1. Painting is the art of representing visible objects, by means of
lines and colors, on a plane surface, so as to produce the appearance
of relief. It is justly ranked among the highest of that class of arts
denominated fine, or liberal; and its tendencies and powers being
similar to those of poetry, it is considered an employment worthy of
men of the most exalted rank.
2. The theory and practice of this ingenious and delightful art, are
divided by its professors into five distinct branches,----_invention_,
_composition_, _design_, _chiaro-scuro_, and _coloring_. _Invention_
relates to the choice of subjects to be introduced into a picture. It
is this which gives the highest character to the artist, as it
affords the greatest opportunity to display the powers of his mind.
3. _Composition_ regards the general distribution and grouping of
figures, the choice of attitudes, the disposal of draperies, the
situation of the scene itself, as well as the arrangement and
connexion of the various parts of the scenery. Invention and
composition are employed particularly in the first rough sketch of a
picture.
4. _Design_ refers to the expression of a proposed picture in simple
contour, or outlines. It is applied in making the first rough sketch
of the picture, whether in miniature or in its full size, as well as
in the more accurate expression of the form of the figures, in its
final finish. The artist, in making his design, is guided in drawing
his lines by the rules of _perspective_, according to which he is able
to _foreshorten_ objects, and thereby diminish the space which they
occupy, without giving them the appearance of diminished magnitude.
5. _Perspective_ has been defined the art of delineating the outlines
of objects on any given surface, as they would appear to the eye, if
that surface were transparent, and the objects themselves were seen
through it, from a fixed position. For example; when we look through a
window at a mass of buildings, and observe that part of the glass to
which each object, line, or point appears opposite, we find that their
apparent position is very different from their real. A delineation of
these objects on the glass, as they appear, would be termed a
representation in perspective.
6. Correct perspective is the foundation of scientific painting; and,
next in importance to this, is a proper distribution of light and
shade. This branch of the art is called _chiaro obscuro_, or, when
abridged, _chiaro-scuro_. The term is Italian in its origin, and its
literal meaning is _clear_ and _obscure_. To the skilful management of
light and shade, we are indebted for the strength and liveliness of
pictures, and their relief, or the elevation which certain parts
appear to assume above the plane upon which the objects are
represented.
7. By the aid of perspective and chiaro-scuro, very good
representations in one color are attained. Drawings in India-ink and
crayons, as well as pictures taken from engraved plates and wood-cuts,
are specimens of such productions. But a nearer approach to the
appearance of nature, is made by the employment of colors analogous to
those which are found to exist in the objects to be represented.
8. To produce various hues in painting, the artist employs coloring
substances, which, either alone or by mixture, are analogous to them
all; and, in their use, he is careful to apply them in such a manner,
that the true colors remain distinct from the lights and shades
necessary to produce the objects in relief. Artificial colors are
divided into _warm_ and _cold_. The former are those in which red and
yellow predominate; the latter are blue, gray, and others allied to
them.
9. Before coloring substances can be applied in painting, they must be
reduced to extreme fineness, and be mixed with some tenacious fluid,
to cause them to adhere to the surface on which they are to be spread.
The fluid employed for this purpose, and the mode of applying the
colors, have given rise to the different kinds of painting, of which
the following are the principal: _crayon_, _water-color_, _distemper_,
_fresco_, and _oil-painting_.
10. The most simple mode of applying the colors is by means of
crayons. They are made of black lead, a species of chalk, or of a
mixture of coloring matter with gum, size, or clay. For painting in
_water-colors_, the substances employed in communicating the tints
are combined with gum, and formed into cakes or lozenges. When about
to be used, they are dissolved in water, on glass or a glazed surface.
The application in painting, is made by means of a camel's-hair
pencil.
11. Painting in _distemper_ is used for the execution of works on a
large scale, such as stage scenery, and the walls of apartments. The
coloring substances are mixed with water, rendered tenacious by size
or solutions of glue, or by skimmed milk, increased in tenacity by a
small quantity of thyme. Linseed or poppy oil often serves as a
vehicle for the colors, in this kind of painting.
12. Paintings in _fresco_ are executed on walls of plaster. The
coloring matter mixed with water, being applied to the plaster while
the latter is in a fresh state, sinks in, and incorporates itself with
it, so as to become very durable. During the execution of the work,
the plaster is applied to the wall in successive portions, no more
being added at a time, than can be conveniently painted before it
becomes dry. Works of this kind must be executed with great rapidity;
and, on this account, patterns, called _cartoons_, are previously
drawn on large paper, to guide the artist in his operations.
13. _Oil painting_ derives its name from the mixture of the colors in
oil. The oils used for this purpose are extracted from vegetables;
and, on account of the rapidity with which they dry, are denominated
drying oils. For most purposes, this mode of painting is decidedly
superior to all others. It admits of a higher finish, as it allows the
artist to retouch his works with greater precision. The colors also
blend together more agreeably, and produce a more delicate effect. Oil
paintings are executed on canvas, wood, or copper.
14. Paintings are imitated with surprising elegance, by cementing
together colored pieces of glass and marble, as well as those of wood.
Representations by these means, are called _Mosaics_, or _Mosaic
paintings_. The cause of their having received this appellation cannot
be ascertained. Some, without much reason, attribute the origin and
name of this branch of the art to Moses. Others suppose that works of
this kind have been thus denominated, because they were first employed
in grottoes dedicated to the _Muses_.
15. Drawings and paintings are divided into classes, according to the
nature of the objects represented, the principal of which are
_historical_, _architectural_, _landscape_, _marine_, _portrait_,
_still life_, _grotesque_, _botanical_, and _animal_. The subordinate
divisions of these branches are very numerous.
16. The propensity to imitation, so deeply rooted in the human mind,
is the foundation of the arts of design; and there can scarcely be
indicated a lengthened period in the history of man, in which it was
entirely inactive. It may have first been accidentally exhibited in
tracing the form of some object in the sand; or resemblances in sticks
and stones, may have originally suggested the idea of imitations by
means of lines and colors.
17. Although painting and sculpture may be supposed to have existed,
at least in a rude state, at a very early period, and even before the
deluge, yet the reign of Semiramis, queen of Assyria, 2000 years
before Christ, is the earliest to which authentic history extends.
Diodorus Siculus relates that the queen, having thrown a bridge across
the Euphrates, at Babylon, erected a castle at each end of it, and
inclosed them with walls of considerable height, with towers upon
them. The bricks of which they were constructed, were painted before
they underwent the fire, and were so put together, that single
figures, and even groups of them, were represented in colors.
18. This author supposes also, that the arts had attained nearly an
equal degree of cultivation about the same time in Egypt, sculpture,
as best serving idolatrous purposes, being in both countries much in
advance of the sister art of painting. But, in neither country, was
painting or sculpture brought to a great degree of perfection.
19. In Egypt, independent selection of objects, and variety of
exhibition, never appear to have been much regarded. When a specific
form of character had been once adopted, so it remained, and was
repeated unchanged for ages. Little action, and no expression, was
given to figures. The chief employment of the Egyptian artists, seems
to have been the painting of the chests of mummies, and the ornaments
on barges and earthenware.
20. Painting, in the early days of its existence, was employed chiefly
in the exhibition and preservation of historical facts; and, wherever
it remained faithful to these objects, it was obliged to sacrifice the
beautiful to the significant. Only in those countries where
alphabetical writing existed, could painting elevate itself to a fine
art.
21. The Pelasgi, who expelled or subdued the earlier inhabitants of
Greece, and colonized that country, probably brought with them the
rudiments of this art; and it at length grew up with its sister arts.
In some of the stages of its progress, this intelligent people, no
doubt, received useful hints from other countries, and especially from
Egypt; yet they finally surpassed all the nations of antiquity in this
branch of art.
22. The Greeks, with singular care, have preserved the names of their
artists from the earliest periods of their practice. Ardens, of
Corinth, Telephanes and Crato, of Sycion, and some others, are noticed
as such, when painting had advanced no farther than the mere
circumscription of shadows by single lines.
23. The different kinds of painting, as marked by the successive
stages of the art among the Greeks, are as follows; 1. The _skiagram_,
or drawing in simple outlines, as in the circumscriptions of shadows.
2. The _monogram_, including both the outlines and others within them.
3. The _monochrom_, or picture in a single color. 4. The _polychrom_,
or picture of many colors.
24. Although the names of the Grecian artists were carefully
preserved, the time in which they lived was not distinctly marked
until the 16th Olympiad, or 719 years before the commencement of our
era. At this time, Candaules, king of Lydia, purchased a picture
called the Battle of the Magnetes, for which he paid its weight in
gold, although painted on boards. The name of the fortunate artist was
Bularchus.
25. Notwithstanding the fame of this picture, Aglaophon and
Polygnotus, of Thasos, who flourished 300 years after this period,
were the first eminent painters. Polygnotus is said to have been the
first who gave a pleasing air to the draperies and head-dresses of
females, and to have opened the mouth so far as to exhibit the beauty
of the teeth.
26. Still, painting is considered to have been in an inferior state,
until the appearance of Timanthes, Parrhasius, and Zeuxis, who
flourished about 375 years before Christ. These again were surpassed
by their successors, Protogenes, Pamphilus, Melanthius, Antiphilus,
Theon, Euphranor, Apelles, and Aristides, who carried the art to the
greatest perfection to which it attained in ancient times.
27. Of the preceding list of artists, Apelles was the most famous,
especially as a portrait painter. He was the intimate friend of
Alexander the Great, who would never permit any other person to paint
his likeness. His most celebrated painting, was this prince holding
the lightning with which the picture is chiefly illuminated. By a
happy application of perspective and chiaro-scuro, the hand with the
lightning seemed to project from the picture.
28. From the time of these great masters, painting gradually declined,
although the art continued to be practised by a succession of eminent
men, who contended against the blighting influence of the luxury and
the internal broils of their countrymen. But soon after Greece became
subject to the Roman power, the practice of the fine arts nearly
ceased in that country.
29. Before the foundation of Rome, the arts were cultivated, to some
extent, in Etruria and Calabria; but the first Roman painter mentioned
in history, was Fabius, a noble patrician, who painted, in the year of
the city 450, the temple of the goddess Salus, and thereby obtained
for himself and family the surname of _Pictor_. Yet the citizens do
not seem to have profited by this example; for no other painter
appeared among them until 150 years after that period. At this time,
Pacuvius, the poet, amused himself, in the decline of life, with
painting the temple of Hercules.
30. They were thus inattentive to the cultivation of this, as well as
of the other fine arts, because they considered warfare, and the arts
which tended directly to support this interest, as alone worthy of the
attention of a citizen of their republic; and painting, even after the
time of Pacuvius, was considered effeminate and disgraceful. Rome,
therefore, cannot be said, at any time, to have produced a single
artist who could approach the excellences of those of its refined
neighbors, the Greeks.
31. They, however, having ornamented their metropolis and villas with
specimens of the arts plundered from the cities of Greece and Sicily,
began, at length, to appreciate their excellences; and finally, under
the first emperors, they encouraged, with great munificence, the
Greeks who resorted to their city for employment.
32. But, both sculpture and painting, as well as architecture,
declined with Roman civilization. Still, they continued to exist,
especially in the Byzantine or Eastern empire, although in a very
inferior state. The art under consideration was preserved chiefly by
its application to the purposes of Christianity. It was revived in
Italy, in the beginning of the twelfth century, by means of several
Grecian artists, who had been employed to ornament the churches, and
other edifices at Pisa, Venice, and Florence.
33. The works of Apollonius, one of these Greeks, excited in Giovanni
Cimabue a spirit of emulation; and, having been initiated into the
practice of the art, he executed a picture of the Virgin Mary, as
large as life, for a church dedicated to her, at Florence. This
production excited enthusiastic delight in his fellow-citizens, who
carried it in procession, with the sound of trumpets, to its place of
destination, and celebrated the day as a public feast.
34. Encouraged by this applause, Cimabue pursued the art with ardor;
and, although considered a prodigy in his time, his utmost efforts
failed to produce tolerable specimens of the art. He, however, far
excelled his immediate predecessors; and, by introducing more correct
proportions, by giving more life and expression to his figures, and by
some other improvements, he became the founder of the art as it exists
in modern times. He was born at Florence, in 1240, and died at the age
of sixty.
35. The favorite pupil of Cimabue, was Giotto, whom he raised from a
shepherd to be a painter; and by him the art was still more relieved
from the Greek imperfections. He abandoned the use of labels as means
of distinguishing the different figures of a picture, and aimed at,
and attained to, real expression. He marked out to the Italians the
course in which the art should be pursued, as Polygnotus had done to
the Greeks near 1800 years before; although, like him, he failed in
fully exemplifying his principles.
36. His abilities procured him the patronage of Pope Boniface VIII.,
who employed him at Rome. From this time, the art of painting became
attached to the papal dignity, and few succeeding pontiffs have
neglected its use. The skill and celebrity of this ingenious artist
excited great emulation, and the arts having obtained an earnest of
profit and honor, no longer wanted skilful professors or illustrious
patrons.
37. In 1350, fourteen years after the death of Giotto, his disciple,
Jacopo Cassentino, and nine other artists, founded the Academy of St.
Luke, at Florence. This was a grand epoch of the arts; as from this
institution arose a large display of talent, increasing in splendor
until, within 150 years, it gave to the world, Masaccio, Leonardo da
Vinci, Michael Angelo Buonarotti, and Raphael, besides others of great
ability.
38. The art advanced but little after the time of Giotto, until the
appearance of Masaccio. Under the hand of this great master, painting
is said to have been greatly improved; and it was to him, that the
artists who succeeded were indebted for a more sure and full direction
of the course in which they ought to proceed. He was born in 1402, and
died in 1443.
39. Leonardo da Vinci, who was born about two years after the death of
Masaccio, brought the art to still greater perfection; and being
endowed with uncommon genius, all the arts and sciences did not seem
to afford a field sufficient for the exertion of his talents. He
grasped at all, and succeeded far better than his predecessors in
everything he undertook; but he wasted much of his time in
experiments. Had he confined his great powers to the art of painting,
he would probably have never been exceeded.
40. About the year 1410, oil came to be used as a vehicle for paints.
It seems to have been first applied to this purpose in Flanders, by
John Van Eyck, of Brussels; or it was, at least, first used by him
successfully. The first hint of its utility in this application is
thought, with reason, to have been obtained from its use as a varnish
to pictures painted in water-colors.
41. The art of painting was introduced into Flanders about the time of
Giotto, by several Flemings, who had been to Italy for the express
purpose of learning it. It was also diffused in practice, about the
same time, in Germany; and a particular style of the art grew up in
each of these countries. But it was in Italy alone that the art may be
said to have flourished in a high state of cultivation; and even
there, the principal productions originated from artists of the
Florentine school.
42. The art of painting was perfected, perhaps, as far as human
ability can carry it, in the first half of the sixteenth century, by
Michael Angelo Buonarotti, Raphael, Titian, and Correggio; although it
cannot be said that all its excellences were united in the productions
of any one of these distinguished professors. Such a union has never
yet been displayed, nor can it hardly be expected.
43. The art was essentially aided in its progressive stages of
advancement by the liberal patronage of the family of the Medici, at
Florence, and by the pontiffs, at Rome. Angelo and Raphael were both
employed at Rome by Julius II. and Leo X., as well as by others who
succeeded them in the papal chair, in ornamenting the palaces and
sacred buildings. Their productions have never been exceeded in any
country, and they still remain the objects of careful study by artists
of this profession.
44. Titian was also liberally patronised at Rome, and in other parts
of Italy, as well as in Spain and Germany, chiefly as a portrait and
landscape painter. The unrivalled productions of these great masters,
however, were fatal to the art in Italy, since their superior
excellence extinguished emulation, by destroying the prospect of equal
or superior success.
45. The flourishing state of the art in Italy, for so long a period,
might be expected to have produced a taste for its cultivation in
other parts of Europe; but this was the case only to a limited extent.
No other countries have yet been particularly distinguished for
artists in this branch of the fine arts, except Flanders and Holland;
and these were chiefly indebted for the distinction to Peter Paul
Rubens, of Antwerp, who was born at Cologne, in 1577, and to Paul Van
Rhyn Rembrandt, who was born in 1606, in his father's mill, near
Leyden. Some of the scholars of these masters were eminent painters.
Anthony Vandyck, a pupil of the former, in particular, is said to have
never yet been equalled as a portrait-painter.
46. Very little is known of the art in Spain, until about the year
1500, although it is supposed to have been cultivated with some
success before that time. The examples which were left there by Titian
produced a favorable impression, and several native artists of
considerable eminence afterwards appeared; but the art became nearly
extinct in the following age.
47. The proximity of France to Italy, and the employment of Leonardo
da Vinci and other eminent artists of Italy by Francis I., together
with the establishment of a school of fine arts, as stated in the
preceding article, might have been expected to lay the foundation of
exalted taste in this kingdom. Nevertheless, the only French painters
whose names have come down to us with any pretensions to excellence
for one hundred and fifty years, were Jean Cousin, Jaques Blanchard,
Nicholas Poussin, and Charles Le Brun. The last, although inferior to
Poussin, is at the head of the French school of painting.
48. The successors of Le Brun were not wanting in ability, yet, with a
few exceptions, they failed in reaching an enviable eminence in the
art, on account of their servile imitation of the false taste of their
popular model. The fantastic style of Le Brun became unpopular in
France some time previous to the revolution in that country; and
another, of an opposite character, and by artists of other nations
thought to be equally distant from true taste, has been since adopted.
49. Very little is known of the state of the fine arts in England
until the time of Henry VIII., who encouraged the abilities of Hans
Holbein, an eminent painter from Switzerland. But painting and
sculpture, and particularly the former, having become intimately
interwoven with the religion of the Church of Rome, fell into
disrepute in England after the change of opinion on this subject in
that country. They, however, began to revive in the eighteenth
century, and England and English America have since produced some
eminent painters, among whom are Hogarth, Reynolds, Opie, West,
Copley, Trumbull, and Peale.
[Illustration: The ENGRAVER.]