How Colours in oil painting, in fresco, or in tempera should be
blended: and how the Flesh, the Draperies and all that is depicted
come to be harmonized in the work in such a manner that the figures
do not appear cut up, and stand out well and forcibly and show the
work to be clear and comprehensible.
§ 80. _On Colouring._
Unity in painting is produced when a variety of different colours are
harmonized together, these colours in all the diversity of many designs
show the parts of the figures distinct the one from the other, as the
flesh from the hair, and one garment different in colour from another.
When these colours are laid on flashing and vivid in a disagreeable
discordance so that they are like stains and loaded with body, as was
formerly the wont with some painters, the design becomes marred in such
a manner that the figures are left painted by the patches of colour
rather than by the brush, which distributes the light and shade over the
figures and makes them appear natural and in relief. All pictures then
whether in oil, in fresco, or in tempera ought to be so blended in their
colours that the principal figures in the groups are brought out with
the utmost clearness, the draperies of those in front being kept so
light that the figures which stand behind are darker than the first, and
so little by little as the figures retire inwards, they become also in
equal measure gradually lower in tone in the colour both of the flesh
tints and of the vestments. And especially let there be great care
always in putting the most attractive, the most charming, and the most
beautiful colours on the principal figures, and above all on those that
are complete and not cut off by others, because these are always the
most conspicuous and are more looked at than others which serve as the
background to the colouring of the former. A sallow colour makes another
which is placed beside it appear the more lively, and melancholy and
pallid colours make those near them very cheerful and almost of a
certain flaming beauty.[195] Nor ought one to clothe the nude with heavy
colours that would make too sharp a division between the flesh and the
draperies when the said draperies pass across the nude figures, but let
the colours of the lights of the drapery be delicate and similar to the
tints of the flesh, either yellowish or reddish, violet or purple,
making the depths either green or blue or purple or yellow, provided
that they tend to a dark shade and make a harmonious sequence in the
rounding of the figures with their shadows; just as we see in the life,
that those parts that appear nearest to our eyes, have most light and
the others, retiring from view, lose light and colour.
In the same manner the colours should be employed with so much harmony
that a dark and a light are not left unpleasantly contrasted in light
and shade, so as to create a discordance and a disagreeable lack of
unity, save only in the case of the projections, which are those shadows
that the figures throw one on to the other, when a ray of light strikes
on a principal figure, and makes it darken the second with its projected
shadow. And these again when they occur must be painted with sweetness
and harmony, because he who throws them into disorder makes that picture
look like a coloured carpet or a handful of playing cards, rather than
blended flesh or soft clothing or other things that are light, delicate,
and sweet. For as the ear remains offended by a strain of music that is
noisy, jarring or hard—save however in certain places and times, as I
said of the strong shadows—so the eye is offended by colours that are
overcharged or crude. As the too fiery mars the design; so the dim,
sallow, flat, and over-delicate makes a thing appear quenched, old, and
smoke-dried; but the concord that is established between the fiery and
the flat tone is perfect and delights the eye just as harmonious and
subtle music delights the ear. Certain parts of the figures must be lost
in the obscure tints and in the background of the group; for, if these
parts were to appear too vivid and fiery, they would confound the
distinction between the figures, but by remaining dark and hazy almost
as background they give even greater force to the others which are in
front. Nor can one believe how much grace and beauty is given to the
work by varying the colours of the flesh, making the complexion of the
young fresher than that of the old, giving to the middle-aged a tint
between a brick-colour and a greenish yellow; and almost in the same way
as in drawing one contrasts the mien of the old with that of youths and
young girls and children, so the sight of one face soft and plump, and
another fresh and blooming, makes in the painting a most harmonious
dissonance.
In this way one ought, in working, to put the dark tints where they are
least conspicuous and make least division, in order to bring out the
figures, as is seen in the pictures of Raffaello da Urbino and of other
excellent painters who have followed this manner. One ought not however
to hold to this rule in the groups where the lights imitate those of the
sun and moon or of fires or bright things at night, because these
effects are produced by means of hard and sharp contrasts as happens in
life. And in the upper part, wherever such a light may strike there will
always be sweetness and harmony. One can recognize in those pictures
which possess these qualities that the intelligence of the painter has
by the harmony of his colours assured the excellence of the design,
given charm to the picture, and prominence and stupendous force to the
figures.