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The Atramentum of Apelles, 

Whatever might have been the Atramentum which Pliny informed us was employed by Apelles to spread over his Pictures, giving them a peculiar Softnefs and a charm of Nature, it is certain that he must have depended Much upon his skills in tinging some parts of his picture with but little- the thinnest film- of his glazing Materials, which in other places required to be put on more boldly and in thicker quantities. Such thin films would soon have yielded to the modern Picture- cleanes's procefs, and the effects of his colouring would have been as much injured as those of many of the Modern Old Masters have been by injudicious cleaning- often misappropriately called "Restoration". It is a question whether Apelles would have been so celebrated, if he had sacrificed the present beauty of his painting to a durability to be acquired by the mellowing influence of time- at least Pliny would not have lived to record it. 

Practice of Lawrence
In the Biographies of Sir Thomas Lawrence it is said that for many years he made it a practice to copy every Picture that he painted. This afsertion founded, doubtlefs, on some especial cafes in which it had been observed, is made without any explanation of his object in so doing. My opinion is that, as a Student of Nature, he sometimes succeeded in a good imitation from the life; and as it is also said that he had no particular method of setting his  Palette, which I imagine was only in doubtful cafes, he would then make a Copy of his successful Picture, for the purpose of Methodizing his tints, so as to be able to execute by design what had been done by accident, under the guidance of a good eye- and thus learn the best method of setting his Palette; for it is evident from an examination of his works that his Palette was very systematical and uniform. Or, it it much more probable that he often made coloured studies from the life, which he transferred or copied on the Canvafses to be finished for his [portraits crossed out] employers.