Meanwhile beneath the frown of angry Heaven,
Unworthy every boon its smile had given,
Involv'd in error's cloud, and scorn'd of light,
The guilty Empire sunk. Then horrid Night,
And Dullness drear their murky vigils kept, 345
In savage gloom the impious Ages slept,
Till Genius, starting from his rugged bed,
Full late awoke, the ceaseless tear to shed
For perish'd art; for those celestial hues,
Which Zeuxis, aided by the Attick Muse, 350
Gave to the wond'ring eye: She bade his
With thine, Apelles, gild the lists of fame;
Imperium interea, scelerum gravitate fatiscens,
Horrida nox totum invasit, donoque superni
Luminis indignum, errorum caligine mersit,
Impiaque ignaris damnavit sæcla tenebris.
Unde coloratum Graiis huc usque magistris
Nil superest tantorum hominum, quod mente modoq;
Nostrates juyet artifices, doceatque laborem ;
Nec qui Chromaticês nobis, hoc tempore, partes
Restituat, quales Zeuxis tractaverat olim,
Hujus quando maga velut arte æquavit Apellem
With thine to colouring's brightest glories
The Gods applaud him, and the world adore.
Alas! how lost those magick mixtures all!
No hues of his now animate the wall;
How then shall modern art those hues apply,
How give design its finish'd dignity?
Return fair COLOURING! all thy lures
Each safe deception, every honest snare,
Which brings new lovers to thy sister's train,
Skilful at once to charm, and to retain ;
Come, faithful Siren! chast seducer! say,
What laws control thee, and what powers
Pictorum archigraphum, meruitque coloribus altam
Nominis æterni famam, toto orbe sonantem.
Hæc quidem ut in tabulis fallax, sed grata venustas,
Et complementum graphidos, mirabile visu,
Pulchra vocabatur, sed subdola, lena sororis :
Non tamen hoc lenocinium, fucusque, dolusque
Dedecori fuit unquam; illi sed semper honori,
Laudibus et meretis; hanc ergo nosse juvabit.
Know first, that light displays and shade
Refulgent Nature's variegated dyes.
Thus bodies near the light distinctly shine With rays direct, and as it fades decline.
Thus to the eye oppos'd with stronger light They meet its orb, for distance dims the sight. t Learn hence to paint the parts that meet
In spherick forms, of bright and equal hue; While, from the light receding or the eye, The sinking outlines take a fainter dye.
Lux varium, viyumque dabit, nullum umbra, colorem.
Quo magis adversum est corpus, lucique propinquum.
Clarius est lumen; nam debilitatur eundo.
Quo magis est corpus directum, oculisque pro
Conspicitur melius; nam visus hebescit eundo.
Ergo in corporibus, quæ visa adversa, rotundis, Integra sunt, extrema abscedant perdita signis
" XXXI. Tonorum Luminum et Umbrarum ratio,
Lost and confus'd progressively they fade, 375
Not fall precipitate from light to shade.
This Nature dictates, and this taste pursues,
Studious in gradual gloom her lights to lose;
The various whole with soft'ning tints to fill,
As if one single head employ'd her skill.
Thus if bold fancy plan some proud design,
Where many various groups divide or join,
(Tho' sure from more than there confusion
springs,)
One globe of light and shade o'er all she Alings;
Yet skill'd the separate masses to dispose, 385
Where'er, in front, the fuller radiance glows,
Behind, a calm reposing gloom she spreads,
Relieving shades with light, and light with
shades.
Confusis, non præcipiti labentur in umbram
Clara gradu, nec adumbrata in clara alta repentè *75
Prorumpant; sed erit sensim hinc atque inde meatus
Lucis et umbrarum; capitisque unius ad instar,
Totum opus, ex multis quanquam sit partibus, unus
Luminis umbrarumque globus tantummodo fiet,
Sive duas, vel tres ad summum, ubi grandius esset
Divisum pegma in partes statione remotas.
And as the center of some convex glass,
Draws to a point the congregated mass
Of dazzling rays, that, more than nature bright,
Reflect each image in an orb of light,
While from that point the scatter'd beams retire,
Sink to the verge, and there in shade expire ;
So strongly near, so softly distant throw
On all thy rounded groups the circling glow.
As is the Sculptor's, such the Painter's aim, Their labour different, but their end the same; What from the marble the rude chissel breaks, The softer pencil from the canvas takes:
Sintque ita discreti inter se, ratione colorum,
Luminis, umbrarumque, antrorsum ut corpora clara
Obscura umbrarum requies spectanda relinquat;
Claroque exiliant umbrata atque aspera campo.
Ac veluti in speculis convexis, eminet ante
Asperior reipsâ vigor, et vis aucta colorum
Partibus adversis; magis et fuga rupta retrorsum
Illorum est, (ut visa minùs vergentibus oris,)
Corporibus dabimus formas hoc more rotundas.
Mente modoque igitur plastes, et pictor, eodem Dispositum tractabit opus; quæ sculptor in orbem Atterit, hæc rupto procul abscedente colore Assequitur pictor, fugientiaque illa retrorsum
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