242 
PAINTING. 
duces a finking eft'edl of clearnefs and brightnefs every¬ 
where, and efpecially on the green veftment of St. Charles, 
(which, however, fliould have been red, as he had been 
made a cardinal fome time before.) Indeed, the very 
cloth becomes the garment itfelf, and identifies its own 
woof-with that of the painted drefs. Can this be ob¬ 
tained when copied on a finall primed cloth, or a well- 
pumiced pannel ? Certainly not; for this very coarfenefs 
is foftened by the intermediate air in a way which is en¬ 
tirely denied to the nearly-infpedled copy. Lumps of 
colour Hiding out of the fcumbling-brufh, when driven 
with enthufiafm and velocity over the pictorial field, have 
fiiadows of their own and their own points of refledled 
light, which, in combined exertions, produce a fenfible 
efiedl from a caufe imperceptible at a diftance : again, the 
air-harmonifes all this, when profufely interpofed ; but 
not fo, when the diminutive imitation is offered to the 
clofe infpedlion of the eye. Let us, therefore, take thefe 
hints into our confideration, and be perfuaded, that a 
good'copy of a good pidlure, when reduced in fize, can¬ 
not be made, without allowing a great deal for the ab- 
ience of that benevolent element which does fo much for 
the artiff, by dropping its gauze-like veil between the 
objedl and the eye, and thus creating a really perfect tout 
enfemble out of a heap of apparent imperfections. See 
alfothe fedlion on Colouring, p. 233. 
Whatever a young painter’s natural difpofition maybe, 
whether to paint boldly and freely like Tintoretand Ru¬ 
bens, or to labour his works like Titian or da Vinci, 
let him follow it. This kind of imitation is very com¬ 
mendable. It is thus that Dante, at the fame time that 
he carefully avoided adopting the particular exprefiions 
of Virgil, endeavoured to feize his bold and free manner, 
and at laft caught from him that elegance of flyle which 
lias done him lb much honour. 
As to the reft, nothing lliould hinder an able mafter 
from making ufe now-and-then of any antique, or even 
modern figure, which he may find his account in employ¬ 
ing. Raphael, in a St. Paul at Lyftra, fcrupled not to 
avail himfelf of an ancient facrifice in bafio-relievo ; nor 
did Michael Angelo himfelf difdain to ufe in his paint¬ 
ings the figures upon the famous cornelian which tradition 
tells us he wore on his finger, and which was in the pof- 
leftion of the late king of France. Men like thefe avail 
themfelves of the produdlions of others in fuch a man¬ 
ner as to make us apply to them what La Bruyere faid 
of Defpreaux, that one would imagine the thoughts of 
other men had been of his own creation. 
In general, a painter lliould have his eye conftantly 
fixed on Nature, that inexhauftible and varied fource of 
every kind of beauty ; and lliould ftudy to imitate her in 
her moll lingular effedls. As beauty, fcattered over the 
whole univerfe, Ihines brighter in fome objedts than in 
others, he fliould never be without his little book and 
crayon, in order to make drawings of every beautiful or 
uncommon objedl that may happen to prefent itfelf; and 
takelketches of every fine building, every fituation, every 
effedl of light, every flight of clouds, every flow of drapery, 
every attitude, every exprefiion of the pafllons, that may 
happen to ftrike him. He may afterwards employ thefe 
things as occafions offer j and in the mean time will have 
the advantage of acquiring a grand tafte. 
It is by carefully lludying the bell mailers, and imi¬ 
tating nature, that a painter arrives at the ftyle of per- 
fedlion which the Italians calls gufto gramlo, the French 
le beau ideal, and the Englilh the great ftyle. 
When'we fpeak of the habitual imitation and conti¬ 
nued ftudy of mailers, it is not to be underftood that we 
advife any endeavour to copy the exadt peculiar colour 
and complexion of another man’s mind; the fuccefs of 
fuch an attempt mull always be like his who imitates ex- 
adlly the air, manner, and geftures, of him whom he ad¬ 
mires. His model may be excellent, but he himfelf will 
be ridiculous; and this ridicule arifes, not from his hav¬ 
ing imitated, but from his not having chofen the right 
mode of imitation. 
It is a neceflary warrantable pride to difdain to walk, 
fervilely behind any individual, however elevated his rank. 
The true and liberal ground of imitation is an open field, 
where, though he who precedes has had the advantage of 
ftarting before you, yet it is enough to purfue his courfe 5 
you need not tread in his footfteps; and you certainly 
have a right to outftrip him if you can. 
The great ufe of lludying our predeceflors is to open the 
mind, to fhorten our labour, and to give us the refult of 
the feledlion made by thofe great minds of what is grand 
or beautiful in nature : her rich ftores are all fpread out 
before us; but it is an art, and no eafy art, to know hovy 
or what to choofe, and how to attain and fecure the objedl 
of our choice. Thus the higheft beauty of form mull be 
taken from Nature; but it is an art of long deduclion and 
great experience to know how to find it. 
To judge if a Painting be an Original or a Copy. 
We fliall not fpeak of indifferent copies, which the cu¬ 
rious will find out at firft fight; much lefs of bad ones, 
which are known to be fo by all the world. We mull fup- 
pofe a copy made by a good mafter, which calls for ferious 
reflection, and makes one doubt, for fome time at leaft, 
whether it is a copy or an original. Of fuch copies there 
are three forts. The firft is done faithfully, but fervilely 3 
the fecond is light, eafy, but not faithful; the third is 
both faithful and eafy. 
The firft, which is lervile and faithful, includes the de- 
fign, the colouring, and the touches of the original; but 
the fear of palling beyond the bounds of this exadlnefs, 
and to err againft fidelity, makes the hand of the copyift 
ftiff, and thus betrays it to a good judge. 
The fecond is more likely to impol’e on the fpedlator, 
becaufe of the lightnefs of the pencil; but the unfaith- 
fulnefs of the contours or outlines will undeceive the bell 
critics. 
But the third, which is faithful and eafy, made by a 
learned and fleilful hand, and, above all, in the time of 
the original, may fometimes puzzle the greateft critics. 
There is Hill another difficulty, greater perhaps than 
any of the foregoing ; namely, the repetition of a pidlure. 
There is fcarely a painter but has re-created fome of his 
own works ? there are two Madonna’s of Raphael, which, 
being placed fide by fide, it would hardly be poffible to 
fay which is the original, and which the repetition or copy. 
Titian has repeated the fame pidlure feven or eight times ; 
and we fee feveral pidlures of the bell mailers of Italy 
repeated, which divide the merits of their other pieces, 
and pafs for originals in different places. 
Luca Signorelli, of Cortona, was a difciple of Pietro 
della Francefca ; and imitated his manner fo exadlly, that 
their w r orks are often taken the one for the other. 
There have indeed been copies that have deceived the 
moll fleilful painters. Among many examples of this 
kind, we fliall relate one, which is the more remarkable, 
as it is of an artift who was deceived relative to his own 
performance. 
Frederic II. duke of Mantua, being at Florence, in his 
way to Rome, to pay a vifit to pope Clement VII. ob- 
ferved, in the palace of Medicis, over one of the doors, 
the pidlure of Leo X. between the cardinal of Medicis 
and cardinal di Rofli; the heads were by Raphael, the 
drapery by Julio Romano. The duke looked upon it 
earneltly, and became fo enamoured of it, that he could 
not forbear begging it of the pope when he came to Rome. 
His holinefs very gracioufly gave it him ; and ordered his 
fecretary fo write to Odlavian de Medicis at Florence, to 
put the pidlure up in a cafe and fend it to Mantua. Odla¬ 
vian, who was a great lover of painting, and loath to de¬ 
prive Florence of fuch a rarity, invented an excufe to de¬ 
fer fending it, pretending that the frame was not rich 
enough, and that he would get one fitted-up for it. This 
4. delay 
