The great Business of Painting I have often said, and would fain inculcate, is to relate a History, or a Fable, as the best Historians, or Poets have done ; to make a Portrait so as to do Justice at least, and Sometimes not without a little Complaisance ; and that to the Mind, as well as to the Face, and Person ; To represent Nature, or rather the Best of Nature ; and where it can be done, to Raise and Improve it ; to give all the Grace and Dignity the Subject has, all that a well instructed Eye can discover in it, or which such a Judgment can find ‘tis Capable of in its most Advantagious Moments.

Neatness, and high Finishing ; a Light, Bold Pencil ; Gay, and Vivid Colours, Warm, and Sombrous ; Force, and Tenderness, All these are Excellencies when judiciously employ’d, and in Subserviency to the Principal End of the Art ; But they are Beauties of an Inferior Kind even when So employ’d ; they are the Mechanick Parts of Painting, and require no more Genius, or Capacity, than is necessary to, and frequently seen in Ordinary Workmen ; […] ; These properties are in Painting, as Language, Rhime, and Numbers are in Poetry ; and as he that stops at These as at what Constitutes the Goodness of a Poem is a Bad Critick, He is an Ill Connoisseur who has the same Consideration for these Inferious Excellencies in a Picture.

How much more if for the sake of These, a Picture is esteemed where the Story is Ill Told, and Nature is Ill represented, or not well chosen : If it be imagin’d to be good, because a Piece of Lace, or Brocade, a Fly, a Flower, a Wrinkle, a Wart, is highly finish’d, and (if you please) Natural, and well in its Kind ; or because the Colours are Vivid, or the Lights and Shadows Strong, though the Essential Parts are without Grace or Dignity, or are even Ridiculous.

Neatness, and high Finishing ; a Light, Bold Pencil ; Gay, and Vivid Colours, Warm, and Sombrous ; Force, and Tenderness, All these are Excellencies when judiciously employ’d, and in Subserviency to the Principal End of the Art ; But they are Beauties of an Inferior Kind even when So employ’d ; they are the Mechanick Parts of Painting, and require no more Genius, or Capacity, than is necessary to, and frequently seen in Ordinary Workmen ; […] ; These properties are in Painting, as Language, Rhime, and Numbers are in Poetry ; and as he that stops at These as at what Constitutes the Goodness of a Poem is a Bad Critick, He is an Ill Connoisseur who has the same Consideration for these Inferious Excellencies in a Picture.

Painting is that Pleasant, Innocent Amusement. But ’tis More ; ’tis of great Use, as being one of the means whereby we convey our Ideas to each other, and which in some respects has the Advantage of all the rest. And thus it must be rank’d with These, and accordingly esteem’d not only as an Enjoyment, but as another Language, which completes the whole Art of communicating our Thoughts ; one of those particulars which raises the Dignity of Human Nature so much above the Brutes ; and which is the more considerable, as being a Gift bestowed but upon a Few even of our own Species.

Words paint to the Imagination, but every Man forms the thing to himself in his Own way : Language is very Imperfect : There are innumerable Colours, and Figures for which we have no name, […] ; whereas the Painter can convey his Ideas of these Things Clearly, and without Ambiguity ; and what he says every one understands in the Sense he intends it.
And this is a Language that is Universal ; Men of all Nations hear the Poet, Moralist, Historian, Divine, or whatever other Character the Painter assumes, speaking to them in their own Mother Tongue.

The Pleasure that Painting, as a Dumb Art, gives us, is like what we have from Musick ; its beautiful Forms, Colours and Harmony, are to the Eye what Sounds, and the Harmony of that kind are to the Ear ; and in both we are delighted in observing the Skill of the Artist in proportion to It, and our own Judgment to discover it.

By the help of this Art [ndr : la peinture] we have the Pleasure of seeing a vast Variety of Things and Actions, of travelling by Land or Water, of knowing the Humours of Low Life without mixing with it, of viewing Tempests, Battels, Inundations ; and, in short, of all Real or Imagin’d Appearances in Heaven, Earth, or Hell ;

Nor do we barely see this Variety of Natural Objects, but in Good Pictures we always see Nature Improv’d, or at least the best Choice of it. We thus have nobler and finer Ideas of Men, Animals, Landscapes, &c. than we should perhaps have ever had ;

And if moreover what I write may hereafter happen to be of use of any body else, whether it be to put a Lover of Art in a Method to judge of a Picture, (and which in most things a Gentleman may do altogether as well as a Painter) or to awaken some useful Hints in some of my own Profession ; […] If these Consequences happen, it will be a Satisfaction to me over and above.

So by conversing with the Works of the best Masters in Painting, one forms better Images whilst we are Reading, or Thinking. I see the Divine Airs of Rafaëlle when I read any History of our Saviour, or the Blessed Virgin ; and the Awful ones he gives an Apostle when I read of their Actions, and conceive of those Actions that He, and Other great Men describe in a Nobler manner than otherwise I should ever have done.

To come to Portraits ; the Picture of an absent Relation, or Friend, helps to keep up those Sentiments which frequently languish by Absence and may be instrumental to maintain, and sometimes to augment Friendship, and Paternal, Filial, and Conjugal Love, and Duty.
Upon the sight of a Portrait, the Character, and Master-strokes of the History of the Person it represents are apt to flow in upon the Mind, and to be the Subject of Conversation : So that to sit for one’s Picture, is to have an Abstract of one’s Life written, and published, and ourselves thus consign’d over to Honour, or Infamy.

But (by the way) ‘tis not every Picture-maker that ought to be called a Painter, as every Rhymer, or Grubstreet Tale-Writer is not a Poet, or Historian : a Painter ought to be a Title of Dignity, and understood to imply a Person endued with such Excellencies of Mind, and Body, as have ever been the Foundations of Honour amongst Men.

He that Paints a History well, must be able to Write it ; he must be throughly inform’d of all things relating to it, and conceive it clearly, and nobly in his Mind, or he can never express it upon the Canvas : He must have a solid Judgment, with a lively Imagination, and know what Figures, and what Incidents ought to be brought in, and what every one should Say, and Think.

and Painting, as well as Poetry, requiring an Elevation of Genius beyond what pure Historical Narration does ; the Painter must imagine his Figures to Think, Speak, and Act, as a Poet should do in a Tragedy, or Epick Poem ; especially if his Subject be a Fable, or an Allegory. If a Poet has moreover the Care of the Diction, and Versification, the Painter has a Task perhaps at least Equivalent to That, after he has well conceived the thing (over and above what is merely Mechanical, and other particulars, which shall be spoken to presently) and that is the Knowledge of the Nature, and Effects of Colours, Lights, Shadows, Reflections, &c.

To be a good Face-Painter, a degree of the Historical, and Poetical Genius is requisite, and a great Measure of the other Talents, and Advantages which a good History-Painter must possess : Nay some of them, particularly Colouring, he ought to have in greater Perfection than is absolutely necessary for a History-Painter.
‘Tis not enough to make a Tame, Insipid Resemblance of the Features, so that every body shall know who the Picture was intended for, nor even to make the Picture what is often said to be prodigious Like : (This is often done by the lowest of Face-Painters, but then ‘tis ever with the Air of a Fool, and an Unbred Person ;) A Portrait-Painter must understand Mankind, and enter into their Characters, and express their Minds as well as their Faces : And as his Business is chiefly with People of Condition, he must Think as a Gentleman, and a Man of Sense, or ‘twill be impossible to give Such their True, and Proper Resemblances.
But if a Painter of this kind is not oblig’d to take in such a compass of Knowledge as he that paints History, and that the Latter upon Some accounts is the nobler Employment, upon Others the Preference is due to Face-Painting ;

To be a good Face-Painter, a degree of the Historical, and Poetical Genius is requisite, and a great Measure of the other Talents, and Advantages which a good History-Painter must possess : Nay some of them, particularly Colouring, he ought to have in greater Perfection than is absolutely necessary for a History-Painter.
‘Tis not enough to make a Tame, Insipid Resemblance of the Features, so that every body shall know who the Picture was intended for, nor even to make the Picture what is often said to be prodigious Like : (This is often done by the lowest of Face-Painters, but then ‘tis ever with the Air of a Fool, and an Unbred Person ;) A Portrait-Painter must understand Mankind, and enter into their Characters, and express their Minds as well as their Faces : And as his Business is chiefly with People of Condition, he must Think as a Gentleman, and a Man of Sense, or ‘twill be impossible to give Such their True, and Proper Resemblances.

Add to all this, that the Works of the Face-Painter must be seen in all the Periods of Beginnings, and Progress, as well as when Finish’d, when they are Not, oftner than when they Are fit to be seen, and yet Judg’d of, and Criticis’d upon, as if the Artist had given his last Hand to ‘em, and by all sorts of People ; nor is he always at liberty to follow his Own Judgment.

He [ndr : un peintre] must not only have a nice Judgment to distinguish betwixt things nearly Resembling one another, but not the same […], but he must moreover have the same Delicacy in his Eyes to judge of the Tincts of Colours which are of infinite Variety ;

He [ndr : un peintre] must not only have a nice Judgment to distinguish betwixt things nearly Resembling one another, but not the same […], but he must moreover have the same Delicacy in his Eyes to judge of the Tincts of Colours which are of infinite Variety ; and to distinguish whether a Line be streight, or curv’d a little ; whether This is exactly parallel to That, or oblique, and in what degree ; how This curv’d Line differs from That, if it differs at all, of which he must also judge ; whether what he has drawn is of the same Magnitude with what he pretends to imitate, and the like ;

He [ndr : un peintre] must not only have a nice Judgment to distinguish betwixt things nearly Resembling one another, but not the same […], but he must moreover have the same Delicacy in his Eyes to judge of the Tincts of Colours which are of infinite Variety ; and to distinguish whether a Line be streight, or curv’d a little ; whether This is exactly parallel to That, or oblique, and in what degree ; how This curv’d Line differs from That, if it differs at all, of which he must also judge ; whether what he has drawn is of the same Magnitude with what he pretends to imitate, and the like ; and must have a Hand exact enough to form these in his Work, answerable to the Ideas he has taken of them.

‘Twas never thought unworthy of a Gentleman to be Master of the Theory of Painting. On the contrary, if such a one has but a superficial Skill that way, he values himself upon it, and is the more esteem’d by others, as one who has attain’d an Excellency of Mind beyond those that are Ignorant in that particular.

‘Tis true, the Word Painter does not generally carry with it an Idea equal to what we have of other Professions, or Employments not Superior to it ; the Reason of which is, That Term is appropriated to all sorts of Pretenders to the Art, which being Numerous, and for the most part very Deficient, (as it must needs happen, so few having Abilities and Opportunities equal to such an Undertaking) These consequently have fallen into Contempt ; […] ; and this being visible in a great Majority, it has diminish’d the Idea which ought to be apply’d to the Term I am speaking of ; which therefore is a very Ambiguous one, and should be consider’d as such, if it be extended beyond This, that it denotes one practising such an Art, for no body can tell what he ought to conceive farther of the Man, whether to rank him amongst some of the Meanest, or equal to the most Considerable amongst Men.

THe whole Art of Painting consists of these Parts.
Invention, Expression, Composition, Drawing, Colouring, Handling, and Grace, and Greatness.
What is meant by these Terms, and that they are Qualities requisite to the Perfection of the Art, and really Distinct from each other, so that no one of ‘em can be fairly imply’d by any other, will appear when I treat of them in their Order ; and this will justify my giving so many Parts to Painting, which some others who have wrote on it have not done.

The Art in its whole Extent being too great to be compass’d by any one Man in any tolerable Degree of Perfection, some have apply’d themselves to paint One thing, and some Another : Thus there are Painters of Faces, History, Landscapes, Battels, Drolls, Still-Life, Flowers, and Fruit, Ships, &c. but every one of these several Kinds of Pictures ought to have all the several Parts, or Qualities just now mentioned [ndr : invention, expression, composition, drawing, colouring, handling, grace, greatness].

The History-Painter is obliged oftentimes to paint all these kinds of Subjects [ndr : visages, histoires, paysages, batailles, sujets grotesques, natures mortes, fleurs, fruits, bateaux, etc.], and the Face-Painter Most of ‘em ; but besides that they in such Cases are allow’d the Assistance of other Hands, the Inferior Subjects are in Comparison of their Figures as the Figures in a Landscape, there is no great Exactness required, or pretended to.

Italy has unquestionably produc’d the best Modern Painting, especially of the best Kinds, and posses’d it in a manner alone, when no other Nation in the World had it in any tolerable Degree ; That was Then consequently the great School of Painting. About a hundred Years ago there were a great many Excellent Painters in Flanders ; but when Van-Dyck came Hither, he brought Face-Painting to Us ; ever since which time (that is, for above fourscore Years) England has excell’d all the World in that great Branch of the Art, […] This may justly be esteem’d as a Complete, and the Best School for Face-Painting Now in the World ; and would probably have been yet Better, had Van Dyck’s Model been follow’d : But some Painters possibly finding themselves incapable of succeeding in His Way, and having found their Account in introducing a False Taste, Others have follow’d their Example, and forsaking the Study of Nature, have prostituted a Noble Art, chusing to exchange the honourable Character of good Painters for that sordid one of profess’d, mercenary Flatterers ;

but when Van-Dyck came Hither, he brought Face-Painting to Us ; ever since which time (that is, for above fourscore Years) England has excell’d all the World in that great Branch of the Art, […] This may justly be esteem’d as a Complete, and the Best School for Face-Painting Now in the World ; and would probably have been yet Better, had Van Dyck’s Model been follow’d : But some Painters possibly finding themselves incapable of succeeding in His Way, and having found their Account in introducing a False Taste, Others have follow’d their Example, and forsaking the Study of Nature, have prostituted a Noble Art, chusing to exchange the honourable Character of good Painters for that sordid one of profess’d, mercenary Flatterers ;

Of INVENTION
BEING determined as to the History that is to be painted, the first thing the Painter has do do, is To make himself Master of it as delivered by Historians, or otherwise ; and then to consider how to Improve it, keeping within the Bounds of Probability. Thus the Ancien Sculptors imitated Nature ; and thus the best Historians have related their Stories.

The same Liberty of heightning a Story [ndr : que dans le carton de Raphaël représentant Jésus donnant les clés à saint Pierre] is very commonly taken in Pictures of the Crucifixion ; the Blessed Virgin is represented as Swooning away at the Sight, and S. John, and the Women with great propriety dividing their Concern between the two Objets of it, which makes a fine Scene, and a considerable Improvement ; and probably was the Truth, though the History says no such thing.
[…].
An Improvement much of the same Nature is the Angels that are frequently introduced in a Nativity, or on other Occasions, the noble, though not rich Habit of the Virgin, and the like, though perhaps not altogether in the same Degree of Probability.

Under the present Rule is comprehended all those Incidents which the Painter invents to inrich his Composition ; and here in many Cases he has a vast Latitude, as in a Battel, a Plague, a Fire, the Slaughter of the Innocent, &c. Rafaëlle has finely imagined some of these (for example) in his Picture call’d the Incendio di Borgo. The Story is of a Fire at Rome miraculously extinguish’d by S. Leo IV. Because a Fire is seldom very great but when there happens to be a high Wind, he has painted such a one, as is seen by the flying of the Hair, Draperies, &c. There you see a great many Instances of Distress, and Paternal, and Filial Love.

A Painter is allow’d sometimes to depart even from Natural, and Historical Truth.
Thus in the Carton of the Draught of Fishes Rafaëlle has made a Boat too little to hold the Figures he has plac’d in it ; and this is so visible, that Some are apt to Triumph over that great Man, […] ; but the Truth is, had he made the Boat large enough for those Figures his Picture would have been all Boat, which would have had a Disagreeable Effect ; […].

But these Liberties [ndr : prises envers la vérité historique et naturelle] must be taken with great Caution and Judgment ; for in the main, Historical, and Natural Truth must be observed, the Story may be embellish’d, or something of it par’d away, but still So as it may be immediately known ; nor must any thing be contrary to Nature but upon great Necessity, and apparent Reason. History must not be corrupted, and turn’d into Fable or Romance : Every Person, and Thing must be made to sustain its proper Character ; and not only the Story, but the Circumstances must be observ’d, the Scene of Action, the Countrey, or Place, the Habits, Arms, Manners, Proportions, and the like, must correspond. This is call’d the observing the Costûme.

Every Historical Picture is a Representation of one single point of Time ; This then must be chosen ; and That in the Story which is the most Advantageous must be It. Suppose, for Instance, the Story to be painted is that of the Woman taken in Adultery, the Painter Seems to be at liberty to choose whether he will represent the Scribes and Pharisees accusing her to our Lord ; Or our Lord writing on the Ground ; Or pronouncing the last of the Words, Let him that is among you without Sin cast the first Stone at her ; Or lastly his Absolution, Go thy way, Sin no more.