Notes

NOTES TO THE WORK.
Chap. 1.-P. 1.
(1) - Vasari gives to this passage a figurative meaning. I, however, think it literal, Giotto having taken away some of the defects of the modern Greek style, and formed a Latin, - that is to say, an
Italian school. - Tambroni. Or rather, as Vasari says (vol, iii. p. 10), created a new style, which he called " the manner of Giotto" because it was adopted by him and his disciples, and was afterwards universally esteemed and imitated. He did away with the harsh outline, the staring eyes, straight feet, and pointed hands, with the want of shadow, and other defects of the Greeks, and gave a graceful turn to the heads, and a more natural colouring to the flesh. Giotto particularly disposed his figures in better attitudes, and was the first who gave an appearance of vivacity to his heads, and a more natural flow to his draperies, than those who had preceded him. He shewed some knowledge of perspective and foreshortening, and was the first who endeavoured to express the passions in his figures. See Vasari' s Life of Giotto.
To this eulogy of Vasari we shall add an extract from a ms. of Giambatista Belli, in the Megliabechiana, quoted by Rosini (Storia della Pittura, vol. ii. p. 65), who concurs in the sentiments therein
expressed.
" Giotto became a most excellent master in painting; and his fame was so great, that it was publicly said that he had revived the art of painting after the ancient manner. And the reason of this
was, that having abandoned the rude and unscientific manner of the Greeks, he represented objects more naturally, adding to them grace and beauty ; he was wonderful in composition, diligent in colouring, fertile in invention, a careful searcher after truth, and a great imitator of nature. And, among other things, we observe this (which is a great beauty in his pictures), that all his figures appear to do what is becoming to them. Those which are in sorrow appear melancholy ; the joyful appear merry; those who are afraid look fearful; and, with the exception of Michael Angelo Buonarroti, I have not observed that any one has succeeded better in the expression of the passions."
'To these qualifications the Florentine master (Giotto) added facility of execution, by which his pictures seemed to spring from the movement of his pencil without fatigue or labour; and grace,
without which the Greeks said beauty itself would be but an empty name. As to his colouring, to which neither Vasari nor Lanzi allude, those learned in the art have agreed that he possessed the
merit not only of having totally abandoned the raw and blackish tints of the Greeks, but of having introduced into his pictures a placid harmony, and much of the softness of nature, especially in those which he painted on wood and in distemper." Rosini, vol. ii. p 15.
Some of the paintings of Giotto may still be seen in the principal church at Assisi. Rosini adds, that his greatest merit consisted in being the restorer of painting in Europe after the Greeks and Romans ; and his greatest glory, in obtaining from posterity the acknowledgment that the praise of Dante did not appear the effect of favour, but of justice.
" Credette Cimabue nella pittura
Tener lo campo, ed ora ha Giotto il grido ;
Sì, che la faina di colui oscura."
In Piate VI. is represented an outline of a portrait of this great Italian poet, from a picture by Giotto, discovered at Florence in the pantry of the prison, which was formerly the chapel of the
Podestà . It is referred to by many writers of Italy as the "lost" portrait. It was covered over with plaster of Paris, but is in good preservation. The countenance is pleasing and majestic, free from
that expression of severity which characterises most of the portraits of Dante. -Note by Translator.
Taddeo Gaddi, the son of Gaddo Gaddi, was the favourite disciple and godson of Giotto, with whom he remained until the death of the latter in 1336. As he lived with Giotto twenty-four years, it
is probable that he assisted in the most famous works of that master.
" Lanzi calls him the Giulio Romano of that school (see Rosini, vol. ii. p. 15) ; and I add, that he was greater than Giulio, considering that the latter did not ennoble his own style so much by
the contemplation of the works of Raffaello, as Taddeo did his by studying those of Giotto. No artist - no one conversant with the fine arts -who visits the Campo Santo of Pisa can see, among the various fragments of heads and figures saved from the flames, a Virgin, with the Divine Son in her arms, without feeling astonishment at the grandeur of the design, and without inquiring who was its author ; and the wonder will be increased by hearing that it was the work of a disciple of Giotto."* Ghiberti, in his Commentary, says, that Taddeo " was a most skilful artist, and painted pictures exquisitely." He also painted in the four compartments of the ceiling of the Chapter House of the Dominican fathers in Santa Maria Novella, afterwards called the Chapel of the Spaniards, the glorious Resurrection of the Saviour, the Escape of St. Peter from Shipwreck, the Ascension, and the Descent of the Holy Ghost, which last was pronounced by Lanzi to be one of the finest works of the fourteenth century. In the Resurrection of Christ, Taddeo conceived that idea which was afterwards carried to perfection by Correggio in his celebrated " Notte," - that is, to cause the light to proceed from the glorified body of the Saviour. And if he did not succeed in developing his ideas in the figures and other parts, on account of the difficulties he met with, we can understand perfectly that the requisite mechanical skill was wanting to express the conceptions of genius, which in Gaddi exceeded his skill in the art.
* See a sketch of this picture, Plate VII.
The works in this chapel alone were considered by Rosini the most important efforts of Italian painting after the time of Giotto, and sufficient to establish the fame of the artists, Taddeo Gaddi and Simone Memmi, who painted it ; and he concludes his account of these two great men by saying that they surpassed every other painter of the time in which they lived, and that, next to Giotto (judging from their works which are still preserved), they were worthy of being proclaimed and acknowledged the great propagators of painting in Italy.
Many works of Taddeo's have been preserved besides those we have named. Among them are the picture of the Virgin in the Baroncelli Chapel, and those in the Sacristy of Santa Croce.
"Whoever considers with attention the pictures begun and finished at this period by the two contemporary schools of Tuscany, cannot but be astonished at their importance and extent, not less
than at the extraordinary facility of their execution. I think I am speaking the truth when I say, that the artists of this period did as much in months as is now done in years.*
" To this merit they added such an exquisite sense of the beautiful, and of propriety in the representations of objects and persons, that we often find these masters of the art unable to express their conceptions perfectly ; but they never deviate from the right path, or fall into exaggeration, nor are they betrayed into what was afterwards called mannerism.
" They represent joy as it should be, lively and animated ; their expression of grief is subdued and natural ; gravity is represented as dignified, without appearing pompous ; and the grace which accompanies the gentler emotions never degenerates into affectation."
The great Canova, when he inspected the frescoes of Florence, frequently bestowed these praises on the principal artists of the ancient school, not without adding (amid the admiration they excited in him), that the art should again return to the observance of their principles. See Rosini, vol. ii. - Translator.
* A principal cause of the great number of works executed by these and succeeding painters in Italy, and, we may also add, in the great Flemish schools, is the number of pupils employed by them, and who continued to paint with them many years, as we are informed by Cennino, Vasari, and other writers. The masters made the designs, the pupils advanced the works as far as they were able, and the finishing touches were afterwards added by the master. -Translator

(2) -This address will scarcely be thought extraordinary, when it is recollected that painting owed much of the progress it had made in advance of the other arts to the religious feelings of the people (Vasari, vol. iii. p. 9), and to the reverence paid by the devotees of the Roman Catholic Church to the Virgin, and to saints and martyrs. Many of the painters were monks and priests, who were principally employed in decorating their churches and convents with scriptural subjects. By this means, principally, the people became acquainted with the great events recorded in Scripture. " The best painters of these days were solely employed," says Buffalmaco, " in painting male and female saints on walls and pictures ; and, in spite of all the demons, making men better and more devout." Boccaccio, Decamerone. - Translator.

Chap. 4.- P. 4.
(1) - Triare, macinare: see book ii.
(2) - Incollare: see book v.
(3) - Impannare: see chap. 114.
(4) - Ingessare: see chap. 115.
(5) - Radere i gessi: see chap. 120, 121.
(6) - Rilevare di gesso: see chap. 124-130.
(7) - Mettere oT oro: see chap. 134-140.
(8) - Temperare.
(9) - Campeggiare.
(10) - Spolverare: see chap. 141.
(11) - Grattare: see chap. 142.
(12) - Granare, carucciare: chap. 142.
(13) - Ancona or cona is the same as tavola. Lanzi thinks this word is derived from the Greek icon, that is, picture ; a very natural supposition, because those modern Greeks who painted pictures of saints in Italy would have called them, in their language, icone, whence cone and ancone. - Tambroni.
Chap. 5.- P. 4.
(1) - Sommesso.
(2)- Polpastrello.
Chap. 6.- P. 5.
(1) - Rosini, alluding to this method of drawing, says: " In these ancient times these tablets were used to draw, on a small scale, those subjects which were intended afterwards to be executed
on a large scale." He adds, that the Baron Camuccini possesses several of them, which were undoubtedly used by Giotto ; and he gives an outline of two which he considered the most beautiful.
From these the representation of the Virgin and Child (Plate VIII.) has been selected as one of the illustrations of this work. - Translator.
(2) - These tablets are still made in France and other places. -Tambroni.
This shews the antiquity of grounds made with white lead and oil. -Translator.
Chap. 7. - P. 5.
(1) -This rather singular allusion to the manners of the times shews that the practice of picking bones, and throwing them under
the table, was universal. -Translator.
Chap. 10.- P. 7.
(1)- Carta bambagina : see Preface, by Tambroni.
(2) - Stile. This instrument is described in chap. 142, and is precisely like those used by the ancients, as represented in Potter's Antiquities of Greece. -Translator.
(3) - Vernice da scrivere : see Preface, by Tambroni.
(4) - Ink : see note 2 to chap. 37.
(5) -Pezzuole, a red colour brought from the Levant, now called pezzette di Levante, used by the Italian ladies for rouge. Pliny mentions a pigment called purpurissum, which he says was made from creta argentario, a fine chalk or clay (for the ancients seem to have been ignorant of the difference between calcareous and fiate aluminous earths), steeped in a purple dye. In colour it ranged between minium and blue, and included every degree in the scale of purple shades. He adds, that the best sort came from Pozzuoli, and that it could not be used on a wet surface. It seems probable that this was the colour mentioned by Cennino. -Translator,
Chap. 13.- P. 8.
(1) -The shades in these drawings with the stile and pen ap-
pear to have been hatched, that is, shaded with lines, as in drawings.- Translator.
Chap. 14.- P. 8.
(1) -Cennino mentions no slit for the pen. -Translator.
Chap. 16.- P. 9.
(1) -Terre verte: see chap. 51.
Chap. 17.-P. 10.
(1) - It should be sit nihilominus. Every time that the author has made use of Latin phrases he has done so in the vulgar manner, that is, incorrectly. - Tambroni.
Chap. 18.- P. 11.
(1) - No number appears to be mentioned. - Translator.
(2) - Lapis amatisto: see chap. 42 and notes. - Translator.
Chap. 19.-P. 11.
(1) -In other places this is called baccadeo, which reading seems more correct, either because indigo was prepared from those beads (bacche), or rods of blue glass, which were made formerly and are still made at Venice, or because indigo, extracted from woad, issues from the plant like a berry (bacca) or froth. Perhaps maccabeo and baccadeo were terms used by the Venetian merchants, who brought the indigo from the Levant. -Tambroni. It seems more probable that the term baccadeo was derived from Bacam, a city of India in the Delta of the Ganges, from whence it was probably brought, and that the meaning was indigo of Bacam. The editor also applies the term indaco to the blue tints extracted from woad, and to other blues besides those which were brought from India, thus using it in a general rather than a specific sense. - Translator.
Chap. 22.- P. 12.
(1) - As the author has always spoken of the proportion of ounces, it is probable the negligence of the amanuensis has omitted the word " ounce." - Tambroni.
Chap. 27.- P. 14.
(1) - This chapter throws great light on the state of these ancient schools, in which the disciples always imitated their masters. If we always imitate the manner of one master, we shall infallibly
acquire it, and make it our own. Leonardo da Vinci, in his Treatise on Painting, chap. 24, condemns this practice. He says that a painter who adopts this plan will be the nephew rather than the child of nature. - Tambroni.
Chap. 29.- P. 15.
(1) - Leonardo da Vinci, in his Treatise on Painting, recommends solitude to painters. - Tambroni.
Chap. 30.- P. 16.
(1) -This appears to be an error, since Cennino (chap. 70) divides the face into three parts, namely, the head (or forehead), the nose, and the chin. -Translator.
Chap. 31.- P. 16.
(1) - Pennello mozzetto. This term occurs frequently : it is used where flat tints or broad shadows are to be laid. It seems that the hairs in such pencils were all of one length, not terminating in a
point. (See chap. 65.) This chapter shews that the shades were laid on flat, and softened off, and not hatched, as in pen-and-ink drawings. -Translator,
(2) - Cennino does not give directions for dissolving gum arabic ; but it is well known to be soluble in cold water. - Translator.
Chap. 34.- P. 19.
(1) - Good black chalk for drawing is found near Bantry Bay in Ireland, and also in Wales ; but the Italian has the best reputation. Field's Chromatography, p. 318. -Translator.
Chap. 36.- P. 20.
(1) -It would seem that Cennino did not intend to speak of the stone we now call serpentine, because that is a hard stone, and is now used by painters. The same name must have been given in
his days to a softer kind of stone. Pliny says (lib. 36, cap. 7) there were two sorts of this stone (serpentine), one white and soft, the other black and hard. — Tamhroni. The serpentine, called soap-stone, near the Lizard in Cornwall, is soft. -Translator.
(2) -The braccio of Florence contains about twenty-three inches. It is used to measure woollen and silk goods. The stone used by Cennino must have been about a foot square ; consequently he could have ground but little colour at a time. -Translator.
(3) -Such a stone is called a muller ; glass is often substituted for this. - Translator.
(4) -A spatula or palette-knife of wood. It will be observed, in the course of the work, that the old painters were very careful not to let iron touch their colours. See chap. 1 13-136. - Translator.
(5) - It is worthy of consideration, whether this mode of preserving the colours by keeping them under water, and consequently excluding the air, is not to be preferred to the modern practice of
keeping them dry in bottles. -Translator.
Chap. 37.-P. 21.
(1) -Field, in his Chromatography (p. 315), says,, that all carbonaceous blacks have, when duly mixed with white, a preserving influence upon colours, which they owe chemically to the bleaching
power of carbon, and chromatically to the neutralising and contrasting power of black with white. - Translator.
(2) -Lamp black. The ancients, according to Dioscorides (lib. 5, cap. 139, e. 140), made use of this condensed smoke for their writing-ink. To three ounces of the lamp black they added one
pound of gum. But the lamp black for painting is now collected from the smoke of the glass furnaces. -Tambroni. This is the ink of which Cennino speaks in the early chapters of the book. It is also mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci, who employed it as a pigment in shading. -Translator.

Chap. 38.- P. 22.
(1) -This colour, as well as cinabrese, which is made from it, is no longer known by this name. Mattioli, in his Erbario, and in his discourse on the fifth book of Dioscorides, c. 71, p. 752, has this
definition : " This red ochre of Sinopia is very fine ; it is heavy, dense, and of the colour of liver, without any mixture of stone ; it is coloured equally throughout, and, if put into water, diffuses itself
copiously. It is dug in Cappadocia out of certain caves, and afterwards carried to the city of Sinopia, where it is purified and sold ; and is thence called sinopia. It has the property of drying," &c.
Dioscorides finishes here. His commentator says, that in his time there was none which could with truth be said to be the true sinopia ; therefore it is likely that this was coarse Armenian bole.
He cites Giorgio Agricola, from whom he collects that sinopia was found in his own mines, as well in gold mines as in those of copper, silver, and iron. Pliny speaks of sinopia (book 35, c. 7) as one of the four colours of which Apelles, Echiones, Melanzio, &c, made use. Lazzarini, in the fourth dissertation on painting (p. 120, Op. torn, i.), asserts that it is the same colour as our red earth ; but perhaps it was a finer colour. It appears to have been a dark-red earth, or brown oxide of iron, the metal being oxidised in the third degree. -Tambroni.

(2) -With this colour are made most of the beautiful red grounds so much admired at Pompeii and elsewhere (Davy on the Colours used by the Ancients, — Phil, Trans., 1815). There were three sorts ; the best came from Lemnos, and was stamped to shew that it was genuine; it was also brought from Egypt and Africa, from the Balearic islands, and from Cappadocia. -Translator.

Chap. 39.-P. 22.
(1) - This chapter is a proof that Vasari had never read this book, because, as 1 have mentioned in the Preface, he said, in the life of Agnolo Gaddi, that Cennino does not mention this colour. -Tambroni (Vas. ii. p. 223).

Chap. 40.- P. 23.
(1) - The monks were the great preservers of learning in those days, and doubtless many important secrets in the arts are yet concealed in convents. Vasari likewise mentions the skill of an abbot in preparing ultramarine. See the Life of Pietro Perugino. - Translator.
(2) -" E dove à in maggiore altezza il tiglio pia disteso e delicato.'*
I am in doubt as to the exact signification of this passage ; but think the meaning may be collected from the subjoined description of artificial unground cinnabar, which was that described by Cennino. -Translator.
" Vermilion, or cinnabar, is a compound of mercury and sulphur, in the proportion of 100 parts of the former to 16 parts of the latter, which occurs in nature as a common ore of quicksilver, and is prepared by the chemist as a pigment, under the name of vermilion. It is, properly speaking, a bisulphuret of mercury. This artificial compound being extensively employed, on account of the beauty of its colour, in painting, for making red sealing-wax, and other purposes, is the object of an important manufacture. When vermilion is prepared by means of sublimation, it concretes in masses of considerable thickness, concave on one side, convex on the other, of a needle form, colour brownish -red in the lump, but, when reduced to powder, of a lively red colour. On exposure to a moderate heat it evaporates, without leaving a residuum, if it be not contaminated with red lead ; and at a higher heat it takes fire and burns entirely away with a blue flame." Ure's Dictionary of Art. Merimee says, that the Ethiop's mineral (sulphur and mercury) when sublimed yields a crystallised mass, composed of bright filaments of a violet lint, which by trituration become of a scarlet colour. - Translator.
(3) -In the Report of the Commissioners of the Fine Arts, it is stated, that a method has been discovered by which vermilion is rendered durable in fresco painting.
"When pure and alone, light does not affect its colour; but white lead, or any oxide or preparation of that metal, mixed with it, soon deprives it of colour, and acids have the same effect ; impure
air will blacken or metallise it. When used alone, or under favourable circumstances, it will stand a long time ; hence it has a varying character for durability. It can only be used safely with earths,
ochres, and blacks." Field, p. 175 ; and see the note to chap. 41. -Translator.
Chap. 41.- P. 24.
(1) - Minium was called cerasta usta by the ancients. It is durable when used alone, but loses its colour when mixed with white lead, or any other preparation of lead, or with acids. It may, however, be mixed with ochres, earths, or black (Field) ; and Cennino and other old masters used it with vermilion. - Translator.

Chap. 42.- P. 24.
(1) - Baldinucci, in the life of Cennino, observes, that this word amatisto, or amatito, is a better word than that which we (the Italians) now use, -namely, matita ; since k&matios, from whence it
is derived, signifies sanguine. The Latins say, hematites, or amethystine. Ant. Tilesias, in his book De Colorib. p. 432, speaking of this colour, says : " Amethystinus prseterea, ex quo tyriamethystus in usu fdit olim." (And the amethyst, an extract from which, the tyriamethyst, was formerly in use.)
The cardinals had the red hat by a decree of the Council of Lyons, held in 1245 by Innocent IV., who gave it to them at Clugny in 1247. They did not adopt the red dress until 1464, -that is, under the pontificate of Paul II. ; therefore, at the period when Cennino was living, they still wore the purple colour. - Tambroni.
It appears to me that there are two minerals known by names somewhat similar, and that the distinction between them is not sufficiently attended to. The amatito of Cennino is probably native
cinnabar, which " occurs crystallised in rhomboids, has a flat conchoidal fracture, is fine-grained, opaque, has an adamantine lustre, and is of a colour varying from cochineal to ruby red. It is met
with, in larger or smaller lumps, in veins, which are surrounded by a black clay, and is associated with native quicksilver amalgam, with iron ore, lead glance, blende, copper ore, gold," &c. The above de-scription tallies well with that given by our author, and by Baldinucci, in the Vocabolario del Disegno. It is produced in many countries, and is said by Dr. Ure to be the most prolific ore of sulphur. As a permanent red inclining to crimson would be a most desirable addition to our colours for painting in fresco, a pursuit now so much encouraged by government, artists should make experiments with native cinnabar, which would require no further preparation than that of grinding. The other mineral, amatita, or matita (terminating in a), which is certainly the hematite, the woodiron of Cornwall, is comparatively a soft stone, and is used for drawing; it is either red or black. See II Reposo di Raffaello Borghini. This is an ore of iron, and is found, says Vasari (In-
troduction to the Three Arts, chap, xxxii.) in iron mines. A stone so soft as to be used for drawing could not have been used for burnishing gold, which it would undoubtedly have tinged with its
colour. The colour of this stone also is red, or a reddish brown, while that of the first inclines to purple. The French painters used a natural red earth, which was brought from England (the terra
rossa d'Inghilterra of Pozzo), instead of lake, which could not be used in fresco ; and we are told, that the damper the wall was on which it was applied, the finer did the colours become. " The
ancients," adds De Piles (Elémens de Peinture, part i. chap, viii.), " had a colour nearly resembling lake, with which they painted in fresco ; but its composition is unknown to us." It is probable that he alluded here to the amatito of Cennino. Pozzo used calcined Roman vitriol (vitriolo abbracciato, oxidum ferri rubrum, red oxide of iron), mixed with vermilion, for painting draperies in fresco : he informs us that from this mixture resulted a purple colour as brilliant as that of the finest lake. See Pozzo's instructions for painting in fresco at the end of his well-known work, the Jesuit's Perspective, and note (1) to chap. 72. - Translator.

Chap. 43.- P. 24.
(1) - This pigment is a resin of a red colour, which, during the dog-days, exudes from the tree called pterocarpus draco by Linnaeus. Vide Marcucci, Sag. Analit. p. 138. The Cavai. Rosa (Trot, delle Porpor. p. 196), among many others, thinks that this may be the lapathum mentioned by the anonymous Greek author to whose work we have referred, and which has been translated into Latin by Bulengero.-Tambroni.
It is thought that this is the colour called cinnabar by the Indians, said to be produced by the mixed blood of elephants and dragons in their deadly fights. Of all colours, it most aptly represents blood. Modern research has confirmed the opinion of Cennino as to its value as a pigment. White lead soon destroys it. -Translator.
Chap. 44.- P. 24.
(1) -This is gum-lac. It is not at present in use by painters, but it was used by the masters of the old school, and principally by the Venetians ; perhaps because Venice was the great mart for colours, and there they were most perfect. This lake, which was then a common colour, was very excellent at that time. The word lacca, lake, is said to be from the Arabic, lack : it was called by the Greeks also lacca. Rosa, in his treatise Delle Porpor. p. 192, e seg., cites two passages preserved and translated by Bulengero, the one from Democritus of Abdera, and the other from an anonymous author, which specify among the ingredients used in counterfeiting purple, the lacca acaica, or flower of the acaja; but Rosa confesses his ignorance in this particular, nor does he know whether the lacca tinctorum of Mirpesio is the resin, or gum-lac, or the flower of the acaja. - Tambroni.
The lakes found in old pictures were prepared either from the lac or kermes. The lac-lake is less brilliant and more durable than those of cochineal and kermes, but inferior, in both respects, to the colours of madder. — Field, 184, 185. It is imported from India in cakes, stamped with peculiar marks to designate the different manufactures. The solvent used for them is either sulphuric or muriatic acid. Dr. John found the lac-dye to consist of colouring-matter, 50 ; resin, 25 ; and solid matter, composed of alumina, plaster, chalk, and sand, 22. - Translator.

Chap. 45.- P. 25.
(1) -Ochre, yellow and brown, is a native earthy mixture of silica and alumina, coloured by oxide of iron, with occasionally a little calcareous matter and magnesia. Ochre occurs in beds some
feet thick, which lie generally above the oolite, - are covered by sandstone and quartzose sands, more or less ferruginous, and are accompanied by grey plastic clays of a yellowish or reddish colour, all of them substances which contribute more or less to its formation. The ochry earths are prepared for use by grinding under edge millstones and elutriation. The yellow ochres may be easily rendered red or reddish brown by calcination in a reverberatory oven, which oxidises their iron to a higher degree.
Native red ochre is called red chalk and ruddle in England.
It is an intimate mixture of clay and red iron ochre, is massive, of an earthy fracture, is brownish-red or blood-red, and it stains and writes red. The oxide of iron is sometimes so considerable that the ochre may be reckoned an ore of that metal. - Ure's Dictionary of the Arts. The ochres are valuable pigments ; they are not affected by light, impure air, or the action of lime ; but in time they become somewhat darkened. -Field.
Chap. 46.- P. 26.
(1) -This doubtful declaration of the author respecting the nature of giallorino, shews that he did not know the preparation of all the colours, nor whence they were brought. - Tambroni.
Giallorino is a compound of the oxides of lead and antimony. It was anciently prepared at Naples, and is still prepared in Italy by a secret process ; for few of the receipts which have been published produce a good colour. It is apt to be very unequal in different samples. It is supposed to have been a native production of Vesuvius and other volcanoes, and is a pigment of deservedly considerable reputation. Iron is destructive of its colour. For this reason it should not be mixed with Prussian blue, or ochres, and other pigments of which iron is an ingredient. It may be used pure, or with white lead. It dries well in oil. See Field, Ure. -Translator.

Chap. 47.- P. 27.
(1)-Artificial orpiment, of which Cennino speaks, is manufactured chiefly in Saxony, by subliming, in cast-iron cucurbits, surmounted by conical cast-iron capitals, a mixture in due proportion
of sulphur and arsenious acid (white arsenic). As thus obtained, it is in yellow, compact, opaque masses, of a glassy aspect, affording a powder of a pale yellow colour. Genuine orpiment is often adulterated with an ill-made compound, which is sold in this country by the preposterous name of king's yellow. This fictitious substance is frequently nothing else than white arsenic combined with a little sulphur, and is quite soluble in water. Ure's Diet. The ancients possessed this pigment, which they called auri pigmentum. It could not be used on wet surfaces.
It is also found in a natural state in volcanic districts, and the best specimens are brought from Persia. It has been observed that orpiment and other poisonous pigments are less poisonous in the natural than in the artificial state. -Translator*
(2) - We may here remark that the school of Giotto did not approve of the use of orpiment; and Cennino, indeed, seems to have had almost an antipathy to it: see chaps. 47, 48, and 72.
Much has been written lately on mixing powdered glass, or pure silica, with colours, in order to give them the rich varnishy look observable in old pictures. Powdered glass is opaque ; and we do
not observe that those colours with which it is mixed are remarkable for any varnishy appearance. I allude particularly to orpiment, and also to smalt, " with which (says Dr. Ure) powdered glass is mixed, to render the tint lighter ;" which it could not do, were it not opaque.
I think the passage in the text of Cennino conclusive as to its use, and that the old masters did not use levigated glass with their pigments as a dryer, as supposed by Mr. Field in his Chromato-
graphy, p. 151, but merely to assist in pulverising and dividing the pigment more perfectly. Mr. Held surmises, also, that orpiment may have been used with simple varnish. Now we do not know
what the old masters meant precisely by the term " varnish," but Cennino says expressly of this colour, that it would bear no ternpera but size. The old masters were accustomed to mix it with
indigo as well as with ultramarine. - Translator.
Chap. 48.- P. 27.
(1) -The vocabulary has risigallo and risagallo. But this word, deriving its origin from the Arabic risalgallo, seems preferable, because the article al should be preserved. The chemists now call
it realgar. See Marcucci, Sag. Analit., p. 87. The learned professor Lanzi gave me the following note, which explains the nature of its composition : Alegejar. psilotricutn ex calce viva et arsenico. -Tamoroni.
Red orpiment is a native ore, which occurs in primitive mountains, associated sometimes with native arsenic, under the form of veins or efflorescences, very rarely crystalline ; as also in volcanic districts, - for example, at Solfaterra, near Naples ; or sublimed in the shape of stalactites in the fissures and craters of Etna, Vesuvius, and other volcanos. It has a fine scarlet colour in mass, but orange in powder, whereby it is distinguishable from cinnabar. It is soft, sextile, readily scratched by the nail ; its fracture vitreous and conchoidal. It volatilises easily before the blow-pipe, emitting the garlic smell of arsenic along with that of burning sulphur. It consists of arsenic 70, sulphur 30, in 100 parts. Factitious orpiment has not the rich colour of the native pigment, and is more poisonous. The orange hue is produced by heat. See Ure's Diet. -Translator.
Chap. 50.- P. 28.
(1) -This word is no longer applicable to any colour. Perhaps arzica may be what we now call gamboge, - the cambodia gutta of Linnaeus. - Tambroni.
This is scarcely probable, since gamboge is a natural pigment, being a gum issuing from the above-mentioned tree, and Cennino informs us that arzica was a chemical production. -Translator.
(2)- Delia Magna, Allemagne, Germany. See ch. 61.— Translator.
Chap. 51.- P. 28.
(1) -Cennino appears to have had a great partiality for this colour; and it seems to have deserved its reputation, since it is unaffected by strong light or impure air, and combines with other colours without injury. It has not much body, is semitransparent, and dries well in oil. The best is procured from Monte Baldo, near Verona. It was much used by all the old masters, particularly in
representing dead persons. -Translator.
(2) - Cennino gives directions for gilding on verde terra in chap. 133. - Translator.
Chap. 52.- P. 29.
(1) -This is an ore of cobalt, and owes its green colour to the copper, iron, or zinc with which it is combined. It is a very durable pigment. - Translator.
Chap. 55.- P. 30.
(1) - The reason of this appears to be, that the green will be lighter if the yellow be put first, and the blue added afterwards ; for if the blue be put first, the green may become so dark, that it will be necessary to make a great quantity in order to produce a light tint of green, and thus create a waste of colour.- Translator.
Chap. 56.- P. 30.
(1) -The painters who lived when the arts were restored in Italy used this colour ; and Leonardo da Vinci, in his treatise on Painting, cap. xcix., advises the application of varnish to the surface of the colour as soon as it is dry, because, being a soluble salt, it would be carried off whenever the picture was washed. This colour when ground in oil-varnish is not soluble in water, but its only use is in glazing (see Cennino, chap. 142, 143), and as a dryer in mordants (see chap. 152). The bright greens seen in some old pictures are made by glazings of verdigris. De Piles calls this pigment the ruin of all colours, and says, that if the smallest particle enter into the ground, it is sufficient to spoil the whole picture. It should be used always alone, for it destroys other pigments when it is mixed with them. Pencils and brushes that have been used for verdigris must never be used with other colours. De Piles, Elémens de Peinture, part i. chap. 4. - Translator.
Chap. 58.- P. 31.
(1) -Bianco sangiovanni prepared in the manner described by Cennino is not, that I am aware of, any longer in use in painting in fresco. We can readily believe that on this depends in a great
measure the success of this mode of painting. It might, then, be useful to return to this practice. Armenini, in cap. 7. of book ii., taught various modes of purifying this kind of white ; but none of
them are at all like this. -Tambroni.
Modern fresco painters prepare their white exactly in the manner described by Cennino. See the Report of the Commissioners on the Fine Arts. - Translator.
Chap. 59.- P. 32.
(1) - It is customary on the continent to mould the white lead into conical loaves before sending them into the market. This is done by stuffing well-drained white lead into unglazed earthen pots
of the requisite size and shape, and drying it to a solid mass, by exposing these pots in stove-rooms. The moulds being now inverted on tables, discharge their contents, which then receive a final desiccation, and are afterwards put up in pale blue paper, to set off the white colour by contrast. Nothing in all the white-lead process is so injurious as this pot operation - a useless step, fortunately unknown in Great Britain. Neither greasing the skin nor wearing thick gloves can protect the operators from the diseases induced by the poisonous action of the white lead; and hence they must be soon sent off to some other department of the work. Ure's Diet.
(2) -When white lead has lost its colour, it may be restored by the application of oxygenated water. - Translator.
Chap. 60. - P. 32.
(1) -Of this blue the best sort comes from Saxony, and is a vitreous oxide of cobalt, combined with potash and white silicious sand, and with oxide of arsenic ; and was much used in the time of
the author. The blues of Berlin, of Paris, and of cobalt, are of recent invention.- Tambroni. When the cobalt has been deprived of the arsenic by roasting, and has been mixed with two or three parts of very pure silicious sand, it is called zaffire. Another pigment, called azure or smalt, is prepared from zafire. The more free the cobalt is from foreign metals, the finer is the colour, and the deeper is the shade ; paler tints are easily obtained by the addition of more glass.
The presence of nickel gives a violet tone (Ure's Diet, of Arts, p. 303). This purple tint may be frequently observed in old pictures, and appears to be very durable. - Translator.
Chap. 61.- P. 32.
(1) - Indigo appears to have been known to the ancients under the name of purpurissum indicum. It was one of the colours which Pliny says could not be used on wet walls, consequently not on
fresco. At a later period it was, however, used in fresco during the summer, at which time it dried well, but never during the winter, when it would not dry. See U Abecedario Pittorico, and the note to chap. 144. It was much used in painting about the time of the monk Theophilus, who mentions it in his work De Arte Pingendi, lib. i. cap. 14.
Chap. 62.- P. 33.
(1) - The present mode of preparing this colour (Marcucci, Sag. Analit., p. 50, 54) is very different from that described by Cennino in this chapter. Painters should give it a trial. The method of the
author has the experience of centuries in its favour, and the beauty of the blue draperies which we see in old pictures and on walls is perfectly astonishing. It is to be observed, that the action of fire, to which the stone is now subjected, is likely to produce some alteration in the colour. - Tambroni.
(2) - Cennino seems to have been somewhat of the same opinion in this respect as Pope Sextus IV., of whom the following anecdote is related by Vasari in his life of Cosmo Roselli, who died in 1484.
" It is said that the pope had promised to give a prize to the painter whose picture he should consider the best executed. The pictures being finished, and every artist having used his best endeavours to deserve the prize and honour, his holiness went to see them. Cosmo Roselli, being aware that he was deficient in invention and design, sought to conceal these defects by covering the work with the finest ultramarine and other brilliant colours, and illuminating it with a great quantity of gold, so that there was neither tree, nor grass, nor drapery, nor cloud, that was not illuminated ; for he thought that the pope, who understood but little of the art, would on this account award him the prize. The day being arrived when the pictures of all the artists were to be exhibited, that of Cosmo was the laughingstock of all the other painters, and they bantered instead of compassionating him. But the laugh was soon turned against them ; for the colours, as Cosmo had expected, so dazzled the eyes of the pope, who did not understand painting, although he took much delight in pictures, that he adjudged the work of Cosmo to be better than all the rest. And so he ordered the prize to be given to him, and commanded that the other artists should cover their pictures with the best azure that could be procured, and illuminate them with gold, until they were as richly coloured as that of Cosmo. The poor unfortunate painters, in despair that they were obliged to yield to the ignorance of the holy father, now took the same pains to spoil
their works as they had formerly done to make them perfect ; and Cosmo in his turn laughed at those who a short time before had laughed at him."
I subjoin the modern mode of preparation, and also some methods of preparing factitious ultramarine, for the purpose of shewing that the fine colour of the old ultramarine was probably owing to the lye with which it was prepared. It would be worth while to ascertain whether the lye, after being removed from the ultramarine on which it has stood for some time, have parted with any of its alkali, or whether it be as strong as when first used. The use of lye with colours was by no means uncommon with the old masters, as I shall hereafter mention.
" Till a few years ago every attempt failed to make ultramarine artificially. At length, in 1828, M. Guimet resolved the problem, guided by the analysis of MM. Clement and Desormes, and by an
observation of M. Tassaert, that a blue substance like ultramarine was occasionally produced on the sandstone hearths of his reverberatory soda furnaces. Of M. Guimet's finest pigment I received a bottle, several years ago, from my friend M. Merimée, secretary of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, which has been found by artists little if any inferior to the lazzulite ultramarine. M. Ghiimet sells it at sixty francs per pound French, which is little more than two guineas the English pound. He has kept his process secret. But M. Gmelin, of Tubingen, has published a prescription for making it, which consists in enclosing carefully in a Hessian crucible a mixture of 2 parts of sulphur and 1 of dry carbonate of soda, heating them gradually to redness till the mass fuses, and then sprinkling into it by degrees another mixture of silicate of soda and aluminate of soda ; the first containing 72 parts of silica, and the second 70 parts of alumina.
The crucible must be exposed after this for an hour to the fire. The ultramarine will be formed by this time, only it contains a little sulphur, which can be separated by means of water. M. Persoz, professor of chemistry at Strasbourg, has likewise succeeded in making an ultramarine, of perhaps still better quality than that of M. Guimet.
Lastly, M. Robiquet has announced, that it is easy to form ultramarine by heating to redness a proper mixture of kaolin (China clay), sulphur, and carbonate of soda. It would therefore appear, from the preceding details, that ultramarine may be regarded as a compound of silicate of alumina, silicate of soda, with sulphuret of sodium ; and that to the reaction of the last constituent upon the former two it owes its colour." - Ure.
In preparing ultramarine for painting, it is now the practice to calcine the lapis lazzuli at a red heat, then quench in water, and grind to an impalpable powder. It is then worked into a paste composed of 100 parts lapis lazzuli, 40 resin, 20 white wax, 25 linseed oil, and 15 Burgundy pitch. After standing fifteen days, and kneading it, the ultramarine is separated by washing it with clean water heated to 150 degrees; the residue only, which yields the ultramarine ashes, is treated with a solution of soda. Ultramarine is found to consist of silica, alumina, sulphur, and soda or potash. De Piles observes, that ultramarine when calcined became more brilliant, but that the quantity was diminished, and that by refining it in this manner it became coarser in texture, and difficult to use in miniature painting, — a charge equally applicable to the modern pigment. -Translator.
(3) -The word lazzari, instead of lazzuli, which is used by good writers, and is to be found in the vocabularies, at first appears a vulgarism. But if we pay attention to the following note, for which
I am indebted to the Abate Lanzi, professor of Oriental languages, we cannot but acknowledge that the word lazzari more nearly resembles the root from which it is derived than the word lazzuli.
We could not then consider it a provincialism, but merely a word no longer in use. "Lazoard, coll' articolo al-Lazoard, vocabolo persiano, usato dagli Arabi e vale cilestro ; da cui ne viene 1' azzurro." -Tambroni.
(4) - Though the blue colour be extracted, a fine cool grey remains, which is now used under the name of ultramarine ashes. -Translator.
(5) - Kermes grains are the dried bodies of the female insect of the Coccus ilicis, which lives upon the leaves of the prickly oak. It has been known in the East from the time of Moses, and has been employed from time immemorial in India to dye silk. It was also used by the Greek and Roman dyers. Pliny calls it coccigranum ; and says that there grew upon the oaks of Africa, Sicily, &c, a small excrescence like a bud, called cusculium. The Spaniards paid half their tribute in these grains. There are many varieties. In Germany it is called Johannis blut (St. John's blood). Good kermes is plump, of a deep red colour, an agreeable smell, and a rough and pungent taste. Its colouring matter is soluble in water and alcohol.
It becomes yellowish or brownish with acids, and violet or crimson with alkalis ; with alum it forms a blood red. It is more permanent than the colour produced by cochineal, as is proved by the brilliancy of the old Brussels tapestry. Ure. - Translator.
(6) - Verzino. This word is usually translated Brazil wood; but it is evident, as Brazil wood was not known until some years after the discovery of America in 1492, that Cennino could not have
been acquainted with it. It is highly probable that by verzino Cennino meant the litmus or archil, the use of which was revived by Federigo of Florence in the beginning of the fourteenth century (the dates therefore agree) ; and he made such an immense fortune by its preparation, that his family became one of the grandees of that city, under the name of Orcellarii, or Rucellarii. For more than a century Italy possessed the exclusive art of making archil, obtaining the lichens from the islands of the Mediterranean. It is now prepared in Holland from a species of lichen called Lecanora tartarea, Rocella tartarea, brought from the Canary islands, Sweden, &c, by a process which has been kept secret. The litmus is formed into small cubical pieces, which are dried in the shade. It has a violet colour, is easy to pulverise (another point of agreement with the verzino of Cennino), and is partially soluble in water and alcohol. The colour is not altered by alkalis, but acids turn it red ; it is used in chemistry as a delicate test of acidity. Its colour is not durable. - Translator.
Chap. 64.- P. 36.
(1) -This should be made the subject of an experiment, as, at the present time, the hairs are no longer baked.-Tambroni.
(2) -This shews that the old masters did not use brushes with long handles.- Translator.
(3) -Hair-pencils are now made from the hair of other animals besides those of the minever, by a process somewhat different from that described above, but which it is useless to describe, good
brushes, especially those from Paris, being now so easily obtained ; besides, their manufacture requires great skill and experience, there being, it is said, but four first-rate hands among all the dexterous pencil-makers of Paris, and these are principally women. The usual criterion of a good pencil is to form a fine point, so that all the hairs, without exception, may be united when they are moistened by laying them on the tongue or drawing them through the lips ; but this, of course, does not apply to those mentioned in the text requiring points of a different form. - Translator.
Chap. 65.- P. 37.
(1) -The author adds, " con groppo over nodo di bomare over vesuo." The editor remarks, in a note to this passage, that it is impossible to find any traces of these words, and thinks it likely
that the amanuensis may have made an error in copying. It is not, however, of great importance to ascertain with what kind of ligature the brushes were fastened to their handles. - Translator.
Chap. 67.- P. 39.
(1) -Painting in fresco on walls is also called by Vasari (Introduction to the Three Arts, chap, xix.) more masterly, noble, manly, secure, resolute, and durable, than any other kind of painting.
That this mode of painting was practised by the ancient Greeks and Romans, there appears to me no doubt, if we read Vitruvius, lib. vii. chap, iii., attentively. Some persons, nevertheless, have
called it in question, and among them, Requenos (Sag. sul Ristabil. dell' Encausto, vol. i. p. 188, e seg.), who, by a forced interpretation, would explain the udo tectorio of Vitruvius in his own way, as referring to encaustic painting. But this opinion was victoriously combated by the author in his work Della Memoria per le Belle Arte, printed in the Efemeridi Romane of 1785, month of July. - Tambroni,
(2) - Intonaco signifies the last coat of lime laid on walls previous to painting on them in fresco. See Vasari and Baldinucci, Voc. Dis. The term arricciato is applied to the second coat of plaster,
which was made of river-sand and lime. See Baldinucci, Voc. Dis. Vasari. -Translator.
(3) - This passage is extremely obscure ; but the following extracts may assist in rendering it more intelligible : -In the Life of Simon Memmi, Vasari, after mentioning many paintings done by Memmi in the church of San Francesco in Ascesi, adds, that some " remained imperfect, and were drawn, as may still be seen, with a pencil dipped in rossaccio, on the arricciato ; which was the method pursued by the old masters, for the sake of expedition, in making their designs when working in fresco ; for having divided the whole arricciato into squares, they drew on it in pencil, copying from a small drawing what they intended to do, and enlarging it in the proportion required for their work." And, again, in the Introduction to the Three Arts, " the cartoons must be divided
into squares, that the drawing may be correct and properly proportioned." I have seen small original drawings in pen and ink, by the Italian masters, which were divided into squares of little more
than half an inch diameter, for the purpose of being enlarged for fresco and other paintings; and there is no doubt that Cennino intends to describe the process of doing this. -Translator.
(4) - Pani Spinelli was the first who discontinued the use of this ventaccio. Vasari (vol. iii. p. 98) says, " he used solid colours in making his mixtures and tints, laying them judiciously in their
proper places, - that is, the lights on the most elevated parts, then the middle tints for the general colours of the flesh, and the dark colours on the outlines. In this mode of painting he shewed great facility, and gave great durability to his fresco paintings, because he put the colours in their proper places, and then united them together with a large and soft brush ; and so well did he execute his works, that one would never wish to see better, and his colouring is unequalled." - Translator.
(5) - See the letter from Mr. Andrew Wilson to his son in the Report of the Commissioners, where he describes the method of painting pursued by Signor Pasciani at Genoa. See also Vasari's
Life of Buonamico Buffalmacco, vol. ii. p. 144. - Translator.
(6) -Vasari likewise gives this praise to Agnolo Gaddi, and says he was not great in design. — Tambroni. Rosini also (Storia defla Pittura) confirms Vasari's opinion of the merit of this artist. The
works of his maturer age did not fulfil the early promise he gave of attaining excellence in his profession. His love of money surpassed his love of the art ; he gave up painting for commerce, and left his sons heirs to great wealth, instead of great fame. His pictures, at least those to which his name is attached, are not numerous. Of the Virgin, painted by him in the Santo Spirito at Florence, Rosini says (vol. ii. p. 166) that it appears as fresh as if painted yesterday; and that if Agnolo has been celebrated for having painted this one picture only, it is highly probable that he would have been still more renowned for his more important pictures which have perished. -Translator.
Chap. 70.- P. 45.
(1) -Cennino gives in this chapter a brief summary of the proportions of the human body. It was but little more than a century before the time of Cennino that painting freed itself from the tram-
mels of ignorance which fettered it, for Cimabue died in 1300, Giotto in 1337, and the master of Cennino in 1387 ; and these great men had, without other assistance than what they derived from meditation and geometry, fixed the proportional standard of a. man at eight faces and two parts. It cannot be said that they had followed Vitruvius in this ; because in lib. iii. cap. 1, he divides the body into ten faces. We must then conclude that the measure here specified must be the result of the theory of Giotto. Leonardo followed the measurements of Vitruvius, and made his figures taller. Many who came after him, by dint of a refinement of reasoning, and abstract notions, and calculations, made this part of the science intricate and obscure. Whoever is inclined to know all the most celebrated writers on the symmetry of the human body, will find a learned catalogue in the work on the Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci, p. 202, e seg., written by that illustrious and learned artist, Giuseppe Bossi, whose premature death was fatal to the cause of the fine arts in Italy, and mournful to his friends. This chapter also may assist in enabling us to judge of old paintings, and make us acquainted with the history of the arts previous to the age of Cennino. - Tambroni.
(2) -There is evidently a mistake here. Leonardo da Vinci allows two faces for the length of the humerus, that is, from the shoulder to the elbow ; while Cennino allows but one. Cennino also
makes the length of the cubitus (t. e. from the elbow to the hand), which is naturally shorter than the humerus, one face and one part. -Translator.
(3)-Modesty requires that these few words should be omitted. They do not in any manner relate to the arts. -Tambroni.
(4) - This remark, and that which follows, shews the extremely low state of anatomical science in those days. -Translator.
Chap. 71.- P. 46.
(1) -Succeeding painters appear to have used a red tint (rossaccio) instead of the ventaccio. See Vasari, vol. ii. p. 177. -Translator.
Chap. 72.- P. 47.
(1) - According to Professor Hess this colour may be used in fresco. Pozzo, the author of the Jesuits' Perspective, has given a recipe by which vermilion may be rendered durable in fresco painting.
It is given in the Report of the Commissioners of the Fine Arts, and is as follows : " Having put powdered vermilion into an earthen vessel, pour clear lime-water over it; pour this lime-water away,
without disturbing the vermilion, and add fresh lime-water to it. After several such washings, the nature and properties of the vermilion will be changed, and it will incorporate more easily with the
mortar." - Translator.
(2) - Vasari (Introduction to the Three Arts, cap. xix.), speaking of painting in fresco, directs that baked bianco di travertino should be used instead of bianco sangiovanni. - Tambroni.
(3) - Vasari, in the introduction and cap. xx., says, " On dry walls they give two or three coats of warm glue, and then finish the work with colours mixed with tempera." But Cennino teaches
us an entirely different method; and we should rather follow his instructions, because Vasari speaks of painting in distemper as a thing only practised by the old masters." - Tambroni.
(4) - Mr. Field (Chromatography, p. 348) mentions that Mr. Clover " has successfully employed the yolk of egg for sketching in body colours in the manner and with the entire effect of oil, which
sketches, being varnished, have retained their original purity of hue, more especially in the whites, and flexibility of texture, without a crack, after many years in a London atmosphere." The translator concurs in this recommendation of the yolk of egg vehicle, having painted with it both on a white ground and on gold leaf. As a vehicle, it is extremely pleasant to work with, is entirely devoid of the unpleasant smell of oil-colours, and dries very rapidly. See note to ch. 145.- Translator.
Chap. 76.- P. 50.
(1) -This passage confirms still more decidedly the opinion, that the lake which Cennino considered the best (ch. 44), was the lac lake (gomma lacca), since he says here, " Pagonazzo smagliante alla lacca. " - Tambroni.
Chap. 77.- P. 50.
(1) -This passage shews either the veracity of the author, or that the art had not then reached the perfection which it afterwards attained; for Vasari (Introduction to the Three Arts, chap, xix.),
speaking of painting in fresco, censures retouching in secco, which he calls " cosa vilissima ;" yet, nevertheless, if we examine minutely the fresco paintings of the best masters, there are very few, not even excepting those of Vasari himself, that we find exempt from retouchings in secco. Il Corradi used to retouch in oil, and Mengs with milk diluted with brandy (acquavite), as Requenos reports, Sul Ristabilm. &c, vol. i. p. 188. — Tambroni. Vasari (vol. ii. p. 529), speaking of his paintings in fresco in the chapel of S. Apostolo at Florence, says : " I made many experiments, in order to unite painting in oil with fresco, in which I succeeded perfectly."
But an attempt to mix liquid varnish with yolk of egg, to temper colours for finishing fresco painting, was not equally successful ; for Vasari informs us that Alesso Baldovinetti painted, in a chapel of the Holy Trinity, some scriptural subjects from the Old Testament, which he sketched in fresco, and then finished in secco, tempering the colours with the yolk of an egg mixed with liquid varnish made on the fire, which tempera he thought would defend the paintings from being acted on by water ; but the varnish acted too powerfully, for in many places where it was used freely the work scaled off; and so, when he thought he had discovered a rare and excellent secret, he found himself disappointed. Vas., vol. iii. p. 274. - Translator.
Chap. 78.- P. 51.
(1) - Cignerognolo. This colour seems to have been a true grey, being composed of black and white. -Translator.
Chap. 81.- P. 51.
(1) - Berettino, an ash colour, the colour of an ass, a sort of neutral or quiet colour, much used by the old painters. - Translator.
Chap. 82.- P. 52.
(1) -This colour, also called berettino, differs from the last in the addition of red only to the black and yellow. -Translator.
Chap. 85.- P. 53.
(1) The proportions in this colour, which the author calls verdoccio, are exactly similar to those of the colour he called berettino in chap. 81. -Translator.
(2) - It would seem that this passage has been either corrupted by the amanuensis, or that there is an error on the part of Cennino, if we did not know that the masters of that period did not understand aerial perspective, as we discover by the works in which they have painted mountains and landscapes. We must invert the order of this last precept, if we would rectify the text ; but if it be left stand as it now does, it may possibly add somewhat to the history of art. - Tambroni. It seems possible that, as, in historical pieces, the great lights and strong colours were reserved for the foreground, Cennino may have meant only that the distant and retiring colours should be made greyer or more neutral by using more of the black and white, and less of the ochre. In chap. 87 it is shewn that he had some knowledge of linear perspective. -Translator.
Chap. 87.- P. 54.
(1) -The allusion to the observance of linear perspective in this chapter is very apparent. The passage might have been made more intelligible ; but as it proves the state of the science at that period, it was thought better to render it as literally as possible. Cennino alludes to the depression of lines above the level of the eye, and the elevation of those below the eye, until they meet in the point of sight on the horizontal line. -Translator.
Chap. 89.- P. 56.
(1) -As good and colourless oil is of the first importance to painters, no apology will be necessary for introducing in this place Leonardo da Vinci's method of preparing nut-oil. The recipe was
found in his own handwriting, and is published in the Milan edition of his Treatise on Painting, by C. Amoretti, 1804. It is as follows : " The nuts are covered with a sort of husk or skin, which if you do not remove when you make the oil, the colouring matter of the husks or skin will rise to the surface of your painting, and cause it to change. Select the finest nuts, take off the shells, put them into a glass vessel of clean water to soften until you can remove the skin, change the water, and put the nuts into fresh water seven or eight times, until it ceases to be turbid. After some time the nuts will dissolve and become almost like milk. Put them then into a shallow open vessel in the air, and you will soon see the oil rise to the surface. To remove it in a pure and clean state, take pieces of cotton, like those used for the wicks of lamps ; let one end rest in the oil, and the other drop into a vase or bottle, which is to be placed about the width of two fingers below the dish containing the oil. By degrees the oil will filter itself, and will drop quite clear and limpid into the bottle, and the lees will remain behind. All oils are of themselves quite limpid, but they change colour from the manner in which they are extracted." - Translator.
(2) - It is worthy of remark that Cennino here speaks of the art of painting pictures in oil as much practised by the Germans (Tedeschi), and therefore not of recent invention. - Translator.
Chap. 90.- P. 56.
(1) -Vasari, in his Introduction to the Three Arts, teaches, in chap, xxii., how to paint in oil on walls, but in a very different manner from this ; for he requires that the wall should be dry, and
that it should have a coat of linseed-oil, and then a mixture of resin, of mastic, and of fat varnish. He also teaches another method, which he had tried and approved of, in which it was necessary to give the wall two coats of the intonaco ; but he always recommends that the wall should be perfectly dry. Here, on the contrary, Cennino points out a very simple method of painting in oil on damp walls, which may be painted on the next day. It concerns the modern artist to determine by experiments which is the best mode. - Tambroni.
Chap. 91.-P. 56.
(1) -Oil is always sold by the pound at Florence. The Florentine pound contains 12 ounces. - Translator.
Chap. 92.-P. 57.
(1) - Leonardo da Vinci (chap, ccclii.) advises that pictures should be varnished with oil thickened in the sun. - Translator.
Chap. 93.- P. 57.
(1) -The oil mentioned by Cennino in the early part of this chapter is the boiled or baked linseed-oil, for the preparation of
which he had just given directions. -Translator.
Chap. 94.- P. 58.
(1)-From this it is still more evident that Vasari had never read Cennino's book, or he would not have mentioned painting on stones as a new invention in his time, as he has done in chap. xxiv.
of the Introduction to the Three Arts, where he does not mention iron or glass, on which they painted in oil in Cennino's time. - Tambroni. " On these (that is, on some stones brought from Genoa)
they (the artists of his day) had recently painted, and had discovered the true way of painting on them/' Vasari. -Translator.
Chap. 96.- P. 58.
(1) -Leon Batista Alberti, in the beginning of book iii. on painting, gives almost the same precept. He says, that a generous disposition was a great assistance to a master in obtaining honour and
acquiring riches, for from this liberality it oftentimes happened that the rich were frequently induced to give encouragement to the modest and good man. -Tambroni. Lanzi expresses the same sentiments in his eulogy of Correggio. He says : " Although we should admit the supposed poverty of this great man, it does not appear to me to be any discredit to him, but rather an honour, considering that he, although generally wanting money, painted with a splendour of which there is no other example. His pictures, whether on copper, on panels, or on well-chosen canvass, were really covered with a profusion of ultramarine, with lakes and beautiful greens ; and he painted with a vigorous impasto and continual retouches, generally without taking his hand from the work, when he had once begun, until he had finished it ; in a word, without any sparing of expense or time, of which he was more prodigal than any other painter. Now, this generosity would do honour to a rich gentleman who painted for his pleasure ; how much more, then, is he worthy of praise whose means were so limited ! To me it appears a greatness of soul that would do honour to a true Spartan." Lanzi, vol. iv.
p. 65. Lanzi also remarks that the works of Vasari faded, on account of the bad colours he used (vilta di colori), vol. i. p. 187, and note. - Translator.
Chap. 98.- P. 59.
(1) -This constituted the verdetto, or verde santo, mentioned by Baldinucci in the Vocabolario deli Arte del Disegno.
Chap. 101.- P. 61.
(1) -The glory, or nimbus, surrounding the heads of saints, is of very remote origin, since it is to be seen on many of the paintings preserved in Pompeii, particularly in the Circe and Ulysses, the
Jupiter in the House of Ceres, and the Thetis clipping Achilles into the Styx. The glories in these pictures resemble solid plates of gold, the outer limb or circle being strongly denned, like those described by Cennino, and of which so many examples remain in the early paintings of Italy. They were sometimes of azure, instead of gold. The glory was defined by Servius to be " the luminous fluid which encircles the heads of the gods." The emperors assumed it as a mark of their divinity ; and from them it passed, with many other pagan superstitions and customs, into the use of the church. The form of the glory varied at different periods ; it was sometimes a plate of gold, ornamented with various devices, as may be seen in Plates IL VII. VIII. and IX. ; sometimes it was radiated, and sometimes merely a circle of light above the heads of the figures, see Plates III. and IV.- Translator.
Chap. 102.- P. 61.
(1) -Oio. Batista Armenini, in his book De veri Precetti delta Pittura, ed. Venez., p. 90, and in many other places, treats these old masters, from Giotto to Pietro Perugino, rather too severely,
especially where, alluding to these raised diadems of plaster with the open work around them, and the stars of gold on the grounds, he says, " e cosà si passarono con simile bassezze' &c. But he should have considered that these masters created the art, which, like all other worldly things, could not suddenly attain perfection, and that in many things they were never afterwards surpassed. Posterity, then, owes them both gratitude and respect ; for without them we should never have painted, or written works on painting. - Tambroni.
See note to chap. 124.
Chap. 103.- P. 61.
(1) - Painting in distemper, on which Cennino undertakes to speak, according to the testimony of Pliny (lib. zzxv. cap. 10), was invented by Ludius, a Roman painter who lived at the time of
Augustus : " Non fraudando et Ludio D. Augusti state, qui primus instituit amoenissimam parietum picturam, villas et porticus ac topiaria opera, lucos, nemora, colles, piscinas, euripos, amnes, littora, qualia quia optaret, varias ibi obambulantium species aut navigantium, terraque villas adeuntium asellis, aut vehiculis . . . idemque subdialibus maritimas urbes pingere instituit blandissimo aspectu minimoque impendio." - Tambroni.
Chap. 105.- P. 63.
(1) -Cennino here gives a kind of treatise concerning different descriptions of glue, and the use that is made of them. He is the more prolix on this subject, as in those days glues were much used in painting in distemper. He seems, however, not to have known Flanders glue, mouth-glue, or that made from calves' feet ; for which see Marcucci, Sag. Analit., p. 187, e seg. Vitruvius and Pliny often speak of the glue used by painters. The first (lib. vii. cap. 10) says, " reliqua tectores glutinum admiscentes in parietibus utuntur," - the bricklayers use the remainder in walls, mixing it with glue. The second speaks of them in lib. xxxv. cap. 6. - Tambroni. Cennino does speak of " mouth-glue," but not of that kind now known as such, see chap. 108. - Translator.
Chap. 106.-P. 64.
(1) - Dioscorides (lib. v. cap. 121) teaches how to make glue for fastening stones ; and says, that " si fa di colla taurina, di marmo, e della pietra chiamata pario." Hence, by pounded stone I think Gennino meant white statuary marble. -Tambroni.
Chap. 107.- P. 64.
(1) - Majolica was a sort of red ochre, of which vessels were made. Bole, a soft and glutinous kind of earth used in gilding. The best sort is brought from Armenia. It is of a dark red colour.
The dictionaries do not distinguish it from sinopia ; but it could not have been the same thing, although it greatly resembled it in colour and properties, since Cennino speaks of both without saying that they were synonymous. The colour, probably, constituted the only difference. Both were varieties of red ochre. See note to chap. 45.
The red letters common in old manuscripts and books were made with bole, which was also called rubrica ; hence our term " rubrics.*' - Translator.
Chap. 108.- P. 65.
(1) -It will be seen from this chapter that isinglass was at this period used as mouth-glue.-Translator.
Chap. 109.- P. 65.
(1) — Colla di caravella is still called in many parts of Italy colla forte. It seems that the word caravella, which is not to be found in the dictionaries, is derived from capretta, capretta, covra, or cavrella, from which we have caravella. The author here calls it also colla di spicchi. - Tambroni.
Chap. 110.- P. 66.
(1) -There is apparently no difference between these last two kinds of glue, except that the first is not quite so strong as the second. This resembles the English glue. -Translator.
Chap. 111.- P. 66.
(1) -Vasari, in the Introduction to the Three Arts, &c. says, that the old masters tempered their blues with glue (colla di carnicci) only, because the yellow colour of the egg would have caused them to become green. But our author, who had more practice, assigns here other reasons. In chap. 141, he directs us to temper ultramarine with a very small quantity of yolk of egg ; not so in chap. 83, where he desires that the blue should be tempered with the entire yolk of an egg, which should be one laid by a hen fed in a town, because such are paler. -Tambroni.
Chap. 112.- P. 66.
(1) -It is here repeated that the fourth book ends here. Perhaps it is an error of the amanuensis, who read fourth for fifth. It is to be observed that this fifth book is very short. Henceforward
there are no more divisions into parts of the book. But this is of little importance, since the chapters are numbered to the end. -Tambroni.
(2) -This cheese-glue was formerly used to a great extent. The panels used for painting were fastened together with it; and so exceedingly firm did it hold, that those were considered the strongest panels which consisted of several pieces of wood joined. These were less liable to split than those which were made of a single piece of wood : most of the recipes add sufficient water to make the cheese and lime into a paste. -Translator.
Chap. 113.-P. 67.
(1) - This is another instance of the care with which the old masters guarded their pictures and pigments from the contact of iron. See chap. 36 ante, and chap. 136 supra. - Translator.
Chap. 115.- P. 68.
(1) -Leonardo da Vinci sometimes painted on canvass on which no ground of plaster had been laid, the canvass being merely washed with weak glue. That pictures so painted are durable is proved by the existence of one in the Collega Mussi at Milan, which is evidently by the hand of Leonardo, and is considered worthy of his great name. See Amoretti's edition of the treatise of Leonardo on Paint- ing. - Translator.
(2) - This word mesella is not to be found in the dictionaries. From the description which the author gives of it in this chapter, it may be seen that it was a knife, the blade of which was large and
convex, and was used as a rasp. The Germans have messer, which signifies knife ; but the term is general, and messertin is the diminutive. In chap. 121, Cennino repeats metta, and not mesella. If this word be not derived from the German (for that people then, as well as at the present time, carried on a large commerce in wrought iron), I know not whence it is derived. It is, however, sufficient to understand the meaning. It is true that the monk Theophilus (lib. ii. De Opere Intercisili), in describing the chisel, says, " Deinde habeas ferros graciles et latiores, secundum quantitatem camporum, qui sunt in una summitate tenues et acuti, in altera obtusi, qui vocantur meziel," - " then you may have some iron tools thin and broad, according to the size of the grounds, which are thin and sharp at one end, and blunt at the other, which are called meziel" Perhaps this word is somewhat akin to mesella. - Tambroni.
The word metta is of Venetian origin. See Cicog., vol. iii. p. 248. - Translator.
Chap. 121.- P. 72.
(1) -Raffietto : the word is explained in chap. 115.
Chap. 124.- P. 74.
(1) - Rosini (vol. iii. p. 51) has the following remarks relative to this practice of executing some parts of pictures in relief. " This particularity is to be found in the picture painted by Gentile da
Fabriano for the Santa Trinità , now in the Florentine gallery ; and this practice is thus alluded to in the Anonimo Morelliano, p. 57 : ' The head, covered with a hood, with a cord of seven paternosters in the hand, fat and dark, the lowest and largest of which is of stucco in relievo, and gilded, was by the hand of Gentile/ And this particular manner of introducing relievos into pictures was con- tinued by his most famous disciple, as we learn from a manuscript preserved in the library of the Conti Silvestri di Rovigo, that Jacopo Bellini painted in the dome of Verona a crucifixion, with many figures, with relievos and gilding after the ancient manner." Ricci, p. 173. - Translator.
(2) - Such figures are not uncommon among the Italian masters ; and their introduction into pictures appears to have been sanctioned by the Romish church, since we find the following passage in the Elèmens de Peinture, by De Piles. " The holy Scriptures speak in many places of the appearance of God to men, both actually by the ministration of angels, and in visions by dreams and trances. There is a beautiful description of God under the name of the Ancient of Days in the 7 th chapter of Daniel, ver. 9. The same Scriptures mention several apparitions of angels in human forms. For this reason, the church, in the Council of Nice,* did not hesitate to permit painters to represent God the Father under the form of a venerable old man, and angels under human forms. . . . But what is permitted not being always appropriate, the painter should use with moderation the authority derived from the holy Scripture, and be careful that, in availing himself of the highest resources of his art, he does not infringe upon the truth and sanctity of his subject' De Files, Elémens de Peinture, pp. 416, 423, ed. Amsterdam and Leipsic, 1766. -Translator.
(3) - In the third volume of his Storia di Scultura, p. 137, 2d edit., Count Cicognara mentions a curious and most valuable picture, painted in 1369, by that famous Lorenzo of Venice, for whose celebrated picture of S. Antonio del Castello, now in the Academy, painted in 1358, three hundred gold ducats were paid ; and of whom The Second Council of Nice, in which the advocates of image-worship triumphed. - Translator.
Zanetti speaks with such ecstacy in the first volume of his Pittura Veneziana, which is illustrative of this chapter, as well as of chapters 142 and 143. He gives the following account of it. It represents the Redeemer seated, presenting the keys to St. Peter ; and has this inscription :
MCCCLXV1III. MBNSB JANUARII LAURENTIU8 PINXIT.
" But this picture having a semicircular form in the upper part, and the panel being quadrangular, the two corners are excluded from the semicircle, and are covered only by the ground or preparation of gesso. In these spaces, which we may call lost (perduti), the painter has tried his colours, and made marks at random with his pencil, which, it is evident, from the proofs to which they were subjected, were done in distemper; the picture also appeared to have been painted in distemper, unless, indeed, a varnish or oily preparation had been spread over it to raise the tone of the colours and preserve them to the present time in perfect freshness. This picture is an example that distemper was used in the first instance ; but we also see that other manners of colouring were then employed ; for on the gold ground, the glory, and drapery of the Redeemer, are painted ornaments and coloured gems, not in distemper, but as if they were crystallised with some other transparent and glutinous substance, strongly attached to the gold ground, to which the vehicle used in distemper- painting would not have adhered; and the colours used in these ornaments are evidently ground and pre- pared with the same oil or varnish which was spread over the whole picture. This easy and clear investigation developes several methods of painting employed on the same picture, which vary from those we find used by Tomaso da Modena, which appear to have been, from the first, entirely painted in oil, — a fact the chemists employed by
Lanzi to examine them dare not contradict. On the gesso some painters, but not all, used distemper, which could not be laid upon the gold (che non potevano mai adopirare sulF oro), which was
shaded with sinopia (rubricato) in the manner directed by Theophilus. But it is indeed difficult to analyse the works which are covered with the varnish (patina) of five centuries. And when we
have discovered, as is indeed beyond doubt, that every very ancient picture is saturated with an oily and resinous substance, who will be fortunate, or, to speak more correctly, bold enough to dare to deter- mine whether this oil or varnish were laid over colours first diluted and prepared with water, or whether they were immediately ground up and cemented with it ? A fine intonaco of mineral colours, painted in distemper on a picture, when dry, presents to oils and varnishes a surface which they may penetrate in the same perfect manner as if they were ground up in them. Mineral colours ground in water remain porous and absorbent after the evaporation of the moisture ; and their tone appears cold and languid if they are not united and saturated with oily substances, which can be spread over them, and which invest them with a splendour and warmth of tone, a juiciness, in fact, differing in no degree from the oil with which they might have been ground in the first place."
The picture of Pan teaching Apollo to play on the Pipes, by Annibale Caracci, in the National Gallery, is painted in distemper colours, but has been saturated with oil.
The opinion that distemper-painting could not be practised on gold grounds appears to be erroneous, since Cennino recommends that the grounds of all paintings in distemper should be covered with gold (chap. 138), where the expense can be afforded. And in chap. 141, he directs that red and blue draperies are to be laid on a gold ground, the gold in the last case merely covering the part occupied by the drapery. The translator refers the reader to the Preface, and also to Rosini's Storia della Pittura. -Translator.
Chap. 131.- P. 77.
(1) -The art of gilding with bole was, if we may believe Vasari, invented by Margaritone, who was living in 1270. Vasari, vol. ii. p. 64. -Translator.
Chap. 133.- P. 78.
(1) -The practice of gluing cloth on panels in order to prevent their splitting and opening, or starting after being glued, was attributed by Vasari to Margaritone ; but the researches of Rosini and
others have proved that it was in use previous to the time of Giunta (a.d. 1202), as appears from various pictures of our Saviour in the Greek style, still preserved in Pisa. Rosini, vol. i. p. 85, and
note 32, p. 195, &c. - Translator.
Chap. 138.- P. 81.
(1)-Gold grounds were formerly so much used that there was a regular manufactory of them, and the maker put his name on each. The work of Cennino is evidence of the high estimation in which they were held, and also that where expense was an object, the gold was only used on the ornamental parts. On walls, gilded tin was frequently substituted for it. Many of the most ancient pictures of the Italian and Greco- Italian schools mentioned by Rosini (Storia della Pittura) as still in existence, and frequently in a high state of preservation, are painted on gold grounds. The illuminations, also, of manuscripts of this period are painted on gold grounds.
Rosini remarks (vol. i. p. 117) of a picture of the Greek school anterior to Giunta, " that, in addition to the linen cloth that was stretched over the panel, gold-leaf had been spread over the gesso,
as might be seen in some parts where the colour had fallen off. This indicates both the great care with which it was executed by the painter, and the merit of the artist, who was esteemed, by the
religious persons who had ordered the work, worthy of colouring upon gold. In all probability the author of this picture was the Greek master of Giunta." Sometimes, as in the case of the picture by Ugolino di Maestri Vieri, the figures were painted in chiaro-scuro only on the gold ground (Rosini, vol. iii. p. 80). Of much earlier antiquity is the painting in Pompeii of Jupiter in a contemplative
attitude, the eagle at his feet, and his golden sceptre in his hand.
His head is surrounded by the glory or nimbus. The throne and footstool are gold, ornamented with precious stones. Gold is also introduced into other pictures preserved in this city. See Art.
Pompeii, Lib. Ent. Knowledge, vol. ii. p. 87, &c.
The gold ground had many advantages. It preserved the colours from contact with the plaster (gesso) ground of the picture. It .is not acted on by any thing but nitric acid. From its extreme ductility and tenacity, a smaller quantity of this metal will cover a larger surface than any other metal, without becoming honey-combed ; and its reflecting power, when burnished, gives a great brilliancy and clearness to the colours. " Corradi was the first," says Vasari, " who left off gold fringes and other ornaments, and imitated gold with colours ; and though the practice of imitating gold with colours became universal, many artists, who regarded the durability of their pictures, continued to paint on a gold ground. The two ceilings painted on a ground of gold-leaf, by Raffaello, are well known. Foelemburg, Maas, Elliger, John Van Kessell, Rembrandt, and Ostade, frequently painted on gold grounds ; and such pictures are always remarkable for the clearness and brightness of the colouring. Indeed, the Flemings preserved the early manner of painting much longer than the Italians, who, it seems, often changed their vehicles and grounds."
The want of good and brilliant yellows has been assigned as the cause of the employment of gold grounds and ornaments in pictures ; but when it is considered that with the ochres, Naples yellow, and white, the brightest gold may be imitated, I think it will be conceded that other and powerful reasons must have led the old masters to the adoption of this metal for the grounds of their pictures. Experience has proved that pictures so painted are more durable than others.
It is a mistake also to suppose that the old masters did not possess brilliant yellows, since Cennino mentions orpiment and zafferano, although he discountenances the use of them, by reason of their want of durability. Orpiment also was known to the ancients, by whom it was called auri pigmentum, whence our word " orpiment."
It is almost superfluous to say that grounds covered with goldleaf must have been non-absorbent. -Translator.
Chap. 139.- P. 82.
(1) -Cennino complains that goldsmiths made from a ducat or zecchini 145 leaves of gold instead of 100, when it is to be used for gilding flat surfaces. Vasari, in the Introduction to the Three Arts, chap, xxviii. says, " that in his time 1000 pieces were worth six crowns, or about three ducats, including the labour." According to the wishes of Genuino, about 300 pieces (nearly half the quantity mentioned by Vasari) should have been made from these six crowns; but according to the custom, at which he hints, 435 were made. Perhaps it is on account of the greater thickness of
the gold-leaves that the very old pictures look as if they were covered with a plate of gold. If our author had mentioned the size of the pieces of gold, as Vasari has done, who says, " each side
was about the eighth part of a braccio in length," we should have been able to make a more exact estimate, and form a more correct judgment on this subject. -Tambroni.
Chap. 140.- P. 83.
The glories in the opposite figures, by Squarcione (Plate IX.), as well as those in Plates II. and VII., will assist in illustrating this chapter. The alteration which afterwards took place in the form of
the glories is shewn in the Plates III. and IV., after the designs of Raffaello. -Translator.
Chap. 141.- P. 83.
(1) - The succeeding titles to the chapters are wanting in the text, but have been supplied by the editor. - Tambroni.
(2) -Cennino does not say, although there seems little doubt of the fact, that the, paper on which the design has been pricked is to be laid on the drapery, and that the powders are then to be sifted or rubbed over, as in oriental tinting or stencil painting. In the Element de Peinture, by De Piles, full directions are given for this process, which the French called " patronage" and which we are told was much used in illuminating missals and other books. -Translator.
Chap. 142.- P. 84.
(1) Grattare apparently means to scratch or engrave lines through the paint, but not through the gold ground, which therefore became visible, and then to smooth the edges with the flat end
of the stile ; and granare, to mark a kind of figure or pattern on the gold with a sort of spur of iron in use in those times. The instrument with which this was done was called a rosetta; and see the
word granire in Baldinucci's Vocabulary of the Arts of Design. -Translator.
(2) - This is an exact description of the stile used by the ancient Greeks and Romans in writing and drawing. It appears from the above passage that Cennino used the flat end of the stile to soften the edges of the parts scratched up with the pointed end, as well as to remove the colour from particular parts of the picture. - Translator.
(3) - Allacciato, lacci, laccio, are really words unknown to us ; and I should consider them as errors of the amanuensis, if they had not been repeated in the following chapter (143), where, in the
second paragraph, Cennino himself points out their meaning, saying, " granare i lacci, cioè i lavori disegnati." At first I thought he meant by the terms allacciato e lacci the draperies or vestures ; but in the fifth and seventh paragraphs he distinguishes one from the other. I now think that by lacci he meant those ornaments or minor parts which are at present called accessories. -Tambroni.
After much consideration, I attach a different meaning to these words, and am of opinion that Cennino meant to describe in these two chapters what we now call figured draperies; and that by the terms allacciato e lacci he meant the patterns or ornaments which were painted on them, or, as he expresses it in the first paragraph, " relevare con foglie e con pietre legate di pià colore," that is, arabesques or leaves and flowers executed in relief, and coloured stones fastened to the draperies (see note to chap. 124), which must certainly signify representations or patterns worked or embroidered on them. The modern Italian word rabesco seems exactly synonymous with the allacciato e lacci of Cennino, as will appear from the following passage from Rosini (Storia della Pittura, vol. i. p. 205) : " E questa virgine ricoperta d' un manto d' oro rabescato d' un azzurro chiaro, come ornato di aurei rabeschi è l' estremità della veste intorno ai polsi." An engraving in outline is given in Rosini's work of the picture here alluded to, which is called the Vergine delle Volte. It was painted in 1297, and is the most ancient painting in Perugia. The
drapery is divided into a number of squares, each filled with the same pattern, and we can imagine it to have been produced by laying on the picture a piece of paper, on which the pattern had been previously pricked or cut (see chap. 141), and rubbing another colour over it, which of course would only adhere in those parts unprotected by the paper. Rosini speaks of other pictures painted in this manner, which appears to have been very common among the early painters. It is to be observed, that if draperies be painted as Cennino directs, the patterns will appear raised or embroidered, their colour being of a shade different from that of the ground on which they are painted. It would seem also from this chapter, and from the instructions given in the third paragraph, " granarlo a relievo," that some part of the pattern was marked or stamped on the gold. The term " accessories" appears to me to convey a very different meaning from what Cennino intended to express by allacciato e lacci; and if there were any doubt on this point, I think it would be removed by observing that the lacci are to be of the same colour as the campi, although of a different shade, which can never take place with regard to the accessories, except in monochromatic painting, which could not be performed in the manner here described. -Translator.
Chap. 143.- P. 85.
(1) -This chapter throws great light upon the history of the art, and removes any doubt respecting the old pictures in distemper ; and it also settles the question concerning the art of painting in oil, as I have mentioned at greater length in the Preface. - Tambroni.
I must here notice the remarkable practice of painting part of the drapery with the colours tempered with yolk of egg, and glazing the whole with colours ground in oil (see the fourth and eighth
paragraphs), thus uniting painting in distemper with painting in oil. In the course of the work many more instances will be noticed of using different vehicles on the same picture. This point is the
more worthy of notice, as the propriety of using different mediums on the same picture has recently been much discussed. It would seem from this chapter not to have been injurious. I have before alluded (Dote to chap. 77) to Corradi's practice of retouching fresco paintings with oil, and Vasari's experiments in uniting oil and fresco, in which he says he succeeded. The paragraphs are not numbered in the text, but I have done so for the convenience of reference. -Translator.
Chap. 144.- P. 86.
(1) - We must here remark the direction of Cennino to mix indigo with bianco sangiovanni, thus proving that this colour may be used with lime in fresco. Another point worthy of notice is, that
he did not consider it necessary to add any driers to the oil when glazing with lake ground in oil. -Translator.
Chap. 145.- P. 87.
(1) - This kind of painting (distemper) is very durable, provided it be not exposed to the air or damp ; one colour can be laid over another with more facility even than in fresco-painting, without any fear of mixing the colours ; and the facility with which pictures painted in distemper can be painted and retouched in secco, enables us not only to finish them highly, but to leave them for any length of time, and complete them at our leisure. The lights in distemper painting are as bright as those in fresco, but the dark colours have more depth. The egg-vehicle, used in the proportions recommended by Cennino, will be found to work very pleasantly ; and when glue is necessary to be substituted for it, the reader has only to turn to chap. Ill, where full directions for preparing and using it will be found. To unite the tints when finishing, it is only necessary to dip a brush in clean water, or sometimes, as in fresco-painting, to hatch and work on the tints with a colour partaking of both, or, still better, to use first one colour, and then the other, until the desired effect is produced. For example, if red is to be united with blue, it should be done by working on the edge of the blue with red, and on the edge of the red with blue, - on the principle that grains of red and blue pigments, when mixed together, appear purple only because we cannot with the naked eye distinguish the points which reflect blue from those which reflect red; but if examined with a powerful microscope, the distinct red and blue moleculse will be visible. " When," observes Dr. Ure, " we examine certain grey substances, such as hairs, feathers, &c, with the microscope, we see that the grey colour results from black points disseminated over a colourless or slightly coloured surface." Thus we perceive that nature forms her compound colours by stippling one colour into another; and accordingly it has been found that those paintings have appeared most brilliant in which the effect has been produced by stippling with the pure colours, instead of mixing compound tints. See Field's Chromatography.
One of the greatest advantages of painting in distemper is, that expose it to what light you will, the effect is always good, as it does not shine like an oil-painting. When the colours are dry, they never change, and always remain in the same state as long as the ground lasts. It must, however, be remembered, that colours mixed with glue will dry lighter ; the effect of these may therefore be previously ascertained, by trying the tints on a piece of wood prepared with a ground similar to that of the picture, or on a piece of strong white paper.
Painting in distemper cannot, however, be employed on the ceilings and domes of large churches, because couches of plaster cannot be laid on vaults of stone, the saltpetre of which would cause the plaster to scale off. It is for this reason that in such places fresco painting is generally used on a couch of mortar, which incorporates better with the stone ; but the latter kind of painting is much inferior to distemper in the force and vivacity of the colours. See Siemens de Peinture, by De Piles. -Translator.
(2) - Two exceptions only are mentioned here ; but as the third is added, I have changed the text. - Translator.
(3) - A long note follows in the Italian edition, the purport of which is, to prove that the word in the text is bisso (purple), and not biffo, which has no meaning. As the signification of the sentence cannot be mistaken, I have omitted it. - Translator.
Chap. 146.- P. 89.
(1) - See a former note on this subject. - Translator.
Chap. 151.- P. 93.
(1) -Vasari (Introd. to the Three Arts of Design, chap, xxviii.) speaks of the mordant made of white of egg, water, and Armenian bole as the best for laying gold on pictures, and the same is taught
by Cennino in chap. 131. In the time of Vasari, gold was no longer in use; and this is the reason why Cennino was so much better informed on the subject of mordants. He gives a recipe for another mordant made with garlic. - Tambroni.
(2) -By the ring-finger (dita anellario, cioè col polpastrello) is here meant the fore finger, because in those times the ring was worn on that finger, as may be seen in pictures of that date. -Translator.
Chap. 155.- P. 95.
(1) -The silence of Cennino concerning the nature of this varnish is really to be deplored. This chapter removes all doubts respecting the question whether pictures in distemper were or were
not varnished. Count Cicognara, in his celebrated work on the history of sculpture, lib. iii. cap. xi. vol. i. p. 331, e seg., is right when he says that pictures in distemper were painted in many ways by those old masters, and were afterwards covered with varnish. Armenini (book ii. cap. ix.) describes several kinds of varnish. The most ancient, he says, was made of olio d' abezzo (resin of the pine) and olio di sasso (naphtha), spread over the picture, previously warmed in the sun by the hand, as described by Cennino ; and this kind of varnish, says Armenini, was penetrating and bright. - Tambroni.
I think it will be apparent from the text that the varnish mentioned by Cennino could not have been made of resin and naphtha, since he says, " If you wish the varnish to dry without sun, boil it
well first'' - bollila bene in prima. Now, I am not aware that the fire has any action upon resin besides that of melting it and of converting it into colophonium (black resin) ; and it is quite certain that naphtha, both from its liquid state and inflammable and volatile nature, will not bear boiling. It is highly probable that the varnish consisted of some resin dissolved in linseed oil, and was, perhaps, that described by Theophilus in the Treatise on Painting, mentioned in the Introduction, the chief ingredient of which has hitherto eluded the research of modern inquiry. I give his two recipes, that the reader may judge for himself:
"Pone oleum lini in ollam novam parvulam, et adde gummi quod vocatur fornis, minutissime tritum, quod habet speciem lucidissimi thuris, sed cum frangitur fulgorem clariorem reddit; quod
cum super carbones posueris, coque diligenter sic ut non bulliat, donee tertia pars consumatur ; et cave a flamma, quod periculosum est nimis, et difficile extinguitur si accendatur. Hoc glutine omnis pictura super Unita lucida fit et decora ac omnino durabilis.
" Compone quatuor vel tres lapides qui possent ignem sustinere ita ut resiliant, et super ipsos pone ollam rudem, et in earn mitte supradictum gummi fornis, quod Romana glassa vocatur; et super os hujus olla? pone ollam minorem, quae habeat in fundo modicum foramen. Et circumlineas ei pastam, ita ut nihil spiraminis inter ipsas ollas exeat. Habebis etiam ferrum gracile manubrio impositum, unde commovebis ipsum gummi, et cum quo sentire possis ut omnino liquidum fiat. Habebis quoque ollam tertiam super carbones positam, in qua sit oleum calidum, et cum gummi penitus liquidum fuerit, ita ut extremo ferro quasi filum trahitur, infunde ei oleum calidum, et ferro commove, et insimul coque ut non bulliat, et interdum extrahe ferrum et lini modice super lignum sive super lapidem, ut probes diversitatem ejus ; et hoc caveas in pondere ut sint duae partes olei et tertia gummi. Cumque ad libitum tuum coxeris diligenter, ab igne removens et discoperiens, refrigerali sine."
Thus translated : - " Put some linseed oil into a small new jar, and add, very finely powdered, some of the gum which is called fornis, which has the appearance of the most transparent frankincense, but when broken has a brighter polish ; which place on the coals, and cook it carefully, so that it does not boil, until a third part is evaporated ; and beware of its catching fire, which is very dangerous, and difficult to extinguish if it once catch fire : when the whole picture is covered with this varnish, it becomes bright and shining, and altogether durable.
" Put three or four stones which can stand the fire so that they may project over it, and upon them put a rough pipkin, into which put some of the aforesaid gummi fornis, which is called Romana
glassa; and on the mouth of this pipkin put a smaller pot, which has a hole in the bottom. And you must lute it round, so that there be no aperture between the jars. You must also have a thin
iron rod in a handle, with which to stir up the gum itself, and ascertain whether it be quite liquid. And you must have a third jar placed upon the coals, in which there is some hot oil ; and when
the gum is quite liquid, so that it can be drawn in a thread from the top of your rod, pour into it some hot oil, and stir it about with your rod, and at the same time cook it, so that it does not boil ; and sometimes draw out your rod, and spread a little on some wood or on a stone, that you may try whether it be smooth ; and you must take care of this, that there be two parts by weight of oil, and the third of gum. And when you have diligently cooked it, as much as you think proper, take it from the fire, uncover it, and allow it to cool."
In the absence of positive information on this subject, I may be permitted to hazard a conjecture, derived from the word itself, as to the nature of this varnish. The monk Theophilus, mentioned in
the preface, uses many words to which he gives an Italian termination, as Count Cicognara informs us (Storia di Scultura, vol. iii. p. 248, second edit.) : he instances (among others) the words glutine vernition and glassa. The former {glutine vemition) is clearly derived from the Latin vernix, vernicis (from whence, by an easy tran- sition, we have fornis, and our English word varnish), the resin which exudes from the juniper- tree (juniperus communis), common in all parts of Europe. The resin is called sandarac ; and some of
our earliest varnishes are known to have been made of it. " If," says Raffaello Borghini, in his Riposo, " you would have your varnishes very brilliant, use much sandarac." The vernice da scrivere, mentioned by Cennino, chap. 10, consisted of pounded sandarac, and was used to spread over the carta bambagina, previous to writing on, by the early Italians and the Arabians ; and it is still used to sift over writing, under the name of pounce. That this gummi fornis was a resin is proved by its melting over the fire. Cicognara and Merimée consider it to have been copal; but as that is brought from America, it could not possibly have been known to Theophilus, who lived between three and four hundred years previous to the discovery of that country. The circumstance of the gum being glutinous, and hanging in threads from the rods, proves that it was not borax, as some have conjectured. For although borax melts on exposure to heat, and becomes liquid, but not glutinous, it passes quickly from that state, becomes calcined, and then melts rapidly into glass, which is soluble in water, but not in oil. An additional reason, also, for
supposing this glutine vernition to have been sandarac, is, that old Italian writers constantly speak of the varnish used for pictures under the term vernice liquida, thus shewing that the word vernice wa applied to the gum or resin when in a liquid state, and contradistinguishing it from the vernice da scrivere, which was the dry sandarac in powder. The word glassa is derived from the
Saxon glass, and has been Italianised by Theophilus. The reader will notice the strong similarity in the mode of preparing this varnish to the directions given by Cennino in chap. 91 for prepar-
ing boiled oil for mordants. One varnish, described by Armenini, appears somewhat to have resembled the varnish mentioned by Cennino. To the practice of warming and drying the pictures in
the sun, which was practised by Raffaello and Correggio, when varnishing them, we owe the invention, whatever it was, of Van Eyck; for that he did change the practice of painting in oil is
certain, while it is equally certain that painting in oil was known and practised several centuries before his time. Correggio is said to have used a varnish made of resin and naphtha ; and varnishes made with naphtha are now in use in the British navy. I believe the reason they are not in more general use is, because the naphtha has been found injurious to the eyes. -Translator. (2) - That is, until the colours have become perfectly firm and consolidated . - Translator.
(3) - Some of the greens in the old pictures are very bright and pure .- Translator .
Chap. 156.- P. 96.
(1) - It is not uncommon, at the present time, to varnish pictures intended for exhibition with the white of an egg, which may afterwards be easily removed with a wet sponge. - Translator.
Chap. 157.-P. 96.
(1) -This word, asiso, is not found in the vocabularies. However, the word is used in some places. Baldinucci, in his Vocabulary of the Arts, speaks of many kinds of gesso, but not of this.
Armellini, chap. viii. book ii., says, he has seen the Flemings mix gesso and biacca in the proportions mentioned by our author; but he does not speak of the sugar, instead of which he substitutes orpiment ; but he gives no name to this kind of gesso, the effect of which, he says, is very dazzling, light, and good. - Tambroni. The word asisa may be found in Veneroni's Dictionary, with the following meaning attached to it in French : " Couche ou assiette de couleurs, applique sur Tor pour dorer." - Translator.
Chap. 159.- P. 98.
(1) - This colour is the oro musivo described by Marcucci, Sag. Analit. p. 80, 81 ; but the recipe for making it, and the method of using it on pictures, are different from those given by our author. -Tambroni.
Chap. 160.- P. 98.
(1) -Vasari, in chap, xxviii. of the Introduction to the Three Arts, in his recipe for grinding gold, does not speak of the white of egg or of tempera, but directs that honey and gum should be used. Cennino uses gum for painting in miniature only. -Tambroni.
Chap. 161.- P. 99.
(1) -This chapter makes us acquainted with a singular practice of this period, namely, that of painting the human face not only in distemper, but also in oil and in varnish. To my knowledge no
other writer has ever mentioned a similar custom ; which will lead us to believe that painters were sometimes required to perform this office. It is true that we find Pandolfini, Of the Government of the Family (ed. de Clas. I tal. p. 142, 143, e seg.), advises his wife not to paint herself with lime or poisons ; and for this purpose he always uses the phrases, martiri il viso, impiastrarsi, intonacarsi, impomiciarsi, &c. ; and he says that his wife would be ashamed to be without this painting on her face when she was with other women. -Tambroni.
Chap. 164.- P. 101.
(1) - These were different styles of head-dress in use at that time, examples of which may be seen in the plates to Vasari's Lives of the Painters. -Translator.
Chap. 166.-P. 102.
(1) - This gesso bolognese, or volterrano, is prepared from the white alabaster procured from quarries in the neighbourhood of Bologna and Volterra. The quarries at the latter place were known to the ancient Etrurians, and were worked by them. Winkelman (vol. i. N p. 147, Ital. ed.) mentions four sepulchral urns made of this material, which were found in the neighbourhood of the city, and which are now in the Villa Albani. Vasari's account of this gesso volterrano, and the manner in which it was used, is as follows : " Andrea (Verrocchio) took much pleasure in making models of that kind of plaster (gesso) which is made of a soft stone found in Volterra and Siena, and in many other parts of Italy ; which stone, burnt in the fire, and then pounded and made into a paste with cold water, becomes so supple that you may make what you please of it ; and afterwards it becomes so hard and firm that it may be used for making casts of whole figures. Andrea then used to form models of natural objects, namely, hands, feet, knees, legs, arms, and bodies, from such casts, for the convenience of having them always before him, so that he might imitate them. In his time began the practice of taking casts of dead persons, at a small expense ; so that there might be seen, in the passages, doors, windows, and cornices of every house in Florence an infinite number of these casts, so well and naturally done that they appeared alive. And from that time forward the practice was and is still followed ; and very useful has it been to us in procuring many of the portraits which are placed in the palace of the Duke Cosmo; and for this we are greatly indebted to the skill of Andrea, who was the first who made use of it." - Life of Andrea Verrocchio.
Andrea can certainly claim the merit of having been the first who made casts of the dead, since the process of taking them from living models only is described by Cennino, who does not claim the invention. Andrea died in 1488. The same gesso volterrano was also used for the grounds of pictures ; but for this purpose it does not appear to have been burnt. See chap. 115. - Translator.
(2)-From this passage, as well as from the remaining part of the work, we obtain much information relative to the art of statuary at this period. The precautions to be observed with regard to illus-
trious persons, as taught by Cennino, could not have been his own invention, but rather the result of experience, which he had learned from his master, and which was preserved as a tradition in this school. The art of taking a cast of a head, and of the whole figure, shews that the inventions could not have been recent ; and we cannot but think that Nicolo Pisano, and the other sculptors who were contemporaries of the author, adopted the same plan. -Tambroni.
Chat. 171.- P. 106.
(1) - Vasari speaks, in chap. xi. of the Introduction to the Three Arts, &c, of making moulds of ashes for taking casts with metals ; but he does not tell us how they are done. He says : " And what is more, some earths and ashes, which are used for this purpose, are of such fine quality, that casts are made from them, in gold and silver, of sprigs of rue and other small herbs, and beautiful flowers." -Tambroni.
A substance much resembling these ashes was found in some vaults below a room in Pompeii, covering to the depth of several feet the skeletons of seventeen persons. " The ashes were of extreme fineness, evidently borne in through the vent-holes, and afterwards consolidated by damp. The substance thus formed resembles the sand used by metal-founders for castings, but is yet more delicate, and took perfect impressions of every thing upon which it lay. Unfortunately, this property was not observed until almost too late, and little was preserved except the neck and breast of a girl, which are said to display extraordinary beauty of form. So exact is the impression, that the very texture of the dress in which she was clothed is apparent, which, by its extraordinary fineness, evidently shews that she had not been a slave, and may be taken for the fine gauze which Seneca calls ' woven wind.' On other fragments the
impression of jewels worn on the neck and arms is distinct." Lib. Ent. Knowledge, Art. Pompeii, vol. ii. p. 239. - Translator.