ys much stress upon a certain distilled
oil as a diluent. He says:--

"Amber varnish, and probably other thick oil varnishes, would be equally
benefitted, thinned with this distilled oil. It dries without a pellicle
when mixed with colours. Colours used for finishing a picture, such as in
the light for solid painting, or glazing for colour and shadows, are
rendered very pure and without the slightest appearance of a skin,
although it may be plentifully used. It dries much more slowly than any
other distilled oil, and hence its great value, as it allows the artist as
much time as he requires, in order to blend his colours and finish his
work. In conjunction with amber varnish, it forms a vehicle which leaves
nothing to be desired, and which doubtless was the vehicle of Van Eyck,
and in many instances of the Venetian masters, and of Correggio; the
different modes of painting necessarily producing the varied appearances
of the different schools and masters."

This promises the remedy for the disease, as it were, of vehicles, the
not drying from the bottom, which will delight every artist, if he finds
it a practical truth. We confess, we somewhat fear the sanguine
temperament of the translator of Theophilus, and should have preferred
some proof to the bare assertion that the picture by John Bellini, in the
National Gallery, was painted in amber varnish. Nor can we quite trust his
translation of the recipe for making this amber varnish. We were startled
with this account of 1 lb litharge to 1 lb linseed oil and 4 ounces of
amber--is he correct in translating _spigelhors_ litharge? It should be
rosin. With regard to the value of amber varnish, Mr Eastlake quite agrees
with Mr Hendrie. Another important improvement of the Van Eycks was the
substitution of calcined white copperas for litharge. In a note, Mr
Eastlake gives the information that on experiment it has been proved that
oil does not take up any portion of the copperas, which nevertheless
renders it very drying and hard, but that oil does take up sugar of lead.
It should be added, however, that he does not think lead so prejudicial to
colours as some have thought it to be.

The value of Mr Eastlake's book chiefly consists in the documentary
evidence which is now brought to bear upon the question of vehicles; and
doubtless, that which is subsequent to the time of Van Eyck is by far the
most valuable. Evidence is produced not only of oils in use, and the
methods of pur