INTRODUCTORY PREFACE
BY
THE TRANSLATOR.
THE Translator was induced to attempt making an English version of the work of Cennino in consequence of the estima¬tion in which it appears to have been held by the Commis¬sioners on the Fine Arts; and also in consequence of the high commendation of the work by the Italian editor, the learned Signor Tambroni (a member of several academies connected with the arts and sciences). He considers this work of Cen¬nino “ as a complete and precious memorial of the fine arts in Italy in the fourteenth century;” and that " of all the modes of painting used by the masters of these times, and of those who succeeded them, Cennino has composed the most complete treatise that has ever been written.” He calls it " a precious and unique treatiseand says, “ I am firmly of opinion that the publication of this work will prove of ines¬timable advantage to present and future painters, especially as to the mode of painting in fresco; this kind of painting being almost, to our shame be it spoken, forgotten and lost.” The translation of the work is also recommended in a letter which appeared in the Art-Union (October 1841), suggesting the expediency of procuring translations of several works on painting, in order to obtain practical information on the subject generally; and in particular, to discover, if possible, the whole process observed by the painters of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in painting those pictures, the colouring and execution of which excite our surprise and admiration even after a lapse of four centuries, and which have survived the trials of exposure to the elements, and injuries sustained from injudicious attempts to clean and restore them. As the work is strictly practical, and, with one exception, en¬tirely free from the metaphysical disquisitions with which the early Italian works on painting so much abound; and as the book itself is rather a curious specimen, even in its Eng¬lish dress, of the style and manners of the time in which it was written, it has been thought advisable to publish the whole of it. Some extracts from the work have appeared in the Report of the Commissioners on the Fine Arts; but the Translator believes the entire treatise is but little known in England—certainly not to the extent it deserves.
The Italian editor has commented so largely on the work in his very interesting Preface, that but little remains for the Translator to point out for the observation of the reader.
A few points, however, not remarked upon in the notes, suggest themselves. The first is, the religious feeling which pervades the book, and which, at a cursory glance, and to a Protestant reader, almost assumes the appearance of idolatry. But this impression soon disappears, when we consider that to this feeling of devotion we are principally indebted for the preservation of the arts during the dark ages, and their sub-sequent revival. This preservation and revival we owe to the monks and religious communities of those times; who, at once the legislators of states (see Cicognara, Storia di Scul- tura, vol. i.), and directors of the spiritual and temporal con¬cerns of man, kept his mind in the trammels of ignorance and superstition, while they addressed themselves to his imagina¬tion, and worked upon it by the pageants and pictures which they presented to his senses, and through the medium of painting and sculpture made known the remarkable events recorded in Scripture history. It was principally by this means that the great truths of the Gospel,— tinctured, it is true, with the prevailing errors of the age,—became known to the common people.
For some centuries painters were occupied solely in adorn¬ing the walls of churches, chapels, and convents; and their subjects were entirely limited to illustrations of Scripture stories, pictures of the Virgin and saints, and miracles. At length they began to introduce into their pictures portraits of themselves, and of their patrons and friends; and this cir¬cumstance has been the means of making us acquainted with the personal appearance of many great men of that period, as well as of the painters themselves. Cennino’s invocations and addresses to the saints, &c., will therefore cease to asto¬nish us. It will be observed, that he speaks of painting none but religious subjects and persons.
In the pictures of the period of which we are now speak¬ing, we meet with none of the beautiful demi-tints and broken colours observable in pictures of a later period; every colour is distinct and forcible, and the figures appear as if inlaid upon the ground. There is no harmonising, or lower¬ing, or reflecting of one colour upon another; no optical ar¬rangement or balancing of the colours, and a glimmering only of the light of perspective and chiaro-scuro. The pictures can scarcely be said to consist of a whole, but of various parte; and we find, accordingly, that they can be, and have been, cut down into smaller pictures without suffering mate¬rial injury. We are told by Lanzi that a sort of manufacture of paintings was carried on in Italy, in which one picture was cut and divided into several; but that no one ever succeeded in dividing pictures of the Venetian school, the various parts of which were so harmonised together that they could not be separated without destroying the effect.
It is to be observed that Cennino does not once allude to the theory of the art, or give rules for composition; but this does not diminish the value of his practical instructions, since mechanical dexterity is indispensable to the artist; and the works of the most accomplished theoretical painter would be looked at with contempt, if he did not possess the requisite facility of hand and skill in expressing his conceptions. A practical treatise on the art must be considered as the steps to the temple of painting of which Paolo Lomazzo speaks; every step of which we must climb, if we expect to obtain ad¬mission to, and distinction in, the temple to which they lead.
Yet, deficient as the art then was in theory, the painters of the school of Giotto possessed a manual dexterity, and a certainty of producing a good and durable effect, which arose from a knowledge derived from the tradition of preceding art¬ists, and confirmed by experience, of the nature and properties of their colours and materials, to which the modem discoveries in chemistry have been able to make few additions.
It is evident from the work of Cennino, even were other proof wanting, that the colouring of these old pictures was extremely vivid and bright, and of a light tone. The darkest shades are produced by glazings of the pure colour alone, and the lighter gradations by the same colour made lighter with white.
One cause of the purity and beauty of the colours in- ancient paintings, is the care with which the grounds were prepared. When these were not of gold, they were inva¬riably white; and we find from the work before us, that no pains were spared to preserve them pure, clean, and bright; for on this the success of the painting appeared in a remark¬able degree to depend. “ All they,” says De Piles, the com¬mentator on Du Fresnoy’s Art of Painting (Dryden’s transla¬tion), “ who have coloured well, have had another maxim to maintain their colours fresh and flourishing, which was, to make use of white grounds, upon which they painted, and oftentimes at the first stroke, without retouching any thing, and without employing new colours, Rubens always used this way; and I have seen pictures from the hand of that great person, painted up at once, which were of a wonderful vivacity. The reason why they made use of those kinds of grounds is, because white not only preserves a brightness under the transparency of colours, which hinders the air from altering the whiteness of the ground, but also repairs the injuries which they receive from the air, so that the ground and the colours assist and preserve each other. It is for this reason that glazed colours have a vivacity which can never be imitated by the most lively and most brilliant co¬lours; because, according to the common way, the different tints are simply laid on each in its place, one after another. So true it is that white with other strong colours, with which we paint at once what we intend to glaze, gives life, spirit, and lustre to the work. The ancients most certainly found that white grounds were much the best; for although they were conscious of the injury which their eyes received from that colour, yet they did not forbear the use of it; as Galen testifies in his tenth book Of the Use of the Parts. * Paint¬ers,’ says he, ‘when they work upon white grounds, place before them dark colours, and others mixed with blue and green, to refresh their eyes; because white is a glaring colour, which wearies and pains the sight more than any other.’ ” To this recommendation of white grounds for painting, we must add the precept of Leonardo da Vinci, cap. 100; “ Sem- pre a quelle colore che vuoi che habino bellezza, prepararai prima il campo candidiswmo, e questo dico de’ colon che sono transparent!, perche a quelli che non sono transparent!, non giova campo chiaro.:” and the example of Paul Veronese, Correggio, Rubens, and many of the great masters of the Italian, Flemish, and Dutch schools. The advantages of gold grounds, to which Cennino gives the preference, are stated by the Translator in a note.
Another point worthy of our attention is, the long and perfect grinding of the colours, and their preservation in the state of powder in bottles under water. This must have been attended with the double advantage of shewing the tone of the colours when wet, and also of preserving them from dust. We must also remark the extreme accuracy with which the tints are made and proportioned; and as the quantities of each may be measured, it is possible to produce, from the descrip¬tions of Cennino, an exact imitation of the shades of colour described by him, as well for complexions as draperies.
It is to be observed also, that Cennino gives particular directions not to torture the colours with the pencil, but to paint them in the proper places at once; a practice to which, says Lanzi, Titian and the Venetian school were indebted for one of their chief excellences, and which was strictly observed by Rubens, and advocated by Du Fresnoy and De Piles.
On a careful examination of the colours used by Cen¬nino, we shall find that, in addition to the causes above men¬tioned, the permanence of the colours in ancient pictures may be attributed to the knowledge possessed by the painters of the properties of the pigments they employed, and also to the few colours used by the best painters, and all who were desirous of securing the durability of their pictures.
Cennino enumerates twenty-four pigments in the whole; but those which he considers his best pigments are but twelve in number, namely, the carbonaceous blacks, sinopia and cinabrese (which were merely two shades of the same colour), ochre and giallorino (Naples yellow), verde terra and verde azzurro (cobalt green), azzurro della magna (cobalt blue), and ultramarine blue, biacca (white lead), and bianco sangiovanni, and amatito; the last two being only used in fresco. On comparing these pigments with the tables of colours in Mr. Field’s Chromatography, it will be observed that all except amatito (which is not known as a modern pigment), giallorino, and azzurro della magna, will be found in table iv., that is, among those pigments not affected by light, oxygen, pure air, or the opposite influences of shade, sulphuretted hydrogen, damp and impure air, the action of lead and of iron. Giallo¬rino is, it seems, liable to change when brought into contact with sulphuretted hydrogen or with iron. Cennino also differs from Mr. Field in regard to the permanence of vermilion, which was found to lose its colour under certain circumstances.
Of the other pigments mentioned by our author, the lac lake, as observed by Mr. Field, is affected by lead; the kermes lake by light and sulphuretted hydrogen; while minium, dra¬gon’s blood, yellow and red orpiment, and verderame (verdi¬gris), are affected by light, oxygen, sulphuretted hydrogen, and lead; and orpiment and verdigris by iron also. Of the remaining colours, zafferano, which was a vegetable yellow, and arzica are no longer in use. The caution given by Cen¬nino to preserve all the colours generally from the contact of iron is noticed in the notes to the work. There is no brown pigment among the colours mentioned by Cennino, although the modems possess at least fifteen pigments of this colour. Of the multitude of pigments which the discoveries of che¬mistry have added to the palette of the painter, the madders and some browns only can be considered as real acquisitions, and pigments upon the durability of which artists may securely depend, and hazard their fame as colourists. The yolk of egg tempera might be used with all the most valuable pig¬ments; but orpiment, indigo, zafferano, and verdigris, re¬quired to be mixed and diluted with glue only. Bianco san¬giovanni, a paint used only in fresco, was diluted with water alone.
In chap. 72, Cennino gives a list of colours that were used in fresco-painting, namely, verde terra, bianco sangiovanni, giallorino, ochre, cinabrese, sinopia, amatito, and black. The list, it will be observed, contains no blue; but in chap. 75, we find that indigo with bianco was sometimes used for the first colouring of blue draperies in fresco, and was afterwards glazed in secco with ultramarine; and in chap. 83, that the dead-colouring of a blue mantle for the Virgin consisted of sinopia and black, and that it was glazed in secco with blue. The green* also in fresco must have been far from brilliant, since verde terra is the only natural green pigment used; and the brightest that could be formed artificially would arise from the mixture of black with ochre, giallorino, or verde terra. This dull colour of the greens accords with the obser¬vation of Sir H. Davy, quoted in the following paragraph:—
“ Another cause of the preservation of these ancient pic¬tures is to be found in the few colours used in painting. The earlier Grecian masters used but four colours, namely, Attic ochre for yellow, sinopis (the sinopia of Cennino) for red, the earth of Melos for white, and black.” “ It is known,” says Lanzi (vol. iii. p. 70), “ that Titian and Giorgione used but
few colours, and these they did not seek for or procure from other places, but they were such as were sold by all the shops in Venice.” Boschini relates an observation of Titian, that whoever would be a painter should be well acquainted with three colours, and have perfect command over them, namely, white, red, and black. “ The azure, the red and yellow ochres, and the blacks, are the colours which seem not to have changed at all in the ancient fresco-paintings. The ver¬milion is darker than recently made Dutch cinnabar, and the red lead is inferior in tint to that sold in shops. The greens in general are dull. Massicot and orpiment are probably among the least durable of ancient colours. If red and yellow ochres, blacks and whites, were the colours most employed by Protogenes and Apelles, so are they likewise the colours most employed by Rafiaello and Titian in their best style. The St. John and Venus in the tribune of the gallery at Florence offer striking examples of pictures, in which all the deeper tints are evidently produced by red and yellow ochres and carbonaceous substances.”—Davy on the Colours used in Painting by the Ancients^—Phil. Trans. 1815. Of this de¬scription (with the exception of amatito) were the colours used in fresco-painting by the school of Giotto, and recommended by Cennino.
The propriety of using different vehicles on the same picture has been lately much discussed, and the general opi¬nion appears to be unfavourable to it. Under these circum¬stances the practical directions of Cennino will be read with much interest. In chap. 35 he informs us that some colours must be used with one vehicle, and some with another; and on referring to the different chapters in which he treats of the colours individually, we find that " some will bear any tempera (vehicle or medium), some can be used with glue only, and some with yolk of egg only while in chaps. 142 and 143, we find that pictures were sometimes painted on a gold ground in distemper (which Count Cicognara thought impracticable, Storia di Scultura, vol. iii.), and the glazings were done with colours ground in oil. The note to chap. 124 contains a description of an ancient picture still in preserva¬tion, painted in this manner; and still more curious on account of the gem-like ornaments in relief which are affixed to it, and which are doubtless the precious stones alluded to by Cennino in this chapter.
The vehicles used with white lead are particularly worthy of remark. Cennino says (chap. 59), “ it will bear any tem¬pera;” and we find accordingly, in the course of the work, that it was used with water, with glue, with yolk of egg, and with oil. He says that it is the only white pigment that can be used on pictures; therefore, as the whites are generally very well preserved in old pictures, we require no further proof of the durability of this pigment when used with other vehicles besides oil. One cause, perhaps, of this durability may be found in a practice mentioned in chap. 62, of shading white draperies with ultramarine, which we know has the property of preserving colours upon which it is used. We have a good example of this in the manner in which Rubens coloured flesh, which in his pictures is always fresh, and the colours well preserved. “ He placed white on the lights, next to that yellow, then light red, making the tint darker as he went into the shades, and painting the carnations brighter than nature. He then passed over the whole with a cool grey (ultramarine and white), until he had softened and mellowed the whole.” In this he imitated nature; for if we break or remove the skin, we find the flesh red and high-coloured. It is this skin which gives the semi-transpa¬rency observed in flesh, and which Rubens has happily imi¬tated in his cool grey tint, and the flesh tints, in many of his pictures, which, after standing the test of 200 years, are now as bright and transparent as when first painted.
The use made by the early Italian artists of lyes (liscivd) is deserving of our notice and consideration. Cennino does not inform us how this lye was prepared; but it has been ascertained that lye produced from pouring water on wood- ashes, from solutions of borax, and also of soda in water, were then used. We find from Cennino’s book that ultramarine (of which soda is a constituent part) was prepared with it; that it was also used in preparing azzurro della magna (an ore of cobalt) and zaflerano. It has likewise been ascertained that soda has a preserving influence on red, yellow, and black pigments; and the result of experiments on these colours has been so satisfactory, that a certain quantity of soda,— or, to speak more correctly, of soap, which is a compound of soda with fat or oil (but not drying oil),—is now used in preparing pigments for painting sails for the British navy. It is also used in the manufacture of printing-ink; and we have now Cennino’s authority for using it with blue pigments. Sir Humphrey Davy informs us, that the Vestorian or Egyp¬tian azure, the excellence of which is proved by its duration of 1700 years, may be easily imitated by carbonate of soda, opaque flint, and copper filings. The Translator has made many experiments on the effects of the alkalis and neutral salts when mixed with colours, and has every reason to be satisfied with the addition of soda, when properly used.
The question as to the propriety of early or late varnish¬ing has been recently much discussed: it will be seen that in chapter 155 Cennino strongly recommends delaying this as long as possible, and he gives his reasons for so doing.
It is to be observed, that he directs the pictures to be pre¬viously warmed in the sun; and that the gold, where visible, was not to be varnished. The practice of varnishing parts of a picture, and not the whole, seems a relic of the old Egyptian manner of painting, which passed from Egypt into Greece, and from Greece into Italy; for we find, within the cases of mummies, coloured drawings on grounds of the purest white. The coloured parts only are varnished with a brilliant and transparent varnish, but the white is left unvarnished.
The practice of painting in encaustic seems to have been discontinued previous to the time of Giotto, since Cennino does not mention wax, except in two places, neither of which has any reference to painting; and this agrees with the expe¬riments recorded by Lanzi, in which no wax was found in pictures painted after the year 1360. Nor does Cennino mention essential oils, which, we therefore conclude, were not used in painting at that period.
Painting in distemper in this country appears to have been chiefly confined to scene-painting; but it is still prac¬tised in Italy. The great objection to it was, that pictures painted in this manner could not be washed ; but as Cennino informs us that they could be varnished, this can no longer be considered an objection. Of the durability of this kind of painting there can be no doubt; since Cicognara mentions some old paintings in distemper at Venice, by Maestro Paolo, who was living in 1346; and by the Vivarini da Murano, dated 1445, which are still in excellent preservation.
It has been said that Giotto was the pupil of Cimabue (a Florentine, who died in 1300), to whom the revival of paint¬ing in Italy has usually been attributed. It has also been said that he was taught by the Greeks; but later researches have shewn that Giunta, of Pisa, who painted in 1202, is the most ancient Italian painter whose name is inscribed on pic¬tures. He was a disciple of the Greeks (see Rosini, vol. i. p. 104; Lanzi, vol. i.). Although deficient in design and in drawing, and entirely ignorant of the theory of the art, these early painters were acquainted with some method of painting which preserved the durability of the colours of their pictures in a most extraordinary degree.
As the painters of the early Italian school acknowledge their manner of painting to have been derived from the Greeks, it may not be uninteresting to see what light has been thrown upon this subject by modern investigation.
Lanzi (vol. i.) relates that many old pictures were ana¬lysed by the celebrated chemist Signor Pietro Bianchi, and they appeared to have been painted in oil; and it was found that the oldest pictures, which were usually the most brilliant, gave indications of wax, a material used in encaustic painting, and not forgotten by the Greeks, who instructed Giunta and his contemporaries. It seemed to have been used as a varnish, with which the painting was glazed, and which gave it a con¬sistency that resisted moisture. It is observable that the quantity of wax used in the fourteenth century continually lessens, until in 1360 it fell into disuse, and was succeeded by distemper-painting, which did not shine. In these experi¬ments no oil was found, except a few drops of essential oil, with which the learned professor conjectured the wax was dissolved to facilitate its application in painting. Cicognara, Piacenza, Zanetti, and all who have studied the subject, agree that it is impossible to decide whether the pictures were painted with colours mixed with oils and resinous var-nishes, or whether these were applied after the picture was finished. “ Much,” says Lanzi (vol. i.), “ would he benefit the art who could inform us with what gums, with what mix¬tures, these Greeks painted. They certainly inherited some valuable methods, which had descended to them by traditions, and which, though altered in part, were certainly derived from their ancestors. Even since the discovery of oil-paint¬ing, we feel a degree of admiration at the colouring of their pictures. In the Museo Medico is a Madonna with this Latin inscription, ‘ Andreas Rico de Candita pinxit' The forms are common, the folds of the drapery ungraceful, the composition unskilful; but the colours are so fresh, so vivid, so brilliant, as to surpass all modem pictures; and the tex¬ture of the picture is so hard and compact that it does not yield to iron, but rather chips off in minute sparkling scales. The frescoes of the ancient Greeks and of the oldest Italian artists are also very hard; and those of upper Italy are harder than those of lower Italy. Some pictures of Saints in St. Nicole di Trevigi surprise us by their durability. Of these, P. Federici (vol. i. p. 188) writes: * I have been told by professors that the consistency of the tints seems to have been owing to some portion of wax used in those days; but I must confess that we have made but little progress in dis¬covering these ancient methods of painting. When they shall have been discovered, they will be found very useful in re¬storing old pictures, and in preserving that solid, fused, and lucid colouring, which in various pictures of the Lombard and Venetian schools, and especially in those of Correggio, was so much esteemed.’ ”
Of the paintings of Cimabue, who died in 1300, M. Bottari writes, that "they appear as if painted but a few years ago; and this preservation is chiefly to be attributed to the great quantity of ultramarine he employed, in which he shewed a liberality only felt by those who have a lofty idea and sincere love for the art. And these pictures must have appeared, to the religious persons for whom they were painted, quite won-derful, not only on account of the superior design, but also from the splendour and vivacity of the colours.” The Christ, which about this period (it is dated 1272) Cimabue painted in Perugia, and which, like that of the Santa Croce at Florence, is quite resplendent with azure (I repeat the expression of the Florentine prelate, M. Bottari), seems painted but yesterday.
Although we have not succeeded in ascertaining the Greek method of painting, we have no doubt respecting the manner in which the grounds were prepared; and we shall find that Cennino describes and recommends the process adopted by the Greeks. The materials also of which the grounds were made are considered evidence of the period when the pictures were painted. Rosini (vol. i. p. 122) makes the following observa¬tions on this subject:—
“ The pictures of Giunta, and those painted at this period (1202), were executed on linen cloth, stretched on a panel, prepared with two or three coats of gesso (see the Christs in San Frediano, San Francesco, Santa Marta, &c.). This is a regular practice, and is noticed by Mariotti, Morena, and others.” We may also add, by Cennino, in chap. 114.
“ If, then, we find them prepared in a different manner, this should signify that they are either anterior or posterior to this time.
“ But among the Crucifixions posterior to Giunta, we find that which is preserved in the church of San Matteo, illustrated by Professor Ciampi, which he believes (and I think correctly) to be an Italian, and not a Greek picture. The proof that it is later than Giunta is, that the feet of Christ are not fastened with two nails, but with one, a practice which began after Cimabue.
“ Now this Crucifixion (continues Ciampi, Sagristia, &c.
p. 87), is not painted on wood, or on linen, but upon a large skin of parchment, carefully stretched upon wood.” Direc¬tions for doing this will be found in chap. 17 of this work, which proves that the practice was then in use.
“ If then the form of the feet indicate a period posterior to Giunta; and if the mode of painting be different from that which was usually followed (that is, on parchment, and not on linen), it is probable that the method did not precede, but that it followed the other.
“ Hence we conclude that paintings upon parchment are, in all probability, posterior to the time of Giunta.
“ Now, who would believe that the Crucifixion in the Campo Santo at Pisa, which is undoubtedly a Greek work, is also painted on parchment, stretched upon a plank? Yet it is even so. And this being the case, we attribute it with good reason to an artist posterior to Giunta.
“ After a lapse of six centuries this picture is in a won¬derful state of preservation. The Christ is inferior to that of Giunta; but in the different subjects which are on each side of the Crucifixion and above the head of the Redeemer, the Greek who executed it shews a desire to compete with and emulate the artist of Pisa.
“ The existence, then, of this picture, which is visibly of Greek origin, although it bears a Latin inscription (of which we have many examples when the sacred effigies were in¬tended to be sent into Italy; and we may here allude to the before-mentioned picture by Andreas Rico, of Candia), and the circumstance of its being executed on parchment, which indicates, as has been said, a later period, lead us to believe that the Greek school continued some years after Giunta, who must also have founded a school, as is evident from the monuments which remain of it.
" It has also been remarked of a picture anterior to the time of Giunta, that besides the gesso, which covered the linen cloth stretched upon the panel, it had been covered with gold- leaf previous to the painting.
“ A Crucifixion, still preserved in the private chapel of the noble family of Rosso, in the convent of San Matteo, is painted on linen stretched on a panel, as is the case with the most ancient pictures ; and according to the opinion of che¬mists, the varnish is mixed with oil”
The Translator abstains from entering into the controversy relative to the vehicle of Van Eyck, which seems inappro¬priate on the present occasion. Should the result of the experiments which have for some years occupied her leisure hours be ultimately successful, a future opportunity will be taken of discussing the subject. It may, however, be pro¬per to observe, that Cennino does not mention the practice of mixing liquid varnish with colours (except in that re¬markable chapter, 161, in which he speaks of the custom of painting the living face with oil-colours, or colours mixed with varnish, in order to make the complexion appear more brilliant) ; and to suggest to the artists who paint with the composition called megelp (mastic varnish and boiled oil), whether that can be a good vehicle which had been tried and rejected by the painters who flourished previous to, and during the age of, Van Eyck. In Vasari’s Life of Antonello da Messina, he informs us, that the painters, when seeking for a vehicle, had, among other things, tried the experiment of mixing liquid varnish with their colours, and that the result had been unsatisfactory. It is probable that their varnish was composed of some kind of resin dissolved in linseed-oil; but that varnish, when dry, could have varied but little from the vehicle made by mixing boiled linseed-
oil with mastic dissolved in spirit of turpentine; for the latter being an essential oil, would evaporate as it dried, and leave the resin and linseed-oil on the picture. The addition of the litharge, on which the modern drying oil is boiled, and which occasions the gelatinising of the megelp, is known to have a deleterious effect on colours, by causing them to change. It is somewhat curious that the painters of the nineteenth century should have revived and practised, as a new invention, what those of the fourteenth century had tried and rejected; and more extraordinary still, that, un-warned by experience, they should continue to use it, in spite of the awful gashes and cracks that disfigure the pic¬tures painted with this vehicle.
As the utility of a work so entirely practical as that of Cennino depends in a great measure on the fidelity of the translation, it has been the endeavour of the Translator to make the present version as literal as the idiom of the two languages will admit.
The learned Editor has remarked that the style of the original work is unpolished, that it abounds in provincialisms, and that it contains many new words and terms of art. Many of these have escaped his research, and are not to be found in any dictionary, as he informs us in several notes, which have been omitted in a translation where the original words are not retained. In such cases the Translator has endea¬voured, by maturely considering the context, and by consult¬ing other eminent works on the same subject, to express what is conceived to be the meaning of the Author; and though aware of many imperfections in the work, no care and attention has been spared to prevent any material mis-interpretation of the text on any essential point; and the Translator relies on the indulgence of the liberal-minded to
excuse unimportant errors in the translation of a work more than 400 years old, which contains many words unknown to the learned Editor and countryman of the Author, and many forms of expression, which, though formerly in use, are now obsolete.
The Translator has spared no pains to illustrate the work by notes and quotations from the best writers on the art, which, it is hoped, will be found of practical utility.
Many of the Italian terms of art have been retained, the Translator considering that by those conversant with art the original words will be better understood. The meaning of such expressions, where not added to the text, will be found in the Notes or in the Index.
There is much of the Introduction, by Tambroni, which does not apply to the practical part of the art of painting; but as it shews the importance which was attached to every thing connected with the fine arts in Italy, and, consequently, the high estimation in which they were held in that country, and as the reflections of this learned and accomplished Editor are so excellent in themselves, it has been thought desirable to retain the whole of the Introduction in this translation, considering it, independent of its intrinsic merit, a literary curiosity, and otherwise historically interesting.
The Notes by the Italian Editor are distinguished by the name of Tambroni, and those by the Translator by the word Translator, at the end of each note.
The Plates which accompany the work were drawn on stone by the Translator, and were selected chiefly from Rosini’s new work, Storia della Pittura.