gione's freedom of drawing, ftrength of colouring, and of relief; and to the boldness, rapidity, and even extravagance, which are remarked in Tintoret's manner.

REFINEMENT and elegance of tafte has an effect on fancy, in fome refpects opposite to thofe of fenfibility.) Where it prevails, it hinders many forms and appearances striking to others, from yielding it fuch gratification as may make an impreffion on the fancy. There is no risk of its running into extravagance; the danger is, left it deviate into quaintnefs, affectation, and fubtilty. Vicious refinement is pleafed with these, and fends imagination in fearch of them; they are adopted, and ufurp the place of natural beauties. But true refinement of tafte leads imagination to reject whatever is coarse, or even of inferiour beauty, and, penetrating into fuch beauties as are moft latent, feeling fuch as are moft delicate, and comprehending fuch as are most complex, it enables them to affect and give an impulfe to fancy, and directs it to produce not only what is beautiful, but what is elegant, not only what pleases, but also what fills the tafte, to produce according to the particular structure of the imagination, the gracefire at Banion tha vi: ful,

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ful, the profound, or the extraordinary. The artists of fimple ages, can scarce attain fo great a refinement of taste, as to avoid, in every inftance, ideas which will appear grofs and become unpleafing in politer times. Even Homer admits images in fome degree coarse and indelicate; Virgil, bred in the elegance of the Auguftan age, was directed by an improved tafte, when he imitated him most closely, to reject some of these images altogether, and to avoid the offenfive part of others. It is the want of perfect elegance of taste formed by acquaintance with the best models, that has mixt :ftiffness and ungracefulness with the great - excellences of Albert Durer, Hans Holbein, -Rembrandt, and even Rubens.

CORRECTNESS of tafte fecures a perfon from approving any but real beauties, or difapproving any but real faults, and enables him to perceive the precife kind and degree of both. The juftnefs of its decifions often gives occafion to a new exertion of imagination, where otherwife it would not have r.been attempted. But it influences imagination principally, not by inftigating, but by restraining and directing it, and forming it to regularity. A great degree of correctness will perfcaly

perfectly chill a weak imagination, and prevent its producing any thing. It is related of Andrea Verrochio, that he was fo fenfible of the inferiority of his own figures to one which Leonardo da Vinci, then his scholar, had by his order painted in one of his pieces, that he never afterwards attempted painting; had his taste determined less justly, he might have continued to produce works deferving approbation. If it does not totally chill a moderate fancy, it will at least check it fo much as to produce a mediocrity, where nothing is faulty, but nothing pleases highly. It is the character of Andrea del Sarts, that he is careful, diligent, and correct, but defective in life and spirit. Even the fine genius of Protogenes fuffered, in the opinion of Apelles, by the too great correctness of his tafte leading him to difpirit his pictures by exceffive care. Correctness of tafte has difciplined Pope's genius fo much, that fome have refused him all pretenfions to imagination. It is an imagination uncommonly bright and vigorous, that can bear all the restraints which a correct tafte lays it under. It requires these restraints; without them, great blemishes will be intermixed with great beauties in its works by

fubmitting

fubmitting to them, the immortal works of Milton would have been cleared of the conceits and quibbles which disgrace them.

PERFECTION of tafte requires the union, the due proportion, and the regular adjustment of all its principles. If any principle of taste be wanting, or weak in comparison with the reft, imagination miffes both the regulation and the impulfe which that principle would have given it;, and its productions bear marks of its having miffed them. Every poet, every painter, every artift, who leaves in his works what is difgufting to one of the principles of tafte, while he fatisfies the other principle, shows a defect in their comparative vigour. They were never perhaps united in any man in a proportion perfectly exact; while none is wanting or remarkably defective, fome degree of imperfection is always perceivable in fome one of them, and fome other is fo exquifitely perfect as to give tafte its predominating character; but still the vigour in which they all exift, is fufficient for giving taste enlargement and regularity. When a tafte fo perfect is united to a vigorous imagination, it produces genius in fome fenfe univerfal, fit for rendering its work really, though not equally, ex

cellent

cellent in all respects, marked with features correfpondent to the characteristical form of that taste. It is a piercing imagination thus directed by a fine taste, that has entitled a few artists in every way to the first rank. Nei⚫ther Homer nor Virgil is abfolutely faultless; each has his principal and distinctive excellence; but both have fo much excellence in every kind, as could not have been attained without perfection of taste, as well as of imagination. Titian's taste in drawing was not ' exactly correct; strength and beauty; of: colouring was his leading excellence, and fhowed * the prevailing turn of his taste, which was, at the fame time, in all other refpects fo good vas to guide his fancy and his pencil into great -"delicacy of drawing, 'agreeable resemblance of

Nature, spirited and characteristical touches, -`diversified and graceful attitudes, pleasing.negligence of drapery, and in a word no ordinary degree of every excellence. It was the praife of Raphael, that, though he fell short of fome in colouring, yet while he furpaffed in grace, he likewife was master of more of Ythe excellent parts of painting than any other artist. It was a like universality of taste, along with great power of imagination, that enabled

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