There where the noblest figures are display'd; Thence gild the distant parts, and lessening fade: ́ As fade the beams which Phoebus from the East 425 Flings vivid forth to light the distant West, In Parian marble or Corinthian brass, Majus at in mediam lumen cadet usque tabellam 439 315 340 Majus ut in statuis, per compita stantibus urbis, Lumen habent partes superæ, minus inferioris ; Idem erit in tabulis; majorque nec umbra, vel ater Membra figurarum intrabit color, atque secabit: 7 So let thy pencil fling its beams around, 435 Nor e'er with darker shades their force con found, For shades too dark dissever'd shapes will give, And sink the parts their softness would relieve; Then only well reliev'd, when like a veil Round the full lights the wand'ring shadows steal; 440 Then only justly spread, when to the sight clear, May bear an object back, or bring it near; 445 Corpora sed circum umbra cavis latitabit oberrans ; Atque ita quæretur lux opportuna figuris, Ut late infusum lumen lata umbra sequatur. Unde, nec immeritò, fertur Titianus ubique 326 Lucis et umbrarum normam appellâsse racemum. Purum album esse potest propiusque magisque с Aided by black it to the front aspires, That aid withdrawn it distantly retires But black unmix'd, of darkest midnight hue, Still calls each object nearer to the view. 450 a Whate'er we spy thro' colour'd light or air, A stain congenial on their surface bear, While neighb'ring forms by joint reflection give And mutual take the dyes that they receive. e • But where on both alike one equal light 455 Cum nigro antevenit propiùs; fugit absq; remotum'; Purum autem nigrum antrorsum venit usque propinquum. f 332 Lux fucata suo tingit miscetque colore Çorpora, sicque suo, per quem lux funditur, aër. Corpora juncta simul, circumfusosque colores " Excipiunt, propriumque aliis radiosa reflectunt. • Pluribus in solidis liquidâ sub luce propinquis, Participes, mixtosque simul decet esse colores. Hanc normam Veneti pictores ritè sequuti, She, cautious to transgress so sage a rule, Confin'd to soberest tints her learned school; For tho' she lov'd by varied mode to join 461 Tumultuous crowds in one immense design, Yet there we ne'er condemn such hostile hues As cut the parts or glaringly confuse ; In tinsel trim no foppish form is drest. 465 470 34 (Quæ fuit antiquis corruptio dicta colorum,) ram Affini, aut uno tantùm vestire colore, 349 Sunt soliti; variando tonis tunicamque, togamque, Carbaseosque sinus, vel amicum in lumine et umbra Contiguis circum rebus sociando colorem. When small the space, or pure the ambient Each form is seen in bright precision clear; If far extend that intervening space, There all confus'd the objects faintly rise, 475 As if prepar'd to vanish from our eyes. i Give then each foremost part a touch so That, o'er the rest, its domineering light Let greater parts advance before the small. 480 4 k Qua minus est spatii aërei, aut quà purior aër, 349 Cuncta magis distincta patent, speciesque reservant ; Anteriora magis semper finita, remotis XXXVII. Of the In terposition of Air. i XXXVIII. The Relation of Distances. 255 * XXXVII. Aër interpositus. I XXXVIII. Distantiarum Relatio. |