CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER V.ON THE GENERAL QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS.Thegeneral attributes of a perfect pigment are beauty of colour, comprehending pureness and richness, brilliancy and intensity, delicacy and depth,—truth of hue—transparency or opacity, well-working, crispness, setting up, or keeping its place, and desiccation, or drying well. To all of these must be superaddeddurabilitywhen used, a quality to which the health and vitality of a picture belong, and one so essential that all other properties put together without it are of no esteem with the artist who merits reputation. We have, therefore, given it a previous distinct consideration.It must be observed that no pigment possesses all the foregoing qualifications in perfection, some being naturally at variance or opposed; nor is there any, perhaps, that cannot boast excellence in one or more of them.Beautycommonly comprises in the same pigment delicacy, purity, and brilliancy; or depth, richness, and intensity. Delicacy and depth inthe beauty of colours are at variance in the production of all pigments, so that perfect success in producing the one is attended with more or less of failure in the other, and when they are united—as they occasionally are—it is with some sacrifice of both. Hence the judicious artist purveys for his palette at least two pigments of each colour, one eminent for delicate beauty, the other for richness and depth.Truth of hueis a relative quality in all colours, except the extreme primaries, in the relations of which, blue, being of nearest affinity to black or shade, has properly but one other relation, in which it inclines to red and becomes purple-blue: it is, therefore, faulty or false, when, tending to yellow, it becomes of a green hue. But red, which is of equal affinity to light and shade, has two relations, by one of which it verges upon blue and becomes a purple-red or crimson; and by the other it leans to yellow, and becomes an orange-red or scarlet, neither of which is individually false or discordant. Yet yellow, which is of nearest affinity to white or light, has strictly but one true relation, by which it inclines to red, and becomes a warm or orange yellow, for by uniting with blue it becomes a defective green-yellow. The best example of true yellow in a pigment, tending neither to red nor blue, is furnished byAureolin, alluded to in the last chapter. The secondary and tertiary colours, having allduplex relations, may incline without default to either of their relatives.Transparencyis an essential property of all glazing pigments, and adds greatly to the value of dark or shading colours; indeed it is the prime quality upon which depth and darkness depend,as whiteness, or light, doesupon opacity or reflecting power.Opacityis, therefore, the antagonist of transparency, and qualifies pigments to cover in dead-colouring, or solid painting, as well as to combine with transparent colours in forming tints; and hence it is that semi-transparent pigments are suited in a mean degree both for dead colouring and for finishing. As excellencies, therefore, transparency and opacity are relative only—the first being as indispensable to shade in all its gradations, as the latter is to light. With regard to transparent and opaque colours generally, it is worthy of attention in the practice of the oil-painter, that the best effects of the former are produced when they are used with a resinous varnish; as opaque pigments are best employed in oil, and the two become united with best effect in a mixture of these vehicles. The natural and artificial powers, or depth and brilliancy, of every colour lie within the extremes of black and white; hence it follows that the most powerful effects of transparent colours are obtained by glazing them over black and white. As, however, few transparent pigments havesufficient body, or tinging power for this, it is often necessary to glaze them over tints, or deep opaque colours of the required hues. There is a charm in transparent colours which frequently leads to an undue use thereof in glazing; but glazing, scumbling, and their combined process must be employed with discretion, according to the objects and effects of a picture.Working wellis a quality which depends principally upon fineness of texture, and what is calledbodyin colours; yet every pigment has its peculiarities in respect to working both in water and oil, and these must become matter of every artist's special experience. Some of the best pigments are most difficult of management, while some ineligible colours are rich in body and free in working. Accidental circumstances, however, may influence all pigments in these respects, according to the painter's particular mode of operation, and his vehicle; upon the affinities of colours with which depend their general faculties of working—such as keeping their place, crispness or setting up, and drying well. These latter, with other properties and accidents of pigments, will be particularly considered in treating of their individual characters; but it may be remarked that crispness or setting up, as well as keeping their place and form in which they are applied, are contrary to the nature of many pigments, and depend in painting with them upon a gelatinousmixture of their vehicle. For example, mastic and other resinous varnishes impart this texture to oils which have been rendered drying by the acetate, or sugar of lead:—simple water, also albumen, and animal jelly made of glue and isinglass, give the same quality to oils and colours; and bees-wax has a similar effect in pure oils. Whitelac varnish, and other spirit varnishes, rubbed into the colours on the palette likewise enable them to keep their place very effectually in most instances. This is important, because glazing cannot be performed except with a vehicle which keeps its place, or with pigments which lend this property to the vehicle, as some lakes and transparent colours do.Fineness of textureis produced by extreme grinding and levigation. Pigments ground in water in the state of a thick paste, are miscible in oil and dry therein firmly; and in case of utility or necessity, any water-colour in cake, being rubbed off thick in water may be diffused in oil, the gum acting as a medium of union between the two. Thus, pigments which cannot otherwise be employed in oil, or varnish, may be forced into the service and add to the resources of the oil-painter, care being taken to use the palette-knife, if of steel, with caution.Desiccation or drying.The well-known additions of the acetate, or sugar of lead, litharge,and sulphate of zinc, either mechanically ground, or in solution, for light colours; and japanner's gold size, or oils boiled upon litharge, for lakes; or, in some cases, manganese and verdigris for dark colours, are resorted to when the pigments or vehicles are not sufficiently good dryers alone. It would be well if lead and copper could be banished from the list of siccatives altogether: assuredly, no artist with any regard for the permanent texture of his work should employ them except in extreme cases, and in the smallest possible quantity. The best of pigments may be ruined by their injudicious use, and obtain a character for fugacity which they in no way deserve. It requires attention that an excess of dryer renders oil saponaceous, is inimical to drying, and is otherwise injurious. Some colours dry badly from not being sufficiently edulcorated or washed. Sulphate of zinc, as a siccative, is less powerful than acetate of lead, but is far preferable in a chemical sense. It is supposed erroneously to set the colours running; which is not positively the case, though it will not retain those disposed to move, because it wants the property the acetate of lead possesses, of gelatinizing the mixture of oil and varnish. These two dryers should not be employed together, since they counteract and decompose each other, forming two new substances—acetate of zinc, which is a bad siccative, and sulphate of lead, which isinsoluble and opaque. The inexperienced ought here to be guarded against the highly improper practice of some artists, who strew their pictures while wet with acetate of lead, or use that substance in some other mode, without grinding or solution; which, though it may promote present drying, will ultimately effloresce on the surface of the work, throw off the colour in sandy spots, and expose the paintings to peculiar risk from the damaging influence of impure air.It is not always that ill drying is to be attributed to the pigments or vehicles, the states of the weather and atmosphere have great influence thereon. The direct rays of the sun are powerfully active in rendering oils and colours siccative, and were probably resorted to before dryers were—not always wisely—added to oils, particularly in the warm climate of Italy. The ground may also advance or retard drying, because some pigments united by mixing or glazing, become either more or less siccative by their conjunction. Many other accidental circumstances may likewise affect drying; and among these none is to be more guarded against by the artist than the presence of soap and alkali, too often left in the washing of his brushes, and which, besides other bad results, decompose and are decomposed by acetate of lead and most siccatives. In such cases desiccation is retarded, streaks and patches are formed on the painting, and the odium of ill drying fallsupon some unlucky pigment. To free brushes from this disadvantage, they should be cleansed with linseed oil and turpentine. Dryers should be added to colours only at the time of using them, because they exercise their drying property while chemically combining with the oils employed, during which the latter become thick or fatten. Too much of the siccative will, as before noticed, often retard drying.The various affinities of pigments occasion each to have its more or less appropriate dryer; and it would be a matter of useful experience if the habits of every colour in this respect were ascertained. It is probable that siccatives of less power generally than the compounds of lead and copper might come into use in particular cases, such as the oxides of manganese, to which umber and the Cappagh browns owe their drying quality.To other good attributes of pigments, it would be well if we could in all cases add the property of beinginnoxious. As this, however, cannot be, and colours are by no means to be sacrificed on that account, cleanliness and avoiding the habit of putting the brush unnecessarily to the mouth, so common in water-painting, are sufficient guards against any possibly pernicious effects from the use of any pigment. No colour which is not imbibed by the stomach will in the slightest degree injure the health of the artist.PART III.ON COLOURS AND PIGMENTS INDIVIDUALLY.CHAPTER VI.ON COLOURS AND PIGMENTS INDIVIDUALLY.Havingbriefly discussed the relations and attributes of colours and pigments generally, we come to their powers and properties individually—a subject pregnant with materials and of unlimited connexions, every substance in nature and art possessing colour, the first quality of pigments.With regard tocoloursindividually, it is a general law of their relations, confirmed by nature and the impressions of sense, that those colours which lie nearest in nature to light have their greatest beauty in their lightest tints: and that those which tend similarly towards shade are most beautiful in their greatest depth or fulness, a rule of course applying to black and white particularly. Thus, the most beautiful yellow, like white, is that which is lightest and most vivid; blue is most beautiful when deep and rich; while red is of greatest beauty when of intermediate depth, or somewhat inclined to light; and their compounds partake of these relations. We speakhere only of the individual beauty of colours, and not of that relative beauty by which every tint, hue, and shade of colour become pleasing, or otherwise according to space, place, and reference; for this latter beauty belongs to the general nature and harmony of colours.In respect topigmentsindividually, it may be observed that—other things being equal—those pigments are the most beautiful which possess the most colour, whether they be light or dark, opaque or transparent, bright or subdued. There are some which exhibit all their colour at a glance: there are others that the more they are looked into the more colour they are found to have—containing, as they do, an amount oflatent colour, not immediately apparent. Apart from the beauty which a wealth of colour imparts, those pigments imbued with it are, as a rule, the most permanent. And not unnaturally so, for the more colour there is present, the longer it takes to be affected, either by exposure or impure air. Colour within colour, therefore, not only lends charm to a pigment, but contributes to its safety.There is often a vicious predilection of some artists in favour of a particular colour, from which many of our best colourists have not been totally free, and which arises from organic defect, or mental association. Such predilection is greatly to be guarded against by the colourist, whois every way surrounded by dangers. On the one hand, there is fear lest he fall into whiteness or chalkiness; on the other, into blackness or gloom: in front he may run into fire and foxiness, or he may slide backward into cold and leaden dulness: all of which are extremes he must avoid. There are also other important prejudices to which the eye is liable in regard to colours individually, that demand his particular attention. These are occasioned by the various specific powers of single colours acting on the eye according to their masses and the activity of light, or the length of time they are viewed. By consequence, vision becomes over-stimulated, unequally exhausted, and endued, even before it is fatigued, with a spectrum which not only clouds the colour itself, but gives a false brilliancy by contrast to surrounding hues, so as totally or partially to throw the eye off its balance, and mislead the judgment. This derangement of the organ may be caused by a powerful tint on the palette, a mass of drapery, the colour of a wall, the light of a room, or other accidental circumstance; and the remedy is to refresh the eye with a new object—of nature, if possible—or to give it rest. The powers of colours in these respects, as well as of pigments individually, together with their reciprocal action and influence chemically, will be adverted to under their distinct heads.The attention of the artist to the individual powers of pigments, although it may be of less concern than the attention to general effect in colouring, is by no means less necessary in practice. For he who would excel in colouring must study it from several points of view, in respect to the whole and the parts of a picture, as regards mind and body, and concerning itself alone. To this end, is needed a knowledge of his pigments individually.If nature has arrayed herself in all the colours of the rainbow, she has not been niggardly in offering man the materials wherewith to copy them. The mineral, animal, vegetable kingdom—each helps him to realize, however faintly, her many manifold beauties: to give some idea, however slight, of that glorious flood of colour, which light lets loose upon the world. Metal, ore, earth, stone; root, plant, flower, fruit; beast, fish, insect—in turn aid the arduous task. The painter's box is a very museum of curiosities, from every part of the universe. For it, the mines yield their treasures, as well as the depths of the sea: to it come Arab camel, and English ox, cuttle-fish and crawling coccus: in it the Indian indigo lies next the madder of France, and the gaudy vermilion of China brightens the mummy of Egypt. Varied, indeed, are the sources whence we derive our pigments; and if they still leave much to desire, improvement is clearly manifest. Slowly butsurely, year by year, we are advancing. With the growth of science, the exhaustless stores of creation, will there at last be attained—step by step, though it be—that summit of the artist's hopes, a perfect palette?CHAPTER VII.ON THE NEUTRAL, WHITE.Theterm "colour" is equivocal when applied to the neutrals, yet the artist is bound to consider them as colours; for a thing cannot but be that of which it is composed, and neutrals are composed of, or comprehend, all colours.With regard to colour, then,whitein a perfect state should be neutral in hue, and absolutely opaque; that white being the best which reflects light most brilliantly. This property in white is calledbody; by which in other pigments, especially those that are transparent, is meanttingeing power. White, besides its uses as a colour, is the instrument of light in painting, and compounds when pure with all colours, without changing their class. Yet it dilutes and cools all colours except blue, which is specifically cold; and, though it does not change nor defile any colour, it is changed and defiled by all colours. This pureness of white, if it be not in some degree broken or tinged, will cast down or degrade every other colour in a picture, and itself becomeharsh and crude. Hence the lowness of tone which has been thought a necessity in painting, but is such only because our other colours do not approach to the purity of white. Had we all necessary colours thus relatively pure as white, colouring in painting might be carried up to the full brilliancy of nature; and, in fact, more progress has already been made in that respect, than the prejudice for dulness is disposed to tolerate.Locally, white is the most advancing of all colours in a picture, and produces the effect of throwing others back in different degrees, according to their specific retiring and advancing powers. These latter, however, are not absolute qualities of colours, but depend on the relations of light and shade, which are variously appropriate to all colours. Hence it is that a white object rightly adapted, appears to detach, distribute, and put in keeping; as well as to give relief, decision, distinctness, and distance to every thing around it: hence, too, the use and requirement of a white or light object, in each separate group of a composition. White itself is advanced or brought forward, unless indeed white surround a dark object, in which case they retire together. In mixture, white communicates these properties to its tints, and harmonizes in conjunction with, or in opposition to all colours; but lies nearest in series to yellow, and remotest from blue, of which, next to black, it is the most thorough contrast.It is correlative with black, which is the opposite extreme of neutrality.Perfect white is opaque, and perfect black transparent; hence when added to black in minute proportion, white gives it solidity; and from a like small proportion of black combined with white, the latter acquires locality as a colour, and better preserves its hue in painting. Both white and black communicate these properties to other colours, in proportion to their lightness or depth; while they cool each other in mixture, and equally contrast each other when opposed. These extremes of the chromatic scale are each in its way most easily denied, as green, the mean of the scale, is the greatest defiler of all colours. Rubens regarded white as the nourishment of light, and the poison of shadow.In a picture, white should not be merely glittering or brilliant, but tender as well as bright. The eye should seek it for rest, brilliant though it may be; and feel it as a space of strange heavenly paleness in the midst of the flushing of the colours. This effect can only be reached by general depth of middle tint, by the perfect absence of any white, save where it is needed, and by keeping the white itself subdued by grey, except at a few points of chief lustre.White, as a pigment, is of more extensive use than any other colour in oil painting and fresco, owing to its local quality, its representing light,and its entering into composition with all colours in the formation of tints. The old masters have been supposed by some to possess whites superior to our own, but this may be questioned. The pureness of whites in some celebrated old pictures is rather to be attributed to a proper method of using, careful preservation of the work, and in many instances to the introduction of ultramarine or a permanent cold colour into the white—such as plumbago—helped also by judicious contrast.Notwithstanding white pigments are tolerably numerous, a thoroughly unexceptionable white is still a desideratum—one combining the perfect opacity or body of white lead with the perfect permanency of zinc white. The nearest approach to it that has yet been made, is Chinese white, which possesses in a great measure the property of the former, and, being a preparation of zinc, has wholly that of the latter. Unfortunately Chinese white is a water-colour pigment only, not retaining its several advantages, stability excepted, when employed in oil.1. CONSTANT WHITE,Also calledPermanent white, andBarytic white, is, when well prepared, of superior body in water, but has less opacity in oil. It works in a somewhat unsatisfactory and unpleasant manner, and is considerably lower in its tone while wet than when dry, a fault which subjects even an experienced artist to great uncertainty where he uses it in compound tints. The semi-transparency of the white, while wet, prevents his judging of the true tint until his colour has dried, when he frequently finds it harsh and chalky, and out of tone with the rest of his painting. As little gum as possible should be employed with it, gum being inimical to its body, or whiteness. The best way of preparing this pigment, as well as other terrene whites, so as to preserve their opacity, is to grind them in simple water, and to add towards the end of the grinding sufficient only of clearcoldjelly of gum tragacanth as will connect them into a body, and attach them to the paper in painting. Cold starch will answer the same purpose.Constant white is a sulphate of baryta, found native and known under the name of heavy-spar, or prepared artificially by adding sulphuric acid, or a soluble sulphate, to a solution of a barytic salt. In the first mode, if the white be not well purified from free acid, it is apt to act injuriously on some pigments. Sulphate of baryta is often used for the purpose of adulterating white lead, the native salt being ground to fine powder, and washed with dilute sulphuric acid, by which its colour is improved, and a little oxide of iron probably dissolved out. Whether native or artificial, the compound is quite unaffected by impure air, and is not poisonous.LEAD WHITESComprise and are known under the names of:—White lead,Flake whiteandBody-white,Cremnitz, orKremnitz,CremsorKrems white,LondonandNottingham white,Flemish white,Pattison's white,Blanc d'argentorSilver white,Ceruse,Dutch white,French white,Venetian white,Hamburgh white,Kremser white,Sulphate of lead, &c.The heaviest and whitest of these are the best, and in point of colour and body, are superior to all other whites. When pure and properly applied in oil and varnish, they are comparatively safe and durable, drying well without addition; but excess of oil discolours them, and in water-painting they are changeable even to blackness. Upon all vegetable lakes, except those of madder, they have a destructive effect; and are injurious to gamboge, as well as to those almost obsolete pigments, red and orange leads, king's and patent yellow, massicot, and orpiment. With ultramarine, however, red and orange vermilions, yellow and orange chromes, yellow and orange and red cadmiums, aureolin, the ochres, viridian and other oxides of chromium, Indian red &c., they compound with little or no injury. Lead colours must not be employed in water-colour or crayon painting, distemper, or fresco. The whites of lead are carbonates of that metal, with two exceptions:—Flemish white or the sulphate, and Pattison's white or the oxychloride. In using all pigments of which lead is the basis, cleanliness is essential to health.White lead, by which we must be understood to mean the carbonate, always contains when commercially prepared a certain proportion of hydrated oxide. The less of the latter there is present, the better does the white cover, and the less liable is it to turn brown. The products formed by precipitation have proved to be inferior in body: otherwise, pure mono-carbonate of lead-oxide, obtained by mixing solutions of carbonate of potash and a lead-salt, might be best adapted for a pigment. However, such a carbonate has been lately produced by Mr. Spence's process of passing carbonic acid gas into a caustic soda or potash solution of lead, and for this white an opacity is claimed equal to that of the ordinary compound.Great as is the opacity of white lead, it is apt to lose that property in some measure in course of time, and become more or less transparent. If, over a series of dry oil-colour rubs of varied hues, there were brushed sufficient white lead paint to utterly obscure them, after some years those rubs would indistinctly appear, and by degrees become more and more visible, until at last their forms—if not their very colours—could be recognised. From this it would seem that white lead must slowly but surely part withsome of its carbonic acid, and be at length converted intodicarbonate, a compound possessing less carbonic acid, and less coating power.Impure air, or sulphuretted hydrogen, browns or blackens white lead, converting it partially or wholly into sulphide. It would appear from the recent investigations of Dr. D. S. Price, that white lead is less liable to be thus affected, when the pictures in which it is used are exposed to a strong light; also, that when such pictures have so suffered, a like exposure will restore them. We have ourselves noticed the rapidity with which an oil rub of white lead that has been damaged by foul gas, regains its former whiteness when submitted to air and sunshine. The action of drying oils has been likewise proved to be very powerful upon sulphide of lead, an exposure to light for a few days only being sufficient to change a surface of it, coated with a thin layer of boiled linseed oil, into a white one. Probably, these agents may have a similar effect upon other pigments injured by sulphuretted hydrogen, and many of the colours in paintings may be restored by treating them with boiled linseed oil, and submitting them to a strong light. That the result is due to oxidation, there can be no doubt. Indeed, the eminent French chemist, M. Thénard, was consulted some years back upon the means of bringing to their original whiteness the black spots which had formed upon a valuable drawing, bythe changing of the white lead, and employed for that purpose oxygenated water. He had ascertained its power of converting the black sulphide of lead into the white sulphate, and, by touching the spots with a brush dipped in the fluid, soon succeeded in restoring the drawing to its primitive state. Here, again, the use of the agent might doubtless be extended to other colours, to which foul air is inimical.In oil painting white lead is essential in the ground, in dead colouring, in the formation of tints of all colours, and in scumbling, either alone or mixed with other pigments. It is also the best local white, when neutralized with ultramarine or black; and it is the true representative of light, when warmed with Naples yellow, or orange vermilion or cadmium, or with a mixture of the yellow and either of the orange pigments, according to the light.Ordinary white lead is often mixed with considerable quantities of heavy spar, gypsum, or chalk. These injure it in body and brightness, dispose it to dry more slowly, keep its place less firmly, and discolour the oil with which it is applied, as well as prevent it dissolving completely in boiling dilute potash-ley, a test by which pure white lead may be known.The adulteration of pigments, which we have in some instances found practised to a large extent abroad, is comparatively unfrequent inour own country, so far at least as regards the superior class of colours employed by artists. As a rule, such colours when manufactured in England may be fairly assumed to be genuine; and certainly the respectable colourmen of the present day are not in the habit of sophisticating them. We must bear testimony, indeed, to the zeal with which they purvey, regardless of necessary expense, the choicest and most perfect materials. This should be a matter of congratulation to the painter, who must of necessity rely on the faith and honesty of his colour-dealer; for if he were ever so good a chemist, it would be impossible for him to analyse each pigment before proceeding to use it. The fault must rest with himself, therefore, if, through a mistaken economy, he do not frequent the best houses and pay the best prices. Of a surety, the colours of the artist are not among those things in which quality can, or should, be sacrificed to cheapness.2. BLANC D'ARGENT, OR SILVER WHITE.These are false appellations of a white lead, called alsoFrench white. It is brought from Paris in the form of drops, is exquisitely white, but of less body than flake white, and has all the properties of the best white leads. Being subject to the same changes, it is unfitfor general use as a water-colour, though good in oil or varnish.3. CREMNITZ WHITE,Known likewise asKremnitz,Crems, orKrems white, is a carbonate of lead which derives its names from Kremnitz in Hungary, or Crems or Krems in Austria. It is also calledVienna white, being brought from Vienna in cakes of a cubical form. Cremnitz white is the brightest white that is used in oil: it possesses rather less body than flake white, because the particles are finer. When newly prepared, it gives out a strong smell of vinegar.4. FLAKE WHITE,Called, when levigated,Body white, is an English white lead in the form of scales or plates, sometimes grey on the surface. It takes its name from its figure, is occasionally equal to Crems white in colour, and generally surpasses in body all other white leads. In composition, it is a mixture of protocarbonate and hydrated oxide of lead, the latter decreasing the opacity of the product according to the greater proportion in which it is present.5. FLEMISH WHITE, OR SULPHATE OF LEADIs an exceedingly white precipitate from any solution of lead by sulphuric acid, much resemblingthe blanc d'argent. It is inferior, however, both in body and permanence to the ordinary carbonate. Hence, white lead which has more or less been converted by sulphurettedhydrogeninto sulphide, and again been converted into sulphate by oxidation, with a view to restoring its colour, becomes peculiarly liable to the influence of impure air.6. LONDON AND NOTTINGHAM WHITES.The best of these do not essentially differ from each other, nor from the white leads of other manufactories. The latter variety, being prepared from flake white, is usually the greyer of the two.7. PATTISON'S WHITE, OR OXYCHLORIDE OF LEADIs a mixture of chloride and oxide of lead, formed by precipitating a solution of chloride of lead with soda, potash, lime, or baryta, in the caustic or hydrated state. It would appear that when the oxychloride is used as a paint, the oxide contained in it gives rise to an oleate of lead, and, in consequence of this saponaceous matter, is capable of spreading over an extended surface. The product has been described as possessing properties which are superior to those of white lead, inasmuch as it does not so readily blacken as the latter body. Dr. Ure, however, found that water removes the chloride of lead from the paintcompounded of this article, and, consequently, that it is not so effectual as the carbonate. As an artist's pigment, a partially soluble compound of lead can decidedly not be eligible.8. ROMAN WHITEIs of the purest white colour, and differs only from blanc d'argent in the warm flesh tint of the external surface of the large square masses in which it is commonly prepared.Besides the foregoing, there are other white leads, generally foreign, cheaper, and adulterated. Many of these are mixed with a small quantity of charcoal, indigo, or Prussian blue, so that the dead yellowish shade which they present may be enlivened to a brighter hue. Among them may be named—9. CERUSE.A French variety, not necessarily, but not unfrequently, mixed with different chalky earths in various proportions; and the following Belgian kinds:10. DUTCH WHITE,Containing three fourths of sulphate of baryta.11. HAMBURGH WHITE.A mixture of two parts of heavy spar and one of the plumbous compound.12. KREMSER WHITE,Differing from the rest in being unadulterated.13. VENETIAN WHITEComposed of heavy spar and the carbonate in equal proportions.ZINC WHITES.14. CHINESE WHITE.The introduction, in 1834, of this peculiar preparation of oxide of zinc has proved an incalculable boon to water-colour painters, who formerly had no white which combined perfect permanency with good body in working. Its invention obviated the necessity for using white lead, a pigment which, though it may be employed with comparative safety in oil, is quite unfitted for water. Since the period of its production, Chinese white has been generally preferred by water-colour artists, as being the most eligible in their peculiar department. Previous to that period, the complaints of whites changing were of constant occurrence; but in no instance has any picture, in which this white has been used, suffered from its employment. To the colour of oxide of zinc, sulphuretted hydrogen is altogether harmless; sulphide of zinc being itself white. The variety under noticeworks and washes well, possesses no pasty or clogging properties, and is prepared beautifully white. Moreover, it has the desirable quality of dense body; so much so, that, as the painter works, his effects remain unaltered by the drying of the colour. It may likewise be safely mixed with all other pigments, the following blending very satisfactorily with the white for opaque lights—cadmium yellow, orange, and red; gamboge; aureolin; yellow ochre; vermilion; and light red. Without the artistic drawbacks of constant white or the chemical defects of white lead, and retaining the advantages of both, Chinese white cannot but be considered as a most important addition. It is a matter of regret that this pigment is not equally efficacious in oil.15. ZINC WHITEIs either the anhydrous oxide, the hydrate oxide, or hydrated basic carbonate of zinc. It varies in opacity and colour according to the mode of manufacture, and the purity of the compound, but may always be relied upon as permanent. The whiteness of the best samples rivals that of white lead, and it is not tarnished like the latter by sulphurous vapours. In opacity it never equals white lead, and might perhaps serve advantageously as a glaze over that pigment, either alone or compounded with other colours; as well as act as a medium ofinterposition between white lead and those colours which are injured by it, such as gamboge, crimson lake, &c. When duly and skilfully prepared the colour and body of this pigment are sufficient to qualify it for a general use upon the palette in oil: in water it has been superseded by Chinese white.Occasionally, starch, chalk, white clay, and carbonate of baryta, are employed as adulterants; none of which, however, areinimicalto stability.As a pigment, zinc white may be said to be innoxious. As oxide of zinc does not readily form a saponaceous compound with fats or oil like white lead, the paint prepared with it and ordinary linseed oil does not dry or harden so rapidly. For the purpose of causing it to be more siccative, the oil was boiled with a large quantity of litharge, but by this method the white was liable to tarnish on meeting with foul air. Instead of litharge, experiments have led to the choice of salts of zinc, such as the chloride or sulphate, a small percentage of which, on being mixed with the oil or oxide, confers upon it the property of rapidly hardening. The same result is attained by employing an oil, dried by boiling with about five per cent of peroxide of manganese. In either case, a paint retaining its white colour permanently is produced. These agents might, with advantage, be more generally used in the place of litharge for rendering oils siccative. Manypigments which are not naturally affected by sulphurous emanations are apt to suffer if mixed with an oil made drying by means of lead.16.Cadmium White.Provided the metal be freed from iron, which we have commonly found to be more or less present, a white of considerable beauty may be produced; either directly by precipitation as hydrated oxide or carbonate, or indirectly by exposing the brown anhydrous oxide to air and light—the latter mode yielding a product of greater opacity. However prepared, cadmium white is deficient in body, and apt to assume a yellow tint on meeting with an impure atmosphere.17.Pearl WhiteIs an insoluble basic nitrate of bismuth, a pearly white powder of loose texture, turning grey on exposure, and blackened by sulphuretted hydrogen. It is chiefly used as a cosmetic, but is said to injure the skin, rendering it yellow and leather-like; and it has been known to cause a spasmodic trembling of the face, ending in paralysis.Another preparation under this name, and now obsolete we believe as a pigment, was obtainedfrom mother-of-pearl. It is described as exquisitely white, and of good body in water, but of little force in oil or varnish.18.Tin WhiteResembles zinc white in some respects, but has less body and colour, and dries badly. According to its composition, it is liable to turn either black or a dull yellow in contact with sulphurous vapours.19.White ChalkIs a well-known native carbonate of lime, employed by the artist only as a crayon, or for tracing his designs, for which purpose it is sawed into suitable lengths. White crayons and tracing chalks, to be good, must work and cut free from grit. From this material are prepared whitening and lime, which form the bases of many cheap pigments and colours, used in distemper, paper-staining, &c.Besides those mentioned, there are other metallic whites varying in beauty and opacity, such as those of mercury, arsenic, and antimony; but none of them are of any value or reputation in painting, on account of their great disposition to change of colour, whether by light or foul air, both in water and oil.There are also other terrene whites, underequivocal names, among which are Morat or Modan white, Spanish white, Troys or Troy white, Rouen white, China white, and Satin white; the latter being a sulphate of lime and alumina, which dries with a glossy surface. The common oyster-shell contains a soft white in its thick part, and there is the white of egg-shells. There is, too, an endless variety of native earths, in addition to those prepared by art. The whole of them, however, are destitute of body in oil; and several, owing to their alkaline nature, are injurious to many colours in water, as well as to all colours which cannot be employed in fresco.Among the infinitude of white substances, the artist finds that there are but three white pigments—those of lead, zinc, and baryta. The first possesses the greatest opacity, while the second and third are most durable. The last, however, has so many objectionable qualities, that the number of eligible whites, may almost be said to be two—lead and zinc. Of these, the former is blackened by foul air, and in oil, the latter is wanting in body. In fact, there is but one white pigment which approaches perfection—Chinese white; and this is only a water-colour.CHAPTER VIII.ON THE PRIMARY, YELLOW.Yellowis the first of the primary or simple colours, nearest in relation to, and partaking most of the nature of, the neutral white; it is accordingly a most advancing colour, of great power in reflecting light. Compounded with the primaryred, it constitutes the secondaryorange, as well as its relatives, scarlet, and other warm colours.It is the archeus, or prime colour, of the tertiarycitrine; characterises in like manner the endless number of semi-neutral colours calledbrown, and enters largely into the complex hues termed buff, bay, tawny, tan, dan, dun, drab, chestnut, roan, sorrel, hazel, auburn, isabela, fawn,feuillemort, &c. Yellow is naturally associated with red in transient and prismatic colours, and is the principal power with it in representing the effects of warmth, heat, and fire. Combined with the primaryblue, yellow furnishes all the variety of the secondarygreen, as well as, subordinately, the tertiariesrussetandolive. It also enters in avery subdued degree into cool, semi-neutral, and broken colours, and assists in minor proportion with blue and red in the composition ofblack.As a pigment, yellow is a tender delicate colour, easily defiled, when pure, by other colours. In painting it diminishes the power of the eye by its action in a strong light, at the same time becoming less distinct as a colour; while, on the contrary, it assists vision and becomes more distinct as a colour in a neutral somewhat declining light. These powers of colours upon vision require the particular attention of the colourist. To remedy the ill effect arising from the eyes having dwelt upon a colour, they should be either passed gradually to its opposite colour, and refreshed amid compound or neutral tints, or washed in the clear light of day. Hence, in viewing large collections of pictures, their colours will be more duly estimated by sometimes walking to the window, or by taking an occasional glance at a millboard, which may be carried in the hand, painted a cool gray.In a warm light, yellow becomes totally lost, but is less diminished than all other colours, except white, by distance. The stronger tones of any colour subdue its fainter hues in the same proportion as opposite colours and contrasts exalt them. The contrasting colours of yellow are a purple inclining to blue when the yellow leans to orange, and a purple incliningto red when the yellow tends to green, in the mean proportions ofthirteenpurple tothreeyellow, measured in surface or intensity. Being nearest to the neutral white in the natural scale of colours, yellow accords with it in conjunction; while, of all colours, except white, it contrasts black most powerfully. Yellow is discordant when standing alone with orange, unsupported by other colours.On account of the paucity of fine yellows among the ancients, we find that in many paintings and beautiful illuminated MSS. of old, glowing with vermilion and ultramarine, the place of yellow was supplied by gilding. Now, certainly, no such scarcity exists; of the three primary colours, good yellows being the most numerous. It may be observed of yellow pigments that their colour being primary and therefore simple, they cannot be composed by any mixture of other colours. The same remark of course applies to pigments which are red or blue.20. AUREOLIN.In these days a new pigment soon finds its level, standing or falling according to its merits. There are too many colours already on the palette for a fresh comer to have much chance, unless it possess some great distinguishing quality, or can take a place which has never been occupied. Such a void aureolin fills. This "magnificentyellow pigment," says theChemical News, "supplies a desideratum hitherto in vain sought for by artists. It is the nearest approach to a perfect yellow in existence, and more closely resembles the purity of the prismatic spectrum than any other artificial colour. It is transparent, has great brilliancy and richness, both pure and in combination, and is very permanent, being entirely unaffected by exposure to sulphuretted hydrogen and other atmospheric impurities, or to the direct rays of the sun during an entire summer. Aureolin, with ultramarine and madder red, completes the triad of brilliant, permanent, and transparent primitive colours." The above only tallies with the statements of several scientific chemists and artists of note, statements which a prolonged personal experience of the colour enables us to endorse. To our knowledge, aureolin is quite uninjured by the severest tests to which a pigment can be subjected. We have found it bear with impunity, even in its lightest and faintest tints, the foulest gas and the brightest sunshine. Damp has no effect upon it; and in oil, water, or fresco, it is equally eligible. With all other colours aureolin mixes safely and readily, forming combinations of the utmost variety and value. It affords beautiful transparent tints, well defined, and of exceeding purity; the paler washes being at once clear and delicate, and admitting themost subtle gradations of tone. The artistic properties of aureolin, however, will be best described by quoting the following extract from Mr. Aaron Penley'sEnglish School of Painting in Water Colours:—

Thegeneral attributes of a perfect pigment are beauty of colour, comprehending pureness and richness, brilliancy and intensity, delicacy and depth,—truth of hue—transparency or opacity, well-working, crispness, setting up, or keeping its place, and desiccation, or drying well. To all of these must be superaddeddurabilitywhen used, a quality to which the health and vitality of a picture belong, and one so essential that all other properties put together without it are of no esteem with the artist who merits reputation. We have, therefore, given it a previous distinct consideration.

It must be observed that no pigment possesses all the foregoing qualifications in perfection, some being naturally at variance or opposed; nor is there any, perhaps, that cannot boast excellence in one or more of them.

Beautycommonly comprises in the same pigment delicacy, purity, and brilliancy; or depth, richness, and intensity. Delicacy and depth inthe beauty of colours are at variance in the production of all pigments, so that perfect success in producing the one is attended with more or less of failure in the other, and when they are united—as they occasionally are—it is with some sacrifice of both. Hence the judicious artist purveys for his palette at least two pigments of each colour, one eminent for delicate beauty, the other for richness and depth.

Truth of hueis a relative quality in all colours, except the extreme primaries, in the relations of which, blue, being of nearest affinity to black or shade, has properly but one other relation, in which it inclines to red and becomes purple-blue: it is, therefore, faulty or false, when, tending to yellow, it becomes of a green hue. But red, which is of equal affinity to light and shade, has two relations, by one of which it verges upon blue and becomes a purple-red or crimson; and by the other it leans to yellow, and becomes an orange-red or scarlet, neither of which is individually false or discordant. Yet yellow, which is of nearest affinity to white or light, has strictly but one true relation, by which it inclines to red, and becomes a warm or orange yellow, for by uniting with blue it becomes a defective green-yellow. The best example of true yellow in a pigment, tending neither to red nor blue, is furnished byAureolin, alluded to in the last chapter. The secondary and tertiary colours, having allduplex relations, may incline without default to either of their relatives.

Transparencyis an essential property of all glazing pigments, and adds greatly to the value of dark or shading colours; indeed it is the prime quality upon which depth and darkness depend,as whiteness, or light, doesupon opacity or reflecting power.Opacityis, therefore, the antagonist of transparency, and qualifies pigments to cover in dead-colouring, or solid painting, as well as to combine with transparent colours in forming tints; and hence it is that semi-transparent pigments are suited in a mean degree both for dead colouring and for finishing. As excellencies, therefore, transparency and opacity are relative only—the first being as indispensable to shade in all its gradations, as the latter is to light. With regard to transparent and opaque colours generally, it is worthy of attention in the practice of the oil-painter, that the best effects of the former are produced when they are used with a resinous varnish; as opaque pigments are best employed in oil, and the two become united with best effect in a mixture of these vehicles. The natural and artificial powers, or depth and brilliancy, of every colour lie within the extremes of black and white; hence it follows that the most powerful effects of transparent colours are obtained by glazing them over black and white. As, however, few transparent pigments havesufficient body, or tinging power for this, it is often necessary to glaze them over tints, or deep opaque colours of the required hues. There is a charm in transparent colours which frequently leads to an undue use thereof in glazing; but glazing, scumbling, and their combined process must be employed with discretion, according to the objects and effects of a picture.

Working wellis a quality which depends principally upon fineness of texture, and what is calledbodyin colours; yet every pigment has its peculiarities in respect to working both in water and oil, and these must become matter of every artist's special experience. Some of the best pigments are most difficult of management, while some ineligible colours are rich in body and free in working. Accidental circumstances, however, may influence all pigments in these respects, according to the painter's particular mode of operation, and his vehicle; upon the affinities of colours with which depend their general faculties of working—such as keeping their place, crispness or setting up, and drying well. These latter, with other properties and accidents of pigments, will be particularly considered in treating of their individual characters; but it may be remarked that crispness or setting up, as well as keeping their place and form in which they are applied, are contrary to the nature of many pigments, and depend in painting with them upon a gelatinousmixture of their vehicle. For example, mastic and other resinous varnishes impart this texture to oils which have been rendered drying by the acetate, or sugar of lead:—simple water, also albumen, and animal jelly made of glue and isinglass, give the same quality to oils and colours; and bees-wax has a similar effect in pure oils. Whitelac varnish, and other spirit varnishes, rubbed into the colours on the palette likewise enable them to keep their place very effectually in most instances. This is important, because glazing cannot be performed except with a vehicle which keeps its place, or with pigments which lend this property to the vehicle, as some lakes and transparent colours do.

Fineness of textureis produced by extreme grinding and levigation. Pigments ground in water in the state of a thick paste, are miscible in oil and dry therein firmly; and in case of utility or necessity, any water-colour in cake, being rubbed off thick in water may be diffused in oil, the gum acting as a medium of union between the two. Thus, pigments which cannot otherwise be employed in oil, or varnish, may be forced into the service and add to the resources of the oil-painter, care being taken to use the palette-knife, if of steel, with caution.

Desiccation or drying.The well-known additions of the acetate, or sugar of lead, litharge,and sulphate of zinc, either mechanically ground, or in solution, for light colours; and japanner's gold size, or oils boiled upon litharge, for lakes; or, in some cases, manganese and verdigris for dark colours, are resorted to when the pigments or vehicles are not sufficiently good dryers alone. It would be well if lead and copper could be banished from the list of siccatives altogether: assuredly, no artist with any regard for the permanent texture of his work should employ them except in extreme cases, and in the smallest possible quantity. The best of pigments may be ruined by their injudicious use, and obtain a character for fugacity which they in no way deserve. It requires attention that an excess of dryer renders oil saponaceous, is inimical to drying, and is otherwise injurious. Some colours dry badly from not being sufficiently edulcorated or washed. Sulphate of zinc, as a siccative, is less powerful than acetate of lead, but is far preferable in a chemical sense. It is supposed erroneously to set the colours running; which is not positively the case, though it will not retain those disposed to move, because it wants the property the acetate of lead possesses, of gelatinizing the mixture of oil and varnish. These two dryers should not be employed together, since they counteract and decompose each other, forming two new substances—acetate of zinc, which is a bad siccative, and sulphate of lead, which isinsoluble and opaque. The inexperienced ought here to be guarded against the highly improper practice of some artists, who strew their pictures while wet with acetate of lead, or use that substance in some other mode, without grinding or solution; which, though it may promote present drying, will ultimately effloresce on the surface of the work, throw off the colour in sandy spots, and expose the paintings to peculiar risk from the damaging influence of impure air.

It is not always that ill drying is to be attributed to the pigments or vehicles, the states of the weather and atmosphere have great influence thereon. The direct rays of the sun are powerfully active in rendering oils and colours siccative, and were probably resorted to before dryers were—not always wisely—added to oils, particularly in the warm climate of Italy. The ground may also advance or retard drying, because some pigments united by mixing or glazing, become either more or less siccative by their conjunction. Many other accidental circumstances may likewise affect drying; and among these none is to be more guarded against by the artist than the presence of soap and alkali, too often left in the washing of his brushes, and which, besides other bad results, decompose and are decomposed by acetate of lead and most siccatives. In such cases desiccation is retarded, streaks and patches are formed on the painting, and the odium of ill drying fallsupon some unlucky pigment. To free brushes from this disadvantage, they should be cleansed with linseed oil and turpentine. Dryers should be added to colours only at the time of using them, because they exercise their drying property while chemically combining with the oils employed, during which the latter become thick or fatten. Too much of the siccative will, as before noticed, often retard drying.

The various affinities of pigments occasion each to have its more or less appropriate dryer; and it would be a matter of useful experience if the habits of every colour in this respect were ascertained. It is probable that siccatives of less power generally than the compounds of lead and copper might come into use in particular cases, such as the oxides of manganese, to which umber and the Cappagh browns owe their drying quality.

To other good attributes of pigments, it would be well if we could in all cases add the property of beinginnoxious. As this, however, cannot be, and colours are by no means to be sacrificed on that account, cleanliness and avoiding the habit of putting the brush unnecessarily to the mouth, so common in water-painting, are sufficient guards against any possibly pernicious effects from the use of any pigment. No colour which is not imbibed by the stomach will in the slightest degree injure the health of the artist.

Havingbriefly discussed the relations and attributes of colours and pigments generally, we come to their powers and properties individually—a subject pregnant with materials and of unlimited connexions, every substance in nature and art possessing colour, the first quality of pigments.

With regard tocoloursindividually, it is a general law of their relations, confirmed by nature and the impressions of sense, that those colours which lie nearest in nature to light have their greatest beauty in their lightest tints: and that those which tend similarly towards shade are most beautiful in their greatest depth or fulness, a rule of course applying to black and white particularly. Thus, the most beautiful yellow, like white, is that which is lightest and most vivid; blue is most beautiful when deep and rich; while red is of greatest beauty when of intermediate depth, or somewhat inclined to light; and their compounds partake of these relations. We speakhere only of the individual beauty of colours, and not of that relative beauty by which every tint, hue, and shade of colour become pleasing, or otherwise according to space, place, and reference; for this latter beauty belongs to the general nature and harmony of colours.

In respect topigmentsindividually, it may be observed that—other things being equal—those pigments are the most beautiful which possess the most colour, whether they be light or dark, opaque or transparent, bright or subdued. There are some which exhibit all their colour at a glance: there are others that the more they are looked into the more colour they are found to have—containing, as they do, an amount oflatent colour, not immediately apparent. Apart from the beauty which a wealth of colour imparts, those pigments imbued with it are, as a rule, the most permanent. And not unnaturally so, for the more colour there is present, the longer it takes to be affected, either by exposure or impure air. Colour within colour, therefore, not only lends charm to a pigment, but contributes to its safety.

There is often a vicious predilection of some artists in favour of a particular colour, from which many of our best colourists have not been totally free, and which arises from organic defect, or mental association. Such predilection is greatly to be guarded against by the colourist, whois every way surrounded by dangers. On the one hand, there is fear lest he fall into whiteness or chalkiness; on the other, into blackness or gloom: in front he may run into fire and foxiness, or he may slide backward into cold and leaden dulness: all of which are extremes he must avoid. There are also other important prejudices to which the eye is liable in regard to colours individually, that demand his particular attention. These are occasioned by the various specific powers of single colours acting on the eye according to their masses and the activity of light, or the length of time they are viewed. By consequence, vision becomes over-stimulated, unequally exhausted, and endued, even before it is fatigued, with a spectrum which not only clouds the colour itself, but gives a false brilliancy by contrast to surrounding hues, so as totally or partially to throw the eye off its balance, and mislead the judgment. This derangement of the organ may be caused by a powerful tint on the palette, a mass of drapery, the colour of a wall, the light of a room, or other accidental circumstance; and the remedy is to refresh the eye with a new object—of nature, if possible—or to give it rest. The powers of colours in these respects, as well as of pigments individually, together with their reciprocal action and influence chemically, will be adverted to under their distinct heads.

The attention of the artist to the individual powers of pigments, although it may be of less concern than the attention to general effect in colouring, is by no means less necessary in practice. For he who would excel in colouring must study it from several points of view, in respect to the whole and the parts of a picture, as regards mind and body, and concerning itself alone. To this end, is needed a knowledge of his pigments individually.

If nature has arrayed herself in all the colours of the rainbow, she has not been niggardly in offering man the materials wherewith to copy them. The mineral, animal, vegetable kingdom—each helps him to realize, however faintly, her many manifold beauties: to give some idea, however slight, of that glorious flood of colour, which light lets loose upon the world. Metal, ore, earth, stone; root, plant, flower, fruit; beast, fish, insect—in turn aid the arduous task. The painter's box is a very museum of curiosities, from every part of the universe. For it, the mines yield their treasures, as well as the depths of the sea: to it come Arab camel, and English ox, cuttle-fish and crawling coccus: in it the Indian indigo lies next the madder of France, and the gaudy vermilion of China brightens the mummy of Egypt. Varied, indeed, are the sources whence we derive our pigments; and if they still leave much to desire, improvement is clearly manifest. Slowly butsurely, year by year, we are advancing. With the growth of science, the exhaustless stores of creation, will there at last be attained—step by step, though it be—that summit of the artist's hopes, a perfect palette?

Theterm "colour" is equivocal when applied to the neutrals, yet the artist is bound to consider them as colours; for a thing cannot but be that of which it is composed, and neutrals are composed of, or comprehend, all colours.

With regard to colour, then,whitein a perfect state should be neutral in hue, and absolutely opaque; that white being the best which reflects light most brilliantly. This property in white is calledbody; by which in other pigments, especially those that are transparent, is meanttingeing power. White, besides its uses as a colour, is the instrument of light in painting, and compounds when pure with all colours, without changing their class. Yet it dilutes and cools all colours except blue, which is specifically cold; and, though it does not change nor defile any colour, it is changed and defiled by all colours. This pureness of white, if it be not in some degree broken or tinged, will cast down or degrade every other colour in a picture, and itself becomeharsh and crude. Hence the lowness of tone which has been thought a necessity in painting, but is such only because our other colours do not approach to the purity of white. Had we all necessary colours thus relatively pure as white, colouring in painting might be carried up to the full brilliancy of nature; and, in fact, more progress has already been made in that respect, than the prejudice for dulness is disposed to tolerate.

Locally, white is the most advancing of all colours in a picture, and produces the effect of throwing others back in different degrees, according to their specific retiring and advancing powers. These latter, however, are not absolute qualities of colours, but depend on the relations of light and shade, which are variously appropriate to all colours. Hence it is that a white object rightly adapted, appears to detach, distribute, and put in keeping; as well as to give relief, decision, distinctness, and distance to every thing around it: hence, too, the use and requirement of a white or light object, in each separate group of a composition. White itself is advanced or brought forward, unless indeed white surround a dark object, in which case they retire together. In mixture, white communicates these properties to its tints, and harmonizes in conjunction with, or in opposition to all colours; but lies nearest in series to yellow, and remotest from blue, of which, next to black, it is the most thorough contrast.It is correlative with black, which is the opposite extreme of neutrality.

Perfect white is opaque, and perfect black transparent; hence when added to black in minute proportion, white gives it solidity; and from a like small proportion of black combined with white, the latter acquires locality as a colour, and better preserves its hue in painting. Both white and black communicate these properties to other colours, in proportion to their lightness or depth; while they cool each other in mixture, and equally contrast each other when opposed. These extremes of the chromatic scale are each in its way most easily denied, as green, the mean of the scale, is the greatest defiler of all colours. Rubens regarded white as the nourishment of light, and the poison of shadow.

In a picture, white should not be merely glittering or brilliant, but tender as well as bright. The eye should seek it for rest, brilliant though it may be; and feel it as a space of strange heavenly paleness in the midst of the flushing of the colours. This effect can only be reached by general depth of middle tint, by the perfect absence of any white, save where it is needed, and by keeping the white itself subdued by grey, except at a few points of chief lustre.

White, as a pigment, is of more extensive use than any other colour in oil painting and fresco, owing to its local quality, its representing light,and its entering into composition with all colours in the formation of tints. The old masters have been supposed by some to possess whites superior to our own, but this may be questioned. The pureness of whites in some celebrated old pictures is rather to be attributed to a proper method of using, careful preservation of the work, and in many instances to the introduction of ultramarine or a permanent cold colour into the white—such as plumbago—helped also by judicious contrast.

Notwithstanding white pigments are tolerably numerous, a thoroughly unexceptionable white is still a desideratum—one combining the perfect opacity or body of white lead with the perfect permanency of zinc white. The nearest approach to it that has yet been made, is Chinese white, which possesses in a great measure the property of the former, and, being a preparation of zinc, has wholly that of the latter. Unfortunately Chinese white is a water-colour pigment only, not retaining its several advantages, stability excepted, when employed in oil.

Also calledPermanent white, andBarytic white, is, when well prepared, of superior body in water, but has less opacity in oil. It works in a somewhat unsatisfactory and unpleasant manner, and is considerably lower in its tone while wet than when dry, a fault which subjects even an experienced artist to great uncertainty where he uses it in compound tints. The semi-transparency of the white, while wet, prevents his judging of the true tint until his colour has dried, when he frequently finds it harsh and chalky, and out of tone with the rest of his painting. As little gum as possible should be employed with it, gum being inimical to its body, or whiteness. The best way of preparing this pigment, as well as other terrene whites, so as to preserve their opacity, is to grind them in simple water, and to add towards the end of the grinding sufficient only of clearcoldjelly of gum tragacanth as will connect them into a body, and attach them to the paper in painting. Cold starch will answer the same purpose.

Constant white is a sulphate of baryta, found native and known under the name of heavy-spar, or prepared artificially by adding sulphuric acid, or a soluble sulphate, to a solution of a barytic salt. In the first mode, if the white be not well purified from free acid, it is apt to act injuriously on some pigments. Sulphate of baryta is often used for the purpose of adulterating white lead, the native salt being ground to fine powder, and washed with dilute sulphuric acid, by which its colour is improved, and a little oxide of iron probably dissolved out. Whether native or artificial, the compound is quite unaffected by impure air, and is not poisonous.

Comprise and are known under the names of:—White lead,Flake whiteandBody-white,Cremnitz, orKremnitz,CremsorKrems white,LondonandNottingham white,Flemish white,Pattison's white,Blanc d'argentorSilver white,Ceruse,Dutch white,French white,Venetian white,Hamburgh white,Kremser white,Sulphate of lead, &c.

The heaviest and whitest of these are the best, and in point of colour and body, are superior to all other whites. When pure and properly applied in oil and varnish, they are comparatively safe and durable, drying well without addition; but excess of oil discolours them, and in water-painting they are changeable even to blackness. Upon all vegetable lakes, except those of madder, they have a destructive effect; and are injurious to gamboge, as well as to those almost obsolete pigments, red and orange leads, king's and patent yellow, massicot, and orpiment. With ultramarine, however, red and orange vermilions, yellow and orange chromes, yellow and orange and red cadmiums, aureolin, the ochres, viridian and other oxides of chromium, Indian red &c., they compound with little or no injury. Lead colours must not be employed in water-colour or crayon painting, distemper, or fresco. The whites of lead are carbonates of that metal, with two exceptions:—Flemish white or the sulphate, and Pattison's white or the oxychloride. In using all pigments of which lead is the basis, cleanliness is essential to health.

White lead, by which we must be understood to mean the carbonate, always contains when commercially prepared a certain proportion of hydrated oxide. The less of the latter there is present, the better does the white cover, and the less liable is it to turn brown. The products formed by precipitation have proved to be inferior in body: otherwise, pure mono-carbonate of lead-oxide, obtained by mixing solutions of carbonate of potash and a lead-salt, might be best adapted for a pigment. However, such a carbonate has been lately produced by Mr. Spence's process of passing carbonic acid gas into a caustic soda or potash solution of lead, and for this white an opacity is claimed equal to that of the ordinary compound.

Great as is the opacity of white lead, it is apt to lose that property in some measure in course of time, and become more or less transparent. If, over a series of dry oil-colour rubs of varied hues, there were brushed sufficient white lead paint to utterly obscure them, after some years those rubs would indistinctly appear, and by degrees become more and more visible, until at last their forms—if not their very colours—could be recognised. From this it would seem that white lead must slowly but surely part withsome of its carbonic acid, and be at length converted intodicarbonate, a compound possessing less carbonic acid, and less coating power.

Impure air, or sulphuretted hydrogen, browns or blackens white lead, converting it partially or wholly into sulphide. It would appear from the recent investigations of Dr. D. S. Price, that white lead is less liable to be thus affected, when the pictures in which it is used are exposed to a strong light; also, that when such pictures have so suffered, a like exposure will restore them. We have ourselves noticed the rapidity with which an oil rub of white lead that has been damaged by foul gas, regains its former whiteness when submitted to air and sunshine. The action of drying oils has been likewise proved to be very powerful upon sulphide of lead, an exposure to light for a few days only being sufficient to change a surface of it, coated with a thin layer of boiled linseed oil, into a white one. Probably, these agents may have a similar effect upon other pigments injured by sulphuretted hydrogen, and many of the colours in paintings may be restored by treating them with boiled linseed oil, and submitting them to a strong light. That the result is due to oxidation, there can be no doubt. Indeed, the eminent French chemist, M. Thénard, was consulted some years back upon the means of bringing to their original whiteness the black spots which had formed upon a valuable drawing, bythe changing of the white lead, and employed for that purpose oxygenated water. He had ascertained its power of converting the black sulphide of lead into the white sulphate, and, by touching the spots with a brush dipped in the fluid, soon succeeded in restoring the drawing to its primitive state. Here, again, the use of the agent might doubtless be extended to other colours, to which foul air is inimical.

In oil painting white lead is essential in the ground, in dead colouring, in the formation of tints of all colours, and in scumbling, either alone or mixed with other pigments. It is also the best local white, when neutralized with ultramarine or black; and it is the true representative of light, when warmed with Naples yellow, or orange vermilion or cadmium, or with a mixture of the yellow and either of the orange pigments, according to the light.

Ordinary white lead is often mixed with considerable quantities of heavy spar, gypsum, or chalk. These injure it in body and brightness, dispose it to dry more slowly, keep its place less firmly, and discolour the oil with which it is applied, as well as prevent it dissolving completely in boiling dilute potash-ley, a test by which pure white lead may be known.

The adulteration of pigments, which we have in some instances found practised to a large extent abroad, is comparatively unfrequent inour own country, so far at least as regards the superior class of colours employed by artists. As a rule, such colours when manufactured in England may be fairly assumed to be genuine; and certainly the respectable colourmen of the present day are not in the habit of sophisticating them. We must bear testimony, indeed, to the zeal with which they purvey, regardless of necessary expense, the choicest and most perfect materials. This should be a matter of congratulation to the painter, who must of necessity rely on the faith and honesty of his colour-dealer; for if he were ever so good a chemist, it would be impossible for him to analyse each pigment before proceeding to use it. The fault must rest with himself, therefore, if, through a mistaken economy, he do not frequent the best houses and pay the best prices. Of a surety, the colours of the artist are not among those things in which quality can, or should, be sacrificed to cheapness.

These are false appellations of a white lead, called alsoFrench white. It is brought from Paris in the form of drops, is exquisitely white, but of less body than flake white, and has all the properties of the best white leads. Being subject to the same changes, it is unfitfor general use as a water-colour, though good in oil or varnish.

Known likewise asKremnitz,Crems, orKrems white, is a carbonate of lead which derives its names from Kremnitz in Hungary, or Crems or Krems in Austria. It is also calledVienna white, being brought from Vienna in cakes of a cubical form. Cremnitz white is the brightest white that is used in oil: it possesses rather less body than flake white, because the particles are finer. When newly prepared, it gives out a strong smell of vinegar.

Called, when levigated,Body white, is an English white lead in the form of scales or plates, sometimes grey on the surface. It takes its name from its figure, is occasionally equal to Crems white in colour, and generally surpasses in body all other white leads. In composition, it is a mixture of protocarbonate and hydrated oxide of lead, the latter decreasing the opacity of the product according to the greater proportion in which it is present.

Is an exceedingly white precipitate from any solution of lead by sulphuric acid, much resemblingthe blanc d'argent. It is inferior, however, both in body and permanence to the ordinary carbonate. Hence, white lead which has more or less been converted by sulphurettedhydrogeninto sulphide, and again been converted into sulphate by oxidation, with a view to restoring its colour, becomes peculiarly liable to the influence of impure air.

The best of these do not essentially differ from each other, nor from the white leads of other manufactories. The latter variety, being prepared from flake white, is usually the greyer of the two.

Is a mixture of chloride and oxide of lead, formed by precipitating a solution of chloride of lead with soda, potash, lime, or baryta, in the caustic or hydrated state. It would appear that when the oxychloride is used as a paint, the oxide contained in it gives rise to an oleate of lead, and, in consequence of this saponaceous matter, is capable of spreading over an extended surface. The product has been described as possessing properties which are superior to those of white lead, inasmuch as it does not so readily blacken as the latter body. Dr. Ure, however, found that water removes the chloride of lead from the paintcompounded of this article, and, consequently, that it is not so effectual as the carbonate. As an artist's pigment, a partially soluble compound of lead can decidedly not be eligible.

Is of the purest white colour, and differs only from blanc d'argent in the warm flesh tint of the external surface of the large square masses in which it is commonly prepared.

Besides the foregoing, there are other white leads, generally foreign, cheaper, and adulterated. Many of these are mixed with a small quantity of charcoal, indigo, or Prussian blue, so that the dead yellowish shade which they present may be enlivened to a brighter hue. Among them may be named—

A French variety, not necessarily, but not unfrequently, mixed with different chalky earths in various proportions; and the following Belgian kinds:

Containing three fourths of sulphate of baryta.

A mixture of two parts of heavy spar and one of the plumbous compound.

Differing from the rest in being unadulterated.

Composed of heavy spar and the carbonate in equal proportions.

The introduction, in 1834, of this peculiar preparation of oxide of zinc has proved an incalculable boon to water-colour painters, who formerly had no white which combined perfect permanency with good body in working. Its invention obviated the necessity for using white lead, a pigment which, though it may be employed with comparative safety in oil, is quite unfitted for water. Since the period of its production, Chinese white has been generally preferred by water-colour artists, as being the most eligible in their peculiar department. Previous to that period, the complaints of whites changing were of constant occurrence; but in no instance has any picture, in which this white has been used, suffered from its employment. To the colour of oxide of zinc, sulphuretted hydrogen is altogether harmless; sulphide of zinc being itself white. The variety under noticeworks and washes well, possesses no pasty or clogging properties, and is prepared beautifully white. Moreover, it has the desirable quality of dense body; so much so, that, as the painter works, his effects remain unaltered by the drying of the colour. It may likewise be safely mixed with all other pigments, the following blending very satisfactorily with the white for opaque lights—cadmium yellow, orange, and red; gamboge; aureolin; yellow ochre; vermilion; and light red. Without the artistic drawbacks of constant white or the chemical defects of white lead, and retaining the advantages of both, Chinese white cannot but be considered as a most important addition. It is a matter of regret that this pigment is not equally efficacious in oil.

Is either the anhydrous oxide, the hydrate oxide, or hydrated basic carbonate of zinc. It varies in opacity and colour according to the mode of manufacture, and the purity of the compound, but may always be relied upon as permanent. The whiteness of the best samples rivals that of white lead, and it is not tarnished like the latter by sulphurous vapours. In opacity it never equals white lead, and might perhaps serve advantageously as a glaze over that pigment, either alone or compounded with other colours; as well as act as a medium ofinterposition between white lead and those colours which are injured by it, such as gamboge, crimson lake, &c. When duly and skilfully prepared the colour and body of this pigment are sufficient to qualify it for a general use upon the palette in oil: in water it has been superseded by Chinese white.

Occasionally, starch, chalk, white clay, and carbonate of baryta, are employed as adulterants; none of which, however, areinimicalto stability.

As a pigment, zinc white may be said to be innoxious. As oxide of zinc does not readily form a saponaceous compound with fats or oil like white lead, the paint prepared with it and ordinary linseed oil does not dry or harden so rapidly. For the purpose of causing it to be more siccative, the oil was boiled with a large quantity of litharge, but by this method the white was liable to tarnish on meeting with foul air. Instead of litharge, experiments have led to the choice of salts of zinc, such as the chloride or sulphate, a small percentage of which, on being mixed with the oil or oxide, confers upon it the property of rapidly hardening. The same result is attained by employing an oil, dried by boiling with about five per cent of peroxide of manganese. In either case, a paint retaining its white colour permanently is produced. These agents might, with advantage, be more generally used in the place of litharge for rendering oils siccative. Manypigments which are not naturally affected by sulphurous emanations are apt to suffer if mixed with an oil made drying by means of lead.

Provided the metal be freed from iron, which we have commonly found to be more or less present, a white of considerable beauty may be produced; either directly by precipitation as hydrated oxide or carbonate, or indirectly by exposing the brown anhydrous oxide to air and light—the latter mode yielding a product of greater opacity. However prepared, cadmium white is deficient in body, and apt to assume a yellow tint on meeting with an impure atmosphere.

Is an insoluble basic nitrate of bismuth, a pearly white powder of loose texture, turning grey on exposure, and blackened by sulphuretted hydrogen. It is chiefly used as a cosmetic, but is said to injure the skin, rendering it yellow and leather-like; and it has been known to cause a spasmodic trembling of the face, ending in paralysis.

Another preparation under this name, and now obsolete we believe as a pigment, was obtainedfrom mother-of-pearl. It is described as exquisitely white, and of good body in water, but of little force in oil or varnish.

Resembles zinc white in some respects, but has less body and colour, and dries badly. According to its composition, it is liable to turn either black or a dull yellow in contact with sulphurous vapours.

Is a well-known native carbonate of lime, employed by the artist only as a crayon, or for tracing his designs, for which purpose it is sawed into suitable lengths. White crayons and tracing chalks, to be good, must work and cut free from grit. From this material are prepared whitening and lime, which form the bases of many cheap pigments and colours, used in distemper, paper-staining, &c.

Besides those mentioned, there are other metallic whites varying in beauty and opacity, such as those of mercury, arsenic, and antimony; but none of them are of any value or reputation in painting, on account of their great disposition to change of colour, whether by light or foul air, both in water and oil.

There are also other terrene whites, underequivocal names, among which are Morat or Modan white, Spanish white, Troys or Troy white, Rouen white, China white, and Satin white; the latter being a sulphate of lime and alumina, which dries with a glossy surface. The common oyster-shell contains a soft white in its thick part, and there is the white of egg-shells. There is, too, an endless variety of native earths, in addition to those prepared by art. The whole of them, however, are destitute of body in oil; and several, owing to their alkaline nature, are injurious to many colours in water, as well as to all colours which cannot be employed in fresco.

Among the infinitude of white substances, the artist finds that there are but three white pigments—those of lead, zinc, and baryta. The first possesses the greatest opacity, while the second and third are most durable. The last, however, has so many objectionable qualities, that the number of eligible whites, may almost be said to be two—lead and zinc. Of these, the former is blackened by foul air, and in oil, the latter is wanting in body. In fact, there is but one white pigment which approaches perfection—Chinese white; and this is only a water-colour.

Yellowis the first of the primary or simple colours, nearest in relation to, and partaking most of the nature of, the neutral white; it is accordingly a most advancing colour, of great power in reflecting light. Compounded with the primaryred, it constitutes the secondaryorange, as well as its relatives, scarlet, and other warm colours.

It is the archeus, or prime colour, of the tertiarycitrine; characterises in like manner the endless number of semi-neutral colours calledbrown, and enters largely into the complex hues termed buff, bay, tawny, tan, dan, dun, drab, chestnut, roan, sorrel, hazel, auburn, isabela, fawn,feuillemort, &c. Yellow is naturally associated with red in transient and prismatic colours, and is the principal power with it in representing the effects of warmth, heat, and fire. Combined with the primaryblue, yellow furnishes all the variety of the secondarygreen, as well as, subordinately, the tertiariesrussetandolive. It also enters in avery subdued degree into cool, semi-neutral, and broken colours, and assists in minor proportion with blue and red in the composition ofblack.

As a pigment, yellow is a tender delicate colour, easily defiled, when pure, by other colours. In painting it diminishes the power of the eye by its action in a strong light, at the same time becoming less distinct as a colour; while, on the contrary, it assists vision and becomes more distinct as a colour in a neutral somewhat declining light. These powers of colours upon vision require the particular attention of the colourist. To remedy the ill effect arising from the eyes having dwelt upon a colour, they should be either passed gradually to its opposite colour, and refreshed amid compound or neutral tints, or washed in the clear light of day. Hence, in viewing large collections of pictures, their colours will be more duly estimated by sometimes walking to the window, or by taking an occasional glance at a millboard, which may be carried in the hand, painted a cool gray.

In a warm light, yellow becomes totally lost, but is less diminished than all other colours, except white, by distance. The stronger tones of any colour subdue its fainter hues in the same proportion as opposite colours and contrasts exalt them. The contrasting colours of yellow are a purple inclining to blue when the yellow leans to orange, and a purple incliningto red when the yellow tends to green, in the mean proportions ofthirteenpurple tothreeyellow, measured in surface or intensity. Being nearest to the neutral white in the natural scale of colours, yellow accords with it in conjunction; while, of all colours, except white, it contrasts black most powerfully. Yellow is discordant when standing alone with orange, unsupported by other colours.

On account of the paucity of fine yellows among the ancients, we find that in many paintings and beautiful illuminated MSS. of old, glowing with vermilion and ultramarine, the place of yellow was supplied by gilding. Now, certainly, no such scarcity exists; of the three primary colours, good yellows being the most numerous. It may be observed of yellow pigments that their colour being primary and therefore simple, they cannot be composed by any mixture of other colours. The same remark of course applies to pigments which are red or blue.

In these days a new pigment soon finds its level, standing or falling according to its merits. There are too many colours already on the palette for a fresh comer to have much chance, unless it possess some great distinguishing quality, or can take a place which has never been occupied. Such a void aureolin fills. This "magnificentyellow pigment," says theChemical News, "supplies a desideratum hitherto in vain sought for by artists. It is the nearest approach to a perfect yellow in existence, and more closely resembles the purity of the prismatic spectrum than any other artificial colour. It is transparent, has great brilliancy and richness, both pure and in combination, and is very permanent, being entirely unaffected by exposure to sulphuretted hydrogen and other atmospheric impurities, or to the direct rays of the sun during an entire summer. Aureolin, with ultramarine and madder red, completes the triad of brilliant, permanent, and transparent primitive colours." The above only tallies with the statements of several scientific chemists and artists of note, statements which a prolonged personal experience of the colour enables us to endorse. To our knowledge, aureolin is quite uninjured by the severest tests to which a pigment can be subjected. We have found it bear with impunity, even in its lightest and faintest tints, the foulest gas and the brightest sunshine. Damp has no effect upon it; and in oil, water, or fresco, it is equally eligible. With all other colours aureolin mixes safely and readily, forming combinations of the utmost variety and value. It affords beautiful transparent tints, well defined, and of exceeding purity; the paler washes being at once clear and delicate, and admitting themost subtle gradations of tone. The artistic properties of aureolin, however, will be best described by quoting the following extract from Mr. Aaron Penley'sEnglish School of Painting in Water Colours:—

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