on which the figure lies is still, in effect, white against the flesh.
The flesh is most lovely in colour--neither violent by shadows or strong
colour--but beautiful flesh. It cannot be compared to ivory or snow, or
any other substance or material; it is simply beautiful lustre on the
surface with a circulation of blood underneath--an absolute triumph
never repeated except by Titian himself.

It is probable that the pictures by Reynolds are often lower in tone
than they were, but it is doubtful whether the Strawberry Hill portraits
are as much changed as may be supposed. Walpole, no doubt, called them
"white and pinky," but it must be remembered that, living before the
days of picture cleaning, he was accustomed to expect them to be brown
and dark, probably even to associate colour with dirt in the Old
Masters. The purer, clearer, and richer the colours are, the better a
picture will be; and I think this should be especially insisted upon,
since white is so effective in a modern exhibition that young artists
are naturally prompted to profit by the means cheaply afforded and
readily at hand.

I think it is probable that where Titian has used brown-green he
intended it, since in many of the Venetian pictures we find green
draperies of a beautiful colour. Sir John seems to infer that the
colours used in the decoration of the Parthenon (no doubt used) were
crude. The extraordinary refinements demonstrated in a lecture by Mr.
Penrose on the spot last year, at which I had the good fortune to be
present, forbid such a conclusion. A few graduated inches in the
circumference of the columns, and deflection from straight line in the
pediment and in the base-line, proved by measurement and examination to
be carefully intentional, will not permit us for a moment to believe
this could have been the case; so precise in line, rhythmical in