A DIALOGUE ON PAINTING. 
 
A R E T I N; 
 
 A DIALOGUE ON PAINTING. 
 FROM THE ITALIAN OF 
 LODOVICO DOLCE. 
 
 LONDON, PRINTED FOR P. ELMSLEY, 
 SUCCESSOR TO MR. V A I LL A N T, I N THE 
 STRAND5 AND SOLD BY I. DODSLEY, IN 
 PALL MALL ; G. PE A R C H, I N C H E A P SI D E j 
 M, HINGESTON, NEAR TEMPLE BARj 
 D. PRINCE, AT OXFORD5 AND 
 MR, BR AIM, PAINTER, AND 
 PRINTSELLER, IN 
 CATHERINE STREET, 
 IN THE STRAND. 
 MDCCLXX. 
 
TO THE 
 
 K I N G. 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, 
 
 ^"T^ H E patronage of the 
 -i- Liberal Arts has ever been 
 efleemed worthy the attention 
 of the greateft Sovereigns. Un- 
 der their aufpices they have 
 attained the highefl perfedion, 
 
 and 
 
DEDICATION, 
 and have added to the crown a 
 
 new and brilliant luftre. The 
 fmiles of Kings, like the benign 
 rays of the fun, bring to per- 
 fection every objed which par- 
 takes of their influence. 
 
 The patronage fo liberally 
 extended to the Arts by Your 
 Majefty, by the inftitution of 
 the Incorporated Society of 
 Artifts, and in the endowment 
 of a Royal Academy ; and the 
 elegant manufacture founded 
 
 by^ 
 
DEDICATION^ 
 by y our Roys I Confort, witK 
 equal honor to her tafle and 
 humanity ; encourage us to 
 hope, they will in this king- 
 dom rival thofe of Italy. The 
 Genius of England points out 
 Your Majefty to be the Mo- 
 narch of an happy, free, and 
 enlightened nation — the Pa- 
 tron of Arts and Learning—the 
 Father of your Country ; and 
 intimates to us with pleafare, 
 that when future ao-es fhall con- 
 
 template 
 
DEDICATION, 
 template the epochas of Peri- 
 cles, of Auguftus, of Leo, and 
 of Louis, they will add, as 
 worthy of equal honor, that of 
 George the Third. 
 
 I have the happinefs of being 
 Your Majesty's moft obedient, 
 and dutiful fubje6t and fervant. 
 
 The TRANSLATOR, 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 LODOVICO DOLCE, the author 
 of the following work, ranked 
 high among the Literati of the age of 
 Clement the Seventh, was intimately 
 conneded with many of the moft 
 celebrated perfons of his time, and 
 efteemed by them and his contempo- 
 raries in general for his learning and 
 tafte *. He tranflated into his native 
 language feveral of the moft celebrated 
 writings of antiquity ; particularly thofe 
 
 * At the firft performance of his tragedy of 
 Marianna, the theatre was fo much crowded, 
 that the players could not proceed." 
 
 Vide Baretti, Ita,l. Libr. 
 
 A of 
 
if PREFACE. 
 
 of Euripides, of Horace, and of Ci- 
 cero ; and alfo publifhed feveral ori- 
 ginal works, in which he approved 
 himfelf a man of extenfive knowledge,, 
 an able critic, and an accompliflied 
 gentleman. No one, it is probable^ 
 among his numerous produdions, is 
 more perfed: in its kind than his Dia- 
 logue on Paintjng ; as he is faid by 
 thofe who pretend to know his 
 hiftory, and it is (I believe) generally , 
 accepted in his own country, that in it 
 he bad not only his own genius and 
 abilities to confult, but had alfo the 
 thoughts w^hich Raphael had com- 
 mitted to writing upon the fubjed put 
 into his hands to difpofe and metho- 
 dize; fo that the preceptive part of 
 the work may be fuppofed to be, in a 
 great meallire, the refult of the know- 
 ledge of an artift w^hom his works 
 
 teftify 
 
PREFACE. m 
 
 teftify to have been fully and intimately 
 acquainted with every fecret of his pro- 
 feffion. It is alfo highly probable that 
 Aretin (who mentions Dolce in the 
 Dialogue as his friend, and who was 
 univeffally efteemed one of the moft 
 perfedl connoiffeurs of his age) affifted 
 him in the compilation of it.— Dolce 
 
 * Lodovico Dolce (fays Zeno) could not 
 have chofe a properer perfon to entitle it than 
 Aretin, who was very fKilled in the art of draw- 
 ing. The beft profeffors of his time valued 
 much Aretino for it. Giorgio Vafari had fuch 
 an efteem for him, that in his paintings in the 
 Ducal palace at Florence he painted him near 
 Bembo and Ariofto. Sebaftiano, of Venice, 
 known under the name of Fra Baftian del 
 Piombo, Raphael d' Urbino, the engraver 
 Leone d' Arezzo, and the architect: Serlius, 
 were amongft his admirers. Eat his moft inti- 
 mate friend among this fort of people, was the 
 renowned Titian." 
 
 Baretti Ital. Libr. 
 
 would 
 
would fcarcely prefume to publifh a 
 work in which a man of his eminence 
 (efpecially one fo terrible to his ene- 
 mies), and with whom he was con- 
 ne6led by private friendfhip, was made 
 the principal fpeaker without his con- 
 fent and approbation. — Aretin^ on the 
 other hand, we may reafonably fup- 
 pofe, would not fufFer his name to be 
 ufed fo freely, unlefs the fentiments it 
 was made to authorife, were fuch as 
 himfelf would chufe to adopt. The 
 work itfelf is, indeed, worthy of thefe 
 great names. The precepts are clear, 
 full, and judicious, delivered in the 
 moft ^ perfpicuous manner poflible. 
 At the fame time that no material part 
 
 : * Carlo Maratti being aflied by fome of his 
 friends how he obtained that perfpicuity for 
 which he was remarkable, in fpeaking of iiis art, 
 replied, " By ftudyin? Dolce." 
 
 of 
 
PREFACE, V 
 of the art is left undifcufled, nothing 
 is admitted either impertinent or fu- 
 perfluous* The comparifon drawn 
 between the merits of Raphael and 
 Michael Angelo, is didlated by the 
 moft profound judgment, united with 
 the raoft unbiaffed mind. The cha- 
 radlers of other artifts are fhort, and 
 flrongly marked. The account of 
 Titian and his works is entertaining. 
 Throughout the whole we find the 
 author learned, polite, fenfible, and 
 judicious. A work of this nature, it 
 was thought, could not but be pecu- 
 liarly ufeful to every ftudent in paint- 
 ing, and acceptable to every gentle- 
 man who is defirous of attaining a 
 competent knowledge of the art, as it 
 will enable him to diftinguifh the pe- 
 culiar beauties and defedls of a pidlure 
 ^r mafter : that the man of letters 
 A 3 would 
 
vl P R E F A C 
 
 would be pleafed with obferving the 
 fl:rid connexion of the polite arts with 
 each other, pointed out with precifion 
 and elegance, and the precepts belong-? 
 ing to one fiiewn to be applicable to 
 the other : that it would be agreeable 
 to them all to fee the opinion the con- 
 BOi{reurs of their own age had of thofe 
 artifts, who are nov/ become theftand- 
 ards of piiturefque merit. Thefe, to- 
 gether with the fcarcity of the ^ ori- 
 
 * Firft publiflied at Venice. Dolce 
 
 was born anno 1508, and died anno 1568. 
 The following table (liews how long he was 
 contemporary with the principal artifts, &c. of 
 his time. 
 
 Popes. Julius lid's pontificate began 15035 
 Leo X. 15135 Adrian VL 1521, Clement VII. 
 1523, Paul III. 1534, Julius III. 1549, Mar- 
 cellus II. 1555, Pi'as IV. 1559.— Artifts. — 
 M. Angelo-, born J474, died 1564. Titian, 
 born 1477, died 1576, Raphael, born 1482, 
 died 1 520. — -Literati. — Aretin, born 1496, died 
 1556, Ariofloj died 1523, Bembo, born 1470,^ 
 
 died 
 
P R E F A C E. vii 
 ginal workj were efteemed fufficient 
 motives for prefenting Dolce to the 
 public in an Englifli drefs 5 more efpe- 
 cially at this time, when, after feveral 
 attempts to eftablifh the arts of paint- 
 ing and fculpture in this kingdom, we 
 at length have a fair profped: of their 
 fettling among us. Two flourifh- 
 ing Societies have been formed for 
 effeding this purpofe, under the pa- 
 tronage of our moft excellent Sove- 
 reign ; and the merits of feveral artifts 
 belonging to each of them, give us 
 hopes that the idea of an Enghfli 
 School is not fo abfard as fome writers, 
 
 died 1547. Taffo, born 1544, died 1595. San- 
 nazaro, born 1458, died 1530. Navagero, 
 born 1483, died 1539. 
 
 ^ The Society of Artills of Great Britain, 
 incorporated by his majefty's charter, Jan. 26, 
 in the 5th year of his prefent majefty's reign ; 
 and the Royal Apademy, inftituted anno 1769, 
 
 A 4 proud 
 
vlii PREFACE. 
 
 proud of what they efteem a more fa- 
 vourable climate, have reprefented it. 
 We fee a noble fpirit of emulation 
 among our own artifts, from which, 
 and the liberal encouragement thofe 
 of the greateft merit among them have 
 received, we have a favourable profped: 
 that this kingdom, already celebrated 
 for its fuperiority in arms, will not be 
 lefs fo for the arts. 
 
 If we confider the flate in which 
 they are at prefent in the feveral coun- 
 tries where they formerly flourilTied, 
 Vv^e fliall find them not inferior in 
 our own to any. They have totally 
 deferted Greece, for a long time their 
 favorite abode, and are fo far dege-r 
 nerated in Italy, (where they revived 
 In the pontificates of Julius II. Leo X, 
 and Clement VII. after having lain in 
 oblivion above one thcufmd }^^ars) that 
 
 we 
 
PREFACE. £x: 
 
 we hear of very few celebrated painters 
 there, and of none to rank with the 
 old mafters, fince the death of Carlo 
 Maratti and Sebaftiano Conca. 
 
 France, the fucceffor of Italy, finds 
 her glories fading very faft. The en- 
 couragement the Arts received under 
 Louis XIV, enabled them, for a time, 
 to hold up their heads ; but the nati- 
 onal charafter of the people, and the 
 nature of the government, would not 
 permit any long train of fuccefs. If 
 we may be allowed to judge by the 
 exhibition at the Louvre, this lafi: 
 fummer, (1769) they are indeed at a 
 very low ebb. Although they have 
 only one exhibition in tv/o years, and 
 the artifts are not divided into fe- 
 veral diftindl bodies, as they are here, 
 it requires no hefitation to fay, that the 
 ^iGinvts jteither equalled in number, or 
 
 merit 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 .merit, cur annual exhibitions. Among 
 them I do not remember one hiftori- 
 cal fubjefi: at all remarkable ^ and in- 
 deed an ^ author, who profeffedly 
 writes their panegyric, is obliged to 
 gipologize for the deficiency, from cir- 
 cumftances that only fhew the tafte of 
 individuals to be at aa low an ebb as the 
 merit of the artifls. He feems to 
 have no idea of any hiftorical pid:ures 
 but fuch as are as large as Michel An- 
 gelo's Laft Judgment, Raphael and 
 Julio Romano's Battles, and other ftu- 
 pendous works in the palaces and 
 churches of Italy. Notwithflanding 
 this may in general be true, yet feve- 
 
 * Reflexions furquelques Morceaux de Pein- 
 ture, &c. expofes au Salon du Louvre, pendant 
 ic cours d.es mois d' Aout et de Septenibre, 1 769^, 
 par M. Pingeron, Cap. d' Artillerie, et Inge- 
 iiicu-r iiu fervLce de Pologne;, 
 
 ral 
 
PREFACE 
 
 ral Eno;lifli artiftshave in our laft and 
 other late exhibitions, made it evi- 
 dent, that fome of the principal merits 
 of hiftorical painting (in particular 
 defign and compofition) may be coni- 
 prized in the fpace of a cabinet pic- 
 ture Altho' I vviih to avoid men- 
 tioning living artifts by name, that I 
 may not give umbrage to any, yet, 
 left thofe who have not feen our ex- 
 hibitions fliould efceem this only to 
 proceed from partiality, and a defire 
 of making the fiate of the Arts here 
 appear other than it reaiiy is, I can- 
 
 * So compleat is the power of afibciation, 
 that a fkilful painter can exprefs any degree of 
 fublimity in the fmalleft as well as in the largeft 
 compais. It appears in the miniatures of juliq 
 Clovio, as really as in the paintings of Titian,^ 
 or Michael Angelo." 
 
 Gerard on Tafte, p, 22. 
 
xS P R E F A C 
 
 not help producing as inftances^ the 
 Regulus^ Jacob bleffing Jofeph's chil- 
 dren, Cleombrotus, &c. of Mr. Weft.^ 
 an artift, whofe works would have 
 done honour to Rome, even in the 
 time of Raphael and Titian. The 
 appeal might fafely be lain with any 
 pcrfon of tafte and judgment, whe- 
 tlier thefe and many other of our mo- 
 dern works do not fully prove this af- 
 tertiorK 
 
 As to other fubjed:s which Mr. Pin- 
 geron calls de genre '\ we agree 
 with him they have feveral artifls who 
 have a ccnfiderable {hare of merit. 
 Among thefe we reckon M. Vernet's 
 Sailors, M. Lautherbourg's Sea-fcapes, 
 M. Greuze, the two Meffrs. Vanloo, 
 
 The French underftand by this term, all 
 the inferior/ fpecies of painting, as landfcapCj 
 portrait^^flill-life^^ &g. 
 
 and 
 
P R E F A C xui 
 
 and M. Dupleffis's Portraits ; but at 
 the fame time, we think them in ge- 
 neral equalled, perhaps furpaffed by 
 feveral of the produftions of our own 
 artifts. M. Chardin's allegorical pic- 
 ture of the Attributes of the Arts had, 
 in onr opinion, great merit ; but alle- 
 garical painting can never acquire to 
 the artifl: the higheft degree of com- 
 mendation. The fruit, flowers, and 
 ftill-life, were extremely inferior to the 
 productions of our befl artifts in thofe 
 fabjefts. 
 
 As fculpture and engraving are not 
 the fubjeft of the following Work, 
 nothing will be faid here of their pre- 
 fent ftate in France ; but this account 
 of the exhibition will beclofcd by rr^iCn- 
 tioning the PORTRAITS of the prefent 
 King and late Queen in tapestry, 
 don^ at the Gobelins, after jMelTrs- 
 
 Van l oo 
 
xiv P R E F A C £\ 
 
 Vanloo and Nattier's Portraits. W^! 
 readily acknowledge this manufadure 
 to excel any tapestry that ever was 
 executed. The two portraits already 
 mentioned, and the whole length of 
 his majeily, which was lately fliewn 
 at the Gobelins, and was prefented to 
 the king of Denmark, during his ftay 
 at Paris, are really fine : flill it muft 
 be allowed, that fruit and flowers are 
 more proper fubjedts for this manu- 
 fadure than portraits. And in thefe, 
 the Englifli nation has a profped of 
 exhibiting a work, which, by the beft 
 judgment we can form of it, from 
 what is already executed, will, for 
 delicacy of materials, elegance of de- 
 iign, and beauty of execution, far ex* 
 ceed any thing that has hitherto been 
 done in any nation. The lovers of 
 the Arcs who have feen this work^ 
 
 mull 
 
PREFACE, j:v 
 nuift" know we mean the elegant chef 
 d'oBuvre of the Arts, embroidering^ 
 under the patronage of our mpft ami-- 
 able Queen, from the dellgns, and 
 under the fupenntendence of a Lady 
 already fufficiently knoTv'n for the ex- 
 cellence and fuperiority of her genius 
 - andtafte. 
 
 Having paid this jufl: tribute to 
 the fcate of the Arts in our own coun- 
 try, we fhall conclude with mention- 
 ing, that a few Notes are added, 
 to fhew how far more modern 
 writers upon the fame fubj'edl agree 
 with, or differ from, our author. All 
 thofe which are cpllefled^ are afcribed 
 to their proper authors- Thofe marked 
 with the initial letters, J. E. (Italian 
 Editor) are feleded from thofe of the 
 edition of Dolce, printed, together 
 with a French tranflation, at Florence, 
 
xvi PREFACE, 
 1735. It was thought neceffary, 
 in fome places, to make the fol- 
 lowing tranflation very free, in order 
 to illuftrate the fenfe of the author. 
 If the attempt fhall prove any way 
 promotive of the Arts, the Tranflator's 
 wifhes will be acomplilhed, his work 
 being facred to the labors of the 
 : Artist, and to Publ i c Utility ! 
 
 -6- 
 
( XVii ) 
 
 By permiffion of my Friend, the ingenious 
 Author, vvhofe modefly will not fufFer me to 
 difclofe his name, I prefix the follov/ing ele- 
 gant copy of verfes, on the Origin of the Art of 
 Painting. The reader will find the ftcry on 
 which it is founded, related in Mr. Webb's 
 Enquiry into the Beauties of Painting, p. 26. 
 
 J A M lugubris ade^, lugubris amantibus hora, 
 Carbafa turgerte - explicuere noti. 
 Nec mora ; te Corydon voc ;t invidus aul^er in altam, 
 
 Totaqae nautarum littora voce fonant 
 Quid faciat mifcr ? Anpelagas nymphamvc relinquet? 
 
 Ha^Tct Sc inccrto corde per oila tremit. 
 Nunc mare, nunc terrain unc ipfam verfus ad*Acmen^ 
 
 Ire, manere, cupit, fperat & horret idem. 
 Tandem fama prior, flimulufque accendit honorum, 
 
 Ardet Sc ingenue pedore laudis amor. 
 Mavorti, Patriccque piget prxponere amorem. 
 
 Militias cedunt mollia caflra Dei. 
 Uitinia jam flenti juvenis dabat ofcula nymphse. 
 
 Nulla eO: reftandi caufa, nec ulla mors. 
 Pa^ne aberat, cum nympha videns in pariete formam 
 
 Confimilem juveni, brachia, crura, manus, 
 Continuo exciamat, Corydonis vivet imago, 
 Nec tocum imrintls transferer unda virum I 
 
 * Scptin^ii MeretHx. VIdeCatuJ!, 
 
 a 
 
 Sic 
 
( xvIU ) 
 
 Sic dicens : tenni fignavit membra fagltta, 
 
 Oraque adumbravit, purpureamque genam. 
 Jam fpirat juvenile decus jam gratia vivit, 
 
 Ora, oculique, manus, totaque forma micant. 
 Hie videt abfentem, quamvis in funere, amantem, 
 
 Mirata artifices ipfa puella manus. 
 Sic qui forte levi, puer infpiravir, avenae, 
 
 Obflupuit facilem, quem dedit ipfe, fonum. 
 Jam non deferta Virgo fpatiatur in afla 
 
 Luminibus volucrem faepe fecuta ratem : 
 Dulcia namque adfunt oculis folamina quamvi$ 
 
 Lintea praecipites eripuere noti. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 3s, line 5, for h^, read/« ; p. 38, for affeElation, r. af^ 
 feSion ; at the end of the firft: note on p. 51, fupply the ini- 
 tials 7. p. 53, in the quotation from Martial, for Flacci, 
 r. Flacce ; in the note on p. 68, 1. 12, {ov O'ver-againft, r. near ^ 
 in note on p. 69, 1. 9, iov battles ^v, baths p. iii, ftanza 12, 
 of the defcription of Alcina, 1. 3. for pctcfi e^ y, pietoji a 5 
 p. J 13, fianza 14, 1. ult. s. s"* afconde p. 119, I. i. r. indujlri 
 p, 180, three lines from the bottom, for and, r. *who 5 p. 133, 
 three lines from the bottom, for thing fs, r, things f p. 1^4, 
 note, 1. 12, for and, r. at 3 p. zay, 1. ult. for uvujKouohi^oiv, r, 
 
A DIALOGUE ON PAINTING. 
 
 Ars demonftrat- ubiquasras; atque ubi 
 
 fit illud, quod ftudeas invenire: reliqua 
 funt in cura, attentione animi, cogitatione, 
 vigilantia, affiduitate, labore. Ccmple£lar uno 
 
 verbo, diligentia : qua una virtute omnes 
 
 virtutes reliquae continentur. 
 
 Cicero, 
 
oooooooeeoMoooeoooo oooo oeoe - oooo^^^k ooeoooeeoeftoo90o&oo'oodeo>^>» 
 
 A R E T I N: 
 
 OR, A 
 
 DIALOGUE 
 
 O N 
 
 PAINTING. 
 
 PETER ARETIN and JOHN FRANCIS FABRINI. 
 
 A R E T I N, 
 
 I^X^"^Ifi'een days ago, my dear friend 
 ^ F ^ Fabrini, being in the beautiful 
 church of St. John and St. Paul; 
 whither I had gone in company with the 
 learned Camillo, to celebrate the feftival 
 B of 
 
2 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 of Peter Martyr, performed there every 
 day at the altar over which is placed the 
 large pifture of the hiftory of that faint *, 
 
 * An elegant French Critic, fpeaking of the fu- 
 periority of expreflion to beautiful colouring, makes 
 the following remarks upon this pi(^ure, viz. Le 
 tableau de ce grand peintre (Titien), qui reprefente 
 Saint Pierre Martyr, religieux Dominicain, maflacre 
 par les Vaudois, n'efl peutetre pas, tout admirable 
 qu'il eft par cet endroit meme, le plus precieux par 
 
 la richeffe des couleurs locales. Mais Tadlion 
 
 de ce tableau eft intereftante, et le Titien Fa traitee 
 avec plus de vralfemblance et avec une expreftion 
 des paiSons plus etudiees que celles de ces autres 
 ouvrages. — The piflure of this great mafter repre- 
 Jfenting St. Peter Martyr, a religious of the order of 
 St. Dominic, maflacred by the Vandals, is not, pro- 
 bably, his moft valuable pidure for the richnefs of 
 local colours. ——But the aftion is interefting, 
 and Titian has treated the fubjedt with more verifi* 
 militude, and ftudied expfeffion of the paffions, 
 than any other of his works." Vid. Du Bos fur la 
 Toefie et la Feinture^ Tom, 1. p. 72. And there are 
 good judges at this day who think this pidlure no 
 way inferior to any other of Titian's works in point 
 •f colouring. 
 
 fo 
 
PAINTING. 3 
 
 ib divinely executed by the delicate hand 
 of my illuftrious friend Titian * ; I 
 thought I faw you there contemplating, 
 with fixed attention, the piflure of 
 Thomas Aquinas, in company with other 
 faints, which was painted many years 
 ago in water-colours by Giovanni Bellina 
 the Venetian f ; and, had we not been 
 prevented by M. Antonio Anfelmo, who 
 carried us to the houfe of M. Bembo, wc 
 fliould have feized upon you unexpect- 
 edly^ and made you our prifoner for the 
 whole day. Now, recoUefting to have 
 feen you fo entirely taken up in contem- 
 
 * Titian was born at Cadoraj in tlie flate of Ve- 
 nice, anno 1477, and died of the plague in 1576, 
 set. 99. 
 
 ^ t Bellino was Titian's mafter. He died at Ve- 
 nice in 1512, aged 96. There is an excellent pic- 
 ture of his in the church of St. Zachary at Venice. 
 F. E. Da Frefnoy fays, his manner, according to 
 the tafte of his time, was extremely dry ; that he 
 perfedly underftood architefture and perfpeflive. 
 
 B 2 plating 
 
4 A DIALOGUE o 
 
 plating this pifture, give me leave to 
 aiTure you, I think it worthy of admira- 
 tion ; for every figure is well painted, 
 fomie of the heads are beautiful, and the 
 carnations and draperies are natural : 
 from whence we may allow, that Beliino, 
 confidering the age he lived in, was a 
 good and diligent mailer. But he has 
 fmce been greatly furpafled by George 
 da Caftelfranco ; and the latter hath been 
 left ftill farther behind by Titian, who 
 hath given to his figures fuch an heroic 
 majefty, hath praftiled fo foft a manner 
 of colouring, and his teints fo nearly 
 approach the truth, that we may fay, 
 without exaggeration, they rival Nature 
 herfelf. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 It is not my cuftom, Aretin, to blame 
 any one : But I lliall declare my fenti- 
 ments freely to you, that whoever has 
 feen the pidures of the divine Michael 
 
 Angelo, 
 
PAINTING. s 
 
 Angelo, need never (if I may be allowed 
 the exprefiion) open his eyes to fee the 
 works of any other painter whatever. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 You go too far, and injure many ex- 
 cellent painters as Rafaello da Urbino, 
 Antonio Correggio, Francefco Parme- 
 giano, Giiilio Romano, Polidoro, and 
 our Titiano Vecellio, who have adorned 
 Rome^ and indeed all Italy, with fuch 
 ftupendous works of their painting, and 
 throv/n fuch light on their art, that per- 
 haps many ages fliall not find one fo ex- 
 cellent to add to their number. I omit 
 Andrea del Sarto, Perrino del Vaga, and 
 Pordonone, who were neverthelefs good 
 painters, and whole works merit the 
 confideration and applaufe of the learned 
 and judicious. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 As Homer ranks firft among the Greek, 
 Virgil among the Roman, and Dante 
 B 3 among 
 
e A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 among the Italian poets, fo does Michael ^ 
 Angelo * among the painters and fculp- 
 tors of the prefent age. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I DO not deny that Michael Angelo 
 is at this time almoft a miracle in the 
 joint excellencies of nature and art. 
 They who do not admire his works muft 
 Ipt totally void of judgment, particularly 
 in defign, in which he is without doubt 
 moft thoroughly learned. He was the 
 firft artift of the prefent age who exhi- 
 bited beautiful forms, artful foreftiorten- 
 ings, relievos, elegant adion, and every 
 grace neceflary to form a nud in perfec- 
 tion ; a thing never feen before his time, 
 except the nuds of fuch artifts as Apelles 
 and Zeuxis, which we may judge to have 
 been moft admirable from the teftimo- 
 
 * Lord Shaftefbury calls Michael Angelo, the 
 great beginner and founder among the moderns, 
 ph. 1. 144. 
 
 nies 
 
PAINTING. 7 
 
 nies of the antient poets, and other wri- 
 ters, as well as by what little we can ob- 
 ferve in the few remains which the inju- 
 ries of time and hoftile nations have left 
 us. But there is no reafon for our con- 
 fining our praifes to one alone the 
 bounty of heaven having produced pain- 
 ters equal, and in fome refpecls fuperior 
 to Michael Angelo, as are undoubtedly 
 fome of thofe I have mentioned. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Pardon me, Signor Aretin, you are 
 certainly deceived, if this be your opi- 
 nion : the excellence of Michael Angelo 
 is fuch, that without exaggeration we 
 may compare it to the light of the fun, 
 Vvrhich not only far furpafles, but extin- 
 guifhes every other light. 
 
 ARETIN. 
 
 Your thoughts are poetical, and fuch 
 as are frequently infpired by affeflion, 
 " che fpeffo occhio ben fan fa veder torto, 
 B 4 " which 
 
8 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 which often turns aflant the trueft eye/^ 
 But you being a Florentine, it is no 
 wonder the love of your country fhould 
 make you efteem the works of Michael 
 Angelo alone as gold, while all others 
 appear to you vile and worthlefs. Had 
 not this been the cafe, you would have 
 remembered, that in the age of Alexander 
 the Great, although Apelles was unani- 
 moufly extolled to the fldes, yet a pro- 
 portionable degree of honour was paid 
 to Zeuxis, Protogenes, Timanthes, Po- 
 lignotus, and other excellent painters. 
 So alfo among the Roman poets Virgil 
 was always efteemed divine, yet none 
 
 * Horace, fpeaking of the Greek poets, fays, 
 
 Non, fi priores Mseonius tenet 
 Sedes Homerus, Pindaricae latent, 
 
 Ceseque, & Alcaei minaces, 
 
 Stefichorique, graves Camenac. 
 Nec, fi quid olim lufit Anacreon, 
 Pclevit ^tasc Lib. iv, Cd. ix. 
 
 CVCf 
 
PAINTING. c) 
 
 ever defpifed or neglefted Ovid, Horace, 
 Lucan, Statius, and other poets, who, 
 though they differ one from another, 
 yet all of them are' excellent in their pe- 
 culiar province or manner of writing. 
 And though Dante is replete with learn- 
 ing, who does not take great pleafure in 
 the graceful Petrarca ? The greater num- 
 ber even prefer him. If Homer ftands 
 alone amiong the Greek poets, the realbn 
 is, that others did not write in that lan- 
 guage upon the warlike fubjefts, except 
 Quintus Calaber*, who profecutcd the 
 
 Which Pope hath beautifully imitated and applied : 
 
 Though daring Milton fits fublime. 
 
 In Spenfer native mufes play ; 
 Nor yet (hall Waller yield to time, 
 
 Nor penfive Cowley's moral lay. 
 
 * Quintus Calaber is fuppofed by Vcflras to have 
 lived about the year 491. His Continuation of 
 Homer was found in Calabria, by Card. Befiaaon. 
 Vid. L'Advocat. Did. Hiir. 
 
lo A DIALOGUE 01^ 
 
 fame fubjeft, and ApoUonius, who wrote 
 the Argonautics, neither of whom fell 
 far Ihort even of Homer himfelf. 
 Thofe perfons feem to me too contraft^ 
 ed, who confine their judgment of any 
 thing to one mode or form, and condemn 
 all that vary from It : Such Horace ridi- 
 culed in the charafter of a coxcomb, 
 whole tafte was fo very delicate, that he 
 never fung or recited any verfes, except 
 thofe of Catullus or Calvus. And were 
 Horace now living, and you the fubje6t 
 of his fatire, he might much more ridi- 
 cule you for defiring that men fhould 
 Ihut their eyes againft all paintings ex- 
 cept Michael Angelo's, at a time, as I 
 faid before, when Heaven has given us 
 painters equal and even fuperior to 
 him. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 And where do you find another Mi- 
 chael Angelo, much lefs a greater? 
 
 ARETIN* 
 
PAINTING. 11 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Though it feems childifli to repeat 
 the fame thing again, yet I muft once 
 more aver, that there are at this prefent 
 time, painters equal, and in fome relpeds 
 fuperior, to Michael Angelo. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 And I will always repeat, that Michael 
 Angelo ftands unequalled. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I WISH rather to decline the parallel, 
 and avoid comparifons. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I THINK converfation between us 
 ought to be perfeftly free, and willi you 
 would chufe one whom you think more 
 illuftrious among the painters to confront 
 with Michael Angelo ; and v/hen I know 
 your reafon, it may poffibly happen I may 
 change my opinion. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
12 
 
 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 It is a difficult matter to eradicate 
 from the mind of another, an opinion 
 which has been a long time planted and 
 nourifhed by afFeftion. Yet as truth 
 ought not to be paffed over in filence, I 
 will do all in my power to free you 
 from the error in which you feem en- 
 tangled* 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I SHALL acknowledge myfelf much 
 obliged to you. 
 
 A R E T I 
 
 And what will you fay if I begin with 
 Raphael? 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 That he was a great painter — but 
 not equal to Michael Angelo, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
PAINTING. 13 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Your judgment is very fingular do 
 not pronounce fo peremptorily, 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Yet this is the general opinion, 
 
 A R E T J N. 
 
 Perhaps it may among the ignorant, 
 who follow the judgment of others with-- 
 out knowing the reafon why, or of thofe 
 pfeudo-painters, who ape Michael Angelo, 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Not fo, but of fuch as are learned 
 and fldiful in the art. 
 
 A R E T I N, 
 
 I KNOW that at Rome, while Raphael 
 was living, the learned, and the moft 
 fl<:ilful artifts there, preferred him to 
 Michael Angelo as a painter ^ and that 
 
 thofe 
 
14 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 thofe who held him inferior, were for thtf 
 moft part fculptors, who confidered only 
 Michael Angelo's excellence in defign^ 
 and the forcible air of his figures; 
 efteeming the graceful and gentle man- 
 ner of Raphael too eafy, and confequently 
 not fo artificial ; not knowing that eafe 
 is the higheft accomplifhment of any art, 
 and the moft: difikuit to be attained; 
 that hiding art is the utmoft: extent of 
 art; and that other requifites are abfo- 
 lutely neceffary to conftitute a painter 
 befides defign. Were we to call in the 
 beft judges of painting, whether painters 
 or others, we fhould find their votes all 
 in favour of Raphael. All thofe among 
 the multitude who are fuperior to the 
 vulgar, would be unanimous in the fame 
 decifion. Nay, were the common peo- 
 ple in general to prefs in to fee the works 
 of the one and the other, their fufii'ages 
 would undoubtedly be in favour of Ra- 
 phael. The partifans of Michael Angela 
 
 them- 
 
PAINTING. 15 
 
 tliemfelves, even They allow the works 
 of Raphael never fail of giving the higheft 
 pleafure. But this is not fufRcient to the 
 purpofe; therefore, laying afide all au- 
 thority, let us proceed upon the folid 
 bafis of reafon, 
 
 F A B R I N r. 
 
 I HEAR you attentively, efteeming 
 your penetration and judgment in every 
 kind of learning, and particularly your 
 knowledge and precifion in painting, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 You know that Raphael and I were in- 
 timate friends, and that the fame intimacy 
 now fubfifts between Michael Angelo 
 and me; whofe letter, in anfwer to mine 
 concerning the hiftory of his laft pifture, 
 evinces in what eftimation he holds my 
 
 * Raphael da Urbino was born at Uibino on 
 Goodjj Friday, in the year 1482 ; and died alfo oa 
 Good Friday^ in the year 1520, xt, 37. 
 
 judg- 
 
i6 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 judgment : and Aguftino Ghigi, were He 
 living, could teftify how much Raphael 
 confided in it, that he confulted me upon 
 every pifture before he expofed it to 
 public view, and that I was in a great 
 meafure the caufe of his painting the 
 cielings of his houfe. But although both 
 of them hold the fame place in my 
 efteem, yet truth is Hill more dear to 
 me than friendfhip. However, with a 
 view to utility, I will endeavour to gra- 
 tify your curiofity in this matter, not- 
 withftanding the inequality is akeady de- 
 cided in favour of Raphael by the beft 
 judges, as it v/ill necelTarily lead me to 
 explain what painting is, what the office 
 and duties of a painter, and to treat briefly 
 of the importance of painting in general, 
 to draw a parallel between the two maf- 
 ters in queftion, and to fpeak alfo of the 
 relative merits of others, efpecially of 
 Titian. 
 
 F A B R I N I, 
 
PAINTING. 37 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I KNOW that many authors have writ- 
 ten honourably of Raphael ; as Bembo, 
 who equals him to Michael Angelo^ and 
 v/ho wrote when Raphael was young ; 
 Caftiglione, who gives him the firft: place ; 
 and Polidore Virgil, who equals him to 
 Apelles, as alfo does Vafari in his Lives 
 of the Painters ** I know, on the other 
 
 * To thefe might now be added almofl all the 
 modern writers on the fubjedl. 
 
 Du Frefnoy, in his elegant Latin poem de Arte 
 Graphica, after fpeaking in general of the Roman, 
 Venetian, and other fchools, {ays, 
 
 Hos apud invenit Raphael miracula fummo 
 Duda modo Venerefque habuit quas nemo 
 deinceps. 
 
 And De Piles, in his Commentary, equals him in 
 excellence of grace to Apelles, who poffefTed it in 
 a degree far fuperior to all others among the 
 antients. 
 
 C handj 
 
i8 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 hand, that Ariofto * in the beginning of 
 the 33d Canto of his Orlando Furiofo, 
 
 * Ariofto, after having in the preceding ftanza 
 enumerated the moft celebrated among the ancient 
 artifts, adds, 
 
 E quei, che furo a noftri Di, o Ton ora 
 Leonardo, Andrea Mantegna, Gian Bellino, 
 Duo Doffi, e Quel, che par fculpe Sc colora 
 Michael, piu che mortal. Angel divino ; 
 Baftiano, Rafael, Tizian, ch' onora 
 Non men Cador, che quei Venezia e Urbino 
 E gli altri, di cui tal Topra fi vede, 
 Qaal della prifca eta fi legge e crede. St. 2. 
 And thofe whom modern times confign to fame. 
 Da Vinci, Bellin, and Mantegna's name, 
 Dofli and Him, whofe equal art difplays 
 Sculpture and painting claiming equal praife ; 
 Him, more than mortal (as his name implies,) 
 An angel given by propitious ikies ; 
 While Urbin Raphael's well-lov'd name fhall boaft, 
 To Venice Baftian's merit is not loft ; 
 Cadora, bleft by bounteous Fortune's hand, 
 Diftinguifti'd for her Titian's birth fhall ftand : 
 And others, who an equal rank would claim 
 Among the antients of immortal fame. 
 
 diftinguiflies, 
 
PAINTING. 19 
 
 dlftinguifties Michael Angelo fo far from 
 other painters, as to give him the epithet 
 of " divine." But, as you defire, I will 
 reft nothing upon authority, how learned 
 foever, but on reafon alone : for were I 
 to rely on the judgment of others, I 
 fhould certainly prefer yours to them all. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 You do me too much honour. 
 
 Ariofto has ftiewn a moft acute genius 
 throughout the whole of his work, ex- 
 cept in this paflage. I do not mean to 
 find fault with his praifing Michael An- 
 gelo, who is truly worthy of high ap- 
 plaufe, but in placing among the illuftri- 
 ous painters the Doffi of Ferrara, one of 
 whom ftudied for fome time here under 
 Titian, and the other in Rome under 
 
 The praife contained in the jeu des mots, in the fourth 
 line of the original, as Mr. Webb juflly obferves, 
 
 is exceffive, not decifive ; it carries no idea.'" 
 Enquiry hiio the Beauties of Paint ivgy p. 166. 
 
 C 2 Raphael j 
 
20 A D I AL OG U E on 
 
 Raphael; and yet both of them adopted' 
 fo bad a manner, that they were un- 
 worthy of the praifes of fo excellent a 
 poet. But this, indeed, might have been 
 in fome meafure excufeable, from the 
 great love he had for his country, had he 
 not committed a ftill greater error in 
 joining the name of Baftian * with Ra- 
 phael and Titian, at a time when there 
 were many other painters far more excel- 
 lent than he, who yet were not worthy 
 to ftand in competition with either of 
 thefe. But fuch a peccadillo (if with the 
 Spaniard I may fo call it) is no argument 
 againfl: Ariofto's being a moft accom- 
 pliftied poet, fince thefe things do not 
 
 * Sebaftian of Venice, generally called Fra. Baf- 
 tiano del Piombo, from an ofHce he held under 
 Clement VII. was a difciple of Bellino, and after- 
 wards of Giorgione, and came to Rome with 
 Aguilin Ghigi, where he was undefervedly put in 
 competition with Raphael. Ke died in June 1547, 
 aged 62. 
 
 immedi- 
 
P A I N T I N G. 21 
 
 immediately fall within the province of 
 a poet. Nor would I infer that Baftian 
 had no merit as a painter; for it fre- 
 quently happens, that a gem when feen 
 alone may claim great merit, yet when 
 compared with others far more brilliant, 
 £hall feem to lofe all its luftre. Befides, 
 it is well known Michael Angelo drew 
 all Baftian's defigns ; and he who adorns 
 himfelf with the plumage of others, when 
 ftript of thefe muft appear like the crow 
 which Horace defcribes I remember 
 when Baftian was puftied forwards by 
 Michael Angelo to contend with Raphael, 
 the latter ufed to fay, " It pleafes me 
 much that Michael Angelo afTifts my 
 
 * Ne, fi forte fiias repetkum veperit olin? 
 Grex avium plumas, moveat cornlcula rifam 
 Furtivis nudata coloribus. En. lib. i. c, 3. 
 
 Left, when the birds their various colors claim, 
 Stript of his ftolen pride, the crow forlorn 
 Should ftand, the laughter of the public fcorn. 
 
 Francis^ 
 
 C 3 " new 
 
22 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 " new rival, by making his defigns, as 
 he muft know, while common fame 
 " gives the preference to my paintings, 
 " that I not only conquer Baftian, which 
 " would do me little honor, but even 
 " Michael Angelo himfelf, who is in 
 " his own opinion (and juftly) the very 
 ^' idea of defign*.'* 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 It is true, Baftian was a very unequal 
 match for Raphael, even when armed 
 with Michael Angelo's lance not know-- 
 ing how to ufe it : much lefs, as I am 
 inclined to think, could he rival Titian, 
 who lately told me, that when Rome 
 was facked by the foldiers of Bourbon, 
 fome Germans among them were quar- 
 
 * Du Frefnoy, in his poem de Arte Graphica^ has 
 admirably expreffed M. Angelo's excellence in de- 
 fjgn, in one line : 
 
 Quicquid erat forma; fcivit Bonarota potenter. 
 Of form and beauty evVy art he knew. 
 
 tered 
 
PAINTING. 23 
 
 tered in the pope's palace, by whofe care- 
 leflhefs^ or by accident, Ibme of the heads 
 of the figures in one of the chambers, 
 painted by Raphael, were greatly injured; 
 and that on pope Clement's return to his 
 palace, he was extremely afFeded at fee- 
 ing thofe exquifite heads fo much de- 
 faced, and employed Baftian to repair 
 them. Titian being afterwards at Rome, 
 went to the palace, and in paffing 
 through the apartments with Baftian, 
 ftedfaftly fixed his attention upon thefe 
 pictures of Raphael, which he had never 
 before feen and coming to the parts 
 Baftian had repaired, and difcerning the 
 wide difference between thefe and the 
 others, with great warmth and refent- 
 ment aiked him what prefumptuous Ig-* 
 norant had ipoiled thofe heads ; not 
 knowing they had been repaired by 
 Baftian. But let us lay afide thofe ine- 
 qualities, which are of no importance^ 
 and proceed. 
 
 C 4 A R E T I N. 
 
24 
 
 A DIALOGUE ou 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I REMEMBER to have heard the fame 
 ftory from others. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Pray now, Aretin, indulge me with 
 your fentiments of painting; and firft, 
 what painting is ? 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I SHALL readily do it as I propofed, 
 though every one is agreed in the defini- 
 tion. To fpeak briefly, therefore, paint- 
 ing is no other than the imitation of Na- 
 ture^, and he who approaches nearefl to 
 her is the greatefl: mafter. But this de- 
 finition alone may be thought infufficient, 
 as it does not diftinguifh the painter from 
 the poet, whofe office alfo is the imita- 
 tion of Nature. I will therefore add, the 
 painter endeavours to reprefent Nature 
 |)y means of lines and colours, whether 
 
 0J\ 
 
PAINTING. 25 
 
 on the plain of a tablet, or of a wall or 
 canvas, in whatfoever is perceptible to 
 the eye ; and the poet, by the medium 
 of words, reprefents not only v/hat is ap- 
 parent to the eye, but whatever elfe is 
 objeftive to the underftanding. This is 
 the only difference between painting and 
 poetry : in every other refpeft they are fo 
 fimilar as to be efteemed fillers. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 This definition is proper and diflinft, 
 and the fimilitude between the poet and 
 the painter is juft. Others have efteemed 
 the painter a mute poet and the poet a 
 fpeaking painter. 
 
 * Ut pidura poefis erit : fimilifque poefi 
 Sit pidlura, refert per asmula quasque fororem 
 Alterantque vices & nomina ; muta poesis 
 Dicitur h^ec, picturaloquens folet ilia vocari. 
 
 Du Frejnoy de Arte Graph. 
 
 The painter who has not a poetical invention, 
 and the poet who cannot paint to the mind of the 
 reader, are unworthy the names. There have been 
 
 man/ 
 
a6 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Although the painter cannot repre- 
 fent tliofe things which immediately relate 
 
 many perfons, who, from the fame bent of genius, 
 liave pradifed both thefe arts with fuccefs. Every 
 ime has heard of the fonnets of Michael Angelo, 
 and the fatires for which Salvator Rofa was almoft 
 as celebrated as for his paintings. Mr. Dryden was 
 at leaft an excellent judge of painting, if not an 
 artift ; and the celebrated Mr. Pope was no mean 
 proficient in drawing. 
 
 There never was, perhaps, a greater inflance.of 
 poetry in painting, than in the exprefTion of the 
 pafiions in Timantes' Sacrifice of Iphigenia ; where 
 the painter, having reprefented the different pafTions 
 in the countenances of the byftanders, finding him- 
 feif unable to exprefs his idea of the variety and 
 violence of the paffions imprelTed on the counte- 
 nance of the father, covered his face with a veil. 
 The like was done by Titian, in his picture of the 
 Death of Germanicus, where his mother's face is 
 alfo hid by a veil. And the defcription of Laocoon 
 in Virgil, of Niobe in Ovid, and of Pluto flarting 
 from his throne in Homer, fufEciently {hew that 
 Apelles or Zeuxis could not have painted more per- 
 ceptibly 
 
PAINTING. 17 
 
 to the fenfes, as the coldnefs of fnow, 
 the fweetnefs of honey, yet he can fully 
 exprefs the thoughts and affeftions of 
 the mind, 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 These he can exprefs by certain ex- 
 terior a6ls ; by knitting of the brow, 
 wrinkling the forehead, and other figns 
 by which he can convey the fenfations, 
 the fentiments, the emotions and opera- 
 tions of the mind fo clearly, there is no 
 need of Socrates' window. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 'Tis fo: whence we have in Petrarca 
 this line : 
 
 E fpejjo ne la front e il cor ft legge. 
 And frequent in the face the foul appears. 
 
 ceptibly, or in a more lively or forcible manner to 
 the eye, than thefe poets have done to the under- 
 ftanding. 
 
 The 
 
A DIALOGUE on 
 
 The eyes are the principal inlets to the 
 foul: by thefe alone the painter may dif- 
 cover and exprefs * every paflion, as joy, 
 grief, fear, hope, and defire, in fo per- 
 ceptible a manner, and fo forcibly, 
 fhall be pleafmg and fatisfaftory to the 
 beft judges. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 And although the painter is defined a 
 mute poet, and his piftures mute, yet 
 Jiis figures fhall appear to fpeak, cry out, 
 weep, laugh, &c. f infomuch as to pro- 
 duce the fame effedl in the fpedator. 
 
 * Love, Hope, and Joy, fair Pleafure's fmiling train. 
 Hate, Fear, and Grief, the family of Pain. 
 
 The lights and fhades, whofe well accorded ftrife 
 Gives all the ftrength and colour of our life. Pope, 
 
 f The Abbe Du Bos, in his admirable RefiexiQ7is 
 fur la Foefie {if la Peinture, has treated in a mafterly 
 nianner this fubjeft of the power of imitation, both 
 in painting and poetry, upon the mind : And Quin- 
 tilian^ fpeaking of this power in painting, fays. 
 
 Sic 
 
PAINTING- 29 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 In appearance they do, though they 
 neither fpeak nor produce the effefts 
 you mention. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 On this I fliould be glad to hear your 
 judicious friend Sylvefter, the excellent 
 mufician, and mailer of the band to the 
 Doge, who defigns and paints very well^, 
 and makes us feel, that the painted figures 
 of good mafters fpeak nearly as intelligi- 
 bly as living ones. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 This is to be afcribed to the imagina- 
 tion of the fpeftator, occafioned by the 
 different attitudes of the figures, which 
 
 Sic in intimos penetret afFedus, ut ipfam vim di- 
 <:endi nonnunquam fuperare videatur. It fo pene- 
 trates our inmoft afFedions, that it fomeumes feems 
 t-o exceed the power of oratory/' ln[i, 1, ii. c. 3. 
 
 are 
 
30 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 are fuited to fuch and fuch ends, and is 
 not the property of painting. 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 True. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 The bufmefs then of the painter is, to 
 reprefent by his art objeds with fo exaft 
 a refemblance of nature, that they fhall 
 appear aftually exifting ; and he who 
 cannot produce this fimilitude, is no 
 painter : on the other hand, he is the moft 
 excellent whofe refemblances approach 
 neareft to nature. When I lhall have 
 demonftrated to you that this perfeftion 
 is more nearly attained by Sanzio * than 
 by Buonarotti, what I have fo often re- 
 peated will follow of courfe. Yet I do 
 not mean by this to diminifli the glory 
 of Michael Angelo, or to aggrandife 
 
 * Rafaelle Sanzio. Michael Angelo Buonarotti. 
 
 that 
 
PAINTING. 31 
 
 that of Raphael, which can neither be 
 increafed or diminifhed ; but to comply 
 with your requeft, and pay a proper 
 tribute to truth, in defence ot which I 
 have* (to your knowledge) often exer- 
 cifed my oratory, regardlefs of this, that 
 in the maintenance of truth we frequently 
 incur hatred. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 There is none now to overhear us. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I WISH there were many, as my fub- 
 je£l is noble ; and truth fhould be main- 
 tained to the utmofl againfl: all, when 
 the end defired is not difputation, but 
 improvement. If any one comparing Arif- 
 
 * Aretin is well known to have done this with 
 fuch efFedl, as to have made all the European princes, 
 and the Sophi of Perfia, tributary to him, to avoid 
 the fcverity of his cenfures. 
 
 totle 
 
3^ A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 totle with Plato, fliould determine ill 
 favour of one or the other, he could not 
 be deemed invidious, after having allows 
 ed them both to be great philofophers, 
 by efteeming one of them to be fuperior 
 to the other. And now, in difcourfmg 
 with you concerning two of the greatefl: 
 mafters in painting, though I prefer one 
 to the other, the like apology ought to 
 be admitted upon this fubjed. In treat- 
 ing farther upon this matter, I hope to 
 touch upon fome delicate niceties of the 
 art, which may not only illuftrate the 
 fubjeft, but, when coUedled together, 
 and committed to writing, may be of ufe 
 to many, who, notwithftanding they paint, 
 yet having very little knowledge of the 
 art, they through mere ignorance grow 
 proud and fevere on the works of others, 
 efteeming painting an art eafy of ac- 
 quirement, and underftood by every 
 one, when in reality it is very difficult, 
 and underftood but by very few. This 
 
 may 
 
PAINTING. 33 
 
 may alfo have its ufe among thofe who 
 write and ftudy polite literature, from 
 the great conformity there is between the 
 painter and the author. 
 
 F A B R I NI; 
 
 From the familiarity betv;reeii ils, t 
 take the liberty to defire you will deviate 
 a little from the method you propofed, 
 and now indulge me with your fenti- 
 ments on the dignity of painting, as I do 
 not well remember what I formerly read 
 upon the fubjeft, and as what I hear viva 
 voce makes a much ftronger impreffion 
 upon mc than any thing I read. And in 
 the next place, I wifli you would inform 
 me, whether one who is not an artift, can- 
 form a proper and decifive judgment ot 
 painting ? I have indeed an example in 
 you, who never touched a pencil, that 
 it is poffible; but there only exifts one 
 Aretin. I urge this the more, as there 
 ftre many who call themfclves painters, 
 D who 
 
3^ A- DIALOGUE on 
 
 >}rho afFe£k to laugh when they hear of ar 
 man of learning treating of painting, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 These are fuchas have no other pro- 
 perty of a painter than the name; for 
 I^ad they the leaft fpark of judgment, 
 they would know that all writers are 
 pointers; that poetry, hiftory, and, in 
 fhort, every learned compofition is paint- 
 ting : whence Petrarca calls Homer,. 
 Primo piitor de le memorie antiche^ 
 The firjl great painter of antiquity. 
 
 And now I am ready, Fabrini, to anfwer 
 all your queftions to the beft of my abili- 
 ties, having leifure, and as we fliall be free 
 from intruders, the greateft part of the 
 city being employed in feeing the prepa- 
 rations for the reception of the * queen 
 
 Bbnna Sforza, daughter of Galeazzo Sfdrza, 
 3>ukd of Milan, and Ifabel of Aragon, wife of 
 SJgifmundl. She arrived atVenice in the year 1555, 
 v^here ftie died, in 1558, Vid. V Advocate Dt^. Hift^ 
 
 of 
 
PAINTING. 35 
 
 trf Poland, whofe arrival here is hourly 
 expefted. Judgment is derived from our 
 perceptions, and comparing our ideas 
 One with the other; and as nothing is 
 more familiar to man than the obferva- 
 tion of man, therefore every one whofe 
 attention is awake, is capable of judging 
 of that which he fees every day ; for in- 
 ftance, the beauty or deformity of any 
 particular pcrfon or objed. Beauty con- 
 fifts of a fuitable and harmonious pro- 
 portion and agreement, which prevails , 
 throughout the whole of an objeft, and 
 between all its parts : the contrary arifes 
 from difproportion. Nature, which con- 
 ftitutes beauty, is ever corredl, unlefs 
 diftorted by violence or accident ; and 
 the man who cannot or does not diftin- 
 guifh beauty from deformity, muft either 
 be blind, or inattentive to an inex> 
 cufeable degree. On the contrary, he 
 who obferves Nature mofl accu- 
 rately, is the beft judge cf what confti- 
 D 2 tutes 
 
36 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 tutes perfe6l beauty, and alfo of the 
 imitative arts*. 
 
 * The belle idee, or idea <vera^ of which we have 
 no exprelfive phrafe, is that idea which is formed 
 from an afTemblage of the choicefl beauties of Na- 
 ture, or feledl members or parts that are moll exqui- 
 fitely beautiful, compofmg one whole, but which 
 rarely, if ever, meet in one perfon or other objedl. 
 None but thofe who are happily polfefTed of true 
 genius, and the fineft and moil correal imagination, 
 and are perfe6l mafters of, and enthuliafls in the art 
 of compofition, and expreffion of beauty, can con- 
 ceive and exprefs this idea. Arillsenetus, after having, 
 in his hyperbolic raptures, defcribed his miftrefs, 
 concludes with this expreffion ; ivl-^v^vm ^Xv ilit^oijaito 
 ^ccli' ht^vs'cc SI o7\'/i 'crpocuTTov ^uivsiloci ; which, as Mr.. 
 Addifon juftly remarks, acquires new beauty in the 
 Latin tranllation : Induitur, formofaeft; ex\iitur, 
 ** ipfa forma : — Cloathed, fhe is beautiful ; naked^ 
 *^Beauty itfelf/' 
 
 Zeu:^is, in painting his incomparable Helen, is 
 faid to have chofen five of the mofl beautiful women 
 of Greece, and, feleding from each of them fuch. 
 parts as the neareil approached to perfedion, pro^ 
 duced one perfed form. Xenophon (Mem. lib. iii^ 
 cap. Lo.) mentions this as a general pradliceof the 
 
 Greek 
 
P A I N T I N 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 The painters may anftver, They don't 
 deny, that as Nature hath placed in all. 
 men a certain knowledge of good and evil, 
 fo flie has alfo of beauty and deformity ; 
 but as to diftinguifii clearly what is good 
 or evil, is a matter of fcience and learn- 
 ing, fo in like manner to judge determi- 
 nately of beauty and deformity, requires 
 great difcernment, and an exaftitude of 
 judgment, which is the proper province 
 of the artift. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 This argument is by no means con- 
 <:lufive. The eye cannot be deceived in 
 feeing, unlefs it has fome impediment : 
 whereas tKe underftanding is often greatly 
 
 Greek artills. Among the poets, Arioflo has pro-- 
 bably approached the neareft to the belle idee, in his 
 ^efcription of Alcina. OrL Fur. canto vii. 11. 1 1 . &c. 
 
 D 3 deceived, 
 
3.8 A DIALOGUE o w 
 
 i" 
 
 deceived, being obfcured by ignorance or 
 afFedlation. Man naturally defires good, 
 but may err in his choice, efteeining 
 that good which is really evil; as He does, 
 who is more ready to follow what he 
 thinks profitable, than that which he 
 thinks honeft. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 The fame may be faid of the eye, 
 which being deceived by appearances, 
 frequently miftakes deformity for beauty, 
 and beauty for deformity. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I AM ftill clearly of opinion, that the 
 underftanding is much eafier deceived 
 than the eye. However, this is certain, 
 that as there are the faculties of knowledge 
 naturally implanted in the minds of all 
 men, and a capacity of diftinguifliing 
 between good and evil, fo there . is alfo 
 of beauty and deformity ; and many 
 
 there 
 
P A I N T I N a ^ 
 
 there are among the unlearned who judge 
 corredlly. The multitude generally fix 
 the reputation of poets, orators, co- 
 medians, muficians, and more efpecially 
 of painters: whence Cicero obferved, 
 that however great the difference was be- 
 tween the learned and the ignorant, they 
 did not differ widely in judgment. 
 It is well known that Apelles ufcd to 
 expofe his pi6tures to the criticifm of the 
 common people *; and there is no doubt 
 but men of fuperior talents who have 
 refined their judgments by attention to 
 the fubjeft, and the ftudy of polite lite- 
 
 * A Angular inftance is handed down to us, of a 
 cobler's having criticifed upon a Ihoe in one of 
 Apelles' pictures ; he altered it accordingly. The 
 cobler, proud of fuch deference being paid to his 
 judgment, ventured to find fault with feme other 
 parts of the picture ; upon which Apelles is faid 
 to have reproved him by a Greek proverb, of the 
 fame purport with the Latin, " Ne futor ultra cre- 
 pidam/' and the homely Englifh one, " Let not the 
 cobler go beyond his laft." 
 
 D 4 rature. 
 
. A D I A L O G U E o N 
 
 rature, may pronounce decifively upon the 
 liberal arts, and efpecially upon painting. 
 Ariftotle wrote upon poetry, yet was no 
 poet ; alfo of rhetoric, yet was no orator j 
 likewife upon animals, and upon various 
 other fvibjefts no way relative to his pro- 
 feflion. Pliny alfo wrote of gerps, of fta- 
 tues, and of painting, yet was neither a 
 lapidary, ftatuary, or painter. I admit a 
 painter may determine upon fome minu- 
 ti^ in the execution or manual perform- 
 ance of a pidlure, which another per- 
 fon who is not an artift cannot fo 
 well judge of; but thefe, though they 
 may be of confequence to the perform- 
 ance of the work, yet are of none, 
 in forming a proper judgment of its 
 merit as a pidure. And from what 
 has been faid, I think we may fafely 
 conclude, that any man of good natural 
 abilities and nice difcernmient is fuffici- 
 ently qualified to judge compleatly of 
 painting and the more efpecially if he 
 
P A 1 N T I N G. 4t 
 
 \s familiar with the remains of antiquity, 
 and the works of the beft mailers ; from 
 whence he will have an idea of perfec- 
 tion in the art, and be the better ena-- 
 bled to judge how far the work before 
 him approaches to, or deviates from, per^ 
 feftion. 
 
 , F A B R I N L 
 
 This is quite clear and fatisfailory to 
 me. Now favour me, if you pleafe, with 
 your fentiments on the dignity of paint- 
 ing, fmce there are fome men who rank 
 it very low, efteeming it a mere me- 
 chanic art. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 These men, Fabrini, do not know 
 hov/ ufeful,' how neceffary, and how or- 
 namental it is to the world in general : 
 and the more ufeful any art is, and the 
 more it is efteemed and encouraged by 
 pen of enlarged minds and elegant abi- 
 lities. 
 
4« A D I A L O G U E 0 M 
 
 lities, the more noble it is. Now it is 
 well known that painting hath been 
 highly efteemed by the greateft men in 
 all ages, by kings, emperors, and other 
 illuftrious and wife perfonages, of which 
 innumerable inftances might be given 
 from Pliny ^nd other authors ; who 
 among other things mention, that Alex- 
 ander the Great fo much admired the 
 cKcelience of Apelles in this art, that 
 he not only loaded him with prefents, 
 but even gave him his beft beloved Cam- 
 pafpe *, upon knowing that Apelles, in 
 iJrawIng her naked, had fallen moft vio- 
 lently in love with her ; a liberality far 
 exceeding any pecuniary or other gift, 
 as the difficulty of parting with the firft 
 
 * " Tanto favore complexus ut deledlilTimam peU 
 llcnm amore ejus deperire fentiens artificem dono 
 dederit/' Sup, to ^ Curtius, b. ii. c. 6. Frenfheim 
 |el»te& this from -fSlian, who calls her Pancafla, and 
 f?iys» ihe was the firft miftrefs Alexander had. Vide 
 Ailian Htf. ^>ar, b. xii. c. 34. 
 
 ^ and 
 
PAINTING. 43 
 
 and m6ft beautiful obje£t of his affec- 
 tions, muft be incomparably greater ia 
 jfiim, than the giving away a kingdom* 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 But alas ! there are pow no AIq^- 
 ^nders. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 After this he commanded that none 
 fhould prefume to paint his perfon but 
 Apelles, with whom, as well as with his 
 art, he was fo much delighted, that he 
 was frequently known to fpend many 
 hours together in private converfation 
 with him, in ftudying defign, and fee- 
 ing him paint This was he who, after 
 having been inftrucled in philofophy by 
 
 * " Per eos dies dum Ephefi commoratur Alex- 
 ander, ut ex inftantibus curis recrearet animum, fre- 
 quenter in officinam Apellis ventitavit, a quo uno 
 efHgiem fuam penicillo exprimi volebat.'' Sup. to. 
 ^ Curtius, b. ii. c. 6. 
 
 Ariftotle 
 
44 A DIALOGUE orr 
 
 Ariftotle his mafter, placed all his glory 
 in arms, and the conqueft of the world. 
 We alfo read, that Demetrius being: en- 
 camped with a pov/erful army before 
 Rhodes, which in a great meafure lay 
 at his mercy ; though he v/as eager to 
 make himfelf mafter of that city, yet 
 feeing no other way of reducing the place, 
 than by firing one fide of the town, where 
 a pidlure painted by Protogenx^s, which 
 he had feen, was placed ; he chofe rather 
 to decline the attack, than that the work 
 of Protogenes fhould be burnt, efteeming 
 a picture done by him * more than the 
 glory of taking fo noble a city. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 An admirable teftim.ony of refpedt to 
 painting ! 
 
 * The pidure of Talyfus, which coft feven years 
 fludj and labour. Apelles acknowledged Protogenes 
 eqaal to himfelf, fave that he often difpirited hk 
 pidures, by not knowing when to leave off. 
 
 . A R E T I N, 
 
P A I N T I N G-. 4f^ 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 There are many others. — Apelles be- 
 ing betrayed into the camp of a Ibvereign 
 prince * whom he had offended, and be-» 
 ing difcovered approaching towards hi& 
 tent, the king v/ith a fierce -countenance 
 demanded of him, how he dared audaci- 
 oufly to come into his prefence ? Apelles 
 looking round, and not perceiving the 
 man v/ho had betrayed him, took a 
 cxayon, and immediately defigncd his- 
 face upon the wall, and anfwered the 
 king, This is the man who brought 
 me hither which was fo ftrikingly like^ 
 that the king immediately knew' h\m^ 
 and pardoned Apelles for the excellence 
 of his art. It is worthy of remark alfo:^ , 
 that the noble family of the Fabii were 
 furnamed Pictores, from the great an- 
 
 * Ptolemy then kirjg of iSgy pt, wko had htm 
 oae of Alexander's captains, and who afrerwards 
 treated Apelles with great dillias^ion. 
 
 cefior 
 
Ji& A DIALOGUE on 
 
 ceftor of the family having painted th* 
 Temple of Health at Rome. 
 
 F A B R I N L 
 
 « QuiNTus Pedius, nephew and joint 
 heir of Casfar with Oftavius, afterwards 
 furnamed Auguftus, being born dumb, 
 was taught painting by the advice of 
 Meflala the Orator, which Odtavius ap- 
 proved, that wife emperor knowing, that 
 next to polite literature, no art was fo 
 noble or expreflivej or would fo well 
 fupply the want of language. Many 
 learned men have alfo been painters ; as 
 Pacuvlus, the antient poet ; Demofthenes, 
 the prince of the Greek orators ; and Me-^ 
 trodorus, the philofopher : our Dante alfo 
 ftudied defign. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 And thefe are now in Venice Monf^^ 
 Barbaro, patriarch eleft of Aquileia, a 
 man of great vvorth and liberality, and 
 
 the 
 
PAINTING. 4> 
 
 the learned M, Francis Morofmi, both 
 of whom defign and paint elegantly. And 
 among the infinite number of gcntlemea 
 who ftudy and delight in painting, is the 
 magnifiGent M, Alexander Contarim, 
 highly diftinguifhed by his polite litera- 
 ture and great abilities. But in fpeali- 
 ing farther upon the great munificence 
 and liberality of princes who were lovers 
 of the art, and of the high eftimation 
 painting was held in by them^ ,what fliall 
 1 fay of Charles the Fifth, who, like Alex-* 
 ander the Greats was almoft: conftantly 
 engaged in tumults and wars $ and like 
 him alfo, was fo great an admirer of this 
 art, that hearing the fame of the divine 
 Titian,- he ordered him a thoufand 
 crowns for a pidlure which he painted 
 for him at Bologna, and fent him kind 
 and friendly invitations to his court, pro- 
 vided for him munificently, honoured 
 him highly, and granted him grcac 
 
 privi- 
 
48 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 privileges*. Alphonfo duke of Ferrari 
 was alfo a great patron and encourager 
 of this art, and gave Titian 300 crowns 
 for his own portrait painted by him, of 
 which Michael Angelo v/as fo lavilh of 
 his praife, that in the warmth of his ad- 
 miration of the pidure, he faid he could 
 not have conceived the art capable of 
 
 * Titian painted three portraits of this emperor, 
 who loved him fo entirely, that he honoured him 
 with knighthoed, created him Count Palatine, made 
 all his defcendants gentlemen, alligned him a confi- 
 derable penfion out of the chamber of Naples, and 
 frequently fent him large fums of money, which 
 were always accompanied with this obliging tefti- 
 mony, " That his defign was not to pay him the 
 value of his pidlures, becaufe they were above any 
 price.'* And one day taking up a pencil which fell 
 from the hand of Titian, who was then drawing 
 his pidure, upon the compliment which Titian 
 made him on the occafion, he faid, Titian has 
 deferved to be ferved by Casfar."" This emperor 
 adorned Spain with the nobleft piflures that were 
 then remaining in the world. 
 
 fuch 
 
PAINTING. 49 
 
 fuch perfeftion, and that Titian alone was 
 worthy the name of a painter. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Certainly Titian's excellehcy was 
 lb great, that had the emperor Charles 
 the Fifth and the Duke of Ferrara 
 granted him far greater largefles^ they 
 would not have fulRciently rewarded 
 his merit. But ftill M. Angelo ftands 
 unequalled. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 PHiLit> the Second of Spain, (the 
 worthy fon of fo great a father J to whom 
 Titian frequently fends his works, ho- 
 nours painting and this mafter fo much, 
 that I hope one day to hear of his grant- 
 ing him rewards worthy of fo great a 
 king, and the merit of fo excellent a 
 painter. 
 
 E 
 
 Both 
 
50 A D I A L O G U E o M 
 
 Both thefe princes are faid to hav^ 
 praftifed the art of painting. Eneas Vi- 
 cus Parmegiano, (the unrivalled engraver 
 of his time, and a moft learned and fubtle 
 inveftigator of all matters relative to 
 hiftory ; as appears by his Treatlfe upon 
 medals, and his genealogy of the empe- 
 rors) being a few years ago juft returned 
 from the emperor Charles the Fifth's 
 court, told me, that when he prefented 
 the emperor with the engraving of his 
 portrait, encircled with various ornaments, 
 reprefenting his great glory and enter- 
 prizes, the emperor took it in his hand, 
 held it in a proper light at the window, 
 examined it a long time very attentively, 
 and ordered many prints fhould be taken 
 of it (but which could not be done, as 
 the plate was gilt) ; and again examining 
 minutely the invention and defign, gave 
 proofs that his judgment was little in- 
 ferior to a good artift's, and ordered Par- 
 megiano two hundred crowns. 
 
 FA BR INI, 
 
PAINTING. 51 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 It is faid of Julius Csefar, that he was 
 a great admirer, and extremely fond of 
 piftures and intaglios *. And I have 
 read in Suetonius, that even Nero the 
 emperor (though fo favage in other re- 
 fpeds) defigned, and executed relievos 
 with his own hand, to great perfeftion \. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 The emperor Adrian and Alexander 
 Severus, fon of Mammea, were alfo 
 great admirers of painting. And if we 
 confider the vaft prices at which many 
 pictures were fold, we fliall find that 
 
 * Intaglios (or engravings) on precious ftones 
 are here meant. — The art of engraving on copper 
 and other metals, now brought to great perfedion, 
 was invented by Mofo Finiguezzi, a goldfmith, at 
 Florence, in the 15th century; though fome fay in 
 Flanders : but the former is the common opinion. 
 
 t In terra cotta, 
 
 E 2 fome 
 
52 A DIALOGUE ow 
 
 fome paintings have been thought almoft 
 ineftimable. It is faid, Tiberius paid for 
 one pidure fixty fefterces, which are 
 equal to one hiindred and fifty Roman 
 pounds of filver; and that Attalus king 
 of Pergamus bought a pifture painted 
 by^ Ariftides the Theban, for which' he 
 paid him one hundred talents, equal tp 
 fixty thoufand crowns fterling 
 
 * The fubjed of this pidure was a fick man, 
 according to Pliny's account; who relates that a 
 Bacchur,.aIfo painted by Ariftides, (who lived about 
 300 years before Chrift) was taken by Mummius, 
 at the fiege of Corinth, which at the fale of the 
 fpoils was fold to Attalus alfo for 60,000 fefterces ; 
 from whence Mummius, fuppofing there was fome 
 charm or magic in the pidure, took it again, and 
 placed it in the temple of Ceres, at Rome. Vide 
 PHti. Hiji, Nat. lib. xxxv. c. 8. 
 
 Pliny fays, Ariftides was the firll who exprefied 
 the movements of the foul in painting ; and men- 
 tions other pidures of this mafter, particularly of a 
 woman dying with a child at her breaft. Vide 
 Fliny, lib. xxxv. whofe obfervations upon thefe pic- 
 tures are cited by Du Bos, in his Reflexions Critiques, 
 T.i. p. 393- 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
PAINTING, 53 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I have heard there were fome painters 
 (among whom Zeuxis is named) who, 
 thinking they could not receive any re- 
 turn equal to the value of their works, 
 made prefents of them 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Princes in our age are with-held from 
 giving fo liberally, however excellent 
 fuch works might be : The like difcou- 
 ragement alfo happens to the honourable 
 labours of the learned. 
 
 F A B R I N L 
 
 This gave occafion to Martial's faying, 
 Slnt Mecenates non dee runt Fiacci Mar ones, 
 J f gracious Heaven Mecenas^s would give^ 
 Virgils again and Horaces would live, f 
 
 * Poilca donare opera fua inftituit, quod ea nullo 
 fatis digno pretio permutari poffe dicerat. PI. L 35. 
 
 t Du Bos and Algarotti differ from Martial, and 
 think,wcre fuch mailers as Apelles and Zeuxis to arife 
 E 3 in 
 
54 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Besides what hath been faid of the 
 honour and rewards conferred upon Ti- 
 tian, the celebrated Leonardo da Vinci 
 was alfo nobly rewarded, and highly ho- 
 noured, by Philip duke of Milan, and that 
 truly great and liberal monarch, Francis * 
 king of France, in whofe arms he died, 
 very oldf. Raphael was likewife ho- 
 
 in our age, Mecenafes would not be wanting. The for- 
 mer carries this matter ftill farther, and is of opinion 
 that no poverty, no diflrefs, can curb genius ; and that 
 true genius v/ill always make its way to be known, 
 and encouraged by one means or other ; and gives 
 a notable inftance in Correggio : yet experience 
 proves it too true. 
 
 Full many a flower is born to blufh unfeen, 
 *' And v*^afte its fragrance on the defart air." Gr/^y, 
 * Francis the Firft. 
 
 f Leonardo da Vinci died at Fontainebleau in 
 1520, aged 75 years. Francis is faid to have been 
 greatly afteded by his death ; and on being advifed 
 by his courtiers not to give way to his grief, an- 
 fwered, 1 can make a thoufand of you^ but God 
 alone can make a painter/' 
 
 A like 
 
P A I N T I N G. 55 
 
 noured and revered, and nobly rewarded 
 by the popes Julius the Second and^ 
 Leo the Tenth * ; as M. Angelo was 
 by them, and by Paul the Third ; by 
 whom Titian in like manner was highly 
 diftinguifhed, when he painted his por- 
 trait at Rome, and that inimitable nude 
 for Cardinal Farnefe, which Michael An- 
 gelo frequently beheld with rapture and 
 aftonifhment. — Titian was afterv/ards 
 
 A like fpirited anfwer was given . by the em- 
 peror Charles the Fifth, to the principal Lords who 
 compofed his court, on fhewing fome jealoufy upoa 
 the fingular regard and preference he feemed to have 
 for Titian ; That he conld never want a court or 
 ceurtiers, but he could not have Titian always with 
 him." 
 
 * Graham, in his Account of the mofl: eminent 
 Painters, fays, Raphael was beloved in the higheft 
 degree by the popes Julius the Second and Leo the 
 Tenth ; that he was admired and courted by all 
 the 'princes and dates of Europe; and particularly 
 by Henry the Eighth, who would fain have obliged 
 him to come to England." 
 
 E 4 fought 
 
5$ APlALOOUEoN 
 
 fought after by all the fovereign princes, 
 both Italian and German. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Painters haye in all ages been juftly 
 efteemed, as furpalTing other men, in 
 attempting to imitate by their divine art 
 the adorable works of God, the author of 
 Nature, and the creator of all things ; 
 and reprefenting them in fo lively a man- 
 ner as to feem real : whence the Greeks 
 forbad the profefTion of it to flaves ; 
 and Ariftotle diftinguifhed it from 
 the mechanic arts, and recommended, 
 that there fhould be public academies 
 eftablifhed in every city for the inftruc- 
 tion of youth in t;his noble art 
 
 * The loth Chapter of Pliny's xxxvth Book con- 
 tains an hiftorical account of the progrefs of painting, 
 and the honours which were paid to it; and we 
 there find that it was not permitted to any but thofe 
 of noble blood to profefs it ; — and that the painte|r 
 himfelf was refpeded as a common good to all the ^^orld. 
 
 A R E T I 
 
PAINTING. 57 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Thus far we have confidered the high 
 rank and efteem in which painting, and 
 the rxioft celebrated profeflbrs of the art, 
 have been and ftill are held. Let us 
 now confider how far painting and fculp- 
 ture are ufeful, pleafing, and ornamental. 
 There is no doubt but the reprefentation 
 of the hiftory of our Saviour^ and tlie 
 myfteries of our holy religion and its pro- 
 feflbrs, is of great benefit to the devout 
 Chriftian, in awakening his imagination, 
 fixing his attention, and raifing his ideas 
 to heaven * : and although fome empe- 
 rors prohibited the ufe of pidures or 
 images in places of public worfhip, yet the 
 
 * Had the Roman church never impofed any 
 higher veneration for pidures and images, than as 
 memorials only of the perfons and adions they re- 
 prefent, the Reformed churches would not have 
 thought themfelves under any necelTity of banifhing 
 thcfe fublime crnaments from all places of publick 
 jvorlhip, 
 
 ufe 
 
58 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 ufe of them was approved by many popes in 
 facred councils ; and the Church declares 
 thofe who refufe to ufe them, Hereticks. 
 Images are not, as fome fay, the books of 
 the ignorant ; but, like pleafing remem- 
 brancers, waken the mind to devotion. 
 
 Instances are not wanting in hiftory 
 of mod furprifing efFefts produced by 
 ftatues. Among others we are told, 
 on Julius Caefar's feeing in Spain a ftatue 
 of Alexander the Great, he was moved 
 by it to confider, that Alexander had 
 almofl conquered the world at his age, 
 and that he himfelf had not yet performed 
 one glorious aftion \ and fo deeply affeft- 
 ed by it, and the refledions it occafioned, 
 tfjat he wept; and was fo inflamed with 
 the defire of immortality, that he immedi- 
 ately fet about thofe glorious enterprizes 
 by which he not only rivalled but furpaf- 
 fed Alexander. And Salluft takes notice, 
 that Qviintus Fabius and PuHius Scipio 
 
 were 
 
PAINTING. 59 
 
 were ufed to fay, when they beheld the 
 ftatues of their anceftors, they found 
 their whole fouls blaze with ardor, and 
 that the remembrance of their glorious 
 deeds fo far increafed the flam.e, that it 
 could not be allayed, until they had by 
 their own prowefs equalled at leaft the 
 glories of their anceftors So the 
 images of the beft of men excite virtue 
 and good aftions. 
 
 Painting and defign are alfo of great 
 utility to princes and commanders, by 
 delineating and fhewing plans, views, and 
 the fituations of towns, and the ftrength 
 
 * Nam fepe audlvi Maximum P. Scipionem 
 prasterea civitatis noftrs pr^claros viros folitos ita 
 dicere; cum majorum imagines intuerentur vehe- 
 mentilTime Ubi animum ad virtutem accendi. Scilicet 
 npn ceram illam neque £guram tantam vim in feie 
 habere ; fed memoria rerum geflarum earn flam- 
 mam, egregiis viris in pedore crefcere, neque prius 
 fedari, quam virtus eorum famam atque gloriam zdx- 
 (^u aver it. L: Bc.'/o JvgiLrtk, c. 4. 
 
 of 
 
6o A DIALOGUE on 
 
 of their fortifications ; and all impediments, 
 obftruftions, and difficulties that are to 
 be furmounted, either in the approach or 
 difpofition of their armies, or in making 
 an attack ; as in thefe the painter, whofe 
 province is defign, is their guide. 
 
 Design is alfo of the greateft impor- 
 tance to the geographer and mariner, in 
 the conftruftion of maps and charts ; alio 
 in geometry, in civil and military archi- 
 tedure, and every art and fcience what- 
 ever, and in promoting and embeililhing 
 the manual arts in particular. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 All this is undeniably true. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 That this is an ornamental and plea- 
 fing art, we might determine from 
 what I have already faid ; yet I muft add, 
 there is nothing, except the amazing 
 
 beauties 
 
P A I N T I N G . #f 
 
 beauties of nature, that attracts the ey€ 
 or engages the attention fo much, or 
 gives fo many agreeable fenfations. The 
 value of gold and even the richeft gems 
 is greatly enhanced, if a cameo or 
 intaglio, defigned and executed by an in- 
 genious artift, reprefenting any elegant 
 figure, is enchafed or engraved upon it ; 
 and is fo eftecmed not only by the 
 beft judges, but by men in general, nay 
 even by children, who will point out the 
 figures, and exprefs their admiration by 
 fudden tranfports of pleafure. 
 
 F A B R I N I, 
 
 In Caftiglione's beautiful Latin elegy \ 
 an inftance is given of the fame thing 
 
 * Uxori Hippolit^. 
 Sola tuos vultus referens Rafaelis iinago 
 
 manu, curas allevat ufque meas, 
 Huie ego deiicias facio, arrideoque jocofquc 
 Alloquor, et tan quam redde re verba queal 
 ^' AiTcnfu, nutuque mihi fepe ilia videtar 
 
 Dicere 
 
6a A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 happening to his little children, on feeing 
 his portrait painted by Raphael, which 
 is now at Mantua, and is a work truly 
 worthy of the mafler to whom it is 
 afcribed. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 And who does not know how much 
 painting contributes to the beauty and 
 elegance, to the enriching, embellilhing, 
 and ornamenting palaces, and other no- 
 ble edifices, though adorned with fta- 
 tues, bulls, bafTo-relievos, and other 
 ornaments of architeflure, cabinets, glafs 
 mirrours, flabs, and tables of curious 
 marble, porphyry, and other precious 
 ftones, Perfian carpets, and other rich 
 and elegant furniture ? Thefe appear as 
 nothing without hiftorical and other 
 paintings and pi6tures of the beft maf- 
 
 " Dlcere velle aliquid, et tua verba loqui. 
 Agnofcit, balboque patrem puer ore falutat. 
 Hoc folor, longos decipiorque dies." 
 
 ters. 
 
PAINTING. % 
 
 ters* And hovv eafy is it to difcover how 
 much fuperior, and how far more pleafing, 
 the grand fronts or faf ades of palaces are, 
 when painted by the ableft hands, than 
 thofe incrufted with the richeft marbles 
 or porphyry, though variegated with 
 veins of gold. The fame may be faid of 
 churches and other public edifices ; for 
 which reafon the popes I have named as 
 patrons of Raphael, employed Him in 
 painting the hall and chambers of the 
 palace above-mentioned, and Michael 
 Angelo, in decorating the church of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul at Rome. And for 
 the fame reafon, the beft mafters of the 
 time had before been ordered to deco- 
 rate the Grand Council-Chamber with 
 their paintings, to which were afterwards 
 added two pidlures by Titian and it 
 is much to be wilhed he had executed 
 the whole. Had it happily been fo, it 
 would now have been one of the moft 
 admirable and beautiful Ipedacles in 
 
 Italy. 
 
€4 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 Italy. The fame reafon alfo prevailed, 
 when George da Cafteifranco was em- 
 ployed in adorning the German office ; 
 but that part which refpefts Mercery, 
 was painted by Titian when yet a youth. 
 Of this I fliail take occafioh, before I 
 conclude, to fpeak farther, and only 
 obferve here, that the neighbouring 
 barbarous and infidel nations are by their 
 religion, the fountain of all their kws^ 
 cyftoms, and manners, ftriftly forbid all 
 reprefentations of nature, whether by 
 painting or fculpture, or any other de- 
 vice whatever*. 
 
 * There is nothing more to be lamented refpedl- 
 ing the Arts, than that Greece, " to which we owe 
 the produdion of tafte," and where genius of every 
 kind arrived at the higheft degree of perfedion ; 
 and that Rome, enriched with the fpoils of the for- 
 mer ; where the Arts, tranfplanted from their native 
 foil, were cultivated with great care, and flouriftied 
 for a confiderable time ; but the like original or 
 pure native fpirit being wanting, could never arrive 
 there at the fame degree of perfedion ; that the for- 
 mer 
 
PAINTING. 65 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 I THINK, Aretin, you have fully de- 
 livered your fentiments on the utility and 
 
 mer more efpeclally, and the latter as the receptacle 
 of many of the beft works of the Greek mailers, and 
 of many valuable produ^lions of its own, fhould 
 ever have been ravaged by barbarous nations, who 
 thought it meritorious to deflroy the nobleft produc- 
 tions that human genius in the happiell regions of 
 the world was capable of executing. And what is 
 next to be lamented is, (which from phyfical caufes 
 hath been endeavoured to be accounted for) that 
 true genius in the liberal arts (as well as the fciences 
 and the art of government) hath hitherto been con- 
 fined within very narrow bounds, and feems incapa- 
 ble of being extended much farther than that part 
 of Europe and its confines which lies between 30 
 and 45 degrees of North latitude, or 52 at the moll, 
 and between 8 and 57 degrees Eall longitude; that it 
 hath never extended its influence farther to the North, 
 nor nearer than 25 degrees to the Line. Painting 
 and fculpture have been fo far from making any 
 progrefs towards the North, that they have been 
 negledled and even defpifcd in proportion as we ad- 
 vance northward, to the 58th degree of North latir 
 
 F tude 
 
66 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 dignity of painting, and the pleafure that 
 muft neceffarily refult from it : Pray now 
 
 tude only; infomuch " that the moft valuable pieces 
 of Correggio ferved only for blinds to the windows 
 of the royal flables at Stockholm/' — 
 ''And tho'theEngl ifh climate hath been warm enough 
 to produce a number of eminent men in molt fciences 
 and profeiTions; and notwith (landing the great muni- 
 ficence of Henry the Eighth, Queen Elizabeth, and 
 Charles the Firft during the firft fifteen years of his 
 reign, and the great value they had for pidures, and 
 the encouragement given by Queen Elizabeth to all 
 forts of arts, during a reign of near fifty years ; and 
 although it is acknowledged by foreigners, that there 
 are no workmen in the worid^4iat have greater beauty 
 in the execution than the Englifli, or know better 
 how to manage their tools ; and though England 
 hath given to the world eminent poets ; yet it hath 
 not produced painters who have been able to attain 
 to that tafte in defign, which feme foreign artills- 
 have brought over with them to England." 
 
 The fame hath been obferved of France; that 
 " although Francis the Firft was one of the moft 
 zealous protestors that the arts and fciences could 
 ever boaft of, and notwithftanding the friendfhip and 
 regard he (hewed to Roux, to Andrea del Sarto, to 
 Leonardo da Vinci, (who died in his arms) and to 
 
 every 
 
PAINTING, 67 
 
 inform me how I, who am no painter, may 
 acquire a competent knowledge, fo as to 
 form a proper judgment of the art. 
 
 everyone that was illuftrious for talent or merit, and 
 the profufion with which he paid for the pictures 
 he ordered to be painted for him by Raphael: 
 and though his liberality and kind reception dre\^ 
 numbers of eminent men into France, and his boun- 
 ties were bellowed continually on theprofefTorsof this 
 art daring a reign of thirty-three years; yet they could 
 never form an eminent painter among his own fub- 
 jecls." Vide RefleSiions on the Painting and Sculpture 
 of the Greeks^ tranjlated from the German original of 
 the Abbe Wi^ikelmann.^ p. i, 2. and Du Boss Reflexions 
 Critiques fur la Poejie is' la ?einture, 
 
 " Different ideas are like plants and flowers, 
 which do not grow alike in all kinds of climates ; 
 and 'tis abfolutely certain, that the difference of 
 climates which fhews itfelf fenfibly in the plants, 
 muil extend itfelf likewife to the brain, and be pro- 
 dudive there of fome elfedis or other." Fonienelle*s 
 DigreJ/jon upon the Jntients. 
 
 But notwithftanding the above obfervations upon 
 the climates, of England and France, and the feem- 
 ing difcouragements to the artifts of London and 
 Paris in particular, yet fince the time Du Eos fpeaks 
 of, France hath produced many eminent mailers both 
 
 F z in 
 
68 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I MIGHT have extended what I have 
 already treated upon to a much greater 
 
 in painting and fculpture ; among whom the moft 
 eminent painters were, Nicholas Pouflin, born in Nor- 
 mandy, in 1599, who was the pupil of his own ge- 
 nius, which he perfedled at Rome, and was the 
 greatefl painter in Europe in his time. Euflachius 
 Le Sueur, born at Paris, in 1627, was an excellent 
 painter, and had carried his art to the higheft de* 
 gree of perfedion when he died, aged 38 years, in 
 1655. Charles Le Brun, born at Paris, in 1619, 
 whofe painting of the Family of Darius^ which is at 
 Verfailles, is not furpaffed by the colouring of the 
 pidureofPaulVeronefe, which is placed over-againft 
 it ; but is greatly fuperior to it in defign, compofi- 
 tion, dignity, expreflion, and the juftnefs of the 
 cojlume. The prints from his pictures of the Battles 
 of Alexander, are even more elleemed than the Bat- 
 tles ofConJiantme, by Raphael and Julio Romano. He 
 died in 1690. Peter Maignard, John Baptift San- 
 torini, Bon Bologne, Rigaut, and Le Moine, whofe 
 compofition of the Apotheofis of Hercules, in the 
 faloon of Hercules at Verfailles, is highly efteemed, 
 and is thought equal, if not fuperior, to the compo- 
 fition of the beft mailers France ever produced. 
 
 Sculp- 
 
PAINTING. £9 
 length ; but what I have faid may fufFice : 
 I lhall therefore now proceed in the man- 
 ner propofed. 
 
 Sculpture was alfo brought to great perfedlion un- 
 der Lewis XIV. The moll eminent werejames Sara- 
 fin, born in 1598, who executed many excellent 
 pieces of fculpture at Rome, for Clement the Eighth, 
 and Unilhed others at Paris with the fame fuccefs. 
 He died in 1660 Peter Pu^et, born in 1662, who 
 was an archited, a fculptor, and a painter, and 
 died in 1692. Francis Girardon, born in 1627, in 
 his Battles of Jpo^lo^ at Verfailles, and the Tomb of 
 Cardinal Richelieu\ in the church of the Sorbonne, 
 at Paris, hath equalled the fineft remains of anti- 
 quity. He died in 1715. And Le Gros and Theo- 
 don, who adorned Italy with their works. Vide 
 Voltaire 5 Steele Louis XIV. b. ri. 
 
 It is very remarkable alfo, that even in countries 
 capable of infpiring every kind of genius, there have 
 been barren ages, in which the liberal arts, and the 
 genius that produced them, declined to fuch a de- 
 gree, as to feem in the courfe of the next to be 
 wholly loft. 
 
 Hiftory mentions only three ages in which they 
 ■have arrived to a degree of perfedion : That to 
 
 F 3 which 
 
A DIALOGUE on 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Your difquifitions pleafe me much; you 
 treat your fubje6l with order, preoifion, 
 and great perfpicuity. 
 
 which we owe their firft rife, and commenced ten years 
 before the reign of Philip, the father of Alexander 
 the Great, in which they obtained their higheft per- 
 fedlion ; the age of Auguftus ; and that of Julius 
 the Second and Leo the Tenth : unlefs that which 
 commenced with Pouffin, and continued to the 
 end of the reign of Lewis XIV. be reckoned as a 
 fourth^ which it juftly may, though not fo general 
 as any of the former. And have reafon now to 
 flatter ourfelves with the pleafing hope, that the reign 
 of his prefent Majefty will be the ara of the fifths 
 and diftinguiflied by the Age of George the Third. 
 True Genius in the liberal arts, feems now to have 
 vifited this ifland, and taken up her refidence among 
 us, which we apparently owe, and mayjuftlybe 
 afcribed (phyfical caufes, of which we can only judge 
 by the efFeds, perhaps confpiring) to a Liberal Society 
 formed among us for the Encouragement of Arts, and 
 for other laudable and very valuable purpofes, and 
 i vthe patronage and ?nunificence of our truly amiable 
 Moncirchp 
 
 ARETIN. 
 
PAINTING, 71 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I SHALL now confidcr painting under 
 three diftinft principal heads ; invention, 
 defign, and colouring. Invention is the 
 hiftory or fable, and the order or difpofi- 
 tion of the figures of a pifture, Defign 
 is the contour or outline ; the form, 
 the attitudes and adions of the figures. 
 Colouring is the natural diftribution of 
 the teints, or a faithful reprefentation of 
 the colours, and the lights and the 
 fhades, as they are painted and reprefent- 
 ed to us by nature, in a boundlefs va- 
 riety of manners fuitable to the fubjeft, 
 whether animate, inanimate, or^ vege- 
 table, and the infinite gradations and 
 intermixtures between thefc. To thefe 
 may be added^ exprellion and grace, 
 which refpeft the whole, and are the 
 higheft accomplilhments of the art 
 
 * The young pupil in painting ought to be 
 aware, that the excellencies of the art, in the feveral 
 F 4 branches 
 
72 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 But I will fpeak as a painter, not as a 
 philofophen 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 You feem to me both the one and 
 the other. . , 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I SHOULD be glad, was it really fo, 
 I fliall proceed in the order I have men- 
 tioned, and begin with invention, in 
 which order and propriety ought to be 
 ftrifbly obferved. For inftance, Chrift, 
 or St. Paul, preaching, are not to be 
 painted naked, nor cloathed in a mean 
 and ordinary habit, nor reprefented in 
 any manner unfuitable or unbecoming 
 the dignity and luftre of their characters j 
 
 branches into whicli it is divided, are unattainable, 
 where genius, clofe attention, nice difcernment, a 
 fine imagination, a correal eye, and an accurate 
 judgment, or any of thefe are wanting. 
 
PAINTING. 73 
 
 btut from the gefture and the whole air 
 of the perfon of Chrift, to imprefs an 
 idea of the moft amiable, the moft per- 
 fe6t of human beings ; manlfefting by 
 his countenance and aftion, his univer- 
 fal benevolence and love to mankind, fo 
 far as the beams of Divmity, and the 
 emanations of a perfect foul, can be ex- 
 prefTed by the face of man ; emitting a 
 radiant glory around his head, refle£led 
 by the atnlofphere on the faces, per- 
 fons, and other objedls immediately fur- 
 rounding him, in a judicious and pleafing 
 manner: and in the perfon and adion 
 of St. Paul, to exprefs that dignity, that 
 force, that divine energy, vvith which 
 he was infpired, and was known to de- 
 liver himfelf. Thefe are fubjefts that 
 require the fublimeft invention and ex- 
 prefiion that the moft elevated imiagina- 
 tion can conceive, and which none but a 
 Raphael can execute.— It was faid, and 
 not without reafon, to Donatello, who 
 
 had 
 
74 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 fiad made a wooden crucifix, that he 
 Iiad put a peafant upon the crofs; although 
 in modern times few have equalled, none 
 furpaffed Donatello in fculpture, M. An- 
 gelo excepted. So in the painting of 
 Mofes, the artift muft reprefent in him 
 the majefhy of a fovereign, the dignity 
 of a lawgiver, and the air of a com- 
 mander. And on all occafions he muft 
 have a ftrift regard to the difference that 
 cJiftinguifheth man from man, and one 
 nation from another, their different ranks, 
 qualities, habits, arms, cuftoms, and 
 manners in different ages, points of time, 
 and places. In painting one of Casfar or 
 Alexander's battles, it would be very 
 improper to arm the foldiers according 
 to the cufcom of the prefenttlm.es ; or in 
 a modern battle, to draw up the forces 
 after the manner of the antients \ as it 
 would be ridiculous to paint CjEfar with 
 a Turkifh turban upon his head, or a cap 
 like ours or thofe now worn at Venice. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
PAINTING. 75 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I THINK propriety ought in all cafes 
 to be as ftriftly obferved by authors, as by 
 painters. Whence Horace takes notice, 
 that it is very necefiary in writing for 
 the ftage, to adapt the language of the 
 fpeaker to the charafter he is to repre- 
 fent, and the difference that ought to 
 be obferved in the charafters of Achilles, 
 Oreftes, Medea, and others *. 
 
 * Intererlt multum, Davufne loquatur, an Eros ; 
 
 Maturufne fenex, an adhuc fiorente juventa 
 Fervidus ; an matrona potens, an fedula nutrix ; 
 Mercatorne vagus, cultorne virentis agelli ; 
 Colchus, an AfTyrius ; Thebis nutritus, an Argls» 
 Aut famam fequere, aut iibi convenientia finge, 
 Scriptor. Honoratum li forte reponis Achillem; 
 Iinpiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer, 
 Jura neget fibl nata, nihil non arroget armis. 
 Sit Medea ferox, invidtaque ; flebilis Ino, 
 Per£dus Ixion^ lo vaga, triHis Oreftes. 
 
 Hor. in Arte Poet. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
^6 A DIALOGUEoN 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Albert Durer erred mOit extrava- 
 gantly in this particular. Being a Ger- 
 man, he frequently painted the mother 
 of Chrift, and the faints that accon>panied 
 Jier, in German habits ; alfo the Jews 
 with German faces, whiflcers, ftrange hair- 
 drelTes, and the habits then worn in Ger- 
 many. But of thefe improprieties I 
 {hall take farther notice when I come to 
 the parallel between Raphael and Michael 
 Angelo* 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I WISH, among fuch extravagancies, 
 you would alfo mention fuch (lighter 
 errors as feem upon the confines of pro- 
 priety and impropriety, which even 
 great mailers are fometimes too apt to 
 fall into. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I SHALL : but notwithftanding what 
 I have faid of Albert Durer, he was aa 
 able painter, and a great mafter of in- 
 'vention% Had he been born and educa^ 
 ted in Italy, I am inclined to think he 
 would have been inferior to none. As a 
 teftimony of his great merit, Raphael 
 himfelf acl^nowledged it, placed feveral 
 of his pi6lures in his ftudy, and efteemed 
 them very highly. Befides, his merit in 
 engraving alone, v/as fufficient to make 
 him immortal : his plates reprefent life fo 
 naturally, fo accurately, and v/iih fuch 
 incomparable minutenefs and precifion, 
 that his figures feem not only defigned, 
 but painted ^ and not painted only, but 
 to live. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HAVE examined fome of thefe plates 
 of Albert Durer with amazement. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
^3 A DIALOGUE 0?^ 
 
 A R E T 1 N. 
 
 What I have faid of propriety of in- 
 vention, may be fufficient for the prefent 
 and as to order, it is neceffary the pain- 
 ter fliould arrange his fubjeft, and pafs 
 from one thing to another in the order 
 of hiilory, fo that the events may feem 
 as if they could not have otherwife 
 happened. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Aristotle in his Poetics hath given 
 the fame rule to the writers of tragedy 
 and comedy. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Tim ANTES, one of the moft illuftri- 
 ous painters of antiquity, who painted 
 Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, 
 (of whofe hiftory Euripides compofed 
 that beautiful tragedy tranflated by 
 Dolce, and reprefented at Venice a few 
 
 years 
 
PAINTING. 79 
 
 years ago) placed her before the akar as 
 a vidim, ready to be offered a facrifice 
 to Diana and having expreffed in the 
 countenances of the fpeclators, the violent 
 emotions v/ith which they were agitated, 
 and finding hinrifelf unable to convey his 
 idea of the complicated, and ftill more 
 agonizing and variable emotions and agi- 
 tations exprelTcd in the countenance of 
 Agamemnon the father, he caufed him 
 to cover his head with his mantle, a.^ 
 unable to behold the dreadful cataftrophe 
 of his daughter's death ; and thus admi- 
 rably preferved a propriety and decorum^ 
 which could have been no other way fo 
 well preferved or expreffed. 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 The noble and natural fimplicity of 
 this invention was admirable^ indeed 
 
 * The grief that does not fpeak 
 Whifpers the o'er-fraiight heart, and bids it 
 break. Shake/pear, 
 
 This 
 
So 
 
 A DIALOGUE o 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 PaPvRHasius, another illuftrious pain- 
 ter of the fame age, made two figures 
 that had been contending for viftory, 
 one of whom feemed to fweat, while 
 the other appeared gafping for breath. 
 
 This thought of Timantcs feems to have oc^ 
 curred at once, and to have been inllantly adopted 
 by the judgment ; as the moil beautiful and pa- 
 thetic expreffions in poetry are fimple exclamations 
 of joy and grief, that flow feemingly quicker than 
 thought from the minds of the happy or afllicled ; of 
 which we have many inftances in Shakefpeare, the 
 univerfal and unrivalled poet of Nature. Rofs in 
 Macbeth informs MacdufF thus : 
 
 Your caftle is furprized, your wife and babes 
 Savagely flaughtered. 
 
 The mind of the reader may bear the relation ; but 
 the moil obdurate heart cannot help being affeded 
 by the pathetic exclamations of the father ; 
 
 My children too ! 
 
 He has no children ! 
 
 All my pretty ones ! did you fay all ! 
 What all ? 
 
 Thefe 
 
PAINTING. Si 
 
 Thefe two examples may ftiew of what 
 importance invention is to a painter; 
 fmce all the excellence of defign is de- 
 rived from it *. 
 
 In invention, the painter fhduldalv;ays, 
 in the firft place, carefully confider the na- 
 ture and climate of the country where the 
 fcene or a£tion he propofes to reprefent is 
 known, fuppbfed br feigned to have hap- 
 pened ; whether fertile or bari*en ; the na- 
 ture of its produ6lions, animal and vege- 
 table ; the natural appearances alfb of the 
 tountry ; whether mountainous or abound- 
 ing in hills or plains, or whether a defart ; 
 br amply fupplied with water,pou ring down 
 in torrents and broken cafcades, or flowing 
 
 * Invention is to the painter, what the plot is to the 
 writer : this once well foi-ined, the work is above half 
 done. When Menander was thus addrefTed by fome of 
 his friends, who faid, The feaft of Bacchus is near; 
 iTj your play ready he anfwered, I have formed 
 my plot ; I have nothing to add but language and 
 metre, and they will follow of courfe." Plutarch. 
 
 G in 
 
A DIALOGUE on 
 
 in rapid and tranfparent rivers and fmallfer 
 ftreams, or gliding flowly in dull and, 
 oufey meanders. The nature alfo and 
 charafter of the inhabitants, who in all- 
 countries are fuited to the climate and 
 the foil, and likewife to the fl:ru6ture o£ 
 their buildings. And the more accurate 
 the painter is in thefe refpefts, the more 
 pleafing and learned he will appear. The 
 kaft error againft the Coftume is feldom 
 palTed over without cenfure. Then what 
 fhall we fay of the painter who prefumed 
 to reprefent the miracle of Mofes ftriking 
 the rock in the defart, and the plente- 
 ous gulhing out of the water, to the 
 great aftonifliment and relief of the half 
 fam.ifhed Jews, who, according to this 
 • man's reprefentation, appeared to be 
 placed in a fertile country, abounding 
 with little hills and vales, with trees and 
 plenty of herbage, where neither water 
 nor fruits could be conceived to be 
 wanting ? 
 
 FABRINL 
 
PAINTING. ^3 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 A Painter without genius, without 
 learning and ftudy, and a confummate 
 knowledge of nature and of man, muft 
 ever be defeftive if not deftitute of in- 
 vention. 
 
 You remember how aptly Horace, ad- 
 dreffing himfelf to the two Pifos, in the 
 beginning of his Art of Poetry, fpeaking 
 of invention, draws his fimilitude from 
 Painting, the fifter-art, as we before ob- 
 ferved, of Poetry, and fliews how far falfe 
 tafte and impropriety in invention might 
 be carried. His words are thefe : 
 
 Humano capiti cervicem Pi^or equinam 
 Jungere ft velit, & v(irias inducer e plu??ias 
 UncUque coUatis memhrisy ut turpiter atrum 
 Dejinat in pi Jc em muUer formofa fuperm\ 
 Specfatum admijji rifum teneatisy amici ? 
 
 Suppofe a painter to a human head 
 Should join a horfe's neck^ and wildly fpread 
 G 2 The 
 
^4 A DIALOGUE o 
 
 The various plumage of the feathered kind 
 O'er limbs of different beajis abfurdly joind j 
 Or if he gave to view a beauteous maid 
 Above the waijl with every charm array d^ 
 Should a foul fijh her lower parts infold^ 
 Would' you not laugh fuch pictures to behold ? 
 
 Francisv 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Th^ difpofition of the figures in an 
 hiftorical work is ftill more eflential, ^ 
 the principal group ought to attra6l the 
 eye fo forcibly, as to engage the whole 
 of your attention, till you have fully 
 contemplated the compofition, and the 
 charadlers th,at compofe it. On obferving 
 the works of the greateft mafters, na- 
 thing feems more eafy, and yet in the 
 execution there is nothing fo difficult. 
 It is eafy to fay, the firft characters^ of 
 the hiftory or fable ought to pofTefs the 
 place of the principal group \ but the 
 difficulty lies in diftinguifhing and pre- 
 ferving a proper pre-eminence and fubor- 
 
 dination 
 
PAINTING. 85 
 
 flrnation among thefe and the reft of the 
 figures that compofe the pifture ; and 
 the difEculty will neceflarily encreafe in 
 proportion to the number or multitude 
 of the figures. For inftance, fuppofe I 
 was to endeavour to reprefent the mira- 
 culous fall of manna from Heaven, for 
 the immediate relief and fupport of the 
 defponding and almoft' expiring Jews in 
 the defart ; what a vaft field Vv^ould open 
 here for invention, defign, expreflion, 
 and colouring ? and how difficult it would 
 be to preferve order and prevent confu- 
 fion in fo complicated a fubje6t ? The 
 firft thing required would be Co defcribe 
 the natural appearance of the place, and 
 the whole face of the country ; abound- 
 ing with mutilated hills and rocks, and 
 mountains at greater diftances ; an uncul- 
 tivated foil, and, from its great expofure, 
 the fterility of the ground, and the total 
 deprivation of water, producing very 
 little herbage, and at beft, fcatterir^gs 
 G 3 only 
 
85 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 only of native but abortive trees and 
 plants, and miferable flirubs, without 
 ^ny traces of inhabitants, either man or 
 beaft, or even of fowls of the air. 
 
 And in the next place to form a pro^ 
 per foregrovmd, with a perfpeftive view 
 of the whole landfcape in its native fim- 
 plicity and then form a group of the 
 principal figures, confiding of Mofes 
 their prophet, Aaron the high-prieft, the 
 chief of the elders, leaders, and captains, 
 and minifters attending : alfo a proper 
 diftribution of other figures, exprefling 
 by their a6livity, and other figns, the 
 eagernefs and joy with which they gather 
 the miraculous food. Some alfo employ- 
 ed in adminiftring tender relief and com- 
 fort to the aged, the weak, and the in- 
 firm, who appear to be unable to alTift 
 themfelves whilft others by various 
 figns are devoutly returning thanks to 
 God for their miraculous deliverance 
 
 froiT] 
 
PAIN T I N G. 87 
 
 from defpair and death. Forming alfo a 
 camp compofed of tents, and miferable 
 huts, from whence they may be fuppo- 
 fed to have iffued. 
 
 Likewise other fubordmate groups, 
 and detached figures at proper heights, 
 openings, and diftances, fuitable to the 
 occafion, diminifhing the figures and the 
 action in proportion to the diftances. 
 
 At the fame time diftributing the 
 lights and fliades in fuch a manner as to 
 fhew the whole compofition at once : 
 but chiefly the principal and the moft 
 a£live figures cloathed and diftinguiflied 
 fuitable to the dignity, the office, the 
 rank, and the feveral qualities of the 
 chiefs, according to the cuftom and 
 manners of the Jewifli nation. Alfo 
 obferving a proper union and fubordi- 
 natiqn in the habits and appearances of 
 G 4 the 
 
88 ^ A DIALOGUEoN 
 
 the reft. And in the firft place expref- 
 fing by the form, the gefture, ^nd 
 countenance of Mofes, a fedate majefty 
 and benignity, peculiarly becoming his 
 chara6ter; a noble fimplicity and de- 
 votion in that of Aaron great gravity 
 and intelligence in the countenances 
 of the elders an air of fubordinate 
 command in the leaders and captains ; 
 and a real or feigned refped and obfe- 
 c|uious obedience in the mipifters. 
 
 And in the next place to exprefs great 
 penetration and judgment, and an un- 
 Ihaken fidelity and refpefl, in the coun- 
 tenances of many of the people ; great 
 fenfibility and chaftity of fentiment in 
 others ; an ungrateful, untoward, and per- 
 verfe difpofition in fome; but an im- 
 plicit fubmiflion and a perfeft refignation 
 in general, and inattention and in- 
 aftion in all the reft ^ preserving a per- 
 
 fea 
 
PAINTING. 89 
 
 feft correfpondency and harmony of de- 
 fign and colouring throughout the whole*. 
 
 All which order and decorum arc 
 faithfully obferved by Raphael in his 
 admirable pidture of this fubjed. 
 
 • But truth, which ought to prevail over 
 all other confiderations, obliges me to 
 
 * The harmony of painting requires, That in 
 whatever key the painter begins his piece, he fhould 
 be fure to finifh it in the fame." 
 
 This regulation turns on the principal figure^ or on 
 the two or three which are eminent ; for if the painter 
 happens to give a certain height or richnefs of co- 
 louring to his principal figure, the reft muft in pro- 
 portion necefTarily partake this Genius. But on the 
 contrary, if the painter fhouid have chanced to give 
 afofter air, with more gentlenefs and fimplicity of co- 
 louring, to his principal figure, the reil mull bear a 
 charadler proportionable, and appear in an extraor^ 
 dinary fimplicity, that one and the fame fpirit may, 
 without conteft, reign through the whole of his 
 ^efign, ^haft, on the Judgment of Hercules, 
 
 acknow- 
 
90 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 acknowledge, what I fmcerely lament^ 
 that even Raphael, in a pifture of his re- 
 prefenting a fcene in Rome of the excom- 
 munication pronounced by Pope Alex- 
 ander againffc the Emjperor Frederic Bar- 
 baroffa, (and placed in the upper hall in 
 the Pope's palace, near a battle pamteu, 
 by Titian) has., as I think, offended againft 
 the chaftity of the Coflume, by introdu- 
 cing therein a number of Venetian fena- 
 tors (who have no relation to the fubjeft) 
 as affifting, or as mere fpe£lators only, 
 on this folemn occafion *. 
 
 * Frederic Barbaroirafucceeded his uncle Conrad 
 tlie Third, in the Empire. He oppofed three anti- 
 popes to Alexander the Third, took Milan in 1 162, 
 rafed it to the ground, and fov/ed the file of the 
 city with fait, for which Alexander excommunicated 
 liim. Frederic afFeded to laugh at this ; but having 
 loft a decifive battle between his and the pope's 
 array, he at length follicited a reconciliation with 
 Mm ; and in Auguft 1 177, the pope being then at 
 ¥enice abfolved him. UMvo:at, Did. Biji, 
 
 The 
 
PAINTING, 91 
 
 Titian, on the contrary, has in his 
 pidlure, where the fame Frederic humi- 
 
 Thc painter ought, at leaft, to have as flrii5l a regard 
 to the Coflume, as the dramatic poet : then what 
 fhould we think of the latter, if he fliould reprefent 
 the treacherous murdering of Pompey on the fea- 
 coaft of Egypt, on one fide of the ftage, azid the 
 glorious fall of General Wolfe, in thefervice of his 
 country, on the banks of St. Lawrence, in Canada, 
 on the other? Yet many of the pidures even of 
 great mailers are nearly as oitenfive as fuch a fcene 
 would now be to as. 
 
 Algarotti mentions a pi6turc of Tintoret, on the 
 fubjed of the miraculous fall of mauiia, in the de- 
 fart, wherein he reprelents the Ilraelircs armed with 
 fufils. 
 
 Roger of BrulTels introduces a Roman Li(5lor with 
 the Roman fafces, into his otherwife very valuable 
 pisTture of the ftory of Z.ileucus, the Locrian lawgiver. 
 
 And even Raphael again) in his School of Athens, 
 has brought together Arillotle, Plato, Dante, and 
 Petrarca ; but confidering this as an alkgorical 
 piilure, the Teeming abfurdity ceafes. 
 
 Mr. Richardfon, whofe goodnature feems to pre- 
 vail fometimes over his judgment, as is too often the 
 cafe uich goodnatured men, endeavours to defend 
 
 the 
 
g:i A DIALOGUE o 
 
 liates himfelf before the pope, judicioufly 
 introduced Bembo, Navagaro, and San- 
 
 the cufiom of introducing perfons not contemporary, 
 into the piclares of the Holy Family. He fays, 
 •* We arc not to fuppofethat thefe were intended for 
 pure hiftorical pidures, but only to exprefs the at- 
 tachment thofe faints or perfons had for the Blef- 
 fed Virgin." With this key, he thinks, a great 
 many feeming abfurdities of good mailers will bs 
 difcovered to be none." (Ibeory of Fainting^ p. 105.) 
 But this feeming apology can hardly be thought fuf- 
 iicient to juAify St. Francis afliliing at the birth of 
 Chrill J or St. Jerome's inflrudling the Holy In- 
 fant, in the exquifite piclure of Correggio, at Parma ; 
 — or Rubens, wlio hath introduced Sr. George, 
 and other faints pofterior in time to the Affumption, 
 in his admirable picture of that fubje^l:; wherein he 
 hath given his own portrait in the charader of St. 
 George ; alfo thofe of his wife and children in the 
 Virgin and her attendants. Nor can any apology 
 be made for the llrange mixture of Pagan allegories, 
 and Chrifdan characters, which frequently occur in 
 the paintings of this mafter in the Luxembourg Gal- 
 lery, efpecially in the pidure of Mary of Medicis 
 landing at Marfeilles, where the allegorical figures 
 are made fo principal, that the hiftorical perfons are 
 fcarcely feen. 
 
 nazaro 
 
PAINTING, 
 
 nazaro as fpeflators, although the fa6l 
 happened long after : yet there is no 
 improbability in their being there at the 
 time, and efpecially as two of them were 
 Venetians, and the third fo great an ad- 
 mirer of Venice, that in one of his epi- 
 grams he preferred it eventoRom-e itfelf '^"^ 
 
 * Viderat Hadriacis Venetam Neptunas ia 
 undis 
 
 Stare urbem et to to ponere jura marl : 
 Nunc mihi Tarpeias quantum vis Jupiter arces' 
 Obj.ce ; et ilia tui ma^nia Martis ait : 
 Si Pelago Tybrim prael'crs, Urbem afpice 
 utramque 
 
 lllam Homines dices, banc pofuifTe Decs. 
 
 In Adriatic waves, wben Neptune faw 
 Fair Venice ftand, and to the Tea give law ; 
 Boad triy Tarpeian tower:, thy niaitial rcigii;, 
 () Jove, he faid : Thy Tyber to the main 
 Prefer: each city view, and own the odd^ : 
 That Teems the work of meiij and This of Gods- 
 
 Ano^jj'mifs^ 
 
 Of this epigram u e have a beautiful tranfiatioi^ 
 in a fonnet by the ingenious Vtrdcgotto, a valuable 
 and truly amiable voung man, well vcrfed in polite 
 
,94 A D I A L O G IJ E a 1^ 
 
 there v/as no impropriety m rntroducing 
 them. Beficies, it was very defirabie, and 
 no more than might be reafonably ex- 
 pededy that one of the firft painters 
 fliould leave in feme of his public works 
 an idea of the faces and perfons of three 
 of the nioft illulLrious poets of the age, 
 
 F A B R I N J. 
 
 These encomiums are great, and truly 
 worthy of fo noble a city. 
 
 A R E T ] N. 
 
 This piclure, had it no other excel- 
 lence, would merit high applaufe from 
 its exhibiting the portraits of three fuch 
 emuicnt men, as we often Cileem pictures 
 
 literature,, a lover of the arts,^ and who amufes hlm- 
 fclf with dcfagning, and paints very well." 
 
 SantcuiPs well known epigram on the Seine, 
 lias been by feme preferred to this ; but I think un- 
 Jtiilly, ak'iOLigh it mufi: be allowed to be very 
 bcaatifal. 
 
 even 
 
PAINTING. 
 
 even of bad mailers, for the fake of fuclx 
 reprefentations only. 
 
 But I think nothing can be faid in fa- 
 vour of Titian's judgment in painting, 
 St. Margaret riding upon a ferpent. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HAVE not feen any of thofe pidures^ 
 but you have inftrufted me how ta 
 judge of them, and of invention in ge- 
 neral, fo fully, that I think I now per- 
 feftly underftand the fubjeft, and can 
 only wifh, in the next place, to be as well 
 inftrufted how to judge of defign. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I WILL give you all the affiftance 
 I can in that refpecl alio : but before I 
 proceed to that head, I think it would 
 not be amifs to add fomething more to 
 what I have faid upon invention, that 
 every figure ihould appear capable of 
 
 performing 
 
95 A Dialogue ON 
 
 performing its office. For inftance, if 
 fitting, it ftiould feem to fit conveniently 
 and at eafe ; if ftanding, the feet fhould 
 be firmly pkced, and the body truly 
 balanced ; fo that it may not feem in any 
 danger of falling : and if moving, the 
 attitude and feeming motion fliould be 
 natural^ eafy, and graceful. 
 
 I THINK it neceffary alfo to obferve, 
 that it is impofiible for a painter, who is 
 not well acquainted with hiftory, and the 
 fables of the poets, to be capable of fine- 
 invention. 
 
 If he is not learned, he ought at leaft 
 to have a competent knovv^ledge of thefe, 
 of the liberal arts aifo, and of polite 
 literature in general*, and to cultivate 
 
 * Du Frefnoy, according to -De Piles's commen- 
 tary upon thefe lines, 
 
 Ilia quidem prius ingenuis inilrucla fororuni 
 Artibus Aonidum, 
 
 means 
 
PAINTING* 97 
 
 an acquaintance with eminent poets, and 
 other learned men. 
 
 means to point out the affiflance the painter receives 
 from a knowledge of the Sciences and Belles Lettre?;. 
 
 He laments the fate of the Arts, which he thinks 
 (through the ignorance of the generality of mo- 
 dern profeifors) are become illiberal and merely me- 
 chanic ; recommends to all thofe who would make 
 any proficiency in them, to read the beft authors; 
 and points out fome that he thinks may be the moft 
 ufeful, to which, for the benefit of the unlearned, are 
 added the names of the beft tranflators, and fe- 
 veral original works in Englilh ; viz. the Bible, 
 Jofephus (by Whifion) ; Livy's Roman Hidory ; the 
 Roman Hiftory (by Hooke) ; Homer (by Pope) ; 
 Virgil (by Dryden), particularly the -^neis ; 
 Godeau's Ecclefiaftlcal Hiftory ; Ovid's Metamor- 
 phofes (by Garth and others) ; Philoftratus, Plutarchi 
 Paufanias, (Potter's Grecian and Kennett's Roman 
 Antiquities, Trajan's Pillar, Books of Medals) ; Per- 
 rier's Bas Reliefs, Horace's Art of Poetry (by Fran- 
 cis). To which Mr. Dryden adds Spenfer, Milton, 
 Taffo (by Hoole), and Polybius (by Hampton). 
 
 The painter m.iy alfo find g^'eat ufe from Vafari, 
 Baldanucci, and De Pile's Lives of the Painters; Du 
 Frefnoy's Poem de Arte Graphica (called by Mr.. 
 Pope, a fmall well poliflieJ gem, the work of 
 
 H years),'' 
 
98 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 It is alfo advifable in him, as well as 
 the poet, not to content himfelf with his 
 
 years)/' with De Pile's Commentary, and Du 
 MaiTy's Latin Poem; Leofiardo da Vinci ; Lord Shaf- 
 tefbury's Draught of the Judgment of Hercules ; Al- 
 garotti and Webb on Painting; Du Bos's Critical 
 Refledlions on Poetry and Painting Wrnkelman's 
 Reflexions on the Painting and Sculpture of the 
 Greeks (by FufTeli) ; and his Hflloire de TArt chez 
 les Anciens ; Spence's Polymetis and Crito; Le Brun 
 on the Paflions ; the Admiranda, and other collec- 
 tions of ftatues, pidures, and bas relievos at Rome, 
 Florence, and other places in Italy, and elfewhere 
 the Mythology of the Antients, by Bannier, Mont- 
 faucon ; the Iconology of Ripa (avoiding carefully 
 his far-fetched Allegories and falfe Attributes) : 
 Higinus's Fables ; Praiflical Perfpedive, by Brooke 
 Taylor (enlarged by Kirby) ; Pliny's Natural Hjf- 
 tory, by Holland, particularly Book xxxv, of which 
 there is an excellent French paraphrafe under the 
 title of Hiiloire de la PeintiJ-re ancienne ; Junius 
 and Count Caylus on the Painting of the Antients 
 (Note, The latter recommends the antient poets a* 
 moft ufeful to the painter, in pointing out proper fub- 
 je£ls, and the moft interefting a^lions) ; John George 
 Jacobi, De Ledlionc Poctarum rv^centiorum Pidoribus 
 
 eommendanda 
 
PAINTING, 99 * 
 
 firft ideas or (ketches of his defign ; but 
 to confider his fubjeft in every light that 
 his imagination can furnifti him with; and 
 after he has coolly and patiently exercifed 
 the utmoft of his abilities, and formed a 
 number of defigns, to fufpend all farther 
 confideration of the fubjedt for fome fhort 
 time 5 and then, again and again, recon- 
 fider it, and review the feveral defigns, 
 varying them or beginning anew, as he 
 fhall fee occafion ; and at laft prefer that 
 v/hich his judgment, and not his mere 
 fancy or inclination, moil approves. 
 
 Raphael, who excelled all others in 
 the knov/ledge of human nature and the 
 
 commendancla r 766, 4:0. in anfvver to Coant Caylus, 
 wherein he inflances a variety of fubjecfts in modera 
 poets, which he thinks ought not to be neglected. 
 . This lail work is by the authors of the BiWio* 
 theque des Sciences, faid to be pleine d'efprit et de 
 gout," iilled with wit and tafle. Bib, des Se. Mas 
 Oft, No-j: Dec, 1767. p. 487. 
 
 . . H 2 pa-Ubns, 
 
' 100 A DIALOGUE oit 
 
 paflions, and whofe genius feemed capa- 
 ble of availing itfelf of every imagina- 
 ble idea ; notwithftanding his great 
 learning and abilities in all other re- 
 fpeds relative to his profeflion, and 
 his great experience, luxuriance of 
 fancy, and facility of invention ; yet 
 to all thefe high qualifications and ad- 
 mirable talents, he found it necefliiry 
 to add intenfe ftudy, and great ap- 
 plication, infomuch that he conftantly 
 drew from four to fix diftinft flcetches or 
 defigns of the hiftory of a pifture before 
 he proceeded to the execution of it, in 
 which he equally excelled. 
 
 In what a contemptible light, there- 
 fore, muft that man appear, who, with- 
 out genius, learning, or abilities, lliall 
 vainly rank himfelf among the profeflbrs 
 of this noble art like the man, who, 
 in attcnnptijig to deCgn and paint a beau- 
 tiful 
 
PAINTING. 101 . 
 
 tiful vafe, produced nothing better than 
 a contemptible jar 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 The fame thing happens in writing. 
 From the want or words or proper abili- 
 ties, men frequently fnik into drynefs or 
 
 * Amphora coepit 
 
 Inftitui ; currente rota cur urceus exit ? 
 
 Hor. Art, Foet, 2 1 . 
 
 Why will you thus a mighty vafe intend, 
 If in a vvorthlers bowl your labours end ? 
 
 Francis. 
 
 And with refpefl to authors he fays, 
 
 v^Uimite materiam veftris, qui fcribitis, rcquam 
 Viribus ; et verfate diu, quid ferre recufent 
 Quid valeant humeri. Cui leda potenter erit res, 
 Nec facundia deferet hunc, nec lucidus ordo. 
 
 De Ai te Pocticdy 1. 38. 
 Examine well, ye vvriters, weigh with care 
 What fuits your genius, what your (Irength can bear. 
 To him who lhall a theme with judgment chufe, 
 Nor words nor method lhall their aid rcfufe. 
 
 Francis. 
 
 obfcu- 
 
102 
 
 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 obfcurity, or exprefs themfelves quite 
 foreign to their firft intention 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Invention, as I might at firft have ob- 
 ferved, takes its origin from two fources 
 — the fubjed of the hiftory, and the 
 genius of the painter f. 
 
 * This remark every one muft have made, efpe- 
 cially the Poet, who often owes the origin of a 
 fecond line to the finding a rhime to the ending 
 word or fyllable of the former To avoid this, and 
 to preferve the verfe entire, it is faid a celebrated 
 
 poet always wrote the fecond line firft. On the 
 
 other hand, M. D'Alembert thinks this an advan- 
 tage to an author. " The obligation the poet is 
 under to feek for expreffions, often leads him to 
 thofe that have the greateft beauty, which perhaps 
 he otherwife would never have hit upon ; as Pride 
 often induces a man to be pleafed with expreffions 
 that iirft olFer themfelves to his pen/' RefleLliom on 
 EL and Style, 
 
 f Genius and enthufiafm are equally necelTary in 
 the compofitions of the painter and the poet. — The 
 
 Lv 
 
PAINTING. lo^t 
 
 In regard to the former, the pauiter 
 ftiould take efpecial care in an hiftorical 
 
 fublime in painting and literary compofition equally 
 arife from the inward greatnefs of the foul of their 
 author 5 whence Longinus calls it fj.iycc^' oip^Gcrvur^g 
 aTrn^nfj.a.^ an image refle6led from an elevation of 
 genius which Heaven alone can give : And yet it is 
 capable of being cultivated and improved by in^ 
 duftry and application. 
 
 The following lines of Du Frefnoy on this fub- 
 je6l are beautiful : 
 
 Ifta labore gravi lludio monitifque maglRri 
 Ardua para nequit addifci rariiTima : namque 
 Ni prius iEthereo rapuit quod ab axe Prometheus 
 Sit jubar infufum menti cum (lamine vitai, 
 Mortali haud cuivis divina hxc munera dantur, 
 .Non utl D^dfllea7n licet omnibus ire Corinthurn. 
 
 This part of painting, fo rarely met v;ith, is 
 neither to be acquired by pains nor fludy, nor by 
 preceptS; or the didates of a mafter. For they 
 alone who have been infpired at their birth with 
 fome portion of that heavenly fire which was flolen 
 by Prometheus, are capable of receiving fo divine 
 ^ prcfent/' Dryduu 
 
 rep re- 
 
104 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 reprefentation, which requires a great 
 number of objefts, to avoid confufion ; 
 but in general to chufe fuch fubjefts as 
 require only a few *• 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 Advice fomething like this is given 
 in refpedt to poetical compofition : In 
 the dramatic, to introduce no more per- 
 
 Longinus, in fpeaklng to the queftion whether 
 the fublime was to be acquired by ftudy, quotes 
 a pafTage from Demofthenes : (jAyi^ov fxh 
 hvcci rccv dyxB'-c]/ to Ivtv^eTv* os^jte^ov $e hk 
 
 i\OCTrOl/^ TO BV 2q'J'' BVBaS'OC.lj OTTSO olg olu (J^Yi TTCt^'A 
 
 (T'jyixyoci^Zi Trdvr'jcq S'arf^oi^" Which he thus ap- 
 plies to his fubjedl : " rat ^ ettI tcov ? cyccv 
 
 i re^niri rriu t>k ivSov^ icc;*^^ — The fame may be 
 faid refpecting painting. 
 
 * Lord Shaftefbury very judicioiifly obferves, 
 that the fewer the objeds are, bc:fides thofc which 
 ** are abfolutely neceffary in a piece, the eafier it is 
 ** for the eye, by one fimple aft snd in one view, 
 " to comprehend the /um or -zvicle.^'^ Zhnftej, on the 
 'judytuc^U of FLrcuki^ 
 
 fons 
 
PAINTING. 105 
 
 fons than the drama neceflarily requires ; 
 and in thefe and other compofitions to 
 obferve this rule or maxim, That an ani- 
 mated fubjeft extended to a great length 
 becomes tirefome, and if too much con- 
 traded, defpicable. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 There are, no doubt, certain laws 
 and regulations which both the painter 
 and the poet ought invariably to ob- 
 ferve : And yet there are doubtful 
 cafes, and fome occafions where both 
 the one and the other ought to indulge 
 Jiis genius, and take fome licence * : 
 
 * Our author had evidently eye here to the 
 following rule, with the fame jeilridion laid down 
 by Horace : 
 
 Pidoribus atque Poetis 
 Quidlibet audendi femper fuit aequa potellas. 
 
 Painters and poets our indulgence claim ; 
 Their daring equal, and their art the fanie. 
 
 But 
 
io6 A DIALOGUE o n 
 
 But in nothing monftrous, or con- 
 trary to Nature \ as the coupling toge- 
 ther ferpents with birds, or lambs with 
 tigers \ or any two things that are in- 
 congruous, or heterogeneous in their 
 natures. 
 
 Having premifed thus far, I fhall 
 now proceed in the manner you defired, 
 and Ipeak of Defign, 
 
 By Defign I mean the form or out- 
 lines, the attitudes and adlion of the 
 
 Sclmus, & banc veniam petimufque damufque viciffim: 
 Sed non ut placidis coeant immitia, non ut 
 Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni. 
 
 J, PA, 8. 
 
 I own th' indulgence — Such I give and take. 
 But not thro' Nature's facred laws to break; 
 Monflrous, to mix the brutal and the kind. 
 Serpents with birds, and Iambs with tigers joinM ! '' 
 
 Fra?Tcis, 
 
 fip;ures 
 
PAINTING. 107 
 
 figures of a picture, as I have already 
 mentioned 
 
 In this the painter is to take efpecial 
 care to give e^fy and graceful attitudes, 
 
 * Defign, in a larger and more comprehenfive 
 fenfe, is the executive part of Invention, and ex- 
 tends to every objedl in the compofition ; for which 
 reafon, Befign is frequently ufed to exprefs both 
 the one and the other, without diftindion, as 
 Michael Angelo' was faid to form all Baflian's 
 Deftgns. 
 
 The noble author jufi: mentioned, in a preceding 
 riOte, in defining what is meant by the word Tabla- 
 ture [or Hillorical Pidure] fays, In painting we 
 |nay give to any particular work the name of 
 *rablature, when the work is in reality a Jingle 
 piece^ comprehending in one <vie^-vuy and formed 
 according to one Jingle intelligence, meaning, ox 
 dtftgn ; which conftitutes a real whole, by a 
 mutual and neceifary relation of its parts, the 
 fame as of the members in a natural body/' 
 ShaJhJ, on the Judg^nent of Hercules. 
 
 and 
 
io8 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 and proper and expreflive adion to all 
 the figures ; to draw die outlines of the 
 body, and all its component parts, with 
 the utmoft accuracy and precifion, giving 
 them ftrength, energy, and force, ac- 
 cording to the fubjedt, or all the elegance 
 and grace that can be found in the moft 
 perfeft and beautiful nature-, and not 
 imitate, but correft and fupply, any im- 
 perfeftions, dilproportions, or defefts, he 
 may at any time obferve or difcover in 
 nature. 
 
 For the leaft diftortion, difproportion, 
 or unnatural appearance, in the repre^ 
 fentation of any of his figures, would de- 
 bafe, if not totally deftroy, the merit even 
 of the fined invention. 
 
 It is confidently faid, that Nature 
 hath its defefts i infomuch that not one 
 
 human 
 
PAINTING, 109 
 
 human figure hath been found fo per- 
 fedly beautiful as not to be defedlive in 
 one part or other*. Upon this pre- 
 fumption, it is faid that Zeuxis, in de- 
 figning Helen, to be placed in the tem- 
 ple of the Crotonians, chofe five of the 
 moft beautiful virgins that could be pro- 
 duced, and from thefe compofed the 
 figure of Helen, v/hich was fo perfedly 
 beautiful that the fame of it hath been 
 handed down through all ages to the 
 prefent time. This may ferve as an 
 admonition to thofe who form their de- 
 figns from their own imperfed: ideas, or 
 
 * The truth of this obfervatlon entirely depends 
 upon the experience and judgment of the obferver, 
 and the juitnefs of his ideas, and may require much 
 greater abilities, and a more competent knowledge 
 of Nature, and in what true beauty, a juft propor- 
 tion and harmony, or perfedlion, confifts, than man 
 can be prefumed to poiTefs. 
 
 from 
 
ti6 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 from pra^icCy unaflifted and unimproved 
 hj a clofe and conftant attention to what 
 may be found moft perfeft and beauti- 
 ful in nature*. 
 
 An excellent example is given by 
 Ariofto, in his defcription of the beauty 
 
 * Raphael, in a Letter to his friend Count Bal- 
 Aazar Caftiglione, concerning a Galatea he had 
 painted for him, feems to lament the want of the 
 beft examples, which he efteems neceiTary, from the 
 fcarcity of fine women in his age and country. 
 
 Le dico bene che per dipingere una bella mi 
 bifogneria veder piu belle con quefta condizicne che 
 V S fi trovaffe meco a fare fcelto del meglio. Ma 
 elTendo oggi careflia e di buoni Giudici e di belle 
 Donne lo mi fervo di certa Idea che mi viene alia 
 mente." 
 
 " To paint a beauty,! ought to fee many beauties, 
 on condition you were with me to chufe the beft ; 
 but there being at this time a fcarcity both of good 
 judges and fine women, I make ufe of a certain 
 divine form or idea which prefents itfelf to my 
 imagination." 
 
 of 
 
PAINTING. Ill 
 
 of Alcina the Enchantrefs, which evinces 
 how juftly good poets may be deemed 
 painters. This defcription I (hall ever 
 retain^ as an invaluable jewel, in the 
 trealure of my memory. . 
 
 XI. 
 
 Di perfona era tanto hen formaia, 
 
 ^anto me* finger fan Pittori indujiri ; 
 Con bionda chioma^ lunga^ ed annodata^ 
 Oro non che piu rifplenda e hijiru 
 Spargeaji per la guancia delicata 
 Mijio color di rofe^ e di llgujiri. 
 Di terfo avorio era la fronte lieia^ 
 Che lo fpazio finia con giujla meta* 
 
 xir. 
 
 Sotio duo negri^ e fottilijfmi archi 
 
 Son duo negri occhi^ anzi duo chiari foil j 
 Pietoft e riguardare^ a mover parchi\ 
 Iniorno a cui par ch'Amor fcherzi^ e v(}Uy 
 E ch' indi tutta la fareira fcarchi ; 
 E chc vifihibnenie i cori involi, 
 
 ^incS 
 
112 A DIALOGUE o 
 
 ^indi il nafo per mezzo il vifo fcende^ 
 Che non trova l^invidiay ove Vemende 
 
 ,His idea of the nofe he probably took 
 from fome celebrated Roman antique, 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Bianca neve c il bel colloy e*l petto latte^ 
 II collo c tondoy il petto e colmo e largo ; 
 Due pome acerbe^ e pur d'avorio fatte 
 Vengonoy e van^ come onda al prima margo^ 
 
 * xtii. 
 
 Sotto quel fta, quafi fra due vallette> 
 La bocca fparfa di natio cinabro j 
 Quivi due filze fon di perle elette, 
 Che chiude, ed apre un bello, et dolce labro ; 
 Quindi efcon le corteli parolette 
 Da render molle ogni cor rozzo, e fcabro ; 
 Quivi fi forma quel foave rifo, 
 Ch* apre a fua poUa in terra il paradifo. 
 
 This llanza, which is full as beautiful as any of 
 the preceding, or thofe that follow, is omitted in 
 the origin ily 
 
Painting, 
 
 ^^ando piacevole aura 11 mar conihatte ; 
 Non potria raltre parti veder Argo : 
 Ben ft pud giudlcar che corrijponde ; 
 A quel^ cl) appar di fuor^ quel che afconai^ 
 
 XV. 
 
 Mojhan le hraccia fiia ml fur a glujla^ 
 
 E la Candida ?nan jpejjd Jl vedc^ 
 
 Lunghetta clquardo^ e dl larghezza angufldt^ 
 
 Do7>e 7ie no do appar ^ ne vena ecccdi^: 
 
 SI vcde al fin dclla perfona augvjla 
 
 11 breve ajclutto, e rliondetto piede : 
 
 Git angellcl femhlanti nail In ciclo^ 
 
 Nou fi ponno celar Jet to akun velo ^. 
 
 Atiofto's OfL Fur. c. vii. ft. i r, f5V. 
 
 * I am obliged for the following verfion of thit 
 elegant pa ffage to Mr. Hoole, who is now preparing, 
 for the Public, a complete tranflation of the Orlando 
 Furiofo. 
 
 Her matchlefs perfon ev'ry charm comblnM, 
 Form'd in th' idea of a painter's mind. 
 Bound in a knot behind, her ringlets roU'd 
 Down her fair neck, and (hone like waving gold : 
 Her blooming cheeks the blended tints difclofe 
 Of lilies damafk'd with the blufaing rofe : 
 
 I Her 
 
ri4 A DIAL OG U E o 
 In regard to proportion, which confti- 
 
 Her forehead rifing in proportion due. 
 
 Like poliiliM ivory llruck th' admirer's view : 
 
 Beneath two arching brows in fplendor fhonc 
 
 Her fparkling eyes, each eye a radiant fun ! 
 
 H^re artful glances, v/inning looks appear, . 
 
 And wanton Cupid lies in ambufh here : 
 
 From hence he bends his bow, he points his dart,' 
 
 And hence he Heals th' unwary gazer's heart. 
 
 Her nofe fo truly Ihap'd, the fauldefs frame 
 
 Nor envy can deface, nor art can blame. 
 
 Her lips beneath, with pure Vermillion bright, 
 
 Prefent two rows of orient pearl to fight : 
 
 Here thofe foft words are form'd, v/hofe pow'r detains 
 
 The firmeft breall in Love's alluring chains : 
 
 And here the fmiles receive their infant birth, 
 
 Whofe charms difclofe a paradife on earth. 
 
 Her neck and bread were white as falling fnows 
 
 Round was her neck, and full her bofom rofe. 
 
 Firm as the budding fruit, with gentle fwell. 
 
 Each lovely breaft alternate rofe and fell. 
 
 Thus on the margin of the peaceful feas. 
 
 The waters heave before the fanning breeze* 
 
 Not Argus' felf her other charms could 'fpy,. 
 
 So clofely veil'd from ev'ry prying eye : 
 
 Yet may we judge the graces ihe reveal'd 
 
 Surpafs'd not thofe which modefty conceal'd. 
 
 Her 
 
Painting. 115 
 
 tutes beauty as it refpefts the figure, the 
 
 Her arms well (hap'd, and of a glofTy hue^ 
 With perfe<n: beauty gratify'd the view : 
 Her taper lingers long and fair to fee. 
 From evVy rifing vein and fwelling free ; 
 And from her veft below, with new delight. 
 Her flender foot attracts the lover's (ight : 
 While veftments Urive in vain each charm to hide. 
 Each angel charm, that feems to Heav'n ally'd. 
 
 This idea of beauty may juftly be called (ac- 
 cording to the French exprelTion, for which we have 0 I 
 no equivalent in Englifh) the Belie Idee, as our author 
 hath called Michael Angelo VIdea del Defeg7io^ the 
 Idea of Defign. 
 
 It would far exceed the bounds to which the 
 tranllator is limited, to enter into the minutiae of 
 what is thought to conOitute Beauty ; but it may not 
 be amifs to intrude fome general obfervations re- 
 fpeding this head in particular, taken from the 
 Notes on Crito^ p. i6. |^|:ik.|5''"l7 
 
 '* Felibien fays, the head fhould be well rounded ; ^ ^ 
 and look rather inclining to fmall than large. 
 
 The forehead white, fmooth, and open (not with 
 the hair growing down too deep upon it ;) neither 
 flat nor prominent, but like the head, well rounded; 
 and rather fmall in proportion than large, 
 
 I 2 *^ The 
 
ii6 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 moft ingenious Ariofto refers to the befi: 
 
 The hair, either bright, black, or brown ; not 
 thin, but full and waving ; and if it falls in mode- 
 rate curls, the better. The black is particularly 
 ufeful for fetting off the whirenefs of the neck and 
 fkin. 
 
 " The eyesy black, chefnut, or blue ; clear, bright, 
 and lively ; and rather large in proportion than fmall. 
 
 " The eyebrow's, well divided, rather full than thin ; 
 femicircular, and broader in the middle than at the 
 ends ; of a neat turn, but not formal. 
 
 The cheeks fhould not be wide ; fhould have a 
 degree of plumpnefs, with the red and white finely 
 blended together ; and ftiould look firm and fofc. 
 
 " The ear Ihould be rather fmall than large ; well 
 folded, and with an agreeable tinge of red. 
 
 " The nofe fhould be placed fo as to divide the face 
 into two equal parts ; fhould be of a moderate fize, 
 ftrait, and well fquared ; though fometimes a little 
 rifing in the nofe, which is but jud perceivable, may 
 give a very graceful look to it. 
 
 ** The mouth fhould be fmall ; and the lips not of 
 equal thicknefs : they fhould be well-turned, fmall 
 rather than grofs ; fofr, even to the eye ; and v*'ith 
 a living red in them. A truly pretty mouth is like 
 a rofe-bud that is beginning to blow. 
 
 The 
 
PAINTING. 117 
 that has been formed from obfervatioa 
 
 " The teeth fliould be middle-fized, white, well- 
 ranged, and even. 
 
 ** The chin, of a moderate fize ; white, foft, and 
 agreeably rounded. 
 
 " The neck fhould be white, ftrait, and of a foft, eafy , 
 and flexible make, rather long than Ihort ; lefs 
 above, and encreafing gently toward the fhoulders : 
 the whitenefs and delicacy of its fkin Ihould be con- 
 tinued, or rather go on improving, to the bofom. 
 
 The in general ! fhould be white, properly 
 tinged with red ; with an apparent foftnefs, and a 
 look of thriving health in it. 
 
 The Jhoulders Ihould be white, gently fpread, and 
 with a much fofter appearance of flrength, than in 
 thofe of men. 
 
 The arm Ihould be white, round, firm, andfofc ; 
 and more particularly fo from the elbow to the 
 hands. 
 
 'V\ithands fhould unite infenfibly with the arm ; 
 jud as it does in the ftatue of the Venus of Medici. 
 They fhould be long, and delicate, and even the 
 joints and nervous parts of them Ihould be without 
 either any hardnefs or drynefs. 
 
 *' The fingers fhould be fine, long, round, and foft ; 
 fmall, and lefTening towards the tips of them : and 
 the nails long, rounded at the ends, and pellucid. 
 
 I 3 The 
 
ii8 A D I AL O G U E ON 
 
 by the hands of the moft induilrious 
 
 The hofci7n Ihould be white, and charming ; and 
 the breafls equal in roundnefs, whitenefs, and firm- 
 nefs; neither too much elevated, nor too much 
 deprefied ; rifing gently, and very diftindly Sepa- 
 rated ; in one word, juft like thofe of the Verms of 
 Medicu 
 
 " The fides fhould be long, and the hips wider than 
 the fhoulders ; and fliould turn off as they do in the 
 fame Venus ; and go down rounding, and lefTening 
 gradually to the knee. 
 
 ** The knee fhould be even, and well-rounded : the 
 /^^^ ftrait, but varied by a proper rounding of the 
 more flefhy part of them ; and the feet finely turned, 
 white, and little," 
 
 Mr. Spence, in the excellent little work before 
 mentioned, which is well worthy of being read and 
 meditated upon by the Englifh ladies, and will beft 
 fupply what is here wanting, obferves, that the 
 modern drefs which prevails in England hides and 
 robs us of many beauties ; and gives an inftance of 
 a lady of his acquaintance, who had as fine a head 
 and neck as could be conceived, without his know- 
 ing any thing of the matter, till he happened one 
 morning to fee her at her toilet before flie was dreffed. 
 Crito^ p. 1 8. 
 
 This 
 
P A I N T I N G. 119 
 
 painters ; and ufes the epithet /W/^r/V xo 
 
 This mud often happen to ladies who iludy 
 Fafhion inflead of Nature, and Whim inftead of 
 Tafte. Their minds are fo taken up in deviling or 
 following a n<,w mode qf drefs, that all proper con- 
 fideration in refpe6l to what is moft fuitable and 
 becoming is totally pegledled ; and thus Beauty 
 itfelf is every day facrificed to Whim and Caprice : 
 Ladies of this turn mufl for ever continue infenfible 
 of their own perfeftions, on vvhich alone they ought 
 to fet any value. The fame thing - frequently hap- 
 pens in painting, from the want of a proper idea 
 of what is beautiful, and a due attention to what 
 is moft fuitable, mod becoming, and moft graceful, 
 and a harmony of colours ; fqr inftead of fymmetry 
 and proportion in the outline, and eafe and grace 
 ,in the a£lion, the figures are diftorted or deformed, 
 the attitudes unnatural, the draperies whimfical, 
 tawdry, and e;xtravagant, and no way fuited to tjie 
 character. 
 
 What a late writer, vAio hath given us ample 
 proof of his diligence and ingenuity as an artift, 
 fays in regard to fafhion in painting, may juftly be 
 applied, upon a better foundation, to faftiion in 
 drefs. It is only by ftudy, and meditating upon 
 the works of the Italian mafters, that we can reafon- 
 I 4 ably 
 
1^0 A D I ALO G U E ON 
 
 point out what diligence is neceflary ia 
 order to become a good painter. 
 
 ably exped to form a true tafte, and to defend our- 
 felves againil the dellrudlive and capricious forcery 
 of Fafhicn; which changes almoll: with the fea- 
 fons, and of which the moll: applauded and finell 
 efFedls, in the {pace of a few years, generally ap- 
 pear to be what they really are, unnatural and ri- 
 diculous.'' 
 
 Now if the ladies would iludy their own natural 
 perfedions, and the bell works of the Greek and 
 Italian artifts, and from thence form a juft idea of 
 what conllitutcs Beauty, and flridly obferve pro- 
 priety, fimplicity, and elegance in drefs, fhew a due 
 regard to the harmony of colours, and a proper 
 fenfe of what is moft fuitable and becoming, every 
 one would then appear to the highefl advantage, 
 both in their perfon and drefs, and would be the 
 admiration of the other fex, infpiring them at the 
 fame time with the like emulation of appearing alfo 
 to the bell: advantage. 
 
 By thefe means the Belle Idee would be formed 
 in the mind of every one who has an accurate 
 judgment and a fine imagination, which, in the po- 
 lite arts, is called Tafte ; and the Englifli ladies 
 then become as celebrated throughout the 
 
 WQrlc^ 
 
PAINTING. 121 
 
 In the place of white^ Ariofto might 
 
 world for their natural and amiable appearance, 
 and fine tafle, as they now are very julHy for 
 the beauty of their perfons and the finenefs of their 
 complexions, when undifguifed by the fopperies of 
 falliion. 
 
 From hence we may defcend to fome few parti- 
 culars : That hoops, flays, and all violent bandages, 
 ligatures, and other impediments, not only hide, 
 but disfigure and deform, the beauty of their per- 
 fons ; to which may be afcribed the caufe why 
 painters, ever fmce the revival of the arts in the 
 fifteenth century, have been obliged to have recourfe 
 to the fineft produdlions of the Greek artifls, who 
 took their ideas and formed their defigns from 
 what they obferved to be moil perfedt and moft 
 beautiful in Nature. 
 
 But at the fame time we muH: acknowledge, that 
 hoops and whalebone have of late given v/ay to the 
 moil graceful and eafy flowing robe that ingenuity 
 ever invented or introduced ir.to this kingdom, 
 which hath been generally worn as a robe of dif- 
 tindion (notwithflanding the dilierent implication 
 of its name) in all polite afTemblies, publick 
 and private, giving way only occafionally to the 
 more ma2''^^fi^<^Jit drefs worn at court, and to con- 
 
 venisncy 
 
122 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 have put golden locks ; /. e. refembling 
 the colour of the pureft gold. This I 
 mention, as it brings to mind what I have 
 read in Athenseus, that when the poets 
 in defcribing Apollo ufe the epithet of 
 mricomus (with golden locks), the painter 
 is not to underftand they mean, that the 
 head of Apollo is to be adorned with 
 locks of gold ; nor can we fuppofe gold 
 in any cafe proper to be introduced in 
 painting, though frequently praftifed. 
 Imitation, and tbe refemblances only of 
 
 veniency on other cccalions, and mull ever continue 
 fo, or at lead till fomething fuited to a different 
 mode of drefs, flill more graceful and becoming, 
 iliall be devifed. 
 
 * Golden Locks hath been a favourite epithet 
 in many ages and countries, particularly at the 
 court of England in the days of Elizabeth, whofe 
 iiair was of that colour, and of Charles the Se- 
 ^cond ; this colour of the hair being efleemed mod 
 lovely and beautiful, as adding a luftre to the coun- 
 tenance, and harmonifing beft v/ith a iine com- 
 plexion, which thofe perfons generally have whofe 
 hair is of this colour. 
 
 things, 
 
PAINTING. 123 
 
 things, and not the introdudion of the 
 things themfelves, come within the pro- 
 vince of painting*: 
 
 To give a very exa6t idea of beauty, 
 would require great attention and la- 
 bour ; as, although it confifts in pro- 
 portion, yet proportion is itfelf vari- 
 ous : Nature differing no lefs in the fta- 
 ture of men, than in the faces or 
 mien. Thus v/e find fome tall, others 
 fliort, others middling ; fome fiefhy, 
 
 * The abfurd cuflom of ufing gold as a material, 
 or as ornamental in painting, was not quite ex- 
 ploded in the time of our author. Some of the 
 greatefl mailers of that age, even Raphael and 
 Titian, in compliance with cuflom, and a falfe 
 tafle which flill prevailed, were feduced fometimes, 
 though but fparingly, to ufe it ; but Albert Durcr 
 carried this abfurdity to its height, in adorning 
 the head of the Virgin, not with hair of the colour 
 of gold, which would have been fufficiently air- 
 furd, but with wire of gold. 
 
 Others 
 
^24 A D I A LO G U E ON 
 
 others lean ; fome delicate, ethers ner- 
 vous and robuft. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I SHOULD be much obliged, my friend, 
 if you would here point out to me fome 
 rule whereby to afcertain the meafure of 
 the human body. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I WILL do it willingly, as it feems to 
 me abfurd for man to apply fo much 
 fbudy to the meafure of land, of the fea, 
 and of the heavens, and none to the 
 proportion of his own body. I fay then, 
 that nature having prudently placed the 
 head, as it were the citadel of this won- 
 derful fabric, which is called a micro- 
 cofm, or little world, in the moft elevated 
 part of the body, all the parts of that 
 body fnould take their meafure from the 
 head. The head (or, as we call it, the 
 face) is divided into three parts ; one 
 
 from 
 
PAINTING. 115 
 
 from the fummit of the forehead, where 
 the hair begins, to the eyebrow ; the 
 fecond, from the eyebrow to the extre- 
 mity of the noilrils the third, from the 
 nourils to the chin. The firil is efleemed 
 the feat of wifdom ^ the fecond of beauty ; 
 the third of goodnefs. * Ten times the 
 length of the head, according to fomej 
 is the jufc height of the human body-, ac- 
 cording to others nine, fome eight, nay, 
 fome even confine it to ieven. The exadi: 
 middle of his length is at the parts which 
 diftinguifh the fcxes. The eyebrows 
 joined are equal to the circle of the eye. 
 The femicircles of the ear fhould be as 
 large as the mouth v^hen open. The 
 width of the nofe oyer the mouth fliould 
 be equal to the length of an eye. The 
 
 * De Piles, in his commentary on Du Frefnoy, 
 has given a meafarement in general agreeable to 
 this of our author, and has noted the variations of 
 the celebrated (latiu^s from it. The Apollo and 
 Venus of Medicis have more than ten faces/' 
 
 nofc 
 
126 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 nofe the length of a lip. The diftance 
 between the eyes equal to an eye. The 
 diftance of the ear from the nofe equal 
 to the length of the middle finger. The 
 hand of the fame length with the face. 
 The arm twice and a half as thick as the 
 thumb. The thigh once and a half as 
 thick as the arm. As to length, I will 
 fpeak more dlftinftly. From the fum- 
 mit of the head to the bottom of the 
 nofe is equal to one face. From thence 
 to the forcular bone at. the top of the 
 breaft, is a fecond ; thence to the pit of 
 the ftomach the third; the fourth* is to 
 the navel, and thence to the parts diftin- 
 guifhing the fexes, the fifth. This is 
 exadly half of the body. Hence along 
 the thigh to the knee is equal to two 
 
 • De Piles fays, The Apollo has a nofe more 
 and of the next divifion, '* The Apollo has half a 
 nofe more. The half of the body of the Venus of 
 Medicis is at the lower part of the belly. Albert ufed 
 this divifion for women, and I believe it ia better." 
 
 faces. 
 
A 1 N T I N G. 127 
 
 faces, and from the knee to the fole of 
 the foot three. The arm contains three 
 faces from the ligament at the fhoulder, 
 to the jiinfture of the hand. The dif. 
 tance from the heel to the inftep is the 
 fame, as from thence to the extremity 
 of the toes : and the fize of the man 
 meafured round under the arms is exadly 
 equal to half his length, 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 These meafures are of great import- 
 ance to any one who would form a juftly 
 proportioned figure. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Whoever would do this fhould chufe 
 the moft perfect form he can find, and 
 partly imitate nature, as Apelles did, who, 
 when he painted his celebrated Venus 
 emerging from the fea, (in praife of 
 which Ovid fays, that, if Apelles had 
 not painted her. Hie would (till have 
 
 been: 
 
A DIALOGUE o n 
 
 been immerfed in the waves ) drew her 
 from Phryne, the moft famous courtefan 
 of the age ; and Praxiteles alio formed 
 his ftatue of the Venus of Gnidus from 
 the fame model : Partly he fliould imi- 
 tate the beft marbles and bronzes f of the 
 
 * This was the more beautiful of this 
 great artiU's two ftatues of the goddefs, which 
 he had offered to the people of Cos to chafe of. 
 The Coans, although the naked one was infinitely 
 mote beautiful, (^*' immcnja differ eyii'ia fam^y'' fays 
 Pliny) chofe the one that was clothed, from a re- 
 gard to the morals of their citizens. The Gnidians, 
 not fo delicate in this point, bought the naked one, 
 which became the glory of their city, and wonder 
 of the world. They refufcd to part with it to Ni- 
 comedes king of Bithynia, at an immenfe price, 
 which he offered for it: thinking, (fays Rollin,) 
 that it Would diflionour and even impoverifli them 
 to fell for any price whatfoever, a flatue which they 
 confidered as their glory and riches." 
 
 Vid. Plin, 1. 36. c. 5. Roliin on Arts and Sciences, 
 
 t It has been the pra^lice of all the greatcfl 
 modern mafters to ftudy the remains of antiquity 
 with the greateft attention. Michael Angelo was f^ 
 
 fonil 
 
PAINTING. ii§ 
 antient mafters, the admirable perfe6tioil 
 
 fond of one broken ftatUe, that it has frdih him been 
 Called Michael Angelo's School. Raphael is faid tO 
 have colleded vaft quantities of medals, gems, ba$ 
 relievos, &c. and fome who pretend to know his 
 private hiflory, aver that he deftroyed great numbers, 
 after having made his ufe of them. The deilgn of 
 his Cartoon of Paul and Barnabas bears fo ftrong a 
 fefemblance to a facrifice in bas relief in the Mm^ 
 randuy as to leave little doubt of the painter's hav- 
 
 vlng taken his idea from it. 'To come nearer to 
 
 our own time, Rubens publifhed a little Latin trea* 
 tife concerning the imitation of the antlents ; and in 
 an extrad from a MS of that mafter's quoted bj 
 De Piles, gives it as his opinion, ad fummam artis 
 ferfeSIionem ejje necejfariam earum (jiut. antiq») inteU 
 Ugentiam into imbitionem ; that to attain the higheft 
 perfection of the art, not only an acquaintance with^ 
 but a thorough knov/Iedge of the antique is ne* 
 cefiary," 
 
 Splendidior quippe ex illis aflurgit imago, 
 Magnaque fe rerum facies aperit meditanti 
 Tunc noftri tenuem fsecli miferebere fortem. 
 Gum fpes nulla fiet rediturse equalis in aevum/' 
 
 Thefe lines ftiew Du Frefnoy's opinion upon this 
 fubjeft. 
 
P30 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 of which, whoever can fully tafte and 
 poffefs, may fafely correal many defefts 
 of Nature herfelf, and make his pidlures 
 univerfally pleafmg and grateful. Thefe 
 contain all the perfeftion of the art, and 
 may be properly propofed as examples 
 of perfeft beauty. 
 
 F A B R I N r. 
 
 It is very juft that the antients, both 
 Greeks and Romans, having obtained the 
 pre-eminence in polite literature, fliould 
 alfo obtain it in the arts of painting and 
 fculpture, which approach the neareft to- 
 learning in value 
 
 * It may be obferved, that thofe times whicK 
 produced the greatefl mafters in the arts of painting 
 and fculpture, have alfo excelled in polite literature. 
 Phidias, Praxiteles, Parrhafius, Apelles, and Zeuxis, 
 were contemporary with the greatefl men and beft 
 writers of Greece, with Alexander, Socrates, De • 
 niollhenes, and Xenophon . The fame age which pro- 
 duced Raphael, Titian, Michael Angelo, alfo boafted 
 
 of 
 
jP A I N T I N G, 131 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 Proportion being the principal foun- 
 dation of defign, he who beft obferves it, 
 muft always be the beft mafter in this re- 
 fpedl: and it being neceflary to the forming 
 of a perfe6t body, to copy not only nature 
 but the antique, we muft be careful 
 that we do this with judgment, left we 
 ftiould imitate the worft parts, vvhilft we 
 think we are imitltihg the beft. We 
 have ah inftance of this, at prefent, in a 
 painter, who having obferved that the 
 
 of Ariofto, Bembo, &c. — Le Brun, whofe fame has 
 of all the modern painters mofl: nearly approached to 
 them, and Girardon, probably the greateil fculptor 
 lince the age of Clement VII. were contemporary 
 with Racine, Corneille, Boileau, Moliere, and 
 others the moft celebrated writers of France. This 
 may be afcribed to the ftridl connexion of the ele- 
 gant arts among themfelves ; to the mutual aiTiftance 
 they give to each other ; to the fimilarity of their 
 nature, fo that they all delight in the fame climate ; 
 ahd to the temper and genius of their patrons, which 
 foJ-bade to divide arts fo ftrongly united by nature. 
 
 K 2 antients, 
 
132 A DIALOGUr 6 » 
 
 atitients, for the moft part, dcfigned tHeir 
 figures light and flender, by too ftridb 
 an obedience to this cuftom, and exceed- 
 ing the juft bounds, has turned this, 
 which is a beauty, into a very ftriking 
 defeft. Others have accuftomed them-> 
 felves in painting of heads (efpecially of 
 women) to make long necks ; having ob- 
 ferved that the greateft part of the an- 
 tique piftures of Roman ladies have long 
 necks, and that fhort ones are generally 
 ungraceful ; but by giving into too great 
 a liberty, have made that which was in^ 
 their original pleafing, totally otherwife 
 in the copy, 
 
 F A B R I N r. 
 This advice is certainly jufti. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 Now we come to confider man in two- 
 different ways, either naked or cloathed* 
 If we reprefent him naked, we may do; 
 it after two different manners, mufcular or 
 
 delicate^. 
 
P A I N T I K a 133 
 
 .delicate. And here it is neceflaiy that 
 the painter preferve that propriety^' 
 Tvhich we treated of in fpeaking upon 
 Invention. If he is to reprefent Sampfon, 
 he muft not give him the foftnefs and de^i 
 licacy of Ganymede ; nor, if he is to paint 
 Ganymede, fhould he attempt to imitate 
 the nerves and robuftnefs of Sampfon. 
 So if he reprefents a child, he fliould give 
 3iim the members of a child : an old man 
 muft not refem<ble a youth, nor a youtk 
 
 * Beauty is abfolute or relative. Abfolute beauty 
 IS the perfedl form which we know by no other 
 term than the Belle Idee ; but relative beauty confids 
 ^entirely in propriety, and the confonance of parts 
 to parts, and of parts to the whole. It is in thrs 
 fenfe that the ingenious author of the Theorie des 
 J^entimens agreables^ fays, " La beaute fe diiFercncie 
 fuivant les differentes places que la Nature nous a 
 aflignees. Elle brille dans FHercule Farnefe de 
 meme que dans la Venus de Medicis elle fe mon- 
 tre jufques fur le front auftere et dans les rides da 
 Moyfe de Michel Ange. II y a -dans chaque age 
 et dans chaque fexe une forte de fleur attachee a 
 taute conformation favorable.'"*. 
 
 K 3 a child. 
 
134 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 a child. The fame propriety muft be ob- 
 ferved in a woman, diftinguifhing fex from 
 fex, and age from age, and giving the 
 charaderiftic marks by which they are 
 diftinguiflied from each other. Nor is it 
 only to different kinds of perfons that 
 diiferent figures and afpe6ts belong, but 
 eveil the fame perfons often vary accord- 
 ing to the circumftances of time, place, 
 &c. Thus Csefar requires different appear- 
 ances, being reprefented as conful, as a 
 captain, and as emperor. So alfo in re- 
 prefenting Hercules, the painter muft 
 conceive him in very different manners 
 when fighting Ant^us, bearing the 
 heavens, embracing Dejanira, or when 
 feeking for his Hylas. Yet all the 
 attitudes and aftions muft preferve the 
 charafteriflics of Hercules or of Ca^far, 
 though circumflantially different. I mufl 
 alfo enjoin, that there be no difcordance 
 in the fame body ; that is, that one part 
 fhould not be flefhy, 'and another lean^ 
 
 Qne 
 
PAINTING. 13s 
 
 one part mufcular, another delicate. It 
 is true, where the figure is reprefented 
 in any violent adtion, either as bearing a 
 heavy load, or moving an arm, &c. it 
 is neceffary that the mufcles fliould ftart 
 out more in the part laden or extended, 
 than in thofe parts which are at reft, but 
 not to an improper degree. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 As you have divided the nude into 
 mufcular and delicate, I wiflb you would 
 inform me which of the two is the mote 
 eftimable. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I ESTEEM the * delicate to be preferable 
 to the mufcular^ and the reafon is this; 
 
 * The beautiful is much more difHcult to execute 
 Ml a pidlure. The head of a delicate girl is much 
 more difficult than the head of an old man ; what- 
 ever is ftrongly marked being much eafier reprefented 
 than what is juftlv proportioned. J. 
 
 K 4 That 
 
136 A D lALO G U E ON 
 
 That it is a much more difficult art to re^ 
 prefent flefti than bone ; for in the latter 
 nothing more than hardnefs is neceffary,^ 
 but the former requires foftnefs and elafti.* 
 city, far the moft difficult part of paint- 
 ing ; infomuch that very few painters ever 
 knew, or do now know how to exprefs it 
 properly. He wha feeks to Ihew the 
 mufcles minutely, attempts to place the 
 bones in their proper places ; this is in- 
 deed praifeworthy : but he who paints the 
 delicate*, marks the bones where they 
 ought to be, but gives them a foft cover- 
 
 • It is a common error in painters to negleft the 
 ftudy of anatomy. By this negleft the bones of their 
 robuft figures are placed wrong, and thofe of tho, 
 delicate totally omitted. Richardfon juftly dired* 
 the painter, — — • that neither mull the naked be loft 
 in the drapery, nor too confpicuous. — Algarotti 
 lays down fome rules how far the painter fhould pro- 
 fecute the ftudy of anatomy, and recommends to him; 
 
 a treatife on the fubjeft by Bouchardon. Thp 
 
 Ihort Englifli work of Chefelden will be quite fufE,- 
 ^ient for his purpofe. 
 
PAINTING. 137 
 
 ing of flefh, and fills his nude with grace^ 
 If you fay, that in painting the nude it is 
 diftinguilhable whether the painter un- 
 derftands anatomy or no, (which is a very 
 neceflary part of the painter's knowledge, 
 fince without the bones he can neither 
 form nor cloath the man with flefh) I 
 anfwer, that the fiaie may be known by 
 the manner of lliewing them when fof- 
 tened ; and to conclude a genteel and 
 delicate nude, is infinitely more pleafing 
 to the eye than one which is robuft and 
 mufcular. I refer you to the works of 
 the antients, who ufed for the moil part 
 to make their figures extremely delicate. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Delicacy of members more properly 
 jpelongs to female than male figures. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 You are right : I iirtimated the fame 
 when I faid that care was to be taken not 
 
 to 
 
138 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 to confound the fcxes. Yet we find 
 many men who are comparatively deli- 
 cate, as in general are gentlemen, and 
 all who are not ufed to labour ; yet the 
 delicacy of their members is very dif- 
 ferent from that of Ladies or Ganymedes. 
 It is true, many painters give to their 
 ignorance the name of delicacy ; as there 
 are many who, not knowing the pofitlon 
 and conjunftion of the bones, make 
 fcarce any * mark where they ftand, but 
 produce their figures by little more than 
 the principal contours. 
 
 So, on the other hand, there are feveral 
 who by making them mufcular andftrong, 
 think to be efteemed Michael Angelo's 
 ?n defign, for which they are defpifed by 
 all men of tafte and judgment. As a 
 
 * Thus a virtuofo who was ignorant of anatomy, 
 mftruding a fcholar, advifed, where you do not 
 well know the mufcle, make it foft/' J. E. 
 
 painter 
 
PAINTING. 139 
 
 painter would be who fhould copy a 
 beautiful member of a figure from the 
 works of an antlent painter or Iculptor, 
 or from thofe of Michael Angelo, Ra- 
 phael, or Titian, or any other mafter, 
 but not knowing how to introduce it 
 properly, would give it as difagreeable 
 an effeft as an eye (though the moft 
 beautiful and elegant part of the body) 
 would have joined to an ear, or placed 
 in the middle of the forehead ; it being 
 abfolutely neceffary to the production of 
 a good eftedt, that every part Ihould not: 
 only be beautiful in itfelf, but alfo that it 
 be properly applied. 
 
 F A E R I N I. 
 Your obfervation is veryjuft. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 The next thing to be confidered is 
 Variety, which ought to be particularly 
 attended to by the painter, as a part fo 
 
 necef^ 
 
54t> A DIALOGUE ok 
 
 ^leceflary, that without it ev^n beauty and 
 art become fatiating. He fhould ftudy to 
 vary his heads^hands^feet^bodies, attitudes, 
 and every part * of the human figure ; 
 confidering that this is the greateft won- 
 der in nature, that among fo many mil- 
 lions of men, there are fcarcely to be 
 found two fo much alike a5 not to differ 
 very coiiUderably from each other. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Certainly an artift who does not vary 
 his figures, may with juflice be faid to be 
 
 * Non eadem formas fpecies non omnibus aetas, 
 iEqualis, fimilifque color crinefque figuris : 
 Nam, V'ariis velut orta plagis, gens difpare vultu; 
 
 DuFrefnoyy 1. i 23« 
 
 As alfo of groupes. 
 Inque figurarum cumulis non omnibus idem 
 Corporis inflexus motufque, vel artubus omnes 
 Converfis pariter non connitantur eodem ; 
 Bed quaedam in diverfa trahunt coiitraria membra^ 
 Tranfverfique aliis pugnent, et caetera frangant. 
 
 1. 137. 
 
 no 
 
P A INT I N G. 141^ 
 
 lio palnten This will hold good alfo witlv 
 regard to the poet. 
 
 A R E T r N, 
 
 But in this alfo we muft advife him 
 mt to run into excefs ; as there are fome 
 painters who, when they have painted a 
 youth, conftantly place an old man be- 
 fide him, or a child ; or a young girl by 
 an old woman : and having reprefenteci 
 one face in profile, they place another in 
 front, or with a fide-face. If they have- 
 placed one man with his back toward the 
 fpedlator, immediately they place another 
 with his face, and fo on I do not blame 
 this variety ; but I fay, that the office of 
 the painter being to imitate nature, it is 
 
 * Thefe precepts are excellent, and were di£lated 
 by a confummate mailer in all the finenefTes, and 
 mod delicate parts of the art. J. E, 
 
 I prefume he means Raphael, from obfervations 
 of whofe colleding Dolce is faid to have compiled 
 this vvork^ 
 
 not 
 
142 A DIALOGUE at^ 
 
 not neceffary that variety fhould feem to 
 be ftudioufly fought for, but obtained 
 by chance. Befides, he ought fometimes 
 to break in upon this order^ and to make 
 two or three of the fame age or fex, or 
 in the fame attitude, fo as he is but va- 
 rious in his facesj and properly diverfifies 
 the draperies. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 To the fame purpofc are thofe lines of 
 the judicious Horace in his Poetics. 
 
 Qui variare cupit rem prodigaliter unam, 
 Delphinam filvis appingit, fludibus aprum. 
 
 He who trlss 
 With ever varying wonders to furprife^ 
 In the broad forejl bids his dolphins play^ 
 And paints his boars difporting in the fea, 
 
 Francis.'" 
 
 A R E T 1 N. 
 
 It .remains to treat of Motion, a part 
 extremely neceffary, agreeable, and admi- 
 rable ^ 
 
P A I N- TING. 143; 
 
 !*al>re \ truly agreeable in itfelf, and won- 
 derful to the eye of the fpeftators, to fee 
 motion as it were communicated to aa 
 inanimate form reprefented in ftone, on 
 canvas, or in v/ood. But this motioa 
 lliould not be continual, or in all the 
 figures ; for men are not always in mo- 
 tion, nor fo violent as to feem outrageous. 
 The painter milft temper, vary, and 
 even fometimes leave his figures inaftivcj 
 according to the difi^erence and conditioa 
 of the fubjefts an elegant pofition being 
 frequently far more pleafing than a for* 
 ced and ill-timed motion. It is necefl^ary 
 alfo that all the fi.gurej Jhould be adapted 
 to the performance of their refpeftive of- 
 fices, as I have already rem.arked v/ith re- 
 Ipedt to invention. 
 
 Thus if one is to be drawing a fword, 
 the motion of the arm muft be bold and 
 ftrong, and the hand muft grafp the hilt 
 with force proper for the adlion. So alfo 
 
 it 
 
144 A DIALOGUE oM 
 
 if a figure is running, every part of th^ 
 body muft appear adapted to the adtion 
 of runnirig. If it is cloathed, the wind 
 muft fupport the drapery in a proper 
 manner. Thefe confiderations are very 
 important, but enter not into the minds 
 of the ignorant. 
 
 F A B R I NI, 
 
 Whoever will not adhere to thefe 
 rules, ought to defift from painting. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 We frequently fee in pidures whole 
 figures, or feme parti of them fore- 
 fhortened This Ihould never be done 
 
 * Forefhortening fhould be admitted but feldom. 
 Du Frefnoy reckons forefliortening among thofe 
 things that are to be avoided by the painter : 
 
 DifEciles fugito afpeflus, contradlaque vifa 
 Membra fub ingrato, motufque, a£tufque coados. 
 Avoid all odd afpcds or pofitions^ and all un- 
 graceful or forced actions and mouons." Shew no 
 
 padTts 
 
Painting. 145 
 
 Icvithout great judgment and difcretion. 
 Indeed, forefhortenings ought, in my 
 opinion, to be admitted but feldom, be- 
 caufe the more rare they are, the more 
 admiration they occafion ; and efpecially 
 when the painter, being confined with 
 relpedl to room, by means of this arc 
 makes a large figure ftand in a fmall fpace. 
 Sometimes, indeed^ he may ufe them to 
 fhew his knowledge of the art. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HAVE heard that forefliortening is 
 one of the principal difficulties of the art ; 
 and therefore I thought that he who of- 
 teneft introduced it in his works, merited 
 the moft applaufe. 
 
 A R E T J N. 
 
 You mull know, that the painter fhould 
 not feek for praife from one part only. 
 
 parts which are unpleafing to the fight, as all fore- 
 fhortenings naturally are. D a y d e n . 
 
146 A DIALOGUSl o i* 
 
 but from all thofe which abfolutely relajrit 
 to his art, and more particularly thofe 
 which give the higheft pleafure. Since 
 the principal bpfinefs of painting is to 
 pleafe, if thi^ end is not obtained, the 
 artift muft remain obfcure and un- 
 known. I do not mean fuch pleafure as 
 feeds the eyes of the vulgar, or fuch aa 
 ftrikes on the firfl fight of a pidture^ 
 but fuch as encreafes the oftener any 
 one returns to obferve it.~— The fame 
 is true with refpedt to the works of good 
 poets, who give the more pleafure the 
 oftener they arc read, and encreafe the 
 defire to read over again what has been 
 read before. Forefhortening is under- 
 ftood by few only, for which reafon it 
 pleafes only a few ; and even to thofe wha 
 do underftand it, it often appears rather 
 ^yearifome* than pleafing. I can fafely 
 
 * A figure to give pleafure mull fcem eafy, other- 
 wife the fpedlator feels a difagreeable fenfation. 
 This is far from being the eafe with forefhortened 
 
 figures^ 
 
PAINTING. 14; 
 
 affirm, that when they are well done they 
 deceive the fight of the fpe£tator, whd 
 thinks that part which is not above a 
 hand's length, is at its full proportion. 
 
 For example: Pliny fays, that 
 Apelles painted Alexander the Great, iii 
 the temple of Diana, at Ephefus, with a 
 thunderbolt in his hand, where it appear- 
 ed as if the finger was lifted up, and the 
 bolt was thrown out from the piilure. 
 This effeft Apelles could not have pro- 
 duced without the afTiftance of fdrefliort- 
 ening. But my opinion is, that, for the 
 reafons abovementioned, the painter 
 iliould not ftudioufly feek for occafions 
 to forefhorten, but ufe them rarely, that 
 they may not difturb the pleafure of the 
 fpe6tator. 
 
 jSgures, which generally appear uneafy. In that in- 
 eftimable coUe^lion of pidures the Cartoons of Ra- 
 phael, the pidlure which gives the leaft pleafure i$ 
 the Draught of Filhes, and that probably becaufe it 
 has the moft forelhortening in it. 
 
 L 2 FABRINL 
 
r48 A DIALOGUE oi^ 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 . If I was a painter, I fliould ufe them 
 very frequently, hoping to receive more 
 honour from that, than if I ufed them but 
 leldom. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 You are free-born, and may difpofe 
 your works as you think mofl agreeable ; 
 but I afTure you, a different courfe is 
 neceflary in order to be a mafterly pain- 
 ter. One fingle figure well forefhortened 
 Ihews that the painter, if he had pleafed, 
 could have foreftiortened all the figures. 
 As to the relievo which fhould be given 
 to the figures, I fhall fpeak of that when 
 I come to treat of colouring. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Without the afliftance of this part, 
 the figures appear as they really are, flat 
 and painted. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
P A I N T I N Go 149 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I HAVE made all the neceflary remarks 
 on the nude ; I iliall now treat of the 
 cloathed, but in few words, becaufe, in 
 obedience to propriety (as I obferved 
 before), the painter muft conform in 
 his habits to the cuftoms of nations and 
 conditions. Thus if a painter reprefents 
 an Apoftle, he muft not put him in a 
 fhort coat, nor reprefent a captain with 
 a robe with long fleeves. As to the 
 material of the draperies, the painter 
 fhould have regard to their quality ; for 
 the plaits in velvet are of one kind, thofe 
 in armozeen of another, and both differ 
 entirely from thofe of a thick cloth. It 
 is neceflary alfo to adapt the plaits to 
 their right places, in fuch manner as to 
 fhew the form of what is under them 
 
 * This precept mufl be underflood with modera- 
 tion. Some painters, by a defire of fhevvijig the figure 
 under the drapery, have made it too obvious, and 
 L 3 approached 
 
r^d A DIALOGUE on 
 
 They fhould turn in a proper and maf^ 
 terly manner, and not fo that the drapery 
 feem to adhere to the flefh. As too great 
 fcarcity of drapery makes the figure poor 
 ^nd ungraceful, fo a great many plaits 
 create confyfion ^5 and confequently dif- 
 
 spproached too nenrly the manner of ftatuaries, 
 who are neceffitated to make their draperies very 
 tkiit, that the work may not look heavy. But in 
 painting the artift muft confider the (luff. He 
 will in general find it better to chufe thofe fluffs 
 which will mark the form, than thofe which wilj 
 not ; as a flight filk in preference to a velvet, &c. 
 
 * The befl painters have thrown the draperies 
 generally into large plaits, with broad mafles of 
 light and ftiadow. According to the precepts of 
 the befl writers on the fubjefl, this pradice gives 
 a greatnefs and dignity to the figure. We may 
 fee an inllance of it in the celebrated pidure of St. 
 Peter preaching by Raphael, where the plaits of the 
 draperies are few and large, efpecially in the Apof- 
 tle's habit. Du Frefnoy has laid down the prin- 
 cipal rules reladve to draperies in thefe lines : 
 
 Lati ampli ; finus pannorum et nobilis ordo 
 Membra fequens, fuper latitantia, lumine et umbra 
 
 Exprimet^ 
 
 ♦ 
 
PAINTING. 151 
 
 pleafe the eye. It is neceffary, therefore, 
 to make ufe in this refped of that mean 
 which is mofl: to be commended in every 
 ching. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 The painter who cloaths his figures 
 well, certainly deferves great praife, 
 
 Exprlmet ; ille licet tranlverfiis faspe feratur 
 Et circumfufcs pannorum porrigat extra 
 Membra finus ; non contiguos, ipfifque figurse 
 Partibas impreflbs, quaft pannus adhsereat iliis ; 
 Sed modice expreflbs cum lumine fervet et umbri$. 
 " Let the Draperies be nobly fpread upon the bodyi 
 let the folds be large, and let them follow the order 
 of the parts, thnt they may be feen underneath by 
 means of the lights and lhadows, notwithftanding 
 that the parts fhould be often traverfed (or croffed) 
 by the flowing of the folds, which loofely encom- 
 pafs them, without fitting too ftrait upon them ; but 
 let them mark the parts which are under them, fo 
 as in fome manner to diftinguilh them, by the judi- 
 cious ordering of the lights and Ihadovys." 
 
 Pryd^n. 
 
 A R E T I N, 
 
I5S A DIALOGUE on 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I NOW proceed to confider Colouring i 
 of the importance of which thofe painters 
 are a fufficient example, v/ho have de- 
 ceived birds and horfes. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I DO not remember any inftance of 
 thefe deceits, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 It is well known that Zeuxis painted 
 fome grapes fo extremely like nature, 
 that the birds flew to them, taking them 
 to be real: and Apelles having fliewn 
 feveral horfes, painted by different mafters, 
 to fome living ones, they flood quiet, 
 without ihewing any figns of knowing 
 them to be horfes ; but prefently on his 
 Jfhewing them a pi6lure of his own, in 
 which there was a horfe painted by his 
 
 own 
 
PAINTING. 153 
 
 own hand, the horfes, immediately upon 
 feeing it, began to neigh *. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 A NOBLE teftimony of Apelles' excel- 
 lence ! 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 You muft alfo have read that Parrha- 
 fius, contending with Zeuxis, expofed to 
 
 * Thefe ftories are handed down to us by Pliny 
 (the xxxvth book of whole Natural Hiftory treats of 
 the arts). This pi6lure of the Horfe is faid to 
 have been done for a public certamen (difpute). 
 The prize had nearly been adjudged to his rival ; 
 on which fays Pliny, ad mutos quadrupedes pro- 
 vocavit ab hominibus," he appealed from men to 
 the judgment of mute animals ; and having fhcwa 
 the pi6lures to fome horfes, they gave tedimony to 
 the excellence of Apelles, by neighing when his 
 \yas produced. This great painter not only enrich- 
 ed the Vv'orld by the fineft performances his art 
 ever exhibited, but alfo by his writings, which weie 
 extant in the time of Pliny, but are fince loft. 
 
 public 
 
154 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 public view a painting in which nothing 
 was reprefented but a curtain, which 
 feemed to cover a piflure, fo extremely 
 agreeable to truth in its reprefentation, 
 that Zeuxis frequently defired that it 
 might be drawn afide, that he might fee 
 the pifture, believing the curtain to be 
 real : But afterwards difcovering his er- 
 ror, acknowledged himfelf outdone, as he 
 had only deceived birds, but Parrhafius 
 had deceived him, the mafter Vv^ho had 
 painted the deception. Protogenes being 
 defirous to reprefent the foam which 
 frothed out from the mouth of a horfe, 
 which he had painted as fatigued and 
 weary, after having attempted frequently 
 to attain to the refemblance by changing 
 his colours, at length defpairing of it, 
 jhrew the fpunge with which he cleaned 
 his pencils at the horfc's mouth, and 
 found chance had produced that erFe£l: 
 which he could not obtain by his art. 
 
 FABRINL 
 
PAINTING. 151 
 
 P A B R I N I. 
 
 This was no matter of praife to the 
 painter, but to chance. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 It ferves to flievv the vaft care which 
 the ancients employed that their works 
 fliould imitate nature juftly. And cer- 
 tainly colouring is of fuch importance 
 ^nd power, that when the painter Imi- 
 tates well the natural teints and foftnefs 
 of the flefli, and adds the propriety of 
 the fevcral parts, his paintings feem alive, 
 and as if nothing but breath was wanting 
 to them. The principal part of colour- 
 ing is the contrail between the light and 
 fhade, to which is added a middle teint, 
 which unites and blends one extreme 
 v/ith the other, and makes the figures 
 appear round, and more or lefs diftanr, 
 as is required ; for the painter muft take 
 care in the placing of theni not to breed 
 
 confufion. 
 
1.56 A DIALOGUE gn 
 
 confufion. In this part it is neceffary alfo 
 to have a thorough knowledge of per- 
 fpeftive^ to diminifli thofe objefts which 
 are dlftant. But the painter muft always 
 keep an attentive eye upon the telnts 
 and foftnefs of the fefn \ for there are 
 many vv^ho paint it fo, that it appears like 
 porphyry both in colour and hardnefs ; 
 and the lhades are too ftrong, and end 
 fometimes entirely black. Many make 
 them too white, others too red. For my 
 part, I v/ould prefer brownnefs to an im- 
 proper white ; and v/ould, for the moft 
 part, banifli from my pictures the vermi- 
 lion cheeks, and lips of coral, which 
 make the faces look more like man<:s 
 than nature. We read that a brown co- 
 louring was frequently ufed by Apelles ; 
 whence Propertius, in reprehending his 
 Cynthia, v/ho painted herfelf, fays, he 
 wifhes fhe would fnew that fimplicity and 
 purity of colouring Vv^hich is feen in the 
 paintings of Apelles. It is true, thefe 
 
 teints 
 
PAINTING. 15/ 
 
 teints ought to be varied, and the fexes, 
 ages, and other circumftances of the 
 figures, ought to be confidered: Sexes, as 
 in general the colour of the flefli of a 
 young girl dijffers from that of a young 
 man : Age, as the colour of the flefli 
 of an old man or woman is again different 
 from either of thefe : Circumftances, as 
 the fame colouring is not required in a 
 peafant as in a gentleman. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I THINK we have a notable inftance of 
 faulty colouring in a pifture of Lorenzo 
 Loto, which is in the Carmelite Church, 
 here in Venice. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 There are not wanting examples of 
 ■painters, who, if I was to mention it in 
 their company, would treat me with ridi- 
 cule. It is neceflary that the colours 
 fhould be tempered and united in fuch 
 
 a man - 
 
i58 A DIALOGUE 
 
 a manner as to reprefent nature, arid 
 that nothing Ihould remain ofFenfivc 
 of the eye. Such are liny contours, 
 which Ihould be avoided, (as they arc 
 not fo in Nature) and the blacknefs, 
 which I have already remarked, of 
 ftrong and difunited fhades. Thefe 
 lights and fhades judiciouQy placed make 
 the figures appear round, and give them 
 the relievo which is required of which 
 relievo thofe figures which are deprived, 
 appear, as you juilly obferved, painted, 
 becaufe the fuperficies remains apparently 
 plain. Whoever is mailer of this, is pof- 
 fefTed of one of the moft important parts 
 of his art. But the greateft difHculty iri 
 colouring is the imitation of the carnations^ 
 and the variety of teints and foftnefs. 
 It is alfo necefTary to know the colour of 
 the draperies, filks, gold, &c. with fuch pre- 
 cifion, that one may feem to fee the hardnefs 
 or foftnefs more or lefs, according to the 
 nature of the fluffy as alfo the fhinirig 
 
 of 
 
PAINTING. 159 
 
 of arms, the darknefs of night, the clear- 
 nefs of day, lightning, fire, water, earth, 
 ftones, grafs, trees, leaves, flowers, 
 fruits, houfes, cots, animals, and other 
 fuch things fo perfectly, that they may 
 ail appear natural, and not fatiate the eyes^ 
 of the fpeclator. And let no one think 
 the force of colouring confifts in the 
 choice of beautiful colours ; as fine 
 whites, beautiful azures, green, or the 
 like, for thefe are equally beautiful be- 
 fore they are made ufe of ; but in know- 
 ing how to manage them properly. I 
 know a painter in this city who could 
 imitate camblet perfedly well, but did 
 not know how to cloath a naked figure ; 
 fo that it always appeared not to be dra- 
 pery, but a piece of camblet thrown* 
 upon the figure by chance. Others, on- 
 the contrary, do not know how to imi- 
 tate the different teints of ftufi^s, but 
 only place the colours full as they are ; fo 
 
 that ' 
 
A DIALOGUE 
 
 that in their works nothing is praife-wof^ 
 thy but the colours themfelves. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 It appears to me, that in this a certain 
 negligence is neceffary, fo that there may 
 not be too ftudied a beauty of colouring, 
 nor the figures too highly finifhed, but 
 an agreeable temperance throughout. 
 For there are fome painters who finilli 
 their figures fo very highly, that they 
 appear painted^ and with fuch exa6t dref- 
 fes of the hair, that not a fingle one is 
 cut of its place. This is a fault, not a 
 beauty; becaufe it gives into affeftation, 
 which deprives every thing of grace. 
 Whence the judicious Petrarch, fpeaking 
 of the hair of his Laura, fays, 
 
 Negletto ad arte^ ennancllato et hirto : 
 In ortful negligence^ with eafy grace ^ 
 Her flowing hair in natural ringlets Jirays. 
 
 In 
 
PAINTING. 161 
 
 In like manner Horace advifes to banifh 
 from the poem all ambitious orna- 
 ments 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 It is above all things neceffary no avoid 
 too fcrupulous diligence, which is hurtful 
 in every work of art : whence Apelles 
 (if I miftake not) ufed to fay, that Pro- 
 togenes was equal, or perhaps fuperior, to 
 him in every part of painting but that 
 in one he ( Apelles) excelled him, which 
 was, that Protogenes never knew when to 
 leave a pidure. 
 
 * This precept may teach the painter to make a 
 fparing ufe of gold, gems, 8cc. according to the 
 words of our Poet : 
 Poets, like Painters, thus unfldll'd to trace 
 The naked nature, and the living grace, 
 With gold and jewels cover every part. 
 And hide with ornaments their want of art. 
 To fuch a one Apelles faid, Although you could 
 not makeher (a Venus) beautiful, you was refolved to 
 make her fine." *n ^.eipaxiov, n^-v^ jw,>} hjva,(xsv^ y()a^sa 
 ttccXyiv, TrXnjixv ?ri7roi>;>£a$." Vid. Cle, Alex. apud 
 Juniam, 
 
 M FABRINL 
 
i62 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 This fuperabundant diligence is equal- 
 ly hurtful to v/riters; for wherever la- 
 bour is difcoverable, there neceffarily is 
 hardnefs and affectation, which is always 
 wearifome to the reader. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 In fine, there is another part neceflary 
 to a good painter, without which a pic- 
 ture becomes cold, and like a dead body 
 which is totally inaftive. This is, that 
 the figures lliould aiTeft the minds of the 
 obfervers ; fome difturbing them *, others 
 
 * Omnls enim motus animi fuum quemdam a 
 natura habet vultum et fonum et geftum ■ 
 hi funt adori ut pidori expofiti ad variandum co- 
 lores. Cicero. 
 
 /SAsTren/ 'zc-^^ r^vxq ; EjW-olys SoytBt 'i^pri (Parrhafius) 
 %ViiBv TO y£ fjH(jLV}rov, Iv ToTq o^iJ^xaiv ; ^ £(p>7. E^r* 
 
 roi(; Tuv fihuy dyoi^oT; TQi,g KCcy-oT; o^wwj cot Sbxaa-ip 
 
PAINTING. 163 
 
 allaying that tumult ; fome moving them 
 to pity, others to difdain or wrath, ac- 
 cording to the nature of the hiftory re- 
 prefented ^ ; otherwife the painter may 
 fairly conclude he has done nothing; for this 
 is the grand refult of all his other excel- 
 
 sX^iv rcc TTPoa-uTTocy o*t rs (p^ovT]^ovTe<;, ot [jly] ; Moo All 
 ilukoTg o'KvvQ^cj'Sfo) yiyvovToci, OvK^Vy e^io xj rtxvToe. ^vva,rov 
 
 {Av xj TO ^syccKoTT^mii; ts xJ sT^zv^s^ioVf to 
 TocsTEWi/ TS >cj ccvsXsv^spoVf xj TO abf^^ovr^Tiy.of TS yJj (p^myLOv^ 
 y> TO v^firtKOP TS cctiJSipGKxXoyf hot TH TTpooruTrii hoc 
 TUP ayjfiiJLclTUV, ac&l Ictutuv zx) MvayLspcop dv^pu'mup hocOocUn, 
 AkYi^ri T^iysiq, £(p'/j. Ovy.By koc) rocvroe. yLiy^ViToiy act) (jlccKx 
 
 e(py). Socrates apud Xenoph. Lib. 3. cap. 10. 
 
 * It is from a long obfervation of Nature, and 
 the eftefts of the pafflons upon the face and geftares, 
 that the painter mufl obtain the art of expreffing 
 them in painting, and producing them in the fpec- 
 tator Every pafiionhas (as Socrates oberves to Par- 
 rhafius, in the palTage quoted above) its proper mode 
 of expreffion by the mufcles, but more particularly by 
 the eyes. Le Brun wrote a Treatife on the Paflions, 
 which can never be too much ftudied by the painter, 
 M 2 iencies. 
 
i64 A DIALOGUE OM 
 
 lencies. The fame may be obferved of 
 the Poet, the Hiftorian, and the Orator; 
 for if what they write or recite wants this 
 power, it is deftitute of all life and fpirit. 
 Nor can the painter poflibly affedt others, 
 unlefs before he begins his figures, he 
 himfelf feels thofe * paffions or afFeftions 
 
 * I remember to have read (I think in Mr. Addifon) 
 that Lully, the celebrated mufical compofer, could 
 never compofe till he had worked himfelf up into 
 the pafTion he meant to communicate to others, of 
 which he gives a remarkable inftance. 
 
 The pidlure muft receive the paflion (as Lully 's 
 compofition did) from the artift. The fpedator 
 muft there fee, as in a mirror, the foul of the artift 
 reprefented, and by that medium receive the paflion 
 himfelf. This part is, as Dolce juftly obferves, ne- 
 ceflary alfo for the poet, the hiftorian, and the ora- 
 tor. Of its vail power in afFedling the audience, 
 there never were perhaps in any age or country more 
 llriking inftances than in Mr. Garrick, and the late 
 inimitable Mrs. Pritchard. The former (particularly 
 for two or three of the laft feafons) is fo entirely the 
 charadler he reprefents, that the mind feels every 
 change of paflion, and is drawn on by a pleafing vio- 
 lence 
 
PAINTING. 165 
 
 which he would imprefs on their minds. 
 Hence our fo often quoted Horace fays. 
 If you would make me weep, you mufl: 
 firft weep yourfelf It is impoffible 
 that any one with a cold hand ftiould 
 
 lence to attribute reality to the well imitated fcene. 
 The latter probably felt more exquifitely, and com- 
 municated morejuftly the paflions and affedions in- 
 tended to be moved by the author, than any per- 
 former that ever appeared on any flage. She was 
 
 fo totally abforbed in her chara6ler, that without 
 any impetuofity of adion, or any ft age arts, by the 
 mere power of her own feelings and expreffion, fhe 
 enchanted the foul, and bent it to her will with a more 
 than magic fkill. It gives the higheft pleafure to 
 be able, by this fhort digrelTion, to pay a tribute for 
 the pleafure the tranflator has received from two per- 
 formers, one of whom we cannot prize too much, and 
 the other whom we can never fufiieiently lament 
 
 -r-" Niloriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes." Hor. 
 
 -f- — — Si vis me flere, dolendum eft 
 Primiim ipfi tibi ; tunc tua me infortunia laedent, 
 Telephe, vel Peleu : male fi mandata loqueris, 
 Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo. Ds A. P. J03. 
 
 M 3 burn 
 
i66 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 burn what he touches Dante has ad- 
 
 * The exprefiion of the paflions in painting, 
 (fays an ingenious and judicious writer) is intimately 
 conneded with fenfibility of foul, fidelity of organs, 
 and precifion of judgment/' (Watelet "Reflexions 
 fur la Feinture.^ It mufc therefore be the refult of a 
 great number of qualifications given by nature, and 
 improved by long ftudy and attention. The ftudent 
 who would apply himfelf to painting, muft examine 
 very impartially whether he has fuch an accuracy of 
 organ, and fenfibility of foul, as are neceffary for the 
 clear perception of the objedls around him, and to 
 intereft him in every event that occurs If he is not 
 poiTefred of thefe, he will very unjuflly blame his 
 fortune, or the partial tafte of his countrymen, if he 
 does not fucceed. If he is pofTefTed of them, he 
 mud apply himfelf with the moft unwearied ardour 
 to the obfcrvation of nature, ftudy every mifcle of 
 the human face and body, and every turn they are 
 capable of. The ftage will be peculiarly ufeful to 
 him ; it is the belt fchool for his obfervations, as the 
 pafiions are exactly reprefented there as they proceed 
 from a fenfible mind. In capitals they are too much 
 difguifed by fafliion, art, diiTimulation, and afteda- 
 tion, to be perceived with certainty, 
 
 admi- 
 
PAINTING. 167 
 
 mirably included this excellence of the 
 painter in thefe two lines : 
 
 Morti It morti^ e i vlvi par can vivu 
 Non vide J me* di me chi vide il vero. 
 
 And fjnce the arrival at the perfeftion of 
 paintings to which fo many concurrent 
 abilities are neceffary, is difficult and ar- 
 duous, it is a favour w^iich the liberality 
 of heaven has conferred but on a few ; 
 for, in truth, it is necelTary that the pain- 
 ter, as well as the poet, fhould be born 
 fo, and be the child of Nature. It is not 
 to be credited, (as I have often obferved) 
 that there fhould be one only certain 
 manner of painting well, begaufe as the 
 complexions and humours of men vary, 
 fo their manners mud neceflarily be dif- 
 ferent; and every one follows that to 
 which he is naturally inclined. Hence 
 different kinds of painters muft neceffarily 
 arife ; fome who fi:udy to give pleafure ; 
 others terrible: fome whofe works are 
 M 4 tender 
 
i68 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 tender and delicate ; others replete with 
 grandeur and majefty. We may obferve 
 the fame thing in hillorians, in poets, and 
 in orators: but of this we fhall fpeak a little 
 farther in the courfe of our work. For 
 the prefent, I lhall proceed to the compa- 
 rifon, on account of which this difcourfe 
 had its oris;in. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HAVE expedted you to come to it 
 fome time. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 The little which I have premifed, is 
 the fum of what relates to painting in 
 general. If you are defirous to know 
 farther particulars relative to the art, 
 you may read the little book written by 
 Leon Baptiila Alberti, which is well 
 tranflated (as are all his other works) 
 by M. Lodovico Domenichi and alfo 
 
 Vafari's 
 
PAINTING. 169 
 Vafari's book on the fame fub- 
 
 jea*. 
 
 * The recommendation of thefe two writers, 
 gives me an opportunity to advife every fludent in 
 painting, to beftow a little of his leifure-time to 
 the attainment of the Italian language, as he will 
 find the authors who have written in it extremely 
 ufeful to him, as he proceeds in his profelTion. The 
 labours of the Sieur Veneroni and Mr Baretti have 
 rendered it an acquilition of great facility. The 
 Italian writers excel as much in the theory, as their 
 artifts have done in the pradice of painting The 
 Lives of the Painters, by Vafari and Baldanacci the 
 Ripofo di Rafaelle Borghini ; the works of ZuccherOj, 
 and aim oft numberlefs other authors upon the art, 
 abound in obfervations which he will find daily ufe- 
 ful in pradice. The poets exceed probably thofe 
 of any other nation in pidurefque images and fcenes; 
 and although fome of them have made their appear- 
 ance in our language, yet there are many of the 
 firft rank left behind ; in particular the profound 
 Dante^ whofe ideas Michael Angelo found fo con- 
 genial to his own, that he filled the margin of his 
 copy of the Inferno with Iketches of the fcenes de- 
 fcribed by the poet. 
 
 FA B R I N I. 
 
jj7o^ A D I A L O G U E o 
 
 F A B R I N I . 
 
 What you have already faid feems ta 
 me quite finTicient, not only for perfeftly 
 j.udging, but even for paintipg, all that 
 remains confifring in exercife and prac- 
 tice. Among all that you have faid, two 
 things pleafe me highly ; the firft, that 
 piftures fliould afteft the fpedators ; the 
 oiher^ that the painter m.uft be born fo : for 
 vve fee many who have not been wanting 
 in induftry, and have wearied themfelves 
 long in drav/ing from relievos and from 
 life, and yet could never exceed medio- 
 crity. Others who have fhewn the moft 
 promifing beginnings for fome time, an4 
 have exceeded their contemporaries under 
 the conduft of Nature, being afterwards 
 dcfened by her have gone backwards^ 
 ?d\d iiicceedcd in nothing. Whence one 
 may iuftly apply to this purpofe, thefe 
 fentcntious lines of Ariofto, with the 
 change of tv/o v/ords : 
 
 Sono 
 
P A I N T I N G. i7t 
 
 Sono I poeti et i piitiri pochi ; 
 Pittori che non ftan del norm inde-mi. 
 
 Poets and painters feiv vje jufly name^ 
 For few their honours can vjitb jujiice claim. 
 
 But with refpeft to aixecting the paiTioas, 
 I have feen few piftures here in Venice, 
 excepting thofe of Titian, which pro- 
 duce that efteft. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Upon recollefting, therefore, all the 
 parts which are required in a good pain- 
 ter, we fhall find that Michael Angelo 
 pofleffes one alone, Defign ; and that 
 Raphael pofleffes them all, or at leaft (as 
 a man cannot attain the independence of 
 a God, to whom nothing is wanting) the 
 greater part; and if he was deficient in 
 any, it was fuch as was of little mo- 
 ment. 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 To the proof. 
 
 ARETIN. 
 
172 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 First, as to Invention, whoever pays 
 good attention, and minutely confiders the 
 paintings of one and the other, will find 
 Raphael to have moH: admirably obferved 
 every thing relative to this part, and Mi- 
 chael Angelo little or nothing. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 This feems to me a great partiality in 
 the parallel. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I SAY nothing more than truth: Hear 
 me with patience. To leave apart all 
 that refpefts the Hiftory (in which Ra- 
 phael imitated the writers in fuch a man- 
 ner, that frequently the judgment of the 
 obferver is led to believe that the pain- 
 ter has reprefented things more juftly 
 in his piftures than they in their writ- 
 ings, or at leaft was on equal terms with 
 
 them), 
 
I 
 
 PAINTING. 173 
 
 them), and proceeding to Propriety, 
 from this Raphael never departed, but 
 made his children really children that 
 is foft and tender, his men robuft, and 
 his women with that delicacy which be- 
 longs to their fex. 
 
 * In his own time Titian far exceeded him in 
 the tender, and afterwards Francis Du Qwefnoi, 
 furnamed the Fleming. J. E. 
 
 It feems odd the Italian editor fhould compare 
 Fiamingo, who was a fculptor, to Michael Angelo, 
 where he is fpoken of as a painter. Fiamiiigo's 
 principal excellence was in boys, and the delicate. 
 He had the art of foftening and vivifying his marble 
 to a furprizing degree. In the cathedral church at 
 Ghent, there is a monument done by him for Bifhop 
 Triefte, which is extremely fine : the weeping boys 
 do not yield even to thofe on Cardinal Richlieu's 
 monument at the Sorbonne. Winckelman fays, Mi- 
 chael Angelo attained the antique ; but only in 
 ftrong mufcular figures, heroic frames ; not in thofe 
 of tender youth, nor in female bodies, which under 
 his bold hand grew Amazons." 
 
 Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks , p. 23. 
 
 FABRINI. 
 
'74 
 
 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Has not the great Michael Angelo alfo 
 prefcrved this propriety ? 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 If I would pleafe you, and his other 
 favourers, I fhould fay yes ; but if I am 
 to fpeak truth, I muft fay no: for al- 
 though we may obferve in the piftures 
 of Michael Angelo, the general diftihc- 
 tions of age and lex (which every 
 painter knows), yet you cannot find 
 it in the diftribution of the mufcles. I 
 fliall not ftop to examine his particular 
 works, both through the refpedl I bear 
 him, and which ought to be had to fuch 
 a man, as aifo becaufe it is unnecelTary. 
 But what tlunk you v/ith regard to 
 modefty ? Does it appear to you proper 
 that the painter, for the fake of fliewing 
 the difficulties of the art, fhould exhibit 
 
 what 
 
PAINTING. 1,75 
 
 whatfhame and mcdefly conceal, without 
 any regard either to the fandity of the 
 perfons whom he reprefents, or to the 
 place where they are painted *? 
 
 * One gre-at ufe of the police arts is to {often the 
 
 minds and purify the morals of manl^ind. That 
 
 painting in particular has had this effed, both in 
 Itimulating the mind to virtue, and deterring it from 
 vice, hiftory informs us. But like thofe medica- 
 ments which when properly applied reiiore the con- 
 Hitution to, or prcfcive it in, health, yet v/hen wrong- 
 ly adminiftered deflroy it ; fo thofe arts which when 
 ■applied to the cultivation of virtue, are mod effica- 
 cious in purifying and exalting the mind^ if they 
 are wrenched to the purpofes of vice, tend the mail 
 diredlly to fully and debafe it to a rank below that 
 
 of beafls. Propertius fays, to wh?t purpofe did 
 
 they eredl temples to Challity in Rome, Vv'hen pri- 
 vate houfes were permitted to contain inducems!2ts 
 to vice ? He elegantly exclaims againfl the perni- 
 cious cuftora : 
 
 Quae manus obfcacnas depinxit prima tabellas, 
 
 Et pofuit cafla turpia vifa domo : 
 Ilia puellarum ingenues corrupic ocellos, 
 
 Ne^uitiacque fu^e noluit effe rudes. 
 
 Ah 
 
176 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 You are too rigid and fcrupulous. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Who will be daring enough to affirm 
 that it is proper, that in Rome, in the 
 church of St. Peter, the chief of the 
 apoftles ; in Rome, where all the world 
 affembles, in the chapel of that high 
 prieft, who (as Bembo fays) is the repre- 
 fentative of God upon earth, figures 
 fliould be feen, who immodeftly difcover 
 what decency conceals ? A thing, in truth, 
 (fpeaking with fubmiffion) utterly un- 
 
 Ah ? gem at in terris ifla qui protulit arte 
 Jurgia fub tacita condita lastitia. 
 
 He concludes, that the only fecurity is in purity of 
 mind ; that loft, no tie remains. 
 
 —-nihil invitae triftis cuftodia prodeft 
 
 Quam peccare pudet Cynthia tuta fat eft. 
 
 Eleg, lib. II. E. 5. ver. 219, ^-c. 
 
 worthy 
 
PAINTING- 177 
 
 worthy of that moft holy place *• The 
 laws prohibit the printing of immodeft 
 books : how much more flionld they pro- 
 hibit fuch pidures f ? Does it appear 
 
 * L'Abbe de Marfy, alluding to this pi£lure of 
 the Laft Judgment, in his Latin Poem upon Paint- 
 ing, has the following beautiful linei. 
 Hinc adeo Italici culpata audacia quondam 
 Artificis, pingens qui mundi extrema ruentis 
 Funera, et ultrices venturi judicis iras, 
 Larvarum omnigenas fpecies et ludicra miris 
 induxit portenta modis, Stygiafque forores, 
 Infernumque fenem conto fimulacra cientem. 
 Et vada caeruleis fulcantem livida remis. 
 Obfcsenas etiam effigies et lubrica paffim 
 Objeftare oculis monftra indignantibus aufusi , 
 Horruit afpedu pietas, veftigia torfit 
 Relligio, ingenuus deflexit lumina Candor, 
 Et Pudor averfos texit velamine vultus/' 
 
 t According to Horace's obfervation : 
 Segnius irritant animos demifla per aurem, 
 Quam quae funt oculis fubjefta fidelibus , " - » 
 
 What we hear 
 With weaker paffion will affedthe heart. 
 Than when the faithful eye beholds the part* 
 
 J, P. i8#, 
 
 N to 
 
178 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 to you, that they excite the mind to 
 devotion ? or raife it to the contem- 
 plation of divine fubjefts ? But let us 
 yield to Michael Angelo on account of 
 his great merit, what we jOhould not al- 
 low to any one elfe But let us alfo 
 freely fpeak truth : If that is not permit- 
 ted, I would I had not faid this, becaufe 
 I do not fay it for the fake of carping at 
 his merits, nor to make a vain parade of 
 extraordinary knowledge. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 The eyes of fome perfons, my friend, 
 are uncorrupt and unofFended by feeing 
 natural objefts. Thofe which are infirm 
 fee nothing with ajuft mind; and you 
 may with truth fuppofe, that if this were 
 really fo bad an example as you think it, 
 
 * Aretln might obferve of Michael Angelo, as 
 Pliny does of an antient artiil, ** Fuit celeber nifi 
 flagitio inligni corrupifTet artem : He was famous, 
 had he not corrupted his ait by his excelTive flagi- 
 tioufnefs." 
 
 it 
 
PAINTING. 179 
 
 It would not be fufFered. But as you 
 weigh thefe things with the feverity of a 
 Socrates, I afk you, Whether you think that 
 Raphael afted confiftently with modefty 
 when he defigned, and caufed to be en- 
 graved by Marc Antonio, thofe men and 
 women in loofe and immodeft embraces ? 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I MIGHT anfwertoyou, that Raphael 
 was not the inventor of it, but Julio Ro- 
 mano, his difciple and heir. But allow- 
 ing that he had defigned the whole or 
 part of it, he did not expofe it in the 
 public fquares, or in the churches ; but 
 they came by chance into the hands of 
 Marc Antonio, who for his own profit 
 engraved them for Bavier; and Marc 
 Antonio, if I had not interpofed, would 
 have met with a punifhment from Pope 
 Leo v/orthy his deferts 
 
 * This place deferves elucidation ; for thefe de- 
 figns (as appears from the befl authorities) feem to 
 have been made by J. Romano for Aretin. The 
 N 2 verfe* 
 
i8o A DIALOGUE oif 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 This is merely a covering. of fine fugar 
 over aloes. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 I DO not vary in the leaft from truths 
 nor is it utterly prohibited to the painter 
 Ibmetimes to do fuch things by way of 
 paftime ; as fome of the antient poets tri- 
 fled lafcivioufly for Mecenas's diverfion 
 upon the image of Priapus, to celebrate 
 
 verfes under the above prints are written by him, 
 and feem placed there to raife vicious ideas. And 
 here Dolce makes him fay, that if he had not ufed 
 his intereft in favour of Marc Antonio, he would 
 have been punifhed. Among the Letters of Aretin, 
 there is one direded to Clement the Seventh, which 
 does not confirm what we find here. J. E. 
 
 Julio Romano would have been put to death by 
 the Pope, if he had not fled to Mantua, according 
 to Lamotte, as quoted by Beyer in his Memorial 
 Lib. rar. who informs us, that thefe Sonnets, fixteen 
 in number, were tranllated into Latin by Bernh. Mo- 
 iieta, and added thefe lines under the head of Aretin : 
 Excudit Veneres Marcus quas Julius ante 
 
 rinxerxt : Haac fcribens vicit utr.umque Petrus 
 
 that 
 
P A I K T I N G. i8i 
 
 that minifter's gardens*. But in public^ 
 cfpecially in facred places, and on divine 
 fubjefts, modefty fhould always be re- 
 garded : and it would be much better 
 that thefe figures had been more modeft, 
 even if they had been lefs perfed in de- 
 iign, than as we fee them moft perfedl, 
 but moft immodeft. But the virtuous 
 Raphael always obferved this modefty in 
 all his works ; infomuch that though he 
 generally gave to his figures a foft and 
 elegant air, which charmed and inflamed 
 the mind ; neverthelefs, in the faces of 
 •his faints, and particularly of the Virgin 
 Mother of our Lord, he always obferved 
 I know not what of lanftity and divinity, 
 (and not only in the faces, but alfo in all 
 their motions) which feems to reprefs 
 every vicious thought in the fpedlator's 
 mind. Wherefore in this part of inven- 
 tion, both with regard to the hiftory and 
 rto propriety, Raphael is fnperior. 
 
 * T© the great dilhonour of himfelf and his art^ 
 Horace is among this number. 
 
 N 3 PAJBRINI, 
 
l82 
 
 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I DO not know that Michael Angelo 
 yields to Raphael for the compofition of 
 hiftory ; on the contrary, I hold the op- 
 pofite opinion, that he far exceeds him. 
 For I dare aver, that in the order of 
 his ftupendous Judgment many moft 
 profound allegorical fentiments are con- 
 tained, which are underftood by only 
 a few, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 In this he might merit praife, as imi- 
 tating thofe great philofophers who hid 
 under the veil of poetry the greateft myf- 
 teries of human and divine philofophy, 
 that they might not be underftood by 
 the vulgar, becaufe they would not caft 
 their pearl before fwine. And this I 
 would believe to be the meaning of Mi- 
 chael Angelo, were there not fome 
 
 things 
 
PAINTING. 183 
 
 things in that Judgment quite ridi- 
 culous. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 What are they ? 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Is it not ridiculous to reprefent among 
 the multitude of blelTcd fouls in heaven, 
 fome tenderly kiffing each other, when 
 they ought to be intent, with their minds 
 fixed in contemplation of the Divinity, 
 and of the future fentence ; efpecially in 
 fo terrible a day as Vv^e vead and un- 
 doubtedly believe the day of judgment 
 to be ; of which holy fcripture fays, that 
 it fliall ftupify death and nature, when 
 all mankind fhall arife, and give an ac- 
 count of their good and evil adions done 
 in this life, to the Eternal Judge of all 
 thing ? sBefides, what myfticai fenfe can 
 be hidden by painting Chrifl beardlefs ? 
 or to fee a Devil with his hand grafped 
 N 4 round 
 
i84 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 round the thigh of a large figure which 
 he is pulling down, and whofe pain is fo 
 great, that he gnaws his finger ? Do not 
 for goodnefs-fake make me proceed far- 
 ther on this fubjeft, left it fliould feem 
 that I fpeak ill of a man by others 
 efteemed divine 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I REPEAT to you that his invention is 
 moft ingenious, and underftood by few, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 It does not appear to me very proper, 
 that the eyes of children, of matrons, and 
 
 * Equally abfurd are the allegorical figures of 
 other mafters. — The reader may fee the abfurdi^ 
 ties of Ripa, Otho Venius, and Rubens, pointed 
 out in Mr. Spence's Polymetis, That excellent judge 
 fays, Even Raphael himfelf, the divine Raphael, 
 is not without faults in the allegorical part of his 
 painting." 
 
 \id^ Poljmfis, p. 293. 5^c. fol. 17^7* 
 
 of 
 
PAINTING. i8s 
 
 of virgins, fhould openly behold thofe im- 
 modeft parts which they difcover ; and that 
 the learned alone fhould underftand that 
 depth of allegory which they conceaL 
 But I may fay of him what a learned and 
 holy man is reported to have faid of Per- 
 fius the fatiric poet, who is beyond all 
 meafure obfcure: " If you are not willing 
 to be underftood, neither v/ill I under- 
 ftand you and with thefe words threw 
 his book into the fire, making him a 
 proper facrifice to Vulcan. So I may fay, 
 thatfmce Michael Angelo is not defirous 
 that his inventions fhould be underftood 
 by any except the few learned ; I, who am 
 not one of thofe few learned, fhall leave 
 his thoughts to himfelf. We have con- 
 fidered Michael Angelo in facred hifto- 
 ry : Let us a little confider Raphael in 
 profane ; for when we find him moft 
 accurate and modeft in this, we may 
 conceive that he is not lefs fo in the other. 
 
 FABRINI. 
 
i86 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HEAR you, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I DO not know whether you have 
 feen at our friend Dolce's, the pidure 
 of Roxana painted by Raphael, v/hich 
 has been fince engraved on copper. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 I DO not remember it. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 It is a pi6ture in which is reprefented 
 the coronation of Roxana, who being a 
 moft: beautiful woman, was much be- 
 loved by Alexander the Great. Alexan- 
 der is likewife reprefented in the pifture 
 {landing near Roxana, and prefenting 
 the crown to her and fhe fits on one 
 fide of a bed in a timid and reverential 
 
 attitude. 
 
PAINTING. 187 
 
 attitude, entirely naked, except that, 
 for the fake of modefty, a flight dra- 
 pery is thrown over her'*. It is im- 
 poflible to conceive an air more gentle, 
 or a body more delicate, with a proper 
 fulnefs of flefli, and a ftature not too 
 long, but with an agreeable eafe. There 
 is a naked boy with v/ings undreffing her 
 feet ; another above arranges her hair : 
 a little farther off there is a youth en- 
 tirely naked, who points out Roxana to 
 Alexander with his finger, as inviting 
 him to the /facrifices of Venus or Juno ; 
 and alfo a man bearing a torch. In ano- 
 ther part there is a groupe of children, 
 fome of which bear the fliield of Alex- 
 
 * 1 have feen the defign here mentioned : it is 
 now at Paris. There are two; one is in red crayon, 
 in which the figures are all naked ; the other in 
 water colour, which is here mentioned. Roxana 
 is fifting on a bed. Thefe defigns have been en- 
 graved fome time fmce. They are by Raphael, ex- 
 tremely beautiful, and formerly belonged to Ru- 
 bens. J. E. 
 
 ftnder, 
 
1-88 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 ander, (hewing a fatigue and force agreic- 
 abk to their age, and another bearing 
 his lance. There is a third, who having 
 got on his cuirafs, not being able to fup- 
 port its weight, has fallen down and 
 feems crying. All thefe figures have 
 the moft elegant airs, and various atti- 
 tudes. In this compofition Raphael has 
 preferved hiftory, propriety, and mo- 
 4efty : and befides this (as a mute Poet,) 
 he has from his own conceptions ima- 
 gined Hymen and the Boys. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I THINK I have read this invention in 
 J^ucian *. 
 
 * The pi6lure defcribed by Luclan was exhibited 
 at the Olympic Games. Pronexenides was fo much 
 pleafcd with it, that he gave the painter his daughter 
 in marriage. Vide Liician Zeuxis et Du Bos Refiex. 
 Cr, vol. L p. 398. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
P A I N T I N 1S9 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Be that as it may, it is fo happily ex- 
 preflcd, that it would feem doubtful whe- 
 ther Raphael had taken it from the 
 works of Lucian, or Lucian from the 
 pifture of Raphael, had not Lucian lived 
 fome ages before. But what of that ? 
 So Virgil defcribed his Laocoon, fuch as 
 he had before feen him, in the ftatue 
 formed by three Rhodian artifts, which 
 now is feen in Rome, the wonder of 
 every one *. The liberty is mutual, that 
 
 * The Laocoon here mentioned is in a court of 
 the Belvedere Garden, and is juftly efteemed one of 
 
 the fineft remains we have of the antients. It 
 
 was in the houfe of the emperor Titus^ Pliny 
 
 gives it the charaJler of '* opus omnibus pidura^ et 
 ftatuaris artis prasferendum ; a work to be preferred 
 to all the produdions of painting and fculpture 
 and tells us it was done by Agefander, Polydorus, 
 and Athenodorus, three Rhodians, whom he Riles, 
 
 fummi artifices, moft excellent artifts/' Winck- 
 elman, in his excellent Reflexions on the Painting 
 
 and 
 
190 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 painters frequently receive their ideas 
 from the poets, and poets from the pain- 
 ters. The fame may be faid of his 
 
 and Sculpture of the Greeks, fpeaking of the noble 
 fimplicity and fedate grandeur of the Greek ftatues, 
 fays, " As the bottom of the fea lies peaceful be- 
 neath a foaming furface, a great foul lies fedate be- 
 neath the ftrife of pafHons in Greek figures. In 
 
 the face of Laocoon this foul fhines with full luflre, 
 not confined to the face, however, amidft the moll 
 violent fufFerings ; pangs piercing every mufcle, every 
 labouring nerve ; pangs which we almoft feel our- 
 felves while we confider ■ not the face, nor the 
 
 moft exprelTive parts, only the belly contracted 
 
 by excruciating pains : thefe^ however, I fay, exert 
 not themfelves with violence either in the face or 
 geilure. He pierces not heaven like the Laocoon 
 of Virgil ; his mouth is rather opened to difcharge 
 an anxious over-loaded groan, as Sadclet fays. The 
 ftruggling boys and the fupporting mind exert 
 themfelves with equal ftrength, nay balance all the 
 frame. Laocoon fufFers, but IbfFers like the Philoctetes 
 of Sophocles ; we weeping feel his pains, but wifh 
 
 for the hero's ftrength to fupport his mifery,'' 
 
 Winchlman, p. 30. See alfo the Mo7iumem de Rome^ 
 p. 240. 
 
 Gala- 
 
PAINTING. 191 
 
 Galatea*, which contends with Pollti- 
 an's beautiful poem, and of many other 
 of his elegant inventions. But it would 
 make my difcourfe too long ; and you may 
 have feen them at feveral times, and can 
 fee them whenever you pleafe in Rome; 
 leaving apart the number of beautiful 
 
 * This beautiful Galatea is in the palace of 
 Aguftin Ghigi, built at Rome a la Longare, fince 
 called the Little Farnefe. There is aho in this palace 
 the ftory of Pfyche by Raphael, part of which was 
 painted from his defigns by his fcholars, as are moil 
 of the works of this mafter. Several of thefe pic- 
 tures, which were damaged, have been repaired by 
 Carlo Maratti. J, E. 
 
 This is the pidure he did for Count Cadiglione. — 
 He was employed upon it when he v/rote the letter 
 from which a part is quoted, p. 110. 
 
 Raguenet fays of it, " La Galathee efl le corps de 
 femme le mieux fait qu'ait jamais peint Raphael d' 
 Urbin ; les Contours en font d'une elegance et d'une 
 douceur charmantes ; et Ton peut hardiment le mec- 
 tre en parallele avec celui de la Venus de Medicis, 
 qui efl le plus parfait qui foit dans le monde," 
 Momimem llonigj p. 102. 
 
 defigns 
 
ig2 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 defigns of his engraved by the no left 
 fkilful than diligent Marc Antonio 
 and thofe alfo in the pofleflion of different 
 perfons, which are almoft innumerable ; 
 
 t Although the prefent age cannot contend with 
 that of Raphael and Michael Angelo in excellence 
 of painting, Engraving, an art which approaches 
 the nearefl to it, and perpetuates and difTeminates 
 the works of the beft artifts, has certainly received 
 vaft improvements within thefe very few years. 
 The works of Marc Antonio and Augullin, often 
 mentioned in this work, would gain little honour, 
 compared with thofe of Mr. Strange, and feveral 
 other excellent engravers at London ; or Bouchier 
 at Paris. To thefe may be added, though in a dif- 
 ferent fphere of engraving, the admirable Cavaliere 
 Piranefe at Rome. A late judicious writer on prints 
 fays : Marc Antonio and Auguftin of Venice are 
 both celebrated, and have handed down to us many 
 engravings from the works of Raphael: but their An^ 
 TiQuiTY, not their Merit, feems to have recom- 
 mended them. Their execution is harfti and formal 
 to the laft degree ; and if their prints give us any 
 idea of the works of Raphael, we may well wonder^ 
 as Picart obferves, how that mafter got his reputa- 
 tion," EJay 071 Prints y P» 77' 
 
 a ftriking 
 
PAINTING. 193 
 
 a ftrikina; evidence of the fercilitv of his 
 genius, in all of which are admirable in- 
 ventions, with all the circumftances which 
 I have mentioned to you. And on facred 
 fubjefts, the pidure of St. Cecilia, 
 inventrefs of the organ, which is in the 
 church of St. John of the Mountain, at Bo- 
 logna, may fuffice, and that of the * Trans- 
 
 * This was his lad work, and is faid to be all of 
 his own hand, except fome fmall part which was 
 left unfinilTied at his death, and was compleated by 
 Julio Romano. J. E. 
 
 Ragu€net, in his Monu?riens de Rome, fpeaklng 
 of this pidure, fays, II y a ceci de particulier qu'on 
 n'y voit rien qui furprenne, r\'ayant aucun de cei^ 
 traits eblouilTans, qui fe font admirer au premier 
 afpedl par tous ceux qui les regardent ; mais que 
 plus on a d'intelligencc dans Tart dela peinture plus 
 on y decouvre de^ beautes, qui font avouer tous les 
 connoifTeurs que cet ouvrage ell non feulement le^ 
 chef d'ceuvre de Rafael, d'Urbin, mais encore le 
 triomphe mefmc de la peinture." P. 162, But not- 
 withftanding the univerfal admiration of the con- 
 noifTeurs, an Engli(h writer has been hardy enough 
 to point ou: a defect. O divine Raphael ! (fays 
 O he) 
 
194 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 figuration of Chrift upon Mount Tabor, 
 which is in St. Peter Montorio's church 
 
 he) forgive me if I take the liberty to fay, I cannot 
 approve in this particular (unity of adion) of that 
 amazing pidure of the Transfiguration, where the 
 incidental adion of the man's bringing his fon pof- 
 fefTed with the dumb devil to the difciples, and 
 their not being able to cad him out, is made at lead 
 as confpicuous and as much a principal adion, as 
 that of the Transfiguration.'* Richard/on* s Theory of 
 Painting, p. 60. Raphael feems to have forefeen fuch 
 a critique upon his work, by hi? attempting to unite 
 the two adlions of his pidure together, by making 
 one of the difciples point up to the mountain, and 
 directing the attention of the child's mother to the W2y 
 
 his mafler was gone. But notwithllanding this, it 
 
 muft be acknowledged the two parts of the pidure 
 are fo much detached, as to dedroy that tvcrwo'jTTo^ 
 (as Ariftotle calls it) that eafinefs of fight, that one 
 united view and unity of adlion, which is as necef- 
 fary to a perfefl pidure, as the ev(jLv'/i[ji.o}i£vlov (which 
 implies an unity of adion alfo) of the fame writer 
 is to the perfedion of the Epos. But we muft 
 prefer the fublime Demofthenes, though with many 
 and great faults, (as Longinus teaches us) to the 
 cold, regular, and faultlefs Hyperides. 
 
 We 
 
PAINTING. I9S 
 
 in Rome ; without mentioning an infinite 
 number of pidures which may be feen 
 
 We mud add to the length of this note a remark, 
 that the above is almoft a fingle inftance of a want 
 of unity in the adion of Raphael's pidlures. ■ ■ 
 That great niafter was in general remarkably free 
 
 from this fault. There is a noble fimplicity in 
 
 his 'works, fuperior to thofe of any other artift. — — ■ 
 For inftance, we need go no farther than the Cartoons 
 of St Paul at Athens, and the giving the keys. In 
 the former, all the figures are in difFerent gradation* 
 fubfervient to that of St. Paul, and all join to make 
 one perfed whole, and every one of a charader 
 Urongly marked, and difFcTent from one another ; 
 as has been remarked by Du Bos, and the Bifhop 
 of Gloucefter, in a note on Mr. Pope's Ufe of 
 Riches, which well deferves the confideration of all 
 who would wi(h fully to perceive the cefign and 
 
 merit of the artift. Tn the latter, the figures all 
 
 tend to one point ; each of the apoftle's charadlers is 
 ftrongly marked ; and every part of the picture is 
 fo fully united with every other part, that none 
 could be omitted without hurting the whole ; fo 
 great a mailer of poetry was this celebrated artift. 
 
 But fometimes d'jr?nliat bonus Homerus, even 
 
 Homer himfelf nods. 
 
 O 2 throughout 
 
19^ A DIALOGUE on 
 
 throughout Italy, all beautiful, and truly 
 divine, 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HAVE, indeed, feen many works of 
 Raphael in Rome and other places ; and 
 I affure you, I efteem them alm.ofl mi- 
 raculous, and for invention, equal if not 
 fuperior : but in defign, how can you 
 compare him to Michael Angelo ? 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I WILL always leave you, Fabrini, in 
 full poffefiion of your own opinion, not 
 being able to do otherwife, fince reafon 
 has not the power of conviftion to all. 
 This arifes either from obftinacy, igno- 
 rance, or aife61i:on. In you, whofe good 
 fenfe excludes the two former caufes, the 
 third takes place, which is a pardonable 
 defeft, and, as 1 before faid, 
 
 SpeJ/o occhio ben fan fa veder tor to. 
 ^often turns afcant the niceft eye. 
 
 But 
 
PAINTING, 197 
 
 But as to defign, which is the fecond part^ 
 fince we muft confider man naked and 
 cloathed, I agree with you, that in the 
 nude Michael Angelo is ftupendous, 
 truly miraculous, and more than hu- 
 man. No mafter ever excelled him. But 
 only in one fpecies, viz. a mufcular body 
 ftrongly marked with violent forefhorten- 
 ings and adtion, which fhew every diffi- 
 culty of the art, and every part of the 
 body; in thefe he has fuch excellence, 
 that I dare affirm, not only no mafter can 
 execute, but even that none can conceive 
 any thing more perfed. But in every 
 other fpecies, he is not only inferior to 
 himfelf, but even to others ; becaufe he 
 either does not know, or will not obferve 
 thofe differences between ages and fexes, 
 which are mentioned above, and in which 
 Raphael is fo admirable. To conclude, 
 whoever fees one figure of Michael 
 Angelo's, fees all. But we muft ob- 
 ferve, that Michael Angelo, in t^e nude, 
 O ^ has 
 
198 A D I ALOGUE ON 
 
 has taken the more violent parts, and fuch 
 as are moft (Irongly marked, and Ra- 
 phael has taken the pleafing and grace- 
 ful : Whence fome have compared Mi- 
 chael Angelo to Dante, and Raphael to 
 Petrarca. 
 
 F A B R I NI, 
 
 Do not feek to bewilder me in fuch 
 comparifons, though they make for my 
 caufe ; for in Dante there is wifdom and 
 learning, in Petrarca only elegance of 
 flyle and poetical ornaments. I remem- 
 ber a Cordelier who preached fome years 
 ago at Venice, quoting frequently thefe 
 two poets, ufed to call Dante September, 
 and Petrarca May alluding to the fea- 
 fons, one full of fruit, the other of flow - 
 ers But take together a nud by Michael 
 
 * Notwithftanding Fabrini and the Cordelier's 
 compliments to Dante, Petrarca, the elegant Petrarca 
 will always have an hundred readers to Dante's one. 
 One principal caufe of this indeed is, the local and 
 
 temporary 
 
PAINTING. 199 
 
 Angelo and another by Raphael, and 
 having fully confidered them both, de- 
 temporary fubjed of Dante's poem. The difputes 
 of the Guelphs and Ghibelines intereft but in a very 
 fmall degree readers of the prefent age, and many of 
 the charaders and adlions alluded to in the poem, are 
 buried in oblivion. The language alfo is as different 
 from modern Italian as Chaucer's from modern Eng- 
 lifh. Some parts of the Inferno mull be allowed to be 
 truly fublime. The entrance of the city, with the 
 infcription over the gate, at the beginning of the 
 thrird Canto, muft ftrike every reader with horror, 
 and the cruel death of Count Ugolin and his fons, 
 is finely adapted to afFed the paffions of pity and 
 terror. ■ The introducing Virgil as a guide to 
 Dante, feems as great an error again ft propriety, as 
 any of thofe we lind the painters guilty of, and takes 
 much from the beauty of the poem. 
 
 Petrarca is a poet of a quite different caft, and i$ 
 hardly to be .compared with Dante with any pro- 
 priety. In his own province he is admirable 
 
 There is a delicacy in his poems during Laura's 
 life that is charming, and a luxuriancy of grief in 
 thofe after her death, which no other author is poffef- 
 fed of: he allures the foul into his own key^ and. 
 makes you participate exadly of his own fenfations. 
 The latter, I own, are to me far the more pleafing, 
 
 O 4 cide 
 
200 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 cide which of the two is the more 
 perfedl. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I ANSWER, that Raphael excelled in 
 every kind of nud, and Michael Angelo 
 fucceeded only in one ; and that the 
 nuds of Raphael excel his in promoting 
 pleafure. I will not fay, what was obferved 
 of a fine genius, that Michael Angelo 
 has painted only Clowns, and Raphael 
 
 * Michael Angelo has debauched the artifls 
 from grace. He who valued himfelf upon his being 
 a pure intelligence, defpifed all that could pleafc 
 humanity : his exalted learning difdained to ftoop to 
 
 tender feelings and lovely grace." And again—* 
 
 *^ Immoderately fond of all that was extraordinary 
 and difficult, he foon broke through the bounds of 
 Antiquity, Grace, and Nature ; and as he panted 
 for occafions of difplaying fkill only, he grew ex- 
 travagant.'* Thefe remarks of Winckelman on the 
 fculpture of Michael Angelo, are equally applica^ 
 cable to his painting. — Vide Winckelman' s Paints 
 }ng and Sculpture of the Greeks , p. 2 S3. 
 
 Gen- 
 
PAINTING. 201 
 
 Gentlemen : but, as I before obfefved, 
 Raphael fucceeds in every part, the de- 
 licate, terrible, and expreffive, but al- 
 ways with foft and temperate action. 
 He v/as naturally fond of politenefs and 
 delicacy, as he was himfelf remarkably 
 polite and gentle in his manners, info- 
 much that he himfelf was not lefs be- 
 loved than his paintings were acceptable* 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 It is not fufficient to fay this nud is 
 as beautiful and perfecl as that, but the 
 ^{Tertion muft be proved, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Answer me firfl: : Are the nuds of 
 Raphael, lame, dv/arfiih, too flefhy ? 
 Are they dry ? Have they the mufcks 
 out of their proper places, or other parts 
 Ticipus ? 
 
 FABRINL 
 
%02 A DIALOGUE OH 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HAVE heard it as the general opinion,^ 
 that they are well painted, but that they 
 do not contain fo great a degree of art 
 as thofe of Michael Angelo. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 What is that art ? 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 They have not the elegant Contours 
 that the figures of the other have. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 What are thefe elegant Contours ? 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 Those which form fuch beautiful legs, 
 hands, backs, breafts, and all other parts. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
PAINTING. 203 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Does it not then appear to you, and 
 to the other favourers of Michael An- 
 gelo, that the nudes of Raphael have 
 thefe parts alfo beautiful ? 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I SAY not merely beautiful, but ex- 
 tremely fo but yet not in the perfedVion 
 that the nudes of Michael Angelo have 
 them. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Whence do you deduce the rule for 
 judging of this beauty ? 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I THINK it fhould be taken (as you 
 have already faid) from life, and from 
 the ftatues of the antients. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
304 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 You confefs then, that the nudes of 
 Raphael have every beautiful and per- 
 fe6t part ; for he feldom did any thing 
 in which he did not imitate either the 
 one or the other : whence we fee in his 
 figures, heads, legs, turns of the body, 
 arms, feet, and hands, that are won- 
 derful 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 He did not mark the bones, mufcles, 
 and certain little nerves and minuti^, fo 
 ftrbngly as Michael Angelo has, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 He has marked thole parts fufficiently 
 ftrong, which required to be fo m.arked, 
 tind Michael Angelo (be it faid without 
 offence^ fometimes more fo than was 
 proper. This is fo clear, that there is no 
 need to exemplify it farther. I muft put 
 
 you 
 
PAINTING. ao5 
 
 you in mind that 1 have faid, it is of 
 greater importance to cloath the bones 
 with plump Ihn flefh, than to forefliorten 
 the figures ^ and as a proof of this truth, 
 I add, that the antients have, for the moft 
 part, made their figures tender, and witlt 
 few parts firongly marked. Yet Ra- 
 phael has not always flopped at delicacy c 
 lie iias* a s I have faid before, for the fake 
 of varying his figures, made fome nudes 
 ftrongly marked, as he found occaCion ;'as 
 may be feen in his battle ^", in the old 
 m.an carried by his fon, and in many 
 odiers. But he was not extremely fond 
 of this manner, becaufe he placed his 
 
 * Tite battle of Condantins againR Maxentius, 
 in the Hall of CosiRantlne, at the Vatican, dcfigned 
 by Raphael, and painted by Julio Rv^jmaao, pi\oba- 
 bly the fineil niece of painting in frelco in the 
 world. See a Delcription of and Rema.i ks upon it, 
 in lla^uc net's Mofiumens de Rome, who concludes 
 with faying, ** there is fcarce any work of this cha- 
 rader, but what fcenis cold conjpared with thia." 
 
 P. kc, 
 
 principal 
 
2o6 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 principal end in pleafing, (as really being 
 the principal part of painting) feeking 
 rather the name of elegant than terrible : 
 and he acquired another, being generally 
 called Graceful*-, for befides Invention, 
 
 ♦ It is remarkable that Apelles and Raphael, the 
 greateft antient and modern artifts, were both cele- 
 brated for their excellence in giving grace to their 
 figures. This is the lafl finifhing ftroke of the maf- 
 ter, which meaner painters nerer can attain to. 
 When we have mentioned Raphael, Corregio, and 
 Guido, the line of graceful painters is almoil extindl. 
 ''^ To grace (fays a judicious writer) Apelles and 
 Corregio owe immortality ; but Michael Angelo 
 was blind to it." Winckchna-n s Reflexions on the Paint- 
 ing and Sculpture of the Greeks, p. 274. 
 
 ** The lafl linifhing and noblefi: part of beauty, 
 (fays the ingenious author of Crito) is Grace; 
 which every body is accuflomed to fpeak of, as a 
 thing inexplicable; and in a great meafure I believe 
 it is fo. We know that the foul is, but we fcarce 
 know what it is ; every judge of beauty can point 
 out Grace, but no one that f know of has ever yet 
 fixed upon a definition of it." This admirable 
 v*^riter has gone the fartheft of any in pointing out 
 wherein grace confifis. What he fays upon it is too 
 
PAINTING. 207 
 
 Defign, Variety, and the efFecSt which 
 all his works have on the fpedator's 
 mind, there are found in them that which 
 Pliny fays charafterifed the figures of 
 Apelles, that vennftas, that je ne ffai \ 
 quoi^ which ufes to charm lb much in i 
 painting as well as poetry infomuch that | 
 it fills the mind of the fpefratoror reader j 
 with infinite delight, without our know- | 
 ing what gives us pleafure ; which confi- ' 
 deration caufed Petrarca (that admirable 
 and elegant painter of the beauties and 
 virtues of Madonna Laura) to fing 
 thus : 
 
 long to be inferted here; but tlie reader will find it 
 m Ctito, p. 29, Sec. a work that merits to be writ- 
 ten in letters of gold, and preferved as a jewel un- 
 rivalled for its tafte and beauty. 
 
 There is alfo an Effay on this fiibjeft in Winckel- 
 man's Paimhg and Sculpture of the Greeks, and 
 fomc remarks on it in the Reflexions pour fervir 
 de notes au poeme de Tart de peindre, par PvL 
 Watelet.'^ 
 
 " E tm 
 
8c2 A D I A L O GU E o r 
 
 * im ncn fo chc m gli occhi^ che in un punto 
 Po far chiara la nottc^ ofciiro 2 1 giorno^ 
 £7 rrieF atnaro^ ei addolcir Vafcent 'io^^ 
 A certain fometh 'ing in her eye is feen^ 
 Which catifes night to Jljine like day ferene^ 
 Or veil the day^ zvhen flnning clear and bright^ 
 /it once vjith all the clouds and fiadds of night j 
 In honey wormucoods hitter can create^ 
 'j^nd gives to hitte^^s all the honey s fiveet. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 This which you c^Yi^vcnuftaSy is called 
 by the Greeks Xcc^^g-, which I would al- 
 ways tranilate by the word Grace -f*, 
 
 * Parte prima, Sonetto 179. 
 
 * We may obferve, that the poets have always 
 treated of Grace as the comp'etion of beauty, as in- 
 dependent of other parts of beaary, but neceffary to 
 give them all their due force Motion is alfo al- 
 ways included in Grace ; which has induced Mr. 
 Webb to deiine it, ** the mcfl: pleafing conceivable 
 adion exprcfied with the utuio{l fimphcity/' Thus 
 Milton defciibes Eve leaving Adarn with the AngcK 
 
 With lovviinefs mnjeflic from her feat 
 
 And grace, that '.von v/iio fav/ to wifh her flay, 
 
 Rofe * Far, Icjl, B. viii. 42. 
 
 And 
 
PAINTING. 209 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 The great Raphael knew aifo perfedlly 
 well how to forelhorten figures when he 
 
 And afterwards, 
 *' With goddefs-like demeanor forth fiie went ; 
 
 Not unattended ! for on her, as queen, 
 ^ A pomp of winning Graces waited ftill. — 59. 
 
 Ii> the firft line he feems to have remembered the 
 ** inceflu patuit Dea" of Virgil. 
 
 The fame poet alfo makes Adam fay of his meet- 
 ing Eve, 
 
 • " Behold her not far off. 
 
 Such I faw her in my dream -r adorn 'd 
 With all that Earth or Heaven could beftow, 
 " To make her amiable : on flie came, 
 <( , ' _., ^ _ - , J. , 
 
 Grace was in all her fteps, heaven in her eye. 
 In every gefture dignity and love.*' Vef. 481. 
 So Mufaeus, defcribing Hero, afcribes grace to 
 every member ; but more efpeciaMy that her eyes fliot 
 forth graces, in the following beautiful lines : 
 
 T^fc-r? p(;a^iTa? -^svtTavTo VjtJ)vy.imr il? tk Hl&ff, 
 
 P Aripfto 
 
2ro A D I ALO G U E oi^ 
 
 pleafed. Befides, I again repeat to you, 
 that in all his "vvorks he had a variety fo 
 admirable, that no one figure refembles 
 another, either in air or motion ; jb that 
 there is not the lealt fhadow of that 
 which is improperly called by painters 
 Manner,'* that is, bad prafcice, in- 
 which you conftantly lee forms and faces 
 refembllng one another, <^And as Mi- 
 1 chaer Angelo in his v/orks always fought 
 f after difficulty, fo, on the contrary, Ra- 
 I phael fought eafe a parr, as I before ob- 
 I ferved, difficult to obtain; and he obtained 
 I it in fuch a manner, that his works kern 
 I to be done without much thought, and 
 
 Arlofto feerns to add this 1 aft perfe6lion to the form 
 of his Alcina, in the two lines fallowing thofe quo- 
 ted by my Author : 
 
 . j^'vea in ogni parte un lacclo iefe, 
 O par It 0 rida o canti o pafib mova. 
 
 Grace being fo neceffary a part of the beauty of the 
 human form, it muft be fo likevvife to the perfeifiion 
 of the imitative art. 
 
 by 
 
PAINTING. 2IX 
 
 by no means laboured ; which is a mark 
 of the greateft perfeftion. So alfo among 
 writers, the beft in the efteem of the 
 learned are the eadeft ; as Virgil and Ci- 
 cero in the Roman language, and in ours 
 Petrarca and Ariofto. As to expreffion 
 of the paflions, and a power over the 
 mind, I fliall .add nothing to what I have 
 faid before, which I touched upon, only- 
 left you fhould fay that his figures failed 
 in this parr. 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 This I do not deny. But what fay you 
 of the figures of Michael Angelo ? 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 I WILL not fay any thing concerning 
 them, becaufe it is a part of which all 
 are* capable of judging; nor would I 
 chufe to offend you by what I ftiould fay* 
 
 P 2 FABRINL 
 
212. A DIALOGUE &^ 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 Proceed then to colouring, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 It is neceffary that we fliould firft con^ 
 fider the man when cloathed. 
 
 F A B R I N 1. 
 
 Of this you need not lay any more I 
 know that the drapery of Raphael is more 
 commended than that of Michael Angelo; 
 perhaps becaufe Raphael ftudied more of 
 the manner of drefling figures, and Mi- 
 chael Angelo the nude. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Rather, Raphael ftudied both one 
 and the other, and Michael Angelo the^ 
 latter only : We may therefore determine, 
 that as to defign they were equal, or ra- 
 ther 
 
PAINTING. 213 
 
 dier that Raphael was fuperior, as his 
 talents were more various and univerfal ; 
 as he has better preferved the diftindions 
 of fexes and ages ^ and as his piftures 
 abound more in grace and beauty, info- 
 much that there never was any but re- 
 ceived pleafure from them, — As to 
 colouring ■ ■ 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Thus far I agree with you; pray 
 ^proceed. ' 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 In Colouring the graceful Raphael 
 excelled all his predecefTors in painting, 
 whether in Oil or in Frefco ; but ftill 
 more remarkably in the latter; infomuch 
 that I have heard many fay, and I dare 
 affirm to you, that the paintings of Ra- 
 phael in Frefco exceed in Colouring the 
 works of the beft mafters in OIL They 
 are.foft, and united with the moft beau- 
 P 3 tifirl 
 
.214. A DIALOGUE on 
 
 tifu] relievo, and with every perfeftioa 
 art can produce. Santo Zago, a painter, 
 who himlelf was excellent, particularly in 
 painting in Frefco ; alio ftudious in col- 
 lefting antiques, of which he has a great 
 number, extremely fond of reading, and 
 ivell verfed in hiftory and poetry; ufed to 
 expatiate upon Raphael's excellence in 
 this point in all companies. I fliall not 
 fpeak of Michael Angelo's Colouring, 
 becaufe every one knows that he took 
 little care in this article, and you give it 
 up to me. But Raphael knew the art, 
 by the means of colouring, to produce 
 fleili, drapery, landfcape, and whatever 
 elfe is objective to the art of the painr 
 ter He alfo fometimes painted por- 
 
 * Raphf^rs univerfal genius entitles him to the 
 praife Pliny gives to an antient artift ; Dccilis ac 
 Jaboriofus ante omnes et in quociimque genere ex- 
 cellens ac fibi j^qualis." L. xxxv. c. 1 1. ** Docile 
 snd inditllrioas above all others, excellent in every 
 rart his art^ and ahyays equal to himfelf." 
 
 • ' , ' traits 
 
P A I N T I N G. 215 
 
 traits from nature ; amongft others Pope 
 Julius the Second, Pope Leo the Tenth, 
 and many otlier great perfonages, which 
 are all efteemed divine. He was alio a 
 great architcft ; for which reafon, after the 
 death of * Bramante, the building of St* 
 f^eter and the Palace was deftined to him 
 by the fame Pope Leo ; whence we fre- 
 quently fee in his pictures buildings drawn 
 perfeftly juft as to the architecture and 
 perfpeftive. His early death f v/as a 
 very great lofs to painting : He left his 
 name behind him illuftrious throughout 
 Europe, and lived during the few years 
 
 * Bramante was a countryman of Raphaers, and 
 foniewhat related to him. It was he v/uo pvopofed 
 to Julius the Second, to call him to Rome, to paint 
 the chambers of the Vatican, in v^hich other pain - 
 ters had already laboured, particui:irjy Peter Peru- 
 gino his mailer, fome of whofe pidui ts he preferved 
 out' of rcfpedl. j- E, 
 
 In 1520, aged 37, on Good Friday, his birth- 
 day. Vide Ad-jccat. Dia. Hift. 
 
 P 4 of 
 
2i6 A DIALOGUE ok 
 
 of his life, (as 1 can affure you of my 
 own knowledge, and as Vafari has 
 juftly vvrritten) not like a private man, 
 but like a prince being liberal of his 
 
 * Vafari (whofe life of this aflonilhing painter is 
 very well worih reading) fays, " The kindnefs and 
 fweetnefs cf his temper was fiich, that if any pain- 
 ter, whether known to him or not, wanted his affift* 
 ance in any defign, he would leave his own work 
 to affiil him. He always kept a number of artiis 
 employed, affixing and teaching them rather as his 
 children than as fcholars." He confirms what our 
 author fays, of the Pope's intention to make him a 
 Cardinal, and Cardinal Bibiena's folicitude to have 
 him marry his niece, to whom Raphael left a gen- 
 teel fortune. He alfo fays, "His death gare 
 
 the greateft concern to all the Pope's court, in which 
 he had held the oince of Chamberlain 5 and even the 
 Pope himfelf was fo much affected, as to weep bit- 
 terly. -~ — ^ Painting itftlf may be faid to have died 
 with this noble artill, and to have become blind, 
 v.hen his eyes were clofed. To us it only remains 
 to imitate the excellent method of which he has left 
 us an example, to retain a grateful fenfe of his vir- 
 tues and our obligations, and to exprefs it in the 
 poll honoarabk manner «'e can. For, in truth, he 
 
 bro\Jght 
 
PAINTING, 217 
 
 knowledge and fortune to fuch ftu- 
 dents in his art as needed the affift- 
 ance of either. It was univerfally be- 
 lieved that the Pope intended to give 
 him a Cardinal's Hat: For befide all 
 his excellence as a painter, Raphael 
 pofleffed every virtue, excellence of morals, 
 and elegance of manners, that become 
 a gentleman. Thefe excellent quali- 
 ties induced the Cardinal Bibiena to 
 prefs him, contrary to his own will, to 
 marry his niece. Raphael delayed the 
 time of confummating the marriage, ex- 
 pefting that the Pope (who had intima- 
 ted his intention to him) would make 
 him a Cardinal. The fame Pope had 
 given him a little while before his death 
 the office of Chamberlain, an appointment 
 both of honour and profit. After all I 
 
 brought his art, both as to invention and colouring, 
 to the highell perfedion ; nor can any one be ex- 
 pelled toarife in future time, who fl)all ej^cel him.'* 
 Vafari Vita di Raffael d^Urbino, 
 
 have 
 
2i8 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 fiave faid, you may reft afiured, that Ra* 
 phael was not only equal, but fuperior to 
 M chael Angelo in painting. In Sculp- 
 ture Michael Angelo ftands alone, divine, 
 and equal to the antienrs nor in this has 
 he need of my praifes; nor can he be ex* 
 celled by any. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Your difcourfe, rriV friend Aretin, ha^ 
 been very pleafing to me ; For the future 
 J fhaii think as you do ; for with fuch 
 reafons a man cannot be deceiv^ed. But 
 W2 have ft ill time to fpare ; and if you 
 arc not fatigued with fpeaking, you 
 might cojiveniently inform me of the re- 
 fpedliy e excellencies of fome other painters, 
 
 A R E T J N. 
 
 I AM not ufed to be tired with fo fhort 
 a difcourfe ; and this is a matter which I 
 have already promiled you ; nor will I fail 
 to mention fome, that you may fee that 
 
 heaven 
 
PAINTING. 21^ 
 
 heaven has in our days been as favourable 
 to Painting as to Literature. 
 
 I fay, then, that Lionardo da Vinci 
 was in ev^ery part equal to Michael An- 
 gelo, but had fo elevated a genius, that 
 he never was contented with what he had 
 (lone. As he was great in every thing, fa 
 in painting horfes he v/as ftupendous 
 
 * Lionardo da Vinci was fon of Piero da Vinci, 
 and had by nature a great inclination for painting. 
 His father carrying fome of his drawings to Andrea del 
 Verrochio, this latter was aftonifhed at the progre fs 
 he had made by the ilrcngth of his genius alone, 
 unaiTifled by art, and took him under his care. He 
 ftudied geometry, in which he became excellent, as 
 alfo in Sculpture, which he had applied himfelf to 
 when a boy, forming heads of earth. He alfo made 
 defigns in architecture. Nature was fo bountiful to 
 him, according to Vafari,that to whatfoever he turned 
 his mind, he fucceeded in it, and was unequalled 
 l>y any of his age, for the quickncfs and the viva- 
 city, beauty, grace, and perfedion found in all his 
 works. The gratitude of his age compared him 
 rather too flatteringly to Apelles and Phidias, and 
 their contemporaries. He certainly was the fnit 
 
:i2^ A DIALOGITE et?- 
 
 Georgio da CAstiiLi^RANCo was alfo.^ 
 painter in high eftimaticn, but ilill greater 
 •expeftance : Sonio of his works in oil have 
 liich vivacity and brilliancy, that there 
 ieem to be no fliadows. This great man 
 died of the plague, with no fmall lofs to 
 faulting ^. 
 
 Julio Romano was a great pain- 
 txr, who fhewed himfc^lf to have beern 
 a difciple v/orthy of Raphael, not only 
 
 -excellent painter after the revival of the art ; the 
 wofits of Ciinabue and his followers being cold and 
 lifelefs. In what repute he flood with Francis the 
 Firll, has been already mentioned, p. 54. He 
 was, bende his excellence in painting and architec- 
 'Ture, edeemed the bed mafician, the befl rider, the 
 btll fenctr, the befl dancer, the tnoft laborious, the 
 moft diligent man of his age. Vide Vajarl ct Baretti 
 Itol. L'lhr. He founded the Florentine fchool, and 
 enriched the art more by his writings, the refult of 
 langiludy, than his piclu res, which are not numerous. 
 
 * Cailel franco, generally called Giorgione, was 
 contemporary in the Venetian School, to Lionardo 
 da Vinclin the Florentine. He is principally knowa 
 as having been for forne tuiie Titian's mafter. 
 
PAINTING. 22f 
 
 painting, but alio in archite£lure. Thefe 
 qualities rendered him very dear to Fre- 
 deric Duke of Mantua, for whom he 
 J)ainted many pidures, all of which recei- 
 ved the higheft praifes; he alfo ornament- 
 ed Mantua with moft beautiful buildings. 
 He was happy in invention, a good dc- 
 figner, and his colouring mofl: beautiful 
 But he was excelled in colouring, and 
 in the graceful manner,, by Antonio da 
 CoRREGGio^, a moft elegant mailer. We 
 may fee many of his pidtures in Parma 
 of fuch beauty, that it feems as if greater 
 could not even be wiflied. It is true^ he 
 excels niore in colouring than in defign 
 
 He was not of Corretj^io, but of -a Ikile villaore 
 fiQdr. J. E. 
 
 t It is adonilliiRg to End a genius like that of 
 Correggio breaking through the cloud of birth zrA 
 fjtuation ; it fliews that nothing can totally con- 
 ceal or overcome the divine Ere which is giveH' by 
 Nature. Correggio, the native of a liulc village, gavi^ 
 to painting a perfcdion to which even the iinmor- 
 Vj^ works of Raphael hiiJ not ictained. Although 
 
 naturaJ ly 
 
222 
 
 A "DIALOGUE o 
 
 But what ftiall I fay to you of Franc Esca 
 Parmegiano ? He gave a certain beauty 
 
 naturally of a timid difpofition, he dared to attempt 
 a manner totally different from all his predece/fors ; 
 but not without being certain of the eiFed. He 
 knew, he felt, that grace was intimately connedled 
 with fenfibility of foul; and therefore, from his nicer 
 perceptions of beauty in nature, he was enabled to 
 prefent a more perfedl: refledlion of it to the eye of 
 the fpedator. He underflood and praclifed the moil 
 beautiful colouring, the moll: pcrfe6i chiaro Jcuroy 
 imitated the foftnefs and elailicity of fleOi, gave to 
 his figures the moft graceful attitudes and agreeable 
 emlonpoint of any painter who ever exifted. — We had 
 lately the pleafure of feeing a Magdalen of hisexh:«* 
 bited to the public, of which Mr.Strange.the fortunate 
 poiTelTor, fays julily, " No oth^sr than the pencil of 
 Correggio could have introduced fuch a peculiar 
 charader of beauty, blended with fo much grace 
 and iweetneGj as we fee in this head.'* Indeed Cor- 
 reggio may juftly be called the painter of beauty, 
 fvveetnefs, grace, and fenfibility. He died of a fe- 
 ver, in confequence of drinking cold water when hot 
 with walking, aged 40, having been generally 
 ftreightened in his circumftanccs by providing for 
 a large family. 
 
 t©* 
 
PAINTING. 223 
 
 to all his works, which enamours all who 
 fee them. He coloured a!fo in a delicate 
 manner, and was fo elegant and accurate 
 in his defign, that the works he has left 
 on paper aftonifli every fpe6tator. He 
 was extremely fond of the works and 
 name of Raphael, and aUo died young. 
 It was faid in Rome, (as Vafari writes) 
 that the foul of Raphael had entered into 
 his body, becaufe of the conformity of 
 their genius and cufto ms. Paiimegi- 
 ANO was unjurtly accufed of attending 
 to Alchymy for there never was a Phi- 
 lofopher who defpifed money, and the 
 produce of it, more than he did. Bat- 
 TiSTA of Parm.a, his difciple, an excel- 
 lent fculptor, together with many others, 
 teftifies this. GiROLArvio Mazzola, his 
 cou fin, now walks in the fame fteps, 
 in an honourable and very refpedabie 
 manner. 
 
 FABRINL 
 
224 A DIALOGUE a ?^ 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Parmicianino alfo is, I think, very 
 touch praifed. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 t^OLiDORO* DA Caravaggio was alfo 
 a great and excellent painter — his in- 
 ventions beautiful, — an experienced 
 and expeditious defigner, and a great imi- 
 tator of the Antique. It is true, he did 
 not excel in colouring, and his moft ex- 
 cellent works are in cbiaro /euro in frefco. 
 But what is moft furprifing is, that Poli- 
 doro was little lefs than one or two-and- 
 
 * Polidoro came young^ from Caravaggio to 
 Rome, at the time when the Vatican was painting 
 by order of Leo the Tenth. He was a poor mafon, 
 and carried the hod ; but obferving the works of 
 the painters employed there, he fell fo much in love 
 with painting, and ftudied it with fuch fuccefs, as 
 to render his beautiful works celebrated^ throughout 
 the world. J. E. 
 
 twenty- 
 
PAINTING. 225 
 
 tv/enty-two years of age when he began 
 to learn the art : He ftudied under Ra- 
 phael. He alfo died very young, being 
 killed after a terrible manner in Meffina, 
 in order to rob him, by a fervant, who 
 afterwards met with the punifliment his 
 crime deferved. 
 
 F A B R I N r. 
 
 I BEGIN to find that Michael Angelo 
 does not ftand alone in painting. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Andrea dul Sarto had alfo great 
 perfection in this art : his works were in- 
 finely pleafing to Francis king of France. 
 Per I NO DEL Vaga merits no fmall praife. 
 The painters have always efteemed the 
 works of Antonio da Pordonone, who 
 was an experienced and expeditious 
 mafter, and delighted in foreihort- 
 enings and terrible figures. There are 
 
 Q_ fome 
 
226 A DIALOGUE oi^ 
 
 fome excellent piftures of his in frefco irt 
 Venice ; as, a Mercury in the front of the 
 houfe del Talenti, which is well fore- 
 fiiortened ; a battle and a horfe, which 
 are much commended ; and a Proferpine 
 in the arms of Pluto, which is an elegant 
 figure. There is alfo in the great chapel 
 of the church of St. Roch, a pi6ture of 
 God the Father, with fome angels in hea- 
 ven, and alfo fome Dodors and Evange- 
 lifts, which gained him great reputation 
 It was neceffary he fhould have all thefe 
 qualities, having to contend with Titian, to 
 whom however he was very inferior. Nor 
 is it any wonder ; fmce in Titian alone (be 
 
 * The clolfler of the convent of the AuguHines of 
 St. Stephen in Venice, is painted by his hand. Jc 
 is faid, there was fuch an emulation between Titian 
 and him, that he always painted with a fword 
 by his fide, and a ihield near, like the bi'avoes of 
 that time. J. E. 
 
 Of the painters here mentioned full accounts may 
 be feen in Vafari. 
 
 it 
 
PAINTING. 227 
 
 it faid in peace with other painters) all 
 thofe excellencies are collefted together in 
 perfedion, which are found difperfed in 
 many others. As for invention and de- 
 fign, none ever exceeded him: In colour- 
 ing none ever was his equal. To Xitian 
 alone muft be yielded the palm of per- 
 fect colouring, which none of the an- 
 tients '* could ever obtain ; or if they did, 
 
 * Apelles was edeemed to excel in colour- 
 
 Jng. He is faid to have ufed a warmth of 
 
 colouring limilar (by what we may judge) to that 
 
 of Titian. The antients, if they did not excel in 
 
 beautiful colouring, had a great advantage over the 
 
 moderns in durability. Plutarch, in his Life of 
 
 Ariftides, gives us an inflanceof this. After the battle 
 of Platea, the Athenians and Lacedemonians difputed 
 the honour of the day; the determination was left to 
 the Greeks, who declared the honour muft be given 
 to fome third city.— It was determined in favour 
 of the Plataeans ; to which Ariftides gave confent, in 
 the name of the Athenians, and Paufanias for the 
 Lacedemonians : htu ^tct^Aayem^ &|£»Aof oyooY}- 
 
 0.2 
 
228 
 
 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 it has always been wanting in a greater 
 or lefs degree to all the moderns : For, 
 as I have faid, he equalled Nature herfelf ; 
 whence all his figures feem alive, to move 
 and breathe. Titian has not ftiewn any 
 vain defire of beauty, but a propriety of 
 colourings no affefted ornaments, but 
 the modefty of a mafter ; no crudenefs, 
 but the tender flefhinefs of nature. Jn 
 his pidlures the lights always contend 
 with the fliades, and diminifh, and lofe, 
 thcmfclves^ in the fame manner as in 
 nature. 
 
 ^aavci ^iccfj.svova-iv. So being recorxiled, they fet 
 apart fourfcore talents (out of the fpoils) for the Pla- 
 tseans, wherewith they built a temple to Minerva, 
 and adorned it with pidures, which even to this 
 very day retain their full luftre/' At the time of 
 Plutarch's writing, thefe pictures were about 570 
 years old ; and I am informed by gentlemen who 
 have feen the remains of antient pidures at Rome, 
 that the colours are fo fixed into the intonacatura^ 
 (a kind of ilucco, upon which they are painted) 
 to have dyed it to a confiderable depth, making the 
 paintings by thefe means almoll eternal. 
 
 FABRINI. 
 
PAINTING. 229 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I HEAR every one make the fame 
 obfervation, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 * It is well known too that Nature made 
 him a painter. For being born at Ca- 
 dora of honourable parents, he was fent, 
 v/hen a child of nine years old, by his 
 father to Venice, to thehoufe of his father's 
 brother, (who there attended the care of 
 one of thofe honourable offices which 
 are always given to citizens) in order that 
 he might be put under fome proper 
 mafter to ftudy painting ; his father 
 
 * I have read fomewhere that Titian was born 
 in the year 1477, in a little callle called Pieve, 
 dependent on Cadora, in the confines of Friuii, of 
 honourable parents, named Vecelli; of which family- 
 was St. Titian, bifliop of Odezzo, whence I fuppofe 
 he had -the name of Titian. J. E. 
 
 0^3 having 
 
A DIALOGUE on 
 
 having perceived in him, even at that 
 tender age, ftrong marks of genius to- 
 ward the art, 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 I AM pleafed to hear any particular in 
 regard to a painter fo fingularly excellent. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 His uncle dlredlly carried the child to 
 the houfe of Sebaftian ^father of the ele- 
 gant Valerius) and of Francis Zuccati, 
 (the only mafters in the art of mofaic, by 
 them brought to that perfeftion in 
 which we now fee their beft pi£lures) to 
 learn the principles of the art. From 
 thence he was removed to Gentil Bellin, 
 (brother of John, but much inferior to 
 him) who at that time v/as at work with 
 his brother in the grand council-cham- 
 ber. But Titian, pufhed on by Na- 
 ture to greater excellence and perfeftion 
 
 in 
 
FAINTING. 231 
 
 in the art, could not endure following 
 the dry and laboured manner of Gentil, 
 but defigned with boldnefs and expedi- 
 tion. Gentil on this told him, he would 
 make no progrefs in painting, becaufe 
 he entirely deferted his manner. 
 
 Titian leaving the ignorant Gentil, 
 applied himfelf to John Bellin ; but not 
 perfectly pleafed with his manner, he 
 chofe Georgio da Caftelfranco. Defign- 
 ing and painting with Giorgione (as he 
 was called), he became (hortly fo excel- 
 lent in his art, that when Giorgione was 
 painting the front of the * German Ware- 
 houfe which looivs over the great Canal, 
 that part already mentioned regarding 
 
 * The Tondaco dei Tedefchiy or Germaii V/are- 
 houfe, is fituated upon the grand Canal, near the 
 Rial to. The facade toward the Canal was painted 
 by Giorgione, that toward the flreet by Titian, 
 who in it imitated Giorgione's manner. Vide Fo- 
 rejiier illuminato^^ ^V. 
 
 4 Mercery 
 
232 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 Mercery was given to Titian, who was 
 not yet quite twenty years of age ; in 
 which he painted Judith fo admirably, 
 both for defign and colouring, that 
 on its being opened to public view, 
 and generally thought to be the work 
 of Giorgione, all his friends congratula^ 
 ted him upon it, as far the beft thing 
 he ever had done, Giorgione replied with 
 regret, that it was the work of a difciple, 
 who already fhewed himfelf greater than 
 his mafter ; and what is more, he flayed 
 at home feveral days, behaving like a 
 madman, that fuch a youth fhould furpafs 
 him, 
 
 F A B fe I N I. 
 
 I HAVE heard that Giorgione faid. 
 that Titian was a painter in his mother's 
 womb. 
 
 ARE T I Nl 
 
P A I N T I N G. 233 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Not long after he was employed to 
 paint a pifture for the high altar of the 
 church of the Minor Friars*-, in which 
 Titian, as yet a youth, painted a virgin, 
 in oil, afcending to lieavcn, among many 
 angels that accompany her (with God 
 the Father above between two angels^. 
 She really appears afcending, with a face 
 full of humility, and her drapery flow- 
 ing lightly. On the ground are the 
 ApoSbles, who by divcrfe attitudes ex- 
 prefs joy and wonder : They are for the 
 nioft part larger than life. It is certain this 
 one pifture contains at once the grandeur 
 of Michael Angelo, the pleafmg grace 
 and venujlas of Raphael, together with 
 
 * The picture here mentioned was In Vafaffs 
 time fo hurt by carelefsners, that the figtires were 
 fcarce difcernible. Titian alfo painted the altar-piece 
 of the Conception in the fame chui ch, and lies bu- 
 ried under the altar of the Gruciiix. 
 
 the 
 
234 A DIALOGUE ofi 
 
 the proper colouring of nature. And 
 yet this v/as the firft public work 
 that he did in oil ; he did it in a very 
 ihort time, and was very young. With 
 Jill this merit, ignorant painters, and the 
 blind vuLq-ar, who hitherto had Icen no- 
 thing but the dead and cold pictures of 
 John Bellin, Gini:il, and Vivarino, which 
 vv^ere without motion or relief, ffor Gior- 
 gione had not done as yet any public 
 work in oil, or at moft nothing but half 
 figures and portraits) faid all the iil they 
 could of thi;^ very pi6lure. A.t length, 
 ^ Envy grov/nig cool, and Truth by little 
 and little opening their eyes, the people 
 bep-an to v/onder at the new manner 
 found out at Venice by Titian, and all the 
 paint'rrs from that time ftudied to imitate 
 him but being put out of their own 
 
 * It is truQ that this pi^ltsre did not pleafe the 
 Friars ; but the Ca^farean Ambaffador being willing 
 
 hr>v it, ihcy at Icngtl! opened their ejcs, ^nd held 
 ii IV. hi;^hei- cilc^^nu J. E. 
 
 way. 
 
PAINTING. 23s 
 
 way, found themfelves at a Hand. And 
 certainly it may be almoft attributed to a 
 miracle, that Titian, without having even 
 feen the antiques at Rome, which af- 
 forded light to all the excellent painters, 
 with only the little glimmering he had 
 difcovered in the v/orks of Giorgione, 
 faw and conceived the idea of perfe6b 
 painting, 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 It is a proverb of the antient Greeks, 
 That it is not given to all to go to Co- 
 rinth and you have faid, to paint well 
 is given but to few. 
 
 A R E T I K 
 
 Titian had now acquired lb great 
 reputation by his works, that there was 
 not a gentleman in Venice v/ho did not 
 endeavour to procure a portrait or feme 
 other pi£lure done by him ; many pic- 
 tures were befpoken of him ^ different 
 
 churches 
 
736 A DIALOGUE on 
 
 churches were adorned with his works. 
 In the church of thefe Friars a picture 
 was done by him, at the inftance of the 
 ^'Pefaro family, for the altar (where the 
 fantofholy water is, with a little mar- 
 ble figure of Sr. John Baptift, done by 
 Sar^fovino), wherein he painted a Ma- 
 clonua fitting with the child on her 
 lap, gently holding up one of its legs, 
 and reftliig the other foot on one of 
 her hands. Before her is St. Peter, of a 
 venerable afpeil, turning toward her with 
 one of his hands on an open book, fup- 
 p5ri€d by the other, and the keys lying at 
 his feet. There are alfo St. Francis, and 
 s man in armour holding a ftandard, with 
 the portraits of fome of the l^efari, whic h 
 appear quite like nature. Within the 
 
 * The aurtior of the fcrc flier tllimttnatOy.hz. fpeaks 
 of the maaroleum of this family, but fays nothing of 
 tire pifture mentioned here by Aretin ; by which I 
 fiippofe it hss fiDCe been renaoved by the family, 
 2: v/a: in the cliurch when Vafajri wote. 
 
 cloifler 
 
PAINTING. 237 
 
 cloifter of the church* of St. Nicholas, 
 he ahb painted a picture for the great 
 altar, wherein that Saint is the principal 
 figure, drefled in a golden cope, where 
 the luftre and brilliancy of that metal is 
 difcernible, and feems really interwoven. 
 On one fide is St. Catherine, with a flight 
 t^rn^ her face and every other part truly 
 divine ; on the other, a naked Scbaftian^ 
 beautifully formed, and with a tindl of 
 carnation To like to nature, that it feems 
 not painted, but really alive. Pordonone 
 going to fee this St. Sebaftian, faid, *^ I 
 believe Titian has in this nude really put 
 fiefli, not colour " There are feme other 
 very excellent figures at a diftancc. 
 They all appear, as it were, intent on a 
 virgin, who is reprefented above, toge- 
 ther v^ith fome angels. Every figure 
 (liews a modefty and fanclity which is 
 
 * This church was burnM down the great fjrc 
 i^ivich dellroyed a large part of ihe City A/n. i ic6. 
 
 inefti* 
 
ijS A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 incftimable. Befides which, the head of 
 St. Nicholas is truly admirable, and 
 full of infinite majefry 
 
 F A E R I N I. 
 
 I HAVE frequently fccn thefe works. 
 They are divine, and could not have 
 be^n executed by any other hand. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 In the church of St. Mary the Greater 
 he painted a little pi(?cure of St. John 
 Baptift in the Defert, of which one may 
 fafely believe, that there never was feen 
 any thing more beautiful or great 
 either for defign or colouring. In St. 
 John and St. Paul, he painted the plc- 
 
 * It feems imitated from that of Laocoon. 
 Pouflin, in an extacy of St. Paul, has alfo imitated 
 the fame head j but thefe two painters have both 
 foftened the expreffion. J. E. 
 
 turc 
 
P A I N T I N G. 239 
 
 ture of -the Billiop Peter Martyr fallen to 
 the ground, with the atllifun lifting up his 
 arm to ftrike him, and a Monk in flight 
 with fome little angels in the air, who 
 defcend with the crown of martyrdom- 
 This is in a v/oody country, with fev^cral 
 eldv^r-trees ; all liaving fuch pcrfc(?tion, 
 that it is much eafier to envy than imi- 
 tate them. The Friar feems to, fly v/ith 
 a countenance full of fear ^ it fecms as if 
 one heard him cry out; his adlion is 
 bold, as of one who is really frightened j 
 his drapery is made in a manner of which 
 we have no example. The face of Sc, 
 Peter has the palenefs ufually attendant 
 on the faces of perfons at the approach 
 of death. He puts forth an arm and 
 hand fo well, that one may fay, Nature 
 is conquered by Art. 
 
 I SHALL not extend my difcourfe fo 
 
 far as to point out to you the bcaur-ie:; of 
 
 iiivcntionj defign, and colouring, becaufe 
 
 thcv 
 4 
 
140 A D r A L O G U £ 0 N 
 
 they arc known to you and evefy 
 one elfe While Titian was yet young, 
 the Senate gave him an ample provifion ; 
 and he painted in the hall I have fo often 
 mentioned, the hiftory of Frederic Bar- 
 barofla, kiffing the Pope's feet; and 
 in another part of the hall a battle f , 
 where there are many different forms of 
 foldiers, horfes, and other remarkable 
 things ; and among others, a young man, 
 who having fallen into a ditch, in getting 
 out gains the fhore by a ftretch of his 
 leg fo natural, that the leg feems not to 
 be painting but real. You may obferve 
 I pafs flightly over thefe works ; becaufe 
 only to mention the excellencies, I muft 
 
 * This h the pii5lare mentioned in the beginning 
 of the difcourfe. Vafari fays of it, ** that it is the 
 moft compleat. moft celebrated, moft excellent, beft 
 underftood, and bell condu^^ed of any piflure Titian 
 ever painted." 
 
 t Thefe pi<5l',ures are burnt. There are plates of 
 thsm, bat the engravings are very fcarce. J. E. 
 
 reft 
 
PAINTING. 241 
 
 reft upon them a whole day. The fame of 
 Titian was not confined within the bounds 
 of Venice, but fpread itfeif difFufedly 
 all over Italy, and made many of the 
 principal nobility defirous of having feme 
 of his works ; among vvhoni were Al- 
 phonRis Duke of Ferrara, Frederic Duke 
 of Mantua, Francis Maria Duke of Ur- 
 bino, and many others. Having ex- 
 tended to Rome, it induced Pope Leo to 
 invite him with honourable appointments, 
 that Rome, befides the pictures of Ra- 
 phael and M. An^^elo, m.io-ht have fome 
 of the divine works of his hands. But the 
 great Navagero, no lef^ acquainted with 
 painting than vv'ith poetry, (particularly in 
 Latin, in which he was fo excellent,) 
 forefeeing, tliat in iofing him Venice 
 Vv'ould be defpoiled of one of her greateft 
 crnaments, prevailed with him not to 
 go*. His fame alio extended into France ; 
 
 He did go to Rome, but returned from thence 
 home to Venice after the death of Leo and P.aphael, 
 R in 
 
242 A DIALOGUE o i^^ 
 
 nor did King Francis fail to follcit him 
 with high offers to come to him ; but 
 Titian would not leave Venice, whither 
 he had come when a child^ and had chofen 
 it for his country. Of Charles the Fifth 
 1 have fpoken to you already ; fo that 1 
 conclude, that there never was a painter 
 who was fo much efteemed by princes, 
 as Titian always was. See the force of 
 fppre me excellence ! 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 Let who will fay to the contrary, me- 
 rit never can reft long concealed ; and 
 every man poffeffed of it, if he governs 
 himfelf with prudence, is the archited pf 
 his own fortune* 
 
 in 1520, at which time he did the pifltire of St# 
 John Baptift, mentioned above. About the fame tim» 
 he teeame acquainted with Arctin. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
P A I N T i N G. 243 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 Certainly, Fabrini, one may fay 
 with the greateft truth, that there never 
 was any painter who did greater honour 
 to his profeffion than Titian. For know- 
 ing his own merit, he always efteemed his 
 pictures of the highfeft value, not caring 
 to paint unlefs for great perfons, and fuch 
 as were able to reward him properly for 
 them. It would be too long to recount 
 the portraits done by him, which are of 
 fuch excellence, that life itfelf fcarce 
 feems more alive, and all of them Kings, 
 Emperors, Popes, Pnnces, or other great 
 men. There never was a cardinal or 
 other perfon of confequence in Venice^ 
 that did not go to Titian's houfe to fee 
 his works, and fit to !um. I fhould be 
 too prolix, if I v/a$ to difcourfe of his 
 pifture!^, which arc m the champers of 
 the coliege, and of the maay others done 
 by him for the Emperor and the King of 
 li 2 Engiajnd ^ 
 
244 'A D I ALO G U E OT^ 
 
 England ; as, the piftiire of the Trinity, 
 the weeping Madonna, of Titius, of Tan- 
 talus^ of Syfiphus, of i^ndromeda, arid of 
 Adonis^, (of which engravings will be 
 publifhed foon) and of other hiftorical and 
 fabulous ftories ; works equally divine, 
 whether confidered with refpeft to defign, 
 colouring, or invention. But I will re- 
 flrain and moderate myfelf in his praifes, 
 both as he is my friend and companion, 
 and as he muft be blind who cannot fee 
 the fun. I mull not omit mentioning, that 
 Titian painted at Mantua for the Duke 
 Frederic, the twelve Cj^fars, taken partly 
 from medals, and partly from antique 
 
 * Henry the Vlllth, for whom thefe pidlures were 
 done, invited Titian to England, as he had Holbein 
 and other celebrated paintefs. 1 he Adonis here 
 mentioned is highly praifed by Dolce, in a letter to 
 M. AlefT. Contarini, which we find in the Racco/t a 
 Lett ere Julia Pittura Scultura ed Architettura^ 
 Vol. 3. 257. from which it feems, as if Titian was 
 particularly careful in the piclures he did for 
 Henry. 
 
 marbles. 
 
PAINTING. 245 
 
 ^ marbles. They are of fuch exquifite per- 
 feftion, that vaft numbers go to that city 
 only to fee them, thinking that they fee 
 the Cicfars themfelves, not pifture^. 
 
 F A B R J N I. 
 
 I KNOW well that few of the lower 
 rank can boaft the having any portrait or 
 other pidlure done by him. 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 ' Our Titian is, then, in painting divine 
 and unequalled nor ought Apelles him-- 
 felf, were he alive, to diidain to do him 
 honour*. But befides his wonderful ex-. 
 ceilenee in painting, he has many other 
 qualities worthy of the highed praifes. 
 
 ^ An honour that great painter never refufed to 
 merit ; witnefs his treatment of Pjrotogenes, vvhofe 
 great excellence not being known to his country- 
 men, Apelles opened their eyes, by offering him 
 the immcnfe pricp of ^hy talents for every one of 
 his pidures. 
 
 • ■ • In 
 
246 A DIALOGUE ON 
 
 In the firft place, he is extremely modeft^ 
 never wounding invidioufly any painter's 
 character, but fpeaks honourably of every 
 one who deferves it. He alfo is a moft 
 elegant fpeaker; of a moft perfeft genius 
 and judgment in all things; of a gentle 
 and placid temper ; affable ; of the moft 
 delicate manners ; infomuch that whoever 
 once fpeaks to him muft always love him. 
 
 F A B R I N I. 
 
 All this is perfectly true; and as I 
 think nothing more remains for you to 
 fay on this fubjeft, we may conclude, 
 that although there are at prefent many 
 excellent painters, thofe three hold the 
 firft rankj Michael Angelo, Raphael, and 
 Titian, 
 
 A R E T I N. 
 
 It is fo, with the diftifidions which I 
 have mentioned before. At prefent, 
 I fear that painting is lofing itfelf 
 
 again, 
 
P A I N T r N G. 247 
 
 again, as we do not fee any young artift 
 that gives hopes of arriving at any great 
 degree of excellence, Thofe who might 
 by diligence become celebrated, overcome 
 by avarice, beftow little or no labour on 
 their works. Baptifta Franco, the Vene- 
 tian, is not guilty of this fault ^ he Rudies 
 with all folicitude, both in painting and 
 defigning, to honour Venice, and to ac- 
 quire perpetual fame to himfelf ^ whence 
 he is a much commended mafter, both 
 in painting and defign. But do you re- 
 member, for the future, leaving afide all 
 ;^fFeftion, to be a more equitable judge. 
 
 F I N I 
 
INDEX. 
 
 N. B. The Italic refers to the Notes. 
 
 AARON, how to be reprefented in paintiag, 
 page 88. 
 
 ADDis.oii, (?vTr.) p. 36, n' i6.|, 7/. 
 Adrian, Emperor, p. 51. 
 ^LiAN quoted, p. 42. 
 Alrekt Durer. Vid. Durer. 
 Alberti on painting recommended, p. 168. 
 Alcina defcribed by Arioflo, p. 11 i. 
 AlI':fgories. (the abfurdity of fome of the modern) 
 p. 184, n. 
 
 A L G A R O T T I , p . S 3 , Q I » ^. 
 
 ALE:yrANDE[i, p. 42, 130, 7;. 
 
 ^Severus, p. P . 
 
 Anatomy 10 be iUidied, 136, 72. 137. 
 
 Andrea del Sarto, p. 5, 66. 
 
 — — his character as an arrill, p. 22 ^. 
 
 Akoelo, (M.) P- 4. 7, 10, II, 1:, 13, 18,19, 
 21, 22, 31 , 4B, 59, 63, 74, I 1 5, ?; 128, 129, 
 130, l'>9, i'yl, 17.3, 178, iSz, 185, 2CO, 
 
 206, 210, 211, 2 1!, 233, 241, 246. 
 
 * co;iip?.iwd v.iih i'laphavl; 17 '> 
 
 AnG£L0, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Angelo (Michael) his Lad Judgment, 176, ^c. 183. 
 *■ ■ " fuccccds not in grace, p. 206, «. 
 
 excels in defign, 22, 171. 
 
 ■ a Poet, p. 26, n, 
 
 ■ ■ his fchooi, p. 129, ff. 
 ■ his Mofes, p. l 3, n. 
 
 in what he excelled, p. 173, 197, «. 
 
 • reproved as immodeft, p 174. 
 
 • his paintings allegorical, p. 182. 
 
 ^ -'-^ his excellence in fculpture, p. 218. 
 
 Antients, how they formed their beautiful figures, 
 
 p. 36, n, log. 
 
 , their care in their works, p. i^J., 
 
 Antiques fludied by the bed maflers, p. 12S, ». 
 
 Rubens opinion of their ufe and neceflity, 
 
 p. 129, rj. 
 
 — — neceffary to be fludied by the painter, 
 p. 131. 
 
 Antonio (Marc) Engraver. Vid. Marc Antonio. 
 Apelles, p. 6, 59, 42, 45, 53, 130, 71. 147, 152, 
 
 161, 227, 249. 
 % tlxe moll graceful of the antients. p. 17, 
 
 2c6, «. 
 
 . hi« Venus, p. 127. 
 
 „ drawn from Phryne, p. 128, 
 
 — painted two Venus's, p. 128, 
 
 ~ his appeal to horfes, p. 152, /?♦ 
 
 Apollonius, p. 10. 
 
 Aretin, p. 31, «. 179, 
 
 Arjosto, p. 18, 37, fi, 116. 
 
 > • quoted, p. 18^ 171, 210, 
 
 — - his defcription of Alcina, p. 1 1 1. 
 
 — ■ trandation of the above defcription, p. 
 
 T13, ?/. 
 
 Arist^ketus, quoted, p. 36, 
 
 Aristidss, 
 
INDEX, 2JI 
 
 Aristides, the Theban, p. 5. 
 
 ^RISTOTLE, p. 40, 56, 78, 131,^. 194. fl, 
 
 Artill (one who is not an) may judge of the Arts, 
 p. 40. 
 
 Arts, the polite, humanize the mind, p. 17;, pi» 
 *— ornamental and ufeful, p. 40. 
 
 have all thriven in the fame times, p. I 30, «. 
 
 Athen^us, p. 122. 
 
 Attalus, K. bought a pidiure of Aristides the 
 
 Theban, p. 52. 
 AuGusTiNo, (Engraver) p. 192, n. 
 Augustus, p. 46, 70, ». 
 
 Baldanucci, p. 169, n. 
 
 Bastian, p. 18, n. 20, 21, 22, 23. 
 
 Battjsta, of Parma, p. 223. 
 
 Franco, p. 247. 
 
 Beauty deftroyed by fafliion, ^, 118, Sec* 
 
 ■ ' wherein it confifts, p. 35, 1 1 4, 1 1 5. 
 ■■' ' (defcription of perfed) ill, i i^, 
 
 , , (idea of ) how formed, iOg>in.;!?» 
 
 ■ various, 133, «. 
 
 ■ " ■ abfolute or relative, p. 133, n. 
 Belle idee, what;, p. 36, 115. 
 Belling, p. 3, iS, n. 230, 254. 
 Beyer, p 180, ;/. 
 
 Books recommended to the painter, p. 97, .?r, 
 BoucHiER, (Rngraver) p. 192, 72. 
 Boulogne, (Bon) p. 68, a?. 
 Bramante, p. 2 15. 
 
 Cj^:sar, fond of painting, p. 5 1. 
 
 how afrected by the fight of Alexander's Ik- 
 tue, p 58. 
 Oalab^r, QuiNTi'?, p. 9, 
 
JJ2 INDEX. 
 
 CaSTELFR AKCO, p. 4, 64, 231, 232. 
 
 his charader as an artill-, p, 228. 
 
 Castjglicn^e quoted, p. 61. 
 
 Charles V. (Emp.) his love for the Arts, p. 47, 242. 
 
 his refps^l for Titian, p. 46, 48, 55. 
 
 Christ, how to be reprefented in painting, p. 'y3. 
 CjCEKO quoted, p. 162, n, 
 
 Ciiniate, whether it has any irjfiuence upon the Arts, 
 
 Colours, (durability of the anticnt) p, 227, 228, n. 
 Colouring, f a part of painting) p. 71, 152. 
 Ccrtours mull be accurate, p. loS. 
 
 ^ liney, to be avoided, p. i 58. 
 
 Contrnd of lieht and fhade, p. 15"^. 
 Co R REG 10, p. 5, ^4. n, 
 
 — ~ his Sr. Jerome, p. 92, n. 
 
 — — excelled in the graceful, p. 206, 
 
 ' his charadler as an artiil, p. 221 and;/, 
 
 . ^ Jjis i^i^iagdalen,. 222. 
 
 Codome to be faithfully obferved, p. 82, 91. 
 Q^\YO (Mr. ^ pence's) quoted, p. ii^, ^. 118,;/. 
 
 I>\4lemsert (M.) quoted, p. 102, «. 
 D.^NTE, p. (;. 46, i6q, ^. 198. and 
 " — quoted, p. 167. 
 
 DeM/^rsv's Poem on Painting cjuoted, p. i«7y, //, 
 Demetrius, (fiery of ) p. 44. 
 De MOST li r. NFS, p. 46, IC4, 130, n. 
 
 PiLf. s quoted, p. 17, 7;. 96, 1 25, n, 126, 
 129, n. 
 
 Deiign, (a pnrt of paintin;^) p 71, 106. 
 
 • — defined, uil p. 106. io~,?/. 
 
 - — implies ^njohok^ p. 107, n. 
 
 Dilieence (too fcrupulous) to be avoided, p. t6i, 
 Difpofiticn of figures, p. §4. 
 
 Diflortion 
 
I N D E X. 253 
 
 Diilortlon deflruiflive of merit, p. ic8. 
 DoKATELLO, p. 73. . 
 Doss I, p. 18, 19. 
 
 Drama compared with a pi£tare, p. 104. 
 Draperies to be confidered, p. 149. 
 
 their thinnefs, p. 149. 
 
 • to be thrown into large plaits, p. i ^o. 
 
 Du Bos quoted, p. §, n, 2'S, n. 52, //, 53, 6;, n» 
 
 97,^ n, I9<j, fi, 
 Du Fresnoy quoted, p. 17,^7. 22,//. 25, 57. 96, ^j, 
 
 IC3, n. 129. 140, 72. 151. 
 
 Du '')UESN0V. Vid. FlAMINGO, 
 
 DuRER, (Albert) p. 76 , 77. 
 
 excelled in eno;raving, p. 77. 
 
 uied gold as a material, p. 123, n, 
 
 Elizabeth, (Q.) encouraged the Arts, p, 66, n. 
 Engraving, when invented, and by whom, p. 51,^- 
 
 ' — — much improved of late, p. 192, n. 
 
 ExpreiTK)n, p. 7 i , 162. 
 Eur iPiDEs, p. 78, 
 
 Fabius, p ^8. 
 
 Fafhion deltrudlive of beauty, p. n ^, n. Szc, 
 Fe LIB I EN, his deicription of beauty, p. ii^,^. 
 FlAMINGO, p. 173, ?/. 
 
 Figures, (fubjeifts containing few} mod eligible, p. sO|,* 
 F'iNiGUEzzi, (Mofe) invented engraving, p. 52, fs. 
 FiniOiing (high) to be avoided, p. 161. 
 F'oNTtNELLE quoted,p. 6y, n. 
 Forefhortening to be avoided, p. 144. 
 Francis I. (or France) his munificence, p. 54, 65, ^, 
 242. 
 
 Frederic Barbargssa (Emp.) p. 90. c^v^c. 
 
 Garrici^i 
 
2:4 I N D E X. 
 
 Gar RICK, (Mr.) his power over the rr>ird cf the au- 
 dience, p. ! 64, ». 
 
 GfeNius lieceflary to the painter, and or.e of the 
 fources of invention, p. 102. 
 
 GlORGIONE, V^id. Castelfranco. 
 
 GiRAKDoN, p. 6q,n. I 31, ». 173, f2. 
 
 Gold afed by /ilbert Dureras a material, p. 123« 
 
 Golden locks, how to be underllood, p. 122 
 
 Grace, p. 71* 206, n. 
 
 ~ called by the anlients njenuftat^ p. 287, and Xa^;^, 
 p. 20, 
 
 (what mafters have excelled in) p. 2c6, n. 
 • the lail finifliing and ncbleil part of beauty, 
 p. 206, n. 
 
 — treated as fuch by the poets, p. 208, ji, 
 
 * ' ■ includes motion, p.; 208. 
 
 Gray, (Mr ) quoted, p 54, 
 
 Greece, the feat of Arts, p. 64, 
 
 Greeks forbad the pradiceof painting Haves, p. 56. 
 
 GujDO, p. 206, 
 
 Habits to be conformable to the times and circum- 
 
 ftances, p. 149. 
 Harmony to be obferved, p. 89. 
 
 JHtNRY VilL of England, invited Rpphael to his 
 
 court, p. 55^ 
 
 ' - his munificence, p. 6, n, 
 
 - - invited Titian to his court, p. 244. 
 
 Hercules, (Farnefian) p. 133, 
 
 Hiftory to be ftridly obferved in painting, p. 105 
 
 '■' ' ' when to be Icis attended to, p. 105. 
 Homer, p. 26, 34. 
 
 KooLE, (M.) his trarjflation from Aricllo, p. 113, 
 
 Horace, p. 181, 
 
 quoted, p. zr, 75, 83, loi, ic;, n. 142, 
 
 i6i, 165, 177, Jacobi 
 
Jacob I Ledllone Poctaium chira<flc;i ized, p. 99, 
 invention a part of painting, p. 71. 
 poetical, p. 25, z?. 
 
 what to be obierved in it, p. 72, 8 i. 
 - its fouicc-s p. IC2. 
 
 ■ ■ • ' comparative merits of Raphaei and Michael 
 
 Angelo in regard to, p. 172. 
 Italian language recommended to the painter, p. 167, 
 Judgment, how formed, p. 35. 
 Julio RoMAx\o, p. 5,68, 179, 193, v. 205, «. 
 
 ■ his character as an artift, p.iizo. 
 Julius II. Pope, p. 55, 
 
 Laocoon. (the celebrated ft^tae of ) p. 189, «. 
 
 l.E Brun, p. 68, 131, «. 1^3,//. 
 
 Le Gros, p. 69, t2. 
 
 Le Moine, p. 68, 7u 
 
 Leo X. Pope, p. ^ 5. 
 
 Le Sueur, p. 68, n. 
 
 Licence when allowable, p* 10^ 
 
 LlONARDQ DA ViNC I. V'id. Vl NC \. 
 
 LoNGiNUS quoted, p 103, 104, 
 LoTo, (Lorenzo) p. 1 57. 
 
 Louis XIV. his age the fourth xra in the hiftojy of 
 
 the Arts, p. 70^ 
 Luc I AN, p. r68. 
 Lux LI, a Hory of hirn, p. 164, 
 
 Maignard, p. 68, n. 
 
 Manna, (fall of ) hovv to be reprefented in painting^ 
 p. 83, ^^c. 
 
 Marc Antonmo, (Engrr.ver) p, 1^9, &. 
 Martial quoted/ p. 53, 
 
256 INDEX, 
 
 MafTes of light and fliadow, p. 150, n. 
 
 MaZZOLA, (GlR0£AM0)p. 223. 
 
 Messala, p 46. 
 
 Michael Angjilo. Vid. Angelo. 
 Mi Li^oN, p 208, n, 
 
 MoN£-TA, his lines under Arctin's portrait^ p i 80, n, 
 Moses, how to be reprefented in painting, p. 74, B8« 
 Motion to be given to the figures, p. 142. 
 Mum Ml us, his taile, p. 5 2. 
 
 MUS.'I-US, p. 209, 71. 
 
 Nature, the criterion of beauty, p. %z^, 
 ~- never perfedlly be.Tutifui, p. 109. 
 ' this do£ljine confidered, id. n. 
 
 the fchool of the imitative Arts, p. 185,^. 
 
 Navagero, p. 241. 
 
 Nero, (Emperor) p. f ». 
 
 Nude, nuifcular or delicate, p. 132. 
 
 " delicate more difHcuit, p. 
 
 Order, p. 72. 
 
 Ornaments (ambitious) to be retrenched, p, i6i.- 
 Ovid. 
 
 — — » his dcfcription of Niobe, p. 26. 
 ■ his compliment to Apelles, p. 'iZ'j, 
 
 Painter, his office, p.^ 24. 
 
 * ■ - muft be acquainted with Hiflory and the 
 Poets, p, 96. 
 
 -~ mud feel the palTion he would communicate, 
 
 p. 164 
 
 Paint iKc, how divided, p»7i. 
 
 nearly allied to Poetry, kc* p. 25, 33, 34, 
 83, 130. 
 
 ^ — how difhcalt to excel in, p. 32. 
 
 Painting, 
 
INDEX, 257 
 
 Paintikg, its power, p. 25. 
 
 — . a noble art, and why, p. 56,60. 
 
 . ufeful in religion, p. 57, and n. 
 
 . its utility, p. 59, 60. 
 
 — ■ ornamental, p. 62, &c. 
 
 its Hate in France under Louis XIV. 
 
 p. 68, n. 
 
 — in what ages it has fucceeded beft, p. 70, n. 
 
 — has thriven in the fame times with Litera- 
 ture, p. 1 30, 
 Parmegiano, (Francisco) p. 5:, 222. 
 
 . ^N.VlCUS, p. 50. 
 
 PARMEGiANINO, p. 224. 
 
 Parrh AsiUs, p, 80, 130, n. 153. 
 
 Paffions may be exprelTed in painting, p. 27, 162. 
 
 Paul IlL pope, p. 55. 
 
 Paul, (St ) how to be reprefented in painting, p. 73. 
 Paulo Veronese, p. 68, n, 
 Perriwo del Vaga, p. c. 
 
 his charader as an artift, p. 225. 
 
 Persius, p. 181;. 
 
 Perfpeclive neceffary to be known, p. 156. 
 Petrarca, p. 9, 198, 199, 207. 
 
 quoted, p. 8,27, 34, 160, 208. 
 
 Ph iDi AS, p. 1 30, n. 
 Philip of Macedon, p. 70. 
 Philip IL of Spain, p, 49, qo. 
 
 Pidures, the vafl price they bore among the antients, 
 p. 52. 
 
 PiRANESE (Cav.) engraver, p. 192,;/. 
 
 Pliny, p. 40, 52, 56, 128, n. 147, 153, «. 178, 
 
 189, 207, 214, n. 
 Plutarch, p. 227, n> 
 
 POLIDORO, p. 5. 
 
 — his charader as an artift, p 224. 
 
 PoLIGNOTUS, p 8. 
 
 S Pope 
 
258 I N D E x; 
 
 Pope, (Mr.) quoted, p. 28, «. 161, /r. 
 PORDONONE. p. 5. 
 
 — hischara£ler as an artift, p. 225. 
 
 PoussiN, p. 68, n, 70, «. 
 
 Praxiteles, his Venus of Gnidus, p. 128, 130, «- 
 Pritchard, (Mrs.) her power over the audience, 
 
 p. 164, n. 
 Prints (EfTay on) quoted, p. 192, «. 
 Propriety to be obferved, p. 78, 133, 139. 
 pROPERTius, p. 175, n. 
 
 Proportion the principal fource of beauty, p. 114, 13 u 
 
 - — its variety, p. 123. 
 
 - '■' ■ (exai^l) howmeafured, p. 124. 
 
 Protoglnes, p 8, 44, 153, 161, 245, »<. 
 PUGET, p. 69, n, 
 
 QjnNTiLiAN quoted, p. 29, «. i 
 
 RaffaelleBorghini,p. 169, ». 
 
 Raguenet, (Monumens de Rome, &c.)p. 190, «. 
 
 191, n. 193, 205, 
 Raphael, p. 5, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 2t, 31, 55, 62, 
 
 63, 67, «. 68, 89,90, n, 130, «. 142, n, 171, 
 
 179, 181, 184, «. 185, 200, 205, 209, 210, 
 
 212, 218, 233, 241, 246. 
 
 ' invited to England by Henry VIII. p. 55. 
 
 " ■ his pidure of Fred. Barbarofla, p. 90. 
 
 ■ his School of Athens, p. 91, t 
 excelled all others in the knowledge of hu- 
 man nature, p. 99. 
 
 ■ his practice in fketching, p. 100. 
 
 - his letter to Co. Caftiglione quoted, p.iioi«. 
 
 his Galatea, p-191, and ». 
 
 ■ fometimes complied with cuftom againft 
 judgment, p. 123. 
 
 * his cartoon of Paul and Barnabas, p, 1 29, ». 
 
 ^- — n his pidure of St, Peter preaching, p. 150, «. 
 
 Raphael, 
 
INDEX. 25:9 
 
 Raphael, his cartoon of the miraculous draught of 
 
 filhes, p. I47j n, 
 > ■ ■ of Paul at Athens, p. 195, n. 
 
 ■ his piclureof St. Cecilia, p. 193. 
 
 ■ ■ of the Transfiguration, p, 193, 
 &c. and n, 
 
 ' * his portraits, p. 215. 
 
 — his comparative merit with M. Angclo, as 
 
 to invention, p. 172, &c. 
 * ' ■ as todefign, p. 196, &c. 
 « ' as to colouring, p. 213, &^c. 
 hisRoxana, p. 186. 
 
 ■ his cartoon of the giving the keys, p. 195, 
 
 carefully ftudied the antique, p. 1 29, 204. 
 
 " his battle of Conflantine and Maxentius, 
 
 p. 205, and n, 
 
 ■ — excelled in the graceful, p. 206, and ». 
 
 ■ — — _ alfo in architedlure, p. 215. 
 . — his general characler, p. 21^, &c. 
 Relievo to be given to the figures, p. 148, 
 
 ' how produced, p. 158, 
 Richardson quoted, p. 91, 193, 
 RiCAUT, p. 68, 7/. 
 RlPA, p. 184, 
 
 Roger, (of BrufTels) p. 91, n, 
 Roux, p. 66, n, 
 
 Rubens, his allegories faulty, p. 1R4, n. 
 
 errs againft the collume, p, 9?, v, 
 his Treatife of the Imitation of the A uients, 
 quoted, p. 129, ». 
 
 Salvator Rosa, a poet as well as painter, p. 23. 
 Sallust quoted, p. 
 
 Sannazzaro, his epigram on Venice, p. 93, 
 Santorini, p. 68, 71, 
 
 S 2 SaR AS IN^ 
 
26o INDEX. 
 
 Sarasin, p. 69, n. 
 Sarto (Andre A del). Vide Andrea. 
 SciPio, how afFeded by flatuary, p. 59. 
 Sentimens agreables (Theorie de) quoted, p. 133, ;/- 
 Shaftsbury, (Lord) quoted, p. 6, «. 89, n, 104, 
 107, 
 
 Shakespeare quoted, p. 79, 80, 
 
 ■ — his knowledge of human nature, p. 80, 
 Sketches to be frequently repeated, p. 99. 
 Socrates, p. 1 30, 
 
 Spence (Mr.) his Crito quoted, p. 115, 118, 
 206, «. 
 
 his Polymetis quoted, p. 184, n. 
 Stage recommended as a fchool for the painter, p. 
 166, «. 
 
 Statuary, its efFedls, p. 59. 
 
 its ftaie in France under Louis XIV. 
 
 p. 69, n. 
 
 Strange, (Mr.) engraver, p. 192, «. 222, n. 
 Sublime has its origin in the greatnefs of the foul;, 
 p. 103, n. 
 
 Tablature, what, p. 107, n. 
 Theodon, p. 69, n. 
 
 Tiberius, (Emp ) the vafl price he gave for one 
 
 pidure, p. 52. 
 Timantes, p. 8, 26, «. 78. 
 
 — his Iphigenia, p. 78. 
 
 Titian, p. 2, 3,4, 5, 18, 47, 48, 49, 55,63, 64, 
 
 91* 95> ^30> «• 226, 240, 245, 246. 
 
 i . his pidure of Peter Martyr, p. 2, and «. 
 
 171, 238. 
 
 n his pidlures repaired by Baftian, p. 23. 
 
 ■ his death of Germanicus, p. 26, 
 
 „_ his nude for Car. Farnefe admired by M. 
 
 Angelo^ p. 50. Titian, 
 
I N D E X. zS 
 
 Titian, his pidure of Fred. BarbaroHa, p. 91, 
 240. 
 
 ' J ' fometimes complied with cuHoni againA 
 
 judgment, p. 1 23, «. 
 ■■ excelled in the delicate, p. 173. 
 
 - • his general character as an ai tiil, p. 227* 
 
 ■ an account of his life, p. 2^9, &c. 
 
 • his Afcenficn, p. 233. 
 
 Madonna and Child, p. 236. 
 
 — — — St. John the Baptiil, p. 238. 
 
 —— invited to Rome by Leo X p. 24.1. 
 
 — — by Francis I. and Charles V. 
 
 p. 242. 
 
 ^ to England, by Henry VIII. 
 
 p. 244. 
 
 Vaga (Perrino del). Vide P.errino. 
 
 Variety to be attended to by the painter, p. 139. 
 
 • — — not to be affeded, p. 141. 
 
 Vasari recommended, p. 169. 
 
 quoted, p. 216, ;^ 223, 226, 233, 24^. 
 
 Venice, (Sannazzaro's epigram on) p. 9J, n, 
 Venius, (Otko) p. 184, n. 
 'Venus of Medici, p. 133, « 
 Vinci, (Lion ardo da) p. 54, 66, 
 
 ■ - his charader as an anift, p 219, and /z> 
 Virgil, p. 26, ?z 1 89. 
 Vivarino, p. 234. 
 
 Unity of adion necelTary in a picture, p. 194, ^. 
 
 •obfervable in thofe of Raphael, p. 195, /?.. 
 
 Unnatural, to ba avoided, p. 106. 
 Voltaire quoted, p. 69, 
 Vraifemblance neccffary, p. 78.. 
 
 Warburton, (Bi III op) p. 195, 
 
 Wat jE LET, 
 
262 I N D E X. 
 
 Watelet quoted, p. 166, n 207, n. 
 Webb (Mn.) 4"oted, p. 19, ». 208, ». 
 Whole, ( it is necefTary for a pidure to form a ) 
 p. 107. n. 
 
 WiNKELMAN (L'Abbc) quotcd, p. 67, n. 173, n. 
 189, «. 206, ». 
 
 Xenophon, p. 130, «. 
 
 — — — quoted, p. 36, «. 162, ». 
 
 Zeuxis, p. 6, 130, n. 
 
 ■ his Helen, p. 36. 109. 
 
 ■ I. gave away his works, p. 53. 
 
 > ■■ ' his method of forming the idea of beauty, 
 
 p, 109. 
 >■ his grapes, p. 152. 
 
 ZuccHERo, p. 169, n. 
 
 1 
 
 ^ ^ ^