The early work of Raphael . with vermilion, will undoubtedlybecome richer and more luminous when it glows through a coat ofmellow varnish, because the tone of the latter is lower than its suppose this same varnish overlying a very dark but still luminousshadow. Being higher in tone than the shadow, it will diminish itstransparency. In short, it will act as a scumble, whereas in the firstinstance it acted as a glaze. Now any first-rate example of the greaterVenetians is equally transparent all over, except in those very high lightswhich have been painted with extreme solidity. And this
The early work of Raphael . with vermilion, will undoubtedlybecome richer and more luminous when it glows through a coat ofmellow varnish, because the tone of the latter is lower than its suppose this same varnish overlying a very dark but still luminousshadow. Being higher in tone than the shadow, it will diminish itstransparency. In short, it will act as a scumble, whereas in the firstinstance it acted as a glaze. Now any first-rate example of the greaterVenetians is equally transparent all over, except in those very high lightswhich have been painted with extreme solidity. And this makes it doubtfulwhether time and accident have had so much to do with their superbtone as is often believed. However that may be, a picture paintedalmost entirely in high tones will certainly benefit by time, supposing itto have no seeds of premature decay in its own constitution. ConditionalNeutrality is such a picture, and I suspect that a century hence it will belooked upon as one of the treasures of the English Conditional permission of W. Q Qrchardson, Esq., R. A. THE ART OF fVILLIAM QUILLER ORCHARDSON 39 During the earlier of the two periods into which I have venturedto divide his career, Orchardsons whole work was marked by judgmentin conception and sobriety in execution. The subjects chosen, whethersuggested by writers or spun out of his own inner consciousness, arealways so arranged as at once to tell their own story, and yet to declarethat the motive which led to their being painted at all was truly andessentially pictorial. In this respect it would not be fantastic to attempta comparison between him and Hogarth, most of whose fame depends—not so much on those gifts of satire and detached common sense towhich critics have chiefly directed our attention, but—on the extraordinaryskill with which he combines dramatic with aesthetic qualities, and makeshis scenes explain themselves, down to the minutest details, through mattersrequired by picto
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookde, booksubjectraphael14831520, bookyear1895
