The Oil Painter's Bible - chapter 6
and by Antonello da Messina, who studied in Flanders, according to Vasari. Giovanni Bellini then learned
it from Antonello, and taught it to Giorgione and Titian. The Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden,
who was adept at painting in oils, came to Italy around 1449 and influenced a number of Italian artists,
including Piero della Francesca. The use of oil as a painting medium was adopted cautiously by some, and
derided by others, as anything new always seems to create controversy. Michelangelo refused to paint in
oils, and reportedly ridiculed Leonardo for adopting it. Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) recognized its merits,
and soon added several innovations of his own.
THE VENETIAN TECHNIQUE
Titian and Giorgione are generally credited with originating what became known as the Venetian
Method of oil painting. The Venetian Method, or Venetian Technique, shares with the Flemish Method
the use of transparent glazes for the shadows, darker darks and for certain special effects, and opaque
highlights, but differs from the Flemish method in several important ways.
The method evolved out of necessity, as the church desired large paintings of religious scenes for
cathedrals, and wealthy dukes wished to adorn their palaces with large paintings of mythological themes
and other subjects. The difficulties of constructing and transporting huge wooden panels influenced artists
to seek an alternative. Canvas was soon adopted as the most convenient support for large paintings, as it
could be rolled up and delivered, then reattached to the stretcher frame, or another of the same
dimensions, at the painting’s destination and hung. However, the rough texture of the cloth created a need
for certain adjustments in technique and perhaps in the chemistry of the paints. A new primer was also
needed, as gesso (gypsum bound with animal glue) and glue/chalk grounds are brittle, and thus unsuitable
for use on a flexible support. After years of experimentation, involving the addition of oil or honey to
gesso to render it more flexible, white lead ground in linseed oil became the accepted primer for canvas.
The canvas was first given an application of weak glue sizing to render it nonabsorbent, as the linseed oil
would have otherwise caused the canvas to rot. The glue sealed the absorbency of the canvas and
excluded the oil from the linen or hemp fibers.
The gloss inherent in paints formulated for the Flemish Method was found to be objectionable for large
paintings, and Titian seems to have made adjustments to produce a less reflective surface. It is likely he
eschewed the use of polymerized oils, balsams and resins, all of which increase gloss, and opted instead
for simpler paints ground in raw oil only. Thus the paint would have been of a short molecular
configuration, rather than the (presumably) long paints of the Flemish. It was found that stiff, hog bristle
brushes worked better with the short paint and rough textured canvas.
The combination of large, stiff brushes, short paint, and the tooth of the canvas made the painting of
hard edges more difficult. Sharp edges occur quite naturally in the Flemish Technique, with its smooth
surface, long paint and soft hair brushes, whereas the stiff brushes and short paint produced soft edges as a
normal result on a coarse textured canvas. Titian (or perhaps Giorgione, who died young), however,
apparently found the softer edges more to his liking, and used them extensively, as they gave the effect of
being slightly out of focus. The edges could be sharpened selectively, where desired, to call the viewer's
attention to an area of greater importance, or to describe an object whose edges were actually sharp, such
as a starched collar, sword, or piece of paper or parchment, or they could be left soft in the interest of
Selective Focus.
The systematic use of soft and hard edges together gave the paintings a more lifelike appearance, and
more closely approximated the visual experience than did the overall use of hard edges, as had been the
previous practice. Titian was perhaps not quite as accomplished a draftsman as Michelangelo, who is said
to have criticized him for it, so he devised a technique which allowed him greater latitude for corrections.
This technique involved the use of an opaque underpainting, with the edges left soft and nebulous to allow
for later adjustments where necessary. Once the forms were established to the artist's satisfaction, he
would allow the underpainting to dry, while he worked on other paintings. When dry, the underpainting
could then be painted over in color, beginning with the transparent glazes for the shadow areas, as in the
Flemish Technique, and developed further with opaque passages representing the areas of light.
In the Venetian Technique, color is often applied over the underpainting initially as transparent
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