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26

celebrated for certain pictures, as examples of beauty and of colouring; One called the Flora — another, the Mistress of Francis the first — Another, Titian's Mistress, &c.[[strikethrough]] All these [[/strikethrough]] The heads of all these are exact copies from a Portrait of the Wife of Georgione, painted by Georgione, which I have seen in [[strikethrough]] a Gallery in [[/strikethrough]] the Manfrini Palace at Venice, only varied in the figure & accompaniments. In the Cafe of Guido — having succeeded in making a beautiful head of his Cleopatra, chiefly founded on the head of the Niobe, he repeated it as a Lucretia, a Dido, a Digenire &c. To avoid the obnoxious term copy, the word repetition is often employed.

44  Buttons.

Mr West took great pains to raise a bulk of light on the metal buttons he painted, to encrease their splendour by reflecting the light, especially when varnished — also the light on the nose and eyes. I have experienced the disadvantage of painting those lights too sparingly by the colour being rubbed off, or becoming dull, and the part losing its appearance of rotundity or prominence. It was also the practice of Copley, even before he went to England. His drapery, especially the linen, was painted on the same plan — the lights being sharply heaped on. This was better in [[strikethrough]] the case of [[/strikethrough]] regard to linen, than when he painted Cloth or Velvet — his [[strikethrough]] painting [[/strikethrough]] pictures generally showing too much the strokes of the brush.

45 Drying of Colours.

It is of consequence, as far as possible, that every colour that is used upon the same picture should be rendered equally drying; or at least the under coats should be more so than the outer Coat, as an insurance against cracking — a soft body of paint is sure to be cracked by the contraction of a hard drying coat put over it.

46  Lustre of Colours.

Some Colours will not grind or mix smoothly, with a lustre, unless in grinding or mixing them, you add a little Megelp or varnish; such for instance as Vandyck brown, Colognn Earth, &c.