On painting well, or Coloring607
The Twelfth Chapter
(1) If drawing, in a manner of speaking,*
Is comparable to the Body
With its limbs, various and commensurate,
So is painting not inaptly
Comparable to the Spirit or Soul;608
For through colors, drawing’s dead strokes
Are made to move and to live,
And truly brought to life.609
(2) Yea drawing is like the terrestrial effigy*
Made by Prometheus, a work not
Displeasing to Minerva, Goddess of the Arts;
Whereas painting is like the Heavenly Flame that he stole,
Whereby, to his perdition,
He conferred motion on his work,
Which thus quickly became a Pandora,
That is, the plenitude of every good thing.610
(3) Not unlike, indeed resembling the manner*
In which Poets, singing to entice the discerning ear,
Marry their verses and poems
Concordantly to the Lyre,
Or to some other instrument, so must we resolve
To enliven the eyes
By pairing Drawing and Painting,
Just as one pairs the voice with [an instrument’s] strings.611
(4) I dare neither to praise nor blame*
Anyone who, well practiced and expert,
Sure of hand, quick-witted, well apprised,
(Not lightly straying onto crooked paths,
But rather, whose Art is worthy of their Master’s name),
Sets to and deftly draws by hand
On their panels, whatever has been duly
Painted in their Idea beforehand.612
(5) And at once falling to work, with no undue palaver,
With brush and pigment, impassioned of sense,
These fellow-painters, painting thusly,
Skillfully launch their works in colored underpainting,613*
Sometimes speedily depositing a second layer,
In order better to emplace [everything]: accordingly, they, being copious
In invention, go forth boldly,
Improving a fault here and there.614
(6) Indeed, they further advance their work with alacrity,
Honorably fulfilling their intention:
This may well beseem the Painter-Augustuses615
Who make progress in the Arts unremittingly,
And augment the empire [of Schilderconst] by painting resolutely:
Yes, even if one can amply learn*
To handle colors in this way without trepidation,
This [method] will not be expedient for everyone.
(7) There are others who, with much effortful consideration,*
Gather their things together continuously617
From stacks of sketches or drawings,
And afterward draw cleanly and clearly
The whole of what their mind holds fast,
On top of the priming,618 in a single color, thinly tempered,
Free-flowing; or precisely draw it
In Black lead and then wipe [the surface] spotlessly clean.619
(8) Yea [to draw] all things soundly and certainly,
Both the contours and what lies within them, by degrees,
Without the smallest stroke out of place,
This shall be neither detrimental nor disagreeable in any way,
But, on the contrary, greatly profits the painting,
And to ensure that it looks good across-the-board,*
And that it does not deteriorate, they
Apply well-tempered colors overall, each in its proper place.621
(9) But the Italians, howsoever they undertake*
Their projects, whether on walls or panels,
Diligently alert, [working] from inventive sketches,
They make their well-studied cartoons
As large as the [final] work in all its parts,
And trace through it with the stem of [their] brushes
Or with any pointed instrument that may serve,
Incising it line by line.623
(10) So that it surely, without fail,
Transfers and succeeds well:
Apropos an oil painting, they first coat
The back [of the cartoon] by rubbing it with chalk, or some such substance;624
But they press through it (as I’ve said),
While the [plaster] wall is still pliable, in order
To paint works in fresco with practiced hands,
Which usage is not to be found here in our Lands.
(11) Howbeit the Florentine, who could sculpt*
As well as paint in colors, when they first
Wished him to fabricate the Vatican Judgment in Oils,
Found this not to his liking; for, according to his way of thinking,
Such painting was to be reckoned
Nothing more than Women’s labor or toil,
Whereas he prized working in Fresco
As an artful and Manly activity.625
(12) But [why is it] that here no other usage thrives
Other than the one ascribed by Angelo to Women:
In Holland, Fresco could scarce survive*
The Hard Weather, Wind, Snow, Hail, and Rain
Propelled by Boreas;626
Nor even indoors could it survive,
Nor long remain intact,
Due to the great damp of the walls.
(13) On the other hand, that Plaster
Made from burned Saltwater Shells, would prove profitless;
For it breaks out with flecks of mildew.
Stone-based plaster from places such as*
Doornik, or elsewhere, might help:
Impervious to bad weather and frost hard to resist,
It is thick-bodied in the painting,
And consequently, does not break out, but remains firm once it dries.
(14) But enough of this: to make the cartoon*
As large in size as the work [to be painted],
Composed with bold resolution,
Is useful and serviceable, and shall ameliorate
One’s labor; for you shall hang it in front of you,
To prevent yourself from wandering down the wrong path,
Or losing sight of the quiddity [of one’s picture], and shall instead strive
To deepen and heighten everything according to the prototype.627
(15) For your cartoon ought to be heightened and deepened well,*
Executed subtly in a painterly way on the ground color,
So that no deficit be found anywhere in it
As regards projection, depth, volume, relief,
Sweetness, flowing grace, transition, recession:
And do not let the labor involved easily distress you,
But chip away at it steadily,
Attain through diligence to an optimal state.
(16) Amongst the moderns, our Forefathers were wont formerly*
To cover their panels with a white ground more thickly than we,
And they then polished it as smoothly as possible.628
They also used cartoons rubbed on the back with something that smears,
And having placed [the cartoons] on this smooth clean white [surface],
They sat down and proceeded to trace them through,629
And afterwards neatly drew [on the panels]
With black chalk or black lead.630
(17) But the cleverest thing was this: some of them took*
Finely ground lamp-black
Mixed with water, and now, as warranted, simultaneously
Drew and shaded their works with great care:631
Then they subtly spread over them
A thin layer of priming, through which one
Could see everything truly, positioned with forethought:
And the priming layer was the color of flesh.632
(18) When this had dried, they could clearly see their works,*
Which appeared before their eyes as if already half painted,
Whereupon they then applied everything neatly
All at one go,633 with especial
Labor and diligence, layering the color
Not thickly but thinly and sparingly,
The application deft, lustrous, and pure,
With whitish little hairs limned subtly with finesse.634
(19) O inimitable Dürer, the fame of Germany,*
Whom one sees shining in the Cloister of Frankfurt,635
His pure refinement, worthy of note:
Yea, Brueghel and Lucas.636 All such flowers [of Art]**
Have justly signed themselves Plus ultra in the kingdoms637
Of the Painters, so impregnably embanked aforetime
That no one could easily overtake them;
And with them, Joannes, first amongst the first.638
(20) These all together subscribed to this refinement,
Laid their colors cleanly, finely, and sportively,
And refrained from encumbering their panels,
Unlike now, when one might almost touch them,*
As if blindly probing the work’s every feature:
For in our time the colors lie
So uneven and rough that one would think
They were virtually carved in stone, in bas-relief.
(21) Precise [brushwork], which offers the eyes*
Sweet nourishment, causing them long to linger,
Is praiseworthy, especially when closely attached
Are subtlety, spirit, and ingenuity,639 and when
They retain their concinnity from afar
As well as close by.640 Such things astonish him
Whose insatiable eyes cause
His heart to cleave fast with constant desire.
(22) About Titian the great, we observe*
From Vasari’s writings, profitable to us,
That he, in the full flowering of his Youth,
Was accustomed to execute his artful works
With unbelievably diligent precision:
About which no querulous person could complain,
Since they all were well pleased,
Whether they stood to view them from far or near.641
(23) But at the last, he proceeded to carry through*
His works quite differently, with patches and rough strokes,
Which looked entirely natural when one stood back,
At a distance, but would not admit to being seen
From nearby. Various Masters,
Wishing to follow this manner of working,
Have produced nothing palatable,
And instead brought to pass an unsightly jumble.
(24) They aimed to execute their brushstrokes well,*
But deluded, they deceived themselves,
Thinking that his work had been done without labor,
Wherein he had toilsomely lavished
The furthermost resources of Art:
For one sees things worked over
And covered with multiple layers of color:
More effort lies therein than one might think.
(25) But this manner of work, issuing as it did from the exceptionally
Good judgment and understanding of Titian,
Is deemed wonderfully beautiful and pleasing:
For there (says Vasari) much labor is*
Concealed by Great Art, and one might almost fancy
That such painting is alive
And, as has been said, his works, though they appear
Facile, were achieved by painful effort.642
(26) Here I should wish to body forth and place before your eyes,*
O noble scholars of Painting,
Two opposed yet apposite manners,
Allowing you to direct your eager senses
To the one that most quickens your spirit:643
But I would yet advise you first of all to make every effort**
Through diligent exercise to acquaint yourself
With a fastidious manner and a precise beginning.
(27) Take courage, then, and with good cheer*
And steely patience fortify your spirits:
Whether you paint neatly or roughly, always avoid
Lacerating your work with razor-sharp highlights,644
The sort [painters] formerly used to make, which come across
As less than good, but instead adopt
That most agreeable manner, recently discovered;
For our Forefathers’ works failed to project in the round.
(28) But a thing as sharp-edged as this looked flat.*
And thus you should endeavor to acquire a far better manner:
By way of analogy, [imagine] a Column subdivided with string
Lengthwise into three parts from side to side:**
Between these two sides mark
Two points at equal intervals, and on the first point
Place a bright highlight, and on the second
The deepest shadow, of an appropriate breadth.
(29) In the space between, let your ground color merge with both,*
But by stages let the margins of the highlights be lost in the surrounding darkness;
The other side can elect to receive a secondary reflection.645
Now, concerning the colors, do not allow the cold to extinguish**
The blush [of your flesh tints], nor let it become so cold that they turn purple:646
For lake-white incarnadine flesh tints of this sort647
Cannot bloom as does the body’s complexion,
But vermilion engenders a fleshlike luster.648
(30) Give thought to making [the flesh tints] glow;649
Fashion your darks to be fully consonant
With your flesh tints, as they require;
When varied, they have a good grace:
Pay heed to Children, Maidens, and blossoming youths,*
To the varieties of Age,
To Folk burned daily by the heat of the sun,
And you shall not go wrong.650
(31) As regards Peasants, Herders, and those who,*
Beset by storms, sail through the beating waves,
Do not spare to use yellow ocher
Under a layer of vermilion, since their naked limbs
Should appear as if half roasted;651
Whereas for townsfolk, freed from the daily heat [of the sun],
And seen unclothed,
Incline the flesh-tint more toward white.652
(32) With regard to shadows, comport yourself sensibly,
And stray not at all from what is natural:
Strive, too, to please the common eye.653*
On occasion, contrive [to paint] reflected daylight,
And let your shadows freely assume the likeness of flesh,**
And the shining highlight alone take the form of a flesh-tint.654
Heighten no naked Man or Woman with white,
For pure white is nowhere to be seen in living persons.655
(33) There are many who mar their nudes
By heightening them with white.
To prevent them from doing this further,
Several Writers have expressed the wish*
That Lead-White become as expensive to purchase
As fine precious stones mined at great cost
And imported from distant Lands,
Or as dear as exquisite Ultramarine.656
(34) In order now truly to ascertain the rationale of painted highlights
I shall recount something Goltzius said:
How Titian (this is worth hearing),
Portrayed a Nativity, with a Shepherd
Coming headfirst, upon whose outstretched forehead
He placed only a single highlight,
Causing [the brow] effectively to project,
From which [point] everything else sped away into a haze of shadows.657
(35) To this end, the Italians are more circumspect
Than we in coloring; howsoever hard we try.658*
Their figures look more fleshy and supple
Than ours; moreover, we commonly prefer
To apply highlights evenly, in both the background and foreground.659
Not only do our works look dry,
But even where we propose, as best we might, to paint flesh,
The figures appear uniformly piscine, or as if carved in stone.660
(36) Thus let us ensure that our brushes become freer,
More sympathetic, and bolder,
And that good coloring finds its home amongst us.661
If truth be told, we ought to consider how the Painter*
Necessarily musters as great a variety of colors
In painting a human face as
In painting a fine, pleasing Landscape:662
Green, blue, yellow, indeed every color.
(37) But everything must gently merge,663*
So that nothing appears hard or patchy;664
But, rather, as if subtly raised in bas-relief,
Always modeled for the best, after the life,
The prototype that has, now as ever, quickened many a good Painter:
And forfend to cleave closely to your false opinions,
Like a contumacious Sectarian,
But instead give free rein to infidelity, ‘twill be no sin.665
(38) Do not cling obstinately to a bad manner,*
You have not married it, ‘twould be no scandal
Double-quick to exchange it for one better.
Change for the better is praiseworthy:
One thereby attains by degrees to right understanding:666
Lamp-black for nudes banish from the land,667
Instead utilize umber668
Alongside bitumen,669 Cologne earth,670 and terre verte.671
(39) You may well do without lamp-black*
For your nudes, indeed forget about it altogether:
It will (says Vasari) too actively decay:672
For concerning Raphael, admired the World over,
In his final work, at [the church of San] Pietro Montorio,
The Transfiguration, to his glory
The colors would still appear freshly made,
Had he not insisted on using lamp-black.
(40) Wherever it underlies or is mixed with other colors,
It spoils them over time, and furthermore,
Far from casting a glow, or producing a flesh effect,
It causes everything to gray:
In order to impart the ruddy bloom*
With which the sun, ever shining,
Happily enlivens flesh,
Mix Massicot with the flesh tints.673
(41) And yet, regardless of how some settle upon this,
Let each follow the path [he deems] best:
By which I mean that you may well choose to banish Massicot,*
Instead substituting very fine, light
Ocher;674 as already stated, it is far better
Than burdening the Flesh Tints
With that black color, very prone to degrade
And difficult to work due to the speed with which it dries.675
(42) Minium676 and Spanish green,677 freely abandon them as well,*
And Orpiment,678 toxic by nature.
I advise you to keep your Brushes clean,
Or to reserve certain ones for the painting of fine blue Stuffs
Or Skies; and, if you can spare the price,
Become accustomed, over the long term,
To provisioning yourself with fine colors, learning how to keep them intact,
Inasmuch as you value Art and hold it in honor.679
(43) The smalts need to coagulate thoroughly;680*
For this reason, to utilize them,
Some closely prick their panels with nails,
Others blow blotting paper [onto them],681 letting
It lie on top, whereby
The oil is drawn out, and yet others grind
[The smalts] in Poppyseed oil, whereas still others
Employ Oil made by trial and error.682
End of Painting well, or Coloring.
Footnotes
*
Drawing compared to the body, and painting to the spirit.
*
Drawing compared to the rough effigy made by Prometheus, painting to the Heavenly Flame.
*
Drawing [compared] to the sound of a musical instrument, and painting to song.
*
It is a Master’s practice presently, at first hand, to set [something] down on panel.
*
To improve by means of repeated underpainting in color.
*
To paint all at once, without drawing, will not befit everyone.616
*
To compose something with much care, and then draw it neatly is advantageous to a painting.620
*
From the first, lay each color in its place so that it does not decay.622
*
The Italians make cartoons on paper, large as the [final] work, drawn precisely, and then traced through.
*
Here Michelangelo is meant, who called painting in Oil Colors Women’s work, and Fresco Men’s work.
*
Fresco is impractical here, due to the dampness of the Land, and the intemperate weather.
*
Fresco must be on stone-based [i.e., lime] plaster.
*
The Cartoon is beneficial
*
Cartoons must have their highlights.
*
The moderns whitened their panels very thickly, and also used cartoons.
*
They drew their works on the white and primed over it in oil color.
*
They made their things mostly at one go.
*
Dürer’s work in Frankfurt as an example.
**
Bruegel, Lucas, and Joannes van Eyck as examples of [painting] cleanly at one go.
*
On the roughness of some at this time.
*
Precisely rendered works that remain spirited are praiseworthy, and hold close the spectator, keeping him long at his beholding.
*
Example: Titian, whose works looked good, seen first from close by, then from far off.
*
Titian altered his manner of handling, so that his works would fain be seen only from a distance.
*
Many have thought to follow Titian and have been confounded.
*
Titian’s works, laboriously made, appear as if done without effort.
*
It is advised to choose one of two [manners].
**
To start by familiarizing yourself with precise workmanship.
*
Take courage, and howsoever one paints, avoid sharp-edged highlights, for they will fail to project in the round.
*
Amongst the moderns, the older works look quite flat.
**
Manner of heightening and deepening. Example: A Column.
*
On the ground, or the mezza-tinta (middle-toned hue).
**
On the glow of the flesh tints.
*
In coloring flesh tints, pay attention to life.
*
Coloring relative to how much each person has been outdoors in the open air.
*
The common eye desires, too, to be contented.
**
Flesh-colored shading.
*
Avoid white highlights; would that Lead-White were as costly as precious gems or Ultramarine.
*
Netherlanders tend not to color well.
*
A Painter has need of as many colors in a face as in a landscape.
*
On sweet merger.
*
Not to remain bound to a bad manner.
*
Lamp-black causes [colors] to degrade. Example: the panel by Raphael in Rome, at San Pietro Montorio.
*
Fleshy coloring.
*
Massicot is to be avoided in flesh tints.
*
Minium, Spanish green, and Orpiment to be avoided.
*
Smalts need to be congealed, in order to discolor less.