Chapter I

THE ART OF PAINTING

Introduction and division of subject 223

I. General character of Painting 225

(a) Fundamental definition of the art. Combines the subject-matter of architecture and sculpture. More popular than sculpture 230

[(α) Individuality must not be suffered to pass wholly into the universality of its substance. Introduction of accidental features as in Nature 230

(β) Greatly extended field of subject-matter. The entire world of the religious idea, history, Nature, all that concerns humanity included 231

(γ) A revelation further of the objective existence of soul-life. Vitality of artist imported into his presentation of natural objects] 231

(b) The sensuous medium of Painting 232

[(α) Compresses the three dimensions of Space into two. Its greater abstraction, as compared with sculpture, implies an advance ideally. Its object is semblance merely, its interest that of contemplation. The nature of its locale 233

(β) Its higher power of differentiation. Light its medium. This implies, even in Nature, a movement towards ideality. The appearance of light and shadow in painting intentional. Form is the creation of light and shadow simply. This fact supplies rationale of the removal of one dimension from spatial condition 236

(γ) This medium enables the art to elaborate the entire extent of the phenomenal world] 240

(c) The principle of the artistic mode of treatment 241

[Two opposed directions in painting, one the expression of spiritual significance by interfusion with or abstraction from objective phenomena, the other the reproduction of every kind of detail as not alien to its fundamental principle. Illustrations of the two methods and their relative opposition, or reconciliation]

2. Particular modes in the definition of Painting 244

(a) The romantic content 245

[(α) The Ideal which consists in the reconciliation of the soul with God as revealed in His human passage through suffering. The religious content. The Love of religion 247

(αα) The representation of God the Father. Generally beyond the scope of painting. The famous picture of Van Eyck at Ghent 251

(ββ) Christ the more essential object. Modes of depicting him in his absolute Godhead or his humanity. Scenes of Childhood and Passion most fitted to express religious aspect. Love of the Virgin Mary. Contrast with Niobe 253

(γγ) The ideas of devotion, repentance, and conversion as such affect humanity in general when included in the religious sphere. The pictorial treatment of martyrdom 260

(β) The pictorial treatment of landscape 266

(γγ) The pictorial treatment of objects in natural or secular associations. The vitality and delight of independent human existence. Art secures the stability of evanescent phenomena. The influence of artistic personality on the interest] 268

(b) The more detailed definition of the material of pictorial representation 273

[(α) Linear perspective 274

(β) Accuracy of drawing of form. The plastic aspect of a pictorial work 274

(γ) The significance of colour. Modelling. Of gradations of colour and its symbolism. Of various schemes of colour. Colour harmony. The painting of the human flesh. The mystery of colour The creative impulse of the artist] 275

(c) Artistic conception, composition, and characterization 290

[Painting can only embody one moment of time. Concentration of interest. The law of intelligibility. Religious subjects, their advantage in this respect. Historical scenes as appropriate to particular buildings. Unity of entire effect. Raphael's Transfiguration. Of the treatment of landscape as subordinate. The grouping of figures. The form of the pyramid. Comparison of the characteristic in painting and sculpture. The treatment of love's expression in religious subjects. The gradual elaboration of the portrait. The situation which is itself a critical moment in characterization] 291

3. The historical development of Painting 313

(a) Byzantine painting 315

(b) Italian painting. General review of its spirit in religious and romantic subject-matter 317

[(α) Characteristic features of early type: austerity, solemnity, and religious elevation 321

(β) The free acceptance of all that is human and individual. The influence of Giotto. Later schools mark a still further advance in naturalism. Masaccio and Fra Angelico. The pictorial representation of secular subjects 322

(γ) Further advance in power of emotional expression. Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, Raphael, and Correggio.] 327

(c) The Flemish, Dutch, and German schools 330

[(α) The brothers Van Eyck. Innocence, naïveté, and piety of early Flemish School. Contrast with Italian masters 330

(β) The emphasis by North German painting on ugliness and brutality 332

(γ) Dutch painting. Historical conditions of its appearance. General characteristics of Dutch art] 333