NOTE XXXI. VERSE 297. But sparingly thy earth-born stores unfold, Finery of all kinds destroys grandeur, which in a great measure proceeds from simplicity; it may, however, without impropriety, be introduced into the ornamental style, such as that of Rubens and Paul Veronese. R. That majesty, that grace, so rarely given It is undoubtedly true, and perfectly obvious, that every part of the art has a grace belonging to it, which, to satisfy and captivate the mind, must be superadded to correctness. This excellence, however expressed, whether we call it genius, taste, or the gift of Heaven, I am confident may be acquired: or the artist may certainly be put into that train by which it shall be acquired; though he must, in a great measure, teach himself by a continual contemplation of the works of those painters who are acknowledged to excel in grace and majesty: this will teach him to look for it in nature, and industry will give him the power of expressing it on canvass. R. NOTE XXXIII. VERSE 315. Thy last, thy noblest task remains untold, This is truly the noblest task, and is the finishing of the fabric of the art: to attempt this summit of ex cellence, without having first laid the foundation of habitual correctness, may indeed be said to build castles in the air. Every part which goes to the composition of a picture, even inanimate objects, are capable to a certain degree of conveying sentiment, and contribute their share to the general purpose of striking the imagination of the spectator. The disposition of light or the folding of drapery, will give sometimes a general air of grandeur to the whole work. NOTE XXXIV. VERSE 325. By tedious toil no passions are exprest, R. His hand who feels them strongest paints them best. A painter, whatever he may feel, will not be able to express it on canvass, without having recourse to a recollection of those principles by which the passion required is expressed. The mind thus occupied is not likely at the same time to be possessed with the passion which he is representing. An image may be ludicrous, and in its first conception make the painter laugh as well as the spectator; but the difficulty of his art makes the painter, in the course of his work, equally grave and serious, whether he is employed on the most ludicrous, or the most solemn subject. However, we may, without great violence, suppose this rule to mean no more, than that a sensibility is required in the artist, so that he should be capable of conceiving the passion properly before he sets about representing it on canvass. R. NOTE XXXV. VERSE 325. By tedious toil no passions are exprest, His hand who feels them strongest paints them best. "The two verses of the text, notwithstanding the air of antiquity which they appear to have, seem most probably to be the author's own," says the late French editor; but I suppose, as I did on a similar adage before, that the thought is taken from antiquity. With respect to my translation, I beg leave to intimate, that by feeling the passions strongest, I do not mean that a passionate man will make the best painter of the passions, but he who has the clearest conception of them, that is, who feels their effect on the countenance of other men, as in great actors on the stage, and in persons in real life strongly agitated by them: perhaps my translation would have been clearer and more consonant with the above judicious explication of Sir Joshua Reynolds, if it had run thus: He who conceives them strongest paints them best. M. NOTE XXXVI. VERSE 348. Full late awoke the ceaseless tear to shed For perish'd art; The later French editor, who has modernised the style of Du Piles's translation, says here, that " he has taken the liberty to soften this passage, and has translated Nil superest, by presque rien, instead of Du Piles's version, Il ne nous a rien resté deleur peinture, being authorised to make this change by the late discoveries of ancient painting at Herculaneum;" but I scarce think that, by these discoveries, we have re trieved any thing of ancient colouring, which is the matter here in question, therefore I have given my translation that turn. NOTE XXXVII. VERSE 349. for those celestial hues Which Zeuxis, aided by the Attic Muse, M. From the various ancient paintings, which have come down to us, we may form a judgment with tolerable accuracy of the excellences and the defects of the art amongst the ancients. There can be no doubt but that the same correctness of design was required from the painter as from the sculptor; as if what has happened in the case of sculpture had likewise happened in regard to their paintings, and we had the good fortune to possess what the ancients themselves esteemed their master-pieces, I have no doubt but we should find their figures as correctly drawn as the Laocoon, and probably coloured like Titian. What disposes me to think higher of their colouring than any remains of ancient painting will warrant, is the account which Pliny gives of the mode of operation used by Apelles ;- that over his finished picture he spread a transparent liquid like ink, of which the effect was to give brilliancy, and at the same time to lower the too great glare of the colour: "Quod absoluta opera atramento illinebat ita tenui, ut id ipsum repercussu claritates colorum excitaret ; - et cum ratione magna, ne colorum claritas oculorum aciem offenderet." This passage, though it may possibly perplex the critics, is a true and an artist-like description of the effect of glazing or scumbling, such as was practised by Titian and the rest of the Venetian painters. This custom, or mode of operation, implies at least a true taste of that in which the excellence of colouring consists: which does not proceed from fine colours, but true colours; from breaking down these fine colours which would appear too raw, to a deeptoned brightness. Perhaps the manner in which Correggio practised the art of glazing was still more like that of Apelles, which was only perceptible to those who looked close to the picture ad manum intuenti demum appareret: whereas in Titian, and still more in Bassan and others his imitators, it was apparent on the slightest inspection. Artists who may not approve of glazing, must still acknowledge, that this practice.is not that of ignorance. Another circumstance that tends to prejudice me in favour of their colouring, is the account we have of some of their principal painters using but four colours only. I am convinced the fewer the colours the cleaner will be the effect of those colours, and that four are sufficient to make every combination required. Two colours mixed together will not preserve the brightness of either of them single, nor will three be as bright as two; of this observation, simple as it is, an artist, who wishes to colour bright will know the value. In regard to their power of giving peculiar expression, no correct judgment can be formed; but we cannot well suppose that men who were capable of giving that general grandeur of character which so eminently distinguishes their works in sculpture, were incapable of expressing peculiar passions. As to the enthusiastic commendations bestowed on them by their contemporaries, I consider them as of no weight. The best words are always employed to praise the best works; admiration often proceeds from ignorance of higher excellence. What they appear to |