General Remarks
On the apparent characters of encaustic paintings, on wax and varnish.
The principal apparent characters of an encaustic painting are,
1. The colours have all the airiness of water colours, and all the strength of paintings in oil, without partaking of the apparent character, or defects of either.
2. You may look at and enjoy a picture in any light; the colours are bright, fresh and lively without glaring. They require no varnish.
3. The colours are firm, without being brittle, and will bear scratching without receiving any harm.
The effect of the colours is the same in both systems, each will have and preserve its peculiar character, as to the manner of painting; if you paint your subject in the light and airy stile of the Carlo Marat school, when the colours will be fixed you will have the high colouring of Rubens.