DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.870#0020
10
should either feel or imitate the accomplishments of polished life, without previous and long
intercourse with those whose manners he was to attain. Yet precisely in this situation do the
majority of mankind stand in regard to a just taste and. conception of works of art. In this
country, although it can boast of no national or public collection of paintings by ancient masters
there is perhaps a greater number of the finest specimens of their works in the possession of various
noblemen and gentlemen, than in any other part of Europe whatever. It is by referring to those
valuable productions of the pencil that the patrons of modern art are accustomed to regulate their
taste and judgment, and if they were left uninfluenced by officious, ignorant, and interested advisers,
there would be fewer occasions to lament those fatal prejudices and prepossessions which sometimes
cloud the brightest understandings, and prevent the progress of truth and knowledge. That many
of the ancient productions, especially those of the divine Raffaelle, are proper models of truth and
excellence, must be acknowledged by every one who possesses a just feeling for.the chaste and the
sublime. But there are also other productions, such as those of Rembrandt and the rest of the
Dutch and Flemish schools, which, so far from contributing to the refinement and improvement
of taste, tend but to corrupt and debase it. The works of this school have no other recommendation
than what arises from the admirable manner in which they are coloured; the conception and design
being generally erroneous and vulgar in the extreme. Colouring, however, is but the decorative
part of a picture, and requires no other feeling than what arises from a just comprehension of the
effect of light and shade, and the harmony of colours.
The eye of the spectator is captivated by a judicious arrangement and brilliancy of tone, and js
thereby beguiled from scrutiuising the vulgarity of the composition, and as it is well known that
should either feel or imitate the accomplishments of polished life, without previous and long
intercourse with those whose manners he was to attain. Yet precisely in this situation do the
majority of mankind stand in regard to a just taste and. conception of works of art. In this
country, although it can boast of no national or public collection of paintings by ancient masters
there is perhaps a greater number of the finest specimens of their works in the possession of various
noblemen and gentlemen, than in any other part of Europe whatever. It is by referring to those
valuable productions of the pencil that the patrons of modern art are accustomed to regulate their
taste and judgment, and if they were left uninfluenced by officious, ignorant, and interested advisers,
there would be fewer occasions to lament those fatal prejudices and prepossessions which sometimes
cloud the brightest understandings, and prevent the progress of truth and knowledge. That many
of the ancient productions, especially those of the divine Raffaelle, are proper models of truth and
excellence, must be acknowledged by every one who possesses a just feeling for.the chaste and the
sublime. But there are also other productions, such as those of Rembrandt and the rest of the
Dutch and Flemish schools, which, so far from contributing to the refinement and improvement
of taste, tend but to corrupt and debase it. The works of this school have no other recommendation
than what arises from the admirable manner in which they are coloured; the conception and design
being generally erroneous and vulgar in the extreme. Colouring, however, is but the decorative
part of a picture, and requires no other feeling than what arises from a just comprehension of the
effect of light and shade, and the harmony of colours.
The eye of the spectator is captivated by a judicious arrangement and brilliancy of tone, and js
thereby beguiled from scrutiuising the vulgarity of the composition, and as it is well known that