recede by just degrees, so that none seem to be clinging to the buildings or the landscapes, but all have the appearance of having been painted on panel, or rather of being works in relief. Guglielmo possessed ample powers of invention, and there is great variety in the composition of his stories, which are exceedingly rich, the figures being well grouped and arranged; his works have contributed largely to enlighten those who came after him, as to the best methods of executing such paintings as are formed from pieces of glass; an undertaking which to all who have not much practice and dexterity, must needs appear to be an exceedingly difficult operation, as in fact it is.
This master designed the pictures for bis windows with so good a method and order, that he brought the joinings of lead and iron, by which they are traversed in various parts, to arrange themselves among the conjunctions of his figures, and within the folds of their vestments, and this he did with so much skill, that they are not only never disadvantageously conspicuous, but are even made to lend a new grace to the painting; the pencil itself could not effect this object better, and thus the master has found means to turn a necessity into * a beauty and advantage.
For the shadows of those glasses which he proposed to subject to the action of fire, Guglielmo used two colours only, scales of iron and scales of copper namely: with the darker, or that of iron, he shaded the dresses, hair, buildings, &c., but the lighter, (or scales of copper, which is of a tawney colour,) was that which he used for the flesh tints. He likewise made considerable use of a hard stone which comes from France and Flanders, this is called Lapis Amotica,[1] and is very serviceable in the burnishing of gold;[2] for this purpose it is first brayed in a brass mortar, and then rubbed on a plate of iron or copper with an iron muller; it is tempered with gum, and the effect produced on glass is admirable.
When Guglielmo first arrived in Rome, although well informed as to other particulars, he was not extensively
- ↑ Probably Haematite, or the red ore of iron, called by Cennino Cennini and other old writers, amotito.
- ↑ For numerous details of the highest interest on the subject of glass painting, the reader is referred to Mrs. Merrifield’s admirably treated Translation of Ancient MSS. relating to the Practice of Painting as before cited: see Introduction, p. liv. et seq.
