Goo LIGH T a 
to the purpofes of painting. Of that proceeding direct 
from the fun in full blaze, it can only be obferv'ed, that, 
except for landficape, its ufe is confined in the art; being 
too powerful, and producing fliadows too hard), for the 
more interefiing and agreeable fuhjecfs of fancy or hiftory. 
The fofter illumination reflected from thofe parts of the 
atmofpbere oppofed to the fun, is ufually and reafor.ably 
preferred ; or that which the heavens yield when the 
fource of its light is hid in clouds, though not when it is 
too much loft in the gioom of tempeft ; for then the lights 
and fhadows become too indiltinft and confuted. The 
open light of the air has another character diftinct from 
the two juft mentioned ; which is, when the fun is but 
faintly obfcured by thick clouds, through which its rays 
penetrate with diminiftied luftre, but ftill in direct lines. 
In this cafe the-light, though direfi, and caufing fliadows 
the fame in form as when its foiirce is unobferved, is yet 
but weak and loft; and the fliadows it produces, being 
effected by the general light of the atmofphere, are tender 
in their outline and tone. When the reflected light pro¬ 
ceeding from the northern parts of the atmofphere is ad¬ 
mitted througha window into a room, it aflumes a mid-way 
character. For while the light is, weaker, and confe- 
quently fofter, than fun-fhine ; the fliadows, owing to the 
imallnefs of the aperture, become diftinct, but not harfli ; 
and their diftinctnefs is heightened by the room wherein 
is the window (which may be confidered as an original 
fource) receiving only a partial quantity of light; and 
confequently little or no reflection takes place, except 
from furrounding and contiguous objefts upon each other; 
whereas, when a figure is fo placed in open air as to re¬ 
ceive the light reflected from the tky, it partakes of it in 
every direction, and therefore has little or no fliadow ; for 
there will be few parts where fome rays of light will not, 
tinder fuch circumftances, find admiifion. 
When the light proceeds direCt from the fun, it is 
wfuai, though not ftrictly correCt, to confider its rays as 
parallel, and confequently no enlargement or diminution 
takes place in lengthened fliadows. But, in reality, its 
diftance, which diminifhes its fize apparently, added to 
the effect of perfpeClive, produces a real variation in flia¬ 
dows of objefts it hole magnitude is at all confiderable. 
This is always the cafe when the fource of light is larger 
or fmaller than the illumined body. In the former cafe, 
the fliadow of a fufpended ball would diminilli to a point ; 
as that of the earth does from the light of the fun ; and 
in the latter it would dilate as it was extended, and pro¬ 
ject a fhadow at a certain diftance, large in proportion to 
the comparative linallnefs of the luminous body ; as of 
the flame of a candle, for inftance, compared to a tennis- 
ball. 
Shadows by day-light feldom become totally obfcure ; 
an object mu ft be placed in a fituation where it could re¬ 
ceive very little indeed of that peculiar illumination, with¬ 
out haying fome reflections falling into its fliades, and 
confequently yielding fome viiible effeCt of the forms on 
which they fell. But by fire and candle-light, owing to 
the confined iflue of their rays, forms hid in the fhadows 
they projeCt are often totally loft ; neverthelefs, thefe flia¬ 
dows are not blacknefs, but darknefs, of a colour whofe 
hue depends upon that of the larger mafs of fdrrounding 
bodies. Under many circumftances they receive reflec¬ 
tions, and have a confequent degree of colour in tjie 
bodies that lie within their range. 
There are two caufes which operate to weaken and even 
deftroy the force of reflected light. The one is the dif¬ 
tance at which the reflecting objeCt is fituated from the 
luminary; the ether, the diftance of the fame from the 
obferver. When thefe two circumftances combine, the 
effeCt of light and (hade is very weak. 
To comprehend the principle upon which the illumi¬ 
nation and confequent (hadows of objeCts are produced, 
and to imitate them the molt effectually, the painter muft 
recollect, that light, ivhencefoever it ifi'ues, proceeds rec- 
tilineally from its fource to the furface which intercepts 
:r» SHAD E. 
it; and is reflected in the fame way, at an equal angle 
with the plane of that furface, but in an'inverfe direction. 
In the language of optics, the angle of rejltElion is (qua! it 
the angle of incidence. This is the Ample but general rule, 
which is infallibly to guide the artift through all the diffi¬ 
culties of light and fhade in painting ; whether arifing 
from direct or reflected illumination, this one principle 
holds equally good in all ; but the lines which it forms 
in the fhadows are fubjeCt to the variations produced by 
perfpeClive on all folid bodies whereon light can aCt. 
It is fcarcely neceiiary here to (peak of the refraCtion 
of light from its original courfe, when patting through 
various fubftances, as glafs or water; except to deprecate 
paying any attention to it in a picture where any effential 
form is broken in upon by it ; or chooflng fuch fubjefts, 
wdiere deviation from generaj rules ferves rather to con¬ 
found than to fatisfy the common underftanding of man¬ 
kind. Where copying the pofitive truth would create 
confufion, it is moft juft, at lead molt ufeful, to vary 
from it ; as in painting the portrait of a man with f'pec- 
tacles on. What artift in his fenfes, and who had a true 
perception of the real objeft of art, would think of paint¬ 
ing exaCtly that which prefents itfelf to his view, a pofi¬ 
tive deformity, eyes mifplaced, and of monftrous form ; 
for fuch they are when feen through the glaffes. Such 
procedure would totally defeat the objeCt of portraiture; 
for it would be hardly poffible to make a likenefs of the 
perfon, with fuch a variation from the pofitive form of his 
face. 
Great grace may be added to figures by light and (hade 
when agreeably difpofed ; and, on the contrary, an unfor¬ 
tunate difpofal of them may diminifh the effeCt, if not 
totally deftroy the moft beautifully drawn figure imagin¬ 
able. 
The conduCt of Coreggio, with refpeCt to his lights and 
fliadows, is worthy the inoft attentive confideration ; ami 
there never perhaps was a painter, who, independent of 
the advantage, which he well knew how to take, of the 
occafional oppofition of dark to light-coloured objeCts, 
produced fo Ample, fo grand, an effect. His figures, as 
well as the other objefts in bis pictures, are at all times 
fo difpofed, as naturally to receive the light exaftly in 
thofe parts where it is moft wanted, and belt fnits the ef- 
feft of the whole ; and yet this is done fo fkilfully, and 
at the fame time with fuch an appearance of eafe, that 
neither propriety nor grace of aftion feems in any wife to 
be facrificed in the aftoniftiing combination. 
The principal painters of the Venetian fc'nool, Gior¬ 
gione, Titian, Baffanio, Tintoret, and Paul Veronefe, were 
great matters of effeCt ; but with them this effeCt is more 
frequently the refult of accordance or oppolition of the 
local colours of the different objefts compofing their pic¬ 
tures, than of any very ftudied or remarkably fkilful dif- 
pofition of the maffes of lights and fhadows. 
Michelangelo da Caravaggio, who flourifhed at the end 
of the fixteenth century, and Guercino, who came foon 
after, produced the moft powerf ul effects by means widely 
different from thofe adopted by any of their predecelfors; 
but, though they rendered their pictures molt ftriking, by 
reafon of the very ftrong oppofitions of light and fhadow, 
which they made almoft conftantly to pervade them, beau¬ 
ty of form and expreflion was too frequently facrificed to 
force ; and we are taught this truth, that chiaro-fcuro, 
like many other parts of painting, cannot be carried be¬ 
yond certain limits, but at the expenfe, more of lefs, of 
the other effentials of the art. 
Gerard Hunthorft, called by the Italians Gherardo della 
Notte, and Adam Elfnemer, produced aftonifhing effeCts 
of chiaro-fcuro in their candle and moon-light pieces, 
which are defervedly in the highelt eftimation with the 
lovers of painting ; whilft Rubens, with his all-command¬ 
ing genius, grafped the various magic treafures of the pen¬ 
cil, and, by uniting the wide expanfive effeCt of Coreggio, 
the richly-contrafted tints of the Venetians, and the force 
of Caravaggio, has only left us to regret, that his magni- 
s fieenS 
