hoiling up giue, mixing pl aster, then going on to prepare pands, re-
touching them, polishing them, applying gold leaf, learning how to
grain. Then another six years to ... tudy the w;e of colour, the
application of mordant.~, to find out how to paint d!"aperies and folds
and how to work in fresco. And all the time you must p!"actise
d raw ing .. work-tby and feast-tlay.'
If an artist brraoiuate.:i to set up his O\\Tl studio, the process hegan all
over ag-ain with ~warms of apprentires ~u!Tounded hy the tools and
materials of the blL~ine<.. .... , in pUl"!.uit of lucr.ltive commissions. The
ma~1:ers who became Court painters had father more security-as long
as thl"}' pleasl-.:i their patrons - hut their stlm~ was often that of a
selVant o r rabce workman. Some fresm paintel'o", lOr c.\::Jmple, were
p,lid only hy the amount of wall they covered. OCGIsionally, an astute
artist like C ralJach o r Ruhens w as elL-vatcd to the rank of diplomat.
The more we examine the b'Teat artises of all periocls, the more we
appreciate that, no matter how suhlime their work, thl"}' were
touchl-.:i hy the l-venes of history as much as the next person. Their
lives were disrupted by w ars, transformed hy scientific discoveries,{"tit short by the tlll-.:iil"val p!3b'lle o r twentieth-century influenza.
To treat our subjeces as fully as possible, each one occupies their
1)",,,,1 tum fr"'" ,\\..orie de
Medici Discmb ... ldng~t
,\\..orseillcs After ,\\..orrioge
To Henry IV of Fr .... "" by
p,," P"ul RuJm" (/622- 2 5)own double-page spre ad containing two pictures, a commentary and a time line that poines to
the pri ncipal l-venes of his or her life. The selection of some less familiar pictures will, I hope,
hroaden appreciation and encourage a fresh approach. OcC"asionally, I have combinl-.:i a pair,
where the connection is particularly interesting o r useful. \¥here the commentary mentions
an artist with his or her own entry in the hook, that name appears in bold type for easy
reference. Fo r the same re ason, the arr.mgement is alphabetiGlI, incidentally making fo r some
remarkahle neighbours.
It is hopl"{/ that this hook m ay he enjoYl"{/as ,I reference by student.s and pr.lctising artises,
and a companion to the genera! reader who loves looking at pictures and is interestl-.:i in
fincling out how skills and personal st}1e come through in service of the creative process.Charlotte C~rlings 100)