The differences in saturation, clearness of detail, and illusion of space were
very clear at a normal viewing distance. If one stepped back far enough to
be able to see both paintings, the detail and saturation of the two works
appeared to be the same, and both surfaces had a matte appearance. The very
effect of the air interposed between the eye and the object was alluded to by
Felibien. According to this phenomenon, first objectively described and ex
plained by Leonardo, objects in the distance will appear more blue because
of the interposition of the tiny particles contained in the air.
The warming, darkening effect of varnish, that of light transmitted through
the varnish, will be counteracted by the blue quality of the reflected light.
This means that with paintings executed to be seen at a distance, a glossy
saturated varnish would be unnecessary; at the correct viewing distance, the
painting will appear somewhat matte.
Boschini, characteristically, writes, "Do you think painting is enjoyed more
directly under the eye or fr om an appropriate distance? Certainly at a distance;
because once you have hung the pictures and placed them at the wanted
height, there's no reason for you to go clambering up there" (29).
Another variable that is too infrequently considered when exhibiting paint
ings is the lighting. Paintings from that period were never painted in uniform
daylight, nor were they to be seen in such conditions. Daylight would have
been directional, and artificial light would have been warm candlelight. Re
storers sometimes have the opportunity oflighting the painting with tungsten
lights from the direction in which the painting was executed, and the effect
in increased naturalism and illusion of space can be quite dramatic (30).This is not a new observation. In 1628, in a text on the artist Cigoli, the
biographer Commodi wrote about Cigoli's Martyrdom of St. Lawrence: "It
appeared much more admirable in the room in which it was painted which,
receiving little light through a small window, was indeed in proportion both
with the handling and with what was represented in the scene. Having seen
the painting in this room several times, and seeing it again in the open air,
he said to himself 'This just is not the same, even though everyone praises it
also out here' " (31).
Viewing distance is also crucial fo r works executed with a painting method
that defies legibility at close scrutiny. This is what we now may revere as the
"magic" of painting, but to Poussin and his circle it came close to pratica,
manual skill not guided by the intellect and therefore "infe rior" and not
worthy of painting as a liberal art.Rather surprisingly, Bellori appreciated the skill involved in producing effects
to be appreciated from a distance. In his biography ofLuca Giordano, speaking
of a sotto-in-su figure of Christ, he describes how Giordano would constantly
descend from the scaffolding to check on the effect of his painting and the
"huge brush strokes" and "coarse and garish highlights in the blue drapery,"
which the distance of the eye blends and harmonizes together so beautifully
and makes one understand how great his mastery is" (32).Boschini's poem, a eulogy of Venetian painting and technique, extols the
macchia of which the "high finishers" are so scornful. He carefully distinguishes
this from the rapid, sketchy alla prima technique he terms prontezza (33). He,
too, emphasizes the skill involved, rather than the material aspect. The Ve
netian macchia "is what unites the wet paint with the dry paint beneath,
which is so important to the beauty of this way of painting" (34).Like Armenini and Felibien, he emphasizes the handling of the paint and the
color, rather than its nature and strongly argues that painting should appeal
to the mind and not the eye-that the spectator must see the hand inside
the glove, while the eye only sees the glove (35, 36).
This brings us back to the essential message of the Counter-Reformation
and of the new stature of painting as a liberal art: to convey essential truthsGlanville 17