raised, partly by accident, partly by the
just testimony of artists, partly by the various and generally bad taste
of the public (no picture, that I know of, has ever, in modern times,
attained popularity, in the full sense of the term, without having some
exceedingly bad qualities mingled with its good ones), and when this
reputation has once been completely established, it little matters to
what state the picture may be reduced: few minds are so completely
devoid of imagination as to be unable to invest it with the beauties
which they have heard attributed to it.

Sec. CXXXVI. This being so, the pictures that are most valued are for the
most part those by masters of established renown, which are highly or
neatly finished, and of a size small enough to admit of their being
placed in galleries or saloons, so as to be made subjects of
ostentation, and to be easily seen by a crowd. For the support of the
fame and value of such pictures, little more is necessary than that they
should be kept bright, partly by cleaning, which is incipient
destruction, and partly by what is called "restoring," that is, painting
over, which is of course total destruction. Nearly all the gallery
pictures in modern Europe have been more or less destroyed by one or
other of these operations, generally exactly in proportion to the
estimation in which they are held; and as, originally, the smaller and
more highly finished works of any great master are usually his worst,
the contents of many of our most celebrated galleries are by this time,
in reality, of very small value indeed.

Sec. CXXXVII. On the other hand, the most precious works of any noble
painter are usually those which have been done quickly, and in the heat
of the first thought, on a large scale, for places where there was
little likelihood of their being well seen, or for patrons from whom
there was little prospect of rich remuneration. In general, the best
things are done in this way, or else in the enthusiasm and pride of
accomplishing some great purpose, such as painting a cathedral or a
camposanto from one end to the other, especially when the time has been
short, and circumstances disadvantageous.

Sec. CXXXVIII. Works thus executed are of course despised, on account of
their quantity, as well as their frequent slightness, in the places
where they exist; and they are too large to be portable, and too vast
and comprehensive to be read on the spot, in the hasty temper of the
p