The Press.
London, England, 1858-11-27 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 27, 1858.

that all colours which are found in juxtaposition
in nature may be placed together in art—a notion
which would prove the most opposite combina-
tions to be necessary concords, and which has no
more real foundation than if we were to consider
the squeak of a pig as legitimate a melody as the
song of a nightingale, because both are equally
natural.

On the history of stained and painted glass Sir
J. G. Wilkinson has a very learned dissertation
(§2O-26), in which he traces it, from the classical
ages, to its prevalence in Byzantium, its intro-
duction into Western Europe, its use in Italy, and
its perfection in France. The historical part of
this disquisition, though interesting in an anti-
quarian point of view, is somewhat irrelevant to
the main subject of the book, which would simply
have required a statement of the different epochs
of coloured glass, with a slight description of
their respective characteristics. To the windows
of the thirteenth century the preference is given,
on the very just ground that they do not form
independent compositions standing out from the
rest of the building, but are arranged so as to
harmonize with it in pattern and colour. It must
be remembered that the whole of the interior of
a church was then richly painted, and that the
small-patterned, though bright and glowing,
mosaic of glass would not have any glaring or
obtrusive effect. On the treatment of such win-
dows, on their groundings, medallions, distribu-
tion of colour, avoidance of white glass, and the
general proportion of the colours, our author's
directions appear to us extremely sensible and in
good taste. The broad principle laid down is
that in which we believe all judicious persons
have usually concurred—that the window is to
be part of the general composition, and that
any attempt to convert it into a painting.
by enlarging the figures, enriching them with
canopies, or giving large masses of colour
to their draperies, is wholly to be depre-
cated. We must not "foolishly try to execute
" oil painting with a material limited in its
" nature and requiring conventional treatment."
The frightful windows sometimes seen in London
churches—there is a hideous example in the
chapel of Charterhouse—with a subject extending
over perhaps five lights at once, and shockingly
divided by the mullions, lead lines, and other
inevitable intersections, remind one of a remark
once made on a schoolboy's map, where the lines
of latitude and longitude (being the easiest part)
bad been drawn with extraordinary blackness
and vigour :—" Your map looks as if it was in
Newgate."—We are glad to see, however, that
while condemning so absurd a practice as painting
a regular picture on a transparent material, and
while insisting on the obligatory conventionalism
of the medallion style, Sir J. G. Wilkinson does
not require that the figures, however small, shall
be in themselves conventional. " Wherever they
" are introduced, they should be good, and bear
" inspection on a near approach." I lis views on
the whole subject are thus summed up :

Among the many conditions of coloured glass windows,
may notice the following :—That they should be subser-
vient to the general ornamentation, their object being
decorative; they should assimilate to, and aid, the deco•
ration and style of the building ; they should not be a
contrast to a white wall, nor pretend to be a painting or
large picture; the small figures in the medallions, though
conventional, should be good, not imitations of a rude
style, and should be part of the coloured effect of the win-
dow when seen at a distance ; broad opaque shadows
should not be introduced, nor an attempt be made to
convert the flat into a round style; figures larger than life
should be avoided as injurious to the proportion of a
building; no great expanse of one colour in one place should
catch the eye; and a picture extending over two or more
lights, cut by an opaque mullion, is inconsistent and offen-
sive. A quantity of white glass is bad and poor, and
yellow is better than white for preventing red and blue
from appearing purple at a distance. The border should
be in proportion to the size of the light ; too small and
even too large a quantity of ground between medallions
should be avoided; the medallions should not be all of
the same form, and the patterns should not he too small,
nor have a spotted appearance as in a kaleidoscope ; the
piintsry colours should predominate over the secondary
and tertiary ; and the beat windows for imitation are those
of the 1200. In rosette windows, the tracery lights or
openings should radiate from the centre rather than be
concentric. But coloured glass is not required iu buildings
of the Renaissance style.

Another theory which our author seems suc-
cessfully to combat is that which teaches that a
harmonious contrast may always be found wher-
ever the three primary colours are together, even
if two of them are mixed together ; e.g., that,
because green is composed of blue and yellow,

therefore red 4- green = in effect red + blue +
yellow ; which, we imagine, is as fallacious in
the chemistry of colour, as it would be in general
chemistry, to assert, that because charcoal, nitre,
and saltpetre are innocuous separately, they
are therefore equally so in combination. It
is to the eye," continues the author,—

•
that the several colours must distinctly appear. It is not
enough to know that theoretically they are all there ; and
green is not only to the eye a new colour, quite distinct
from blue and yellow, but has a very different effect in cum.
bination with other colours from that produced by blue
and yellow. Such a theory might obtain for the mono.
chrome taste of chtrchwardens the credit of using all the
primaries in the whitened walls for which our churches
are so remarkable; but our sensations tell us the mono•
tonous truth.

Another common error is, to suppose that all
the three primary colours are under similar con-
ditions in relation to each other, and that the
same rules arc applicable to all the different
ways in which they may be placed together.
Thus it is a fact that red and blue, which, if
mixed, would form purple, become at a distance
somehow fused by the eye into that colour ; and,
in like manner, yellow placed next to red pro-
duces upon the retina the effect of an orange
hue. But blue and yellow in juxtaposition do
not produce green, or, if at all, to a much less
extent than the analogous secondary colours.
Green has another peculiarity, that a certain►
quantity of it appears to be greater than the
same quantity of other colours ; and, conse-
quently, a very small quantity of it will brighten
up a design.

Practical hints abound in the volume before
us. People who have red hair are advised, for
instance, not to wear blue, but green, which
softens the intensity of their colour. A red
carpet and red furniture may advantageously be
toned down by green curtains. For a wall
against which pictures are to be hung "tea-
green " is well adapted. "In dresses it is diffi-
" cult to find any trimmings suited to pink,
" unless they be black, or a dark purple." Sir
J. G. Wilkinson chiefly confines himself to the
primary and secondary colours, or we might be
surprised at his omitting, while on this subject,
to recommend what is certainly a very harmo-
nious combination—rose-colour, united with grey
or pale lavender in larger proportion. Ladies
whose complexions will bear pink would find
the adoption of the hues of sunrise not at all a
bad way of helping them to approximate to the
charms of Aurora. On contrast in general the
following paragraph is valuable, and gives a
good notion of the author's more scientific
treatment :

Colours are opposed to each other in different degrees;
let. The strongest opposition is by positive contrast, %lieu
the colours are of different hues and natures: as black and
white; blue and orange; scarlet and blue, &c. Of these
Mr. Field says the only two contrasting colours
which are of equal powers are " black and white,' "orange
and blue," and `. all other contrasts are perfect only whop
one of the antagonistic colours predominates." 2nd. Op•
position, or contrast, of warm and cold colours; among
the former of which are reds, yellow, orange, brown, red-
purple, &c.; among the latter, blue, grey, green, blue,
purple, white, blne-blaek, &c. 3rd. Opposition, or :en-
treat, of dark and light colours; or opposition of tones, ss
when the colours are tunes of the same hue, one stronger
than the other, as dark and light yellow. .4th. Oppostu?u,
or contrast, of accidental colours, is when a colour and its
accidental companion are opposed to each other, as re-
and green ; blue and orange; yellow and purple.
The practical way in which this is followed out
is by giving a list of all colours, and their tones,
with their names in English, and also, where they
can be ascertained, in Arabic, French, Gerinan,
Greek, Latin, and Italian; and by another list
of all the colours, with the best and worst con-
trasts appended to each ; this latter extends over
thirty pages, and is very elaborately worked out.
This first part of the book is concluded by some
advice as to the proportion in which colours
should be employed, and a description of some
examples of good colour, with reference both to
the author's own illustrations and to other

works.
The second part of the work treats of "the
necessity of a diffusion of taste among all
‘ classes." From the variety and extent
of
the topics upon which the author touches it is
not very easy to give an idea of its contens,
especially as they too are arranged u
very systematic plan. A great part of them
which originally appeared in the Budder, thin,
closed by brackets, which device rather worries
a. reader by suggesting a separation between sub-
jects which are really homogeneous. With liwst
pon no