The Useful Arts Employed in the Construction of Dwelling Houses. Second Edition

by Anonymous

The last preparation for painting on the mortar, is as follows:—The surface is wetted with pure water, till it ceases to absorb. A thin coat of plaster is then spread over that portion only which is to be painted: the surface of this coat should be moderately rough. As soon as it begins to set (i. e., in about ten minutes or so, according to the temperature) a second thin coat is laid on, and the surfaces are smoothed with a wooden trowel. Some painters like to work on a perfectly smooth surface, in which case the last coat is polished by applying a piece of paper on the surface, and passing the trowel over it. When a small amount of roughness is required, a dry brush, or a piece of beaver nap attached to the trowel, is passed over the plaster in all directions.

3. The process of Painting. The wall being properly prepared, the outline of the figures is to be traced with a sharp point on the plaster, as before described. The artist commences his work when the surface is in such a state that it will barely receive the impression of the finger, and not so wet as to allow the colours to run or to be liable to be stirred up by the brush. If the wall has been previously well wetted, it will in general not dry too rapidly; but if in warm weather the surface becomes too hard to imbibe the colour properly, a small quantity of water is from time to time sprinkled over the surface.

The colours being ground fine in water, and the most useful tints abundantly supplied, they are arranged in pots or basins, and several palettes with raised edges are ready at hand to work from. A few pieces of tile or some absorbent material are provided to prove the tints upon, because all colours ground in water become much lighter when dry than they appear when wet. The brick absorbs the water, and leaves the colour nearly in the state in which it will appear upon the wall.

The first tints that are applied sink in and have a faint appearance; it is therefore necessary to go over the work several times before the full effect is produced: but after some time the last edition of colour will not unite with that already applied unless the part be again wetted.

At the close of a day’s work, any portion of the prepared plaster which remains over and above the finished part is to be cut away, care being taken to make the divisions at a part where drapery, or some object or its outline, forms a boundary, for if this be not attended to, the work will appear patchy. The next day, in preparing a new surface, the edges of the previously painted portion must be carefully wetted so as to ensure a perfect junction of all the parts of the painted surface.

At Munich the artists have a contrivance for arresting the drying of the work should they be unable to finish the day’s allotted portion. A piece of fine linen is wetted and spread over the fresh plaster and painting, and pressed to the surface by means of a cushion covered with waxed cloth.

Defects are sometimes remedied by cutting out the objectionable portion, and painting it anew upon a fresh surface of plaster. In the finished fresco, shadows are sometimes deepened, parts are rounded, subdued, or softened by hatching in lines of the colour required, mixed up with vinegar and white of egg. Crayons made of pounded egg-shells are sometimes used to heighten the lights. But all these additional amendments are highly objectionable; they impair the durability of the fresco, and in the open air these retouchings are useless, because the rain washes them away, whereas it has no influence upon frescos painted without retouching.

4. The Colours and Implements. The colours employed in fresco painting are few and simple. They consist chiefly of earths and a few metallic oxides variously prepared. No animal and vegetable substances can be used, because the lime would destroy them. The brushes are of hog’s hair, but longer than those used in oil painting. Small pencils of otter hair are also used; no other hair being found to resist the lime. Pure distilled water ought to be employed in all the operations of this art.

Such is the process of fresco painting, the details of which, after the above statement, will be rendered more intelligible by the following abridged account of a visit, by Mr. Andrew Wilson, to the royal palace at Genoa, to see the Signor Pasciano paint a ceiling in fresco:—

The artist had prepared his tints upon a table with a large slate for the top: they consisted of terra vert, smalt, vermilion, yellow ochre, Roman ochre, darker ochre, Venetian red, umber, burnt umber, and black. These colours were all pure, mixed with water only, and rather stiff. He mixed each tint as he wanted it, adding to each from a pot of pure lime, or from one containing a very pale flesh tint. A lump of umber served to try his colours on. He used a resting-stick with cotton on the top to prevent injury to the prepared wall, or intonaco, as the Italians call it. The moment this surface would bear touching, the artist began to work upon the figure, the outline of which had just been traced. The head was that of the Virgin. The artist began with a pale tint of yellow round the head for the glory: he then laid in the head and neck with a pale flesh colour, and the masses of drapery round the head and shoulders with a middle tint, and with brown and black in the shadows. He next, with terra vert and white, threw in the cool tints of the face; then with a pale tint of umber and white, modelled in the features, covered with the same tint the part where the hair was to be seen, and also indicated the folds of the white veil. All this time he used the colours as thin as we do in water colours; he touched the intonaco with great tenderness, and allowed ten minutes to elapse before touching the same spot a second time. He now brought his coloured study, which stood on an easel near him, and began to model the features, and to throw in the shades with greater accuracy. He put colour in the cheeks, and put in the mouth slightly, then shaded the hair and drapery, deepening always with the same colours, which became darker and darker every time they were applied, as would be the case on paper for instance. Having worked for half an hour, he made a halt for ten minutes, during which time he occupied himself in mixing darker tints, and then began finishing, loading the lights, and using the colours much stiffer, and putting down his touches with precision and firmness: he softened with a brush with a little water in it. Another rest of ten minutes; but by this time he had nearly finished the head and shoulders of his figure, which being uniformly wet, looked exactly like a picture in oil, and the colours seemed blended with equal facility. Referring again to the oil study, he put in some few light touches in the hair, again heightened generally in the lights, touched too into the darks, threw a little white into the yellow round the head, and this portion of his composition was finished, all in about an hour and a half. This was rapid work, but it will be noticed that the artist rested four times, so as to allow the wet to be sufficiently absorbed into the wall to allow him to repass over his work. He now required an addition to the intonaco; the tracing was again lifted up to the ceiling, and the space to be covered being marked by the painter, the process was repeated, and the body and arms of the figure were finished.