PAINTING

This article appears in Volume V20, Page 460 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PAI-PAS

PAINTING , in art, the action of laying colour on a surface, or the representing of objects by the laying of colour on a surface. It is with painting in the last sense, considered as one of the fine arts, that this article deals. In the first sense, in so far as painting is a part of the builder's and decorator's trade it is treated above under the heading PAINTER-

WORK

WORK

. The verb " to paint " is derived through Fr. peindre (peint, the past participle, was possibly the earliest part adopted, as is suggested
in the New English Dictionary), from Lat. pingere, to paint. From the past participle pictus comes pictura, picture, and from the root pig, pigment. The ultimate meaning of the root is probably to decorate, adorn, and is seen in Gr. sroo 4Xos, many-coloured, variegated.
In Part I. of this article, after a brief notice of the general character of the art and an account of its earliest manifestations, a sketch is given of the course of its development from the ancient Egyptian period to modern times. (An account, by countries, of

recent

RECENT

schools of painting will be found as an appendix at the end of Part III.) The point of view chosen is that of the relation of painting to nature, and it is shown how the art, beginning with the delineation of contour, passes on through stages when the effort is to render the truth of solid form, to the final period when, in the 17th century, the presentment of space, or nature in all her extent and variety, becomes the subject of representation. Certain

special

SPECIAL

forms of painting characteristic of modern times, such as portraiture, genre painting, landscape, still-life, &c., are briefly discussed.
Part II. consists in tables of names and

dates

DATES

intended to afford a conspectus of the different historical schools of painting from the 12th century A.D. downwards.
Part III. is devoted to a comprehensive treatment of the different technical processes of painting in vogue in ancient and modern times.
For the Italian schools of painting may be consulted: Crowe and Cavalcaselle, History of Painting in Italy (2nd ed., London, 1902, &c.). The

original

ORIGINAL

edition was published in London under the titles History of Painting in Italy (3 vols., 18641866), and History of Painting in North Italy (2 vols., 1871), Venturi, Storia dell' erte italiana (Milan, 1901, &c.).
For the German: Janitschek, Geschichte der deutschen Malerei (Berlin, 189o).
For the Early Flemish : Crowe and Cavalcaselle, The Early Flemish Painters (2nd ed., London, 1872) ; Wurzbach, Niederldndisches Kiinstler-Lexicon (Vienna and

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 1906, &c.); Weale, Hubert and John van Eyck (London, 1907).
For the Dutch : Wurzbach ; Bode, Studien zur Geschichte der Holldndischen Malerei (Braunschweig, 1883) and Rembrandt and seine Zeitgenossen (

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 1906) ; Havard, The Dutch School of ainting (trans., London, 1885).
For the French: Lady Dilke, French Painters of the Eighteenth Century (London, 1899) ; D. C. Thomson, The Barbizon School.
For the English : Redgrave, A Century of Painters of the English School (London, 189o).
For the Scottish: W. D. McKay, R.S.A., The Scottish School of Painting (London, 1906).
For the American : J. C. Van Dyke (ed.), History of American Art (New

York

, 1903, &c.) ; S. Isham, A History of American Painting (N. Y., 1905).
The modern schools generally are treated fully, with copious bibliographical references, by Richard Muther, The History of Modern Painting (2nd ed., Eng. trans., London, 1907).

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