This little volume, it need hardly be said, does not aim at being
complete, in the sense of representing all the artists who have written
on art. It is hoped, however, that the sayings chosen will be found
fairly representative of what painters and sculptors, typical of their
race and time, have said about the various aspects of their work. In
making the collection, I have had recourse less to famous comprehensive
treatises and expositions of theory like those of Leonardo and of
Reynolds, than to the more intimate avowals and working notes contained
in letters and diaries, or recorded in memoirs. The selection of these
has entailed considerable research; and in tracing what was often by no
means easy to find, I wish to acknowledge the kind assistance,
especially, of M. Raphael Petrucci, M. Louis Dimier, and Mr. Tancred
Borenius. I have also to thank Lady Burne-Jones, Miss Birnie Philip,
Mrs. Watts, Mrs. C. W. Furse, Mr. W. M. Rossetti, Mr. J. G. Millais, Mr.
Samuel Calvert, and Mr. Sydney Cockerell, for permission to make
quotations from Burne-Jones, Whistler, Watts, Furse, D. G. Rossetti,
Madox Brown, Millais, Edward Calvert, and William Morris; also Sir
Martin Conway, Sir Charles Holroyd, Mrs. Herringham, Mr. E. McCurdy,
and Mr. Everard Meynell, for allowing me to use their translations from
Dürer, Francisco d'Ollanda (conversations with Michael Angelo), Cennino
Cennini, Leonardo, and Corot, respectively.
Thankful acknowledgment is also made to the authors of any other
quotations whose names may inadvertently have been omitted.
Above all, I thank my husband for his advice and help.