ur is said to be the compound made
by any one colour itself, along with the next adjoining to it on
either side of the spectrum. Thus red will be harmonized by purple,
the colour produced by compounding it with blue on the one side of it,
and it will also be harmonized by orange, which is the colour produced
by compounding it with the yellow, next to it on the other side of the
spectrum." In treating "of the effect" of a picture, although the
author with a kind of reluctance admits, or "will not condemn
absolutely" factitious effects, he has no predilection for them, and
blames for the extravagant use of them Carravagio and others of the
Italian schools. Unquestionably they afford a power which should be
used with judgment, then most applicable when the supernatural of the
subject overpowers the familiarity of more natural effects. Of the
"_empasto_," so much spoken of by connoisseurs, he is an admirer. He
directs that the "colours which compose the _empasto_" should be
perfectly well ground, and the ground perfectly smoothed. Yet this was
not always the case in the _empasto_ of Paul Veronese, whose _empasto_
was often of a broken and mortary surface; and it would appear, from
an examination of such parts of his pictures, as if he had purposely
used water with his oil-paint, which would have the effect of slightly
separating the particles, and thereby giving brilliancy from the
broken surface of refracting particles. This seems to have escaped the
notice of M. de Burtin in this place. It has been said of Michael
Angelo, that he never painted more than one picture in oil. Like the
relics of saints, that one has wonderfully multiplied. Our author
speaks of one in his own possession, which is certainly not described
as according to the manner we should expect on that great master. "A
truly unique picture, by the great Michael Angelo Buonarroti, in my
possession, proves to what an astonishing degree art can imitate gold,
silver, and stones, without using the originals, by the magic illusion
with which the rare genius has painted them as ornaments. They look as
if _relieved_ on the armour of the two cavaliers, insomuch that one
would believe them to be truly the work of an actual chisel." He
admires the smooth _empasto_; and among the painters who practised it,
laudably mentions Vander Werff. But he blames others less known for
carrying it out to an extreme finish. To our taste, the smooth
_empasto_ of Vander Werff is most di