DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0144
ISO SCHOOLS OF PAINTING.
same colour with the ground he wanted; and this piece of cloth receiving the same ray which:
enlightened the head, marked the difference in a sensible manner, and allowed the painter the
power of augmenting it according to his principle.
" Rembrandt's manner of painting is a kind of magic. No artist knew better the effects of dif-
ferent colours mingled together, nor could better distinguish those which did not agree from those
which did. He placed every tone in its place, with so much exactness and harmony, that he
needed not to mix them, and so destroy what may be called the flower and freshness of the co-
lours. He made the first draught of his pictures with great precision, and with a mixture of co-
lours altogether particular: he proceeded on his first sketch with a vigorous application, and
sometimes loaded his lights with so great a quantity of colour, that he seemed to model rather
than to paint. One of his heads is said to have a nose nearly as much projected as the natural
nose which he copied."
The distinguishing characters of Rembrandt are a surprising power of genius, which more
than counterbalances all his numerous faults, many of them enormous, and a just and lively ex-
pression executed with great judgement.
The next artist of this class is John de Laer, a painter of miniature. He merits a considerable
place in the Dutch school, from his correct manner of design, and vigorous and lively colouring.
He did not descend so low in the choice of his subjects as most other artists of this class : his
scenes were those of common life, and consequently displayed more nature than sublimity:
they were chiefly hunting parties, the attacks of robbers, public festivals, landscapes, and sea
views ; and he ornamented his pictures with old ruins, and enriched them with figures of men
and animals.
The last school to he mentioned, but which ought to posses the primary place in the estima-
tion of the students for whom this work is intended, is The English School. This sect,
founded in our own time and in our own country, under the patronage of a prince ever intent
on promoting literature and the arts in every department; and under a director Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds, who might vie, for solidity of judgement and delicacy of taste, with the greatest masters
of Greece and Rome, cannot fail, under well directed precepts, to attain the highest degree of
excellence. Its professed object is to unite in itself, according to the principles of true taste,
the various excellencies which lie dispersed among all the other classes of painters. But to
avoid the appearance of partiality in speaking of this school, we may transcribe its general cha-
racter, in the opinion of a French artist from whom we can be in little danger of receiving un-
merited praise :—" Beaut}' ought to be the characteristic of the English school, because the artists
have it often exposed to their view. If this beauty is not precisely similar to that among the
ancients, it is not inferior to it. The English school should also distinguish itself for truth
of expression, because the liberty enjoyed in that country gives to every passion its natural and
unbiassed operation. It will probably long preserve its simplicity, unpolluted by the pomp of
theatrical taste, and the conceit of false graces, because the English manners will long preserve
their simplicity. Examine the picture of a French Woman, painted by an artist of that nation,
and you will generally find, in place of expression, a forced grin, in which the eyes and the
forehead do not partake, and which indicates no affection of the mind. Examine the picture of
an English woman, done by one of their painters, and you observe an elegant and simple ex-
pression, which makes you at once acquainted with the character of the person represented.5*
(Encyclo. Beaux Arts. Tom. I.)
This
same colour with the ground he wanted; and this piece of cloth receiving the same ray which:
enlightened the head, marked the difference in a sensible manner, and allowed the painter the
power of augmenting it according to his principle.
" Rembrandt's manner of painting is a kind of magic. No artist knew better the effects of dif-
ferent colours mingled together, nor could better distinguish those which did not agree from those
which did. He placed every tone in its place, with so much exactness and harmony, that he
needed not to mix them, and so destroy what may be called the flower and freshness of the co-
lours. He made the first draught of his pictures with great precision, and with a mixture of co-
lours altogether particular: he proceeded on his first sketch with a vigorous application, and
sometimes loaded his lights with so great a quantity of colour, that he seemed to model rather
than to paint. One of his heads is said to have a nose nearly as much projected as the natural
nose which he copied."
The distinguishing characters of Rembrandt are a surprising power of genius, which more
than counterbalances all his numerous faults, many of them enormous, and a just and lively ex-
pression executed with great judgement.
The next artist of this class is John de Laer, a painter of miniature. He merits a considerable
place in the Dutch school, from his correct manner of design, and vigorous and lively colouring.
He did not descend so low in the choice of his subjects as most other artists of this class : his
scenes were those of common life, and consequently displayed more nature than sublimity:
they were chiefly hunting parties, the attacks of robbers, public festivals, landscapes, and sea
views ; and he ornamented his pictures with old ruins, and enriched them with figures of men
and animals.
The last school to he mentioned, but which ought to posses the primary place in the estima-
tion of the students for whom this work is intended, is The English School. This sect,
founded in our own time and in our own country, under the patronage of a prince ever intent
on promoting literature and the arts in every department; and under a director Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds, who might vie, for solidity of judgement and delicacy of taste, with the greatest masters
of Greece and Rome, cannot fail, under well directed precepts, to attain the highest degree of
excellence. Its professed object is to unite in itself, according to the principles of true taste,
the various excellencies which lie dispersed among all the other classes of painters. But to
avoid the appearance of partiality in speaking of this school, we may transcribe its general cha-
racter, in the opinion of a French artist from whom we can be in little danger of receiving un-
merited praise :—" Beaut}' ought to be the characteristic of the English school, because the artists
have it often exposed to their view. If this beauty is not precisely similar to that among the
ancients, it is not inferior to it. The English school should also distinguish itself for truth
of expression, because the liberty enjoyed in that country gives to every passion its natural and
unbiassed operation. It will probably long preserve its simplicity, unpolluted by the pomp of
theatrical taste, and the conceit of false graces, because the English manners will long preserve
their simplicity. Examine the picture of a French Woman, painted by an artist of that nation,
and you will generally find, in place of expression, a forced grin, in which the eyes and the
forehead do not partake, and which indicates no affection of the mind. Examine the picture of
an English woman, done by one of their painters, and you observe an elegant and simple ex-
pression, which makes you at once acquainted with the character of the person represented.5*
(Encyclo. Beaux Arts. Tom. I.)
This