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 https://archive.org/details/treatiseonfrescoOOIati 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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 \ 
 
 t 
 

 
 A 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 FRESCO, ENCAUSTIC, AND TEMPERA 
 
 PAINTING. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 FRESCO, ENCAUSTIC, AND TEMPERA 
 PAINTING; 
 
 BEING THE 
 
 SUBSTANCE OF LECTURES 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 THE SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS, 
 
 AND AT THE 
 
 SCHOOL OF DESIGN, LEICESTER SQUARE, 
 
 XBT THE YEARS 3.838-39-40, 
 
 By EUGENIO LATILLA, 
 
 MEM. SOC. BRIT. ART. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 78, NEWMAN STREET. 
 
 1842. 
 
 3S50 
 
Printed by J. L. I ox & Sons, 75, Great Queen Street, 
 Lincoln’?-Inn Fields. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Many have been the struggles of unaided genius 
 in this country, to sow the seeds of pure taste and 
 sound judgment in the fine arts, even at the sacri¬ 
 fice of private interest, and in opposition to the 
 full tide of prejudice and discouragement. Barry, 
 Fuseli, Flaxman, Stothard, and Hilton, are exam¬ 
 ples of this ; and though their conceptions would 
 have adorned any age, they were suffered to pass 
 through life without a single national commission, 
 or any work of sufficient scope to elicit fully the 
 high powers they possessed. 
 
 Public and private bodies have likewise exerted 
 their influence in cultivating a love and just appre¬ 
 ciation of the ebullitions of intellect; but to little 
 purpose are institutions formed, or even premiums 
 awarded, where there is not patronage for that 
 
Y1U 
 
 character or class of art that can alone dignify a 
 nation, or be profitable to its manufactures. 
 
 A more general desire, however, is at length 
 awakened to vie with, and rival other lands that 
 have acquired fame and wealth by their works ; 
 and the most effectual means of establishing the 
 arts in their highest principles and pretensions lias, 
 at length, been resorted to, in the appointment of 
 a Commission to introduce into England the mas¬ 
 terly practice that is raising into fame the schools 
 of Germany and France, namely—Fresco Painting; 
 a medium justly characterized by Fuseli as “the 
 real instrument of history,” and which Vasari de¬ 
 scribes as “ truly the most virile, most sure, most 
 resolute, and most durable of all modes.”* 
 
 The admirable project of embellishing the New 
 Houses of Parliament in fresco is an event, there¬ 
 fore, that will be hailed by all lovers of high art 
 as the means, if judiciously conducted, of exalting 
 British genius, and adding increased lustre to the 
 British name. 
 
 In the evidence before the Committee of the 
 House of Commons appointed to take into con¬ 
 sideration the promotion of the fine arts in con- 
 
 * “ Veramente il piu. virile, piu sicuro, piu risoluto, e durabile, 
 di tutte gli altri modi.” 
 
IX 
 
 nection with the rebuilding of the Houses of Par¬ 
 liament, much valuable theoretical information was 
 elicited from artists and amateurs as to the advan¬ 
 tages of fresco, and its suitability to large works. 
 Throughout the whole evidence, however, such a 
 total absence of practical knowledge on the subject 
 was evinced, that I have been induced, having for 
 many years made fresco and mural adornment mat¬ 
 ters of study, research, and experiment, to bring be¬ 
 fore the public the following “Treatise on Fresco and 
 Encaustic Painting,” wherein are detailed the modes 
 practised by the Greeks and Romans, and those of 
 the Italians under the enlightened patronage of 
 Giulio II. and Leo X., with the various stuccoes, co¬ 
 lours, mediums, and methods of applying them; also 
 the manner of making Cartoons in Tempera,* a pro¬ 
 cess indispensable to painting successfully alfresco. 
 
 In this treatise I have endeavoured to obviate 
 the difficulties which present themselves to artists 
 unacquainted with the different modes, in order 
 that the student of history may be induced and 
 urged to attempt the master tones of fresco, or 
 the rich impasto of encaustic, at a period when the 
 
 * In a note to Chap. V. I have mentioned an improvement of 
 my own, upon the old method of painting cartoons, which will be 
 found a valuable addition, as it gives the artist nearly the faci¬ 
 lities of oil, in scumbling and blending his tints. 
 
 b 
 
X 
 
 Legislature has wisely resolved on introducing 
 mural embellishment upon a grand scale. 
 
 On the minutes of evidence I would make a few 
 remarks, as it contains statements that may mislead 
 or convey erroneous notions of fresco. 
 
 An artist explained, that fresco was painting 
 with transparent or glazing colours, though the 
 effect, when dry, was that of being solid. This, I 
 beg to say, is not the case; for transparent colour 
 on the stucco will appear so, in the same way as 
 painting with transparent colour on white paper. 
 It is true that the Greeks occasionally made slight 
 decorative figures in this manner, but all the grand 
 subjects, both by the Greeks and Italians, were 
 in a powerful impasto, as are the frescoes of the 
 V at i can.* 
 
 Some years ago, I painted a Bacchante in fresco 
 with transparent colour for — Thellusson, Esq., 
 which, of course, was equally transparent when dry; 
 but this style does not bear comparison with the 
 Greek or Italian stucco solidly painted. 
 
 The frescoes (so called) in the Roman Catholic 
 chapel at Moorfields, and the Town Hall at Man¬ 
 chester, were referred to in the evidence as failures; 
 
 * I have some frescoes by Paul Veronese, in which also, the 
 impasto is very powerful. 
 
XI 
 
 but no one explained why they were so. I, there¬ 
 fore, take this occasion to expose an imposition, 
 probably the result of ignorance, practised in both 
 instances, which has operated injuriously to the in¬ 
 troduction of fresco in other parts of the country. 
 Having closely examined these paintings, particu¬ 
 larly those at Manchester, I perceived them to be 
 not genuine fresco, but what the Italians term 
 mezzo-fresco ; which is beginning upon a large sur¬ 
 face of wet plaster, and finishing with tempera, &c., 
 though the pictures at Manchester are finished with 
 oil, or varnish colours. This method is well known 
 by painters in fresco to be extremely perishable. 
 Vasari describes it as “the most short-lived,” and 
 “ the retouches,” says he, “ soon turn blackwhich 
 has been precisely the case with those at the Town 
 Hall, in addition to which the colours are scaling 
 off in many parts. 
 
 It was remarked by another artist, that from 
 cartoons the general powers of a painter cannot be 
 known. According to the common idea of car¬ 
 toons, I grant it would be difficult to judge of 
 them, but not so with those painted in the manner 
 of Raffaelle or Julio Romano, in which the high¬ 
 est powers can be exercised. Cartoons, the size 
 of the intended pictures, would alone enable the 
 
xii 
 
 Commission to judge of the abilities of the artists, 
 and he who shewed himself incapable of making 
 large cartoons, would be found still more incapable 
 of painting large frescoes. Many can design subjects 
 admirably in small, who would be utterly at a loss 
 in works of magnitude; for which reason small de¬ 
 signs should be disregarded. Large cartoons, by 
 various artists, could be exhibited at once in the 
 situations they were intended to occupy, when the 
 fitness and harmony of the whole would be seen; 
 besides which, cartoon painting is the best possible 
 preparatory study for fresco. 
 
 Respecting the subject of competition, there ap¬ 
 peared much difference of opinion in the evidence, 
 yet it is no doubt the most just, as well as the most 
 certain course to bring to light the real talent of 
 the country.* It is true that some of those who 
 enjoy the sway in art, though following perhaps 
 some minor branch of it, will not be disposed to 
 compete in a work of a high class, where probably 
 the zeal and ambition of younger aspirants might 
 eclipse their efforts; for many, condemned at pre- 
 
 * The first cupola of modern times, at Florence, by Brunel¬ 
 leschi, and the splendid bronze doors of the Baptistry, by Lorenzo 
 Ghiberti, when he was only twenty years of age, were the happy 
 results of competition, not, as is too often the case with us, for 
 cheapness, but excellence. 
 
Xlll 
 
 sent to uncongenial employment, thirst for the 
 higher scope that a national work can alone afford 
 them. 
 
 For carrying into effect the establishment of a 
 British School of Fresco, opportunities for the exer¬ 
 cise and trial of artists should be given in some 
 public building, as Westminster Hall, according to 
 Mr. Barry’s suggestion, for which, cartoons in tem¬ 
 pera of the proper size should be required. The 
 designs selected might then be executed in fresco, 
 and compensatory premiums adjudged; first, for the 
 successful cartoons, and secondly, for the frescoes 
 which are painted from them. Thus, an interest¬ 
 ing monument of the first essay of British skill 
 in fresco, would be obtained and preserved, at a 
 moderate expense. 
 
 About thirty-five years ago there were some fresco 
 and encaustic pictures painted in this country by 
 Rigaud. Those at Packington in Warwickshire I 
 have not seen, but understand them to be in excel¬ 
 lent condition. The encaustic ceiling of the Court 
 Room of Trinity House, which consists principally of 
 groups of cherubs, is in a fine state of preservation. 
 It has not turned black like oil, neither is it cracked, 
 which in England is considered, though without 
 
XIV 
 
 foundation, a certain concomitant of encaustic.* 
 The Greeks, on the contrary, looked upon it as the 
 most enduring, and the specimens extant prove the 
 justness of their opinion.f 
 
 The only recent attempt at encaustic of which I 
 am aware, is that of the Banqueting Room of His 
 Grace the Duke of Beaufort, at Beaufort House, 
 painted by myself. This encaustic is one of my own 
 discovery, and resembles fresco in effect, with rather 
 more depth of colour, and admitting a higher finish. 
 The design throughout is original, though in Greek 
 taste. The single figures in the large panels were 
 not, as has been supposed, taken from Herculaneum, 
 but nature, as also the fruits and flowers in the ara¬ 
 besques. The character of the composition being 
 bacchanalian, scrolls of the acanthus, with boys and 
 panthers, the size of life, are introduced in the cove. 
 The ornaments, drawn and executed by assistants, 
 may rank among the most masterly specimens ever 
 produced in this country ; they are drawn in a grand 
 
 * It is generally thought that the pictures of Sir Joshua Rey¬ 
 nolds have cracked owing to their being painted with a portion 
 of wax, though it is entirely attributable to his too free use of 
 Venice turpentine. 
 
 f I have in my possession an encaustic picture from Pompeii, 
 which is still perfect in colour, and entirely free from cracks. 
 
XV 
 
 gusto, and painted in a vigorous impasto, strongly 
 resembling the style of Giovanni da Udine, the very 
 reverse of the method pursued under the direction 
 of house-painters and upholsterers, which is a sys¬ 
 tem of japanning, or tea-tray painting, by no means 
 artistic. I speak thus with freedom of a part of the 
 work not by my own pencil, in justice to those who, 
 by their exertions in a work of a high class, proved 
 themselves equal to any thing that may be required 
 in the way of ornament, thereby entirely subverting 
 the evidence taken before a former Committee, 
 where it was represented as necessary to send to 
 France, both for designers and painters of ara¬ 
 besques. 
 
 In the various mouldings of the cornice and 
 stucco ornaments, I applied the Greek principle of 
 colour to an extent that in description might alarm, 
 though, as a whole, it has received the approbation 
 of many of the first artists and men of taste. 
 
 This room was to have been painted by Germans; 
 and the idea had so possessed men’s minds that 
 English artists were unfit for a work of the kind, 
 that the public papers ascribed it to them. Though 
 much desire appeared on the part of some of the 
 members of the Committee that Cornelius, or some 
 other German artists, should be employed for the 
 
XVI 
 
 new Houses of Parliament, yet it is to be hoped 
 that the present Commission will be more just, as 
 well as more patriotic, and first prove that English¬ 
 men have failed, before they invite a foreigner, 
 unless it be to take a part with the rest of the com¬ 
 petitors. 
 
 That talent is not wanting is evident, by the 
 superlative excellence attained in those branches 
 that receive support; and equal success would 
 most probably follow the encouragement of the 
 higher grades. The national glory depends greatly 
 on its intellectual contributors, and original produc¬ 
 tions in poetry, painting, sculpture, and architec¬ 
 ture, form lasting sources of revenue, that requite 
 the outlay of the State a thousand-fold. 
 
 If the Legislature considers the nation’s honour 
 and advantage in this matter, Englishmen will adorn 
 the Senate Houses where Englishmen legislate, and 
 they will exert their energies to compete, not only 
 with Germany and France, but Rome herself. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 On the rise and progress of art among the Greeks, and the 
 
 introduction of Fresco and Encaustic painting ... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 On the rise and progress of art among the Italians, and of 
 
 Fresco painting in particular ... ... ... ... 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 On Fresco for mural decoration ... ... ... ... 29 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 On Encaustic for mural decoration ... ... ... ... 33 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 On Tempera... ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 On Oil painting for mural decoration ... ... ... 44 
 
VI 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 On Design for Fresco ... ... ... ... ... 47 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 On conducting large works in Fresco ... ... ... 53 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 On Colours used in Fresco ... ... ... ... ... 57 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 On Greek Stuccoes ... ... ... ... ... ... 59 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 On Italian Stuccoes, as used in the Fifteenth Century ... G3 
 
ON 
 
 FRESCO PAINTING. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF ART AMONG THE 
 GREEKS, AND THE INTRODUCTION OF FRESCO 
 AND ENCAUSTIC PAINTING. 
 
 “ Such is the influence of the plastic arts on 
 society, on manners, sentiments, the commodities 
 and the ornaments of life, that we think ourselves 
 generally entitled to form our estimate of times 
 and nations by its standard. As our homage attends 
 those whose patronage reared them to a state of 
 efflorescence, or maturity, so we pass with neglect, 
 or pursue with contempt, the age or race which 
 want of culture or of opportunity averted from 
 developing symptoms of a similar attachment.” 
 
 Thus said that genius, philosopher, and scholar, 
 Fuseli, and the enlightened part of mankind concur 
 in the sentiment. Poets and historians record em- 
 
 B 
 
phatically the brilliant eras of Pericles, Augustus, 
 and Leo X., while ignominious silence, like night, 
 shades many an intervening period. 
 
 High art has by all great nations, ancient and 
 modern, been esteemed a basis and medium for 
 promoting civilization and refinement. Where it is 
 zealously cultivated, an empire assumes in its cha¬ 
 racter the distinctive marks of intellectual supe¬ 
 riority and power; while the ebullitions of genius 
 in depictive poesy, which disseminate taste and 
 knowledge, upon high principles, through the va¬ 
 rious ramifications of society, cannot fail giving 
 to commerce value, to industry an impetus, and to 
 human nature added dignity. 
 
 It is not to the honour of a people to continue 
 in a state of partial civilization ; neither can the 
 excursive mind of man rest satisfied in seeking 
 merely the necessaries for subsistence, or even 
 the enjoyment and gratification of sense. Such a 
 state, though somewhat beyond that of the brutes, 
 ill becomes the being’ who was formed in the 
 Creator’s image. Man must always be considered 
 with reference to his intellectual capacities; he 
 contemplates the past, the present, and the future. 
 All things, physical or metaphysical, are objects of 
 his analysis, and he rises superior to the sphere in 
 which he moves ; but infinity, space, and the know- 
 
3 
 
 ledge of that wisdom and power by which all things 
 exist and have their being, shew to man his infe¬ 
 riority, and, without circumscription or boundary to 
 his inquiries, the greatness of Omnipotence is dis¬ 
 played in proportion as his research extends, for the 
 further he penetrates, wider plains for observation 
 present themselves to view ; one thing accomplished 
 is but the means of apprehending what is still 
 beyond. 
 
 “ Creation widens, vanquished nature yields ; 
 
 Her secrets are extorted—art prevails.” 
 
 That benefit as well as dignity accrue to a nation 
 by the cultivation of the elegant arts is indisputable. 
 There are few to be found in the present day with 
 similar sentiments to the narrow-minded prelate, 
 who declared that a pin-maker was a more valuable 
 member of society than Raffaelle; yet, - notwith¬ 
 standing its increase and superior estimation, art, as 
 an instrument in educating the mind, as w r ell as the 
 eye, is in England but partially understood and 
 acknowledged. 
 
 The parent mother knows full well the advantage 
 of little illustrated books in facilitating the first 
 impressions of her offspring; and now that these 
 publications abound, the infant mind is taught to 
 reflect at an earlier period, and is sooner, and with 
 less difficulty, expanded and matured. 
 
4 
 
 But the primer and the child’s book are far from 
 being- the only ones aided by design ; our history 
 and our poetry are adorned and elucidated with 
 scei^s from nature and imagination, which exhibit 
 the fact, or assist the illusion. 
 
 Our scientific works, also, are rendered lucid 
 and perspicuous by graphic delineation ; and intri¬ 
 cacies and phenomena are by this means explained, 
 thft would otherwise, in the absence of the reality, 
 be ambiguous or unintelligible. 
 
 The reader of Homer will best understand the 
 author by reference to Flaxman’s outlines, unless 
 he is versed in Greek antiquities and customs. 
 
 The beautiful facts of Holy Writ will be the 
 better conceived by an acquaintance with the Car¬ 
 toons of Raffaelle; instance that of “ The Sacri¬ 
 fice at Lystra,” where the priest of Jupiter is about 
 to offer the victim to Paul and Barnabas. This 
 scene, with very slight alterations, was taken from a 
 Greek bas-relief (now at Florence), and therefore 
 enables us to form a correct notion of the occurrence. 
 
 AVIiat should we have known of the Egyptians, 
 their temples, their customs ? Of Thebes, with its 
 hundred gates ? or the magnificence of Carnac, 
 without the remains of art handed down to us ? 
 We should be as ignorant of these as we are res¬ 
 pecting Jerusalem, of which, though so much has 
 
5 
 
 been written, we possess but very indefinite ideas, 
 since scarcely a monument of its former greatness 
 is preserved, and not even one stone remains upon 
 another. m 
 
 Of Babylon, again, notwithstanding the records 
 of Herodotus, Strabo, Xenophon, Diodorus, and 
 Josephus, how little do we know ! Who can deter¬ 
 mine or portray with authority (seeing that not a 
 vestige of art remains) its mighty walls, its hanging 
 gardens, or its palaces of unequalled dimensions, 
 which have passed like a tale that is told ? 
 
 How different to this is our cognizance of Greece ! 
 from whence streams of intelligence and information 
 have flowed down to us through her treasures of art. 
 With these impressed on our minds, we familiarly 
 enter into the spirit of the ancient writers; their 
 kings, warriors, statesmen, philosophers, and poets, 
 are all known to us ; we are as well acquainted with 
 Pericles and the Csesars, as with Henry VIII. or 
 Charles I. 
 
 Where art is not found conjointly with history 
 and poetry, we are at a loss, after a lapse of years, 
 to comprehend the descriptions, and our conjectures 
 are often as vague as they are vain. 
 
 Our ideas of the Olympic games are formed upon 
 the splendid examples of Grecian sculpture ; and of 
 the gladiators we have the most accurate represen- 
 
6 
 
 tations possible ; they themselves, with their extra¬ 
 ordinary muscular developments, having served as 
 the models. 
 
 Unfortunately, no paintings by Apelles have sur¬ 
 vived the devastations of the cities which they for¬ 
 merly adorned ; but the sculpture of Phidias and 
 Praxiteles have been the grand models of imitation 
 to the present day. 
 
 By the principles of science, derived from Hippo¬ 
 crates, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Plato, the Greek 
 painters were led to form a just standard of excel¬ 
 lence. They acquired precision and boldness from 
 the knowledge of the construction of the human 
 body, its proportions, the unity of its parts, and the 
 laws of its mechanical evolutions. 
 
 The systems of the Greeks were founded upon 
 analysis and synthesis. The doctrines and truths of 
 nature were, during successive ages, unfolded by 
 deep research, and with the advance of science may 
 be traced the rise of art. 
 
 It was from the absence of fundamental pre¬ 
 cepts, demonstrating causes and effects, that paint¬ 
 ers and sculptors, from the 5th to the 14th century, 
 were unable to infuse dignity or vigour into their 
 works. Compare such mechanical labours with 
 the creations of Phidias ! In his Panathenaic frieze, 
 the horses and their riders are in motion; the men 
 
7 
 
 are intelligent beings of the finest mould; the 
 chargers are heated with impetuosity, snorting and 
 prancing, instinct with life and energy ! The perfec¬ 
 tion of nature and art united. 
 
 In order to examine fresco and encaustic, as in¬ 
 troduced by the Greeks, it is necessary to trace 
 briefly the first principles of painting, which, accord¬ 
 ing to Pliny, they derived, with those of sculpture 
 and architecture, from the Egyptians. 
 
 Painting was the discovery of Giges ; though the 
 well-known legend imputes it to the Corinthian 
 maid, who traced the resemblance of her departing 
 lover by the shadow from a lamp. 
 
 The earliest attempt at delineation was the skia¬ 
 gram, or representation of a shadow in black on a 
 light ground. This was drawn with the cestrum, a 
 pointed iron instrument, used as a pen for writing 
 on tablets of wax. 
 
 The figures on the most ancient Greek vases, 
 commonly called Etruscan, were probably skia¬ 
 grams ; the figures being entirely black, and badly 
 drawn ; very similar to the sculpture of the Dscda- 
 lean school, and bearing some affinity to the Egyp¬ 
 tian hieroglyphics, though with a spirit and ani¬ 
 mation of style that rendered them greatly supe¬ 
 rior. 
 
 The monogram was the next step in advance. 
 
8 
 
 This was the outline of the figure, with portions of 
 detail. 
 
 The third was the monochrom, or painting with 
 a single colour ; such probably were the best of the 
 Greek vases, where the figures are relieved by a 
 black or brown back-ground. This process was 
 carried to the utmost perfection, and for drawing, 
 invention, and composition, these monoehroms are 
 justly held in the highest estimation. 
 
 In each stage the Greeks acquired excellence, 
 till all were perfected by the introduction of the 
 Polychrom, or science of colour; which, in the 
 hands of men already possessed of the grand linear 
 principles, could not fail of being an instrument of 
 power, and of completing the basis of pictorial 
 excellence. 
 
 The colours were at first few, and used in an 
 impasto of wax, tempered with oil, while warm. 
 The cestrum was used, not like the graver, as is 
 commonly supposed, but much in the way painters 
 now dexterously handle the spatula; drawing with 
 the point, and regulating the impasto with the side 
 of the instrument. 
 
 The first great painter in encaustic was Polygnotus, 
 of whose works lengthened descriptions have been 
 handed down. He was, as far as we can ascertain, 
 the founder of epic painting. The 7 roixly^rj rrroa 
 
9 
 
 derives its name from the various pictures by which 
 he adorned it. These were of a grand monumental 
 character, as “ The Siege and Sacking of Troy,” 
 “ The Battle of Theseus and the Amazons,” “ The 
 Battle of the Lacedaemonians and Athenians, at 
 CEnoe, in Argolis,” “ The Triumph of Miltiades 
 and the Victors of Marathon.” This last cele¬ 
 brated picture was painted by public desire, and 
 such was the admiration in which it was held, that 
 the Athenians offered to reward the artist with what¬ 
 ever he might desire. Polygnotus nobly declined 
 asking any thing; upon which the Amphictyonic 
 Council proclaimed that he should be maintained at 
 the public expense wherever he went. 
 
 A chamber of the Propylsea was adorned entirely 
 with the paintings of Polygnotus; and from the 
 accounts of Pausanias, the Acropolis must have 
 been rich with his conceptions. Two immense 
 pictures are also mentioned as adorning the public 
 Hall at Delphi. Many opinions have been rashly 
 formed in deterioration of these works (probably 
 from the character of the descriptions by Pausanias), 
 which resemble Raffaelle’s episodes; that, for in¬ 
 stance, of the liberation of Peter from prison, where 
 he is first seen asleep, the angel touching him by 
 the hand, while on one side of the same picture 
 the angel is seen leading him out. The anachro- 
 
 c 
 
10 
 
 nism cannot be commended, vet who does not re¬ 
 gard the picture with intense admiration ? Greek 
 painting- should be judged of by Greek sculpture 
 and architecture, and the splendid works that are 
 extant, ought to teach ns to judge justly of those 
 that are not. It is unreasonable to suppose that 
 the applause of the enlightened Athenians could 
 have been bestowed on paintings inferior to the 
 sculpture of Phidias, who was the contemporary of 
 Polygnotus. But if art does not exist in proof, the 
 eulogiums of poets and historians are scarcely 
 accredited; evidently shewing that we are more 
 indebted to the arts for substantiating- our know- 
 ledge than we are willing to admit. 
 
 Arcesilaus, of Paros, Apollodorus, Parrhasius, 
 Zeuxis, and Aristides, all painted in encaustic with 
 the cestrum. This, however, was soon supplanted 
 by the pencil, in which Apelles, Protogenes, and 
 Timanthus excelled. 
 
 Pausias, in restoring some of the pictures of 
 Polygnotus, was reproved for handling weapons not 
 his own, because he had used the pencil on a picture 
 painted with the cestrum. It was probably after the 
 introduction of the pencil, by Apollodorus, that the 
 method of painting in fresco was adopted, though 
 it seems to have been in use at a much earlier pe¬ 
 riod for plain walls of a single colour (the colour 
 
11 
 
 being mixed with the stucco), trowelled on, and 
 afterwards polished. Although a very ancient 
 mode of painting, the origin of fresco is involved 
 in obscurity; yet it is probable that the Greeks 
 owed much of their enlargement of practice to 
 this aggrandizing medium. Their love for art was 
 interwoven with all their associations. They gloried 
 in their artists, and these, in return, vied with each 
 other in their endeavours to advance the nation’s 
 greatness, while the hope of a crown of laurel gave 
 a further impetus to their genius and their exer¬ 
 tions. The poets sung, the philosophers discoursed, 
 and painters and sculptors embodied and perpetu¬ 
 ated their conceptions, as well as their deeds and 
 persons. 
 
 Taste, derived from art, exhibited itself through 
 the manufactures ; and those articles (and they are 
 numerous) which have descended to us, are re¬ 
 markable for beauty and elegance of form. Fur¬ 
 niture, apparel, ornaments, armour, weapons, culi¬ 
 nary vessels, and pottery of all descriptions, are the 
 production of a people highly refined; even a common 
 earthenware lamp possesses an air of genuine taste 
 that has never been surpassed. The sword, battle- 
 axe, helmet, and shield, are in numberless instances 
 superb works of art; and when brought into juxta¬ 
 position with those of more modern times, the 
 
superiority of tlie Greek manufacture will at once 
 be obvious. There are also admirable monuments 
 extant, in the way of pictorially adorned chambers 
 al fresco, with splendid ceilings; the treatment of 
 subject in which (whether historical or mythological) 
 excites our wonder, as also the disposition of orna¬ 
 ment which forms the magnificent framework to 
 the pictures introduced. In the arabesque is seen 
 foliage, bacchanals, centaurs, nymphs, animals, birds, 
 and fishes. These, which if disposed by less skilful 
 hands, would have presented abhorrent incongruities, 
 are here amalgamated so as to create new forms 
 and contrasts, which, in a beauteous harmony of 
 colour, strike and gain upon the beholder, so that the 
 mind and senses are equally enthralled. These ex¬ 
 quisite inventions have continued to charm through 
 the various changes of ages and dynasties ; and hav¬ 
 ing their foundation in every thing that is perfect 
 in nature, they must ever retain their celebrity; 
 while the consecutive inventions of caprice, preju¬ 
 dice, and fashion, sink into deserved oblivion. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF ART AMONG THE 
 ITALIANS, AND OF FRESCO PAINTING IN 
 PARTICULAR. 
 
 In contemplating a master-piece of art, wrought by 
 an expanded intellect with wonderful manual dex¬ 
 terity, and comprehending science, invention, action, 
 passion, chiaro-scuro, and the magic spell of expres¬ 
 sion, we gaze with wonder and admiration, and for¬ 
 get that ages were occupied and passed in progres¬ 
 sive advances; each generation adding its expe¬ 
 rience to the past, till, ultimately, some genius, 
 with the power of applying the various points of 
 knowledge attained by many, unites their excel¬ 
 lences ; and, like the skilful chemist, purging away 
 the drossy incumbrances, presents to the world art 
 in its highest attainable perfection ! Thus, what we 
 often look upon as the facile production of a day, 
 cost, in its acquirement, many centuries. 
 
 There are many who paint, as there are many 
 who rhyme; but few are destined to outlive the 
 
14 
 
 narrow limits of tlieir own existence, or who will be 
 recognized as painters and poets by posterity. 
 
 The genius of painting, like that of poetry, though 
 intuitive, must necessarily be cultivated; it is 
 therefore highly important to observe the steps by 
 which art rose, the course of its current, and the 
 circumstances under which it flourished. I may, 
 therefore, be excused, while tracing somewhat of 
 the progress of the Italians, and marking those 
 whose genius, or powers of invention, assisted to 
 raise it to the enviable elevation which it attained 
 in the 16th century, through the powers of fresco 
 painting. 
 
 Though the Greeks were never surpassed in form, 
 composition, and colour, yet, from the discovery of 
 the science of perspective in the 15th century, a 
 greater command was given to the Italian painters 
 to represent objects as they really appear in nature, 
 and by such unerring rules as enabled them to 
 avoid the incongruities so apparent in the early 
 Florentine school, and even, at times, in the 
 Greek. 
 
 After the fill of the Roman empire, art, litera¬ 
 ture, and science, as is well known, remained at the 
 lowest ebb for the space of several centuries; the 
 barbarians destroying not only every vestige of art, 
 but also every description of knowledge by which 
 
15 
 
 it might be re-established. This period of the 
 world’s history is justly denominated the dark ages. 
 Among the degenerated Greeks there were, how¬ 
 ever, a few Gothic painters deserving of notice. At 
 Florence there is a picture by Andrea Rico, of a 
 Madonna and Child attended by angels, which exhi¬ 
 bits considerable talent, and is interesting as one of 
 the best specimens of the 13th century. There is 
 also a Madonna and infant Christ in the church of 
 Santa Maria Maggiore, at Rome, pronounced by the 
 Italian painters and writers to be of the lltli cen¬ 
 tury ; though it is venerated as a work of St. Luke 
 by Roman Catholics. 
 
 Cimabue, a Florentine, born in 1240, was the first 
 Italian who attempted painting in fresco and tem¬ 
 pera. He derived his instructions from the Greek 
 artists who had fled to Florence; and from the pro¬ 
 gress he made, and the dignity he imparted to his 
 figures, he has been styled the Michael Angelo of his 
 day; though at this early period, when the powers of 
 painting were comparatively unknown, a little suf¬ 
 ficed to create astonishment. As an instance of 
 this—-the Florentines seeing a picture of a Madonna 
 and Child, with ministering angels, the size of 
 life, by Cimabue, an attempt that had not been 
 made by any artist of the time, such a sensation 
 was created, that a feast was proclaimed throughout 
 
1(3 
 
 the city. The painter and picture were carried in 
 grand procession, and with tumultuous rejoicing, to 
 the church of Santa Maria Novella, heralds sound¬ 
 ing their approach. The concourse that followed 
 was immense, and the delight occasioned by the 
 picture was so great, that the place where Cimabue 
 resided was named “ Borgo Allegri.”*' Having re¬ 
 suscitated painting, taught many disciples, and lived 
 in wealth and honour, he died in the year 1300. 
 Cimabue was, undoubtedly, the founder, not only of 
 the Tuscan school, but of modern art. He was suc¬ 
 ceeded by his pupil Giotto, whose abilities, as 
 painter, sculptor, and architect, deserve high recom¬ 
 mendation. Not content with the condition of art 
 as left by his master, he strove assiduously to im¬ 
 prove it, which he unquestionably did ; especially by 
 the practice of fresco ; and was fortunate enough to 
 find patrons, who enabled him to prosecute his de¬ 
 signs. He studied nature, and improved his con¬ 
 ceptions by an intimacy with Dante, whose lofty 
 imagery tended greatly to enlarge men’s minds, and 
 to disperse the darkness that had so long enveloped 
 Europe; it also infused into the works of the 
 painters of the day, and many of those who suc¬ 
 ceeded, a charm which will ever be acknowledged. 
 Giotto’s Belfry at Florence, which still exists, is a 
 
 * Vasari. 
 
17 
 
 fine piece of architecture. It is a tower of great 
 height, of inlaid marbles (corresponding to the duo- 
 mo), and is adorned with sculptured figures that 
 possess beauty and simplicity. This artist was 
 much, and deservedly, esteemed by popes, kings, 
 and princes. It is related of him, that while en¬ 
 gaged on a fresco at Porto Reale (the entrance to 
 Naples), the king Ruberto often visited him, and 
 said one day, in conversation, that he intended to 
 make him the first man in the kingdom. “ It is for 
 this reason, then,” answered Giotto smiling, “ that 
 I am stationed here !” On another occasion, the wea¬ 
 ther being very oppressive, the king said, “ I would 
 leave painting a little while it is so warm, if I were 
 you, Giotto.” “ And I certainly would,” answered 
 the painter, “ if I were your Highness.” 
 
 From the time of Giotto, the love of art seems to 
 have spread rapidly, and pictures subsequent to this 
 period are to be found in all the principal cities of 
 Italy. 
 
 Philip Brunelleschi, the founder of the modern 
 school of architecture, and the restorer of the 
 Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, aided 
 greatly in improving the style both of fresco and 
 sculpture by the necessity he created for works 
 corresponsive to the classic grandeur of his edifices. 
 
 He was the discoverer of the mode of erecting 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 cupolas, which had been lost since the time of the 
 Romans. 
 
 Vasari relates a similar anecdote of him to that 
 recorded of Columbus, though this has unquestion¬ 
 ably the merit of being the first, since it occurred 
 before the birth of Columbus.* 
 
 A council of the most learned men of the day 
 and from various parts of the world, was summoned 
 to consult and shew plans for the erection of a 
 cupola like that of the Pantheon at Rome.']' Bru¬ 
 nelleschi refused to shew his model, it being upon 
 the most simple principles, but proposed that the 
 man who could make an egg stand upright on a 
 marble base should be the architect. The foreigners 
 and artists agreeing to this, but failing in their 
 attempts, desired Brunelleschi to do it himself: 
 upon which he took the egg, and with a gentle tap 
 broke the end, and placed it on the slab. The 
 learned men unanimously protested that any one else 
 
 * Brunelleschi died in 1446 ; Columbus was born in 1442. 
 
 t Some of these wise men proposed that a centre column 
 should support the dome ; others, that a huge mound of earth 
 (with quatrini scattered among it) should be raised in the form 
 of a cupola, and the brick or stone work built upon it. When 
 finished, an order was to be issued, allowing the people to possess 
 themselves of what money they might find in the rubbish ; the 
 mound would thus be easily removed, and the cupola be left 
 clear. 
 
19 
 
 could do the same; to which the architect replied 
 with a smile, that had they seen his model they 
 could as easily have known how to build a cupola. 
 
 The work then devolved upon him, but a want 
 of confidence existing among the operatives and 
 citizens, they pronounced the undertaking to be too 
 great for one man, and arranged that Lorenzo Ghi¬ 
 berti,* an artist of great repute at that time, should 
 be co-architect with him. Brunelleschi’s anger and 
 mortification were so great on hearing this decision, 
 that he destroyed, in the space of half an hour, 
 models and designs that had cost him years of 
 labour, and would have quitted Florence but for the 
 persuasions of Donatello. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to add, that the cupola was 
 completed with perfect success by Brunelleschi, since 
 St. Peter’s, at Rome, and our own St. Paul’s, were 
 formed upon the model of his dome at Florence. 
 
 Paolo Uccelli painted in fresco, but was princi¬ 
 pally absorbed in the study of perspective, and first 
 introduced into painting its invaluable principles. 
 He laboured incessantly, and often spent whole 
 nights in discovering the termination or intersection 
 
 * Lorenzo Ghiberti was the sculptor of the exquisite bronze 
 doors of the Baptistry, at Florence, which Michael Angelo 
 admired so much as to say they might serve for the gates of 
 Paradise. 
 
of a line; and like most men who have devoted 
 their minds to oeenlt sciences, he lived in poverty, 
 and died neglected, though it must he acknowledged 
 that he conferred one of the greatest benefits upon 
 art, and posterity has reason to record his name 
 with consideration.* 
 
 Piero Francesco was another who devoted him¬ 
 self to perspective; he wrote many volumes on the 
 subject, and has even been styled by some the father 
 of the science; and from the painters of his time 
 beginning to estimate his value, he received more 
 honour and emolument than the unfortunate Uccelli. 
 
 Masaccio was a man who likewise advanced his 
 art; he treated history with extraordinary skill, 
 and many of the greatest painters have studied his 
 works in the Brancacio Chapel, Michael Angelo and 
 Raffaelle among the number. 
 
 At this time painting both in oil and fresco was, 
 however, practised in a gothic gusto,f and the 
 
 * Paolo Uccelli painted a curious picture, which is worth 
 mention, as it correctly classified the artists according to their 
 merit. In it, he represented Giotto as the luminary of modern 
 painting, Brunelleschi of architecture, Donatello of sculpture, 
 himself of perspective, and Giovanni Maneti of mathematics. 
 Paolo painted buildings in perspective. 
 
 j While the gothic architecture of the dark ages attained to 
 beauty, which is still justly admired, the same cannot be said of 
 gothic paintings, which, though curious, should never be deemed 
 examples worthy of imitation. 
 
21 
 
 artists of the clay were engaged in illustrating scrip¬ 
 ture for the instruction of the people. Pinturichio 
 was employed to paint the Library of Siena, and 
 called to his assistance Raffaelle, then young in art 
 and reputation, who painted one panel and made 
 designs for the rest. But the fame of Michael 
 Angelo and da Vinci reaching him, he could no 
 longer remain at Siena, but, leaving the walls un¬ 
 finished, he repaired to Florence. “ The Cartoon 
 of Pisa,” by Michael Angelo, and “ The Battle of 
 the Standard,” by Leonardo, speedily made him 
 leave his gothic style, and improve himself on the 
 models of the antique. He was shortly after called 
 upon to paint a stanza in the Vatican, through the 
 interest of his uncle, Bramante, who was designing 
 at St. Peter’s, and was in high favour with the Pope. 
 
 Many of the rooms were already completed,* but 
 on seeing what had been done, he determined to 
 surpass it all, and to the astonishment of the Pon¬ 
 tiff Giulio II., the marvellous composition of “ The 
 School of Philosophy”! appeared, like a meteor 
 in the midst of stars of common magnitude. The 
 Pope, doing justice to the splendid talent that had 
 developed itself, immediately ordered all the other 
 
 * By Perugino Pietro della Francesca, Luca da Cortona, Bar¬ 
 tolomeo della Gatta, and Bramantino da Milano. 
 
 f Commonly, but erroneously, called “ The School of Athens.” 
 
99 
 
 chambers to be defaced, and adorned by the superior 
 genius of Raffaelle.* 
 
 Here is an instance of a painter being elevated to 
 his proper dignity through having free scope for the 
 faculties of his mind; though no one anticipated 
 “ The School of Philosophy” from Raffaelle, who till 
 that period had only been rather better than his 
 master Perugino. 
 
 In his moral frescoes Raffaelle expanded as in a 
 congenial element; he 
 
 “ Reigns here and revels,” 
 
 and exhibits all the rare attributes for which he is 
 distinguished. Form, invention, chiaro-scuro, and 
 even colour, are all excellent in the frescoes of the 
 Vatican. He seemed to have apprehended all that 
 could render art perfect, and what he had witnessed 
 by Buonaroti and Da Vinci in design, enabled him 
 to carry painting to an unprecedented altitude. 
 
 His execution was only surpassed by his concep¬ 
 tion : his line was always energetic, however deli¬ 
 cate and beautiful, and of expression, like Aristides 
 the Theban, lie has justly been called the master. 
 Truth is stamped on his cartoons, and he vividly 
 recals the events of former days. “ The School of 
 
 * Out of respect to the work of his master, Raffaelle preserved 
 the ceiling painted by him, which is still to be seen in the 
 Vatican. 
 
23 
 
 Philosophy,” “The Dispute of the Sacrament,” “ The 
 Liberation of Peter from Prison,” “ The Miracle of 
 Bolsena,” and the “ Incendio dell Borgo,” are the 
 perfection of historic art, and display a concentra¬ 
 tion of powers entirely his own. His portraits, 
 though few in number, are of the highest order; 
 those of Giulio II. and Leo X. are fine examples. 
 
 His Madonnas are the most fascinating personifica¬ 
 tions of maternal affection, mingled with dignity 
 and grace, the very beau-ideal of female tenderness. 
 That called the Madonna della Seggiola, the gem of 
 the palace that contains it at Florence, is, perhaps, 
 the most perfect and exquisite. Regarding the 
 sculpture and painting of the Greeks, with a keen 
 perception of their well-founded principles, and their 
 high standard of excellence, formed upon the infini¬ 
 tude of Nature, Raffaelle sought with eagerness all 
 that could be collected of Grecian art, and for that 
 purpose sent artists to Greece to copy any thing 
 that was beautiful, and in emulation of the Baths of 
 Titus, he conceived and executed his loggie of the 
 Vatican. What he beheld by the pencil of the 
 Greeks impelled him onward to equal, if not in 
 some respects to surpass, their splendid achieve¬ 
 ments. The example of Raffaelle was followed by 
 his school, and taste spread through Italy with ra¬ 
 pid strides. The revival of pictorial excellence was 
 
24 
 
 hailed l>y all the learned and wealthy of the age : 
 genius created patronage; patronage, in its turn, 
 fostered talent; and Rome, which before had been 
 renowned for the arts of war, then became pre¬ 
 eminent as the restorer of the arts of peace. 
 
 The next great painter in the history and suc¬ 
 cessful practice of fresco who demands our parti¬ 
 cular attention is Michael Angelo. He was di¬ 
 rected by Giidio II.. at the instigation of Bramante 
 (who, jealous of his abilities, was anxious that he 
 might be engaged in some work wherein he might 
 fail), to undertake the embellishment of the Sixtine 
 Chapel: although he strongly recommended Raffa- 
 elle, as better able to accomplish it than himself, 
 who had never painted in fresco. But his endea¬ 
 vours to evade the commission failed. The Pope, 
 from a perception, probably of his commanding 
 powers, and in order to provoke to excellence in 
 painting the sublimity and grandeur of style so re¬ 
 markable in his sculpture, insisted on the under¬ 
 taking. Michael Angelo accordingly drew his car¬ 
 toons, and obtained some Florentine painters to as¬ 
 sist him with the fresco.* But finding their dry, 
 cramped gothic manner subversive of his breadth 
 and flow of outline, he without ceremony destroyed 
 
 * Grannacio, Juliano Bugiardino, Jacopo di Sandro, L’Indaio 
 Vecchio, Agnolo di Domino, and Aristotle. 
 
25 
 
 all their labours, and began the tremendous under¬ 
 taking entirely alone, securing the doors, and not 
 suffering himself to be seen, either at home or at 
 the Capella, while the disgraced Florentines re¬ 
 turned with shame to their own city. After indefa¬ 
 tigable exertion during several months, he exhibited 
 to view a portion of the most unrivalled ceiling 
 that was ever painted. Sublimely conceived, drawn 
 with a skill that surpassed all previous achieve¬ 
 ments, it excited the immortal Raffaelle to efforts 
 that rendered him afterwards the successful rival 
 of Michael Angelo. 
 
 The Pope, who had been eagerly waiting for a 
 sight of what had been done in the Capella, did 
 not even allow the dust to subside from the re¬ 
 moval of the scaffolding, but was the first to enter. 
 A concourse followed, and the most unbounded 
 applause was awarded to the painter. Thus what 
 Bramante hoped would have proved injurious to 
 Buonaroti, served but for his further exaltation, 
 and for Raffaelle’s imitation. Success usually at¬ 
 tends great minds when incited to vast undertakings, 
 and thus it was with Raffaelle and Michael Angelo. 
 The power or inherent capacity of these men, though 
 undoubtedly far beyond the common order, was 
 unfolded and matured by an enlarged practice, the 
 offspring of splendid patronage, induced be it re- 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 membered by the exhibition of one single essay by 
 each of these artists in fresco, the noblest of all 
 mediums, and the one most adapted to elicit the 
 latent powers of the pencil. 
 
 It was primarily from the nature of the practice 
 required in fresco painting, that the grand style of 
 the Italian school arose, and I will venture to affirm, 
 that no school can be high in character or of the 
 first order without the same enlarged means of 
 study. It is to me no matter of surprise that high 
 art is prostrate, while that which dignified the 
 great schools of Italy is thrown aside and con¬ 
 temned. Yet who that has been rapt in admiration 
 at the wonders of the Sixtine Chapel could wish to 
 see the exalted genius of Michael Angelo confined 
 within the narrow limits of a few feet of canvass? 
 But had he lived in these days, men would have 
 been alarmed at the size and strength of his figures, 
 and might probably have advised more caution, 
 more neatness, and more attention to the academic 
 rules. Left, however, unfettered and uncontrolled, 
 he rose above all rules, and, disdaining 
 
 -——“ To beat 
 
 The beaten track,” 
 
 lie, in a surprising manner, mastered every thing that 
 came within the compass of art, and levelled every 
 barrier that obstructed its advancement. 
 
27 
 
 As sculptor, Buonaroti shewed no less the mas¬ 
 ter mind. The tombs of Lorenzo di Medici and 
 Giulio II. evince both the skill of the painter and 
 architect ; the pictorial effect and architectural 
 arrangement afford a fine example of the union of 
 the three branches. The Moses as a statue is a 
 sublime conception of the Lawgiver, and one of 
 the grandest efforts of the chisel. 
 
 As architect, Michael Angelo raised the loftiest 
 dome in Europe, perfect in its proportions, and 
 beautiful in all its parts ; he elevated it a hundred 
 feet beyond the original design, and would have 
 added to the fabric one of the noblest porticoes 
 imaginable, had not death prevented the fulfilment 
 of his intentions. Thus, in his three-fold capacity 
 of painter, sculptor, and architect, he stands alone 
 and unrivalled. 
 
 The excellence of the grand style in painting- 
 can only be developed when employed upon an 
 enlarged scale. Talent may be visible in the lower, 
 but in the higher are the noble capabilities of the art 
 alone demonstrated. By encountering difficulties, 
 men learn to overcome them, and it is by artists 
 being employed in great undertakings, that works 
 worthy of the nation will be produced. 
 
 Were fresco painting encouraged in England, it 
 would at once effect the rise of British art, and call 
 
28 
 
 forth powers that now lie dormant, and must con¬ 
 tinue so, while no scope is afforded for their display. 
 This is unhappily the case with our historical 
 painters, who, after a few vigorous but discouraged 
 attempts, decline in energy, and, driven by disap¬ 
 pointment and the prospect of destitution, adopt a 
 style more congenial to common understandings. 
 Thus the highest walk of art is neglected or for¬ 
 saken, and instead of exalting the public feeling, 
 artists are constrained to pander to the corrupt taste 
 of the times. It is from the broad principles which 
 fresco painting inculcates, that I consider so much 
 benefit will result from its introduction. In this 
 enobling material every faculty is called forth, and 
 in the exercise of it is created a precision of touch 
 and breadth of style that preclude every meaner 
 detail that would lessen the sublimity of the con¬ 
 ception, or contract the genius of the artist, whose 
 thought must be intent only on producing a grand 
 and harmonious combination. 
 
 In such a practice the powers of a great mind 
 will necessarily increase, as the demand made 
 upon them is urgent, and thus will be matured the 
 bold hand, the correct eye, and the enlightened 
 judgment. 
 
29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON FRESCO FOR MURAL DECORATION. 
 
 Fresco (so called from its being painted on a pre¬ 
 pared stucco while fresh plastered and wet) is the 
 most masterly of all modes for mural adornment. 
 The Greeks introduced it among the Romans, and 
 most of the ancient frescoes and encaustics were the 
 work of the former, as those of Pompeii and Her¬ 
 culaneum. In various parts of Italy, ancient fres¬ 
 coes have been brought to light, and Vasari says, 
 that such was the beauty and freshness of the Baths 
 of Titus when first opened, that Raffaelle and Gio- 
 vani da Udine, who had come to see them, remained 
 for some time transfixed with amazement. 
 
 The sight of these frescoes led at once to the exe¬ 
 cution of the Loggie, and the magnificent arabesques 
 and ornamental stuccoes, which have been so justly 
 admired. It was from Giovanni’s observing the 
 ornaments in stucco and relievo in the Thermae, 
 that he invented the mode of casting from moulds 
 in the manner of the antique, with calcined marble 
 
30 
 
 and marble dust. U ntil this, castings were made of 
 chalk, lime, and bitumen, boiled together, and poured 
 into the moulds while hot. 
 
 Giovanni also adopted the method that Bramante 
 had discovered, of casting architectural mouldings 
 in lime and pozzolana. The relievos and ornaments 
 came out satisfactorily in this manner as to impres¬ 
 sion, but not sufficiently white. He afterwards suc¬ 
 ceeded in imitating the antique, by the substitution 
 of marble dust for pozzolana. 
 
 Among the advantages of fresco for mural deco¬ 
 ration are, the absence of glare, with exceeding 
 purity, and freshness of colour. Fresco, reflecting 
 instead of absorbing light, renders it particularly 
 beautiful by candle-light, though its bland mellow¬ 
 ness of tone is at all times very charming.* 
 
 By the practice of this admirable mode of paint¬ 
 ing, the artist will soon lay aside the lesser excel¬ 
 lences required in oil, as they would not be called 
 for, and indeed cannot be exercised in it; the firm¬ 
 ness of touch and celerity necessary for completing 
 the part prepared for the day, with a constant refe¬ 
 rence to the effect of the whole, will prove to the 
 painter that more beauty is caused by simple colour, 
 
 * The crudity observed in some modern frescoes may be im¬ 
 puted either to the thinness of the plaster, or to the want of har¬ 
 mony in the colouring of the painter. 
 
31 
 
 more grandeur by preserving the flow of outline, 
 the vigour and general character of the subject, than 
 by attending to tints, glazings, and all the intrica¬ 
 cies of oil. Local colour should remain unbroken 
 by various hues; and the cliiaro-scuro in fresco 
 seems amply to supply the want of variety of tints. 
 To manage fresco well, requires a practice in the 
 large, after which the painter may successfully treat 
 small subjects; but the material is so adapted for 
 an ample area, that its beauty and facility of ma¬ 
 nipulation are much lost in very circumscribed 
 limits. 
 
 In oil there are certain allurements, as transpa¬ 
 rency, depth, and richness, which, though totally 
 without the grand essentials of art, may please, and 
 form the principal excellence of pictures worthy of 
 commendation. Not so in fresco ; knowledge or 
 ignorance here will be obvious: there is no evading 
 anatomy, drawing, and expression; these are indis¬ 
 pensable, and on this account fresco is eminently 
 calculated to form great designers. 
 
 The principal works of the renowned Italian 
 masters are in fresco, and they, as Reynolds ob¬ 
 serves, “ are justly considered as the greatest efforts 
 of art which the world can boast.” 
 
 Michael Angelo, Raffaelle, Giulio Romano, Cor- 
 regio, the three Caracci, Guido, Domenichino, and 
 
32 
 
 Guercino, were all eminent in fresco, and far sur¬ 
 pass, in this material, their pictures in oil, simply 
 because the former developed the higher principles. 
 The Germans, in our own times, have advanced 
 through the same practice, and have acquired, 
 within a very few years, fame throughout Europe. 
 They excel in drawing and design, but, which is 
 quite enigmatical, have selected Francia and Peru- 
 gino for their models, instead of the unaffected gran¬ 
 deur of the Roman school. Still, the adoption of 
 fresco is a happy omen, and cannot fail to enlarge 
 the taste of the Germans. There are, even now, 
 proofs of extraordinary excellence to be seen among 
 them by rising artists, whose genius is overlooked 
 in the present unsound gusto founded upon early 
 art. 
 
 For large mural works, the palm must be awarded 
 to fresco by unprejudiced and intelligent minds. 
 The beauty of this medium is so chaste, its tones 
 so purely historic, and so void of any meretricious 
 admixture, that, though its pretensions are not as 
 numerous as oil, its qualities for the grand style are 
 infinitely superior. 
 
33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON ENCAUSTIC FOR MURAL DECORATION. 
 
 This is one of the most ancient methods of painting 
 recorded by the Greeks, bnt, from the fact of their 
 disagreement as to its origin (for they impute to dif¬ 
 ferent painters its discovery), it would be vain in our 
 time even to assign the period of its introduction: 
 though it might probably have been suggested by 
 the Mordant painting of the Egyptians. It derived 
 its name (Ivexaucs) from the materials being pre¬ 
 pared by fire. It was used for tabular and mural 
 works, and combined the lucid properties of fresco 
 with much of the richness of oil, and, like the for¬ 
 mer, reflected light. 
 
 From the speculations on encaustic painting, a 
 variety of modes have been discovered, and partially 
 adopted ; but, among conflicting opinions, the real 
 process of the ancients has, in my opinion, been 
 overlooked, and no other of equal value substituted. 
 Count Caylus was one of the most active movers of 
 the research. On a premium being offered by the 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 Royal Academy of Inscriptions at Paris for an en¬ 
 caustic that should meet with the approbation of 
 that body, several modes were proposed by three 
 candidates, Count Caylus, Cochin, and Bac-hiliere. 
 Two of the discoveries were approved, but resolved 
 into one, as it was thought that the conjunction 
 would render the medium more perfect. Wax, 
 liquified in water by an infusion of salt of tartar, 
 formed the composition. I have, however, found 
 that this does not thoroughly bind the colours 
 when used in an impasto, and, moreover, requires 
 varnish. 
 
 Several experiments have since been tried, such 
 as the following: wax pastiles blended by heat; 
 colours mixed with wax, and used while hot; 
 gum mastic and wax thrown while hot into cold 
 water, and then pulverized, and used with water- 
 colours ; this was also secured by the application of 
 heat; gum mastic and wax dissolved in turpentine, 
 and heat applied to unite the whole. Some of 
 these were burnished by passing an ivory palette- 
 knife over the surface ; others, by a coat of melted 
 wax, polished afterwards by a piece of linen or silk. 
 But these being wholly inapplicable for large works, 
 I pass on to some observations made by Pliny upon 
 the ancient method. 
 
 “It is certain,” says he, “that there were an- 
 
35 
 
 ciently two ways of painting in the encaustic style 
 —on tablets of wax, and on ivory, with the cestrum 
 or engraver’s burin. When vessels began to be 
 painted, a third method was adopted, that of melt¬ 
 ing wax by fire, and laying it on with a pencil; a 
 kind of painting that will bear exposure to the sun, 
 and stand the action of salt-water and the wind 
 without injury.”'*' 
 
 Of encaustic varnish, as applied to walls painted 
 in fresco, with the colour of minium (or vermilion) 
 Pliny says, “ When the wall is well dried, let the 
 best punic wax, liquified with oil and in a heated 
 state, be laid on with a hog’s-hair brush; then let 
 it be heated a second time, by applying blackened 
 or charred gall-nuts till the wax begins to melt; 
 afterwards let it be reduced to the proper consis¬ 
 tency by means of candles.”f 
 
 From these rather vague directions, together 
 with observations and experiments of my own, I am 
 induced to think that the medium for 'painting was 
 
 * “ Encausto pingendi duo fuisse antiquitus genera constat, 
 cera,etin ebore, cestro, id est viriculo, donee classes pingi cuepere. 
 Hoc tertiam accessit resolutis igni ceris penicillo utendi, quae pic- 
 tura in navibus nec sole, nec sale, ventisque corrumpitur.”—Plin. 
 lib. 35. 
 
 f “ Parieti siccato, cera punica cum oleo liquefacta candens 
 setis inducatur ; iterumque, admotis Gallae carbonibus, inuratur 
 usque ad sudorem postea candelis subigatur.”—Plin. lib. 35. 
 
36 
 
 the same as Pliny so minutely describes for the var¬ 
 nish ; and, though he only mentions wax, it may be 
 in the way we speak of painting in oil, which is not 
 oil alone, though any one ignorant of the pro¬ 
 cess might easily suppose this to be the case, from 
 no other ingredient being named. Wax, alone, 
 suddenly chills, and offers no facility whatever for 
 the pencil. It is true, Lanzi gives an account of a 
 Florentine painter who used colours mixed with 
 wax heated over a fire, the canvass also being- 
 heated by another fire at the back; but this could 
 not have been the system of the Greeks, whose en¬ 
 caustics were on walls as Avell as tablets. Wax 
 tempered with oil, I conceive, therefore, to be the 
 medium; this works easily in an impasto, and pro¬ 
 duces an exact imitation of the ancient encaustic. 
 The colours were.ground with the wax, on a heated 
 stone, as represented in a picture at Pompeii, where 
 the attendant of an artist in the studio is grinding- 
 colours on a slab with a fire under it. 
 
 Almost every colour was employed in encaustic, 
 as orpiment, red-lead, and other evanescent colours: 
 wax having the property of preserving them from 
 the action of light, and atmospherical changes. 
 The oil when used with w r ax should be colourless, 
 and a powerful drier. Nut-oil with wax is not 
 easily dried. 
 
37 
 
 The durability of the Greek encaustic must have 
 been great, as it resisted the sun’s rays, the wind, 
 and the salt of the sea. 
 
 Having long been desirous of seeing fresco and 
 encaustic introduced into England, I have made 
 experiments in the hope of discovering a medium 
 combining the qualities of the two—the freshness, 
 and luminous brilliancy and absence of glare in the 
 former, with the richness and facility of painting in 
 the latter: in this I have at length succeeded be¬ 
 yond my expectations, and shall be glad of an oppor¬ 
 tunity of displaying its powers to the public. 
 
 After having bestowed much time and pains 
 upon this encaustic, I cannot be expected, injus¬ 
 tice to myself, to make known advantages which 
 the ancient with all its excellence did not possess, 
 inasmuch as varnish was an essential part of its 
 process. It was in my encaustic, but which has 
 since been greatly improved in richness and dura¬ 
 bility, that I painted the banquetting-room of His 
 Grace the Duke of Beaufort, and it being without 
 any varnish, the effect of the whole can be seen at 
 once. From the subsequent additions, my encaustic 
 now approximates nearer, in practice and appear¬ 
 ance, to fresco, though admitting of a higher finish : 
 it is particularly suitable for works that are exposed 
 to minute observation. 
 
38 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON TEMPERA. 
 
 Tempera is the most ancient of all the modes of 
 painting, and was common among the Egyptians, as 
 may be seen in their antiquities preserved at the 
 British Museum. From them, it was doubtless 
 brought into use among the Greeks, to whom the 
 tempera paintings at Pompeii are imputed. 
 
 The scenery for the Greek drama may have been 
 painted in the aquazzo, or common size, which 
 Vitruvius mentions as in ordinary use for dry 
 stuccoes. 
 
 From occasional remarks by the ancient writers, 
 I am led to think that pictures were sometimes 
 painted in a description of tempera, and varnished. 
 The story of the sponge thrown against a picture 
 by Protogenes, and producing the effect of foam on 
 the horse’s mouth, appears to favour the supposition ; 
 and the brown harmonizing varnish of Apelles 
 may have been the encaustic varnish used over an 
 
39 
 
 exquisite kind of tempera, in the same manner as 
 over fresco, for the preservation of minium. 
 
 In the first ages of Christianity, tempera was 
 much practised by Greek painters, whose medium 
 was very powerful and brilliant, as is obvious from 
 many of their works still extant in various parts of 
 Italy. 
 
 During the dark ages, tempera, afterwards var¬ 
 nished, seems to have been almost the only mode of 
 painting. The gallery at Florence contains some 
 early Greek pictures of this description, which are of 
 interest from their being in the style that was first 
 imitated by the Italians on the revival of art by 
 Cimabue and Giotto. Considerable excellence was 
 acquired in this medium by the early masters, but 
 it attained its great elevation in the Cartoons of 
 Raffaelle. 
 
 The Greek medium and manner of applying it, 
 as afterwards learnt by the Italians, is detailed by 
 Vasari, and is as follows:— 
 
 Rosso di uovo (yolk of egg) is beaten up with 
 some of the milky juice that issues from the tender 
 twigs of the fig-tree. The colours having been 
 ground in water, are used with this mixture. Gum 
 water is necessary for occasional glazings. In 
 painting blue draperies, size is better than yolk of 
 egg, as the latter is apt to tinge the blue. 
 
40 
 
 Juice from the fig-tree could not easily be 
 obtained in England, neither is it essential in my 
 opinion.* I have used yolk of egg beaten up 
 with water, and it answers admirably, provided 
 parchment size and a little drying oil are mixed 
 with the white. This tempera possesses the valu¬ 
 able property of retaining its colour the same as 
 when first laid on; which is the case with no otlier.f 
 
 The usual kind of tempera looks very meagre 
 when dry, and becomes considerably lighter; besides 
 which, it does not admit of repeated touchings. 
 The uovo medium will receive high finish, and 
 may be either employed opaquely, or semi-trans- 
 parently. 
 
 In the Colonna Palace at Rome, there are several 
 fine landscapes by Gasper Poussin, a uovo; and in 
 the different collections throughout Europe, tempera 
 pictures may be found, which have been painted as 
 designs for fresco. 
 
 * Spurge, or wart-wort, contains a like juice, but a little pale 
 drying oil beaten up with the white and yolk of an egg, forms 
 an excellent medium. 
 
 f Tempera a uovo was formerly used in the English cathedrals 
 and churches, introduced, no doubt, by Italians who have been 
 employed in this country. Those paintings called frescoes I have 
 generally found upon examination to be tempera on dry stucco. 
 The colouring on mouldings and capitals has often been in size 
 tempera. 
 
41 
 
 ON PAINTING CARTOONS. 
 
 The most important part of the preparation for 
 fresco with which the artist has to do is the car¬ 
 toon. On this much labour and study must be 
 bestowed; the composition, the drawing, the chiaro¬ 
 scuro, and colour, should all he perfectly considered 
 and well defined before the wet stucco is ventured 
 upon. 
 
 For a cartoon, paper is strained or pasted on a 
 frame, covered with lining canvass; if required to be 
 very strong, two layers of paper are necessary, each 
 pasted firmly on. This done, the design is sketched 
 in from a small previous study, with charcoal in a 
 large port crayon, attached to a stick of tolerable 
 length, so as to enable the painter to see the effect 
 of his lines. 
 
 The invention designed, and the composition 
 arranged, the drawing must be carefully wrought 
 from models, draperies, &c. It was the custom 
 (and a most valuable one) of the old masters to 
 model their figures in wax, or clay, and to arrange 
 draperies on them composed of linen, or muslin, 
 saturated in clay water. Such figures being dis¬ 
 posed in groups on a plane, all the incidental effects 
 of light and shade are perceived and studied, and 
 
 G 
 
may tlien he copied in conjunction with living 
 models. 
 
 We know that all the greatest painters adopted a 
 similar method, and it was by means of such that 
 Correggio painted his wonderful foreshortened figures 
 in the Cupola of Parma, in which he was assisted by 
 Begarelli. Raffaelle also pursued the same plan for 
 his principal subjects. In modelling, the painter 
 will give his undivided attention to drawing and 
 composition, apart from the seductions of colour, 
 which too frequently lead him from more important 
 considerations ; but a picture painted upon the sub¬ 
 stantial principles I have described, will not fail to 
 reward the artist by its excellence. 
 
 Cartoons should be tinted generally over up to 
 the required effect with burnt or raw umber before 
 proceeding with the colours. 
 
 Kremnitz, or permanent white, is the best, and 
 the painter will do well to confine himself to the 
 pigments used in fresco, or he will be at a loss when 
 employed on the stucco. 
 
 If the cartoon is painted opaquely, it will be easier 
 to imitate and to be copied by assistants. 
 
 The colours are ground in water, and the rosso 
 di uovo kept in a dipper on the palette. 
 
 White will work pleasantly, and in an impasto, 
 if mixed with parchment size and a little drying 
 
43 
 
 oil, and used with the yolk of egg. The mixing of 
 tints must he left to the judgment and custom of 
 the artist, each having a method of his own. 
 
 Draperies of bright colours may be painted with 
 white and black, and then glazed with gum-water 
 and colour. The longer the gum-water has been 
 made the less likely it is to shine. 
 
 The best way of transferring the cartoon to the 
 stucco is by means of a pounce, in the following 
 manner:— 
 
 Trace an outline from the cartoon, lay it on a 
 thick woollen substance, and, with an etching needle, 
 closely perforate its forms. The indentings of the 
 needle at the back may be removed by rubbing them 
 with pumice-stone. When the portion of the out¬ 
 line designed for the day is cut out and placed on 
 the wall, dab and rub it over with charcoal powder,* 
 and on taking away the paper the black dots will 
 form an outline on the stucco. 
 
 This, to those unacquainted with it, may appear 
 an intricate process, but it is sooner done than de¬ 
 scribed, and is, in my opinion, preferable to tracing 
 with a point, as the latter leaves visible furrows on 
 the stucco. 
 
 * The rubber is made of a strip of flannel, or woollen cloth, 
 rolled hard, and tied tightly round. Care must be taken to keep 
 the surface of the pounce even. 
 
44 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON OIL PAINTING FOR MURAL DECORATION. 
 
 Oil is the most beautiful and powerful medium 
 ever discovered for tabular pictures of moderate 
 dimensions. The solidity of colour, combined with 
 transparency, rendering it a charming mode of paint¬ 
 ing ; and for small subjects, animals, landscapes, 
 domestic scenes, and portraits, it is unequalled. 
 
 To the colourist it is justly valuable, as by it he 
 can indulge in all the magic of tint; hence the pre¬ 
 ference of it to fresco by the Venetians, who in the 
 latter not only shew feebleness of drawing, but even 
 want of colour. 
 
 With the “decadenza” of art, when national dig¬ 
 nity faded before the splendour of private indi¬ 
 viduals, fresco was little used; oil painting pre¬ 
 vailed, and easel and cabinet pictures were treasured 
 up, to the exclusion of high art, and almost to its 
 extinction; there has been little, consequently, in 
 the palaces and public buildings of Europe during 
 the last two centuries worthy the appellation of the 
 
45 
 
 grand style. In England, De la Fosse, Verio, and 
 Sir James Thornhill, are commonly considered 
 painters of great classic works, but their style can¬ 
 not be too much reprobated, even when carried to 
 its utmost excellence in the talent and resplendency 
 of Rubens. The paintings of these men, and the 
 sculpture of Bernini, exhibit a meretricious display 
 of material, and a lamentable prostitution of the 
 grand elements of art. Peruked and Romanized 
 English gentlemen, shepherdesses in hoops and 
 toupees, were the climax of this subversion of taste. 
 Epic painting, especially when mural, suffers and 
 is degraded by the dazzle of roseate and flowery 
 hues, the collision of tints, and the distraction of 
 incompatible objects. 
 
 The richness of oil, as seen on a small scale, be¬ 
 comes black, ponderous, and unintelligible on an 
 extensive area. The ceiling, by Rubens, at White¬ 
 hall is an example of this ; the effect originally was, 
 no doubt, clear and discernible, but it is so no longer. 
 Age, which gives richness to moderate-sized works, 
 causes ultimate obscurity in those that are very 
 large. In the course of a few years, the decorations 
 of the Louvre, though painted light, will inevitably 
 become heavy. 
 
 The glare of varnish is another great and insuper¬ 
 able obstruction to the beauty of mural oil painting. 
 
46 
 
 Portions only can be seen at one time, and these at 
 certain angles of vision, and thus the sublimity of a 
 subject is destroyed. Oil colour is also subversive 
 of architectural grandeur, and by artificial light it is 
 dark and gloomy. 
 
 The best works on a large scale not in fresco, or 
 encaustic, are those of Paul Veronese, but he painted 
 often in a fine description of tempera, glazed in oil. 
 “ The Marriage Feast at Cana of Galilee,” at Paris, 
 and a compartment of a ceiling, at Versailles, are 
 examples of this kind ; they have all the clearness of 
 tempera, and the richness of oil, without its black¬ 
 ness. This master’s works, therefore, possess a supe¬ 
 riority over oleaginous pictures generally.* 
 
 Oil painting is no more calculated for mural 
 decoration than fresco is for tabular or easel pic¬ 
 tures. Each mode possesses intrinsic excellence, 
 and is admirable in its respective and legitimate 
 si there. The misappropriation of method and style 
 engenders corrupt taste, and superinduces the most 
 i ncongruous absurdities. 
 
 * I have seen a fine luminous sky, by Paul Veronese, come 
 partly away on the application of the sponge and water after the 
 varnish was removed; the picture gave sufficient proof of not 
 being entirely in oil, but it was probably used in conjunction 
 with tempera, the old masters having possessed great skill in the 
 latter medium. 
 
47 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON DESIGN FOR FRESCO. 
 
 In all large works, great skill and judgment are 
 required in the adaptation of subject, ornament, and 
 general design. 
 
 Drawings and models of works in miniature fre¬ 
 quently look very agreeable to the eye, which, when 
 magnified and executed, disappoint expectation, the 
 grand object of a design having often been entirely 
 overlooked in the alluring appearance of a drawing- 
 in colour and perspective. Design, in its highest 
 consideration, should alone occupy the attention of 
 those who have to decide on such matters. 
 
 A simple arrangement of ornament, so as to unite 
 the sequence of historic or epic subjects, is essential 
 to the general effect, and the artist should, as archi¬ 
 tect and sculptor, as well as painter, consider the 
 disposition of separate parts. The great mural 
 painters combined the three-fold power, and thus 
 acquired a superiority in arranging extensive works, 
 which the simple practice of one of them does not 
 
48 
 
 afford. In modern times, sculptors, and architects 
 in general, have little regard for what is pictorial, 
 and painters are not at all interested in what is 
 architectural; and while the Italian rose in the 
 united strength of the three, the artist of this day 
 thinks nothing is to be derived from any branch but 
 the one he owns. 
 
 As sculptor, Michael Angelo knew the importance 
 of a single figure, and as architect, where to appro¬ 
 priate it to the utmost advantage. 
 
 The ceiling of the Capella Sistina may be re¬ 
 garded as the standard of excellence in this as well 
 as in every other respect. The grand periods of 
 theology are supported, as it were, by the prophetic 
 pillars of sacred writ which form the sublime frame¬ 
 work. 
 
 Michael Angelo was the only painter who scorned 
 to avail himself of the beauty of ornament. The 
 human form was used by him as the highest style of 
 ornament (which it undoubtedly is) ; and though the 
 figures are of colossean stature, the ceiling seems to 
 recede, and simplicity as well as grandeur reigns 
 throughout. 
 
 The Dome of Parma is another striking example. 
 “The Assumption of the Virgin” is, in its style, 
 pure and dignified ; the apostles standing on the 
 cornice, and the patron saints of the city, in the 
 
49 
 
 spacious niches of the angles, are majestic persona¬ 
 tions, and shew consummate skill in arrangement 
 and composition. 
 
 The Farnesina, the Farnese, and Rospiglioso 
 palaces, present good examples of the dispositions 
 of groups and single figures in designs for ceilings. 
 
 The judicious disposition of subjects on the walls 
 of a building is highly necessary to the beauty of the 
 whole. A succession of large compartments should 
 be relieved by pilasters or ornament. If paintings 
 are too close to each other, the eye has no relief, 
 and one is injurious to the next. Where there is 
 sufficient space, the compositions can hardly be too 
 large, the grandeur being greatly heightened by the 
 size, as in “ The Hall of Constantine.” The chaste 
 personifications of “ Justice ” and “ Benignity ” are 
 fine contrasts to the tumult of “ The Battle of 
 Constantine and Maxentius.” Large historical 
 pictures in fresco or encaustic should occupy the 
 centres of a spacious apartment, smaller ones may 
 then be disposed to advantage; but a number of 
 small ones diminish apparently the size of a room. 
 
 Reference must always be made to the manner 
 of lighting. If light comes from both sides, the 
 beauty of decoration will be much injured, though 
 architects do not sufficiently consider this. If 
 windows are on one side, they should be large, 
 
 H 
 
50 
 
 that the light may be well diffused ; in this manner 
 the advantage of a painted ceiling may he secured; 
 but the best light is unquestionably from above, as 
 in the Tribune at Florence, the Sculpture Gal¬ 
 lery in the Vatican, and the new Grand Gallery 
 at Versailles. In these, uniformity of arrangement 
 is preserved, and they are admirably suited for 
 decoration. 
 
 The Stanzas of Raffaelle are very badly lighted, 
 and only frescoes could be seen in them. The 
 Capella Sixtina is insufficiently lighted, and the win¬ 
 dows are a disfigurement; under them is a series 
 of pictures, following in too close a succession, 
 by Perugino, Rosselli, and others, whose pigmy 
 efforts contrast strangely with the breadth of the 
 ceiling, and the colossal altar-piece of the “ Last 
 J udgment.” 
 
 Vaulted and coved ceilings are the best for deco¬ 
 ration generally; flat ones are rarely beautiful when 
 of great expanse. 
 
 For corridors, fine examples may be found in the 
 Baths of Titus ; where arabesques, with medallions 
 of historic and poetical subjects, arc interspersed. 
 The long gallery of the Vatican that contains the 
 tapestries from the Cartoons, has an exceedingly 
 elegant effect from the skilful disposition of orna¬ 
 ment. There are numerous precedents in Italy of 
 
51 
 
 decorated corridors that exhibit every variety of 
 ornament, on which artists of all classes seem to 
 have been employed, as in the Loggie. 
 
 Men accustomed to this kind of work, as I have 
 found by experience, are soon able to proceed with 
 expedition, and acquire great freedom of touch, on 
 which the beauty of ornament mainly depends. 
 The Acanthus scroll, for instance, derives a peculiar 
 excellence from the colour, being, as it were, mo¬ 
 delled by the pencil: this is exemplified in the fres¬ 
 coes of Giovanni da Udine, which are the best in 
 this branch of art. 
 
 In designing for fresco and encaustic, only the 
 Greek and great Italian masters should be referred 
 to, for after these, there remain but corrupt exam¬ 
 ples, some better, some worse, till sublimity is en¬ 
 tirely lost in the tumultuous confusion of Pietro 
 da Cortona and his disciples, whose decorations of 
 churches resemble the fantastic scenes of a theatre 
 rather than illustrations of revealed religion. De¬ 
 mons being hurled downwards, and their shadows 
 painted on the cornices, and, by various artifices, 
 made to form part of the buildings, is illegitimate 
 trickery, and betrays a vulgar aim to deceive the 
 ignorant that is quite beneath the painter of his¬ 
 tory. Before Michael Angelo and Raftaelle, art was 
 comparatively meagre and puerile; after them it 
 
went beyond “ the modesty of nature.” The first 
 early school wanted knowledge; in the later, know¬ 
 ledge was desecrated. Poverty prevented the one 
 from merging into irregularity; plenty turned to 
 repletion in the other. 
 
 An artist who would be great in mural pictorial 
 design, must not be allured from genuine art by 
 the prejudices of the times in which he lives. A 
 petty style of decoration may minister to the ca¬ 
 price of a passing fashion, but it would ill accord 
 with the nervous and masterly mode of fresco 
 painting. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ON CONDUCTING LARGE WORKS IN FRESCO. 
 
 In beginning large mural decorations, the first 
 step is to paint in all the ornament, it being 
 easier to harmonize subject to ornament than orna¬ 
 ment to subject; and arabesques form an excel¬ 
 lent key for the tone and colour of the historical 
 painter. 
 
 This part completed, it is a good plan to fix the 
 blank cartoons in their respective situations, and 
 then sketch in the general design, as a better judg¬ 
 ment can be formed of it when up. 
 
 When all the cartoons are painted al rosso di 
 uovo (which very much resembles the appearance of 
 fresco), they should again be placed on the panels, 
 when the full effect of the whole will be seen, which 
 is especially necessary when different hands are em¬ 
 ployed. Alterations and improvements can then be 
 suggested, and the various cartoons harmonized to 
 suit each other. A work of this kind must of ne¬ 
 cessity be conducted by one person, who can direct 
 
54 
 
 and preserve the unity, though all might execute 
 their own designs, as in the Farnese decorations, 
 where Annibal Caracci, assisted by Agostino and 
 Ludovico, as well as Guido and Domenichino, has 
 nevertheless succeeded in obtaining great harmony 
 with variety. 
 
 When the plan is fully arranged, and the panels 
 prepared to all but the last layer of stucco by the 
 plasterer, the painter may commence thus : a por¬ 
 tion of the cartoon, suppose it to be a head, must 
 be cut out, and the back of the outline, blackened 
 with charcoal, laid upon the piece of fresh plaster; 
 a point having been passed over the outline, an im¬ 
 pression will remain on the stucco.* It is neces¬ 
 sary to go speedily over the work with the colour, 
 letting the brush feel the lime, while the pigments 
 incorporate themselves with the ground. Painting 
 for some time on one place, and leaving the stucco 
 untouched in another, is apt to cause inequalities; 
 besides which, in a short space of time it becomes 
 too dry to take the colour well. This being attended 
 to, the paint (worked in an impasto) proceeds de¬ 
 lightfully. 
 
 Semi-opaque tints, scumbled over solid colour, 
 become very brilliant; the high lights should then 
 
 * This is the usual method, hut having practised both, I very 
 much prefer the pounce, as described in the chapter on Tempera. 
 
55 
 
 be touched on. The whole to be kept low in tone, 
 as the colour dries considerably lighter. Over the 
 first layer of colour the touches are almost invisible 
 for some seconds. 
 
 Dark colours, if first used with white, should be 
 glazed purely afterwards. 
 
 Water sprinkled with a long soft brush on the 
 stucco occasionally, will prevent its getting dry too 
 soon. 
 
 Flesh should be painted at one time, drapery at 
 another, and always so as to avoid seams in the 
 lights, and where it would be difficult to unite the 
 next part.* 
 
 Back-grounds, particularly skies of a large size, 
 must be painted by two or three persons, the super¬ 
 intending artist directing and harmonizing, which 
 he can better see to do than those employed on 
 an individual part. If care is taken to follow the 
 coloured cartoon exactly, no time will be lost in 
 making alterations; and fresco requires all the dili¬ 
 gence and judgment possible to conduct it safely and 
 successfully, as there is no touching upon the stucco 
 when dry. Many of the early painters did so, but 
 it turns black, and is very detrimental. There are 
 
 * In the frescoes of Raffaelle there are no inequalities ; the 
 impasto helps the forms, and proves the knowledge and certainty 
 of his touch. 
 
some modern frescoes in the Vatican where the high 
 lights have all become black from after-touching. 
 
 The palette for fresco should be either of porce¬ 
 lain or tin ; the ordinary wooden ones soon warp and 
 break, unless long used previously for oil painting. 
 
 The brushes must be of hog’s hair, both flat and 
 round. Sables are useless, as they soon lose their 
 elasticity. 
 
 In the course of drying, fresco exhibits rather an 
 alarming appearance ; the colour looks patchy and 
 faint, and a white mould rises to the surface; within 
 two or three months various changes succeed each 
 other, till the picture almost entirely disappears ;* 
 gradually, however, as the plaster dries, it re-as- 
 sumes, with additional beauty, its solidity and clear¬ 
 ness. 
 
 Michael Angelo was so troubled at the oblitera¬ 
 tions and disfigurements in the ceiling of the Sixtine 
 Chapel, that, in disgust, he proceeded to the Pope, 
 and begged to resign the work. The latter referred 
 him to Juliano da San Gallo, who explained the 
 phenomenon, and Michael Angelo had soon the 
 satisfaction of seeing his figures restored to more 
 than their pristine excellence. 
 
 * This is not always the case, but depends on the nature of 
 the stucco. I have painted fresco upon grounds that present 
 none of these unpleasant appearances, and have dried in the 
 course of a fortnight. 
 
57 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ON COLOURS USED IN FRESCO. 
 
 Few pigments are used in fresco painting, and those 
 principally earths. Mineral, animal, and vegetable 
 substances are destroyed in a short time by the 
 action of the lime. 
 
 The following may be used with certainty:— 
 
 WHITE. 
 
 Calcined Marble, or Stone 
 Lime. 
 
 YELLOWS. 
 Naples Yellow. 
 
 Yellow Ochre. 
 
 Roman Ochre. 
 
 Brown Ochre. 
 
 Raw Sienna. 
 
 Burnt Sienna. 
 
 BLUES. 
 
 Ultramarine.* 
 
 Ultramarine Ashes. 
 
 French Ultramarine. 
 
 Cobalt. 
 
 Royal Smalt. 
 
 BROWNS. 
 
 Raw Umber. 
 
 Burnt Umber. 
 
 Vandyke Brown. 
 
 Cologne Earth. 
 
 REDS. 
 
 Chinese Vermilion, or Native 
 Cinnabar. 
 
 Light Red. 
 
 Indian Red. 
 
 Burnt Copperas. 
 
 GREEN. 
 
 Terra Verte. 
 
 BLACKS. 
 
 Ivory Black and Charcoal. 
 
 * As a simple test for genuine Ultramarine does not seem 
 
 I 
 
58 
 
 Smalts of various colours, as used for glass paint¬ 
 ing, are valuable. The colours should be finely 
 ground in water, kept in earthenware cups, and 
 arranged in order in the divisions of a box, with 
 light pigments first, and so on in their gradations. 
 
 T7 n , . • . fLight Red and Lime, 
 
 for flesh tints, use ...<’ ° 
 
 (^Vermilion and White. 
 
 For high lights. Burnt Sienna, varied with Naples 
 
 Yellow, or Raw Sienna. 
 
 For greys. Ultramarine Ash and White. 
 
 Black, Indian Red, Burnt Sienna, and white 
 (mixed) make good shadows for flesh, as does also 
 Raw Umber, when the subject is very large. Burnt 
 Umber possesses great depth in fresco, and is an 
 excellent colour for the darker shadows. 
 
 Draperies, if painted with black and white, may 
 frequently have the lights glazed, which gives a fine 
 effect. 
 
 For example, to paint a piece of blue drapery :— 
 Lay it in with black and white, and afterwards 
 glaze with Ultramarine. This will be far more bril¬ 
 liant than if painted solidly with the latter. 
 
 Simplicity cannot be too much observed in the 
 colouring as well as in the design. 
 
 generally known, the following may be found useful:—If the 
 colour, ground up stiffly with nut oil, begins, after a few hours, 
 to liquify and spread on the palette, it is factitious: if, on the 
 contrary, it remains firmly in a mass, the same as when first 
 mixed, it is genuine lapis lazuli. 
 
59 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 I shall now proceed to mention the materials of 
 the stuccoes for fresco, beginning- with the Greek 
 method according to Vitruvius, and nearly in his 
 words. 
 
 LIME. 
 
 Lime for the plastering is made of stone or 
 marble (as the Trevertino). It should be slaked 
 long before being used, so that parts not sufficiently 
 calcined may have time to dissolve and be reduced 
 to a proper consistency; for should the lime be fresh 
 or not thoroughly slaked, it will emit pustules, and 
 destroy the surface of the stucco.* To ascertain 
 when it is fit for use, cut it with an axe; if it comes 
 in contact with lumps, the lime is not well tempered 
 —if the iron comes out dry and clean, it is perishing 
 
 * The Greek plasterers were very particular in tempering their 
 mortar, considering it as highly essential to the solidity of the 
 work. The arenatum was tempered in a pit, the lime and sand 
 being compounded by men with wooden rammers till thoroughly 
 amalgamated. The same method was adopted with the trulli- 
 satio. 
 
60 
 
 and weak, but when fat and well macerated, it will 
 adhere to the iron like glue. 
 
 SAND. 
 
 River-sand only must be used for fresco on 
 account of its meagreness and not causing fermen¬ 
 tation, like pit-sand when in conjunction with lime. 
 Sea-sand is also to be avoided, as the salt exuding 
 from it dissolves the plastering. 
 
 POZZOLANA. 
 
 Pozzolana is a red earth (found at Puteoli),* and 
 a strong cement, which sets immediately when 
 mixed with water. It renders brick-work exceed¬ 
 ingly firm and durable. What we call Roman 
 cement is an imitation of Pozzolana, and possesses 
 many of its qualities. 
 
 MARBLE DUST. 
 
 This is chippings of marble pounded and sifted 
 into three qualities, the first being a very fine pow¬ 
 der. 
 
 * From whence it derives its ancient name, Pulvis puteolanea. 
 
61 
 
 ON STUCCOING WALLS. 
 
 First process. —Trullisatio, or rough plaster. 
 
 The wall or brick-work is to be coated with trow¬ 
 elled plaster, composed of rough sand, pounded brick 
 and tile, and lime, in the following proportions :— 
 
 1 part lime. 
 
 2 parts river-sand. 
 
 } part pounded brick and tile. 
 
 Second process. —Arenatum, or sand-mortar. 
 
 Not less than three successive coats of this mortar 
 must be laid over the rough plaster, and each while 
 the preceding one is damp. The more substantial 
 this mortar is, the more durable and solid will be 
 the stucco. 
 
 Proportions :— 
 
 1 part lime. 
 
 2 parts river-sand. 
 
 Third process. —Marmoratum, or marble-mortar. 
 
 This last process is with lime and marble-dust, of 
 different degrees of fineness, laid on in three suc¬ 
 cessive coats, using the coarsest first. This must 
 be so tempered, as in working not to adhere to the 
 trowel, but to leave it clean and free from mortar. 
 
62 
 
 With the marmoratum, time should be allowed 
 for the first and second coats to dry, before the last 
 is put on. 
 
 Proportions:— 
 
 1 part lime. 
 
 2 parts marble-dust. 
 
 Thus, with one layer of trullisatio, three of are- 
 natum, and three of marmoratum, neither fissures 
 nor other defects can appear; and on a solid, well- 
 worked stucco the colours will appear resplendent, 
 and unite together in the stucco, so as to become an 
 incorporated substance, not likely to scale oft' by 
 age or discharge its colour by cleaning. 
 
 If, in lieu of the above, only one layer of are- 
 natum and one of marmoratum are put on over the 
 trullisatio, the colours will not have their proper 
 brilliancy, the plaster will be liable to crack, and 
 the whole, after a time, will decay. 
 
 A well-prepared stucco, if required, may be beau¬ 
 tifully polished, as was often done by the Greeks.* 
 
 * This is an excellent mode for corridors and lobbies, as the 
 surface can be easily washed with a sponge, but it should be 
 employed only upon plain walls. Subjects and arabesques are 
 greatly injured by such a process ; it is, in fact, destructive to their 
 artistic character. 
 
63 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ON ITALIAN STUCCOES, AS USED IN THE FIFTEENTH 
 CENTURY. 
 
 It appears from Vasari that pozzolana was generally 
 adopted with Trevertino lime, both being in high 
 estimation at that period. Good Roman cement 
 and stone-lime I have found to answer nearly as 
 well, it being a firm basis to work upon, and the 
 impasto of colour appearing with greater solidity 
 and brilliancy than on the arenatum, which was 
 used by some later Italian painters. 
 
 The effect and force of colour in the frescoes of 
 the Vatican are admirable, yet a preference must 
 decidedly be given to the stucco of the Greeks and 
 Romans. 
 
 In examining the remains of the Baths of Titus, 
 I found the stucco, which was about an inch and a 
 quarter in thickness, of the hardness of marble, and 
 greatly superior to that in the Vatican, which, in 
 some instances, is cracking. 
 
 Marmoratum was occasionally used where a white 
 
64 
 
 ground was required, as in painting arabesques on 
 ceilings. 
 
 Proportions of the three kinds of stucco employed 
 by the Italians:— 
 
 POZZOLANIUM. 
 
 2 parts lime. 
 
 1 part pozzolana, or Roman cement. 
 
 MARMORATUM. 
 
 2 parts lime. 
 
 1 part marble-dust. 
 
 ARENATUM. 
 
 2 parts lime. 
 
 1 part river-sand. 
 
 The rough plaster was always pozzolana, lime, 
 and sand. 
 
The Author has lately painted some frescoes upon an 
 improved stucco, or cement, prepared by Messrs. Benson 
 and Logan, the underground of which possesses the pro¬ 
 perties of the pozzolana, from its hardness and impervious¬ 
 ness to damp, and the last layer seems to resemble, in the 
 course of drying, the marmoratum of the Greeks. 
 
 This cement has been adopted, and used successfully 
 for ornamental works, in the firm of Mr. Simpson, in the 
 Strand. 
 
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