Much discussion has arisen in modern times as to the supposed technical mocks or processes of painting employed by the ancients. It seems established that painting in freso was much practiced; but many of the most valuable pictures we read of were removable, and there are accounts of some carrried from Greece to Rome. " TheGreeks preferred movable pictures, which could be taken away in case of fire" (Wilkinson on Egyptian and Greek Paintings), and Pliny says Apelles never painted on walls; therefore, there can be no doubt that the ancients painted on boards; indeed, the name tabula or tabula pieta proves this, and it scents to be now generally acknowledged that these were executed in tempora—that is, with size, and probably fixed or protected by some kind of varnish, in the preparation of which oil was used; or in encaustic, a process in which wax was employed to fix and give brilliancy and depth to the colors, heat being applied in working with it.
Painting was revived in Europe in the 13th c.; previous to that period, Byzantine artists chiefly were employed. On the conquest of Constantinople by the Latins in 1201, the Byzantine school was broken up, and many Greek artists were transplanted to Italy, where art was now destined to flourish, so the works of the Italians who profited by their instructions, were necessarily, at the commencement, composed in the Byzantine style. The first Italian whose name is associated with the revival of Italian art is Guido' of Sienna; a work by him, a large Madonna, inscribed with his name and the date 1221, is still preserved in that city. The next is Giunto da Pisa (1236). But Giovanni Cima bue (q.v.), 1240-1300), is commonly styled the founder of the Italian school. Several works of considerable importance are ascribed to him; and though he followed the Byzantine arrangement, he ventured occasionally out of the path, introduced the study of nature in his drawing, and imparted a greater degree of softness to his painting than the Byzantine artists. The influence of Byzantine art'was not confined to Italy: it oper ated in Germany, Bohemia, and France; but there also art began to assume a national character early m the 13th c., and paintings are still preserved at Cologne, dated 1224 The Italian school of painting, or that style in which so many of the highest qualities of art have been so successfully carried out, received its chief impetus from Giotto (q.v.), the son of Bordone, born in 1276 at Vespignano, near Florence, where he died in 1336. It is said that he was originally a shepherd-boy, and being discovered by Cimaime draw ing a sheep on a slate, was instructed by him in painting. • His style is distinguished front that of earlier painters by the introduction of natural incidents and impressions, by greater richness and variety of composition, by the dramatie interest of his groups, and by total disregard of the typical forms and conventional style of his predecessors. His influence was not confined to Florence, but extended over the whole of Italy: and works by this artist may be traced from Padua to Naples. Giotto followed pope Clement V. to Avignon, and is said to have executed many important pictures there, and in other cities in France. The most celebrated of his frescoes now extant arc those at Assisi; some noted works by him in that class also remain at Padua, Florence, and Naples. Most of the small easel-pictures ascribed to him are of doubtful authenticity, but some preserved in the gallery at Florence are acknowledged to be genuine. his high powers as a sculp tor and architect are also exemplified by works in that city. Giotto had numerous schol ars and imitators, and several of these have left works which show that while they profited by his instruction orexample, they were also gifted with original talent. Among these may be noticed Taddeo Gaddi, the favorite pupil of Giotto (born 1300, living in 1359); Simone Memmi (1281-1344); and Andrea Orca•na (1329-89), one of the artists employed in the decoration of the celebrated Campo canto at Pisa. Painting in Italy continued to be impressed with the feeling and style of Giotto for upwards of a hundred years; but early in the 15th C. the frescoes executed by Masaceio (1401-43) in the Bran cacci chapel in the Carmelite church at Florence, clearly prove that it had entered on a new phase, and had come forth strengthened by an important element in which it form erly was deficient, viz., correct delineation of form, guided by the study of nature. These celebrated frescoes, twelve in number, were at one time all ascribed to '2,1asaccio; but it seems now to be acknowledged by judges of art that two of these are by Masolino da Panicale (1378-141•), the master of Masaccio; and three, or probably four, and a small portion of one, by Filippino Lippi (1400-1505)., The frescoes by Masaccio, however, are superior to those by Masan° and Lippi, and, indeed, for many of the highest qualities in art, have, as compositions, only been surpassed by Raphael in his celebrated cartoons.
In about a century from Masaccio's time, painting in Italy attained its highest develop ment; but before referring to those artists who are acknowledged as having carried paint ing to the highest elevation it has attained since the period of the middle ages, it is right to note the names of some of the painters who aided in raising it to that position. 'I he works of Flu Giovanni da Fiesole (1387-1455) are highly valued and esteemed by many critics as the purest in point of style and feeling, and so the best fitted for devotional purposes. Confining his efforts to simple and graceful action, and sweet and tender expression, he adhered to the traditional types, and ventured on none of the bold innova tions which were introduced in his time, and carried so far by Masaccio. His example, as regards feeling and expression, influenced many succeeding artists, particularly Pietro Perugino, the master of Raphael (1416-1594), and Francesco Francia of Bologna (1450 or 1453-1517), by both of whom these qualities, united to greatly improved technical power, were brought to high excellence. Giovanni Bellini, the founder of the early Venetian school (1429-1512), has left many admirable works; he had numerous scholars, among them Titian and Giorgione. Domenico Corradi or Ghirlandajo, under whom Michael Angelo studied, successfully followed out that direction given to art by Masaccio, which involved individuality of character and expression in :he figures. Andrea Mantegna, of the school of Padua (1430-1506), along with strong expression, gave an impetus to form, modeled on Greek or classic art. Luca Signorelli of Cortona (about 1440-1521), success fully exemplified powerful action and bold foreshortening, particularly in his frescoes at Orvieto, which, with his other works, are supposed to have strongly influenced the style of Michael Angelo. A»tonello da Messina (1447-96) is said to have been a pupil of Jan Van Eyck, who imparted to him his secret in the preparation and use of oil-colors, the knowledge of which he spread among the Venetians. The above statement, how ever, as to the exact period at which oil-painting was first introduced, is one attended with much doubt. Painting with colors mixed in oil is mentioned by Italian writers before the period of Van Eyck; painting in tempera, or size, was continued in Italy, par ticularly in the Florentine and Roman schools, to the time of Raphael; and the transi tion from the one method to the other has been so gradual, that many judges of art have expressed inability to determine whether the pictures of Perugino. Francia, and Raphael are in oil or tempera, or in both. The practice of painting on canvas, in place of wooden boards or panels, was introduced and carried on for a considerable time in Venice before it was adopted in other parts of Italy, and canvas is the material best suited for pictures in oil-colors when they are not of small dimensions; so, on the whole, the conclusion seems to be, that though oil-painting was not unknown in Florence and the south of Italy, painting in tempera was longer practiced there than in Venice. At the time when the painters above referred to flourished, there were many able artists in Germany, whose works are deservedly very highly' prized. Among these, Jan Van Eyck (q.v.), (about 1390-1441), deserves special notice. To him is generally given the credit of being the first painter who used oil in place of size in his colors. His works are remarkable for brilliant and transparent coloring and high finish. He had numerous scholars; among these, ,Justus of Ghent (tlor. 1451), Hugo Vander Goes (died 1480)—supposed to be the painter of the celebrated wings of an altar-piece, now at Holyrood palace, containing portraits of James III. end his queen—Roger of Bruges (1365-1418), Hans Heeling or Mending (died 1489). the bust scholar of the Van Eyck school; Quintin Matsys (1450 1529), Jan Van Mabuse (1470-1532), Albert Dtlrer (q.v.), (1471-1528), Lucas Van Leyden (q.v.), (1494-1533). The career of the two last-named extended to the best period of art, and for many high qualities their works strongly compete with those of the ablest of the Italians; while portraits by Hans Holbein (q.v.), (1497-1554), and Antonio More (1512 88) rank with those of any school or period. The leading qualities in German art are invention, individuality of character, clearness of coloring, and high finish; but they are Inferior to the Italians in embodying beauty; their representation of the nude is angular in form and deficient in the elegance and grace attained by the painters of Italy; and in their draperies they do not attain the simplicity and grandeur so remarkable in the works of their southern competitors.