The Old Masters and Their Pictures, For the Use of Schools and Learners in Art

Painters' lives provide Sarah Tytler with a way into the history of pictures and the skills behind them. Intended for schools and learners, this guide arranges artists by time and country, with chapters on Italian, Flemish, German, Spanish and French painting. Its opening introduces fresco and tempera, then considers religious symbols and the problems early painters faced when showing distance, light and the human figure.

The account combines descriptions of works with personal histories and direct judgments about artistic style. Annibale Carracci's work at the Farnese Palace leads to discussion of his payment, health and collaboration with Albani. Tytler also weighs the feeling in his religious paintings and discusses his landscapes. Guido Reni's career brings accounts of artistic success and a large school together with gambling and debts. For a reader beginning to study art, these passages show how materials, patrons and individual choices enter the story of a painting.