robe;

In large, distinct, unwrinkled folds should fly,
Beauty's best handmaid is Simplicity.
To diff'rent ranks adapt their proper
With ample pall let monarchs sweep the globe;
In garb succinct and coarse array the swain;
In light and silken veils the virgin train.

Where in black shade the deeper hollow lies,
Assisting art some midway fold supplies,
That gently meets the light, and gently spreads
To break the hardness of opposing shades.

a Each nobler symbol classic sages use,
To mark a Virtue, or adorn a Muse;
Ensigns of war, of peace, or rites divine,
These in thy work with dignity may shine:
b But sparingly thy earth-born stores unfold,
Nor load with gems, nor lace with tawdry gold;
Rare things alone are dear in custom's eye,
They lose their value as they multiply.

Perpaucos sinuum flexos, rugasque, striasque,
Membra super, versu faciles, inducere præstat.
Naturæque rei proprius sit pannus, abundans

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Patriciis; succinctus erit, crassusque bubulcis,

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Mancipiisque; levis, teneris, gracilisque puellis.

Inque cavis maculisque umbrarum aliquando tumescet,

Lumen ut excipiens, operis quâ massa requirit,
Latius extendat, sublatisque aggreget umbris.

c Nobilia arma juvant Virtutum ornantque figuras, Qualia Musarum, Belli, cultusque Deorum.

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d Nec sit opus nimiùm gemmis auroque refertum ; Rara etenim magno in pretio, sed plurima vili.

e Of absent forms the features to define,

Prepare a model to direct thy line;

f Each garb, each custom, with precision trace, Unite in strict decorum time with place;

8 And emulous alone of genuine fame,

Be grace, be majesty thy constant aim,
That majesty, that grace so rarely given

To mortal man, nor taught by art but Heaven. h In all to sage propriety attend,

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Nor sink the clouds, nor bid the waves ascend;
Lift not the mansions drear of Hell or Night
Above the Thunderer's lofty arch of light;
Nor build the column on an osier base;
But let each object know its native place.

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i Thy last, thy noblest task remains untold, Passion to paint, and sentiment unfold:

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* Quæ deinde ex vero nequeant præsente videri, Prototypum prius illorum formare juvabit.

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1 Conveniat locus, atque habitus; ritusque decusque
m Servetur: Sit nobilitas, Charitumque venustas
(Rarum homini munus, Cœlo, non arte petendum).
Naturæ sit ubique tenor, ratioque sequenda.

n Non vicina pedum tabulata excelsa Tonantis
Astra domus depicta gerent, nubesque, notosque;
Nec mare depressum laquearia summa, vel Orcum;
Marmoreamque feret cannis vaga pergula molem :
Congrua sed propriâ semper statione locentur.

• Hæc præter, motus animorum, et corde repostos Exprimere affectus, paucisque coloribus ipsam

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Yet how these motions of the mind display,
Can colours catch them, or can lines pourtray?
Who shall our pygmy pencils arm with might
To seize the Soul, and force her into sight?
Jove, Jove alone; his highly favour'd few
Alone can call such miracles to view.

But this to rhet'ric and the schools I leave,
Content from ancient lore one rule to give :
"By tedious toil no passions are express'd,

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His hand who feels them strongest paints them best."
p Yet shall the Muse with all her force proscribe
Of base and barbarous forms that Gothic tribe,
Which sprung to birth, what time, through lust of sway,
Imperial Latium bade the world obey:

Fierce from the north the headlong demons flew,
The wreaths of Science wither'd at their view;
Plagues were their harbingers, and war accurst,
And luxury, of every fiend the worst:

Then did each Muse behold her triumphs fade,
Then pensive Painting droop'd the languish'd head;

Pingere posse animam, atque oculis præbere videndam,
"Hoc opus, hic labor est. Pauci, quos æquus amavit

Jupiter, aut ardens avexit ad æthera virtus, "Dis similes potuere" manu miracula tanta.

Hos ego rhetoribus tractandos desero; tantùm
Egregii antiquum memorabo sophisma magistri :
"Verius affectus animi vigor exprimit ardens,
"Soliciti nimiùm quam sedula cura laboris."

9 Denique nil sapiat Gothorum barbara trito
Ornamenta modo sæclorum et monstra malorum :
Queis ubi bella, famem, et pestem, discordia, luxus,
Et Romanorum res grandior intulit orbi,
Ingenuæ periere artes, periere superbæ
Artificum moles; sua tunc miracula vidit
Ignibus absumi Pictura, latere coacta

P XXX, Gothic Ornament to be avoided.

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And sorrowing Sculpture, while the ruthless flame
Involved each trophy of her sister's fame,
Fled to sepulchral cells her own to save,
And lurk'd a patient inmate of the grave.
Meanwhile beneath the frown of angry heaven,
Unworthy every boon its smile had given,
Involved in error's cloud, and scorn'd of light,
The guilty empire sunk. Then horrid Night,
And Dulness drear their murky vigils kept,
In savage gloom the impious ages slept,
Till Genius, starting from his rugged bed,
Full late awoke, the ceaseless tear to shed,
For perish'd art; for those celestial hues,
Which Zeuxis, aided by the Attic Muse,

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r Gave to the wond'ring eye: she bade his name,
With thine, Apelles, gild the lists of fame;
With thine to colouring's brightest glories soar,
The gods applaud him, and the world adore.
Alas! how lost those magic mixtures all!

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No hues of his now animate the wall;

Fornicibus, sortem et reliquam confidere cryptis ;
Marmoribusque diu Sculptura jacere sepultis.
Imperium interea, scelerum gravitate fatiscens,
Horrida nox totum invasit, donoque superni
Luminis indignum, errorum caligine mersit,
Impiaque ignaris damnavit sæcla tenebris.
Unde coloratum Graiis huc usque magistris

S

Nil superest tantorum hominum, quod mente modoque
Nostrates juvet artifices, doceatque laborem ;

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Nec qui Chromaticês nobis, hoc tempore, partes

Restituat, quales Zeuxis tractaverat olim,

Hujus quando magâ velut arte æquavit Apellem

Pictorum archigraphum, meruitque coloribus altam
Nominis æterni famam, toto orbe sonantem.

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Hæc quidem ut in tabulis fallax, sed grata venustas,

COLOURING, the third Part

of Painting.

VOL. II.

T

S CHROMATICES, tertia Pars Picturæ.

How then shall modern art those hues apply,
How give design its finished dignity?
Return, fair COLOURING! all thy lures prepare,
Each safe deception, every honest snare,
Which brings new lovers to thy sister's train,
Skilful at once to charm, and to retain ;
Come, faithful Siren! chaste seducer! say,
What laws control thee, and what powers obey.

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Know first, that light displays and shade destroys 365 Refulgent Nature's variegated dies.

Thus bodies near the light distinctly shine
With rays direct, and as it fades decline.

Thus to the eye opposed with stronger light
They meet its orb, for distance dims the sight.
Learn hence to paint the parts that meet the view
In spheric forms, of bright and equal hue;
While, from the light receding or the eye,
The sinking outlines take a fainter dye.
Lost and confused progressively they fade,
Not fall precipitate from light to shade.

Et complementum graphidos, mirabile visu,
Pulchra vocabatur, sed subdola, lena sororis :
Non tamen hoc lenocinium, fucusque, dolusque
Dedecori fuit unquam; illi sed semper honori,
Laudibus et meritis; hanc ergo nosse juvabit.

Lux varium, vivumque dabit, nullum umbra colorem.
Quo magis adversum est corpus, lucique propinquum.

Clarius est lumen; nam debilitatur eundo.

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Quo magis est corpus directum, oculisque propinquum, 270 Conspicitur melius; nam visus hebescit eundo.

u

Ergo in corporibus, quæ visa adversa, rotundis,

Integra sunt, extrema abscedant perdita signis

Confusis, non præcipiti labentur in umbram

t XXXI. The Conduct of

u XXXI. Tonorum

the Tints of Light and Sha- minum et Umbrarum Ratio. dow.

Lu