PAINTING. 
jects of sight ; and this, though a truism, we 
liave thought it necessary to state, as expe- 
rience every day shews, that it is not suffici- 
ently attended to. By the essential quali- 
ties of a subject, we must be understood 
to mean those which give it its interest. 
The only means by which the painter can 
communicate his ideas to the spectator, or 
in other words, tell his story, are combina- 
tions of figures and other visible objects, 
the representation of gesture and the ex- 
pression of countenance. 
As the powers of writing, in the way of 
narrative, are such as to enable it to convey 
to the reader a just idea of a succession of 
transactions or events; whereas it cannot 
by the most laboured description give us 
any other than a confused or erroneous no- 
tion of the situation of a building, the 
windings of a river, the forms of a mountain, 
or the beauty and expression of a counte- 
nance ; so painting, inasmuch as it is in- 
competent to relate the conspiracy, or record 
the oration, is proportionably rich in its 
means of description. As description is the 
most arduous task of language, so narration 
is the great difficulty of painting; a difficulty 
however not always insurmountable to the 
artist, who to a competent knowledge and 
practice in the several component parts of 
his art, adds that of judgment in the choice 
of his subject, as will presently appear. 
In a picture, the artist must necessarily 
choose one point of time for his representa- 
tion, but the usual doctrine that a picture 
can absolutely express no more than this 
one moment of the story, requires some il- 
lustration, as otherwise the inconsiderate 
might naturally be led to underrate the 
powers of communication given to our art. 
The truth we believe is, thqt though a pic- 
ture must represent one moment of time 
only, yet in that representation, the memo- 
rial, as it were, of past moments, may be re- 
corded, and the idea of future ones clearly 
anticipated ; and though this doctrine may, 
upon first sight, appear opposed to gene- 
rally established opinion, a little reflection 
will, we are assured, convince any one of its 
truth. 
It will require very little argument to 
shew, that many of the bodily actions of men 
do indicate, and, under particular circum- 
stances, demonstrate certain other actions 
to have taken place previously ; w'hich is 
certainly expressing the past in the present ; 
nor will it be more difficult to find instances 
of a present action denoting some future 
one ; that is, expressing the future in the 
Jiresent. A figure walking, or rnfining, de- 
notes a past, a present, and a future action. 
The sword of the soldier drawn and lifted 
up over the neck of the beautiful St. Ca- 
tharine, denotes a future act or event ; that 
of her head being severed from her body ; 
the hardened executioner forcing his sword 
into the scabbard, after having performed 
his office, as clearly shews what has gone 
before. 
Two things should concur to render a 
story eminently eligible for painting. First, 
the incident or act to be represented should 
be of an unequivocal nature ; such as, when 
represented, can leave no doubt on the 
mind of the observer as to its meaning ; and 
secondly, either the cause of the act, or its 
probable consequence, or result, should be 
such as is capable of being expressed by 
objects in the picture ; but when both the 
cause or the end proposed in the act repre- 
sented, and the consequence of that act, can 
be made evident to us in a picture, such a 
picture is a narration, becomes truly a dumb 
poesy, and creates a most lively interest in 
our minds, possessing as it does, those pro- 
perties which, as Aristostle observes, are ne- 
cessary to the perfection of a drama ; a be- 
ginning, a middle, and an end. 
When W’e behold a representation of the 
Corinthian maid tracing the shadow of her 
favoured youth on the wall, love, the cause 
of the action, is rendered apparent by the 
endearments attending it : the consequence, 
which we are told was the invention of 
painting, is not evident to one uninformed of 
the tradition. Mot so in Mr. Fuseli’s pa- 
thetic composition of Paolo and Francesca, 
from Dante. Here we are at a loss as to 
no one of these particulars; .the picture in 
every respect explaining itself with as much 
force, and as unequivocally as the poem. 
Love urges the stolen kiss and guilty dal- 
liance, and the consequence is as evidently 
the destruction of the lovers by the aveng- 
ing and uplifted hand of the insulted hus- 
band. 
Invention, in painting, consists principally 
in three things : first, the choice of a sub- 
ject properly within the scope of the art ; 
secondly, the seizure of the most striking 
and energetic moment of time for represen- 
tation ; and lastly, the discovery and selec- 
tion of such objects, and such probable in- 
cidental circumstances, as, combined toge- 
ther, may best tend to develope the story, 
or augment the interest of the piece. The 
cartoons of Raffaele, at Hampton Court, 
furnish us with an e.Kample of genius and 
