PALNTIN G, 
defcribes tile earlier Greek fcliool as ufing only four co¬ 
lours, but the later Greek painters as perfeCt mailers in 
all the refources of colouring. Pliny himfelf defcribes 
with enthufiafm the Venus Ava^o/Astn of Apelles ; and in 
this picture the fea was reprefented, which required azure. 
The Greek painters, like the molt illnftrious artifts of 
the Roman and Venetian fcliool, were probably, however, 
fparing in the ufe of the more florid tints in hiftorical 
and moral painting, and produced their effeCts rather by 
the contrails of colouring in thofe parts of the picture 
where a deep and uniform tint might be ufed, than by 
brilliant drapery. If, therefore, red and yellow ochres, 
blacks and whites, were the colours moll employed by 
Protogenes and Apelles, fo they are likewife the colours 
moll employed by Raphael and Titian, in their bell ftyle. 
The St. John and the Venus, in the tribune of the gallery 
at Florence, offer linking examples of pictures, in which 
all the deeper tints are evidently produced by red and 
yellow ochres and carbonaceous Jubilances. 
“ As far as colours are concerned, thefe works are pre¬ 
pared for that immortality which they deferve; but, un¬ 
fortunately, the oil and the canvas are vegetable materials, 
and liable to decompofition, and the lall is lefs durable 
than even the wood on which the Greek artills painted 
their celebrated pictures.” Read before the Royal Society, 
Feb. 23, 1815. 
The lovers of painting are much indebted to fir Hum¬ 
phry Davy, for the above elaborate effay refpeCting the 
colours of the ancients,; and it would be very definable 
that this gentleman Ihould continue his refearches upon 
fimilar fubjeCts, as the exertion of his fplendid talents in 
this way prornifes to be of the greatell fervice to the arts 
in general. The extraordinary difcoveries in chemiltry 
which the prefent age has elicited, cannot fail to affill the 
artill in a wonderful manner; and it is matter of furprife, 
that a fcience in fuch clofe connection with the art of 
painting fliould be fo little cultivated. The Royal Aca¬ 
demy has its lecturer on anatomy; why not its profeffor 
of chemiftry alfo ? If it be neceffary for the young flu- 
dent to know the proportions and conftituent parts of the 
human figure, is it not equally important that he fliould 
beinftruCted in the chemical principles of colour-making; 
and not only to mix his colours with judgment, but be 
able to explain the caufes of the effeCt produced ? It is 
well known how much time and money fir Jofiiua Rey¬ 
nolds fpent to no purpofe in contrivances for mixing co¬ 
lours. What advantages, then, might not be derived 
from a courfe of leCtures upon this fubjeCt illuftrated by 
experiments! Subfequent publication of fuch ledlures 
would be indifpenfably requifite, as the young artill might 
then purfue the theory in the clofet, and put it in prac¬ 
tice upon the canvas. The proper track once pointed 
out, we fliould have improvements multiplied, chemiftry 
and' painting more clofely united, genius would ftrike 
out new beauties ; and it is highly probable that the art 
would arrive at a degree of perfedlion hardly, in the pre¬ 
fent iituation of things, to be expedled. 
HISTORY of MODERN PAINTING. 
It was not at once, and by miracle, that painting re¬ 
appeared. Cheriflied, amidit the terrors of war and bi¬ 
gotry, by the Greek monks, in their filent feclufions, it 
was occafionally exhibited ; and, for two centuries at leall 
before the acknowledged era of its rife, according to 
Malvafia, and perhaps more early, had been publicly 
pradlifed, though humbly, in frefco and in mofaic. He 
lays that from 1115 to 1140, Guido, Ventura, and Orfon, 
were employed as painters in feveral churches at Bologna ; 
and, doubtlefs, thefe pradtices prevailed in other places ; 
for now the ecclefiaftical power of the church of Rome 
was completely eftabliflied in Italy, and felt the advan¬ 
tages to be derived from adding fplendour to the build¬ 
ings eredled to its honour, and exciting the zeal of its 
devotees. The charadler, however, of the art, as exhi¬ 
bited in the works of the. Greek agents univerfally era- 
Vot. XVIII. No. 1237. 
221 
ployed at this time, was but ill calculated to anfwer the 
higher views of thofe who promoted the exereife of it ; 
for it was now at its lowell ebb. 
Pifa, Lucca, Florence, and other petty republics into 
which the territory of Italy was divided, began about 
this period to (hake off” the barbarifm which had fo long 
abufed and controlled them, and to exhibit a tafte for 
improvement. Artifts were fumnioned from Greece to 
aflill in adorning Pifa and Florence; and, amongft other 
things, to paint the chapel of the Gondi family, at the 
church of Sta. Maria Novella, in the latter place; whilft 
the Venetians employed Apollonius, and others of the 
fame country, on mofaics, in the church of St. Mark. 
To the gratification enjoyed by Giovanni Cimabue at 
feeing the productions of the former of thefe artifts, is 
Europe indebted, in a great meafure, for whatever (he has 
fince beheld in the art. He, Andrea Tafii, who learned 
the art of working in mofaic from Apollonius, and Ni- 
colo Pifano, inftruCted firft in fcnlpture by Greeks, and 
afterwards by lludy from ancient bas-reliefs brought by 
his countryman from Greece, were the firft Italians re¬ 
ported to have entered the lifts with their mailers; whofe 
tafte is allowed to have been hard and poor, and devoid of 
all fpirit of imitation, either of nature or of ancient art: 
a ftate of debafement we might deem impoflible to have 
occurred, after the extraordinary difplay of talents which 
thofe countries had witneffed, did we not know the ra¬ 
pidity with which the arts fall into decay, if not upheld 
by a conftant fuccefl'1011 of practice; and how flow their 
growth is in advance. And yet, doubtlefs, notwithftand- 
ing the horrors of deftruCtive war, and the mad fuperfti- 
tious zeal of the iconoclafts of the eighth century, many 
noble examples of fculpture, and architecture more parti¬ 
cularly, mull have remained to guide their tafte. So it 
was, however; and Vafari and others fpeak of the arts at 
this period as being utterly unworthy of the name. Such 
was their Iituation in Italy, when Cimabue, who was born 
at Florence, of a noble family, in 1240, having been ini¬ 
tiated into the niiferable praCtice of the Greek artifts, 
conceived the defire of improving upon it; and fucceeded 
fo well in his attempt, that a picture of the Virgin, which 
he painted as large as life, for the church dedicated to 
her at Florence, excited enthufiaftic delight in his fellow- 
citizens. They treated the painter with almoft divine 
honours; the picture was carried in proceffion, with the 
found of trumpets, to the place of its deftination ; and 
the day was celebrated as a public feaft. Encouraged by 
this applaufe and admiration, Cimabue purfued the art 
with ardour; and, though the utmoll of his efforts were 
weak and inefficient, yet he made a very great advance 
beyond his teachers. Vafari, 200 years afterwards, could 
not help exprefling his furprife, that he had feen his way 
fo far through the obfcurity of the age he lived in ; yefc 
fuch was the Gothic barbarity in his piClure of Chrift 
Crucified, in the cloifter of St. Francis, at Pifa, that writ¬ 
ten labels are employed to convey the fentiments of the 
Saviour to his mother and St. John. 
His pupil Giotto, whom from a fliepherd he raifed to 
be a painter, relieved the art infinitely more from the fet¬ 
ters of Greek imperfeClion. The extreme rapidity with 
which he advanced in defign, we can only account for by 
fuppofing that lie left the trammels of the art, as then 
praCtifed, and ftudied attentively the productions of the 
ancients which were to be found in Florence; and which 
then, doubtlefs, began to be in refearch. Giotto left 
off the ufe of labels, aimed at real expreflion, and ob¬ 
tained it; and, even in his own age, was acknowledged 
to be the pupil of nature. He may be laid to have per¬ 
formed for the Italians what Polygnotus had done for the 
Grecians, by marking the line in which the art ought to 
be purfued ; and, though in both it was accompanied 
with great deficiencies, yet it was juft in its object and 
direClion. To Giotto the world was indebted for the 
portraits of Dante, Brunetti, and others, amongft thofe 
,who at that time (hone confpicuous in literature, and 
3 L with 
