,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face 7bold74 ,,sir ,,joshua ,,reynolds' ,,discourses3 ,edited1 with an ,introduction1 by ,,helen ,,zimmern4 ,walter ,scott ,london3 #bd ,warwick ,lane ,paternoster ,row #ahhg ,,contents4 ,,discourse ,i4 ,,page ,the advantages proceeding from the institution of a ,royal ,academy4--,hints offered to the consideration of the ,professors and visitors4--,that an implicit obedience to the rules of ,art be exacted from the young students4--,that a premature disposition to a masterly dexterity be repressed4--,that diligence be constantly recommended1 and 7that it may be effectual7 directed to its proper object #a ,,discourse ,,ii4 ,the course and order of study4--,the different stages of ,art4--,much copying discountenanced4--,the ,artist at all times and in all places should be employed in laying up materials for the exercise of his ,art #aj ,,discourse ,,iii4 ,the great leading principles of the grand style4--,of beauty4--,the genuine habits of nature to be distinguished from those of fashion #be ,,discourse ,,iv4 ,general ideas the presiding principle which regulates every part of ,art2 ,invention1 ,expression1 ,colouring1 and ,drapery4--,two distinct styles in history-painting2 the grand and the ornamental4--,the schools in which each is to be found4--,the composite style4--,the style formed on local customs and habits1 or a partial view of nature #ci ,,discourse ,v4 ,circumspection required in endeavouring to unite contrary excellencies4--,the expression of a mixed passion not to be attempted4--,examples of those who excelled in the great style4--,raffaelle1 ,michel ,angelo1 those two extraordinary men compared with each other4--,the characteristical style4--,salvator ,rosa mentioned as an example of that style2 and opposed to ,carlo ,maratti4--,sketch of the characters of ,poussin and ,rubens4--,these two ,painters entirely dissimilar1 but consistent with themselves4--,this consistency required in all parts of the ,art #eh ,,discourse ,,vi4 ,imitation4--,genius begins where rules end4--,invention2 acquired by being conversant with the inventions of others4--,the true method of imitating4--,borrowing1 how far allowable4--,something to be gathered from every school #gd ,,discourse ,,vii4 ,the reality of a standard of taste as well as of corporal beauty4--,beside this immutable truth1 there are secondary truths1 which are variable2 both requiring the attention of the ,artist1 in proportion to their stability or their influence #ih ,,discourse ,,viii4 ,the principles of ,art1 whether ,poetry or ,painting1 have their foundation in the mind2 such as novelty1 variety1 and contrast2 these in their excess become defects4--,simplicity1 its excess disagreeable4--,rules not to be always observed in their literal sense2 sufficient to preserve the spirit of the law4--,observations on the ,prize ,pictures #abi ,,discourse ,,ix4 ,on the removal of the ,royal ,academy to ,somerset ,place4--,the advantages to ,society from cultivating intellectual pleasure #aed ,,discourse ,x4 ,sculpture3 ,has but one style4--,its objects1 form1 and character4--,ineffectual attempts of the modern ,sculptors to improve the art4--,ill effects of modern dress in ,sculpture #aeh ,,discourse ,,xi4 ,genius3 ,consists principally in the comprehension of ,a whole2 in taking general ideas only #agd ,,discourse ,,xii4 ,particular methods of study of little consequence--,little of the art can be taught4--,love of method often a love of idleness4--,pittori improvvisatori apt to be careless and incorrect2 seldom original and striking3--,this proceeds from their not studying the works of other masters #aij ,,discourse ,,xiii4 ,art not merely imitation1 but under the direction of the ,imagination4--,in what manner ,poetry1 ,painting1 ,acting1 ,gardening1 and ,architecture depart from ,nature #baa ,,discourse ,,xiv4 ,character of ,gainsborough3 his excellencies and defects #bcj ,,discourse ,,xv4 ,the ,president takes leave of the ,academy4--,a ,review of the ,discourses4--,the study of the ,works of ,michel ,angelo recommended #bdh ,,the ,,idler1 ,no4 #gf4 ,false ,criticisms on ,painting #bfi ---- ,no4 #gi4 ,the ,grand ,style of ,painting #bge ---- ,no4 #hb4 ,the true idea of ,beauty #bgi ,,introduction4 ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds--to whom is the name unfamiliar8 to whom1 hearing it1 does not appear in mental vision the equally familiar autograph portrait of the deaf artist8 ,this picture1 painted originally for ,mr4 ,thrale1 shows us the painter in his habit as he lived1 spectacles on nose1 ear-trumpet in hand--in short1 exactly as he was known to his intimates in his latter days in domestic life4 ,another autograph picture of the artist in younger life hangs to-day in the ,national ,gallery4 ,close by is seen the portrait by the same hand of his equally illustrious friend1 bluff1 common-sense ,dr4 ,johnson1 whom he represents as reading and holding his book close to his eyes after the manner of the short-sighted4 ,it would seem that this mode of representation roused ,dr4 ,johnson's ire4 ,it is not friendly1 he remarked1 to hand down to posterity the imperfections of any person4 ,this comment of the doctor's is equally characteristic of the man and his times4 ,at so low an ebb was art and art criticism in those days1 that people less learned than ,johnson failed to grasp the truth of ,reynolds' dictum1 now become almost a commonplace1 that a portrait but receives enhanced value as a human and historical document if it makes us acquainted with any natural peculiarity that characterises the person delineated4 ,johnson rebelled against the notion he deduced from this circumstance that ,sir ,joshua would make him known to posterity by his defects only2 he vowed to ,mrs4 ,thrale he would not be so known4 ,let ,sir ,joshua do his worst1 4 4 4 he may paint himself as deaf as he chooses1 but ,i will not be blinking ,sam4 ,in this anecdote1 in this juxtaposition of two great names1 each thoroughly representative of their epoch1 can be traced both the cause of ,sir ,joshua's success1 and of the difficulties against which he had to strive4 ,reynolds may with truth be named the father of modern ,english art1 for before him ,english art can scarcely be said to have existed1 since what was produced on ,british soil was chiefly the work of foreigners4 ,the records even of this older art are sufficiently barren4 ,it would appear that in the reign of ,henry ,,iii4 some foreign artists were invited over to decorate ,winchester ,castle1 but of them and their works little trace remains4 ,at the time when ,italy was producing her masterpieces no native artist of whom we have record bedaubed canvas in ,great ,britain2 and when the pomp-loving ,henry ,,viii4 wished to vie with his great contemporaries1 ,charles ,v41 ,leo ,x41 and ,francis ,i41 he had to turn to the ,continent for the men to execute his desires4 ,that he himself had no true taste or love for the arts is well known2 it was purely the spirit of emulation that prompted him4 ,how crude were his own art notions may be gathered from the written instructions he left for a monument to his memory4 ,they serve equally to illustrate the state of public taste in ,england at a period when ,italy was inspired by the genius of ,michael ,angelo1 of ,raphael1 and of ,titian4 ,the memorandum directs that the king shall appear on horseback1 of the stature of a goodly man2 while over him shall appear the image of ,god the ,father1 holding the king's soul in his left hand1 and his right extended in the act of benediction4 ,this work was to have been executed in bronze1 and was considerably advanced when ,elizabeth put a stop to its progress4 ,it was afterwards sold by the ,puritan parliament for six hundred pounds4 ,still1 for all his own artistic incapacity1 it is more than probable that had not ,henry1 for private domestic reasons1 adopted the ,reformed faith1 ,england under his reign might have witnessed a prosperous art period1 which1 it is true1 would not have been native art1 but might have given impetus towards its birth4 ,thackeray was fond of saying that it was no idle speculation to suppose what would have happened had ,napoleon won the battle of ,waterloo4 ,to those who love such fruitless mental sports it may prove no idle speculation to ponder what would have happened had ,henry's amorous desires not led him to liberate himself and his nation from the bosom of the ,catholic ,church4 ,enough that the facts are there1 and that with the first ardour of ,protestant zeal there also made itself felt a chilling influence1 casting a blight over literature and art1 and more especially over art1 till then so almost exclusively the handmaiden of religion1 that a work of art came to be regarded as a symbol and remembrance of popery1 and painting and sculpture were conscientiously discouraged as tending to encourage idolatry and superstition and to minister to passion and luxury4 ,queen ,mary1 ,elizabeth1 and ,james ,i41 each in their way gave some encouragement to foreign artists1 such as ,moro1 ,zucchero1 and ,mytens1 but their patronage was purely personal1 and did not operate upon the taste of the nation4 ,more extended influence was exercised by ,charles ,i4 ,this monarch had a real love and understanding for art1 and under him ,rubens and ,vandyke employed their pencils4 ,he also bought many pictures1 and encouraged his nobles to do the like4 ,at least1 among the upper classes the narrow ,puritan art views were greatly counteracted4 ,but ,charles had to lay his head upon the block1 and ,puritanism had fuller and more unchecked sway than ever before1 creating influences which to this very day are not wholly extinct1 though happily in their death throes4 ,their latest survival is the ,british ,matron who writes to the ,times denouncing modern pictures that displease her individual taste1 and the artists1 happily rare and few1 who preach that the study of the nude and anatomy is no essential part of a painter's education4 ,after the death of ,charles a general wreck of works of art ensued4 ,whatever survived the bigotry of the ,puritans was sacrificed to supply their pecuniary necessities4 ,a curious mixture of superstition and covetousness was displayed4 ,the journals of the ,house of ,commons of #afde afford some interesting reading like the following3--,ordered3 that all pictures and sketches as are without superstition shall be forthwith sold for the benefit of ,ireland and the north4 ,ordered3 that all such pictures as have the representation of the ,virgin ,mary upon them shall be forthwith burnt4 ,ordered3 that all such pictures as have the representation of the ,second ,person of the ,trinity upon them shall be forthwith burnt4 ,it seems1 however1 that these orders were not quite strictly executed4 ,the ,puritan conscience having been relieved by this edict1 many prohibited pictures were sold at a high price to swell the coffers of the zealots4 ,after this it is needless to remark that art did not flourish under the ,commonwealth4 ,with the ,restoration we find ,lely practising his method of portrait-painting1 succeeded by ,sir ,godfrey ,kneller1 neither1 however1 being ,englishmen4 ,the era of ,george ,i4 produced as native painters1 ,richardson and ,sir ,james ,thornhill2 under ,george ,,ii4 ,hudson flourished2 it was reserved to the long reign of ,george ,,iii4 to see the birth of what can be truly termed art1 of what alone can measure itself with the nations of the ,continent4 ,hogarth was the first upon the list1 but ,hogarth1 inimitable as he is1 was rather a satirist than an artist in the full acceptation of the term4 ,of beauty of draughtmanship1 of colour1 we find next to nothing in his canvasses4 ,together with him flourished ,hudson1 and a little later ,wilson and ,gainsborough1 who1 like himself1 and1 indeed1 like all ,english artists up to that time1 had imbibed their teaching through the medium of ,flanders1 producing exact and careful work--indeed1 in ,gainsborough's case1 work of real beauty--but lacking on the side of poetical feeling and elevation4 ,such a method must be regarded as the infancy of art1 its purely observant but unthinking side4 ,it was reserved to ,reynolds to open out to ,english understanding the vista of ,italian art1 with its glories1 its perfections1 and it is owing to his ,discourses1 even more than to his works1 that this mighty revolution came about2 a revolution so mighty1 so important1 that for its sake alone1 had he never limned a canvas1 the name of ,reynolds should stand forth proudly in the annals of ,england4 ,it was he who1 coming to ,italy1 already in mature manhood1 as a finished artist in the eyes of his countrymen1 had the perception and the courage to admit before the works of ,raphael and ,michael ,angelo that it was needful for him to become as a little child and recommence his studies upon principles of which hitherto he was ignorant4 ,joshua ,reynolds was born at ,plympton1 in ,devonshire1 ,july #afth1 #agbc1 the tenth child of the ,rev4 ,samuel ,reynolds1 rector of ,plympton and principal of the local grammar school4 ,his father was the boy's only instructor4 ,he had destined him1 it would seem1 for the medical profession1 and ,reynolds is known to have said in latter life that if this design had been carried out1 he should have felt the same determination to become the most eminent physician as he then felt to be the first painter of his age and country4 ,it was1 indeed1 his decided opinion 7an opinion modern psychology would hardly endorse7 that the superiority attainable in any pursuit whatever does not originate in an innate propensity of the mind for that pursuit in particular1 but depends on the general strength of the intellect1 and on the intense and constant application of that strength to a specific purpose4 ,he held that ambition was the cause of eminence1 but that accident pointed out the means4 ,it is impossible to decide whether or no ,reynolds illustrates his own theory1 but from what he said in private1 and also in his ,discourses1 many erroneous conclusions are drawn as to this point4 ,as his biographer1 ,northcote1 justly observes1 ,reynolds never meant to deny the existence of genius1 supposing the term to denote a greater degree of natural capacity in some minds than others2 but he always contended strenuously against the vulgar and absurd interpretation of the word1 which supposes that the same person may be a man of genius in one respect1 but utterly unfit for1 and almost an idiot in everything else2 and that this singular and unaccountable faculty is a gift born with us1 which does not need the assistance of pains or culture1 time or accident1 to improve and perfect it4 ,whatever ,reynolds' private views on the subject of native taste asserting itself in the young1 he himself undoubtedly showed a liking for art at an early age1 and his taste was fostered by his father1 himself an amateur possessing a small collection of anatomical and other prints4 ,if ,joshua's love of drawing did not interfere with his other studies1 his father did not check it4 ,thus there is extant to this day a perspective drawing of a bookcase under which ,mr4 ,reynolds has written1 ,done by ,joshua out of pure idleness4 ,it is on the back of a ,latin exercise4 ,he copied such prints as he could find in his father's library1 ,jacob ,cats's ,book of ,emblems furnishing him with the richest store4 ,this his grandmother1 who was a native of ,holland1 had contributed to the family bookshelves4 ,when he was only eight years old he read with eagerness ,the ,jesuit's ,perspective1 and so thoroughly did he master its rules that he never afterwards had to study any other works on the subject4 ,an application of these rules to practice is preserved in a drawing of the grammar school at ,plympton4 ,it was so well done that the father exclaimed1 ,now this exemplifies what the author of the ',perspective' asserts1 that by observing the rules laid down in this book a man may do wonders1 for this is wonderful4 ,visitors to the ,reynolds' ,exhibition1 which was held in the ,grosvenor ,gallery in #ahhd1 may remember this little drawing1 which was among the exhibits4 ,portraits of his family and friends next occupied ,reynolds' youthful pencil1 while his love of art was influenced by reading ,richardson's ,treatise of ,painting4 ,this book first awoke in him his enthusiastic adoration of ,raffaelle 7of whose works he had till then seen nothing71 a love he cherished until the end of his days4 ,at seventeen his liking for art showing no diminution1 the father decided he should follow a painter's career1 and took him to ,london1 where he placed him under ,hudson1 the most eminent artist ,england could then boast4 ,by a curious accident he was entered at ,hudson's on ,st4 ,luke's day1 the patron saint of art and artists4 ,hudson set him at work at copying1 a system ,sir ,joshua afterwards strenuously condemned4 ,his words on this matter1 written in the #bnd ,discourse1 should be read1 marked1 learned1 and inwardly digested by all art professors and students--they are golden words of wisdom4 ,notwithstanding the master's inadequate teaching1 the pupil made such progress that he aroused ,hudson's jealousy1 who1 after two years' apprenticeship1 found a pretext for dismissing him4 ,reynolds1 with what he had learnt1 continued to paint down in ,devonshire1 taking the portraits of the local magnates4 ,how conventional his style was at first is proved by the following anecdote4 ,it was a favourite attitude with the portrait-painters of the time to represent their model with one hand in waistcoat and the hat under the arm1 convenient because it dispensed the artist from the difficult task of painting the hand4 ,now it happened that one gentleman1 whose portrait ,reynolds painted1 desired to have his hat on his head4 ,the picture1 which was quickly finished and posed in a commonplace attitude1 was done without much study4 ,when sent home1 it was discovered1 on inspection1 that although this gentleman in his portrait had one hat upon his head1 there was another under his arm4 ,for three years ,reynolds painted in ,devonshire1 and certainly improved greatly under his own instructions and those of ,william ,gandy of ,exeter1 so that some of the works of this period are undoubtedly fine4 ,during these first years of seclusion he taught himself to think as well as to paint2 and that the labour of the mind is the most essential requisite in forming a great painter is a doctrine he constantly inculcates in his ,discourses1 distinguishing it from that of the hand4 ,he aptly applied the dictum of ,grotius--,nothing can come of nothing--to demonstrate the necessity of teaching4 ,the more ,reynolds thought1 however1 the less was he satisfied with his own performances1 and that he did not see himself progress with greater speed no doubt fretted him the more1 inasmuch as he had early declared it his fixed opinion that if he did not prove himself the best painter of his time1 when arrived at the age of thirty1 he never should4 ,for the completion of his studies he unceasingly felt that he must visit ,italy1 and behold with his own eyes those masterpieces of which he had heard so much4 ,chance offered him a passage to the ,continent in the flagship of ,viscount ,keppel1 and thus1 at the age of twenty-six1 ,may #aath1 #agdi1 ,reynolds first set sail for the ,continent1 and for the land of his desires and aspirations4 ,on ,sir ,joshua's death papers were found on which were written a number of detached thoughts1 jotted down as hints for a ,discourse1 never written1 in which the artist intended to give a history of his mind1 so far as it concerned his art1 his progress1 studies1 and practice4 ,one of these fragments narrates his feelings on first seeing the treasures of ,italian art1 and is sufficiently remarkable4 ,it has frequently happened1 he writes1 as ,i was informed by the keeper of the ,vatican1 that many of those whom he had conducted through the various apartments of that edifice1 when about to be dismissed1 have asked for the works of ,raffaelle1 and would not believe that they had already passed through the rooms where they are preserved2 so little impression had these performances made on them4 ,one of the first painters in ,france told me that this circumstance happened to himself2 though he now looks on ,raffaelle with that veneration which he deserves from all painters and lovers of art4 ,i remember very well my own disappointment when ,i first visited the ,vatican2 but on confessing my feelings to a brother student1 of whose ingenuousness ,i had a high opinion1 he acknowledged that the works of ,raffaelle had the same effect on him2 or rather1 that they did not produce the effect which he expected4 ,this was a great relief to my mind2 and1 on inquiring farther of other students1 ,i found that those persons only who from natural imbecility appeared to be incapable of ever relishing these divine performances1 made pretensions to instantaneous raptures on first beholding them4 ,in justice to myself1 however1 ,i must add1 that though disappointed and mortified at not finding myself enraptured with the works of this great master1 ,i did not for a moment conceive or suppose that the name of ,raffaelle and those admirable paintings in particular owed their reputation to the ignorance and prejudice of mankind2 on the contrary1 my not relishing them1 as ,i was conscious ,i ought to have done1 was one of the most humiliating things that ever happened to me4 ,i found myself in the midst of works executed upon principles with which ,i was unacquainted4 ,i felt my ignorance1 and stood abashed4 ,all the indigested notions of painting which ,i had brought with me from ,england1 where the art was at the lowest ebb--it could not indeed be lower--were to be totally done away with and eradicated from my mind4 ,it was necessary1 as it is expressed on a very solemn occasion1 that ,i should become as a little child4 ,notwithstanding my disappointment1 ,i proceeded to copy some of those excellent works4 ,i viewed them again and again2 ,i even affected to feel their merits and to admire them more than ,i really did4 ,in a short time a new taste and new perceptions began to dawn upon me1 and ,i was convinced that ,i had originally formed a false opinion of the perfection of art1 and that this great painter was well entitled to the high rank which he holds in the estimation of the world4 ,the truth is1 that if these works had been really what ,i expected1 they would have contained beauties superficial and alluring1 but by no means such as would have entitled them to the great reputation which they have long and so justly obtained4 ,it must1 of course1 be borne in mind1 reading these words1 that ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds had not the advantages put into the way to-day1 not only of art students1 but of every person more or less interested in art1 in the way of copies1 photographs1 autotypes1 from the works and drawings of the great masters4 ,he had to learn to understand1 and he at once put himself into the attitude of the learner1 humbly assured that the fault in appreciation must be in himself1 not in those masterpieces4 ,his good sense told him that 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 ,having since that period1 continues ,sir ,joshua1 frequently revolved the subject in my mind1 ,i am now clearly of opinion that a relish for the higher excellences of the art is an acquired taste1 which no man ever possessed without long cultivation and great labour and attention4 ,on such occasions as that which ,i have mentioned1 we are often ashamed of our apparent dulness1 as if it were expected that our minds1 like tinder1 should instantly catch fire from the divine spark of ,raffaelle's genius4 ,i flatter myself that now it would be so1 and that ,i have a just perception of his great powers2 but let it be remembered that the excellence of his style is not on the surface1 but lies deep1 and at the first view is seen but mistily4 ,it is the florid style which strikes at once1 and captivates the eye1 for a time1 without ever satisfying the judgment4 ,nor does painting in this respect differ from other arts4 ,a just poetical taste1 and the acquisition of a nice discriminative musical ear1 are equally the work of time4 ,even the eye1 however perfect in itself1 is often unable to distinguish between the brilliancy of two diamonds1 though the experienced jeweller will be amazed at its blindness2 not considering that there was a time when he himself could not have been able to pronounce which of the two was the most perfect1 and that his own power of discrimination was acquired by slow and imperceptible degrees4 ,from the first ,reynolds avoided making copies1 and had refused lucrative orders4 ,he sketched portions of pictures1 such as he thought would help his own comprehension1 but he would do no slavish imitation4 ,the man of true genius1 writes ,sir ,joshua1 instead of spending all his hours1 as many artists do while they are at ,rome1 in measuring statues and copying pictures1 soon begins to think for himself1 and endeavour to do something like what he sees4 ,i consider general copying1 he adds1 as a delusive kind of industry3 the student satisfies himself with the appearance of doing something2 he falls into the dangerous habit of imitating without selecting1 and labouring without a determinate object2 as it requires no effort of mind1 he sleeps over his work1 and those powers of invention and disposition which ought particularly to be called out and put into action lie torpid1 and lose their energy for want of exercise4 ,how incapable of producing anything of their own those are who have spent most of their time in making finished copies1 is an observation well known to all those who are conversant with our art4 ,his own precise method of study is not known1 but it may be assumed that he was chiefly occupied in reasoning on what he observed4 ,elsewhere he writes--,a painter should form his rules from pictures rather than from books or precepts2 rules were first made from pictures1 not pictures from rules4 ,every picture an artist sees1 whether the most excellent or the most ordinary1 he should consider whence that fine effect or that ill effect proceeds1 and then there is no picture ever so indifferent but he may look at it to his profit4 ,the artist1 he observes1 who has his mind 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 begin1 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 will follow1 without his exertion4 ,the mode of study which ,sir ,joshua adopted himself he continually recommends to the students3 ,instead of copying the touches of those great masters1 copy only their conceptions2 instead of treading in their footsteps1 endeavour only to keep the same road2 labour to invent on their general principles and way of thinking2 possess yourself with their spirit2 consider with yourself how a ,michael ,angelo or a ,raffaelle would have treated this subject1 and work yourself into a belief that your picture is to be seen and criticised by them when completed2 even an attempt of this kind will raise your powers4 ,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 ourselves from our affection to the instructor2 and they are more effectual from being received into the mind at the very time when it is most open to receive them4 ,having stayed in ,rome as long as his resources allowed1 ,sir ,joshua visited ,florence1 ,venice1 and some of the smaller ,italian towns1 everywhere adopting the same careful1 observant method of study4 ,after an absence of nearly three years he returned to ,england1 feeling himself indeed a mentally richer1 wiser man than he set out4 ,it was after his return from ,italy that ,reynolds took up his permanent abode in ,london1 then1 as now1 the only true centre for art or literature4 ,at first he met much opposition2 ,hudson especially was fiercely critical over ,reynolds' new style1 saying to him1 ,you don't paint so well now as you did before you went to ,italy4 ,another eminent portrait-painter of the time1 now long since consigned to oblivion1 shook his head sadly on seeing one of ,sir ,joshua's finest portrait works1 saying1 ,oh1 ,reynolds1 this will never answer3 why1 you don't paint in the least in the manner of ,kneller4 ,and when the artist tried to expose his reasons1 his rival1 not able to answer him1 left the room in a fury1 shouting1 ,damme6 ,shakespeare in poetry1 and ,kneller in painting2 damme6 ,nevertheless1 ,reynolds soon became a favourite with the public1 and his painting-room a fashionable resort4 ,to this end his courtly manner and agreeable conversation may greatly have aided4 ,by the year #agfj he had become the most sought for portraitist of his day1 and was making as much as #fjjj a-year1 in those days a very large sum for an artist to earn1 especially as the price he charged for his portraits was very low as compared with modern artistic demands4 ,it was in #agei that ,reynolds first put down some of his artistic ideas in writing4 ,he contributed three papers to the ,idler1 then edited by ,dr4 ,johnson1 with whom he had1 on coming to ,london1 formed that friendship which lasted all their lives4 ,they are the ,numbers #gf1 #gi1 and #hb1 and are reprinted in this volume4 ,these papers1 observes ,northcote1 may be considered as a kind of syllabus of all his future discourses2 and they certainly occasioned him some thinking in their composition4 ,i have heard ,sir ,joshua say that ,johnson required them from him on a sudden emergency1 and on that account he sat up the whole night to complete them in time2 and by it he was so much disordered that it produced a vertigo in his head4 ,the following year1 #agfj1 the one in which ,reynolds removed to his larger residence in ,leicester ,square1 is memorable in the annals of ,english art4 ,it witnessed the first public exhibition of modern paintings and sculptures1 and proved so satisfactory that it was repeated1 and finally laid the foundation for what became the ,royal ,academy4 ,the catalogue to one of these first exhibitions was penned by ,dr4 ,johnson1 and is written in his usual pompous style4 ,the worthy doctor had little appreciation for the fine arts1 and in a private letter to ,baretti1 speaking of this innovation1 he says3 ,this exhibition has filled the heads of artists and lovers of art4 ,surely life1 if it be not long1 is tedious2 since we are forced to call in the assistance of so many trifles to rid us of our time--of that time which never can return4 ,in #agfh the ,royal ,academy was founded by royal charter1 and was opened ,january #a1 #agfi4 ,reynolds had been elected its ,president1 and in accordance with the custom that prevails to this day1 received1 together with this dignity1 the compliment of knighthood4 ,on this occasion he delivered the first of his ,discourses1 in which1 mingled with general instructions concerning the purpose and method of art1 we find the needful servile adulation of the reigning sovereign4 ,the second1 far more able and to the point1 was delivered at the end of the same year on the occasion of the distribution of prizes to the students4 ,it contains his admirable views with regard to copying4 ,from henceforth1 on the same occasion1 every two years1 when the gold medals are given1 up to ,december #agij1 ,sir ,joshua delivered such an address to the students1 making in all fifteen ,discourses that are read with pleasure to this day4 ,at the last the hall was so crowded that a beam supporting the floor actually gave way with the weight4 ,that outsiders should have been so eager to come is astonishing on this account1 that ,reynolds1 like most ,englishmen1 had no powers of elocution4 ,his manner in delivering his speeches was shy and awkward1 and he often spoke so low that those at some distance could not hear him4 ,his deafness in a measure may have accounted for this1 for1 like all deaf people1 he could not modulate his voice2 but yet more1 his truly ,british horror lest he should seem to be posing as an orator4 ,it was no part of ,sir ,joshua's prescribed duty as ,president to deliver an address on the presentation of medals2 but1 if prizes were to be given1 he himself remarked in the last ,discourse1 it appeared not only proper1 but indispensably necessary1 that something should be said by the ,president on the delivery of those prizes2 and the ,president1 for his own credit1 would wish to say something more than mere words of compliment2 which1 by being frequently repeated1 would soon become flat and uninteresting1 and1 by being uttered to many1 would at last become a distinction to none4 ,i thought1 therefore1 if ,i were to preface this compliment with some instructive observations on the art1 when we crowned merit in the artists whom we rewarded1 ,i might do something to animate and guide them in their future attempts4 ,it was1 perhaps1 the fact that ,reynolds intended this ,discourse to be his last1 his farewell to the ,academy he had served so long and well1 that attracted such a crowd4 ,in it he takes a review of all his past ,discourses1 and ends with commending to the students the works of his idol1 ,michael ,angelo4 ,it was a source of joy to him that the last word he spoke in that hall was the name of this adored master4 ,i felt a self-congratulation in knowing myself capable of such sensations as he intended to excite4 ,i reflect1 not without vanity1 that these ,discourses bear testimony of my admiration of that truly divine man2 and ,i should desire that the last words which ,i should pronounce in this ,academy1 and from this place1 might be the name of ,michael ,angelo6 ,before the next occasion for a ,discourse occurred ,reynolds was quietly sleeping his eternal sleep in ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 having died ,february #bc1 #agib1 after two years' suffering1 borne with cheerful fortitude4 ,there are those who think that ,english art has rather retrograded than progressed since the days of ,reynolds4 ,to those who speak thus it is only needful to tell that ,pliny already spoke of painting as a dying art4 ,after this we need reason with such blind admirers of antiquity qu antiquity no farther4 ,that ,reynolds was a great artist is universally admitted beyond dispute2 but to speak of him as the greatest1 as unapproachable henceforward1 is as absurd as to claim1 as did his contemporaries1 that anything so able as his art discourses had never been penned4 ,these were above all impressed by the undoubted influence ,johnson had upon ,reynolds' style1 giving it that pedantic ring1 that monotony of cadence1 that want of colour1 which is precisely what we moderns least admire4 ,we should hardly assent to the contemporary lines lauding ,dr4 ,johnson and saying-- ,to fame's proud cliff behold our ,raphael rise1 ,hence ,reynolds' pen with ,reynolds' pencil vies4 ,but then1 in any case1 such fulsome flattery is not in accordance with the spirit of our century4 ,we might1 too1 now-a-days think it dubious praise that ,johnson1 after reading one of his friend's essays and praising it in general1 should pick out one passage in particular with the remark--,i think ,i might as well have said this myself4 ,more valuable we should consider the praise of ,burke1 who1 writing to ,mr4 ,malone1 says1 ,i have read over some part of the discourses with an unusual sort of pleasure4 4 4 4 ,he is always the same man1 the same philosophical1 the same artist-like critic1 the same sagacious observer1 with the same minuteness1 without the smallest degree of trifling4 ,this is true2 ,sir ,joshua's polished mind and calm philosophical observation makes itself felt in every line of his writings4 ,there was a time when envious calumny disputed the authorship of these ,discourses1 attributing them now to ,burke1 now to ,johnson4 ,the imputation is too futile to need refutation4 ,there are those who deny to any man the merit of having written his own works1 commencing with ,homer and ,shakespeare4 ,this is a strange craze of the critical mind4 ,seeing the work is the result of a human hand1 why not1 for example1 allow that ,shakespeare wrote what he claims as his own1 in lieu of attributing the authorship to ,lord ,bacon8 ,again1 why should there not have been a ,homer as there was a ,dante1 in lieu of an aggregation of men8 ,a very petty and despicable envy1 or the frantic desire of saying something new and strange to attract attention to ourselves1 may be pronounced the motor force of such theories4 ,reynolds' ,discourses may be described as the first attempt in the ,english language at what may be called a philosophy of art4 ,to this day there are in ,english few works of this character4 ,a science corresponding to the ,german ,aesthetik does not exist in ,english1 for what modern cant has dubbed stheticism1 the child's play of passionate ,brompton and languishing ,south ,kensington1 must on no account be confounded with a real serious study that in ,german universities fills a special chair4 ,the cause for this lack is no doubt to be sought in the vastly diverse genius of the two nations4 ,the ,german is nothing if not abstract2 the ,englishman nothing if not positive2 and on this account the ,english take art1 as well as all else1 from the practical side4 ,to mention but a few ,german works of this character4 ,hegel has written a philosophy of the fine arts scarcely less valuable to art-students and painters1 and perchance even as unknown to the latter--for artists are rarely readers--as the works of the same class written by ,winckelmann and ,lessing4 ,reynolds addressed an audience not merely of readers and theoreticians1 but of actual workers1 practical students2 and he strove1 therefore1 to combine theory with positive facts1 hoping thus to bridge over the gulf which made1 and still unhappily makes1 ,english art-students learn their profession too much by mere rule of thumb4 ,that ,reynolds' work is neither final nor all-embracing goes without saying4 ,the mere fact that these lectures were delivered but rarely1 forming no designed sequence1 would have hindered such an end1 even had ,reynolds' knowledge been sufficient to accomplish it4 ,under the circumstances1 it is sufficiently remarkable that they really form so complete a whole as they undoubtedly do4 ,the one leading idea that informs them is the necessity for the student to study the works of the great masters1 above all of the ,roman and ,tuscan schools2 and on this doctrine1 then so new1 ,reynolds could not insist enough4 ,in his last ,discourse1 with great modesty he sums up so ably what he has achieved1 that it is best to let him speak for himself4 ,after saying how unequal he had been to the expression of his ideas1 he continues3-- ,to this work1 however1 ,i could not be said to come totally unprovided with materials2 ,i had seen much1 and ,i had thought much upon what ,i had seen2 ,i had something of a habit of investigation1 and a disposition to reduce all that ,i had observed and felt in my own mind to method and system2 but ,i thought it indispensably necessary well to consider the opinions which were to be given out from this place1 and under the sanction of a ,royal ,academy2 ,i therefore examined not only my own opinions but likewise the opinions of others4 ,in revising my discourses1 it is no small satisfaction to be assured that ,i have in no part of them lent my assistance to foster newly-hatched unfledged opinions1 or endeavoured to support paradoxes1 however tempting may have been their novelty1 or however ingenious ,i might1 for the minute1 fancy them to be2 nor shall ,i1 ,i hope1 anywhere be found to have imposed on the minds of young students declamation for argument1 a smooth period for a sound precept4 ,i have pursued a plain and honest method2 ,i have taken up the art simply as ,i found it exemplified in the practice of the most approved painters4 ,that approbation which the world has uniformly given1 ,i have endeavoured to justify by such proofs as questions of this kind will admit2 by the analogy which painting holds with the sister arts1 and consequently by the common congeniality which they all bear to our nature4 ,and though in what has been done no new discovery is pretended1 ,i may still flatter myself that from the discoveries which others have made from their own intuitive good sense and native rectitude of judgment 7in allusion to the works of the old masters7 ,i have succeeded in establishing the rules and principles of our art on a more firm and lasting foundation than that on which they formerly had been placed4 ,it is worthy of note1 as yet another proof of ,sir ,joshua's justice of judgment and objectivity1 that1 speaking of portrait-painting 7,discourse ,,iii471 he puts it low in rank among the various departments of painting4 ,he strove with all his power to elevate ,english art methods1 to lead artists to practice what he named the grand style1 and it was on this account that he ever and always held up to imitation the gods of his idolatry1 ,michael ,angelo and ,raffaelle4 ,what he writes concerning pittori improvisatori may well be laid to heart to-day when ,impressionism threatens to swamp genuine study and careful draughtsmanship4 ,indeed1 looked at from all sides1 ,sir ,joshua's ,discourses worthily take rank among the ,english classics1 and it has been truly said that with ,reynolds' literature was the playmate of art1 and art became the handmaiden of literature4 ,that detractors have not been lacking is a matter of course1 but ,reynolds1 like others1 can console himself with ,goethe's lines-- ,die schlechsten ,frchte sindd es nichtt ,woran die ,wespen nagen4 ,some of these objections merit reproduction4 ,who can read1 for instance1 without a smile1 the words of ,blake1 that sweet1 childlike mind1 which was at once so penetrative and so uncritical8 ,the smile will of course be one of gentle sympathy1 such as one ever accords to that wayward genius4 ,he writes in his notes-- ,whether ,reynolds knew what he was doing is nothing to me4 ,the mischief is the same whether a man does it ignorantly or knowingly4 ,i always considered true art and true artists particularly insulted and degraded by the reputation of these discourses2 as much as they were degraded by the reputation of ,reynolds' paintings1 and that such artists as ,reynolds are1 at all times1 hired by ,satan for the depression of art2 a pretence of art to destroy art4 ,once ,blake finds a passage after his own heart3 ,a firm and determined outline is one of the characteristics of the great style of painting6 ,against which is written1 ,here is a noble sentence6 a sentence which overthrows all his book4 ,with no more than justice he remarks on the very weakest feature in ,sir ,joshua's system3 ,reynolds' opinion was1 that genius may be taught1 and all pretence to inspiration is a lie or deceit1 to say the least of it4 ,if it is deceit1 the whole ,bible is madness4 ,of the ,third ,discourse he energetically avers3 ,the following discourse is particularly interesting to blockheads1 as it endeavours to prove that there is no such thing as inspiration1 and that any man of plain understanding may1 by thieving from others1 become a ,michael ,angelo4 ,again-- ,no real style of colouring now appears1 ,save through advertisements in the newspapers2 ,look there--you'll see ,sir ,joshua's colouring2 ,look at his pictures--all has taken wing4 ,again1 when ,reynolds tells his hearers that enthusiastic admiration seldom promotes knowledge1--,and such is the coldness with which ,reynolds speaks6 ,and such is his enmity6 ,enthusiastic admiration is the first principle of knowledge and its last4 ,how he begins to degrade1 to deny1 and to mock6 ,the man1 who1 on examining his own mind1 finds nothing of inspiration1 ought not to dare to be an artist4 ,he is a fool and an amusing knave suited to the purposes of evil demons4 ,the man who never in his mind and thought travelled to ,heaven is no artist4 ,it is evident that ,reynolds wished none but fools to be in the arts1 and in order to compass this1 he calls all others rogues1 enthusiasts1 or madmen4 ,what has reasoning to do with the art of painting8 ,it is evident that ,blake has not always fully followed ,reynolds' meaning4 ,indeed1 ,sir ,joshua is at times a little obscure1 a circumstance his detractors did not overlook1 nicknaming him ,sir ,obadiah ,twylight1 and classifying his style as sub-fusk4 ,concerning this ,third ,discourse1 which deals with the grand style and the right imitation of nature1 an anecdote is preserved4 ,west was at the time painting his picture of the ,death of ,wolfe4 ,when it was understood that he meant to paint the characters as they actually appeared on the scene1 the ,archbishop of ,york called on ,reynolds and asked his opinion concerning this4 ,both visited ,west and endeavoured to dissuade him4 ,west1 firm in his rejection of the classic dress1 replied1 ,i want to mark the place1 the time1 and the people1 and to do this ,i must abide by truth4 ,when the picture was finished he called ,sir ,joshua to see it4 ,reynolds seated himself before the canvas and examined it with interest for half-an-hour1 and then1 rising1 said1 ,west has conquered2 he has treated the subject as it ought to be treated4 ,so just was ,reynolds' mind that he could admit the truth even when it opposed his own theories4 ,ruskin has also contributed his quota to the ,reynolds controversy4 ,writing in his favourite antithetic style1 he says3-- ,nearly every word that ,reynolds wrote was contrary to his own practice2 he seems to have been born to teach all error by his precept1 and all excellence by his example2 he enforced with his lips generalisation and idealism1 while with his pencil he was tracing the patterns of the dresses of the belles of the day2 he exhorted his pupils to attend only to the invariable1 while he himself was occupied in distinguishing every variation of womanly temper2 and he denied the existence of the beautiful at the same instant that he arrested it as it passed1 and perpetuated it for ever4 ,thus to ,sir ,joshua's lot1 as to all who put themselves before the world1 has fallen a portion of praise and blame2 but the best praise that can be accorded a man's work is that it should survive him1 and continue to arouse interest long after his death4 ,this most certainly is the case with regard to ,reynolds' ,discourses1 and therefore to them may apply what he has himself said as to the duration of masterpieces4 ,not faultless1 not all-embracing1 but full of historical and individual interest1 of keen and careful observation1 of judicious thought1 they merit the attention of the modern reading public--a public far more largely interested in art than ever existed in the day when their writer lived and painted and lectured4 ,,helen ,,zimmern4 ,,to ,,the ,,king4 ,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 embellished1 and science is refined1 to found an ,academy was reserved for ,your ,majesty4 ,had such patronage been without effect1 there has 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 encourage1 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 acceptance1 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 ,servant ,and most faithful ,subject1 #aggh4 ,,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 authority1 as demands from the ,students that deference and respect 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 humble1 ,and obedient ,servant1 ,,joshua ,,reynolds4 ,,discourses4 ,,sir ,,joshua ,,reynolds' ,,discourses4 ,,discourse ,i4 ,delivered at the ,opening of the ,royal ,academy1 ,january #b1 #agfi4 ,,the ,,advantages ,,proceeding ,,from ,,the ,,institution ,,of ,a ,,royal ,,academy4--,,hints ,,offered ,,to ,,the ,,consideration ,,of ,,the ,,professors ,,and ,,visitors4--,,that ,,an ,,implicit ,,obedience ,,to ,,the ,,rules ,,of ,,art ,,be ,,exacted ,,from ,,the ,,young ,,students4--,,that ,a ,,premature ,,disposition ,,to ,a ,,masterly ,,dexterity ,,be ,,repressed4--,,that ,,diligence ,,be ,,constantly ,,recommended1 ,,and 7,,that ,,it ,,may ,,be ,,effectual7 ,,directed ,,to ,,its ,,proper ,,object4 ,an ,academy1 in which the ,polite ,arts may be regularly cultivated1 is at last opened among us by ,royal munificence4 ,this must appear an event in the highest degree interesting1 not only to the ,artist1 but to the whole nation4 ,it is1 indeed1 difficult to give any other reason why an empire like that of ,britain should so long have wanted an ornament so suitable to its greatness1 than that slow progression of things1 which naturally makes elegance and refinement the last effect of opulence and power4 ,an ,institution like this has often been recommended upon considerations merely mercantile2 but an ,academy1 founded upon such principles1 can never effect even its own narrow purposes4 ,if it has an origin no higher1 no taste can ever be formed 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 dignity2 and who 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 which ,i have had with many in this assembly 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 ineffectual2 and it is pleasing to reflect1 that we are thus embodied1 when every circumstance seems to concur from which honour and prosperity can probably arise4 ,there are1 at this time1 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 notice1 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 and generosity of the ,institution3 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 excellence1 which it is the lot of genius always to contemplate1 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 acquired2 and the tardy and obstructed progress of our predecessors may teach us a shorter and easier way4 ,the ,student receives1 at one glance1 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 came to be known and fixed4 ,how many men of great natural abilities have been lost to this nation for want of these advantages6 ,they never had an opportunity of seeing those masterly efforts of genius1 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 ,michel ,angelo in particular1 were to him an ,academy4 ,on the sight of the ,capella ,sistina1 he immediately1 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 found1 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 proceeded1 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 ,impressed1 as ,i am1 therefore1 with such a favourable opinion of my associates1 in this undertaking1 it would ill become me to dictate to any of them4 ,but as these ,institutions have so often failed in other nations2 and as it is natural to think with regret how much might have 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 practice of 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 guides2 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 doubting1 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 sense1 has ended his studies as soon as he has commenced them4 ,every opportunity1 therefore1 should be taken to discountenance that false and vulgar opinion1 that rules are the fetters of genius3 they are fetters only to men of no genius2 as that armour1 which upon the strong is an ornament and a defence1 upon the weak and misshapen becomes 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 a subsequent 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 ,students1 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 masterly1 handling of the chalk or pencil1 are1 it must be confessed1 captivating qualities to young minds1 and become1 of course1 the objects of their ambition4 ,they endeavour to imitate these dazzling excellencies1 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 labour1 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 perfection3 they have taken the shadow for the substance2 and make the mechanical felicity 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 masters of execution inciting them on one hand1 but also their natural sloth tempting them on the other4 ,they are terrified at the prospect before them of the toil required to attain exactness4 ,the impetuosity of youth is disgusted 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 again1 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 part--heads1 hands1 feet1 and pieces of drapery2 they then painted the picture1 and after all1 retouched it from the life4 ,the pictures1 thus wrought with such pains1 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 directed1 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 art2 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 hand1 should be taught to contend who shall have the purest and most correct outline2 instead of striving which shall produce the brightest tint1 or curiously trifling1 shall give the gloss of stuffs1 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 not1 indeed1 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 be1 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 him1 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 ,visitors2 and submit to them1 whether the neglect of this method is not one of the reasons why ,students so often disappoint expectation1 and1 being more than boys at sixteen1 become less than men at thirty4 ,in short1 the method ,i recommend can only be detrimental where 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 expectation of its ,,royal ,,founder2 that the present age may vie in ,arts with that of ,,leo the ,tenth2 and that the dignity of the dying ,art 7to make use of an expression of ,pliny7 may be revived under the ,reign of ,,george ,,the ,,third4 ,,discourse ,,ii4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aa1 #agfi4 ,,the ,,course ,,and ,,order ,,of ,,study4--,,the ,,different ,,stages ,,of ,,art4--,,much ,,copying ,,discountenanced4--,,the ,,artist ,,at ,,all ,,times ,,and ,,in ,,all ,,places ,,should ,,be ,,employed ,,in ,,laying ,,up ,,materials ,,for ,,the ,,exercise ,,of ,,his ,,art4 ,i congratulate you on the honour which you have just received1 ,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 how much yet remains to attain perfection4 ,i flatter myself 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 are1 indeed1 in a great degree1 founded upon my own mistakes in the same pursuit4 ,but the history of errors1 properly managed1 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 rudiments2 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 for 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 been known and done before his own time4 ,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 taste1 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 authority1 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 authority1 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 perfection3 in this he learns1 what requires the most attentive survey1 and the most 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 teachers2 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 dignity which long converse with the greatest minds has imparted to him will display itself in all his attempts2 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 latitude1 as may leave the province of the professor uninvaded2 and shall not anticipate those precepts1 which it is his business to give1 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 memory3 nothing can come of nothing3 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 abilities2 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 any thing from their predecessors1 it is only in irregular sallies and trifling conceits4 ,the more extensive1 therefore1 your acquaintance is with the works of those who have excelled1 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 what 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 object1 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 men3 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 excel or are defective in the mechanical parts1 look on theory as something that may enable them to talk but not to paint better2 and1 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 and1 ,i think1 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 commonplace4 ,this1 though it takes up much time in copying1 conduces little to improvement4 ,i consider general copying as a delusive kind of industry3 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 work3 and those powers of invention and composition which ought particularly to be called out1 and put in action1 lie torpid1 and lose their energy for want of exercise4 ,how incapable those are of producing anything of their own who have spent much of their time in making finished copies1 is well known to all who are conversant with our art4 ,to suppose that the complication of powers and variety of ideas necessary to that mind which aspires to the first honours in the ,art of ,painting 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 imagine1 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 model before you4 ,an eye critically nice can only be formed by observing well-coloured pictures with attention2 and by close inspection and minute examination you will discover1 at last1 the manner of handling1 the artifices of contrast1 glazing1 and other expedients 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 pictures1 deservedly celebrated for their colouring1 are often so changed by dirt and varnish 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 observation considers rather what the picture once was than what it is at present4 ,he has by habit acquired a power of seeing the brilliancy of tints through the cloud by which it is obscured4 ,an exact imitation1 therefore1 of those pictures 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 ,michel ,angelo or a ,raffaelle would have treated this subject1 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 equivalent to and will1 perhaps1 more efficaciously contribute to your advancement 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 see 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 objects will be certain and definitive2 and1 sinking deep into the mind1 will not only be more just but more lasting than those presented to you by precepts only1 which will always be fleeting1 variable1 and undetermined4 ,this method of comparing your own efforts with those of some great master is1 indeed1 a severe and mortifying task1 to which none will submit 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 voluntary to a tribunal where he knows his vanity must be humbled1 and all self-approbation must vanish1 requires not only great resolution 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 circumstance3 every discovery he makes1 every acquisition of knowledge he attains1 seems to proceed from his own sagacity3 and thus he acquires a confidence in himself sufficient to keep up the resolution of perseverance4 ,we all must have experienced how lazily1 and1 consequently1 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 excellencies for your imitation which lie distributed amongst the various schools4 ,an endeavour to do this may1 perhaps1 be the subject of some future discourse4 ,i will1 therefore1 at present1 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 ,ludovico ,caracci 7,i mean his best works7 appears to me to approach the nearest to perfection4 ,his unaffected breadth of light and shadow1 the simplicity of colouring1 which1 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 ,titian2 though ,tintoret thought that ,titian's colouring was the model of perfection1 and would correspond even with the sublime of ,michel ,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 ,caracci 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 excellence2 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 man1 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 hands 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 recommend1 that after your return from the ,academy 7where ,i suppose your attendance to be constant71 you would endeavour to draw the figure by memory4 ,i will even venture to add1 that by perseverance in this custom you will become able to draw the human figure tolerably correctly1 with as little effort of the mind as is required to trace with a pen the letters of the alphabet4 ,that this facility is not unattainable some members in this ,academy give a sufficient proof4 ,and be assured1 that1 if this power is not acquired whilst you are young1 there will be no time for it afterwards2 at least1 the attempt will be attended with as much difficulty as those experience who learn to read or write after they have arrived at 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 that1 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 colouring1 and if1 by a short straggle of resolute industry1 the same expedition is attainable in painting as in drawing on paper1 ,i cannot see what objection can justly be made to the practice1 or why that should be done by parts which may be done all together4 ,if we turn our eyes to the several ,schools of ,painting1 and consider their respective excellencies1 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 ,baroccio have left few1 if any1 finished drawings behind them4 ,and in the ,flemish school1 ,rubens and ,vandyck made their designs for the most part either in colours or in chiaro-oscuro4 ,it is as common to find studies of the ,venetian and ,flemish ,painters on canvas 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 their scholars1 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 diffidence1 and when better are suggested 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 excellencies 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 and ,architect3-- ,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 strait1 difficult passage1 if he was alone1 he considered with himself1 and if he was in company he asked his friends1 what it would be best to do if in this place they had found an enemy1 either in the front or in the rear1 on the one side or on the other8 ',it might happen1' says he1 'that the enemy to be opposed might come on drawn up in regular lines1 or in a tumultuous body 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 them3 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 water1 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 ,painter equally vigilant1 whether at home or abroad1 in the streets or in the fields4 ,every object that presents itself is to him a lesson4 ,he regards all nature with a view to his profession1 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 ,lionardo da ,vinci has observed1 he improves upon the fanciful images that are sometimes seen in the fire1 or are accidently 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 begin2 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 exertion4 ,conscious of the difficulty of obtaining what he possesses1 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 have undergone the same fatigue2 and as his pre-eminence depends not upon a trick1 he is free from the painful suspicions of a juggler who lives in perpetual fear lest his trick should be discovered4 ,,discourse ,,iii4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #ad1 #aggj4 ,,the ,,great ,,leading ,,principles ,,of ,,the ,,grand ,,style4--,,of ,,beauty4--,,the ,,genuine ,,habits ,,of ,,nature ,,to ,,be ,,distinguished ,,from ,,those ,,of ,,fashion4 ,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 efforts might 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 rudiments 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 excellent1 or1 by a strict imitation of his manner1 precluding themselves from the abundance and variety of ,nature4 ,i will now add1 that ,nature herself is not to be too closely copied4 ,there are excellencies in the art of painting beyond what is commonly called the imitation of ,nature1 and these excellencies ,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 great1 can never raise and enlarge the conceptions1 or warm the heart of the spectator4 ,the wish of the genuine ,painter must be more extensive2 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 antiquity 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 enthusiasm3 they call it inspiration--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#a 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 beautiful2 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 presented to his sight1 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 figure1 as a pattern1 which he was to copy2 but having a more perfect idea of beauty fixed in his mind1 this is 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 sensible of its effects4 ,every language has adopted terms expressive of this excellence4 ,the gusto grande of the ,italians1 the beau idal of the ,french1 and 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 excite 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 care1 at the same time1 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 exercise1 or the acquisition1 of these great qualities1 yet we may truly say1 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 art that seem1 at first1 to lie without the reach of precept1 and yet may easily be reduced to practical principles4 ,experience is all in all3 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 or1 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 has acquired the power of discerning what each wants in particular4 ,this long1 laborious comparison should be the first study of the ,painter who aims at the great style4 ,by this means 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 things1 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 to1 the epithet of divine2 as it may be said to preside1 like a supreme judge1 over all the productions of ,nature1 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 be 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 form1 ,i grant1 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 ,this laborious investigation1 ,i am aware1 must appear superfluous to those who think everything is to be done by felicity and the powers of native genius4 ,even the great ,bacon treats with ridicule the idea of confining proportion to rules1 or of producing beauty by selection4 ,a man cannot tell1 says he1 whether ,apelles or ,albert ,durer were the more trifler3 whereof the one would make a personage by geometrical proportions2 the other1 by taking the best parts out of divers faces1 to make one excellent4 4 4 ,the painter1 he adds1 must do it by a kind of felicity 4 4 4 and not by rule4#b ,it is not safe to question any opinion of so great a writer1 and so profound a thinker1 as undoubtedly ,bacon was4 ,but he studies brevity to excess2 and therefore his meaning is sometimes doubtful4 ,if he means that beauty has nothing to do with rule1 he is mistaken4 ,there is a rule1 obtained out of general ,nature1 to contradict which is to fall into deformity4 ,whenever anything is done beyond this rule1 it is in virtue of some other rule which is followed along with it1 but which does not contradict it4 ,everything which is wrought with certainty1 it is wrought upon some principle4 ,if is not1 it cannot be repeated4 ,if by felicity is meant anything of chance or hazard1 or something born with a man1 and not earned1 ,i cannot agree with this great philosopher4 ,every object which pleases must give us pleasure upon some certain principles3 but as the objects of pleasure are almost infinite1 so their principles vary without end1 and every man finds them out1 not by felicity or successful hazard1 but by care and sagacity4 ,to the principle ,i have laid down1 that the idea of beauty in each species of beings is an invariable one1 it may be objected1 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 ,hercules is one1 of the ,gladiator another1 of the ,apollo another2 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 ideal and superior to any individual form of that class2 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 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 symmetry1 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 them on the whole 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 turning 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 we know to be 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 which have been practised to disguise nature among our dancing-masters1 hairdressers1 and tailors1 in their various schools of deformity4#c ,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 challenging 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 which are everywhere and always the same2 he addresses his works to the people of every country and every age1 he calls upon posterity to be his spectators1 and says1 with ,zeuxis1 ,in ternitatem pingo4 ,the neglect of separating modern fashions from the habits of nature leads to that ridiculous style which has been practised by some painters1 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 prejudices1 who has not chastised his mind1 and regulated the instability of his affections 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 observations which would probably escape you1 if your study were confined to nature alone4 ,and1 indeed1 ,i cannot help suspecting1 that1 in this instance1 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 found the true idea of beauty1 which enables him to give his works a correct and perfect design2 if we should suppose1 also1 that he has acquired a knowledge of the unadulterated habits of nature1 which gives him simplicity2 the rest of his task 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 forgotten that there is a nobleness of conception which goes beyond anything in the mere exhibition even of perfect form2 there is an art of animating and dignifying the figures with intellectual grandeur1 of impressing the appearance of philosophic wisdom1 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 discriminations1 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 succeed2 but it is not the eye1 it is the mind which the painter of genius desires to address2 nor will he waste a moment upon those smaller objects 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 which ,i 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 which 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 students1 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 art1 which were so well understood and practised by his contemporaries in ,italy4 ,but1 unluckily1 having never seen nor heard of any other manner1 he1 without doubt1 considered his own as perfect4 ,as for the various departments of painting 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 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 passion as they are exhibited by vulgar minds 7such as we see in the works of ,hogarth71 deserve great praise2 but as their genius has been employed on low and confined subjects1 the praise which we give must be as limited as its object4 ,the merrymaking or quarrelling of the ,boors of ,teniers2 the same sort of productions of ,brouwer 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 passions 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 sonneteer1 a writer of pastorals or descriptive poetry1 has to that of a poet4 ,in the same rank1 and perhaps 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 objects 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 ,having begun 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 lower1 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 practice that which he esteems the best1 but does that which he can best do4 ,in moderate attempts 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 undetermined manner of painting4 ,for1 though the painter is to overlook the accidental discriminations of nature1 he is to exhibit 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 form which 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 principles2 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 ,i am convinced that this is the only means of advancing science2 of clearing the mind from a confused heap of contradictory observations1 that do but perplex and puzzle the student1 when he compares them1 or misguide him if he gives himself up to their authority2 bringing them under one general head can alone give rest and satisfaction to an inquisitive mind4 ,,footnotes3 #a3 ,lib4 #b1 in ,timum ,platonis1 as cited by ,junius de ,pictura ,veterum4--,r4 #b3 ,essays1 p4 #beb1 edit4 #afbe4 #c3 ,those1 says ,quintilian1 who are taken with the outward show of things1 think that there is more beauty in persons who are trimmed1 curled1 and painted1 than uncorrupt nature can give2 as if beauty were merely the effect of the corruption of manners4--,r4 ,,discourse ,,iv4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #agga4 ,,general ,,ideas1 ,,the ,,presiding ,,principle ,,which ,,regulates ,,every ,,part ,,of ,,art2 ,,invention1 ,,expression1 ,,colouring1 ,,and ,,drapery4--,,two ,,distinct ,,styles ,,in ,,history-,,painting2 ,,the ,,grand ,,and ,,the ,,ornamental4--,,the ,,schools ,,in ,,which ,,each ,,is ,,to ,,be ,,found4--,,the ,,composite ,,style4--,,the ,,style ,,formed ,,on ,,local ,,customs ,,and ,,habits1 ,,or ,a ,,partial ,,view ,,of ,,nature4 ,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 man1 it makes the highest pretensions1 as it is addressed to the noblest faculties3 in those of another1 it is reduced to a mere matter of ornament2 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 ideas3 ,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 ,invention1 in ,painting1 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 something1 either in the action or in the object1 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 general1 concern2 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 education1 and the usual course of reading1 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 beside 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 expression of the persons employed4 ,the power of representing this mental picture on canvas is what we call invention in a ,painter4 ,and as1 in the conception of this ideal picture1 the mind does not enter into the minute peculiarities of the dress1 furniture1 or scene of action2 so1 when the ,painter comes to represent it1 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 rejected3 but if there be anything in the ,art which require peculiar nicety of discernment1 it is the disposition of these minute circumstantial parts2 which1 according to the judgment employed in the choice1 become so useful to truth1 or so injurious to grandeur4 ,however1 the usual and most dangerous error is on the side of minuteness2 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 censure2 he will not think it enough to show that they may be there2 he will show that they must be there2 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 taken that these subordinate actions and lights1 neither each in particular1 nor all together1 come into any degree of competition with the principal3 they should merely make a part of that whole which would be imperfect without them4 ,to every kind of painting this rule may be applied4 ,even in portraits1 the grace1 and1 we may add1 the likeness consists more in taking the general air than in observing the exact similitude of every feature4 ,thus figures must have a ground whereon to stand2 they must be clothed2 there must be a background2 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 background drapery 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 the memory when the picture is not present4 ,the great end of the art is to strike the imagination4 ,the ,painter1 therefore1 is 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 mouths 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 truth1 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 receiving2 yet we are expressly told in ,scripture they had no such respectable appearance2 and of ,st4 ,paul1 in particular1 we are told1 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 appearance3 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 license4 ,a painter of portraits retains the individual likeness2 a painter of history shows the man by showing his action4 ,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 know1 at the same time1 that the saint was deformed 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 countenance2 and by that correspondence of figure to sentiment and situation1 which all men wish1 but cannot command4 ,the ,painter 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 in ,expression1 care must be taken not to run into particularities4 ,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 joy1 or the grief1 of a character of dignity is not to be expressed in the same manner as a similar passion in a vulgar face4 ,upon this principle1 ,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 and1 in order to give it the expression of energy1 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 two2 and he mistook accident for generality4 ,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 performed1 the spectator1 as he walks the gallery1 will stop1 or pass along4 ,to give a general air of grandeur at first view1 all trifling1 or artful play of little lights1 or an attention to a variety of tints1 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 chiaro-oscuro1 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 monotony2 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 which 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 nobler passions1 has its effect from the sudden and strongly-marked transitions from one note to another which that style of music requires2 whilst in that which is intended to move the softer passions1 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 him 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 makes a very considerable part of the painter's study4 ,to make it merely natural is a mechanical operation1 to which neither genius nor taste are required2 whereas it requires the nicest judgment to dispose the drapery1 so that the folds shall have an easy communication1 and gracefully follow each other 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 form4 ,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 his art2 yet in him1 the disposition appears so ostentatiously 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 principle1 the ,roman1 the ,florentine1 the ,bolognese schools 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 ,dutch schools2 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 and1 ,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 school1 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 art1 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 ,sabastian ,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 that1 if they had considered the class of the ,artist1 and ranked him as an ornamental ,painter1 there would have been no difficulty in answering--,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 which he professed4 ,young minds are indeed too apt to be captivated by this splendour of style2 and that of the ,venetians is particularly pleasing2 for by them all those parts of the ,art that gave 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 may 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 figures 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 expression2 and then reflect on the conceptions and the learning of ,michel ,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 of a ,venetian picture1 without the least attempt to interest the passions1 their boasted art will appear a mere struggle without effect2 a 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 ,paolo or ,tintoret1 are totally mistaken4 ,the principles by which each is attained are so contrary to each other1 that they seem1 in my opinion1 incompatible1 and as impossible to exist together1 as that in the mind the most sublime ideas and the lowest sensuality should at the same time be united4 ,the subjects of the ,venetian ,painters are mostly such as give them an opportunity of introducing a great number of figures2 such as feasts1 marriages1 and processions1 public martyrdoms1 or miracles4 ,i can easily conceive that ,paul ,veronese1 if he were asked1 would say1 that no subject was proper for an historical picture1 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 light 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 story2 he conceived that more would contribute to no end but to fill space2 that they would 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 effect so indispensably necessary to grandeur1 that 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 ,elegant1 indeed1 may be produced by repetition2 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 harmonious1 to produce that solidity1 steadiness1 and simplicity of effect1 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 history1 is confirmed1 if it wants confirmation1 by the greatest of all authorities1 ,michel ,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 ,michel ,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 heavily and more justly would the censure fall on ,paolo ,veronese1 and 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 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 whimsies 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 that 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 ,paolo ,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 you 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 unexperienced2 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 excellencies 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 ,flanders2 ,voet to ,france2 and ,lucca ,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 student1 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 cultivated1 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 to show that a mixture of the ,venetian style cannot improve the great style1 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 ,venetians1 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 ,paolo and ,bassano seems to be only1 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 them 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 occupations2 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 life1 that they exhibit all the minute particularities of a nation differing in several respects from the rest of mankind4 ,yet 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 see 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 a very confined portrait4 ,claude ,lorrain1 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 had 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 ,lorrain1 in respect to his choice1 is to be adopted by ,landscape-painters 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 ,nature1 is not easy to determine4 ,it is certain ,claude ,lorrain 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 painters1 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 still life1 to say that he despised those qualities which has 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 was1 that he scorned to paint for the million3 no1 he professed to paint in the true ,italian taste2 and1 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 immortality4 ,the consequence was such as might be expected4 ,for these petty excellencies 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 each department1 some of those who followed thought there was less room for them2 and feeling the impulse of ambition and the desire of novelty1 and being at the same time1 perhaps1 willing to take the shortest way1 endeavoured to make for themselves a place between both4 ,this they have effected by forming an union of the different orders4 ,but as the grave and majestic style would suffer by an 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 asserted1 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 superadded 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 to him 7perhaps equal to him71 ,parmegiano has dignified the genteelness of modern effeminacy1 by uniting it with the simplicity of the ancients and the grandeur and severity of ,michel ,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 qualities--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 intrepidity3-- ,strange graces still1 and stranger flights they had1 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,yet ne'er so sure our passion to create1 ,as 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 perfect1 in which the noblest principles are uniformly pursued2 and those masters only are entitled to the first rank in 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 may be considered as rivals2 and he who solicits the one must expect to be discountenanced by the other4 ,,discourse ,v4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aggb4 ,,circumspection ,,required ,,in ,,endeavouring ,,to ,,unite ,,contrary ,,excellencies4--,,the ,,expression ,,of ,a ,,mixed ,,passion ,,not ,,to ,,be ,,attempted4--,,examples ,,of ,,those ,,who ,,excelled ,,in ,,the ,,great ,,style4--,,raffaelle1 ,,michel ,,angelo1 ,,those ,,two ,,extraordinary ,,men ,,compared ,,with ,,each ,,other4--,,the ,,characteristical ,,style4--,,salvator ,,rosa ,,mentioned ,,as ,,an ,,example ,,of ,,that ,,style2 ,,and ,,opposed ,,to ,,carlo ,,maratti4--,,sketch ,,of ,,the ,,characters ,,of ,,poussin ,,and ,,rubens4--,,these ,,two ,,painters ,,entirely ,,dissimilar1 ,,but ,,consistent ,,with ,,themselves4--,,this ,,consistency ,,required ,,in ,,all ,,parts ,,of ,,the ,,art4 ,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 excellencies 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 sphere1 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 advice1 in a word1 is this3--,keep your principal attention fixed upon the higher excellencies4 ,if you compass them1 and compass nothing more1 you are still in the first class4 ,we may regret the innumerable beauties which you may want2 you may be very imperfect3 but still you are an imperfect artist 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 least1 as of eagerness and pursuit4 ,the mind is apt to be distracted by a multiplicity of objects2 and that scale of perfection which ,i wish always to be preserved1 is in the greatest danger of being totally disordered1 and even inverted4 ,some excellencies bear to be united1 and are improved by union2 others are of a discordant nature2 and the attempt to join them only produces a harsh jarring of incongruent principles4 ,the attempt to unite contrary excellencies 7of form1 for instance7 in a single figure can never escape degenerating into the monstrous1 but by sinking into the insipid2 by 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 all of which produce 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 from attempting to preserve beauty where it could not be preserved1 has in this respect succeeded very ill4 ,his figures are often engaged in subjects that require great expression2 yet his ,judith and ,holofernes1 the daughter of ,herodias with the ,baptist's head1 the ,andromeda1 and some even of 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 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 excellencies that can hardly exist together2 and1 above all things1 are fond of describing1 with great exactness1 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 imaginations2 or1 indeed1 where the excellent master himself may have attempted this expression of passions above the powers of the art1 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 at 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 often1 in the style of many of our modern connoisseurs4 ,he observes1 that in a statue of ,paris1 by ,euphranor1 you might discover1 at the same time1 three different characters2 the dignity of a ,judge of the ,goddesses1 the ,lover of ,helen1 and the ,conqueror of ,achilles4 ,a statue1 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 appears1 that there is much difficulty1 as well as danger1 in an endeavour to concentrate1 in a single subject1 those various powers1 which1 rising from different points1 naturally move in different directions4 ,the summit of excellence seems to be an assemblage of contrary qualities1 but mixed 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 excellencies of art2 but suggest to them1 that1 beside the difficulties which attend every arduous attempt1 there is a peculiar difficulty in the choice of the excellencies which ought to be united4 ,i wish to attend to this1 that you may try yourselves1 whenever you are capable of that trial1 what you can and what you cannot do2 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 powers in order that each of you may become the first in his way4 ,if any man shall be master of such a transcendent1 commanding1 and ductile genius1 as to enable him to rise to the highest1 and to stoop to the lowest1 flights of art1 and to sweep over all of them1 unobstructed and secure1 he is fitter to give example than to receive instruction4 ,having said thus much on the union of excellencies1 ,i will next say something of the subordination in which various excellencies ought to be kept4 ,i am of opinion that the ornamental style1 which1 in my discourse of last year1 ,i cautioned you against considering as principal1 may not be wholly unworthy the attention even of those who aim at the grand style1 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 it attempt to stand forward with any pretensions of its own to positive and original excellence4 ,it was thus ,ludovico ,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 effects1 which1 at the first glance1 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 style 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 subject1 if ,i mention to you some particulars relative to the leading principles1 and capital works1 of those who excelled in the great style1 that ,i may bring you from abstraction nearer to practice1 and1 by exemplifying the positions 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 depends4 ,such are the pictures of ,michel ,angelo and ,raffaelle in the ,vatican2 to which we may add the ,cartoons2 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 painters2 for these are justly considered as the greatest effort of our art which the world can boast4 ,to these1 therefore1 we should principally direct our attention for higher excellencies4 ,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 art2 his works in ,fresco1 therefore1 ought to be the first object of our study and attention4 ,his easel-works stand in a lower degree of estimation3 for though he continually1 to the day of his death1 embellished his performances more and more with the addition of those lower ornaments1 which entirely make the merit of some painters1 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 light to light1 and shadow to shadow1 so as to make the object rise out of the ground1 with the plenitude of effect so much admired in the works of ,correggio4 ,when he painted in oil1 his hand seemed to be so cramped and confined1 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 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 ,ludovico ,caracci1 for instance1 preserved in his works in oil the same spirit1 vigour1 and correctness which he had in ,fresco4 ,i have no desire to degrade ,raffaelle from the high rank which he deservedly holds2 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 ,michel ,angelo claims the next attention4 ,he did not possess so many excellencies as ,raffaelle1 but those which he had were of the highest kind4 ,he considered the art as consisting of little more than what may be attained by sculpture2 correctness of form 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 says 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 ,michel ,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 acknowledged1 however1 that together with these1 which we wish he had more attended to1 he has rejected all the false1 though specious ornaments1 which disgrace the works even of the most esteemed artists2 and ,i will venture to say1 that when those higher excellencies 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 deprivation and decay4 ,it is to ,michel ,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 shine1 might1 like fire in combustible matter1 forever have lain dormant1 if it had not caught a spark by its contact with ,michel ,angelo2 and though it never burst out with his extraordinary heat and vehemence1 yet it must be acknowledged to be a more pure1 regular1 and chaste flame4 ,though our judgment must1 upon the whole1 decide in favour of ,raffaelle1 yet he never takes such a firm hold and entire possession of the mind as to make us desire nothing else1 and to feel nothing wanting4 ,the effect of the capital works of ,michel ,angelo perfectly corresponds to what ,bouchardon said he felt from reading ,homer2 his whole frame appeared to himself to be enlarged1 and all nature which surrounded him1 diminished to atoms4 ,if we put these great artists in a light of comparison with each other1 ,raffaelle had more ,taste and ,fancy1 ,michel ,angelo more ,genius and ,imagination4 ,the one excelled in beauty1 the other in energy4 ,michel ,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 actions1 or their attitudes1 or the style and cast of their limbs or features1 that reminds us of their belonging 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 ,michel ,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 the judicious contrivance of his ,composition1 his correctness of ,drawing1 purity of ,taste1 and skilful accommodation of other men's conception's to his own purpose4 ,nobody excelled him in that judgment1 with which he united to his own observations on ,nature the energy of ,michel ,angelo and the ,beauty and ,simplicity of the ,antique4 ,to the question1 therefore1 which ought to hold the first rank1 ,raffaelle or ,michel ,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 as ,longinus thinks1 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 ,michel ,angelo demands the preference4 ,these two extraordinary men carried some of the higher excellencies 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 of novelty has proceeded from mere idleness or caprice1 it is not worth the trouble of criticism2 but when it has been the result of a busy mind of a peculiar complexion1 it is always striking and interesting1 never insipid4 ,such is the great style1 as it appears in those who possessed it at its height2 in this1 search after novelty1 in conception or in treating the subject1 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 ,this1 which may be called the original or characteristical style1 being less referred to any true archetype existing either in general or particular nature1 must be supported by the painter's consistency in the principles which he has assumed1 and in the union and harmony of his whole design4 ,the excellency of every style1 but of the subordinate styles more especially1 will very much depend on preserving that union and harmony between all the component parts1 that they may appear to hang well together1 as if the whole proceeded from one mind4 ,it is in the works of art 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 characterise works of genius1 will claim attention1 and be more striking than a combination of excellencies that do not seem to unite well together2 or we may say1 than a work that possesses even all excellencies1 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 simplicity1 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 nature3 but what is most to be admired in him is the perfect correspondence which he observed between the subjects which he chose and his manner of treating them4 ,everything is of a piece3 his ,rocks1 ,trees1 ,sky1 even to his handling1 have the same rude and wild character which animates his figures4 ,with him we may contrast the character of ,carlo ,maratti1 who1 in my opinion1 had no great vigour of mind or strength of original genius4 ,he rarely seizes the imagination by exhibiting the higher excellencies1 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 the only fault was1 that it had no manifest defects and no striking beauties2 and that the principles of his composition are never blended together so as to form one uniform body1 original in its kind1 or excellent in any view4 ,i will mention two other painters1 who1 though entirely dissimilar1 yet1 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 piece1 that one can scarce be brought to believe but that if any one of the qualities he possessed had been more correct and perfect1 his works would not have been so complete as they now appear4 ,if we should allow him a greater purity and correctness of ,drawing1 his want of ,simplicity in ,composition1 ,colouring1 and ,drapery1 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 mind1 which is required in the higher walks of painting2 and to this want it may be in some degree ascribed1 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 us1 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 agreed2 both of them always preserving a perfect correspondence between all the parts of their respective manners2 insomuch that it may be doubted whether any alteration of what is considered as defective in either would not destroy the effect of the whole4 ,poussin lived and conversed with the ancient statues so long that he may be said to have been better acquainted with them 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 ,aldobrandini ,palace at ,rome1 which ,i believe to be the best relic of those remote ages that has yet been found4 ,no works of any modern have so much of the air of ,antique ,painting as those of ,poussin4 ,his best performances have a remarkable dryness of manner1 which though by no means to be recommended for imitation1 yet seems perfectly correspondent to that ancient simplicity which distinguishes his style4 ,like ,polidoro1 he studied the ancients so much 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 ground2 as in the ,seven ,sacraments in the ,duke of ,orlean's collection2 but neither these1 or any of his other pictures in this manner1 are at all comparable to many in this 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 the ceremonies1 customs1 and habits of the ,ancients1 but from his being so well acquainted with the different characters which those who invented them gave to their allegorical figures4 ,though ,rubens has shown great fancy in his ,satyrs1 ,silenuses1 and ,fauns1 yet they are not that distinct separate class of beings1 which is carefully exhibited by the ,ancients1 and by ,poussin4 ,certainly1 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 told1 is not the worse for preserving some relish of the old way of painting1 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 nowise 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 ,sun2 and an old ,man1 or a nymph with an urn1 to represent a ,river or a ,lake8 ,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 individual1 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 chosen1 it is necessary it should be complete1 and all of a piece2 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 those ,artists who are at the head of a class1 and have had a school of imitators from ,michel ,angelo down to ,watteau4 ,upon the whole it appears that1 setting aside the ,ornamental ,style1 there are two different modes1 either of which a ,student may adopt without degrading the dignity of his art4 ,the object of the first is to combine the higher excellencies and embellish them to the greatest advantage2 of the other1 to carry one of these excellencies 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 excellencies should be viewed1 not studied2 they ought to be viewed1 because nothing ought to escape a ,painter's observation3 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 natural1 in the confined and misunderstood sense of the word4 ,one would wish that such depravation of taste should be counteracted with that manly pride which actuated ,euripides when he said to the ,athenians who criticised his works1 ,i do not compose 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 an ,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 rate he must not be tempted out of the right path by any allurement of popularity1 which always accompanies the lower styles of painting4 ,i mention this1 because our ,exhibitions1 while they produce such admirable effects by nourishing emulation1 and calling out genius1 have also a mischievous tendency1 by seducing the ,painter to an ambition of pleasing indiscriminately the mixed multitude of people who resort to them4 ,,discourse ,,vi4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aggd4 ,,imitation4--,,genius ,,begins ,,where ,,rules ,,end4--,,invention3 ,,acquired ,,by ,,being ,,conversant ,,with ,,the ,,inventions ,,of ,,others4--,,the ,,true ,,method ,,of ,,imitating4--,,borrowing1 ,,how ,,far ,,allowable4--,,something ,,to ,,be ,,gathered ,,from ,,every ,,school4 ,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 has been to lay down certain general positions1 which seem to me proper for the formation of a sound taste3 principles necessary to guard the pupils against those errors into which the sanguine temper common to their time of life has a tendency to lead them3 and which have rendered abortive the hopes of so many successions of promising young men in all parts of ,europe4 ,i wished also1 to intercept and suppress those prejudices which particularly prevail when the mechanism of painting is come to its perfection2 and which1 when they do prevail1 are certain utterly to destroy 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 notions 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 imitation1 ,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 insure a much more favourable disposition from their readers1 and have a much more captivating and liberal air1 than he who attempts to examine1 coldly1 whether there are any means by which this art may be acquired2 how the 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 acquired2 who see only what is the full result of long labour and application of an infinite number and infinite variety of acts1 are apt to conclude1 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 us1 that when the ignorant inhabitants of those 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 those works of complicated art1 which it is utterly unable to fathom2 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 their extraordinary powers were acquired2 though our art1 being intrinsically imitative1 rejects this idea of inspiration1 more perhaps than any other4 ,it is to avoid this plain confession of the truth1 as it should seem1 that this imitation of masters1 indeed almost all imitation1 which implies a more regular and progressive method of attaining the ends of painting1 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 men who do not much think on 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 groveling1 the servile imitator4 ,it would be no wonder if a student1 frightened by these terrific and disgraceful epithets1 with which the poor imitators are so often loaded1 should let fall his pencil in mere despair 7conscious as he must be1 how much he has been indebted to the labours of others71 how little1 how very little of his art was born with him2 and consider it as hopeless1 to set about acquiring by the imitation of any human master1 what he is taught to suppose is matter of inspiration from heaven4 ,some allowance must be made for what is said in the gaiety 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 answer2 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 observation1 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 painters2 this appears more humiliating1 but 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 reasonable1 allow1 that our study is to begin by imitation2 but maintain that we should no longer use the thoughts of our predecessors1 when we are become able to think for ourselves4 ,they hold that imitation is as hurtful to the more advanced student1 as it was advantageous to the beginner4 ,for my own part1 ,i confess1 ,i am not only very much disposed to maintain the absolute necessity of imitation in the first stages of the art2 but am of opinion that the study of other masters1 which ,i here call imitation1 may be extended throughout our whole lives1 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 am on the contrary persuaded that by imitation only1 variety1 and even originality of invention1 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 excellencies which are out of the reach of the rules of art2 a power which no precepts can teach1 and which no industry can acquire4 ,this opinion of the impossibility of acquiring those beauties1 which stamp the work with the character of genius1 supposes that it is something more fixed than in reality it is2 and that we always do1 and ever did agree in opinion1 with respect to what should be considered as the characteristic of genius4 ,but the truth is1 that the degree of excellence which proclaims ,genius is different1 in different times and different places2 and what shows it to be so is1 that mankind have often changed their opinion upon this matter4 ,when the ,arts were in their infancy 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 precepts2 the name of ,genius then shifted its application1 and was given only to him who added the peculiar character of the object he represented2 to him who had invention1 expression1 grace1 or dignity2 in short1 those qualities1 or excellencies1 the power of producing 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 a work1 is at present very much under the dominion of rules4 ,these excellencies were1 heretofore1 considered merely as the effect 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 observations1 and digested them1 so as to form an invariable principle for himself to work by1 had that merit1 but probably no one went very far at once2 and generally1 the first who gave the hint1 did not know how to pursue it steadily and methodically2 at least not in the beginning4 ,he himself worked on it1 and improved it2 others worked more1 and improved further2 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 say1 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 subdued2 or intellectual energy be brought entirely within the restraint of written law4 ,genius will still have room enough to expatiate1 and keep always at the same distance from narrow comprehension and mechanical performance4 ,what we now call ,genius begins1 not where rules abstractedly taken end1 but where known vulgar and trite rules have no longer any place4 ,it must of necessity be1 that even works of ,genius1 like every other effect1 as they must have their cause1 must likewise have their rules2 it cannot be by chance that excellencies are produced with any constancy or any certainty1 for this is not the nature of chance2 but the rules by which men of extraordinary parts1 and such as are called men of ,genius1 work1 are either such as they discover by their own peculiar observations1 or of such a nice texture as not easily to admit being expressed in words2 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 artist2 and he works from them with as much certainty1 as if they were embodied1 as ,i may say1 upon paper4 ,it is true1 these refined principles cannot be always made palpable1 like the more gross rules of art2 yet it does not follow1 but that the mind may be put in such a train1 that it shall perceive1 by a kind of scientific sense1 that propriety1 which words1 particularly words of unpractised writers1 such as we are1 can but very feebly suggest4 ,invention is one of the great marks of genius2 but if we consult experience1 we shall find that it is by being conversant with the inventions of others1 that we learn to invent2 as by reading the thoughts of others we learn to think4 ,whoever has so far formed his taste1 as to be able to relish and feel the beauties of the great masters1 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 hearts1 frequently warmed in this manner by the contact of those whom we wish to resemble1 will undoubtedly catch something of their way of thinking2 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 imitative2 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 own reflection will carry a great way further1 it appears1 of what great consequence it is1 that our minds should be habituated to the contemplation of excellence2 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 soil--a soil which is 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 something of the same species4 ,we behold all about us with the eyes of those penetrating observers whose works we contemplate2 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 own1 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 time2 and we are certain that ,michel ,angelo and ,raffaelle were equally possessed of all the knowledge in the art which had been discovered 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 resources1 in proportion to the number of ideas which have been carefully collected and thoroughly digested4 ,there can be no doubt but 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 intellect2 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 weakening our own1 as is the opinion of many1 that it will fashion and consolidate those ideas of excellence which lay in embryo--feeble1 ill-shaped1 and confused--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 fire1 which is smothered by a heap of fuel1 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 ,but there is no danger of the mind being overburthened 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 spark1 that without the association of more fuel would have died away4 ,the truth is1 he whose feebleness is such1 as to make other men's thoughts an incumbrance to him1 can have no very great strength of mind or genius of his own to be destroyed2 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 ,oratory1 he makes ,crassus say1 that one of the first and most important precepts is1 to choose a proper model for our imitation4 ,hoc sit primum in proeceptis meis1 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 his1 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 field2 where1 though he who precedes has had the advantage of starting before you1 you may always propose to overtake him2 it is enough1 however1 to pursue his course2 you need not tread in his footsteps1 and you certainly have a right to outstrip him if you can4 ,nor whilst ,i recommend studying the art from artists1 can ,i be supposed to mean that nature is to be neglected2 ,i take this study in aid1 and not in exclusion of the other4 ,nature is and must be the fountain which alone is inexhaustible1 and from which all excellencies must originally flow4 ,the great use of studying our predecessors is1 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 nature2 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 ,thus1 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 wrought3 these do not swim on the superficies1 and consequently are not open to superficial observers4 ,art in its perfection is not ostentatious2 it lies hid and works its effect1 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 of his own conduct3 such an examination is a continual exertion of the mind2 as great1 perhaps1 as that of the artist whose works he is thus studying4 ,the sagacious imitator does not content himself with merely remarking 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 examines by what artifice one colour is a foil to its neighbour4 ,he looks close into the tints1 examines 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 principles and improving the practice of our art4 ,there can be no doubt but the art is better learnt from the works themselves1 than from the precepts which are formed upon those 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 view2 and are the marks1 or what is commonly called the manner1 by which that individual artist is distinguished4 ,peculiar marks ,i hold to be1 generally1 if not always1 defects2 however difficult it may be wholly to escape them4 ,peculiarities in the works of art are like those in the human figure2 it is by them that we are cognisable1 and distinguished one from another1 but they are always so many blemishes2 which1 however1 both in real life and in painting1 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 far1 as to transform them into beauties and objects of imitation4 ,it must be acknowledged that a peculiarity of style1 either from its novelty 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 a vain labour to endeavour to imitate1 because novelty and peculiarity being its only merit1 when it ceases to be new 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 ,michel ,angelo may be used1 to keep in countenance a deficiency1 or rather neglect1 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 that may not be excused1 if it is a sufficient excuse that it can be imputed to considerable artists2 but it must be remembered1 that it was not by these defects they acquired their reputation2 they have a right to our pardon1 but not to our admiration4 ,however1 to imitate peculiarities1 or mistake defects for beauties1 that man will be most liable who confines his imitation to one favourite master2 and even though he chooses the best1 and is capable of distinguishing the real excellencies 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 artist1 as he would be to produce a perfectly beautiful figure1 by an exact imitation of any individual living model4 ,and as the painter1 by bringing together in one piece those beauties which are dispersed among 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 excellencies of the various great 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 his imitation4 ,he professes only to follow2 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 studied3 hence 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 ,michel ,angelo3 he learned the manner of using colours from the works of ,leonardo da ,vinci1 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 models1 that he became himself a model for all succeeding painters2 always imitating1 and always original4 ,if your ambition1 therefore1 be to equal ,raffaelle1 you must do as ,raffaelle did1 take many models1 and not even him for your guide alone1 to the exclusion of others4#d ,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 favourite1 whose manner is their first wish1 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 ,elizabetta1 ,sirani1 and ,simone ,cantarini2 ,poussin1 by ,verdier and ,cheron2 ,parmeggiano by ,jeronimo ,mazzuoli4 ,paolo ,veronese1 and ,iacomo ,bassan1 had for their imitators their brothers and sons4 ,pietro da ,cortona was followed by ,ciro ,ferri1 and ,romanelli2 ,rubens1 by ,jacques ,jordaens and ,diepenbeke2 ,guercino1 by his own family1 the ,gennari4 ,carlo ,maratti was imitated by ,giuseppe ,chiari1 and ,pietro de ,pietri2 and ,rembrandt1 by ,bramer1 ,eeckhout1 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 imitation2--,pellegrino ,tibaldi ,rosso and ,primaticcio did not coldly imitate1 but caught something of the fire that animates the works of ,michel ,angelo4 ,the ,caraccis formed their style from ,pellegrino ,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 ,caraccis1 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 ,suer's first manner resembles very much that of his master ,voet2 but as he soon excelled him1 so he differed from him in every part of the art4 ,carlo ,maratti succeeded better than those ,i have first named1 and1 ,i think1 owes his superiority to the extension of his views2 beside his master ,andrea ,sacchi1 he imitated ,raffaelle1 ,guido1 and the ,caraccis4 ,it is true1 there is nothing very captivating in ,carlo ,maratti2 but this proceeded from a want which cannot be completely supplied2 that is1 want of strength of parts4 ,in this certainly men are not equal2 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 uniformly1 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 contented even in this general study of the moderns2 we must trace back the art to its fountain-head2 to that source from whence they drew their principal excellencies1 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 studied2 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 masters3 and we may venture to prophesy1 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 perhaps superior to what had ever before been in the possession of the art2 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 produced1 equal in value to any of those that had contributed to its composition4 ,and though a curious refiner should 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 those noble works 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 work1 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 difference1 likewise1 whether it is upon the ancient or moderns that these depredations are made4 ,it is generally allowed1 that no man need be ashamed of copying the ancients2 their works are considered as a magazine of common property1 always open to the public1 whence every man has a right to take 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 of the thoughts of the ancients which ,raffaelle made 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 this time2 ,i mean that of engraving2 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 authors4 ,he who borrows an idea from an ancient1 or even from a modern artist not his contemporary1 and so accommodates it to his own work1 that it makes a part of it1 with no seam or joining appearing1 can hardly be charged with plagiarism2 poets practise this kind of borrowing1 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 caution1 will have a right to the same lenity as was used by the ,lacedmonians2 who did not punish theft1 but the want of artifice to conceal4 ,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 hints1 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 what1 by a nice chemistry1 passing through his own mind1 shall be converted into pure gold2 and under the rudeness of ,gothic essays1 he will find original1 rational1 and even sublime inventions4 ,the works of ,albert ,durer1 ,lucas ,van ,leyden1 the numerous inventions of ,tobias ,stimmer1 and ,jost ,ammon1 afford a rich mass of genuine materials1 which1 wrought up1 and polished to elegance1 will add copiousness to what1 perhaps1 without such aid1 could have aspired only to justness and propriety4 ,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 will with propriety 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 of his attention1 and1 in some measure1 of his imitation4 ,even in the lower class of the ,french painters1 great beauties are often found1 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 passions4 ,the modern affectation of grace in his works1 as well as in those of ,bosch and ,watteau1 may be said to be separated by a very thin partition from the more simple and pure grace of ,correggio and ,parmegiano4 ,among the ,dutch painters1 the correct1 firm1 and determined pencil1 which was employed by ,bamboccio and ,jean ,miel1 on vulgar and mean subjects1 might1 without any change1 be employed on the highest2 to which1 indeed1 it seems more properly to belong4 ,the greatest style1 if that style is confined to small figures1 such as ,poussin generally painted1 would receive an additional grace by the elegance and precision of pencil so admirable in the works of ,teniers2 and though the school to which he belonged more particularly excelled in the mechanism of painting2 yet it produced many1 who have shown great abilities in expressing what must be ranked above mechanical excellencies4 ,in the works of ,frank ,hals1 the portrait-painter may observe the composition of a face1 the features well put together1 as the painters express it2 from whence proceeds that strong-marked character of individual nature1 which is so remarkable in his portraits1 and is not 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 were the subjects of their study and attention4 ,among those1 ,jan ,steen 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 imagine1 that if this extraordinary man had had the good fortune to have been born in ,italy1 instead of ,holland2 had he lived in ,rome1 instead of ,leyden2 and been blessed with ,michel ,angelo and ,raffaelle for his masters1 instead of ,brouwer and ,van ,goyen2 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 successful2 and he now would have 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 circle2 and have1 from the natural vigour of their mind1 given a very interesting expression1 and great force and energy to their works2 though they cannot be recommended to be exactly imitated1 may yet invite an artist to endeavour to transfer1 by a kind of parody1 their excellencies to his own performances4 ,whoever has acquired the power of making this use of the ,flemish1 ,venetian1 and ,french schools1 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 excellencies1 however dispersed2 to discover beauties1 however concealed by the multitude of defects with which they are surrounded1 can be the work only of him1 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 himself--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 school2 selects both from what is great1 and what is little2 brings home knowledge from the ,east and from the ,west2 making the universe tributary towards furnishing his mind1 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 profession2 which ,i hold ought to be one continued course of imitation1 that is not to cease but with his life4 ,those1 who 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 time1 not only ceased to advance1 and improve in their performances1 but have gone backward4 ,they may be compared to men who have lived upon their principal till they are reduced to beggary1 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 advice2 but it has fallen within my own knowledge1 that artists1 though they were not wanting in a sincere love for their art1 though they had great pleasure in seeing good pictures1 and were well skilled to distinguish what was excellent or defective in them1 yet have gone on in their own manner1 without any endeavour to give a little of those beauties1 which they admired 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 commonplace inventions1 and never think it worth while to visit the works of those great artists with which they are surrounded4 ,i remember1 several years ago1 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 acquired1 he too fondly concluded that he stood in the same rank when compared with 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 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 less1 if he had visited the ,vatican1 as in reason he ought to have done1 at least once every month of his life4 ,i address myself1 ,gentlemen1 to you who have made some progress in the art1 and are to be1 for the future1 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 suspicion1 that great men are not always exempt from great faults2 to criticise1 compare1 and rank their works in your own estimation1 as they approach to1 or recede from1 that standard of perfection which you have formed in your own minds1 but which those masters themselves1 it must be remembered1 have taught you to make1 and which you will cease to make with correctness1 when you cease to study them4 ,it is their excellencies 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 ,academy2 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 works your patterns for your latter1 it is your own fault4 ,the purport of this discourse1 and1 indeed1 of most of my other discourses1 is1 to caution you against that false opinion1 but too prevalent among artists1 of the imaginary powers 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 despair--both equally fatal to all proficiency4 ,study1 therefore1 the great works of the great masters forever4 ,study1 as nearly as you can1 in the order1 in the manner1 and 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 with whom you are to contend4 ,,footnotes3 #d3 ,sed non qui maxime imitandus1 etiam solus imitandus est ,quintilian4 ,,discourse ,,vii4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aggf4 ,,the ,,reality ,,of ,a ,,standard ,,of ,,taste1 ,,as ,,well ,,as ,,of ,,corporal ,,beauty4--,,beside ,,this ,,immediate ,,truth1 ,,there ,,are ,,secondary ,,truths1 ,,which ,,are ,,variable2 ,,both ,,requiring ,,the ,,attention ,,of ,,the ,,artist1 ,,in ,,proportion ,,to ,,their ,,stability ,,or ,,their ,,influence4 ,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 persuaded that success in your art depends almost entirely on your own industry2 but the industry which ,i principally recommended 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 science2 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 kinds 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 poets1 in some language or other2 that he may imbibe a poetical spirit1 and enlarge his stock of ideas4 ,he ought to acquire an habit of comparing and digesting his notions4 ,he ought not to be wholly unacquainted with that part of philosophy which gives 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 purpose it is not necessary that he should go into such a compass of reading 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 mind1 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 will1 by degrees1 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 standard by applying general truth to their own purposes1 better1 perhaps1 than those to whom they owned the original sentiment4 ,of these studies1 and this conversation1 the desire and legitimate offspring1 is a power of distinguishing right from wrong2 which power1 applied to works of art1 is denominated ,,taste4 ,let me1 then1 without further introduction1 enter upon an examination1 whether taste be so far beyond our reach as to be unattainable by care2 or be so very vague and capricious1 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 taste1 as in any way connected with reason or common-sense1 would be1 in the opinion of some towering talkers1 to speak like a man who possessed neither2 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 the 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 sort of the sublime4 ,but when1 in plain prose1 we gravely talk of courting the ,muse in shady bowers2 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 vernal equinox2 sagaciously observing how much the wild freedom and liberty of imagination is cramped by attention to established rules2 and how this same imagination begins to grow dim in advanced age1 smothered and deadened by too much judgment2 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 groundless but pernicious4 ,if all this means1 what it is very possible was originally intended only to be meant1 that in order to cultivate an art a man secludes himself from the commerce of the world1 and retires into the country at particular seasons3 or that at one time of the year his body is in better health1 and1 consequently1 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 man1 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 latter works are not as replete with the fire of imagination1 as those which were produced in his more youthful days4 ,to understand literally these metaphors1 or ideas expressed in poetical language1 seems to be equally absurd as to conclude1 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 write2 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 own3 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 nearly in the condition in which we received it1 it not being much 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 used to take without weighing or examining2 but by this inevitable inattention 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 execution2 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 our being under the least obligation to reason1 precept1 or experience4 ,one can scarce state these opinions without exposing their absurdity2 yet they are constantly in the mouths of men1 and particularly of artists4 ,they who have thought seriously on this subject do not carry the point so far2 yet ,i am persuaded1 that even among those few who may be called thinkers1 the prevalent opinion allows 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 foundations1 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 this faculty of too high an original to submit to the authority of an earthly tribunal4 ,it likewise corresponds 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 in which we speak to express the more nice discrimination 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 nature2 to the works which are only to be produced by the greatest effort 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 which1 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 original 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 unlike is false4 ,disproportionate ordonnance of parts is not right2 because it cannot be true1 until it ceases to be a contradiction to assert1 that the parts have no relation to the whole4 ,colouring is true1 when 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 true2 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 prejudices1 on which it is founded1 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 degree of stability and determination1 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 by practice3 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 serve to explain and apply them4 ,we will take it for granted1 that reason is something invariable1 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 ,if1 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 follows1 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 though1 for common gazers1 this may be sufficient4 ,every man is not obliged to investigate the cause of his approbation or dislike4 ,the arts would lie open for ever to caprice and casualty1 if those who are to judge of their excellencies 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 assert1 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 notions are not conformable to those of nature1 or universal opinion1 must be considered as more or less capricious4 ,my notion of nature comprehends 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 imagination4 ,the terms beauty1 or nature1 which are general ideas1 are but different modes of expressing the same thing1 whether we apply these terms to statues1 poetry1 or pictures4 ,deformity is not nature1 but an accidental deviation from her accustomed practice4 ,this general idea1 therefore1 ought to be called ,nature2 and nothing else1 correctly speaking1 has a right to that name4 ,but we are sure 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 say--,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 not art1 he may say1 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 nature2 for how can that be the nature of man1 in which no two individuals are the same8 ,it plainly appears1 that as a work is conducted under the influence of general ideas1 or partial1 it is principally to be considered as the effect of a good or a bad taste4 ,as beauty1 therefore1 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 excellency of virtue itself1 consists in adopting this enlarged and comprehensive idea2 and all criticism built upon the more confined view of what is natural may properly be called shallow criticism1 rather than false3 its defect is1 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 who upon the whole may be produced as an artist strictly attentive to the most enlarged and extensive ideas of nature1 from not having settled principles on this point1 has1 in one instance at least1 ,i think1 deserted truth for prejudice4 ,he is said to have vindicated the conduct of ,julio ,romano for his inattention to the masses of light and shade1 or grouping the figures 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 many of his pictures makes us more easily give credit to this report4 ,that it was too much his own practice1 ,,the ,,sacrifice ,,to ,,silenus1 and ,,the ,,triumph ,,of ,,bacchus ,,and ,,ariadne1 may be produced as instances2 but this principle is still more apparent1 and may be said to be even more ostentatiously displayed in his ,,perseus and ,,medusa',s ,,head4 ,this is undoubtedly a subject of great bustle and tumult1 and that the first effect of the picture may correspond to the subject1 every principle of composition is violated2 there is no principal figure1 no principal light1 no groups2 everything is dispersed1 and in such a state of confusion1 that the eye finds no repose anywhere4 ,in consequence of the forbidding appearance1 ,i remember turning from it with disgust1 and should not have looked a second time1 if ,i had not been called back to a closer inspection4 ,i then indeed found1 what we may expect always to find in the works of ,poussin1 correct drawing1 forcible expression1 and just character2 in short1 all the excellencies which so much distinguish the works of this learned painter4 ,this conduct of ,poussin ,i hold to be entirely improper to imitate4 ,a picture should please at first sight1 and appear to invite the spectator's attention3 if1 on the contrary1 the general effect offends the eye1 a second view is not always sought1 whatever more substantial and intrinsic merit it may possess4 ,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 care that the eye be not perplexed and distracted by a confusion of equal parts1 or equal lights1 or offended by an unharmonious mixture of colours1 as we should guard against offending the ear by unharmonious sounds4 ,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 kind--never to offend the ear by harsh sounds3 ,in the very torrent1 tempest1 and whirlwind of your passion1 says he1 you must acquire and 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 first1 and now1 was1 and is1 to hold1 as 'twere1 the mirror up to nature4 ,no one can deny 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 genius1 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 a defiance of reason and judgment2 whereas it is in truth acting according to the best rules 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 imagination2 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 irregularity2 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 is1 therefore1 in the highest and best sense of the word1 natural4 ,it is the sense of nature or truth which ought more particularly to be cultivated by the professors of art2 and it may be observed1 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 proof2 and we may add1 that the acquisition of this knowledge requires as much circumspection and sagacity as is necessary to attain those truths which are more capable of 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 reasonable that a statue1 which is to carry down to posterity the resemblance of an individual1 should be dressed in the fashion of the times1 in the dress which he himself wore3 this would certainly be true1 if the dress were part of the man2 but after a time1 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 exhibit 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 in the inferior parts of every art 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 ,laocoon1 to exhibit him naked1 notwithstanding he was surprised in the act of sacrificing to ,apollo1 and consequently ought to have been shown in his sacerdotal habits1 if those greater reasons had not preponderated4 ,art is not yet in so high estimation with us1 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 where he has mixed allegorical figures with the representations of real personages1 which must be acknowledged to be a fault2 yet1 if the artist considered himself as engaged to furnish this gallery with a rich1 various1 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 all that he purposed4 ,in this case all lesser considerations1 which tend to obstruct the great end of the work1 must yield and give way4 ,the variety which portraits and modern dresses1 mixed with allegorical figures1 produce1 is not to be slightly given up upon a punctilio of reason1 when that reason deprives the art in a manner of its very existence4 ,it must always be remembered that the business of a great painter is to produce a great picture2 he must therefore take especial care not to be cajoled by specious arguments out of his materials4 ,what has been so often said to the disadvantage of allegorical poetry1--that it is tedious1 and uninteresting1--cannot with the same propriety be applied to painting1 where the interest is of a different kind4 ,if allegorical painting produces a greater variety of ideal beauty1 a richer1 a more various and delightful composition1 and gives to the artist a greater opportunity of exhibiting his skill1 all the interest he wishes for is accomplished2 such a picture not only attracts1 but fixes the attention4 ,if it be objected that ,rubens judged ill at first in thinking it necessary to make his work so very ornamental1 this puts the question upon new ground4 ,it was his peculiar style2 he could paint in no other2 and he was selected for that work1 probably 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 that 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 cannot be disputed1 supposing both these means put in practice with equal abilities1 to which we ought to give the preference2 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 nature 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#e ,it is reason and good sense1 therefore1 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 nothing1 to do with the question4 ,he wants not taste1 but sense 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 ,lorrain may be preferred to a history by ,luca ,giordano2 but hence appears the necessity of the connoisseur's knowing in what consists the excellency 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 kinds of merit4 ,it is the duty of the connoisseur to know and esteem1 as much as it may deserve1 every part of painting3 he will not then think even ,bassano unworthy of his notice2 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 acknowledge1 that though he did not aspire to the dignity of expressing the characters and passions of men1 yet1 with respect to facility and truth in his manner of touching animals of all kinds1 and giving them what painters call their character1 few have excelled him4 ,to ,bassano we may add ,paul ,veronese and ,tintoret1 for their entire inattention to what is justly thought 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 remembered1 that they do not please from those defects1 but from their great excellencies of another kind1 and in spite of such transgressions4 ,these excellencies1 too1 as far as they go1 are founded in the truth of general nature3 they tell the truth1 though not the whole truth4 ,by these considerations1 which can never be too frequently impressed1 may be obviated two errors1 which ,i observed to have been1 formerly at least1 the most prevalent1 and to be most injurious to artists2 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 taste1 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 phantom1 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 forms2 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 deviates from the general idea of nature1 in one case1 as well as in the other4 ,the internal fabric of our minds1 as well as the external form of our bodies1 being nearly uniform1 it seems then to follow of course1 that as the imagination is incapable of producing any thing originally of itself1 and can only vary and combine those ideas with which it is furnished by means of the senses1 there will be necessarily an agreement in the imaginations1 as in the senses of men4 ,there being this agreement1 it follows1 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 experience2 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 an uniformity1 and conclude that the same effect will be produced by the same cause in the mind of others4 ,this examination will contribute to suggest to us matters of inquiry2 but we can never be sure that our own sentiments are true and right1 till they are confirmed by more extensive observation4 ,one man opposing another determines nothing2 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 himself1 does not know others1 so it may be said with equal truth1 that he who does not know others1 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 judgment1 and prevent the natural operation of his faculties4 ,this submission to others is a deference which we owe1 and1 indeed1 are forced involuntarily to pay4 ,in fact1 we never are satisfied with our opinions1 whatever we may pretend1 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 ,he1 therefore1 who is acquainted with the works which have pleased different ages and different countries1 and has formed his opinion on them1 has more materials1 and more means of knowing what is analogous to the mind of man1 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 ascertained1 which either were but faintly seen1 or1 perhaps1 would not have been discovered at all1 if the inventor had not received the first hints from the practices of a sister art on a similar occasion4#f ,the frequent allusions which every man who treats of any art is obliged to make to others1 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 please2 and addressing themselves to the same faculties1 through the medium of the senses2 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#g ,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 observed1 that the good and virtuous man alone can acquire this true or just relish even of works of art4 ,this opinion will not appear entirely without foundation1 when we consider that the same habit of mind1 which is acquired by our search after truth1 in the more serious duties of life1 is only transferred to the pursuit of lighter amusements4 ,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 safety1 actuates us in both cases4 ,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 forward beyond ourselves to society1 and to the whole2 of arts1 by extending our views in the same manner1 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 that wit ought to be tried2 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 nation owes its reception to some local or accidental association of ideas4 ,we may apply this to every custom and habit of life4 ,thus1 the general principles of urbanity1 politeness1 or civility1 have been 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 less2 but the manner1 whether by bowing the body1 kneeling1 prostration1 pulling off the upper part of our dress1 or taking away the lower1#h is a matter of custom4 ,thus1 in regard to ornaments1--it would be unjust to conclude1 that1 because they were at first arbitrarily contrived1 they are therefore undeserving of our attention2 on the contrary1 he who neglects the cultivation of those ornaments acts contrary 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 with these 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 their ornaments that arts receive their peculiar character and complexion2 we may add1 that in them we find the characteristical mark of a national taste2 as1 by throwing up a feather in the air1 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 schools consists more in that general effect which is produced by colours than in the more profound excellencies of the art2 at least it is from thence that each is distinguished and known at first sight4 ,thus 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 narration is a more liberal1 though chaste1 use of those 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 essential 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 settled1 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 taste2 though this taste1 we must never forget1 is regulated and formed by the presiding feelings of mankind--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 affections2 yet it has its ornaments and modes of address1 which are merely arbitrary4 ,what is approved in the eastern nations as grand and majestic 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 add1 likewise1 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 excellencies 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 right1 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 or bad taste4 ,the component parts of dress are continually changing from great to little1 from short to long2 but the general form still remains2 it is still the same general dress1 which is comparatively fixed1 though on a very slender foundation2 but it is on this which fashion must rest4 ,he who invents with the most success1 or dresses in the best taste1 would probably1 from the same sagacity employed to greater purposes1 have discovered equal skill1 or have formed the same correct taste1 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 foundation1 respecting the fashion of any particular nation4 ,but we have still more slender means of determining to which of the different customs of different ages or countries we ought 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 after 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 attired1 he issues forth1 and meets a ,cherokee ,indian1 who has bestowed as much time at his toilet1 and laid on1 with equal care and attention1 his yellow and red ochre on particular parts of his forehead or cheeks1 as he judges most becoming2 whoever of these two despises the other for this attention to the fashion of his country1 whichever first feels himself provoked to laugh1 is the barbarian4 ,all these fashions are very innocent2 neither worth disquisition1 nor any endeavour to alter them2 as the change would1 in all probability1 be equally distant from nature4 ,the only circumstance against which indignation may reasonably be moved1 is1 where the operation is painful or destructive of health2 such as some of the practices at ,otaheite1 and the strait-lacing of the ,english ladies2 of the last of which practices1 how destructive it must be to health and long life 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 fortune4 ,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 us 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 habit 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 fantastic dress2 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 association2 and 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 reasons for the effect which they produce2 among 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 are the foundation of those beauties which we imagine we see in that art1 yet if any one1 persuaded of this truth1 should therefore invent new orders of equal beauty1 which we will suppose to be possible1 they would not please2 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 favour1 to take that which will have no advantage over what we have left1 but novelty2 which soon destroys itself1 and at any rate is but a weak antagonist against custom4 ,ancient ornaments1 having the right of possession1 ought not to be removed1 unless to make room for that which not only has higher pretensions1 but such pretensions as will balance the evil and confusion which innovation always brings with it4 ,to this we may add1 that 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 the former1 therefore1 make higher pretensions to our favour and prejudice4 ,some attention is surely due 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 regulate it by reason2 which kind of regulation is indeed little more than obliging the lesser1 the local and temporal 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 others2 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 the 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 have had1 made entirely naked1 and as meagre and emaciated as the original is said to be4 ,the consequence was what might have been expected3 it remained in the sculptor's shop1 though it was intended as a public ornament and a public honour to ,voltaire1 for it was procured at the expense of his contemporary 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 changed 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 them1 if endeavoured to be introduced by violence4 ,when ,battista ,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 luxuriancy1 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 ,battista ,franco was perhaps not inferior to any of his rivals4 ,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 any thing 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 nature2 the result of which is an idea of perfect beauty4 ,if what has been advanced be true--that beside this beauty or truth1 which is formed on the uniform1 eternal1 and immutable laws of nature1 and which of necessity can be but one2 that beside this one immutable verity there are likewise what we have called apparent or secondary truths1 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 minds2 it follows that all these truths or beauties deserve and require the attention of the artist1 in proportion to their stability or duration1 or as their influence is more or less extensive4 ,and let me add1 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 those general principles 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 you must borrow the balance1 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 taste1 is1 that it checks and restrains the flights of the imagination1 and gives that timidity1 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 philosophy1 by giving knowledge1 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 reason 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 ,let me add1 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 of what has been said would be1 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 ,,footnotes3 #e3 ,dr4 ,goldsmith4 #f3 ,nulla ars1 non alterius artis1 aut mater1 aut popinqua est4--,,tertull as cited by ,,junius4 #g3 ,omnes artes qu ad humanitatem pertinent1 habent quoddam commune vinculum1 et quasi cognatione inter se continentur4--,,cicero4 #h3 ,put off thy shoes from off thy feet1 for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground4--,,exodus iii4 #e4 ,,discourse ,,viii4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aggh4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,art1 ,,whether ,,poetry ,,or ,,painting1 ,,have ,,their ,,foundation ,,in ,,the ,,mind2 ,,such ,,as ,,novelty1 ,,variety1 ,,and ,,contrast2 ,,these ,,in ,,their ,,excess ,,become ,,defects4--,,simplicity1 ,,its ,,excess ,,disagreeable4--,,rules ,,not ,,to ,,be ,,always ,,observed ,,in ,,their ,,literal ,,sense3 ,,sufficient ,,to ,,preserve ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,law4--,,observations ,,on ,,the ,,prize ,,pictures4 ,i have recommended in former#i discourses that ,artists should learn their profession by endeavouring to form an idea of perfection from the different excellencies which lie dispersed in the various schools of painting4 ,some difficulty will still occur1 to know what is beauty1 and where it may be found3 one would wish not to be obliged to take it entirely on the credit of fame2 though to this1 ,i acknowledge1 the younger students must unavoidably submit4 ,any suspicion in them of the chance of their being deceived will have more tendency to obstruct their advancement than even an enthusiastic confidence in the perfection of their models4 ,but to the more advanced in the art1 who wish to stand on more stable and firmer ground1 and to establish principles on a stronger foundation than authority1 however venerable or powerful1 it may be safely told that there is still a higher tribunal1 to which those great masters themselves must submit1 and to which1 indeed1 every excellence in art must be ultimately referred4 ,he who is ambitious to enlarge the boundaries of his art1 must extend his views beyond the precepts which are found in books or may be drawn from the practice of his predecessors1 to a knowledge of those precepts in the mind1 those operations of intellectual nature--to which everything that aspires to please must be proportioned and accommodated4 ,poetry having a more extensive power than our art1 exerts its influence over almost all the passions2 among those may be reckoned one of our most prevalent dispositions--anxiety for the future4 ,poetry operates by raising our curiosity1 engaging the mind by degrees to take an interest in the event1 keeping that event suspended1 and surprising at last with an unexpected catastrophe4 ,the painter's art is more confined1 and has nothing that corresponds with1 or perhaps is equivalent to1 this power and advantage of leading the mind on1 till attention is totally engaged4 ,what is done by ,painting must be done at one blow2 curiosity has received at once all the satisfaction it can ever have4 ,there are1 however1 other intellectual qualities and dispositions which the ,painter can satisfy and affect as powerfully as the poet3 among those we may reckon our love of novelty1 variety1 and contrast2 these qualities1 on examination1 will be found to refer to a certain activity and restlessness which has a pleasure and delight in being exercised and put in motion4 ,art1 therefore1 only administers to those wants and desires of the mind4 ,it requires no long disquisition to show that the dispositions which ,i have stated actually subsist in the human mind4 ,variety reanimates the attention1 which is apt to languish under a continual sameness4 ,novelty makes a more forcible impression on the mind than can be made by the representation of what we have often seen before2 and contrasts rouse the power of comparison by opposition4 ,all this is obvious2 but1 on the other hand1 it must be remembered1 that the mind1 though an active principle1 has likewise a disposition to indolence2 and though it loves exercise1 loves it only to a certain degree1 beyond which it is very unwilling to be led or driven2 the pursuit1 therefore1 of novelty and variety may be carried to excess4 ,when variety entirely destroys the pleasure proceeding from uniformity and repetition1 and when novelty counteracts and shuts out the pleasure arising from old habits and customs1 they oppose too much the indolence of our disposition2 the mind1 therefore1 can bear with pleasure but a small portion of novelty at a time4 ,the main part of the work must be in the mode to which we have been used4 ,an affection to old habits and customs ,i take to be the predominant disposition of the mind1 and novelty comes as an exception2 where all is novelty1 the attention1 the exercise of the mind is too violent4 ,contrast1 in the same manner1 when it exceeds certain limits1 is as disagreeable as a violent and perpetual opposition2 it gives to the senses1 in their progress1 a more sudden change than they can bear with pleasure4 ,it is then apparent1 that those qualities1 however they contribute to the perfection of ,art1 when kept within certain bounds1 if they are carried to excess1 become defects1 and require correction3 a work consequently will not proceed better and better as it is more varied2 variety can never be the groundwork and principle of the performance--it must be only employed to recreate and relieve4 ,to apply these general observations which belong equally to all arts1 to ours in particular4 ,in a composition1 when the objects are scattered and divided into many equal parts1 the eye is perplexed and fatigued1 from not knowing where to find the principal action1 or which is the principal figure2 for where all are making equal pretensions to notice1 all are in equal danger of neglect4 ,the expression which is used very often on these occasions is1 the piece wants repose2 a word which perfectly expresses a relief of the mind from that state of hurry and anxiety which it suffers when looking at a work of this character4 ,on the other hand1 absolute unity--that is1 a large work1 consisting of one group or mass of light only--would be as defective as an heroic poem without episode1 or any collateral incidents to recreate the mind with that variety which it always requires4 ,an instance occurs to me of two painters 7,rembrandt and ,poussin71 of characters totally opposite to each other in every respect1 but in nothing more than in their mode of composition1 and management of light and shadow4 ,rembrandt's manner is absolute unity2 he often has but one group1 and exhibits little more than one spot of light in the midst of a large quantity of shadow3 if he has a second mass1 that second bears no proportion to the principal4 ,poussin1 on the contrary1 has scarce any principal mass of light at all1 and his figures are often too much dispersed1 without sufficient attention to place them in groups4 ,the conduct of these two painters is entirely the reverse of what might be expected from their general style and character2 the works of ,poussin being as much distinguished for simplicity as those of ,rembrandt for combination4 ,even this conduct of ,poussin might proceed from too great an affection to simplicity of another kind2 too great a desire to avoid that ostentation of art1 with regard to light and shadow1 on which ,rembrandt so much wished to draw the attention2 however1 each of them ran into contrary extremes1 and it is difficult to determine which is the most reprehensible1 both being equally distant from the demands of nature and the purposes of art4 ,the same just moderation must be observed in regard to ornaments2 nothing will contribute more to destroy repose than profusion1 of whatever kind1 whether it consists in the multiplicity of objects1 or the variety and brightness of colours4 ,on the other hand1 a work without ornament1 instead of simplicity1 to which it makes pretensions1 has rather the appearance of poverty4 ,the degree to which ornaments are admissible must be regulated by the professed style of the work2 but we may be sure of this truth1--that the most ornamental style requires repose to set off even its ornaments to advantage4 ,i cannot avoid mentioning here an instance of repose1 in that faithful and accurate painter of nature1 ,shakespeare--the short dialogue between ,duncan and ,banquo1 whilst they are approaching the gates of ,macbeth's castle4 ,their conversation very naturally turns upon the beauty of its situation1 and the pleasantness of the air2 and ,banquo1 observing the martlets' nests in every recess of the cornice1 remarks1 that where those birds most breed and haunt the air is delicate4 ,the subject of this quiet and easy conversation gives that repose so necessary to the mind1 after the tumultuous bustle of the preceding scenes1 and perfectly contrasts the scene of horror that immediately succeeds4 ,it seems as if ,shakespeare asked himself1 ,what is a prince likely to say to his attendants on such an occasion8 ,the modern writers seem1 on the contrary1 to be always searching for new thoughts1 such as never could occur to man in the situation represented4 ,this is also frequently the practice of ,homer1 who from the midst of battles and horrors relieves and refreshes the mind of the reader1 by introducing some quiet rural image1 or picture of familiar domestic life4 ,the writers of every age and country1 where taste has begun to decline1 paint and adorn every object they touch2 are always on the stretch2 never deviate or sink a moment from the pompous and the brilliant4 ,lucan1 ,statius1 and ,claudian 7as a learned critic has observed7 are examples of this bad taste and want of judgment2 they never soften their tones1 or condescend to be natural2 all is exaggeration and perpetual splendour1 without affording repose of any kind4 ,as we are speaking of excesses1 it will not be remote from our purpose to say a few words upon simplicity2 which1 in one of the senses in which it is used1 is considered as the general corrector of excess4 ,we shall at present forbear to consider it as implying that exact conduct which proceeds from an intimate knowledge of simple unadulterated nature1 as it is then only another word for perfection1 which neither stops short of1 nor oversteps reality and truth4 ,in our inquiry after simplicity1 as in many other inquiries of this nature1 we can best explain what is right by showing what is wrong2 and1 indeed1 in this case it seems to be absolutely necessary2 simplicity being only a negative virtue1 cannot be described or defined4 ,we must therefore explain its nature1 and show the advantage and beauty which is derived from it1 by showing the deformity which proceeds from its neglect4 ,though instances of this neglect might be expected to be found in practice1 we should not expect to find in the works of critics precepts that bid defiance to simplicity and everything that relates to it4 ,de ,piles recommends to us portrait-painters1 to add grace and dignity to the characters of those whose pictures we draw3 so far he is undoubtedly right2 but1 unluckily1 he descends to particulars1 and gives his own idea of grace and dignity4 ,if1 says he1 you draw persons of high character and dignity1 they ought to be drawn in such an attitude that the ,portraits must seem to speak to us of themselves1 and1 as it were1 to say to us1 ',stop1 take notice of me1 ,i am that invincible ,king1 surrounded by ,majesty3' ',i am that valiant commander1 who struck terror everywhere3' ',i am that great minister1 who knew all the springs of politics3' ',i am that magistrate of consummate wisdom and probity4' ,he goes on in this manner with all the characters he can think on4 ,we may contrast the tumour of this presumptuous loftiness with the natural1 unaffected air of the portraits of ,titian1 where dignity1 seeming to be natural and inherent1 draws spontaneous reverence1 and instead of being thus vainly assumed1 has the appearance of an unalienable adjunct2 whereas such pompous and laboured insolence of grandeur is so far from creating respect1 that it betrays vulgarity and meanness1 and new-acquired consequence4 ,the painters1 many of them at least1 have not been backward in adopting the notions contained in these precepts4 ,the portraits of ,rigaud are perfect examples of an implicit observance of these rules of ,de ,piles2 so that though he was a painter of great merit in many respects1 yet that merit is entirely overpowered by a total absence of simplicity in every sense4 ,not to multiply instances1 which might be produced for this purpose1 from the works of history-painters1 ,i shall mention only one1--a picture which ,i have seen1 of the ,supreme ,being1 by ,coypell4 ,this subject the ,roman ,catholic painters have taken the liberty to represent1 however indecent the attempt1 and however obvious the impossibility of any approach to an adequate representation2 but here the air and character which the ,painter has given1 and he has doubtless given the highest he could conceive1 are so degraded by an attempt at such dignity as ,de ,piles has recommended1 that we are enraged at the folly and presumption of the artist1 and consider it as little less than profanation4 ,as we have passed to a neighbouring nation for instances of want of this quality1 we must acknowledge at the same time that they have produced great examples of simplicity1 in ,poussin and ,le ,sueur4 ,but as we are speaking of the most refined and subtle notion of perfection1 may we not inquire1 whether a curious eye cannot discern some faults1 even in those great men8 ,i can fancy that even ,poussin1 by abhorring that affectation and that want of simplicity which he observed in his countrymen1 has1 in certain particulars1 fallen into the contrary extreme1 so far as to approach to a kind of affectation3--to what1 in writing1 would be called pedantry4 ,when simplicity1 instead of being a corrector1 seems to set up for herself2 that is1 when an artist seems to value himself solely upon this quality2 such an ostentatious display of simplicity becomes then as disagreeable and nauseous as any other kind of affectation4 ,he is1 however1 in this case likely enough to sit down contented with his own work1 for though he finds the world look at it with indifference or dislike1 as being destitute of every quality that can recreate or give pleasure to the mind1 yet he consoles himself that it has simplicity1 a beauty of too pure and chaste a nature to be relished by vulgar minds4 ,it is in art as in morals2 no character would inspire us with an enthusiastic admiration of his virtue1 if that virtue consisted only in an absence of vice2 something more is required2 a man must do more than merely his duty to be a hero4 ,those works of the ancients1 which are in the highest esteem1 have something beside mere simplicity to recommend them4 ,the ,apollo1 the ,venus1 the ,laocoon1 the ,gladiator1 have a certain composition of action1 have contrasts sufficient to give grace and energy in a high degree2 but it must be confessed of the many thousand antique statues which we have1 that their general characteristic is bordering at least on inanimate insipidity4 ,simplicity1 when so very inartificial as to seem to evade the difficulties of art1 is a very suspicious virtue4 ,i do not1 however1 wish to degrade simplicity from the high estimation in which it has been ever justly held4 ,it is our barrier against that great enemy to truth and nature1 ,affectation1 which is ever clinging to the pencil1 and ready to drop in and poison everything it touches4 ,our love and affection to simplicity proceeds in a great measure from our aversion to every kind of affectation4 ,there is likewise another reason why so much stress is laid upon this virtue2 the propensity which artists have to fall into the contrary extreme3 we therefore set a guard on that side which is most assailable4 ,when a young artist is first told that his composition and his attitudes must be contrasted1 that he must turn the head contrary to the position of the body1 in order to produce grace and animation2 that his outline must be undulating1 and swelling1 to give grandeur2 and that the eye must be gratified with a variety of colours2 when he is told this1 with certain animating words of ,spirit1 ,dignity1 ,energy1 ,grace1 greatness of ,style1 and brilliancy of ,tints1 he becomes suddenly vain of his newly-acquired knowledge1 and never thinks he can carry those rules too far4 ,it is then that the aid of simplicity ought to be called in to correct the exuberance of youthful ardour4 ,the same may be said in regard to colouring1 which in its pre-eminence is particularly applied to flesh4 ,an artist1 in his first essay of imitating nature1 would make the whole mass of one colour1 as the oldest painters did2 till he is taught to observe not only the variety of tints1 which are in the object itself1 but the differences produced by the gradual decline of light to shadow2 he then immediately puts his instruction in practice1 and introduces a variety of distinct colours4 ,he must then be again corrected and told1 that though there is this variety1 yet the effect of the whole upon the eye must have the union and simplicity of the colouring of nature4 ,and here we may observe that the progress of an individual ,student bears a great resemblance to the progress and advancement of the ,art itself4 ,want of simplicity would probably be not one of the defects of an artist who had studied nature only1 as it was not of the old masters1 who lived in the time preceding the great ,art of ,painting2 on the contrary1 their works are too simple and too inartificial4 ,the ,art in its infancy1 like the first work of a ,student1 was dry1 hard1 and simple4 ,but this kind of barbarous simplicity would be better named ,penury1 as it proceeds from mere want--from want of knowledge1 want of resources1 want of abilities to be otherwise2 their simplicity was the offspring1 not of choice1 but necessity4 ,in the second stage they were sensible of this poverty2 and those who were the most sensible of the want were the best judges of the measure of the supply4 ,there were painters who emerged from poverty without falling into luxury4 ,their success induced others1 who probably never would of themselves have had strength of mind to discover the original defect1 to endeavour at the remedy by an abuse2 and they ran into the contrary extreme4 ,but however they may have strayed1 we cannot recommend to them to return to that simplicity which they have justly quitted2 but to deal out their abundance with a more sparing hand1 with that dignity which makes no parade1 either of its riches or of its art4 ,it is not easy to give a rule which may serve to fix this just and correct medium2 because1 when we may have fixed1 or nearly fixed1 the middle point1 taken as a general principle1 circumstances may oblige us to depart from it1 either on the side of ,simplicity1 or on that of ,variety and ,decoration4 ,i thought it necessary in a former discourse1 speaking of the difference of the sublime and ornamental style of painting--in order to excite your attention to the more manly1 noble1 and dignified manner--to leave perhaps an impression too contemptuous of those ornamental parts of our ,art1 for which many have valued themselves1 and many works are much valued and esteemed4 ,i said then what ,i thought it was right at that time to say2 ,i supposed the disposition of young men more inclinable to splendid negligence than perseverance in laborious application to acquire correctness3 and therefore did as we do in making what is crooked straight1 by bending it the contrary way1 in order that it may remain straight at last4 ,for this purpose1 then1 and to correct excess or neglect of any kind1 we may here add1 that it is not enough that a work be learned2 it must be pleasing2 the painter must add grace to strength1 if he desires to secure the first impression in his favour4 ,our taste has a kind of sensuality about it1 as well as a love of the sublime2 both these qualities of the mind are to have their proper consequence1 as far as they do not counteract each other2 for that is the grand error which much care ought to be taken to avoid4 ,there are some rules1 whose absolute authority1 like that of our nurses1 continues no longer than while we are in a state of childhood4 ,one of the first rules1 for instance1 that ,i believe every master would give to a young pupil1 respecting his conduct and management of light and shadow1 would be what ,lionardo da ,vinci has actually given2 that you must oppose a light ground to the shadowed side of your figure1 and a dark ground to the light side4 ,if ,lionardo had lived to see the superior splendour and effect which has been since produced by the exactly contrary conduct--by joining light to light and shadow to shadow--though without doubt he would have admired it1 yet1 as it ought not1 so probably it would not be the first rule with which he would have begun his instructions4 ,again2 in the artificial management of the figures1 it is directed that they shall contrast each other according to the rules generally given2 that if one figure opposes his front to the spectator1 the next figure is to have his back turned1 and that the limbs of each individual figure be contrasted2 that is1 if the right leg be put forward1 the right arm is to be drawn back4 ,it is very proper that those rules should be given in the ,academy2 it is proper the young students should be informed that some research is to be made1 and that they should be habituated to consider every excellence as reducible to principles4 ,besides1 it is the natural progress of instruction to teach first what is obvious and perceptible to the senses1 and from hence proceed gradually to notions large1 liberal1 and complete1 such as comprise the more refined and higher excellencies in ,art4 ,but when students are more advanced1 they will find that the greatest beauties of character and expression are produced without contrast2 nay more1 that this contrast would ruin and destroy that natural energy of men engaged in real action1 unsolicitous of grace4 ,st4 ,paul preaching at ,athens1 in one of the ,cartoons1 far from any affected academical contrast of limbs1 stands equally on both legs1 and both hands are in the same attitude3 add contrast1 and the whole energy and unaffected grace of the figure is destroyed4 ,elymas the sorcerer stretches both hands forward in the same direction1 which gives perfectly the expression intended4 ,indeed1 you never will find in the works of ,raffaelle any of those school-boy affected contrasts4 ,whatever contrast there is1 appears without any seeming agency of art1 by the natural chance of things4 ,what has been said of the evil of excesses of all kinds1 whether of simplicity1 variety1 or contrast1 naturally suggests to the painter the necessity of a general inquiry into the true meaning and cause of rules1 and how they operate on those faculties to which they are addressed3 by knowing their general purpose and meaning he will often find that he need not confine himself to the literal sense2 it will be sufficient if he preserve the spirit of the law4 ,critical remarks are not always understood without examples3 it may not be improper1 therefore1 to give instances where the rule itself1 though generally received1 is false1 or where a narrow conception of it may lead the artists into great errors4 ,it is given as a rule by ,fresnoy1 ,that the principal figure of a subject must appear in the midst of the picture1 under the principal light1 to distinguish it from the rest4 ,a painter who should think himself obliged secretly to follow this rule1 would encumber himself with needless difficulties2 he would be confined to great uniformity of composition1 and be deprived of many beauties which are incompatible with its observance4 ,the meaning of this rule extends1 or ought to extend1 no further than this3--,that the principal figure should be immediately distinguished at the first glance of the eye2 but there is no necessity that the principal light should fall on the principal figure1 or that the principal figure should be in the middle of the picture4 ,it is sufficient that it be distinguished by its place1 or by the attention of other figures pointing it out to the spectator4 ,so far is this rule from being indispensable1 that it is very seldom practised2 other considerations of greater consequence often standing in the way4 ,examples in opposition to this rule are found in the ,cartoons1 in ,christ's ,charge to ,peter1 the ,preaching of ,st4 ,paul1 and ,elymas the ,sorcerer1 who is undoubtedly the principal object in that picture4 ,in none of those compositions is the principal figure in the midst of the picture4 ,in the very admirable composition of the ,tent of ,darius1 by ,le ,brun1 ,alexander is not in the middle of the picture1 nor does the principal light fall on him2 but the attention of all the other figures immediately distinguishes him1 and distinguishes him more properly2 the greatest light falls on the daughter of ,darius1 who is in the middle of the picture1 where it is more necessary the principal light should be placed4 ,it is very extraordinary that ,felibien1 who has given a very minute description of this picture1 but indeed such a description as may be called rather panegyric than criticism1 thinking it necessary 7according to the precept of ,fresnoy7 that ,alexander should possess the principal light1 has accordingly given it to him2 he might with equal truth have said that he was placed in the middle of the picture1 as he seemed resolved to give this piece every kind of excellence which he conceived to be necessary to perfection4 ,his generosity is here unluckily misapplied1 as it would have destroyed1 in a great measure1 the beauty of the composition4 ,another instance occurs to me1 where equal liberty may be taken1 in regard to the management of light4 ,though the general practice is1 to make a large mass about the middle of the picture surrounded by shadow1 the reverse may be practised1 and the spirit of the rule may still be preserved4 ,examples of this principle reversed may be found very frequently in the works of the ,venetian ,school4 ,in the great composition of ,paul ,veronese1 ,,the ,,marriage ,,at ,,cana1 the figures are1 for the most part1 in half shadow2 the great light is in the sky2 and1 indeed1 the general effect of this picture1 which is so striking1 is no more than what we often see in landscapes1 in small pictures of fairs and country feasts2 but those principles of light and shadow1 being transferred to a large scale1 to a space containing near a hundred figures as large as life1 and conducted to all appearance with as much facility1 and with an attention as steadily fixed upon the whole together1 as if it were a small picture immediately under the eye1 the work justly excites our admiration2 the difficulty being increased as the extent is enlarged4 ,the various modes of composition are infinite2 sometimes it shall consist of one large group in the middle of the picture1 and the smaller groups on each side2 or a plain space in the middle1 and the groups of figures ranked round this vacuity4 ,whether this principal broad light be in the middle space of ground1 as in ,,the ,,school ,,of ,,athens2 or in the sky1 as in ,,the ,,marriage ,,at ,,cana1 in ,,the ,,andromeda1 and in most of the pictures of ,paul ,veronese2 or whether the light be on the groups2 whatever mode of composition is adopted1 every variety and license is allowable3 this only is indisputably necessary1 that to prevent the eye from being distracted and confused by a multiplicity of objects of equal magnitude1 those objects1 whether they consist of lights1 shadows1 or figures1 must be disposed in large masses and groups properly varied and contrasted2 that to a certain quantity of action a proportioned space of plain ground is required2 that light is to be supported by sufficient shadow2 and we may add1 that a certain quantity of cold colours is necessary to give value and lustre to the warm colours3 what those proportions are cannot be so well learnt by precept as by observation on pictures1 and in this knowledge bad pictures will instruct as well as good4 ,our inquiry why pictures have a bad effect may be as advantageous as the inquiry why they have a good effect2 each will corroborate the principles that are suggested by the other4 ,though it is not my business to enter into the detail of our ,art1 yet ,i must take this opportunity of mentioning one of the means of producing that great effect which we observe in the works of the ,venetian painters1 as ,i think it is not generally known or observed4 ,it ought1 in my opinion1 to be indispensably observed1 that the masses of light in a picture be always of a warm mellow colour1 yellow1 red1 or a yellowish-white2 and that the blue1 the grey1 or the green colours be kept almost entirely out of these masses1 and be used only to support and set off these warm colours2 and for this purpose1 a small portion of cold colours will be sufficient4 ,let this conduct be reserved2 let the light be cold1 and the surrounding colours warm1 as we often see in the works of the ,roman and ,florentine painters1 and it will be out of the power of art1 even in the hands of ,rubens or ,titian1 to make a picture splendid and harmonious4 ,le ,brun and ,carlo ,maratti were two painters of great merit1 and particularly what may be called ,academical ,merit1 but were both deficient in this management of colours2 the want of observing this rule is one of the causes of that heaviness of effect which is so observable in their works4 ,the principal light in the ,picture of ,le ,brun1 which ,i just now mentioned1 falls on ,statira1 who is dressed very injudiciously in a pale blue drapery3 it is true1 he has heightened this blue with gold1 but that is not enough2 the whole picture has a heavy air1 and by no means answers the expectations raised by the print4 ,poussin often made a spot of blue drapery1 when the general hue of the picture was inclinable to brown or yellow2 which shows sufficiently that harmony of colouring was not a part of the art that had much engaged the attention of that great painter4 ,the conduct of ,titian in the picture of ,,bacchus ,,and ,,ariadne has been much celebrated1 and justly1 for the harmony of colouring4 ,to ,ariadne is given 7say the critics7 a red scarf1 to relieve the figure from the sea1 which is behind her4 ,it is not for that reason alone1 but for another of much greater consequence2 for the sake of the general harmony and effect of the picture4 ,the figure of ,ariadne is separated from the great group1 and is dressed in blue1 which1 added to the colour of the sea1 makes that quantity of cold colour which ,titian thought necessary for the support and brilliancy of the great group2 which group is composed1 with very little exception1 entirely of mellow colours4 ,but as the picture in this case would be divided into two distinct parts1 one half cold1 and the other warm1 it was necessary to carry some of the mellow colours of the great group into the cold part of the picture1 and a part of the cold into the great group2 accordingly1 ,titian gave ,ariadne a red scarf1 and to one of the ,bacchante a little blue drapery4 ,the light of the picture1 as ,i observed1 ought to be of a warm colour2 for though white may be used for the principal light1 as was the practice of many of the ,dutch and ,flemish painters1 yet it is better to suppose that white illumined by the yellow rays of the setting sun1 as was the manner of ,titian4 ,the superiority of which manner is never more striking than when in a collection of pictures we chance to see a portrait of ,titian's hanging by the side of a ,flemish picture 7even though that should be of the hand of ,vandyke71 which1 however admirable in other respects1 becomes cold and grey in the comparison4 ,the illuminated parts of objects are in nature of a warmer tint than those that are in the shade2 what ,i have recommended1 therefore1 is no more than that the same conduct be observed in the whole1 which is acknowledged to be necessary in every individual part4 ,it is presenting to the eye the same effect as that which it has been accustomed to feel1 which1 in this case1 as in every other1 will always produce beauty2 no principle1 therefore1 in our art can be more certain1 or is derived from a higher source4 ,when ,i just now mentioned of the supposed reason why ,ariadne has part of her drapery red1 gives me occasion here to observe1 that this favourite quality of giving objects relief1 and which ,de ,piles and all the ,critics have considered as a requisite of the utmost importance1 was not one of those objects which much engaged the attention of ,titian2 painters of an inferior rank have far exceeded him in producing this effect4 ,this was a great object of attention1 when art was in its infant state2 as it is at present with the vulgar and ignorant1 who feel the highest satisfaction in seeing a figure1 which1 as they say1 looks as if they could walk round it4 ,but however low ,i may rate this pleasure of deception1 ,i should not oppose it1 did it not oppose itself to a quality of a much higher kind1 by counteracting entirely that fulness of manner which is so difficult to express in words1 but which is found in perfection in the best works of ,correggio1 and we may add1 of ,rembrandt4 ,this effect is produced by melting and losing the shadows in a ground still darker than those shadows2 whereas that relief is produced by opposing and separating the ground from the figure1 either by light1 or shadow1 or colour4 ,this conduct of in-laying1 as it may be called1 figures on their ground1 in order to produce relief1 was the practice of the old ,painters1 such as ,andrea ,mantegna1 ,pietro ,perugino1 and ,albert ,durer2 and to these we may add the first manner of ,lionardo da ,vinci1 ,giorgione1 and even ,correggio2 but these three were among the first who began to correct themselves in dryness of style1 by no longer considering relief as a principal object4 ,as those two qualities1 relief1 and fulness of effect1 can hardly exist together1 it is not very difficult to determine to which we ought to give the preference4 ,an artist is obliged forever to hold a balance in his hand1 by which he must determine the value of different qualities2 that1 when some fault must be committed1 he may choose the least4 ,those painters who have best understood the art of producing a good effect have adopted one principle that seems perfectly conformable to reason2 that a part may be sacrificed for the good of the whole4 ,thus1 whether the masses consist of light or shadow1 it is necessary that they should be compact and of a pleasing shape3 to this end some parts may be made darker and some lighter1 and reflections stronger than nature would warrant4 ,paul ,veronese took great liberties of this kind4 ,it is said1 that being once asked why certain figures were painted in shade1 as no cause was seen in the picture itself1 he turned off the inquiry by answering1 ,una nuevola che passa--a cloud is passing1 which has overshadowed them4 ,but ,i cannot give a better instance of this practice than a picture which ,i have of ,rubens2 it is a representation of a ,moonlight4 ,rubens has not only diffused more light over the picture than is in nature1 but has bestowed on it those warm glowing colours by which his works are so much distinguished4 ,it is so unlike what any other painters have given us of ,moonlight1 that it might be easily mistaken1 if he had not likewise added stars1 for a fainter setting sun4 ,rubens thought the eye ought to be satisfied in this case1 above all other considerations2 he might1 indeed1 have made it more natural1 but it would have been at the expense of what he thought of much greater consequence--the harmony proceeding from the contrast and variety of colours4 ,this same picture will furnish us with another instance1 where we must depart from nature for a greater advantage4 ,the ,moon in this picture does not preserve so great a superiority in regard to its lightness over the subject which it illumines as it does in nature2 this is likewise an intended deviation1 and for the same reason4 ,if ,rubens had preserved the same scale of gradation of light between the ,moon and the objects which is found in nature1 the picture must have consisted of one small spot of light only1 and at a little distance from the picture nothing but this spot would have been seen4 ,it may be said1 indeed1 that this being the case1 it is a subject that ought not to be painted2 but then1 for the same reason1 neither armour1 nor anything shining1 ought ever to be painted2 for though pure white is used in order to represent the greatest light of shining objects1 it will not in the picture preserve the same superiority over flesh as it has in nature1 without keeping that flesh colour of a very low tint4 ,rembrandt1 who thought it of more consequence to paint light than the objects that are seen by it1 has done this in a picture of ,achilles which ,i have4 ,the head is kept down to a very low tint1 in order to preserve this due gradation and distinction between the armour and the face2 the consequence of which is1 that1 upon the whole1 the picture is too black4 ,surely too much is sacrificed here to this narrow conception of nature2 allowing the contrary conduct a fault1 yet it must be acknowledged a less fault than making a picture so dark that it cannot be seen without a peculiar light1 and then with difficulty4 ,the merit or demerit of the different conduct of ,rubens and ,rembrandt in those instances which ,i have given1 is not to be determined by the narrow principles of nature1 separated from its effect on the human mind4 ,reason and common-sense tell us1 that before1 and above all other considerations1 it is necessary that the work should be seen1 not only without difficulty or inconvenience1 but with pleasure and satisfaction2 and every obstacle which stands in the way of this pleasure and convenience must be removed4 ,the tendency of this ,discourse1 with the instances which have been given1 is not so much to place the ,artist above rules1 as to teach him their reason2 to prevent him from entertaining a narrow1 confined conception of ,art2 to clear his mind from a perplexed variety of rules and their exceptions1 by directing his attention to an intimate acquaintance with the passions and affections of the mind1 from which all rules arise1 and to which they are all referable4 ,art effects its purpose by their means2 an accurate knowledge1 therefore1 of those passions and dispositions of the mind is necessary to him who desires to affect them upon sure and solid principles4 ,a complete essay or inquiry into the connection between the rules of ,art and the eternal and immutable dispositions of our passions would be indeed going at once to the foundation of criticism2#aj but ,i am too well convinced what extensive knowledge1 what subtle and penetrating judgment1 would be required to engage in such an undertaking2 it is enough for me if1 in the language of painters1 ,i have produced a slight sketch of a part of this vast composition1 but that sufficiently distinct to show the usefulness of such a theory1 and its practicability4 ,before ,i conclude1 ,i cannot avoid making one observation on the pictures now before us4 ,i have observed1 that every candidate has copied the celebrated invention of ,timanthes in hiding the face of ,agamemnon in his mantle2 indeed1 such lavish encomiums have been bestowed on this thought1 and that too by men of the highest character in critical knowledge--,cicero1 ,quintilian1 ,valerius1 ,maximus1 and ,pliny--and have been since re-echoed by almost every modern that has written on the ,arts1 that your adopting it can neither be wondered at nor blamed4 ,it appears now to be so much connected with the subject1 that the spectator would perhaps be disappointed in not finding united in the picture what he always united in his mind1 and considered as indispensably belonging to the subject4 ,but it may be observed1 that those who praise this circumstance were not painters4 ,they use it as an illustration only of their own art2 it served their purpose1 and it was certainly not their business to enter into the objections that lie against it in another ,art4 ,i fear we have but very scanty means of exciting those powers over the imagination which make so very considerable and refined a part of poetry4 ,it is a doubt with me1 whether we should even make the attempt4 ,the chief1 if not the only occasion1 which the painter has for this artifice1 is1 when the subject is improper1 to be more fully represented1 either for the sake of decency1 or to avoid what would be disagreeable to be seen2 and this is not to raise or increase the passions1 which is the reason that is given for this practice1 but1 on the contrary1 to diminish their effect4 ,it is true1 sketches1 or such drawings as painters generally make for their works1 give this pleasure of imagination to a high degree4 ,from a slight1 undetermined drawing1 where the ideas of the composition and character are1 as ,i may say1 only just touched upon1 the imagination supplies more than the painter himself1 probably1 could produce2 and we accordingly often find that the finished work disappoints the expectation that was raised from the sketch2 and this power of the imagination is one of the causes of the great pleasure we have in viewing a collection of drawings by great painters4 ,these general ideas1 which are expressed in sketches1 correspond very well to the art often used in ,poetry4 ,a great part of the beauty of the celebrated description of ,eve in ,milton's ,paradise ,lost consists in using only general indistinct expressions1 every reader making out the detail according to his own particular imagination1--his own idea of beauty1 grace1 expression1 dignity1 or loveliness3 but a painter1 when he represents ,eve on a canvas1 is obliged to give a determined form1 and his own idea of beauty distinctly expressed4 ,we cannot on this occasion1 nor indeed on any other1 recommend an undeterminate manner or vague ideas of any kind1 in a complete and finished picture4 ,this notion1 therefore1 of leaving anything to the imagination1 opposes a very fixed and indispensable rule in our art--that everything shall be carefully and distinctly expressed1 as if the painter knew1 with correctness and precision1 the exact form and character of whatever is introduced into the picture4 ,this is what with us is called ,science and ,learning3 which must not be sacrificed and given up for an uncertain and doubtful beauty1 which1 not naturally belonging to our ,art1 will probably be sought for without success4 ,mr4 ,falconet has observed1 in a note on this passage in his translation of ,pliny1 that the circumstance of covering the face of ,agamemnon was probably not in consequence of any fine imagination of the painter--which he considers as a discovery of the critics--but merely copied from the description of the sacrifice1 as it is found in ,euripides4 ,the words from which the picture is supposed to be taken are these3 ,agamemnon saw ,iphigenia advance towards the fatal altar2 he groaned1 he turned aside his head1 he shed tears1 and covered his face with his robe4 ,falconet does not at all acquiesce in the praise that is bestowed on ,timanthes2 not only because it is not his invention1 but because he thinks meanly of this trick of concealing1 except in instances of blood1 where the objects would be too horrible to be seen2 but1 says he1 in an afflicted ,father1 in a ,king1 in ,agamemnon1 you1 who are a painter1 conceal from me the most interesting circumstance1 and then put me off with sophistry and a veil4 ,you are 7he adds7 a feeble ,painter1 without resource3 you do not know even those of your ,art3 ,i care not what veil it is1 whether closed hands1 arms raised1 or any other action that conceals from me the countenance of the ,hero4 ,you think of veiling ,agamemnon2 you have unveiled your own ignorance4 ,a ,painter who represents ,agamemnon veiled is as ridiculous as a ,poet would be1 who1 in a pathetic situation1 in order to satisfy my expectations1 and rid himself of the business1 should say1 that the sentiments of his hero are so far above whatever can be said on the occasion1 that he shall say nothing4 ,to what ,falconet has said1 we may add1 that supposing this method of leaving the expression of grief to the imagination to be1 as it was thought to be1 the invention of the painter1 and that it deserves all the praise that has been given it1 still it is a trick that will serve but once3 whoever does it a second time will not only want novelty1 but be justly suspected of using artifice to evade difficulties4 ,if difficulties overcome make a great part of the merit of ,art1 difficulties evaded can deserve but little commendation4 ,,footnotes3 #i3 ,,discourses ,,ii4 and ,,vi4 #aj3 ,this was inadvertently said4 ,i did not recollect the admirable treatise ,on the ,sublime and ,beautiful4 ,,discourse ,,ix4 ,delivered at the ,opening of the ,royal ,academy1 in ,somerset ,place1 ,october #af1 #aghj4 ,,on ,,the ,,removal ,,of ,,the ,,royal ,,academy ,,to ,,somerset ,,place4--,,the ,,advantages ,,to ,,society ,,from ,,cultivating ,,intellectual ,,pleasure4 ,the honour which the ,arts acquire by being permitted to take possession of this noble habitation is one of the most considerable of the many instances we have received of ,his ,majesty's protection2 and the strongest proof of his desire to make the ,academy respectable4 ,nothing has been left undone that might contribute to excite our pursuit or to reward our attainments4 ,we have already the happiness of seeing the ,arts in a state to which they never before arrived in this nation4 ,this ,building1 in which we are now assembled1 will remain to many future ages an illustrious specimen of the ,architect's#aa abilities4 ,it is our duty to endeavour that those who gaze with wonder at the structure may not be disappointed when they visit the apartments4 ,it will be no small addition to the glory which this nation has already acquired from having given birth to eminent men in every part of science1 if it should be enabled to produce1 in consequence of this institution1 a ,school of ,english ,artists4 ,the estimation in which we stand in respect to our neighbours1 will be in proportion to the degree in which we excel or are inferior to them in the acquisition of intellectual excellence1 of which ,trade and its consequential riches must be acknowledged to give the means2 but a people whose whole attention is absorbed in those means1 and who forget the end1 can aspire but little above the rank of a barbarous nation4 ,every establishment that tends to the cultivation of the pleasures of the mind1 as distinct from those of sense1 may be considered as an inferior school of morality1 where the mind is polished and prepared for higher attainments4 ,let us for a moment take a short survey of the progress of the mind towards what is1 or ought to be1 its true object of attention4 ,man1 in his lowest state1 has no pleasures but those of sense1 and no wants but those of appetite2 afterwards1 when society is divided into different ranks1 and some are appointed to labour for the support of others1 those whom their superiority sets free from labour begin to look for intellectual entertainments4 ,thus1 whilst the shepherds were attending their flocks1 their masters made the first astronomical observations2 so music is said to have had its origin from a man at leisure listening to the strokes of a hammer4 ,as the senses1 in the lowest state of nature1 are necessary to direct us to our support1 when that support is once secure there is danger in following them further2 to him who has no rule of action but the gratification of the senses1 plenty is always dangerous3 it is therefore necessary to the happiness of individuals1 and still more necessary to the security of society1 that the mind should be elevated to the idea of general beauty1 and the contemplation of general truth2 by this pursuit the mind is always carried forward in search of something more excellent than it finds1 and obtains its proper superiority over the common senses of life1 by learning to feel itself capable of higher aims and nobler enjoyments4 ,in this gradual exaltation of human nature1 every art contributes its contingent towards the general supply of mental pleasure4 ,whatever abstracts the thoughts from sensual gratifications1 whatever teaches us to look for happiness within ourselves1 must advance in some measure the dignity of our nature4 ,perhaps there is no higher proof of the excellency of man than this--that to a mind properly cultivated1 whatever is bounded is little4 ,the mind is continually labouring to advance1 step by step1 through successive gradations of excellence1 towards perfection1 which is dimly seen1 at a great1 though not hopeless1 distance1 and which we must always follow1 because we never can attain2 but the pursuit rewards itself2 one truth teaches another1 and our store is always increasing1 though nature can never be exhausted4 ,our art1 like all arts which address the imagination1 is applied to a somewhat lower faculty of the mind1 which approaches nearer to sensuality3 but through sense and fancy it must make its way to reason2 for such is the progress of thought1 that we perceive by sense1 we combine by fancy1 and distinguish by reason3 and without carrying our art out of its natural and true character1 the more we purify it from everything that is gross in sense1 in that proportion we advance its use and dignity2 and in proportion as we lower it to mere sensuality1 we pervert its nature1 and degrade it from the rank of a liberal art2 and this is what every artist ought well to remember4 ,let him remember also1 that he deserves just so much encouragement in the state as he makes himself a member of it virtuously useful1 and contributes in his sphere to the general purpose and perfection of society4 ,the ,art which we profess has beauty for its object2 this it is our business to discover and to express2 the beauty of which we are in quest is general and intellectual2 it is an idea that subsists only in the mind2 the sight never beheld it1 nor has the hand expressed it2 it is an idea residing in the breast of the artist1 which he is always labouring to impart1 and which he dies at last without imparting2 but which he is yet so far able to communicate1 as to raise the thoughts and extend the views of the spectator2 and which1 by a succession of art1 may be so far diffused1 that its effects may extend themselves imperceptibly into public benefits1 and be among the means of bestowing on whole nations refinement of taste3 which1 if it does not lead directly to purity of manners1 obviates at least their greatest depravation1 by disentangling the mind from appetite1 and conducting the thoughts through successive stages of excellence1 till that contemplation of universal rectitude and harmony1 which1 began by ,taste1 may1 as it is exalted and refined1 conclude in ,virtue4 ,,footnotes3 #aa3 ,sir ,william ,chambers4 ,,discourse ,x4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aa1 #aghj4 ,,sculpture3--,,has ,,but ,,one ,,style4--,,its ,,objects1 ,,form1 ,,and ,,character4--,,ineffectual ,,attempts ,,of ,,the ,,modern ,,sculptors ,,to ,,improve ,,the ,,art4--,,ill ,,effects ,,of ,,modern ,,dress ,,in ,,sculpture4 ,i shall now1 as it has been customary on this day1 and on this occasion1 communicate to you such observations as have occurred to me on the ,theory of ,art4 ,if these observations have hitherto referred principally to ,painting1 let it be remembered that this ,art is much more extensive and complicated than ,sculpture1 and affords therefore a more ample field for criticism2 and as the greater includes the less1 the leading principles of ,sculpture are comprised in those of ,painting4 ,however1 ,i wish now to make some remarks with particular relation to ,sculpture2 to consider wherein1 or in what manner1 its principles and those of ,painting agree or differ2 what is within its power of performing1 and what it is vain or improper to attempt2 that it may be clearly and distinctly known what ought to be the great purpose of the ,sculptor's labours4 ,sculpture is an art of much more simplicity and uniformity than painting2 it cannot with propriety1 and the best effect1 be applied to many subjects4 ,the object of its pursuit may be comprised in two words--,form and ,character2 and those qualities are presented to us but in one manner1 or in one style only2 whereas the powers of ,painting1 as they are more various and extensive1 so they are exhibited in as great a variety of manners4 ,the ,roman1 ,lombard1 ,florentine1 ,venetian1 and ,flemish ,schools all pursue the same end by different means4 ,but ,sculpture having but one style1 can only to one style of ,painting have any relation2 and to this 7which is indeed the highest and most dignified that ,painting can boast71 it has a relation so close1 that it may be said to be almost the same art operating upon different materials4 ,the ,sculptors of the last age1 from not attending sufficiently to this discrimination of the different styles of ,painting1 have been led into many errors4 ,though they well knew that they were allowed to imitate1 or take ideas for the improvement of their own ,art from the grand style of ,painting1 they were not aware that it was not permitted to borrow in the same manner from the ornamental4 ,when they endeavour to copy the picturesque effects1 contrasts1 or petty excellencies of whatever kind1 which not improperly find a place in the inferior branches of ,painting1 they doubtless imagine themselves improving and extending the boundaries of their art by this imitation2 but they are in reality violating its essential character1 by giving a different direction to its operations1 and proposing to themselves either what is unattainable1 or at best a meaner object of pursuit4 ,the grave and austere character of ,sculpture requires the utmost degree of formality in composition2 picturesque contrasts have here no place2 everything is carefully weighed and measured1 one side making almost an exact equipoise to the other3 a child is not a proper balance to a full grown figure1 nor is a figure sitting or stooping a companion to an upright figure4 ,the excellence of every art must consist in the complete accomplishment of its purpose2 and if by a false imitation of nature1 or mean ambition of producing a picturesque effect or illusion of any kind1 all the grandeur of ideas which this art endeavours to excite1 be degraded or destroyed1 we may boldly oppose ourselves to any such innovation4 ,if the producing of a deception is the summit of this art1 let us at once give to statues the addition of colour2 which will contribute more towards accomplishing this end than all those artifices which have been introduced and professedly defended1 on no other principle but that of rendering the work more natural4 ,but as colour is universally rejected1 every practice liable to the same objection must fall with it4 ,if the business of ,sculpture were to administer pleasure to ignorance1 or a mere entertainment to the senses1 the ,venus or ,medicis might certainly receive much improvement by colour2 but the character of ,sculpture makes it her duty to afford delight of a different1 and1 perhaps1 of a higher kind2 the delight resulting from the contemplation of perfect beauty3 and this1 which is in truth an intellectual pleasure1 is in many respects incompatible with what is merely addressed to the senses1 such as that with which ignorance and levity contemplate elegance of form4 ,the ,sculptor may be safely allowed to practise every means within the power of his art to produce a deception1 provided this practice does not interfere with or destroy higher excellencies2 on these conditions he will be forced1 however loth1 to acknowledge that the boundaries of his art have long been fixed1 and that all endeavours will be vain that hope to pass beyond the best works which remain of ancient ,sculpture4 ,imitation is the means1 and not the end of art3 it is employed by the ,sculptor as the language by which his ideas are presented to the mind of the spectator4 ,poetry and elocution of every sort make use of signs1 but those signs are arbitrary and conventional4 ,the sculptor employs the representation of the thing itself2 but still as a means to a higher end--as a gradual ascent1 always advancing towards faultless form and perfect beauty4 ,it may be thought at the first view1 that even this form1 however perfectly represented1 is to be valued and take its rank only for the sake of a still higher object1 that of conveying sentiment and character1 as they are exhibited by attitude and expression of the passions4 ,but we are sure from experience1 that the beauty of form alone1 without the assistance of any other quality1 makes of itself a great work1 and justly claims our esteem and admiration4 ,as a proof of the high value we set on the mere excellence of form1 we may produce the greatest part of the works of ,michel ,angelo1 both in painting and sculpture2 as well as most of the antique statues1 which are justly esteemed in a very high degree1 though no very marked or striking character or expression of any kind is represented4 ,but1 as a stronger instance that this excellence alone inspires sentiment1 what artist ever looked at the ,torso without feeling a warmth of enthusiasm1 as from the highest efforts of poetry8 ,from whence does this proceed8 ,what is there in this fragment that produces this effect1 but the perfection of this science of abstract form8 ,a mind elevated to the contemplation of excellence1 perceives in this defaced and shattered fragment1 disjecta membra poet1 the traces of superlative genius1 the reliques of a work on which succeeding ages can only gaze with inadequate admiration4 ,it may be said that this pleasure is reserved only to those who have spent their whole life in the study and contemplation of this art2 but the truth is1 that all would feel its effects1 if they could divest themselves of the expectation of deception1 and look only for what it really is--a partial representation of nature4 ,the only impediment of their judgment must then proceed from their being uncertain to what rank1 or rather kind of excellence1 it aspires2 and to what sort of approbation it has a right4 ,this state of darkness is1 without doubt1 irksome to every mind2 but by attention to works of this kind the knowledge of what is aimed at comes of itself1 without being taught1 and almost without being perceived4 ,the ,sculptor's art is limited in comparison of others1 but it has its variety and intricacy within its proper bounds4 ,its essence is correctness3 and when to correct and perfect form is added the ornament of grace1 dignity of character1 and appropriated expression1 as in the ,apollo1 the ,venus1 the ,laocoon1 the ,moses of ,michael ,angelo1 and many others1 this art may be said to have accomplished its purpose4 ,what ,grace is1 how it is to be acquired or conceived1 are in speculation difficult questions2 but causa latet1 res est notissima3 without any perplexing inquiry1 the effect is hourly perceived4 ,i shall only observe that its natural foundation is correctness of design2 and though grace may be sometimes united with incorrectness1 it cannot proceed from it4 ,but to come nearer to our present subject4 ,it has been said that the grace of the ,apollo depends on a certain degree of incorrectness3 that the head is not anatomically placed between the shoulders2 and that the lower half of the figure is longer than just proportion allows4 ,i know that ,correggio and ,parmegiano are often produced as authorities to support this opinion2 but very little attention will convince us that the incorrectness of some parts which we find in their works does not contribute to grace1 but rather tends to destroy it4 ,the ,madonna1 with the sleeping ,infant1 and beautiful group of ,angels1 by ,parmegiano1 in the ,palazzo ,piti1 would not have lost any of its excellence if the neck1 fingers1 and1 indeed1 the whole figure of the ,virgin1 instead of being so very long and incorrect1 had preserved their due proportion4 ,in opposition to the first of these remarks1 ,i have the authority of a very able ,sculptor of this ,academy1 who has copied that figure1 consequently measured and carefully examined it1 to declare that the criticism is not true4 ,in regard to the last1 it must be remembered that ,apollo is here in the exertion of one of his peculiar powers1 which is swiftness2 he has therefore that proportion which is best adapted to that character4 ,this is no more incorrectness than when there is given to an ,hercules an extraordinary swelling and strength of muscles4 ,the art of discovering and expressing grace is difficult enough of itself1 without perplexing ourselves with what is incomprehensible4 ,a supposition of such a monster as ,grace1 begot by ,deformity1 is poison to the mind of a young ,artist1 and may make him neglect what is essential to his art--correctness of ,design--in order to pursue a phantom1 which has no existence but in the imagination of affected and refined speculators4 ,i cannot quit the ,apollo without making one observation on the character of this figure4 ,he is supposed to have just discharged his arrow at the ,python2 and1 by the head retreating a little towards the right shoulder1 he appears attentive to its effect4 ,what ,i would remark is the difference of this attention from that of the ,discobolus1 who is engaged in the same purpose1 watching the effect of his ,discus4 ,the graceful1 negligent1 though animated air of the one1 and the vulgar eagerness of the other1 furnish a signal instance of the judgment of the ancient sculptors in their nice discrimination of character4 ,they are both equally true to nature1 and equally admirable4 ,it may be remarked that ,grace1 ,character1 and ,expression1 though words of different sense and meaning1 and so understood when applied to the works of ,painters1 are indiscriminately used when we speak of ,sculpture4 ,this indecision we may suspect to proceed from the undetermined effects of the ,art itself2 those qualities are exhibited in ,sculpture rather by form and attitude than by the features1 and can therefore be expressed but in a very general manner4 ,though the ,laocoon and his two sons have more expression in the countenance than perhaps any other antique statues1 yet it is only the general expression of pain2 and this passion is still more strongly expressed by the writhing and contortion of the body than by the features4 ,it has been observed in a late publication1 that if the attention of the ,father in this group had been occupied more by the distress of his children than by his own sufferings1 it would have raised a much greater interest in the spectator4 ,though this observation comes from a person whose opinion1 in everything relating to the ,arts1 carries with it the highest authority1 yet ,i cannot but suspect that such refined expression is scarce within the province of this ,art2 and in attempting it1 the ,artist will run great risk of enfeebling expression1 and making it less intelligible to the spectator4 ,as the general figure presents itself in a more conspicuous manner than the features1 it is there we must principally look for expression or character2 patuit in corpore vultus2 and1 in this respect1 the ,sculptor's art is not unlike that of ,dancing1 where the attention of the spectator is principally engaged by the attitude and action of the performer1 and it is there he must look for whatever expression that art is capable of exhibiting4 ,the ,dancers themselves acknowledge this1 by often wearing masks1 with little diminution in the expression4 ,the face bears so very inconsiderable a proportion to the effect of the whole figure1 that the ancient ,sculptors neglected to animate the features1 even with the general expression of the passions4 ,of this the group of the ,boxers is a remarkable instance2 they are engaged in the most animated action with the greatest serenity of countenance4 ,this is not recommended for imitation 7for there can be no reason why the countenance should not correspond with the attitude and expression of the figure71 but is mentioned in order to infer from hence1 that this frequent deficiency in ancient ,sculpture could proceed from nothing but a habit of inattention to what was considered as comparatively immaterial4 ,those who think ,sculpture can express more than we have allowed1 may ask1 by what means we discover1 at the first glance1 the character that is represented in a ,bust1 ,cameo1 or ,intaglio8 ,i suspect it will be found1 on close examination1 by him who is resolved not to see more than he really does see1 that the figures are distinguished by their insignia more than by any variety of form or beauty4 ,take from ,apollo his ,lyre1 from ,bacchus his ,thyrsus and ,vine-leaves1 and ,meleager the ,boar's ,head1 and there will remain little or no difference in their characters4 ,in a ,juno1 ,minerva1 or ,flora1 the idea of the artist seems to have gone no further than representing perfect beauty1 and afterwards adding the proper attributes1 with a total indifference to which they gave them4 ,thus ,john de ,bologna1 after he had finished a group of a young man holding up a young woman in his arms1 with an old man at his feet1 called his friends together1 to tell him what name he should give it1 and it was agreed to call it ,the ,rape of the ,sabines2 and this is the celebrated group which now stands before the old ,palace at ,florence4#ab ,the figures have the same general expression which is to be found in most of the antique ,sculpture2 and yet it would be no wonder if future critics should find out delicacy of expression which was never intended2 and go so far as to see1 in the old man's countenance1 the exact relation which he bore to the woman who appears to be taken from him4 ,though ,painting and ,sculpture are1 like many other arts1 governed by the same general principles1 yet in the detail1 or what may be called the by-laws of each art1 there seems to be no longer any connection between them4 ,the different materials upon which those two arts exert their powers must infallibly create a proportional difference in their practice4 ,there are many petty excellencies which the ,painter attains with ease1 but which are impracticable in ,sculpture2 and which1 even if it could accomplish them1 would add nothing to the true value and dignity of the work4 ,of the ineffectual attempts which the modern ,sculptors have made by way of improvement1 these seem to be the principal2 ,the practice of detaching drapery from the figure1 in order to give the appearance of flying in the air2-- ,of making different plans in the same bas-relievos2-- ,of attempting to represent the effects of perspective2-- ,to these we may add the ill effect of figures clothed in a modern dress4 ,the folly of attempting to make stone sport and flutter in the air is so apparent1 that it carries with it its own reprehension2 and yet to accomplish this seemed to be the great ambition of many modern ,sculptors1 particularly ,bernini3 his art was so much set on overcoming this difficulty1 that he was forever attempting it1 though by that attempt he risked everything that was valuable in the art4 ,bernini stands in the first class of modern ,sculptors1 and therefore it is the business of criticism to prevent the ill effects of so powerful an example4 ,from his very early work of ,apollo and ,daphne1 the world justly expected he would rival the best productions of ancient ,greece2 but he soon strayed from the right path4 ,and though there is in his works something which always distinguishes him from the common herd1 yet he appears in his latter performances to have lost his way4 ,instead of pursuing the study of that ideal beauty with which he had so successfully begun1 he turned his mind to an injudicious quest of novelty1 attempted what was not within the province of the art1 and endeavoured to overcome the hardness and obstinacy of his materials2 which even supposing he had accomplished1 so far as to make this species of drapery appear natural1 the ill effect and confusion occasioned by its being detached from the figure to which it belongs ought to have been alone a sufficient reason to have deterred him from that practice4 ,we have not1 ,i think1 in our ,academy1 any of ,bernini's works1 except a cast of the head of his ,neptune2 this will be sufficient to serve us for an example of the mischief produced by this attempt of representing the effects of the wind4 ,the locks of the hair are flying abroad in all directions1 insomuch that it is not a superficial view that can discover what the object is which is represented1 or distinguish those flying locks from the features1 as they are all of the same colour1 of equal solidity1 and consequently project with equal force4 ,the same entangled confusion which is here occasioned by the hair is produced by drapery flying off2 which the eye must1 for the same reason1 inevitably mingle and confound with the principal parts of the figure4 ,it is a general rule1 equally true in both ,arts1 that the form and attitude of the figure should be seen clearly1 and without any ambiguity at the first glance of the eye4 ,this the ,painter can easily do by colour1 by losing parts in the ground1 or keeping them so obscure as to prevent them from interfering with the more principal objects4 ,the sculptor has no other means of preventing this confusion than by attaching the drapery for the greater part close to the figure2 the folds of which1 following the order of the limbs1 whenever the drapery is seen1 the eye is led to trace the form and attitude of the figure at the same time4 ,the drapery of the ,apollo1 though it makes a large mass1 and is separated from the figure1 does not affect the present question1 from the very circumstance of its being so completely separated2 and from the regularity and simplicity of its form1 it does not in the least interfere with a distinct view of the figure4 ,in reality1 it is no more a part of it than a pedestal1 a trunk of a tree1 or an animal1 which we often see joined to statues4 ,the principal use of those appendages is to strengthen and preserve the statue from accidents2 and many are of opinion that the mantle which falls from the ,apollo's arm is for the same end2 but surely it answers a much greater purpose1 by preventing that dryness of effect which would inevitably attend a naked arm1 extended almost at full length1 to which we may add the disagreeable effect which would proceed from the body and arm making a right angle4 ,the ,apostles1 in the church of ,st4 ,john ,lateran1 appear to me to fall under the censure of an injudicious imitation of the manner of the painters4 ,the drapery of those figures1 from being disposed in large masses1 gives undoubtedly that air of grandeur which magnitude or quantity is sure to produce4 ,but though it should be acknowledged that it is managed with great skill and intelligence1 and contrived to appear as light as the materials will allow1 yet the weight and solidity of stone was not to be overcome4 ,those figures are much in the style of ,carlo ,maratti1 and such as we may imagine he would have made if he had attempted ,sculpture2 and when we know he had the superintendence of that work1 and was an intimate friend of one of the principal ,sculptors1 we may suspect that his taste had some influence1 if he did not even give the designs4 ,no man can look at those figures without recognising the manner of ,carlo ,maratti4 ,they have the same defect which his works so often have1 of being overlaid with drapery1 and that too artificially disposed4 ,i cannot but believe that if ,ruscono1 ,le ,gros1 ,monot1 and the rest of the ,sculptors employed in that work1 had taken for their guide the simple dress1 such as we see in the antique statues of the philosophers1 it would have given more real grandeur to their figures1 and would certainly have been more suitable to the characters of the ,apostles4 ,though there is no remedy for the ill effect of those solid projections which flying drapery in stone must always produce in statues1 yet in bas-relievos it is totally different2 those detached parts of drapery the ,sculptor has here as much power over as the ,painter1 by uniting and losing it in the ground1 so that it shall not in the least entangle and confuse the figure4 ,but here again the ,sculptor1 not content with this successful imitation1 if it may be so called1 proceeds to represent figures1 or groups of figures1 on different plans2 that is1 some on the foreground1 and some at a greater distance1 in the manner of ,painters in historical compositions4 ,to do this he has no other means than by making the distant figures of less dimensions1 and relieving them in a less degree from the surface2 but this is not adequate to the end2 they will still appear only as figures on a less scale1 but equally near the eye with those in the front of the piece4 ,nor does the mischief of this attempt1 which never accomplishes its intention1 rest here3 by this division of the work into many minute parts1 the grandeur of its general effect is inevitably destroyed4 ,perhaps the only circumstance in which the ,modern have excelled the ,ancient ,sculptors is the management of a single group in basso-relievo2 the art of gradually raising the group from the flat surface1 till it imperceptibly emerges into alto-relievo4 ,of this there is no ancient example remaining that discovers any approach to the skill which ,le ,gros has shown in an ,altar in the ,jesuits' ,church at ,rome4 ,different plans or degrees of relief in the same group have1 as we see in this instance1 a good effect1 though the contrary happens when the groups are separated1 and are at some distance behind each other4 ,this improvement in the art of composing a group in basso-relievo was probably first suggested by the practice of the modern ,painters1 who relieve their figures1 or groups of figures1 from their ground1 by the same gentle gradation2 and it is accomplished in every respect by the same general principles2 but as the marble has no colour1 it is the composition itself that must give its light and shadow4 ,the ancient ,sculptors could not borrow this advantage from their ,painters1 for this was an art with which they appear to have been entirely unacquainted3 and in the bas-relievos of ,lorenzo ,ghiberti1 the casts of which we have in the ,academy1 this art is no more attempted than it was by the ,painters of his age4 ,the next imaginary improvement of the moderns is the representing the effects of ,perspective in bas-relief4 ,of this little need be said2 all must recollect how ineffectual has been the attempt of modern ,sculptors to turn the buildings which they have introduced as seen from their angle1 with a view to make them appear to recede from the eye in perspective4 ,this1 though it may show indeed their eager desire to encounter difficulties1 shows at the same time how inadequate their materials are even to this their humble ambition4 ,the ,ancients1 with great judgment1 represented only the elevation of whatever architecture they introduced into their bas-reliefs1 which is composed of little more than horizontal or perpendicular lines2 whereas the interruption of crossed lines1 or whatever causes a multiplicity of subordinate parts1 destroys that regularity and firmness of effect on which grandeur of style so much depends4 ,we come now to the last consideration2 in what manner ,statues are to be dressed1 which are made in honour of men1 either now living1 or lately departed4 ,this is a question which might employ a long discourse of itself2 ,i shall at present only observe1 that he who wishes not to obstruct the ,artist1 and prevent his exhibiting his abilities to their greatest advantage1 will certainly not desire a modern dress4 ,the desire of transmitting to posterity the shape of modern dress must be acknowledged to be purchased at a prodigious price1 even the price of everything that is valuable in art4 ,working in stone is a very serious business2 and it seems to be scarce worth while to employ such durable materials in conveying to posterity a fashion of which the longest existence scarce exceeds a year4 ,however agreeable it may be to the ,antiquary's principles of equity and gratitude1 that as he has received great pleasure from the contemplation of the fashions of dress of former ages1 he wishes to give the same satisfaction to future ,antiquaries2 yet1 methinks1 pictures of an inferior style1 or prints1 may be considered as quite sufficient1 without prostituting this great art to such mean purposes4 ,in this town may be seen an ,equestrian ,statue in a modern dress1 which may be sufficient to deter future artists from any such attempt3 even supposing no other objection1 the familiarity of the modern dress by no means agrees with the dignity and gravity of ,sculpture4 ,sculpture is formal1 regular1 and austere2 disdains all familiar objects1 as incompatible with its dignity2 and is an enemy to every species of affectation1 or appearance of academical art4 ,all contrast1 therefore1 of one figure to another1 or of the limbs of a single figure1 or even in the folds of the drapery1 must be sparingly employed4 ,in short1 whatever partakes of fancy or caprice1 or goes under the denomination of ,picturesque 7however to be admired in its proper place71 is incompatible with that sobriety and gravity which is peculiarly the characteristic of this art4 ,there is no circumstance which more distinguishes a well-regulated and sound taste1 than a settled uniformity of design1 where all the parts are compact1 and fitted to each other1 everything being of a piece4 ,this principle extends itself to all habits of life1 as well as to all works of art4 ,upon this general ground therefore we may safely venture to pronounce1 that the uniformity and simplicity of the materials on which the ,sculptor labours 7which are only white marble71 prescribes bounds to his art1 and teaches him to confine himself to a proportionable simplicity of design4 ,,footnotes3 #ab3 ,in the ,loggia dei ,lauzi at ,florence4--,note1 ,ed4 ,,discourse ,,xi4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aghb4 ,,genius4--,,consists ,,principally ,,in ,,the ,,comprehension ,,of ,a ,,whole2 ,,in ,,taking ,,general ,,ideas ,,only4 ,the highest ambition of every ,artist is to be thought a man of ,genius4 ,as long as this flattering quality is joined to his name1 he can bear with patience the imputation of carelessness1 incorrectness1 or defects of whatever kind4 ,so far1 indeed1 is the presence of ,genius from implying an absence of faults1 that they are considered by many as its inseparable companions4 ,some go such lengths as to take indication from them1 and not only excuse faults on account of ,genius1 but presume ,genius from the existence of certain faults4 ,it is certainly true1 that a work may justly claim the character of ,genius1 though full of errors2 and it is equally true1 that it may be faultless1 and yet not exhibit the least spark of ,genius4 ,this naturally suggests an inquiry1 a desire1 at least1 of inquiring1 what qualities of a work and of a workman may justly entitle a ,painter to that character4 ,i have in a former discourse#ac endeavoured to impress you with a fixed opinion1 that a comprehensive and critical knowledge of the works of nature is the only source of beauty and grandeur4 ,but when we speak to ,painters1 we must always consider this rule1 and all rules1 with a reference to the mechanical practice of their own particular ,art4 ,it is not properly in the learning1 the taste1 and the dignity of the ideas1 that ,genius appears as belonging to a ,painter4 ,there is a ,genius particular appropriated to his own trade1 7as ,i may call it7 distinguished from all others4 ,for that power1 which enables the ,artist to conceive his subject with dignity1 may be said to belong to general education2 and is as much the ,genius of a ,poet1 or the professor of any other liberal ,art1 or even a good critic in any of those arts1 as of a ,painter4 ,whatever sublime ideas may fill his mind1 he is a ,painter1 only as he can put in practice what he knows1 and communicate those ideas by visible representation4 ,if my expression can convey my idea1 ,i wish to distinguish excellence of this kind by calling it the ,genius of mechanical performance4 ,this ,genius consists1 ,i conceive1 in the power of expressing that which employs your pencil1 whatever it may be1 as a whole2 so that the general effect and power of the whole may take possession of the mind1 and for a while suspend the consideration of the subordinate and particular beauties or defects4 ,the advantage of this method of considering objects is what ,i wish now more particularly to enforce4 ,at the same time ,i do not forget1 that a ,painter must have the power of contracting as well as dilating his sight2 because1 he that does not at all express particulars1 expresses nothing2 yet it is certain1 that a nice discrimination of minute circumstances1 and a punctilious delineation of them1 whatever excellence it may have 7and ,i do not mean to detract from it7 never did confer on the ,artist the character of ,genius4 ,beside those minute differences in things which are frequently not observed at all1 and when they are1 made little impression1 there are in all considerable objects great characteristic distinctions1 which press strongly on the senses1 and therefore fix the imagination4 ,these are by no means1 as some persons think1 an aggregate of all the small discriminating particulars3 nor will such an accumulation of particulars ever express them4 ,these answer to what ,i have heard great lawyers call the leading points in a case1 or the leading cases relative to those points4 ,the detail of particulars1 which does not assist the expression of the main characteristic1 is worse than useless1 it is mischievous1 as it dissipates the attention1 and draws it from the principal point4 ,it may be remarked1 that the impression which is left on our mind even of things which are familiar to us1 is seldom more than their general effect2 beyond which we do not look in recognising such objects4 ,to express this in ,painting1 is to express what is congenial and natural to the mind of man1 and what gives him by reflection his own mode of conceiving4 ,the other presupposes nicety and research1 which are only the business of the curious and attentive1 and therefore does not speak to the general sense of the whole species2 in which common1 and1 as ,i may so call it1 mother tongue1 everything grand and comprehensive must be uttered4 ,i do not mean to prescribe what degree of attention ought to be paid to the minute parts2 this it is hard to settle4 ,we are sure that it is expressing the general effect of the whole1 which alone can give to objects their true and touching character2 and wherever this is observed1 whatever else may be neglected1 we acknowledge the hand of a ,master4 ,we may even go further1 and observe1 that when the general effect only is presented to us by a skilful hand1 it appears to express the object represented in a more lively manner than the minutest resemblance would do4 ,these observations may lead to very deep questions1 which ,i do not mean here to discuss2 among others1 it may lead to an inquiry1 ,why we are not always pleased with the most absolute possible resemblance of an imitation to its original object8 ,cases may exist in which such a resemblance may be even disagreeable4 ,i shall only observe that the effect of figures in waxwork1 though certainly a more exact representation than can be given by ,painting or ,sculpture1 is a sufficient proof that the pleasure we receive from imitation is not increased merely in proportion as it approaches to minute and detailed reality2 we are pleased1 on the contrary1 by seeing ends accomplished by seemingly inadequate means4 ,to express protuberance by actual relief--to express the softness of flesh by the softness of wax1 seems rude and inartificial1 and creates no grateful surprise4 ,but to express distances on a plain surface1 softness by hard bodies1 and particular colouring by materials which are not singly of that colour1 produces that magic which is the prize and triumph of art4 ,carry this principle a step further4 ,suppose the effect of imitation to be fully compassed by means still more inadequate2 let the power of a few well-chosen strokes1 which supersede labour by judgment and direction1 produce a complete impression of all that the mind demands in an object2 we are charmed with such an unexpected happiness of execution1 and begin to be tired with the superfluous diligence1 which in vain solicits an appetite already satiated4 ,the properties of all objects1 as far as a ,painter is concerned with them1 are1 the outline or drawing1 the colour1 and the light and shade4 ,the drawing gives the form1 the colour its visible quality1 and the light and shade its solidity4 ,excellence in any one of these parts of art will never be acquired by an artist1 unless he has the habit of looking upon objects at large1 and observing the effect which they have on the eye when it is dilated1 and employed upon the whole1 without seeing any one of the parts distinctly4 ,it is by this that we obtain the ruling characteristic1 and that we learn to imitate it by short and dexterous methods4 ,i do not mean by dexterity a trick or mechanical habit1 formed by guess1 and established by custom2 but that science1 which1 by a profound knowledge of ends and means1 discovers the shortest and surest way to its own purpose4 ,if we examine with a critical view the manner of those painters whom we consider as patterns1 we shall find that their great fame does not proceed from their works being more highly finished than those of other artists1 or from a more minute attention to details1 but from that enlarged comprehension which sees the whole object at once1 and that energy of art which gives its characteristic effect by adequate expression4 ,raffaelle and ,titian are two names which stand the highest in our art2 one for ,drawing1 the other for ,painting4 ,the most considerable and the most esteemed works of ,raffaelle are the ,cartoons1 and his ,fresco works in the ,vatican2 those1 as we all know1 are far from being minutely finished3 his principal care and attention seems to have been fixed upon the adjustment of the whole1 whether it was the general composition1 or the composition of each individual figure2 for every figure may be said to be a lesser whole1 though1 in regard to the general work to which it belongs1 it is but a part2 the same may be said of the head1 of the hands1 and feet4 ,though he possessed this art of seeing and comprehending the whole1 as far as form is concerned1 he did not exert the same faculty in regard to the general effect1 which is presented to the eye by colour1 and light and shade4 ,of this the deficiency of his oil pictures1 where this excellence is more expected than in ,fresco1 is a sufficient proof4 ,it is to ,titian we must turn our eyes to find excellence with regard to colour1 and light and shade1 in the highest degree4 ,he was both the first and the greatest master of this art4 ,by a few strokes he knew how to mark the general image and character of whatever object he attempted2 and produced1 by this alone1 a truer representation than his master ,giovanni ,bellino1 or any of his predecessors1 who finished every hair4 ,his great care was to express the general colour1 to preserve the masses of light and shade1 and to give by opposition the idea of that solidity which is inseparable from natural objects4 ,when those are preserved1 though the work should possess no other merit1 it will have in a proper place its complete effect2 but where any of these are wanting1 however minutely laboured the picture may be in the detail1 the whole will have a false and even an unfinished appearance1 at whatever distance1 or in whatever light1 it can be shown4 ,it is in vain to attend to the variation of tints1 if1 in that attention1 the general hue of flesh is lost2 or to finish ever so minutely the parts1 if the masses are not observed1 or the whole not well put together4 ,vasari seems to have had no great disposition to favour the ,venetian ,painters1 yet he everywhere justly commends il modo di fare1 la maniera1 la bella practica2 that is1 the admirable manner and practice of that school4 ,on ,titian1 in particular1 he bestows the epithets of giudicioso1 bello1 e stupendo4 ,this manner was then new to the world1 but that unshaken truth on which it is founded has fixed it as a model to all succeeding ,painters2 and those who will examine into the artifice will find it to consist in the power of generalising1 and in the shortness and simplicity of the means employed4 ,many artists1 as ,vasari likewise observes1 have ignorantly imagined they are imitating the manner of ,titian when they leave their colours rough1 and neglect the detail2 but1 not possessing the principles on which he wrought1 they have produced what he calls goffe pitture1 absurd1 foolish pictures2 for such will always be the consequence of affecting dexterity without science1 without selection1 and without fixed principles4 ,raffaelle and ,titian seem to have looked at nature for different purposes2 they both had the power of extending their view to the whole2 but one looked only for the general effect as produced by form1 the other as produced by colour4 ,we cannot entirely refuse to ,titian the merit of attending to the general form of his object1 as well as colour2 but his deficiency lay1 a deficiency1 at least1 when he is compared with ,raffaelle1 in not possessing the power like him of correcting the form of his model by any general idea of beauty in his own mind4 ,of this his ,st4 ,sebastian is a particular instance4 ,this figure appears to be a most exact representation both of the form and the colour of the model1 which he then happened to have before him2 it has all the force of nature1 and the colouring is flesh itself2 but1 unluckily1 the model was of a bad form1 especially the legs4 ,titian has with as much care preserved these defects1 as he has imitated the beauty and brilliancy of the colouring4 ,in his colouring he was large and general1 as in his design he was minute and partial3 in the one he was a genius1 in the other not much above a copier4 ,i do not1 however1 speak now of all his pictures3 instances enough may be produced in his works1 where those observations on his defects could not with any propriety be applied2 but it is in the manner or language1 as it may be called1 in which ,titian and others of that school express themselves1 that their chief excellence lies4 ,this manner is in reality1 in painting1 what language is in poetry2 we are all sensible how differently the imagination is affected by the same sentiment expressed in different words1 and how mean or how grand the same object appears when presented to us by different ,painters4 ,whether it is the human figure1 an animal1 or even inanimate objects1 there is nothing1 however unpromising in appearance1 but may be raised into dignity1 convey sentiment and produce emotion1 in the hands of a ,painter of genius4 ,what was said of ,virgil1 that he threw even the dung about the ground with an air of dignity1 may be applied to ,titian3 whatever he touched1 however naturally mean and habitually familiar1 by a kind of magic he invested with grandeur and importance4 ,i must here observe1 that ,i am not recommending a neglect of the detail2 indeed1 it would be difficult1 if not impossible1 to prescribe certain bounds1 and tell how far1 or when1 it is to be observed or neglected2 much must1 at last1 be left to the taste and judgment of the artist4 ,i am well aware that a judicious detail will sometimes give the force of truth to the work1 and consequently interest the spectator4 ,i only wish to impress on your minds the true distinction between essential and subordinate powers2 and to show what qualities in the art claim your chief attention1 and what may1 with the least injury to your reputation1 be neglected4 ,something1 perhaps1 always must be neglected2 the lesser ought then to give way to the greater2 and since every work can have but a limited time allotted to it 7for even supposing a whole life to be employed about one picture1 it is still limited71 it appears more reasonable to employ that time to the best advantage1 in contriving various methods of composing the work1--in trying different effects of light and shadow1--and employing the labour of correction in heightening1 by a judicious adjustment of the parts1 the effects of the whole1--than that the time should be taken up in minutely finishing those parts4 ,but there is another kind of high finishing1 which may safely be condemned1 as it seems to counteract its own purpose2 that is1 when the artist1 to avoid that hardness which proceeds from the outline cutting against the ground1 softens and blends the colours to excess2 this is what the ignorant call high finishing1 but which tends to destroy the brilliancy of colour1 and the true effect of representation2 which consists very much in preserving the same proportion of sharpness and bluntness that is found in natural objects4 ,this extreme softening1 instead of producing the effect of softness1 gives the appearance of ivory1 or some other hard substance1 highly polished4 ,the portraits of ,cornelius ,jansen appear to have this defect1 and consequently want that suppleness which is the characteristic of flesh2 whereas1 in the works of ,vandyke we find the true mixture of softness and hardness perfectly observed4 ,the same defect may be found in the manner of ,vanderwerf1 in opposition to that of ,teniers2 and such also1 we may add1 is the manner of ,raffaelle in his oil pictures1 in comparison with that of ,titian4 ,the name which ,raffaelle has so justly maintained as the first of ,painters1 we may venture to say was not acquired by this laborious attention4 ,his apology may be made by saying that it was the manner of his country2 but if he had expressed his ideas with the facility and eloquence1 as it may be called1 of ,titian1 his works would certainly not have been less excellent2 and that praise1 which ages and nations have poured out upon him1 for possessing ,genius in the higher attainments of art1 would have been extended to them all4 ,those who are not conversant in works of art1 are often surprised at the high value set by connoisseurs on drawings which appear careless1 and in every respect unfinished2 but they are truly valuable2 and their value arises from this1 that they give the idea of an whole2 and this whole is often expressed by a dexterous facility which indicates the true power of a ,painter1 even though roughly exerted2 whether it consists in the general composition1 or the general form of each figure1 or the turn of the attitude which bestows grace and elegance4 ,all this we may see fully exemplified in the very skilful drawings of ,parmegiano and ,correggio4 ,on whatever account we value these drawings1 it is certainly not for high finishing1 or a minute attention to particulars4 ,excellence in every part1 and in every province of our art1 from the highest style of history down to the resemblances of still-life1 will depend on this power of extending the attention at once to the whole1 without which the greatest diligence is vain4 ,i wish you to bear in mind1 that when ,i speak of an whole1 ,i do not mean simply an whole as belonging to composition1 but an whole with respect to the general style of colouring2 an whole with regard to the light and shade2 an whole of everything which may separately become the main object of a ,painter4 ,i remember a ,landscape-painter in ,rome1 who was known by the name of ,,studio1 from his patience in high finishing1 in which he thought the whole excellence of art consisted2 so that he once endeavoured1 as he said1 to represent every individual leaf on a tree4 ,this picture ,i never saw2 but ,i am very sure that an artist who looked only at the general character of the species1 the order of the branches1 and the masses of the foliage1 would in a few minutes produce a more true resemblance of trees than this ,painter in as many months4 ,a ,landscape-painter certainly ought to study anatomically 7if ,i may use the expression7 all the objects which he paints2 but when he is to turn his studies to use1 his skill1 as a man of genius1 will be displayed in showing the general effect1 preserving the same degree of hardness and softness which the objects have in nature2 for he applies himself to the imagination1 not to the curiosity1 and works not for the ,virtuoso or the ,naturalist1 but for the common observer of life and nature4 ,when he knows his subject1 he will know not only what to describe1 but what to omit3 and this skill in leaving out is1 in all things1 a great part of knowledge and wisdom4 ,the same excellence of manner which ,titian displayed in ,history or ,portrait-painting is equally conspicuous in his ,landscapes1 whether they are professedly such1 or serve only as backgrounds4 ,one of the most eminent of this latter kind is to be found in the picture of ,st4 ,pietro ,martire4 ,the large trees1 which are here introduced1 are plainly distinguished from each other by the different manner with which the branches shoot from their trunks1 as well as by their different foliage2 and the weeds in the foreground are varied in the same manner1 just as much as variety requires1 and no more4 ,when ,algarotii1 speaking of this picture1 praises it for the minute discriminations of the leaves and plants1 even1 as he says1 to excite the admiration of a ,botanist1 his intention was undoubtedly to give praise even at the expense of truth2 for he must have known that this is not the character of the picture2 but connoisseurs will always find in pictures what they think they ought to find3 he was not aware that he was giving a description injurious to the reputation of ,titian4 ,such accounts may be very hurtful to young artists1 who never have had an opportunity of seeing the work described2 and they may possibly conclude that this great ,artist acquired the name of the ,divine ,titian from his eminent attention to such trifling circumstances1 which in reality would not raise him above the level of the most ordinary ,painter4 ,we may extend these observations even to what seems to have but a single1 and that an individual object4 ,the excellence of ,portrait-painting1 and1 we may add1 even the likeness1 the character1 and countenance1 as ,i have observed in another place1 depend more upon the general effect produced by the ,painter than on the exact expression of the peculiarities1 or minute discrimination of the parts4 ,the chief attention of the artist is therefore employed in planting the features in their proper places1 which so much contributes to giving the effect and true impression of the whole4 ,the very peculiarities may be reduced to classes and general descriptions2 and there are therefore large ideas to be found even in this contracted subject4 ,he may afterwards labour single features to what degree he thinks proper1 but let him not forget continually to examine1 whether in finishing the parts he is not destroying the general effect4 ,it is certainly a thing to be wished1 that all excellence were applied to illustrate subjects that are interesting and worthy of being commemorated2 whereas1 of half the pictures that are in the world1 the subject can be valued only as an occasion which set the artist to work2 and yet1 our high estimation of such pictures1 without considering1 or perhaps without knowing the subject1 shows how much our attention is engaged by the art alone4 ,perhaps nothing that we can say will so clearly show the advantage and excellence of this faculty1 as that it confers the character of ,genius on works that pretend to no other merit2 in which is neither expression1 character1 or dignity1 and where none are interested in the subject4 ,we cannot refuse the character of ,genius to the marriage of ,paolo ,veronese without opposing the general sense of mankind 7great authorities have called it the triumph of ,painting71 or to the altar of ,st4 ,augustine at ,antwerp1 by ,rubens1 which equally deserves that title1 and for the same reason4 ,neither of those pictures have any interesting story to support them4 ,that of ,paolo ,veronese is only a representation of a great concourse of people at a dinner2 and the subject of ,rubens1 if it may be called a subject where nothing is doing1 is an assembly of various ,saints that lived in different ages4 ,the whole excellence of those pictures consists in mechanical dexterity1 working1 however1 under the influence of that comprehensive faculty which ,i have so often mentioned4 ,it is by this1 and this alone1 that the mechanical power is ennobled1 and raised much above its natural rank4 ,and it appears to me1 that with propriety it acquires this character1 as an instance of that superiority with which mind predominates over matter1 by contracting into one whole what nature has made multifarious4 ,the great advantage of this idea of a whole is1 that a greater quantity of truth may be said to be contained and expressed in a few lines or touches than in the most laborious finishing of the parts where this is not regarded4 ,it is upon this foundation that it stands2 and the justness of the observation would be confirmed by the ignorant in art1 if it were possible to take their opinions unseduced by some false notion of what they imagine they ought to see in a ,picture4 ,as it is an art1 they think they ought to be pleased in proportion as they see that art ostentatiously displayed2 they will1 from this supposition1 prefer neatness1 high-finishing1 and gaudy colouring1 to the truth1 simplicity1 and unity of nature4 ,perhaps1 too1 the totally ignorant beholder1 like the ignorant artist1 cannot comprehend an whole1 nor even what it means4 ,but if false notions do not anticipate their perceptions1 they who are capable of observation1 and who1 pretending to no skill1 look only straight forward1 will praise and condemn in proportion as the ,painter has succeeded in the effect of the whole4 ,here1 general satisfaction1 or general dislike1 though perhaps despised by the ,painter1 as proceeding from the ignorance of the principles of art1 may yet help to regulate his conduct1 and bring back his attention to that which ought to be his principal object1 and from which he has deviated for the sake of minuter beauties4 ,an instance of this right judgment ,i once saw in a child1 in going through a gallery where there were many portraits of the last ages1 which1 though neatly put out of hand1 were very ill put together4 ,the child paid no attention to the neat finishing or naturalness of any bit of drapery1 but appeared to observe only the ungracefulness of the persons represented1 and put herself in the posture of every figure which she saw in a forced and awkward attitude4 ,the censure of nature1 uninformed1 fastened upon the greatest fault that could be in a picture1 because it related to the character and management of the whole4 ,i should be sorry if what has been said should be understood to have any tendency to encourage that carelessness which leaves work in an unfinished state4 ,i commend nothing for the want of exactness2 ,i mean to point out that kind of exactness which is the best1 and which is alone truly to be esteemed4 ,so far is my disquisition from giving countenance to idleness1 that there is nothing in our art which enforces such continual exertion and circumspection1 as an attention to the general effect of the whole4 ,it requires much study and much practice2 it requires the ,painter's entire mind2 whereas the parts may be finishing by nice touches1 while his mind is engaged on other matters2 he may even hear a play or a novel read without much disturbance4 ,the artist who flatters his own indolence will continually find himself evading this active exertion1 and applying his thoughts to the ease and laziness of highly finishing the parts1 producing at last what ,cowley calls laborious effects of idleness4 ,no work can be too much finished1 provided the diligence employed be directed to its proper object2 but ,i have observed that an excessive labour in the detail has1 nine times in ten1 been pernicious to the general effect1 even when it has been the labour of great masters4 ,it indicates a bad choice1 which is an ill setting out in any undertaking4 ,to give a right direction to your industry has been my principal purpose in this discourse4 ,it is this which ,i am confident often makes the difference between two ,students of equal capacities1 and of equal industry4 ,while the one is employing his labour on minute objects of little consequence1 the other is acquiring the art1 and perfecting the habit1 of seeing nature in an extensive view1 in its proper proportions1 and its due subordination of parts4 ,before ,i conclude1 ,i must make one observation sufficiently connected with the present subject4 ,the same extension of mind which gives the excellence of ,genius to the theory and mechanical practice of the art1 will direct him likewise in the method of study1 and give him the superiority over those who narrowly follow a more confined track of partial imitation4 ,whoever1 in order to finish his education1 should travel to ,italy1 and spend his whole time there only in copying pictures1 and measuring statues or buildings 7though these things are not to be neglected71 would return with little improvement4 ,he that imitates the ,iliad1 says ,dr4 ,young1 is not imitating ,homer4 ,it is not by laying up in the memory the particular details of any of the great works of art that any man becomes a great artist1 if he stops without making himself master of the general principles on which these works are conducted4 ,if he even hopes to rival those whom he admires1 he must consider their works as the means of teaching him the true art of seeing nature4 ,when this is acquired1 he then may be said to have appropriated their powers1 or1 at least1 the foundation of their powers1 to himself2 the rest must depend upon his own industry and application4 ,the great business of study is1 to form a mind1 adapted and adequate to all times and all occasions2 to which all nature is then laid open1 and which may be said to possess the key of her inexhaustible riches4 ,,footnotes3 #ac3 ,discourse ,,iii4 ,,discourse ,,xii4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aghd4 ,,particular ,,methods ,,of ,,study ,,of ,,little ,,consequence4--,,little ,,of ,,the ,,art ,,can ,,be ,,taught4--,,love ,,of ,,method ,,often ,a ,,love ,,of ,,idleness4--,,pittori ,,improvvisatori ,,apt ,,to ,,be ,,careless ,,and ,,incorrect2 ,,seldom ,,original ,,and ,,striking4--,,this ,,proceeds ,,from ,,their ,,not ,,studying ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,other ,,masters4 ,in consequence of the situation in which ,i have the honour to be placed in this ,academy1 it has often happened that ,i have been consulted by the young ,students who intend to spend some years in ,italy1 concerning the method of regulating their studies4 ,i am1 as ,i ought to be1 solicitously desirous to communicate the entire result of my experience and observation2 and though my openness and facility in giving my opinions might make some amends for whatever was defective in them1 yet ,i fear my answers have not often given satisfaction4 ,indeed1 ,i have never been sure that ,i understood perfectly what they meant1 and was not without some suspicion that they had not themselves very distinct ideas of the object of their inquiry4 ,if the information required was1 by what means the path that leads to excellence could be discovered2 if they wished to know whom they were to take for their guides2 what to adhere to1 and what to avoid2 where they were to bait1 and where they were to take up their rest2 what was to be tasted only1 and what should be their diet2 such general directions are certainly proper for a ,student to ask1 and for me1 to the best of my capacity1 to give2 but these rules have been already given2 they have1 in reality1 been the subject of almost all my ,discourses from this place4 ,but ,i am rather inclined to think1 that by method of study1 it was meant 7as several do mean7 that the times and the seasons should be prescribed1 and the order settled1 in which everything was to be done3 that it might be useful to point out to what degree of excellence one part of the ,art was to be carried before the ,student proceeded to the next2 how long he was to continue to draw from the ancient statues1 when to begin to compose1 and when to apply to the study of colouring4 ,such a detail of instruction might be extended with a great deal of plausible and ostentatious amplification4 ,but it would at best be useless4 ,our studies will be forever1 in a very great degree1 under the direction of chance2 like travellers1 we must take what we can get1 and when we can get it2 whether it is or is not administered to us in the most commodious manner1 in the most proper place1 or at the exact minute when we would wish to have it4 ,treatises on education and method of study have always appeared to me to have one general fault4 ,they proceed upon a false supposition of life2 as if we possessed not only a power over events and circumstances1 but had a greater power over ourselves than ,i believe any of us will be found to possess4 ,instead of supposing ourselves to be perfect patterns of wisdom and virtue1 it seems to me more reasonable to treat ourselves 7as ,i am sure we must now and then treat others7 like humorsome children1 whose fancies are often to be indulged1 in order to keep them in good humour with themselves and their pursuits4 ,it is necessary to use some artifice of this kind in all processes which by their very nature are long1 tedious1 and complex1 in order to prevent our taking that aversion to our studies which the continual shackles of methodical restraint are sure to produce4 ,i would rather wish a student1 as soon as he goes abroad1 to employ himself upon whatever he has been incited to by any immediate impulse1 than to go sluggishly about a prescribed task2 whatever he does in such a state of mind1 little advantage accrues from it1 as nothing sinks deep enough to leave any lasting impression2 and it is impossible that anything should be well understood1 or well done1 that is taken into a reluctant understanding1 and executed with a servile hand4 ,it is desirable1 and indeed is necessary to intellectual health1 that the mind should be recreated and refreshed with a variety in our studies2 that in the irksomeness of uniform pursuit we should be relieved1 and1 if ,i may so say1 deceived1 as much as possible4 ,besides1 the minds of men are so very differently constituted1 that it is impossible to find one method which shall be suitable to all4 ,it is of no use to prescribe to those who have no talents2 and those who have talents will find methods for themselves--methods dictated to them by their own particular dispositions1 and by the experience of their own particular necessities4 ,however1 ,i would not be understood to extend this doctrine to the younger students4 ,the first part of the life of a student1 like that of other school-boys1 must necessarily be a life of restraint4 ,the grammar1 the rudiments1 however unpalatable1 must at all events be mastered4 ,after a habit is acquired of drawing correctly from the model 7whatever it may be7 which he has before him1 the rest1 ,i think1 may be safely left to chance2 always supposing that the student is employed1 and that his studies are directed to the proper object4 ,a passion for his art1 and an eager desire to excel1 will more than supply the place of method4 ,by leaving a student to himself he may possibly indeed be led to undertake matters above his strength2 but the trial will at least have this advantage--it will discover to himself his own deficiencies2 and this discovery alone is a very considerable acquisition4 ,one inconvenience1 ,i acknowledge1 may attend bold and arduous attempts2 frequent failure may discourage4 ,this evil1 however1 is not more pernicious than the slow proficiency which is the natural consequence of too easy tasks4 ,whatever advantages method may have in despatch of business 7and there it certainly has many71 ,i have but little confidence of its efficacy in acquiring excellence in any art whatever4 ,indeed1 ,i have always strongly suspected that this love of method1 on which some persons appear to place so great independence1 is1 in reality1 at the bottom1 a love of idleness1 a want of sufficient energy to put themselves into immediate action3 it is a sort of an apology to themselves for doing nothing4 ,i have known artists who may truly be said to have spent their whole lives1 or at least the most precious part of their lives1 in planning methods of study1 without ever beginning2 resolving1 however1 to put it all in practice at some time or other--when a certain period arrives--when proper conveniences are procured--or when they remove to a certain place better calculated for study4 ,it is not uncommon for such persons to go abroad with the most honest and sincere resolution of studying hard1 when they shall arrive at the end of their journey4 ,the same want of exertion1 arising from the same cause which made them at home put off the day of labour until they had found a proper scheme for it1 still continues in ,italy1 and they consequently return home with little1 if any1 improvement4 ,in the practice of art1 as well as in morals1 it is necessary to keep a watchful and jealous eye over ourselves2 idleness1 assuming the specious disguise of industry1 will lull to sleep all suspicion of our want of an active exertion of strength4 ,a provision of endless apparatus1 a bustle of infinite inquiry and research1 or even the mere mechanical labour of copying1 may be employed1 to evade and shuffle off real labour--the real labour of thinking4 ,i have declined for these reasons to point out any particular method and course of study to young ,artists on their arrival in ,italy4 ,i have left it to their own prudence1 a prudence which will grow and improve upon them in the course of unremitted1 ardent industry1 directed by a real love of their profession1 and an unfeigned admiration of those who have been universally admitted as patterns of excellence in the art4 ,in the exercise of that general prudence1 ,i shall here submit to their consideration such miscellaneous observations as have occurred to me on considering the mistaken notions or evil habits1 which have prevented that progress towards excellence1 which the natural abilities of several ,artists might otherwise have enabled them to make4 ,false opinions and vicious habits have done far more mischief to students1 and to ,professors too1 than any wrong methods of study4 ,under the influence of sloth1 or of some mistaken notion1 is that disposition which always wants to lean on other men4 ,some ,students are always talking of the prodigious progress they should make1 if they could but have the advantage of being taught by some particular eminent ,master4 ,to him they would wish to transfer that care which they ought and must take of themselves4 ,such are to be told1 that after the rudiments are past1 very little of our ,art can be taught by others4 ,the most skilful ,master can do little more than put the end of the clue into the hands of his ,scholar1 by which he must conduct himself4 ,it is true1 the beauties and defects of the works of our predecessors may be pointed out2 the principles on which their works are conducted may be explained2 the great examples of ,ancient ,art may be spread out before them2 but the most sumptuous entertainment is prepared in vain1 if the guests will not take the trouble of helping themselves4 ,even the ,academy itself1 where every convenience for study is procured and laid before them1 may1 from that very circumstance1 from leaving no difficulties to be encountered in the pursuit1 cause a remission of their industry4 ,it is not uncommon to see young artists1 whilst they are struggling with every obstacle in their way1 exert themselves with such success as to outstrip competitors possessed of every means of improvement4 ,the promising expectation which was formed1 on so much being done with so little means1 has recommended them to a ,patron1 who has supplied them with every convenience of study2 from that time their industry and eagerness of pursuit has forsaken them2 they stand still1 and see others rush on before them4 ,such men are like certain animals1 who will feed only when there is but little provender1 and that got at with difficulty through the bars of a rack1 but refuse to touch it when there is an abundance before them4 ,perhaps such a falling off may proceed from the faculties being overpowered by the immensity of the materials2 as the traveller despairs ever to arrive at the end of his journey when the whole extent of the road which he is to pass is at once displayed to his view4 ,among the first moral qualities1 therefore1 which a ,student ought to cultivate1 is a just and manly confidence in himself1 or rather in the effects of that persevering industry which he is resolved to possess4 ,when ,raffaelle1 by means of his connection with ,bramante1 the ,pope's ,architect1 was fixed upon to adorn the ,vatican with his works1 he had done nothing that marked in him any great superiority over his contemporaries2 though he was then but young1 he had under his direction the most considerable ,artists of his age2 and we know what kind of men those were2 a lesser mind would have sunk under such a weight2 and if we should judge from the meek and gentle disposition which we are told was the character of ,raffaelle1 we might expect this would have happened to him2 but his strength appeared to increase in proportion as exertion was required2 and it is not improbable that we are indebted to the good fortune which first placed him in that conspicuous situation for those great examples of excellence which he has left us4 ,the observations to which ,i formerly wished1 and now desire1 to point your attention1 relate not to errors which are committed by those who have no claim to merit1 but to those inadvertencies into which men of parts only can fall by the overrating or the abuse of some real1 though perhaps subordinate1 excellence4 ,the errors last alluded to are those of backward1 timid characters2 what ,i shall now speak of belong to another class--to those ,artists who are distinguished for the readiness and facility of their invention4 ,it is undoubtedly a splendid and desirable accomplishment to be able to design instantaneously any given subject4 ,it is an excellence that ,i believe every ,artist would wish to possess2 but unluckily1 the manner in which this dexterity is acquired habituates the mind to be contented with first thoughts without choice or selection4 ,the judgment1 after it has been long passive1 by degrees loses its power of becoming active when exertion is necessary4 ,whoever1 therefore1 has this talent1 must in some measure undo what he has had the habit of doing1 or at least give a new turn to his mind3 great works1 which are to live and stand the criticism of posterity1 are not performed at a heat4 ,a proportionable time is required for deliberation and circumspection4 ,i remember when ,i was at ,rome looking at the fighting ,gladiator1 in company with an eminent ,sculptor1 and ,i expressed my admiration of the skill with which the whole is composed1 and the minute attention of the ,artist to the change of every muscle in that momentary exertion of strength3 he was of opinion that a work so perfect required nearly the whole life of man to perform4 ,i believe1 if we look around us1 we shall find1 that in the sister art of ,poetry1 what has been soon done has been as soon forgotten4 ,the judgment and practice of a great ,poet on this occasion is worthy attention4 ,metastasio1 who has so much and justly distinguished himself throughout ,europe1 at his outset was an ,improvvisatore1 or extempore ,poet1 a description of men not uncommon in ,italy3 it is not long since he was asked by a friend1 if he did not think the custom of inventing and reciting extempore1 which he practised when a boy in his character of an ,improvvisatore1 might not be considered as a happy beginning of his education2 he thought it1 on the contrary1 a disadvantage to him3 he said that he had acquired by that habit a carelessness and incorrectness1 which it cost him much trouble to overcome1 and to substitute in the place of it a totally different habit1 that of thinking with selection1 and of expressing himself with correctness and precision4 ,however extraordinary it may appear1 it is certainly true1 that the inventions of the ,pittori improvvisatori1 as they may be called1 have--notwithstanding the common boast of their authors1 that all is spun from their own brain--very rarely anything that has in the least the air of originality3--their compositions are generally commonplace1 uninteresting1 without character or expression2 like those flowery speeches that we sometimes hear1 which impress no new ideas on the mind4 ,i would not be thought1 however1 by what has been said1 to oppose the use1 the advantage1 the necessity there is1 of a ,painter's being readily able to express his ideas by sketching4 ,the further he can carry such designs the better4 ,the evil to be apprehended is1 his resting there1 and not correcting them afterwards from nature1 or taking the trouble to look about him for whatever assistance the works of others will afford him4 ,we are not to suppose that when a ,painter sits down to deliberate on any work1 he has all his knowledge to seek2 he must not only be able to draw extempore the human figure in every variety of action1 but he must be acquainted likewise with the general principles of composition1 and possess a habit of foreseeing1 while he is composing1 the effect of the masses of light and shadow that will attend such a disposition4 ,his mind is entirely occupied by his attention to the whole4 ,it is a subsequent consideration to determine the attitude and expression of individual figures4 ,it is in this period of his work that ,i would recommend to every artist to look over his portfolio1 or pocket-book1 in which he has treasured up all the happy inventions1 all the extraordinary and expressive attitudes1 that he has met with in the course of his studies2 not only for the sake of borrowing from those studies whatever may be applicable to his own work1 but likewise on account of the great advantage he will receive by bringing the ideas of great ,artists more distinctly before his mind1 which will teach him to invent other figures in a similar style4 ,sir ,francis ,bacon speaks with approbation of the pro-visionary methods ,demosthenes and ,cicero employed to assist their invention2 and illustrates their use by a quaint comparison after his manner4 ,these particular ,studios being not immediately connected with our art1 ,i need not cite the passage ,i allude to1 and shall only observe that such preparation totally opposes the general received opinions that are floating in the world concerning genius and inspiration4 ,the same great man in another place1 speaking of his own essays1 remarks1 that they treat of those things1 wherein both men's lives and persons are most conversant1 whereof a man shall find much in experience1 but little in books3 they are then what an artist would naturally call invention2 and yet we may suspect that even the genius of ,bacon1 great as it was1 would never have been enabled to have made those observations1 if his mind had not been trained and disciplined by reading the observations of others4 ,nor could he without such reading have known that those opinions were not to be found in other books4 ,i know there are many ,artists of great fame who appear never to have looked out of themselves1 and who probably would think it derogatory to their character to be supposed to borrow from any other ,painter4 ,but when we recollect1 and compare the works of such men with those who took to their assistance the inventions of others1 we shall be convinced of the great advantage of this latter practice4 ,the two men most eminent for readiness of invention1 that occur to me1 are ,luca ,giordano and ,la ,fage2 one in painting1 and the other in drawing4 ,to such extraordinary powers as were possessed by both of those ,artists1 we cannot refuse the character of ,genius2 at the same time1 it must be acknowledged1 that it was that kind of mechanic ,genius which operates without much assistance of the head4 ,in all their works1 which are 7as might be expected7 very numerous1 we may look in vain for anything that can be said to be original and striking2 and yet1 according to the ordinary ideas of originality1 they have as good pretensions as most ,painters2 for they borrowed very little from others1 and still less will any ,artist1 that can distinguish between excellence and insipidity1 ever borrow from them4 ,to those men1 and all such1 let us oppose the practice of the first of ,painters4 ,i suppose we shall all agree1 that no man ever possessed a greater power of invention1 and stood less in need of foreign assistance1 than ,raffaelle2 and yet1 when he was designing one of his greatest as well as latest works1 the ,cartoons1 it is very apparent that he had the studies which he had made from ,masaccio before him4 ,two noble figures of ,st4 ,paul1 which he found there1 he adopted in his own work3 one of them he took for ,st4 ,paul preaching at ,athens2 and the other for the same ,saint when chastising the sorcerer ,elymas4 ,another figure in the same work1 whose head is sunk in his breast1 with his eyes shut1 appearing deeply wrapt up in thought1 was introduced amongst the listeners to the preaching of ,st4 ,paul4 ,the most material alteration that is made in those two figures of ,st4 ,paul is the addition of the left hands1 which are not seen in the original4 ,it is a rule that ,raffaelle observed 7and1 indeed1 ought never to be dispensed with71 in a principal figure1 to show both hands2 that it should never be a question1 what is become of the other hand4 ,for the sacrifice at ,listra1 he took the whole ceremony much as it stands in an ancient ,basso-relievo1 since published in the ,,admiranda4 ,i have given examples from those pictures only of ,raffaelle which we have among us1 though many other instances might be produced of this great painter's not disdaining assistance2 indeed1 his known wealth was so great1 that he might borrow where he pleased without loss of credit4 ,it may be remarked1 that this work of ,masaccio1 from which he has borrowed so freely1 was a public work1 and at no farther distance from ,rome than ,florence2 so that if he had considered it a disgraceful theft1 he was sure to be detected2 but he was well satisfied that his character for ,invention would be little affected by such a discovery2 nor is it1 except in the opinion of those who are ignorant of the manner in which great works are built4 ,those who steal from mere poverty2 who having nothing of their own1 cannot exist a minute without making such depredations2 who are so poor that they have no place in which they can even deposit what they have taken2 to men of this description nothing can be said2 but such artists as those to whom ,i suppose myself now speaking1 men whom ,i consider as completely provided with all the necessaries and conveniences of art1 and who do not desire to steal baubles and common trash1 but wish only to possess peculiar rarities which they select to ornament their cabinets1 and take care to enrich the general store with materials of equal or of greater value than what they have taken2 such men surely need not be ashamed of that friendly intercourse which ought to exist among artists1 of receiving from the dead and giving to the living1 and perhaps to those who are yet unborn4 ,the daily food and nourishment of the mind of an artist is found in the great works of his predecessors4 ,there is no other way for him to become great himself4 ,serpens1 nisi serpentem comederit1 non fit draco1#ad is a remark of a whimsical natural history1 which ,i have read1 though ,i do not recollect its title2 however false as to dragons1 it is applicable enough to artists4 ,raffaelle1 as appears from what has been said1 had carefully studied the works of ,masaccio2 and1 indeed1 there was no other1 if we except ,michel ,angelo 7whom he likewise imitated71 so worthy of his attention2 and though his manner was dry and hard1 his compositions formal1 and not enough diversified according to the custom of ,painters in that early period1 yet his works possess that grandeur and simplicity which accompany1 and even sometimes proceed from1 regularity and hardness of manner4 ,we must consider the barbarous state of the ,arts before his time1 when skill in drawing was so little understood that the best of the painters could not even foreshorten the foot1 but every figure appeared to stand upon his toes2 and what served for drapery1 had1 from the hardness and smallness of the folds1 too much the appearance of cords clinging round the body4 ,he first introduced large drapery flowing in an easy and natural manner3 indeed1 he appears to be the first who discovered the path that leads to every excellence to which the ,arts afterwards arrived1 and may1 therefore1 be justly considered as one of the great ,fathers of modern ,art4 ,though ,i have been led on to a longer digression respecting this great ,painter than ,i intended1 yet ,i cannot avoid mentioning another excellence which he possessed in a very eminent degree2 he was as much distinguished among his contemporaries for his diligence and industry as he was for the natural faculties of his mind4 ,we are told that his whole attention was absorbed in the pursuit of his art1 and that he acquired the name of ,masaccio1#ae from his total disregard to his dress1 his person1 and all the common concerns of life4 ,he is1 indeed1 a signal instance of what well-directed diligence will do in a short time2 he lived but twenty-seven years2 yet in that short space carried the art so far beyond what it had before reached1 that he appears to stand alone as a model for his successors4 ,vasari gives a long catalogue of ,painters and ,sculptors1 who formed their taste1 and learned their ,art1 by studying his works2 among those1 he names ,michel ,angelo1 ,lionardi da ,vinci1 ,pietro ,perugino1 ,raffaelle1 ,bartolomeo1 ,andrea del ,sarto1 ,il ,rosso1 and ,pierino del ,vaga4 ,the habit of contemplating and brooding over the ideas of great geniuses1 till you find yourself warmed by the contact1 is the true method of forming an artist-like mind2 it is impossible1 in the presence of those great men1 to think1 or invent in a mean manner2 a state of mind is acquired that receives those ideas only which relish of grandeur and simplicity4 ,besides the general advantage of forming the taste by such an intercourse1 there is another of a particular kind1 which was suggested to me by the practice of ,raffaelle1 when imitating the work of which ,i have been speaking4 ,the figure of the ,proconsul1 ,sergius ,paulus1 is taken from the ,felix of ,masaccio1 though one is a front figure1 and the other seen in profile2 the action is likewise somewhat changed2 but it is plain ,raffaelle had that figure in his mind4 ,there is a circumstance indeed1 which ,i mention by-the-bye1 which marks it very particularly3 ,sergius ,paulus wears a crown of laurel2 this is hardly reconcileable to strict propriety1 and the costume1 of which ,raffaelle was in general a good observer2 but he found it so in ,masaccio1 and he did not bestow so much pains in disguise as to change it4 ,it appears to me to be an excellent practice1 thus to suppose the figures which you wish to adopt in the works of those great ,painters to be statues2 and to give1 as ,raffaelle has here given1 another view1 taking care to preserve all the spirit and grace you find in the original4 ,i should hope1 from what has been lately said1 that it is not necessary to guard myself against any supposition of recommending an entire dependence upon former masters4 ,i do not desire that you should get other people to do your business1 or to think for you2 ,i only wish you to consult with1 to call in1 as counsellors1 men the most distinguished for their knowledge and experience1 the result of which counsel must ultimately depend upon yourself4 ,such conduct in the commerce of life has never been considered as disgraceful1 or in any respect to imply intellectual imbecility2 it is a sign1 rather1 of that true wisdom1 which feels individual imperfection2 and is conscious to itself how much collective observation is necessary to fill the immense extent1 and to comprehend the infinite variety of nature4 ,i recommend neither self-dependence nor plagiarism4 ,i advise you only to take that assistance which every human being wants1 and which1 as appears from the examples that have been given1 the greatest painters have not disdained to accept4 ,let me add1 that the diligence required in the search1 and the exertion subsequent in accommodating those ideas to your own purpose1 is a business which idleness will not1 and ignorance cannot1 perform4 ,but in order more distinctly to explain what kind of borrowing ,i mean1 when ,i recommend so anxiously the study of the works of great masters1 let us1 for a minute1 return again to ,raffaelle1 consider his method of practice1 and endeavour to imitate him1 in his manner of imitating others4 ,the two figures of ,st4 ,paul which ,i lately mentioned are so nobly conceived by ,masaccio1 that perhaps it was not in the power even of ,raffaelle himself to raise and improve them1 nor has he attempted it2 but he has had the address to change in some measure without diminishing the grandeur of their character2 he has substituted1 in the place of a serene composed dignity1 that animated expression which was necessary to the more active employment he assigned them4 ,in the same manner he has given more animation to the figure of ,sergius ,paulus1 and to that which is introduced in the picture of ,st4 ,paul preaching1 of which little more than hints are given by ,masaccio1 which ,raffaelle has finished4 ,the closing the eyes of this figure1 which in ,masaccio might be easily mistaken for sleeping1 is not in the least ambiguous in the ,cartoon3 his eyes1 indeed1 are closed1 but they are closed with such vehemence1 that the agitation of a mind perplexed in the extreme is seen at the first glance2 but what is most extraordinary1 and ,i think particularly to be admired1 is1 that the same idea is continued through the whole figure1 even to the drapery1 which is so closely muffled about him1 that even his hands are not seen2 by this happy correspondence between the expression of the countenance1 and the disposition of the parts1 the figure appears to think from head to foot4 ,men of superior talents alone are capable of thus using and adapting other men's minds to their own purposes1 or are able to make out and finish what was only in the original a hint or imperfect conception4 ,a readiness in taking such hints1 which escape the dull and ignorant1 makes1 in my opinion1 no inconsiderable part of that faculty of the mind which is called ,genius4 ,it often happens that hints may be taken and employed in a situation totally different from that in which they were originally employed4 ,there is a figure of a ,bacchante leaning backward1 her head thrown quite behind her1 which seems to be a favourite invention1 as it is so frequently repeated in basso-relievos1 cameos1 and intaglios2 it is intended to express an enthusiastic1 frantic kind of joy4 ,this figure ,baccio ,bandinelli1 in a drawing that ,i have of that ,master of the ,descent from the ,cross1 has adopted 7and he knew very well what was worth borrowing7 for one of the ,marys1 to express frantic agony of grief4 ,it is curious to observe1 and it is certainly true1 that the extremes of contrary passions are1 with very little variation1 expressed by the same action4 ,if ,i were to recommend method in any part of the study of a ,painter1 it would be in regard to invention2 that young ,students should not presume to think themselves qualified to invent till they were acquainted with those stores of invention the world already possesses1 and had by that means accumulated sufficient materials for the mind to work with4 ,it would certainly be no improper method of forming the mind of a young artist1 to begin with such exercises as the ,italians call a ,pasticcio composition of the different excellencies which are dispersed in all other works of the same kind4 ,it is not supposed that he is to stop here1 but that he is to acquire by this means the art of selecting1 first1 what is truly excellent in ,art1 and then1 what is still more excellent in ,nature2 a task which1 without this previous study1 he will be but ill qualified to perform4 ,the doctrine which is here advanced is acknowledged to be new1 and to many may appear strange4 ,but ,i only demand for it the reception of a stranger2 a favourable and attentive consideration1 without that entire confidence which might be claimed under authoritative recommendation4 ,after you have taken a figure1 or any idea of a figure1 from any of those great ,painters1 there is another operation still remaining1 which ,i hold to be indispensably necessary--that is1 never to neglect finishing from nature every part of the work4 ,what is taken from a model1 though the first idea may have been suggested by another1 you have a just right to consider as your own property4 ,and here ,i cannot avoid mentioning a circumstance in placing the model1 though to some it may appear trifling4 ,it is better to possess the model with the attitude you require1 than to place him with your own hands3 by this means it happens often that the model puts himself in an action superior to your own imagination4 ,it is a great matter to be in the way of accident1 and to be watchful and ready to take advantage of it3 besides1 when you fix the position of a model1 there is danger of putting him in an attitude into which no man would naturally fall4 ,this extends even to drapery4 ,we must be cautious in touching and altering a fold of the stuff1 which serves as a model1 for fear of giving it inadvertently a forced form2 and it is perhaps better to take the chance of another casual throw1 than to alter the position in which it was at first accidentally cast4 ,rembrandt1 in order to take the advantage of accident1 appears often to have used the pallet-knife to lay his colours on the canvas1 instead of the pencil4 ,whether it is the knife or any other instrument1 it suffices if it is something that does not follow exactly the will4 ,accident in the hands of an artist who knows how to take the advantage of its hints1 will often produce bold and capricious beauties of handling and facility1 such as he would not have thought of1 or ventured1 with his pencil1 under the regular restraint of his hand4 ,however1 this is fit only on occasions where no correctness of form is required1 such as clouds1 stumps of trees1 rocks1 or broken ground4 ,works produced in an accidental manner will have the same free1 unrestrained air as the works of nature1 whose particular combinations seem to depend upon accident4 ,i again repeat1 you are never to lose sight of nature2 the instant you do1 you are all abroad1 at the mercy of every gust of fashion1 without knowing or seeing the point to which you ought to steer4 ,whatever trips you make1 you must still have nature in your eye4 ,such deviations as art necessarily requires1 ,i hope in a future ,discourse to be able to explain4 ,in the meantime1 let me recommend to you1 not to have too great dependence on your practice or memory1 however strong those impressions may have been which are there deposited4 ,they are for ever wearing out1 and will be at last obliterated1 unless they are continually refreshed and repaired4 ,it is not uncommon to meet with artists who1 from a long neglect of cultivating this necessary intimacy with ,nature1 do not even know her when they see her2 she appearing a stranger to them1 from their being so long habituated to their own representation of her4 ,i have heard ,painters acknowledge1 though in that acknowledgment no degradation of themselves was intended1 that they could do better without ,nature than with her2 or1 as they expressed it themselves1 that it only put them out4 ,a painter with such ideas and such habits is indeed in a most hopeless state4 ,the art of seeing ,nature1 or1 in other words1 the art of using ,models1 is in reality the great object1 the point to which all our studies are directed4 ,as for the power of being able to do tolerably well1 from practice alone1 let it be valued according to its worth4 ,but ,i do not see in what manner it can be sufficient for the production of correct1 excellent1 and finished ,pictures4 ,works deserving this character never were produced1 nor ever will arise1 from memory alone2 and ,i will venture to say1 that an artist who brings to his work a mind tolerably furnished with the general principles of ,art1 and a taste formed upon the works of good ,artists--in short1 who knows in what excellence consists1 will1 with the assistance of ,models1 which we will likewise suppose he has learnt the art of using1 be an overmatch for the greatest painter that ever lived who should be debarred such advantages4 ,our neighbours1 the ,french1 are much in this practice of extempore invention1 and their dexterity is such as even to excite admiration1 if not envy2 but how rarely can this praise be given to their finished pictures6 ,the late ,director of their ,academy1 ,boucher1 was eminent in this way4 ,when ,i visited him some years since in ,france1 ,i found him at work on a very large ,picture1 without drawings or models of any kind4 ,on my remarking this particular circumstance1 he said1 when he was young1 studying his art1 he found it necessary to use models2 but he had left them off for many years4 ,such ,pictures as this was1 and such as ,i fear always will be produced by those who work solely from practice or memory1 may be a convincing proof of the necessity of the conduct which ,i have recommended4 ,however1 in justice ,i cannot quit this ,painter without adding1 that in the former part of his life1 when he was in the habit of having recourse to nature1 he was not without a considerable degree of merit--enough to make half the ,painters of his country his imitators2 he had often grace and beauty1 and good skill in composition2 but ,i think all under the influence of a bad taste3 his imitators are indeed abominable4 ,those ,artists who have quitted the service of nature 7whose service1 when well understood1 is perfect freedom71 and have put themselves under the direction of ,i know not what capricious fantastical mistress1 who fascinates and overpowers their whole mind1 and from whose dominion there are no hopes of their being ever reclaimed 7since they appear perfectly satisfied1 and not at all conscious of their forlorn situation71 like the transformed followers of ,comus-- ,not once perceive their foul disfigurement2 ,but boast themselves more comely than before4 ,methinks1 such men1 who have found out so short a path1 have no reason to complain of the shortness of life1 and the extent of art2 since life is so much longer than is wanted for their improvement1 or1 indeed1 is necessary for the accomplishment of their idea of perfection4 ,on the contrary1 he who recurs to nature1 at every recurrence renews his strength4 ,the rules of art he is never likely to forget2 they are few and simple2 but nature is refined1 subtle1 and infinitely various1 beyond the power and retention of memory2 it is necessary1 therefore1 to have continual recourse to her4 ,in this intercourse there is no end of his improvement2 the longer he lives1 the nearer he approaches to the true and perfect idea of art4 ,,footnotes3 #ad3 ,in ,ben ,jonson's ,catiline we find this aphorism1 with a slight variation3-- ,a serpent1 ere he comes to be a dragon1 ,must eat a bat4 #ae3 ,the addition of accio denotes contempt1 or some deformity or imperfection attending the person to whom it is applied4 ,,discourse ,,xiii4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aa1 #aghf4 ,,art ,,not ,,merely ,,imitation1 ,,but ,,under ,,the ,,direction ,,of ,,the ,,imagination4--,,in ,,what ,,manner ,,poetry1 ,,painting1 ,,acting1 ,,gardening1 ,,and ,,architecture ,,depart ,,from ,,nature4 ,to discover beauties1 or to point out faults1 in the works of celebrated ,masters1 and to compare the conduct of one ,artist with another1 is certainly no mean or inconsiderable part of criticism2 but this is still no more than to know the art through the ,artist4 ,this test of investigation must have two capital defects2 it must be narrow1 and it must be uncertain4 ,to enlarge the boundaries of the ,art of ,painting1 as well as to fix its principles1 it will be necessary that that art1 and those principles1 should be considered in their correspondence with the principles of the other arts1 which1 like this1 address themselves primarily and principally to the imagination4 ,when those connected and kindred principles are brought together to be compared1 another comparison will grow out of this2 that is1 the comparison of them all with those of human nature1 from whence arts derive the materials upon which they are to produce their effects4 ,when this comparison of art with art1 and of all arts with the nature of man1 is once made with success1 our guiding lines are as well ascertained and established as they can be in matters of this description4 ,this1 as it is the highest style of criticism1 is at the same time the soundest2 for it refers to the eternal and immutable nature of things4 ,you are not to imagine that ,i mean to open to you at large1 or to recommend to your research1 the whole of this vast field of science4 ,it is certainly much above my faculties to reach it2 and though it may not be above yours to comprehend it fully1 if it were fully and properly brought before you1 yet perhaps the most perfect criticism requires habits of speculation and abstraction1 not very consistent with the employment which ought to occupy1 and the habits of mind which ought to prevail1 in a practical ,artist4 ,i only point out to you these things1 that when you do criticise 7as all who work on a plan will criticise more or less71 your criticism may be built on the foundation of true principles2 and that though you may not always travel a great way1 the way that you do travel may be the right road4 ,i observe1 as a fundamental ground1 common to all the ,arts with which we have any concern in this discourse1 that they address themselves only to two faculties of the mind--its imagination and its sensibility4 ,all theories which attempt to direct or to control the ,art1 upon any principles falsely called rational1 which we form to ourselves upon a supposition of what ought in reason to be the end or means of ,art1 independent of the known first effect produced by objects on the imagination1 must be false and delusive4 ,for though it may appear bold to say it1 the imagination is here the residence of truth4 ,if the imagination be affected1 the conclusion is fairly drawn2 if it be not affected1 the reasoning is erroneous1 because the end is not obtained2 the effect itself being the test1 and the only test1 of the truth and efficacy of the means4 ,there is in the commerce of life1 as in ,art1 a sagacity which is far from being contradictory to right reason1 and is superior to any occasional exercise of that faculty2 which supersedes it2 and does not wait for the slow progress of deduction1 but goes at once1 by what appears a kind of intuition1 to the conclusion4 ,a man endowed with this faculty feels and acknowledges the truth1 though it is not always in his power1 perhaps1 to give a reason for it2 because he cannot recollect and bring before him all the materials that gave birth to his opinion2 for very many and very intricate considerations may unite to form the principle1 even of small and minute parts1 involved in1 or dependent on1 a great system of things3 though these in process of time are forgotten1 the right impression still remains fixed in his mind4 ,this impression is the result of the accumulated experience of our whole life1 and has been collected1 we do not always know how1 or when4 ,but this mass of collective observation1 however acquired1 ought to prevail over that reason1 which1 however powerfully exerted on any particular occasion1 will probably comprehend but a partial view of the subject2 and our conduct in life1 as well as in the ,arts1 is1 or ought to be1 generally governed by this habitual reason3 it is our happiness that we are enabled to draw on such funds4 ,if we were obliged to enter into a theoretical deliberation on every occasion1 before we act1 life would be at a stand1 and ,art would be impracticable4 ,it appears to me1 therefore1 that our first thoughts1 that is1 the effect which anything produces on our minds1 on its first appearance1 is never to be forgotten2 and it demands for that reason1 because it is the first1 to be laid up with care4 ,if this be not done1 the ,artist may happen to impose on himself by partial reasoning2 by a cold consideration of those animated thoughts which proceed1 not perhaps from caprice or rashness 7as he may afterwards conceit71 but from the fulness of his mind1 enriched with the copious stores of all the various inventions which he had ever seen1 or had ever passed in his mind4 ,these ideas are infused into his design1 without any conscious effort2 but if he be not on his guard1 he may reconsider and correct them1 till the whole matter is reduced to a commonplace invention4 ,this is sometimes the effect of what ,i mean to caution you against2 that is to say1 an unfounded distrust of the imagination and feeling1 in favour of narrow1 partial1 confined1 argumentative theories2 and of principles that seem to apply to the design in hand2 without considering those general impressions on the fancy in which real principles of sound reason1 and of much more weight and importance1 are involved1 and1 as it were1 lie hid under the appearance of a sort of vulgar sentiment4 ,reason1 without doubt1 must ultimately determine everything2 at this minute it is required to inform us when that very reason is to give way to feeling4 ,though ,i have often spoken of that mean conception of our art which confines it to mere imitation1 ,i must add1 that it may be narrowed to such a mere matter of experiment1 as to exclude from it the application of science1 which alone gives dignity and compass to any art4 ,but to find proper foundations for science is neither to narrow or to vulgarise it2 and this is sufficiently exemplified in the success of experimental philosophy4 ,it is the false system of reasoning1 grounded on a partial view of things1 against which ,i would most earnestly guard you4 ,and ,i do it the rather1 because those narrow theories1 so coincident with the poorest and most miserable practices1 and which are adopted to give it countenance1 have not had their origin in the poorest minds1 but in the mistakes1 or possibly in the mistaken interpretations1 of great and commanding authorities4 ,we are not1 therefore1 in this case misled by feeling1 but by false speculation4 ,when such a man as ,plato speaks of ,painting as only an imitative art1 and that our pleasure proceeds from observing and acknowledging the truth of the imitation1 ,i think he misleads us by a partial theory4 ,it is in this poor1 partial1 and1 so far1 false view of the art1 that ,cardinal ,bembo has chosen to distinguish even ,raffaelle himself1 whom our enthusiasm honours with the name of ,divine4 ,the same sentiment is adopted by ,pope in his epitaph on ,sir ,godfrey ,kneller2 and he turns the panegyric solely on imitation1 as it is a sort of deception4 ,i shall not think my time misemployed1 if by any means ,i may contribute to confirm your opinion of what ought to be the object of your pursuit2 because1 though the best critics must always have exploded this strange idea1 yet ,i know that there is a disposition towards a perpetual recurrence to it1 on account of its simplicity and superficial plausibility4 ,for this reason ,i shall beg leave to lay before you a few thoughts on this subject2 to throw out some hints that may lead your minds to an opinion 7which ,i take to be the truth71 that ,painting is not only to be considered as an imitation1 operating by deception1 but that it is1 and ought to be1 in many points of view1 and strictly speaking1 no imitation at all of external nature4 ,perhaps it ought to be as far removed from the vulgar idea of imitation as the refined civilised state in which we live is removed from a gross state of nature2 and those who have not cultivated their imaginations1 which the majority of mankind certainly have not1 may be said1 in regard to arts1 to continue in this state of nature4 ,such men will always prefer imitation to that excellence which is addressed to another faculty that they do not possess2 but these are not the persons to whom a ,painter is to look1 any more than a judge of morals and manners ought to refer controverted points upon those subjects to the opinions of people taken from the banks of the ,ohio1 or from ,new ,holland4 ,it is the lowest style only of arts1 whether of ,painting1 ,poetry1 or ,music1 that may be said1 in the vulgar sense1 to be naturally pleasing4 ,the higher efforts of those arts1 we know by experience1 do not affect minds wholly uncultivated4 ,this refined taste is the consequence of education and habit3 we are born only with a capacity of entertaining this refinement1 as we are born with a disposition to receive and obey all the rules and regulations of society2 and so far it may be said to be natural to us1 and no further4 ,what has been said may show the ,artist how necessary it is1 when he looks about him for the advice and criticism of his friends1 to make some distinction of the character1 taste1 experience1 and observation in this ,art1 of those from whom it is received4 ,an ignorant1 uneducated man may1 like ,apelles's critic1 be a competent judge of the truth of the representation of a sandal2 or1 to go somewhat higher1 like ,molire's old woman1 may decide upon what is nature1 in regard to comic humour2 but a critic in the higher style of art ought to possess the same refined taste which directed the ,artist in his work4 ,to illustrate this principle by a comparison with other ,arts1 ,i shall now produce some instances to show that they1 as well as our own ,art1 renounce the narrow idea of nature1 and the narrow theories derived from that mistaken principle1 and apply to that reason only which informs us not what imitation is--a natural representation of a given object--but what it is natural for the imagination to be delighted with4 ,and perhaps there is no better way of acquiring this knowledge than by this kind of analogy3 each art will corroborate and mutually reflect the truth on the other4 ,such a kind of juxtaposition may likewise have this use1 that whilst the ,artist is amusing himself in the contemplation of other ,arts1 he may habitually transfer the principles of those ,arts to that which he professes3 which ought to be always present to his mind1 and to which everything is to be referred4 ,so far is ,art from being derived from1 or having any immediate intercourse with particular nature as its model1 that there are many ,arts that set out with a professed deviation from it4 ,this is certainly not so exactly true in regard to ,painting and ,sculpture4 ,our elements are laid in gross common nature--an exact imitation of what is before us2 but when we advance to the higher state1 we consider this power of imitation1 though first in the order of acquisition1 as by no means the highest in the scale of perfection4 ,poetry addresses itself to the same faculties and the same dispositions as ,painting1 though by different means4 ,the object of both is to accommodate itself to all the natural propensities and inclinations of the mind4 ,the very existence of ,poetry depends on the license it assumes of deviating from actual nature1 in order to gratify natural propensities by other means1 which are found by experience full as capable of affording such gratification4 ,it sets out with a language in the highest degree artificial1 a construction of measured words1 such as never is1 nor ever was1 used by man4 ,let this measure be what it may1 whether hexameter or any other metre used in ,latin or ,greek--or ,rhyme1 or ,blank ,verse varied with pauses and accents1 in modern languages--they are all equally removed from nature1 and equally a violation of common speech4 ,when this artificial mode has been established as the vehicle of sentiment1 there is another principle in the human mind to which the work must be referred1 which still renders it more artificial1 carries it still further from common nature1 and deviates only to render it more perfect4 ,that principle is the sense of congruity1 coherence1 and consistency1 which is a real existing principle in man2 and it must be gratified4 ,therefore1 having once adopted a style and a measure not found in common discourse1 it is required that the sentiments also should be in the same proportion elevated above common nature1 from the necessity of there being an agreement of the parts among themselves1 that one uniform whole may be produced4 ,to correspond1 therefore1 with this general system of deviation from nature1 the manner in which poetry is offered to the ear1 the tone in which it is recited1 should be as far removed from the tone of conversation as the words of which that ,poetry is composed4 ,this naturally suggests the idea of modulating the voice by art1 which1 ,i suppose1 may be considered as accomplished to the highest degree of excellence in the recitative of the ,italian ,opera2 as we may conjecture it was in the ,chorus that attended the ancient drama4 ,and though the most violent passions1 the highest distress1 even death itself1 are expressed in singing or recitative1 ,i would not admit as sound criticism the condemnation of such exhibitions on account of their being unnatural4 ,if it is natural for our senses1 and our imaginations1 to be delighted with singing1 with instrumental music1 with poetry1 and with graceful action1 taken separately 7none of them being in the vulgar sense natural1 even in that separate state72 it is conformable to experience1 and therefore agreeable to reason as connected and referred to experience1 that we should also be delighted with this union of music1 poetry1 and graceful action1 joined to every circumstance of pomp and magnificence calculated to strike the senses of the spectator4 ,shall reason stand in the way1 and tell us that we ought not to like what we know we do like1 and prevent us from feeling the full effect of this complicated exertion of art8 ,this is what ,i would understand by poets and painters being allowed to dare everything2 for what can be more daring than accomplishing the purpose and end of art1 by a complication of means1 none of which have their archetypes in actual nature8 ,so far1 therefore1 is servile imitation from being necessary1 that whatever is familiar1 or in any way reminds us of what we see and hear every day1 perhaps does not belong to the higher provinces of art1 either in poetry or painting4 ,the mind is to be transported1 as ,shakespeare expresses it1 beyond the ignorant present1 to ages past4 ,another and a higher order of beings is supposed2 and to those beings everything which is introduced into the work must correspond4 ,of this conduct1 under these circumstances1 the ,roman and ,florentine schools afford sufficient examples4 ,their style by this means is raised and elevated above all others2 and by the same means the compass of art itself is enlarged4 ,we often see grave and great subjects attempted by artists of another school2 who1 though excellent in the lower class of art1 proceeding on the principles which regulate that class1 and not recollecting1 or not knowing1 that they were to address themselves to another faculty of the mind1 have become perfectly ridiculous4 ,the picture which ,i have at present in my thoughts is a sacrifice of ,iphigenia1 painted by ,jan ,steen1 a painter of whom ,i have formerly had occasion to speak with the highest approbation2 and even in this picture1 the subject of which is by no means adapted to his genius1 there is nature and expression2 but it is such expression1 and the countenances are so familiar1 and consequently so vulgar1 and the whole accompanied with such finery of silks and velvets1 that one would be almost tempted to doubt whether the artist did not purposely intend to burlesque his subject4 ,instances of the same kind we frequently see in poetry4 ,parts of ,hobbes's translation of ,homer are remembered and repeated merely for the familiarity and meanness of their phraseology1 so ill corresponding with the ideas which ought to have been expressed1 and1 as ,i conceive1 with the style of the original4 ,we may proceed in the same manner through the comparatively inferior branches of art4 ,there are1 in works of that class1 the same distinction of a higher and a lower style2 and they take their rank and degree in proportion as the artist departs more1 or less1 from common nature1 and makes it an object of his attention to strike the imagination of the spectator by ways belonging especially to art--unobserved and untaught out of the school of its practice4 ,if our judgments are to be directed by narrow1 vulgar1 untaught1 or rather ill-taught1 reason1 we must prefer a portrait by ,denner1 or any other high finisher1 to those of ,titian or ,vandyke2 and a landscape of ,vanderheyden to those of ,titian or ,rubens2 for they are certainly more exact representations of nature4 ,if we suppose a view of nature represented with all the truth of the camera obscura1 and the same scene represented by a great artist1 how little and mean will the one appear in comparison of the other1 where no superiority is supposed from the choice of the subject6 ,the scene shall be the same1 the difference only will be in the manner in which it is presented to the eye4 ,with what additional superiority1 then1 will the same artist appear when he has the power of selecting his materials as well as elevating his style8 ,like ,nicholas ,poussin1 he transports us to the environs of ancient ,rome1 with all the objects which a literary education makes so precious and interesting to man2 or1 like ,sebastian ,bourdon1 he leads us to the dark antiquity of the pyramids of ,egypt2 or1 like ,claude ,lorrain1 he conducts us to the tranquillity of ,arcadian scenes and fairy-land4 ,like the history-painter1 a painter of landscapes1 in this style and with this conduct1 sends the imagination back into antiquity2 and1 like the poet1 he makes the elements sympathise with his subject3 whether the clouds roll in volumes like those of ,titian or ,salvator ,rosa1 or like those of ,claude1 are gilded with the setting sun2 whether the mountains have sudden and bold projections1 or are gently sloped2 whether the branches of his trees shoot out abruptly in right angles from their trunks1 or follow each other with only a gentle inclination4 ,all these circumstances contribute to the general character of the work1 whether it be of the elegant or of the more sublime kind4 ,if we add to this the powerful materials of lightness and darkness1 over which the artist has complete dominion1 to vary and dispose them as he pleases2 to diminish or increase them as will best suit his purpose1 and correspond to the general idea of his work2 a landscape thus conducted1 under the influence of a poetical mind will have the same superiority over the more ordinary and common views1 as ,milton's ,allegra and ,penseroso have over a cold prosaic narration or description2 and such a picture would make a more forcible impression on the mind than the real scenes1 were they presented before us4 ,if we look abroad to other arts1 we may observe the same distinction1 the same division into two classes2 each of them acting under the influence of two different principles1 in which the one follows nature1 the other varies it1 and sometimes departs from it4 ,the theatre1 which is said to hold the mirror up to nature1 comprehends both those ideas4 ,the lower kind of comedy1 or farce1 like the inferior style of painting1 the more naturally it is represented1 the better2 but the higher appears to me to aim no more at imitation1 so far as it belongs to anything like deception1 or to expect that the spectators should think that the events there represented are really passing before them1 than ,raffaelle in his ,cartoons1 or ,poussin in his ,sacraments1 expected it to be believed1 even for a moment1 that what they exhibited were real figures4 ,for want of this distinction the world is filled with false criticism4 ,raffaelle is praised for naturalness and deception1 which he certainly has not accomplished1 and as certainly never intended2 and our late great actor1 ,garrick1 has been as ignorantly praised by his friend ,fielding2 who doubtless imagined he had hit upon an ingenious device1 by introducing1 in one of his novels 7otherwise a work of the highest merit71 an ignorant man mistaking ,garrick's representation of a scene in ,hamlet for reality4 ,a very little reflection will convince us1 that there is not one circumstance in the whole scene that is of the nature of deception4 ,the merit and excellence of ,shakespeare1 and of ,garrick1 when they were engaged in such scenes1 is of a different and much higher kind4 ,but what adds to the falsity of this intended compliment is1 that the best stage-representation appears even more unnatural to a person of such a character1 who is supposed never to have seen a play before1 than it does to those who have had a habit of allowing for those necessary deviations from nature which the ,art requires4 ,in theatric representation great allowances must always be made for the place in which the exhibition is represented2 for the surrounding company1 the lighted candles1 the scenes visibly shifted in your sight1 and the language of blank verse1 so different from common ,english2 which merely as ,english must appear surprising in the mouths of ,hamlet1 and all the court and natives of ,denmark4 ,these allowances are made2 but their being made puts an end to all manner of deception3 and further1 we know that the more low1 illiterate1 and vulgar any person is1 the less he will be disposed to make these allowances1 and of course to be deceived by any imitation2 the things in which the trespass against nature and common probability is made in favour of the theatre being quite within the sphere of such uninformed men4 ,though ,i have no intention of entering into all the circumstances of unnaturalness in theatrical representations1 ,i must observe that even the expression of violent passion is not always the most excellent in proportion as it is the most natural2 so1 great terror and such disagreeable sensations may be communicated to the audience1 that the balance may be destroyed by which pleasure is preserved and holds its predominancy in the mind3 violent distortion of action1 harsh screamings of the voice1 however great the occasions1 or however natural on such occasions1 are therefore not admissible in the theatric art4 ,many of these allowed deviations from nature arise from the necessity which there is1 that everything should be raised and enlarged beyond its natural state2 that the full effect may come home to the spectator1 which otherwise would be lost in the comparatively extensive space of the ,theatre4 ,hence the deliberate and stately step1 the studied grace of action1 which seems to enlarge the dimensions of the actor1 and alone to fill the stage4 ,all this unnaturalness1 though right and proper in its place1 would appear affected and ridiculous in a private room3 quid enim deformius qum scenam1 in vitam transferre8 ,and here ,i must observe1 and ,i believe it may be considered as a general rule1 that no ,art can be grafted with success on another ,art4 ,for though they all profess the same origin1 and to proceed from the same stock1 yet each has its own peculiar modes both of imitating nature1 and of deviating from it1 each for the accomplishment of its own particular purpose4 ,these deviations1 more especially1 will not bear transplantation to another soil4 ,if a ,painter should endeavour to copy the theatrical pomp and parade of dress1 and attitude1 instead of that simplicity1 which is not a greater beauty in life than it is in ,painting1 we should condemn such pictures1 as painted in the meanest style4 ,so1 also1 ,gardening1 as far as ,gardening is an ,art1 or entitled to that appellation1 is a deviation from nature2 for if the true taste consists1 as many hold1 in banishing every appearance of ,art1 or any traces of the footsteps of man1 it would then be no longer a ,garden4 ,even though we define it1 ,nature to advantage dressed1 and in some sense is such1 and much more beautiful and commodious for the recreation of man2 it is1 however1 when so dressed1 no longer a subject for the pencil of a ,landscape-,painter1 as all ,landscape-,painters know1 who love to have recourse to ,nature herself1 and to dress her according to the principles of their own ,art2 which are far different from those of ,gardening1 even when conducted according to the most approved principles2 and such as a ,landscape-,painter himself would adopt in the disposition of his own grounds1 for his own private satisfaction4 ,i have brought together as many instances as appear necessary to make out the several points which ,i wished to suggest to your consideration in this ,discourse2 that your own thoughts may lead you further in the use that may be made of the analogy of the ,arts2 and of the restraint which a full understanding of the diversity of many of their principles ought to impose on the employment of that analogy4 ,the great end of all those arts is1 to make an impression on the imagination and the feeling4 ,the imitation of nature frequently does this4 ,sometimes it fails1 and something else succeeds4 ,i think1 therefore1 the true test of all the arts is not solely whether the production is a true copy of nature1 but whether it answers the end of art1 which is1 to produce a pleasing effect upon the mind4 ,it remains only to speak a few words of ,architecture1 which does not come under the denomination of an imitative art4 ,it applies itself1 like ,music 7and1 ,i believe1 we may add ,poetry71 directly to the imagination1 without the intervention of any kind of imitation4 ,there is in ,architecture1 as in ,painting1 an inferior branch of art1 in which the imagination appears to have no concern4 ,it does not1 however1 acquire the name of a polite and liberal art from its usefulness1 or administering to our wants or necessities1 but from some higher principle2 we are sure that in the hands of a man of genius it is capable of inspiring sentiment1 and of filling the mind with great and sublime ideas4 ,it may be worth the attention of ,artists to consider what materials are in their hands1 that may contribute to this end2 and whether this art has it not in its power to address itself to the imagination with effect1 by more ways than are generally employed by ,architects4 ,to pass over the effect produced by that general symmetry and proportion1 by which the eye is delighted1 as the ear is with music1 ,architecture certainly possesses many principles in common with ,poetry and ,painting4 ,among those which may be reckoned as the first1 is1 that of affecting the imagination by means of association of ideas4 ,thus1 for instance1 as we have naturally a veneration for antiquity1 whatever building brings to our remembrance ancient customs and manners1 such as the castles of the ,barons of ancient ,chivalry1 is sure to give this delight4 ,hence it is that towers and battlements#af are so often selected by the ,painter and the ,poet to make a part of the composition of their ideal ,landscape2 and it is from hence1 in a great degree1 that1 in the buildings of ,vanbrugh1 who was a ,poet as well as an ,architect1 there is a greater display of imagination than we shall find1 perhaps1 in any other1 and this is the ground of the effect we feel in many of his works1 notwithstanding the faults with which many of them are justly charged4 ,for this purpose1 ,vanbrugh appears to have had recourse to some of the principles of the ,gothic ,architecture2 which1 though not so ancient as the ,grecian1 is more so to our imagination1 with which the ,artist is more concerned than with absolute truth4 ,the ,barbaric splendour of those ,asiatic ,buildings1 which are now publishing by a member of this ,academy1#ag may possibly1 in the same manner1 furnish an ,architect1 not with models to copy1 but with hints of composition and general effect1 which would not otherwise have occurred4 ,it is1 ,i know1 a delicate and hazardous thing 7and1 as such1 ,i have already pointed it out7 to carry the principles of one art to another1 or even to reconcile in one object the various modes of the same art1 when they proceed on different principles4 ,the sound rules of the ,grecian ,architecture are not to be lightly sacrificed4 ,a deviation from them1 or even an addition to them1 is like a deviation or addition to1 or from1 the rules of other ,arts--fit only for a great master1 who is thoroughly conversant in the nature of man1 as well as all combinations in his own ,art4 ,it may not be amiss for the ,architect to take advantage sometimes of that to which ,i am sure the ,painter ought always to have his eyes open--,i mean the use of accidents3 to follow when they lead1 and to improve them1 rather than always to trust to a regular plan4 ,it often happens that additions have been made to houses1 at various times1 for use or pleasure4 ,as such buildings depart from regularity1 they now and then acquire something of scenery by this accident1 which ,i should think might not unsuccessfully be adopted by an ,architect1 in an original plan1 if it does not too much interfere with convenience4 ,variety and intricacy is a beauty and excellence in every other of the arts which address the imagination3 and why not in ,architecture8 ,the forms and turnings of the streets of ,london and other old towns are produced by accident1 without any original plan or design1 but they are not always the less pleasant to the walker or spectator on that account4 ,on the contrary1 if the city had been built on the regular plan of ,sir ,christopher ,wren1 the effect might have been1 as we know it is in some new parts of the town1 rather unpleasing2 the uniformity might have produced weariness1 and a slight degree of disgust4 ,i can pretend to no skill in the detail of ,architecture4 ,i judge now of the art1 merely as a ,painter4 ,when ,i speak of ,vanbrugh1 ,i mean to speak of him in the language of our art4 ,to speak1 then1 of ,vanbrugh in the language of a painter1 he had originality of invention1 he understood light and shadow1 and had great skill in composition4 ,to support his principal object1 he produced his second and third groups or masses2 he perfectly understood in his art what is the most difficult in ours1 the conduct of the background2 by which the design and invention is set off to the greatest advantage4 ,what the background is in ,painting1 in ,architecture is the real ground on which the building is erected2 and no ,architect took greater care than he that his work should not appear crude and hard2 that is1 it did not abruptly start out of the ground without expectation or preparation4 ,this is a tribute which a ,painter owes to an ,architect who composed like a painter2 and was defrauded of the due reward of his merit by the wits of his time1 who did not understand the principles of composition in poetry better than he2 and who knew little1 or nothing1 of what he understood perfectly--the general ruling principles of ,architecture and ,painting4 ,his fate was that of the great ,perrault2 both were the objects of the petulant sarcasms of factious men of letters2 and both have left some of the fairest ornaments which to this day decorate their several countries2 the faade of the ,louvre1 ,blenheim1 and ,castle ,howard4 ,upon the whole it seems to me1 that the object and intention of all the ,arts is to supply the natural imperfection of things1 and often to gratify the mind by realising and embodying what never existed but in the imagination4 ,it is allowed on all hands1 that facts1 and events1 however they may bind the ,historian1 have no dominion over the ,poet or the ,painter4 ,with us1 ,history is made to bend and conform to this great idea of ,art4 ,and why8 ,because these ,arts1 in their highest province1 are not addressed to the gross senses2 but to the desires of the mind1 to that spark of divinity which we have within1 impatient of being circumscribed and pent up by the world which is about us4 ,just so much as our ,art has of this1 just so much of dignity1 ,i had almost said of divinity1 it exhibits2 and those of our ,artists who possessed this mark of distinction in the highest degree1 acquired from thence the glorious appellation of ,,divine4 ,,footnotes3 #af3 ,towers and ,battlements it sees ,bosom'd high in tufted trees4--,,milton1 ,l',,all4 #ag3 ,mr4 ,hodges4 ,,discourse ,,xiv4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #aghh4 ,,character ,,of ,,gainsborough3--,,his ,,excellencies ,,and ,,defects4 ,in the study of our art1 as in the study of all arts1 something is the result of our own observation of nature2 something1 and that not a little1 the effect of the example of those who have studied the same nature before us1 and who have cultivated before us the same art1 with diligence and success4 ,the less we confine ourselves in the choice of those examples1 the more advantage we shall derive from them2 and the nearer we shall bring our performances to a correspondence with nature and the great general rules of art4 ,when we draw our examples from remote and revered antiquity--with some advantage1 undoubtedly1 in that selection--we subject ourselves to some inconveniencies4 ,we may suffer ourselves to be too much led away by great names1 and to be too much subdued by overbearing authority4 ,our learning1 in that case1 is not so much an exercise of our judgment as a proof of our docility4 ,we find ourselves1 perhaps1 too much overshadowed2 and the character of our pursuits is rather distinguished by the tameness of the follower than animated by the spirit of emulation4 ,it is sometimes of service that our examples should be near us2 and such as raise a reverence1 sufficient to induce us carefully to observe them1 yet not so great as to prevent us from engaging with them in something like a generous contention4 ,we have lately lost ,mr4 ,gainsborough1 one of the greatest ornaments of our ,academy4 ,it is not our business here to make ,panegyrics on the living1 or even on the dead who were of our body4 ,the praise of the former might bear the appearance of adulation2 and the latter of untimely justice2 perhaps of envy to those whom we have still the happiness to enjoy1 by an oblique suggestion of invidious comparisons4 ,in discoursing1 therefore1 on the talents of the late ,mr4 ,gainsborough1 my object is1 not so much to praise or to blame him1 as to draw from his excellencies and defects matter of instruction to the ,students in our ,academy4 ,if ever this nation should produce genius sufficient to acquire to us the honourable distinction of an ,english ,school1 the name of ,gainsborough will be transmitted to posterity1 in the history of the art1 among the very first of that rising name4 ,that our reputation in the ,arts is now only rising must be acknowledged2 and we must expect our advances to be attended with old prejudices1 as adversaries1 and not as supporters2 standing in this respect in a very different situation from the late artists of the ,roman ,school1 to whose reputation ancient prejudices have certainly contributed2 the way was prepared for them1 and they may be said rather to have lived in the reputation of their country than have contributed to it2 whilst whatever celebrity is obtained by ,english ,artists can arise only from the operation of a fair and true comparison4 ,and when they communicate to their country a share of their reputation1 it is a portion of fame not borrowed from others1 but solely acquired by their own labour and talents4 ,as ,italy has undoubtedly a prescriptive right to an admiration bordering on prejudice1 as a soil peculiarly adapted1 congenial1 and1 we may add1 destined to the production of men of great genius in our ,art1 we may not unreasonably suspect that a portion of the great fame of some of their late artists has been owing to the general readiness and disposition of mankind to acquiesce in their original prepossessions in favour of the productions of the ,roman ,school4 ,on this ground1 however unsafe1 ,i will venture to prophesy1 that two of the last distinguished painters of that country1 ,i mean ,pompeio ,battoni and ,raffaelle ,mengs1 however great their names may at present sound in our ears1 will very soon fall into the rank of ,imperiale1 ,sebastian ,concha1 ,placido ,constanza1 ,masaccio1 and the rest of their immediate predecessors2 whose names1 though equally renowned in their lifetime1 are now fallen into what is little short of total oblivion4 ,i do not say that those painters were not superior to the artist ,i allude to1 and whose loss we lament1 in a certain routine of practice1 which1 to the eyes of common observers1 has the air of a learned composition1 and bears a sort of superficial resemblance to the manner of the great men who went before them4 ,i know this perfectly well2 but ,i know likewise1 that a man looking for real and lasting reputation must unlearn much of the commonplace method so observable in the works of the artists whom ,i have named4 ,for my own part1 ,i confess1 ,i take more interest in and am more captivated with the powerful impression of nature which ,gainsborough exhibited in his portraits and in his landscapes1 and the interesting simplicity and elegance of his little ordinary beggar-children1 than with any of the works of that ,school1 since the time of ,andrea ,sacchi1 or perhaps we may say ,carlo ,maratti2 two painters who may truly be said to be ,,ultimi ,,romanorum4 ,i am well aware how much ,i lay myself open to the censure and ridicule of the academical professors of other nations1 in preferring the humble attempts of ,gainsborough to the works of those regular graduates in the great historical style4 ,but we have the sanction of all mankind in preferring genius in a lower rank of art to feebleness and insipidity in the highest4 ,it would not be to the present purpose1 even if ,i had the means and materials1 which ,i have not1 to enter into the private life of ,mr4 ,gainsborough4 ,the history of his gradual advancement1 and the means by which he acquired such excellence in his art1 would come nearer to our purposes and wishes1 if it were by any means attainable2 but the slow progress of advancement is in general imperceptible to the man himself who makes it2 it is the consequence of an accumulation of various ideas which his mind has received1 he does not perhaps know how or when4 ,sometimes1 indeed1 it happens that he may be able to mark the time when1 from the sight of a picture1 a passage in an author1 or a hint in conversation1 he has received1 as it were1 some new and guiding light1 something like inspiration1 by which his mind has been expanded2 and is morally sure that his whole life and conduct has been affected by that accidental circumstance4 ,such interesting accounts we may1 however1 sometimes obtain from a man who has acquired an uncommon habit of self-examination1 and has attended to the progress of his own improvement4 ,it may not be improper to make mention of some of the customs and habits of this extraordinary man2 points which come more within the reach of an observer3 ,i1 however1 mean such only as are connected with his art1 and indeed were1 as ,i apprehend1 the causes of his arriving to that high degree of excellence which we see and acknowledge in his works4 ,of these causes we must state1 as the fundamental1 the love which he had to his art2 to which1 indeed1 his whole mind appears to have been devoted1 and to which everything was referred2 and this we may fairly conclude from various circumstances of his life1 which were known to his intimate friends4 ,among others1 he had a habit of continually remarking to those who happened to be about him whatever peculiarity of countenance1 whatever accidental combination of figure1 or happy effects of light and shadow1 occurred in prospects1 in the sky1 in walking the streets1 or in company4 ,if1 in his walks1 he found a character that he liked1 and whose attendance was to be obtained1 he ordered him to his house3 and from the fields he brought into his painting-room stumps of trees1 weeds1 and animals of various kinds2 and designed them1 not from memory1 but immediately from the objects4 ,he even framed a kind of model of landscapes on his table2 composed of broken stones1 dried herbs1 and pieces of looking-glass1 which he magnified and improved into rocks1 trees1 and water4 ,how far this latter practice may be useful in giving hints1 the professors of landscape can best determine4 ,like every other technical practice1 it seems to me wholly to depend on the general talent of him who uses it4 ,such methods may be nothing better than contemptible and mischievous trifling2 or they may be aids4 ,i think1 upon the whole1 unless we constantly refer to real nature1 that practice may be more likely to do harm than good4 ,i mention it only1 as it shows the solicitude and extreme activity which he had about everything that related to his art2 that he wished to have his objects embodied1 as it were1 and distinctly before him2 that he neglected nothing which could keep his faculties in exercise1 and derived hints from every sort of combination4 ,we must not forget1 whilst we are on this subject1 to make some remarks on his custom of painting by night1 which confirms what ,i have already mentioned1--his great affection to his art2 since he could not amuse himself in the evening by any other means so agreeable to himself4 ,i am1 indeed1 much inclined to believe that it is a practice very advantageous and improving to an artist2 for by this means he will acquire a new and a higher perception of what is great and beautiful in nature4 ,by candle-light1 not only objects appear more beautiful1 but from their being in a greater breadth of light and shadow1 as well as having a greater breadth and uniformity of colour1 nature appears in a higher style2 and even the flesh seems to take a higher and richer tone of colour4 ,judgment is to direct us in the use to be made of this method of study2 but the method itself is1 ,i am sure1 advantageous4 ,i have often imagined that the two great colourists1 ,titian and ,correggio1 though ,i do not know that they painted by night1 formed their high ideas of colouring from the effects of objects by this artificial light2 but ,i am more assured that whoever attentively studies the first and best manner of ,guercino1 will be convinced that he either painted by this light1 or formed his manner on this conception4 ,another practice ,gainsborough had1 which is worth mentioning1 as it is certainly worthy of imitation2 ,i mean his manner of forming all the parts of his picture together2 the whole going on at the same time1 in the same manner as nature creates her works4 ,though this method is not uncommon to those who have been regularly educated1 yet probably it was suggested to him by his own natural sagacity4 ,that this custom is not universal appears from the practice of a painter whom ,i have just mentioned1 ,pompeio ,battoni1 who finished his historical pictures part after part1 and in his portraits completely finished one feature before he proceeded to another4 ,the consequence was as might be expected2 the countenance was never well expressed2 and1 as the painters say1 the whole was not well put together4 ,the first thing required to excel in our art1 or ,i believe in any art1 is not only a love for it1 but even an enthusiastic ambition to excel in it4 ,this never fails of success proportioned to the natural abilities with which the artist has been endowed by ,providence4 ,of ,gainsborough1 we certainly know1 that his passion was not the acquirement of riches1 but excellence in his art2 and to enjoy that honourable fame which is sure to attend it4--,that he felt this ruling passion strong in death ,i am myself a witness4 ,a few days before he died1 he wrote me a letter1 to express his acknowledgments for the good opinion ,i entertained of his abilities1 and the manner in which 7he had been informed7 ,i always spoke of him2 and desired he might see me once more before he died4 ,i am aware how flattering it is to myself to be thus connected with the dying testimony which this excellent painter bore to his art4 ,but ,i cannot prevail on myself to suppress that ,i was not connected with him1 by any habits of familiarity3 if any little jealousies had subsisted between us1 they were forgotten in those moments of sincerity2 and he turned towards me as one who was engrossed by the same pursuits1 and who deserved his good opinion1 by being sensible of his excellence4 ,without entering into a detail of what passed at this last interview1 the impression of it upon my mind was1 that his regret at losing life was principally the regret of leaving his art2 and more especially as he now began1 he said1 to see what his deficiencies were2 which1 he said1 he flattered himself in his last works were in some measure supplied4 ,when such a man as ,gainsborough arrives to great fame1 without the assistance of an academical education1 without travelling to ,italy1 or any of those preparatory studies which have been so often recommended1 he is produced as an instance how little such studies are necessary2 since so great excellence may be acquired without them4 ,this is an inference not warranted by the success of any individual2 and ,i trust it will not be thought that ,i wish to make this use of it4 ,it must be remembered that the style and department of art which ,gainsborough chose1 and in which he so much excelled1 did not require that he should go out of his own country for the objects of his study2 they were everywhere about him2 he found them in the streets and in the fields1 and from the models thus accidentally found1 he selected with great judgment such as suited his purpose4 ,as his studies were directed to the living world principally1 he did not pay a general attention to the works of the various masters1 though they are1 in my opinion1 always of great use1 even when the character of our subject requires us to depart from some of their principles4 ,it cannot be denied1 that excellence in the department of the art which he professed may exist without them2 that in such subjects1 and in the manner that belongs to them1 the want of them is supplied1 and more than supplied1 by natural sagacity1 and a minute observation of particular nature4 ,if ,gainsborough did not look at nature with a poet's eye1 it must be acknowledged that he saw her with the eye of a painter2 and gave a faithful1 if not a poetical1 representation of what he had before him4 ,though he did not much attend to the works of the great historical painters of former ages1 yet he was well aware that the language of the art--the art of imitation--must be learned somewhere2 and as he knew that he could not learn it in an equal degree from his contemporaries1 he very judiciously applied himself to the ,flemish ,school1 who are undoubtedly the greatest masters of one necessary branch of art2 and he did not need to go out of his own country for examples of that school2 from that he learnt the harmony of colouring1 the management and disposition of light and shadow1 and every means which the masters of it practised1 to ornament and give splendour to their works4 ,and to satisfy himself as well as others how well he knew the mechanism and artifice which they employed to bring out that tone of colour which we so much admire in their works1 he occasionally made copies from ,rubens1 ,teniers1 and ,vandyke1 which it would be no disgrace to the most accurate connoisseur to mistake1 at the first sight1 for the works of those masters4 ,what he thus learned1 he applied to the originals of nature1 which he saw with his own eyes2 and imitated1 not in the manner of those masters1 but in his own4 ,whether he most excelled in portraits1 landscapes1 or fancy pictures1 it is difficult to determine3 whether his portraits were most admirable for exact truth of resemblance1 or his landscapes for a portrait-like representation of nature1 such as we see in the works of ,rubens1 ,ruysdaal1 and others of those schools4 ,in his fancy pictures1 when he had fixed on his object of imitation1 whether it was the mean and vulgar form of a wood-cutter1 or a child of an interesting character1 as he did not attempt to raise the one1 so neither did he lose any of the natural grace and elegance of the other2 such a grace1 and such an elegance1 as are more frequently found in cottages than in courts4 ,this excellence was his own1 the result of his particular observation and taste2 for this he was certainly not indebted to the ,flemish ,school1 nor1 indeed1 to any school2 for his grace was not academical or antique1 but selected by himself from the great school of nature2 and there are yet a thousand modes of grace1 which are neither theirs1 nor his1 but lie open in the multiplied scenes and figures of life1 to be brought out by skilful and faithful observers4 ,upon the whole1 we may justly say1 that whatever he attempted he carried to a high degree of excellence4 ,it is to the credit of his good sense and judgment1 that he never did attempt that style of historical painting for which his previous studies had made no preparation4 ,and here it naturally occurs to oppose the sensible conduct of ,gainsborough in this respect to that of our late excellent ,hogarth1 who1 with all his extraordinary talents1 was not blessed with this knowledge of his own deficiency1 or of the bounds which were set to the extent of his own powers4 ,after this admirable artist had spent the greater part of his life in an active1 busy1 and1 we may add1 successful attention to the ridicule of life2 after he had invented a new species of dramatic painting1 in which probably he will never be equalled1 and had stored his mind with infinite materials to explain and illustrate the domestic and familiar scenes of common life1 which were generally1 and ought to have been always1 the subject of his pencil2 he very imprudently1 or rather presumptuously1 attempted the great historical style1 for which his previous habits had by no means prepared him3 he was indeed so entirely unacquainted with the principles of this style1 that he was not even aware that any artificial preparation was at all necessary4 ,it is to be regretted that any part of the life of such a genius should be fruitlessly employed4 ,let his failure teach us not to indulge ourselves in the vain imagination1 that by a momentary resolution we can give either dexterity to the hand1 or a new habit to the mind4 ,i have1 however1 little doubt1 but that the same sagacity which enabled those two extraordinary men to discover their true object1 and the peculiar excellence of that branch of art which they cultivated1 would have been equally effectual in discovering the principles of the higher style1 if they had investigated those principles with the same eager industry which they exerted in their own department4 ,as ,gainsborough never attempted the heroic style1 so neither did he destroy the character and uniformity of his own style by the idle affectation of introducing mythological learning in any of his pictures4 ,of this boyish folly we see instances enough1 even in the works of great painters4 ,when the ,dutch ,school attempt this poetry of our art in their landscapes1 their performances are beneath criticism2 they become only an object of laughter4 ,this practice is hardly excusable even in ,claude ,lorrain1 who had shown more discretion if he had never meddled with such subjects4 ,our late ingenious ,academician1 ,wilson1 has1 ,i fear1 been guilty1 like many of his predecessors1 of introducing gods and goddesses1 ideal beings1 into scenes which were by no means prepared to receive such personages4 ,his landscapes were in reality too near common nature to admit supernatural objects4 ,in consequence of this mistake1 in a very admirable picture of a storm1 which ,i have seen of his hand1 many figures are introduced in the foreground1 some in apparent distress1 and some struck dead1 as a spectator would naturally suppose1 by the lightning2 had not the painter injudiciously 7as ,i think7 rather chosen that their death should be imputed to a little ,apollo1 who appears in the sky1 with his bent bow1 and that those figures should be considered as the children of ,niobe4 ,to manage a subject of this kind1 a peculiar style of art is required2 and it can only be done without impropriety1 or even without ridicule1 when we adapt the character of the landscape1 and that1 too1 in all its parts1 to the historical or poetical representation4 ,this is a very difficult adventure1 and it requires a mind thrown back two thousand years1 and1 as it were1 naturalised in antiquity1 like that of ,nicolo ,poussin1 to achieve it4 ,in the picture alluded to1 the first idea that presents itself is that of wonder1 at seeing a figure in so uncommon a situation as that in which the ,apollo is placed2 for the clouds on which he kneels have not the appearance of being able to support him2 they have neither the substance nor the form fit for the receptacle of a human figure2 and they do not possess in any respect that romantic character which is appropriated to such an object1 and which alone can harmonise with poetical stories4 ,it appears to me that such conduct is no less absurd than if a plain man1 giving a relation of real distress occasioned by an inundation accompanied with thunder and lightning1 should1 instead of simply relating the event1 take it into his head1 in order to give a grace to his narration1 to talk of ,jupiter ,pluvius1 or ,jupiter and his thunderbolts1 or any other figurative idea2 an intermixture which1 though in poetry1 with its proper preparations and accompaniments1 it might be managed with effect1 yet in the instance before us would counteract the purpose of the narrator1 and1 instead of being interesting1 would be only ridiculous4 ,the ,dutch and ,flemish style of landscape1 not even excepting those of ,rubens1 is unfit for poetical subjects2 but to explain in what this ineptitude consists1 or to point out all the circumstances that give nobleness1 grandeur1 and the poetic character1 to style1 in landscape1 would require a long discourse of itself2 and the end would be then perhaps but imperfectly attained4 ,the painter who is ambitious of this perilous excellence must catch his inspiration from those who have cultivated with success the poetry1 as it may be called1 of the art2 and they are few indeed4 ,i cannot quit this subject without mentioning two examples which occur to me at present1 in which the poetical style of landscape may be seen happily executed3 the one is ,jacob's ,dream1 by ,salvator ,rosa1 and the other the return of the ,ark from ,captivity1 by ,sebastian ,bourdon4 ,with whatever dignity those histories are presented to us in the language of ,scripture1 this style of painting possesses the same power of inspiring sentiments of grandeur and sublimity1 and is able to communicate them to subjects which appear by no means adapted to receive them4 ,a ladder against the sky has no very promising appearance of possessing a capacity to excite any heroic ideas2 and the ,ark1 in the hands of a second-rate master1 would have little more effect than a common waggon on the highway3 yet those subjects are so poetically treated throughout1 the parts have such a correspondence with each other1 and the whole and every part of the scene is so visionary1 that it is impossible to look at them without feeling1 in some measure1 the enthusiasm which seems to have inspired the painters4 ,by continual contemplation of such works1 a sense of the higher excellencies of art will by degrees dawn on the imagination2 at every review that sense will become more and more assured1 until we come to enjoy a sober certainty of the real existence 7if ,i may so express myself7 of those almost ideal beauties2 and the artist will then find no difficulty in fixing in his mind the principles by which the impression is produced2 which he will feel and practise1 though they are perhaps too delicate and refined1 and too peculiar to the imitative art1 to be conveyed to the mind by any other means4 ,to return to ,gainsborough2 the peculiarity of his manner1 or style1 or we may call it--the language in which he expressed his ideas1 has been considered by many as his greatest defect4 ,but without altogether wishing to enter into the discussion--whether this peculiarity was a defect or not1 intermixed1 as it was1 with great beauties1 of some of which it was probably the cause1 it becomes a proper subject of criticism and inquiry to a painter4 ,a novelty and peculiarity of manner1 as it is often a cause of our approbation1 so likewise it is often a ground of censure2 as being contrary to the practice of other painters1 in whose manner we have been initiated1 and in whose favour we have perhaps been prepossessed from our infancy2 for1 fond as we are of novelty1 we are upon the whole creatures of habit4 ,however1 it is certain1 that all those odd scratches and marks1 which1 on a close examination1 are so observable in ,gainsborough's pictures1 and which even to experienced painters appear rather the effect of accident than design3 this chaos1 this uncouth and shapeless appearance1 by a kind of magic1 at a certain distance assumes form1 and all the parts seem to drop into their proper places1 so that we can hardly refuse acknowledging the full effect of diligence1 under the appearance of chance and hasty negligence4 ,that ,gainsborough himself considered this peculiarity in his manner1 and the power it possesses of exciting surprise1 as a beauty in his works1 ,i think may be inferred from the eager desire which we know he always expressed1 that his pictures1 at the ,exhibition1 should be seen near1 as well as at a distance4 ,the slightness which we see in his best works cannot always be imputed to negligence4 ,however they may appear to superficial observers1 painters know very well that a steady attention to the general effect takes up more time1 and is much more laborious to the mind1 than any mode of high finishing1 or smoothness1 without such attention4 ,his handling1 the manner of leaving the colours1 or1 in other words1 the methods he used for producing the effect1 had very much the appearance of the work of an artist who had never learned from others the usual and regular practice belonging to the art2 but still1 like a man of strong intuitive perception of what was required1 he found out a way of his own to accomplish his purpose4 ,it is no disgrace to the genius of ,gainsborough to compare him to such men as we sometimes meet with1 whose natural eloquence appears even in speaking a language which they can scarce be said to understand2 and who1 without knowing the appropriate expression of almost any one idea1 contrive to communicate the lively and forcible impressions of an energetic mind4 ,i think some apology may reasonably be made for his manner without violating truth1 or running any risk of poisoning the minds of the younger students1 by propagating false criticism1 for the sake of raising the character of a favourite artist4 ,it must be allowed1 that this hatching manner of ,gainsborough did very much contribute to the lightness of effect which is so eminent a beauty in his pictures2 as1 on the contrary1 much smoothness1 and uniting the colours1 is apt to produce heaviness4 ,every artist must have remarked how often that lightness of hand which was in his dead colour1 or first painting1 escaped in the finishing when he had determined the parts with more precision2 and another loss he often experiences1 which is of greater consequence3 whilst he is employed in the detail1 the effect of the whole together is either forgotten or neglected4 ,the likeness of a portrait1 as ,i have formerly observed1 consists more in preserving the general effect of the countenance than in the most minute finishing of the features1 or any of the particular parts4 ,now ,gainsborough's portraits were often little more1 in regard to finishing1 or determining the form of the features1 than what generally attends a dead colour2 but as he was always attentive to the general effect1 or whole together1 ,i have often imagined that this unfinished manner contributed even to that striking resemblance for which his portraits are so remarkable4 ,though this opinion may be considered as fanciful1 yet ,i think a plausible reason may be given why such a mode of painting should have such an effect4 ,it is presupposed that in this undetermined manner there is in the general effect enough to remind the spectator of the original2 the imagination supplies the rest1 and perhaps more satisfactorily to himself1 if not more exactly1 than the artist1 with all his care1 could possibly have done4 ,at the same time it must be acknowledged there is one evil attending this mode2 that if the portrait were seen previous to any knowledge of the original1 different persons would form different ideas1 and all would be disappointed at not finding the original correspond with their own conceptions2 under the great latitude which indistinctness gives to the imagination to assume almost what character or form it pleases4 ,every artist has some favourite part1 on which he fixes his attention1 and which he pursues with such eagerness1 that it absorbs every other consideration2 and he often falls into the opposite error of that which he would avoid1 which is always ready to receive him4 ,now ,gainsborough1 having truly a painter's eye for colouring1 cultivated those effects of the art which proceed from colours3 and sometimes appears to be indifferent to or to neglect other excellencies4 ,whatever defects are acknowledged1 let him still experience from us the same candour that we so freely give upon similar occasions to the ancient masters2 let us not encourage that fastidious disposition1 which is discontented with everything short of perfection1 and unreasonably require1 as we sometimes do1 a union of excellencies1 not perhaps quite compatible with each other4 ,we may1 on this ground1 say even of the divine ,raffaelle1 that he might have finished his picture as highly and as correctly1 as was his custom1 without heaviness of manner2 and that ,poussin might have preserved all his precision without hardness or dryness4 ,to show the difficulty of uniting solidity with lightness of manner1 we may produce a picture of ,rubens in the church of ,st4 ,gudule1 at ,brussels1 as an example2 the subject is ,christ's ,charge to ,peter2 which1 as it is the highest and smoothest finished picture ,i remember to have seen of that master1 so it is by far the heaviest2 and if ,i had found it in any other place1 ,i should have suspected it to be a copy2 for painters know very well1 that it is principally by this air of facility1 or the want of it1 that originals are distinguished from copies4 ,a lightness of effect produced by colour1 and that produced by facility of handling1 are generally united2 a copy may preserve something of the one1 it is true1 but hardly ever of the other2 a connoisseur1 therefore1 finds it often necessary to look carefully into the picture before he determines on its originality4 ,gainsborough possessed this quality of lightness of manner and effect1 ,i think1 to an unexampled degree of excellence2 but it must be acknowledged1 at the same time1 that the sacrifice which he made to this ornament of our art was too great2 it was1 in reality1 preferring the lesser excellencies to the greater4 ,to conclude4 ,however we may apologise for the deficiencies of ,gainsborough 7,i mean particularly his want of precision and finishing71 who so ingeniously contrived to cover his defects by his beauties2 and who cultivated that department of art1 where such defects are more easily excused2 you are to remember1 that no apology can be made for this deficiency1 in that style which this ,academy teaches1 and which ought to be the object of your pursuit4 ,it will be necessary for you1 in the first place1 never to lose sight of the great rules and principles of the art1 as they are collected from the full body of the best general practice1 and the most constant and uniform experience2 this must be the groundwork of all your studies3 afterwards you may profit1 as in this case ,i wish you to profit1 by the peculiar experience and personal talents of artists1 living and dead2 you may derive lights1 and catch hints1 from their practice2 but the moment you turn them into models1 you fall infinitely below them2 you may be corrupted by excellencies1 not so much belonging to the art1 as personal and appropriated to the artist2 and become bad copies of good painters1 instead of excellent imitators of the great universal truth of things4 ,,discourse ,,xv4 ,delivered to the ,students of the ,royal ,academy1 on the ,distribution of the ,prizes1 ,december #aj1 #agij4 ,,the ,,president ,,takes ,,leave ,,of ,,the ,,academy4--,a ,,review ,,of ,,the ,,discourses4--,,the ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,michel ,,angelo ,,recommended4 ,the intimate connection which ,i have had with the ,royal ,academy ever since its establishment1 the social duties in which we have all mutually engaged for so many years1 make any profession of attachment to this ,institution1 on my part1 altogether superfluous2 the influence of habit alone in such a connection would naturally have produced it4 ,among men united in the same body1 and engaged in the same pursuit1 along with permanent friendship occasional differences will arise4 ,in these disputes men are naturally too favourable to themselves1 and think1 perhaps1 too hardly of their antagonists4 ,but composed and constituted as we are1 those little contentions will be lost to others1 and they ought certainly to be lost amongst ourselves in mutual esteem for talents and acquirements3 every controversy ought to be1 and ,i am persuaded will be1 sunk in our zeal for the perfection of our common ,art4 ,in parting with the ,academy1 ,i shall remember with pride1 affection1 and gratitude1 the support with which ,i have almost uniformly been honoured from the commencement of our intercourse4 ,i shall leave you1 ,gentlemen1 with unaffected cordial wishes for your future concord1 and with a well-founded hope1 that in that concord the auspicious and not obscure origin of our ,academy may be forgotten in the splendour of your succeeding prospects4 ,my age1 and my infirmities still more than my age1 make it probable that this will be the last time ,i shall have the honour of addressing you from this place4 ,excluded as ,i am1 spatiis iniquis1 from indulging my imagination with a distant and forward perspective of life1 ,i may be excused if ,i turn my eyes back on the way which ,i have passed4 ,we may assume to ourselves1 ,i should hope1 the credit of having endeavoured1 at least1 to fill with propriety that middle station which we hold in the general connection of things4 ,our predecessors have laboured for our advantage1 we labour for our successors2 and though we have done no more in this mutual intercourse and reciprocation of benefits than has been effected by other societies formed in this nation for the advancement of useful and ornamental knowledge1 yet there is one circumstance which appears to give us an higher claim than the credit of merely doing our duty4 ,what ,i at present allude to is the honour of having been1 some of us1 the first contrivers1 and all of us the promoters and supporters1 of the annual ,exhibition4 ,this scheme could only have originated from ,artists already in possession of the favour of the public1 as it would not have been so much in the power of others to have excited curiosity4 ,it must be remembered that1 for the sake of bringing forward into notice concealed merit1 they incurred the risk of producing rivals to themselves2 they voluntarily entered the lists1 and ran the race a second time for the prize which they had already won4 ,when we take a review of the several departments of the ,institution1 ,i think we may safely congratulate ourselves on our good fortune in having hitherto seen the chairs of our ,professors filled with men of distinguished abilities1 and who have so well acquitted themselves of their duty in their several departments4 ,i look upon it to be of importance1 that none of them should be ever left unfilled3 a neglect to provide for qualified persons is to produce a neglect of qualifications4 ,in this honourable rank of ,professors ,i have not presumed to class myself2 though in the ,discourses which ,i have had the honour of delivering from this place1 while in one respect ,i may be considered as a volunteer1 in another view it seems as if ,i was involuntarily pressed into this service4 ,if prizes were to be given1 it appeared not only proper1 but almost indispensably necessary1 that something should be said by the ,president on the delivery of those prizes3 and the ,president1 for his own credit1 would wish to say something more than mere words of compliment1 which1 by being frequently repeated1 would soon become flat and uninteresting1 and by being uttered to many1 would at last become a distinction to none3 ,i thought1 therefore1 if ,i were to preface this compliment with some instructive observations on the ,art1 when we crowned merit in the ,artists whom we rewarded1 ,i might do something to animate and guide them in their future attempts4 ,i am truly sensible how unequal ,i have been to the expression of my own ideas4 ,to develop the latent excellencies1 and draw out the interior principles of our art requires more skill and practice in writing than is likely to be possessed by a man perpetually occupied in the use of the pencil and the pallet4 ,it is for that reason1 perhaps1 that the sister ,art has had the advantage of better criticism4 ,poets are naturally writers of prose4 ,they may be said to be practising only an inferior department of their own art1 when they are explaining and expatiating upon its most refined principles4 ,but still such difficulties ought not to deter ,artists1 who are not prevented by other engagements1 from putting their thoughts in order as well as they can1 and from giving to the public the result of their experience4 ,the knowledge which an ,artist has of his subject will more than compensate for any want of elegance in the manner of treating it1 or even of perspicuity1 which is still more essential2 and ,i am convinced that one short essay written by a ,painter will contribute more to advance the theory of our art than a thousand volumes such as we sometimes see2 the purpose of which appears to be rather to display the refinement of the ,author's own conceptions of impossible practice1 than to convey useful knowledge or instruction of any kind whatever4 ,an ,artist knows what is1 and what is not1 within the province of his art to perform2 and is not likely to be for ever teasing the poor ,student with the beauties of mixed passions1 or to perplex him with an imaginary union of excellencies incompatible with each other4 ,to this work1 however1 ,i could not be said to come totally unprovided with materials4 ,i had seen much1 and ,i had thought much upon what ,i had seen2 ,i had something of an habit of investigation1 and a disposition to reduce all that ,i observed and felt in my own mind to method and system2 but never having seen what ,i myself knew distinctly placed before me on paper1 ,i knew nothing correctly4 ,to put those ideas into something like order was1 to my inexperience1 no easy task4 ,the composition1 the ponere totum even of a single ,discourse1 as well as of a single statue1 was the most difficult part1 as perhaps it is of every other art1 and most requires the hand of a master4 ,for the manner1 whatever deficiency there was1 ,i might reasonably expect indulgence2 but ,i thought it indispensably necessary well to consider the opinions which were to be given out from this place1 and under the sanction of a ,royal ,academy2 ,i therefore examined not only my own opinions1 but likewise the opinions of others4 ,i found in the course of this research many precepts and rules established in our art1 which did not seem to me altogether reconcilable with each other1 yet each seemed in itself to have the same claim of being supported by truth and nature2 and this claim1 irreconcilable as they may be thought1 they do in reality alike possess4 ,to clear away those difficulties1 and reconcile those contrary opinions1 it became necessary to distinguish the greater truth1 as it may be called1 from the lesser truth2 the larger and more liberal idea of nature from the more narrow and confined2 that which addresses itself to the imagination from that which is solely addressed to the eye4 ,in consequence of this discrimination1 the different branches of our art1 to which those different truths were referred1 were perceived to make so wide a separation1 and put on so new an appearance1 that they seemed scarcely to have proceeded from the same general stock4 ,the different rules and regulations which presided over each department of art followed of course3 every mode of excellence1 from the grand style of the ,roman and ,florentine ,schools down to the lowest rank of still life1 had its due weight and value--fitted some class or other2 and nothing was thrown away4 ,by this disposition of our art into classes1 that perplexity and confusion1 which ,i apprehend every ,artist has at some time experienced from the variety of styles and the variety of excellence with which he is surrounded1 is1 ,i should hope1 in some measure removed1 and the student better enabled to judge for himself what peculiarly belongs to his own particular pursuit4 ,in reviewing my ,discourses1 it is no small satisfaction to be assured that ,i have1 in no part of them1 lent my assistance to foster newly-hatched unfledged opinions1 or endeavoured to support paradoxes1 however tempting may have been their novelty1 or however ingenious ,i might1 for the minute1 fancy them to be2 nor shall ,i1 ,i hope1 anywhere be found to have imposed on the minds of young ,students declamation for argument1 a smooth period for a sound precept4 ,i have pursued a plain and honest method3 ,i have taken up the art simply as ,i found it exemplified in the practice of the most approved ,painters4 ,that approbation which the world has uniformly given1 ,i have endeavoured to justify by such proofs as questions of this kind will admit2 by the analogy which ,painting holds with the sister ,arts1 and1 consequently1 by the common congeniality which they all bear to our nature4 ,and though in what has been done no new discovery is pretended1 ,i may still flatter myself1 that from the discoveries which others have made by their own intuitive good sense and native rectitude of judgment1 ,i have succeeded in establishing the rules and principles of our art on a more firm and lasting foundation than that on which they had formerly been placed4 ,without wishing to divert the ,student from the practice of his ,art to speculative theory1 to make him a mere ,connoisseur instead of a ,painter1 ,i cannot but remark1 that he will certainly find an account in considering1 once for all1 on what ground the fabric of our art is built4 ,uncertain1 confused1 or erroneous opinions are not only detrimental to an ,artist in their immediate operation1 but may possibly have very serious consequences2 affect his conduct1 and give a peculiar character 7as it may be called7 to his taste1 and to his pursuits1 through his whole life4 ,i was acquainted at ,rome1 in the early part of my life1 with a ,student of the ,french ,academy1 who appeared to me to possess all the qualities requisite to make a great ,artist1 if he had suffered his taste and feelings1 and ,i may add even his prejudices1 to have fair play4 ,he saw and felt the excellencies of the great works of ,art with which we were surrounded1 but lamented that there was not to be found that ,nature which is so admirable in the inferior schools2 and he supposed with ,felibien1 ,de ,piles1 and other ,theorists1 that such an union of different excellencies would be the perfection of ,art4 ,he was not aware that the narrow idea of nature1 of which he lamented the absence in the works of those great ,artists1 would have destroyed the grandeur of the general ideas which he admired1 and which was1 indeed1 the cause of his admiration4 ,my opinions being then confused and unsettled1 ,i was in danger of being borne down by this kind of plausible reasoning1 though ,i remember ,i then had a dawning of suspicion that it was not sound doctrine2 and at the same time ,i was unwilling obstinately to refuse assent to what ,i was unable to confute4 ,that the young ,artist may not be seduced from the right path by following what1 at first view1 he may think the light of ,reason1 and which is indeed ,reason in part1 but not in the whole1 has been much the object of these ,discourses4 ,i have taken every opportunity of recommending a rational method of study1 as of the last importance4 ,the great1 ,i may say the sole use of an ,academy is1 to put1 and for some time to keep1 ,students in that course1 that too much indulgence may not be given to peculiarity1 and that a young man may not be taught to believe1 that what is generally good for others is not good for him4 ,i have strongly inculcated in my former ,discourses1 as ,i do in this1 my last1 the wisdom and necessity of previously obtaining the appropriated instruments of the ,art1 in a first correct design1 and a plain manly colouring before anything more is attempted4 ,but by this ,i would not wish to cramp and fetter the mind1 or discourage those who follow 7as most of us may at one time have followed7 the suggestion of a strong inclination3 something must be conceded to great and irresistible impulses3 perhaps every ,student must not be strictly bound to general methods1 if they strongly thwart the peculiar turn of his own mind4 ,i must confess that it is not absolutely of much consequence whether he proceeds in the general method of seeking first to acquire mechanical accuracy1 before he attempts poetical flights1 provided he diligently studies to attain the full perfection of the style he pursues2 whether1 like ,parmegiano1 he endeavours at grace and grandeur of manner before he has learned correctness of drawing1 if like him he feels his own wants1 and will labour1 as that eminent artist did1 to supply those wants2 whether he starts from the ,east or from the ,west1 if he relaxes in no exertion to arrive ultimately at the same goal4 ,the first public work of ,parmegiano is the ,st4 ,eustachius1 in the church of ,st4 ,petronius in ,bologna1 and was done when he was a boy2 and one of the last of his works is the ,moses breaking the tables in ,parma4 ,in the former there is certainly something of grandeur in the outline1 or in the conception of the figure1 which discovers the dawnings of future greatness2 of a young mind impregnated with the sublimity of ,michel ,angelo1 whose style he here attempts to imitate1 though he could not then draw the human figure with any common degree of correctness4 ,but this same ,parmegiano1 when in his more mature age he painted the ,moses1 had so completely supplied his first defects1 that we are here at a loss which to admire most1 the correctness of drawing or the grandeur of the conception4 ,as a confirmation of its great excellence1 and of the impression which it leaves on the minds of elegant spectators1 ,i may observe1 that our great ,lyric ,poet1 when he conceived his sublime idea of the indignant ,welsh ,bard1 acknowledged1 that though many years had intervened1 he had warmed his imagination with the remembrance of this noble figure of ,parmegiano4 ,when we consider that ,michel ,angelo was the great archetype to whom ,parmegiano was indebted for that grandeur which we find in his works1 and from whom all his contemporaries and successors have derived whatever they have possessed of the dignified and the majestic2 that he was the bright luminary1 from whom ,painting has borrowed a new lustre2 that under his hands it assumed a new appearance1 and is become another and superior art2 ,i may be excused if ,i take this opportunity1 as ,i have hitherto taken every occasion1 to turn your attention to this exalted ,founder and ,father of ,modern ,art1 of which he was not only the inventor1 but which1 by the divine energy of his own mind1 he carried at once to its highest point of possible perfection4 ,the sudden maturity to which ,michel ,angelo brought our ,art1 and the comparative feebleness of his followers and imitators1 might perhaps be reasonably1 at least plausibly explained1 if we had time for such an examination4 ,at present ,i shall only observe1 that the subordinate parts of our ,art1 and perhaps of other ,arts1 expand themselves by a slow and progressive growth2 but those which depend on a native vigour of imagination generally burst forth at once in fulness of beauty4 ,of this ,homer probably1 and ,shakespeare more assuredly1 are singular examples4 ,michel ,angelo possessed the poetical part of our art in a most eminent degree2 and the same daring spirit which urged him first to explore the unknown regions of the imagination1 delighted with the novelty1 and animated by the success of his discoveries1 could not have failed to stimulate and impel him forward in his career beyond those limits which his followers1 destitute of the same incentives1 had not strength to pass4 ,to distinguish between correctness of drawing and that part which respects the imagination1 we may say the one approaches to the mechanical 7which in its way1 too1 may make just pretensions to genius71 and the other to the poetical4 ,to encourage a solid and vigorous course of study1 it may not be amiss to suggest1 that perhaps a confidence in the mechanic produces a boldness in the poetic4 ,he that is sure of the goodness of his ship and tackle puts out fearlessly from the shore2 and he who knows that his hand can execute whatever his fancy can suggest1 sports with more freedom in embodying the visionary forms of his own creation4 ,i will not say ,michel ,angelo was eminently poetical1 only because he was greatly mechanical2 but ,i am sure that mechanic excellence invigorated and emboldened his mind to carry painting into the regions of poetry1 and to emulate that art in its most adventurous flights4 ,michel ,angelo equally possessed both qualifications4 ,yet of mechanic excellence there were certainly great examples to be found in ,ancient ,sculpture1 and particularly in the fragment known by the name of the ,torso of ,michel ,angelo2 but of that grandeur of character1 air1 and attitude1 which he threw into all his figures1 and which so well corresponds with the grandeur of his outline1 there was no example2 it could therefore proceed only from the most poetical and sublime imagination4 ,it is impossible not to express some surprise that the race of ,painters who preceded ,michel ,angelo1 men of acknowledged great abilities1 should never have thought of transferring a little of that grandeur of outline which they could not but see and admire in ,ancient ,sculpture1 into their own works2 but they appear to have considered ,sculpture as the later ,schools of ,artists look at the inventions of ,michel ,angelo--as something to be admired1 but with which they have nothing to do3 quod super nos1 nihil ad nos4--,the ,artists of that age1 even ,raffaelle himself1 seemed to be going on very contentedly in the dry manner of ,pietro ,perugino2 and if ,michel ,angelo had never appeared1 the ,art might still have continued in the same style4 ,beside ,rome and ,florence1 where the grandeur of this style was first displayed1 it was on this ,foundation that the ,caracci built the truly great ,academical ,bolognian school1 of which the first stone was laid by ,pellegrino ,tibaldi4 ,he first introduced this style amongst them2 and many instances might be given in which he appears to have possessed1 as by inheritance1 the true1 genuine1 noble1 and elevated mind of ,michel ,angelo4 ,though we cannot venture to speak of him with the same fondness as his countrymen1 and call him1 as the ,caracci did1 ,nostro ,michel ,angelo riformato1 yet he has a right to be considered amongst the first and greatest of his followers2 there are certainly many drawings and inventions of his1 of which ,michel ,angelo himself might not disdain to be supposed the author1 or that they should be1 as in fact they often are1 mistaken for his4 ,i will mention one particular instance1 because it is found in a book which is in every young ,artist's hand2--,bishop's ,ancient ,statues4 ,he there has introduced a print1 representing ,polyphemus1 from a drawing of ,tibaldi1 and has inscribed it with the name of ,michel ,angelo1 to whom he has also in the same book attributed a ,sybil of ,raffaelle4 ,both these figures1 it is true1 are professedly in ,michel ,angelo's style and spirit1 and even worthy of his hand4 ,but we know that the former is painted in the ,institute a ,bologna by ,tibaldi1 and the other in the ,pace by ,raffaelle4 ,the ,caracci1 it is acknowledged1 adopted the mechanical part with sufficient success4 ,but the divine part which addresses itself to the imagination1 as possessed by ,michel ,angelo or ,tibaldi1 was beyond their grasp3 they formed1 however1 a most respectable school1 a style more on the level1 and calculated to please a greater number2 and if excellence of this kind is to be valued according to the number rather than the weight and quality of admirers1 it would assume even a higher rank in art4 ,the same1 in some sort1 may be said of ,tintoret1 ,paolo ,veronese1 and others of the ,venetian ,painters4 ,they certainly much advanced the dignity of their style by adding to their fascinating powers of colouring something of the strength of ,michel ,angelo2 at the same time it may still be a doubt how far their ornamental elegance would be an advantageous addition to his grandeur4 ,but if there is any manner of ,painting which may be said to unite kindly with his style1 it is that of ,titian4 ,his handling1 the manner in which his colours are left on the canvas1 appears to proceed 7as far as that goes7 from a congenial mind1 equally disdainful of vulgar criticism4 ,,michel ,,angelo',s strength thus qualified1 and made more palatable to the general taste1 reminds me of an observation which ,i heard a learned critic make1 when it was incidentally remarked that our translation of ,homer1 however excellent1 did not convey the character1 nor had the grand air of the original4 ,he replied1 that if ,pope had not clothed the naked ,majesty of ,homer with the graces and elegancies of modern fashions--though the real dignity of ,homer was degraded by such a dress1 his translation would not have met with such a favourable reception1 and he must have been contented with fewer readers4 ,many of the ,flemish painters1 who studied at ,rome in that great era of our art1 such as ,francis ,rloris1 ,hemskirk1 ,michael ,coxis1 ,jerom ,cock1 and others1 returned to their own country with as much of this grandeur as they could carry4 ,but like seeds falling on a soil not prepared or adapted to their nature1 the manner of ,michel ,angelo thrived but little with them2 perhaps1 however1 they contributed to prepare the way for that free1 unconstrained1 and liberal outline1 which was afterwards introduced by ,rubens through the medium of the ,venetian ,painters4 ,the grandeur of style has been in different degrees disseminated over all ,europe4 ,some caught it by living at the time1 and coming into contact with the original author1 whilst others received it at second hand2 and being everywhere adopted1 it has totally changed the whole taste and style of design1 if there could be said to be any style before his time4 ,our art1 in consequence1 now assumes a rank to which it could never have dared to aspire1 if ,michel ,angelo had not discovered to the world the hidden powers which it possessed4 ,without his assistance we never could have been convinced that ,painting was capable of producing an adequate representation of the persons and actions of the heroes of the ,iliad4 ,i would ask any man qualified to judge of such works1 whether he can look with indifference at the personification of the ,supreme ,being in the centre of the ,capella ,sestina1 or the figures of the ,sybils which surround that chapel1 to which we may add the statue of ,moses2 and whether the same sensations are not excited by those works1 as what he may remember to have felt from the most sublime passages of ,homer8 ,i mention those figures more particularly1 as they come nearer to a comparison with his ,jupiter1 his demi-gods1 and heroes2 those ,sybils and ,prophets being a kind of intermediate beings between men and angels4 ,though instances may be produced in the works of other ,painters1 which may justly stand in competition with those ,i have mentioned--such as the ,isaiah1 and the vision of ,ezekiel1 by ,raffaelle1 the ,st4 ,mark of ,frate ,bartolomeo1 and many others2 yet these1 it must be allowed1 are inventions so much in ,michel ,angelo's manner of thinking1 that they may be truly considered as so many rays1 which discover manifestly the centre from whence they emanated4 ,the sublime in ,painting1 as in ,poetry1 so overpowers1 and takes such a possession of the whole mind1 that no room is left for attention to minute criticism4 ,the little elegancies of art in the presence of these great ideas thus greatly expressed1 lose all their value1 and are1 for the instant1 at least1 felt to be unworthy of our notice4 ,the correct judgment1 the purity of taste which characterise ,raffaelle1 the exquisite grace of ,correggio and ,parmegiano1 all disappear before them4 ,that ,michel ,angelo was capricious in his inventions cannot be denied2 and this may make some circumspection necessary in studying his works2 for though they appear to become him1 an imitation of them is always dangerous1 and will prove sometimes ridiculous4 ,within that circle none durst walk but he4 ,to me1 ,i confess his caprice does not lower the estimation of his genius1 even though it is sometimes1 ,i acknowledge1 carried to the extreme3 and however those eccentric excursions are considered1 we must at the same time recollect that those faults1 if they are faults1 are such as never could occur to a mean and vulgar mind3 that they flowed from the same source which produced his greatest beauties1 and were1 therefore1 such as none but himself was capable of committing3 they were the powerful impulses of a mind unused to subjection of any kind1 and too high to be controlled by cold criticism4 ,many see his daring extravagance who can see nothing else4 ,a young ,artist finds the works of ,michel ,angelo so totally different from those of his own master1 or of those with whom he is surrounded1 that he may be easily persuaded to abandon and neglect studying a style which appears to him wild1 mysterious1 and above his comprehension1 and which he therefore feels no disposition to admire2 a good disposition1 which he concludes that he should naturally have1 if the style deserved it4 ,it is necessary1 therefore1 that students should be prepared for the disappointment which they may experience at their first setting out2 and they must be cautioned1 that probably they will not1 at first sight1 approve4 ,it must be remembered1 that this great style itself is artificial in the highest degree3 it presupposes in the spectator1 a cultivated and prepared artificial state of mind4 ,it is an absurdity1 therefore1 to suppose that we are born with this taste1 though we are with the seeds of it1 which1 by the heat and kindly influence of this genius1 may be ripened in us4 ,a late ,philosopher and ,critic#ah has observed1 speaking of taste1 that we are on no account to expect that fine things should descend to us--our taste1 if possible1 must be made to ascend to them4 ,the same learned writer recommends to us even to feign a relish1 till we find a relish come2 and feel1 that what began in fiction1 terminates in reality4 ,if there be in our ,art anything of that agreement or compact1 such as ,i apprehend there is in music1 with which the ,critic is necessarily required previously to be acquainted1 in order to form a correct judgment3 the comparison with this art will illustrate what ,i have said on these points1 and tend to show the probability1 we may say the certainty1 that men are not born with a relish for those arts in their most refined state1 which1 as they cannot understand1 they cannot be impressed with their effects4 ,this great style of ,michel ,angelo is as far removed from the simple representation of the common objects of nature1 as the most refined ,italian music is from the inartificial notes of nature1 from whence they both profess to originate4 ,but without such a supposed compact1 we may be very confident that the highest state of refinement in either of those arts will not be relished without a long and industrious attention4 ,in pursuing this great ,art1 it must be acknowledged that we labour under greater difficulties than those who were born in the age of its discovery1 and whose minds from their infancy were habituated to this style2 who learned it as language1 as their mother tongue4 ,they had no mean taste to unlearn2 they needed no persuasive discourse to allure them to a favourable reception of it1 no abstruse investigation of its principles to convince them of the great latent truths on which it is founded4 ,we are constrained1 in these latter days1 to have recourse to a sort of ,grammar and ,dictionary1 as the only means of recovering a dead language4 ,it was by them learned by rote1 and perhaps better learned that way than by precept4 ,the style of ,michel ,angelo1 which ,i have compared to language1 and which may1 poetically speaking1 be called the language of the ,gods1 now no longer exists1 as it did in the fifteenth century2 yet1 with the aid of diligence1 we may in a great measure supply the deficiency which ,i mentioned--of not having his works so perpetually before our eyes--by having recourse to casts from his models and designs in ,sculpture2 to drawings1 or even copies of those drawings2 to prints1 which1 however ill executed1 still convey something by which this taste may be formed1 and a relish may be fixed and established in our minds for this grand style of invention4 ,some examples of this kind we have in the ,academy1 and ,i sincerely wish there were more1 that the younger students might in their first nourishment imbibe this taste1 whilst others1 though settled in the practice of the commonplace style of ,painters1 might infuse1 by this means1 a grandeur into their works4 ,i shall now make some remarks on the course which ,i think most proper to be pursued in such a study4 ,i wish you not to go so much to the derivative streams1 as to the fountain-head2 though the copies are not to be neglected2 because they may give you hints in what manner you may copy2 and how the genius of one man may be made to fit the peculiar manner of another4 ,to recover this lost taste1 ,i would recommend young ,artists to study the works of ,michel ,angelo1 as he himself did the works of the ancient ,sculptors2 he began when a child a copy of a mutilated ,satyr's head1 and finished in his model what was wanting in the original4 ,in the same manner1 the first exercise that ,i would recommend to the young artist when he first attempts invention is1 to select every figure1 if possible1 from the inventions of ,michel ,angelo4 ,if such borrowed figures will not bend to his purpose1 and he is constrained to make a change to supply a figure himself1 that figure will necessarily be in the same style with the rest2 and his taste will by this means be naturally initiated1 and nursed in the lap of grandeur4 ,he will sooner perceive what constitutes this grand style by one practical trial than by a thousand speculations1 and he will in some sort procure to himself the advantage which in these later ages has been denied him--the advantage of having the greatest of ,artists for his master and instructor4 ,the next lesson should be1 to change the purpose of the figures without changing the attitude1 as ,tintoret has done with the ,samson of ,michel ,angelo4 ,instead of the figure which ,samson bestrides1 he has placed an eagle under him3 and instead of the jaw-bone1 thunder and lightning in his right hand2 and thus it becomes a ,jupiter4 ,titian1 in the same manner1 has taken the figure which represents ,god dividing the light from the darkness in the vault of the ,capella ,sestina1 and has introduced it in the famous battle of ,cadore1 so much celebrated by ,vasari2 and extraordinary as it may seem1 it is here converted to a general falling from his horse4 ,a real judge who should look at this picture would immediately pronounce the attitude of that figure to be in a greater style than any other figure of the composition4 ,these two instances may be sufficient1 though many more might be given in their works1 as well as in those of other great ,artists4 ,when the ,student has been habituated to this grand conception of the ,art1 when the relish for this style is established1 makes a part of himself1 and is woven into his mind1 he will1 by this time1 have got a power of selecting from whatever occurs in nature that is grand1 and corresponds with that taste which he has now acquired1 and will pass over whatever is commonplace and insipid4 ,he may then bring to the mart such works of his own proper invention as may enrich and increase the general stock of invention in our ,art4 ,i am confident of the truth and propriety of the advice which ,i have recommended2 at the same time ,i am aware how much by this advice ,i have laid myself open to the sarcasms of those critics who imagine our ,art to be a matter of inspiration4 ,but ,i should be sorry it should appear even to myself that ,i wanted that courage which ,i have recommended to the ,students in another way2 equal courage1 perhaps1 is required in the adviser and the advised2 they both must equally dare and bid defiance to narrow criticism and vulgar opinion4 ,that the ,art has been in a gradual state of decline1 from the age of ,michel ,angelo to the present1 must be acknowledged2 and we may reasonably impute this declension to the same cause to which the ancient ,critics and ,philosophers have imputed the corruption of eloquence4 ,indeed1 the same causes are likely at all times and in all ages to produce the same effects2 indolence--not taking the same pains as our great predecessors took--desiring to find a shorter way--are the general imputed causes4 ,the words of ,petronius#ai are very remarkable4 ,after opposing the natural chaste beauty of the eloquence of former ages to the strained1 inflated style then in fashion1 neither1 says he1 has the ,art of ,painting had a better fate1 after the boldness of the ,egyptians had found out a compendious way to execute so great an art4 ,by compendious1 ,i understand him to mean a mode of ,painting such as has infected the style of the later ,painters of ,italy and ,france2 commonplace1 without thought1 and with as little trouble1 working as by a receipt2 in contradistinction to that style for which even a relish cannot be acquired without care and long attention1 and most certainly the power of executing cannot be obtained without the most laborious application4 ,i have endeavoured to stimulate the ambition of ,artists to tread in this great path of glory1 and1 as well as ,i can1 have pointed out the track which leads to it1 and have at the same time told them the price at which it may be obtained4 ,it is an ancient saying1 that labour is the price which the gods have set upon everything valuable4 ,the great ,artist who has been so much the subject of the present ,discourse1 was distinguished even from his infancy for his indefatigable diligence2 and this was continued through his whole life1 till prevented by extreme old age4 ,the poorest of men1 as he observed himself1 did not labour from necessity more than he did from choice4 ,indeed1 from all the circumstances related of his life1 he appears not to have had the least conception that his art was to be acquired by any other means than great labour2 and yet he1 of all men that ever lived1 might make the greatest pretensions to the efficacy of native genius and inspiration4 ,i have no doubt that he would have thought it no disgrace that it should be said of him1 as he himself said of ,raffaelle1 that he did not possess his art from nature1 but by long study4#bj ,he was conscious that the great excellence to which he arrived was gained by dint of labour1 and was unwilling to have it thought that any transcendent skill1 however natural its effects might seem1 could be purchased at a cheaper price than he had paid for it4 ,this seems to have been the true drift of his observation4 ,we cannot suppose it made with any intention of depreciating the genius of ,raffaelle1 of whom he always spoke1 as ,coudivi says1 with the greatest respect3 though they were rivals1 no such illiberality existed between them2 and ,raffaelle1 on his part1 entertained the greatest veneration for ,michel ,angelo1 as appears from the speech which is recorded of him1 that he congratulated himself1 and thanked ,god1 that he was born in the same age with that painter4 ,if the high esteem and veneration in which ,michel ,angelo has been held by all nations and in all ages should be put to the account of prejudice1 it must still be granted that those prejudices could not have been entertained without a cause3 the ground of our prejudice1 then1 becomes the source of our admiration4 ,but from whatever it proceeds1 or whatever it is called1 it will not1 ,i hope1 be thought presumptuous in me to appear in the train1 ,i cannot say of his imitators1 but of his admirers4 ,i have taken another course1 one more suited to my abilities1 and to the taste of the times in which ,i live4 ,yet however unequal ,i feel myself to that attempt1 were ,i now to begin the world again1 ,i would tread in the steps of that great master3 to kiss the hem of his garment1 to catch the slightest of his perfections1 would be glory and distinction enough for an ambitious man4 ,i feel a self-congratulation in knowing myself capable of such sensations as he intended to excite4 ,i reflect1 not without vanity1 that these ,discourses bear testimony of my admiration of that truly divine man2 and ,i should desire that the last words which ,i should pronounce in this ,academy1 and from this place1 might be the name of--,,michel ,,angelo4#ba ,,footnotes3 #ah3 ,james ,harris4 #ai3 ,pictura quoque non alium exitum fecit1 postquam gyptiorum audacia tam magn artis compendiariam invenit4 #bj3 ,che ,raffaelle non ebbe quest' arte da natura1 ma per lungo studio4 #ba3 ,unfortunately for mankind1 these were the last words pronounced by this great ,painter from the ,academical chair4 ,he died about fourteen months after this ,discourse was delivered4 ,,three ,,letters ,,to ,,the ,,idler4 ,,the ,,idler4 ,,number #gf4 ,saturday1 ,september #bi1 #agei4 ,,to ,,the ,,idler4 ,,sir--,i was much pleased with your ridicule of those shallow ,critics1 whose judgment1 though often right as far as it goes1 yet reaches only to inferior beauties2 and who1 unable to comprehend the whole1 judge only by parts1 and from thence determine the merit of extensive works4 ,but there is another kind of ,critic still worse1 who judges by narrow rules1 and those too often false1 and which though they should be true1 and founded on nature1 will lead him but a very little way towards the just estimation of the sublime beauties in works of ,genius2 for whatever part of an art can be executed or criticised by rules1 that part is no longer the work of ,genius1 which implies excellence out of the reach of rules4 ,for my own part1 ,i profess myself an ,idler1 and love to give my judgment1 such as it is1 from my immediate perceptions1 without much fatigue of thinking2 and ,i am of opinion1 that if a man has not those perceptions right1 it will be vain for him to endeavour to supply their place by rules2 which may enable him to talk more learnedly1 but not to distinguish more acutely4 ,another reason which has lessened my affection for the study of ,criticism is1 that ,critics1 so far as ,i have observed1 debar themselves from receiving any pleasure from the polite arts1 at the same time that they profess to love and admire them2 for these rules being always uppermost1 give them such a propensity to criticise1 that instead of giving up the reins of their imagination into their author's hands1 their frigid minds are employed in examining whether the performance be according to the rules of art4 ,to those who are resolved to be ,critics in spite of nature1 and at the same time have no great disposition to much reading and study1 ,i would recommend to assume the character of ,connoisseur1 which may be purchased at a much cheaper rate than that of a ,critic in poetry4 ,the remembrance of a few names of ,painters1 with their general characters1 and a few rules of the ,academy1 which they may pick up among the ,painters1 will go a great way towards making a very notable ,connoisseur4 ,with a gentleman of this cast ,i visited last week the ,cartoons at ,hampton ,court2 he was just returned from ,italy1 a ,connoisseur1 of course1 and of course his mouth full of nothing but the ,grace of ,raffaelle1 the ,purity of ,domenichino1 the ,learning of ,poussin1 the ,air of ,guido1 the greatness of ,taste of the ,caraccis1 and the ,sublimity and grand ,contorno of ,michel ,angelo2 with all the rest of the cant of ,criticism1 which he emitted with that volubility which generally those orators have1 who annex no ideas to their words4 ,as we were passing through the rooms1 in our way to the ,gallery1 ,i made him observe a whole length of ,charles the ,first1 by ,vandyke1 as a perfect representation of the character as well as the figure of the man4 ,he agreed it was very fine1 but it wanted spirit and contrast1 and had not the flowing line1 without which a figure could not possibly be graceful4 ,when we entered the ,gallery1 ,i thought ,i could perceive him recollecting his ,rules by which he was to criticise ,raffaelle4 ,i shall pass over his observation of the boats being too little1 and other criticisms of that kind1 till we arrived at ,st4 ,paul preaching4 ,this1 says he1 is esteemed the most excellent of all the ,cartoons3 what nobleness1 what dignity there is in that figure of ,st4 ,paul6 and yet what an addition to that nobleness could ,raffaelle have given1 had the art of ,contrast been known in his time2 but above all1 the flowing line1 which constitutes ,grace and ,beauty6 ,you would not then have seen an upright figure standing equally on both legs1 and both hands stretched forward in the same direction1 and his drapery1 to all appearance1 without the least art of disposition4 ,the following ,picture is the ,charge to ,peter4 ,here1 says he1 are twelve upright figures2 what a pity it is that ,raffaelle was not acquainted with the pyramidal principle6 he would then have contrived the figures in the middle to have been on higher ground1 or the figures at the extremities stooping or lying2 which would not only have formed the group into the shape of a pyramid1 but likewise contrasted the standing figures4 ,indeed1 added he1 ,i have often lamented that so great a genius as ,raffaelle had not lived in this enlightened age1 since the art has been reduced to principles1 and had his education in one of the modern ,academies2 what glorious works might we then have expected from his divine pencil6 ,i shall trouble you no longer with my friend's observations1 which1 ,i suppose1 you are now able to continue by yourself4 ,it is curious to observe1 that at the same time that great admiration is pretended for a name of fixed reputation1 objections are raised against those very qualities by which that great name was acquired4 ,these ,critics are continually lamenting that ,raffaelle had not the ,colouring and ,harmony of ,rubens1 or the ,light and ,shadow of ,rembrandt1 without considering how much the gay harmony of the former1 and affectation of the latter1 would take from the ,dignity of ,raffaelle2 and yet ,rubens had great ,harmony1 and ,rembrandt understood ,light and ,shadow2 but what may be an excellence in a lower class of ,painting1 becomes a blemish in a higher2 as the quick1 sprightly turn1 which is the life and beauty of epigrammatic compositions1 would but ill suit with the majesty of heroic ,poetry4 ,to conclude2 ,i would not be thought to infer from anything that has been said1 that ,rules are absolutely unnecessary1 but to censure scrupulosity1 a servile attention to minute exactness1 which is sometimes inconsistent with higher excellence1 and is lost in the blaze of expanded genius4 ,i do not know whether you will think ,painting a general subject4 ,by inserting this letter1 perhaps you will incur the censure a man would deserve1 whose business being to entertain a whole room1 should turn his back on a company1 and talk to a particular person4 ,i am1 ,sir1 etc4 ,,number #gi4 ,saturday1 ,october #bj1 #agei4 ,,to ,,the ,,idler4 ,,sir--,your acceptance of a former letter on ,painting gives me encouragement to offer a few more sketches on the same subject4 ,amongst the ,painters and the writers on ,painting there is one maxim universally admitted and continually inculcated4 ,imitate ,nature is the invariable rule2 but ,i know none who have explained in what manner this rule is to be understood2 the consequence of which is1 that every one takes it in the most obvious sense--that objects are represented naturally1 when they have such relief that they seem real4 ,it may appear strange1 perhaps1 to hear this sense of the rule disputed2 but it must be considered1 that if the excellency of a ,painter consisted only in this kind of imitation1 ,painting must lose its rank1 and be no longer considered as a liberal art1 and sister to ,poetry3 this imitation being merely mechanical1 in which the slowest intellect is always sure to succeed best2 for the ,painter of genius cannot stoop to drudgery1 in which the understanding has no part2 and what pretence has the ,art to claim kindred with ,poetry1 but by its power over the imagination8 ,to this power the ,painter of genius directs his aim2 in this sense he studies ,nature1 and often arrives at his end1 even by being unnatural1 in the confined sense of the word4 ,the grand style of ,painting requires this minute attention to be carefully avoided1 and must be kept as separate from it as the style of ,poetry from that of ,history4 ,poetical ornaments destroy that air of truth and plainness which ought to characterise ,history2 but the very being of ,poetry consists in departing from this plain narration1 and adopting every ornament that will warm the imagination4 ,to desire to see the excellencies of each style united1 to mingle the ,dutch with the ,italian ,school1 is to join contrarieties which cannot subsist together1 and which destroy the efficacy of each other4 ,the ,italian attends only to the invariable1 the great and general ideas which are fixed and inherent in universal ,nature2 the ,dutch1 on the contrary1 to literal truth and a minute exactness in the detail1 as ,i may say1 of ,nature1 modified by accident4 ,the attention to these petty peculiarities is the very cause of this naturalness so much admired in the ,dutch pictures1 which1 if we suppose it to be a beauty is certainly of a lower order1 that ought to give place to a beauty of a superior kind1 since one cannot be obtained but by departing from the other4 ,if my opinion were asked concerning the works of ,michel ,angelo1 whether they would receive any advantage from possessing this mechanical merit1 ,i should not scruple to say they would lose1 in a great measure1 the effect which they now have on every mind susceptible of great and noble ideas4 ,his works may be said to be all genius and soul2 and why should they be loaded with heavy matter1 which can only counteract his purpose by retarding the progress of the imagination8 ,if this opinion should be thought one of the wild extravagancies of enthusiasm1 ,i shall only say1 that those who censure it are not conversant in the works of the great ,masters4 ,it is very difficult to determine the exact degree of enthusiasm that the arts of ,painting and ,poetry may admit4 ,there may perhaps be too great an indulgence1 as well as too great a restraint of imagination2 and if the one produces incoherent monsters1 the other produces what is full as bad1 lifeless insipidity4 ,an intimate knowledge of the passions and good sense1 but not common sense1 must at last determine its limits4 ,it has been thought1 and ,i believe with reason1 that ,michel ,angelo sometimes transgressed those limits2 and ,i think ,i have seen figures by him1 of which it was very difficult to determine whether they were in the highest degree sublime or extremely ridiculous4 ,such faults may be said to be the ebullition of genius2 but at least he had this merit1 that he never was insipid2 and whatever passion his works may excite1 they will always escape contempt4 ,what ,i have had under consideration is the sublimest style1 particularly that of ,michel ,angelo1 the ,homer of ,painting4 ,other kinds may admit of this naturalness1 which of the lowest kind is the chief merit2 but in ,painting1 as in ,poetry1 the highest style has the least of common nature4 ,one may safely recommend a little more enthusiasm to the modern ,painters2 too much is certainly not the vice of the present age4 ,the ,italians seem to have been continually declining in this respect from the time of ,michel ,angelo to that of ,carlo ,maratti1 and from thence to the very bathos of insipidity to which they are now sunk2 so that there is no need of remarking1 that where ,i mentioned the ,italian ,painters in opposition to the ,dutch1 ,i mean not the moderns1 but the heads of the old ,roman and ,bolognian ,schools2 nor did ,i mean to include in my idea of an ,italian ,painter1 the ,venetian ,school1 which may be said to be the ,dutch part of the ,italian ,genius4 ,i have only to add a word of advice to the ,painters--that however excellent they may be in painting naturally1 they would not flatter themselves very much upon it2 and to the ,connoisseurs1 that when they see a cat or a fiddle painted so finely1 that1 as the phrase is1 it looks as if you could take it up1 they would not for that reason immediately compare the ,painter to ,raffaelle and ,michel ,angelo4 ,,number #hb4 ,saturday1 ,november #aj1 #agei4 ,,to ,,the ,,idler4 ,,sir--,discoursing in my last letter on the different practice of the ,italian and ,dutch ,painters1 ,i observed that the ,italian ,painter attends only to the invariable1 the great1 and general ideas1 which are fixed and inherent in universal nature4 ,i was led into the subject of this letter by endeavouring to fix the original cause of this conduct of the ,italian ,masters4 ,if it can be proved that by this choice they selected the most beautiful part of the creation1 it will show how much their principles are founded on reason1 and1 at the same time1 discover the origin of our ideas of beauty4 ,i suppose it will be easily granted that no man can judge whether any animal be beautiful in its kind1 or deformed1 who has seen only one of that species2 this is as conclusive in regard to the human figure2 so that if a man1 born blind1 were to recover his sight1 and the most beautiful woman were brought before him1 he could not determine whether she was handsome or not2 nor if the most beautiful and most deformed were produced1 could he any better determine to which he should give the preference1 having seen only those two4 ,to distinguish beauty1 then1 implies the having seen many individuals of that species4 ,if it is asked1 how is more skill acquired by the observation of greater numbers8 ,i answer1 that1 in consequence of having seen many1 the power is acquired1 even without seeking after it1 of distinguishing between accidental blemishes and excrescences which are continually varying the surface of ,nature's works1 and the invariable general form which ,nature most frequently produces1 and always seems to intend in her productions4 ,thus amongst the blades of grass or leaves of the same tree1 though no two can be found exactly alike1 the general form is invariable3 a ,naturalist1 before he chose one as a sample1 would examine many2 since if he took the first that occurred1 it might have by accident or otherwise such a form as that it would scarce be known to belong to that species2 he selects as the ,painter does1 the most beautiful1 that is1 the most general form of nature4 ,every species of the animal as well as the vegetable creation may be said to have a fixed or determinate form1 towards which ,nature is continually inclining1 like various lines terminating in the centre2 or it may be compared to pendulums vibrating in different directions over one central point3 and as they all cross the centre1 though only one passes through any other point1 so it will be found that perfect beauty is oftener produced by ,nature than deformity3 ,i do not mean than deformity in general1 but than any one kind of deformity4 ,to instance in a particular part of a feature2 the line that forms a ridge of the nose is beautiful when it is straight2 this1 then1 is the central form1 which is oftener found than either concave1 convex1 or any other irregular form that shall be proposed4 ,as we are then more accustomed to beauty than deformity1 we may conclude that to be the reason why we approve and admire it1 as we approve and admire customs and fashions of dress for no other reason than that we are used to them2 so that though habit and custom cannot be said to be the cause of beauty1 it is certainly the cause of our liking it2 and ,i have no doubt but that if we were more used to deformity than beauty1 deformity would then lose the idea now annexed to it1 and take that of beauty3 as if the whole world should agree1 that yes and no should change their meaning2 yes would then deny1 and no would affirm4 ,whoever undertakes to proceed further in this argument1 and endeavours to fix a general criterion of beauty respecting different species1 or to show why one species is more beautiful than another1 it will be required from him first to prove that one species is really more beautiful than another4 ,that we prefer one to the other1 and with very good reason1 will be readily granted2 but it does not follow from thence that we think it a more beautiful form2 for we have no criterion of form by which to determine our judgment4 ,he who says a swan is more beautiful than a dove1 means little more than that he has more pleasure in seeing a swan than a dove1 either from the stateliness of its motions1 or its being a more rare bird2 and he who gives the preference to the dove1 does it from some association of ideas of innocence which he always annexes to the dove2 but if he pretends to defend the preference he gives to one or the other by endeavouring to prove that this more beautiful form proceeds from a particular gradation of magnitude1 undulation of a curve1 or direction of a line1 or whatever other conceit of his imagination he shall fix on1 as a criterion of form1 he will be continually contradicting himself1 and find at last that the great ,mother of ,nature will not be subjected to such narrow rules4 ,among the various reasons why we prefer one part of her works to another1 the most general1 ,i believe1 is habit and custom2 custom makes1 in a certain sense1 white black1 and black white2 it is custom alone determines our preference of the colour of the ,europeans to the ,ethiopians1 and they1 for the same reason1 prefer their own colour to ours4 ,i suppose nobody will doubt1 if one of their ,painters were to paint the ,goddess of ,beauty1 but that he would represent her black1 with thick lips1 flat nose1 and woolly hair2 and1 it seems to me1 he would act very unnaturally if he did not1 for by what criterion will anyone dispute the propriety of his idea8 ,we indeed say that the form and colour of the ,european is preferable to that of the ,ethiopian2 but ,i know of no other reason we have for it1 but that we are more accustomed to it4 ,it is absurd to say that beauty is possessed of attractive powers1 which irresistibly seize the corresponding mind with love and admiration1 since that argument is equally conclusive in favour of the white and the black philosophers4 ,the black and white nations must1 in respect of beauty1 be considered as of different kinds1 at least a different species of the same kind2 from one of which to the other1 as ,i observed1 no inference can be drawn4 ,novelty is said to be one of the causes of beauty4 ,that novelty is a very sufficient reason why we should admire is not denied2 but because it is uncommon1 is it therefore beautiful8 ,the beauty that is produced by colour1 as when we prefer one bird to another1 though of the same form1 on account of its colour1 has nothing to do with the argument1 which reaches only to form4 ,i have here considered the word ,beauty as being properly applied to form alone4 ,there is a necessity of fixing this confined sense2 for there can be no argument1 if the sense of the word is extended to everything that is approved4 ,a rose may as well be said to be beautiful because it has a fine smell1 as a bird because of its colour4 ,when we apply the word ,beauty1 we do not mean always by it a more beautiful form1 but something valuable on account of its rarity1 usefulness1 colour1 or any other property4 ,a horse is said to be a beautiful animal2 but had a horse as few good qualities as a tortoise1 ,i do not imagine that he would then be deemed beautiful4 ,a fitness to the end proposed is said to be another cause of beauty2 but supposing we were proper judges of what form is the most proper in an animal to constitute strength or swiftness1 we always determine concerning its beauty1 before we exert our understanding to judge of its fitness4 ,from what has been said1 it may be inferred1 that the works of ,nature1 if we compare one species with another1 are all equally beautiful1 and that preference is given from custom or some association of ideas2 and that1 in creatures of the same species1 beauty is the medium or centre of all its various forms4 ,to conclude1 then1 by way of corollary3 if it has been proved that the ,painter1 by attending to the invariable and general ideas of ,nature1 produce beauty1 he must1 by regarding minute particularities1 and accidental discriminations1 deviate from the universal rule1 and pollute his canvas with deformity4 ,printed by ,,walter ,,scott1 ,felling1 ,newcastle-upon-,tyne4 ,the ,canterbury ,poets4 ,in ,,shilling ,monthly ,volumes1 ,square #hvo4 ,well printed on fine toned paper1 with ,red-line ,border1 and strongly bound in ,cloth4 ,each ,volume contains from #cjj to #cej pages4 ,with ,introductory ,notices by ,,william ,,sharp1 ,,mathilde ,,blind1 ,,walter ,,lewin1 ,,john ,,hogben1 ,a4 ,j4 ,,symington1 ,,joseph ,,skipsey1 ,,eva ,,hope1 ,,john ,,richmond1 ,,ernest ,,rhys1 ,,percy ,e4 ,,pinkerton1 ,,mrs4 ,,garden1 ,,dean ,,carrington1 ,,dr4 ,j4 ,,bradshaw1 ,,frederick ,,cooper1 ,,hon4 ,,roden ,,noel1 ,j4 ,,addington ,,symonds1 ,g4 ,,willis ,,cooke1 ,,eric ,,mackay1 ,,eric ,s4 ,,robertson1 ,,william ,,tirebuck1 ,,stuart ,j4 ,,reid1 ,,mrs4 ,,freiligrath ,,kroeker1 ,j4 ,,logie ,,robertson1 ,m4,a41 ,,samuel ,,waddington1 etc41 etc4 ,cloth1 ,red ,edges #as4 ,cloth1 ,uncut ,edges #as4 ,red ,roan1 ,gilt ,edges #bs4 #f;d4 ,silk ,plush1 ,gilt ,edges #ds4 #f;d4 ,morocco1 round corners1 #es4 ,,the ,,following ,,volumes ,,are ,,now ,,ready4 ,,christian ,,year4 ,by ,rev4 ,john ,keble4 ,,coleridge4 ,edited by ,joseph ,skipsey4 ,,longfellow4 ,edited by ,eva ,hope4 ,,campbell4 ,edited by ,j4 ,hogben4 ,,shelley4 ,edited by ,j4 ,skipsey4 ,,wordsworth4 ,edited by ,a4 ,j4 ,symington4 ,,blake4 ,edited by ,joseph ,skipsey4 ,,whittier4 ,edited by ,eva ,hope4 ,,poe4 ,edited by ,joseph ,skipsey4 ,,chatterton4 ,edited by ,john ,richmond4 ,,burns4 ,poems4 ,,burns4 ,songs4 ,edited by ,joseph ,skipsey4 ,,marlowe4 ,edited by ,p4 ,e4 ,pinkerton4 ,,keats4 ,edited by ,john ,hogben4 ,,herbert4 ,edited by ,ernest ,rhys4 ,,victor ,,hugo4 ,translated by ,dean ,carrington4 ,,cowper4 ,edited by ,eva ,hope4 ,,shakespeare3 ,songs1 ,poems1 and ,sonnets4 ,edited by ,william ,sharp4 ,,emerson4 ,edited by ,w4 ,lewin4 ,,sonnets of this ,,century4 ,edited by ,william ,sharp4 ,,whitman4 ,edited by ,e4 ,rhys4 ,,scott4 ,marmion1 etc4 ,,scott4 ,lady of the ,lake1 etc4 ,edited by ,william ,sharp4 ,,praed4 ,edited by ,fred4 ,cooper4 ,,hogg4 ,by his ,daughter1 ,mrs4 ,garden4 ,,goldsmith4 ,edited by ,william ,tirebuck4 ,,love ,,letters ,,of ,a ,,violinist4 ,by ,eric ,mackay4 ,,spenser4 ,edited by ,hon4 ,r4 ,noel4 ,,children ,,of ,,the ,,poets4 ,edited by ,erie ,s4 ,robertson4 ,,ben ,,jonson4 ,edited by ,j4 ,a4 ,symonds4 ,,byron 7#b ,vols47 ,edited by ,mathilde ,blind4 ,,the ,,sonnets ,,of ,,europe4 ,edited by ,s4 ,waddington4 ,,allan ,,ramsay4 ,edited by ,j4 ,logie ,robertson4 ,,sydney ,,dobell4 ,edited by ,mrs4 ,dobell4 ,,pope4 ,edited by ,john ,hogben4 ,,heine4 ,edited by ,mrs4 ,kroeker4 ,,beaumont ,,fletcher4 ,edited by ,j4 ,s4 ,fletcher4 ,,bowles1 ,,lamb1 ,,and ,,hartley ,,coleridge4 ,edited by ,william ,tirebuck4 ,,early ,,english ,,poetry4 ,edited by ,h4 ,macaulay ,fitzgibbon4 ,,sea ,,music4 ,edited by ,mrs4 ,sharp4 ,,herrick4 ,edited by ,ernest ,rhys4 ,,ballades ,,and ,,rondeaus4 ,edited by ,j4 ,gleeson ,white4 ,,irish ,,minstrelsy4 ,edited by ,h4 ,halliday ,sparling4 ,,monthly ,,shilling ,,volumes4 ,cloth1 cut or uncut edges4 ,,the ,,camelot ,,series4 ,,already ,,issued-- ,,romance ,,of ,,king ,,arthur4 ,edited by ,e4 ,rhys4 ,,thoreau',s ,,walden4 ,edited by ,w4 ,h4 ,dircks4 ,,confessions ,,of ,,an ,,english ,,opium-,,eater4 ,edited by ,william ,sharp4 ,,landor',s ,,conversations4 ,edited by ,h4 ,ellis4 ,,plutarch',s ,,lives4 ,edited by ,b4 ,j4 ,snell1 ,m4,a4 ,,sir ,,thomas ,,browne',s ,,religio ,,medici1 etc4 ,edited by ,j4 ,addington ,symonds4 ,,shelley',s ,,essays ,,and ,,letters4 ,edited by ,ernest ,rhys4 ,,prose ,,writings ,,of ,,swift4 ,edited by ,w4 ,lewin4 ,,my ,,study ,,windows4 ,edited by ,r4 ,garnett1 ,,ll4,d4 ,,great ,,english ,,painters4 ,edited by ,w4 ,sharp4 ,,lord ,,byron',s ,,letters4 ,edited by ,m4 ,blind4 ,,essays ,,by ,,leigh ,,hunt4 ,edited by ,a4 ,symons4 ,,longfellow',s ,,prose4 ,edited by ,w4 ,tirebuck4 ,,great ,,musical ,,composers4 ,edited1 with ,introduction1 by ,mrs4 ,sharp4 ,,marcus ,,aurelius4 ,edited by ,alice ,zimmern4 ,,specimen ,,days ,,in ,,america4 ,by ,walt ,whitman4 ,,white',s ,,natural ,,history of ,,selborne4 ,edited1 with ,introduction1 by ,richard ,jefferies4 ,,defoe',s ,,captain ,,singleton4 ,edited1 with ,introduction1 by ,h4 ,halliday ,sparling4 ,,essays3 ,literary and ,political4 ,by ,joseph ,mazzini4 ,with ,introduction by ,william ,clarke4 ,,the ,,prose ,,writings ,,of ,,heinrich ,,heine4 ,with ,introduction by ,havelock ,ellis4 ,,sir ,,joshua ,,reynolds' ,,discourses4 ,with ,introduction by ,helen ,zimmern4 ,,monthly ,,shilling ,,volumes4 ,cloth1 cut or uncut edges4 ,,great ,,writers4 ,a ,,new ,,series ,,of ,,critical ,,biographies4 ,edited by ,professor ,e4 ,s4 ,,robertson4 ,,already ,,issued-- ,,life ,,of ,,longfellow4 ,,by ,,professor ,,eric ,s4 ,,robertson4 ,the story of the poet's life is well told4 4 4 4 ,the remarks on ,longfellow as a translator are excellent4--,saturday ,review4 ,no better life of ,longfellow has been published4--,glasgow ,herald4 ,,life ,,of ,,coleridge4 ,,by ,,hall ,,caine4 ,the ,scotsman says--,it is a capital book4 4 4 4 ,written throughout with spirit and great literary skill4 ,the bibliography is unusually full1 and adds to the value of the work4 ,,life ,,of ,,dickens4 ,,by ,,frank ,t4 ,,marzials4 ,an interesting and well-written biography4--,scotsman4 ,,life ,,of ,,dante ,,gabriel ,,rossetti4 ,,by ,,joseph ,,knight4 ,,life ,,of ,,samuel ,,johnson4 ,,by ,,col4 ,f4 ,,grant4 ,,life ,,of ,,darwin4 ,,by ,g4 ,t4 ,,bettany4 ,,charlotte ,,bront4 ,,by ,,augustine ,,birrell4 ,,life ,,of ,,thomas ,,carlyle4 ,,by ,,richard ,,garnett1 ,,ll4,d4 ,,life ,,of ,,adam ,,smith4 ,,by ,r4 ,b4 ,,haldane1 ,m4,p4 ,,life ,,of ,,keats4 ,,by ,w4 ,m4 ,,rossetti4 ,ready ,october #beth4 ,,life ,,of ,,shelley4 ,,by ,,william ,,sharp4 ,to be followed on ,november #beth by ,,life ,,of ,,smollett4 ,,by ,,david ,,hannay4 ,volumes in preparation by ,,austin ,,dobson1 ,,canon ,,venables1 ,,james ,,sime1 ,,edmund ,,gosse1 ,,professor ,,knight1 ,,professor ,,yonge1 ,,john ,,stuart ,,blackie1 etc4 ,,library ,,edition ,,of ,,great ,,writers4 ,an ,issue of all the ,volumes in this ,series will be published1 printed on large paper of extra quality1 in handsome binding1 ,demy #hvo1 price #bs4 #f;d4 per volume4 ,now ,ready1 ,part ,,ii1 ,price #f;d42 by ,post1 #g;d4 ,,the ,,naturalists' ,,monthly3 ,a ,journal for ,nature-,lovers and ,nature-,thinkers4 ,,edited ,,by ,,dr4 ,j4 ,w4 ,,williams1 ,m4,a4 ,,contents4 ,the ,fernley ,lecture4--,rev4 ,w4 ,h4 ,dallinger1 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,r4,s4 ,binary ,suns4--,herbert ,sadler1 ,f4,r4,a4,s4 ,nature and ,human ,nature in a ,norwegian ,dale4--,j4 ,logie ,robertson1 ,m4,a4 ,shell-,collecting in ,guernsey and ,hern4--,j4 ,r4 ,brockton ,tomlin1 ,b4,a4 ,charles ,robert ,darwin4--,b4 ,middleton ,batchelor4 ,the ,opening ,address1 ,geological ,section1 ,british ,association4--,henry ,woodward1 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,v4,p4,g4,s4 ,a ,chapter on the ,centipedes and ,millipedes4--,t4 ,d4 ,gibson-,carmichael1 ,m4,a41 ,f4,l4,s4 ,studies with the ,microscope4--,d4 ,houstin1 ,f4,l4,s41 ,f4,r4,m4,s4 ,the ,roe ,deer4--,james ,munro4 ,reviews4 ,general ,notes and ,gleanings4 ,reports of the ,learned ,societies4 ,a sound journal1 the monthly advent of which will be awaited with feelings of satisfaction and pleasure4--,bath ,chronicle4 ,to the student of nature who has had few opportunities of study1 just such a magazine as this supplies a felt want4 ,we trust that an appreciative public will ensure the success of this new magazine4--,midlothian ,journal4 ,this neatly got-up magazine seems to supply a vacant place in the ranks of serial literature1 and to supply it well4--,nottingham ,guardian4 ,part ,,iii4 ,ready ,october #beth4 ,annual ,subscription--,seven ,shillings4 ,post free4 ,london3 ,,walter ,,scott1 #bd ,warwick ,lane1 ,paternoster ,row4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired4