3 LECTURE I. INTRODUCTION. GENTLEMEN STUDENTS, THE lectures which I shall have the honour of delivering to you upon the art of painting, will be given upon the plan laid down and pursued by my predecessors; exhibiting a brief and critical abstract of its history, with an explanation of its principal objects and its qualities; and then, in succession, treating of the principles upon which the practice of it is most effectively conducted, as exemplified in those great works which have stood the test of time and criticism. In one respect only shall I differ from those who have preceded me: I shall endeavour to treat the two principal portions of my subject in a manner more distinct and separate than has hitherto been done; regarding that mode as the one most efficient for conveying to you clearly, the information which I desire to afford you; and as a wish to be useful to you has alone actuated me, I have, without scruple, taken from others whatever I thought most conducive to that end; adding such reflections and observations of my own, as study and experience have elicited in my mind. It has been repeatedly and justly observed, that"in the practice of the fine arts we never regard the labour bestowed, nor the materials employed: we consider as of value only the degree of excellence produced;" and it is the glory of the art of painting, that, by an ingenious application of the mind, materials of little inherent value are rendered available to delightful and important purposes. Its productions have a double influence upon observers; they please the fancy, and they exercise the judgment; the imagination, the source of our greatest and our noblest pleasures, is excited by them, and the more serious faculties of the mind employed; and when it presents to us pleasing combinations of beautiful forms and colours, illustrative of existing objects, it is capable of affording far greater delight than the ordinary appearances of those things impart. From the productions of an art possessing such power, an observer may reasonably expect, not only gratification to his fancy, or to his best affections, but also refinement of his taste, and elevation of his mind; and those paintings which have not the power to produce such effects, in a greater or lesser degree, but minister only to |