By Mr. T. Gambier Parry. 



43 



which now makes any harmonious combination of those arts im- 

 possible. In so short a paper I can only offer a few notes on two 

 branches of this large subject: — (1.) The methods of art employed 

 in former times. (2.) The principles which, in the most perfect 

 styles of art, have guided and ever must guide the combination of 

 painting and architecture. 



From the earliest times to our own there appear to have been 

 three distinct methods of architectural painting in common use. 

 Fresco, encaustic, and tempera. There were many modifications of 

 each. Their history is of great practical value to us. The earliest 

 method was that of tempera, — the fixing of colour pigment to a 

 surface by some retentive and protective medium. Size was the 

 oldest and commonest — as used from the days of the Eg} 7 ptians to 

 our own. "Wax, too, appears to have been used by them as a 

 medium in tempera. It becomes a water colour medium by admix- 

 ture with egg or alkali. It is, however, of little moment to us, 

 except for its archaeological interest, what was used in such a cli- 

 mate as Egypt. 



In Greece and Italy, the method most valued for its durability 

 was the encaustic. It was very variously used — so much so, that 

 that word came to be employed in any method in which wax formed 

 the principal ingredient. Wax was in all probability the earliest 

 protective vehicle used for colours in the architectural painting of 

 the Greeks. Their earliest temples were of wood, and so too were 

 ' their statues. It is hard to believe that the maritime Greeks, 

 whose principal emporium was Egypt, could have remained unin- 

 fluenced by what they saw there, where ever} 7 work of art or 

 ingenuity was rich with natural or artificial colours. As they 

 preserved and painted their wooden ships, so would they preserve 

 and paint their wooden temples. The tradition that they did so 

 is preserved by Yitruvius, who states that the Greeks covered the 

 ends of beams or roof timbers exposed to the weather with blue 

 wax. The exceeding softness of the effect of colour used with a 

 wax medium, was just what the Greeks desired. It was used in 

 various ways, with a brush, with a spatula, with the encaustic 

 process, and without it. Wax was also the main ingredient in 



