Part 9 (1/2)

Sir John Millais is certainly right in his estiht colour, but it see that the colour of the Venetians was ever crude, or that time will ever turn white into colour The colour of the best-preserved pictures by titian shows a ht flesh tones and white drapery

This is ere” in our National Gallery, in the so-called ”Venus” of the Tribune and in the ”Flora” of the Uffizi, both in Florence, and in Bronzino's ”All is Vanity,” also in the National Gallery In the last-named picture, for example, the colour is as crude and the surface as bare of mystery as if it had been painted yesterday As a matter of fact, white unquestionably tones down, but never beco due regard to what is underneath, it changes very little In the ”Noli Me Tangere” to which I have referred, the white sleeve of the Magdalen is still a beautiful white, quite different fro that titian never painted his flesh white

The so-called ”Venus” in the Tribune at Florence is a more important exa nothing to the brightness that slight painting often has and retains, the colours being untor This picture is a proof that when the e very little More than three hundred years have passed, and the white sheet on which the figure lies is still, in effect, white against the flesh

The flesh iscolour--but beautiful flesh It cannot be compared to ivory or snow, or any other substance or material; it is simply beautiful lustre on the surface with a circulation of blood underneath--an absolute triumph never repeated except by titian himself

It is probable that the pictures by Reynolds are often lower in tone than they were, but it is doubtful whether the Strawberry Hill portraits are as ed as may be supposed Walpole, no doubt, called the before the days of picture cleaning, he was accustomed to expect them to be brown and dark, probably even to associate colour with dirt in the Old Masters The purer, clearer, and richer the colours are, the better a picture will be; and I think this should be especially insisted upon, since white is so effective in aartists are naturally prompted to profit by the means cheaply afforded and readily at hand

I think it is probable that where titian has used brown-green he intended it, since in reen draperies of a beautiful colour Sir John seems to infer that the colours used in the decoration of the Parthenon (no doubt used) were crude The extraordinary refinements demonstrated in a lecture by Mr

Penrose on the spot last year, at which I had the good fortune to be present, forbid such a conclusion A few graduated inches in the circuht line in the pediment and in the base-line, proved by measurement and examination to be carefully intentional, will not permit us for a moment to believe this could have been the case; so precise in line, rhythement, lovely in detail, and harmonious in effect, it could never have been crude in colour No doubt the ainst such a sky and distance, the white, with its varieties of shadow, aided by the colours eleaned life and flame in its splendour Colour was certainly used, and the et over, but there could have been nothing harsh and crude The exquisite purity of line and delicacy of edge could never have beenlike harshness of colour To this day the brightest colours may be seen on the columns at Luxor and Philae with beautiful effect

_Watts_

CIII

I aot the; completion, however, will only be reached in the course of next winter, for I intend to execute the, and forsworn all _tricks_ I endeavour to advance fro as ht tint, and slowly and carefully to put it on the right spot, and _always_ with the model before me; what does not exactly suit has to be adapted; one can derive benefit from every head Schwind says that he cannot work from models, they _worry_ him! A splendid teacher for his pupils! Nature worries every one at first, but oneand hindering, she shall illuminate and help, and solve all doubts Has Schwind, with his splendid and varied gifts, ever been able to model a head with a brush? Those who place the brush behind the pencil, under the pretence that _forreat mistake Forh; _but_ the greater part of _form_ falls within the province of the tabooed _brush_ The ever-lasting hobby of _contour_ which belongs to the drawing material is first the _place_ where the _fore of for, full of feeling and knowledge--and that is the affair of the brush

_Leighton_

MANNER

CIV

Manner is always seductive It is more or less an imitation of what has been done already, therefore always plausible It promises the short road, the near cut to present fa ourselves of the labours of others It leads to alnorant world It is always accompanied by certain blandishments, showy and plausible, and which catch the eye

As rees, and is fostered by success in the world, flattery, &c, all painters ould be really great should be perpetually on their guard against it Nothing but a close and continual observance of nature can protect the mannerists

_Constable_

CV

Have a holy horror of useless iets sticky and dull, turns blue and heavy When you have painted a bit of which you are doubtful, wait till the moment when it will be possible for you to take it out

Judge it; and if it is condemned, res which spoil the liment You will have left a delicate foundation, to which you can return and finish with little labour, because your canvas will have received a first coating Loading and old turns to lead

_Puvis de Chavannes_

CVI

Frohty-four years I have worked independently of the schools,