Goethe's Theory of Colours by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1839. The last-named work contains much useful information.
465 words | Chapter 27
[2] Italian writers of the 16th century speak of three kinds. Cardanus
says, that of the _abies_ was esteemed most, that of the _larix_ next,
and that of the _picea_ least. The resin extracted by incision from
the last (the pinus abies Linnæi) is known by the name of Burgundy
pitch; when extracted by fire it is black. The three varieties occur
in Italian treatises on art, under the names of _oglio di abezzo_,
_trementina_ and _pece Greca_.
[3] The concrete balsam _benzoe_, called by the Italians _beluzino_,
and _belzoino_, is sometimes spoken of as a varnish.
[4] Marcucci supposes that balsam of copaiba was mixed with the
pigments by the (later) Venetians.
[5] "L'Archipelago con tutte le Isole," Ven. 1658. The incidental
notices of the remains of antiquity in this work would be curious and
important if they could be relied on. In describing the island of
Samos, for instance, the author asserts that the temple of Juno was in
tolerable preservation, and that the statue was still there.
[6] "La Carta del Navegar Pitoresco," Ven. 1660. It is in the Venetian
dialect.
[7] Inveriadure (invetriature), literally the glazing applied to
earthenware.
[8]
"O de che strazze se fan cavedal!
D'ogio d'avezzo, mastici e sandraca;
E trementina (per no'dir triaca)
Robe, che ilustrerave ogni stival."--p. 338.
The alliteration of the words _trementina_ and _triaca_ is of course
lost in a translation.
[9] "I li ha fati straluser co' i colori." Boschini was at least
constant in his opinion. In the second edition of his "Ricche Minere
della Pittura Veneziana," which appeared fourteen years after the
publication of his poem, he repeats that the Venetian painters avoided
some colours in flesh "e similmente i lustri e le vernici."
[10] Thus, in the introduction to the "Ricche Minere," Boschini calls
the Milanese, Florentine, Lombard, and Bolognese painters, _forestieri_.
[11] "Il Riposo," Firenze, 1584.
[12] "De' Veri Precetti della Pittura," Ravenna, 1587.
[13] "Trattato della Pittura fondato nell' autorità di molti eccellenti
in questa professione." Venezia, 1642. Bisagno remarks in his preface,
that the books on art were few, and that painters were in the habit of
keeping them secret. He acknowledges that he has availed himself of the
labours of others, but without mentioning his sources: some passages
are copied from Lomazzo. He, however, lays claim to some original
observations, and says he had seen much and discoursed with many
excellent painters.
[14] "Le Meraviglie dell' Arte," Venezia, 1648.
[15] It has been conjectured by some that this story proved the
immixture of varnishes with the colours, and that the oil was only used
to dilute them. The epitaph on Antonello da Messina which existed in
Vasari's time, alludes to his having mixed the colours with oil.
[16] "Petri Mariæ Caneparii De Atramentis cujuscumque generis," Venet.
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