,transcribed from the #aija ,cassell and
 ,company edition by ,david ,price1     
email ccx#jgd;coventry4ac4uk4  ,proofing
 by ,david1 ,dawn ,smith1 ,uzma1 ,jane  
,foster1 ,juliana ,rew1 ,marie ,rhoden  
and ,jo ,osment4            ,,seven     
,,discourses ,,on ,,art  by ,joshua     
,reyonds      ,,introduction      ,it is
 a happy memory that associates the     
foundation of our ,royal ,academy  with 
the delivery of these inaugural         
discourses by ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1   
on the opening of the schools1 and at   
the first annual meetings for the       
distribution of its prizes4  ,they laid 
down principles of art from the  point  
of view of a man of genius who had made 
his power felt1 and with  the clear good
 sense which is the foundation of all   
work that looks  upward and may hope to 
live4  ,the truths here expressed       
concerning ,art  may1 with slight       
adjustment of the way of thought1 be    
applied to  ,literature or to any       
exercise of the best powers of mind for 

shaping the  delights that raise us to  
the larger sense of life4  ,in his      
separation of  the utterance of whole   
truths from insistance upon accidents of
 detail1  ,reynolds was right1 because  
he guarded the expression of his view   
with  careful definitions of its limits4
  ,in the same way ,boileau was right1  
as  a critic of ,literature1 in         
demanding everywhere good sense1 in     
condemning  the paste brilliants of a   
style then in decay1 and fixing         
attention upon  the masterly simplicity 
of ,roman poets in the time of          
,augustus4  ,critics  by rule of thumb  
reduced the principles clearly defined  
by ,boileau to a  dull convention1      
against which there came in course of   
time a strong  reaction4  ,in like      
manner the teaching of ,reynolds was    
applied by dull  men to much vague and  
conventional generalisation in the name 
of dignity4  ,nevertheless1 ,reynolds   
taught essential truths of ,art4  ,the  
principles  laid down by him will never 

fail to give strength to the right      
artist1 or  true guidance towards the   
appreciation of good art1 though here   
and there  we may not wholly assent to  
some passing application of them1 where 
the  difference may be great between a  
fashion of thought in his time and in   
ours4  ,a righteous enforcement of exact
 truth in our day has led many  into a  
readiness to appreciate more really the 
minute imitation of a  satin dress1 or a
 red herring1 than the noblest figure in
 the best of  ,raffaelle's cartoons4    
,much good should come of the diffusion 
of this  wise little book4    ,joshua   
,reynolds was born on the #aeth of      
,july1 #agbc1 the son of a  clergyman   
and schoolmaster1 at ,plympton in       
,devonshire4  ,his bent for ,art  was   
clear and strong from his childhood4    
,in #agda at the age of nineteen1  he   
began study1 and studied for two yours  
in ,london under ,thomas ,hudson1  a    
successful portrait painter4  ,then he  
went back to ,devonshire and  painted   

portraits1 aided for some time in his   
education by attention to  the work of  
,william ,gandy of ,exeter4  ,when      
twenty-six years old1 in ,may1  #agdi1  
,reynolds was taken away by ,captain    
,keppel to the ,mediterranean1 and      
brought into contact with the works of  
the great painters of ,italy4  ,he      
stayed two years in ,rome1 and in       
accordance with the principles          
afterwards laid down in these lectures1 
he refused1 when in ,rome1  commissions 
for copying1 and gave his mind to minute
 observation of the  art of the great   
masters by whose works he was           
surrounded4  ,he spent two  months in   
,florence1 six weeks in ,venice1 a few  
days in ,bologna and ,parma4  ,if1 he   
said1 ,i had never seen any of the fine 
works of ,correggio1 ,i  should never1  
perhaps1 have remarked in ,nature the   
expression which ,i  find in one of his 
pieces2 or if ,i had remarked it1 ,i    
might have thought  it too difficult1 or
 perhaps impossible to execute4    ,in  

#agec ,reynolds came back to ,england1  
and stayed three months in  ,devonshire 
before setting up a studio in ,london1  
in ,st4 ,martin's ,lane1  which was then
 an artists' quarter4  ,his success was 
rapid4  ,in #agee he  had one hundred   
and twenty-five sitters4  ,samuel       
,johnson found in him his  most         
congenial friend4  ,he moved to ,newport
 ,street1 and he built himself  a       
studio--where there is now an auction   
room--at #dg1 ,lincoln's ,inn  ,fields4 
,there he remained for life4    ,in     
#agfj the artists opened1 in a room lent
 by the ,society of ,arts1 a free       
,exhibition for the sale of their works4
  ,this was continued the next year  at 
,spring ,gardens1 with a charge of a    
shilling for admission4  ,in #agfe  they
 obtained a charter of incorporation1   
and in #agfh the ,king gave his  support
 to the foundation of a ,royal ,academy 
of ,arts by seceders from the  preceding
 ,incorporated ,society of ,artists1    
into which personal feelings  had       

brought much division4  ,it was to      
consist1 like the ,french ,academy1  of 
forty members1 and was to maintain      
,schools open to all students of  good  
character who could give evidence that  
they had fully learnt the  rudiments of 
,art4  ,the foundation by the ,king     
dates from the #ajth of  ,december1     
#agfh4  ,the ,schools were opened on the
 #bnd of ,january next  following1 and  
on that occasion ,joshua ,reynolds1 who 
had been elected  ,president--his age   
was then between forty-five and         
forty-six--gave the  ,inaugural ,address
 which formed the first of these ,seven 
,discourses4  ,the  other six were given
 by him1 as ,president1 at the next six 
annual  meetings3 and they were all     
shaped to form1 when collected into a   
volume1  a coherent body of good counsel
 upon the foundations of the painter's  
art4    ,h4 ,m4          ,,to ,,the     
,,king      ,the regular progress of    
cultivated life is from necessaries to  
accommodations1 from accommodations to  

ornaments4  ,by your illustrious        
predecessors were established marts for 
manufactures1 and colleges for  science2
 but for the arts of elegance1 those    
arts by which manufactures  are         
embellished and science is refined1 to  
found an academy was reserved  for your 
,majesty4    ,had such patronage been   
without effect1 there had been reason to
 believe  that nature had1 by some      
insurmountable impediment1 obstructed   
our  proficiency2 but the annual        
improvement of the exhibitions which    
your  ,majesty has been pleased to      
encourage shows that only encouragement 
had  been wanting4    ,to give advice to
 those who are contending for royal     
liberality has been  for some years the 
duty of my station in the ,academy2 and 
these  ,discourses hope for your        
,majesty's acceptance as well-intended  
endeavours  to incite that emulation    
which your notice has kindled1 and      
direct those  studies which your bounty 
has rewarded4    ,may it please your    

,majesty1  ,your ,majesty's  ,most      
dutiful servant1  ,and most faithful    
subject1  ,,joshua ,,reynolds4          
,,to ,,the ,,members ,,of ,,the ,,royal 
,,academy4      ,gentlemen1--,that you  
have ordered the publication of this    
,discourse is  not only very flattering 
to me1 as it implies your approbation of
 the  method of study which ,i have     
recommended2 but likewise1 as this      
method  receives from that act such an  
additional weight and authority as      
demands  from the students that         
deference and respect1 which can be due 
only to  the united sense of so         
considerable a body of artists4    ,i   
am1  ,with the greatest esteem and      
respect1  ,,gentlemen1  ,your most      
humble  ,and obedient servant1  ,,joshua
 ,,reynolds          ,,seven            
,,discourses ,,on ,,art      ,a         
,,discourse  ,delivered at the ,opening 
of the ,royal ,academy1 ,january #bnd1  
#agfi1 by the  ,president4              
,gentlemen1--,an academy in which the   

polite arts may be regularly  cultivated
 is at last opened among us by royal    
munificence4  ,this must  appear an     
event in the highest degree interesting1
 not only to the  artists1 but to the   
whole nation4    ,it is indeed difficult
 to give any other reason why an ,empire
 like that  of ,britain should so long  
have wanted an ornament so suitable to  
its  greatness than that slow           
progression of things which naturally   
makes  elegance and refinement the last 
effect of opulence and power4    ,an    
institution like this has often been    
recommended upon considerations  merely 
mercantile4  ,but an academy founded    
upon such principles can never  effect  
even its own narrow purposes4  ,if it   
has an origin no higher1 no  taste can  
ever be formed in it which can be useful
 even in manufactures2  but if the      
higher arts of design flourish1 these   
inferior ends will be  answered of      
course4    ,we are happy in having a    
prince who has conceived the design of  

such an  institution1 according to its  
true dignity1 and promotes the arts1 as 
the  head of a great1 a learned1 a      
polite1 and a commercial nation2 and ,i 
can  now congratulate you1 gentlemen1 on
 the accomplishment of your long and    
ardent wishes4    ,the numberless and   
ineffectual consultations that ,i have  
had with many in  this assembly1 to form
 plans and concert schemes for an       
academy1 afford a  sufficient proof of  
the impossibility of succeeding but by  
the influence  of ,majesty4  ,but there 
have1 perhaps1 been times when even the 
influence  of ,majesty would have been  
ineffectual1 and it is pleasing to      
reflect  that we are thus embodied1 when
 every circumstance seems to concur from
  which honour and prosperity can       
probably arise4    ,there are at this   
time a greater number of excellent      
artists than were  ever known before at 
one period in this nation2 there is a   
general desire  among our nobility to be
 distinguished as lovers and judges of  

the arts2  there is a greater           
superfluity of wealth among the people  
to reward the  professors2 and1 above   
all1 we are patronised by a monarch1    
who1 knowing  the value of science and  
of elegance1 thinks every art worthy of 
his  notice that tends to soften and    
humanise the mind4    ,after so much has
 been done by his ,majesty1 it will be  
wholly our fault  if our progress is not
 in some degree correspondent to the    
wisdom and1  generosity of the          
institution2 let us show our gratitude  
in our  diligence1 that1 though our     
merit may not answer his expectations1  
yet1  at least1 our industry may deserve
 his protection4    ,but whatever may be
 our proportion of success1 of this we  
may be sure1  that the present          
institution will at least contribute to 
advance our  knowledge of the arts1 and 
bring us nearer to that ideal excellence
 which  it is the lot of genius always  
to contemplate and never to attain4     
,the principal advantage of an academy  

is1 that1 besides furnishing able  men  
to direct the student1 it will be a     
repository for the great examples  of   
the art4  ,these are the materials on   
which genius is to work1 and  without   
which the strongest intellect may be    
fruitlessly or deviously  employed4  ,by
 studying these authentic models1 that  
idea of excellence  which is the result 
of the accumulated experience of past   
ages may be at  once acquired1 and the  
tardy and obstructed progress of our    
predecessors  may teach us a shorter and
 easier way4  ,the student receives at  
one  glance the principles which many   
artists have spent their whole lives in 
ascertaining2 and1 satisfied with their 
effect1 is spared the painful           
investigation by which they come to be  
known and fixed4  ,how many men of      
great natural abilities have been lost  
to this nation for want of these        
advantages8  ,they never had an         
opportunity of seeing those masterly    
efforts of genius which at once kindle  

the whole soul1 and force it into       
sudden and irresistible approbation4    
,raffaelle1 it is true1 had not the     
advantage of studying in an academy2    
but all ,rome1 and the works of ,michael
 ,angelo in particular1 were to him  an 
academy4  ,on the site of the ,capel la 
,sistina he immediately from a  dry1    
,gothic1 and even insipid manner1 which 
attends to the minute  accidental       
discriminations of particular and       
individual objects1 assumed  that grand 
style of painting1 which improves       
partial representation by  the general  
and invariable ideas of nature4         
,every seminary of learning may be said 
to be surrounded with an  atmosphere of 
floating knowledge1 where every mind may
 imbibe somewhat  congenial to its own  
original conceptions4  ,knowledge1 thus 
obtained1 has  always something more    
popular and useful than that which is   
forced upon  the mind by private        
precepts or solitary meditation4        
,besides1 it is  generally found that a 

youth more easily receives instruction  
from the  companions of his studies1    
whose minds are nearly on a level with  
his  own1 than from those who are much  
his superiors2 and it is from his       
equals only that he catches the fire of 
emulation4    ,one advantage1 ,i will   
venture to affirm1 we shall have in our 
academy1  which no other nation can     
boast4  ,we shall have nothing to       
unlearn4  ,to  this praise the present  
race of artists have a just claim4  ,as 
far as  they have yet proceeded they are
 right4  ,with us the exertions of      
genius  will henceforward be directed to
 their proper objects4  ,it will not be 
as  it has been in other schools1 where 
he that travelled fastest only  wandered
 farthest from the right way4           
,impressed as ,i am1 therefore1 with    
such a favourable opinion of my         
associates in this undertaking1 it would
 ill become me to dictate to any  of    
them4  ,but as these institutions have  
so often failed in other  nations1 and  

as it is natural to think with regret   
how much might have  been done1 and how 
little has been done1 ,i must take leave
 to offer a few  hints1 by which those  
errors may be rectified1 and those      
defects  supplied4  ,these the          
professors and visitors may reject or   
adopt as they  shall think proper4    ,i
 would chiefly recommend that an        
implicit obedience to the rules of art1 
as established by the great masters1    
should be exacted from the young        
students4  ,that those models1 which    
have passed through the approbation  of 
ages1 should be considered by them as   
perfect and infallible guides as        
subjects for their imitation1 not their 
criticism4    ,i am confident that this 
is the only efficacious method of making
 a  progress in the arts2 and that he   
who sets out with doubting will find    
life finished before he becomes master  
of the rudiments4  ,for it may be  laid 
down as a maxim1 that he who begins by  
presuming on his own sense  has ended   

his studies as soon as he has commenced 
them4  ,every  opportunity1 therefore1  
should be taken to discountenance that  
false and  vulgar opinion that rules are
 the fetters of genius4  ,they are      
fetters  only to men of no genius2 as   
that armour1 which upon the strong      
becomes  an ornament and a defence1 upon
 the weak and misshapen turns into a    
load1  and cripples the body which it   
was made to protect4    ,how much       
liberty may be taken to break through   
those rules1 and1 as the  poet expresses
 it1       ,to snatch a grace beyond the
 reach of art1    may be an after       
consideration1 when the pupils become   
masters themselves4  ,it is then1 when  
their genius has received its utmost    
improvement1 that  rules may possibly be
 dispensed with4  ,but let us not       
destroy the  scaffold until we have     
raised the building4    ,the directors  
ought more particularly to watch over   
the genius of those  students who1 being
 more advanced1 are arrived at that     

critical period of  study1 on the nice  
management of which their future turn of
 taste  depends4  ,at that age it is    
natural for them to be more captivated  
with  what is brilliant than with what  
is solid1 and to prefer splendid        
negligence to painful and humiliating   
exactness4    ,a facility in composing1 
a lively1 and what is called a masterly 
handling  the chalk or pencil1 are1 it  
must be confessed1 captivating qualities
 to  young minds1 and become of course  
the objects of their ambition4  ,they   
endeavour to imitate those dazzling     
excellences1 which they will find no    
great labour in attaining4  ,after much 
time spent in these frivolous  pursuits1
 the difficulty will be to retreat2 but 
it will be then too  late2 and there is 
scarce an instance of return to         
scrupulous labour  after the mind has   
been debauched and deceived by this     
fallacious  mastery4    ,by this useless
 industry they are excluded from all    
power of advancing in  real excellence4 

,whilst boys1 they are arrived at their 
utmost  perfection2 they have taken the 
shadow for the substance2 and make that 
mechanical facility the chief excellence
 of the art1 which is only an  ornament1
 and of the merit of which few but      
painters themselves are  judges4        
,this seems to me to be one of the most 
dangerous sources of corruption2  and ,i
 speak of it from experience1 not as an 
error which may possibly  happen1 but   
which has actually infected all foreign 
academies4  ,the  directors were        
probably pleased with this premature    
dexterity in their  pupils1 and praised 
their despatch at the expense of their  
correctness4    ,but young men have not 
only this frivolous ambition of being   
thought  masterly inciting them on one  
hand1 but also their natural sloth      
tempting  them on the other4  ,they are 
terrified at the prospect before them1  
of  the toil required to attain         
exactness4  ,the impetuosity of youth is
  distrusted at the slow approaches of a

 regular siege1 and desires1 from  mere 
impatience of labour1 to take the       
citadel by storm4  ,they wish to  find  
some shorter path to excellence1 and    
hope to obtain the reward of  eminence  
by other means than those which the     
indispensable rules of art  have        
prescribed4  ,they must1 therefore1 be  
told again and again that  labour is the
 only price of solid fame1 and that     
whatever their force of  genius may be1 
there is no easy method of becoming a   
good painter4    ,when we read the lives
 of the most eminent painters1 every    
page informs  us that no part of their  
time was spent in dissipation4  ,even an
 increase  of fame served only to       
augment their industry4  ,to be         
convinced with what  persevering        
assiduity they pursued their studies1 we
 need only reflect on  their method of  
proceeding in their most celebrated     
works4  ,when they  conceived a subject1
 they first made a variety of sketches2 
then a  finished drawing of the whole2  

after that a more correct drawing of    
every  separate part1 heads1 hands1     
feet1 and pieces of drapery2 they then  
painted the picture1 and after all      
re-touched it from the life4  ,the      
pictures1 thus wrought with such pain1  
now appear like the effect of           
enchantment1 and as if some mighty      
genius had struck them off at a blow4   
,but1 whilst diligence is thus          
recommended to the students1 the        
visitors  will take care that their     
diligence be effectual2 that it be well 
directed and employed on the proper     
object4  ,a student is not always       
advancing because he is employed2 he    
must apply his strength to that part  of
 the art where the real difficulties    
lie2 to that part which  distinguishes  
it as a liberal art1 and not by mistaken
 industry lose his  time in that which  
is merely ornamental4  ,the students1   
instead of vying  with each other which 
shall have the readiest band1 should be 
taught to  contend who shall have the   

purest and most correct outline1 instead
 of  striving which shall produce the   
brightest tint1 or1 curiously trifling  
endeavour to give the gloss of stuffs so
 as to appear real1 let their  ambition 
be directed to contend which shall      
dispose his drapery in the  most        
graceful folds1 which shall give the    
most grace and dignity to the  human    
figure4    ,i must beg leave to submit  
one thing more to the consideration of  
the  visitors1 which appears to me a    
matter of very great consequence1 and   
the  omission of which ,i think a       
principal defect in the method of       
education  pursued in all the academies 
,i have ever visited4  ,the error ,i    
mean is1  that the students never draw  
exactly from the living models which    
they  have before them4  ,it is not     
indeed their intention1 nor are they    
directed to do it4  ,their drawings     
resemble the model only in the          
attitude4  ,they change the form        
according to their vague and uncertain  

ideas of beauty1 and make a drawing     
rather of what they think the figure    
ought to be than of what it appears4  ,i
 have thought this the obstacle  that   
has stopped the progress of many young  
men of real genius2 and ,i  very much   
doubt whether a habit of drawing        
correctly what we see will not  give a  
proportionable power of drawing         
correctly what we imagine4  ,he who     
endeavours to copy nicely the figure    
before him not only acquires a habit  of
 exactness and precision1 but is        
continually advancing in his knowledge  
of the human figure2 and though he seems
 to superficial observers to make  a    
slower progress1 he will be found at    
last capable of adding 7without  running
 into capricious wildness7 that grace   
and beauty which is  necessary to be    
given to his more finished works1 and   
which cannot be got  by the moderns1 as 
it was not acquired by the ancients1 but
 by an  attentive and well-compared     
study of the human form4    ,what ,i    

think ought to enforce this method is1  
that it has been the  practice 7as may  
be seen by their drawings7 of the great 
masters in the  art4  ,i will mention a 
drawing of ,raffaelle1 ,the ,dispute of 
the  ,sacrament1 the print of which1 by 
,count ,cailus1 is in every hand4  ,it  
appears that he made his sketch from one
 model2 and the habit he had of  drawing
 exactly from the form before him       
appears by his making all the  figures  
with the same cap1 such as his model    
then happened to wear2 so  servile a    
copyist was this great man1 even at a   
time when he was allowed  to be at his  
highest pitch of excellence4    ,i have 
seen also academy figures by ,annibale  
,caracci1 though he was often           
sufficiently licentious in his finished 
works1 drawn with all the  peculiarities
 of an individual model4    ,this       
scrupulous exactness is so contrary to  
the practice of the  academies1 that it 
is not without great deference that ,i  
beg leave to  recommend it to the       

consideration of the visitors1 and      
submit it to them1  whether the neglect 
of this method is not one of the reasons
 why students  so often disappoint      
expectation1 and being more than boys at
 sixteen1  become less than men at      
thirty4    ,in short1 the method ,i     
recommend can only be detrimental when  
there are  but few living forms to copy2
 for then students1 by always drawing   
from  one alone1 will by habit be taught
 to overlook defects1 and mistake       
deformity for beauty4  ,but of this     
there is no danger1 since the council   
has determined to supply the academy    
with a variety of subjects2 and  indeed 
those laws which they have drawn up1 and
 which the secretary will  presently    
read for your confirmation1 have in some
 measure precluded me  from saying more 
upon this occasion4  ,instead1          
therefore1 of offering my  advice1      
permit me to indulge my wishes1 and     
express my hope1 that this  institution 
may answer the expectations of its royal

 founder2 that the  present age may vie 
in arts with that of ,leo ,x4 and that  
the dignity of  the dying art 7to make  
use of an expression of ,pliny7 may be  
revived  under the reign of ,george     
,,iii4        ,a ,,discourse  ,delivered
 to the ,students of the ,royal         
,academy1 on the ,distribution of  the  
,prizes1 ,december #aa1 #agfi1 by the   
,president4      ,gentlemen1--,i        
congratulate you on the honour which you
 have just  received4  ,i have the      
highest opinion of your merits1 and     
could wish to  show my sense of them in 
something which possibly may be more    
useful to  you than barren praise4  ,i  
could wish to lead you into such a      
course of  study as may render your     
future progress answerable to your past 
improvement2 and1 whilst ,i applaud you 
for what has been done1 remind you  of  
how much yet remains to attain          
perfection4    ,i flatter myself1 that  
from the long experience ,i have had1   
and the  unceasing assiduity with which 

,i have pursued those studies1 in which1
  like you1 ,i have been engaged1 ,i    
shall be acquitted of vanity in offering
  some hints to your consideration4     
,they are indeed in a great degree      
founded upon my own mistakes in the same
 pursuit4  ,but the history of  errors  
properly managed often shortens the road
 to truth4  ,and although  no method of 
study that ,i can offer will of itself  
conduct to excellence1  yet it may      
preserve industry from being misapplied4
    ,in speaking to you of the theory of
 the art1 ,i shall only consider it as  
it has a relation to the method of your 
studies4    ,dividing the study of      
painting into three distinct periods1 ,i
 shall  address you as having passed    
through the first of them1 which is     
confined  to the rudiments1 including a 
facility of drawing any object that     
presents itself1 a tolerable readiness  
in the management of colours1 and  an   
acquaintance with the most simple and   
obvious rules of composition4    ,this  

first degree of proficiency is1 in      
painting1 what grammar is in            
literature1 a general preparation to    
whatever species of the art the  student
 may afterwards choose for his more     
particular application4  ,the  power of 
drawing1 modelling1 and using colours is
 very properly called  the language of  
the art2 and in this language1 the      
honours you have just  received prove   
you to have made no inconsiderable      
progress4    ,when the artist is once   
enabled to express himself with some    
degree of  correctness1 he must then    
endeavour to collect subjects for       
expression2  to amass a stock of ideas1 
to be combined and varied as occasion   
may  require4  ,he is now in the second 
period of study1 in which his business  
is to learn all that has hitherto been  
known and done4  ,having hitherto       
received instructions from a particular 
master1 he is now to consider the  art  
itself as his master4  ,he must extend  
his capacity to more sublime  and       

general instructions4  ,those           
perfections which lie scattered among   
various masters are now united in one   
general idea1 which is henceforth  to   
regulate his taste and enlarge his      
imagination4  ,with a variety of  models
 thus before him1 he will avoid that    
narrowness and poverty of  conception   
which attends a bigoted admiration of a 
single master1 and  will cease to follow
 any favourite where he ceases to excel4
  ,this period  is1 however1 still a    
time of subjection and discipline4      
,though the  student will not resign    
himself blindly to any single authority 
when he  may have the advantage of      
consulting many1 he must still be afraid
 of  trusting his own judgment1 and of  
deviating into any track where he       
cannot find the footsteps of some former
 master4    ,the third and last period  
emancipates the student from subjection 
to any  authority but what he shall     
himself judge to be supported by reason4
  ,confiding now in his own judgment1 he

 will consider and separate those       
different principles to which different 
modes of beauty owe their  original4    
,in the former period he sought only to 
know and combine  excellence1 wherever  
it was to be found1 into one idea of    
perfection2 in  this he learns1 what    
requires the most attentive survey and  
the subtle  disquisition1 to            
discriminate perfections that are       
incompatible with each  other4    ,he is
 from this time to regard himself as    
holding the same rank with  those       
masters whom he before obeyed as        
teachers1 and as exercising a sort  of  
sovereignty over those rules which have 
hitherto restrained him4  ,comparing now
 no longer the performances of art with 
each other1 but  examining the art      
itself by the standard of nature1 he    
corrects what is  erroneous1 supplies   
what is scanty1 and adds by his own     
observation what  the industry of his   
predecessors may have yet left wanting  
to perfection4  ,having well established

 his judgment1 and stored his memory1 he
 may now  without fear try the power of 
his imagination4  ,the mind that has    
been  thus disciplined may be indulged  
in the warmest enthusiasm1 and venture  
to play on the borders of the wildest   
extravagance4  ,the habitual  dignity1  
which long converse with the greatest   
minds has imparted to him1  will display
 itself in all his attempts1 and he will
 stand among his  instructors1 not as an
 imitator1 but a rival4    ,these are   
the different stages of the art4  ,but  
as ,i now address myself  particularly  
to those students who have been this day
 rewarded for their  happy passage      
through the first period1 ,i can with no
 propriety suppose  they want any help  
in the initiatory studies4  ,my present 
design is to  direct your view to       
distant excellence1 and to show you the 
readiest path  that leads to it4  ,of   
this ,i shall speak with such latitude  
as may leave  the province of the       
professor uninvaded1 and shall not      

anticipate those  precepts which it is  
his business to give and your duty to   
understand4    ,it is indisputably      
evident that a great part of every man's
 life must be  employed in collecting   
materials for the exercise of genius4   
,invention1  strictly speaking1 is      
little more than a new combination of   
those images  which have been previously
 gathered and deposited in the memory4  
,nothing  can come of nothing4  ,he who 
has laid up no materials can produce no 
combinations4    ,a student unacquainted
 with the attempts of former adventurers
 is always  apt to overrate his own     
abilities1 to mistake the most trifling 
excursions for discoveries of moment1   
and every coast new to him for a        
new-found country4  ,if by chance he    
passes beyond his usual limits1 he      
congratulates his own arrival at those  
regions which they who have  steered a  
better course have long left behind     
them4    ,the productions of such minds 
are seldom distinguished by an air of   

originality3 they are anticipated in    
their happiest efforts2 and if they  are
 found to differ in anything from their 
predecessors1 it is only in  irregular  
sallies and trifling conceits4  ,the    
more extensive therefore  your          
acquaintance is with the works of those 
who have excelled the more  extensive   
will be your powers of invention2 and   
what may appear still  more like a      
paradox1 the more original will be your 
conceptions4  ,but the  difficulty on   
this occasion is to determine who ought 
to be proposed as  models of excellence1
 and who ought to be considered as the  
properest  guides4    ,to a young man   
just arrived in ,italy1 many of the     
present painters of  that country are   
ready enough to obtrude their precepts1 
and to offer  their own performances as 
examples of that perfection which they  
affect  to recommend4  ,the modern1     
however1 who recommends himself as a    
standard1 may justly be suspected as    
ignorant of the true end1 and           

unacquainted with the proper object of  
the art which he professes4  ,to  follow
 such a guide will not only retard the  
student1 but mislead him4    ,on whom1  
then1 can he rely1 or who shall show him
 the path that leads to  excellence8    
,the answer is obvious3 ,those great    
masters who have  travelled the same    
road with success are the most likely to
 conduct  others4  ,the works of those  
who have stood the test of ages have a  
claim  to that respect and veneration to
 which no modern can pretend4  ,the     
duration and stability of their fame is 
sufficient to evince that it has  not   
been suspended upon the slender thread  
of fashion and caprice1 but  bound to   
the human heart by every tie of         
sympathetic approbation4    ,there is no
 danger of studying too much the works  
of those great men1 but  how they may be
 studied to advantage is an inquiry of  
great importance4    ,some who have     
never raised their minds to the         
consideration of the real  dignity of   

the art1 and who rate the works of an   
artist in proportion as  they excel1 or 
are defective in the mechanical parts1  
look on theory as  something that may   
enable them to talk but not to paint    
better1 and  confining themselves       
entirely to mechanical practice1 very   
assiduously  toil on in the drudgery of 
copying1 and think they make a rapid    
progress  while they faithfully exhibit 
the minutest part of a favourite        
picture4  ,this appears to me a very    
tedious1 and ,i think a very erroneous1 
method  of proceeding4  ,of every large 
composition1 even of those which are    
most  admired1 a great part may be truly
 said to be common-place4  ,this1 though
  it takes up much time in copying1     
conduces little to improvement4  ,i     
consider general copying as a delusive  
kind of industry2 the student  satisfies
 himself with the appearance of doing   
something2 he falls into  the dangerous 
habit of imitating without selecting1   
and of labouring  without any           

determinate object2 as it requires no   
effort of the mind1 he  sleeps over his 
work2 and those powers of invention and 
composition which  ought particularly to
 be called out and put in action lie    
torpid1 and  lose their energy for want 
of exercise4    ,it is an observation   
that all must have made1 how incapable  
those are of  producing anything of     
their own who have spent much of their  
time in  making finished copies4    ,to 
suppose that the complication of powers1
 and variety of ideas  necessary to that
 mind which aspires to the first honours
 ill the art of  painting1 can be       
obtained by the frigid contemplation of 
a few single  models1 is no less absurd 
than it would be in him who wishes to be
 a poet  to imagine that by translating 
a tragedy he can acquire to himself     
sufficient knowledge of the appearances 
of nature1 the operations of the        
passions1 and the incidents of life4    
,the great use in copying1 if it be at  
all useful1 should seem to be in        

learning to colour2 yet even colouring  
will never be perfectly attained  by    
servilely copying the mould before you4 
,an eye critically nice can  only be    
formed by observing well-coloured       
pictures with attention3 and by  close  
inspection1 and minute examination you  
will discover1 at last1 the  manner of  
handling1 the artifices of contrast1    
glazing1 and other  expedients1 by which
 good colourists have raised the value  
of their  tints1 and by which nature has
 been so happily imitated4    ,i must   
inform you1 however1 that old pictures  
deservedly celebrated for  their        
colouring are often so changed by dirt  
and varnish1 that we ought  not to      
wonder if they do not appear equal to   
their reputation in the eyes  of        
unexperienced painters1 or young        
students4  ,an artist whose judgment  is
 matured by long observation1 considers 
rather what the picture once  was1 than 
what it is at present4  ,he has acquired
 a power by habit of  seeing the        

brilliancy of tints through the cloud by
 which it is obscured4  ,an exact       
imitation1 therefore1 of those pictures1
 is likely to fill the  student's mind  
with false opinions1 and to send him    
back a colourist of  his own formation1 
with ideas equally remote from nature   
and from art1  from the genuine practice
 of the masters and the real appearances
 of  things4    ,following these rules1 
and using these precautions1 when you   
have clearly  and distinctly learned in 
what good colouring consists1 you cannot
 do  better than have recourse to nature
 herself1 who is always at hand1 and  in
 comparison of whose true splendour the 
best coloured pictures are but  faint   
and feeble4    ,however1 as the practice
 of copying is not entirely to be       
excluded1 since  the mechanical practice
 of painting is learned in some measure 
by it1 let  those choice parts only be  
selected which have recommended the work
 to  notice4  ,if its excellence        
consists in its general effect1 it would

 be  proper to make slight sketches of  
the machinery and general management of 
the picture4  ,those sketches should be 
kept always by you for the  regulation  
of your style4  ,instead of copying the 
touches of those great  masters1 copy   
only their conceptions4  ,instead of    
treading in their  footsteps1 endeavour 
only to keep the same road4  ,labour to 
invent on  their general principles and 
way of thinking4  ,possess yourself with
  their spirit4  ,consider with yourself
 how a ,michael ,angelo or a ,raffaelle 
would have treated this subject3 and    
work yourself into a belief that  your  
picture is to be seen and criticised by 
them when completed4  ,even  an attempt 
of this kind will rouse your powers4    
,but as mere enthusiasm will carry you  
but a little way1 let me recommend  a   
practice that may be equivalent1 and    
will perhaps more efficaciously         
contribute to your advancement1 than    
even the verbal corrections of those    
masters themselves1 could they be       

obtained4  ,what ,i would propose is1   
that you should enter into a kind of    
competition1 by painting a similar      
subject1 and making a companion to any  
picture that you consider as a  model4  
,after you have finished your work1     
place it near the model1 and  compare   
them carefully together4  ,you will then
 not only see1 but feel  your own       
deficiencies more sensibly than by      
precepts1 or any other means  of        
instruction4  ,the true principles of   
painting will mingle with your          
thoughts4  ,ideas thus fixed by sensible
 objects1 will be certain and           
definitive2 and sinking deep into the   
mind1 will not only be more just1  but  
more lasting than those presented to you
 by precepts only3 which  will1 always  
be fleeting1 variable1 and undetermined4
    ,this method of comparing your own  
efforts with those of some great        
master1 is indeed a severe and          
mortifying task1 to which none will     
submit1 but such as have great views1   

with fortitude sufficient to forego  the
 gratifications of present vanity for   
future honour4  ,when the student  has  
succeeded in some measure to his own    
satisfaction1 and has  felicitated      
himself on his success1 to go           
voluntarily to a tribunal where  he     
knows his vanity must be humbled1 and   
all self-approbation must  vanish1      
requires not only great resolution1 but 
great humility4  ,to him1  however1 who 
has the ,ambition to be a real master1  
the solid satisfaction  which proceeds  
from a consciousness of his advancement 
7of which seeing  his own faults is the 
first step7 will very abundantly        
compensate for the  mortification of    
present disappointment4  ,there is1     
besides1 this  alleviating circumstance4
  ,every discovery he makes1 every      
acquisition of  knowledge he attains1   
seems to proceed from his own sagacity2 
and thus he  acquires a confidence in   
himself sufficient to keep up the       
resolution of  perseverance4    ,we all 

must have experienced how lazily1 and   
consequently how  ineffectually1        
instruction is received when forced upon
 the mind by  others4  ,few have been   
taught to any purpose who have not been 
their own  teachers4  ,we prefer those  
instructions which we have given        
ourselves1  from our affection to the   
instructor2 and they are more effectual1
 from  being received into the mind at  
the very time when it is most open and  
eager to receive them4    ,with respect 
to the pictures that you are to choose  
for your models1 ,i  could wish that you
 would take the world's opinion rather  
than your own4  ,in other words1 ,i     
would have you choose those of          
established reputation  rather than     
follow your own fancy4  ,if you should  
not admire them at  first1 you will1 by 
endeavouring to imitate them1 find that 
the world has  not been mistaken4    ,it
 is not an easy task to point out those 
various excellences for your  imitation 
which he distributed amongst the various

 schools4  ,an endeavour  to do this may
 perhaps be the subject of some future  
discourse4  ,i will1  therefore1 at     
present only recommend a model for style
 in painting1 which  is a branch of the 
art more immediately necessary to the   
young student4  ,style in painting is   
the same as in writing1 a power over    
materials1  whether words or colours1 by
 which conceptions or sentiments are    
conveyed4  ,and in this ,lodovico       
,carrache 7,i mean in his best works7   
appears to me to approach the nearest to
 perfection4  ,his unaffected  breadth  
of light and shadow1 the simplicity of  
colouring1 which holding  its proper    
rank1 does not draw aside the least part
 of the attention from  the subject1 and
 the solemn effect of that twilight     
which seems diffused  over his pictures1
 appear to me to correspond with grave  
and dignified  subjects1 better than the
 more artificial brilliancy of sunshine 
which  enlightens the pictures of       
,titian4  ,though ,tintoret thought that

 ,titian's  colouring was the model of  
perfection1 and would correspond even   
with the  sublime of ,michael ,angelo2  
and that if ,angelo had coloured like   
,titian1  or ,titian designed like      
,angelo1 the world would once have had a
 perfect  painter4    ,it is our        
misfortune1 however1 that those works of
 ,carrache which ,i would  recommend to 
the student are not often found out of  
,bologna4  ,the ,st4  ,francis in the   
midst of his ,friars1 ,the              
,transfiguration1 ,the ,birth of  ,st4  
,john the ,baptist1 ,the ,calling of    
,st4 ,matthew1 the ,st4 ,jerome1  the   
fresco paintings in the ,zampieri       
,palace1 are all worthy the attention   
of the student4  ,and ,i think those who
 travel would do well to allot a  much  
greater portion of their time to that   
city than it has been hitherto  the     
custom to bestow4    ,in this art1 as in
 others1 there are many teachers who    
profess to show  the nearest way to     
excellence1 and many expedients have    

been invented by  which the toil of     
study might be saved4  ,but let no man  
be seduced to  idleness by specious     
promises4  ,excellence is never granted 
to man but as  the reward of labour4    
,it argues1 indeed1 no small strength of
 mind to  persevere in habits of        
industry1 without the pleasure of       
perceiving those  advances2 which1 like 
the hand of a clock1 whilst they make   
hourly  approaches to their point1 yet  
proceed so slowly as to escape          
observation4  ,a facility of drawing1   
like that of playing upon a musical     
instrument1 cannot be acquired but by an
 infinite number of acts4  ,i need  not1
 therefore1 enforce by many words the   
necessity of continual  application2 nor
 tell you that the port-crayon ought to 
be for ever in  your hands4  ,various   
methods will occur to you by which this 
power may be  acquired4  ,i would       
particularly recommend that after your  
return from the  academy 7where ,i      
suppose your attendance to be constant7 

you would  endeavour to draw the figure 
by memory4  ,i will even venture to add1
 that  by perseverance in this custom1  
you will become able to draw the human  
figure tolerably correct1 with as little
 effort of the mind as to trace  with a 
pen the letters of the alphabet4        
,that this facility is not unattainable1
 some members in this academy give  a   
sufficient proof4  ,and1 be assured1    
that if this power is not acquired      
whilst you are young1 there will be no  
time for it afterwards3 at least1  the  
attempt will be attended with as much   
difficulty as those experience  who     
learn to read or write after they have  
arrived to the age of  maturity4    ,but
 while ,i mention the port-crayon as the
 student's constant companion1  he must 
still remember that the pencil is the   
instrument by which he must  hope to    
obtain eminence4  ,what1 therefore1 ,i  
wish to impress upon you is1  that      
whenever an opportunity offers1 you     
paint your studies instead of  drawing  

them4  ,this will give you such a       
facility in using colours1 that  in time
 they will arrange themselves under the 
pencil1 even without the  attention of  
the hand that conducts it4  ,if one act 
excluded the other1  this advice could  
not with any propriety be given4  ,but  
if painting  comprises both drawing and 
colouring and if by a short struggle of 
resolute industry the same expedition is
 attainable in painting as in  drawing  
on paper1 ,i cannot see what objection  
can justly be made to the  practice2 or 
why that should be done by parts1 which 
may be done  altogether4    ,if we turn 
our eyes to the several schools of      
painting1 and consider  their respective
 excellences1 we shall find that those  
who excel most in  colouring pursued    
this method4  ,the ,venetian and        
,flemish schools1 which  owe much of    
their fame to colouring1 have enriched  
the cabinets of the  collectors of      
drawings with very few examples4  ,those
 of ,titian1 ,paul  ,veronese1          

,tintoret1 and the ,bassans1 are in     
general slight and  undetermined4       
,their sketches on paper are as rude as 
their pictures are  excellent in regard 
to harmony of colouring4  ,correggio and
 ,barocci have  left few1 if any1       
finished drawings behind them4  ,and in 
the ,flemish  school1 ,rubens and       
,vandyke made their designs for the most
 part either in  colours or in          
chiaroscuro4  ,it is as common to find  
studies of the  ,venetian and ,flemish  
painters on canvas1 as of the schools of
 ,rome and  ,florence on paper4  ,not   
but that many finished drawings are sold
 under  the names of those masters4     
,those1 however1 are undoubtedly the    
productions either of engravers or of   
their scholars who copied their  works4 
,these instructions ,i have ventured to 
offer from my own experience2 but  as   
they deviate widely from received       
opinions1 ,i offer them with            
diffidence2 and when better are         
suggested1 shall retract them without   

regret4    ,there is one precept1       
however1 in which ,i shall only be      
opposed by the  vain1 the ignorant1 and 
the idle4  ,i am not afraid that ,i     
shall repeat it  too often4  ,you must  
have no dependence on your own genius4  
,if you have  great talents1 industry   
will improve them3 if you have but      
moderate  abilities1 industry will      
supply their deficiency4  ,nothing is   
denied to  well-directed labour3 nothing
 is to be obtained without it4  ,not to 
enter  into metaphysical discussions on 
the nature or essence of genius1 ,i will
  venture to assert1 that assiduity     
unabated by difficulty1 and a           
disposition eagerly directed to the     
object of its pursuit1 will produce     
effects similar to those which some call
 the result of natural powers4          
,though a man cannot at all times1 and  
in all places1 paint or draw1 yet  the  
mind can prepare itself by laying in    
proper materials1 at all times1  and in 
all places4  ,both ,livy and ,plutarch1 

in describing ,philopoemen1  one of the 
ablest generals of antiquity1 have given
 us a striking picture  of a mind always
 intent on its profession1 and by       
assiduity obtaining  those excellences  
which some all their lives vainly expect
 from ,nature4  ,i  shall quote the     
passage in ,livy at length1 as it runs  
parallel with the  practice ,i would    
recommend to the painter1 sculptor1 or  
architect4    ,philopoemen was a man    
eminent for his sagacity and experience 
in  choosing ground1 and in leading     
armies2 to which he formed his mind by  
perpetual meditation1 in times of peace 
as well as war4  ,when1 in any          
occasional journey1 he came to a        
straight difficult passage1 if he was   
alone1 he considered with himself1 and  
if he was in company he asked his       
friends what it would be best to do if  
in this place they had found an  enemy1 
either in the front1 or in the rear1 on 
the one side1 or on the  other4  ',it   
might happen1' says he1 'that the enemy 

to be opposed might  come on drawn up in
 regular lines1 or in a tumultuous body1
 formed only  by the nature of the      
place4'  ,he then considered a little   
what ground he  should take2 what number
 of soldiers he should use1 and what    
arms he  should give them2 where he     
should lodge his carriages1 his baggage1
 and  the defenceless followers of his  
camp2 how many guards1 and of what kind1
  he should send to defend them2 and    
whether it would be better to press     
forward along the pass1 or recover by   
retreat his former station3 he  would   
consider likewise where his camp could  
most commodiously be formed2  how much  
ground he should enclose within his     
trenches2 where he should  have the     
convenience of water2 and where he might
 find plenty of wood and  forage2 and   
when he should break up his camp on the 
following day1  through what road he    
could most safely pass1 and in what form
 he should  dispose his troops4  ,with  
such thoughts and disquisitions he had  

from his  early years so exercised his  
mind1 that on these occasions nothing   
could  happen which he had not been     
already accustomed to consider4    ,i   
cannot help imagining that ,i see a     
promising young painter1 equally        
vigilant1 whether at home1 or abroad in 
the streets1 or in the fields4  ,every  
object that presents itself is to him a 
lesson4  ,he regards all  nature with a 
view to his profession2 and combines her
 beauties1 or  corrects her defects4    
,he examines the countenance of men     
under the  influence of passion2 and    
often catches the most pleasing hints   
from  subjects of turbulence or         
deformity4  ,even bad pictures          
themselves supply  him with useful      
documents2 and1 as ,leonardo da ,vinci  
has observed1 he  improves upon the     
fanciful images that are sometimes seen 
in the fire1 or  are accidentally       
sketched upon a discoloured wall4       
,the artist who has his mind thus filled
 with ideas1 and his hand made  expert  

by practice1 works with ease and        
readiness2 whilst he who would  have you
 believe that he is waiting for the     
inspirations of genius1 is in  reality  
at a loss how to beam1 and is at last   
delivered of his monsters  with         
difficulty and pain4    ,the            
well-grounded painter1 on the contrary1 
has only maturely to consider  his      
subject1 and all the mechanical parts of
 his art follow without his  exertion1  
,conscious of the difficulty of         
obtaining what he possesses he  makes no
 pretensions to secrets1 except those of
 closer application4  ,without          
conceiving the smallest jealousy against
 others1 he is contented  that all shall
 be as great as himself who are willing 
to undergo the same  fatigue3 and as his
 pre-eminence depends not upon a trick1 
he is free  from the painful suspicions 
of a juggler1 who lives in perpetual    
fear  lest his trick should be          
discovered4        ,a ,,discourse       
,delivered to the ,students of the      

,royal ,academy on the ,distribution of 
the  ,prizes1 ,december1 #ad1 #aggj1 by 
the ,president4      ,gentlemen1--,it is
 not easy to speak with propriety to so 
many students of  different ages and    
different degrees of advancement4  ,the 
mind requires  nourishment adapted to   
its growth2 and what may have promoted  
our earlier  efforts1 might1 retard us  
in our nearer approaches to perfection4 
,the first endeavours of a young        
painter1 as ,i have remarked in a former
  discourse1 must be employed in the    
attainment of mechanical dexterity1  and
 confined to the mere imitation of the  
object before him4  ,those who  have    
advanced beyond the rudiments1 may1     
perhaps1 find advantage in  reflecting  
on the advice which ,i have likewise    
given them1 when ,i  recommended the    
diligent study of the works of our great
 predecessors2  but ,i at the same time 
endeavoured to guard them against an    
implicit  submission to the authority of
 any one master1 however excellent2 or  

by a  strict imitation of his manner1 to
 preclude ourselves from the abundance  
and variety of nature4  ,i will now add 
that nature herself is not to be  too   
closely copied4  ,there are excellences 
in the art of painting1 beyond  what is 
commonly called the imitation of nature3
 and these excellences ,i  wish to point
 out4  ,the students who1 having passed 
through the  initiatory exercises1 are  
more advanced in the art1 and who1 sure 
of  their hand1 have leisure to exert   
their understanding1 must now be told   
that a mere copier of nature can never  
produce anything great2 can never  raise
 and enlarge the conceptions1 or warm   
the heart of the spectator4    ,the wish
 of the genuine painter must be more    
extensive3 instead of  endeavouring to  
amuse mankind with the minute neatness  
of his imitations1  he must endeavour to
 improve them by the grandeur of his    
ideas2 instead  of seeking praise1 by   
deceiving the superficial sense of the  
spectator1  he must strive for fame1 by 

captivating the imagination4    ,the    
principle now laid down1 that the       
perfection of this art does not  consist
 in mere imitation1 is far from being   
new or singular4  ,it is1  indeed1      
supported by the general opinion of the 
enlightened part of  mankind4  ,the     
poets1 orators1 and rhetoricians of     
antiquity1 are  continually enforcing   
this position1 that all the arts receive
 their  perfection from an ideal beauty1
 superior to what is to be found in     
individual nature4  ,they are ever      
referring to the practice of the        
painters and sculptors of their times1  
particularly ,phidias 7the  favourite   
artist of antiquity71 to illustrate     
their assertions4  ,as if  they could   
not sufficiently express their          
admiration of his genius by  what they  
knew1 they have recourse to poetical    
enthusiasm4  ,they call it  inspiration2
 a gift from heaven4  ,the artist is    
supposed to have ascended  the celestial
 regions1 to furnish his mind with this 

perfect idea of  beauty4  ,he1 says     
,proclus1 who takes for his model such  
forms as  nature produces1 and confines 
himself to an exact imitation of them1  
will  never attain to what is perfectly 
beautiful4  ,for the works of nature are
  full of disproportion1 and fall very  
short of the true standard of  beauty4  
,so that ,phidias1 when he formed his   
,jupiter1 did not copy any  object ever 
presents to his sight2 but contemplated 
only that image which  he had conceived 
in his mind from ,homer's description4  
,and thus ,cicero1  speaking of the same
 ,phidias3 ,neither did this artist1    
says he1 when  he carved the image of   
,jupiter or ,minerva1 set before him any
 one human  figure as a pattern1 which  
he was to copy2 but having a more       
perfect idea  of beauty fixed in his    
mind1 this he steadily contemplated1 and
 to the  imitation of this all his skill
 and labour were directed4    ,the      
moderns are not less convinced than the 
ancients of this superior  power        

existing in the art2 nor less conscious 
of its effects4  ,every  language has   
adopted terms expressive of this        
excellence4  ,the ,gusto  grande of the 
,italians2 the ,beau ideal of the       
,french and the great  style1 genius1   
and taste among the ,english1 are but   
different  appellations of the same     
thing4  ,it is this intellectual        
dignity1 they  say1 that ennobles the   
painter's art2 that lays the line       
between him and  the mere mechanic2 and 
produces those great effects in an      
instant1 which  eloquence and poetry1 by
 slow and repeated efforts1 are scarcely
 able to  attain4    ,such is the warmth
 with which both the ancients and       
moderns speak of this  divine principle 
of the art2 but1 as ,i have formerly    
observed1  enthusiastic admiration      
seldom promotes knowledge4  ,though a   
student by  such praise may have his    
attention roused1 and a desire excited1 
of  running in this great career1 yet it
 is possible that what has been said  to

 excite1 may only serve to deter him4   
,he examines his own mind1 and          
perceives there nothing of that divine  
inspiration with which he is told  so   
many others have been favoured4  ,he    
never travelled to heaven to  gather new
 ideas2 and he finds himself possessed  
of no other  qualifications than what   
mere common observation and a plain     
understanding can confer4  ,thus he     
becomes gloomy amidst the splendour of  
figurative declamation1 and thinks it   
hopeless to pursue an object which  he  
supposes out of the reach of human      
industry4    ,but on this1 as upon many 
other occasions1 we ought to distinguish
 how  much is to be given to enthusiasm1
 and how much to reason4  ,we ought to  
allow for1 and we ought to commend1 that
 strength of vivid expression  which is 
necessary to convey1 in its full force1 
the highest sense of the  most complete 
effect of art2 taking care at the same  
time not to lose in  terms of vague     
admiration that solidity and truth of   

principle upon which  alone we can      
reason1 and may be enabled to practise4 
,it is not easy to define in what this  
great style consists2 nor to  describe1 
by words1 the proper means of acquiring 
it1 if the mind of the  student should  
be at all capable of such an            
acquisition4  ,could we teach  taste or 
genius by rules1 they would be no longer
 taste and genius4  ,but  though there  
neither are1 nor can be1 any precise    
invariable rules for  the exercise or   
the acquisition of those great          
qualities1 yet we may as  truly say that
 they always operate in proportion to   
our attention in  observing the works of
 nature1 to our skill in selecting1 and 
to our care  in digesting1 methodising1 
and comparing our observations4  ,there 
are  many beauties in our art1 that     
seem1 at first1 to lie without the reach
  of precept1 and yet may easily be     
reduced to practical principles4        
,experience is all in all2 but it is not
 every one who profits by  experience2  

and most people err1 not so much from   
want of capacity to  find their object1 
as from not knowing what object to      
pursue4  ,this great  ideal perfection  
and beauty are not to be sought in the  
heavens1 but upon  the earth4  ,they are
 about us1 and upon every side of us4   
,but the power  of discovering what is  
deformed in nature1 or in other words1  
what is  particular and uncommon1 can be
 acquired only by experience2 and the   
whole beauty and grandeur of the art    
consists1 in my opinion1 in being  able 
to get above all singular forms1 local  
customs1 particularities1 and  details  
of every kind4    ,all the objects which
 are exhibited to our view by nature1   
upon close  examination will be found to
 have their blemishes and defects4  ,the
 most  beautiful forms have something   
about them like weakness1 minuteness1 or
  imperfection4  ,but it is not every   
eye that perceives these blemishes4  ,it
  must be an eye long used to the       
contemplation and comparison of these   

forms2 and which1 by a long habit of    
observing what any set of objects of    
the same kind have in common1 that alone
 can acquire the power of  discerning   
what each wants in particular4  ,this   
long laborious comparison  should be the
 first study of the painter who aims at 
the greatest style4  ,by this means1 he 
acquires a just idea of beautiful forms2
 he corrects  nature by herself1 her    
imperfect state by her more perfect4    
,his eye  being enabled to distinguish  
the accidental deficiencies1            
excrescences1  and deformities of things
 from their general figures1 he makes   
out an  abstract idea of their forms    
more perfect than any one original2 and 
what  may seem a paradox1 he learns to  
design naturally by drawing his figures 
unlike to any one object4  ,this idea of
 the perfect state of nature1  which the
 artist calls the ideal beauty1 is the  
great leading principle  by which works 
of genius are conducted4  ,by this      
,phidias acquired his  fame4  ,he       

wrought upon a sober principle what has 
so much excited the  enthusiasm of the  
world2 and by this method you1 who have 
courage to  tread the same path1 may    
acquire equal reputation4    ,this is   
the idea which has acquired1 and which  
seems to have a right to  the epithet of
 ,divine2 as it may be said to preside1 
like a supreme  judge1 over all the     
productions of nature2 appearing to be  
possessed of  the will and intention of 
the ,creator1 as far as they regard the 
external  form of living beings4        
,when a man once possesses this idea in 
its perfection1 there is no danger  but 
that he will he sufficiently warmed by  
it himself1 and be able to  warm and    
ravish every one else4    ,thus it is   
from a reiterated experience1 and a     
close comparison of the  objects in     
nature1 that an artist becomes possessed
 of the idea of that  central form1 if  
,i may so express it1 from which every  
deviation is  deformity4  ,but the      
investigation of this form ,i grant is  

painful1 and ,i  know but of one method 
of shortening the road2 this is1 by a   
careful  study of the works of the      
ancient sculptors2 who1 being           
indefatigable in  the school of nature1 
have left models of that perfect form   
behind them1  which an artist would     
prefer as supremely beautiful1 who had  
spent his  whole life in that single    
contemplation4  ,but if industry carried
 them  thus far1 may not you also hope  
for the same reward from the same       
labour8  ,we have the same school opened
 to us that was opened to them2 for     
nature  denies her instructions to none 
who desire to become her pupils4    ,to 
the principle ,i have laid down1 that   
the idea of beauty in each  species of  
beings is invariably one1 it may be     
objected that in every  particular      
species there are various central forms1
 which are separate  and distinct from  
each other1 and yet are undeniably      
beautiful2 that in  the human figure1   
for instance1 the beauty of the         

,hercules is one1 of the  gladiator     
another1 of the ,apollo another1 which  
makes so many different  ideas of       
beauty4    ,it is true1 indeed1 that    
these figures are each perfect in their 
kind1  though of different characters   
and proportions2 but still none of them 
is  the representation of an individual1
 but of a class4  ,and as there is one  
general form1 which1 as ,i have said1   
belongs to the human kind at large1  so 
in each of these classes there is one   
common idea and central form1  which is 
the abstract of the various individual  
forms belonging to that  class4  ,thus1 
though the forms of childhood and age   
differ exceedingly1  there is a common  
form in childhood1 and a common form in 
age1--which is  the more perfect1 as it 
is more remote from all peculiarities4  
,but ,i  must add further1 that though  
the most perfect forms of each of the   
general divisions of the human figure   
are ideal1 and superior to any          
individual form of that class1 yet the  

highest perfection of the human  figure 
is not to be found in any one of them4  
,it is not in the ,hercules1  nor in the
 gladiator1 nor in the ,apollo2 but in  
that form which is taken  from them all1
 and which partakes equally of the      
activity of the  gladiator1 of the      
delicacy of the ,apollo1 and of the     
muscular strength of  the ,hercules4    
,for perfect beauty in any species must 
combine all the  characters which are   
beautiful in that species4  ,it cannot  
consist in any  one to the exclusion of 
the rest3 no one1 therefore1 must be    
predominant1  that no one may be        
deficient4    ,the knowledge of these   
different characters1 and the power of  
separating  and distinguishing them1 is 
undoubtedly necessary to the painter1   
who is  to vary his compositions with   
figures of various forms and            
proportions1  though he is never to lose
 sight of the general idea of perfection
 in  each kind4    ,there is1 likewise1 
a kind of symmetry or proportion1 which 

may properly  be said to belong to      
deformity4  ,a figure lean or corpulent1
 tall or  short1 though deviating from  
beauty1 may still have a certain union  
of  the various parts1 which may        
contribute to make them1 on the whole1  
not  unpleasing4  ,when the artist has  
by diligent attention acquired a clear  
and distinct idea of beauty and         
symmetry2 when he has reduced the       
variety  of nature to the abstract idea2
 his next task will be to become        
acquainted with the genuine habits of   
nature1 as distinguished from those  of 
fashion4  ,for in the same manner1 and  
on the same principles1 as he  has      
acquired the knowledge of the real forms
 of nature1 distinct from  accidental   
deformity1 he must endeavour to separate
 simple chaste nature  from those       
adventitious1 those affected and forced 
airs or actions1 with  which she is     
loaded by modern education4    ,perhaps 
,i cannot better explain what ,i mean   
than by reminding you of what  was      

taught us by the ,professor of ,anatomy1
 in respect to the natural  position and
 movement of the feet4  ,he observed    
that the fashion of  turning1 them      
outwards was contrary to the intent of  
nature1 as might be  seen from the      
structure of the bones1 and from the    
weakness that  proceeded from that      
manner of standing4  ,to this we may add
 the erect  position of the head1 the   
projection of the chest1 the walking    
with  straight knees1 and many such     
actions1 which are merely the result of 
fashion1 and what nature never          
warranted1 as we are sure that we have  
been taught them when children4    ,i   
have mentioned but a few of those       
instances1 in which vanity or caprice   
have contrived to distort and disfigure 
the human form2 your own  recollection  
will add to these a thousand more of    
ill-understood methods1  that have been 
practised to disguise nature1 among our 
dancing-masters1  hair-dressers1 and    
tailors1 in their various schools of    

deformity4    ,however the mechanic and 
ornamental arts may sacrifice to        
fashion1 she  must be entirely excluded 
from the art of painting2 the painter   
must  never mistake this capricious     
changeling for the genuine offspring of 
nature2 he must divest himself of all   
prejudices in favour of his age or      
country2 he must disregard all local and
 temporary ornaments1 and look  only on 
those general habits that are everywhere
 and always the same4  ,he  addresses   
his works to the people of every country
 and every age2 he  calls upon posterity
 to be his spectators1 and says with    
,zeuxis1 ,in  aeternitatem pingo4       
,the neglect of separating modern       
fashions from the habits of nature1     
leads to that ridiculous style which has
 been practised by some painters  who   
have given to ,grecian heroes the airs  
and graces practised in the  court of   
,louis ,,xiv42 an absurdity almost as   
great as it would have been  to have    
dressed them after the fashion of that  

court4    ,to avoid this error1 however1
 and to retain the true simplicity of   
nature1 is a task more difficult than at
 first sight it may appear4  ,the       
prejudices in favour of the fashions and
 customs that we have been used  to1 and
 which are justly called a second       
nature1 make it too often  difficult to 
distinguish that which is natural from  
that which is the  result of education2 
they frequently even give a predilection
 in favour  of the artificial mode2 and 
almost every one is apt to be guided by 
those  local prejudices who has not     
chastised his mind1 and regulated the   
instability of his affections1 by the   
eternal invariable idea of nature4      
,here1 then1 as before1 we must have    
recourse to the ancients as             
instructors4  ,it is from a careful     
study of their works that you will be   
enabled to attain to the real simplicity
 of nature2 they will suggest  many     
observations1 which would probably      
escape you1 if your study were  confined

 to nature alone4  ,and1 indeed1 ,i     
cannot help suspecting1 that in  this   
instance the ancients had an easier task
 than the moderns4  ,they  had1         
probably1 little or nothing to unlearn1 
as their manners were nearly            
approaching to this desirable           
simplicity2 while the modern artist1    
before  he can see the truth of things1 
is obliged to remove a veil1 with which 
the fashion of the times has thought    
proper to cover her4    ,having gone    
thus far in our investigation of the    
great style in painting2  if we now     
should suppose that the artist has      
formed the true idea of  beauty1 which  
enables him to give his works a correct 
and perfect design2  if we should       
suppose also that he has acquired a     
knowledge of the  unadulterated habits  
of nature1 which gives him simplicity2  
the rest of  his talk is1 perhaps1 less 
than is generally imagined4  ,beauty and
  simplicity have so great a share in   
the composition of a great style1  that 

he who has acquired them has little else
 to learn4  ,it must not1  indeed1 be   
forgot that there is a nobleness of     
conception1 which goes  beyond anything 
in the mere exhibition1 even of perfect 
form2 there is an  art of animating and 
dignifying the figures with intellectual
 grandeur1  of impressing the appearance
 of philosophic wisdom or heroic virtue4
  ,this  can only be acquired by him    
that enlarges the sphere of his         
understanding  by a variety of          
knowledge1 and warms his imagination    
with the best  productions of ancient   
and modern poetry4    ,a hand thus      
exercised1 and a mind thus instructed1  
will bring the art to  a higher degree  
of excellence than1 perhaps1 it has     
hitherto attained in  this country4     
,such a student will disdain the humbler
 walks of painting1  which1 however     
profitable1 can never assure him a      
permanent reputation4  ,he will leave   
the meaner artist servilely to suppose  
that those are the  best pictures which 

are most likely to deceive the          
spectator4  ,he will  permit the lower  
painter1 like the florist or collector  
of shells1 to  exhibit the minute       
discriminations which distinguish one   
object of the  same species from        
another2 while he1 like the philosopher1
 will consider  nature in the abstract1 
and represent in every one of his       
figures the  character of its species4  
,if deceiving the eye were the only     
business of the art1 there is no  doubt1
 indeed1 but the minute painter would be
 more apt to succeed3 but  it is not the
 eye1 it is the mind1 which the painter 
of genius desires to  address2 nor will 
he waste a moment upon these smaller    
objects1 which  only serve to catch the 
sense1 to divide the attention1 and to  
counteract  his great design of speaking
 to the heart4    ,this is the ambition 
,i could wish to excite in your minds2  
and the object  ,i have had in my view1 
throughout this discourse1 is that one  
great idea  which gives to painting its 

true dignity1 that entitles it to the   
name of  a ,liberal ,art1 and ranks it  
as a sister of poetry4    ,it may       
possibly have happened to many young    
students whose application  was         
sufficient to overcome all difficulties1
 and whose minds were capable  of       
embracing the most extensive views1 that
 they have1 by a wrong  direction       
originally given1 spent their lives in  
the meaner walks of  painting1 without  
ever knowing there was a nobler to      
pursue4  ,albert  ,durer1 as ,vasari has
 justly remarked1 would probably have   
been one of  the first painters of his  
age 7and he lived in an era of great    
artists7  had he been initiated into    
those great principles of the art which 
were  so well understood and practised  
by his contemporaries in ,italy4  ,but  
unluckily1 having never seen or heard of
 any other manner1 he considered  his   
own1 without doubt1 as perfect4    ,as  
for the various departments of painting1
 which do not presume to make  such high

 pretensions1 they are many4  ,none of  
them are without their  merit1 though   
none enter into competition with this   
great universal  presiding idea of the  
art4  ,the painters who have applied    
themselves more  particularly to low and
 vulgar characters1 and who express with
 precision  the various shades of       
passion1 as they are exhibited by vulgar
 minds  7such as we see in the works of 
,hogarth7 deserve great praise2 but as  
their genius has been employed on low   
and confined subjects1 the praise  that 
we give must be as limited as its       
object4  ,the merrymaking or            
quarrelling of the ,boors of ,teniers2  
the same sort of productions of         
,brouwer1 or ,ostade1 are excellent in  
their kind2 and the excellence and  its 
praise will be in proportion1 as1 in    
those limited subjects and  peculiar    
forms1 they introduce more or less of   
the expression of those  passions1 as   
they appear in general and more enlarged
 nature4  ,this  principle may be       

applied to the battle pieces of         
,bourgognone1 the ,french  gallantries  
of ,watteau1 and even beyond the        
exhibition of animal life1 to  the      
landscapes of ,claude ,lorraine1 and the
 sea-views of ,vandervelde4  ,all  these
 painters have1 in general1 the same    
right1 in different degrees1 to  the    
name of a painter1 which a satirist1 an 
epigrammatist1 a sonnetteer1  a writer  
of pastorals1 or descriptive poetry1 has
 to that of a poet4    ,in the same     
rank1 and1 perhaps1 of not so great     
merit1 is the cold  painter of          
portraits4  ,but his correct and just   
imitation of his object  has its merit4 
,even the painter of still life1 whose  
highest ambition is  to give a minute   
representation of every part of those   
low objects1 which  he sets before him1 
deserves praise in proportion to his    
attainment2  because no part of this    
excellent art1 so much the ornament of  
polished  life1 is destitute of value   
and use4  ,these1 however1 are by no    

means the  views to which the mind of   
the student ought to be primarily       
directed4  ,by aiming at better things1 
if from particular inclination1 or from 
the  taste of the time and place he     
lives in1 or from necessity1 or from    
failure in the highest attempts1 he is  
obliged to descend lower2 he will  bring
 into the lower sphere of art a grandeur
 of composition and  character that will
 raise and ennoble his works far above  
their natural  rank4    ,a man is not   
weak1 though he may not be able to wield
 the club of  ,hercules2 nor does a man 
always practise that which he esteems   
the beat2  but does that which he can   
best do4  ,in moderate attempts1 there  
are many  walks open to the artist4     
,but as the idea of beauty is of        
necessity but  one1 so there can be but 
one great mode of painting2 the leading 
principle of which ,i have endeavoured  
to explain4    ,i should be sorry if    
what is here recommended should be at   
all understood  to countenance a        

careless or indetermined manner of      
painting4  ,for though  the painter is  
to overlook the accidental              
discriminations of nature1 he  is to    
pronounce distinctly1 and with          
precision1 the general forms of  things4
  ,a firm and determined outline is one 
of the characteristics of  the great    
style in painting2 and1 let me add1 that
 he who possesses the  knowledge of the 
exact form1 that every part of nature   
ought to have1  will be fond of         
expressing that knowledge with          
correctness and precision  in all his   
works4    ,to conclude3 ,i have         
endeavoured to reduce the idea of beauty
 to general  principles4  ,and ,i had   
the pleasure to observe that the        
professor of  painting proceeded in the 
same method1 when he showed you that the
  artifice of contrast was founded but  
on one principle4  ,and ,i am  convinced
 that this is the only means of         
advancing science1 of clearing  the mind
 from a confused heap of contradictory  

observations1 that do but  perplex and  
puzzle the student when he compares     
them1 or misguide him if  he gives      
himself up to their authority2 but      
bringing them under one  general head   
can alone give rest and satisfaction to 
an inquisitive mind4        ,a          
,,discourse  ,delivered to the ,students
 of the ,royal ,academy on the          
,distribution of the  ,prizes1 ,december
 #aj1 #agga1 by the ,president4         
,gentlemen1--,the value and rank of     
every art is in proportion to the       
mental labour employed in it1 or the    
mental pleasure produced by it4  ,as    
this principle is observed or neglected1
 our profession becomes either a        
liberal art or a mechanical trade4  ,in 
the hands of one man it makes the       
highest pretensions1 as it is addressed 
to the noblest faculties1 ,in  those of 
another it is reduced to a mere matter  
of ornament1 and the  painter has but   
the humble province of furnishing our   
apartments with  elegance4    ,this     

exertion of mind1 which is the only     
circumstance that truly ennobles  our   
art1 makes the great distinction between
 the ,roman and ,venetian  schools4  ,i 
have formerly observed that perfect form
 is produced by  leaving out            
particularities1 and retaining only     
general ideas4  ,i shall  now endeavour 
to show that this principle1 which ,i   
have proved to be  metaphysically just1 
extends itself to every part of the art2
 that it  gives what is called the grand
 style to invention1 to composition1 to 
expression1 and even to colouring and   
drapery4    ,invention in painting does 
not imply the invention of the subject1 
for  that is commonly supplied by the   
poet or historian4  ,with respect to the
  choice1 no subject can be proper that 
is not generally interesting4  ,it      
ought to be either some eminent instance
 of heroic action or heroic  suffering4 
,there must be something either in the  
action or in the object  in which men   
are universally concerned1 and which    

powerfully strikes upon  the public     
sympathy4    ,strictly speaking1 indeed1
 no subject can be of universal1 hardly 
can it  be of general concern3 but there
 are events and characters so popularly 
known in those countries where our art  
is in request1 that they may be         
considered as sufficiently general for  
all our purposes4  ,such are the  great 
events of ,greek and ,roman fable and   
history1 which early education  and the 
usual course of reading have made       
familiar and interesting to all         
,europe1 without being degraded by the  
vulgarism of ordinary life in any       
country4  ,such1 too1 are the capital   
subjects of ,scripture history1  which1 
besides their general notoriety1 become 
venerable by their  connection with our 
religion4    ,as it is required that the
 subject selected should be a general   
one1 it  is no less necessary that it   
should be kept unembarrassed with       
whatever  may any way serve to divide   
the attention of the spectator4         

,whenever a  story is related1 every man
 forms a picture in his mind of the     
action and  the expression of the       
persons employed4  ,the power of        
representing this  mental picture in    
canvas is what we call invention in a   
painter4  ,and as  in the conception of 
this ideal picture the mind does not    
enter into the  minute peculiarities of 
the dress1 furniture1 or scene of       
action1 so when  the painter comes to   
represent it he contrives those little  
necessary  concomitant circumstances in 
such a manner that they shall strike the
  spectator no more than they did       
himself in his first conception of the  
story4    ,i am very ready to allow that
 some circumstances of minuteness and   
particularity frequently tend to give an
 air of truth to a piece1 and to        
interest the spectator in an            
extraordinary manner4  ,such            
circumstances1  therefore1 cannot wholly
 be rejected2 but if there be anything  
in the art  which requires peculiar     

nicety of discernment1 it is the        
disposition of  these minute            
circumstantial parts which1 according to
 the judgment  employed in the choice1  
become so useful to truth or so         
injurious to  grandeur4    ,however1 the
 usual and most dangerous error is on   
the side of minuteness1  and1 therefore1
 ,i think caution most necessary where  
most have failed4  ,the general idea    
constitutes real excellence4  ,all      
smaller things1  however perfect in     
their way1 are to be sacrificed without 
mercy to the  greater4  ,the painter    
will not inquire what things may be     
admitted  without much censure4  ,he    
will not think it enough to show that   
they may  be there2 he will show that   
they must be there1 that their absence  
would  render his picture maimed and    
defective4    ,thus1 though to the      
principal group a second or third be    
added1 and a  second and third mass of  
light1 care must be yet taken that these
  subordinate actions and lights1       

neither each in particular1 nor all     
together1 come into any degree of       
competition with the principal2 they    
should make a part of that whole which  
would be imperfect without them4  ,to   
every part of painting this rule may be 
applied4  ,even in portraits1  the grace
 and1 we may add1 the likeness1 consists
 more in taking the  general air than in
 observing the effect similitude of     
every feature4    ,thus figures must    
have a ground whereon to stand2 they    
must be clothed1  there must be a       
background1 there must be light and     
shadow2 but none of  these ought to     
appear to have taken up any part of the 
artist's  attention4  ,they should be so
 managed as not even to catch that of   
the  spectator4  ,we know well enough1  
when we analyse a piece1 the difficulty 
and the subtlety with which an artist   
adjusts the background1 drapery1  and   
masses of light2 we know that a         
considerable part of the grace and      
effect of his picture depends upon them2

 but this art is so much  concealed1    
even to a judicious eye1 that no remains
 of any of these  subordinate parts     
occur to memory when the picture is not 
present4    ,the great end of the art is
 to strike the imagination4  ,the       
painter is1  therefore1 to make no      
ostentation of the means by which this  
is done2 the  spectator is only to feel 
the result in his bosom4  ,an inferior  
artist is  unwilling that any part of   
his industry should be lost upon the    
spectator4  ,he takes as much pains to  
discover1 as the greater artist  does to
 conceal1 the marks of his subordinate  
assiduity4  ,in works of the  lower kind
 everything appears studied and         
encumbered2 it is all boastful  art and 
open affectation4  ,the ignorant often  
part from such pictures  with wonder in 
their mouths1 and indifference in their 
hearts4    ,but it is not enough in     
invention that the artist should        
restrain and  keep under all the        
inferior parts of his subject2 he must  

sometimes  deviate from vulgar and      
strict historical truth in pursuing the 
grandeur  of his design4    ,how much   
the great style exacts from its         
professors to conceive and  represent   
their subjects in a poetical manner1 not
 confined to mere  matter of fact1 may  
be seen in the cartoons of ,raffaelle4  
,in all the  pictures in which the      
painter has represented the apostles1 he
 has drawn  them with great nobleness2  
he has given them as much dignity as the
 human  figure is capable of receiving  
yet we are expressly told in ,scripture 
they had no such respectable appearance2
 and of ,st4 ,paul in particular1  we   
are told by himself1 that his bodily    
presence was mean4  ,alexander is  said 
to have been of a low stature3 a painter
 ought not so to represent  him4        
,agesilaus was low1 lame1 and of a mean 
appearance4  ,none of these  defects    
ought to appear in a piece of which he  
is the hero4  ,in  conformity to custom1
 ,i call this part of the art history   

painting2 it  ought to be called        
poetical1 as in reality it is4    ,all  
this is not falsifying any fact2 it is  
taking an allowed poetical  licence4  ,a
 painter of portraits retains the       
individual likeness2 a  painter of      
history shows the man by showing his    
actions4  ,a painter must  compensate   
the natural deficiencies of his art4    
,he has but one sentence  to utter1 but 
one moment to exhibit4  ,he cannot1 like
 the poet or  historian1 expatiate1 and 
impress the mind with great veneration  
for the  character of the hero or saint 
he represents1 though he lets us know at
  the same time that the saint was      
deformed1 or the hero lame4  ,the       
painter  has no other means of giving an
 idea of the dignity of the mind1 but by
  that external appearance which        
grandeur of thought does generally1     
though  not always1 impress on the      
countenance1 and by that correspondence 
of  figure to sentiment and situation   
which all men wish1 but cannot command4 

,the painter1 who may in this one       
particular attain with ease what others 
desire in vain1 ought to give all that  
he possibly can1 since there are  so    
many circumstances of true greatness    
that he cannot give at all4  ,he  cannot
 make his hero talk like a great man2 he
 must make him look like  one4  ,for    
which reason he ought to be well studied
 in the analysis of  those circumstances
 which constitute dignity of appearance 
in real life4    ,as in invention1 so   
likewise in1 expression1 care must be   
taken not to  run into particularities1 
,those expressions alone should be given
 to the  figures which their respective 
situations generally produce4  ,nor is  
this  enough2 each person should also   
have that expression which men of his   
rank generally exhibit4  ,the joy or the
 grief of a character of dignity  is not
 to be expressed in the same manner as a
 similar passion in a  vulgar face4     
,upon this principle ,bernini1 perhaps1 
may be subject to  censure4  ,this      

sculptor1 in many respects admirable1   
has given a very  mean expression to his
 statue of ,david1 who is represented as
 just going  to throw the stone from the
 sling2 and in order to give it the     
expression  of energy he has made him   
biting his under-lip4  ,this expression 
is far  from being general1 and still   
farther from being dignified4  ,he might
  have seen it in an instance or two1   
and he mistook accident for             
universality4    ,with respect to       
colouring1 though it may appear at first
 a part of  painting merely mechanical1 
yet it still has its rules1 and those   
grounded upon that presiding principle  
which regulates both the great and  the 
little in the study of a painter4  ,by  
this1 the first effect of the  picture  
is produced2 and as this is performed   
the spectator1 as he walks  the gallery1
 will stop1 or pass along4  ,to give a  
general air of grandeur  at first view1 
all trifling or artful play of little   
lights or an  attention to a variety of 

tints is to be avoided2 a quietness and 
simplicity must reign over the whole    
work2 to which a breadth of uniform  and
 simple colour will very much           
contribute4  ,grandeur of effect is     
produced by two different ways1 which   
seem entirely opposed to each  other4   
,one is1 by reducing the colours to     
little more than chiaroscuro1  which was
 often the practice of the ,bolognian   
schools2 and the other1 by  making the  
colours very distinct and forcible1 such
 as we see in those of  ,rome and       
,florence2 but still1 the presiding     
principle of both those  manners is     
simplicity4  ,certainly1 nothing can be 
more simple than  monotony1 and the     
distinct blue1 red1 and yellow colours  
which are seen  in the draperies of the 
,roman and ,florentine schools1 though  
they have  not that kind of harmony     
which is produced by a variety of broken
 and  transparent colours1 have that    
effect of grandeur that was intended4   
,perhaps these distinct colours strike  

the mind more forcibly1 from there  not 
being any great union between them2 as  
martial music1 which is  intended to    
rouse the noble passions1 has its effect
 from the sudden and  strongly marked   
transitions from one note to another1   
which that style of  music requires2    
whilst in that which is intended to move
 the softer  passions the notes         
imperceptibly melt into one another4    
,in the same manner as the historical   
painter never enters into the detail  of
 colours1 so neither does he debase his 
conceptions with minute  attention to   
the discriminations of drapery4  ,it is 
the inferior style  that marks the      
variety of stuffs4  ,with him1 the      
clothing is neither  woollen1 nor linen1
 nor silk1 satin1 or velvet3 it is      
drapery2 it is  nothing more4  ,the art 
of disposing the foldings of the drapery
 make a  very considerable part of the  
painter's study4  ,to make it merely    
natural  is a mechanical operation1 to  
which neither genius or taste are       

required2  whereas1 it requires the     
nicest judgment to dispose the drapery1 
so that  the folds have an easy         
communication1 and gracefully follow    
each other1  with such natural          
negligence as to look like the effect of
 chance1 and at  the same time show the 
figure under it to the utmost advantage4
    ,carlo ,maratti was of opinion that 
the disposition of drapery was a more   
difficult art than even that of drawing 
the human figure2 that a student  might 
be more easily taught the latter than   
the former2 as the rules of  drapery1 he
 said1 could not be so well ascertained 
as those for  delineating a correct     
form1 ,this1 perhaps1 is a proof how    
willingly we  favour our own peculiar   
excellence4  ,carlo ,maratti is said to 
have valued  himself particularly upon  
his skill in this part of the art yet in
 him  the disposition appears so        
artificial1 that he is inferior to      
,raffaelle1  even in that which gave him
 his best claim to reputation4    ,such 

is the great principle by which we must 
be directed in the nobler  branches of  
our art4  ,upon this principle the      
,roman1 the ,florentine1 the  ,bolognese
 schools1 have formed their practice2   
and by this they have  deservedly       
obtained the highest praise4  ,these are
 the three great  schools of the world  
in the epic style4  ,the best of the    
,french school1  ,poussin1 ,le ,sueur1  
and ,le ,brun1 have formed themselves   
upon these models1  and consequently may
 be said1 though ,frenchmen1 to be a    
colony from the  ,roman school4  ,next  
to these1 but in a very different style 
of  excellence1 we may rank the         
,venetian1 together with the ,flemish   
and the  ,dutch schools1 all professing 
to depart from the great purposes of    
painting1 and catching at applause by   
inferior qualities4    ,i am not        
ignorant that some will censure me for  
placing the ,venetians in  this inferior
 class1 and many of the warmest admirers
 of painting will  think them unjustly  

degraded2 but ,i wish not to be         
misunderstood4  ,though  ,i can by no   
means allow them to hold any rank with  
the nobler schools of  painting1 they   
accomplished perfectly the thing they   
attempted4  ,but as  mere elegance is   
their principal object1 as they seem    
more willing to  dazzle than to affect1 
it can be no injury to them to suppose  
that their  practice is useful only to  
its proper end4  ,but what may heighten 
the  elegant may degrade the sublime4   
,there is a simplicity1 and ,i may add1 
severity1 in the great manner1 which is1
 ,i am afraid1 almost incompatible  with
 this comparatively sensual style4      
,tintoret1 ,paul ,veronese1 and others  
of the ,venetian schools1 seem to have  
painted with no other purpose than to be
 admired for their skill and  expertness
 in the mechanism of painting1 and to   
make a parade of that art  which1 as ,i 
before observed1 the higher style       
requires its followers to  conceal4     
,in a conference of the ,french         

,academy1 at which were present ,le     
,brun1  ,sebastian ,bourdon1 and all the
 eminent artists of that age1 one of the
  academicians desired to have their    
opinion on the conduct of ,paul         
,veronese1 who1 though a painter of     
great consideration1 had1 contrary to   
the strict rules of art1 in his picture 
of ,perseus and ,andromeda1  represented
 the principal figure in shade4  ,to    
this question no  satisfactory answer   
was then given4  ,but ,i will venture to
 say1 that if  they had considered the  
class of the artist1 and ranked him as  
an  ornamental painter1 there would have
 been no difficulty in answering3 ,it   
was unreasonable to expect what was     
never intended4  ,his intention was     
solely to produce an effect of light and
 ,shadow2 everything was to be          
sacrificed to that intent1 and the      
capricious composition of that picture  
suited very well with the style he      
professed4    ,young minds are indeed   
too apt to be captivated by this        

splendour of  style1 and that of the    
,venetians will be particularly         
pleasing2 for by  them all those parts  
of the art that give pleasure to the eye
 or sense  have been cultivated with    
care1 and carried to the degree nearest 
to  perfection4  ,the powers exerted in 
the mechanical part of the art have     
been called the language of painters2   
but we must say1 that it is but  poor   
eloquence which only shows that the     
orator can talk4  ,words should  be     
employed as the means1 not as the end3  
language is the instrument1  conviction 
is the work4    ,the language of        
painting must indeed be allowed these   
masters2 but even  in that they have    
shown more copiousness than choice1 and 
more luxuriancy  than judgment4  ,if we 
consider the uninteresting subjects of  
their  invention1 or at least the       
uninteresting manner in which they are  
treated2 if we attend to their          
capricious composition1 their violent   
and  affected contrasts1 whether of     

figures1 or of light and shadow1 the    
richness of their drapery1 and1 at the  
same time1 the mean effect which  the   
discrimination of stuffs gives to their 
pictures2 if to these we add  their     
total inattention to expression1 and    
then reflect on the  conceptions and the
 learning of ,michael ,angelo1 or the   
simplicity of  ,raffaelle1 we can no    
longer dwell on the comparison4  ,even  
in colouring1  if we compare the        
quietness and chastity of the ,bolognese
 pencil to the  bustle and tumult that  
fills every part of1 a ,venetian        
picture1 without  the least attempt to  
interest the passions1 their boasted art
 will appear  a mere struggle without   
effect2 an empty tale told by an idiot1 
full of  sound and fury1 signifying     
nothing4    ,such as suppose that the   
great style might happily be blended    
with the  ornamental1 that the simple1  
grave1 and majestic dignity of          
,raffaelle  could unite with the glow   
and bustle of a ,paulo or ,tintoret1 are

 totally  mistaken4  ,the principles by 
which each are attained are so contrary 
to  each other1 that they seem1 in my   
opinion1 incompatible1 and as           
impossible to exist together1 as to     
unite in the mind at the same time  the 
most sublime ideas and the lowest       
sensuality4    ,the subjects of the     
,venetian painters are mostly such as   
give them an  opportunity of introducing
 a great number of figures1 such as     
feasts1  marriages1 and processions1    
public martyrdoms1 or miracles4  ,i can 
easily  conceive that ,paul ,veronese1  
if he were asked1 would say that no     
subject  was proper for an historical   
picture but such as admitted at least   
forty  figures2 for in a less number1 he
 would assert1 there could be no        
opportunity of the painter's showing his
 art in composition1 his  dexterity of  
managing and disposing the masses of    
light1 and groups of  figures1 and of   
introducing a variety of ,eastern       
dresses and characters  in their rich   

stuffs4    ,but the thing is very       
different with a pupil of the greater   
schools4  ,annibale ,caracci thought    
twelve figures sufficient for any story3
 he  conceived that more would          
contribute to no end but to fill space2 
that  they would1 be but cold spectators
 of the general action1 or1 to use his  
own expression1 that they would be      
figures to be let4  ,besides1 it is     
impossible for a picture composed of so 
many parts to have that effect1  so     
indispensably necessary to grandeur1 of 
one complete whole4  ,however           
contradictory it may be in geometry1 it 
is true in taste1 that many  little     
things will not make a great one4  ,the 
sublime impresses the mind  at once with
 one great idea2 it is a single blow3   
the elegant indeed may  be produced by a
 repetition1 by an accumulation of many 
minute  circumstances4    ,however great
 the difference is between the          
composition of the ,venetian  and the   
rest of the ,italian schools1 there is  

full as great a disparity  in the effect
 of their pictures as produced by       
colours4  ,and though in  this respect  
the ,venetians must be allowed          
extraordinary skill1 yet even  that     
skill1 as they have employed it1 will   
but ill correspond with the  great      
style4  ,their colouring is not only too
 brilliant1 but1 ,i will  venture to    
say1 too harmonious to produce that     
solidity1 steadiness1 and  simplicity of
 effect which heroic subjects require1  
and which simple or  grave colours only 
can give to a work4  ,that they are to  
be cautiously  studied by those who are 
ambitious of treading the great walk of 
history  is confirmed1 if it wants      
confirmation1 by the greatest of all    
authorities1 ,michael ,angelo4  ,this   
wonderful man1 after having seen a      
picture by ,titian1 told ,vasari1 who   
accompanied him1 that he liked much  his
 colouring and manner2 but then he      
added1 that it was a pity the  ,venetian
 painters did not learn to draw         

correctly in their early youth1  and    
adopt a better manner of study4    ,by  
this it appears that the principal      
attention of the ,venetian painters1  in
 the opinion of ,michael ,angelo1 seemed
 to be engrossed by the study of        
colours1 to the neglect of the ideal    
beauty of form1 or propriety of         
expression4  ,but if general censure was
 given to that school from the  sight of
 a picture of ,titian1 how much more    
heavily1 and more justly1  would the    
censure fall on ,paulo ,veronese1 or    
more especially on ,tintoret8  ,and here
 ,i cannot avoid citing ,vasari's       
opinion of the style and manner  of     
,tintoret4  ,of all the extraordinary   
geniuses1 says he1 that have  ever      
practised the art of painting1 for wild1
 capricious1 extravagant1  and          
fantastical inventions1 for furious     
impetuosity and boldness in the         
execution of his work1 there is none    
like ,tintoret2 his strange whims are   
even beyond extravagance2 and his works 

seem to be produced rather by  chance   
than in consequence of any previous     
design1 as if he wanted to  convince the
 world that1 the art was a trifle1 and  
of the most easy  attainment4    ,for my
 own part1 when ,i speak of the         
,venetian painters1 ,i wish to be       
understood to mean ,paulo ,veronese and 
,tintoret1 to the exclusion of  ,titian2
 for though his style is not so pure as 
that of many other of the  ,italian     
schools1 yet there is a sort of         
senatorial dignity about him1  which1   
however awkward in his imitators1 seems 
to become him exceedingly4  ,his        
portraits alone1 from the nobleness and 
simplicity of character which  he always
 gave them1 will entitle him to the     
greatest respect1 as he  undoubtedly    
stands in the first rank in this branch 
of the art4    ,it is not with ,titian1 
but with the seducing qualities of the  
two former1  that ,i could wish to      
caution you1 against being too much     
captivated4  ,these are the persons who 

may be said to have exhausted all the   
powers of  florid eloquence1 to debauch 
the young and unexperienced1 and have1  
without doubt1 been the cause of turning
 off the attention of the  connoisseur  
and of the patron of art1 as well as    
that of the painter1  from those higher 
excellences of which the art is capable1
 and which  ought to be required in     
every considerable production4  ,by     
them1 and  their imitators1 a style     
merely ornamental has been disseminated 
throughout all ,europe4  ,rubens carried
 it to ,flanders1 ,voet to ,france1  and
 ,luca ,giordano to ,spain and ,naples4 
,the ,venetian is indeed the most       
splendid of the schools of elegance2 and
  it is not without reason that the best
 performances in this lower school  are 
valued higher than the second-rate      
performances of those above them2  for  
every picture has value when it has a   
decided character1 and is  excellent in 
its kind4  ,but the student must take   
care not to be so much  dazzled with    

this splendour as to be tempted to      
imitate what must  ultimately lead from 
perfection4  ,poussin1 whose eye was    
always steadily  fixed on the sublime1  
has been often heard to say1 ,that a    
particular  attention to colouring was  
an obstacle to the student in his       
progress to  the great end and design of
 the art2 and that he who attaches      
himself to  this principal end will     
acquire by practice a reasonably good   
method of  colouring4    ,though it be  
allowed that elaborate harmony of       
colouring1 a brilliancy of  tints1 a    
soft and gradual transition from one to 
another1 present to the  eye what an    
harmonious concert of music does to the 
ear1 it must be  remembered that        
painting is not merely a gratification  
of the sight4  ,such  excellence1 though
 properly cultivated where nothing      
higher than elegance  is intended1 is   
weak and unworthy of regard1 when the   
work aspires to  grandeur and sublimity4
    ,the same reasons that have been    

urged why a mixture of the ,venetian    
style  cannot improve the great style   
will hold good in regard to the ,flemish
  and ,dutch schools4  ,indeed1 the     
,flemish school1 of which ,rubens is the
  head1 was formed upon that of the     
,venetian2 like them1 he took his       
figures too much from the people before 
him4  ,but it must be allowed in  favour
 of the ,venetians that he was more     
gross than they1 and carried all  their 
mistaken methods to a far greater       
excess4  ,in the ,venetian school       
itself1 where they all err from the same
 cause1 there is a difference in  the   
effect4  ,the difference between ,paulo 
and ,bassano seems to be only  that one 
introduced ,venetian gentlemen into his 
pictures1 and the other  the boors of   
the district of ,bassano1 and called    
them patriarchs and  prophets4    ,the  
painters of the ,dutch school have still
 more locality4  ,with them1 a  history 
piece is properly a portrait of         
themselves2 whether they describe  the  

inside or outside of their houses1 we   
have their own people engaged  in their 
own peculiar occupations1 working or    
drinking1 playing or  fighting4  ,the   
circumstances that enter into a picture 
of this kind are  so far from giving a  
general view of human life that they    
exhibit all the  minute particularities 
of a nation differing in several        
respects from the  rest of mankind4     
,yet1 let them have their share of more 
humble praise4  ,the painters of this   
school are excellent in their own way2  
they are only  ridiculous when they     
attempt general history on their own    
narrow  principles1 and debase great    
events by the meanness of their         
characters4    ,some inferior dexterity1
 some extraordinary mechanical power1 is
  apparently that from which they seek  
distinction4  ,thus1 we see1 that       
school alone has the custom of          
representing candle-light1 not as it    
really appears to us by night1 but red1 
as it would illuminate objects to  a    

spectator by day4  ,such tricks1 however
 pardonable in the little style1  where 
petty effects are the sole end1 are     
inexcusable in the greater1  where the  
attention should never be drawn aside by
 trifles1 but should be  entirely       
occupied by the subject itself4    ,the 
same local principles which characterise
 the ,dutch school extend even  to their
 landscape painters2 and ,rubens        
himself1 who has painted many           
landscapes1 has sometimes transgressed  
in this particular4  ,their pieces  in  
this way are1 ,i think1 always a        
representation of an individual spot1   
and each in its kind a very faithful but
 very confined portrait4    ,claude     
,lorraine1 on the contrary1 was         
convinced that taking nature as he      
found it seldom produced beauty4  ,his  
pictures are a composition of the       
various draughts which he has previously
 made from various beautiful  scenes and
 prospects4  ,however1 ,rubens in some  
measure has made amends  for the        

deficiency with which he is charged2 he 
has contrived to raise  and animate his 
otherwise uninteresting views1 by       
introducing a rainbow1  storm1 or some  
particular accidental effect of light4  
,that the practice  of ,claude          
,lorraine1 in respect to his choice1 is 
to be adopted by  landscape painters1 in
 opposition to that of the ,flemish and 
,dutch  schools1 there can be no doubt1 
as its truth is founded upon the same   
principle as that by which the          
historical painter acquires perfect     
form4  ,but whether landscape painting  
has a right to aspire so far as to      
reject  what the painters call accidents
 of nature is not easy to determine4    
,it  is certain ,claude ,lorraine       
seldom1 if ever1 availed himself of     
those  accidents2 either he thought that
 such peculiarities were contrary to    
that style of general nature which he   
professed1 or that it would catch  the  
attention too strongly1 and destroy that
 quietness and repose which  he thought 

necessary to that kind of painting4     
,a portrait painter likewise1 when he   
attempts history1 unless he is upon  his
 guard1 is likely to enter too much into
 the detail4  ,he too  frequently makes 
his historical heads look like          
portraits2 and this was  once the custom
 amongst those old painters who revived 
the art before  general ideas were      
practised or understood4  ,a history    
painter paints man  in general2 a       
portrait painter1 a particular man1 and 
consequently a  defective model4        
,thus an habitual practice in the lower 
exercises of the art will prevent  many 
from attaining the greater4  ,but such  
of us who move in these  humbler walks  
of the profession are not ignorant that1
 as the natural  dignity of the subject 
is less1 the more all the little        
ornamental helps  are necessary to its  
embellishment4  ,it would be ridiculous 
for a painter  of domestic scenes1 of   
portraits1 landscapes1 animals1 or of   
still life1  to say that he despised    

those qualities which have made the     
subordinate  schools so famous4  ,the   
art of colouring1 and the skilful       
management of  light and shadow1 are    
essential requisites in his confined    
labours4  ,if  we descend still lower1  
what is the painter of fruit and flowers
 without  the utmost art in colouring1  
and what the painters call handling2    
that  is1 a lightness of pencil that    
implies great practice1 and gives the   
appearance of being done with ease8     
,some here1 ,i believe1 must remember  a
 flower-painter whose boast it was that 
he scorned to paint for the  million2   
no1 he professed to paint in the true   
,italian taste2 and  despising the      
crowd1 called strenuously upon the few  
to admire him4  ,his  idea of the       
,italian taste was to paint as black and
 dirty as he could1  and to leave all   
clearness and brilliancy of colouring to
 those who were  fonder of money than of
 immortality4  ,the consequence was such
 as might  be expected4  ,for these     

pretty excellences are here essential   
beauties2  and without this merit the   
artist's work will be more short-lived  
than  the objects of his imitation4     
,from what has been advanced1 we must   
now be convinced that there are two     
distinct styles in history painting3 the
 grand1 and the splendid or  ornamental4
    ,the great style stands alone1 and  
does not require1 perhaps does not so   
well admit1 any addition from inferior  
beauties4  ,the ornamental style  also  
possesses its own peculiar merit4       
,however1 though the union of the  two  
may make a sort of composite style1 yet 
that style is likely to be  more        
imperfect than either of those which go 
to its composition4  ,both  kinds have  
merit1 and may be excellent though in   
different ranks1 if  uniformity be      
preserved1 and the general and          
particular ideas of nature  be not      
mixed4  ,even the meanest of them is    
difficult enough to attain2  and the    
first place being already occupied by   

the great artists in either  department1
 some of those who followed thought     
there was less room for  them1 and      
feeling the impulse of ambition and the 
desire of novelty1 and  being at the    
same time perhaps willing to take the   
shortest way1 they  endeavoured to make 
for themselves a place between both4    
,this they have  effected by forming a  
union of the different orders4  ,but as 
the grave  and majestic style would     
suffer by a union with the florid and   
gay1 so  also has the ,venetian ornament
 in some respect been injured by        
attempting  an alliance with simplicity4
    ,it may be asserted that the great  
style is always more or less            
contaminated by any meaner mixture4     
,but it happens in a few instances  that
 the lower may be improved by borrowing 
from the grand4  ,thus1 if a  portrait  
painter is desirous to raise and improve
 his subject1 he has no  other means    
than by approaching it to a general     
idea4  ,he leaves out all  the minute   

breaks and peculiarities in the face1   
and changes the dress  from a temporary 
fashion to one more permanent1 which has
 annexed to it  no ideas of meanness    
from its being familiar to us4  ,but if 
an exact  resemblance of an individual  
be considered as the sole object to be  
aimed  at1 the portrait painter will be 
apt to lose more than he gains by the   
acquired dignity taken from general     
nature4  ,it is very difficult to       
ennoble the character of a countenance  
but at the expense of the  likeness1    
which is what is most generally required
 by such as sit to the  painter4    ,of 
those who have practised the composite  
style1 and have succeeded in  this      
perilous attempt1 perhaps the foremost  
is ,correggio4  ,his style is  founded  
upon modern grace and elegance1 to which
 is super1 added  something of the      
simplicity of the grand style4  ,a      
breadth of light and  colour1 the       
general ideas of the drapery1 an        
uninterrupted flow of  outline1 all     

conspire to this effect4  ,next him     
7perhaps equal to him7  ,parmegiano has 
dignified the genteelness of modern     
effeminacy by uniting  it with the      
simplicity of the ancients and the      
grandeur and severity of  ,michael      
,angelo4  ,it must be confessed1        
however1 that these two  extraordinary  
men1 by endeavouring to give the utmost 
degree of grace1  have sometimes1       
perhaps1 exceeded its boundaries1 and   
have fallen into  the most hateful of   
all hateful qualities1 affectation4     
,indeed1 it is  the peculiar            
characteristic of men of genius to be   
afraid of coldness and  insipidity1 from
 which they think they never can be too 
far removed4  ,it  particularly happens 
to these great masters of grace and     
elegance4  ,they  often boldly drive on 
to the very verge of ridicule2 the      
spectator is  alarmed1 but at the same  
time admires their vigour and           
intrepidity4       ,strange graces      
still1 and stranger flights they had1   

4 4 4     ,yet ne'er so sure our passion
 to create     ,ae when they touch'd the
 brink of all we hate4    ,the errors of
 genius1 however1 are pardonable1 and   
none even of the more  exalted painters 
are wholly free from them2 but they have
 taught us1 by  the rectitude of their  
general practice1 to correct their own  
affected or  accidental deviation4  ,the
 very first have not been always upon   
their  guard1 and perhaps there is not a
 fault but what may take shelter under  
the most venerable authorities2 yet that
 style only is perfect in which  the    
noblest principles are uniformly        
pursued2 and those masters only are     
entitled to the first rank in1 our      
estimation who have enlarged the        
boundaries of their art1 and have raised
 it to its highest dignity1 by          
exhibiting the general ideas of nature4 
,on the whole1 it seems to me that there
 is but one presiding principle  which  
regulates and gives stability to every  
art4  ,the works1 whether of  poets1    

painters1 moralists1 or historians1     
which are built upon general  nature1   
live for ever2 while those which depend 
for their existence on  particular      
customs and habits1 a partial view of   
nature1 or the  fluctuation of fashion1 
can only be coeval with that which first
 raised  them from obscurity4  ,present 
time and future maybe considered as     
rivals1  and he who solicits the one    
must expect to be discountenanced by the
  other4        ,a ,,discourse          
,delivered to the ,students of the      
,royal ,academy on the ,distribution of 
the  ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aggb1 by  
the ,president4      ,gentlemen1--,i    
purpose to carry on in this discourse   
the subject which ,i  began in my last4 
,it was my wish upon that occasion to   
incite you to  pursue the higher        
excellences of the art4  ,but ,i fear   
that in this  particular ,i have been   
misunderstood4  ,some are ready to      
imagine1 when  any of their favourite   
acquirements in the art are properly    

classed1 that  they are utterly         
disgraced4  ,this is a very great       
mistake3 nothing has  its proper lustre 
but in its proper place4  ,that which is
 most worthy of  esteem in its allotted 
sphere becomes an object1 not of        
respect1 but of  derision1 when it is   
forced into a higher1 to which it is not
 suited2 and  there it becomes doubly a 
source of disorder1 by occupying a      
situation  which is not natural to it1  
and by putting down from the first place
 what  is in reality of too much        
magnitude to become with grace and      
proportion  that subordinate station1 to
 which something of less value would be 
much  better suited4    ,my advice in a 
word is this3 keep your principal       
attention fixed upon the  higher        
excellences4  ,if you compass them and  
compass nothing more1 you  are still in 
the first class4  ,we may regret the    
innumerable beauties  which you may     
want3 you may be very imperfect3 but    
still1 you are an  imperfect person of  

the highest order4    ,if1 when you have
 got thus far1 you can add any1 or all1 
of the  subordinate qualifications1 it  
is my wish and advice that you should   
not  neglect them4    ,but this is as   
much a matter of circumspection and     
caution at least as of  eagerness and   
pursuit4    ,the mind is apt to be      
distracted by a multiplicity of         
pursuits2 and that  scale of perfection1
 which ,i wish always to be preserved1  
is in the  greatest danger of being     
totally disordered1 and even inverted4  
,some excellences bear to be united1 and
 are improved by union1 others are  of a
 discordant nature2 and the attempt to  
join them only produces a  harsher      
jarring of incongruent principles4      
,the attempt to unite contrary          
excellences 7of form1 for instance7 in a
  single figure1 can never escape       
degenerating into the monstrous1 but by 
sinking into the insipid1 taking away   
its marked character1 and weakening  its
 expression4    ,this remark is true to 

a certain degree with regard to the     
passions4  ,if  you mean to preserve the
 most perfect beauty in its most perfect
 state1  you cannot express the         
passions1 which produce 7all of them7   
distortion  and deformity1 more or less1
 in the most beautiful faces4    ,guido1
 from want of choice in adapting his    
subject to his ideas and his  powers1 or
 in attempting to preserve beauty where 
it could not be  preserved has in this  
respect succeeded very ill4  ,his       
figures are often  engaged in subjects  
that required great expression3 yet his 
,judith and  ,holofernes1 the ,daughter 
of ,herodias with the ,baptist's ,head1 
the  ,andromeda1 and even the ,mothers  
of the ,innocents1 have little more     
expression than his ,venus attired by   
the ,graces4    ,obvious as these       
remarks appear1 there are many writers  
on our art1 who1  not being of the      
profession1 and consequently not knowing
 what can or  what cannot be done1 have 
been very liberal of absurd praises in  

their  descriptions of favourite works4 
,they always find in them what they are 
resolved to find4  ,they praise         
excellences that can hardly exist       
together1 and above all things are fond 
of describing with great  exactness the 
expression of a mixed passion1 which    
more particularly  appears to me out of 
the reach of our art4    ,such are many 
disquisitions which ,i have read on some
 of the cartoons and  other pictures of 
,raffaelle1 where the critics have      
described their own  imagination2 or    
indeed where the excellent master       
himself may have  attempted this        
expression of passions above the powers 
of the art2 and  has1 therefore1 by an  
indistinct and imperfect marking1 left  
room for  every imagination1 with equal 
probability to find a passion of his    
own4  ,what has been1 and what can be   
done in the art1 is sufficiently        
difficult2 we need not be mortified or  
discouraged for not being able to       
execute the conceptions of a romantic   

imagination4  ,art has its  boundaries1 
though imagination has none4  ,we can   
easily1 like the  ancients1 suppose a   
,jupiter to be possessed of all those   
powers and  perfections which the       
subordinate ,deities were endowed with  
separately4  ,yet1 when they employed   
their art to represent him1 they        
confined his  character to majesty      
alone4  ,pliny1 therefore1 though we are
 under great  obligations to him for the
 information he has given us in relation
 to the  works of the ancient artists1  
is very frequently wrong when he speaks 
of  them1 which he does very often in   
the style of many of our modern         
connoisseurs4  ,he observes that in a   
statue of ,paris1 by ,fuphranor1 you    
might discover at the same time three   
different characters2 the dignity  of a 
judge of the goddesses1 the lover of    
,helen1 and the conqueror of  ,achilles4
  ,a statue in which you endeavour to   
unite stately dignity1  youthful        
elegance1 and stern valour1 must surely 

possess none of these to  any eminent   
degree4    ,from hence it appears that  
there is much difficulty as well as     
danger in  an endeavour to concentrate  
upon a single subject those various     
powers  which1 rising from different    
points1 naturally move in different     
directions4    ,the summit of excellence
 seems to be an assemblage of contrary  
qualities1  but mixed1 in such          
proportions1 that no one part is found  
to counteract  the other4  ,how hard    
this is to be attained in every art1    
those only know  who have made the      
greatest progress in their respective   
professions4    ,to conclude what ,i    
have to say on this part of the subject1
 which ,i think  of great importance1 ,i
 wish you to understand that ,i do not  
discourage  the younger students from   
the noble attempt of uniting all the    
excellences of art1 but to make them    
aware that1 besides the difficulties    
which attend every arduous attempt1     
there is a peculiar difficulty in the   

choice of the excellences which ought to
 be united2 ,i wish you to attend  to   
this1 that you may try yourselves1      
whenever you are capable of that  trial1
 what you can1 and what you cannot do3  
and that1 instead of  dissipating your  
natural faculties over the immense field
 of possible  excellence1 you may choose
 some particular walk in which you may  
exercise  all your powers1 in order each
 of you to be the first in his way4  ,if
 any  man shall be master of such a     
transcendant1 commanding1 and ductile   
genius1 as to enable him to rise to the 
highest1 and to stoop to the  lowest    
flights of art1 and to sweep over all of
 them unobstructed and  secure1 he is   
fitter to give example than to receive  
instruction4    ,having said thus much  
on the union of excellences1 ,i will    
next say  something of the subordination
 in which various excellences ought to  
be  kept4    ,i am of opinion that the  
ornamental style1 which in my discourse 
of last  year ,i cautioned you against  

considering as principal1 may not be    
wholly  unworthy the attention of those 
who aim even at the grand style2 when it
  is properly placed and properly       
reduced4    ,but this study will be used
 with far better effect1 if its         
principles are  employed in softening   
the harshness and mitigating the rigour 
of the  great style1 than if in attempt 
to stand forward with any pretensions of
  its own to positive and original      
excellence4    ,it was thus ,lodovico   
,caracci1 whose example ,i formerly     
recommended to  you1 employed it4  ,he  
was acquainted with the works both of   
,correggio and  the ,venetian painters1 
and knew the principles by which they   
produced  those pleasing effects which  
at the first glance prepossess us so    
much in  their favour2 but he took only 
as much from each as would embellish1   
but  not overpower1 that manly strength 
and energy of style1 which is his       
peculiar character4    ,since ,i have   
already expatiated so largely in my     

former discourse1 and in  my present1   
upon the styles and characters of       
painting1 it will not be at  all        
unsuitable to my subject if ,i mention  
to you some particulars  relative to the
 leading principles1 and capital works  
of those who  excelled in the great     
style1 that ,i may bring you from       
abstraction nearer  to practice1 and by 
exemplifying the propositions which ,i  
have laid down1  enable you to          
understand more clearly what ,i would   
enforce4    ,the principal works of     
modern art are in fresco1 a mode of     
painting which  excludes attention to   
minute elegancies3 yet these works in   
fresco are  the productions on which the
 fame of the greatest masters depend3   
such  are the pictures of ,michael      
,angelo and ,raffaelle in the ,vatican1 
to which  we may add the cartoons1      
which1 though not strictly to be called 
fresco1  yet may be put under that      
denomination2 and such are the works of 
,giulio  ,romano at ,mantua4  ,if these 

performances were destroyed1 with them  
would  be lost the best part of the     
reputation of those illustrious         
painters1  for these are justly         
considered as the greatest efforts of   
our art which  the world can boast4  ,to
 these1 therefore1 we should principally
 direct  our attention for higher       
excellences4  ,as for the lower arts1 as
 they  have been once discovered1 they  
may be easily attained by those         
possessed  of the former4    ,raffaelle1
 who stands in general foremost of the  
first painters1 owes his  reputation1 as
 ,i have observed1 to his excellence in 
the higher parts of  the art4           
,therefore1 his works in fresco ought to
 be the first object of  our study and  
attention4  ,his easel-works stand in a 
lower degree of  estimation2 for though 
he continually1 to the day of his death1
  embellished his works more and more   
with the addition of these lower        
ornaments1 which entirely make the merit
 of some1 yet he never arrived at  such 

perfection as to make him an object of  
imitation4  ,he never was able  to      
conquer perfectly that dryness1 or even 
littleness of manner1 which he          
inherited from his master4  ,he never   
acquired that nicety of taste in        
colours1 that breadth of light and      
shadow1 that art and management of      
uniting light1 to light1 and shadow to  
shadow1 so as to make the object  rise  
out of the ground with that plenitude of
 effect so much admired in  the works of
 ,correggio4  ,when he painted in oil1  
his hand seemed to be so  cramped and   
confined that he not only lost that     
facility and spirit1 but  ,i think even 
that correctness of form1 which is so   
perfect and admirable  in his fresco    
works4  ,i do not recollect any pictures
 of his of this  kind1 except perhaps   
the ,transfiguration1 in which there are
 not some  parts that appear to be even 
feebly drawn4  ,that this is not a      
necessary  attendant on oil-painting1 we
 have abundant instances in more modern 

painters4  ,lodovico ,caracci1 for      
instance1 preserved in his works in oil 
the same spirit1 vigour1 and            
correctness1 which he had in fresco4  ,i
 have  no desire to degrade ,raffaelle  
from the high rank which he deservedly  
holds3 but by comparing him with        
himself1 he does not appear to me to be 
the same man in oil as in fresco4       
,from those who have ambition to tread  
in this great walk of the art1  ,michael
 ,angelo claims the next attention4  ,he
 did not possess so many  excellences as
 ,raffaelle1 but those he had were of   
the highest kind4  ,he  considered the  
art as consisting of little more than   
what may be attained  by sculpture1     
correctness of form1 and energy of      
character4  ,we ought not  to expect    
more than an artist intends in his work4
  ,he never attempted  those lesser     
elegancies and graces in the art4       
,vasari says1 he never  painted but one 
picture in oil1 and resolved never to   
paint another1  saying it was an        

employment only fit for women and       
children4    ,if any man had a right to 
look down upon the lower accomplishments
 as  beneath his attention1 it was      
certainly ,michael ,angelo3 nor can it  
be  thought strange that such a mind    
should have slighted or have been       
withheld from paying due attention to   
all those graces and embellishments  of 
art which have diffused such lustre over
 the works of other painters4    ,it    
must be acknowledged likewise1 that     
together with these1 which we wish  he  
had more attended to1 he has rejected   
all the false though specious  ornaments
 which disgrace the works even of the   
most esteemed artists2 and  ,i will     
venture to say1 that when those higher  
excellences are more known  and         
cultivated by the artists and the       
patrons of arts1 his fame and  credit   
will increase with our increasing       
knowledge4  ,his name will then  be held
 in the same veneration as it was in the
 enlightened age of ,leo  the ,tenth3   

and it is remarkable that the reputation
 of this truly great  man has been      
continually declining as the art itself 
has declined4  ,for ,i  must remark to  
you1 that it has long been much on the  
decline1 and that  our only hope of its 
revival will consist in your being      
thoroughly  sensible of its depravation 
and decay4  ,it is to ,michael ,angelo  
that we  owe even the existence of      
,raffaelle2 it is to him ,raffaelle owes
 the  grandeur of his style4  ,he was   
taught by him to elevate his thoughts1  
and  to conceive his subjects with      
dignity4  ,his genius1 however1 formed  
to  blaze and to shine1 might1 like fire
 in combustible matter1 for ever have   
lain dormant if it had not caught a     
spark by its contact with ,michael      
,angelo3 and though it never burst out  
with that extraordinary heat and        
vehemence1 yet it must be acknowledged  
to be a more pure1 regular1 and  chaste 
flame4  ,though our judgment will upon  
the whole decide in favour  of          

,raffaelle3 yet he never takes that firm
 hold and entire possession of  the mind
 in such a manner as to desire nothing  
else1 and feel nothing  wanting4  ,the  
effect of the capital works of ,michael 
,angelo perfectly  correspond to what   
,bourchardon said he felt from reading  
,homer4  ,his  whole frame appeared to  
himself to be enlarged1 and all nature  
which  surrounded him diminished to     
atoms4    ,if we put those great artists
 in a light of comparison with each     
other1  ,raffaelle had more taste and   
fancy1 ,michael ,angelo more genius and 
imagination4  ,the one excelled in      
beauty1 the other in energy4  ,michael  
,angelo has more of the poetical        
inspiration2 his ideas are vast and     
sublime2 his people are a superior order
 of beings2 there is nothing  about     
them1 nothing in the air of their       
actions or their attitudes1 or  the     
style and cast of their very limbs or   
features1 that puts one in mind  of     
their belonging1 to our own species4    

,raffaelle's imagination is not  so     
elevated2 his figures are not so much   
disjoined from our own  diminutive race 
of beings1 though his ideas are chaste1 
noble1 and of  great conformity to their
 subjects4  ,michael ,angelo's works    
have a  strong1 peculiar1 and marked    
character2 they seem to proceed from his
 own  mind entirely1 and that mind so   
rich and abundant1 that he never needed1
  or seemed to disdain1 to look abroad  
for foreign help4  ,raffaelle's         
materials are generally borrowed1 though
 the noble structure is his own4  ,the  
excellency of this extraordinary man lay
 in the propriety1 beauty1  and majesty 
of his characters1 his judicious        
contrivance of his  composition1        
correctness of drawing1 purity of taste1
 and the skilful  accommodation of other
 men's conceptions to his own purpose4  
,nobody  excelled him in that judgment1 
with which he united to his own         
observations on nature the energy of    
,michael ,angelo1 and the beauty and    

simplicity of the antique4  ,to the     
question1 therefore1 which ought to     
hold the first rank1 ,raffaelle or      
,michael ,angelo1 it must be answered1  
that if it is to be given to him who    
possessed a greater combination of  the 
higher qualities of the art than any    
other man1 there is no doubt but        
,raffaelle is the first4  ,but if1      
according to ,longinus1 the sublime1    
being the highest excellence that human 
composition can attain to1  abundantly  
compensates the absence of every other  
beauty1 and atones for  all other       
deficiencies1 then ,michael ,angelo     
demands the preference4    ,these two   
extraordinary men carried some of the   
higher excellences of the  art to a     
greater degree of perfection than       
probably they ever arrived at  before4  
,they certainly have not been excelled1 
nor equalled since4  ,many  of their    
successors were induced to leave this   
great road as a beaten  path1           
endeavouring to surprise and please by  

something uncommon or new4  ,when this  
desire after novelty has proceeded from 
mere idleness or  caprice1 it is not    
worth the trouble of criticism2 but when
 it has been  in consequence of a busy  
mind of a peculiar complexion1 it is    
always  striking and interesting1 never 
insipid4    ,such is the great style as 
it appears in those who possessed it at 
its  height2 in this1 search after      
novelty in conception or in treating the
  subject has no place4    ,but there is
 another style1 which1 though inferior  
to the former1 has  still great merit1  
because it shows that those who         
cultivated it were men  of lively and   
vigorous imagination4  ,this ,i call the
 original or  characteristical style2   
this1 being less referred to any true   
architype  existing either in general or
 particular nature1 must be supported by
 the  painter's consistency in the      
principles he has assumed1 and in the   
union  and harmony of his whole design4 
,the excellency of every style1 but ,i  

think of the subordinate ones more      
especially1 will very much depend on    
preserving that union and harmony       
between all the component parts1 that   
they appear to hang well together1 as if
 the whole proceeded from one  mind4    
,it is in the works of art1 as in the   
characters of men4  ,the  faults or     
defects of some men seem to become them 
when they appear to be  the natural     
growth1 and of a piece with the rest of 
their character4  ,a  faithful picture  
of a mind1 though it be not of the most 
elevated kind1  though it be irregular1 
wild1 and incorrect1 yet if it be marked
 with  that spirit and firmness which   
characterises works of genius1 will     
claim  attention1 and be more striking  
than a combination of excellences that  
do  not seem to hang well together1 or  
we may say than a work that possesses   
even all excellences1 but those in a    
moderate degree4    ,one of the         
strongest marked characters of this     
kind1 which must be  allowed to be      

subordinate to the great style1 is that 
of ,salvator ,rosa4  ,he gives us a     
peculiar cast of nature1 which1 though  
void of all grace1  elegance1 and       
simplicity2 though it has nothing of    
that elevation and  dignity which       
belongs to the grand style1 yet has that
 sort of dignity  which belongs to      
savage and uncultivated nature4  ,but   
what is most to be  admired in him is   
the perfect correspondence which he     
observed between  the subjects which he 
chose1 and his manner of treating them4 
,everything  is of a piece3 his rocks1  
trees1 sky1 even to his handling have   
the same  rude and wild character which 
animates his figures4    ,to him we may 
contrast the character of ,carlo        
,maratti1 who1 in my own  opinion1 had  
no great vigour of mind or strength of  
original genius4  ,he  rarely seizes the
 imagination by exhibiting the higher   
excellences1 nor  does he captivate us  
by that originality which attends the   
painter who  thinks for himself4  ,he   

knew and practised all the rules of art1
 and from  a composition of ,raffaelle1 
,caracci1 and ,guido1 made up a style1  
of which  its only fault was1 that it   
had no manifest defects and no striking 
beauties1 and that the principles of his
 composition are never blended          
together1 so as to form one uniform     
body1 original in its kind1 or          
excellent in any view4    ,i will       
mention two other painters who1 though  
entirely dissimilar1 yet by  being each 
consistent with himself1 and possessing 
a manner entirely his  own1 have both   
gained reputation1 though for very      
opposite  accomplishments4    ,the      
painters ,i mean are ,rubens and        
,poussin4  ,rubens ,i mention in this   
place1 as ,i think him a remarkable     
instance of the same mind being seen  in
 all the various parts of the art4  ,the
 whole is so much of a piece  that one  
can scarce be brought to believe but    
that if any one of them had  been more  
correct and perfect1 his works would not

 be so complete as they  now appear4    
,if we should allow a greater purity and
 correctness of  drawing1 his want of   
simplicity in composition1 colouring1   
and drapery  would appear more gross4   
,in his composition his art is too      
apparent4  ,his figures have expression1
  and act with energy1 but without      
simplicity or dignity4  ,his colouring1 
in which he is eminently skilled1 is1   
notwithstanding1 too much of what  we   
call tinted4  ,throughout the whole of  
his works there is a  proportionable    
want of that nicety of distinction and  
elegance of mind  which is required in  
the higher walks of painting2 and to    
this want it  may be in some degree     
ascribed that those qualities which make
 the  excellency of this subordinate    
style appear in him with their greatest 
lustre4  ,indeed1 the facility with     
which he invented1 the richness of his  
composition1 the luxuriant harmony and  
brilliancy of his colouring1 so  dazzle 
the eye1 that whilst his works continue 

before us we cannot help  thinking that 
all his deficiencies are fully supplied4
    ,opposed to this florid1 careless1  
loose1 and inaccurate style1 that of    
the simple1 careful1 pure1 and correct  
style of ,poussin seems to be a         
complete contrast4    ,yet however      
opposite their characters1 in one thing 
they agreed1 both of  them having a     
perfect correspondence between all the  
parts of their  respective manners4     
,one is not sure but every alteration of
 what is considered as defective  in    
either1 would destroy the effect of the 
whole4    ,poussin lived and conversed  
with the ancient statues so long1 that  
he may  be said to be better acquainted 
with then than with the people who were 
about him4  ,i have often thought that  
he carried his veneration for them  so  
far as to wish to give his works the air
 of ancient paintings4  ,it is  certain 
he copied some of the antique paintings1
 particularly the  ,marriage in the     
,albrobrandini ,palace at ,rome1 which  

,i believe to be the  best relique of   
those remote ages that has yet been     
found4    ,no works of any modern has so
 much of the air of antique painting as 
those of ,poussin4  ,his best           
performances have a remarkable dryness  
of  manner1 which1 though by no means to
 be recommended for imitation1 yet      
seems perfectly correspondent to that   
ancient simplicity which  distinguishes 
his style4  ,like ,polidoro he studied  
them so much1 that he  acquired a habit 
of thinking in their way1 and seemed to 
know perfectly  the actions and gestures
 they would use on every occasion4      
,poussin in the latter part of his life 
changed from his dry manner to one  much
 softer and richer1 where there is a    
greater union between the  figures and  
the ground1 such as the ,seven          
,sacraments in the ,duke of  ,orleans'  
collection2 but neither these1 nor any  
in this manner1 are at  all comparable  
to many in his dry manner which we have 
in ,england4    ,the favourite subjects 

of ,poussin were ancient fables2 and no 
painter was  ever better qualified to   
paint such subjects1 not only from his  
being  eminently skilled in the         
knowledge of ceremonies1 customs1 and   
habits of  the ancients1 but from his   
being so well acquainted with the       
different  characters which those who   
invented them gave their allegorical    
figures4  ,though ,rubens has shown     
great fancy in his ,satyrs1 ,silenuses1 
and ,fauns1  yet they are not that      
distinct separate class of beings which 
is  carefully exhibited by the ancients 
and by ,poussin4  ,certainly when such  
subjects of antiquity are represented1  
nothing in the picture ought to  remind 
us of modern times4  ,the mind is thrown
 back into antiquity1 and  nothing ought
 to be introduced that may tend to      
awaken it from the  illusion4           
,poussin seemed to think that the style 
and the language in which such  stories 
are told is not the worse for preserving
 some relish of the old  way of painting

 which seemed to give a general         
uniformity to the whole1  so that the   
mind was thrown back into antiquity not 
only by the subject1  but the execution4
    ,if ,poussin1 in imitation of the   
ancients1 represents ,apollo driving his
  chariot out of the sea by way of      
representing the sun rising1 if he      
personifies lakes and rivers1 it is no  
ways offensive in him2 but seems        
perfectly of a piece with the general   
air of the picture4  ,on the  contrary1 
if the figures which people his pictures
 had a modern air or  countenance1 if   
they appeared like our countrymen1 if   
the draperies were  like cloth or silk  
of our manufacture1 if the landscape had
 the  appearance of a modern view1 how  
ridiculous would ,apollo appear instead 
of the sun1 an old man or a nymph with  
an urn instead of a river or lake4    ,i
 cannot avoid mentioning here a         
circumstance in portrait painting which 
may help to confirm what has been said4 
,when a portrait is painted in the      

historical style1 as it is neither an   
exact minute representation of an       
individual nor completely ideal1 every  
circumstance ought to correspond to this
 mixture4  ,the simplicity of the       
antique air and attitude1 however much  
to be admired1 is ridiculous when       
joined to a figure in a modern dress4   
,it is not to my purpose to enter  into 
the question at present1 whether this   
mixed style ought to be  adopted or not2
 yet if it is chosen it is necessary it 
should be complete  and all of a piece3 
the difference of stuffs1 for instance1 
which make  the clothing1 should be     
distinguished in the same degree as the 
head  deviates from a general idea4     
,without this union1 which ,i have so   
often recommended1 a work can have no   
marked and determined character1 which  
is the peculiar and constant  evidence  
of genius4  ,but when this is           
accomplished to a high degree1 it       
becomes in some sort a rival to that    
style which we have fixed as the        

highest4    ,thus ,i have given a sketch
 of the characters of ,rubens and       
,salvator ,rosa1  as they appear to me  
to have the greatest uniformity of mind 
throughout  their whole work4  ,but we  
may add to these1 all these artists who 
are at  the head of the class1 and have 
had a school of imitators from ,michael 
,angelo down to ,watteau4  ,upon the    
whole it appears that setting aside the 
ornamental style1 there are two         
different paths1 either of which a      
student may take without degrading the  
dignity of his art4  ,the first is  to  
combine the higher excellences and      
embellish them to the greatest          
advantage4  ,the other is to carry one  
of these excellences to the highest     
degree4  ,but those who possess neither 
must be classed with them1 who1 as      
,shakespeare says1 are men of no mark or
 likelihood4    ,i inculcate as         
frequently as ,i can your forming       
yourselves upon great  principles and   
great models4  ,your time will be much  

misspent in every  other pursuit4       
,small excellences should be viewed1 not
 studied2 they  ought to be viewed1     
because nothing ought to escape a       
painter's  observation1 but for no other
 reason4    ,there is another caution   
which ,i wish to give you4  ,be as      
select in those  whom you endeavour to  
please1 as in those whom you endeavour  
to imitate4  ,without the love of fame  
you can never do anything excellent2 but
 by an  excessive and undistinguishing  
thirst after it1 you will come to have  
vulgar views2 you will degrade your     
style2 and your taste will be  entirely 
corrupted4  ,it is certain that the     
lowest style will be the most  popular1 
as it falls within the compass of       
ignorance itself2 and the  vulgar will  
always be pleased with what is natural  
in the confined and  misunderstood sense
 of the word4    ,one would wish that   
such depravation of taste should be     
counteracted1  with such manly pride as 
,euripides expressed to the ,athenians1 

who  criticised his works1 ,i do not    
compose1 says he1 my works in order to  
be corrected by you1 but to instruct    
you4  ,it is true1 to have a right  to  
speak thus1 a man must be a ,euripides4 
,however1 thus much may be  allowed1    
that when an artist is sure that he is  
upon firm ground1  supported by the     
authority and practice of his           
predecessors of the  greatest           
reputation1 he may then assume the      
boldness and intrepidity of  genius2 at 
any rate1 he must not be tempted out of 
the right path by any  tide of          
popularity that always accompanies the  
lower styles of painting4    ,i mention 
this1 because our exhibitions1 that     
produce such admirable  effects by      
nourishing emulation1 and calling out   
genius1 have also a  mischievous        
tendency by seducing the painter to an  
ambition of pleasing  indiscriminately  
the mixed multitude of people who resort
 to them4        ,a ,,discourse         
,delivered to the ,students of the      

,royal ,academy on the ,distribution of 
the  ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aggd1 by  
the ,president4      ,gentlemen1--,when 
,i have taken the liberty of addressing 
you on the course  and order of your    
studies1 ,i never proposed to enter into
 a minute detail  of the art4  ,this ,i 
have always left to the several         
professors1 who  pursue the end of our  
institution with the highest honour to  
themselves1  and with the greatest      
advantage to the students4    ,my       
purpose in the discourses ,i have held  
in the ,academy is to lay down  certain 
general ideas1 which seem to me proper  
for the formation of a  sound taste2    
principles necessary to guard the pupils
 against those  errors into which the   
sanguine temper common at their time of 
life1 has a  tendency to lead them1 and 
which have rendered abortive the hopes  
of so  many successions of promising    
young men in all parts of ,europe4    ,i
 wish1 also1 to intercept and suppress  
those prejudices which  particularly    

prevail when the mechanism of painting  
is come to its  perfection1 and which   
when they do prevail are certain to     
prevail to the  utter destruction of the
 higher and more valuable parts of this 
literate  and liberal profession4       
,these two have been my principal       
purposes2 they are still as much my     
concern as ever2 and if ,i repeat my own
 ideas on the subject1 you who  know how
 fast mistake and prejudice1 when       
neglected1 gain ground upon  truth and  
reason1 will easily excuse me4  ,i only 
attempt to set the same  thing in the   
greatest variety of lights4    ,the     
subject of this discourse will be       
imitation1 as far as a painter is       
concerned in it4  ,by imitation ,i do   
not mean imitation in its largest       
sense1 but simply the following of other
 masters1 and the advantage to be  drawn
 from the study of their works4         
,those who have undertaken to write on  
our art1 and have represented it as  a  
kind of inspiration1 as a gift bestowed 

upon peculiar favourites at  their      
birth1 seem to ensure a much more       
favourable disposition from their       
readers1 and have a much more           
captivating and liberal air1 than he who
  goes about to examine1 coldly1 whether
 there are any means by which this  art 
may be acquired2 how our mind may be    
strengthened and expanded1 and  what    
guides will show the way to eminence4   
,it is very natural for those who are   
unacquainted with the cause of  anything
 extraordinary to be astonished at the  
effect1 and to consider it  as a kind of
 magic4  ,they1 who have never observed 
the gradation by which  art is acquired1
 who see only what is the full result of
 long labour and  application of an     
infinite number1 and infinite variety of
 acts1 are apt  to conclude from their  
entire inability to do the same at once1
 that it  is not only inaccessible to   
themselves1 but can be done by those    
only who  have some gift of the nature  
of inspiration bestowed upon them4      

,the travellers into the ,east tell us  
that when the ignorant inhabitants  of  
these countries are asked concerning the
 ruins of stately edifices yet          
remaining amongst them1 the melancholy  
monuments of their former grandeur  and 
long-lost science1 they always answer   
that they were built by  magicians4     
,the untaught mind finds a vast gulf    
between its own powers  and these works 
of complicated art which it is utterly  
unable to fathom4  ,and it supposes that
 such a void can be passed only by      
supernatural  powers4    ,and1 as for   
artists themselves1 it is by no means   
their interest to  undeceive such       
judges1 however conscious they may be of
 the very natural  means by which the   
extraordinary powers were acquired2 our 
art being  intrinsically imitative1     
rejects this idea of inspiration more1  
perhaps1  than any other4    ,it is to  
avoid this plain confession of truth1 as
 it should seem1 that  this imitation of
 masters--indeed1 almost all imitation  

which implies a  more regular and       
progressive method of attaining the ends
 of painting--has  ever been            
particularly inveighed against with     
great keenness1 both by  ancient and    
modern writers4    ,to derive all from  
native power1 to owe nothing to another1
 is the praise  which men1 who do not   
much think what they are saying1 bestow 
sometimes  upon others1 and sometimes on
 themselves2 and their imaginary dignity
 is  naturally heightened by a          
supercilious censure of the low1 the    
barren1  the grovelling1 the servile    
imitator4  ,it would be no wonder if a  
student1 frightened by these terrors and
 disgraceful epithets1 with which  the  
poor imitators are so often loaded1     
should let fall his pencil in  mere     
despair1 conscious how much he has been 
indebted to the labours of  others1 how 
little1 how very little of his art was  
born with him2 and1  considering it as  
hopeless1 to set about acquiring by the 
imitation of  any human master what he  

is taught to suppose is matter of       
inspiration  from heaven4    ,some      
allowance must be made for what is said 
in the gaiety or ambition of  rhetoric4 
,we cannot suppose that any one can     
really mean to exclude all  imitation of
 others4  ,a position so wild would     
scarce deserve a serious  answer1 for it
 is apparent1 if we were forbid to make 
use of the  advantages which our        
predecessors afford us1 the art would be
 always to  begin1 and consequently     
remain always in its infant state2 and  
it is a  common observation that no art 
was ever invented and carried to        
perfection at the same time4    ,but to 
bring us entirely to reason and         
sobriety1 let it be observed1 that  a   
painter must not only be of necessity an
 imitator of the works of  nature1 which
 alone is sufficient to dispel this     
phantom of inspiration1  but he must be 
as necessarily an imitator of the works 
of other painters4  ,this appears more  
humiliating1 but it is equally true2 and

 no man can be  an artist1 whatever he  
may suppose1 upon any other terms4      
,however1 those who appear more moderate
 and reasonable allow that study  is to 
begin by imitation1 but that we should  
no longer use the thoughts  of our      
predecessors when we are become able to 
think for ourselves4  ,they  hold that  
imitation is as hurtful to the more     
advanced student as it was  advantageous
 to the beginner4    ,for my own part1  
,i confess ,i am not only very much     
disposed to lay down  the absolute      
necessity of imitation in the first     
stages of the art1 but  am of opinion   
that the study of other masters1 which  
,i here call  imitation1 may be extended
 throughout our whole life without any  
danger  of the inconveniences with which
 it is charged1 of enfeebling the mind1 
or preventing us from giving that       
original air which every work           
undoubtedly ought always to have4    ,i 
am1 on the contrary1 persuaded that by  
imitation only1 variety1 and  even      

originality of invention is produced4   
,i will go further2 even genius1 at     
least what generally is so called1 is   
the child of imitation4  ,but as this   
appears to be contrary to the  general  
opinion1 ,i must explain my position    
before ,i enforce it4    ,genius is     
supposed to be a power of producing     
excellences which are out  of the reach 
of the rules of art--a power which no   
precepts can teach1  and which no       
industry can acquire4    ,this opinion  
of the impossibility of acquiring those 
beauties which stamp  the work with the 
character of genius1 supposes that it is
 something more  fixed than in reality  
it is1 and that we always do1 and ever  
did agree1  about what should be        
considered as a characteristic of       
genius4    ,but the truth is that the   
degree of excellence which proclaims    
genius is  different in different times 
and different places2 and what shows it 
to  be so is that mankind have often    
changed their opinion upon this matter4 

,when the arts were in their infancy1   
the power of merely drawing the         
likeness of any object was considered as
 one of its greatest efforts4    ,the   
common people1 ignorant of the          
principles of art1 talk the same        
language even to this day4  ,but when it
 was found that every man could be      
taught to do this1 and a great deal     
more1 merely by the observance of       
certain precepts1 the name of genius    
then shifted its application1 and  was  
given only to those who added the       
peculiar character of the object  they  
represented2 to those who had invention1
 expression1 grace1 or  dignity2 or1 in 
short1 such qualities or excellences the
 producing of  which could not then be  
taught by any known and promulgated     
rules4    ,we are very sure that the    
beauty of form1 the expression of the   
passions1  the art of composition1 even 
the power of giving a general air of    
grandeur to your work1 is at present    
very much under the dominion of  rules4 

,these excellences were1 heretofore1    
considered merely as the  effects of    
genius2 and justly1 if genius is not    
taken for inspiration1  but as the      
effect of close observation and         
experience4    ,he who first made any of
 these observations and digested them1  
so as to  form an invariable principle  
for himself to work by1 had that merit2 
but  probably no one went very far at   
once2 and generally the first who gave  
the hint did not know how to pursue it  
steadily and methodically1 at  least not
 in the beginning4  ,he himself worked  
on it1 and improved it2  others worked  
more1 and improved farther1 until the   
secret was  discovered1 and the practice
 made as general as refined practice can
 be  made4  ,how many more principles   
may be fixed and ascertained we cannot  
tell2 but as criticism is likely to go  
hand in hand with the art which is  its 
subject1 we may venture to say that as  
that art shall advance1 its  powers will
 be still more and more fixed by rules4 

,but by whatever strides criticism may  
gain ground1 we need be under no        
apprehension that invention will ever be
 annihilated or subdued1 or             
intellectual energy be brought entirely 
within the restraint of written  law4   
,genius will still have room enough to  
expatiate1 and keep always  the same    
distance from narrow comprehension and  
mechanical performance4    ,what we now 
call genius begins1 not where rules1    
abstractedly taken1 end1  but where     
known vulgar and trite rules have no    
longer any place4  ,it must  of         
necessity be that even works of genius1 
as well as every other effect1  as it   
must have its cause1 must likewise have 
its rules2 it cannot be by  chance that 
excellences are produced with any       
constancy1 or any  certainty1 for this  
is not the nature of chance1 but the    
rules by which  men of extraordinary    
parts1 and such as are called men of    
genius work1  are either such as they   
discover by their own peculiar          

observation1 or of  such a nice texture 
as not easily to admit handling or      
expressing in  words1 especially as     
artists are not very frequently skilful 
in that mode  of communicating ideas4   
,unsubstantial1 however1 as these rules 
may seem1 and difficult as it may  be to
 convey them in writing1 they are still 
seen and felt in the mind of  the       
artist1 and he works from them with as  
much certainty as if they were          
embodied1 as ,i may say1 upon paper4    
,it is true these refined principles    
cannot be always made palpable1 like the
 more gross rules of art2 yet it  does  
not follow but that the mind may be put 
in such a train that it  shall perceive1
 by a kind of scientific sense1 that    
propriety which  words1 particularly    
words of unpractised writers such as we 
are1 can but  very feebly suggest4      
,invention is one of the great marks of 
genius1 but if we consult  experience1  
we shall find that it is by being       
conversant with the  inventions of      

others that we learn to invent1 as by   
reading the thoughts  of others we learn
 to think4    ,whoever has so far formed
 his taste as to be able to relish and  
feel the  beauties of the great masters 
has gone a great way in his study2 for1 
merely from a consciousness of this     
relish of the right1 the mind swells    
with an inward pride1 and is almost as  
powerfully affected as if it had  itself
 produced what it admires4  ,our hearts 
frequently warmed in this  manner by the
 contact of those whom we wish to       
resemble1 will undoubtedly  catch       
something of their way of thinking1 and 
we shall receive in our own  bosoms some
 radiation at least of their fire and   
splendour4  ,that  disposition1 which is
 so strong in children1 still continues 
with us1 of  catching involuntarily the 
general air and manner of those with    
whom we  are most conversant2 with this 
difference only1 that a young mind is   
naturally pliable and imitative1 but in 
a more advanced state it grows  rigid1  

and must be warmed and softened before  
it will receive a deep  impression4     
,from these considerations1 which a     
little of your reflection will carry a  
great way further1 it appears of what   
great consequence it is that our  minds 
should be habituated to the             
contemplation of excellence1 and that1  
far from being contented to make such   
habits the discipline of our youth      
only1 we should1 to the last moment of  
our lives1 continue a settled           
intercourse with all the true examples  
of grandeur4  ,their inventions are  not
 only the food of our infancy1 but the  
substance which supplies the  fullest   
maturity of our vigour4    ,the mind is 
but a barren soil2 is a soil soon       
exhausted1 and will produce  no crop1 or
 only one1 unless it be continually     
fertilised and enriched  with foreign   
matter4    ,when we have had continually
 before us the great works of art to    
impregnate our minds with kindred ideas1
 we are then1 and not till then1  fit to

 produce something1 of the same species4
  ,we behold all about us  with the eyes
 of these penetrating observers1 and our
 minds1 accustomed  to think the        
thoughts of the noblest and brightest   
intellects1 are  prepared for the       
discovery and selection of all that is  
great and noble  in nature4  ,the       
greatest natural genius cannot subsist  
on its own stock3  he who resolves never
 to ransack any mind but his own will be
 soon  reduced1 from mere barrenness1 to
 the poorest of all imitations2 he will 
be obliged to imitate himself1 and to   
repeat what he has before often         
repeated4  ,when we know the subject    
designed by such men1 it will never  be 
difficult to guess what kind of work is 
to be produced4    ,it is vain for      
painters or poets to endeavour to invent
 without materials  on which the mind   
may work1 and from which invention must 
originate4  ,nothing can come of        
nothing4    ,homer is supposed to be    
possessed of all the learning of his    

time4  ,and  we are certain that        
,michael ,angelo and ,raffaelle were    
equally possessed  of all knowledge in  
the art which was discoverable in the   
works of their  predecessors4    ,a mind
 enriched by an assemblage of all the   
treasures of ancient and  modern art    
will be more elevated and fruitful in   
resources in proportion  to the number  
of ideas which have been carefully      
collected and thoroughly  digested4     
,there can be no doubt that he who has  
the most materials has  the greatest    
means of invention2 and if he has not   
the power of using  them1 it must       
proceed from a feebleness of intellect  
or from the confused  manner in which   
those collections have been laid up in  
his mind4    ,the addition of other     
men's judgment is so far from weakening1
 as is the  opinion of many1 our own1   
that it will fashion and consolidate    
those  ideas of excellence which lay in 
their birth feeble1 ill-shaped1 and     
confused1 but which are finished and put

 in order by the authority and  practice
 of those whose works may be said to    
have been consecrated by  having stood  
the test of ages4    ,the mind1 or      
genius1 has been compared to a spark of 
fire which is  smothered by a heap of   
fuel and prevented from blazing into a  
flame4  ,this  simile1 which is made use
 of by the younger ,pliny1 may be easily
 mistaken  for argument or proof4       
,there is no danger of the mind's being 
over-burdened with knowledge1 or  the   
genius extinguished by any addition of  
images2 on the contrary1 these          
acquisitions may as well1 perhaps       
better1 be compared1 if comparisons     
signified anything in reasoning1 to the 
supply of living embers1 which  will    
contribute to strengthen the spark that 
without the association of  more would  
have died away4    ,the truth is1 he    
whose feebleness is such as to make     
other men's thoughts  an incumbrance to 
him can have no very great strength of  
mind or genius  of his own to be        

destroyed1 so that not much harm will be
 done at worst4    ,we may oppose to    
,pliny the greater authority of ,cicero1
 who is  continually enforcing the      
necessity of this method of study4  ,in 
his  dialogue on ,oratory he makes      
,crassus say1 that one of the first and 
most  important precepts is to choose a 
proper model for our imitation4  ,hoc   
fit primum in preceptis meis ut         
demonstremus quem imitemur4    ,when ,i 
speak of the habitual imitation and     
continued study of masters1 it  is not  
to be understood that ,i advise any     
endeavour to copy the exact  peculiar   
colour and complexion of another man's  
mind2 the success of such  an attempt   
must always be like his who imitates    
exactly the air1 manner1  and gestures  
of him whom he admires4  ,his model may 
be excellent1 but the  copy will be     
ridiculous2 this ridicule does not arise
 from his having  imitated1 but from his
 not having chosen the right mode of    
imitation4    ,it is a necessary and    

warrantable pride to disdain to walk    
servilely  behind any individual1       
however elevated his rank4  ,the true   
and liberal  ground of imitation is an  
open field1 where1 though he who        
precedes has  had the advantage of      
starting before you1 yet it is enough to
 pursue his  course2 you need not tread 
in his footsteps1 and you certainly have
 a  right to outstrip him if you can4   
,nor1 whilst ,i recommend studying the  
art from artists1 can ,i be supposed  to
 mean that nature is to be neglected8   
,i take this study in aid and not  in   
exclusion of the other4  ,nature is1 and
 must be1 the fountain which  alone is  
inexhaustible2 and from which all       
excellences must originally  flow4      
,the great use of studying our          
predecessors is to open the mind1 to    
shorten our labour1 and to give us the  
result of the selection made by  those  
great minds of what is grand or         
beautiful in nature3 her rich  stores   
are all spread out before us2 but it is 

an art1 and no easy art1  to know how or
 what to choose1 and how to attain and  
secure the object of  our choice4       
,thus the highest beauty of form must be
 taken from nature2 but it is an  art of
 long deduction and great experience to 
know how to find it4    ,we must not    
content ourselves with merely admiring  
and relishing2 we must  enter into the  
principles on which the work is wrought2
 these do not swim  on the superficies1 
and consequently are not open to        
superficial  observers4    ,art in its  
perfection is not ostentatious2 it lies 
hid1 and works its  effect itself       
unseen4  ,it is the proper study and    
labour of an artist to  uncover and find
 out the latent cause of conspicuous    
beauties1 and from  thence form         
principles for his own conduct2 such an 
examination is a  continual exertion of 
the mind1 as great1 perhaps1 as that of 
the artist  whose works he is thus      
studying4    ,the sagacious imitator not
 only remarks what distinguishes the    

different  manner or genius of each     
master2 he enters into the contrivance  
in the  composition1 how the masses of  
lights are disposed1 the means by which 
the effect is produced1 how artfully    
some parts are lost in the ground1      
others boldly relieved1 and how all     
these are mutually altered and          
interchanged according to the reason and
 scheme of the work4  ,he admires  not  
the harmony of colouring alone1 but he  
examines by what artifice one  colour is
 a foil to its neighbour4  ,he looks    
close into the tints1 of  what colours  
they are composed1 till he has formed   
clear and distinct  ideas1 and has      
learnt to see in what harmony and good  
colouring consists4  ,what is learnt in 
this manner from the works of others    
becomes really our  own1 sinks deep1 and
 is never forgotten2 nay1 it is by      
seizing on this  clue that we proceed   
forward1 and get further and further in 
enlarging  the principle and improving  
the practice4    ,there can be no doubt 

but the art is better learnt from the   
works  themselves than from the precepts
 which are formed upon these works2 but 
if it is difficult to choose proper     
models for imitation1 it requires no    
less circumspection to separate and     
distinguish what in those models we     
ought to imitate4    ,i cannot avoid    
mentioning here1 though it is not my    
intention at present  to enter into the 
art and method of study1 an error which 
students are  too apt to fall into4     
,he that is forming himself must look   
with great caution and wariness on      
those peculiarities1 or prominent parts1
 which at first force themselves  upon  
view1 and are the marks1 or what is     
commonly called the manner1 by  which   
that individual artist is distinguished4
    ,peculiar marks ,i hold to be       
generally1 if not always1 defects1      
however  difficult it may be1 wholly to 
escape them4    ,peculiarities in the   
works of art are like those in the human
 figure2 it  is by them that we are     

cognisable and distinguished one from   
another1 but  they are always so many   
blemishes1 which1 however1 both in the  
one case  and in the other1 cease to    
appear deformities to those who have    
them  continually before their eyes4    
,in the works of art1 even the most     
enlightened mind1 when warmed by        
beauties of the highest kind1 will by   
degrees find a repugnance within him to 
acknowledge any defects2 nay1 his       
enthusiasm will carry him so far as to  
transform them into beauties and        
objects of imitation4    ,it must be    
acknowledged that a peculiarity of      
style1 either from its  novelty1 or by  
seeming to proceed from a peculiar turn 
of mind1 often  escapes blame2 on the   
contrary1 it is sometimes striking and  
pleasing2  but this it is vain labour to
 endeavour to imitate1 because novelty  
and  peculiarity being its only merit1  
when it ceases to be new1 it ceases to  
have value4    ,a manner1 therefore1    
being a defect1 and every painter1      

however  excellent1 having a manner1 it 
seems to follow that all kinds of       
faults1  as well as beauties1 may be    
learned under the sanction of the       
greatest  authorities4    ,even the     
great name of ,michael ,angelo may be   
used to keep in countenance  a          
deficiency1 or rather neglect of        
colouring1 and every other ornamental   
part of the art4    ,if the young       
student is dry and hard1 ,poussin is the
 same4  ,if his work  has a careless and
 unfinished air1 he has most of the     
,venetian ,school to  support him4  ,if 
he makes no selection of objects1 but   
takes individual  nature just as he     
finds it1 he is like ,rembrandt4  ,if he
 is incorrect in  the proportions of his
 figures1 ,correggio was likewise       
incorrect4  ,if his  colours are not    
blended and united1 ,rubens was equally 
crude4    ,in short1 there is no defect 
but may be excused1 if it is a          
sufficient  excuse that it can be       
imputed to considerable artists2 but it 

must be  remembered that it was not by  
these defects they acquired their       
reputation3 they have a right to our    
pardon1 but not to our admiration4      
,however1 to imitate peculiarities or   
mistake defects for beauties that  man  
will be most liable who confines his    
imitation to one favourite  master2 and1
 even though he chooses the best1 and is
 capable of  distinguishing the real    
excellences of his model1 it is not by  
such  narrow practice that a genius or  
mastery in the art is acquired4  ,a man 
is as little likely to form a true idea 
of the perfection of the art by         
studying a single artist as he would be 
of producing a perfectly  beautiful     
figure by an exact imitation of any     
individual living model4    ,and as the 
painter1 by bringing together in one    
piece those beauties  which are         
dispersed amongst a great variety of    
individuals1 produces a  figure more    
beautiful than can be found in nature1  
so that artist who can  unite in himself

 the excellences of the various         
painters1 will approach  nearer to      
perfection than any one of his masters4 
,he who confines himself to the         
imitation of an individual1 as he never 
proposes to surpass1 so he is not likely
 to equal1 the object of  imitation4    
,he professes only to follow1 and he    
that follows must  necessarily be       
behind4    ,we should imitate the       
conduct of the great artists in the     
course of their  studies1 as well as the
 works which they produced1 when they   
were  perfectly formed4  ,raffaelle     
began by imitating implicitly the manner
 of  ,pietro ,perugino1 under whom he   
studied2 so his first works are scarce  
to  be distinguished from his master's2 
but soon forming higher and more        
extensive views1 he imitated the grand  
outline of ,michael ,angelo4  ,he       
learnt the manner of using colours from 
the works of ,leonardo da ,vinci  and   
,fratre ,bartolomeo3 to all this he     
added the contemplation of all the      

remains of antiquity that were within   
his reach1 and employed others to  draw 
for him what was in ,greece and distant 
places4  ,and it is from his  having    
taken so many models that he became     
himself a model for all  succeeding     
painters1 always imitating1 and always  
original4    ,if your ambition therefore
 be to equal ,raffaelle1 you must do as 
,raffaelle did2 take many models1 and   
not take even him for your guide  alone 
to the exclusion of others4  ,and yet   
the number is infinite of  those who    
seem1 if one may judge by their style1  
to have seen no other  works but those  
of their master1 or of some favourite   
whose manner is  their first wish and   
their last4    ,i will mention a few    
that occur to me of this narrow1        
confined1  illiberal1 unscientific1 and 
servile kind of imitators4  ,guido was  
thus  meanly copied by ,elizabetta      
,sirani1 and ,simone ,cantarini2        
,poussin1 by  ,verdier and ,cheron2     
,parmigiano1 by ,jeronimo ,mazzuoli2    

,paolo ,veronese and  ,iacomo ,bassan   
had for their imitators their brothers  
and sons2 ,pietro de  ,cortona was      
followed by ,ciro ,ferri and ,romanelli2
 ,rubens1 by ,jacques  ,jordans and     
,diepenbeck2 ,guercino1 by his own      
family1 the ,gennari2 ,carlo  ,marratti 
was imitated by ,giuseppe ,chiari and   
,pietro da ,pietri2 and  ,rembrandt1 by 
,bramer1 ,eckhout1 and ,flink4  ,all    
these1 to whom may be  added a much     
longer list of painters1 whose works    
among the ignorant pass  for those of   
their masters1 are justly to be censured
 for barrenness and  servility4    ,to  
oppose to this list a few that have     
adopted a more liberal style of         
imitation3 ,pelegrino ,tibaldi1 ,rosso1 
and ,primaticio did not coldly  imitate1
 but caught something of the fire that  
animates the works of  ,michael ,angelo4
  ,the ,carraches formed their style    
from ,pelegrino ,tibaldi1  ,correggio1  
and the ,venetian ,school4              
,domenichino1 ,guido1 ,lanfranco1       

,albano1 ,guercino1 ,cavidone1          
,schidone1 ,tiarini1 though it is       
sufficiently  apparent that they came   
from the ,school of the ,carraches1 have
 yet the  appearance of men who extended
 their views beyond the model that lay  
before them1 and have shown that they   
had opinions of their own1 and  thought 
for themselves1 after they had made     
themselves masters of the  general      
principles of their schools4    ,le     
,seure's first manner resembles very    
much that of his master ,vovet3 but  as 
he soon excelled him1 so he differed    
from him in every part of the  art4     
,carlo ,marratti succeeded better than  
those ,i have first named1 and  ,i think
 owes his superiority to the extension  
of his views2 besides his  master       
,andrea ,sacchi1 he imitated ,raffaelle1
 ,guido1 and the ,carraches4  ,it  is   
true1 there is nothing very captivating 
in ,carlo ,marratti2 but this  proceeded
 from wants which cannot be completely  
supplied2 that is1 want  of strength of 

parts4  ,in this1 certainly men are not 
equal1 and a man  can bring home wares  
only in proportion to the capital with  
which he goes  to market4  ,carlo1 by   
diligence1 made the most of what he had2
 but there  was undoubtedly a heaviness 
about him1 which extended itself1       
uniformly  to his invention1 expression1
 his drawing1 colouring1 and the general
  effect of his pictures4  ,the truth   
is1 he never equalled any of his        
patterns in any one thing1 and he added 
little of his own4    ,but we must not  
rest contented1 even in this general    
study of the  moderns2 we must trace    
back the art to its fountain head1 to   
that source  from whence they drew their
 principal excellences1 the monuments of
 pure  antiquity4    ,all the inventions
 and thoughts of the ancients1 whether  
conveyed to us  in statues1 bas-reliefs1
 intaglios1 cameos1 or coins1 are to be 
sought  after and carefully studied3    
,the genius that hovers over these      
venerable  relics may be called the     

father of modern art4    ,from the      
remains of the works of the ancients the
 modern arts were  revived1 and it is by
 their means that they must be restored 
a second  time4  ,however it may mortify
 our vanity1 we must be forced to allow 
them  our masters2 and we may venture to
 prophecy1 that when they shall cease   
to be studied1 arts will no longer      
flourish1 and we shall again relapse    
into barbarism4    ,the fire of the     
artist's own genius operating upon these
 materials which  have been thus        
diligently collected1 will enable him to
 make new  combinations1 perhaps1       
superior to what had ever before been in
 the  possession of the art4  ,as in the
 mixture of the variety of metals1 which
  are said to have been melted and run  
together at the burning of ,corinth1  a 
new and till then unknown metal was     
produced equal in value to any of  those
 that had contributed to its            
composition4  ,and though a curious     
refiner may come with his crucibles1    

analyse and separate its various        
component parts1 yet ,corinthian brass  
would still hold its rank amongst  the  
most beautiful and valuable of metals4  
,we have hitherto considered the        
advantages of imitation as it tends to  
form the taste1 and as a practice by    
which a spark of that genius may be     
caught which illumines these noble      
works1 that ought always to be present  
to our thoughts4    ,we come now to     
speak of another kind of imitation2 the 
borrowing a  particular thought1 an     
action1 attitude1 or figure1 and        
transplanting it  into your own work3   
this will either come under the charge  
of plagiarism1  or be warrantable1 and  
deserve commendation1 according to the  
address  with which it is performed4    
,there is some difference likewise      
whether it  is upon the ancients or the 
moderns that these depredations are     
made4  ,it  is generally allowed that no
 man need be ashamed of copying the     
ancients3  their works are considered as

 a magazine of common property1 always  
open  to the public1 whence every man   
has a right to what materials he        
pleases2  and if he has the art of using
 them1 they are supposed to become to   
all  intents and purposes his own       
property4    ,the collection which      
,raffaelle made of the thoughts of the  
ancients with  so much trouble1 is a    
proof of his opinion on this subject4   
,such  collections may be made with much
 more ease1 by means of an art scarce   
known in his time2 ,i mean that of      
engraving1 by which1 at an easy rate1   
every man may now avail himself of the  
inventions of antiquity4    ,it must be 
acknowledged that the works of the      
moderns are more the  property of their 
authors2 he who borrows an idea from an 
artist1 or  perhaps from a modern1 not  
his contemporary1 and so accommodates it
 to  his own work that it makes a part  
of it1 with no seam or joining          
appearing1 can hardly be charged with   
plagiarism2 poets practise this  kind of

 borrowing without reserve4  ,but an    
artist should not be contented  with    
this only2 he should enter into a       
competition with his original1 and      
endeavour to improve what he is         
appropriating to his own work4  ,such   
imitation is so far from having anything
 in it of the servility of  plagiarism1 
that it is a perpetual exercise of the  
mind1 a continual  invention4           
,borrowing or stealing with such art and
 caution will have a right to the  same 
lenity as was used by the               
,lacedemonians2 who did not punish      
theft1  but the want of artifice to     
conceal it4    ,in order to encourage   
you to imitation1 to the utmost extent1 
let me add1  that very finished artists 
in the inferior branches of the art will
  contribute to furnish the mind and    
give hints of which a skilful painter1  
who is sensible of what he wants1 and is
 in no danger of being infected  by the 
contact of vicious models1 will know how
 to avail himself4  ,he  will pick up   

from dunghills what by a nice chemistry1
 passing through his  own mind1 shall be
 converted into pure gold2 and1 under   
the rudeness of  ,gothic essays1 he will
 find original1 rational1 and even      
sublime  inventions4    ,in the         
luxuriant style of ,paul ,veronese1 in  
the capricious compositions  of         
,tintoret1 he will find something that  
will assist his invention1 and  give    
points1 from which his own imagination  
shall rise and take flight1  when the   
subject which he treats will1 with      
propriety1 admit of splendid  effects4  
,in every school1 whether ,venetian1    
,french1 or ,dutch1 he will find either 
ingenious compositions1 extraordinary   
effects1 some peculiar expressions1  or 
some mechanical excellence1 well worthy 
his attention and1 in some  measure1 of 
his imitation2 even in the lower class  
of the ,french  painters1 great beauties
 are often found united with great      
defects4    ,though ,coypel wanted a    
simplicity of taste1 and mistook a      

presumptuous  and assuming air for what 
is grand and majestic2 yet he frequently
 has  good sense and judgment in his    
manner of telling his stories1 great    
skill  in his compositions1 and is not  
without a considerable power of         
expressing the passions1 ,the modern    
affectation of grace in his works1 as   
well as in those of ,bouche and         
,watteau1 may be said to be separated by
 a  very thin partition from the more   
simple and pure grace of ,correggio and 
,parmigiano4    ,amongst the ,dutch     
painters1 the correct1 firm1 and        
determined pencil1  which was employed  
by ,bamboccio and ,jan ,miel on vulgar  
and mean subjects1  might without any   
change be employed on the highest1 to   
which1 indeed1 it  seems more properly  
to belong4  ,the greatest style1 if that
 style is  confined to small figures    
such as ,poussin generally painted1     
would  receive an additional grace by   
the elegance and precision of pencil so 
admirable in the works of ,teniers4     

,though this school more particularly   
excelled in the mechanism of  painting1 
yet there are many who have shown great 
abilities in expressing  what must be   
ranked above mechanical excellences4    
,in the works of ,frank ,hals the       
portrait painter may observe the        
composition of a face1 the features well
 put together as the painters  express  
it1 from whence proceeds that strong    
marked character of  individual nature  
which is so remarkable in his portraits1
 and is not to  be found in an equal    
degree in any other painter4  ,if he had
 joined to  this most difficult part of 
the art a patience in finishing what he 
had  so correctly planned1 he might     
justly have claimed the place which     
,vandyke1 all things considered1 so     
justly holds as the first of portrait   
painters4    ,others of the same school 
have shown great power in expressing the
  character and passions of those vulgar
 people which are the subjects of  their
 study and attention4  ,amongst those1  

,jean ,stein seems to be one of  the    
most diligent and accurate observers of 
what passed in those scenes  which he   
frequented1 and which were to him an    
academy4  ,i can easily  imagine that if
 this extraordinary man had had the good
 fortune to have  been born in ,italy   
instead of ,holland1 had he lived in    
,rome instead of  ,leyden1 and had been 
blessed with ,michael ,angelo and       
,raffaelle for his  masters instead of  
,brower and ,van ,gowen1 that the same  
sagacity and  penetration which         
distinguished so accurately the         
different characters  and expression in 
his vulgar figures1 would1 when exerted 
in the  selection and imitation of what 
was great and elevated in nature1 have  
been equally successful1 and his name   
would have been now ranged with the     
great pillars and supporters of our art4
    ,men who1 although thus bound down  
by the almost invincible powers of      
early habits1 have still exerted        
extraordinary abilities within their    

narrow and confined circle1 and have1   
from the natural vigour of their  mind1 
given such an interesting expression1   
such force and energy to  their works1  
though they cannot be recommended to be 
exactly imitated1  may yet invite an    
artist to endeavour to transfer1 by a   
kind of parody1  those excellences to   
his own works4  ,whoever has acquired   
the power of  making this use of the    
,flemish1 ,venetian1 and ,french schools
 is a real  genius1 and has sources of  
knowledge open to him which were wanting
 to  the great artists who lived in the 
great age of painting4    ,to find      
excellences however dispersed1 to       
discover beauties however  concealed by 
the multitude of defects with which they
 are surrounded1 can  be the work only  
of him who1 having a mind always alive  
to his art1 has  extended his views to  
all ages and to all schools1 and has    
acquired from  that comprehensive mass  
which he has thus gathered to himself1 a
 well  digested and perfect idea of his 

art1 to which everything is referred4   
,like a sovereign judge and arbiter of  
art1 he is possessed of that  presiding 
power which separates and attracts every
 excellence from every  school1 selects 
both from what is great and what is     
little1 brings home  knowledge from the 
east and from the west1 making the      
universe tributary  towards furnishing  
his mind and enriching his works with   
originality and  variety of inventions4 
,thus ,i have ventured to give my       
opinion of what appears to me the true  
and only method by which an artist makes
 himself master of his  profession1     
which ,i hold ought to be one continued 
course of imitation1  that is not to    
cease but with our lives4    ,those who1
 either from their own engagements and  
hurry of business1 or  from indolence1  
or from conceit and vanity1 have        
neglected looking out of  themselves1 as
 far as my experience and observation   
reaches1 have from  that time not only  
ceased to advance and improve in their  

performance1  but have gone backward4   
,they may be compared to men who have   
lived upon  their principal till they   
are reduced to beggary and left without 
resources4    ,i can recommend nothing  
better1 therefore1 than that you        
endeavour to  infuse into your works    
what you learn from the contemplation of
 the works  of others4  ,to recommend   
this has the appearance of needless and 
superfluous advice1 but it has fallen   
within my own knowledge that  artists1  
though they are not wanting in a sincere
 love for their art1  though they have  
great pleasure in seeing good pictures1 
and are well  skilled to distinguish    
what is excellent or defective in them1 
yet go on  in their own manner1 without 
any endeavour to give a little of those 
beauties which they admire in others1 to
 their own works4  ,it is  difficult to 
conceive how the present ,italian       
painters1 who live in the  midst of the 
treasures of art1 should be contented   
with their own style4  ,they proceed in 

their common-place inventions1 and never
 think it worth  while to visit the     
works of those great artists with which 
they are  surrounded4    ,i remember    
several years ago to have conversed at  
,rome with an artist of  great fame     
throughout ,europe2 he was not without a
 considerable degree of  abilities1 but 
those abilities were by no means equal  
to his own opinion  of them4  ,from the 
reputation he had acquired he too fondly
 concluded  that he stood in the same   
rank1 when compared to his predecessors1
 as he  held with regard to his         
miserable contemporary rivals4    ,in   
conversation about some particulars of  
the works of ,raffaelle1 he  seemed to  
have1 or to affect to have1 a very      
obscure memory of them4  ,he  told me   
that he had not set his foot in the     
,vatican for fifteen years  together2   
that indeed he had been in treaty to    
copy a capital picture of  ,raffaelle1  
but that the business had gone off2     
however1 if the agreement  had held1 his

 copy would have greatly exceeded the   
original4  ,the merit  of this artist1  
however great we may suppose it1 ,i am  
sure would have  been far greater1 and  
his presumption would have been far less
 if he had  visited the ,vatican1 as in 
reason he ought to have done1 once at   
least  every month of his life4    ,i   
address myself1 gentlemen1 to you who   
have made some progress in the  art1 and
 are to be for the future under the     
guidance of your own judgment  and      
discretion4    ,i consider you as       
arrived to that period when you have a  
right to think  for yourselves1 and to  
presume that every man is fallible2 to  
study the  masters with a suspicion that
 great men are not always exempt from   
great  faults2 to criticise1 compare1   
and rank their works in your own        
estimation1 as they approach to or      
recede from that standard of  perfection
 which you have formed in your own mind1
 but which those  masters themselves1 it
 must be remembered1 have taught you to 

make1 and  which you will cease to make 
with correctness when you cease to study
  them4  ,it is their excellences which 
have taught you their defects4    ,i    
would wish you to forget where you are1 
and who it is that speaks to  you4  ,i  
only direct you to higher models and    
better advisers4  ,we can  teach you    
here but very little2 you are henceforth
 to be your own  teachers4  ,do this    
justice1 however1 to the ,english       
,academy1 to bear in  mind1 that in this
 place you contracted no narrow habits1 
no false ideas1  nothing that could lead
 you to the imitation of any living     
master1 who  may be the fashionable     
darling of the day4  ,as you have not   
been taught  to flatter us1 do not learn
 to flatter yourselves4  ,we have       
endeavoured  to lead you to the         
admiration of nothing but what is truly 
admirable4  ,if  you choose inferior    
patterns1 or if you make your own former
 works1  your patterns for your latter1 
it is your own fault4    ,the purpose of

 this discourse1 and1 indeed1 of most of
 my others1 is to  caution you against  
that false opinion1 but too prevalent   
amongst  artists1 of the imaginary power
 of native genius1 and its sufficiency  
in  great works4  ,this opinion1        
according to the temper of mind it meets
  with1 almost always produces1 either a
 vain confidence1 or a sluggish         
despair1 both equally fatal to all      
proficiency4    ,study1 therefore1 the  
great works of the great masters for    
ever4  ,study  as nearly as you can1 in 
the order1 in the manner1 on the        
principles1 on  which they studied4     
,study nature attentively1 but always   
with those  masters in your company2    
consider them as models which you are to
  imitate1 and at the same time as      
rivals which you are to combat4         
,a ,,discourse  ,delivered to the       
,students of the ,royal ,academy on the 
,distribution of the  ,prizes1 ,december
 #ajth1 #aggf1 by the ,president4       
,gentlemen1--,it has been my uniform    

endeavour1 since ,i first addressed you 
from this place1 to impress you strongly
 with one ruling idea4  ,i wished  you  
to be persuaded1 that success in your   
art depends almost entirely on  your own
 industry2 but the industry which ,i    
principally recommended1 is  not the    
industry of the hands1 but of the mind4 
,as our art is not a divine gift1 so    
neither is it a mechanical trade4  ,its 
foundations are laid in solid science4  
,and practice1 though essential to      
perfection1 can never attain that to    
which it aims1 unless it works under    
the direction of principle4    ,some    
writers upon art carry this point too   
far1 and suppose that such a  body of   
universal and profound learning is      
requisite1 that the very  enumeration of
 its kind is enough to frighten a       
beginner4  ,vitruvius1  after going     
through the many accomplishments of     
nature1 and the many  acquirements of   
learning1 necessary to an architect1    
proceeds with great  gravity to assert  

that he ought to be well skilled in the 
civil law1 that  he may not be cheated  
in the title of the ground he builds on4
    ,but without such exaggeration1 we  
may go so far as to assert1 that a      
painter stands in need of more knowledge
 than is to be picked off his  pallet1  
or collected by looking on his model1   
whether it be in life or in  picture4   
,he can never be a great artist who is  
grossly illiterate4    ,every man whose 
business is description ought to be     
tolerably conversant  with the poets in 
some language or other1 that he may     
imbibe a poetical  spirit and enlarge   
his stock of ideas4  ,he ought to       
acquire a habit of  comparing and       
divesting his notions4  ,he ought not to
 be wholly  unacquainted with that part 
of philosophy which gives him an insight
 into  human nature1 and relates to the 
manners1 characters1 passions1 and      
affections4  ,he ought to know something
 concerning the mind1 as well as a      
great deal concerning the body of man4  

,for this purpose1 it is not necessary  
that he should go into such a  compass  
of reading1 as must1 by distracting his 
attention1 disqualify him  for the      
practical part of his profession1 and   
make him sink the performer  in the     
critic4  ,reading1 if it can be made the
 favourite recreation of  his leisure   
hours1 will improve and enlarge his mind
 without retarding  his actual industry4
    ,what such partial and desultory    
reading cannot afford1 may be supplied  
by  the conversation of learned and     
ingenious men1 which is the best of all 
substitutes for those who have not the  
means or opportunities of deep  study4  
,there are many such men in this age2   
and they will be pleased  with          
communicating their ideas to artists1   
when they see them curious and  docile1 
if they are treated with that respect   
and deference which is so  justly their 
due4  ,into such society1 young artists1
 if they make it the  point of their    
ambition1 will by degrees be admitted4  

,there1 without  formal teaching1 they  
will insensibly come to feel and reason 
like those  they live with1 and find a  
rational and systematic taste           
imperceptibly  formed in their minds1   
which they will know how to reduce to a 
standard1  by applying general truth to 
their own purposes1 better perhaps than 
those to whom they owed the original    
sentiment4    ,of these studies and this
 conversation1 the desired and          
legitimate  offspring is a power of     
distinguishing right from wrong1 which  
power  applied to works of art is       
denominated taste4  ,let me then1       
without  further introduction1 enter    
upon an examination whether taste be so 
far  beyond our reach as to be          
unattainable by care1 or be so very     
vague and  capricious that no care ought
 to be employed about it4    ,it has    
been the fate of arts to be enveloped in
 mysterious and  incomprehensible       
language1 as if it was thought necessary
 that even the  terms should correspond 

to the idea entertained of the          
instability and  uncertainty of the     
rules which they expressed4    ,to speak
 of genius and taste as any way         
connected with reason or common  sense1 
would be1 in the opinion of some        
towering talkers1 to speak like a  man  
who possessed neither1 who had never    
felt that enthusiasm1 or1 to use  their 
own inflated language1 was never warmed 
by that ,promethean fire1  which        
animates the canvas and vivifies the    
marble4    ,if1 in order to be          
intelligible1 ,i appear to degrade art  
by bringing her  down from her visionary
 situation in the clouds1 it is only to 
give her a  more solid mansion upon the 
earth4  ,it is necessary that at some   
time or  other we should see things as  
they really are1 and not impose on      
ourselves by that false magnitude with  
which objects appear when viewed        
indistinctly as through a mist4    ,we  
will allow a poet to express his        
meaning1 when his meaning is not well   

known to himself1 with a certain degree 
of obscurity1 as it is one source  of   
the sublime4  ,but when1 in plain prose1
 we gravely talk of courting  the muse  
in shady bowers1 waiting the call and   
inspiration of genius1  finding out     
where he inhabits1 and where he is to be
 invoked with the  greatest success2 of 
attending to times and seasons when the 
imagination  shoots with the greatest   
vigour1 whether at the summer solstice  
or the  equinox1 sagaciously observing  
how much the wild freedom and liberty of
  imagination is cramped by attention to
 established rules1 and how this  same  
imagination begins to grow dim in       
advanced age1 smothered and  deadened by
 too much judgment4  ,when we talk such 
language1 or entertain  such sentiments 
as these1 we generally rest contented   
with mere words1 or  at best entertain  
notions not only groundless1 but        
pernicious4    ,if all this means what  
it is very possible was originally      
intended only  to be meant1 that in     

order to cultivate an art1 a man        
secludes himself  from the commerce of  
the world1 and retires into the country 
at  particular seasons2 or that at one  
time of the year his body is in better  
health1 and consequently his mind fitter
 for the business of hard  thinking than
 at another time2 or that the mind may  
be fatigued and grow  confused by long  
and unremitted application2 this ,i can 
understand4  ,i  can likewise believe   
that a man eminent when young for       
possessing  poetical imagination1 may1  
from having taken another road1 so      
neglect its  cultivation as to show less
 of its powers in his latter life4  ,but
 ,i am  persuaded that scarce a poet is 
to be found1 from ,homer down to        
,dryden1  who preserved a sound mind in 
a sound body1 and continued practising  
his  profession to the very last1 whose 
later works are not as replete with  the
 fire of imagination as those which were
 produced in his more youthful  days4   
,to understand literally these metaphors

 or ideas expressed in poetical         
language1 seems to be equally absurd as 
to conclude that because painters       
sometimes represent poets writing from  
the dictates of a little winged  boy or 
genius1 that this same genius did really
 inform him in a whisper  what he was to
 write1 and that he is himself but a    
mere machine1  unconscious of the       
operations of his own mind4    ,opinions
 generally received and floating in the 
world1 whether true or  false1 we       
naturally adopt and make our own2 they  
may be considered as a  kind of         
inheritance to which we succeed and are 
tenants for life1 and  which we leave to
 our posterity very near in the         
condition in which we  received it2 not 
much being in any one man's power either
 to impair or  improve it4    ,the      
greatest part of these opinions1 like   
current coin in its  circulation1 we are
 obliged to take without weighing or    
examining2 but by  this inevitable      
inattention1 many adulterated pieces are

 received1 which1  when we seriously    
estimate our wealth1 we must throw away4
  ,so the  collector of popular         
opinions1 when he embodies his          
knowledge1 and forms  a system1 must    
separate those which are true from those
 which are only  plausible4  ,but it    
becomes more peculiarly a duty to the   
professors of  art not to let any       
opinions relating to that art pass      
unexamined4  ,the  caution and          
circumspection required in such         
examination we shall  presently have an 
opportunity of explaining4    ,genius   
and taste1 in their common acceptation1 
appear to be very nearly  related2 the  
difference lies only in this1 that      
genius has superadded to  it a habit or 
power of execution4  ,or we may say1    
that taste1 when this  power is added1  
changes its name1 and is called genius4 
,they both1 in  the popular opinion1    
pretend to an entire exemption from the 
restraint of  rules4  ,it is supposed   
that their powers are intuitive2 that   

under the  name of genius great works   
are produced1 and under the name of     
taste an  exact judgment is given1      
without our knowing why1 and without    
being under  the least obligation to    
reason1 precept1 or experience4    ,one 
can scarce state these opinions without 
exposing their absurdity1 yet  they are 
constantly in the mouths of men1 and    
particularly of artists4  ,they who have
 thought seriously on this subject1 do  
not carry the point  so far2 yet ,i am  
persuaded1 that even among those few who
 may be called  thinkers1 the prevalent 
opinion gives less than it ought to the 
powers of  reason2 and considers the    
principles of taste1 which give all     
their  authority to the rules of art1 as
 more fluctuating1 and as having less   
solid foundations than we shall find1   
upon examination1 they really have4     
,the common saying1 that tastes are not 
to be disputed1 owes its  influence1 and
 its general reception1 to the same     
error which leads us to  imagine it of  

too high original to submit to the      
authority of an earthly  tribunal4  ,it 
will likewise correspond with the       
notions of those who  consider it as a  
mere phantom of the imagination1 so     
devoid of substance  as to elude all    
criticism4    ,we often appear to differ
 in sentiments from each other1 merely  
from the  inaccuracy of terms1 as we are
 not obliged to speak always with       
critical  exactness4  ,something of this
 too may arise from want of words in the
  language to express the more nice     
discriminations which a deep            
investigation discovers4  ,a great deal1
 however1 of this difference  vanishes  
when each opinion is tolerably explained
 and understood by  constancy and       
precision in the use of terms4    ,we   
apply the term taste to that act of the 
mind by which we like or  dislike1      
whatever be the subject4  ,our judgment 
upon an airy nothing1 a  fancy which has
 no foundation1 is called by the same   
name which we give  to our determination

 concerning those truths which refer to 
the most  general and most unalterable  
principles of human nature1 to works    
which  are only to be produced by the   
greatest efforts of the human           
understanding4  ,however inconvenient   
this may be1 we are obliged to take     
words as we find them2 all we can do is 
to distinguish the things to  which they
 are applied4    ,we may let pass those 
things which are at once subjects of    
taste and  sense1 and which having as   
much certainty as the senses themselves1
 give  no occasion to inquiry or        
dispute4  ,the natural appetite or taste
 of the  human mind is for truth2       
whether that truth results from the real
  agreement or equality of original     
ideas among themselves2 from the        
agreement of the representation of any  
object with the thing represented2  or  
from the correspondence of the several  
parts of any arrangement with  each     
other4  ,it is the very same taste which
 relishes a demonstration in  geometry1 

that is pleased with the resemblance of 
a picture to an  original1 and touched  
with the harmony of music4    ,all these
 have unalterable and fixed foundations 
in nature1 and are  therefore equally   
investigated by reason1 and known by    
study2 some with  more1 some with less  
clearness1 but all exactly in the same  
way4  ,a  picture that is unlike1 is    
false4  ,disproportionate ordinance of  
parts is  not right because it cannot be
 true until it ceases to be a           
contradiction  to assert that the parts 
have no relation to the whole4          
,colouring is  true where it is         
naturally adapted to the eye1 from      
brightness1 from  softness1 from        
harmony1 from resemblance2 because these
 agree with their  object1 nature1 and  
therefore are true3 as true as          
mathematical  demonstration2 but known  
to be true only to those who study these
 things4    ,but besides real1 there is 
also apparent truth1 or opinion1 or     
prejudice4  ,with regard to real truth1 

when it is known1 the taste which       
conforms to  it is1 and must be1        
uniform4  ,with regard to the second    
sort of truth1  which may be called     
truth upon sufferance1 or truth by      
courtesy1 it is  not fixed1 but         
variable4  ,however1 whilst these       
opinions and prejudices  on which it is 
founded continue1 they operate as truth2
 and the art1  whose office it is to    
please the mind1 as well as instruct it1
 must  direct itself according to       
opinion1 or it will not attain its end4 
,in proportion as these prejudices are  
known to be generally diffused1 or  long
 received1 the taste which conforms to  
them approaches nearer to  certainty1   
and to a sort of resemblance to real    
science1 even where  opinions are found 
to be no better than prejudices4  ,and  
since they  deserve1 on account of their
 duration and extent1 to be considered  
as  really true1 they become capable of 
no small decree of stability and        
determination by their permanent and    

uniform nature4    ,as these prejudices 
become more narrow1 more local1 more    
transitory1 this  secondary taste       
becomes more and more fantastical2      
recedes from real  science2 is less to  
be approved by reason1 and less followed
 in practice2  though in no case perhaps
 to be wholly neglected1 where it does  
not  stand1 as it sometimes does1 in    
direct defiance of the most respectable 
opinions received amongst mankind4      
,having laid down these positions1 ,i   
shall proceed with less method1  because
 less will serve1 to explain and apply  
them4    ,we will take it for granted   
that reason is something invariable and 
fixed  in the nature of things2 and     
without endeavouring to go back to an   
account of first principles1 which for  
ever will elude our search1 we  will    
conclude that whatever goes under the   
name of taste1 which we can  fairly     
bring under the dominion of reason1 must
 be considered as equally  exempt from  
change4  ,if therefore1 in the course of

 this inquiry1 we can  show that there  
are rules for the conduct of the artist 
which are fixed  and invariable1 it     
implies1 of course1 that the art of the 
connoisseur1  or1 in other words1 taste1
 has likewise invariable principles4    
,of the judgment which we make on the   
works of art1 and the preference  that  
we give to one class of art over        
another1 if a reason be demanded1  the  
question is perhaps evaded by answering1
 ,i judge from my taste2 but  it does   
not follow that a better answer cannot  
be given1 though for  common gazers this
 may be sufficient4  ,every man is not  
obliged to  investigate the causes of   
his approbation or dislike4    ,the arts
 would lie open for ever to caprice and 
casualty1 if those who  are to judge of 
their excellences had no settled        
principles by which they  are to        
regulate their decisions1 and the merit 
or defect of performances  were to be   
determined by unguided fancy4  ,and     
indeed we may venture to  assert that   

whatever speculative knowledge is       
necessary to the artist1 is  equally and
 indispensably necessary to the         
connoisseur4    ,the first idea that    
occurs in the consideration of what is  
fixed in art1  or in taste1 is that     
presiding principle of which ,i have so 
frequently  spoken in former discourses1
 the general idea of nature4  ,the      
beginning1  the middle1 and the end of  
everything that is valuable in taste1 is
  comprised in the knowledge of what is 
truly nature2 for whatever ideas  are   
not conformable to those of nature1 or  
universal opinion1 must be  considered  
as more or less capricious4    ,the idea
 of nature comprehending not only the   
forms which nature  produces1 but also  
the nature and internal fabric and      
organisation1 as ,i  may call it1 of the
 human mind and imagination3 general    
ideas1 beauty1 or  nature1 are but      
different ways of expressing the same   
thing1 whether we  apply these terms to 
statues1 poetry1 or picture4  ,deformity

 is not  nature1 but an accidental      
deviation from her accustomed practice4 
,this  general idea therefore ought to  
be called nature1 and nothing else1     
correctly speaking1 has a right to that 
name4  ,but we are so far from          
speaking1 in common conversation1 with  
any such accuracy1 that1 on the         
contrary1 when we criticise ,rembrandt  
and other ,dutch painters1 who          
introduced into their historical        
pictures exact representations of       
individual objects with all their       
imperfections1 we say1 though it is not 
in a good taste1 yet it is nature4      
,this misapplication of terms must be   
very often perplexing to the young      
student4  ,is not1 he may say1 art an   
imitation of nature8  ,must he not1     
therefore1 who imitates her with the    
greatest fidelity be the best  artist8  
,by this mode of reasoning ,rembrandt   
has a higher place than  ,raffaelle4    
,but a very little reflection will serve
 to show us that these  particularities 

cannot be nature3 for how can that be   
the nature of man1  in which no two     
individuals are the same8    ,it plainly
 appears that as a work is conducted    
under the influence of  general ideas or
 partial it is principally to be        
considered as the effect  of a good or a
 bad taste4    ,as beauty therefore does
 not consist in taking what lies        
immediately  before you1 so neither1 in 
our pursuit of taste1 are those opinions
 which  we first received and adopted   
the best choice1 or the most natural to 
the  mind and imagination4    ,in the   
infancy of our knowledge we seize with  
greediness the good that is  within our 
reach2 it is by after-consideration1 and
 in consequence of  discipline1 that we 
refuse the present for a greater good at
 a distance4  ,the nobility or elevation
 of all arts1 like the excellence of    
virtue  itself1 consists in adopting    
this enlarged and comprehensive idea1   
and  all criticism built upon the more  
confined view of what is natural1 may   

properly be called shallow criticism1   
rather than false2 its defect is  that  
the truth is not sufficiently extensive4
    ,it has sometimes happened that some
 of the greatest men in our art have    
been betrayed into errors by this       
confined mode of reasoning4  ,poussin1  
who1 upon the whole1 may be produced as 
an instance of attention to the  most   
enlarged and extensive ideas of nature1 
from not having settled  principles on  
this point1 has in one instance at      
least1 ,i think1 deserted  truth for    
prejudice4  ,he is said to have         
vindicated the conduct of ,julio        
,romano1 for his inattention to the     
masses of light and shade1 or grouping  
the figures1 in the battle of           
,constantine1 as if designedly          
neglected1  the better to correspond    
with the hurry and confusion of a       
battle4  ,poussin's own conduct in his  
representations of ,bacchanalian        
triumphs and  sacrifices1 makes us more 
easily give credit to this report1 since

 in  such subjects1 as well indeed as in
 many others1 it was too much his own   
practice4  ,the best apology we can make
 for this conduct is what proceeds  from
 the association of our ideas1 the      
prejudice we have in favour of          
antiquity4  ,poussin's works1 as ,i have
 formerly observed1 have very much  the 
air of the ancient manner of painting1  
in which there are not the  least traces
 to make us think that what we call the 
keeping1 the  composition of light and  
shade1 or distribution of the work into 
masses1  claimed any part of their      
attention4  ,but surely whatever apology
 we may  find out for this neglect1 it  
ought to be ranked among the defects of 
,poussin1 as well as of the antique     
paintings2 and the moderns have a  right
 to that praise which is their due1 for 
having given so pleasing an  addition to
 the splendour of the art4    ,perhaps  
no apology ought to be received for     
offences committed against  the vehicle 
7whether it be the organ of seeing or of

 hearing7 by which  our pleasures are   
conveyed to the mind4  ,we must take the
 same care that  the eye be not         
perplexed and distracted by a confusion 
of equal parts1 or  equal lights1 as of 
offending it by an unharmonious mixture 
of colours4  ,we may venture to be more 
confident of the truth of this          
observation1  since we find that        
,shakespeare1 on a parallel occasion1   
has made ,hamlet  recommend to the      
players a precept of the same kind1     
never to offend the  ear by harsh       
sounds3--,in the very torrent1 tempest1 
and whirlwind of  your passions1 says   
he1 you must beget a temperance that may
 give it  smoothness4  ,and yet1 at the 
same time1 he very justly observes1 ,the
  end of playing1 both at the first and 
now1 is to hold1 as it were1 the  mirror
 up to nature4  ,no one can deny but    
that violent passions will  naturally   
emit harsh and disagreeable tones2 yet  
this great poet and  critic thought that
 this imitation of nature would cost too

 much1 if  purchased at the expense of  
disagreeable sensations1 or1 as he      
expresses  it1 of splitting the ear4    
,the poet and actor1 as well as the     
painter  of genius who is well          
acquainted with all the variety and     
sources of  pleasure in the mind and    
imagination1 has little regard or       
attention to  common nature1 or creeping
 after common sense4  ,by overleaping   
those  narrow bounds1 he more           
effectually seizes the whole mind1 and  
more  powerfully accomplishes his       
purpose4  ,this success is ignorantly   
imagined  to proceed from inattention to
 all rules1 and in defiance of reason   
and  judgment2 whereas it is in truth   
acting according to the best rules1 and 
the justest reason4    ,he who thinks   
nature1 in the narrow sense of the word1
 is alone to be  followed1 will produce 
but a scanty entertainment for the      
imagination3  everything is to be done  
with which it is natural for the mind to
 be  pleased1 whether it proceeds from  

simplicity or variety1 uniformity or    
irregularity3 whether the scenes are    
familiar or exotic2 rude and wild1  or  
enriched and cultivated2 for it is      
natural for the mind to be pleased  with
 all these in their turn4  ,in short1   
whatever pleases has in it what  is     
analogous to the mind1 and is therefore1
 in the highest and best sense  of the  
word1 natural4    ,it is this sense of  
nature or truth which ought more        
particularly to be  cultivated by the   
professors of art2 and it may be        
observed that many  wise and learned    
men1 who have accustomed their minds to 
admit nothing  for truth but what can be
 proved by mathematical demonstration1  
have  seldom any relish for those arts  
which address themselves to the fancy1  
the rectitude and truth of which is     
known by another kind of proof3 and  we 
may add that the acquisition of this    
knowledge requires as much              
circumspection and sagacity1 as to      
attain those truths which are more  open

 to demonstration4  ,reason must        
ultimately determine our choice on      
every occasion2 but this reason may     
still be exerted ineffectually by       
applying to taste principles which1     
though right as far as they go1 yet  do 
not reach the object4  ,no man1 for     
instance1 can deny that it seems at     
first view very reasonable1 that a      
statue which is to carry down to        
posterity the resemblance of an         
individual should be dressed in the     
fashion of the times1 in the dress which
 he himself wore3 this would  certainly 
be true if the dress were part of the   
man4  ,but after a time  the dress is   
only an amusement for an antiquarian2   
and if it obstructs  the general design 
of the piece1 it is to be disregarded by
 the artist4  ,common sense must here   
give way to a higher sense4    ,in the  
naked form1 and in the disposition of   
the drapery1 the difference  between one
 artist and another is principally seen4
  ,but if he is  compelled to the modern

 dress1 the naked form is entirely hid1 
and the  drapery is already disposed by 
the skill of the tailor4  ,were a       
,phidias  to obey such absurd commands1 
he would please no more than an ordinary
  sculptor2 since1 in the inferior parts
 of every art1 the learned and the      
ignorant are nearly upon a level4       
,these were probably among the reasons  
that induced the sculptor of that       
wonderful figure of ,laocoon to exhibit 
him naked1 notwithstanding he was       
surprised in the act of sacrificing to  
,apollo1 and consequently ought to  be  
shown in his sacerdotal habits1 if those
 greater reasons had not  preponderated4
  ,art is not yet in so high estimation 
with us as to obtain  so great a        
sacrifice as the ancients made1         
especially the ,grecians1 who  suffered 
themselves to be represented naked1     
whether they were generals1  lawgivers1 
or kings4    ,under this head of        
balancing and choosing the greater      
reason1 or of two  evils taking the     

least1 we may consider the conduct of   
,rubens in the  ,luxembourg gallery1 of 
mixing allegorical figures with         
representations of  real personages1    
which1 though acknowledged to be a      
fault1 yet1 if the  artist considered   
himself as engaged to furnish this      
gallery with a rich  and splendid       
ornament1 this could not be done1 at    
least in an equal  degree1 without      
peopling the air and water with these   
allegorical  figures3 he therefore      
accomplished that he purposes4  ,in this
 case all  lesser considerations1 which 
tend to obstruct the great end of the   
work1  must yield and give way4    ,if  
it is objected that ,rubens judged ill  
at first in thinking it  necessary to   
make his work so very ornamental1 this  
brings the question  upon new ground4   
,it was his peculiar style2 he could    
paint in no other2  and he was selected 
for that work1 probably1 because it was 
his style4  ,nobody will dispute but    
some of the best of the ,roman or       

,bolognian  schools would have produced 
a more learned and more noble work4     
,this leads us to another important     
province of taste1 of weighing the      
value of the different classes of the   
art1 and of estimating them             
accordingly4    ,all arts have means    
within them of applying themselves with 
success both  to the intellectual and   
sensitive part of our natures4  ,it can 
be no  dispute1 supposing both these    
means put in practice with equal        
abilities1  to which we ought to give   
the preference3 to him who represents   
the  heroic arts and more dignified     
passions of man1 or to him who1 by the  
help of meretricious ornaments1 however 
elegant and graceful1 captivates  the   
sensuality1 as it may be called1 of our 
taste4  ,thus the ,roman and  ,bolognian
 schools are reasonably preferred to the
 ,venetian1 ,flemish1 or  ,dutch        
schools1 as they address themselves to  
our best and noblest  faculties4        
,well-turned periods in eloquence1 or   

harmony of numbers in poetry1 which  are
 in those arts what colouring is in     
painting1 however highly we may  esteem 
them1 can never be considered as of     
equal importance with the art  of       
unfolding truths that are useful to     
mankind1 and which make us better  or   
wiser4  ,nor can those works which      
remind us of the poverty and  meanness  
of our nature1 be considered as of equal
 rank with what excites  ideas of       
grandeur1 or raises and dignifies       
humanity2 or1 in the words of  a late   
poet1 which makes the beholder learn to 
venerate himself as man4    ,it is      
reason and good sense therefore which   
ranks and estimates every  art1 and     
every part of that art1 according to its
 importance1 from the  painter of       
animated down to inanimated nature4  ,we
 will not allow a man1  who shall prefer
 the inferior style1 to say it is his   
taste2 taste here  has nothing1 or at   
least ought to have nothing to do with  
the question4  ,he wants not taste1 but 

sense1 and soundness of judgment4       
,indeed1 perfection in an inferior style
 may be reasonably preferred to         
mediocrity in the highest walks of art4 
,a landscape of ,claude ,lorraine  may  
be preferred to a history of ,luca      
,jordano2 but hence appears the         
necessity of the connoisseur's knowing  
in what consists the excellence of  each
 class1 in order to judge how near it   
approaches to perfection4    ,even in   
works of the same kind1 as in history   
painting1 which is composed  of various 
parts1 excellence of an inferior        
species1 carried to a very  high degree1
 will make a work very valuable1 and in 
some measure  compensate for the absence
 of the higher kind of merits4  ,it is  
the duty  of the connoisseur to know and
 esteem1 as much as it may deserve1     
every  part of painting2 he will not    
then think even ,bassano unworthy of his
  notice1 who1 though totally devoid of 
expression1 sense1 grace1 or  elegance1 
may be esteemed on account of his       

admirable taste of colours1  which1 in  
his best works1 are little inferior to  
those of ,titian4    ,since ,i have     
mentioned ,bassano1 we must do him      
likewise the justice to  acknowledge    
that1 though he did not aspire to the   
dignity of expressing  the characters   
and passions of men1 yet1 with respect  
to the facility and  truth in his manner
 of touching animals of all kinds1 and  
giving them  what painters call their   
character1 few have ever excelled him4  
,to ,bassano we may add ,paul ,veronese 
and ,tintoret1 for their entire         
inattention to what is justly esteemed  
the most essential part of our  art1 the
 expression of the passions4            
,notwithstanding these glaring          
deficiencies1 we justly esteem their    
works2 but it must be remembered  that  
they do not please from those defects1  
but from their great  excellences of    
another kind1 and in spite of such      
transgressions4  ,these  excellences1   
too1 as far as they go1 are founded in  

the truth of general  nature4  ,they    
tell the truth1 though not the whole    
truth4    ,by these considerations1     
which can never be too frequently       
impressed1 may  be obviated two errors  
which ,i observed to have been1 formerly
 at least1  the most prevalent1 and to  
be most injurious to artists3 that of   
thinking  taste and genius to have      
nothing to do with reason1 and that of  
taking  particular living objects for   
nature4    ,i shall now say something on
 that part of taste which1 as ,i have   
hinted  to you before1 does not belong  
so much to the external form of things1 
but is addressed to the mind1 and       
depends on its original frame1 or1 to   
use the expression1 the organisation of 
the soul2 ,i mean the imagination  and  
the passions4  ,the principles of these 
are as invariable as the  former1 and   
are to be known and reasoned upon in the
 same manner1 by an  appeal to common   
sense deciding upon the common feelings 
of mankind4  ,this  sense1 and these    

feelings1 appear to me of equal         
authority1 and equally  conclusive4     
,now this appeal implies a general      
uniformity and agreement in the minds   
of men4  ,it would be else an idle and  
vain endeavour to establish rules  of   
art2 it would be pursuing a phantom to  
attempt to move affections with  which  
we were entirely unacquainted4  ,we have
 no reason to suspect there  is a       
greater difference between our minds    
than between our forms1 of  which1      
though there are no two alike1 yet there
 is a general similitude  that goes     
through the whole race of mankind2 and  
those who have  cultivated their taste  
can distinguish what is beautiful or    
deformed1 or1  in other words1 what     
agrees with or what deviates from the   
general idea  of nature1 in one case as 
well as in the other4    ,the internal  
fabric of our mind1 as well as the      
external form of our  bodies1 being     
nearly uniform1 it seems then to follow1
 of course1 that as  the imagination is 

incapable of producing anything         
originally of itself1  and can only vary
 and combine these ideas with which it  
is furnished by  means of the senses1   
there will be1 of course1 an agreement  
in the  imaginations as in the senses of
 men4  ,there being this agreement1 it  
follows that in all cases1 in our       
lightest amusements as well as in our   
most serious actions and engagements of 
life1 we must regulate our  affections  
of every kind by that of others4  ,the  
well-disciplined mind  acknowledges this
 authority1 and submits its own opinion 
to the public  voice4    ,it is from    
knowing what are the general feelings   
and passions of mankind  that we acquire
 a true idea of what imagination is2    
though it appears as  if we had nothing 
to do but to consult our own particular 
sensations1 and  these were sufficient  
to ensure us from all error and mistake4
    ,a knowledge of the disposition and 
character of the human mind can be      
acquired only by experience3 a great    

deal will be learned1 ,i admit1 by a    
habit of examining what passes in our   
bosoms1 what are our own motives of     
action1 and of what kind of sentiments  
we are conscious on any occasion4  ,we  
may suppose a uniformity1 and conclude  
that the same effect will be  produced  
by the same cause in the minds of       
others4  ,this examination will         
contribute to suggest to us matters of  
inquiry2 but we can never be sure  that 
our own sensations are true and right   
till they are confirmed by  more        
extensive observation4    ,one man      
opposing another determines nothing but 
a general union of minds1  like a       
general combination of the forces of all
 mankind1 makes a strength  that is     
irresistible4  ,in fact1 as he who does 
not know himself does not  know others1 
so it may be said with equal truth1 that
 he who does not  know others knows     
himself but very imperfectly4    ,a man 
who thinks he is guarding himself       
against ,prejudices by resisting  the   

authority of others1 leaves open every  
avenue to singularity1 vanity1          
self-conceit1 obstinacy1 and many other 
vices1 all tending to warp the  judgment
 and prevent the natural operation of   
his faculties4    ,this submission to   
others is a deference which we owe1 and 
indeed are  forced involuntarily to pay4
    ,in fact we are never satisfied with
 our opinions till they are ratified    
and confirmed by the suffrages of the   
rest of mankind4  ,we dispute and       
wrangle for ever2 we endeavour to get   
men to come to us when we do not go  to 
them4    ,he therefore who is acquainted
 with the works which have pleased      
different ages and different countries1 
and has formed his opinion on  them1 has
 more materials and more means of       
knowing what is analogous to  the mind  
of man than he who is conversant only   
with the works of his own  age or       
country4  ,what has pleased1 and        
continues to please1 is likely to       
please again3 hence are derived the     

rules of art1 and on this immovable     
foundation they must ever stand4        
,this search and study of the history of
 the mind ought not to be confined  to  
one art only4  ,it is by the analogy    
that one art bears to another that  many
 things are ascertained which either    
were but faintly seen1 or1  perhaps1    
would not have been discovered at all if
 the inventor had not  received the     
first hints from the practices of a     
sister art on a similar  occasion4  ,the
 frequent allusions which every man who 
treats of any art  is obliged to draw   
from others in order to illustrate and  
confirm his  principles1 sufficiently   
show their near connection and          
inseparable  relation4    ,all arts     
having the same general end1 which is to
 please1 and addressing  themselves to  
the same faculties through the medium of
 the senses1 it  follows that their     
rules and principles must have as great 
affinity as  the different materials and
 the different organs or vehicles by    

which  they pass to the mind will permit
 them to retain4    ,we may therefore   
conclude that the real substance1 as it 
may be called1  of what goes under the  
name of taste1 is fixed and established 
in the  nature of things2 that there are
 certain and regular causes by which the
  imagination and passions of men are   
affected2 and that the knowledge of     
these causes is acquired by a laborious 
and diligent investigation of  nature1  
and by the same slow progress as wisdom 
or knowledge of every  kind1 however    
instantaneous its operations may appear 
when thus acquired4    ,it has been     
often observed that the good and        
virtuous man alone can  acquire this    
true or just relish1 even of works of   
art4  ,this opinion  will not appear    
entirely without foundation when we     
consider that the  same habit of mind   
which is acquired by our search after   
truth in the  more serious duties of    
life1 is only transferred to the pursuit
 of  lighter amusements3 the same       

disposition1 the same desire to find    
something steady1 substantial1 and      
durable1 on which the mind can lean1  as
 it were1 and rest with safety4  ,the   
subject only is changed4  ,we  pursue   
the same method in our search after the 
idea of beauty and  perfection in each2 
of virtue1 by looking forwards beyond   
ourselves to  society1 and to the whole2
 of arts1 by extending our views in the 
same  manner to all ages and all times4 
,every art1 like our own1 has in its    
composition fluctuating as well as      
fixed principles4  ,it is an attentive  
inquiry into their difference that  will
 enable us to determine how far we are  
influenced by custom and  habit1 and    
what is fixed in the nature of things4  
,to distinguish how much has solid      
foundation1 we may have recourse to the 
same proof by which some hold wit ought 
to be tried--whether it preserves       
itself when translated4  ,that wit is   
false which can subsist only in one     
language2 and that picture which pleases

 only one age or one nation1 owes  its  
reception to some local or accidental   
association of ideas4    ,we may apply  
this to every custom and habit of life4 
,thus the general  principles of        
urbanity1 politeness1 or civility1 have 
been ever the same  in all nations2 but 
the mode in which they are dressed is   
continually  varying4  ,the general idea
 of showing respect is by making        
yourself less3  but the manner1 whether 
by bowing the body1 kneeling1           
prostration1  pulling off the upper part
 of our dress1 or taking away the lower1
 is a  matter of habit4  ,it would be   
unjust to conclude that all ornaments1  
because they were at first arbitrarily  
contrived1 are therefore  undeserving of
 our attention2 on the contrary1 he who 
neglects the  cultivation of those      
ornaments1 acts contrarily to nature and
 reason4  ,as  life would be imperfect  
without its highest ornaments1 the arts1
 so these  arts themselves would be     
imperfect without their ornaments4      

,though we by no means ought to rank    
these with positive and substantial     
beauties1 yet it must be allowed that a 
knowledge of both is essentially        
requisite towards forming a complete1   
whole1 and perfect taste4  ,it is in    
reality from the ornaments that arts    
receive their peculiar character and    
complexion2 we may add that in them we  
find the characteristical mark of  a    
national taste1 as by throwing up a     
feather in the air we know which  way   
the wind blows1 better than by a more   
heavy matter4    ,the striking          
distinction between the works of the    
,roman1 ,bolognian1 and  ,venetian      
schools1 consists more in that general  
effect which is produced  by colours    
than in the more profound excellences of
 the art2 at least it  is from thence   
that each is distinguished and known at 
first sight4  ,as  it is the ornaments  
rather than the proportions of          
architecture which at  the first glance 
distinguish the different orders from   

each other2 the  ,doric is known by its 
triglyphs1 the ,ionic by its volutes1   
and the  ,corinthian by its acanthus4   
,what distinguishes oratory from a cold 
narration1 is a more liberal  though    
chaste use of these ornaments which go  
under the name of  figurative and       
metaphorical expressions2 and poetry    
distinguishes itself  from oratory by   
words and expressions still more ardent 
and glowing4  ,what  separates and      
distinguishes poetry is more            
particularly the ornament of  verse2 it 
is this which gives it its character1   
and is an essential1  without which it  
cannot exist4  ,custom has appropriated 
different metre  to different kinds of  
composition1 in which the world is not  
perfectly  agreed4  ,in ,england the    
dispute is not yet settled which is to  
be  preferred1 rhyme or blank verse4    
,but however we disagree about what     
these metrical ornaments shall be1 that 
some metre is essentially  necessary is 
universally acknowledged4    ,in poetry 

or eloquence1 to determine how far      
figurative or metaphorical  language may
 proceed1 and when it begins to be      
affectation or beside the  truth1 must  
be determined by taste1 though this     
taste we must never  forget is regulated
 and formed by the presiding feelings of
 mankind1 by  those works which have    
approved themselves to all times and all
 persons4    ,thus1 though eloquence has
 undoubtedly an essential and intrinsic 
excellence1 and immovable principles    
common to all languages1 founded in  the
 nature of our passions and affections1 
yet it has its ornaments and  modes of  
address which are merely arbitrary4     
,what is approved in the  ,eastern      
nations as grand and majestic1 would be 
considered by the ,greeks  and ,romans  
as turgid and inflated2 and they1 in    
return1 would be thought  by the        
,orientals to express themselves in a   
cold and insipid manner4    ,we may add 
likewise to the credit of ornaments1    
that it is by their means  that art     

itself accomplishes its purpose4        
,fresnoy calls colouring1 which  is one 
of the chief ornaments of painting1 lena
 sororis1 that which  procures lovers   
and admirers to the more valuable       
excellences of the art4    ,it appears  
to be the same right turn of mind which 
enables a man to  acquire the truth1 or 
the just idea of what is right in the   
ornaments1  as in the more stable       
principles of art4  ,it has still the   
same centre of  perfection1 though it is
 the centre of a smaller circle4    ,to 
illustrate this by the fashion of dress1
 in which there is allowed to  be a good
 or1 bad taste4  ,the component parts of
 dress are continually  changing from   
great to little1 from short to long1 but
 the general form  still remains2 it is 
still the same general dress which is   
comparatively  fixed1 though on a very  
slender foundation1 but it is on this   
which  fashion must rest4  ,he who      
invents with the most success1 or       
dresses in1  the best taste1 would      

probably1 from the same sagacity        
employed to  greater purposes1 have     
discovered equal skill1 or have formed  
the same  correct taste in the highest  
labours of art4    ,i have mentioned    
taste in dress1 which is certainly one  
of the lowest  subjects to which this   
word is applied2 yet1 as ,i have before 
observed1  there is a right even here1  
however narrow its foundation respecting
 the  fashion of any particular nation4 
,but we have still more slender means   
of determining1 in regard to the        
different customs of different ages or  
countries1 to which to give the         
preference1 since they seem to be all   
equally removed from nature4    ,if an  
,european1 when he has cut off his      
beard1 and put false hair on his  head1 
or bound up his own natural hair in     
regular hard knots1 as unlike  nature as
 he can possibly make it2 and having    
rendered them immovable by  the help of 
the fat of hogs1 has covered the whole  
with flour1 laid on by  a machine with  

the utmost regularity2 if1 when thus    
attired he issues  forth1 he meets a    
,cherokee ,indian1 who has bestowed as  
much time at his  toilet1 and laid on   
with equal care and attention his yellow
 and red  ochre on particular parts of  
his forehead or cheeks1 as he judges    
most  becoming2 whoever despises the    
other for this attention to the fashion 
of  his country1 whichever of these two 
first feels himself provoked to  laugh1 
is the barbarian4    ,all these fashions
 are very innocent1 neither worth       
disquisition1 nor any  endeavour to     
alter them1 as the change would1 in all 
probability1 be  equally distant from   
nature4  ,the only circumstances against
 which  indignation may reasonably be   
moved1 are where the operation is       
painful  or destructive of health1 such 
as is practised at ,otahaiti1 and the   
straight lacing of the ,english ladies2 
of the last of which1 how  destructive  
it must be to health and long life1 the 
professor of anatomy  took an           

opportunity of proving a few days since 
in this ,academy4    ,it is in dress as 
in things of greater consequence4       
,fashions originate  from those only who
 have the high and powerful advantages  
of rank1 birth1  and fortune2 as many of
 the ornaments of art1 those at least   
for which no  reason can be given1 are  
transmitted to us1 are adopted1 and     
acquire  their consequence from the     
company in which we have been used to   
see  them4  ,as ,greece and ,rome are   
the fountains from whence have flowed   
all  kinds of excellence1 to that       
veneration which they have a right to   
claim  for the pleasure and knowledge   
which they have afforded us1 we         
voluntarily add our approbation of every
 ornament and every custom that         
belonged to them1 even to the fashion of
 their dress4  ,for it may be  observed 
that1 not satisfied with them in their  
own place1 we make no  difficulty of    
dressing statues of modern heroes or    
senators in the  fashion of the ,roman  

armour or peaceful robe2 we go so far as
 hardly to  bear a statue in any other  
drapery4    ,the figures of the great   
men of those nations have come down to  
us in  sculpture4  ,in sculpture remain 
almost all the excellent specimens of   
ancient art4  ,we have so far associated
 personal dignity to the persons  thus  
represented1 and the truth of art to    
their manner of representation1  that it
 is not in our power any longer to      
separate them4  ,this is not so  in     
painting2 because1 having no excellent  
ancient portraits1 that  connection was 
never formed4  ,indeed1 we could no more
 venture to paint a  general officer in 
a ,roman military habit1 than we could  
make a statue in  the present uniform4  
,but since we have no ancient portraits1
 to show how  ready we are to adopt     
those kind of prejudices1 we make the   
best  authority among the moderns serve 
the same purpose4  ,the great variety of
  excellent portraits with which        
,vandyke has enriched this nation1 we   

are  not content to admire for their    
real excellence1 but extend our         
approbation even to the dress which     
happened to be the fashion of that  age4
  ,we all very well remember how common 
it was a few years ago for  portraits to
 be drawn in this ,gothic dress1 and    
this custom is not yet  entirely laid   
aside4  ,by this means it must be       
acknowledged very ordinary  pictures    
acquired something of the air and effect
 of the works of  ,vandyke1 and appeared
 therefore at first sight to be better  
pictures than  they really were2 they   
appeared so1 however1 to those only who 
had the  means of making this           
association1 for when made1 it was      
irresistible4  ,but  this association is
 nature1 and refers to that ,secondary  
truth that comes  from conformity to    
general prejudice and opinion2 it is    
therefore not  merely fantastical4      
,besides the prejudice which we have in 
favour of  ancient dresses1 there may be
 likewise other reasons1 amongst which  

we  may justly rank the simplicity of   
them1 consisting of little more than    
one single piece of drapery1 without    
those whimsical capricious forms by     
which all other dresses are embarrassed4
    ,thus1 though it is from the        
prejudice we have in favour of the      
ancients1  who have taught us           
architecture1 that we have adopted      
likewise their  ornaments2 and though we
 are satisfied that neither nature nor  
reason is  the foundation of those      
beauties which we imagine we see in that
 art1 yet  if any one persuaded of this 
truth should1 therefore1 invent new     
orders  of equal beauty1 which we will  
suppose to be possible1 yet they would  
not  please1 nor ought he to complain1  
since the old has that great advantage  
of having custom and prejudice on its   
side4  ,in this case we leave what  has 
every prejudice in its favour to take   
that which will have no  advantage over 
what we have left1 but novelty1 which   
soon destroys  itself1 and1 at any rate1

 is but a weak antagonist against       
custom4    ,these ornaments1 having the 
right of possession1 ought not to be    
removed  but to make room for not only  
what has higher pretensions1 but such   
pretensions as will balance the evil and
 confusion which innovation  always     
brings with it4    ,to this we may add1 
even the durability of the materials    
will often  contribute to give a        
superiority to one object over another4 
,ornaments  in buildings1 with which    
taste is principally concerned1 are     
composed of  materials which last longer
 than those of which dress is composed2 
it1  therefore1 makes higher pretensions
 to our favour and prejudice4    ,some  
attention is surely required to what we 
can no more get rid of than  we can go  
out of ourselves4  ,we are creatures of 
prejudice2 we neither  can nor ought to 
eradicate it2 we must only regulate1 it 
by reason1 which  regulation by reason  
is1 indeed1 little more than obliging   
the lesser1  the focal and temporary    

prejudices1 to give way to those which  
are more  durable and lasting4    ,he1  
therefore1 who in his practice of       
portrait painting wishes to dignify  his
 subject1 which we will suppose to be a 
lady1 will not paint her in  the modern 
dress1 the familiarity of which alone is
 sufficient to destroy  all dignity4    
,he takes care that his work shall      
correspond to those ideas  and that     
imagination which he knows will regulate
 the judgment of others1  and1          
therefore1 dresses his figure something 
with the general air of the  antique for
 the sake of dignity1 and preserves     
something of the modern  for the sake of
 likeness4  ,by this conduct his works  
correspond with  those prejudices which 
we have in favour of what we continually
 see2 and  the relish of the antique    
simplicity corresponds with what we may 
call  the1 more learned and scientific  
prejudice4    ,there was a statue made  
not long since of ,voltaire1 which the  
sculptor1  not having that respect for  

the prejudices of mankind which he ought
 to  have1 has made entirely naked1 and 
as meagre and emaciated as the  original
 is said to be4  ,the consequence is    
what might be expected2 it  has remained
 in the sculptor's shop1 though it was  
intended as a public  ornament and a    
public honour to ,voltaire1 as it was   
procured at the  expense of his         
cotemporary wits and admirers4          
,whoever would reform a nation1         
supposing a bad taste to prevail in it1 
will not accomplish his purpose by going
 directly against the stream of  their  
prejudices4  ,men's minds must be       
prepared to receive what is new to      
them4  ,reformation is a work of time4  
,a national taste1 however wrong it  may
 be1 cannot be totally change at once2  
we must yield a little to the           
prepossession which has taken hold on   
the mind1 and we may then bring  people 
to adopt what would offend them if      
endeavoured to be introduced by  storm4 
,when ,battisto ,franco was employed1 in

 conjunction with ,titian1  ,paul       
,veronese1 and ,tintoret1 to adorn the  
library of ,st4 ,mark1 his work1        
,vasari says1 gave less satisfaction    
than any of the others3 the dry  manner 
of the ,roman school was very ill       
calculated to please eyes that  had been
 accustomed to the luxuriance1          
splendour1 and richness of  ,venetian   
colouring4  ,had the ,romans been the   
judges of this work1  probably the      
determination would have been just      
contrary2 for in the more  noble parts  
of the art ,battisto ,franco was1       
perhaps1 not inferior to any  of his    
rivals4    99 99 99 99 99               
,gentlemen1--,it has been the main scope
 and principal end of this  discourse to
 demonstrate the reality of a standard  
in taste1 as well as  in corporeal      
beauty2 that a false or depraved taste  
is a thing as well  known1 as easily    
discovered1 as anything that is         
deformed1 misshapen1 or  wrong in our   
form or outward make2 and that this     

knowledge is derived  from the          
uniformity of sentiments among mankind1 
from whence proceeds the  knowledge of  
what are the general habits of nature1  
the result of which  is an idea of      
perfect beauty4    ,if what has been    
advanced be true1 that besides this     
beauty or truth  which is formed on the 
uniform eternal and immutable laws of   
nature1 and  which of necessity can be  
but one2 that besides this one immutable
 verity  there are likewise what we have
 called apparent or secondary truths    
proceeding from local and temporary     
prejudices1 fancies1 fashions1 or       
accidental connection of ideas2 if it   
appears that these last have still      
their foundation1 however slender1 in   
the original fabric of our minds1  it   
follows that all these truths or        
beauties deserve and require the        
attention of the artist in proportion to
 their stability or duration1 or  as    
their influence is more or less         
extensive4  ,and let me add that as     

they ought not to pass their just       
bounds1 so neither do they1 in a well-  
regulated taste1 at all prevent or      
weaken the influence of these general   
principles1 which alone can give to art 
its true and permanent dignity4    ,to  
form this just taste is undoubtedly in  
your own power1 but it is to  reason and
 philosophy that you must have recourse2
 from them we must  borrow the balance  
by which is to be weighed and estimated 
the value of  every pretension that     
intrudes itself on your notice4    ,the 
general objection which is made to the  
introduction of philosophy  into the    
regions of taste is1 that it checks and 
restrains the flights of  the           
imagination1 and gives that timidity    
which an over-carefulness not to  err or
 act contrary to reason is likely to    
produce4    ,it is not so4  ,fear is    
neither reason nor philosophy4  ,the    
true spirit of  philosophy by giving    
knowledge gives a manly confidence1 and 
substitutes  rational firmness in the   

place of vain presumption4  ,a man of   
real taste  is always a man of judgment 
in other respects2 and those inventions 
which  either disdain or shrink from    
reason1 are generally1 ,i fear1 more    
like  the dreams of a distempered brain 
than the exalted enthusiasm of a sound  
and true genius4  ,in the midst of the  
highest flights of fancy or             
imagination1 reason ought to preside    
from first to last1 though ,i admit  her
 more powerful operation is upon        
reflection4    ,i cannot help adding    
that some of the greatest names of      
antiquity1 and  those who have most     
distinguished themselves in works of    
genius and  imagination1 were equally   
eminent for their critical skill4       
,plato1  ,aristotle1 ,cicero1 and       
,horace2 and among the moderns1         
,boileau1 ,corneille1  ,pope1 and       
,dryden1 are at least instances of      
genius not being destroyed by  attention
 or subjection to rules and science4  ,i
 should hope1 therefore1  that the      

natural consequence likewise of what has
 been said would be to  excite in you a 
desire of knowing the principles and    
conduct of the great  masters of our    
art1 and respect and veneration for them
 when known4