238 
PAINTING. 
unwearied artbut that the brilliancy of their colours 
is fuch, that no juft conception can be formed of their 
beauty but by infpeCtion. They preferve all their vivid 
tints, though they are fo ancient. We might perhaps 
hope to emulate them, if fomething could be effected to 
preferve the drugs from adulteration. 
It is certain that, in Italy, France, Holland, and Flan¬ 
ders, they obtained much better oil than we do at this 
moment; nut-oil, drawn without the afliftance, or rather 
violence, of fire, and bleached in the fun, in white glafs 
bottles, at the bottom of which a few Ihot or thin pieces 
of lead are depofited, in order to attraCt and combine with 
the adipofe part of the oil, was what they generally em¬ 
ployed 5 and we doubt not that it is in a great meafure 
owing to the fimplicity and purity of this procefs, that 
the colouring of Titian and Rubens, of Veronefe and of 
Teniers, is ftill the deferved objeCt of our admiration, 
and baffles ftill the imitative powers of our contemporaries. 
Another powerful, though imperceptible, agent, which 
contributes materially to create a difference between a 
copy and its prototype, is Time. Among the inftruClive 
and interefting dreams, allegories, and villous, with which 
Addifon has interfperied his immortal Spectator, we read 
(N° 83.) that, having been led into an immenfe gallery, 
full of mafterpieces of all kinds of pictures, he remarked 
in one of the apartments a little old man, with a long 
beard, and much emaciated both by ftudy and age, who 
feemed working llowly, but with undillurbed attention, 
upon fome of the tableaux which compofed the valuable 
collection. Turning to the cicerone who attended, he 
whifpered him, “ Pray, who is that old piCture-cleaner, 
fo bufy upon thofe pieces ?” “ ’Tis Time,” anfwerecl 
the man; “ to him, to his minute touches, to his foften- 
ing the glare, and deepening the (hadows, we owe that 
undefcribable harmony and inimitable mellownefs which 
enhances fo much the merit of pictures.” This allegory, 
befides its lively ingenuity, contains an evident (hare of 
truth. It is obvious to any man who is acquainted with 
the principles and praCtice of the art, that time, by How 
degrees, improves, generally, the value of a picture; not 
becaufe the hand which has produced it lies cold in the 
grave, and can paint no more; but on account of that 
admirable varnifli of foftnefs which age,and the improving 
hands of palling centuries, fpread upon the works of 
painters, as well as upon the metal of ancient medals and 
coins. Can a copy, frelli from the pallet and the brulh, 
boaft of fuch a quality ? and, when the copier compares, 
impartially, his work with the beautiful exemplar which 
Hands in judgment againft him and his labours, is he not 
ready to defpond ? But, if he conlider that, although there 
is a family-likenefs between them, yet, as it happens 
among brothers, the youngeft mult naturally differ in 
proportion from the eldeft, lie will loon reconcile himfelf 
with his art, and be more pleafed with his feemingly- 
unfuccefsful exertions. Hence we muft infer, that a copy 
never can entirely be afac-Jhnile of the original; or that, 
if it appear fo at the moment it is done, it will, in a few 
years, lofe more of its native l’weetnefs and brilliancy 
than the type, which has boldly Hood the teft of years, 
will ever do in the fame fpace of time. Lanfranc, a cele¬ 
brated French painter, ufed to fay, Je Jais tout ce que jn 
peux ; l'air fait le rejie; “ I do all I can, the air (or time) 
performs the reft.” 
Of DRAPERY. 
The drapery contributes to the life, character, and 
expreflion, of the figure. The naked form Ihould chiefly 
be confidered ; the drapery is only acceffory to it, and 
fliould therefore feem to cover the limbs only, not to hide 
them. The garment muft not be too tight, fo as to feem 
to confine the limbs; nor too loofe and large, fo as to be 
troublefome. Many good artifts draw their figures firft 
naked, and lay on the drapery afterwards; an excellent 
method for avoiding abfurdities. The colours and ma¬ 
terials of the drapery Ihould concur with the general ex¬ 
preflion. Gay and fliining garments muft not be intro¬ 
duced in melancholy or terrible fubjeCts. Thyeftes Ihould 
not be arrayed in gay colours, when the flelh of his own 
fon feems to agitate his bowels ; nor Portia, when feed¬ 
ing upon allies. But, where the fubjeCt is cheerful, let 
all the drapery be gay and light. The drapery Ihould 
alfo agree with the age and character of the figures they 
cover: gay colours, and light fluffs, floating in the air, 
mark the young ; darker colours, and heavier materials, 
the aged. A grave and auftere perfon is not to be dreffed 
like a light and voluptuous man; a majeftic ptincefs, a 
prudent mother, is not to be confounded with a courtezan. 
If the artift reprefents a figure flying in the air, let him 
fnow by the drapery whether it is rifing or defcending. 
If mounting, a column of air from above weighs upon 
the drapery, and keeps it down; if defcending,.the un¬ 
der-current of air raifes the garment accordingly. 
Silk fluffs muft be fparingly employed in fubjeCts of an¬ 
cient hiftory, becaufe among the ancients the fabrication 
of filk was but very partially known. Equal care fliould 
be taken to avoid that poverty which makes fome maf- 
ters look as if, through mere penury, they grudged clothes 
to their figures ; and that profufion which Albani imputed 
to Guido, faying, that he was rathera tailor than a painter. 
The ornaments of drefs fliould be ufed with great fo- 
briety ; and it will not be atnifs to remember what was 
once faid to an ancient painter : “ I pity' you greatly ; 
unable to make Helen handfome, you have taken care to 
make her fine.” 
Drapery, alfo, comprehends all hangings, curtains, and 
other adjustments, made by means of fluffs or cloths of 
any kind, in the lcenery of a picture ; but it muft be re¬ 
collected, that it is not the name nor fubftance, but the 
difpofition of thofe materials, that brings them under the 
denomination of drapery . Cloths of any kind may be 
made to fill whatever portion of his compofition the 
painter may find fuitable to his purpofe; but, unlefs they 
be difpofted in folds, they are ftill cloths only, and not 
drapery. 
Drapery then, ftri&ly regarded, confifts in the difpofi¬ 
tion of foids; and the fkilful difpofition of folds; whether 
for clothing or other ufe, conftitutes the art of drapery. 
I11 the general compofition of a picture, drapery is con¬ 
nected with cojlume and character; as an objeCt of ftudy 
in a Angle figure, the beauty of drapery (lands defervedly 
next in rank to beauty of form, as it not only powerfully 
co-operates with the latter, but is even found to be at 
times capable of enhancing its value, by artful manage¬ 
ment and partial concealment; and it is alfo capable of 
afiifting exprejjion, as far as it is difplayed by the aCtion 
of the figure. 
To drape a figure well, it is neceffary that the folds be 
large and few in number; becaufe large folds produce 
great maffes of light and Shadow, while fmall ones mul¬ 
tiply the objeCls of view and diftraCt the attention. But, 
if the character of the drapery or kind of Huff requires 
fmall folds, they fliould at lead be diftributed in groups, 
in fuch a manner that a great number of fmall folds (hall 
be fubordinate to an equal mafs formed by' a principal fold. 
It is alfo proper to obferve, that the colour of the dra¬ 
pery contributes to the harmony of the whole, and pro¬ 
duces effeCts which the chiaro-fcuro cannot do alone. At 
the fame time, the principles of the chiaro-fcuro fliould 
prefide over, or at lead regulate, the art of drapery. If 
the folds of the (tuff’ which cover the members expoled 
to the light are too ftrongly (haded, they will appear to 
enter into the members, and cut them. 
The Greek and Roman artifts underftood fo well the 
proportions of the human body, and the flowing elegance 
of drapery, that it was faid of their ftatues and pictures, 
Induitur, formofa ejl; exuitur, ipfa forma eft: “Covered, 
(lie is beautiful; naked, (lie is beauty itfelf.” 
Raphael is the model for drapery among the moderns. 
At firft, fays Mengs, he imitated his mafter Pietro Peru- 
gino’s manner of drapery; and he brought this manner 
to 
