motion and hurry before us; accordingly, the cripple, whom they had miraculously healed, appears in the crowd; observe the means which the painter has used to distinguish this object, and of course to open the subject of his piece. His crutches, now useless, are thrown to the ground; his attitude is that of one accustomed to such a support, and still doubtful of his limbs; the eagerness, the impetuosity, with which he solicits his benefactors to accept the honours destined for them, point out his gratitude, and the occasion of it: during the time that he is thus busied, an elderly citizen of some consequence, by his appearance, draws near, and lifting up the corner of his vest, surveys with astonishment the limb newly restored; whilst a man of middle age, and a youth, looking over the shoulder of the cripple, are intent on the same object. The wit of man could not devise means more certain of the end proposed; such a train of circumstances is equal to a narration; and I cannot but think, that the whole would have been an example of invention and conduct, even in the happiest age of antiquity."

The judicious disposal of the materials furnished by the imagination, or invention, in such a manner as best to contribute to the beauty, the expression, and the effect of the picture, constitutes what is termed composition in painting. And here we must observe, that the different parts of the art before mentioned, are so intimately connected with, and so dependent on each other, that the separate discussion of them must ever be attended with great difficulty, and necessarily occasion a frequent recurrence to similar arguments and principles. It were in vain to -prescribe any other general rule for the distribution of the figures of a picture, except such as are distinguished by the peculiar circumstances and character of the story to be represented. Much has been said of the pyramidal group, the serpentine line, the artificial contrast; and, upon doctrines like these, Lanfranco, Cortona, Giordano, Maratti, and many others, their predecessors as well as followers, formed a style better calculated to amuse the eye than to satisfy the judgment. An inordinate but ill-directed thirst of variety is the basis of this artificial system;

contrast is succeeded by contrast, opposition by opposition; but as this principle pervades all their works the result is no variety at all, and their conduct may be compared to that of the voluptuary, who, grasping at every enjoyment that presents itself, acquires satiety instead of pleasure.

If Raffaelle can be said to have regulated his compositions by any particular rule or maxim, it was that of making each as unlike the other as possible, consistent with propriety of expression. Thus, in the cartoon of Christ giving the keys to Peter, the Apostles all crowding together to be witnesses of the action, occupy the principal part of the picture, and form a group in profile; the Saviour, although in the corner of the picture, being, nevertheless, rendered evidently the principal figure, by the insulated situation given to him, as well as by the actions of the Apostles, who all press forward towards him, as to the centre of

attraction.

In the process of painting, design may properly be said to follow next after composition; for although this part of the art is, in a certain degree, requisite, even in making the first rough sketch, it is not until afterwards that the artist exerts his utmost powers to give that exact proportion, that beauty of contour, and that grace and dignity of action and deportment to his figures, which constitute the perfection of design. That which was first only hinted at is now to be defined : a few rude and careless lines were sufficient in the sketch to indicate the general attitude and expression of the figure; now the utmost precision is required, not only in the outline of the naked parts, but even in the delineation of a lock of hair, or the intricate folds of a drapery. A very high degree of excellence in design is, perhaps, considered the greatest difficulty of painting. Many of the works of Raffaelle, and his school, leave nothing to be desired on the score of composition and expression. Colouring was carried to the highest pitch by Giorgione, Rubens, Rembrandt, and others of the Dutch school; but any thing approaching to perfection of design, if we except some of the figures of the great Michel Angelo, is rarely to be witnessed in the productions of modern art. The noble

works of Grecian sculpture still remaining, sufficiently declare the superiority of the ancients in this particular; a superiority indeed which the most enlightened judges have never ventured to dispute.

The most perfect knowledge of form, however, only constitutes a part of that branch of painting which we term design: the art of fore-shortening, by which a line, or a figure, although only occupying a diminished space on the canvass, is rendered in appearance of its full length and magnitude, is an equally indispensable object of the artist's attainment. The sculptor, when he has chiselled or modelled his group, with its just proportions, has finished his work, which is rather the simple transcript than the imitation of the image previously formed in his mind: his art is undisguised, and without illusion: it presents, as well to our touch as to our sight, the bodies and shapes of things without the colour. The distinguished prerogative of painting, on the other hand, and that from which arises its decided advantage over every other artificial mode of representation, is its power to give upon a limited plane the appearance of boundless space. Michel Angelo has evinced such consummate skill in his frescos in the Sistine chapel at Rome, that they can never be sufficiently contemplated. The works of Correggio, and in particular his two cupolas at Parma, may likewise be studied with advantage, and sufficiently prove that even the boldest fore-shortening may on many occasions be resorted to without detriment to the beauty the grace, or expression of the figures.

Clair-obscure, or chiaro-scuro, is the art of distributing the lights and darks in a picture, in such a manner as to give at once proper relief to the figures, the best effect to the whole compusition, and the greatest delight to the eye. We have said the lights and darks in a picture, because the word chiaro-scuro, properly speaking, denotes not only light and shade, but light and dark of what kind soever, and in this sense it is nearly allied to colouring, if not inseparable from it. A thorough conception and knowledge of the chiaro-scuro is of the greatest importance to a painter, as it is chiefly by the proper application of this branch

of the art, that he is enabled to make the various objects in his picture appear to project or recede, according to their relative situations or distances; and thus far, indeed, the principles of it are necessary to the artist, ere he can hope to render his imitation just or intelligible. But it is required in works of fine art, not only that truth should be told, or that beauty should be represented, but likewise that the one and the other should be made to appear to every possible advantage; it has, therefore, ever been the study of great painters, not only to give the due appearance of roundness or projection to the objects in their pictures, by proper lights and shadows, but likewise to unite or contrast the masses of light and dark in such a manner as to give at once the most forcible impression to the imagination, and the most pleasing effect to the eye.

Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist of modern times who treated the subject of chiaro-scuro scientifically; but although he gave great force and softness to his pictures, yet the system which he recommended, and generally adopted, of relieving the dark side of the figures by a light back-ground, and the light parts by a dark one, prevented that expansion and breadth of effect which Correggio soon after discovered could only be attained by a contrary mode of conduct, that of relieving one shadow by another still darker, and of uniting several light objects into one great mass. The figures, as well as the other objects in the pictures of Correggio, are at all times so disposed as naturally to receive the light exactly in those parts where it is most wanted, and best suits the effect of the whole; and yet this is done so skilfully, that neither propriety nor grace of action seems in any respect to be sacrificed in the astonishing combination.

The principal painters of the Venetian school, Giorgione, Titian, Bassano, Tintoret, and Paolo Veronese, were masters of effect; but with them this effect is more frequently the result of accordance or opposition of the local colours of the different objects composing their pictures, than of any very studied or skilful disposition of the masses of light and shadow. Rubens, the great genius of the Flemish school, united the wide expansive

effect of Correggio, the richly contrasted tints of the Venetians, and the force of Caravaggio, and has only left us to regret that his magnificent and bold inventions were not designed with the purity of Raffaelle, or the correctness of Buonarotti. From the scanty introduction of light in the works of Rembrandt, we might be led to suppose that this surprising artist considered the illuminated parts of his pictures as gems, acquiring increased lustre from their rarity; while the striking effects he has thereby produced, happily teach us, how vain the attempt to limit or restrain by rules the workings of genius in the human mind. From an attentive study of the works of these great masters, the student will derive the true principles of chiaro-scuro, and be the better qualified to seize and avail himself of those transient, but beautiful effects, which nature, the great master of all, every day presents to his eyes. It remains for us to say a few words on colouring.

Colouring is the art of giving to every object in a picture its true and proper hue, as it appears under all the various circumstances or combinations of light, middle-tint, and shadow; and of so blending and contrasting the colours, as to make each appear with the greatest advantage and beauty, at the same time that it contributes to the richness, the brilliancy, and the harmony of the whole. "Should the most able master in design," says Mr. Webbe, "attempt, by that alone, a rose or grape, we should have but a faint and imperfect image; let him add to each its proper colours, we no longer doubt, we smell the rose, we touch the grape."

Colouring, though a subject greatly inferior to many others which the painter must study, is yet of sufficient importance to employ a considerable share of his attention; and, to excel in it, he must be well acquainted with that part of optics which has the nature of light and colours for its object. Light, however simple and uncompounded it may appear, is nevertheless made up, as it were, of several distinct substances; and the number and quantity of component parts have been happily discovered by the moderns. Every undivided ray, let it be ever so fine, is