46 



On Arcliitcclural Colouring. 



mentions its use in architectural decoration of the eleventh or 

 twelfth century thus: "If you wish to paint a column or a 

 stone, take white lead and grind it with oil." He then describes 

 the thin film of gesso or cement with which all finished architecture 

 was covered, and adds: "You may then paint upon it in colours 

 mixed with oil." As he was the compiler of old Greek art tradi- 

 tions, we may suppose him thus giving an account of oil painting 

 used by Byzantine artists, and even by those of still greater anti- 

 quity. But oil is a very bad vehicle for architectural painting 

 where it cannot be protected by a varnish, on account of the gloss. 



That colour had its place in architectural effect, and that it was 

 necessary to its perfection, had been a principle recognized in all 

 times and countries. The fact of art having been unanimous in 

 its greatest and purest age, whether of Pagan or of Christian times, 

 on this subject, is a sufficient reason for our enquiry whether our 

 preference for uncoloured objects is a purer taste, or whether it be 

 not a simple deficiency of perceptive powers, aud the evidence of 

 an elementary, inchoate, and limited taste. In the palmiest days 

 of classic art, sculpture as well as architecture was coloured, the 

 tone being mellowed without affecting the texture of the marble. 

 The draperies were often coloured very powerfully, and gold, and 

 even jewellery, used. Unpainted statues are mentioned by classic 

 authors as exceptions. The buildings of the Greeks were also 

 coloured, without regard to the materials. Every moulding of the 

 Parthenon, of the purest marble, was ornamented with colour or with 

 gold. The primary colours were generally used in the architecture 

 of the Greeks, and often in great intensity. Yermilion, ultramarine, 

 and yellow earth were common, and a bright green, probably the 

 same as that of which our mediaeval painters were fond — viz. : the 

 vert de Grece, whence the colour is commonly called verdigris, the 

 French name originating in its importation to England from 

 Montpellier, the greatest emporium for colours in Europe in the 

 middle ages. Works of classic art, at the greatest distance apart, 

 witness to the same principle in colouring, that what the carver 

 had brought out in the strongest relief should be still more strongly 

 relieved by a bold use of the primary colours and of gold ; and 



