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.