his bad effect, have
endeavoured to divert the eye from this unpleasantness, by force, by
extreme contrasts of glazed dark, by vividness of partial crude
colours, and by the violence of that most disagreeable of all
pigments, as destructive of all real depth and atmosphere--asphaltum.

In our assuming, then, this very high, this white key, we deviate from
the practice of every good school. It is not desirable that this
should be the peculiarity of the English school; but it certainly has
too great a tendency that way. The Dutch and Flemish are of a much
lower key, and the Italian of a lower still. Even in their landscape
it is remarkable, that the painters whose country was the lightest,
should have adopted the deepest tones; and that the landscapes of
their historical painters are of all the deepest, and they were the
best landscape painters. What exquisite richness and depth, and
jewel-like glow, is there in the landscape of Titian, and Giorgione;
and what illumination, that superior characteristic of nature, so much
overlooked now a-days. And yet our country is, from our atmosphere,
darker than theirs, and presents a greater variety of deep tones and
nameless colours. And as I before mentioned, the admired Claude, whom
I rank of the Italian school, is of a very low key, delighting in
masses of deep tones. And it is remarkable that his trees are never
edged out light with Naples yellow, as our artists are fond of doing,
but are mostly in dark masses, and whether near or distant, singly or
in groups, are always without any strong and vivid colour. His object
seems to have been to paint atmosphere not light, or rather that free
penetrating light which he best effected by his lower key. And from
this cause it is, that the eye rests, is filled, satisfied by the
general effect, is never irritated either by too much whiteness, or
too vivid colours; for he knew well that such irritation, though at
first it attracts and forces attention, is after a while painful, and
should therefore at any sacrifice be avoided.

But, to return to colouring as an expression. Here is a great field
for practical experiment. On this subject I will quote a passage from
the Sketcher in Maga of Sept. 1833.

"As in music all notes have their own expression, and combinations of
them have such diversity of effect upon the mind, may not the analogy
hold good with regard to colours? Has not every colour its own
character? And have not combinations of