenial to the 



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