DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61387#0167
THE RUINS OF POMPEII
95
as architectural paintings. Perhaps also a few of the larger pictures in the
middle of walls are in fresco; but, as a rule, these are done in one of the two
methods which we shall now proceed to describe.
Both these methods differ from fresco in the circumstance that the colour-
ing may be scraped off or removed without damaging the ground; while they
differ from each other as follows:—
In the first of them the colours are very thickly laid on, but run off thin
towards the edges, holding fast to the ground, and fastest where they are
thinnest. Although they can be scraped off they cannot be removed with a
sharp blade. In this way are executed ornaments, fantastic pieces of archi-
tecture, plants, flowers, animals, most of the small landscapes, and the flying
figures on the walls. These objects are painted on walls which have been
already coloured a fresco, the ground of which, when they are removed, ap-
pears uninjured. Yet, when such designs are subjected to chemical analysis,
they do not show a trace of lime or any other organic binding medium, so
that we are quite in the dark as to the nature of them.
The most singular method is the second kind of tempera, the characteris-
tics of which are that the body of colour is thinner but more evenly laid
on throughout. It cannot be easily scratched off, but may be removed
with a knife in larger or smaller patches of the thickness of a card, when the
ground below, whether it has been painted or not, remains uninjured. It is
in this way that most of the large pictures are executed, as well as many of
the flying figures; but in no case do we find the mere ornaments and smaller
objects thus painted. From some chemical tests, not, however, very exten-
sively applied, Overbeck could discover no traces of resin or white of eggs;
he thinks, however, that lime was present in such pictures, but in very small
quantities; a circumstance which may perhaps be accounted for by the lapse
of eighteen centuries.
The style of painting in the Pompeian pictures is bold and free, and con-
sequently sometimes hasty and careless. The outline seems to have been
drawn with chalk or charcoal, and sometimes to have been scratched with a
sharp point. In some cases, especially in landscapes, it may be doubted
whether there was any outline at all, so that, when closely examined, the
boundaries cannot be distinguished. The upper parts of pictures, not being
so well seen, are more carelessly treated than the lower parts. It may readily
be supposed that different hands were employed upon the same wall; the
large pictures being undertaken by a superior artist, while a clever journey-
95
as architectural paintings. Perhaps also a few of the larger pictures in the
middle of walls are in fresco; but, as a rule, these are done in one of the two
methods which we shall now proceed to describe.
Both these methods differ from fresco in the circumstance that the colour-
ing may be scraped off or removed without damaging the ground; while they
differ from each other as follows:—
In the first of them the colours are very thickly laid on, but run off thin
towards the edges, holding fast to the ground, and fastest where they are
thinnest. Although they can be scraped off they cannot be removed with a
sharp blade. In this way are executed ornaments, fantastic pieces of archi-
tecture, plants, flowers, animals, most of the small landscapes, and the flying
figures on the walls. These objects are painted on walls which have been
already coloured a fresco, the ground of which, when they are removed, ap-
pears uninjured. Yet, when such designs are subjected to chemical analysis,
they do not show a trace of lime or any other organic binding medium, so
that we are quite in the dark as to the nature of them.
The most singular method is the second kind of tempera, the characteris-
tics of which are that the body of colour is thinner but more evenly laid
on throughout. It cannot be easily scratched off, but may be removed
with a knife in larger or smaller patches of the thickness of a card, when the
ground below, whether it has been painted or not, remains uninjured. It is
in this way that most of the large pictures are executed, as well as many of
the flying figures; but in no case do we find the mere ornaments and smaller
objects thus painted. From some chemical tests, not, however, very exten-
sively applied, Overbeck could discover no traces of resin or white of eggs;
he thinks, however, that lime was present in such pictures, but in very small
quantities; a circumstance which may perhaps be accounted for by the lapse
of eighteen centuries.
The style of painting in the Pompeian pictures is bold and free, and con-
sequently sometimes hasty and careless. The outline seems to have been
drawn with chalk or charcoal, and sometimes to have been scratched with a
sharp point. In some cases, especially in landscapes, it may be doubted
whether there was any outline at all, so that, when closely examined, the
boundaries cannot be distinguished. The upper parts of pictures, not being
so well seen, are more carelessly treated than the lower parts. It may readily
be supposed that different hands were employed upon the same wall; the
large pictures being undertaken by a superior artist, while a clever journey-