FRESCO PREFERABLE TO OIL-PAINTING FOR ORNAMENT- ING THE HOUSES OF
PARLIAMENT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
3d November 1841.
Sin—Notwithstanding the justness of the general remarks in the able paper on the "Ornamental Painting of the New Houses of Parliament" in your last number, I hold the plea therein urged for the introduction of oil-painting to be invalid ; being supported by arguments drawn from a one-sided view of the case, and at variance with the opinions expressed in your journal two months before, in treating of the same subject under the head of" Fine Arts."
The writer of the article in question assumes that fresco and oil-painting are equally suitable for the purposes of interior decoration ; and contends that "it is a narrow and theoretical view that would give an exclusive preference to fresco ": yet in his endeavour to bear out this assertion by reasoning, he omits all mention of the characteristics of each method, and does not touch upon those points to which the attention would first be directed in taking a broad and practical view of the subject. The principal requisites in paintings that are destined to form component parts ot an architectural design, are these-
1st. They should he irremoveable, of durable material, and unchangeable in colour.
2d. They should be visible from any point of view in the apartment they adorn, and by artificial as well as daylight.
3d. They should diffuse a lively sense of the harmonies of colour through the room ; and to this end the medium of painting should be of such a nature as to reflect, not to absorb the light.
Now these are precisely the requisites which are peculiar to fresco; which recommended its adoption in the Vatican and other palaces of Italy by the great painters of that lani of art ; which have caused its revival in the palace and galleries at Munich; and which should determine its preference in the new Houses of Parliament. Oil-painting does not supply these essential requisites, and is in other respects not superior to fresco; therefore I hold it to be inad- missible.
Pictures forming part of a building, and painted for a particular purpose and a particular light, ought not to be separable from it ; therefore fresco, being painted on the wall, is preferable to pictures that are removable.
Oil-paintings on canvas are susceptible of damage from slight accidents, being easily rent by any thing falling against them ; panel is not available for works on a large scale, or if it were, it is liable to the ravages of insects ; as indeed arc those on canvas,—witness the injury that the great picture by SE- BASTIAN DEL Pious°, in the National Gallery, has sustained from this CRUSE. The oleaginous vehicle causes the colour to change so much, that many pictures become discordant in tone, owing to the fugacious qualities of some hues, and the darkening of the shades; so that the effect is a mass of black and white, in which forms are almost undistinguishable: the yellow tinge produced by the oil and varnish, aided by dirt, mellows the tone of some paintings, but always to the detriment of purity and brilliancy of colour; and sometimes this mellow- ing ,,proceeds from ripeness to rottenneasiountil the whole is a dingy MASS of obscurity : hence the sobriquet " BlacrMasters," applied to some of the old painters. This blackness has the effect of darkeniase the room, by the quantity of light that it absorbs, as well as of matittillie design unintelligible. But without undergoing this change, an oil-painting is only visible under a par- ry ticular angle, in consequence of the gloss of the varnish and the lightsateflected from objects around ; oil-pictures also are not seen to such advantage by arti- ficial light as fresco.
What, then, constitutes the recommendation of oil-painting for interior de- coration? Simply this, that our countrymen have not been accustomed to paint in fresco. Then let them learn ; it is not difficult to acquire : the diffi- culty is a stumblingblock easily removed by any artist of talent who is in earnest, though it is a bugbear to the timid, the indolent, and the incapable. Not only is facility in working in fresco attainable by artiste who have the mastery of painting in oil, but it admits of the employment of dexterous as- sistance. It is an additional advantage attending the use of fresco, that, the painting being executed on the wet plaster by tracing the &dine and copying the colours and shades from a cartoon, the artist's design is first completed on paper, and may therefore be judged of before it is begun upon the wall; thus no picture discreditable or unsuited to the purpose need be introduced.
But, says the advocate of oil, "to give the British painters fair play, they must be allowed to speak their own language." Fresco and oil painting are equally the language of art, in which the painter expresses his ideas by means of form and colour; the phraseology differs, it is true; oil-painting being the phrase of common parlance, fresco that of lofty discourse. The difference is analogous to that between blank verse or oratorical style, and elegant prose or simple verse. The subjects required being of an epic, or at least dignified cha- racter, demand an elevated style of design ; the artists who may be engaged will have to address a fK wider circle and to deal with nobler themes than they have hitherto been accustomed to ; they must therefore speak with a larger and more measured utterance. Those who cannot attain this power are incompetent to take part in the great work. It is as difficult to paint a grand picture in oil as in fresco; but fresco does not admit of those arts of con- cealint, bad drawing and feeble design for which the effects and handling of oil- painting affords such facilities. The great superiority of fresco, in relation to the character of the design, consists in its appealing to the mind more than to the sense; inasmuch as its forte lies in expression, and principally by means of form or drawing; the beauties of colour, chiaroscuro, and finish being subordi- nate. This subordination of the sensual refinements of painting is not incon- sistent with their full development, for which fresco affords equal scope with oil; but the spirit and purpose of the design being predominant, as should be the ease in all great works, a perfect mastery of design and drawing, as well as a vigorous and lofty conception, are required in this severe style of painting. I trust I have convinced you that fresco ought to be preferred as the medium for decorating the new Houses of Parliament, to the exclusion of oil-painting.
I am, Sir, your constant reader, [Our correspondent does not altogether see the drift of the writer in last Spectator ; but enough of Fresco for the present. —En.]
Previous page
