26
rived from the Greek words fo r oil and water, the two main components of
the method. The method fo llows (27):The support, usually of fine cloth primed with poppy oil, is placed under
a thin film <1 water and all painting done in oil under water. The water,
because <1 its transparency, acts as a crystal, allowing the painter to judge
the quality of the brush strokes, add fine detail and see the darks without
having to oil out or use a retouching varnish to resaturate the suiface. The
painting could be retouched and reworked as often as required without
leaving the paint suiface thick and shiny since a skin was not formed; all
excess oil floated off in the water. The only oil retained was the amount
necessary to adhere the pigment to the support. While painting, the artist
saw his work exactly as it would be when behind glass. Thus, in theory,
the painting did not contain too much oil and not being varnished or
exposed to the air, the two main causes <1 the deterioration <1 paintings,
according to Montpetit the inventor of the method, no degradation was to
be feared.Eludoric painting was favored in the eighteenth century, especially by the
Court, and was mentioned in publications with the same frequency as en
caustic or enamel painting. By the nineteenth century, however, it was men
tioned only infrequently and by the twentieth century, the technique was
practically fo rgotten.Glass and glass transfer
Not only was there a desire to improve upon the old techniques, but new
methods of painting were developed to satisfY the increasing number of am
ateur painters, as well as the skilled craftsmen who wished to imitate oil
paintings by using easier methods. It had also become necessary to accom
modate a growing demand by the bourgeoisie fo r oil paintings, or imitations
of oil paintings, to decorate their walls.The more commonly known method of painting on a piece of glass in reverse
(i.e., the details first) was adopted because no knowledge of draughtsmanship
was required in Le moyen de devenir peintre en trois heures, et d'exCcuter au pinceau
les ouvrages des plus grands martres sans avoir appris Ie dessin (Paris 1755). This
simple method allows one to learn the art of painting without having to learn
to draw (28):A mezzotint print is laid onto glass with an adhesive which does not
dissolve in water. The texture <1 the paper was destroyed by water so that
the paper could be rubbed qff leaving the ink of the print upon the cement
and glass, as if the original impression had been made on the glass. The
inked outlines could then be coloured with oil varnish or water colours and
the result fr amed to resemble an oil painting.An eighteenth-century French satire
The many experiments to find the ideal painting medium or the ideal paint
ing method resulted in a profusion of new techniques in mid-eighteenth
century France. The humorous side of these many and varied "discoveries"
was not lost on the public. The year the Count of Caylus published his "new"
method of painting with wax, Montpetit invented eludoric painting, Le moyen
de devenir peintre en trois heures appeared, Jean Andre Rouquet countered with
yet another new technique: the art of painting in cheese. In 1755 his satirical
brochure, L' art de la peinture en fromage ou en ra mequin was prefaced with the
history of this technique of painting in cheese (29). Rouquet lamented that
many trials were necessary befo re succeeding with his experiment, thus re
quiring him to purchase many cheeses. He had, as he tells it, almost decided
to give up and eat his cheese, when he made his "discovery." Like Diderot
and Caylus and others before him, he could not claim the discovery fo r
himself, but credited the ancient Greek painters with the initial invention:Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice