International studio (60.1916/1917)

Tempera

knows what he wants to do quite definitely before
he begins. A defined outline of the composition
is therefore necessary in order to get gcod re-
sults. Our present lack of mental discipline
renders this excessively distasteful to the artistic
temperament: the medium is therefore one of
the finest correctives of this unpleasant disease.
It is a mistake to suppose that precision in actual
work in any way prevents emotional expression.
It is becoming clear to painters by degrees that
the emotional or vital quality of a picture lies in
the use made of line, notan and hue as tools
with which to deal with the particular material
at hand. There are many ways of using them.
The actual nervous touch of the hog brush on
canvas is one way, available with oil colour, but
there are others, and the precise and careful out-
line and the juxtaposition of small spaces of
glowing hue is another, and especially applicable
to tempera.
The modernization of tempera will not be ac-
complished by trying to combine the free and
complex qualities of oil with its own naive and
precise richness of effect. The result would not
be happy even were it possible of achievement.
It would be analogous to the harmonization of
a Gregorian chant by Massenet or Ravel. It
is just this simplicity of effect that architects
admire so much in the medium, for it is capable
of taking its place with decorum in a scheme of
decoration where a modern oil picture would
demand the scheme to be made round itself.
There seems to be a modern superstition that
the artist can and should only express himself
along one well-defined line of work.
It is obvious that every medium, which reveals
another facet of art must enable the artist to
reveal another facet of his thought. Because a
daisy is seen to be charming, must one forever
be doomed to fail in appreciating the peony’s
very different beauty? It seems then that the
modern painter, even if he is not striving to emu-
late the simple and naive charm of the early
painters, may nevertheless find in tempera a
medium that will open up to him an entirely
new range of delightful subjects.
Moreover, it is quite possible to read Cennini’s
treatise without accepting the theological super-
stitions and other ignorances current amongst
painters in his time. Nor is the Italian Renais-
sance the only period of the medium.
It is unfortunate that the Orient should have

devoted itself almost exclusively to starch, but
the mode of composition used and especially the
scale of colour of the average Persian or Mughal
illumination, and indeed of many Northern
Chinese paintings, is quite as good a model for
tempera work as is the average Italian madonna;
better indeed, for tempera is especially concerned
with colour, and that of the Italians will not
compare with that of the East. The Egyptians,
too, almost certainly used tempera on their tombs
and furniture, and valuable lessons may be
learned from these master-decorators.
The Question of Size and Subject.—We soon
begin to find that the precision of handling
necessary to the medium, and practically insist-
ing on some sort of stippling of the pigment,
dictates the main suitabilities as regard subject
and treatment.
Every medium has its own place in the artist’s
workshop and the qualities of tempera define its
scope more definitely than do those of some other
media. The most successful tempera pictures will
be found to be of moderate size; such a picture,
for example, as Carpaccio’s Venetian Ladies on
a Balcony may be said to approach the limit in
one direction, whilst Mr. Southall has proved
that a miniature in a locket may be a thing of
joy if tempera be intelligently used for it. It is
quite true that the immense “frescoes” on Italian
walls are very often wholly or in part in tempera,
and the medium may be used on a wall for much
larger work than in a picture with good results,
but in this case it more nearly approaches the
effect of fresco, and necessarily foregoes the rich-
ness of colour that is one of its principal charms.
It is also true that many Italian walls owe their
popularity largely to advertisement and fashion.
At any rate it seems that very large pictures
or wall paintings are more suitably handled in
other ways. Firstly because tempera is not
adapted to the covering of large spaces. Its best
results are obtained with sable or similar brushes,
and by means of some kind of large or small stip-
ple. This is rendered necessary by the fact of its
rapid setting after being applied to the panel or
wall, and the stippling in the case of overpainting
seems to have some sort of effect similar to the
polishing of wax, adding much to the quality of
surface. It therefore relies for its charm on pre-
cision and directness of handling, on delicacy of
edge, detail and subtlety of silhouette, and espe-
cially on the actual quality of its colour. It is

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