However I will here make him [ndr : au lecteur] an Offer of an Abstract of what I take to be those by which a Painter, or Connoisseur, may safely conduct himself, [...] III. There must be One Principal Light, and This, and all the subordinate ones with the Shaddows, and Reposes, must make One, Intire, Harmonious Mass ; The several Parts must be well Connected, and Contrasted, so as that Tout-ensemble must be Grateful to the Eye ; as a good piece of Musick is to the Ear. By this Means the Picture is not only more Delightful, but better Seen, and Comprehended.

Gentlemen may do as they please, the following Method [ndr : pour juger un tableau] seems to Me to be the most Natural, Convenient, and Proper.
Before you come so near the Picture to be Consider’d as to look into Particulars, or even to be able to know what the Subject of it is, at least before you take notice of That, Observe the Tout-ensemble of the Masses, and what Kind of one the Whole makes together.

Every Picture should be so contriv’d, as that at a Distance, when one cannot discern what Figures there are, or what they are doing, it should appear to be composed of Masses, Light, and Dark ; the Latter of which serve as Reposes to the Eye. The Forms of These Masses must be Agreeable, of whatsoever they consist, Ground, Trees, Draperies, Figures, &c. and the Whole together should be Sweet, and Delightful, Lovely Shapes and Colours without a Name ; of which there is an infinite Variety.
And ‘tis not enough that there be Great Masses ; they must be Subdivised into Lesser Parts, or they will appear Heavy, and Disagreeable : Thus tho’ there is evidently a Broad Light (for Example) in a piece of Silk when covering a whole Figure, or a Limb, there may be Lesser Folds, Breakings, Flickerings, and Reflections, and the Great Mass yet evidently preserv’d.

There are Instances where two Masses ; a Light, and a Dark one, divide the Picture, each possessing One Side. I have of This sort by Rubens, and as fine a Composition as can be seen ; the Masses are so well Rounded, the Principal Light being near the Middle of the Bright One, and the Other having Subordinate Lights upon it so as to Connect, but not to Confound it with the rest ; and they are in agreeable Shapes, and melting into One Another, but nevertheless sufficiently determined.
Very commonly a Picture consists of a Mass of Light, and another of Shadow upon a Ground of a Middle Tinct. And sometimes ‘tis composed of a Mass of Dark at the bottom, another Lighter above that, and another for the upper part still Lighter ; (as usually in a Landscape) Sometimes the Dark Mass employs one Side of the Picture also. I have a Copy after Paolo Veronese where a large Group of Figures, the principal ones of the Story, compose this lower brown Mass ; Architecture, the second ; more Buildings, with Figures and the Sky, the third ; but most commonly in Pictures of Three Masses, the Second is the Place of the Principal Figures.

In a Composition, as well as in every Single Figure, or other part of which the Picture consists, one thing must Contrast, or be varied from another. Thus in a Figure, the Arms and Legs must not be placed to answer one another in Parallel Lines. In like manner if one Figure in a Composition Stands, another must Bend, or Lye on the Ground ; and of those that Stand, or are in any other Position, if there be several of them, they must be varied by Turns of the Head, or some other Artful Disposition of their Parts ; as may be seen (for instance) in the Carton of giving the Keys. The Masses must also have the like Contrast, two must not be alike in Form, or Size, nor the whole Mass compos’d of those lesser ones of too Regular a Shape. [...] All which, together with several other Particulars, produce a wonderful Harmony.

Tho’ a Mass may consist of a Number of Little Parts, there ought to be one, or more, Larger, and as it were governing the rest, and this is another sort of Contrast. My Lord Burlington has a Good Samaritan by Bassau, which is a fine Instance of This. In the same Picture, there are two knees of two several Figures, pretty near together, and the Legs and Thighs of which make Angles too much alike, but this is contracted by one being Naked, and the other Clad, and over the latter, a little sort of Sash falls, which is an additional Expedient.

in LE COMTE, Florent, Het konst-cabinet der bouw- schilder- beeldhouw- en graveerkunde, of inleiding tot de kennis dier fraaije weetenschappen, vervat in der schilderyen, stand-beelden en prenten, trad. par LOBEDANIUS, Arnoldus, Utrecht, Arnoldus Lobedanius - 1745, 2 vol., p. 37

in DE PILES, Roger et DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse, The Art of Painting by C.A. DU FRESNOY with Remarks, trad. par DRYDEN, John, London, W. Rogers, 1695., p.48

in DE PILES, Roger, De l'art de peinture de Charles Alphonse Dufresnoy, Paris, Nicolas Langlois, 1668., p.132

in DE PILES, Roger et DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse, The Art of Painting by C.A. DU FRESNOY with Remarks, trad. par DRYDEN, John, London, W. Rogers, 1695., p.170

in DE PILES, Roger, De l'art de peinture de Charles Alphonse Dufresnoy, Paris, Nicolas Langlois, 1668., p.181

in DE PILES, Roger, The principles of painting, under the heads of anatomy, attitude, accident... In which is contained, An account of the Athenian, Roman, Venetian and Flemish schools. To which is added, The balance of painters..., trad. par a painter, London, J. Osborn, 1743., p. 222

in DE PILES, Roger, The principles of painting, under the heads of anatomy, attitude, accident... In which is contained, An account of the Athenian, Roman, Venetian and Flemish schools. To which is added, The balance of painters..., trad. par a painter, London, J. Osborn, 1743., p. 222

in DE PILES, Roger, The principles of painting, under the heads of anatomy, attitude, accident... In which is contained, An account of the Athenian, Roman, Venetian and Flemish schools. To which is added, The balance of painters..., trad. par a painter, London, J. Osborn, 1743., p. 228

in DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse, De arte graphica liber, Paris, Nicolas Langlois, 1668., p.37

in DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse et DE PILES, Roger, De Schilderkonst eerst in Latynze Vaerzen Beschreven door C.A. Dufresnoy in't Frans gebragt en met Aantekekeningen verrykt Door den Heer De Piles Nevens een Zaammeuspraak over het koloriet, trad. par VERHOEK, Joannes, Amsterdam, Balthazar Lakeman, 1722., p. 103

in DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse, Kurtzer Begriff Der Theoretischen Mahler-Kunst, trad. par GERICKE, Samuel Theodor, Berlin, Johann Michael Rüdigen, 1699., p.46

in DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse et DE PILES, Roger, De Schilderkonst eerst in Latynze Vaerzen Beschreven door C.A. Dufresnoy in't Frans gebragt en met Aantekekeningen verrykt Door den Heer De Piles Nevens een Zaammeuspraak over het koloriet, trad. par VERHOEK, Joannes, Amsterdam, Balthazar Lakeman, 1722., p54

in DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse et DE PILES, Roger, De Schilderkonst eerst in Latynze Vaerzen Beschreven door C.A. Dufresnoy in't Frans gebragt en met Aantekekeningen verrykt Door den Heer De Piles Nevens een Zaammeuspraak over het koloriet, trad. par VERHOEK, Joannes, Amsterdam, Balthazar Lakeman, 1722., p. 98

in DU FRESNOY, Charles-Alphonse et DE PILES, Roger, De Schilderkonst eerst in Latynze Vaerzen Beschreven door C.A. Dufresnoy in't Frans gebragt en met Aantekekeningen verrykt Door den Heer De Piles Nevens een Zaammeuspraak over het koloriet, trad. par VERHOEK, Joannes, Amsterdam, Balthazar Lakeman, 1722., p. 110