For their moveable pictures, the ancients made use of wood or stone, hence the Latin term tabula for a picture, from whence the French derive tableau. They arc sup posed, in general, to have preferred larch-wood. They painted likewise on ivory, tracing the outline with a hot metal point. Many specimens of their paintings on glass were found at Herculaneum, and we have seen a very in teresting collection lately discovered in the neighbourhood of the little town of Apt, in Provence ; many specimens of which are both gilt and painted, of pure glass, and formed into globular vases of very elegant shapes. Of their painting on pottery, we have already taken notice in the mention made of the Etruscan vases.
As to the instruments of painting, they seem at first to have used the sponge, which must have been attend ed with many inconveniencies. I t yielded to the intro duction of the hair pencil, an invention so obvious, that it is not likely to have been long a desideratum in the art.
There seems no application of the art of painting in use in modern times, which was not equally practised by the ancients; even caricatures, of which several amusing specimens occur among the pictures found at Hercu laneum, but frequently so gross as to forbid description. The scenic caricature, or comedy, was so powerful a political engine among the ancients, that it was quite na tural for them to call in the aid of painting, for the at tainment of the same object. They seem, however, to have been more abusive than witty, as we are told of a painter who, to gratify his ill humour against Stratonice, queen of Antiochus of Syria, represented her in a very in decent attitude, and exhibited the picture publicly. The queen had the good sense to despise so mean an insult. The Greeks did not even spare their gods, as Ctesilochus has represented, in one of his pictures, Jupiter dressed as a woman, and in labour of Bacchus, exhibiting ridiculous contortions, and attended by an officiating goddess. Even Apollo, the god of elegance, in another antique caricature, was represented making the most amusingly awkward en deavours to extract music from a bag-pipe, under the au spices of his instructor Pan. The merit of the perform ance lies in the expressions of the countenances, which are remarkably successful. The sylvan musician con templates the efforts of his pupil with an air of mock superiority and irritable impatience, which is most amus ingly blended with the drollery of his buffoon features ; while the god of harmony is obviously more sceptical as to the capacity of the instrument, than of his own musical powers.
Another species of painting, much practised by the ancients, was Mosaic, which consisted of a sort of pave ment painting, with small coloured cubes of glass, marble, or wood, placed in cement. This practice, like the other branches of the fine arts, seems to have come from the East, to have been perfected in Greece, and from thence transferred to Rome. It became so prevalent in both of these latter countries, as a favourite mode of ornamenting their buildings, that remains of it are discovercl wherever any vestiges of ancient towns appear. It was chiefly em ployed in their most indispensable luxury, the bath; and even so far was refinement carried, that moveable floors of mosaic were used by their officers in their tents when on service. Suetonius mentions, that Julius (..;sar had such pavements carried every where 'along with him, to exclude the damps of the northern climates which he visit ed. There were two kinds of mosaic, one where the mor sels of marble used were pretty large, which was called and one where the cubes were very small, which was called tesselated pavement. Of this last, many mag.• nificent specimens have been discovered in various parts of Europe, our own island not excepted. The most re markable we have had occasion to see, is that finely re stored pavement, lately discovered at Lyons. It repre sents a chariot and horse race, and is admirably explana tory of the practice and amusements of the Roman circus. Another valuable specimen is the exquisite little picture of the four pigeons, at the museum of the Capitol of Rome. The pigeons are represented on the edge of a basin filled with water, out of which one of them is drinking. It is a work of singular truth and elegance, and has been fre quently copied. It was found at Hadrian's villa of Tivoli, and was bought by Pope Clement XIII. for 13,000 crowns.
This species of art ran the same course of decay as the other branches; and, after its revival, was, in the seven teenth century, brought to great perfection, as exhibited in the works of St. Peter's, where the transfiguration of Raphael, and some of the finest works of the greatest mas ters, have been copied in this everlasting style. There are above ten thousand different tints made use of in mo saic work. Its greatest merit consists in the absolute in destructibility of its material, and the facility of renewing its beauty when tarnished, by polishing off and producing a fresh surface.