Appendix D: Architecture, Painting, and Sculpture Class Notes, Bethlehem Female Seminary, 1797
Shelf: 6-E
Box: Notebooks: Poesy & Compositions Ms.
Folder: Room 7 Notebooks 1797
(Optics-Astronomy-Geography-Chronology-Architecture Painting-Sculpture-Mythology)
Title on page one: Optics Oct. 7th 1797
Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Spelling and capitalization of the original have been preserved. Reproduced from Appendix D (pp. 440-443) Winkelman, R. J. (1990). Art education in the non-public schools of Pennsylvania, 1720-1870 (90-32395) [Doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University].
Architecture
What is architecture?
The art of building or erecting edifices, it is of 3 kinds, civil. military, and naval.
In what does civil architecture consist?
In designing and building edifices of every kind for the use of civil life as Churches, Coleges, Halls, palaces, &c and these are distinguished, with regard to the several states thereof, into the antique gothic, modern, &c.
What are the orders of civil Architecture?
There are 5, the Tuscan, Doric, Ionc, Corinthian, and Composit. They take their names from the people who invented them; except the Composite which is so called from being composed out the other orders, and was invented by the Romans.
What is military Architecture?
The art of strengthening and fortifying towers and places; to screen them from insults of enemies, and the violence of arms; as the enacting of forts, Castles, and other fortresses with ramparts; Bastians, &c this action is usually called fortification.
In what consists naval architecture?
It teaches the construction of Ships, Gallies, and other floating Vessels for the water; with ports, moles, docks, &c on the shore: whether for the service of war or commerece. November 18th 97
Painting
What is Painting?
The art of representing all manner of objects by lines and coulours, on an even and uniform surface.
How is this art divided?
Into six parts; the design, the proportion, the expression, the clair-obscure, the ordinance, and the Colouring.
Design is the simple colour, or outlines, of the figures, or things intended to be represented, or the lines that terminate and surcumscribe them.
Proportion, is the just magnitude of the several members of a figure, a Groupe, &c. with regard to one another, to the whole figuree, the Groupe, and the entire piece.
Expression, denotes a natural and lively representation of the subject or of the several objects intended to be shown.
Clair-Obscure, is the art of distrubuting to advantage the lights and shadows of a piece, bothe with regard to easing the eye and heightening the effect of the whole composition.
Ordinance, denoted the disposition of the parts of a picture either with regard to the whole piece, or the several parts.
Coulouring, is the manner of applying and conducting the coulour of a picture, or the mixture of lights and shadows, formed by the various colours employed in painting
What are the various kinds of painting?
They are distinguished, with regard to the materials used, the matter whereon they are applied, and the manner of applying them: from hence the principal kinds of painting are as follows:
Oil, or simply called painting, consists in grinding the Coulours with nut or linseed oil: an invention of the utmost advantage to the art; since by this means, the coulours of a picture are preserved much longer, and receive a luster which the ansients could not attain to, what ever varnish they made use of to cover their pieces.
Watercolours or limming has the coulours mixed with water only; or sometimes a little size added; and is a much more ancient art that painting and oil.
Fresses, is a kind of painting with water-coulours on fresh plaster, on a wall laid with water yet dry, so that incorporating with the mortar, and drying along with it, the coulours become extremely durable.
Distemper, is a term for paintings that have the coulour mixed with size, white’s of eggs, or any such proper glutinous, or unctuious substance, and not with oil.
Miniture, is a delicate kind of painting, consisting of little points or dauts, instead of lines, and with thin water-coulours.
Encaustic, is a species of painting with burnt wax; it consists in applying water-coulours upon a coating of bees-wax, and when the picture is dry, it is put near a fire where, by the wax melts and absorbs all the coulours.
Enamel, is a method of painting with enamels, or Metalline coulours, ground, reduced to a pouder, and used like thin coulours with a pencil then fused, back again, vitrified by force of fire.
Glass, is a kind of painting some what similar to Enamel, the coulours being incorporated with the glass itself, by exposing them to a proper degree of fire. December-2-1797
Sculpture
What is Sculpture?
The art of cutting or carving wood and stone into Images; as also of fashioning wax, earth, Plaster, &c to serve as models, or moulds, for the casting of metalline figures.
Is not this a very ancient Art?
Its antiquity is past doubt, as the sacred writings mention in several places; witness Laban’s Idols taken away by Racel, the brazen Serpent, the Golden calf, &c. It is probable that Sculpture is more ancient then painting; and from the style of ancient painting there is reason to conclude, that Sculpture stood first in the public esteem: for the ancient painters have evidently imitated the statuaries, since their works have not that freedom of style, especially with respect to thin drapery, which the pencil might easily acquire to a greater degree than that of the Chisel.
Which is the most difficult of these two arts?
Painting has the greatest number of requisites, but at the same time its expedients are the most numerous: and therefore we may venture to affirm that, whenever Sculpture pleases equally with the Painting, the Sculpture is certainly by the greatest artist.
What are deemed the best spesimins of Sculpture in England?
The Statues of Phreanzy and Melancholy and the Pleirs before Bethlehem Hospital, deserve to be ranked among the first purformances in this art: they were executed by Tilber.* There is also a most elegant Statue of Edward the 6th in Branse at St. Thoma’s Hospital in Southward, by Schumaker: & one of Sr Issas Newton at Cambridge, by Roubiliac. Westminster-Abbey is a famous repository of Sculpture, but the figures loose much of their effect, by being crowded togeth, with out any orderly arrangement: the monument of the Duke of Argle, and one of Mrs. Nightingale bouth Roubiliac and that of Dr. Chamberlain, by Schumaker, seem to stand highest in the public opinion.
*The sculptor referred to here is actually Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630–1700). He was known for his pair of “Melancholy” and “Raving Madness” sculptures created for the gates of Bethelem Royal Hospital. The phrase “and the Pleirs” in the student notes perhaps should be read, “on the piers” or “on the pillars.”
Credit: Statues of “raving” and “melancholy” madness, each reclining on one half of a broken segmental pediment, formerly crowning the gates at Bethlem [Bedlam] Hospital. Engraving by C. Warren, 1808, after C. Cibber, 1680. Image has been slightly retouched. Courtesy of Wellcome Trust via Wikimedia Commons. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.