DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20658#0162
I4S
COLOURING.
The reasons so few painters succeed in colouring are the great variety of the colours of natural
objects, and the different capacities of men to distinguish them : we seldom perceive two flowers
or even blossoms exactly of the same tint. And still more various are the opinions of mankind
with regard to the gradations and combinations of colours, and that in proportion to t lie perfec-
tion of their visual powers and correct habit of judging, from being long accustomed to view tints
of different hues.
To excel in this branch the student should make himself acquainted with that part of science
which treats of light and colours; otherwise he will never be able to account for many phceno-
mena of colours, which he will observe when he comes to examine the properties and effects of
different tints. In the pursuit of this subject he will find that light, simple as it may appear, is a
composition of seven different rays, namely red, orange, yellow, green, azure, indigo, and violet.
Experimental philosophy can ascertain the proportional quantity of each of these coloured rays
required to form a light; and can also demonstrate the truth of the assertion by decompounding
a ray of light through a prismatic glass, whereby a ray however small is divided into its original
primitive 'Colours.
Notwithstanding the great success of Titian, Corregio, Giorgione, Vandyke, and a few others
who were ignorant of the physical subtleties of colours, no modern painter should presume to hope
for an equal share of excellence, until he be acquainted with those causes in the science of optics,
which produce the various effects of colours. Some minds, it is true, will surmount all difficulties,
and dive into the hidden secrets of nature, unassisted by external aids; a natural but rare saga-
city supplying and superseding other assistance : but great excellencies are generally the reward
of long and indefatigable labour. Few men are by nature favoured with the discernment of a
Newton, the judgement of a Locke, or the hand of a Titian, The power also of being able to
assign the causes of the effects produced by our labour is a pleasure sufficient to instigate any per-
son, who does not delight in being thought ignorant of his own work, to apply himself to this as
well as-to the other branches of useful knowledge, in any manner connected with his pursuits.
As it is impossible the painter can imitate any thing perfectly which he does not thoroughly un-
derstand, so notwithstanding the exception above quoted I may venture to say it is almost, if not
wholly impracticable for him to display objects in their proper colours, till he know the causes by
which those colours are produced, and how they are more or less altered hy their various reflect
tions on each other.
Having attained this most essential requisite, the young painter must next study the works of
the best colon rists : there he will find his only rules to enable him to express the beauty of objects,
as far as relates to their colours. Titian and Giorgione in particular deserve his greatest atten-
tion : next to whom Bassano and Paul Veronese claim his notice; nor should the best works of
the Lombard and Flemish schools be overlooked. Titian and Corregio seem to have been fur-
nished by nature with the power of distinguishing colours and their various tints, in a manner
superior to all other artists; and consequently attended to circumstances in their work unper-
ceived or rejected by both their predecessors and followers. The former, as he did not handle
his pencil so he does not appear to have viewed his objects in the manner of other artists, His
works display that sweetness of colouring produced by union that beauty inseparable from truth ;
and all those insensible conversions, soft transitions, and pleasing modulations of tints and co-
lours, we observe in the productions of nature. Bassano and Paul Veronese discover an unpa-
ralleled
COLOURING.
The reasons so few painters succeed in colouring are the great variety of the colours of natural
objects, and the different capacities of men to distinguish them : we seldom perceive two flowers
or even blossoms exactly of the same tint. And still more various are the opinions of mankind
with regard to the gradations and combinations of colours, and that in proportion to t lie perfec-
tion of their visual powers and correct habit of judging, from being long accustomed to view tints
of different hues.
To excel in this branch the student should make himself acquainted with that part of science
which treats of light and colours; otherwise he will never be able to account for many phceno-
mena of colours, which he will observe when he comes to examine the properties and effects of
different tints. In the pursuit of this subject he will find that light, simple as it may appear, is a
composition of seven different rays, namely red, orange, yellow, green, azure, indigo, and violet.
Experimental philosophy can ascertain the proportional quantity of each of these coloured rays
required to form a light; and can also demonstrate the truth of the assertion by decompounding
a ray of light through a prismatic glass, whereby a ray however small is divided into its original
primitive 'Colours.
Notwithstanding the great success of Titian, Corregio, Giorgione, Vandyke, and a few others
who were ignorant of the physical subtleties of colours, no modern painter should presume to hope
for an equal share of excellence, until he be acquainted with those causes in the science of optics,
which produce the various effects of colours. Some minds, it is true, will surmount all difficulties,
and dive into the hidden secrets of nature, unassisted by external aids; a natural but rare saga-
city supplying and superseding other assistance : but great excellencies are generally the reward
of long and indefatigable labour. Few men are by nature favoured with the discernment of a
Newton, the judgement of a Locke, or the hand of a Titian, The power also of being able to
assign the causes of the effects produced by our labour is a pleasure sufficient to instigate any per-
son, who does not delight in being thought ignorant of his own work, to apply himself to this as
well as-to the other branches of useful knowledge, in any manner connected with his pursuits.
As it is impossible the painter can imitate any thing perfectly which he does not thoroughly un-
derstand, so notwithstanding the exception above quoted I may venture to say it is almost, if not
wholly impracticable for him to display objects in their proper colours, till he know the causes by
which those colours are produced, and how they are more or less altered hy their various reflect
tions on each other.
Having attained this most essential requisite, the young painter must next study the works of
the best colon rists : there he will find his only rules to enable him to express the beauty of objects,
as far as relates to their colours. Titian and Giorgione in particular deserve his greatest atten-
tion : next to whom Bassano and Paul Veronese claim his notice; nor should the best works of
the Lombard and Flemish schools be overlooked. Titian and Corregio seem to have been fur-
nished by nature with the power of distinguishing colours and their various tints, in a manner
superior to all other artists; and consequently attended to circumstances in their work unper-
ceived or rejected by both their predecessors and followers. The former, as he did not handle
his pencil so he does not appear to have viewed his objects in the manner of other artists, His
works display that sweetness of colouring produced by union that beauty inseparable from truth ;
and all those insensible conversions, soft transitions, and pleasing modulations of tints and co-
lours, we observe in the productions of nature. Bassano and Paul Veronese discover an unpa-
ralleled