is* 
 
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PRACTICAL HINTS 
 
 ON 
 
 LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 

 
 
 
 C. and C. Wbittingham, Chiswick. 
 
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 r 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS 
 
 LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 Examples from tf)e Italian, anfo Dutcl) £ocf)ools. 
 
 BY JOHN BURNET. 
 
 “ The highest finishing is labour in vain, unless at the same time there be preserved a breadth of 
 light and shadow.” 
 
 Reynolds’s Notes on Fresnoy. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR, 
 
 AND SOLD BY JAMES CARPENTER AND SON, 
 
 OLD BOND STREET. 
 
 * 
 
 1826. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I am now induced to take up the second part of the Practical 
 Hi nts on Painting, from the encouragement the first has met 
 with ; but more especially from the approbation of many of our 
 best painters, who are undoubtedly the best judges of the utility 
 of the work. In this part, treating of the conduct of the light and 
 shade, I shall follow the same mode as before, merely throwing 
 out hints as they occur, without any relation to connection, or a 
 regular treatise. The mind is naturally fond of variety, and 
 by leading it through a succession of images, provided their 
 advantages are shown or explained, the end of instruction is 
 accomplished. There is no fixed mode for conveying instruction ; 
 those things which appear to the reader to be useful, he will 
 connect in his own mind by a chain of reasoning, shorter than the 
 shortest which could be furnished by writing ; and the longest 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 dissertation to prove the existence or utility of that which appears 
 of no advantage would be unavailing. 
 
 I have endeavoured to trace the effects, as much as possible, 
 to their first causes operating in various ways on the minds of the 
 different artists who have adopted them. Whether they were 
 guided by rules, or imitative instinct, we cannot now determine ; 
 nor is it my wish to inculcate any doctrine where the student has 
 a better mode of his own to serve as a guide. Let him, however, 
 always bear in mind, that in painting, as in other things, to use 
 the words of Dr. Johnson, “ The accidental compositions of 
 heterogeneous modes are dissolved by the chance which combined 
 them, but the uniform simplicity of primitive qualities neither 
 admits increase nor suffers decay/' 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Light and Shade \ 
 
 Plate 1 4 
 
 Plate II 14 
 
 Plate III 
 
 Plate IV 20 
 
 Plate V 99 
 
 Plate VL 26 
 
 Plate VII 34 
 
 Plate VIII. 
 
 38 
 
PRACTICAL HINTS 
 
 ON 
 
 LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 LIGHT AND SHADE. 
 
 Before proceeding to investigate light and shade in their various intricate 
 situations, it may be proper to notice a few of the more palpable and self- 
 evident combinations, and for the better comprehending of which, I shall 
 divide them into five parts : viz. light, half light, middle tint, half dark, 
 and dark. When a picture is chiefly composed of light and half light, 
 the darks will have more force and point ; but, without the help of strong- 
 colour to give it solidity, it will be apt to look feeble : and when a picture 
 is composed mainly of dark and half dark, the lights will be more brilliant ; 
 but they will be apt to look spotty for want of half light to spread and 
 connect them ; and the piece be in danger of becoming black and heavy : 
 
 6 
 
2 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 and when a picture is composed chiefly of middle tint, the dark and light 
 portions have a more equal chance of coming into notice ; but the general 
 effect is in danger of being common and insipid. 
 
 Light and shade are capable of producing many results ; but, the three 
 principal are relief, harmony, and breadth. By the first the Artist is 
 enabled to give his works the distinctness and solidity of nature. The 
 second is the result of a union and consent of one part with another ; and 
 the third, a general breadth, is the necessary attendant on extent and 
 magnitude. A judicious management of these three properties is to be 
 found in the best pictures of the Italian, Venetian, and Flemish Schools, 
 and ought to employ the most attentive examination of the student ; for 
 by giving too much relief, he will produce a dry hard effect; by too much 
 softness and blending of the parts, woolliness and insipidity ; and in a 
 desire to preserve a breadth of effect, he may produce flatness. 
 
 Relief is most necessary in large works ; as their being seen from a 
 greater distance than easel pictures prevents their looking harsh or 
 cutting, and gives them that sharpness and clearness of effect so necessary 
 to counteract heaviness. Not only the works of Raphael and those of the 
 Italian school possess this quality, but we find it in the greatest perfection 
 in the pictures of Paul Veronese and Tintoret; and even the larger works 
 of Titian and Corregio have a flatness and precision which we look for in 
 vain in the succeeding school of Caracci and their disciples ; Guido 
 excepted. 
 
 Harmony or a union of the different parts of a composition depends 
 upon the intermediate parts serving as a link or chain, either by conveying 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 3 
 
 a sensation of the same colours with those in immediate contact, or by 
 neutralizing and breaking down the harsh asperities of the two extremes, 
 and thus producing a connexion or agreement. 
 
 Breadth of effect is only to be produced by a great extent of light or 
 shade pervading the picture. If an open daylight appearance is intended, 
 such as we see in Cuyp, &c. it will be best produced by leaving out part 
 of the middle tint, and allowing a greater spread of light and half light ; 
 this will also give the darks the relative force which they possess in 
 nature. If a breadth of shadow is required, such as we find in Rem- 
 brandt, &c. the picture ought to be made up of middle tint and half dark. 
 In the one treatment the darks ought to tell sharp and cutting, which is 
 the characteristic of strong daylight; in the other the lights ought to 
 appear powerful and brilliant, enveloped in masses of obscurity. 
 
 The influence of shadow upon any composition, when carried beyond 
 the necessary depth for the relief or distinct marking of the several parts, 
 is breadth, from its absorbing many of the half tints and rendering the 
 darks less cutting; and repose, from there being fewer of the outlines 
 visible; hence arises a certain grandeur attendant upon space, and an 
 agreeable sensation, from the spectator being allowed to exercise his own 
 fancy in embodying indistinct forms. Thus the gloomy solitude of a wood 
 is increased by the absence of the twittering light through the trees, the 
 absence of their harsh colour, and the distinct form and crisp marking of 
 the leaves. Rembrandt has carried this property of shadow beyond the 
 hope of any improvement, and by this means has clothed the most trifling 
 subject with a portion of sublimity. If we allow ourselves to be influenced 
 by the association of ideas, it is capable of imparting a greater degree of 
 
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 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 horror to any subject of terror; as imaginary dangers appear greater 
 than real, being augmented by the operations of the mind. Milton has 
 made use of this quality in describing the situation of the fallen Angels : 
 
 “ From those flames 
 No light, but rather darkness visible 
 Served only to discover sights of woe.” 
 
 And Titian, in his picture of the Martyrdom of St. Laurence, which 
 otherwise is disagreeable from its being cold and black. 
 
 Having thus defined some of the characteristic features of shadow, the 
 effects of light in a great measure explain themselves, being in most 
 instances of an opposite nature. Its cheerful influence operates on the 
 mind of the spectator, either when viewing the festivities of a village 
 holiday or when he beholds it diffused over the general face of nature : 
 it may be termed the Allegro in Painting. 
 
 Explanation of Plate I. Fig. 1 . 
 
 If light, collected into a focus by means of a lens, be thrown obliquely 
 upon a wall, it will explain to us one of its principal properties, upon 
 which many Artists have founded their principles of light and shade. 
 Where the bundles of rays are collected, the light is increased in bright- 
 ness; and when they become more diffused and spread out, it naturally 
 becomes more feeble, losing itself in half tint. In this example we have 
 some of the most essential qualities of light as applicable to the purposes 
 of painting. We have a principal light, which, being produced by the 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 5 
 
 collecting of the rays, leaves that portion of the ground the darkest 
 which comes in contact with it, thereby assisting its brightness. We 
 have an innumerable variety of gradations, until the light is dissipated 
 and lost. Some artists maintain, and justly, that every light, however 
 small, ought to have a focus, or one part brighter than another ; and as 
 we find this to be a general law in nature, it is surely safe ground to go 
 upon. For the same reason we ought to have one portion of a dark more 
 decided than the rest. If these two extremes are brought in contact, 
 we make them assist each other, one becoming brighter, and the other 
 darker, from the effect of contrast. If they are placed at the opposite 
 sides of the picture, we have greater breadth and a more equal balance. 
 Let us now examine how these properties have been made use of in the 
 management of the light and shade of a picture. If, for example, we take 
 a head by Rembrandt, we find the principal light or focus in the upper 
 part of the face (which he often, to render more luminous, surrounds with 
 a black bonnet or hat, and even this he keeps of a cold tone, to give more 
 value to the flesh) ; the light is then allowed to fall down on the figure, 
 producing thereby a union and an appearance of his light giving out rays 
 of the same hue as itself. If we follow him in the conduct of some of his 
 larger compositions, we find the same principle adopted, whether they 
 consist of many figures, such as the hundred Guilder print, or of few, as 
 in the small Nativity in the National Gallery ; thus rendering the most 
 complicated compositions subservient to the simplest principles of light 
 and shade. A few experiments on a ground of a middle tint, with a 
 pencil filled with white, and another dipped in black, will give the 
 student an insight into all the changes capable of being produced upon 
 this principle. 
 
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 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Plate L Fig. 2. 
 
 If a diagonal line be drawn through the picture, and the extreme dark 
 and extreme light be placed at opposite sides, we must of necessity have 
 the greatest breadth of effect. If a balance or union between the two sides 
 be wished, there is no other way but by borrowing a portion of the one 
 and exchanging it for a portion of the opposite ; and not only may this 
 practice be made use of for the harmony of the whole, but the light and 
 the shade will be thus rendered more intense by the force of opposition. 
 Now, whether the dark which is carried to the light side be very small, or 
 very large, and, vice versa, we have the groundwork of some of the most 
 powerful and most natural effects in painting. If the light is placed near 
 the horizon, as in evening skies, for example, such as it frequently is in 
 Cuyp, we see it rising upwards until lost in middle tint in the upper part 
 of the picture, and the middle tint descending into shadow by means of 
 trees, figures, &c. thus making a sweep round the picture, and thereby 
 affording the greatest opportunity for breadth of effect. If the two extreme 
 points are connected by intermediate figures, so as to form but one group, 
 we have the greatest firmness, as the light part of the group will be 
 relieved by a dark ground, and the dark part of the group by a light 
 ground : if we pursue the contrary practice, and place the dark part of 
 the group on the dark ground, and the light part of the group on the light 
 ground, we have more breadth and softness of effect. There is no want 
 of examples, either in nature or in pictures, to warrant our following 
 either mode. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 7 
 
 Plate I. Fig. 3. 
 
 Sometimes we find the principal light in the centre of the picture 
 gradating to the extremities with a border of dark binding in the whole. 
 By this mode the light has great brilliancy, especially if a small portion of 
 dark is brought in contact with it. This melting of the light into shadow 
 has been carried to great perfection by Corregio and Rembrandt, who 
 most frequently relieved the dark side of their figures by a still darker 
 background., which Reynolds (who has adopted this mode in so many of 
 his works) mentions as giving a rich effect. 
 
 If this method is pursued in the management of the light on a hand; or 
 a single head; it is equally applicable; as in a more extensive work. In 
 the landscapes of Claude, who has often placed the sun near the centre 
 of his compositions, we find the light managed upon the same broad 
 principle, gradating to the sides of his canvass by means of buildings, 
 ships, &c. with often a clump of dark trees jutting into the mass of light, 
 thereby giving it its brilliant character, and serving at the same time to 
 convey the dark sides into the picture. If he reminds us occasionally of 
 Rembrandt, it arises from his great breadth of effect ; if of Corregio, it is 
 the soft union of his lights with the shadow. A few walks in the evening 
 in the twilight, and at night in scenery where nature has an opportunity 
 of showing her various effects, will put the student in possession of a 
 power to unravel all her mysteries. We do not know whether Claude, 
 Corregio, and Rembrandt, were acquainted with the works of one another, 
 but we have the most evident proofs that they were well acquainted with 
 
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 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 the principle by which nature produces her most striking effects; and a 
 breadth of light and shade, soft and subdued tones of colour, and every 
 requisite for forming the mind of an artist, is still to be found in the same 
 school in which they studied. 
 
 Plate I. Fig. 4. 
 
 If the lights are to predominate in a picture from the ground being low 
 in tone, it is of the utmost consequence that they should not only be 
 varied in form and magnitude, but that they should produce an agreeable 
 arrangement in the picture, seeing that they will attract greater notice 
 than when the ground is lighter. 
 
 I shall here take the liberty of introducing a passage from Reynolds’s 
 works, as nothing can exceed it in utility and justness of observation. In 
 his notes upon Fresnoy, speaking of light and shade, he says, “ The same 
 rules, which have been given in regard to the regulation of groups of 
 figures, must be observed in regard to the grouping of lights; that there 
 shall be a superiority of one over the rest, that they shall be separated 
 and varied in their shapes, and that there should be at least three lights : 
 the secondary lights ought, for the sake of harmony and union, to be 
 
 of nearly equal brightness, though not of equal magnitude with the 
 principal.” 
 
 The Dutch painters particularly excelled in the management of light 
 and shade, and have shown, in this department, that consummate skill 
 which entirely conceals the appearance of art. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 9 
 
 “Jan Steen, Teniers, Ostade, Du Sart, and many others of that school 
 may be produced as instances, and recommended to the young artist’s 
 careful study and attention. 
 
 “ The means by which the painter works, and on which the effect of his 
 picture depends, are light and shade, and warm and cold colours. That 
 there is an art in the management and disposition of those means will be 
 easily granted, and it is equally certain, that this art is to be acquired by 
 a careful examination of the works of those who have excelled in it. 
 
 “I shall here set down the result of the observations which I have made 
 on the works of those artists who appear to have best understood the 
 management of light and shade, and who may be considered as examples 
 for imitation in this branch of art. 
 
 “ Titian, Paul Veronese, and Tintoret were among the first painters 
 who reduced to a system what was before practised without any fixed 
 principle, and consequently neglected occasionally. From the Venetian 
 painters Rubens extracted his scheme of composition, which was soon 
 understood and adopted by his countrymen, and extended even to the 
 minor painters of familiar life in the Dutch school. 
 
 u When I was at Venice, the method I took to avail myself of their 
 principles was this : when I observed an extraordinary effect of light and 
 shade in any picture, I took a leaf of my pocket-book, and darkened every 
 part of it in the same gradation of light and shade as the picture, leaving 
 the white paper untouched to represent light, and this without any 
 attention to the subject or to the drawing of the figures. A few trials of 
 
 c 
 
10 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 this kind will be sufficient to give the method of their conduct in the 
 management of their lights. After a few experiments I found the paper 
 blotted nearly alike : their general practice appeared to be, to allow not 
 above a quarter of the picture for the light, including in this portion both 
 the principal and secondary lights; another quarter to be as dark as 
 possible ; and the remaining half kept in mezzotint or half shadow. 
 
 “ Rubens appears to have admitted rather more light than a quarter, 
 and Rembrandt much less, scarce an eighth; by this conduct Rembrandt’s 
 light is extremely brilliant, but it costs too much ; the rest of the picture 
 is sacrificed to this one object. That light will certainly appear the 
 brightest which is surrounded with the greatest quantity of shade, 
 supposing equal skill in the artist. 
 
 u By this means you may likewise remark the various forms and shapes 
 of those lights, as well as the objects on which they are flung ; whether a 
 figure, or the sky, a white napkin, animals, or utensils, often introduced 
 for this purpose only. It may be observed, likewise, what portion is 
 strongly relieved, and how much is united with its ground ; for it is 
 necessary that some part (though a small one is sufficient) should be sharp 
 and cutting against its ground, whether it be light on a dark or dark on a 
 light ground, in order to give firmness and distinctness to the work ; if, 
 on the other hand, it is relieved on every side, it will appear as if inlaid 
 on its ground. Such a blotted paper, held at a distance from the eye, 
 will strike the spectator as something excellent for the disposition of light 
 and shadow, though he does not distinguish whether it is a history, a 
 portrait, a landscape, dead game, or any thing else ; for the same 
 principles extend to every branch of the art. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 11 
 
 “ Whether I have given an exact account, or made a just division of the 
 quantity of light admitted into the works of those painters, is of no very 
 great consequence ; let every person examine and judge for himself: it 
 will be sufficient if I have suggested a mode of examining pictures this 
 way, and one means at least of acquiring the principles on which they 
 wrought.” 
 
 This is so admirable as to need no comment, and ought never to be 
 lost sight of, as upon the management of light and shade depends the 
 general look of the picture. 
 
 Plate I. Fig. 5. 
 
 As a wall or flat surface recedes from the light, it necessarily becomes 
 darker, and as the outline is more or less defined, it has the property of 
 advancing or receding. These may seem to be properties too evident to 
 every one to need any explanation ; but, when we see a foreground, in 
 place of coming flat up to the edge of the frame, appear to slope down 
 like a declivity, we must either suppose that the painter knew not the 
 principle of assisting the perspective by means of light and shade, or had 
 not the faculty of seeing nature. When we consider that nature spreads 
 out her landscape upon a horizontal plane, and that we have to compete 
 with her upon an upright surface, we shall find we have not only to call 
 into our aid strong light, coming in contact with sharp dark, warm 
 colours, and such as have the property of advancing, but to subdue the 
 more distant part of the ground by soft shadow and retiring cool tints. 
 
12 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Plate I. Fig. 6. 
 
 When the composition is kept dark, forming a mass of shadow in the 
 centre of the canvass, the light is often conducted round it by means of 
 the sky, water, or light foreground; and as the dark becomes in a 
 manner isolated, it receives great vigour and importance. As this is the 
 reverse of Fig. 3, we find the same simple broad principle predominant, 
 and whether it be composed of a clump of trees, or the dark dress of a 
 whole-length figure, we find the management guided by the same rules ; 
 only if a portrait, the circumstance of the face coming light olf the back- 
 ground requires the feet or base of the figure to tell dark on the ground, 
 for the sake of firmness ; and if any part is more lost in the background 
 than another, it perhaps ought to be the middle portion of the figure. 
 If a clump of trees such as we often find in Claude is to be represented, 
 their stems shoot out from a ground of the same darkness, thereby 
 producing a union of the trees with the shadow which they cast on the 
 ground. As a light in the centre of dark tints must thereby acquire an 
 increased consequence, so a dark in the middle of light tints receives the 
 same importance. 
 
I 
 
 LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 13 
 
 Plate I. Fig. 7. 
 
 I have noticed in another place the union of one part of the picture 
 with another, by means of a repetition of the light : it will therefore be 
 unnecessary to say any thing further upon such management. I may 
 however observe that it is not only of service to repeat the light, but, 
 also, that it should be of the same colour ; accordingly we observe in 
 Cuyp, whose principal light is often yellow, that it is carried into the 
 dark part of the picture by means of yellow' drapery, a cow, sheep, or 
 a few touches of golden colour, according as he wishes such extension 
 ot his light large or small. If the principal light is cold, such as blue 
 and white, we find it repeated either by a reflection in water, or a figure 
 dressed in the same cool tint. Portrait painters generally make use of 
 the light in the sky to repeat the lights of their head and hands, by 
 making it of the same colour. 
 
PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Plate II. 
 
 Rembrandt, from liis first commencement in the art, seems to have 
 been always solicitous to represent the brightness of light at the sacrifice 
 of every other quality ; and in his first works it often forms a circum- 
 scribed spot, for, as Reynolds justly observes, “ that light must appear 
 the brightest which is surrounded by the greatest quantity of shade; 5 ’ but 
 though this conduct enables the artist to give light one of its strong 
 characteristics, whether it be the sun, a candle, fire, &c. yet there aie 
 other properties quite as essential, and more easy to contend with, which 
 are its effects on the different objects it illuminates. Rembrandt’s close 
 attention to nature soon led him to expand his principle ; for example, he 
 perceived the flame of a candle exceeded in brightness every thing round 
 it in a tenfold ratio, which could be expressed only by darkening the 
 whole, and leaving the light in a spot, and thereby extinguishing its 
 influential effect: but if the candle itself was hid, the appearance of every 
 object under its influence was not only more easily given, but the effect 
 of the whole became more deceptive and natural. His extending of the 
 light through the picture gradually became more enlarged ; and even his 
 deepest shadows are illuminated by streaks of red or rich brown 
 running into them, which (from his principal light being of a warm tone) 
 keep up a connection without destroying the breadth of light and shade. 
 
 In Fig. 1 of this Plate, “ Christ restoring the Daughter of Jairus,” we 
 have a principle upon which many of his pictuies are constructed, viz. a 
 ray of light falling into an apartment, and received upon a light object 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING 
 
 15 
 
 which; as in nature; reflects back the rays, and illuminates the surrounding 
 objects; giving thus his principal light the properties of light itself. The 
 shadows of all objects receiving such direct rays, we sometimes see 
 strongly defined; as is the case in nature, and indeed we often find 
 Rembrandt placing objects for the express purpose of producing such 
 shadows, which gives an appearance of truth to the whole effect ; at other 
 times we find the shadows swallowed up in the splendour of the light, as 
 if afraid of disturbing its breadth. Sometimes we find his strong light, 
 his strong dark, and his hot and cold colours, all focused at one point; 
 and at other times his darks employed to clear up the middle tint, and 
 his strongest colours made the means of uniting his light with the shade. 
 In .short, whatever was his practice, he seems always to have had some 
 end to accomplish, and when we find him departing from what would be 
 the effect in nature under such circumstances, we may rest assured that 
 such departure did not arise from ignorance. We often see the attempts 
 of de Hooge and others at representing light confined to its effect in the 
 sky or on the objects out of doors, while it is but sparingly admitted on 
 the figures seen within the apartment ; on the contrary, Rembrant’s figures 
 are lighted up with a splendour which extinguishes every other subordi- 
 nate light, and which we often cannot account for upon the common 
 principles of nature. 
 
 The subject below in Plate II. is from a picture in the Louvre, and 
 shows how small a portion of light sometimes engaged Rembrandt’s 
 solicitude. He has employed the edge of the frame work, the dark under 
 the cradle, and the dark dress of the figure to give it its value. The 
 curtain is a dull red, and is carried into the picture by the dress of the 
 child being of the same colour. 
 
16 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Plate III. Fig. 1, and 2. 
 
 Fig. 1 and 2 represent the “ Taking down from the cross” and the 
 u Presentation in the temple.” Daulby, in his catalogue, mentions two states 
 of the original etchings more worked upon ; but I find, on examination, 
 they are merely the plates left without being much wiped, thereby casting 
 a stain over the whole, except a high light on the cap of the figure holding 
 the crosier, and a light at the torch in the “ Taking down from the cross,” 
 the copper being made clean at those places. In many of the varieties 
 of Rembrandt's etchings he has got credit for effects supposed to be 
 produced by much labour, which were the result of the printing alone. 
 In the descent from the cross he has kept the principal light in the upper 
 part of the picture in contact with the strong dark ; in the other it is kept 
 below, and is carried upwards by a chain of communication to the head of 
 the crosier. Where the light is at one side, or low down in the picture, 
 such as in the u Wise Men's offering,” in the king’s collection, there is 
 greater space for a breadth of shadow, than when the light is kept in the 
 centre, as was the principle of most of his first works. In some of his 
 designs he seems to have allowed the entire half of his canvass for repose, 
 and to have confined his composition with all its lights, and darks, and 
 colours, to the other half. Very little often serves to connect the two. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 17 
 
 The dark manner of Rembrandt has advantages over every other, if kept 
 within due bounds, as it enables the painter to give a rich tone to his 
 colours without their appearing heavy, which more feeble backgrounds 
 would not admit of, unless the colours are to stand as darks instead of 
 lights ; accordingly we find Titian, Tintoret, Giorgione, Rembrandt, and 
 our own Reynolds, all swayed by the same opinion. 
 
 Plate III. Fig. 3. 
 
 When the light part of the composition is placed upon the dark side of 
 the background, and the dark part upon the light side, greater firmness 
 and solidity are produced, and a more equal balance is kept up. The 
 contrary method has more breadth and softness of effect, but unless the 
 light part is of a different hue from the light ground upon which it may 
 be placed, and the dark part is of a warmer or colder tone than the 
 shadow which surrounds it, there is a danger of their losing their 
 substance and becoming flat. Vandyke, in this composition, has made 
 the colours of his figures assist his arrangement of light and shade ; the 
 white dress of the child and the yellow dress of the queen make the 
 principal light ; the white is repeated by the cap, ruff, &c. of the other 
 figures ; the yellow is carried across by the embroidery upon the king’s 
 dress, and spread out upon the under part of the sky ; the darks are 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 made up of the dark dress of the king and the child’s dress,, which is a 
 dull green ; the latter tint is carried across the picture by part of the 
 curtain turned up, of the same colour ; the curtain itself is a dull yellow 
 and brown, serving as a ground to the queen’s dress ; the red cloth of the 
 table is repeated by the two chairs; the floor being a dark neutral tint 
 gives a firmness to the bottom of both the figures. If the student, in 
 examining the light and shade of a picture, remarks what colours are 
 resorted to for such purpose, in a few trials he will find that which at 
 first appears complicated and difficult to unravel will become easy and 
 beneficial, serving to strengthen his powers of reflection in the highest 
 degree. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 19 
 
 Plate III. Fig. 4. 
 
 The dark forming the greatest mass of shadow of the picture is often, 
 before being brought in contact with the extreme light, increased and 
 collected to a point by some object whose local colour conduces to such 
 purpose, as in the example here given; where the black dress of the 
 female is brought, at its darkest portion, in contact with the lightest 
 portion of the white dress. This serves to give air to the deepest shades 
 of the background, and greater firmness to the object so relieved. The 
 collecting to one head of all the light, and all the dark of a piece, gives the 
 artist the greatest force of the palette. To enable the other side of the 
 picture to keep up with so much vigour, Metzu has thrown his strong- 
 colour into the scale, and brought his red and blue in contact, by a glove 
 lying upon the chair, at the point nearest the eye. The warm colour is 
 taken to the other side by a dog, &c. and the white of the female repeated 
 by a handkerchief the man holds in his hand, his neckcloth, &c. 
 
20 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Plate IV. Fig. 1. 
 
 In a single head we often have but one light ; it is therefore necessary 
 to get it to harmonize with the shadow, either in the background or upon 
 the dress. Rembrandt, accordingly, frequently painted the light of the 
 dress of the same colour as the shadow side of the face, thereby keeping- 
 up a union and simplicity. In Fig. 2 we have the hands making a second 
 light; and in Fig. 3 we have three spots of light, the shirt and ruffles of 
 both hands : this is the Titian Reynolds thus mentions in the description 
 of the Dusseldorf gallery, and which is now in Munich: “A portrait of a 
 gentleman, by Titian, a kitcat ; one hand a-kimbo, the hand itself not 
 seen, only a bit of the ruffle ; the other, the left, rests on what appears to 
 be his sword ; he is looking off. This portrait has a very pleasing- 
 countenance, but is not painted with much facility, nor is it at all 
 mannered ; the shadows are of no colour ; the drapery being black, and 
 the ground being very near as dark as it, prevents the arm a-kimbo from 
 having a bad effect. It is no small part of our art to know what to bring 
 forward in the light, and what to throw into shade.” 
 
 The linen in this picture, and most others of Titian, is light and cutting, 
 the flesh forming the half light. Reynolds, talking of the Descent from 
 the Cross, by Rubens, says, “ he well knew what effect white linen, 
 opposed to flesh, must have, with his powers of colouring ; and the truth 
 is, that none but great colourists can venture to paint pure white linen near 
 flesh ; but such know the advantage of it.” In Rembrandt we generally 
 find the same treatment, although I have often observed the linen kept 
 
LTGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 21 
 
 cool when near the face. To give the flesh a luminous character, he often 
 introduces cool tints coining near it, and when he can find nothing else, 
 uses the shadows of linen for such purpose. In Vandyke’s early Italian 
 manner we find the linen much brighter than in his later works, where it 
 became more of a leaden cast. 
 
 Plate IV. Fig. 4, and 5. 
 
 We sometimes find the light of the sky introduced for the purpose of 
 repeating the lights of the heads and hands, as in Fig. 3 ; sometimes to 
 spread and enlarge the lights of the head, and give it more consequence, 
 as in Fig. 4. To assist the hand in keeping its situation in this picture, 
 he has defined it by the hat and shadow on the chair. As it is of the 
 utmost consequence that every object should keep its relative distance 
 with regard to the eye of the spectator, it is a good method to define 
 those parts we wish to advance by a dark shadow coming in contact with 
 them, and to surround the retiring portions with a ground of a less 
 opposing character; as we know lines strongly and sharply defined will 
 approach, and those of a softer nature will retire. Such blots are 
 afterwards to be accounted for by the contrivance of the artist : in this 
 consists the application of the background to the figures, one of the most 
 difficult and essential portions of the art. 
 
 As light and shade determine the concavities or convexities of all 
 objects, without them the most intelligent outline would be but as a map 
 
22 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 or flat surface. If, for example, we take a cup and examine the influence 
 of light and shade upon it, we find in nature those principles which artists 
 have applied to many purposes in painting. We perceive the near edge 
 strongly defined by the light side coming in contact with the shadow, 
 which becomes darker as it descends into the cup ; we have the dark side 
 brought firmly olf the light, thus giving it the simplest and most effective 
 means of a true representation of its . character. This may appear too 
 evident to notice in a work of this nature, which does not profess to give 
 the mere rudiments of the art; but I am convinced that the most intricate 
 principles of painting emanate from very few sources, and that these 
 sources are of a very simple nature. Every thing within our view is filled 
 with examples, and the mind of the student requires only to be directed 
 to an examination, and investigation of the subject, before commencing 
 w any work, or while in the progress. He must not only know what is his 
 intention, but must be in possession of the best method of expressing 
 such intention. 
 
 Plate V. Fig. 1. 
 
 When a shadow is carried through the middle of the picture, we have 
 not only an opportunity of giving a breadth of effect; but, the receding- 
 portion of the sky, and perspective of the ground, are assisted by their 
 sharpnesses being swallowed up in repose : see this principle noticed at 
 Fig. 5. Plate I. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 23 
 
 Plate V. j Fig. 2, and 3. 
 
 When the principal light is kept at one side, we have an opportunity 
 of introducing a larger portion of shadow, than when the light is in the 
 centre, which is often of the first consequence, especially if repose is 
 required in the work. 
 
 hen, as in Fig. 2, a multitude of small objects are introduced into a 
 picture, or when the general arrangement consists of many figures, it is 
 impossible to get a breadth of light and shade, unless many of them are 
 united together of the same strength, so as to form a mass of light, or of 
 dark ; but which to do with skill is one of the greatest difficulties ; for 
 unless the science is in some measure concealed, it is no longer science. 
 In the confusion of a battle, for example, it is unlikely that two or three 
 white horses should be collected, so as to form a mass of light ; and yet 
 we see in Salvator Rosa, and Wouvermans this method adopted; or in a 
 representation of dead game it is equally improbable that we should 
 always find a swan for the same purpose, as in Weeninx. To obviate 
 such apparent artifice of the painter, we find P. Veronese, Tintoret, and 
 others, making use of the sky, or light buildings, for a principal mass in 
 their large works, consisting of many figures. In the small works of the 
 Dutch school we find the light upon a wall, or on the ground, or in a 
 window, in indoor subjects, and the sky, &c. in open daylight, made use 
 of for this purpose. 
 
24 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Gerard Douw, notwithstanding his extreme finish, contrived to preserve 
 that breadth of light and shade, which his instruction in the school ol 
 Rembrandt had empowered him to do ; and in small works this breadth of 
 effect is the more difficult to retain, seeing, that there is so little space for 
 the middle tints, darks, lights, anrl reflected lights, to be observed in 
 nature, and withal, for a certain bluntness in the outline, to prevent the 
 several objects from looking like small models. Reynolds, in his notes to 
 Fresnoy, to illustrate this quality, says, “we may have recourse to Titian^s 
 bunch of grapes, which we will suppose placed so as to receive a broad 
 light and shadow; here, though each individual grape on the light side of 
 the bunch has its light, and shadow, and reflection, yet altogether they 
 make but one broad mass of light; the slightest sketch, therefore, where 
 this breadth is preserved, will have a better effect, will have more the 
 appearance of coming from a master hand, that is, in other words, will 
 have more the characteristic and generate of nature, than the most 
 laborious finishing where this breadth is lost or neglected.” One method 
 amongst many which we sometimes find Gerard Douw adopting, so as to 
 convey an appearance of high finishing, and yet preserve the breadth of 
 nature, is to give the texture, or surface of an object without altering the 
 tints. For example, in painting a piece of carpet or tapestry, he seems 
 to have laid in his broad lights and shadows, and, while wet, applied a 
 piece of fine cloth, so as to leave an impression of the threads over the 
 whole, then in the high lights to have touched each thread with light, and 
 in the shadow with dark touching, which, did the lines accord with the 
 undulation of the folds, would have given a true appearance of the 
 breadth and detail of nature. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 25 
 
 The art of giving a finished look to a picture is one of the most difficult 
 departments of painting, for under it is implied the exact strengthening of 
 the different shades and colours, which defines their relative situations in 
 the picture, the introduction of and detailing the minute parts, without 
 disturbing the great breadth of the whole, and the giving to different 
 substances their several and proper characters. The term finish, when 
 applied to colouring, implies giving to the representations of objects that 
 exact tone which the objects themselves possess in nature under the same 
 circumstances, either by repeated glazings with transparent washes, or by 
 a careful mixture of the colours on the palette in the first instance. 
 
 As the principle of placing the light at the side of the picture has 
 already been noticed at Plate III, I shall, in adverting to Fig. 3 of the 
 present plate, merely mention the colour. 
 
 The principal light is composed of the white and blue garments of 
 Christ, and repeated in the sky, it being of the same cool tint ; the warm 
 light of the angel makes the principal for the head and hands of Christ, 
 and is repeated by a torch carried by figures in the distance. So much 
 cold colour being admitted on the lights, requires the shadows to be 
 kept warm, to prevent the picture from looking heavy; accordingly we 
 find Coreggio has kept the darks of a rich brown : Rembrandt, who was 
 master of this department of art, when his light is cool, makes his 
 shadows the hotter the darker they become ; Rubens, who formed his 
 style of colouring upon the Venetian, seems to have been guided by the 
 same opinion. In one of his maxims he says, “ Begin by painting in your \ 
 shadows lightly, taking care that no white is suffered to glide into them ; 
 
 r 
 
 it is the poison of a picture except in the lights ; if ever your shadows are 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 corrupted by the introduction of this baneful colour, your tones will no 
 longer be warm and transparent, but heavy and leady. It is not the 
 same in the lights, they may be loaded with colour as much as you think 
 proper.” Whoever examines the works of the great colourists, will 
 find this impasting of the lights, and keeping the shadows rich, juicy, 
 and transparent, was their universal practice. The original of this 
 subject, which is in the possession of the duke of Wellington, has this 
 character, as indeed have all the works from Coreggio’s own hand. Opie 
 in his lectures gives a clear definition of Coreggio’s management of chiar- 
 oscuro, as follows : 
 
 “ By classing his colours, and judiciously dividing them into few and 
 large masses of bright and obscure, gently rounding off his light, and 
 passing, by almost imperceptible degress, through pellucid demi- tints and 
 warm reflexions, into broad, deep, and transparent shade ; he artfully 
 connected the fiercest extremes of light and shadow, harmonized the most 
 intense opposition of colours, and combined the greatest possible effect 
 with the sweetest and softest repose imaginable .” 
 
 Plate VI. Fig. 1. 
 
 I have noticed in another place, that when the darks of the group are 
 brought off the light side of the background, greater firmness is obtained, 
 and more vivacity, which latter is the peculiar character of daylight. 
 Cuyp, by placing his figures in such a position as to throw long shadows 
 across the picture, gives a great appearance of sunshine. If the strong 
 

 P. Potter. 
 
 
 
 
 
 *jfh <•— 
 
 
 
 P'/ate A. 
 
 Fw. 7 
 
 Puh Ashed July] JAdA. hv. Aimes OzrpaiterAJm Old Pond Jt 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 27 
 
 darks are placed on the delicate half light, instead of on the strong light, 
 they have greater force, as the ground has a more retiring quality: the 
 strong colours have also a more natural appearance, as in the event of 
 colours being opposed to the glare of light, their brilliancy is destroyed. 
 
 A few small touches of light are sufficient to convey the light into the 
 dark side of the picture, and to take off the heaviness of the shadows. 
 In compositions, when the background is very dark, we find shining 
 substances, such as mirrors, metal, armour, &c. employed, as they take 
 on a sharp light, and thereby connect the shade with the light without 
 destroying its breadth ; on the contrary, they add to its depth. 
 
 Plate VI. Fig. 2. 
 
 When the light part of the group is placed upon the light side of the 
 ground, provided there can be sufficient firmness given, we must of 
 necessity have a greater breadth of effect. Vandyke has in this picture 
 kept the principal light upon the sleeve of the jacket (which makes the 
 most prominent point), and has diffused it upon the sky. The cool tints 
 of the shadows of the jacket, and part of a blue ribbon detach it from the 
 under part of the sky, which is warm. The warm colouring of the boy, 
 and the cloak which he carries, and the king^s breeches being of a dull 
 
28 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 red, assist the arrangement. The warm colours are carried into the 
 shadow side of the picture by the dun colour of the horse, the stump of 
 the tree, and the saddle cloth. The cool blue of the sky mixes with the 
 foliage of the trees, and prevents it from interfering with the hat, which 
 has greater point in consequence, and balances the shadow side of the 
 picture, besides drawing the attention of the spectator to the head. The 
 warm colour of the flesh necessarily detaches itself from the cool ground ; 
 but in such situations we often find Rubens and all his pupils bring 
 strong blue in contact with the head, which gives it a great value, and 
 a luminous effect. We thus perceive a light figure may be strongly 
 relieved even by a light background, provided the colours are opposed to 
 each other; thereby preserving the greatest breadth of light. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 29 
 
 Plate VI. Fig. 3. 
 
 We have in this subject the dark of the group brought off the light 
 part of the ground with great firmness, and a very large portion of the 
 outline sharp and cutting, which, though it may give the strong feature of 
 natural objects, has a harsh appearance at first sight. Whether it be 
 that in real objects their actual existence enables them to harmonize with 
 the harshest effects of light and shade ; or that the real separation of one 
 part from another, admits of a strength of colour incompatible with a 
 flat surface, such as an outline on canvass, is worthy of the student's 
 examination ; as in nature he will often find the most distant parts of an 
 object more sharp and cutting than the nearest outlines, and yet keep 
 their situation. To represent this on canvass requires the most scientific 
 management; as a work may have the strength and freshness of nature, 
 without being a just representation, when the situation of one part with 
 regard to another is taken into the account. 
 
 Potter in this picture (in which the objects are of the natural size) has 
 made use of the simplest and firmest principles, as regards light and 
 shade. We have the group strongly defined by part of it coming light 
 off a dark ground, and dark off a light one ; we have the composition 
 
30 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 taking a decided form in one direction, and the light running across it in 
 another; we have therefore the strong look of nature, which consists of 
 simplicity, decision, and strength. 
 
 In the early masters we have these qualities often in a high degree ; 
 and had they less of an inlaid flat appearance, would be more valuable 
 than the more harmonious softenings of modern light and shade ; but we 
 must never forget that objects in nature are more or less round, that they 
 are delicate as well as forcible, and that the harshest colours are under 
 the influence of light and shade. 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 31 
 
 Plate VI. Fig . 4. 
 
 The light part of the group is here brought in contact with the light 
 part of the background, and the shadow assisted in its strength by the 
 local colour of the objects placed within it. The yellow cow, which 
 makes the light, is surrounded by others of a dull red and brown, which 
 are relieved by a still darker ground. This gives a great breadth to the 
 group. The cool colour of the upper part of the sky is carried across 
 the picture by the grass and leaves being of a cool green ; the dark sharp 
 marking of the horns, eyes, &c. gives a lightness and finish to the whole, 
 as it allows the broad lights and shadows to have more union. In Cuyp 
 the local colour of his objects, whether hot or cold, is kept up undisturbed 
 by the light and shade ; this gives great breadth and the, distinctness of 
 nature in open daylight. 
 
 Plate VI. Fig. 5. 
 
 In this subject we have the light figure upon the dark ground, and vice 
 versa. In nature we often perceive strong effects arising out of simple 
 and decided principles, which, if sketched at the time, will be of the 
 utmost value to the student, by giving him an insight into the science of 
 light and shade; and will often serve as a key to commence with in 
 forming larger combinations. Reynolds mentions a mode of composing 
 
32 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 by taking a figure from some celebrated master, and designing others to 
 correspond with it; thereby imparting a grandeur of style to the whole. 
 So, by commencing with something sketched from nature, we give a 
 decided look of truth to the other parts of the picture. 
 
 Many painters model their groups for the purpose of obtaining a true 
 representation of the light and shade. Small figures, however rude in 
 form, will serve this purpose, and give the artist many invaluable hints. 
 
 Tintoret and Coreggio, both great masters of chiaroscuro, are known 
 to have availed themselves of this method ; and the student must have a 
 most erroneous idea of his art, who imagines excellence can be obtained 
 without the assistance of every auxiliary. The most learned arrange- 
 ments of light and shade may astonish; but there is a charm in the 
 chiaroscuro of nature which carries irresistible sway. 
 
 Plate VX Fig. 6. 
 
 In this subject we have the dark group brought off the light side of the 
 background in the simplest and most decided manner ; and the principles 
 of light and shade made applicable to giving the strong look of nature, 
 viz. breadth and solidity to the ground, and light and extent to the sky. 
 Rembrandt has often been accused of being artificial in his effects, but he 
 never misses his aim, either in representing the splendid emanations of 
 light, or the quiet depths of shadow; the peculiar character of an object. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 33 
 
 either in texture or in colour, and -that appearance, familiar to the 
 recollection of every one ; but to convey which, either in poetry or in 
 painting, is only in the power of a few. 
 
 Rembrandt seems always to have taken up a leading feature in his 
 works, and never to have lost sight of it. The varieties in his prints 
 are but corroborations of this : as in his anxiety for its preservation 
 we trace him destroying every impediment, either by covering down or 
 burying whole groups in shadow, or by leaving in an unfinished state 
 other groups, with a mere outline to define them. For example, if we 
 take the first state of the print of the great Ecce Homo, we perceive he 
 has made Christ in the centre of a group, in a quiet broad mass of light, 
 with the strong darks gradating from him, right and left, and surrounded 
 by masses of half tint. He has then etched in the principal group, 
 commencing with the figure addressing the multitude, and terminating 
 with the right hand of Pilate. This portion being in strong light, 
 interspersed with a variety of strong darks, acquires by this means great 
 brilliancy and agitation. We have therefore the quiet character of Christ 
 preserved, and his superiority maintained, by his forming the centre of 
 one group, and the apex of the other, rising, as Fuseli describes it, “ like 
 a pyramid from the tumultuous waves below.” 
 
 If we take his print of the Angels appearing to the Shepherds, in the 
 first state we find a broad mass of shadow running through the centre in 
 a diagonal line, thus giving it its greatest magnitude. In the upper part 
 is preserved the principal light, radiating from a centre, with a multitude 
 of children sporting in its beams, and out of which the angel addresses 
 
 f 
 
34 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 / 
 
 the shepherds across this gulf of shadow. The second light, which is 
 in the lower portion of the print, he has in the next state, cut up by a 
 number of darks and lights, irregularly dispersed, thus conveying the 
 appearance of confusion and terror to the shepherds, their herds, and 
 flocks, which are represented flying in all directions. These two examples 
 out of many, which the student will discover by his own examination, 
 will suffice to show that light and shade may be made to contribute to the 
 character and fitness of the subject; and that of this adaptation of it, 
 Rembrandt holds unrivalled possession. 
 
 Plate VII. 
 
 When a picture is chiefly composed of light and half tint, the darks of 
 the figures must necessarily tell with great force, from there being so little 
 of half shade to rob them of their value ; the mid-day sun filling with 
 intense light, every particle of the atmosphere, gives that luminous 
 appearance, which is so strongly characteristic of an out of door effect, 
 the dark local colours of the figures, from the absorption of the rays, 
 retain undiminished power, and give that firmness and vivacity to the 
 scene which prevents it from looking feeble. In nature, figures from their 
 upright position, have a greater consequence from the flat shadows being 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 35 
 
 weakened by the light of the sky falling into them ; for, seeing that the 
 whole heavens are filled with light, it is showered down and reflected in 
 all directions. Also, from their being in motion, they attract the eye; a 
 circumstance to be noticed by the artist, who has to give them theii 
 relative value on canvass, as they possess in reality. The consideration 
 of all these circumstances influences many painters, in giving the darks the 
 full force of the palette. As a general character and the leading features 
 of strong daylight are to be purchased at any sacrifice, critics who do 
 not sufficiently investigate these matters, may complain of want of air, 
 but the student, by a close attention to the subject, will not easily be 
 scared by the cry of “ sans vapeur .” 
 
 Birds in the air, boats on the water, figures on the sands, cornfields, 
 or light roads, have all this characteristic feature in a high degree, from 
 the middle tint being on so light a key. 
 
 Cuyp often accomplishes this by the general tone of the picture being 
 warm, and his shadows brownish, thereby allowing his blue draperies and 
 cool blacks to have greater point. P. Veronese and Rubens have many 
 pictures on the same principle. 
 
 Opposition of colour is of great importance in the treatment of pictures 
 on a light key, as it gives great relief and distinctness without cutting up 
 the breadth of light ; such as blue upon a warm ground, or red upon a 
 cool one, bright yellow upon a cool gray, &c. In No. 3, Claude has 
 made great use of such opposition. The general appearance of the 
 picture is warm, the dark blue of the water is carried across the piece 
 by the dark blue draperies of some of the figures, and is suffused upon 
 
PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 30 
 
 the upper part of the sky. The red is interspersed upon the boats and 
 the draperies of the other figures; and, warming the near part of the 
 buildings, is repeated at the top by a figure looking over the balcony 
 and two red flags upon the blue of the sky. He has placed two blue 
 flags upon the warm part of the sky to repeat the cool colour. 
 
 Pictuies painted on a dark key have already been noticed as possessing 
 many advantages, which have led our greatest colourists to its adoption. 
 But as low toned pictures are apt to look heavy and black, unless richness 
 of shadows, or sharpness of lights be preserved; so pictures painted on a 
 light key are apt to look flat and unfinished, unless the greatest circum- 
 spection be used. In nature, the intense light of the sky, and the 
 atmosphere, which is filled with its innumerable refractions, spread a 
 luminous character over the whole scene; to represent which the artist 
 can employ only a greater degree of whiteness, a very inadequate quality, 
 and hence the great difficulty of imitating the splendid brightness of 
 mid-day, or the brilliant effects of an evening sky. In treating the one, 
 unless the delicate varieties of the half lights are attended to with the 
 greatest care, the picture will look crude and unfinished; for the tints 
 being so nearly allied to each other, the exact sharpness to define them, 
 and their exact tone, either by repeated scumbling, or, mixing them to the 
 proper tint in the first instance, require an attention and study of the 
 most refined quality , without which the shadows will be powdery instead 
 of pearly, or the lights white instead of luminous. In the other arrange- 
 ment the yellow tones may become solid and foxy, if deprived of the 
 delicate cool tints so necessary to prevent their appearing too hot, and to 
 give the whole, that tremulous unsteady appearance which light possesses 
 in nature. 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 37 
 
 Light pictures, from the tenderness of their light and shade, require 
 the colours opposed to each other, whether blue opposed to red, or yellow 
 to cool gray, to be managed with the greatest delicacy ; otherwise their 
 strength will destroy all appearance of light and air. In light pictures 
 strong colours can stand only as middle tint, or for leading the light into 
 the shade, but can appear as lights only by being relieved by strong 
 shadow. We often find them, as in P. Veronese, &c. standing as darks, 
 or made use of to give objects an appearance of solidity, without breaking 
 up the general mass of light in the picture. 
 
38 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Plate VIII. 
 
 I shall here recur to the subject of middle tint, for the purpose of taking 
 a general view of the various modes of arranging this important branch 
 of light and shade ; as upon the strength of the middle tint depends, in a 
 great measure, the general look of the picture. By the middle tint is 
 meant the medium between the extreme dark and extreme light ; but as 
 such a scale is too gross to take in all the gradations lying between so 
 opposite qualities, I have, for the sake of clearness, made use of inter- 
 mediate links, viz. half dark and half light. If we take a ground of a 
 shade composed chiefly of half dark and middle tint, and introduce the 
 strongest lights, we shall find it necessary to introduce a portion of half 
 light to spread and break down their harshness. If the extreme dark is 
 placed upon the middle tint, it will by contrast render it more in union 
 with the half light ; if it be placed on the half dark, a breadth of shadow 
 and softness will be the result. Harshness of effect in treating pictures 
 upon a dark scale arises, most commonly from the want of sufficient 
 quantities of middle tint and half light, thereby causing the principal light 
 to be too much defined; as we frequently observe in the works of Michael 
 Angelo Carravagio. 
 
 Rembrandt and Coreggio excelled all others in the introduction of demi 
 tints, which illuminate their deepest shadows. In their works and in 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 39 
 
 nature we perceive the lowest tones of middle tint are removed from 
 blackness, either by their warmth, or the introduction of some positive 
 black or blue, to produce an appearance of air floating within them. 
 
 The exact quantity of middle tint must depend upon the arrangement 
 of the subject and the taste of the painter; but it is absolutely necessary, 
 to prevent it from always interposing betwixt the extreme light and 
 extreme dark. 
 
 This invariably gradual declination of the light into the shadow, is one 
 cause of the insipid look of most of Vanderwerf’s works, nor is it, as Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds justly observes, consonant with the effects in nature. 
 Variety demands some portion of the composition to be sharp and cutting; 
 and richness is to be obtained only, by a continual changing of portions 
 coming sometimes dark and sometimes light off the ground ; this endless 
 variety in nature can be imitated only, by this intricate weaving of the 
 outline with the background : so that the same sound principles which 
 guide the conduct in the treatment of the whole, may be traced in the 
 management of the detail. 
 
 Middle tint, in pictures painted on a light key, ought to be in some 
 measure robbed of its consequence, either by the introduction of reflected 
 lights, or positive half lights ; for if it occupies too large a portion of the 
 canvass, the work must of necessity lose its characteristic feature. We 
 must therefore depend upon some other agent to prevent the picture 
 being flimsy, and void of that solidity which is so inherent in the most 
 delicate of nature’s works. Accordingly we find small sharp darks 
 introduced, the value of which has been noticed in another place; and 
 
40 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 (what is of the utmost importance) a sharp edge to the lights and half 
 shadows throughout the whole. 
 
 The light pictures of Teniers and Cuyp are full of this precision in the 
 touch, a flatness in the shades, a sharpness in the handling, and a 
 distinctness in the most approximate colours; by this alone a general 
 breadth can be preserved, and the most splendid light (even of a sky,) 
 filled with a multitude of forms. 
 
 In this notice of middle tint or ground of the picture, I may appear to 
 have recapitulated what has already been said in other parts of the 
 work ; but my anxiety to put the student in possession of every informa- 
 tion in my power urges me to place it before his eyes in every point of 
 view. 
 
 The management of light and shade, as relates to a whole, ought to be 
 always present in the student’s mind, as it is from inattention to this 
 alone that a work is often destroyed in its progress. In the commence- 
 ment of a picture those parts only are strongly defined, or marked in, 
 which are of the greatest importance ; and the other portions are left in a 
 broader and less obtrusive state. But in the progress of the work the 
 proper subordination of the latter is often injuriously diminished. 
 
 The general character of an object is its most important feature, and 
 this is to be preserved at the price of every other quality, if it cannot be 
 retained upon other terms ; as it is this which is imprinted on the mind of 
 every one, and which is therefore paramount to all its other properties. 
 If the object does not possess this feature upon the canvass, it cannot 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 41 
 
 attract or interest the spectator, as in all probability its other properties 
 are unveiled except to the artist alone, who has examined it attentively. 
 For example, in a portrait, when we see the head alone finished, it often 
 pleases more than when the work is complete ; our attention is led 
 involuntarily to the countenance, which would be the case were we intro- 
 duced to the original; and this preponderance, which exists in nature, 
 must of necessity become less when in the finished work the other 
 portions of the picture have received a greater consequence. The 
 importance of the countenance, the general character of the flesh, viz. its 
 transparency, breadth of local colour, luminous appearance, &c. may be 
 all lost from the injudicious introduction, in the other parts of the picture, 
 of lights, darks, and middle tints, in the artist's anxiety for richness of 
 effect, or in his wish to give splendour and harmony by the strength or 
 variety of his colours. 
 
 In sketching a landscape from nature, when we have time only to put 
 down the leading features, detailing such objects alone as are striking or 
 interesting, we find the spectator often more satisfied from feeling a 
 corresponding sensation from the truth of the representation imprinted on 
 his mind, than when, in a more finished work, the painter has destroyed 
 the great breadth and luminous character of the sky for the purpose of 
 mixing the shadows of the clouds with the trees, &c. to counteract 
 flatness, or when he has subdued the strength of his colours for the sake 
 of taking off their harshness. When he begins to define the different 
 parts for the sake of finish, unless he has the treatment of the picture as 
 a whole constantly before his eye, the expansive look of the sky, the fresh 
 and decided appearance of nature in the colours, the gray tones and soft 
 
 G 
 
42 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 markings of the aerial perspective may all disappear, and give place to 
 requisites of an inferior kind. 
 
 In all objects in nature there is something predominant, and which 
 alone has struck the observation of every one. If the artist gives that, he 
 brings his object at once home “ to men’s bosoms,” and without which 
 his greatest labour is but industrious trifling. The character of an 
 object depends upon a particular colour, a particular touch, a particular 
 concentration or diffusion of light, according to its form or substance ; to 
 obtain which ought to be the constant study of the student, as it is the 
 language of his art, and the only language universally understood. 
 
 I have in these brief notices of the art of light and shade, endeavoured 
 to point out the various modes of establishing a scientific arrangement of 
 its powers, and applying them to any subject the student may have in 
 hand. The changes are infinite ; but, by an attentive examination of the 
 effects in nature or in art, he will find the sources from which they arise 
 few and simple. Opie in his lectures, speaking of chiaroscuro, strongly 
 recommends the study of the several masters who have excelled in this 
 department of the art, “ By studying the works of the great masters of 
 chiaroscuro, he will by degrees become acquainted with all the artifices of 
 contrasting light to shade, colour to colour, to produce relievo, of joining 
 light objects together, and dark objects together, in masses, in order to 
 give splendour and breadth of effect ; of gradually sinking some objects 
 wholly or partly in shadow, and losing their outlines in the ground, to 
 produce softness and harmony ; and of making, in other places, abrupt 
 breaks and sharp transitions, to produce vivacity and spirit. He will 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 43 
 
 also learn their rules for shaping their masses, and of adapting them in 
 regard to force or softness to the nature of the subject, whether grave or 
 gay, sublime or terrible. By this he must be directed when to give his 
 light the form of a globe, or when to send it in a stream across his 
 canvass ; when to make a dark mass on a light ground, or a light mass on 
 a dark ground; when he may let his light die away by imperceptible 
 gradations, when diffuse it in greater breadth and abundance, and when 
 it may more properly be concentrated into one vivid flash/’ This is so 
 excellent, and embraces so many of the best modes of the management 
 of light and shade, that the student, who can comprehend them and put 
 them in practice, requires no farther instruction in this part of the art. 
 He will be in possession of a key to unlock the richest stores of nature ; 
 he will be in possession of a sort of short hand to note down her most 
 fleeting effects ; and by understanding the cause which gives them exist- 
 ence, rivet them in his memory. Without having accustomed himself to 
 this mode of arranging his observations, his life will be spent in an 
 endless search after that which is continually passing before his eyes. 
 
 Light and shade, considered as a means of producing a deception, by 
 making parts of the picture advance, and other parts retire, so that every 
 thing may keep its relative situation, as regards the distance from the 
 spectator, is a necessary attendant upon perspective. It is, however, 
 often violated in the best works, for the purpose of giving a general 
 breadth, or of preserving the light in a good shape ; but, when compatible 
 with both these, it is of the utmost consequence; and the painter can 
 enter into a competition with nature only by a perfect knowledge of the 
 best modes of adapting it to such purpose. 
 
44 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON 
 
 Richness of effect, either by a mixture of the light and shade, so as to 
 give an appearance of doubling to the outline, or by relieving the outline 
 by a ground possessed of a variety of strengths. And distinctness of form, 
 surrounded by flatness, when we wish any part to attract notice, or to 
 preserve the expression undisturbed, are both under the dominion of 
 chiaroscuro, to whose controul the whole array of colours yields implicit 
 obedience. 
 
 The application of light and shade, in a poetical point of view, is 
 capable of creating an association of ideas, without which the imagination 
 of the spectator would experience nothing but disappointment. For 
 example, if we represent a scene remarkable for disasters or shipwrecks, 
 the mind is excited, and an expectation raised, which none but an artist 
 imbued with the poetry of the art can gratify, by clothing the scene in all 
 the ominous effects of elemental strife : whether the shadow 
 
 or 
 
 Strangles the travelling lamp : 
 
 ********** 
 
 That darkness does the face of earth entomb, 
 
 When living light should kiss it? 
 
 “ The sky seems to pour down stinking pitch, 
 
 But that the sea, mounting to the welkin’s cheek, 
 Dashes the fire out.” 
 
 Shakspeare, who was possessed of all the poetry of the art, clothes his 
 scenery with those circumstances which awaken a thousand pleasing or 
 awful sensations as the subject may require ; whether 
 
 “ The gray ey’d morn smiles on the frowning night, 
 Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of light.” 
 
LIGHT AND SHADE IN PAINTING. 
 
 45 
 
 Whether 
 
 “ The glorious sun 
 
 Stays in his course and plays the alchemist ; 
 Turning with splendour of his precious eye 
 The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold.” 
 
 or when 
 
 “ Light thickens; and the crow 
 Makes wing to the rooky wood.” 
 
 or when he bids 
 
 “ Thick night 
 
 Pall herself in the dunnest smoke of hell ! ” 
 
 (/ 
 
 We have him adopting the softness and breadth of Coreggio, the 
 splendour and gorgeous effects of Veronese, Rubens, or Cuyp, or the 
 ominous twilight and midnight darkness of Rembrandt or Michael Angelo 
 Carravagio. His light and shade is the chiaroscuro of nature passing 
 through a mind susceptible of its finest impressions, and capable of 
 placing such effects before the eye of the spectator, “ unshorn of their 
 beams,” or unimpaired in their sublimity. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 C. and C. Whittinghain, Chiswick. 
 
WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 JAMES CARPENTER AND SON, 
 
 OLD BOND STREET, LONDON. 
 
 FINE ARTS. 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS ON COMPOSITION IN 
 
 PAINTING, Illustrated by Examples from the great Masters 
 of the Italian, Flemish, and Dutch Schools. By John Burnet. 
 4to. Price 12s. boards. 
 
 “ Mr. Burnet, the ingenious author of these ‘ Hints,’ as he modestly terms 
 them, is very favourably known to the Public, both as a Painter and as an 
 Engraver ; and the treatise now under our notice must materially strengthen 
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 net divides into four simple and principal forms; the peculiar advantages 
 of each of which he illustrates by a number of examples, etched with the 
 true feeling and spirit of an artist, from the Pictures of Claude, Cuyp, Rem- 
 brandt, Rubens, Coreggio, Paul Potter, Ostade, P. De Laer, Metzu, Guido, 
 R-affaelle, Domenichino, West, Wilkie, &c. &c.” — Literary Gazette. 
 
 A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF PAINT- 
 ERS AND ENGRAVERS, from the Revival of Painting, and 
 the alleged Discovery of Engraving by Finiguerra. By Mi- 
 chael Bryan. 
 
 In this work are two Indexes, alphabetical and chronological ; 
 and the introduction comprises a brief Account of the Painters of 
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 ther with a List of their Works, in Two thick Volumes, in 4to. 
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 pendium and index of arts and artists unequalled, as far as we know, in any 
 language.” — Literary Gazette. 
 
 *** Archdeacon Coxe,in his interesting sketches of the Lives of Coreggio 
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 SPECIMENS OF THE ENGLISH SCHOOL 
 
 OF ART. No. I. Inscribed, by permission, to Sir John 
 Leicester, Bart. Drawn on Stone, by J. D. Harding, from 
 acknowledged fine Pictures, by living and deceased British 
 Artists. Mr. Harding, anxious that no inferior Impressions 
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 to 500, all of which will be printed on India paper. The Work 
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 A Second Edition of RURAL ARCHITECTURE ; 
 
 or, A Series of Designs for Ornamental Cottages, Lodges, 
 Dairies, Boat Houses, &c. &c. accompanied by Ground Plans 
 and Geometrical Elevations. In one Volume Quarto, price 3 Z. 3s. 
 boards; or, in separate Numbers, at 5s. each. By P. F. Ro- 
 binson, Architect, F. S. A. 
 
 “ Cottage Architecture has so material an effect among the features of a 
 country, and occupies so conspicuous a place in the picture, that it is well 
 to consider what forms are most pleasing and least intrusive.” — Address. 
 
 “ Mr. Robinson has taken somewhat of a new ground, or at least, he has 
 confined his designs more particularly to the old English village style. His 
 subjects are truly fitting to the object proposed. They are, in the pure sense 
 of the word, elucidations of Rural Architecture, in almost every example 
 practicable, and efficient to all the purposes assigned to each. We may add, 
 that we should feel gratification in seeing many of his designs adopted ; and 
 if we were rich in territory, our villages and farms should certainly owe 
 additional interest to his picturesque structures.” — Somerset House Miscel- 
 lany, No. 47. 
 
 A SERIES OF DESIGNS FOR ORNAMENTAL 
 
 VILLAS, adapted to the wants of Individuals of moderate In- 
 come, intended to elucidate the possibility of producing Archi- 
 tectural Effects, combined with comfortable Arrangement, without 
 increased Expenditure. The Work will be published in Twelve 
 
 Monthly Parts, in Quarto, each Part comprehending a Ground 
 and Chamber Plan, Two Geometrical Elevations and a Per- 
 spective View, with Lodges, and Out-buildings, as the case may 
 be; making in the whole one complete Design. By P. F. Ro- 
 binson, Architect, F.S. A. 
 
 Eight Parts are already published, containing Designs in the 
 Grecian, Palladian, Swiss, Norman, Old English, and Italian 
 styles of Architecture. 
 
 Preparing for Publication, by the same Author, 
 
 A SERIES OF DESIGNS FOR FARM BUILD- 
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 dered pleasing and ornamental by a proper disposition of the 
 rudest materials. In the course of the Work the Village 
 Church and Parsonage will be introduced, together with the 
 School House. Occasional Ideas will be added for ornamental 
 Root-houses, and Seats to decorate the Pleasure Ground. 
 
 “ The most painter-like effects may be produced even by a mixture of 
 the simplest things when properly placed and combined with others. In 
 the Pictures of many of the great Italian masters, mere sheds, with little al- 
 teration or disguise, are introduced among buildings of no mean character.” 
 — Price on the Picturesque, vol. ii. p. 218. 
 
 AN ATTEMPT TO ASCERTAIN THE AGE 
 
 OF MICKLEHAM CHURCH, in Surrey, with Remarks on 
 the Architecture of that Building, and accompanied by Plates, 
 illustrative of its Restoration. In Royal Quarto, price 25s. or 
 on Imperial Paper, price 2Z. 2s. By P. F. Robinson, Architect, 
 
 F. S. A. 
 
 « Here we must take our leave of the work, with sincere and unqualified 
 approbation of the taste and judgment with which Mr. Robinson has exe- 
 cuted the renovation of the Church described. His Plates are elegant, and 
 what he says is to the purpose.”— Gentleman’s Magazine for September, 1824. 
 
 THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF 
 
 HENGRAVE, in Suffolk. By John Gage, Esq. F.R.&S.A. of 
 Lincoln’s Inn. In royal 4to. Price 3Z. 13s. 6cZ. in boards; and 
 on Imperial Paper, with Proof Impressions of the Plates. Price 
 71. 7s. Illustrated with Thirty Plates, Portraits, Views, &c. 
 
 “ As a portion of the Annals of Suffolk, handsomely got up and adorned 
 with Thirty admirable Engravings, we cannot speak more highly of the 
 Author’s labours than they deserve; and we sincerely hope that the success 
 of this undertaking will be such as to induce him to fulfil a great desidera- 
 tum, by engaging upon the general history of his native county; a design, 
 for the adequate execution of which he seems to be eminently qualified, by 
 his learning, industry, and accomplishments.”— Literary Gazette. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OF BISHOP WEST’S CHA- 
 PEL, in Putney Church, Surrey. Containing Twelve Prints, 
 Drawn on Stone by J. G. Jackson, from admeasurements by 
 
 G. T. Andrews, and J. G. Jackson. In Royal Quarto, Price 
 14s. A very limited number is printed in Imperial Quarto, 
 with the Illustrations on India paper, Price 1Z. 8s. 
 
 The Chapel erected at Ely Cathedral by the aboveriamed 
 Prelate is familiar to the Architect and Antiquary, but it is pro- 
 bable the present elegant little Specimen is not so generally 
 known. The Architecture is peculiarly beautiful, and is fully 
 detailed, in the hope of rendering it alike acceptable to the Man 
 of polite learning, the Architect, the Antiquary, and the Illus- 
 trator of County History. 
 
 A brief notice of the Founder (compiled from the Works 
 of Bentham and Lysons) is added as a suitable Appendix to the 
 Work. 
 
 A new and compendious TREATISE OF ANA- 
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 Copper Plates. Price 5s. 
 
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PUBLISHED BY J. CARPENTER AND SON. 
 
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 1. EPISTLES, ODES, AND OTHER POEMS. 
 
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 THE CUTTER, in Five Lectures ; or, The Art 
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 TRANSLATIONS FROM THE PORTUGUESE 
 
 OF LUIS DE CAMOENS, a new Edition. By Lord Viscount 
 Strangford. Price 7s. 
 
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 SPENCE’S ANECDOTES. With an Appendix 
 
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 Published from the Original Papers ; with a Life of the Author, 
 by Samuel Weller Singer. In Octavo. Price 14s. 
 
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 book; and the well known title is, Spence's Anecdotes of Books and Men." 
 —Dibdin's Library Companion. 
 
 *#* See also ltoscoe's Life of Pope, attached to the new edition of that 
 poet’s Works. A very few copies of this work are printed on imperial 
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 THE MILITARY EXPLOITS, &c. of Don Juan 
 
 Martin Diez, the EMPECINADO, who first commenced, and 
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 a Portrait and Map. Price 7s. 
 
 LETTERS TO A FRIEND ON THE STATE 
 
 OF IRELAND, the Roman Catholic Question, and the 
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 SOLUTION OF THE HIGHER ORDER OF EQUATIONS, 
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 ENTRANCE INTO THE WORLD. In two Volumes. Price 
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 lowing Subjects : — On Reading the Scriptures, as the only 
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 sign ; with some Observations on the Evils which seem to flow 
 from a Neglect of its Observance. — On the Dignity, Security, 
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 Remarks on the Impiety, Danger, and Meanness of its Violation. 
 — On Content, as a Habit of Mind, essential to the enjoyment of 
 Happiness, and the Exercise of Virtue. — On Fortitude of Mind. 
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 of amiable Affections. — On the Duties of Children to Parents, 
 and the Happiness consequent of their Observance, &c. 
 
 A COLLECTION OF ENIGMAS, CHARADES, 
 
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 NOURJAHAD. By Mrs. Sheridan. A new 
 
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 AN ESSAY ON LIGHT READING, as it may 
 
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 ODDITIES AND OUTLINES. By E. M. In 
 
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 BACON’S ESSAYS. A new Edition, with a 
 
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 THE ART OF HORSEMANSHIP. Altered and 
 
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 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HORSE’S FOOT. 
 
 Illustrated by Plates. By Strickland Freeman, Esq. Quarto. 
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 A PORTRAIT OF THOMAS MOORE, ESQ. 
 
 From a Picture by M. A. Shee, Esq. R. A. engraved in the 
 line manner, by John Burnet. Price 1Z. Is. Proofs 1Z. Ils. GcZ. 
 
 A PORTRAIT OF THOMAS LORD CLIF- 
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 Proofs 15s. 
 
 (See Evelyn and Pepy’s Memoirs .) 
 
 A SMALL WHOLE LENGTH PORTRAIT OF 
 
 HENRY HOVi' ARD, Earl of Surrey. Engraved by Scriven, 
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 A HEAD OF SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. 
 
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NEW VITRUVIUS BRITANNICUS. 
 
 UNDEK THE PATRONAGE OF, AND DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO 
 
 HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY. 
 
 FOR PUBLISHING BY SUBSCRIPTION 
 
 A 
 
 NEW VITRUVIUS BRITANNICUS; 
 
 Comprehending Plans and Elevations, drawn from actual measurement, and accompanied 
 by Scenic Views of all the most distinguished Residences in the United Kingdom, remark- 
 able for their Architectural features, or celebrated for internal magnificence, classing with 
 Buddings of the first consequence. Some Historic Notices will be added to each. 
 
 The Work will be printed on imperial folio, and got up under the superintendance of 
 P. F. ROBINSON, Architect, 
 
 author of a work on rural architecture, an essay on the age of mickleham church in surrey, 
 
 DESIGNS FOR ORNAMENTAL VILLAS, ETC. 
 
 TO BE PUBLISHED BY JAMES CARPENTER AND SON, OLD BOND STREET; 
 
 WHERE SPECIMENS OF THE WORK MAY BE SEEN. 
 
 A Part will appear every Three Months, price Three Guineas each; and the Number will 
 be limited to Forty. Each Part will he complete in itself, and may be had separately. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 At a period when the extraordinary progress of the Arts manifests the munificent patronage 
 they receive, when our Cathedrals have been beautifully and accurately explained by fi3 
 p ans elevations, and sections, m a manner which must be gratifying to every W of the 
 
 me Arts it becomes a desideratum of national interest to establish the character of our 
 domestic Architecture by faithful representations of the Edifices this country now can W 
 
 Reproached as England has long been for the degraded character of her Public Buildings 
 the pnneely Mansions which eveiy where adorn her fair landscape scenery have nevertheless 
 been highly appreciated on the continent, not more for their architectural grandeur than for 
 the combination of internal domestic comfort with state display: they moreover contain 
 inestimable treasures of literature, paintings, and marbles, rendering their illustration a duty 
 of matenal importance to the present enlightened era. 1 ^ 
 
 To demonstrate therefore the character and high claims of these noble Edifices and also 
 be mvaluable works of art with which they are replete, a new work compri^tSl im 
 
 I Set T P articularl y called for ; one which shall combine the features of Camp 
 
 bell’s Vitruvius with the finest models of the Arts at the present epoch, in wfoch they have' 
 
 . leady made a progress and advancement, which the propitious encouragement of the pre 
 
 sent reign promises to carry on to an unrivalled point of perfection. ' 1 
 
 A century has elapsed since Colin Campbell published the “Vitruvius Britannicus " 
 duiitlg which period our domestic Architecture has undergone considerable chance The 
 wants and w.shes of society, introducing new manners and customs, have caused important 
 alterations in our houses; and many of the buildings erected in the time of Queen Aline 
 and George the First are now newly modelled : mansions of the first „i • 
 
 parts of the kingdom, have been created; and Coon Campbell Wort CO n ^ LTZ 
 small portion of the structures which now adorn our island. ' 7 
 
 third' i„ fi ?72 V 5 d " m f! 0f * e f ginal W °' k Was published in ms - ,he second 1» 1717, and the 
 in 7™ 77 7 me Was added by WoOI - rE and Ganhon in 17S7, and a fifth 
 
 in 17 ' 1 ’ and G - Richardson, in the year 1802, also produced a folio vnlnmp f • • 
 seventy-two plates, which he entitled the “New Vitruvius Britmnicus ■’ C 
 plates with the high state of perfection which the art 7f en^mv „7 s now 2^^ 
 six volumes together convey a poor and inadequate representation of ,hf sheets’ uZ 
 
 ThH Z! 0 '‘’'I 11 " dS ° eXtremdy “> works were o A/ally 
 
 and if d„; h 7 volumes contain many “ designs of Colin Campbell’s own invention •» 
 
 s no appeal w ether the houses were actually measured expressly for the work. 
 
3 
 
 or if the plans were merely inserted, being lent for the purpose. In order to supply what 
 appears to be a desideratum in our topographical libraries, it is proposed to publish, by 
 subscription, 
 
 A NEW VITRUVIUS BRITANNICUS; 
 
 to comprehend Plans and Elevations, drawn from actual measuvement, of the most cele- 
 brated Houses in the United Kingdom. 
 
 To produce a Work worthy of the present age, no expense will be spared. Each house 
 will be explained by a Plan, and one or more geometrical Elevations, properly figured, 
 having the names of the apartments placed on the plans. These will be accompanied by 
 a Scenic View of the Mansion, and by interior sections and perspective views of the 
 principal apartments or galleries, exhibiting the general arrangement of the pictures, mar- 
 bles, or furniture, in the style of the outline plates, by Moses, in Hakewell’s Italy. These, 
 it is presumed, will add greatly to the general interest of the work, inasmuch as they will 
 convey a perfect idea of the whole structure. Some Historic Notices will be added, and 
 every source of information resorted to, in order to ascertain the period when the foundation 
 was laid, and the names of the architects who commenced or afterwards altered the building. 
 
 The extensive collections of pictures and the magnificent libraries which have of late 
 years been formed, produced the necessity of creating galleries and apartments of lax*ge 
 dimensions, and consequently occasioned considerable and important changes in our houses, 
 adding to the splendour and unrivalled magnificence of our country seats. To give a 
 faithful representation of these celebrated houses, by accurately figured plans, and (as far 
 as occasion may require) by interior sections and views, is the object of the present Work; 
 and it will be the earnest endeavour of the Proprietors to make it a truly national undertak- 
 ing, by employing Artists of the first celebrity. The W ork will be printed on imperial folio ; 
 the first subject, with the permission of the Duke of Bedford, being Woburn Abbey. 
 The Colleges will be given in the course of the publication, as affording matter of much 
 curious and valuable information. 
 
 As a work of this magnitude will necessarily involve a considerable capital, it is hoped 
 that the Nobility and Gentry inclined to patronize it will send their names to the Pub- 
 lishers : and as many may wish to present plates of their own mansions, these, with any 
 local information, will greatly forward the object in contemplation. The Proprietors con- 
 fidently hope that the accuracy of the plates will merit the attention they solicit. 
 
 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, 
 
 Jan. 16, 1826. 
 
I