Sensuality While Perfecting Itself Materially Among The Flemish And

: ON COLOURS AND COLOURING.

Dutch.



In the practice of the individual in painting, as well as in all

revolutions of pictorial art, in ancient Greece as in modern Italy,

colouring in its perfection has been the last attainment of excellence

in every school. It has been justly observed, indeed, that for near

three hundred years, since painting was revived, we could hardly reckon

six painters that had been good colourists, among the tho
sands who had

laboured to become such. But there is reason to hope that as Zeuxis

succeeded and excelled Polygnotus, and Titian Raphael, the artists of

Britain will transcend all preceding schools in the chromatic department

of painting. It is even probable that they may surpass them in all other

branches, and in every mode and application of the art, as they have

already more particularly done in an original and unrivalled use of

water-colours.



Happily, too, there has arisen among us a school of colouring that

confirms this expectation, strengthened as it is, by the suitableness of

our climate to perfect vision. For in it we have that mean degree of

light which is best adapted to the distinguishing of colours, a

boundless diversity of hue in nature relieved by those fine effects of

light and shade which are denied to more vertical suns, besides those

beauties of complexion and feature in our females peculiar to England;

respects in which at least our country is not unfavourable to art.



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