difappointment of a scheme which fo manifeftly tended to the fubverfion of our civil and religious Liberties, and to the reduction of all Europe to a fervile ftate of dependance on the will of the French Monarch.

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Encauftic: Or Count Caylus's Method of Painting in the Manner of the Antients. To which is added, a fure and eafy Method of fixing of Crayons. By J. H. Müntz. 8vo. 3s. fewed. Webley.

S the publication of the difcovery, made by the inge-, nious Author of this practical treatife, muft confer a fenfible obligation on his brother Artifts, fo the modeft and. difinterested manner in which he has here communicated to the public, the refult of his invention and experiments, can-, not fail of doing him honour with all lovers of the fine arts.

The majority of our Readers may remember the noise o fye!

which Count Caylus's method of painting made among the curious, fometime ago in France; and its being fuppofed the fame with that practifed by the antients; mention of which is made by Pliny. This fuppofition has, indeed, been difputed; and other learned Writers have conceived the encauftic painting of the antients to be rather enamelling. Our Artist is inclined, however, to be of the former opinion, for which he gives very satisfactory reasons. But, as this confideration is rather curious than important, he does not dwell on the eclaircisement of a point which belongs rather to the Critic and Antiquarian than to the Artist.

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Count Caylus's method, as improved by Mr. Müntz, is this. Stretch a piece of linen cloth upon a frame, rub the X 3 • back

This improvement relates chiefly to the manner of preparing the cloth.Count Caylus's method, and our Artist's reafons for a different practice, are as follows.

The Count's method for preparing the cloth, confifts in stretching it upon a frame, and holding it horizontally over, or perpendicularly before, a fire, (at a diftance convenient, and proportionable to the degree of heat it cafts) and rubbing it with a piece of wax; which, melting gradually as it is rubbed on, diffufes itself, penetrates the body, and fills the interftices of the texture of the cloth, < which, when cool, is fit to paint upon; but, as water.colours will not adhere regularly flowing and connectedly to the wax, he,

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back of that cloth with wax, paint your fubject on the other fide, with colours prepared and tempered with water; and when dry bring the picture near the fire, and by melting the wax fix the colours.'

to remedy this inconveniency, makes ufe of an intermediate body, viz. chalk or whitening, with which he rubs over that furface of ⚫ the waxed canvas he intends to paint upon, and then the colours will eafily flow over and adhere to it.

Now, though this way of proceeding is very fimple and fuccefffully practicable for fmall fubjects that may be finished in a couple of hours, and while the colours upon the canvas retain moifture; yet, to execute pictures of a larger fize and compofition, which will require many a day's labour and application, and whereof no part can be finished pofitively at the first onfet, this manner of managing it will not anfwer fo well, for the following reafons.

First, In painting upon the wax by virtue of the whitening, you will not have that conveniency of retouching or altering of any part, and before the colours are fixed, fo well, as painting upon the raw and bare canvas will afford you; because the texture and fibres of the cloth being thoroughly invaded by the wax, there remains nothing for water colours to fix or adhere to, capable to retain them; thofe colours once dry, the flightest touch of a moift pencil will, as it were, attract them, and frequently make and leave a bare fpot; fo that in attempting to retouch, instead of adding fresh celours, he will fetch off the old ones; for though the rough edged particles of the chalk facilitate to the firft colours an adhesion upon the fmooth body, wax; yet water, the vehicle of the colours, being the menftratum of chalk, by difcompofing it, destroys part of its power and virtue, and renders it incapable to perform the first fervice a fecond time.

Secondly, Upon canvas fully imbibed with wax, you can neither ufe fo great a body of colours, nor employ them with fuch freedom, boldness, or delicacy as you may upon cloth, whose texture is not pre-occupied with wax-the reafon is obvious-the one has its pores and interftices filled up with wax; the other's you must fill up with colours. Cloth, a firm fpungy body or fubftance, in fucking in the water attracts the colours along with it into its pores, and thereby facilitates the firm and delicate ftrokes; and the colours mixing and adhering to its numberlefs fibres, will not come off on retouching, before the picture is fixed; you may cherish or leave your work at pleafure, without detriment or inconveniency arifing from that. Advantages that cloth pre-occupied with wax is inca⚫pable of.

Thirdly and laftly, By painting on canvas prepared according to the directions of art. the first, your works will be more folid and lafting, because the colours will not fimply lay upon the furface of the wax, but cloth, wax, and colours will make but one individual body,

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The advantages propofed by this method of painting are, in our Author's words, that, firft, the colours have all the airinefs of water colours, and all the strength of paintings in oil, without partaking of the apparent character or defects of either. Secondly, that you may look at and enjoy a picture in any light; the colours are bright, fresh, and lively, without glaring, and require no varnish. Thirdly, that the colours are firm, without being brittle, and bear fcratching without receiving any harm.

There are other comparative advantages which, it is obferved, encaustic painting appears to have over that of oil: particularly that of the being able to work on them, and retouch them, at pleasure, and at any time, without fatiguing the colours, or any other detriment arifing from it; which is an advantage peculiar to this kind of painting: for the new colours will unite with the old ones, without making spots, as is the cafe in common fize-painting; nor will there be that inconveniency of rubbing the places to be retouched over with oil, as is the cafe in oil pictures. Again, the colours are not only free from that glare or fhining, infeparable from paintings in oil, but they are alfo fecured and firm, and will bear washing: nay, our Artift affures us, he has actually washed his tints, fo fixed, with ftrong lixivia of pot-afh, vinegar, fpirit of wine, with a folution of fea falt, and with aqua fortis by which operations oil colours were entirely deftroyed, tho' the encauftic fuffered little or nothing.

That paintings of this kind are not liable to crack; or, being ill-ufed, that they are easily reftorable to their priftine beauty, are great advantages. I have, fays our Author, a little fcrap of a picture, a landfcape, by me, which has undergone the above trials of wafhing, and feveral others, very fevere; among the reft, I took it from the frame, and folded it into four, put it upon the frame again, and brought it near the fire, and the folds disappeared; the colours being as fresh as if painted but yesterday; and tho', on a very close examination, one may perceive it has fuffered violence, at three feet distance no marks appear.

Their duration alfo is a very material advantage, and appears to be ascertained by experiments, the veracity of which we fee no reason to fufpect. In short, our Artist represents the encaustic as a manner of painting fufceptible of all the boldness, freedom, and delicacy of every other. You may leave off, fays he, and cherifh your work at pleasure: you cannot fatigue your colours: you are not fubject to that inconvenience attending oil-painting, viz. of fetting your pic

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ture to dry. You will have all the effects and fweetnefs of painting in oil, and the colours will not be liable to fade, and change; no damp can affect them; no corrofive will hurt them; nor can the colours fall in fhivers off the canvas.

This, indeed, is to fay a great deal, and very pofitively. We must do Mr. Müntz the juftice, however, to obferve, that he appears to have afferted nothing more than he has very good reasons for. Let no body, fays he, think me too pofitive, or intoxicated with my own notions, before they have gone through the whole of my treatise, and made a few experiments. I advance facts, and not merely conjectures.

A method of fixing Crayons has been long a famous defideratum among Painters: the pleafing effects, and perishable qualities of which kind of painting, as our Artift juftly obferves, render any encomium on his difcovery fuperfluous, The method here laid down is, however, fo intimately connected with the foregoing, of fixing water-colours, that it is rather a wonder the difcovery of it did not more haftily fucceed the former invention; if this be in reality the first time of its being made known to modern Artists.

His method of painting with, and fixing Crayons, comes, indeed, not only within the fenfe of the encaustic, but is, as he himself confefles, the very self-fame thing. The whole proceeding is founded on the fame principle; the fame materials and agent are required: the only difference between painting in encauftic with the pencil, and painting in encauftic with crayons, confifting in employing the colours: in the former you paint with colours tempered with water; in the latter, you employ and paint with the fame colours dry; the effect and folidity being equal and the fame in both.

The method of preparing the cloth, it is true, differs a little from that recommended in ufing water-colours, and there are fome other cautions given, for which we refer those who are defirous of practifing this ingenious art, to the book itself; where they will find particular and fatisfactory inftructions. given for their conduct through the whole proceeding, as well as an account of the feveral colours proper for this kind of painting.

In an Advertisement, annexed to this performance, the Writer apologizes for the inaccuracies and improprieties of expreffion he may have fallen into, conscious of wanting the neceffary qualifications of a Writer, in a language not natural to him. Were the Author, indeed, not a foreigner, it would be but reasonable to excufe the want of literary embellishments

lifhments in a practical treatise, where plainnefs and perfpicuity are chiefly wanted; but as he might fo very easily have procured affiftance enough to have rendered his ftile grammatical, we cannot help thinking this neglect inexcufable. At the fame time we commend him for taking fuch affistance in his promised treatise on Practical Painting, which, we are informed, will foon be ready for the prefs.

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An Enquiry into the Beauties of Painting; and into the Merits of the most celebrated Painters, ancient and modern.. By Daniel Webb, Efq; 8vo. 3s. 6d. bound. Dodsley.

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T has been the opinion of many Speculatifts, that the polite arts flourish beft under a free government. Experience, however, proves the fallacy of this notion: fince they have attained a very high degree of perfection in defpotic States, and been at a very low ebb in countries where the principles of Liberty have been most predominant.

To what cause this difference may be attributed, is not our present business to enquire. It is certain, however, that in this ifland of Freedom, we have never been confpicuous for our taste in the polite arts. Whether our want of relifh for fuch pursuits, has been owing to any native afperity of manners, or to the commercial turn of this kingdom, we will not venture to determine.

In Rome, the culture of the polite arts advanced as Liberty declined. At the highest point of Roman grandeur, during the Commonwealth, fome of their great men were fo little skilled in the refined arts, that Velleius Paterculus records the following anecdote of the famous General L. Mummius. "After the taking of Corinth, when a great number of ad"mirable pictures and ftatues, done by the best Masters, "fell into his hands, he told the fervants who were to carry "them into Italy, that If they loft any by the way, they should "certainly find new ones in their room." This exceffive ignorance, however, was not general at that time in Rome, for P. Scipio Emylianus, who deftroyed Carthage, flourished at the fame time with Mummius, and to the courage and virtue of the ancient Roman, added all the graces of attic politeness and refinement, which about that time began to be admired in Rome.

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