On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
ing the missing portions to the oast . Here lies the difference between pictures and statues in respect to their restoration . Pictures cannot be cast , nor the masterpieces accurately copied , therefore any restoration required must be performed on the original work . We will explain this by taking a parallel case of injury in an old painting . We have before us an elaborate picture of Saint George and the Dragon , by Roger of Bruges . Those who have seen the best pictures of this master must have been struck by their singular lustre . The present work has all the luminous appearance of ancient glass windows found in Gothic churches . These beautiful qualities in our example are disfigured
by certain absolute blemishes , the most prominent of which arise from four squares of the tesselated pavement , on which St . George is standing , having fallen out , leaving the oak panel visible in the p lace ; another portion of the work has likewise disappeared , separating the long handle of the spear which the Saint thrusts into the jaws of the infuriated monster . The moment the eye is directed to the picture the whole attention is rivetted on these two blemishes . It is in vain that you attempt to realize the picture as a whole , such as it appeared in its perfect state . The first thing that enters the mind of the spectator is how may those blemishes be remedied ? The answer is ready , for the remedy is simple . Some able artist must
restore the lost portions of the tesselated floor and the spear . This is not a difficult task * while it is a perfectly safe operation , not involving a particle of the original remains . The restorer proceeds by filling with cement the large holes whence the pieces have dropped ; after this the cement is scraped level with the surface of the picture , and then the artist proceeds to sketch and colour the parts to match those adjoining in form and in colour , accomplishing this so accurately in tint and texture that the keenest eye may never after discover where the injuries have been . No one will deny the practicability of making restorations of this nature , and surely they are such as not even the original painter would be disposed to reject .
To restore the composition of a picture in the manner described is perfectly legitimate : nay , a service is thereby rendered to the world , the fame of the master being perpetuated . Wherefore then should the connoisseur object ? Having shown how large repairs may be accomplished without perverting the intention of the master , we will see what can be done for the removal of numerous lesser defects . Suppose the picture of St . George and the Dragon to be differently disfigured . A small worm ( common to old timber ) has hollowed out the panel and perforated the picture , regardless alike of the Saint or the Dragon . Thus in the scarlet robe of the hero there are not less than twenty small round holes , six in the face and many more in
the various parts of the representation , making in all about a hundred . If it were practicable to fill up a cavity of the eize of four squares of the tesselated floor , it might seem an easy matter to fill up tiny holes no larger in circumference than small shot . Insignificant , however , as these small worm holes may appear singly , a hundred of them dispersed over a surface , of 24 inches by 16 are sufficient to have a very damaging influence . Yet these holes may be filled and tinted by the fine point of a sable pencil , so as to mingle the specks with the neighbouring colours , thus restoring the painting to its original completeness . It will be borne in mind that the whole of the processes described and recommended are performed not on the work of the master , but over cavities occasioned by ordinary decay . What has been advanced respecting these small openings made by worms ,
and their repair , holds good also of other injuries to which pictures are liable . Cracks , rents , and fissures may all be remedied by the same ingenious process . There are scarcely any old paintings which have not received from time to time attentions of this kind . One would think that such services rendered to art would need no justification . Nor indeed would any defence have been necessary , had it not happened that unskilful and impatient hands have often been employed to make these essential reparations ; who , instead of confining themselves within bounds to the particles of damage , to save time , or to hide their inability to match the colours , have painted over the whole work , and thus obliterated the original picture for ever . Proceedings of this unscrupulous nature have oecn frequent , and have come to throw discredit on the art of Restoration , and the able , conscientious Restorer suffers in the general censure .
So much for repairs which may be carried out on a picture , whether it is clean or not . Cleaning pictures is altogether a more complicated and serious matter . It is a subject to be approached with caution . The operations necessary cannot be so well defined as can those relating to artistic repairs . Is it possible to clean old dirty pictures with beneficial results and without injury to the original tints and touches ? " No , " exclaims " A Tory in Art , " * " it is as idle to talk of restoring a picture to what it was , as to try and push back the iron hand of time . We must make up our minds to put up with a certain amount of dirt , and study the works of departed genius through the warm haze of time . " There ; is one good quality in your thorough-going Conservative . He always expresses himself so as to be understood .
" A Tory in Art" evidently labours under the impression that it is not possible ; to revive tbo pictures of the old Masters , and that wo must be content to study them as they arc , and profit by the contemplation of delicate beauties as they appear through a dark ( rtust of dirt f We may venture the assertion that tin ? old Masters would be the first to object to the present dingy condition of their productions . The questions here to be asked are ,
"Did the old painters calculate that their pictures would come to need cleaning ? " and " did they make any provision to that end ? " Certainly they did . When oil painting first came into use , one of its useful virtues , as noted by the painters of the time , was , that it would wash . Long before Italian pictures were remarkable forjeorrect drawing or harmonious colouring , painters had manifested anxiety for the future preservation of their works . Antonio da Messina , about the year 1494 , seeing an oil p icture of John Van Eyek ' s at Naples , and perceiving that " it mightbe washed with water without suffering any injury , " the Italian was so satisfied of the advantages of oj . 1 painting over the old method of water colours , that he immediatel y set put
for Bruges , and there by presents and services , succeeded in prevailing on John Van Eyck to divulge his precious secret . It is recorded that the art of painting in oil thus found its way into Italy . Anyhow , there is no want of evidence that the early Italian painters were desirous that their pictures should be so painted that they might afterwards be kept clean and sightly . We find the venerable Leonardo da Vinci speculating on a method pf painting a picture ff that will last for ever . " This durability was to be e » r sured by a layer of glass placed over the picture , so to preserve it from the action of the air . We find varnishes in repute as far back as the year 1410 , after which time they came into general use , and have continued so to the present day .
When we wish to preserve a print with its white margin from dust , we place a glass over it , and there is no doubt that painters , ever since the in < - vention of oil painting , have been accustomed to varnish their p ictures with the view to the preservation of the colours . The pictures in the National Gallery have all been varnished many times . There can be no question of the long and general use of varnishes , or of the one sole reason for their use . Had varnishes always kept as hard , clear , and durable as glass , the
preservation of the works of the old painters had been an easy matter ; but , unfortunately , the colours of the majority of the finest pictures are rendered almost invisible by the discolouration and cracking of the varnishes themselves ; and as we have shown , colours are commonly found ef as fresh and beautiful as they left the palette , * ' after having been corroded over for centuries . The simple removal of these injurious incrustations is the work of the modern picture cleaner , and the desirability of picture cleaning the point to be decided .
We shall be able to show that whatever tends to injure the pictures , and obscure them , ought , if practicable , to be removed . ; more , we shall be enabled to show the practicability of doing this in most cases . It must be borne in mind that varnish has always been considered in the light of temporary transparent covering for the protection of the colours , to be removed when it becomes opaque and worthless ; and that it ought to possess such chemical properties as may be removed , without injuring the picture under the operation of removal .
Untitled Article
LITTLE BOY BLUE . II . When the corn-fields and meadows Are pearl'd with the dew , With the first sunny shadow Walks little Boy Blue . O the Nymphs and the Graces Still gleam on his eyes , And the kind fairy faces ] Look down from the skies ; And a secret revealing 1 Of life within life , When feeling meets feeling In musical strife j A winding and weaving In flowers and in trees , A floating and heaving In sunlight and breeze ; And a striving and soaring , A gladness and grace , Make him kneel half adoring The God in the place . Then amid the live shadows Of lambs at their play , Where the kinc scent tlie meadows With breath like the ' May , He stands in the splendour That waits on the morn , And a music more tender Distils from his horn : And he weeps , he rejoices , IJe prays , nor in vain , V ' ur soft loving voices Will husww again . And t | ie Nymphs uml the Graces Still gleam through the dew , Au < l kind fany fucfls Watch little Hoy Blue . ]^
Untitled Article
January 22 , 1853 . ] T . HE UADEB . 9 S
Untitled Article
" ~ * Time ; Dao . 2 Gtli , 1852 ,
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 22, 1853, page 93, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1970/page/21/
-