PAI 
to observe, that there seems to be nothing 
in the colouring of Titian and Giorgioni in- 
compatible with the greatest purity of de- 
sign, sublimity of conception, or propriety 
of expression ; whereas the splendid extra- 
vagances, the brocaded stuffs, the gaudy 
trappings of the greater part of the more 
modern Venetians, although they were per- 
haps all masters of the theory of colours, 
are wholly inconsistent with genuine expres- 
sion and true grandeur : in short, the sober 
senatorial dignity of Titian was soon chang- 
ed for show, for glitter, and for ornament ; 
invention, composition, design, and expres- 
sion, were all made subservient to the inor- 
dinate desire of effect of colour. 
The short limits of this article will not 
permit us to mention the numerous artists 
who have excelled in chiaro-scuro and 
colouring. These parts of the art, being 
more especially calculated to give pleasure 
to the sight, have been more generally and 
more successfully practised than the arduous 
and less flattering task of rational and ex- 
pressive composition, and correct design. 
In the present enquiry it has been our 
chief aim to enforce such arguments as are 
calculated to draw the attention of the 
reader to the legitimate end of the art; that, 
whilst the eye is charmed with beautiful 
forms, the magic of chiaro scuro, and the 
richness and harmony of colours, the due 
expression of the subject of a piece may be 
attained, it were folly to deny : this union, 
indeed, constitutes the perfection of paint- 
ing, which should convey, like fine writing, 
truths to the mind in language at once the 
most forcible and beautiful; but an attempt 
to point out the means by which this delight 
may be conveyed to the sight, would neces- 
sarily require a minute investigation of all 
the different modes which it is in the power 
of the painter to adopt in the executive de- 
partments of his art ; and consequently lead 
us, with perhaps, after all, little prospect 
of success, far beyond the limits we are 
obliged to prescribe to ourselves. 
Simplicity with variety, inequality of 
parts, with union in the whole, are, per- 
haps, the basis of all those effects in paint- 
ing which give pleasure to the sight. As in 
a composition one group, or one figure, 
should strike the eye with superiority over 
the secondary groups, or other objects in 
the picture ; so there should be in a picture 
one principal mass of light, which, however 
connected with others, should still predo- 
minate ; and for the same reason no two 
colours should have equal sway in the same 
PAL 
picture : as we are at liberty to give the 
chief group or figure of the composition 
that situation which we judge most appro- 
priate ; so there is no rule by which we are 
obliged to place the principal light in any 
one given part of the picture. In clair- 
obscure, an inequality of parts, a subordina- 
tion of several small masses to one large 
one, never fails to produce richness and 
beauty of effect ; and thus, in composition, 
a similar richness and beauty are the result 
of an opposition of several small bodies or 
parts, to one large and simple ; and in the 
same manner from an arrangement of seve- 
ral small masses of colour in the vicinity of 
one large mass, the latter seems enriched, 
and to acquire additional consequence and 
beauty. 
As by the addition of smalli^r masses of 
light, connected with the principal mass, 
that mass acquires at once greater breadth 
and influence, so the unity of action in a 
composition is in many cases powerfully 
augmented by a repetition of nearly the 
same action in tw'o or three of the acces- 
sorial figures arranged together, one never- 
theless being principal ; this was the fre- 
quent custom of Raffaele, has its founda- 
tion in nature, w'here similar sentiments 
most frequently excite similar outward de- 
monstrations, and never fails, if judiciously 
managed, to produce its effect. 
The doctrine of contrasts is equally ap- 
plicable to composition, to clair-obscure, 
and to colouring. As in composition the 
too frequent contrast of lines, or of back 
to front figures, is destructive of simplicity 
and force of expression ; so the inordinate 
and frequent introduction of strong opposi- 
tions of lights and shadows, or of colours, 
produces a spotty and confused appearance, 
wholly subversive of breadth and grandeur 
of effect : the moderate and judicious use 
of contrasts is of the greatest use ; it gives 
a zest to the picture, and is like the discord 
in music, which sheds additional sweetness 
on the full harmony which succeeds it. 
PAIR, in anatom}', an assemblage or 
conjugation of two nerves, which have their 
origin together in the brain, or spinal mar- 
row, and thence distributed into the several 
parts of the body, the one on one side, and 
the other on the other. 
I’ALE.,®, in botany, thin, membrana- 
ceous, chaffy plates, springing out of a 
common receptacle, and intended as lines 
of partition between the small partial florets 
of compound and aggregate flowers. 
PALAMEDEA, the screamer^ in natural 
H 2 
