supply the place of method. By leaving a student to himself he may
possibly indeed be led to undertake matters above his strength; but
the trial will at least have this advantage--it will discover to
himself his own deficiencies; and this discovery alone is a very
considerable acquisition. One inconvenience, I acknowledge, may attend
bold and arduous attempts; frequent failure may discourage. This evil,
however, is not more pernicious than the slow proficiency which is the
natural consequence of too easy tasks.
Whatever advantages method may have in despatch of business (and there
it certainly has many), I have but little confidence of its efficacy
in acquiring excellence in any art whatever. Indeed, I have always
strongly suspected that this love of method, on which some persons
appear to place so great independence, is, in reality, at the bottom,
a love of idleness, a want of sufficient energy to put themselves into
immediate action: it is a sort of an apology to themselves for doing
nothing. I have known artists who may truly be said to have spent
their whole lives, or at least the most precious part of their lives,
in planning methods of study, without ever beginning; resolving,
however, to put it all in practice at some time or other--when a
certain period arrives--when proper conveniences are procured--or when
they remove to a certain place better calculated for study. It is not
uncommon for such persons to go abroad with the most honest and
sincere resolution of studying hard, when they shall arrive at the end
of their journey. The same want of exertion, arising from the same
cause which made them at home put off the day of labour until they
had found a proper scheme for it, still continues in Italy, and they
consequently return home with little, if any, improvement.
In the practice of art, as well as in morals, it is necessary to keep
a watchful and jealous eye over ourselves; idleness, assuming the
specious disguise of industry, will lull to sleep all suspicion of our
want of an active exertion of strength. A provision of endless
apparatus, a bustle of infinite inquiry and research, or even the mere
mechanical labour of copying, may be employed, to evade and shuffle
off real labour--the real labour of thinking.
I have declined for these reasons to point out any particular method
and course of study to young Artists on their arrival in Italy. I have
left it to their own prudence, a prudence which will grow and improve
upon them in the course of unremitted, ardent industry, directed by a
real love of their profession, and an unfeigned admiration of those
who have been universally admitted as patterns of excellence in the art.
In the exercise of that general prudence, I shall here submit to their
consideration such miscellaneous observations as have occurred to me
on considering the mistaken notions or evil habits, which have
prevented that progress towards excellence, which the natural
abilities of several Artists might otherwise have enabled them to make.
False opinions and vicious habits have done far more mischief to
students, and to Professors too, than any wrong methods of study.
Under the influence of sloth, or of some mistaken notion, is that
disposition which always wants to lean on other men. Some Students are
always talking of the prodigious progress they should make, if they
could but have the advantage of being taught by some particular eminent
Master. To him they would wish to transfer that care which they ought
and must take of themselves. Such are to be told, that after the
rudiments are past, very little of our Art can be taught by others. The
most skilful Master can do little more than put the end of the clue into
the hands of his Scholar, by which he must conduct himself.
It is true, the beauties and defects of the works of our predecessors
may be pointed out; the principles on which their works are conducted
may be explained; the great examples of Ancient Art may be spread out
before them; but the most sumptuous entertainment is prepared in vain,
if the guests will not take the trouble of helping themselves.
Even the Academy itself, where every convenience for study is procured
and laid before them, may, from that very circumstance, from leaving
no difficulties to be encountered in the pursuit, cause a remission of
their industry. It is not uncommon to see young artists, whilst they
are struggling with every obstacle in their way, exert themselves with
such success as to outstrip competitors possessed of every means of
improvement. The promising expectation which was formed, on so much
being done with so little means, has recommended them to a Patron, who
has supplied them with every convenience of study; from that time
their industry and eagerness of pursuit has forsaken them; they stand
still, and see others rush on before them.
Such men are like certain animals, who will feed only when there is but
little provender, and that got at with difficulty through the bars of a
rack, but refuse to touch it when there is an abundance before them.
Perhaps such a falling off may proceed from the faculties being
overpowered by the immensity of the materials; as the traveller despairs
ever to arrive at the end of his journey when the whole extent of the
road which he is to pass is at once displayed to his view.
Among the first moral qualities, therefore, which a Student ought to
cultivate, is a just and manly confidence in himself, or rather in the
effects of that persevering industry which he is resolved to possess.
When Raffaelle, by means of his connection with Bramante, the Pope's
Architect, was fixed upon to adorn the Vatican with his works, he had
done nothing that marked in him any great superiority over his
contemporaries; though he was then but young, he had under his direction
the most considerable Artists of his age; and we know what kind of men
those were; a lesser mind would have sunk under such a weight; and if we
should judge from the meek and gentle disposition which we are told was
the character of Raffaelle, we might expect this would have happened to
him; but his strength appeared to increase in proportion as exertion was
required; and it is not improbable that we are indebted to the good
fortune which first placed him in that conspicuous situation for those
great examples of excellence which he has left us.
The observations to which I formerly wished, and now desire, to point
your attention, relate not to errors which are committed by those who
have no claim to merit, but to those inadvertencies into which men of
parts only can fall by the overrating or the abuse of some real,
though perhaps subordinate, excellence. The errors last alluded to are
those of backward, timid characters; what I shall now speak of belong
to another class--to those Artists who are distinguished for the
readiness and facility of their invention. It is undoubtedly a
splendid and desirable accomplishment to be able to design
instantaneously any given subject. It is an excellence that I believe
every Artist would wish to possess; but unluckily, the manner in
which this dexterity is acquired habituates the mind to be contented
with first thoughts without choice or selection. The judgment, after
it has been long passive, by degrees loses its power of becoming
active when exertion is necessary.
Whoever, therefore, has this talent, must in some measure undo what he
has had the habit of doing, or at least give a new turn to his mind:
great works, which are to live and stand the criticism of posterity,
are not performed at a heat. A proportionable time is required for
deliberation and circumspection. I remember when I was at Rome looking
at the fighting Gladiator, in company with an eminent Sculptor, and I
expressed my admiration of the skill with which the whole is composed,
and the minute attention of the Artist to the change of every muscle
in that momentary exertion of strength: he was of opinion that a work
so perfect required nearly the whole life of man to perform.
I believe, if we look around us, we shall find, that in the sister art
of Poetry, what has been soon done has been as soon forgotten. The
judgment and practice of a great Poet on this occasion is worthy
attention. Metastasio, who has so much and justly distinguished
himself throughout Europe, at his outset was an _Improvvisatore_, or
extempore Poet, a description of men not uncommon in Italy: it is not
long since he was asked by a friend, if he did not think the custom of
inventing and reciting _extempore_, which he practised when a boy in
his character of an _Improvvisatore_, might not be considered as a
happy beginning of his education; he thought it, on the contrary, a
disadvantage to him: he said that he had acquired by that habit a
carelessness and incorrectness, which it cost him much trouble to
overcome, and to substitute in the place of it a totally different
habit, that of thinking with selection, and of expressing himself with
correctness and precision.
However extraordinary it may appear, it is certainly true, that the
inventions of the _Pittori improvvisatori_, as they may be called,
have--notwithstanding the common boast of their authors, that all is
spun from their own brain--very rarely anything that has in the least
the air of originality:--their compositions are generally commonplace,
uninteresting, without character or expression; like those flowery
speeches that we sometimes hear, which impress no new ideas on the mind.
I would not be thought, however, by what has been said, to oppose the
use, the advantage, the necessity there is, of a Painter's being
readily able to express his ideas by sketching. The further he can
carry such designs the better. The evil to be apprehended is, his
resting there, and not correcting them afterwards from nature, or
taking the trouble to look about him for whatever assistance the works
of others will afford him.
We are not to suppose that when a Painter sits down to deliberate on
any work, he has all his knowledge to seek; he must not only be able
to draw _extempore_ the human figure in every variety of action, but
he must be acquainted likewise with the general principles of
composition, and possess a habit of foreseeing, while he is composing,
the effect of the masses of light and shadow that will attend such a
disposition. His mind is entirely occupied by his attention to the
whole. It is a subsequent consideration to determine the attitude and
expression of individual figures. It is in this period of his work
that I would recommend to every artist to look over his portfolio, or
pocket-book, in which he has treasured up all the happy inventions,
all the extraordinary and expressive attitudes, that he has met with
in the course of his studies; not only for the sake of borrowing from
those studies whatever may be applicable to his own work, but likewise
on account of the great advantage he will receive by bringing the
ideas of great Artists more distinctly before his mind, which will
teach him to invent other figures in a similar style.
Sir Francis Bacon speaks with approbation of the pro-visionary methods
Demosthenes and Cicero employed to assist their invention; and
illustrates their use by a quaint comparison after his manner. These
particular _Studios_ being not immediately connected with our art, I
need not cite the passage I allude to, and shall only observe that
such preparation totally opposes the general received opinions that
are floating in the world concerning genius and inspiration. The same
great man in another place, speaking of his own essays, remarks, that
they treat of "those things, wherein both men's lives and persons are
most conversant, whereof a man shall find much in experience, but
little in books:" they are then what an artist would naturally call
invention; and yet we may suspect that even the genius of Bacon, great
as it was, would never have been enabled to have made those
observations, if his mind had not been trained and disciplined by
reading the observations of others. Nor could he without such reading
have known that those opinions were not to be found in other books.
I know there are many Artists of great fame who appear never to have
looked out of themselves, and who probably would think it derogatory
to their character to be supposed to borrow from any other Painter.
But when we recollect, and compare the works of such men with those
who took to their assistance the inventions of others, we shall be
convinced of the great advantage of this latter practice.
The two men most eminent for readiness of invention, that occur to me,
are Luca Giordano and La Fage; one in painting, and the other in
drawing.
To such extraordinary powers as were possessed by both of those
Artists, we cannot refuse the character of Genius; at the same time,
it must be acknowledged, that it was that kind of mechanic Genius
which operates without much assistance of the head. In all their
works, which are (as might be expected) very numerous, we may look in
vain for anything that can be said to be original and striking; and
yet, according to the ordinary ideas of originality, they have as good
pretensions as most Painters; for they borrowed very little from
others, and still less will any Artist, that can distinguish between
excellence and insipidity, ever borrow from them.
To those men, and all such, let us oppose the practice of the first of
Painters. I suppose we shall all agree, that no man ever possessed a
greater power of invention, and stood less in need of foreign
assistance, than Raffaelle; and yet, when he was designing one of his
greatest as well as latest works, the Cartoons, it is very apparent
that he had the studies which he had made from Masaccio before him.
Two noble figures of St. Paul, which he found there, he adopted in his
own work: one of them he took for St. Paul preaching at Athens; and
the other for the same Saint when chastising the sorcerer Elymas.
Another figure in the same work, whose head is sunk in his breast,
with his eyes shut, appearing deeply wrapt up in thought, was
introduced amongst the listeners to the preaching of St. Paul. The
most material alteration that is made in those two figures of St. Paul
is the addition of the left hands, which are not seen in the original.
It is a rule that Raffaelle observed (and, indeed, ought never to be
dispensed with), in a principal figure, to show both hands; that it
should never be a question, what is become of the other hand. For the
sacrifice at Listra, he took the whole ceremony much as it stands in
an ancient Basso-relievo, since published in the ADMIRANDA.
I have given examples from those pictures only of Raffaelle which we
have among us, though many other instances might be produced of this
great painter's not disdaining assistance; indeed, his known wealth was
so great, that he might borrow where he pleased without loss of credit.
It may be remarked, that this work of Masaccio, from which he has
borrowed so freely, was a public work, and at no farther distance from
Rome than Florence; so that if he had considered it a disgraceful
theft, he was sure to be detected; but he was well satisfied that his
character for Invention would be little affected by such a discovery;
nor is it, except in the opinion of those who are ignorant of the
manner in which great works are built.
Those who steal from mere poverty; who having nothing of their own,
cannot exist a minute without making such depredations; who are so
poor that they have no place in which they can even deposit what they
have taken; to men of this description nothing can be said; but such
artists as those to whom I suppose myself now speaking, men whom I
consider as completely provided with all the necessaries and
conveniences of art, and who do not desire to steal baubles and common
trash, but wish only to possess peculiar rarities which they select to
ornament their cabinets, and take care to enrich the general store
with materials of equal or of greater value than what they have taken;
such men surely need not be ashamed of that friendly intercourse which
ought to exist among artists, of receiving from the dead and giving
to the living, and perhaps to those who are yet unborn.
The daily food and nourishment of the mind of an artist is found in
the great works of his predecessors. There is no other way for him to
become great himself. _Serpens, nisi serpentem comederit, non fit
draco_,[14] is a remark of a whimsical natural history, which I have
read, though I do not recollect its title; however false as to
dragons, it is applicable enough to artists.
Raffaelle, as appears from what has been said, had carefully studied
the works of Masaccio; and, indeed, there was no other, if we except
Michel Angelo (whom he likewise imitated), so worthy of his attention;
and though his manner was dry and hard, his compositions formal, and
not enough diversified according to the custom of Painters in that
early period, yet his works possess that grandeur and simplicity which
accompany, and even sometimes proceed from, regularity and hardness of
manner. We must consider the barbarous state of the Arts before his
time, when skill in drawing was so little understood that the best of
the painters could not even foreshorten the foot, but every figure
appeared to stand upon his toes; and what served for drapery, had,
from the hardness and smallness of the folds, too much the appearance
of cords clinging round the body. He first introduced large drapery
flowing in an easy and natural manner: indeed, he appears to be the
first who discovered the path that leads to every excellence to which
the Arts afterwards arrived, and may, therefore, be justly considered
as one of the great Fathers of modern Art.
Though I have been led on to a longer digression respecting this great
Painter than I intended, yet I cannot avoid mentioning another
excellence which he possessed in a very eminent degree; he was as much
distinguished among his contemporaries for his diligence and industry
as he was for the natural faculties of his mind. We are told that his
whole attention was absorbed in the pursuit of his art, and that he
acquired the name of Masaccio,[15] from his total disregard to his
dress, his person, and all the common concerns of life. He is, indeed,
a signal instance of what well-directed diligence will do in a short
time; he lived but twenty-seven years; yet in that short space carried
the art so far beyond what it had before reached, that he appears to
stand alone as a model for his successors. Vasari gives a long
catalogue of Painters and Sculptors, who formed their taste, and
learned their Art, by studying his works; among those, he names Michel
Angelo, Lionardi da Vinci, Pietro Perugino, Raffaelle, Bartolomeo,
Andrea del Sarto, Il Rosso, and Pierino del Vaga.
The habit of contemplating and brooding over the ideas of great
geniuses, till you find yourself warmed by the contact, is the true
method of forming an artist-like mind; it is impossible, in the
presence of those great men, to think, or invent in a mean manner; a
state of mind is acquired that receives those ideas only which relish
of grandeur and simplicity.
Besides the general advantage of forming the taste by such an
intercourse, there is another of a particular kind, which was suggested
to me by the practice of Raffaelle, when imitating the work of which I
have been speaking. The figure of the Proconsul, Sergius Paulus, is
taken from the Felix of Masaccio, though one is a front figure, and the
other seen in profile; the action is likewise somewhat changed; but it
is plain Raffaelle had that figure in his mind. There is a circumstance
indeed, which I mention by-the-bye, which marks it very particularly:
Sergius Paulus wears a crown of laurel; this is hardly reconcileable to
strict propriety, and the _costume_, of which Raffaelle was in general a
good observer; but he found it so in Masaccio, and he did not bestow so
much pains in disguise as to change it. It appears to me to be an
excellent practice, thus to suppose the figures which you wish to adopt
in the works of those great Painters to be statues; and to give, as
Raffaelle has here given, another view, taking care to preserve all the
spirit and grace you find in the original.
I should hope, from what has been lately said, that it is not
necessary to guard myself against any supposition of recommending an
entire dependence upon former masters. I do not desire that you should
get other people to do your business, or to think for you; I only wish
you to consult with, to call in, as counsellors, men the most
distinguished for their knowledge and experience, the result of which
counsel must ultimately depend upon yourself. Such conduct in the
commerce of life has never been considered as disgraceful, or in any
respect to imply intellectual imbecility; it is a sign, rather, of
that true wisdom, which feels individual imperfection; and is
conscious to itself how much collective observation is necessary to
fill the immense extent, and to comprehend the infinite variety of
nature. I recommend neither self-dependence nor plagiarism. I advise
you only to take that assistance which every human being wants, and
which, as appears from the examples that have been given, the greatest
painters have not disdained to accept. Let me add, that the diligence
required in the search, and the exertion subsequent in accommodating
those ideas to your own purpose, is a business which idleness will
not, and ignorance cannot, perform. But in order more distinctly to
explain what kind of borrowing I mean, when I recommend so anxiously
the study of the works of great masters, let us, for a minute, return
again to Raffaelle, consider his method of practice, and endeavour to
imitate him, in his manner of imitating others.
The two figures of St. Paul which I lately mentioned are so nobly
conceived by Masaccio, that perhaps it was not in the power even of
Raffaelle himself to raise and improve them, nor has he attempted it;
but he has had the address to change in some measure without
diminishing the grandeur of their character; he has substituted, in
the place of a serene composed dignity, that animated expression which
was necessary to the more active employment he assigned them.
In the same manner he has given more animation to the figure of
Sergius Paulus, and to that which is introduced in the picture of St.
Paul preaching, of which little more than hints are given by Masaccio,
which Raffaelle has finished. The closing the eyes of this figure,
which in Masaccio might be easily mistaken for sleeping, is not in the
least ambiguous in the Cartoon: his eyes, indeed, are closed, but they
are closed with such vehemence, that the agitation of a mind
_perplexed in the extreme_ is seen at the first glance; but what is
most extraordinary, and I think particularly to be admired, is, that
the same idea is continued through the whole figure, even to the
drapery, which is so closely muffled about him, that even his hands
are not seen; by this happy correspondence between the expression of
the countenance, and the disposition of the parts, the figure appears
to think from head to foot. Men of superior talents alone are capable
of thus using and adapting other men's minds to their own purposes, or
are able to make out and finish what was only in the original a hint
or imperfect conception. A readiness in taking such hints, which
escape the dull and ignorant, makes, in my opinion, no inconsiderable
part of that faculty of the mind which is called Genius.
It often happens that hints may be taken and employed in a situation
totally different from that in which they were originally employed.
There is a figure of a Bacchante leaning backward, her head thrown
quite behind her, which seems to be a favourite invention, as it is so
frequently repeated in basso-relievos, cameos, and intaglios; it is
intended to express an enthusiastic, frantic kind of joy. This figure
Baccio Bandinelli, in a drawing that I have of that Master of the
Descent from the Cross, has adopted (and he knew very well what was
worth borrowing) for one of the Marys, to express frantic agony of
grief. It is curious to observe, and it is certainly true, that the
extremes of contrary passions are, with very little variation,
expressed by the same action.