CARTON, or CAnroox, in painting, a design drawn on strong paper, to be af terwards traced through, and transferred on the fresh plaster of a wall, to be paint ed in fresco.
In Italian, whence the term seems to be derived, cartone, or cartoni, signifying large paper, denotes several sheets of paper pasted on canvas, on which large designs are made, whether coloured, or with chalks only. Of these cartoons there are many by Dominichino Leonar do da Vinci, Andrea Mantegna, Michael Angelo, &c.—but the most celebrated performances of this kind are the car toons of Raphael, or Raffaello Sanzio Da Urbino, which are seven in number, and form only a small part of the sacred his torical designs, executed by this famous artist while engaged in the chambers of the Vatican, under theauspices of Pope Julius H. and Leo X. As soon as they were finished they were sent to Flan ders, to be copied in tapestry, for adorn ing the pontifical apartments; but the tapestries were not conveyed to Rome till after the decease of Raphael, and probably not before the dreadful sack of' that city in 1527, under the pontificate of Clement VIL—when Raphael's scholars having fled from thence, none were left to enquire after the original cartoons, which lay neglected in the store-rooms of the manufactory. The revolution that happened soon after in the Low Coun tries prevented their being noticed dur ing a period, in which works of art were wholly neglected. These seven, how ever,. escaped the wreck of the others,
which were torn in pieces, and of which some fragments remain in different col lections. These were purchased by Ilu bens for Charles I. but they had been much injured. In this state they also fortunately escaped being sold in the royal collection, by the disproportionate appraisement of these seven at 3001.; and the nine pieces, which were the tri umph of Julius Cxsar, by Andrea Man tegna, appraised at 1000/. The cartoons seem to have been little noticed, till King "William III. built a gallery for the pur pose of receiving them at Hampton court. After having suffered much from the damps of the situation in which they were placed, they were removed by or der of his present Majesty, King George 111. to the Queen's Palace at Buckingham House, and from thence to the Castle at Windsor. Ilis Majesty is entitled to a tribute of respect and applause for his care in preserving these precious trea sures. They have been long deservedly held in high estimation throughout Eu rope, by all authors of refined taste, and by all the admirers of the art of design, for their various and matchless merit, particularly with regard to the inven tion, and to the noble expression of such a variety of characters, countenances, and attitudes as they are differently af fected and suitably engaged, in every composition.