Art Chowder January | February 2017, Issue 7 | Page 43

THE BALANCE OF PAINTERS OF ROGER DE PILES | Melville Holmes

very general and it is difficult to find
detailed evaluations of specific works.
But in his Principles of Painting de Piles
carefully defines his terms and here
is where we must turn to get an idea
of how the 57 artists in his Balance
are measured. The author subdivides
each of the four main parts of the art of
painting, and his explanations of their
sub-parts give quite a good idea of the
principles he lays down. I hope a comparison of works by artists with high
and low scores will illustrate how some
artists excelled, others did less well,
and some missed the mark altogether. We will look at only one of his four
main criteria in this article and cover
the others at a later time.
De Piles prefaces his book with this
foundation: “The essence and definition of painting is the imitation of
visible objects, by means of form and
colors.” The more faithfully painting
imitates nature, the closer it comes to
its end, “which is to deceive the eye,”
and thereby to surprise, engage, inform, and give pleasure to the viewer.
But, “a knowing painter ought not to
be a slave to nature but a judge and
judicious imitator.” In addition to the
“simple truth” of nature herself, there
is also the “ideal truth,” as seen in the
harmonious order and proportion of
classical Greek sculpture. But not fully
content with these separate types of
truth in painting, de Piles submits what
he calls “the compound, or perfect
truth,” which is attained by merging
plain nature with the ideal, a mark that
no one had yet reached but “those who
have come nearest to it are the most
accomplished.” The artist of genius
transforms raw nature into the sublime:
grace, beauty, elegance, magnificence,
grandeur, purity and harmony.
Having set forth his general Idea of
Painting, de Piles proceeds to define
the practical principles and offer his
counsel. COMPOSITION consists in two
parts: Invention and Disposition.

RAPHAEL (1483-1520)
Detail of the School of Athens Vatican

The subtlety and variety of the groupings here suggest
why de Piles recommended Raphael for examples of
beauty and good judgment. The man drawing figures on
the slate with a compass represents either Euclid or Archimedes. (The model for the figure was Bramante, the
architect of St. Peter’s.)

Invention here does not mean novelty of imagination. It is the selection of what
goes in the picture and it also has two parts: the choice of subject and the choice of
objects that best explain and define the subject. The wise painter adds what is necessary and avoids the superfluous. Too many figures can wear out the viewer’s attention. Variety exercises the mind and keeps up the viewer’s interest. There should
be diversity in the types of people, their ages, sexes, poses and expressions, and
diversity in the kinds of animals, buildings, trees, or fabrics. For allegorical subjects,
a central principle is intelligibility. It’s better to stay with the commonly shared cultural language of pictorial symbols passed down from antiquity than to make up
new ones that nobody but their creator understands. Overall, lucidity and fidelity to
the truth of nature and to the subject should prevail. That which creates an idea of
grandeur and magnificence endures forever.
Disposition, is the placement and arrangement of objects in the composition. This
is broken down into several parts, notably “the Grouping,” “the choice of Attitudes,”

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