Treatise on the Art of Painting (1584) - Page 15

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In praise of the work of Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo,

A poem by Willem Huysmans of Antwerp.

Whatever was once hidden in the art of Apelles, Apelles of Kos (4th century BCE) was the most famous painter of ancient Greece, renowned for his realism and technical perfection.

Which could have remained concealed from even the most famous men;

And whatever Apelles painted with his skillful brush, original: "penicillo", literally a "little tail," referring to the fine-haired brushes used by artists.

Which no one else fostered with equal dexterity:

This, these seven volumes Lomazzo’s treatise is famously divided into seven books, covering subjects like proportion, emotion, and light. reveal through watchful study,

Under the auspices of your noble name, high Charles. Charles Emmanuel I (1562–1630), the Duke of Savoy, to whom Lomazzo dedicated this work.

The wavy sea contains nothing, nor the earth, nor the heavens

Which either pole covers with its slanted rotations,

That he has not expressed to perfection original: "ad unguem", literally "to the fingernail." This Roman idiom refers to a sculpture finished so smoothly that a fingernail cannot feel any joints or imperfections. with extraordinary effort,

With an artistic hand accompanying Nature.

The human mind hides nothing in its silent depths

Of which the face does not possess certain seeds. A reference to Lomazzo's second book, which deals with "Actions and Gestures," explaining how internal emotions are visible on the face.

Give way, Roman painters, give way, Greeks!

This work comes forth, pleasing for many reasons.

But in what way, Paul, with what Muse original: "camœna", a Latin term for the spirits of song and poetry. shall I celebrate you?

Our Thalia Thalia was the Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry; here, the poet uses her to represent his own poetic voice. stands amazed at your gifts.

Nature made you lynx-eyed Reference to Lynceus, an Argonaut in Greek myth who possessed such sharp vision he could see through the earth., but a dreadful

Accident made you blind; Lomazzo went blind in 1571 at age 33, after which he dictated his theoretical works. yet nature does not hinder you, nor does the accident.

Those things which a lynx-eyed man once penetrated with sharp vision,

You surpass, Paul, with the light of your fine genius.